has minced few words about his plans to build a wall on the and end the threat from extremists. But the president-elect has been virtually silent on his plans when it comes to Afghanistan, home to Americas longest war. With 8,400 U.S. troops leading a 13,000-strong in Afghanistan, the incoming administration inherits one of the United States most stubborn and complex foreign policy challenges. Although promised to end U.S. military involvement, American service members continue to be drawn into combat as Afghan security forces struggle to contain aresilient insurgency. Afghan officials grew accustomed to being near the top of Obamas priority list in his first term, when he deployed more than 100,000 troops into the country. Then they became disillusioned when Obama withdrew forces and became more focused on battling Islamic State. Under Trump who has vowed to project American might while refraining from military adventures he views as dumb U.S. policy in Afghanistan is anyones guess. Yet even with no military victory in sight, efforts to open peace talks between the Taliban and the Kabul government have failed to gain momentum. A four-nation initiative involving China, Pakistan and the United States has faltered, while plans by Saudi Arabia to host talks have generated little excitement. Some Afghans blame the Obama administration for failing to put more pressure on Pakistan. The U.S. continues to send Pakistan billions of dollars in military aid, although Congress registered its displeasure over Islamabads failure to rein in militant groups by withholding $300 million in funding last year. Even if Anthony had a year to analyze and dissect each piece...(he couldn't tell if it would)... stand the harsh light of public exposure. WUWT insider Willis Eschenbach tells you all you need to know about Anthony Watts and his blog, WattsUpWithThat (WUWT). As part of his scathing commentary , Wondering Willis accuses Anthony Watts of being clueless about the blog articles he posts. To paraphrase: Click here to read more. Never send a cop to do a man's job Kushy gig. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images When Donald Trump first announced that his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, would join his administration as a senior White House adviser, eyebrows were raised. For nearly five decades, many legal scholars had assumed that such a hire was barred by federal law: Troubled by President Kennedys appointment of his brother Robert as attorney general, Congress passed an anti-nepotism law in 1967 that prohibited presidents from appointing their relatives to federal agencies. But Kushners lawyers concluded that this was no obstacle to the appointment of Ivankas husband, because the White House is not a federal agency. On Saturday, the Justice Department said that this story checks out. In a 14-page opinion drafted by the departments Office of Legal Counsel, government lawyers argue that a law passed by Congress in 1978, which gave the president broad authority to appoint White House officials, overrides the anti-nepotism legislation passed 11 years earlier. We believe that the Presidents special hiring authority permits him to make appointments to the White House Office that the anti-nepotism statute might otherwise forbid, the opinion reads. Ultimately, Kushners appointment may be a fortunate development for those skeptical of the Trump teams ethics. Had Kushner remained an informal adviser, he would have escaped the reach of conflict-of-interest laws. Now, he will be required to file a financial-disclosure report detailing his finances, and to divest from any assets that could generate a conflict of interest. Kushner is expected to advise the president on public-private partnerships, trade issues, and the Israel-Palestine conflict, according to the New York Times. On that last matter, Trump couldnt have more faith in his son-in-laws expertise. If you cant produce peace in the Middle East, nobody can, Trump shouted to Jared, at a candlelit dinner for donors in Washington Thursday night. So, sure, Kushner may look like a nepotism hire but can you think of anyone more qualified to broker a two-state solution than a 36-year-old real estate developer from New Jersey? You report, I decide. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images On his first full day in office, Donald Trump sought to end his long-running feud with the CIA and to escalate his war against objective reality and the people tasked with describing it. In early December, news broke that the American intelligence community believed that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election with the intention of aiding Trumps candidacy. Shortly after such reports surfaced, the then-president-elect began vilifying the American spy state. Trump argued that the CIA was full of the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction; accused intelligence officials the quotation marks, his own of pursuing a political witch hunt meant to undermine his presidency; lambasted the intelligence agencies for spreading fake news in a manner akin to Nazi Germany; and suggested that the former director of the CIA, John Brennan, might be personally responsible for disseminating propaganda. But on Saturday, the president informed the CIA that all of those statements were, themselves, fake news propagated by the dishonest media. They sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community, Trump said, referring to the press. I just want to let you know, the reason youre the number one stop is it is exactly the opposite. Trump went on to describe how overwhelmed the CIA would soon be by his support. There is nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community and the CIA than Donald Trump, the president said. I am so behind you. I know maybe sometimes you havent gotten the backing that youve wanted and youre going to get so much backing. Maybe youre going to say, Please, dont give us so much backing. Mr. President, please, we dont need so much backing. But his true feelings about the CIA werent the only things that the media had lied about. On Friday, many news outlets took note of the fact that the crowd at Trumps inauguration appeared considerably smaller than those Barack Obama had attracted in 2013 and 2009. Early estimates put the crowd gathered for Trumps inauguration at about one-third the size of Obamas in 2009 https://t.co/v0rGLZv00N pic.twitter.com/97elpXg1CS NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) January 20, 2017 The president remembered things differently. I get up this morning and I turn on one of the networks and they show an empty field, Trump said. I said wait a minute, I made a speech, I looked out, the field was, it looked like a million, a million and a half people it went all the way back to the Washington Monument. "Even the media said the crowd was massive," President Trump said tonight, claiming crowd stretched "to the Washington Monument." Fact check pic.twitter.com/dbmkBujjMJ Mark Berman (@markberman) January 21, 2017 So, we caught the media, Trump said, and we caught them in beauty. And I think theyre going to pay a big price. Trump at CIA headquarters: We caught the press and they're "going to pay a big price" https://t.co/ftZ6vnaggx pic.twitter.com/xFRch74WBf Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) January 21, 2017 After describing the million-member crowd that only he could see, the president informed the intelligence analysts that God, himself, was among those in attendance. It was almost raining the rain should have scared them away but God looked down and he said we are not going to let it rain on your speech and then it poured right after I left, Trump said. In fact, a light rain fell through the first few minutes of Trumps speech, and no downpour followed its conclusion. At other points, Trump criticized the Senate for holding up his confirmation picks, reiterated his belief that the United States should have confiscated Iraqs oil, and pledged to win the war against ISIS. But a different conflict seemed closer to the front of the presidents mind. I have a running war with the media, the commander-in-chief said. They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth, right? "As you know, I have a running war with the media," Pres. Trump says at CIA headquarters in Langley, VA: https://t.co/J54RiABFFl pic.twitter.com/I0jcaE6Dpq CBS News (@CBSNews) January 21, 2017 The crowd of intelligence officials applauded, raucously. President Trump speaks at the CIA. Photo: Olivier Douliery/Bloomberg via Getty Images While addressing the CIA on Saturday, President Donald Trump took a break from lambasting the media to remind everyone that he thinks the U.S. should have stolen Iraqs oil. He also suggested that the U.S. might get another chance to violate international law. Now I said it for economic reasons, Trump said while introducing Representative Mike Pompeo, his pick to lead the agency. But if you think about it, Mike, if we kept the oil, you probably wouldnt have ISIS because thats where they made their money in the first place, so we should have kept the oil. But, okay, maybe well have another chance. National Review has noted that Trumps odd fixation with taking Iraqs oil dates back to at least 2011. He made the argument numerous times on the campaign trail, suggesting that the U.S. could take Iraqs oil while fighting ISIS. When PolitiFact examined the claim in September, numerous experts said trying to seize Iraqi oil would not be legal, feasible, or desirable. The idea is so out of step with any plausible interpretation of U.S. history or international law that they should be dismissed out of hand by anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of world affairs, said Lance Janda, a military historian at Cameron University. Its not clear what Trump meant by maybe well have another chance, but when youre president, people take even offhand remarks about violating international law pretty seriously. BuzzFeed spoke with several Iraqis on the front lines of the battle against ISIS, and they said they were prepared to take up arms against Americans if they attempted to take their countrys natural resources. I participated in the attack against the Americans by attacking them with mortars and roadside bombs, and Im ready to do it again, said Abu Luay, an Iraqi security official using a nom de guerre, who is currently fighting the terrorist group in northwest Iraq. We kept our ammunition and weapons from the time the Americans left for fighting ISIS. But once ISIS is gone we will save our weapons for the Americans. Several other people at a base for Popular Mobilization Units, a new branch of Iraqs armed forces consisting of former militiamen and volunteers fighting against ISIS, said the move would be counterproductive. Iraq recently took out a $5.3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, in part to help pay for the fight against ISIS. Theres no way Trump could take the oil unless he launched a new military front and it be a new world war, said Kareem Kashekh, a photographer who works for the Popular Mobilization Units. The Womens March on Washington. Photo: Lisa Ryan Even though there were sister marches hosted in hundreds of cities across the world, more than 500,000 people attended the Womens March on Washington on Saturday many of whom traveled great distances to be there. Travelers from Mexico, Canada, California, and Flint, Michigan, shared their travel stories with the Cut, and revealed why they felt it was so important to be in D.C. for the historic event. Sherri and Sandy, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Sherri: We came on a bus with the Steel Workers union. Theyre completely dedicated to womens rights and human rights. Theyve been long, long supporters of reproductive rights and human rights, and of course, theyre anti-racist, anti-homophobic. Theyre progressive, and this is what they stand for, and they knew people who were part of this movement, so they have kindly let us tag along on their bus. [My friend Sandy, who also attended the march, and I] work in womens reproductive health. We wanted to march beside these women we wanted to show our support, absolutely, and our solidarity. I think it is really important to stand beside them. It is true, of course, we could have gone to city hall and marched up to Queens Park today in Toronto, but for some reason, we just felt it was very important that we showed our solidarity in this way. Sandy: Also because I think that more than ever, we realized what a dangerous turn the United States has taken, in many directions, but certainly where womens rights are concerned given the vice-president and his very strong anti-choice views and legislation he put into place in the state that hes in. Its hard to turn a blind eye and pretend that there is still now an open border and God only knows what thats going to look like within the next four years, how it will affect us. Its not specifically that we took an international position on this, which of course we do, but they are our neighbors, our friends, and our sisters, and we felt we needed to be here. Elizabeth and Cynthia, Flint, Michigan Elizabeth, Cynthia, and their friends. Elizabeth: We came to protest but we also came because we have a water crisis in Flint and we fight for clean water. Its been going on for too long, and were tired of it and we need clean water. We caught a bus here it was about ten hours. We hope people see this and realize we still are having a water crisis, and many people could speak out and we could get clean water. Cynthia: We got to town this morning about 6:30, but the fight is worth it. Its slow; its a slow process with Governor Snyder. Hes holding back like he has before, and it took two years to even bring the awareness. So once he started releasing the money, it got cold, and the ground froze. They only had so many homes when Mayor Weaver was trying to get so many done before the winter, but you know, the process of paperwork and the peoples needs were met slowly. Theyre coming, but they should be a little bit more speedy, because its not like they dont have the money. Theyve got big rainy-day funds. Alice, Boston, Massachusetts Our chairman, the day after the Trump election said, Im going to rent a bus. So she rented a bus that day; she got everybody in the department all the women, some of the men. She just paid for it because she said it made her feel better. Shes the former chairman of neurology at Mass General Hospital in Boston, Anne Young. As neuroscientists thats just who we are. But also we believe that the female brain is good, and that there should be more of them, and that they should be in positions of power. But the neuroscience thing is just our jobs. Our bus ride was supposed to be seven hours, but I think it was more like nine. It gave me time to knit. (I tried to make a hat, and I never finished but Im working on it.) The ride was fun. People sang, there were babies, and we all said how cute was your baby and can we knit you a hat, that kind of thing. Were staying outside of town, but were leaving tomorrow morning. Suzanne, Michoacan, Mexico Suzanne and her family. I flew here. You can fly from Mexico City straight to D.C. really easily. I came here first of all because I work a lot with underprivileged girls in Mexico, and Im very concerned with immigration issues for not only Mexican women, but for American women who are married to a Mexican partner. As a matter of fact, I was looking at a post in my little town of Patzcuaro yesterday. There are many of my friends standing on the Plaza Grande with signs that were protesting [on Inauguration Day]. Theres a lot of concern about the economic impact [the election will have] on Mexico Mexico has just started to rise into a very strong middle class, and with some of this rhetoric thats going on and Ford making a decision not to open one of the factories that they had already started building, theres much concern about middle-class jobs, and NAFTA is also a very big concern for people. Mexicos a very Catholic place, so abortion is not common. Its a different situation; there are many, many large families. So theres more family-planning issues than there are right-to-life issues. My family is here. Were sister-in-law, daughter, cousin, and nieces, from Utah, Chicago, and California. So its a womens family affair. Tamara and Megan, Louisville, Kentucky Tamara: We drove with the Planned Parenthood affiliate from Louisville. We wanted to be a part of the big organizing moment and show strength with our state and with our voices. So we decided to come, and our bosses let us off work yesterday to drive down. It took about nine hours. Megan: But it was so worth it especially being from a state that voted for Trump. A blue city in a red state can feel so isolating sometimes, but when you come to moments like this, you really realize that the movement is bigger than an actual person. Pam, Sophia, and Rachel, Santa Rosa, California Rachel, Sophia, and Pam. Pam: We flew it was direct, about five hours, I think. It just seemed like the right thing to do. We all believe really strongly in womens rights were three generations, and so we thought this would be a historic moment to witness as a family, and as a nation as well. Sophia: I just wanted to support my grandma and my aunt, and I also wanted to support Hillary because we really hoped that shed break the glass and become the first female president. Pam: Were standing up for womens rights, human rights, peoples rights. We leave Monday night to go back home, because Rachel has to work and Sophia has school. Sophia: [My friends are jealous Im here] because they were going to go to the march in Santa Rosa but they had a volleyball game, or they had plans. Steve, Calaveras County, California Our flight was five hours and ten minutes; we got to town yesterday. We flew out of San Francisco, and I bet you, 90 percent of the folks who were on that plane, if not more, were flying for this event. They were all cheering, and lots of pink hats. It was fun. I just felt [going to the march] had to be done; whats happening to this country and what I fear could happen, it just sent shivers up our spines my wife and I. We just wanted to make sure that our voices are heard and that we work towards a better future for our children and their children. Ariana, Kalamazoo, Michigan I was supposed to come here with my cousin and we were going to stay with my aunt, but she cancelled last minute and I decided that I really wanted to come anyways. I go to school in Kalamazoo, so I had to drive all the way back to Saginaw [which is two-and-a-half hours away] to get my parents to drive me to Detroit, so that I could fly to Philly, and take the bus to D.C. But I got here. I have two little brothers theyre five and seven, and I was really thinking about how I could show them that this person who they should be able to look up to, is not someone they should look up to, and how to show them that its a good thing to fight against whats happening around them. I thought this was the best way to do that, not only for them but also for everyone who needs to know that his beliefs are not representative of all of us. Millions of people protested across the globe Saturday in support of the Womens March on Washington. And almost all did so with a handmade sign (or two or three) in tow, amplifying their voices with humor and straight-talk alike. From a 10-year-old girl to men in tights, everyone found a way to express how theyre feeling about the new president and the status of womens rights in the United States. Click ahead to see the best signs from Washington, D.C., New York, and other cities across the country. This post will be updated throughout the weekend. The OECD Observer online archive takes you on a journey through half a century of public policy and world progress. Since November 1962, the OECDs experts and leading guests offer insights on the questions facing our member countries with concise and authoritative analysis, and provide our audiences with an excellent opportunity to understand policy debates and consider solutions. Each edition of the OECD Observer reports on a core theme of the OECDs on-going work, from economics and society through governance, finance, and the environment, and articles are bolstered by tables and graphs. Genres : Anime Starring : Hekiru Shiina, Konami Yoshida, Julie Maddalena, Wendee Lee, Bridget Hoffman Plot Synopsis Hikaru Shidou, Umi Ryuuzaki, and Fuu Hououji aren't from Cephiro. While on a school field trip to the Tokyo Tower, the three girls' minds are on anything but different worlds filled with magic and wonder. That is, until Princess Emeraude, the Pillar of Cephiro, cries out for the Magic Knights to save her world--and that just happens to be those three! Though (largely) against their will, the girls must learn to control the magic they suddenly possess, drive back the monsters that plague the land, revive the Rune Gods that have been sealed away, and then fight against the High Priest Zagato, who has kidnapped Princess Emeraude. It's the only way they can return home, for willpower influences Cephiro, and it is the Princess's will that the three girls become the Magic Knights of legend, and save her planet! Mecha, magic, and mystery abound in Magic Knight Rayearth! See what becomes of Cephiro in this Blu Ray boxed set, containing both seasons of the classic CLAMP anime! English dubbed and Japanese with English subtitles. Madonna is trending on FB and I've decided to see what people say, and of course people are outraged she said "fuck" couple of times and that Donald can go suck a dick. And these exact people think that "grab her by the pussy" ( quote actually begins with "I tried to fuck her. She was married.") is Ok from the president but "fuck" by a pop star is offensive. Go figure... Reply Thread Link "Madonna dropped the F bomb & kids were watching!" says a person who voted for a man who bragged about sexually assaulting women Yukio Strachan (@boldandworthy) January 21, 2017 Reply Parent Thread Link She told him to suck a dick and they're outraged yet they dismissed the "grab them by the pussy" comment as "locker room talk" smh Reply Parent Thread Link I loved people cursing on live TV since I was 3. Still smile every time I hear it Reply Thread Link same! I did a gay gasp with my mom earlier, haha Reply Parent Thread Link She called her son the n-word Reply Parent Thread Link Lmaoo mte she's trash Reply Parent Thread Link You should start with the "Music" album Then "American Life" followed by "Confessions on a Dance Floor" Reply Parent Thread Link listen to ray of light tbh Reply Parent Thread Link her music is great.... Reply Parent Thread Link Go listen to ha discography now!! Reply Parent Thread Link Listen to her debut but stop after that tbh. Reply Parent Thread Link omg Reply Parent Thread Link lmao Reply Parent Thread Link i didn't like how they cut off one of the speeches but the ones that were said were great Reply Thread Link I love how they didn't censor it. I mean, i always figure live coverage of any event is on a 5 to 30 second delay for these reasons. But i loved it! "fuck" always emphasizes a point much better. Reply Thread Link I just got back from the march in NYC. It was incredible! I cannot tell you how many people came out for it today. I was so proud. Reply Thread Link I'm envious that my coworker was there. I imagine it must feel so empowering being surrounded by so many like-minded people. Reply Thread Link The energy in D.C was crazy! Reply Parent Thread Link i loved both hers and scarletts speeches. only ones on my TL, havent gotten around to any others. any suggestions? Reply Thread Link also they have GOT to stop sensoring "fuck". like sometimes, that word is the only appropriate, and it says so much with so little. i love it Reply Parent Thread Link Ashley Judd! Reply Parent Thread Link I meant watch Ashley Judd's speech - It wasn't just me randomly saying Ashley Judd, lol. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I appreciated Scarlett being open and personal. Reply Parent Thread Link America Ferrera gave a great speech. It wasn't long but I also really liked Tammy Duckworth's. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Angela Davis was probably the most radical. Michael Moore talked a bit to much about himself, but he gave some really great suggestions. There were a lot of speakers with short, but very personal stories. Tammy Duckworth, The Mothers of the Movement with Janelle Monae... Sophie Cruz was adorable.... Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I am so exhausted. I just ate a shit ton of pizza and had a beer though and now I'm just going back through all my pictures from the march. I can't believe LA apparently had an even bigger one than D.C.!! Like how fucking cool is that. Seriously though I had such a good spot and I watching America, Michael Moore and Ashley Judd and the endless (!!) speakers was so healing and inspiring. I am so glad I drove the 7 hours. Reply Thread Link can we see some of them or is that too invasive sorry if it is Reply Parent Thread Link Nah. Idc. Gimme a bit and I'll upload it all so I can share. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link whoa, really? i heard that 500k came out for DC. what were the numbers for LA?? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Holy shit, well done, LA! And here I thought my city (Chicago) was the biggest outside of DC with 250k. West Coast swooping in because of the time zones lol. Reply Parent Thread Link Who was your favorite speaker? Reply Parent Thread Link Lady can give a speech! I am so heartened by the turnout today. I knew it would be bigger than anticipated, but I didn't realize HOW MUCH MORE. Some of my friends in LA couldn't even get to the march because they closed the subways. All of my favorite people went to the marches and posted about it incessantly. I like feeling connected to people in a positive way, not just because we are all grieving. Reply Thread Link Spicer is clearly speaking directly on Trump's orders which makes me laugh, because I realize Trump is MAD. REAL MAD. I got to Pershing Square early this morning and couldn't move for upwards of two hours (not that I was stuck in one spot, per se, but that I couldn't leave a general area because of the crowd/blockade). But once people started heading to streets that were not the official route, it became much more bearable. I totally believe upwards of 500k people in LA. Reply Parent Thread Link lol irl @ the first doggie. Reply Parent Thread Link That press conference was embarrassing. trump will continue to be a thin skinned whining baby who has to prove he's the best at everything even if his press secretary has to lie through his teeth. Bitch we have eyes. Reply Parent Thread Link the whole world marched against his disgusting rhetoric. i wonder if ivanka, jared and kellyanne are trying to spin it to him that it is a sign that "he is so popular, the most popular that only he can bring out that many people to march in his name." (i know that people marched against his and his cabinet's ideology and refused to associate only his name to it so he won't get a bigger ego but since these idiots believe that their fiction trumps facts then i have no doubt he can be convinced that all these people came out to march in his name because he is just that stupid) i really want to know how much it is burning him on the inside that not only americans hate him but the whole fucking world hates him Reply Parent Thread Link Sir Ian God, To be a fly on that wall and watch Donny Don's temper tantrum over his flop of an inauguration Reply Parent Thread Link Same. He's so deluded. But he watches primarily Fox News and they didn't air the march from what I've read. At least on tv. They posted online. Reply Parent Thread Link omg these are all amazing Reply Parent Thread Link those aerial shots are beautiful Reply Parent Thread Link omg the bb Samoyed Reply Parent Thread Link I am happy I got to to go to our local march. My boyfriend wanted me to look at cars with him but I think he could tell I was bummed so he drove us to the march first...of course I was wearing darth vader stuff but oh well. They expected 5000 and we had at least 15000 it was so nice esp to see all the kids being passionate about it. Gives me hope for the future if we can manage to get through the next 4 years (hopefully less) Reply Thread Link surejan.gif @ taylor Reply Thread Link God knows who she voted for. Reply Parent Thread Link mte Reply Parent Thread Link mte, she's not fooling anyone. Reply Parent Thread Link she didn't have to necessarily endorse anyone, but like, majority of your fan base is young women. Putting out a tweet denouncing this piece of shit's behaviour would have been the bare minimum. and now after he "won" you wanna show your solidarity? fuck off Reply Parent Thread Expand Link she's a feminist when it benefits her career Reply Parent Thread Link THIS. What pisses me off the most is that she waited until 5pm EST to tweet. Well after the marches were over and deemed hugely successful. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link only makes comments when it feeds to the taylor pr machine. lbr. Reply Parent Thread Link ikr Reply Parent Thread Link Seriously. Fuck her. She's so transparent. Reply Parent Thread Link Lol Taylor... Reply Thread Link Just saw a Facebook post about how ridiculous this March is and how women are not oppressed and how much they hate "feminazi, libtard SJW's". :sigh: Reply Thread Link i saw a comment from some dust fart white male about 8-month abortions as if they're a regular occurrence and my head almost exploded Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i'm trying to avoid all comments on media posts because i don't think my heart, stomach, or mental health can handle all the white male tears Reply Parent Thread Link meanwhile our president holds a press conference to complain about the press reporting his pathetic inauguration crowd numbers while actual millions were out marching against him. ...but WE'RE the crybabies. ok, turd. Reply Parent Thread Link I'm not even reading any fb comments Those worthless pieces of shit aren't going to ruin my good mood Reply Parent Thread Link lol I can only imagine what temper tantrums ppl I used to follow are throwing Reply Parent Thread Link these assholes wanna say that it's easy to be a woman in north america and we're lucky we're not living in saudi arabia. so now they wanna deflect the conversation pretend to care about women elsewhere? they can go fuck themselves. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link yup. A lot of "you wasted your time for nothing etc" ugh. Reply Parent Thread Link lol my sister sent me screenshots of her flop ex-boyfriend's rant about the march. Like why are you so angry, white man? Reply Parent Thread Link Or those assholes saying "if you're not happy move to saudi arabia and see if you like it" Reply Parent Thread Link IDG how yall are friends with these people on facebook. Fucking unfollow them. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Literally no one I know attended a march I'm so disappointed. They were all like, "what were they even marching for we already have women's rights in the UK" smh I worry for their future daughters Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I saw a lot of dipshit comments on the Facebook page for my local newspaper. And sadly there were a lot of negative comments from other women as well. Like "I don't whine and use my gender to get what I want." Um? Not what this is about? Edited at 2017-01-22 03:23 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link I saw some of those .. from white women who said they were against abortion.. Reply Parent Thread Link yeah, my cousin posted an article about how all the people marching need to stop being cry babies. wow, way to totally not get anything. Reply Parent Thread Link They're so fucking threatened OMG Reply Parent Thread Link in the next 5 hours each RT = $1 donation by me to @PPact. Please read & share on why PP is important for all women. @CecileRichards pic.twitter.com/PEfwIecZ1N h (@halsey) 21. januar 2017 Reply Thread Link i know she's questionable in stuff she's said and done but i can get behind retweeting this Reply Parent Thread Link Love her Reply Parent Thread Link I am retweeting this. Reply Parent Thread Link I'm not a fan but fuck if I didn't RT the second I saw it on my feed. Reply Parent Thread Link good for her Reply Parent Thread Link She gets incredibly insufferable at times (this is coming from a former stan) but her heart is mostly in the right place. Reply Parent Thread Link alway remember chesca's one of us! Reply Parent Thread Link one of us one of us one of us Reply Parent Thread Link whaaaaat?! i'm slightly obsessed with her and now even more. she's the bees knees. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Francesca is so strong. MRAs on youtube are creepily OBSESSED with her and make 20 min + critique videos on her content. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link love them! Reply Parent Thread Link ONTD queen chescaleigh!!!!! Reply Parent Thread Link uzo's hair is bomb omg, im crying in 4c Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Love this so much. Watched it this afternoon. Loved that alicia keys was there and how she said a bit from maya angelou's poem, still i rise. Plus, i loved that so many minorities spoke. I liked the palestian woman's speech. They were all very good. Im so glad i watched this instead of watching the inauguration yesterday. Plus, i just read on bbc that the women's march turned out more ppl than trump's inauguration, when there was only an estimated 200,000 coming. No way! God bless. Edited at 2017-01-22 12:45 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link I really enjoyed the Palestinian's speech, too. There was a lot of information in not only what she said, but how she said. The self-pride is such a strong message, especially for young Palestinian-American women. So many speakers from so many different levels of society. I was blown away at the solidarity and calls to action. Reply Parent Thread Link i follow linda on twitter. i LOVE her. she is amazing and really out there standing up for her people. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link wow taylor, a whole tweet just for us??? how magnanimous. i marched in chicago 18 weeks pregnant with my 3 (almost) 4 year old son who joined in the "this is what democracy looks like!" chant without being prompted. <3 Reply Thread Link If you marched in any march today organizers need an accurate count. Text: 89800 write: COUNT ME Edited at 2017-01-22 02:02 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link Went to the march in Boston today! My cold heart was warmed by the experience. Reply Thread Link me too! 175K! Reply Parent Thread Link Me too! Just got back home. :) A lot of marchers stopped by the movies afterwards and there was a packed theater for Hidden Figures. Reply Parent Thread Link Awww this makes me really happy because that movie was so fucking good. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Me too!!! The whole afternoon was amazing! Reply Parent Thread Link Me too!!! I am still emotional. My heart felt all the love Reply Parent Thread Link i wish i was there but i'm not in the city currently there were nice fb posts from marty walsh and the boston police after Reply Parent Thread Link Me too! So fun. Everyone was so lovely. Reply Parent Thread Link so empowering! there were radical grandmas, families, young girls with "feminist in training" signs some of my favs: also, love this one i was at the toronto protest when it arrived at city hall (missed the march because i was working)so empowering! there were radical grandmas, families, young girls with "feminist in training" signssome of my favs:also, love this one Reply Thread Link There were 60,000 of us marching to show we don't stand for all this bullshit. #WomensMarchTO pic.twitter.com/sABBuZE78Y Tamara (@yogurtgarol) January 21, 2017 i got a pic of it! and yay wavvy i wish i knew who you were cuz if i saw you i'd give you a hug. you're always a great ontd'er <3 Reply Parent Thread Link lmao @ that last one Reply Parent Thread Link it was a great march and once we got to nathan phillips square i couldn't believe the amount of people there. everywhere you looked, all around the upper levels too :) Reply Parent Thread Link like tiffany people forget marla maples (who is american) Reply Parent Thread Link damn @ that last one can someone explain the pumpkin spice one to me? i'm from australia, idgi. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i was there, but i didn't see these signs! lmao they're great Reply Parent Thread Link The second one is so accurate Reply Parent Thread Link lol don't do nickelback dirty like that Reply Parent Thread Link im dying at the pumkin spice one. Reply Parent Thread Link That last one is something I've been thinking too. Maybe it's okay to him because they are white. Asshole. Reply Parent Thread Link Lol Taylor Swift's tweet is such a bland non event it's almost a joke. Damn her team scared to loose that republican coin huh Edited at 2017-01-22 12:46 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link Went to the one in NYC. Amazing feeling, especially compared to yesterday. I see all these people saying "fuck no" and I'm like "Hell yes" Reply Thread Link I was genuinely wondering if she's ever gonna speak up cos lbr her brand of feminism is one that only surfaces when it can get her coins I still think I'm right Reply Parent Thread Link mte her tone deaf bony ass can burn Reply Parent Thread Link I wish I could have went but I have really bad anxiety in crowds. I feel like I'm missing out on something I want to be a part of and it depresses me. I'm so happy the turn out is so high to make up for women like me with anxiety or other disabilities who couldn't go. <3 Reply Thread Link I saw so many signs saying that the person holding them was marching for all of the women who can't be there. I think we all were. And you were right to stay home if you are not good in crowds - I'm not either and I was getting a bit panicked at times. Reply Parent Thread Link Don't feel bad about taking care of yourself. I am bad in crowds and there were so many people in Boston that I was definitely swallowing down the panic & claustrophbia a few times. Reply Parent Thread Link yeah i always feel super anxious about going to this sort of event, esp since i always go alone (my one local non-work friend is someone who doesn't give a shit about any of this, smh). i really only decided last night bc i figured i'd regret it if i didn't. then i woke up this morning and almost decided to back out, but i had already spent way too much money on art supplies to make a terrible poster, and i was not about to let my flop sign go to waste! but don't worry, i'm sure tr*mp will give us plenty of reasons over the next 4 years to mobilize and protest. Edited at 2017-01-22 01:16 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link Don't be pissed baby! Crowds like that can get real overwhelming real fast. The other day I got anxiety from how packed a food court was haha. Don't beat yourself up Reply Parent Thread Link don't feel bad! i carpooled with some friends and my anxiety got so bad that i almost jumped out of the van when we were about to pull out of the driveway. but i did deep breathing and though i was kind of freaking out at first, the energy of the crowd was great and i felt better once we started marching. but had i not been in a van with other people, i might have let my anxiety get the better of me and stayed home. so i know where you're coming from <3 Reply Parent Thread Link i get major crowd anxiety but moving to an urban center has made me confront it. just a suggestion, but maybe next time (as the other poster said i think there will be many more opportunities) arrange to get to the event early before it's super packed, and leave whenever it gets to be too much; that way you've at least have attended. Edited at 2017-01-22 02:47 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link dont be pissed. all that matters is that you live your life in support of these issues. Reply Parent Thread Link dude saaaame Reply Parent Thread Link Same Reply Parent Thread Link Same. I have anxiety too, it's gotten better in the past few years but sometimes I get very overwhelmed in public. My mom and I were planning to go but our resources kinda fell apart. Reply Parent Thread Link Me too. I'm so mad at myself because I could have taken my sister with me and really show her just how we can change the world. I know it's not my fault, but still Reply Parent Thread Link I'm the same way. I get REALLY stressed and anxious in big crowds. I went to the Pulse vigil in Manhattan and it was extremely trying for me. Reply Parent Thread Link Same but I couldn't go back into the city after what had happened the day before. I wish I could have though. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i hope to go next time! i didn't know sydney was doing a march and i would've liked to have roped a friend or two to go with me. but don't be so hard on yourself; crowds can be overwhelming and there's a LOT of people there. you can be a powerful voice just by talking about it. Reply Parent Thread Link I have specific types of crowds I"m not good in, and this one tested everything. I was in DC and at 7th and Independence. I'm hurting today because I got crammed in because people wouldn't accept that there wasn't room to move (they really just wanted to see the Jumbotron and kept pushing past me, then stopping, so I ended up shoved up against strangers at weird angles). For the most part it was a great experience, but there were just some people who were bad in crowds (shoving - I may have yelled at the worst pushers, since they shoved me bodily into an older woman). But it was made better by those that were great, like people who formed chains to get people out of the crowd when they had medical emergencies. Reply Parent Thread Link im the same with crowds. i get anxious if the grocery store is too crowded. i've also been sick so standing out in the wet cold wouldnt have been good. Reply Parent Thread Link Went to NYC today! Felt so amazing and I'm so proud to be a women. It's only Trump's first day and we're not going away!!!! WOO. Reply Thread Link It is once again acceptable to be rich and successful. You are not a menace to the future of mankind. You are a key building block of the wealth, value and employment creation miracle called free enterprise. It is no longer the greedy and selfish 1 percent but the essential 1 percent; the entrepreneurial, visionary, risk-taking capitalists who have shaped the modern world as we know it and brought so much prosperity, freedom and opportunity to so many. And so it will be when self-made millionaire, developer and shameless promoter Donald Trump becomes the 45th President of the United States of America. What will he do? How will he do it? Why should Trump be any different? Be assured Trump will be different. For the last eight years under Democrat Barack Obama the U.S. has been anything other than the place where free enterprise and market forces drive the bus. Obama listened to environmentalists, signed international climate change accords and didnt appear to trust or understand the private sector. Writing about Obamas last speech Financial Post editorialist Kevin Libin wrote January 12, The president instead returned to his favorite battleground for social division: pitting the masses against the one per cent. There is stark inequality afoot in the nation, he reminded the audience. While the top one per cent has amassed a bigger share of wealth and income, it has been at the expense of a growing middle class. And too many families, in inner cities and in rural counties, have been left behind. Conversely, Trump is all business all the time. He runs a great company. Just ask him. Since the November election he has worked from his corporate office in the Trump Tower on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. No previous presidents have had multiple office buildings and other properties named after themselves. Obamas claim to fame was as a community organizer in Chicago. The only community Trump ever tried to organize and he failed was reviving Atlantic City as a major tourist destination as the Las Vegas of the Atlantic Coast. The big question is what does President Trump mean for the Canadian oilpatch? It is hard to be an Obama fan after his agonizing delays cancelling Keystone XL after he approved the original Keystone line and Alberta Clipper in the early days of his administration. But although he talked a good story about environmental protection and the need to reduce carbon emissions, the behavior of his administration was the exact opposite. Under Obama and thanks to the technological miracle of multi-stage fracturing of ever-longer horizontal wellbores, oil and natural gas production exploded. Despite what seemed to be relentless opposition to fracking thanks to green propaganda movies like Gasland, the U.S. put so much crude oil and methane on stream since Obama became President in early 2009 it collapsed the price of both. Gas was so cheap and plentiful it became an economically viable substitute for coal. The largest reduction in carbon emissions in U.S. history came from generating electricity with natural gas instead of coal. At the same time the world price of natural gas was $10 per mcf or higher America was only paying 20 percent of that amount. This became a huge economic advantage for U.S. industry compared to competitors in Europe and Asia. Putting over 4 million b/d of light tight oil on stream was a major contributor to the price collapse of November 2014. Even with the price recovery, today crude only fetches half what it did in June, 2014. A US$50 a barrel price drop saves the world a staggering US$4.8 billion a day or nearly US$1.8 trillion a year. This ensures demand growth will continue. When Obama came into power the world consumed only 84.5 million b/d. He exits the Oval Office with global oil consumption at 97 million b/d, 12.5 million b/d or nearly 15 percent higher. Under Obama the American E&P and OFS sectors experienced growth unprecedented since the last great boom of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Hundreds of billions were raised and borrowed and invested in equipment, wells, plants, pipeline and infrastructure. Exports of crude oil were permitted for the first time in decades and LNG for the first time ever. There was enough room in the exploding U.S. oilpatch for multiple Canadian E&P and OFS operators to successfully buy their way into this historically closed market. For someone who cancelled Keystone XL to appease the greens and signed Paris last year so he could have an environmental legacy, the statistics on U.S. oil and gas production growth under Obama indicate the exact opposite. He displaced some coal and gave a lot of speeches about how we should all be concerned. Thats about it. Then his policies helped reduce prices for oil and gas so much that the world has never consumed more. Related: Can Saudi Arabia Survive With Oil Below $60? Barack Obama is going to be a tough act for Donald Trump to follow. Sure, for the most part oil folks despised him. Yes, he didnt allow Keystone XL to be built. But in all fairness the North American oilpatch did rather well under this oppressive Democratic administration. On both sides of the 49th parallel. In Canada, it wasnt that our upstream oil and gas did poorly based on wages, worker shortages, investment, taxes or any other metric of success. If it hadnt been for Obama we might have done better. Maybe. But today everybody in Canada would happily trade 2017 for 2012, 2013 or 2014. Donald Trump is impossible to like. Brash. Petulant. Self-possessed. The anti-politician in a world conditioned to those who run for public office being vague, polite, polished and soothing. Trump has campaigned on righting all the anti-oil wrongs and really get the U.S. oilpatch firing on all cylinders. As nice as that sounds what does it really mean? Other than a refreshing public advocacy of how big business is better than big government, Donald Trumps policies on anything are unknown and a work-in-progress. Trump has been steadily reversing many of his campaign promises, the most significant being his determination to indict Hillary Clinton. He is the first political leader in history to communicate his thoughts on economic policy on Twitter. He has a shameless pro-American bias and has promised to examine tax policies to help repatriate offshore earnings sheltered abroad by U.S. companies because of higher taxes at home than where the cash resides. Trumps comments on trade are certainly unnerving. His promise to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is unsettling but thats the policy that includes Mexico, not the original Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Canada and the U.S. signed by Brian Mulroney and Ronald Reagan. That policy had some energy sharing provisions in it (highly controversial at the time) whereby in situations of shortages Canada is legally obligated to treat the U.S. in the same way as Canada meaning we cant just turn off the taps. There has been some musing about a Border Adjustment Tax or BAT whereby component or raw material imports by U.S. companies would not be considered a deductible expense for tax purposes. Canadian business media has written extensively in recent days about how awful this would be for Canadas massive oil and gas exports resulting in further discounts to Canadian prices. But Trump told The Wall Street Journal last week that he didnt like the idea because it was too complicated. It would also drive up the cost of U.S. energy at a time when Trump is determined to make America more competitive. Whatever the optimistic forecasts for U.S. oil production may be, on January 19 the Energy Information Administration reported crude imports of 8.4 million b/d versus production of only 8.9 million b/d. This looks like an expensive way to tax the U.S. back into prosperity. Conrad Black, a controversial Canadian corporate and media personality himself, has written extensively about how Trump is not such a bad guy. Black is one of only a handful of Canadian writers to say this and that may be a generous estimate. Last spring Black wrote, I have known Donald Trump cordially for more than 15 years, and he was an ideal business partner in a co-development of a large property in Chicago and a loyal friend in my late legal troubles. What lunacy has possessed our media to be so horrified at someone who expresses mass exasperation over 20 years of misgovernment, failed fiscal and foreign policies, crumbling infrastructure, state education, a retrograde health-care reform, hemorrhaging public debt, the invasion of the country by 12 million illegals, and a self-satisfied political class incanting soporific lullabies about the greatest nation in human history. As for Trumps views on Canada Black wrote, Most Canadian media on the Trump candidacy have drunk the liberal Kool-Aid that he is a knuckle-dragging reactionary. Typical was a Huffington Post piece on May 2 by Remi Francoeur that tried to incite fears that Trump would act against Canada in the NAFTA agreement. He has made it abundantly clear that his problems are not with U.S.-Canada free trade, but with the $58-billion trade deficit with Mexico, and the steady inflow of illegal immigrants. He has never uttered a word of recrimination against Canada. But speculate is what you do in the 10 weeks between when a completely unknown political commodity is elected and assumes office. It is hard not to worry about what your largest trading partner will do when the messages have been so mixed. On January 18, the Globe and Mail reported Canada had received official notice that the new administration wants to discuss the country of origin and dispute resolution provisions within NAFTA. But the article also said, Still, a senior government official told The Globe and Mail the signals from Mr. Trumps trade team indicate the trade focus will largely be aimed at Mexico, essentially cutting the United States southern neighbour out of many NAFTA benefits. Hopefully Conrad Black and the Globes unidentified source are right. Trump has appointed some serious pro-oil guys like the former governor of Texas and the former CEO of Exxon-Mobil to key positions in his administration. Great. He claims he will resurrect Keystone XL which is thoughtful and friendly but whether TransCanada Corp. can re-sign the shippers to fill and pay for it after all the cancelled and postponed oilsands investment of the past few years is unknown. With huge American investment in secure Canadian oil and gas supplies and all the trouble to which the U.S. went to ensure the proportionality clause in the original FTA following world oil shortages, it seems unlikely Trumps advisors such as Exxon-Mobils Rex Tillerson will support Canadian energy importation being penalized. Related: Why Big Oil Is Unprepared For The Coming Energy War It has been suggested Trumps pro-business, pro-oil policies will make the U.S. more attractive for investment than Canada. Assuming the BAT and FTA speculation are just that, problems for Canadas oilpatch are north of the border, not south. Trump is going to make the U.S. open for business including oil and gas. Canadas new governments in Alberta and Ottawa are taking this country in the opposite direction. Hopefully, history will prove Rachel Notley and Justin Trudeau are bigger problems for Canadas upstream hydrocarbon business than Donald Trump. As the idea grew that climate change was primarily caused by human fossil fuel consumption there were escalating calls for action. Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper was adamant that Canada would adopt carbon taxes, but no sooner than everyone else because global problems required global solutions. For Canada to introduce punitive carbon levies before its major trading partner would be economically damaging. Most executives and business lobby groups which support taxing carbon feel the same way. What a reversal. Stephen Harper was defeated last year in part for not being progressive enough on the climate change file and replaced by the author of a national carbon tax. Meanwhile, south of the border the reversal is equally stunning. Canada is raising the cost of being in the fossil fuel business in several ways while our largest customer appears to be going in the opposite direction. What does Donald Trump really mean for Canadas oilpatch? Donald Trump is likely not the problem. It isnt going to take draconian and unknown trade policies to render Americas largest supplier of oil and gas uncompetitive. Were doing this entirely on our own. Trumps brash and shameless support for business, enterprise, competition, wealth and success will eventually affect Canadian politics. It is already happening. On January 18th businessman, reality TV star and media personality Kevin OLeary announced his intention to run for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada. In an interview on BNN TV, OLeary was already bragging about his ability to make a deal with Trump once he becomes Prime Minister because they both speak the same language. What happens in the U.S. always affects Canada one way or another. The question is how much suffering well endure before we again harmonize essential cross-border commerce. By David Yager for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: By NW Spotlight, Oregons longest standing independent political conference called Dorchester, an amazing 53 year tradition, is moving from Seaside Oregon to the town at the heart of Oregon politics Salem. The Conference is happening at the Salem Convention Center on Saturday March 3-4th, 2017. The big keynote speaker will be announced soon. Here is the early line-up. Lori Chavez-DeRemer : Mayor of Happy Valley: 2017 Dorchester Rising Star Mayor Shane Bemis : Mayor of Gresham: Former Dorchester Rising Star Bud Pierce : Former Republican candidate for Governor: Moderating a session on reaching out to minority voters Dennis Richardson : Oregon Secretary of State: Friday night Headliner! More details here: We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. Ever wonder what your furry best friend does all day while you're away? The Wicked Ball: Interactive Dog Toy will keep them entertained until you come home, and it's only $39.99 as part READ THE REST From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As... "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. Doubtless you've laughed at the ideological war between the Judean People's Front and the People's Front of Judea . I laughed along with you: having grown up in politics, I know firsthand about the enmities that fester between groups that should be allies -- groups whose differences can only be parsed after months of study, but who are seemingly more at odds with one another than their obvious political opponents on the "other side" of the debate. The traditional explanation for this is that the personality traits that lead people to politics their passion and outrage makes it hard for them to cooperate with one another. If you care enough about politics to be an activist, you're probably kind of hard to get along with. This explanation is incomplete, and the rise and rise of networked political movements, from the "Smart Mobs" of the dawn of the net-age to yesterday's Women's March (not to mention the Pepe-weaponizing goons of the alt right; the Sanders revolution; and the Jeremy Corbyn phenomenon) points to another explanation, with another set of weaknesses and strengths. Let's start with what groups do. In 1937, Ronald Coase won the economics Nobel for The Nature of the Firm, which argues that individuals form groups to reduce "transaction costs" (the amount of work/money you have to spend to make sure that everyone is pulling in the same direction and not getting in each others' way). Coase says that the way that groups solve their coordination problems is every bit as important why they're solving those problems: the organizational models adopted by churches, criminal gangs, corporations, revolutionaries and corner shops are as significant as the purposes behind those models. Transaction costs are a huge drag on all human activity, and they're especially high for dissident political movements. A mainstream political movement gets access to all kinds of free coordination tools, from being legally permitted to open a storefront community center to having legislators in office with staffers, to getting favorable coverage in mass media, sending new supporters their way, which gives them more resources to devote to community centers and staffers and PR. Political oppositions have all kinds of costs that mainstream politics don't have to contend with: at the extreme end, dissidents have to hide their identities from one another lest one person be arrested and the rest of them "rolled up" by the police; what's more, new followers have to be willing to incur the potential risks of blacklisting, arrest, torture and execution. Even for less-imperiled oppositions, there's the risk of social censure for taking public stands outside the mainstream, reflexive dismissal or mockery in mass media, and the frustration of having to "waste" your time on routine tasks that the mainstream gets for free, like wheat-paste postering for a demonstration It's a lot easier to dabble in mainstream politics than it is to get involved in radical politics. It's easy to find a Democratic or Republican fundraiser or local committee meeting, easy to contribute some labor or cash to the cause, then disengage for a while. These mainstream events also involve a wide spectrum of views there are Reagan Republicans and Trump Republicans; Clinton Democrats and Sanders Democrats. While the sides don't get along all the time, they're less prone to splintering into mutually loathing People's Fronts of Judea and Judean People's Fronts. In terms of coordination costs, radical politics are a lot more expensive to get involved with. It's harder to discover the meetings, and just understanding the group's program probably requires quite a lot of mental work because radical politics don't enjoy the advantage of having a school system and press that continuously disseminate their worldview. There's a reason that the fundamental unit of Marxist politics is the "study group." You have to start with a relatively high level of commitment. In other words, in mainstream politics, supporters can casually date their political lives; in radical politics, you pretty much start off with a marriage proposal. This, I think, explains the People's Front of Judea conundrum of radical politics. When you're just dating, it doesn't matter if you don't find yourself out for an evening with someone you couldn't spend the rest of your life with. It may be enough that they are a good dancer or a fun conversationalist. But if you skip straight to marriage, then any irreconcilable difference is a deal-breaker. The reason two Marxists can't abide each other despite having differences so esoteric that they can only be appreciated after a month's careful reading is that they know that these differences can't be reconciled, and that, in a world of scarce followers who have to overcome significant barriers to join them, anyone who signs up for one flavor is virtually certain to never back the other. When the stakes are higher, the differences matter more. Which brings me to networked politics. Networks solve coordination costs. The cost of discovering a radical group has never been lower: combine search engines with anonymity tools with social media, and you have a way for people with extremely high-risk beliefs to discover one another, refine their views, attract more followers, and work together for their common aims. This is the force that gave rise to the pro-democratic "color revolutions," the Arab Spring movements; the Occupy Movement and Anonymous but also neofascist/hyper-nationalist movements; Al Qaeda; troll armies; and darknet pedophile rings. Lowering coordination costs confers a disproportionate benefit to radical and fringe groups, and has a much less significant effect on mainstream activities. That's because being in the mainstream means that you've already solved your coordination costs. When I was an anti-nuclear proliferation activist in Toronto in the 1980s, 98% of my job was figuring out how to pay for stamps, then address envelopes, then put the stamps on the envelopes the remaining 2% was the time I had left over to figure out what to print on the things I put inside the envelopes. By contrast, the share of resources used for coordination by organizations agitating for more nuclear weapons (NATO, NORAD, arms dealers) was a rounding error a line-item just below the coffee-and-doughnuts budget. When you make coordination costs lower, the people whose work is most constrained by coordination costs get the biggest benefit. Thus the era of networked politics has seen profound shift and significant achievements for political fringes. In the 2000s, the Smart Mobs took to the streets as in 2001, when the Philippines' People Power revolution used SMS-coordinated demonstrations to topple Joseph Estrada's corrupt regime. Through the decade, lower organization costs upended the political landscape. In 2004, Howard Dean went further than anyone had dared hope in a netroots-fuelled bid for the presidential nomination. In 2008, Obama used the netroots to parlay a message well outside the political mainstream into a technologically savvy presidency. But netroots movements have always been better at tearing down than building up. Popular Power got rid of Estrada, but didn't create the kind of lasting institutions that reformed the Philippines government that's why today the country is governed by a terrifying psychopath. Obama used the netroots to overcome the Bush legacy, but hit pause on the grubby street-level activists on day one in favor of a horse-trading, Chicago-Machine-style establishment politics where everything moved into the smoke-filled back rooms and was fatally undermined by the Tea Party, a right-wing netroots movement (with mainstream financial backing, of course) that was nearly as effective at opposing Obama as Obama's netroots had been at mobilizing against Bush. In Egypt, the netroots kicked out Mubarak something the traditionally organized opposition failed to do in 30 years but the country turned around and promptly elected an intolerant, authoritarian Islamist government that was then toppled in a military coup, leaving the country governed by murderers and torturers who are no more accountable than Mubarak was for his 30 year run. Occupy was an attempt to force Obama to govern from the netroots, and it went further than anyone could have imagined, but it did not push Obama to the left; nor did it create an alternative power structure that was powerful enough to overturn the Democratic establishment (yet) or win the 2016 elections. Which brings me to Donald Trump, and the Women's March. Trump is the first US leader to use the netroots to both tear down his opponent and then take power in the resulting vacuum. He is going to try to govern with his netroots, not just ride them to power. If he manages it, there will be lessons in it for every kind of radical political movement, regardless of orientation, because as Coase told us in '37, how you organize is every bit as important as why you organize. The Women's March is a political mirror image of Trump. One need only review the amazing, creative protest signage to appreciate the political spectrum spanned by the protesters. Like Occupy, the Women's March has articulated a very broad political agenda with something for everyone and also elements that its members might object to, but needn't sign up for in order to count themselves in. Like Occupy, the costs of discovering and participating in the Women's March are low, and like Occupy, the Women's March has used the net to spread around the world, finding solidarity with people distant from the immediate effects of trumpism, but who see their own struggles symbolically represented in the broad goals of the Women's March. Depending on how you view them, Trump supporters can lack political coherence: they want a militaristic strongman who promises to get America out of foreign wars; they want a free-market businessman who gives everyone single-payer healthcare; they want someone who'll drain the swamp by appointing a cabinet of political hacks and billionaires (sometimes these are the same people). Likewise, the resistance embodies many political contradictions: intersectionalism and class-based analysis; those who extol ACA and those who believe it is a gift to the insurance companies whose only virtue might have been to collapse in a way that paved the path for single-payer; those who overlook Obama's record on deportations, banks, drones and surveillance and those who say they make Obama (and Clinton) no better than Bush or Trump where it counts. Sanders and Clinton and all the spaces between them. The good news is that networked politics makes it possible for us all to march together. The good news is also that Trump will have a very hard time governing with his netroots, because winning is easy, governing is harder. The asymmetries that Trump rode to power now tilt towards his opponents and the realpolitik difficulties that hamstrung Trump's oppositions are now Trump's to navigate. The Women's March may be the defining moment of politics for the Facebook age, but it's also the latest refinement of opposition politics powered by networks. It has two decades of lessons to learn from, and a generation of activists who grew up inventing and refining the tools that brought it together. What it invents next will be shared by radical groups all around the world, on every side of the political spectrum, and it will also borrow the tactics of those groups all around the world. It signals "no more business as usual" every bit as much as Trump does. (Images: Bruce Sterling) State Assemblyman Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, said he would vote for a standalone measure to restrict limited liability corporations to the same aggregate campaign contributions as regular corporations, but he would prefer it be part of a broader package that also would include reform of campaign finance restriction for labor unions. "If I had to, I'd vote for it by itself," Stec said Thursday, referring to the so-called LLC Loophole, at a Glens Falls 5th Ward community meeting at Big Cross Elementary School. Under current state law, corporations are limited to a total of $5,000 in contributions to all candidates in a calendar year, while limited liability corporations have a much higher aggregate limit of $150,000. Underground Railroad lecture series to begin CHESTER The Friends of the Town of Chester Library will host a new lecture series with a discussion by Donna Lagoy, author of The Underground Railroad in the Adirondack Town of Chester, at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the library, 1784 Kings Highway. For more information, call 494-5384. Auditions set for Lend Me a Tenor NORTH CREEK Our Town Theatre Group will hold auditions for its spring 2017 main stage production of Ken Ludwigs Lend Me a Tenor at 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday at the Lyle Dye Auditorium in Tannery Pond Community Center, 228 Main St., North Creek. Roles are available for four females and four males. All materials are provided. No preparation necessary. Actors will read selected scenes and only need to attend one of two nights of auditions. Perusal scripts are available at Johnsburg, Indian Lake and Chestertown libraries. Performances will be March 24-26. Learn to act in improv theater QUEENSBURY The Adirondack Problem Solving Theater is seeking volunteers to be trained to participate in an improv theater program from noon to 2 p.m. Jan. 29 at the Unitarian Universalist in Queensbury, 21 Weeks Road. Contact Randi Klemish at 502-3444 or healandtransformation@yahoo.com. Lego Club meeting set in Cambridge CAMBRIDGE The Lego Club at Cambridge Public Library will meet from 5 to 6 p.m. Feb. 4 at the library, 21 W. Main St. Children of all ages are welcome to attend. The clubs building challenge will be space-themed. For more information, call 677-2443 or visit the librarys website. Library to receive 100 new books HORICON The Horicon Free Public Library is receiving a gift of 100 new childrens books in February, ranging from pre-kindergarten through early readers. These books are a donation from the Brownstone Book Fund, a private foundation in New York City interested in fostering early reading, a love of books and encouraging parents and children to read together. Ice fishing tourney and fundraiser set COSSAYUNA The Cossayuna Lake Ice Fishing Tournament and 50/50 raffle fundraiser will start at 5:30 a.m. Feb. 4 at the Cossayuna Fire House, corner of Bunker Hill and East Lake roads. Proceeds will help fund the Cossayuna Lake Improvement Association. Registration takes place from 5:30 to 8 a.m. at the firehouse. No fish will be measured after 3:30 p.m. For more information, call 338-8432. Get your taxes done for free The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program is offering free tax help to families and individuals whose household income is below $54,000. In addition to free tax return preparation assistance, free electronic filing will be offered. Individuals taking advantage of the e-file program will receive their refunds in half the time compared to returns filed on paper. Tax returns with stock sales, business or rental income cannot be completed by VITA. To schedule a tax appointment for Warren and Washington counties, call 800-211-5128. Queensbury Senior Citizens leader hired QUEENSBURY The Queensbury Senior Citizens Inc. has hired Kathryn Cramer as director of operations. Cramer comes to the Queensbury seniors from the Liberty House Foundation, where she worked in various capacities since 2003, including her most recent role as clinical coordinator. Book sale planned at Chester library CHESTER The Friends of the Chester Public Library will hold its Winter Book Sale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 24 and 25 on the second floor of the Municipal Building, 6307 state Route 9. This year, there is the usual selections of novels mystery, romance, cooking, history and 60 more categories as well as a wide selection of large print, biography and many vinyl records. The childrens alcove is organized with offerings for preschool, by grade and chapter books. There are audio and video CDs as well as magazines, games and puzzles. For additional information, call 494-5384. JEREMIE, Haiti After five days of hiding in a darkened Haitian home amid the sounds of gunfire, anti-American riots and chants of kill Americans, Kate Bartow of Hadley decided to come out of the shadows. I thought, This is not a time to run, she said by phone from Haiti this week. I thought, I can hide or make a stand. I felt like I wanted to talk to the leaders of the riots. Bartow, 23, who has been coming to Haiti with her parents Bryan and Lisa Bartow, also of Hadley, since she was a baby, is currently on the island to help the people living in Jeremie continue to mend after the devastating effects of Hurricane Matthew. Arriving in Jeremie the capitol city of the Grand Anse department on Jan. 5, Bartow found herself in the middle of unforeseen chaos. Her most recent trip to the hurricane-ravaged city collided with the arrest of local populist hero and senator-elect Guy Philippe, who has been on the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agencys most-wanted list for many years. After a relaxing first day in Jeremie with family friends and cooking with her Haitian Mama, as she calls her, Bartow was settling into the new bedroom they had built for her. On day two of her visit, she admired her friends new roof and helped paint newly constructed rooms. But a taxi trip into the downtown area dramatically changed her visit. I felt a tension in the air. All of a sudden, hundreds of people were running towards us, yelling. Hundreds of people were sprinting through town, chanting and waving anything they can get their hands on, she said. Burning tires littered the streets and the town was covered in thick, billowing smoke. Immediately after Philippes arrest by a Haitian National Police narcotics unit at a Port-au-Prince radio station, U.S. federal agents flew him to Miami. Facing international narcotics trafficking and money laundering conspiracy charges, Philippe pleaded not guilty on Jan. 6. During an initial hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry L. Garber in Miami federal court, Philippe was ordered held without bond, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. When word of the newly elected senators arrest and swift extradition spread, Haitian lawmakers challenged the legality of such a move and riots erupted in Jeremies streets. There were reports of increasing violence with Haitians scouring hotels to kidnap and kill foreigners. The New York Times reported that The United Nations Humanitarian Air Service removed two dozen people from the region, while church groups hired private planes to evacuate volunteers. Bartow said protesters ransacked Hotel La Cabane where a group of Americans were staying. The blan (white Americans) had enough time to have a helicopter evacuate them, she said. They (rioters) went through the whole hotel. They also went to an orphanage where they knew blan were staying and stole suitcases and passports. She continued. The rioters said, Since Guy Philippe was taken from us, we are going to take blan. And they were searching all over the village and in hotels to take blan and kidnap them. The UN came and they escorted Americans out, Bartow said. I was the last blan here; everyone was saying, Leave. Bartow, who is part Haitian on her mothers side, said the she does not know if the accounts of Philippes crimes are true, but she does know that Haitians see him as their only hope. He stood up against Aristide when no one else would, she said, referring to former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. They need him back. They say the U.S. walked on them and that is very offensive. They feel like the Americans attacked their sovereignty through the extradition of Guy Philippe. They say the U.S. has walked on us because we are little. While head of police in 2004, Philippe, often referred to as a rebel leader, allegedly orchestrated a coup detat against Aristide and was responsible for his eventual ouster. I am not sure if Guy Philippe is as bad as they say he is, but what I do know is something Wadson (protest leader) said. He was a friend to me. He was a brother to me. He was a father to me. He is my hero and he is my liberator, Bartow shared. A Haitian legacy The Bartows Haitian history goes back generations, Lisa Bartow said. Im half Haitian. Jeremie is my Moms hometown, she said. My great-grandpa was Haitian and he founded 10 churches outside of Jeremie. And just like her daughter, Lisa has been going to Haiti since she was a baby and now continues her family legacy of supporting the people who live there through their Full Life Crusade (FLC7.com) nonprofit. Still, she was not certain how the protesters would react to her daughter being there at this time. I didnt know how the Haitians would respond to her she was staying with friends of our family, they have been our friends for 30 or 40 years, she said, adding that her husband was the best man in the couples wedding. As a mom, its pretty awful to know your kids are in danger, as every soldiers mother also knows. However, trusting in Gods guidance and provision is how we are able to do the things weve done. When there is not a crisis, the Bartows go to visit people in the countryside several times a year, just like her great-grandfather did, to love them and share time with them, she said. And they take groups from the Glens Falls area on trips with them. But during an emergency, like the recent hurricane, they step in with aid. We have been taking teams to Haiti for 25 years church groups, medical teams, dental teams, you name it. Depending on the team and their focus, we put a custom trip together for them where they can work within our churches, Lisa said. We make it a point to connect Americans with the Haitian people so that they come away with a very authentic experience. About two weeks after Hurricane Matthew, the Bartows and others from the Glens Falls region traveled to Haiti to help the wounded. And since then, the Bartows and FLC have been gathering building supplies and tools to help rebuild homes. Emergency nurse Jen Rayder of Stony Creek has been on two trips to Haiti with the Bartows. I love the Bartows, they do things very differently than other missions, she said. The Bartows meet the Haitians where they are at. They dont try to Americanize them. And the Haitians are so thankful for everything it is so rewarding to have someone say thank you. Currently, there is a container packed with building supplies and tools sitting in customs in Port au Prince, Lisa said, adding that many of the people still do not have any shelter. Its tragic. The people dont have homes or roofs. The greatest need right now is for tarps, steel, lumber, roofing, hurricane straps, seeds, fruit trees, tools, screw guns. The building supplies, temporary shelters, tarps, were purchased with donations to FLC. We dealt with Curtis Lumber in Warrensburg and Tractor Supply in Queensbury, Lisa said of their current aid. Depending on how the supplies are used, up to 1,500 families in 11 communities could be touched. Some may go to community shelters rather than individual homes. Right now we are raising money toward the purchase of a saw mill we can ship down so as not to see all the downed trees go to waste. Those can be turned into building materials as well. Opening the door for aid When Kate Bartow decided to come out of hiding, she met with protest leaders in Jeremie and single-handedly negotiated a peace agreement. And because of Bartows pacification of angered leaders, a handful of American aid workers can now return to the hurricane-ravaged region. Bartow tells the story of her meeting about 10 days ago. I went in the dark of the night to an area of Jeremie I had never been. There was a guard at the gate and there were two big metal doors. We entered and were in a room totally empty except for a generator and a small dim light bulb hanging from a wire. We continue through and there is a long hallway with a light at the end, Bartow said of her harrowing middle of the night meeting. We walk through the long hallway and into a room full of men sitting in a circle. They are big and strong, wearing tight T-shirts, gold chains. They asked, Why are you here? She said she told them she wanted to stand with them. They were impressed that this white girl with a skinny Haitian came to talk to them. They could have kidnapped or killed us I was not nervous, I was not afraid, she said. Im a firm believer in God and I prayed about it you cant be driven by fear. They asked me to walk with them in the rally the next day and to meet them in the morning. In telling her story, Bartow said she arrived at the leaders home and he was wearing a white T-shirt, along with the crew, and he sent someone out to buy her a white T-shirt before they walked. She explained that she was in a rough part of town and the march started at his home. I am standing in front with him and his men. As we march, more and more follow. Two hundred. Three hundred. Four hundred. People stare at me, Bartow writes in her blog about Haiti. No one kisses and winks at me like they usually do. They just watch me with respect. I am for them. We arrive at the town square and hundreds of people are packed tightly together. Holding signs high and cheering for the freedom of Guy Philippe. I have never experienced anything like this. We get on a truck and the leader speaks and sings into the microphone. There are thousands of people following. The march lasts for six hours. Speeches and songs. It is powerful. Everyone stands together. As the march comes to a close, the leaders give Bartow the microphone. I tell everyone that all Americans are not against them, she said. Everyone has seen me, everyone knows who I am. I am safe. Our people are safe. I was in the right place at the right time and I am glad I got to stand for Haitians and Americans. Bartow said she now travels freely throughout Jeremie and if an American is coming to help, she gives the leaders their picture and they are allowed to enter the city. What is brilliant about this is Kate has assured the safe passage of relief, Lisa Bartow said. We are involved in Haiti because we love the people. Its that simple. They are some of our closest friends. FORT ANN Supervisor Richard Moore received a good-news letter from the state earlier this month. The Department of Transportation informed the town its has been approved for $342,000 to replace a culvert on Hogtown Road over the Mount Hope Brook through the Bridge New York program. The culvert basically serves as a bridge, and it has basically outlived its lifespan and needs to be replaced, Moore said. Its great that we were able to get the funding so we will be able to do this. Fort Ann applied for the program, and the Hogtown Road project was chosen on the basis of a competitive scoring process, taking the amount of funding available into account. The town will have to spend the money or provide in-kind services in advance and will receive the funding as a reimbursement from the state. Were going to need to meet with the state and determine what combination of contractors and town workers will be the best way to get the work done, Moore said. The town highway department will also be doing some work for the Department of Environmental Conservation, Moore said, noting he and highway supervisor Paul Winchell had met with DEC officials. Paul and I met last week with a group of individuals from the DEC regarding some work they would like the town to do for them this spring and summer up in the Shelving Rock area, Moore said. The work would consist of improving some parking lots, grading of a road and some signage. The DEC is going to be sending us a scope of work for the project so we can then estimate the number of work hours and the costs to do the work. In an unrelated announcement, Moore said that Town Board meetings, held on the second Monday of the month, will be moved to 6 p.m., rather than 7 p.m., because meetings have been getting over very late. The meetings are now being held at the Fort Ann Fire Company. Area legislators are skeptical of Gov. Andrew Cuomos proposals to hold public referendums on municipal shared services plans and to establish a new state-funded scholarship program. Legislators said both initatives in Cuomos state budget proposal are well-intentioned, but are not the best ways to address problems. Area legislators, meanwhile, like Cuomos proposal for a $2 billion, 5-year program to assist municipalities with water and sewer infrastructure upgrades. Cuomo, expanding on his tax cap emphasis, proposed that each county be required to prepare a government efficiency and shared services plan that would be put up for county-wide public referendums in November. Cuomo has said the referendum would increase accountability for local officials. Area legislators said local officials already are committed to efficiency. In the formulation of that as a priority, I think he (Cuomo) shows a lack of understanding of what is really happening in municipal government, state Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake, said in a telephone interview on Thursday. At this point, the things that our villages and towns and cities and counties need is for us to get serious about identifying the mandates we have put on them and start to unwind some of those, she said. Around here, I dont think the counties needed the Albany control, said Assemblyman Dan Stec, in a legislative update presentation Thursday at a Glens Falls 5th Ward community meeting. Stec said holding 62 public referendums across the state would not be practical. Legislators said they are dubious of Cuomos cost estimates for his proposal for a new scholarship program to guarantee full tuition subsidies for middle class students at state universities and community colleges in New York. The proposed program would provide scholarships to cover any tuition left after federal Pell and state TAP grants are utilized. We could probably accomplish the same thing by providing greater state aid to our institutions of higher learning so they could manage their costs better and not have to increase tuition every year, Woerner said. We all want to control the cost of college, Stec said. We need to have a discussion. Legislators said Cuomos water and sewer infrastructure program will meet a dire need, but ideally it would have more funding. I think the fact that we are directing resources to it is good. But $2 billion over a five-year period is a mere drop in the bucket, Woerner said. So $2 billion is a lot better than zero. But its a small downpayment on the need, Stec said. Woerner praised Cuomos proposal to increase state funding for early college high school programs by $5.3 million, with an emphasis on courses in computer science. The ones that we have in this area are clearly paying off in terms of kids finding their passion early and pursuing it, she said. Stec said, on the surface, Cuomos proposal for a statewide bicycle and walking trail system is promising. I think hes got a strong argument. Id like to see more details, he said. GLENS FALLS A throng of women, men, children and dogs packed both sides of Warren Street at noon Saturday as they made their way toward Centennial Circle amid honking horns, cheering and chants of girls are strong, Trump is wrong. Marching in solidarity with planned protest marches around the world, many said they believed that the recent presidential election and Fridays inauguration of President Donald Trump awakened America; that this march is part of a movement to stop increasing hatred and racism and to protect basic human rights and the dignity of women as well as economic freedoms and environmental issues. As more and more protesters poured into the meeting place in front of Planned Parenthood just before noon, it was evident there was no more room and the packed-in crowd began spilling into the street. There were strollers, puppies donning messages like Pups against Trump, men, women and babies wearing the now-famous knit pink pussyhats created after President Trump was seen and heard on video talking about how he can just grab a woman by her genitals and hundreds of hand-crafted and professionally made signs. Trump, Stefanik were watching you. If you are not outraged, you are not paying attention. You cant combover racism. My father didnt escape the Nazis for this. Our rights are not up for grabs and neither are we. Love conquers hate. By the time the marchers made it to Centennial Circle, with all corners of the circle packed with demonstrators, some estimated the growing crowd to be near 1,500. Originally, there was a planned event for the rallys end in the downstairs auditorium of Crandall Public Library for what organizers thought would be a crowd of about 150. But marchers were directed to City Park because the library could not accommodate such a large crowd. I am stunned, said Enid Mastrianni, one of the organizers of the Glens Falls Womens March, referring to the turnout. What started as a Facebook event page calling for a march on Washington, D.C. by retired attorney and grandmother Teresa Shook of Hawaii, who was troubled about President Trump being elected, grew into a march of millions, including the march on Washington, D.C. and more than 670 sister marches in cities around the world. Suzanne Cohen of Greenwich came because she is scared. My father, his brothers and their parents escaped Nazi Germany. They were all in the U.S. military. There is a lot of anti-Semitism but its about human rights, Cohen said at the march on Saturday. She was wearing a knitted pink pussyhat that a Facebook friend made and mailed her. There are scary things, all this hatred. But I am happy and encouraged to see so many people at a sad time. There were many mother-daughter pairs marching to protect the rights of women, including Nancy and Arlene Holzman. I am grateful to be here with my mother, said Nancy. And it is empowering in the face of despair. I owe this to my parents. I wouldnt be here if I wasnt taught that this is what democracy is all about. And Nancys mother, wearing a pink pussyhat, said that as long as she can still walk, she will march and speak up for what she believes is right. Why was she walking with the Glens Falls march? There isnt enough time for you to hear all the reasons. This is really important, she said. I started with the civil rights movement, then Vietnam and now. Nancy Holzmans husband, Jim Stegman, who was also at the march, said that men need to stand committed to the right of people and women in particular. As a man, this is an important issue, he said. Once the large crowd filled one end of City Park, speakers urged everyone to write to their congressman or congresswoman every day. We cant lose momentum. Were all fired up today, we need to stand together and still be fired up a year from today, said Cathleen Cardone, the health center director of Planned Parenthood in Glens Falls. Planned Parenthood was one of the march collaborators. Cardone said initially she did not expect such a huge outpouring of support, but then the information about the march went viral on social media and it was shared with other counties. I think its extraordinary. It was peaceful, supportive, she said. And Glens Falls police, who were assisting with traffic and helping the marchers cross downtown streets safely, agreed. There was no trouble at all, said Sgt. Carl Matteson. It really went well. There were a handful of protesters opposed to Saturdays march and they were holding anti-Planned Parenthood signs, large rosaries and praying the Hail Mary in front of Planned Parenthood as the march began. Organizers said there will be another meeting at the library on Feb. 18. To me, its not a political rally or who is in office. Its about people having a voice and taking action for life, said Sarah Tamlin of Silver Bay. We need to look at history and see what we need to change for life on Mother Earth. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Home Regional News East Thanks for signing up for our daily insight on the African economy. We bring you daily editor picks from the best Business Insider news content so you can stay updated on the latest topics and conversations on the African market, leaders, careers and lifestyle. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Joel, highly acclaimed for his versatility, is also known for songs as Give Me Room, Radio Man, and Forever Living. In Twerki Ma Me , Joel says what all men want to say to their wife, girlfriend or lover. Joel Orleans leads a new generation of young Ghanaian artistes who are more prolific with their command of the English language and slang, combine that with Joels wordplay of Twi and you create something special. For the first time in Ghana alcoholic beverage company Jack Daniels is supporting an Artiste to put out a single. I will look at it again with technical people [at the Attorney Generals office]. As I understand, there are many amendments. When there are many amendments it requires that you look at it carefully, otherwise in trying to improve on it, you may miss certain details that may not make it as good as intended. "Should I be given approval, it is one of the things that I will look at when I assume office, she told the Vetting Committee of Parliament on Saturday, January 21, 2017. Explainer To die intestate means to die without a will stating who one wishes to bequeath their estate to. Before PNDC Law 111, scenes of widows, whose husbands died intestate, being driven out of their matrimonial homes by the husbands family were very common. In 2014, during a discussion of the Intestate Succession Bill, Nelson Abudu, the Member of Parliament for Daboya suggested that women who have children outside their marriage be stoned as punishment. Appearing before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Saturday, Mr Dery said the government under Nana Akufo-Addo will ensure that security agencies operate within the law and within the context of the human rights of the suspects. A suspect is a suspect until convicted and we expect the security services, the Police and all those concerned to professionally do their work. If there is the need to detain somebody beyond 48 hours, it can only be on the direction of a court. We will insist they respect the law, respect the rights of suspect until they are convicted, he stated. His comments were in response to a question by the Committee as to what he would do to ensure that suspects are not kept beyond the constitutionally mandated 48 hours. The police in Ghana have often come under heavy criticism following some conducts deem as unprofessional, especially with regards to the disrespect of the human rights of citizens. READ ALSO: 11 police officers moved from Flagstaff House Some police officers have so far been arrested and prosecuted for engaging in some unlawful and corrupt activities. But at the vetting on Saturday, Mr Dery assured the general public that he would work hard to maintain professionalism within the police service. Mr Dery further said he would endeavour to put a stop to the practice whereby police officers mount road checkpoints ostensibly to extort money from drivers. READ ALSO: GHANASS The Effiduase District Police Commander, ASP Dan Yaaro, who confirmed the incident to Accra-based Citi FM said Yes, I can confirm the accident at Koforidua Ghana Senior High School, which occurred last[Saturday] night. We are currently in the school conducting investigations into the incident, and we will address the media at the appropriate time. A student, who witnessed how the incident occurred said: The tree just fell and about six people got injured. There were a lot of people there, but most of them managed to run away so they were not affected. The injured have since been sent to the St. Josephs Roman Hospital for treatment. The gatherings main focus was the heavily guarded US Embassy in the Cantonments neighbourhood where the marchers expressed their displeasure with placards and chanted slogans affirming their support for climate science, human rights, media freedom and gender equality. READ ALSO: The Accra march was a sister march in solidarity with the main march in Washington DC which is believed to have drawn over 1.5 million marchers, more than the numbers that showed up for Donald Trumps inauguration on Friday January 20. That march was attended by a number of high profile personalities including music stars Angelique Kidjo, Alicia Keys, Madonna and the actress Patricia Arquette. There were sister marches across all major US cities and around the world, in Rio, Nairobi, Tokyo, Sydney, London and even Antarctica. READ ALSO: During the 2016 election campaign, Donald Trump, made a number of pronouncement that have been deemed sexist and racist. He mocked a disabled person, called Mexicans rapists and was accused of rape by a number of women.A recording of him also surfaced with him talking about grabbing women by their genitals. According to reports, Samuel revealed that he was lured into marrying her by a fake pastor just two weeks after they met. Their marriage has however opened up a gate of problems for him as Comfort never yields to corrections. The complainant is concerned that the situation may affect his church ministry negatively, and to prevent this, he has sought the dissolution of their marriage. I was forced to marry Comfort by a fake prophet at a church where I once served as an assistant pastor. Comfort and I met for just two weeks before our wedding. It was when we started living as husband and wife that Comfort showed her true colour. Whenever I tried to tell her that her behaviour was wrong, she would grab my shirt and start shouting. Before her sudden change and cruel attitude, I prayed and God revealed to me that Comfort wasnt my wife. I chose wrongly. I cant find peace in my house. I dont love her anymore. I dont want this to tarnish my ministry and my reputation as a pastor. "Thats why I decided to file a divorce. I think the divorce would bring peace to my ministry, Samuel told the court president, Williams Philips. ALSO READ: Man seeks divorce from wife for removing phone battery On her part, Comfort expressed surprise that her husband has filed for divorce, claiming that they had been on good terms as long as she could remember. Masari gave the task at the graduation ceremony of 82 Islamiyya students that have successfully memorised the Holy Quran held at Madarasatul Hidayatul Islam Wa Tahfizul Quran in Malumfashi Local Government Area of the state. The governor was represented by the Chairman, Katsina State Independent Electoral Commission (KATSIEC), Alhaji Ibrahim Bako. Masari emphasised the significance of both modern education and religious knowledge in the overall development of children in the society. The governor also called for the establishment of more faith-based schools for the purpose of imparting both religious knowledge and teaching modern education simultaneously in the society. According to him, such schools enhance moral training of the youths who will shun social vices and contribute meaningfully towards rapid development of their immediate environment. Masari appealed to wealthy individuals to support the efforts aimed at bringing up morally sound youth and children while commending the contributions of individuals such as Malam Nuhu Maiwada, Alhaji Jibrin Jibson, Malam Muntari Sagir and Malam Abubakar Murtala. The governor urged school teachers and other stakeholders to redouble their efforts at producing children with all round development, describing education as pivot of development in every community. He stressed the need for monitoring and evaluation in ensuring that quality education is provided at all times. In his remarks, Justice Mamman Nasir, retired President of Appeal Court of Appeal and District Head of Malumfashi, called on government to give priority attention to Islamiyya schools at the grassroots in view of their importance in promoting a morally upright society. Represented by Alhaji Bello Sada, Nasir pledged the continued support of the traditional institution to all efforts geared towards propagating Islam and promoting discipline among the youth and children in the community. ALSO READ: Aminu Masari to spend N200m to train 500 youths The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that N1.2 million was contributed at the launching of an appeal fund for the construction of the permanent site for the school and public presentation of the schools almanac. The Alagua of Agbeyangi, Alhaji Aliyu Baba, said in statement in Ilorin that a media report to that effect was not true. A national daily had reported that some items, belonging to suspected Boko Haram insurgents, were found in the community. But Baba, the community head, stated that the purported items belong to some Fulani herdsmen migrating from the North and awaiting screening before they could be allowed into the community. According to him, it is a tradition in the community that herdsmen, migrating into the area, are subjected to screening before they are admitted. He said that the Police were aware of the development and were also involved in the screening because of the state of insecurity in the country. The traditional ruler also explained that stakeholders have met on the issue and have ordered the herdsmen to pack the items, and they had complied. The statement urged journalists to always cross-check their facts before going to press to avoid misinformation that could trigger anxiety in society. This is in reaction to a statement issued by the embattled former minister, who has been allegedly indicted in several corruption cases, saying she never stole from Nigeria. Alsion-Madueke, in her statement, said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is misleading. The former minister also said President Buharis war on corruption is aimed at rubbishing the image of some select Nigerians. According to Punch, Sagay said She should reserve her energy for her trial. If a $153m was found in accounts linked to her and she was the minister selling oil on behalf of the government, one does not need to put two and two together. Her statement is premature; let her prepare it for her defence. I am sure you have watched the movie, The Godfather. The real godfather never shoots anyone by himself. All he needs to do is press a button and someone else will do it but that doesnt mean that the murder cannot be traced to him. So, when Diezanis trial begins, the truth will be made known. Also, the Director General of the Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu asked Alison-Madueke to come back to Nigeria and clear her name. Okechukwu said She was right when she said the money confiscated from her by the EFCC is not her money. Of course, it is not her money, it is the money which belong to the long-suffering Nigerian taxpayers which she took and converted to personal use. While in office as super minister, she never thought a day would come when she would be called to give account, but today, there are questions she does not have answers to. The EFCC is a legal entity set up by law. If tomorrow I leave office as DG VON and there is reason for the EFCC to investigate me, they will and I will not be hiding under any guise to escape justice. In 2013, money was voted and a ceremony was held by the (ex-President Goodluck) Jonathan administration that they were going to build three refineries, one in Bayelsa, one in Kogi and another place. Where are those refineries? Where is the money? Nigerians are wiser than before. All these sentiments wont sit well with Nigerians any longer. She should return and help the EFCC recover what was stolen. Alison-Madueke also faulted President Buharis war on corruption saying that it is aimed at rubbishing the image of some select Nigerians. The former minister said The fight against corruption in Nigeria will be far better served if the EFCC focused on incontrovertible facts, as opposed to media sensationalism and completely distorted stories, in its bid to demonise and destroy a few specially chosen Nigerians. She also revealed that she left $5.6bn in the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) dividend funds, adding that during her time, there was no fuel scarcity. Alison-Madueke also said the EFCC sensationalised the story about the estates in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, saying it was her family house which she declared in her Asset Declaration form with the Code of Conduct Bureau. She said On November 9, 2016, the EFCC officials visited our family home in Yenagoa as pre-agreed and they were escorted around the premises. I was therefore completely shocked to once again see my name sensationally splashed across the front pages of newspapers and widely circulated on the Internet, with blaring headlines such as EFCC uncovers Diezanis multibillion-naira estate. There was absolutely nothing hidden or concealed about the home. I had declared it openly as required by law, in my Asset Declaration forms (Annex-4B). Yet the EFCC announced that it just discovered my hidden estate and labelled it a multibillion-naira estate even though it had been given the Bill of Quantities, showing actual amount spent. The EFCC (officials) were taken on a tour of the compound which consisted of a main house, and two outhouses an obi (meeting bungalow) and a staff quarters (BQ) building above which we built three guest rooms and a parlour. The other two structures are the gate and generator houses. Construction began in late 2011 and was handled in phases. During the visit, the EFCC was given the bill of quantities, which up to the time construction stopped in early 2015, due to my illness, was at approximately N394m which was declared in the Code of Conduct documentation attached (the costs were partially funded by a loan see code of conduct Annex4B, the work is still uncompleted and the contractor is still being owed). Building costs escalated as a result of delays in construction and external factors such as the extreme flooding of late 2012 that covered most of our areas in the Niger Delta. She also denied any involvement in the $1.3bn Malabu oil scandal involving the very lucrative oil bloc known as OPL 245. The former minister said I wish to categorically state that I have never held any discussion on this matter with any individual or entities outside of official channels. As the minister of petroleum resources, I did not participate in any activity relating to financial payments on the Malabu matter, other than those statutorily mandated to the Minister of Petroleum Resources by the Petroleum Act. My role in this matter was a purely statutory one as required by law in the Petroleum Act. Alison-Madueke also said she is the owner of the $18m (N5.7bn) mansion located on Margaret Thatcher Close, Asokoro, Abuja, as reported by the EFCC. She further revealed that the multi-billion Naira property belongs to Kola Aluko, a close associate of hers, according to reports. On the Asokoro mansion, she had this to say: On June 13, 2016, the EFCC once again took their well-trodden path to the media; this time claiming that they had discovered a mansion in Asokoro, Abuja, worth $18m (about N9bn) which they purported to belong to me. The EFCC went to the extent of bringing in Al Jazeera, an international TV station, to air a damaging documentary against me in this regard, showing a particular residential building in Asokoro, Abuja, which they told Al Jazeera belonged to me. The EFCC Chairman Ibrahim Magu, personally took the Al Jazeera reporter to the building, alleging that it belonged to me. It has since become apparent that the house belongs to a company owned by Mr. Kola Aluko. If this is not a witch-hunt or a personal vendetta against me, how is it that one of our countrys premier investigative agencies was unable to avail itself of facts that are freely available in the public domain? Since the EFCC claimed that the alleged $18m Asokoro property belongs to me, then it should kindly produce the authentic Certificate of Occupancy and land registry information and any other relevant information as proof of my ownership of the property. According to Punch, the former minister also faulted reports saying that the Federal High Court in Lagos ordered that the $153m which she allegedly stashed away, be forfeited to the Federal Government. She said she never had access to funds from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). I wish to state that I cannot forfeit what was never mine. I do not know the basis on which the EFCC has chosen to say that I am the owner of these funds as no evidence was provided against me before the order was obtained and they have not in fact served me with the order or any evidence since they obtained it. As of the time of my writing this rebuttal (January 19, 2017), the EFCC has still not furnished me or my lawyers with a copy of the order, the former minister added. In their separate posts, published on their Twitter handles, Mr Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President and Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, dismissed the reports as false and clear case of mischief. Adesina said: Best wishes to all who wish PMB well. As for those who carry evil rumours, may they receive grave to repent. Shehu also dismissed the rumour that President Buhari was dead as being speculated by mischief makers. He also described as false and untrue the report that the President was flown to Germany. Shehu said: He is alive and well! President Buhari is not magical. He cannot be holidaying in the UK and be in Germany, dead or alive at the same time. He is unlike a past President who was at Ota, with Chief Obasanjo and attending the Trump inauguration in D.C, being in two places at the same time! President Muhammadu Buhari left Abuja for the United Kingdom on Thursday on a short leave, which is part of his annual vacation. Adesina, the Presidents Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, who made this known, on Thursday, said: During the vacation, the President will also undergo routine medical check-ups. Adding that He is expected to resume work on Feb. 6, 2017. While away, the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, will perform the functions of the Office of the President. ALSO READ:Buhari meets service chiefs before 10 days vacation You will recall that Idris-Doka announced that Al-Mizan has been de-registered from the NUJ, because of its links to the Shiite sect. According to Daily Post, the Newspaper, in a statement said Al-Mizan like other vernacular papers is a Hausa Newspaper and not a religious newspaper and does not belong to any Shiite organization as wrongly depicted by the dissolved EXCO. More so, the Al-Mizan chapel is one of the 13 chapels of the Nigerian Union of Journalists Kaduna Council under which are several other Hausa newspapers that include Al-Mizan Newspaper, Gamji Newspaper, Dillaliya Newspaper, Kunnen Gari Newspaper, Dimokuradiyya Newspaper and Pointer Express which was duly registered with the Union after satisfying all the requirements. It is overwhelming to hear a dissolved EXCO engaging in illegality and declaring the deregistration of the Al-Mizan newspaper and the chapel. We wish to call on all and sundry to disregard the illegal deregistration announced by the desperate dissolved EXCO. CACOL also confirmed that President Buhari has re-submitted Magus name to the Senate for confirmation, Daily Post reports. According to the Executive Chairman of CACOL, Debo Adeniran, Let us drop all drop pretences; the main reason Magu was rejected in the first place by the Senate is the reality that he truly qualifies for that job and will really be thorough in his operations regardless of whose ox is gored. And this is what the incurably corrupt elements in the hallowed Chambers and their co-travelers in other public offices do not feel comfortable with and does not want to happen! Let us recall that every person, beginning with Nuhu Ribadu, that have occupied that office, i.e. Executive Chairman of EFCC had been brought down by spurious allegations by extremely corrupt elements to achieve the frustration of the anti-corruption drive in Nigeria till date. The corrupt elements in our midst, particularly those in the public office holders have always been fighting back each time the anti-corruption drive increases in momentum by decapitating the struggle. We need to learn from that history and move away from repeated starts. At this rate, there is probably no Nigerian President Buhari will present that will be approved by the corrupt elements in the Senate; simply because, they prefer that there is no anti-corruption drive at all! They want to sustain the old order of rollicking in ill-gotten gains while the vast majorities languish in penury. The Senate refused to screen Magu, because of his impressionable role as Acting Chairman of EFCC; his boldness in confronting economic and financial crimes is the reason the Senate is delaying the confirmation. The reality is that many members have one corruption case or the other to contend with, including the Senate President himself. They know that he will not give in to their antics of bribery and corruption. Therefore, we welcome the resubmission of his name to Senate for screening toward his confirmation as substantive Chairman of EFCC. We reiterate that Magu is the man for the job! We call on all right-thinking Nigerians to demand his immediate confirmation, as there are obviously no valid reasons not to do so. In fact it is the logical thing to do. We must collectively reject what has somehow become a practice by the Senate; the practice of holding the whole country to ransom." Malam Salihu Ngulde, the UBA North-East Regional Director, disclosed this to newsmen shortly after he visited the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, on Sunday in Maiduguri. Ngulde explained that the decision was sequel to a meeting between the bank management and the military authorities. Very soon we are going to deploy ATMs in Maimalari Barracks for soldiers use; this is based on an agreement between some banks and the military after a meeting last month. Actually five banks were asked to make presentation based on which the UBA was asked to deploy ATM to Maimalari, he said. Ngulde said that UBA originally had ATMs in the barracks before they were removed. We use to have ATMs in some barracks before but the Central Bank of Nigeria ordered that they be removed. Now that the policy has been changed, we will move back immediately, he said. However, Ngulde said that the remaining barracks in Maiduguri will be covered by other banks in the deployment ATM to provide services to soldiers. He said aside from the barracks, banks had embarked on the erection of ATM galleries in Maiduguri to tackle the problem of shortage of the machine. NAN also recalls that Ngulde had earlier met with Buratai where he commended the military for its gallantry in restoring peace in the North-East. He said that UBA was making efforts to reopen all its branches affected by insurgency in the region. Responding, Buratai assured Ngulde that the military will continue to work towards consolidating the peace in the area. I feel honoured to receive you here in Maiduguri. I want to say that apart from the few incidences that we have recorded lately, lot of progress has been made to ensure peace in the North-East, he said. ALSO READ: According to Buratai, The task given to us is to restore normalcy and provide good atmosphere for economic activities, we are doing that. The Nigerian Army will continue to provide the needed security in patnership with sister agencies to ensure a good business atmosphere in the North east region. KATHMANDU - Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB), Nepal's largest bank, is considering opening branches in both China and India, the two neighbouring countries, a senior bank official said. Chief Executive Officer of the state-owned Kiran Kumar Shrestha told Xinhua on Saturday that they have started preparations after the bank's board, about two months ago, instructed the bank's management to work towards opening branches in the neighbouring giants. A few Nepalese banks have opened their liaison offices abroad. But, Shrestha said that they were planning to open full scale branches in China and India. The bank has, however, first planned to go to India first. According to Shrestha, the RBB has set up a study team this week in order to find the necessary requirements to open branch there. "We have initiated preparation to open branch in India by end of current fiscal year (mid-July 2017)," said Shrestha. "Our plan is to open branch in China in the next fiscal year." Two neighbouring countries are Nepal's largest trading partner. As of first half of the current fiscal that ended in mid-January, bilateral trade with India stood at $2.98 billion while trade with China stood at $594 million. Mwolwus made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Pankshin. I was happy when I learnt that the state government recently suspended some local government staff, including DPMs, DFSs and Directors for alleged shady financial deals. We have not heard of anything about the Local Government Management Committee Chairmen. In December 2016, the governor gave these chairmen another six months to keep managing the affairs of the 17 LGAs instead of conducting local government poll to right the wrong, he said. Mwolwus, who was a Special Adviser on Political Matters to former Gov. Jonah Jang, described Lalongs continuous use of Management Committee Chairmen to administer the local government affairs as very unfortunate. He said that the PDP was keenly watching all the activities of Lalongs administration and urged the governor to conduct council poll in the interest of the state. The management committee chairmen cannot undertake any meaningful development projects to give the electorate the desired dividends of democracy. The people at the grassroots are yearning for elected chairmen who will execute development projects and provide social amenities that will impact on their lives. We want this government to take action and let the people know that they meant what they preached during their election campaigns in 2015, Mwolwus said. Responding, Mr Mark Longyen, Special Adviser on Media Affairs to the Governor, said that the state government was working assiduously to tackle corruption. Mwolwus is free to bring forward any evidence of corruption at the local council level by simply writing to the anti-graft agencies. The House of Assembly and the local government auditors are already statutorily empowered to audit accounts, investigate and sanction any erring official in the council. They have not failed as demonstrated by the suspension of some members of staff, he said. ALSO READ:Shiites criticises Governor Lalong for banning its activities in Plateau Its officials are just settling down to study the modalities for the conduct of free, fair and peaceful elections. Local government polls require huge financial commitment and other logistics which must first be put in place before a date is set to ensure that it is successful and credible, Longyen said. The cleric received a lot of criticism after mentioning in his 2017 prophecies that the actress only has a chance of delivering babies if she marries a pastor or someone who prays fervently. In an interview with Encomium News, Faleyimu added that an inability to bear a child isn't the only problem facing the actress, she is likely to have another crashed marriage if she is not careful. All these submissions came directly from God, the prophet maintained. Yes, its God that revealed to me that shes destined to be famous and wealthy but no child, but if shes very prayerful, she will eventually break the yoke of barrenness and become a mother. That same message has also been repeated. "Even, if she doesnt seek the face of God, her enemies dont want her to have a stable home despite the fact that she has remarried. "That means the marriage can still crash unless shes prayerful. God has also repeated it this year, that for her to have a child, she needs to be closer to God. "People are now attacking me here and there that why did I say that? Some said I should have written a letter to her or invited her privately instead of making it public. "But I am not a kind of prophet that predicts because of money. "I am an anointed prophet. My calling is to deliver message as sent by God. But some people dont know the difference between prophets and anointed ones. "Its in the Bible and Quran how the prophets of God operate. "Theyre not prophets of nowadays that only came to collect money from the government, high and mighty in the society and others. As a prophet, deliver Gods message and move on. You dont need to be on anybodys neck. I read in one of these Yoruba magazines that Funke Akindele is waging spiritual war against me because of the prophecy; nothing can happen unless God didnt send me. I dont regret on what I said. All she needs is to pray very well, I have nothing against her. "I am 40 years as a prophet. That means I have been predicting since 40 years ago and I have never regretted any of my prophecies." In a bid to prove the potency of his prophecies, Faleyimu made reference to his predictions concerning the death of 25 theatre practitioners in Nigeria. Some 77 people were killed and 120 wounded in the suicide blast Wednesday which targeted a camp in northern Gao housing former rebels and pro-government militia -- who are signatories to a 2015 peace accord struck with the government. Hundreds of people gathered in the capital Bamako Saturday to pay their respects to victims of the attack on the last of three days of national mourning called by President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. The attack, Mali's worst in years, was claimed by the group of Algerian jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar, allied to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The attack occurred as former rebels from the Tuareg-led CMA movement prepared to go on a joint patrol with pro-government militia members under the terms of the peace deal. Despite hopes of unity in the wake of the blast, fresh clashes broke out Saturday between groups that have signed up to the agreement, according to the pro-government group GATIA (the Imghad and Allies Tuareg Self-Defence Group). A post near Tin-Assako in the northeastern Kidal region was attacked Saturday, GATIA secretary general Fahad Ag Almahoud said, accusing "elements of the CMA" -- referring to ex-rebels from the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA). "The toll was high -- there were 14 victims," he told AFP. The information was confirmed by a Kidal resident reached by telephone, but the CMA did not immediately respond to the allegations. Mali's north fell under the control of Tuareg-led rebels and jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012. The Islamists sidelined the rebels to take sole control. Although they were largely ousted by a French-led military operation in January 2013, implementation of the peace accord has been piecemeal with insurgents still active across large parts of the region. The joint patrols, which also include regular Malian army troops, are supposed to help prepare for the reorganisation of the army. The United Nations has deployed 13,000 troops in Mali while France, the former colonial power, has an additional 4,000 soldiers stationed there. The Islamic State group has no qualms about killing civilians, but the presence of a large number of residents in Iraq's second city discouraged the jihadists from extensively sowing it with explosives, officers say. While previous urban battlefields in Iraq's war against IS were largely depopulated by the time the country's forces moved in, Mosul still sheltered a million-plus people when the offensive to retake it was launched three months ago. If explosives had been widely planted by the jihadists ahead of the battle, they would have been at risk of being triggered before Iraqi forces arrived. So while the systematic mining of roads and rigging of buildings with bombs has arguably been IS's signature defence system against Iraqi forces, in Mosul, the jihadists had to change tack. Iraqi forces have seen less booby-trapping in Mosul than in Anbar and Salaheddin provinces, where earlier key battles against IS took place, said Staff Lieutenant General Abdulghani al-Assadi, a top commander in the elite Counter-Terrorism Service. "The reason is the families remained in their neighbourhoods, in their houses," Assadi said. Some residents of the city have ventured out of their homes just moments after the fighting died down, and in recaptured areas of eastern Mosul, stores are reopening, goods are displayed in front of shops, civilian cars and pedestrians move along some streets and children play outside. 'No comparison' Staff Lieutenant General Sami al-Aridhi, another senior CTS commander, said there was "no comparison" between the number of bombs planted in Mosul and those in Anbar province, where Iraqi forces retook the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah from IS. There are fewer because "here in Mosul, the residents didn't leave," Aridhi said. "Now, when we advance into any neighbourhood, we don't think that the street is booby-trapped; our vehicles move normally." IS needed civilians in Mosul to maintain at least the veneer of a functioning "state," and extensively planting bombs that could be triggered by residents would have both reduced their defensive utility and risked stoking popular anger against the jihadists. This does not mean that IS has completely forgone the use of bombs in Mosul. It is a "change of strategy" for IS, said Captain Qaisar Fawzi, an officer in an Iraqi army engineering battalion. "They did not rely on roadside bombs, they relied on explosives-rigged vehicles," he added. Vehicles rigged with bombs "are indeed the enemy's weapon of choice in the battle of Mosul," said Colonel John Dorrian, spokesman for the US-led anti-IS coalition. But, according to Assadi, in "important areas, the residents were displaced... and (IS) started to booby-trap them." Lise Grande, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, said that bombs planted by IS have still posed a threat to civilians. "People who are trying to flee Mosul... have stepped on booby-traps and IEDs (improvised explosive devices)," killing some and wounding others, Grande said. Civilians obstacle to both sides And "based on experiences from other occupied areas, we're worried that IEDs have been planted by (IS) in schools, hospitals and other public buildings," she said. The large numbers of civilians in Mosul have also hampered Iraqi offensive operations. jpegMpeg4-1280x720Aridhi said that while security forces could previously strike IS from a distance, "here, we are not able to use any fire, because citizens are present." "We are delayed because people are present," he said. Assadi agreed, saying that there is "little booby-trapping, few bombs, but (many) citizens whom we must protect." Iraqi forces do however still use heavy weapons in Mosul: helicopters and warplanes have frequently carried out strikes inside the city, and artillery as well as large unguided rockets are fired inside it. The combination of civilians staying in the city and the lower number of bombs planted inside it means life has returned to some recaptured areas in Mosul far quicker than in other cities retaken from IS. Parts of Ramadi and Fallujah are still uninhabitable, but while some houses and buildings in Mosul have been wrecked and streets are cratered by bombs and strewn with rubble, other places have escaped largely unharmed. "The booby-trapping began after the start of the Mosul operation," said resident Raed Mohammed, speaking to AFP at a roundabout in the city's east where street vendors were out selling goods, but which was still overlooked by an IS billboard and marred by damaged buildings. Turning the ship before it hits the iceberg A small union hall in Bettendorf could not contain hundreds participating in a local version of the national Women's March on Saturday, the day after Donald Trump was inaugurated as president. The hall at the United Steelworkers Local 105 headquarters quickly filled to capacity until there wasn't even standing room. Participants spilled outside, lining Devils Glen Road and State Street to chant and hold up signs. Emilyne Slagle, one of the rally organizers, said she was "overwhelmed" at the sight of the packed hall. Lisa Killinger, past president of the Islamic Center in Bettendorf, was the first of multiple speakers. But she was without her head garb. "When a Muslim woman takes off her scarf, you know we got work to do," she said. The "sad truth" about American history, Killinger said, is that there has always been a group that it is OK to hate, and this time it is Muslims. She referred to the latest presidential campaign as having "brought out some ugliness" and said that since Trump was elected hate crimes have been on the increase. Speakers touched on civil liberties, gay marriage and abortion rights. Statements were often punctuated with a call to action. "When you fight fire with fire, all you get are ashes," said the Rev. Christine Isham of Edwards Congregational United Church of Christ, Davenport. "Fight with love, justice, compassion and non-violence." Isham mentioned the Women's March on Washington, D.C., happening at the same time to cheers from the crowd and then shared how she came to Iowa after it allowed same-sex marriage. "The government has finally come to realize that love is love is love," she said. "We are not going back in time." Rabbi Henry Karp of Temple Emanuel, Davenport, said he's concerned what's happening in the country under a Trump presidency. "There's a dark, ominous cloud of prejudice engulfing our nation," Karp said. There were calls for women to join forces to fight discrimination, regardless of background or political preference. "You need to unite with one another," Vera Kelly, president of the Davenport chapter of the NAACP, said. "You are somebody. Don't let anybody put in your head that you're nobody." Melisa Marroquin of Davenport, a member of Sage Sisters of Solidarity, thanked the Trump administration, sarcastically, for "uniting us." It was estimated that at least 300 attended the Bettendorf rally. Annette Hutto, who owns Cool Beans coffee shop in Rock Island, was among the demonstrators outside. She opposed calling the event an "anti Trump" rally. "I think it's important given the rhetoric after the last election that people express their distaste for targeting certain groups while sharing we want to support continual equality for all," she said. Hutto said all were welcomed to attend the rally. "I saw on social media women posted, 'If I'm pro life, can I attend?' Absolutely," she said. But the head of one local women's group felt excluded from the rally. Vicki Tyler, executive director of the Womens Choice Center, an anti-abortion organization in Bettendorf, said in a phone interview that she wasn't invited. "They're purporting it's about women's rights," Tyler said. "Who knows. I'm sure it will come out what, really, they're all about. Obviously, they have a pro-abortion agenda." Jamie Fetty Ward of Silvis, who was outside the union hall with her husband, Dustin, and son, Isaac, 4, said Trump does not represent the views of the majority of Americans as 3 million more voted for Hillary Clinton. "We're here to remind (Trump) and local officials there are multiple issues that unite us, not just a single issue," she said. "I feel very united." Christa Axnix of Rock Island held up a sign stating, "Beware of" next to a picture of a cat. Underneath it stated, "If you grab her, she bites." "I believe in equality for all and hope we get it," Axnix said. The fever dream is real. Congress can slaughter the Affordable Care Act and, in so doing, rob former President Barack Obama of perhaps his most significant domestic legacy. But scuttling ACA without concurrent replacement would be bad policy, bad politics and devastating for insurers and the insured, alike. Please, slow down. Congressional Republicans have their president now in Donald Trump. Parliamentary maneuvers mean they have the votes to gut the health care law, commonly known as Obamacare. But go ahead, ask House or Senate leadership about what replaces it. We'll wait. It's a question they've fielded for years, often after symbolic votes to kill the admittedly imperfect health insurance mandate. You'll hear about tort reform, allowing the purchase of insurance across state lines. You'll hear about tax credits and health savings accounts. You'll hear about the "power of the free market." What you won't hear is any semblance of a plan that protects the 18 million Americans who, according to the Congressional Budget Office, would lose coverage should Obamacare shrivel up and die. You won't hear any ideas about how, throughout the lengthy process to unwind Obamacare, the health care market doesn't enter a free fall for those insured by employers and those covered within the ACA's exchanges alike. You won't hear any ideas to keep insurers from fleeing the exchanges once it's sitting on death row or a legitimate proposal to fend off the spiking insurance premiums and skyrocketing national debt, described by CBO. None of that grapples with protections for pre-existing conditions or the ACA's other widely popular pieces. Fact is, congressional Republicans haven't cared about that for the past six years. ACA was little but a political device. It was a tool to whip up already festering disdain for Obama's presidency. Most Republican leaders didn't expect Trump to win. Rank-and-file Republicans are now running to reporters describing their panic over the situation they now find themselves. Now Republican leaders must govern, while their right-flank clamors for immediate action. They're backed into a corner, pressured to kill a massive program that touches on the budget, health care delivery, insurance and countless other aspects of society that affect peoples' lives every day. And they're doing it while Democrats, waiting for failure, are ready to pounce. Even Trump, just recently, boxed congressional Republicans in. "Everyone" will be covered, he said. Trump's handlers quickly "clarified," as usual, noting that the president isn't some single-payer lefty. Universal coverage isn't the goal under GOP rule. They call it "universal access." The two are not one and the same. Trump wants Obamacare sent to death row in a matter of weeks. Right-wing House Republicans want it dead even sooner. Congressional leadership promises a viable replacement. It's the same thing they've said for seven years. The result never changes. Nothing. Trump swears his somehow-ethereal plan will be "great." But everything's "great" in the president's world, so that doesn't carry any weight. It's up to Speaker Paul Ryan, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and their lieutenants. They're the ones burdened with fulfilling their mandate without burning the very people who gave it to them. They're the ones who must ditch the posture of an obstructionist opposition and craft a replacement that assures market stability. They're the ones who should reach out to centrist Democrats, who also have a responsibility to work for the country and not simply raise the flag of obstruction. Orchestrating ACA's death is easy. But doing so without a known legitimate replacement would prove a national tragedy. 2005-2022 All contents of this blog are the property of Bonnie K. Hunter, and cannot be reproduced in any way without prior written consent. Q. We have been making payments on an account for the last 6 months, and it was suddenly turned over to collections. What can we do? A. Your best course of action will depend on what kind debt this is, the balance on your account, the size of payment you were making, and if you made the payment every single month. In fact, these factors may explain why your account was turned over to collections in the first place. As a first step, I suggest you contact the primary creditor and ask why your account was turned over to collections and if they would be willing to pull the account back. At the same time, you need to be sure that the payment you are making demonstrates your best effort and fits into the creditors policies. Consumers often believe that all creditors have the same payment policies, but this isnt the case. If you do not pay a bill in full, and you opt to make monthly payments instead, the creditor is extending you credit. Given this, you cannot assume your creditors will accept any payment you want to send them. If you send a creditor a $5 payment on a $500 bill, it is unlikely they will accept the payment. What do you have the ability to repay $25, $50, more? If it is a debt of yours, you have an obligation to make your best effort to pay the bill as quickly as you can. Before sending monthly payments to a creditor, contact them to discuss your options. How fast do they expect the bill to be repaid: immediately, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year? Do you need to fill out a financial statement if you are expecting them to take monthly payments? What proof will you need to provide them if you need to make monthly payments? When you commit to a payment amount, you need to send it every single month. If you miss a payment or two, your account may be turned over to collections. This month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a report on Consumer Experiences with Debt Collections. One in three consumers indicated that they had been contacted by at least one creditor or collector attempting to collect on one or more debts. Past due medical bills, credit cards and student loans were among the most frequently cited debts consumers were contacted about. More than half the consumer contacted about a debt in collection indicated the debt was not theirs, so before you take any action on this account, you need to check your records carefully. The report also stated that consumers tend to take a more favorable view of creditors seeking to collect a debt than of a debt collector something creditors should take note of when their customers and their reputation are important to them. If you are having trouble making your monthly payments, you may want to contact your nearest accredited non-profit credit counseling for a no-charge financial review to discuss your best options. Could it really be 16 years since Smileys House of Pizza closed in downtown Rapid City? Yes, indeed, according to Bryan Nye and Cyndi Canfield, who have teamed up to resurrect a savory Smileys favorite after all these years in a new eatery at the Rushmore Mall. Puff Paradise pays homage to Smileys pizza puffs, a deep-fried dough ball filled with pepperoni, sausage or Canadian bacon, and, of course, cheese. Jim and Marlene Wilcox, Cyndis step-father and mother, owned and operated Smileys in the 500 block of St. Joe (where Curry Masala is now) for many years. There was also a short-lived Smileys Pizza on Mount Rushmore Road. Marlene and Cyndi have just been waiting for the right circumstance for Smileys pizza puffs to make a comeback. Theres good traffic at the Rushmore Mall, Nye said. It would be a good place. Puff Paradise, nestled between Fuji Asian Express and GameStop, keeps it simple with just four menu items. Pizza puffs and Indian tacos lead the way, with a pair of dessert treats, Island Delight (frybread, ice cream, caramel and cinnamon sugar), and donut holes filling out the lineup, at least for now. It would be good to expand, but first things first, Nye said. Puff Paradise opened on Dec. 10. Business was solid through the Christmas and New Years holiday season, and Bryan hopes the word that the original Smileys Pizza Puffs are back will bring out their old customers as well as a new generation of puff aficionados. Nobody knows what pizza puffs are unless youve been to Smileys. Kids havent been there because its been closed so long, Nye said. Check out their Facebook page, or call 605-348-4633 for more information. BBQer gains TV exposure Justin Rhodes may have lost his Piedmont barbecue restaurant to an arson fire in 2013, but his JRs Rhodehouse been smoking up a storm since then. He has been catering smoked meats out of his home and was operating out of the downtown Veterans of Foreign Wars location when his barbecue was named No. 22 in Johnny Fugitts 2015 book 100 Best Barbecue restaurants in America. His catering business has been steady since then, and in December he opened a take-out place in Summerset, offering meat by the pound and sandwiches to go in the Java Junction Building, 8092 Stage Stop Road, across from Haggars Grocery. We are currently open every other Saturday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. or until we are sold out, he said in an email. Unfortunately, lip-smacking barbecue enthusiasts will have to wait until Feb. 4 for their next chance, as he was open this last Saturday. Until then, however, TV viewers can get a preview of his fare on a Travel Channel show set for broadcast on Feb. 1. Rhodes was chosen to be one of four restaurants featured on Secret Eats with Adam Richman, set for broadcast at 10 a.m. that Wednesday. Dakota Title in Spearfish Dakota Title, located at 137 E. Colorado Blvd., offers title insurance, escrow closing services and construction disbursement for residential, commercial or land transaction in the Black Hills area. Owners Ron Island, Harlan Schmidt, John Frederickson, Rich Harr and Ryan Wordeman completed an extensive nine-month permitting process through the Lawrence County Register of Deeds, passing a state plant inspection on Dec. 19 and announcing they're open for business in a Jan. 13 release. Attorney and general manager Brian Baczwaski leads a five-member staff with a combined 30 years of real estate experience and 35 years of title experience among them. An open house, grand opening and ribbon cutting with the Spearfish Area Chamber of Commerce is set for Jan. 25 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Dakota Titles office. See their website at DakotaTitle.com for more information. Black Hills FCU adds location Black Hills Federal Credit Union opened a new, full-service location in Sioux Falls earlier this month. The Sioux Falls location, at the corner of 57th Street and South Marion Road, features five offices, a drive-up teller and ITM lanes and a full-service lobby. With this location, were ensuring members and new members have access to the products, services and support they need to reach their evolving financial goals, Roger Heacock, BHFCU president and CEO, said in a release. The Sioux Falls Member Service Center lobby is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 5028 S. Marion Road. Drive-up services are available from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday. Saturday hours for the drive-up lanes are 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. WASHINGTON | In a global exclamation of defiance and solidarity, more than 1 million people rallied at women's marches in the nation's capital and cities around the world Saturday to send President Donald Trump an emphatic message on his first full day in office that they won't let his agenda go unchallenged. Many of the women came wearing pink, pointy-eared "pussyhats" to mock the new president. Plenty of men joined in, too, contributing to surprising numbers everywhere from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles to Mexico City, Paris, Berlin, London, Prague and Sydney. The Washington rally alone attracted over 500,000 people by the unofficial estimate of city officials apparently more than Trump's inauguration drew on Friday. The international outpouring served to underscore the degree to which Trump has unsettled people in both hemispheres. "We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war," actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd. "Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack, and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. ... We are America, and we are here to stay." Turnout in the capital was so heavy that the designated march route alongside the National Mall was impassable. Protesters were told to make their way to the Ellipse near the White House by way of other streets, triggering a chaotic scene that snarled downtown Washington. Long after the program had ended, groups of demonstrators were still marching and chanting in different parts of the city. White House press secretary Sean Spicer had no comment on the march except to note that there were no firm numbers for turnout because the National Park Service no longer provides crowd estimates. Around the world, women brandished signs with slogans such as "Women won't back down" and "Less fear more love." They decried Trump's stand on such issues as abortion, health care, diversity and climate change. And they branded him a sexist, a bully, a bigot and more. "We want a leader, not a creepy tweeter," some marchers chanted in Washington. Others: "Welcome to your first day, we will not go away!" In Chicago, organizers canceled the march portion of their event for safety reasons after the overflow crowd reached an estimated 150,000. People made their way through the streets on their own anyway. In New York, well over 100,000 marched past Trump's home at glittering Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. More than 100,000 also gathered on Boston Common, and a similar number demonstrated in Los Angeles. In Miami, real estate agent Regina Vasquez, 51, brought a sign saying "Repeal and Replace Trump." "I believe that strength is in the numbers, and that we should all come out and not make Trump the new normal," she said. All told, more than 600 "sister marches" were planned worldwide. Crowd estimates from police and organizers around the globe added up to more than a million. "I feel very optimistic even though it's a miserable moment," said Madeline Schwartzman of New York City, who brought her twin 13-year-old daughters to the Washington rally. "I feel power." Retired teacher Linda Lastella, 69, who came to Washington from Metuchen, New Jersey, said she had never marched before but felt the need to speak out when "many nations are experiencing this same kind of pullback and hateful, hateful attitudes." "It just seemed like we needed to make a very firm stand of where we were," she said. As the demonstrators rallied alongside the National Mall, Trump opened his first full day as president by attending a prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, a tradition for the day after inauguration, and later visited the CIA. As he traveled around town, his motorcade passed large groups of protesters that would have been hard to miss. The Women's March on Washington appeared to accomplish the historic feat of drawing more people to protest the inauguration than the ceremony itself attracted. It far surpassed the 60,000 people who protested the Vietnam War at Richard Nixon's inauguration in 1973. Before Saturday, that was thought to be the largest such demonstration in inaugural history. The rallies were a peaceful counterpoint to the window-smashing unrest that unfolded on Friday when self-described anarchists tried to disrupt the inauguration. Police used pepper spray and stun grenades against the demonstrators. More than 200 people were arrested. Marlita Gogan, who came to Washington from Houston for the inauguration, said police advised her family not to wear their "Make America Great Again Hats" as they walked through crowds of protesters while playing tourist on Saturday. "I think it's very oppressive," she said of the march atmosphere. "They can have their day, but I don't get it." Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump, took to Twitter to thank the participants for "standing, speaking and marching for our values." The marches displayed a level of enthusiasm that Clinton herself was largely unable to generate during her campaign against Trump, when she won the popular vote but he outdistanced her in the electoral vote. The hand-knit "pussyhats" worn by many women served as a message of female empowerment, inspired by Trump's crude boast about grabbing women's genitals. They "ain't for grabbing," actress Ashley Judd told the Washington crowd. The marches were a magnet for A-list celebrities, unlike Trump's inauguration, which had a deficit of top performers. Alicia Keys sang "Girl on Fire" for the Washington crowd. Madonna gave a fiery, profanity-laced address to the gathering. Cher, also in the nation's capital, said Trump's ascendance has people "more frightened maybe than they're ever been." In Park City, Utah, it was Charlize Theron leading demonstrators in a chant of "Love, not hate, makes America great." Actresses Helen Mirren and Cynthia Nixon and Whoopi Goldberg joined the crowd of protesters in New York. Tens of thousands of protesters squeezed into London's Trafalgar Square. In Paris, thousands rallied in the Eiffel Tower neighborhood in a joyful atmosphere, singing and carrying posters reading "We have our eyes on you Mr. Trump" and "With our sisters in Washington." Hundreds gathered in Prague's Wenceslas Square in freezing weather, mockingly waving portraits of Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin. In Sydney, thousands of Australians gathered in solidarity in Hyde Park. One organizer said hatred, bigotry and racism are not only America's problems. "When you love something, you serve it." Sean McPherson says that has been the guiding principle of his life so far. As a senior pastor at Real Life Church and Bible teacher at Rapid City Christian High School, McPherson, 46, said he is committed to serving the Lord. He's also the middle generation of three wartime veterans. His dad served during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Sean served during the first Gulf War, and his son is serving in the South Dakota National Guard and has been deployed during Operation Enduring Freedom. "In our family, we have a servant leadership DNA," he said. And now, McPherson is in Pierre, serving his state and Rapid City as a freshman legislator. As a "military brat," his family moved many times while he was growing up. When he settled in South Dakota he said he finally found a forever home. "South Dakota is the greatest place I have ever lived, and what makes South Dakota great is how generationally deep we are," he said. "We have fourth-generation farmers and third-generation business owners, and young families moving back to be a part of that." McPherson ran for his seat in the Legislature on a platform that he wanted to protect and advance that family legacy. "We want to preserve that so our kids want to either stay here, or come back home," he said. What will that entail? "Whatever we can do to make the environment to where the pay is competitive with even our neighboring states for our graduates just out of college would be great," he said. To do that, the state needs to focus on business development, workforce development and economic development. McPherson and fellow freshmen legislators spent time in Pierre in December participating in an orientation. "They gave us a tour of the Capitol and shared some of its history. They even let us go up in the dome. It was a lot of fun," he said. Also included in the orientation was a walk-through of the Legislative Research Council and how it can help legislators. The Legislature's freshman class totals 24, which includes both the House and the Senate. One thing McPherson took note of immediately was the welcoming attitude from other, more senior, legislators toward the new kids on the block. On the Monday afternoon before the opening of the 92nd session of the South Dakota Legislature, McPherson stood near his desk on the House floor with several veteran legislators. Rep. Larry Rhoden of Union Center, who served in both the House and Senate and ran for the U.S. Senate, offered up some tried-and-true advice to the newbie. "I remember what it was like my first year. You feel like you are 20 feet under water," Rhoden said. "The biggest job of new members is to know where to invest their energies. And don't be afraid to ask questions." McPherson said he appreciated the sage advice. "It's sort of like drinking from a fire hose right now," McPherson said with a chuckle. Most surprising to McPherson has been the lobbying done by fellow legislators concerning legislation they may be supporting. "Those dynamics have been very interesting to me," he said. His commitment to serving as a legislator will still allow McPherson to head home on weekends to preach. The Real Life Church does have other staff pastors who can fill in when needed, and also, pastors from other churches in Rapid City have offered to preach if bad weather precludes him from returning home, McPherson said. McPherson plans his sermons six months in advance, so he has the messages prepared. But he believes he will have some time when session is over for the day to practice the coming week's message while in his motel room in Pierre. McPherson, who says he's never been elected to any governing board before, says he's excited to be serving the people of District 32, which includes downtown Rapid City and a large swath of land south of the city limits. "You can be part of the problem or part of the solution," he said. "In my little world the problem isn't really a problem, but I often pray, 'God protect the South Dakota families.' This is what's so cool about our state." A new format for public participation has some people upset, local crackerbarrel organizers learned this weekend. The Rapid City Chamber of Commerce announced earlier this month it was doing away with the old format for audience questions during its crackerbarrels, which allowed citizens to pose questions directly to legislators with a microphone in hand. In the new format, citizens write their questions on small sheets of paper and submit them to a moderator, who reads the questions to legislators. Shon Anderson, the moderator of Saturdays crackerbarrel and chairman of the chamber's Governmental Affairs Committee, said the change is meant to allow for more audience input, not less. This is about efficiency, Anderson said. Its not about changing the discourse. But not everyone sees it that way. Several legislators and citizens attended the meeting in the Didier Educational Center on the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology campus to question the meeting's new format. State Sen. Phil Jensen of District 33 said the new format has the appearance of restriction and censorship. He added that if the new format remained, he and several other representatives, including Blaine Chip Campbell, Sen. Lance Russell and Rep. Julie Frye-Mueller, would not attend future meetings. The reason I come to this crackerbarrel is because I want to hear from you, Russell said, addressing the citizens in attendance. I dont want to insulate myself from questions from you about whats on your mind." Russell said legislators who attend the crackerbarrels should have been consulted about the format change. "I would hope that the chamber would reconsider in good faith what theyve done," he said. "I feel like I didnt have a seat at the table in making this decision. Saturday morning was the first of four crackerbarrels sponsored by the chamber committee in cooperation with the School of Mines. Crackbarrels offer a chance for citizens to speak with and question their local representatives and senators directly about issues and the current legislative session. The public meetings, similar to a town hall, also give state lawmakers an opportunity to hear from and speak directly to their constituents. Anderson said that in previous crackerbarrels, some citizens tended to monopolize the discussion and grandstand, often without ever posing a question. He reiterated that efficiency was the reason for the change. The number of topics we were able to cover today was quite a bit more than what we have been able to cover in the past, Anderson said at the meeting's conclusion. Weve got to balance an individuals desire to really go down a particular path on an issue with the whole audiences desire to get a topic addressed. We tried to make changes that allow more people to get their topics addressed. Rep. Kristin Conzet took issue with legislators' threats to forgo the next crackerbarrel, but for a different reason. They call it restrictive, Conzet said. What theyre doing here is what they do in Pierre. Its bullying. Youre denying yourself, and the people you represent, access to you. All the chamber has done here is give a platform for us to meet with constituents and the people who elected us. Its not us versus them. Its not us trying to stifle somebody. Jensen wasnt convinced. The moderators are the ones who let this get out of hand, Jensen said. Its a failure on the part of the chamber of commerce to control the previous crackerbarrels. In a call to the Journal after the meeting, Jensen said he had proposed to the chamber a compromise for the next crackerbarrel, which is at 9 a.m. Feb. 4 in the same location. The proposal: Questions by citizens would alternate between the new, written format and the old, spoken form. Im hopeful that we can come to a meeting of the minds on this, Jensen said. Rep. Tim Goodwin, who missed the meeting after attending the presidential inauguration Friday, told the Journal by phone that leaving the crackerbarrels permanently was only a last resort. We dont want to walk out on the crackerbarrels, Goodwin said. I cant imagine walking out. If it has to be that we do all written questions, then I think well have to do it. Goodwin said he supported Jensen's proposed compromise. Initiated Measure 22 Another popular topic: Initiated Measure 22, which passed a public referendum with slightly more than 51 percent of the vote and would overhaul the states campaign finance regulations, (creating a state ethics commission, rewriting and strengthening lobbying and campaign finance rules, and establishing public financing for political campaigns). Rep. Craig Tieszen criticized the initiative. Frankly, I appreciate lobbyists I dont know everything. I need information. Lobbyists have information, he said. Its very likely by this time next week Initiated Measure 22 is going to be repealed by the Legislature. I support its repeal because I believe Initiated Measure 22 is hopelessly unconstitutional." Russell disagreed with any repeal efforts, calling it a conflict of interest for legislators who attempt to repeal an initiative that directly targets them. Ballot issues, taxes The influx of out-of-state money in South Dakota petitions, ballot issues and constitutional amendments was briefly mentioned. When things get into our constitution, theyre hard to get out, said Rep. David Lust, in possible reference to Marsys Law, a proposed constitutional amendment and victim crime bill devised by California billionaire Henry Nicholas that was supported with Nicholas own money. Senate Bill No. 67, a proposal to increase the amount of signatures necessary for a petition to make it to the ballot, also was noted. The proposal is to change the minimum number of signatures needed by basing the percentage on the much higher figure of the total number of registered voters, as opposed to the current system, which is based on a percentage of the total votes cast in the last gubernatorial race. Finally, two issues almost everyone agreed on were discussed: further economic development and taxes. Lust, explaining how difficult it can be to compete with other states in attracting new business, said that if South Dakota were a city, it would be the 64th-largest city in America. Thats why we made a shift to focus more on growth from within, Lust said. On taxes, legislators discussed SB-36, which would revise the filing times of certain tax returns and make taxpayers, in essence, pay their tax bills sooner. Russell saw it as an attempt by government to make up for its own budgetary failings by placing the onus on businesses. Theyre spending more money than theyve ever spent before, Russell said. This year, at least 200 million more, if not 300 million more, than they spent last year. They cant balance their own checkbook. State Sen. Terri Haverly, after estimating that the state misses out on about $40 million to $50 million per year in lost sales tax revenue due to internet sales, said on a proposed new county sales tax: No more taxes. Hey, we all make mistakes, right? But when you're in the state Legislature, correcting a boo-boo is not as easy as pulling out an eraser. No, it takes a completely new piece of legislation to correct an error, say, regarding where a South Dakota county is actually located. Right now, state statute 7-1-48 is about as wrong as it can be in regard to the official boundaries of Mellette County, a rural West River county south of Murdo that has White River as its county seat. If state laws are to be believed, the county right now is much, much larger than it really is, and its western border is located much farther west of where it really lies in fact, about 90 miles to the west, almost to Hot Springs. That's the difference between saying the county's western border would be west of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, as the law now indicates, when it is actually east of the reservation boundary. East? West? It's a simple mistake to make. But never fear. The error has been caught, and to fix it, Sens. Alan Solano and Troy Heinert and Rep. Mary Duvall have offered Senate Bill 62, which will simply strike out the word "west" and replace it with "east" in the boundary description. Upon passage, it's certain that the roughly 2,100 residents of Mellette County will sleep a little easier, and with just a bit more certainty that they really are where they think they are. About 140 years ago, Northern Cheyenne families battled harsh winter weather and the U.S. Cavalry to make their way home from a reservation in Oklahoma to their longtime home on the Northern Plains. Last Thursday's stop in Belle Fourche for the 21st Fort Robinson Outbreak Spiritual Run reflected a different reality and deeper challenges for young tribal members. Phillip Whiteman Jr. started the run two decades ago to encourage young people on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation to learn about their heritage and encourage an outlook of success through a 400-mile run in the middle of winter from Fort Robinson to their own homes. "Write about hope and faith and love," Whiteman said at the runners' stopover in Belle Fourche. "These children, we're bringing them out of an environment that's been real harsh," he said. "The statistics prove it." Belle Fourche hosted the runners and staff at the AmericInn for a short welcome ceremony, supper and an overnight stay that was actually behind progress of the run from Fort Robinson, Neb., to the Northern Cheyenne reservation in southeast Montana. The run commemorates the December 1879 outbreak from Fort Robinson by Northern Cheyenne people seeking their way home to Montana from a reservation in Oklahoma where they had been sent by the U.S. government. Told they would be returned to Oklahoma instead of their home country on the Northern Plains, a group of the Cheyenne broke out of the fort in mid winter to find their way home. The aftermath of that breakout, public outcry and even military support, resulted in the establishment of their current reservation. Whiteman began the run in 1996 as a way for the tribe's younger members to commemorate the run, the strength and sacrifices of their elders who brought a change in their people's future. Lynette Two Bulls said this year is a bit smaller, with 80 runners, mostly from sixth grade through high school age, plus the support staff. "We're working with them more personally," she said. That even includes study and art time on a specially-equipped bus with internet connection for young people not on their running shift. She praised the Butte County Sheriff's office and South Dakota Highway Patrol for escorts in the Belle Fourche area clear to the Wyoming state line. And the Butte County Historical Society for organizing dinner and a short program at the AmericInn for the annual project's stopover in Belle Fourche. Belle Fourche Mayor Gloria Landphere and two city council members were on hand to welcome the runners. Belle Fourche young people, 4-H and Purple Pride, were among food preparation and serving volunteers. "We come together on our commonalities rather than our difference," she said. The community, she said, is very welcoming: "It's really nice to see that kind of support. Devils Tower representatives, chief ranger Drew Gilmour and chief of interpretation Nancy Stimson, told the young runners about opportunities in the National Park Service for well-educated young people with native tribal backgrounds. Stimson, a Choctaw, was among Belle Fourche area people recognized for support for the runners with a gift of a blanket. Also emphasizing infinite possibilities through education at all levels was Micah Highwalking, the first Northern Cheyenne tribal member to attend West Point. She is a 2010 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy. Lily Gladstone made a special stop at the Belle Fourche welcome to meet the runners. The Blackfeet and Nez Perce heritage helped to her most recent role in the film "Certain Women." Her portrayal of a mixed-race ranch hand has won her serious recognition, including the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress and Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also received nominations for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female and Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actress. She emphasized opportunities for reservation area tribal members if they work hard in school. As the young runners headed to their spaghetti supper, Whiteman spoke of the value of the run for them. "Any form of social conditioning can strike and hurt us," he said. "So when we transform out of our traumas or environment, it doesn't matter who you are when you reconnect." "You no longer become a statistic." It's a matter, he said of "stepping away from a victim mentality and transforming, not external, but internally with unconditional love." Again, he said, it's a matter of learning and being an example of faith, hope and love. Tampons are expensive. That's why an effort is underway to help provide feminine products to local women who can't afford them. Kristina Barker Photography and The OWN are leading a fundraiser to collect donated feminine hygiene products, which will be delivered to The Hope Center in Rapid City. About 70 percent of women in the United States use 20 tampons over five days each month. At about 20 cents per tampon, and 500 periods later, the average woman will spend roughly $2,000 in her lifetime just on tampons. "And that cost doesnt even begin to factor in the money we spend on pain medications, the inevitable ruined underwear, sheets lost to stains, and our beloved heating pads," a release from Kristina Barker Photography said. Even for women with steady jobs, justifying that cost can be tough. But for women who are on a fixed income or are homeless, the extra expense each month can be almost impossible. "Access to feminine products like tampons, sanitary napkins and panty liners shouldnt have to be a choice for women it should be a given," the release said. "So we are asking you to help us provide the women in our community with feminine products that will be donated to The Hope Center." People can participate in the fundraiser by taking unopened boxes of tampons, sanitary napkins and panty liners to The OWN above Murphys on Main Street in downtown Rapid City. There will be a donation receptacle available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday, except until 3 p.m. on Tuesdays. To make a monetary donation for volunteers to buy feminine products that will be donated, email kristinabarker@gmail.com. For more information about The Hope Center, visit www.hopecenterrapidcity.org. Poker pub crawl to benefit local man, child The fifth annual Black Hills Home Builders Association Poker Pub Crawl Fundraiser will take place from 2 p.m. 6 p.m. Jan. 28 A release said the annual event raises funds to support members of the Rapid City community, and this year's will support Jordyn Bruski and Mark Schuh. Bruski, 11, has been diagnosed with AML leukemia. She is receiving chemotherapy treatment at the Denver Children's Hospital and will be continuing care in Denver for several months, according to the release. Schuh is the owner of Rapid Pro Painting. In the summer of 2016, he suffered a severe spinal cord injury while on a job site, which left him paralyzed from the shoulders down. Registration for the Poker Pub Crawl is $20 per person and will begin at Paddy O'Neills in the Hotel Alex Johnson at 2 p.m., according to the release. Registrants will earn a card at each of five different locations, to be revealed at registration. Mulligans will also be available for purchase. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top two finishers and the second-to-last finisher. A live auction will also be available at the final location, which is the VFW. All proceeds from the live auction will be split between the two recipients. Donations for the auction can be dropped off at the Black Hills Home Builders office at 3121 W. Chicago St. Black Hills community helps Sioux Falls nonprofit CUSTER | A Custer business helped a Sioux Falls nonprofit continue helping people "Make Houses into Homes." The Furniture Mission of South Dakota provides people in need with used furniture and household items. A release from the organization said it relies on donations to support the work. Donations typically dip in winter months, but not this month. This month, according to the release, Bavarian Inn owner Marcel Wahlstrom had 40 hotel rooms worth of beds and furniture to donate from his Custer hotel. Volunteers also helped transport the furniture across the state, prompted by a call for help from former Rapid City Central student and current Furniture Mission Operations Manager Janean (Johnson) Michalov. The response was incredible, Michalov said in the release. We now have more than 50 people coming out to the Bavarian Inn to help load the semitrailer donated by Rude Trucking. We are so thankful to Marcel for his donation and to the Black Hills community for this support. I hoped people would step up, but this has been overwhelming. Hundreds of South Dakota families will be impacted through this donation. Black Hills FCU employees give back to community Black Hills Federal Credit Union said in a release its employees donated $2,000 and various supplies to the Humane Society of the Black Hills after an animal seizure put significant strain on the shelters resources in December. Its inspiring to witness the compassion and generosity of our employees and the community, who rallied to support this great organization Renee Shroyer, head of BHFCUs Community Action Team project for the Humane Society of the Black Hills, said in the release. Were proud to be able to help the Humane Society turn this situation into a positive story for the animals. Employees also donated 75 toys and $330 to The Salvation Army Angel Tree program, more than $600 worth of toiletries and small gifts to the South Dakota State Veterans Home and $675 to Rapid City Court Appointed Special Advocates. This month, BHFCUs employees are participating in a Community Action Team project to benefit the Community Reward Fund and the Regional Cancer Care Institute. Dacotah Bank helps with $1.5M in grants Dacotah Bank has helped several organizations gain approval to receive more than $1.5 million in Federal Home Loan Bank grants for housing projects, according to a release from the business. The announcement was made this month following an application process that began last summer in FHLBs Competitive Affordable Housing Program. The release said $1,525,000 was approved and will be used by four housing assistance organizations: Homes Are Possible Inc. (HAPI) in Aberdeen ($75,000); Oglala Sioux (Lakota) Housing on the Pine Ridge Reservation ($450,000); North Dakota Lutheran Social Services Housing Inc. ($500,000); and the Sisseton Wahpeton Housing Authority in Sisseton ($500,000). Fifteen existing low-rent housing units will be renovated on the Pine Ridge Reservation by the Oglala Sioux (Lakota) Housing administration. In the shadow of Donald Trumps first day in office, almost 1,000 women and men gathered in downtown Rapid City to march for womens rights. The Rapid City Women's March on Washington aimed to raise awareness of issues surrounding violence against women, reproductive rights, equality of women of color, education and LGBT issues, according to event organizers. We wanted to make a very clear statement that the people of the Black Hills support womens rights as human rights, organizer Lauren Pyle said. Saturdays marches began in Washington, D.C., with the Women's March on Washington, and spread to more than 600 cities across the world, with more than 1 million people involved, to send the message that womens rights are a priority. The day's marches were flooded with support from A-list celebrities like America Ferrera and Scarlett Johannson, and photos from across the nation lit up social media platforms throughout the day. The Washington rally alone attracted more than 500,000 people by the unofficial estimate of city officials. In Rapid City, Saturday's march started in the morning in the City/School Administration Center parking lot and proceeded through downtown to the Alex Johnson Hotel and through Memorial Park. Women at the march were encouraged to write on a slip of paper why they were marching. The slips, many of which bore simple messages like "respect" or "safety," soon adorned the George Washington statue at the corner of Sixth and St. Joseph streets, where the march ended. Local participants said that while women in D.C. and South Dakota face many of the same problems, some of those struggles are more acute here. The Institute for Womens Policy Research ranks South Dakota as one of the worst states for womens reproductive rights, due to the 72-hour waiting period and only one abortion clinic in the entire state, located in Sioux Falls. The event attracted women of all generations, some who are no stranger to women's rights struggles. Recently retired Deb Tinker, 61, said she has been fighting for womens rights since the 1960s. Some of us have been fighting for the same issues since 1968. The struggle is ongoing, and it feels like we are stepping backwards for women, minorities and all disenfranchised," she said. "Many of us worked hard for the rights that we have. Weve made some great progress, but there obviously is still a lot more to be made. I'm interested in the cause because I'm the mother of two wonderful boys, who are walking today, and feel it's important to show them that 'feminism' isn't a dirty, emasculating word," said Nicole Heenan, co-president of the Rapid City chapter of the American Association of University Women. I'm walking to show that my voice, my thoughts and rights are important and have a right to be heard. One woman at the march wanted to bring attention to the needs of local womens shelters. In 2015, Lisa Ricci and her young daughter fled from their home with her abusive boyfriend and sought refuge in a Spearfish womens shelter. I experienced a system that barely had a bed for me and my daughter, and it became really difficult to make these decisions of 'do I go back to an abusive partner?' or 'do I stay in bunk beds with many other women that I dont know or trust?'" Ricci said. "After experiencing this firsthand, I believe funding is very important for womens shelters in South Dakota. We need government funding to support women in these situations. With the new president in office, Ricci has concerns about the future. I am worried about Trumps negative behaviors. Its like hes endorsing male power and control, and that scares me," she said. "I wonder how many women in our community are going to be affected specifically by intimate partner violence, especially when our leader is misogynistic. The National Endowment for the Arts has been a major partner in supporting creativity in the Black Hills, but its support and the organization itself may cease to exist under the fledgling administration of President Donald Trump. According to a report in The Hill newspaper on Thursday, President Trump's team has proposed the elimination of the NEA, as well as the elimination of the National Endowment of the Humanities and the privatization of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Those potential changes are reportedly part of a blueprint to reduce federal spending by $10.5 trillion over 10 years, one that closely follows a plan put forth by the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation last year. However, the NEA's budget in 2016 was $148 million; the NEH's budget was roughly the same, while the CPB's budget was $445 million. Combined, their funds make up .02 percent of the estimated $3.9 trillion the federal government spent during the fiscal year, according to The Washington Post. What's an infinitesimal figure to the federal government, however, is a major source of support for South Dakota arts programs. Since 1998, the NEA has awarded 15 grants to arts groups in Rapid City alone totaling $425,000, though many more federal grants have been filtered to local groups through the state. "I think it would be a terrible disservice to our country if it were to shut down," said Carolyn Weber, executive director of Deadwood History. "It would affect a great many people." Grants boost Black Hills arts Many of these grants have made the existence of arts organizations in the state possible. Heather Pickering is founder of Flutter Productions, an all-ability dance company that gives those with physical and intellectual disabilities a platform to perform. "Our very first production was kicked off and made possible because of a $10,000 grant that the Black Hills Community Theatre received back in 2008," Pickering said. "That planted the seed for everything. Without that grant, we would not exist today." Flutter Productions, now partnered with Black Hills Works, has had over 600 individuals in Rapid City and Sioux Falls participate, giving performers with disabilities a chance to be seen in a positive light. "It gives them a chance to contribute to the community in which they live and make connections to people," Pickering said. More recent grants have been awarded to the Rapid City Arts Council ($10,000 for the Native American art festival Native POP), and a total of $370,000 in grants to the Native American arts organization the First Peoples Fund. The grants to the latter organization include $160,000 from 2016 to 2017 to support the Community Spirit Awards (an honor for tribal artists), and the Rolling Rez Arts mobile unit, which provides classes, training and other support to artists on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. "The NEA found our request worthy and agreed to fund us, so we are continuing to request, need and be supported by the NEA," said Pepper Massey, executive director of the Rapid City Arts Council. The First Peoples Fund, which seeks to help Native artists create and then monetize their artwork, would be impacted as well. "We have a long history with the NEA," said Anna Huntington, director of development for the fund. "We just received our first grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities, too. They're a partner in shaping the role of the arts in our community." Grants have also been provided to historical organizations: a pair of NEA grants to the Days of '76 Museum in 2008 and 2009 (totaling $282,000) allowed it to acquire and preserve the Clowser Collection, a series of Old West and Native American artifacts collected for years by Don Clowser of the Deadwood Trading Post. "The grants were for design and conservation," Weber said. "People connect to them, remember the Trading Post, and the artifacts are not just from the Black Hills, but all over the country. Without that funding, they might be sitting on shelves in storage." The NEA also returned late 19th century and 1940s recordings of Lakota songs and speeches to the Lakota people in October 2016 when chairman Jane Chu visited the state. State funds start out federal The estimated loss in grant money given directly to local groups does not take into account the funds provided to Rapid City or South Dakota businesses through the South Dakota Arts Council, which receives roughly half of its budget from the NEA and disburses those funds to arts organizations across the state for funding and programming. The annual financial report from the state arts council for the coming year showed $784,000 in funds received from the NEA, with a projected state contribution of $845,635. In 2016, the agency saw $753,000 from the NEA and $836,913 from the state. Were the NEA to be eliminated, the state arts council would operate on only half its budget, limiting the funds that would be available to organizations throughout the state. "NEA money still comes to many, many state art organizations through the arts council," said Nicolas Johnson, executive director of the Black Hills Community Theatre and Performing Arts Center of Rapid City. "If the state funds are cut, we'll all feel that. It would be a loss." Johnson said that those funds are flexible and help to cover costs for plays, children's events and basic operating costs for the community theater. Patrick Baker, director of the South Dakota Arts Council, refused to speculate on reports about the possible demise of the NEA. "However, advocacy about the value of the arts in the lives of all South Dakotans and visitors to our state is always a priority, and will be as important as ever if these discussions continue at the federal level," Baker said. Massey and Pickering also noted the importance of the NEA's funding through the state council. "The SDAC has helped fund every one of our productions to date," Pickering said. "It's funding we receive annually," Massey said. "People need to realize that since we're a rural community, not a Nashville or a New York City or a San Francisco, we don't have as many wells to draw from. Their support is crucial to all of us." Larger economic impact If the NEA were to be eliminated, the reverberations would be felt by businesses beyond local arts organizations. A study by America for the Arts showed that audience attendance at art events generates spin-off income for many local businesses, including restaurants, parking garages, hotels and retail stores, with the average arts attendee spending $24.60 per event (not including the price of admission). "Public investment in the arts enriches the economy, enhances health and wellness, strengthens rural communities and augments education," Baker said. "Fiscally I think it is great to remind our community that the arts also attract business to other businesses: restaurants, lodging, clothing, child care, transportation," Pickering said. "On the other side of the coin, we in the arts are spending money at local clothing stores, paint stores and lumber yards. We're contributing to the economic fiber of our community." Massey echoed those sentiments, adding that the arts have been traditionally important to the economic development of cities. "Our community is going through what many believe is a renaissance, and the arts play a significant role in that," Massey said. "People aren't going to live in a community where the arts are not thriving. We're not going to attract and keep people if we can't offer diverse arts experiences." Massey and Pickering added that from an educational standpoint, arts stimulate intellectual growth in children. "Exposing kids to music and drama increases reading, writing and math skills more so than students who solely focus on academics," Pickering said. "There is a crisis in our country right now because there is a decline in creativity, which we are not teaching in our school systems, because we have cut back too much on the arts in education already." Local arts groups also tend to pick up the slack left by a reduction in arts offerings in local public schools. "Rapid City schools in grades K through 5 offer zero formal visual arts education," Massey said. "Organizations like the Rapid City Arts Council have been providing that to students. We have free children's programming and scholarships to help kids and families who can't afford classes. But that money needs to come from somewhere." Funding without the NEA As all planning about the NEA and NEH is preliminary, neither the SDAC nor any of the organizations are in panic mode yet. "At this time, the South Dakota Arts Council believes it is not productive to speculate about the demise of the National Endowment for the Arts," Baker said. He added, "We would rather remain clear-sighted about political realities while looking for constructive ways to inspire policymakers' confidence and seek the kind of support we need to continue serving South Dakotans and their communities through the arts." Huntington pointed out that cuts to federal arts funding mechanisms have been floated before. "At this point, it's talk, and it seems more like a shot across the bow than something to take seriously yet. I don't think they're going away," she said. "They've been on the chopping block since I got in in 1990," Johnson said. "Funds have been reduced, so I think everyone knows to diversify so a drop in one source isn't too dangerous." All those involved said that if the worst were to come to pass, they would still have sources of funding. "We will continue our work at the Arts Council regardless of how federal budget talks proceed," Baker said. "If budget cuts happen, we will respond and adjust in whatever way is most beneficial to the South Dakota arts community." "We have a strong base of support among private foundations," Huntington said. "This isn't news we would welcome, but it's not going to throw us off course." Massey did say, however, that the NEA was an important piece of the pie, relating the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 as an example of how sources can dry up. "The market upheaval made it difficult for some businesses to donate at the level they had given previously," Massey said. "So it's troubling that we would consider defunding something that's had such an impact in communities for so long." For now, artists and arts organizations are prepared to communicate the NEA's role in the community to keep it top of mind. "We need to talk to our legislators and help them understand why the arts matter in Rapid City," Massey said. "Let's not let this get to a crisis point. We all have a role in doing that." Donald Trump and his wife Melania met with the Obamas at the White House for the traditional private meeting of outgoing and incoming presiden Yes, I know we in the U.S. of A. like to dwell on our stability as a nation and how that is reflected in our smooth transition of power. We're witnessing it again. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey has announced that it is shutting down. It's been around since the mid-1800s. But never fear, it is immediately being replaced by another circus. By that I mean, of course, the presidency of Donald Trump. Like P.T. Barnum, D.J. Trump is guided by the maxim "There is a sucker born every minute." No greater proof could ever exist than Trump's election. He put on what amounts to a freak show that no one took seriously at the time. The other side, meanwhile, was presenting the Tamest Show on Earth, put together by elitists who looked down on Trump's supporters as a bunch of rubes. Now Donald Trump becomes the ringmaster for the nation, where the three branches of the government he leads promise to become three rings. His stars will be presenting their nation's death-defying performances without a net. It will be a constant high-wire act. The animals who were treated so cruelly that the condemnation finally did in Ringling Bros. are nothing compared to a Russian bear that appears to the Trump Show to be friendly but is instead setting a trap. When Ringmaster Trump has been lulled into oblivious total complacency, the bear, Vladimir Bruin, suddenly will replace his jovial act with brutish aggressiveness. If Trump isn't careful, he and all of us will be badly mauled. Under the Big Top, aka the U.S. Capitol, Ringmaster Trump is counting on the members of Congress to do whatever he commands. The problem is that these animals aren't all that well-trained and have their own ideas about how the circus should be run. He has an even bigger problem with press-corps members who are screeching at the way he's trying to cage them. Frankly, it worked during his campaign; he effectively incapacitated the news organizations and individual reporters who didn't follow his script. If necessary, he'd toss the disobedient ones out of the cage. He and his henchmen are making it as clear as can be that either the press does what he orders when he cracks the whip, or he'll toss them out. There are some who argue that journalists need to stand on their hind legs and get more unruly to stop acting like trained animals and resume our roaming wherever our stories takes us. While Trump has a variety of ways to intimidate the beasts of the media, we should take this opportunity to return to the tradition that justifies our existence. Few are promising to be more bizarre than Ringmaster Donald Trump. He comes in with heavy baggage attached to his personal fortune. Few have expressed such contempt for the traditions that have defined the government they are about to lead. Many of those traditions are, as Trump contends, outdated or outright corrupt. But many are there for good reason and should be preserved. Yes, the circus tent is coming down. It had become a relic, which is what our country might become with Trump's promise to "Make America Great Again." Particularly if he relies on slapstick comedy. What will it take for the Rapid City Police Department to make the downtown a public-safety priority? At Tuesday night's City Council meeting, Alderwoman Lisa Modrick told Police Chief Karl Jegeris the city has an urgent need that should be addressed. Alderman Jerry Wright called it an extremely serious situation and that he can sense danger while downtown. He would later make a motion to immediately appropriate $200,000 to deal with the panhandling, loitering, public drinking and all the problems that come with that behavior. Aldermen Jason Salamun, John Roberts and Steve Laurenti repeatedly asked what can be done now to shore up public safety in Rapid Citys core business district. The council members questions followed public testimony from downtown business representatives who as one said were asking for help. The Elks Theatre representative talked about the brick that was thrown through one of their windows last Sunday night by a vagrant who is well-known to police. Jegeris would say later that the mans 64 past interactions with police, 15 trips to detox units and countless nights in jail were a cry for help. The owner of the Firehouse Brewing Co. reported a theft that occurred Monday night at his busy downtown establishment when two men walked in and stole some wine. He said that at times it has become scary downtown. Those testimonials took on additional meaning a few hours later when the city awoke Wednesday morning to the shocking news that a convenience store clerk had been stabbed to death while attempting to stop a beer theft on Mount Rushmore Road. Through it all, however, Jegeris remained steadfast in his reluctance to commit additional long-term resources to address a problem of great concern for those who invest, work, live and spend money in downtown Rapid City. Jegeris repeatedly said he does not have the resources to do this now even though he oversees a department with 129 officers and an annual budget of more than $12 million. He explained that it is a complicated social problem and cited the work of Rapid City Collective Impact, a group that is looking at a wide range of issues, as the source of a possible long-term solution. In an email he sent later in the week to the City Council, he advocated establishing an ambassador program that would be overseen by another organization and finding funds for a social work team to handle the problems that exist today. The police chief offered many reasons on Tuesday night on why the department could not respond with more vigor to the councils requests or do little more than offer a temporary solution, continually citing the overwhelming nature of the problem that bedevils the downtown. We now ask him to consider the reasons for committing more resources despite the challenges its poses to his department. Business groups and the city itself have invested considerable resources and funds into making our downtown part of the Black Hills tourism experience and a place where locals can shop, eat and bring their children to a place like Main Street Square where they can dance in the water fountains in the summer and skate at the ice rink in the winter. The downtown is populated by small businesses that play an essential role in its vitality and also collect sales tax, which is needed to fund our city operations. In the past several years, we have seen many improvements in the City of Presidents, which now features statues of past presidents on downtown street corners where it is not unusual to see tourists mugging for photos with the works of local art. Even now, the city is looking at a Presidents Plaza-style development on the corner of St. Joseph and Fifth streets. City government also has worked diligently to extend a revitalized downtown district east beyond Fifth Street and now has a master plan to guide it. Rapid City is thinking big when it comes to its downtown, which is good for the entire community. But we also have vacancies in downtown Rapid City. Alderman Roberts said Tuesday night that a friend recently decided to move his business out of the downtown due to safety concerns. Many people have their own stories of uncomfortable encounters while downtown. The council ended Tuesday nights meeting by voting to form a task force to look at the problem and someday offer solutions. Before the vote, Mayor Steve Allender pointed out that over the past 30 years many task forces had been formed to tackle this persistent problem. A task force is fine but no quick action can be expected from its work. Business owners and others have concerns that need addressing now, and it is the police departments duty to respond to those concerns rather than offer excuses or seek additional funding. Its time to make the downtown a top public-safety priority, which can be as simple as putting more boots on the ground to start, which we have started to see since Tuesday's meeting, and then making the long-term commitment for an expanded police presence. The spirit was jubilant, as thousands of marchers gathered in the streets near the Capitol Saturday as part of the Womens March on Montana: Human Rights for All in Helena. Initial estimates put the size of the crowd at 10,000 people. A line of marchers wrapped around the Capitol, and more and more marchers just kept pouring up Washington Street. The crowd far exceeded organizers expectations, who had hoped that 4,000 would show -- based on Facebook responses. They danced, they chanted, they sang and they cheered. Some came wearing their brilliant pink, hand-knitted pussyhats to call out President Donald Trump on one of his more infamous comments about women. But this march was never billed as an anti-Trump rally, said one of the organizers, Deb ONeill. We said this is nonpartisan from the get-go. Anyone is welcome despite who you voted for, so long as you support human rights for all. And speak out, they did -- for women, for the planet, for Native Americans, for refugees, for diversity and for the LBGTQ community. It was a call for action in the coming years, not just one day. The march is just day one of this group, said ONeill. This is not the end, it is just the beginning. Montanas march was just one of similar marches held in more than 600 other cities and towns around the world, including 30 other countries. In Chicago, New York and Washington, the marches drew hundreds of thousands of people -- once again, far exceeding planners expectations. Among the speakers at the Helena rally was First Lady Lisa Bullock, who told the crowd "we stand together in solidarity with our partners and our children." U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., spoke to the crowd via phone from Washington, D.C. "Keep marching," he said. "Our country's counting on you." This story will be updated. Comments and links to reports on science, and its applications. One man's odyssey through the world of books Guwahati : At least seven people were killed and several others injured in different road mishaps in Assam in past 24 hours. According to the reports, two people were killed while a speeding vehicle fell down in a river in Goalpara district on Friday night. The deceased persons were identified as Bhaskar Kalita and Alal Khandakar. The Goalpara district police said that, the vehicle fell down in the river after hitting a wooden bridge. On the other hand, a trader named Bijay Jain was killed at Diphu railway station in Karbi Anglong district, while the Dibrugarh bound Rajdhani Express hit the trader when he tried to cross the railway track. In separate incident, two persons including a child were killed while a speedy motorcycle hit backside to a parked truck at Kohora area in Kamrup district. On the other hand, two people killed in two separate incident at Boko area in Kamrup district and Negheriting near Dergaon in Golaghat district on Saturday, while the speeding vehicle hit them. Another person identified as Biswa Dey was killed at Dudhnoi area in Goalpara district while a speeding train hit the man. On the other hand, five persons were injured in a road mishap at Mirza area in Kamrup district on Saturday morning. (Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath) Guwahati, January 22 : Security forces had foiled a major attack planned by NSCN(IM) after arresting four cadres of the outfit group with huge quantity of explosive in poll bound Manipur on Sunday. According to the reports the police commandos of Imphal West district had arrested four NSCN(IM) cadres along NH-37 of Imphal Tamenglong road. The police commando team had intercepted the militants, who travelling on an empty truck from Tamenglong bazar to Khongsang bazar. Security personnel had recovered 40 Gelatin explosive sticks, 58 Detonators, 26 metres of Cordtex, one Tata Truck (NL-01A-9772) and 18 Air gun ammunitions in possession from them. The arrested militants were identified as Yambem Rakesh Singh alias James alias Pitru, Themreingam Kashung alias Agamboy, Ramreishang Hongchui and Lankhuanlung Kamei. During the preliminary investigation, the arrested militants revealed that, they had carried the explosives to lay a series of explosions in the poll bound north eastern Indian state. Later they were handed over to Patsoi police station. Manipur is going to hold the assembly poll on March 4 and 8. (Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath) Guwahati, January 22 : At least three army personnel and four militants were killed and two jawans injured in a fierce gun battle in Tinsukia district along Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border on Sunday. The gun battle occurred following militants of Corcom comprising ULFA(I), NSCN(K) and UNLF ambushed an Assam Rifles vehicle, which escorting tourists to Pangsu Pass festival held along Arunachal Pradesh-Myanmar border. The militants ambushed the army vehicle at Warabasti 12th Mile area on NH-53 near Jagun in the Upper Assam district along border with Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday morning. The militants attacked on a vehicle of Assam Rifles by grenades and loud explosions were heard at the remote area. In the militants attack, five jawans were critically injured and they were rushed to the nearest government hospital. Among the injured army personnel, three succumbed their injuries. Two martyred jawans has been identified as riffleman L Ginlan Ven Nagaithe and riffleman Khampai Wangsu. Following the militants attack, top police and army officials had rushed to the bordering area and launched massive operation against the militant group which comprised over 50 cadres equipped with sophisticated weapons. Meanwhile, Assam police ADGP Pallab Bhattacharya said that, at least four corcom militants killed and many injured in the follow-up action by army and police after the militants attack. Security personnel had recovered 5 IEDs, 2 hand grenades, one M-16 rifle, a G3 rifle, a 9mm pistol, huge quantity ammunitions, uniforms and fired lathode shells from the encounter site. On the other hand, thousands of tourist including foreigners on the way to the Pangshu Pass festival were stranded in NH 53 for long time during the operation launched by the troops of Assam Police and army against militants. Tinsukia district Superintendent of Police Mugdhajyoti Mahanta said that, security forces used army chopper in the combing operation. Meanwhile, ULFA(I) and Corcom had claimed that, at least three army personnel were killed and many others injured in the militants attack. The militant groups also claimed that, they had snatched three weapons including two AK series rifles from the Assam Rifles troopers. It is the fifth militants attack on Assam Rifles convoy in the North East India in past three months. In last November, at least three jawans killed, while UNLFW and Corcom attacked an Assam Rifles convoy in Tinsukia district. *(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)* Kathmandu, Nepal: Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba has said that the constitution amendment bill will be endorsed through a two-thirds majority in the parliament. The constitution amendment bill will be endorsed from the parliament despite the protest from the opposition parties including the main opposition party CPN UML, Nepali Congress President Deuba, who is also the former Prime Minister, said while talking to the media persons at Lahan of Siraha district on Sunday. We are now attempting to garner CPN-UMLs support to the endorsement of the bill, Deuba said, responding to the queries of the media persons. In a different note, he also reiterated that local polls will be held in April-May. Former Prime Minister Deuba has made the claim about the local level elections in the mean time when the government has been delaying to announce the date to hold the local level elections. Former President Dr Ram Baran Yadav KATHMANDU, Jan 22: Though former President Dr Ram Baran Yadav's health is getting back to normal, he will stay for some more days in hospital, as suggested by doctors. He was admitted to the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital at Maharajgunj on Thursday after complaining of stomach ailment. According to the former President's son, Chandra Mohan Yadav, Dr Yadav will continue to stay at the hospital under doctors' supervision for few more days and then return home. The medical reports of various tests carried out have shown normal results. A medical team led by senior physician Prem Khadka is involved in the former President's medical treatment. RSS KATHMANDU, Jan 22: Major three political parties have agreed in principle on holding local level elections in the fourth week of April, 2017. The agreement was reached at a meeting of top leaders of the main three political parties called by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Saturday evening in a bid to create a favorable environment politically, legally and in terms of security to organize the local level elections at the earliest. The meeting also dwelt on discussions between party leaders on whether to go for local level elections based on the report of the Local Body Restructuring Commission or as per the previous structure of the local bodies. However, the participating Nepali Congress and Madhes-based political parties said the report given by the commission in regard to local body elections would not implement in its present structure. The parties also agreed to take initiative to pass the bill related to local bodies, which is under consideration at the Parliamentary committee, through short process. Whereas, the Election Commission has been suggesting that laws related to election should be formulated giving a time of at least 120 days from the date of announcing the election date. Talking briefly to media persons, CPN (UML) Chairman KP Sharma Oli said that positive discussion was held. Similarly, CPN (UML) Vice-Chairman Bhim Bahadur Rawal said that the discussion was held on how to declare the date for the elections and constitution implementation. He said, "An understanding has been reached in principle to declare the election date immediately. Positive discussion was held on how to hold the election in a practical manner." To the question what should be done with the constitution amendment proposal, he said his party has called for putting off or withdrawing the proposal for going for the election but the Nepali Congress and the Maoist Centre had taken stance to getting it passed. Maoist Centre spokesperson Pampha Bhusal who was present in the meeting said an understanding has been reached according to which the government would announce the date for local level election to have it conducted by mid-May this year. She said the parties have also agreed to hold separate talks on other issues including the demand of the disgruntled Madhesi Front and indigenous nationalities communities regarding increasing the ratio of proportion of representation based on population. Making it clear that the issue of giving them some seats in the 'electoral vote' would be resolved at the political level itself, spokesperson Bhusal said the meeting also held discussions on topics as constitution amendment, giving full shape to the Election Commission and making overall preparations. Party president Sher Bahadur Deuba, senior leader Ram Chandra Poudel and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Bimalendra Nidhi from the Nepali Congress, party chairman Oli, vice-chairman Rawal and standing committee member Subas Nembang from the CPN (UML), Prime Minister and party chairman Dahal and leaders Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Ram Bahadur Thapa and Bhusal from the Maoist Centre were present in the meeting. RSS Kathmandu, Nepal: Nepal Police have arrested 16 persons including employees of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the government power monopoly, for their alleged involvement in power thefts from different parts of the Kathmandu on Sunday. A team of Nepal Police mobilized from the Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD) arrested a technician, eight meter readers, a former NEA employee and six persons allegedly in the power thefts. KATHMANDU, Jan 22: Nepal, which is currently assuming Chairmanship of the two regional organizations- SAARC and BIMSTEC is all set to host the SAARC Program-Committee meeting and BIMSTEC three levels of meetings in February this year. According to Madi Prasad Bhattarai, Regional Organization Division Chief under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Program Committee, comprising the Foreign Joint-Secretaries of the SAARC member-nation, would convene at its 53rd regular meeting in Kathmandu on February 1-2. The Committee's meeting is taking place as part of the calendars of activities of the eight-member regional organization that mandates at least two such meetings of the Committee be held annually. Similarly, the 17th Joint Working Group meeting of BIMSTEC would be held on February 5 while the 17th high officials meeting of BIMSTEC member nations would take place on February 6. Likewise, on February 7, the 17th meeting of the Foreign Secretaries of the BIMSTEC member-nations will be held shared Division Chief Bhattarai. Among the issues figuring in the 53rd SAARC Program-Committee meeting would be the budget management for the operation of the Kathmandu-based SAARC Secretariat. Furthermore Bhattarai informed that various three levels of BIMSTEC meetings would be focused on reviewing the progress of the programs launched in 14 different socio-economic development sectors prioritized by the BIMSTEC for its seven member-countries lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal. The three levels of BIMSTEC meeting are scheduled to take place in Kathmandu. Participation of India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in the meeting of the SAARC program committee has been ensured, a source said. Likewise, officials of India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Myanmar and Sri Lanka will also participate in the BIMSTEC meeting, the source added. BIMSTEC has prioritized poverty eradication, trade and investment, transport and communications, energy, tourism, technology, agriculture, fish farming, environment and disaster management, public health, expansion of people to people contact among SAARC member countries, control of terrorism and inter-country crime and climate change. 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His many stints include Vice President of Finance and Business Development at Optynex Telecom; a member of the Technology Investment Banking Group at CIBC World Markets; and a financial analyst at Standard & Poor's Portfolio Management Data Group; and at Grupo VerdeAzul, a private investment firm in Panama, where he is currently Chief Investment Officer. Mahesh Khemlani also has an extensive background in business and government. He spent six years at the Ministry of Economy & Finance of Panama, most recently as Vice Minister of Finance. In an interview with Rough & Polished, Mahesh Khemlani speaks on a range of issues, including the current status of the WJDH, the global diamond industry, LGDs, generic diamond marketing and millennials. Its about two and a half years since the launch of the World Jewelry Hub; and the second phase was due to be completed by the end of 2017. Is the project progressing as per planned expectations? The project is progressing nicely and we receive several inquiries about our platform every month. We continue to accept applications from potential members of the World Jewelry & Diamond Hub, Panama. Similarly, we also continue to see several license requests from our members to operate in the free trade zone where our facility is located. This interest continues to come at a complicated time for our industry. Tightened banking regulations worldwide have not only contributed to a reduction in trade facilities for manufacturers but also in difficulties to open basic operating accounts. Thus, the interest in our platform described above did not always translate into business opportunities for those interested in establishing operations in the World Jewelry Hub. It is for this reason that Phase 2 of the project is on hold for now. We will continue to promote the World Jewelry & Diamond Hub Panama and increase membership and tenants of our facility until the need for a phase 2 becomes evident. What is the status of the project? Is the project still open for potential office space buyers? Considering the slowdown in the global gem and jewelry industry, some feel that the project was initiated at a wrong time. Your comments. Hindsight is always 20/20. Even with all the obstacles that we have encountered, our project continues to grow. We are leasing office space instead of selling as a way for international companies to test the market with a small investment. Once the value proposition becomes clear and the market matures, we will proceed to sell space to interested buyers. I must say however that this is not an immediate priority. Regarding the timing of the launch, our industry is no different than any other. It goes through economic cycles of boom and bust. I expect we will emerge from this recessionary industry cycle much stronger and consolidated than we are today. WJ&DH reportedly had plans to create dedicated areas specifically for jewelry manufacturers who can enjoy the benefits of the free zone as well as have immediate access to raw materials. How is that shaping up; and what other new facilities are being offered? What is the volume of exports recorded till today? The WJ&DH is engaged in an ongoing dialogue with the authorities of Panama and has identified the opportunity for our members and tenants to engage in light manufacturing of jewelry using materials imported to Panama and thus, benefit from trade promotion and free trade agreements that the country has negotiated. Basically, this allows for finished jewelry to be imported to important markets without paying any import tariff or duty. We ran a successful pilot with one of our members and were successful in achieving this. This represents a large opportunity for those companies that already do some setting and assembly in other markets to benefit from a reduction in their cost of doing business. Given that this initiative has just been identified, the import and export figures are not significant yet. The role and empowerment of women in the Latin American jewelry and gemstone sectors looks to be an important focus in the industry. How successful is this WJ&DH initiative? As a Bourse, we always understood that if we want to succeed we must promote an inclusive industry. In the 37th World Diamond Congress in Dubai, Ali Pastorini (Senior Vice President of the WJ&DH) and I participated and noticed the lack of young people and women in the Congress. I even mentioned during my address that the industry is not yet an industry of inclusion. It is odd that women do not really have a voice in the sector, while they are yet the greatest consumers of jewelry in the world. Ali Pastorini is heading the Mujeres Brillantes initiative that started last June (2016) in Panama City during the Second LATAM Diamond & Jewelry Week. Four months later, Ali travelled to Bogota, Colombia for the second meeting of this organization. In a short period of time, this group already counts with 100 members and a channel on YouTube called Mujeres Brillantes with professionally produced content. Judging by the achievements of the organization I have no doubt that they will generate more opportunities for women in Latin America and worldwide. As for me, I am very happy to help to open the doors for these incredible women. What is the current size of the Latin American jewelry trade; and what are the long-term prospects of the trade? And how encouraging is the economic realities facing the industry in the region? The current market for jewelry and gemstones in Latin America is estimated to be more than U.S $ 8 billion with 11,500 jewelry stores across the region. This is a region that according to the IMF will contract by 0.5% in 2016, marking two consecutive years of negative growth for the first time since the Latin American debt crisis of 1982-83. Having said this, it is a region with less than half the population of China yet more than half of its GDP. It is a region with macroeconomic fundamentals that lean towards a growing middle class in fiscally conservative democracies. In other words, the countries in the region should display increasing demand for diamonds, jewelry and colored gemstones as income levels of the general population continue to increase. What development has taken place since KP Chair Ahmed Bin Sulayems visit in terms of increasing cooperation between the WJ&DH and the Dubai Multi Commodities Center? How do you think developments in the Kimberley Process could be enhanced, specifically in Latin America? Mr. Bin Sulayems visit to Latin America will result in the reintegration of Venezuela to the KP and consequently to rough diamond trading. We were very happy to host him in our Bourse as he acknowledged the potential of Latin America as a platform and the similarities between Dubai and Panama as natural hubs for their respective regions. We will continue to learn from their success and welcome companies that are registered at the DMCC to use the WJ&DH as a gateway to the Latin American market. The Diamond Producers Association has taken initiatives in generic diamond marketing and promotional campaigns; but how important is it that stakeholders down the pipeline should also participate? Your comments. We congratulate and support such initiatives from the DPA. It is very important that the entire pipeline participate so that they are able to understand how best to position diamonds in this new market environment where experiences and journeys are prioritized over material possessions. The DPAs recent platform Real is Rare does a great job at engaging the millennial customer and positioning diamonds to represent the real connections that we as humans make. These initiatives are increasingly important as a traditional generation of diamond buyers ages and a new one emerges. Lab-grown diamonds; mixing of synthetics, etc., are a bane to the diamond industry, especially in regions which deal with smalls and melees. Any suggestions on how the industry could tackle this problem and protect consumer confidence in diamonds? Our Bourse maintains the same opinion regarding this subject - lab-grown and synthetic diamonds are not a substitute of natural diamonds. Synthetic diamonds are legitimate but they should be marketed as a separate product. In other words, they should influence diamond prices no differently than colored gemstones or pearls are able to affect prices. Most importantly, they should always be identified as synthetic if they are to be marketed to customers at any exchange and even in retail environments. Regarding consumer confidence, it is imperative that synthetic diamonds not be mixed into parcels with natural diamonds. Bourses should not tolerate it if members do not adhere to this rule and it should be cause for immediate expulsion. Millennials are presumably not interested in buying diamonds. Besides, they feel strongly about environmental damage, blood diamonds, etc. Is the future of the diamond industry in stake here? Your take According to DeBeers data, in 2015 millennials spent nearly $26 billion on diamond jewelry in China, India, Japan and the United States, 45 percent of the total retail value of all new diamond jewelry that year. This makes them the largest group of diamond retail consumers. As I mentioned earlier and the DPA has cleverly ascertained, Millenials will continue to buy diamonds to cement the memories of lifes most memorable moments. According to you, what is the current situation of the global diamond industry and how do you foresee growth in the next few years? There is still strong demand for diamonds in the United States while China and India are showing signs of weaker demand. I believe that tighter borrowing standards and increased reporting requirements for midstream players will place some pressure on this segment of the market. This pressure will also come from retailers who will demand more credit and value added services in terms of design, delivery and packaging from them. There is one trend in the diamond industry that I believe we should pay particular attention to. It is the increasing importance of women in the global workforce. This trend is likely to lead to more millennial women purchasing their own diamond jewelry. Another trend that is unlikely to reverse is that consumers will continue to demand ethically mined diamonds from legitimate sources. As with any technology, the cost of producing synthetic diamonds is likely to reduce and the process is likely to improve. Overall, the entire supply chain should jointly invest in developing demand with new consumers. If this occurs, growth should be healthy at around 2-3% a year driven primarily by the US consumer. Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. When she gets back from a short trip, Annie discovers that her boyfriend Dave has built a maze in their living room and that he doesn't want to come out of it -- or rather, that he can't. He tells her that he's stuck in what he's been building for the past few days and that he's not able to find his way out anymore. Annie has no choice but to gather a rescue team to free her boyfriend from his fantastical creation, where booby traps and monstrous surprises await... Such is the crazy premise of actor Bill Watterson's feature debut, Dave Made A Maze, a film that could very well be the result of Michel Gondry making Labyrinth as a slasher movie. Once the characters enter the maze -- which is, as the protagonist points out, much bigger on the inside --, they discover an insanely creative world made out of cardboard where origami swans, deadly pitfalls and (of course) a minotaur will force them into a fight for survival. Like in Gondry's DIY oneiric films, Dave Made A Maze displays a great quantity of amusing, colorful concepts that completely encapsulate the protagonist's mind. The epic art design and ingenious sets provide a never-ending treat for the eyes while they bring enough content to let the playful story unfold. The creative team used more than 30,000 square feet of cardboard to build what was necessary for the shooting and worked with a combination of practical effects that range from stop motion, puppetry, animation and optical illusions. Both main actors, Nick Thune and Meera Rohit Kumbhani, deliver fine performances by playing along with the handmade oddities surrounding them, with the supporting members of the cast contributing to the film's efficient humorous side. A satisfactory element also comes from the character of Annie, who proves to be a strong female lead with a lot of heart. While few complaints can be made regarding the aesthetics of Dave Made A Maze, Steven Sears' script however suffers from its repetitive nature and its lack of ambition. The labyrinth surely does serve as a multifaceted metaphor that reflects Dave's situation in life - him being literally stuck, facing a wall - and echoes his feelings as a failed artist. It also helps picture in a vivid way how one can sabotage themselves and their loved ones, yet it always comes back to the same schematic development and never really manages to reach higher ground. Too bad that the various tests and steps that the characters have to go through don't mirror the protagonist's internal conflict in a more cathartic way, similarly to what Edgar Wright achieved in his brilliant coming-of-age Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Nevertheless, this frustration never really takes the fun out of Watterson's first film. With its explosion of creativity, its thrilling concept and its lovely characters, Dave Made A Maze is a fine example of how a creative team can overcome the restrains of a tight budget to offer a fun ride. The film shouldn't have too much trouble to please its audience at its premiere at Slamdance, where it will surely start a great festival run. For the first time the England the Office for National Statistics (ONS) includes data related hacking and fraud, and findings are shocking. Cyber criminal activities in England and Wales have shown a spike in the last twelve months, Cyber frauds and computer misuse offences are most common crimes of this worrisome trend. According to the report Crime in England and Wales: year ending Sept 2016 published by the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) there were 6.2 million reported incidents of crime in the 12 months to September 2016 in England and Wales. The ONS crime report is an annual analysis of the criminal phenomena and has been produced every year for the past 35 years. Data belonging Scotland and Northern Ireland are not included because the two countries have separate judicial and policing regime. Headline figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) produced on a consistent basis showed an estimated 6.2 million incidents of crime in the survey year ending September 2016; no statistically significant change compared with the previous years survey. states the report. Following an extension of the coverage of the survey, Experimental Statistics showed there were 3.6 million fraud and 2.0 million computer misuse offences for the first full year in which such questions have been included in the CSEW. This overall figure is unchanged compared with the previous 12 months, except for the weight of the cyber criminal activities. Experts noticed that adding 3.6 million cases of fraud and 2 million computer misuse offences to 6.2 million figure of crime, the number of reported incidents reached 11.8 million. This data represent a 90 per cent surge in criminal activities. The most important consideration to do reading the report is the inclusion of computer crime and fraud, this means that the awareness of cyber threats is increasing. Pierluigi Paganini (Security Affairs ONS Report, Crimes) Share this... Linkedin Share this: Email Twitter Print LinkedIn Facebook More Tumblr Pocket Share On Seguin, TX (78155) Today Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. A stray severe thunderstorm is possible. Low 53F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. A stray severe thunderstorm is possible. Low 53F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. "Mass Incarceration: Where Do We Go From Here?" | Main | SCOTUS denies cert on handful of Alabama cases raising Hurst and other issues January 22, 2017 Making the case again against mandatory minimums Mark Holden has this new op-ed, given the headline "Mandatory minimums are a crime in themselves," which discusses the well-known case of Weldon Angelos and then articulates the effective arguments against mandatory minimum sentencing statutes generally. Here are excerpts: America's criminal justice system is broken. Too many of our fellow citizens are rotting behind bars, unable to atone for their mistakes, contribute to their communities and lead lives of meaning and fulfillment. It's not just a crisis it's a crime in and of itself. If you don't believe us, just go to the Sundance Film Festival this weekend. There you'll see a trailer for a new documentary about Weldon Angelos and his firsthand experience with the criminal justice system. As a lawyer with Koch Industries, I learned about Weldon Angelos when he became the poster child for the unfair and unjust sentences that are all too common, especially for low-level and nonviolent offenders.... Even though he was a first-time, nonviolent offender [convicted of multiple marijuana distribution and gun possession charges], Weldon Angelos received a staggering 55-year prison sentence with a release date of October 2051. He would have received a shorter sentence for being a murderer or terrorist.... Weldon's story, thankfully, has a happy ending. Last May, after 12 years in prison, a federal court granted him an immediate reduction to his sentence. In a show of true compassion, the federal prosecutor who prosecuted him in the first place initiated this effort. Weldon has since returned to his family and his life a life that only months ago seemed would be spent behind bars. Yet the laws behind such grossly unjust punishments are still on the federal books. So are many other mandatory sentencing laws. Rolling them back or repealing them outright is one of the most important reforms before Congress. This is especially important for federal drug offenders, over 260,000 of whom have been sentenced under mandatory minimums. Distressingly, 86 percent of current drug offenders in federal prison committed nonviolent crimes, and the same number were low-level offenders. The case against mandatory minimum sentencing laws is simple. While initially created with good intentions, they typically do far more harm than good. Mandatory minimums empower prosecutors to a dangerous degree. They alone have the power to bring charges against offenders if they bring ones associated with high mandatory minimums, the judge has little choice but to accept it, even if other charges might be more appropriate. Nowhere else in America's criminal justice system are judges and juries so powerless. And while they are supposed to lower crime rates, studies have shown that mandatory minimums have had only a minor effect at best. Hardened criminals the real bad guys are still usually able to get favorable deals, while low-level ones get stuck with the harshest possible sentences. Last but not least, mandatory minimums create perverse incentives for the police themselves. If authorities truly felt Weldon was a threat to public safety, they would have arrested him the first time he sold marijuana to the informant. Instead, law enforcement allowed him to sell drugs two more times to enhance the sentence. This is fundamentally unjust. The evidence points to the inescapable conclusion that mandatory minimums must be reformed, and fast. Congress has an opportunity to make law enforcement jobs less dangerous, enhance public safety for all, bring communities together, and help countless people improve their lives people like Weldon Angelos. It's time to restore justice to America's criminal justice system. January 22, 2017 at 11:16 AM | Permalink Comments "Hardened criminals the real bad guys are still usually able to get favorable deals, while low-level ones get stuck with the harshest possible sentences." I have been a state prosecutor in CA for nearly 20 years. This statement is blatantly false. While the article uses a federal prosecution as an example for It's point, the lead sentence says America's criminal justice system. Posted by: David | Jan 22, 2017 12:37:31 PM Why does a non-violent offender need to carry a gun? These mandatory minimums were enacted after a wild increase in murders from drug dealing competition in 1980's. They dropped crime 40% across the board. They added great value to the economy, by lowering the damage of crime. They may have an unknown factor in the real estate bubble. The crime drop was rapid after 5 years passed, the correct lag of effects of new laws. Other factors would have caused slower drops, such as aging of the population, or decreases in blood levels. No one has accounted for the rate of drops in the rates. It is consistent with a single event such as the spread of mandatory guidelines. Their being made discretionary by the Supreme Court, under the leadership of Scalia, also had time lag. That lag is explained by a long term side effect, lawyer unemployment. If mandatory guidelines were unconstitutional, they were at the time of enactment, and not just 20 years later. Their repeal should be considered to be a pretextual, rent seeking tactic by the lawyers on the Supreme Court acting in bad faith, with irremediable professional economic conflict of interest. We need some follow up. Angelos will be lucky to get a hard work job at $15 an hour, taxed. He will remember his prior no effort job, paying $150 an hour, tax free. Will he return to that more lucrative life? Will a competitor threaten his income, with no possibility of compromise? Will he then resume his job description task to be a serial killer of competitors? Only the slightest decarceration has taken place. There have immediately been substantial increases in the murder rates in 20 large cities. The rate would have been even higher without the advances in trauma care learned in Middle Eastern wars. The economy is better. Lead levels are still dropping. Perhaps, the cause of murder is more offenders have been streeted. I am going to guess, lawyer Holden is white. He lives in a neighborhood lower in crime than Japan or Switzerland. He does not care about the consequences to people who do not. No released drug dealer will be moving in next door. Posted by: David Behar | Jan 22, 2017 12:46:50 PM David. Are you an at will employee? Have you ever had a political appointee speak to you about your decision to prosecute someone? Posted by: David Behar | Jan 22, 2017 2:29:11 PM David. To the first question the answer is no. To the second the answer is also no as the DA is elected. Unless you consider the normal management structure political appointees. Posted by: David | Jan 22, 2017 5:28:40 PM David. That is good to hear. Holden argued that the an unaccountable prosecutor is overly empowered, as an unintended consequence of mandatory minimums. In the Delaware Valley (PA, NJ, DE), the prosecutor is an at will employee who has to think about his personal future if he exercises judgment to prosecute, when politically appointed supervisors disagree. I do support the continued elections of district attorneys, and of judges. I do not support pressuring local prosecutors about discretion. Their careers should depend on success in court, short term (yearly), and on the crime rate, long term (over 5 years). Otherwise, you get Martha Stewart prosecuted for lying to FBI agents in an informal interview at her home, at a legal cost of $2 million to the tax payer. Then, illegal alien, Salvadoran gangs who behead adversaries are left to do as they please for years. One is easy, and gets the DA in the papers. The other is difficult and thankless, but of the greater value to the tax payer, especially to the impoverished, and legally weak neighbors of the gangs. Posted by: David Behar | Jan 22, 2017 6:12:56 PM It seems inconsistent to me to say that prosecutors should stand for popular election and become elected officials, but then be immune from public input on their exercise of discretion. I am an elected official, school board member, and welcome the input of my constituents in my decision-making. Bruce Posted by: bruce cunningham | Jan 23, 2017 6:22:52 AM Law enforcement, prosecution and incarceration have become an ever increasing per cent of local state and federal budgets. Mandatory minimums have lead to increasingly long sentences and enhanced the facility of the prosecution. We have a large, hungry and growing army of public employees filling these ever expanding government jobs. Public employee unions are strong and wield great influence. They also have the capability of bankrupting government bodies with generous underfunded pension plans. It's no wonder that free world marvels at the size of our prison population. When 30% of the population has an arrest record - perhaps we should reevaluate our criminal justice system. By the way, Weldon Angelos spent the week-end at the Sun dance Film Festival if I remember correctly. Posted by: beth | Jan 23, 2017 5:26:30 PM FYI- My lifelong friend Rick Wershe is another victim of mandatory sentencing. He was given a mandatory life sentence for a single non-violent drug offense. First offense, no weapons and he was a juvenile. "Richard John Wershe Jr. is a political prisoner in America. The political component of his ordeal is local, its harsh and its vindictive. Wershe, who grew up in Detroit, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for a non-violent drug crime committed when he was 17. The law was eventually changed to allow parole but that hasnt made a difference for Wershe. He is Michigans last remaining juvenile non-violent drug offender, still behind bars after 29 years. Wershe, who has been described by a prison official as a near-model prisoner, was never charged with any drug-related violence, he was never charged with ordering any drug violence, he never operated crack houses, he was never charged with conspiracy because he never had a gang, he was never named as an unindicted co-conspirator in any narcotics case and he was never called as a witness in any drug trials. Yet, hes been labeled a drug lord and kingpin." - http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/11/29/is-cocaine-legend-white-boy-rick-serving-life-for-busting-crooked-cops.html Information, documents, links, etc related to Rick Wershe and his case: https://www.facebook.com/FreeRickWersheJr/ http://www.thedimedroppers.com/ https://read.atavist.com/white-boy-rick?no-overlay&preview Posted by: dave majkowski | Jan 23, 2017 8:41:06 PM Bruce. I support election of district attorneys for the reasons you said, accountability to the public. I oppose their interfering with street prosecutor decisions for political purposes. I gave examples of politically motivated, wrongful prosecution decisions in my comment. I also support ending all prosecutor immunities from professional tort liabilities. Although their work qualifies them for strict liability, allowing that would end all prosecutions. They may regulate themselves by liability under professional standards of due care. They may carry professional liability insurance as everyone is forced to do. Such liability may require a constitutional amendment, since the Supreme Court has adamantly opposed any liability, even in the face of intentional misconduct. Posted by: David Behar | Jan 24, 2017 12:21:12 PM Beth. I marvel at the high crime rates allowed in Paris and London, and other cities in Europe. There is no punishment going on, so crime is immunized and exploded, despite the lying statistics of the governments. I have said that if white people endured the crime victimization rates of black people, they would be screaming for the National Guard to patrol the city and to shoot to kill. Here. It is happening in France. The military is guarding Fashion Week in France. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/france/paris/articles/paris-tightens-fashion-week-security-to-reassure-the-rich-and-fa/ Posted by: David Behar | Jan 24, 2017 12:28:00 PM Yes, but on the other hand, our justice system harshly prosecutes and incarcerates not only violent criminals but also nonviolent offenders where there are no victims. We don't distinguish. The war on drugs has ballooned the system. Posted by: beth | Jan 24, 2017 2:59:05 PM Beth. I doubt that drug dealers are non-violent. The murder epidemics of the 1980's and early 1990's were their serial killing of competitors. See the movie American Gangster, about the 18970's, then multiply by 10. I am not going to suggest that you try selling drugs in the territory of a released non-violent drug offender, because I care about your health. Try trespassing onto the farm of a Grateful Deadhead growing marijuana. I am going to suggest that a researcher obtain a certificate of absolute immunity for survey information from the Department of Justice. Then, he should interview a representative sample of non-violent drug offenders, and ask, "How many competitors have you murdered?" Posted by: David Behar | Jan 24, 2017 7:00:28 PM When a nonviolent drug offender goes to trial and at sentencing the judge states there were no victims you can believe there are no victims. There are no charges dropped when you go to trial. Posted by: beth | Jan 24, 2017 11:48:15 PM Our local Judicial System is more corrupt then the people they put in Prison. Posted by: LC in Texas | Jan 25, 2017 10:36:16 PM Post a comment As one rain-soaked sign summarized the scene, it was a "Nasty Day for The Nasty Women." But cold, wet weather didn't deter the estimated 100,000 or more people who gathered in San Francisco this afternoon to march through puddles and into the evening in one of hundreds of Women's Marches held across the nation. The official attendance estimate for the San Francisco march comes from CBS 5, a number far exceeding the 60,000 attendees organizers told SFist they were expecting earlier this week. In fact, the figure rivals the largest local march in recent history, held 14 years ago in protest of the Iraq war. "Just wow" glowed Martha Shaughnessy, one of today's organizers and the communications director for the network of Bay Area Women's Marches. From her perch at Fifth Street at just before 7 p.m., Shaughnessy said she saw no end sight to the parade of supporters. The gathering was one of six "sister marches" in the Bay Area, with two other large-scale events in San Jose and Oakland. The San Jose march, which began at 10 a.m. at the Plaza de Cesar Chavez, drew an estimated 25,000 attendees according to CBS 5. Per the East Bay Express, Oakland's march drew somewhere from 60,000 to 80,000 participants. Earlier in the day, more than one million people joined Women's Marches across the nation and beyond. The crowd in Washington, DC exceeded estimates by such a large margin that organizers were forced to alter its route, as our sister website DCist reported, while organizers of the Los Angeles Women's March told the LA Times that roughly 750,000 people had attended. The New York City Mayor's office told the NY Times that about 400,000 people attended a march there. San Francisco police say there were no arrests made related to the Women's March. While marches elsewhere were more star-studded, notable politicians and business leaders in attendance here included House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. Me and #gavinnewsom #streetsofsf #streetsofsanfrancisco #urbanstreetphotography #urbanphotography #sfist A photo posted by Darwin Bell (@darwinbell) on Jan 21, 2017 at 7:22pm PST City Hall even looked the part for the occasion: Known for its colorful lighting on holidays like Christmas (red and green), Independence Day (red, white, and blue), and big Giants' wins (orange), the building was lit up pink for today's march. "This sums it up: Young folks in front of a City Hall lit up pink, bringing lights into the darkness," said Shaughnessy. "[And] this is just the beginning." Related: About 2,000 Marched Up Market Street Friday To Protest The Inauguration This website is intended for U.S. visitors only. LE MARS, Iowa -- The Infernos Motorcycle Club of Le Mars presented Special Troopers Adaptive Riding School (STARS) Board representative Josh Sherer with a $4,000 check on Jan. 13, in honor of its late friend Larry Schlichte. The club raised the funds by hosting its Third Annual Larry Schlichte Memorial Ride. STARS provides people with disabilities with an animal-oriented therapeutic, rehabilitative and recreational program. The club's donation to the organization on behalf of Schlichte will help purchase hay for the therapy horses used by the organization. WASHINGTON From Wal-Mart to General Motors to Amazon, a growing number of the world's largest companies appear to be trying to get in step with President Donald Trump's demand that employers hire and keep jobs at home. Trump, in response, has taken to Twitter to signal his approval. "Thank you to General Motors and Walmart for starting the big jobs push back into the U.S.!" he tweeted Tuesday afternoon. Yet it's unclear just how many jobs are actually being saved or created as a result of Trump's push or whether his administration will hold companies accountable for their pledges. In a solid job market with just 4.7 percent unemployment, hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs are added all the time for a broad range of reasons. Trump has boasted that he deserves the credit based on what chief executives have told him, despite evidence to the contrary provided by those same companies. "Ask top CEO's of those companies for real facts. Came back because of me!" Trump declared on Twitter on Wednesday. GM announced Tuesday that it was creating or keeping 7,000 jobs, while Wal-Mart said it planned to hire 10,000 and support an additional 24,000 construction jobs with store openings and expansions. Those announcements followed Amazon's commitment to add 100,000 workers through mid-2018 and a bold claim by the Chinese online retailer Alibaba that it would create 1 million U.S. jobs over the next five years. That extravagant pledge would make Alibaba alone responsible for over 10 percent of all jobs added each year an unheard-of feat in the modern economy. Many economists say the hiring being celebrated by Trump reflects, more than anything, the health of the $18.7 trillion economy he is inheriting. "Between the election and today, unless you work on Capitol Hill in D.C., nothing fundamental has changed in the U.S. labor market," said Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist at the jobs site Glassdoor. To these economists, the latest high-profile hiring announcements suggest that companies are capitalizing on the politically charged climate. Trump has berated companies such as Nabisco for shuttering domestic plants in order to open factories in Mexico, while celebrating companies that publicly commit to hiring in the United States. What's more, nearly every major U.S. employer has tax and regulatory issues before the government. To that end, a sympathetic ear in the White House could be helpful. The heads of German chemical company Bayer and seed-and-herbicide-maker Monsanto met with Trump last week to pitch the benefits of a planned-for merger of the two companies that requires antitrust clearance. And Trump proudly tweeted reports Wednesday that Bayer would add U.S. jobs. By announcing new jobs, companies can use any existing hiring plans to ingratiate themselves with Trump by hitching their plans to his economic agenda, noted Patrick O'Keefe, director of economic research at the consultancy and accountant CohnReznick. "There is a degree of opportunism in a positive way," O'Keefe said. GM plans to invest $1 billion in its U.S. factories and to create or keep 2,000 manufacturing jobs as well as 5,000 positions in auto financing and engineering moves the company had said were being planned well before the election. Trump had drawn attention to GM this month by threatening on Twitter to tax the automaker for selling Mexican-built cars in the United States. That set up GM's jobs announcement as a coup for Trump, even though the investment was already in the works. A GM spokesman said it was "good timing for us to share what we are doing." Wal-Mart's hiring similarly seems somewhat independent of Trump. The jobs stem largely from plans to open and remodel stores work that would not be outsourced overseas. Wal-Mart is the nation's largest private employer, with 1.5 million workers in the United States, and its hiring rate this year will be similar to prior years, said Lorenzo Lopez, a company spokesman. These announcements follow hiring plans announced by Ford and Fiat Chrysler, among others. The auto executives were willing to let Trump promote their hiring plans, even though their decisions involved other market forces, including increased demand for SUVs as gasoline prices have dropped. Hyundai said Tuesday that it plans to invest $3.1 billion by 2021 on research and development at its factories in Alabama and Georgia. Chung Jin Haeng, chief executive of the South Korean automaker, said the decision had little to do with Trump. "The U.S. market is strategically important," he said. At the same time, Trump has also talked with companies about cutting their costs a move that often involves slashing jobs. He met Tuesday, for example, with the CEO of Boeing, a company he had criticized in December over Twitter for the "out of control" price of two new planes for the Air Force One fleet. CEO Dennis Muilenburg said he chatted with Trump about how to lower the costs for the presidential planes as well as fighter aircraft. "I think Mr. Trump is doing a great job with engaging the business," Muilenburg said afterward. "We're all on the same page here." Not all the job announcements will necessarily come to fruition. Alibaba has said it expects to add a million U.S. companies to its online retail platform in the next five years. It asserted that sales to Chinese consumers would lead each of those companies to add, on average, one job each. This would translate into an astounding 250,000 a jobs a year in an economy in which every employer, combined, added 2.2 million jobs in 2016. "It's not rocket-science math," said company spokesman Brion Tingler, who nevertheless cautioned that the 1 million jobs being publicized were an "aspiration." Other than his social media megaphone, Trump doesn't appear to have the means to hold companies accountable for their jobs pledges. His transition team didn't respond to questions about how it planned to ensure that CEOs' promises to create U.S. jobs were fulfilled. Patricia Posner is among those who applaud the efforts of cities such as Dallas to remember the Holocaust. In 2018, the Dallas Holocaust Museum will move into a greatly expanded, 50,000-square-foot space near The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. Posner is abundantly familiar with the stories both museums tell. Shes the wife of author Gerald Posner, with whom she collaborated, as she has on all of his books, on Case Closed, a Pulitzer Prize finalist that many contend is the definitive book on the assassination of President Kennedy. But Patricia Posner, 65, is a published author in her own right. Her new book is The Pharmacist of Auschwitz: The Untold Story. The book is also being published in conjunction with International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Jan. 27 is the 72nd anniversary of the day Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated. At a time when Holocaust denial is a real and cancerous force indeed, its the subject of Denial, a movie still in theaters and anti-Semitism is on the rise in Europe and elsewhere, Posner sees stories such as hers as being indispensable records of the darkest chapter of the 20th century. The anti-Semitism problem and the anti-Jew problem have risen to a peak again, says Posner, a Jewish woman who grew up in London in the aftermath of World War II. So for her, The Pharmacist of Auschwitz is a very passionate story. Being Jewish, Ive always had a thing about history and the Holocaust. Even now, I dont quite understand how it got that far. And I really dont understand the other part, which is Holocaust denial. That is extremely upsetting to me. For that reason alone, she hopes her book will be read by people in their 30s and 40s but also by an even younger audience worldwide, which she says needs to hear the story of the Holocaust and to examine its relevance today. I had the most extraordinary conversation with someone, she says. He was an educated man, in his 40s. He had gone to see Schindlers List and said, I didnt know that that happened. All the more reason to write The Pharmacist of Auschwitz, which chronicles the life of Victor Capesius, whom the book describes as an ethnic-German Romanian pharmacist who joined the SS and subsequently took part in the genocide of the Jews at Auschwitz, the epicenter of Nazi death camps. And yet, theres more. Posners book doubles as the spellbinding story of Nazi Germanys largest industrial conglomerate, I.G. Farben. Capesius worked for Farbens Bayer pharmaceutical subsidiary. As Posners book graphically illustrates: Farben itself benefited from slave labor at a massive concentration camp it built next door to Auschwitz. Christopher Lascelles, her publisher, describes Capesius as someone who illustrates so well writer Hannah Arendts banality of evil, an ordinary man capable of extraordinary crimes who is unburdened by a bad conscience. Having aided her husband on his many books, Posner says, My favorite part is research, finding the documents. And for this book, she found many, relying on newly declassified documents from U.S. archives. Those helped enormously, she says, in determining that, despite Capesius attempts to go underground after the war, a chance encounter led to his arrest. As the book notes, Amazingly, both the British and Americans freed him without any charges, and he set up a pharmacy and beauty store on the proceeds of gold that he had stolen from the mouths of corpses at Auschwitz. It took German prosecutors almost two decades to bring him and 22 of his Auschwitz SS colleagues to trial in 1964. Convicted of aiding and abetting in the deaths of thousands, he served a fraction of a nine-year sentence. He died peacefully in 1985. He had his pharmacy, he had his three children, Posner says. The other frightening thing for me was, when he made his first public appearance at a local concert, people stood up and applauded. Think about it: Its 1968, and theyre applauding him. And yet, in one important way, her book is a celebration of a rare kind of heroism. Its compelling side story offers an in-depth profile of Nazi hunter Fritz Bauer, who proved relentless in hunting down Capesius and bringing him to justice, as best he could. For that reason alone, Posner sees the ending to her book as being so powerful, because Fritz Bauer never gives up. The story evolves from Capesius world of the darkness and terror of Auschwitz to the bravery of two men a camp survivor, Hermann Langbein, and Jewish prosecutor Fritz Bauer, who over a 20-year period managed to bring Capesius to justice, however diminished it might have been. Bauer is also the subject of the 2015 movie, The People vs. Fritz Bauer. Despite the sentence falling short of what Capesius deserved, in the end, they win, she says of Langbein and Bauer, who offer a lesson for the world, for the simplest of reasons. In the authors words, They never gave up." LOS ANGELES When Jude Law began his acting career more than two decades ago, he underestimated the power of a costume. Now, with The Young Pope, he sees its impact. When youre being carried in by 12 men on a golden throne with robes, bejeweled robes, it helps a lot, he told television critics last week. Just putting on the popes clothing gave the Oscar nominee a sense of the character and his importance. Im glad I played it in my 40s and not my 70s because I dont know how those guys carry that stuff when theyre old. A huge amount of reveling and feeling the sort of status of someone in that position is helped by the reaction of others. Law plays Lenny Belardo, the youngest and first American pope in the fictional miniseries. Struggling with those around him, he questions their motives, their actions and his place in their world. Directed by Paolo Sorrentino, the 10-part drama isnt reaching for an indictment of the Roman Catholic Church, but a look at how its people function. Insiders told Sorrentino it was very possible after Pope Francis there could be a younger man, an American. The (series) is very much about the solitude of the power and the solitude of the man, Sorrentino said. To play that, Law wondered if he needed to brush up on Catholic history. Sorrentino assured him all he really had to do was concentrate on who Lenny Belardo was, Lenny the man. An orphan, he is trying to understand this sense of lack of love and a lot of the part is trying to understand that, Law said. The vulnerabilities are there. Lenny who becomes Pope Pius XIII has a number of idiosyncrasies. Among them: smoking. It was inspired by Benedict, who apparently liked a cigarette after mass, Law said. Sorrentinos scripts are rich with detailand you sink your teeth into those. Sorrentino encouraged his star to create the man first, then look at him as pope. It seemed to me that Lenny was a man who had constructed a rule book, both in the political world of the church but also privately, Law said. What enabled him to achieve so much so young is also what alienated him. Diane Keaton, who plays Sister Mary, a nun who nurtured his ambitions, reveals another side of the man. I kept calling her my Mama Rose because shes the one always saying, Youre going to be the pope, Lenny, Law said. Shes my biggest supporter in the piece. Like Keaton, the 44-year-old Law realized he had to be his characters best friend, no matter what hes doing. Just as in real life, the bad guy doesnt think hes the bad guy. He thinks hes the good guy, right? Well, maybe, not always. I kind of underestimated how brutal he was in some moments of the piece. But in the moment, I was just reveling in it, if Im honest. Sometimes, its a wonderful excuse to behave badly. Although the Vatican wasnt willing to participate in the film, Sorrentino was able to find places around Rome that looked very similar. Judes apartment was a museum that we used, he said. We rebuilt the balcony. While Laws sons loved the way he deals with people in The Young Pope, my daughter was terrified. Considering the range of his work from The Talented Mr. Ripley to Cold Mountain, from Alfie to Sherlock Holmes he does see a bit of irony to being cast as the pope. Transformative? Yes, I think it was, he said. But I think the thing that really stands out was the experience of working with Paolo. It was really eye-opening to work with someone who had such clarity of vision and contributed such an extraordinary signature and heightened, just every day, in every way what we were doing as a cast and as a team. Ive always been curious about faith and ones personal relationship with faith and, I suppose, it encouraged me to question and look at that a little more. The Young Pope airs Sundays and Mondays on HBO. SIOUX CITY -- Home decor trends come and go. Luckily for your wallet, the eclectic look has staying power in 2017. According to Laura Austin-Bullock, interior designer and co-owner of Studio Four Two Seven, 316 Court St., gold is "huge" in 2017, but she said you don't have to get rid of silver and bronze accessories in order to add a Midas touch to your home. Metallics can live together in harmony. "Metals are cyclical. You'll see bronze and silver and then all of a sudden it's going to go back to gold," she said as she stood in front of a gray textured wall adorned with gold accent mirrors. "They tweak it a little bit so it may not be the brassy, bright gold. It has more of a distressed or muted tone to it." Austin-Bullock said purchasing a gold lamp or a serving tray to set on your coffee table is a nice way to update your home's look. At Studio Four Two Seven, six clear glass hurricanes etched with gold sat on a gold tray on the middle shelf of a silver buffet. "This tray can give you an impact of that gold without going over your budget," she said. "The eclectic look is still in. If you have silver, you don't need to have all silver. You can mix and match. That electric look and feel is still real popular." A pop of color Gray is a favorite neutral backdrop. Spice it up with a pop of color. The Pantone Color Institute chose "Greenery," a fresh, zesty green shade, as its color of the year. The world-renowned authority on color says Greenery "signals consumers to take a deep breath, oxygenate and reinvigorate." Studio Four Two Seven has picture frames, vases and candles in the hue. Orange, blue-green, sunshine yellow and dusty cobalt blue are also hot, according to Austin-Bullock, who said pastels are even in vogue. "We got a couple pastel books that are focusing on softer, dusted colors instead of brilliant colors," she said. "A good indicator of what is coming is when the fabric companies make a commitment to book these products because it costs so much. If you start seeing some purple books, it means it's here to stay. These books don't go out of circulation for at least five years." Dawnn Marvin, Austin-Bullock's business partner, suggests infusing neutrals with colored pillows, throws and floral arrangements. Pick paintings that you can change out seasonally with bright colors for spring and muted tones for winter. Austin-Bullock said you can apply the same philosophy to area rugs, which can add a dramatic feel to a room. At Studio Four Two Seven, a tan and white cowhide rug lay in front of a greenish tan leather couch. "If we pulled that rug out, it would be a whole different feel to the space," Austin-Bullock said. "In the winter, put this down. In the summer, put down a more springy one. You can take that out, store it and bring it back; and kind of play with your designs seasonally." Where do I start? Austin-Bullock said anything can serve as an inspiration when redecorating -- a color, a scarf or a picture from a magazine. But she cautions that interior design needs to be functional as well as good-looking. She recommends choosing an area rug first, because the patterns, colors and styles available are limited compared to fabric choices. "Start with the hardest piece to hone in on that you love and then we build off of that," she said. Sticking with a neutral palette doesn't have to be boring. You can liven it up with textures that add interest, as well as comfort. Think nubby, velvety, silky or wool-like fabrics. "The different textures means a lot when you're doing a monochromatic space," she said. "But then if they get tired of it, you infuse a color with this and it still works." Austin-Bullock said she chooses a more neutral fabric for big furnishings, such as a sofa. Bold colors and busy patterns are reserved for pillows, which can be changed out more frequently, along with vases and other accessories. "If you get tired of them, you just go to a different purple or blue or something if you've got a neutral background," she said. BEIJING - The State Council, China's cabinet, will abolish another 39 items of administrative approval to streamline the economy. Another 14 items will be abolished after amendments to the law by the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress, the country's top legislature. Facing a complicated global landscape, 230 items of administrative approval have been canceled since March 2013 as part of a wider drive by the government to streamline administrative procedures and delegate power to lower levels. The 53 items mainly involve business production, private employment and entrepreneurship. 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. LE MARS, Iowa | Three performers pose a question to close their musical theater performance on Saturday at the Iowa High School Large-Group District Speech contest at Le Mars Community High School. "What will your legacy be?" they sing, concluding their performance as the Schuyler sisters from the popular musical, "Hamilton." Alexander Hamilton, the country's first treasury secretary and a Founding Father, died much too early at age 47. His legacy, in-part, as shown in this tremendous 10-minute performance, is New York City's first private orphanage, a life's work for his widow, Eliza Schuyler, played by Le Mars senior Alexandra Pick. Pick was joined by classmate Megan Connor and junior Andrea Barrett in singing, acting and moving throughout the Spartan set, one of thousands of such performances conducted across Iowa on Saturday, a day that featured nearly 26,000 Iowa high school students on stage. Pick said she began thinking about playing off the Schuylers in a musical theater entry in June. During a college visit to the University of Iowa in October, Megan Connor listened to the music. The spark came. She and Pick agreed it would work as their senior musical theater speech entry. They asked Andrea Barrett, a junior, to play sister Peggy Schuyler. All three are members of the Iowa All-State Choir. All three participate in ensemble acting in large-group speech as well. And, the trio can be found singing and dancing with the show choir at Le Mars High School. "We practice this (musical theater) four days per week, two hours at a time," said Pick. Their commitment paid off, at least to these untrained eyes and ears. The trio moved constantly through their set, hopping off a table, onto chairs to start the skit, allowing Conner, who plays Angelica Schuyler, to set the New York high-society scene. The break in music between songs lasts but for a fleeting second or two. As they performed before a spellbound crowd, hundreds of students at Le Mars High School -- and at Storm Lake High School, for that matter -- prepped for performances in mime, readers' theater, group improvisation, TV news, radio news, choral reading and more. Speech is one of those activities where students all seem to support one another. It's not so much a competition as it is a festival, or celebration. That said, groups earning a superior, or Division I rating, advance to the state meet at Spencer High School in Spencer, Iowa, on Feb. 4. It is where the "Schuyler Sisters" will find themselves in a couple of weeks. Of course, they'll have rehearsals before that date, their time to shore up any soft spots the judge detected in Saturday's performance. The best of the best at the state performance advance to the Iowa High School Speech All-State Festival later in February. And while that may likely be a goal for this unit, it's certainly not the end-all, be-all. Connor said the group simply desires to keep improving, while finding meaning in each performance, whether it's in front of a throng of fans, or in a 7:15 a.m. rehearsal. "We love what we're doing, so it doesn't seem like rehearsal," Pick said. "We push ourselves, but we don't let this become routine," Connor added. "And by doing this, we've grown closer together." The comment elicited a laugh from Barrett, who said, "We're just like the Schuyler sisters." So, they've become better friends and have unearthed pieces of a Founding Father's history while creating a piece that races to entertain and inform. That, you might say, serves as the legacy of high school speech. And the answer to a question about why students should participate in this worthwhile extracurricular activity. ORANGE CITY, Iowa -- Tens of thousands of bicyclists and support personnel will descend on Orange City this summer for the start of RAGBRAI. The 411-mile bike trek across the state will begin in the Sioux County seat on July 23. Cyclists will spend the next night in Spencer. The eight overnight cities were announced at a RAGBRAI party in Des Moines Saturday night. Other stops on the northern route include Algona, Clear Lake, Charles City, Cresco, Waukon and Lansing. This is the first time in the 45-year history of the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa that Orange City was picked as the starting place. It's begun in Sioux County nine previous times, most recently in Rock Valley in 2014. This will be the fifth time that Spencer will serve as an overnight stop, the most recent in 2007. Orange City annually hosts a tulip festival in May that celebrates the city's Dutch heritage, while Spencer is home each September to the Clay County Fair, billed as the country's largest county fair. In 2015, the hordes of cyclists started from Sioux City. Last year, the ride began in Glenwood and followed a southern route. Check back at siouxcityjournal.com for more details Sunday about the two Siouxland cities selected as overnight stops. "Don't Make Any Sudden Moves" is the advice offered to the new president by Richard Haass of the Council on Foreign Relations, which has not traditionally been known as a beer hall of populist beliefs. Haass meant the president should bring his National Security Council together to anticipate the consequences before tearing up the Iran nuclear deal, moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem or shooting down a missile being tested by Kim Jong Un. In arguing against rash action, Haass is correct. Where the CFR and the establishment are wrong, and Donald Trump is right, however, is in recognizing the new world we have entered. The old order is passing away. Treaties and alliances dating from the Cold War are ceasing to be relevant and cannot long be sustained. Economic patriotism and ethnonationalism, personified by Trump, seem everywhere ascendant. Transnationalism is yielding to tribalism. The greater danger for President Trump is that the movement he led will be abandoned, its hopes dashed, and the agenda that Trump rejected and routed will be reimposed by a Republican Establishment and its collaborators in politics and the press. Again, it was Trump who read the nation right, which is why he is taking the oath today. The existential threat to the West no longer comes from the East, from a Russian army crashing through Poland and Germany and driving for the Elbe and Fulda Gap. The existential threat to the West comes, instead, from the South. The billion-plus peoples of the Maghreb, Middle East and sub-Sahara, whose numbers are exploding, are moving inexorably toward the Med, coming to occupy the empty places left by an aging and dying Europe, all of whose native-born populations steadily shrink. American's bleeding border is what concerns Americans, not the borders of Estonia, South Korea, Kuwait or the South China Sea. When Trump calls NATO "obsolete," he is saying that the great threat to the West is not Putin's recapture of a Crimea that belonged to Russia for 150 years. And if the price of peace is getting out of Russia's face and Russia's space, maybe we should pay it. George Kennan himself, the architect of Cold War containment of Stalin's Russia, admonished us not to move NATO to Russia's border. Of Brexit, the British decision to leave the EU, Trump said last week, "People, countries want their own identity and the U.K. wanted its own identity ... so if you ask me, I believe others will leave." Is he not right? Is it so shocking to hear a transparent truth? How could Europe's elites not see the populist forces rising? The European peoples wished to regain their lost sovereignty and national identity, and they were willing to pay a price to achieve it. Apparently, the Davos crowd cannot comprehend people who believe there are more important things than wealth. Yet while President Trump should avoid rash actions, if he is to become a transformational president, he will spurn an establishment desperately seeking to hold onto the world that is passing away. Article V of the NATO treaty may require us to treat a Russian move in the Baltic as an attack on the United States. But no sane president will start a war with a nuclear-armed Russia over Estonia. No Cold War president would have dreamed of so rash an action. Rather than risk such a war, Ike refused to send a rifle or bullet to the heroic Hungarian rebels in 1956. Painful, but Ike put America first, just as Trump pledged to do. And given the strength of ethnonationalism in Europe, neither the eurozone nor the EU is likely to survive the decade. We should prepare for that day, not pretend that what is taking place across Europe, and indeed worldwide, is some passing fever of nationalism. Notwithstanding Secretary of State-designate Rex Tillerson's diktat, the United States is not going to force China to vacate the fortified reefs in a South China Sea she claims as her national territory. Stick to that demand, and we best prepare for war. As for the Taiwan card, it was played in 1972 by Richard Nixon as the price of his opening to China. Four decades ago, Jimmy Carter cut diplomatic ties to Taiwan and terminated our security pact. For Xi Jinping to accept that Taiwan might be negotiable would mean an end of him and the overthrow of his Communist Party of China. The Chinese will fight to prevent a permanent loss of Taiwan. The imperative of the new era is that the great nuclear powers -- China, Russia, the United States -- not do to each other what Britain, France and Germany did to each other a century ago over a dead archduke. President Trump should build the wall, secure the border, impose tariffs, cut taxes, free up the American economy, bring the factories home, create millions of jobs and keep us out of any new wars. With rare exceptions, wars tend to be fatal to presidencies. Our dynamic economic environment requires changing skill sets. Increasingly complicated technology requires increased skills to use that technology. Consider the skills required to be an auto mechanic 20 years ago versus today. With new software systems installed for improved service or safety, future mechanics may need knowledge of network security to do their jobs. The demand for increased skills was reflected in a Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce study over a year ago. The study indicated that 68 percent of jobs in Iowa would require post-high school education and training by 2025. Responding to the report, Gov. Terry Branstad set a goal of 70 percent of Iowa workers having post-secondary credentials by 2025. The report estimated that 29 percent of jobs would require a bachelors or graduate degree. Thirty-two percent would need a high school degree or less. The remaining 39 percent will need vocational or professional certificates, apprenticeships or associate's degrees. These numbers are also in line with a Bureau of Labor Statistics report from 2014. That assessment indicated that Iowa had the fourth highest percentage of jobs requiring post-secondary education, but without a full degree. The challenge facing Iowa can be seen knowing that about 28 percent of employed Iowans have an associates degree or less. To illustrate, over three-fourths of the help wanted ads listing education qualifications in last Sundays Sioux City Journal required some education beyond high school, but less than a four-year degree. Yes, I counted. The Professional Developers of Iowa observe that a tight labor market and inadequate housing are the most significant impediments to economic growth in Iowa. They note that access to training practices that adapt to a rapidly changing workplace requires both adequate state funding and proper alignment of services. Last Sundays Journal carried an Associated Press story stating that high school-only graduates are less likely to have jobs, be married, own homes or have retirement accounts. The story noted that 40 percent of college students drop out, often with huge debt loads. Others have difficulty getting additional skills because their existing jobs have unpredictable hours, lack transportation or child care. The situation is also global. The London-based Economist magazine recently observed the need for new, and constantly updated, skills was an international challenge. To meet the upcoming challenges, they wrote that all adults must have access to flexible, affordable training. Fortunately, there are entities which tailor programs to help people develop or upgrade the skills that are in demand by area employers. Theyre called community colleges and apprenticeships. Unfortunately, theyre not being emphasized. Locally generated revenue provides less than 10 percent of community college funding in Iowa. The rest comes from the state or students. Two years ago, the state provided no increase in funding. Last year it provided a 1.5 percent increase. You dont have to represent community colleges, as I do, to be concerned about this minimal investment in the states future. State revenue is $100 million less than projected for the existing budget year. In a Jan. 4 interview, the governor said, Weve put together budget reductions that we think maintain the important priorities. Those priorities apparently dont include workforce training, as the cut to community colleges is $8.7 million. This is effectively a 9 percent cut, given the state is more than halfway through the budget year. The task force looking to implement the governors goal cited Tennessees goal to get 55 percent of their residents with post-secondary credentials. Tennessee is reducing or eliminating tuition to attain their goal. Will Iowa adapt and compete or do more of the same and fall behind? Next week: Charese Yanney A Sioux City resident, Steve Warnstadt is government affairs coordinator for Western Iowa Tech Community College and a former Democratic state senator. He and his wife, Mary, are the parents of one son and one daughter. In September, we used this space to advocate for a re-energized discussion of bullying in Iowa. The fact the two-year budget proposed earlier this month by Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds contains $500,000 in funding ($250,000 per year) for the University of Northern Iowa Center for Violence Prevention, which houses the Governor's Office for Bullying Prevention, is a hopeful sign this important issue will get the attention it deserves this year. We have given Branstad credit before for keeping the subject of bullying a priority. In our view, he understands the scope and severity of this problem and is a champion for bullied students and their families. We view Reynolds, who will ascend to the office of governor later this year when Branstad leaves to become America's ambassador to China, in the same way. Between 2011 and 2015, the issue of bullying moved from the shadows to the spotlight in Iowa. The documentary film "Bully," in which a former Sioux City student victim of bullying was profiled, drew national interest, including consideration for an Academy Award nomination. Two statewide bullying summits were convened in Des Moines. Branstad hosted a series of bullying forums, including one in Sioux City. Bullying was a priority issue for debate in three consecutive legislative sessions. In September 2015, Branstad issued an executive order through which he established the Governor's Office for Bullying Prevention. Through the new office, Branstad sought to meet some provisions of failed anti-bullying legislation, including training for school personnel and establishing a mentoring program to promote student engagement. Stated goals of the office included promotion of YourLifeIowa.org, an existing 24-hour hotline for students who feel bullied at school; working with the Department of Education to develop guidelines for responding to cyberbullying; and working with the Education Department and schools across the state to provide more consistency in reporting of bullying. "Bullying is not acceptable, and we're going to do everything we can to stop it, to stamp it out in Iowa," Branstad said at the time. In other words, momentum was building for substantive changes in how we as a state approach this scourge. However, after three sessions of discussion and near-passage in 2015 of a bill to strengthen state anti-bullying law, the issue virtually was ignored by state government last year. No appropriation of money, no bill, no debate. We view proposed funding for the office at UNI as a positive step in rejuvenating this dialogue, and we support approval of the money. In addition, we urge state lawmakers this year to pick up where the Legislature left off on stronger state bullying law two years ago and push legislation through to passage and signature by soon-to-be-governor Reynolds. The Jan. 13 Journal reported that the Iowa Board of Education issued a report in which no Sioux City school received the highest rating of Exceptional, only one was High Performing, one Commendable, nine were Acceptable, three were rated Needs Improvement, and three received the lowest rating of Priority. Our school superintendent, Paul Gausman, dismissed these ratings as a snapshot in time. In the same Jan. 13 article, The Journal reported the ratings were based on attendance, graduation rate, annual expected student growth, college and career readiness and related growth, closing of achievement gaps, proficiency and staff retention. All of the information in this report is trend-related. It is not a snapshot, as Dr. Gausman contends. According to an article in last Sunday's Journal, Dr. Gausmans solution for this years budget shortfall is early retirement. So, to put it simply, in the face of failing academic performance, our superintendents solution is to brush off a detailed study of systemic failure and get rid of our most experienced teachers in order to solve a short-term budget problem. Teachers need to be paid well, school buildings need to be an excellent environment for learning, and the community needs to support local education. We have excellent buildings, we have excellent teachers, and the taxpayers are providing plenty of money. Now get to work and teach the children. No more excuses. - Mike Welsh, Sioux City Featured Post Free Peltier in Paris -- Survival: Kathy Peltier, Jean Roach and Lona Knight 42EME JOURNEE DE SOLIDARITE DU CSIA INTERVENTIONS DE KATHY PELTIER, JEAN ROACH, LONA KNIGHT Recorded and transcribed by Christine Prat in Pa... White Mesa Ute Spiritual March to Shut Down Uranium Mill Mohawk Warrior Society Book Launch Lakota Jean Roach: The True Story of Leonard Peltier Justice for Dad: Taylor Dewey Shares the Harsh Road to Justice Justice Dept Files Lawsuit Against Rapid City Hotel Western Shoshone Ian Zabarte Speaks on Radiation Archive Search This Blog About Censored News Censored News is published by Brenda Norrell. Since 2006, Censored News has received more than 20 million pageviews. As a collective of writers, photographers and broadcasters, we publish news of Indigenous Peoples and human rights. Contact publisher Brenda Norrell: brendanorrell@gmail.com From the publisher Censored News is published by Brenda Norrell, a journalist in Indian country for 40 years. Norrell created Censored News after she was censored and terminated as a staff reporter at Indian Country Today in 2006. She began as a reporter at Navajo Times during the 18 years that she lived on the Navajo Nation. She was a stringer for AP and USA Today and later traveled with the Zapatistas through Mexico. She has been blacklisted by all the mainstream media for 14 years. Contact brendanorrell@gmail.com Translate SIOUX CITY | The title that owner Jeff Conley selected for the new bar under construction at the corner of Fourth and Pearl streets in downtown Sioux City has a wealth of history behind it. The name, "Bodega 401," is a nod to "Bodega," the name of the first bar at that site which, at the time, was owned by local brewer John Arensdorf. If that name seems familiar, it's because Arensdorf was the man tried twice for manslaughter in connection to the notorious Aug. 3, 1886, shooting of the Rev. George Haddock, a fiery prohibitionist preacher, outside a bar at the corner of Fourth and Water streets. Arensdorf was acquitted both times, and whoever committed the murder remains a mystery. To honor Haddock, a small memorial was erected by Cornerstone World Outreach at Third Street and Wesley Parkway in mid-2016. "I just thought it was kind of a link to history, more than anything," Conley said of the title. Conley plans to open the bar, which is located in the Historic Pearl District just a block east of the shooting site, in March. He's currently overseeing a complete renovation of the 1947 building that formerly served as optical offices for TKC Optical, where Conley works as chief financial officer. DAKOTA DUNES, S.D. | Central Bank continues to grow its presence in Siouxland, with the addition of a new bank in Dakota Dunes by summer 2017. Assistant Vice President/Marketing Officer Janelle Holter said bank officials decided to build in the bustling planned community in southeast South Dakota to serve existing metro Sioux City metro customers and to expand the business. "The Sioux City residential and business communities have always been very supportive of the bank. Because of those strong relationships, our customer-base continues to grow throughout the region and the Dakota Dunes community," Holter said. "The Dunes is a thriving community and we looking forward to serving those who live and work in the area." Central Bank has assets exceeding $650 million and has three locations in Sioux City and others in Cherokee, Storm Lake and Spirit Lake. There are also banks in central Iowa. There are more than 210 employees combined in the banks, which focus on home loans, trusts and insurance services. The bank dates to 1887, and a growth phase began in 1990 when brothers John, of Spirit Lake, and Tim Brown, of Storm Lake, purchased the bank. The new bank will be located at 400 Golden Circle Drive in Dakota Dunes. The full-service bank will include a reception and waiting area, eight offices, a drive-up lane, two client service centers, a conference room, safe deposit boxes and more. "The bank will open later this summer, and we are very pleased with the progress of the construction," Holter said. Central Bank will occupy more than half of the ground floor of a three-story professional building. A coffee shop, another local business and a commons area will fill the remainder of the first floor. Central Bank's move makes a fourth metro location and first in South Dakota. Holter said bank officials have been considering Dakota Dunes for several years, but only recently did the right opportunity present itself. "When the developer first introduced bank officials to the plan for the business park, in particular the Central Bank building, they were all in. The development is very impressive and includes a water feature that will serve as a focal point for the park," Holter said. About 12 employees will work in Dakota Dunes. Jeff Lapke, senior vice president and Sioux City Market president, will oversee all four Sioux City metro locations. Holter said the bank is compiling a strong, well-experienced group of employees who will provide exceptional banking services to customers. SIOUX CITY | Although no dirt has been turned yet, Popeye's will still make its debut in Sioux City in 2017. Once that happens, expect busy patronage that could impact streets, owner Justin Laird said. "Traffic is going to get backed up," said Laird, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The time is nearing for the arrival of Popeye's, the national chain's famous chicken and other Louisiana-style food, that some Siouxlanders have been clamoring for as another fast-food option. And it won't be one store, but two. The late spring to early summer months should mark the arrival of Popeye's, Laird said. Robert Strub, of Sioux City, is pumped for the arrival of Popeye's. He and a good friend have traveled to Omaha just to eat at a Popeye's. "It is cool that we are getting one in Sioux City," Strub said. One location is planned along Singing Hills Boulevard, in front of Sam's Club near Singing Hills' intersection with Lewis Boulevard. The other location will be built near the intersection of Hamilton Boulevard and Wesley Parkway, in a lot north of the McDonald's. The first construction will begin in February on the Singing Hills location, with an opening expected by May. Laird said the Hamilton spot will open by June or early July. Popeye's began expanding north of Missouri to Midwestern states in 2012 after a bout of national advertising that piqued the interest of people, Laird said. "Popeye's has exploded... It is delicious food. They have a great brand," he said. Laird and his business partner, Chris Connelly, opened the first two Popeye's locations in Sioux Falls earlier this year. A graduate of the University of South Dakota, Laird also owns one in Brookings and is scouting other sites for a Popeye's. Laird said the Sioux Falls openings in 2016 were swamped with customers, so he told law enforcement officials to expect an impact on adjacent areas. "We shut down 10th Street (in Sioux Falls)," he said. "Sioux City is going to do that too." During the opening, Laird recalls meeting several residents from the Sioux City area. That helped reinforce plans the local franchisees were already developing to expand into Sioux City, he said. Laird said about 100 people will be hired to staff the two locations, in both full- and part-time positions. Popeye's, which bills itself as the world's second largest quick-service chicken concept, was started in New Orleans in 1972, and has grown to include more than 2,000 locations worldwide. The chain is know for its New Orleans-style menu that features spicy chicken, chicken tenders, fried shrimp and other seafood, as well as jambalaya and red beans and rice. "I can't say I've had anything I don't like. I am a big fan of the Spicy Bone-in Chicken," Laird said. Your Ultimate Investing Toolkit Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools: Portfolio Monitoring Top Stock Lists Premium Reports Stock Screeners Live News Feed Premium Support Free for your first month. For the Week of January 23, 2017 It was a short week with just three episodes, but lots happened starting with the long-awaited wedding of Nathan and Maxie, a shocking return from the dead -- again -- and a little insight into what made Valentin turn to the dark side. Grab your favorite beverage and charge up your device because it's time to dish about our favorite soap. My favorite moment this week -- by far -- was Nathan and Maxie's wedding. Everything was perfect, from the stunning dress and magical winter wonderland setting to the incredibly romantic gesture on Nathan's part when he decided to surprise his loving bride with her dream wedding. Except, there's Claudette. But more on that later. I have adored Nathan and Maxie since that night on New Year's Eve when she opened the door to her new tenant and told the sexy stranger about her Eat, Pray, Love journey. There was a brief time that Nathan annoyed me with his obsession that Silas had tried to kill Nina, but that vanished the instant that Nathan saw through Levi's smarmy, manipulative ways. Like Maxie, I fell in love with Nathan when he rescued her from the diabolical clutches of that annoying Aussie who thankfully disappeared from our screens in short order. I love imperfect and flawed characters that learn from their mistakes and grow. Both Nathan and Maxie have inspired each other to be a better person, which has allowed them to grow as a couple. That's one of the reasons that I've enjoyed their relationship through the years. They each strive to be the best that they can be and to continually work on their trust issues. I can't stress this enough -- Nathan and Maxie truly bring out the best in each other, and that makes them both endearing and a couple I that I love to root for. I loved the romance of the Nathan and Maxie's wedding, the hilarious arrival of Liesl who'd been indignant that her wedding invitation had been sent as a text message then later impressed that she'd be related to an Aztec princess. Mac and Maxie's tender words when they talked about their relationship made me tear up, and I fell in love with Mac all over again when he asked Maxie if he could have the honor of walking her down the aisle. My heart melted when Maxie confessed that regardless what she called Mac --Dad or Uncle Mac -- he'd always been someone she could count on. It was everything a Naxie (Nathan and Maxie) fan could ask for except for that pesky dark cloud named Claudette that was hanging over the wedding like a portent of doom. Not for a single solitary second do I believe that Claudette is dead. It was shown that the Canadian police officer who told Nathan and Maxie about Claudette's "suicide" had reported to Valentin, which means that any information from the man is suspect at best. As lovely as the Naxie wedding was, it likely won't stick. That won't be a big deal as long as Nathan can secure a quickie divorce when Claudette resurfaces and then run with Maxie to the nearest justice of the peace to legalize their marriage. However, if it drags out with Claudette showing up and refusing to sign the divorce papers, then I will be ticked because I'm tired of Naxie's countless wedding plans being a bust. It's no longer amusing. Meanwhile, Andre's good time at the wedding was cut short when Curtis showed up to let Jordan know that she could talk to Buzz, but they would need to leave at a moment's notice and go to an undisclosed location -- out of town and alone. I don't doubt that Andre truly found it all suspicious, but I am also pretty confident that his primary objection had more to do with Jordan and Curtis working together than Jordan's safety. After all, Jordan isn't a rookie cop. She's the top cop in town and knows how to handle situations like these. If Andre can't trust the police commissioner to take care of herself in a dangerous situation, then Andre and Jordan have bigger problems than Jordan running off with Curtis. I don't blame Andre for having concerns about Jordan and Curtis' relationship because it's as clear as the twinkle in Jordan and Curtis' eyes whenever they are around each other that things aren't quite as unfriendly between the ex-in-laws as they would like others to believe. To be honest, I wouldn't be heartbroken if Jordan and Curtis were to happen because there's always been a spark between Andre and Anna that might be interesting to explore. As for Jordan running off with Curtis to question a suspect, I get it. She must be dreadfully tired of everyone except the police solving crimes. It's about time a cop was present when a case was solved. That brings me to the mystery of Valentin and why he became evil. It turns out that Anna broke Valentin's itty-bitty brittle heart because she rebuffed him on her birthday at the WSB Training Academy decades earlier when they'd both been young and foolish. In those days, Valentin had a bad stutter, cut his own hair with hedge clippers, and had some kind of disfigurement that made him squint his eyes and curl his right hand into a fist. In other words, Valentin was Quasimodo to Anna's Esmeralda, and Anna wanted nothing to do with the awkward, unkempt, delusional Valentin, who also looked more like the academy's janitor than an agent in training. Anna's rejection affected Valentin so profoundly that he turned to the dark side where he underwent plastic surgery to get better looking, found a good barber, and was trained to become a deadly mercenary. After two decades, he's finally ready to exact revenge against the woman who scorned him. Now, I'm not really certain what Valentin hopes to do to Anna to make her pay for forcing him to turn his life around, lose the stutter, become a powerful man, and seduce a bevy of beautiful women, but pay she shall because he's a Cassadine, and that's what they do. The whole story is too preposterous to take seriously. When I first realized what had happened, I had a vision of Valentin driving down the road with the radio on full blast as he sings along to Adele's "Hello" while fantasizing about Anna. And that was the very moment that I lost all ability to take Valentin seriously. It's equally difficult to take Alexis' sobriety seriously because it's clear that she's only doing it because she has to. Sobriety seldom is successful if you don't want it for yourself, and I don't think Alexis wants it because she's still trying to punish herself for loving the wrong man. Ava was right on the money when she said that Julian was simply Alexis' enabler and Alexis' sobriety would always be in jeopardy as long as Alexis' secrets remained buried and she was not held accountable for her actions. I did laugh, though, when Ava claimed that she'd never driven drunk and run a man over with her car. While it's true that Ava wasn't drunk at the time, she had been text messaging when she ran over Jason and would have left him for dead if it hadn't been for Jordan's intervention. Speaking of Alexis, Elizabeth decided to pay Sam a visit to let Sam know that Franco didn't kill Tom -- Alexis did. Naturally, Sam refused to believe that her mother had had anything to do with Tom's death until Elizabeth raised the possibility that Alexis had killed the rapist during an attack. Sam realized that even if there was a remote possibility that her mother had been a victim of Tom's lecherous intentions, then Alexis needed help. I realize that Elizabeth was there to help Franco, but she also cares about Alexis and is genuinely worried, which is why I'm happy that she went to Sam rather than the cops about Franco's theory. Despite the flashbacks, I don't think that Alexis killed Tom -- Alexis did. Naturally, Sam refused to believe that her mother had had anything to do with Tom's death until Elizabeth raised the possibility that Alexis had killed the rapist during an attack. Sam realized that even if there was a remote possibility that her mother had been a victim of Tom's lecherous intentions, then Alexis needed help. I realize that Elizabeth was there to help Franco, but she also cares about Alexis and is genuinely worried, which is why I'm happy that she went to Sam rather than the cops about Franco's theory. Despite the flashbacks, I don't think that Alexis killed Tom. I think someone else is responsible for Tom's grisly end, but at this point, it's any guess who it might have been. One person who has an airtight alibi is Sonny because he's currently tethered to his house through an ankle monitor. Yet, despite having his every move monitored, he still managed to get himself into some trouble with Nelle. It's only a matter of time before that comes back to haunt him. At the moment, I find Sonny to be the most exhausting character on the show. My jaw dropped when Jason and Sam told him that Julian hadn't planted the bomb in the car -- he'd been the target -- and Sonny still blamed Julian for Morgan's death because Julian had attracted a deadly enemy. Perhaps I missed something, but doesn't Sonny have deadly enemies, too, or does he have some kind of universal truce with all mobsters? More importantly, why can't Sonny accept that Morgan stole the car? No one made Morgan do it. In fact, someone tried to stop him. I don't even blame Ava's tampering with Morgan's medications for the tragedy because the medications didn't make him oblivious to the difference between right and wrong. T.J. told Morgan that stealing the car was wrong and even offered to give Morgan a lift to wherever Morgan wanted to go, but Morgan attacked T.J. and stole the car anyway. Morgan was not an innocent party in this, and it doesn't really matter who planted the bomb because Morgan is responsible for his own death, since he stole the car. It turns out that the person who ordered the hit was none other than returned-from-the-dead Olivia Jerome, who is living up to her reputation of being as crazy as a loon and obsessed with Duke Lavery. I'm not as familiar with Olivia's history as I am some of the other characters because I didn't watch the show as regularly during her time as I do now. Back in the Olivia and Julian Jerome days, I was in school and more interested in hanging out with friends than watching television. However, I am curious to hear what Olivia's story is and how exactly she managed to survive what I understood had been a certain death. I do recall seeing some of Olivia's antics, and I loved Tonja Walker as Alex Olanov on One Life to Live, so my interest is definitely piqued. Also, I'm desperate for something to explain Julian's sudden odd behavior when he tried to frame Alexis for Carlos' murder and held a knife to her throat. The return of his crazy sister is a step in the right direction. By the way, I love Tonja Walker's energy on the show, and I can't wait for her and Maura West to share a scene. I'm certain that it will be a hoot. Finally, Lulu told Charlotte that she was Charlotte's real mother. Valentin had warned Lulu not to say a word because it was too soon after learning about Claudette's death. However, I don't blame Lulu because Valentin is obviously stalling because he's grooming Nina to take over as Charlotte's mother despite Lulu being Charlotte's biological mother and taking steps to sue him for custody. It's for that reason that I'm glad that Lulu said something. I like Nina, but she's wrong to try to keep Charlotte from Lulu. Lulu is a loving mother to Rocco and deserves to have a relationship with the child that was stolen from her. I would think that Nina would empathize with Lulu's situation because Nina lost her own child because someone decided that Nina shouldn't be a mother. RANDOM OBSERVATIONS I realize there are times when temporary recasts are unavoidable. Usually, I just grin and bear it when it happens because it's a necessary evil. However, temporarily casting Blake Berris as Spinelli was a refreshing surprise that worked quite well. He did a splendid job. Why do Carly and Olivia rent out their five-star restaurant for private parties rather than their ballroom? It amazed me that they did it twice in recent days and on very short notice -- once for Sam's baby shower and again for Maxie's last-minute wedding. READER FEEDBACK Geez, Liz! How about giving us a little warning? I tried to read your column, which I THOUGHT was supposed to be a review of the PAST week, NOT previews of things (sure) to come, but there are way too many UNMARKED SPOILERS about upcoming events, and cast changes in it. I had to scroll through it with my eyes half shut. -- Scrimmage I deeply apologize. We occasionally refer to trending articles on the site, but I promise that my comments about what would happen on the show were pure speculation. I admit that I got caught up in my excitement over Tonja Walker's return. The current writers have no problem rewriting recent history to suit their silly plot points (Sabrina's baby or Paul as the serial killer for example), so I'm sure they wouldn't have a problem completely ignoring the fact that Anna had a twin sister while she was on AMC. -- DaffeySez The writers are going to have an AMAZING explanation for why Julian put a knife to Alexis' throat for me to get on board with a Julexis reunion. If Julian had just said I'm going to kill you Alexis, I could see her forgiving him and moving on...but the fact that he brought her to an isolated area and put a knife to her throat was too much. -- lk Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts about the show. I love hearing from readers so please feel free to email me or leave a comment below. Until next time, take care. Liz Masters Dr. Gil Mobley, a doctor and medical-marijuana activist (left), dons a pinocchio Donald Trump mask in Dupont Circle at the DCMJ #TRUMP 420 event on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Photo: Tom Hausman) WASHINGTON A patron has his ID card checked for a second time at the DCMJ #TRUMP420 event in Dupont Circle, ensuring that everyone who received a free joint did so legally on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Photo: Tom Hausman) (Jan. 20, 2017)During Donald Trump's presidential inauguration, protesters from all over the country converged on Washington Friday, leading to at least 95 arrests, according to Washington, D.C., police.Protesters, setting fire to trash cans and smashing windows in the downtown area of the nation's capital, clashed with police in riot gear a couple hours after the noon inauguration. Police sprayed tear gas into the group, who were only blocks away from the parade route.This followed earlier protests that turned destructive, when at approximately 10:30 a.m., protesters armed with hammers and crowbars engaged in a concerted act of vandalism, according to a Metropolitan Police Department press release. Members of the group damaged police vehicles, destroyed business property, and set several small fires, police said.Police said they used pepper spray and other crowd control devices to stop the morning protests and arrested several of the protesters, who were charged with rioting. Two officers sustained minor injuries from protesters who were trying to avoid arrest, according to the release.During Trump's swearing in, some in the crowd began chanting "We the people," in opposition to the new president.Supporters of Trump, meanwhile, booed at the arrival of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama.Max Lombardo, 24, from Ocean City, New Jersey, and Katelyn Rembecki, 24, from Wilmington, Delaware, said that they wanted to participate in the protests but that they could not find any organized group that they could join. Lombardo carried a sign on 7th Street at about 1 p.m. that read "Putin Picked Our President.""Everyone focuses on his sexism, racism and xenophobia," Lombardo said of Trump, "but his policies are just as bad, if not worse."The Poor People's Economic Rights Campaign continued its three-day, non-violent protest in Washington on Inauguration Day, according to Bruce White, a member of the group's national committee.The Poor People's campaign gathered with protesters to march in an anti-Trump parade, according to White. He said police intervened in the parade using heavy force."We have injuries here," White told the University of Maryland's Capital News Service. White said that after the police pepper sprayed them, many members of his group retreated to Franklin Square Park, where the group's main stage was located.The ANSWER Coalition, or the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism Coalition, had a permitted protest at the Navy Memorial, along the parade route. Titled "Protest at the Inauguration: Stand Against Trump, War, Racism and Inequality," the group's call to action was to "#InaugurateTheResistance."Protesters with the ANSWER Coalition said that they did not want to speak with reporters.Hunter Nguyen, a 20-year-old resident of Frederick, Maryland, traveled to the District with his friend to protest with the ANSWER Coalition at its main stage. Nguyen emphasized the need for change through a direct message to Capital News Service saying, "We need a real leader, a real president who is for the people, (who will) support the people and support his country."DisruptJ20, which calls Trump's administration a regime, gathered to disrupt the security checkpoint entrances of the inauguration, according to the group's website.According to The Hill newspaper, DisruptJ20 protesters shut down a John Marshall Point security checkpoint.DisruptJ20 on Thursday did not respond to emails or calls made to group representatives, and some voicemail boxes were full; calls went unanswered on Friday.Small groups and lone protesters were also sprinkled throughout the streets after Trump's inauguration.Bassam Shawl, 23, of New York City, and Chloe Zomnir, 24, of Pittsburgh, held their anti-Trump signs on the intersection of 7th Street and Independence Avenue.Shawl said he was protesting the inauguration to "demonstrate (Trump) is not a popular president" and to "show solidarity" with his Middle Eastern culture, which he said was under attack during the presidential campaign.Zomnir told Capital News Service that she was the only person in her family who didn't vote for Trump. "I don't have any words for this election," she said, holding back tears.Trump's campaign rallies were occasionally violent, with clashes between Trump supporters and protesters. A campaign rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago was cancelled after anti-Trump protests became violent in March.Trump spoke out against protests at his rallies, stating that he would like to punch a protester in the face at a February rally in Las Vegas. Trump claimed that the protester threw punches at the rally and said that he missed the good old days when he could punch back, according to Politico.More protesters plan to converge in Washington on Saturday for the Women's March. More than 200,000 people on Facebook have confirmed that they will be attending the protest. The march aims to send a message to the new administration that women's rights are the same as human rights, according to the organizer's website. WASHINGTON (Jan. 21, 2017)As Olivia Brant marched through Washington, she thought of her diploma from the University of Maryland, her three years living in New Orleans, her opportunity to attend graduate schoolall possible, she said, because she had an abortion when she was 19 years old. Brant joined hundreds of thousands of grandmothers, mothers, daughters and allies from across the country during Saturday's Women's March on Washington in standing up for reproductive and other rights they feel are at risk under President Donald Trump's administration. "Having that right taken away is something I fear for women in the future," said Brant, now 25. Thousands of people from Marylanda state that voted overwhelmingly last November for Democratic candidate Hillary Clintonwere among those who flooded the streets of Washington wearing pink "pussy hats." The massive crowd, which was estimated by organizers at about half a million people, swelled throughout the entire planned route and threatened the formal march to the White House, though protesters were told they could make their way to the Ellipse, south of the White House. The women said they were protesting Trump's offensive comments toward women and minorities. His Cabinet picks. His stance on climate change. His ties to Russia. And their lists went on. "I wouldn't want him to be in the same room as my daughter, much less be my president," said 47-year-old Noreen Welch, who came from Clarksville, Maryland, to march with her daughter and niece. As she stood in the crowd, Welch thought of her mother, who worked as a computer programmer in the 1950s. Back then, Welch said, her mother wasn't allowed to sit with the other professional staff because she was a woman. "I'm going to carry her memory with me as I march," Welch said. "She paved the way for all of us." Others who marched said they were doing so for family members, as well. Sixty-year-old Mary O'Byrne traveled from Towson, Maryland, with her daughter in mind. Seventy-year-old Havre de Grace resident Jean Johnson thought of her mother, a feminist who always got involved with her community. Sixty-nine-year-old Silver Spring, Maryland resident Duane Kidwell came to march thinking of her four granddaughters. "I want them to grow up in a society where they'll have equal rights," Kidwell said, "without fear of pussy-grabbing." Some Maryland lawmakers also marched Saturday, including House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Mechanicsville, Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Kensington, and former Gov. Martin O'Malley, who was also a Democratic candidate in the 2016 presidential election. Cardin posted photos with women sporting pussy hats and tweeted that he was proud of the Marylanders marching. Clinton, who won the popular vote by about 3 million, also weighed in on the march via Twitter, where she wrote "Thanks for standing, speaking & marching for our values @womensmarch. Important as ever. I truly believe we're always Stronger Together." The number of people protesting overflowed the initial rally area, where speakers such as feminist icon Gloria Steinem and actress America Ferrera addressed the crowd. Instead, pinked-hatted women overtook the streets surrounding the National Mall, many chanting Clinton's famous line that "women's rights are human rights." Lea Nerby's husband was nervous for her safety at such a large protest and asked her not to go. But the 39-year-old mother of two said she's acutely aware of her position in life as a white, upper middle class, educated woman and came from Prince Frederick, Maryland, to speak up for those less fortunate. "I have the choice to stay at home because I don't think it's safe, but there are so many people in the United States who don't have the choice," she said. "I'm here because they shouldn't have to be afraidI was given that privilege and I'm using it to support others." Trump's behavior throughout the campaign, in which he called Mexicans rapists, mocked a disabled reporter and was caught bragging about sexual assault in a leaked video prompted new levels of activism, marchers said. For Melody Meyers, 19, this was her first political rally and she brought her 17-year-old sister along. "We care about reproductive rights of women and we don't like Donald Trump," Meyers said. William Evans goes by "Rock" while working as a personal trainer, and "Miss Toto" when dressing in drag about four times a week. The 2014 University of Maryland graduate flew from Miami for the march and has been inspired by the people coming up to her and thanking her. Miss Toto said she was offended that WhiteHouse.gov deleted the LGBT rights page after Trump's inauguration. Despite the new president, Miss Toto said standing with the fellow marchers "feels amazing. I'm doing this to literally be on the National Mall in full drag. It's so powerful." Barbara Gourdin, with about 150 others, traveled with Planned Parenthood of Maryland to the rally. Trump has threatened to defund the nonprofit organization, which provides women's health care services, in addition to abortions, for many low-income women. Some protesters held signs of coat hangers and wrote frustrated remarks about "still fighting" for these rights. "In a democracy, you should have the ability to make your own choice. No one should tell you what you can and can't do, especially about your reproductive rights," said Gourdin, a Towson, Maryland, resident. Michelle Peyton, 66, came from Havre de Grace, Maryland wearing a state-flag pussy hat. Since the election, she said she often finds her husband sitting at home, screaming at the television over news regarding the Trump administration. "I told him, 'I'm going to the March,'" she said. "'I'm tired of hearing you scream about it, I want to do something about it.'" Star Fae sounded ecstatic when she took the Meyer Amphitheater stage Saturday. I've been told we had over seven thousand people here today, the biggest rally ever seen in West Palm Beach, she said into the microphone to a cheering crowd that filled the amphitheater's lawn. At least seven thousand people upset about incoming President Donald Trump gathered on Saturday afternoon for the Palm Beach County Women's March at the amphitheater in downtown West Palm. The rally was organized by South Florida Activism, a political group Fae founded. Fae, an activist from Lake Worth, told her audience the event's headcount came from a city parks department official. From noon until after 2 p.m., thousands of protesters mostly women waved signs that read A woman's place is in the House and Senate and Keep your hands and your laws away from my -- with an arrow pointing to a cat. The second one references video leaked in October where Trump bragged about sexual assault, claiming women let famous men grab them by the pussy. The crowd listened to local activists, politicians and citizens who took the stage to speak to the anti-Trump, pro-women's rights, liberal crowd. Their messages covered subjects like global warming, abortion rights, bigotry and the rights of the disabled. One speaker urged the crowd to get politically involved if they want change. Go to your local city commission, ask them what they're doing, what they stand for, said Lake Worth City Commissioner Chris McVoy. He urged those at the rally to not only protest, but vote in local elections and run for local office. (Lake Worth's next city commission meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 6 p.m.) Sam Zimmerman was one attendee looking to get involved. The 19-year-old high school student waved a rainbow flag emblazoned with the word Equality. Zimmerman said he has been waving that flag up and down Jensen Boulevard in Martin County, where he lives. I got people cursing me, flicking me off, saying 'Fuck you, fag!' but some people honk in support, he said. Martin County voters chose Trump over Hillary Clinton by a margin of 61-35 percent, state election data shows. Zimmerman said he voted for Clinton. After 2 p.m., pumped-up rally-goers dispersed through downtown West Palm. One group marched to Trump Plaza at 525 South Flagler Drive, which bears Trump's name, but is not owned by him. Another marched through Clematis Street chanting Tell us what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like! The Palm Beach County Women's march was planned in solidarity with the Women's March On Washington and more than 400 others across America. An estimated 10,000 marched on Bayfront Park Amphitheater in Miami, the Miami Herald reported. The Washington D.C. women's march attracted more than 500,000 protesters, the Los Angeles Times reported. The size of Trump's inauguration was revealed to be much smaller than that when BuzzFeed News's David Mack compared aerial photos of both events. After the West Palm rally backstage, Fae mentioned plans for another similar event. I hope for the next rally in February to focus on either gun control or veterans' health, she said. Hundreds of thousands of protesters swarmed Washington, D.C. on Saturday one day after Donald J. Trump was sworn-in as the 45th President of the United States of America. I didnt need much motivation, said Alison Poole, an architect from Brooklyn, when asked why she came to the nations capital on a cold and dreary winter weekend. Watching a man I have no respect for being inaugurated was reason enough. Pennsylvania Avenue was packed with people, many affiliated with the Womens March a group that staged rallies in several cities across the country. Marchers held signs and chanted Love, not hate, thats what makes America great. Organizers said the Womens March was a response to the mean spirited rhetoric of the 2016 election cycle. Sharon Wilson, a retired steelworker from Newport News, Va., attended the march with her daughter and granddaughter. For Wilson, Trumps election was a painful reminder of male privilege. Do you think a woman could have gotten elected having said everything (Trump) did and been married three times? Not a chance, Wilson said. As marchers passed the Trump International Hotel many stopped and began chanting in chorus Shame! Shame! Shame! Over at the rally site on Independence Avenue, celebrities such as Madonna, Gloria Steinem, Scarlett Johansson, Ashley Judd and America Ferrera urged activists to not give up. Our dignity, our character, our rights have been under attack, Ferrera said. But the President is not America. We are America. Transgender activists Janet Mock and Raquel Willis were part of the speakers at the DC rally. Mock, a best-selling author, said our approach to freedom need not be identical but it must be intersectional and inclusive. The Washington Post estimated more than a million people crammed into the district for Saturdays events, bringing public transit to a slow crawl. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer spent the bulk of his first day on the job blasting the media for false reporting and inaccurate and reckless attendance figures from Friday's inauguration. Trump, meanwhile, spent the day in Langley, Va. visiting the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency. Rebel Jet ($12.40) has been a well-traveled pacer the past few months but he found a perfect landing spot at Buffalo Raceway on Saturday night (January 21) by winning the $10,000 Open in 1:57.1 over the 'good' track. After visiting Vernon Downs, Batavia Downs, Pocono and The Meadowlands in the past three months, Rebel Jet (Bruce Aldrich Jr.) was ready to give Buffalo Raceway a try. It was a success as he got a perfect pocket trip then used the passing lane late to hold off Knocking Around (David McNeight III). Southwind Torque (Shawn Gray) took third. After taking the lead briefly, Rebel Jet had to settle into second-place as Southwind Torque set the pace with splits of :29.2, :58 and 1:27.1. Turning for home, Southwind Torque hung tough but retreated to third-place. Rebel Jet, however, revved his engines in the passing lane and squeezed out the half-length decision while Knocking Around came on the outside to take second. Owned by Rocco Stebbins and trained by Joe Skowyra, the eight-year-old gelded Rebel Jet (Jeromes Jet-Heart ofthe Matter) has now earned $218,665 in his career thanks to 26 lifetime victories. Gray led the drivers with a triple, with Aldrich Jr. and Ray Fisher Jr. each notching a double. Trainer JD Perrin conditioned three winners and Skowyra posted two. (Buffalo Raceway) The essential component of totalitarian propaganda is artifice (het toepassen van kunstgrepen. svh) . The ruling elites, like celebritie... News / Education by Staff Reporter MPOPOMA High School in Bulawayo continues to assert itself as one of the top A-level schools, not only in the city but across the country, posting impressive results each year.The school recorded a 98,7 percent pass rate, five percent above the national average pass rate in the Zimsec November 2016 examinations whose results were released last week. Although A-level schools' rankings, based on Zimsec examinations, were not immediately available, Mpopoma's outstanding performance is there for all to see.In 2014, when Zimsec last ranked schools' examination performances, Mpopoma made it into the top 100 with a pass rate of 97,3 percent. The following year the school slumped to a 94,2 percent pass rate, but improved by 4,5 percent in 2016.While doubting Thomases may ask if anything good can come out of the ghetto, the school, etched in the middle of Mpopoma high density suburb, provides an apt response. With the school's best pupil in the 2016 Zimsec scoring 23 points from five subjects, just two points behind the previous year's best performer at the school, Mpopoma High School's reputation of producing "nerds" remains undoubted.Out of the more than 150 pupils who sat for the 2016 Zimsec November A-level examinations at the school, 100 candidates scored 10 points and above. A total of 14 candidates had 15 points, 12 with 14 points, 21 with 13 points, 19 with 12 points, 18 with 11 points and 16 with 10 points.The school recorded its highest number of distinctions in Mathematics (24), iSiNdebele (24) Business Studies (14) and Literature in English (13). Mpopoma High school is certainly living up to its motto, Vela Mfundo, which when loosely translated to English means show up education (and we embrace you).While other schools control their enrolment numbers for A-level classes as a way of managing results, Mpopoma's "bambazonke" approach hardly affects pupils' performance.Last year the school had a total enrolment of 2 060 pupils, with each A-level class having an average of 50 pupils, more than double the desired number. The school has a staff complement of 82 teachers superintending a pupil population equaling that of two if not three schools.This has obviously put a strain on the school's resources, but through hard work and improvisation, the school has rose above the challenges to excel academically.School head Mr Christopher Dube shared with Sunday News the school's recipe to success."I think it goes down to a culture of hard work and discipline that we have managed to achieve this. Our values are dedication, transparency, open mindedness, co-operation, honesty and respect. Those are our compasses in everything we do here," he said. It's Election season and our editor's mailbox is overflowing. Who do your neighbors support? Read about it here. FRESNO, Calif. Wearing white floppy chef hats and sunny yellow aprons, a group of women chat happily as they mix and roll dough on its journey to becoming all-natural dog biscuits last month. Morning light pours through large wide windows, brightening an already optimistic mood. They look like carefree culinary students in this kitchen at the Institute of Technology in Clovis, but they are not. These are women who daily fight and win brutal internal battles with addiction. This is the first graduating class of five to complete the St. Francis Homeless Projects Dogs Dig Em ministry program, which employs women for six months who are recovering from a drug or alcohol addiction. Participants are referred by WestCare after getting sober through a substance abuse rehabilitation program. For many, making and selling dog biscuits four to 12 hours a week was their first employment in months or years, and the boost they needed to get back into the workforce. Four of the five found other employment in food service while participating in the program. Dogs Dig Em gave participant Sonya McCraney a new self-confidence and faith in the goodness of humanity. She was surprised by the positive response she received selling dog treats last year at the Central California Womens Conference and Fresno Food Expo. It felt good that they would actually buy from a black person, jokes McCraney, who describes herself as from the way-low poor class. McCraney was stumped by chief executive officer Sandra Kayes decision to hire her. Im from the hood, you know what Im saying? Why is she giving me a chance? McCraney recalls. So it gave me a lot of hope. Shes always telling me it doesnt matter what color you are or whatever. Thats how my mindframe changed. Being at the home expo show, those people didnt look at the color of my skin, they were looking at my soul and my heart. That gave me a lot of hope, coming from my addiction. Jessica Streeter also got a lot out of selling dog treats at the events. When youre trying to get clean and get back into society and be around normal people, you feel uncomfortable, you feel less-than, like you dont belong there, Streeter says, and the cool thing about Sandra is shell push us out there at the home shows, womens conference. She just takes us in there like we belong there, and I think after a while we start believing that. Addiction has been a lifelong struggle for McCraney, who started taking methamphetamine at age 15. Ive been clean six months, nine days today, McCraney says during her final Dogs Dig Em baking session last month. Thats the longest Ive ever been clean in my whole life. I (recently) had my first birthday clean and sober. Im 40 years old. As her addiction became more overwhelming, she decided to start a drug detox program. I was just tired. I was slamming meth. I was 95 pounds. I was miserable. I was broken. I was lost. And I would still pray to God to take this addiction away from me when I was still using. The St. Francis Homeless Project is helping keep her and the others away from drugs and alcohol. Kaye got the idea to start the Dogs Dig Em ministry after watching an emotional television show featuring a homeless man and his dog. After it was done, she Googled dogs helping homelessness and discovered a similar work program at a homeless shelter in Kansas, which she modeled Dogs Dig Em after. Kaye hopes the program will give participants a second chance and some hope. Katy McCoy shares some words of encouragement for others struggling with addiction as she bakes last month. They dont need to be thrown away, they are not cursed, McCoy says. They just have to have a little confidence and believe in yourself. Cynthia Sieling says something similar. I just keep getting healthier and healthier every day, Sieling says. Thats the main thing that all of us I think have gotten out of this, is the hope part and the confidence in ourselves. Fenuwei Chuuk: Chuukese for homeland. In Chuuk, off the northern coast of Papua New Guinea, coconuts grow on palm trees and taro plants spring from the ground. Homeowners fish in their own backyard. The spread of small, Pacific Ocean islands hosts 50,000 Chuukese people, families so close-knit that everybody weighs in on where to bury a loved one, and no one is homeless. Its a long way from home for the hundreds of Chuukese people now living in Cowlitz County. But they have become the fastest-growing minority in Kelso, prompting the school district to hire an interpretor for the Chuukese children in 2015. That year, Kelso schools saw four times the number of Chuukese kids as they did in 2012. I put in my application, and the very next day somebody called me back, said 37-year-old Anter Sasuo, Kelso School Districts part-time Chuukese interpreter. Sasuo also has experience interpreting at a Hawaiian clinic. The number is still small 47 Chuukese students are currently enrolled but the Chuukese, and those who work with them, say that number will continue to grow. Theyre likely right. The Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander population has doubled in both Cowlitz and Clark counties in the past 15 years, according to the state Office of Financial Management. In Cowlitz County, the community has grown 18.5 percent in the past five years, with one-third of the countys Chuukeese population age 19 or younger. In Clark County, the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander population grew at an even faster rate than Cowlitz Countys: a 23.6 percent rise. It started with one or two families, and their reasons for coming here varied. Most came seeking better opportunities for their families. Many found jobs at Foster Farms. Others, like Pastor Marvin Danis, were drawn to the area in connection with a missionary Catholic church the Beyond the Reef Theological Center south of Portland in Aurora, Ore. Beginning of a migration trend Local Chuukese do have one common thread that ties them together: family. On Sunday afternoons, the Womens Club in Longview filled with Chuukese families for a Catholic service in their native tongue. Women dress in leis and colorful muumuus adorned with flower prints while men wear suits and ties or a button-up collar shirt. Babies are bundled up and sleep together on blankets on the floor beside their mothers. This is the center of the community, Danis said after a Mothers Day church service. On Sunday were together. The service was scattered with Sasuos family. His uncle was the pastor. His sister-in-law took a seat in front of him. The church service lasts two to three hours, and then they eat. A whole fish, slabs of grilled chicken, several hefty slices of beef, cornmeal, breadfruit are served for a single person. Many Chuukese who now reside in Kelso first moved to Hawaii to provide their children with an American education. But the island state focused more on the tourists than the local people, Sasuo said. Thats a big problem. Sasuo lived in Hawaii for 15 years, but like many Chuukese, he found that Hawaii had grown too expensive. The family migrated further east, moving to Kelso in May 2015 to live with his brother-in-law, one of the first Chuukese people to move here. Sasuo, his wife and two kids got their own place after about a year. In the late 1990s, the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization in Portland began working with Chuukese people, said Lee Po Cha, executive director for the organization. The community was relatively small then, Cha said, and Tongans and Samoans were the more prominent Pacific Islander populations. Over the past few years, Cha has seen the community grow and now may be the largest Pacific Islander population in the Portland area. But Cha said he expects Portlands growth to slow for one main reason housing costs have soared. He says many have joined a cousin, or an uncle, or a brother across state borders. A family that pays $295 per square foot for a home in Portland can buy a home in Kelso for $124 a square foot, according to Zillows Home Value Index. (In Longview its $135 per square foot.) The median home value in Portland is $406,200 compared to just $150,400 in Kelso. That is one of the main reasons that they are moving out from this area to Southwest Washington, Cha said. One, their family is a pretty good size. To find those apartments that house anywhere between two to four bedrooms is no longer affordable. Assimilation We have the mentality that someday, well go back to Chuuk, Sasuo said. If we were to go back to Chuuk someday, then we leave (family) behind somewhere they dont belong. Its very, very important. Family members even ship their relatives bodies back to Chuuk if they die away from Chuukese soil. Its a costly one- to two-day trek back to Chuuk, involving a flight to Honolulu, another small plane to Chuuks capital island and a ferry to any of the smaller islands. Sasuo had to ship his father and 23-year-old sister back to Chuuk from Hawaii at a cost of more than $10,000 each time a plane ticket for himself, the price of shipping for the funeral home and a feast for the bereaved who visit him after the memorial. In Portland it can be even more expensive at a $15,000 or $20,000 price tag, said Sadok Kapwich, the churchs deacon. But for some traditions, like sending a relatives body back to Chuuk, theres a divide between the older and younger Chuukese generations, Sasuo said. Some choose to bury their loved ones here, Sasuo said, but its uncommon and must be a unanimous decision from the entire family If I have a choice, I would bury them here, he said. But its me against my whole family. ... I would love for them to change that and just let everybody choose for themselves. Sasuos hoping to be old enough when he dies to have his children choose, thinking they would prefer to bury him wherever he dies. Otherwise it would be his wife against the rest of his family, and I wont be there for it, Sasuo said with a laugh. Luckily, Chuukese dont pay the full price of funeral costs out of pocket. Everybody knows everybody, Sasuo said. Friends and family all come together to chip in. Its the reason, Sasuo said, there are no homeless people in Chuuk. Sasuo said he was shocked the first time he saw someone sleeping on the streets in Hawaii. When things like that happen, everybody comes together and helps each other out, Sasuo said. Thats something that Im very proud of as a Chuukese. Culture shock In Chuuk, Sasuo added, those who try to be independent get labeled as American. Look at them, theyre trying to be American. They think theyre American, they can be on their own, people would tease. Sasuo said its socially taboo not to accept help, for example, or to share the food or money that you have. Sasuo said he wants to teach his kids a balance: to be generous but self-sufficient. They need to remember where they came from as Chuukese. As Chuukese we help each other out, Sasuo said. At the same time, they need to learn not to rely on others. ... Sometimes its good to be independent and all of that. For one thing, Sasuo said he wants his children he has an 11-year-old daughter at Huntington Middle School and 9-year-old son in Catlin Elementary to be diligent in school. Its a large part of why he and his wife, Riwina, decided to move. Some students have already been exposed to American culture, likely in Hawaii, before attending school in Cowlitz County. But many still struggle to adjust, said Don Iverson, assessment director at the Kelso School District. For other students, this is all new and it can be very often overwhelming, Iverson wrote in an email. Not only do these students face challenges in trying to adjust to the rules and expectations of the classroom, but they are fully aware of the differences in their skills and abilities (from) those of their peers. Initially these students often struggle to fit in and develop a sense of belonging. Pacific Islander students have some of the highest absenteeism rates across the country, according to Associated Press data. Truancy can be difficult to track in schools with small numbers of Pacific Islander students. But public schools with larger minority populations have stark numbers: 2013-2014 AP data showed that 72 percent of Kent-Meridian High Schools 97 Pacific Islander students missed 15 or more days of school. Thats one of the struggles of Sasuos morning work at Kelso schools not just interpreting for students with language barriers but making them care about their education. Its a good part of the culture to have family together, Sasuo said, but a bad part to rely on. They want to go back home and just live with relatives, with family, and they dont care if they have a job, Sasuo said. They really dont think ahead. They dont think about the future. They rely so much on the culture, knowing that somebody will take care of them. Returning to Chuuk Riwina Sasuo still misses Chuuk and would like to go back eventually. She says their children miss the easy access to Hawaiis beaches and swimming in the ocean. For Gloria Nauru, its her homelands food she misses the most primarily, fish fresh from the ocean. She has a number of traditional ways to make it: cooked in coconut milk; salted and grilled; stored for a few days, then slathered in soy sauce and lemon juice. Saying goodbye to the island foods is a big challenge for many Chuukese. Diabetes disproportionately affects Pacific Islanders and Asians in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control. As the population grows larger, church officials said they hope to open a Chuukese market in the county to help them find the food they love as well as provide jobs for them. Along with his work at Kelso schools, Anter Sasuo also works at Life Works helping those with developmental and intellectual disabilities in the afternoons. Many other Chuukese like his brother-in-law Skinny Chengiuo worked for Foster Farms when they first moved to the area. Sasuo said its a challenge for most Chuukese to make ends meet with low wages. Ultimately, though, Sasuo said hes comfortable with his familys move. Sasuo attended high school in Chuuk and received a scholarship to go to Guam University. He said he wants his kids to have better educational opportunities than he did growing up. I think we made the right decision, Sasuo said. At the Christmas Day service at the Womens Club, families gathered to watch a performance by their children, organized by their Sunday school teacher. Some were as young as 4, others were in middle school. In a mix of English and Chuukese, the kids took turns with the microphone on stage, yelling their Christmas blessings over loud, karaoke-style keyboard music. With their leis, muumuus and Hawaiian shirts, they sang Chuukese church songs and clapped. The younger ones clapped off the beat. Led by their Sunday school teacher, they left the stage for a traditional Chuukese chant and dance in the middle of the room, squatting to the floor and stomping down the center aisle as they pass their parents gaze. Lauren Kronebusch contributed to this report. The Consumer Technology Association annually organizes a mega trade event popularly known as CES or Consumer Electronics Show in the month of January at Las Vegas Convention Centre in Las Vegas, Nevada in United States. The event is an opportunity to present some of the coolest innovations for the consumers by the great technology giants all over the world. Consumer Electronics Show started in the year 1967 in the New York City as a spinoff of Chicago Music Show, since then this event has turned out to be a huge platform to present new consumer electronic gadgets and various innovations and other concepts. Famous innovations like Blu-ray devices, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) televisions, Palm Pre, Mattel MindFlex Game, pico projectors, MarvellSheevaPlug plug computer and 3D projectors were first exhibited in this event only. Since last forty years, Consumer Electronics Show has witnessed many innovations which turned out to be a real useful product of gadget in the present. Like every year, this year also various gadgets and consumer electronics goods were presented in the trade event and few of them were remarkably different and outshined others. These ten products possessed the best idea and innovations: 1. ASUS Zenphone AR ASUS has redefined the concept of Smartphone by introducing the concept of virtual reality in the new ASUS Zenphone AR. ASUS claims that in future our mobile phones would have a way more purpose than just calling, chatting, updating social media profiles and listening music or playing games. The era which we belong to is of virtual reality and ASUS has presented a Smartphone which has the hardware that can track motion, perceive depth and even analyze the surrounding and adapt the device accordingly to run at its maximum efficiency and perform AR and VR functions properly that the applications working on the same concept would run properly. The ASUS Zenphone AR would work on two platforms provided by Google, Daydream and Tango. So it makes it quite compatible to provide its users with the experience of virtual reality. 2. Credit Card sized Computer by Intel Gone are the days where people used to wander about the evolution of their desktops or laptops by upgrading the hardware and software. Intel has taken a way further step in the area of upgrading and developing something which would hold the future inside in it. Intel is thinking a way to upgrade various internet-connected home appliances and robots we may own in the future. Intel has developed a credit card sized gadget known as Intels Compute Card which is like a mini computer which can be inserted in various smart devices. This device features all basic component of a computer including a processor, memory, storage and wireless technology. The idea is to save the consumers from purchasing new devices for better and faster features as this card sized computer can easily fit into devices like smart refrigerators, interactive retail kiosks, and security cameras. 3. LG W series TV The world is becoming more and more flat in terms of technology. LG is focusing on making the home TV experience better. Few years ago we use to own huge and bulky CRTs and now we own the LED or OLED powered televisions. But all of them do take some space in our room and dont blend in it. LGs new idea of the LG W series TV is to produce such TVs which are capable of blending in the living room, just as wallpaper does in the room. This new TV is of seventy-seven inches in size yet weighing twenty-seven pounds in total which is much less than the same sized TV produced by Samsung or Sony. This TV is designed entirely different with the screen separated from the guts of the system, which are contained in a Dolby Atmos sound bar that also includes I/O ports for connectivity. 4. Mohu Airwave The bringe-Watching experiences have been lately improved somewhat by the cord cutting feature but there has been always an issue with the local broadcast TV offerings. Most of the locally broadcasted channels are not much entertained or able to be in the bandwidth of the devices available now. But the great antennas maker Mohu Airwave has found a way to sort out these problems with their recent product which would just cost $150, and provide various local broadcasting like Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, Android, and iOS. Not just this, it allows to control the TV with an app on the phone just like Netflix or Hulu. 5. Mattel Aristotle Aristotles new product is the smartest thing available for the family having newborns. Mattel Aristotle is not just a baby monitor, its Amazon echo rolled in it to account for its smartness. Basically, its a smart device for smart people and being a smart device brings out various features in the device. The device has an inbuilt smart speaker which can be activated using a recognized voice, not only this Mattel Aristotle have taken the concept way further by adding a camera to the device so that one can take proper care of their newborns. All these features help a lot for soothing a crying baby, even buying more diapers, encouraging kids to mind their manners, or helping them learn a foreign language. Such a device is the uttermost need for the modern and smart parents to account for the well-being and safety of their newborn. 6. PowerRay Aquatic Drone People are opting for the smarter ways to do anything, whatever may be the task. The same is true for the fishermen, the old and orthodox methods of fishing require a great deal of patience and enthusiasm. But the PowerVision has found out an innovative fix for the issue, the latest PowerRay Aquatic Drone is the key solution to revolutionize the idea of fishing. The device is the dream of many fishermen; it can go inside the depth of the oceans, rivers, ponds, lakes or rivers and explore it. It can also detect fish and its location and send the information to the fishermen. It can work in both salt water and fresh water bodies and can send images with 4K clarity with 12 MP capability. 7. Toyota Concept i Tesla Motors have done hell lot of research and improvising the concept of auto driving features of the vehicles but the vision of Toyota is not just confined in just enabling our personal or mass vehicles to drive us to certain places. Toyota is looking far beyond that and came up with a product with the Concept i feature enabled on it. While having the autonomous driving capabilities, the Concept i enabled vehicles will posses artificial intelligence. Toyota claimed that vehicle would be able the preferred locations or destinations by the driver and can even suggest the places to visit after sometime. It is powered with a personal virtual assistant called Yui which would guide the driver or take care of the choices for the same. 8. Razer Project Valerie All of us prefer multitasking, and so should be our computer but unfortunately due to the confinement of our laptops screen to fifteen to seventeen inches we cant do more than one task simultaneously such that we can have a look at all of them at a single time. Razer project Valerie has presented a product with foldable laptop screens. There are in total three screens, each of 17 inches in size with a 4K display which can be used individually like playing video games on one and watching videos on YouTube on another or as a giant screen for a single display. The laptop is a little heavier than the usual one but still less heavier than the huge gaming laptops. 9. Lenovo Smart Assistant Lenovo has presented a more colorful and cheaper product than Amazons Echo. The speaker contains eight microphones that can receive a voice as far as sixteen feet. As Lenovo Smart Assistant is also powered with Amazons Alexa voice assistant, it allows users get the same features with a slight less expenditure and more colorful options. The device is not just meant to manage music rather it can answer questions, manage calendars and to-do lists. The speakers would be in the markets by this May and would cost around $130 for normal version and around $180 for an upgraded Harman Kardon speakers one. 10. Dell 2-in-1 Laptops Dell is always progressing to provide some of the worthy gadgets to its users and have introduced several convertible laptops this year, and the most attracting was the model was its Latitude 7285 and recently released XPS 13 models. Latitude 7285 is a Surface Pro 4 rival that includes a sharp screen, stylus, and a sturdy keyboard that more closely resembles that of a laptop than most hybrids whereas XPS 13 model is an updated version of Dells already great XPS 13 that includes a flexible rotating hinge for use in different positions. Chinese smartphone giant, Xiaomi is soon going to kick start the production of its upcoming new Mi 6. The same is going to be showcased by the company at MWC this year. The phone will be having three variants; Premier, Standard, and Youth, with variation in price. However, customers can avail these new models post mid-March. The price of the three models is having minimal fluctuations; Youth version will be priced at 294 USD while Premier and Standard variant will be priced at $437 and $364 respectively. Premier models will carry a ceramic body and will flaunt a dual-curved design with OLED QHD display. It will be powered by Qualcomm SoC, 64-bit octa-core Snapdragon 835. The RAM capacity will be around 6 GB. There will be cameras both at the rear and front end. Huge internal memory is its another biggest advantage; 256 gigabytes of inbuilt memory capacity. Though Standard models will have the similar characteristics as Premier models but will not carry ceramic body gloss. Internal memory storage capacity is also half as that of Premier models, 128 GB coupled with 4 GB of RAM. On the other hand, being priced at $294, Youth versions will be most affordable ones. It will work on Helio X30 SoC platform. Internal memory storage capacity will be 64 GB which will be coupled with 4 GB RAM. See Also: Xiaomi Mi 6 spotted at Benchmarking site: Scores and tipped specs Upon unwrapping, all the variants are supposed to run on Android Nougat. Mi will off course make these phones equipped with its own operating system MIUI 8. If rumours are to be believed, models will be having ultrasonic fingerprint scanner just like Mi 5S and rear end may host 12 Mega Pixel Sony sensors. Considering the display, the models may even get into two categories; a curved screen display and a flat screen display. Besides, Xiaomi has recently launched its Redmi Note 4 in the Indian smartphone market on January 19, in an event at New Delhi. The USP of the Redmi Note 4 is its metal build case with deca-core SoC, though the company has planned to launch another variant in the country. India does not function well when it comes to the health of its citizens. Not that it has an extremely challenging environment to live in but people are not much aware about the symptoms of any disease that they might be suffering from. According to the records from World Economic Forum, the country loses $ 4.58 trillion to NCDs (Non Communicable Diseases) such as Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) which are heart attacks and stroke, Diabetes, Chronic Respiratory Diseases (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases and Asthma) and Cancer. Due to the recognition of the disease in its last stage, the account of death rate due to NCDs is over 60 per cent of all mortality in India resulting in 55per cent of premature deaths. People not only lose their money which is invested in a big amount for curing the patient but also lose their beloved one. This is mostly seen in the rural areas where people are not aware of the signs and when they do realise that something is wrong then it gets too late. The solution to all this observed is, pre-recognition of NCDs, if the symptoms are detected in the early ages then with proper treatment it can be cured saving the patient from all the suffering and high investments. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have decided to work in this area for population based prevention as a part of National Health Mission. There will be focus on five prevalent diseases like hypertension, diabetes, and cancers of oral cavity, breast and cervix. The training of front line workers Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery (ANM), the screening will be initiated in 100 districts in 32 states and UTs. 1,000 sub centers will be opened by 31st March 2017, these centers will have workers who will have detailed protocol of the treatment. ASHAs will have information on various risk factors, people who will be detected with risks will be counselled by the workers so that they can lead a healthy lifestyle, the motive of screening is to raise the survival rates in patients suffering from cancer. Later, more programs will be added in the same, the access will be increased and the state will be helped for community health promotion. The programme will be launched by Union Health Minister J P Nadda on February 4 2017, the same day coincidentally is also World Cancer day. Hopefully, this government programme will be successful in preventing lifestyle diseases. News / National by Staf reporter Scientists working in a remote part of eastern Zimbabwe have discovered a frog previously feared to be extinct, News24.com reported.The cave squeaker (Arthroleptis troglodytes) hadn't been seen for more than half a century in the rock-studded Chimanimani mountains it was known to inhabit.The tiny frog only grows to around half the size of a thumb.Robert Hopkins, an associate researcher with the Natural History Museum in Bulawayo, said he and fellow scientists Francois Becker from the University of Cape Town and Zimbabwean entomologist Scott Herbst, managed to find three cave squeakers during a research trip in early December.The frogs were located through their unusual calls - but they weren't at all where the researchers expected to find them, Hopkins told News24.Conservation strategy"Francois had done a great deal of work on (similar species) in South Africa, and had paid particular attention to their calls," Hopkins said. "He heard a call which he recognised as that of an Arthroleptis, but did not or could not identify it, so he tracked that call and ultimately found the first specimen."Hopkins said researchers have been looking for the frog near water, which is where they were first (and last) seen in 1962.But in fact it turns out that that is not where they breed."Our (latest) finds place the breeding sites away from water, and certainly not at any time in caves or sink holes," Hopkins said. The research trip to Chimanimani was supported by the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund.Hopkins says breeding the frogs in his laboratory in Bulawayo and releasing them back into alternative places in the wild is one conservation strategy he, together with Zimbabwe's National Parks Authority, is considering.Sadly, Don Broadley, the renowned Zimbabwean herpetologist who first discovered the cave squeaker in 1962 and had tried but failed to relocate it, died last year just months before this rediscovery. Broadley was "the greatest herpetologist in the world", said Hopkins. Wild elephant, the endangered animal of Myanmar is getting hunted on a regular basis, although the law has been signed to Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), making the hunting illegal in that country but the activities prove that the citizens are not taking it seriously. Reason being the poor enforcement of the law. Anyone who is found violating it, is taken a fine of maximum $60, which does not develop any kind of sense of fear in the traders as the profit that they earn is a lot higher than this small amount. The count of elephants in Myanmar have dropped to almost half in just a decade leaving 2,000-3,000 elephants alive. The trading takes place in the most renowned part of the country at Golden Rock. The area has various shops that sell skin of elephant along with teeth of tiger and oil from bears. They attract customers by telling them that the skin of the endangered animal cures eczema and tell them the way they are supposed to use it. You burn pieces of skin by putting them in a clay pot. Then you get the ash and mix it with coconut oil to apply on the eczema said a shopkeeper while selling it for 5,000 kyat ($3.65) per square inch. The tusk of elephant is also sold by them in the form of paste. For the paste they claim that it cures pimples and dark spots, making the skin smooth. However, the experts say that these are just false statements made by them for selling their products and science has not proved anything like that. And the killing just doesnt stop here. China is said to have a liking for the exotic animals, so Myanmar sells a large amount of tusk to China making millions of dollars a year. The exporting is the same for Thailand, the country attracts tourists from the endangered species. Were in the middle of a crisis. If were losing this number it cant be too many more years before wild elephants are gone, said Antony Lynam, regional adviser at the Wildlife Conservation Society. According to him, if the killing continues at such an alarming rate then the animal will soon disappear. The cases that are registered for this crime are very low, pointing out to the lack of political will. The government has finally taken a pledge to make the law more powerful and stop the killing and exporting. hidden Twitter's official POTUS and FLOTUS handles on Friday changed their profile images to President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump. But Trump's @POTUS handle briefly had a banner photo from Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration. Twitter changed the accounts almost immediately after Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the US. Meanwhile, Barack Obama became @POTUS44 and Michelle @FLOTUS44. Trump's @POTUS handle proclaimed him 45th President of the United States. "Working on behalf of the American people to make our country great again", it said. According to Mashable, the banner photo for Donald Trump's version of the @POTUS account had briefly featured a predictable photo of American flags raised in front of a distant Capitol. "Less predictably, the photo was from the inauguration of former President Barack Obama, in 2009," it said. In an update, it later said, "Someone has changed the background of the account to a super generic photo of an American flag." Gizmodo too noticed the 2009 picture on Trump's @POTUS account. "At exactly noon today, Donald Trump inherited the @POTUS Twitter account. Unfortunately his header photo is a picture from Barack Obama's inauguration in 2009," it said. It said that while Donald Trump inherited Obama's handle and followers, it's important to note he did not inherit his header photo, meaning someone on his team was responsible for choosing it. Trump's inauguration didn't quite have the same turnout as Obama's. Similarly, Vice President Mike Pence has assumed control of @VP, and Joe Biden now has @VP44. IANS tech2 News Staff Samsung is expected to launch its new flagship smartphone soon and the rumour mill has been churning out a number of speculations. The latest one suggests that the upcoming handset might come with a special hardware key that will open up its all new AI assistant. A report from The Wall Street Journal says, "The latest internal prototypes of the premium Galaxy S8 handset include a button on the side edge of the smartphone that would be used to launch a beefed-up virtual assistant. however, the prototypes arent final and could change." Another source confirms these claims, well almost. New case renders from mobile accessory website have surfaced which clearly show that, if true, the handset could sees a fourth physical button. Of course having an extra button does not mean that it will trigger the AI assistant, it could very well be for the camera. The website further suggests that Samsung's new digital voice assistant will be called 'Bixby' and is all ready to be rolled out. Moreover if we look as the renders carefully, rumours around the handset not having a home button also lineup. This means that the Galaxy S8 could feature a unique fingerprint sensor embedded under the display. Also, we still have a cut-out for the 3.5mm audio jack, which will be a sigh of relief for many. News / National by Stephen Jakes A police officer based in Beitbridge has been sentenced to 210 hours of community service and fined a total of $800 for illegally affixing an imported vehicle with fake number plates and being found in possession of illegal dangerous drugs.Prosper Zengeni (28) was sentenced to 12 months in jail for illegally affixing the car with fake number plates which was wholly suspended for 210 hours of community service. For the counts of possession of articles for criminal use he was sentenced to 90 days in jail with an option of $300 fine. For another count of possession of dangerous drugs he was sentenced to 60 days in jail or pay $300 fine and for the last count he was sentenced to 20 days or $200 fine.Prosecutor Munyonga Kuvarega told the court that on August 10 last year Zengeni was at the Beitbridge border post when Delani Dube imported a Toyota Altezza car from South Africa and left it in Zengeni's custody pending settlement of a debt. On December 23 detectives received information that Zengeni had affixed a number plate on the vehicle which was yet to be registered. He drove the vehicle purporting that it belonged to one of the immigration officers at the border.It is said that on December 23 he was arrested and found in possession of counterfeit notes which is believed were meant to be used for criminal purposes of fraud and had five set of South African number plates. Zengeni was also found in possession of four plants of mbanje.He was also charged for illegal use of the vehicle. Gov. Whitmer challenged by Republican Tudor Dixon LAPEER COUNTY You may have seen a TV commercial or two (hundred?), but theres a hotly contested race on Nov. 8 for who sits in the governors office in... Nessel, DePerno in contest for state Attorney General LAPEER COUNTY Democrat Dana Nessel is running for re-election to serve another four-term term as Michigan Attorney General challenged by Republican Matthew DePerno and Libertarian Party candidate Joseph... Nov. 8 voters to decide race for Secretary of State LAPEER COUNTY Lapeer County and Michigan voters on Nov. 8 will elect a Secretary of State a four-way race between incumbent Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, challenged by: Republican... Michigan election officials outline certification procedures ahead of midterms LANSING Michigan officials are trying to get ahead of misinformation by explaining the process of certifying elections ahead of next months midterms. County canvassing boards certify results and send... May to discuss trade, NATO in WH with Trump AP, London : British Prime Minister Theresa May says she will discuss free trade and the importance of the NATO military alliance when she meets President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday. May is set to become the first foreign leader to meet with the new president. She said Sunday she looks forward to expanding the "special relationship" between the U.S. and Britain. She told the BBC's Andrew Marr that the Trump administration is interested in a good trade deal with Britain despite its stated "America first" policy. May says Trump values NATO even though he has spoken critically of the alliance. The prime minister did not directly answer questions about whether she would challenge Trump on some of the comments he has made about women. She earlier criticized him for derogatory comments. May is due to meet Trump in Washington on Friday and said she would use the opportunity to discuss the future trading relationship between the United States and Britain, as well as NATO and challenges such as defeating terrorism. Thousands of women took to the streets of European capitals on Saturday to protest against Trump, particularly comments he has made which were seen as demeaning of women. Kremlin hopes for rapport with US, but differences will stay Kremlin is voicing hope for a constructive dialogue with President Donald Trump\'s administration. AP, Moscow : Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman voiced hope for a constructive dialogue with President Donald Trump's administration in comments broadcast Saturday, but warned that differences will remain. Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with state Rossiya television that it would be an "illusion" to expect that U.S.-Russian relations would be completely free of disagreements. "Successful development of bilateral ties will depend on our ability to solve these differences through dialogue," Peskov said. He added that Putin will call Trump soon to congratulate him. Peskov's sober assessment contrasted with euphoria in Russian political and business elites, where many expect a quick thaw in relations with the U.S. A few clubs and bars sought to cash in on public excitement, hosting parties to mark Trump's inauguration. Trump has promised to mend ties with Moscow badly strained over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and allegations of Russian meddling in the U.S. elections, and his victory has elated Russian political elites. Peskov, however, pointed at the challenges posed by the intricacy of nuclear arms control, the complexity of the situation in Syria and other issues. While Russia supports prospective nuclear arms cuts, they should be proportional and not upset the nuclear parity between Russia and the U.S., which "plays a critical role in ensuring global stability and security," Peskov said. He noted that different composition of Russian and U.S. nuclear forces is a factor that needs to be carefully considered in negotiations. Asked to comment on Trump's recent interview with the Times of London in which he indicated that he could end sanctions imposed on Russia imposed after the 2014 annexation of Crimea in return for a nuclear arms reduction deal, Peskov said the two issues are hard to link. Peskov emphasized the U.S. role in settling the nearly six-year conflict in Syria, where Trump has offered to pool efforts with Russia in fighting the Islamic State group. "It's quite obvious that it's impossible to constructively solve the Syrian problem without the U.S. participation," he said. Russia already has invited Trump's administration to attend talks between Syrian government and opposition groups in Kazakhstan capital Monday. Russia brokered the talks together with Turkey and Iran, but Tehran has opposed the U.S. involvement in them. "There are certain disagreements between Moscow and Tehran on this subject," Peskov said, adding that the Syrian issue "is too complex to have a full harmony in approaches." "Any deals there are unlikely, there are too many parties involved," he added. Turning to the Ukrainian crisis, which has driven Russia's relations with the West to post-Cold War lows, Peskov criticized Barack Obama's administration for an "unconstructive" approach and voiced hope that Trump's administration would revise it. Workshop on 'Entrepreneurship & Innovation' at CUB Campus Report : Canadian University of Bangladesh (CUB) organized a workshop on 'Entrepreneurship & Innovation' on Saturday at the University Auditorium. Kazi M Aminul Islam, Executive Chairman, Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) was the Chief Guest in the event. Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat, Founder and Chairman, Canadian University of Bangladesh conferred the vote of thanks at the event. Prof Dr William H Derrenger, Vice Chancellor, Canadian University of Bangladesh inaugurated the seminar. Chakri.com was strategic partner of the Seminar. Chief Guest Kazi M Aminul Islam said, 'Unemployment of educated people in Bangladesh is higher. This is a great news an opportunity to transform them to entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship doesn't exist in DNA of people it can be learned. Canadian University of Bangladesh can be the center of excellence to learn Entrepreneurship and Innovation'. Prof Emeritus Dr AK Azad Chowdhury, Honorary Advisor, CUB and Former Chairman, UGC was the Guest of Honor at the program. Prof Dr James Gomez, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Prof MA Arafat, Chief Advisor to the Board of Trustees of Canadian University of Bangladesh were also present at the event. The workshop was an opportunity to know what it takes to become an Entrepreneur. In addition, practical knowledge and experience from Industry experts were discussed at the workshop. Retailers raise soya bean oil prices Economic Reporter : The prices of soya bean oil increased 3-5 a litre on the retail markets of the city although the proposal of refiners to hike of edible oils is still waiting for government's nod. Refiners, recently submitted a proposal to the commerce ministry, seeking an increase in the price of edible oil by Tk 5 a litre, but their plea was yet to get approval. The price of bottled soya bean oil increased by Tk 2 a litre on Sunday while that of unpacked soya bean oil rose by Tk 4-5 a litre. A one-litre container of soya bean oil was selling at Tk 100-105 while a five-litre container at Tk 500-510 at the Karwan Bazar kitchen market in Dhaka on Saturday. On Saturday, a one-litre container of soya bean oil was sold at Tk 98-102 while a five-litre container at Tk 490-505. Traders said that marketing representatives of edible oil refinery companies informed them (traders) about the proposed price hike of edible oil and wholesalers decreased the supply of the item in last couple of days. 'Suppliers have squeezed the supply of soya bean oil as the companies informed them that the prices of the item would increase shortly,' Mizanur Rahman, a retailer at the Karwan Bazar kitchen market, told The New Nation on Sunday. He said that the wholesale prices of both unpacked and bottled oil increased a bit as suppliers horded the item in an expectation that the refiners would increase the prices. Refiners, however, said that they submitted a proposal to the commerce ministry, seeking an increase in the price of edible oil by Tk 5 a litre, but their plea was yet to get approval. 'A proposal for increasing the price of bottled soya bean oil has been submitted to the commerce ministry, but we are yet to get approval,' Biswajit Saha, general manager of City Group, said. He hoped that they would get approval from the ministry within a short time as the prices of edible oil increased on the international market. After getting the ministry's nod, the item would enter the market with new price tags, but refiners are not responsible if traders have already increased the prices of the commodity, Biswajit said. Shah Rukh to travel by train for Raees promotions in Delhi Currently, in the middle of heavy promotions for his film Raees, Shah Rukh Khan will be travelling through train to Delhi on Monday. The actor, whos known for his good marketing mind, will board a train from Mumbai Central station and reach Delhi the next morning. The entire team, including producer Ritesh Sidhwani and director Rahul Dholakia will also be undertaking the rail journey in August Kranti Express. The train will leave from Mumbai Central at 5:00pm along with King Khan. It will have several stopovers including Andheri, Borivali, Surat, Vadodara, Ratlam, Kota, Savai Madhopur and Mathura. Raees will release on January 25. The film also features Nawazuddin Siddiqui and marks the debut of Pakistani actress Mahira Khan. Make the United Nations even more effective Sheba Crocker : On January 1, Antonio Guterres of Portugal began his five-year term as UN Secretary-General, replacing Ban Ki-moon. If you followed the Secretary-General race or Guterres' previous tenures as Prime Minister of Portugal and UN High Commissioner for Refugees, you know that UN member states picked a superbly qualified leader for the Secretary-General position-a job that comes with the potential to spearhead global efforts to address major international challenges and, if seized, is an unmatched position of moral authority. Guterres has assumed leadership of a network of multilateral organizations and agencies vital to global peace, stability, and prosperity. This network complements U.S. global leadership, creates international cooperation that diminishes the space for conflict and terrorism, harmonizes international development objectives, and upholds universal norms and values that narrow the operating space for dictators and those wishing to do harm and ensures equality of rights for all citizens around the world. From day one, the Obama Administration has recognized the importance of multilateralism to achieving U.S. foreign policy objectives and solving global problems. At a time when increasingly complex international challenges demand truly international solutions, relying on bilateral relations alone to achieve U.S. objectives is not enough. This recognition fueled a sustained reengagement with the multilateral system that has put the United States back at the center of the diplomatic universe, strengthened important international institutions, and fostered a series of landmark deals and agreements. As Secretary Kerry has pointed out, the United States is more respected in the world than we were eight years ago, in part because of our unprecedented leadership in strengthening and modernizing the United Nations and other institutions. Assistant Secretary of State Sheba Crocker (right) and Ambassador Samantha Power (left) listen as Secretary Kerry addresses the UN Security Council. [State Department photo] For instance, this Administration's multilateral approach created a path toward the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran's nuclear program and produced real momentum toward the Paris Agreement on climate change and the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals. By re-joining the UN Human Rights Council, we were able to bring attention to some of the world's worse human rights violators and protect LGBTI rights and the rights of women and girls around the world. We turned to the United Nations to complement our bilateral efforts to help prevent violence and encourage peaceful political transitions in countries ranging from Cyprus to Yemen, Colombia to Cote d'Ivoire, and many others. And we worked with the United Nations to tackle the Ebola crisis in West Africa, make UN peacekeeping more effective, and address the global refugee and migrant crisis. Yet, despite all of these achievements-many of which benefitted from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's leadership, and all of which demonstrate the continued necessity of the United Nations and broader multilateral system to achieving U.S. objectives-we must be clear-eyed about the United Nations' shortcomings. The UN system suffers from outdated practices and structures that, when combined with strains not seen before in its 71 year history, are preventing the organization from being even more effective. The United Nations faces rightful criticism over its handling of controversies involving sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers and its failure, until recently, to acknowledge its role in the cholera outbreak in Haiti. Struggling UN peacekeeping missions, such as in South Sudan, face huge challenges but also have failed to take effective action to protect civilians. When scandals in the UN system are unearthed, rarely are senior officials held accountable. The organization employs many outdated human resources, management, and budget practices that are not reflective of a 21st century institution, and some corners of the United Nations still try to silence whistleblowers or bury critical reports rather than resolve internal problems. On top of all of this, many elements of the UN system -- and certainly many of its members-still harbor an anti-Israel bias that only delegitimizes and distracts the organization more broadly. Perhaps most disheartening of all, and despite all the UN Security Council is able to accomplish on a regular basis, the Council increasingly is unable to agree to meaningful action on some of the gravest threats to international peace and security. Syria is the most galling and obvious example, but we also have seen deadlock in recent years on South Sudan, Burundi, and other crises. In addition, UN member states increasingly feel free to flout international norms and law-whether in their use of chemical weapons, failure to protect civilians in conflict, active targeting of humanitarian actors, or any number of other measures-and the multilateral system and its many member states often seem incapable of responding to these existential tests. These may seem like insurmountable challenges to overcome-in fact, to some naysayers, the United Nations' shortcomings are reason to scale back U.S. engagement with the organization, or de-fund it entirely. But we need the United Nations too much to walk away. Just like other large organizations, reform comes slowly to the United Nations. However, especially in the context of strong U.S. engagement, we have seen that the organization can be reformed. UN member states have agreed to a number of major changes throughout the organization's history, including expanding the number of Security Council members and creating new UN agencies and structures, such as the 2006 creation of the UN Peacebuilding Commission. Most importantly, Secretary-General Guterres is the right person to lead the United Nations' reform efforts. He possesses both the gravitas and experience to drive serious change, and the moral authority to, when needed, use his office as a "bully pulpit" to stand-up to member states that are skirting international law. Guterres went out of his way between his October 2016 Secretary-General appointment by the UN General Assembly and the start this month of his Secretary-General term to build goodwill by consulting widely with UN member states. The world now needs to mobilize behind Mr. Guterres as he puts together a targeted reform agenda and begins to implement it in the months and years ahead. Guterres is not wasting any time. On January 3, he announced the establishment of an Executive Committee that will meet on issues of strategic consequence, structural changes to his own office, and the launch of a high-level review effort on reforming the UN's peace and security architecture, among other welcome initiatives. The Secretary-General will need all of the help he can get from UN members to get this work done-we all have to play our part in reforming the organization so that it remains relevant for the future, and remains focused on the key issues of our time. For his part, Guterres should prioritize and move out early in his tenure to take advantage of the goodwill he has built up, and he should look to build new coalitions of member states around his reform agenda and to break out of the traditional north vs. south and regional divides. What reforms should the Secretary-General's agenda include? No matter how well intentioned and effective, Guterres will not be able to implement all of the needed reforms across the UN system-there are too many, and he will face pushback at each turn from various actors. Below are five suggestions of reform areas he should prioritize, each of which is in desperate need of change, and each of which will require member state support to achieve. Accomplishing even just some of the below would go a long way in making the UN system more effective: 1.Make high-impact management, human resources, and accountability changes. To most, these are not "sexy" topics. But certain administrative changes are critical if the United Nations is to maximize its potential. For starters, how the organization fills its senior-most positions needs serious attention. The United Nations can and should fill its senior ranks through merit-based appointments, and it can do this in a way that achieves gender parity and a balance of individuals from different regions. The organization should require that all Under- and Assistant-Secretary-General level positions be advertised, and the job announcements should list the duties and qualifications for the job and effectively increase the pool of qualified women candidates. The United Nations also needs to do a lot more to improve its culture of accountability and ensure that all UN staff adhere to the highest ethical standards and that wrong-doing is not tolerated; even a small number of allegations of wrong-doing or retaliation against whistleblowers can undermine all of the organization's excellent work. One way to do this is to conduct independent audits of agency and senior manager performance, and more closely tie promotions and terminations with results. In addition, more administrative functions should be moved away from expensive UN cities, such as New York and Geneva, to less expensive locations. This would help address the United Nations' personnel costs in a significant way-costs that have ballooned over time to, by some reports, account for at least 70 percent of the organization's total assessed budget. And completing the management and human resources reforms begun by Ban Ki-moon should be a top priority, including seeing "Umoja" implementation through. (Umoja is the United Nations' initiative to modernize its personnel, procurement, and financial systems.) 2.Transform the United Nations' development and humanitarian assistance architectures. The UN development system must reprioritize its work to focus on implementing the Sustainable Development Goals within existing budget resources. As part of this effort, the United Nations should eliminate duplication among its various entities, enhance partnerships with the private sector and civil society, and improve transparency and accountability by publishing data and performance results online. The organization also must improve coherence among development and humanitarian assistance efforts to respond more effectively to protracted and recurrent crises and enhance emergency prevention and preparedness efforts. The world now has more forcibly displaced people than at any time since the Second World War. Former Secretary-General Ban convened the first World Humanitarian Summit last year to establish an ambitious reform agenda for creating a more strategic and effective humanitarian response system to, among other objectives, address this unprecedented displacement. The United Nations must lead in implementing this agenda, a key element of which is the "Grand Bargain," a voluntary set of commitments from a broad cross-section of leading donors, UN agencies, and NGOs. These commitments have the potential to fundamentally change the way in which the international community responds to humanitarian crises by incentivizing cost efficiencies and increased transparency that will allow more aid dollars to go directly to people in need. At the same time, we must remember that two-thirds of the world's displaced people are not refugees, but rather internally displaced people within their own national borders. The United Nations needs to sharpen its focus on this group, including by appointing a Special Representative of the Secretary-General to advocate for their needs. But until UN member states can look beyond tired tropes about national sovereignty, the United Nations will remain hampered in its ability to address the needs of the more than 40 million people displaced in their own countries by conflict and other crises. (To be continued) Sovereign Wealth Fund is good, question is safety THE New Nation on Saturday reported that the Finance Ministry is planning to create the country's first ever sovereign wealth fund (SWF) to utilize the huge foreign currency reserve laying idle at Bangladesh Bank. The plan has come to the fore at a time when remittance inflow is on decline and investment impasse in the economy from local and foreign sources are frustrating achieving higher growth target. We believe such initiative makes sense when so much funds are available to implement development projects - mainly mega project now waiting for approval but shortage of fund is delaying them. Naturally such fund can boost the country's capacity to overcome infrastructure shortage - so essential to speed up the pace of growth. But the major cause of concerns is how it can be put to use with total safety. Corruption, misuse of money and poor governance are some of the major threats to the safety. Our public institutions lack transparency and accountability at almost every level of the government. Powerful oligarchs within the government or business houses closer to the government have robbed almost all public banks and much of the fund has been moved out of the country. These banks are routinely supported with funds from annual budgets to keep them functioning. Unbridled financial scandals are blamed for disrupting every big projects and this is what worries experts and Bangladesh Bank officials to give consent to such move. Otherwise using the fund will allow the government to avoid taking loans from multilateral lending agencies attached with stringent conditions for the economy. Many of our business houses are also taking loans in foreign currency from foreign banks and paying huge interest. The proposed SWF can meet requirement of the government and big private borrowers. The repayment liability will also remain within the nation to benefit our own banks and other financial institutions The Finance Ministry has proposed the SWF with a capital of US$ 5 billion using reserves at Bangladesh Bank, which now stands at $31.75 billion and on rise. As per media report the Ministry has already sent the proposal to Bangladesh Bank seeking opinion. In our view the move may be given approval subject to enacting stringent law and effective rules of business with an appropriate authority to run the fund. The point is how the concerned authorities will protect the fund, when Bangladesh Bank's own reserves were not safe from swindlers. The other recent example is the misuse of Malaysian Sovereign Wealth Fund. Prime Minister Najib Razzak is under tremendous pressure to resign over missing of around $3.5 billion from 1MDB fund. So the risks are ample while the prospects are also immense and we suggest the matter may be debated in public forum how safety may be ensured when parliament is not enough to make independent suggestions. Biswa Ijtema ends with Akheri Munajat Lakhs of devotees of 16 districts seeking divine blessings for the peace of the Muslim Ummah at the second phase of Bishwa Ijtema ended on Sunday with the offering of Akheri Munajat on the bank of Turag River. Gazipur Correspondent : The second phase of the Biswa Ijtema, the second largest Muslim congregations after Hajj, ended on Sunday with the offering of Akheri Munajat. Maulana Muhammad Saad from Delhi conducted the Akheri Munajat that started around 11.11am and ended at 11:47am. The second phase of the three-day congregation began on the bank of the Turag River at Tongi in Gazipur after Fazr prayers on Friday. The devotees from 16 districts took part in the Ijtema. Some 6,000 law enforcers were deployed to avert any untoward incident at the Ijtema ground. Besides, movement of vehicles, except ambulances and police vans, from Joydebpur intersection of Gazipur on the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway to Airport, from Mirerbazar of Gazipur Sadar on the Dhaka-Sylhet Highway to Tongi, and from Abdullahpur of the Abdullahpur-Ashulia Road to bypass road remained restricted on Sunday. The first phase of Biswa Ijtema was held at the same venue on January 13-15. Devotees from 16 districts attended the 1st phase of Ijtema. Thousands of Muslim devotees, both from home and abroad, gathered at the congregation venue and took part in prayers and discussions. Five to die for murder in city Court Correspondent : A Dhaka court on Sunday sentenced five people to death and two others to life term imprisonment in a murder case. The convicts are: former president of Harirampur Matshyajibi Samity Haji Ajgar Ali, Mohammad Selim, Alkes, Khalilur Rahman and Md Raju. The life-term imprisoned convicts are: Kadar Ali and Ruhul Amin. They were also fined Tk 25,000 each, in default, they will have to suffer rigorous imprisonment for a year more. The prosecution story says, Basu Mia and Ajgar Ali had been at loggerheads over a boundary wall near Basu's three-storey under-construction building in Laltek of Goranchat area under Shah Ali Police Station. Because of the enmity, Ajgar hired his brother-in-law Kadar Ali, an alleged criminal, to kill Basu for Tk 5,00,000. On May 14, 2012, Ajgar Ali along with other accomplices swooped on Basu and shot him dead. DB Inspector Mainul Islam, also the Investigation Officer of the case, submitted charge sheet to the court against 14 people on May 21, 2013. After examining the records and depositions of the witnesses, Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court-4 judge, Zahidul Kabir pronounced the verdict on Sunday. The court acquitted six accused persons of the charges while an accused died during the trial process. News / National by Stephen Jakes Reverend Ray Motsi has said Gukurahundi is not a mere Matabeleland phenomenon but is a national issue which is real and must be treated with great attention.Motsi made the remarks during a a Gukurahundi celebrations in Bulawayo organised by Ibhetshu Likazulu.Mthwakazi Republic Party led by Mqondisi Moyo attended in solidarity with iBhetshu Lika Zulu in today's Gukurahundi genocide commemoration.A genocide which took place from 1983 to 87, though its now continuing up to this day albeit in another form of economic and education genocide, also eliminating Matabeleland in strategic lands and positions."MRP will always stand by Mthwakazi people and will continue to look for peaceful means to find justice for Mthwakazi survivors of Gukurahundi genocide," MRP said."We appreciate, as party the commemoration which took place today that was led by iBhetshu lika Zulu. We appreciate the presence of different political parties and civic groups who came and attended as they were all saying united we stand divided we fall. It is refreshing and some how encouraging to know that there are other Shona people who actually believe Gukurahundi Genocide happened and was wrongly targeted to the Ndebele people."Motsi said he was in United Kingdom before 1980 and he came to the country in 1988, he stayed only for two weeks in Harare before he was deployed by his church to Pastor in Bulawayo. He said he was happy that the country of Zimbabwe has gained independence but as he came to Matabeleland he found a different story.He said at first he didn't believe that there was such a thing called Gukurahundi, he never thought it was even possible that a black government can unleash such an inhumane satanic act.But as he went around he discovered that for sure its real. That's where he came about forming an organisation called grace to heal more than 20 years ago.Reverend Mosti is now Dr Mosti after he finished his PHD with Pretoria University, he studied and researched extensively about Gukurahundi and can now reveal and confirm that for sure it happened. Dr Mosti said Matabeleland genocide is not a regional issue but a National issue. Of which he believes that we are not just victims but survivors. There fore its high time the people of Matabeleland stand up and be counted.Dr Mosti reminded people about the story of Samson in the Bible, he said the Philistines shaved his hair which was his source of power, but they forget that the hair will grow again indeed it grew again and he got his power back and fulfilled his purpose in life.He even said that there is a prophecy that Matabeleland will rise again and indeed it will rise again. He said the system created by ZANU PF is Satanic and was forced on everyone, though it has benefited the Shona people to this day."As a party we appreciate the efforts being made by different people and organisations and we thank Reverend Mosti also for his unwavering support to Mthwakazi concerning the Gukurahundi genocide issue," MRP said.MRP President Mqondisi Moyo thanked ibhetshu likazulu and also acknowledged the late Qhubekani Dube as the founding chairman of Ibhetshu likazulu.Moyo said he strongly believe that the best solution to Mthwakazi is Restoration. Moyo said King Lobengula's was not a sellout, we know who the sellouts are. President Moyo took a swipe at Kudzai Chipanga the ZANU PF youth leader, Chipanga is a fool how can he call Bhalagwe genocide a tourist attraction?'We should go to Matopo and stop that birthday bash. Its satanic and barbaric to go to peach tents for a birthday bash on top of graves of Mugabe's victims," he said. Crackdown on illegal money transfer in Dubai Desk Report : Twenty-five shops in Dubai were fined for illegally sending money to Bangladesh, according to a report published by The National, UAE, on Sunday. The shops offered Bangladeshi expatriates cheaper money transfers to their home country with the help of an app called bKash, the Department of Economic Development (DED) said. "DED acted on a tip-off and raided the shops, spread across different areas in Dubai, and found that none of them was licensed to provide money transfer services. "All the shops advertised the illegal activity in the Bengali language to avoid suspicion," said Mohammed Ali Rashed Lootah, CEO of the Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection sector in DED. No invoices were issued to customers. Shopkeepers instead wrote down the customer's details and the amount to be transferred in paper slips and the transfer was done electronically. "We have also confiscated the devices that were used to transfer money. First of all, none of the shops had money transfer authority in their licenses and they didn't have the mandatory approvals from the UAE Central Bank," said Mr Lootah. He added that such practices were harmful not only for the UAE economy and local businesses, but people in general. "First of all such illegal channels deny the economy of accurate information on the flow of cash. Secondly, they deprive authorised money exchanges and banks of their deserved share of business, and thirdly, customers depending on such illegal channels risk losing their hard-earned money." Nur Hossain hungers for wine, women & wealth Locals still mum for his notorious gang in Narayanganj Joynal Abedin Khan with Monir Hossain : The Narayanganj sensational seven-murder case's prime accused and the death raw convicted Nur Hossain was hungry for illegal wealth and using attractive women as well as dirking wine by allegedly sitting on the nose of the law enforcing agencies. All types of professional bodies, including public representative and businessmen, bound to fulfill the demand of the so called 'Emperor Nur Hossain' as they had no chance to escape the target in the district, local sources said. In this context, the pro-Awami League leader has recruited a sufficient number of faithful gangsters mainly from relatives and party men to fulfill his all expected demands as soon as per order, they claimed. They gang led by Sohel and Shajalal Badal, who are nephews of the Nur Hossain, already have established the unique supremacy in Naraynaganj city and its adjacent areas by the back of a local lawmaker and some unscrupulous cops members, they added. According to them, the local people have been pleased for the death sentence of the notorious goon but they have stayed a silent possession based on the future thought of releasing of Nur Hossain following any verdict from High Court to President's clemency. The inhabitants also are still passing the days totally 'mum mood' for the fear of the notorious armed-gang of Nur Hossain. In the meantime, several families left the area to save the chastity of women and lives and wealth from the gang after observing the infamous activities of Nur Hossain and his cohorts, they added. The gangsters are still 'ruling the people' in their own created 'mini state' focusing Shimrail and the Narayanganj city area in the hope for acquittal of Nur Hossain in the view to a probable political decision, they said. They earn crore of extortion money from the transports and business institutes as well as from the landlords and tenants by creating pressure on the people, according to them Former Woman Councilor (Ward No 4, 5 and 6) Zannatul Ferdous Nila, said that the committing murder, abduction, torturing, and persecution on women incidents were very common phenomena for infamous Nur Hossain and his cohorts. Nur Hossain used her forcibly as a wife with out marriage at his some temporary houses and different party centers for years which was published by herself on October 30 in 2011. She tried to commit suicide to save the dignity after fail to get any protection from the Police and local administration against the rumor that she was wife of Nur Hossain. Nila claimed that Nur Hossain was involved in crimes the city, Narayanganj, Munsiganj and some other districts. Nur Hossain and his associates targeted the beautiful women and used them by hook or crook, she said. They arranged the night-long 'item song and wine party' where the girls and women used by them as per their wishes, Nila claimed. Of the victims, three girl stars named 'Sadia, Mita and Nurjahan' were also allocated only for Nur Hossain as usual, she said. "My husband Sayem Prodhan divorced me centering the tortured on us by Nur Hossain on June 25 in 2013. Nur Hossain also considered Lila as an attractive lady and wanted to recruit her as a body guard," she added. She was captured at a house of Nur Hossain's nephew Shahjalal Badal in Munshiganj for few months. She passed many days with Nur Hossain at Hotel Sheraton in the city. She also made India tour with Nur Hossain in several times, according to her. The slain councilor Nazrul Islam's wife Selina Islam Beauty told The New Nation on Saturday, "Nur Hossain and his gang have unlimited money and power. The killing and abduction and torturing women are nothing new for them. Our family members, including my son and daughter, are not safe from them." "They always follow me wherever I go, monitor whatever I do. They also keep watch in every step," she said. We became foes of the gang after filing a murder case against Nur Hossain and his six others cohorts, she claimed. She said that that high court released six associates from the first information report (FIR) and the court also rejected the prayer of the no confidence against Nur Hossain's associates Iqbal Hossain, Yasin Mia, Hasmot Ali Hasu, Amirul Islam Razu and anwar Hossain Anu. In a query, she replied that the threat and observation of the gangsters were continued. "The life of my daughter has been destroyed by some gangsters of Nur Hossain. I went to him to seek justice, but instead of doing justice he violated her daughter," said a victim's mother seeking anonymity. Another victim in trembling voice said, "Brother don't mention my name please, if so, Badal will kill me. He has tortured my wife brutally taking her away from in front of me but I couldn't do anything being her husband, his activities even beat the film stories." She said, "I came to get justice for my husband's murder, but what can the witnesses do in such situation?" They used a two-storied building adjacent to Kachpur Bridge, a tin-shed house near Shimrail Truck Stand and Killier Selims's house in Kurapara in Bandar areas, a local businessman said. Some officers of Police and local administrations were allegedly night associates of Nur Hossain in the house while some media activists had closely relation with him, he said. Besides, the some high-profile persons were also took part in the programs and stayed with the pretty women. Even, some persons had taken high quality dinner with the Nur Hossain and enjoyed wine, lottery and women, the businessman said. Nur Hossain earned around Tk 40 lakha for everyday by conducting grabbing lands, selling drugs and extortion from transports and landlords, he said. The verbally appointed local youths Ali, Hasu, Baro Hazrat, Choto Hazrat and Jasim Uddin Bhuyan took after the charge and administrated the 'illegal business, the trader said. According to another sources, Badal used to supply drugs and arms to Nur Hossain, the accused of sensational seven murder case of Narayanganj. Badal has a 70 member armed gang. He has grabbed land of a lot of general people. He opposed filling land by sand when he did not get extortion money. Besides, he led a gang of robbers who committed robberies in different areas since 2011. Nearly a hundred people, including Awami League leaders and public representatives, have become victims of his torture, they said. Seeking anonymity, a public representative said, "Badal assaulted me in broad daylight as I refused to pay his demanded Tk two lakhs. People feared to take his name in the area." He claimed that Badal was active in the underworld when he was in Dhaka. He killed many innocent people at that time. "Badal was trading arms business with many terrorists in the city. He also supplied Yaba, heroin and phensidyl in several places and developed a good relation with most of the 23 top terrorists. At least 5 or 6 cases were filed against Badal on charges of murder, robbery, extortion and ar Fall in remittance due to illegal hundi operation Ministry`s help sought to stop unscrupulous acts Kazi Zahidul Hasan : The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has sought Foreign Ministry's help to safeguard the migrant workers from 'hundi' while sending remittances to their families in Bangladesh. Last week, the Central Bank sent a letter to the Ministry seeking its help in this regard amid falling inward remittances in the country. The remittance inflow declined by 10.87 per cent last year, although the country's manpower export witnessed a 36.31 per cent growth by this time. According to the Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry, some 757,731 Bangladeshi fortune seekers went abroad for jobs the last calendar year while the figure was 555,881 the previous year. The country received $13.61 billion remittance in 2016 while the amount was $15.27 billion in 2015. The Ministry and the BB attributed to the fall in remittances mainly for illegal hundi operation by some unscrupulous people in labour receiving countries. The BB letter stated that the illegal money transfer through hundi thrives in labour receiving countries despite the Central Bank's efforts to control it. Money transfer through illegal channels has led to a significant drop in remittance flow causing concern to us. So, the Central Bank is approaching the Ministry for its help to stop the illegal activities after engaging bilateral efforts with the respective countries. "We came to know that a racket gang showing themselves as Mobile Banking agent (like bkash) is receiving remittance from Bangladeshi expatriates and letter sending it to their families in Bangladesh through hundi operation," Subhankar Shaha, a spokesperson and Executive Director of BB told The New Nation on Sunday. He added: "These gangs are mostly operating in Gulf countries as concentration of Bangladeshi workers is high there." "Such an illegal activity has hindered the free flow of remittances in legal channels and forcing us to seek the help from the Foreign Ministry," he added. The Central Bank has requested the Ministry to take steps to fill the black holes through engaging Bangladeshi Missions and the authorities of the respective countries. It also requested to put pressure on the foreign governments for launching crackdown on the illegal hundi operators there. 32 BCL men sent to jail 19 suspended over Dhaka College infighting Staff Reporter : Thirty-two leaders and activists, including convener of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), Dhaka College unit, were sent to jail after they were produced in the Court on Sunday afternoon. The New Market Police arrested them on Saturday night in two separate cases filed in connection with the clash between the two groups of the BCL, Dhaka College unit over establishing supremacy on the campus. Officer-in-Charge of New Market Police Station Md Atikur Rahman told The New Nation on Sunday evening that the accused had been sent to jail on Sunday evening by the order of a Dhaka court. The court is expected to hold hearing of the cases tomorrow, court sources said. Shahjalal, a follower of a faction led by Convener of Dhaka College unit Nur Alam Bhuiyan Raju, filed a case against 12 identified and 80 unidentified people with the police station following the clash. On the other hand, Gopal Das, who is loyal to another faction led by Joint Convener Hiron Bhuiyan, filed a counter case against 20 named, including Noor, and 60 unnamed people with the same police station. Police last night picked up the 32 BCL men and showed them arrested in the two cases the OC said. Meanwhile, BCL, student wing of ruling Awami League, on Sunday suspended 19 of its leaders and activists for the clash. The decision was taken in an emergency meeting of the BCL Central Committee on Sunday, Office Secretary of BCL Md Delwar Shahjada said. BCL General Secretary SM Jakir Hossain told The New Nation there is no room for anarchy in the organisation. "The BCL has been working in the interest of the general students since 1948. In our primarily investigation, 19 BCL leaders and activists were found responsible for the Saturday's incident at Dhaka College. We never tolerate anti-academic activities in any educational institution across the country," the GS said. The suspended leaders and activists are Dhaka College unit Convener Nur Alam Bhuiyan Raju, Joint-Conveners Shahjahan Bhuiyan Shamim, Saleh Ahmed Hridoy, Samad Azad Zulfiker and Hiron Bhuiyan, Members Shahriar Rashed, Hasanuzzaman Munna, Rahmatullah, Rubel Mandol, Saddam Hossain, and workers Mahmudur Rahman Saikot, Abdul Aziz Foyez, Naim Ibne Azad, Tuhin, Jasim Uddin, Mainul Islam, Milton Khondoker, Rana and Sujon. Foyez was suspended from BCL on November 2013 as he was accused for killing of Dhaka College student Asaduzzaman Faraque. He was caught in a photograph with opening fire at a BNP rally at the capital's Bakshibazar area on December 24, 2014. After the incident the then BCL president Badiuzzaman Sohag disowned Foyez as his party activist saying that BCL has no relation with Foyez although he was assistant secretary of BCL, Dhaka College unit at that time. Meanwhile, the general students of the college apprehend that further clash may occur. They said that the BCL leaders of the college always carry lethal weapons on the campus. They do not respect college administration, even law enforcers. College sources said that unscrupulous students with the blessings of the BCL have been doing illegal business on the campus. They lock into quarrel almost everyday. "We are in fear, especially after the clash. There are many lethal weapons and arms in the college dormitories. The BCL leaders use it to establish their supremacy. They also assault many students for no reason. But college administration does not take any step against them," a student of Mathematics Department wishing anonymity told this correspondent yesterday. It may be mentioned that three persons, including two students, were injured in a clash between two factions of Dhaka College unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League on Saturday night. The injured were Rasel and Mamun, students of Dhaka College, and Kajol, 28. Kajol was admitted to Dhaka Medical College, while Hospital and Rasel and Mamun were released after giving primary treatment. Over 2.5m women protesters vow to resist Trump Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators gathered for the Women\'s March against Trump in Washington on Saturday. (right) A woman displays a blanket at the Women\'s March (left top). Protesters on 42nd Street in front of Grand Central Terminal during the Wo The Washington Post : More than 1 million people gathered in Washington and in cities around the country and the world Saturday to mount a roaring rejoinder to the inauguration of President Trump. What started as a Facebook post by a Hawaii retiree became an unprecedented international rebuke of a new president that packed cities large and small - from London to Los Angeles, Paris to Park City, Utah, Miami to Melbourne, Australia. The organizers of the Women's March on Washington, who originally sought a permit for a gathering of 200,000, said Saturday that as many as half a million people participated. Many in the nation's capital and other cities said they were inspired to join because of Trump's divisive campaign and his disparagement of women, minorities and immigrants. In signs and shouts, they mocked what they characterized as Trump's lewd language and sexist demeanor. The marches provided a balm for those eager to immerse themselves in a like-minded sea of citizens who shared their anxiety and disappointment after Democrat Hillary Clinton's historic bid for the presidency ended in defeat. "We just want to make sure that we're heard," said Mona Osuchukwu, 27, a D.C. native. "I want her to know that she has a voice," she said of her 3-year-old daughter, Chioma, who was with her at the march. "No matter what anyone tells her, especially as a black woman in America." The Washington demonstration was amplified by gatherings around the world, with march organizers listing more than 670 events nationwide and overseas in cities including Tel Aviv, Barcelona, Mexico City, Berlin and Yellowknife in Canada's Northwest Territories, where the temperature was 6 degrees below zero. In Chicago, the demonstration was overwhelmed by its own size, after 150,000 demonstrators swamped downtown blocks. It forced officials to curtail their planned march, although thousand of protesters still paraded around the Loop. In Boston, police estimated a gathering of 125,000. In Los Angeles, officials temporarily closed some side streets to accommodate the crowds. "We are doing our best to facilitate, because they are squeezing into every street right now," said Capt. Andrew Neiman of the Los Angeles Police Department. New York, Miami, Denver and Seattle also had huge gatherings. In Juneau, Alaska, one man marveled that the crowd was the biggest he had ever seen on the state Capitol's steps. In Philadelphia, marchers filled city bridges. In Lexington, Ky., they shut down streets. In New Orleans, participants played brass instruments. The fear - and anger - about Trump's rise to the most powerful position in the United States reverberated at renowned protest sites around the world, from the Trocadero in Paris to Trafalgar Square in London. Marina Knight, a 43-year-old executive assistant, and her 9-year-old daughter were two of the tens of thousands marching in London. "This is her first march," Knight said, referring to her daughter. "It's the first time we felt it was vital to march. I feel the rights we take for granted could go backward, and we owe it to our daughters and the next generation to fix this somehow." In the United States, the crowds marched in weather ranging from balmy to snowy. But common to every gathering was fiery rhetoric, pink knit hats and repeated references to the boast that offended so many women: Trump's infamous taped comments in 2005 about groping women's genitals. Among the thousands of signs that marchers dumped at the end of the day in front of the Trump International Hotel, just blocks from his new home at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.: "P---y Power" and "This P---y Bites Back." Protesters got as close as they could to the presidential mansion, crowding metal barriers less than a block away as police and Secret Service personnel watched closely. Demonstrators came to Washington from around the country, sometimes sleeping on the couches of people they had never met. As of 4 p.m. Saturday, Metro had recorded more than 597,000 trips, a weekend ridership record. By comparison, as of 4 p.m. on Inauguration Day, there were 368,000 trips. The city issued about 1,800 bus parking permits for the march, and Amtrak added extra trains in and out of Union Station. The huge crowd delighted iconic feminist Gloria Steinem, 82, who was among the first speakers. "This is the upside of the downside," she exulted. "This is an outpouring of democracy like I've never seen in my very long life." Clinton did not attend the march but tweeted her gratitude: "Thanks for standing, speaking & marching for our values @womensmarch. Important as ever. I truly believe we're always stronger together." The size of the gathering proved challenging. The audio from sound system did not reach everyone in the massive crowd, and far more portable toilets were needed. When the toilets behind the stage broke down, security instructed women to use cups and ushered them into a box truck for privacy. "I'm afraid to shake anyone's hand," one woman joked. Although the marchers were mostly female and white, men and people of color also joined the throngs. John Fischer, a 34-year-old locksmith from Grand Rapids, Mich., drove more than nine hours with his wife, Kara Eagle. I'm here to support my wife," Fischer said. "I don't care who you are, women impact your life, and there's no reason why they shouldn't have the same rights as men." Cynthia English, a 61-year-old Jamaican American who lives in Florida, said she wants the new president to know that women will be fighting during his presidency to ensure that the country and laws treat them equally. She was with her daughter and marching for her two granddaughters in the hope that no future president feels comfortable making lewd comments about women. "I don't want this to happen to them 20 years from now, so I am making my mark now," said English, who wondered, "Why are we the ones that bring people into this world, and we are treated the worst? We should be treated with respect." The crowd was buoyant, even joyous. Many held up signs - "I Am Very Upset!" and "Love Trumps Hate" and "Bridges Not Walls" - while others took videos of the experience on their cellphones. Every few minutes, a rolling roar swept over them. D.C. police said they had made no march-related arrests, compared with more than 200 Friday when protesters created chaos in downtown Washington. March organizers briefly considered suspending the formal march to the Ellipse out of concern that the crowd had grown too large to safely navigate the route to the White House. But speakers soon told the marchers to set out. Lorraine LaHuta, 66, who came to the march from New York City, said that at times she wasn't sure where to go, but that it never felt chaotic. "It was organized disorganization that worked very well," she said. Judith Snyder-Wagner, a 67-year-old former fundraising consultant, came because she sensed a shift in the rural, blue-collar community near Canton, Ohio, where she lives with her wife, Joy. A neighbor mowed a piece of grass along their property line and put up a Trump sign facing their home. Someone recently drove through the neighborhood flying a Confederate flag. "We've been afraid," she said, her voice quavering. She was limping up the sidewalk on Independence Avenue. She has had both her knee and hip replaced, and she held a cane in one hand and a poster in the other. "We just feel like we're going to lose our civil rights." The couple boarded a bus at 1 a.m. Saturday in Ohio and would head home less than 24 hours later. "We needed to feel inspired," Joy Snyder-Wagner said, looking around. "And we do." Trump's election was the wake-up call that progressives needed, said Erin Edlow, 28, the membership director of the Virginia Beach Young Democrats. She was in town with her sister to demonstrate her support for the rights of immigrants and of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. "Democracy is not a spectator sport," Edlow said. The march turned into a star-studded event, with celebrities such as Madonna, Janelle Monae, Scarlett Johansson and Ashley Judd making appearances. D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) introduced herself as a proud "chick mayor" and implored the Republican majority in Congress to stop meddling in the District's local lawmaking. Activist filmmaker Michael Moore ripped a copy of The Washington Post in half, noting the headline "Trump takes power" and declaring, "I don't think so." Actress America Ferrera said that "our new president is waging a war" on the values that define the country with "a credo of hate fear and suspicion of one another." "It's been a heart-rending time to be both a woman and an immigrant," said Ferrera, whose parents are from Honduras. "Our dignity, our character, our rights have been under attack." "But the president is not America," she said. "We are America." As the march grew in prominence, it highlighted long-existing racial and political rifts in the feminist movement. The initial organizers were white women - a group that narrowly voted for Trump in November - although they quickly handed its leadership over to a diverse group of longtime organizers from New York. They have embraced an imperiled liberal agenda, in sharp contrast to much of what Trump laid out for his presidency. The march platform focused on issues such as workers' rights, reproductive rights, environmental justice, immigrant rights, ending violence against women and more. But a group of women who oppose abortion also came, beseeching the larger march to recognize their variety of feminism. Whether to include the conservative viewpoint sparked controversy in the days before the event. Antiabortion activists said they were excluded. Siobhan Rooney, 32, drove from Philadelphia on Saturday morning to march for women's rights. For her, that includes the rights of fetuses. Daily headlines about the Washington region. "We are in the same page on so many issues. It's just this one issue," she said. Teresa Shook, who is in her 60s, was on hand to marvel at what emerged from her original proposal for a march in a November post on Facebook. The grandmother of four from outside Honolulu accepted hug and after hug as the crowd surged around her. "This is the woman who came up with the idea for today's march," one woman said. "Thank you!" shouted another. "I'm so blown away," Shook said. 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United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe "A thorough investigation of the servers operated by Lisov in France and Germany revealed databases with stolen lists of information from accounts of financial institutions, with data indicating, among other things, account balances," the Spanish Civil Guard said Friday. "One of the servers leased by Lisov contained files with millions of login credentials, including usernames, passwords, and security questions and answers, for the bank and financial website accounts." A Russian computer hacker wanted by the FBI on hacking allegations was arrested and jailed in Spain earlier this week, while a decision on his extradition to the United States has yet to be made.The Guardia Civil, Spanish law enforcement agency officers, have detained 32-year-oldat BarcelonaEl Prat Airport based on an international arrest warrant issued by Interpol at the request of the FBI.Lisov is arrested on suspicion of creating and operating the, a nasty malware that targeted financial institutions across the world and caused an estimated damage of $5 Million.The arrest was made after U.S. intelligence agencies found that Russian hackers were behind the November 2016 election hacks that possibly influenced the presidential election in Donald Trump's favor.However, Spanish police made an official statement, saying that the FBI had requested the arrest of Lisov after an investigation that started in 2014.NeverQuest banking trojan provided fraudsters access to computers of people and financial institutions to steal banking data.The Trojan, which spreads itself via social media, email and file transfer protocols, can modify content on banking websites and inject rogue forms into these sites, allowing attackers to steal login credentials from users.NeverQuest can also allow malicious attackers to take control of a compromised computer through a Virtual Network Computing (VNC) server and then use those computers to log into the victim's online bank and perform the theft.Lisov reportedly works as a systems administrator and website developer for a local company in Taganrog, Russia.The Russian hacker is being held under observation by authorities in the north-eastern region of Catalonia before Spain's High Court decides whether to extradite him to the United States. News / National by Stephen Jakes Zimbabwe women in the upmarket Borrowdale suburb of Harare were seen marching demonstrating against the installation of Donald Trump, as the new US president who won recent elections against Hillary Clinton.This has irked the Progressive Democrats Zimbabwe leader Barbara Nyagomo who said it was sad that when calls for demonstration against the brutal President Robert Mugabe's regime such women would not show up."When there are calls to march against Mugabe dictatorship, you won't see them anywhere. Very disappointing," she said. If you are looking for the new Immoral Minority posts, you should know that they can be found here at our new home Please stop by to get caught up on politics, join the conversations, or simply check out the new digs. Opinion / Columnist Today we look at the Education Department of the Trust.TROVOCO EDUCATION DEPARTMENT.'Rebuilding broken hopes'TROVOCO under the Education Department seeks to restore hope in the underprivileged world by means of empowering the community through free academic assistance through various means possible.Officers / Tutors.All individuals who have attained 5 o levels with a B or better qualify to volunteer to teach the community on the subjects the tutor obtained a B or better. The individual should be licensed by the Education Director or higher authority. High school graduates, university graduates and graduands are encouraged to volunteer even where they attained a C. (Subject to terms and conditions)Beneficiaries.There are basically two types of beneficiaries. The Community General Beneficiary (CGB), and then the Need Based Beneficiary (NBB).The Community General Beneficiary (CGB)The Education Department through volunteers/tutors offers academic assistance to the general public at no prescribed cost. School going kids from secondary and high school levels are the primary target. Assistance is given to those who feel like they need extra lessons but they can not afford. Under the CGB, the student does not pay but rather they are entitled to at least give a token of appreciation from a dollar plus as a means of appreciating and funding the Trust.The Need Based Beneficiary.At the heart of the Education Department is the desire to rebuild broken hopes. Under the NBB. The Trust seeks to wholly fund certain students whose parents can no longer afford sending them to school. These must be promising students with the potential of making it at school, and the ethos of giving back to the community. The Trust then takes full responsibility of their academic funding at secondary and High school levels. Then later at tertiary (resources permitting).In the near future, the Department wishes to hold Career guidance seminars at schools and relevant institutions.By God's grace we believe a lot of faithful and most precious souls will be revived and restored through our collective effort as TEAM TROVOCO.This message is brought to you by:TROVOCO 'A closer walk with them'TROVOCO is a newly registered Christian oriented charity Trust wholly devoted to alleviate the plight of the underprivileged (destitute children, the orphans and the disabled amongst others)You can make your donations (From as little as $2)via our Treasurer at +263 772 937 477.REGARDS: BHEKINKOSI NKOMO (Education Director and Acting V Chair (2017)) +263 777 403 986: NOBUHLE SIBANDA (V Education Director 2017) +263 77 6442 240TROVOCO 'A closer walk with them' The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option. Paris, TX (75460) Today Thunderstorms during the evening will give way to mainly clear skies after midnight. Low 42F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Thunderstorms during the evening will give way to mainly clear skies after midnight. Low 42F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. The center, located at 38 S. Vine St. in Harrisburg, plans to use the money to help replenish necessary supplies and continue helping those who may not have regular access to food during the winter months, according Kelly Hendrickson of Ameren. US President Donald Trump reacts after delivering remarks during a visit to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Langley, Virginia US, January 21, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] LANGLEY, Va. On his first full day in office, President Donald Trump on Saturday berated the media over its coverage of his inauguration, and turned a bridge-building first visit to CIA headquarters into an airing of grievances about "dishonest" journalists. But it was Trump who spread inaccuracies about the size of the crowds at his swearing in. Standing in front of a memorial for fallen CIA agents, Trump assured intelligence officials, "I am so behind you." He made no mention of his repeated criticism of the intelligence agencies following the election, including his public challenges of their high-confidence assessment that Russia meddled in the White House race to help him win. "There is nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community and CIA than Donald Trump," he said, blaming any suggestion of a "feud" on the media. Trump's decision to travel to CIA headquarters so quickly after taking office was seen as an attempt at a fresh start with the intelligence agencies he will now rely on for guidance as he makes weighty national security decisions. Following his private meeting with top CIA leaders, Trump said the US had been "restrained" in its efforts to combat terrorism, calling the threat "a level of evil we haven't seen."But in unscripted, stream-of-consciousness remarks, Trump appeared more focused on settling scores with the media. He defensively touted the crowd size for his swearing-in ceremony, wrongly claiming that the throngs on the National Mall stretched "all the way back to the Washington Monument." Photos and video clearly showed the crowd stopping well short of the landmark. Trump's visit took place as throngs of women, many of them wearing bright pink, pointy-eared hats, descended on the nation's capital and other cities around the world for marches organized to push back against the new president. Hundreds of protesters lined the motorcade route as Trump sped back to the White House, many screaming and chanting at the president. The Washington rally alone attracted more than 500,000 people by the unofficial estimate of city officials. It appeared to be more people than attended Trump's inauguration on Friday, but there were no comparable numbers. The city did not release an estimate for the inauguration. The National Park Service does not provide crowd counts. During his remarks at the CIA, the president claimed the inaugural crowds topped 1 million people, offering no evidence. Suggestions that weak enthusiasm accompanied his inauguration clearly irked the new president. Shortly after his remarks, he dispatched his press secretary, Sean Spicer, to the White House briefing room to aggressively reinforce the message. "There's been a lot of talk in the media about holding Donald Trump accountable. And I'm here to tell you that it goes two ways. We're going to hold the press accountable as well," Spicer said in his first on-camera appearance at the White House. Trump, and later Spicer, also slammed a Time magazine reporter for incorrectly reporting Friday that Trump had moved a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. out of the Oval Office. But Trump followed with a misstatement of his own, saying the reporter had not corrected the mistake. In fact, the item was quickly retracted. High-level CIA brass stood largely silent during Trump's remarks, though some of the roughly 400 other officers in attendance cheered on the president during his remarks. California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, slammed Trump for using his CIA visit to squabble over media coverage. "He will need to do more than use the agency memorial as a backdrop if he wants to earn the respect of the men and women who provide the best intelligence in the world,' Schiff said. The inaugural celebrations have been shadowed by reports that the CIA and other federal agencies are investigating Russian interference in the presidential election on behalf of Trump. McClatchy reported that the investigation included whether money from the Kremlin covertly aided Trump. The New York Times said agencies were examining intercepted communications and financial transactions between Russian officials and Trump's associates. FBI Director James Comey has declined to confirm or describe the nature of the government's investigation, both during a congressional hearing and in closed-door meetings with members of Congress. Saturday marked the end of three days of inaugural celebrations, with Trump and his family attending a national prayer service traditionally held for the new president. The president and his wife, Melania, and Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, sat in a front pew at Washington National Cathedral for the morning service. The interfaith service is a tradition for new presidents and is hosted by the Episcopal parish. But the decision to hold a prayer session for Trump sparked debate among Episcopalians opposed to his policies. Bishop Mariann Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington wrote in a blog post that while she shared "a sense of outrage at some of the president-elect's words and actions," she felt an obligation to welcome all people without qualification, especially those who disagree and need to find a way to work together. Trump arrived at the cathedral mid-morning. The service included readings and prayers from Protestant, Jewish, Sikh, Mormon, Buddhist, Roman Catholic, Baha'i, Episcopal, Hindu and Native American leaders. But the program was remarkable for the large number of evangelicals participating, including two former presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention, the country's largest evangelical denomination. Several speakers had served as Trump advisers and supporters who spoke at the Republican National Convention. Opinion / Columnist TODAY'S WORDMic 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?Micah in his message to us today joins the Old Testament prophets who emphasized that external forms of religion that lack a humble and intentional manifestation of justice and mercy are never acceptable to a just and merciful God. _True religion is practically. To be sure, it includes the rites and ceremonies of the Church, but...... it is not so much a matter of abstaining from food as it is of sharing food with the hungry. Practical godliness is the only kind of religion recognized at the judgement bar of God_ . So says one Christian writer.Back to the verse. The phrase "require of you" could also be translated as "seek from you". Yeah. That is, what does God seek from us, we his people redeemed by the blood of Christ? And please note, the phrase address you as an individual. Many love to say my church does this and that. What about you? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? How much clearer could the Lord be in regard to what He asks of His people? The answer is shown on how we are to relate to others and to God.if God required justice, mercy, and to walk humble before God from Israel and in verse 4 says because He brought them out of the Egyptian bondage. What more us? Redeemed by the blood of the Son of God. The reality of the Cross and what it cost to redeem us, should always keep us humble before our God.Love one another for love is of God. And he who does not love, does not know God, for God is love.If you are willing and obedient you will eat the good of the land.This message is brought to you by:TROVOCO 'A closer walk with them'TROVOCO is a newly registered Christian oriented charity Trust wholly devoted to alleviate the plight of the underprivileged (destitute children, the orphans and the disabled amongst others)You can make your donations (From as little as $2)via our Treasurer at +263 772 937 477.From the Chaplin's desk.For more infor contact Bhekinkosi Nkomo (Acting V Chair) on +263 777 403 986.Good day, we love you all. Carbondale resident and solar energy professional Brent Ritzel, who was elected to two-year term on the Illinois Solar Energy Association Board of Directors on Jan. 1, will be giving a free public talk regarding the Remarkable Economics of Going Solar and the Future Energy Jobs Bill at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26 in Carbondale Township Hall. Ritzel said his election to the ISEA Board of Directors marks the first time in the boards history that a solar energy professional residing south of Springfield has been elected to the board. Ritzel is a solar project developer in Southern Illinois and Metro East for StraightUp Solar out of St. Louis. In addition to the joining the ISEA Board of Directors, Ritzel has also joined the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition Policy Committee and the Illinois Solar For All Low-Income Solar Working Group, the latter of which Ritzel said is focused on providing funding for low-income solar projects throughout Illinois, in addition to establishing job training programs. Ritzel is a CCHS class of 1986 graduate and SIU alumni. Guests to Thursday's talk may RSVP to Brent.Ritzel@StraightUpSolar.com or 618-203-4844. Carbondale Township Hall is located at 217 E. Main St. in Carbondale. Williamson County Airport Authority Commissioner Craig Pillatsch, of Carterville, retires after nearly 21 years of service to Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois, according to a news release from the Williamson County Airport Authority. Pillatsch was appointed by the Williamson County Board of Commissioners to the airport board in July of 1996 and reappointed every five years. The Airport Authority recently recognized Pillatsch by passage of a resolution honoring his many years of service and dedication. "We extend our thanks and sincere appreciation to Craig for his many years of good and faithful service. He has distinguished himself as a Commissioner and as the board Secreatry for the Airport Authority, and measurably added to the prestige of this airport," stated Bernard Paul, airport board chairman. The Southern John Shimkus hopes the new Congress will be able to make some headway on tearing down what he considers unnecessary barriers to agriculture. The big picture is regulatory excesses, Shimkus, who began his seventh term in the House in January, said in a telephone interview. Weve been fighting excesses, especially the past eight years. We have a president wholl help us on that point. Im pretty optimistic. Shimkus, a Republican from Collinsville, is among legislators Illinois Farm Bureau consider friends of farmers. Adam Nielsen, who monitors national legislation for the organization, agrees that regulation is one area where the new Congress can make a difference. Its not so much this regulation or that regulation. Its a problem with how many agencies are rolling out regulations that sometimes dont seem to be consistent with the laws Congress wrote, Nielsen said. Sometimes the scientific basis for some of the regulations is not clear, or theyre not divulging where theyre getting it from, so you dont have any way to double check it. The Illinois congressional delegation bucked the national trend in the November election, becoming more Democratic. Democrats gained one seat, expanding their majority to 11-7. In addition, the party turned a Senate seat when Rep. Tammy Duckworth defeated incumbent Republican Mark Kirk in November. Nielsen had praise for Duckworth, an Army officer who was severely wounded when the helicopter she was piloting was shot down in Iraq. She lost both legs, becoming the first female double amputee from the war. Duckworth had a good relationship with farm groups while serving in Congress, and Nielsen was impressed after a meeting with her following the November Senate election. We had a good opportunity to talk to her after the election before her term of Congress was over, he said. We discussed what some of our priority issues would be. It was a very productive discussion. Shes on some committees such as the environment and public works that are very important to Farm Bureau. It was nice to be able to visit at the end of the year at a time when Congress was not in session. Shimkus points to the Environmental Protection Agency as a key target for the new Congress. Like many other conservatives, he believes the agency has gone too far in enforcement. EPA has an important role to protect the health and safety of our citizens. It ought to be about doing that, he said. But they have spent too much of their time micro-managing local issues and creating fears and concerns in areas where they are not justified. They are over-zealous and have little impact except for frustration and anger. He is pleased with President-elect Donald Trumps nomination of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as EPA administrator. Thats a step in the right direction, Shimkus said. You have to look at how you balance livelihood and the environment. He will set the stage. But we have to do our job. These appointees are only there 16 months, maybe three years. But the bureaucrats stay forever. We have to give them tools by which to effect change. Its a very difficult task, and one that the administration is going to have to figure out how to accomplish. Shimkus will have a major role in application of environmental regulations after being named chairman of a House subcommittee that, among other things, will oversee the EPA. In addition, his subcommittee will review clean air standards. We have a lot of faith in him, Nielsen said of Shimkus. He will do a good job with oversight of the agency. Hes been a great friend of the farmer. Hes one of those guys who knows our issues sometimes better than we do. Theres no learning curve there in agricultural issues and the environment. On the regulatory side hes been very helpful. Repeal of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is another area Farm Bureau is closely monitoring. Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress have indicated it will be one of the first things they will tackle. Were hearing from a lot of our members that insurance prices and premiums are really escalating, Nielsen said. Some are paying $20,000 a year to insure their families. Other issues that will get a close look include tax rates and negotiations on the next farm bill. PERCY Maura Ayala has lived a unique American experience. Born in Carbondale to illegal immigrants 21 years ago, Ayala has lived parallel lives. A resident of Percy, she attended local schools, had friends, and did typical kid things. On the other hand, she had a set of worries her other, native friends did not have. My family was my responsibility because I spoke English and they didnt at the time, Ayala said. Things like family trips were never an option growing up. Ayala said because her parents, who since have both become legal residents, did not have drivers licenses, so they did not get to leave the area for fear of getting entangled with immigration officials. Its just little things like that, that as I child I had to worry about that a lot of my friends didnt, she said. However, despite their status as immigrants, she said as she got older her parents instilled in her a very important value hard work. Weve been working since Day 1. We dont complain, Ayala said. She, with her mother, father and uncle run the Mexican restaurant Mi Pueblo in Percy, a local favorite. She said members of the immigrant community have given a lot of thought to what the Donald Trump presidency would mean for them. With rhetoric calling for the immediate deportation of some 11 million illegal immigrants, Ayala said many were frightened. This language has since been walked back, with Trump stating he will focus more on the criminal element first. She said what started as fear has moved to acceptance. They have just kind of accepted the fact if it happens, it happens, she said of mass deportations. Father Federico Higuera, a priest at St. Marys Church in Anna who serves nearly 600 Latino families throughout Southern Illinois, said in his almost 40 years in ministry, he is used to the anti-immigrant language, but still sees it as unfair. He remembers five decades ago when the borders were opened to immigrants and many came across, both legally and illegally. Since then, he said, using immigrants as whipping posts has become convenient for politicians. But, he said all the blame cannot be placed on the immigrant, some needs to be placed on the employers and the political leaders who may have turned a blind eye for many years. He offered an example. Imagine you own property and you put a sign, No Trespassing. But to everyone who trespasses you offer them a job, Higuera said. Then you have everybody working and at a certain point you say, Stop, now [round up] all these criminals and get them out of here. Higuera, like Ayala, said he has seen a calm come over the immigrant community he serves as the reality of the Trump presidency has sunk in. Everybody is concerned, but it is not something that paralyzes them, Higuera said. Easy to say, hard to do Trumps words on immigration reform have also caught the ears of local law enforcement officials. Serving large communities of immigrants that supply work to local farms, orchards and factories, local attorneys and police officers are waiting to hear what edicts come from Washington before they act. I took an oath to uphold the law, said Michael Carr, Jackson County states attorney. My understanding of the law includes assisting enforcement of our immigration laws. Carr said he was not willing to comment on hypotheticals, but instead insisted that he will do what is asked of him. Local law enforcement should comply with the law and that is what we are going to do in Jackson County, he said. Randolph County Sheriff Shannon Wolff also walked this line. Im not going to act on anything or make a decision until I see exactly what it is they are wanting, Wolff said. With several communities in the U.S. proclaiming that they will be sanctuaries for immigrants, neither Carr nor Wolff were ready to make that kind of commitment. Both said while they will certainly help with what is asked of them, they did not see actively pursuing illegal immigrants as something their offices would likely do. Wolff said it's just not something he is equipped to do. We are really shorthanded, he said, adding that his county is already busy with heroin and methamphetamine problems as well as common burglaries and domestic dispute calls. Resources, Carr said, are really at the heart of the immigration reform issue both nationally and locally. You can have all of the laws on the books that you want. You still need the resources to be able to enforce them, Carr said. He said it is not as simple as rounding up the bad guys. In reality, those trained to handle issues of immigration from enforcement officers to those on the prosecuting side need to be available, Carr said, which within the discussion of prosecuting millions of people becomes a tall order. Carr brought up a familiar example. He asked if an officer pulls over a van that happens to be full of illegal immigrants and 15 of them jump out and flee, what is the proper recourse with such limited resources? I think that is important for our country to have this national conversation and for the lawmakers to make the tough decisions of not only how we are going to handle this but what sacrifices are we going to be able to make resource-wise to be able to enforce this, Carr said. Faces behind the numbers No one could ignore the human face of the immigration debate. Ayala and Higuera said the legal immigration process is painfully long and costly. People think that they can apply and tomorrow they get a call," Ayala said. "Its more like they apply now and you wont hear from your lawyer for eight or six months and you just have to keep making that payment." Higuera said some just simply cannot wait any longer and have to make some very difficult choices. There are people that are in dire need that cannot wait, Higuera said. They migrate and take such big chances because even the promise of having something is better than having nothing. Remembering the story of her parents immigration and the tales told to her by friends and family, Ayala said it is never an easy decision to leave home for a journey that is uncertain at best. Abandoning all their possessions, save what they can carry with them (and what will not put them at risk of being robbed in their travels), Ayala said the people that decide to make the trip are fleeing poverty and corruption in their home country. Many make the trip in relative safety but some remain scarred by the experience, or do not finish it at all. Ive heard stories of people taking the walk in the desert and they do see dead bodies, children they just see everything, Ayala said. The trip is also not cheap. Ayala said many seeking to come over the border pay smugglers, or coyotes, up to thousands of dollars to make the trip. She said President Trump should take notice of this and capitalize on it. If Trump is the businessman that he says he is, he would see a huge opportunity, Ayala said. She believes the U.S. should charge immigrants the same fee the coyote smugglers do for entrance to the country and then tax them at the end of each year, the same as legal residents. Prosecuting those who get caught is never easy. Carr said the human toll of immigration law needs to be considered, particularly concerning those who came here by no fault of their own as children. Maybe they are now 19 years old and they get picked up on a traffic stop and appear in United States District Court and the judge says we are going to send you to Mexico, Carr said as an example. Tears start streaming down his face because he has no idea what Mexico is. He doesn't know anybody there. Rhetoric aside Carr said the conversation needs to be refined. He explained that if the debate is defined by saying the country cannot have people that are here illegally committing crimes, then the support will be 100 percent. However, he said, it is not that simple. If you talk about that, we have a lot people that came here through no fault of their own, their parents brought them here, and they have nobody, I cant hardly find anybody that wouldnt say, Wait a minute, we need to look at ways to deal with that issue, too, he said. Carr said there needs to be decisions about which of the millions of immigrants here illegally should be sought out. The criminal element is what he arrived at first. Returning to the example of the van, he said, instead of focusing on all 15 that ran away, perhaps zeroing in on the driver might make a larger impact and require fewer resources. Ayala said those coming here illegally are wanting the same things all Americans want security and a dignified life for their families. Its all about the American dream, she said. She and Higuera both said it is undeniable that those here are working and providing a service, whether it is picking vegetables and fruit or working in restaurants. Carr said it will take more than hysterics and rhetoric to solve, or at least come close to solving, the issue of immigration in this country. They are not going to be solved by rhetoric that is designed to help with your base, he said. In the meantime, Higuera said it is imperative that a hand is given to those immigrants who are here. He said they may have broken a law of the land, but they come with grave needs and this needs to be seen. Its not a matter of criminality it is a matter of moral justice to accommodate them, Higuera said. Editor's Note: Voice of The Southern will return Wednesday. Today, we have a column by Alee Quick. Quick's column will return to Thursdays next week. As President Trump danced at his Inaugural Ball Friday night, I, along with 52 women and two men from Southern Illinois, was on a bus somewhere in Kentucky, bound for the District of Columbia. The Southern Illinoisans who piled onto the bus on Friday afternoon in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Carbondale had one mission -- marching, with hundreds of thousands of others, in Washington to make a statement about the nation's new president. We were headed for the Women's March on Washington. These Southern Illinoisans were old and young, some of the young ones with dyed blue and purple hair, some of the older ones with snow-white hair. They were university students, professionals and retirees. They came from all over Southern Illinois, including Carbondale, Marion, Harrisburg, Anna and beyond. Many were making their first cross-country trips by bus. Some were (like me) going to the capital for the first time. And many were protesting for the first time. I spent Saturday with two first-time protesters. Rita Reeves and Cristina Castillo, both from Marion, had each decided just a couple of weeks before the march to take the trip. Both came solo, but became buddies on the trip. For Castillo, marching in Washington was an alternative to Trump's campaign, which she said was "built on hate." She said although some people may say a rally and march won't make a difference, it felt good to be around people who think and feel the same way she does. For everyone who thought Donald Trump would not -- could not -- become president, the march was a chance to commiserate after an Inauguration Day full of celebration. As protesters, carrying signs, donning hot pink pussycat hats (knit hats with little ears) walked through D.C. neighborhoods toward the rallying point on the National Mall, residents stood in front yards and on porches, yelling, "Welcome to D.C.," and "Bless you." One church had opened its restroom to passing protesters. Demonstrators admired one another's signs. "Nasty woman" was a common phrase on T-shirts, hats and signs, a nod to the moment during a presidential debate when Trump called his opponent, Hillary Clinton, "a nasty woman." Just as Trump supporters have reclaimed the "deplorable" label -- after Clinton called some of his supporters a "basket of deplorables" -- feminists and Hillary supporters wear "nasty" like a badge of honor. Many signs simply said, "we are watching." Critics have asked why this group decided to march on Trump's first full day in office -- before he has had a chance to do much of anything as president. It's to send a message to an incoming president, who at the least has said some troubling things about women (most famously, that he grabs women "by the p----"). "I'm not angry I'm not sad any longer," Castillo said of her reason for marching. "I just don't want to be hopeless." The march turnout exceeded organizers' expectations -- some estimates put the crowd at 500,000 -- so much so that marchers were receiving mobile news alerts from The Associated Press and The Washington Post saying the formal march would not happen, and some confusion ensued, despite an announcement from the stage that the march would continue, but with a different route. The crowds were immense. Many couldn't even hear the action onstage, because the sheer volume of people prevented demonstrators from getting close enough to the speakers. Considering the unexpectedly large crowd threw a wrench in the plans to march, a day that didn't go as planned was still considered a success for the women and men who traveled to contribute to those numbers. From Southern Illinois to Washington, and around the world, protesters made themselves heard Saturday, loud and clear. Consider the Constitution An ESL Class on the USAs Most Important Document by Graham Dixon 16,996 views A little quiz to begin, if you dont mind. Theres a very famous document which begins, We the people. How much of that famous opening paragraph can you quote? Do your students know it? Heres the full version: We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare and secure the Blessings of Liberty and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America. It doesnt take a constitutional scholar to see the immense power of these words. This will be a document defining how the United States views itself, how it is governed, who may become involved in voting and politics, and how laws are created and enforced. By emphasizing justice, tranquility, welfare and liberty in this seminal opening, the Founding Fathers set out their philosophical stall and codified the relationship between government and people; as Lincoln famously said, four-score and seven years later, it must be government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Theres simply no underestimating the potency of these concepts. The US Constitution has gone on to influence countless other similar documents, from Chinas new constitution under Sun Yat-Sen to Jose Rivals documents for the post-colonial Philippines. That very phrase, We the people speaks volumes; this is a legal framework created and affirmed by the public itself, and this notion has had powerful repercussions throughout world politics in the last 230 years. 4 Ideas for an ESL Class on the USAs Most Important Document 1 First Glances and Initial Questions The language of the Constitution is necessarily complex, and takes on a wonderful eighteenth-century elegance unknown to legal documents of today. However, its just this elegant, flowing language which often trips up ESL students, so theyll need help to decode the Constitution and its amendments. Take things slowly at first, and ask your students to read perhaps one constitutional article per group, and then explain its meaning to the class in simple language. A good place to start is Article One, Section Two, which sets out the terms of congressional office, and voting conditions. An important anachronism, from our point of view, is the provision for slaves (those other than free persons) to be counted as part of their states population for the purposes of voting and the distributing of federal funding, but at three-fifths the level of a free person. Point out these odd inclusions where the prevailing legal code and social conditions of the 18th century find their way into the constitution itself. 2 The Bill of Rights Honestly, the original articles of the constitution hold little thrill for the layman. They are largely procedural and technical, summing up how the new United States will be governed. The contentious topics are all to be found in the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the constitution. My classes often ask why the Bill of Rights wasnt included in the original constitution; the answer revolves around the slowness of debate given 18th century technology and travel, and a rolling argument over Federalism, and how much power Washington should exert as compared to the individual states. This is a great opportunity to look at those odd anachronisms again. Why on earth, for example, is one of these famous ten amendments intended to guarantee that no homeowner can be obliged to allow soldiers to be billeted under their roof? Why, also, would there be a specific amendment allowing individual militiamen (and, according to the Supreme Court two centuries later, individual citizens, too) to sequester firearms in their homes? Ask your students to research and consider the original context. Private homes were being routinely used by British soldiers as accommodation, and the British were also regularly confiscating arms from colonialists who might pose a threat. Like most others, this legal document intends to cater for the contemporary situation, so ask your students whether these amendments should still stand, or whether they might be abolished or changed. 3 Discussing the Amendments You can go in any one of a hundred directions, but I like challenging my students with some complex questions about the interpretation of the law. In our present era, for example, how does one adequately enforce and interpret the Fourth Amendment, which provides protection from unreasonable searches and seizures. How does this square with the widespread practice of civil forfeiture among US police departments? Is searching a suspects cellphone unreasonable, for example? What powers of search and detention should the police have, in your students view? And what about the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment (another standard phrase which, like, We the people should be part of your students cultural lexicon)? Is waterboarding terrorists cruel or unusual? If not, how far could interrogators go, in your students opinion, before the spirit of the Eighth Amendment is entirely shattered? And while youre discussing that, throw in the problems created by the Sixth Amendment, which requires for a speedy and public trial for criminals. How does this apply to those incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay? Are there exceptions, where a criminal may be required to wait for years before being publicly tried? Then, ask about the Fifth Amendment. Should people who may have committed a crime receive constitutional protection when on the witness stand, so they arent required to incriminate themselves? Or should those whove done wrong simply be held to account, whether theyre acting as witnesses or not? My favorite, though, perhaps unsurprisingly, is the First Amendment, which famously reads thus: 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 to assemble, and to petition the Government for the redress of grievances. This is a potential minefield, and I mean that in a good way! Contentious topics are a terrific method of eliciting and practicing lots of useful language, and the more passionate and involved your students are with a particular subject, the more theyre likely to want to say. I love getting into the details of freedom of the press when it comes to headlines which are misleading or articles which are factually wrong. Are journalists still free to publish material they know to be scandalously inaccurate? (Bring in a copy of the National Enquirer or another such news source to give your students food for thought). And what about hate speech? Does it abridge your freedom of self-expression if you are arrested during an angry protest against the unacceptable behavior of a certain racial or religious group? Should you be allowed to encourage others to hate, or take action, against those you find objectionable? Where should that line be drawn? 4 Discussion Time Its likely that most of your students come from countries which have a constitution, and equally likely that it was based on the American model from 1789. If you feel comfortable delving into these topics, ask your students whether their constitution is actually enforced, and whether the rights it provides are enjoyed by all citizens. Chinas constitution protects the rights of assembly, just as Madison, Jefferson and the others insisted, but organizing a political demonstration in modern China is a fast track to jail time. Other constitutions claim to offer universal suffrage (the right of every adult citizen to vote) and free, fair elections, but then we find that the winner (usually the incumbent) has somehow garnered 97% of the vote. What should be our attitude towards countries which appear guilty of this form of hypocrisy? Should we enact a policy of regime change, or impose sanctions to force political reform and support the rule of law? Or perhaps, regardless of the fine words of their constitutions, these countries should be left to interpret their laws how they choose, and rely on popular uprisings and social media pressure to effect change. Ask your students about these problems, bringing in examples from back home where possible. I became an American citizen a few years ago, and in the days before my ceremony in Boston, read through the constitution several times. For me, it is a flawed but magnificently inspiring document, a wish-list for how citizens of a mature democracy might treat each other, and expect to be treated by their leaders. As we can see from the vigorous debates which continue today, and the existence of the amendments themselves, the constitution is not a perfect document, and it still requires regular reinterpretation. But in its DNA, its indebtedness to the Greeks and British Common Law, the constitution seeks to codify and enforce some of the most basic rules of human conduct, and in this sense, it is a genuine and powerful force for good. P.S. If you enjoyed this article, please help spread it by clicking one of those sharing buttons below. And if you are interested in more, you should follow our Facebook page where we share more about creative, non-boring ways to teach English. Popular Articles: Related Categories Politics Get the Entire BusyTeacher Library: Dramatically Improve the Way You Teach Save hours of lesson preparation time with the Entire BusyTeacher Library. Includes the best of BusyTeacher: all 80 of our PDF e-books. That's 4,036 pages filled with thousands of practical activities and tips that you can start using today. 30-day money back guarantee. Learn more Popular articles like this "To Bear Arms" A Gun Debate Primer for ESL Teachers 0 23,927 Speaking Keeping it in Check Teaching the 3 Branches of the US Government 0 24,875 USA Party Time How to Hold an ESL Presidential Election 0 21,081 Politics Not All Responses Are Equal Teaching Students to Wrap Up Unproductive Discussions (and Move Forward) 0 8,547 Speaking What Does That Mean, Who Said It, and Why Teaching Critical Thinking 0 11,736 Role Playing Games Left or Right? Helping ESL Students Find Their Political Stance 0 10,934 Politics More than 150 high school seniors from Orangeburg and Calhoun counties are expected to explore STEM career opportunities during a youth forum on Thursday, Jan. 26, at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College. The purpose of the forum sponsored by the Lower Savannah Council of Governments, the South Carolina Department of Commerce and OCtech is to reach high school seniors who dont have a post-graduation plan. Participants will attend sessions on careers in advanced manufacturing, health science, information technology and more while learning about OCtechs academic programs and hearing from representatives about jobs in their respective industries. It is important for graduating seniors to know the types of career opportunities in their communities and realize the connection between post-secondary education and a rewarding career, said Joni McDaniel, regional workforce advisor with the S.C. Department of Commerce. Representatives from the Lower Savannah Council of Governments will also share information about tuition assistance that may be available for students. Keynote speaker will be Scott McGregor, a global program manager responsible for inclusion and collaboration and new-hire orientation within the World-Wide Sales Training organization at Cisco. He is a 25-year veteran of the IT industry and has worked for such companies as Marriott, Bell Atlantic, MicroAge and the Yoh Company. He attended North Carolina Central University, where he studied business administration, and holds advanced degrees in religion from Tripp Bible College and Seminary. Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. By Trend Snowfall in Moscow did not affect the implementation of flights between Baku and Moscow, Baku Heydar Aliyev International Airport told Trend Jan.21. The airport said that all flights on the Baku-Moscow route have been implemented today. "Cancellation of flights from Baku to Moscow and back is not expected today" said the airport. 70 flights have been delayed and cancelled in Moscow airports, according to the "Yandex.Schedule" portal. By Trend Turkmenistan should be among the worlds leading industrialized countries in order to achieve the highest goals, said President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov during his working visit to the countrys Mary Province, the Turkmen media reported. It is necessary to expand the promotion of domestic competitive, high quality products on the international market, as well as to conduct wide production of import-substituting products, noted Berdimuhamedov, the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reported. It was previously reported that Turkmenistan adopted a state program on increasing the export volume of goods produced in the country and a state program on production of import-substituting products. Under these programs, it is planned to implement more than 110 projects aimed at the development of chemical industry, mechanical engineering, agriculture, construction sphere, light, food and other industries, as well as the formation of the domestic pharmaceutical industry. Enterprises will be built to produce a wide range of construction, chemical, household and other products made from local raw materials. Turkmenistan is one of the rich countries for its natural gas resources. According to BP, the countrys recoverable reserves are estimated at 17.5 trillion cubic meters of gas or nine percent of total global reserves, which puts Turkmenistan on the fourth position in this field after Iran, Russia and Qatar. The country has an opportunity to export its gas to China and Iran. Meanwhile, the economy is being diversified in Turkmenistan the textile industry and the oil and gas processing industry have achieved progress. Privatization is mainly carried out in the spheres of construction, trade, communications and services. By Trend The U.S. State Department said on Saturday it will not send a delegation to attend talks on Syria in the Kazakh capital Astana next week due to the immediate demands of the transition of power in Washington, Reuters reported. The State Department's acting spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. would be represented at the talks by U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan George Krol. "Given our presidential inauguration and the immediate demands of the transition, a delegation from Washington will not be attending the Astana conference," Toner said in a statement. By Trend Hundreds of thousands of women flooded the US capital for the Women's March on Washington January 21, easily eclipsing the numbers President Donald Trump's inauguration drew the day before, Sputnik reported. Washington's Metro released its ridership figures Saturday morning, and found that ridership was at 275,000 as of 11 a.m. more than eight times a normal Saturday and busier than most weekdays, the public transit authority tweeted. As of 11 a.m. yesterday, 193,000 rides had been taken. The National Park Service permit for the event originally estimated 200,000 would come to the event by Saturday morning, organizers had upped their expected estimate to 500,000. These numbers were achieved despite reports that some protesters have been stopped at US borders. Eight would-be protesters six Canadians and two French nationals were stopped at the border between Quebec and New York state on their way to join march, the Guardian reports. The group told border agents they were going to the march and were told to pull over. For two hours, their cars and mobile phones were searched, and each member of the group was fingerprinted and photographed. Then they were told to go home and not try to cross the border again during the weekend or they'd risk arrest. The two French citizens were told they had been denied entry to the US and would require visas for any future visits. "And that was it, they didn't give a lot of justification," Sasha Dyck of Montreal, one of those turned around, said. A new multi-purpose development will be built on an area of 1.27 million sq ft in Dubai South, according to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Dubai South, the master developer of an emerging 145-sq-km master-planned city around the new Al Maktoum International Airport, and Dubai-based developer Deyaar. The new development, which will be owned 50 per cent each by Dubai South and Deyaar, features residential units, shops, retail outlets and hospitality facilities, said a Wam news agency report. The agreement reflects Dubai South's commitment to building an exceptional destination for living and investment, said Ahmed Al Ansari, acting chief executive officer of Dubai South, who signed the agreement with Saeed Al Qatami, chief executive officer of Deyaar. The new partnership will allow Deyaar to meet the increasing demand on residential and commercial units and hospitality facilities, Qatami said. The Office of Sheikh Falah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT), as part of its support for the project to link the cities of Abu Dhabi and Al Ain via Hyperloop technology. The partnership will allow the company to accelerate the pace of its project, which follows the study agreement signed between HTT and the Abu Dhabi Department of Municipal Affairs and Transportation (DMAT) in November last year. The agreement continues the efforts to support strategic projects in the emirate, according to the Abu Dhabi Vision 2030. Commenting on the partnership, Moustafa Samir, the advisor at the Office of Sheikh Falah, said: "In line with the Abu Dhabi 2030 vision, the emirate is keen to take a leading role in the launch and adoption of initiatives and projects that are sustainable and based on the latest technologies and innovations." "The HTT project to link the cities of Abu Dhabi and Al Ain is an example of such an initiative. It promises to support and develop the emirates infrastructure, and contribute to driving economic and social activity in Abu Dhabi, and in Al Ain in particular," he stated. The sponsorship from the office of Sheikh Falah is the latest in a string of significant contributions that have allowed HTT to surpass $100 million in total investments. To date, the company has received a total of $31.8 million in cash, from different stakeholders around the world, as well as $26 million worth of man-hours and services. HTTs land rights valued at more than $22 million, and an additional $27 million of commitments and in-kind investments have also been confirmed by several companies that have joined the team. HTT currently has over 800 members, including over 600 individual team members and 44 companies in over 35 countries. Bibop Gresta, the chairman at HTT, said: "Sheikh Falah's involvement with HTT is both crucial and highly valued by every team member, as it will allow us to align ourselves with Abu Dhabis vision and accelerate the pace of our exciting project to connect Abu Dhabi with Al Ain via Hyperloop." Dirk Ahlborn, the chief executive of HTT, said: "For all of our supporters and team members, gaining this recognition and support is a meaningful milestone in HTTs journey, as it is a consolidation of our relationship with the Government of Abu Dhabi and His Highness Sheikh Falah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan." "We are honoured to be a part of the emirates growth story, and to be working to achieve a technical breakthrough in the field of transportation in Abu Dhabi," he stated. Following the agreement signed by HTT and DMAT in November, the coming months will see the organisations undertaking important work including route analysis, feasibility studies, cost estimates and a development schedule, said Ahlborn. HTT is the only initiative of its kind that has the support of the government of Abu Dhabi, and with the sponsorship of Sheikh Falah, the company is celebrating another momentous step towards the realisation of its ambitious project, he added.-TradeArabia News Service Oman's Supreme Council for Planning has contracted Spanish-based international tourism consultancy firm THR to develop the Tourism Development Master Plan for Dhofar Governorate. Dhofar is the first of the five Tourism Development Master Plans for the period 2016-2020 as prescribed in the Oman Tourism Strategy. Dhofar has of late pulled in hundreds of millions of Omani rials in investment in upscale Integrated Tourism Complexes (ITCs), luxury hotels and resorts, water parks and leisure developments and numerous hotel apartments. The upgrade and modernisation of Salalah International Airport and the upcoming launch of a Salalah-based budget carrier are also aiding the transformation of Dhofar Governorate into a year-round holiday and leisure destination beyond its seasonal appeal limited to the khareef (monsoon) and winter months. In fact, a key part of THRs brief is to position Dhofar Governorate as a preferred year-round destination for both domestic and international tourists interested in its natural and cultural heritage, rich traditions and history. Another key objective is to make tourism a more dynamic sector of the regional economy, by promoting the development of the tourism industry through long-term public and private sector partnerships on a local and regional basis. The Tourism Master Plan that THR has initiated will provide the policy framework for the development, management, monitoring and long term sustainability of the region's tourism sector for the next 15 years. It will include a thorough review of all of Dhofars assets, identifying the biggest opportunities for growth, recognising the main obstacles, and looking at how they can be overcome. - TradeArabia News Service Turkish Airlines continues to expand its international destination network with the launch of flights to Conakry, Republic of Guinea, on January 30. Conakry will be 296th destination in the 120th country that will be served by the national flag carrier. Roundtrip flights between Istanbul and Conakry will be operated two times per week on Mondays, and Thursdays in both directions. Introductory round trip fares are available from Istanbul to Conakry starting at $699, inclusive of taxes and fees. Additionally, for the first six months of operation to Conakry, Miles&Smiles members will be able to earn 25 per cent extra status miles. - TradeArabia News Service To celebrate Valentines Day, The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal is setting the stage for a romantic getaway at the new plunge pool villas and its various distinct restaurants. Week-long celebrations will start on February 7th with a floral-themed afternoon tea featuring an exquisite selection such as rose cream choux, lavender vanilla Napoleon or poppy flower and berry tart and, accompanied by a guided tasting of your preferred tea blend. Served daily from 2 pm until 5 pm until February 20 in Alba, the resorts elegant lobby lounge, Valentines Afternoon Tea is available at Dh125++ ($34++) per stand. For a romantic getaway, guests have the opportunity to stay in a luxurious two-bedroom villa in serene surroundings with a private plunge pool including a daily buffet breakfast for two in Giornotte; a private dinner at the villa terrace with bubbly; personalised amenities and decor; a couples treatment or massage by ESPA therapists; early check-in from 10 am and late check-out till 4 pm, all starting from Dh7,300++ ($1,986.9) per room per night. The three signature restaurants have prepared succulent menus to surprise and delight on February 14. The award-winning steakhouse The Forge will present an exclusive five-course set menu for two centered on an exquisite foie gras parfait with strawberry jelly and wagyu tenderloin, including two glasses of French bubbly priced at Dh750++ ($204++) per couple. In Mijana, the tunes of the oud player will evolve the couple in a romantic scenario under the stars while guests discover a rich Middle Eastern sharing-style menu for Dh500++($136++) per couple including two glasses of French bubbly. Li Jiangs sharing menu featuring a selection of South Asian delicatessen can be enjoyed in the main dining room or at the outdoor lounge starting at Dh650++ ($176++) per couple including two glasses of French bubbly. To complete the experience, discover a private and luxurious ambience at the spa with a Valentines Day to treat you and your loved one to an indulgent spa experience with our Couples Package, including two personalised massages and complimentary upgrade to a 30 minute facial or body scrub.The offer is valid through the month of February and is priced at Dh1,000++ ($272++) per couple. Guests can make reservations by calling the hotel at +9712 818-8181 or emailing [email protected] - TradeArabia News Service AccorHotels has appointed Cedric Gobilliard to head its new Lifestyle division comprising the Jo & Joe, Mama Shelter and 25h Hotels brands. Gobilliard's appointment will be effective from February 1, 2017, when he will report directly to Sebastien Bazin, chairman and CEO of AccorHotels. Increasingly, travellers appreciate unique brands with strong personalities that are both working environments for urban nomads and places to meet people and enjoy interesting experiences. AccorHotels is therefore expanding its offer in the Lifestyle segment, which is one of the sectors most dynamic. Bazin declared. Gobilliard joined AccorHotels group in 2009 after 10 years with Club Med where he was CEO of North America. At AccorHotels, he was successively responsible for internet activities, the launch of the Le Club AccorHotels card, global sales in France and Novotel and Mercure brand operations in the French provinces. Gobilliard notably helped transform the guest experience in this segment, by rolling out digital tools, the hotel said in a statement. For the last two years, Gobilliard has also successfully managed relations with the Mama Shelter teams. With this proven track record, he will now be tasked with accelerating the deployment of these new Lifestyle brands and promoting innovative, original and visionary offers within the group. - TradeArabia News Service Marka, the first public joint stock retail operator in the UAE, is opening the first premium Italian coffee house and kitchen Capuccino, outside of Europe. Capuccino will make its UAE debut at the newly opened The Outlet Village in Jebel Ali. Khaled Al Mheiri, vice chairman and CEO of Marka, said: As we continue to see growing demand on casual dining concepts, we are delighted to expand our hospitality portfolio with this prestigious brand, which has an enviable track-record in both the Italian and UK markets. Capuccino is the latest addition in a portfolio that includes a number of popular brands, acquisitions, home-grown concepts and franchising agreements across the region. Capuccino is one of many components of Markas strategy to build long-term value from the companys hospitality portfolio. Al Muhairy added: This authentic Italian coffee house and kitchen will offer consumers in the UAE who have a deep love and appreciation for anything Italian a virtual grand tour of Italy, to savour the diverse regional cuisines and coffees without ever needing to leave their seats. This opening is just the first of many more planned, with another two stores due to launch in early 2017. Capuccino is sure to become a firm UAE favourite in the years to come. Reminiscent of an authentic Italian coffee house and kitchen, with a thoroughly elegant ambience, Capuccino provides a contemporary Italian culinary experience. The Fresh, Healthy, Italian menu features high quality Italian ingredients including burrata cheese from the Apulia region and Fassona beef from Piedmont, across a range of breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes. Giacomo Moncalvo, CEO of Capuccino said: "We are extremely pleased and proud to have partnered with Marka. This, coupled with our recent agreement with HMS Host, has cemented the future of Capuccino as a global brand and represents our second great milestone after our private equity partners, B4, joined us in 2013. We look forward to a fruitful and strategic relationship with Marka. The UAEs first Capuccino is located in the newly-opened The Outlet Village, Jebel Ali - Dubais first upscale outlet mall, with an iconic design taking inspiration from the spectacular Tuscan hilltop town of San Gimignano in Italy. This homage to traditional Tuscan design makes it a perfect location for the UAEs first Capuccino, which prides itself on its Italian heritage. Total capacity for the upscale cafe is 126, with 80 spaces inside and 46 on terrace. The Capuccino story began in 2006, when it first launched in the Barberino Designer Outlet near Florence. Today, there are 10 Capuccino stores in Italy and five in the UK, including locations within the Harrods department store and Heathrow Terminal 2 in London. - TradeArabia News Service The start of the legislative season in Cheyenne has prompted a statewide discussion over how lawmakers should address a budget crisis caused by falling industry revenues. A cycle of ups and downs, good years and bad, is expected in Wyoming, where coal, oil and natural gas pay most of the bills. While the states residents wait for better economic news, the return of jobs and a rise in commodity prices, some lawmakers are focusing their energies on an industry they can control to some degree: wind. From raising the wind generation tax to discouraging in-state use of renewables for electricity, the wind debate is swirling in Cheyenne. Those skeptical of winds value are repeating an often-heard complaint that wind development has increased electricity bills for Wyoming customers without providing the employment and tax benefits of traditional resources. Wind is further criticized because it offsets electricity generated by coal, Wyomings cherished but beleaguered industry. The conversation is sure to continue throughout the session, but as to whether wind has upped the cost of electricity, experts already have an answer: yes and no. Wind is to blame kind of Before the recession, Rocky Mountain Power was preparing for growing demand for electricity. Really back in about 2000, we started thinking about the need for new generation, said Dave Eskelsen, spokesman for the company. A new natural gas plant would cost customers around 8 cents a kilowatt hour, and new wind was about the same. So what you saw after 2000 was a combination of natural gas and wind. The company added 2000 megawatts of natural gas. It built or acquired via contracts 1800 megawatts of wind power. Rocky Mountain Power also focused on transmission expansion. The cost of growth would end up being paid by the consumer, but there was no arm-twisting to get the company to build up its wind portfolio. It was simply cheap, Eskelsen said. Fast forward 15 years. Wyoming utility rates, and rates across the U.S. have increased, as companies expanded their infrastructure when the nations economy was growing. In Wyoming, residential electricity rates increased from around 8.5 cents per kilowatt hour in 2009 to about 11 cents last year, according to the Energy Information Administration. Recently, when freezing temperatures raised electricity bills in places like Casper, some believed the culprit was the increased wind capacity in the state. Casper resident Tom Swanson opposes wind, largely for aesthetic reasons. He was part of the Northern Laramie Range Alliance, a civilian group fighting a wind farm south of Glenrock in 2009. But he also believes wind development has done a disservice to the state, without any of the benefits of traditional fuels. Ive learned as much as I can about wind and how it affects rates, Swanson said. It affects it in far more areas than you first would see. In essence, thats correct. When RMP expanded its wind generation, it caused rates to rise. However, other fuels would have caused the same increase, Eskelsen said. Wyoming has a regulated rate system. Increases passed on to the consumer must be justified before the Wyoming Public Service Commission. Those requests are watched closely by the Officer of the Consumer Advocate. Bryce Freeman, administrator for the consumer advocates office, said that wind isnt to blame for increases. Put simply, wind hasnt increased rates. Expansion has, and thats allowed, he said. Federal boost for small wind farms With coal, the cheapest form of electricity generation, struggling to survive, many in Wyoming have become increasingly critical of wind energy. Federal regulations on carbon dioxide emissions have made utility companies uncertain of coals future and unwilling to invest in new coal plants, experts note. Meanwhile, some see wind receiving an unfair boost from federal laws like the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978. A provision of the law forces companies like Rocky Mountain Power to buy energy from small producers on 20-year contracts whether the utility needs the power or not. Increasingly, those small facilities are wind farms. Some say the law affects Wyomings rates, as it displaces cheaper fuel sources. Rocky Mountain Power recently approached the Wyoming Public Service Commission, asking that the maximum contract length be reduced to three years. That request was denied. Two decades is a normal contract rate for electricity. But companies like Rocky Mountain Power usually enter those contracts based on supply and demand rather than a federal leg up for small operators, said Eskelsen, the company spokesman. Still, when it comes to cost, the federal law isnt hurting the Wyoming consumer, experts say. It is certainly not clear that this is increasing costs significantly, said Rob Godby, director for the Center for Energy Economics and Public Policy at the University of Wyoming. But it is the case that it forces the utility to purchase power that it might not otherwise feel that it needs to purchase, and therefore uses some other capacity less than it otherwise would, and that makes the use of that facility less efficient. But those small companies that qualify under PURPA are producing less than 80 megawatts for wind, much too low to affect Wyoming rates, he said. They only have to purchase power for what it would cost to generate that power, so the lowest price, he explained. Generators dont want to pay any more than they have to, so they argue pretty vehemently. The law also protects against rate increases as a result of the federal provision. In theory, consumers should be indifferent as to whether the utility builds stuff to provide that generation or buys it from the owner of the [small company], because either way they are going to be paying the same thing, said Freeman, of the Office of the Consumer Advocate. Displacing coal? There is an argument to be made that wind is taking the place of traditional energy sources, like coal. A move away from coal in some areas of the country has affected the market, while competition from natural gas threatens coals dominance. Its displaced electron for electron, said Swanson, the Casper resident who is critical of wind power. Its displaced in our rate structure, which is why we now dont have the cheapest electricity in the United States. Demand in environmentally friendly states like Oregon or California is forcing Wyomings hand, he said. The argument has validity on a macro scale. Other states do affect Wyoming energy, where the majority of electricity produced in the state is sold to out-of-state buyers. If California has policies that punish coal-fired electricity, that impacts Wyomings market. Some state lawmakers are attempting to mimic green-favoring policies with a fossil-fuel-favoring bill, Senate File 71. Its a tit-for-tat policy, penalizing utilities that use wind for Wyoming electricity. Still, Californias move toward green energy shouldnt affect Wyoming rates directly, even if a company like PacifiCorp, the parent company for Rocky Mountain Power, operates in both Wyoming and progressive states. State regulations, and our own cost-allocation process, is designed so that states only pay for what they use. A renewable portfolio standard in Oregon or California does not cause prices to rise in Wyoming, Eskelsen said. Thats one of the reasons that state-by-state regulation has continued to exist: because generally states dont want the policy of other states affecting their prices. If the issue is considered on a market scale, wind can serve to bring rates down. In California, where electricity is bought and sold on a free market as opposed to regulated rates wind energy is always bought up first, Godby said. The bottom line is the more wind you put on the system, it always goes on the front end, because its cheapest, he said. Many say wind is cheap only with government subsidies, but that is no longer the case. Moreover, the wind credit will be phased out incrementally in the next few years, at which point the electricity markets playing field will be even in terms of cost. Though wind has garnered attention and frustration recently, the reality is that wind development has stalled out since Wyoming implemented a wind generation tax, passed in 2010 and implemented in 2012. While states like Colorado, Montana and Utah grew their wind portfolios, Wyoming experienced negative growth in the industry, according to a wind study by the Center for Energy Economics and Public Policy at the University of Wyoming. Any large new wind projects would likely serve out-of-state markets, as Wyomings demand is currently met. Developers for the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre project, for example, a 1,000-turbine site in southern Wyoming that had the first 500 turbines recently approved, plans to find buyers in the southwest. Chokecherry will pay taxes in Wyoming on generation, sales and use and property, but it will not provide Wyoming with electricity nor displace local electricity markets from natural gas or coal-fired power plants. Wind has the advantage of no fuel cost and no emissions, with the disadvantage of being intermittent, said Eskelsen, of RMP. But, like natural gas, it is carving out its place in the coal-dominated electricity market. As for Wyoming, the growth spurt of wind generation already happened, and so did the resulting spike in rates. No miners died in Wyoming in 2016. The country also recorded its lowest-ever rate of deaths that year. The Department of Labor reported that 26 miners died on the job in 2016 compared with 29 the previous year. Those are the only two years mining deaths have been below 30. Its been two years since a coal miner died in Wyoming. Four died on the job between 2013 and 2014. Since then, coal employment numbers have dropped across the country as the coal sector faced competition with other cheap fuels. More than 500 miners lost their jobs in Wyomings coal-rich Powder River Basin in early 2016. Those positions have not all come back, though production steadily increased toward the end of the year. Historically, downturns can make safety efforts more of a challenge, but that wasnt the case in Wyoming this time, said Terry Adcock, state mine inspector. That is very tough from a safety perspective, because people are nervous about their job; theyre not focusing like they should, he said. To me it was really amazing and speaks so highly of our miners in the state. Adcock said the state and its coal companies have a strong culture of safety. I think our miners are better trained. They know and recognize hazards more, he said. I think they take the lead on correcting unsafe conditions and reminding their fellow workers to be safe. To me, its a combination of things. We just have a lot of great miners in this state. According to the federal agency, 330,000 miners worked in 13,000 mines across the country in 2016. Most of the fatal mining incidents last year occurred in Appalachian mines, including West Virginia, where four miners died. Nine of the years fatalities were in coal mines, down from 12 in 2015. Seventeen deaths were from metal and nonmetal mines. While we have reached a new era in mine safety, these deaths show that more needs to be done to protect our nations miners, wrote Joseph Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. Worker safety has been an contentious issue in Wyoming. Despite large coal mines operating in the Powder River Basin, and oil and gas work across the state, transportation-related incidents take the most worker lives. NARFE meets Jan. 24 Casper Chapter #358 of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) will have a business meeting at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 24, in the meeting room at the Casper Senior Center, 1831 East 4th Street. The guest speaker will be Matt Ballou, Financial Service Manager, WyHy Federal Credit Union. He will be making a presentation on the banking services available at WyHy. Gold prospectors meet The Casper Chapter of the Gold Prospectors Association of America will have its monthly meeting at 7 p.m., on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017, at the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Building, 2211 King Blvd. Members and guests are welcome. Members are strongly encouraged to attend as membership cards will be issued and records will be updated. The speaker is Derek Dodge, who appeared on the hit television show, Gold Rush. He will talk about his past mining season. Enter through the east door. The club is holding a raffle for a Thompson Drywasher. Raffle tickets are $10 and may be purchased at the meeting or by calling Eric Weaner at 513-259-7902. Drawing to be held, pending reserve. For more information about the GPAA, the Casper chapter, or about prospecting in general, call Eric Weaner at 513-259-7902 or email at caspergpaa@gmail.com Historical society meets The next meeting of the Natrona County Historical Society will be held at 7 p.m., on Thursday, Jan. 26, at the Oil and Gas Commission Building. The speaker will be R.C. Johnson, who will present Conflict and Accord, an episodic recounting of the Lockhart/Davis family and its history of activist engagement. For more than 100 years, members of the Lockhart/Davis family have been activists in the Casper Community. That activism was driven by the forces of conflict and accord operating in this community and in the larger world. Johnson is by training a speech/language pathologist. Johnsons professional calling did not diminish her longstanding interest in history. Johnsons presentation will reflect the impact of her training, her ongoing interest in history and the effect of conflict and accord found in her familys history. Girl Scouts celebrate Elena of Avalor Join Girl Scouts of Montana and Wyoming from 5 to 7 p.m., on Friday, Jan. 27, at the Girl Scout office, 428 S. Durbin, Ste. 102 for an Elena of Avalor celebration. All girls are welcome to learn more about becoming a leader, create some Elena of Avalor crafts and enjoy some treats inspired by Disneys newest princess. For more information, call Brandis at (800) 736-5243 or email brandiss@gsmw.org Tai chi for arthritis Tai Chi for Arthritis Part 1 is not just for those with arthritis. Tai Chi is an ancient practice proven to reduce pain and improve your mental and physical well-being. This series of Tai Chi for Arthritis was developed by Dr. Paul Lam. The form uses gentle Sun style Tai Chi postures that are safe, easy to learn, and suitable for every fitness level. This form can be done standing or seated. The practice of Tai Chi will help you to reduce stress, increase balance and flexibility, and improve your overall feeling of wellness. Preregistration for the workshop is required. The cost is $122 for 16 consecutive sessions, meeting Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., starting Feb. 6 and ending March 29. This workshop class will be located at the Healthy Life Studio in the Sunrise Shopping Center on South Poplar Street. You can register for this workshop either online at www.healthylifestudio.com or by calling 472-1962. Izaak Walton League talks climate change Friday, Feb. 3, 6 p.m. potluck dinner, 7 p.m., presentation, at the Izaak Walton League Lodge at Fort Caspar Campground, just past Fort Caspar Museum. Dan Cooper will present Global Weirding, a Texas PBS series on climate change by Katharine Hayhoe. There will be a brief discussion after each episode. Dr. Hayhoe is a climate scientist, evangical Christian, and a remarkable communicator. Any religious person, or anyone skeptical that religion can be part of the solution, should see this. Freedom Fund lunch set During the civil rights era of the 1950s and 60s, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) hosted Freedom Fund banquets to raise money for legal aid for folks who had been arrested while attempting to register to vote and fighting for their civil rights. Following that tradition, the Casper Branch of the NAACP is hosting its annual Freedom Fund luncheon from 11 a.. to 2 p.m., on Sat., Feb. 11, at the Parkway Plaza, 123 East E St. Lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m. Henry Allen, past president of Colorado Springs Branch NAACP, and current president, Pikes Peak Southern Christian Leadership Conference, will address the topic, America 2017 through the Eyes of Martin Luther King, Jr. Allen served 24 years in the U.S. Army and worked as a sheriff until his retirement. NAACP members and the general public are invited to attend the luncheon. Tickets cost $30 (checks made to Casper NAACP) with lunch choices: salmon, strip steak au jus, or vegetarian pasta. To make reservations, call Joanne Tanner at 234-6266 by Feb. 6. NARFE has social Casper Chapter #358 of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) will have a no-host Social Meeting at noon on Feb. 28, in the meeting room at the Casper Senior Center at 1831 East 4th Street. Mardi Gras Bingo Mardi Gras Bingo, sponsored by Reveille Rotary of Casper, is 6 to 8 p.m., on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at the Casper Senior Center, 1831 E. 4th Street. Enjoy Bingo fun for the whole family. Tickets are $20 for two Bingo cards. There will be eight $25 games, nine $50 games, one $250 game and one $500 game. Concessions will be available (including homemade slices of pie). Proceeds benefit Wyoming Dementia Care. Tickets can be purchased from any Reveille Rotary member or at First Interstate Bank Downtown. Scholarship notice The Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration Central Wyoming Section offers up to four $2,500 scholarships, the Coates, Wolff, Russell, and Swank Memorial scholarships. Applicant must have graduated from a Wyoming high school, must be enrolled full-time for the 2016-2017 academic year, upperclassmen current college sophomore, junior, senior or graduate student, enrolled in mining/mineral extraction-related discipline, and have a 3.0 GPA minimum. Application forms are available by email request to smecasper@gmail.com Civil Air Patrol meets Civil Air Patrol meets from 7 to 9 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month at Casper National Guard Armory, 5905 CY Ave. For more information, call 259-0855. Stammtisch at Applebees The Casper German Stammtisch is meeting weekly on Thursdays at Applebees from 6:30 to 8 p.m. New this year on the second Thursday of each month we will focus on speaking German! All ability levels are welcome, as long as they are eager to hear German. Sundays support meetings Alcoholics Anonymous: 10 a.m., 500 S. Wolcott, Ste. 200;10:15 a.m., 917 N. Beech; noon, 500 S. Wolcott, Ste. 200; 6:30 p.m., 1124 Elma, Imitate the Image Church; 6:30 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott; 6:30 p.m., 328 E. A; 6:30 p.m., 1124 Elma, Imitate the Image Church; 8 p.m., 917 N. Beech; 8 p.m., 328 1/2 E. A. Douglas: 1 p.m, Douglas, 628 E. Richards (upstairs in back), womens meeting; 7:30 p.m., 628 E. Richards (upstairs in back). Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are open. Casper info: 266-9578; Douglas info: (307) 351-1688. Narcotics Anonymous: Noon, 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club; 6:30 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club; 8 p.m., 15th & Melrose at the church. Web site: http://www.urmrna.org. Nicotine Anonymous: 5 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club. Info: Pam M., 577-0518; Troy Y., 267-6326. Benefit breakfast for dancers Sunday breakfast at the Elks Lodge from 8 to 11 a.m., is a fundraiser for Richens Timm Irish Dance Team. They will be performing down stairs in the dining room and in the lounge. State Muzzle Loaders host rendezvous, fair The Wyoming State Muzzle Loaders host the Rendezvous and Traders Fair from 8 a.m. to noon at the Ramkota Hotel & Conference Center. There are many traders, storytellers, seminars and lessons to be learned about the rendezvous era. All is free except a dinner and dance for a small fee, and the public is welcome. For more information, call Trish at 234-6591. Same-sex parenting topic set The Casper community is invited to the Casper PFLAG Chapters monthly meeting at the UCC Church at the corner of 15th and Melrose. The business meeting will be from 5 to 5:30 p.m., followed by a potluck Mexican dinner. At 6 p.m., Amanda DeDiego will be leading a discussion on navigating parenthood for same-sex parents. Her presentation explores, from a counseling perspective, challenges that can arise for same-sex parents, or those hoping to become parents. Discussion will include an opportunity for attendees to share and gain support among peers in a safe space, and information about how counselors can help with this journey. DeDiego, Ph.D, NCC, is an assistant professor at the University of Wyoming for the newly re-started counseling program at UW-C. She is a national certified counselor with a doctorate in counselor education. Her work as an advocate and ally to the LGBT+ community includes a recently published article in Counseling Today magazine and a presentation at the American Counseling Association national conference about how counselors can better support same-sex parents through couples and family counseling. For more information, please contact Rob Johnston at 259-5026 or atroberthaysjohnston@gmail.com or Ruth Ann Leonard at 265-5449 or raileonard38@gmail.com. To the casual observer, the site looks like another valley in the midst of rolling Wyoming prairie. Junipers and ponderosas roll in one direction. Grasslands stretch in another. A stream cuts through the middle. But what might be passed over by most modern Americans as an empty spot in the plains was a uniquely attractive campsite for some of North Americas earliest people. The Hell Gap Paleoindian Site in Goshen County was so useful, in fact, that its one of the only places on the continent where nine cultures lived and camped over the course of about 5,000 years. Because of its significance, outgoing Interior Secretary Sally Jewell recently placed the Hell Gap site on the list of National Historic Landmarks, joining more than two dozen other sites in Wyoming and giving its value formal recognition. Its such an important site to our state, said Judy Wolf, planning and historic context development program chief for the State Historic Preservation Office. There are paleoindian sites all over the country, but this is one of the most important in the nation. Anthropologists were always aware of Hell Gaps value. Vocational collectors discovered the site in the late 1950s, uncovering projectile points they thought looked to be from early people, said Marcel Kornfeld, a University of Wyoming anthropology professor. But they didnt know quite how important it would be. These early periods of American history were not well-known at the time, and the time sequences of cultures were not known, he said. When the collectors contacted professional archeologists who visited the site and ran tests, they found artifacts going back 13,000 years. They also found evidence of various peoples living until about 8,500 years ago who all camped, cooked, hunted and lived at the site. Why is that significant? Prior to this, in the first part of the 20th century, many of these sites were known for short-term occupations, Kornfeld said. They would stay for a few days or a few weeks, and then people didnt come back to them. Some of the most well-known sites where bison or mammoths were killed were visited often just once, he said. But at Hell Gap, anthropologists have recorded up to nine cultures, each overlaying each other, giving experts a fuller picture of prehistoric lifeways. The various peoples were not just regional, Kornfeld said. They were the same ones who lived for a time in Alaska and even down to Mexico. As teams of archaeologists flocked to Wyoming to study the site, information and material went back to their respective institutions: Harvards Peabody Museum, Washington State University, Eastern New Mexico University. Thats where Kornfeld, fellow UW professor Mary Lou Larson and professor emeritus George Frison came in. The group spent the past 20 years studying Hell Gap, painstakingly collecting each bit of information and tracking down materials from around the country. There were many questions that we couldnt answer with the data that had been collected, Kornfeld said of the early anthropologists. We wanted to know their subsistence and food patterns and hunting strategies and things like that. We all wanted to know the big questions, but unfortunately the little ones take more time. For years, the trio worked in the field in the summers unearthing bits of bone and tools and even beads. In 2009, they published the first complete book on the site, and continue their work today. In addition to housing so many varied people, the site is also recognized for having some of the earliest structures in North America remnants of lean-tos and tents and tepees. The site includes several bone needles, showing that some inhabitants sewed clothes. And of the only 140 ornamental beads found at paleoindian sites across the country, three came from Hell Gap. Exactly why various people for thousands of years camped, ate and lived at the site will always remain a bit of a question. But Kornfeld guesses its because the spot in the middle of nowhere, between the ponderosa pines and wide open bison country offered just what early people needed: food, water and shelter. While politicians in Washington debate how to replace President Barack Obamas health care law, Rock Springs teacher Amber Schwartzwalter argues with the insurance marketplaces phone service and worries about the future of her coverage. Last summer, Schwartzwalter was laid off from her job as a preschool teacher for children with special needs. Along with her position a casualty of state budget cuts, she said the single mother of three lost her insurance. So she turned to the insurance marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act. Although she said the bureaucracy of the marketplace is nearly impossible to navigate, the policy itself has worked well for her. Now, she worries how that will change. We elect them, she said of the members of Congress. I think they need to tell us what their plan is before they go in and decide our fate. The future of more than 22,000 Wyomingites medical coverage is unclear as Republicans in the U.S. Congress begin the process of repealing the ACA piece by piece. Lawmakers have promised to replace the policy and maintain continuous coverage for those already using the marketplace, but details about such a replacement have been scarce. Nationwide, about three-quarters of people said they dont want the ACA repealed at all or believe lawmakers should propose a replacement policy before repealing the law, according to a January poll published by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, which studies health care policy. Medical professionals said they were worried about life after the ACA and warned of the uncertainty that would arise if Obamacare was eliminated without a new plan to take its place. In the meantime, amid swirling policy and political battles, Schwartzwalter waits. There are extensive flaws in Wyomings federally run marketplace, she said. The website is unusable. The bureaucracy that manages the program is extensive and inefficient it took hours of phone calls to correct the programs miscalculation of her approximate annual income. There is only one insurer on the Wyoming marketplace, effectively eliminating price competition and customer choice. In Wyoming, we kind of got screwed, she said. Not having options kind of defeats the purpose of the whole idea, in my opinion. Schwartzwalter disagrees with the ACAs requirement that everyone buy health insurance, but the coverage itself has worked well and is affordable, she said. Its helped pay for the physical therapy she needed after having a ligament in her knee replaced. Without the marketplaces income-based subsidies, she probably wouldnt have health insurance at all, she said. It would have been too expensive without a steady income. And above all, the insurance has given her a sense of security. Its kind of a catch, because for the most part I dont need it, she said. But its nice to have in case something does happen. Support for repeal and replace The three members of Wyomings D.C. delegation all agree that sections of the ACA need to be repealed. While they support keeping parts of the policy like allowing kids to stay on their parents insurance until they are 26 and providing accessible care for people with pre-existing conditions the lawmakers criticize what they say is an inefficient system that takes too much power from state governments. As chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Sen. Mike Enzi will be one of the leaders in the effort to repeal the ACA. The senator will work to repeal the law through a procedure called budget reconciliation, which allows lawmakers to nix or edit any part of the law that relies on federal funding or tax provisions. Legislation passed through the reconciliation process requires only 51 Senate votes to pass, while most legislation requires 60 to avoid a filibuster. Democrats passed a portion of the original ACA legislation through the reconciliation process, and both houses of Congress passed a repeal of the ACA through the same process in 2016, but Obama vetoed it. Its unclear how much of the ACA the Republicans will be able to repeal through reconciliation because the process depends on what options are created through Senate rules, Enzi said in an emailed statement Thursday. However, the senator said allowing patients to stay on their parents insurance until theyre 26 and accessible coverage for people with pre-existing conditions are widely popular on both sides of the aisle. About 240,000 Wyoming residents have pre-existing health conditions, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Any repeal would also include a stable transition period so that people would not have lapses in coverage, Enzi said in his statement. Sen. John Barrasso said both parties have long supported some key tenets of the Affordable Care Act, like the age and pre-existing condition provisions. He hopes those policies remain in the replacement program. But Barrasso, an orthopedic surgeon and long-time critic of the ACA, said the laws requirement that all individuals have health insurance is unconstitutional regardless of the Supreme Courts 2011 decision upholding the provision. The program is especially problematic in Wyoming because there is only one insurance provider on the market, Barrasso said. Thats not a market, thats a monopoly, he said. Barrasso wasnt specific about what he would like to see in the ACAs replacement but said he wants the new policy to allow each state to set its own requirements for health insurers. The ACA requires that all insurers pay for certain preventive health measures, limits when insurers can change premiums and requires that insurers spend a majority of the money made from premiums on health care instead of administrative costs. I think that when Washington comes up with a one-size-fits-all, it hardly ever works for Wyoming, he said. Rep. Liz Cheney said the ACA provided catastrophic care at best because of what she called high premiums and deductibles. Like the senators, she also supported retaining certain aspects of the law such as accessible coverage for people with pre-existing coverage while refuting the requirement that everyone buy health insurance as unconstitutional. Cheney suggested repealing parts of the law as fast as we can through the reconciliation process instead of waiting for lawmakers to draft a full replacement. She also said that the ACA gives the secretary of Health and Human Services discretion on a number of policies. The new secretary appointed by President Donald Trump could use that discretion to fix things in the near term while maintaining coverage for the millions who are insured under the ACA, she said. I think we want to make absolutely sure we dont leave people hanging and we dont leave people without coverage, Cheney told Star-Tribune reporters Wednesday. Conflicting needs But keeping those popular parts of the ACA, also known as Obamacare, while throwing out the individual mandate is easier said on the stump than accomplished on Capitol Hill. If people arent required to buy health insurance, the young and generally healthy will likely opt out of coverage, instead signing up when they needed it, insurance experts say. That means only the chronically ill who have the highest medical costs will consistently buy insurance, driving up the amount insurers have to pay and causing premiums to rise. In order to have a mandate that insurance companies must take all comers, I dont know how you can do that without somehow insisting that everyone have insurance, said Anne Ladd, the executive director of the Wyoming Business Coalition on Health. She wasnt aware of another way to offer coverage to chronically ill people without mandating coverage for all. The pool becomes non-sustainable, she added. You need people paying into the pool even when they dont need it, so when they do need it, the pool is sustainable. Even with the individual mandate, the problem of too many sick people with too few healthy people plagued the ACA exchanges from the start. Vickie Diamond, the departing CEO of Wyoming Medical Center in Casper, said people with pre-existing conditions took part in Obamacare early and are probably healthier now, but the exchanges suffered in the early years of ACA because younger, healthier people didnt use them. So how can a replacement remain viable and deliver pre-existing condition protections without a mandate? How can insurance companies afford to take on less healthy customers without forcing them to pay sky-high premiums? Replacing Obamacare a law that Diamond said is the most transformative health care measure since the 1960s is no easy feat. And a firm congressional ACA replacement plan has yet to emerge. Ive seen nothing thats on the scope to replace the Affordable Care Act, said Pete Gosar, the executive director of the Laramies Downtown Clinic, which serves low-income and uninsured patients. Is there an opportunity? Certainly there is. And there are other countries around the world that do health care much differently. But I havent heard that being rumored other than President Trumps Everybody will have coverage. Uncertain economic impact A repeal of Obamacare with no replacement would have far-reaching effects on health care in Wyoming. It would almost certainly cause the industry to contract, said Tom Gallagher, the research and planning director for the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services. More than 22,000 Wyomingites with coverage through exchanges may lose the means to obtain care, which would leave an excess of providers, nurses and other industry personnel. Gosar said any gap between repeal and replacement would have devastating impacts on health care in America. Ladd said the employers she works with are concerned that there will be a year or two-year span between ACA and whatever comes next, which would make it difficult for those businesses to plan. Across the health care industry, she anticipated prices would jump along with any rising uncertainty. When you dont know, you cover your bets, she explained. If youre the head of an insurance company and you want to put a price on a product and you dont know, youre going to raise it. Without a replacement, the Wyoming Medical Center could lose $50 million over the next seven years, Diamond said. And Im no different than any hospital in Wyoming, she said. Theyll tell you (theyre facing) the same thing. Gosar said he would worry about people with pre-existing conditions and would expect his clinic to have more demand for service. With more requests, likely from people with income levels higher than what the clinic sees now, the Downtowns board would probably have to look at raising the bar for who qualified for services, he said. Diamond and Gosar said more people without insurance would likely go to hospital emergency rooms. Diamond said she expected uncompensated care or care that patients cannot or will not pay for and the hospital thus has to absorb to soar. The ACA had cut that slightly, she said. Diamond explained that now, should an uninsured patient come in with a life-changing medical emergency, that patient can get on the exchange and obtain coverage. Without the ACA, that option to retroactively add insurance would disappear. Of the more than 22,000 Wyoming people who buy insurance through the exchange, more than 90 percent use tax credits to pay for coverage. The national average was around 84 percent in 2015. Without those subsidies, thousands of people wont be able to afford their plan anymore, Diamond said. If youre a family of four with $70,000, youre not going to be able to pay $400 a month for insurance, Diamond said. Youre going to need that money to live. Mixed feelings Dr. Karl Radke treats a patient who does not have insurance because the premiums for Obamacare are too expensive. She makes only a couple hundred dollars a month, he said, and insurance payments would have completely wiped (her) out. For her, it was not an affordable care act at all, said Radke, the chief medical officer for the Community Health Center. So she chose to risk taking a fine by not having insurance? She chooses to feed herself, he said. The story is a microcosm of Radkes feelings about Obamacare. He thinks the laws goal to provide affordable coverage for all was noble. But its execution has been flawed. Primarily, its more expensive than people realize, he said. He pointed to rising premium costs in California and Arizona and said prices for generic medications have shot up under Obamacare. On top of the cost, he said, it also adds regulatory burdens to providers. Diamond, the head of the Wyoming Medical Center, agreed. Like many others, she saw Obamas landmark legislation not as a clear-cut failure or an outright success. Its real impact is in between, obfuscated by complex language and a hyperpartisan political culture. On the one hand, its good more people found coverage, she said. But on the other hand, the impact for providers has been more negative because of increased regulation. But, then again, it has helped our bottom line, she said. Becka Rubles mixed feelings about the ACA grew from a different perspective. She isnt a hospital CEO or a doctor. Shes a roller derby skater, and she said the bill saved her life by helping her afford medications and counseling, along with medical procedures she needed after she broke two bones on the track. And it didnt just affect her. Her success with Obamacare changed her fathers perspective. He was totally against the ACA because of his conservative beliefs, but her injury which required an ER trip and surgery was eye-opening for him. But less than a minute after talking about the protection the bill gave her, she says that she doesnt really care if its repealed. Shes planning on moving to Salt Lake City for work and figures that without Obamacare, and with the new administration, more places will be hiring. She can receive insurance through an employers health plan. Gallagher said he could not predict the broader ramifications in Wyoming of a repeal because there are too many other factors at play in the state economy right now, like the energy industrys decline, which could deepen or blunt any effects of a repeal. Gosar is also hesitant to make predictions. He said it was too early to determine the lasting legacy of Obamacare, but he worries about what effect a repeal will have on the future of the country. If your health is absent, its really hard to pursue that American dream, he said. Wyomings newly elected U.S. House Rep. Liz Cheney criticized President Donald Trumps views on NATO and Russia in comments to the Star-Tribune. Hes wrong, Cheney said. I hope that well see a change. While Cheney has long supported NATO, her comments in a wide-ranging interview on Wednesday appear to be her first direct rebuke of the new Republican president. Trump criticized NATO throughout the presidential campaign while praising Russian President Vladimir Putin, who views the alliance as a threat. Trump doubled down on his attacks in an interview with two European publications published last week. I took such heat when I said NATO was obsolete, Trump said. Its obsolete because it wasnt taking care of terror. Liz Cheney on Russia and NATO Wyomings U.S. House Rep. Liz Cheney sat Wednesday for a wide-ranging interview with the Sta Cheney disagreed with the president. Its wrong to question the validity and the importance of NATO and certainly wrong to use words like obsolete, she said. While she agreed with Trump that some NATO members need to raise their defense spending, Cheney was unambiguous in her support for the organization. NATO is probably the most effective military alliance in history, Cheney said. Were going to defend it. Cheney worked in the State Department during the George W. Bush administration and shares a belief in an aggressive and engaged U.S. foreign policy with her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney also took issue with Trumps suggestion that Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a close American ally, had equal credibility. I start off trusting both but lets see how long that lasts, Trump was quoted as saying in the European publications. It may not last long at all. Cheney countered: Angela Merkel is a much better ally of the United States than Vladimir Putin is. In 2015, Cheney co-authored a book with her father, Exceptional: Why the World Needs a Powerful America, which attacked what the two saw as the sheepish and destructive foreign policy of President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In the Star-Tribune interview, Cheney said that one of Obamas signature international efforts, the Iranian nuclear agreement, has been an abject failure. She said that Obama had ceded influence in the Middle East to Iran, leading to regional instability and worsening the civil war in Syria. Its created tremendous upheaval. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people have been slaughtered by the Russians and their allies in Syria, Cheney said. Thats going to be a stain on this presidency. Cheneys harshest foreign policy attacks in the book and during her congressional campaign were aimed at Obama and Clinton. Whether the policy differences between Cheney and Trump will come to a head depends on if the president listens to advisers like Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson and newly confirmed Defense Secretary John Mattis whom Cheney praised in her interview or relies on aides like his National Security Adviser pick Michael Flynn, who seeks an alliance with Russia based on fighting terrorism, said Rebecca Friedman Lissner, who studies U.S.-Russia policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. Pavel Baev, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said that Trump is likely to come around to Cheneys views on Russia. (I)t makes perfect political sense to come together with the Republican mainstream, Baev said in an email. There is a Russian saying, If you cannot stop a riot, to take a lead in it, and Trump may take it to the heart. Baev said it would be easy for Trump to synthesize a tougher line on Russia while still calling for NATO members to increase their military budgets the aspect of his existing critique that Cheney supports which Baev called in perfect sync with the Republican tradition. Cheney doctrine in new era But many differences remain between Cheney and Trump, even if he drops his accommodating attitude toward Russia. During his time as George W. Bushs vice president, Dick Cheney became the face of a hard-line style of international relations while supporting and defending the invasion of Iraq. While Trump initially offered lukewarm support for the war, the New York businessman made a point of criticizing the invasion during the campaign and hammered first his Republican primary rivals and then Clinton for their support of it. Trump has described putting America first as his primary foreign policy objective, hinting at a departure from the more interventionist approach favored in mainstream Republican circles for decades. Through Dick Cheneys long tenure in national politics, from chief of staff to President Gerald Ford in the 1970s to his time as defense secretary under George H.W. Bush and finally as vice president, the Wyomingite embodied that precise strand of foreign policy one that he shares with his daughter. Cheneys basic view was that there are people that were hostile to the United States interests and that they had to be dealt with aggressively, said St. Louis University law professor Joel Goldstein, an expert on American vice presidents. If the Trump administrations stance on Russia remains unclear, Cheney has been warning since the decline of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s that Russia could remain a threat to American security interests. I would argue that even in the new world that people want to perceive out there, even after you assume all the positive changes that are being contemplated, youre still going to want to maintain some U.S. presence overseas, then-Defense Secretary Cheney said during a 1990 speech at Natrona County High School. In the early 2000s, Cheney continued to take a critical view of Russia even while Bush famously told reporters after a 2001 summit with Putin, I found him very straightforward and trustworthy I was able to get a sense of his soul. Will Mike Pence be the next Dick Cheney? As vice president during the George W. Bush administration, Dick Cheney played a major role His view of Putins Russia was far less hopeful and more guarded than those of President Bush, said Leon Aron of the conservative American Enterprise Institute. Around the same time that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romneys assertion that Russia was Americas greatest geopolitical foe was being mocked by many Democrats and Republicans in 2012, Dick Cheney, with his daughters help, wrote a memoir that largely predicted the factors leading to Russias invasion of Ukraine two years later. Dick Cheney wrote that Russia was attempting to use military force to unilaterally redraw sovereign boundaries. Goldstein said this tracked with Dick Cheneys views during the Bush administration. Cheney, he said, was never interested in friendly overtures toward Putin, the former Russian intelligence officer who became president in 1999. When he looked at Putin all he saw was KGB, KGB, KGB, Goldstein said. He never trusted Putin. Cheneys in lockstep There is little daylight between the two Cheneys, especially on foreign policy. Liz Cheney was involved in Dick Cheneys decision to join the George W. Bush presidential ticket and worked with him once in office. There never was any indication that they had different views of the world or that she was anything other than her fathers daughter, Goldstein said. They have a close personal relationship, and they share similar worldviews. In the Star-Tribune interview, Liz Cheney echoed her father on Putin. Vladimir Putin is not our friend, Cheney said. Hes clearly an adversary. Before and after being elected, Trump has praised Putin and raised questions about NATO. But Cheney said doubting NATO could lead to instability in eastern Europe. When you get in a situation where they start to question our resolve, they start to question whether well really stand up for our NATO allies, thats when the world becomes really dangerous, Cheney said. They could then miscalculate, she said. They could think, Oh, Americas not going to step up here, so well go ahead and roll into eastern Europe. While neither Cheney has shied away from unpopular positions in the past, it is helpful for the newly elected Cheney that while her and her fathers unflinching views on intervention in the Middle East may have fallen out of favor, their consistently tough line on Russia is returning to the mainstream. Its rapidly becoming a bipartisan issue, Aron said. The consensus is forming in the Congress, and Ms. Cheney is presenting it obviously well. While Liz Cheney focused much of her recent campaign on energy and land management, differentiating herself from Trump on foreign policy may be useful in building what she described during the Obama administration as a coalition of traditional conservatives and security-minded Democrats and independents. But while the validation of Cheneys tough stance on Russia offered by recent events could be a political boon, Lissner said other parts of the Cheney foreign policy remained outside of any emerging consensus on Americas role in the world. Traditional power politics is focused on ensuring the United States remains the sole superpower in the world by keeping countries like Russia and China in check. While the Cheneys advocate for doing both those things in Exceptional, Lissner said those policies clash with Dick Cheneys role in the Iraq War, which Liz Cheney has steadfastly defended. Cheney has been hawkish on Russia for quite a long time, she said. (But) if you are really worried about competing with Russia, competing with China, you dont do things like invade Iraq. In that respect, even if Liz Cheneys consistently tough views on Russia have again come into vogue, her loyalty toward her fathers foreign policy including Middle Eastern intervention could affect the influence she is able to have in a political climate where Americans remain wary of sending troops back to Iraq or into Syria. Likewise, in Exceptional, she and her father call for building up the military to make the use of force more of a credible option when U.S. interests are threatened, and they call for keeping American troops in Afghanistan. Most indications point to Liz Cheney genuinely sharing her fathers foreign policy vision. But if political necessity requires her to drop some of the unpopular positions she shares with her father, Goldstein, the vice presidential scholar, said her father wouldnt stand in the way. Its not that hes saying to Liz, You need to go get into politics to advance my legacy, Goldstein said. Im sure hes very proud that this is something that she wants to do and that they have similar views but (even) if it turned out she was a liberal Democrat, I dont think he would disown her. As vice president during the George W. Bush administration, Dick Cheney played a major role in setting the nations foreign policy. Some political observers are speculating that President Donald Trump may delegate certain policy-making to Vice President Mike Pence, who takes a more traditional Republican approach to international relations than Trump including a tougher line on Russia coupled with an interest in promoting human rights abroad. But St. Louis University law professor Joel Goldstein, who studies the American vice presidency, said that Cheney entered the White House with a wealth of national policy and foreign policy experience. He had been chief of staff to President Gerald Ford and defense secretary under George H.W. Bush. Pence isnt anywhere near where Cheney was in terms of what he brought to office, Goldstein said. Both Goldstein and Rebecca Friedman Lissner, who researches Russia at the Council on Foreign Relations, agreed that much of Pences influence will come down to whether he and Trump get along personally. A lot of it will be a kind of emergent process on who gains Trumps favor, who will he trust? Lissner said. Goldstein said that Cheney, who harbored no ambitions to run for president in 2008, was able to absorb criticism that might otherwise have hit Bush. But with speculation over a future Pence presidential bid, the former Indiana governor might be in a more difficult situation when it comes to supporting Trumps controversial statements making the close bond that Cheney shared with Bush, especially during his first term in office, less likely. Bush was controversial in certain circles, but he never went around saying things that were offensive toward different groups and he didnt disparage people based on their gender, race, national and so forth, Goldstein said. If Pence has to end up defending them or distancing himself from them, that puts the vice president in a difficult position, especially if he wants to run for president. Pavel Baev, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institutions Center on the United States and Europe, suggested that there is a possibility that Trump may be pushed out of office altogether. (W)ith all the scandals surrounding the arrival of the new administration, we have to give a very serious consideration to the prospect of Pences presidency, Baev wrote in an email. As for whether Pence would pursue the same foreign policy that Cheney did during the Bush years, Baev said no. Pence, he believed, would be closer to Bush than Cheney. VP Cheney certainly played a huge role, but at the same time he didnt belong to the camp of ideological neo-cons, and his position was, in my opinion, significantly more realistic, Baev said. (T)he role of VP Pence may be closer to the influence of the neo-cons. CHEYENNE Just 14 months ago, the images associated with the states top cannabis legalization group were tie dye, marijuana leafs and 4:20 a number that has layered meanings in the pot-smoking community, including lighting up at that time each afternoon. But these days, the face of the Wyoming chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws is a former Republican lawmaker in his 60s in a suit and tie who says he doesnt use cannabis, even though he said an out-of-state physician has recommended he should try it. Frank Latta is the new director for NORML. He began the post Jan. 1, nine days before the 64th Wyoming Legislature convened. A former mayor of Gillette, Latta served in the Wyoming House from 2003 to 2005. And he has multiple sclerosis, which he described as a life-changing disease with symptoms that may be relieved if he could take medical cannabis. These days, Latta is staying in the capital city, keeping an eye on a bill that would decriminalize cannabis: House Bill 157. I plan to be here until they either kick me out or they get something through, he said Thursday afternoon in a hallway near chambers of the Wyoming House. Turmoil Wyoming NORML has had a turbulent past year. In December 2015, longtime director Chris Christian of Jackson stepped down after years of infighting and schisms in which former members formed competing cannabis groups. A Democratic state lawmaker who had assisted with a petition effort to land a marijuana measure on the ballot threw up his hands after advising NORML leaders to ditch the stoner image. They never listened, and he distanced himself from the initiative. The subsequent leaders missed a deadline to collect enough signatures to land on the 2016 general ballot. They scheduled a press conference at a Casper restaurant to announce that they would continue to gather names so the public could vote on weed in 2018. But they never cleared the event with the restaurants management. Confusion ensued. Then the press conference ended. Latta could bring credibility and constancy to NORML. He said he is interested in building relationships with lawmakers and the public. Latta describes members of the Legislature as old friends. He is happy to chat with the press and sticks to the facts during interviews. Latta said he will stay in Cheyenne for the duration of the legislative session, expected to continue through early March. He plans each day to visit with lawmakers. In recent years, support to loosen the prohibition on pot has been on the rise. A University of Wyoming poll released in October showed 81 percent of Wyoming residents supported medical marijuana. Forty-one percent supported the drug for personal use. Seventy-two percent of Wyomingites supported decriminalization. Decrim bill Latta said he attended legislative meetings over the spring and summer, trying to learn about the history of marijuana laws in the state. I spoke and worked a lot with the Judiciary committee in the off-season, he said. From those discussions, I knew there were several people who would support a (decriminalization) bill. Enter Rep. Mark Baker, a Republican from Rock Springs, who, along with other Republican and Democratic lawmakers, is sponsoring HB157. The measure would subject people to civil fines instead of criminal charges if theyre caught with small amounts of marijuana. Fines vary by amount possessed. For instance, cannabis in liquid form up to three-tenths of a gram would be decriminalized. For plant form, it would be up to 3 ounces. For edibles, it would be 3 ounces or 500 milligrams. If a person is caught with small amounts of pot three or more times, they would face up to five years behind bars and a $5,000 fine. Baker believes Wyomings current prohibition of marijuana is unconstitutional, since in 2012, voters adopted the Health Care Freedom Amendment that specified people have the right to make medical decisions free of the federal government interference, he said. He said Wyoming political leaders need to get realistic. No state that has legalized is going to turn back and the Cowboy State should not be an outlier in legalization. Beyond that, I think its a drain on resources, he said. HB157 would help the Department of Corrections and other state agencies focus on people who commit violent crimes, Baker said. The Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police have not decided whether it supports or opposes the bill, said Byron Oedekoven, the groups executive director. He noted that the bill provides specific weights of edibles, an issue Wyoming Legislature has struggled with in recent years. Lawmakers have debated how to penalize edibles. There are no current efficient tests to help law enforcement separate the active ingredient in marijuana from butter, sugar or eggs in a pastry, for instance. Latta believes there might be just enough support in the House to pass the bill and send it to the Senate. The measure hasnt yet been assigned a House committee. My goal is just to bring it up so we can have some discussion, he said. Whether it ends up looking like this remains to be seen. Multiple sclerosis About five years ago, Latta said he was being treated for multiple sclerosis by a physician in Billings. As part of the disease, he suffered from muscle spasms. The doctor gave him conventional pharmaceuticals and a prescription for medical marijuana, which is legal in Montana. Because he was a Wyoming resident, he said he never filled the cannabis prescription. I never used it because its illegal, he said. More recently, Lattas been seeking treatment from a doctor in Casper, who concluded the illness was dormant. Latta said he decided to stop taking the bills for spasms. I had seizures and nightmares and night terrors, he said. He returned to Casper for help from his doctor, who told him he was suffering from severe withdrawal symptoms from the pills. Latta likened his withdrawals to what a heroin addict experiences. Hes concluded that its illogical for the state to allow highly addictive prescription pills and not allow cannabis under a physicians care. As hes learned more about the issue, Latta said hes met with seizure patients and people who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder who could benefit from medical cannabis, too. My choice is heroin addiction or medical marijuana, he said. JERUSALEM Israels prime minister on Sunday accepted an invitation to visit the White House next month in hopes of forging a common vision for the region with President Donald Trump that could include expanded settlement construction on occupied territories and a tougher policy toward Iran. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his plans to head to Washington in early February hours after delaying a vote on an explosive proposal to annex one of the West Banks largest settlements, apparently to coordinate his policy toward the Palestinians with the new administration. The move put on hold legislation that threatens to unleash fresh violence and damage already faded hopes for Palestinian independence. It also may have marked Trumps first presidential foray into Middle East diplomacy. After eight years of frosty relations with President Obama, Netanyahu has welcomed Trumps election as an opportunity to strengthen ties between the two allies. Israeli media reported that Netanyahu was gearing up plans to expand settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem a policy that had been condemned by Obama. Late Sunday, the two men held what Netanyahus office described as a very warm conversation by phone. It said they discussed the international nuclear deal with Iran, which both men have harshly criticized, and the Palestinian issue. The prime minister expressed his desire to work closely with President Trump to forge a common vision to advance peace and security in the region, with no daylight between the United States and Israel, the statement said. It said a date for Netanyahus visit would be finalized in the coming days. The White House said Trump told Netanyahu that peace with the Palestinians can only be negotiated directly between the two parties and that the U.S. will work closely with Israel on that goal. Trump also affirmed his unprecedented commitment to Israels security and his administrations focus on countering terrorism, the White House added. With Trump signaling a more tolerant approach toward the much-maligned settlement movement, Israels nationalist right now believes it has an ally in the White House, and Israeli hard-line leaders make no secret they will push for aggressive action in the occupied West Bank. Education Minister Naftali Bennett, leader of the pro-settlement Jewish Home Party, has been pushing Netanyahu to abandon the internationally backed idea of a Palestinian state and to annex the Maaleh Adumim settlement near Jerusalem. But after convening his Security Cabinet on Sunday, Netanyahu said his Cabinet ministers, including Bennett, had decided unanimously to delay action on the annexation plan until he goes to Washington to meet with Trump. In order to placate Bennett, Israeli media reports said Netanyahu had promised the ministers to clear the way for expanded settlement construction in east Jerusalem and in major West Bank settlement blocs that Israel hopes to keep under a future peace deal. Saying Arizonans are one accident away from financial ruin, state lawmakers want to force motorists to buy more insurance to pay for the deaths and injuries they cause to others. Sen. Kate Brophy McGee, R-Phoenix, points out that existing law allows someone to drive a car or truck with insurance that pays for only $15,000 of liability for injuries to any one person in another vehicle they hit, and a total of $30,000 for all injuries and deaths out of the same incident. And their coverage for damages to the cars and other property of others can be as little as $10,000. That figure, she noted, has not been adjusted since 1972. Her SB 1111 would boost the minimum personal injury liability to $25,000 per person and $50,000 per incident, and require property damage coverage of $25,000. David Childers, lobbyist for the Property and Casualty Insurers Association, figures the change will boost premiums for those now buying just the minimal coverage by about $80 a year. But Childers is opposed to the legislation. Childers said he fears that additional cost will cause more Arizonans to decide they just cant afford coverage and ignore the law, driving without insurance. And that, he said, would likely increase the current 10.6 percent of motorists who are driving bare. Those arguments failed to sway not only Brophy McGee. Childers had no better luck convincing members of a special legislative committee that studied the issue last year and recommended the coverage limits that she incorporated into SB 1111. The debate comes down to the question of what role the state needs to play in ensuring that those who are injured by the negligence of others have the resources to cover the damage they cause. Medical costs are higher, she said, saying $15,000 does not go far in the case of a serious injury. And that doesnt even count the cost of totaling someone elses vehicle. Brophy McGee pointed out that most vehicles cost far more than the $10,000 minimum coverage. Its like that commercial you see: What are you going to do, drive three-quarters of a car? she asked. And its not just the damage to someone elses car. There also are costs to the state. The task force report says that during the last three years, the state Department of Transportation incurred $16 million in damages to guardrails, signs and other property. Of that total, about $6 million was unrecoverable, mostly because motorists had insufficient insurance, though some of that was due to uninsured motorists. CASCADING PROBLEMS But Brophy McGee said her main concern is what happens to those who are in accidents that are the fault of others. And she said she has heard too many stories of cascading problems. The car got totaled, the medical bills piled up, they lost their job, Brophy McGee said. They thought they were protected, she said. They werent. That applies both to the person who was injured and depending on the other partys insurance to the party at fault who, after the insurance coverage is exhausted, is personally liable. Brophy McGee said shes not blaming those who buy the bare minimum required by law rather than opting for more expansive and expensive coverage. People think because thats the limit thats set in statute, thats going to protect them, she explained. So they dont feel the obligation or the understanding of the necessity of buying more, Brophy McGee continued. At the end of the day its one catastrophic accident where your car gets totaled and you get hurt, or even if its just your car gets totaled, thats a bad time to realize youre not covered enough. Childers does not see it that way. Our view is the minimum financial responsibility requirements are fine where they are, he said, saying the current 10.6 percent of people who drive without insurance is a good status quo in this state. But the task force report cites information from the Insurance Information Institute that puts Arizona in the minority among state insurance requirements. That report finds that 30 states already have the proposed $25,000/$50,000 liability coverage that is being pushed in Brophy McGees legislation. By contrast, just six other states have the current $15,000/$30,000 coverage now required under Arizona law. Task force member Kenneth Silverman said he wasnt buying Childers assertion that the additional cost will result in a jump in the number of Arizonans who choose not to buy insurance. Eighty dollars a year might ruin your day, he said during a committee hearing. But its not going to ruin your life. Childers disagreed. While it may not ruin their life, it may cause certain individuals to say, You know what? I was on the edge in terms of buying insurance anyway, Im just not going to buy it now, he argued. But former Rep. Bob Robson, R-Chandler, who used to own an insurance agency, sniffed at that argument. Lets put it in the real world, he said. I get a notice every six months from my carrier my rates are going up, Robson said, even without increasing coverage. You could be driving them away any time you want to. And Robson said the arguments against higher liability limits ignore the other side of the equation. He pointed out that Arizona motorists have the option to purchase underinsured motorist coverage, designed to make up the financial difference between the resources of the other at-fault driver and the actual damages. Robson said if motorists are required to buy more liability coverage, then the cost for underinsured motorist protection should go down. Tucson Desert Song Festival went from Brahms to Bernadette in its opening weekend. The Tucson Symphony Orchestra and TSO Chorus performed Brahms's "A German Requiem" Friday night. And on Saturday night, Bernadette Peters brought a little vintage starlet pizzaz to the 19-day event that continues through Feb. 5. Wearing a glittery lavender spaghetti-strapped gown and impossibly high heels, the veteran star of screen and stage danced and sang her way through a 90-minute concert that dipped into her Hollywood and Broadway lives. The show was reminiscent of a classic Broadway revue, singing and dancing with a little comedy quips about Tucson's chilly weather, plugs for a house she apparently is selling sprinkled in that delighted the near full UA Presents house at Centennial Hall. In a voice that might not have hit the highest of the high notes and seemed to fade once or twice at the lower register, Peters performed songs she sang and songs she wished she'd sung from her Broadway resume including "Let Me Entertain You" from "Gypsy"; "No One is Truly Alone" from "Into the Woods"; and "There Is Nothing Like A Dame" from "South Pacific." During "Dame," Peters, performing with the energy and sex appeal of a woman half her 68 years, walked down the three or so steps from the stage into the audience. She shimmied along until she stopped at an unsuspecting man a few rows from the stage. "You didn't think I was going to pick you, did you?" she asked, and although we couldn't see his face, we imagine from her reaction that he blushed. Peters got a musical assist from her longtime pianist/music director Marvin Laird and a 10-piece chamber orchestra that included eight Tucson Symphony Orchestra players, each of whom she introduced and acknowledged from the the stage before segueing from Broadway to Hollywood. A highlight of that set was a song from the Amazon TV series "Mozart in the Jungle" she plays the orchestra's manager and a handful of songs from her favorite composers Rogers and Hammerstein, and Stephen Sondheim. At the end of the night, Peters turned her attention to her passion for animals. She said the Southern Arizona Humane Society had joined her effort to find homes for shelter dogs and she had pledged to give them a donation. She also sang "Kramer's Song," which she wrote for her dog as part of her self-penned children's book. She was selling the book and her CDs in the Centennial Hall lobby after the show. Despair, deep, dark, quaking, defines the abandoned town of La Esquinita. Still, life springs up between the cracks in the concrete and behind the abandoned tire plant. Even in this town, the setting of Arizona Theatre Companys latest offering, La Esquinita, USA, even in the desperation of no jobs, lots of drugs, and lost dreams, hope blossoms. Thats the power of this piece, written and performed by Ruben C. Gonzalez. There is so much ugliness in La Esquinita, but with a little encouragement, beauty can be found. And nurtured. The fictional La Esquinita is in Anywhere, USA. The Thompson Tire Factory established the town when it moved west, luring its mostly black and brown workers with the promise of jobs and houses and a rich, full life. The promises came through. Until the company moved its operations to China a few years later and abandoned the town and its people. Whats left but drugs, crime, hunger? Gonzalez introduces us to close to a dozen characters in this desolate place, playing each with distinction and heart. Lencho is the narrator, who leads us through the story about Daniel, in pain as he comes off crystal meth and panicking because he doesnt have the money to pay his supplier. Daniel is in his late teens and is seriously broken by a life that offers little. His one hope: to join the Marines, like his brother. Of course, his brother died in the war, but, at least, he went out in a blaze of glory. We get to know Daniel and a few of the other townsfolk, as well: Theres Sunshine, a palsied bag lady who longs to bring what people are left in the town to the empty factory, where they can eat and dance together. And Skinny Black, who is particularly adept at evading the police. Another: The barber who lost a leg in Vietnam, but finds a joy in giving a haircut, shave and sage advice. And theres Daniels girlfriend, who refuses to give up on him, and offers some salvation. This is not a trumped-up look-everything-is-bad-but-well-make-it-good show. The loss of hope hangs heavy in this play, thanks to Gonzalezs seamless characterizations and poetic writing. But through the darkness, we see some light. The ending is ambiguous. Thats by design. And so we get to come to our own conclusions. Mine? Theres much work to be done, but it can be fixed. The town will likely never blossom again, but the people in it have a chance to. Kinan Valdez directed this piece, setting it on a stage packed with old tires, a bus bench with graffiti scrawled on it, and a massive chain link fence that surrounds the abandoned factory. That fence is a constant reminder that Daniel and the town are stuck in a prison that they must find an escape from if they are to survive. And thrive. Gonzalez is a powerful presence. His play, packed with enough humor to make the tragedy palpable, is powerful, as well. And the message seems so right for today: Fight, believe, act, be kind and open, and hope will live again. We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some Jan. 22 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. For the second time in three weeks, Tucson police are investigating a vandalism incident at Pueblo High School, officials said. At least two classrooms were vandalized during the break-in, which happened Friday night, according to a post on Tucson Unified School District's Facebook page. Few details are available at this time, as the investigation is in the early stages. In response to the incident, TUSD Superintendent H.T. Sanchez personally offered a $1,000 reward to anyone who can provide information leading to an arrest. We are disappointed that vandals continue to disrupt education for our Pueblo community," Sanchez said in the post. Pueblo sustained nearly $1 million in damage during the Jan. 3 break-in, with three science classrooms still closed due to chemical contamination and fire damage, the post said. It's unknown at this time if the two incidents are related, but additional security has already been added to Pueblo's campus. Tax breaks and economic benefits. Conflicts of interest. A Science Commission and a Citizens Committee. Neonicotinoids and BT toxins. Honeybees and ladybugs. These and many other topics came up at a public meeting Wednesday night on Monsanto Corp.s request for support from Pima County to obtain a U.S. foreign trade zone designation for its planned Avra Valley greenhouse to grow corn. For three hours, numerous residents grilled county and Monsanto officials about the greenhouse, its potential environmental impacts and the related financial issues. On Feb. 21, the Pima County Board of Supervisors will vote on whether to send the federal government a letter saying it has no objection to the trade zone designation, which would lower Monsantos property tax bill. Here are some of the questions posed at the meeting and answered by county and Monsanto officials. First are questions from audience members to Patrick Cavanaugh, Pima Countys deputy economic development director, followed by Cavanaughs answers: Q. If this were to happen, Monsanto would pay lower taxes. What positive tradeoff would come to Tucson and Pima County from that? A: We see the foreign trade zone as a business attraction that we can offer. Companies that have export and import components, we want to see them located here. (The benefits include) jobs, and about $100 million worth of capital investment. It affects the tax base in Pima County. Monsanto would be the biggest property taxpayer in Marana Unified School District. ... There would be more money coming in. You expand the tax base and theres less demand for higher taxes and more money for governments to use. Q. Does this open the door to more Monsanto development with the same tax advantages? A: Yes, if they decide and build and manufacture on the acreage there, they get lower taxes there. Q. Would this right transfer to a different owner if Monsanto sells the land? A: They would have to go through the entire process with Sun Corridor Inc., the federal grantee that administers the foreign trade zone in Pima County. Q. What is the process by which members of the countys Monsanto Science Commission and Citizens Commission will be chosen? A. They have been chosen. That was done by county administration. The way we approached it (with the Science Commission), we wanted to have specific categories. ... You have areas such as plant biology, public health, ethnobotany, toxicology. We tried to find experts in those areas. They are drawn from the UA, where scientists and researchers are. The Community Committee we proposed is on hold until we get the Board of Supervisors decision (on whether to send a letter of no objection on Monsantos foreign trade zone designation to the federal government). Q. Is the Science Commission empowered to order independent tests of the effects of Monsanto activity on air, human health and soil? A. We did require that Monsanto block out a specific amount of money for independent studies to be done through the UA. Q. If the Board of Supervisors doesnt approve sending the letter of no objection to the federal government, does that kill Monsantos FTZ application and its property tax break? A. We have kind of a mixed bag. We have Marana Unified School District that has voted to go with a letter of no objection. JTED voted for no objection. Pima Community College is up in the air; its board voted earlier not to approve a letter of no objection. Pima County is up in the air. With that mixed bag, we cant predict what they (the feds) are going to do. ... Its a nebulous process. Q. County Supervisor Richard Elias has requested a memo about the financial interests that the Agricultural Science Advisory Commission might have. When will the public see that? A. It will be addressed in advance of the meeting of the commission. ... Certainly, UA has a very robust conflict-of-interest section. I assure you that we will be looking at that from the Pima County side. Q. We cant stop the Monsanto project from happening at this point? A. Theres nothing in our toolbox that would stop a legally incorporated company from doing legal activity on private property they purchased. *** Here are questions posed by audience members at the public meeting, and answers from Amanda McClerren, Monsantos strategic lead official on the Avra Valley greenhouse, and Kyle Smith, a leader in Monsantos breeding activities: Q. Do you plan to use BT technology and beneficial insects like ladybugs in the greenhouse? (BT is a controversial, natural soil bacterium, engineered into Monsantos genetically modified cotton and corn, containing a toxin that kills some insects). A. Half of what we grow would be GMO. Half would be conventional. The GMO corn might use BT traits. Q. What bugs are you targeting? A. Whiteflies and thrips (small insects that feed on and can damage plants). Q. You dont want to hurt the ladybugs? A. They are friends. Q. There are a few studies that point to a BT toxin leading to increased mortality in ladybugs. It sounds nice to bring ladybugs into the greenhouse, but isnt it a problem when research points to harm by BT commercial corn? A. Im not familiar with your studies. Im willing to take a look at it. We dont want to hurt ladybugs. Q. Will the corn seed you use be coated or treated with neonicotinoids? (They are a class of insecticides that feed on sap-feeding insects, sparking scientific debate over whether they harm honeybees). A. I think at this time, we dont have plans to use any seed treatments. Q. What herbicides are you working with? A. It would depend on the type of weed we identify. I dont know what kind. We dont plan to use herbicides much if at all. Q. You call yourself a seed company. Are you in the process of buying up other seed companies? A. Monsanto got into the seed business in the late 90s and early 2000s. ... Thats when the bulk of seed company purchases were made. Q: From what I read, I get the impression Monsanto could end up with a monopoly on seeds. I dont really have statistics. If a farmer wants to use your seeds, they have to buy new seeds every year. Its not like they save the seeds and theyre replanted. A. It depends on if the seed is patented. Then, the federal patent law would apply. That means the farmer would need to purchase the technology. ... There are about 200 seed companies in the U.S. I have to follow up to get statistics on how many of them Monsanto owns. Q. I imagine greenhouses will get to 200 degrees in the summer. Obviously, youll have air conditioning. Will the power for the greenhouse come from solar? A. Its coming from electric. Were also evaluating the opportunity to take advantage of solar as well. One thing I learned, it costs more in energy to light than it does to cool. Thats one reason Pima County was selected. The quality of light is the highest in the world. It was a strategic tradeoff to be more energy-conscious and reduce the amount of lighting we need. Q. Id like to send a strong message to Monsanto that there is also a great solar industry here. With climate change affecting this world, to reduce fossil fuel use would be great. A. We are using multiple layers of retractable shade. The corn plant only needs a certain amount of sunlight. Shade on the exterior, that is one way we will cut down on fossil-fuel use. Q. You never mentioned the fact that your goal in this project is to make as much money as possible. Its capitalism. A. The focus of this project is to deliver better products faster. If you do that, it creates value. We grow our company. We share our value with our customers. Braving 50-degree temperatures and short bouts of icy rain, 15,000 people hit the streets of downtown Tucson Saturday morning for the local version of the Womens March on Washington. Despite the name, a good portion of the crowd was also made up of men, and children of all ages were bundled up to experience the Womens March in Tucson and Tucson Solidarity Rally with their families and friends. This is one moment in time. Let us celebrate this moment, Sheli Weis said to the crowd of thousands gathered in Armory Park shortly after 10 a.m. This day is not about a revolution, but rather an evolution of humanity. Weis is one of 150 volunteers who helped to plan the event, organized to give Tucsonans a way to stand in solidarity with those marching in Washington to protect the rights, safety, health and happiness of every person. Be involved in the process, Weis said, urging attendees to keep apprised of the news, watch the actions of elected officials and learn about laws and bills, both locally and nationally. With his daughter at the march in Washington, his sister at the Denver march and his wife by his side, Mayor Jonathan Rothschild took to the stage a short time later, telling the crowd, I wouldnt miss this for the world. Rothschild said the city has taken the position for years that it wont participate in mass deportations and will continue to stand firm on the issue. If in the near future, someone seeks to impose legislation nationally, the city will join with others to oppose those measures, he said, drawing loud cheers . Quoting an article from a political website, The Hill, Rothschild outlined some of the cuts announced to the federal budget, including privatizing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for Humanities. When he mentioned that the White Houses website no longer had any reference to climate change, and that huge sections about civil rights, disabilities and LGBTQ rights had been removed, the crowd momentarily erupted into angry cries. We need to be united, because the people pushing this budget are counting on us to be divided, he said, adding that the programs that are threatened are ones that make America great. Holding a sign that said Girls just want to have fundamental rights, Naomi McIsaac came to the rally with a group of friends and family, many with children in tow. I came to stand in solidarity with the women in the Washington march, McIsaac, 35, said. Im a firm believer that womens rights are humans rights. Her son was bundled up in a stroller at her side, and, not to be left out, he had a sign of his own: Another face of a Planned Parenthood. McIsaac said that shed attended a sign-making party the weekend before with about 10 other people, all of whom were equally fired up about the event. Hundreds of other signs were visible in the crowd, with messages such as, Make America Think Again and I am woman, hear me roar. Michael Johnson, 51, one the men at the event, held a sign that read This is what feminism looks like. He said he came alone, but was happy to see so many other men had the same idea . Its so important to stand together, now more than ever, Johnson said. Its not just about womens rights, its about rights for everyone. Going forward, we all need to support one another, and thats what today is about. By the time the march kicked off at 11:30 a.m., organizers estimated the crowd size at 5,000 people. But attendees continued to arrive well after the march began, many heading straight to the Joel D. Valdez Library Plaza for the post-march solidarity rally. Desert Voices, Tucsons LGBTQ chorus, welcomed people into the plaza with a song, before a second lineup of speakers, including Congressman Raul Grijalva, took the stage. A handful of other local politicians and several organizations, including Planned Parenthood, YWCA Southern Arizona, The Islamic Center of Tucson and La Coalicion de Derechos Humanos, made up the remaining speakers at the pre- and post-march rallies, all touching on the importance of unity and respect. The Tucson Police Department estimated that by the end of the event, 15,000 people had filled the plaza. There were no incidents and no arrests, said department spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Bay. The Arizona Department of Public Safety estimated there were 20,000 people at a similar rally in Phoenix and said the event was peaceful. In Green Valley, another rally drew more than 500 people, said resident Beth Dingman. We are all so incredibly proud of Tucson people of every age, race, gender and religion came out today and made their voice heard, co-organizer Shauna Anderson said after the Tucson event. We were blessed with a peaceful demonstration of our values and our solidarity, she said Hours after the marchers left Armory Park, participants were still pouring into the library plaza, even as others had started to leave. A father and his pre-teen daughter walked against the crowd, making their way back to their car. Dad, that was so great, the girl said, the excitement in her voice unmistakable. He looked down at her with a smile. Well, Im glad you enjoyed it, he said, taking her hand as they crossed the street. Until she got health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, Tucson real estate broker Jennie James routinely spent $12,000 per year in health bills related to the chronic illness shes had since childhood. The coverage shes been able to get through the federal marketplace since 2014 has saved her thousands of dollars, and for the first time in her adult life, given her some peace of mind about her health care. James, 37, is one of many Southern Arizonans who say theyre terrified about what might happen if the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is repealed. The 2010 law has received well-publicized criticism for premium increases, a lack of plan choices and for its individual mandate provision that all Americans have health insurance. But it has also had positive effects. Like a lot of Americans, James does not think the Affordable Care Act is perfect. Shed prefer a Medicare-for-all system that gives all Americans equal access to coverage. But she knows that the act, also known as Obamacare, is better than any alternative shes experienced. The ACA was not perfect, but it saved my life and made sure I didnt go bankrupt due to health issues, said James, who is president-elect of the Tucson Womens Council of Realtors and a director with the Tucson Association of Realtors. I dont know what I will do once it is repealed. The options are scary and expensive. James has had Type 1 diabetes since she was 13. Last year, she was unexpectedly hit with another big health expense when she was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. Even with two illnesses to manage, her out-of-pocket expenses were still lower than they were before the ACA. Also, because of protections in the law, she stopped worrying about being dropped or denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. I was more depressed after the (presidential) election than I was after my breast cancer surgery, she said. I will need another surgery in a few months, but I dont know whether I will still have insurance. And its not for a lack of trying. James has been regularly calling and emailing her congressional representatives Republicans Sen. John McCain and Rep. Martha McSally since the election. She says shes not getting answers from either. I have asked what his plan is since he doesnt like the Affordable Care Act, and asked how is he going to help me? James said of McCain. Each time I get a canned response from him that just says that he doesnt like the Affordable Care Act and is working to repeal it. None of my questions are ever answered, and that response, which I have gotten several times, is basically a slap in the face and shows that he does not care about me at all. McCain emailed a written response to the Stars questions about what Tucsonans like James should expect. He did not describe a replacement plan. He said he is committed to ensuring Arizona families have access to quality, affordable and accessible health care something theyve been denied under the ACA, he wrote. He pointed out that in Arizona, nearly every county has just one option on the health-insurance marketplace, and that premiums have gone up. The marketplace is the exchange where Arizonans can purchase private health insurance and qualify for federal subsidies to help pay for it. This law, which was jammed through Congress by Democrats on a strict, party-line vote, continues to crumble across our state, McCain wrote. Unless we implement an alternative, the unraveling of Obamacare will only get worse. Thats why Im committed to working with my colleagues and the incoming administration to replace Obamacare with a solution that delivers every American access to the flexible, quality and affordable health care they need. McSally responds McSallys office also emailed a statement, saying Southern Arizonans deserve access to affordable, quality care but that Obamacare was flawed from the beginning and is collapsing under its own weight. She, too, cited rising premium costs for Arizonans on the federal marketplace. Like many Ive spoken to in Southern Arizona, I have concerns about providing for the transition to a better health care system, and throughout last week, I engaged with House leadership and my colleagues to voice and address those concerns, McSally wrote. As we move forward, my focus will be on providing continuity and certainty for my constituents to ensure they have access to the health care they need during this transition. The Affordable Care Act was not just about premium costs on the marketplace, though thats what the laws critics often focus on. Among other things, it prevented insurance companies from denying people coverage because of pre-existing conditions; it implemented safety measures that included penalizing hospitals with high rates of patient injuries and infections; and it allowed young adults to stay on their parents health insurance until age 26. Federal health officials say the law has actually slowed the growth of health-care costs. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a report Tuesday that said eliminating the laws individual insurance mandate and marketplace subsidies in two steps would leave 18 million Americans without insurance after one year. That number would jump to 32 million by 2026, the report says. The report also says under that scenario, premium rates would go up by 20 to 25 percent more than the projections of premium rate increases under current law. McSally spokesman Patrick Ptak emphasized in an email that her vote Jan. 13 did not repeal Obamacare. Rather, it included instructions to guide the legislative process to repeal and replace the failing Affordable Care Act. Rep. McSally will thoughtfully consider each step of this process as it comes before the House with a focus on ensuring continuity and certainty for her constituents, Ptak wrote. Id be dead Tucson resident Mark Morrow says that if it wasnt for the ACA, hed be dead. Hed been in private practice as a lawyer when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer eight years ago, and continued working until he got too sick. Hes now 63 and his cancer is advanced. Before the ACA, Morrow had insurance with a $1 million lifetime cap, which means once the insurance company had paid $1 million for his care, it would stop paying. The ACA ended the caps, which was fortunate for Morrow. He says his care has cost more than $2 million. Hes on a silver-level health plan from Ambetter by Health Net that costs $137 per month he gets a federal subsidy and has a deductible of $600 and an out-of-pocket spending maximum of $2,200. Pima County residents had almost no choice of plans on this years federal marketplace. Banner Health is not considered in-network for the Ambetter plans, but Morrow successfully filed a continuation of care request since all his cancer care has been with Banner. Ambetter is covering his care there. The upcoming repeal of the Affordable Care Act and its so-called replacement is going to determine whether I, brothers, sisters, parents and children live or die as a direct result of this vote, not cancer, Morrow wrote in a recent letter to members of Arizonas congressional delegation. I have always paid for health insurance for 40 years. I have paid for employees. I never had any serious illness nor used much in coverage until my diagnosis. Now I need it. Like others, Morrow says Obamacare has flaws. But he wonders why Congress cant just correct those imperfections. Its unforgivable where we are at, he said. We should be on a single-payer system. ... Of course they are not perfect, but they work pretty well. Here in the U.S. we just cant get over the hurdle of the drug folks and the insurance companies. Its ludicrous. Morrow says he wants to get older, to live into his 70s. When he was diagnosed eight years ago, the chemo drug hes on now didnt even exist. Medical advances like that give him hope. Ive said to my doctor, I want to be that guy who is the first to overcome this. Were going to have a cure, he said. Then all of a sudden I find out my right to continue on my journey, to have time with my grandchildren, might go away? Why is our own government doing this to us? Just the beginning During last Sundays rain, about 50 Tucsonans stood in front of Banner-University Medical Center Tucson in a mock wake to mourn efforts to repeal the ACA and to denounce for-profit health care. This is just the beginning, said Lee Stanfield, a retired social worker who participated. Stanfield noted the ACA lowered her Medicare costs by giving a discount on prescription drugs to beneficiaries who fall into the so-called Medicare Part D doughnut hole, which is a coverage gap for prescription-drug expenses. The ACA has been on track to completely phase out the doughnut hole by 2020. I consider everyone to be benefiting from the Affordable Care Act, said Carol Fiore, a Tucson writer in her 50s who demonstrated alongside Stanfield. When my husband died, my kids and I lost our insurance and getting insurance after that was always a fight. Fiore said that for years she couldnt get adequate coverage because shed had skin cancer. Her coverage also didnt pay for preventive care. Now shes on a Cigna plan for $600 per month and the company isnt allowed to deny her coverage because of her past skin cancer. Plus, her preventive checkups are free. Set the bar higher U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, a Tucson Democrat, spent Wednesday morning with health providers at El Rio Community Health Center, listening to their concerns about a possible ACA repeal. They talked about the joy of seeing families get insured, about the laws positive integration of behavioral and primary care and of the ways it improved access to providers. Grijalva said its important to agitate members of Congress who might not understand the positive aspects of the ACA, and to tell human stories. He also heard about the laws shortfalls, among them the still-high uninsured rate among Arizona Latinos and the limited choices for Arizonans who purchase their insurance on the marketplace. We can vigorously defend what we have, but I think we can set the bar a little higher and talk about what it should be, Grijalva said of the law. While many demonstrations around the country have called for a Medicare-for-all single-payer system as an alternative to the ACA, that route has many critics who say it wouldnt work in a large country like the United States. I think we can do better than the Canadian system, health-policy expert and University of Arizona professor Dr. Daniel Derksen said. People like choices, and competition makes the system work better one plan (single payer) will not meet everyones needs. Derksen said it would help to have the marketplaces put out bids for insurers, who would hold contracts for three to five years similar to what the U.S. Department of Defense does with its Tricare insurance program, and what the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) does for the states Medicaid program. Multi-year, multi-state approaches could help reduce the risk for insurers while providing more options for consumers, he said. People dont understand When the Star talked to the Chandler family in 2013, right before the ACAs marketplace for insurance opened up, they had no concept of what the law meant. I didnt understand it. No one did, Danielle Chandler said last week. I learned a lot, but when I talk to people now, my biggest thing is that even now, people dont understand what the ACA does. In 2013 the family was uninsured and had thousands of dollars in medical bills because of daughter Kaylas unexpected illness a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis. Before that, the family had been gambling on not getting sick. At the time, Danielle was working on contract and her husband was unemployed. Theyd applied for Medicaid, a government insurance program for low-income people, but Danielles $33,000 annual salary at the time was too high to qualify. Things have since changed for the better. Danielle, 47, is now a full-time employee with the U.S. Postal Service with excellent employer-sponsored health coverage for the family. Husband William, also 47, is a Sun Tran bus driver, and daughter Kayla, 16, is a junior at University High School . Though shes got employer-sponsored insurance, Danielle worries constantly about an ACA repeal. Two of the laws major provisions are key to Kayla's future the prohibition against denying coverage to someone with a pre-existing condition and keeping kids on their parents insurance until age 26. Shes got to have a colonoscopy every five years for the rest of her life, Danielle said. We are still paying off the medical bills from when we were uninsured. Danielle said that had she not been able to get insurance through her employer, the family was set to get insurance through the marketplace. I am very nervous for Kaylas future, Danielle said. I need to know Real estate broker James and her mother, former Arizona legislator Sue Wachter, estimate that since 1993 theyve spent about $90,000 out of pocket managing James Type 1 diabetes and James has always had insurance. But shes often had insurance that was far from ideal, and her pre-existing condition made better coverage prohibitively expensive. Before the ACA, she was quoted $800 per month for health coverage. The marketplace plan she has now is an Ambetter gold-level plan that costs $450 per month and has a deductible of $1,400. Since shes had to cut back on her work hours because of illness, James qualified for a federal subsidy that knocks her monthly premiums down to $310. James and Wachter continue to call and email Arizonas congressional delegation. Every time she calls, Wachter asks for a copy of an Obamacare replacement plan. She said she has never received anything back. James hasnt had any satisfactory answers, either. Will my coverage end immediately? I need to know. BEIRUT, LEBANON (12:30 P.M.) - The jihadist rebels of Jund Al-Aqsa (Al-Qaeda franchise) and Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham clashed again in the Idlib Governorate, marking the end of this brief period of peace. According to local rebel activists, Jund Al-Aqsa carried out a surprise attack in the Jabal Al-Zawiyah area of rural Idlib on Friday, targeting a Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham prison that was holding 13 of their members. Jund Al-Aqsa's surprise attack on this prison paid off, as they managed to free 13 of their members while also seizing a large cache of weapons from Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham in the village of Qaminas. These two rebel factions are no strangers to infighting, as they both have engaged in their share of attacks against one another in both Idlib and Hama. (Reported in Al Masdar News on 20 Jan) Release No: NR-019-17 Jan. 20, 2017 U.S. manned and unmanned aircraft conducted a precision air strike Jan. 19 against an al-Qaida training camp in Idlib Province, Syria. More than 100 al-Qaida fighters were killed in the strike. The Shaykh Sulayman Training Camp was operational since at least 2013. The removal of this training camp disrupts training operations and discourages hardline Islamist and Syrian opposition groups from joining or cooperating with al-Qaida on the battlefield. U.S. strikes have killed more than 150 al-Qaida terrorists since Jan. 1. These strikes include the removal of Mohammad Habib Boussadoun al-Tunisi, an external operations leader, on Jan. 17; Abd al-Jalil al-Muslimi, a facilitator associated with a network plotting terror attacks in the west, on Jan. 12; and Abu Hasan al-Taftanaz, an al-Qaida senior leader, on Jan. 6. These strikes, conducted in quick succession, degrade al-Qaida's capabilities, weaken their resolve, and cause confusion in their ranks. (official DOD press release) Seems the growing pool of jihadis around Idlib are suffering from the dual effects of multi-culti overcrowding of different groups in too small an area and the loss of their sugar daddies. Thats enough to make anybody testy. Good. Let the bastards soften themselves up with all this infighting before the R+6 must inevitably deal with them. Whats happening in Idlib now brought to mind one of the scenarios Colonel Land and I bandied about when we were developing the last war game. On the heels of the liberation of Aleppo, the Russian 45th Detached Reconnaissance Brigade received orders to prepare for deployment to Syria. A few days before Christmas and augmented with Hizbullah commando units its teams were inserted by ground infiltration, airdrop and helicopter insertion to conduct reconnaissance of the area north of Idlib to include the Kafriya/al-Fou'ah pocket and the Taftanaz Military Airfield. Within days of their arrival on target, these Spetznaz and Hibzullah teams began targeting jihadi leadership in surrounding towns along with ATGM launchers and ammo stores. These attacks simulated a pattern of inter-group fighting among the jihadis through targeted killings, raids and ambushes. The locations of AA launchers and missiles were provided through GRU cooperation/penetration of Turkish suppliers. After the murder of Ambassador Karlov, Erdogan has quietly slowed the resupply of the Idlib rebels/jihadis and has deftly hampered the efforts of NATO and the Gulfies to effectively reorganize the rebels. It seems the Russians can be quite persuasive and know the value of discreet diplomacy. They are also masters of maskirovka. Russian and Syrian media outlets play up the apparent disunity and in-fighting among the Idlib rebels and attribute the increasing assassinations and attacks to that in-fighting. (from an email between TTG and Turcopolier) Developing this stuff was fun. It was so much fun, I went down to the cellar and dug my web gear out of my old rucksack. I fondled it and, just for a moment, wished to be a young man again. In this scenario, the boyos from the 45th were the invisible hand behind the growing jihadi distress and infighting among the Idlib jihadis. Thats probably not happening in Idlib today, but who knows. A man can dream, cant he? Im sure most of you heard about the nine IS jihadis who were rendered unconscious and killed by unknown assailants in the village of Hatleh outside Deir az-Zor on 19 Jan. In the nearby towns of al-Mayadeen and al-Ashareh,the locals stormed several IS centers and set them on fire. Whether this is a sign of popular uprisings against the jihadis or the result of some invisible hand gently nudging from behind, this is a damned good turn of events. DOL TTG Help India! By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net Advancement in communication technologies have brought the world closer but technologies like FaceTime to Facebook Live is no replacement for the actual face to face interaction. Hence it is no surprise that people still suffer through harassment of getting visas, spend several thousands of dollars of their money, and suffer the humiliation of security procedures to travel long distances in uncomfortable airline seats to visit their family and friends in person. Even with uncomfortable airline seats and increasingly reduced amenities by airlines, we still expect some commitments from them in taking us safely one place to another. Support TwoCircles Ruchi Kapoor, has been living and working as an HR professional in Qatar for two years. Like any child, you want your parents to come visit you and see how you have established yourself in life. She wanted her 70-year old father Ramesh Kumar Bhandari to visit her in Doha, Qatar. She booked the flight for October 31st, 2016. He traveled from Bijnore to Delhi to embark on his journey to Qatar. Airline officials stopped him from boarding as they said that his passport picture is not clear enough. He had to go back to Bijnore and subsequently applied for a new passport. Ruchi booked the ticket again to travel on December 16, 2016 on Jet Airways. She sent an email to the airline on November 28, 2016 requesting wheelchair assistance in Delhi and Doha airport. Lets remind ourselves that Mr. Bhandari is a 70-year old senior citizen. Talking to TwoCircles.net Ruchi said that her father is diabetic and also suffers from hypertension. Her request for wheelchairs was confirmed by Jet Airways. @jetairways @SushmaSwaraj its been 24 days my father is in ICU without any assistance from your end. Need an urgent response. pic.twitter.com/trmJWxDrq8 Ruchi (@ruchkapoor) January 20, 2017 Mr. Bhandari got the wheelchair in Delhi but when he landed in Doha there was no wheelchair for him. It was his first time flying the plane and first time outside India. Unable to find her father among the passengers exiting the immigration area, Ms. Kapoor called Jet Airways to enquire about her father. Jet officials informed her that the wheelchair that she requested was accidentally given to another passenger. It took three hours to locate Ramesh Bhandari in the airport and get him through the immigration process. Reunited at last, Ruchi Kapoor found her father in a state of shock. His feet were swollen because of his walking and standing for hours while trying to figure out the airport and his breathing was laborious, Ruchi told TwoCircles.net on the phone from the Qatari hospital where her father is admitted. They took him home and thought that he will be fine after resting at home but he never got better. Finally, they took him to the hospital on December 24th, 2016. He spent number of days at ICU where they finally stabilized him and sent him to the medical ward. But just four days later he was back in the ICU. Reason- heart attack. Ms. Kapoor said that he never had heart issue before. The stress of this ordeal has now pushed all his body to the limits. Ms. Kapoor is quiet worried for her father. He has been in the hospital, in and out of ICU, for about a month now. Naturally medical expenses are going to be huge. She wants Jet Airways to accept their responsibility and take care of medical needs of her father till he becomes well. TCN was unable to reach Jet Airways officials but Ms. Kapoor said that after sending a detailed complaint letter to Jet Airways headquarters in Mumbai over ten days ago and also asking them several times over twitter, finally she was able to speak to someone from the airline yesterday. But alas, all they can promise that when Mr. Bhandari is ready to fly back they will upgrade him to business class. This begs the question, does the airline responsibility ends when we land at our destination? Who is responsible for the health care cost of Mr. Bhandari? The airline ensures that visa and passports are in order before letting a passenger board, why dont they then also see the passengers through the process of immigration and baggage claim especially for those travelling the first time or people who need additional help? Jet Airways should do the right thing in this case. A worried daughter should not have to worry about the medical expenses as well. The new President of the United States, Donald Trump, was able to convince 45% of voting Americans to endorse him in his bid to reach the White House. The media throughout the electoral campaign portrayed his politics as populist and radical and yet it was on this platform that he won, so we decided to analyse why his policy proposals were so attractive to the American public. The good America is the only superpower in the world and although there are several other countries jostling for position, in terms of both military and economic power, the US is in a different league from its competitors. Despite this strength, the United States has often signed trade agreements which have benefited their trading partners rather than themselves which is unusual considering the fact that they are in the dominant position to dictate terms and get the best possible deal for themselves. Donald Trump has promised to reverse these trade arrangements and replace them with new deals which favour America, a policy which won over significant support from workers from a range of industries, from car manufacturers to steel workers, who felt that cheap imports were undercutting their produce and putting them out of work. The president has also vowed to slash corporation tax from 35% to 15%, which many Americans, who are more anti-tax than their European counterparts, have enthusiastically endorsed as a means of reviving the economy. Additionally, he has pledged a trillion dollars of government funds to improve America's crumbling infrastructure which will benefit the economy in the short and long term. The bad Throughout the election, Trump attacked China as the source of many of the economic problems which America was facing and promised to slap tariffs on Chinese goods. If such a policy sparks a trade war between the two countries, it could potentially trigger another global economic collapse. The Chinese economy has been stumbling as of late and the authorities within the country are desperately trying to have a controlled, paced economic slowdown, the outbreak of a trade war in a export-driven economy such as China could lead to the collapse of the country's economy. Whilst other political leaders are handling China with kid gloves, so as to avoid triggering a collapse, Trump is preparing for a brawl and could bring down the global economy in doing so. Trump has also expressed admiration for the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, who has been effectively shunned by other Western leaders. At the current time, Russia is not a functioning democracy, with political oppression of opposition groups, human rights abuses and illegal military action in Crimea and Syria. Many despots around the world, will look at Trump's relationship with Putin as a sign that the United States will no longer punish oppressive regimes, so long as they serve American interests. The ugly There are sure to be entire books published about this single heading in years to come, but for now we will summarise for the sake of brevity: calling Mexicans rapists and murderers, calling for a ban on Muslim immigration, insulted numerous women, been involved numerous law suits for his university and mocked the disabled. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Donald Trump's ascension to power has been his ability to commit such blunders and yet retain the support of millions of Americans, but there are millions more who are planning to protest, boycott, block and impede the president at every political turn, whether America will be able to function whilst a cold civil war occurs is a question to be answered in the coming months. On January 10, Barack Obama delivered a farewell speech - the traditional treatment, during which the outgoing US President is summing up his stay in office and proclaims a last farewell with American citizens. Obama's speech lasted more than 50 minutes; he hadn't enumerated his achievements but spoke a lot about the threats to be faced by the country in the coming years. Fewer numbers - more prospects Numbers linked with the economic growth during Obama's presidential term were not mentioned in his speech. Avoiding statistics and specifics, he emphasised the global and inner achievements of the country. "If I had told you eight years ago that America would reverse a great recession, reboot our auto industry, and unleash the longest stretch of job creation in our historyif I had told you that we would open up a new chapter with the Cuban people, shut down Irans nuclear weapons program without firing a shot, and take out the mastermind of 9/11if I had told you that we would win marriage equality, and secure the right to health insurance for another 20 million of our fellow citizens you might have said our sights were set a little too high"- Obama said. When Obama was sworn in January 2009, the US unemployment rate was the highest since 1983 - 9.9%, but at the end of his tenure, the percentage was 4.7%. Total 15.8 million jobs have been offered since the beginning of 2010. The US economy had recovered from the economic crisis and strengthened their social positions. But thats what we did. Thats what you did. You were the change. You answered peoples hopes, and because of you, by almost every measure, America is a better, stronger place than it was when we started. Threats to democracy and the United States Most of his speech, Obama devoted to social issues, which, in his opinion, America must solve next and listed the threats to prosperity and democracy of the United States. According to the president, these five threats: economic inequality, racial tension and polarisation of society, external threats and obsolescence of democratic institutions. In the speech itself, Obama asked Americans to be active and conscious citizens - and not only at election time. "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, grab a clipboard, get some signatures, and run for office yourself. Show up. Dive in. Persevere. Sometimes youll win. Sometimes youll lose." Obama spoke about the protection of cultural values of the American society and the world in general, appealing to the ideas of the United States and founding fathers', drawing attention to a number of problems with democracy in the country. The Head of State noted that the reevaluation of democracy and the neglecting of the laws leads to civil and international wars. External threats The main external threats Obama called terrorism and authoritarian regimes. They "represent fear of change; the fear of people who look or speak or pray differently; a contempt for the rule of law that holds leaders accountable; an intolerance of dissent and free thought." The threats to world order, according to Obama, are fanatics who claim to speak on behalf of Islam, and autocrats in foreign capitals, "who see free markets, open democracies, and civil society itself as a threat to their power." Almost nothing was said about Donald Trump Barack Obama mentioned only once the newly-elected US President - when speaking of the need to ensure peace and quiet transfer of power. trump criticism was present in the speech clandestinely, when Obama spoke of the need to fight for equality, condemned discrimination against Muslims, talked about ways to combat global warming in the United States or the future of health care reform. APA Group, one of japans biggest estate and hotel chains, has angered China with a denial of the 1937 Nanjing massacre, according to the Guardian. A book by Japan hotel causes the anger Earlier this week, a video shot by a student couple from New York University was posted on Chinese microblog Sina Weibo. In one of the APA hotels, they found a book titled "The Real History of Japan: Theoretical Modern History II," which claims that the logical things are being taught as history with an example of the massacre of 3000,000 people in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing. Toshio Motoya, founder of APA Group and writer of the book, pointed out that Chinese government distorted the historical facts of the Massacre in Nanjing when he wrote, "The population of Nanjing was almost 200,000 at that time". The video has been shared more than 720,000 times on Chinese social media. How Chinese react over APA hotels denial? The Global Times, one of Chinas official media outlets, conducted an online poll on whether to support China imposing a sanction on APA Group on behalf of the country or not. According to the latest result, more than 42,000 Chinese netizens agree with the idea of sanction, while only 20 percent of people hold an opposing view. An online civil group, Jiuvers, whose members are originally from Mainland China, decided to bombard APA hotels Facebook and Twitter account with comments on 20th January. But this activity is not directed against Japanese people as well as the friendship between the two nations, said an announcement on Jiuvers sina weibo. Although Chinese netizens expressed their anger against APA hotels denial of historical facts, there are other rational attitudes towards this event. A comment, which was posted by one Chinese social media user, has attracted the most likes below the video mentioned before on Sina Weibo. We should boycott the behavior of blatantly distorting facts, but we also show kindness and politeness to those Japanese enterprises and people who respect the basic historical facts. wrote by this user. Jingbo Xu, chief of the Japanese Asia News Agency, recently took part in a Japanese program debating over the APA hotel event. Many Chinese social media users left comments below my weibo page, saying that it is necessary to apart political issues from tourism, said Xu. What is the latest proceeding? Chinese Foreign Ministry and Chinas Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall strongly condemned APA hotels attitude towards the historical 1937 Nanjing massacre after the event was widely spread on Chinese social media. According to the source from Chinas official Xinhua news agency, Asia's 8th Asian Winter Games has requested APA Group to withdraw the controversial book from its guest rooms. The hotel, however, told NHK that they have yet to receive any formal request from the organizing committee. From the other side, some Chinese people attempt to boycott APA hotel with actions. A Chinese hotel in the Eastern city of Hangzhou announced that their guest rooms would be distributed with "The Diaries of John Rabe," a book written by a German Businessman who lived in Nanjing and witnessed how the massacre of Chinese civilians was launched by Japanese troops. Xiaomin Xie, CEO of this Chinese hotel, told The Paper.com that they intended to let foreign guests learn about the true history of Nanjing massacre. Every day we hotels welcome guests from different culture background and definitely won't distribute any biased books or outlets in guest rooms. APA hotel is breaking the general rules. said Xie. One of the biggest mysteries during the 2016 presidential campaign was whether or not Donald Trump would ever release his Tax returns. Just two days after being sworn into office as the new president, Trump might see his financial information leaked to the public at the hands of Wikileaks. Wikileaks on Trump WikiLeaks, led by Julian Assange, became a household name back in 2010 when they helped leaked footage from the Iraq War, most notably an airstrike in Baghdad that killed several Iraqi journalists. Recently, WikiLeaks had its presence felt during the election when they released private email documents from John Podesta, then chair of the Hillary Clinton campaign. During this time, Donald Trump and his supporters quickly fell in love with organization as it helped them gain an advantage of Clinton. While WikiLeaks has been viewed as a positive for Trump over the last year, that bond might soon be broken. As seen Twitter, and reported by The Hill, on January 22, WikiLeaks is now offering to release Trump's tax returns. Trump Counselor Kellyanne Conway stated today that Trump will not release his tax returns. Send them to: https://t.co/cLRcuIiQXz so we can. WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 22, 2017 On Sunday morning, Presidential Counsel Kellyanne Conway confirmed that Donald Trump has no intentions of releasing his tax returns, despite vowing to do so after a current audit was complete by the IRS. In response, WikiLeaks fired back. "Trump Counselor Kellyanne Conway stated today that Trump will not release his tax returns," WikiLeaks wrote on their Twitter account, before adding, "Send them to: https://wikileaks.org/#submit so we can." WikiLeaks offers to post Trump's tax returns https://t.co/dRl0M9uVA5 pic.twitter.com/Fjicr12Da8 The Hill (@thehill) January 22, 2017 In a follow-up tweet, the organization didn't hold back their thoughts of the former host of "The Apprentice," especially when it came to the secretive nature of his finances. "Trump's breach of promise over the release of his tax returns is even more gratuitous than (Hillary) Clinton concealing her Goldman Sachs transcripts," the message read. Moving forward While it's unknown if the tax returns will ever be made public, by Donald Trump or WikiLeaks, it's likely the new president won't be happy with the apparent threat. Trump has only been in office for two days, but has spent most of his time arguing over the size of the crowd at his inauguration, while pushing back at the Women's March that was attended by over 500,000 people in the nation's capital. The latest "General Hospital" spoilers discuss the relationship between Anna and Valentin. Anna Devaine and Valentin Cassadine have been linked recently on the show, with Anna's memories playing a bit part in their mysterious history. The two were formerly involved in spy training together for the WSB and now are once again around one another. What could their link be according to some recent "General Hospital" spoilers? Also, when will the newest episode of the soap opera air, since the latest "General Hospital" will not be on this Friday? Anna and Valentin's mysterious past During Thursday's dramatic "General Hospital" episode, Griffin became drunk at Maxie and Nathan's wedding reception. That led to Griffin confronting Valentin out on the terrace for the murder of Claudette. Valentin ends up getting the upper hand and beats up Griffin, with Anna bursting in. She slapped Valentin and called him a "thug," while referring to Griffin as a "good man." Anna continues to berate Valentin as "disgusting" for his behavior. This basically causes Valentin to stutter, telling her she always said that about him. As he cries out he was always invisible to her, Anna has a flashback memory, remembering that a stuttering man visited her room to celebrate her birthday with her and she refused him. In that flashback, Valentin was shown dressed in rags with a scarred face and a hunchback deformity. Revenge is a dish best served cold. pic.twitter.com/qxRmmbCucp General Hospital (@GeneralHospital) January 19, 2017 So what could this mean? Various soap opera websites are always coming up with interesting "General Hospital" spoilers to contemplate. One of the recent ones involving Anna and Valentin is that it's possible that the memories Anna is recovering involving a sexual assault relate to Valentin. The latest rumors for "GH" indicate that it's possible Valentin raped Anna back in her room when the two were training at the WSB academy together. At least that seems to be what Anna might believe, but it may not be the truth. In all reality, Valentin may have had a deep love for Anna and was heartbroken when they were involved at a younger age. New episode next week Due to Barack Obama leaving the White House this week, he held his final press conference on Wednesday, January 18, which caused the latest "GH" episode to be preempted. Unfortunately for fans, Friday will also see the show bumped from its time slot, as there will be an entire day of coverage of Donald Trump's Presidential Inauguration. However, "General Hospital" is expected to return with a brand new episode on Monday, January 23, 2017. Hopefully, fans will be able to see more of Anna's memories being recovered so she can really get to the bottom of Valentin's involvement with her in her past, and maybe move forward in the present? "GH" fans, what do you think will become of Anna and Valentin's relationship? What will Anna's memories uncover? US President Donald Trump takes the oath of office with his wife Melania and son Barron at his side, during his inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington, US, January 20, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] WASHINGTON -- Hours after inauguration, US President Donald Trump on Friday signed his first executive order, directing federal agencies to "ease the burden" of his predecessor Barack Obama's health care law, or Obamacare. White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus also sent out a memo to order all government agencies to immediately freeze regulations until further notified, according to White House spokesman Sean Spicer. Spicer said that the move was part of the transition to repeal and replace Obamacare, honoring one of Trump's major campaign promises. Obamacare, officially the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, has drawn criticism due to a rise in premiums. But the spokesman refused to provide details on the order, which was signed by Trump on his first day at the Oval Office. Trump was joined by Vice President Mike Pence and top advisers as he signed the executive order. Meanwhile, Trump signed confirmation papers for his picks for Defense Secretary James Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly. The Senate confirmed their nominations earlier Friday. Trump was sworn in as the 45th US President at an inauguration ceremony held Friday morning at Capitol Hill, overshadowed by occasional rain and violent protests. By Wang Linyan, Yuan Yuan in Washington, Amy He in New York and Lia Zhu in San Francisco | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2017-01-22 04:50 Madonna performs at the Women's March in Washington US, January 21, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] As Donald Trump was sworn in on Friday as the 45th president of the United States, thousands of protesters with various agendas lined the main streets of Washington along with Trump supporters. Along Pennsylvania Avenue, where the inaugural parade was to take place, people from across the country waited for Trump's arrival after he finished his inauguration speech and attended a luncheon with members of Congress and others at the Capitol. Matthew Berning, who came to Washington from Florida with his parents, said Trump's inauguration speech was "very impassioned", but "it didn't provide very many specifics". "When you say you will make America wealthy again, make America great again, you are providing very nice words, but they are basically platitudes, you don't provide a specific set of goals to achieve," said Berning, who said he voted for Gary Johnson, the Independent presidential candidate. "I think that it's a little bit soon to be assuming that he will actually be able to achieve these ends within his first four years. It is a very high objective to go for," he said. Berning's mother Carol, who is Trump supporter, said: "We can only hope that he's able to accomplish what the people who voted for him want, that's less taxes so that they bring money back to their holding." "It (the border) is so poor that something has to be done. Trump is a builder, he is a developer, he will get it (the wall) done: keep legal immigrants coming in and illegal ones out," she said. Corinne Goldsmith, who was originally from New York and has lived in Washington for more than 20 years, said Trump is not "my president". "He's against all types of people who are not like him. When I came to Barack Obama's two inaugurations, it was packed, full of people, people who didn't hate each other. But if you look here, there are more protesters than the supporters," said Goldsmith. "I don't know what's going to happen with America. I think he's all about business for himself. All he does is put people who are not like him down. I don't see where the unity would ever be. I'll not put president with his name in the same sentence," she said. New York Though there was no official protest at Trump Tower on the morning of the inauguration, there was heavy police presence as people walked up and down the block opposite Donald Trump's residence holding protest signs. The New York Police Department insisted that people, aside from media who were credentialed, not stand in place and repeatedly reprimanded those who stopped to chat with each other or with reporters. Several pro-Trump supporters also milled around on the block to make their presence known, though they were outnumbered by those who were anti-Trump. Dana Fuchs, an actor and New Yorker from Long Island, said: ""I'm just sad. That's all you can say. I'm focused on possibly running for office, which I never thought I'd say I would do, or just figuring out to create the change that I can participate in. I give Trump that credit, because I never would have [thought about it otherwise]. He awoken that in me. If he can get elected, I'm good." "I'm worried about the environment and healthcare. You say you want to get rid of Obamacare? How could you not have a plan? I would have been working on that five years ago. Now we're just supposed to trust you? This whole election was [run on] lack of trust," he said. San Francisco On Friday morning, hundreds of people took to the street of San Francisco to protest Donald Trump's inauguration. The organizers - Jobs with Justice - San Francisco and Bay Rising - said on the event's website: "Donald Trump's inauguration begins a presidential term marked by outright xenophobia, bigotry, sexism, corporate giveaways and hate-fueled policies. We must reclaim our democracy, and show the nation how the Bay Area stands together to defend our communities and fight for justice." The protesters started from the Justin Herman Plaza and marched to Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Peter Thiel, ICE, and other corporations that are believed to support Trump. At Wells Fargo History Museum on Montgomery Street, hundreds of people rallied, chanting slogans and holding banners and signs with messages like "Saving healthcare, public education and environmental protections" and "Stop hate and deportations". At the Consulate General of Israel, next to the Wells Fargo building, some people inside put signs on the window, which read "Love trumps hate" and "Not my president". Faryn Borella was an organizer of the rally at the Israeli consulate. "We are here to say that militarized policing has been going on in the US and will continue under Trump's presidency," she said. " It's not in our best interests as Jews and not in the best interests in anyone. No one will be free until we are all free.' "We ask for an end to the occupation and an end to the urban shield with weapon demonstrations and training here in the Bay Area that train responders to use violence as their first line of defense," she said. WASHINGTON - Newly-inaugurated US President Donald Trump will meet with visiting British Prime Minister Theresa May next week, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Saturday. May will be the first foreign leader to meet with Trump after he was sworn in as the new US President on Friday. It is expected that the two leaders will discuss plans for a trade deal between the allies after Britain's planned withdrawal from the European Union. In a recent interview, Trump said Britain's exit from the European Union will turn out to be "a great thing." Trump pledged to offer Britain a quick and fair trade deal with the US within weeks of taking office, saying that "we're gonna work very hard to get it done quickly and done properly. Good for both sides." On Saturday, Spicer said Trump has also scheduled a meeting with Mexican Prime Minister Enrique Pena Nieto on Jan 31. Trump has said he wanted to build a wall along the border between the US and Mexico, to keep out illegal migrants. He also threatened to levy heavy taxes on companies that operate plants in Mexico but export to north of the border. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland January 19, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] LONDON - British Prime Minister Theresa May called Saturday for an early meeting with the new president of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani to discuss Britain's exit from the European Union. An official Downing Street spokesperson for May said the prime minister spoke by telephone to Tajani to congratulate him on his election to the presidency of the European Parliament. During the conversation May said she was keen to arrange a meeting in London as soon as practicable to discuss various issues, including Britain's exit from the European Union. "She referenced her speech this week in which she set out the UK's priorities in the forthcoming Brexit negotiations, and reiterated that we would continue to play a full part in and meet our obligations to the EU while we remain a member," May's spokeswoman said. "They agreed to work together to ensure continued good relations between the UK and EU, while the Brexit process is ongoing and thereafter." Former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh arrives at the airport before flying into exile from Gambia, January 21, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] DAKAR - Former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh left Saturday night Banjul, for an exile in Guinea, local medias reported Saturday night. According to the Senegalese radio station's correspondent in Banjul, Jammeh traveled with Guinean President Alpha Conde in the private jet of the latter. Another plane registered Mauritanian also took off with Jammeh's family and entourage. The former Gambian president was preceded to the airport by several vehicles with luggages under heavy security. Jammeh announced Saturday that he would step down from power after last-chance talks with leaders from West African countries. "I have decided today in good conscience to relinquish the mantle of leadership of this great nation, with infinite gratitude to all Gambians," said the longtime leader on state TV early Saturday morning. Jammeh said he had promised that all the issues "will be resolved peacefully" and "it is not necessary that a single drop of blood be shed." His announcement came after hours of a last-chance mediation with Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and Guinean President Alpha Conde in Banjul. Jammeh, who took power in July 1994 after a coup d'etat, was defeated in the presidential election on December 1 last year by opposition candidate Adama Barrow. Barrow sworn in as Gambia's president on Thursday in the Embassy of the Gambia in the Senegalese capital, Dakar. US President Donald Trump takes the oath of office with his wife Melania and son Barron at his side, during his inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington, US, January 20, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] Globalization as it is has downsides, and needs to be fairer, more inclusive, and broadly benefiting. But backpedalling will hardly facilitate Trump's vision of rebuilding American greatness. From his reportedly self-written inauguration speech to the goodbye-everything-of-the-past policy statements, Donald Trump, now the 45th President of the United States, has shown his administration will be going off the beaten track. We have just witnessed the beginning of it: Aspiring to unite a politically divided nation with an essentially divisive rallying call an inaugural speech that was anti-tradition, anti-establishment, anti-globalization, anti-free-trade and virtually anti-everything pre-Trump. While it is purely the US' business whether and to what extent his home audience will rally under his banner, its new president's "America First" signboard is something for the rest of the world to worry about, China included. Not because of what it literally says, because as Trump has insisted, every nation is entitled to prioritize its own interests. But rather because it carries forward the signature Trumpian antagonism to globalization, and the corresponding beliefs that have shaped the way countries interact, and have become interdependent and co-exist economically. It is its Americentrism that matters. If the speech was a declaration of war, as some have suggested, that war is not just against the establishment in Washington, but, more importantly, against globalization, against free trade. In Trump's narrative, free trade has "enriched" other countries, but "depleted" the US' wealth, strength and confidence, and become a process of ravages by other countries, which are making American products, stealing American companies, and destroying American jobs. The only way out, then, the only way to "Make America Great Again", is to go protectionist. "Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength," he announced. And his prescription is simple indeed: "Buy American and Hire American". It remains to be seen whether this will make America strong, wealthy, proud and safe again. But the protectionist orientation will certainly usher in a period of global tumult as it translates from pre-presidential bluff into presidential actions. Painting a dark picture of present-day America, where the economy withers and people suffer, and blaming it on "failed trade deals", the Trump White House has decided to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, renegotiate the North Atlantic Free Trade Area and vowed to rework the rest in the US' favor. Besides the promise of "a tough stance" in negotiations for "fair" deals, the new administration threatens to "crack down" on violators, as if all the deals and agreements had been unfairly imposed on previous US administrations. Globalization as it is has downsides, and needs to be fairer, more inclusive, and broadly benefiting. But backpedalling will hardly facilitate Trump's vision of rebuilding American greatness. Despite the global concern about the uncertainty surrounding the new administration's actions, at least one thing appears certain: Protectionism will pit the US increasingly against the rest of the world, starting with trade: Particularly when Trump's obsession with "fairness" is in reality nothing but Americentric. As the world's No. 1 foreign trader, China will find itself a foremost victim as the world's largest economy and consumer market slams its doors shut on free trade. While fears of a China-US "trade war" still remain just fears, the economic interdependence, deep, broad and solid as it is believed to be, will not suffice to prevent a new round of mutually-weakening wrangling in trade, and beyond. Given Trump's previous indications of his readiness to resort to political levers, as wild and provocative as the Taiwan card, to gain trade concessions from Beijing, things may get messier than anticipated. As an emerging champion of globalization and free trade, Beijing, along with the US' old and new allies and partners, needs to find a way to demonstrate to the nascent administration in Washington the prospects for an updated, more desirable version of globalization, and the benefits to be gained from it. The White House made no secret of its pride in the new US leader's "decades of deal-making experience" as justification for confidence that he can fulfill his mission to "Make America Great Again". And as a shrewd, successful businessman, Trump is probably as aware as anyone of what the cost would be should the world's two largest economies start to brawl, and he will no doubt prefer to be in his natural element at the negotiating table. Only Taiwan will not be accepted as a bargaining chip. Overtures for forging mutually-beneficial trade ties should precede confrontational actions. Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao has approved the Jallikattu ordinance and the bull taming sport will be held at Alaganallur in Madurai and other parts of the state on Sunday, Chief Minister O Panneerselvam announced on Saturday. The CM thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his support to Jallikattu, an emotive issue which triggered mass protests across the state. On behalf of the government and people of Tamil Nadu, I thank you for all your support and assistance in enabling Jallikattu to be held in Tamil Nadu once again during the Pongal season, upholding the culture and tradition of the people of Tamil Nadu, he wrote to Modi in a letter. The chief minister will inaugurate Jallikattu at Alanganallur, famous for conducting the rural sport, at 10 am. In other areas, ministers from the respective regions will inaugurate the sport at 11 am, Panneerselvam said. I urge the youths, students and the general public to make the Jallikattu events across Tamil Nadu a grand success by participating in large numbers, he said. As the state-wide protests including at the Marina beach here by tens of thousands of protesters entered the fifth day, Panneerselvam said the assent of President Pranab Mukherjee to amend the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 by Tamil Nadu was received on Friday night. The assent for the ordinance (amending the PCA Act) has been obtained from Governor also, he said, adding, Our dream to conduct Jallikattu this year has come true. He said a draft Bill to replace the ordinance and amend the PCA Act paving the way for holding Jallikattu without any hindrance will be introduced and adopted in the Tamil Nadu assemblys session which begins on January 23. Jallikattu is to be conducted with customary fervour all over the state with all the necessary safeguards, the CM said. Earlier in the day, Modi said all efforts were being made to fulfil the cultural aspirations of the people of Tamil Nadu. We are very proud of the rich culture of Tamil Nadu. All efforts are being made to fulfil the cultural aspirations of Tamil people, he tweeted. Many students who gathered at the Marina Beach here said they would wait for Jallikattu to officially commence before they start dispersing. Several people across the state welcomed the decision, saying Jallikattu was part of Tamil culture and steps should be taken immediately to make it a permanent feature. We want an assurance from the Central government that it would amend the PCA Act in the upcoming session of Parliament if the Supreme Court quashes the ordinance sometime later, said Anbumani Ramadoss, who is Pattali Makkal Katchi youth wing president and son of party president S Ramadoss. I requested the President to look into the issue and provide a solution in favour of the interests of Tamil Nadu, its people and culture, he told reporters in New Delhi. Panneerselvam said the PM was responsible for the approval of several central government departments and President Pranab Mukherjee in a single day. He also lauded the students, youths and the general public for their absolutely peaceful protests in the matter without causing any law and order issues. Answering a question on the criticism against the state government on the Jallikattu issue, the chief minister later told reporters that such criticisms are common in public life. Recalling the long battle in courts on the Jallikattu issue, Panneerselvam in a statement said ever since 2006, the sport had come across several barriers. Against the backdrop of the sport being held based on directions of the Supreme Court, the central government had notified bulls under section 22 of the PCA Act, 1960. It prohibited training and exhibiting bulls as performing animals and following that in 2014 Supreme Court altogether banned the sport. The apex court had also struck down the 2009 Act of Tamil Nadu government regulating Jallikattu holding it repugnant to the PCA Act 1960. Panneerselvam said late Jayalalithaa had made continuous efforts to hold Jallikattu and cited her giving a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015 demanding legal measures to conduct the sport. Tamil Nadu had been knocking on the doors of the apex court and filed a review petition against the ban which was also dismissed by the top court in December last. In 2015, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MPs had spoken in Parliament batting for an amendment by the Centre to allow Jallikattu. However, since that was not done, Jayalalithaa had urged promulgation of an ordinance on December 22, 2015 to allow the sport. Following such efforts, the Centre had issued a notification on January 7, 2016 allowing Jallikattu which was subsequently stayed by the Supreme Court. Jallikattu supporters during the day staged rail blockade at Madurai even as train services continued to remain affected due to the ongoing stir. The Southern Railway announced cancellation of some trains besides diversion of others. Meanwhile, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary V K Sasikala claimed that she had directed the party and the government to make sustained efforts for the conduct of the bull taming sport. The AIADMK governments continuous efforts in the lines of the late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and the dignified protests taken forward by young men and women had reclaimed the bravery sport for us, she said. I consider Tamils rights and sentiments as (my) two eyes. That is why I had earlier issued a statement in support of the students and young protesters. I made the government keep up sustained efforts for conduct of Jallikattu, she said. Sasikala also thanked Modi for understanding the sentiments of the people of Tamil Nadu and having supported the state governments efforts to ensure conduct of Jallikattu. The AIADMK general secretary said she was following the slogan I am because of the people, I am for the people by Jayalalithaa while the government was following the path laid down by the late chief minister. I wish to assure one and all that both myself and this government will work together for the rights and welfare of the Tamil race (sic), she said in a statement. Sasikala also appealed to the agitating youth to withdraw their stir since they had the responsibility of carrying on wit their education and other routine activities. She also likened their protests to the Philippines People Power revolution and extended her greetings to the Tamil youth for carrying out dignified protests, bereft of any untoward incidents. Such protests had proved that the Tamil race was mature and that its people were selfless, she added. Sasikala also recalled the sustained efforts by Jayalalithaa in ensuring Jallikattu was held in the state. Photograph: PTI Photo Wearing pink, pointy-eared hats to mock the new US president, throngs of protesters descended on the US capital and other cities around the globe to show Donald Trump they wont be silent over the next four years. In more than 600 marches held all over the globe, they carried signs with messages such as Women wont back down and Less fear more love and decried Trumps stand on such issues as abortion, diversity and climate change. Take a look at the sea of women who came out More than a million citizens, both men and women took to the streets from Washington, DC to Berlin to participate in a women's march in an unprecedented rebuke of US President Donald Trump's alleged divisive policies and anti-women views. Photograph: Adrees Latif/Reuters Streets were packed with pink "pussyhat" wearing protesters --a reference to Trump's claim in a 2005 video that he grabbed women. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Standing on Pennsylvania Avenue, women part of the protest said, "This is more than just a single day of action, this is the beginning of a movement to protect, defend and advance human rights, even in the face of adversity." Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters "We can whimper. We can whine. Or we can fight back!. We come here to stand shoulder to shoulder to make clear: We are here! We will not be silent! We will not play dead! We will fight for what we believe in," chanted the protesters as they gathered outside the White House. Photograph: Joshua Roberts/Reuters And there was no age, gender or any kind of barrier to be part of the protests. Children, senior citizens, one and all joined in to protest against Trump and all that he stands for. Photograph: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters Women took to subway stations, famous locations all over the world to make their voice heard. It's time to rise! Photograph: Lucas Jackson/Reuters An aerial view of National Mall where women congregated to stand together and protest. Photograph: Lucas Jackson/Reuters Placards carrying 'Nasty Woman' and 'We the People' were seen at the protests. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters People display a knitted replica of the female reproductive system at the Women's March. Photograph: Canice Leung/Reuters Protesters leave messages written on feminine hygiene pads on a wall near the start of the Women's March in Washington. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters Women in solidarity protested even in Paris. They took out a huge march near the Eiffel Tower. Photograph: Jacky Naegelen/Reuters Protesters walks with torchlight in the Women's March in Oslo, Norway. Photograph: NTB Scanpix/Stian Lysberg Solum/Reuters The protests also took place in Bengaluru where women wore '#IWillGoOut' tags on the head in memory of the women who were abused on New Year's Eve in the city. Photograph: Abhishek N Chinnappa/Reuters A protester takes part in the Women's March on London, as they walk from the American Embassy to Trafalgar Square, in central London, Britain. Photograph: Neil Hall/Reuters Protesters pose for a photograph as they take part in the Women's March on Dublin, Ireland. Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters "This is a do or die battle for us. We need to fight against the onslaught on our human rights," said one of the protesters in Sydney, Australia. Photograph: AAP/Dan Himbrechts/Reuters "Its the first time we felt it was vital to march. I feel the rights we take for granted could go backward, and we owe it to our daughters and the next generation to fix this somehow, said another protester in Sweden. Photograph: TT News Agency/Pontus Lundahl/Reuters Among the thousands of signs that marchers dumped: P---y Power and This P---y Bites Back. Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters Several celebrities across America joined the protest. Charlize Theron, known for her bad-ass portrayal of 'Furiosa' in Mad Max: Fury Road was seen at a protest in Park City, Utah. Photograph: Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images In Los Angeles, more than 100,000 people marched, police said. So many people crammed into the streets that "our march turned into a stand," said Ellen Crafts, who handled public relations for the event. Photograph: Sarah Morris/Getty Images Actress Jane Fonda at the protest in Los Angeles a day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Photograph: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images Actress Jessica Biel attends the women's march in Los Angeles. Photograph: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images A woman displays a blanket at the Women's March, held in opposition to the agenda and rhetoric of President Donald Trump in Washington. Photograph: Canice Leung/Reuters Well, we kind of agree with the message here. Photograph: Stephanie Keith/Reuters Pop diva Madonna, wearing a black pussyhat, made an impromptu appearance on the protest's main stage near Washington's National Mall. "It took this horrific moment of darkness to wake us the f--k up," Madonna told the crowd. "It seems as though we had all slipped into a false sense of comfort, that justice would prevail and that good would win in the end." Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Overall, the protesters were law-abiding, with police reporting only four arrests in 21 American cities. Nobody was arrested in Washington. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters The protesters, which included many men, hit the streets for different reasons, among them health care, the future of the Affordable Care Act, the environment and income equality. Photograph: Javier Barbancho/Reuters People gather in front of the US Embassy on Pariser Platz beside Brandenburg Gate in solidarity with women's march in Washington and many other marches in several countries, in Berlin, Germany. Photograph: Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters Actress Scarlett Johansson smiles at the Women's March in Washington. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters A protester holds a placard during the Women's March in London, England. Former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton came out in support of the march. "Thanks for standing, speaking & marching for our values @womensmarch. Important as ever. I truly believe we're always Stronger Together," she said in a tweet. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Loading... Checking your browser before accessing the website. This process is automatic. Your browser will redirect to your requested content shortly. Please wait a few seconds. Hanoi, January 21 (VNA) - Paintings on Tet (Lunar New Year) have long been a fixture of local celebrations, with flamboyant colours used to send New Year wishes. This year children will have a chance to discover traditional Tet paintings at Van (Literature) Lake, part of Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature First National University) relics in Hanoi. Starting from January 21, the programme will introduce a range of ancient painting genres from across the country, including Hang Trong and Kim Hoang (Hanoi), Dong Ho (the northern province of Bac Ninh), and Sinh Village (the central province of Thua Thien-Hue). Visitors will be able to see examples of the paintings, and learn to print and paint their own under the instruction of artisans. The event is part of a project called Joining Children in Getting Creative, launched by art critic Trang Thanh Hien from the Vietnam University of Fine Arts. The central aim of the project is to create a playground or art space that is dedicated to traditional values. Through it, children would learn more about traditional art and culture. Folk paintings are a combination of traditional cultural values and ancient artistic methods, which have been created by past generations. Vietnamese folk paintings were used to decorate houses during New Year celebrations, driving away evil and bringing good luck for the coming year. "We want to maintain traditional activities in modern life, especially nurturing childrens love for traditional culture," Hiensaid. As the Year of Rooster is coming, the event will focus on folk paintings of roosters. Beside the discovery of folk paintings, the Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam Cultural and Scientific Centre will also organise the Spring Calligraphy Festival as usual. It has been a tradition for Hanoians when visiting the Temple of Literature to have meaningful words written in calligraphy, with the hope of attracting good luck in the New Year. On red or yellow do (poonah) papers, calligraphers write words in traditional script such as Phuc (Happiness), Loc (Prosperity) and Tho (Longevity) along with other sayings intended to bring good health, luck and prosperity for those in attendance. This year, more than 100 calligraphers selected from clubs and writing competitions will participate in the activity. Experienced calligraphers like Cung Khac Luoc, Nguyen The Anh and Nguyen The Luc will also attend the event. In the framework of the festival, an exhibition of calligraphic works and traditional crafts such as pottery, paper making, embroidery, wood carving and bronze casting will be organised. Le Xuan Kieu, Director of the centre, said the calligraphers, wearing ao dai (long robes), will sit in 50 bamboo tents following traditional manners of the past. We select the calligraphers carefully. Only those who pass a qualifying test are eligible to join the activity, which will be strictly monitored by the organiser to ensure visitors are overcharged. The events will take place from January 21 to February 11 at Van (Literature) Lake, Quoc Tu Giam street, Hanoi. VNA/VNP From January 12-15, 2017, Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong paid an official visit to China on the threshold of the Lunar New Year. Based on a straight and faithful spirit, the visit had fruitful outcomes, including Vietnam and Chinas pledge to restrain disputes at sea, maintain peace and stability in the East Sea and increase effectiveness of cooperation in many fields to build a firm foundation for the two countries relations. The official visit to China of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong left many outstanding imprints. Chinese leaders received Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at the highest ceremony level with many events expressing special respect for the relations of the two parties and states, including the cannon salute. For the first time talks were set and meetings were had with five out of seven members of the Standing Committee of the Central Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China. The discussion with Chinese Party General Secretary/President Xi Jinping lasted 80 minutes with practical and comprehensive contents. Besides the official welcoming ceremony, the talks and a banquet, Party General Secretary/President Xi Jinping invited Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to attend a friendly tea party. Party General Secretary/President Xi Jinping receives Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Photo: Tri Dung/VNA The welcoming ceremony for Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is held solemnly at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Photo: Tri Dung/VNA The two leaders greet children at the welcoming ceremony. Photo: Tri Dung/VNA Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong holds talks with Party General Secretary/President Xi Jinping. Photo: Tri Dung/VNA The two leaders witness the signing ceremony of cooperation documents between the two countries. Photo: VNA Party General Secretary/President Xi Jinping introduces the Chinese art of preparing tea to Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Photo: Tri Dung/VNA Party General Secretary/President Xi Jinping hosts a tea party to welcome Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Photo: Tri Dung/VNA During the visit, the top leaders shared common awareness in the relations of the two parties and states and cooperation of Vietnam and China. They also reached a consensus to strengthen political trust, reinforce friendship, promote cooperation, and maintain peace and friendship, and a healthy and stable impetus between the two countries. The two sides agreed to release a 10-point Joint Communique which highlights the need to increase high-level meetings, cooperation and exchanges between the two parties, promote strategic connectivity, foster trade-investment ties, expand national defence-security cooperation, enhance people-to-people exchanges, and strengthen social foundations. During the visit, 15 important documents were signed between the agencies of the two parties and nations in order to intensify cooperation in different areas, and other economic deals inked between businesses. Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong meets with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. Photo: Tri Dung/VNA The Vietnamese leader has a meeting with Zhang Dejiang, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China. Photo: Tri Dung/VNA T he Vietnamese Party leader meets with Yu Zhengsheng, Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Photo: Tri Dung/VNA Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has a meeting with Wang Qishan, Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of China. Photo: Tri Dung/VNA The leaders also straightforwardly, sincerely and openly discussed existing matters in bilateral ties, especially the East Sea issue, and emphasised the necessity to abide by the Agreement on Basic Principles Guiding the Settlement of Issues at Sea, fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and promptly formulate a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), control disputes at sea, and refrain from actions that further complicate and extend disputes for peace and stability in the East Sea. Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Yu Zhengsheng, Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference attend a friendly meeting celebrating the 67th anniversary of Vietnam-China diplomatic ties and the upcoming Lunar New Year. Photo: Tri Dung/VNA The Vietnamese Party leader has a meeting with Chinese enterprises. Photo: Tri Dung/VNA Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong visits the ancient street of Hefang in Zhejiang province. Photo: Tri Dung/VNA Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong visits the ancient street of Hefang in Zhejiang province. Photo: Tri Dung/VNA The Vietnamese Party leader buys souvenirs at a shop on the ancient street of Hefang. Photo: Tri Dung/VNA Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong enjoys Longjing tea on the ancient street of Hefang. Photo: Tri Dung/VNA Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong visits the Wan Shili Group in Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province. Photo: Tri Dung/VNA The Vietnamese Party leader visits West Lake in Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province. Photo: Tri Dung/VNA The fruitful outcome of the visit expressed the two sides goodwill to further develop the relationship between the two parties and nations in a healthy, positive and steady way in the future. During the trip, Head of the Central Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of Vietnam Vo Van Thuong has a meeting with Liu Qibao, Head of the Central Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of China. Photo: Vinh Ha/VNA Vietnamese Defense Minister Ngo Xuan Lich holds talks with his Chinese counterpart Chang Wanquan. Photo: Vinh Ha/VNA B and Legal Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China. Photo: Luong Anh Tuan/VNA Vietnamese Minister of Public Security To Lam has a meeting with Meng Jianzhu, Secretary of the Central Politicaland Legal Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China. Photo: Luong Anh Tuan/VNA By VNA/VNP HCM CITY HCM City authorities and businesses have worked hard to provide safe food products for Tet (the Lunar New Year) on January 28. After more than one month of a programme to enable consumers to check the origin of pork at nearly 350 modern retail outlets, the city Department of Industry and Trade last week expanded the programme to eight traditional markets -- Ben Thanh (District 1), Hoa Binh (District 5), Minh Phung, Phu Lam and Phu inh (District 6), Rach Ong (District 8), Binh Thoi (District 11) and Go Vap (Go Vap District). A programme to trace the origins of fresh vegetables using a smartphone app has just been launched. The programmes are aimed at improving oversight of hygiene and food safety practices and making consumers feel secure, according to Huynh Thi Kim Cuc, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Besides, many inspection teams have been set up, and they are co-operating with districts and relevant agencies to safeguard public health during Tet. Some agencies have set up hotlines to receive information from the public about hygiene and food safety, instances of food poisoning, fake and poor quality goods and unsafe products. Nguyen Anh uc, deputy general director of Saigon Co.op, said: We require all suppliers to strictly check their products and strictly refuse suppliers who violate hygiene and safety norms. Besides setting up a laboratory at its fresh products warehouse in Binh Duong, keeping samples and sending samples for testing in accordance with regulations, Saigon Co.op has also spent nearly VN3 billion (US$132,743) to set up mobile laboratories that conduct quick tests at all its outlets in the city. We have increased product quality checks, especially of foods, in all stages, he said. Fresh foods are the supermarkets main competitive products, and so it has worked to ensure product quality is always reliable, according to uc. Demand surging Many major supermarkets said Tet buying had entered the peak phase since January 14. Co.opmart, Big C, Lotte Mart and Emart are crowded with shoppers, with many reporting a doubling or even tripling of sales since the end of last month. Ho Quoc Nguyen, Big C Viet Nams public relations director, said Big C stores were always crowed, especially after 6pm. Best sellers included confectionery, sweets, gift hampers, consumer products, beverages, and beers. Stocks have increased by 20-30 per cent compared to last Tet, a majority of which are Vietnamese products. Consumers prefer to buy Vietnamese products for Tet due to their diverse range and packaging which is appropriate for Vietnamese traditional New Year. Nguyen Tan Thanh, a senior executive in Saigon Co.ops marketing department, said sales on last Thursday and Friday (January 19-20) at Co.opmart, Co.opXtra, and Co.op Food were double that of normal days. Tet gift baskets, fresh and processed foods, confectionery, sweets and beverages were among the top sellers last week, he said. Vietnamese products account for more than 90 per cent of the goods stocked at Co.opmart outlets. In general, consumers choose to buy Vietnamese goods since Vietnamese producers are increasingly improving their designs and also offering promotions. oan Diep Binh, PR and event manager of Lotte Mart, said this year Vietnamese goods have eye-catching designs which are in no way inferior to imports, and are thus popular with consumers. Imported products account for just a little at Lotte Mart to offer more choices to customers. Many shops selling speciality products said work has been hectic due to a large number of orders. Nguyen Truc Tram, director of Viet Nam Three Regions Specialities Company Limited, told Viet Nam News, Orders for this Tet are double that of last year. In addition to Vietnamese food specialities, his company also supplies Thai, Lao and Cambodian speciality foods, he said. There are still many orders to be fulfilled from now to Tet. Ensure supply, keep prices steady According to Thu uc Wholesales Market officials, the prices of most products have not sharply increased like they did last year, but have gone up by just VN500-1,000 a kilogramme. The volume of goods entering the market is larger than in previous years. Some 4,500-5,000 tonnes came daily from January 20 to 22, and increased to 6,500-7,000 tonne subsequently, according to the officials. Vegetables accounted for 2,300-2,500 tonnes, and fruits for 4,200-4,500 tonnes. The Hoc Mon Wholesale Market will sell fruits and vegetables until January 26 morning and pork until January 27 (New Year Eve) morning. At Binh ien Wholesale Market, the volume of fruits and flowers increased by 50-100 per cent compared to normal days. Supermarkets too have increased stocks to ensure they can maintain supply during Tet. They will cut the prices of pork and poultry meat and eggs by 10-15 per cent before Tet. Nguyen Quynh Trang, deputy director of the city Department of Industry and Trade, said there would be no shortages. She asked wholesale markets and supermarkets to keep a close eye on the market and report to her department if there is a sudden increase in prices so that it can take timely action. VNS HA NOI Microsoft and FPT last week signed an Enterprise Agreement focusing on digital transformations and cloud deployments. The agreement tightens the long-term strategic partnership that has been in place for almost 20 years between the two leading IT corporations. Specifically, FPT will be the first and largest business in Viet Nam to put in place Microsofts cloud computing for all operations of the corporation, in a bid to optimise operational efficiencies and improve competitiveness. FPT will also promote Microsofts advanced cloud services to the corporations clients. As two global and local IT corporations, Microsoft and FPT want to continuously strengthen this long-term, sustainable relationship via cooperation in technology. The move to the cloud by Microsoft technology will surely help FPT further develop, complete its mission to adapt technology, and develop the knowledge to enable Viet Nam to reach its potential and partly address socio-economic issues, stressed Vu Minh Tri, CEO of Microsoft Viet Nam. In the first phase, FPT will adopt Microsoft Office 365 and move its entire system and all data to the cloud, at the same time deploying One Drive for Business and Skype for Business to optimise operating performances. In the next phase, FPT and Microsoft will develop the cloud to digitally transform their clients in Viet Nam. Nowadays, most of the worlds large tech companies have adopted cloud computing. However, in Viet Nam the majority of businesses are still reluctant to move their system and data to the cloud, particularly large companies. Such a large tech corporation as FPT, as it becomes a pioneer in adopting Microsoft Office 365 advanced cloud services for a large number of users, will contribute to encouraging other businesses to adopt cloud technologies. With the strength of Viet Nams leading provider of IT services, FPT and Microsoft will jointly develop the cloud market segment in Viet Nam and other countries. VNS A military doctor examines one of nine fishermen rescued yesterday after their boat sank. The boat BV 7804 TS collided with an unknown cargo about 44 nautical miles away from Vung Tau Cape. Another fishing boat near by was informed by Regional Maritime Search and Rescue Centre No 3 and delivered timely aid. VNA/VNS Photo oan Manh Duong DES MOINES Legislation that revised Iowas career education programs has drawn criticism from many agriculture teachers in the state. Several agricultural educators and business people expressed those concerns during a public hearing this month regarding the rules designed to implement the legislation. House File 2392 was approved by the Iowa Legislature last spring, and it includes a number of items aimed at improving job training and career education in the state. There are some good things in that legislation, said Scott Johnson, executive secretary of the Iowa FFA Foundation. But he says there also are items which concern high school ag educators. That kind of process needed to be done, Johnson said of the update in structure and rules regarding career technical education. Im generally concerned that, by and large, the process has been labeled secondary CTE (but) theres limited secondary education involvement and thats concerning. Others were more blunt. Monte Collins, agricultural instructor at Pleasantville, spoke as a former president of the Iowa Agricultural Educators Association. Weve mostly been frustrated at HF2392, he said. We, as a group, are very frustrated because of the lack of anything in the bill that makes any assurances for high schools. Collins specifically mentioned several concerns. One is the legislation makes the community colleges regional CTE centers, and in doing so it appears to shift some funding away from high school CTE programs. It would make it more difficult for high school teachers to get extended contracts to cover summer hours and other items that are common in agricultural programs. Another concern is it could lead to high school upperclassmen leaving their schools to attend class at the community colleges. Such a move may work, but it would take their leadership away from younger students an important part of FFA programs, Collins said. The entrepreneurship component that is a part of high school FFA programs also could get lost in the shuffle, and that is one of the major advantages FFA students often have in the workplace, Collins said. And busing could be a big financial issue, he said. Rural schools already spend a significant amount of money busing students to and from school. If busing them to community college programs during the school day also is required it would necessitate more funding. We would like to ask that the rules be completely overhauled with more input from the agricultural sector, he said. Jim Russ, an agricultural education teacher at New Hampton, voiced some of the same concerns as Collins. It costs about $500 per student per year to bus students to and from school in his district, Russ said. Yet there is no money in the legislation to pay for further busing that might be necessary. There also are potential problems with other funding necessary for CTE programs. Several of the agricultural teachers speaking at the public hearing say they dont know if the changes can be made entirely through the rules process or whether the legislature will need to address the issue this session. EVANSDALE An early morning fire destroyed a vacant mobile home in Evansdale on Friday. A neighbor noticed the fire at 750 River Forest Road, No. 15, around 1:20 a.m. and called 911. The fire was well underway when crews with Evansdale Fire Rescue arrived, and it proved a challenge because the structure had been added on to, said Fire Chief Ryan Phillips. It took a while. The mobile home had a few different ceilings, and we had to work through the ceilings, Phillips said. The fire appears to have started in the bedroom, but the cause hasnt been determined, he said. He said the building is considered a total loss. No one had been living at the mobile home, but the structure contained personal belongings and had power, he said. Car hits house in Cedar Falls CEDAR FALLS A car struck two utility poles before hitting a house in an early morning crash Saturday. Details werent available, but no major injuries were reported. The crash happened around 2:15 a.m. Saturday when an eastbound passenger car veered off the roadway in the 1800 block of Rainbow Drive and collided with the utility poles on the north side, snapping one pole in half and severing wires. The vehicle then returned to the street and struck a house at 1835 Rainbow on the south side of the road. Cedar Falls police took one person away in a squad car. Cedar Falls firefighters and Cedar Falls Utilities were also called to the scene. Floyd County crash kills Rockford woman MARBLE ROCK A Rockford woman died in a car crash near Marble Rock on Friday. Troopers say Ronda Boekemeier, 46, died Friday when her northbound Chevrolet Traverse crossed the centerline and hit a southbound Ford F-350 pickup. The crash happened about 7 a.m. on Iowa Highway 14 between 270th and 280th streets. The driver of the pickup, Rodney Tudor, 51, was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Iowa State Patrol. Man arrested in Oelwein robbery OELWEIN An Oelwein man has been arrested in connection with an armed robbery earlier in the month where a person was beaten with a handgun. Oelwein police arrested Stephen Andrew Loers, 19, Jan. 13 on a charge of first-degree robbery. He was also arrested for carrying weapons after officers found a .22-caliber handgun when he was detained. He remains in the Fayette County Jail in West Union with bond set at $50,000. Details werent immediately available, but court records show the victim was struck three times with a pistol by two men who took marijuana from him. The incident happened around 9 a.m. Jan. 11 under the viaduct in the 300 block of West Charles Street. Authorities believe a .22-caliber handgun was used during the robbery. Cedar Falls police also have an interest in Loers, and Feb. 13 they executed a search warrant at his Oelwein home with the help of Oelwein police. Cedar Falls officers were seeking a firearm in connection with several cases, records state. Details of the Cedar Falls investigation werent available. Before officers began searching the house, Loers drove off and was stopped by officers who discovered the .22-caliber handgun in a bag next to him. First-degree robbery is punishable by up to 25 years in prison upon conviction. Waterloo car, home hit by gunfire WATERLOO A Waterloo woman escaped injury when her car was struck by gunfire Thursday night. The driver wasnt the intended target and appeared to have been at the wrong place at the wrong time, said Capt. David Mohlis with the Waterloo Police Department. No arrests have been made in the shooting. According to the police report, Kellie Lang had just dropped off a co-worker on Manson Street at about 11 p.m. Thursday when someone in the intersection of Oneida and Mason streets began shooting. Three bullets struck Langs vehicle, and she drove off. Police arrived and found spent shell casings in the street and also found a bullet hole to the siding of the home at 205 Manson St. No one was home at the time of the shooting, Mohlis said. Maynard theft, burglary probed MAYNARD The Fayette County Sheriffs Office is investigating a theft and burglary in area last week. On Wednesday, deputies were notified of a theft from a rural Maynard farm property where copper wire was taken off of two grain bins and a battery was taken off of a farm tractor. On Tuesday, deputies were notified of a burglary at Rough Country Construction, located two miles northeast of West Union on U.S. Highway18. Several thousand dollars worth of hand-held construction tools were taken with brand names like Dewalt, Milwaukee, Stanley Bostitch and Malco. Also taken was a Rigid gas-powered air compressor. Rough Country is offering $1,000 reward for anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest and conviction in this case. To provide information on either case, call (563) 422-6067. WATERLOO The Waterloo Police Department is investigating a murder that took place in the early hours of Sunday. Waterloo Police responded to the 700 block of Logan Avenue at 5:11 a.m. Sunday on a report of shots being fired, according to a press release from the Waterloo Police Department. Once officers arrived on scene, they discovered a male, age 55, with multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported to UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital but died from the wounds. The investigation is ongoing. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending family notification. WATERLOO Waterloo Community Schools is buying the house north of Orange Elementary. The Board of Education Monday is expected to approve the purchase of the property at 5643 Kimball Ave. It meets at 6 p.m. in the Education Service Center, 1516 Washington St. The district was required in its 2011 purchase agreement for the new Orange school property to buy the nearby house when the tenants moved out. Hope Buzz Anderson owns the land. A minimum sale price of $100,000 was guaranteed, with a higher amount up to a maximum of $150,000 possible depending on an appraisal. The property is currently appraised at $90,000, according to a board memo. When the agreement was made, officials said the property was needed for the long term but wasnt essential initially during the construction process. In other business, the board is expected to accept various donations and grants. They include: A $5,000 donation to Lowell Elementary School from Nestle USA in Waverly for student health, nutrition and wellness needs. A $4,301 donation to the Dr. Walter Cunningham School for Excellence adopt-a-family program from Hellman Associates. A $10,000 grant to Orange Elementary School from the Wellmark Foundation for the planned Kimpstons Crossing Playscape. Five teacher enrichment grants from the R.J. McElroy Trust totaling $4,265. Teachers at Elk Run Preschool and Kittrell Elementary, Hoover Middle, and West High schools submitted the applications for enrichment projects they will use in the classroom. ELK RUN HEIGHTSTwo new all-way stops seem to be the right way to go in Elk Run Heights instead of traffic cameras, according to Mayor Tim Swope. After City Council support for traffic cameras dwindled in the face of opposition, the council instead decided to put up all-way stops on Gilbertville Road at its intersections with Marie Drive and Amber Lane. We put them up following our council meeting in January, he said. Its slowing the traffic down, and its getting rid of a lot of truck traffic. Gilbertville Road is an arterial that runs from the Evansdale Drive area off Interstate 380 through a residential neighborhood to Lafayette Road, a thoroughfare which continues into Evansdale and east Waterloo. In addition to the all-way stops, Swope said, the council raised the speed limit on Lafayette Road to 30 mph from 25 mph. That was a speed trap. Swope said. Since the changes, Swope said, the city had been able to improve traffic conditions without police having to crack down on enforcement and issue a number of tickets. Elk Run contracts with Evansdale for police services. The stop signs also have flashing lights, alerting motorists. The council had considered installing traffic cameras but tabled the proposal indefinitely in December in favor of alternative measures. Many residents turned out to oppose the cameras, while some supported them. City legal council had recommended against a contract with an Arizona firm to install and operate the cameras for five years. Swope cited concerns over the citys liability in the event of a lawsuit against the company. The company also would have charged city $18.25 per ticket roughly 20 percent of the fine and $240,000 to install and operate the equipment. The city would have used its share of fine revenue to pay off the $240,000 and kept any additional revenue beyond that. Elk Run Heights would have been the first city in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area to install speed cameras. Iowa communities with speed-enforcement cameras include Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Fort Dodge, Ottumwa, Polk County and Sioux City. Most are significantly larger than Elk Run Heights. The Legislature is anticipated to debate whether or not to ban the cameras statewide in the current session. DES MOINES (AP) Thousands of people marched and cheered speakers in Des Moines in an event connected to similar gatherings in Washington and cities around the country. People gathered Saturday morning for the Women's March at the state Capitol. The event was part of a national movement, with similar gatherings held throughout the country. Organizers billed the Des Moines march as an event focused on equal rights for women and girls, but speakers and protesters holding signs drew attention to a variety of issues, including rights for disabled people, Native Americans and gay, lesbians and transgender residents. The events came a day after Donald Trump was inaugurated as the nation's 45th president. Trump won an overwhelming victory in Iowa, beating Democrat Hillary Clinton by nearly 10 percentage points. WATERLOO The City Council is preparing to review its requirements and policies for membership on Waterloos numerous volunteer boards and commissions. Council members are scheduled to hold a work session at 4:25 p.m. Monday, before the regular 5:30 p.m. meeting, to review ordinances that set term limits and other guidelines for board and commission members. Councilman Jerome Amos Jr. and Mayor Quentin Hart requested the review, which covers more than 20 different boards that advise and oversee everything from building codes, to parks to zoning and human rights. A current ordinance adopted 20 years ago does not allow someone to serve more than two terms on a board or commission before they have to step down and agree not to serve on another board for a least one year. An unwritten policy apparently prevents someone from serving on more than one board or commission at a time. While the ordinances were adopted to provide more opportunity for residents to become involved in city government, there have been concerns in the past individuals with valuable experience and talents can be pushed to the sidelines by term limits. No action can be adopted at the work session. Regular council business Monday includes: The final reading of an ordinance designed to phase out bus stop benches provided by a private contractor that do not meet requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, replacing them with city-owned bus benches over the next three years. A memorandum of understanding with the Walnut Neighborhood Housing Coalition that generally calls for the city to work with the neighborhood to promote housing opportunities in the area. It does not carry any city financial commitment. DES MOINES Several Northeast Iowa communities have been announced as overnight stops on RAGBRAI XLV in July. The overnight stops for the 45th Registers Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa were announced at the Iowa Events Center in a live-streamed broadcast by The Des Moines Register. This years ride will be July 23-29. Riders will gather in Orange City and take a trek across the northern two tiers of Iowa counties, with overnight stops in Spencer, Algona, Clear Lake and the Northeast Iowa towns of Charles City, Cresco, Waukon and Lansing on the Mississippi River. In Northeast Iowa, riders will go from Clear Lake to Charles City on Wednesday July 26; Charles City to Cresco on Thursday July 27; Cresco to Waukon on Friday July 28, and Waukon to Lansing on Saturday July 29. According to organizers, its the fourth time the ride passed through Cresco and the first since 2005. Waukon is a first-time overnight stop, and the ride hasnt passed through there since 1977. Although it hasnt yet been announced which towns RAGBRAI will pass through between its overnight stops, Decorah lies between Cresco and Waukon on Iowa Highway 9 and several other county routes between the communities. July 28 is the second day of Decorahs 51st annual Nordic Fest. The modern left and their sycophants in the media regularly use a technique we should see as an insult. Here is how it works. The goal is to turn someone they dislike into a member of their pantheon of despicable villains. Currently, these include racists, sexists and (a direct insult to the mentally ill) anything to which the suffix phobe can be attached. We will use Donald Trump as our object of progressive disdain. You will notice Trump has to be opposed because the left and the media have magically discovered all these labels apply to him. The truth is none of these things really matter as long as the person has the correct political ideology. So, how can you get college snowflakes and other impressionable followers crying and sniffling over America electing a racist, a sexist or whatever? Suppose Trump was asked about a trade deal that was, in a practical sense, absurd. He replies, You might as well try to sell green cheese from the moon. Everyone present chuckles at the analogy and recognizes the use of an absurdity to answer an absurdity. But that night, the wise and sophisticated pundits sit around in their TV studios and one says, Evidently, Trump believes the moon is made of green cheese. Another, looking serious and concerned, responds, Yes. Its shameful, how could anyone believe such a thing? The New York Times runs a story about the tragedy of having a newly elected president who is so uninformed about science he believes the moon is made of green cheese. Late night hosts come on the next day offering each other green cheese sandwiches and laughing about the ignorance of the president. Actors and entertainers are interviewed and express their horror Trump is not as smart as they. After all, everyone knows the moon is not made of green cheese. This propaganda technique raises several questions: 1) Do the media and pundit classes believe their own spin? They obviously misrepresent reality on purpose, but once it is done do they actually come to believe their own creations? 2) Do they really believe other people will believe it? And if so, 3) How stupid do they think their audiences are? The answers: 1) No, they dont believe their own spin, but yes, they do. They know they have created a lie, but it is a lie that reflects what they see as a reality. A lie becomes a metaphor for the truth. 2) Do they believe other people will believe their lie? Yes, but they dont think you are very bright if you believe it literally. 3) Do they think you are stupid? Yes. You are stupid in the sense that 1) you are not one of them, and 2) they believe they can create a reality you will naively be willing to live in. To extend this example, one of the reasons Trump won was the obvious truth Trump did not believe the moon was made of cheese, and his opponents insulting insistence we believe the opposite. As Democrats across the nation try to regroup from Novembers stunning losses, they take comfort in the realization in two years and if not in four the country will discover the errors of its vote and restore them to political power. I doubt it. In fact, they may have to accept the fact they face at least a decade of minority electoral status if not longer. This is true because while the Republican Congress, Republican-controlled states and the president move quickly to deliver a conservative legislative agenda, they will move just as swiftly to ensure Democrats face restrictions in the tools they use to organize and campaign. For example, it is a fundamental principle of public voting the more affluent an individual is, the more likely it is that person will vote. Why not make it harder for less wealthy people to vote by, for example, shortening the time to vote, making it more difficult to register to vote, providing fewer voting sites in Democratic-leaning areas and requiring fees to obtain a proper ID to vote. Congress may act on these and other proposals. Some states already have, and Iowa is getting ready to follow suit. Secondly, look for attacks on labor unions both public and private. Unions have, historically, been a source of both financial support and workers for campaigns. You can expect the National Labor Relations Board to make it far more difficult to form a union and far easier to decertify existing ones. Unions representing public employees will see their power to bargain for benefits reduced or removed. You need look no further than Wisconsin or to our Legislature in Des Moines to see this happening. If the union is powerless, so the reasoning goes, why would workers bother to join? You can remove effective political opposition to existing government policies if you can destroy the sources of reliable information by discrediting them. Hence, the tendency of conservative groups to attack any criticism of their policies by simply shouting fake news. Expect further attempts to defame mainstream media. State legislatures will continue to carve congressional and legislative districts so Democrats are limited in the seats they can realistically expect to win. In fact, it is a fair assumption that, contrary to historical patterns, the GOP will increase its numbers in both houses of Congress in 2018. Finally, you can expect not to see the type of Congressional oversight and investigations both the Clinton and Obama administrations experienced. No Benghazi or e-mail scandals in the coming era. After all, you do not investigate the flaws of your own. All this brings us to Sisyphus, the tragic figure of Greek mythology, who died and was sent to Hades. Pleading with the Gods, he convinced them he should be allowed to return to life, briefly, to attend to unfinished business. When completed, he failed to keep his promise. Albert Camus wrote that when Sisyphus had tasted again the warm sun on the sand, the sea and the stone, he no longer wished to return to the world of darkness. The Gods were angry, captured him and returned him to the underworld. His punishment was to be sentenced for all eternity to push a very large bolder up a steep mountain. Each time he reached near the summit, the weight of the stone would overwhelm him and go crashing back to valley below. Democrats lost this election on a massive scale. The gods of politics have decreed they should stand alongside our ancient Greek friend and undertake a task they cannot accomplish. The followers of the donkey must understand, the next few elections will not be rigged. All ballots will be counted, but the playing field will be tilted and they are on the lower end. But unlike the Greek gods of old, all political parties have a fatal flaw. They overreach, and when they do the boulder reaches the mountaintop. But it is going to take a decade or more to happen. Back in 2001, I interviewed Philip Nitschke, an Australian doctor whos an international advocate for assisted suicide. He was candid during the course of the interview, admitting the option to give away life should ultimately be available to anyone who wants it, including the depressed, the elderly bereaved, (and) the troubled teen. He insisted: If we are to remain consistent and we believe that the individual has the right to dispose of their life, we should not erect artificial barriers in the way of subgroups who dont meet our criteria. He wanted to be sure anyone who desired it had the knowledge, training or recourse necessary. Fifteen years later, Nitschke is waging the same campaign. He just has fewer people to convince now. Nitschke recently formed the group Exit Action to push through legislation from a militant pro-euthanasia position, arguing voluntary euthanasia should never be a privilege given to the very sick by the medical profession. ... Exit Action believes that a peaceful death, and access to the best euthanasia drugs, is a right of all competent adults, regardless of sickness or permission from the medical profession. As dark as this position is, Ive always given Nitschke credit for honesty. On so many of the issues that strike at the heart of our humanity, euphemisms and cloaked motives often rule the debates, such as they are. My friend Ed Mechmann, a writer, marriage and life advocate and former prosecutor, recently pointed me to a blog post by the executive director of the End of Life Liberty Project, Kathryn Tucker. In it, Tucker, a lawyer representing plaintiffs suing New York State to legalize assisted suicide, protests against any legislative burdens and restrictions on the act. She lists a litany of such supposedly unnecessary burdens, including a 15-day waiting period, witnesses, written requests to make sure patients arent acting rashly, doctor record-keeping and a mandated second opinion to ensure against misdiagnosis. None of which seem overly burdensome, and instead are just simple protections against, yes, rash decisions and coercion. I recalled and read all of this as Stephen McDonald, the New York City police officer who was paralyzed after being shot and left for dead 30 years ago in Central Park, was being laid to rest. McDonald later forgave the teenager who shot him, and in speaking about his life post-injury, he was often open about the fact during some early days, he didnt want to live. He contemplated suicide, so seriously at one point his wife called someone who had become a close family friend, then-Cardinal John OConnor, who spent the day with them both, ministering to them in fatherly love. Thats what McDonald needed: Support and friends to walk the road with him and his family. He didnt want to be a burden to his loved ones. And at certain moments, it was hard to see how God was using him for good, for great inspiration. Since the birth of his son, now a police officer, McDonalds message had been forgiveness. He would later explain: I needed healing badly and found out that the only way forward was with love. And I learned that one of the most beautiful expressions of love is forgiving. I know that will sound illogical or impossible to some. Others will find it downright ridiculous. But Im talking as one who has lived through this. At a time when there is so much violence and anger, especially on city streets, especially having to do with police, what better message could we hear? And we never would have heard it had McDonald decided to end his life. Maybe from a new perch, he can help us see a way to embrace life in all its challenges and beauty. He sure showed us how here on Earth. Once upon a time, Iowa ranked at or near the top in student achievement. Today, some assessments rank us in the middle and falling, and many legislators believe it is public schools and teachers who are to blame for not holding themselves and students to higher standards. If we use just a modicum of logic, however, we should ask how a system that was once the envy of the nation is responsible for that slide. Why wouldnt we, instead, look at what has changed? And what has changed is budgeting that leaves Iowa schools 2 percent short, compounded year after year, of what they need to compete. Education funding relative to Iowas economy has seen a steady decline. When our system thrived we saw around 4 percent of the states GDP dedicated to K-12 education funding. Today, its less than 2.5 percent. From fiscal years 2008 to 2016, 33 other states have increased per-student funding, while Iowa saw a 6 percent decline in per-student funding in that period. And that is exactly what our governor and the new chairman of the House Education Committee will push to continue. Their solution will be to diminish public schools with school choice programs that take tax dollars that would otherwise go to the public school system and will further exacerbate the shortfall. School choice programs are vouchers that give funds directly to parents to choose schools, private or parochial schools if they prefer. They are based on the idea parents should be able to choose schools and that by creating school markets, bad schools will be driven out of business. Thats a great solution if education is classified under goods and services. Its a dreadful idea if it isnt. And education should never be so objectified. A childs education is not commensurate to a brand of appliance where its good for the market to drive out the ones that dont meet consumer demands. When we discard any child by failing to support our public educational system, more schools will fall, more students will fail, jobs will be lost and communities will crumble. Education writer Peter Schrag states that vouchers are the beginning of a slippery slope in which the poor are simply the poster children in a process that will gradually erode support for all public education. Ultimately the only choice will go to private schools as they cherry-pick the most promising public school students. A voucher system will encourage economic, racial, ethnic and religious stratification. The National Education Association supports appropriate funding to improve public schools instead. We need to help schools that are struggling, not close them, if we want to improve our standards and results. Vouchers can be part of the educational paradigm; however, they are only viable if our public school system is adequately funded to provide equal opportunity for all children to learn. That should be the renewed promise of an Iowa education. For many years, Donald Trump tweeted last Sunday, our country has been divided, angry and untrusting. Many say it will never change, the hatred is too deep. IT WILL CHANGE!!!! As persuasive as the ALL CAPS are, I have my doubts. Put aside Trumps specific shortcomings for the moment. The presidency has become ill-suited to the task of unifying the country, because the presidency has become the biggest prize and totem in the culture war. Like the religious wars between Catholics and Protestants in England, if one side controls the throne, it is seen as an insult and threat to the other. And whoever holds the throne is seen as a kind of personal Protector of the Realm. The political parties have been utterly complicit in the process. Exploiting social media and other technologies, Republicans and Democrats shape their messages around the assumption they and they alone have legitimate ownership of Americas authentic best self. Thats why whichever party is out of power promises to take back America as if the other side were foreign invaders. Barack Obama was elected in 2008 in no small part to fulfill the promise of his 2004 Democratic Convention keynote address: to banish the slicing and dicing of America into Red States and Blue States. The colors of the electoral map may have been smudged and scrambled over the last eight years, but the underlying polarization Obama inherited from George W. Bush only intensified on his watch. Trump will be the third president in a row to promise to unite the country, and he will almost certainly be the third in a row to fail. The ugly squabble between the president-elect and Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) last week offers a glimpse into how bad things will get. Lewis earned his icon status on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday in Selma, Ala. But over the years, hes traded some of his moral capital for partisan chips, insinuating only the Democratic Party has ownership of the civil rights era and its victories, despite the fact a higher share of Republicans voted for the Civil Rights Act than Democrats. Indeed, the goons who cracked Lewis skull on the Edmund Pettus Bridge were acting at the behest of a Democratic governor and Democratic local officials. Even the bridge was named after a Democrat. In 2008, Lewis saw nothing wrong with comparing Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to the segregationist Alabama Gov. George Wallace, adding: Sen. McCain and Gov. (Sarah) Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division. He did it again in 2012, insinuating voting for Mitt Romney might lead America to go back to the days of fire hoses, police dogs and church bombings. This was not idealism, but poisonous cynicism, and it helped contribute to the feelings of resentment so essential to Trumps victory. Now, Lewis is going further still. He refused to attend Trumps inauguration, arguing Trump cannot be a legitimate president because of Russian meddling in the election. Lewis may have reason to believe Trump did not win fair and square, but questioning Trumps legitimacy is exactly what the Russians probably wanted from the beginning: to undermine Western and American faith and confidence in democracy. (Its a sign of Lewis partisanship he also boycotted George W. Bushs first inauguration because he didnt think Bush was legitimate either.) Of course, Trump made things worse. He attacked Lewis, saying the congressman should finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities of the U.S. instead of falsely complaining about the election results. Predictably, Democrats rallied behind Lewis, whos basically the partys living saint, and theyre already fundraising off the spectacle. The Democrats will stop baiting Trump when he shows he can refuse the bait. Which means they wont stop. Theres an almost literary quality to Trumps insecurities; he craves respect more than almost anything else, and yet respect remains agonizingly elusive in part because he takes everything too personally. The presidency, normally a job for people with thick skins and a nose for insincere flattery, promises to only heighten Trumps sense of entitlement to respect and exacerbate his inevitable resentment when he doesnt receive it. So well continue on divided, angry and untrusting. People in Cedar Falls could debate pink storefronts until theyre blue in the face. But now it may be time for the city to step back, take a deep breath and better define its process for reviewing storefront designs downtown. Krista Dolashs proposal for a pink storefront for a retail outlet for Root, her organic beauty and skin care product business, didnt pass muster with the City Council in June, though Dolash said that signature color is part of her brand. An alternative plan submitted by the building owner calling for a gray storefront with pink accents was approved by the council Monday night. The council voted down Dolashs proposal and supported the building owners, based on the recommendations from Cedar Falls Community Main Streets design review committee and the city Planning and Zoning Commission. Dolash said she had no input on the second proposal and told Mayor Jim Brown and City Council members she plans to leave that location when her lease runs out and she recoups her initial costs of locating there. She noted downtown Iowa City is allowing her to have a pink storefront when she opens there next month. I love our Cedar Falls customers and they love having us here, but the politics surrounding Community Main Street and the volunteers on your design committee are terrible, she wrote. It breaks my heart and hurts my business to leave Cedar Falls Main Street, but it is obvious to me that our branding is not welcome here. We hope that is not the case. We hope the popularity of Dolashs products will prompt her to reconsider and stay in Cedar Falls. That said, we also agree with City Council member Dave Wieland the process for reviewing the design of downtown storefronts needs to be reviewed. Im very dissatisfied with how weve treated this entrepreneurial spirit trying to get into our community, Wieland said. This is her brand, Wielend said of Dolashs request. Its like telling John Deere, You cant have green and yellow. Main Street officials have said the design review committee, made up of architects and historic design experts, followed a decade-old review process in concluding Dolashs request should be denied. Wieland suggested that process be put under the Planning and Zoning Commissions jurisdiction instead of Community Main Street. Brown indicated he and city staff also have been reviewing that process. We support that review. There is a difference between the design review process in Cedar Falls and in Waterloo. Main Street Waterloos Design Review Council has some statutory power over downtown projects. Cedar Falls Community Main Street serves in an advisory capacity and is a private nonprofit organization not created or appointed by the City Council. However, Community Main Street is publicly funded with proceeds from a self-supported municipal improvement property taxing district among other revenues. The Cedar Falls council approved renewing that district at the same meeting the final storefront design for Roots storefront was approved. In a previous editorial we suggested the Main Street Waterloo board of directors and its Design Review Council should follow the Iowa Open Meetings Law and post public notice and agendas of meetings. That has resumed after a lapse of several years due to personnel turnover. The organization also is spreading word of its design review process among its members and downtown property owners and merchants. We would respectfully suggest Cedar Falls Community Main Street and its design review body also post public notice and agendas of its meetings at City Hall and on the city website, as well as design review guidelines, to raise awareness of the organization and its activities and promote downtown development. Further, a formal process should be established for appointing design review council members if none exists. Pink is not the issue. Communication is, including a design review process that is understood by businesses, merchants and the public. We feel following the provisions of the state open meetings law will go a long way toward accomplishing that. Growing up in a military family, Mom used to tell me Patience, child any time I expressed frustration with anything that took more time than I thought it should. Whether it was the art contest I entered in the third grade or waiting for Mom to take me shopping for new clothes, all my pleadings drew the same reaction from my mother. I was 11 when two officers appeared at our front door to tell Mom, my brother, Larry, and me that my dad, Col. Lawrence Whitford, a career Air Force pilot, was missing in action. In the 47 years since, Ive received varying accounts of what happened to my dad Nov. 2, 1969. Could he be living in a remote area of Laos where he was presumed to have gone down, or could he be alive in a POW camp? No wreckage on the ground was found until 2008, when a crash site and parts of the plane associated with the F-100 were identified as proof of that incident. The loss of a serviceman is hard for the members of military families to survive, and my family is one shining example of this. My brother died of a heart attack in 2003, and Mom died of broken heart in 2010. The loss of her first child hit her harder than losing the love of her life, and it was too much for her to take. This left me with the responsibility of making sure when Dads remains are returned, he receives a full military burial at Arlington Cemetery where he has a headstone. In 2008 when the evidence was located and word came two credible burial sites looked promising, Mom reminded me daily of that obligation. Since 2008, I have made finding my father my sole priority. I have attended two National League of POW/MIA Families conferences seeking information. In 2015, I reached out to Texas Rep. Sam Johnson to handle my fathers case. Johnson was himself shot down during the Vietnam War, was a prisoner of war for nearly seven years and endured extreme torture while at the Hanoi Hilton with fellow inmate Sen. John McCain. In 2016, I wrote a letter to President Obama asking him to speak with the Laotian government about lifting the restrictions that prevent our government from doing the difficult job of search and identification of our still-missing servicemen. My letter, along with a letter dated July 29 drafted by Rep. Johnson and signed by McCain, Sen. Charles Grassley and other members of Congress, was delivered to the president before his historic trip to Laos in September. I kept hearing Moms words, Patience, child, as I waited anxiously for any news from the White House. On Sept. 7, I heard from the DOD the Laos limitations had changed slightly. Laos had agreed to increase the number of caseworkers per site to 65, and the base camp restrictions could be changed on a case-by-case basis. This means cases like my dads in remote areas of Laos that are hard to access would have a base camp set up close to the site, reducing time and cost. Id like to think the efforts of all parties involved played a part in facilitating the baby steps made. In addition to the letters, two bills were submitted, Johnsons Resolution 871, and McCains Senate Resolution 563, asking our government to intensify efforts to account for the 83,000 service members still missing from conflicts around the world. As 2017 is getting started and I see the changing of the guard in our nations capital, I pray the bickering, uncivil behavior, name calling, tweeting and general nastiness exhibited by our elected officials subsides and they get down to the unfinished business of bringing my dad and all missing soldiers home. Our missing servicemen paid the ultimate price for our freedoms, and we owe them this returning them home is the honorable thing we must do. Patience is my only option. Blum comment JULIE FEE CEDAR FALLS The editorial from the Couriers editorial board (Jan. 13) was spot on about taking cyber warfare seriously. As Americans, we should be outraged by the fact another country had input into our elections. Congressman Rod Blum, on the other hand, thinks its funny, according to his comments on Facebook about the Democratic National Committee not being able to hack the cold weather. He also says reaction to the comments are fake outrage from the Washington, D.C., elite. First of all, congressman, the outrage is well deserved. Secondly, the D.C. elite youre referring to are actually called concerned Iowa constituents. Mr. Blum, by diminishing the seriousness of this aggressive attack on our country and its elections elections that are the envy and prayer of millions worldwide you are contributing to the degeneration of our democracy. I ask you to respect the oath you made when you accepted the esteemed office of congressman and protect Iowans and Americans from all enemies, domestic and foreign. United Nations ROBERT HUBER Cedar Valley United Nations Association CEDAR FALLS As a member of the United Nations Association I support the work of the United Nations to help make the world a safe and peaceful place. It is no secret, as Ambassador Samantha Power has stated, the United Nations has administrative challenges. That being said, it is distressing Senators Ted Cruz and Lindsay Graham have submitted legislation for the United States to withhold United Nations funding. A large part of their concern is the United Nations recently condemned Israels expansion of settlements into Palestinian areas on a 14-0 vote with the United States abstaining. There is no evidence the United States does not support Israel in a bipartisan manner. As a student of the Palestine-Israel conflict for the past five years, I regret the United States has not been more of an advocate for the Palestinians. However, to use this method of attempting to pressure the United Nations is not worthy of the world leadership the United States should provide. As one of only five permanent security members, with veto power, we hold tremendous potential power and influence. We have tried the nonfunding method in the past. It sends the wrong message of elitist thinking and bullying tactics, and it does not work. I urge all concerned citizens to contact our two senators, Joni Ernst and Charles Grassley, and hold them responsible in not supporting this legislation. The military power of the United States is unequaled. The question is whether we will advocate moral persuasion and just policies that will be recognized and accepted by the rest of the world. Crime stats ALICE GRAEBER CEDAR FALLS Maybe it was due to it being Friday the 13th or the inability to count numbers, but the front page of The Courier reports crime is down in Cedar Falls. By the chart with the story looks like its up to us. I personally, and probably most other citizens, could care less that traffic violations and shoplifting is in recession while rape, burglary and other serious crimes are on the increase. Sundays KWWL news reports a felon in possession of a gun started shooting inside a building on College Hill, kind of like the knife-wielding incident at a motel on University Avenue a few months back. The city of Cedar Falls has its head in the clouds and doesnt seem to have a clue as to what goes on in the real world. As long as they can continue to make it look good to potential residents they can keep soaking the public for tax dollars. Our society and government needs to stop handing criminals money to not go to classes, chase college girls and/or live out of pocket free on mental health drugs only to be a crime problem! No wonder Trump is president. Editors note: While several categories of Class A crimes were up, as the chart and story indicates, other categories of crime were down and the chart did not include all crimes, which totaled more than 2,000, far more than the total crimes included in the graphic. As the story reported, a total 2,039 crimes reported in Cedar Falls for the year compared with 2,145 in 2015. Within the more serious Group A offenses, several forms of crimes against people, such as aggravated assault, domestic assault and rapes were up from 11 to 13. Drug violations were down 16 percent from 123 to 103. Various forms of theft were up slightly, from 567 in 2015 to 572 in 2016, but several forms of fraud and embezzlement were down, from 205 to 175. Vandalism was down slightly, about 3 percent, from 203 to 196. Less serious group B offenses were down 14 percent, from 674 in 2015 to 579 in 2016. Eyeglass donations TOM HAGARTY CEDAR FALLS The Cedar Falls Noon Lions Club collects used eyeglasses and hearing aids at numerous locations around town. Other Lions clubs also collect donated glasses in other towns. Wondering what to do with your old pair(s) of eyeglasses and hearing aids? Recycle them in any of the Lions Club eyeglass drop boxes. The glasses you donate are forwarded to a central processing location. They are categorized and packaged for shipment to countries such as India and Mexico. Mission groups going to several countries also transport the donated glasses and hearing aids. Q: When is the Flea Market Junk Show going to be in Waverly at the Centre? A: Its set for Jan. 27 and 28. Q: Was Vladimir Putin at one time the director of the KGB, or was he just an agent? A: According to the UKs Daily Telegraph, Mr. Putin served as a KGB officer in Soviet-era East Germany, and is also thought to have been responsible for keeping tabs on dissidents in his hometown of Leningrad, now St. Petersburg. He headed the FSB (the Federal Security Service) from July 1998 to August 1999 before becoming prime minister, and has often quipped there is no such thing as a former KGB officer. Q: Is Billie Bailey leaving the Grout Museum since there is a new curator? A: No. Bailey is the director of the museum, not a curator. Q: What happened to Ryan Kelly of Celtic Thunder? I see he was sick. A: We couldnt find any information about a recent illness. He suffered a serious head injury in 2012 and also recently took some time off after his father died. Q: Is there some organization in the area that trains dogs to become service dogs? A: Retrieving Freedom, an organization in Waverly, trains service dogs for veterans, and people with autism or with Type 1 diabetes, according to its website, retrievingfreedom.org. Q: In a Courier article, Rep. Bill Dix used the phrase kicking in the door. What was he referring to? A: His kick the door in comments have typically been followed by expressing that state government will work differently than it has in the past. Republicans have gained control of both the Iowa House and Iowa Senate and the governors office for the first time in about 20 years, and his comments have meant to suggest Republicans intend to get to work immediately to change the way things have been done. Q: Regarding the statement in the Jan. 13 paper about crimes dropping in Cedar Falls. When I looked in the crimes statistics box it looks like it increased and not decreased. Were the years mixed up in the box? Can you explain? A: While several categories of Class A crimes were up, as the chart and story indicate, other categories of crime were down and the chart did not include all crimes, which totaled more than 2,000, far more than the total crimes included in the graphic. As the story reported, a total 2,039 crimes reported in Cedar Falls for the year compared with 2,145 in 2015. Within the more serious Group A offenses, several forms of crimes against people such as aggravated assault, domestic assault and rapes were up from 11 to 13. Drug violations were down 16 percent from 123 to 103. Various forms of theft were up slightly, from 567 in 2015 to 572 in 2016, but several forms of fraud and embezzlement were down, from 205 to 175. Vandalism was down slightly, about 3 percent, from 203 to 196. 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out of debt is easier said than done, I know. However, its something you can do, and its something you should be practicing everyday. As Christians, we are in this world, but we are TEMPE, AZ, January 22, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- For the fifth consecutive year, Inspired LED, LLC has been recognized for their commitment to outstanding customer service in the field of home improvement. Following the annual survey of over 40 million Houzz users, the independent local business was awarded Best of Houzz 2017 in the category of customer satisfaction. Houzz.com is the largest residential design database in the world, helping to connect home owners with a wide variety of home building, remodeling, and design services. Each year, the online community evaluates and selects the highest ranking industry professionals to be awarded with the title "Best of Houzz" for the categories of Design, Customer Service, and Photography. This year, more than 40 million unique monthly users helped to identify the winners from among hundreds of thousands of designers, contractors, and home remodeling companies. "We're so pleased to award Best of Houzz 2017 to this incredible group of talented and customer-focused professionals, including Inspired LED," said Liza Hausman, vice president of Industry Marketing for Houzz. "Each of these businesses was singled out for recognition by our community of homeowners and design enthusiasts for helping to turn their home improvement dreams into reality." Customer Service honors are based on several factors, including the number and quality of client reviews a professional received in 2016. Since joining the Houzz community in 2012, Inspired LED has consistently received five star ratings, with more than one-hundred celebratory customer reviews to date. "We are thrilled to have received this award for the fifth time," explained Inspired LED owner, Jim Levante. "Though a lot has changed over the past few years, we remain devoted to the ideals upon which our business is built- designing innovative products and providing superior service for our customers." Inspired LED, along with other recipients of the "Best of Houzz 2017" awards, can be identified by a badge on their company profile. These badges serve as a sign of the businesses' commitment to excellence, and help users of the Houzz community to identify top-rated home professionals in every metro area. About Houzz Houzz is the leading platform for home remodeling and design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish - online or from a mobile device. From decorating a small room to building a custom home and everything in between, Houzz connects millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals across the country and around the world. With the largest residential design database in the world and a vibrant community empowered by technology, Houzz is the easiest way for people to find inspiration, get advice, buy products and hire the professionals they need to help turn their ideas into reality. Headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, Houzz also has international offices in London, Berlin, Sydney, Moscow and Tokyo. Houzz and the Houzz logo are registered trademarks of Houzz Inc. worldwide. For more information, visit houzz.com. About Inspired LED Inspired LED, LLC is a leading LED manufacturer offering the best in easy-to-use home, commercial, and specialty lighting. Since their initial pilot sales program launched in 2009, the company has delivered award-winning service by providing customers with safe, reliable, energy-efficient products at an exceptional value. By continuously working to recognize and serve the growing demands of the industry, Inspired LED has quickly emerged as a front runner in LED system design and product development. Inspired LED proudly partners their professional expertise with clients across the country to offer comprehensive lighting solutions for a variety of applications. To learn more about Inspired LED, visit their website, www.inspiredled.com, follow them on houzz.com, or stop by their showroom in Tempe, Arizona. # # # San Francisco was feeling the lady love on Saturday as an estimated 100,000 people marched from Civic Center to the Embarcadero for the Women's March, which has now shaped up to be the single largest protest in American history with packed-to-the-gills sister marches across the country. The weather was wildly wet and cold, but no one seemed to mind. Clad in raincoats and everything pink, marcherswomen of all backgrounds, their brothers, husbands, boyfriends, buddies, children and petsmarched with energy and amazing strength chanting "This is what democracy looks like" and "Love, not hate, makes America great!" As City Hall shone hot pink, and San Francisco again showed her many splendid colors, we had one of those warm and fuzzy momentswe couldn't love this city more. Northern football players, cheerleaders from beyond the U.S. Two Northern football players and two cheerleaders have common ground with hometowns outside the U.S. Afroz Khan Pathan, serving a life sentence in the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case, has topped the Gandhi Peace Examination, in which 83 other inmates of Taloja Jail in neighbouring Thane district, appeared. Eight-four inmates of the jail, most of them undertrials, wrote the exam, which tests awareness about Gandhian principles and values. The exam was conducted in the jail last week by Mumbai Sarvodaya Mandal, a trust which propagates values of the Father of the Nation. Of these 84 inmates, six are lodged in egg-shaped high security unit (known as anda cell) and facing serious criminal charges. One of them is a Nigerian. The inmates were given prizes at a a brief ceremony, said the Mandals Managing Trustee Tulsidas Somaiya. Pathan, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment last year, stood first with 71 out of total 80 marks, he said. After the examination and getting prize, Pathan was overwhelmed. In his feedback, he wrote that thoughts and beliefs of Mahatma Gandhi regarding truth, ahimsa, tolerance and doing good to the enemy influenced him the most. Pathan said he is following these principles after reading Gandhis autobiography and vowed to adhere to them in rest of his life, Mr. Somaiya said. Set up in 1952 during the bhoodan andolan (land gift movement) of Acharya Vinoba Bhave, the Trust has been engaged in programmes to spread the message of Gandhi by holding seminars, workshops, meetings and youth camps. The Mandal has been organising the examination since the last 12 years in various jails of Maharashtra. The aim of the examination is to invoke a sense of regret in jail inmates (about their crimes) and inculcate qualities of satya (truth) and ahimsa (non-violence) so that they become better citizens after their release, Mr. Somaiya added. The party will concentrate on those areas which are dominated by Muslim and Dalit population. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) which had opened its account in Maharashtra by winning two seats in the 2014 Maharashtra assembly polls is likely to contest around 60 seats in Mumbai and will concentrate on those areas which are dominated by Muslims and Dalits population. The party will focus on areas like Byculla, Nagpada, Mumbai central, Govandi, Kurla, Andheri, Malad, Malvani, Jogeshwari which have a sizeable number of Muslim residents. AIMIM will be focusing on four municipal corporations viz Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Solapur. The Asaduddin Owaisi led party might alter political equations in the city at a time when Shiv Sena and BJP are yet to make a final decision on having pre-poll alliance for BMC polls. The partys morale is at an all-time high after winning 40 seats in the recent Municipal Council polls. AIMIM MLA from Aurangabad central Imtiaz Jaleel said, Our party will contest around 60 seats in Mumbai and 40 seats in Pune Municipal Corporation polls. We will contest 25 seats in Pimpri-Chinchwad and 40 to 50 seats in Solapur civic body election. Areas like Byculla, Nagpada, Mumbai central, Govandi, Kurla, Andheri, Malad, Malvani, Jogeshwari have become our strongholds. Congress party always woos Muslims but have often sidelined them after coming to power. People have lost faith in BJP and Congress and are looking for other alternatives. We are preparing a detailed schedule for the Owaisi brothers meetings, which will commence in February. We will work for the welfare of Muslims and provide amenities for them, he added. Few days back, Asaduddin Owaisi had kickstarted campaigning activities in the city. He said that despite having an annual budget of Rs 37,500 crore, the BMC had failed to fulfill its responsibilities as a planning authority. Owaisi had also expressed his displeasure over the civic bodys failure to utilise the budget for citizens welfare. AIMIM is confident of winning atleast 20 seats in the BMC election. On the other hand, Shiv Sena Industries Minister Subhash Desai said, Shiv Sena is not worried about AIMIMs entry into poll fray. The party will create a dent in the traditional vote bank of Congress and Samajwadi Party. In the 2014 Maharashtra Assembly polls, Waris Pathan had won from the Byculla constituency and former journalist Imtiaz Jaleel emerged victorious from the Aurangabad constituency. The party also won 26 seats in the Aurangabad civic election. It opened account in Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation with four corporator seats. The party had clinched 11 of the 81 seats in Nanded Municipal Corporation elections. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Sunday said that the ban on Jallikattu has been removed completely following the signing of an ordinance to the effect by state governor CH Vidyasagar Rao. We will bring the draft of a permanent law on Jallikattu in the Tamil Nadu assembly soon, the CM added. Asserting that Jallikattu was held throughout Tamil Nadu on Sunday, Panneerselvam stated that it will be held at Alanganallur in Madurai on a date decided by the locals. However, protesters forced the cancellation of a Jallikattu event that Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam was supposed to inaugurate on Sunday, even though the bull-taming sport was held in the absence of government representatives at a few places across the state. Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam decided to return to Chennai after protesters prevented him from entering the venue. Before leaving Madurai, he told mediapersons that Jallikattu will be held in Alanganallur only if the residents want it. The assembly will pass the relevant legislation for amending the law on Monday, he added. At Alanganallur several sections of agitators declined to hold the sport. They blocked the ways to the entry and exit points of the sprawling sporting area. A group of organisers removed the bulls from the arena as well. They demanded a permanent solution, declining to accept the ordinance promulgated to hold the sport. Jallikattu began in parts of Tamil Nadu on Sunday, including Tiruchirappalli district, with traditional fervour. Reportedly, two dead, 83 injured after unregulated Jallikattu event held at Raapusal village in Pudukottai district. While one S Mohan had injuries to lower hip, the other victim, Raja received wounds in the chest. Sundays developments came as a setback to the AIADMK government, which was keen to appropriate credit for winning the Jallikattu battle by forcing the Centre to pass an ordinance to this effect. Even local BJP leaders like Union minister Pon Radhakrishan were quick to take credit for the ordinance, professing Prime Minister Narendra Modis love for Tamil traditions and culture. However, this contention was rejected by protesters across Tamil Nadu, who blame three entities animal rights group PETA, Panneerselvam and the Centre for the ban on the bull-taming event. [dropcap]D[/dropcap]onald Trump warns journalists, calls them most dishonest human beings. Dont be surprised if tomorrow he says, Journalists are funded by Islamic Jihadi forces and they should be slaughtered. He is the only president rejected by the majority of the Americans and the world, who won elections by rigging and treachery, a known fraudster. His life is based on dishonesty and pretensions. US have never seen such large-scale abhorrence against their own elected president. Irony is that, none of the politician is complete without media nor government has any worth without media involvement. They get angry when media reports truth and their failure or just refuse to follow them. Today, many people criticise powerful communication mode and want to use media power for their unfairly means and for public relation purpose. The influence of the media has increased. It is the fact that todays campaigns are more focused on the individual than on the party. In order to win primaries, individual candidates seek media limelight to gain attention from voters. Here simply media replaced political parties as the primary source behind candidate selection. The more you are in limelight, your probability enhances to get the ticket from the party; you know jo dikhta hai, wahi bikhta hai. Media is playing a vital role in structuring government and its policies, by seeking political opinions from the voters. Not surprisingly, the voting behaviour of people who are actively interested in politics has probably not changed by the media. Committed Democrats and Republicans selectively learned about what they want from media sources. However, the media can swing peoples mind those who are neutral over polls. Since, these voters often decide elections results; the power of media in elections can be substantial here. Many politicians have learned that they can succeed in getting elected, if they know how to use the media. Narendra Modi and Barack Obama are two such great examples. Some politicians empowered themselves to communicate very effectively with voters. Government officials and candidates carefully stage media events and PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES. Critics believe that too much attention is put on how politicians look and come across on camera, rather than doing their job effectively. Trump was very unstable in his arguments and conduct, unlike Obama and Hillary Clinton. Media sources have often been accused of emphasizing scandal and high-interest issues at the expense of duller but more important political problems. The governments priorities can be rearranged as a result, by setting the public agenda. Most Americans learn about SOCIAL ISSUES from print or electronic media. The fact that the media focuses on some issues and ignores others can help. Definitely, media has a great deal of power in Americas politics today. There media abuse their power, by serving profit driven news like what they want and not necessarily what they need. Perhaps, the media serves as an important player in a modern checks and balances system. Reporters function as WATCHDOGS to make sure that presidents, peoples representatives and judiciary do not abuse their powers. In turn, media is checked by government regulations, skilled politicians and peoples good judgement. Donald Trump has failed to take the media into his confidence and deliver his best; rather from day one, he became their enemy by his unnecessary comments. Describing journalists as the most dishonest human beings on earth, Trump said he has been running a war with the media and warned them of consequences for falsely reporting that less number of people attended his inauguration. Anyway, what action he will take on media or what media can do, that time will decide. However, when Donald talks, he constantly repeats, as repeating can make words more profound. Listen to him. Hell usually says the same thing thrice. His speech is also very much stream of thought like whatever is popping up into his mind comes out through the mouth. This is why; his campaign managers were directing him to use a teleprompter. Many are not happy with him; he dictates and always is in attacking mood, but smart media knows the art of taming down such leaders. Trump is mentally imperfect and having simply dont care attitude, according to experts. These experts are scared because Trumps this attitude may drag them into major war or destroy Americas economy. Trumps campaign was cleverly focused to show Americans that Hillary mistrust and hate them. Trump is not defending his own record because he has very little in the way of real accomplishments. He claims to be a successful businessman, but he has filed for bankruptcy four times. He claims to be a paragon of ethics and virtues, who will take on the crooked Washington establishment, but his own dealings, are full of things like the fraudulent Trump University, hiring illegal workers and then not paying them, and stiffing contractors for money he owed them. Personally, I dont hate Trump. Actually, I feel sorry for him. Hes probably a very lonely person who doesnt understand why people hate him. (Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com) Taking cue from the mounting protests in Tamil Nadu in support of bull-taming sport Jallikattu, the Shiv Sena has decided to back the protest against the ban on bullock cart race in Maharashtra. Shiv Sena MP from South Municipal Corporation, Arvind Sawant said. The Shiv Sena did not raise the demand now. Our MP had earlier demanded for it. That time Prakash Javadekar was the environment minister. The demand for Jallikattu was done in front of us in the Parliament. Many people have gathered at the Marina beach for Jallikattu. Unfortunately, this does not take place even for our border issue. Asserting that the issue not only adheres to Mumbai but the entire state of Maharashtra, Sawant said the Shiv Sena would support the protest. Bullock cart races were organised during the Pune Festival, which is part of Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. Its supporters claim that the sport has been organised for more than three centuries as a tradition. The Supreme Court had banned the practice of bullock cart races along with Jallikattu in 2014. Jim Brewer, president of Brewer Broadcasting, congratulated Dr. Bernie Miller, on Facebook for his Sunday morning 6-10 ratings on Power 94 with a question, "Pop Quiz...who is celebrating a birthday and just finished first AGAIN on Sunday morning ratings? That would be my friend, Bernie...appreciate you...have a terrific day!" Dr. had a 13.7 share of the 18-54 adults. Mr. Brewer added, "Better yet...13.1% of all persons 18+ that are listening to radio on Sunday morning are feeling the Praise!" Dr. Miller's listeners who know him as 'the Praise Pastor', tune in anticipating his closing phrase, "I gotta get outta here, I got to go preach." He pastors New Covenant Fellowship Church in Chattanooga which he founded in 1996 as "A place for every race." Aiken, SC (29801) Today Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 62F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Photos: Over 250K Flood Historic Women's Rally, Take Streets Despite March Cancellation By Stephen Gossett in News on Jan 21, 2017 10:08PM Over 250,000 people poured into Grant Park and the Loop for the massive-beyond-expectations Women's March on Chicago, according to organizers. That figure dwarfed even the largest projection heading into the weekend, which estimated around 50,000. The sheer size of the turnout forced organizers to officially cancel the march, but the masses took the streets regardless, in waves of joyful protest the day after President Donald Trump's inauguration. More people were at the rally in Chicago than attended Trump's inauguration. Crowds packed Columbus Drive, with people arriving as early as 7:30 a.m., even though performances didn't begin until 9:15 a.m. People spilled out far west, into Michigan Ave. and, and beyond. Crowds "extended all the way to the Loop," Women's March representative Bryan Goettel told Chicagoist. The speaker program, which kicked off around 9:55 a.m., included aldermen, dozens of Illinois politicians, members of the cast of Chicago's production of Hamilton, Black Lives Matter activists and many more. Aislinn Pulley, lead organizer of BLM Chicago, rallied the crowd in a chant of "I! Believe! That we! Will win!" She reminded the crowd that Trump suffered his most humiliating retreat here before taking aim at our current mayor, too. "In Chicago, weve had important historic victories over the past five years. We kicked Trump out. We got rid of our states attorney Anita Alvarez. We got rid of Garry McCarthy, former Chief of Police. Whos next? Rahm Emanuel." Alderman Susan Sadlowski Garza said, Today we need to send a message to Washington, DC. Do not mess with Chicago. Today we are here to celebrate the power of the puss. Tara Stamps, a Chicago teacher, memorably urged vigilance. Let this next election cycle be an unprecedented number of sisters on the ballot," Stamps said. "Do your homework. Stalk your congressman, alderman, make people accountable to the work that must be done in this city, state, country. It is not time for us to go silently into that dark night. Kelly Hayes, of Lifted Voices, urged network-building in addition to reaching out to political representatives. Should you be calling your Congressman? Yes. But if thats all youre doing, we change nothing," Hayes said. "We have to culture-build together, community-build together. We know bad things happen when we call the police over mental health crises. What are we doing to develop alternatives? How many of us know our neighbors and are building phone trees, or our own emergency responses when things go wrong in our own communities. We have to build what we know they wont. This government is not safety. Racist policing is not safety. Even as the speakers were frequently galvanizing, the giant gathering was intent on a march. Shortly after 11 a.m., a safety marshal updated the crowd that marshals would help lead the massive crowd from the park after the rally. But fences had to be removed well ahead of the end of the program, which allowed the hundreds of thousands of often-pink-bedecked people to begin moving through downtowneven if a march was technically cancelled. Marchers spread north down Michigan, east on Randolph, and looped back downtown at Monroe. Others spread west toward Federal Plaza. Large crowds also continued to stream in front of Trump Tower, and near Dearborn and Adams, into the early afternoon. The event did indeed feel historic, marcher Sarah Staggs, of Lincoln Square, said."I'm ecstatic," she told Chicagoist. "We more than tripled (the estimate), we've taken over nearly all the streets downtown. It's an incredible show against racism, xenophobia and narrow nationalism." The mood among the crowd on the groundnear the stage, at the rally, and throughout the impromptu marcheswas overwhelmingly positive and peaceful. East on Randolph, loops back around Columbus to Monroe to Michigan #womensmarchchi pic.twitter.com/dgcAkGSks2 Stephen Gossett (@gossettrag) January 21, 2017 January 19, 2017 CAIRO Syria is witnessing a fierce civil war and massacres that have claimed the lives of so many of its people, such as the Aleppo massacre. The Syrian crisis is not unrelated to civil society in Egypt, as a group of psychotherapists launched on Dec. 14 an initiative to provide free psychotherapy and support sessions online for Syrians affected in war zones. The second phase of the initiative, which entails a new set of sessions, was launched Jan. 10. Despite the geographic borders, the siege imposed by the Syrian regime and the difficulty of communicating over the internet, more and more Syrians across their country are joining the initiative surprising even the organizers. Therefore, this initiative sheds light on a new dimension of humanitarian aid for those affected by wars and revolutions. Ahmed Haroun, a consultant psychiatrist and member of the American Psychology Association, launched the initiative with a number of volunteer psychotherapists to provide psychiatric support to those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. After the Aleppo massacre, Haroun believed it was important to move for solidarity and support of Syrians. A large number of psychotherapy support teams volunteered in the initiative where Syrians who would like to enjoy the free sessions can register on the initiatives website, and a volunteer psychotherapist would provide support, Haroun told Al-Monitor. Haroun explained that psychotherapy is a cognitive therapy that attempts to change how those who seek help think about reality in a set of sessions that reach up to 20 minutes a session with a psychiatry specialist. The doctor works on training the patient on mechanisms of overcoming crises and enhancing the patients relationships with others, Haroun said. Haroun noted the initiative is currently restricted to Syrians inside Syria. However, in time, the initiative might extend to include Iraqis, Yemenis and Libyans. Haroun stressed the importance of therapy to war victims as he said, The most dangerous mental disturbances are those that occur after a catastrophe or the loss of someone. The exposed person needs a similar shock to reorder their thoughts and continue their life without suffering. Concerning Syrians living in Egypt, Haroun said the session membership fees are reduced for those in need and that psychotherapy can be provided for free for those with deteriorating economic conditions. Sessions are free for Syrians inside Syria. When asked about the biggest challenges the initiative faces, Haroun mentioned the difficulties of communication over the internet due to weak services in Egypt and Syria. Tayseer al-Naggar, the head of the General Union for Syrian Refugees and Development in Egypt, praised the initiative. However, he stated that psychotherapeutic support is only important in the post-war stages. It makes no sense to treat Syrians and provide them with psychotherapy at the same time the bombing and shelling are still ongoing, Naggar told Al-Monitor. He said that a number of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Syria are doing the same thing, though he did not mention which ones. Nevertheless, Naggar said that such NGOs are unable to reach those who are in need of mental support due to the siege imposed on Syria. According to Naggar, the priority right now should be to help Syrians in Egypt, especially children who watched their parents and relatives die before their eyes. There are children who lost the ability to talk due to the cruelty of what they saw. It is better to build hospitals to treat Syrians currently in Egypt and provide them with physical and psychiatric treatment, rather than go to them inside Syria, Naggar said. About 6.3 million people have been displaced and approximately 400,000 people have died since the beginning of the war in 2011. The impact of war includes psychological shocks, a topic of interest to international think tanks such as the Brookings Institution, which indicated that half of the Syrian refugees in Germany suffer from mental illnesses, as 70% of them witnessed incidents of violence. In this context, Ziad Akl, a psychology researcher at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo, talked to Al-Monitor about the consequences of post-revolutionary trauma, which affects those who participated in political and military operations. Akl believes that revolutions change the way people perceive society, such as Syrians perceiving that the state is no longer an umbrella of safety or protection, but rather a threat to their very existence. Akl referred to how the Syrian revolution caused mental illnesses, such as chronic depression and not being able to adapt to reality, for a number of Syrians. Akl also praised the Egyptian initiative that provides online treatment, and he stressed how important it is to spread such ideas. We are still dealing with the Arab Spring focusing excessively on the state, while totally ignoring the individual who is a key player in political and social transformations. Therefore, it is important to focus on the citizen who lives the reality of the Arab Spring, he noted. The initiatives main goal is to offer mental support at a time when Syrian citizens need to vent their frustrations, especially amid the absence of mental health clinics in Syria. It is not surprising that the International Medical Corps proposed that mental/psychological treatment is part of health care. In other words, international and regional efforts in the near future may focus on providing psychological treatment to Syrians who were damaged by the war. However, the Egyptian initiative is going to face more challenges, including the continuous need for financial support, the ability to respond to the many complex problems and the ability to reach children and the elderly, who need more psychological support. January 19, 2017 CAIRO Mahmoud Ramadan is a young novelist who left the Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City in 2008. Looking for a place to publish his writings, he wound up in Egypt. He settled there and has so far published three novels about the situation of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Al-Monitor met with Ramadan in his bookstore, which he opened in early 2016, in the Egyptian 6th of October City. He said he found it best to leave Gaza in 2008 after being imprisoned twice by Hamas because of his views and writings that go against the Hamas movement and its rule. Ramadan said, I was studying journalism at the University of Palestine in Gaza and I could not complete my studies to get a degree before leaving. I also worked in online marketing and design. I started writing on my own about my experience and how people lived in the Gaza Strip. I used an alias Yami Ahmed and I never mentioned my real name because I wrote about politics and how the ruling party [Hamas] oppressed Gazans. Speaking about the books he has published, Ramadan said, I printed my first novel at my own expense in 2013. It was titled The Remnants of Mary. It spoke about the beginning of conflicts and divisions that had emerged in the Palestinian community as a result of the parties [Fatah and Hamas] behavior, and how all of this reflected on the Palestinians personality who became labeled by their political affiliations. He added, My second novel was published by an Egyptian publishing house called Oktob Publishing House in 2014 under the title I Relate to Your Words. It spoke about a man who traveled from Gaza to Egypt and tried to integrate in his new community, but faced culture shock in the Egyptian society. The third novel was the second part of my first; it was published by a publishing house [in Gaza] called Samir Mansour Library for Publishing and Distribution in June 2016 and it spoke about the Palestinian differences and the deepening division as well as detailed incidents of the Israeli war on Gaza in 2009. Ramadan noted that Egyptian publishing houses do not agree to deal with Palestinian authors from Gaza so easily. This is why after publishing his latest novel and opening his bookstore in 2016, he partnered up with Egyptian author Adham Abboud and founded a small publishing house in 6th of October City, which they called Bardi Publishing House, to help Palestinian and Arab authors publish their novels and poetry. Poet Joseph al-Qadra, from the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, arrived in Egypt in 2011. Sitting in a cafe in central Cairo, he told Al-Monitor that Hamas actions and the restrictions it imposes on all levels, including cultural works, pushed him to leave Gaza and look for a more welcoming environment to express his opinion through poetry. This is why he came to Egypt to complete his studies and is now preparing for his doctoral thesis in literary criticism at the Research Institute of Arab Studies in Cairo. He explained, I could not stand living in Gaza anymore. I had to get out of there and escape the devastating situation. I decided to travel to Egypt to study and start over. Although my writings were only limited to poetry, I started to write my novel, titled Beautiful Black Book, after my experience matured in this unfamiliar place and community. Qadra believes that two main reasons often push authors and poets out of Gaza and into the Arab world, particularly Egypt. The first is that the world sympathizes with the cause [represented in the text] rather than the poetry or the novel itself, and people have now lost interest in Gazan authors because their attention has shifted toward Syrian authors who have a more urgent cause. The second reason is that many Gazan authors used to write at the mercy of ruling authorities in Gaza. He said, A good text is always worthwhile. However, recently the mere presence in Gaza entailed humanitarian sympathy with the authors cause and not the text itself. People became less interested in poets and authors in Gaza as their attention shifted toward Syrian poets in light of the Syrians urgent cause. In addition, some authors were forced to leave the Gaza Strip because they were writing at the mercy of [Hamas] weapons, so all that was left for them to do is travel to find publishing opportunities with a wider margin of freedom. Author Alaa al-Nahhal came from the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip to Egypt at the beginning of 2016 to achieve her childhood dream of making her novels reach the largest readership base. She told Al-Monitor, I did not find an opportunity to publish my work in the Gaza Strip under the siege. People prefer to buy their basic needs instead of spending money on books to read. However, this never stopped me from practicing my hobby and sharing it with people. I first used Facebook to post my work, and then I participated in poetry competitions in Gaza and in Egypt. Nahhals work was first published in 2014 in a book that combined stories written by several Arab female authors titled Girl Talk. Her work was also published in the second and third parts of the same book. She participated in the 2016 International Book Exhibition in Cairo. Palestinian poet and literary critic Raed Kodeih, who has been living in Cairo since 2012 and serves as vice president of the Egypt Arab Salon Union, told Al-Monitor that Egypt is home for every intellectual Arab author, noting that he, much like many Arab authors, chose to move to Egypt because it is the beacon of science and culture in the Arab world. Kodeih, who also works as director of public relations and media in Dar el-Nokhba for Publishing and Distribution in Egypt, stressed that through his union, he tries to adopt and take in Arab poets and authors, including Palestinian authors who travel to Egypt to publish their creations. Egypt remains the No. 1 destination for Arab authors in general, and Gazan authors in particular, due to its cultural and scientific stature, which help artists achieve their ambitions in the world of poetry and literature. January 22, 2017 Saudi Arabia faces a persistent mid-level terrorist campaign by the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda. Neither group is strong enough to threaten the survival of the kingdom but they are capable of high-profile spectacular attacks and assassinations. The Saudis are a crucial part of the war against Islamic extremists for the United States but that partnership is at risk. This month, the Saudi Interior Ministry reported that 128 terrorist attacks took place in 2016, resulting in 1,147 killed and injured. Two more terrorists blew themselves up Jan. 21 in Jeddah. The most dangerous attack last year was in Medina on July 4 near the Prophet's Mosque, the second-holiest site in Islam, which killed four policemen on the eve of Eid al-Fitr. A suicide bomber also blew himself up close to the US Consulate in Jeddah on the same day and a Shiite mosque in Eastern Province was also attacked; multiple simultaneous attacks are a hallmark of al-Qaeda. The Interior Ministry killed the mastermind of the July attacks this month in a counterterrorist raid in Riyadh. He had been educated in New Zealand before joining IS in Syria; the organization trained him in explosives. He infiltrated back into the kingdom through Turkey, Sudan and Yemen. IS called for the overthrow of the House of Saud in its magazine Dabiq more than a year ago. The kingdom formed an Islamic military alliance with 40 members to fight IS, although it is also a mechanism to combat Iran as well. A more difficult ideological challenge is the one articulated by Hamza bin Laden last summer. Hamza bin Laden was the favorite son of his father, Osama bin Laden, and was with him in his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan, just before the American Navy commandos killed the emir of al-Qaeda. In a video last year disseminated by al-Qaeda, Hamza bin Laden called the royal family "great criminal thieves" and said the country's "vast riches" should be more equitably distributed. It's a potent message, especially when low oil prices are forcing cutbacks in the Saudi welfare state. Hamza bin Laden also accused the Saudi monarchy of being "agents of the Americans." The video includes screenshots of Saudi kings meeting with American presidents over the last few decades. He sharply criticized the Saudi war in Yemen for attacks on al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and for inadvertently strengthening the Shiite Houthi rebels' grip on the country by failing to dislodge their hold on the capital and other key cities. Hamza bin Laden charged that the monarchy was failing in its responsibility to defend the holy cities from the "Crusaders" and "Safavids." The current level of violence is much lower than the peak years between 2003 and 2006, when Osama bin Laden called for a revolutionary jihad to topple the Saudi crown. At its peak there were almost daily acts of violence, including attacks on American diplomats and even the headquarters of the Interior Ministry. Policemen were assassinated in broad daylight and firefights were common in all the major cities of the kingdom. The man responsible for defeating al-Qaeda then is Mohammed bin Nayef, now the crown prince as well as the interior minister. He has been the target of four assassination attempts. His ministry has expanded enormously and may employ as many as a million people. He awarded medals last week to the Interior Ministry officers who found and killed the Medina mosque mastermind. The crown prince is highly regarded among security and intelligence services around the world. He is much less regarded by human rights activists and reformers in the kingdom. Washington has been a beneficiary of Saudi counterterrorism policies for years. Not only has the Interior Ministry protected American diplomats and expatriates in the kingdom, it has provided actionable intelligence to thwart attacks inside the United States and in Europe. The key to effective cooperation is strong ties between senior officials. For the last eight years, John Brennan was the point man for cooperation with Mohammed bin Nayef. Kansas Rep. Michael Pompeo is the logical choice to be the new point man as the designated director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He has years of experience with the oversight of the intelligence community on the Hill. It would be wise for him to pay an early visit to Riyadh to assure the Saudi leadership that cooperation against the terrorist threat and the Iranian threat will strengthen. An early visit to Washington by the crown prince also would be smart. Two issues threaten a strong security relationship. The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act allows Saudi officials to be taken to court for alleged involvement in the 9/11 attacks. The crown prince's cousins may be among those sued. Moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv will be even more damaging to the counterterrorist alliance. Riyadh has already rallied the Organization of Islamic Countries to pre-emptively warn against moving the embassy and to threaten unspecified retaliation. Jerusalem is a core issue for the Saudi royal family. Moving the embassy will prompt a fundamental rethinking of working with the American government. IS and al-Qaeda are not existential threats to Saudi Arabia given their weaknesses inside the country. But they are capable of mass casualty carnage and murder. They have succeeded in maintaining a clandestine infrastructure inside the kingdom despite a robust effort by the interior minister. Hundreds of Saudis are also fighting with jihadis in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Pakistan. The struggle to eradicate this threat should come before petty political advantage. Cold front clears smog in Shijiazhuang, China's Hebei [Photo/Xinhua] Northern China's Hebei Province has pledged to continue to cut steel and iron capacity in 2017, in a bid to counter the severe smog that often envelopes the province for days on end. Yuan Tongli, vice governor of the province, introduced on Saturday a spate of measures for the province to undertake in 2017 to combat smog, including cutting 15.62 million tons of steel capacity and 16.24 million tons of iron capacity. The province has faced severe air pollution in recent years, especially PM2.5, or fine particulates that are believed to be particularly dangerous to human health. The province issued a total of three red alerts -- the highest alert in China's three-tier early warning system for smog -- and four less severe orange alerts in 2016. In a latest report published by China's Ministry of Environmental Protection, six out ten of the country's worst air-polluted cities are in Hebei. High-emission and high-polluting industries are believed to play a major role in Hebei's air problems, while overcapacity in those industries is also believed to weigh on the province's economic growth. The province has therefore carried out what's dubbed "6643" projects since 2013, according to the vice governor. It aims at cutting 60 million tons of steel capacity, 40 million tons of coal consumption, 61 million tons of cement capacity and 36 million weight cases of flat glass from 2013 to 2017. The province has been steady in meeting its targets: Steel, iron, cement and flat glass have been reduced by respectively 44.38 million tons, 43.76 million tons, 65.17 million tons and 59.06 million weight cases from 2013 to 2016, Yuan said. Once the heartland of China's steel production and taking up about one fourth of the country's total output, the steel industry was replaced by equipment manufacturing as the province's pillar industry for the first time in 2016, according to Yuan. Efforts in combating air pollution have paid off, Yuan said. The province registered 207 days of meeting the country's air quality standards in 2016, an increase of 17 days from 2015 and 78 days from 2013. Average concentration of PM2.5 was 70 micrograms per cubic meter, a decrease of 35.2 percent from 2013. January 20, 2017 ANKARA, Turkey On Jan. 12, Turkeys official gazette published a government decree on granting citizenship to foreigners who bring in large sums of foreign currency, a plan that Ankara had long been considering. The decree, which amends rules on the implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law, puts a price tag of at least $1 million on citizenship. Approved also by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the amendment describes the eligible foreign nationals as follows: Those who buy an immovable property worth at least $1 million and pledge through an annotation onto the title deed not to sell it for at least three years. Those who the Economy Ministry has ascertained to have made a fixed investment of at least $2 million. Those who the Labor Ministry has ascertained to have created employment for at least 100 people. Those who deposit at least $3 million for three years in a Turkish bank. Those who purchase government bonds of at least $3 million and keep them for three years. The timing of the long-discussed amendment has to do with the foreign exchange crunch that Turkey is currently grappling with. Still, other aspects of the timing cast doubt on how effective the measure can be. Above all, Turkey today is under the strain of mounting domestic and external tensions, marked by a wave of terrorist attacks in big cities that have fueled the peoples safety concerns. Also, Turkeys international image has taken a severe blow amid government practices eroding democracy and Erdogans drive for an authoritarian presidential regime. While the country is drifting away from the European Union and the West in general, it feels the heat of wars in neighboring Syria and Iraq, and on its own territory, the Kurdish conflict continues to claim lives. This outlook already led to a serious decline in the flow of tourists last year, and this years prospects do not look promising either. Given this state of affairs, many now question how attracted foreigners will be to putting large sums of money in Turkey in return for citizenship. Moreover, many of Turkeys own citizens have been looking for ways to emigrate to more democratic countries since the failed coup attempt in July 2016. In the ferocious crackdown that followed the putsch, tens of thousands of Turks have landed behind bars or faced expulsion from public service, including hundreds of academics. The German Interior Ministry, for instance, has reported a significant increase in the number of Turkish nationals, mostly Kurds, seeking asylum in Germany. While the monthly number of applications stood at 109 in January 2016, it shot up to 702 in November, with the 11-month total reaching 5,166. Most recently, 89 Turks, including diplomats and military officers, were reported to have sought asylum in Norway. Under the ongoing state of emergency, the Turkish government issued a legislative decree Jan. 6, which stipulates that Turkish nationals abroad who are wanted on arrest warrants but fail to return home within three months after being officially summoned will be stripped of their citizenship. This means that many Turkish journalists, academics, diplomats, military officers and businesspeople who have sought to escape the post-putsch crackdown are now left with two options only: Either return home and go behind bars or brave the risk of becoming stateless. Ankara, meanwhile, has been considering granting citizenship to Syrian refugees as well. The plan, first floated before the putsch last year, was put on the back burner after harsh public reactions. On Jan. 6, however, Erdogan brought up the issue again, saying that the Interior Ministry was working on a plan to naturalize skilled Syrian and Iraqi refugees such as engineers and doctors. The investment-for-citizenship plan has been welcomed enthusiastically in Turkeys construction sector, where many companies are hoping to sell homes to foreigners. Nazmi Durbakayim, the head of the Istanbul Builders Association, estimates that the citizenship incentive will boost home sales to foreigners by about 20% this year, meaning at least 20,000 sales. Ali Agaoglu, the president of a leading luxury housing company, announced plans to launch an extensive campaign abroad to promote the citizenship incentive. Stressing that Turkey had sheltered millions of refugees, he said, Now, let those with the deep pockets come. Others, however, are more cautious. According to Omer Faruk Celik, the head of the Housing Developers and Investors Association, the bulk of homes foreigners buy in Turkey are worth between $100,000 and $300,000, while properties worth $1 million or more make up only 2%-3% of the sales. Celik believes that granting residency permits to those purchasing homes of between $100,000 and $300,000 will be more effective in stimulating the market. Iraqis, Afghans and Saudis are among the top foreign home buyers in Turkey today. Russians have dropped down on the list in the wake of the plane-shooting crisis between Ankara and Moscow in November 2015. The interest of Iraqis and Afghans seems understandable, given the climates of war and chaos in their countries. Home purchases aside, the investment conditions Ankara seeks for citizenship are rather tough. According to data compiled by Turkeys leading financial paper Dunya, citizenship and residency permit conditions in countries such as the United States, Canada, Ireland, Portugal and Malta are relatively easier and cheaper. Plus a Turkish passport does not come with added advantages such as visa-free travel to EU countries and the United States. And in Turkeys current economic downturn, when the countrys own businesspeople are shying away from investing, the prospect of foreigners bringing in millions of dollars in return for Turkish citizenship seems even bleaker. January 21, 2017 As he's done several times since last summer, Barack Obama, in one of his final acts as president this week, ordered a bombing raid against Islamic State (IS) militants "in conjunction" with Tripoli's UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA). The raid on militants who were fleeing the former IS stronghold of Sirte reportedly killed more than 80 fighters and sent a clear message on the eve of Donald Trump's inauguration that the Pentagon is fully committed to the fight against the terrorist group. Just as significantly, the Pentagon's statement highlighting the GNA's role reminded the incoming administration that the United States has a Libyan partner in that fight. "The whole point is to demonstrate that the GNA is the one that we support in their effort to rid the country of [IS]," Ben Fishman, who served as director for North Africa in Obama's National Security Council, told Al-Monitor. "It's clearly a demonstration that this is the current administration's policy and has been consistently over the past couple of years." That message is seen as particularly relevant after Trump officially took power Jan. 20. The billionaire businessman and his lieutenants raged against "radical Islam" and championed counterterrorism over nation-building throughout the campaign, leaving Libya watchers fretful that he may abandon the Islamist-tinged GNA in favor of Khalifa Hifter, the anti-Islamist strongman who commands the Libyan National Army formed of rebels against Moammar Gadhafi, regime defectors and allied militias. "With Trump coming in, the door opens to Hifter playing perhaps the biggest role in Libya," said Lydia Sizer, a former State Department Libya desk officer under Obama. "Which is a little frustrating for some countries, including Italy, which are really committed to the unity government effort." An intense lobbying campaign to set a new course under the new administration has been playing out behind the scenes for months. Back in May, the Treasury Department sanctioned Agila Saleh Issa, the president of the Hifter-allied House of Representatives (HOR) in Tobruk, for "stalling political progress in Libya." Two months later, Issa, Hifter and several others hired a Canada-based firm to lobby Congress and the administration on their behalf. "We hope for your support," the HOR wrote in a statement to Trump after his election in November, "and we call for the lifting of the arms embargo on the Libyan army which is waging a war against terrorism." Meanwhile, countries such as Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, which openly support Hifter, have continued to pour millions of dollars into their US lobbying operations. A UN report last year criticized both countries for bringing weapons into the country, in violation of a Security Council embargo; the next report is expected in March. And Russia, with whom Trump says he wants to work more closely in the fight against terrorism, has repeatedly hosted Hifter, most recently on its aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov off the Libyan coast on Jan. 11. Tellingly, as part of a November 2015 agreement with their Canada-based lobbyist, Issa and Hifter sought $500 million in "security equipment" and "technical support" from the Russian government. "From what I understand, there are a group of pro-HOR, pro-Hifter people reaching out to the incumbent administration. And certainly Cairo has been active in promoting the Hifter side and I'm sure they haven't made their views unknown to the incoming team," Fishman said. "All that adds up for me to an initial campaign of influence to get the new administration to at least rethink the current Obama policy of supporting the GNA." To get in front of the issue, Fishman penned a Jan. 19 analysis for The Washington Institute for Near East Policy titled "Shifting International Support for Libya's Unity Government." "If the Trump administration steers away from the internationally backed unity government and toward the Russian/Egyptian-backed strongman, Khalifa [Hifter]," he argued in the opening sentence, "it risks ending Libyas fragile accord and sparking another civil war. Italian observers have also been paying close attention to Trump. Italy used to be Libya's colonial overlord, and it has taken a lead role in helping with the post-Gadhafi transition. Earlier in January, it became the first Western country to reopen its embassy, which had been closed since the country erupted into chaos in 2015. "As is happening in Syria, where the new head of the White House is willing to cooperate with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and [Syrian President Bashar al-] Assad to destroy the Islamic State, the same could happen in Libya if Trump is convinced that working with the Kremlin and its ally Hifter is the best way to give a future to Tripoli and free it from terrorists," reported La Stampa, one of Italy's largest newspapers, in a Jan. 19 article that quickly made the rounds among Libya watchers on social media. Still, Libya experts don't expect a quick 180-degree turn under Trump. For one thing, both the GNA and the arms embargo are recognized by the United Nations; for another, US law restricts the types of foreign forces that Washington can train and arm. Instead, the new administration could turn a blind eye to arms embargo violations. In addition, Fishman noted, the Obama administration regularly signed multilateral joint statements decrying challenges to the GNA's authority. "We could stop putting our name on those statements," he said. "And basically that could signal that the US isn't behind the GNA anymore and all bets are off about what the consequences of basically attacking [it] would be." Put simply, Sizer said, the United States could alter its policy in Libya by simply disengaging. "During the campaign, Trump made a big deal of saying how much of a failure the Libya intervention was, and he also talked a lot about the failure of the Iraq state-building process, so I really can't see him advocating for policies that would commit a lot of taxpayer dollars to building a country that's really not a priority," she said. "And the fact of the matter is, to help rebuild Libya in a way that's going to foster a democratic transition requires a lot of time and resources." Donald Trump President Donald Trump speaks at the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va., Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Andrew Harnik) On his first full day in office, President Donald Trump visited the Central Intelligence Agency's headquarters to express his gratitude for the intelligence community, which he had repeatedly railed against and recently likened to Nazis. What Trump delivered Saturday was a campaign-style, stream-of-consciousness airing of grievances - at the Senate for delaying confirmation of his nominees; at critics for questioning whether he is smart and vigorous; and at journalists, whom he called "the most dishonest human beings on earth" and accused of lying about the size of his inauguration crowd. Trump claimed falsely that the crowd for his swearing-in stretched down the National Mall to the Washington Monument and totaled more than 1 million people. It did not. Trump accused television networks of showing "an empty field" and reporting that he drew just 250,000 people to witness Friday's ceremony. "It looked like a million, a million and a half people," Trump said, falsely claiming that his crowd "went all the way back to the Washington Monument." During his 2009 inaugural address, President Barack Obama's crowd extended that far, and photos from that day show a crowd clearly much larger than the one that showed up for Trump. "It's a lie," Trump said of the crowd estimates for Friday's event. "We caught [the media]. We caught them in a beauty." Trump also misrepresented what happened to the weather during his swearing in. He said he felt a few drops of rain as he started delivering his address, but then, "God looked down and, and he said we're not going to let it rain on your speech.. . .The truth is it stopped immediately." Light rain continued to fall through the first few minutes of the speech - and VIP's at the dais took out ponchos, including former president George W. Bush - and then quit. Trump said there was a downpour right after he finished, which did not occur. Speaking from the lobby of CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, before a wall of stars honoring intelligence officers who died in service, Trump declared, "I have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth, right?" The audience that included about 400 intelligence officers as well as some of Trump's White House aides applauded in approval. At one point, Trump claimed that most of the people in the room had voted for him. "They sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community," Trump said. "I just want to let you know, the reason you're the number one stop is it is exactly the opposite." In fact, Trump repeatedly vilified the intelligence community throughout much of his transition in an attempt to push back against what he saw as politically charged conclusions by the CIA and other agencies about Russia's hacking of Democratic Party emails to interfere with the 2016 election. Trump has taken particular issue with the CIA's determination that Moscow intervened not only to disrupt this country's election, but to help Trump defeat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. At a Jan. 11 news conference, Trump accused U.S. intelligence officials of being behind a Nazi-like smear campaign against him. He has put quotation marks around the word "intelligence" in referring to such officials. And last weekend, for instance, Trump attacked CIA Director John Brennan - who resigned Friday at the conclusion of President Obama's term - in a pair of tweets, suggesting he was "the leaker of Fake News." Trump journeyed to Langley on Saturday - his first in what aides said would be a series of visits to federal departments and agencies - to show his solidarity with career intelligence officials. "There is nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community and the CIA than Donald Trump," Trump said. "There is nobody." He added, "I am so behind you. I know maybe sometimes you haven't gotten the backing that you've wanted and you're going to get so much backing. Maybe you're going to say, 'Please, don't give us so much backing. Mr. President, please, we don't need so much backing.'" Trump vowed to lead the fight against the Islamic State, a rallying cry for intelligence officers: "We've been fighting these wars for longer than any wars we've ever fought. We have not used the real abilities that we have. We've been restrained. We have to get rid of ISIS." He added, "Radical Islamic terrorism - and I said it yesterday - has to be eradicated, just off the face of the earth. This is evil." Trump delved into the Iraq war, saying: "I wasn't a fan of Iraq. I didn't want to go into Iraq." His statement was at odds with comments he made during a 2002 interview with radio shock jock Howard Sten. Trump also asserted his oft-stated belief that the United States bungled its exit from the country by not taking Iraq's oil. "If we kept the oil, we wouldn't have had ISIS in the first place," Trump reasoned, saying that was how the Islamic State terrorist group made its money. Trump praised his nominee for CIA director, Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., who has yet to be confirmed by the Senate, a process that was delayed Friday by objections from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. "You will be getting a total star," Trump said of Pompeo. "This is a gem." He also asked CIA officers to applaud his national security adviser, former lieutenant general Michael Flynn, who is a controversial figure within the intelligence community. From there, Trump delved into a series of personal grievances. He claimed to "know a lot about West Point" and said his uncle was a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "I'm a person that very strongly believes in academics," Trump said. "They say, 'Is Donald Trump an intellectual?' Trust me. I'm, like, a smart person." Trump, who at 70 is the oldest man sworn-in for his first term as president, went on to say that he feels like a young man: "I feel like I'm 30, -35, 39. Somebody said, 'Are you young?' I said, 'I think I'm young.' " Author's Information: Philip Rucker is a national political correspondent for The Washington Post, where he has reported since 2005. John Wagner is a political reporter covering the race for the 2016 presidential election. They came with their signs, their flags, their families and friends. Their chants echoed off the downtown Birmingham buildings as they walked through the city's historic Civil Rights district. Thousands of Alabamians joined the Women's March on Washington in Birmingham today, filling Kelly Ingram Park for a rally before spilling into the downtown streets for a march to Linn Park and back. "We are marching in the footsteps of those who went before us for civil rights and equal rights for all," said Dalia Abrams, one of the Birmingham march organizers. A week ago, she told AL.com they were hoping to get a crowd of 200 to the march. Birmingham police estimated the crowd at 5,000. "We hope they would be proud of what we've learned from them." The Birmingham march was the official "sister march" of the Women's March on Washington, which began as a march on the nation's capital but spread across the United States and the world, with hundreds of thousands gathering in cities to march in support of a variety of civil and human rights, and in protest of a new presidential agenda they don't support. "Our rights are going to be taken away from us and if we don't do something collectively, we're going to be in big trouble," said Yancey del Rio of Helena, who was attending the march with her daughter Maria Holland. Del Rio held a sign that said 'Granny is Pissed.' "With this president, I am literally scared to death." Although the march was not billed as an anti-Trump protest, many marchers expressed their disapproval of the new president, and some chants railed against his remarks about women and his stance on a variety of civil rights issues. "We came to show solidarity for all people," said Averee Patton of Birmingham, who attended with her husband, their two children, her mother and a family friend. They held signs including "We shall overcome," "A woman's place is in the resistance" and "When they go low, we go high." "Peoples' rights are already being taken away, so we want them to know that we're with them and we support them," said Patton. Their friend, Stephen Todd, came with them. He is gay and said he came to the march because he wants to publicly support LGBTQ rights. "I'm very proud of them," he said of the Patton family. "For them to involve their children in something like this, that's so moving to me. I'm old and it moves me so much to see young people involved." Todd held a sign that read "Keep your tiny hands off my rights." Nearby, Crystal Westerfield and her partner had their two small dogs, who were popular with passersby. The dogs wore pink bows on their ears and sat in a dog stroller with a sign that read "Doggies against a president who grabs kitties" in reference to Trump's "hot mic" incident where he talked about groping women. Alice McHugh brought her 95-year-old mother, Hester Miner, to the march. Miner, who sat in a wheelchair and wore a jaunty pink bow in her white hair, was all smiles. "I think it's important to speak out, and this is my chance," said Miner. "We're here trying to make sure that people know that the fight's not over and we're never giving it up," said McHugh. "We're here for everybody, speaking up, just like the rest of the world." The march began with a rally led by several speakers, including Birmingham Mayor William Bell and State Rep. Patricia Todd, the first openly-gay elected official in the state of Alabama. Bell mentioned Trump's inauguration speech - to a chorus of boos - as he looked out at the crowd, telling them, "I'm looking at a united America." Todd spoke to the crowd about the importance of contacting their legislators about issues they care about. She encouraged women to run for public office. Musicians, poets and speakers, including members of the Latino community and the LGBTQ community, performed. The Huntsville Feminist Chorus wrapped up the rally, leading the crowd in protest songs like "Keep on Moving Forward" and "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around." After that, around 3 p.m. the crowd began marching down 5th Avenue, past the Jefferson County Courthouse, around Linn Park, then down 6th Avenue back to Kelly Ingram Park. Segments of marchers broke out into a different chant every few minutes, led by anyone who felt like starting one. Signs advocated support of women's health, LGBTQ rights, climate change, immigration, public education and myriad other causes. Many signs railed against Donald Trump, sexism and racism. There were no visible protesters at the march, although some marchers got an occasional catcall from a passerby. "I hope this message, particularly in Birmingham and the South, will accomplish the fact that we're fed up and we don't intend to take it anymore," said Mary Jones of Birmingham. "We're fed up and we're going to continue this day by day, whatever it takes, to keep this thing going." polarized_pic.jpg The inauguration of President Donald Trump comes amid sharp partisan divides in the country. During his 1968 run for president, Alabama's George Wallace famously called Republican and Democrats "Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee" and declared that there wasn't "a dime's worth of difference" between that year's two major party candidates for president. These days, party identity and partisanship are the kings of American politics. Poll after poll shows wide gulfs and intense suspicions separating Democrats and Republicans. "We are light years away from Wallace's old 'Tweedle Dum/Tweedle Dee,'" said William Stewart, a professor emeritus in political science at the University of Alabama. He continued, "And this makes politics much less attractive to people who don't like a lot of conflict." Stewart even foresees the friction and discord causing many voters to lose interest in politics, keeping themselves firmly out of the fray. With the inauguration of Donald Trump, and the absence of approximately 70 House Democrats during the day's events, partisanship took no break over the weekend in Washington, D.C. In Alabama - one of the reddest spots in the country -- partisanship is shaped differently and reflects racial divisions that stain so much of the state's history. Jess Brown, a retired political science professor at Athens State University, said, matter of factly: "In the Deep South states, the Democratic Party is almost becoming the party of the African-Americans and the Republican Party is seen as the party of Caucasians." 'Automatically judged' Pick a poll, and the results are almost always the same in illustrating the stark divide among political parties. The two sides appear to disagree about most everything. For example: A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll According to a A Pew Research Center poll, released Thursday The same poll shows that 61 percent expect Republicans and Democrats to bicker and oppose each other more often than usual in the coming year, rather than try to work together. "People are automatically judged based on party label," said Brown. "I've watched politics for a long time and I can tell you that crooks come with R's next to their name and D's by their name. Conscientious public officials come with R's and D's by their name. I don't think R or D is a good indicator of either competency or ethics." He said, "I'm afraid with our leadership, I just don't see anyone taking much risk to build bipartisan solutions." There's ample evidence that polarization is trickling down into personal lives. "Some people seem unwilling to consider anything that doesn't match their view of the world," said Phillip Rawls, a journalism professor at Auburn University and a former longtime reporter at The Associated Press. "During the election, I was amazed at how many people quit being friends or followers of people on social media who posted material that didn't match their political views." In fact, in recent days, a new dating site called TrumpSingles.com revealed itself, aiming to match like-minded political singles who favor the new president. The splits occur in plenty of other forms, even in house buying. In 2014, Pew Research Center released a study showing that most conservatives prefer rural areas and communities of larger houses with more space between them, regardless of whether that means longer drives for shopping and dining. Liberals, on the other hand, overwhelmingly prefer denser communities, with amenities within walking distance, even if it means living in smaller houses. And, according to the study, half of consistent conservatives and 35 percent of consistent liberals say it's important to live in a place where people share their political views. 'Reinforce division' Jonathan Gray, a political strategist based in Mobile, said one of the biggest trends he's seen in his approximately 20 years of work is that society has become more willing to "lock ourselves into the comfort zone of the ideology we agree with" which leads to a barrier of creating bipartisanship. "As a political consultant, I love it," said Gray. "There are few gray lines anymore. The contrast is more black and white than it is ever gray these days. But as a person and as a voter, it worries me. I am finding that the people on both sides of the aisle are less and less open to suggestions that they disagree with." Most political observers point to the 1980s, and the fracturing of the news media into partisan publications and networks, for continuing with the rift. The days of Walter Cronkite - in which select few national news anchors held sway - are long over, they claim. In Cronkite's place are a host of news personalities, commentators and spin-masters. "We don't flip to the station that gives us the facts or the best news, we tune into the station we like," said Gray. "We have found the ability to surround ourselves in ideology. If I'm a Republican and I'm offended at something that happened in California today and am offended by actions by Democrats, I will tune into the network that will talk about how I feel. On the other hand, if I'm a Democrat, I have my network and will immerse myself in it." The Fox News Network, CNN and MSNBC are, by far, the top three rated cable TV news channels in the country. All three have been often criticized for relishing in sharp partisan commentary and conflict. Said Brown: "Every time I watch a CNN or MSNBC or Fox News thing at night, their whole business model is feeding conflict. ... No problems get solved." Added to the mix is the rise of Internet and social media. "I now have thousands of choices and will pick what I like," said Gray. "Generations before us were introduced to different perspectives and learned something and it kept us in the middle. But now ... we hear our arguments." He added, "That has created this division more than the tea party, Barack Obama or George Bush could've ever done." 'Alabama divide' In the November presidential election, Trump won Alabama by the most impressive margin of any candidate since Richard Nixon in 1972, fueled in particular by strong turnout in conservative white counties. It's led to a new round of questions about whether Democrats have any real hope of being competitive in the state anytime soon. As Gray put it: "We haven't had a general election contest in this state in 10 years' worth writing about." Stewart said he believes a Democrat can still win Alabama in a statewide race if "a clearly superior Democratic candidate emerged." Brown, however, has his doubts. The white votes are too few, at least for now. He explained, "In California, New York and Illinois, you will find African-Americans coalescing with the Democratic Party there, too. But ... when you get to the rank and file voters, you can find plenty of Caucasian voters in those Democratic states who identify with the Democratic Party." Most pundits and political observers see intense partisanship becoming more of a problem before it gets any better. One example, they point out, is the recent backlash by Democrats against some of Trump's cabinet selections. In years past, cabinet selections were almost universally supported. Appointments to the Supreme Court have already been provoking political combat. Obama's tapped Merrick Garland, chief judge of the District of Columbia Circuit, to join the Supreme Court nearly 10 months ago, but Republicans - who own a majority in Congress - blocked the nomination until a new president was elected. "All hyperpartisanship has done has gotten a lot of Americans to view the Supreme Court as political hacks wearing black robes," said Brown. "The court has lost prestige that no matter which decision they make or who writes the opinion or how lucid and intelligent that opinion may be, it's just characterized that it's loyal to one party or the other." Is there any hope for the future? "Donald Trump talked repeatedly in the campaign about his ability to make a deal," Rawls said. "Making a deal usually involves compromise. One measure of Trump's presidency will be whether he can rally public support for deals he makes or whether he gets accused of selling out to the other side." The Astana meeting marks a distinct change from what has previously been a diplomatic process led by UN, say analysts. Astana, Kazakhstan Key players in the war in Syria are due to meet on Monday in Astana to begin talks aimed at consolidating a nationwide ceasefire and potentially paving the way towards a political settlement. The talks, organised by Russia, Turkey and Iran, come weeks into a countrywide ceasefire brokered by Moscow and Ankara that has largely held despite incidents of violence across the country. The negotiations, expected to last several days, will bring together representatives from the armed opposition, along with delegates from the Syrian government, Russia, Turkey, Iran and the United Nations, and are to be followed by a UN-mediated meeting in Geneva on February 8. READ MORE: Syrias Civil War Explained The talks mark the most serious effort in months to put an end to nearly six years of war in Syria, which have left much of the country in ruins, killed nearly half a million people, and displaced half of the population. It is important to underline that this time Syrian opposition will be represented by the forces which fight in Syria, not just by political figures who mainly reside abroad and are detached from the reality on the ground. by Alexey Khlebnikov, Russian foreign policy expert Details of the Astana format and its goals remain murky. The opposition has said that its sole focus will be to shore up a nationwide ceasefire, while Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, has said he believes the talks will lead to local reconciliation deals with rebels. Analysts say the meeting in Astana marks a distinct change from what has previously been a diplomatic process led by UN and initiatives put forward jointly by the United States and Russia. I think the difference in these so-called peace talks that are taking place in Astana is that Russia is now firmly in the drivers seat, where in the past, the UN-led negotiations had the United Nations as an overseer and convener of the talks, where both sides were at the table and essentially nothing was agreed upon, Nader Hashemi, director of the Centre for Middle East Studies at the University of Denver, told Al Jazeera. After the fall of Aleppo, Russia now is in full charge. Russia, whose military intervention was vital in turning the tide of the war in Assads favour, initiated the latest diplomatic process shortly after its air force helped the Syrian government and allied Iran-backed fighters win a major victory in retaking east Aleppo last month, the oppositions biggest defeat of the war. Yes, we are observing a diplomatic process. Yes, the United Nations is involved, but it is process that has been cooked in a Russian kitchen, said Turkish political analyst Gokhan Bacik. It also had help from Iran, another key Damascus ally, and Turkey, which has been a strong supporter of the opposition but has steadily shifted its priorities in Syria away from an Assad-centric focus towards preventing the creation of an autonomous Kurdish state along its border and combating the spillover of violence into Turkey. On Friday, the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said that Turkey could no longer insist on a resolution of the conflict in Syria without the involvement of Assad. The facts on the ground have changed dramatically, so Turkey can no longer insist on a settlement without Assad, its not realistic, Simsek told a panel on Syria and Iraq at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Bacik concurs. Turkey is now going through an unhappy realisation process Im not sure about the personal future of Assad, but it seems now that Turkey is likely to accept a solution that allows the existing regime to remain in place, he said. The Kurdish issue is becoming the main dynamic that shapes Turkish foreign policy towards Syria, Bacik added. While some Kurdish political representatives will attend the talks in Astana, the PYD [the pro-Kurdish Democratic Union Party] and its YPG military affiliate have been excluded largely because of Turkish fears of a growing Kurdish autonomy along its border. What weve learned in the last 20 years of negotiations in the region is that excluding major groups on the ground does not work. This is a major potential gap in the Astana process, said Bacik. And while representatives of the incoming Trump administration have been invited to attend the talks, the US state department said on Saturday it will not send a delegation from Washington to attend Syrian peace talks in the Kazakh capital but that the US ambassador to Kazakhstan, George Krol, would attend the Russian-led talks as an observer. The Syrian opposition announced that it will be sending a military delegation led by Mohammed Alloush, the leader of Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam), and delegates from factions under the Free Syrian Army umbrella. In contrast to last years UN-brokered peace talks in Geneva when the opposition was represented by the High Negotiations Committee, mainly made up of Syrian leaders living in exile, analysts say Astanas military delegation gives the talks more chances for success. It is important to underline that this time Syrian opposition will be represented by the forces which fight in Syria, not just by political figures who mainly reside abroad and are detached from the reality on the ground, Russian foreign policy expert Alexey Khlebnikov, told Al Jazeera. The talks in Astana mark the beginning of a different process, according to Ayham Kamel, director of the Eurasia Groups Middle East and North Africa division. They signal that at least part of the rebel groups on the ground are interested in talking or have been pressured into holding negotiations. If you look at all of the Geneva framework, at no point could you translate any agreement there with members of the Syrian political opposition into facts on the ground because they effectively controlled nothing, as opposed to these rebel groups, which are the most relevant parties, he said. You can criticise them, agree with them or not, but they are relevant because they have military control on the ground. And while the rapprochement between Moscow and Ankara signals a marked change in the conflict, and the balance of power on the ground now lies squarely in the governments hands, deep divisions remain over the fate of Assad and the shape of any transitional government. If the Astana meeting moves beyond stabilising the fragile truce to discussing political solutions, then the points of contention that threaten the success of the talks will be many, Mohamad Alahmad, professor at the Centre for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University, said. These are the same points that caused the failure of the past three Geneva conferences [] the essence and framework for political transition, and the fate of al-Assad, Alahmad told Al Jazeera. The change in the balance of power on the ground with Moscows militarily triumph and its takeover of the Syrian file puts the Syrian opposition in a position in which it will be forced to accept concessions during the talks, said Alahmad, I think that compromises were already made when the opposition agreed to attend the talks. With Turkey softening its stance on [the removal of] Assad as a prerequisite to negotiations, the oppositions demands have been reduced to asking the president to leave, said Samer Abboud, a professor of International Studies at Arcadia University. Assuming that removing al-Assad will change the entire political system is a total failure of imagination and political faith, Abboud told Al Jazeera, adding that even the oppositions demand on removing Assad is not in their hands any more. They have no ability to shape what is going to happen at Astana or after that. READ MORE: Why Bashar al-Assad is still in power According to excerpts from the interview released on Thursday by his office, Assad told Japanese broadcaster TBS that he hoped the negotiations would lead rebels to lay down their arms and receive an amnesty from the government, a sign of his confidence in diplomatic initiative launched by Russia after the oppositions defeat in Aleppo late last year. At this time, we believe that the conference will take shape as talks between the government and terrorist groups in order to reach a ceasefire and allow these groups to join the reconciliation deals in Syria, he said. Damascus has reached a series of local truce agreements over the past year, in which rebels the government refers to them as terrorists agree to lay down heavy weapons and evacuate areas after years of bombardment and siege. Thousands of civilians have been forced to leave their home towns after similar deals were made in places such as east Aleppo, Daraya, Moadamiyeh and al-Waer, which some rights groups have called a crime against humanity. In the latest of such truce deals, rebel groups and government representatives agreed to a new ceasefire in Wadi Barada, a strategic area in the Damascus suburbs, in which the evacuation of fighters and civilians is expected to follow. Rebels accuse the government and its backers of using the deals as a deliberate strategy of displacement and demographic change. But as Russia takes control of the diplomatic process in Syria, analysts expect local truces to accelerate. The Russians are guaranteeing deals, said Kamel. [They] are behind all of this noise, acting as guarantors to different deals, which makes local ceasefires a lot more viable than they were in the last five years. That is a part of the story, but then the clearer part is that the military balance of power has changed. Its very clear that regime change has become much more difficult if not impossible. Israel has advanced plans to raze the village of 150 homes and replace it with a town for Israeli Jews. Umm al-Hiran, Negev They came in their thousands, from across Israel and from occupied East Jerusalem, to bury Yacoub Abu al-Qiyan after Friday midday prayers. The small dusty valley at the heart of Umm al-Hiran village in the Negev desert turned dark with rows of worshippers. But Abu al-Qiyans body never materialised. By early afternoon, it was confirmed that the Israeli police had refused to release the corpse, two days after Abu al-Qiyan was shot dead during a pre-dawn raid to bulldoze his home and those of another dozen families. A sword has hung over the heads of Umm al-Hirans 1,000 inhabitants for many months, as the Israeli government has advanced plans to raze the Palestinian Bedouin village of 150 homes and replace it with a town for Israeli Jews. INTERACTIVE: 2016 A record year of home demolitions in occupied East Jerusalem Raed Abu al-Qiyan, Yacoubs 40-year-old nephew, told Al Jazeera: Not only did the police kill him in cold blood, but now they are holding his body hostage to try to make more convincing their ridiculous story that he is a terrorist. A police claim that they shot dead Abu al-Qiyan after he committed a car-ramming attack driving into a group of Border Police, killing one of them has rubbed salt deeper into the wound, Najeh Abu al-Qiyan, a friend of Yacoubs, told Al Jazeera. Witnesses, including Israeli Jewish activists who were in the village to protest the demolitions, say Abu al-Qiyan lost control of his car on the dusty hillside below his home after Israeli police shot at him in the early morning darkness. An aerial video taken by police appears to confirm the witnesses accounts, showing Abu al-Qiyan driving slowly and cautiously until there were bursts of gunfire from the police. The car can then be seen accelerating and veering wildly down the steep slope. Lawyers for the family will get a hearing before Israels Supreme Court on Monday to demand his bodys return. Leaders of Israels 1.7 million Palestinian citizens say the minority has long and bitter experience of police brutality. But they have been enraged by what they call lies and cover-ups from the police and rapidly escalating rhetoric from the government. Ministers have echoed seemingly unsubstantiated police claims that Abu al-Qiyan was an ISIL supporter. Yacoub Abu al-Qiyans 24-year-old son, Hussam, who recently returned from his last year of medical studies in Ukraine, said that description of his father bore no relationship to reality. He worked hard to send me abroad and made sure I had the best opportunities in life, he told Al Jazeera. He wanted all his children to be educated like him and to be positive role models in our community. Nonetheless, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, lost no time in accusing Abu al-Qiyan of a car-ramming attack. His police minister, Gilad Erdan, meanwhile, accused Palestinian lawmakers supporting the villagers of having blood on your hands over the death of police officer Erez Levi. He called Umm al-Hirans residents violent thieves. On Saturday night, thousands turned out at Arara in central Israel to protest Abu al-Qiyans killing and a wave of further demolitions they fear the government is preparing for Palestinian communities in Israel. He knew there was no way we could stop 500 armed police from bulldozing his home. So he put everything valuable into the car and was leaving the area. He did not want to stay and see the destruction. It would have broken his heart. by Raed Abu al-Qiyan, Yacoub's nephew Addressing the crowd, Ayman Odeh, head of the Joint List faction in the Israeli parliament, called for an independent inquiry to uncover the lies of Netanyahu, Erdan and the police. In response to the video footage showing police shooting before Abu al-Qiyan lost control of his car, spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told Al Jazeera that officers had initially fired warning shots into the air, not at the vehicle. But a report on Friday night on Israels Channel 10 TV challenged that version. Abu al-Qiyans autopsy, it said, showed he was hit in the torso and knee in the first rounds of shooting. He then bled to death over half an hour while police refused to let an ambulance attend to him. Raed Abu al-Qiyan rejected claims that his 50-year-old uncle had ever intended to confront the police. He knew there was no way we could stop 500 armed police from bulldozing his home, he said. So he put everything valuable into the car and was leaving the area. He did not want to stay and see the destruction. It would have broken his heart. A maths teacher, Abu al-Qiyan reportedly had his computer, clothes and his pupils books in the back of the car when he died. In the wake of the leaked autopsy report, liberal Jewish legislators have started to raise questions too about the police conduct. Ksenia Svetlova, of Zionist Union, said that, if it was shown that Abu al-Qiyan was denied life-saving treatment, then its Azaria case number two a reference to an army medic, Elor Azaria, who was filmed last year executing a wounded Palestinian in the West Bank city of Hebron. Odeh, who was present in Umm al-Hiran on the morning of Abu al-Qiyans death, was himself injured. Photographs show him lying on the ground dazed, his head bleeding, with Israeli police standing impassively over him. Odeh accused police of shooting him twice with sponge-tipped bullets. He added that police had used extreme levels of violence, firing sponge-tipped bullets, tear gas canisters and stun grenades directly at the villagers and their supporters. Basel Ghattas, a Joint List legislator who attended the Friday prayers, recalled the conclusions of a judicial-led inquiry into the police killing of 13 unarmed Palestinian citizens during protests in Israel at the start of the second Intifada in 2000. He told Al Jazeera: The inquiry warned the police not to come to civil demonstrations with live ammunition, and that they must not treat Palestinian citizens as an enemy. And yet they brought live rounds to Umm al-Hiran. That indicates that they came with an intent to kill. A week before the houses in Umm al-Hiran were destroyed, 11 homes in the Palestinian town of Qalansawe in central Israel were razed. With tens of thousands of Palestinian homes in Israel under threat of demolition, fears are high that Netanyahus far-right government intends to open a new front against the minority. There are widespread suspicions that Netanyahu hopes to distract attention from his own troubles, as he becomes more deeply enmeshed in a corruption scandal. Dov Khenin, the Joint Lists only Jewish legislator, told a protest in Tel Aviv on Wednesday night: The deeper the police investigation of Netanyahu, the wider the flames of his incitement. The fate of Umm al-Hiran, and Abu Al Qiyans killing, said Suhad Bishara, a lawyer with Adalah, a legal centre for Israels Palestinian minority, were painful reminders to Palestinians in Israel of the continuing Nakba the catastrophe that befell the Palestinians with the loss of their homeland in 1948 to create a Jewish state. Although Israels Palestinian citizens avoided expulsion outside Israels new borders, as many as a quarter were driven from their homes by the Israeli army, becoming internal refugees. They included the families now in Umm al-Hiran. Adalah, which has been representing the families efforts to stop their expulsion, said military officials forced the al-Qiyan tribe to relocate to Umm al-Hiran in the 1950s. Successive governments, Bishara told Al Jazeera, had refused to recognise Umm al-Hiran, as well as dozens of other Bedouin communities in the Negev. Decades later, and without a master plan to authorise building, Israeli officials have classified all Umm al-Hirans homes as illegal. For these families, it is like seeing the Nakba being replayed, Bishara said. They were made homeless so Jews could live in their place in the 1950s, and now the same thing is happening all over again. She added: For decades, the government has said to villages like Umm al-Hiran, we cannot provide infrastructure in the remote corners of the desert where you live. And yet, time and again, we see that Israel can build a community in exactly the same place, if it is intended for Jewish citizens. READ MORE: Palestinians forced to demolish own homes Palestinian leaders believe the government is making an example of Umm al-Hiran, as a prelude to expelling tens of thousands of other Bedouin who have been trying to hold on to a traditional rural way of life in their villages. The government has been formulating a proposal to forcibly relocate many of them to a handful of overcrowded government townships that are the most deprived communities in Israel. A previous version, known as the Prawer Plan, was abandoned in late 2013 following waves of protest. Majd Salah, from Qalandiya, close to East Jerusalem, said he had come to the Friday prayers to show solidarity with Umm al-Hiran, pointing out that many homes in his community were threatened with demolition too. He added that the government was fearful of returning Abu al-Qiyans body in case the burial became a rallying point for protests. As with our own martyrs in Jerusalem, the police will try to force his family to bury him in secret, in the middle of the night, he told Al Jazeera. Ghattas, the Joint List legislator, said the escalating incitement against Abu al-Qiyan including the accusation he belonged to ISIL was part of a trend intended to justify further repressive policies against the Palestinian minority. Few Palestinian citizens have forgotten that, only weeks ago, the police and government accused the minority of being behind an arson intifada, when hundreds of fires broke out across Israel following a prolonged drought and fuelled by high winds. All of the dozens of Palestinian citizens arrested over the fires were later released without indictments. Raed Abu al-Qiyan said: This kind of continual incitement just fuels the fires of hatred. And it will be used to encourage and justify more violence against us in the future. What Gambia can teach other countries about the peaceful transfer of power. Soon after the peaceful transition of power from Barack Obama to Donald Trump in the US, Gambias crisis was also resolved without a single gunshot. The embattled President Yahya Jammeh appeared on national TV announcing his decision to relinquish the mantle of leadership. Jammehs decision to step down was not only important to his own people, as he effectively decided not to push the country into bloodshed to retain power, but it also set an important precedent in Africa for a peaceful transition of power after a decades-long dictatorship. The descent into a preventable crisis The political turmoil in Gambia, was the result of what I call the curse of an authoritarian electoral defeat. It is a curse that plagues any country with long authoritarian rule where questions about the fate of the outgoing leader during and after the handover of power and about the transition from authoritarian to democratic politics remain unresolved. Jammeh took power in Gambia in 1994 through a military coup and stayed in power for 22 years, getting regularly re-elected in, what were perceived as, unfair elections. On December 1, 2016 Jammehs opponent, Adama Barrow, won the elections with a four percent lead, a defeat that the incumbent initially accepted. The crisis started when, on December 9, Jammeh rescinded his earlier concession of defeat . Although Jammeh claimed that there were electoral irregularities, what really pushed him to change his mind was his fear of political reprisals against him by the opposition. Instead of seizing Jammehs concession of defeat as an opportunity to negotiate an exit strategy ensuring peaceful transfer of power, politics of vengeance, not uncommon in transitions from authoritarian rule, started to creep into the political discourse. Members of the opposition started talking about annulling Gambias withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, refusing immunity to Jammeh, having him prosecuted, and seizing his assets. Jammeh was cornered and went on the offensive, declaring a state of emergency and pressing the parliament to extend his rule by three months. Diplomatic efforts Central to the success of diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis was regional leadership. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) took the lead both in setting the agenda and launching the diplomatic process which involved five rounds of presidential missions to Banjul mobilising a total number of six African presidents, including Nobel Peace Prize laurate, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, president of Liberia. Unlike in other African transfer of power crises, where power sharing was the focus of negotiations, ECOWAS decided not to compromise and pushed for enforcing the outcome of the December 1 elections. Its diplomatic efforts also received firm support from international actors such as the African Union, which warned Jammeh of serious consequences , the United Nations, and the European Union. An important factor in the successful resolution of the crisis was that ECOWAS did not limit its actions only to diplomacy, but also backed its efforts with a credible threat of military action. Apart from its 17 December summit decision to undertake all necessary action a euphemism for use of force ECOWAS member states mobilised their troops and prepared to enter Gambias territory upon the expiry of the 19 January deadline they set for Jammeh to leave power. The crumbling of Jammehs regime from inside was major internal catalyst for the swift and peaceful end of the stalemate. The string of cabinet resignations followed by the departure of long-time vice president, Isatou Njie-Saidy, forced Jammeh to dissolve his cabinet entirely. Even Jammehs military chief who stood by him throughout the crisis eventually announced that he had no plan to fight the ECOWAS troops marching into the Gambia. Trying to avoid bloodshed, ECOWAS decided not to follow up on its initial threat of ensuring the inauguration of Mr Barrow in Banjul and instead opted for an extraordinary decision to swear Gambias new president in the Gambian embassy in Senegals capital, Dakar on January 19 . This act sealed Jammehs political defeat, paving the way for the AU and others to withdraw their recognition of Jammeh and welcome Mr Barrow as the legitimate president of Gambia. A lesson for other African dictators What ultimately guaranteed the peaceful end of the crisis was the eventual successful negotiation of the terms for Jammehs exit. In exchange for peaceful transfer of power to the new president, he received guarantees of a secure retirement with full benefits of a citizen, a party leader and a former head of state. In this way, Gambia set an important precedent for other authoritarian rulers, who continue to be in power long after losing popular support due to their uncertain future. Gambias experience shows that they can get a dignified exit, if they allow free and fair election. In so doing, not only would they spare their countries the agonies of a violent transition, but also avoid the fate of Ivory Coasts former president Laurent Gbagbo, who is on trial at the ICC after he was forced out of power by a French military intervention in 2011. The clear lesson for opposition parties and the citizenry in countries with authoritarian leaders is that not only should they forge unity during elections, but also prepare to work with regional and international bodies for a negotiated exit guaranteeing peaceful transfer of power. As Barrows plan to convene a truth and reconciliation commission for dealing with past abuses shows, Jammehs exit does not completely preclude the pursuit of measures of accountability as part of an inclusive transitional process. Solomon Ayele Dersso is a senior legal scholar and an analyst on Africa and African Union affairs. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. Barack Obama won the White House in 2008 in good measure on the promise of systematic change, not just to rescue an American economy in the throes of the Great Recession, but in a strategic theatre defined by unjustified wars, torture and other violations of international law and norms. For the global human rights community, there was anticipation that the new administration would work to restore the most egregious violations of US international legal obligations and hold to account the perpetrators of human rights violations. Despite the hope generated by his famous 2009 Cairo speech promising a new beginning to Americas relationship with the Muslim world, Obamas presidency was marked by banality and continuity rather than change. Not only did his administration refuse to hold anyone accountable for the unconscionable violations of the Bush years, it continued, and even ramped up, many of its policies. Human rights under Obama The lowlights of his administrations actions on human rights include: the large scale use of drone strikes outside active war zones; support or muted criticisms of repressive regimes across the Middle East and North Africa and beyond; sale or supply of far more weapons than any administration since World War II; favouring the stability of authoritarian regimes to the uncertainty of Islamic or other political movements; unwavering support for Israel; ongoing use of massive surveillance programmes that encourage similar activities by authoritarian regimes against their citizens; failure to close Guantanamo Bay; and a complete lack of leadership on the unprecedented refugee crises across Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Together these policies represent the many smaller banalities of evil that collectively make nightmares such as Syria not only possible, but inevitable. At best, Obama can be said to have engaged in a some truth but no accountability strategy about our recent past, and continuity despite profound ethical implications when it comes to the present, thus ensuring we cannot look forward rather than back precisely because were continuing too many past policies rather than learning from and changing them. INTERACTIVE: What has each president left for their successor? The actions of his administration reinforced rather than challenged the view that US engagement with human rights over the past eight years has been shaped by American amorality and realpolitik rather than the promotion of universally shared values and norms and the clear mandates of international law . The failure of Obama to adopt pro-human rights policies, domestically or abroad, must be understood as part of a larger political resurfacing of international law, where rhetoric might be given a shiny new gloss while policies remain largely the same. Against this backdrop, it is hard not to think that the international human rights instruments, codified by the so-called liberal world order during the past century and a half, have always been in good measure little more than a charade, relying on enforcement through the morality of states that have displayed little of it to spare. The 1899 and 1907 Hague Conventions did not prevent the horrors of World War I or World War II, and the myriad of international human rights instruments have, similarly, failed to protect the human rights of billions of people around the world. Yet despite all its failings and acknowledged limitations, international humanitarian and human rights regimes have standards against which actions can be measured. Their failings have been less about the idea that there should be a set of rights to which all persons are entitled, than about the political arena within which these rights must be realised and, when necessary, enforced. In that regard, who governs matters greatly, because states are both the violators and ultimate guarantors of rights. Particularly in the context of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, and International Criminal Court and similar tribunals, the worlds most powerful states, as represented by the permanent Security Council members the US, Russia, China, the UK and France, have unmatched power to shape a world order in which respect or violation of human rights is normative. The process of virtually dismantling the international legal machinery had already begun under the Bush administration. The ticking bomb scenario and the process of excepting more people from the protections of what are supposed to be universal human rights were planted in the public mindset. Obama corrected its misalignment to some degree, but his policies ultimately have helped re-orient peoples views further from, rather than closer to, the core norms and values of human rights. In most areas, rather than setting an example, President Obama largely continued the abrogation of responsibility the US paramount position in the international order has placed upon it; a position sadly shared by the other Security Council members. The least he did was leave the architecture and foundations of the system in place. Human rights under Trump Could Trump broadly dismantle the international human rights regime, both at home and abroad? Certainly if his public statements regarding torture, Guantanamo, immigration, refugees, womens rights, healthcare and freedom of the press map on to an administration policy, there is much to worry about. And it is here, in the public square, where Trumps assault on how we understand the normative values and principles of human rights will pose the greatest threat. The concept of human rights that has animated international law and activism for the past two centuries will be ill-suited to function in a thoroughly illiberal age, where entire religions, ethnicities and countries exist more or less in a permanent state of exception from universal norms and protections. by If our moral compass has been severely tweaked in the new millennium, under Trump it may well be completely re-calibrated as the re-narration of what is necessary and permissible for governments to do in a democratic society again include torture, targeted killings, unlawful detention and worse. The concept of human rights that has animated international law and activism for the past two centuries will be ill-suited to function in a thoroughly illiberal age, where entire religions, ethnicities and countries exist more or less in a permanent state of exception from universal norms and protections. To borrow a concept from the eminent sociologist Manuel Castells, we are in the midst of a losing battle between two competing forms of identity, and the politics that go along with them, in the age of globalisation: an open, positive project identity that can foster liberal and even progressive values, and a closed, hostile resistance identity that encourages and even demands conflict to sustain itself. Alexander Dugin, one of the loudest right-wing voices in Russia, put it succinctly after Trumps victory when he declared that the American people themselves have started the revolution against precisely the aspect of the US which we hated So let us [now] drain the European Swamp [of] Liberalism. We need a Nuremberg Trial for Liberalism, the last totalitarian political ideology. Not surprisingly, senior Trump adviser and Breitbart founder Steve Bannon has spoken approvingly of Dugins ideas. If this is the level of rhetorical and moral judgment we can expect from the Trump brain trust, the next four years could well bring consequences even the most troubling predictions of the Trump era havent imagined. Kathleen Cavanaugh is Lecturer of International Law at Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland, Galway. She is the author of Minority Rights in the Middle East (Oxford University Press, 2013). Mark LeVine is a professor of Middle Eastern History at University of California, Irvine, and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Lund University. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. The White House said on Sunday that it is in the early stages of talks to fulfil President Donald Trumps pledge to move the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move opposed by the Palestinian leadership. We are at the very beginning stages of even discussing this subject, said White House spokesman Sean Spicer. Primary sees leftist voters split as analysts predict general election will see conservatives battle the far right. French left-wing voters cast their ballots in a presidential primary aimed at producing a socialist candidate strong enough to confront formidable conservative and far-right rivals in the coming general election. The preliminary rounds include seven potential presidential candidates, who left-wing voters hoped to strengthen on Sunday to confront right-wing opponents in the May 2017 general election. Manuel Valls, the centre-left former prime minister, was among the candidates. Frances left has decreased in popularity in recent years after President Francois Hollandes economic reforms caused his socialist party to split. As a result, the elections have brought about several candidates whose programmes are reflective of leftist ideals. OPINION: Fillons victory A political earthquake in France Some candidates criticised Valls lack of socialist principles as they associated him with Hollande. Leftist ideals re-emerge The former economy minister who quit Hollandes government amid feuding, Arnaud Montebourg pledged his own economic policies. One policy would be to force business owners to raise employees wages if they raised their own. As he cast his ballot, Montebourg said he hoped to bring together the other components of the left-wing and win this presidential election. Former government minister Benoit Hamon promised to tax robots, legalise cannabis and grant a universal income of more than $600 a month to all French adults, including the poor. I voted for Benoit Hamon because to me he is the one best placed to redress the Socialist party, said Jean Claude, from the small town of Millau. However, some struggled to make a decision at the polls. OPINION: Another incurable, ugly disease Far-right populism Parisian Francoise Danzon said: I think Montebourgs and Hamons programmes are really on the left side, and they are interesting. He added: But I dont really believe in it, totally, because to me it doesnt seem really realistic. The socialist vote is evaporating The socialists primary is viewed as a crucial test of the partys ability to survive and even reinvent itself in upcoming rounds. Turnout is much lower than the last socialist primary five years ago. By midday, some 400,000 had voted. That is very disappointing, said Al Jazeeras David Chater, reporting from Paris. Last year, at the republican, conservative primaries, they got four million votes. Its a real indication that the socialist vote is evaporating here, he added. Polls, however, show majority support for conservative candidate Francois Fillon, and National Front leader Marine Le Pen. READ MORE: Thousands protest over far-right conference in Koblenz Overshadowing the left-wing voting is the nationalist sentiment that helped drive Donald Trumps successful campaign for the US presidency and in several countries around Europe. Le Pen, along with other European far-right parties gathered for a conference in Germanys Koblenz on Saturday, in a show of strength ahead multiple upcoming European elections this year. At the conference, Le Pen claimed recent anti-establishment victories by President Donald Trump and the Brexit campaign, as those of a rising populist right in Europe, adding that Europe was about to wake up. Al Jazeeras Chater said Frances next leader would bear the burden of Francois Hollandes legacy the most unpopular president in French modern history. Socialist Party leaders expect up to two million voters to cast ballots in the upcoming primary round on January 29, out of the more than 40 million citizens registered on electoral rolls. With voters across Europe moving to the right, most polls currently show a Fillon-Le Pen win is the most likely scenario in May. Chater added that the socialists dont have much of a chance they dont have a fight in this election against Marine Le Pen. Authorities in Lebanon say they have thwarted a suicide bombing in one of the busiest neighbourhoods of the capital, Beirut. Lebanons National News Agency said the would-be attacker was wearing an explosive belt under his jacket, as he intended to blow himself up inside a Costa coffee shop on Hamra Street on Saturday evening. Saad Hariri, Lebanons prime minister, congratulated security forces on their successful operation in a tweet: Our unity protects the nation and the people, he said. The Daily Star newspaper reported that the cafe was filled with people socialising when the soldiers arrested the man at around 11pm local time. Security sources told the paper the suspect was beaten up by soldiers during the arrest. He was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment before interrogation, it added. Al Jazeeras Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from Beirut, said security services identified the suspect as a man in his 20s from Sidon in the countrys south. Security services visited his home and arrested two of his brothers, before taking laptops and other materials, he said. Lebanon has been hit by a string of bomb attacks in recent years, some linked to the ongoing war in neighbouring Syria. In June 2016, the army said it had arrested supporters from a local affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group, planning attacks against busy areas. The Hamra neighbourhood, a district known for shopping and nightlife, has not previously been hit by an attack. Some of the deadliest blasts have targeted neighbourhoods sympathetic to the powerful Shia Hezbollah movement, which is fighting alongside the Syrian regime against the majority Sunni population. The casualties in the blasts have been almost exclusively civilians. Iraqi forces liberate the last two neighbourhoods on the left side of the Tigris River in eastern Mosul. The Iraqi army announced on Sunday that all districts of Mosul east of the Tigris River had been cleared of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) fighters, after retaking two areas. Government forces also said that the army has sealed control of the east, with the exception of Al-Rashidiya neighbourhood, located north of the city. A military statement announced that the Iraqi army recaptured Al-Milayeen neighbourhood and Al-Binaa al-Jahiz area, and raised the Iraqi flag over the buildings. These are the last neighbourhoods of the centre of the city (on) the left bank, the statement added, referring to eastern Mosul. According to the statement, federal forces had retaken control of the road linking Mosul, Iraqs second city, to Dohuk, a provincial capital in the west of the autonomous region of Kurdistan. OPINION: Is it wrong to call Mosul battle a liberation? The Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, had already declared the citys east liberated on Wednesday, and has previously said that the group would be driven out of the country by April. Residents of parts of eastern Mosul have already attempted to resume a normal daily life, despite the circulation of goods being restricted. Also on Sunday, dozens of students gathered at the gate of the University of Mosul, which had been the groups headquarters throughout its rule which began in 2014. They celebrated the recapture of one of the countrys most prestigious institutions now severely damaged due to the fighting by chanting slogans, raising an Iraqi flag above the campus entrance, and a banner calling for its reopening. In a separate incident, ISIL destroyed a landmark hotel in an attack in western Mosul on Friday, in an attempt to prevent government forces advancing from potentially utilising it as a base. According to witnesses, the explosion on the Mosul hotel left the pyramid-shaped building tilted to one side. The hotel stands close to the Tigris River, which divides the city. Government forces are reportedly preparing to attack the western bank in efforts force out ISIL group fighters in Mosul, their last major stronghold in the country. READ MORE: Baghdad ISIL claims attack in busy Sadr City market The battle for Mosul The recapture of Mosul is likely to end the groups self-styled caliphate in it areas seized in 2014, however ISIL would still be capable of fighting a guerrilla-style insurgency in Iraq. Since the US-led offensive began on October 17, select forces have retaken a quarter of Mosul in the biggest ground operation in Iraq. Although ISIL fighters are hugely outnumbered in Mosul, they have spread themselves among the citys residents, hindering government forces who are attempting to avoid civilian casualties. Thousands have fled their homes in Mosul since the militarys push began, while many remain in their homes despite food and water shortages. Iraqs military officials and its foreign allies were expected to discuss the strategy required to conquer the west bank of Mosul, which is still under full ISIL control. Israel prime minister distinguishes between cruel Tehran government and the people in recorded message. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants to talk soon to the new US president to counter the threat from Irans government, which he accused of threatening its citizens freedom. I plan to speak soon with President [Donald] Trump about how to counter the threat of Iranian regime which calls for Israels destruction, Netanyahu said in a video message posted on his Facebook page on Saturday. In the video, Netanyahu also addressed the people of Iran in English, with Persian subtitles. We are your friend, not your enemy, he said. The regime is cruel the people are not; the regime is aggressive the people are warm You have a proud history. You have a rich culture. Tragically, you are shackled by a theocratic tyranny, he said. READ MORE: Israel, Iran and the struggle for US favour Before his inauguration on Friday, Trump had repeatedly denounced a nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, including the United States, which Israel has also staunchly criticised. On January 16, Trump said in an interview with the Times of London and Bild newspaper of Germany: Im not happy with the Iran deal, I think its one of the worst deals ever made. I think its one of the dumbest deals Ive ever seen, one of the dumbest. But he declined to say whether he intended to renegotiate the deal, as he asserted regularly during the presidential campaign. Netanyahu has been an ardent opponent of the 2015 pact signed by Iran, the US, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany. The deal placed curbs on Tehrans nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions. In December, Netanyahu said there were many ways of undoing the Iran nuclear deal and that he would discuss that with Trump. I have about five things in mind, he said. But before he left office, former US President Barack Obama warned against rowing back the pact, emphasising its significant and concrete results. Declining to directly pass judgment on US President Trump, the pope condemned border walls being built. Pope Francis on Saturday warned against populism, saying it could lead to the election of saviours like Adolf Hitler. In an hour-long interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais, conducted as Donald Trump was being sworn in as US president, the pontiff also condemned the idea of using walls and barbed wire to keep out foreigners, among them refugees and migrants. Of course, crises provoke fears and worries, he said, but added that for him the example of populism in the European sense of the word is Germany in 1933. The pope added: Germany was looking for a leader, someone who would give her back her identity and there was a little man named Adolf Hitler who said I can do it. Hitler did not steal power, the pope said. He was elected by his people and then he destroyed his people. The Germans at that time also wanted to protect themselves with walls and barbed wire so that others cannot take away their identity, he said. The case of Germany is classic, he said, adding that Hitler gave them a deformed identity and we know what it produced. Pope Francis, however, underlined that it was too early to pass judgment on Trump. Lets see. Lets see what he does and then we will evaluate, he said. In February, the pontiff, in another apparent warning to Trump, said: A person who thinks only about building walls wherever they may be and not building bridges, is not Christian Id just say that this man is not Christian, if he said it this way. Populist surge Populist parties are on the rise across Europe. Unemployment and austerity, the arrival of record numbers of refugees and migrants in France, Belgium and Germany have left voters disillusioned with conventional parties and led to a rise of Islamophobic sentiment and anti-refugee views. In Germany, far-right leaders met at a conference amid protests a day earlier. French far-right leader, Marine Le Pen, told several hundred supporters in the German city of Koblenz that Britains vote last year to leave the European Union would create a domino effect. A day after Trump took office in the US, Le Pen said his inauguration speech included accents in common with the message of reclaiming national sovereignty by the far-right leaders. 2016 was the year the Anglo-Saxon world woke up. I am sure 2017 will be the year the people of continental Europe wake up, she said to loud applause. Le Pen head of the anti-European Union, anti-immigrant National Front and seen by pollsters as highly likely to make a two-person runoff vote for the French presidency in May has marked out Europe as a major plank in her programme. More than 3,000 demonstrators gathered to protest against the Koblenz conference, while some staged a sit-in outside the hall. Also in attendance was Dutch hardliner Geert Wilders, who used the platform to repeat Islamophobic rhetoric, the central theme of policies that have pushed his Party for Freedom to the front in the polls in the run-up to elections in March. The leaders of Europes established parties were promoting our Islamisation, Wilders said in a speech. European women were now frightened of showing their blonde hair, the Dutch politician said, addressing the enthusiastic audience in German. Opposition official tells Al Jazeera Kazakhstan talks to focus on current truce, as opposed to President Assads future. Astana, Kazakhstan Syrian opposition officials said they will not be discussing the future of President Bashar al-Assad during peace talks being held in Kazakhstan, and are instead focused on securing the current ceasefire. No one has discussed this [the future of Assad], Yahya al-Aridi, spokesman for the opposition delegation and adviser to the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) told Al Jazeera on Sunday. Assad was still a red line for the opposition, he explained, adding that there was no context for discussing the presidents role after a potential political solution. [Keeping Assad] is the best prescription for the continuation of the tragedy. If he is capable of carrying on his shoulders the death of half a million people and the displacement of half of the population [] then he can stay. But in reality, things do not work this way, Aridi said. Two-day negotiations are set to begin on Monday. Officials say meetings will be aimed at consolidating the nationwide ceasefire that went into effect last month. At this stage, we have one goal, which has been agreed upon by all the parties included. That is to consolidate the ceasefire. That is why we came here, Osama Abu Zaid, spokesman for the Free Syrian Army, one of the rebel groups fighting Assads government, told Al Jazeera. He added that his delegation had met Turkish officials on Sunday to discuss the agenda of the talks. A ceasefire which went into effect on December 30 has largely been holding, despite pockets of violence namely in the suburbs of the capital Damascus, where Syrian government forces have been advancing to retake strategic areas. Representatives from Moscow and Ankara will be leading the negotiations with the support of Iranian diplomats. The United Nations special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, will also be attending the talks to play a supportive role. READ MORE: Syria talks set to begin in Astana as ceasefire holds Earlier this month, Assad declared that his government was ready to negotiate on everything during the Astana meetings. Yet, the presidents future has been one of the main sticking points that have led to the failure of previous efforts to end close to six years of war in Syria. Opposition to compromise Since Russias military intervention in September 2015, the opposition has faced major setbacks, in particular, the defeat in east Aleppo in December. Analysts say the rebels no longer have the leverage to shape the peace talks. The political opposition will be the first to offer compromises, since they are the ones who were driven away and marginalised, Mohamed Alahmad, a professor at Georgetown Universitys Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, told Al Jazeera. Aridi said as well as attempting to consolidate the ceasefire, rebels wanted to secure the release of prisoners held by the Assad government, lift blockades on besieged areas and ensure civilian access to humanitarian aid. Speaking to a group of reporters, Aridi would not confirm or deny whether there would be direct negotiations between the Syrian opposition and the government in Damascus. During last years UN-backed peace talks in Geneva, the Syrian government refused to engage in direct negotiations with the opposition, whom it calls terrorists. The Astana meetings are expected to be followed by UN-mediated diplomatic talks in Geneva on February 8. There is a Geneva track where they could talk about these things [Assads future] in detail, where there will be some political transition with full power to the welfare of the people again, to bring Syria back to life, said Aridi. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed during the war, which initially started when largely unarmed anti-government uprisings against Assad erupted in 2011. More than 12 million people, approximately half of the countrys prewar population, have also been displaced over the course of the war. Additional reporting by Dylan Collins: @Collinsdyl Dry spell affects more than a million people, with authorities warning of more water shortages. Sri Lanka is suffering its worst drought in four decades, according to officials, with more than a million people experiencing acute water shortages. The lack of rain last year has lowered water levels in rivers in parts of the country. With less water available to drain the sea salt, supplies have been contaminated, especially in the town of Kalutara, south of the capital, Colombo. In the village of Kaluganga, more than 200,000 people are affected, as they lack access to clean drinking water. With rain not expected for another two to three months, the government is warning of worsening shortages. Reservoirs in the country are running low and some are now down to a fifth of their capacity. This drought is affecting both the agricultural and the hydro-power generation, Lalith Chandrapala, director general of the meteorological department, told Al Jazeera. It is one of the worst droughts since the 1970s. Farmers have been badly hit by the dry spell as they have managed to plant only a third of the usual 800,000 hectares of paddy fields the lowest in 30 years. There are disturbing signs that up to half of the crops will fail and the next planting season is also in jeopardy. All our paddy was destroyed, said Rabanda, a farmer. We dont have a way to survive and now we dont even have water to drink. A task force has been set up by the government to deal with food shortages and rising prices as a result of the drought. Damaging storms rip through the southeastern US and further storms are expected. A deadly tornado smashed through the small US city of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, early on Saturday morning. There was widespread damage to buildings. Power lines were brought down and a number of cars were flipped over. Four people were killed by the twister, and it is possible that there are others still trapped beneath the storm debris, Reuters news agency reported. According to preliminary reports from the National Weather Service, the tornado was an EF-3 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, meaning severe damage and winds of 220 to 265 kilometres an hour. It ripped a path of destruction 40km long and 1km wide across parts of four counties. Mayor Johnny DuPree said that of the four killed, three died in their trailer homes. Governor Phil Bryant issued an emergency declaration and added that he would be consulting with White House officials soon. Hattiesburg, with a population of 45,000, is the largest city in Forrest County. At least 28 people suffered injuries, none thought to be life-threatening. At the height of the emergency, more than 16,000 homes and businesses across Mississippi were without electricity, according to emergency management officials. Tornadoes were also spotted in neighbouring Alabama. The threat of violent weather remains. Warnings of severe thunderstorms accompanied by a risk of damaging winds, large hail and tornadoes have been issued across parts of the southeast throughout Sunday. In an interview with Al Jazeera Englishs current affairs show UpFront, Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation magazine, speaks about U.S. President Barack Obamas foreign policy legacy. I believe President Obama will leave us with a deepening, dangerous cold war and an escalating arms race, vanden Heuvel told UpFront host Mehdi Hasan. [Obama] in 2009 spoke of a world without nuclear weapons, she added. Yet he leaves us with this one trillion dollar modernisation of nukes. Comparing the foreign policy legacy of President Obama to former President George W. Bush, vanden Heuvel said it was, More continuity than change in many regards. I think the president has passed on the baton of drone strikes, of special ops, of dangerous elements of U.S. foreign policy to a dangerous next president, she added. Thats why a lot of progressives called on President Obama to not re-litigate the past, but to hold accountable elements of the George W. Bush administration. When asked what she thought of President Obama's overarching foreign policy dictum being dont do stupid stuff, she said, I do think dont do stupid stuff is not a bad one at this time. But unfortunately I think the United States continues to do stupid stuff. On the positive side, vanden Heuvel highlighted the Iran deal and relations with Cuba, saying, I do think the Iran nuclear deal was a major diplomatic gambit. It needs to be expanded. I think the opening toward Cuba, normalization with Cuba, was vital. This UpFront interview airs tonight, Friday, 20 January 2017, at 19:30GMT / 20:30WAT / 21:30CAT / 22:30EAT. The full interview will be available at www.aljazeera.com/upfront from 19:30GMT onwards and will also be uploaded to YouTube after it airs. For more information, visit www.aljazeera.com/upfront or follow @AJUpFront on Twitter. English News Trumps biggest FP challenge will be to prevent India becoming communist country post demonetization Alwihda Info | Par Hem Raj Jain - 21 Janvier 2017 Bengaluru, India ---- After getting sworn in the US President Donald Trump gave isolationist speech on January, 20 but entire world knows that this policy will not last once Trump starts running office. But rest of the world does not know that Trumps biggest Foreign Policy challenge will be to prevent India from becoming communist country post demonetization. The 21 st century US presidents have already left unsavory legacies. Bush Jr. left 9/11 and economic crises 2007 and from both the world has not yet recovered. Obama allowed Crimea taken away by Russia (without shedding a drop of blood) from Ukraine despite Budapest Memorandum and allowed mess in NAME region with the result ISIS came into existence through Iraq and Syria. Hence Trump will not like such third unsavory legacy. Demonetization has proved that India is unfit for democracy as explained at http://www.alwihdainfo.com/During-on-going-elections-also-If-opposition-does-not-highlight-Rs-1000-Tr-v-s-2-Tr-issue-India-has-no-future_a48651.html . Such unfortunate situation has not come as a surprise. In my many published letter I had pointed out that reservation policy in India is anti-democracy. Democracy cant be run by demoralized people. There is nothing wrong with the policy of reservation but it should not be given with demoralizing tag of oppressed and backward castes which constitute majority of Hindus. Post demonetization (which has benefited big business but which is in very small minority in numbers) the powerful section of Indians have realized that the present form of democracy will not work and will be harmful to them (especially when PM Modi has assumed the role of Robin hood) though they do not know what can replace the present political model. Hence India never had so favorable situation for communism as post demonetization. It will be Chinas biggest failure if it fails to convert India into communist country post demonetization. China can easily patronize a pro-communism party in India which can easily come in power at the center in the present situation. Thus even through democracy & present constitution India can be ushered into communism. Some Indians may be under wrong impression that earlier Supreme Court judgment is final that basic structure of constitution cant be changed hence democracy cant be removed. It is nothing but delusion. Indian constitution puts no restriction / bar on the power of the Parliament to amendment the constitution under Article 368. If Parliament wants then it can even impeach Supreme Court Judges under Article 124 (4) of the Constitution who try to deny amending power to Parliament under Article 368. Presently communism being not anti religion and pro- capitalists it will help the advent of Communism in India. One third Indian Territory under influence of Naxalites (Marxists) will be crucial for making India a communist country. Also ~ 15 % Muslims in India smarting under democracy with 85 % Hindus in ~ 1.3 billion so-called secular India will also be crucial for making India a communist country [India has already given goodbye to secularism especially since late eighties when Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992 and in attended riots thousands of Muslims have been killed including in Gujarat in 2002. Moreover Hindu majority India never tried to retrieve Muslim PoK and instead its military is showing bravery by training guns on civilians (Mostly Muslim Kashmiris) under protection of AFSPA, SPA etc in J&K]. Therefore Prez Trump should keep above mentioned realities of India in view before arriving at Foreign Policy about India in particular and Asia in general Regards Hem Raj Jain (Author of Betrayal of Americanism) Bengaluru, India Dans la meme rubrique : < > China enhances efforts to promote biodiversity conservation China stress its commitment to push ahead peace and development for humanity at 20th CPC National Congress CPC's governance experience is worth learning from Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena) Inauguration Day 2017 has placed the U.S. on a new political and economic trajectory. President Donald Trump won the votes of the so-called Rust Belt, where workers and their children and grandchildren, who have been dispossessed and displaced by the economics of globalization, turned blue counties into red counties. Thus, in a legitimate sense, Trump's appeal to the "forgotten man" so similar to Franklin D. Roosevelt's appeal to the same symbol is valid. FDR's forgotten man was a composite of all those who were unemployed in the Great Depression who were "forgotten" in the sense that their plight was not being taken seriously by government. Trump also appealed to another neglected constituency in our republic namely, those disaffected by the intense political correctness attacks on individual freedom and, related to this, by attacks upon the sanctity of property and individual responsibility. In short, millions upon millions have become increasingly victims of federal government intrusion into their lives. The intrusions have come from excessive federal laws (e.g., Affordable Care Act), regulatory mandates by out-of-control bureaucracies, constitutional violations such as those presented by the implementation of Common Core, and encouragement of politically correct speech, which encouragement tends to undermine the First Amendment protections afforded all of us. The individuals harmed by these government trends also might aptly be called "forgotten men." Yet, increasingly, Trump is being compared not to Roosevelt, but to Pres. Andrew Jackson, who served two terms from 1829 to 1837. TV commentators and supporters of Trump are happy to make this comparison. Andrew Jackson was also a president who gave voice to the views and aspirations of a "forgotten" population. He was the first president elected outside the Virginia political aristocracy and the Adams family of Massachusetts in short, outside the original founding states. His home was in Tennessee, and thus he represented a new constituency of the westward expansion, men and women who were not part of the eastern establishment. Eight of the eleven states that had been added to the union before his election could be considered "western." Also, property qualifications for voting were being rescinded during the decades following the election of George Washington, and thus, by 1828, more of the working masses were enfranchised than during earlier decades. Thus, Jackson drew support from those who had in earlier elections felt left out of the political process. But the similarity between Trump and Jackson ends at that point, where both men give voice to previously ignored constituencies. If we compare the first inaugural speech of Jackson with that of Trump on Jan. 20, we see very different philosophies of government expressed. In his inaugural, Jackson portrayed himself repeatedly as being what we would today call "a constitutional conservative." Although later portrayed by various historians and by the press at that time as seeking to impose an imperial presidency, in his inaugural address, Jackson was at pains to state his respect for the limitations of the power of the presidency in the U.S. Constitution and the importance of states' rights to the federalist structure of government we enjoy. However, Trump never mentions these constitutional niceties in his remarks. Rather, he sees himself in almost a mystical connection with "the people." In this regard, he stated, "we [the people and himself] are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and to restore its promise for all of our people." In making this statement, he sounds more like Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the philosopher behind the French Revolution. For Rousseau, government was linked to the people through the "General Will" of the people, not by enumerated powers, rights, and responsibilities that defined the British constitutional tradition. Trump states that he is transferring power back to the people, unlike Jackson, who, working within the constitutional framework, wished to assure that power be kept by the states. One might even make a case that Trump's idea of transferring power back to the people is first cousin to the "power to the people" black activism of the black power movement of the sixties and early seventies. Only now, Trump would be applying that concept to all people, not only to the African-American population. Trump's tone in his inaugural was actually far more militant than that of Jackson in the latter's first speech. Jackson only had to face the British in the War of 1812 as our foreign enemy, and he cautiously stated that "standing armies [are] dangerous to free governments in time of peace." However, Trump declares that he will smash radical Islam, which has been allowed to grow to unprecedented degrees. Trump also emphasizes protection of the citizenry as he affirms his commitment to "the great men and women of our military and law enforcement, and ... we are protected by God." The interests of God, law enforcement, and the military all converge under "protection," and "protection" merges with the presidency. In Jackson's inaugural, he affirmed that "[i]nternal improvements and the diffusion of knowledge ... are of high importance." Likewise, Trump expresses his intention to build "new roads, and highways, and bridges, and airports, and tunnels, and railways all across our wonderful nation." But these infrastructure improvements are for Trump part of a bigger picture of "rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor." In stating this, he takes his own advice to "think big and dream even bigger." In his speech, he put forth a vision that goes far beyond infrastructure growth and enhancement. He attempted to communicate a transcendent vision of unity and healing where a broken, divided, and violent land becomes whole as never before, with "one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny." The informed student of history will conclude that President Trump, like FDR and Jackson, is supported by constituencies that have been previously ignored by candidates of both political parties. With his emphasis on infrastructure restoration, Trump sounds a bit like FDR as one remembers the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Works Progress Administration, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the Public Works Administration. His almost mystical sense of connection with the people of the USA and with an abstract sense of "unity" suggests to this writer a type of hyper-paternalism, not unlike the radio fireside chats of Roosevelt. Yet, in giving voice to desperate masses of people who for decades not just for two years of economic depression felt that no one cared, and no one listened, he is more like Jackson, whose presidency challenged the status quo. Arab-Israeli "peace talks" have been going on for the better part of a century, without even a hint of serious progress. The reason is quite simple: the Arabs don't want peace with Israel. They just don't want Israel, and they will come up with any excuse for frustrating the possibility, let alone the prospect, of a peaceful resolution. At the outset, it might be helpful to focus in on our terms. When we speak of Arabs, we are usually focused on "Palestinians" (although the entire Arab world seems to be united behind the concept of driving Israel out of the Middle East; their larger goal which some of them have openly admitted is the extermination of Jewry in general i.e. to complete the job undertaken by Hitler, with whom they were joined at the hip during WWII). Also, it is important to note (and emphasize) that there has never been a Palestinian "nation" only a land mass designated as Palestine at the close of WWI with the destruction of the Ottoman Empire, under whose rule that mass had been presided over. In the discussions held by the victorious allies on the termination of hostilities, the entire Middle East was divided up among the victors, and new countries were created e.g., Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, etc. Among the territories assigned to the British was the land mass designated as the Palestinian "mandate." Most of this mass was originally to go to the Jews, in accordance with the Balfour Declaration, but the British revised this determination and assigned most of the mandated territory to a new country to be called Transjordan (subsequently called just Jordan). The balance of the mandated territory was awarded to the Jews and Arabs residing in the remaining portion of the mandated area. Since the land area was designated as the Palestinian Mandate, the Arabs in residence understandably designated themselves as "Palestinians." By this line of reasoning, it would be equally, if not more, appropriate for resident Jews to call themselves "Palestinians"; after all, they have been there for millennia. But it cannot be too strongly emphasized that there has never been a Palestinian "nation" just a bunch of Arabs residing in that part of the Levant that fell under the Mandate. Nonetheless, on any number of occasions subsequent to the creation of the Mandate, the Jews and Arabs were given the opportunity to peacefully resolve their territorial disagreements by accepting the terms laid down by the conquering nations. The Jews accepted every one of those offers even though they were being seriously shortchanged and awarded a land area that was considerably smaller than that originally promised, and barely defensible at that. The Arabs never accepted any arrangement offered them in this manner. For example, in one of the more recent "peace" gestures, in 1990, Ehud Barak, then Israel's prime minister, offered Yasser Arafat (who, in addition to being a terrorist, was a degenerate pedophile who liked sexually abusing young boys) 95% of what Arafat was demanding, including a significant piece of Jerusalem (Israel's would-be capital), plus some compensating territory for the remaining 5%. What did he get? Arafat's flat rejection (to the consternation of Bill Clinton, who had arranged and, I'm sure, orchestrated the meeting), followed by the Second Intifada and the slaughter of Jews. Barak's successor, Ehud Olmert, offered Arafat even more and was met with the same degree of rejection. Now, in fairness to the Palestinians, if either Arafat or Abbas had agreed to peace and, in doing so, acknowledged Israel's status as a state, he would probably have been assassinated. Recall how Anwar Sadat was treated after he signed a peace treaty with Israel on behalf of Egypt. Also, a peace treaty with Israel might limit the kleptocracy opportunities that Arafat and Abbas have availed themselves of over the years while covering their corruption tracks with their terrorist endeavors. Also, it is important to note that the Jews were being offered this land by virtue of their righteous historical claim to it; Jews have been in this area for thousands of years (long before there ever was an Islam). They were thrown out on occasion by virtue of military conquest, the most prominent of which was by the Romans, who designated the area Palaestina (no doubt due to the fact that the Philistines had resided there), which was probably the term from which Palestinian designation derived. The point is to emphasize that there has never been a Palestinian nation in residence in this area, and, as a consequence, the current "Palestinians" have no historical support for the claim to the land and absolutely no legal claim to it. This point is well documented in an excellent book by David Meir-Levi entitled History Upside Down The Roots of Palestinian Fascism and the Myth of Israeli Aggression, in which Meir-Levi lays out the entire history of the Arab/Israeli relationship. The current alleged stumbling block to "peace" is the Jewish "settlements" in the West Bank which constitute less than 2% of the West Bank's land mass (more than 40% of which is unpopulated). The Arabs insist on a Jew-free territory! Isn't this ethnic cleansing? Over 1,500,000 Arabs (Muslims) are "settled" in Israel as citizens, where they enjoy the highest standard living of Muslims residing in any other country (with the possible exception of America). The Arabs have run almost 1,000,000 Jews out of Arab countries where the Jews have resided for hundreds of years, and they are now turning their attention to that other group of "infidels," Christians whom they are slaughtering with impunity. The bottom line? There will never be peace between the Arabs (oops, Palestinians) and Israel (Jews)! Why not? Because, as noted, the Arabs don't want peace with Israel; they don't want Israel, and they will look for any excuse to avoid any kind of peace agreement. As current prime minister Netanyahu once observed regarding the prospects for peace in the area: "If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence; if the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel." Or, as Golda Meir before him observed: "Peace will come when Arabs will love their children more than they hate us." Unfortunately, the Palestinians' very illegitimate arguments for their so-called oppression by a colonial power is resonating with the very real anti-Semitism abroad (particularly in Europe, but gaining a great deal of ground in America since Obama came to power particularly in our universities). This raises the question: what sort of deal do you strike with someone who is sworn to your extermination? Will you settle for killing half of us? How about just maiming us for the time being until you can gather more global support to finish the job. The way things are developing, I'm afraid the Jews are in for another bloodbath. So what are we to do? Exactly what Caroline Glick urges us to do in her exceptionally well written book The Israeli Solution A One-State Plan for Peace in The Middle East. Ms. Glick makes a persuasive case for placing the West Bank (i.e., Judea and Samaria) under the jurisdiction of Israel. In doing so, she demolishes Kerry's argument that Israel can be either a Jewish state or be democratic; it cannot be both, says Kerry, and Ms. Glick demonstrates that he is wrong (has Kerry ever been right about anything significant?). So don't look for peace to break out any time soon between Israel and its terrorist neighbors. The United Nations' recent one-sided condemnation of Israel reinforces the fact that Israel is in fact the Middle East's foremost problem. It's not because Israelis are evil colonialists who want to steal the Arabs' land. Israel's former and current enemies, in fact, have a long track record of ethnically cleansing Jews, and they are still in possession of stolen Jewish homes and land. Israel occupies Arab land only because Arabs started or provoked four wars of annihilation against Israel. That's three more wars than Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan started with the United States before having their cities firebombed and atom-bombed into heaps of smoking rubble. Israel is the Middle East's foremost problem for the same reason that a school's only honor student is the foremost problem for the other kids who would rather hang out, drink, and do drugs rather than earn passing grades. Israel is, in fact, a problem for the entire fundamentalist Islamic world because it is, whether it likes it or not, part of a regional experiment on the relative merits of Judaism, Christianity, and what a good part of the world calls Islam. The Middle East's Experiment Suppose that farmers want to compare the effectiveness of different fertilizers and seeds. Standard practice is to divide an otherwise homogeneous plot of land into sections where different seeds and/or fertilizers are tested. Any observed differences in performance can therefore be attributed to the seed and/or fertilizer selections, because all are tried on exactly the same kind of soil. Now suppose we take similar, in terms of natural resources, plots of Middle Eastern land. Jewish seeds are planted in Israel, Christian seeds in Lebanon, and fundamentalist "Islamic" seeds in the countries that started or provoked the 1948, 1956, 1967, and 1973 wars. Militant "Islamic" seeds of the Shiite variety also are planted in oil-enriched Iran. The Jewish seeds grow with incredible speed into the biggest and healthiest plants in the region. The Christian seeds make Beirut into the Paris of the Middle East. The militant "Islamic" seeds sprout into stunted and sickly plants and then stop growing. Iran's gross domestic product per capita is $17.8K versus $34.8K for Israel even though Iran has oil, while Israel does not. The fact that Israel stands out head and shoulders above its neighbors cannot be attributed to better natural resources, because Israel has few of them. It can be attributed only to the superiority of Judeo-Christian seeds over militant "Islamic" seeds, and this is something the militant "Islamic" leaders can no more tolerate than the D-minus performers can tolerate from their school's honor student. Loss of the Mandate of Heaven The Chinese concept of the Mandate of Heaven says that a leader derives his right to lead through service to his people. This concept was associated with religion when people attributed natural disasters and plagues to "something" they or their king had done to incur the wrath of God. Modern people still seek to remove leaders associated with poor economic performance or disastrous wars. The Russian Revolution took place, for example, because the tsar had lost two wars in roughly 12 years. I recall reading, meanwhile, of an ancient Hebrew legend about a Jew who was trying to convince a pagan to accept monotheism. The pagan boasted of having just purchased an idol of a powerful god to protect him, and he wanted no part of the Jew's invisible deity. The next day, however, he came wailing to the Jew because a thief had stolen the idol. The Jew admonished, "Your god is powerless to protect himself, let alone anybody else. How about trying mine?" Rank-and-file Muslims in Gaza, Judea, Samaria, Egypt, Syria, and Iran see similarly that Allah, his prophet, and more importantly the mullahs and ayatollahs who claim to speak for them can deliver little more than poverty, ignorance, superstition, and squalor. The nearby "infidel pigs," meanwhile, live in beautiful houses and towering skyscrapers and manufacture technology the Islamic rank and file can barely imagine. Jews and Christians build skyscrapers and passenger jets, and the best the Islamists can do is hijack the planes and crash them into the skyscrapers. It's simply an issue of the D-minus students beating up the honor student who keeps making them look bad, but, as Osama bin Laden discovered the hard way, this does not work out well in the long run. Militant "Islam" Is Inferior. Live with It. The political left will doubtlessly bleat "racism," its standard off-the-shelf argument, at the proposition that militant "Islam" is inferior to every other religion and philosophy on Earth. I will therefore put matters into terms that even a political leftist can understand. Suppose I divide a piece of excrement and no, it doesn't have a clean end into four equal parts. Then I put one portion each into a white container, a black container, a brown container, and a yellow container. Each will smell equally bad because, to paraphrase Martin Luther King, the stench comes not from the colors of the containers, but from the character of their contents. If one similarly puts what Iran, Hamas, al-Qaeda, Fatah, the Palestinian Authority, and ISIS call Islam into a white skin, a black skin, a brown skin, and a yellow skin, one will get four equally primitive, superstitious, and violent savages who believe that their afterlife is a Great Mustang Ranch in the Sky where a Mack Daddy named Allah hands out free Viagra. That Depends on What You Mean by "Jihad" Now, before the left condemns this statement as an attack on all Muslims, it is to be remembered that there are hundreds of millions of Muslims who believe that Allah wants them to perform the Five Pillars of Islam, which have nothing to do with "Islam" as practiced by the extremists. When a genuine Muslim says, "My jihad (struggle) is to seek to be a better person every day," he is actually practicing the Japanese ideal of a struggle for continual self-improvement. Hamas's or Fatah's jihad is to kill everybody not like themselves, including not only Jews, Christians, Hindus, and LGBT people, but also the Muslim whose jihad is to be a better person. People create their deities in their own images, and that is simply what Hamas, Fatah, al-Qaeda, Iran, and ISIS did when they depicted Allah as a panderer who runs a celestial house of prostitution for those who die for the mullahs and ayatollahs who claim to speak for Allah. The disrespect for what civilized Muslims call Islam therefore comes exclusively from the terrorists and not from anybody else. Why the Middle East's Underachievers Have to Beat Up the Honor Student The world's 1.5 billion Muslims have won a whopping total of twelve Nobel Prizes. Of these, two must be vacated as politically correct and unearned, and another for being earned in spite of rather than because of militant "Islam." Anwar Sadat was given a Nobel Peace Prize for agreeing to stop attacking Israel after his country lost four wars, and Yasser Arafat was a common terrorist whom Israel should have killed long ago. Shirin Ebadi had to flee Iran because of the actions that earned her a Nobel Peace Prize. This leaves the Islamic world with a total of nine legitimate Nobel Prizes. The world's 15 million Jews that's one Jew for every 100 Muslims have received 185 Nobel Prizes. The world's 2.2 billion Christians have meanwhile been awarded 427 Nobel Prizes. If we account for the fact that there are more Christians than Muslims, the ratio still comes to 32:1 per capita. The world's 127 million Buddhist and Shinto Japanese have earned 25 Nobel Prizes to the entire Islamic world's nine. Tunisia and Senegal are the only Islamic-majority countries in the entire world that Freedom House rates as "Free." Even Turkey, which has been a relatively Europeanized nation for centuries, is rated as only "Partly Free," while fundamentalist Islamic nations like Iran are rated "Not Free." The reverse is true of Christian-majority nations, where unfree nations like Russia and partly free ones like Ukraine and Mexico are the exceptions rather than the rule. The world's only Jewish-majority and Hindu-majority nations are, of course, "Free." The reason for the inferiority of fundamentalist Islamic nations is simple. When a society relegates half of its people namely, the female half to second-class citizenship or even chattel status, it has already thrown away half its human potential. Throw in religious claptrap about dying for Allah to get eternal life in the Great Mustang Ranch in the Sky, and your entire society will be riddled with ignorance and superstition. The leaders of the world's most backward and primitive Islamic nations cannot afford to have their people want the kind of affluence that prevails in the Judeo-Christian world, much less wonder why their leaders cannot obtain it for them despite the purported favor of Allah. When somebody's position depends on keeping his people in darkness and ignorance, no menace is greater than a light unto the nations right next door. This is exactly why Israel is the Middle East's foremost problem. William A. Levinson is the author of several books on business management including content on organizational psychology, as well as manufacturing productivity and quality. This past week, a report on how Donald Trump's administration should build a political dialogue with Turkey was published at the website of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The authors of this work are James F. Jeffrey, the former U.S. ambassador to Turkey during the presidency of George W. Bush (2008-2010), and Soner Cagaptay, the director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute. Recommendations of the authors cover a wide range of geopolitical issues that the United States and Turkey should solve by joining their efforts. It is noteworthy that Mr. Jeffrey and Mr. Cagaptay mark the necessity for Trump's administration to guarantee non-recognition of the Armenian Genocide as an important condition for restoration of trust between the U.S. and Turkey. In particular, the authors write: "Separately, the United States can quietly guarantee Turkey that the Armenian Genocide resolution in Congress will not pass. This has always been critical in the relationship and most Turks care deeply about the issue." There is no doubt that the authors aim not only to influence on the development of the foreign policy of the new administration for Turkey, but also to remind that the Armenian question can have a negative impact on bilateral relations. Certainly, the representatives of the pro-Turkish lobby groups can develop their own recommendations for the foreign relations between Washington and Ankara. This is a normal practice of lobbying. However, the authors, speaking about the need to block the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, make a number of serious mistakes. First, this question is an internal affair of the United States. We must not forget that the requirement to recognize the historical events of 1915-1923 in the Ottoman Empire comes from the millions of citizens of America and is purely humanitarian. American Armenians do not require official Washington to take any steps against Turkey. On the other hand, the representatives of U.S.-Armenian relations have always stressed that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the United States and Turkey will be a good signal and will allow the establishment of Armenian-Turkish dialogue in the future. Unfortunately, the Turkish authorities turned the Armenian issue into an instrument of political blackmail and intimidation. Secondly, it is an incorrect recommendation to the U.S. president to influence Congress to prevent the passage of the resolution on the Genocide. This is not just interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign country, but also a call for the executive power to put pressure on the legislators, which cannot but arouse the indignation of American citizens. Concerning the Armenian issue, I would like to give an alternative view to the next administration. During the Cold War, Turkey was considered one of the most important strategic allies in the bilateral format and in the framework of NATO. On the basis of pragmatic considerations, the White House and the leaders of both parties in Congress believed that an open discussion of the Armenian issue could cause a negative reaction from Turkey. The situation changed in 1974, when Turkey sent troops to the territory of Cyprus. In response to this act of aggression, Congress declared an arms embargo on Turkey. A series of further events led to a serious cooling of U.S.-Turkish relations. Then Washington did not prevent the adoption of Resolution No. 148 on the "Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Inhuman Crimes." According to the adopted resolution, the 24th of April was officially proclaimed the day of remembrance of victims of the Armenian Genocide. Thus, the United States at that time became the only country in the world whose president officially addressed to the Armenian people on every 24th of April. In 1978, the U.S. president, Jimmy Carter, used the term "genocide" for the first time in his statement to describe the events of 1915-1923 in the Ottoman Empire. Carter noted that, while preparing for the meeting with the Armenian community, he spent a lot of time in Roosevelt's room and carefully studied the documents related to the Armenians' history. The president said he was impressed by the force of will and talent of Armenian people and that as the U.S. citizens, Armenians made an enormous contribution to the development of the country. Carter said that not many people knew that a few years prior to 1915, a deliberate effort was taken to destroy the Armenian people. At the end of his speech, he stated that the Armenian Genocide was one of the greatest tragedies that ever befell any group of people, and no trial similar to Nuremberg was conducted over the criminals. In the very first year of his presidency, Ronald Reagan demonstrated support for the Armenian-American community in the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In his proclamation No. 4838 on April 22 in 1981, Reagan remarked that the United States was aware of the fact and understood that the criminal government that had committed inhuman acts of genocide had to acknowledge its past and repent for it. Reagan said there was an eternal debt of all mankind toward those who had experienced these horrors. He urged the international community to remember that the lessons of the Holocaust, as well as of the Armenian Genocide, the ensuing genocide of the Cambodians, and numerous persecutions against other nations, could never be forgotten. On the 11th of April in 1985, the Republican majority leader Senator Robert Dole introduced Resolution No. 247 on the "Day of Memory of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire" to Congress. The hearing in the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives was successful, and Speaker Tip O'Neill put the resolution on a general vote. Turkey threatened that in case of adoption, it would refuse to buy eleven U.S. Boeing aircraft for the benefit of aircraft of the European consortium Airbus Industries. Moreover, Turkey claimed that it would cease to prolong the Defense and Economic Cooperation Agreement. President Reagan assured Turkey's Prime Minister Ozal that the administration was committed to maintaining a high level of appropriations for Turkey. The U.S. president was referring to the majority in Congress held by Democrats, whom he could not influence. Regardless of quite logical explanations given by the White House, the Turkish side did not conceal its irritation. Ankara stated again that it would prepare for the revision of the U.S.-Turkish agreement on military and economic cooperation. America, which at that time was going through a period of difficult relations with Greece, was close to losing access to its military bases in Turkey. It was for that reason that the U.S.'s Secretary of State Schulz arrived to the negotiations on the extension of the agreement in Ankara. Trying to prevent the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the pro-Turkish lobbies were interfering in the electoral process. Thus, Ankara and its lobbyists campaigned against Mike Dukakis an ethnic Greek who was the candidate of the Democratic Party in the presidential elections of 1988. They also opposed George Deukmejian, an ethnic Armenian and the governor of California, who was considered by George Bush, Sr. for the post of the U.S. vice president. During their election campaigns, presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama talked about the need to tell the truth about the Armenian Genocide at the highest level. However, being in the Oval Office, they broke their promises for fear of spoiling relations with Turkey. These examples from history show that the Turkish authorities and the pro-Turkish lobbyists have always used intimidation tactics when it comes to the Armenian issue. Donald Trump poses himself as a leader who will protect the interests of America and Americans. In this case, the new president and his administration should not allow Turkey to interfere in the internal affairs of the United States. Moreover, Turkey's statements that adoption of a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide may harm relations with the U.S. are greatly exaggerated. Nowadays, the laws on the Armenian Genocide have been adopted in more than twenty countries around the world, including Russia, France, and Germany. Did Russia's recognition of the Armenian Genocide have an impact on its bilateral relations with Turkey? No. Official Ankara has traditionally protested and threatened with deterioration in relations. However, in reality, we are witnessing active development of Russian-Turkish ties in the political, economic, trade, tourism, and energy sectors. There was a similar scenario regarding Turkish-French relations after Paris officially recognized the Armenian Genocide. By the way, France and Germany, being Turkey's NATO allies, take their own domestic political decisions without fear of Ankara's threats. In this regard, the new administration should clearly express its position on the Armenian issue and should not be afraid of threats from Turkey and its lobbyists. Anyway, President Trump has two ways to solve this issue. He can continue the policy of denying the Armenian Genocide (as Bush and Obama did), or he can choose a different path and become the president who had enough courage to restore historical justice. I hope Trump will choose the path of Ronald Reagan instead of the one of Barack Obama. Areg Galstyan, Ph.D., is a regular contributor to The National Interest, Forbes, and The Hill and the head of the "American Studies" Research Centre. Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/galstyan_areg. Members of Trump Nation, the voting majority occupying fly-over country, know they won, but still pinch themselves to reaffirm the reality of it all. Inauguration Day pilgrims were witness to the swearing-in of president Trump, fortified that it was no illusion. In the orange ticket standing area on the southwest shoulder of the Capitol, my wife and I were flanked by Trump supporters in all manner of style, and substance. Regular Joes and Marys in jeans, canvas pants, quilted knee-length rain cloaks, hiking boots, hooded sweatshirts, Carhartt and Cabelas jackets, some graced with outback/western hats. Men and women in business suits, and motorcycle jackets. A few active military mingled, and a quartet of college kids in front of us made the pilgrimage as members of a good government club in Ohio. Folks within earshot had trekked in from South Dakota, Arizona, Texas, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Perhaps half sported Make America Great Again caps, or TRUMP sweatshirts. Many, but not too many, carried American flags on parade sticks in their back pockets. This was not a 4th of July celebration after all, with Stars and Stripes waving. Instead, at times, the ceremony resembled a service of thanksgiving. Trumpers longing for respect, recognition, and the promise of deliverance, had finally been requited. Participants no doubt were inwardly jubilant, but outwardly showed equal parts of relief tempering pure joy. I sensed many Trump supporters are thrilled, and even more grateful, for their defender and champion having prevailed, yet wary that their version of Gettysburg, while hopeful, still isnt Appomattox. I spoke with a few latter middle-aged and senior couples, self-described hostages from towns in hopelessly-blue states like Hornell New York, Bel Air Maryland, and Fitchburg Massachusetts, who all wondered if, before Trump, they would ever again have a president who spoke for them. This was their first inaugural, the only one so far that really mattered, after having voted in at least a dozen presidential elections before. Subdued enthusiasm was soon enough replaced by a resolute spirit. When provoked the crowd elicited the predictable responses that never get old. As Hillary appeared on the big screen, chants of lock-her-up immediately resonated. The most agitated reaction arrived the moment New York Senator, and US Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, opened his mouth; shouts of cut the mike drowned out Schumers tedious elitist moralizing. The crowd was not at all surprised, indeed were delighted, that president Trump in his inaugural address courageously eviscerated the Washington, DC establishment while having most of his victims sitting beside and behind him. Such carpet-bombing was expected, and most agreeable, to Trump voters who refused to answer pollsters telephone calls during the campaign, but would not be rebuffed at the only polling place that counted. Soft swells of approbation swept the Capitols western slope as the priest, ministers, pastors, and rabbi offered prayers of invocation, and benediction. Impatient for their president Trump to get on with his promised action agenda, they wont dwell too long on his providential victory. Their political capital invested in Trump must be activated before it gets neutralized, and devalued, by the very conspiracy of forces that nearly denied their agent this inimitable moment. We met a cheerful woman along with her nineteen- and ten-year-old sons on the 7:15 am MARC train from Baltimore to DC Union Station on Inauguration Day, and by chance saw her again at the end of the day sitting on a concrete barrier at the foot of Lower Senate Park. She drove 22 hours straight from Lawton, Oklahoma to her sisters house in Dundalk, just east of Baltimore City. Gas and tolls wiped out any chance at a midway hotel room. Exhausted but indefatigable, she arrived to support the man who listened, and spoke to her in her own language; to cheer a man vilified, ridiculed, and marginalized by the establishment, just as she has been for her entire life. Thank God he won. He may not know my name. Still, he knows who I am. All alone, attacked on all sides, he beat all of them, every one. Praise God for Donald Trump. The Women's march on Washington took place on January 21, the day after Donald Trump's inauguration. A group of women invented the Pussy Hat, knitted from pink yarn. They have ears like a cat but symbolize the more salacious meaning of the word. They are intended to draw attention to President Trump's secretly recorded conversation about grabbing that part of the female anatomy. According to one march participant, the yarn industry could not fill the sudden demand for pink yarn. So only a fraction of the marchers had hats. All the "pussy" talk seemed to unleash a not very ladylike impulse among the women toward bad language and crude symbolism. The crowd was surprisingly large. My careful crowd estimate was between 60,000 and 100,000. The organizers claimed 500,000. This is common behavior for demonstrations in Washington multiply the crowd size by a factor of five or ten. Left-wing celebrities spoke to the crowd for example, Gloria Steinem and Michael Moore. Some speakers described the president as being either a reincarnation of Hitler or a dangerously deluded psychiatric case. Many marchers had signs expressing support for various left-wing sacred cows for example; illegal immigrants, Muslims, Planned Parenthood, Black Lives Matter, state schools, and socialized medicine. Unusual for the left, there were lots of people denouncing Russia and Vladimir Putin, obviously because Trump said something slightly positive about that country and its leader. There was lots of skepticism concerning millionaires and billionaires not just Trump, but also various members of his cabinet. Of course, the same skepticism does not apply to rich people on the left like George Soros, Michael Moore, Warren Buffett, and various Hollywood stars. Amazingly, some older women were still fighting the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) battles of the 1970s. Considering that Donald Trump was inaugurated the previous day, the leftist advocates were less alarming than they otherwise would be. If you thought 2016 losing presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's "irredeemable deplorables" insult was bad, Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan has topped that. In her latest opinion piece on President Trump, the celebrated Noonan continues her "vulgarization in American politics" contempt for the average American she leveled at Sarah Palin in 2008. From WSJ: Normally a new president has someone backing him up, someone publicly behind him. Mr. Obama had the mainstream mediathe big broadcast networks, big newspapers, activists and intellectuals, pundits and columnists of the leftthe whole shebang. He had a unified, passionate party. Mr. Trump in comparison has almost nothing... The new president has gradations of sympathy, respect or support from exactly one cable news channel, and some websites. He really has no one but those who voted for him. Do they understand what a lift daily governance is going to be, and how long the odds are, with so much arrayed against him, and them? Beside the fact that we the people have President Trump's back and he has ours, the new President has assembled and nominated a stellar team of brilliant and tough individuals to lead his agencies. If that is "no one," Ms. Noonan, then President Trump will soon demonstrate the irrelevance of the whole shebang against him, on the left and the right, And, yes, Peggy, you can rest easy that we, with our challenged, vulgarized minds, know the odds. After all, while you were appearing on ABC and CBS talk shows, spouting all of your nicety-nice, high-brow, pedantic, snobby, politically correct analyses, we endured being called "racist, Islamophobic zenophobes for 18 months without backing down. And contrary to your condescending final question, we "almost nothing" voters, who, according to you, cant intellectually "understand what a lift daily governance" entails, know from experience how the practitioners of daily governance these last 8 years have governed. While you and your media sycophants were tiptoeing and pearl clutching around the atrocities heaped on working and middle class Americans by the Obama regime, and attending embassy parties, we were channeling our cold anger at the voting booth. We understand better than you the fight has just begun. It should be crystal clear to all Americans that his political enemies are searching for any pretext to launch an impeachment effort to unseat President Trump, once they think it would have a chance of success. Given the level of animosity toward Trump in his own party, and the possibility of midterm election losses for the presidents party (the normal pattern in American politics), these efforts cant be dismissed as impossible. We know about this secret conspiracy because of a leak to the Washington Free Beacon. Joe Schoffstall reports: A confidential David Brock memo obtained by the Washington Free Beacon lays out the ways the Democratic operative plans to use his numerous organizations to take down President Donald Trump through impeachment. Brock is currently at the Turnberry Isle Resort in Aventura, Fla. for a weekend conference with more than 100 major liberal donors. Attendees are mapping out a course to combat the newly sworn-in president. According to the private and confidential memo, Brock plans to defeat Trump through impeachment, using American Bridge, his liberal super PAC, as the main vehicle to do so. No other progressive organization has the resources and assets that American Bridge has amassed over the past several election cycles to hold Trump, his administration, and the politicians accountable, the 44-page confidential memo states. Only Bridge stands ready with staff already hired, Trumps web of business ties mapped out, and a massive video archive at our fingertips. The right will bolster Trump aggressively and deceptively. The campaign to stop him must be nonstop. At American Bridge, it has already begun. If this sounds like a sales pitch, thats because it is. Brock functions only with the funding of rich leftists like George Soros and his allies, and his humiliating failure to deliver for them in the 2016 election leaves him no option but to escalate, in hopes the suckers donors will throw good money after bad. The sales pitch presents a well-oiled machine already operating: Within weeks of the election, Bridge launched a Trump War Room, which has already scrutinized Trumps transition team and will continue to watch the personnel, policies, and practices of the administration. The state-of-the-art Trump War Room will strive to uncover details of Trumps affection for Russia and Putin. They are tracking Trumps foreign and domestic business partners, construction projects in foreign countries, and negotiations on potential future projects that he could use to put personal profit ahead of our national security. With so many opportunities for foreign governments and corporations to gain influence over Trump, American Bridge will use every means at its disposal to hold Trump and his administration accountableincluding FOIA requests, lawsuits, and regulatory complaints. As the progressive movements political research clearinghouse, we will arm our allies to join us in taking on the administration through paid advertising, earned media, grassroots efforts, and legal recourse. The group laid out its strategic plan for the next four years. The top outcome is to defeat Trump through impeachment. The number of stories and the value of TV time for anti-Trump media coverage we generate will break all internal records, the memo states. Multiple Trump nominations will become a drag on his administration due to the research we unearth. Trumps approval rating will remain historically low. I have little doubt that the megaphone of the White House will be employed to publicize this memo. What are the odds that Brock will blame the Russians? But the Vast Leftwing Conspiracy has been exposed laying out its plans in search of a pretext for all to see. The left is counting on media support to make its case for impeachment work. But that is a diminishing asset for them, and the Trump administration has signaled that it is ready to help dispatch the ailing members as they collapse. I think it is time to ask prominent Congressional Dems if they are willing to condemn the effort to impeach before a pretext is even available. It is now clear beyond reasonable doubt that Obama and the corrupt establishment represents a Left-Jihad Axis that now appears to be worldwide. The simultaneous "women's marches" and other staged demonstration making headlines in the Fakestream Media today have to be organized. What we are seeing is a repetition of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, also called the Hitler-Stalin Pact of 1938, where the Nazis and Soviets forged an alliance against the West. That soon broke down when Hitler attacked the Soviet Union, bringing all the horrors of World War II down on the USSR. The Left-Jihad Axis is clearly visible. Or do you really think that the feminist Left spontaneously supports the cruel slavery of women and children in the radical Muslim world? No. This "global revolt," being talked up by the Fakestream today was triggered by verbal attacks on Trump, who has been "deligitimized" in the eyes of the Axis of Evil, using CIA head Brennan to falsely confirm wild rumors that "We wuz robbed! The Big Monster stole the election." Looking back at this moment Americans will realize that we are seeing a direct repetition of Adolf Hitler's Dolchstoss myth, the "We wuz stabbed in the back!" argument Hitler used to rise to power in post World War I Germany. The Backstab myth is identical to the disinformation campaign progressive Democrats have been waging, and not even very secretly. In his inaugural speech, Donald Trump characterized the burdens facing American families who have been left behind, and made government schools one of the problems. He described: an education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge. While inevitably some knowledge is imparted when you have children in custody for six or so hours a day, the statement that government schools are flush with cash is no mere hyperbole. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post wrote in the wake of the speech: One of the Obama administrations signature efforts in education, which pumped billions of federal dollars into overhauling the nations worst schools, failed to produce meaningful results, according to a federal analysis. Test scores, graduation rates and college enrollment were no different in schools that received money through the School Improvement Grants program the largest federal investment ever targeted to failing schools than in schools that did not. The Education Department published the findings on the website of its research division on Wednesday, hours before President Obamas political appointees walked out the door. Were talking about millions of kids who are assigned to these failing schools, and we just spent several billion dollars promising them things were going to get better, said Andy Smarick, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who has long been skeptical that the Obama administrations strategy would work. Think of what all that money could have been spent on instead. With the confirmation of Betsy DeVos being held up by Senate Democrats, the hour has come for complete honesty on the failure of the one-size-fits-all government schools. Patents in the inner cities are desperate to get their kids into charter schools or voucher programs. Standing in the government schoolhouse door, preventing the kids from leaving, are the teachers unions, whose sole concern is the prosperity and job security of the members that pay the dues funneled into Democratic Party coffers, causing the opposition to DeVos to be bitter to the end. The longer the debate continues, the better it is for the cause of freeing children from servitude to the teachers unions. Hat tip: Clarice Feldman January 22, 2017 Turkeys Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said Jan. 20 that the facts on the ground have changed dramatically, and so Turkey can no longer insist on, you know, a settlement without [Syrian President Bashar al-] Assad, and its not, you know, realistic. We just have to work with what we have. Simseks statement came just three days before the Jan. 23 start of the Russian-mediated Syria talks in Astana, Kazakhstan. Assad said that his objectives for the Astana talks are about talks between the government and the terrorist groups in order to have a cease-fire and to allow those terrorist groups to join the reconciliations in Syria, which means giving up your armaments and having amnesty from the government. This is the only thing that we can expect in the meantime. The United States will not send a delegation to Astana, and will be represented at the conference by the American ambassador in Kazakhstan, who will attend as an observer. Turkeys turnaround on Assad comes as Ankara expects a new beginning in US-Turkey relations with the Trump administration. In an op-ed published earlier this month in The Washington Post, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu claimed that the United States under President Barack Obama had criticized, neglected and ignored [Turkey] on vital matters. Turkey may be cheered by the prospect of improved ties under President Donald Trump. US national security adviser Michael Flynn wrote Nov. 8 that the US should prioritize US relations with Turkey, adding that Fethullah Gulen, the religious leader who resides in Pennsylvania and whom Turkey blames for the failed July 2016 coup, is running a scam and we should not provide him safe haven. Semih Idiz writes, however, The problem appears to be that Turkeys expectations are predicated solely on Washington meeting its demands, leaving little if any room for negotiation or reasonable compromise. Ankara is saying in effect that if its two clean-cut demands are not met, there is little hope for improved ties. Those demands include the United States breaking its ties with the Democratic Union Party (PYD) of the Syrian Kurds and its military wing, the People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara claims are linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Turkey considers a terrorist group, as well as the extradition of Gulen. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim termed US support for the YPG as disgraceful, and Cavusoglu in his op-ed complained of being lectured about due process, probable cause and evidential standards by Washington in response to Ankaras request for Gulens extradition. Differences over Gulen and the Syrian Kurds are unlikely to be resolved easily or soon. The United States must follow due process and evidential standards in considering the extradition of any foreign national, including Gulen, and would be hard pressed to ditch the PYD and the YPG, which are the core of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State in Syria, especially as the coalition prepares for an assault on IS-held Raqqa. Amberin Zaman points out that as Gulens presence in the United States remains a thorn in Turkish-US ties, so too is the incarceration of American pastor Andrew Brunson, whose case has gone largely unnoticed in Turkey but not in the United States. Brunson has been charged for membership in a terrorist organization and is being held in a prison in Izmir. Zaman adds, "To be sure, the AKP has been credited with doing more for non-Muslim communities than any of its predecessors. But the mood has turned ugly since the July 15 coup. Tens of thousands of people have been arrested on often thinly supported accusations of ties to Gulen and countless likely innocents like Brunson have been caught in the net. "No sectarian divide in Syria" Fehim Tastekin, reporting from Aleppo, writes, Contrary to persistent popular analysis from abroad, the country is not divided. Despite sectarian campaigns and clashes by jihadis financed with money they received from the Gulf, Syrians did not split along sectarian lines. There was no sectarian divide between the Syrian army and the people, as some said. When you carefully observe the internal dynamics, you can see it was not a war between Alawites and Sunnis or Christians and Muslims. Only in Homs, when the clashes began, did systematic attacks by Sunnis against Alawites, Shiites and Christians trigger a sectarian divide, but that was short-lived. Tastekin adds, Aleppo is the best example that this was not a sectarian war. At least six Sunni religious notables were killed in Aleppo because they rejected an armed uprising. Sunni religious figures were constantly under threat for not joining the war. The most annoying question you can ask soldiers on the Aleppo front is whether they are Sunni or Alawite. Nothing angers Syrians as much as this question. In addition to the daunting reconstruction and humanitarian crises, Syria also suffers from the scourge of corruption. As far as I could see, Tastekin writes, Assad is more popular today than before. Of course, this popularity doesnt cover his entire regime. According to bureaucrats, politicians and citizens Al-Monitor spoke with in Aleppo and Damascus, the system is mired in bribery and corruption and cannot survive for long. People will want to see some of the ruling officials punished. The country has paid an extraordinary price for the war and will not tolerate those profiting from cronyism, nepotism, corruption and abuse. Tastekin discovers the complexity of Irans role in Syria, compared to both Russia and Hezbollah. Nobody challenges the role Russia will play. But it is not the same for Iran, the other major ally, Tastekin reports. It's not hard to detect resentment among the people and even government officials of Iran's interventionist attitude. Many Syrians even prefer an alliance with Russia because they believe Moscow is not interfering in their domestic affairs. Moreover, Al-Monitor was told that Iranians' overbearing, superior attitude especially annoys the Syrian army. Curiously, Syrians' unease with Iranians doesn't apply to Iran-supported, Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which hails from the same cultural basin as Syrians, Tastekin reports. Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah is no less prestigious in Syria than Assad. In Damascus, Homs and elsewhere even in Aleppo, with its prominent Sunni identity you will see Nasrallah posters all over, and there is widespread affection for him among Christians. The Syrian-Kurdish fault line The governments of Syria and Turkey may share an interest in limiting Kurdish autonomy in northern Syria. Tastekin reports this week that in military and civilian political circles in Damascus, the Kurdish slogan of democratic autonomy is a prelude to a division. Syrians think the United States is playing games in that region, so eyebrows rise when you say you are going to Qamishli. Tastekin describes arriving at the Qamishli airport: The Qamishli airport is a border gate to Turkey. The Syrian army controls nearby public buildings, a living quarters compound and the main road linking the compound to the airport. The Kurdish police force and YPG stay away. Even within Qamishli itself, those who want to travel from one end of town to the other use a complicated bypass road to avoid army checks. Syrian soldiers dont enter the Kurdish-controlled area in uniform and with their weapons. The army-controlled highway from the airport is richly adorned with joint posters of Assad and Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah. The walls are covered with portraits and slogans of father and son Hafez and Bashar al-Assad. The widespread slogan posted at the main road junction near the public offices: Defend Syria. Beyond the army-controlled highway, things are different. The portraits of the Assads are replaced by the portrait of imprisoned Kurdistan Workers Party leader Abdullah Ocalan. "No one is more hated than he who speaks the truth." Plato "This country has shed more blood for the freedom of other people than all the other nations in the history of the world combined, and I'm tired of people feeling like they've got to apologize for America." Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN) In a time of universal deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell, the author of 1984 "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.""Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.""A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man. His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example."Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' But conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but because conscience tells one it is right. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. O. Kokoschka, Pieta , 1909 My name is Selina Billiot and I am a very proud Native American WOMAN.I am not a "disgrace to women" because I don't support the women's march. I do not feel I am a "second class citizen" because I am a woman. I do not feel my voice is "not heard" because I am a woman. I do not feel I am not provided opportunities in this life or in America because I am a woman. I do not feel that I "don't have control of my body or choices" because I am a woman. I do not feel like I am " not respected or undermined" because I am a woman. I am not a "victim" because you say I am.I AM a woman.I can make my own choices.I can speak and be heard.I can VOTE.I can work if I want.I can stay home if I want.I control my body.I can defend myself.I can defend my family.There is nothing stopping me to do anything in this world but MYSELF.I do not blame my circumstances or problems on anything other than my own choices or even that sometimes in life, we don't always get what we want. I take responsibility for myself.I am a mother, a daughter, a wife, a sister, a friend. I am not held back in life but only by the walls I choose to not go over which is a personal choice.Quit blaming.Take responsibility.If you want to speak, do so. But do not expect for me, a woman, to take you seriously wearing a pink va-jay-jay hat on your head and screaming profanities and bashing men.If you have beliefs, and speak to me in a kind matter, I will listen. But do not expect for me to change my beliefs to suit yours. Respect goes both ways.If you want to impress me, especially in regards to women, then speak on the real injustices and tragedies that affect women in foreign countries that do not that the opportunity or means to have their voices heard.Saudi Arabia, women can't drive, no rights and must always be covered.China and India, infantcide of baby girls.Afghanistan, unequal education rights.Democratic Republic of Congo, where rapes are brutal and women are left to die, or HIV infected and left to care for children alone.Mali, where women can not escape the torture of genital mutilation.Pakistan, in tribal areas where women are gang raped to pay for men's crime.Guatemala, the impoverished female underclass of Guatemala faces domestic violence, rape and the second-highest rate of HIV/AIDS after sub-Saharan Africa. An epidemic of gruesome unsolved murders has left hundreds of women dead, some of their bodies left with hate messages. Or the 7 year old girls being sold or married off to 60 year old men, Or the millions of women sold and bought into sex trafficking.And that's just a few examples.So when women get together in AMERICA and whine they don't have equal rights and march in their clean clothes, after eating a hearty breakfast, and it's like a vacation away that they have paid for to get there...This WOMAN does not support it.tomado en 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. Rabias lawyers claim that the CBI didnt get possession of the dupatta and hence raises questions about the probe. Mumbai: The death of Jiah Khan in 2013 was one of the most shocking cases in Bollywood which has still not been resolved completely on the judicial level. The controversy refuses to abate even after more than three years of the incident. New twists and turns have been emerging in the case ever since. The latest development in the case has been appearance of the dupatta, which was used by Jiah to allegedly hang herself, reported mid-day. Jiahs mother Rabia, who has been fighting to get justice for her daughter, and her lawyers had raised the issue of the missing dupatta several times as they felt it was an important object in determining if the death was due to suicide or homicide. It came to light that the dupatta was with the Forensic Science Laboratory since the time of the incident when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Juhu Police submitted it and other objects of evidence to the special womens court on Friday. Rabias lawyers claim that the CBI didnt get possession of the dupatta and hence raises questions about the chargesheet that the agency submitted in the case. Advocate Swapnil Ambure was quoted as saying, "The Chandigarh team could not come to a conclusion without examining the dupatta and other materials. How then could the CBI claim to have to completed its probe?" The lawyers have decided to raise the issue at the hearing on Monday. Chennai: Jallikattu began in parts of Tamil Nadu on Sunday, including Tiruchirappalli district, with traditional fervour even as protests continued at Alanganallur in Madurai, where people refused to hold the famous sport seeking a "permanent solution". Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who had on Saturday said that he would inaugurate the event at Alanganallur, is now expected to do so in neighbouring Dindigul district. The bull taming sport began at Manapparai in Tiruchirappali district with thousands witnessing the event as bulls roared out into the sporting arena. Youths tried to hold on to the hump for a brief distance as the animals sped fast towards the exit. Hundreds of bulls and youths participated in the show. Owners of winning animals and youngsters were awarded with prize money. 'Manjuvirattu', another form of jallikattu, was reported from villages in Dharmpauri district. Sections of protesters continued to stay put at several locations in the state, including the Marina here. At Alanganallur several sections of agitators declined to hold the sport. They blocked the ways to the entry and exit points of the sprawling sporting area. A group of organisers removed the bulls from the arena as well. They demanded a permanent solution, declining to accept the ordinance promulgated to hold the sport. According to the officials, Panneerselvam is now expected to inaugurate Jallikattu at Kovilpatti near Natham in Dindigul district. Jallikattu remained banned following a Supreme Court order in May 2014. Meanwhile, officials were also making arrangements for holding Jallikattu in Alanganallur. Officials are trying to pacify and convince Jallikattu organisers that the ordinance is the permanent solution. Agitators were told that the ordinance will be replaced by a law. A Bill in this regard will be adopted in the Assembly and it will become a permanent law and solution as well, they said. Jallikattu was inaugurated by Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar in Pudukottai where hundreds of youngsters are competing. Bulls are being let into the sporting arena one by one and the youths are trying to jump on to the hump of the bulls which are trained to not allow participants to get near them. The sport is being witnessed by thousands of spectators. Top district police and local government officials are overseeing the conduct of the sport. They said all precautionary, security measures are in place. Meanwhile, "Rekla Race" (Ox cart race) popular in the "Kongu" region (Western Tamil Nadu) of the State is all set to start at the sprawling Codisa Grounds in the textile city of Coimbatore. Each two-wheeled cart will be driven by its owner and the cart will be steered by two bulls latched on to the yoke. Shortly, Local Administration and Rural Development Minister S P Velumani will inaugurate the race in which many enthusiastic participants are in the fray. The sport will be held in two categories, 200 and 300 meters race for "junior" and "senior" categories of bulls. Those with higher ranks will be able to choose colleges of their choice. The suggestion of electronic common counselling was included in the bill to prevent the practice of individual counselling which is conducted by medical colleges. (Representational Image) New Delhi: In a significant step towards reforming the admission process in medical colleges across the country and replacing the controversial Medical Council of India (MCI) with a new body, the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) in tandem with Niti Aayog and health ministry has inserted clauses like electronic common counselling for all medical colleges to ensure parity and transparency, as well as fixing a 60:40 paid seats to free seats ratio (respectively) in private medical institutions in the National Medical Commission (NCM) Bill 2016. The government intends to introduce the bill in the forthcoming Budget Session, sources privy to the development told this newspaper. The suggestion of electronic common counselling was included in the bill to prevent the practice of individual counselling which is conducted by medical colleges. Once electronic common counselling comes into effect, it will provide greater options to meritorious students seeking admission in medical colleges. Those with higher ranks will be able to choose colleges of their choice. Currently, the percentage of free seats varies from state to state. While Punjab doesnt offer free seats at all, private medical colleges offer 75 per cent seats in Gujarat. Orissa offers 50 per cent free seats per college. Having a fixed ratio would mean that students from economically weaker sections will be able to get admission in private colleges. The legislation was ready in August last year and both Niti Aayog and the health ministry were keen to bring it during the Monsoon Session. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed them to seek stakeholders opinions on the bill before introducing it in Parliament. Mr Modi, as was reported first by this newspaper on October 2, 2016, had sought more clarity on the provisions of the bill from the states and concerned stakeholders before giving it a final shape. The aforementioned provisions which have been inculcated in the bill have been selected by the PMO and Niti Aayog from among 15,700 suggestions received from the states. Apart from these, the legislation has also included a provision under which doctors in the selection committee which it has suggested should be formed to appoint regulators. In the earlier draft of the bill, there were no doctors in the panel for selecting regulators. One of the Obama administrations signature efforts in education, which pumped billions of federal dollars into overhauling the nations worst schools, failed to produce meaningful results, according to a federal analysis. Test scores, graduation rates and college enrollment were no different in schools that received money through the School Improvement Grants program the largest federal investment ever targeted to failing schools than in schools that did not.The Education Department published the findings on the website of its research division on Wednesday, hours before President Obamas political appointees walked out the door. Were talking about millions of kids who are assigned to these failing schools, and we just spent several billion dollars promising them things were going to get better, said Andy Smarick, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who has long been skeptical that the Obama administrations strategy would work. Think of what all that money could have been spent on instead. The School Improvement Grants program has been around since the administration of President George W. Bush, but it received an enormous boost under Obama. The administration funneled $7 billion into the program between 2010 and 2015 far exceeding the $4 billion it spent on Race to the Top grants. The money went to states to distribute to their poorest-performing schools those with exceedingly low graduation rates, or poor math and reading test scores, or both. Individual schools could receive up to $2 million per year for three years, on the condition that they adopt one of the Obama administrations four preferred measures: replacing the principal and at least half the teachers, converting into a charter school, closing altogether, or undergoing a transformation, including hiring a new principal and adopting new instructional strategies, new teacher evaluations and a longer school day. The Education Department did not track how the money was spent, other than to note which of the four strategies schools chose. Arne Duncan, Obamas education secretary from 2009 to 2016, said his aim was to turn around 1,000 schools every year for five years. We could really move the needle, lift the bottom and change the lives of tens of millions of underserved children, Duncan said in 2009. Duncan often said that the administrations school-improvement efforts did not get the attention they deserved, overshadowed by more-controversial efforts to encourage states to adopt new standards and teacher evaluations tied to tests. The school turnaround effort, he told The Washington Post days before he left office in 2016, was arguably the administrations biggest bet. He and other administration officials sought to highlight individual schools that made dramatic improvements after receiving the money. But the new study released this week shows that, as a large-scale effort, School Improvement Grants failed. Just a tiny fraction of schools chose the most dramatic measures, according to the new study. Three percent became charter schools, and 1 percent closed. Half the schools chose transformation, arguably the least intrusive option available to them. This outcome reminds us that turning around our lowest-performing schools is some of the hardest, most complex work in education and that we dont yet have solid evidence on effective, replicable, comprehensive school improvement strategies, said Dorie Nolt, an Education Department spokeswoman. Nolt emphasized that the study focused on schools that received School Improvement Grants money between 2010 and 2013. The administration awarded a total of $3.5 billion to those schools, most of it stimulus funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Since then, she said, the program has evolved toward greater flexibility in the selection of school improvement models and the use of evidence-based interventions. Some education experts say that the administration closed its eyes to mounting evidence about the programs problems in its own interim evaluations , which were released in the years after the first big infusion of cash. The latest interim evaluation, released in 2015, found mixed results, with students at one-third of the schools showing no improvement or even sliding backward. Even then, Duncan remained optimistic about the School Improvement Grants, which he said had along with the Race to the Top grants unleashed innovation across the country. Speaking about the two grant programs at a fast-improving high school in Boston in 2015, he argued that it would take time to see and measure their full effects. Here in Massachusetts, it actually took several years to see real improvement in some areas, Duncan said at the time. Scores were flat or even down in some subjects and grades for a while. Many people questioned whether the state should hit the brakes on change. But you had the courage to stick with it, and the results are clear to all. Smarick said he had never seen such a huge investment produce zero results. That could end up being a gift, he said, from Duncan to Betsy DeVos, President-elect Donald Trumps nominee for education secretary and a prominent proponent of taxpayer-supported vouchers for private and religious schools. Results from the School Improvement Grants have shored up previous research showing that pouring money into dysfunctional schools and systems does not work, Smarick said: I can imagine Betsy DeVos and Donald Trump saying this is exactly why kids need school choice. Chennai: Two persons were killed and 83 others were injured in Pudukottai after a Jallikattu event was organised in haste at Raapusal village in Tamil Nadu. One person was killed in Madurai during protests. According to a report in Hindustan Times, one of the victims, S Mohan suffered injuries to his lower hip, while the other victim, Raja received wounds on his chest. Reports also claimed that the event was organsied by the state government, inaugurated by a law maker. The news came in even as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Pannearselvam had to leave Madurai, without inaugurating the Alanganallur Jallikattu as protestors demanded a lasting solution to the issue. Panneerselvam had yesterday said he would inaugurate the bull taming sport at Alanganallur, famous for holding Jallikattu events, at 10 am. Groups of protesters continued to stay put at several locations in the state, including the Marina Beach at Chennai, epicentre of the stir for the last six days. The protesters are seeking a permanent solution for holding the sport, besides a ban on animal rights group PETA. As protesters demanded a permanent solution for holding the sport and raised slogans that ordinance was only a temporary measure, Panneerselvam said: the "State's Jallikattu ordinance route is permanent, robust and sustainable, will be made into a law in the coming Assembly session." He reiterated that there was no ban following the promulgation of the ordinance. The Chief Minister said the ordinance will be replaced by a law after bringing in a bill in the Assembly session, beginning at Chennai tomorrow. Speaking to reporters at Madurai before leaving for Chennai, Panneerselvam said,"The ban on Jallikattu has been removed completely, the sport will be held at Alanganallur, on a date decided by local people." He said Jallikattu was held in all parts of Tamil Nadu with the local administration and police taking all stipulated measures to hold the sport. As per the government statistics, the rubella infection approximately affects 25,000 children every year in India. New Delhi: With an aim to reduce deaths under five years of age, government is all set to introduce two major vaccines the measles-rubella (MR) and pneumococcal in the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP). While the MR vaccine will be launched by the Union health minister J.P. Nadda on February 7 in five states and UTs, the Pneumococcal vaccine will become part of the UIP in March in three states. Once the MR vaccine is introduced, the existing monovalent measles vaccine will be discontinued. The MR vaccine is expected to be introduced in Tamil Nadu, Goa, Karnataka, Lakshadweep and Puducherry while the Pneumococcal vaccine will be launched in Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. According to the officials in the health ministry, the move aims to reduce deaths among children under five years of age. As per the government statistics, the rubella infection approximately affects 25,000 children every year in India. Likewise, pneumonia is emerging as one of the leading causes of mortality among children aged under five. The government had earlier asked the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation to conduct a feasibility study on the vaccine so that it could be introduced in the country. According to a 2014 report by UNICEF, pneumonia and diarrhea claimed lives of more than 3,00,000 children in 2013. The 2014 Pneumonia and Diarrhea progress report released by the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) suggested raising coverage of pneumonia treatment in the country. India has, for the last few years, intensified strategies to combat diseases affecting children through various interventions like introducing pentavalent vaccine for hib. Pneumonia and meningitis, rotavirus vaccine for diarrhea and scaling up measles vaccination. Health experts stress on the need for including pneumonia vaccine in the immunisation programme as nearly 25 per cent of the 1.4 million children below the age of five that die every year globally due to pneumonia are from India. Pneumonia is a bacterial infection that causes inflammation of lungs. The girl was reported to have been gang-raped twice. Shillong: An 11-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped at least twice by seven minor boys in Mawten village in South West Khasi Hills district, police said on Sunday. The girl was reported to have been gang-raped first in a paddy field in the village in December last year and again on January 13 at her residence. "We have detained six of the accused. They all hail from the girl's village and are in the age group of 14-16 years," a senior district police officer told PTI. He said the detention was made based on an FIR filed by the family members of the girl. Police have registered a case against all the accused under section 376(g) (gang-rape) of IPC and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The police officer said the accused have confessed to the crime and have been sent to a juvenile home. Last year, 101 cases were filed under POCSO and 22 rape cases against children in Meghalaya, according the crime records bureau of the home department. Nitish Kumar is due to address at least three rallies in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat in the third week of March. New Delhi: Despite their apparent bonhomie, JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar, with an eye on the 2019 general election, is trying hard to bring together all anti-Narendra Modi forces on a common platform. The Bihar chief minister, in a bid to project himself as the face of an anti-Modi platform, has decided to take the battle to Prime Minister Modis home turf Gujarat, tying up with Hardik Patels Patidar Navnirman Sena. Mr Kumar is due to address at least three rallies in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat in the third week of March just after the results of the crucial five-state Assembly elections are out. The two leaders have decided to take forward their cooperation at the national level too. Akhilesh Katiyar, a close associate of the Patel leader, has joined as national general secretary of the JD(U), a senior party leader said. Mr Katiyar, who was a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Patel Navnirman Sena (ABPNS), had organised Mr Nitish Kumars rally in Varanasi and adjoining areas in the past one year. Mr Katiyar, who belongs to Kanpur Dehat in UP, has also been appointed the JD(U) in-charge in BJP-ruled Gujarat and Rajasthan, and will be instrumental in organising Mr Kumars rallies in Gujarat. He was earlier general secretary of NDA ally Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP), but was sacked from the party in September 2015 after he organised a meeting of Hardik Patel in Delhi. Mr Katiyar had accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP of exerting pressure on RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha to expel him. Mr Kushwaha is minister of state for HRD in the Modi government. Mr Patel, the young Patidar leader from Gujarat who has been at loggerheads with the BJP government in the state demanding the inclusion of his caste in the OBC list, had extended support to Mr Kumar in the 2015 Assembly elections. He had said the Bihar chief minister was from his community. We have to support someone in the (Assembly elections)... We will support someone from our community, he said. Mr Patel had taken on the BJP government in Gujarat single-handedly over his demand that Patels be included in the OBC quota. Earlier, Mr Kumar had supported Prime Minister Modis demonetisation drive, giving hints of an apparent bonhomie between the BJP and the JD(U). SP will contest 298 seats, leave 105 for Congress. Lucknow/New Delhi: After days of Akhilesh Yadavs Hamletian dilemma and intense bargaining over seat-sharing, the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance was finally struck on Sunday. Of Uttar Pradeshs 403 Assembly berths, the SP will contest 298 seats and leave the remaining 105 for the Congress. The Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal, which would be fighting the polls alone, has already declared candidates for 35 seats in western UP. On Saturday the alliance was tottering and it had nearly collapsed with the SP refusing to give the Congress more than 99 seats, and the latter sticking to its demand for over 140 seats. Things began to take shape after Congress president Sonia Gandhi intervened and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, one of whose daughters is married into the Mulayam Yadav clan, approached Akhilesh Yadav. All Congress heavyweights ranging from Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Ahmed Patel and Ghulam Nabi Azad, as well as Akhilesh Yadavs close aide Abhishek Mishra, got into the act on Saturday night. Speculation was rife that Priyanka Gandhi personally spoke to Akhilesh Yadavs wife Dimple after both sides refused to relent. Ghulam Nabi Azad was also in constant touch with his Rajya Sabha colleague and Akhileshs uncle Ram Gopal Yadav. Sources also said Congress strategist Prashant Kishor also spoke to the UP chief minister and urged him to look at the bigger picture. Finally, the pact was sealed before Akhilesh Yadav released his partys manifesto on Sunday. In Lucknow, UP Congress president Raj Babbar and state Samajwadi chief Naresh Uttam announced at a joint press conference that the alliance was being forged in the larger interests of the nation and to stop divisive and communal forces from coming to power. The state SP chief appealed to party workers to support the candidates of the alliance and carry forward the development work done by the Akhilesh government. It is necessary to check communal forces from coming to power and hence this alliance, he said. Mr Raj Babbar said that the prevailing atmosphere in the country had made it imperative for like-minded parties to join hands and forge a secular front. This alliance is based on the foundation of secularism and will fight against the anti-people and anti-farmer policies that are being pursued in the country. For both the Congress as well as the Samajwadi Party, this marriage of convenience whose durability is still a matter of debate comes as a major relief during an election that seems to be throwing up no winners. The Samajwadi Party, despite statements to the contrary, has been keen on the alliance with the Congress in order to retain its base among Muslims, who had been threatening to switch loyalties to Mayawatis Bahujan Samaj Party after the recent strife within the states ruling party. For the Congress, the alliance gives the much-needed opportunity to jump back into the political race in Uttar Pradesh and position itself as a force to reckon with. Both parties, nevertheless, have suffered considerable damage due to the inordinate delay in forging the alliance. The arrested youth is a BA student and has a criminal background. He was arrested by the UP police on murder charges earlier last year. New Delhi: In a fresh twist to the mysterious disappearance of JNU student Najeeb Ahmed, a murder accused was trapped in the police net in UPs Maharajganj district on Saturday after he made a ransom call of Rs 20 lakh to Najeebs relatives. He claimed that he called up Najeebs kin after he heard about the reward of Rs 10 lakh on any information about the missing student. The accused had made the call to Najeebs relatives three days back. The arrested youth is a BA student and has a criminal background. He was arrested by the UP police on murder charges earlier last year. Maharajganj SP Pramod Singh told this newspaper that the youth told the police that he made the ransom call to Najeebs family after he read about the reward of Rs 10 lakh on informing about his whereabouts. He has a criminal background and has a murder case registered against him. We immediately informed our counterparts in Delhi, who sent a special force to take custody of the accused, the SP said. Confirming the news, Delhi joint commissioner of police Ravindra Yadav said that on Saturday, the accused has been arrested from Uttar Pradesh and will be brought to Delhi on transit remand. We are yet to verify his name as he is giving different names. We can get more information on further interrogation, he added. Meanwhile, one of Najeebs relative told this newspaper that they had no information regarding the latest development. The Delhi police has announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for anyone who shares information on Najeebs whereabouts. Najeeb (27) went missing from his room on October 15 following a scuffle. Ever since the area was rocked by violence over the setting up of a power grid, Congress and CPI(M) leaders have visited Bhangar. Kolkata: The Congress party and CPI(M) are desperately trying to exploit the Bhangar incident to settle political scores with the Mamata Banerjee government. In the past five days, since the South 24 Parganas block was rocked by violent agitation by villagers protesting the setting up of a power grid, leaders of the two Opposition parties have visited Bhangar on several occasions. Left Front legislative party leader Sujan Chakraborty, leader of Opposition Abdul Mannan and state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury have visited Bhangar. Congress held a peace rally from Machhibhanga to Shyamnagar. Mr Chowdhury demanded a CBI inquiry. We will approach the court and seek a CBI inquiry monitored by the court to unearth the truth behind the Bhangar mayhem. Two innocent villagers were killed by gunshots and the government is insisting that there was no police firing, Mr Chowdhury said. While the opposition leaders have no problem in visiting villages in Khamarait, Paddupukur, Natunhat Bazar, Gazipur, Shyamnagar and Polerhat, their entry has been barred by angry villagers. As soon as reports of turbulence reached Nabanna on January 17, the CM had sent MLA Abdur Rezzak Mollah and MP Mukul Roy to the area. The angry people however made it clear that they will not be welcomed. They want the CM to visit Bhangar and personally announce that the contentious power grid would be relocated. The Congress president questioned why the CM could not find time to visit Bhangar even once when she used to rush to Singur and Nandigram innumerable times. Both Congress and CPI(M) see in Bhangar a potential to become another Singur and Nandigram. The promise has been included in the partys manifesto for the Mumbai civic polls that will take place on February 21. This move is yet another sop by the BJP after it announced no property tax for citizens who have 500 sq ft of house. (Representational image) Mumbai: Aiming to promote Prime Minister Narendra Modis dream of creating a cashless society, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be giving special tax concessions to Mumbaikars who carry out cashless transactions. The promise has been included in the partys manifesto for the Mumbai civic polls that will take place on February 21. After demonetisation, the Prime Minister had encouraged cashless transactions and his emphasis was on possessing less cash. A top BJP leader said the initiative has been included in the BJPs manifesto for the BMC polls. Modiji has been very vocal about the cashless transactions. We know that the entire economy cannot be cashless. But if maximum transactions are cashless then corruption can be reduced. The cashless transactions will also bring transparency into the system, which is our priority in the functioning of the BMC. This will be our poll promise for the people to give some tax concession if they prefer cashless transactions, the BJP leader said. The leader did not divulge the details about which cashless transactions will bring the benefit to the people. This move is yet another sop by the BJP after it announced no property tax for citizens who have 500 sq ft of house. The party has also promised to give concession to houses with area up to 700 sq ft. BJP also said it would not charge water taxes till the facility is available 24/7. Trump emphatically restated old themes, combining populism and nationalism, standard fare in his pre-election stump speeches. As America inaugurated its 45th President in Washington D.C. on Friday, the world waited with trepidation to hear President Donald Trump, the crusader for Making America Great Again and champion of the forgotten men and women of our country, spell out his agenda for the next four years. Mr Trump emphatically restated old themes, combining populism and nationalism, standard fare in his pre-election stump speeches. The question being asked is whether he is overturning the post-World War II liberal order created under American leadership that ushered the birth of the United Nations at San Francisco, the Marshall Plan to lift both the vanquished and allied nations in Europe, the World Bank and Bretton Woods institutions to spread American aid and Nato to fashion a common defence. He achingly noted that the American dream is redistributed across the entire world. Richard N. Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, was quoted by the New York Times that Harry Truman, Dean Acheson and others who followed had sought World First and not America First. What does the phrase America First really imply? Basically, all nationalistic leaders ranging from President Xi Jinping of China to Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India want their own countrys interests held supreme. However, for the United States, as underwriter of global regimes, US exceptionalism has been about not only espousing liberal and democratic ideals, but spreading them globally. President John F. Kennedy had in 1961 committed his country to protect human rights at home and around the world. George W. Bush expended tremendous national resources attempting to plant democracy in Saddam Husseins Iraq and Talibanised Afghanistan. It is this evangelism that Mr Trump is now tampering with realism. The US will no longer drain its resources to protect allies or carry unevenly large weight in alliances. He is rejigging a phrase used by Charles Lindbergh in the 1930s to advocate US isolationism. He explained in an election-time interview that he was using it as a brand new, very modern term. There was nothing modern in certain parts of his inaugural address that tackled the theme in clearly counter-globalisation and anti-free trade terms. He said US interests would take primacy over trade, taxes and foreign policy. His slogan Buy American, Hire American, which he tweeted immediately in bold letters, broadcast unadulterated protectionism, flouting international trade and investment regimes or agreements to which the US is a party. But his dark worldview is fraught with contradictions and paradoxes, which will challenge his Cabinet while it is translating this into actual policy. Take his pledge to eradicate radical Islamic terror from the face of the planet. Many in India hope that it provides a ledge to rest Indias angst over Pakistani sponsorship of anti-India terror groups. But for him, so far, it seems limited to ISIS. Additionally he has not understood, despite US experience since 2001, that counter-terrorism cannot succeed without conquering the hearts and minds of Muslims simultaneously. President Barack Obama had attempted in 2009 in his address at Cairo University to do that, but the subsequent Arab Spring altered the framework. Mr Trump contrariwise has chided the United Nations over the UN Security Council resolution which condemned new Israeli settlements in occupied West Bank. Mr Trump also favours moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Both or either of these acts will add to disaffection in the Islamic world. Furthermore, outsourcing the fight against ISIS to Russia while needling Iran will be a non-starter as those two countries are working in tandem to stabilise Syria, including by ruthless means like bombing Aleppo unmindful of the loss of civilian lives. What does a Trump presidency augur for India? Clearly, there is cause for concern regarding US visa policies, that will hit information technology workers or even Indian students, as post-study job permits might be restricted. Mr Trumps partiality towards Vladimir Putin may create convergence about fighting ISIS but not necessarily Indias terror problem. In fact, it may solidify the emerging Russia-China-Pakistan-Iran agreement that ISIS is the primary menace and that the Taliban in Afghanistan thus an automatic ally, and not an antagonist threatening the elected regime in Kabul. That would upend Indias Afghanistan policy. Of greater interest to India should be Sino-US relations. A trade war can unleash forces that may damage China more than the US, which could up the ante by calling Chinas bluff on its militarisation of artificial islands in the South China Sea in breach of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Contrariwise, Mr Trump may compromise on the South China Sea issue, accepting the status quo while barring more dredging and militarisation, provided his trade-related demands are met. Thus, it would be wise for India not to slipstream behind the US while remaining prepared to exploit the situation as it evolves. The US will attempt to outsource regional security duties to friends and allies as it reduces its own financial burden. India will have to hedge and balance. The Trump presidency thus brings uncertainty as he experiments to resolve the paradox between America First and the interconnected nature of global economy and supply chains and US commitments to allies. For instance, trade with Mexico may be low single-digit as a portion of US GDP, but it affects at least five million US jobs. Similarly, counter-measures by China, reacting to the imposition of duties on their products, may have unforeseen effect on US households as costs rise. Mr Trump will discover that populism may be fine with a megaphone in hand or a Twitter button under control, but the Oval Office and the long arc of history will force reality on him. But one certainty looms that the 45th US Chief Executive will always be The Donald before being President Trump. Annual rainfall in the Sahara now ranges from about four inches to less than one inch. The Sahara Desert was home to hunter-gatherers who made their living off the animals and plants in the region's savannahs and wooded grasslands, researchers said. (Representational image) The Sahara - largest hot desert in the world - was a green and lush area covered in vegetation 5,000 to 11,000 years ago, with rainfall up to ten times more than it is today, according to a new study. The Sahara Desert was home to hunter-gatherers who made their living off the animals and plants in the region's savannahs and wooded grasslands, researchers said. The study pinpointed the rainfall patterns in the Sahara during the 6,000-year "Green Sahara" period by analysing marine sediments. "It was 10 times as wet as today," said lead author Jessica Tierney of the University of Arizona (UA). Annual rainfall in the Sahara now ranges from about four inches to less than one inch. Although other research had already identified the existence of the Green Sahara period, Tierney and her colleagues are the first to compile a continuous record of the region's rainfall going 25,000 years into the past. Archaeological evidence shows humans occupied much of the Sahara during the wet period, but left for about a thousand years around 8,000 years ago - the middle of the Green Sahara period. Other researchers have suggested the Sahara became drier at the time people left, but the evidence was not conclusive, said Tierney, a UA associate professor of geosciences. Her team's continuous rainfall record shows a thousand-year period about 8,000 years ago when the Sahara became drier. That drier period coincides with when people left, she said. "It looks like this thousand-year dry period caused people to leave," Tierney said. "What's interesting is the people who came back after the dry period were different - most raised cattle. That dry period separates two different cultures. Our record provides a climate context for this change in occupation and lifestyle in the western Sahara," he said. Researchers used their rainfall record to suggest ways current climate models can better replicate the Sahara's ancient climate and therefore improve climate projections. They had long known the Sahara was much greener in the past, but how much of the Sahara was wetter and how much wetter was not well understood, Tierney said. Although scientists can learn about past climate by examining ancient lake sediments, in the Sahara the lakes dried up long ago and their sediments have blown away. Instead of lake sediments, researchers used cores of marine sediments taken off the coast of West Africa at four different sites. As the cores were taken over a north-south distance of about 1,300 km - from offshore Cape Ghir, Morocco, to the northwest of Mauritania - the cores revealed both the ancient rainfall patterns and the areal extent of the Green Sahara. The research was published in the journal Science Advances. The strike happened while humanitarian workers were distributing food in Rann, where some 20,000 to 40,000 people had sought refuge. Relief volunteers are believed to be among the more than 100 dead after a Nigerian Air Force jet fighter mistakenly bombed the refugee camp, while on a mission against Boko Haram extremists. (Photo: AP) Kano: As many as 236 people may have been killed in the botched Nigerian air strike against Boko Haram that hit a camp for civilians displaced by the unrest, a local official told AFP on Saturday. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Friday had said the death toll from Tuesday's strike on the town of Rann in the far northeast had risen to 90, although it claimed that could climb as high as 170. But Babagana Malarima, president of the local Kala-Balge government in Borno State where the strike took place, claimed the death toll is much higher. "From what the people who buried the dead victims with their hands told me, not those who treated the wounded, they buried 234 dead," said Malarima on Saturday. "And I later got a report that two of the injured taken to Maiduguri died," he added. The bombed camp had been set up to help people fleeing Boko Haram Islamists in Borno State. Nigeria's air force said it was investigating the incident but military commanders had already claimed it to be a mistake. "Our people are really traumatised that a fighter jet belonging to their country can make this mistake and kill them the way it did in their own country," fumed Malarima. "Lives and property have been lost. It is not enough to just bury the dead and pray for their souls. Their families should be supported as is done in other countries. They should not be forgotten, he rued. "The death toll is colossal. We are in grief." Tuesday's strike happened while humanitarian workers were distributing food in Rann, a small town close to the Cameroon border where some 20,000 to 40,000 people had sought refuge. MSF said most of the victims were women and children. At least six Red Cross volunteers were amongst the dead with another 13 injured. Rann only recently became accessible to aid agencies because of improved security. But on Friday night, security forces said Boko Haram launched an attack on Rann that was repulsed, leaving at least 14 militants dead. Nigeria's chief of army staff Lieutenant-General Tukur Buraitai said yesterday while visiting Rann that Thursday's attack showed the military were acting on credible intel. "This incident happened in the midst of a civilian population and it was based on intelligence received that Boko Haram had moved into the area," said Buraitai. "The air force was briefed and they came and the incident happened. "And yesterday we received a report that Boko Haram were back. Soldiers repelled them." Buraitai added: "This shows that there is credibility in the intelligence report we received that these people (Boko Haram) are moving into Kala-Balge area. "A mistake was made. We pray it doesn't happen again." At least 20,000 have been killed and more than 2.6 million made homeless since Boko Haram Islamists' insurgency began in 2009. Speaking to CIA officers in front of the memorial for fallen CIA agents, Trump appeared more focused on settling scores with the media. Washington: Former CIA Director John Brennan says President Donald Trump "should be ashamed of himself" for his behaviour at CIA headquarters. That's according to a statement released by Brennan's former aide Nick Shapiro. The statement says Brennan "is deeply saddened and angered at Donald Trump's despicable display of self-aggrandizement in front of CIA's Memorial Wall of Agency heroes. Brennan says that Trump should be ashamed of himself." Speaking to CIA officers while standing in front of the memorial for fallen CIA agents, Trump appeared more focused on settling scores with the media. He berated journalists over the coverage of his inauguration and wrongly claimed that the crowd was much bigger than the media reported. On his second day of assuming office, President Trump told The Washington Post, ""I have a running war with the media." "They are among the most dishonest human beings on Earth, right?" China and the US will not start a trade war as President Donald Trump is an open-minded person who needs more time, Ma said. Beijing: Ruling out the much-talked about US-China trade war under the Trump presidency, founder of China's e-commerce giant Alibaba Jack Ma said the poor plight of American economy was due to the costly wars waged by Washington and has nothing to do with trade ties with Beijing. China and the US will not start a trade war as President Donald Trump is an open-minded person who needs more time, Ma said. Ma, who has met Trump promising to create a million jobs in the US and market a million American products, said it is wrong to ascribe America's economic problems to China. It is the US that is responsible for its sluggish economy, given that $14 trillion was wasted on waging war over the past 30 years rather than investing in infrastructure. China did not steal American jobs, Ma said, adding that the loss of jobs is a strategic mistake on the part of the US, state-run People's Daily reported on Sunday. The US adopted a strategy to control intellectual property rights and select brands three decades ago, leaving lower-level works to the rest of the world, Ma said. Besides, multi-national American enterprises like Microsoft and IBM have created hundreds of millions in profits through globalisation. This large sum could have been invested in infrastructure and employment, but was instead put towards 13 wars, he said. The US simply failed to allot the funds reasonably, Ma said adding his meeting with Trump was much more productive than expected the discussions mainly focused on the issues of SOEs and China-US trade, especially American enterprises selling in Asia through Alibaba's platform, which will provide about one million jobs for Americans in various ways. It is easy to wage a trade war, but hard to end the war - perhaps even impossible. If trade stops, the war will start, Ma predicted noting that trade enables people to exchange both culture and business ideas, while also acting as a deterrent for war. Sino-US trade volume grew from $ 2.5 billion in 1979 to $ 519.6 billion dollars in 2016, surging by 211 times within 38 years. The trade balance however tilted heavily in favour of China as it exports over $400 billion worth of goods to US. Amid talks of trade war between the top two economies of the world, China questioned the US ruling to levy heavy duties on several Chinese products days before Trump took over. Turkey is especially concerned about the possible disintegration of war-torn neighbors Iraq and Syria. Istanbul: Turkey's president says he is interested in hearing US President Donald Trump's policies on the Middle East. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters before departing on an African tour on Sunday that Turkey wants a Mideast where countries' territorial integrity is upheld and the region is not "shattered." Turkey is especially concerned about the possible disintegration of war-torn neighbors Iraq and Syria. Erdogan says efforts are underway to set a date for a possible meeting between him and Trump. He says he would bring up the situation in the Middle East during their first meeting. Erdogan says that as the "most powerful" country in the region as well as an "arbiter," Turkey is most concerned with how the new president will affect U.S. Middle East policy. May was not PM at the time, but she took office shortly before the vote and appealed to lawmakers to approve the $50.7 billion project. London: The British government was accused today of covering up a failed test of its nuclear weapons deterrent in 2016, just weeks before lawmakers voted to renew the system. Prime Minister Theresa May refused to say whether she knew about the reported malfunction of an unarmed missile when she urged MPs to support updating the Trident nuclear system. The Sunday Times newspaper, citing a senior naval source, claimed that the Trident II D5 missile failed after being launched from a British submarine off the coast of Florida in June. The cause of the failure is top secret but the source suggested the missile may have veered off in the wrong direction towards the United States. "There was a major panic at the highest level of government and the military after the first test of our nuclear deterrent in four years ended in disastrous failure," the source told the paper. "Ultimately Downing Street decided to cover up the failed test. If the information was made public, they knew how damaging it would be to the credibility of our nuclear deterrent." The malfunction came just weeks before the House of Commons was asked on July 18 to approve the replacement of the ageing submarines that carry Britain's nuclear arsenal. May was not prime minister at the time of the test, but she took office shortly before the vote and successfully appealed to lawmakers to approve the $50.7 billion project. In a BBC interview on Sunday, she sidestepped questions about whether she knew about the malfunction when she made her statement to MPs. "What we were talking about is whether or not we should renew Trident," she said. "I have absolute faith in our Trident missiles," she continued, adding that tests take place "regularly". Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, a longstanding opponent of nuclear weapons, said it was a "pretty catastrophic error" for a missile to go in the wrong direction. A government spokesman confirmed the Royal Navy conducted a routine test launch of an unarmed missile last June from HMS Vengeance, one of Britain's four nuclear-armed submarines. It was "part of an operation which is designed to certify the submarine and its crew", he said. "Vengeance and her crew were successfully tested and certified, allowing Vengeance to return into service. We have absolute confidence in our independent nuclear deterrent," he said. Britain is one of only three nuclear-armed NATO nations, along with the United States and France. At the Angelus Pope Francis speaks of how early Christians preached Gospel in a "geographically peripheral and religiously impure land", and that from there the light on which we have reflected over the past few Sundays spread: the light of Christ." "The joy of proclaiming and witnessing to our faith. Wishes that during the New Year of the Rooster, the families of the Far East "increasingly become a school of respect for each other". Closeness to earthquake victims in central Italy. Prayers for victims and rescuers. Vespers in St. Paul Outside the Walls together with representatives of other Christian confessions. Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "All the areas of human life are the soil on which to cast the Gospel seeds, so they may bear the fruit of salvation" concluded Pope Francis reflection on the Sunday Gospel today (3rd for year A, Matthew 4; 12-23) together with the pilgrims gathered in St Peter's square to pray the Angelus. After the Marian prayer, the pontiff also wished a happy New Year to "millions of men and women" in the Far East who "are preparing to celebrate the Lunar New Year on January 28". Commenting on the Gospel, Francis focused on the place where Jesus' preaching mission began: the "Galilee of the Gentiles. "Jerusalem, its capital, - he said saw that land as geographically peripheral and religiously impure, for mixing with those who did not belong to Israel. Certainly, great things for the history of salvation were not expected to come from Galilee. And yet it was from there that the light on which we have reflected over the past few Sundays spread: the light of Christ. He then pointed out the difference between the method of the Baptist and that of Jesus: "What differentiates from Jesus John the Baptist is the style and method. Jesus chooses to be a traveling prophet. He does not wait for the people, but he goes out to meet them. " Recalling the call of the first disciples (the brothers, Peter and Andrew, James and John) and their prompt response, he concluded: "We, Christians of today, we have the joy of proclaiming and witnessing to our faith because of that first proclamation, because of those humble and courageous men who responded generously to the call of Jesus. On the banks of the lake, in an unthinkable land, the first community of disciples of Christ was born. May awareness of these beginnings will inspire in us a desire to bring the word, love and tenderness of Jesus to all contexts, even the most impervious and resistant. All areas of human life are the soil on which to cast the seeds of the Gospel, so they may bear the fruit of salvation". After the Angelus, Francis began by noting that as per tradition, on January 25 he will travel of the basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls for the celebration of vespers together with representatives of other Christian confessions to end the Week of Christian Unity. This years theme is "an expression, taken from St. Paul, who shows us the path to follow: 'The love of Christ impels us to reconciliation' (cf. 2 Cor 5:14). Next Wednesday will conclude the Week of Prayer with the celebration of Vespers in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, with the participation of the brothers and sisters of other Churches and Christian communities present in Rome. I invite you to persevere in prayer, so as to fulfill the desire of Jesus: "That all may be one" (Jn 17:21) ". He then expressed his closeness to the people of Abruzzo, Marche and Lazio hit in recent days by new tremors and heavy snowfalls that have killed more people and hampered rescues. "I am close - said the Pope in prayer and affection to families with loved ones who are victims. I encourage all those engaged generously in the relief and assistance efforts; as well as the local Churches, who are working to alleviate the suffering and difficulties. Thank you so much for your closeness, for your work and concrete help. And I invite you to pray to the Virgin for the victims and for those who are working in any kind of distress: Hail Mary ... ". A few days before the start of the Year of the Rooster (according to the lunar calendar used by China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, etc ...), Francis expressed his best wishes, saying: "In the Far East and in various parts of world, millions of men and women are preparing to celebrate the lunar New Year on January 28. My cordial greeting to all their families, with the hope that they increasingly become a school where of respect for each other, to communicate and to care for each other unselfishly. May the joy of love spread within families and radiate throughout society". Learning Path: Get 3 books in one! Learn how to create computer vision applications from scratch to finish. Buy on Amazon Buy on PacktPub (save 49%!) Lisa Ann Fleshlight Review We Reviewed The Lisa Ann Fleshlight To See If It's Really Worth Your Money The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service. Buying a new sex toy is like buying a car; everybody wants the easy option, but thats not always the best bet. You could put a little bit of money into an old clunker and wait for it to break down on you in the middle of North Dakota or you could invest a little more money into something thatll get you where you want to go in style, comfort, and safety. In terms of male masturbation toys, Fleshlights are the BMWs of strokers. They consistently boast a particular quality and uniform style that put them in a spot high above your typical male sex toys. The Fleshlight, like the BMW, has a ton of variety to ensure you dont get bored driving the same thing over and over. Thats why we love the fact that Fleshlight has a huge selection of sleeves moulded from the likes of real life adult actresses and cam models. One of the best weve ever tried is the Lisa Ann Fleshlight. Who is Lisa Ann? Well, she's been in the porn scene since the mid-nineties and had a second coming (pun intended) playing Sarah Palin in the Hustler video, Who's Nailin' Paylin? Before ultimately quitting porn in 2014, Lisa Ann collaborated with Fleshlight to release five sleeves that represent her finest assets. Because someones gotta do it, we decided a review is in order and spent the day testing out the Lisa Ann Fleshlight for quality control, of course. Who Its For Like many of the Fleshlight Girls products, Lisa Anns sleeve is for diehard Lisa Ann fans. That isnt to say that those who dont appreciate her work wont like the sturdy grip of her Barracuda sleeve. The sensation this thing gives is an unparalleled amount of pleasure you would have trouble finding with a cheaper masturbation toy. Allow the description on the site say to explain it in a eloquent and sexy manner: The Barracuda texture is a gripping battery of unmatched pleasure. As you enter the sleeve, you will start with a subtle resistance of front facing bristles. A thick passageway then follows into a massaging grip-like feel as you are rubbed and tugged to relief. RELATED: Does The Fleshlight Ice Deserve A (Large) Spot In Your Sex Toy Repertoire? Youre getting all this and more with the Lisa Ann sleeve. If you want to stray from the norm, we wholeheartedly endorse the Forbidden butt sleeve. A ridiculous tightness grips your member and almost gives you the impression youre inside the real Lisa Ann. The Lisa Ann sleeves are for dudes who crave pleasure and wants to get as close to the real thing as possible. No, youre not getting a real person, but youre not far off. Why We Love It The Lisa Ann model is a fun twist on the classic Fleshlight. Here are some of the specs: Over nine inches of insertable space, which is especially useful for the more endowed guys. Five sleeves that give you a variety of textures and tightness: Barracuda, Lotus, Mini Lotus, Forbidden, and Swallow. Fully compatible with Fleshlight accessories: Launchpad, Phonestrap, Shower mount, and Sleeve warmer Lisa Anns line offers a MILF Madness pack, VStroker attachment, and Kiiroo Onyx. What They're Saying The wrapping and pointed massage effect of the thin and long-stemmed bumps of the Barracuda insert creates a pleasurable sensation and is accompanied by an above-average strong suction effect. Thanks to the differently aligned bump textures and the constriction between the chambers, the stimulation is strikingly more varied compared to the Vibro Touch insert and provides a completely new world of stimulation, which will excite beginners as well as experienced Fleshlight users. Fleshking.net Overall, the Barracuda is a great ride. The intensity of the bristles starts off low and builds rapidly into a sensation coming close to that of the Destroya. I felt very well stimulated after each of my FLights. My orgasm was really fantastic and the texture produced excellent pleasure. If you like intensity, then I would recommend the Barracuda. If you like a smoother ride, then skip this sleeve. The Barracuda makes a fine higher end sleeve that builds in intensity the closer you get to orgasm and delivers a great finish. Forums.Fleshlight.com Ive used the Lisa Ann Fleshlight a number of times since and it feels better with every go. The orgasms get better with every use. I have noticed with this Fleshlight that if I use less lube than I usually do it gives a much more realistic and sensitive sensation. I would definitely recommend the Lisa Ann Fleshlight to fans of her films and even if youve never seen any of her films before I would suggest you definitely give this Fleshlight a try. Fleshlightreviews.co.uk Now, for those of you who have shared this experience with an actual woman, youll know that feeling is actually pretty similar. Extremely tight and then it opens up allowing you to drive a little bit deeper and faster. I have to give props to this product for doing a hell of a job of giving me that feeling here. MarketofPleasure.com We actually only have one genuine complaint with the Fleshlight products; the material used to make the sleeves is porous. This material is advertised as being phthalate-free, which is great news, but unfortunately it is very difficult to clean thoroughly. Drying the canal is even harder, as it is difficult to air out the inside of the canal. Unfortunately, this often results in the sleeve developing an off-putting, fusty smell. This has happened with all our Fleshlight sleeves and that scent will linger on your junk after every session. Not nice at all. TheGrittyWoman.com The Drawbacks Like some of the reviews suggest, the texture of the inside of the Fleshlight makes it extremely hard to clean and dry properly. Extra precautions should be taken to ensure it doesnt get moldybut that just involves turning it inside out, washing properly, and coating with corn starch. Other drawbacks are your run-of-the-mill problems Fleshlight fans typically encounter with sleeves. The Lisa Ann Barracuda is pretty big, thus quite difficult to have discreetly shipped to your home and just as difficult to hide in your sock drawer. Also, like the Asa Akira sleeve, the Lisa Ann Fleshlight is hardly innovative. It feels great, it looks amazing, but its nothing new in terms of Fleshlights products. That being said, its still definitely worth investing the $79.95. Like we said, this is a male masturbation toy that wont fall apart like that old clunker car you get off the internet. This is a sturdy, legit sex toy thats going to last a long time pending you take care of it. Where To Buy It You can grab the Lisa Ann Fleshlight on Fleshlight.com for $79.95. Meet The Competition Katie Morgan Cyberskin Stroker - $39.95 CyberSkin Cyber Sex Buddy - $47.95 Sasha Greys Vibrating Pussy & Ass - $84.95 Annabel Realistic Vagina and Anus - $31.79 Eden Hands Free Vibrating Masturbator - $62.99 AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service. To find out more, please read our complete terms of use. Focusing on a niche practice area is becoming even more important according to a new report from a legal profession recruitment firm.Harrison Barnes from US-based BCG Attorney Search says that the rise in niche practice areas is one of the largest shifts in the lateral attorney market in history. He goes on to say that when law firms are hiring, they are less concerned about the firm a lawyer is from, or the law school they attended; the focus is on their niche skills.Barnes says that firms in niche practice areas are currently experiencing the steady, recurring work that is necessary to the success of a lawyer. He says that the growth in niche areas will continue during 2017.The report also sounds an optimistic tone for legal recruitment which, in the US at least, saw more interviews and placements in the last three months of the year than we have in the last three months of any year since 2006.A team from Herbert Smith Freehills has advised AGL Energy Limited on a deal to supply electricity to the Portland Smelter Joint Venture Participants (Alcoa) aluminium smelter in Portland, Victoria.The four-year agreement will deliver the equivalent of 10 per cent of Victorias total electricity load and was needed to ensure the future of the smelter.HSF partner Gerard Pike was supported by executive counsel Peter Davis and senior associates Miles Wadley and Brodie Same.The president of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association says that the UK leaving the European Union creates new opportunity for lawyers across the Commonwealth.South Australia lawyer Alexander Ward told the Irish Legal Times that Brexit shouldnt have a significant impact on the administration of law but that there will be some complicated legal challenges.As ever, the Commonwealth countries are happy to assist to fill any gaps left by the departure from the European Union, Mr Ward said. Though Singapores newly enacted law that allows for third-party litigation funding is expected to boost the countrys profile as a global disputes resolution hub, the development does not necessarily hurt Australias own market, a top lawyer said. Earlier this month, Singapores Parliament passed amendments to the countrys Civil Law Act, allowing third-party litigation funding in international arbitration and related procedures in the jurisdiction. The new laws make it clear that litigation funding is permissible, which gives certainty to funders that they can operate in Singapore. This allows parties with meritorious cases, but not the financial resources, to enforce their legal rights when they were previously not able to do so, Wei Chern Tham, director at Duane Morris & Selvam in Singapore, told Australasian Lawyer. These are exciting developments for the legal industry in Singapore, and are a significant step in developing Singapore as a jurisdiction of choice for international commercial arbitrations, he said. The new developments are seen to help Singapore cement its place as an international disputes resolution centre and will likely increase caseload in the country in the coming years, Tham said. I think Singapores dispute resolution space is going to be a lot more vibrant with these developments. We will probably initially see more parties willing to bring international commercial arbitrations in Singapore, he said. Tham also sees more law firms and litigation funders setting up offices in Singapore in anticipation of the increase in international commercial arbitration. The broad legal amendments are expected to be followed by more precise regulatory laws currently in draft. The government has also hinted at expanding third-party litigation funding from international arbitration. Indranee Rajah, the countrys senior minister of state for law, told The Strait Times that if the framework works wellthe prescribed categories of proceedings may be expanded. But Singapores new laws will not necessarily hurt Australias market, Tham said. Singapore is among the few jurisdictions that currently expressly allow litigation funding, and as such, the new laws put it in a more competitive position vis-a-vis other jurisdictions, he said. While there may be some disputes that will come to Singapore that might previously have been arbitrated in other jurisdictions, my view is that it is not a zero-sum game, and in the long run, the changes will expand the market for everyone, he added. Duane Morris & Selvam is a joint law venture between American BigLaw Duane Morris and Singapore-headquartered firm Selvam. Related stories: India as newest international arbitration hub? Perth eyed as mining disputes arbitration hub By Greg Austin, Professor, Australian Centre for Cyber Security, UNSW Shutterstock The Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee over the past two years might seem like a very American news story, inseparable from the lead characters of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, and hyped as only the polarised media of that country can do it. But when we look more deeply, we see a very threatening reality that concerns all governments, liberal democratic or authoritarian. Australia should take note. The UK parliament is already alert to the danger. On January 9, 2017, the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy launched an inquiry into the countrys cyber security. While the terms of reference do not call out political hacking as one of the threats, this subject was the main focus of the committee chair, former Home Secretary Margaret Beckett, when announcing the inquiry: Attention has recently focused on the potential exploitation of the cyber domain by other states and associated actors for political purposes, but this is just one source of threat that the government must address through its recently launched five-year strategy. We can only understand the full significance of the Russian hacking by reference to the escalating cyber battles between it and the United States. These began at least as early as 2000, when Vladimir Putin became president. This is described in some detail in a seminar I gave last week at UNSW Canberra. The cyber campaign got very personal for Putin in January 2016 when a US Treasury official publicly accused him of corruption on a grand scale. This put Putin on notice that his personal political future was in the hands of Western intelligence agencies, which were signalling that they had gained access, including by cyber espionage, to secret information on his offshore accounts. The more general lesson from the Russian hacking and covert cyber influencing campaign in the US election campaign is how the practice threatens political legitimacy everywhere. This weapon is also a double-edged sword, and will come back to haunt those who use it. This warning applies to both Putin and Trump, in spite of their current appearance of being beneficiaries. As I argued in January last year, we should expect that Trumps phone records, email messages, financial transactions, home video selections, internet browsing history will be scrutinised by cyber insurgents. The threat to Australia Australian political and business leaders have been facing this threat of cyber surveillance for political purposes from foreign governments for at least 20 years. It is notable, curious even, that there have been no documented instances of such campaigns against Australian leaders. The governments with the capability and will to conduct such campaigns against our leaders include allies and potential adversaries. Historically, major governments have used such tactics against foreign leaders only sparingly and with extreme caution. That restraint began to evaporate more recently, as the Russia-US case shows. As another example, just two days after the US government released the report on Russians covert cyber campaign, Israels ambassador to the UK was forced to apologise for video comments by one of his staff plotting to take down Foreign Office Minister Alan Duncan and chatting about which other ministers should be on the take-down list. Israel is, of course, not alone in this kind of activity. As mentioned above, this is a tool of policy long used by any government with the wit and talent to do it, and cyber technologies play a central part in it. No Yahoos It is in this context that we need to understand the significance of the 2013 leak of 1 billion personal records of Yahoo email users, including Australian politicians, and up to 3,000 government-related accounts. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is right to have ordered an inquiry into its impact on this country. It is almost certain that much or or all of this material has been in the hands of one or more foreign intelligence agencies since 2013. Yahoo had, in fact, been providing some of its customer content directly to US intelligence before the leak. The question for the Australian government is whether its inquiry might be top-down rather than bottom-up. The latter approach would involve a look at the 3,000 separate government-related accounts, and then at the exponentially larger number of political correspondents with those account holders. A more strategic top-down approach might be to ask which Australian political figures have suffered the most spectacular falls from grace in the past couple of years? Could foreign-sourced cyber-espionage have played a part? Would any one of them have been so aligned with a foreign policy cause to attract the ire of a foreign government that might want to take them out? Leaving aside that somewhat hypothetical, but not irrelevant, proposition, Australia would definitely benefit from following the lead of the UKs Margaret Beckett. Alongside an investigation of the impact of the Yahoo leak, we probably should study our capability to monitor covert cyber-based influencing campaigns against our political and business leaders, especially those who use relatively vulnerable off-the-shelf ICT systems. Greg Austin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above. Originally published in The Conversation. Thank you so much for the reply @LISA WULFSOHN, also im wondering what documents should i attach to the question about; - Character evidence? (is this NBI and POLICE clearance?) - Family composition? - Couple are living together? (we're not living together yet, cause we get married 2016 June and he have to go back to AUS to continue his work) - Financial aspect? (since that were not living together yet we not renting a house, paying electricity bills or phone bills, the only thing i got is our wedding receipts and his ATM card with thats were he use to send me money) - Length of the De-facto relationship? (Do i need to answer and attach something there? and what kind of evidence?) Please help i really dont know what kind of evidence i need.. Thank you sooo very much really appreciate your help.. God bless! Hi guys! I'm an American who's been living in Sydney for about 7 months now. Looking to meet new people and have discussions with entrepreneurs. I look forward to speaking with you! I did lodged a TV445 dependant child visa for my kids with my ex-partner as their sponsor as allow under the migration act. I am a holder of a 820. The original application was submitted in December 2014 but I made an error in the payment amount and was only able to complete the final payment in April 2015. While the process was ongoing my partner withdrew her sponsorship for my partner visa application in February 2016. I was permitted to continue the sponsorship for my kids as a holder of a 820 visa. I recently received an email from DIBP stating that my application for TV445 is not valid as my partner withdrew her sponsorship in support of my partner visa before the final payment was made on the TV445. Does any one have any advice. If I withdraw the 445 application I will lose over $7000 which I have paid for 3 kids. Perth Reviews The Wine Bluffs | Damian Callinan & Paul Calleja As an admirer of Damien Callinans solo shows seen in Fringe World previously (The Merger & The World War 1 Diaries) I was somewhat concerned this show might descend into an overblown comic pastiche of wine connoisseurs getting further and further blotto and untidy. My fears were unfounded and what the audience thoroughly enjoyed was a tightly scripted venture into wine education cleverly blended with lots of Australian/ New Zealand competitive digs. There were unfortunate stories of the pairs expelling from the elitist clubs of international wine writers and critics. Good to know, however that they were still hugely popular in Bulgaria. Having just returned from a Wine Judging at the Rockhampton Show, also combined with a Monster Truck Display, Callinan and Calleja moved onto their own vintage venture, Out Back Wines based in the Northern Territory. A challenging venture not only because of the climate but of the feebleness of the German backpacker grape pickers who succumbed to heatstroke with pathetic regularity. An interesting marketing move was the naming of certain vintages after Australian celebrities. The Malcolm Turnbull Shiraz; a vintage that promised so much and just disappeared into the ether, The Rolf Harris; a very mature wine but still young to the touch. Surprisingly None of these name vintages were well received by the market. Callinan worked the room with humour and gentle charm assessing audience members on a chart ranging from sober to Kwinana. They had drawn in Armadale at the far end of Willetton but it kept dropping off the scale! We were then asked to stand for a wine elimination content (a la Heads & Tails at a Quiz nights). The searing questions soon thinned the ranks!. 1. All New Zealand sav blanc lovers sit down. 2. Who has designated red and white wine glasses? Sit down. 3. Who has never decanted a wine? Sit down. 4. Who has a designated wine storage area? No, sit down. 5. Is it a cellar? Or the linen cupboard? Sit down. The 2 winners both had wine cellars and one an additional wine storage rental! Calleja performed a totally tongue in cheque routine where he matched wines nominated by audience members to their ideal food. Think reisling and banana saddle pop or merlot paired with chicko rolls (fried of course). The finale was an amazing audience member, Cassie, invited onstage for the ultimate wine tasting test. She passed with flying colours participating in wine glass holding, wine swirling skills, nosegay appeal (try to put you whole face in the glass) and holding the wine in your mouth and letting your whole body respond to the wine and the accompanying music. Cant get enough of your love baby seemed enough to move all 3 to ecstatic writhing. Deservedly she won a wine tasting ribbonette. Her chosen tipple Oyster Bay. Hooray! What a great show! There were heaps of more jokes and comic asides than I could possibly mention here. Enormous fun at every turn. 2017 Perth Fringe World Festival The Wine Bluffs Damian Callinan & Paul Calleja Venue: Noodle Palace | 19 Francis St, Northbridge WA Dates: 20 Jan 4 Feb 2017 Tickets: $24 $31 Bookings: fringeworld.com.au PHEV Introducing the Transit Plug-In Hybrid, an experimental vehicle that was designed to help improve the air quality in London. According to Ford, the Transitis but a stepping stone in the manufacturers plan to launch not one, not two, but 13 new electrified models in the next five years.This exciting project in London shows how innovative technology can help improve the prosperity and quality of life in our congested cities, explains Jim Farley, chairman and chief executive officer of Ford of Europe . Ford is the top-selling commercial vehicle brand in Europe, so its fitting that this Transit Plug-In Hybrid is leading the electric vehicle revolution for business users.Speaking of which, the Transit PHEV will go online this fall as part of a fleet for select London businesses. The trial is expected to span over 12 months and consist of 20 hybridized Transit Custom vans. The project, Ford says, is supported financially by the UK governments Advanced Propulsion Centre. If you want a more specific number, make that 4.7 million. As for the vans, theyre designed and engineered at the companys Dunton technical center and the Prodrive Advanced Technology complex in Banbury. Revolve Technologies also offered support for Fords ambitious program.In related news, its worth remembering that Ford is committed to electrifying its most iconic model: the Mustang. As per Raj Nair, the 2020 Ford Mustang Hybrid will match electric motors with an EcoBoost-type engine for V8-like performance. The F-150 Hybrid is looming on the horizon too, packing an 110-volt mobile generator . A fully-electric small sport utility vehicle is also confirmed for 2020, with an estimated range of 300 miles or thereabout.Toward building the future, Ford has also taken to put the Transit Custom Plug-In Hybrid into mass production in 2019. Beyond that, two pursuit-rated hybrid police vehicles are in the offing, as is an autonomous vehicle. Sony released the PlayStation VR two months ago but no one talks about it anymore. What happened to the PS4 VR? The Japanese gaming company first released their PlayStation VR in October 2016. It was the first ever console-based virtual reality headset in the market. There was so much hype when the Japanese tech conglomerate first announced its VR system. Everyone was so excited to finally get their hands on it and experience virtual reality. The company was quick to deliver and tried to release it as soon as possible. The PlayStation Launch VR bundle sells for $499.99. It comes with a PS VR system, headset and cable, Move controllers, and a PlayStation camera. The PSVR package comes with only the system, headset, and cables and sells for $399. They are currently sold out everywhere. Reports reveal that the packages will restock next month. While the virtual reality gaming system is out of stock everywhere, Sony has reportedly only sold 750,000 units. This is almost only 25% of the original projection of 2.6 million sales in 2016. No one seems to know what happened to all the other consoles and why they are out of stock everywhere. Sony has been very silent about this. They constantly brag about how the PS4 and PS4 Pro have amassed over 50 million sales worldwide. But they remain very silent about their PlayStation VR. Sony's Kaz Hirai just vaguely commented on the issue: "One of the reasons we're not talking about the numbers so much is because we don't want the numbers to take a life of their own." Going into 2017, the PS VR is off to a very slow start. It's stated to be out of stock everywhere but there also seems to be no buzz about rushing to buy one. This could also be due to the lack of games available. Star Wars: Battlefront, Batman: Arkham VR, and Until Dawn: Rush of Blood are already available, among others. Two new games are launching soon: Resident Evil on Jan. 24 and Star Trek Bridge Crew on Mar. 14. But again, they don't seem to be drawing that much excitement. There just aren't enough games available at present. One report claims that the Sony PlayStation VR is doomed heading into 2017. Perhaps the Japanese tech company's virtual reality has not yet caught mainstream attention. Only a few niche groups seem to show much interest in the PS VR. Officially, Sony remains silent on the subject so it is best to wait for their official statement. However, it is a fact that there are not enough PS VR stock and not enough games to draw much hype at the moment. Hopefully, they PlayStation VR will restock next month and more games will be released. The production record of Toyota Motors Corporation North American car factories has risen to 2.1 million vehicles last year. This represents an increase of 4.4 percent production from the same group last year which reached 2 million vehicles. Left Lane News reported that Toyota factories located in the United States contributed the most number of cars, having produced 1.3 million vehicles from their assembly lines in Indiana, Kentucky, Texas and Mississippi. The Indiana Subaru plant contributed 36,000 vehicles to the Toyota car production. The plant in Canada, which produces the RAV 4 and Corolla among others, contributed more than 600,000 vehicles to the tally. Toyota's production in its plant operations in Mexico contributed 97,000 Tacoma pickups from the assembly plant in Baja, California. Another 43,000 Toyota Yaris cars were produced by a Mazda factory. There have been some complications in the company's plan to build a factory in Mexico with a capacity to make 200,000 vehicles per year. Veiled threats from new president Donald Trump have not hindered the company from pursuing its production plans to start in 2019 and produce 2020 Toyota Corollas in Mexico. The Toyota Motor Corporation factories in North America have something else to celebrate besides the high production numbers. The plants in Kentucky, Cambridge, Georgetown and Ontario are celebrating their 30th year in existence while the Toyota plants in West Virginia, Princetown, Buffalo and Indiana have now been operating for 20 years. The Toyota plants in North America are a substantial part of the worldwide Toyota car manufacturing operations with plants located in 18 other countries. Among countries that have Toyota manufacturing facilities, Japan has the biggest number with 16 plants. Toyota has recently maintained its no. 1 spot as the largest selling car manufacturing company in the world, beating Volkswagen and General Motors in the process. With worldwide sales of 10.15 million vehicles per year, Toyota Motors Corporation needs the production output of the North American plants to meet the strong demand. Tesla takes a sigh of relief after the federal auto-safety regulators said that the company's Autopilot enabled cars need not be recalled. The investigation started after a fatal crash involving a Tesla Motors car operating in a computer-assisted mode. Tesla always had high words for its technological superiority and the ability of the vehicles to prevent accidents. After the crash on May 7, 2016, the company was under pressure to prove itself right. The propaganda of the company toward autonomous vehicles seemed to have taken a side stand after the incident. The system was first introduced in October 2015 by Tesla. This autopilot uses radar and cameras to scan the road for obstacles and other vehicles. The system can brake, accelerate and even pass other vehicles automatically. The system was so advanced that it can track lines on highways to stay within lanes, reported NY Times. "Not all systems can do all things," said Bryan Thomas, a spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "There are driving scenarios that automatic emergency braking systems are not designed to address." Though the company was cleared of any charges and did not require to take back the vehicles, the regulators warned that these kinds of technologies cannot be left to function on its own completely. The advanced driver-assistance systems are not reliable completely. A technology like Tesla's can react properly in only in certain situations that arise on roadways. The investigation that Tesla underwent is a sign for the automakers to brace themselves while creating technologies where people expect 100 percent safety. This is a litmus test on how regulators would handle automated driving systems. In the worst case scenario, Tesla might have had to shelf its Autopilot technology, reported Bloomberg. The lawmakers also warned the companies that they need to be clear about how the systems should be used. This is because, after Tesla ventured, most companies are now pursuing similar technology. Mercedes's advanced driver-assistance system is now featured in the new 2017 E-Class sedan. General Motors and Audi are also catching up on the technology. When Honda introduced the Ridgeline, everyone was left in awe with its unibody design. The Ridgeline comes back with a 2017 model that aims to build on what made the previous model did right and to correct whatever it had didn't. The 2017 Honda Ridgeline All-Wheel Drive. The new Ridgeline is more like the Pilot SUV but with an open bed and a stretched-out, more stable wheelbase for when loaded. As expected, it rides more smoothly and more comfortably than traditional pickup trucks. The new Ridgeline runs on a 3.5-liter V-6 VTEC engine that can get from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 7.3 seconds. It does poorly in city driving with an EPA fuel economy rating of 18 miles per gallon. However, it does go 25 miles per gallon on the highway. Though modeled after the Pilot, it doesn't have its nine-speed automatic transmission. It instead has a much more reliable and responsive six-speed automatic transmission. The 2017 Ridgeline is around 1,500 pounds although this could vary depending on the trim level. It is able to tow 3,500 on a two-wheel drive and 5,000 on all-wheel drive. Unfortunately, its towing capacity falls short of its competitors such as the Tacoma and Colorado. Features of the new Ridgeline include a separate audio system in the bed liner with decent enough audio for speakers from Exciter. Along with the audio system in the bed liner is an enormous cargo space that looks like it could accommodate a two-person Jacuzzi. This comes with a handful of other features present in its competitors and a few unusual ones such as Hill Start Assist, Intelligent Traction Management, Trailer Stability Assist, and Agile Handling assist to name a few. The infotainment system on it is tedious to work as it lacks in responsiveness. Although it is smaller compared to others, the inside feels huge and comfortable. It has more than enough cubbies and cargo space one probably needs on a normal day. Though it still is a unibody truck, the frame of the new Ridgeline uses Advanced Compatibility Engineering body structure, a safety feature that distributes collision energy away from the passenger seats. Due to its small size, it is less prone to lean and wallow and feels generally safer with its smart cruise control systems and lane-keeping assist. The 2017 Honda Ridgeline's price is a topic for debate as some find it too much for its value compared to traditional pickups. The base model retails at US$42,270. It seems that President Donald Trump has been talking aloud about his views on the German car industry. The Germans have heard about his complaints and the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has reacted to his criticisms. RT reported that in an interview last Monday, Trump complained about Americans buying too many German cars while the Germans do not purchase U.S. cars. Trump also criticized the fact that automakers based in Germany are not producing enough cars in the U.S. He added that the U.S. would impose a 35 percent tax on imported cars under his administration. "That's not my vision of America, and I don't think it's his either," Schaeuble said in an interview with Spiegel Magazine. He mentioned that the United States is a signatory to some international agreements that President Trump wants to renege. He said that Germany will insist that the agreements will be followed. Sigmar Gabriel, Germany's Vice Chancellor and Economic Minister, also reacted to Trump' criticisms. He said that "the U.S. needs to build better cars." He also stressed that the statements made by Trump in the tweets or less formal forms of communication should not be construed as government policy. It is known that American companies provide more than 600,000 jobs in Germany, which is a major trading partner of the U.S. in Europe. German companies, on the other hand, employs about the same number of employees in the U.S. Minister Schaeuble reiterated that there are no sustainable benefits in Trump's protectionist policy. "Whoever wants growth - and I trust this administration will be a growth-friendly one - must be in favor of open markets. Protectionism can afford short-term advantages but is almost always damaging in the long term," he said in an interview with Wall Street Journal. Regarding President Trump's threat of imposing an import tariff on BMW cars from its Mexico plant, BMW announced that cars produced there are for the world market and not exclusively intended for the U.S. market. This is part of the reactions from Germany and its car industry to criticisms made by President Trump. A multinational conglomerate company Samsung has never failed its followers when it comes to new technology experience. Its Galaxy 7 was thought to be everything that a user can hope for from the list of established smartphones in the market. This technology giant has been competitive from its rivalry with Apple. People were also certain that the Galaxy S8 will be launch early this year Every phone model's exciting part is its features from design, system, and durability. There were rumors that the Galaxy S8 will not include a headphone jack to its body features. It is also claimed that Samsung will have a fingerprint scanner on the model that will be placed under the screen. This will obviously work when using the technology of pressure-sensitive display. This just means that the unit has the capability to identify a light or soft tap from a deep or long press. It was also claimed that the phone can be folded with the Korean company's recent patent. On a report, consumers can expect the Galaxy S8 to come out with an image of an edge style screen with a newly improved camera and a 4k display. Samsung's unit is also expected to be released in two models. The difference is from a 5.1 inches dual curved display and the other one with a size of 5.5 inches or even better from 5.7 inches and 6.2 inches sizes. It is also speculated to have a snapdragon 830 processor and 6GB of RAM. These theories have also been backed up by the images that leaked showing the unit's screen protectors and tempered glasses. Fans should be a little bit more patient to get their hands on this awesome one as according to some sources, the latest smartphone model will have an official announcement until the 15th of April. Summer of 2017 will surely become more exciting with this newest line-up. For the past week, weve been running a survey on what readers think about the just-announced BasicMed program from the FAA. Im gonna guess here, but maybe I shouldnt have dived into the data so soon because doing so caused me to have several revelations. One is what a largish crapshoot this whole thing is, the second is that many pilots are, how to put it, not impressed and the last is how much this entire thing will turn on how doctors many of us dont even know will react. Im just hoping whether intended or not, the FAA hasnt stuck a poison bill in this thing. First the survey. Ill get into a more detailed analysis of it next week, but for now, I was most interested in learning how confident readers are that their doctors will sign the FAAs checklistthe one that we havent even seen yet. As of Sunday, 1946 people had responded to the survey which is, as these things go, a lot of interest. This was the survey question on finding a doctor: In your opinion, how difficult will it be to find a non-AME doctor to complete and sign the required BasicMed checklist? Twenty eight percent said they thought it would be easy, 36 percent said it will be a little difficult, 14 percent said it would be impossible and another 14 percent had no opinion. You can interpret this as you will. The sunny day view would be that 63 percent of the respondents think it will be easy or just a little difficult to find a doc. The cynics view would be that half think it will be difficult to impossible to get a doc to sign. Reading the comments kind of tilted me toward the cynics view. Rather than being happy about this, many pilots are really quite angry about it, not seeing much benefit and predicting difficulty in getting other than AME doctors to go along. Personally, Im neutral on this because no one has seen the checklist. That led to revelation one: If that checklist is too detailed or demanding or gives the doctor the impression hes taking on more responsibility than he (or she) otherwise might, there will be pushback, in my view. How much of that we see could make or break the whole idea. Pilots live in a world of liability and lawsuits and, judging by the comments, they believe doctors do, too. Why would a doctor or medical group expose themselves to this kind of litigation? If one does, I expect it will not be for long, wrote one commenter. But to be fair, many respondents dont see a problem at all. I think my personal physician will be glad to do it, wrote commenter Joe G. Many respondents said they want to see the actual checklist before opining on this topic. I asked AOPA and EAA about this, and both said theyre providing information and guidance for docs and members to deal with the BasicMed checklist. EAA has a board of AMEs working up a new medical policy. Several people in the survey said docs should be given a hold-harmless or waiver agreement to encourage them to approve the checklist. A hold harmless document may or may not have any great standing, if you talk with attorneys about those. So those people who leap to that as a solution may be premature, says EAAs Dick Knapinksi. Perhaps. But that led to revelation two. Why would I depend on the alphabets to see this through? Guidance is appreciated, but ultimately, Im more inclined toward self help. While a waiver may or may not hold up in court, thats less the point than giving a reluctant doctor a way to sign the checklist. Its possible that it wont be the problem we think it could be and a waiver wont be necessary. On the other hand, it could just as easily go the other way. For what its worth, we sign these waivers all the time in skydiving and they almost universally withstand challenges. Regardless of how the checklist is viewed by the non-AME medical community, one thing is certain from the survey thus far: Readers view it is one massive and irritating charade. The BasicMed is such a compromise I do not think it will help me as much as it could have had AOPA and EAA done more to stay closer to the original plan. My doctor filling out a form is very governmental and unnecessary. I believe I will still mostly do what I have been doing under my AME-assisted special issuance; just will not have to send it in to the FAA, wrote one commenter. On the face of it, not having to deal with the FAA is a plus and an improvement. Its just not the one we were all hoping for. Tuesday addition: Several readers chided me for saying the checklist isnt available. It is available in AC 68-1. However, this is clearly labeled a draft and may or may not resemble the final version. Heres a clickable link. EAA and the FAA are building on the STC awarded to EAA allowing installation of experimental Dynon avionics in certified aircraft. EAAs Sean Elliott spoke with AVwebs Russ Niles on a Jan. 17 meeting that could set the course for more affordable access to new technology by certified aircraft owners. Duration: 7:30 File Size: 6 MB download here /wp-content/uploads/podcast/sean_elliot.mp3 By Laman Ismayilova International Arts Festival and Contest will be held in Azerbaijans capital city Baku in March, Azertac reported. The event is co-organized by European Competition Commission, Testene Art Italian International Cultural Association and the Culture and Tourism Ministry of Azerbaijan. The festival will feature contests in several nominations and age groups, bringing together soloists, ensembles and folklore bands from different parts of the world. The winners will be named at gala concert on March 19. The jury members include musicologist Galina Preobrajenskaya and special guest Fabio Lamborghini, nephew of Ferrucio Lamborghini, who created the supercar of that name. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 January 2017 10:31 (UTC+04:00) UK will continue to assist the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group aimed at finding peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said in a message to the Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian in connection with the 25th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 January 2017 10:58 (UTC+04:00) The death toll in Saturday's bomb blast in Pakistan's northwestern Parachinar tribal region, near the Afghan border, rose to 24, Nasarullah Khan, deputy administrator of Parachinar town told Anadolu Agency. Four more people succumbed to their wounds at the hospital. Some 64 injured are still being treated at different hospitals, added Khan. An IED bomb was planted under a sack of fruits in a market in Parachinar -- the only Shia-dominated tribal area in a mostly Sunni Pakistan -- and was detonated by remote control, Major General Asif Ghafoor said. Army troops backed by helicopters were called in to join the rescue and relief operations, Ghafoor added. The injured, many of them critically, were taken to the local hospital, where a shortage of doctors and equipment forced the administration to launch an airlift of several wounded to Peshawar using army helicopters. Amid ongoing military operations in the tribal region, more than 4,500 suspected terrorists and over 500 troops have been killed mainly in North Waziristan and Khyber Agency areas, in clashes and land mine blasts since June 2014, according to statistics released by the Interior Ministry. The army operation also displaced nearly a million tribesmen from North Waziristan. Around 30 percent have managed to return. Turkey condemns attack In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said: We strongly condemn this heinous terrorist attack. The statement added Turkey wished Allahs mercy upon those who lost their lives, speedy recovery to the wounded, and convey[ed] our condolences to the brotherly Government and people of Pakistan. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 January 2017 11:27 (UTC+04:00) The U.S. State Department said on Saturday it will not send a delegation to attend talks on Syria in the Kazakh capital Astana next week due to the immediate demands of the transition of power in Washington, Reuters reported. The State Department's acting spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. would be represented at the talks by U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan George Krol. "Given our presidential inauguration and the immediate demands of the transition, a delegation from Washington will not be attending the Astana conference," Toner said in a statement. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 January 2017 11:54 (UTC+04:00) An accident occurred at the power plant in Armenia, advisor of the Armenian Prime Minister Shushan Sardaryan told Interfax agency Jan 21. As a result of the accident at the high-voltage power line energy supply of the substation and the first power unit of the Armenian nuclear power plant was interrupted on Jan. 21, she said. "As a result of the accident the third power unit was promptly loaded and shortage of power supply was compensated from Georgia". The accident has been eliminated in the evening, adviser added. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz CBS affiliate KIRO 7 reports: A man was shot Friday night on the University of Washington campus during a protest for a controversial speaker, and the suspected shooter turned himself in claiming self defense, police said. A large crowd packed the Red Square area of campus Friday night protesting a speech by controversial Brietbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos. Police were blocking the entrance to Kane Hall, and investigators said bricks and paint were thrown at officers. Medics received the shooting report at 8:26 p.m., after Yiannopoulos speech began in Kane Hall, but while a large crowd of protesters remained outside. UW students were alerted to the suspected shooters arrest early Saturday morning. He was being questioned early Saturday morning by UW police, who are handling the investigation. The shooting victim is 32 and suffered a life-threatening gunshot wound to the abdomen, Seattle police said. He was in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center, and was previously identified by authorities as a 25-year-old. Despite the shooting Yiannopoulos performance went on with at one point in the evening him taking out a set of jumper cables to mock criticism of Mike Pences support for ex-gay torture. Milo: Theres no reason to think it [conversion therapy] doesnt work. In fact, there are many people for whom it has. I think for one think that Yiannopoulos needs to experience the electro-shock aversion therapy before promoting it. People experience pain for a range of different reasons. Whatever the reason is, it is very important to find a way to find relief, which can be quite difficult. Nerve pain is one of the worst pains to have, mainly because it is generally chronic. Learn more at www.neuropathyreliefguide.com and check out their services online. Agreed? Share this: Tweet More Email Print UPDATE: Huge Waves Injure Woman on Oregon Coast Balcony, Other Damage Published 01/21/2017 at 7:29 PM PDT - Updated 01/23/2017 at 3:29 PM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Oregon Coast) UPDATE: Includes new details and correction on where incident occurred: at a vacation rental propery and NOT at the Surftides. All over the Oregon coast on Saturday, a high surf advisory translated to life-threatening and damaging waves. A woman was injured by a wave that hit her rental home balcony, and mammoth breakers destroyed a handful of condos in Rockaway Beach, among other reports. (Photo above by Amanda Cairns: big waves and logs tossed onto a parking lot in Rockaway Beach squish cars together). According to the National Weather Service (NWS) in Portland, buoys out at sea documented 20-foot waves, living up the surf advisory issued by the NWS that is in effect until 10 p.m. Saturday. They said actual breakers hitting the beaches could be much higher. In a nearly unheard of incident on the Oregon coast, a woman was injured in Lincoln City by a wave when it hit the balcony she was standing on. It happened about 8 a.m. at a vacation rental property in Lincoln City resort, which sits above a sea wall that is more than ten feet from normal seasonal sand levels. Photo above Amanda Cairns: the ocean came in the deck of this Rockaway Beach condo and shoved objects through the garage door. Jim Kusz, with the North Lincoln County Fire and Rescue Department, said the woman was sent to the hospital and eventually released. The balcony was nearly demolished he said, getting hit by what he estimated to be a 12- 15-foot wave. A witness reported the wave had come up over the balcony and smashed the deck above while undercutting the bottom deck. The 45-year-old woman was briefly hanging from a hot tub when her husband rescued her. The balcony above was tilted enough to dump a barbecue and deck furniture into the area below. Parts of the neighboring Surftides in Lincoln City hotel were also damaged. Also happening on Saturday: another woman walking on the beach near Mo's in Lincoln City and was hit by large waves, injuring her ankle. Kusz urged the public to keep off the beaches and far back from areas where waves are hitting. Don't walk on beaches during these high surf advisories, Kusz said. Photo above Amanda Cairns: wave-cutting of the dune and a destroyed bench in Rockaway Beach. In Rockaway Beach, several condo units were destroyed by massive waves that came over the bluffs, even damaging cars in a parking lot. Rockaway Beach resident Amanda Cairns said the condos called The Seascape Townhomes at NW 2nd and Miller Street took the brunt of a series of waves which went under the Rock Creek Inn and sailed over the pavement to the railroad tracks. The waves were really high this morning and this particular one busted the glass of the back deck of this beach front condo, Cairns said. It went through the lower level of the home and the water picked up everything in the garage and pushed it right through the garage door. The marauding waves didn't end there, she added. There is construction going on at Rock Creek so the waves washed away all the building materials into the parking lot and washed a pile of construction lumber into the parked cars, Cairns said. It smashed the cars together as well. There are reports from local residents about numerous sudden beach changes. One path near the Catholic church in Rockaway Beach has been torn up and other photos show lots of wave-cut shelving of sand dunes. A bench in front of the condos was demolished. Above: still photo from Janette Square's video Way down south at Yachats, this part of the Oregon coast got plenty of tidal frights but no reported damage. Resident Janette Square posted a striking video of waves reaching precariously close to her home. This is remarkable as there is about 40 feet between her backyard and the drop-off to the cliffs below, and those cliffs are 12 feet down below that. Another image from the area shows some astoundingly unwise behavior at the Thor's Well area just south of town a rocky shelf known for being exceptionally dangerous, and one that is high on the radar of officials right now because of the public's disregard for safety there. Resident Pattie Huggins-Deitrick snapped this shot (above) of a man holding his camera getting walloped by a wave just after the sun went down. Local residents have been documenting an extraordinary number of near-death incidences there, including Deitrick, and she said this was the closest she's ever come to seeing someone die right in front of her. The man was knocked over on his back for a bit and lost his camera. A Hawaiian tourist died there last month. More large waves are set for tomorrow and Monday, although not quite as big. No surf advisories have been issued for those days. Oregon Coast Lodgings for this event - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted Gerry Adams' puppet from the ITV series Spitting Image has been sold for more than 1,000 euros at auction. The puppet, which was once the only Gerry Adams you could hear talking on TV, was auctioned off on Saturday at Whytes Auction House in Dublin. The caricature puppet of the Sinn Fein president complete with suit, mackintosh coat and instantly recognisable glasses sold for 1,150 euros. The unique item was used on the ITV programme which ran from 1984 to 1996. The popularity of the Adams doll owed much to the broadcasting ban on Sinn Fein that was lifted by the British government in 1994 and the Irish government a year earlier. A caricature puppet of Nelson Mandela from the satirical show wearing one of his trademark madiba shirts went for 700 euros. And that Peter Mandelson with the body of a snake which regularly featured, particularly around the neck of Tony Balir fetched 300 euros. When the story broke this week that the former boss of the Serpentine Galleries, Dame Julia Peyton-Jones has, at the age of 64, become a first-time mother to a daughter, Pia, the news went viral faster than a giggling baby meme. She joins the ranks of pioneering biology-bypassing women including Laura Wade-Gery, the M&S high-flier once tipped to take the helm at the retailer, who last year became a mother the first time at 50 after she adopted a child. Then there was Janet Jackson, who gave birth to her baby son, Eissa Al Mana, earlier this month aged 50, while actress Halle Berry told of being "kinda premenopausal" when she gave birth, aged 47. Age isn't the only one-time barrier to pregnancy that's being knocked down. Earlier this month Emma, Viscountess Weymouth, announced the birth of her son Henry Thynn. After suffering a terrifying brain illness during her first pregnancy in 2014, doctors warned that having a second child could kill her, but she didn't let that stop her dream of a bigger family: she used a surrogate - and went public to help break down the stigma, saying: "This is not about my vanity or that I was too lazy. I'm not the kind of person who would have done this for anything less than a very important reason." Nor is being single stopping women who want to have a family. "More than ever, women are choosing the love of a child over the love of a partner," says Dr Aimee Eyvazzadeh, the fertility physician dubbed the "egg whisperer" who works in San Francisco, one of the world's hotspots for assisted fertility. "They're becoming educated about their fertility and realize that there's a short window that we have to achieve a pregnancy - so you can make choices that suit your life best and then focus on the partner later." It's the post-sex, post-biology baby boom: the mindset that if you want a baby you can get one. Women with means (usually stemming from their own high-flying careers which perhaps saw the "kids issue" delayed for longer than the average biology lesson would allow) are now deciding that they want a baby. Many are pursuing that dream regardless of their age or relationship status ("I see as many single women as not," says one consultant) and in whatever way they can. So how is it happening? Surrogacy is still rare so for women over 50 it's almost certainly by egg donation. As gynaecologist Dr Gillian Lockwood, ethics spokesperson for the British Fertility Society, explains: "It doesn't matter how young you look or how healthy your lifestyle, Mother Nature knows when you were born and you cannot Botox your ovaries. IVF using own eggs has disappointing success rates for women over 40 - and a positive pregnancy test is only the start as the miscarriage rate is 35% at 40 and 75% at 45." The latest technique some older women are opting for, to improve statistics using their own eggs, is "second generation" PGS, or pre-implantation genetic screening, to select the healthiest embryo. "But," Lockwood adds, "some women will not produce any embryos that 'pass' the genetic test." It's not cheap: some women may be eligible for donor egg treatment on the NHS but top clinics in London, for example, quote 2,000 to import ampoules of sperm into the UK, and another 1,000 per cycle of insemination, while egg donation costs up to 8,000 (or more than 10,000 in the US). But by using eggs donated from another woman - who is usually in her twenties or thirties - the chances of a successful pregnancy are far higher than the miniscule chance a fiftysomething woman might have, says consultant gynaecologist Amanda Tozer. "Women [who come to me] either consider trying with their own eggs and using donor sperm if single, or, particularly those aged 42 and above, look at egg donation as offering a more realistic chance of conceiving. If they are also single then they will need both egg and sperm donation. Some in their early forties come to talk about egg freezing but it's a more realistic option for those under 35." That could change. A fertility clinic in Athens last year claimed it had reversed the menopause in a group of patients by injecting women's ovaries with platelet-rich plasma from their own blood to reinvigorate resident stem cells. The doctors say they fertilised eggs from their patients and have set out plans to implant these embryos - meaning some babies could be born of apparently post-menopausal women later this year. But the technology is untested - and certainly unapproved in the UK. In pursuit of anonymity, some women are flying abroad, often to Denmark, Spain, the Czech Republic or the US, for treatment. And while the relationship requirement has long withered away, foreseeably - in terms of science, if not ethics - there could soon be no upper age limit on pregnancy either. With egg donation, Eyvazzadeh says, "50 could well be the new 40 when it comes to fertility". Lockwood goes even further. "With appropriate hormonal manipulation any age of uterus can be primed for pregnancy," she says. "There have been cases of women of 60, 65 or even over 70 giving birth to donor-egg babies, although the health outcomes for these women - and the consequences for their children - have been pretty bleak. We are one of the few mammalian species [others being minke and killer whales] that live beyond menopause. The evolutionary explanation is that grandmothers have an important role to play in helping their daughters' children survive." Yet fertility doctors say the biology-beating mother is far from just a celebrity trend - it's just often kept quiet. The number of middle-aged women having babies in London hospitals overtook younger mothers for the first time in 2015, while in China, the baby boom which kicked off as soon as politicians relaxed the one-child policy last year wasn't spurred by young, career-orientated "tiger moms", but the over-forties. The British fertility specialist the Bourn Hall Clinic, set up by the IVF pioneers behind the birth of the first "test tube" baby Louise Brown, is expanding its China operations from one clinic to five in the next few years. "Non-celebrity women are just getting on with it," Tozer says of her patients. "Should people be honest about it? That is the big question. While we all know that any woman older than 45 is likely to have had egg donation, is it really anyone's business but her own?" Mairtin O Muilleoir will meet members of political parties on Monday to discuss the investigation A public inquiry into Northern Ireland's botched green energy scheme will leave no hiding places, Stormont's finance minister vowed. Mairtin O Muilleoir will meet members of political parties on Monday to discuss the investigation and will make a statement to the devolved assembly on Tuesday. The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is predicted to cost taxpayers up to 490 million over the next 20 years. It precipitated the collapse of Stormont powersharing. Mr O Muilleoir said: "This inquiry will be impartial and objective and it will be tasked with getting to the truth of this scandal. "These meetings will provide an opportunity to discuss the terms of reference and hear the views of other parties. "My objective remains to deliver a no-hiding-place inquiry that serves the public interest." The scheme was designed to encourage businesses to use green energy instead of fossil fuels but ended up paying out around 1.60 for every 1 spent on wood to fuel biomass boilers. There have been allegations of empty sheds being heated in a "cash for ash" scandal. The DUP has welcomed the public inquiry and the assembly recently voted in favour of one. A DUP special adviser who formerly worked with Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster has quit amid allegations of exerting influence around the RHI scheme, and another adviser has stepped aside from work on measures to save taxpayers' money. Late on Friday a senior Democratic Unionist revealed that four family members run boilers under the controversial green energy scheme. Jim Wells, an Assembly member and former DUP health minister, said his brother, two cousins and the husband of another cousin operate boilers at their chicken farms. There is no suggestion their actions were anything other than legitimate and Mr Wells said he had no financial interest in the farm businesses. Mr O Muilleoir gave a commitment that he or any Sinn Fein minister will release the public inquiry's report in full on receipt. He called on all parties to sign up to unrestricted, unedited publication. The minister said the RHI issue went beyond financial matters to questions of governance and probity. Voters in Northern Ireland are set to go to the polls on March 2 after deputy first minister Martin McGuinness resigned in protest over the flawed scheme. Police received a report at around 4am that an oil tank at a house was on fire. A Polish family, left homeless following a fire at their house in Coleraine, have thanked the public for their support and donations. Police received a report at around 4am on Sunday morning that an oil tank at a house on the Ballycastle Road was on fire. It then spread to the house causing substantial damage requiring the occupants and neighbours to be evacuated. The family of three - including a small child and a pregnant mother who is due to give birth next month - were taken to hospital following the fire for treatment for smoke inhalation. A family friend has set up a fundraising page for the family who have lost many of their belongings including clothes and passports. Martyna and Marcin Obuchowicz told the Causeway Coast Community how much they appreciated the support. "We are really thankful for all help we have received from the local community. "We have received numerous bags of clothes and now need to check all sizes etc. All clothes that will not be used will be donated to Community Rescue Service Shop in Coleraine. "We dont have a house at the minute to keep all the stuff we have been offered so we will be in touch with the people ASAP. "Thank you so much for all the help we have got from the local people. You really have good hearts, Really appreciate it . Fire fire appliances were sent to the scene and the Ballycastle Road was closed for some time while emergency services dealt with the incident but has since re-opened. District Commander John Bacon said the family were "incredibly fortunate" and that several surrounding homes were also affected. He said: "The house has been substantially damaged by fire and it's certainly uninhabitable. "They are extremely fortunate that their neighbours noticed the fire at the time of night. "They noticed the fire and raised the alarm. Most of the affected houses had been evacuated. " Chief Inspector Mark McClarence said: The cause of the fire has yet to be established, however, I would appeal to anyone who was in the Ballycastle Road area at around 4am this morning and who may have information which could assist with police enquiries, to contact officers in Coleraine on 101. Police officers rush to the scene after an officer is shot on the Crumlin Road on 22th January 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Police officers rush to the scene after an officer is shot on the Crumlin Road on 22th January 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Police officers rush to the scene after an officer is shot on the Crumlin Road on 22th January 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Police officers rush to the scene after an officer is shot on the Crumlin Road on 22th January 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Police officers rush to the scene after an officer is shot on the Crumlin Road on 22th January 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Police officers rush to the scene after an officer is shot on the Crumlin Road on 22th January 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Police officers rush to the scene after an officer is shot on the Crumlin Road on 22th January 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Police officers rush to the scene after an officer is shot on the Crumlin Road on 22th January 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Police officers rush to the scene after an officer is shot on the Crumlin Road on 22th January 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Police officers rush to the scene after an officer is shot on the Crumlin Road on 22th January 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Police officers rush to the scene after an officer is shot on the Crumlin Road on 22th January 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) The scene at a petrol station on the Crumlin Road in north Belfast where an on duty PSNI officer was shot in the arm from a passing car on Sunday evening. Police officers rush to the scene after an officer is shot on the Crumlin Road on 22th January 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) ACC Mark Hamilton holds a press conference after an officer is shot in North Belfast on 22th January 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) the scene at a petrol station on the Crumlin Road in north Belfast where an on duty PSNI officer was shot in the arm from a passing car on Sunday evening. The silver Audi believed to be used by the gunmen as a getaway car on 22th January 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Police officers rush to the scene after an officer is shot on the Crumlin Road on 22th January 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) A north Belfast gun attack that injured a PSNI officer was a planned operation with automatic gunfire sprayed across a garage forecourt, the chief constable has said. The attack took place on the Crumlin Road in Belfast. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press A uniformed police officer has been shot in north Belfast. It happened on Sunday night at around 7.30pm at Edenderry filling station on the Crumlin Road. The PSNI officer hit in the arm after a number of shots were fired. The officer was rushed to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast where he is in a stable condition and is undergoing surgery. Expand Close The silver Audi believed to be used by the gunmen as a getaway car on 22th January 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The silver Audi believed to be used by the gunmen as a getaway car on 22th January 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) The Crumlin Road has been closed while officers investigate. PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton said it was a "completely reckless" attack. He told the BBC: "This is an attack on the entire community, people walking from the forecourt to their cars with bullets whizzing round them and striking the garage forecourt - completely reckless." Speaking on Sunday night just hours after the attack happened PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton said their main line of enquiry is violent dissident republicans . A 36-year-old man was arrested on Sunday night. He said: "It is totally unnecessary, appalling and needs to be condemned by all sides of this community." Mr Hamilton appealed for anyone who witnessed anything suspicious in the area to come forward to police immediately. "Particularly if you saw an Audi type vehicle at the filling station around 7.30pm. Did you see anyone suspicious? Did you hear the shots? Did you see anyone running away? "This wasn't just an attack upon the police, it was very clearly an attack upon the community, other lives could easily have been lost tonight. Expand Close ACC Mark Hamilton holds a press conference after an officer is shot in North Belfast on 22th January 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp ACC Mark Hamilton holds a press conference after an officer is shot in North Belfast on 22th January 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) "Wreckless madness, we assure everyone that every resource we have will be turned to face this now." Northern Ireland Secretary of State James Brokenshire said he has spoken with the Chief Constable and has been briefed on an "active investigation'" into the attack. Chairman of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland (PFNI) Mark Lindsay confirmed the officer was shot in the arm during a terrorist gun attack. Live from Musgrave St as a police officer is shot in north Belfast https://t.co/MZaXBICPqV Kevin Scott (@Kscott_94) January 22, 2017 The PFNI represents all rank and file officers. Mr Lindsay said: "This is an appalling act, and I wish to condemn it in the strongest possible terms. "This attack on the life of an officer is a stark reminder of the determination on the part of terrorists to murder and maim police officers. Utterly condemn the shooting of a police officer in North Belfast - the work of cowards. Praying they make a full recovery. Arlene Foster (@DUPleader) January 22, 2017 A police officer has been shot in the arm on the Crumlin Rd. Those involved are the same people attacking our local community. STOP! Gerry Kelly (@GerryKellyMLA) January 22, 2017 PSNI Officer shot on Crumlin Road. Thoughts are with officer for full recovery and with family and friends. We must find a way to end this Mike Nesbitt (@mikenesbittni) January 22, 2017 Sickening that a police officer has been shot in Belfast. Thoughts are with him, his family & @PoliceServiceNI #Cowardly&reprehensible Claire Sugden MLA (@ClaireSugden) January 22, 2017 SofS @JBrokenshire: I am shocked and appalled at this evening's cowardly shooting of a police officer on the Crumlin Road. NIO (@NIOPressOffice) January 22, 2017 (Cont) @JBrokenshire: To attack officers who are going about their daily duty protecting the entire community is sickening. NIO (@NIOPressOffice) January 22, 2017 I condemn tonight's shooting in North Belfast & injury to PSNI officer. No excuse for such criminality. I wish the officer a full recovery. pic.twitter.com/MCLDjvhkbt Charlie Flanagan (@CharlieFlanagan) January 22, 2017 I appeal to anyone who has information about the shooting to contact the PSNI immediately. My thoughts are with the officer and his family. James Brokenshire (@JBrokenshire) January 22, 2017 "They believe that by causing great grief to a family they are somehow advancing their warped and outdated plan. The wider community will be outraged by this attack on one of their police officers. "The police serve the entire community and wounding one individual is an attack on the entire community." He said the attack underlined the fragility of the peace. "It's one reason why the threat level here remains classed 'severe' which means a terrorist attack is highly likely. "Officers already exercise great vigilance and I would appeal to them to remain at high alert." DUP leader Arlene Foster said the attack was the "work of cowards". She tweeted: "Utterly condemn the shooting of a police officer in north Belfast - the work of cowards. "Praying they make a full recovery." REACTION: North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds said the incident was "deeply disturbing". He said: This is a deeply disturbing incident which echoes back to the kind of terrorism we used to face on a daily basis. My thoughts are with the officer who has been injured and I pray that the injuries sustained are not life-threatening and they can make a full recovery. "These are scenes that we should all want to move away from in Northern Ireland. We must be mindful how a threat to the future of the political institutions can create a vacuum, which terrorists such as these will seek to fill. "We must all stand against those who wish to use treats, intimidation and violence to further their political ends. It is vital we all stand against such activity and work to move Northern Ireland forward. SDLP north Belfast MLA Nichola Mallon said those responsible are calculating criminals intent on destabilising a community which continues to make strides toward reconciliation. She said: "My thoughts this evening are with the police officer who was shot as he performed his duty, keeping our community safe, near the Crumlin Road. I have spoken with his senior colleagues to pass on my concern. Those responsible for this attack, not only on the individual involved, but on the progress that North Belfast has made must be brought to justice. This community has rejected the men of violence before and it will do so again. There will be no cover given to those who seek to destabilise our progress and bring mayhem back to our streets. I would encourage anyone with any information whatsoever to bring it forward to the police. Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly urged anyone with information to bring it forward. He said: "I totally condemn this gun attack on a PSNI officer in north Belfast tonight. "It is my understanding that a police officer has been shot in a drive by shooting on the Crumlin Road and that his injuries are not believed to be life threatening. "I hope that the injured officer will make a full and speedy recovery. "Those responsible for this attack are the same people who are attacking the local community. They have absolutely nothing to offer society and need to call a halt to these activities immediately. "I would call on anyone with information on this incident to bring it forward to the PSNI." Police on the Antrim Road in north Belfast after an officer was shot in the arm at a petrol station A man aged 36 has been arrested after a policeman was shot in north Belfast, police said. The community officer suffered at least two bullet wounds to the arm as he emerged from a filling station on Sunday night. He is stable in hospital, his injuries are not believed to be life-threatening and police hope he will make a full recovery. A senior officer blamed violent dissident republicans. Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) assistant chief constable Mark Hamilton said: "This was a very concerted attack on our officers - a very concerted attempt to murder them. He confirmed one arrest had been made in north Belfast but said others were involved in planning the pre-meditated attempt to kill on the Crumlin Road. He appealed for anyone who saw an Audi vehicle at the scene to contact detectives. Several shots were fired. The injured officer has been taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast where he is undergoing surgery. Mr Hamilton said he was conscious and was doing as well as could be expected. "We are hopeful that he will make a full recovery but this is a deeply shocking event, something that will take him some time to recover from." He confirmed detectives' main line of enquiry at the minute was violent dissident republicans. Mr Hamilton added: "These were two community police officers going about community policing roles that this community needs them to do and they have been violently attacked in this community tonight. "I would utterly condemn this, this is the first shooting attack upon police for some time, it is the first one this year, it is totally unnecessary, appalling and needs to be utterly condemned by all sides of this community." Police want to speak to anyone who saw an Audi-type vehicle opposite the filling station at around 7.30pm. "This was not just an attack upon police, it was very clearly an attack upon the community. "Other lives could easily have been lost tonight. "Reckless madness, and I can assure this community that every resource we have has been turned to find these people and bring them to justice." Dissident republicans have attempted to kill several members of the security forces in Northern Ireland in recent years. Police, soldiers and prison officers have all died at their hands. The attack comes amid warnings of a political vacuum created by the collapse of Stormont power-sharing. Mark Lindsay, chairman of the Police Federation of Northern Ireland, said: "This attack on the life of an officer is a stark reminder of the determination on the part of terrorists to murder and maim police officers. "They believe that by causing great grief to a family they are somehow advancing their warped and outdated plan." He said it underlined the fragility of the peace. The threat against police is classed as severe and Mr Lindsay warned officers to be vigilant. Dissident republicans opposed to peace have killed police, prison officers and soldiers in the past. The attack comes as Northern Ireland prepares for fresh elections after the collapse of powersharing. Former deputy first minister Martin McGuinness resigned in protest over a botched green energy scheme which is predicted to leave taxpayers millions out of pocket. Democratic Unionist MP Nigel Dodds said it was a despicable act. Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire tweeted: "I am shocked and appalled at this evening's cowardly shooting. "To attack officers who are going about their daily duty protecting the entire community is sickening." The early visit will mark something of a coup for the Prime Minister Being the first world leader to hold talks with Donald Trump in the Oval Office is the "biggest statement" she can make about the global role of women, Theresa May has said. The Prime Minister will visit the United States' president on Friday for talks on a potential UK-US post-Brexit free trade deal, and global issues like tackling terrorism, the Syrian civil war, relations with Russia and the role of Nato. Downing Street said the meeting would mainly be an opportunity to "get to know one another" and "establish the basis for a productive working relationship". Mrs May stressed she will tell Mr Trump when she finds his behaviour "unacceptable" - a criticism she has already levelled at him over his suggestion that his fame allowed him to grab women "by the pussy". The president's numerous highly controversial remarks about women inspired more than a million people to join anti-Trump women's marches in Britain, the US and around the world on Saturday. Asked if she would raise the issue at their White House meeting, Mrs May told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show: "I have already said that some of the comments that Donald Trump has made in relation to women are unacceptable, some of those he himself has apologised for. "When I sit down I think the biggest statement that will be made about the role of women is the fact that I will be there as a female Prime Minister, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, directly talking to him about the interests that we share." She said she was "proud" to be the second female PM, adding: "I will be talking to Donald Trump about the issues that we share - about how we can build on the special relationship, it's the special relationship that also enables us to say when we do find things unacceptable." Mrs May added: "Whenever there is something that I find unacceptable, I will say that to Donald Trump." She insisted Mr Trump was looking for "early" talks on a free trade deal despite concerns over his "America first" strategy. The PM has also spoken of reducing barriers to trade before a formal deal can be reached after Brexit, amid reports of moves to set up a "passporting" system for transatlantic banking. Mrs May suggested her trip would be followed by a state visit by Mr Trump, which would include an audience with the Queen and the pomp and pageantry of which the president seems so fond. "I would look forward to welcoming President Trump here to the United Kingdom some time this year if that's possible, but of course in terms of state visits that's a matter for Buckingham Palace and they haven't announced the visits this year yet," she said. The Prime Minister will travel to the US on Thursday when she will become the first foreign serving head of state or government to address the annual congressional Republican retreat, when it gathers for its 30th anniversary in Philadelphia. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn urged Mrs May to directly criticise Mr Trump's misogyny and his call for Muslims to be banned from the US. And he warned her to be "extremely careful" in negotiating a free trade deal. "The idea that Donald Trump is suddenly going to roll over and offer some trade deal with Britain that doesn't have strings attached, like investor protection where American companies can come in and run parts of our health service and be protected in doing so - I think she needs to be extremely careful," Mr Corbyn told Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday. ein Google-Unternehmen Google-Dienste anzubieten und zu betreiben Ausfalle zu prufen und Manahmen gegen Spam, Betrug und Missbrauch zu ergreifen Daten zu Zielgruppeninteraktionen und Websitestatistiken zu erheben. 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Sofern relevant, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auerdem, um Inhalte und Werbung altersgerecht zu gestalten. Wir verwenden Cookies und Daten, umWenn Sie Alle akzeptieren auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auch, umWahlen Sie Weitere Optionen aus, um sich zusatzliche Informationen anzusehen, einschlielich Details zum Verwalten Ihrer Datenschutzeinstellungen. Sie konnen auch jederzeit g.co/privacytools besuchen. 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 The governor of Georgia has declared a state of emergency in seven counties - after 11 people were killed in tornado storms on Sunday. Governor Nathan Deal's office said the emergency areas includes Brooks, Cook and Berrien counties, south central Georgia, near the Florida state line - where the 11 died. Also included were Atkinson, Colquitt, Lowndes and Thomas counties. Deal said in a statement that state agencies are "making all resources available" to the affected counties and "our thoughts and prayers are with Georgians suffering from the impact of the storm". Twenty-three people were also injured and weather experts warn of more deadly storms to come. The National Weather Service said that south Georgia and also north Florida and parts of Alabama could face more "intense and long-track" tornados on Sunday evening - with strong winds and large hailstones. A coroner confirmed seven people died at a mobile home park in south Georgia after the storm tore through the area on Sunday morning. Cook County Coroner Tim Purvis said a tornado "levelled" numerous mobile homes before dawn in the park near Adel. He said emergency services were still searching for survivors hours later. Purvis estimated the park has about 40 mobile homes and half of them were destroyed. Catherine Howden, of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, put the death toll from severe weather in the state to 11. She said the deaths occurred in Cook, Brooks and Berrien counties. On Saturday, four people were killed in a tornado in Mississippi. Theresa May has insisted being a female Prime Minister and the first foreign leader to meet Donald Trump since his inauguration will be the "biggest statement" she can make about the role of women in the world. Mrs May confirmed she will meet the US president in Washington DC on Friday after a weekend in which hundreds of thousands of people around the world joined women's marches to protest against Mr Trump. The PM said she will tell Mr Trump when she finds his behaviour or statements "unacceptable" - a criticism she has already levelled at him over his past comments about women. Mrs May has previously used the term "unacceptable" to describe Mr Trump's suggestion that his fame allowed him to "do anything" to women, such as "grabbing them by the pussy". The President's repeated highly controversial remarks about women inspired massive "pink pussy hat" marches attended by at least 500,000 in Washington DC and 100,000 in London on Saturday. The PM said the "special relationship" between the UK and US will allow her to criticise Mr Trump where she sees fit. Asked if she would raise the controversial tycoon's treatment of women at their meeting, Mrs May told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show: "I have already said that some of the comments that Donald Trump has made in relation to women are unacceptable, some of those he himself has apologised for. "When I sit down I think the biggest statement that will be made about the role of women is the fact that I will be there as a female Prime Minister, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, directly taking to him about the interests that we share." The PM highlighted her "track record" in defending the interests of women, including moves to tackle modern slavery and domestic violence while home secretary. She said she was "proud" to be the second female premier, adding: "I will be talking to Donald Trump about the issues that we share - about how we can build on the special relationship, it's the special relationship that also enables us to say when we do find things unacceptable." Mrs May added: "Whenever there is something that I find unacceptable I will say that to Donald Trump." Mrs May insisted Mr Trump was looking for "early" talks on a UK-US free trade deal despite his "America first" strategy sparking concerns that he would not be willing to reach an agreement. "He and people around him have also spoken of the importance of a trade arrangement with the United Kingdom and that is something they are looking to talk to us about at an early stage, and I would expect to be able to talk to him about that alongside the other issues I will be discussing with him when I am in Washington," she said. Mrs May has also spoken of reducing barriers to trade before a formal deal can be reached after Brexit, amid reports of potential moves to set up a "passporting" system for transatlantic banking. And she defended Mr Trump's widely criticised "America first" message: "If you think about it, any leader, any government, as we do here in the United Kingdom when we look at any issue, we ensure that we're putting the UK's interests and the interests of British people first." The Prime Minister insisted Mr Trump was committed to Nato despite worries that he has consistently undermined the mutual defence alliance at a time of Russian aggression. At their meeting, the pair could agree a statement emphasising their commitment to spending at least 2% of GDP on defence and urging other Nato countries to match them, according to reports. Mrs May said: "I've spoken to him about Nato - Nato is very important, Nato has been the bulwark of our security here in Europe and we work together in Nato," she said. "We've both made the point before about contributions being made by countries, the United Kingdom is spending 2% of its GDP on defence, I believe that's important." She added: "What is important is that we recognise the value of Nato, which he does, the value of Nato as an organisation that is helping us to defend Europe and defend the interests of all of those allies who are in Nato." Mrs May also suggested her visit would be followed by a state visit by Mr Trump to Britain this year, which would include an audience with the Queen and the pomp and pageantry of which the President seems so fond. "I would look forward to welcoming President Trump here to the United Kingdom sometime this year if that's possible but of course in terms of state visits that's a matter for Buckingham Palace and they haven't announced the visits this year yet," she said. The White House says it is at the "very beginning" of discussing plans to move the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The statement follows reports in Israeli media that President Donald Trump had imminent plans to announce the move. FIFA have written to World Cup teams urging them to focus on the soccer in Qatar and not let the sport be dragged... Church of the Brethren Newsline January 20, 2017 By Jay Wittmeyer Heads of mission for US religious institutions visited Cuba from Jan. 9-13, and met with key religious and political leaders to discuss the relationship between Cuba and the United States and the role the institution church can have in improving that relationship. As executive director of Global Mission and Service, I joined the delegation on behalf of the Church of the Brethren. The delegation, which was hosted by the Consejo De Iglesias De Cuba (Council of Churches in Cuba), was well received in Cuba and granted significant access to senior officials. The delegation was covered by major newspapers and television channels. John McCullough, president of Church World Service, led the delegation and was able to re-connect with individuals he had met in previous visits to the country. McCullough described the process underway to reestablish relations between Cuba and the US as a period of significant changes for both countries, where the church has an important contribution to make. The delegation was received by Cardinal Jaime L. Ortega; Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis, chief of mission at the US Embassy in Havana; Josefina Vidal Ferreiro, director general of the Foreign Affairs Ministry; and, most significantly, Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez, first vice president of the Council of State of Cuba, who, it is anticipated, will become the president of Cuba in 2018. The delegation was able to give two copies of the Bible, which each delegate signed. In addition, the delegation spent significant time in conversation with officers of the Consejo, including president Joel Ortega Dopico, and with Rene Cardenas of the University of Havana, who discussed the history of Cuban-American relations from a socio-religious perspective. A highlight of the visit was a cultural program for Epiphany that was filmed for television. The amazing production was conducted by professional performers and included singing, dancing, a puppet show, and ballet dancers who threw white confetti to simulate snow. In closing the show, Rev. Dopico reflected on the importance of religion in Cuba and the importance of such educational events. He said, There are many uneducated children in the world; many children who are hungry and many children who are sickbut none of these are Cuban children. Every year in January, mission executives from mainline Christian denominations that are members of Church World Service gather for three days of consultation and discussion. Jay Wittmeyer is executive director of Global Mission and Service for the Church of the Brethren. Go to www.brethren.org/Newsline to subscribe to the Church of the Brethren Newsline free e-mail news service and receive church news every week. The surprise easing of nickel export bans in Indonesia as the Philippines has been ramping up its efforts to force some producers to shut down has muddied the water for the near-term outlook for the metal. Even so, local explorer Axiom Mining is advancing plans to launch production in the Solomon Islands, and the strategic nature of its resource may give it a leg up. Axiom Mining is planning a nickel mine in the Solomon Islands, which has the support of local villagers. Credit:Penny Stephens Optimism for the outlook for nickel took a knock last week when the Indonesian government decided to allow the restart of exports of some low-grade nickel, reversing a ban in place since 2014, although those fears have eased as it emerged the move was largely aimed at helping the part-state owned PT Aneka to export small volumes of low-grade ore. Perhaps of greater importance, the Philippine government last week cancelled environmental permits for a $US1.5 billion export nickel project as it finalises an environmental audit on as many as 41 mines, including a number of nickel exporters, with these results to be released at the end of this month. That audit has caught up locally listed OceanaGold which produces gold and copper at the Dipidio mine. An influential fund manager is warning investors to be wary of recently listed companies when it comes to stock picking. Investment management firm Allan Gray Australia says companies that floated in the last three years disappointed in 2016, with none securing a spot in the 10 best performing stocks among the ASX All Ordinaries. Shares in live cattle exporter Wellard are down 90 per cent since listing. Credit:Michele Mossop Allan Gray analysed all IPOs over the last decade with market capitalisation greater than $200 million, and found seven of the 10 worst performing shares this year fitted that category. Managing director Simon Mawhinney said companies on average performed ahead of the market in their first year following an IPO, but tended to tail off as years pass. The last time Paul Antaw's family saw him he was on his way to the Sydney CBD to stay with friends. He was healthy and happy, and determined to find a job and his own place to live. Two days after he left, detectives knocked on Jane Antaw's door and delivered the news that her 38-year-old brother had been fatally stabbed. Paul Antaw, 38, was stabbed to death in Woolloomooloo. "He was too young to be taken," Ms Antaw told The Sydney Morning Herald. "He was a kind hearted man. A family man. He was a larrikin who would always see the fun side of things." More used to marching penguins, it was a different kind of movement that swept across one of the most remote places on the planet in recent hours. The protests against Donald Trump's rise to the US presidency have reached faraway shores, with a Women's March held in Paradise Bay in Antarctica. A group on an expedition ship to the frozen continent have joined millions around the world to stage their own protest march - with gentoo penguins out in force to support them. Californian data analytics and market researcher Linda Zunas, 42, organised the march and told The Independent she was motivated by Mr Trump's approach to environmental policies. A man will front a Brisbane court on Monday over a crime spree and high-speed car chase in which he allegedly fired a shotgun at police. Police say the crime spree began with the theft of a car at Burleigh Heads, on the Gold Coast, about 2pm on Saturday, and ended seven hours later - almost 100km away - at Wynnum West, on Brisbane's bayside. PolAir footage of the dramatic chase. Credit:QPS Media Along the way, it's alleged a 28-year-old man who was behind the wheel used a shotgun to threaten a woman at a Slacks Creek service station and ran into a police car as he fled. He's also accused of staging a home invasion at Wellington Point, and during the police chase reached speeds of 130km/h on the Gateway Motorway. Meet the man who gives women hope of having a family, when other specialists said nothing more could be done and all seemed lost. This is just another day at the office for Monash IVF specialist Dr Kee Ong, who has been responsible for 10 sets of twins in his nine years on the Gold Coast. Monash IVF specialist Dr Kee Ong with 20 happy families he helped create during his nine-year career on the Gold Coast. Credit:Toby Crockford - Fairfax Media Dr Ong's interest in IVF started in high school when he learnt of the science behind the second chance for women who couldn't conceive naturally. "It was just something that inspired me," he said. Australia's national leaders have visited the Bourke Street Mall to honour victims killed in Friday's rampage, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull saying all Australians stand in solidarity with mourners. A shrine to the victims of the tragedy, which has claimed five lives including that of a three-month-old boy, has been set up on the steps of the former General Post Office in the mall. Mourners have been leaving flowers and tributes at a site normally filled with shoppers. Jess Mudie, 22, victim of the Bourke Street tragedy. Victoria Police have released statements and photos on behalf of the relatives of Jess Mudie and Matthew Si, two of the victims of the Bourke Street tragedy. The family of Ms Mudie, 22, called her their "most badass daughter and sister", praised her devotion to her loved ones, her sense of humour and her headstrong nature. They quoted Jane Austen's classic novel Pride and Prejudice: "There is a stubbornness about me that can never bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me." In the statement, Ms Mudie's family said they thanked people for their condolences "but would appreciate this time together to grieve privately". They said of Jess: "We love your extravagant humour, the fact that you always laughed at your own jokes and your ridiculous names for everything like 'the guch'." the statement said. "You are always up to do everything and are such bright bubble of joy. Hydration is key, 'Remember me in the morning' is your cocktail of choice, and your personality ensures that will always be the case. "You are strong, beautiful, determined, always work hard to get what you want and never shy away from a challenge. You always tell it like it is and if someone wanted the truth you would not be afraid to tell them. "You are so headstrong and assertive in everything that you do, your love for your family and friends is immense, and you are always there when any one needs support." Matthew Si, 33, a victim of the Bourke Street tragedy. The statement on behalf of Matthew Si's wife, Melinda, said that Matt, 33, was a devoted husband and a loving father, brother and son. Matt and Melinda had just finished having lunch together in the city on Friday. They had parted to return to their respective offices when Mr Si was struck down. "The family would like to thank everyone who helped Matt at the scene and did their best to save him," Mr Si's wife said. The statement said the family were shattered and requested that their privacy be respected. "She will not be making any further media statements." Judah Adunbi has spent the greater part of a decade trying to improve relations between police in southwestern England and the members of his Afro-Caribbean community. Still, all the advocacy and the meetings with police were ineffective in getting the 63-year-old dreadlocked man out of the predicament he was in earlier this month - staring at the business end of a police officer's Taser. Adunbi had been out walking his dog in Bristol, about 120 miles west of London, when officers mistook him for a robbery suspect, according to the Guardian. They didn't know him - or that he was a founding member of the police department's Independent Advisory Group, an organisation formed to improve police-community relations. The officers asked his name but, agitated, Adunbi refused to tell them. Latest News Mortgage stress hits Australian households Learn seven ways to ease the interest rate burden, says broker New investor strengthens Invoice Finance Group Partnership will provide funding, new products for SMEs Mortgage franchise Aussie Home Loans is in the midst of a concerted recruitment effort to find the best in the Australian broking community.This focus is due to increased customer demand for Aussies services as well as the successful relaunch of the firms brand advertising, Lynda Harris, general manager of people and culture, told Australian Broker.Quality over quantity is always the aim, she said. Our recruitment model seeks to recruit brokers across a broad range of experience and a variety of backgrounds.Aussie places as much of an emphasis on screening candidates for passion, commitment, problem solving skills and a willingness to take care of people as it does on how much experience the candidate has, Harris said.Essentially, we are looking for high calibre, dynamic and motivated business professionals so we can continue to cultivate greater broker and store productivity.A history of self-employment is a favourable quality, she added, as this demonstrates an ability to manage a business while being self-motivated, productive and organised.A qualification is also a good indicator of future success whether it is TAFE or university as it reveals an ability to manage time, achieve a goal and be tenacious.The recruitment process begins with an information night, Harris said. Here, interested applicants are led through the different career options at Aussie prior to filling out an application form or attending an interview.Once new recruits are on-board we have a structured learning pathway for both brokers and franchisees to gain and develop their professional skills and enhance the effectiveness of their business practices, she told Australian Broker.This enables our new brokers to quickly understand the level of customer service they need to deliver to be consistent with the Aussie brand promise.This structured pathway commences with a three-week training course which is then followed by a free two-year fully-accredited mentoring program.The program is flexible to cater for our geographically dispersed brokers and includes a mix of face-to-face, online, in the field and group workshops and learning, Harris said.Aussie currently has almost 50 sales leaders, marketing, learning & development, and recruitment experts who mentor its brokers in varying areas of expertise. Franchisees are also put through training to develop their skills, allowing them to mentor and support the loan writers within their stores. HS Football: North Penn upsets Pennsbury in instant playoff classic With the game on the line, Dick Beck opted to go for the win with a two-point conversion attempt. Via Tempo.co: Lampung Resident Tested Positive for Bird Flu. If it's H5N1, it's the first such human case in Indonesia since two fatal cases in 2015. The full report: M. Sabil Nugroho (10), a resident in Sukarame district, Bandar Lampung city, Lampung province, tested positive for avian flu and had to receive an intensive care at dr H Abdul Moeloek general hospital in Lampung. I can confirm that a resident in Sukarame district tested positive for avian flu and is now receiving medical treatment, said Head of Banda Lampung Health Agency dr Edwin Rusli in Bandar Lampung on Saturday. He added the resident is still undergoing an intensive care in a special isolation room for avian flu patient in the hospital. Edwin added that agency had also given special treatment to the areas where the patient contracted the disease. "Weve also given a special treatment for the areas where the patient contracted the disease," he added. Edwin also hopes the residents would always clean the locations where they keep their poultry. Yessi Novianti (36), the patients parent, said her son did not eat a dead chicken but he held it instead. And here is an unedited Google translation of a January 20 report in the Lampung Post: PEKALONGAN - attack the disease is suspected bird flu that attacked and shut down dozens of chickens in East Lampung (Lamtim) extends. After dozens of chickens died in the District Sukadana, on Thursday (19/01/2017), turn the chicken farmers in the district of Pekalongan, Batang, and Sekampung, who experienced the same thing. A resident of the village of Kali Bening, District Pekalongan, Agus, Friday (01/20/2017), explains the peternk restless. Chicken livestock disease suspected bird flu. The disease is contagious until the cause of death. "Just a few hours from the infection, the chickens died instantly," he said. The same is disclosed Banjarejo Village residents, District of Batang, Ulfa. "The disease has been munsul since a week ago. Only a matter of hours, the chicken died. We suspect that the bird flu," said Ulfa. Update: This morning Mike Coston at Avian Flu Diary has a post reporting contradictory conclusions about this case. Corinne's Place in Camden is now in the food truck business The James Beard Foundation award-winning restaurant has been cooking up soul food in Camden for 30 years. Hong Kong withdraws visa-free facility for Indians Published: January 21, 2017 Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China has withdrawn the visa-free facility for Indians who will have to complete a pre-arrival registration. Henceforth, Indian Nationals will require Pre-arrival Registration. Thus, Indian nationals must successfully complete pre-arrival registration online before they can visit or transit Hong Kong if seeking to enter the region during transit. The pre-arrival registration will be valid for a 6 month period or until the expiry date of the Indian passport linked to it, whichever is earlier. It will be not required for Indian nationals in direct transit by air and not leaving the airport transit area. This decision was taken on the ground to prevent illegal immigration as number of Indian asylum seekers was on the rise. Over half a million Indians visit Hong Kong for business, trade and holidays. Background Earlier, Hong Kong used to be part of a block of countries that gave Indians unconditional visa-free entry. Indians were permitted to enter Hong Kong with a valid passport for a period up to 14 days without a visa. However in recent times, it was found that Indian nationals were overstaying in Hong Kong by violating visa norms. Comment Hong Kongs unilateral decision came a year after its government had sent a delegation headed by the Assistant Director of Immigration from the Immigration Department and Hong Kong Police in December 2015 to India. It had informed concerns about illegal employment and human trafficking involving Indians in Hong Kong to the Union Ministry of External Affairs. They even had expressed concern that many Indians taking up jobs even though Hong Kong does not allow visitors to work. Month: Current Affairs - January, 2017 Topics: Current Affairs - 2017 Hong Kong International National Visa-free facility Latest E-Books Students at West Elementary School in Park Hills gave hundreds of children in Haiti a merrier Christmas after collecting 521 Hot Wheels toys during a collection drive Dec. 8-16. We made posters, presentations, announcements and collection boxes, said Zimri Mills, a student in teacher Tracy Stams fourth grade class who first came up with the idea of Hot Wheels for Haiti when he was just 5 years old. Mills parents had visited Haiti and shared with their son the fact that Haitian children are too poor to be able to afford toys and have to make their own from garbage and other discarded items they may find. When Mills and his fellow students began to study Haiti's government and culture in Stams class, his idea for collecting Hot Wheels toys to send to Haiti re-emerged and the project was taken up by his entire class, which planned, organized and implemented the school-wide drive. Within just a week, the West Elementary student body worked together to collect the more than 500 toys for the children of Haiti. The toys were then handed over to the mission group Haiti Hope Rising, which delivered the Hot Wheels to Haiti during a trip to the island in late December. After their return from Haiti in early January, Stam invited mission group members Michael and Melissa Goldsmith of Farmington to visit her class to share stories and pictures from their trip. Im happy to come back and report to you that the kids in Haiti were absolutely thrilled to get your Hot Wheels, said Michael. When we gave them your Hot Wheels, their faces really lit up and they were so excited. They dont have toy cars like that They make them out of bottles and anything else they can find. But they dont last very long, so for them to get Hot Wheel cars, it was really a treat for them. Over the course of their trip, the mission group gave away about half of the toys and kept the other half to give away on their next trip to Haiti in June when theyll visit different parts of the country. Everywhere we went, Michael said, I packed a backpack and I had a Ziploc bag full of cars and so anytime we went to a community, we got to see kids. Wed stop and talk with them and then wed give them a Hot Wheel car. You should have seen their faces. They were just so bright and so excited to get the cars that you guys sent from all the way back here in Missouri. The Goldsmiths also shared a bit about how they first got involved with Haiti Hope Rising. Our family went to Haiti in 2011, Michael said, adding that his first trip to the Caribbean country was in 2010 after a major earthquake devastated the small island. Unfortunately, a lot of people were killed during that earthquake, he said, but not because the earthquake was so bad but because they dont build their buildings very well They are so poor they didnt have any metal inside their walls so it was just really crumbly concrete. So when the earthquake hit, all the buildings fell down and a lot of people were inside It was a really sad day. Michael said that since then, the people of Haiti have worked to rebuild their communities and have not let the natural disaster ruin their lives. The fortunate thing from that is they have really done well to get past it, he said. They are still joyful in their hearts and they have learned to build buildings that are a lot safer. And a lot of folks from around the world have come in to help just like you guys. The following year, in 2011, the entire Goldsmith family returned to Haiti, including their 8-year-old daughter. So when we went, our daughter was just about your age, said Michael. Can you imagine getting on a plane and traveling to the poorest country in the western hemisphere? It was quite a shock for all of us. Michael took some time to describe to the fourth graders some of the conditions in which a typical Haitian family lives, including the scarcity of food and the lack of toilets and other available basic hygiene measures. He told the class that students in Haiti dont have school buildings like West Elementary. Instead, they attend school in churches and only take one test at the very end of the year. Part of the Goldsmiths presentation also included a video composed of photographs taken during their trip that included several photos of the Haitian children playing with their new Hot Wheels cars. Tons of people have already been impacted by the work that you guys have done, said Michael. And if you can do it with Hot Wheels, use your imaginations What else could you do? Maybe in your school, maybe in your community, maybe some of you are going to travel to Haiti someday and do work there or other parts of the world. Just by digging in, and using your creativity and then serving others. What an amazing thing you guys did. You impacted hundreds of kids by what you did. One thing I want you guys to realize that I think is maybe the most important thing, Melissa said, is that kids in Haiti like to play just like you guys like to play The thing about Haiti is that its a very small island. They live in family communities and dont always see the world as a very big place. They sometimes dont even see people with a different skin color from them until theyre much older. So what I want you to realize is when you sent those Hot Wheels, it made them realize that somewhere in the world, theres a classroom of kids that care what happens to them and that cares enough to learn about them. So now, all those kids in Haiti that got your Hot Wheels, theyre thinking about you guys here and wondering about you and hoping good things for you. So you just made a partnership and a friendship with them thats extremely important. For more information about Haiti Hope Rising, visit www.haitihoperising.com or www.facebook.com/haitihoperising. Unlock 30+ premium stories daily hand-picked by our editors, across devices on browser and app. Full access to our intuitive epaper - clip, save, share articles from any device; newspaper archives from 2006. Curated newsletters on markets, personal finance, policy & politics, start-ups, technology, and more. Pick your 5 favourite companies, get a daily email with all news updates on them. 26 years of website archives. US-based e-commerce giant took about a million square feet of office spaces on lease last year, making it equal to what it took between 2008 and 2015 in the country. Debt-ridden auto-component maker Auto is learnt to have moved closer to effecting plans to cut three-fourths of its debt of Rs 13,500 crore by the middle of 2017. The country's largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp today said it has launched its products in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras in Central America. In a statement, the company said it has launched the brand 'Hero' and its range of two-wheelers in Guatemala City, El Salvador and Honduras. "Hero MotoCorp also announced a partnership with the reputed Indy Motos Group of Guatemala to bring its two-wheelers to these markets," it added. Under the alliance, Indy Motos has been appointed as the authorised distributor of Hero MotoCorp range of two-wheelers in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Commenting on the development, Hero MotoCorp Managing Director and CEO Pawan Munjal said: "This launch is a significant milestone for us considering this is the first of the new international markets, where we are starting our operations." The launch is indicative of the significant role that markets in Central America and Latin America will play in the company's global expansion plans, he added. The range of Hero two-wheelers being launched in these markets include Hunk, Karizma, Glamour, HF Dawn, Splendor NXG, Super Splendor and Achiever. "Hero MotoCorp will also soon commence its operations in other new international markets in Latin and Central America, and Africa in order to reach the stated objective of 10 per cent of its total volumes from international business in the next four to five years," the statement said. The company currently exports to Colombia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. India's software sector body, Nasscom, will try to persuade entities such as Google, Facebook and IBM to lobby with the Donald Trump administration to look at a more liberal visa regime. Etapalli and Bhamragad talukas, Gadchiroli (Maharashtra): Over two nights in early January, Madia Gond tribalsor Adivasis, as they prefer to be calledof south-eastern gather every year in a clearing to celebrate their pre-harvest festival. They sang, danced and feasted on pork and mutton, as they worshipped their deity, Thakur Dev. The India-US relationship is headed for the best days ahead under new President Donald Trump, his Indian-American supporters believe. "This is the beginning of a new era, new dawn of new (India-US) relationship," Indian-American Digvijay Singh 'Danny' Gaekwad from Florida told PTI. Having closely worked with Trump and his campaign during the grilling election campaign last year, Gaekwad, who is an hotelier and a first general successful entrepreneur, said. "With Trump becoming the president, a new India-US relationship will begin. This is one President in my lifetime, who has come on a television and said I love India, I love Indians, I want to help India, I want to fight terrorism. If that is not enough then what is enough," said Gaekwad. "No President has ever said this on a television at the election time. He is not afraid. He is the new breath in the time," he said adding that during the election campaign he had a chance to interact with Trump. "He understands India very well. I have not met a presidential candidate in my lifetime who knows about India, who has been to India and who understands India and who ever dared to say in the middle of a heated political debate that I love India and I love Hindus," said Gaekwad, who hails from the illustrious Gaekwad family of Baroda. He has been living in Florida for 29 years. Concurred Harry Walia, a member of the Trump's Asian American and Pacific Islanders Advisory Committee. "The relationship is going to be fantastic because we are natural allies. Trump has already made a statement that we are going to be best friends," he told PTI referring to the October Edison speech of the 45th president of the United States. With Trump inside the White House, Walia said is expects "a very open dialogue" between India and the US. "And it would be fruitful on defense side and economic side. Trump recognises US relationship with India is very different than the rest of the countries that he has been mentioning. Because we bring talent, we are economic engines in America. We are a peaceful community. We are activist in mainstream and we do not talk trash to anyone. We contribute a lot to the American society," he said. "Under Trump, the US-India relationship would be far better than it has been under any other American president," said California-based K V Kumar. "He is a businessman. He is going to establish a good business relationship with India. And India will greatly benefit from his administration," Kumar said. A large number of Indian-Americans from across the country have gathered in Washington to participate in Trump's inauguration. 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Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Vice President expresses grief over loss of lives in the train accident in Andhra Pradesh The Vice President of India, Shri M. Hamid Ansari has expressed grief over loss of lives in the train accident in Andhra Pradesh. In a message he said that he is deeply grieved and shocked at the tragic loss of life and injuries to passengers resulting from the accident of the Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Express. Following is the text of Vice President's message : "I am deeply grieved and shocked at the tragic loss of life and injuries to passengers resulting from the accident of the Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Express. I convey my heartfelt condolences to the members of the bereaved families and pray to the Almighty to give them strength and fortitude to withstand this immense loss. I also wish speedy recovery to the injured passengers." British Premier today said she will discuss free trade and terrorism with Donald Trump during the US President's first meeting with a foreign leader even as she made it clear that she won't be afraid to tell him if he says or does anything "unacceptable". May will be the first world leader to hold bilateral talks with the new US President when she meets him in Washington DC on Friday, White House has said. The two leaders will hold talks on issues such as trade, and security but the British PM today also stressed that she would not shy away from addressing difficult issues. "I will be talking to Donald Trump about the issues we share and how we can build on the special relationship. It is the special relationship that allows us to say when something is unacceptable. Whenever there is something I find unacceptable, I won't be afraid to say that to Donald Trump," she told the BBC. Asked whether she would raise some of the comments that Trump had made about women during the presidential campaign, she said: "I have already said that some of the comments Trump has made in relation to women were unacceptable. Some of those he himself has apologised for. "When I sit down, I think the biggest statement that will be made about the role of women is the fact that I will be there as a female prime minister, Prime Minister of the UK, directly taking to him about the interests that we share." Asked about her views on some of Trump's protectionist rhetoric on trade in his inauguration speech earlier this week, May highlighted that he had also spoken about the importance of a "trade agreement with the UK" and that is something the US wants to begin working on at an early stage. She said the Trump team is interested in discussing a new trade arrangement with Britain despite the "America first" theme of Trump's inaugural address and his vow to evaluate every trade deal for its possible benefits to the United States. She said the US and UK had a deep and broad-based relationship, spanning a range of shared interests and values. She noted: "There are issue that we will work on together in the future - the importance of NATO and defeating terrorism. "These are issues where we share the challenges and see the threats, where we have worked together in the past and will do so in the future." The British PM is set to fly out to Washington DC later in the week for what is expected to be a two-day visit to the US. There was dismay in Britain, applause in Russia and silence in Japan. French populists found hope, Mexican leaders expressed concern and Germanys vice chancellor offered an allusion to his countrys dark past. The travel company Expedia is trying to read my mind. Or more accurately, its trying to analyse my emotions to figure out how Im feeling as I go about booking travel on its website. To do so, Expedias researchers have wired me with electrodes. They are tracking my eye movements and scrutinising me through one-way glass in their recently opened usability lab in London. The lab is an important component in Bellevue, Washington-based Expedias efforts to stay ahead of a growing raft of competitors, from Pricelines Booking.com to ... With the new administration beginning, many people might want to know how to resist it. The inauguration week includes many protests against Donald Trumps values from the Womens March on Washington to the #J20 Art Strike. What should we aim for as we head into protests? Europes Socialists just got stung again, losing control of the European Parliament. This setback creates a simmering risk for PM Theresa May as she prepares to withdraw the from the EU in 2019. Already struggling in France, Italy and the Netherlands, the Socialists last week ceded leadership of the assembly.to Centre-right candidate Antonio Tajani who won the job after a power-sharing deal with the Socialists collapsed in acrimony, ending a coalition between the EU assemblys two biggest groups that had smoothed legislative business. With the 28-nation Parliament due to vote on any Brexit deal just before European legislative elections in mid-2019, EU insiders and observers question if the assemblys Socialists will go into opposition mode for the next two years. That would bury a traditional grand coalition of centrist European parties, leave them taking aim at each other in a bid to stem populist momentum and heighten the risk of an assembly veto of any accord on the UKs exit from the bloc. The poaching of Tesco veteran Claire Peters by Australias largest supermarket Woolworths is the latest in a line of British trained retail executives who made their way to Australia. Sadly, the shortsightedness of Australian retail management and years of complacency has forced supermarket boards to look further afield for retail talent. Two soldiers from the Assam Rifles lost their lives today in an encounter with terrorists belonging to the Socialist Council of Nagaland - Khaplang NSCN (K) near Jairampur in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh. There was a heavy exchange of gunfire between the two groups and multiple grenades were also blasted by (NSCN-K). A Toyota Fortuner bearing no. AS06L 0033 was damaged in the blast. None of the passengers were injured. Further details of encounter casualties are awaited. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After the promulgation of an ordinance in the Jallikattu case, the Tamil Nadu Government on Sunday filed a caveat in the Supreme Court. Advocate, Raja Raman, who is the intervener in the matter, told ANI that if any aggrieved party would come to Supreme Court with any plea, then the apex court should hear the side of the state government before passing any order. "The apex court has to hear the state of Tamil Nadu side if any kind of petition cones before the SC after the promulgation of ordinance in Jallikattu," Raman said. Meanwhile, locals in Alanganallur in Madurai, where Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam is to inaugurate the sport, are determined to not go ahead with the event as they feel that the ordinance is a step simply to pacify them temporarily, and they want a 'permanent' solution. "We won't allow this to happen as we don't need just any temporary solution. We need a permanent solution to the problem and it has to be non conditional. Today we will not let Jallikattu happen .All villagers including youth, elders and others have all been sitting here in protest," said a demonstrator. Yesterday, Tamil Nadu Governor Vidyasagar Rao promulgated an ordinance paving way for resuming Jallikattu game in the state. With the ordinance, the decks are cleared now for conducting the bull-taming game that remained stalled since May 2014 due to court ban. The ordinance seeks to amend the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 in the state, purportedly with the aim of ensuring survival and wellbeing of native breeds of bulls and preserving cultural traditions of the state. A section of the protesters seek an Act as a permanent solution, which has been promised by the Chief Minister. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday warned dissidents that they would be expelled from the party if they do not withdraw their nominations for the assembly polls by Tuesday. The Congress is facing rebels, who had caused the party's loss in the 2012 assembly elections also, in nearly 25 seats. "The interests of Punjab and its people are supreme and could not be allowed to be compromised for personal gains," he said. He gave the rebels 48 hours to withdraw from the contest if they did not want to face permanent expulsion from the party. "Congress high command had decided not to take them back once they were expelled for defiance," he added. The former chief minister asked the Congress' rebels to opt out of the February 4 polls race and put up a united front to defeat the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) "It amounts to violation of the party's disciplinary ethics, which could not be permitted at any cost," he told the media here. Captain Amarinder, who released the Congress' manifesto for next month's electoral battle, also trained guns at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) while alleging that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party plans to bring around 45,000 people from outside for campaigning. "This may cause a law and order problem. I have written to the Election Commission in this regard," he said. Highlighting the Congress manifesto, Captain Amarinder promised free education for girl child from class one till Ph.D. level. He also promised free travel passes to senior citizens, ex-servicemen and students in state transport buses. Talking about the controversial Sutluj- Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, he said, "We need two- third of majority in state assembly to bring about a change." "Earlier, we faced injustice. We wanted this issue to be heard in the Supreme Court. I need two-third majority to bring about the change in assembly. We will abide by the Constitution and won't break the law," he said. The most controversial water sharing dispute between the two states of Punjab and Haryana continues over the decision to construct the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal in 1981. Once the 214km canal sees completion, it will transfer water to Haryana from the Sutlej. The assembly elections in Punjab will be held on February 4 and votes will be counted on March 11. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chinese Cultural Show, Programmed by Xinjiang Art Theater Song and Dance Troupe, China took place early this week, on January 18, 2017 at Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi. It was organised to celebrate "Chinese New Year 2017" by Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of India, in association with China National Tourist Office and India China Economic and Cultural Council. The aim of this cultural evening is to represent a slice of Chinese culture to the friends in India, and to strengthen bilateral cultural cooperation between the two nations. Chinese New Year 2017, the year of the Fire Rooster, which starts from January 28, comes with its own set of traditions to ensure a healthy as well as prosperous year ahead. Every year, a cultural evening is organized to celebrate the occasion of Chinese New Year in India. When asked, Zhang Zhihong, Cultural Counsellor, Embassy of China in India said "Chinese New Year is one of the most important traditional festivals in China and now is getting popular in many parts of the world. We are happy to share the joy of this traditional festival with Indian friends and for this purpose we bring Xinjiang Art Theater Song and Dance Troupe this year to India. I believe it will make Indian people know more about the diversified and rich culture of China, thus further deepening cultural cooperation and exchange between our two great countries" Adding further to the spirit of the occasion, Mohammed Saqib, Secretary General, India China Economic and Cultural Council, "I congratulate all my Chinese friends on the occasion of Chinese New Year and wish to bring more cultural troupes and artistic treasures from China to India to celebrate such occasions. I am very happy to bring Xinjiang Art Theater Song and Dance Troupe to India to perform among Indian audiences." The evening witnessed an array of performances from the Xinjiang Art Theater Song and Dance Troupe from China like Acrobatics play Diabolo- is a juggling prop consisting of a spool which will whistle while whirled and tossed on a string tied to two sticks held one on each hand. Stomping dance- is a time honored folk dance with more than two thousand year history. Hand technique- the performer adeptly uses his hand to play with and toss Sapayi. Melody of Love- the dance shows the romantic story of two happy lovers by delicate facial expression and graceful gestures. Shaking Hula Hoops- shows how performers spinning Hula hoops up in their own incredible acrobatic styles. Flower pattern waistband- waistband is the love token of Xinxiang girls. Bowl dance- is a highly regarded traditional dance with plates and bowls as props which requires varieties of skills and manifest the charming and graceful features. Kumuzi- means beautiful instrument and it becomes a part of herdsmen's life of local people. Group Dance Jula- means vivid and joyous light and is also known as a musical form from "the Twelve Muqam", a famous suite of twelve sections of classical folk music in Xinxiang. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress Party on Sunday released its first list of 63 candidates for the upcoming Uttarakhand Assembly elections. Chief Minister Harish Rawat will contest the election from Hardwar Rural and Kichha area. Apart from Rawat, prominent leaders like Kishore Upadhyay will fight from Sahaspur and Prashad Naithani will fight from Deoprayag. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has already released its name of nominees for the legislative assembly elections. Uttarakhand will vote for 70 assembly constituencies in a single-phase on February 15. The counting of votes will take place on March 11. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court will on Monday hear the plea filed by December 16 gang rape convicts Mukesh, Akshay, Pawan and Vinay, challenging the Delhi High court order which had sentenced the four convicts to the gallows after keeping in view the fact that it was a rarest of the rare case. The appeal, which is being heard by the Apex Court bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra, is at the fag end in the case. Earlier, the apex court had declined the request by two amici curiae - senior counsel Raju Ramachandran and Sanjay R Hegde to withdraw from assisting the court in hearing of appeals by the convicts in the gang rape case. Asking both to continue assisting the court in hearing of the appeals by the four accused convicted and sentenced to death, the three judge bench comprising of justices Dipak Misra, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan said: "We can appreciate the anguish expressed by the learned amici curiae". Six people gang-raped a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern in a moving bus and thrashed her and her male friend. They then violently raped and attacked her, and threw both of them from the moving bus on Dec 16. The woman succumbed to her injuries in a Singapore hospital on December 29, 2012. The incident led to large scale protests across the country, forcing the government of the day to make strict and punitive laws related to harassment of women. One of the accused, Ram Singh hanged himself in prison, while another man, who was a juvenile at the time of the crime, was convicted in August and will serve the maximum sentence of three years in a reform home. Meanwhile, on December 3, amicus curiae Sanjay Hegde questioned the evidence produced by the prosecution in the gang-rape case, and came out with certain points putting a question on the merit of evidence. According to Hegde, one of the convicts, Mukesh, was not with the prime culprit Ram Singh when the offence was committed, since their mobile locations were found to be different on that night. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As the Congress and Samajwadi Party alliance seems to be on the brink of collapse ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, SP leader Gaurav Bhatia said the dialogue is continuing and state Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will take the final call regarding it. "All speculation would be put to rest very soon and we would also like to focus on the elections. Akhilesh Yadav will take the final call in this," Bhatia told ANI. Bhatia further said that the dialogue is continuing between both the parties and something concrete would be come out of it very soon. The alliance between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party failed to take place over the matter of seat distribution, as the former was demanding more seats than the latter for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. Speaking to ANI, Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal yesterday said Akhilesh Yadav was offering 100 seats, but the Congress was not ready for less than 120 seats. The Congress, however, did not confirm the breakup and continued to remain vague over an alliance with the Samajwadi Party. Uttar Pradesh Congress President Raj Babbar said that they will fight on all the seats of the first and second phase and added that there is no obstruction while having discussion on the alliance. According to sources, the main bone of contention between the two parties emerged when the Congress wanted more seats in Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies, the stronghold of the Gandhi family, whereas the Samajwadi Party was unwilling to field their 'failed' candidates on the same. Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will release the party's manifesto at 11 a.m. today in Lucknow. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) More than 500,000 people participated in the Women's March on Washington in DC on Saturday including actress Ashley Judd, who raised eyebrows for her rant against the new President. The Hollywood actress and the pop star departed from the general spirit of inclusivity and calls for mutual respect with personal attacks not only on Trump but also his family, including daughter Ivanka. Ashley read a poem by 19-year-old Nina Donovan from her home state of Tennessee. "I am a nasty woman," the poem began. "Not as nasty as a man who looks like he bathes in Cheeto dust, a man whose words are a dis to America, Electoral College-sanctioned hate speech." "I feel Hitler in these streets," the poem continued, "Nazis renamed." Another line referenced Trump's past comments about the attractiveness of his daughter: "I'm not as nasty as your daughter being your favorite sex symbol." "Our p-ies ain't for grabbing," the poem concluded. "This p-- is for my pleasure and giving birth to more nasty woman." The march is expected to be largest inauguration-related protest in US history and comes the day after Donald Trump was sworn in as President of the United States. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hailing the decision of the Tamil Nadu Government to issue an ordinance permitting Jallikattu, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday said government has to bend before the will of the people. "The Tamil Nadu Government has issued an ordinance permitting Jallikattu in the state. The state government has to bend before the will of the people. Ultimately, it is people power that matters in democracy, has proved once again," BJP leader S Prakash told ANI. Prakash also demanded that similar ordinance should also be issued by the state government for permitting Kambada, which was also banned in South Kannada district. "Kambada also needs to be allowed by the government. I hope the judiciary understand the sentiments of the people and act accordingly," he added. Tamil Nadu Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao yesterday approved the ordinance issued by the state government revoking ban on Jallikattu. Chief Minister O Panneerselvam will inaugurate the sport at Alanganallur in Madurai today. Other ministers of the state will also inaugurate the traditional bull-taming sport in their respective districts. The Bill to replace today's ordinance passed by the Governor on Jallikattu, will be tabled in the state assembly when the first assembly session begins on January 23. Panneerselvam informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the ordinance promulgated by the state government and said that Jallikattu is to be conducted with customary fervor with all necessary safeguards. From the past five days, Chennai's Marina Beach has been thronged by massive crowd demanding to lift the ban of the traditional sport. The Tamil Nadu Government had earlier sent an ordinance on Jallikattu to the Home Ministry, which was passed by the Centre yesterday. The ordinance was later sent to President Pranab Mukherjee for his assent. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal will aim to clinch her first title since coming back from injury when she takes on Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong in the finals of the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament here today. The top-seed yesterday booked her place in the finals of the ongoing tournament after crushing Hong Kong's YIP Pui Yin 21-13, 21-10 in a one-sided semi-final clash of the women's singles event that lasted around half-an-hour. Meanwhile, Chochuwong stormed into the summit showdown after surviving scare against second-seed Cheung Ngan Yi of Hong Kong 21-19, 20-22, 21-18. Saina had endured an injury-plagued 2016 season.She sustained an intra-articular injury (inside the joint) to her right knee which affected her progress in the badminton event at the Rio Olympic 2016 where she lost in the group stage. Subsequently, she also underwent a knee surgery at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital and Medical Research Institute in Mumbai before returning to action in China Open in November last year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) More than a million Americans took to the streets of the United States to protest Donald Trump the day after his inauguration, excluding the many thousands of people who took part in the main event -The Women's March on Washington - for which there was no official crowd estimate. The figure comes from compiled official estimates from law enforcement agencies for many of marches around the country that drew large crowds, reports the CNN. In the CNN report, massive gatherings in places like New York and Denver were not included because authorities there did not offer an official estimate. The Women's March drew members of Congress, world-famous actresses and countless citizens. The protesters came out for a range of reasons, including immigration, health care and a general antipathy to Trump. But most said they wanted to show support for women and feared that there will be attacks on women's rights during Trump's presidency. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Privacy Overview This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. The ruling Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) and main opposition parties have agreed on the announcement of the civic poll dates in three to four days, however, they stuck to their old stances on the Constitution Amendment Bill. This means the political deadlock will continue for some time, but all sides have agreed to fast-track the passage of election related bills, reports the Himalayan Times. According to CPN-Maoist Centre leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha, the ruling and opposition parties agreed on issues related to local polls, such as passing election related bills as soon as possible and declaring local poll dates in three to four days, but failed to forge consensus on the Constitution Amendment Bill. "UML leaders told us to withdraw the bill but we refused to do so," said Shrestha adding that the government would declare local polls in the next three to four days and prepare to hold polls by mid-May. When asked whether the government would now postpone the process of the bill, Shrestha said: "The ruling parties want it to pass on the basis of consensus or settle the matter through the voting process, but they will decide after consulting the agitating forces. The Federal Alliance and the United Democratic Madhesi Front have been saying they will accept polls only after a revised Constitution Amendment Bill is passed. Nine opposition parties led by the UML have been obstructing House proceedings to stall any debate on the constitution amendment bill. Meanwhile, UML Deputy Parliamentary Party leader Subas Chandra Nembang said the meeting agreed to announce poll dates in a couple days. Asked what his party would do in the House, Nembang said his party lawmakers would continue obstructing proceedings related to the Constitution Amendment Bill but not other processes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The political drama refuses to die down in the Samajwadi Party (SP) as Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh on Sunday alleged that he received a death threat from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's uncle and mentor Ram Gopal Yadav. In a shocking remark, the expelled SP leader claimed his life is in danger and added that Ram Gopal has openly threatened to kill him. "I am on Ram Gopal's target. He is openly issuing murder threats against me. Ram Gopal Yadav has said that Mulayam Singh considers Amar Singh as his brother... He should come to Uttar Pradesh and return safely," Singh told the media. The expelled SP leader also hit out at Akhilesh for ignoring him post-expulsion. The Rajya Sabha MP further said that that he has only praised Akhilesh which shouldn't be taken as his request to join the party. "I am not expecting any revocation of expulsion and I am not at all interested. He will neither take back his father nor his uncles. One who braves difficult situation is a human being. All battles are not fought to win... Some are fought to lose. I will always be with Mulayam ji," Singh said. "I used to call myself 'Mulayamwadi'...now after dedicating himself to his son, Mulayam has now become 'Akhileshwadi'. He has left me alone. Now, Mulayam Singh has freed me. I am free now... and I will fully utilise this freedom. Truth will emerge... Just wait for it," he added. It is interesting to note that Singh was recently accorded 'Z' category security cover after reports stated that the Rajya Sabha MP faces possible danger. This comes in the wake of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections which is scheduled to begin from February 11. 'Desi girl' Priyanka Chopra has come out in the support of Women's March, organised in Washington D.C., a day after Donald Trump sworn in as the 45th president of the United States of America. To show her support PeeCee took to her Twitter and tweeted, "So proud of all my sisters and the men that are at the #WomensMarch I'm so upset I couldn't go. #girllove #womensrightsarehumanrights." Many celebs including, Nargis Fakhri and Salman Khan's 'Tubelight' co-star Zhu Zhu too supported the march via social media. Scores of people participated in this 'Women's March' in an attempt to unify masses against issues concerning women's rights. The mass event was held in Washington D.C aimed to send a message 'Women's rights are human rights.' Many Hollywood celebrities and activists including, America Ferrera, Gloria Steinem, Michael Moore and Madonna, spoke to the crowds in the US capital. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) If the role is unique, how can the promotional strategy be simple? Shah Rukh Khan, who is all set to portray a notorious don on-screen, has decided to ditch the old-school style of promotions for his upcoming release, 'Raees', as the actor will be travelling from Mumbai to Delhi via train for its promotion in the national capital. Moreover, the Badshaah of Bollywood will be meeting and interacting with people at every station the train stops at. The entire team, producer Ritesh Sidhwani, director Rahul Dholakia and others will also be undertaking a rail commute. The group is getting winter ready and is immensely looking forward to enter the city of Delhi, this time by train! The train that SRK and the team are boarding is an August Kranti that will leave from Bombay Central at 5 pm and will be reaching Hazrat Nizamuddin at 10.55 am. Here are the stations the train is likely to stop at, so grab your spot: Andheri, Borivili, Wapi, Walsad, surat, Baruch, Baroda, Ratlam, Kota, Savai Modhopur and Mathura. On a related note, the flick is all set to clash with Hrithik Roshan-starrer 'Kabil' on January 25. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Advisor to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, has congratulated United States President Donald Trump on assuming office. "The people and leadership of Pakistan welcome the successful transition in the U.S. and congratulate the honourable Donald Trump on assuming the office as the45th President of the United States,"the Daily Times quoted Aziz as saying in a statement on Saturday. Trump was sworn-in to office on Friday. His presidential race rival Hillary Clinton along with her husband Bill Clinton and other former presidents, George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, and their first ladies, also attended the inauguration. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court will on Monday hear a plea seeking postponement of Union Budget presentation ahead of the upcoming assembly polls in five states. Manohar Lal Sharma, who has filed a plea seeking postponement of the Union Budget to March, earlier on January 20 asked the apex court for more time to reply in the matter. Sharma in his plea stated that the people would face a lot of problems due to the upcoming assembly elections in five states. An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar said they would hear the matter in due course of time. Earlier in December last year, the apex court refused to give an urgent hearing to Sharma's plea. The Election Commission had on January 4 came out with the schedule of assembly elections to be held in five states, including Uttar Pradesh. The Centre has already decided to convene the Budget Session of Parliament from January 31 to present the Budget for 2017-18 fiscal the very next day. The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Sunday said the opposition parties are extremely disturbed by the unity of the first family of Uttar Pradesh and therefore spreading rumours against the party. "Mulayam Singh Yadav's blessings are always there with us. Everything in the party is absolutely fine. The opposition is in fear and that's why they want that rumours about us are spread," Samajwadi Party leader Gaurav Bhatia told ANI. He further said that the Samajwadi Party would form the government soon and would win more seats in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. "There is something for everyone be it farmers, labourers, youth. Rs. 1,000 pension will be given to one crore people. We are also trying to make metros available in other cities," he added. Appreciating Akhilesh Yadav, Bhatia said that the Chief Minister has a clean and pure image. "Infrastructure, heath and education are our main priority. All of these points fall under our manifesto. Mulayam Singh Yadav is such a leader which none of the parties have," he added. Reacting on the absence of Mulayam Singh Yadav in the manifesto function, Bhatia said that for some unforeseen reason the former (Mulayam Singh Yadav) could not attend the function, adding that that the Samajwadi Party supremo would be campaigning for the party. Putting all speculations to rest, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party has finally forged an alliance for the high-voltage Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. The Congress, which wanted to contest as many as 121 seats, has reportedly now settled for 105 seats. Uttar Pradesh will vote in seven phases beginning February 11 and results will be announced on March 11. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Taking cue from the mounting protests in Tamil Nadu in support of bull-taming sport Jallikattu, the Shiv Sena has decided to back the protest against the ban on bullock cart race in Maharashtra. Shiv Sena MP from South Municipal Corporation, Arvind Sawant told ANI, "The Shiv Sena did not raise the demand now. Our MP had earlier demanded for it. That time Prakash Javadekar was the environment minister. The demand for Jallikattu was done in front of us in the Parliament. Many people have gathered at the Marina beach for Jallikattu. Unfortunately, this does not take place even for our border issue." Asserting that the issue not only adheres to Mumbai but the entire state of Maharashtra, Sawant said the Shiv Sena would support the protest. Bullock cart races were organised during the Pune Festival, which is part of Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. Its supporters claim that the sport has been organised for more than three centuries as a tradition. The Supreme Court had banned the practice of bullock cart races along with Jallikattu in 2014. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Putting all speculations to rest, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party on Sunday finally forged an alliance for the high-voltage Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. The Congress, which wanted to contest as many as 121 seats, has reportedly now settled for 105 seats. The development comes after Congress general secretary Ahmed Patel said that Priyanka Gandhi intervened to end the ongoing deadlock over entering into an alliance to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the politically crucial state. "Wrong to suggest lightweights were dealing on behalf of Congress party.Discussion was at highest level- b/w CM (UP),GS I/C & Priyanka Gandhi," he tweeted. Eyeing a second term in office, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav yesterday said that his final offer was 100 seats for the Congress. Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal yesterday said the possibility of an alliance was "almost over" and blamed the "stubborn" attitude of Congress for the deadlock. "The Chief Minister (Akhilesh Yadav) had made an offer of 100 seats to the Congress, but they are asking for 120 seats. We told them that we have 234 sitting legislators and there are some others who will also contest. So, we need at least 300 seats for ourselves," Agarwal told ANI. Akhilesh had earlier on Friday announced candidates for 209 constituencies, which will vote in the first two phases of the assembly polls. Interestingly, the constituencies included nine in western Uttar Pradesh which were won by the grand old party in the 2012 assembly polls. The Samajwadi Party said to be the major partner in the alliance has so far argued that the Congress performed better only in 54 seats in Uttar Pradesh in the last polls. Uttar Pradesh will vote in seven phases beginning February 11 and results will be announced on March 11. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) United States President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner's name has been cleared by the Justice Department to serve in the White House. A 14-page opinion issued by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel said that appointment of Kushner as a senior White House adviser does not violate federal anti-nepotism laws. Government lawyers said that the special hiring authority exempted White House positions from federal laws barring the president from appointing relatives to lead federal agencies, reports The New York Times. Kushner's appointment was questioned on the basis of a 1967 anti-nepotism law, but his lawyer has asserted that the appointment was legal. The Justice Department's opinion approved Kushner's name by citing a subsequent 1978 law that gives the president the authority to appoint White House staff members without regard to other laws restricting employment and compensation of federal employees. The 35-year-old businessman-turned-political strategist played a key part in his father-in-law's presidential campaign and his new position is expected to test the limit of federal anti-nepotism rules. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Asserting that India is a global power, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, UAE Anwar Gargash on Sunday said its strategic relationship with New Delhi is above all. "Our strategic relationship with India is above all since India is one of the most important countries on the globe. So, it has nothing to do with India-Pakistan relation. India is important because it is India. It has opportunity, potential, science and population," Gargash said. Pointing out that it is extremely difficult to engage with India as it is a large democracy, Gargash said UAE needs to engage more with New Delhi. "It is very difficult to engage with India because India is a large democracy...so a lot of time it is busy with itself. In today's world, you have to nurture relationships...you have to build good relationships," he added. Asserting that UAE is doing extremely well, Gargash said they are actually trying to prove that the model of the country is even more important or larger. "The model of the UAE is a Muslim country and at the same time it is a modern country. To achieve that, you have to be open to the world, tolerant and you should be able to offer something to a more globalised . So, along these lines, I think we are doing very well," he added. While stating that India is a global power, Gargash further said that it is in New Delhi's interest to win in fight against extremism and terrorism. "We (India-UAE) have this wonderful relationship. Things are moving well. In the next 12 months, we will see more developments in the relationship," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Downplaying the freshly forged alliance between the Samajwadi Party and Congress for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the Bahujan Samaja Party (BSP) on Sunday said the people will never vote for them as the state witnessed communal riots under both parties, adding their dream will never come true. BSP leader Sudhindra Bhadoria said that the Samajwadi Party and Congress would be of the opinion that this alliance will be a game changer but the fact is that their dream will never be fulfilled. "Akhlaq was lynched in Dadri (during the Samajwadi Party regime). Similarly, during the Congress rule we saw that when Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister, the Babri Masjid was demolished. We also saw the opening of the doors of Babri Masjid during the reign of Rajiv Gandhi. We also saw that there were rights like Bhagalpur, Bhiwandi, Nasik, Meerut, Maliana and so many other riots took place during the reign of the Congress Party and now these forces have come together," Bhadoria told ANI. "We are hopeful and sure that the people of Uttar Pradesh will stand by Mayawati and give her absolute majority and Mayawati will be the Chief Minister for the fifth time" he added. In Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party and Congress have finally agreed to forge alliance for the upcoming assembly elections. The Samajwadi Party will field 298 candidates and the Congress 105, the Samajwadi Party's Uttar Pradesh chief Naresh Uttam said at a joint conference in Lucknow. Congress' Uttar Pradesh unit president Raj Babbar said the alliance will set an example, adding both parties will strive for development of the state and upliftment of the poor. Uttar Pradesh will vote in seven phases beginning February 11 and results will be announced on March 11. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a highly controversial move, President of the United States Donald Trump will on Monday announce to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The White House has confirmed that Donald Trump's team is in the "beginning stages" of a plan to relocate US Israeli embassy to Jerusalem. An Israeli news outlet earlier reported an anonymous source as saying the announcement on America's embassy moving from Tel Aviv would be made by a member of Trump administration on Monday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to speak with Trump by telephone on Sunday regarding the move. The decision to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem would represent a major break with US policy. The Palestinians have said that an embassy move would kill any prospect for peace. Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, imam of the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, has previously warned that relocating the embassy would be as good as a "declaration of war". Donald Trump has said repeatedly that he intends to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem, despite warnings the move would violate international law and destroy the peace process. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least 11 persons were killed on Saturday when an explosion rocked a camp for displaced Syrians near the Syria-Jordan border, a monitor group reported. The blast rocked the Rukban camp near the Jordanian border when a car bomb went off at the outskirts of the camp, Xinhua news agency cited the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The UK-based watchdog group said a father, mother and their two kids were among those killed, adding that the death toll could likely rise due to the high number of critically wounded people. Meanwhile, Jordan's state-run Petra news agency said a total of 14 Syrians who were injured in a blast were allowed to enter into Jordan. Around 85,000 Syrians, who are stuck on the border between Syria and Jordan, live in that camp. It wasn't clear who carried out the explosion, but it bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State (IS) group. Last June, IS carried out a suicide bombing near the camp, killing seven people and injuring 13 others. --IANS lok/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) This is no rags to riches story, but one of hard work, dedication and commitment that propelled 66-year-old M.T. Mathews from a small, pretty village near here to the board of a leading Bahraini conglomerate and earned him the rare citizenship of the Gulf country. On Sunday night, the setting was perfect at his home village, Pullad, located about 15 km from here where he grew up, when around 200 people, comprising his relatives and others honoured him for carrying the tag of being a 'Malayalee Bahraini citizen'. The function was a solemn one sans the otherwise flashy ingredients that are quite popular when a person is honoured and, more so, if it's someone from the Kerala diaspora. On the stage were two priests from the Mar Thoma Church to which Mathews belongs and there were no long speeches, generally meant to make the 'man of the moment' happy. Modest in his achievements, Mathews made a very brief speech and he thanked almighty god for all his success and gave a micro account of how he climbed to his level. He said that soon after his matriculation in the mid-1960s, his uncle called him to Bombay (now Mumbai) and he was recruited into the Indian Air Force. After his brief training, during which he learnt that discipline is a must for success, he suffered a huge setback when he was discharged after being declared medically unfit. A shattered Mathews made a hasty return to his home village but his uncle asked him to go away. He trained as an air-conditioning mechanic and he got an opportunity in Bahrain. "In September 1969 after almost a week-long journey on a tossing ship, I reached Bahrain. I got a small job and after a few years, I got married. My wife also secured a job and since she was employed, I got an opportunity to go to the United States for further studies," said Mathews. Returning with a US qualification, Mathews' hard work saw him rise and become a vital cog in the Y.K. Almoayyed & Sons group of companies and today is the only non-Bahraini on the 11-member board of the company that employs more than 5,500 people. The group operates in the area of automobiles, heavy equipment, consumer electronics and home appliances, furnishing and interior design, industrial and building systems, building materials, construction, contracting, air conditioning, facility management, ready-mix concrete, FMCG, high-end luxury goods, fashion, perfumes and cosmetics, photography and business equipment, among others. Watching the entire proceedings at close quarters was his 92-year-old mother, who felt elated that it was she who taught him that if one is hardworking and committed, nothing succeeds like success. (Sanu George can be contacted at sanu.g@ians.in) A car bomb explosion hit the Libyan capital Tripoli late on Saturday, near the Italian embassy, Xinhua news agency reported. The incident took place in downtown Tripoli where several embassy buildings are located. Some media reports said the explosion killed two people. The explosion damaged nearby vehicles and buildings. No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing. The Italian embassy is the first Western embassy to return to Libya after leaving in February 2015 due to insecurity following violent battles between rival militias in Tripoli. --IANS gsh/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) GMR Group-led consortium Delhi International Airport Ltd. (DIAL) on Sunday said it has bagged the prestigious Golden Peacock Award for Corporate Social Responsibility in the aviation transport sector for 2016. The award was presented on Friday at a special presentation ceremony during the 11th International Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility, a DIAL release said here. "The award reaffirms our commitment towards achieving exemplary results for our society while following the best practises," DIAL Chief Executive Prabhakara Rao said. The Golden Peacock Awards were founded by the Institute of Directors, India, in 1991 and are globally regarded as a benchmark of corporate excellence. The Quality Award Scheme was instituted to encourage total quality improvements in both manufacturing and service organisations in India. Over 325 responses were received for the annual awards this year, of which 191 shortlisted applications were subjected to a three-tier assessment process for final selection, the statement added. Earlier this week, DIAL also won the 6th EPC World Awards for its contribution in the infrastructure and construction sector. "The has been adjudged as the world's no. 1 airport in ACI ASQ survey in the 25-40 million passengers per annum category for two consecutive years from 2014," DIAL said. Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said there is total freedom of expression in India and those who complained about freedom of speech now should remember the Emergency. "India is the first and foremost a country where there is total freedom of speech and expression. Total. You can call the Prime Minister by any name. You call him Hitler, you call him Mussolini... You can write articles," the Information and Broadcasting Minister told the media here. "People talking about freedom of expression should remember the Emergency where lakhs of people were put in jail. When all media was censored. Fundamental rights were broken. All this happened during Congress rule," Naidu said when asked to respond to criticism of the Centre by the Church in Goa. Reacting to criticism of cashless and digitalisation initiatives, Naidu said: "It is their view. The country's view is this is long overdue. There is a parallel economy going on in the country." Former Spice Girl Geri Horner, who has been keeping fans updated with her second pregnancy on social media, has announced that she has welcomed a baby with her husband Christian Horner. "Christian and I are delighted to announce our baby boy was born this morning," she tweeted on Saturday, reports ok.co.uk. She is already mother to daughter Bluebell. Fellow Spice Girl Emma Bunton, whose birthday also falls on January 21, tweeted: "Amazing news, so happy! Birthday twins. Love you all." --IANS nn/rb (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) From a simpleton to action-oriented roles -- actress Sonakshi Sinha who has explored a variety of roles in Bollywood, says it's a great time to be a girl in the industry as filmmakers are increasingly exploring women-centric movies. Sonakshi made her Bollywood debut alongside superstar Salman Khan starrer "Dabangg" and has been on a roll ever since. She has featured in action-packed stunts in films like "Akira" and "Force 2" and next will be seen in "Noor". "It's a great time to be a girl in the industry because there are such wonderful roles being written for us," Sonakshi told IANS over phone when asked how she feels about filmmakers concentrating on women-centric roles in Bollywood. The 29-year-old, who has also been a part of films like "Lootera" and "Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty", has clocked over half a dozen years in the Hindi film industry. And it's been a learning experience. "Very eventful," she said when asked to describe her journey. "I have learnt a lot...It has been a great learning process. And that's how I look at it." The daughter of veteran actor and politician Shatrughan Sinha and actress Poonam Sinha, Sonakshi started her career as a costume designer. And years later, here she was on Friday, walking as the showstopper for celebrated designer Monisha Jaising's exquisite collection for Lakme Fashion Week Summer/ Resort 2017, atop international luxury cruise liner Costa neoClassica. Looking radiant in a playful short tangerine dress with a long trail, Sonakshi said she loved the "princess theme". "I actually never wear stuff like that, so when I got the opportunity to wear such a long trail, I really liked it." Is Sonakshi a fashion conscious person? "Not at all. I have got a very individualistic style, which is grungy, edgy and sporty... Because that's how I have always dressed since I was a child... I have grown up wearing boys' clothes and I feel now that has become a fashionable statement... So, I think little bit of that is still in me," said the actress, who has two brothers. Jaising's collection saw an array of patterns, fully embellished party dresses and cocktail saris in black, gold, grey, white, rose pink, rose tan with a pop of red, orange and fuchsia. The range was infused with opulent fabrics like satin, wool crepe, Italian organza, chikankari and more. Sonakshi said she likes the designer's work as her creations accentuate the Indian body. --IANS dc/rb (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Haryana government and police are prepared for any eventuality, with a faction of the Jat leadership announcing it will renew its Jat agitation for reservation which left 30 dead last year. Haryana government officials said on Sunday that a close watch was being kept on some Jat leaders, especially those owing allegiance to the All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS) headed by Yashpal Malik. The AIJASS has given a call for Jat protests from January 29. Haryana Director General of Police K.P. Singh said that if anyone was found indulged in any illegal activity or causing loss to public property, action would be initiated against him. "There is no shortage of police personnel and 7,000 Home Guards will be deputed with Haryana Police from January 26. Besides, adequate police personnel are being deputed in all districts. With the help of people and concerted efforts of police officers, there will be no need of extra force," Singh said. The Jat agitation in February last year left 30 people dead and over 200 injured. Government and private property worth hundreds of crores was damaged and set on fire. Large-scale looting of commercial and business premises and even motorists was reported from the 10 worst affected districts. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Saturday that people should refrain from participating in any agitation. He said the government will deal with the situation. "Yashpal Malik was not doing any good by directly or indirectly politicising the issue of Jat reservation. Malik should not politicise the issue of Jat reservation," Khattar said. "People should maintain peace and not participate in any kind agitation which is politically motivated. As far as Jat reservation is concerned, the Haryana government has enacted a law and now the issue is with the court," he said. Rohtak, Sonipat, Panipat, Jhajjar, Jind, Hisar and other districts were the worst affected during the Jat agitation last year. --IANS js/gsh/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Sourabh Raaj Jain says if not for actor Akkineni Nagarjuna and filmmaker K. Raghavendra Rao, he wouldn't have accepted the offer to play Lord Balaji in the Telugu devotional drama "Om Namo Venkatesaya". "Playing a mythological character was not new to me. I have played Krishna on Hindi television and I had decided to take a break from essaying such characters. So when the offer to play Lord Balaji came my way, I turned it down," Sourabh told IANS. However, director Rao and Nagarjuna insisted that he should be part of the project. "When the offer came to me the second time, I learnt that Nagarjuna Sir is also part of the film. When I met them they helped me understand the story better and made me see my character in a different light," he said. On working with Nagarjuna, who was the prime reason for Sourabh to accept the project, he said: "No matter how much I say about him, it will still be less. "He's very humble, kind-hearted and he guided me right from the beginning. It was slightly intimidating to watch him perform but the compassion he has in his eyes for his character made me play my role with conviction. "He also helped me with my lines and whenever I had difficulty understanding the language, he'd explain it in Hindi or English," he said. Talking about the experience of working with septuagenarian director Raghavendra Rao, Sourabh said his passion for cinema inspired him. "The passion with which he makes films at his age is so inspiring. We had shot on mountains and it required a lot of physical activity. He didn't have any problem climbing and walking long distances," he said. The film, which is slated for release in February, also stars Vimala Raman, Pragya Jaiswal and Jagapathi Babu. --IANS hp/dc/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that he will renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with the leaders of Mexico and Canada. Renegotiating the pact, signed two decades ago, was one of Trump's primary campaign promises, EFE news reported. At a White House event to swear in several top officials he had named, the President confirmed his intention to renegotiate NAFTA with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, whom he will welcome in Washington on January 31, and with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whom he intends to meet soon. Trump blames NAFTA for killing US jobs and for the closing of companies in the United States and the shifting of their operations to Mexico to lower costs. The President said that he would discuss NAFTA with Pena Nieto along with "immigration" and "border security". On Saturday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said that Pena Nieto, whom he mistakenly referred to as the Mexican "Prime Minister", will visit the White House on January 31. The Mexican President's Office, meanwhile, said in a statement that on Saturday Pena Nieto telephoned Trump to congratulate him on his inauguration and express the willingness to "work on an agenda that benefits both countries". One of Trump's key campaign promises was to build a wall along the US-Mexican border to halt illegal immigration to the United States, a wall that -- he said -- Mexico will pay for. Spicer said that Trump also spoke on Saturday by phone with Trudeau, with whom he held a "constructive" conversation. --IANS lok/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Harvard chemist and energy innovator Daniel G. Nocera is a man on a "renewable" mission. The inventor of the artificial leaf and co-creator of its bionic version plans to launch a pilot of the advanced technology in India with the assertion that a "renewable energy revolution will take place" in the country. "I have no doubt about it. The revolution in renewable energy will happen in India. When you look at places in the developed world like the US, you are looking backwards, meaning that's what it used to be like (coal, oil and gas) and the emerging countries have a decision to take: Do they want to build something looking back or do they want to do something different," Nocera told IANS in an interview here on the sidelines of SABIC (Symposium on Advanced Biological Inorganic Chemistry) 2017. Nocera, currently the Patterson Rockwood Professor of Energy in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, invented the artificial leaf which used solar power to split water and make hydrogen fuel. Because society isn't set up to use hydrogen, to circumvent the problem of storing and using hydrogen, he and his team went one step further with the bionic leaf. They made liquid fuel. The bionic leaf turns sunlight into liquid fuel. It uses solar energy to split water molecules and hydrogen-eating bacteria to generate the fuel. The system churns out energy 10 times more efficiently than natural photosynthesis. Nocera collaborated with Pamela Silver of Harvard Medical School for the bionic version. Now, the 59-year-old intends to set up a formal collaboration with the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) in Mumbai and supply some of the science and the engineered bacteria to the scientists to take the technology forward. "I want to start anything that goes for the commercialisation of the bionic leaf, for instance. I want do it in India. I am not doing it with American companies. Because ICT has such great chemical engineers I am hoping we can do it. I want to start a pilot project. We already have a MoU in place (Harvard with ICT) but we haven't worked out the details of the project. We will do it now," Nocera asserted. The USP of the technology, which relies on unique catalysts that are biocompatible, is that it allows the use of any kind of water, even dirty water. "You could imagine anybody with an artificial leaf. If you have sunlight you can use any water source. It doesn't have to be pure water. It is totally distributed. It can use dirty water and sunlight; it's the way to distribute fuel production," explained Nocera, who pitched his technology as being for the poor. But will it be cheap enough? "It's cheap enough, but it's not cheap enough to use now because nobody is going to invent anything that is cheaper than coal, oil or gas. Nothing is ever going to be cheap enough. That's a bogus argument, in my opinion. The only way to make it cheap enough is to put new policies in place which scientists don't do. They don't like to work with policy people. I work with them," he averred. Nocera has given almost a hundred invited talks on the artificial system (that resembles a sleek modern-day smartphone) and has received his fair share of criticism as well for what has been called his "radical" approach. But he remains unmoved, maintaining whenever one does things differently, one is criticised. "We used silicon in the artificial leaf which absorbs light and separates the charge. The catalysts get energised by that and splits the water. It was extremely hard. For 40 years, people were trying to make a single magic material that absorbs the light, separates the charge and does the catalysis. Our system has different components and that's how photosynthesis works," he elaborated. Nocera, as the co-founder of the Sun Catalytix start-up (from where the hydrogen/artificial leaf story began in 2009) had also started working with the Tata group in India on hydrogen as a fuel. However, due to the lack of infrastructure to use hydrogen, his company turned to developing a flow battery to store the power and plug it into the grid. Lockheed Martin acquired the start-up in 2014. Envisioning a future where households will have rooftop bionic systems, Nocera believed it's a tough call for India -- which has a 100 GW solar power target for 2022 -- to continue using fossil fuels to keep the economy growing or to set up a whole new infrastructure for renewables. "I am hoping (India can achieve it). You have to really understand the pressure politicians are under: Everybody in India also wants his economy to grow. So do I put in a whole new infrastructure for renewable energy or do I just keep using fossil fuels to keep the economy growing," he wondered. (Sahana Ghosh can be contacted at sahana.g@ians.in) --IANS sgh/ssp/vm/sac (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jallikattu, Tamil Nadu's popular bull taming sport, was on Sunday held in parts of Tamil Nadu with tens of thousands taking part but two participants were killed at one of the events. It was held at Pudukottai, Trichy and Erode districts while a bullock cart race was organised in Coimbatore, organisers said. At Pudukottai, two bull vaulters were severely injured and died on the way to a hospital, police said. The sport involves young men latching on to the hump of bulls. One who manages to stay put even after the animal makes three jumps is declared a winner. At times, the participants are thrown off the back of bulls or get gored by the animal. The events were held after week-long state-wide protests by students and youths and followed the promulgation of an ordinance by the Tamil Nadu government amending the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act to hold Jallikatttu. The sport was banned by the Supreme Court in May 2014. But did not take place in Alanganallur in Madurai district as no preparation had been done there, the organisers said. Attempts to hold the event at Natham Kovilpatti in Dindigul district was not successful due to protests against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam's wish to flag it off. Speaking to reporters in Madurai on his way back to Chennai, the Chief Minister said: " is being held at several places in the state with proper arrangements. At Alanganallur it will be held when the people want it. " cannot be stopped by anybody," Panneerselvam added. The AIADMK leader said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to assist the state government in its efforts to hold Jallikattu. The government will on Monday place in the Assembly a bill for holding Jallikattu. It is expected to pass with majority support. Meanwhile, the massive youth protest in Chennai's Marina Beach entered its seventh day on Sunday. The protest that started with a handful of a people on January 17 morning is now attracting lakhs to the beach daily. DMK leader M K Stalin urged Panneerselvam to explain to the demonstrators the steps the government will take so that there will not be any more legal impediments for the conduct of Jallikatttu. The Supreme Court in 2014 banned Jallikattu, saying that bulls cannot be used as performing animals including in bullock cart races. Since then, people have been urging the central government to take steps to allow the sport. On Sunday, R. Arul, Secretary of Pasumai Thayagam, a Tamil group, told IANS: "All that the central government has to do is to remove the bull from the list of performing animals in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Is issuing a notification such a big issue?" Despite Jallikattu being held in parts of Tamil Nadu, many do not hide their anger vis-a-vis the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Modi and Panneerselvam. The anger against PETA is the most severe. Many want the group banned for what they say is its opposition to Indian culture and tradition. Jallikattu, a popular bull taming sport, was on Sunday held in parts of Tamil Nadu with tens of thousands taking part but two participants were killed and several injured at one event. The sport was held at Pudukottai, Trichy and Ramanathapuram districts while bullock cart races were organised in Coimbatore and Theni, officials said. At Pudukottai, two bull valuters were severely injured and died on the way to a hospital, police said. Several other people were injured in the incident. The sport involves young men latching on to the hump of bulls. One who manages to stay put even after the animal makes three jumps is declared a winner. At times, the participants are thrown off the back of bulls or get gored by the animal. It was not clear how the deaths occurred in Pudukottai. The events were held after week-long state-wide protests by students and youths and followed the promulgation of an ordinance by the Tamil Nadu government amending the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act to hold Jallikatttu. The sport was banned by the Supreme Court in May 2014. But Jallikattu did not take place in Alanganallur in Madurai district as no preparation had been done there. Attempts to hold the event at Natham Kovilpatti in Dindigul district failed due to protests against Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam's wish to flag it off. Speaking in Madurai on his way to Chennai, the Chief Minister said: "Jallikattu is being held at several places in the state. At Alanganallur it will be held when the people want it. "Jallikattu cannot be stopped by anybody," Panneerselvam added. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to assist his government in its efforts to hold Jallikattu. The government will on Monday place in the assembly a bill for holding Jallikattu. It is expected to pass with majority support. Meanwhile, the massive youth protest in Chennai's Marina Beach entered its seventh day on Sunday. Some young people fainted at the venue owing to severe sun. The protest that started with a handful of a people on January 17 morning is now attracting lakhs. DMK leader M.K. Stalin urged Panneerselvam to explain to the demonstrators the steps the government will take so that there will not be any more legal impediments for the conduct of Jallikatttu. The Supreme Court in 2014 banned Jallikattu, saying that bulls cannot be used as performing animals including in bullock cart races. Since then, people have been urging the central government to take steps to allow the sport. On Sunday, R. Arul of Pasumai Thayagam, a Tamil group, told IANS: "All that the central government has to do is to remove the bull from the list of performing animals in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Is issuing a notification such a big issue?" Despite Jallikattu being held in parts of Tamil Nadu, many do not hide their anger vis-a-vis the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Modi and Panneerselvam. The anger against PETA is the most severe. Many want the group banned for what they say is its opposition to Indian culture and tradition. On Sunday, the railways cancelled 19 trains after pro-Jallikattu crowds collected on railway tracks. These included the Palakkad Town-Tiruchchirappalli Passenger, Karaikudi- Tiruchchirappalli Passenger and Vanchi Maniyachchi-Tuticorin Passenger. "Daily some 40,000 passengers are affected due to cancellations and short terminations due to the protests. Many of them may be travelling to attend interviews or for health reasons," a railway official told IANS preferring anonymity. --IANS vj/mr/py (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The poor form of Indian openers in the ODI series against England is not a concern for captain Virat Kohli, who on Sunday said they need to be given some time. India lost to England by five runs to end the three-match series 2-1. The openers, Shikhar Dhawan, K.L. Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane scored a total of 37 runs with Rahane playing just Sunday's game and scoring just one. "The areas of concerns will be addressed," Kohli told reporters at the post match press conference here. "Previously we did not have opening problem, but it was the middle order which is now sorted." "We have good openers too and it's not that we have to find openers. It's just a matter of time before they come back to form and we need to give them that chance," Kohli, who finished the series amassing 185 runs at an average of 61.66 said. On Kedar Jadhav, who almost won the match for the hosts with a brilliant 90 and ended up as the highest run-scorer with 232 runs, Kohli said the biggest gain from the series is the youngsters soaking in the pressure and veterans Yuvraj Singh and M.S. Dhoni finding their touch again. "I would talk about the positives. Very pleased to see Kedar bat the way he did and the way Hardik played with bat and ball. Very pleased to see Yuvi and Mahi back together again and string in that big partnership," he said. "Lot of positives for us as a team. Even Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) with the ball in the second game. Even today the partnership was outstanding. These guts showed character and stuck at it under pressure. That for me is a standout, the way the relatively young guys have performed and the way Yuvi and M.S. played," Kohli said. Kohli added that having Pandya, who scored 115 runs and took five wickets in the series, is immensely helpful as it gives an opportunity to play two seamers and two spinners. "If you see teams around the world, they have a fast bowling all-rounder which really gives the team a lot of balance. It allows you to play that extra batsman and play two seamers and two spinners," the captain said. "He bowled really well in the first and the third game. Even today he picked up three wickets. Bowled in really good areas. He was one of the few bowlers who was hitting the deck hard and getting purchase off it. With the bat as well, he has got good instinctive play and has become more smarter and intelligent with more games," he added. The team will travel to Kanpur on Monday. The first of the three T20s starts next Thursday. --IANS dm/vgu/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The second 1,000 MW atomic power reactor at the Kundankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu has attained its maximum capacity, the Russian builders announced on Sunday. "Kudankulam NPP Unit No 2 has for the first time reached 100 per cent power level," state-run Rosatom subsidiary ASE Group said in a statement. "This night (Saturday) after completing the physical experiments stage at 90 per cent power level and after obtaining the permission of the Indian regulatory authority, the reactor plant was brought to 100 per cent nominal level of neutron power," it said. "This stage will be followed by 72-hour tests with further transition to the stage of one-year warranty operation of the power unit," ASE Group Vice President for South Asia Andrey Lebedev said in the statement. "It is planned to perform comprehensive dynamic tests for 15 days, which will confirm the design parameters of the power unit main system and its dynamic stability in certain modes of disturbance of normal operation," he added. The unit went critical or started nuclear fission on July 10, 2016 and was connected to the southern grid on August 29. After operating it for some time, the unit was disconnected for testing the parameters. Thereafter, power generation was gradually increased at several stages. "The permit for loading of the fuel assemblies was issued by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Body of India (AERB) after a detailed review of all the safety reports prepared earlier," the statement said. R.S.Sundar, the KNPP Site Director, told IANS: "We reached 100 per cent power levels. We will have to do some tests and get AERB's (Atomic Energy Regulatory Board) clearance. After the tests we will bring down the power levels to 90 per cent and continue operating." Queried about the restarting of the first unit, he said: "We will restart the first unit by this weekend. We can touch the peak power generation of 1,000 MW in three day's time." Meanwhile, sources at the Nuclear Power Corp of India (NPCIL), the operators of KNPP, have confirmed that the second reactor was behaving exceptionally well as it reached maximum generation capacity. Construction work for units 3 and 4 has started in October last year. --IANS bc-vj/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For the first time in the country, a socio-cultural and economic body, Mithilalok Foundation, will celebrate the birth anniversary of former Railway Minister Lalit Narayan Mishra on February 2, it was announced on Sunday. "Lalit Divas will be held on February 2 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Lalit Narayan Mishra, a legendary icon of development in the Mithila region. His contribution to Mithilanchal has been immense," said Birbal Jha, Chairman of the Mithilalok Foundation. He has appealed to the people to commemorate the day in recognition of the long-term development works done by Mishra. Mishra was born on February 2, 1923. On January 2, Mishra had gone to Samastipur to declare open the Samastipur-Muzaffarpur broad-gauge railway line, but a bomb explosion on the dais seriously injured him. He was rushed to the railway hospital in Danapur where he died the next day. After 39 years of trial, four followers of Hindu sect Anand Marg were held guilty by a Delhi court and were sentenced to life imprisonment in December 2014. "Even after over four decades of his untimely death, people especially from Mithila belt remember him for his contribution to the socio-cultural and economic development. "While they still feel indebted to Lalit Babu for connecting people through rail lines during his tenure as the Railway Minister, nobody can forget his role in preserving and propagating the globally-recognised Mithila Painting (also known popularly as Madhubani Painting)," the Foundation said. Mithilalok Foundation is a social enterprise dedicated to advancing the larger cause of Mithila. --IANS akk-rup-bns/nir/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Literature's sole responsibility is to be exciting, not to change the world although novels do offer a unique way for the human race to view themselves, says Australian author and Booker Prize Winner Richard Flanagan. "Literature has no responsibility other than not being boring. Its role isn't to change the world, it is an aspect of life," said Flanagan at a session titled "The Narrow Road to the Deep North" (the title of his 2014 Booker-winning work) at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2017's penultimate day on Sunday. "And though books are never going to be the mass phenomenon in the way Bollywood is, I feel that if writers can do their job with integrity, they will be heard across the oceans and they will defy time," he said. Novels, he said, are important for enabling "us to think about us in a way we can't though poems, politics or philosophy". After reading a passage from the book, which tells the story of an Australian doctor burdened with memories of rather improper love affair, his subsequent horrific experiences in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp on the "Death Railway" in Thailand during World War II, and troubled post-war life, Flanagan quipped: "If a writer knew what the book was about, they wouldn't write so many pages, they would just tweet it." The Australian author, who is ranked among the world's greatest novelists for his stunning array of half-a-dozen books, also maintained that research is overrated. However, he admitted that his opinion however didn't stop him travelling to Japan to meet a guard from the prisoner of war camp where his father was held during the war - an experience that served as the impetus for this book - and making a strange, self-punishing request. Noting that the Japanese soldiers had then practised corporal punishment, especially slapping people till they collapsed, while this guard, who had answered all the other questions, professed to have no memory of this, he said he persuaded this man "to slap me three times". "His body stretched in a particular way, he cupped his hand, and even though he had forgotten the violence, his body remembered it," said Flanagan, adding that on receiving the third blow, "the whole room seemed to twist up and down" and he "felt like a 7.3 Richter-scale earthquake had hit Tokyo". Flanagan said the book mirrors his views about redemptive human qualities such as hope and love and also both sides of the personality, citing the example of his Japanese interlocutor, who said he had forgotten the violence but give a earthshaking example of it. "Memory is what we choose to remember and it is not sentimental to believe in hope, it is a mechanism of love,: he said. Asked why many writers continue to choose this exacting and not very lucrative career, he said that books are a celebration of being human. "The great and extraordinary power of a book is that it reminds us that we are never alone and that is no small thing," he said. (Vikas Datta can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in) --IANS vd/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday expressed grief over the train accident in Andhra Pradesh and accused the government of neglecting the railways. "The railways is neglected and being given less priority. The budget is being curtailed. Passenger safety and security are being compromised," Banerjee said. "Sadly, even today many people lost their lives. My condolences to their loved ones," she said. A former railway minister, the Trinamool Congress supremo urged the central government to address the incidents of lapses in the railways urgently. "We don't blame the minister; he is earnest in his efforts," she added. --IANS mgr/bdc/nir/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday condoled the deaths of 27 people who were killed during a train derailment in Andhra Pradesh's Vizianagaram district. "My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones due to the derailment of Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Express. The tragedy is saddening," the Prime Minsiter's office said in a tweet quoting Modi. The Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express derailed on Saturday night at 11.30 p.m., near Kuneru station. The train was enroute to Odisha's capital city Bhubaneswar from Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh. Over 50 others were also injured. The Prime Minsiter further added that the Railway Ministry was monitoring the situation very closely and is working to ensure quick rescue and relief operations. "I pray for a speedy recovery of all those injured due to the train accident," said Modi. Union Home Miniser Rajnath Singh also expressed grief over the tragedy. "The news of train accident in Andhra Pradesh is extremely distressing. Deeply pained over the loss of precious lives," the minister tweeted. --IANS kd/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mughal emperor Akbar and several of his emotions that do not find mention in historical records were redefined in an hour-long session here on Sunday. A session on writer Shazi Zaman's book "Akbar", here at the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF), helped decode historical events during the reign of the Mughal ruler. One significant shortcoming of the historical writings is that they only take into account the events and incidents but ignore the "sentiment and state of mind" under which the decisions that led to those events were taken, said news anchor Ravish Kumar. "History is history. It is about facts and figures, about what happened, when it happened and who all were involved. But history has not cared for what a particular person thought at a given time in the past," said Ravish Kumar addressing the session on "Akbar: Kitna Itihas, Kitna Upanyas". The book studies primary sources of the emperor's time to understand how his mind was reacting to events around him and how his mind was shaping many of those events. "It becomes important to understand Akbar's state of mind because the facts are already there. What is not there is why those decisions were taken. What led to those events? And it is very much possible to understand it through the available resources. "If you look into the historical records, into the writings of the time like 'Akbarnama' or 'Muntakhabuttawarikh', it becomes very much evident that Akbar was in a troubled state of mind. "He was troubled to see tension among the Hindus and the Muslims and said some things which may be considered venomous even today," author Shazi Zaman contended. Citing one common example to prove his point, Zaman narrated the "haalaat-e-ajeeb" when in a fit of anger Akbar said Hindus should eat the meat of the cow and Muslims should eat the meat of the pig. No one, not even those closest to him could fathom what had happened to the emperor. "Now this is something that will be considered venomous by many of us even today but there is a lot more to it. What made him say something like this?" His religious ideas were unsettling to the world. He provided a platform unique for his times -- an equal-opportunities space for everybody to express their thoughts without fear. Thus the Brahmins, the Vaishnav saints, the Jesuits, the Jains, the Parsis, the Sunni ulema, the Shias, the Sufis and the messianic sects could, without fear, challenge others at his court. "But he realised that temporal battles were far easier than religious ones. These were the battles weighing heavily on his mind as the royal retainers and the courtiers waited for him to begin the hunt," the writer said. "And that is the beginning of a phase of bitter feud that created ripples from Sikri to Makkah," Zaman informed a houseful audience. The author of the scholarly offering, said to be penned after over two decades of research, said Akbar was so disturbed to see the hostility between the two communities that in a tense state of mind he must have said it. The discussion threw light on several facets of the Mughal emperor that have not found a mention in historical records. (Saket Suman is in Jaipur at the invitation of Teamwork arts. He can be contacted at saket.s@ians.in) --IANS ss/py/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US connection with Afghanistan and Central Asia is not a 20th century development but dates from century before it when a most singular man became the first of his countrymen, or even the first westerner for that matter, to travel through interior Asia, participate in Afghan power politics, go on to serve Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his descendants and observe the fall of the Sikh empire. But the reason that the life and the career of Alexander Houghton Campbell Gardner (1785-1877) is not known widely because it is seems so "outrageously improbable", says acclaimed British historian John Keay who has written the first comprehensive biography of this American soldier of fortune who ended his days as a landlord in Jammu and Kashmir under the Dogra rulers. It has been thought to be part of fantasy literature than serious history and some earlier historians dismissed Gardner as a "plagiarist, fantacist, liar and scoundrel", he said at a session titled "The Tartan Turban: A Scots-American at Ranjit Singh's Court" during the Jaipur Literature Festival's third day on Saturday. Keay, who said he had come across the story of Gardnet -- known in his Asian stint as Gordana Khan and who never returned home -- earlier on but restrained himself from mentioning it in his earlier works, as it had raised doubts in his mind. "The story was too good to ignore but it seemed dodgy; so I left it out," he said, adding that the term "maverick" seemed specially coined for the colonel (as he was appointed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh). However, Keay said he returned to the topic when he was approached by a new Sikh-run publishing house to revisit the life of Gardner -- a striking figure clad in a tartan suit and turban, with a flowing beard, 14 wounds, including a hole in his neck which necessitated wearing iron forceps whenever he had to eat or drink something - and his role and account of the fall of Ranjit Singh's kingdom within a decade of the Maharaja's death in 1839. Speaking about the book for the first time to any audience, Keay noted that he was more inclined to believe Gardner's story when research found out that the latter part of his life in Lahore was so well authenticated in contemporary sources that one could view the earlier improbable and less-detailed part more favourably. This covered Gardner's service with Habibullah Khan, nephew of Emir Dost Mohammed Khan, (a desire for whose ouster led to the ill-advised and ill-fortunate British expedition in 1842), his marrying an Afghan princess and siring a son (both killed soon), his flight across the Hindu Kush, Pamirs and the Karakoram to reach Turkestan and Tibet, visiting Ladakh and Kashmir, and eventually ending up in the service of Ranjit Singh, whose artillery he managed. Gardner's services were later transferred to the Chief Minister Dhian Singh, a Hindu Dogra (and elder brother of Maharaja Gulab Singh, who would buy Kashmir from the British), and after the British finally took over Punjab, he had to relocate to Kashmir where he was granted an estate, said Keay. It was here much later that Gardner came to the attention of British officials again and told his story, which had both supporters and opponents, he added. On doubts whether Gardner, who claimed to be born in Wisconsin, was really an American, Keay said that if he had been a British deserter as some of his detractors claim, then the British administration in India would have never let him live in peace. Also Gardner was visited by Americans, including a nephew of famous poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who would have caught on if he was not one of their countrymen. (Vikas Datta can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in) --IANS vd/tsb (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In what could be seen as an announcement of Priyanka Gandhi's arrival, several senior Congress leaders on Sunday acknowledged the role of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in striking an alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh. A senior Congress leader told IANS that Priyanka Gandhi played a key role in sealing the deal with the SP. Senior Congress functionaries Ahmed Patel and Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is also the in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, separately acknowledged Priyanka's role in giving the final shape to the alliance with the SP, which at one point had hit a roadblock. Another low came in the talks when the Congress reportedly sent "political lightweights" like Prashant Kishor to negotiate with the SP leadership. However, the Congress on Sunday said there were no "political lightweights" and Priyanka Gandhi herself was involved in the talks. "(It's) wrong to suggest that lightweights were dealing on behalf of the Congress party. Discussion was at highest level between the UP Chief Minister, Congress' General Secretary in-charge of UP and Priyanka Gandhi," Patel, who is political advisor to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, tweeted. "I have not spoken to any leader from the Samajwadi Party. News reports mentioning this are incorrect," he said. Separately, Azad said that Priyanka Gandhi played a crucial role in forging the alliance with the SP, according to which the Congress would contest 105 seats while the SP will fight on 298 seats. The SP was initially offering Congress around 90 seats, while the latter was not ready to accept anything less than 120. The talks hit a roadblock, but the two parties finally pulled off a deal and formally announced an alliance at a joint presser in Lucknow. Priyanka, Congress sources said, will campaign extensively in the polls, with Rahul Gandhi as well as separately. She may also campaign along with Dimple Yadav, the wife of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. The acknowledgement of her proactive role by the Congress party -- for the first time perhaps -- is significant as it portends the change of guard and a generational shift at the Congress. Actress Priyanka Chopra extended her support for the women's march here, a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the US President. But the 34-year-old actress was not physically present in the protest due to her shooting schedule. "So proud of all my sisters and the men that are at the women's march. I'm so upset I couldn't go. Girl love, women's rights are human rights," Priyanka posted on Twitter. The actress is in Los Angeles to resume the filming of her Hollywood debut "Baywatch", which also stars Dwayne Johnson, Zack Efron and Alexandra Daddario. She posted a side-profile selfie on her Instragram account after she landed. "And we're back! LA LA... again... let's go! Always rushed for time... Everywhere to go and nowhere to be. 'Baywatch', night shoots, fun fun," she captioned the image. --IANS ks/dc/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Striker Raul Bobadilla and FC Augsburg have agreed on contract extension, the German fotball club has said. The 29-year-old, whose contract was stipulated until June 2018, penned a two-year contract extension, which keeps him at Augsburg till June 2020, reports Xinhua. "Raul is a player who can make the difference and who increases the quality within our squad," Augsburg Sporting Director Stefan Reuter told the club's official website on Saturday. Bobadilla joined Augsburg from Swiss outfit FC Basel in the summer 2013 to provide 18 goals and nine assists in 82 competitive appearances. "I am happy about the confidence that I feel at Augsburg," the Paraguayan international said. "I feel incredibly comfortable and I would like to see many more victories and successes with this team," Bobadilla added. Augsburg are currently 13th in the German league standings. --IANS sam/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Syria's Prime Minister Imad Khamis on Sunday said that his government is serious about the imminent Syrian talks in Astana, noting that Damascus welcomes any initiative to restore peace, media reports said. According to pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV, Khamis's remarks came as the Syrian delegation to the inter-Syrian Astana meeting flew to the Kazakh capital to take part in the Monday meeting, which will put the government delegation with the rebels face to face for the first time in the country's nearly six-year-old conflict. The Prime Minister said the priority of the meeting is to kick the foreign terrorists out of Syria, Xinhua news agency reported. Khamis said his government welcomes any initiative that could be conducive in restoring peace and security to Syria. The talks in Astana are the result of a Russian-Turkish understanding, which started with a ceasefire in the country excluding terror-designated groups such as the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and the Islamic State (IS) group. A day earlier, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that establishing a ceasefire in Syria is the priority of the imminent Syrian negotiations in Astana. Assad said everything will be discussed in the talks slated for January 23 in the Kazakh capital, and it must rely on the Syrian constitution. He said the conference will be in the shape of negotiations between the government and the rebel groups to reach a ceasefire and allow the rebels to join the reconciliation deals with the government. --IANS vgu/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Taliban has asked US President Donald Trump to review America's policy in Afghanistan and withdraw all foreign forces from the insurgency-plagued country, a media report said on Sunday. In a statement released on Saturday following Trump's inauguration on Friday, the group said violence in Afghanistan will continue if the new administration continued to follow the approaches of the previous governments led by former Presidents Barack Obama and George.W. Bush, Khaama Press said in the report. The Taliban also claimed that the US-led invasion supported by the coalition forces resulted in destruction, loss of lives, and billions of financial loss in the past 16 years. It also resulted in to increasing hatred towards Afghanistan. Afghanistan's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah has welcomed Trump's commitment to the US forces in Afghanistan and the fight against terrorism. The war in Afghanistan began with the invasion of the US-led coalition forces against the Taliban regime, accused of harbouring the then Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of September 11, 2001, attacks in America. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi but found fault with him and the BJP for being rooted in hostility even while hailing Mahatma Gandhi. Speaking at the Jaipur Literature Festival, writer Tharoor also expressed a desire to introduce the Mahabharata and Ramayana in curricula. The discussion on 'Remembering the Raj' did not necessarily relate to the Modi government. But in the context of Gandhi, Tharoor accused the Bharatiya Janata Party government and its ideological parent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of paying mere lip service to the Father of the Nation. Tharoor was asked by publisher Michael Dwyer to share his perspective on Gandhi's "tricks and tactics". "Gandhiji used tricks and tactics against the British empire that worked because they were obliged to allow Gandhiji to lead the campaign as he wished. It was because there was a moral deficiency in the British and even they knew they were wrong," the Congress leader said. "And what tactics?" Tharoor asked. "The tactics of Mahatma Gandhi were ahimsa and satyagraha. What he did was inflicting pain and suffering upon himself as a response to imperialism. There was not much the British could do anyway." Shifting the narrative to the contemporary times, Tharoor accused "Modi and his party" of being deeply rooted in hostility. "Modi and his party have been paying tributes to Gandhiji while the history and ideology of the BJP is deeply rooted in hostility. "Everyone wishes to pay lip service to Gandhiji though they are against his principles in reality," Tharoor said as the packed house cheered in approval. He said BJP members were trying to glorify Nathuram Godse, who murdered Gandhi. Tharoor reminded the audience that Mahatma Gandhi and his principles have become "less in substance" today than it should have. Nonetheless, Tharoor praised the Prime Minister for his diplomatic endeavours with Britain since taking power. "I have said earlier too and I will repeat again. The arguments that I put forth in my book ("An Era of Darkness") have nothing to do with the current relations India and Britain share. This should not be the anxiety of the present because we have a booming diplomatic relation," he said. Quoting Modi's speech during his visit to Britain last year, Tharoor said: "The Prime Minister then said 'others have spoken about the historical wrongs and rights. I will concentrate on the future'. That is what he should be doing and I think that is what he has done very well." According to Tharoor, it was important for Indians to "forgive the British" but not "forget" their wrongdoing. "We should look at the history but also leave it where it belongs, in the past." Tharoor also batted for changes in the education system to include the "Indian civilisational aspects". "The British wanted to colonise the Indian mind. Whatever education was brought to India was to further strengthen the British Raj and to colonise our behaviour. "It is sad that even after 70 years, though we study Shakespeare, we have not been teaching Kalidasa to our children. "I am very much in favour of having Ramayana and Mahabharata taught in our schools. This should be seen as enriching our educational system with our cultural heritage," he said. Tharoor, however, expressed his disapproval on "injecting a particular political ideology" into our education system and contented that "only the civilisational aspect should be introduced in our text books". A regular at the Jaipur Literature Festival, Tharoor is among the biggest crowd pullers. His latest book, "An Era of Darkness", serves to correct many misconceptions about the British Raj and has been a major point of discussion at the 10th edition of JLF. (Saket Suman is in jaipur at the invitation of Teamwork arts. He can be contacted at saket.s@ians.in) --IANS ss/py/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Fashion designer Urvashi Kaur feels that the Hindi film industry is of utmost importance for the fashion world due to its massive connect with the masses, which helps in endorsing a designer's creativity to a larger audience. Kaur, who is all set to showcase her latest collection 'Vaasa' at the Lakme Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2017, says there is an interesting relationship between Bollywood and fashion world. "The film industry is huge, and has a massive reach. In India, film stars are adored and worshiped which means that what they wear and endorse reaches millions of people and creates a major impact," Kaur told IANS when asked how important is Bollywood for the fashion industry. "This visibility has led to an interesting and symbiotic relationship between film and fashion," added the designer, who has styled the likes of Neha Dhupia, Tisca Chopra and Diana Penty. Kaur's collection will be showcased on the first day of the five-day extravaganza, which commences on February 1. Talking about her collection to IANS in an e-mail interview, she said: "My collection is centred around the traveller and spiritual seeker and his metaphorical journey, This journey is titled 'Vaasa' and is an ongoing theme within my work and has continued to inspire me through various collections." With no showstopper in the limelight for Kaur's show, she says that her collection's narrative does not need one. "The objective of doing a fashion show for me is to share my creative processes and explorations with an audience. A showstopper does not feature within this narrative in my case," said the designer. Her range at the fashion gala will see a wide variety of handwoven textiles like khadi, simple cottons, traditional Ajrakhs and Kota doriya with pale lustre of cotton silks. Kaur says that Indian handloom in current scenario needs all the focus it can get. "In the current scenario of fast fashion and complete mechanisation, any hand-done process or craft/art form needs all our focus," she said. She will be showcasing tailored shirts, skirts and structured jumpsuits, shirt dresses and tunics in earthy hues, with a dusty fawn that fades to a faint blush adding balance with shades of darker indigos and olives. As a designer, Kaur says she is trying to "re-imagine" how to work with Indian textiles. "As a designer, I am trying to re-interpret and re-imagine what can be done with the beautiful textile heritage of our country," she added. The fashion gala will conclude on February 5 with celebrated designer Anita Dongre bringing the curtain down with her collection themed "Liquid Gold". Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor Khan will be seen walking as a show-stopper at the grand finale for Dongre. (Durga Chakravarty can be contacted at durga.c@ians.in) --IANS dc/ks/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday told Odisha officials to meet the victims of the Jagadalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express train which derailed in Andhra Pradesh. The team led by Chief Secretary A.P. Padhi will visit Rayagada and meet the victims admitted in hospitals. "I spoke to the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh to extend all support," Patnaik said, expressing his grief over the death of passengers in the accident. --IANS cd/mr/py (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) On his first full day in office, US President Donald Trump visited the Central Intelligence Agencys (CIA) headquarters to express his gratitude for the community which he had repeatedly railed against during his campaigns. On Saturday, Trump spoke before 300 to 400 agency employees at Langley, Virgina, who signed up to see the new commander in chief, The Washington Post reported. "This is my first stop officially, there is nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community and the CIA than Donald Trump, there is nobody," he said. "I am so behind you and I know that maybe sometimes you haven't got the backing that you wanted." "I am with you 1,000 per cent," CNN quoted Trump as saying. Trump made his remarks in the headquarters lobby, in front of a memorial that features 117 stars that honour CIA officers who have been killed in the line of duty. "The wall behind me is very very special," Trump said. The gesture of the visit was an important moment for Trump, who raised doubts about his relationship with US intelligence agencies by initially casting doubt on their assessment that Russia intervened in the election by hacking Democratic email accounts. During his speech, he also took a dig at the media for not covering his inaugural ceremony and accused of lying about the size of his inauguration crowd of only 250,000 people, The Washington Post said. "I have a running war with the media, they are among the most dishonest human beings on Earth -- they sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community. The reason you are the number one stop is exactly the opposite," he said. The White House appeared irked by cameras that showed large gaps in Trump's still large crowd on Friday compared to the one that showed historic numbers of spectators to see former President Barack Obama sworn in for his first term in 2009. "It looked like a million, a million and a half people," Trump said. "It's a lie...We caught (the media). We caught them in a beauty." The chairman of Trump's inaugural committee, Tom Barrack, told CNN that Trump was disappointed at what he saw as deceptive photos of the crowd that appeared on Twitter. White House press secretary Sean Spicer later on Saturday appeared in the White House briefing room to warn the administration was going to hold the press "accountable" and argued that the Trump crowd was the largest inaugural crowd ever. He said any suggestion otherwise was "shameful and wrong". The CIA audience was separated into two sections: a main area of all agency staff and a separate section directly in front of the stage that consisted of senior agency leadership, including agents. During Trump's address, the senior leadership stood the entire time. When Trump began drifting into political topics, the main crowd broke into cheers and applause at points. The senior leadership remained stoic, and did not applaud the political lines. The visit comes amid questions regarding the status of Trump's choice to run the agency, Representative Mike Pompeo. The CIA is currently being led by acting Director Meroe Park, lacking a permanent chief, as the Senate has delayed Pompeo's confirmation vote until Monday, with Democrats citing concerns about his positions on surveillance and other issues. Pompeo has encountered some controversy after he submitted responses to a Senate questionnaire where he said he would consider bringing back waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation measures under certain circumstances. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two soldiers of the Assam Rifles were killed and two others injured on Sunday when militants ambushed a convoy near Jairampur on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border, police said. The security forces, however, launched a counter-insurgency operation immediately in the area and killed two of the militants involved in the ambush. The attackers belonged to the United Liberation Front of West Eastern South East Asia (UNLFW), a joint platform of most of the northeastern militant outfits, including the anti-talk faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), National Socialist Council of Nagaland led by Khaplang (NSCN-K) and Coordination Committee (CorCom) of Manipur. Assam Director General of Police (DGP) Mukesh Sahay said security forces had launched a counter-insurgency operation against the militants. "Two of the militants involved in the ambush were neutralised later. The forces also recovered two weapons from their possession," said the DGP. Tinsukia Superintendent of Police Mugdhajyoti Mahanta said 15 to 20 militants caried out the ambush. Unofficial sources said the militants fled with some arms and ammunition of the Assam Rifles personnel after the attack. The ULFA and NSCN-K had ambushed an army convoy in Tinsukia district in November last year and killed three soldiers. Following the incident, the security forces had restricted the movement of vehicles on Jagun-Jairampur Road and intensified mobile check-posts. The Inter-state border between the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border and Assam-Nagaland border has also been put under intensified vigil. Meanwhile, a joint statement by the CorCom and the ULFA faction claimed responsibility for the attack and that they undertook a joint attack on the security forces, code-named "Operation BARAK". "A joint team attacked the 13 Assam Rifles at Warabasti area on Jagun-Jairampur Road and killed three soldiers and injured two or more and were able to recover three weapons, including two AK Rifles and one INSAS Rifle," said the statement signed by ULFA faction commander-in-chief Paresh Asom. --IANS ah/nir/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two soldiers of Assam Rifles were killed and two others injured on Sunday when militants ambushed a convoy near Jairampur on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border, police said. The attackers belonged to anti-talk faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) led by Khaplang. Assam Director General of Police Mukesh Sahay said security forces had launched a counter-insurgency operation against the militants. Tinsukia Superintendent of Police Mugdhajyoti Mahanta said 15 or 20 militants laid the ambush. Unofficial sources said the militants fled with some arms and ammunition of the Assam Rifles personnel after the attack. The Ulfa and NSCN-K ambushed an army convoy in Tinsukia district in November last year and killed three soldiers. --IANS ah/mr/py (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Britain's Ministry of Defence says it has "absolute confidence" in the country's nuclear weapons system despite reports of a malfunction during a test. The Sunday Times said in a report that an unarmed Trident missile fired from submarine HMS Vengeance near the Florida coast last June veered off course towards the US, the BBC reported. The daily said the incident took place weeks before a crucial Commons vote on the future of Trident. Last July, MPs backed the renewal of Trident by 472 votes to 117, approving the manufacture of four replacement submarines at a current estimated cost of 31 billion pounds ($38 billion). According to the daily, it is expected that Defence Secretary Michael Fallon will be called to the Commons to answer questions from MPs. Vengeance, one of the UK's four Vanguard-class submarines, returned to sea for trials in December 2015 after a refit, which included the installation of new missile launch equipment and upgraded computer systems. The cause of the test firing failure remains top secret but quotes a senior naval source as saying the missile suffered an in-flight malfunction after launching out of the water. The Trident II D5 missile was intended to be fired 5,600 miles to a sea target off the west coast of Africa. The Trident system was acquired by the Thatcher government in the early 1980s as a replacement for the Polaris missile system, which the UK had possessed since the 1960s, the BBC reported. Trident came into use in the 1990s. There are three parts to it -- submarines, missiles and warheads. Although each component has years of use left, they cannot last indefinitely. The current generation of four submarines would begin to end their working lives some time in the late 2020s. --IANS ksk/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The first round of France's Left primary kicked off on Sunday morning with the competition to be a three-horse race among former Prime Minister Manuel Valls and his main rivals Arnaund Montebourg and Benoit Hamon, both former ministers in his government in 2014. About two million voters are expected to cast their ballots in 7,530 poll stations across the country from 9.00 to 19.00 (local time) to pick a presidential nominee, Xinhua news agency reported. Valls, a centrist politician, who is seeking to attract middle ground voters, has been the polls' favourite to snatch the left ticket. However, the race is tightening in its final days. Montebourg and Hamon who quit the government to protest their pro-liberal policy, are gaining momentum days before the vote. The three leading candidates are almost neck-and-neck with the result remaining unpredictable. A recent poll showed Valls coming the first in the first round with 32 per cent of the vote against Hamon's 27 per cent and Montebourg's 26 per cent. Two of the seven contenders who will garner the highest vote in the first round will meet in a head-to-head context next Sunday. Casting his ballot in Every, southeastern Paris, Valls called on the French people to massively turn to poll stations. "It is the French who must decide." Montebourg, a former economy minister, said before casting his ballot that he asked for a "strong mandate to be able to bring the Left together". Hamon, who's gaining momentum unexpectedly, also called for a high turnout of voters, saying "if the turnout is high, it will give legitimacy to the one who will be elected". The Socialists and the broader Left, which has dominated France's political landscape for decades, was weakened due to high unemployment and rising security concerns in the five years in power. --IANS vgu/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Even as the central government pushes for e-payments, the system is fraught with the risk of scams and problems for a large number of potential users. Unless the government sets up an e-payments regulator to supervise and deliver justice to customers in response to their complaints, the success of the system is doubtful. Union Minister and BJP leader Arun Jaitley today blamed the Congress policies for militancy in Punjab during the 1980s and hit out at the party's state unit chief Amarinder Singh, terming his 2002-2007 chief ministerial tenure as the "most dishonest and corrupt" "Nobody needs to be told how the five-year tenure of the Amarinder government was. Everybody knows that the Punjab government between 2002 and 2007, led by Amarinder Singh, was the most dishonest and corrupt," the Union Finance Minister said during an election rally here. In Jalandhar central assembly constituency to canvass for BJP candidate Manoranjan Kalia, Jaitley said, "There was only one work done during the Amarinder government in Punjab -- How to take revenge from the rivals. His rule only had the of vendetta." The senior BJP leader also criticised the previous Congress governments and without naming it blamed its policies for the militancy phase which had rocked the state in the 1980s. "If any historian or group analyses, they will know whose policies had led to the dark phase of militancy in Punjab. Who was responsible for the massacres in Punjab and during whose regime was it done in 1984. Whose policies sent the state 15 years backward in time," he said. Jaitley, who lost the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat to Amarinder in 2014, said his tenure was "absolutely bad and corrupt" in the 20 peaceful years that followed the era of militancy. "The government and the people did not have any relation. Even the politicians, MLAs or ministers could not meet him, let alone the common man," he claimed. Alleging that Amarinder himself was indulged in graft, Jaitley said now the former CM is saying he would fight the election with corruption as the poll plank. "It is up to the people to decide if they want a corrupt government or one which works for development," he said. SAD-BJP government has worked toward healing the wounds Punjab suffered due to reorganisation and the present government too has worked to this end. "I want to tell you, the Narendra Modi government would extend double the help to Punjab in its first five years as was extended by Doctor Saab (Manmohan Singh) during his last five years at the Centre," he said as he canvassed for Kalia. (REOPENS DES42) Later in Ludhiana, Jaitley exuded confidence of a third consecutive term for the SAD-BJP alliance in Punjab. The infrastructure in the state could well match the international standards, he said while addressing public meetings here. "All this had happened only during the last 10 years of the Akali-BJP rule. The winds were in favour of the alliance and it will return to power," Jaitley said and sought to know the "achievements" of Congress during its five-year rule from 2002 to 2007. Without naming Congress state unit chief and former chief minister Amarinder Singh, he said in 2011 it was leaked out that "the family" had stashed a huge amount in a Swiss bank. The UPA government of the day had neither denied that nor taken any action against it, he claimed. When NDA came to power, the Swiss bank confirmed that the money belonged "to the family of a political leader of Punjab", the Union Finance Minister said, adding an enquiry had already been started and summons issued in this regard. Taking a jibe at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Jaitley said earlier there used to be a two-party contest between Congress Akali-BJP combine in Punjab but this time there were several other forces including "a party from Delhi" in the fray. "This party (AAP) did not know even the basics of Punjab," he said, adding that it had failed in Delhi. No political party is in clover in Goa before the February 4 elections to the 40 legislative Assembly seats. Not even the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), that had sustained its victory in the 2012 state election by also taking both the Lok Sabha seats in Goa two years later. The BJP is now up against a breakaway group, set up by a section of its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and has lost an ally, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), the states oldest regional outfit. International human rights experts yesterday presented a report recommending the abolition of capital punishment, work to relieve prison overcrowding, liberalizing policy over drug users and decriminalizing adultery. The report listed 78 observations or recommendations for government consideration, following 4 days of meetings in Taipei this week regarding the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The review was the 2nd of its kind since the covenants were adopted by Taiwan in 2009. The ICCPR panel was chaired by Manfred Nowak of Austria, former UN special rapporteur on torture, while the ICESCR panel was chaired by Eibe Riedel of Germany, former vice chairman of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Nowak urged President Tsai Ing-wen to take decisive steps by introducing a moratorium on executions, with the aim of full abolition of the death penalty in the near future. "The committee is also concerned about overcrowding of detainees in the prison system, which leads to a variety of human rights problems, such as poor hygiene, a lack of privacy and increased violence," Nowak said in presenting the report at the Ministry of Justice building yesterday. "We recommend the government constructs new prison facilities and reduces the number of detainees by liberalizing some of the harsh policies regarding drug users," he said. The committee recommended legislative changes to reduce the length of criminal proceedings and to provide adequate reparation in cases of excessive detention, Nowak said. The government should also take steps to decriminalize adultery, as it has a disproportionately negative affect on women and is a violation of the right to privacy, Nowak said. Nowak said that "Taiwan can show it could be a pioneer in the Asia-Pacific region to combat discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity." The ICESCR report said that while the government had taken steps to recognize the status of Pingpu as Aborigines, it is concerned that the classification of Aborigines into 3 categories - "mountain people," "plains people" and "Pingpu" - is a legacy of the Japanese colonial period and does not correspond with the present situation of 16 official Aboriginal groups. "The committee recommends that the government apply the classification of indigenous peoples as identified by themselves, and guarantees them full and equal participation and representation," it said, adding that the government should "develop effective mechanisms to seek free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples on development programs that affect them." Miloon Kothari of India, a former UN special rapporteur on housing, said that government policies must move away from an emphasis on economic development and favoring businesses to the detriment of marginalized groups, poor people and Aborigines, as they have led to land expropriation. Minister Without Portfolio Lin Mei-chu, who co-chaired yesterday's event, said that capital punishment remains in force because most Taiwanese support it and there has been no decline in the number of executions in recent years. Groups opposing and affirming same-sex marriage staged protests at the event. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! Source: Taipei Times, January 21, 2017 The Congress on Sunday claimed that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was receiving funds from abroad in the run-up to the Punjab Assembly polls and asked party chief Arvind Kejriwal to explain the source of such funds. It also accused one of the AAP MLAs of sharing stage with "separatists and terror elements" in London. "The AAP does not have any dearth of money. They are being funded from abroad. Who are these people who are supporting them," asked senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Anand Sharma while addressing the media in Chandigarh. "Kejriwal should explain to the people of Punjab about the foreign funds his party is receiving for the upcoming Assembly polls," he said. Without naming anyone, Sharma alleged that an AAP MLA had gone to London where he shared the stage with "terror elements". "One of Kejriwal's MLAs addressed a gathering in London while separatists and terror elements were seen standing on the dais. Kejriwal should take action against him but he is silent," he said. "What he (the AAP MLA) said outside India, you (media) should find out. He met those separatists and terror elements who have ruined Punjab. Who did he meet in London and Canada? Whose money is flowing into Punjab...There should be an inquiry into it because such a huge amount usually does not come, chartered planes (with NRIs) do not come," Sharma added. A few days back, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal had also claimed that AAP was being funded by "foreign-based terrorist organisations". Sharma further alleged that both the ruling allies in Punjab, the SAD and the BJP, were "using the maximum amount of black money" for the upcoming election. Lambasting the Delhi chief minister for his "failure to honour the promises made to the people", he said, "The people of Delhi are demanding answers for those promises. The AAP government is the most corrupt government Delhi has ever had. One-third of his (Kejriwal's) people are in Jail. His government is being run from Tihar jail." Alleging that AAP had failed to fulfil "even a single promise" made to the people of Delhi, Sharma said the fact that Kejriwal was bringing people from outside to manage his party's poll campaign in Punjab clearly showed that he did not trust the people of the state. Regarding the AAP leader's letter to the Punjab Chief Electoral Officer seeking withdrawal of his security, Sharma took a swipe at Kejriwal by asking him why did he take the security cover in Delhi and alleged that he was trying to "befool" the people of Punjab. Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik Sunday said the SP government's "inaction" on Lokayukta complaints against the previous Mayawati regime gave an impression that it was going "soft on corruption". In his six-monthly report that came at a time when the state was in the midst of electioneering, the Governor said the UP Lokayukta had sent 53 reports to the ruling Samajwadi Party, but it cared to give clarifications on only two of the complaints. He said the Lokayukta had sought reports on a number of ministers under the previous government, but there was no response from the present dispensation. The Governor said he had also directed the state to issue a white paper on encroachment of government land in the wake of the Jawaharbagh violence in Mathura early this year, but nothing happened. Twenty-nine people, including then SP (City) Mukul Dwivedi and Station House Officer (Farah) Santosh Yadav, were killed during clashes on June 2, 2016 between police and the supporters of cult leader Ram Vriksh Yadav who had encroached upon the 270-acre Jawahar Bagh, a government land. Naik's remarks assume significance as the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls are slated to begin from next month, with all major political players in the state in the midst of heated campaigning. The Governor's remarks may also help the Opposition to further corner the ruling party. At least 11 people have been killed after powerful weekend storms tore through the southeastern US state of Georgia, media reported today. A rural part of south-central Georgia was hardest hit, including a trailer park where seven people were killed, Cook County coroner Tim Purvis told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Atlanta TV channel WSB reported, meanwhile, that another four people were killed elsewhere in the state, along with 23 others who were injured. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported extensive damage in some part of Georgia, with numerous felled trees and downed power lines in several counties. Although storms have passed, authorities warned that a second line of severe weather is advancing, with the threat of more heavy rain and powerful winds. The National Weather Service warned of an "increased threat of strong, long-track tornadoes," that could hit northern and central Georgia today evening. Some areas have already received four inches (10 centimeters) of rain and could get up to three additional inches, the NWS said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A pro-government militia in Mali said that it had lost 14 fighters in an attack blamed on former rebels, three days after a suicide car bomber left more than 70 dead. Some 77 people were killed and 120 wounded in the suicide blast Wednesday which targeted a camp in northern Gao housing former rebels and pro-government militia -- who are signatories to a 2015 peace accord struck with the government. Hundreds of people gathered in the capital Bamako Saturday to pay their respects to victims of the attack on the last of three days of national mourning called by President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. The attack, Mali's worst in years, was claimed by the group of Algerian jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar, allied to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The attack occurred as former rebels from the Tuareg-led CMA movement prepared to go on a joint patrol with pro-government militia members under the terms of the peace deal. Despite hopes of unity in the wake of the blast, fresh clashes broke out Saturday between groups that have signed up to the agreement, according to the pro-government group GATIA (the Imghad and Allies Tuareg Self-Defence Group). A post near Tin-Assako in the northeastern Kidal region was attacked Saturday, GATIA secretary general Fahad Ag Almahoud said, accusing "elements of the CMA" -- referring to ex-rebels from the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA). "The toll was high -- there were 14 victims," he told AFP. The information was confirmed by a Kidal resident reached by telephone, but the CMA did not immediately respond to the allegations. Mali's north fell under the control of Tuareg-led rebels and jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012. The Islamists sidelined the rebels to take sole control. Although they were largely ousted by a French-led military operation in January 2013, implementation of the peace accord has been piecemeal with insurgents still active across large parts of the region. The joint patrols, which also include regular Malian army troops, are supposed to help prepare for the reorganisation of the army. The United Nations has deployed 13,000 troops in Mali while France, the former colonial power, has an additional 4,000 soldiers stationed there. The UN Security Council agreed last week to consider setting up a sanctions regime for Mali to punish those who are hindering efforts to implement the 2015 peace accord. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three persons including a mother-daughter duo were today killed and two others injured when their car skidded off the road and overturned on Bhopal-Indore road here, police said. The mishap occurred near near Kokri village in the district. While Usha Devi (45), her daughter Puja Raikwar (19) and her nephew Shreshth (5) died on the spot, the driver and another occupant of the car sustained injuries, City Superintendent of Police SR Dandotiya said. The injured were rushed to a hospital, he said, adding the victims were on their way to Barwani district from Bhopal when they met with the accident. The CSP said it appears that the driver lost control over the vehicle, which was moving at a high speed. The bodies have been handed over to the family members, Dandotiya said adding the victims hailed from Bhopal. "We have booked the driver under section 304 A of the IPC (deaths due to negligence) and investigations are on," said the official. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut today said 60 seats to BJP in BMC polls is more than enough and there should be "valid and convincing reason" behind giving more seats to "smaller parties". "(Shiv Sena chief) Uddhav Thackeray, being generous by nature has given more seats to BJP. 60 seats to BJP in Mumbai civic polls is more than enough. The under-current in the Shiv Sena is of not giving more than 60 seats to BJP," the Rajya Sabha MP said. BJP wanted 114 seats out of total 227, while Sena was ready to concede only 60 seats to its partner. "We (Shiv Sena) do respect chief minister (Devendra Fadnavis) and the offer made by Shiv Sena is made respectfully. There should be a valid and convincing reason behind giving more seats to smaller parties in BMC elections," Raut added. "The election is of Mumbai municipal corporation, hence the strength of a party is going to be measured on party's existing number of corporators in the house and discussions will be held accordingly," Raut said. During the last BMC polls held in 2010, Shiv Sena had won 75 seats while BJP had emerged victorious on 31 seats. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Swaraj India, led by Yogendra Yadav, today alleged that the AAP dispensation has reduced the number of scholarships for SC, ST and OBC students by more than 70,000, terming the move as "anti-Dalit". Yadav had yesterday claimed that the Kejriwal dispensation had spent Rs 30 lakh on advertisements for student loans scheme, but only three students got Rs 3.15 lakh, a charge which was strongly refuted by the Delhi government, calling it spreading of deliberate misinformation. A statement by the Delhi government said over 100 applicants have been sanctioned loans amounting to Rs 3.55 crore in the current financial year. Yadav claimed that the number of school scholarships awarded to SC/ST/OBC students came down from 7,50,021 in 2014-15 to 6,79,976 in 2015-16, a massive reduction of 70,045. "A similar scheme meant for higher education, Merit Scholarship for College and University students for SC/ST/OBC went down from 13,898 to 8,361 during these two years, a drop of 40 per cent. "The beneficiaries of scheme for reimbursement of tuition fee in public schools to SC/ST/OBC students came down from 26,777 in 2014-15 to 23,650 in 2015-16, a drop of more than 3,000," he said. "Worst of all, the scholarships for vocational and technical education meant for SC/ST/OBC students were 2,062 in 2014-15. The number was nil for 2015-16," Swaraj India spokesperson Anupam said. Yadav also tweeted the figures quoting the sources as the departments of education, social welfare, and Baseline Data for Delhi Vision 2030. "These facts expose the anti-Dalit face of the party trying to present itself as the party for Dalits in Punjab," it said and challenged the Government of Delhi to respond to these facts and face the public, instead of trying to shoot the messenger. Referring to the claims made by Yadav on the student loan scheme yesterday, the government said last year (2015-16) 54 students were sanctioned loans amounting to Rs 1.52 crore. A statement by the Delhi government said the Delhi Higher Education and Skill Development Guarantee Scheme provides assistance for up to Rs 10 Lakh without any collaterals. So far around 400 applications requesting for loan assistance have been received for the current fiscal year. Out of these, more than 100 applicants have already been sanctioned loans amounting to a total of Rs 3.55 crore. While a total of three students have been sanctioned loan of an amount more than Rs 7.5 lakh, the remaining loans have been sanctioned for various amounts less than Rs 7.5 lakh, the statement said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As many as 80 persons in Aurangabad district took ill after consuming milk of the cows bitten by rabies infected dog, said an officer. "The incident came to light on Saturday evening when many people complained of vomitting and nausea. They are being treated and none of them is serious," Vishwambhar Gawande, resident district collector of Aurangabad told PTI today. "We have found two cows whose milk had been consumed by people who fell sick later. Officers from health and animal husbandry jointly department found that these cows are bitten by dogs having rabies. Treatment of cows has started," he said. When asked about the dogs with infection, he said, "It is a serious issue and dogs can bite people as well. Preventive measures are going on," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West African troops approached the Gambian capital to secure President Adama Barrow's arrival from neighbouring Senegal, as controversy erupted over the assurances offered to Yahya Jammeh to guarantee his departure. Jammeh flew out of The Gambia on Saturday, ending 22 years at the helm of the tiny west African nation, and headed for Equatorial Guinea where he is expected to settle with his family. However, Equatorial Guinea authorities refused to confirm Jammeh's arrival yesterday despite an opposition statement condemning the relocation. The Senegalese general leading a joint force of troops from five African nations said soldiers had entered The Gambia to "control strategic points to ensure the safety of the population and facilitate... Barrow's assumption of his role". An AFP journalist stationed across the river that divides the Banjul peninsula from the northern part of the country said around 100 heavily armed Senegalese troops travelling with armoured vehicles were waiting to move into the capital. Senegalese forces had briefly crossed into the former British colony on Thursday but pulled out shortly afterwards, with yesterday's troop movement the first by soldiers from the joint force. Marcel Alain de Souza, a top official with the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), which organised the deployment, said the country "could not be left open" for long, and that Barrow must be in place "as soon as possible". A senior Senegalese military source told AFP that his forces had met little resistance yesterday, as army chief Ousman Badjie has already declared his loyalty to Barrow. Following Barrow's win in the December 1 election, Jammeh refused to step down, triggering weeks of uncertainty that almost ended in a full military intervention. The longtime leader, wearing his habitual white flowing robes, waved to supporters before boarding a small, unmarked plane at Banjul airport alongside Guinea's President Alpha Conde after two days of talks over a departure deal. He left behind a small minority of diehard supporters, some of whom wept as his plane departed. The choice of Equatorial Guinea for his exile has helped ease concerns that Jammeh might interfere in his nation's politics if he stayed in Guinea, whose border is not far from The Gambia's eastern region. The strongman personally controlled certain sections of the security forces, and his long tenure was marked by systematic rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and arbitrary detention. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The strength of the Commission for (NCM) will be reduced to just two as against the mandated seven after one more member completes his tenure next week, raising questions about its potential to do justice. Captain Praveen Davar, appointed as a member during the Congress-led UPA-II government, will complete his three-year term on January 25. Four other members had retired between September 9, 2015, and December 1, 2016. The Commission will now be left with a strength of two -- chairman Naseem Ahmad and member Dadi E Mistry. Ahmad and Mistry will complete their tenures by March 3 and March 9 this year, respectively. Asked whether the workload has increased with so many posts remaining vacant, Davar said, "The workload has definitely increased. When commitment is there, the efficiency doesn't go down. But yes, if the full strength is there, the efficiency increases. We can manage work with even five members. But with the strength coming down to three, we can't do justice as required." Davar is at present handling flow of complaints from 20 states, besides those from the Union Territory (UT) of Delhi. Ahmad is dealing with grievances coming from five states and two UTs, while Mistry has been allotted three states and as many UTs. "When the Commission's strength is full, a member handles six-seven states/UTs each... After one of the members, Mabel Rebello's departure in December last, Davar is left with the job of looking into complaints from 20 states," a source said. "Ideally, the chairperson does not deal with complaints from states directly. Now, the chairman too has allotted himself a set of states. In such a case, it has become difficult to do justice to the complaints which are piling up," the source said. Sources said the Commission has handled around 1,500 grievances this financial year. According to a January 17 statement issued by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, the NCM had received 1,288 petitions between April and December 2016. Another flip side of not filling up vacant posts, the sources said, is that the new members will be totally at sea if there are no experienced colleagues around to guide them in the Commission. It takes at least six months to understand the functioning of the system. The Ministry of Minority Affairs must take steps and appoint members to Commission, they demanded. The Union government had set up NCM under the Commission for Act, 1992 to look into complaints from members of five religious communities -- Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis). The Commission has seven members, including its chairperson and vice-chairperson. Further in January 2014, Jain community was also notified as a minority community. Besides NCM, 15 states including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Assam, which are home to sizeable minority populace, have set up commissions at their respective levels. Aggrieved persons belonging to the communities may approach the state commissions concerned for redressal of their grievances or send their representations to NCM after exhausting all remedies available to them. The functions of the state commissions, inter-alia, are to safeguard and protect interests of minorities provided in the Constitution and laws enacted by Parliament and state legislatures. Amid protests seeking a 'permanent solution' ensuring holding of jallikattu, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who could not inaugurate the bull taming sport at the scheduled time at Alanganallur here, today said people there could organise the sport at time of their choice. Panneerselvam had yesterday said he would inaugurate the event at Alanganallur at 10 AM. As protesters demanded a permanent solution for holding the sport and raised slogans that Ordinance was only a temporary measure, Panneerselvam said, the "State's jallikattu Ordinance route is permanent, robust and sustainable, will be made into a law in the coming Assembly session". Following the promulgation of the ordinance there is no ban, he said. The chief minister said the ordinance will be replaced by a law after bringing in a bill in the Assembly session, beginning at Chennai tomorrow. Speaking to reporters at Madurai, Panneerselvam said, "The ban on jallikattu has been removed completely, the sport will be held at Alanganallur, on a date decided by local people." He said jallikattu was held in all parts of Tamil Nadu with the local administration and police taking all precautionary measures to hold the sport. Continuing blockades and agitations here and Tamukkam grounds, besides neighbouring Natham Kovilpatti in Dindigul, put a question mark over Panneerselvam inaugurating jallikattu. Panneerselvam, who had announced that he would inaugurate jallikattu at Alanganallur, had to stay in a hotel here following the stir there by protesters who demanded a "permanent measure" to be in place. Following that, Panneerselvam was expected to inaugurate jallikattu at Natham Kovilpatti in Dindigul. However, protests erupted there too making the demand for "permanent solution." A top police official here said a group of men who were "instigating" the crowd were staging protests "for political reasons." Madurai District AIADMK wing M G R Mandram President Muthusamy blamed the DMK, and a Left-inclined farmers body Vivasayigal Viduthalai Munnani and some ultra-Left outfits for the stalemate arising out of the continuing protests at Alanganallur. He told reporters that protesters did not want normalcy to return. Efforts of former State Minister Natham Viswanath and senior police and local officials to pacify agitators at Natham-Kovilpatti could not break the ice. Anxiety prevailed for a while as some unidentified persons threw water packets, when talks were on. They also raised slogans that the ordinance was a temporary measure. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a series of announcements, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh today promised cheaper petrol and LPG besides 10 per cent reduction in electricity duty throughout the state. During a brief stopover while campaigning in the region for the coming assembly elections, Amarinder said free travel for senior citizens and students on state transport buses would also be incorporated in the party's poll manifesto. Additionally, ex-servicemen, police and paramilitary force personnel will also be able to avail the free travel facility on state transport buses, he added. Though the manifesto was a comprehensive document, addressing the concerns of every section of Punjab's populace, the need to bring in some more welfare measures was strongly felt in party circles, he said, explaining the rationale behind these announcements. Elaborating on the promise to bring about parity in petrol and LPG prices with Chandigarh and neighbouring states, he said, "It was not fair that the people of Punjab had to pay more for the same amenity for which others were paying less." In order to cut down on the cost, he said, taxes for petrol pumps will be rationalised to make them at par with others. This, he claimed, will help bring down the petrol price by about Rs 3 per litre. Additionally, he said, LPG price would come down to Rs 15 per cylinder through the initiative. Amarinder said the decision on reduction of petrol and LPG prices was based on the feedback received from the people, particularly industrialists who said the higher rates of these commodities were impacting their business in Punjab. Transport and freight charges would be significantly reduced as a result of this initiative, thus giving a boost to the industry and further propelling the Congress efforts to revive the industry in the state after it comes to power in the state, he added. Reiterating his commitment to providing subsidised power to the industry and household consumers, along with free power for agricultural development, Amarinder said it was felt necessary to further extend the benefit of cheaper power through additional measures. Referring to transportation which was allegedly under "Badal family mafia control" since the past 10 years, the Congress state unit chief said he was committed to easing the people's burden on this count and the move to provide free travel to senior citizens and students was a step in this direction. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Spanish and Portuguese airport authorities say that an American Airlines flight heading to Barcelona from New York was forced to make an emergency landing in northwest Portugal because of technical problems. Airport authorities told The Associated Press today that the incident occurred when the pilot of Flight AAL66 requested clearance for an emergency landing. The plane then landed safely in Porto without further incident. All 151 passengers, along with eight crew members and three officers aboard the Boeing 767-300 aircraft, were accommodated in hotels. The plane was inspected and wasn't cleared to continue on to Barcelona. American Airlines later chartered today night flight through Portuguese airline TAP in order to transfer the passengers to Barcelona. The technical problems that prompted the emergency landing weren't immediately clear. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The largest direct marketing company India today announced its entry into the consumer durables space with a premium cookware range under the label of Queen. Currently, India sells over 130 products across nutrition, beauty, home care and personal care categories and this is for the first time that the American company is launching a product in the consumer durable segment here. The product comes with a 30-year warranty. The company has not disclosed the price of the new product. The Amway Queen stainless steel cookware comes with a technology that helps locks in the moisture which helps to preserve the taste and nutrition of the food. The multi-layer structure of the cookware makes almost zero oil cooking possible and offers 30 years warranty. An Amway Queen cookware set comprises a 4-liter stock pot with lid, a 2-liter saucepan with lid, and 1.5-liter saute pan with lid, and an extra lid & stock pot steamer as accessories. The premium cookware segment is pegged at Rs 250 crore and is growing 35 per cent per annum and Amway is planning to be the market leader over the next three years, Amway India chief executive Anshu Budhraja said. "Our target is to ensure that durables as a category contributes over 10 per cent of our turnover in the next three years and thus be the market leader," he said. Amway India is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ada, Michigan-based Amway Corporation which is one of the largest direct selling in the world with presence in over 100 countries. Set up 56 years ago, Amway, which had USD 9.5 billion in sales last year, manufacturers and sells directly high quality consumer goods. Amway India has a manufacturing facility at Nilakottai in the Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu, which is its third manufacturing plant located outside the US. The other plants are located in China and Vietnam. Clearing air over the controversy surrounding recent visit of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to Davos for the World Economic Forum, the office of state government's communications advisor today issued letters claiming that the CM was indeed "invited" for the annual event in Switzerland. The communications advisor's office also released a letter sent by World Economic Forum (WEF) managing board member Philipp Rosler "inviting" Naidu for the conference. It released a few other papers claiming that the Chief Minister was participant in some of the sessions at WEF. "The in circulation in some quarters that the CM was not a special invitee at Davos and that his name did not figure in the list of speakers is false and amounts to false propaganda," the communications advisor's office said. Opposition parties had dubbed Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's recent trip to Davos as a "publicity stunt" and alleged that he was not an invitee to the event but a paid delegate. They had demanded that the CM give an explanation to the people in this regard. State Congress vice-president Nadendla Manohar wrote a letter to Chief Minister today demanding that the latter gave an explanation to the people on Davos trip for which the government spent over Rs 7.27 crore. "Your trip leaves a lot of suspicion that you are spending crores of rupees of public money just to garner publicity. "You sought to make people believe that your annual trips to Davos were bringing in crores of rupees as investment into the state. "But in reality nothing has happened," Manohar pointed out in the letter. YSR Congress spokesman Ambati Rambabu alleged that the Chief Minister was not an invitee to the annual WEF conference but attended it by paying USD 3.2 lakh as a delegate. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju today said the apprehensions of sections of protesters seeking a "permanent solution" were unfounded as the ordinance to allow Jallikattu will be replaced by an Act of the Tamil Nadu legislature which will be "permanent." "Some people say that the Jallikattu ordinance is only a temporary measure. It is true that an ordinance issued by the Governor is only temporary, vide Article 213(2) of the Constitution of India," he said. However, the "Tamil Nadu legislature is meeting tomorrow and will replace the Ordinance by an Act, which will be permanent," he stated in his blog post today. "It is true that this Act may be challenged in the court, but this challenge is unlikely to succeed, since the assent of the President has been obtained under Article 254(2). So the apprehensions of some people are really unfounded," he said. The opinion of the former Supreme Court judge assumes significance against the background of continuing agitations in several parts of Tamil Nadu seeking what they called "a permanent solution." Such protesters also have refused to hold jallikattu in places including Alanganallur in Madurai District. Praising Tamil Nadu people for the "glorious victory" to conduct Jallikattu through peaceful agitations the former Chairman of Press Council of India said "its significance is that perhaps the first time after independence, a popular movement has cut through the barriers of caste and religion, and achieved victory. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Suspected militants attacked an Assam Rifles vehicle escorting tourists, killing two personnel and injuring several others near the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border on Sunday. Militants lobbed several grenades targeting the vehicle at Jagun 12th Mile Barabasti on NH-53 bordering Assam's Tinsukia district in the run up to Republic Day, a defence spokesman said. The security personnel retaliated and an encounter followed with sporadic firing still continuing. The Assam Rifles vehicle and three vehicles of tourists returning from the Pangsau festival have been damaged in grenade explosions, the spokesman said. The entire area has been cordoned off with combing operations stepped up in the area and tourists are stranded along the highway. The Pangsau Festival is held along the Indo-Myanmar border in the area. BJP Sunday promised a slew of populist schemes in its manifesto for Punjab Assembly poll like providing sugar and ghee at low prices, houses to the poor, land to Dalits and backwards, besides assuring Rs five lakh assistance to the families affected by militancy. Union Minister Arun Jaitley while releasing the document here said BJP's manifesto is particularly aimed at improving the social infrastructure in Punjab, even as he slammed Congress for its policies which he alleged paved way for militancy in Punjab in 1980s and termed its 2002-2007 tenure in power as "most dishonest and corrupt". Noting that the SAD-BJP government in Punjab is already running atta-dal scheme, BJP manifesto has promised providing 2 kg ghee for Rs 25 per kilo and 5 kg sugar at Rs 10 a kilo to the blue card holders in the state. In its 16-page manifesto, BJP has assured a house to every poor family besides promising a 5-8 marla plot of land to Dalits and those belonging to backward class. The SAD ally has also promised a job to at least one member from each family. BJP manifesto has also announced Rs five lakh in financial assistance to the families which were affected by militancy in Punjab. It also talks of setting up of a 'Farmers Income Commission' which will provide an assistance of Rs 10 lakh to the families of traders or farmers in the event of their sudden death. On the education front, the manifesto assures making free the studies of girls till PhD level. It also talks of implementing the seventh pay commission, raising to 60 years the age of retirement, setting up of five PGIs, group housing for journalists, among others. "The state government, with the help of the Centre, has made adequate investments in the physical infrastructure in Punjab, but investing in the social infrastructure is the need of the hour, something which the BJP manifesto has focused on," he said. He said the Centre has taken steps to alleviate poverty which include demonetisation, digitisation and JAM (mobile and Aadhaar-based Jan Dhan bank accounts) and these measures will have mid-term and long-term benefits. "With these measures, the leakages in the pro-poor facilities will be removed," he claimed. Jaitley, earlier in the day, blamed previous Congress governments for its polices which he, without taking the party's name, said led to militancy in 1980s in Punjab and took the state back in time. BJP-SAD alliance candidate for Amritsar Lok Sabha seat Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina today batted for border areas development, through central grants. Addressing various election rallies at Bhakna, Mulla Behram, and Khasa, he promised the voters compensation for farmers with land across barbed wire fence on international border, strengthening of road network and basic amenities. He said that the border areas need more work on education and health services and he would seek a special package. Chhina said the SAD-BJP government which is force behind social unity in Punjab, had undertaken tremendous development works. "The development is a continuous process and once the SAD-BJP form the government for the third consecutive time in state, it will further speed up the works for public good," said Chhina while addressing the voters at Bhakna. He said that the Congress which plays divisive politics was responsible for the insurgency in Punjab which affected the border districts the most. "This also affected the development process. But after the alliance government under Parkash Singh Badal came into existence it started the process strengthening the public infrastructure," he said. He said that previous MPs Navjot Singh Sidhu and Amarinder Singh ignored the constituency and did not bring even one notable development project for the area. He said Modi government in the Centre has initiated various pro-farmers and pro-poor policies and rural development is its one of the primary focus. "Under the Swachh Bharat programme, building of toilets is being sponsored and poor are taking advantage of it. Houses for the poor, strengthening of roads, educational institutions and health facilities is also on cards and we should make optimum use of PM Narendra Modi's visionary public oriented policies and programmes," said Chhina. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rapidly expanding its naval fleet, has commissioned its 31st stealth warship as it got its battle group under its first aircraft carrier ready amid tensions with the US and other nations over its assertiveness in the disputed South Sea. The People's Liberation Army Navy has commissioned its 31st Type-056 class corvette, marking a new addition to the world's largest fleet of modern corvettes, official media reported. With a maximum speed of 52 km/h, the ship features good manoeuvrability, a high-level of automation and stealth capability, and is capable of hitting aircraft, ships and submarines, the PLA Daily, the official organ of the Chinese military said. The CNS Ezhou with a hull number of 513 was delivered to the East Sea Fleet in a naval base in East China's Fujian province. The ship will perform coastal patrol, fishery escort, anti-submarine and anti-ship operations. It is the second ship that has been commissioned to the PLA Navy since the start of 2017, following the CNS Kaiyangxing, a Type-815A class electronic reconnaissance ship, which now belongs to the North Sea Fleet. Russia has the world's largest corvette group that consists of about 80 vessels, but most of them were built in the 1980s and 1990s and cannot compete with the Type-056 in terms of technology and equipment, the report quoted defence observers as saying, adding that China's fleet is now the biggest force of modern corvettes of all navies. PLAN has expanded its fleet rapidly in the past ten years taking delivery of about 100 advanced ships and submarines as well as a large number of new aircraft. It commissioned around 20 new ships in 2015 as well as last year and is believed to have deployed several new- generation nuclear submarines during this period, state-run Daily reported. The Navy now has a carrier battle group headed by its first aircraft carrier Liaoning, which just completed a long-distance, live-fire drill in the Western Pacific Ocean and South China Sea. A second aircraft carrier is being built with plans for the third. The Navy's aviation force has carried out several long-range, combat-ready drills as China appears bracing itself for renewed tensions in the South China Sea under Donald Trump Presidency. Trump's Secretary of State nominee, Rex Tillerson in his testimony before the US Senate had said that America should blockChina from accessing islands in the disputed SCS. He likened China's island-building in the SCS to "Russia's taking of Crimea". He warned that the new US government will send a "clear signal" to China that it must abandon its artificial islands in the South China Sea. His remarks were denounced by official Chinese media which said the US has to wage a war with China if America blocks it from accessing the artificial islands it has built in the contested South China Sea. China's claims over almost all of the SCS is contested by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. China today launched a 100 billion yuan (USD 14.6 billion) investment fund to support Internet firms expand their operations. The Cyberspace Administration of China and Ministry of Finance fund will support Internet companies and the Internet Plus action plan via equity investment the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), one of the largest investors in the fund said today. The fund has already raised 30 billion yuan from state-owned banks and enterprises, including the ICBC, which invested 10 billion yuan. The ICBC, together with the China Development Bank and the Agricultural Bank of China, will provide financial services and 150 billion yuan of credit to enterprises that have attracted investment from the fund, state-run Xinhua agency reported. The China Internet Network Information Centre claims that China's Internet population has hit 731 million last year, with 695 million of them using mobile device. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amid the fund-raising efforts for the treatment of an Egyptian woman who weighs around 500 kg, a city-based doctor who will be treating her here visited her home country recently. Noted laproscopy surgeon Muffazal Lakdawala flew to Alexandria last week to meet Eman Ahmed, probably the heaviest person in the world, and discussed her medical conditions. Eman's treatment is getting delayed, mainly due to the factors like transportation and steep medical cost supposed to be incurred by her family. "I met Eman in Alexandria and assured her that we are making every effort to get her the best possible medical help. A team of specialists is on standby and each will do his or her bit to address the multiple medical problems that Eman is dealing with," Lakdawala said in a statement. In October, 2016, Eman's sister Shaimaa Ahmed had contacted Lakdawala, who gave his consent to treat Eman. The 36-year-old has been suffering from multiple medical conditions and her treatment will be a long process which is expected to stretch over a couple of years. Besides a team of experts set up by Lakdawala, city's Saifee Hospital has offered to form a specialised facility to host Eman. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today accused the government of driving the state into debt trap by indulging in "financial mismanagement" and "corruption". "The debt liability of the government has already crossed Rs 36,000 crore and the government has raised loans to the tune of Rs 700 crore in the current fiscal. This would mount to Rs 1,000 crore by end of the year. The state would inch towards a debt trap," the BJP leader claimed here. He alleged that the government to mislead people is making "false and populist announcements" ahead of the Assembly polls without any budgetary provision. The situation is so "pathetic" that even for repayment of loans the government is resorting to fresh borrowings, Dhumal claimed. Accusing the government of "utter failure in resource mobilisation", the former chief minister claimed while the previous BJP government mobilised additional resources to the tune of Rs 5,000 , the present government could generate only Rs 30 crore. The Leader of the Opposition said whatever may be the explanation for raising more loans, the coming generations would be under heavy debt and the people would give a befitting reply to the Congress in the coming Assembly polls. In another statement, state BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti accused the state government of making appointments through "back-door to accommodate the relatives and favourites of Congress leaders". "The state government is playing with the career of deserving youth by throwing all rules and norms to winds, but it will not be tolerated," he said. Satti said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had abolished personal interviews for class III and class IV posts to ensure transparency in appointment but the state government did not abide by it. He asked the government to issue awhite paper on employment given by the it in past four years. The claim of the government to have given jobs to 45,000 people was not tenable as the records of employment exchanges show only 1,150 persons got jobs in government and semi-government departments in past two years, Satti claimed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Leader of an inter-state robbery gang carrying a reward of Rs one lakh by Delhi Police, has been arrested for his involvement in over dozen cases of dacoity and murder in his native place Azamgarh (UP) and the national capital. Chandram Prasad, 33, who led a gang in northwest Delhi area, was arrested from Gole Chakkar on Shah Alam Bandh Road in Jehangirpuri, by a Crime Branch team on January 19, said Ravindra Yadav, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime). He is previously involved in 18 cases of robbery, dacoity, theft, Arms Act and Gangster Act out of which 13 cases were registered in UP and 5 cases in Delhi. Also, he is a history sheeter of Rani Ki Sarai police station in Azamgarh. Chandrama along with his associates had committed several robberies, including murder in Delhi, and was wanted by local police. Six months ago, a Crime Branch team visiting Azamgarh for another case, got clues about Chandrama. It was also noticed that a reward of Rs one lakh was announced on his arrest by Delhi Police, said the officer. Chandrama along with his associates Rampher Yadav and Sagar had tried to rob a cloth merchant and killed him in Majlis Park, the officer said. On a specific input Crime Branch laid a trap near Gole Chakkar in Jehangirpuri on Thursday, when he was intercepted by the raiding party, he tried to escape using a country made pistol but was overpowered before he could shoot head constables Sohan Lal and Praveen, the officer added. In past one year his gang had committed half-a-dozen robberies in northwest Delhi. Earlier, Chandrama was arrested by Delhi Police in 2007 and 2008. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The country's capital will make a comeback in the Republic Day parade after three years with its tableau managing to secure a place after passing through the competitive selection process. Delhi's tableau had last participated in the 2013 Republic Day parade. It had portrayed the city's diverse culture, owing to its inhabitants from different backgrounds and regions, and its status as the country's hub for performing and fine arts. "The tableaux are selected through a very competitive process and a high-level committee headed by the Defence Secretary makes the selection. Delhi has been participating every year but could not make it through the selection process in recent years. This year it has been selected," a Defence Ministry official said. Set up as a Model Government School, the tableau will portray the transformation in state-run schools and the recent initiatives taken in the education sector. A Union Territory (UT) that is making a comeback in the 68th Republic Day parade is Lakshadweep. Its tableau, which will portray it as an unexplored tourist destination, is getting ready to pass through the Rajpath after 23 years. As last year, the parade will see participation of 23 tableaux of which 17 are from states and UTs. "A total of 23 tableaux would participate in the parade, with 17 of them belonging to states and the union territories. Besides, six tableaux from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Party Alleviation, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research will also be part of the parade," the official added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By generating fear among some people, the demonetisation move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has opened opportunities for others, writer Ashwin Sanghi said today. "When there is a fear there are opportunities. Demonetisation has created a fear among few people and on the other hand opened opportunities for others," Sanghi said at a session at the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival here. He was joined by businessman Binod Chaudhury, writer and journalist Hindol Sengupta and Suhel Seth. According to Sengupta, the "pain" that has come along with demonetisation has been "worth it", and that the move was a step forward towards a better economy. "There has been pain and it is worth it. Despite the sufferings, there has not been a single real mass protest happened on roads. The NCR economy is entirely sustaining on black money. Government's next step to nail 'benami' property will be another move towards better economy," he said. Calling himself a "deep advocate" of demonetisation, Suhel Seth termed it a "splendid" step, predicting that India will be the "fastest economy" in the coming future. "I am deep advocate of demonetisation taken by the government. We need to root out black money from the system and it is a splendid move. "International Monetary Fund projection for Indian economy is rubbish and we will be be the fastest economy in coming future," he said. He said that while the working class may be in "short-term pain" but gains would be manifold in long-term. "The move will yield results in next two quarters," he said. Questioning the timing of announcing the decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, and whether the Reserve Bank of India was prepared for the repurcussions, Binod Chaudhury, said that the aftermath of the move will last longer than projected, but assured that "India will have a bright future". "Demonetisation was needed at some point of time. But, whether it was the right time and was RBI prepared to tackle the eventualities is a question. "Currently 50 per cent of Indians have access to banks and post offices so demonetisation has troubled many people. Pain of the step will be a bit longer than projected. However, India will have bright future," the Nepalese businessman said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Probe agencies like CBI and NIA have found themselves in a piquant situation following demonetisation of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes and have been taking varying stands in different courts on whether to keep the seized crime money with them to safeguard evidence or deposit the currency to save them from becoming worthless. The dilemma is simultaneously bothering the accused as well, as they have to accord consent in courts that the seized crime money may be deposited by probe agencies. Such consent would bar them from raising defence at a later stage in trial with regard to the authenticity of the seizure or whether the same currency notes were seized during the alleged raids. In one case, a special court allowed the CBI's plea to deposit Rs three lakh as fixed deposit receipts after accused Ashutosh Kumar Singh, who was working as a Deputy General Manager of the Handicrafts and Handloom Export Corporation of India Ltd (Ministry of Textiles), consented that he was "not disputing the identity of the amount/money seized". CBI, in its plea in the graft case, said "due to demonetisation scheme of Government of India, now the seized currency (old currency) is needed to be deposited in the bank account maintained by the CBI. In order to save the seized currency from turning invalid, necessary orders are solicited from the court." However, in another graft case involving former Medical Council of India President Ketan Desai, the same agency opposed the plea of the accused that Rs two crore, which was allegedly seized in cash by CBI over six years ago, be deposited in a bank. CBI claimed that the notes were bribe money which were important evidence. If deposited, it would damage the prosecution case as these were yet to be exhibited before the lower court, it said. The trial has been stayed by the apex court in the case. In a terror case, National Investigating Agency (NIA) supported the plea of suspected ISIS operative, Syed Mujahid, that the seized crime money to the tune of Rs 2.83 lakh can be deposited in bank, after keeping on judicial record, the "photocopy/scanned copies of old currency notes". The money can be deposited in NIA's treasury account, Mujahid told the court. NIA also urged the court to direct the accused not to raise any objection regarding admissibility of the seizure memo which was prepared after recovery of the search operation at later stage during the trial. District Judge Amar Nath allowed the plea after the accused gave his consent to it. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Supporters of disappointed ticket-seekers of the Uttarakhand Congress today vandalised the party office here and raised slogans against Chief Minister Harish Rawat after the candidates list was announced for the Assembly elections. Shortly after the party declared its candidates for 63 seats in the poll bound state, disgruntled workers supporting Congress leaders Ayendra Sharma and Navin Bhisht tore posters of Rawat and state chief Kishore Upadhyay at the Rajpur Road-based office. The Congress announced Upadhyay as its candidate for the Sahaspur Assembly seat instead of Sharma and Suryakant Dhamsana was given ticket from Cantt seat instead of Bhisht. Downplaying the incident, the Uttarakhand Congress chief said, "It happened at the heat of the moment and no action will be taken against the workers." Candidates were decided at a meeting of the party's Central Election Committee chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi last night. Assembly elections in 70-member Uttarakhand Assembly is scheduled to take place on February 15. "The party high command will announce candidates for the remaining seven seats soon," Upadhyay said. Prominently Rawat will contest from two seats - Kichha and Haridwar Rural, Indira Hridyesh from Haldwani, Surendra Singh Negi from Kotdwar and Dinesh Aggarwal from Dharampur. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Booker-winning British novelist and poet Alan Hollinghurst today said he found it "depressing" that despite being the world's biggest democracy, homosexuality was still outlawed in India. The 62-year-old writer, who wrote his thesis on the works of Ronald Firbank, E M Forster and L P Hartley -- three gay writers -- won the coveted 50,000-pound prize in 2004 for his book "The Line of Beauty". "It is totally depressing. And if anti-gay laws remain on the statute book, even if they are rarely invoked, I do feel they give rise to an increase in anti-gay feelings. "Things are not good all over the world. Situation in most of Africa is extremely bad...Something very much encouraged by the Christian Church. A lot of American right wing people are behind this intolerance in Africa. They must be frustrated by the success of gay rights in America," he told PTI in an interview. Hollinghurst, whose first four books form a quartet that explore the gay life in the United Kingdom, said the "genre of gay writing" is over now. He went on to say it was "frustrating" for him that many people pigeonhole him as a 'gay writer'. "When I started out in 1980s, I consciously set myself up as a gay writer. I thought it was important to write from a gay point of view. It is only frustrating if it is thought to describe the whole interest," he said, adding that his last book 'The Stranger's Child' was not about gays. Hollinghurst, who has written novels, short stories and poems, said penning a novel was the "most challenging as well as interesting". "Writing a novel is more challenging than writing short stories. It is the most interesting form," he said. At an earlier session at the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival here, Hollinghurst termed the novel as a "miraculous thing", saying the hardest part of it is to complete its middle stretch. He said it was important for aspiring writers of fiction to know the world they plan to write about. "I love the early part of a book. It's a lovely period. A sort of tingle when something is getting going. The plot comes to me at the last," he said. "Middle stretch of the novel is the hardest one. It is the worst part. You have to have a subject. You got to have a sense of the world you want to describe or has not been written before," he said. Hollinghurst said it was strange that despite living in an era of "instant obsolescence" and a world of "soul-numbing digital distraction", the demand for short stories had not grown as much as one would have expected. "It is strange. There are different cultures of short stories. In America short stories demand a pure and concentrated attention. Short stories are wonderful. It is the art of omission," he said. However, he also noted that it was important to focus on short forms rather than going for long form of writing when a person starts out. Saying that his writing and reading patterns have changed with the advance of technology, the award-winning writer said the art of novel is more creative than television writing. "The miraculous thing about novel is that it reveals a different reality to the readers who read them. There are creative dimensions to reading a novel which is missing in TV watching," he said. He said living in a literary bubble helps a great deal in shaping one into a novelist. Asked why he discontinued writing poetry, he said it "just stopped" coming to him. "It was the time when I was getting going on writing my first novel. I was putting all my ideas into it. That was it. After that I never had an idea of a poem," he said. Hollinghurst, whose Booker-winning work was a "tribute to Henry James", lauded the American-born British writer for his preoccupation with a point of view, while describing him as a "fascinating" novelist who seduced him with his "extraordinary" talent. "I had a long obsession for him and wanted to do something which was related to Henry James. My book is a homage to him," he said. Often under opposition attack on the drugs issue, Punjab Minister Bikram Singh Majithia and sitting SAD MLA from this assembly constituency dismisses the opposition's "vilification campaign" as baseless and seeks to score a hat-trick seeking votes in the name of development. Among other candidates in the fray, the 41-year-old Revenue Minister is being challenged by the Congress and the new entrant AAP on his hometurf Majitha, which lies nearly 20 km on the outskirts of Amritsar city. As the high-stakes Punjab electoral battle also centres around the drug issue, Majithia finds himself under all-out attack by the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party. He is campaigning actively here and so are the Congress and the AAP candidate, whose posters are most visible in the constituency, though Majithia during the course of campaigning in Ropowali Khurd village here said some "outsiders" are trying to connect with people by taking the poster route. In their campaigning here in this predominantly rural seat, both Congress candidate Sukhjinder Raj Singh (59),aka Lalli Majithia and AAP's senior leader from Punjab, Himmat Singh Shergill (37),target the Akali leader particularly on the drug issue. However, Majithia, younger brother of Union Minister and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal and brother-in-law of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, dubs it as a vilification campaign. Lalli has twice unsuccessfully contested against Majithia from here, the previous time being as a Congress rebel. AAP has evinced keen interest in winning the seat as the party convener Arvind Kejriwal has visited here for canvassing and is expected to come again before the campaigning ends. Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh has said he will order a reinvestigation into the drug racket case in which Bikram Singh Majithia was given a "clean chit" by the SIT if his party came to power in the state after February 4 polls. AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said he will send the minister behind bars by April 15 for his alleged role in a multi-million rupee drug racket in the state. Majithia dismisses the campaign against him as malicious. "Its all a political gimmick, its a political rhetoric. Why don't they take the same thing to court. Your saying anything or my saying anything, how does that make a difference, who is going to judge that, the courts. Newspapers are on record asking for an apology (on what they reported on drug issue about him earlier)," Majithia told a visiting In a stern warning to the rebel candidates who failed to withdraw their nominations in time, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh today asked them to retire from the race by Tuesday evening or face permanent expulsion from the party. Urging the rebels to opt out in favour of the Congress nominees and put up a united front to defeat the "anti-people" SAD and AAP, Amarinder said the interests of Punjab and its people were supreme and could not be allowed to be compromised for personal gains. Hitting out at the rebels who refused to heed the party leadership's request for withdrawal of nomination, despite the promise that they would be accommodated once the Congress forms government in the state, he said it amounted to violation of the party's disciplinary ethics, which could not be permitted at any cost. Amarinder, however, said the presence of rebel candidates in the fray would not have a serious impact on the poll prospects of the Punjab Congress. The party, he asserted, had selected winnable candidates to contest the Assembly elections and they would help the Congress sweep the polls with two-thirds majority to ensure restoration of Punjab's "lost glory". Adamant on his tough stance against the rebel candidates, the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president said he had asked party national president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi to show no laxity in dealing with the dissidents. He has urged the Congress high command to expel such rebels for life and close all doors for their re-entry, giving them a last chance to toe the party line by announcing their retirement by Tuesday evening. He also thanked those who had heeded the party leadership's request to withdraw their papers before the last day of filing nominations, saying it was now the party's responsibility to take care of their interests. He said he would personally ensure that they are not let down on this count and are accommodated in key positions to take the Congress agenda of governance and development forward after the formation of its government in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The clamps imposed upon the freedom to think and speak, formed the focal point of a session today at the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival here, with voices from North Korea, Bangladesh and Nepal documenting stories of their struggles. The session saw participation by Kanak Mani Dixit, editor of Nepal-based Himal Southasian, who was incarcerated in April last year, Hyeonseo Lee, an escapee from North Korea, and Bangladeshi poet and activist Sadaf Saaz, along with historian Timothy Garton Ash. Lee offered a window into the notoriously secretive North Korea and the frightening ways in which the state would ruthlessly "disappear" anyone raising as much as the slightest doubt over the regime. "I have seen my neighbours disappearing overnight without a trace. My friend's father disappeared because he simply remarked 'this is unjust' to someone he knew," she said. Lee went on to recount how the North Korean people were "brainwashed" into thinking that theirs was the best nation in the world, that the Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un were "divine" figures. "We used to get only one TV channel that showed nothing but propaganda. I used to somehow watch Chinese shows secretly by covering the windows. That transformed my mind." Lee would then go on to make her escape from the repressive country, covering countries like Laos and Thailand before eventually landing up in South Korea. "When I got out it seemed like a utopia," she said. Dixit stressed on the need for solidarity between journalists and free speech advocates across all South Asian countries, including those from Pakistan. He also said it was the Indian media's responsibility to make sure that the "elbow room" for free speech is maintained for the rest of South Asia to emulate. " We look up to India as the fount of democracy in this region. If the Indian media lets go of the rein they have on freedom of expression, I can tell you that the rest of South Asia will follow very quickly. "Therefore, it is a great burden, for journalists not only from Delhi but also the rest of the regional media to make sure that the elbow room is kept open," he said. Saaz highlighted the volatile situation in Bangladesh which witnessed a spate of murders of atheist bloggers and minorities. "Ours is a democracy which is a work in progress and one in which we struggle for secular democratic principles everyday. There is the danger of death if you write freely and especially if you touch upon religion. "The spaces for speaking your mind are shrinking and the government will arrest you for hurting religious sentiments. From three years ago until the present day, 46 free thinkers, bloggers and minorities, gay rights activists have been murdered," she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) France's Socialists voted today in the first round of a presidential primary with candidates including former prime minister Manuel Valls seeking traction in an election expected to see the country tilt to the right. The primary is being viewed as a crucial test of the party's ability to survive and even re-invent itself, with Socialist President Francois Hollande deeply unpopular after five years in office. After Hollande ruled himself out of the race, Valls quit his cabinet and was the favourite to win the nomination when the seven candidates began campaigning. But his bid has been viewed by some observers as lacklustre and two contenders from the party's left flank - protectionist maverick Arnaud Montebourg and Benoit Hamon - will push him hard to reach next Sunday's runoff. The odds will be stacked against the victor, with many opinion polls showing the Socialist candidate will be eliminated in the first round of the presidential election on April 23. The election appears to be shaping up as a three-way battle between conservative ex-premier Francois Fillon, far-right leader Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron, a 39-year-old ex-economy minister who is outpacing his former Socialist government colleagues. With voters across Europe moving to the right, most polls currently show a Fillon-Le Pen runoff is the most likely scenario in May. National Front leader Le Pen told a meeting of rightwing populist parties in Germany on Saturday that Europe was about to "wake up" following the victory of Donald Trump in the US election and the British vote to leave the European Union. One voter in southwest France said he had voted for Hamon, who has proposed to pay the poor and 18 to 25-year-olds a "universal income" of 600 euros (USD 640) a month. "I voted for Benoit Hamon because to me he is the one best placed to redress the Socialist party," said Jean Claude, speaking in the small town of Millau. Dominique, a voter in his 40s who cast his ballot in eastern Paris, said he had opted for Valls. "My main concern is that the left reaches the second round (of the presidential election). Valls is the most credible option against Macron," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The district authorities and police in Ghaziabad today reached out to the police to exercise their right to vote in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections next month, even as they assured to maintain maximum vigil during the process. Senior Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar and Ghaizabad Election Officer-cum-District Magistrate Nidhi Kesarwani urged the people to vote in the polls starting from February 11, the information department said. In another awareness programme, Kumar said all police personnel will also vote through postal ballets or directly at the booths. He said police officials will be deployed to ensure free and fair polling and no hoodlums will be spared if found indulging in any unlawful activities. Anti-social elements belonging to any candidate or political party will be put to task if found to hinder the election process, the SSP said. The DM said that every citizen must cast their vote and treat polling day as a "festival of democracy". Last night a candle march was also brought out in several colonies of the city to create awareness about voters rights and the election's. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has said his government was committed to provide security to people belonging to all faiths. "People irrespective of all affiliations constitute a composite culture and a greater Assamese society and the state government is committed to provide security and protection to all sections," Sonowal said at the Silver Jubilee celebration function of Archdiocese of Guwahati at Sonaighuli here last evening. People from all walks of life constitute an edifice on which the present government hinges and the government is committed to ensure security to everybody belonging to all caste, creed, language or religion, the Chief Minister said. He also urged the people belonging to all sections to work together to strengthen the greater Assamese society. "Conceding that the biggest challenge in the society is degradation of human values, restoration of ethos and values will be my constant endeavour," Sonowal said. The present central and state governments were committed to the welfare of all sections of the people, he said. "The Centre's motto of "Sabka Saath Sabka Vikash" is the driving force for the government to work for the betterment of all the citizens of the country," he added. Earlier, Archbishop of Guwahati John Moolachira gave a brief speech on the journey of Archdiocese of Guwahati and the achievements it has made during its 25 years of service for the cause of humanity. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Government is likely to announce incentives for small and medium food processing units in areas such as rice and tea in the Budget to promote the sector and boost manufacturing activities. The impetus may come through a scheme - Sampada -- under which 35 per cent subsidy could be given on the total investments, a source said. The source added that states would be requested to exempt these units from levies like VAT. Under the scheme, the government may promote setting up of mini-food parks in which rice mills, spices, and tea leaves processing units can be set up to avail the benefits. "The proposal is under discussion between the Food Processing Ministry and the Finance Ministry," sources said adding there is a plan to provide single window clearance for these parks. Last year, Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal had said that the Ministry is working on the scheme for development of small and medium scale processing clusters close to the growing areas of the specific farm produce. Food Processing is a thrust sector under the government's 'Make in India' initiative. The programmes aim at making India a manufacturing hub in the world. The government had already permitted 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in retailing of food products produced and manufactured in India. The Budget for 2017-18 is scheduled on February 1. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Noting that India is among the worst countries in the world in child nutrition, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor today charged the government with not being serious about welfare schemes like ICDS as he laid stress on efforts to address the issue of health and nourishment of girl child. "Our government is, at present, not particularly interested in welfare schemes and measures and on giving money for programmes like children health. We have to strengthen ICDS and the government should give more funds to it," Tharoor said at a session in Jaipur Literature Festival here. He said that the Centre has cut budget even for Anganwadi workers, which is unfair. "The ministry dose not have adequate money for Aangawadi workers. The government should focus on this issue and that means cutting across the agencies. If we leave this issue to the marginalised Ministry of Women and Child Development, this will not happen," he said. Noting that India is among the worst countries in the world despite the fact that nutrition standards have increased since Independence, he said that the country has no policy to address nutritional means. "We have not been giving proper thought to agriculture policy. We do not have a policy which looks at the nutritional means of the country," he said, while suggesting that nutritious food should be supplied through PDS. Child rights activist Nandana Sen highlighted the unfair treatment a girl child receives, and stressed on addressing the issue of their education as well. "Girl child face unfair kind of treatment when it comes to food, nutrition and health care. When a boy gets sick, he is quickly rushed to the hospital but the same access is not given to girls," she said. Sen said, besides malnutrition, the issue of education must also be addressed. "We still have not learned to prioritise education for girl child. We need to not only connect them to school, but also on ensuring that they do not drop out, they attend regularly and for this, we need to improve our infrastructure including toilets in schools," she said. The activist also suggested that the role of adolescent girls should be recognised and they should be encouraged to work as a partners in the programmes. Writer and journalist Madhu Trehan said that education, malnutrition are interlinked issues that need to be addressed together. "Girls who suffer choicelessness, human traffickers take their advantage and push them to prostitution. We have a grim situation at hands," she said, adding that programmes to deal with such issues are underfunded and the government should focus on this. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After selling its stake in KG gas block to ONGC for USD 1.2 billion, Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) is mulling a big financial restructuring including trimming stake in some business like LNG and portfolio readjustment, its Managing Director J N Singh said. The Gujarat government firm, which is saddled with nearly Rs 20,000 crore of debt, has a large gas trading business, gas transmission pipelines and city gas business. "We are going through our entire financial restructuring exercise... Options are some dilution of the stake, some dilution of the equity (in some businesses)," Singh told PTI in an interview. Refusing to elaborate, he said, various options of "financial reconstruction of the company and portfolio readjustments" are being looked at. "It will take some time (to take it to board). We are in the process. We have set up an internal subcommittee of the board looking at this. Prior to next financial year (it should be before the board)," he said. GSPC has already offered to IOC its entire 50 per cent stake in Rs 4,500-crore LNG import terminal being set up at Mundra in Gujarat in partnership with Adani Group. The 5 million tonne a year import terminal is 90 per cent complete. Asked if divesting stake in other ventures is an option, he said, "That is one of the things we are considering." Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC), which had between 2006 and 2010 acquired 11 oil and gas blocks in Egypt, Australia, Indonesia and Yemen, has surrendered 10 of these overseas assets and written off Rs 2,000 crore investment. Within the country, GSPC has working interest in 23 blocks, out of which 16 blocks are producing and balance 7 are under exploration/development stage. It is looking to divest some of these as well. Asked if this is the end of GSPC's overseas foray in exploration and production (E&P business, Singh said, "It is such a business where you cannot say we are ending it now. We will keep on looking for good... But may be we will like to be may conservative than what we have been (in past)." He said proceeds from sale of its 80 per cent stake in KG-OSN-2001/3 or Deendayal block in KG basin, to Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) will be used to cut debt. During FY16 , GSPC reported a total operating income of Rs 10,724 crore (FY15: Rs 11,035 crore) and a net loss of Rs 804 crore (FY15: PAT of Rs 24 crore). The Board of Directors of GSPC had on December 4, 2015, approved a scheme of business restructuring which is pending approval of the Gujarat High Court. As per the scheme, GSPC had proposed to demerge its 80 per cent participating interest in KG-OSN/2001/3 Block together with related assets and liabilities from GSPC to GSPC Offshore Ltd. Whereas all remaining businesses (i.E. E & P blocks other than KG Block, gas trading business, investment in subsidiaries and associates) shall be transferred to GSPC Energy Ltd. Accordingly, upon transfer of its entire businesses to above-said two new companies, GSPC shall be dissolved automatically. Subsequently, GSPC Energy Ltd is proposed to be renamed as Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd or GSPC Ltd. A subsidiary of GSPC owns and operates a gas-based power plant at Hazira in Gujarat and is setting up another gas-fired combined cycle power plant at Pipavav in the state. It is also setting up a wind farm at Jakhau in Gujarat. The wife of an Indian fisherman, who died in a Pakistani jail, has urged External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, to find out the cause behind his sudden death. Jeeva Bhagwan Bamnaiya, a native of Khan village in Gujarat's Gir Somnath district, died in a Karachi jail on January 4, a day before 218 Indian fishermen, mostly from the state, were released by Pakistan as a "goodwill gesture". The deceased was among the group of Indian fishermen who were lodged in the Pakistani jail. Jeeva was also supposed to be released along with them on January 5. Jeeva's wife Vegiben, in a statement issued here, urged Swaraj to find out the exact cause behind Jeeva's death. Vegiben narrated "the incidents as told to her by the other Indian fishermen, who were freed, before the death of her husband." "It is necessary to know the exact cause behind the sudden death of my husband," she demanded. Earlier, Rajya Sabha member Parimal Nathwani had also written to Swaraj to take up with her Pakistani counterpart the issue of expediting the process to bring Jeeva's body back to his native place. Meanwhile, Gujarat Fishermen Association's senior vice president Veljibhai Masani requested the Gujarat government to provide financial aid to Vegiben. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) PORTLAND A group of people from Corvallis and Albany gathered Saturday morning under an awning in downtown Portland. They blended with swelling numbers assembling for the Women's March, an international demonstration of unity and a protest against the newly-minted Donald Trump administration. The marchers feel the president, specifically through his documented vulgar and controversial remarks and behavior, personifies hostility and contempt for women and women's rights. The Portland event was one of about 600 marches taking place worldwide. At its peak, around 2 p.m., organizers reported nearly 100,000 people. Fire department officials in Portland put that number at 70,000, but whatever the number, the river of protesters filled the waterfront area between the Morrison and Hawthorne bridges, and spilled into downtown itself. "This is critical mass," said Melissa Murphy of Albany. "We're here to let (Trump) know that we're not going to just go quietly, and that we're paying attention. Murphy also said that part of the reason for marching is to show support for people who supported Trump. They dont realize that this guy is not on their side, she said. And hes blatantly misogynistic. Murphy cited the loss of health care benefits and the de-funding of Planned Parenthood as two threats posed by a Trump administration, but said the people marching here and across the nation and the globe have a wide range of grievances. This new administration gives us a lot of reasons to march, she said. Moving toward the center of the protest, with the sound of helicopters overhead, the shuffle of crowds, songs, drum beats, and cheers, the event took on the tone of a respectful gathering rather than the recent violent outbursts from other groups showing their disapproval after the Nov. 8. election. This crowd showed its strength in numbers. Climbing over the guard rail on the west end of the Morrison Bridge, throngs made their way through light rain to the main stage, where march organizers introduced speakers, activists and musical acts, all leading up to the departure of the marchers. Let me hear you if you were with me when we marched for women's rights in 1968! shouted a voice over the loud speakers, eliciting cheers from far corners of the mass. Closer to the stage, the crowds became denser, and movement was a matter of nudging, negotiation and opportunity. But beyond the yellow tape, up on the stage behind the PA system, where activists waved flags and chanted while the crowd sang, We shall not be moved, organizers flitted about, working to keep the logistical machine rolling and preparing to announce the beginning of the march. The time for feeling comfortable is over! shouted an activist over the loudspeaker. What do we do to help change the oppression that has manifested itself in society today? What was most apparent at the march was that anger and violence were not a part of it. Here, people laughed and danced, moving out on the march to drum and acoustic flute music, letting their presence and their signs deliver the message. A womans place is in The Resistance, read one sign, emblazoned with a photo of Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia from the "Star Wars" films. The Future is Female, declared another sign. In another part of the crowd, a man wearing a Russian military hat stood with tape over his mouth. Upon that piece of tape was written, Freedom, not Oppression. Others carried signs with slogans and images with themes not quite fit to print, designed to call attention to Trumps remarks about women and their body parts. Still, while such large crowds of women massed for protests across the globe, the sticky fact remains that 53 percent of white women voters went for Trump in the general election. In all other ethnic groups, women rejected the GOP candidate by wide margins. And at the Portland march, that diversity was on display through Latino and other groups. The group from Albany and Corvallis was just one of several who bused or drove up for the event from the valley. Seeking to popularise shared built heritage and local history in this former Dutch colony in West Bengal, the Netherlands and state authorities have joined hands to put up special plaques at 20 landmarks, including a few private houses endowed with unique architecture. The plaques, containing informative text in English and Bengali, and a small picture of the landmark, were unveiled yesterday by Dutch Ambassador Alphonsus Stoelinga in the presence of local authorities. "This is in continuation with our efforts to document and popularise the Dutch and local Bengali history of this historical town that is filled with iconic buildings. "The Dutch came here 400 years ago, and the past four centuries encompass a multi-layered history, and the idea is to celebrate not just the European link but also local history," Honorary Consul of the Netherlands in Kolkata, Namit Shah told PTI. As part of the Dutch-West Bengal collaboration, a volume on historical Dutch buildings was earlier published. A booklet 'Dutch in Chinsurah' with an accompanying website was also brought out. "The 20 buildings include Court House, Commissioner's Bungalow, Dutch Cemetery, Hooghly Mohsin College, Imambara, Susanna Anna Maria's Tomb, Circuit House, Dutch Barracks and Police Lines. Besides, plaques have also been placed at three old private houses ('baris'), which have Dutch-influenced or other unique architecture," Shah said. Apart from these plaques, two big plaques have been erected, which contain the map of Chinsurah and these 20 spots, forming sort of a heritage trail, he said. A senior Dutch Embassy official said the idea also is to "promote homestay and bicycle heritage tour and link heritage with economic development". Shah said the list initially included 12 spots, but it was later expanded to include other historical building too, besides those linked to the Dutch legacy. "People come to Chinsurah and go back. We wanted to leave a favourable trail in their consciousness, and so this project was undertaken. The state and municipal authorities supported a lot to execute this," Shah said. "Kerala is another integral part of shared Dutch legacy in India, and Alleppey (Alappuzha) with its canals is like Amsterdam. We want to first engage in cleaning of the canal and then using the area for boosting heritage tourism," the Embassy official said. Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) or the Dutch East India Company, which was originally established as a chartered company in 1602, is said to be one of the first multi-national companies, which also had its own logo. The Commissioner's Bungalow here has the Dutch marker, reading "VOC 1687" on its inside wall. Among other iconic landmark of Chinsurah include Ghorir More, a colonial-era Gothic tower, imported by the British in memory of King Edward VI. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vedic hymns and sacred prayers from holy Guru Granth Sahib echoed in the historic chambers of the National Cathedral with US President Donald Trump attending the interfaith prayer service organised to mark his inauguration. Religious leaders from various faiths were invited to recite prayers at the three-day event. Reading in Sanskrit, Priest Narayanachar L Dialakote called for global peace for the benefit of humanity. Wrapped in a saffron shawl around him, the Hindu priest from a popular temple in Maryland invoked divine blessings. "Keep this nation under your care, and guide us in the way of justice and truth," the Hindu priest said as Trump, First Lady Melania, Vice President Mike Pence and their family members listened attentively to him. Notably Dialakota was the first priest to have recited hymns when the former US President Barack Obama celebrated Diwali for the first time in 2009. Thereafter he has participated in several Diwali celebrations at the White House. Indian-American Jassee Singh recited hymns from the holy Guru Granth Sahib. "As we embark on this journey, on a path of justice, freedom and equality for all under our true leaders, President Donald J Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, I would like to recite a prayer from the 10th Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh Ji," he said. Pakistani American Sajid Tarar read from the Surah Fatiha. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Survivors of Italy's avalanche disaster ate snow to stay hydrated and sang to keep their spirits up as as they huddled in pitch black, cramped cavities in the mangled wreckage of the Hotel Rigopiano. The traumatic nature of their life-or-death ordeal emerged Sunday as rescuers insisted they had not abandoned hope of finding some of the 23 other people buried under the icy ruins, despite 48 hours having elapsed since they last detected signs of life. "We have hope. Even if there are no signs of life, you could drill through a wall and suddenly there'd be contact. That's what happened with the other survivors," said Luca Cari, a spokesman for the rescue operation. Rescue teams were working round the clock with only two-hour rest breaks to ensure the first responders most familiar with the layout maximise their time on site. The risk of another avalanche remained high and snow and fog continued to hamper the rescue effort in the mountains of central Italy. Work was focused on reaching a section of the back of the hotel that was protected by a rock buffer. "We are fairly confident there are rooms intact there," Cari said. "The problem is getting to them. We don't have much room to manoeuvre, the holes we are climbing down into are narrow, and then we have to break through very thick walls to get into rooms, hoping to find someone inside." The survivors extracted so far, five adults and four children, were trapped under the snow-blanketed remains of the three-storey building for 40 hours before their first contact with rescue teams. "I'm Georgia and I'm alive," 22-year-old student Georgia recalled telling the rescuers. "It was the most beautiful thing I've ever said," she said in a hospital bed interview with Corriere della Sera. Galassi and her boyfriend Vincenzo Forti, 25, had to wait another 18 hours before they were finally extracted in the early hours yesterday, the rescuers having given priority to getting the children out first. When they emerged, they only had a few bruises and mild hypothermia to show for an experience that started when a wall of snow hurtled into the hotel just after 5.30 pm on Wednesday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) All the five Indian-Americans elected to the US Congress have joined the Women's March to protest against new US President Donald Trump's alleged anti-women policies. Kamala Harris, the first Indian-American Senator, was among the several Democratic Senators to address a massive crowd in Washington. "We all know the truth: If you are a woman trying to raise a family, you know that a good-paying job is a women's issue," she said. "We know that it is right for this nation to prioritise women's issues," she added. In her home State of California, protest marches were held in several cities including Los Angeles. "They can take the House, Senate, and White House, but they cannot take away our power. What an extraordinary day," she said. "Let's make today a beginning. Let's buckle in, because it's going to be a bumpy ride," Harris said adding that the Womens March really made her believe in the possibilities of the country, with people of all backgrounds united for justice. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said this is what a movement looks like. "Can't see the end of the crowds from stage," she said. "I am so proud to be an immigrant woman, in solidarity with all women and men today," she added. Jayapal had boycotted Trump's inauguration on Friday. Congressman Ami Bera said any discussion of women's rights must include access to safe and affordable health care, including reproductive care. "We must continue the struggle for women's equality at home and abroad. Gender should never be a barrier to success," Bera said. "In America, respect for the rights of all women and girls must always be one of our core national values," Bera said. In Chicago, Raja Krishnamoorthi addressed a strong crowd of 150,000. "Today's march was about people from every walk of life coming together to declare their support for the rights of women and all Americans. Women's rights are human rights," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The year gone by turned out to be very profitable for which emerged as the best performers in Asia in 2016, says a Nomura report. According to the Japanese financial services major, outperformed sovereign bonds in the rest of the region (Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea Singapore, Indonesia) last year and the yield curve is likely to steepen further this year. "In 2017, we expect yield curves to have a steepening tendency and thus suggest investors to take a buy-on-dip approach in front-end bonds," Nomura said in a research note. According to the report, three key events shaped rates market dynamics in 2016, first, RBI conducting OMO purchases that supported bond demand. Moreover, the Brexit vote and Raghuram Rajan's departure from the Reserve Bank of India led the market to increase its rate-cutting expectations which in turn led to lower rates. The recent demonetisation effort led to improved liquidity in the banking system and again fed into bond demand. Going ahead Nomura sees a confluence of factors - a lack of OMO purchases, end of easing cycle dynamics, large state bond supply, the US Fed hiking cycle and a potential pick-up in credit growth - can steepen the yield curve in India, and "we expect this to become visible in 2017," Nomura said. As of January 6, India had currency in circulation of around Rs 8.98 trillion, which is around half of the Rs 17.97 trillion of currency in circulation on November 4 (before demonetisation). "Thus 50 per cent of the currency in circulation (Rs 8.99 trillion) is now in the banking system, which results in surplus liquidity conditions," it added. Another factor that is likely to steepen the yield curve is the end of easing cycle dynamics, after 175 bps of rate cuts, this easing cycle appears to be nearing its end. Nomura said its India economist Sonal Varma expects only one more rate cut in this cycle. Israel's prime minister has accepted an invitation to visit the White House next month in hopes of forging a "common vision" for the region with President Donald Trump that could include expanded settlement construction on occupied territories and a tougher policy toward Iran. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his plans to head to Washington hours after delaying a vote on an explosive proposal to annex one of the West Bank's largest settlements, apparently to coordinate his policy toward the Palestinians with the new administration. The move put on hold legislation that threatens to unleash fresh violence and damage already faded hopes for Palestinian independence. It also may have marked Trump's first presidential foray into Middle East diplomacy. After eight years of frosty relations with President Barack Obama, Netanyahu has welcomed Trump's election as an opportunity to strengthen ties between the two allies. Israeli media reported that Netanyahu was gearing up plans to expand settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem a policy that had been condemned by Obama. Late yesterday, the two men held what Netanyahu's office described as a "very warm conversation" by phone. It said they discussed the international nuclear deal with Iran, which both men have harshly criticised, and the Palestinian issue. "The prime minister expressed his desire to work closely with President Trump to forge a common vision to advance peace and security in the region, with no daylight between the United States and Israel," the statement said. It said a date for Netanyahu's visit would be finalised in the coming days. With Trump signalling a more tolerant approach toward the much-maligned settlement movement, Israel's nationalist right now believes it has an ally in the White House, and Israeli hard-line leaders make no secret they will push for aggressive action in the occupied West Bank. Education Minister Naftali Bennett, leader of the pro-settlement Jewish Home Party, has been pushing Netanyahu to abandon the internationally backed idea of a Palestinian state and to annex the Maaleh Adumim settlement near Jerusalem. But after convening his Security Cabinet yesterday, Netanyahu said his Cabinet ministers, including Bennett, had decided "unanimously" to delay action on the annexation plan until he goes to Washington to meet with Trump. In order to placate Bennett, Israeli media reports said Netanyahu had promised the ministers to clear the way for expanded settlement construction in east Jerusalem and in major West Bank settlement "blocs" that Israel hopes to keep under a future peace deal. He was quoted as saying his "vision" is to place all settlements under Israeli sovereignty. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das today said the state budget will be centred around the poor, the youth, the women and the villages. The budget would also include the Tana Bhaghats, who had participated in the freedom struggle. Das said the budget would be based on the development of villages, an official release said. The state government was engaged in the development of connecting one another, Das said calling upon the people to connect with the administration and participate in the development works. Addressing a meeting at B S College Stadium here after district development festival and cleanliness programme, Das said the 12th Five-Year Plan had ended, but poverty and unemployment had not reduced because common people could not participate in the welfare schemes. The state government wanted every village to be developed, ensuring participating of the people, the CM said adding, schemes become successful if people participate in it and Lohardaga district has done this and it was an example for other districts. Das said it was an electronic age and if one did not walk with time the person would be left behind, adding, in two years time panchayat secretariats would be given Internet facility through Bharat Net and 32,000 villages would be connected with the Internet, the statement said. In three years, 30 lakh households would get electricity, he said. Das asked ward members and mukhias to understand their responsibilities and develop their villages with people's participation. He called upon ward members to play an important role to put an end to middle men (in development works) at block level and ascertain that government schemes were reaching to the beneficiaries. Make the villagers aware of their rights, Das said and added it was the government's priority to stop drop outs from schools. The Chief Minister said thirty lakh toilets would be constructed by 2018, the statement added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) began in parts of Tamil Nadu today, including Tiruchirappalli district, with traditional fervour even as protests continued at Alanganallur in Madurai, where people refused to hold the famous sport seeking a "permanent solution". Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who had yesterday said that he would inaugurate the event at Alanganallur, is now expected to do so in neighbouring Dindigul district. The bull taming sport began at Manapparai in Tiruchirappali district with thousands witnessing the event as bulls roared out into the sporting arena. Youths tried to hold on to the hump for a brief distance as the animals sped fast towards the exit. Hundreds of bulls and youths participated in the show. Owners of winning animals and youngsters were awarded with prize money. 'Manjuvirattu', another form of jallikattu, was reported from villages in Dharmpauri district. Sections of protesters continued to stay put at several locations in the state, including the Marina here. At Alanganallur several sections of agitators declined to hold the sport. They blocked the ways to the entry and exit points of the sprawling sporting area. A group of organisers removed the bulls from the arena as well. They demanded a permanent solution, declining to accept the ordinance promulgated to hold the sport. According to the officials, Panneerselvam is now expected to inaugurate at Kovilpatti near Natham in Dindigul district. remained banned following a Supreme Court order in May 2014. Meanwhile, officials were also making arrangements for holding Jallikattu in Alanganallur. Officials are trying to pacify and convince Jallikattu organisers that the ordinance is the permanent solution. Agitators were told that the ordinance will be replaced by a law. A Bill in this regard will be adopted in the Assembly and it will become a permanent law and solution as well, they said. (Reopens MDS3) Jallikattu was inaugurated by Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar in Pudukottai where hundreds of youngsters are competing. Bulls are being let into the sporting arena one by one and the youths are trying to jump on to the hump of the bulls which are trained to not allow participants to get near them. The sport is being witnessed by thousands of spectators. Top district police and local government officials are overseeing the conduct of the sport. They said all precautionary, security measures are in place. Meanwhile, "Rekla Race" (Ox cart race) popular in the "Kongu" region (Western Tamil Nadu) of the State is all set to start at the sprawling Codisa Grounds in the textile city of Coimbatore. Each two-wheeled cart will be driven by its owner and the cart will be steered by two bulls latched on to the yoke. Shortly, Local Administration and Rural Development Minister S P Velumani will inaugurate the race in which many enthusiastic participants are in the fray. The sport will be held in two categories, 200 and 300 meters race for "junior" and "senior" categories of bulls. Actor James Marsden is being considered for a role in DC Comic franchise "Green Lantern Corps". The 43-year-old actor has been included in the shorlist of the actors to star as one of the two Green Lanterns, Hal Jordan in the film, reported told AceShowbiz. "Ever since 'Westworld', Marsden has been pretty hot around here. They've discussed him for Hal as well," a source said. The list also included renowned names like Tom Cruise, Jake Gyllenhaal, Bradley Cooper, Armie Hammer, Joel McHale and Ryan Reynolds, who played Hal Jordan in the 2011-film "Green Lantern". Marsden has previously appeared in the Marvel film franchise, "X-Men" as Cyclops. The film is currently scheduled to release on July 24, 2020 in USA. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Before Lynne McKee became the manager of the Benton County Fairgrounds, she was the head of the FBIs international art theft investigation program. From 1997 to 2005, McKee coordinated the bureaus art theft investigations, exposed fake artworks and helped restore stolen masterpieces to their rightful owners. When the National Museum of Iraq was looted during the fall of Baghdad in 2003, she flew to the Middle East to help recover thousands of cultural artifacts for the Iraqi people. Shell discuss her experiences Wednesday in a pair of 90-minute presentations in Corvallis. McKee will present To Catch a Thief: International Art Theft and the FBI at 3 and 6 p.m. in the auditorium at the fairgrounds, 110 S.W. 53rd St. The cost to attend is $5 for the general public or $3 for students with ID, with proceeds going to benefit the Benton County Fair. Diverse, engaging and enriching sessions by writers and intellectuals for literary enthusiasts, avid readers and young minds marked the second edition of Tata Steel Bhubaneswar literary meet (TBLM). The two-day meet, that witnessed participation from over 40 writers and novelists, concluded yesterday. The meet aimed to further the literary pursuit of Odisha, which is globally renowned for its cultural heritage. The idea was to bring on board varied areas of interest such as theatre, dance, music, cinema, journalism, and politics, all of which directly or indirectly influence literature of a given period. The meet was inaugurated by Nayantara Sahgal in the presence of Anand Sen, President of TQM and Steel Business, Tata Steel, Soumya Ranjan Pattnaik, editor of a leading Odia daily and Ananta Mahapatra, renowned theatre personality on January 20, it said. Inaugurating the meet, Nayantara Sehgal said, "Writers and their writings come in all shapes and sizes. While some can spin one novel a year, others take years of inspiration to pen a line. We have a great responsibility as writers to shoulder this country's future as a secular republic." Anand Sen, said: "Tata Steel's engagement with Odisha spans more than a century. Besides, all our social engagements here, it is also our endeavour to partner literary pursuits such as this. We hope this event will grow in stature and become a must- attend for the literature enthusiasts". The Meet presented two days of discussions, debates, sessions on the literary world of Odisha and India. On its first day, conversation revolved around defining a classic, in a realm of literature that informs, enlightens and endures while being periodically questioned, critiqued and survive multiple trials. On the second day, seven sessions on a variety of topics were deliberated and discussed. Highlights included an inspiring session by entrepreneur, mentor, role model Subroto Bagchi for young minds of the city, the release added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Booker-winning Australian writer Richard Flanagan today dismissed the presumption that the rise of US President Donald Trump was a "failure of literature", saying that literature is an aspect of life and its role is not to change the world. He said Trump's win was not an outcome of great storytelling, but catering to the "fundamental discontent". "There has been a profound shift in politics in the West. People no longer believe politicians can bring change...There is renewed interest in books. They go back to find the meaning of life. "The appeal of books is growing. They are becoming more important..We continue to see the world through stories," he said. He said the challenge for both politicians and people was to restore the meaning of life. He said a writer can have no borders and it is his responsibility to touch human ins tuitions. According to him books possess an "extraordinary power" and offer a kind of solace unlike any other art form. He said great novels deal with "fundamental truths" and that is precisely the reason they are timeless and are read again and again. "Books offer a form of solace no other art form provides. Books have extraordinary power and never let us feel alone," Flanagan said. Terming novel as the "greatest invention" of humanity, he said the genre is the "most complex" and "rich tradition" of story telling. "Great novels are about fundamental truths. That is why we return to them. Sometimes they are also about unpleasant truths. But we must acknowledge that we are also those things," he said. "We love the novel because it allows us to live thousand lives which we know we could have lived. There are infinite possibilities for human beings," Flanagan said. Noting that truth for a fiction writer is "spiritual truth", Flanagan said the author uses "illusions" of story to seek deeper truths. He said the books are slow and if writers show integrity and courage, their voices will resonate across oceans. About his own Booker-winning novel titled "The Narrow Road to the Deep North", Flanagan said his father who was a prisoner of war inspired him to write it and was "frightened" to write it initially. The writer who is attending the ongoing Jaipur Literature festival here, said his purpose of coming to the literary extravaganza was to "discover new books and new authors. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Nicolas Maduro today announced the firing of Venezuela's Central Bank chief, amid a deep economic crisis worsened by the recent bungled release of bigger denomination banknotes. Speaking on his weekly television program, Maduro announced that Central Bank head Nelson Merentes -- who has been under intense pressure after the banknote debacle -- has handed in his resignation. The left-wing Venezuelan leader announced that he has tapped economist Ricardo Sanguino to succeed Merentes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Exiled Bangladeshi author said she had hoped that the situation in West Bengal would improve for her to return after Mamata Banerjee took over as the chief minister in 2011 but she found the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief "harsher" than the Left Front government in this regard. "I had expected that the situation in West Bengal will change after Mamata came to power. But I was wrong. I found her harsher than the earlier Left Front government," she said over the phone from her undisclosed residence in New Delhi. Noting that she was a "victim of vote bank politics", Nasreen said that politicians irrespective of their party affiliation have the same outlook about her. "Politicians are all on the same platform when it comes down to me. I think it's because they think that if they can satisfy the Muslim fundamentalists they will get votes. I believe I am a victim of vote bank . This also shows that how weak the democracy is and politicians ask for votes by banning a writer," she said. And that is exactly what is happening in West Bengal, she said and described the opposition to her return by the state government as a "dangerous opposition". "Even though I am not staying there, she (Banerjee) has not allowed my book 'Nirbasan' to be published. Also, she has stopped the broadcast of a TV serial scripted by me after Muslim fundamentalists objected to it. She is not allowing me to enter the state... This is a dangerous opposition," Nasreen said. The Bangladeshi writer has been living in exile since 1994 in the wake of death threats by Muslim fundamentalists. After staying in Europe, Nasreen took refuge in India in 2004 and stayed in Kolkata. But in 2007, she was expelled from West Bengal following violent protests by Muslims against her writings. She had moved to Sweden, after initial staying at an undisclosed location in New Delhi. She later returned to India and now lives in New Delhi. Asked whether she would like to contact Banerjee and seek help for her return to the city, Nasreen said that she had written to the chief minister but there was no response. "I wrote to Mamata Banerjee. But there was no response to that... To be honest, I had written an article for a popular Bengali daily hoping that she will notice it and help my cause... Though it was a very positive article on Mamata but nothing changed," she said. On whether she would write to Banerjee again, the 52-year-old writer said, "No I am not going to write to her again. I do not think she will consider my request. I feel very hopeless because I expected something positive. I think when it comes down to me, she has similar vision like that of the Left leaders. Asked why she was choosing to stay in India, preferably Kolkata, despite the hindrances here, Nasreen said, "I do not consider India as a foreign country. The history of this country is my history. It's the country of my forefathers. I love this country and in Kolkata, I feel at home because I can relate that place to my homeland." Asked whether she was scared of staying in India because of the life threats she gets from time to time, she said, "Sometimes I think the way they are killing people using suicide bombers who can get into any place and can kill anybody. Police protection, security arrangements are also becoming irrelevant these days. Yes, at times I am scared. "But I must say that I am not frightened by these death threats. Getting them I am not locking myself inside my room. I am going out everyday. But I am a bit more alert and leading a very cautious lifestyle." "I have sacrificed my freedom and have been sacrificing for a big cause... All these (problems) are because of my writings. I could have stopped writing against fundamentalists and possibly the bans would have been removed and I had got back my freedom and allowed to enter my motherland again. But I will never do that. "I have spoken of humanism and equal rights for women and secularism stating that religion and nation should be treated separately. One should not get confused with nation and religion. Rules should be made based on equality, and not on religion," she said. Nasreen said she does not write "to get awards". "I know that only by writing I will not be able to change an entire society. The laws need to be changed. Equal rights cannot be established in a short time, it requires a long time and huge efforts," she said. Talking about her writings, the 'Lajja' author said she was still waiting to pen down her best. "Though I have written 43 books out of which many are best sellers and many have earned me awards, I still think I am yet to write the best one. I have got many awards but the best is when people come forward and tell me that my writings have help them change their vision," she said. Asked whether life would have been different if she was born in a European country, Nasreen said, "I do not think I would have been treated in the same manner if I was born there (Europe). I am a writer, not an activist. I do not participate in rallies. I write with a pen and if you have any problem why do not you pick up a pen to protest. "The surprising thing in this part of the world is that they have picked up arms against me because I have expressed my views. I have never enforced my thoughts on anybody ever, then why they are trying to kill me. I am not a supporter of violence. To compete with app-based taxi hailing services, Meru Cabs has restructured its service offering and introduced new cab categories that can be booked through its revamped mobile application Meru Cabs. "We are adding SUVs, sedans and hatchbacks as a separate service through the mobile app. The pricing is also competitive, in line with other services available in the market," Meru Cabs CEO Nilesh Sangoi told PTI. "Last year, our revenues were to the tune of Rs 500 crore. We have crossed it this fiscal and will be looking to close at even more positive note due to our new initiatives," he added. Meru has roped in 2,000 drivers and vehicles under these new categories and are beginning services in Mumbai. It will roll out services in other cities after a month, he further said. The rates have been fixed at Rs 9/km for hatchback, Rs 10/km for sedan and SUV at Rs 15/Km. Meru does not plan to charge travellers 'surge price'. "By revamping our services portfolio, we aim to provide even more affordable travel options for our ever growing customer base," Sangoi said. Last year Meru has begun a slew of services in order to keep up with the changing scenario of the taxi industry. Last June, Meru raised USD 25 million (about Rs 165 crore) from Brand Capital, the investment arm of Bennett Coleman and Co (BCCL), which it is deploying to enhance services, increase brand salience and brand awareness with the aim of widening its customer base. It has expanded to 24 additional cities, launched services including Carpool, disability equipped vehicles under Meru Enable, and also integrated its booking system with Facebook's messenger bot, besides its own mobile application. It has also grown its fleet size to 20,000 vehicles, it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Militants ambushed an Assam Rifles vehicle, triggering an encounter along the Assam-Arunchal Pradesh border this morning. An Assam Rifles vehicle was attacked by grenades and loud explosions were heard at Barabasti 12th Mile on NH-53 bordering Assam's Tinsukia district, a defence spokesman said. Security forces retaliated and both are currently locked in an encounter. Further details were awaited. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) More than a million Americans have taken to the streets from New York to Los Angeles to participate in a women's march in an unprecedented rebuke of President Donald Trump's alleged divisive policies and anti-women views. The protest came a day after Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. "This is more than just a single day of action, this is the beginning of a movement to protect, defend and advance human rights, even in the face of adversity," declared organisers of the Women's March at the conclusion of the successful protest. Participants of the Women's March said they have joined this because of the alleged divisive policies of the new American president. Five Indian-Americans elected to the Congress enthusiastically joined the march. In Washington DC, organisers said some half a million people participated in the march, while crowd swelled more than this in Los Angeles. In Washington protesters filled Pennsylvania Avenue. In the evening, the crowd moved toward the White House. Filmmaker Michael Moore, feminist icon Gloria Steinem, musician Alicia Keys and other speakers emotionally attacked Trump for his views on immigration, Muslims and women. Metro trains were packed with pink "pussyhat" wearing protesters - a reference to Trump's claim in a 2005 video that he grabbed women. Pop diva Madonna, wearing a black pussyhat, made an impromptu appearance on the protest's main stage near Washington's National Mall. "It took this horrific moment of darkness to wake us the f--k up," Madonna told the crowd. "It seems as though we had all slipped into a false sense of comfort, that justice would prevail and that good would win in the end." In a sly allusion to the crude remarks Trump made on the tape, many marchers, women and men alike, wore pink "pussy hats" sporting cat ears. Demonstrators in New York City marched toward Trump Tower -- the President's main residence when he's not in the White House -- but were blocked at Fifth Avenue. In Chicago some 150,000 people attended, while in Boston tens of thousands of marchers joined the protest which among others was addressed by Senator Elizabeth Warren. "We can whimper. We can whine. Or we can fight back!. We come here to stand shoulder to shoulder to make clear: We are here! We will not be silent! We will not play dead! We will fight for what we believe in!" Warren said. "This is a do or die battle for us. We need to fight against the onslaught on our human rights," said Monika, a small time documentary maker from New York, who came to Washington DC to attend the women's march. Yesterday, former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton came out in support of the march. "Thanks for standing, speaking & marching for our values @womensmarch. Important as ever. I truly believe we're always Stronger Together," she said in a tweet. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Economist on Sunday said that the Sanskrit as a language is now getting more popular with people understanding its use and importance. "It is amazing to see that a kind of interest is being developed in Sanskrit. Sanskrit is also a raging success on twitter too," he said. Debroy was speaking at a session titled, 'Puranas' at the Jaipur Literature Festival. Having started at the age of 35 years, he narrated how he developed his interest in the language. He said that "starting late" was a loss for him, and urged the younger generation to pick up the language as early as possible. He also talked about his understanding of the Puranas, the sacred writings on Hindu mythology and folklore in Sanskrit, while highlighting their importance in one's day-to-day lives. While responding to a question by writer Pushpesh Pant on the differences between 'Satvik', 'Rajsik' and 'Tamsik' elements in the Puranas, Debroy suggested that the differences were "artificial". "The ones that are identified with Brahma are often classified as Satvik, ones identified with Vishnu are classified as Rajsik and ones identified with Shiva are called Tamsik. But in my view, these are artificial," he said. A Tamil musician associated with the raging pro-jallikattu protests today announced backing out of the agitation citing the presence of "anti-national" elements, but vowed to back the bull-taming sport. Known as 'Hip-Hop Tamizha', Adhi, who has composed a Tamil track in support of jallikattu, claimed that the movement was "losing steam and veering off its desired path". He claimed that during the protests at Coimbatore, he had come across an incident involving an "insult" to the national flag even as some tried to give a communal colour to it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the target of "abusive" language by a section of the protesters, Adhi, a prominent name among the pro-jallikattu protesters, alleged. "I will not aid such anti-India activities," the composer of the 'Takaru Takaru' song said in a video message, adding that some protesters even raised separate Tamil Nadu slogans. Adhi said he was "hurt" by such incidents and insisted that a good initiative was "losing direction". "The problems of Tamils should be addressed, but at the cost of what?" he asked and added that giving a completely different colour to the protest was "not acceptable" to him. "I do not know what happened but I am backing off," he said. Adhi said he himself was the owner of a bull and had been affected by the ban on jallikattu, adding that he continued to support the bull-taming sport. His comments come at a time when some on the social media have started questioning the rationale behind the protesters' insistence on continuing with their agitation (in its sixth day today) despite Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam's assurance that his government's ordinance for conducting the sport will pave the way for a permanent solution. Former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju has also said that the apprehensions of sections of protesters seeking a "permanent solution" were unfounded as the ordinance will be replaced by an Act of the Tamil Nadu legislature which will be "permanent". (REOPENS MDS 23) Echoing Adhi's comments, the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP said it had already made it clear that the movement was losing direction. "Insult to the national flag and Prime Minister Narendra Modi clearly shows that the movement is veering off its path. We should not allow these things to happen," BJP state chief Tamilisai Soundararajan said. In a statement here, she recalled that the ban on jallikattu had come into effect during the days of the UPA government of which the DMK was a key constituent and also referred to the efforts of the Centre and the state government to lift the ban. Soundararajan also urged the protesters to withdraw their agitation. (REOPENS MDS23) Later, a group of pro-Jallikattu activists including Adhi, told reporters here that the protesters can consider withdrawing their stir or at least postpone it till March end if no permanent solution was found. Adhi, Jallikattu forum's founder Rajasekar and another well-known supporter Karthikeya Sivasenathipathi said the students had succeeded in their endeavour as the state had issued an ordinance. They also pointed out that the state government is scheduled to table a bill in the Assembly tomorrow to amend the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act. In the wake of remarks by a senior RSS functionary advocating review of reservation policy, Union minister Ramdas Athawale Sunday said the Constitution has given reservation to SC/STs and the NDA government and Prime Minister support it. "Indian Constitution has given reservation to SC/STs. The NDA government and Prime Minister support reservation. Anyone who opposes reservation to SC/STs...We are not going to accept it," Athawale, who heads Republican Party of India (A), an NDA ally, told reporters here. He pointed out that the Sangh has clarified that RSS publicity chief Manmohan Vaidya's remarks on reservations is his personal opinion and said the constitutionally provided reservation should continue. The Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment said the present reservation of 49.5 per cent should be increased to 75 per cent to enable reservations to the upper class. "First end casteism before making any attempts to remove caste-based reservation. Parliament has to pass a bill and make new law to increase reservation by another 25 per cent. If constitutional amendment is in place there will be no problem," he said. Athawale said his ministry is mulling to increase inter-caste marriages encouragement money to Rs 2.50 lakh. "I request Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to also enhance inter-caste marriages encouragement money from the current Rs 50,000 given in the state," he said. Vaidya had on Friday said at the Jaipur Literature Festival that even B R Ambedkar, architect of the Constitution, was not in favour of perpetual continuance of reservations, and the reservations policy should be reviewed. However, after Vaidya's remarks kicked up a row, the Sangh clarified that reservation as provided by the Constitution should continue and there should be no unnecessary controversy. By most any measure, the political culture of Benton County couldn't be much more different than that in Linn County. Exhibit A, for our purposes today: the board of commissioners in the two counties. Linn County voters consistently have elected a trio of Republican commissioners. Across the river, Democrats long have held sway in the county commission offices and with the recent election of Xan Augerot over longtime commissioner Jay Dixon, the Benton County commission arguably has shifted further to the left. So it's not a surprise to see the recent dust-up over whether Benton County should opt of the Linn County lawsuit over timber management. It's fair to say that some of the issues involved in the case highlight some of the political differences between the two commissions. (The Benton commissioners, like other plaintiffs in the class action suit, face a deadline this week on whether to opt out.) What is, surprising, however, is how often the two county governments work together, despite the differing political views of the officials at the top. Ask Roger Nyquist, the longtime chair of the Linn County commission, to list the areas where the two counties cooperate, and he rolls off a long list (and calls back a little later to add a couple of areas that slipped his mind during the first call). It's the same story when you ask Anne Schuster, the first-term Benton County commissioner who assumed the chair role at the first of the year. "Sometimes we have philosophical differences," she said. "But we're always willing to cooperate and coordinate." People are still surprised, for example, to learn about the level of cooperation between the counties' health departments: Benton County, for example, operates a pair of community health centers in Lebanon and Sweet Home. The Benton County department had experience running similar clinics, Nyquist said, and this was a case where Benton County's "operating goals and vision were consistent with what we wanted." The health departments also are players in the coordinated care organization that serves the mid-valley. (Lincoln County also is a partner in that organization.) Linn and Benton counties continue to cooperate on a variety of health initiatives as well: For example, Schuster said that conversations are continuing regarding some kind of crisis center for mental health. Transportation was another area of cooperation cited by the two commissioners, and much of that effort is funneled through the Oregon Cascades West Council of Governments, which includes governments in Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties. Here's another area where cooperation makes sense: It's clear that the traffic on highways 20 and 34 flows freely over county lines. Also, state and federal dollars often flow to projects that enjoy widespread support from local leaders. The counties also work together in the Community Services Consortium, which houses a variety of regional efforts aimed at reducing poverty, such as Linn Benton Food Share. It was Tip O'Neill, the longtime speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, who observed that all politics is local. But to some extent, those partisan lines start to blur as you get more local. It doesn't matter if it's a Democrat or a Republican fixing that pothole. "Most of our stuff is not partisan," Nyquist said. In an era when partisan lines seemingly have hardened to the point at which they've become a barrier, both in Washington, D.C. and Salem, it can be reassuring to know that doesn't need to be the case, that it's possible for Democrats and Republicans to find common concerns and to work together. That doesn't mean that commissioners ignore their own political leanings and those of the people who elected them. Said Nyquist of his Benton County counterparts: "If they take different positions from us, they're representing the wills of their constituents." Still, he said, "The Oregon Legislature could take a cue from us. At the end of the day, we talk to each other." Nearly 100 personnel of the National Disaster Response Force have reached the Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Express derailment site in Andhra Pradesh to assist in rescue and relief operations. Official sources said NDRF personnel will help railway authorities and the local administration in the rescue and relief operations. "NDRD team has already reached the spot to carry out rescue and relief operations," Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said. Singh said the train accident in Andhra Pradesh is extremely distressing. "Deeply pained over the loss of precious lives. My condolences to the bereaved families," he said At least 32 people lost their lives in the derailment at Andhra Pradesh's Vizianagaram district last night. (REOPENS DES11) The Home Minister said due care and diligence is being taken into consideration by NDRF teams as the victims might be trapped under the mangled bogies, the operation is still in progress. The Director General of NDRF is monitoring the situation round the clock and a 24x7 NDRF Control Room is in touch with Railway Authorities and local civil administration to render any kinds of assistance, Singh said. State-owned GIC and New India Assurance may be the first ones to hit the capital market with the government giving the go-ahead for listing of five general insurance companies. Both the companies have already obtained approval from their respective boards for listing of their shares through public offer. According to sources, companies after finalising the listing process, extent of stake dilution and other aspects have to seek approval from the Finance Ministry before hitting the market. Since the procedure and process are time consuming, it highly unlikely that any of the companies can go for listing during this fiscal, sources said, adding, listing most likely will happen next fiscal depending on the market condition. The country's largest non-life insurer, New India Assurance' profit stood at Rs 514 crore in the first half of the current fiscal. Meanwhile, Finance Ministry has asked two public sector general insurance companies -- Oriental Insurance and United India -- to improve their finances so that they could tap the capital market at a good valuation. Due to huge underwriting losses, United India Insurance and Oriental Insurance Co Ltd, have suffered net losses of Rs 429 crore and Rs 382 crore respectively, in the first half of the current fiscal. Both were profitable companies in the year-ago period. While United India had posted a net profit of Rs 356 crore, Oriental Insurance had registered a profit of Rs 335 crore a year ago. Last week, the government approved listing of five state-owned general insurance companies to encourage them to raise funds from capital markets and also improve corporate governance. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave 'in principle' nod for listing of five government-owned General Insurance Companies -- New India Assurance Company, United India Insurance, Oriental Insurance Company, National Insurance Company and General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC). The government shareholding in these companies will be reduced from 100 per cent to 75 per cent in one or more tranches over a period of time. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The next hearing in the Mumbai terror attack case in Pakistan has been scheduled for January 25, an official said today. Mumbai attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum have been facing charges of abetment to murder, attempted murder, planning and executing the 2008 Mumbai attack. Next hearing of the case is scheduled for January 25, a court official said. India has been urging Pakistan to complete the trial at the earliest. It has said that enough evidence has been shared with Pakistan to prosecute the accused. Lakhvi got his freedom about 20 months ago after he secured bail in the case. He has been living in undisclosed location since then. The other six suspects are in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi. The case has been going on for more than six and a half years. 166 people were killed in the attack carried out by 10 LeT men. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With Railway suspecting sabotage in the derailment of Hirakhand Express in Andhra Pradesh, the Home Ministry may ask the Investigation Agency (NIA) to include the incident in its ongoing probe into the possible role of Pakistan spy agency ISI in Indore-Patna Express mishap last year. "The Home Ministry may ask the to see if the derailment in Andhra Pradesh today was a subversive act. The can expand the scope of their ongoing probe," official sources said. The is looking into the claims of three arrested persons that the derailment of Indore-Patna express on November 20, 2016 in which at least 150 people were killed, was carried out at the behest of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The trio Moti Paswan, Uma Shankar and Mukesh Yadav were arrested last week from East Champaran district of Bihar. They had claimed to have got Rs 3 lakh to plant improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at Ghorasahan railway station under the district on October 1 last year. Bihar Police has reportedly recovered the IEDs. A team of NIA officials has already gone to Bihar to probe the accused and verify their claim. The three arrested persons have reportedly "confessed" to the ISI's possible role in the last year's derailment. They also claimed to be working for the ISI, the sources said. At least 39 people lost their lives due to the derailment of Hirakhand Express at Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh last night. Railway spokesperson Anil Saxena said there are indications of foul play as a goods train passed the same track just two hours before the mishap, which occurred in the Naxal-prone zone just ahead of the Republic Day. However, Odisha Police ruled out the involvement of Naxals in the mishap. Odisha DGP K B Singh said "there is no indication of Maoist hand behind the derailment" According to railways, prima facie there was rail fracture which caused the derailment. But it has to be ascertained through whether the fracture was due to sabotage or because of negligence and lack of maintenance. "The real cause will be known only after an inquiry by the Commissioner Railway Safety," Saxena said. "There are indications of foul play as goods train passed the same track just two hours before the mishap. The inspection by the patrol team also found the track okay yesterday," he said "The driver applied emergency brake after feeling a big jerk and heard a loud sound. The area is Naxal prone and the incident happened just ahead of Republic Day," Saxena said. Railway Protection Force Director General S K Bhagat said, "Nothing can be ruled out right now. But the actual cause will be ascertained only after the inquiry." Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu said all angles will be probed and "stringent action" will be taken against those found responsible for it. "Those responsible for the derailment will not be spared ... Stringent action will be taken against those who played with the lives of so many people," he said. The mishap comes at a time when Railway Protection Force is on extra vigil in view of Republic Day as there is always apprehension of terror attacks around this period. Besides, railways has strengthened the safety preparedness after two consecutive train derailments near Kanpur recently, including the one in November. Police in Nigeria today said they had arrested 65 people at a demonstration of support for US President Donald Trump organised by pro-independence activists in the country's south. The rally, which took place on Friday in the southern oil hub of Port Harcourt, was organised to coincide with the billionaire businessman's inauguration as the 45th US president. It was organised by a pro-Biafra group advocating an independent state in southeastern Nigeria and was held on the eve of massive demonstrations against Trump across the globe. "Some suspected members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)... Staged an unlawful protest in the Port Harcourt metropolis," said Rivers State's deputy police chief Ahmed Magaji. He said the march was not authorised and had disturbed the public order, with police using tear gas to disperse them. "About 65 of them were arrested" on suspicion of belonging to the IPOB, and were found to be carrying the movement's flag, he said. The IPOB is part of a wider secessionist movement that advocates an independent state of Biafra, a region in southeast Nigeria that unsuccessfully fought for independence in a brutal three-year civil war that ended in 1970. Posting on Twitter, several pro-Biafra activists claimed police had brutally attacked the unarmed demonstrators and even killed several of them but there was no way of independently verifying the reports. Early on in the US presidential race, IPOB threw its support behind Trump in the belief he would recognise their independence movement. Soon after Britain voted in a referendum in June to leave the European Union, the group pushed for its own version of "Brexit" from Nigeria that it dubbed "Biafrexit". Separatist sentiment has grown over the past 15 months since the arrest of the brother of the IPOB's leader, with activists engaging in bloody clashes with the security forces that have been condemned by human rights groups. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The judgement in the NJAC case cannot be used as "a ruse to interdict" the assumption of office by Chief Justice of India J S Khehar, the Supreme Court has said while dismissing a plea challenging his appointment. A bench of Justices R K Agrawal and D Y Chandrachud gave a reasoned judgement while dismissing the plea filed by a lawyers' body on December 30. The National Lawyers' Campaign for Judicial Transparency and Reforms had challenged Justice Khehar's appointment contending that since he had presided over the five-judge Constitution Bench which revived the collegium after striking down the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) in October 2015, he was a beneficiary of his own verdict. In the detailed judgement uploaded recently, the apex court said the petition seeking to challenge the appointment of Justice Khehar as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI) has no constitutional foundation or basis. "If the petitioners have any reservations about the judgment in the NJAC case, this is clearly not the forum to espouse that grievance. Nor can this be utilised as a ruse to interdict the assumption of office by the CJI .... "The judgment in the NJAC case binds this Bench. We do not find it appropriate or proper to entertain a petition under Article 32 of the Constitution questioning its legitimacy by seeking a declaration that it is void," the bench said. Justice Khehar took oath as CJI on January 4. Justice Agrawal, who headed the bench, said all citizens have full confidence and faith in the judiciary which has made a mark in doing justice to all, as for it, there is nobody above the law and all are equal. With regard to the eligibility of Justice Khehar which was challenged by the lawyer's body on the ground that the judgment in the NJAC case was delivered by him and therefore he had usurped to himself the power of appointment of the Judges, Justice Agrawal said the judgement was delivered individually by all five judges and decided by four judges. The constitution bench headed by Justice Khehar had held that the Constitutional (99th Amendment) Act, 2014 and the NJAC Act, 2014 were unconstitutional. "So far as the allegation that he (Justice Khehar) has has usurped the power of appointment of Judges to himself is concerned, it is sufficient to mention here that the Collegium not only consists of the Chief Justice of India but four other senior judges as well and it cannot be said that the Chief Justice of India can usurp the power of appointing the Judges for himself," it said. The apex court noted that "the petitioners have themselves unequivocally praised the qualities" of Justice Khehar in their petition. "The petitioners have themselves admitted the qualities of Justice J S Khehar in paragraph 6, 20 and Ground No. C of the petition, and there is no question of his being considered as ineligible or disqualified for being appointed as the Chief Justice of India," the bench said. The apex court further said the petitioners have the remedy to file a review and curative petition as far as the correctness of the decision in the NJAC case is concerned. Justice Chandrachud, who concurred with Justice Agrawal but gave separate reasoning, said the plea that Justice Khehar is disqualified for being appointed as Chief Justice of India is thoroughly misconceived. "Justice Khehar was duly appointed by the President of India as a Judge of the Supreme Court under Article 124(2) on 13 September 2011. Being the senior most Judge of the Supreme Court of India, his appointment as Chief Justice of India follows a recognised constitutional convention (duly acknowledged and reiterated in the Memorandum of Procedure) of the senior most judge of the Supreme Court being appointed to the office of Chief Justice of India. "It is preposterous to urge that the senior most puisne Judge of the Supreme Court is disqualified for appointment as Chief Justice of India on the basis of a perception formed by a litigant of a judgment delivered by the Judge. "The issue as to whether Justice Khehar should recuse himself from participating in the hearing of the NJAC case was considered and the plea for recusal was specifically negatived," Justice Chandrachud said. "We do not find any merit in the petition and the same is dismissed," the bench had said on December 30, while rejecting the plea filed by National Lawyers' Campaign for Judicial Transparency and Reforms. On December 23, the apex court had termed as "virtually infructuous" the petition filed by the lawyers' body opposing elevation of Justice Khehar as the next CJI observing that the President has already issued a notification in this regard. The bench had noted in its order that the notification appointing Justice Khehar as the next CJI has been issued on December 19. On December 19, President Pranab Mukherjee had cleared the name of Justice Khehar as the next CJI. His predecessor, Justice T S Thakur, demitted office on January 3. Odisha Police today ruled out involvement of Maoists in the derailment of the Hirakhand Express in which the railways are suspecting sabotage. "There is no indication of Maoist hand behind the derailment of the Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Express," Odisha DGP K B Singh told reporters after attending a review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here. His remarks come in the backdrop of Railway sources suspecting tampering of the track as the area is known to be a Naxal-prone zone. A senior officer engaged in anti-Maoist operation rejected the possibility of Naxal involvement in the accident. "We totally reject any possibility of Maoist involvement in the derailment. Kuneru is not a Naxal-hit area," the officer of the intelligence wing told PTI. The derailment took place at around 11 PM yesterday near Kuneru station in when the train was on its way to Bhubaneswar from Jagdalpur. "There is no movement of red rebels near the accident site for the last five years. We are even planning to shift the force from the area as there is no report of Naxal movement since a long time," the officer said. Had Maoists been involved, they could have done it close to Parvathipuram area, he said and asked why should they come to a place where they have no base? He said, "Yes, the place was Naxal hit about five years ago. But, now the area is totally free of such elements." The Railway Safety Commissioner under the Civil Aviation Ministry would probe the derailment, Anil Saxena, ADG, PR, Railways, said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Tiger Conservation Authority has given technical approval to the West Bengal Forest Department for the relocation of tiger at Buxa Tiger Reserve in north Bengal where sighting of big cat was not reported for long. "We have received technical approval from the NTCA and in-principle approval from the state government for the relocation of tiger at Buxa," state Chief Wildlife Warden Pradeep Vyas told PTI here. "We have taken a tiger augmentation plan in Buxa-Jaldapara. Detailed project report is being prepared in consultation with Wildlife Institute of India and Globad Tiger Forum. The report will be ready by February next," he said. On whether relocation of tiger is feasible at Buxa where there was human disturbance, he said, "Habitat improvement work is being done and steps were being initiated to improve the prey base and grassland to make the situation conducive for tiger relocation." Many tiger experts had earier raised questions about relocation of tiger at Buxa saying that it would not yield any fruitful result unless and until villages were shifted from the core areas of the tiger reserve. To a question, Vyas said tiger was likely to be relocated at Buxa from Kaziranga in Assam. The last census based on big cat sample analysis indicated that there were three tigers in BTR, which borders Bhutan and Manas tiger reserve in Assam. A senior official of the Forest Department said they have the plan to reintroduce tigers - both males and breeding females - from forests in the northeast which share habitat identical to Buxa. Much to the delight of wildlife enthusiasts and conservationists, a tiger was photographed in Neora Valley National Park in North Bengal on Thursday last. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress today lodged an FIR against the Kendrapara MLA and the Pattamundai BDO alleging that they hatched a "conspiracy" to deprive two Dalit women from contesting the upcoming panchayat polls in Odisha. "Democracy is being butchered in Kendrapara. The election officers in charge of conducting free-and-fair polls have formed an unholy alliance with the BJD to ensure the victory of candidates who owe their allegiance to the ruling party," alleged senior Congress leader Ganeswar Behera. He claimed that Gayatri Sethy and Pramila Mallik, who had filed nominations from Penthapala panchayat samity in Pattamundai block, were declared to have withdrawn from the contest, adding that the two Dalit women never applied for withdrawal. Behera claimed that there was a "deep conspiracy" as Babita Tarai, spouse of BJD MLA Kishore Tarai, was in the fray from Penthapala and with both of her rivals not being in the contest anymore, she was poised to be declared won unopposed. "As Mallik and Sethy never submitted their withdrawal papers, how could they be shown to have withdrawn from the polls?" he questioned. The Congress leader said as per sub section-15 of Rule-11 of Gram Panchayat Rules 1991, "a validly nominated candidate contesting for the member of panchayat samity may withdraw his or her candidature by presenting a written application in form no. 10 to the election officer". However, Mallik and Sethy never did so, Behera claimed and alleged that the BDO might have "forged" the specimen signatures of both the contestants. "We have taken up the matter with the Collector and a complaint has been lodged with the State Election Commission. The Congress will stage an indefinite agitation in front of the block office if both the contestants are not declared valid to contest the polls," he said. When asked about the allegations, Kendrapara Collector Muralidhar Mallik said, "The complaint lodged by Congress leader Behera is being looked into. The administration is intent on conducting the three-tier panchayat polls in a free-and-fair manner. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Oliver Hudson has made fun of rumours that suggest his sister Kate Hudson is dating newly single Brad Pitt. Oliver came across a magazine cover that claimed Brad was moving into Kate's house, just a few months after his split from wife Angelina Jolie. Sharing a snap of the publication's front page, Oliver wrote a lengthy post on Instagram joking about it, reported Ace Showbiz. "Yeah and it's been hell!! He's messy... He drinks out of the carton and leaves the door open when he's taking a dump!!" he wrote to his followers. "And this is when he's at MY house!!! He's already calling me brother and has driven a wedge between myself and my real brother Wyatt who now won't speak to me... He insists my kids call him uncle B and lost my youngest at the Santa Monica pier for 2 days... Thank God for Amber Alert..." the "Scream Queens" star joked. "My mom's overtly flirting with him! She's wearing these little nighties around the house now?! But ALL DAY!! Like at 3pm! And Pa (Kurt Russell) just keeps saying 'All right!! It's Brad Pitt!!'" he added, cheekily suggesting his mother Goldie Hawn was trying to seduce her daughter's rumoured new boyfriend. "Anyway not going well... So BP... It's time to move out man... I need my life back dog... I'll smoke one more bowl and then get out.. We thank you..," Oliver wrote, suggesting he and Brad would be smoking weed together before he left. "Oh and I found your medical bracelet so I'll get that back to you.. Ok.." Tabloids have been speculating about Kate and Brad's relationship for weeks. Goldie was recently quizzed about the reports, and simply laughed off the questions while leaving a supermarket. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Ronit Roy says he learnt a lot while working with Amitabh Bachchan in "Sarkar 3", as the megastar is an extremely knowledgeable performer. The film features Bachchan reprising his role of Subhash Nagre in the third installment of Ram Gopal Varma's political thriller. Ronit, who plays a "pivotal role" in the movie, says he was highly impressed by whatever little he saw of the third part so far. "It is an extremely pivotal role to the film. I consider myself extremely lucky and honoured to be a part of that film. I have seen bits of the film and Ramu sir has done a fantastic work," Ronit told PTI. The film also stars Manoj Bajpayee, Jackie Shroff, Yami Gautam and Amit Sadh. Ronit feels one can learn a lot even while working in a scene with the 74-year-old megsatar. "Apart from Ramu, there is Bachchan sir. It's a totally different school altogether. It is immense knowledge there. You're working in the same scene with Bachchan sir and Amit Sadh, the dynamics of the entire thing change," he said. "When Bachchan sir is standing in front of you and giving a take, it's a great lesson for any actor. You just have to observe. It was a great experience," Ronit said. The 51-year-old actor will be next seen in a negative role in "Kaabil", set to release on January 25. The action-thriller features Hrithik as a blind man, who avenges the death of his girlfriend, enacted by Yami Gautam. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Over Rs 83 crore cash, 7 lakh litres of liquor worth Rs 12.65 crore and narcotics valued at Rs 10.30 crore have been seized, maximum from Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, by EC-appointed surveillance and expenditure monitoring teams in the five poll-bound states. As per official data compiled since the announcement of polls early this year till yesterday, UP has witnessed the maximum seizure of Rs 79.13 crore (Rs 31.65 lakh in old notes) followed by Rs 4.05 crore from Punjab, Rs 33.27 lakh in Uttarakhand and Rs 6.95 lakh in Manipur. In other illegal inducements suspected to be used to lure voters in these states, a whopping 7.36 lakh litres of liquor and over 500 bottles of canned beer worth Rs 12.65 crore has been seized by Election Commission appointed police and state excise teams in these states. In UP, these seizures were recorded at 3.95 lakh litres worth Rs 10.7 crore followed by 3,09,351 litres spirits worth Rs 1.14 crore seized in Punjab, over 25,907 litres worth Rs 72.91 lakh in Uttarakhand, 4,605 litres worth Rs 7.5 lakh in Manipur and beer and other hard spirits worth Rs 1.35 lakh in Goa. Drug seizures by the anti-narcotics agencies and police teams was seen maximum in Punjab as the total haul was recorded at 1,485 kg valued at Rs 10.30 crore, with Punjab accounting for 1,134 kgs worth Rs 9.06 crore followed by Rs 286.65 kg worth Rs 83.58 lakh seized in UP, Rs 17.22 lakh in Goa, Rs 15.36 lakh in Uttarakhand and Rs 7.62 lakh in Manipur. Officials said a total of "Rs 83.58 crore in cash, about 7.36 lakh litres of liquor along with 525 bottles of beer worth Rs 12.65 crore and an estimated Rs 10.30 crore worth narcotics have been seized in the five poll-bound states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur, till data recorded upto January 18." The EC has appointed about 200 election expenditure observers apart from other central observers to keep a check on black money and illegal inducements used to bribe voters at the hustings in these states. The Assembly elections in these five states will be held between February 4 and March 8. Counting of votes for all states will take place on March 11. has been directed to face trial after an Indian-origin student sued the varsity for "hopelessly bad" and "boring" teaching which allegedly resulted in him getting a second class degree and in turn led to loss of earnings in his career as a lawyer. The world-famous university had applied to the High Court in London to dismiss the claim by Faiz Siddiqui but in an 18-page judgement by Justice Kerr last week the court ruled that Oxford does have a case to answer, 'The Sunday Times' reported. Siddiqui, who studied modern history at Brasenose College at the university, accuses its staff of "negligent" teaching of his specialist subject course on Indian imperial history, which led to him getting a 2:1 back in 2000. The 38-year-old's barrister Roger Mallalieu had told the court that the problem came down to four of the seven staff teaching Asian history being on sabbatical leave at the same time during the 1999-2000 academic year. Siddiquibelieves he could have had a high-flying career as an international commercial lawyer if he had not got lower grades and decided to take the legal route, which came to light last month. His legal team had singled out the "boring" standard of tuition thatSiddiquihad received from David Washbrook, an expert on the history of southern India between the 18th and 20th centuries. Mallalieu claimed that the eminent historian's teaching had suffered from the "intolerable" pressure of the staff shortages on the course. "There is no personal criticism of Dr Washbrook. Our target is on the university's back for allowing this to happen," Mallalieu told the court. Siddiqui, who trained as a solicitor after college, suffers from depression and insomnia, which he links to his "disappointing examination results". had argued that the claim was baseless and should be struck out because of the over 16 years that had passed sinceSiddiquigraduated. Professor Alan Smithers, an education expert at Buckingham University, told the newspaper: "This is a test case and in future universities will have to ensure that what they do stands up to critical inspection in the courts. In the past, universities have been quite cavalier about the quality of their teaching. "If Mr Siddiqui wins, this will open the door to a flood of other students who do not think they got the degree they deserved because of issues about the teaching they received." has declined to comment on the latest judgement so far. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today expressed grief over the death of at least 32 people in derailment of Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Express, and ordered the state Chief Secretary, DGP and Health Secretary to rush to Rayagada to monitor the situation. Though the accident took place in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh, the spot is only 35 km from Rayagada town and most of the injured persons were rushed there. Patnaik, who held a review meeting with senior officials, also spoke to his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu and requested him to provide all support to the train mishap victims. "I am deeply saddened over the mishap... My government is extending all support as far as the accident is concerned," he said after the review meeting. "I have instructed the chief secretary, the DGP and the health secretary to fly at once to Rayagada. I have just spoken to the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh to extend all support," Patnaik said. "My deepest condolences to the families of those who died in the accident," the Chief Minister said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Haryana government today said it has issued instructions to all government departments to encourage receipts of payments of more than Rs 5,000 only through cashless methods. Giving this information in a release, Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu said petro cards of Indian Oil and Hindustan Petroleum have been issued to state government drivers for cashless payments for fuel. Apart from this, banks have organised camps in their branches at many locations in the state to educate the citizens about digital payments. Till date 932 digitisation awareness camps have been organised in 4,648 bank branches in which 21,083 persons participated, he added. He said that training was also imparted to 803 employees of 30 government departments. The Finance Minister said that State Bank of India has agreed to install 3,000 Point of Sale (PoS) machines at various state government offices in the state without any charges. This would enable citizens to pay fees, fines and challans in cashless mode. He said with a view to promote cashless transactions, the state government has transferred one-time appreciation money of Rs 5 to the bank account of the citizens, using UPI, USSD and e-wallet. He said Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had also announced an award scheme to promote cashless transactions in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With the Centre facing flak for not issuing an ordinance for conduct of Jallikattu, Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan today said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had 'explained' the legal situation in this regard but fully backed the state's efforts to hold the bull taming sport. Modi respects the Tamil culture and explained to Chief Minister O Panneerselvam the legal situation in the Centre's inability to promulgate an ordinance, he said. "Explaining the legal situation (matter being sub-judice) with the Chief Minister, Prime Minister Modi had told him that it would be appropriate for the state government to issue the ordinance and had said he would totally support and cooperate," Radhakrishnan said in a statement here. The ordinance could therefore see the light of the day in 30 hours, he said and thanked the Prime Minister "on behalf of Tamils" for this. Thanking those who have struggled for this "historic moment", the BJP leader said he let 'tears of joy' seeing the sport being conducted in the state today. He also urged the protesters to withdraw their agitation across the state, including on the Marina Beach here. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Goa will become the first state in the country to opt for electronic transmission of postal ballot to service voters in the upcoming Assembly polls, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Syed Nasim Zaidi said today. "The returning officers will transfer the postal ballots to service voters by electronic means so that the service voters can download it, fill it and send it via e-mail to returning officer," Zaidi told reporters here after reviewing preparedness for the February 4 polls. He said sending ballot papers through electronic means will cut down the time in transmission of postal ballot to the service voters. "We hope that a large number of service voters will be able to utilise this facility. This would be the first in the region and around the globe. That is a matter of great pride for all of us," he said. Goa has 822 service voters who are either in the defence, para-military forces or on diplomatic missions. He said Goa would also be the first state where all assembly constituencies will be covered by (VVPAT) Voter- Verified Paper Audit Trail machines. "This will be used all over the state to ensure transparency of the process to the voter. It will assure the voter that his vote has gone to the right candidate," he said. The CEC also said the commission has initiated few IT-based initiatives. "There is one scheme called Samadhan to address to complaints. It has been working well and political parties have expressed their satisfaction," he said. "With regard to permission clearance system Suvidha, we have already directed to improve the working of permission system. We assure that political parties that their permission applications would receive attention," Zaidi added. Meanwhile, in order to ensure that the polling takes place in a free and fair manner, a slew of measures have been taken up by the ECI like strict vigil on casinos, state borders and the airport. "There was a fear that casinos can be misused with respect to cash withdrawal and distribution. This morning itself we have reviewed with the state administration and Director General of Police and in particular we have roped in senior officials from Karnataka and Goa," Zaidi said. "Director General of Investigations was here who along with his team in Goa and Karnataka and with co-operation from state administration, he is working on a strategy, entry and exit from casinos, movement of loose cash, setting up of static surveillance team, flying squads and certain action by Income Tax department," he said. Zaidi said Air Intelligence unit has been set up at the Dabolim international airport to check movement of money or any undesirable elements through air. "I-T department is keeping special eye on clandestine currency exchanges and the movement of money through banking channels. We have directed returning officers that affidavits filed by candidates must be uploaded so that officials can carry out real time scrutiny of these affidavits under I-T laws," he added. On law and order arrangements, Zaidi said adequate number of para military personnel will be deployed in the state by January 25 to maintain the law and order. "Special surveillance would be mounted on cross border movement of liquor, money and gifts. The DGP has been asked to take effective action against anti-social elements, proclaimed offenders and any other criminal person who can be used by the party or candidate to intimidate them," he said. Zaidi, who had discussion with various representatives of political parties, said that some of them havedrawn attention that certain government schemes are being used to neither threatened or convince voters. "The commission has taken a serious note of these suggestion and issues," he said. In order to check misuse of liquor, excise department has to launch a special drive to control use of liquor to influence voters, he said. Zaidi said ECI is determined that there should be strict control on use of money, liquor and gifts during the election process, and therefore, it has reviewed with many enforcement agencies including Income Tax authorities, banks, Narcotics department, Customs, Excise department and Commercial Tax authority and police. A total of 80 flying squads and 21 static surveillance teams are working round the clock, he said, adding thatthe vehicles engaged in poll works are fitted with GPS device. "Standard operating procedure would be activated towards the end of polling process. Central para military forces would be deployed to assist our surveillance teams," added Zaidi. In a rare gesture, President has set aside Union Home Ministry's recommendation and commuted the death sentence of four persons convicted of killing of 35 upper caste people in Bihar in 1992. The President gave a new lease of life on the New Year day to Krishna Mochi, Nanhe Lal Mochi, Bir Kuer Paswan and Dharmendra Singh alias Dharu Singh, by commuting their death sentence to life imprisonment. The Home Ministry, based on the recommendations of the Bihar Government, had recommended on August 8, 2016 that the mercy petition of all the four be rejected. However, the President took into consideration various facts relating to the case, including the delay in handing over the mercy petitions of the four accused by the state government and the observations made by the Human Rights Commission. The NHRC, in its order last year, had said that after an "analysis of the facts and materials placed before the Commission, it emerges that the four convicts in question had submitted their mercy petitions prior to 07.07.2004. "This is clear from the admission of the Inspector General (Prisons and Correctional Services), Government of Bihar that the mercy petitions of the four convicts were forwarded to the Secretariat of Hon'ble President of India through the Home Department, Government of Bihar vide letter dated 07.07.2004." However, the mercy petitions neither reached the Home Ministry, nor to the President's Secretariat. It was only after the intervention of the NHRC that these were processed after 12 years. The four were awarded death sentence in 2001 by a sessions court in connection with the massacre of 35 Bhumihars (a landed upper caste) by the Maoist Communist Centre. On April 15, 2002, the Supreme Court confirmed their death sentence with a majority judgement of 2:1, with Justice M B Shah dissenting against such an award. Taking a leaf out of the pro- jallikattu protests in Tamil Nadu, organisers of Kambala (buffalo race) today decided to hold a massive demonstration in Mangaluru next week, demanding lifting of the ban on the traditional sport. President of the Kambala Committee Ashok Rai said they have decided to hold the demonstration next week in which about 50,000 persons, including politicians and those from the film industry, were expected to participate. Kambala is a traditional annual buffalo race conducted in marshy fields in coastal districts. "We have been motivated by the success of jallikattu movement in Tamil Nadu. We are planning a massive protest in Mangaluru in which 50,000 persons including politicians and those from the film industry are expected to participate," he said. "Most probably, the demonstration will be held on January 26," Rai told PTI. As many as 75,000 persons participated in the protest demanding lifting of the ban on the sport last year in Mangaluru, he said. The committee also plans to parade as many as 200 buffaloes during the demonstration, Rai said. "We are inviting all MPs, MLAs and political leaders of the region to participate in the demonstration to make it as successful as jallikattu protests in Tamil Nadu," he said. Rai said the demonstration will be held for three to four hours following which a memorandum would be handed over to the Deputy Commissioner demanding lifting of ban on Kambala, he said. He said Karnataka High Court had passed an interim order staying Kambala races in November last year on a case filed by PETA and the next hearing is on January 30. Meanwhile, Tulunad Rakshana Vedike is planning to hold a protest against the ban on Kambala at Deputy Commissioner's office here on January 24. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Samajwadi Party and Congress today sealed a pre-poll pact to contest the UP assembly elections, ending days of suspense and feverish parleys, with compulsions of realpolitik forcing the two parties to come together to thwart BJP's attempt to storm back two power after 15 years. The alliance, which at one stage looked doomed with both sides driving a hard bargain, was announced by the chiefs of the state units of the two parties who declared while SP will have the lion's share of 298 of 403 seats, Congress willl contest the remaining 105. At one stage senior SP leader Naresh Agarwal had said the possibility of an alliance was "almost over" and blamed the "stubborn" attitude of Congress for the deadlock. "SP and Congress have forged an alliance and will contest UP assembly polls together," SP state president Naresh Uttam told the hurriedly convened press conference. UP PCC chief Raj Babbar hoped the SP-Congress alliance will reap a bumper electoral harvest in the state and fulfil aspriations of all sections of the society. He said a Common Minimum Programme will be drafted within a week of the alliance coming to power. "For unity and integrity of India and following secular ideology, we will continue our fight under SP national president Akhilesh Yadav," state Samajwadi Party chief Naresh Uttam told a press conference addressed jointly with UP PCC president Raj Babbar. "The country's secular fabric will become stronger when Akhilesh Yadav becomes the chief minister again," Uttam said. He said the idea was to "uproot communal BJP" and make UP a leading state by removing both BJP and Mayawati's BSP. Babbar said Congress has accepted SP's offer of 105 seats keeping in mind the prevailing situation in the country and also the atmosophere in the state. "Keeping these factors in mind, Congress leadership agreed to strike an alliance to thwart BJP's divisive politics and at the same time boost secularism and promote communal and social harmony. "Our ideologies are not different. We share many common ideologies," he said, adding both the parties believed in social justice and development, peace and good atmosphere. The alliance was said to have materialised after Congress president Sonia Gandhi intervened. One of the reasons for the delay in announcement of the tie-up was reportedly Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's unhappiness over Congress leadership sending light-weight emissaries like election strategist Prashant Kishor for talks. However, senior Congress leaders later got involved and salvaged the deal. Sonia Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel tweeted: "Wrong to suggest lightweights were dealing on behalf of Congress party. Discussion was at highest level- b/w CM (UP), GS I/C (Ghulam Nabi Azad) & Priyanka Gandhi." Azad, Congress general secretary incharge of UP, too said Priyanka, who had hitherto limited herself to Amethi and Rae Bareli parliamentary seats represented by her brother Rahul and mother Sonia respectively, played a major role in identifying the seats to be contested by the party and in alliance talks. Azad told a TV channel the alliance was forged to prevent a split in secular votes which would have benefited BJP. He rejected reports in a section of the media that talks had hit a hurdle over Congress's demand for all assembly segments falling in Amethi and Rae Bareli Parliamentary constituencies. "There was no such talk. We wanted seats in every region, be it eastern UP, western or central UP, Bundelkhand...We had earlier decided to go it alone but dropped the idea after secular forces felt we should come together to thwart attempts by BJP to come to power. "In the mean time, as Samajwadi Party lost heft due to infighting, we demanded 150 seats. We wanted a respectable seat-sharing arrangement. This decision has been made for the country's unity, for keeping secularism alive," he said. Hours after the pact was announced, Samajwadi Party released a list of 77 nominees, leaving three assembly seats for Congress falling in Sonia's Rae Bareli Parliamentary constituency. According to SP sources, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had initially offered 100 seats to Congress but they demanded 120. Samajwadi Party then argued that it had 234 sitting legislators and there were some others who would also contest. Thus, the ruling party needed at least 300 of the 403 seats. But, Congress leaders had informed the SP that in such a scenario, there cannot be an alliance. Congress' Central Election Committee met in Delhi and went ahead with finalising candidates for 140 seats which will go to polls in the first two phases. The party, however, did not declare its candidates for these seats, leaving a window for a possible alliance for which talks were held till wee hours today. Congress was also keen to include Ajit Singh-led RLD in the alliance, which the Samajwadi Party did not want. SP had maintained it will have no truck with RLD and, if Congress wanted, it could give its share of seats to Ajit Singh's party. Leaders like RJD president Lalu Prasad, who has family ties with Akhilesh Yadav, also played a 'behind the scene' role in coming together of the two parties. "I have been consistently in talks with Samajwadi Party and Congress' top leadership for stitching an alliance between the two parties in Uttar Pradesh," he said in a tweet. Once Akhilesh finally wrested the SP chief's post from his father Mulayam Singh Yadav and got its 'bicycle' symbol, Prasad backed him and promised to campaign for the faction led by the chief minister. In the 2012 Assembly polls, SP had won 224 seats with a vote share of 29.3 per cent, while Congress bagged 28 seats with an 11.7 per cent vote share. Coming together of the two parties would pave the way for a three-cornered fight, with Mayawati's BSP and BJP being the other major contenders for power. Given the SP and Congress's performance in the last assembly polls, the new alliance could pose a tough challenge to its rivals. The Delhi University has claimed in the Delhi High Court that on the Bar Council of India's recommendation it has allowed students, who were short of their attendance in a particular semester, to sit for their LLB exam 2016-17. "On December 17, 2016, BCI wrote a letter (DU) to consider sympathetically the cases of the students (pursuing LLB under DU) detained and issue them admit cards on their undertaking to cover the shortfall in attendance in the next semester," a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal was told. The varsity response came in the backdrop of a plea alleging that attendance and promotion rules were "flagrantly violated" by DU during the academic year 2015-16 and 2016-17 and that no regard was given to the statutory rules in these matters. The court had also sought explanation from BCI for its alleged action in writing to the Delhi University's Law Faculty to relax attendance rules for over 500 students in the backdrop of the difficulties faced after demonetisation. BCI, a statutory body that regulates the legal practice and legal education in India, has not yet filed its reply. Noticing this, the bench has said that BCI is a necessary party and it has to file its counter affidavit before the next date of hearing on February 16. The university in its affidavit said that there is "no illegality, default, lack of diligence on the part of the authorities of the University of Delhi". It said that they were following the rules set by BCI and have even detained the students who were short of their attendance. The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) by S N Singh, former dean of the Faculty of Law, who has said that over 500 law students did not fulfill the minimum attendance requirement prescribed by the BCI for academic year 2015-16, but were allowed to take semester examinations on the basis of a letter dated December 17, 2016 sent by BCI secretary to the university, asking it to consider the matter "sympathetically for relaxation of attendance rules". The petitioner claimed that BCI had "no legal authority" to send any communication to DU for relaxing the attendance requirements. It said that some of these LLB students did not attend even a single class but were allowed to take the exam. The PIL has sought directions to call the entire records pertaining to this case for academic years 2015-16 and 2016-17 and an inquiry into the alleged illegalities committed by the university by allegedly flouting attendance rules. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Spain-based sanitary product maker Roca is working on plans to double its global sales in the next four years to Rs 2,000 crore, driven mainly by new product launches, brand introduction and exports to other geographies. Besides, the company, which acquired Indian brand Parryware in 2006, expects that exports from Indian unit would grow to new territories such as Australia, Europe and contribute up to 13 per cent of its global sales. "Today, we (Roca India) contribute 8 per cent of the global turnover and definitely, India would be growing higher than other global markets. With 15-20 per cent CAGR in four years, we should double our revenue and... Would be 12-13 per cent of global turnover," K E Ranganathan, Roca Bathroom Products President (Sales and Marketing), told PTI. He further said: "In India, Roca's revenue is Rs 1,000 crore where the share of the Parryware brand is around Rs 750 crore." Indian market is the third-highest contributor in Roca's global fold, followed by Spain and Brazil, at 1.7 billion euro. The company has already started shipping its range of tap and fittings to Europe and other sanitaryware products to Australia and is expecting a huge order from the UK. "Export right now is about 2-3 per cent of the revenue and... I expect that to be a minimum 10 per cent," Ranganathan said. According to him, "the most exciting opportunity for us would be to ship our products to Roca group worldwide. That we expect will catapult (us) to 20 per cent growth level. The Indian market would grow at 15 per cent. The additional growth would come from shipping goods to global markets". The company, which has luxury brands such as Armani Roca and Laufen besides Parryware, is lining up money for manufacturing and has plans for acquisitions here. "There would be two investments - one is investment in our existing factories and other buying smaller players... In plastics, we are always open to buy. We have two factories, but are looking for opportunities to acquire more because of the global demand of the Roca group," he added. "In taps and faucets, we are also open to acquiring good brands and manufacturing facility as we need capacity for growth." However, he did not offer details, saying the company has "substantial money available". Roca, with a 45 per cent market share in the premium segment, expects the ratio of luxury brands will increase in coming years. To tap the growing luxury segment, it will introduce more brands in the Indian market, in addition to the existing 60 worldwide. "We have launched Johnson Suisse, a Malaysian brand 3-4 months ago. You would definitely see 3-4 more brands hitting the market. Candor is also a possible brand. We are still evaluating other opportunities... Brand which is relevant. At an appropriate time, we would bring them," he added. Currently, the top 10 cities contribute 55 per cent of Roca's revenue in India and the company expects the ratio of the rest of the country to go up slightly. Besides, Roca, which has one display studio in Delhi, has plans to add two more and the possible locations are Kerala, Mumbai or Hyderabad. "Every year, we would open in two key metros. We have identified 10 cities where we would have these studios in 2-3 years," Ranganathan added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev today said the west's sanctions on Russia are likely to remain in place "for a long time" despite expectations Donald Trump's inauguration as US president will lead to warmer relations between Washington and Moscow. Medvedev told members of the ruling United Russia party on Sunday that Russian leaders "can't place our hope on foreign elections" and "It's time to dispense with the illusion that sanctions against our country will be lifted." Trump's pledge to bring a fresh eye to Russia has produced some excitement in Russia. But senior Russian officials are warning that differences between Moscow and Washington will not disappear overnight. The US and European Union imposed sanctions on Russia in 2014 over Moscow's annexation of Crimea and support for rebels in eastern Ukraine. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The permanent campus of South Asian University (SAU), an international varsity sponsored by the SAARC countries, will now be ready by 2020 instead of 2018 due to the delay in getting necessary approvals. Since its inauguration in 2010, SAU has been functioning at a temporary campus at Akbar Bhawan here for which the varsity pays a rent of Rs 1.5 crore per month. 100 acres of land has been allocated by the Indian government for a permanent campus in Maidan Garhi near IGNOU, while the operational expenditure will be borne by the governments of partner SAARC member states. The new campus, for which the ground breaking ceremony took place in 2015, was expected to be operational by 2018. "The construction has started and work is on for five buildings. By end of this year, the construction of another seven buildings will begin for which tenders have already been allotted," Kavita Sharma, President, SAU, told PTI. "Since the approval of Master Layout plan from the South MCD and the completion of formalities with the DDA took longer time than expected, the work was delayed but now we are hoping that the varsity will shift to the new campus within three years," she said. The eight member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. SAU was conceived as an institution with world-class facilities that would enable the best and brightest of students from the SAARC members to appreciate each other's national perspectives and, at the same time, promote a regional consciousness. SAU offers Master's and M.Phil/Ph.D programmes in Applied Mathematics, Biotechnology, Computer Science, Development Economics, International Relations, Law and Sociology. The degrees are recognised by all SAARC nations according to an inter-governmental agreement signed by the foreign ministers of the eight countries. The university attracts students predominantly from the SAARC nations, although students from other countries can also take admission. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Taking a cue from pro-Jallikattu protests in Tamil Nadu, a Shiv Sena MP from Pune has demanded lifting of ban on bullock cart racing in Maharashtra. "If you see in Tamil Nadu, the Chief Minister of the state and entire administration stood in support of Jallikattu and even the CM met the Prime Minister," Sena leader Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil said. "Our demand is that taking cue from the Tamil Nadu's CM, Maharashtra government and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should approach the Prime Minister and seek a central ordinance to lift the ban on bullock cart racing in the state," said the MP from Shirur constituency in Pune. He said that yesterday several farmers, owners of bullock carts and politicians cutting across party lines had held an agitation in Chakan and demanded lifting of the ban on bullock cart racing. "A legal battle is going on...Which will take its own course. However, time has come that the state government and the CM should intervene and approach the PM and seek an ordinance to lift the ban on bullock cart racing in the state," Patil said. Meanwhile, some Pune-based animal activists said that they will challenge the Jallikattu ordinance in Supreme Court. The ordinance to permit Jallikattu was issued on the basis of public pressure and "is a complete mockery of the judicial system and will lead to anarchy," said a joint release issued by Sarva Jeev Mangal Pratishthan and People For Animals. It said that the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act is a central legislation and a state cannot have a legislation which is in contradiction to a central law, particularly, after a court has reserved judgement on the matter. Notably, Jallikattu was conducted in various parts of Tamil Nadu today even as protests continued at Alanganallur in Madurai where people refused to hold the famous sport seeking a "permanent solution" to ensure unhindered annual organisation of the sport. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actress Shailene Woodley's pipeline protest case has been delayed for a second time. The "Divergent" actress faces charges relating to her arrest during a protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline in October last year, which she livestreamed on Facebook. She pleaded not guilty to criminal trespass and engaging in a riot - both misdemeanours that carry a maximum punishment of a month in jail. The 25-year-old actress was due in court on January 25, but the hearing was delayed until February 22, and the trial has now been pushed back again, to March 31, because of a scheduling conflict. The actress was among 27 activists arrested as part of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe's efforts to halt construction of the USD 3.8 billion pipeline. The tribe leaders claim the pipeline plans threatened drinking water and cultural sites. In December, the protesters scored a victory when the US Army Corps of Engineers announced the decision to re-route the pipeline. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Terming art and culture as the best possible bridge between India and Pakistan, award-winning Pakistani documentary filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has called for greater exchange between the two countries on documentary and fiction film-making and wants to do more work in India. She also said 70 years since Partition are too long a time to understand that the two countries cannot keep fighting and there is a huge role to be played by art and culture, films and music and sports. "Sporting diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, film diplomacy, music diplomacy and art diplomacy must never be mistaken with politics and war," Obaid-Chinoy told PTI in an interview here. She was in Davos for the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting, where she was one of the co-chairs -- the first for someone from the arts segment -- of the summit held under the theme of 'Responsive and Responsible Leadership'. The 38-year-old Obaid-Chinoy, a journalist-turned- filmmaker who has won two Oscars and several other awards for her documentaries that include films on topics like acid attack on women and honour killing in Pakistan, said these issues are very much relevant in India and the entire South Asia. Some of her works have even led to new laws in Pakistan to counter violence against women. "My work always has an agenda -- to influence a public policy, start a conversation and push new legislations for good of society and that's something I have always been involved into, and I hope to remain involved so," she said. Asked whether her work managed to influence policies from the beginning or did she find it difficult earlier, she said "My work always had an impact whether it was in terms of getting people to talk about an issue, or getting people think differently about an issue or even getting people angry about an issue. "So, I think you can influence public policy or the government when you have a body of work that makes them respect you." Asked whether she would consider collaborating with Indian filmmakers, Obaid-Chinoy said, "I am mentoring documentary filmmakers in India who are working on a project right now. I am helping them craft the story and whenever they have a question they come to me. "Mentorship is very important and I will love to mentor more filmmakers. My biggest dream would be to see during my lifetime the two countries who are free, who are able to have cultural exchanges, sporting exchanges and trade exchanges and become the power of a single block. It is very sad thing that the trade is so low between the two countries." On some of her most-talked about works being on issues like honour killing and acid attacks being relevant in India as well and whether she would like to work in India, she said she would love to do so. "All these issues are regional issues and they affect women in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. It is a South Asian issue. I would love to work more in the region. I would love to work in India. "I have travelled to India many times and every time I show my films there, everybody wants to use those films in the community they work in because we look the same, we talk the same and our issues are exactly the same." She further said India has one of the most vibrant film industries, but a very small documentary industry. "There are very few documentary filmmakers in India, and even among those who are there, very very few do films on violence against women. So many times, I have heard that there is a need for more documentary filmmakers in India. And I tell them that we need more fiction filmmakers in Pakistan. "It could be a great cross-border exchange if we have it because Pakistan has some very good documentary filmmakers. My acid violence film was used a lot in India and so was the honour killing film as these issues are very much relevant in India. "If we were to do more cross-border work on documentary filmmaking and fiction films, it would be good for both the countries," she stressed. According to Obaid-Chinoy, when she creates a work, she wants it to be used, whether it is in India, Bangladesh or Pakistan. "At the end of the day, violence against women does not know any colour, religion or ethnicity. It's blind to all of that and all women face some sort of violence in their life," she added. On jingoism coming in the way of relations between the two countries, she said, "We are in 2017 and it is 70 years since the Independence and Partition of the Indian sub-continent. How many more generations are going to fight a war? We can no longer afford to have a war between the two countries. "The economics does not allow it. The proximity does not allow it, given how advanced the weapons are now. The world cannot afford a war in South Asia. By default, we have to learn to get along. "Just imagine if we remove trade constraints and remove the constraints for free movement of citizens from each other's country, it will transform South Asia. It is in our collective best interest to do so and there will always be naysayers and the people who believe in closing borders and putting up fences. "But it is our job to pull the fences as anyone who has travelled across the border from the two countries will tell you that they didn't feel anything but love. "If no one who has crossed the border never felt any hatred for each other, then what are we fighting about? So, we have to find a way to start working on issues like trade and both the countries will have to do it." She further said the onus is also on India, being a bigger country, to play a much larger role to open up trade to Pakistan. "I don't want that 70 years from now, two people standing here and having a conversation that 140 years ago there was a partition and we are still fighting a war." Obaid-Chinoy, who also met Indian filmmaker Karan Johar here at WEF, among others, said she has been making films since 2001 and has made films in 12 countries so far in more than 15 years. "When you look at the work I have done in each of these countries, I have always picked up topics that others have been hesitant to pick up. Because of the work I have done, now when I do something, a lot of people who are empowered look at it immediately," she added. Former BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu's cross over to the Congress could be the fallout of the "hurt" he might have felt in his parent party, former Union minister Shatrughan Sinha said here today. "Sidhu is not a bad man. He was with BJP earlier and now he is in Congress party. He might have felt hurt in the BJP and joined Congress. We have affection for him. Siddhu will continue to remain ours," Sinha told reporters here after taking darshan of Saibaba. Sidhu recently quit the saffron party to contest on Congress' ticket from Amritsar (East) seat for next month's Assembly elections in Punjab. Meanwhile, Sinha refused to offer comments to a query on RSS spokesperson Manmohan Vaidya's remarks on reservation. Sinha was accompanied by his wife and Chairperson of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Pahlaj Nihalani. The former Union minister said demonetisation augurs well for the development of the country, which he said is on the "right track". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After days of hectic negotiations, the Congress and Samajwadi Party today forged a pre-poll alliance to contest the UP Assembly polls together. Queering the pitch for BJP and BSP, the two parties today reached a seat-sharing agreement with Congress likely to contest around 103 seats and the SP about 300. The talks between top Congress and SP leaders had been going on for last several days for but got delayed as the two parties engaged in tough bargain. Sources also said the alliance materialised after Congress President Sonia Gandhi intervened. According to sources, top leaders of both the parties finalised the seat sharing arrangement late last night and a formal announcement in this regard was likely to be made in Lucknow this evening. Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel had earlier tweeted: "Discussion was at highest level- CM (UP), GS I/C & Priyanka Gandhi." There are 403 Assembly seats in UP, election for which would be held in seven phases starting February 11. The last phase of the poll would take place on March 8. Counting would be held on March 11. Steel makers like Tata Steel and Visa Steel have sought removal of import duty and clean energy cess on coking coal and giving thrust to domestic infrastructure forecasting tepid global demand next year. "Steel industry has suffered an increase in input costs due to high coking coal prices this year. Almost all the coking coal requirement is met through imports. Therefore, import duty on coking coal should be removed," Tata Steel India Managing Director T V Narendran told PTI. "Exemption from clean environment cess is also required as there is no substitute reducing agent for steel making unlike power generation," he added. Visa Steel also echoed the same demanding that coking coal should be duty-free from the current 2.5 per cent. "The import duty on raw materials such as coking coal should be reduced from 2.5 per cent to nil and the clean environment cess should be made modvatable to improve steel industry competitiveness," Visa Steel Vice-chairman and Managing Director Vishal Agarwal said. Further, he said, policy measures for infrastructure spending and boosting consumer confidence was required to revive housing & automobile sector to increase domestic steel demand. Narendran said, the domestic industry was tirelessly working to achieve the vision of producing 300 million tonne by the year 2030-31 by making necessary investments and building capacity. "During the period April to November 2016, India's steel production grew by nearly 9 per cent but to achieve the target of 300 million tonne by 2030 it will need a major impetus from the government," he said. The government should look into revising the guidelines like terminal and port congestion charges and busy season surcharge, especially at a time when rail traffic is stagnating. For steel industry, the main raw material iron ore should also be treated at par with other bulk minerals like coal and limestone for freight categorisation, Narendran said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) RPI(A) chief Ramdas Athawale today said a strong agitation is needed for the formation of separate Vidarbha state as "governments do not listen to peaceful demands". "The demand for separate Vidarbha state (out of Maharashtra) is there since long. People from Vidarbha region want separate state. BJP has also been advocating for separate Vidarbha (when it was not in power) and we appeal to the BJP government to carve out separate Vidarbha state. We will also make all efforts in this regard," Athawale said here. "People of this region are not protesting like it happened in Telangana. They can launch agitation but they see peaceful protests as a way to meet their demands...But now there is a need to expedite the movement as government do not seem to listen to their peaceful demands," the Union Minister said, referring to formation of separate Telangana state, which was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in June 2014 following a series of agitations. Athawale further said that his party has been also supporting the demand for the formation of two states out of Uttar Pradesh. He claimed that the recent rift in Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh will certainly benefit BJP in the upcoming Assembly polls in that state. "Though the dispute has now been settled...The image of Samajwadi Party is not good today and therefore BJP will be benefitted...Power will come in the hands of BJP," he said. The RPI(A), an NDA ally, is fielding candidates on 150 seats for the Uttar Pradesh elections. "The alliance with BJP did not happen in UP, hence we are fielding candidates in 150 constituencies while on other seats the party will support BJP," Athawale said. Acknowledging BSP as a strong party in UP, he said Mayawati does not have rights over Dalit votes. In the upcoming elections, RPI (A) will show good performance, he said, adding that some leaders from BSP had already joined his party. The All India Convention of RPI (A) will be held in Bengaluru on January 29 and 30, Athawale added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Thailand national today lodged a police complaint alleging she was molested by the son of a hotel owner here, police said. In her complaint, the Bangkok-based woman said she was molested by the accused at the hotel in which she was staying during her visit to the city on November 6, 2016. Prabhjot Singh has been booked and the case is being investigated, police said. No arrest has been made in this connection, they said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Crime Branch of Jaipur Police today arrested the three accused who had shot a cab driver and fled away with his car on January 19. The victim -- Nandram Choudhary, a resident of Tonk district, died at a Jaipuria hospital today. The accused took him to a secluded place in Rathi Nagar of the city and shot him in stomach, police said. Following the incident, cab owner Badri Lal had lodged a complaint in Shyam Nagar police station, they said. "We had taken statement of the victim cab driver and based on his statements arrested Vivek Pandey (21) of Jaipur, Krishna Gopal Kushwah (25) of Agra and Sanjeev (25) of Itawa. the trio have confessed their role in the crime," DCP Vikas Pathak told PTI. He said that the accused abandoned the car in Manyavas falling under Mansarovar police station in fear of being caught during police barricading. Police have recovered the cab and a 0.32 bore country-made revolver used in the crime. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three persons were injured today when armed bandits looted cash and valuables worth Rs five lakh rupees from a Delhi-bound private tourist bus on the Yamuna Expressway, police said. The incident occurred near Tappal when the bus took a halt after one of its tyres got punctured and five armed men forced their way inside the bus, which was on its way to Lucknow from Delhi, they said. When some of the passengers resisted, the miscreants opened fire in which three persons, identified as Puran, Raj Singh and Vivek Yadav, were injured, police said. The injured persons were rushed to a hospital in adjoining Mathura district, they said, adding that all were out of danger and recovering from pellet injuries. The miscreants are said to have looted cash and valuables worth Rs five lakh rupees, police said. The police have denied media reports that two women were abducted from the bus and gang raped in a nearby farmhouse, belonging to a retired Police officer from Himachal Pradesh. SSP Rajesh Pandey told PTI that reports of gang rape were false. According to the police that before looting the bus, the five armed robbers who were in an inebriated state, made their way inside an incomplete bungalow of a retired Police officer. They then beat up the staff and some of the construction labourers, including 2 women, who were there. These two women have been brought to the Aligarh women's hospital where they were being medically examined following the allegations of gang rape. Pandey said both the women have denied that they were sexually assaulted. He said the medical report was awaited but prima facie there was no evidence of gang rape. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) World number ones Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber both crashed out of the Australian Open on a day of major upsets Sunday, as Roger Federer fought his way closer to an 18th Grand Slam title. Murray was stunned by 50th-ranked serve-and-volley specialist Mischa Zverev in four sets before Kerber, the women's title-holder, tamely succumbed 6-2, 6-3 to Coco Vandeweghe. The unpredictable results, following six-time champion Novak Djokovic's stunning loss in the second round, opened the door to a host of challengers -- with Federer leading the charge. The 35-year-old Swiss won the last of his record 17 Slam titles in 2012, but he took full advantage of Murray's demise with a 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 win over Kei Nishikori. Federer, who looks back to full fitness after a six-month injury lay-off, said the hard-fought, fourth-round win could be significant as he now eyes a quarter-final with Zverev. "This is a huge moment for me in my career," Federer said. "I was telling myself, 'Stay calm'. I feel fit, I've trained as hard as I possibly can in the off-season. That's what you tell yourself and you hope it pays off," he added. Murray had been the hot favourite after Djokovic's shock exit, but the Briton lost 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 to Germany's Zverev to extend his wait for a first Melbourne title. The Briton was never expected to be troubled by the 29-year-old, who has never won an ATP title, but he suffered his earliest Melbourne departure in eight years. It isn't since the 2004 French Open that the top two men's seeds have gone out before the quarter-finals, and for Murray, a five-time losing finalist, it meant yet more Melbourne misery. "I've had tough losses in my career in the past. I've come back from them. This is a tough one," Murray said. "I'm sure I'll come back okay from it. But right now I'm obviously very down because I wanted to go further in this event, and it wasn't to be. - 'Little coma' - ================= Zverev, a former junior rival of Murray's, stretched to a series of elastic volleys to frustrate the Scot, coming to the net 118 times as he reached his first major quarter-final. "I was like in a little coma, just serving and volleying my way through it. There were a few points where I didn't know how I pulled it off but somehow I made it," he said. Meanwhile Stan Wawrinka, who won the first of his three Grand Slam titles in Melbourne in 2014, came through 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/4) against Italy's Andreas Seppi. The formidable Swiss, now into his fourth Australian Open quarter-final, will play France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who came from a set down to beat British surprise package Dan Evans. Kerber's maiden Grand Slam title defence, and first major tournament as world number one, ended poorly as she came off distinctly second-best to the aggressive Vandeweghe. The unseeded American broke Kerber's serve four times and was on top at the net and from the baseline as she grabbed her first win over a world number one. In the quarter-finals, Vandeweghe, who halted Eugenie Bouchard in the previous round, faces French Open champion Garbine Muguruza, who swamped Romania's Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-3. Earlier Venus Williams, the oldest player in the women's draw at 36, also became one of the first into the last eight when she beat German qualifier Mona Barthel 6-3, 7-5. The seven-time Grand Slam winner allowed herself to dream of a possible final with her sister Serena, who is steaming through the other side of the draw in search of her 23rd major title. "That could hopefully happen. We both still have to work very hard to get there," Venus Williams said. Her quarter-final opponent is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who beat fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-3 to reach her first Australian Open quarter-final in nine attempts. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today extended her "full support" to the Samajwadi Party and Congress alliance for the coming Uttar Pradesh polls. "Full support from Trinamool Congress @AITCofficial to the good alliance for UP between @incindia & @samajwadiparty," Banerjee said in a tweet. Capping days of feverish parleys, Congress and Samajwadi Party today forged an alliance to contest the UP Assembly polls together. According to the terms of alliance, the SP will contest 298 of the 403 seats while rest 105 will be for Congress. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Trump Administration will fight back "tooth and nail" against false reporting and can "rethink" its relationship with the press, top aides to new US President Donald Trump said today, as they slammed the media for trying to "delegetimise" the presidential elections. "There's an obsession by the media to delegitimise this President, and we are not going to sit around and let it happen. We're going to fight back tooth and nail every day," the White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus told Fox in an interview today. "The point is not the crowd size, the point is that the attacks and the attempts to delegitimise this President in one day -- and we're not going to sit around and take it," Priebus said. Earlier today, unhappy over media reports on the crowd size at presidential inauguration on Friday, Trump has described journalists as the most "dishonest human beings on Earth". Priebus said that President Trump was trying to unify the country from day one in office, but the media was resorting to false reporting to "delegitimise" him. "The media, from day one, has been talking about delegitimising the election, talking about the Russians, talking about everything you can imagine, except the fact that we need to move this country forward," Priebus said. Meanwhile, another top aide, Kellylanne Conway, Counselor to the President, told ABC that the Trump administration can "rethink" its relationship with the media if false reporting continues. Conway said that it is completely irresponsible for the media to be calling the White House press secretary a "liar" on Twitter and Facebook and elsewhere in articles. "That is not the way to start relationships," she said. "We have not been treated very well. This man (Trump) is the President of the United States. If people would just go back, and listen to and watch his inaugural address again, that goes for everybody, calling for unification, being aspirational, talking about giving power back to the people. "We can't invite a press pool on the first day of the Oval Office with the President of the United States signing executive orders and then a big lie told about the bust of Martin Luther King Jr, days after our President Trump met with Martin Luther King III in New York and had an incredibly powerful and constructive conversation with Martin Luther King Jr.'s son saying that he wants to support this President, that he believes he must unify and heal the nation," Conway said. "Then you have a bunch of people from the press writing these snarky articles that were also false. It has to go both ways and it has to start right now," the top Trump aide told the network. She was responding to questions on the White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer accusing the media a day earlier for indulging in inaccurate reporting and asserting that he would hold the media accountable. "The President supports his Press Secretary and his press operation. Our press secretary was making the point that accountability has to go both ways," she said. "The press pooler gave a false report, that the bust of Martin Luther King Jr. Had been removed from the Oval Office. That is just false. It is dangerous and destructive on day one for the press to be reporting false information like that," Conway added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New US President Donald Trump's 'Buy American-hire American' rallying cry has put the USD 150- billion Indian IT industry on edge, which is in wait-and-watch mode to see how the new administration evolves policies around outsourcing and movement of skilled workers. India hopes to have a meaningful engagement with the US, Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said. Given that US market accounts for 60 per cent of India's IT exports, the industry and the government here will spare no efforts in their outreach programme over the next few weeks to showcase the role of Indian technology sector in making the US economy more competitive and highlight its contribution in terms of billions of dollars paid in taxes and creation of local jobs. "Indian IT companies are in 200 cities across 80 countries. They have added big value to the US, and given jobs to lakhs of people including American people there. I am given to understand that they have paid billions of dollars in tax... So they have added value to America in terms of money, by way of tax and also employment," Prasad told PTI in an interview just hours before Trump was sworn in as the 45th US President. Stating that India wishes to have a meaningful engagement with the Trump government, Prasad said: "We will await unfolding of his views about Indian IT companies' outreach. We have already conveyed our views to them and we will continue (to do so)." Nasscom President R Chandrashekhar said Trump has been pro-India and understands business realities being a businessman himself. The adverse impact on job creation within the US on account of any restriction put has to be weighed very carefully (by the new administration), he cautioned. Communication and outreach will, therefore, be more critical, he said, adding that Nasscom is planning a visit to Washington in February to meet senior representatives of the US administration and the Congress. Trump's 'America First' pledge, which formed the essence of his inaugural speech last Friday, has reinforced worries of protectionist posturing and unnerved the Indian IT industry which, as it is, has been battling headwinds of a slowing growth. Trump has vowed to rebuild the country using "American hands" and his inaugural was punctuated with lines like Buy American and Hire American. "We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength," Trump said. Trump's hardline stance on protectionism and anti-immigration is no surprise to the Indian industry. While companies have tried putting on a brave face, concerns run deep about tightening of visa norms that will push up the cost of doing business. Earlier this month, a Bill targeting H-1B visas was reintroduced in the US Congress by two lawmakers who said it will help crack down on the work visa abuse. Any restriction placed by the US on outsourcing or movement of skilled workers will have far-reaching consequences for Indian firms like TCS, Infosys and Wipro. Already, companies have been preparing to mitigate the impact and have ramped up local hiring even if it means eating into their margins. Hoping for a "business-friendly administration", Infosys chief Vishal Sikka said Trump himself is an entrepreneur and a business leader and therefore, he expects that this will be the case of business and innovation-friendly regime. "In the near term, we do expect there will be changes to the visa and H1-B visa policies. As policies take effect, we will consider, analyse and understand their impact," he said. The larger rival, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), has also said it is proactively addressing these concerns by making changes to its business model. Greyhound Research Chief Analyst and CEO Sanchit Gogia said better skilled jobs, including coding and maintenance, are likely to remain unaffected, given their scarce availability and exclusivity. Also, its critical to remember that most US-based companies -- including many Fortune 500s -- are deeply invested (and dependent) on Indian IT service providers and neither they nor the Trump administration is in a position to make drastic changes, he pointed out. US President Donald Trump pledged today to begin renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement in upcoming talks with the leaders of Mexico and Canada. "We're meeting with the prime minister of Canada and we will be meeting with the president of Mexico, who I know, and we're going to start some negotiations having to do with NAFTA," Trump said while addressing White House staff on his second full day in office. Trump will receive his Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto on January 31. No date has been given for a meeting with Canada's Justin Trudeau, but it is expected "soon" according to a readout from a call between the two leaders on Saturday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two Indian nationals have been arrested by Nepal police here on charges of stealing money from bank accounts of many people, after forging debit cards and hacking their ATM pin. Police arrested Iqtedar Khan (23) from Chandigarh and Niranjan Mehta (33) from Delhi from the capital's tourist hub, Thamel, on January 12, after examining CCTV footage from multiple ATM booths in the Kathmandu Valley. The Nepal Police's Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) had swung into action after receiving numerous complaints from the public that they lost balance from their bank accounts though they did not withdrawn any money, the Himalayan Times reported. According to the police, the duo had withdrawn around Nepali rupees 600,000 from around 20 ATMs in the past one month. Police also seized mobile phones, Rs 8,000 cash, a forged ATM card among other materials from their possession. If convicted, the suspects would face a jail sentence up to five years and a fine equal to the amount they defrauded, police informed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu Sunday said the elections in Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh will strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in continuing the development undertaken by him. "The main issue for the election of Goa, Punjab, Uttaranchal (Uttarakhand), Uttar Pradesh is the need to strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to continue the developmental agenda he has worked on," he told reporters here. "Entire country is moving forward but some states are lagging because either they refuse to cooperate with the Centre or do not perform well," the Urban Development Minister said. "You have seen what is happening in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and what is happening in Karnataka, they do not cooperate with the Central government, though the Centre is willing to move forward in a Team India spirit," he said. Naidu said people were all set to elect a BJP government in Uttar Pradesh as they have seen governance by SP, BSP and other parties, which has resulted in "corruption, goondaism and vote bank based on communal sentiments." "The transformation he (Modi) is bringing to the country. He has given three prolonged mantra - reform, perform and transform. "You have seen the initiatives taken by Modiji and the results that are coming. India's image internationally has gone up. India is being recognised and respected worldwide. India is the most favourite destination for investment. Each and every sector has been growing and people believe that their aspirations are being realised," he claimed. Naidu said that if the country needed to be developed, the focus should be towards progress of states. "If you want to develop or transform the country, you need to develop the states also. Without states' progress, the country cannot make real progress. That('s) why state elections are also very important. "This government has been given a clear mandate by the people. But the opposition is trying to put the spokes because we do not have the needed numbers in Rajya Sabha. They (opposition) were delaying bills. They fall in line because of public pressure, otherwise they are delaying every legislation," he said. UAE today pledged total support to India in combating terrorism, as it looked towards elevating bilateral defence and security ties and inking a Strategic Cooperation Agreement during the visit of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan here from Tuesday. The pacts are part of the 16 agreements to be signed between the two countries after the talks on January 25 between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Al Nahyan, who will be the Chief Guest at this year's Republic Day Parade, UAE Ambassador Ahmed Al Banna told PTI in an interview here. "We cooperate with India to combat and fight extremists and terrorists all over the world and we support Indian authority and government in their endevour in protecting itself from any terrorist or extremist group," he said. He was asked about the decisions taken by the two sides during Modi's visit to UAE in 2015 on working together to control, regulate and share information on flow of funds that could have a bearing on radicalisation activities, cooperate in interdicting illegal flows and act against concerned individuals and organisations. It was projected by the officials here at that time that the decision will help India in taking action against the most wanted criminal, Dawood Ibrahim, including freezing of his assets in the UAE. However, the envoy refused to comment on any individual case including Dawood's, even as reports said that UAE government has seized properties of the 1993 Mumbai blast accused worth Rs 15,000 crore. "I don't know" was his cryptic reply. Asserting that his country was among the first to condemn the terror strike on Indian airbase in Pathankot, Al Banna said the UAE had also supported the surgical strikes carried out by India. "When the bombing of the airbase took place, we were the first ones to condemn it. UAE was among the first countries which supported Indian surgical strikes and we support India's efforts to fight and counter attack and attack terrorists and extremists," he said. The UAE envoy also said the National Security Advisors of UAE and India have been holding consultations regularly. After the first Strategic Dialogue on Friday, the UAE side, led by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash, held a meeting with NSA Ajit Doval, he added. Asked about the role UAE, which is seen as a "key interlocutor" by India, could play in conveying Indian concerns to Pakistan over terrorism emanating from there, Al Banna said "We listen to them (Indian authorities). We coordinate with them and will be more than willing whenever we are asked by the Indian side to assist or interfere or take any action for betterment of our relationship....". He also said that they would work closely with India in Afghanistan where five UAE diplomats were killed earlier this month in a terror attack. Noting that investigations were still on to find out those responsible for the attack, he said, "we will take our revenge (once we know the culprits)." Al Banna also pitched for closer collaboration between the two countries in dealing with terror groups like DAESH (or al-Dawla al-Islamiya al-Iraq al-Sham), also known as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). A global summit on governance is being organised here next month during which countries and international organisations, including the World Bank and the UN, will discuss the world's pressing challenges and share their experiences to combat these problems. World Government Summit from February 12 to 14 will hold three forums to explore global researches in happiness, climate change and Arab youth. The UAE Government is organising the event under the patronage of Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, a statement said. The event will bring together hundreds of governments and international organisations on the leading global platform to share knowledge and experiences in the efforts to improve government work and offer better services to help serve seven billion people around the world, Al Gergawi said. Seven world and international organisations the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations, UNESCO, the World Bank, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and World Economic Forum will participate in the event. "This the first time all these organisations are gathering in the UAE to shape the future of the world and discuss the services, challenges and answer the questions of tomorrow today," he said. More than 150 countries will be taking part, he added. The summit will host speakers from leading government and private entities and international organisations who will share their experiences. "Different organisations will discuss the future of governments and digital transactions, innovation in governments and how to achieve the sustainable development goals," he said. The agenda and topics will look at the future of health care, education, cities, humanitarian work, innovation and science, energy, transportation and other key sectors. Uhoud Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of State for Happiness and vice-chairman of the Organising Committee of the World Government Summit, said the Global Dialogue for Happiness, to be held a day before the summit, will gather experts and scientists to discuss how happiness can be achieved in societies. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Fast food chain Wow! Momo is eyeing Rs 500 crore turnover in five years as it sets to expand aggressively across the country. The company, which opened its first store in Kolkata eight years ago, at present operates over 100 outlets in India and plans to add another 60 by the end of this calender year. "We are treating Rs 500 crore turnover target in 5 years with a notwork of 500 outlets that we plan to open by then. Our mission in the long-term is to be India's version of a McDonald's and become a global brand," Wow! Momo Co-Founder Sagar Daryani told PTI. Wow! Momo is also in the process of raising fresh funds to the tune Rs 50 crore, which will fuel its expansion drive. "We will close fund raising by middle of this year and we plan to use this entire sum to expand our business," Daryani said. The company plans to expand rapidly in Kolkata, Delhi NCR and Bengaluru during this year with a small expansion in planned in Chennai as well. It is also looking at entering new markets such as Hyderabad and Mumbai in the next fiscal. The company is considering export of packaged frozen momos abroad along with specially prepared momo sauces to make them available across shelves in modern trade. The company had raised Rs 10 crore in its first round of funding from Indian Angel Network (IAN) in 2015 from investors like Sanjeev Bhikchandani, founder of Naukri.Com (Info Edge), Saurabh Srivastava, co-founder at IAN and Ashvin Chadha, a serial entrepreneur, angel investor and Venture Capitalist. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chinese President Xi Jinping today became the head of a new commission for integrated military and civilian development, as he assumed more powers and firmed up his hold over the ruling Communist Party, the PLA and the government. The decision was made at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, which was chaired by Xi, official media reported. The central commission will be the central agency tasked with decision-making, deliberation and coordination of major issues regarding integrated military and civilian development. In a statement released after today's meeting, the political bureau called for efforts to uphold the authority of the CPC Central Committee with Xi at the core, adhere to its centralised and unified leadership and fully implement major policies. Xi who was designated as the "core leader", equating him with party founder Mao Zedong, at a key party meet in October last year, is also the General Secretary of the CPC, Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the high command of the 2.3 million strong Chinese military, besides being the President. The 'Core leader' will put him above the rest in the party leadership which followed collective leadership system. The power status would enable him to have his supporters in the key bodies of the party when,once in five years, its Congress is held to elect the powerful Political Bureau and the seven-member Standing Committee. Since he took over power towards the end of 2012, Xi has carried out a massive anti-corruption drive in which over a million officials at various levels were punished. Over 40 high level officials of the military also faced corruption probes. The newly formed commission will report to the Political Bureau and the Standing Committee. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The youth should involve themselves in nation-building and strive to bring about a positive change in the society, Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph said here, today. "There are certain roles, responsibilities and duties we have to fulfill as citizens of the country.If you violate the law, it will be a sin against the country. I urge the youth to involve themselves in building the nation and believe in bringing a positive change in society," he said. Justice Kurien was delivering a talk on "Constitutional Rights and Duties - Youth Responsibility" at a programme held here on the concluding day of the 10th national youth convention, organised by Indian Catholic youth Movement. He said, there has been discrimination on caste, creed and religion which needs to be eradicated as this nation comprises cultures and languages which change from place to place. "This country has given birth to myriad religions which we need to be proud of... It is a constitutional right to follow and propagate one's religion, and it is the right of every citizen. Be a true Christian and love the nation and be a part of the nation-building," Justice Joseph added. On the occasion, a peace rally was flagged-off by Archbishop of Bengaluru Dr Bernard Moras. Bishop of Ballari diocese Dr Henry D'Souza, Bishop of Mangaluru Dr Aloysius Paul D'Souza, chief whip of Karnataka Legislative Council Ivan D'Souza, J R Lobo MLA, Rajya Sabha MP Oscar Fernandes and others were present. The convention which began on January 18 at St Joseph Engineering College, Vamanjoor, saw participation from thousands of youngsters from all over the country. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A real-life zombie outbreak would leave the world's population in shambles, with less than 300 survivors remaining a mere one hundred days into the apocalypse, according to a new study. Assuming that a zombie can find one person each day, with a 90 per cent chance of infecting victims with the zombie infection, the students from University of Leicester in the UK suggest that by day one hundred there would be just 273 remaining human survivors, outnumbered a million to one by zombies. The team, which presented the findings in the student-run Journal of Physics Special Topics, investigated the spread of a hypothetical zombie virus using the SIR model - an epidemiological model that describes the spread of a disease throughout a population. The model splits the population into three categories - those susceptible to the infection, those that are infected and those that have either died or recovered. The SIR model then considers the rates at which infections spread and die off as individuals in the population come into contact with each other. As part of the formula, the students looked at S (the susceptible population), Z (the zombie population) and D (the dead population), suggesting that the average life-cycle of a zombie would be S to Z to D. They also examined the time frame over which individuals in the population encounter one another. The initial study did not factor in natural birth and death rates, since the hypothetical epidemic took place over 100 days, resulting in natural births and deaths being negligible compared to the impact of the zombie virus over a short time frame. Without the ability for humankind to fight back against the undead hordes, the students' calculations suggest that if global populations were equally distributed in less than a year the human race might be wiped out. However, in a more hopeful follow-up study, the students investigated the SIR model applied to a zombie epidemic and introduced new parameters, such as the rate in which zombies might be killed and people having children within the nightmare scenario. This made human survival more feasible. The team factored in how over time survivors may also be less likely to become infected after having experience of avoiding or fending off zombies. They found that it would be possible for the world's human population to survive the zombie epidemic under these conditions - and that eventually the zombie population would be wiped out and the human population would recover. "Every year we ask students to write short papers for the Journal of Physics Special Topics. It lets the students show off their creative side and apply some of physics they know to the weird, the wonderful, or the everyday," said Mervyn Roy, a lecturer at Leicester's Department of Physics and Astronomy, said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) London: Guys who march for their moms, wives and daughters Published on January 22, 2017 Story by Joao Fernandes Silva en de es it fr pl As thousands of women marched in London to protest the new President of the United States, they brought children, parents, boyfriends and husbands. The Women's march has reportedly gathered millions of people around the globe just one day after Donald Trump's inauguration as the 45th President of the United States of America. The Daily Mail estimates that around 100,000 people joined the march in London. As women protested, also many men attended the rally and opposed the new President of the USA. Here's why 6 of them attended the march. Philip, 7 years old, London: "I came here today because Trump is bad for women. He says very terrible things about girls on TV so me and my mom came here today to show to tell him that he can't say those things." Ed, 47, London: "Well, this man is a true nightmare to everyone on the planet, especially for women. I came because, in a way, I felt like I needed to show women my support. I brough my daughter with me, she's still too young to understand what's going on, but I am here for her too. Hopefully she will learn that Trump is just abnormal and we can never normalize anything bad he does anymore. We've had enough". James, 23, Bristol: "My girlfriend brought me and it's a pleasure to be here. But it's sad that we still have to protest something like this, isn't it? I mean, it's 2017! Women have had it way harder than us since the beginning of times and now that we're making progress, this guy attacks women viciously and gets away with it! It's just unbelievable, but we're here to fight". Cole, London: "It's a bloody disgrace what this man has done and said. How he got elected he will never understand. But all these powerful women are here to show him that they are stronger than he thinks. I'm just here trying to do my part". Yussuf, 35, London: "Women are amazing and the fact that someone can treat them so badly and now he's President... I have a mom, she's here too and I'm just so proud there's so many people here. I hope it sends the message". David, 29, London: "Why wouldn't I come? I mean, it's obvious this guy needs to be stopped". Story by Joao Fernandes Silva Denis Nkwebo, We Will resist Peter Essoka Wilson MUSA The National Union of Cameroon Journalists has condemned The decision of the National Council For Media Communication On The Anglophone Problem. In an outing on January 21, 2017 Denis Nkwebo, the Unions National President enjoined all Journalists in Cameroon to disregard the decision by Peter Essoka who is the regulators President. Denis Nkwebo writes On 20 January 2017, the President of the National Communication Council (NCC), Peter Essoka, read a statement on CRTV, warning the media about how they deal with current events in Regions of the North-West and South-West. Among other things, the communique prohibits the media from addressing issues related to federalism and secession. The outing of the president of the NCC intervenes after several measures of restriction of the freedoms, in particular the suspension of the Internet in the Northwest and the Southwest. The National Union of Journalists of Cameroon (SNJC) calls on all media and Journalists to disregard the injunctions of Mr. Essoka Peter, once again condemning the cynicism of the NCC, to consider the injunctions as null and void, of no effect. The SNJC invites the Cameroon media and Journalists to give a fair and equitable echo to all the opinions expressed by Cameroonian citizens on the issues of federalism and secession. The SNJC notes that the NCC and its President are no longer hiding to defend and implement the censorship imposed by the regime that subsidizes them. The SNJC reserves the right to retaliate against Peter Essoka, the NCC and the government they serve. SNJC asks the Fedipresse and the other media promoters to clarify their positions on the professional existence and legitimacy of the NCC. Done at Douala on 21 January 2017 Denis Nkwebo President of the SNJC. | BY Ricki Green | An older piece taken from the archives of damonsbrain a blog written by Damon Stapleton, chief creative officer of DDB New Zealand I met Nelson Mandela twice. Each time it was fleeting but those 11 seconds have stayed with me. The second time was about 4 seconds long and we were completely alone. I was working at an agency called TBWA Gavin Reddy in Houghton in Johannesburg. Houghton was the suburb where Mandela lived. I was walking to work early one morning because my Beetle had broken down for the third time that month. I was walking down a road and not really looking up. I sensed somebody in front of me. About 10 metres away stood Nelson Mandela. His bodyguards were a little way back. He was going for a walk. I was going for a walk. We were walking. We were alone on an empty street. Fuck. What do I do? You get this stupid shit eating grin on your face when you meet famous people dont you? And Mandela is much more than that. My grin must have been especially shit eating that day. You just dont know what to do. I couldnt speak. I put out my hand, he shook it. I said good morning in that voice you have before coffee. You know raspy and high pitched. Ridiculous. He had that massive smile. He could see this was weird and saw the humour. He said good morning and looked into my eyes when he spoke. And then he was gone. And I was standing there alone on a beautiful Tuesday morning. It had all happened in about 4 seconds. But I had met him before. In 1990 I was a photographer in Durban. At the time I was 20 years old and politically naive. I was asked to take some pictures of Nelson Mandela at the book launch of Fatima Meer at the University of Natal. I was near the stage. We used film in those days, so I was loading my camera with my back to the entrance. Suddenly, there was a sound that I hadnt heard before or havent heard since. It was a mixture of roaring and intake of breath. It is the sound you make when language cannot help you. It was very human. It was the crowd. Up until that moment I dont think I really understood what Nelson Mandela meant to people. As he walked in people collapsed. They were rolling on the floor. People were ululating. Women and men were crying. Collective, pure, raw emotion. In a single second a normal university auditorium had been turned into the most powerful gospel revival you have ever seen. In that instant, I realised that I knew nothing about the country I lived in. I had to get pictures of him speaking, which I did. But I wanted to try and get a picture of him. It became this burning need as I listened to him speak. A portrait as opposed to something for a PR release. I didnt want to just take a photograph I wanted to make some sort of connection. I thought the only chance would be on the way to his car afterwards. He finished his speech and I followed him through the crowd until we were both outside. I was completely inexperienced. I didnt know what to do. I was beginning to panic. As he got into his car I remembered him giving an ANC salute (raised fist) when he walked into the auditorium. For a brief moment everything fell into place. He was sitting in the backseat and looked at me through the window. I lifted my arm and did probably the worst, uncool ANC salute in history. I didnt understand its significance or its meaning. I was out of my depth. He looked at me and my fist. He understood everything. I was a dumb, shy, white kid who really needed a picture and was trying to connect but didnt know how. He didnt look at the camera, he looked at me. And when I say me, straight into my eyes. This single second felt like an hour. He started to laugh and raised his arm. He gave me the picture. He waited until I shot it and then told the driver to go. 7 seconds. 7 seconds, that tell you everything about his greatness. His incredible strength and power never got in the way of his humour and his ability to make time for everybody. His humanity was on the outside. For most of us it is on the inside. I handed the pictures over and I dont know where they are today. Strangely, I dont feel sad about the loss. The memory for me is so strong and personal it has become more valuable than the photograph. And trust me coming from a photographer that is saying something. There is just this lingering memory of potential. Of what we all could be if we were a little kinder to each other. In 7 seconds he made me feel like it was going to be OK. He gave me some of his humaness. He could have looked away and told the driver to go but he didnt. He understood my situation and accepted me as I was. There was no judgement or irritation. He solved it with humour and time. He had the greatest gift of all. In that moment, he showed me what true greatness is. To simply be human. And he did it with the world on his shoulders. | BY Ricki Green | Spirit of Tasmania has launched a new brand campaign via Leo Burnett Melbourne, which embraces the motivation and mindset of the spirited traveller. These spirited travellers choose a different kind of journey when planning their holiday to Tasmania. They would rather take their own car, take more time, have a memorable on-board experience and embark on their own exciting adventure when they arrive at their destination. The new-look brand campaign is Spirit of Tasmanias first creative campaign in partnership with newly appointed agency; Leo Burnett, Melbourne. Spirit of Tasmania chief executive officer Bernard Dwyer said Be a spirited traveller captured the adventurous side of travellers who liked to travel their own way. Says Dwyer: This new campaign is all about enhancing the experiences, sights and memories that our passengers, our spirited travellers, have when travelling with Spirit of Tasmania. Our passengers care as much about the journey as the destination, absorbing every experience that comes their way. The spirited traveller is a broad term, yet it encompasses our passengers who have a more adventurous mindset, in particular our growth target markets of families and couples. It was important for this brand refresh to build upon the success surrounding the launch of the newly refurbished Spirit of Tasmania vessels and we are pleased with the creative delivered by Leo Burnett. We have projected strong passenger growth, and believe the many interpretations Be a spirited traveller can deliver will further enhance our marketing strategy and drive passenger sales in 2017 and beyond. Says Patrick Rowe, general manager, Leo Burnett, Melbourne: Getting to your destination can be just as memorable as the place itself, and theres nothing more unique than travelling on Spirit of Tasmania. The new campaign will encourage the adventurous-at-heart to come aboard and create unforgettable moments at sea, and in Tasmania. The Be a spirited traveller campaign is on TV, online and outdoor. Client: Spirit of Tasmania Agency: Leo Burnett Melbourne Tuesday, January 17, 2017 at 8:40AM The winter months has many of us dreaming of vacations and there are definitely a few destinations that are on the top of my mind. Wondering what locales our fellow Canadians are most interested in? This morning KAYAK, a worldwide travel search engine site & app, released the Top 10 Trending Destinations of the Year according to Canadian travellers search data... Havana Reykjavik Rio de Janeiro Casablanca Auckland Manila Nashville New Delhi Guatemala Bogota And what's top of mind for what us Canadian travellers are looking for? Canadians are seeking experiences both rich in culture and history in some of the worlds most interesting cities, said David Solomito, VP North America Marketing. Havana has seen an amazing amount of renewed interest as has Reykjavik, but there are some exciting additions to the list - like Casablanca, Auckland and Manila - proving long distance isnt necessarily a variable when booking a trip. As part of their annual global Travel Hacker Guide, the site reveals that Calgary is one of the hotspots for North America gaining 27% more searches for ski getaways and for the Calgary Stampede. Other tips reveal for Canadians travellers... the best time of year to book a vacation is 2 to 3 months in advance and February is often the best month for hotel offers. For North American travelers, KAYAKs data found its best to book 2-3 months out for Central America, Europe and Asia, but 1-2 months out works for the South Pacific. Sunday, January 22, 2017 at 2:56AM Nokias comeback phone, under HMD Globals brand, seems to have done well out of the gate in China. The Nokia 6, which sold for around US$245 (approx. CA$320), went on its first flash sale on its exclusive retailer JD.com and was said to be sold in a minute. Its unknown how many units were put up on sale and whether a second flash sale will be happening. The mid-range device features a 5.5-inch Full HD display with 2.5D Gorilla Glass and runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processr, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. It has a16-megapixel rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, phase detection autofocus, and dual-tone flash, as well as an 8-megapixel front camera with f/2.0 aperture. And it runs on a 3,000mAh non-removable battery with fast-charging support. There is no word yet if the phone will be making its way out of China. But HMD is set to reveal more Nokia phones at the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Source: RT 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. Following years of speculation, Daimler has finally agreed to build a new factory in Russia, for its Mercedes-Benz brand. Confirmed by the countrys Trade and Industry minister, Denis Manturov, who spoke with Business World on the topic, as AutoNews reports, the plants construction will begin in 2018, at a site near Moscow. Manturov added that a contract will be signed shortly between the government and automaker. Contacted by AutoNews, a Daimler spokesperson admitted that talks are underway: We are in dialogue with the Russian government in order to check whether the economic requirements for local passenger-car production are fulfilled. A previous report says that Daimler will invest around 200 million ($212 million) into the factory that will able to assemble roughly 30,000 SUVs annually, from imported kits. Once the decision becomes inal, Daimler will join BMW in the Russian market, which chose local contract manufacturer Avtotor to produce the 3-, 5- and 7-Series, along with the X1, X3, X4, X5 and X6, from kits, in Kaliningrad. Moreover, Audi is also present in Russia, where it assembles sedans and SUVs at a plant owned by the Volkswagen Group, in Kaluga. PHOTO GALLERY Photo: Contributed Port Hardy RCMP responded to a complaint of shots fired on Beaver Harbour Road, shortly after midnight on Friday. Upon attendance, police determined that shots had been fired into a residence and secured the scene. Two suspects were arrested a short distance away. John William Melan, 35, and William Nason, 48, have since been charged with firearm related offences and have been remanded in custody pending a future court appearance. No one was injured as a result of this incident. As part of the ongoing investigation, police executed a search warrant at a residence located on Byng Road. Firearms and a quantity of drugs and cash were seized. The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to call the RCMP at 250-949-6335. If you have just started your journey in an online casino or are looking for a new site to play,... At Batter & Berries (2748 N. Lincoln Ave.), taste the rainbow with the French Toast Flight, which includes strawberry, blueberry, lemon and caramel. Opt for the Super Flight to add that weeks French toast special to the mix. (Carolyn Variano / Chicago Tribune) The value of loving your neck of the woods can't be overstated. Chicago's neighborhoods are richly diverse, but even within a 'hood, all blocks are not created equal. With that in mind, we created City Living, a new series in which we will pound the pavement and peer inside storefronts to give you a glimpse into slices of the city. Advertisement First up: The intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Diversey Parkway, straddling the line between the Lincoln Park area and Lakeview. So, house hunters and apartment seekers, if you're on the prowl for your next home and by extension, your next 'hood this one goes out to you. At Delilah's (2771 N. Lincoln Ave.), chances are bar owner Mike Miller will know your name. And he's always glad you came. (Susan Moskop / Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune) Sink your teeth into this: There is French toast, and there is artistry. Batter & Berries (2748 N. Lincoln Ave.) deals in the latter. "Our French toast is like nothing you've ever had before. Something is going to reach up and smack you in the face," said Don Jones, general manager of the BYOB breakfast hot spot. Advertisement "Everything that's on the French toast," Jones said, "is in the French toast." (Caramel French toast? Caramel's in the batter.) Chef Derek Rylon rolls out a new special every week. Taste the rainbow with the French Toast Flight, which includes strawberry, blueberry, lemon and caramel. Opt for the Super Flight to add that week's French toast special to the mix. Other must-haves include the Cluck-N-Gaufre (Goof), Batter & Berries' take on chicken and waffles. A sweet potato waffle with bits of fried chicken in the batter is topped with a fried chicken breast, nutmeg hot sauce and maple batter. The Rylon salad, with jumbo shrimp and veggies on a bed of greens, is encased in a deep-fried spinach tortilla and served with a shrimp scampi sauce. Year-round staples at Burnt City Brewing (2747 N. Lincoln Ave.) a brewpub and bowling alley come with colorful names like Dick the Butcher Pale Ale, Face Melter Hibiscus IPA and Balloon Boy Wheat Ale. (Carolyn Variano / Chicago Tribune) Location for libations: Make like a phoenix and rise from the ashes at Burnt City Brewing (2747 N. Lincoln Ave.), once known as Atlas Brewing Co. While no actual fire was involved, the brewpub did undergo a 2016 rebrand. Year-round staples come with colorful names like Dick the Butcher Pale Ale, Face Melter Hibiscus IPA and Balloon Boy Wheat Ale, and a bevy of seasonal drafts are available to fit many palates. Oh, and there are bowling lanes aplenty, so bring your competitive streak. Rotofugi Designer Toy Store & Gallery (2780 N. Lincoln Ave.) is run by husband-and-wife team Kirby and Whitney Kerr. Roto is for rotocasting, which is how a lot of the larger vinyl toys are made, and then Fugi is our dog, said Whitney Kerr. (Carolyn Variano / Chicago Tribune) Culture vulture: Where can you find everything from Andy Warhol soup can plush toys to a retrospective of ninja-focused art? Rotofugi Designer Toy Store & Gallery (2780 N. Lincoln Ave.), the whimsical brainchild of husband-and-wife owners Kirby and Whitney Kerr. "'Roto' is for rotocasting, which is how a lot of the larger vinyl toys are made, and then 'Fugi' is our dog," said Whitney Kerr. Advertisement Inside you'll find pop culture collectibles, designer art objects and vinyl toys sourced from around the globe. The adjoining art gallery features works from local and national artists. "We really search to find things that you don't know exist, which I see as a service," Whitney said. The store's wares live at the intersection of idiosyncrasy and delight, eager to elicit a smile. Mike Miller, owner of Delilah's (2771 North Lincoln Ave.), is pictured in 2008. Miller opened the tavern in 1993. (Bonnie Trafelet / Chicago Tribune) A local you should know: At Delilah's (2771 N. Lincoln Ave.), chances are bar owner Mike Miller will know your name. And he's always glad you came. Like his tavern, Miller defies categorization. He is part filmmaker, part punk-rock aficionado and DJ, part art enthusiast, part ally for patrons slogging through not-so-great dates. Miller tailors the bar to the things he loves most, with a DJ spinning punk rock every Monday; fringe films gracing TV sets on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays; and twice-annual celebrations of Elvis, on "his birthday and his disappearance." Advertisement Work from local artists bedecks the walls, and upward of 800 whiskeys line the shelves. Eclectic and amiable, Miller, who opened the tavern in 1993, describes Delilah's thus: "Every day we make something up, and we pull it off." And pull it off they have, for over 8,000 days in a row, hosting everything from a Johnny Cash-themed art show to a motorcycle club bash to an annual vintage beer fest clocking its 19th year on Feb. 18. If you go for the booze, you'll stay for the camaraderie. In the square area bounded by Wellington Avenue to the north, Wrightwood Avenue to the south, Sheffield Avenue to the east and Southport Avenue to the west, an average two-bedroom condo costs $454,473, while an average one-bedroom is $248,863, according to John Lyons, a real estate broker at Baird & Warners Lincoln Park office. (Carolyn Variano / Chicago Tribune) Cost of living: In the square area bounded by Wellington Avenue to the north, Wrightwood Avenue to the south, Sheffield Avenue to the east and Southport Avenue to the west, an average two-bedroom condo costs $454,473, while an average one-bedroom is $248,863. Expect condos to come with parking spots. Advertisement That's according to John Lyons, a real estate broker at Baird & Warner's Lincoln Park office. Lyons also said that, on average, two-bedroom apartments cost $2,358 per month, while a one-bedroom apartment rings up at $1,485. In this area, the market time for a property is around 16 days, "if it's priced right," Lyons said, adding that there are about twice as many condos as single-family homes. Market watch: In terms of new construction, Charles "Deno" Jeffries, managing broker and owner at Re/Max Exclusive Properties on Lincoln Avenue, noted that, along Lakewood Avenue, just west of Racine Avenue, new single-family homes, townhouses and condos are being erected. "It's a mature neighborhood, so a lot of the new construction is infill," Jeffries said, meaning newer homes are built to fill in vacant lots or those that used to house older buildings. "A lot of single-family homes in the neighborhood have been built in the last 15 to 20 years," he said, with some houses along Lakewood built in the last five years. Heading east, though, more homes are older and have been rehabbed. Advertisement When it comes to condos, homeowners association fees can vary widely, but Jeffries said that smaller, self-managed condo buildings typically have lesser HOA fees. Making the grade: Agassiz Elementary School (2851 N. Seminary Ave.) has a GreatSchools rating of 7 out of 10. Abraham Lincoln Elementary School (615 W. Kemper Place) has a GreatSchools rating of 10 out of 10. Lincoln Park High School (2001 N. Orchard St.) has a 9 out of 10 rating on GreatSchools and is ranked 14th in Illinois in the 2016 U.S. News & World Report high school rankings. Lake View High School (4015 N. Ashland Ave.) has a GreatSchools rating of 6 out of 10 and is ranked 84th in Illinois in the 2016 U.S. News & World Report high school rankings. Advertisement i.d. gym (2727 N. Lincoln Ave.) offers three large fitness studios and a variety of group classes, cardio and weight equipment, personal training, locker rooms with showers and free parking. (Carolyn Variano / Chicago Tribune) Health hubs: At i.d. gym (2727 N. Lincoln Ave.), monthly unlimited membership is $109; one-year membership is $825 and the drop-in rate is $24 per day. (www.id-gym.com) LightSpace Pilates & Wellness (2735 N. Lincoln Ave.) offers new clients three private sessions for $120. The first mat class is $10. (www.lightspacechicago.com) Shen Shen Health & Harmony (2764 N. Lincoln Ave.) offers acupuncture, bodywork and massage therapy. New clients can purchase three acupuncture sessions for $179. (www.shenshenhealth.com) City Living is a recurring series that explores interesting intersections in Chicago neighborhoods for those seeking their next apartment, condo or house. nmcguire@chicagotribune.com Advertisement Twitter @nnekamcguire Watch our latest Real Estate videos. For at least half of its 99-year history, the Cleveland Orchestra was the most refined of North American symphonic ensembles. And, judging from Saturdaynight's concert at Orchestra Hall, it still is. Advertisement On its first visit to the city since 2002 - a snowstorm canceled a stop here six years ago - music director Franz Welser-Most offered a program of just two masterworks that made up in quality of sound and elegance of interpretation what it lacked in daring. The latter part of this season in Cleveland will have Welser-Most present modern and contemporary scores by Stravinsky, Debussy, Henze, Ligeti, Varese and Anthony Cheung. But for the culmination in Chicago of a three-city Midwestern tour last week it was back to crowd-attracting basics: Ludwig van Beethoven's Eighth Symphony and Jean Sibelius' Second. Advertisement MOST READ ENTERTAINMENT NEWS THIS HOUR The Beethoven had an orchestra reduced in size. Most historically informed performances have about 30 strings. Welser-Most had 53. HIs sound was warm-toned and firm but rounded. The many sforzandos, those sudden, strongly attacked notes with which the first movement abounds, were fairly gentle, even with tympani strokes played with hard sticks. Tension rose in the development section, and the last page in the movement generated some electricity, but this was in the main a precise, easygoing account of the score without sharp edges. Here, as in the fuller complement of the Sibelius, the strings played with tone that had none of the bleached-white sonority that Orchestra Hall exacerbates at loud volume. A finely blended wind sound, slightly recessive within the whole, also escaped the dry clarity that came with the hall's renovation in 1997. An ensemble's sound is developed in its home space and carried abroad. The sound the Cleveland brought was mellow but powerful and free from fussiness or gratuitous display. Welser-Most approached the Sibelius Second only recently. Such freshness showed. The tension that conductors including George Szell in Cleveland brought to Sibelius has nowadays been replaced by plainer, less emphatic qualities. This listener grew to maturity in the twilight of openly expressive interpretations of at times almost unbearable ardor. They have vanished from concert halls as well as new recordings. Welser-Most's Sibelius was, instead, warm and expressively played, with unsentimental tone painting second to none. Many in the large audience doubtless found it stirring, bracing and suggestive even of nobility. The single encore was the Overture to Bedrich Smetana's "The Bartered Bride," played with virtuosity and touches of abandon. Alan Artner is a freelance critic. Watch the latest movie trailers. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox) PARK CITY, Utah Let's indulge in some wild but, as of Saturday night at the Sundance Film Festival, wholly earned speculation about a film you'll be seeing a few months from now. At next year's Academy Awards, assuming nothing happens this year to affect the numbers if the name "Dee Rees" comes up as one of the directorial nominees, it'll be the first time an African-American woman gets the nod. Advertisement And if "Mudbound," the vibrant, teeming film for which Rees may be nominated a year from now, makes good on its world premiere here in Park City, it'll serve as a reminder of Sundance's tastemaking clout within the film industry. MOST READ ENTERTAINMENT NEWS THIS HOUR Advertisement Many a Sundance success goes on to find a cooler reception outside this ski resort town, where 45,000 or so visitors divided into two sartorial camps -- those who dress like skiers, and those who don't -- converge each January to concentrate on seeing, selling, financing or marketing new movies. In January 2016 Nate Parker's "The Birth of a Nation" premiered here, at a time when #OscarsSoWhite raged virally and festival audiences, fresh off the latest Anglo-centric slate of Oscar nominations, fell all over the idea of a first-time writer-director-actor of color, telling a bloody, urgent historical tale of race and America. The movie won the big prizes at Sundance and then, for a tangle of reasons (nagging rape allegations made against Parker; the actual, limiting, uneven quality of the film itself) "The Birth of a Nation" lost steam. "Mudbound," I hope, will tell a different story. Screening outside the juried U.S. dramatic competition slate, the film comes from cowriter and director Rees, a Nashville native whose previous theatrical feature, "Pariah," announced a major talent in the making. "Mudbound," at press time the subject of a bidding war and still seeking a distributor, rates as the dramatic highlight of Sundance 2017's crucial first weekend. (The 33rd festival concludes Jan. 29.) The film adapts the 2008 Hillary Jordan novel set in the Mississippi Delta, pre- and post-World War II, about two intertwined families: the white family, the McAllans, trying to a make a go of their 200 acres, and the Jackson clan, working the land as sharecroppers. Carey Mulligan and Jason Clarke plays the McAllans, with Garrett Hedlund stepping up (it's easily his most effective performance to date) as the dashing but dissolute brother, Jamie, who returns from WWII a broken soul. Mary J. Blige and Rob Morgan co-star as the Jacksons, Jason Mitchell plays the eldest son, Ronsel, like Jamie a WWII veteran fighting a war back home more intense than the one he left behind. There'll be more to write about "Mudbound" as it enters its next chapter and finds a release date. It's beautifully acted and director Rees has a careful, telling eye for details: the callouses on a woman's hands, for example, or the look in the eye of a Mississippi cracker eyeing a white man shaking hands with a black man in 1946. It's often difficult to watch (a lynching sequence provoked a few walkouts at the world premiere) but honorably so; the plotting may be melodramatic, but the texture is true and beautiful. For once, here is a story of the Jim Crow South in which all characters, white and black, are explored for their innate value in a way that doesn't feel patronizing, or anachronistic. Advertisement "Don't start with a message," Rees told one audience member Saturday, responding to a question about how to shape historically grounded material for the screen. "Start with a character, a character that won't get out of your head. Start with the relationships that's what makes people feel something." Executive producer Kyle Tekiela, a Chicago native who graduated from Southern Illinois University, told me Sunday that producer Carl Effenson and Sally Jo Effenson initiated the project, secured the book option and started the film adaptation rolling. Screenwriter Virgil Williams, a fellow Chicago native ("E.R.," "Criminal Minds"), completed his draft in late 2011, according to Tekiela. Then, with Rees on board, the director revised the script and everyone seemed pleased with the outcome Saturday night. "Mudbound" retains its source material's ambitious six-narrator strategy and, on a budget of under $20 million, Rees and her ace collaborators create the texture, feel and heat of its chosen time and place. Tekiela acknowledged Sunday that the densely packed narrative would've worked well as a four- or even six-hour miniseries. But "from what I'm reading this morning," he told me, after spending an hour online with the early reviews, "it worked out fine." He's been coming to Sundance most years for well over a decade, partly as an industry thing, partly "as someone who loves to snowboard. But now, to have a film here, especially this one, it's really something. I don't know how I can beat this experience." Five years ago Rees' talent jumped off the screen in her debut feature "Pariah," about a young lesbian's coming of age in Brooklyn. The director's facility with faces, bodies, the visual frame and the emotional breadth of everyday experience served as a calling card. "Most films," I wrote in early 2012, "even well-meaning indies straight from a filmmaker's heart and personal experience, have a way of turning human behavior into movie-human behavior, i.e., a little less than real. (But) at this stage in her game, Rees is an effective observer as a writer. As a director, she's well past that level." Now, with "Mudbound," she takes another leap forward toward the career she deserves, whatever the Oscars do or don't have to say about it. Advertisement mjphillips@chicagotribune.com Twitter @phillipstribune RELATED STORIES: At the speed of Twitter, Sundance 2017 moviegoers turn 'The Big Sick' into a big hit Sundance Film Festival: Optimism, despite an inconvenient Trump Sundance Film fest holds possibility of hits and career-making moments Advertisement Chicago documentary-funding group will be prominent Sundance player Watch the latest movie trailers. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox) Being among a massive crowd of protesters in downtown Chicago, nearly five times larger than the 50,000 initially expected, was one of the most amazing experiences of her life, Molly McKeown said Saturday. The 27-year-old Tinley Park resident, carrying a sign reading, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fundamental Human Rights," felt compelled to attend the Women's March on Chicago to protest comments made by President Donald Trump during the election, she said. Advertisement "I don't want to see some of the things he's said about women to become socially acceptable," McKeown said. McKeown was not alone in those thoughts. Similar rallies and marches were held all over Illinois and the United States, the largest being in Washington, D.C. Advertisement In Rockford, more than 1,000 men, women and children marched downtown, the Rockford Register Star reported. Many carried signs and chanted "Love trumps hate." U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin helped rally a crowd outside the Old State Capitol in Springfield, urging them to get involved. The Southern Illinois Women's March drew nearly 1,000 people, some sporting hot-pink hats, for a roughly 1-mile walk that started at the Carbondale Civic Center. Patrick Weisgerber, who grew up in Oak Lawn, said he went to Chicago to attend the march ultimately canceled by organizers because the rally grew too large to show his support for the cause and the women participating. The 25-year-old said he sees Trump as divisive and fears he is already marginalizing segments of America. "His drive for power has led to his rise. And that drive has shunned" a lot of groups as a result, Weisgerber said. Although he now lives and works in Holland, Mich., he came back to attend with a group of Oak Lawn friends, he said. One of them was 25-year-old Kendra DeLouf, who wore buttons in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and referencing Trump's "nasty woman" comment made toward Hillary Clinton during a debate. "We wanted to be a part of a bigger march than our local area," she said. Advertisement DeLouf, a self-described feminist, said she was troubled to see the Trump administration has already removed portions of the White House website pertaining to the lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender community; civil rights; and climate change. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > Dorothy DeCarlo, 69, of Chicago, said she burned her bra during college 50 years ago to fight for women's rights. As she stood among a sea of people gathered for the Chicago rally, she carried a sign that said, "I can't believe I still have to protest this (expletive)." "I thought we took the bruises. I thought it was over," DeCarlo said. "I never thought we would be in 2017 and even have to consider this." Grant Park, more than 300 acres, was filled to capacity, with many people spilling onto surrounding blocks and unaware the march had been canceled. They moved slowly through the streets, voicing support for women's and immigrant rights, Black Lives Matter, education and other causes. Donna Martin, a pastry chef and consultant from Chicago, said she came out because "I wanted to show there are more of us than there are of them." She carried a sign that said, "There's no sign big enough to list all the reasons I'm here." Martin, 42, said the large number of people at the event sent a clear message. Advertisement "It means we are powerful," Martin said. "Everything's going to be OK." The Associated Press contributed. Chicago police detectives and crime scene technicians work a crime scene in the 1800 block of West 63rd Street in the Englewood neighborhood, where four people were wounded at 12:15 p.m. (Eric Clark / Chicago Tribune) Tucked into the third row of a minivan, talking on FaceTime with a friend, Angela Wojcik wasn't paying much attention to the conversation of her boyfriend and his acquaintances in the front of the vehicle as it sat parked in West Town on Sunday morning. That was until the percussion of gunfire began shortly before 9 a.m. Advertisement "The driver was bleeding from the mouth," said Wojcik, who lives in the suburbs and spent the previous night out at various clubs in the city. Police later identified the driver as a 26-year-old man who was shot in the lip. "It was blood over his whole face. It was so surreal," Wojcik said. Advertisement Her boyfriend, 30, was hit twice in the right calf. The front passenger, who police said was a 25-year-old man shot in the left shoulder, appeared to be in the worst condition of the three, Wojcik said. "No one screamed," Wojcik said. "But I was FaceTiming with my friend Robert, and he was freaking out." All three were taken to Stroger Hospital, where their conditions were stabilized, police said. It was the second triple shooting of the morning Sunday. The other happened around 6:30 a.m. Hours later there was another shooting with multiple victims, this one leaving four people wounded at 12:15 p.m. in the 1800 block of West 63rd Street in the Englewood neighborhood. In all, 10 people were wounded in multiple-victim shootings within less than six hours Sunday morning and into the early afternoon. "We've had quite a few multiple-victim incidents this weekend," said Officer Jose Estrada, a Chicago police spokesman. There were six triple shootings from Friday afternoon to early Sunday afternoon, in addition to the quadruple shooting. The most seriously injured of the four shot in the Englewood was a 26-year-old man who suffered a gunshot wound to the right eye and was taken by a family member to St. Bernard Hospital before being transferred to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, police said. The others were another 26-year-old man, shot in the right buttocks and left foot; a 56-year-old woman, shot multiple times in the left leg; and a 48-year-old woman shot in the right hip. All three were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where their conditions were stabilized. Advertisement The four were in a convenience store when they heard gunshots and ran outside, where four armed men or boys shot them, police said. The four attackers got into a white sedan and fled. No one was in custody. In the first of the three multiple-victim attacks, three people were shot about 6:30 a.m. Sunday in the 3500 block of South Calumet Avenue in the Ida B. Wells/Darrow Homes neighborhood, according to police, correcting earlier information that the shooting happened on Rhodes Avenue. A 22-year-old man was shot in the left leg and was taken by a friend to Mercy Hospital. He was later transferred to Stroger Hospital, where his condition was stabilized. A 24-year-old man was shot in the left leg, and his condition was stabilized at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. A 23-year-old woman was shot in the leg, and her condition was stabilized at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The victims weren't being cooperative, and police had no narrative information on the shooting. Just before 1:55 a.m. Monday on the West Side, a 20-year-old woman was shot and killed outside a South Austin elementary school. Officers responding to the 5000 block of West Maypole Avenue found her on the sidewalk near Spencer Elementary Technology academy with a gunshot wound to the head. She was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:05 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. The woman was identified as Jamayah Fields, of the 3700 block of Eastmont Drive in South Bend, Ind., according to the office. Advertisement Other shootings: Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > About 1:25 a.m. on the North Side, a 24-year-old man was grazed by a bullet in the Lathrop Homes neighborhood. Police said he was on the sidewalk in the 2000 block of West Diversey Avenue when someone in a gray sedan opened fire and he was grazed in the face. A friend took him to Swedish Covenant Hospital, and his condition was stabilized. About 12:30 a.m. on the Northwest Side, a 22-year-old man was shot in the Portage Park neighborhood. A red sedan pulled up next to him as he was driving in the 3600 block of North Central Avenue and someone inside fired shots, hitting him in the left arm. He got himself to Community First Medical Center, less than a block from the shooting, and his condition was stabilized. About 10:45 p.m. Sunday on the West Side, an 18-year-old man accidentally shot himself in West Humboldt Park returning gunfire in a shootout, police said. He told investigators he was standing in the 4200 block of West Iowa Street when someone walked up and fired shots at him. He started shooting back and accidentally shot himself in the middle finger of his left hand. He got himself to Norwegian American Hospital, and his condition was stabilized. No weapon was recovered, sources said. About 9:25 p.m. on the South Side, a 16-year-old boy was shot in Bridgeport. A friend took him to Mercy Hospital and Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the calf, and he told investigators he had been shot in the 2800 block of South Hillock Avenue. The boy's condition was stabilized. About 11 a.m. on the West Side, a man was shot while driving along the 1100 block of North Lockwood Avenue, police said. Advertisement He was traveling north on Lockwood in a 2014 Ford Escape when someone opened fire on his vehicle. He was shot in his left shoulder, arm and ear before crashing his vehicle in the same block, causing his SUV to overturn. He was taken to Stroger, where he was listed in stable condition, officials said. No one has been arrested in the shooting, and authorities continue to investigate. The shootings come as part of a particularly violent weekend in Chicago, with 29 people shot, three fatally, in a 24-hour period from Saturday to Sunday. From Friday to Saturday, one person was killed and 14 were wounded in shootings across the city. Chicago police are warning residents of the Grand Central District on the Northwest Side about men who have been robbing people after meeting up with them through a social media site. The robberies involve men agreeing to meet victims at their homes through a dating site for gay men, according to police. The robbers have arrived at the victims' homes and taken out a gun and robbed the victims, according to a police alert issued Sunday. Advertisement The robberies took place: About midnight Thursday in the 3000 block of North Neva Avenue About 2 a.m. Tuesday in the 3100 block of North Central Park Avenue The robber was described as a black man ages 25 to 35, 6 foot to 6-foot-2, and 170 to 190 pounds. He had short black hair and a medium complexion. Advertisement Anyone with information about the robberies is asked to call Area North detectives at 312-744-8263. The Northwestern Academy for Chicago Public Schools, which helps low-income high school students prepare for highly selective colleges and universities, unveiled its new facility, at the universitys Streeterville campus on Jan. 22, 2017. (Alyssa Pointer / Chicago Tribune) (Alyssa Pointer / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune) The Northwestern Academy for Chicago Public Schools, which helps low-income high school students prepare for highly selective colleges and universities, on Sunday unveiled its new facility, located at the university's Streeterville campus. About 200 students from 40 public high schools are enrolled in the program, which is currently recruiting "diverse, academically motivated students" from neighborhood schools. Of the 58 high school seniors in the class, at least 31 have been accepted to colleges and universities to date. Advertisement "We're really looking to be a resource for the students, and we try to work as much as we can with their schools to make sure that they're on track to be competitive for the colleges that they're going to apply to," said program director Cassandra Geiger. Launched in 2013, the program provides supplemental support services including tutoring, leadership training, academic and college counseling and family workshops. The academy will graduate its inaugural cohort of seniors this spring. Advertisement Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a Northwestern alumnus, and Northwestern University President Morton Schapiro toured the facility Sunday and alongside students and parents. "What they're doing is leveling the playing field that no student's experiences and opportunities and dreams should be limited by their zip code, their background or their family's income," Emanuel said. "And that is a tremendous statement by Northwestern." Previously located at Northwestern's Evanston campus, the program now is housed in space that was converted from student housing into a high-tech learning center. Renita Washington, 16, a South Shore resident, joined the academy's inaugural class in spring 2014. A junior at Gary Comer College Prep, she plans to study early childhood education and teach women and gender studies in high school classrooms. "I like the fact that I'm able to be myself and get that second piece of advice that I wouldn't get from my school they're good with the college process, but they have hundreds of students to worry about, when Northwestern Academy only has so many students to worry about," Washington said. The academy is part of an ongoing effort from the elite university to create a wider pipeline to college for CPS students. Northwestern also recently launched a new partnership with Lake View High School to develop academic programming, professional development, and college and career training centered on Lake View's science, technology, engineering and math curriculum. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > In 2008, Northwestern only enrolled 28 CPS graduates as part of its freshman class. More than 100 CPS students enrolled this fall, university spokespeople said Sunday. Advertisement Recent research indicates CPS students have struggled to complete the path from high school to college degree. A 2016 study by University of Chicago's Consortium on School Research estimated 18 percent of CPS ninth-graders will graduate high school, enroll in a four-year university and receive a bachelor's degree within 10 years of starting high school. That time frame incorporates students who first enroll in community college before moving on to a four-year school. The previous iteration of that study, done in 2006, estimated only 8 percent of CPS freshmen would complete college in 10 years. That study also concluded about 16 percent of CPS students would immediately progress from high school to college, and receive degrees within eight years. That compares to 22 percent of high school students nationally. U. of C. also has created programming focused on helping boost the number of CPS students enrolling in highly selective schools. The South Side institution started the Collegiate Scholars Program in 2003, which provides summer classes for students in grades 10-12 and year-round college readiness activities. The UChicago Promise program, launched in 2013, helps guide qualified students through the admissions cycle and guarantees no debt for Chicago students who enroll at U. of C. Fifteen schools, including Northwestern and U. of C., also signed on to the Chicago Star Partnership, in which schools offer scholarships to CPS graduates who complete their associate's degree at City Colleges of Chicago before being accepted to a four-year degree program. Chicago Tribune's Dawn Rhodes contributed. nmoreno@chicagotribune.com A South Chicago man is accused of shooting a woman during an argument late Friday, police said. Robert Ashford, 36, faces charges of first-degree attempted murder, aggravated battery with a discharge of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and violation of an order of protection. He is scheduled to appear Friday in bond court. Advertisement About 9:15 p.m. Friday, Ashford is accused of arguing with a 27-year-old woman inside an apartment in the 2900 block of East 91st Street, which is the same block where Ashford lives. At some point during the argument, Ashford is accused of pulling out a weapon and shooting the woman in the left wrist, thigh and foot, Chicago police said. Advertisement He also forced the woman, a 10-year-old child and 6-year-old child into a vehicle. He then crashed into another car in the 9000 block of South Jeffrey Boulevard, police said. The children were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center for observation. The woman was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where her condition was stabilized. Ashford was taken in serious condition to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He remained in the hospital as of Sunday. People who were inside the second vehicle were taken to South Shore Hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday elated and enraged Americans, as both supporters and detractors looked ahead to the changes the Republican leader's presidency will bring. For a small group of foreign detainees locked in the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the start of the Trump era has a different sort of meaning: a narrowly missed chance for freedom. The five men -- an Algerian, a Moroccan, a Tunisian, a Yemeni, and an apparently stateless detainee -- were all certified by Obama administration officials as eligible for resettlement overseas. But they did not form part of a final flurry of transfer deals sealed by the departing Obama administration. Now, as Trump declares that no additional prisoners should leave Guantanamo, it appears their long detentions may continue for at least four more years. Advertisement Trump assumes responsibility for a much more sparsely populated Guantanamo than former President Barack Obama did eight years ago. Following Obama's resettlement of 196 prisoners overseas, only 41 inmates remain today, far fewer than the prison's peak of over 700 under President George W. Bush. But Obama failed to accomplish his primary goal of shuttering the facility, unable to overcome political opposition to congressionally sanctioned steps, and unwilling to resort to executive action to make such a controversial move. Trump, in contrast, has suggested he might put new prisoners in Guantanamo, and possibly use the facility to try Americans. In line with his administration's day-one promise to defeat "radical Islamic terror groups," Trump, like Republicans in Congress, believes prisoner resettlement undermines American security. Advertisement Like nearly all remaining prisoners, none of the five men now expected to be marooned at Guantanamo has been convicted of a crime. Two of the men, an Algerian named Sufyian Barhoumi and Moroccan Abdul Latif Nasir, now face indefinite detention after the defeat of an eleventh-hour court action aimed at securing their release. Attorneys for the men, who were not included in a final set of notifications officials submitted to Congress regarding upcoming transfers, say their repatriation did not come together for reasons unrelated to their backgrounds or security profiles. The legal teams requested that judges waive steps required before transfers can take place, including a 30-day congressional notice period, to allow the men to be moved before Trump took office. Last week, judges denied those requests. According to prisoner profiles made public by WikiLeaks, Barhoumi, the Algerian, is believed to have lived in Europe before being arrested in Pakistan in 2002. The 43-year-old has been held at Guantanamo since June of that year. Nasir, 51, was captured in Afghanistan in late 2001 and held at an American detention center there before being brought to Guantanamo in May 2002. Thomas A. Durkin, who represented Nasir, said that Morocco had complied with U.S. requirements regarding security guarantees for transferred prisoners. It had just been done so too late. For the court to deny the transfer was to leave his client in a "legal black hole," Durkin argued in a filing this week. "His whole life hangs in the balance due to a mere technicality that the courts and more importantly the Obama Justice Department didn't have the courage to act on," he said Friday. He called the fact that Nasir and others would remain at Guantanamo despite having been deemed eligible for resettlement "disgraceful." Another of the five is Rida bin Saleh al Yazidi, a 51-year-old Tunisian who military officials believed lived in Italy and was later captured in Pakistan. He was taken to Guantanamo in January 2002. Officials said they had identified a country that was willing to accept him, but Yazidi rejected a proposal to be resettled there. Advertisement Military officials alleged that Tawfiq Nisar al-Bihani, a 44-year-old Yemeni citizen, smuggled himself into Iran from Afghanistan in 2001, and was later captured by Iranian authorities. He was held by Afghan officials before being turned over the United States in 2002, and arrived at Guantanamo in February 2003. Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who stepped down last week, did not support Bihari's transfer due to security concerns, the officials said. The final prisoner is a man of undetermined nationality named Muieen al-Din Jamal al-Din al-Sattar. According to U.S. officials, Sattar is a member of the Rohingya, a Bengali-speaking Muslim minority that lives in large numbers in Burma. While Sattar was born in the United Arab Emirates in 1974, he is considered stateless. Officials were unable to find a home for him, partly for that reason and partly because of foreign officials' concerns about the threat Sattar might pose. He has been at Guantanamo since February 2002. Many of the other detainees remaining at Guantanamo are expected to be held indefinitely without charges due to a lack of admissible evidence against them. Wells Dixon, a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), which represented the Algerian prisoner, said the Obama administration's instinct to fight off legal challenges like the one about Barhoumi and Nasir was partly to blame for the fact the prison remains open. He said the government's rejection of the legal petition to free the two prisoners, just days before Trump took office and shut down future transfer options, meant the men "may remain stranded at Guantanamo forever." The Washington Post Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a plenary session at the 47th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017. (Laurent Gillieron / AP) LONDON British Prime Minister Theresa May will become the first foreign leader to hold White House talks with President Trump when she travels to Washington on Friday, Downing Street confirmed Sunday. The visit was aggressively sought by British officials as a symbol that the "special relationship" between the United States and the United Kingdom endures, after Britain voted to leave the European Union and America elected a president who is reviled across much of Western Europe. Advertisement British politicians - May included - were sharply critical of Trump during his campaign. But since his election, Britain has gone out of its way to emphasize solidarity with the new administration, even as other European governments have been more cautious. In an appearance on the BBC on Sunday, May said she "will be talking to Donald Trump about the issues we share and how we can build on the special relationship." Advertisement A government statement said the agenda would include "a number of the most pressing global issues, notably tackling terrorism, Syria, relations with Russia and cooperation in NATO." But perhaps of highest priority for May will be to sound Trump out over prospects for a U.S.-U.K. trade deal. With Britain leaving the European Union, May is under pressure to show that countries are eager to cut new deals with the United Kingdom. Britain already does more than $180 billion worth of trade with the United States annually, and America is the biggest source of inward investment to the United Kingdom. Trump has been highly critical of many trade deals but has signaled a willingness to reach an agreement with Britain. Analysts have cautioned that any negotiations are likely to stretch on for years. Asked about Trump's vow in his inaugural address to pursue protectionist policies under the slogan "America first," May said Sunday that she was unconcerned. "If you think about it, any leader, any government, as we do here in the United Kingdom when we look at any issue, we ensure that we're putting the U.K.'s interests and the interests of British people first," she said. But opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said May was fooling herself if she thought Britain would get a good deal from Trump. "There were no signs of any special relationship in Donald Trump's inauguration speech," Corbyn told Sky News on Sunday. "It was quite the opposite. It was America first, America only, America inward-looking." Advertisement The Labour Party leader urged May to tell Trump that his "misogyny during the election campaign" was "simply not acceptable." May demurred when pressed on whether she would raise Trump's comments about women during her meeting with the president. A day after women's rights rallies drew huge crowds in cities worldwide, she said that being a female leader meeting Trump on equal footing was the "biggest statement" she could make about the issue. Last week, I stood with thousands of other Chicagoans in a darkened room in the city's McCormick Place convention center, feeling solemn and uncertain as President Barack Obama bade farewell to the nation. Urging Americans to resist cynicism, Obama called on the country instead to turn toward political actions big and small. "If something needs fixing, then lace up your shoes and do some organizing." This choice of words was a clear nod to the president's much-discussed origin story as a community organizer. But as he looks beyond the White House and toward his legacy, Obama would do well to listen to some community organizers in his very own back yard. On the South Side of Chicago, residents are demanding that the forthcoming Obama Presidential Center enter into a community benefits agreement, ensuring that the library and museum will strengthen and support those who call the surrounding area home, rather than displacing them. Advertisement Community benefits agreements, or CBAs, have emerged over the past decade and a half as a strategy for residents and businesses in cities to make sure that large development projects help them, not harm them. CBAs are legally enforceable contracts and may require developers to meet a number of local demands. One of the most well-known CBAs was drafted in 2001, when Los Angeles residents, businesses and organizations agreed to support the construction of the Staples Center in exchange for community benefits such as local park improvement, residential parking, a job training program and affordable housing. Since then, CBAs have been implemented across the country, from New York to Oakland, for projects ranging from a research hospital to a casino. Each CBA is different, responding to the perceived needs of the community and the resources the new development might be able to offer from a transit developer agreeing to preserve historic buildings in Atlanta, to a wireless provider in Minneapolis offering free Internet access in public locations. In the case of the Obama Presidential Center, what do residents want? A coalition of South Side organizations has created a list of development principles that includes setting aside jobs for young people and formerly incarcerated people, guaranteeing a living wage for employees, partnering with local public schools to provide educational programming and free admission for students, and improving nearby public transportation. When the Obama Foundation first announced that Chicago would be home to the Obama library, foundation chairman Martin Nesbitt dismissed journalists' questions about a potential CBA: "This whole initiative is a community benefit, right? That's what this is about." But without a written commitment, the definition of "benefit" is likely to be a slippery one, left to the city's most powerful to determine at the potential expense of those whose actual lives are most affected by the library. Advertisement If city leaders and those planning the center which is estimated to cost hundreds of millions of dollars, to be raised from foundations and private donors are willing to consider a CBA, the benefit to the South Side could be tremendous. An economic impact study commissioned by the University of Chicago in 2014 suggested that the library and museum could bring more than 3,000 jobs to the area. A CBA would help direct these jobs to those most in need. Woodlawn, the neighborhood bordering the Obama Presidential Center's planned site, has a per-capita income of less than $19,000 a year and an unemployment rate more than 1.5 times that of the rest of the city. In a city where only 1 in 4 public schools has a library (with that number threatening to shrink every year), access to a world-class research library could be a major resource for Chicago children. Does the Obama library need a CBA to be a commercial success? Almost certainly not. Assuredly, visitors from around the world will flock to Chicago to celebrate the life of the nation's first black president. But the question of moral or ethical success is another matter. There is a troubling irony in the fact that the CBA organizers must now push so hard to be heard. In his remarkable memoir, "Dreams from My Father," Obama calls his time among South Side organizers and residents one of the most profoundly influential experiences of his life. As he listened to his neighbors, Obama writes, he found that their stories "helped me bind my world together, that they gave me the sense of place and purpose I'd been looking for." The website for the center itself reinforces this message, proclaiming that the new institution will be an inspiration because it is "located in the city where a young organizer once inspired his community to take action." But as the center moves closer to becoming reality, the question is whether Obama can honor this influence with action. Are his nods to his history of community organizing merely lip service? Or will the former president listen attentively to the voices that shaped the man he is today as they dream of a better tomorrow? Washington Post Eve L. Ewing is a sociologist of race and urban education at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, a poet and an essayist. 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) Related stories: Advertisement 'If you see Barack in this home, you know there's hope' In Obama's words: 20 memorable quotes from Chicago appearances In Chicago farewell, Obama warns of threats to democracy There's a business adage about employees resisting new ideas: "Culture eats strategy for breakfast." It's recognition that change is uncomfortable, and ingrained workplace habits and beliefs are hard to uproot even when poor performance demands a different approach. On Jan. 13, the U.S. Department of Justice excoriated the Chicago Police Department for its appalling record of officers using excessive force, including shooting suspects who pose no immediate threat. Nowhere in the 164-page investigative report do you find the phrase "culture eats strategy," but that's the takeaway from one of the report's crucial findings: how an entrenched code of silence shields Chicago cops from accountability for wrongdoing. Advertisement The code of silence is unwritten, of course, and a violation of CPD policy. It corrodes public trust, because police officers should not be above the law. Yet the report from Justice's civil rights division alleges that the code is pervasive and meant to intimidate officers into collusion as much as protect them from punishment. "If someone comes forward as a whistleblower in the department, they are dead on the street," a CPD sergeant told federal investigators. That's culture eating strategy for breakfast right there. The Justice Department uses the phrase "code of silence" to encompass an astounding array of deceitful practices by police officers to evade responsibility for misconduct from keeping quiet to falsifying reports to lying to investigators. It goes up the chain of command to supervisors who are far too quick to accept officers' versions of events, even when contradicted by video evidence. Advertisement The DOJ's investigation is the legacy of Laquan McDonald, a black teen shot 16 times by white officer Jason Van Dyke. Police dashboard videos showed McDonald holding a knife and walking away from officers when he was shot, but Van Dyke told investigators he feared for his life. Other cops at the scene and command-level officials backed up that account. City Hall went into damage control mode, withholding the video from the public until a judge ordered it released under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. Now Van Dyke faces a first-degree murder charge and four officers face firing, while several senior police officials slipped into retirement. Four other officers received suspensions for failing to ensure the dashboard cameras in their squad cars were operating properly that night. The investigation showed that officers routinely disabled cameras, and supervisors knew it yet nothing was done until the McDonald shooting exposed the practice publicly. Mayor Rahm Emanuel replaced the police chief and promised a series of reforms. The City Council approved his plan to overhaul the disciplinary system and create a dedicated inspector general for public safety. Those are important changes but they're strategy, not culture. They don't automatically translate into accountability. CPD's "Rule 14" already prohibits making false statements, for example, but the DOJ says it was rarely enforced. That has to change. Breaking the code of silence begins with zero tolerance "You lie, you die," as former Superintendent Garry McCarthy put it in a visit with the Tribune Editorial Board on Thursday. It means clawing back provisions enshrined in union contracts that shield bad cops from accountability. An officer involved in a shooting has 24 hours to coordinate stories with others at the scene before making a statement, for example, and can amend that statement after viewing video. This isn't the first Chicago has heard about this corrupting culture of cops protecting cops, of course, but it's sobering to see it dissected and documented by the Justice Department. The report may lead to a consent decree and a federal monitor to keep watch on CPD reforms. Or that effort may fall short if the Trump administration decides not to prioritize it. So, pressure has to be maintained locally. It will take time and true commitment to fix what's wrong with CPD. But nothing in Chicago improves unless the public trusts the police to do their jobs responsibly. That means building a culture of accountability. A group prayed on an Aurora street corner Saturday for a victim of a recent fatal drive-by shooting. The Prayer Coalition for Reconciliation held a vigil for William Radillo, the city's first homicide victim of the year. Radillo died Jan. 2 after being involved in a double shooting on Aurora's Near East Side. Advertisement "We come with a heavy heart," said the Rev. Dan Haas, co-founder of the Prayer Coalition, who led the gathering at the southwest corner of Spring and State streets. A cross bearing Radillo's name was set up there, with candles and bouquets of flowers at its base. Participants read Scripture, recalling the story of Cain's anger at God and the murder of his brother Abel. Advertisement "Am I my brother's keeper?" Haas asked the group. "God answers, yes. That's why we are here. We believe every life is valuable." They also read from Gospel of Matthew, which urges people to love their enemies. "Oftentimes, our vigils are a result of revenge one faction shooting at another in retaliation," Haas said. "If we are to love others as God loves us, then we cannot seek revenge." Participants raised their hands in prayer and asked God for peace in the neighborhood. "God never intended that we would kill one another or shed one another's blood. God sent his son to die for our sins," Haas said. Officers found the 24-year-old Radillo, who lived in the 800 block of Fifth Street, with multiple gunshot wounds. Nearby was another Aurora man, 33, who was also shot but survived. Haas, an Aurora chaplain, said he knows rival gangs are fighting over territory in the neighborhood. "There definitely is a group of people looking to establish themselves," he said. There have been three shootings in Aurora since the beginning of the year, and another in Montgomery on Jan. 13. Aurora Police Sgt. Matt Ziman attended the vigil as a means of ensuring neighbors and those in attendance that the police are present. "The police department feels the vigils are important," Ziman said. "We are part of the community and want to talk with people." Advertisement There is a "gang focus" in the neighborhood, and gang members are living among "good people" in the area, he said. "They are husbands, fathers and brothers who have chosen to live violent lives," he said. Among those in the audience were state Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora, who is running for Aurora mayor, and longtime peace advocate Cheryl Maraffio, whose son was killed in a drive-by shooting in 2000. Also in attendance were 3rd Ward Alderman Ted Mesiacos and East Aurora School Board member Alex Arroyo. Haas, who has just formed "A Future and a Hope Foundation" that works with ex-felons, said he intends to resume regular vigils. "Murder is a moral and spiritual issue that requires a change of heart and mind. God has to be part of that," he said. "Matters of disputes can never be resolved violently. Violence causes devastation to families." He also encouraged people to get involved in their Neighborhood Watch groups. The watch program for the area meets at 7 p.m. on the first Monday of every month at Sacred Heart Church, 711 Fulton St. Advertisement "As a city, we need to earnestly pray that God bring peace and stops the violence in Aurora," Haas said. "At one time we had as many 70 churches praying for the city. We need to keep the prayer sealed over our city." Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News. Elgin Standing Together included a human rights march Saturday following a rally at the Hemmens Cultural Center. (Jeff Krage / The Courier-News) A march and rally in Elgin on Saturday sought to unite people of different races, genders, sexual orientation and religions to send a message of ending fear, hate and prejudice through courage, peace and action. Hundreds of people gathered at Hemmens Cultural Center for Elgin Standing Together to listen to speakers, including Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein of the Congregation Kneseth Israel, and to reinforce the philosophy that Elgin stands together in "defending the most marginalized among us," organizers said. Advertisement The event was similar to marches and rallies held all over the country Saturday, including huge gatherings in Washington, D.C., and Chicago a day after President Donald Trump's inauguration. Frisch Klein, presiding over the Elgin service, read from the first chapter of Exodus, which recounts the story of a new leader in Egypt. "It just happened to be the (reading) for the week," she said. Advertisement The passage includes two strong women, Shiphrah and Puah, who helped rescue baby boys born to Hebrew women after the Pharaoh orders them killed, Frisch Klein said. Hundreds of people participated Saturday in Elgin Coming Together, a program that included speakers at the Hemmens Cultural Center and a march on the city's river walk. (Jeff Krage / The Courier-News) A march for human rights that was part of Saturday's Elgin Standing Together event heads east on Kimball Street. (Jeff Krage / The Courier-News) "It is because of their courage that we stand here today," Frisch Klein said. "They had the courage to do what is right. (Today) I walk for them." The goal of Elgin Standing Together was to focus on positive and encouraging messages, but speaker Traci O'Neal Ellis, a School District U-46 board member, acknowledged that is not how she has been feeling. "I am not positive," she said. "I am hurt. I am angry. I am nauseated. Quite honestly, I am embarrassed to be this transparent. ... I'm sure I am not alone. I know I am speaking for others in this room. We must stand together." No matter what race, socioeconomic background, religion or sexual orientation, everyone must stand against marginalization and oppression, O'Neal Ellis said. "It's going to take courage. You can't stand for the oppressed from your living room," she said. "We may have all gotten here in different ships, but, baby, we are all in the same boat now," she said. "We are being urgently called to action." Rob and Melissa Anderson, of South Elgin, said they felt the need to attend the event and brought their daughters, Riley, 6 and Hannah, 3. Riley decorated her own poster that read, "Humankind, be both." The little girl said it is an important message because if you are not kind, "then people don't want to be friends." Some participants in the Elgin Standing Together march wore pink hats that were the same as those donned at women's marches in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere. (Jeff Krage / The Courier-News) Melissa Anderson said she wants her daughters to know they are "powerful and they have a voice." Although the girls are young, it was important to attend because "we are looking out for their future," Rob Anderson said. Advertisement Another speaker was Circuit Judge John Dalton, who told the audience about making a conscious decision 25 years ago to reveal that he is gay in order to break down barriers for "the LGBT community, one homophobe at a time. Sit down, talk, learn. Break bread together. Destroy the 'isms' one meatloaf at a time." "America is not homogeneous and never has been," Dalton said. "America is a tapestry. I can see that tapestry. Richly woven from different strands of colors, cultures, languages, faiths, orientations and identities. Tightly woven and strong together." "Elgin is a tapestry too. We're changing, developing, growing and learning. I can see that tapestry. And it's beautiful." Elgin Standing Together was co-sponsored by the YWCA Elgin Advocacy Committee and the Elgin Human Relations Commission. Speakers included state Sen. Cristina Castro, D-22nd, and Elgin Mayor David Kaptain. Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News. "Serbian history tells that the family is the most important thing and you have to stick with the family." Novak Djokovic Advertisement Before moving to Highland 12 years ago, Annette Kojich lived in Illinois in various communities, including Harvey, Lansing and Blue Island. Kojich, 54, never has been married but lives in Highland with retired steelworker John Jakush. She enjoys music and is a voracious reader, so it was fitting our interview took place at Highland Public Library. One of her favorite authors is Richard Matheson. Advertisement Amazingly, it was not that long ago that Annette weighed 306 pounds. Now that she has lost nearly 125 pounds, she has been able to get off her diabetic medication. *** "We lived in Glen Park until I was 13," Kojich said. "Then we moved to Harvey, Ill. I graduated from Thornridge High School in Dolton, Ill. You see, at that time, you had people in Harvey going to Thornridge in Dolton and people in Dolton going to Thornton Township in Harvey. I guess it was busing and desegregation and that sort of thing. "My high school was pretty large. There were so many people in my graduating class that I didn't even know. I found out that one of my co-workers was actually in my graduating class and I never knew her in high school." Memories of Glen Park? "I remember walking to the JFK Library on Broadway and the IGA (grocery store). We wandered all over the place. Different times." What did your father do for a living? "He worked at U.S. Steel in Gary. My last name is pronounced 'Koych.' The 'j' is pronounced as a 'y.' I'm sure you've went through that with your last name." Advertisement Yeah, I've been called Jeff "Mainz" many times. I still make it a point to let folks know it's pronounced MAN-iss. "I was baptized into the Serbian Orthodox Church at St. Sava's in downtown Gary. My father came here after the war (World War II) from Yugoslavia. I guess some judge slapped him with John, but his real name was Dragomir. Somehow, he found out about the steel mills in Gary. I wish I had talked more to my dad when he was alive. It's sad, I kinda took things for granted. There was always time to ask. ... "I went with my dad the first time he went back to Yugoslavia. So I got to meet my grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. Government officials actually took my father away to question him. The next time Dad went back, he took my older brother with him. They questioned him that time as well." Was your mother also Serbian? "No." Is she deceased? Advertisement "I believe so. She left when I was 10 years old. I'm the middle child. I have two brothers. My dad had our backs. We could depend on him. He was always there for his family. I remember him taking us to St. Elijah's in Merrillville for picnics. On Sunday afternoons they'd cook lamb. They had the kolo music and dancing." Have you or your brothers heard from your mother in the last 30 years? "No." That had to have haunted her, abandoning her children. "Jeff, I hate to say it, but I doubt it. She left my father with three kids while he was working in the mill. It wasn't easy for him. It's embarrassing, but as my younger brother would say, our mother wasn't good people. I found out things later. It's not my fault." Annette, you can pick your friends, not your relatives. Did your father remarry? Advertisement "Yes. My stepmother was 100 percent Sicilian. She was born outside of Palermo. Maria sure liked to cook pasta. She died not even two years after my dad passed. She couldn't tolerate being without him. I think it broke her main spring." Are you retired? "I guess you could say that. I spent more than 29 years as a food service worker. But I cannot do it anymore because it took a toll on my body. I've had a couple of surgeries and it looks like I'll be having more surgeries. An orthopedic surgeon told me my spine is no good. It's like, 'Tell me something I didn't know already.'" What did your job actually entail? "Nothing glamorous or exciting. I pulled carts and passed trays at a place that was called Rest Haven South, then it became Providence. It was a nursing home and rehab run by the Dutch in South Holland (Ill.)." Were you a member of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees? Advertisement "No. No unions. They didn't like unions. Unions tried to get in there twice. I told the Teamsters, 'Good luck. You're not gonna get in here.' We never even got a vote. It would've been nice to have had a union. With a union we could have had a steward to go for our grievances. We woulda had somebody in our corner. "I had an administrator tell me, 'Seniority doesn't count here.' Rest Haven was supposed to be a Christian place run by the Reformed persuasion. They shoulda treated everybody fair and square, but they didn't. Sometimes I wouldn't get my 40 hours because they'd hire somebody they were keen on. It kinda made me mad because I was dependable. I was not a person to be calling off work. I was raised by my dad. If you had a job, you went to work." Do you collect a pension? "No. I had a co-worker who worked there for over 35 years. No pension. I left just before they changed hands. From my understanding, they came in and fired a lot of people. I think it's called the Villa now." Let's switch gears. Our new president of the United States? "I'll show him the same respect that was shown to Barack Obama. Actually, I was a (Bernie) Sanders fan. Is it a bad thing when the government helps people? What is the point of government? I have friends on Facebook who are evangelical Christians, so I don't post what I really think. I guess I'm kind of a wussy. Advertisement "Jeff, the sad thing is, if they end up impeaching Trump and they put Pence in there, it will be even worse." Probably a tie. Is your significant other a Trump backer? A lot of blue-collar workers are. "We wouldn't be together if John was a Trump backer." *** Salt of the earth, Annette Kojich. When I think of her, I can't help but think of words spoken long ago, by a much more sagacious and forgiving soul than I'll ever be: "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake ... " Advertisement Jeff Manes is a freelance columnist for the Post-Tribune. jeffmanes@sbcglobal.net What's Quickly? It's where readers sound off on the issues of the day. Have a quote, question or quip? Call Quickly at 312-222-2426 or email quickly@post-trib.com The GOP wants to dismantle the EPA. Our air, water and ground will continue to be contaminated without this watchdog agency. Does the GOP think that they and their families will somehow be exempt from these carcinogens? Advertisement I'm sorry to see some of our nation's members of Congress are not attending the Inauguration. It's their duty to show respect for the office and not the person. Their absence is creating more division in our country. Let's all thank the Indiana members of Congress for attending. This Trumpgate may very well be the biggest American political scandal in history. Advertisement Trump finds Vladimir Putin and Julian Assange more convincing than U.S. intelligence officials. That tells you what side he's working for. Post Tribune Twice-weekly News updates from Northwest Indiana delivered every Monday and Wednesday > The FBI director James Comey needs to resign or be indicted or both. I want to express how disappointed I am that the Valpo YMCA chose to cave into the demands of Donald Trump supporters who demanded that CNN be removed from the Y televisions, parroting Trump's lie in a tweet about "fake news" ... (the) removal of this channel because of the partisan demands of a few amounts to nothing less than censorship. Worse, YMCA leadership presented a false characterization of what actually occurred, with CEO Bob Wanek falsely suggesting that the entire matter was brought on by "a group of bullies" who spread "misinformation". Mr. Wanek owes YMCA members, the public, and those who voiced concern both the truth and an apology. I really laugh out loud when people say they will support Trump in the next election, before he even takes his oath. His biggest problem will be trying not to get impeached in his first year. Watching these hearings for these Trump cabinet picks is a joke. They are inept, ignorant, arrogant and entitled. Most of them need to be indicted for a vast array of criminal charges. This new administration is trying to stop freedom of the press. They are trying to get rid of all government departments that hold public officials accountable. Now Reince Priebus and Rep. Jason Chaffetz suggest there will be consequences for anyone that criticizes Trump. Sounds like a mafia threat. Watching the presidential inauguration Friday morning was such a pleasure. Then after lunch, I turn the news back on and see anti-Trump protesters looting, burning cars and throwing objects at store windows and police. This should not be happening in America especially against a new regime that wants to make life better for all of us. Put these protesters in jail and do not let them out until eight years after Donald Trump has served his two terms. Read more at www.post-trib.com/quickly. China's northeastern region is showing signs of economic recovery since the traditional heavy industries lost shine, figures released at the annual provincial sessions show. By seeking new growth engines in services, high-tech manufacturing and other sectors, the economy of Jilin Province expanded 6.9 percent last year, exceeding the national average for the first time since 2014. Technology was a major engine driving the economy, contributing 53.6 percent of the growth, according to the provincial government report. A three-year plan that began last year to establish and develop emerging industries helped achieve 7.7 percent growth in those industries, such as high-speed train manufacturing and satellite operations, acting governor Liu Guozhong said in the report. More revenue was also seen in service sector in 2016. An international ice and snow tourism expo was inaugurated in Jilin Province last year, bringing a 25 percent increase in revenue and 17 percent in raw tourist numbers, he said. The province set its growth target at 7 percent in 2017. Neighboring Heilongjiang Province reported 6.1 percent growth in 2016, 0.4 percentage points higher than the year before. At the provincial legislative session that ended on Friday, Governor Lu Hao said the agricultural and service sectors were expected to secure growth rates higher than national averages. The "Internet+" concept has stimulated agricultural revenue, with a total of 27,000 rural e-sellers contributing a transaction value of 13.5 billion yuan (2 billion U.S. dollars), double previous years. Online sales of rice, beans and side crops exceeded 3 billion yuan, said Lu. More than 3,000 hi-tech companies were registered in the province last year, and the total number of hi-tech companies with annual revenue of more than 5 million yuan exceeded 1,000. Figures of Liaoning have not been released yet, but the province is expected to see an economic rebound in 2017, compared with negative growth in 2016. In the first three quarters, the Liaoning economy contracted by 2.2 percent, the only provincial area with negative growth in the period. But the annual fiscal revenue in 2016 turned from contraction to growth, up 3.4 percent year on year to nearly 220 billion yuan. For decades, northeast China relied on heavy and chemical industries, energy resources, raw materials and a large number of state-owned enterprises before its economic growth model hit the buffers. This double-digit GDP growth plummeted as capacity was slashed in high-polluting industries, the region's lifeblood. According to the National Development and Reform Commission, the region's economy grew 2.2 percent in the first half of 2016, much lower than the 7.6 percent, 7.8 percent and 8 percent for the east, central and western regions of the country. Qiao Jun, an official with the provincial government, believes major new projects in the real economy will drive up growth in 2017. The environmental protection law enacted last year toughened scrutiny on polluters and 11,000 companies in Liaoning were forced to suspend operations in 2016. "By the year end, over 8,000 projects had resumed operations after environmental evaluation and approval," said Qiao. These projects represent a total annual output of over 260 billion yuan. Major projects at a total cost of 670 billion yuan are planned for this year, including a BMW Brilliance assembly line and a high-speed rail link between Beijing and provincial capital Shenyang. "A total of 830 industrial projects costing of over 50 million yuan have been settled in the province," Qiao said. Zhou Jianping, from the National Development and Reform Commission, said central government policy put in place last year will help Liaoning bottom out. Revitalizing the region has been among the top agendas for the central government, which rolled out a series of measures last year. In November, the government issued a plan to rejuvenate the northeast featuring industrial investment funds, a three-year plan to cultivate emerging sectors and fiscal support. In December the banking regulator approved five new private banks, two of which will be headquartered in the northeastern region. The Liaoning free trade zone, approved last year, is under construction. "With beneficial policies plus its own fundamentals, I believe the area will have a better economic prospect this year," said Zhou. Apple iPhone 7 mobile phones are seen at the Apple store. [Photo/Xinhua] Apple Inc filed a $1 billion lawsuit against supplier Qualcomm Inc on Friday, days after the US government filed a lawsuit that accused the chip maker of resorting to anticompetitive tactics to maintain a monopoly over key semiconductors in mobile phones. Qualcomm is a major supplier to both Apple and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd for "modem" chips that connect phones to wireless networks. The two companies together accounted for 40 percent of Qualcomm's $23.5 billion in revenue in its most recent fiscal year. In the lawsuit filed in US District Court for the Southern District of California, Apple accused Qualcomm of overcharging for chips and refusing to pay some $1 billion in promised rebates. Apple said in its complaint that Qualcomm withheld the rebates because of Apple's discussions with South Korea's antitrust regulator, the Korea Fair Trade Commission. "If that were not enough, Qualcomm then attempted to extort Apple into changing its responses and providing false information to the KFTC in exchange for Qualcomm's release of those payments to Apple. Apple refused," Apple said in its lawsuit. Qualcomm did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Qualcomm has patents for chips which include standard essential patents, a term used to describe technology that is required to be licensed broadly and on "reasonable" terms. In its lawsuit, Apple accused Qualcomm of refusing to license the technology to other manufacturers to prevent them from making the chips. It also accused Qualcomm of selling chips while requiring Apple to pay a separate licensing fee for the same chips, in a "no license, no chip" policy. In addition, Qualcomm pressured network carriers to not sell or support Apple devices made with Intel chipsets Apple said. The KFTC fined Qualcomm $854 million in December for what it called unfair patent licensing practices. In February 2015, Qualcomm paid a $975 million fine in China, while the European Union in December 2015 accused it of abusing its market power to thwart rivals. On Tuesday, the US Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm, saying the San Diego-based company used its dominant position as a supplier of certain phone chips to impose "onerous" supply and licensing terms on cellphone manufacturers. Qualcomm said it would contest the FTC complaint. Qualcomm was the sole supplier of modem chips for Apple's phones until the release of the iPhone 7 in September. Intel Corp supplied about half of the modem chips for the newest models, said Stacy Rasgon, a senior analyst at Bernstein Research. Apple made the move around the same time that Samsung, which had switched to using its own internal chips for its Galaxy S6 phones, returned to Qualcomm for the Galaxy S7. Qualcomm "has been able to manage through (the Apple contract loss) pretty well because they got back Samsung at the same time," Rasgon said. Apple is known for seeking multiple suppliers to keep prices down, said Jim Morrison, vice-president of technical intelligence for TechInsights, which tears down devices to analyze their parts. U.S. President Donald Trump (left front) is greeted by former U.S. President Barack Obama after delivering his inaugural address during the presidential inauguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., the United States, on January 20, 2017. Donald Trump was sworn in on January 20 as the 45th president of the United States (XINHUA) On January 20, the rubber hits the road for Donald Trump and his new administration. Stunned by his election, the world now awaits Trump's presidency for better or for worse. Will he deliver on his promises to revitalize the United States' economy and reorient Washington's foreign policy? First, he must put his house in order, which will take a few months. Organizing and staffing a new administration takes time, and the brief transition after the election is just the beginning of the process. Aside from the tier-one cabinet appointments, positions at various lower levels throughout the administrationnot to mention several thousand other political rolesneed to be filled. At the top, Trump will need a well-rounded team to formulate logical and consistent policy. It is said that in business he permits rival groups with differing viewpoints and then makes the final decisions. Whether this business management style will lead to coherent and effective domestic foreign policies remains to be seen. On a positive note, it is believed that he will allow his cabinet secretaries considerably more room than Barack Obama did. Critics say that the Obama administration tightly micromanaged from the White House as if there were no cabinet secretaries. On the foreign policy and defense side, the National Security Council (NSC) became bloated with unnecessary staff, and its micromanagement caused significant frictions. The NSC must be reorganized and streamlined. Economy This is a tall order, considering its poor condition. The middle class has eroded over the past four decades, while poverty has increased and the rich have become richer. Results must be shown before the 2018 elections, lest Republicans lose seats in Congress. Trump must also ensure financial stability at a time when some economists view the banking situation as more precarious than just prior to the onset of the 2007-08 crisis. One litmus test will be whether or not his administration will ensure early passage of the Glass-Steagall banking act, which separates commercial banking from speculative investment banking. During his campaign, Trump drew critical attention to Wall Street for its greed and irresponsibility. The Glass-Steagall legislation had been in place since the Great Depression of the 1930s, but under the influence of neo-liberalist politicians lobbied by the banking sector, Congress tore up the act in the late 1990s, setting the stage for the financial crisis which ensued a decade later. Another decisively indicative test will be whether or not the Trump administration addresses infrastructure issues in a timely manner. As the American Society of Civil Engineers points out in its annual reports, the disintegrating state of U.S. infrastructure is abysmal. They ought to know. The society recommends aggressive action with respect to roads, railways, canals, dams, municipal water and sewage systems, airports, ports, and power structures. Such action can create jobs, but the political will to implement projects must exist. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers undertakes major infrastructure construction. Many worthwhile projects have already been designed, approved, and even funded by Congress but remain to be implemented. Trump should order such off-the-shelf projects to begin immediately. As focus turns to infrastructure, many opportunities will arise for business to participate. Such involvement, however, must not turn public goods into private monopolies, as in the case of private toll roads and private bridges, whose income streams can be parasitized by Wall Street or foreign financiers. The private sector can best serve infrastructure development in the design and construction phases. Joint ventures between U.S. and Chinese companies, for example, could help modernize infrastructure in the United States. And, beyond the United States, such partnerships could drive forward the practical development of China's Belt and Road Initiative consisting of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. Foreign policy This is another major challenge, the realization of which remains to be seen. Trump inherits from Obama a mostly failed foreign policy characterized by a new Cold War against Russia, chaos in North Africa and the Middle East, and tensions in the East and South China Seas. To his credit, Obama did improve relations with Cuba and also negotiated an important nuclear agreement with Iran. Trump must continue these positive steps. But, will Trump actually deliver on his campaign promises to improve relations with Russia and to reorient U.S. foreign policy toward a more multipolar vision? He appeared to advocate a sharp break with the longstanding policy of U.S. hegemony and the aggressive stance of the U.S. foreign policy establishment under Wall Street's thumb. Trump said he wanted to bring new experts with new thinking into his administration. Certainly, stabilization of the relations between major powers is critical at this time of significant change in the international system. Nuclear proliferation, terrorism, and organized crime are challenges requiring major power cooperation. Trump has been consistent in his approach to Russia and very public about his desire for improvement in relations. While this is a prudent line, there are challenges from the dominant foreign policy elite in the United States, riddled as it is with neoconservatives, and from transatlantic elites wanting to justify NATO expansion. The fierce anti-Trump media campaigns and political attacks regarding his Russia stance indicate the mobilization, both public and behind-the-scenes, of transatlantic forces to defend NATO expansion and Western hegemony led by the United States. The promotion of hysteria about Russia and Vladimir Putin is no accident; it is calculated. During his campaign, Trump made the usual China-bashing statements employed by many U.S. politicians at election time. Canards such as "currency manipulation" and "stealing jobs" play well with some voters, but are misleading. Such rhetoric could have been written off as campaign talk were it not for Trump's major mistake in the phone call incident with Taiwan leader. Several tweets compounded the error, which was caused by a combination of incompetent staff and well-placed political lobbyists hired by Taiwan. Trump and his team may not yet realize the extensive and unnecessary damage the incident did to his public image in China. Perhaps, though, they have taken note of Obama's reiteration that the one-China policy is a fundamental U.S. policy, not to mention the international criticism the affair sparked. Trump's policy must be clear and follow his stated desire to improve relations with major powers, including China, and to work with them on major international challenges such as terrorism. Of course, reinforcing the international community's desire for peace and development is a vital consideration for the major powers. Trump's choice for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, positions the United States well to develop a pragmatic, economically focused foreign policy that can promote not only U.S. interests, but also global interests. His appointment of anti-China hawk Peter Navarro as head of the new White House Trade Council, however, raises significant issues. Trump must reign in Pentagon hawks and take effective steps to calm the waters of the East and South China seas churned by Obama's failed containment policy. A reasonable view for now is "wait and see." The timely personal visit to Trump by the widely respected Chinese businessman, Jack Ma, on January 9 may point to the new president developing a realistic, pragmatic, and cooperative perspective on China. Time will tell. The author is a former senior staff member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and an op-ed contributor to Beijing Review People take part in the Women's March in New York City to protest against U.S. President Donald Trump in Manhattan, New York, the United States on Jan. 21, 2017. At least 200,000 crowd gathered near Trump Tower in Manhattan for the Women's March on New York City. (Xinhua/Wang Ying) The day has come when Donald Trump grabs the reins of government. At the ripe age of 70, the 45th president of the Unites States is the oldest person to assume the top office of the sole super power of the world. But he showed through the excruciating primaries and presidential campaign that age has failed to wilt his spirit or stamina. Apart from his age, Mr. Trump is also one of the most controversial presidents in the history of his country. Some of the things he has said during the campaign or promised to accomplish at the earliest, set the alarm bells ringing. It will be interesting to see what he does in the first week and first 100 days. Starting from January 20, the 100 day period will be completed on April 29. Since President Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term in office, the symbolic 100 days are used to gauge the performance of a new president. There are issues both in domestic and foreign policy domains where Mr. Trump will be watched and judged by his critics and supporters. For the outside world, his handling of foreign policy and security matters like the Afghan war, the Iraq/Syrian crises etc. are of huge importance. The Afghan war has become a long exhausting engagement as still thousands of troops are in the war-torn country to provide training, security and sustenance to the Kabul government. He may be tempted to pull back the soldiers but it would be an undoing of years of work by America and its allies for the stability of Afghanistan. The Middle East is more complex and despite President Obama's decision to withdraw all troops from Iraq, the U.S. has maintained soldiers there and is also deeply involved in the conflict against the so-called Islamic State. The situation is brittle as Washington has failed in its objective to bring regime change in Syria where Russia is the master of the situation. Mr. Trump may use his links with Mr. Putin to improve the situation but it is easier said than done. A key foreign policy issue for the new president will be his handling of relations with China. His flip-flop attitude towards the "one China policy" is a major source of concern. The new president pushed by his sheer business instincts might try to use the "one China policy" to extract trade concessions but it could easily backfire. Another test for Mr. Trump will be relations with Russia. The history of ties and hacking allegedly by the Russians to influence U.S. elections are already impacting the situation. Mr. Trump will have to tame the hardline U.S. establishment before yielding even an inch to Moscow on the key issues. The expectations are high in the Putin camp but the issues are deeper than aspirations. Other foreign policy matters like an announcement to shift the U.S. embassy to east Jerusalem might create chaos, and already leaders such as the French President Hollande have warned against it. Similarly, trade related matters will be important to watch in the early days of Trump's presidency. During the election, he called for a re-negotiation of free trade agreements, including NAFTA, among the United States, Canada, and Mexico that entered into force in 1994. He also promised that among the first steps at the White House would be to scrap the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed free trade agreement among several nations that border the Pacific Ocean. Any unilateral step to roll back the multilateral trade agreements or jingoistic measures like building a security wall on the border with Mexico will ignite strong reactions and heavily dent the standing of the United States. Apart from the foreign policy areas, Trump will be under the spotlight for some of the provocative promises related to domestic issues. For example, during elections, he repeatedly attacked Obamacare, but a decision to do away with them without an alternative would draw flak. Also, during the campaign trail, he wanted to expel nearly 11 million illegal immigrants. But it is one of the areas where none of his predecessors could interfere in. There are chances that he would be advised to avoid such a provocative step. Mr. Trump needs to take immediate measures to restore pride and confidence in the economy instead of stoking controversies. Being a successful businessman is a huge advantage for the president, who should use his experience and acumen to expedite growth and create employment opportunities. There is a sense of relief that Trump has already modified some of his stances like showing his preference for having some kind of fence with the Mexicans instead of a real wall as well as his intention to retain some parts of Obamacare. He should also be more careful to deal with issues like global warming as during the campaign, he expressed skepticism about the very existence of this issue. He should have been tutored by now that global warming is a matter of life and death for all of us and the key Paris Agreement should be respected and implemented for the sake of the future of mankind. Sajjad Malik is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SajjadMalik.htm Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. Flash South Korean people condemn a right-wing Japanese hotel chain, which caused uproar by placing books distorting the Imperial Japan's wartime history in guestrooms of its 400-plus hotels. APA Group touched off anger online both in South Korea and China for books, one of the hotel chain's amenities, which deny the 1937 Nanjing massacre and the comfort women, or Korean women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese military brothels before and during World War II. A video was recently posted on a social networking site showing passages from a book, titled "The Real History of Japan: Theoretical Modern History Two," authored by Toshio Motoya, president of the Japanese land developer and operator of hotels for budget-conscious tourists. His book, written under the penname of Seiji Fuji, supports history revisionist views, claiming that Japan's wartime atrocities were concocted by South Korea and China. It describes comfort women victims as common prostitutes, while claiming the Nanjing massacre was fabricated despite a plethora of evidences. "Such absurd acts by civilian Japanese rightists were triggered partly at the instigations of the right-wing Japanese government and right-leaning media outlets," Cheong Wooksik, director of local advocacy group Peace Network, told Xinhua on Saturday. Choeng said promoting and selling books, which deny the comfort women issue and the Nanjing massacre, is an "unrighteous act" though Motoya is just a civilian hotelier, urging the Japanese government led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to take the lead in looking squarely at history. Though there are conscientious activists working in Japan, the director said, ultra-right moves spread on shortage of government and media efforts in Japan to allay "clannish nationalistic acts," which he said are very regrettable amid frayed ties between Northeast Asian neighbors. South Korean news organizations, the majority of them focusing on the scandal that resulted in the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, put their spotlight on right-leaning responses from Japanese netizens. Yonhap news agency reported that a majority of comments, posted by Japanese netizens on the Internet, support the distorted books put in APA's hotel rooms, with some encouraging the hotel executives and others describing it as freedom of speech. The report caused furor here over Japan, leading South Korean netizens to post negative online comments on the Japanese hotel chain and the right-leaning Japanese society. One netizen denounced the denials of the massacre in Nanjing and the forcible recruitment of comfort women as "bullshit," with another regarding the book as part of the hotelier's strategy to court right-wing Japanese tourists in the right-leaning country. Another netizen demanded the cancellations of travel to Japan. Motoya and his wife Fumio Motoya, founders of the privately-owned APA Group, are famous backers of Abe for a long time, according to local newspaper Chosun Ilbo posting an undated photo showing the Motoyas and Abe. The newspaper denounced the hotel chain likening its complete history distortion to free speech. APA has refused to remove the contentious books from rooms, saying in a statement that Japan guarantees freedom of speech. Controversy over the right-wing literature followed a diplomatic friction between South Korea and Japan over the statue symbolizing teenager South Korean victims to Japan's wartime sex enslavement. The bronze, life-size statue of a seated girl which is dressed in traditional Korean costume was put up outside the Japanese consulate in South Korea's southern port city of Busan in December. The first statue was placed in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul in December 2011. In retaliation, Japan recalled its ambassador to South Korea and its consul general in Busan, stopping negotiations on the bilateral currency swap deal. The Busan statue was installed by South Korean civilians to protest against the Park Geun-hye government's "final and irreversible" agreement with Japan on the comfort women issue that was reached on Dec. 28, 2015. It caused a barrage of criticism for the absence of Japan's acknowledgement of legal responsibility and its sincere apology for the wartime crime against humanity. "The Dec. 28 agreement should not have been reached," said Cheong, the Peace Network director. He noted that Japan will disgrace itself if it continues to attempt the removal of the Busan statue, which he said was set up to prevent the brutalities from happening again through promulgations. Flash Over one million people Saturday took to the streets and staged rallies across the United States to protest against President Donald Trump's first full day as the 45th U.S. President. People participate in the Women's March protesting Trump's presidency following the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, in Washington D.C., the United States, Jan. 21, 2017. About half a million people showed up for Women's March in the country's capital on Saturday to challenge the new U.S. president. [Photo/Xinhua] In New York City, at least 200,000 crowd gathered near Trump Tower in Manhattan for the Women's March on New York City. Carrying signs that said "Dear Trump Don't be the person we think" and "I wish your inauguration was fake news!." More and more people lined the streets on the 42nd Street and 58 Street, waiting for taking part in the Women's March on NYC. Police have already blocked the roads. At the New York march, Bridget Mills, 41, told Xinhua "I hope it sends a message (to Trump) that we're listening, we are paying attention to if he cares morally about people's civil rights and America's standing in the world." Gengil, in her 20s, lives in Halem, black, marching with five of her sisters, said "our diverse America is inclusive, resilient, brave, and it is for white, black, Latino, Asian etc., this is the message we want to send to President Trump." Cynthia Stern, middle aged woman, said "I'm not accepting the things I cannot change, I'm changing the things I cannot accept. Protest has changed many many things (in U.S. history), including women's rights to vote by the civil rights movement in the 60s." Demonstrators had planned to take their rally cries to the doors of Trump Tower, but police stopped them south of the building on East 55th Street. Organizers said the Women's March on NYC was for anyone unable to participate in the Women's March on Washington. In Washington, D.C., about half a million people showed up for Women's March in the country's capital to challenge the new U.S. president. "We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war," actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd. "Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack, and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. Marchers took to the streets near the National Mall in Washington, D.C., calling for women's rights and voicing their opposition to the newly-inaugurated President Donald Trump. Brandishing signs that read "women's rights are human rights" and "Hear our voice", protesters from across the country marched slowly along major avenues in downtown Washington as they chanted "this is what democracy looks like" and "women and girls can change the world," in a powerful display of rejection of Trump's agenda and what they said his insulting attitudes towards women. "I am very, very concerned about the next four years. I think we have a lot of rights that are going to be trampled on under the Trump administration," said Elisabeth Moore, a protester from New Haven, Connecticut. "His bigotry and his views towards women are extremely troubling to me." Moore also spoke unfavorably about Trump's inaugural address on Friday, calling it "disgusting" and saying that it was part of the reason for the huge turnout on Saturday. The organizers had initially sought a permit for a gathering of 200,000, but they estimated that as many as a half million people participated the event in the nation's capital. The marchers packed the metro stations in downtown Washington on Saturday afternoon, with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority recording more than 597,000 trips as of 4 p.m.. In Los Angeles, more than 500,000 of protesters Saturday rallied and marched peacefully through downtown Los Angeles chanting "Love Trumps hate", one day after Donald Trump was sworn into the Oval Office. LA's gathering was a part of Women's March, a national wide protests triggered by the new President of United States, who continued his angry railing against liberals supporting mostly Hillary Clinton in elections last November. Protesters showed their different appeals with colourful placards saying "Trust the progress", "Love not hate makes America great", "Get your tiny hands off my rights" and even "No more oil." "We want to let him know that he has been divisive, but yet we are still promoting women's rights, promoting gay rights, promoting pro choice, promoting the United States, not discriminating on the base of race, sex, or religion," Cheryl Lacour, an female attorney told Xinhua. Chertl said she and her friends accepted the result of the election, so they joined the protests across the country to fight for the future instead of the past. "We want to make this new president accountable," she said, "Today is to let him know what he has to face on the first day in his office." In front of the City Hall, Jesse Turk told Xinhua, as a gay man he was terrified since Trump was elected, saying "this is a march to show our visibility and show the fact that we don't agree with what's going on, what he's doing, how he's doing and who he has chosen to do it." The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) estimated that 500,000 took part in Saturday's march however organizers insisted the number was higher. In Chicago, around 250,000 people joined Women's March on Chicago, organizers said. Hudreds of thousands of people flocked to downtown Chicago to join the march. The event was said to be the largest women's march outside of the March on Washington, organizers said. 16 arrested in anti-Trump protests in Chicago Loop, Chicago police said. They face charges ranging from disorderly and reckless conduct to aggravated battery. The protest drew participants from all walks of life: young and old, academics and laborers, even parents with children on their shoulders. Protesters are still arriving at the rally, many with signs critical of President Donald Trump. An estimated 22,000 staged protests in Houston against Donald Trump. By afternoon, the protest rallies had been peaceful. Flash A demining expert from the Iraqi army searches for booby-trapped buildings in eastern Mosul on January 16, 2017, during an ongoing military operation against Islamic State (IS) group jihadists. (AFP/Xinhua) Iraqi security forces on Saturday continued fierce clashes to drive out the militants of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group from their last strongholds in the northern outskirts of the city of Mosul, the Iraqi military said. The army soldiers, backed by Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition aircraft, took full control of al-Arabi neighborhood after heavy clashes with IS militants and raised the Iraqi flags on some of its buildings, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement. The clashes resulted in the killing of 27 IS militants and the destruction of a tank at the adjacent IS-held neighborhood of al-Rashidiyah, which became the last neighborhood under control of the extremist group, the statement said. Also in the day, the soldiers recaptured al-Qowsiyat village in north of Rashidiyah after heavy clashes with IS militants and airstrikes on their positions, leaving some 40 militants killed and four car bombs destroyed, the statement added. In central Mosul, the commandos of the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) continued their operations to clear the neighborhoods and areas freed recently from IS militants after the elite troops fulfilled their mission by recapturing the whole central part of the eastern side of the city, locally known as the left bank the Tigris River which bisects Mosul, according to the statement. The commander of the elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) forces said on Wednesday that CTS troops are now in full control of the main part of the eastern side of Mosul. "CTS forces have completely retaken control of the eastern side of Mosul," Lt. Gen. Talib Shghati told reporters. "The only neighborhoods left in Mosul are in the northern part of the city which the army units are fighting to liberate soon," Shghati said, adding that Mosul's five bridges over the Tigris river are all under security forces' control. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the start of a major offensive to retake Mosul, the country's second largest city, on Oct. 17. The second phase of the offensive, to free the eastern bank of Mosul, began on Dec. 29. Battles in Mosul decreased in December when extremist militants started using civilians as human shields, resorted to suicide car bombings and mortar and sniper attacks. Mosul, 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, has been under IS control since June 2014, when Iraqi government forces abandoned their posts and fled, enabling IS militants to gain control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions. Flash An APA hotel in Japan [File photo] South Korean people condemn a right-wing Japanese hotel chain, which caused uproar by placing books distorting the Imperial Japan's wartime history in guestrooms of its 400-plus hotels. APA Group touched off anger online both in South Korea and China for books, one of the hotel chain's amenities, which deny the 1937 Nanjing massacre and the comfort women, or Korean women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese military brothels before and during World War II. A video was recently posted on a social networking site showing passages from a book, titled "The Real History of Japan: Theoretical Modern History Two," authored by Toshio Motoya, president of the Japanese land developer and operator of hotels for budget-conscious tourists. His book, written under the penname of Seiji Fuji, supports history revisionist views, claiming that Japan's wartime atrocities were concocted by South Korea and China. It describes comfort women victims as common prostitutes, while claiming the Nanjing massacre was fabricated despite a plethora of evidences. "Such absurd acts by civilian Japanese rightists were triggered partly at the instigations of the right-wing Japanese government and right-leaning media outlets," Cheong Wooksik, director of local advocacy group Peace Network, told Xinhua on Saturday. Choeng said promoting and selling books, which deny the comfort women issue and the Nanjing massacre, is an "unrighteous act" though Motoya is just a civilian hotelier, urging the Japanese government led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to take the lead in looking squarely at history. Though there are conscientious activists working in Japan, the director said, ultra-right moves spread on shortage of government and media efforts in Japan to allay "clannish nationalistic acts," which he said are very regrettable amid frayed ties between Northeast Asian neighbors. South Korean news organizations, the majority of them focusing on the scandal that resulted in the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, put their spotlight on right-leaning responses from Japanese netizens. Yonhap news agency reported that a majority of comments, posted by Japanese netizens on the Internet, support the distorted books put in APA's hotel rooms, with some encouraging the hotel executives and others describing it as freedom of speech. The report caused furor here over Japan, leading South Korean netizens to post negative online comments on the Japanese hotel chain and the right-leaning Japanese society. One netizen denounced the denials of the massacre in Nanjing and the forcible recruitment of comfort women as "bullshit," with another regarding the book as part of the hotelier's strategy to court right-wing Japanese tourists in the right-leaning country. Another netizen demanded the cancellations of travel to Japan. Motoya and his wife Fumio Motoya, founders of the privately-owned APA Group, are famous backers of Abe for a long time, according to local newspaper Chosun Ilbo posting an undated photo showing the Motoyas and Abe. The newspaper denounced the hotel chain likening its complete history distortion to free speech. APA has refused to remove the contentious books from rooms, saying in a statement that Japan guarantees freedom of speech. Controversy over the right-wing literature followed a diplomatic friction between South Korea and Japan over the statue symbolizing teenager South Korean victims to Japan's wartime sex enslavement. The bronze, life-size statue of a seated girl which is dressed in traditional Korean costume was put up outside the Japanese consulate in South Korea's southern port city of Busan in December. The first statue was placed in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul in December 2011. In retaliation, Japan recalled its ambassador to South Korea and its consul general in Busan, stopping negotiations on the bilateral currency swap deal. The Busan statue was installed by South Korean civilians to protest against the Park Geun-hye government's "final and irreversible" agreement with Japan on the comfort women issue that was reached on Dec. 28, 2015. It caused a barrage of criticism for the absence of Japan's acknowledgement of legal responsibility and its sincere apology for the wartime crime against humanity. "The Dec. 28 agreement should not have been reached," said Cheong, the Peace Network director. He noted that Japan will disgrace itself if it continues to attempt the removal of the Busan statue, which he said was set up to prevent the brutalities from happening again through promulgations. Flash British Prime Minister Theresa May called Saturday for an early meeting with the new president of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani to discuss Britain's exit from the European Union. An official Downing Street spokesperson for May said the prime minister spoke by telephone to Tajani to congratulate him on his election to the presidency of the European Parliament. During the conversation May said she was keen to arrange a meeting in London as soon as practicable to discuss various issues, including Britain's exit from the European Union. "She referenced her speech this week in which she set out the UK's priorities in the forthcoming Brexit negotiations, and reiterated that we would continue to play a full part in and meet our obligations to the EU while we remain a member," May's spokeswoman said. "They agreed to work together to ensure continued good relations between the UK and EU, while the Brexit process is ongoing and thereafter." Flash Palestinian presidency condemned Sunday the approval of Israeli authorities to build more settlement housing units in east Jerusalem and called for the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution on settlements. Palestinian President Spokesperson Nabil Abu Rideinha said in a press statement published by the official Palestinian news Agency (WAFA) that the Israeli decision comes in defiance of the Security Council, especially after resolution 2334 that has affirmed the illegality of settlements. Abu Rudeinah called on the Security Council to move promptly, abiding by resolution 2334 "to put an end to the extremist Israeli government policy that is seeking to destroy the two state solution." The presidential spokesperson said that the leadership is going to start communication with Arab and friendly countries to move in the Security Council to stop Israel from acting as a country above the law. The Israeli public radio reported Sunday that the district committee of settlement at the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem has approved the contraction of 566 housing units for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem. The radio reported that there are nearly 11,000 new units pending approval in different areas in Jerusalem. This Israeli move came only two days after U.S. President Donald Trump was officially sworn into office. Member of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee Ahmad Majdalani said "this Israeli decision comes to test the seriousness of the new American administration with regards to settlements and the extent to which it would pull a diplomatic and political cover for the Israeli government's settlement construction policy." Majdalani stressed the importance of respecting UN resolutions legitimacy and the implementation of the recent anti -settlement decision 2334. On Dec. 23, the UNSC voted in favor of a resolution that condemns Israeli settlements and calls on Israel to halts its settlement activity in the Palestinian territories. The issue of Jewish settlements in the West Bank was deemed illegal by many world powers, including the United States, China and the European Union and has contributed to the stalling of the peace process. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel in 1967, as the capital of their future state, while Israel says all of Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the state of Israel. Transcription 1 Lithuanian Diplomatic Service in Exile LITHUANIAN DIPLOMATIC SERVICE IN EXILE FROM Lithuanian diplomatic service in exile is associated with the diplomats in service of the state, which was occupied and annexed by another country and thereby erased from the world political map. The diplomats in the diplomatic service of independent Lithuania worked and lived in exile from 1940 till 1991, i.e. for fifty years, driven by a feeling of great responsibility, hope and belief in the restoration of the Lithuanian state. The survival of the diplomatic service of Lithuania in 1940 was determined by the idiosyncrasy of its activities and the stance that the largest states took towards the occupation of Lithuania. Unfortunately, the whole structure of the diplomatic service did not survive, only some embassies and their diplomatic corps. The fate of Lithuanian embassies depended on the predominant political views regarding the Baltic States in the residing country and its relations with the Soviet Union. At the beginning of diplomacy in exile, the Lithuanian diplomatic service consisted of five official embassies in London, Washington, Buenos Aires, the Vatican and Bern, one diplomatic representation in France, which was tolerated by the local government, as well as two general consulates and three consulates. When the independence of Lithuania was restored, there were three official embassies remaining in Washington, London and the Holy See, an unofficially acting representative of Lithuania in France, one general consulate in New York and four general honorary consulates in Chicago, Los Angeles, Toronto and Caracas. Only a few diplomats who worked in diplomatic service before the loss of independence were lucky enough to see the restoration of Lithuanian statehood: Stasys Antanas Backis, Vincas Balickas and Anicetas Simutis were the only diplomats who remained in service throughout the entire occupation period. Thus the diplomatic corps that retained diplomatic immunity and the embassies that continued functioning legally in the West created the basis 2 72 for not only continuing diplomatic activities under the conditions of exodus but also raising the issue of independence of Lithuania on the international scene. Begin of the exile As early as 1939, Lithuanian diplomats called the attention of the President, the Government and other state officials to the threat of the Soviet Union. Lithuanian diplomats working abroad prepared a joint memorandum, which, besides recommendations how to strengthen the state, discussed the issues of transferring the government abroad in case of the Soviet occupation and establishing a fund for financing political activities abroad. However, to achieve the recognition of a government in exile in the Western states Lithuania would have had to be considered to be at war with a state with which the country receiving the Lithuanian government in exile was also at war. Doubtful about the likelihood of the retreat of the Government abroad and its recognition, Lithuanian ambassadors proposed to amend the 1938 Constitution, so that the substitution of the President would neither depend on elections nor on the Prime Minister s will. Should the government or a body vested with its powers fail to retreat abroad, the envoys proposed to appoint beforehand a person who would be authorised to co-ordinate the activities of Lithuanian diplomatic service abroad. The Government of Lithuania did not look at the memorandum seriously and the proposal of diplomats was not implemented. In 1941, the ambassador in London Bronius Kazys Balutis wrote to the President in reference to the unimplemented memorandum that as a result, we were left practically without any resources for further fight and, what is worse, ragged and scattered, on our own, muddling through as best each could. As the project of the Lithuanian ambassadors was not implemented, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Juozas Urbsys, authorised by the President of Lithuania, informed the diplomats by telegram that, in case of a catastrophe for the state of Lithuania, the chief of diplomacy would be Stasys Lozoraitis. The function of the chief of diplomacy was to coordinate the remaining diplomatic service in exile, as well as appoint diplomats to new positions and confer diplomatic ranks to them. 3 Lithuanian Diplomatic Service in Exile When the People Parliament voted for the incorporation of Lithuania into the Soviet Union on July 21, 1940, Lithuanian envoys sent a protest note to most governments to which they were accredited. The retaliation of Soviet Lithuania against the diplomatic service of independent Lithuania remaining abroad began very soon. The diplomats were deprived of Lithuanian citizenship, banned from returning to their homeland and their property was confiscated. On the basis of the decision of the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union to accept the Lithuanian Socialist Soviet Republic to the Soviet Union, the activities of all Lithuanian embassies and consulates were terminated on August 8, Lithuania lost its embassies in the countries occupied by the Soviet Union. After the pressure of the Soviet Union, most Western European countries Sweden, Germany, France and Italy, transferred Lithuanian embassies to the Soviet Union. Although Switzerland did not recognise the occupation of Lithuania, it nevertheless terminated diplomatic relations with the embassy of Lithuania. Attempts to create government in exile Diplomats who represented independent Lithuania abroad were no longer even de jure associated with the formally created Soviet Lithuania. The goal of restoring the state prompted diplomats to set forth the guidelines for their further activities. According to Balutis, forming a government in exile and obtaining its recognition had to be the alpha and omega of the activities of the diplomats. During their first meetings in Rome and Bern, the diplomats formed a prototype of government in exile the National Committee. Shortly afterwards, in one of the meetings of the diplomats, President of Lithuania Antanas Smetona, before leaving Europe, signed the fictitious Kybartai Acts according which Lozoraitis became the Prime Minister and the acting President of the Republic of Lithuania. However, the so-called Kybartai Acts were essentially a transient event, when in autumn 1945 Lozoraitis sent letters to the heads of the USA, Great Britain and France, signing as Prime Minister and the acting President of the Republic of Lithuania. According to Lozoraitis himself, the appearance of the Kybartai Acts was the wish to give certain emphasis to the continuity of our sovereign 73 4 74 power for foreigners; as far as the position of our own people both official and private persons is concerned, it would remain as it was, all the more so since I myself don t have the power to change it. At that time, it was important for the representatives of Lithuania to show to the international community or, more exactly, to the allies, should they begin to look for manifestations of the continuity of the Lithuanian government among the political strata of emigrants, that there was such continuity after the death of President Smetona. However, the leaders of the great powers made no response. The National Committee did not even start functioning due to the war in Europe, which impeded communication between diplomats residing in different countries. Another reason for the inactivity of the National Committee has been the differences among the ambassadors themselves and their political conceptions and assessment of the situation because not everyone endorsed the active German role backed by Kazys Skirpa. At the beginning, Lithuanian diplomats harboured the hopes about the restoration of Lithuania with the war between Germany and the Soviet Union. However, it became apparent that the restoration of independent Lithuania was not included in German plans, which was also shown by the status of the Provisional Government and its fate. After losing hopes restoring the state with the help of Germany, diplomats in the West started searching for a state that would allow the formation of a government in exile and recognise it. No state was inclined to do this. Thus the Lithuanian diplomatic service itself no longer kept the illusions about forming a political entity that would be officially recognised by at least one state. Gradually, the actions of the diplomatic service acquired a character of consistent work, focusing on the essential issues of the survival of the diplomatic service and the strengthening of diplomatic positions. The constant raising of the issue of Lithuania on the international scene was an inseparable part of diplomatic representation, but the annexation of Lithuania, as well as of Latvia and Estonia, was not the main subject of international debates. 5 Activities in 1960s and 1970s Lithuanian Diplomatic Service in Exile In the 1960s and 70s the activities of the diplomatic service of Lithuania became symbolic due to the elderly age of its corps and the thinning out of their ranks. The activities of the diplomatic service of Lithuania waned also due to external factors which had a rather severe impact on the diplomatic service, especially in the states of South America. The South American region was very dependent on the developments in the international politics, much more than Western Europe, which could afford more sophisticated politics. South American states did not pose significant difficulties for the speedy performance of the diplomatic procedures, which a new representative undergoes in the usual diplomatic practice in order to engage in diplomatic activities. However, whenever the foreign policy line of these countries changed or relations with the Soviet Union intensified, it did not take much time to terminate the activities of a diplomatic residence and its corps. This happened in the honorary consulate of Lithuania in Columbia and the embassy in Brazil. The embassy of Lithuania in Montevideo was forced to terminate its activities after the death of the last Lithuanian diplomat who entered the diplomatic service of Lithuania before Difficulties staying abroad the last decade in exile One of the greatest problems for the diplomatic service of Lithuania was that its members could not be replaced after their death. The principal position of the US State Department, which controlled the finances of the diplomatic service of Lithuania, was that only those diplomats who worked in the diplomatic service of Lithuania before 1940 could be members of the diplomatic service and receive financial support. The diplomatic service could support itself only with the so-called frozen funds of Lithuania, but it could not dispose of it freely without permission from the US State Department. The first signs telling that the activities of the diplomatic service in exile should be reconsidered became apparent after the many deaths of the ambassadors: the former envoy in Switzerland, one of the deputy chiefs of diplomacy Jurgis Saulys, the envoy in the USA Povilas Zadeikis, the envoy in Montevideo Kazys Grauzinis, the envoy in London Balutis, the envoy at the Holy See Stasys Girdvainis, the general honorary consul in Toronto 75 6 76 Vytautas Jonas Gylys and the plenipotentiary in the Scandinavian countries Ignas Seinius. The question was what is the future of the diplomatic service of Lithuania. Naturally, everyone hoped that the occupation of Lithuania would not last so long and that members of the diplomatic service of Lithuania would see the independence of Lithuania. However, the continuity of the diplomatic service in exile had to be preserved using only the diplomatic personnel available at that time. The funds of the diplomatic service of Lithuania were also diminishing. So, the restructuring of the Lithuanian diplomatic corps was implemented. The former secretary of Lithuanian Embassy in Bern Albertas Gerutis became the representative of the chief of the Lithuanian diplomacy in Bern and its unofficial representative in Bonn at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany, the former envoy of Lithuania in Paris Backis moved to live and work in the Lithuanian Embassy in Washington; Jurgis Baltrusaitis became the Lithuanian representative in Paris, whereas the former adviser of the Lithuanian Embassy in London Balickas became its head. The castling of the diplomats stabilised its corps for some time but the issue of funds and personnel of the diplomatic service retained its pertinence. In 1980, not without the efforts of Lithuanian emigrant organisations in the USA, the State Department agreed to accept to the diplomatic service of Lithuania persons who were not working in the diplomatic service of Lithuania before The issue of funding was also resolved when the much wealthier former Latvian diplomatic service, through the mediation of the US State Department, agreed to finance Lithuanian diplomats. At the time when this issue was resolved, there was only $867 remaining in the account of the diplomatic service of Lithuania. The resolution of the issues of financing and personnel of the diplomatic service of Lithuania laid the foundation for its stability. When Lozoraitis died in 1983, envoy of Lithuania in Washington Backis succeeded him in the position of the chief of diplomacy. 7 After the 1990 When the independence of Lithuania was declared on March , the Lithuanian diplomats working abroad welcomed the news exultantly this was the goal they had sought for such a long time. However, they felt a moral obligation not to rush ending their mission and transferring the symbolic entitlements to the ministry of foreign affairs of the young and still fragile state. Backis told this to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Algirdas Saudargas when the latter was in Paris at the end of This circumspection was also conditioned by the fact that the international community did not hurry to recognise the statehood of Lithuania, not to mention that this was not done by the Soviet Union either. States around the world began recognising the independence of Lithuania only after the putsch in Russia in August As on 6 September 1991 the Soviet Union recognised the state of Lithuania, immediately at the same day Backis sent a letter to Saudargas stating that his mission as the chief of the diplomacy of Lithuania was over. The retirement of Backis from the position ended the difficult, fifty-year period period of the diplomatic service of Lithuania in exile. The great efforts of the diplomats did not allow entirely erasing Lithuania from the world political map in the consciousness of the international community. CNA | Jan. 22, 2017 Flight routes previously operated by TransAsia Airways, which disbanded in November last year due to financial woes, have been reassigned to other Taiwan-based airlines, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said yesterday. China Airlines (CAL), EVA Airways (EVA Air), Mandarin Airlines, UNI Air, Far Eastern Air Transport and Tigerair Taiwan will operate the routes left by TransAsia starting Feb. 16, the CAA said, adding that carriers that obtain the more lucrative cross-strait routes will also have to shoulder less profitable routes. Under the reassignment, Mandarin took over the Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport route, while UNI Air obtained the route between Taoyuan International Airport and Shanghai Pudong International Airport. As a result, the unprofitable Taichung Airport to Hualien Airport and Songshan airport to Hualien Airport routes were reassigned to Mandarin and UNI Air, respectively, the CAA said. In addition, UNI Air got the Kinmen Airport to Penghu Airport route, which was operated by TransAsia on a charter basis. Other routes between Taipei, Kaohsiung and outlying Kinmen and Penghu islands will be operated jointly by Mandarin, UNI Air and Far Eastern, it said. The parent companies of Mandarin and UNI Air -- CAL and EVA Air -- took over the Taichung Airport to Pudong airport and Songshan airport to Pudong airport routes, respectively. Far Eastern will fly the route between Songshan airport to Fuzhou Changle International Airport, while budget carrier Tigerair Taiwan will operate the route between Taoyuan and Sunan Shuofang International Airport. Related News: TransAsia Flight Rights Rescinded, Official Says TransAsia Airways' Flying Rights Revoked by Aviation Regulator Taiwan Airline TransAsia to Shut Down After Suffering Losses By Lena Ge, China Aviation Daily | Jan. 22, 2017 Xiamen Airlines is seeking rights for permission to launch four international services to Kalibo and Cebu in Philippines. Pending government approval, the Xiamen-based carrier plans to launch two daily services to Kalibo in March from Fuzhou and Xiamen, according to a notice released Friday on the CAAC's website. It also applied for two twice services from Fuzhou and Quanzhou to Cebu in April. All four routes will be operated by Boeing 737-700/-800 aircraft, the CAAC added. The Air Transportation Department of CAAC is soliciting public comments on the application until January 25, 2017. A representative of Huawei introduces Kirin 960 processor during a release ceremony of world leading internet scientific and technological achievements at the 3rd World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, east China's Zhejiang province, Nov 16, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] The Chinese government launched a 100 billion yuan ($14.5 billion) internet investment fund on Sunday, as the country works to strengthen its edge in the changing economy. Six strategic partners, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), CITIC Guoan Group, China Post Insurance and three giant telecom operators, have injected the first batch capital of 30 billion yuan, according to Xinhua The internet investment fund, approved by the State Council, is co-sponsored by the Cyberspace Administration and Ministry of Finance. By bankrolling outstanding internet companies, the fund aims to foster innovation within the sector through a market approach. State-owned bank ICBC, National Development Bank and Agricultural Bank of China pledged a combined 150 billion yuan credit as venture loans, said Xinhua. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. License for publishing multimedia online 0108263 Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Beijing's GDP in 2016 reached 2.49 trillion yuan ($ 362.3 billion), with a 6.7 percent increase from 2015, according to Pang Jiangqian, deputy director of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics. The "new economy sector", which contains 16 key innovative industries such as new-energy vehicles and creative industries, contributed 32.7 percent in the whole economy with an annual increase of 10.1 percent. The new-energy vehicle industry doubled its size in 2016, and SUV manufacturing achieved a 73 percent growth. "High-tech zones, such as Zhongguancun, are becoming a force that drives the economy to grow," said Pang. "More enterprises are joining the team of innovation, putting more into researching, and the payout is also growing." Many other companies have also joined the tide brought by internet business models, including so-called time-honored brands in Beijing. According to Pang, these brands locked an online retail growth of 43.7 percent, "bringing new livelihood to those old brands." Meanwhile, the per capita disposable income of Beijing residents reached 52,530 yuan ($ 7,640) or a 6.9 percent growth after deduction of price factors. According to Wu Chunxian, deputy captain of the Beijing office of the National Statistics Bureau, the income of the bottom 20 percent of residents has grown 10.1 percent, 1.7 percentage points faster than the average. The CPI went through a "mild" increase of 1.4 percent in 2016. Earlier in January, Beijing set its growth target at 6.5 percent in 2017, according to Cai Qi, the newly-elected mayor. Hostesses present the new Skoda Kodiaq on media day at the Paris auto show, in Paris, France, September 30, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] Chinese automakers released 43 SUV models in 2016, accounting for 65 percent of vehicles they launched during the year. In contrast, international automakers unveiled 15 models, accounting for less than one-third of their new products. Overseas automakers will catch up this year, however, as General Motors will release 14 new models in China, half of which will be SUVs and the other half MPVs. Volkswagen AG will introduce at least three SUVs: The Volkswagen Teramount, Volkswagen Tiguan L and Skoda Kodiaq. Transcription 1 Universitas Islam Indonesia Faculty of Economics INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM ISLAMIC STUDIES PROGRAM Syllabus: Indonesian Investment Law Lecturer : Siti Anisah, SH, MHum, PhD Phone : Credit (CP) : 2 Consultation Times : by appointment Campus : Faculty of Law, UII Subject Overview: In this subject, we will analyze and discuss the investment law in Indonesia. The discussion will encompass specific principles of Indonesia investment that accommodate principles of international conventions related to investment. Other related aspects to the investment will be analyzed including the approval of the investment applications, licenses, procedures of investment, and investment prospects in Indonesia in the Otonomi Daerah (local autonomy) Era. We also discuss some international conventions related to investment, they are; TRIMs, MIGA, and ICSID. Subject Objective: After completing this course, students are expected to; 1. Understand the principles and legal framework on investment in Indonesia. 2. Understand the different types of investment. 3. Understand the theories of investment motivation & incentive. 4. Understand approvals, licenses, & procedures involved in investing in Indonesia. 5. Understand joint ventures related to investment. Syllabus: Indonesian Investment Law Page 1 of 7 2 6. Understand international conventions related to investment. 7. Understand investment prospects in Indonesia in the Otonomi Daerah (local autonomy Era. Assessment: The final grade will be determined by a composite evaluation of the student s performance based on the following assessment areas: Task Value Deadline Group Assignment/Essay 40% On the day of presentation, starting after the third week of semester Mid Term Exam 30% During the first exam period (week 7) Final Exam 30% During the second exam period (week 14) Group Assignment: Students will be required to form groups of three. Each group will select a topic to analyse and discuss together. 1. These topics will be presented to the class. Each group will have minutes for their presentation including questions and answer time. It is expected that the student will make their best effort to facilitate a discussion that can involve other students in the discussion. 2. Each student must write an academic paper based on the group s topic that is critical and scientific. The paper should be of approximately 2500 words in length. The paper should include theoretical references and legal cases. 3. Examination : There will be a mid test and final test examination. Examination questions must be answered in essay format. The mid test will focus on materials that are discussed in Week 1 6 and final test will focus on material from Week Grading System: Based on university policy, a pass grade or better will only be given to students who achieve a final grade above 55%. Syllabus: Indonesian Investment Law Page 2 of 7 3 Total Grade Total Grade A C A C A/B C B C/D B D B D B/C 0-34 E Policy on assessment: Essays and assignments will not be accepted after the due date unless arrangements for an extension of time have been made prior to the due date. If you do not agree with the result that you achieve for any piece of assessment for this subject please contact the lecturer immediately. You have a right to know the reasons why your work has received a certain grade and to request it be reassessed if you believe it has been unfairly assessed. Warning Concerning Academic Misconduct: The International Program expects all students and staff to act with honesty and integrity in all matters. That means being truthful and recognising the intellectual ownership of other people's words, ideas, research findings and information. To not do so academically dishonest and may incur a range of penalties. Academic misconduct includes plagiarism, collusion, cheating in examinations, misappropriating the research of others and misrepresenting research findings. What is plagiarism? Plagiarism is the using of another person s ideas or expressions without appropriate acknowledgment and presenting these ideas or forms of expression as your own. It includes not only written works such as books or journals, but data or images that may be presented in tables, diagrams, designs, plans, photographs, film, music, formulae, web sites and computer programs. Syllabus: Indonesian Investment Law Page 3 of 7 4 Plagiarism includes the use of the work of lecturers or other students as your own without acknowledgment. Self-plagiarism is the reuse of your own work without indicating that you have reused it. Quoting and Paraphrasing: A quote occurs when you use 5 or more words from another source exactly as the words appear in the original. You are allowed to incorporate quotes from the work of others into your work. However, only up to 10% of your work can be quoted. A paraphrase is restating what someone else has said or written using your own words. A paraphrase is not achieved by simply altering the words from another source slightly. A slight rewording is still effectively a quote. You must either: - Provide an exact quote (and indicate that it is a quote) - Provide an appropriate paraphrase of the ideas in your words. An appropriate paraphrase is normally achieved by reading and taking notes, then closing the book and writing your own words. What is collusion? Collusion involves working with others with the intention of deceiving examiners about who actually completed the work. For example, if a student employs someone else to do their work for them, that would constitute collusion. Or if one student willingly allows another student to copy their work for an individual assessment task, that would constitute collusion. In that case both students may have committed an academic offence. Collusion is not the same as collaboration. Collaboration is working together on a task; collusion is doing so in an unauthorised manner. What is authorised varies from task-to-task. For example, collaboration is allowed or expected on many assignments, but for other tasks such as exams and some in-class or online tests no collaboration is allowed. If you have any doubt about what constitutes authorised and unauthorised collaboration on a particular task you should consult IP management. Avoiding plagiarism: Plagiarism is avoided by appropriately acknowledging sources of your ideas or expressions. In this unit this entails: 1. Providing an in-text citation using the APA referencing system at the place where any idea or expression from another source is used, whether directly quoted or paraphrased; and 2. Clearly indicating where material is directly quoted (a direct quote occurs if 5 or more words from another source are used exactly as they are used in the original) by using quotation marks for short quotes or indenting for longer quotes; and Syllabus: Indonesian Investment Law Page 4 of 7 5 3. Providing a full reference to the source in a list of references at the end of the work, again using the APA referencing system. Important Note: the APA Referencing Guide can be obtained from IP management Lecture Program: Meeting Topics Reading 1 Introduction a. Definition of investment b. Principles of investment c. Law on investment 2 Types of investment a. Direct & indirect investments b. Domestic & foreign investment 3 Investment Motivations, Restrictions & Incentives Why developed countries invest in developing country? Investment restrictions in Indonesia Investment incentives 4 Forms of Legal Entity & Area of An Enterprise Legal entity form Closed & opened field activities to FDI 5 Approvals, Licenses, & Investment Procedures in Indonesia Investment approvals Investment licenses Investment procedures 6 Joint Venture Agreement on Investment Motivation of joint venture Joint venture advantages Types of joint venture The clauses of joint venture agreement Siti Anisah, Investment Law (Regulation, International Convention, Articles, News), Yogyakarta: FH UII, 2008 Salim H.S., & Budi Sutrisno, Hukum Investasi di Indonesia, Jakarta: Rajawali Pers, 2008 Ida Bagus Rahmadi Supanca, 2006, Kerangka Hukum Kebijakan Investasi Langsung di Indonesia, Jakarta: Ghalia Indonesia, 2006 Hulman Panjaitan & Anner Mangatur Sianipar, Hukum Penanaman Modal Asing, Jakarta: Indhill, 2008 M. Sornarajah, The International Law on Foreign Investment, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004 Erman Rajagukguk, Hukum tentang Investasi dan Pembangunan (Karangan, Komentar dan Berita), Jakarta: Fakultas Hukum Universitas Indonesia, 1994 Erman Rajagukguk, Hukum Investasi di Indonesianisasi, Jakarta: Universitas Al-Azhar Indonesia, 2007 Salim H.S., & Budi Sutrisno, 2008, Hukum Investasi di Indonesia, Jakarta: Rajawali Pers Peter Muchlinski, Multinational Enterprises and the Law, Oxford: Blackwell Publisher, 1999 Salim H.S., & Budi Sutrisno, 2008, Hukum Investasi di Indonesia, Jakarta: Rajawali Pers Siti Anisah, Investment Law (Regulation, International Convention, Articles, News), Yogyakarta: FH UII, Erman Rajagukguk, Hukum Investasi di Indonesianisasi, Jakarta: Universitas Al-Azhar Indonesia, 2007 Ian Hewitt, Joint Venture, London: FT Law & Tax, Trade Related Investment Erman Rajagukguk, Hukum tentang Investasi Syllabus: Indonesian Investment Law Page 5 of 7 6 Measures (TRIMs) and APEC Non Binding Investment Principles TRIMs Principles APEC Non Binding Investment Principles 8 Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) What is MIGA? Guaranteed Investment Contract of Guarantee dan Pembangunan (Karangan, Komentar dan Berita), Jakarta: Fakultas Hukum Universitas Indonesia, 1994 Andreas F. Lowenfeld, International Economic Law, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003 Erman Rajagukguk, Hukum Investasi di Indonesianisasi, Jakarta: Universitas Al-Azhar Indonesia, 2007 Hans Van Houtte, The Law of International Trade, London: Sweet & Maxwell, Dispute Settlement on Investment Dispute between Contracting State and National of the Contracting State Disputes between Contracting Party and Investor 10 Investment Prospect in Indonesia Investment Policy in Otonomi Daerah (Local Autonomy) Era Investment within Municipality Government Salim H.S., & Budi Sutrisno, 2008, Hukum Investasi di Indonesia, Jakarta: Rajawali Pers Supanca, Ida Bagus Rahmadi, 2006, Kerangka Hukum Kebijakan Investasi Langsung di Indonesia, Jakarta: Ghalia Indonesia, 2006 Andreas F. Lowenfeld, International Economic Law, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003 Murtir Jeddawi, Memacu Investasi di Era Otonomi Daerah, Kajian Beberapa Perda tentang Penanaman Modal, Yogyakarta: UII Press, 2005 Materials and References: 1. Main Texts : a. Siti Anisah, Investment Law (Regulation, International Convention, Articles, News), Yogyakarta: FH UII, 2008 b. Murtir Jeddawi, Memacu Investasi di Era Otonomi Daerah, Kajian Beberapa Perda tentang Penanaman Modal, Yogyakarta: UII Press, 2005 c. Hulman Panjaitan & Anner Mangatur Sianipar, Hukum Penanaman Modal Asing, Jakarta: Indhill, 2008 d. Erman Rajagukguk, Hukum tentang Investasi dan Pembangunan (Karangan, Komentar dan Berita), Jakarta: Fakultas Hukum Universitas Indonesia, 1994 e. Erman Rajagukguk, Hukum Investasi di Indonesianisasi, Jakarta: Universitas Al-Azhar Indonesia, 2007 f. Salim H.S., & Budi Sutrisno, Hukum Investasi di Indonesia, Jakarta: Rajawali Pers, 2008 g. Ida Bagus Rahmadi Supanca, 2006, Kerangka Hukum Kebijakan Investasi Langsung di Indonesia, Jakarta: Ghalia Indonesia, 2006 h. Hans Van Houtte, The Law of International Trade, London: Sweet & Maxwell, 1995 i. Ian Hewitt, Joint Venture, London: FT Law & Tax, 1997 Syllabus: Indonesian Investment Law Page 6 of 7 7 j. M. Sornarajah, The International Law on Foreign Investment, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004 k. Peter Muchlinski, Multinational Enterprises and the Law, Oxford: Blackwell Publisher, 1999 l. Andreas F. Lowenfeld, International Economic Law, Oxford: Oxford University Press, Additional Textbooks and Readings : a. Sumatoro, Hukum Ekonomi, Jakarta: UI Press, 1986 b. Sumantoro, Bunga Rampai Permasalahan Penanaman Modal dan Pasar Modal/Problems of Investment in Equities and in Securities, Jakarta: Bina Cipta, 1984 c. Ida Bagus Wyasa Putra, Aspek-aspek Hukum Perdata Internasional dalam Transaksi Bisnis Internasional, Bandung: Refika Aditama, Journals : a. Jurnal Hukum Bisnis, Jakarta: Yayasan Pengembangan Hukum Bisnis, 2002 b. Jurnal Hukum Bisnis, Jakarta: Yayasan Pengembangan Hukum Bisnis, Website : Syllabus: Indonesian Investment Law Page 7 of 7 Xiaoqing, who has cerebal palsy, with his father surnamed Shi at Beijing Railway Station on Jan 16, 2017. [Photo/IC] Shi brought his son, known as Xiaoqing, to see a doctor in Beijing. Xiaoqing has cerebral palsy as he did not receive enough oxygen when he was born. When Xiaoqing turned 5, his father went to Mount Wutai to become a Taoist priest. Every day, Shi and Xiaoqing climb mountain stairs and bow every three steps. "In this way, we not only cultivate ourselves according to the religious doctrine, but also build up our bodies," Shi said. Shi saved more than 10,000 yuan for the treatment, but "spent all on diagnoses even before the treatment started". They went back to Mount Wutai by train at night. "I have to save money back home. The operation will cost more than 50,000 yuan," Shi said. BEIJING -- China's Internet users have selected 10 individuals as the 2016 grassroots heroes, or China's "Good Samaritans." The winners were announced and honored Saturday at an event sponsored by Xinhua News Agency. He Xinglong, a village doctor who has been working in impoverished villages for 16 years, was among the awarded heroes. Liu Tianming, a migrant worker from the countryside, has raised over 3.5 million yuan (over $509,246) in the past 16 years, helping over 300 left-behind children and raising the public awareness on charity. Other heroes include Liu Mei, who has helped over 1,000 children and their parents combat autism over the past 11 years; Jiang Chuanchun, who is devoted to educating drug-addicts in drug rehabilitation centers; Wei Deyou, who has spent over five decades safeguarding the border in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region; and Li Jinlong, who saved 17 people in a flood in Bijie city in Southwest China's Guizhou province. The event, held annually since 2010, is aimed to promote the good deeds of ordinary people and to improve moral awareness in society. The State Oceanic Administration recently published a set of guidelines on inspection of maritime authorities, aiming at improving management of the country's marine resources. The Sea Inspection Plan, approved by the State Council, stipulates that the State Oceanic Administration shall send inspectors to check the protection and development of marine resources by provincial governments. Provincial authorities will rectify problems found by inspectors and report them to the public. Failure to correct problems will lead to restricted use of marine resources and violations to internal disciplines and laws exposed by inspectors will be handed over to disciplinary watchdogs or law enforcement departments, according to the guidelines. The administration will soon establish an inspection commission, and its three local branches will oversee affairs in the North, East and South China seas and set up inspector teams, Fang Jianmeng, deputy director of the State Oceanic Administration, said at a news conference on Sunday. Inspectors will focus on provincial authorities' implementation of policies and plans made by the central government and will also review local governments' administrative approval procedures, he said. Fang noted that inspectors will check the 11 provincial regions of the Chinese mainland, including Liaoning, Shandong and Shanghai, on a regular basis each year. Chinese artists perform at the gala to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jan 18, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] Artists from Sichuan province put on a series of performances to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on Jan 18. This marked the first time the Happy Chinese New Year tour came to the country. About 500 government officials and representatives from China and Bosnia and Herzegovina attended the gala. Despite the extremely cold and snowy weather, many locals still went to the event. "Chinese artists are amazing. It was worth the trip," one resident said. A local student, Tu Xun (he adopted a Chinese name), who once studied in China expressed his excitement after the event. "I felt like I was back to China again when I watched the wonderful performances. And they made me touch the spirit of Chinese New Year again; it is my favorite festival," Tu said. This is the second leg of the Happy Chinese New Year tour in four East European countries. The next stop was Albania. Women wearing traditional Chinese clothes take part in the opening celebrations of the Chinese New Year, in Lisbon, Portugal, Jan 30, 2016.[Photo/IC] For tens of millions of overseas Chinese scattered in every corner around the world, Spring Festival is not only the day to celebrate the beginning of a new year by the old lunar calendar, but also is the best time of year to practice the many traditions that are embedded in their cultural genes. Apart from the most discussed Spring Festival-themed cuisine customs, costume is another highlight of the festival, which is now getting more and more attention in recent years. An ice sculpture of a crowing rooster is created in Northeast China's Jilin city, Jilin province, Jan 20, 2017. [Photo/IC] From a roaring dragon and a crowing rooster to a jumping fish and a growing cabbage Liu Qingwu, 63, has spent the past one month creating over 10 ice sculptures at the Yuemahu Park in Northeast China's Jilin city, to greet the upcoming Chinese New Year. "This has been my fifth year making ice sculptures here in winter," said the retiree. "I hope they will bring extra joy to kids and also create some festive mood for the New Year." Changchun's plan to build two internationally integrated ports in its new area will accelerate Northeast China's structural economic upgrade and promote international trade with Eurasia. As capital of Jilin province, Changchun is a key junction on the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor of the Belt and Road Initiative. The construction of two ports an airport and an inland port will build Changchun into an international logistics hub. The plan is central to the Changchun government's commitment to establishing its new area and revitalizing Northeast China's old industrial economy. With a planned area of 499 square kilometers, Changchun New Area will help to accelerate construction related to the Belt and Road Initiative and deepen regional cooperation with neighboring countries, experts said. Changchun will break with the old model in developing its new area. The city is taking advantage of its important location at the center of the new Eurasian Land Bridge by constructing twin ports to develop a sophisticated transport system that will incorporate air routes, railways and highways. Such an integrated transport system will improve logistics, in turn leading to the development of the city and its industries, all of which contribute to accelerating overall economic growth. It will help Changchun to integrate with European and Asian markets and reduce logistics costs. In the near future, Changchun will achieve regional advantages across Europe, Japan, Russia and the Republic of Korea. An international airport The new international airport will be based on the redevelopment of the existing Changchun Longjia International Airport and the Changchun Airport Economic Development Zone, according to the plans. The new area has signed an agreement with Guangdong Longhao Aviation Group to rework and expand Longjia Airport, and to explore an airport cargo clearance system. The city government is transforming the airport into an integrated transportation hub that can link airlines, intercity railroads, subways and public roads. It is also looking to expand its air route network, with more connections and 72-hour visa-free transit via Longjia airport. Meanwhile, other plans in the pipeline include cooperation agreements for customs clearance systems with major domestic customs houses and promotion of cross-border e-commerce trade. Through opening new passenger and cargo routes that will connect to Russia and northern Europe, Longjia airport will increase its transport capacity and become an airline logistics hub in Northeast Asia. The airport will be multifunctional, incorporating an e-port center, a cross-border e-commerce center, an international logistics information platform and an express goods customs supervision center. A woman wearing pink pussy protest hat takes a part in the Women's March on Washington, following the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, in Washington, DC, US Jan 21, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] Related: Over one million people stage massive anti-Trump protests across US WASHINGTON In a global exclamation of defiance and solidarity, more than 1 million people rallied at women's marches in the nation's capital and cities around the world Saturday to send President Donald Trump an emphatic message on his first full day in office that they won't let his agenda go unchallenged. Many of the women came wearing pink, pointy-eared "pussyhats" to mock the new president. Plenty of men joined in, too, contributing to surprising numbers everywhere from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles to Mexico City, Paris, Berlin, London, Prague and Sydney. The Washington rally alone attracted over 500,000 people by the unofficial estimate of city officials apparently more than Trump's inauguration drew on Friday. The international outpouring served to underscore the degree to which Trump has unsettled people in both hemispheres. "We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war," actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd. "Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack, and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. ... We are America, and we are here to stay."Turnout in the capital was so heavy that the designated march route alongside the National Mall was impassable. Protesters were told to make their way to the Ellipse near the White House by way of other streets, triggering a chaotic scene that snarled downtown Washington. Around the world, women brandished signs with slogans such as "Women won't back down" and "Less fear more love." They decried Trump's stand on such issues as abortion, health care, diversity and climate change. And they branded him a sexist, a bully, a bigot and more. "We want a leader, not a creepy tweeter," some marchers chanted in Washington. Others: "Welcome to your first day, we will not go away!"In Chicago, organizers canceled the march portion of their event for safety reasons after the overflow crowd reached an estimated 150,000. People made their way through the streets on their own anyway. In New York, well over 100,000 marched past Trump's home at glittering Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. More than 100,000 also gathered on Boston Common, and a similar number demonstrated in Los Angeles. In Miami, real estate agent Regina Vasquez, 51, brought a sign saying "Repeal and Replace Trump.""I believe that strength is in the numbers, and that we should all come out and not make Trump the new normal," she said. All told, more than 600 "sister marches" were planned worldwide. Crowd estimates from police and organizers around the globe added up to more than a million. "I feel very optimistic even though it's a miserable moment," said Madeline Schwartzman of New York City, who brought her twin 13-year-old daughters to the Washington rally. "I feel power."Retired teacher Linda Lastella, 69, who came to Washington from Metuchen, New Jersey, said she had never marched before but felt the need to speak out when "many nations are experiencing this same kind of pullback and hateful, hateful attitudes.""It just seemed like we needed to make a very firm stand of where we were," she said. As the demonstrators rallied alongside the National Mall, Trump opened his first full day as president by attending a prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, a tradition for the day after inauguration, and later visited the CIA. As he traveled around town, his motorcade passed large groups of protesters that would have been hard to miss. A woman wearing handcuffs takes part in the Women's March to protest Donald Trump's inauguration as the 45th president of the United States close to the White House in Washington, January 21, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] NEW YORK - Over one million people Saturday took to the streets and staged rallies across the United States to protest against President Donald Trump's first full day as the 45th US President. In New York City, at least 200,000 crowd gathered near Trump Tower in Manhattan for the Women's March on New York City. Carrying signs that said "Dear Trump Don't be the person we think" and "I wish your inauguration was fake news!." More and more people lined the streets on the 42nd Street and 58 Street, waiting for taking part in the Women's March on NYC. Police have already blacked the roads. At the New York march, Bridget Mills, 41, told Xinhua "I hope it sends a message (to Trump) that we're listening, we are paying attention to if he cares morally about people's civil rights and America's standing in the world." Gengil, in her 20s, lives in Halem, black, marching with five of her sisters, said "our diverse America is inclusive, resilient, brave, and it is for white, black, latino, Asian etc., this is the message we want to send to President Trump." Cynthia Stern, middle aged woman, said "I'm not accepting the things I cannot change, I'm changing the things I cannot accept. Protest has changed many many things (in US history), including women's rights to vote by the civil rights movement in the 60s." Demonstrators had planned to take their rally cries to the doors of Trump Tower, but police stopped them south of the building on East 55th Street. Organizers said the Women's March on NYC was for anyone unable to participate in the Women's March on Washington. In Washington, D.C., about half a million people showed up for Women's March in the country's capital to challenge the new U.S. president. "We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war," actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd. "Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack, and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. Marchers took to the streets near the National Mall in Washington, D.C., calling for women's rights and voicing their opposition to the newly-inaugurated President Donald Trump. RAMALLAH - Leaders of several Palestinian factions and political powers warned Saturday moving US Embassy to Jerusalem will ignite the region. "Donald Trump doesn't have the right to move the embassy to an occupied city," said a joint statement of the factions and powers issued in the aftermath of a meeting held in the city of Ramallah. The factions' statement stressed that the intentions to move the US embassy to Jerusalem "clearly shows the US biased position." The statement called on the Palestinians for taking practical measures against the decision once it is implemented. It added that moving the embassy "legalized the operations of annexations and the unilateral actions of the Israeli occupation." Israel Public Radio has earlier reported that a US technical crew had lately checked the site where the US embassy will be in Jerusalem. Israel insists that the whole city of Jerusalem is the eternal capital of its state, while the Palestinians insist that they want the eastern part of the holly city, which was occupied in 1967, as the capital of their independent Palestinian state. Germany's Alternative for Germany (AfD) leader Frauke Petry and other leaders receive applause after Petry's speech at a European far-right leaders meeting in Koblenz, Germany, January 21, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] KOBLENZ, Germany - Declaring that 2017 will be the "year of the awakening of the people of continental Europe," French far-right presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen joined fellow nationalists Saturday at a conference in Germany to a show of populist confidence as Europe faces a series of high-stakes national elections. Populist parties have been surging in polls in Europe and the leaders' mood was celebratory as they came together in support of one another, the day after Donald Trump was sworn in as US president following a campaign buoyed by anti-establishment and protectionist themes. "Yesterday, a new America. Today hello Koblenz a new Europe!" Dutch anti-Islam leader Geert Wilders said as he opened his speech under heavy security in the German city of Koblenz on the banks of the Rhine River. "The people of the West are awakening. They are throwing off the yoke of political correctness," he said. "This year will be the year of the people ... the year of liberation, the year of the patriotic spring." Wilders' anti-Islam Party of Freedom could win the largest percentage of votes in the March 15 Dutch parliamentary election. Le Pen, head of the far-right National Front, is among the top contenders in France's April-May presidential vote. And in September, Frauke Petry's four-year-old Alternative for Germany party hopes to enter the German parliament in that country's national election, riding high on anti-immigrant sentiment that rejects German Chancellor Angela Merkel's welcoming policy toward refugees. The meeting of the Europe of Nations and Freedom group in the European Parliament also featured Matteo Salvini of Italy's conservative Northern League and Harald Vilimsky, the general secretary of Austria's right-wing Freedom Party, which last year narrowly failed to win the country's presidency. "Just as Donald Trump in America shows the way out of a dead end, with new prospects including for (resolving) international conflicts, we want to do that in the coming months and years for Europe," Petry told reporters. "We are experiencing the end of one world and the birth of another," Le Pen said in her address to the conference. "We are experiencing the return of nation-states."She denounced the 28-nation European Union as "a force of sterilization," and assailed Merkel whose name was booed loudly for allowing in large numbers of migrants. "Everyone sees that this migration policy is a daily disaster," Le Pen said. The first "real blow to the old order" was last June's British vote to leave the EU, Le Pen said followed closely by Trump's election. "His position on Europe is clear," Le Pen said. "He will not support a system of oppression of the people."She added that "2016 was the year when the Anglo-Saxon world woke up and 2017, I am sure, will be the year of the awakening of the people of continental Europe."Left-wing protesters staged a sit-in outside the hall shouting slogans like "No border, no nation, stop deportation."Not far away, demonstrators from the global AVAAZ activist group placed statues of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Josef Stalin, among others, in front of a landmark statue of German Kaiser Wilhelm. AVAAZ organizer Pascal Vollenweider said the statues of the dictators were meant to send a "strong message" to the nationalist politicians' meeting that "global citizens are rejecting their old dangerous ideas.""They are not fascists in jackboots, it's a different type of fascism, of course. But if you look at the ideas ... it's very dangerous, and we have to face it. These guys are carrying old, dangerous, fascist ideas," he said. Marcus Pretzell, Alternative for Germany's European lawmaker and Petry's husband, denied accreditation for the meeting to German public broadcasters and several other German outlets. Public broadcaster ARD has said it was refused access for "not meeting journalistic standards in its past reporting on the party," a claim it has rejected. Wilders said the nationalist parties won't be deterred if they fail immediately to achieve their election aims this year. "We will win, I'm very confident," he said. "And if we wouldn't, or if we would not win, all of us, the genie will not go back into the bottle.""The people won't accept that kind of policy anymore," he added. "We will be here not only next year but many years more." Smoke from forest fires is seen in a town called Cauquenes in the Maule region, south of Chile, January 21, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] SANTIAGO - Chile declared a state of emergency on Friday as more than a dozen wildfires that have scorched nearly 50,000 hectares (123,500 acres) threatened to encroach on towns, factories and vineyards. Firefighters, forestry service personnel and members of the military are battling 18 separate blazes in the center and south of the country that have been fueled by strong winds and a heat wave. The largest has consumed 24,000 hectares in and around Pumanque, a rural area some 140 kilometers (87 miles) south of the capital Santiago that is near some of Chile's vineyards. "I've instructed the Interior Ministry to declare a catastrophe zone and a state of emergency in the areas affected by the fires," President Michelle Bachelet said on Twitter. The smoke from the blazes cloaked Santiago in a thick haze. Television news images showed helicopters and planes trying to douse the out-of-control fires, apparently to little avail. The head of Chile's CONAF forestry service, Aaron Cavieres, said the fires were caused by humans, but that it could not be determined whether they were set intentionally. CONAF said it would close access to all national parks between the northern Coquimbo and south-central Biobio regions until Sunday. While several fires are in the vicinity of some of Chile's national parks, none have been directly affected. Emperor Akihito visits the House of Councillors in Tokyo on Jan 20, 2017, as parliament starts an ordinary session. [Photo/IC] TOKYO - Japan is moving to adopt a law allowing its octogenarian Emperor Akihito to abdicate but many touchy topics, such as his title and duties, remain to be settled before the monarch can retire in a step unprecedented for two centuries. Japanese law does not currently allow an emperor to give up the throne, but Akihito, 83, who has had heart surgery and prostate cancer treatment, said in rare public remarks last August he feared age might make it hard to fulfil his duties. A panel of experts is expected on Monday to indicate a preference for a special law to allow Emperor Akihito to retire, most probably by the end of 2018. Officials are looking at ancient precedents, since the last time an emperor abdicated was in 1817. A member of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) stands in a military vehicle during a battle with Islamic State militants in east of Mosul, Iraq, January 21, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] MOSUL - Residents of east Mosul held up their children and took selfies with Iraqi counter-terrorism commander Lieutenant General Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi after his men cleared Islamic State fighters from their neighbourhoods. But his tour on Saturday of homes once occupied by the militants was a reminder of the dangers ahead as security forces prepare to expand their offensive against the Sunni militants into west Mosul. Flanked by bodyguards in the Mohandiseen neighbourhood, Saadi got a firsthand view of Islamic State's meticulous planning and reign of terror as he moved from house to house, greeted by locals as a hero. In one home were a set of instructions on how to make bombs. A large bucket was filled with screws that were packed into explosives to kill and maim. Beside the leaflets were a pair of industrial rubber gloves, wires and detonators. Nearby a thick book described how to use Russian machine guns. Militants were also well-versed on how to employ anti-tank missiles. The battle for Mosul, involving 100,000 Iraqi troops, members of the Kurdish security forces and Shi'ite militiamen, is the biggest ground operation in Iraq since the US-led invasion of 2003. Iraqi security forces have retaken most of east Mosul, with the help of US-led coalition airstrikes which flattened rows of buildings in Iraq's second-largest city. The next phase, expected to kick off in a few days, could prove more difficult. Western Mosul has many narrow streets and alleyways that tanks and other large armoured vehicles cannot pass through. Jihadists are expected to put up a much tougher fight to hold on to their last stronghold in Iraq. "We expect to enter the west in the next few days," said Saadi, shortly after tearing down an Islamic State poster in anger. Mosul, the largest city held by Islamic State across its once vast, self-proclaimed caliphate in Iraq and neighbouring Syria, has been occupied by the group since its fighters drove the US-trained army out in June 2014. Its fall would mark the end of the caliphate but the militants are widely expected to mount an insurgency in Iraq and inspire attacks in the West. DRONES, TORTURE CHAMBER The group's determination and organisation were evident in several homes toured by Saadi. Laminated guides on the range of various weapons could be found on the floor or on tables. One house was clearly dedicated to the production of small drone aircraft used for both surveillance and attacks. Several lay scattered on the floor. A document with Islamic State logos asked detailed questions about the type of drone mission, either bombing, an explosive aircraft, spying or training. There was section on who will manage the aircraft's power on any particular mission and a checklist on structural integrity. Islamic State ruled eastern Mosul with zero tolerance for dissent, routinely shooting or beheading anyone branded an opponent to their radical ideology. Saadi's men were tipped off Islamic State had converted a villa on the street he was standing on into a prison and torture chamber. People were held on the top floor in rooms with steel bars. "We were told that the neighbours would hear screaming from the house," said Saadi. "They imprisoned anyone that challenged them. Anyone who refused to fight for them." Across town, overlooking the Tigris River dividing east and west, the former Ninewah Oberoi Hotel offered another glimpse into Islamic State, which changed its name to Hotel of the Inheritors. "It was a place for them for the gatherings of the foreigners (fighters) and suicide bombers," said Saadi, standing on the hotel's rooftop. "Five stars ... in order to encourage them." Gunshots rang out, and explosions could be heard, a precursor to the upcoming campaign in west Mosul. Students of Cambridge University perform the traditional Chinese dance Drunken Beauty at the 2017 Cambridge Chinese New Year Gala in Corn Exchange, Cambridge, on Jan 20, 2017. [Photo/Zhou Xingzuo] LONDON The Chinese Students and Scholar Association in Cambridge (CSSA-CAM) held a Chinese New Year Gala in the Preliminary Eveon Jan 20 in order to celebrate the coming Year of the Rooster with a theme of Cambridge Reuniting Our Love for China. About 1,000 Chinese and foreign people have been attracted to this annual celebration, with the Mayor of Cambridge delivering a gratulatory speech. A variety of fantastic performances, including dancing, singing, acrobatics and magic shows, have taken place in the Corn Exchange located in the Center of Cambridge County. It is, for overseas Chinese, a precious time to unite and enjoy a happy reunion, and for our foreign friends in the UK, an unprecedented chance to be exposed to diverse Chinese culture. More than 60 performers have been devoted to the successful event, in which Li Guangjie, an experienced Chinese mainland actor, Zhu Yunbian, a talented Hong Kong Erhu performer, and LASZLO ATTILA, a rising Hungary music star presented exclusive shows as the gala's special guest-performers. Founded in 1984, the CSSA-CAM has witnessed rapid growth in recent years and has become one of the largest and most influential student-run organizations at the University of Cambridge today. "The association aims to organize top quality events including forums, conferences and talks for students, scholars and the general public in Cambridge; among which the CSSA-CAM Chinese New Year Gala is one of our biggest and best-known annual event", said Cen Zhang, the president of CSSA-CAM. This is the twelfth year that the CSSA-CAM has organized the Chinese New Year Gala since the first in 2004. As I have previously written, a China employer must pay its employee statutory severance when that employee resigns because of the employers failure to pay his or her compensation on time or in full. For example, when an employer owes an employee three months salary, the employee can probably unilaterally terminate the employment relationship and demand all unpaid salary owed to him or her. What constitutes on time payment can often be tricky. Note that in most places in China, employers must pay their employee at least once every month. One question I am often asked is what happens when the employer and the employee contractually agree on a longer payment cycle? In those circumstances, can the employee quit and get statutory severance? The short answer is usually yes. Lets take a look at an actual recent case in Shenzhen. In this case, the employer and employee entered into an employment contract explicitly stating that the employer would pay the employee on the 20th of each month for the employee previous months services. The employer was never late in making payment as per the terms of this contract and the employee never objected to the payment terms. But after working for the employer for a while, the employee quit his job and sued the employer for having failed to timely pay him. The company asserted two defenses to the employees claims: (1) the principle of freedom of contract should apply and the parties written arrangement on the payment cycle should be upheld; and (2) many employers have financial troubles and pay their employees late and making employers strictly comply with this employee payment law would be unduly harsh for China employers. The Shenzhen court found against the employer and for the employee. The court cited the applicable employee payment regulations in Shenzhen, which essentially require pay dates be no later than seven days after any agreed payment cycle. In other words, an employee must be paid no later than by the seventh day following the month in which he or she provided the service. And if for some reason the employer is unable pay by the agreed payment date, it may extend that date for up to five days. If after that the employer is still having financial difficulties, it must obtain written consent from either the labor union or the employee to extend the payment date even further, but in no event may the employer be more than 15 days late in paying. The court went on to say that even though the regulations allow an employer to make late payment under certain circumstances, this is a very specific exception to the general rule and the employer in this case violated the law by routinely paying late without justification and without following the rules for late payment. Because the employer violated the late payment law, the employees termination was caused by the employers failure to compensate him on time. The employee was therefore entitled to tens of thousands of RMB in statutory severance an amount based on the employees total years of service for the employer and his monthly salary. The employer in this case probably never thought it would have to pay this money because it performed its obligations pursuant to the terms of its contract with its employee. There is much to be learned from this case about China employment law, including the following: It pays to have a qualified lawyer conduct an HR audit of your company and to have this done before your employment problems arise. I would estimate that at least 80 percent of the China employment problems for which my law firm is retained involve issues we easily would have spotted with a simple and relatively inexpensive HR audit. But instead of a relatively leisurely and inexpensive audit, we are instead confronting an angry employee (oftentimes employees) who is threatening to sue or has already sued. One of the first things our China employment lawyers do on a China HR audit is to review our clients employment contracts and the employer rules and regulations to make sure what is in those critical documents actually accords with all applicable laws, including most importantly, the local laws. Timely pay your employees and in full. To do this, you need to know what your local jurisdiction means by timely. Many China employment laws cannot simply be contracted away. It is important that you know what can be changed by contract and what cannot be and it is important that you also realize that all of this can vary depending on where you are and even depending on the type of employee with which you as the employer are contracting. Just by way of a quick example, you will generally have more flexibility in contracting with a COO you are paying USD$40,000 a month than with a factory worker you are paying less than USD$40,000 a year. And just to throw in one more that is very much based on a recent employment matter I just handled: just because other employers (especially Chinese employers) get away with it does not mean you will too. I am a retired newspaperman. I am 69 and live in Poca, WV, with my wife of 45 years, Lou Ann. We grew up in Cleveland. Three kids. Grandfather. More on who I am is here. Report all errors to DonSurber@GMail.com The human rights situation in North Korea remains abysmal. So says the most recent report sent by the U.S. State Department to the U.S. Congress. Indeed, the report states that serious human rights abuses committed by North Korea include extrajudicial killings, forced labor, torture, and prolonged arbitrary detention, as well as rape, forced abortions, and other sexual violence. Many of these abuses are committed in the countrys political prison camps, which hold an estimated 80,000 to 120,000 prisoners, including children and family members of the accused. The government also maintains an extensive system of forced labor through its rigid controls over workers and restricts the exercise of freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, association, religion or belief, and movement. There is no independent media in North Korea; all media is strictly censored and no deviation from the official government line is tolerated. Authorities prohibit listening to foreign media broadcasts and take steps to jam foreign radio broadcasts. Various ministries are responsible for modifying television and radio equipment to prevent users from accessing material from overseas and other material deemed illegal by the government. Individuals accused of viewing foreign films are reportedly subject to imprisonment or even execution. This report also details the conduct of persons determined by the State Department to be responsible for the commission of serious human rights abuses or censorship in North Korea. Topping the list is Kim Won Hong, Minister of State Security. According to the 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea report, the Ministry of State Security is implicated in widespread gross human rights violations. It administers the countrys network of political prison camps, where, according to defector testimony and satellite imagery, summary executions and torture are commonplace. Many others share responsibility for the horrific human rights abuses suffered by the North Korean people on a daily basis. With these efforts, we are sending a signal to all North Korean government officials, particularly prison camp managers, interrogators, and defector chasers, that we can and will expose human rights abuses in North Korea. (Photo : Kevin Frayer/Getty Images) The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CDDI) has invited a large number of diplomats to discuss the key measures it has undertaken to sanction erring public officials Advertisement China's anti-corruption campaign has proceeded without letup. Central government officials have briefed about 100 foreign envoys about its efforts to eliminate graft in the bureaucracy. Although the Communist Party of China has been open with its anti-graft investigations, it is the first time the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CDDI) has invited a large number of diplomats to discuss the key measures it has undertaken to sanction erring public officials, reported the China Daily. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Wu Yuliang, deputy secretary of CCDI of the CPC; Xiao Pei, vice minister of supervision; and Liu Jianchao, director of international cooperation bureau of the CCDI led the briefing on China's anti-corruption campaign. In attendance were members of the diplomatic core coming from 113 countries and 13 offices of international organizations in China. During the briefing, the foreign diplomats questioned the Chinese officials and also lauded the country's determined anti-corruption drive, describing it as an "outstanding political accomplishment." According to Leonidas Rokanas, the Greek ambassador to China, the event provided the Chinese government a very good opportunity to demonstrate its openness and transparency. "We have drawn a conclusion that anti-graft work will not impact the economic development," Wu said, as he replied to a query on whether China's anti-corruption campaign will affect the country's economic development. In fact, he explained that such efforts would help regulate the market and maintain a sound order. Wu noted that these anti-graft initiatives are being carried out in accordance with Chinese and international laws. Earlier this month, President Xi Jinping emphasized that the nation's battle against corruption "must go deeper," according to the Jurist. Xi also stressed the need for the Communist Party to carry out the affairs of the state "systematically, creatively and efficiently." Since Xi assumed the leadership of the party in 2013, he has launched a massive anti-corruption campaign in China that has targeted high-level officials who are engaged in illicit activities. Advertisement Tagschina, Anti-corruption, China anti-corruption campaign (Photo : Getty Images) US analysts say a meeting between Chinese President Xi and US President Trump should take place immediately to avert further deterioration of the ties between the two superpowers. Advertisement Chinese President Xi Jinping should reach out to the newly-installed US President Donald Trump "as early as possible" if he wants to save Sino-US relations, US experts said on Saturday, a day after Trump's inauguration. Aside from sending his special envoy to Washington, the analysts said that Xi should plan his meeting with Trump immediately and be an involved leader of the free world by being more proactive in terms of economic trade, the Korean Peninsula crisis, Taiwan, and the South China Sea. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement As a gesture of goodwill, Elizabeth Economy, director of Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, said Xi should start nurturing personal ties with Trump and take steps to repair the relations between the two sides. Personal Meeting "A personal meeting between Xi and Trump will help, but I think it depends on how the meeting goes," she said. Economy said that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to New York to congratulate Trump days after the latter's election victory in November as a "very smart move." The US analyst said that it would be beneficial for both countries if China refrains from angry outbursts and instead creates avenues for more dialogues between the two superpowers. Several foreign relations analysts have suggested that Xi and Trump should meet at the G20 Summit in July. A former national security adviser to former Vice President Dick Cheney, Stephen Yates, said the earliest meeting that could be set between the two leaders would be at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation in Vietnam in November. First Chance "The first chance for the presidents to meet probably would be at the Apec summit in Vietnam in November," he said. Yates, who is known for his close ties with the Trump administration, said the new US President would likely forgo the G20 Summit in Germany, but it would be ''unusual' for the president to not attend the APEC forum. "But it would be really unusual if he did not attend Apec. On the margins of Apec, it would be the latest opportunity for a face-to-face meeting to take place," he said. Yates said Xi is highly unlikely to be invited to Washington this year citing the difficult arrangements that will have to be made during formal state visits. Advertisement TagsPresident Xi Jinping, President Donald Trump, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, G20 summit, Washington, Beijing Pope Francis during the interview with EL PAIS on Friday. L'Osservatore Romano On Friday, just as Donald Trump was being sworn into office in Washington DC, Pope Francis was granting EL PAIS a long interview at the Vatican, during which he called for prudence in the face of widespread alarm over the new US president. For an hour and 15 minutes, inside a modest room in Casa de Santa Marta, where he lives, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who was born in Buenos Aires 80 years ago and is on his way to completing his fourth year as Pontiff, explained that in the Church there are saints and sinners, decent men and corrupt men, but that what worries him the most is a Church that has been anesthetized by mundanity, one that is far removed from the problems of the people. The hallmark of the Church is its proximity to people. We all are the Church Francis showed himself to be up to speed not just on what is happening within the Vatican, but also in the southern border of Spain or in the tough neighborhoods of Rome. He says that he would love to travel to China as soon as they send an invitation and that, even though he sometimes slips up, his only revolution is the Evangelical one. The drama of the refugee crisis has affected him greatly - that man cried and cried on my shoulder, with the life-jacket in his hand, because he hadn't managed to rescue a four-year-old girl as much as the visits he has made to women who were sold into slavery by prostitution mafias in Italy. He still does not know whether he will die as pope or will opt for the open road of Benedict XVI. He admits that sometimes he has felt used by his Argentinean countrymen, and he calls on Spaniards to do something that looks easy but is not: Talk to one another. Question. Your Holiness, after nearly four years in the Vatican, what is left of the street priest that came from Buenos Aires to Rome with the return ticket in his pocket? Answer. He is still a street priest. Because, as soon as I can, I still go out on the streets to greet people at the general audiences, or when I am traveling... my character has not changed. I'm not saying that is a deliberate thing: it has been a natural process. It is not true that you have to change once you get here. To change is unnatural. To change at 76 is tantamount to putting on makeup. Perhaps I cannot do everything I want, but my street soul is alive, and you can see it. Q. In the last days of his papacy, Benedict XVI said about his last years at the helm of the Catholic Church: "The waters ran troubled and God seemed asleep". Have you felt that loneliness too? Was the Church hierarchy asleep with regard to people's problems, both new and old? The pope drinks mate during an audience in Rome on August 31, 2016. Stefano Spaziani (EL PAIS) A. Within the Church hierarchy, or among the Catholic Church's pastoral agents (bishops, priests, nuns, laymen), I am more afraid of those who are anesthetized than of those who are asleep. I am talking about those who are anesthetized by mundane affairs. They sell out to mundaneness. That is what worries me. Everything is seemingly calm, everything is apparently quiet, everything is going right...that is too much order. When you read the Acts of the Apostles, Saint Paul's epistles, it was a mess, there were troubles, people were on the move. There was movement and there was contact with people. An anesthetized person is not in touch with people. He protects himself against reality. He is anesthetized. Nowadays there are so many ways of anesthetizing oneself against daily life, aren't there? Maybe the most dangerous illness for a pastor is the one produced by anesthetics, and that is clericalism. I am over here and the people are over there. But you are those people's pastor! If you don't take care of those people, if you give up on taking care of those people, then you should pack your bags and retire. Q. Is there a part of the Catholic Church that is anesthetized? A. It is a risk that we all run. It is a danger, it is seriously tempting. Being anesthetized is easier. Q. It is a better life, a more comfortable life. A. That is why, rather than those who are asleep, I worry about those who are anesthetized as a result of that mundane spirit. A spiritual mundanity. I am always struck by the fact that Jesus Christ, during the last supper, when he prays to his Father on behalf of his disciples, he does not ask "Keep from breaking the Fifth Commandment, keep them from killing, from breaking the Seventh Commandment, keep them from stealing". No, he says: "Keep them from the evils of the world, keep them from the world". A mundane spirit has a numbing effect. When that happens, the pastor becomes a civil servant. And that is clericalism, which is the worst evil that may be afflicting today's Church. Q. The troubles that Benedict XVI faced towards the end of his papacy, and which were contained inside that white box that he gave you in Castel Gandolfo, what are they? A. A very normal sample of daily life within the Church: saints and sinners, honest people and crooked people. Everything was in there! There were people who had been questioned and were clean, there were workers... Because here, inside the Curia, there are some true saints. I like to say it. We talk too easily about the level of corruption in the Curia. And there are corrupt people. But there are also many saints. Men who have spent all their lives serving people anonymously, behind a desk, or in conversation, or in a study...Herein there are saints and sinners. That day, what struck me the most was holy Benedict's memory. He said: "Look, here are the records of the proceedings, inside the box". "And here is the sentencing of all the individuals. So-and-so, he got that much". He remembered everything! What an extraordinary memory. And he still retains it. Barack Obama visits Pope Francis in Rome on March 27, 2014. STEFANO DAL POZZOLO/CONTRASTO/VA (Vatican Pool) Q. Does he feel all right, health-wise? A. His head is fine. His problem are the legs. He needs help to walk. He has an elephant's memory, even in nuances. I may say something and he goes: "No, it wasn't that year, it was that other year." Q. What are your main concerns with regard to the Church and the world in general? A. With regard to the Church, I would say that I hope that it never stops being close to people. A Church that is not close to people is not a Church. It's a good NGO. Or a pious organization made up of good people who meet for tea and charity work... The hallmark of the Church is its proximity. We are all the Church. Therefore, the problem we should avoid is breaking that closeness. Being close is touching, touching Christ in the flesh and blood through your neighbor. When Jesus tells us how are we going to be judged, in Matthew chapter 25, he always talks about reaching out to your neighbor: I was hungry, I was in prison, I was sick... Always being close to the needs of your neighbor. Which is not just charity. It is much more. Hitler didn't steal power, his people voted for him, and then he destroyed his people As for what worries me about the world, it is war. We already have a World War III in little bits and pieces. Lately there is talk of a possible nuclear war, as though it were a card game: they are playing cards. That is my biggest concern. I am worried about the economic inequalities in the world: the fact that a small group of humans has over 80% of the world's wealth, with all its implications for the liquid economy, which at its center has money as a god, instead of men and women. Hence the throwaway culture. Q. Your Holiness, going back to the global problems you just mentioned, Donald Trump is just now being sworn in as president of the United States, and the whole world is tense because of it. What do you make of it? A. I think that we must wait and see. I dont like to get ahead of myself, nor to judge people prematurely. We will see how he acts, what he does, and then I will form an opinion. But being afraid or rejoicing beforehand because of something that might happen is, in my view, quite unwise. It would be like prophets predicting calamities or windfalls that will not come to pass. We will see what he does and will judge accordingly. Always work with the specific. Christianity is either specific or it is not Christianity. It is interesting that the first heresy in the Church took place just after the death of Jesus Christ: the gnostic heresy, condemned by the apostle John. Which was what I call a spray-paint religiousness, a non-specific religiousness...nothing concrete. No, no way. We need specifics. And from the specific we can draw consequences. We are losing our sense of the concrete. The other day, a thinker was telling me that this world is so upside down that it needs a fixed point. And those fixed points stem from concrete actions. What did you do, what did you decide, what moves did you make? That is why I prefer to wait and see. Q. Aren't you worried about the things we have heard up until now? A. I'm still waiting. God waited so long for me, with all my sins... The pope at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem in May 2014. ANDREW MEDICHINI (AFP) Q. For the most traditionalist sectors, any change, even if it is only a change in language, amounts to treachery. At the other end of the spectrum, even for those who will never embrace the Catholic faith, no change is ever enough. You yourself have said that everything has already been written in the essence of Christianity. Are we then talking about a revolution of normalcy? A. I always try I don't know if I always succeed to do what the Gospel says. That is what I try. I am a sinner and not always successful, but that is what I try. The history of the Church has not been driven by theologians, or priests, or nuns, or bishops... Maybe in part, but the true heroes of the Church are the saints. That is, those men and women who devoted their lives to making the Gospel a reality. They are the ones who saved us: the saints. We sometimes think that a saint is a nun that looks up to the heavens and rolls her eyes. The saints are the specific examples of the Gospel in daily life! And the theology that you learn from a saint's life is immense. There is no doubt that the theologians and the pastors are necessary. They are part of the Church. But we must come back to that: the Gospel. And who are the best messengers of the Gospel? The saints. You used the word "revolution". That is a revolution! I am not a saint. I am not making any revolution. I am just trying to push the Gospel forward. In an imperfect way, because I make my blunders from time to time. Q. Don't you think that many Catholics may feel something like the syndrome of the prodigal son's sibling, and may think that you are more focused on those who left than on those who remained and obeyed the Church's commandments? I remember that in one of your trips, a German journalist asked you why you never talk about the middle class, about those who pay their taxes... A. There are two questions in there. The syndrome of the eldest child: I know that those who feel comfortable within a Church structure that doesn't ask too much of them, or who have attitudes that protect them from too much outside contact, are going to feel uneasy with any change, with any proposal coming from the Gospel. I like to think about the owner of the hotel where the Samaritan took the man who was beaten and robbed by thieves along the way. The owner knew the story, the Samaritan had told him: a priest had passed by, he looked at the time, saw that he was late for temple and left the man there, he didn't want to get blood-stained because that would prevent him from celebrating mass according to the law. A lawyer passed by, he looked and said: "I better not get involved, it will make me late, tomorrow in court I will have to testify and... No, it's better not to get involved." As if he had been born in Buenos Aires, he turned his back using that city's slogan: "Better not get involved". And then along came a man who was not Jewish, he was a pagan, he was a sinner, he was deemed the scum of the earth, yet he was moved by the hurt man's plight and he helped him get up. The owner's astonishment was tremendous, because it was unusual. The novelty of the Gospel is astonishing because it is essentially scandalous. Saint Paul tells us about the scandal of the cross, the scandal of the Son of God becoming man. It is a good kind of scandal, because Jesus condemns the outrage against children too. But the evangelical essence was scandalous by those days' criteria. By any mundane criteria, it is a scandalous essence. So the eldest child syndrome is the syndrome of anyone who is too settled within the Church, the one who has clear ideas about everything, who knows what must be done and doesn't want to listen to strange sermons. That is the explanation for our martyrs: they gave their lives for preaching something that was upsetting. That is your first question. As for the second one: I didn't want to answer the German journalist right away, but I told him: I am going to think about it, you may be somewhat right... I am always talking about the middle class, even without mentioning it. I use a term coined by the French novelist Malegue, who talks about "the middle class of sanctity". I am always talking about parents, grandparents, nurses, the people who live to serve others, who raise their kids, who go to work... Those people are tremendously saintly! And they are also the ones who carry the Church onward: the ones who earn their living with dignity, who raise their children, who bury their dead, who care for their elders instead of putting them into an old people's home: that is our saintly middle class. From an economic point of view, these days the middle class increasingly tends to vanish, and there is the risk that we will take shelter in our ideological caves. But this "middle class of sanctity": the father, the mother who celebrate their family, with their sins and their virtues, the grandfather, the grandmother, with the family at the center, that is "the middle class of sanctity". That was a great insight on the part of Malegue, who writes a sentence that is really impressive. In one of his novels, Augustine, an atheist asks him: "But do you believe that Jesus Christ is God?" He is presenting the problem: Do you think that the Nazarene is God? "For me, it is not a problem", is the protagonist's answer, "the problem would have been if God hadn't become the Christ". That is "the middle class of sanctity". My concern is for women to give us their thinking, because the Church is female, it is Jesus Christs wife, and that is the theological foundation of women Q. Your Holiness, you have mentioned the ideological caves. What do you mean by that? What are your concerns in this regard? A. It is not a concern. I am stating the facts. One is always more at ease in the ideological system that he has built for himself, because it is abstract. Q. Has it been exacerbated in recent years? A. It has always existed. I would not say it has been exacerbated, there has also been much disappointment in connection with that statement. I think there was more [polarization] in the period before World War II. I think. I haven't given it much thought. I am putting things together... In the restaurant of life you always get many ideological dishes. You may always take refuge in that. They are shelters that prevent you from connecting with reality. Q. Holy Father, over the course of these years, during your trips, we have seen you get moved by others and in turn you have moved many who listened to you... There are three very special occasions: once in Lampedusa, when you asked whether we had cried with the women who lost their children to the sea; in Sardinia, when you spoke about unemployment and the victims of the global financial system; in the Philippines, over the tragedy of the exploited children. What can the Church do about it, what is being done, and what are governments doing? The pope with Fidel Castro during a visit to Havana in September 2015. Alex Castro (AP) A. The symbol I proposed for the new Migrations office in the new structure, I took directly over the department of Migrations and Refugees, with two secretaries is an orange life jacket, like the ones we all know. During a general audience, there was a group of people working to rescue refugees in the Mediterranean. I was passing through, greeting people, and a man had one of those things in his hands and he started to cry on my shoulder, and he sobbed: "I wasn't able to do it, I didn't get to her in time, I wasn't able to do it." And when he calmed down a little he told me: "She wasn't more than four years old. And she went down. I am giving this to you." This a symbol of the tragedy that we are living. Q. Are governments rising to the occasion? A. Everyone does what they can or what they want to do. It is very hard to pass judgment. Undoubtedly, the fact that the Mediterranean has become a graveyard is food for thought. Q. Do you feel that the way you reach out to the margins, to those who suffer and are lost, is a welcome attitude, considering it is accompanied by a machine that is perhaps used to a very different pace? Do you feel that you and the Church go at a different pace? Do you feel support? A. I think that, fortunately, the responses are generally good, very good. When I asked the parishes and the schools in Rome to take in immigrants, many said that it had been a failure. It is not true! It was not a failure at all! A high percentage of Rome's parishes, when they didn't have a big house or they had a very little one, they had their parishioners rent an apartment for an immigrant family. In convent schools, whenever there was room, they welcomed an immigrant family... The answer is that we have done more than you know, because we haven't advertised it. The Vatican has two parishes and each parish has an immigrant family. An apartment at the Vatican for one family, another for the other one. The response has been constant. Not a 100% response, I don't know the proportion, I think maybe 50%. Then there is the problem of integration. Each immigrant constitutes a very serious problem. They are fleeing their country, because of hunger or because of the war. They are exploited. Take Africa: Africa is the symbol of exploitation. Even when given their independence, in some countries, they are the owners of their land on the surface, but not underground. So they are always used and abused... The migrant reception policy has several phases. There is an emergency phase: you have to welcome them, because otherwise they will drown. Italy and Greece have led by example. Even now, Italy, with all the problems caused by the earthquake, still provides care. They come to Italy because it is the nearest shore, of course. I think they also get to Spain through Ceuta. But rather than staying in Spain, most of them tend to go north in search of better opportunities. Q. But in Spain there is a fence in Ceuta and Melilla, so they cannot go through. A. Yes, I know. And they want to go north. So the problem is: welcome them, yes, for a couple of months, give them accommodations. But the integration process must start at some point. Receive and integrate. The role model for all the world is Sweden. Sweden has nine million people. Of those, 890,000 are "new Swedes", children of immigrants or immigrants with Swedish citizenship. The Foreign minister I think it was her, the one who came to send me off is a young woman, the daughter of a Swedish mother and a father from Gabon. Integrated immigrants. The problem is integration. When there is not integration, ghettos spring up. I am not blaming anyone, but it is a fact that there are ghettos. The young men who committed the atrocity in Zaventem [airport] were Belgian, they were born in Belgium. However, they lived in an immigrant neighborhood, a closed neighborhood. So the second phase is the key: integration. So much so that, what is the big problem for Sweden now? It isn't that they don't want any more immigrants to come, no! They can't get enough of the integration programs! They wonder what else they can do to get more people to come. It is astonishing. It is an example for the whole world. And it is nothing new. I said it right from the start, after Lampedusa... I knew of Sweden because of all the Argentinians, Uruguayans, Chileans who went there in the era of the military dictatorships and who were welcomed there. I have friends who went there as refugees and who live there. You go to Sweden and they give you a healthcare program, papers, a residency permit... And then you have a home, and the following week you have a school to learn the language, and a little bit of work, and you are on your way. In that respect, Sant'Egidio in Italy is another model to follow. The Vatican is in charge of 22 [migrants], and we are taking care of them, and they are slowly becoming independent. The second day, the kids were going to school. The second day! And the parents are getting gradually settled in an apartment, with a bit of work here, a bit of work there... They have instructors to teach them the language... Sant'Egidio has that same attitude. So, the problem is: urgent rescue, of course, for everyone. Second: receive, welcome as best as possible. Afterwards, integrate. Q. Your Holiness, half a century has passed since many significant events happened: the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI's trip to the Holy Land and his embrace with the Patriarch Athenagoras. Some people say that in order to know you, one must know Paul VI. He was up to a point the unappreciated Pope. Do you also feel that way, like an uncomfortable Pope? A. No, no. I think that I should be less well understood because of my sins. Paul VI was the unappreciated martyr. (...) Evangelii gadium, which frames the pastoral principles that I want for the Church, is an update of Paul VI's Evangelii Nuntiandi. He is a man who was ahead of history. And he suffered a lot. He was a martyr. There were many things that he wasn't able to do, he was a realistic person and he knew that he wasn't able to and he suffered for it, but he offered us his suffering. He did what he could. And the best thing that he did was planting the seeds. The seeds of things that history collected afterwards. Evangeli Gadium is a mix of Evangeli Nuntiandi and the Aparecida document. Things that developed from the bottom up. Evangeli Nuntiandi is the best post-Council pastoral paper, and it is still relevant. I don't feel unrecognized. I feel accompanied by all kinds of people, young people, old people... There are some who don't agree, of course, and they have the right not to, because if I felt bad because someone disagrees with me, I would have the germ of a dictator in me. They have the right to disagree. They have the right to think that the path is dangerous, that the outcome may be bad, they have the right. But provided that they talk, that they don't hide behind others. Nobody has the right to do that. Hiding behind others is inhumane, it is a crime. Everyone has the right to debate, and I wish we would all debate more, because it creates a smoother connection between us. Debating unites us. A debate in good faith, not with slander nor things like that. Q. You don't feel uncomfortable with power? A. But I don't have the power. Power is something that is shared. Power exists when we make decisions that have been meditated, talked about, and prayed over; prayer helps me very much, it is a great support to me. I don't feel uncomfortable with power. I feel uneasy with certain protocols, but that is because I come from the streets. Q. You haven't watched TV for 25 years now, and you were reportedly never were very fond of journalists. Yet you have reinvented the whole communication system of the Vatican, you have professionalized it and have made it into a dicastery [a department of the Curia]. Are media that important for the Pope? Is there a threat against the freedom of the press? Can social media be detrimental for the freedom of the individual? A. I don't watch television. I simply felt that God was asking that of me. On July 16, 1990 I made that promise, and I have not broken it. I have only been to the television center that was next to the archbishopric to watch a couple of films that I was interested in, which I thought would be appropriate for my message. I used to love the movies, I had studied a lot about cinema, most of all the Italian cinema of the postwar period, Italian realism, and the Polish director Wajda, and Kurosawa, and several French directors. But not watching TV didn't prevent me from communicating. Not watching TV was a personal decision, nothing more. Communication comes from God. God communicates. God has communicated with us throughout history. God doesn't exist in isolation. God communicates, and has spoken, and has accompanied us, and has challenged us, and has made us change course, and He is still with us. You cannot understand Catholic theology without God's communication. God is not static up there, watching how people have fun or ruin themselves. God gets involved, through the word and through his flesh. And that is my starting point. I feel a little afraid when mass media don't express themselves with an ethos of their own. For instance, there are ways of communicating that, instead of helping, weaken unity. A simple case in point: a family that is having dinner without conversation, because they are watching TV or the kids are with their phones, texting people who are somewhere else. When communication loses the flesh, the human element, and becomes liquid, it is dangerous. It is very important for families to communicate, for people to communicate, and also in the other way. Virtual communication is very rich, but there is a risk if it is lacking human, normal, person-to-person communication. The concrete element of communication is what will make the virtual element take the right course. We are no angels, we are concrete individuals. Communication is key and must go forward. I have spoken about the sins of communication in a lecture I gave in Buenos Aires at ADEPA, the association that bring together Argentinean publishers. The chairmen invited me to a dinner in which I gave this lecture. I signaled the sins of communication and said: don't commit them, because you have a great treasure in your hands. Today, communicating is divine, it always was, because God communicates, and it is also human, because God communicated in a human way. So, for functional purposes, there is a dicastery to channel all this. But it is a functional thing. Communication is essential to the human being, because it is essential to God. Q. The Vatican's diplomatic machine works at full capacity. Both Barack Obama and Raul Castro thanked it publicly for its work during their rapprochement. However, there are other cases such as Venezuela, Colombia or the Middle East, which remain blocked. In the first case, the parties have even criticized the Vatican's mediation. Do you fear that the Vatican's image may suffer for it? What are your instructions in these cases? A. I ask the Lord that he give me the grace of not taking any measure for the sake of image alone. Honesty and service, those are the criteria. You may make mistakes sometimes, your image will suffer, but it doesn't matter if there was goodwill. History will judge afterwards. And there is a principle, a very clear one for me, that must govern everything both in pastoral action and in Vatican diplomacy: we are mediators, rather than intermediaries. We build bridges, not walls. What is the difference between a mediator and an intermediary? The intermediary is the one that has a real estate business for instance, who looks for someone who wants to sell a house and for someone who wants to buy one, he helps them reach an agreement and he gets a commission, he renders a good service but he always gets something out of it, and rightly so because it is his job. The mediator is the one who wants to serve both parties and wants both parties to win even if he loses. Vatican diplomacy must be a mediator, not an intermediary. If, throughout history, it has sometimes maneuvered or managed a meeting that filled its pockets, that was a very serious sin. The mediator builds bridges that are not for him, but rather for others to cross. And he doesn't charge a fee. He builds the bridge and then he leaves. That is to me the image of Vatican diplomacy. Mediators, rather than intermediaries. Bridge builders. Q. Will that Vatican diplomacy extend soon to China? A. In fact, there is a committee that has been working for years with China, they meet every three months, once here and once in Beijing. There are many talks with China. China has always had that aura of mystery that is fascinating. Two or three months ago they had an exhibition of pieces from the Vatican Museums in Beijing, and they were very happy about it. And next year they will come to the Vatican with their own exhibits. Q. And will you soon be going to China? A. As soon as they send me an invitation. They know that. Besides, in China, the churches are packed. In China they can worship freely. Q. Both in Europe and in America, the repercussions of the crisis that never ends, the growing inequalities, the absence of a strong leadership are giving way to political groups that reflect on the citizens' malaise. Some of them the so-called anti-system or populists capitalize on the fears of an uncertain future in order to form a message full of xenophobia and hatred towards foreigners. Trump's case is the most noteworthy, but there are others such as Austria or Switzerland. Are you worried about this trend? A. That is what they call populism here. It is an equivocal term, because in Latin America populism has another meaning. In Latin America, it means that the people for instance, people's movements are the protagonists. They are self-organized. When I started to hear about populism in Europe I didn't know what to make of it, until I realized that it had different meanings. Crises provoke fear, alarm. In my opinion, the most obvious example of populism in the European sense of the word is Germany in 1933. After [Paul von] Hindenburg, after the crisis of 1930, Germany is broken, it needs to get up, to find its identity, it needs a leader, someone capable of restoring its character, and there is a young man named Adolf Hitler who says: "I can, I can". And Germans vote for Hitler. Hitler didn't steal power, his people voted for him, and then he destroyed his people. That is the risk. In times of crisis we lack judgment, and that is a constant reference for me. Let's look for a savior who gives us back our identity and let us defend ourselves with walls, barbed-wire, whatever, from other people who may rob us of our identity. And that is a very serious thing. That is why I always try to say: talk among yourselves, talk to one another. But the case of Germany in 1933 is typical, a people who were immersed in a crisis, who were searching for their identity until this charismatic leader came and promised to give their identity back, and he gave them a distorted identity, and we all know what happened. Where there is no conversation... Can borders be controlled? Yes, each country has the right to control its borders, who comes in and who goes out, and those countries at risk from terrorism or such things have even more of a right to control them, but no country has the right to deprive its citizens of the possibility to talk with their neighbors. Q. Do you see, Holy Father, any sign of 1933 Germany in today's Europe? A. I am no expert, but, with regard to today's Europe, let me refer you to three speeches I have made, two in Strasbourg and the third one on the occasion of the Charlemagne prize, the only award I have accepted because they insisted a lot due to the situation Europe was in, and I accepted it as a service. Those three speeches contain what I think about Europe. Q. Is corruption the great sin of our times? A. It is a big sin. But I think that we must not think of ourselves as historically exclusive. There has always been corruption. Always and right here. If you read about the history of the Popes, you will find some nice scandals... And that is just to mention my own house and not talk about others. There are examples of neighboring countries where there was also corruption, but I will stick to my own. There was corruption here. A lot. Just think of Pope Alexander VI, and Lucrezia with her [poisoned] "teas". Q. What news are you getting from Spain? What feedback are you getting about the way your message, your mission, your work is being received in Spain? A. What I just got from Spain are some polvorones [shortbread] and turron de Jijona [nougat] that I am going to share with the boys. Q. Ha ha. In Spain there is a very lively debate on secularism and religiousness, as you already know... A. Very lively indeed... Q. What do you think about it? Is it possible that the secularism process, in the end, will force the Catholic Church out to the margins? A. Talk amongst yourselves. That is the advice I give to every country. Please talk. Have a fraternal conversation, if you feel up to it, or at least in a civilized way. Don't hurl insults at each other. Don't condemn before talking. If, after the conversation, you still want to insult the other guy, alright then, but first talk. If, after the conversation, you still want to condemn the other guy, alright then, but first talk. Today, with our level of human development, politics without talking is inconceivable. And that applies to Spain and elsewhere. So, if you ask me for advice for the Spanish people, I say: talk. If there are problems, first talk. Q. It is no surprise that your words and your decisions are followed with special interest in Latin America. How do you see that continent? How do you see your own country? A. The trouble is that Latin America is suffering the effects which I emphasized in Laudato Si of an economic system that has the money god at its center, and that means policies that lead to a lot of exclusion. Which leads to a lot of suffering. It is obvious that Latin America today is the target of a strong attack from economic liberalism, the one I condemn in Evangelii Gaudium when I say that "this economy kills". It kills with hunger, it kills with a lack of culture. Migration flows not just from Africa to Lampedusa or Lesbos. Migration also flows from Panama to the Mexican-U.S. border. People migrate in search of something, because liberal systems don't give them job opportunities and foster criminality. In Latin America there is the problem of the drug cartels, drugs that are consumed in the United States and Europe. They make them for the rich countries here, and they lose their lives in the process. And there are those who do it willingly. In my homeland we have a term to describe them: cipayos. It is a classic, literary word that is included in our national poem. The cipayo is the one who sells his homeland to the foreign power who pays him the most. In the history of Argentina, for instance, there has always been a cipayo among the politicians. Or some political position worthy of cipayos. Always. So Latin America must re-arm itself with political groups that will recover the strength of the people. The biggest example for me is Paraguay after the war. The country lost the War of the Triple Alliance and was left almost entirely in the hands of women. And the Paraguayan woman felt that she had to rebuild the nation, defend her faith, defend her culture and defend her language, and she did it. The Paraguayan woman wasn't a cipaya, she defended what was hers, and she repopulated the country. I think that she is the most glorious woman in the Americas. That is an example of someone who never gave up. Of heroism. In Buenos Aires there is a neighborhood on the banks of the Rio de la Plata, where the streets bear the names of patriotic women, women who fought for independence, for their homeland. Women have better sense. Maybe I am exaggerating. Correct me if I am. But they have a stronger inclination towards defending their homeland because they are mothers. They are less cipayas. They are less at risk of being cipayas. Q. That is why it hurts so much to witness all the violence against women, which is such a scourge in Latin America and so many other places... A. Everywhere. In Europe... In Italy, for instance, I have visited organizations that rescue female prostitutes who are being taken advantage of by Europeans. One of them told me that they had brought her in from Slovakia in a car trunk. They tell her: you have to earn such and such today, and if you don't bring it in, we will beat you. They beat her. In Rome? The circumstances of these women, in Rome, is terrifying. In the house that I visited, there was a woman that had had an ear cut off. When they don't earn enough, they are tortured. And they are trapped because they are frightened, the abusers tell them that they are going to kill their parents. There are Albanians, Nigerians, even Italians. One very good thing this association does is that they walk down the streets, approach the women and, instead of asking how much do you charge, how much do you cost, they ask: How much do you suffer? And they take them to a safe community so that they may recover. Last year, I visited one of those communities with recovering girls, and there were two men there, two volunteers. And one of the women said to me: I found him. She had married the man who had rescued her and they were eager to have a child. The use of women for profit is one of the worst things that are happening today, also in Rome. It is female slavery. Q. Don't you think that, after the failed attempt of Liberation Theology in Latin America, the Catholic Church has lost a lot of ground to other denominations and even sects? What is the reason for it? A. Liberation Theology was very positive for Latin America. The Vatican condemned the part that adopted a Marxist analysis of reality. Cardinal Ratzinger conducted two inquiries when he was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. One about the Marxist analysis of reality. And a second one that recovered some positive aspects. Liberation Theology had positive aspects and also deviations, mainly as concerns of the Marxist analysis of reality. Q. Regarding your relationship with Argentina, in the last three years the Vatican has become a pilgrimage destination for politicians of all colors. Have you felt used? A. Ah, yes. Some say: let us have our picture taken together, just as a souvenir, and I promise it will be for my personal use, I will not publish it. And before they walk out out the door it is already published. [He smiles]. Well, if that makes him happy, that is his problem. His quality as a person diminishes. What can I do? It's his problem, not mine. In Argentina there always was a lot of travel, but nowadays, coming to a general audience with the Pope is almost mandatory. [Laughs]. There are also those who come who are my friends I lived in Argentina for 76 years sometimes family, nephews and nieces. But I have felt used, yes. There are people who have used me, my pictures, my words, as if I had said things to them, and whenever someone asks me, I always respond: it's not my problem, I didn't say anything to them. But to each with their own conscience. Q. A frequent subject is the role of laymen and, most of all, the role of women in the Church. Your wish is for them to have a bigger influence and even a role in decision-making. How far do you think that you will be able to get? A. We must not look at the role of women from a functional point of view, because that way, in the end, the women, or the women's movement in the Church, will be some sort of chauvinism in skirts. The functional aspect is all right. The deputy director of the Press room at the Vatican is a woman, the director of the Vatican Museums is a woman. But what I want is for women to give us their thinking, because the Church is female, the Church is Jesus Christ's wife, and that is the theological foundation of women. What was more important on Pentecost, the Virgin or the apostles? The Virgin. There is a long way ahead yet, and we must work so that women may give to the Church the freshness of their being and their thinking. Q. On some trips, you have addressed the churchmen, both from the Roman Curia and from the local hierarchies or even common priests and nuns, to ask them for more commitment, more proximity, even a better mood. How do you think they receive that advice, that rebuke? A. My focus is always on proximity, closeness. And it is well received in general. There are always more fundamentalist groups in every country, also in Argentina. They are small groups and I respect them, they are good people that prefer to live their faith that way. I preach what I feel that the Lord asks me to preach. Q. In Europe there is an increasing number of priests and nuns originating from the so-called Third World. What is the reason for this? A. A hundred and fifty years ago, in Latin America, there were growing numbers of European priests and nuns, same as in Africa and Asia. Young churches expanded. In Europe today there are no births. Italy has a rate below zero. I think that France is leading the way now, thanks to all the natality laws. But there are no births. The Italian welfare of years ago cut down births. We'd rather go on vacation, we have a dog, a cat, we don't have children and, if there are no births, there are no callings. Q. In your consistories you have created cardinals from all over the world. How would you like the next conclave to be, the one that will elect your successor? Your Holiness, do you think that you will witness the next conclave? A. I want it to be Catholic. A Catholic conclave that chooses my successor. Q. And will you see it? A. I don't know. That is for God to decide. When I feel that I cannot go on, my great teacher Benedict taught me how to do it. And if God carries me away before that, I will see it from the afterlife. I hope it will not be from Hell... But I want it to be a Catholic consistory. Q. You seem very happy to be a Pope. A. The Lord is good and hasn't taken away my good humor. Translation from Spanish by Maria Luisa Rodriguez Tapia, editing by Susana Urra. (Photo : YouTube) Fata Morgana over Yueyang. Advertisement For the second time in three months, a mysterious "floating city" has appeared in the skies above a Chinese city. The massive and ephemeral city that suddenly appeared this week in the skies over the city of Yueyang in Hunan province along the southern shores of Dongting Lake caused panic among some residents and was caught on videos later uploaded online. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement One of the videos can be viewed here. The videos triggered an expected response from UFO true believers in China and abroad, who said the floating city was a gigantic alien mothership that revealed itself for some reason or other. In October 2016, another "floating city" was viewed hovering in the sky above the city of Foshan in Guangdong province. Foshan lies on the Fen River in the estuaries making up the west side of the Pearl River Delta. A well known UFO hunter emphasized the apparition was really an alien mothership and that aliens seemed to be very interested in China for some strange reason. "I believe that this is a UFO mothership that is using the China smog problem for its own benefit so that it can make a rare appearance by flying low and doing some serious research on the humans in Yueyang city," said Scott Waring. Well, scientists who saw the videos say there's nothing alien about it. What they saw, and what everybody else who either saw the "alien city or mothership" in person or on videos, was a fairly common natural illusion that goes by the ungainly name of "Fata Morgana." Fata Morgana is a phenomenon in which distant objects appear to look like gigantic. The optical phenomenon occurs because rays of light are bent when they pass through air layers of different temperatures in a steep thermal inversion in which an "atmospheric duct" has formed. A thermal inversion is an atmospheric condition where warmer air exists in a well-defined layer above a layer of significantly cooler air. A Fata Morgana requires a duct to be present. Thermal inversion alone isn't enough to produce this kind of mirage. While a thermal inversion often takes place without there being an atmospheric duct, an atmospheric duct cannot exist without there first being a thermal inversion. Advertisement TagsFloating City, Yueyang, Foshan, china, UFO, alien mothership, Fata Morgana (Photo : Russian Navy) The Russian support facility at Tartus. Advertisement Russia will soon begin work on expanding its small naval facility at the Syrian port city of Tartus along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea into a heavily defended enclave protected by more surface-to-air; anti-ship missiles and aircraft from the Russian Aerospace Forces. The Syrian and Russian governments signed an agreement on Jan. 18 offering Russia free use of Tartus for 49 years. The term can be automatically extended for further 25-year periods if neither side objects. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement The deal allows Russia to modernize its "Material-Technical Support Point," its technical term for its Tartus facility, so it can host up to 11 Russian Navy ships at a time, including nuclear-powered ones. Russia will also beef-up the air defense and sea defense systems protecting Tartus. The Soviet Union first signed a deal with Syria to establish the facility in 1983. Russian media said the agreement "will make it possible for Russia to control the entire Mediterranean region, the Middle East, North Africa and NATO's southern border more confidently." "The mere fact of the presence of Russian warships and submarines, especially those armed with Kalibr cruise missiles, will make it possible to keep control of the entire region and repel any threats," said Igor Korotchenko, the editor-in-chief of the National Defense journal. "Naturally, it will be a major factor to deter unfriendly actions against Russia by any regional and international players." The public relations spin, however, is the Russian facility at Tartus will help "support peace and stability in the region," adding that "it has a defensive character and isn't directed against any other nation." Tartus is the Russian Navy's only Mediterranean repair and replenishment facility. It can accommodate four medium-sized vessels but only if both of its 100 meter floating piers are operational. It can't host any of the Russian Navy's major warships, however. Russia has used Tartus to back its campaign in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad against fighters battling to oust him in the Syrian Civil War. Advertisement TagsRussia, Tartus, Mediterranean Sea, Syria, Russian Navy home US AFA calls on Christians to fight 'forced acceptance' of homosexuality, abortion The American Family Association (AFA) has called on Christians in the U.S. to be involved in the area of public policy and in the fight against the "forced acceptance" of homosexuality and abortion. "Since the dawn of creation God's people have viewed all forms of sexual deviancy and the murder of innocent life as two horrific sins that cannot be accepted in the public square, much less in our churches," AFA assistant to the president Walker Wildmon stated on Wednesday. "Christians have been in the cross hairs of this agenda and in return it has caused some to shrink back in order to avoid public shaming," he continued. Wildmon said that the Church has itself to blame for its passiveness, but he expressed his hope that Christians would become more active in the public arena. He identified abortion, school choice and religious freedom as some of the public policies in which Christians can put pressure on politicians. He argued that Christians have been marginalized by the government over the past eight years and noted that florists, bakers and pastors have lost in anti-discrimination cases in court due to their refusal to serve gay weddings. He noted that members of the congress have proposed a legislation that would prevent the federal government from taking legal action against people who would not compromise their religious beliefs when it comes to same-sex marriage. Wildmon stated that there is a strong chance that Roe v. Wade will be overturned when President-elect Donald Trump appoints a pro-life justice to the Supreme Court. He urged Americans to pressure lawmakers to strip taxpayer funding from Planned Parenthood and its affiliates. On the issue of school choice, Wildmon expressed his support for voucher programs, which allow parents to use public funds to send their child to private schools. He contended that the program would create competition between school and districts, which, he said, would improve the quality of education for the children. "If the Church in America will awaken spiritually and become engaged, not only in the local church but also in the public arena, we could see some positive changes take place in America in the near future," he wrote. home World Chinese human rights lawyer suffers from severe trauma after 18 months in detention A Christian human rights lawyer in China is now suffering from severe psychological and physical trauma after being detained for 18 months. Li Chunfu became a well-known a human rights lawyer when he represented 200 miners in Hebei in their demand for safety at work, Asia News reported. He was taken into custody on Aug. 1, 2015 and was placed under house arrest for six months. He was later charged with "inciting subversion of state power" and jailed in January 2016. Li was finally granted bail on Jan. 5 this year and was formally released on Jan. 12. Just days after his release, his lawyer friends took him to a hospital in Beijing for a medical check-up. Li has shown signs of deep psychological and physical trauma. His sister-in-law, Wang Qiaoling, said that he was able to recognize his relatives, but he was having difficulties forming coherent sentences. The lawyer has become fearful and paranoid, according to Human Rights Watch. He was too afraid to enter his home when he first arrived, but he is now fearful of leaving. When he saw his wife using the phone, he gripped her tight around the neck and growled: "Who are you calling?! You want to harm me!" Li is one of over 300 human rights lawyers and advocates that were arrested by the authorities across China in July 2015. Most have been released, but four remain detained, and two have been imprisoned. Those who were released on bail were forced into silence. According to China Aid, Li told his wife upon his release that he was subjected to medical examinations almost daily while he was held in an unofficial "black jail." China Aid's president and founder, Bob Fu, condemned the Chinese regime's treatment of Li and other human rights lawyers. "This is a barbaric act against humanity that is in absolute violation of international standards that prevent arbitrary detention and torture and protect of human rights defenders," he said. China Change, an organization devoted to civil rights cases in China, expressed fears that many of Li's colleagues might also be subjected to torture and violence. The group has called on the international community to launch an investigation into cases of extreme abuse. home World Churches near Jordan River to be cleared of land mines Pilgrims will be able to visit the churches on the western bank of the Jordan River soon after the area is cleared of booby-traps and land mines. The Halo Trust, a Scottish-based charity that has cleared minefields across the globe, is raising $4 million to make the site safe for visitors. The river banks were littered with thousands of mines when Israel and Jordan were at war. The two nations made peace in 1994, but many years have passed before mine clearing began. While the Gospel of John refers to "Bethany beyond the Jordan" without further details, both nations have claimed that John the Baptist met Jesus on their side of the river. In an attempt to bolster its claim, Jordan opened its site in 2002, showing remains of ancient churches and writings of pilgrims down the centuries. It was declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO In 2015. The site in the West Bank, which was opened in 2011, has more visitors than the Jordanian site, but its churches remain off-limits to pilgrims. The Halo Trust stated that it would take two years to clear the small churches along 100 hectares (247 acres) of land that belongs to Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. The charity noted that the Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian authorities have expressed their support for the project. Christians already flock to be baptized on the cleared area at Qasr al-Yahudi, which is about a kilometer (half-mile) away from the mined area. In recent years, on the Jordanian side of the river, where Christians also conduct baptisms, several churches from different sects have been built to welcome pilgrims. "Over 450,000 tourists from all over the world come to visit this site every year and Halo believes that after (the church area) is cleared and rebuilt, the local economy will benefit," Halo's West Bank project manager Ronen Shimoni told Reuters. Last week, about 4,000 Catholics attended a special mass on the Jordanian side of the river in an annual pilgrimage to the site. "This is a religious and national holy day, the anniversary of the baptism of Jesus Christ," Archbishop Maroun Lahham, Patriarchal Vicar for Jordan, told the worshippers, according to AFP. According to Halo, some of the seven church buildings were boobytrapped by Israel after it captured the West Bank in the 1967 war. The bombs were planted to help secure its frontier against infiltration from Jordan. "We are expecting to find around 4,500 targets. Most are anti-tank mines, but there are also anti-personnel mines and a few hundred unexploded ordnances, abandoned explosives, and improvised devices inside the churches," said Michael Heiman of Israel's Defence Ministry. home US Donald Trump inauguration drew nearly 31 million U.S. television viewers Nearly 31 million viewers watched live U.S. television coverage of Donald Trump's presidential inauguration, fewer than tuned in to Barack Obama's first swearing-in, but otherwise the biggest such audience since Ronald Reagan entered office, ratings firm Nielsen reported on Saturday. The tally for Trump - 30.6 million viewers on 12 broadcast and cable networks that aired live coverage from about 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST - surpassed the TV audiences measured for his two most recent Republican predecessors - both inaugurations of George W. Bush and the one of his father, George H.W. Bush. The 2009 inauguration of Obama, who became the nation's first African-American president that year, was watched by nearly 38 million viewers, the second-highest number since Nielsen began compiling such figures with Richard Nixon's 1969 oath of office. Only Reagan drew a bigger U.S. TV inauguration audience, with nearly 42 million viewers tuning in to see the California Republican sworn in for his first term in 1981. Just 25 million watched Reagan take his second oath of office four years later. Trump's total was greater than both swearing-ins of Democrat Bill Clinton - 29.7 million and 21.6 million - and the second inauguration of Obama, who drew an average audience of over 20.5 million in 2013, Nielsen said. George W. Bush holds the distinction for having the least-watched inauguration in Nielsen's historical data - 15.5 million viewers in 2005 after he defeated John Kerry for his second term in the White House. That was down sharply from the 29 million who tuned in for Bush's first oath in 2001, following his contested election victory over Al Gore. The elder Bush by comparison averaged 23.3 million viewers. Nixon, a Republican, was the only two-term president since Nielsen began compiling such records to draw a bigger audience in his second inauguration than his first, rising from 27 million in 1969 to nearly 33 million in 1973. The only Democrat besides Obama to ever score more inauguration viewers than Trump was Jimmy Carter, with 34.1 million viewers watching his 1977 swearing-in, according to Nielsen. home US St. Louis archbishop vows to defy city's pro-abortion ordinance St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson said that he would defy a proposed city ordinance that would force Catholic institutions to become unwilling participants in the abortion business. Board Bill 203, filed by Alderwoman Megan Green on Dec. 2, seeks to amend the city's anti-discrimination law and add pregnancy and reproductive health decisions as protected classes. The proposal would prohibit employers, organizations and individuals from discriminating against people who make decisions related to abortion, birth control or artificial reproduction services, Catholic Philly reported. The measure does not exempt churches, religious organizations or individuals with conscientious objections. In a statement published on Jan. 10, Carlson expressed his concern that the bill would allow the city to fine Catholic charities of schools if they refuse to employ people who publicly promote abortions. He noted that Catholic institutions could also be fined if their insurance plans do not cover abortions. "As the shepherd of the faithful Catholics of this region, let me be clear that the Archdiocese of St. Louis cannot and will not comply with any ordinance like Board Bill 203 that attempts to force the Church and others to become unwilling participants in the abortion business. There is no room for compromise on such a matter," the archbishop wrote. He urged the Board of Aldermen to defeat the bill, which is now being considered by the city's Housing, Urban Development and Zoning Committee. Green and Alderwoman Christine Ingrassia have stated in December that they were partnering with NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri to make St. Louis a "sanctuary" for abortion, following Trump's election. Ingrassia has expressed plans to file a bill that would create a buffer zone at the driveway entrance of Planned Parenthood in St. Louis. Missouri Right to Life released a statement on Jan. 4, describing the efforts as a measure to "take away certain citizens' ability to exercise their constitutional right to freedom of religion and freedom of speech." Carlson condemned the legislative efforts to make the city as a sanctuary for abortion. "This is not what our city should stand for; rather, St. Louis should be a sanctuary for life and compassion, especially compassion for mothers and their developing children," he stated. home US Tony Perkins slams Obama State Department for rise in Global Christian persecution Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council (FRC), has said that the rise in Christian persecution worldwide in recent years can be blamed on the "misplaced priorities" of the State Department under outgoing President Barack Obama. In an interview with The Christian Post on Wednesday, Perkins pointed to the 2017 World Watch List released by Open Doors USA, which stated that the persecution of Christians abroad has increased for the third year in a row. He claimed that the Obama State Department's policies of promoting abortion and the LGBT movement in other countries had a negative impact on religious freedom worldwide. Perkins criticized the State Department for funding efforts to legalize abortion in some African countries. He also pointed out that the Obama administration has tied foreign assistance funds to a government's willingness to embrace the LGBT movement. He said that the State Department's promotion of the Left's sexual agenda has become systematically ingrained that a new secretary of state might not be able to change the culture in the State Department. Rex Tillerson, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state, served on the executive board of the Boy Scouts of America when it moved to allow openly gay scout leaders. "[Tillerson] has not addressed that as to why he didn't stand up and defend the Boy Scouts. I am just concerned that whoever comes into the State Department has to have the track record and the courage to be a change agent to return the State Department to the statutorily stated goals of the State Department," Perkins told The Christian Post. "We know that Christians are suffering globally as a result of our State Department's misplaced priorities. That cannot continue. It's going to require a leader who is willing to be criticized, who is willing to be a change agent. I just don't know that is him," he continued. During a Senate subcommittee hearing in March 2015, Perkins stated that the Obama administration's limitations on religious freedoms in the U.S. had an impact on religious freedoms abroad. He argued that the administration's persecution of Christians in the country emboldened the attacks against Christians across the globe. Perkins also claimed that the Obama administration has done very little to help Christians who were victimized by radical Islamic militants. home US Washington school district nixes policy that bans promotion of Good News Club A school district in Leavenworth, Washington has decided to reverse its policy that forbids a Christian organization from distributing flyers promoting the Good News Club to elementary students. The Cascade School District banned Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) from handing out the promotional flyers last year following a parental complaint, The Christian Post reported. The school district stated that CEF was in violation of the School Board Policy 2340(F) which stated, "Material and/or announcements promoting religion may not be distributed by non-students or on behalf of groups or individuals who are not students." However, other youth organizations such as Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Campfire Girls, YMCA and YWCA were not prohibited from disseminating flyers to students in the district. Last October, Richard L. Mast of the Liberty Counsel sent a letter of complaint to the school district, denouncing the policy as unconstitutional. Mast noted that the 2001 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Good News Club v. Milford Central School District case stated that Good News Clubs "must be granted the same access to public school sites as other youth groups engaged in moral and character development such as the Boy Scouts, notwithstanding any religious viewpoint." The school district reversed the directive and eliminated the policy after it was contacted by the Liberty Counsel. "The Cascade School District made the appropriate decision to eliminate the unconstitutional policy and recognize that the Good News Club has equal access to students. Public schools cannot discriminate against Christian viewpoints and allow other organizations to promote their materials," said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. CEF is also set to reopen a Good News Club in elementary schools in Cleveland on Feb 2, after it won a three-year lawsuit against the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD). The school district had previously imposed a facility fee on CEF while allowing free after-school access to non-religious community groups. The Liberty Counsel filed a federal lawsuit against the school district in 2013, seeking equal access to public school facilities for Good News Clubs. The Ohio federal district court ruled that CMSD had violated the constitutional rights of CEF. The court ordered the school to change its policies regarding the use of its facilities and pay the Christian organization $150,000 in damages and attorney's fees. Baptism Wish of Terminal Cancer Patient Granted: She Wants to Get Her 'Heart Right With God' It's never too late to accept Jesus Christ into one's lifeeven when one is on the brink of death. A pastor from Tennessee made sure of this when he recently granted the wish of an elderly patient stricken with terminal cancer who wanted to be baptised at the Saint Thomas River Park Hospital in McMinnville, Tennessee, where she was confined, CBN News reported. Pastor Jeffrey Kelsey of Campaign Church of God in Rock Island performed the special baptism, a video of which was posted on the church's Facebook page on Jan. 17. The unidentified woman, according to Kelsey, said she wanted to be baptised to get her "heart right with God." The pastor said he readily accepted the request conveyed by hospital officials. In the video, the pastor and a hospital aide are seen placing the woman in a hospital bathtub. "It was a therapy pool they use for therapy patients. They had some nice warm water in it," Kelsey said. Explaining the video, the pastor said he first quoted John 3:16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." She repeated the verse after him. Kelsey said he then read to her Romans 10:9-10"If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved." He asked her if she believed, and she replied, "yes." Kelsey then proceeded to lead her in the sinner's prayer and she began to repeat the words, "getting ahead of me, with tears streaming down her face." After the baptism rites, a group of nurses surrounded the woman and prayed. "What a wonderful experience it was, to be called on and then used of God to help lead someone to Jesus!" Kelsey said. The pastor said he hopes that the woman's show of faith will give hope to others. "It's never too late to get your heart right with God. It doesn't matter how old you are or what you've done," he said. Donald Trump, 45th U.S. President, Is 'Secular Cyrus' Prophesied In Isaiah 45, Says Christian Leader The "coincidence" appears hard to ignore: Donald Trump being sworn in as the 45th President of the United States on Friday and the biblical passage Isaiah 45 telling about the arrival of the great leader Cyrus. Cyrus was a king also known as Cyrus the Great, Cyrus II, or Cyrus the Elder who is mentioned more than 30 times in the Bible. As ruler of Persia from 539 to 530 BC, Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to Israel after 70 years of captivity, fulfilling a prophecy made by the prophet Isaiah 150 years before Cyrus was born, according to Bible experts. On Thursday, on the eve of Trump's inauguration, Christian leader Lance Wallnau told a gathering of hundreds of Christians that he firmly believes that God has anointed Trump to be a "secular Cyrus" who, like his ancient Persian counterpart, will usher in an awakening among Americans that will lead to the transformation of the United States, The Christian Post reported. Wallnau, an evangelical business strategist and leader of the Lance Learning Group consulting firm in Dallas, said last year when Trump met a group of evangelical leaders in New York, it dawned upon him that the Republican presidential candidate "had the anointing of a wrecking ball and that he would be able to break things." He said God put Isaiah 45 on his heart and told him that "the 45th president is Isaiah 45." "I said, 'Isaiah 45?' The Lord said, 'The 45th president is Isaiah 45,'" Wallnau told the gathering. "First of all, I went to Google to see if the next president was the 45th and indeed it's the 45th president. Then I went to Isaiah and I read: 'Thus saith the Lord that Cyrus whom I have anointed, I will break open for you the two leaved gates of Babylon and I will drain the river dry.'" "Cyrus, historians say, snuck into Babylon without a fight because He drained the river upstream and marched his soldiers through so they came through the gates without any resistance," he added. Wallnau said this is exactly what Trump himself has done in his rise to power, showing that, just like in ancient times, God has once again "intervened in American politics" for the Church and for Israel. Christian broadcaster and author Cindy Jacobs also spoke during the gathering, saying that God had spoken to her and told her two things that would happen in America. The first being that "God was going to turn the tables in the coming days against those who thought they could take God out of America," she said. "The other thing I heard was that God was going to touch the heart of the millennials. The Holy Spirit is going to have a sweeping move of God," she said. "God is going to sweep the nation. We are going to have a reformation that will lead to the great transformation." Philippines' Rodrigo Duterte Strikes Back At Critical Priests, Asks Them, 'What Is Your Moral Ascendancy?' Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and the Catholic Church are back at each other's throats. The latest clash was apparently triggered when a prominent bishop from Manila blasted Duterte's all-out war against illegal drugs, calling it a "bringer of death," Rappler reported. Speaking on Wednesday at the World Apostolic Congress on Mercy in Manila, Bishop Teodoro Bacani assailed Duterte's war on drugs that has killed more than 6,700 people. Bacani, 77, is the spiritual adviser of the Catholic charismatic group El Shaddai. Duterte's response was swift. Addressing a batch of newly promoted police officers at the Malacanang presidential palace on Thursday, Duterte furiously revived old accusations against the Church, accusing its priests of molesting children, condoning and even participating in alleged homosexual acts, corruption, and failing to understand the country's problems, as reported by the Philippine Star. "When you commit mistakes, it's okay but when we do, no [expletive]? That's stupid," Duterte barked. "What is your moral ascendancy in the Philippines? Religion? What is the meaning of it? You do not help us. You just keep on talking," he added. He recalled the time when a group of bishops asked former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to provide them luxury vehicles. Duterte also raised doubts on what the church is doing with the millions of pesos it collects during masses every week. He also cited clergy sex abuse and the illicit affairs of some priests. He then challenged the church to a "showdown." "You mend your ways. If you cannot even give justice to the small boys that you have molested in the past, you do not have that moral ascendancy to lecture (me) on what to do," Duterte said. He also cited the alleged homosexual acts happening inside seminaries and the alleged failure of the church to improve the lot of its faithful. "What will you do with the homosexuality in your seminaries? What have you done to the children there?" he asked. "You are in palaces while your faithful are in squatters' areas and then you talk about sanctity [of life]? Look at your mirror." Ironically, Duterte's no-holds-barred attack on the church came a day after one of his top advisers met Pope Francis at the Vatican and said the Pontiff had told him he would bless the Philippines, and "also bless your president," Reuters reported. Reacting to Duterte's latest tirades, Archbishop Ramon Arguelles defended his fellow priests and bishops, saying, "Even a sick doctor must still try to cure ailments of others and, of course, his [Duterte] too." In an interview quoted by the news service of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines on Friday, Arguelles explained: "Churchmen are not perfect. Nevertheless, they are supposed to proclaim what is right and proper even if they themselves fall short of what they teach." "The fault of some should not be blamed on all," he added. Pope Francis On Trump Presidency: 'Wait And See' Pope Francis has warned against rising popularism and the danger of crises allowing rulers such as Hitler to sweep to power. But the head of the Catholic Church also urged followers not to judge Donald Trump too quickly. The pontiff made the comments in a wide ranging interview published on Sunday by the Spanish newspaper Le Pais. He said he would wait to see the new US President's specific policies before coming to an opinion on him. But at the same time he warned Europeans against populism, saying they should not repeat the same mistakes as in the 1930s when they turned to "saviors" to resolve the economic and political crisis only to end up at war. "Crises provoke fear, alarm. In my opinion, the most obvious example of European populism is Germany in 1933... A people that was immersed in a crisis, that looked for its identity until this charismatic leader came and promised to give their identity back, and he gave them a distorted identity, and we all know what happened," the Pope said. "In times of crisis, we lack judgment, and that is a constant reference for me... That is why I always try to say: talk among yourselves, talk to one another," he added. On Friday, as Trump was taking office, Francis had urged him to be guided by ethical values, saying he must take care of the poor and the outcast during his time in office. But on Sunday said: "I think that we must wait and see. I don't like to get ahead of myself nor judge people prematurely. "We will see how he acts, what he does, and then I will have an opinion. But being afraid or rejoicing beforehand because of something that might happen is, in my view, quite unwise. It would be like prophets predicting calamities," he said. During the presidential campaign Francis point blank denied Trump was a Christian if he pursued policies of deporting unregistered immigrants and building a wall on the border with Mexico. "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not the gospel," he said during the election campaign. Francis extended warm greetings to Trump after he was sworn in as the 45th US President on Friday. In a message sent from the Vatican the pontiff said: "At a time when our human family is beset by grave humanitarian crises demanding far-sighted and united political responses, I pray that your decisions will be guided by the rich spiritual and ethical values that have shaped the history of the American people and your nation's commitment to the advancement of human dignity and freedom worldwide." He added: "Under your leadership, may America's stature continue to be measured above all by its concern for the poor, the outcast and those in need who, like Lazarus, stand before our door." Queen's Chaplain Quits After Speaking Out Over Cathedral's Qur'an Reading One of the Queen's chaplains is stepping down after he spoke out against a Qur'an reading in a cathedral in Glasgow. The Rev Canon Dr Gavin Ashenden announced he would resign after the Queen's intervened over his outspoken opposition to the issue. "After a conversation instigated by officials at Buckingham Palace, I decided the most honourable course of action was to resign," he wrote in a blog post on Saturday. It comes after he criticised the decision by Rev Kelvin Holdsworth, Provost of St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow, for inviting a reading from the Islamic holy book at the Epiphany service on 6 January. The recitation included verses which explicitly denied that Jesus was God's son a key Christian doctrine. Ashenden called for Holdsworth to apologise and hinted he should quit his post. "Some people will wonder if he has sufficient theological astuteness to remain in such a responsible office in times as fraught as these?" he wrote in a blog post. "Our interfaith relations require both integrity and competence. The strategy in Glasgow appears to have been short of both." Announcing his resignation after nine years as one of the Queen's 34 chaplains, he said he realised "a very important convention that the Queen should not be drawn into publics affairs where she is deemed to be taking a position". He added it was often wrongly assumed that he, as chaplain, had the Queen's confidence. "It does the Queen no good at all for it to be assumed by any of the public, or the fourth estate, that she does have a view that is being expressed by someone connected with her," he wrote. "That being the case, I could most easily avoid any misunderstanding by not speaking out in the public space on matters of faith that I took to be important. This would have the effect of silencing me and prohibiting me taking part in public debate. "On the other hand, if I did choose to speak out, as a matter of integrity and responsibility, I ought not to do it while I was in possession of the office of 'Chaplain to the Queen'. "Because I think it a higher and more compelling duty to speak out on behalf of the faith, than to retain a public honour which precludes me doing so at this time, I resigned my post." Theresa May: I'm Not Afraid To Tell Trump He's Wrong Prime Minister Theresa May is not afraid to tell Trump when he says something wrong, she insisted on Sunday. The two world leaders are due to meet in Washington on Friday, making the UK Prime Minister the first world leader to meet him since he was sworn in as President. In an interview with the BBC she said she would use to opportunity to discuss a US-UK trade deal as well as NATO and defeating terror. May, who is Britain's second female premier, made the comments after thousands of women marched in London on Saturday to protest about Trump's attitude to women, joining demonstrations held from Australia and Asia to continental Europe and Washington. "I've already said that some of the comments that Donald Trump has made in relation to women are unacceptable, some of those he himself has apologised for," May told the BBC. "When I sit down (with Trump) I think the biggest statement that will be made about the role of women is the fact that I will be there as a female prime minister ... Whenever there is something that I find unacceptable I won't be afraid to say that to Donald Trump." The meeting on Friday will be an opportunity for May, who initially struggled to build relations with Trump's team, to discuss what has long been called the "special relationship" between London and Washington, a pillar of British foreign policy. But the visit will also be clouded by his perceived attitude towards women, including a boast in a 2005 video about grabbing women's genitals, which prompted the wave of mass protests on Saturday. Vietnamese Buddhist Farmer Turns to Christ and Becomes an Evangelist After Jesus Heals His Wife The miraculous healing of one woman in Hanoi led to a remarkable Christian awakening in predominantly Buddhist Vietnam led by a farmer named Dao Sanh. Recalling how it all began, Dao Sanh said in August 1996 his wife, Han, suddenly suffered a series of violent and painful convulsions resulting in the paralysis of the right side of her body, according to God Reports. He sought the help of Buddhist monks who chanted prayers and healing mantras for his wife. But their prayers were useless as his wife remained paralysed and had great difficulty in talking. Days later, a group of Christian missionaries arrived. They prayed over Dao Sanh's wife Han. Lo and behold, three days later, Han rose from her sick bed, completely healed. The Buddhist couple was amazed and overwhelmed upon being told for the first time about Jesus Christ, the Son of God who was sent to earth to sacrifice Himself on the cross so that the world could be saved and was later resurrected. Dao Sanh and his wife eventually embraced Christ, fully giving their lives to Him. The power of the Holy Spirit was such that Dao Sanh even felt the call to preach the gospel to the hundreds of villages in Hanoi and surrounding areas. Even without formal training, he went to the market and began preaching. At first he was ignored and then derided as a crazy man and a fanatic. But Dao Sanh persevered, driven by his passion for Jesus. He began attracting people who listened to him attentively. His listeners grew in number, causing Buddhist leaders to feel threatened. They filed complaints to the police who subsequently arrested him for "causing a disturbance, inciting rebellion, threatening the public." He was later released from prison, with a warning never to preach again. But the next day, he was back at his usual spot in the market, preaching the gospel to a crowd of people. The police arrested and detained him a number of times but were unable to stop him from preaching each time he was released. He was intermittently arrested and jailed for 13 years. Being locked up in prison did not prevent him from preaching. In fact his evangelisation work was made even easier since he literally had a captive audience in prison. Many released prisoners returned to their homes as new men reborn in Christ, thanks to Dao Sanh's work. Vietnamese officials were at a loss on how to stop him from preaching, since he could do it even inside prison. They eventually decided to release him andto Dao Sanh's utter amazementeven gave him a "licence" to preach Christianity, not just in Hanoi but throughout Vietnam. The following year after his release from prison, Dao Sanh and his fellow evangelists were able to build 60 new churches. Dear Abby: I have had a best friend for more than 20 years. We met when we were 18 and have been inseparable ever since. I was best man in his wedding, and when his first child was born, I traveled six hours to be at the hospital when "Sara" was born. I have never missed a birthday or Christmas. When my friend announced they were moving from Ohio to Arizona, I knew I couldn't be away from him and his family, so I moved as well. I have no family of my own, and I adore his two girls. Well, Sara turned 13 this year and like most teenagers, she's distancing herself from her family and even more so from me. At family get-togethers, she barely acknowledges me when I say hi or ask how she's doing. She wants nothing to do with me. It breaks my heart. My question is, should I continue to go and support her with her sporting events at school? Do I continue to shower her with birthday and Christmas gifts? I tell myself this is just a phase she is going through and one day she will realize that I'm her biggest cheerleader and recognize the love I have for her. On the other hand, I think she's acting like a spoiled brat. How should I handle this? Un-Uncle in Arizona Dear Un-Uncle: I am sure what you are feeling isn't any different than what Sara's parents are feeling right now. I agree that she is probably going through a phase and "just being a teenager." My advice is to give her some space and hope that when she finally pulls out of it she will recognize how lucky she is to have such a loving un-uncle. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you. Dear Abby: My sister and I are senior citizens with health problems, so we share an apartment to minimize expenses and to be sure someone is around if needed. My brother and his wife sometimes socialize with us. The problem is, my brother has a friend. The friend and his wife constantly use foul language. I don't like hearing the F-bomb used as an everyday part of speech. I have tried modeling correct behavior and not cursing, but it hasn't worked. How can I ask them to stop without alienating them and losing my brother and his friend? Appalled in New Jersey Dear Appalled: In recent decades there has been a coarsening of the language many individuals use on a daily basis, and it's regrettable. However, that doesn't mean you must listen to it and remain silent. The next time it happens, tell your brother and his friends that when they use the F-bomb, it makes you and your sister uncomfortable, and ask them to please refrain from dropping it when they are with you. That's not an unreasonable request. DearAbby.comDear AbbyP.O. Box 69440Los Angeles, CA 90069Universal Press Syndicate On his first full day in office, President Donald Trump visited the Central Intelligence Agency's headquarters to express his gratitude for the intelligence community, which he had repeatedly railed against and recently likened to Nazis. What Trump delivered Saturday was a campaign-style, stream-of-consciousness airing of grievances - at the Senate for delaying confirmation of his nominees; at critics for questioning whether he is smart and vigorous; and at journalists, whom he called "the most dishonest human beings on earth" and accused of lying about the size of his inauguration crowd. Trump claimed falsely that the crowd for his swearing-in stretched down the National Mall to the Washington Monument and totaled more than 1 million people. It did not. Trump accused television networks of showing "an empty field" and reporting that he drew just 250,000 people to witness Friday's ceremony. "It looked like a million, a million and a half people," Trump said, falsely claiming that his crowd "went all the way back to the Washington Monument." During his 2009 inaugural address, President Barack Obama's crowd extended that far, and photos from that day show a crowd clearly much larger than the one that showed up for Trump. "It's a lie," Trump said of the crowd estimates for Friday's event. "We caught [the media]. We caught them in a beauty." Trump also misrepresented what happened to the weather during his swearing in. He said he felt a few drops of rain as he started delivering his address, but then, "God looked down and, and he said we're not going to let it rain on your speech.. . .The truth is it stopped immediately." Light rain continued to fall through the first few minutes of the speech - and VIP's at the dais took out ponchos, including former president George W. Bush - and then quit. Trump said there was a downpour right after he finished, which did not occur. Speaking from the lobby of CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, before a wall of stars honoring intelligence officers who died in service, Trump declared, "I have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth, right?" The audience that included about 400 intelligence officers as well as some of Trump's White House aides applauded in approval. At one point, Trump claimed that most of the people in the room had voted for him. "They sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community," Trump said. "I just want to let you know, the reason you're the number one stop is it is exactly the opposite." In fact, Trump repeatedly vilified the intelligence community throughout much of his transition in an attempt to push back against what he saw as politically charged conclusions by the CIA and other agencies about Russia's hacking of Democratic Party emails to interfere with the 2016 election. Trump has taken particular issue with the CIA's determination that Moscow intervened not only to disrupt this country's election, but to help Trump defeat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. At a Jan. 11 news conference, Trump accused U.S. intelligence officials of being behind a Nazi-like smear campaign against him. He has put quotation marks around the word "intelligence" in referring to such officials. And last weekend, for instance, Trump attacked CIA Director John Brennan - who resigned Friday at the conclusion of President Obama's term - in a pair of tweets, suggesting he was "the leaker of Fake News." More for you Twitter says glitch with @POTUS account affected 560,000 Trump journeyed to Langley on Saturday - his first in what aides said would be a series of visits to federal departments and agencies - to show his solidarity with career intelligence officials. "There is nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community and the CIA than Donald Trump," Trump said. "There is nobody." He added, "I am so behind you. I know maybe sometimes you haven't gotten the backing that you've wanted and you're going to get so much backing. Maybe you're going to say, 'Please, don't give us so much backing. Mr. President, please, we don't need so much backing.'" Trump vowed to lead the fight against the Islamic State, a rallying cry for intelligence officers: "We've been fighting these wars for longer than any wars we've ever fought. We have not used the real abilities that we have. We've been restrained. We have to get rid of ISIS." He added, "Radical Islamic terrorism - and I said it yesterday - has to be eradicated, just off the face of the earth. This is evil." Trump delved into the Iraq war, saying: "I wasn't a fan of Iraq. I didn't want to go into Iraq." His statement was at odds with comments he made during a 2002 interview with radio shock jock Howard Sten. Trump also asserted his oft-stated belief that the United States bungled its exit from the country by not taking Iraq's oil. "If we kept the oil, we wouldn't have had ISIS in the first place," Trump reasoned, saying that was how the Islamic State terrorist group made its money. Trump praised his nominee for CIA director, Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., who has yet to be confirmed by the Senate, a process that was delayed Friday by objections from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. "You will be getting a total star," Trump said of Pompeo. "This is a gem." He also asked CIA officers to applaud his national security adviser, former lieutenant general Michael Flynn, who is a controversial figure within the intelligence community. From there, Trump delved into a series of personal grievances. He claimed to "know a lot about West Point" and said his uncle was a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "I'm a person that very strongly believes in academics," Trump said. "They say, 'Is Donald Trump an intellectual?' Trust me. I'm, like, a smart person." Trump, who at 70 is the oldest man sworn-in for his first term as president, went on to say that he feels like a young man: "I feel like I'm 30, -35, 39. Somebody said, 'Are you young?' I said, 'I think I'm young.' " (c) 2017, The Washington Post Throughout Donald Trump's presidential campaign and in the days leading to the inauguration, his statements have been followed closely by local residents for indications of what he may do in office. But area Muslims Americans have a special reason to follow his words and reflect on what they may mean. In the campaign, Trump at one point said he would consider a ban on all Muslim immigration to the United States. Since the election, he has revised some of his statements, leaving many in the Clear Lake Muslim community hoping that his words were just words. Ashma Moosa, who sits on the health committee at the Clear Lake Islamic Center on El Camino Real, chooses to remain optimistic. Throughout the day at the center on El Camino Real, members enter the mosque for prayer, just like they have since the center opened in 2008. Moosa only wears her hijab during prayer but has friends who wear theirs daily outside of a mosque. There have been incidents in Clear Lake of her friends being asked about their hijab, she said, but most local residents are friendly and welcoming. That gives her hope as a Muslim-American living in a Trump presidency. "The Clear Lake Islamic Center is so well-led by our community leader, who always speaks of peaceful messages (that) no matter how people will try to shake you, you know what the truth is," she said. But optimism is accompanied by watchfulness. "Right now, there is some caution because of the rhetoric," said Hamza Reed, the center's administrator. Reed, who moved to the Clear Lake area two years ago, believes Trump may have been pandering to a particular base of voters during the campaign. "We are cautiously optimistic that he will tone down that rhetoric when it comes to action when he becomes the president," Reed said. "That's where we are right now as a community. We can't point to a specific action to what he's done right now." Since 2012, Houston has been home to the largest Muslim-American population in Texas, with Muslims making up 1.2 percent of the city's population. The Clear Lake center serves between 50 to 75 families and represents a diverse group. "We are just part of the fabric of American society, and we are integral and bring value to this society," said Ibrahim Ezghair, the center's associate imam. That won't change after Trump assumes office, Ezghair said. "There is a great portion of our community that are immigrants. I am an immigrant Muslim," Ezghair said. "I came (to the United States) about 20 years ago, and my wife is a convert Muslim. She was born and raised in the U.S. and is a seventh-generation American. "You can see that we are variety of people, we come from different cultures and social values and things like that, but we carry the same faith," Ezghair said. "We are also integrated in this society and carry the same American values like everyone else." Ezghair said that Muslim-Americans have faith in U.S. system of laws and balance of authority. "This is a democratic process, and we have to agree to what the results of the democratic process brings about," he said. Tarek Hussein, an adjunct professor of sociology at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, is president of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Houston Chapter, an organization which focuses on representing Islamic perspectives on national issues. He has been closely watching the potential blueprint of a Trump administration and what it could mean to the Muslim community, citing Trump's choice of Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn as top national security advisor and Jeff Sessions as attorney general, both of whom have been associated with anti-Islamic views. "That of course raises the level of worry and fear among some community members," he said, "but we have confidence in the system, in the court system. This is the greatness of America: there is the law, and you follow the law and you find a way to represent yourself correctly." Ezghair cited the continuing impact of the American civil rights movement as a source of inspiration to the Muslim American community. "We just celebrated Martin Luther King Jr., and it is because of those sacrifices that we are here," he said. "As far as recent comments and campaign promises made by Mr. Trump, it could be that its just campaign promises like all presidents make, and it could be something he is serious about, but like all the other factions of the American society - Muslim-Americans, Mexican-Americans or any other immigrant Americans or minority group like women and the LGBT community - we are concerned about these comments and promises he made and what he's planning to do. But at the end of the day, we are a country of institutions, law and order and constitution, we are not a dictatorship. Yes we're concerned, but that's the extent of it. "We still work and do the things we are supposed to be doing as law-abiding citizens," Ezghair said. "We care about our neighbors and carry the cause of the marginalized and oppressed toward justice for everyone. It isn't rhetorical, its reality and that's what our faith calls us to do." Moosa, 53, who was born in India, moved to the Houston area 25 years ago and with her husband. They run a medical family practice in the La Porte and Friendswood communities. Moosa, a registered nurse, is a cancer survivor who volunteers and sits on the board at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Life experience, she said, has taught her to think outside the box and to be open to possibilities. "Obviously, whatever has been done has not been very pretty, but I think if you look at the flip side of it, there is a lot of good that has come out of it, too," she said. "More people are aware of our culture and religion now. I really think that yes, we will experience some little peaks and valleys while things start up once he is in the White House, but I have a feeling its all going to balance out and its all going to be fine." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Two men died late Saturday when their vehicle lost control on a wet north Houston street. The driver and two passengers were traveling eastbound on Gears Road near T.C. Jester Boulevard about 11 p.m. Saturday at a high rate of speed, deputies told reporters at the scene. The driver lost control of the vehicle and slid across the roadway. The vehicle careened into a nearby home's back fence and rammed into a tree. The driver and front seat passenger died at the scene. The rear passenger, an 18-year-old man, was taken by LifeFlight to Memorial Hermann hospital and was listed in serious but stable condition as of early Sunday. Deputies at the scene said the mix of speed and slippery road conditions likely were contributing factors to the crash. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Frio County officials said they didnt check the background of the 25-year-old consultant they hired to turn things around at their jail, which had been shut down by the state for failing to meet standards in 2015. They contracted with Jordan Jericho Bautista-Gunter and his obscure Pflugerville firm, at $100,000 a month. The jail was reopened and he seemed to be improving things. A couple of months into the contract, though, he was accused of sexual harassment. Then, in January 2016, Bautista-Gunter woke a former jail inmate in the middle of the night and out on the mans porch made him provide a urine sample. Pearsall police figured out that Bautista-Gunter was not a cop and charged him with impersonating one. RELATED: SAPD's tips on how to spot a fake cop And then, federal agents arrested him again, accusing him of transporting prisoners on commercial airliners around the country while carrying a gun. On Friday, Senior U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra sentenced Bautista-Gunter to 65 months in federal prison for being a prohibited person who possessed a firearm, and for illegally carrying a gun on a commercial airliner. A prosecutor said Bautista-Gunter flew with prisoners 21 times. Federal officials did not indicate where the prisoners came from. Bautista-Gunters lawyer said he was doing it as a service for Hays County. Hays County officials could not be reached late Friday to confirm it. RELATED: 3 SAPD officers allegedly duped women into sex with contract for fake investigation Prosecutors tried to get a stiffer sentence by presenting testimony accusing Bautista-Gunter, now 26, of involvement in an alleged murder-for-hire plot for which he was never charged. As it turns out, Bautista-Gunter has spent much of his life playing cop, records show. And he talked like a person who knew how to run a jail, said Frio County Attorney Joseph Sindon. He said the right things, checked the right boxes, Sindon said. As much as everyone here feels pretty silly about this, we weren't the only ones he duped. Read the whole story at ExpressNews.com or in Saturdays Express-News. gcontreras@express-news.net Twitter: @gmaninfedland This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The Trump administration overturned a mortgage-fee cut under a government program that's popular with first-time home buyers and low-income borrowers. The Department of Housing and Urban Development on Friday said the agency is canceling a reduction announced last week while President Barack Obama was still in office. The Federal Housing Administration had planned to cut its annual fee for most borrowers by a quarter of a percentage point to 0.60 percent, effective on Jan. 27. Republicans have argued in the past that reductions put taxpayers at risk by lowering the funds the FHA has to deal with mortgage defaults. A letter from HUD to lenders and others in the real-estate industry, sent after Donald Trump assumed the presidency on Friday, didn't give an explanation of the decision. HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan said the agency would issue a statement soon. Ben Carson, Trump's nominee to lead HUD, FHA's parent agency, said at his confirmation hearing last week that he wasn't consulted before the fee reduction and was disappointed it was announced in Obama's final days in office. The FHA sells insurance to protect against defaults and doesn't issue mortgages. It is a popular loan program among first-time home buyers because it allows borrowers to make a down payment of as low as 3.5 percent with a credit score of 580, on a scale of 300 to 850. The cut would have reduced the annual premium for someone borrowing $200,000 by $500 in the first year. Some housing industry groups lauded the change, saying it could increase home buying by offsetting recent rises in mortgage rates. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Jason Richard Macias left his apartment on Aug. 30, 2011 without his car or cellphone. There's been no sign of the 23-year-old El Paso man since. Police in western Texas are still scouring for information about Macias, whose family reported him missing on Sept. 2, 2011. Police have entered him into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons database. ISLAND MYSTERY: Was that really a missing Connecticut woman seen on South Padre Island? Police say Macias leaving his cellphone behind was out of character for him. Macias has been known to travel to Chihuahua, Mexico and went there a month before he disappeared. But, investigators say, there's no way to know if that trip had any bearing on his disappearance. Macias was last seen wearing a black dress shirt and blue jeans. Anyone who may have information regarding the disappearance of Macias may contact El Paso Police Department's Crimes Against Persons Unit at (915) 212-4000 or EPPD's non-emergency line at (915) 832-4400. >>>Click through the above gallery to see more about the disappearance of Jason Macias and other people reported as missing in Texas. The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p. We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. Cleveland police car.png A man was shot dead Saturday in Cleveland's Fairfax neighborhood. (File photo) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A man was shot dead and another man was shot in the leg Saturday in the city's Fairfax neighborhood, police say. The shooting happened in the 2300 block of East 97th Street and at East 97th Street and Quebec Avenue, Cleveland police spokeswoman Jennifer Ciaccia said. A male victim suffered gunshot wounds to the side and head. He was taken to University Hospitals where he died, she said. The male victim shot in the leg was taken to University Hospitals. His condition is unknown at this time. No arrests have been made. The shooting is a homicide investigation, Ciaccia said. If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Saturday's crime and courts comments section. trump.jpg Guest columnist Amy Hanauer writes that Donald Trump's ascent to the presidency revealed "deep fissures" in race relations both in Ohio and the nation. She points readers to The Race Anthology as a pathway to conversations on the issue. (Tom Ondrey/Plain Dealer/file photo) (Tom Ondrey/Plain Dealer/file photo) Amy Hanauer runs Policy Matters Ohio, a think tank. Guest columnist Amy Hanauer runs Policy Matters Ohio, a think tank devoted to creating a more vibrant, equitable, sustainable and inclusive Ohio. The Race Anthology is available at Guide to Kulchur Press and Hanauer's essay in the book can be found at policymattersohio.org. Donald Trump's ascension reveals deep fissures in America and Ohio. A solid majority of white Americans voted for Trump. A solid majority of African-American, Asian, Hispanic, Muslim and also Jewish Americans did not. Trump won by talking race: calling Mexicans rapists, demanding a Muslim ban, slandering a judge with Mexican parents, telling 8-year-long lies about where our first black president was born. To reunite America, a different conversation about race is essential. Into that need comes a timely book by Clevelanders about Cleveland. A Race Anthology: Dispatches and Artifacts From a Segregated City, now available from the City Club of Cleveland and Guide to Kulchur Press. The contributions are varied - in style, tone, quality - but the book would be compelling for anyone interested in Cleveland's racial history and the joy and pain of our neighbors. The book is accessible from the first entry, a comic by WCPN producer Lawrence Daniel Caswell and artist John G that exposes codes used to describe neighborhood racial change. Some contributions are literary: wrenching poems about violence and racial divides (Ali McClain); angrier, more overtly political verse tackling police brutality through the eyes of a poet (Darius Stubbs); and tough poems, each from the perspective of a black man recently killed by police in America (Mary Weems). An almost wordless, beautiful play by Eric Coble describes a brief encounter between strangers and a performance piece by actors and members of Shaker Heights High School's Student Group on Race Relations, provides a collage on that integrated-yet-segregated school. Michael Houser describes, in a reprinted Facebook post, how he was pulled over, handcuffed, made to kneel, and surrounded by nine Brooklyn officers, guns drawn. Only by repeatedly invoking the trinity of powerful white politicians for whom he has worked (Senator Sherrod Brown, Congressman Tim Ryan and County Executive Armond Budish), is he permitted to leave, the incident chalked up to a careless error. Several pieces are transcripts of City Club conversations, from author Marlon James, Reverends Otis Moss and Jane Campbell, Congressman Louis Stokes, and journalist Jason Riley. They earn a spot here because co-editor Dan Moulthrop's personal passion has made the City Club, which he directs, a compelling center for conversation on racial reconciliation. These submissions should lure readers to his revitalized City Club. Poignant essays by teachers Charles Ellenbogen and Sarah Marcus describe black students from struggling communities whose big dreams are boxed in by constrained realities. They also capture the tragic tininess of some students' aspirations. A chunk of tough-minded policy pieces explore the history of redlining in Cleveland (Jason Reece); Carl Stokes' riveting role in the highway wars that shaped the city (Brad Masi); and past and current economic disparities (I wrote this). Kyle Swenson contributes a beautiful, grim view of what makes a story quintessentially Cleveland. Arthur Chu writes an insider/outsider account of a Black Lives Matter rally. The book ends with a howl of pain and protest from co-editor R. A. Washington. A Race Anthology reveals a city with a troubled racial history and present. But it also exposes us taking on race, engaging talented writers and passionate thinkers in the process. The rest of the country would do well to follow suit. Have something to say about this topic? Use the comments to share your thoughts, and stay informed when readers reply to your comments by using the Notification Settings (in blue) just below. Readers are invited to submit Opinion page essays on topics of regional or general interest. Send your 500-word essay for consideration to Linda Kinsey at lkinsey@cleveland.com. Essays must also include a brief bio and headshot of the writer. Essays rebutting today's topics are also welcome. Cleveland police tape A 43-year-old man was shot in the back Saturday night on the city's East Side, police said. (File photo) CLEVELAND, Ohio - A man was shot in the back Saturday night on the city's East Side, police said. The shooting happened about 8:30 p.m. near the intersection of East 66th Street and Euclid Avenue in the city's Central neighborhood, Cleveland police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said. The victim, a 43-year-old man, was struck in the back. He was taken to University Hospitals in a private vehicle, Ciaccia said. His current condition is unknown. No suspect information was released, and no arrest have been made. This post will be updated if further details become available Sunday. If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section. Scott Pruitt Environmental Protection Agency Administrator-designate, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017, at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. (J. Scott Applewhite) After eight long years, the state of Ohio is on the verge of having a partner at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, rather than an adversary. Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, President Donald Trump's nominee to head the agency, is a fantastic choice. It will take someone with Pruitt's expertise and skills to mend the relationships between the federal agency and its counterparts at the state level. Under the Obama administration, the EPA ignored the unique needs and circumstances of all 50 states, deferring to a radical activist ideology instead. Additionally, the agency exerted authority as if Article I of the Constitution, which spells out the duties and responsibilities of Congress, did not exist. The Obama administration issued a record volume of regulations and red tape, and the EPA was responsible for the three costliest of these regulations. These three rules alone will cost $28.8 billion annually, according to their publication in the Federal Register. What these burdensome rules ultimately do is diminish productivity, kill jobs and stifle economic activity. U.S. Rep. Bob Gibbs of Holmes County The good news is that the EPA encouraged the states to work together. The bad news for the EPA is that this interstate collaboration was to challenge multiple EPA mandates in court. Controversial new carbon rules were found to be so heavy-handed, with little real environmental benefit, and so beyond the agency's legal authority to mandate that 25 states believed legal action against the EPA was their only recourse. In this case, Scott Pruitt petitioned the federal court as did Ohio's own attorney general, Mike DeWine. Pruitt and DeWine were also among the 30 state attorneys general who sued the EPA for its "Waters of the United States (WOTUS)" rule, which unlawfully granted itself the authority to regulate not just "navigable waters," as established under the Clean Water Act, but nearly every drop that falls from the sky. Suddenly, the family farmer who built a pond to water cattle risked daily fines of $37,500 if the new permits and fees were not in order. In fact, the regulations extended to everything from runoff ditches to temporary, rainfall event puddles. Considering agriculture contributes $98 billion to Ohio's economy and provides one out of seven jobs in the state, the impact WOTUS will have on Ohio's farmers cannot be understated. The rule would also create additional outlays for builders and developers that would mean higher costs for community hospitals, schools, and private homes. Both lawsuits, against the WOTUS rule and the carbon rule, are pending and may be rendered moot if the new Trump administration either withdraws or refines the controversial rules. Yet, in suing the EPA in his capacity as Oklahoma attorney general, Pruitt has demonstrated that he will preside over an agency that will regulate sparingly and when appropriate, working with the states as partners and only in a constitutionally prescribed manner. When Pruitt is confirmed, Ohio can expect to work with an EPA administrator who prefers conversation and collaboration to one-size-fits-all regulations and consent decrees. As Oklahoma's attorney general, he reached out across both state and party lines to his counterpart in Arkansas to reduce nitrogen and phosphates contaminating the Illinois River. Solutions had eluded others for a decade. Pruitt persevered and negotiated a binding agreement that is already making the watershed cleaner today. He also represented the state of Oklahoma in litigation against oil and gas companies that derived profits from pollution and defrauded taxpayers. As EPA administrator, Pruitt will protect the environment and take action when standards are not taken seriously. Unlike the Obama administration, he understands that environmental conservation can go hand in hand with the responsible development of natural resources. That's particularly important for us in Ohio, where shale exploration has led to energy discoveries that are reshaping our state's economy. Defending the environment while embracing much-needed business growth in Ohio is a complex challenge. Scott Pruitt's record demonstrates that he's equal to the task and I encourage the Senate to move swiftly to confirm him. U.S. Rep. Bob Gibbs of Holmes County represents Ohio's 7th Congressional District and has been a leader in efforts to reform the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's regulatory authority. ********** Have something to say about this topic? Use the comments to share your thoughts, and stay informed when readers reply to your comments by using the Notification Settings (in blue) just below. Tullamore house.JPG The Cuyahoga Land Bank has decided this home at 3505 Tullamore Road in University Heights should be demolished. (Jeff Piorkowski/special to cleveland.com) UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio -- The Cuyahoga Land Bank has assessed the troubled, vacant home at 3505 Tullamore Road and has decided that the house should be demolished. Mayor Susan Infeld said she got word Friday from the Land Bank that its assessment had been completed and that she immediately had letters delivered to homes on Tullamore Road and those abutting the property on Cedarbrook Road that the home will be coming down. At the City Council meeting of Jan. 17, Infeld told those at the meeting that the Land Bank had acquired title to the property, declared a public nuisance in 2015 and vacant for about six years. The Land Bank then conducted an evaluation as to whether the home should be rehabilitated or demolished. "The whole process will happen very quickly," Infeld said of demolishing the home. "The Land Bank has assured me that it is at the top of their list. "I fully trust the evaluation of the Land Bank. This is their business." The home had fallen into disrepair in recent years. Neighbor Kathy Adams-Case told cleveland.com earlier this month of raccoons living in the house; of a man living in the home after water and electrical power had been shut off; of police chasing a male driver who drove into the home's driveway at the chase's conclusion; and of coming home and interrupting a burglar trying to break into the Case home. "We're humiliated every time we try to have guests over," Adams-Case said, referring to the condition of the neighboring house. On Dec. 19, City Council allocated $14,990 to have the home demolished within 60 days, or by Feb. 17. Vice Mayor Susan Pardee stated at the time that neighbors had put up with the home for too long to ask them to wait any longer. "It's clear that council was correct," Pardee said when asked about the Land Bank's evaluation, "that house needed to come down. I'm especially happy that the neighbors won't have to wait six months or a year, that it will be down within the month." Pardee said that council's motion to tear down the home by Feb. 17 still stands. "The Land Bank has granted the money to tear down the house," she said, adding that she is pleased county money, rather than city money, will be used for demolition. Pardee said council will have to discuss the matter further if the Land Bank decides action can't be taken by Feb. 17. "I'm happy the Land Bank was involved in the process," Pardee said. "Council did the right thing because the neighbors have been asking for a long time to have that house demolished." Infeld advocated having the Land Bank go through its evaluation process. The Land Bank process began in January, 2016, when the city applied for a county demolition grant. Infeld supported allowing the Land Bank to carry out its process, noting that whether rehabilitation or demolition was carried out, the Land Bank would be paying for the action to be taken. "Things are happening as I expected they would," Infeld said. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer strongly defended the crowd size of President Donald Trump's inauguration on Saturday, using his first official briefing as the administration's spokesman to blast the media for what he called "deliberately false reporting." In his maiden voyage as the Trump adminstration's chief press liaison, Spicer harangued the press corps for at least four of the five minutes he stood before them. Primarily, he took them to task on the reporting of the number of spectators present at Inauguration Dayusing assertions that could be easily refuted by publicly available figures. "Yesterday at a time when our nation and the world watched the peaceful transition of power ...some members of the media were engaged in deliberately false reporting," he said. Spicer took issue with a tweet from a reporter, whom he did not name, who posted about the bust of Martin Luther King Jr. being removed from the Oval Officesomething Spicer flatly denied. He saved most of his invective for reporting of the inauguration crowd size relative to the throngs that greeted Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, at his 2009 inauguration. Spicer echoed the sentiments expressed by his boss, who at an appearance at the nation's top intelligence hub also blasted the media. "Photographs of the inaugural proceedings were intentionally framed in a way...to minimize the enormous support that had gathered on the National Mall," Spicer said. He blamed the protective covering on the grass that created "defective highlighting" and made the crowd appear smaller than it was in actuality. He called reporting of numbers of crowd size "inaccurate," saying the National Park Service doesn't put any of those figures out. Yet according to figures issued by Washington's transit authority, Metro ridership during Friday's inauguration was the lowest since at least 2005, The Washington Post reported. By 11 am Eastern, approximately 193,000 trips had been taken on the Metro, compared to 513,000 trips at the comparable time in 2009. Additionally, the grass was covered during Obama's second installation ceremony in January 2013, with media reports and pictures taken at the time showing the lawn at the National Mall covered by protective panels. That said, Spicer still insisted that the inauguration crowd was "the largest audience to ever witness an inaugurationperiod, both in person and around the globe." Spicer video However, Nielsen ratings data showed that an estimated 31 million Americans watched the transfer of power. That figure was also lower than Barack Obama's first inauguration in 2009, when an estimated 38 million watched, and below the record 41 million that watched Ronald Reagan take his oath of office. People withdraw money from an ICBC branch in Beijing. Zhang Peng | LightRocket | Getty Images China has allowed its five biggest banks to temporarily lower the amount of money that they must hold as reserves to relieve pressure in its financial system as demand for cash surges ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) has cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for the banks by a full percentage point, taking the ratio down to 16 percent, the sources said. The central bank's move, its first reduction in RRR in nearly a year, comes after it pumped a record amount of liquidity into markets this week in a bid to avert a cash crunch heading into the country's biggest holiday of the year. Earlier this week, short-term funding costs had spiked to their highest levels in nearly 10 years on fears that liquidity was sharply tightening, sparking a jump in the yuan currency. watch now But China watchers polled by Reuters had not expected a cut in RRR until the third quarter of 2017, as such a move would put more pressure on the ailing yuan. Key funding and money market rates had shown signs of easing on Friday after the PBOC's massive injections, but remained well above normal levels. 'A strange move' "Today's move seems to suggest that liquidity conditions are tighter than authorities' expectations, as capital outflows remain strong," said Zhou Hau, senior emerging markets economist at Commerzbank in Singapore. "But in the meantime, an outright easing will add pressure on the yuan exchange rate as well. That could be the reason behind today's strange move." The central bank will restore the RRR for the five banks to the normal level at an appropriate time after the holiday, according to the sources. "This is a temporary adjustment, and is mainly in response to the cash withdrawal, tax payment and reserve payment. (The RRR) will go back to the normal rate after the Lunar New Year holiday," one source said. watch now No matter where you stand politically, America's new president wants to put policies in place that are likely to have a major impact on taxes, regulationand consumers' wallets. President Donald Trump wants to spur economic growth by enacting a new tax plan that would reduce the current seven brackets down to three. When it comes to business, he wants to cut corporate tax rates from 35 percent to 15 percent. On trade, President Trump has said on the campaign trail that the current deals are hurting American workers. He wants out of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is a trade deal with Asia that has yet to be ratified. In addition, he wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a deal enacted more than 2 decades ago with Canada and Mexico. And with a Republican controlled House and Senate, it raises the question of how likely he'll be able to follow through on his campaign promises. Another open question is what impact those changes will have on individual consumers. "He's going to start on the trade front and the immigration front with some of these executive orders," Politico's Senior Economic Correspondent Ben White told CNBC's "On the Money" in an interview. "He'll start the process of building a wall with Mexico, he'll pull out of that TPP agreement right away, renegotiate NAFTA," White predicted. "The bigger ticket stuff, that's really going to impact Americans, that's going to take a longer period of time." U.S. President Donald Trump is arranging to meet soon with British Prime Minister Theresa May and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, two long-standing U.S. allies concerned about how his presidency will affect their relationships with Washington. Trump will meet on Friday with May in Washington, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Saturday. The meeting will be an opportunity for May, who initially struggled to build relations with Trump's transition team, to discuss what has long been termed the "special relationship" between the two nations, a central pillar of Britain's foreign policy. Trump, who endorsed the British vote to leave the European Union and is friends with May critic Nigel Farage, has said he wants to arrange a swift bilateral trade deal with the United Kingdom. May's office declined comment. Trade will also be part of the agenda for Trump's meeting with Pena Nieto along with immigration and security, Spicer told reporters. The leaders spoke by phone on Saturday and discussed meeting on Jan. 31, he said. Trump has said he wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, signed in 1994 with Canada and Mexico, in order to improve terms for U.S. workers. Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also spoke by phone on Saturday and discussed setting up "additional meetings in the days to come," Spicer said. Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook. Centralia-Hallsville playoff rematch could be different The Panthers won 26-20 on Sept. 2 in the teams' regular-season meeting. But times have changed since then. For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser Theresa May waited to receive a phone call from the victorious Donald Trump. (He rang ten other national leaders first.) She watched as the President-elect suggested via Twitter that Nigel Farage should be Britains Ambassador to America. But she is off to the United States this week as the first leader from abroad to visit the new President. Perhaps the explanation lies in his enthusiasm for Brexit. Maybe it flows from a sentimental attachment to Britain, particularly Scotland. Or maybe it can be found in the fascination of the former Apprentice front-man with optics. He admires Ronald Reagan and todays briefing suggests that he has already cast the Prime Minister as Margaret Thatcher in the docu-drama of his life and times. It could even be that he has spotted the overlap between his thinking and hers. She wants a Global Britain; he America First. But their different responses to globalisation stem from a similar analysis of how it isnt delivering for many people in the western world. Whatever the explanation is, May will want both to keep a certain distance from Trump (who isnt popular here) but simultanously to get up close. She needs his support over Brexit, a trade deal, and commitment to NATO. As we wrote yesterday, Trump and May arent Reagan and Thatcher. They are very different people. There is scope for the meeting not to succeed, since the two have significant policy differences and are strikingly unalike. The President also wants to visit Britain this year. We look forward to him travelling north of the border to meet Nicola Sturgeon. The Sunday Telegraph reports that he wants to tee off with the Queen at Balmoral. Anti-nuclear protests against the proposed Kovvada nuclear plant in Andhra Pradesh are all set to acquire a new momentum in South India following the decision of the local people to join hand with national-level activists of Peoples Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), National Alliance of Peoples Movements (NAPM), National Alliance of Anti-Nuclear Movement (NAAM), Human Rights Forum and Sanjeevini Paryavarana Seva Sangham. Indications emerged following a meeting with local people that agitations would engulf Srikakulam district, where the project is proposed, on the lines of the one organized against the the Kudankulam project in Tamil Nadu. The word has gone around that in case of an accident it is not just the Kovvada village would be affected, but also other neighbouring areas.An action plan, in coordination with civil society organizations and trade unions, was worked out, with plans for a series of protests in February and March. Kumar Sundaram of NMANE said following the civil society meeting that the unsafe, uneconomic, eco-destructive project was being set up set in brazen contempt for the democratic rights and livelihoods of the local communities.The Andhra Pradesh government wants to turn Nellore and Srikakulam districts in the state into a nuclear hub as part of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) plan to generate over 60,000 MW of nuclear power across the country.In Kovvada alone, around 2,400 acres of land is slated to be acquired for the proposed 6000 MW nuclear power plant. Tipped to be Indias biggest, the atomic power plant will have six reactors each with a capacity of 1000 MW each. The construction work for the project would start in 2018 and production would begin by 2024.As of today, the total installed capacity of atomic power in India has not crossed 5,000 MW in the last 50 years.Sundaram said, The US and other western countries are waiting to dump their technology in the country. People should fight against tapping atomic power as many countries, including Sweden and Vietnam, have decided not to depend on atomic power.He added, Shockingly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting with US president Barrack Obama in January 2015, effectively gave away Indian peoples right to sue the nuclear suppliers in case of accident, which will be much more devastating than Fukushima. And still the BJP and its government talks of being nationalists, brandinganti-nuclear and environmental activists anti-national.He was referring to as many as 2,500 fisherfolk of Idinthakarai village, including women, elderly and adolescent, facing sedition charges since 2012 for peacefully opposing the Koodankulam nuclear plant in their vicinity.Centre for Indian Trade Unions' Andhra Pradesh president Ch Narasinga Rao said, NPCIL is yet to obtain site clearance from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board for the Kovvada project, while senior CPM leader B Krishna Murthy added, the nuclear power plant poses a threat to the entire North Andhra region, as it will be established in an earthquake-prone zone.Sanjeevini Paryavarana Seva Sangham convener K Ramam said that the project would lead to heavy financial burden as the State government would be forced to buy atomic power at Rs 10 per unit when solar power was available at Rs 3 per unit in the country.With plans to acquire around 2,400 acres of land for the construction of the project, about 1,500 families of various villages such as China Kovvada, Peda Kovvada, Tekkali and Ramachandrapuram face displacement. President Tran Dai Quang shakes hands with officials from Military Zone 9 (Photo: VNA) While visiting poor households and policy beneficiary families in Thoai Son district in An Giang, President Quang extolled local efforts to achieve positive outcomes in various fields such as investment-trade-economics, agriculture and rural development, tourism, and defense-security. The President affirmed that the Party, State and people always share difficulties with underprivileged households and hope their will become better in the future. He wished ethnic groups in the locality a warm and healthy Tet holiday and more accomplishments in the New Year 2017. The State leader later visited the commemorative site for late President Ton Duc Thang, and the provincial police and border guards. While visiting Military Zone 9 in Can Tho, President Quang praised officers and soldiers for taking good care of Tet for units in border, sea and island areas. He urged the armed forces to increase the assessment and forecast of all possible complicated situations, especially in sea, island and border areas, to promptly detect and prevent all sabotage plots and activities of hostile forces, in addition to proactively reinforcing the people-based national defense and tightening close relations between soldiers and people. The forces must also actively improve defense external work with Cambodia according to the Party and States foreign policies whilst enhancing friendship and solidarity with the army and people of Cambodia to build a shared borderline of peace, friendship, stability, cooperation and common development, he said./. Eventually, they got a partial hit: Damiano Guerinoni was not an exact match, but testing indicated that someone in his family might be. Unfortunately, that family was larger than some entire towns: his father had 11 brothers and sisters. The investigators kept looking, until they finally got a closer match from Damiano's uncle, bus driver Giuseppe Guerinoni. Case closed, right? Not really, since Guiseppe had died 11 years earlier (they got the sample from a postage stamp). His children were tested and cleared, and he had no other offspring that his wife knew of. Continue Reading Below Advertisement Note that we said "knew of." Blitz If he hadn't been dead yet, he would have been soon. Apparently, our driver friend had a rather "active" social life outside the bounds of his marriage, and had a secret son somewhere along the way. Authorities were now looking for a bastard, both figuratively and literally. After putting together an exhaustive list of 532 living women who "Casanova" Guerinoni had or could have slept with, they tested all of them, twice, and found a match with 67-year-old Ester Arzuffi. It turned out that her oldest two children, twins, had been fathered by ol' Giuseppe. The female twin was quickly ruled out, which left Ester's son: 43-year-old Massimo Giuseppe Bossetti. Continue Reading Below Advertisement Police quickly got a DNA sample from Massimo under the guise of a breathalyzer test -- it was a match to the DNA found at the crime scene. He was sentenced to life in prison and, we can only hope, to being punched in the nuts by every single one of the 22,000 people he inconvenienced. Think Nana and Pop-Pop's loving 60-year monogamous relationship is quaint and old-fashioned? First off, sorry for that disturbing image, but we've got some news for you: the monogamous sexual relationship is actually brand new relative to how long humans have been around. Secondly, it's about to get worse from here: monkey sex. On this month's live podcast, Jack O'Brien and the Cracked staff welcome Dr. Christopher Ryan, podcaster and author of 'Sex at Dawn', onto the show for a lively Valentine's Day discussion about love, sex, why our genitals are where they are, and why we're more like chimps and bonobos than you think. Tickets go on sale soon! For more crimes Sherlock probably couldn't solve, check out 8 Unsolved Crimes That Were Clearly Committed By Satan and 5 Creepy Crimes That Raise Endless Unanswered Questions. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and check out The 8 Saddest Real-World Superheroes, and other videos you won't see on the site! Follow us on Facebook, and we'll follow you everywhere. We jointly teach a class on international debt, focusing on what happens when sovereign governments and the entities they control go bust. We love this class, because we work with our students to design a restructuring plan for a country in financial distress, and our students often come up with terrific ideas. This semester, we're focusing on Venezuela, which would involve an enormously complicated restructuring. One reason is that Venezuela has not exactly cozied up to the IMF, which typically plays a key role in a restructuring. To get a sense of the IMF's role and limitations, we asked our students to read Laid Low , Paul Blustein's new book about how the IMF played a part in managing (and mismanaging) the Greek debt crisis. Blustein is a terrific story-teller, with rare access to key players at the IMF and elsewhere. Although we followed the European debt crisis closely, much of what's in Laid Low was new to us. Every crisis is unique. For the Greek crisis, the reason was that it hit Europe, which was supposed to be immune to such things. But the crisis showed that many governments in the "new third world" (to quote Michael Lewis) had over-borrowed to a spectacular degree. Meanwhile, the supposed "grown-ups" in the room--institutions like the IMF, the European Central Bank, the Bundesbank, and the US Treasury--didn't see the tsunami coming. A lesson that emerged from the Greek crisis--and a major theme of Laid Low--is that the IMF and European authorities failed to recognize the depths of the crisis. At first, some European leaders simply refused to acknowledge that a Euro area member could go bust, becoming apoplectic if anyone so much at uttered the word "restructuring." The result was that official actors did not plan for the inevitable. Then, when it was finally acknowledged that Greek debt was unsustainable, projections about what it would take to return the country to sustainability were consistently over-optimistic. "Too little, too late" is not a good recipe for a quick return to financial health. So it is no surprise that Greece is still mired in a debt crisis--only now its debts, formerly in the hands of private investors and relatively easy to restructure--have been heaped on the backs of European taxpayers. It will not be easy to wipe these away (though "creative" accounting may allow European governments to pretend otherwise). It is not unlikely that we will see another sovereign debt crisis in countries formerly thought to be immune. The Italian debt stock is so enormous, and the country's growth so anemic, that we shudder to think of the consequences of a crisis in that country. The institutions that manage such crises need to learn from their past mistakes. With a country like Italy, "too little, too late" could be a recipe for disaster. Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Ba Hung (Photo: VNA) Addressing a pre-Tet celebration in Vientiane on January 20th, Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Ba Hung said 2016 was a significant and eventful year for Vietnam and Laos when both countries overcame numerous difficulties and challenges to obtain remarkable outcomes in various fields such as politics, economics, and defense-security. The year 2017 will continue to be important for Vietnam and Laos as the two nations are celebrating the 55th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties and the 40th anniversary of the signing of the bilateral Treaty of Amity and Cooperation. Governor of Vientiane Sinlavong Khutphaythoune said the Lao Party, Government and people are glad to see attainments that Vietnam has gained in the cause of national defence, construction and development, which will be an important foundation for the country to realise its goal of modernisation and industrialisation soon as well as build a just, democratic and civilised society. He took this occasion to thank the Vietnamese Party, State and people for their valuable assistance in the past and at present, and expressed his belief that the bilateral time-honoured friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive collaboration will continuously thrive for the sake of the two peoples./. Vietnamese Ambassador to China Dang Minh Khoi (Photo: VNA) He made the remark in an interview on January 18th in which he was asked about the information that Vietnam is stepping up land reclamation activities on some islands in the East Sea. He clarified that Vietnam has not increased or reduced activities on its islands, those activities are still the same as before. Some opinions that Vietnam is taking over the role of the Philippines are just personal viewpoints and not in line with Vietnams stance or the reality, Khoi noted. There havent been any countries voicing concern that the activities on islands and rocks conducted by Vietnam would cause any factors of instability. Vietnams stance regarding the East Sea issue is consistent, and it does not intend to replace the role of the Philippines in the East Sea issue, he stressed. He underlined the talks between Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Party General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping earlier this month in Beijing. The two leaders discussed the East Sea issue and reach a common perception. In the joint communique, they said both sides are well aware of existing disagreements, adding that however, how to control disagreements and the situation and not to let them affect relations between the two Parties and countries is an important task. The Ambassador said since 2014, Vietnam and China have held annual negotiations on the demarcation of the waters off the mouth of the Tonkin Gulf, but this problem cannot be solved overnight. He told Phoenix TV that the two sides need to conduct negotiations with adherence to international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and bilateral and multilateral agreements they reached to settle the issues. On the basis of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), Vietnam is ready to promote negotiations to finalise a Code of Conduct in the waters (COC), Khoi added./. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate If you had the ear of President Donald Trump weekly in addition to running a small business, what would you keep top of mind? More than a few business owners in southwestern Connecticut would relish the opportunity to be able to do just that with one of their own on the cusp of having that opportunity in the form of Linda McMahon, Trumps nominee to head the Small Business Administration. On Tuesday, the Greenwich resident and former CEO of Stamford-based WWE (NYSE: WWE) is to field questions from the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship as she seeks confirmation for a spot in Trumps cabinet. Created by Congress in 1953 to ensure small businesses get a fair share of government vendor spending, the SBA also guarantees bank loans in an effort to get lenders to extend credit in borderline cases where they might otherwise pass. President Barack Obama elevated the SBA administrator to a cabinet-level position in 2012. McMahon is slated to replace Maria Contreras-Sweet, who previously ran a bank in Los Angeles. On Friday, local business owners gave their thoughts on what they would like to be able to ask McMahon during this weeks confirmation hearings and the response they would want to hear she plans to take to her own prospective boss at future cabinet meetings. For me, as a small-business owner, its simple: Taxes are killing us, said Jim Ero, owner of Crown Prints, a screen printing, embroidery and custom apparel maker in Norwalk. It seems that small businesses are expected to carry the economy. Big businesses get tax breaks and incentives (and have) tax lawyers and accountants on staff that seek these out. Small businesses may have access to some of these breaks, but the red tape is an exhausting, full-time job that we dont have time for, wearing as many hats as we have to wear as small-business owners. Its stifling. In Danbury, Irene Rocha opened her dress and tailoring shop on Main Street 10 years ago, moving into her current ground-floor retail space two years ago. The increase in rent is just one expense that Rocha has taken on as she has grown her business. She has also hired three employees, which means additional taxes and insurance costs. The rent, insurance, security its a lot, said Rocha, a native of Brazil who is familiar with McMahon from her days working at a dry-cleaning business in Stamford. We need support for small businesses and their employees. The health insurance makes it so difficult. I hope they can find a way to make it more affordable. Like Rocha, mindful of the nations health insurance crossroads and by extension red tape is Bruce Moore Sr., in his role as CEO of Eastern Land Management in Stamford. Health insurance costs continue to escalate with less benefits, Moore said. The small-business community is seeking relief from the increasing bureaucratic regulatory environment we have experienced in the past several years. Small-business owners dont need the government to tell them to increase the minimum wage as we are forced to make these adjustments based on the market (and) economy to maintain a work force. Government needs to understand small-business is the economy. If ever mindful of the bottom line, area business owners also want to see more attention paid on everything from incentives for growth to the SBAs responsiveness to inquiries. The agency runs its Connecticut operations from an office in Hartford. Allen Fedor, owner of Fedor Auto Body in Norwalk, asked McMahon and by extension Trump not to forget that small businesses are truly the backbone of America. I would ask Linda McMahon how she plans on making the SBA more accessible to small business, said Fedor, whose business dates back more than 50 years. I have personally tried to contact the SBA and after hours upon hours of phone calls never got through to anyone with any knowledge. Making the SBA available to truly small mom-and-pop businesses and giving them the help they need should be a No. 1 priority for her. David Lewis, a Stamford resident who is CEO of Norwalk-based OperationsInc, suggested SBA could pick up slack that has been created by Connecticut jettisoning programs, including a job-expansion tax credit that expired in 2014. What will she look at to do on the federal level to help small businesses in a similar way? Lewis said. The answer I hope to hear: In my first year as administrator of the SBA I plan to submit to Congress a proposal that includes tax breaks, credits and incentives for all small businesses who make new hires, as well as extensive tax credits for those who invest in training of their workforce and the retraining of new hires to suit open roles. Suzanne Stillwell, managing director of Jade Marketing Solutions, hopes McMahon will not lose sight of one of her pet causes of the past few years women entrepreneurs. I would hope that she would promote the fact that many women-owned businesses are run women returning the workforce who have previously held high-level positions prior to starting their own companies and are highly valuable to the economy, Stillwell said. In two campaigns to represent Connecticut in the U.S. Senate, McMahon has defended her record against then-opponents Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, neither of whom sit on the Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship. Both plan to be on hand Tuesday, however, to introduce her to committee members. All in all, McMahon can expect an earful Tuesday and beyond but Rocha for one believes McMahon will be listening, and conveying what she hears in White House cabinet meetings going forward. I think shell be good for us, Rocha said. Includes reporting by Dan Freedman. Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-964-2236; www.twitter.com/casoulman This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate If growing the economy is to be a major focus of the Trump administration, one of its top stated goals could have a major impact in the opposite direction, a new study shows. A repeal of the Affordable Care Act without a replacement could cost the nation 2.6 million jobs, with 36,000 of those coming in Connecticut. The study by The Commonwealth Fund and Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University focuses mainly on federal premium tax credits and payments to states for Medicaid expansion. Should the administration repeal those components and not replace them with sound policies, the study shows that job losses in the state would be large in both number and scope. But only 40 percent of the 36,000 lost jobs would come from the health care industry, a finding that surprised the authors of the study. Health care is one-sixth of the total U.S. economy. This will have repercussions across the board, Leighton Ku, director of the Center for Health Policy Research and professor at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, said. The loss of health care jobs was obvious, but these cuts would ripple throughout the entire economy. Ku said other jobs affected would be in construction, insurance, government and other fields. If that hospital or health clinic was going to do a renovation or add another wing, they may not be able to afford these upgrades if revenue falls, he said. People who would have been employed by that renovation architects, construction workers, skilled laborers lose that work. Those losses would, in turn, create job loss in the retail and hospitality industries. The fact that so much trickles down to other sectors was surprising for us, Ku said. Not everyone was convinced. Eugene Buccini, a professor of management at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, said he was skeptical the moment he saw the study. Its typical of studies like this in that they are meaningless, or at best, misleading, Buccini said. Its a snapshot. It sets up certain variables and assumes everything else stays the same. The world is far too complex for everything else to stay the same. There are always confounding variables. Buccini doubted for several reasons that large-scale job losses related to the ACA would take place. The reasons include: as baby boomers age their need for health care becomes greater; small- and medium-sized business that laid off people because of the ACA may hire people back; and the overall economy could improve and offer alternate employment opportunities. A spokesman for Western Connecticut Health Network, which includes Danbury, New Milford and Norwalk hospitals, declined to comment because of the fluidity of the situation. The study also shows that the state would lose $23.3 billion in revenue and taxes from 2019 to 2023, as well as $747.5 million in state and local taxes. Ku said Connecticut would be hit hard because health care and insurance are key industries for the state. Major changes in health care creates major problems for health insurance, he said. The study analyzed the economic impact a repeal of tax credits and Medicaid expansion would have on all 50 states. California stands to lose 334,000 jobs, the most in the nation. Texas, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Florida would all lose more than 100,000. Massachusetts would be the hardest-hit New England state with 57,000 job losses. The Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are looking to repeal the ACA, also known as ObamaCare, and replace it with their own plan, details of which have yet to be released. Federal premium tax credits and the expansion of Medicaid are two provisions likely to be repealed, Ku said. Trump said last week that his plan will insure everybody. He stopped short of revealing details until Tom Price, his nominee for health secretary, is confirmed. If theres a good and effective replacement policy, then there wouldnt be job losses of this magnitude. But we just dont know, Ku said. Theres an amazingly rapid time schedule and we dont know whats in it. The repeal part is pretty straightforward. Its the replacement part thats difficult. Buccini said whatever replacement is put in place would likely mitigate the job losses predicted in the study. We know that something is going to come in and that will lessen the impact, he said. I dont think Connecticut has to worry. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Editors note: Susan Granger is one of the few film critics who grew up in Hollywood. Her father was director and producer S. Sylvan Simon whose credits included Born Yesterday. Grangers reviews combine an insiders grasp of how movies are produced with a down-to-earth sensibility that cuts through the pretenses of films that bore and frustrate her. For more than 30 years, she has been reviewing movies for newspapers in Connecticut, on television and on her popular website susangranger.com. The Westport resident recently gathered together dozens of her favorite movies, ranging from Golden Age classics like Gone with the Wind, to such modern hits as The Social Network, in her book, 150 Timeless Movies. Casablanca (Warner Bros., 1942) When filming began in 1942, this suspenseful, bittersweet melodrama was called Everybody Comes to Ricks, focusing on a man and a woman who were willing to sacrifice their love for each other because it was the right thing to do. As WWII spreads across Europe, thousands of refugees are seeking asylum in Casablanca (Morocco) using political connections or personal influence to obtain exit visas or, better yet, letters of transit to fly to Lisbon, Portugal, en route to America. Ruthless Gestapo officer, Major Heinrich Strasser (Conrad Veidt) and Captain Renault (Claude Rains), the prefect of police, are watching Victor Lazlo (Paul Henreid), an influential Czechoslovakian resistance leader, and his gentle wife, Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), as they visit Ricks Cafe Americain, hoping to obtain those precious papers. Years earlier, Ilsa had a romance in Paris with its mysteriously apolitical proprietor, Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), at a time when she thought Lazlo was dead and thats acknowledged by Ricks piano-player, Sam (hoarse-voiced Dooley Wilson), with their theme song, As Time Goes By. Curiously, neither Bogart nor Bergman was originally cast. Instead, Ronald Reagan was to play Rick with Ann Sheridan, Michele Morgan or Hedy Lamarr as Ilsa. But all that changed when studio exec Hal Wallis decided to transform a stalwart supporting actor named Humphrey Bogart into a romantic leading man and borrow luminous Ingrid Bergman, a Swedish actress who was under contract to David O. Selznick. Written by brothers Julius and Phillip Epstein and Howard Koch (additional material by Casey Robinson), its directed by the versatile Michael Curtiz (The Adventures of Robin Hood, Mildred Pierce, Life with Father) and photographed by Arthur Edeson. And contrary to recollections of some of the performers, there was never any question that the heroine would ultimately leave Casablanca with her husband. Extraordinarily timely, the premiere was held only 19 days after the Allies landed in North Africa, and the film was playing in theaters when Roosevelt and Churchill chose Casablanca as their next meeting site. (On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, Casablanca is a 10.) The Way We Were (Columbia Pictures, 1973) This 1973 romantic melodrama about missed opportunities is the ultimate chick flick, marking the first and only time that equally charismatic Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford ever appeared in a film together. Serious Katie Morosky (Streisand) is an outspoken, left-wing, Jewish New Yorker, while fun-loving Hubbell Gardiner (Redford) is a blue-eyed, blond jock from Virginia. Shes an agitator; hes politically apathetic. With the irresistible attraction of opposites, these ill-fated lovers meet and marry. Determined that Hubbell hone his writing talent, they move to California when he does the screen adaptation of a novel hes written. When Hollywoods commercial demands destroy him, disillusioned Katie files for divorce. Both eventually find more suitable mates before they meet by chance once again in front of New Yorks Plaza Hotel and realize that they can never return to the past. Commissioned by producer Ray Stark, Arthur Laurents wrote the script, modeling it on a Cornell classmate, a member of the Young Communist League named Fanny Price, and his own experiences with Sen. Joe McCarthys House Un-American Activities Committee. Sensitive director Sydney Pollack deliberately emphasized how sweet and sad memories can be. And with incredible tact and acuity, cinematographer Harry Stradling Jr. managed to satisfy both Redfords and Streisands stipulations that in close-ups they both be photographed on their left side. As the film begins, there are two indelible flashbacks: at the Manhattan nightclub El Morocco, Katie spots handsome Hubbell seated at the bar, dressed in navy whites fast asleep, and then, when this insecure, neurotic, unglamorous woman seduces the idealized man of her dreams, she realizes hes so drunk that hell never remember he made love to her. Nominated for six Academy Awards, it won two for music. Although Streisand reportedly loathed Alan and Marilyn Bergmans original lyrics, Marvin Hamlischs title song won an Oscar and turned out to be Streisands No. 1 hit single for an entire year. While sequels were commissioned and considered, none ever came to fruition. So when Redford was introduced at the 2002 Oscars and given an honorary Lifetime Achievement Award, he looked at her, quipping, I guess this is a sequel, huh, Babs? (On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, The Way We Were is a teary 10.) Copyright 2017 by Susan Granger This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate DANBURY - The Bridgeport Dioceses 16-month study of under-enrolled and financially struggling Catholic elementary schools is expected to bring changes in as little as two weeks. In Danbury and neighboring Brookfield, the solution is probably not to shut schools, but to change the way they are managed and to invest in them, Bridgeport Bishop Frank Caggiano said last week. Some of these demographic and financial challenges transcend the ability of one school to overcome them, so a number of these schools have to look to work together, the bishop said. Caggiano could decide as soon as February what to do about diocesan schools here and in two other regions of Fairfield County - Stamford and the Shelton-Monroe area. The changes could include consolidating schools into a single academy, perhaps with multiple campuses, following successful models in Greenwich, Norwalk and Bridgeport. Catholic elementary school enrollment in Fairfield County has dropped from 7,770 students in 2009 to 6,400 students today. The declining enrollment is a function of competition from public schools, the cost of Catholic school tuition, and a decrease in young families participating in parish life and its taking its toll on diocesan finances. It has cost the diocese $21 million to cover school budget deficits since it took over the management of parochial schools in 2000. But the diocese has more in mind than saving money. However we reshuffle the cards, we are still planning on educating the same number of students, said diocese spokesman Brian Wallace. And the systems and resources we put in place will put us in a position to grow. The possibility that some Fairfield County Catholic schools might close or consolidate is causing anxiety in some parishes. Registration is way down - you cant deny that, said Fred Visconti, the chairman of the Parish Council at Saint Peter Church in downtown Danbury and a member of the City Council. But we would hope that any major decision about the school would be done by the parish itself. The bishop responded that everyone involved in studying solutions is on the same side. Catholic education needs to be preserved and needs to have the resources to innovate in a changing world, Caggiano said. My goal is to get back to full enrollment in all our schools. We have about 3,000 empty seats. The diocese has 9,000 students and 1,000 faculty in 31 schools from Bethel to Wilton. But its the 25 elementary schools that have been under review. Danbury and Brookfield together have a total of 890 students in four Catholic elementary schools, all of which are losing money, the diocese said. The average tuition of $6,400 doesnt cover the $7,300 that it costs to educate each child. Even so, the dioceses per-pupil spending is considerably lower than the $12,700 Danbury public schools spend per student, and the $15,400 state average for public schools. The dioceses five high schools, on the other hand, give reason for hope, Caggiano said. Catholic high school enrollment in Fairfield County is up by 75 students since 2009. Danburys Immaculate High School, for example, has seen a 24 percent jump in enrollment in the last four years, to 470 students. The school expects to enroll 500 students in the fall. The high schools are doing their own strategic planning - and Immaculate is going through a renaissance, which is wonderful, Caggiano said. What the high schools are doing, I want to do on the elementary level. The bishop plans to speak with parents during a Jan. 30 meeting in Danbury before making his final decision. In Danbury, I dont anticipate significant change, but schools still have issues to deal with, Caggiano said. In other regions, there may be more significant change. In Stamford, for example, the bishop is weighing a proposal that would create one elementary school out of four schools with a combined enrollment of less than 600. The future The challenges facing Catholic schools come at a time of increasing budgetary and demographic pressure on public schools. Many of Western Connecticuts public school districts are feeling the effects of decreasing enrollment, and the billion-dollar fiscal crisis in Hartford means less state aid is coming their way. Cities such as Danbury are the exception to the decreasing enrollment trend, with annual enrollment growth as high as 2.5 percent in some of its public elementary schools. But steady population growth in Danbury is not translating into parochial school enrollment, the diocese said. Enrollment numbers at the four Catholic elementary schools being studied in Danbury are: Saint Gregory the Great School - 209 Saint Joseph School - 255 Saint Peters School - 249 Saint Joseph School (Brookfield) - 177 Catholic elementary schools are struggling not only because of competition from quality public schools and the diminished numbers of young adults with active faith lives in Fairfield County. The model that many Catholic schools were founded on, when they were built by immigrants and staffed by nuns, is outdated, the diocese said. Todays Catholic schools are staffed by lay teachers with masters degrees, and can no longer afford to charge parents a nominal tuition. In response, the diocese has set up working groups in Danbury, Shelton and Stamford to study ways to stabilize and even increase enrollment. A Danbury parent with three children in Catholic school said she trusts the diocese to do the right thing. I do feel that the bishop is going to do what is best for us, and that his desire is for all children who want to have a Catholic education to have one, said Kate Gibowitz, a homeroom parent coordinator at Saint Joseph School in Danbury. (I)t absolutely starts with the parents to instill a sense of faith in children, but I do like the fact that the reinforcement comes on a daily basis in a Catholic school environment. Once the bishop makes his decision about the shape Catholic schools will take in Danbury, Shelton and Stamford, parents can expect to hear more about an investment initiative launched by Caggiano called the Education Foundation. The foundations purpose is to enhance the diocesan scholarship fund, to establish a professional development program for teachers and to update technology and curriculum in classrooms. This is what it means to be good stewards of the faith, Caggiano said. There is a financial piece to it of course, but we also need to engage in strategic planning so that we can be faithful to our mission and meet the changing needs of our world. rryser@newstimes.com; 203-731-3342 Contributed / Contributed Legrand North America, the global specialist in electrical and digital building infrastructures, has made a $112,500 donation to the American Red Cross disaster relief fund. Headquartered in West Hartford, Legrand initially made a $50,000 pledge in the fall of 2016 and with a match of an additional $50,000 through an employee giving campaign. Legrands donation to Red Cross Disaster Relief was inspired by the relentless disasters the Red Cross had responded to in 2016, in particular the devastating flooding in Louisiana in August of last year. Legrands donation to Red Cross disaster relief will be used to help the Red Cross prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters. Cedar Attanasio / Hearst Connecticut Media BRIDGEPORTA man was struck while crossing the intersection of Iranistan Avenue and State Street Saturday night just before 5:45 p.m. At the scene, a silver Toyota SUV was parked and scrutinized by police officers. TRUMBULL Isha Dalal heard her name called over the intercom in the middle of an ordinary day at Trumbull High School. As she started walking down toward the main office, her mind started to race. I remember that I was a little anxious, she said. Once she walked into the office, surrounded by her principal, Marc Guarino, and her guidance counselor, Dalal got the news. The Trumbull High senior, who is preparing to make her college choice had been named as one of the two delegates to represent Connecticut in the United States Senate Youth Program. It was a very incredible feeling, she said. The program which was created in 1962 selects a pair of students from each state to spend a week in Washington, D.C., attending meetings and briefings with several members of government, including the president. It is sponsored by the Senate and funded by the Hearst Foundation. Each state has its own intense selection process. In Connecticut, that included multiple essays and several rounds of interviews for the finalist, Program Director Rayne Guilford said. It is rigorous, she said. You have to be exceptional and serving in a leadership position where you are determined to serve as a leader to your peers. Students chosen as delegates also receive a $10,000 scholarship with an encouragement to continue their education in some form of government, history or public affairs. After consulting with state officials, Dalal founded a program called Voice, which has a goal of giving students from across the state a larger role in their communities. In the nearly two years since its inception, Voice has grown to 60 students from high schools across Connecticut. Dalal was among about a dozen finalists for the Senate Youth Program. (During) the interview process, she said, youre meeting kids that were incredible and have done so many things. It was just an honor to be selected as a finalist. Along with Dalal, Emily Sullivan of Simsbury High School will be representing Connecticut as delegates. Several U.S. Senators took part in the program when they were students, including Susan Collins, R-Maine and Cory Gardner, R-Colo. Getting the opportunity to participate in the program can open many doors, Guilford said. There are so many different pathways into public service, she said. A lot of them come back to D.C. and work as interns on the Hill. While the second semester of her final year in high school will be ripe with college decisions, making memories, and now a trip to Washington D.C. not getting too overworked is going to be a major priority, Dalal said. Its been a very busy few months, she said. Its just making sure I have a proper balance. AJohnson@hearstmediact.com; A performance at the art programme (Photo: VNA) More than 1,000 expatriates representing more than 4.5 million overseas Vietnamese around the world, along with senior officials and representatives of embassies and international organisations attended the annual programme. Opening the event, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh highlighted the strong and comprehensive implementation of works relating to OVs, noting fruitful assistance to OVs, teaching and learning of Vietnamese, visits to Truong Sa archipelago, youth summer camps and exchanges. This year, the Foreign Ministry and the State Commission on Overseas Vietnamese Affairs will continue working with other ministries and localities to carry out various activities, both at home and abroad, to call for OVs joint efforts in national development, he added. Wishing the expatriates a happy New Year, President Tran Dai Quang reiterated OVs are an integral part of Vietnam, and the Fatherland always welcomes them back. He noted the countrys significant achievements over three decades of reforms, attributing those successes partly to precious material and spiritual support of OVs. He also expressed his delight at the all-round development of OVs, saying many expatriates succeeded in studying, working and doing scientific research and business which has made Vietnam known around the world. OV communities have also gained a foothold in many countries and greatly contributed to their local society. They have also educated their children about the homeland, the Vietnamese language and traditional culture. The President voiced his hope that OVs will keep united to work for national development and for Vietnams friendship and cooperation with other countries. He vowed the best possible conditions for them to return to the homeland and have a better life in foreign nations./. County-specific poll may foretell whether Pa. is going blue or red A performance at the event (Photo: VNA) The event drew the participation of more than 800 representatives of Vietnamese businesses in the Czech Republic. The event also saw the participation of 14 officials and artists from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports. Nguyen Hung, Vice Director of the department, said this was the first time the department had sent an art delegation with traditional music and dance performances to serve the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic./. Hopes of victory for Team Germany in the Nations Cup ROC were resting solely on Sebastian Vettel on Sunday, but that didn't keep the F1 driver from blitzing the field. After a lousy first day in Miami in the individual event, Vettel found himself running solo to defend his country's colors when doctor's orders sidelined Pascal Wehrlein following his massive crash on Saturday. But that may have actually worked to the Ferrari driver's advantage as he benefitted from increased track time and kept himself in the groove throughout the day. Vettel single-handedly dispatched his rivals round after round to put Team Germany in the final with six wins from six races. He was then pitted against Team Nascar's Kurt Busch who had edged out Indycar's Alex Rossi in the second semi-final, although the former was accused of having jumped the start, but no penalty was applied. In Race 1, Germany's one man army continued on its conquering way, Vettel comfortably beating Busch in the ROC Buggy. Rally cars were allocated for Race 2 but while the heat was disputed, Vettel still emerged a flawless and unbeaten winner, collecting his eighth win of the day! Vettel delivered to Germany its seventh Nations Cup ROC win, having won the six others with Michael Schumacher whom he paid tribute to. "We started this journey together, and he was helping me out most of the time in the beginning, so I was able to learn a lot from," Vettel said. "We all would have loved to have him here, so our thoughts are with him. "I was probably smart enough to pay attention when he was teaching me, so it helped today." GALLERY: F1 drivers' wives and girlfriends Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter Ask any member of the last Labour Government and they will tell you it was ultimately destroyed by the asymmetric warfare between its Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and its Chancellor, Gordon Brown. Speak to any member of the David Cameron administration, and they will tell you its first-term success was secured by the unbreakable bond between Cameron and his Chancellor, George Osborne. And now, after a defining week in British and, indeed, global politics has drawn to a close, the relationship between the current Prime Minister Theresa May and her Chancellor Philip Hammond is itself teetering precariously between these triumphant and disastrous extremes. After a defining week in British, the relationship between the current Prime Minister Theresa May and her Chancellor Philip Hammond is teetering precariously On Tuesday, Mrs May delivered one of the great British post-war political speeches. Her long-awaited address on Brexit was mature, comprehensive, optimistic, intellectually robust and persuasive. In the weeks preceding it, a narrative had been building that she was, at best, uncertain of her political direction or, at worst, out of depth in her new role as Prime Minister. In a single moment, she appeared to kill those doubts stone-dead. It was a truly Thatcheresque performance. Then, two days later, she delivered a second speech, this time to the World Economic Forum in Davos. This one did not channel her inner Margaret Thatcher but her inner Ed Miliband. After deploying the obligatory cliche about Britain being open for business, she began to hammer the assembled delegates. Government would start taking a new, active role in business affairs, she vowed. Corporations would have to start paying their fair share of tax. They would have to start acting more responsibly. Excessive boardroom pay would need to be curbed. The responsibilities we have to one another have been forgotten as the cult of individualism has taken hold, she chided. Theresa May delivered a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which did not channel her inner Margaret Thatcher but her inner Ed Miliband In its own way, the Davos speech was as strong and courageous as the one on Brexit especially for a Conservative Prime Minister. But though widely praised, the two addresses have left Theresa May on a collision course with her Chancellor, her Cabinet and with herself. There was a unified public response from Hammond and the Three Brexiteers David Davis, Liam Fox and Boris Johnson. But, privately, there is growing unease among Mrs Mays colleagues about what they are coming to view as her Margaret Miliband strategy. The Prime Minister is trying simultaneously to ride two populist horses. On the one hand, she is trying to wrangle the forces unleashed by Brexit. And last week, as we saw, her solution was to give them their head. Britain will be making a clean break from the EU. We will embrace the global opportunities presented by leaving the single market. The dynamic forces of UK entrepreneurship are to be unleashed. But on the other hand, she is trying to harness what she sees as a growing revolt against globalisation. It has left people feeling locked out and left behind, she said on Thursday. These same market furies can no longer be relied upon to deliver social change. The Prime Minister is trying simultaneously to ride two populist horses, leaving her Chancellor in a quandary All of which has left her Chancellor, in particular and her Ministers, in general in a quandary. They are being told to sell Britain as a new, thrusting, business-friendly oasis just off the European mainland our very own Singapore-on-Sea. Yet they are also being forced to warn any potential business partners that Britain is transforming itself into a pseudo-socialist republic, with tighter regulation, tough new restrictions on foreign labour, and a crackdown on boardroom pay. It is Philip Hammond who finds himself trapped most cruelly on the horns of this dilemma. Before Christmas, he was telling friends that having single market access represented his red line. But aware of the impracticality of squaring that with the political requirement to end free movement, and to avoid a public split with the Prime Minister, he moderated his position. Instead, he believes he has agreement from Mrs May to embark on a delicate form of Brexit game theory. Hammonds strategy is to secure the best terms from our former EU partners by convincing them that Britain has the will and capacity to go for broke. Brexit minister David Davis is engaged in a round of prawn-cocktail diplomacy, attempting to calm the increasingly frayed nerves of worried captains of industry If they refuse to cut a deal, the UK will outnegotiate, outcompete and out-trade them. As one Treasury official framed it: What we need to remind them is that to escape from the bear, all you need to be able to do is outrun your slowest neighbour. On Tuesday, Mrs May was running hard and fast. If no agreement was reached, she warned: We would be free to strike trade deals across the world. 'And we would have the freedom to set the competitive tax rates and embrace the policies that would attract the worlds best companies. But on Thursday, she slammed on the brakes. Delivering jobs and economic growth could not be left to international market forces alone or just rely on an increase in overall prosperity, she told her audience in Davos. At the moment, Hammond and his colleagues are holding back from openly challenging this contradictory rhetoric. David Davis is engaged in a round of prawn-cocktail diplomacy, attempting to calm the increasingly frayed nerves of worried and confused captains of industry. When they come out from speaking to David, theyre perfectly happy, said one junior Minister. But then Theresa says something and the phones start ringing again. Meanwhile, Liam Fox an instinctive free marketeer is frenetically banging the business drum overseas, as is Boris Johnson, who is attempting to drive home the benefits of Brexit with his unique brand of boy-scout, can-do enthusiasm. But they feel their efforts keep running up against a Prime Minister who increasingly stands second only to Jeremy Corbyn in the deployment of her anti-business rhetoric. Privately, there is growing unease among Mrs Mays colleagues about what they are coming to view as her Margaret Miliband strategy One Cabinet Minister recently complained to me: Her and her team are constantly talking about controlling markets. But the whole point about markets is you cant control them. Thats why theyre markets. In the short term, it may be possible for Mrs May to keep a lid on these tensions. Any prospect of the Labour Party exploiting this duel of her alter egos has been comprehensively dispelled by Jeremy Corbyns predictably catastrophic relaunch, and his own shambolic attempt to craft a clear Brexit line. But sooner or later, Theresa May is going to have to find a way of bringing the post-Brexit political and economic cycles into alignment. And to do that, she is going to have to decide between the competing brands of free-market and anti- globalisation populism. For now, the Chancellor and the rest of the Cabinet will keep their counsel. But for many of them, the Margaret Miliband strategy is starting to wear thin. Caroline takes the bait Caroline Nokes, recently elected Tory MP for Romsey, has had an ugly run-in with the All-Party Parliamentary Angling Group. I was walking along the corridor and they suddenly marched up to me, she explains. They said, Were very upset you havent been to see us. I said, But I dont really fish. To which they said, What? But youve got the Test in your constituency! Wisely, Caroline quickly donned her waders. I caught something on my first outing, she tells me proudly. And it was THIS big As Labour MPs look on with trepidation at the upcoming by-elections in Copeland and Stoke, one man at least is keeping the faith. Jeremy Corbyn has been texting people saying he thinks that, with the right candidate, we can increase our majority in Copeland, says one incredulous MP. A very brave prediction, Mr Corbyn. Did those who praised Chairman Mays speech on the EU actually read it? Did those who praised Chairman Mays speech on the EU actually read it? It was not as tough as it was made to look. In fact I dont think it was tough at all. In general, Chairman May strikes me as one of the most nervous Prime Ministers Ive ever seen, constantly worried that someone will poke his head around the door and tell her its all been a mistake and she must go back to being head of the drains committee on some borough council. Shes there because better qualified people are waiting for her to fail. Any Labour leader but Jeremy Corbyn (who is even more insecure) would laugh off her rehearsed, scripted and unsuccessful attempts to be witty at his expense. And the speech was like one of those garishly packaged boxes of fireworks I recall from the 1950s, promising brilliance and thunder, but delivering fizzles and pops. The most vital bit was her pledge to put any deal to both Houses of Parliament. Why, in that case, fight a case in the Supreme Court to keep Parliament out of the process? It was when she said this that the pound steadied, because the Europhiles in the City knew what she meant. What a weapon this places in the hands of the EU. For decades, British Ministers in Brussels talks have been puzzled by the way in which their secret final negotiating positions appear to be known to the Superstates officials. Who can guess why that is? Now the EUs functionaries will also know that their allies in the Lords and Commons can undermine the British team at any time. The mere knowledge that the deal will have to get past both Houses (where the majority of Lords and Commons wish we had voted to stay in) will mean constant pressure to give way. The EUs salami-slicing machine will be whizzing, night and day. Theres plenty of room for such compromise in Chairman Mays speech. She says she doesnt want membership of the single market. But that leaves room for keeping many, if not most, of its provisions. As for her plan to leave the Customs Union without giving up its benefits, experts tell me this is simply impossible. One or the other, not both. There was also a miserable section which suggested to me that she wants to keep the ghastly European Arrest Warrant. This is one of the very worst aspects of our EU membership. It gives the courts of various squalid, half-free EU members the power to seize British subjects and carry them off. Chairman May was very keen on this measure when she was at the Home Office, keeping us in it when she was free to leave it. My judgment on this process is that it has only just begun. Confident speeches before battle are all very well. But resolve is not tested until the first blows are struck. Last Sundays Endeavour had also been taken over by the propagandists. It was, in fact, crammed with modish Leftist sentiments All the clues are there: It's another Lefty hatchet job A good detective story is a joy. Since TV gave up doing intelligent drama, series such as Inspector Morse and Jeremy Bretts matchless impersonation of Sherlock Holmes were among the very few things still worth watching. But the TV industry, being full of wearisome Left-wingers and pretentious nitwits, couldnt leave well alone. They stole the name of Sherlock Holmes to make a rubbishy knock-off of Doctor Who, which last week disappeared up its own self-importance. I had to force myself to watch the last episode to the end. So what about Endeavour, an attempt to cash in on the success of Morse and Lewis? As I was living in Oxford in the 1960s, I generally find it hopelessly wrong on the look and feel of the place at the time. But last Sundays Endeavour had also been taken over by the propagandists. It was, in fact, crammed with modish Leftist sentiments. Its most likeable character, the cuddly veteran detective played by Roger Allam, turned out to have a fashionably relaxed view of cannabis, which he had supposedly tried in the war. The actual murder was impossible to understand and I am not sure who did it or even if it was solved. But a great slab of the programme was devoted to smearing the late Mary Whitehouse, whose lone warnings against permissiveness and violence on TV, and against paedophilia, have since been recognised as wise and prescient, even by some prominent Left-wingers. Here she was shown as a stupid, humourless and personally evil Thatcher-voiced harridan who sent hate-mail to herself, who had driven her husband to suicide, and made her adult daughters life a misery of repression. I do not think any of this is true. Of course, the makers of Endeavour didnt dare call this character Mary Whitehouse. They were willing to wound but afraid to strike. But they did slip in a clue for people (such as me) who like detective stories. They called her Mrs Pettybon. Which sounds just like the French words petit bon. Which mean small good. And, wouldnt you know it, Mrs Whitehouse was also personally vilified (at licence-payers expense) as a thinly disguised Mrs Smallgood in a failed BBC TV series called Swizzlewick in 1964. Morse would have cracked it in no time, but he wasnt interested in political messages and did at least do some detecting. Whoops! A Blairite 'slip' from the BBC I have wrestled more than once with the BBC Trust, the pseudo-watchdog which was very unwilling indeed to agree with me that the Corporation had been biased. I failed, even though my cases were good. So the Trusts judgment that a BBC news report misrepresented Jeremy Corbyns views on how to respond to terror is quite astonishing. For them to rule in this way, it must have been really bad. I think it was. The item presented Mr Corbyns answer to one question as if it was the answer to a completely different question. The Trust says, so I must mention it, that it found no evidence of bias or of intent to mislead. Just an accident, then, nothing to do with the Corporations fanatical Blairite groupthink, which sees Jeremy Corbyn as a menace to all it loves. Accident or not, this is the sort of thing you get on Banana Republic TV, or one of Mr Putins propaganda channels. And now, on the BBC. BBC news has rejected the finding. Did you know that our current Prime Minister does not feature at Madame Tussauds wax museum in London, though Donald Trump is already there? This isnt because shes difficult to do, or because they havent been able to get hold of a pair of leather trousers to clothe her images lower limbs. No, the tourist attractions management have ludicrously set themselves up as constitutional experts. They arent. They think she doesnt merit their attention until she has led her party to victory at a General Election. This is rubbish, though far too many people now believe that premiers have a mandate. They dont. We dont have a president. Our head of government is appointed by the Queen, not by the people, if he or she can command a majority in the Commons. Tussauds arent consistent about this either. Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose party last had a majority in the German parliament in 1961, is on display. And so is Winston Churchill, who did not lead his party to victory in an election until 1951, long after the events that made him immortal. If you want to comment on Peter Hitchens, click here. For ancient Egyptians Isis was the name of an important goddess known for her healing powers and protection. However, these days, the name now has distinctly different connotations - it has become synonymous with terror. Now, women who share the name 'Isis' have spoken to FEMAIL about the shocking toll their moniker has taken on their lives, describing the hate and fear they endure on a regular basis. Isis Gabriela, a 32-year-old Brazilian living in Australia said that following the Lindt cafe seige in Sydney in December 2014, she felt a shift in attitude towards her name. Isis Gabriela, (centre) a 32-year-old Brazilian living in Australia said that following the Lindt cafe seige in Sydney in December 2014, she felt a shift in attitude towards her name An ex-boyfriend told me to start using my second name Gabriela after that because I was getting so much hate. So I did,' Ms Gabriela told FEMAIL. For any kind of job application I use the name Gabriela but when I introduce myself to new friends its Isis. I call it my split personality. Back in Brazil, however, she said her name is celebrated. Brazils Carnival is a time to celebrate a good harvest and being able to work. Isis is the protector of nature and we pay homage to her during this time,' she said, explaining that Brazilian media don't call the terror organisation Isis, but rather Islamic State or ISIL. 'My name is obviously more sacred back home than it is in Australia, she said. 'I try to remember people are judging the word not the person. Another Brazilian living in Australia, Isis Sande, 26, said people think she is joking when she tells them her name Another Brazilian living in Australia is Isis Sande, 26, who told FEMAIL she finds the everyday attacks on her name the most insulting. WHO WAS THE GODDESS ISIS? * Her name came fromthe Greek form of an ancient Egyptian word for throne. * She was a deity connected with the dead, a magical healer, she cured the sick and brought the deceased back to life * She was also a feminine role model for all women * Mythology says she was married to Osiris, king of Egypt, and was a good queen who supported her husband and taught the village women how to weave, bake, and brew beer. * She was often represented as a beautiful woman in a sheath dress but is also sometimes a scorpion, a bird, a sow, or a cow Advertisement Most people think Im joking when I tell them my name is Isis or they tell me theyre sorry I ended up with such a terrible name,' she said. But she found one encounter with an Uber driver to be the most concerning. The driver was really late and I kept trying to ring him. Id almost given up on getting a ride when he showed up. He was so afraid of me. I had to assure him its just my name and Im not a terrorist. Another woman, Isis Star, 22, also told FEMAIL she has had abusive encounters with men who find her name a gimmick. I was once approached by a man at a bar who said he wanted to take me home to say he had fu**** a girl named Isis,' she said. Sometimes men add women named Isis on Facebook and add us all into a Facebook group.' She said during one particularly disturbing episode, she saw a message that contained a re-enactment of someone about to be beheaded 'with a huge kitchen knife'. During one disturbing episode, Isis Star (pictured) said she was added to a Facebook group where she saw a message that contained a re-enactment of someone about to be beheaded Transgender model, Isis King, who was catapulted to fame when she appeared on America's Next Top Model has also spoken out about the impact of her name. 'As a Trans woman of color who received the very first wave of cyber bullying I know all about it. Outside of that I started receiving a new wave of it because I'm named after the Goddess Isis who's name has been tainted by a terrorist group in the media,' [sic] she wrote on her Facebook page in December. Transgender model, Isis King (pictured) who was catapulted to fame when she appeared on America's Next Top Model, has spoken of her name being 'tainted' OTHER THINGS CALLED ISIS Other things that were called ISIS include: * A French rock band which changed their name from Isis Child to Angel's Whisper * British television series Downtown Abbey featured a dog named Isis which was killed off around the same time the acronym was being used * In April 2015 the World Meteorological Organisation removed Hurricane Isis from the list of hurricane names and changed it to Ivette Advertisement Another woman, Isis Kowaliauskas, told FEMAIL she had also experienced taxi drivers declining her a ride. I had my Facebook account blocked once, taxi drivers tell me they are worried about picking me up, I am sure if I apply for jobs my name will not be a positive first impression on my CV and even immigration officers have laughed at me just before I travel,' she said. But she thinks if the acronym changes for the terror group, so too will the bullying. People in general have a very short memory so if the media starts to rename the group it would be beneficial for all women out there,' she said. It is a difficult time to have my beautiful name but I dont regret it. The creator of one of the most visited nail websites in the world has shared her predictions for the top nail trends of 2017. Maria Vlezko, founder of So Nailicious, listed a number of simple looks, including a French nail, which she has upgraded with extra colours and materials. The Russian-born nail artist told Daily Mail Australia that the designs would be popular because 'they are very wearable, intriguing professional and novice nail artists alike'. Trendsetter: Maria Vlezko (pictured) shared her predictions for this year's hottest nail art trends STONE EFFECT Ms Vlezko says the stone effect, which replicates semi-precious stones such as turquoise jasper or marble, is 'a great, understated and chic form of nail art perfect for any occasion'. It's a look that works day or night, but to add an extra touch of elegance, the manicurist recommends adding gold foil to the design. On her YouTube channel, Ms Vlezko shares two ways to create a marble nail look. Precious: Ms Vlezko says nails resembling semi-precious stones like jasper would be popular, as would the marbled look While one involves many steps and brushes, her 'easy' method could be replicated by a novice nail artist. After applying a base coat and two to three coats of your base colour, would-be nail artists should then place a few drops of polish in the same shade on their nail, before adding a few drops of a second colour. Using a small square of cellophane, press into the polish so it blends before gently dragging the clear material away, leaving behind a marbled effect. After applying a top coat, the look is complete. To minimise clean up, Ms Vlezko recommends a peel off base coat around the cuticles. Marbling: Ms Vlezko offered another, easier way to create a marble effect - using cellophane and thick drops of polish NEGATIVE SPACE Negative space is a look that's taken the fashion world by storm, appearing consistently on Fashion Week runways for the past two years, says Ms Vlezko. She says it's a hugely versatile trend - something that contributes to its popularity. 'The beauty of this design is that it can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be and you can do it in any colour scheme to match to your outfit or occasion,' Ms Vlezko explained. The process behind the look is incredibly complicated, and involves the use of a striping brush to paint on the tiny designs and nail stencils to keep everything in line. Focus! The negative space look requires attention to detail. Ms Vlezko recommends using a striping brush and nail stencils. For those with less time, the designs can be simplified (pictured) UPGRADED FRENCH According to Ms Vlezko, the traditional French manicure will make a comeback this year, but with a modern revamp. 'This year's version of French is more fun and elaborate,' she said. 'It can be done in any colour, finish or with 3D details - where it becomes a mixed media manicure - to suit your mood or outfit.' Traditional twist: The highly regarded nail artist says French nails will make a comeback, but with different and often brighter colours The look is achieved by ditching the traditional pink and white for brighter colours. Ms Vlezko uses one solid colour before painting over it using either strips or a detailing brush with a contrasting colour. MIXED MEDIA Mixed media designs are generally quite complex and combine multiple materials and techniques. Ms Vlezko explains this could mean incorporating a gradient effect, negative space details, shattered glass foil and studs. 'It may sound strange but trust me, when done tastefully, an edgy Mixed Media manicure looks incredibly chic,' she said. Mix and match! Mixed media nails, which involve polish and other decorative items such as foil or studs, will also be a big hit over the next month 'The main rule here is to not go OTT and to keep it sharp.' In one tutorial video, Ms Vlezko is seen applying a base colour, using a nail topper on the top two thirds and then applying black striping tape to cover the area where it changes. She describes the look as 'quick and easy to do'. CHROME / MIRROR This nail trend has carried on from last year - but Ms Vlezko says the ease in which it is achieved means it will be sticking around for a while to come. The look is achieved through the use of a chrome pigmented powder, which is rubbed on over a base coat to achieve the metallic look. According to the expert nail artist, the chrome effect will continue to be popular, but as time passes, the exact look will change. 'It will now be incorporated into more complicated and intricate nail designs, contrary to 2016's plain chrome manicure look,' Ms Vlezko said. Maria will hold ticketed nail art masterclasses at the Beauty Expo in Melbourne, held for industry professionals on March 25 and 26. Advertisement The Duchess of Cambridge's 2011 wedding made headlines around the globe, while her sister Pippa almost stole the show in a figure-hugging dress. But it certainly wasn't the first time the sisters played a starring role at a wedding, as unseen footage of their uncle Gary Goldsmith's 1991 nuptials has revealed. Footage shows the Middleton girls dressed in matching pink bridesmaids dresses and floral crowns with older sister Kate, nine, cheerfully waving for the camera, while a grumpy-looking Pippa, seven, grimaces and fidgets with her headdress. The future Duchess of Cambridge (left) gives a cheery to the camera as she plays a starring role as bridesmaid at her Uncle Gary Goldsmith's 1991 nuptials, alongside her sister Pippa (right) Brother James was not left out, taking on the role of page boy as the trio accompanied bride Miranda Foote down the aisle at St Peters Church in Burnham, Bucks (left) while a slightly serious Pippa glances off into the distance The girls, dressed in matching pink dresses, joined two older bridesmaids at the ceremony Their brother James was not left out, taking on the role of page boy as the trio accompanied bride Miranda Foote down the aisle at St Peters Church in Burnham, Bucks to marry Carole Middleton's younger brother. The two adorable girls can be seen with Miranda and her two older bridesmaids ahead of the ceremony, before being handed hoops adorned with flowers to carry. Kate shyly waves to the camera while Pippa looks a little grumpy. The future Duchess then has an attack of the sniffles and can be seen wiping her nose with her hand, in true nine-year-old fashion. Kate (left) and her sister Pippa wore floral crowns for the occasion and pink dresses adorned with roses on the neckline The girls sweetly hold hands as they wait for the ceremony to begin The girls pose for pictures with the blushing bride. Sadly the marriage came to an end just 18 months after the ceremony The future Duchess of Cambridge has an attack of the sniffles and can be seen wiping her nose with her hand, in true nine-year-old fashion Pippa and blonde-haired James, then three, look a little unsure of themselves as they walk down the aisle whereas a mother self assured Kate is all smiles as she glances around her. As the wedding party gather outside the church, cheeky James even appears to have a quick bite on the brim of his top hat. Afterwards, one of the bridesmaids lifts him up to peer in the window of the vintage car so he can see the bride off to the reception, while Kate hops around waving. Pippa Middleton brandishes her floral hoop as she gets ready to play a starring role at her uncle's wedding (left). The girls dash out of the house with Kate leading, ready for their big moment (right) Kate's uncle Gary Goldsmith and his new bride Maranda Foote exchange a kiss as James Middleton clutches his top hat alongside them The photographer makes sure James is standing to attention while mother Carole (second left in blue patterned suit) looks on Kate and her sister walk down the aisle ahead of their brother James following the marriage ceremony Pippa gets a kiss from her doting uncle as he hands over a gift to say thank you for being a bridesmaid The footage from their uncle's wedding will no doubt be especially nostalgic for Pippa who is currently planning her own big day A family affair: Both Pippa and James played important roles in their uncle's 1991 wedding It's all getting a bit much for Pippa however, who looks irritated as she pulls her floral crown off her head, catching her hair in the process. Proud mum Carole, dressed in a blue patterned dress and matching hat, keeps a watchful eye on her children to make sure they're behaving as everyone lines up for a group photo and the photographer adjusts James's suit. With the formalities over, the girls are free to play in the hotel grounds and at the reception they're delighted to receive a gift each from the groom to thank them for fulfilling their duties. Kate's 2011 nuptials to Prince William made headlines around the world, but it was not her first starring role at a wedding While she looked hesitant during her first outing as bridesmaid in 1991, Pippa almost stole the show from her sister, thanks to her figure-hugging bridesmaids dress All grown up! James Middleton arrives at The Goring Hotel ahead of his sister's marriage to Prince William But James can't hide his delight when he receives a huge gift wrapped box and toddles off with a huge smile on his face. The scenes may date back more than 25 years, but they're a hint of things to come as Pippa prepares to walk down the aisle with her financier beau James Matthews later this year. She is set to marry in a ceremony at St Marks Englefield followed by a reception at her parents' home in Bucklebury. Prince George and Princess Charlotte are rumoured to be taking on the role of page boy and flower girl, however Kate is not expected to be maid of honour as she doesn't want to steal the limelight from her sister. Tess Holliday has blasted trolls who tried to shame her online for publicly breastfeeding her baby son. The 31-year-old model, her son and her husband Nick Holliday were a few of an estimated 750,000 people to have turned out on Saturday in downtown Los Angeles as a part of the Women's Marches that took place across the country. While out on the march, seven-month-old Bowie became distressed, tired and hungry in the crowd of people, leading to Tess taking a moment to breastfeed him. Getting on with it: Tess Holliday received abuse online after sharing this image of herself breastfeeding her son Bowie while joining the Los Angeles Women's March Making her statement: Tess responded to calls for her to 'cover up' by telling critics to 'keep your educated opinions off my body' The big time: An estimated 750,000 people came out for the Los Angeles Women's March on Sunday She then shared an image of the moment on Instagram, writing: 'Breastfeed anywhere. Thank you to my friend @jessicalouiseimagery for capturing this moment during today's @womensmarchla.' But while most of Tess' fans came out in force to support her 'beautiful' statement with the image, others were less than polite. 'Ewww cover up,' wrote one commenter, while another added: 'I wouldn't want my wife doing that with my children in public.' Soon enough, Tess clocked the backlash, and decided to take to social media once again with a blunt response. 'Edited to add: Those saying that I should "cover up,"' she began. 'You mean when I'm breastfeeding MY baby who was a) hungry & b) screaming because he was overly tired & the crowd overloaded his senses & it was the only way to comfort him?! 'I will feed my child anywhere I want. Also CA state law protects me to do so. Keep your educated opinions off my body,' she said. Tess has never been shy about sharing intimate moments with her son online. She recently spent the weekend in Canada with her baby boy, and the size 22 model couldn't resist snapping a precious selfie. Mamma's boy: Tess Holliday took to Instagram on Sunday to share a photo of herself posed with her seven-month-old son Bowie Take that: A few days earlier, the 31-year-old struck a pose in purple lace lingerie The snapshot shows herself holding Bowie on her hip as they posed for a photo together in Toronto. 'Being cute is [really] serious business,' she captioned the image, which sees her wearing a Nike crop top and black leggings. Some commenters noted that Bowie is the spitting image of her, while others believe the little boy looks just like his dad, Tess' longtime partner Nick Holliday. Meanwhile, a woman named Andrea pointed out that Bowie definitely inherited his mother's modeling skills. 'This lil guy so has that model face down... You guys look fabulous,' she wrote. Tess kicked off the weekend on Friday by sharing a stunning photo herself posed in racy mesh and lace lingerie. Role model: The size 22 star is an advocate for the plus-size community as well as embracing one's body Making memories: Tess and Bowie posed for this adorable snapshot while visiting Pioneertown, California, this month The snapshot sees Tess looking over her shoulders, giving the camera a glimpse of her derriere. The model's auburn hair is done in glamorous waves, and she is sporting brown, smoky eye make-up and a bold red lip during the shoot. When she shared the image, the body positivity activist said that it is a reminder to her critics that she isn't going anywhere. 'When they try & steal your shine & you gotta remind them that it was never up for the taking,' she captioned the photo. Glamorous: 'When you aren't sleeping because of a teething baby and you gotta remind yourself that you still got it,' Tess wrote when she posted this photo earlier this month Looking glamorous: Tess often posts selfies for her 1.4 million Instagram followers to see Tess is a major advocate for the plus-size community as well as embracing one's body, but even she has her moments of self-doubt and insecurity. Last month, the mother-of-two uploaded two selfies in her underwear, sharing an honest message about adjusting to her new figure. 'Each day feels like a battle to learn how to love my body postpartum,' she said. 'It's been 6 months, & my stomach is lower, my breasts are a different shape, new stretch marks & I feel like a stranger in my body more than ever.' Though she's long been able to accept herself at any size, she's having a hard time these days. Baring it all: Tess shared two underwear selfies on Instagram right before the new year Truth: She also posted an honest message about her struggles to accept her body after having her second baby in June Bonding: Tess' husband Nick recently shared this photo of himself with their son Bowie under the shower 'I wasn't anticipating this at all,' she explained. 'I'm not used to looking in the mirror & feeling like I don't recognize myself, but sadly that's my reality some days.' She added that she debated whether or not she should share this post, but she is tired of the pressure put on new moms to 'lose the baby weight'. 'I was fat before, I carried a healthy baby, & guess what, still fat... & THATS OKAY,' she wrote. I have no New Years resolution to lose weight, but only to work on learning my new body & loving & nurturing it. 'Not a day goes by that Nick doesn't tell me how beautiful I am, but it's not our partners job to lift our spirits, we have to be our own cheerleaders. So that's what I will do, take it day by day. It's a journey, not a race.. & a beautiful one at that.' Wrapped up: Heidi Klum modelling an enormous red scarf Welcome, its Russian weather here, said my driver as he picked me up from the Eurostar at the start of Paris Mens Fashion Week last Wednesday. Since then, theres been a lot of standing around in shivering packs outside show venues, so Ive been trying to distract myself from the frigid conditions by conducting a field study among the crowds. How can you cling on to an aura of fashionability while bundling up against the cold? My dears, I can report that its all about choosing the right scarf. Scarves have been appearing all over the catwalks a great chunky monogrammed one at Louis Vuitton, large padded Puffa-style ones the size of flags at Balenciaga, crinkled silk ones tied in a side knot at J. W. Anderson, even (I jest not) printed head-squares knotted under the chin from the Italian label MSGM. And this given its Mens Fashion Week is just for the boys. Scarf trends are falling into distinct style categories, Ive noticed, dictated by the shape of coats and the general direction of the icy winds of fashion. The newest, breaking look is Seventies related. Where there are maxi-coats and flares, so the long, narrow knitted scarves pure Ali MacGraw in Love Story naturally follow. If you can find one now, youre laughing, as this is a look the designers are pushing for next winter. Look to J. Crew (jcrew.com) for some pure Seventies woollen tartan, or visit scarfroom.co.uk for that knee-grazing style. Do, of course, be careful with those longer styles in lift doors and on escalators. You dont want your on-trend neckware to become a health hazard. Meanwhile, a side trend also well known to those of us who can remember the Seventies is the kind of long, stringy, bias-cut silk scarf we used to buy from flea markets. Its the sort of thing Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg used to wear a rocknroll appropriation of a style from the Thirties. Googling photos of that time turns up plenty of amusing inspiration. Theres one of Pallenberg walking with Richards, whos proffering his trademark one-fingered salute. Shes wearing exactly the scarf in question, tied over a white ribbed polo-neck. So spot on for now and thankfully still ageless, even if, like me, you were 14 the last time you wore it. A more modern style is the movement towards generous-sized mufflers you can wind up around your ears and disappear into when the cold gets biting. A timely blessing, this one. My prize purchase in this category is a huge royal blue knitted one by Comme des Garcons from the bottom of the price range, I hasten to add. SCARVES: THE RULES Wind your tartan rather than tying it you dont want to look like Rupert Bear. Beware chunky knits and dangly earrings the snagging will drive you mad. Spend as much as you can on fake fur tippets. The cheap ones will shed all over your dress. Avoid wearing a Seventies style scarf with a fedora unless youre impersonating a Tom Baker era Dr Who. Advertisement It turns out the firm produces them with Charles Kirk, the British manufacturer of school uniform scarves and jumpers. It pleases me no end to know that this 100 per cent acrylic trophy was made in Worthing, West Sussex, by an honest-to-goodness English manufacturer. Manys the time Ive travelled on trains and planes with this life-saving comfort blanket wrapped around me. One thing I slung in my bag for the shows is a black fake-fur tippet, bought in a sale. Its come handy of an evening, an instant shorthand for glamour. Visit the excellent Helen Moore website to look for tippets (helenmoore.com). A scarf may be a small thing, I know, but when the chips are down, being able to cling to a modicum of morale-boosting style is a blessing. However, if youve taken the advice from my last column and are engaged in the fashion equivalent of sober January, then theres no need to buy a new scarf. Just learn to knit. Hand-crafted accessories are shooting up the style charts. Ivanka Trump has had plenty of glamorous moments in her life - and Friday was certainly the height of that. But as the excitement of the inauguration and the Liberty Ball has begun to die down, it's been time for the Trumps to get to work. So, as Ivanka attended the swearing-in ceremony for the White House senior staff in Washington, DC, Sunday, she was all back to business. Scroll down for video Ivanka Trump speaks with a guest before a swearing-in ceremony for senior staff at the White House in Washington, DC, on Sunday Ivanka sits with her son Joseph before the beginning of the swearing in ceremony in the East Room of the White House The brand new first daughter joined the audience for the event with her blonde hair tied loosely behind her neck and wearing a modest black dress. Ivanka was in attendance not only to support her father, the new president, but also her husband Jared Kushner who is to take on the role of senior adviser at the White House. The appointment is going ahead after lawyers at the Justice Department claimed that the decision does not violate federal nepotism laws. Donald Trump took to the podium around 2:30pm (ET) for the start of the brief ceremony, which also featured the swearing in of Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer, Reince Priebus and Omarosa Manigault. Ivanka was also joined by her and Jared's oldest son Joseph, who sat on his mom's lap looking dapper in a blue suede blazer. Ivanka was in attendance to support her husband Jared Kushner (second from left) as he joins the White House as a senior adviser First daughter Ivanka had a princess moment as she stunned in a glittery Carolina Herrera gown at the Liberty Ball on Friday Ivanka was back to business as she attended the swearing-in ceremony for the White House senior staff in Washington The brand new first daughter joined the audience for the event with her blonde hair tied loosely behind her neck and wearing a modest black dress On Sunday, Ivanka also shared this image of herself, her husband, her children and her father shortly after the inauguration Her casual attire was a far cry from Friday, when the first daughter certainly had a real princess moment as she stunned in a Carolina Herrera gown for the Liberty Ball. Her ballgown featured a tulle skirt and sheer long sleeves that were embellished with crystals. Ivanka had kicked off the morning in a demure navy Carolina Herrera coat as she joined her family at St. John's Church before joining her sister Tiffany in suffragette white for their father Donald's inauguration. The new first daughter looked radiant in an asymmetrical white coat and matching white pants as she strut through the Capitol. The 34-year-old accessorized her coat with an American flag pin at the corner of her lapel, and she styled her long blond hair in loose curls around her shoulders. The Trump family joined the president and first lady on stage at the Liberty Ball at the Washington Convention Center on Friday night Ivanka stunned in a glittery Carolina Herrera gown as she danced with husband Jared Kushner President Trump invited his adult children on stage with their spouses to finish off the dance. Vice President Pence and his wife Karen (left) also included their family Ivanka Trump dazzled in a glittering Carolina Herrera gown. She was joined by her husband Jared Kushner The president and first lady were joined first by Vice President and Second Lady Pence and then by their families at the final event of the night Melania had earlier cemented herself as a fashion-forward first lady after opting for a stunning baby blue Ralph Lauren dress and matching jacket for the inauguration. She accessorized her outfit with a pair of heels, clutch and elbow-length gloves that were all the same hue of blue. The 46-year-old made the decision to keep everything else simple, choosing to play up her natural beauty by sweeping her hair into a loose undo. It was clear Melania was channeling Jacqueline Kennedy, who wore a similar tan outfit back in 1961 when John F. Kennedy was sworn into office. Flawless: Melania Trump selected a baby blue dress and jacket for her husband's swearing in ceremony (above leaving mass on Friday morning) Ivanka Trump and her half-sister Tiffany both wore suffragette white to their father Donald's inauguration on Friday Blood pressure pills costing just 7p a day could be a major new weapon against sepsis which kills 44,000 people a year in the UK. New research shows the drugs, called calcium channel blockers, halve the risk of dying from sepsis, which kills more than one in three victims. Millions already take the tablets, which include brands Amlostin, Adizem and Felotens, to lower blood pressure or prevent chest pain caused by angina. Now scientists believe the cheap and relatively safe pills could help slash the UK's death toll from sepsis higher than cancer of the breast, bowel and prostate combined. Scroll down for video New research shows the drugs, called calcium channel blockers, halve the risk of dying from sepsis, which kills more than one in three victims (stock image) Sepsis, also known as septicaemia or blood poisoning, is an illness caused when the body is overcome by infection, for example after a simple cut or bite. It can lead to multiple organ failure, and in the worst cases victims can die within hours. Bafta-winning actor Jason Watkins, who stars as Solomon Coop in the BBC drama Taboo, lost his two-year-old daughter Maude to sepsis on New Year's Day 2011. Two separate studies suggest that the blood pressure pills could save many lives. Scientists at Amsterdam University examined the medical records of 1,060 patients admitted to two hospitals with sepsis to see what medication they were on. Those taking calcium channel blockers were twice as likely to have survived 30 days the most dangerous period. A study in the latest edition of the American Journal Of Therapeutics revealed that more than 2,000 patients with pneumonia the most common cause of sepsis were half as likely to develop the condition if they were already taking calcium channel blockers. It is not clear how the pills work against sepsis, but scientists think it may be a combination of improved blood flow, dampening the rush of inflammation that engulfs the body and keeping the immune system in order. Researcher Dr Brendon Scicluna, of Amsterdam University, said: 'Our data suggests long-term use of the drugs is associated with reduced mortality. It would be really interesting to evaluate patients not on them who were given the drugs as a treatment option.' Dr Ron Daniels, from the UK Sepsis Trust, said: 'These are interesting results. They show the drugs potentially have some benefit. The trouble is they can take a few weeks to start working so any protective effect is likely to be limited to patients already on them.' Im happy enjoying being engaged, its a lovely time we have together,' says Kylie As a woman who was once described as the Bridget Jones of her generation, youd expect Kylie Minogue to be in a hurry to begin married life with her British fiance Joshua Sasse. When we meet just before Christmas in her suite at Claridges where she is staying for the launch of her stylish Specsavers glasses range the hotel is sparklingly romantic. Joshua is somewhere in the vicinity (he emerges later to give her a kiss) but Kylie is focused on work. Then she announces with an enigmatic smile: I am about to disappear for the whole of January. This is, I imagine, a huge hint that she and the 29-year-old actor will finally take time out to tie the knot after an 18-month relationship, a stunning princess-cut diamond ring and the 200-watt smile that has been on her face ever since they met on the set of the US TV series Galavant, in which he starred and Kylie guest-starred. She shakes her head: Ive made no plans at all. When I work, every minute of my life is planned out and Ive been working nonstop for months, so my ultimate luxury is to make no plans at all. I might go abroad, I might stay at home. All I know is there is nothing in the diary for January. After everything Ive been through, Ive learnt to appreciate being happy in the moment. Im good at doing nothing. Kylie in Neighbours with Jason Donovan in the 1980s, left, and, right, singing with Robbie Williams, 2000 Wedding or no wedding, she will, of course, be accompanied by Joshua, the handsome, bearded son of the late poet Dominic Sasse and Mary Macauley, a viscounts granddaughter. I certainly hope so, she says. It wouldnt be much fun without him. Any chance we get to have time together we take it. We are still in the romantic stage. It is good to hear. At 48, the girl who shot to fame as the feisty mechanic Charlene Mitchell in the Australian soap Neighbours has become part of British popular culture. In 1987 she came to the UK to launch her music career, kicking off three decades of number-one hits and 80 million record sales, including two of the biggest earworms ever made: Cant Get You Out of My Head and I Should Be So Lucky. When I first set eyes on Kylie at the Stock Aitken Waterman music studio in London, she was number one in the charts and actually shaking with nerves. Underneath the gloss and the glamour she has always been accessibly human. The day she came off the plane to report to the studio, Pete Waterman had forgotten she was going. She told me she wasnt unpacking her suitcase. I keep thinking Ill be sent back home, she said. That was 30 years ago. Since then she has performed for every senior member of the royal family and has become an adopted national treasure as well as an inspiration to women worldwide for the dignified way she dealt with breast cancer in 2005. She did not let the diagnosis dim her light. There were no histrionics, no angry rants. Instead she hunkered down with her family: her parents Ronald (a former accountant) and Carol (who used to be a dancer) and her younger siblings, Dannii (currently a judge on BBC Ones Let It Shine) and Brendan (a TV cameraman). It was a year after her diagnosis before she talked about what she had gone through, losing her hair and having chemotherapy (she likened it to experiencing a nuclear bomb). Even today, women in the street come up to her to talk about their treatment. I just hug them because we both know what they are feeling. Kylie on her Showgirl tour, 2006, left, and, right, with sister Dannii, 2007 After everything she has been through, her and Joshuas wedding will surely be the celebration to end all celebrations. She cocks her head: I never think Ive been through any more than a lot of other women, she says. And I think getting married will be incredibly personal and private. I beg to differ. It will be an event that lifts the spirits of many, delighted to see Kylie happy. There have been a few love affairs in the life of Melbourne-born, West London-based Kylie, from the late rock star Michael Hutchence and the French actor Olivier Martinez to her five-year relationship with the Spanish model Andres Velencoso, which ended in 2013. There have been, in the words of the song by her former Neighbours co-star (and ex) Jason Donovan, Too Many Broken Hearts. But Kylie has always insisted she is no Bridget Jones. Ever the optimist, the one thing she insisted she must have in her Specsavers range was at least one pair of rose-tinted glasses (a couple of the frames have pink tones). Indeed, she once told me she sees herself as blessed in her relationships with men. Ive always been a serial monogamist. Ive dated a lot of guys but I dont have any regrets. Not one. I definitely think there are relationships I should have ended earlier just gone for the quick sting and didnt. But you live and learn, and I think I have been very lucky with the men I have known. Ive dated a lot of guys but I dont have any regrets,' says Kylie She has never hankered after the big white wedding dress (she ticked that box aged 19 when as Charlene she married Jasons character Scott Robinson on Neighbours; when the episode aired in the UK it was watched by 20 million) and says she feels no rush to get married. Im happy enjoying being engaged, its a lovely time we have together, she says. Theres no pressure. My mum isnt buying a hat. Everyone is very happy for us as we are. My parents love him. Everybody in my family thinks hes wonderful. There is an almost 20-year age difference between Kylie and Joshua. Its not an issue, trust me, she says. She has said she wants to nuke the word toyboy. Who you meet and who you fall in love with is just pot luck, she says. If you are happy, you are happy. After hearing Joshua read a deeply romantic poem written by his father during Kylies Desert Island Discs appearance (she was allowed to break from the norm and have him choose one track for her), there can be no doubt about his passion for her. In every way they are at once a conventional and unconventional couple. Joshua went to Shrewsbury public school and hails from British aristocracy (his great-grandfather, William Berry, the First Viscount Camrose, was a newspaper magnate in the 1920s and 30s); he has a three-year-old son, Sebastian, from a former relationship with the Italian model Francesca Cini. When the couple got engaged they, very traditionally, made an announcement in a British broadsheet newspaper; several weeks later they showed they were a very modern couple by announcing that they wont tie the knot until same-sex marriages are legal in Australia. Kylie with Andres Velencoso, 2013, left, and, right, with Olivier Martinez, 2003 Kylie, with her showgirl glamour and her uber-kitsch performances, has a massive following in the gay community something she has always embraced. She nods: I think you have to take a stand for what you believe in and support the people you love. Overseas same-sex weddings are recognised in South Australia now but it makes sense and seems only right to us to only get married when it is OK for everyone to be able to marry who they love. The intricate rectangular ring she is wearing is a vintage piece. Josh told me it was made in 1908, she says. For me, it is perfect. Im not the sort of girl who would wear a solitaire. He got exactly the right ring for me. I love it. I love wearing it and I love what it represents. When they do finally get married, will Kylie follow convention and take her husbands name? Sasse is a great name, she says. Kylie Sasse is a great name. Its a great stage name. Kylie Minogue has never exactly tripped off the tongue. Ill definitely be taking Sasse but there will be Minogue in there somewhere. Taking a different name makes a statement. Kylie with Michael Hutchence, 1990, left, and, right, with fiance Joshua Sasse, 2016 I say it must be hard for Joshua to have to deal with being Mr Minogue. Awful, she says. Nobody wants to be Mr Minogue. It takes a very strong man to put themselves in that position and I fully appreciate that. The world around you sees it differently and a lot of guys cant deal with that. When I look into Joshs eyes, he is all I see and that makes me very happy. Theres a line in the movie Notting Hill that I always think of, when Julia Roberts is talking to Hugh Grant, and she says: Im just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her. For me, its that simple. It must indeed take quite a man to deal with Kylie. At five-foot-nothing it would be a mistake to see her as a smiling smorgasbord of glitter, perkiness and charm. There is a core of titanium in Kylie that has seen her weather massive career ups and downs (at one stage in the mid-90s she became almost untouchable in a music industry that had morphed from pop to Oasis rock). She is a notorious workaholic who knows every aspect of her business. Ask any lighting man or a rigger on her tour and they will tell you Kylie knows exactly what they are doing. She doesnt miss a trick. 'This year I plan to make a pure pop album because that is what Im really about,' says Kylie Kylies Specsavers range is inspired by her own collection of glasses and sunglasses. She has worn glasses since the age of 21. Initially it was just for reading if my eyes got tired, but now Im at the age when I go to a restaurant with my girlfriends and were all scrambling in our bags for our glasses. Does it make her feel, well, not so desirable? After all, they do say men dont make passes at girls who wear glasses. She raises an eyebrow. I find quite the opposite. Whenever I wear glasses I get a lot of compliments. I think guys like the librarian look thats always been very sexy. Kylie put her designs together by focusing on the glasses that she loves the most. There are a lot of retro looks in the collection the cat eye, tortoiseshell because thats what I love, she says. Its just like anything I do; its all about the detail. On a tour I want to know every detail; with a music producer I want to talk through everything to the last degree. With the glasses I wanted to make sure everything from the hinges to the material used would be right. I wanted a little bit of bling, but ultimately it was all about the detail. I ask her for details of her life with Joshua and she laughs at the cheeky link. Hes a strong character, she says. Hes very passionate and opinionated. He has a different view on things to me and I love that because he makes me look at life in a different way. Sometimes I think hes right, sometimes I think hes wrong. The other day I was doing an acoustic performance for Chris Evanss radio show and I was sorting through sheets of music, singing lines with my backing musicians, and he looked at me and said: You need to do this more, you need people to see you do this, just singing in a really casual, musician way. Kylie singing at the Queens Diamond Jubilee, 2012, left, and, right, with her OBE, 2008 I think hes made me refocus on what I want to do. Ive jumped around, changed management, done lots of bits and pieces, but Josh encourages me to focus on what Im best at. Hes incredibly supportive and when he comes with me to shows [he was at her side when she performed at The Ivy and the Royal Albert Hall last month] I always want to do better because I want to make him proud of me. This year I plan to make a pure pop album because that is what Im really about. I want things to be more simple, more about who I really am. Its about having the confidence to be who you are. COOL FOR KYLIE Job description High-heeled stunt woman. Secret ambition To do more acting. Beauty essential A muslin cloth to clean my face. Favourite beauty product Any good sunblock. What do you eat for breakfast Toast made with pain Poilane [a round sourdough loaf] with goats butter or almond butter. Beauty icons Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn and Lauren Hutton. What defines you? Im a Gemini. I can think two things at once and believe both of them. I am two people. Advertisement Last year the couple spent several weeks apart. She was working back-to-back in the UK and Europe, and made a film called Flammable Children in Australia with her former Neighbours co-star Guy Pearce. Hes great, she says. We would sit between filming just hanging out, talking about the old times. Joshua spent months in Vancouver filming his new TV series No Tomorrow, in which he plays a free spirit called Xavier who believes the apocalypse is coming. When they were unable to meet up for weekends, they communicated with handwritten letters. Joshua is old-school and a romantic, she says. He would write letters to me on paper with beautiful ink. He puts wax on the back of the envelopes and seals the letters. He also has an old typewriter that he uses, which I love. I wrote letters back to him. It felt like a very beautiful way to communicate. She smiles: 2016 was a good year for me. Life throws all sorts of things your way and when you have something good you dont rush it, you just enjoy it. Live it. Smile. Kylie Minogue Eyewear will be available exclusively at Specsavers from 14 February, specsavers.co.uk SHIRT, around 215, and TROUSERS, around 215, both Masscob, masscob.com If your sartorial sensibilities err on the bohemian, youll feel well catered for this spring. Isabel Marant may have been flying fashions folk-inspired flag for a while, but department stores and online boutiques are awash with lesser-known labels that tick the boho box without OD-ing on the frilly, the floaty or the cheesecloth. Folk, YMC and Sessun are labels to know (find them all on Libertys first floor), but YOU favourites of the moment include Masscob, a Spanish brand with a growing UK fanbase. Last season, its plunging deep-red velvet dress was so universally flattering that it had to be re-ordered by stores long before the Christmas rush. For spring, it is on the money again with clean and crisp blouses, shirts and summer dresses. On the British front, weve never been so keen to find the nearest Toast store with the label now brimming with relaxed, ageless pieces. We may be packing away anything featuring embellishment, shoulder pads or waistbands for some time. WE LOVE: SHOES, 29.99, Tamaris, from Zalando, zalando.co.uk Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani with her son Francesco Carrozzini Franca Sozzani, the much-admired Vogue Italia editor, responsible for creating some of the most striking and controversial fashion images of the past few decades, is being celebrated in a new film documentary directed by her son, Francesco Carrozzini. It is must-watch fashion fodder for all magazine fans, and its upcoming release is made all the more poignant following Francas death late last year. francathemovie.com. Lingering on our wanted list is anything by bright, young, award-winning jeweller Anissa Kermiche. Notably, these all-occasion earrings so popular with the fashion set that she has now designed a matching ring and ear cuffs, which could prove to be the very modern way to wear a signet ring. ABOVE: Ring, 289, and ear cuff, from 482, anissakermiche.com Almost unrecognisable from her role as the dowdy housekeeper in Downton Abbey, Phyllis Logan is starring in an exotic new medical drama. She talks to Judith Woods about seizing the day and those Downton movie rumours Coat, Catherine Walker. Bangle, Pebble London 'Obviously I never had a career to speak of before Downton Abbey, says Phyllis Logan drily, raising an eyebrow for further effect. I sometimes wonder how on earth did I fill my time? Its not true, of course, but we all know what she means: sometimes a jobbing actress is swept away by a juggernaut of a role that takes her a very long way from where she used to be. The Downton effect has had an impact on the career of every member of its award-winning ensemble cast. Lily James has starred in the BBCs War & Peace and the movie Cinderella, Michelle Dockery landed a role as a criminal in the gritty US show Good Behavior, Joanne Froggatt played a serial killer in the ITV series Dark Angel and now Phyllis is set to star in a new ITV drama series, The Good Karma Hospital. But its her years in service to the Crawley family that have made her a poster girl for ladies of a certain age who refuse to accept that life holds no more adventure. When her doughty but warm-hearted character Mrs Hughes finally found love with the pompous but kindly butler Mr Carson, it struck a blow for midlife love. In those days Mrs was an honorific title bestowed on senior female staff, regardless of whether they had ever wed, so Mrs Hughess comical angst about whether he would be expecting a full marriage struck a chord with any woman over 40 who has ever fretted about going to bed with a new partner. Mrs Hughes was aerated about the sex thing because she probably hadnt had much experience, but that turned out to be the least of her bloomin worries, acknowledges Phyllis. God preserve us all from nitpicking middle-aged men who cant abide change. In the phenomenally successful series, which ran for six seasons, Mr Carson (played by Jim Carter) turned out to be irrevocably stuck in his ways the routines of the big house where he had been serving for many years. Ironically, it was his new wifes performance in the couples kitchen (as opposed to the bedroom) that proved his greatest source of disappointment. Eventually, with affectionate pragmatism, the pair decided he should eat his meals at the Downton kitchen, cooked by Mrs Patmore, as before. Its a very identifiable scenario, says Phyllis, 61. When a more mature couple makes a life together, each brings certain expectations and baggage and of course theres always need for compromise, which some men in particular find difficult. Top, Number 35. Skirt, Paule Ka, from Fenwick. Earrings, Pebble London. Ring, James Ganh. Shoes, Ursula Mascaro Phyllis, once best known for playing posh totty Lady Jane Felsham in the 1980s and 90s series Lovejoy, was a late starter herself when it came to settling down. She met her husband, Pirates of the Caribbean actor Kevin McNally, in the 1993 miniseries Love and Reason when she was in her late 30s, but they didnt get round to tying the knot until she was 55. I had always sworn I would never have an actor in the house because they are so much trouble and so vain, but you cant legislate for Cupids bow, she says. When she got together with Kevin, theirs was not a series of careful compromises but a classic coup de foudre. I never thought real love the sort where your blood tingles and your world explodes with joy would happen to me at my time of life. I believed I had missed out. But Im ever so glad it happened. A couple of years later, aged 40, she had their son David. He is now 20 and studying music and music production at university in Leeds. Once upon a time, reaching six decades was a milestone to be dreaded rather than celebrated, but, in well-cut jeans and a flattering floaty top, her burnished hair hanging loose, Phyllis provides incontrovertible proof that though life may not begin at 60, it sure as heck continues at a rip-roaring pace as long as you have the right attitude towards the rollercoaster. We packed David off to university not so long ago and as we drove back to our house in West London we were listening to the Elaine Paige show on Radio 2, recalls Phyllis. She played Peggy Lee singing The Folks Who Live on the Hill and as soon as I heard the line and when the kids grow up and leave us I burst into absolute floods of tears and spent the rest of the journey splashing about in the passenger seat. But since then Ive thought a lot about empty nest syndrome and how once your chick flies the coop it gives women the freedom to stretch their own wings once more, too. And as fate would have it, Phylliss new role in The Good Karma Hospital has allowed her to do just that and will doubtless prove a source of inspiration to a great many female viewers in a similar position. Set in India, the series features another estimable actress, Amanda Redman, 59, who plays an eccentric expat running a ramshackle cottage hospital, which is short on resources and long on compassion. Phyllis with Philip Jackson in the upcoming Good Karma Hospital, and as Mrs Hughes on the set of Downton Its a cross between Holby City and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel but with dark secrets, so it should be right up everybodys street, says Phyllis. I play Maggie Smart, who has come to India for her daughters wedding and becomes unwell, so ends up in hospital and falls deeply in love. Not with a man she already has a husband but rather with the community, the culture and the way of life. Shes a fascinating character who has such humour and joie de vivre and it was great to play a woman finding herself and connecting with a wider spirituality. Phyllis spent months filming the six-part series on location in Sri Lanka. She, too, found herself smitten with the place and the people and at one point Kevin flew over from the US where he is in the cast of the US television series Turn: Washingtons Spies and they managed a 12-day break together. We stayed in a hotel on the beach and it was bliss. The majority of the population are Buddhists and seemed so calm, open and thankful for whatever life gave them; I think we could all learn from them. All the same, Phyllis isnt entirely convinced she believes in karma as a concept. It would be nice to think that if you are a decent human being then eventually things will turn out right, she says. But fate can intervene and pull the rug out from under you without warning and there might be nothing you can do. It is something she and Kevin can speak of from personal experience. Phylliss mother died from a dementia-related illness aged 90, but it was the agonisingly slow decline of Kevins mother over many years that proved more devastating. Kevs mother was diagnosed with Alzheimers in her early 60s and from then on his father became her carer and it was so hard for him. She reached the point where she didnt recognise her own son and was agitated and upset because she had no idea where she was or who she was; that was heartbreaking to witness. Phyllis is an ambassador for Dementia UK and does what she can to support the charitys work. Its such a cruel disease. I am aware theres a genetic component so I do brain-training on my phone every day. Will that help stave it off? I have no idea; I think of Iris Murdoch such a clever woman who dealt with words and complex memories all her life, and yet all those things that made her so creative and unique were taken while she was still alive. Ultimately, all you can do is cross your fingers and make the most of every day. Coat, Merchant Archive, from Liberty London. Dress, Dolly Lloyd. Earrings and ring, James Ganh Phyllis is certainly doing that. Last year was a veritable Air Miles bonanza; as well as her sojourn in Sri Lanka she went to Sydney for a Downton DVD launch, Los Angeles where the ensemble cast of Downton won yet another Screen Actors Guild Award, and then to New York to receive the prestigious Great Scot Award from the US branch of the National Trust for Scotland (previous recipients include comedian Billy Connolly and actor Alan Cumming). She wore a dress bought in John Lewis embellished for the occasion with a tartan sash and matching ribbon. Im not interested in fashion, Phyllis confides. Its just not on my radar. Whenever Im doing a contemporary role, the wardrobe mistress will usually say, Lets go to Selfridges and get a personal shopper. Most women would probably love it, but my face falls because I absolutely hate trying on clothes. One of the things I loved about Downton was the fact I had two outfits and maybe a coat if I got to go into the village; the girls in the Crawley family kept having to go for fittings every time there was a big dinner, which would have driven me mad. Logan loves Reading Alan Bennetts Keeping On Keeping On. I love him; my husband Kev played him in the stage version of The Lady in the Van. Listening to The Today programme on Radio 4 and Classic FM. Watching I do enjoy a good nature documentary. Planet Earth II was spectacularly good. Guilty pleasure A whole bag of Kettle Chips with a crisp glass of Picpoul de Pinet. Beauty product Boots No7 moisturiser; its not fancy but it does the job. Desert island luxury A karaoke machine, stage, lights and all the songs from the 70s. Ill make a row of coconuts for an audience and therell be no stopping me. Advertisement The ongoing international popularity of Downton means Phyllis and various other cast members are still asked to appear at events to meet the fans and launch DVDs. Shes often asked about her wigs and whether she kept one; she had three identical hairpieces all of which she affectionately dubbed Elsie. People ask me if I was tempted to take a wig or that big bunch of keys I carried, but that would be theft, because these things arent my property, says Phyllis emphatically. Besides, if theres a Downton movie, which I hope will happen, all the props and costumes will be needed. Ah yes, the Downton film; rumours still swirl but so far theres been no confirmation. According to Phyllis it may yet happen if and its a huge if the cast members can ever be gathered in one place long enough. Its like herding cats! she laughs. Were all so busy and in different countries, but it would be such fun to get together again. The camaraderie on set was extraordinary. Phyllis was in every episode of the family saga. Her husband even appeared in a handful of episodes as Horace Bryant, the stern father of an army major who fraternised with housemaid Ethel (Amy Nuttall), getting her pregnant before he died in action. Horace persuaded her to hand over his grandchild to him, which was brutal but necessary as she had been sacked from Downton in disgrace and had taken to prostitution in order to survive. I was quite miffed that the producer had offered Kev a job without even consulting me, laughs Phyllis. I wouldnt dream of queering his pitch although I do think Id be great as Johnny Depps mother in a Pirates of the Caribbean film [in which Kevin plays Joshamee Gibbs]. And every lad needs a cuddle from his mother now, doesnt he? Her eyes glitter with the sort of mischief Mrs Hughes would most certainly not approve of, but now Phyllis has emerged from the shadow of her fictional alter ego, she is keen to push boundaries. From left: Phyllis with husband Kevin McNally, and with son David Last summer she resolved to challenge herself by taking on a theatre role in a dazzling touring production of Noel Cowards Present Laughter, alongside Samuel West. The prospect of going back on stage was a bit frightening, but that is exactly why I embraced it, she says. I can be a bit of a scaredy-cat so I have to push myself and I was so very glad I did. It took me right back to my early days as an actress: booking my own digs, sitting on the seafront on my day off eating fish and chips. I also got to see fascinating places such as Canterbury, Cambridge and Brighton. Seeing the world be it near or far is something she gently urges all women to do once the kids have left. Travel does broaden the mind and fill the senses, she says. It gives you a new perspective and there are so many beautiful regions in Britain that I can think of no better way to spend time than exploring them because youre a long time dead so carpe diem, ladies! The Good Karma Hospital will be on ITV next month. Phyllis is an ambassador for Dementia UK and is supporting its campaign timeforacuppa.org Styling: Natalie Read. Hair: Alex Price at Frank Agency. Make-up: Lucy Gibson at Frank Agency using Clinique. Table and vase, both Habitat Who? Former ad girls Dominika Minarovic and Elsie Rutterford have swapped cooking up campaigns for creating all-natural beauty products from their kitchens. Theyve been whisking up face serums, body scrubs and hair oils for the past three and a half years. And, since they began sharing their recipes on Instagram (@cleanbeautyco) two years ago, the pair have gained a loyal online following. Their first recipe book of DIY beauty treatments was published on Thursday. Team Clean Beauty, Dominika Minarovic (left) and Elsie Rutterford (right), are the new faces of natural skincare Big break Not your average entrepreneurs, Elsie, 30, from London, first dreamed of becoming an actress, while Dom, 29, from Australia, moved to the UK to go to university. They met in 2013 after joining the same digital-media agency, and quickly bonded over a love of healthy eating, lotions and potions. The idea for Clean Beauty was sparked while entertaining clients at a beauty salon. We realised we would pore over food labels to find out the ingredients, but never stopped to do it for our cosmetics, says Elsie. When we did, we were shocked to find that they often contained so many chemicals. The duo finally quit their jobs last September to focus on Clean Beauty full time. The big idea? Similar to clean eating, clean beauty is about using natural ingredients. Dom and Elsie are big fans of essential oils and butters, as well as bananas (very moisturising), avocados (high in antioxidants) and coffee (a great exfoliator). At weekends, they can be found in each others kitchens, wearing aprons and hairnets and experimenting with recipes. Not that everything has been a success. Once, we tried to make a yoga-mat spray using floral waters it was supposed to add atmosphere, says Elsie. The smell was so pungent that we called it Smells Like Bikram. It was grim. Whats next? Look out for Clean Beautys DIY workshops, running later this year. Dominika and Elsies recipe book Clean Beauty is published by Square Peg, price 18. To order a copy for 13.50 until 5 February, visit you-bookshop.co.uk or call 0844 571 0640; free p&p on orders over 15 'When I was a young dancer and had no money, I used to make dresses to help pay my debts,' says Brendan Guilty pleasure? Shortbread and a cup of tea not particularly guilty, but a real pleasure. Where is home? I was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, but now live in a village in Buckinghamshire with my wife Zoe and our daughter Aurelia, whos four. We have two 300-year-old cottages which have been knocked together. Career plan B? Running my own construction company. I was a builder before becoming a dancer. Who would play you in a movie of your life? Matthew McConaughey Ive been told theres a resemblance, although I cant see it. Biggest bugbear? People being treated badly, whether its not paying them fairly or not offering a seat to someone who needs it more. As a child you wanted to be A helicopter pilot. Earliest memory? Getting a toy red double-decker bus in the post from an auntie living in the UK when I was about three. Secret to a happy relationship? Compromise and growing closer together. Your best quality? Im generous. And your worst? I can be too generous with my time, but thats not such a bad thing. Most romantic thing youve ever done? Whisking Zoe off to Paris and proposing to her on the rooftop of the Hotel George V in 2008. Last meal on earth? Steak and chips, plus a small portion of beef stroganoff. Dream dinner-party guests? Robert Downey Jr, Fred Astaire and Anne Hathaway, my celebrity crush. Secret skill? When I was a young dancer and had no money, I used to make dresses to help pay my debts. Starstruck moments? Seeing Darcey Bussell for the first time at the National Television Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in 2007, long before she joined Strictly as a judge, and meeting Lionel Richie in 2004. Cat or dog? Dog, but my lifes too busy to have pets. Career highlight? The opening night of my first touring show, Brendan Cole: Live & Unjudged, a few years ago. I was petrified, but the standing ovation at the end is something I will remember for the rest of my life. Favourite tipple? Sauvignon blanc, beer and vodka but not all at the same time. Hangover cure? Lots of water. Top of your bucket list? Id love to have a run-out on a rugby field with the New Zealand All Blacks. Your favourite celebrity partner on Strictly? Kelly Brook in 2007 was one of my best partners. One thing that would make your life better? Not having to work so hard. Philosophy? Dont let the b******s get you down, as my dad used to say. Last film that made you cry? A short video that Anastacia, my partner on last seasons Strictly, made to support Cancer Research UK had me in tears. Where would you time travel to? Back to the 1950s to see a show with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. First record you bought? Money For Nothing by Dire Straits. Most extravagant purchase? A Tom Ford suit. I feel incredible when I put it on. Biggest fear? Not being successful. Happiness is Being content with oneself and ones family. Brendans new 45-date tour All Night Long begins on Thursday at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre. Visit brendancole.com for more details It starts with him offering to take care of the bills and ends with him controlling every aspect of your finances, leaving you isolated and trapped. Financial abuse can be just as devastating as physical violence, says Anna Moore When Alison left her job for full-time motherhood, her partner Paul removed her from the joint account into which their salaries had previously been paid. Until then, the couple had managed money with few problems. Wed lived together for three years and always shared bills, freely accessed the account and made decisions together about everything, says Alison, 36. This changed quickly when their income dropped to a single wage. The UKs largest study into financial abuse to date, Money Matters, commissioned by domestic violence charity Refuge and the Co-operative Bank, found that one in five of those surveyed had been victims, 60 per cent of them women Wed agreed that I should give up work to look after our baby, says Alison. I didnt like suddenly having separate bank accounts, with Paul paying a small monthly allowance into mine, but still querying how I spent it. I put it down to him feeling stressed about surviving on one salary, even though Im not a reckless spender. I wasnt happy, but I was so taken up with motherhood and its adjustments that I let it slide. Alisons unease deepened as the months passed. Paul was making decisions without me where we did the weekly shop and what we bought. When we changed our car, he had final say. He decided where we went on holiday and for how long. Even the phones were up to him he had the latest model, but I had to carry on using my old mobile with a cracked screen. Although Paul is on a fairly high salary and money wasnt tight, he made constant comments about my spending, Alison continues. If I bought anything clothes for our son, a new brand of coffee, something from a deli or a farmers market his first question would be about cost. Money became a battleground. Almost without realising it, I delayed getting my hair done because that would lead to a lecture. I stopped buying myself clothes or shoes. I socialised less because whenever I met friends in the evening, Paul would point out how much the drinks and petrol cost even though he regularly went out drinking after work and was a member of an expensive gym. Alison, who had once enjoyed a successful career in recruitment, found her life shrinking and felt sidelined in her own home. Why did I put up with it? I have no idea other than that on some level, I felt Paul had a point. I wasnt contributing financially so it felt more like his money. And with no salary of my own, I didnt have many options. The fact that I never had anything left in my account by the end of the month made me even more powerless. Financial abuse in relationships defined by the Co-operative Bank as controlling someones ability to acquire, use and maintain their own money and resources can be silent, insidious and hard to spot. Listeners of Radio 4s The Archers will recognise it from Helen Archers abuse by her former partner Rob Titchener. (Not only did he stop her working and control her spending, he emptied their joint account and accrued debts for which she could be liable.) Research has shown that financial abuse is often the first sign of a controlling relationship and can be a precursor to emotional and physical abuse and its surprisingly common. The UKs largest study into financial abuse to date, Money Matters a survey of some 4,000 people in relationships commissioned by domestic violence charity Refuge and the Co-operative Bank, found that one in five of those surveyed had been victims, 60 per cent of them women. Women also experience financial abuse for longer periods with nearly 80 per cent of cases lasting for more than five years compared to 23 per cent of cases in men. Financial abuse is a method of manipulation, chipping away at a womans independence by controlling her access to money, says Refuge chief executive Sandra Horley. It may make victims feel worthless, isolated and powerless. It can also provide a barrier to leaving the relationship. Yet despite a growing awareness that domestic abuse extends beyond physical violence (in 2015 coercive control in relationships through emotional or psychological means became a criminal offence), the problem is hard to police largely because the divvying up of a couples income, the question of who pays for what and whats fair, of which debts are in whose name, is a grey area. Sarah Pennells, personal finance journalist and creator of money website savvywoman.co.uk, receives a steady stream of emails from victims. The coercive control legislation was helpful, but in reality, financial abuse can be subtle and not something the law is interested in, she says. Theres a lot of awkwardness about money; questions such as, Whats normal? and Whats everyone else doing? For someone with an abusive tendency, it can be an easy route to control. Popular online forums are proof of this. Numerous threads on Mumsnet begin with questions such as, Financial Control what is normal?, My husband wants all my salary and Husband controlling finances. Is it fair? One participant asks if its reasonable for her partner to keep a spreadsheet of her spending, which he checks most days. (She has no idea what he spends.) Another, who, like Alison, left work to become a full-time mum, receives 60 pocket money a month from her husband. While he spends as he wishes, she wears bras that no longer fit and dresses their son in hand-me-downs as she has no money for new clothes. Do others know exactly what is in [their partners] bank account? Am I a fool for not knowing? she asks. What was I thinking, giving up my job to look after my children? Why did I hand over my financial independence? Is he right to control my spending so tightly? Maybe this is normal, I dont know. Maybe it is all his money and I dont deserve to spend it Its a vicious circle. The less money you have, the more isolated and disempowered you become. Humiliations heap up. You become confused and vulnerable. YOU COULD BE A VICTIM OF FINANCIAL ABUSE IF YOUR PARTNER: Stops or sabotages your attempts to work or study. Monitors your spending, checks receipts and asks you to account for every penny. Insists on knowing your bank log-in information, pin numbers or bank card details. Sets up bills and loans in your name. Keeps financial information secret from you. Makes significant financial decisions alone. WHAT TO DO CALL the 24-hour National Domestic Violence Helpline 0808 200 0247 for support and to work through your options in the short and long term. They can also put you in touch with your local outreach programme. TALK to a financial expert especially if you have financial ties such as debts or a joint mortgage. Citizens Advice, StepChange or the Money Advice Service are free of charge. ENSURE that you and only you know your pin codes and online banking passwords. If you think your partner has access to any of these, consider changing them. KNOW what finances are in your name and which are not joint assets, tenancy agreements, mortgages, bank accounts and credit cards. HAVE COPIES of key documents such as your national insurance number, bank statements, mortgage agreements and credit card details. survivingeconomicabuse.org; refuge.org.uk Advertisement Nicola Sharp-Jeffs, research fellow at London Metropolitan Universitys child and women abuse studies unit, has spent years researching financial abuse and has devised an economic abuse wheel to show how its many forms intersect to degrade, infantilise and isolate the victim. It can involve tight control of your spending, checking receipts, making you account for every penny, says Sharp-Jeffs. Ive spoken to women who couldnt buy basic sanitary products. Another had to live off tins of Tesco Value tuna while her partner had his own cupboard of luxury products. Theres exploitation [only giving financial allowance after sexual favours] and financial sabotage [people taking out loans or accruing debts in their partners name and emptying joint accounts]. And if you cant access money at short notice its far harder to leave [the relationship]. This was the case for mother-of-two Louise, 43. When she met her former partner Gavin ten years ago, she had a thriving business and her own home in London. Theirs was a whirlwind romance. Id met Gavin through work. He was very successful, a high earner and ten years older than me, says Louise. He flew me all over the world for holidays. He wanted to be with me all the time, showered me with gifts. At the time, it felt very romantic; now I see it was quite controlling be here, be there, do this. As Louise was selling her home when they met, Gavin urged her to move in with him. I wasnt sure and he was outraged, saying it meant I didnt love him as much as he loved me, so I felt guilty and relented. I wanted to pay half the mortgage, but again, he insisted that I wasnt going to. Once they were living together, Gavin pressured Louise to stop work. I had a company Id built from nothing with a business partner, she says. It was demanding and time-consuming but was my pride and delight. Gavin took against my partner; he didnt trust him, didnt like me seeing him: I dont want you going to meetings on your own with him; I dont want you giving him a lift to work He was constantly telling me I was tired and stressed, and that the business was impacting our relationship. We had so many rows it became overwhelming. Finally, I gave in, sold my share and thought Id start out on my own. Instead, Gavin helped arrange work for Louise at home through his contacts, which meant he decided what she did and with whom. Louise became increasingly isolated. It went beyond money, she says. It was about being under his control. If you have no real job and no kids then youre not out in the world, youre not participating in normal life, you dont see people, you dont hear other perspectives. All your thoughts on whats right and wrong come from one person. You start to accept that perspective and lose your judgment. When Louise became pregnant with their first child, Gavin insisted she stop work altogether. I had bad morning sickness and all the time Gavin was saying, You cant cope, youre putting the baby at risk by working. In the end, I believed him. Over the next four years (during which Louise gave birth to their second child), the abuse escalated to include violence and life became, in Louises words, a living hell. I realised I was trapped. To get a deposit for a flat of my own, to pay for a hotel room, to see a solicitor, to provide for the children all required money, and I had none. In six years, Id gone from being in full control of my finances to utterly dependent on another person. When Louise finally turned to Refuge, the domestic violence charity helped her formulate an escape plan, which involved legal support, an injunction and police involvement. Gavin swiftly left his job, sold his house and dissolved his assets to avoid having to provide any financial support to Louise and their children while she rebuilt her life. At first, that was a source of anger, but now its an utter relief, she says. I have my own start-up business now. Gavin cant control me [his access to their sons is strictly supervised]. Im not dependent any more. I pay for it all school shoes, school trips, music lessons On my better days, I can look at what Im providing and feel quite proud of that. Its a liberation. Nicola Sharp-Jeffs believes information is the first step towards prevention. Theres a lack of education in schools not only around sex and relationships but also finances, she says. If we havent been encouraged from a young age to ask questions about the power of money or how we budget and manage finances, were less likely to know whats right or wrong. In the US, which Sharp-Jeffs says is a step ahead of the UK, there are now financial literacy classes and clinics held for women in many family centres. The financial sector also has a role to play, adds Sarah Pennells, who recently asked ten high-street banks and building societies whether their staff were trained to recognise or help victims of economic abuse. While many banks had nothing in place at all, the Co-operative Bank has trained more than 3,000 staff and is campaigning for an industry-wide code of conduct on the issue. Financial abuse is a very complicated subject as it comes in many forms, but the research we commissioned with Refuge opened our eyes to the sheer extent of it, says the Co-operatives Paul Lawler. Theres no broad-brush solution. Every case is different, but when a woman comes in and says she has no access to a joint account or that she needs to build an escape fund in an account with a different address, we need staff to understand what could be happening. Financial abuse in relationships defined by the Co-operative Bank as controlling someones ability to acquire, use and maintain their own money and resources can be silent, insidious and hard to spot Alison, like Louise, eventually left her husband. The turning point came when I bought a present for a friend and found myself hiding it because I knew it would cause a massive scene, she says. I saw myself through someone elses eyes. How had it got to the point where I was scared to spend 15 on a friends 40th birthday? With no money of her own, Alison went to live with her brother, returning to work part-time at her old company. She now rents a flat near her parents. It took a lot of courage to tell my family how unhappy I was, but once I did, I wished Id done it sooner, she says. Money is still tight and theres certainly nothing for luxuries, but that really doesnt matter. This time, its my choice; Im in control and Im building for a future. Ive got my dignity back. Chandu Babulal Chavan, 22, returned through the Attari-Wagah border, on Saturday. As a goodwill gesture, Pakistan released the Indian soldier who had inadvertently crossed the Line of Control in September last year. Chandu Babulal Chavan, 22, returned through the Attari-Wagah border, on Saturday. The BSF handed him over to the Army which took him to an undisclosed location for debrief and medical check-up. Chavan, posted with 37 Rashtriya Rifles, had mistakenly crossed the boundary in Kashmir, hours after India's surgical strikes on terrorist bases across the LoC on September 29. On October 13, Pakistan had admitted that it had kept Chandu in custody. According to a Pakistani official release, the Indian soldier was kept in custody for three months and 22 days, and he was allowed to go back to India at 2.30 pm on Saturday. On January 12, Union minister of state for defence Subhash Bhamre had said Pakistan has given assurance that Chavan will be released after inquiry. Meanwhile, Pakistan said it was releasing Chavan in a 'goodwill gesture'. 'As a gesture of goodwill and in continuation of our efforts to maintain peace and tranquility along LoC, Sepoy Chandu Babulal Chavan has been convinced to return to his own country and will be handed over to Indian authorities at Wagah Border on humanitarian grounds,' it said in a statement. However, Pakistan did not miss out on the opportunity to take a jibe at the recent controversy over poor amenities given to BSF and army jawans. Pakistan did not miss out on the opportunity to take a jibe at the recent controversy over poor amenities given to BSF and army jawans. (pictured BSF soldier Tej Bahadur Yadav) 'The Indian soldier had deserted his post at the LoC due to his grievances of maltreatment against his commanders. He willfully crossed the border on September 29 and surrendered to Pakistan army,' said Pakistan. Chavan's brother Bhushan Chavan, who is also a soldier, said he is thankful to the army for its efforts. 'I am thankful to the DGMO and army for the efforts they have made to rescue my brother. I am never going to forget this.' 'I am also a soldier and will continue to do my duty with full honesty till my last breath,' he said. Chavan belongs to Borvihir village in Dhule district of Maharashtra. His grandmother had died of shock following the news of his capture by Pakistani troops. At a conference, a few weeks back, a student asked me about dissenting imaginations. He said, can you give me two examples of men. He literally 'complained' of the plethora of women leaders and dissenters like Teesta Setalwad, Medha Patkar, Aruna Roy. I thought of many names from the scientist CV Sheshadri to the political theorist Rajni Kothari, but they had all passed away. TM Krishna is cocooned by controversy as he has refused to sing at the Music Academy, the bastion of Brahminic conservation about music. Intensity I was looking for two men, not easily classifiable, creative, sustaining their creativity beyond mid-life, open to new questions, eccentric without being fundamentalist. I was suddenly struck by the two nominees of last year's Magsaysay award - Bezwada Wilson and TM Krishna. I cannot think of two more different people. One is a Brahmin belonging to an elite family and the other is a Dalit. Both are obsessive, yet open ended but with different intensities. TM Krishna is not only a creative musician but a superb researcher into the history of Carnatic music, a man pondering deeply into the relation between creativity and social structure. Currently he is cocooned by controversy as he has refused to sing at the Music Academy, the bastion of Brahminic conservation about music. He performs in parallel assemblies claiming music must be more open, accessible and less dogmatic. TM does not try to dilute music but demands a more varied craft competence from it. There is a passion about the man that is attractive. He wants his music to go beyond the noise of the establishment. Bezwada Wilson, his compatriot at the Magsaysay awards, is a Dalit, who speaks an everyday language challenging the narrowness of elite policy. Bezwada Wilson, his compatriot at the Magsaysay awards, is a Dalit, who speaks an everyday language challenging the narrowness of elite policy. For Wilson, justice is music and he feels one can get justice when one creates dignity of work. Dignity goes beyond equality. Equality can be numerical like equal pay for equal work. Dignity goes beyond status to speak the language of caring. Wilson points out that there are some livelihoods like scavenging that do not allow for dignity. It is also comprehensible to see how dalits can work confronting the stench of septic tanks. Wilson organises them to cease performing certain acts of scavenging. Radicalism It is interesting that the upper castes who are dependent on them exploit scavengers for performing dehumanising tasks and also subject them to violence when they refuse to perform these tasks. Bezwada Wilson comes closest to what I call a liberation theologist, a man who uses the teachings of the Church to push for greater justice. He reminds me of the Jesuit Samuel Ryan, a great inspiration for fisherman during the boat struggles against trawlers. Two men, radically different from each other in background and style. There is a similar intensity to both. Wilson is easier, friendlier, Krishna equally generous with his ideas tends to be reticent. Wilson seems more at home while Krishna seems to be still quarreling with himself. Both bring to their work a radical sociology as Krishna performs in the Kuppams near Eliots beach dreaming of a more accessible music. Wilson is open, impishly and radically in his response to the regime's ideas on Swacch Andolan claiming that every project leads to a septic tank. Till one eliminates the humiliation of manual scavenging one cannot speak of hygiene or justice. Krishna senses that an elite which has no sense of septic tanks also has little sense of how creativity and justice can hybridise to create new ideas for society. Awards Wilson's courage is not in doubt. Treated as an outcast, he fueled his anger into a fight for justice. Krishna too is finding his feet sensing he must go beyond socialities who parasite on his radicalism to the deeper roots of music. One seeks transformation in the world of music, the other justice in the world of caste. Both are battles against caste as an idea for its dehumanising or exclusive emphasis. Both have a sense of hospitality which they want to weave into the idea of justice. Two forms of courage and creativity which should make one proud. What bothers me when I confront these two extraordinary men is the way their dissent is consumed. Both are struggling and both struggles have a long way to go. The danger is we might domesticate their anger to sanitise our sense of conscience. A few awards cannot satisfy their demand for change. Beyond applause what they need is solidarity, understanding, not to be treated as aliens in a consumerist bureaucratic world. Both are stars as performers pushing a radical idea but one senses hurt, loneliness, anger, a need to communicate a different and more beautiful world which society is impervious to. I see them as comrades in creativity. What we need to do beyond applause is to imagine the depth and power of the struggle. Battling caste is not easy. One should not sociologically separate them contending that one is an elite force and that the other is an outcast. There is a brotherhood of creativity and justice between them. In fact one wishes that literary festivals which project so many inane interviews would conduct a conversation between the two men, each responding to the others life and innovative radicalism. Shiv Visvanathan is professor and director, Centre for the study of Knowledge Systems, Jindal Global Law School Kejriwal had reportedly told the voters to take money from BJP and Congress, but vote for AAP in the assembly elections. Acting on a complaint lodged by the BJP, the Election Commission has expressed its disapproval at Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal for his bribery remarks at a poll rally in Goa. Kejriwal had reportedly told the voters to take money from BJP and Congress but vote for AAP in the assembly elections. The Election Commission had earlier issued notice to Kejriwal and after hearing his side, the poll panel found the AAP convener of violating the model code of conduct. Responding to the Election Commission action, Kejriwal said that he would challenged the poll panel's order in the court. 'The Election Commission's order against me is completely wrong. Lower court gave the order in my favour while the Election Commission ignored court's order. I will challenge the Election Commission's latest order in court,' Kejriwal said. The poll panel said Kejriwal's Goa speech violated the model code of conduct, which came into force on January 4. Kejriwal in his campaign in Goa had slammed the opposition by saying the Congress is a disputed party. He added that such a party can never become the future of Goa. He also attacked MGP leader and former minister Sudin Dhaulekar, who resigned from Pareskar government. A notice issued by the Election commission which states that Kejriwal has violated model code of conduct He asked public neither to vote for Congress nor for Sudin Dhaulekar. Division of anti incumbency votes may harm AAP which is big concern for the party. In a move to build perception of being main opponent and contender against BJP, Kejriwal attacked CM Lakshmikant Parsekar and also defence minister Manohar Parrikar. He accused BJP government of taking bribe to ban Casinos in Goa. Kejriwal asked people of Goa to forget their loyalty towards these two parties and vote for him for the betterment of Goa. The Election Commission held that Kejriwal's statement amounted to 'abetting and promoting electoral offence of bribery'. The Congress had also taken objection to Kejriwal's bribery remark and demanded the Election Commission to take strict action against the Delhi CM. (with PTI inputs) Two people were gored to death Sunday in a bull-wrestling festival in southern India, a day after a ban on the controversial sport was overturned. Several towns and villages in the southern state of Tamil Nadu celebrated the popular Jallikattu festival on Sunday after week-long protests prompted authorities to approve an executive order lifting a Supreme Court ban on it. But rampaging bulls sprinting through the village of Rapoosal in Pudukottai district fatally gored the two victims and injured 28 others, the Press Trust of India cited local police as saying. In the Indian bull-wrestling festival Jallikattu, young men struggle to grab the bulls by their sharpened horns or jump on their backs as the beasts, festooned with marigolds, charge down the road The Supreme Court last year outlawed Jallikattu after a plea by animal rights groups, which have long accused those taking part in the event - held annually across Tamil Nadu - of cruelty to the animals. The state's residents say Jallikattu is a crucial part of their culture and identity. Growing tensions over the past week in the state capital Chennai and other cities led Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday to issue an executive order that this year's event go ahead. But thousands have continued to protest and refused to celebrate the festival, saying they want a permanent lifting of the court ban and not just a temporary order. Protesters insist that the tradition of Jallikattu is 'part of their culture' Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam assured Tamils that the executive order would be made into a law during his state's next session of parliament starting Monday, according to PTI. Panneerselvam was scheduled to launch the Jallikattu festival in the town of Alanganallur in Madurai district, where the sport is most popular. But he was forced to cancel his appearance due to strong protests. Two people were gored to death Sunday in a bull-wrestling festival in southern India, a day after a ban on the controversial sport was overturned (file pic) In Jallikattu, young men struggle to grab the bulls by their sharpened horns or jump on their backs as the beasts, festooned with marigolds, charge down the road. Unlike in Spanish bullfighting, young men compete to subdue them bare-handed. The bulls are not killed. But critics say organisers lace the bulls' feed with liquor to make them less steady on their feet and throw chilli powder in their faces to send them into a sudden frenzy as they are released from a holding pen. Organisers of the centuries-old festival insist the beasts suffer no harm and call the event an established part of Tamil culture. O. Panneerselvam sets off for Chennai as Jallikattu makes its return by Mail Today Three people died, two during Jallikattu in Pudukottai and one during a demonstration at Madurai, as the bull taming sport was conducted in various parts of Tamil Nadu amid protests which forced Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam to leave for Chennai without inaugurating it at Alanganallur. Later, the government issued stringent guidelines including CCTV surveillance and medical examination of bulls to ensure safe conduct of Jallikattu. As per a circular sent to the district administrations and organisers of the bull-taming sport, the names of participants and bulls should be registered and a team of officials should monitor the events. Protesters at Alanganallur in Madurai refused to conduct the sport, steadfast in their demand for a 'permanent solution' to ensure unhindered annual conduct of the sport on Sunday. Panneerselvam had said he would inaugurate the bull taming sport at Alanganallur, famous for holding jallikattu events, at 10am. With an Ordinance being promulgated for holding jallikattu, the sport was organised in several parts of the state, including Rapoosal in Pudukottai district. The issue is likely to dominate the Tamil Nadu Assembly session beginning today with the AIADMK government set to move a bill to replace the ordinance for the conduct of the bull taming sport and amend the PCA Act. Police said two persons were killed and 28 injured when they were gored by a bull during the festival at Rapoosal. They said 48-yearold Chandramohan, from Jaihindpuram, died due to dehydration in Madurai city when he was taking part in the protests along with students and youths demanding a permanent solution for holding jallikattu. At the Marina beach, epicentre of the stir for the last six days, protesters continued to stay put demanding a permanent solution for holding the sport besides a ban on animal rights group PETA. Groups of agitators continued their protests at several locations in the state, raising the same demand. Speaking to reporters at Madurai before leaving for Chennai, Panneerselvam said, 'the ban on jallikattu has been removed completely, the sport will be held at Alanganallur, on a date decided by local people. He said jallikattu was held in all parts of Tamil Nadu with the local administration and police taking all stipulated measures to hold the sport. Why is Maneka silent on bull sport? Mail Today Bureau BJP leader Maneka Gandhi, who has been the most vociferous voice for animal rights in India, has fallen silent on Jallikattu. Many feel that this could be a result of pressure being exerted by the top Central leadership who have already decided to not ruffle feathers in Tamil Nadu anymore. Just five months ago, speaking to the media, Maneka had called Jallikattu a terrible sport. She also said that BJP doesn't need such a sport to win votes. 'Jallikattu is a terrible festival, be consigned to history it is not good, and the BJP has many many more important things to do. 'They should not try and get votes just through this. It is a very important party, and we have a role to play in Tamil Nadu. We have very intelligent people here, so we should look for good things to promote,' Maneka had told. But, BJP was ready to pass an ordinance against the Supreme Court's rule and allow Tamil Nadu to organise Jallikattu, this Pongal. However, the Supreme Court had again in January clearly rejected Tamil Nadu's plea to review its ban on Jallikattu. The developments indicate that Maneka could have been asked to not air her opinions on Jallikattu, as it would contradict the party interest. Her statement in August which meant that BJP does not need jallikattu to make inroads into Tamil Nadu might not have gone down well with the party leaders. The Animal Welfare Board of India has been the main hurdle to the Centre in passing the ordinance pro-Jallikattu. Its Chairperson Major General (Retd.) Kharb was allegedly made to resign on his contradicting views. When Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar came up with a proposal allowing Jallikattu, the AWBI opposed it. Crowds of men and women from across 30 cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Ranchi and Thrissur walked the streets to claim equal right to public places protesting SP leader Abu Azmi's controversial statement. On the recent mass molestation incident in Bengaluru, Azmi controversially said, 'In these modern times, the more skin women show, the more they are considered fashionable. 'If my sister or daughter stays out beyond sunset celebrating December 31 with a man who isn't their husband or brother, that's not right.' Women take part in the 'I Will Go Out' march, a nation-wide movement for women, on January 21, 2017 in New Delhi, India. This is a nationwide gathering on 21st January in solidarity against sexual harassment and misogyny, and to reclaim women`s rights to safe public spaces. Azmi's statement added fuel to the already existing anger across India. Women shared messages of solidarity across social media platforms, giving rise to 'I Will Go Out' movement which coalesced into a social media protest on Saturday evening. With no organisational funds to back them, but just the anger against the patriarchal mindset that dates back to thousands of years, women took to roads with posters saying 'I Will Go Out'. While such protests are a common site in bigger cities like Delhi and Mumbai, what makes this movement different is the response it got from smaller districts. Nagpur tried a very different approach to reach the masses. Women dressed in varied attires like a saree, or a corporate dress, stood at varied prime locations with posters saying, 'My clothes didn't ask for it' and 'Is it my fault?' 'What was surprising,' said Shruti Moon, 'was that not many women paid attention to us. However, we had auto drivers coming up to ask what were we doing.' 'They knew about Bengaluru mass molestation and accepted that the way men look at women is wrong. Many of them gave me their numbers saying I could call them if I am ever in trouble,' she added. City youths taking part in the rally 'I Will Go Out' march in Bhopal, India Cases of harassment are common in India, where over 34,000 rapes were reported in 2015, as recorded by National Crime Record Bureau. While the government has brought in tougher legislation on sexual assault, activists say more could have been done. 'We need to make people understand that by telling women to change their dressing style or returning home at a specific time, we are protecting the oppressor and his patriarchal mentality,' said Delhi co-ordinator Bhani Rachel Bali. 'I Will Go Out' march in Kolkata First, they close our branches, 900 of them over the past two years. Indeed, banking group CYBG has just announced it is axing 79 of its 249 Clydesdale and Yorkshire branches, which makes you wonder why on earth it has put itself in the running to buy 300 Williams & Glyn outlets from Royal Bank of Scotland. Merely to shut them down while acquiring 1.8million new personal customers and 250,000 small businesses? Methinks so. Then, these nasty banks urge us to bank online without putting in place adequate security measures to ensure our accounts are safe from hackers (think Tesco Bank). Charges: Some banks are keen to charge us for withdrawing cash from their hole in the walls For those loyal customers unwilling to risk banking online, the banks point them in the direction of the nearest cash machine or the local post office where basic banking transactions can be carried out for free. Fair enough but the Post Office, quite bizarrely, responds by taking an axe to its network 37 Crown branches have just been earmarked for closure, on top of 93 that were identified as surplus to requirement last year. As if that was not enough to raise your banking hackles, it now appears some of the banks are keen to charge us for withdrawing cash from their hole in the walls. We will learn more this week when representatives from the banks meet to discuss the issue. Maybe it will all blow over I hope so. After all, we have been here before. Seventeen years ago, most banks charged customers a disloyalty fee every time they used a rivals cash machine (honourable exceptions included Nationwide Building Society). Others, namely Barclays, threatened to levy a fee every time a non-customer used one of its machines. Some bank customers would then have faced paying two sets of charges. Thankfully, common sense prevailed. Helped by vociferous campaigning by The Mail on Sunday, legal threats made towards Barclays by Nationwide, and a bit of bullying from the Government, the charges were dropped. This left only independent cash machine operators levying fees on withdrawals from selected ATMs. If the banks attempt to re-introduce cash machine charges or start axing ATMs mark my words, we will vent our spleen like never before. EE brand ambassador: Kevin Bacon is famous for roles in films such as Footloose (pictured) I would love to know what Kevin Bacons take is on Ofcoms 2.7million fining of phone operator EE for overcharging customers. The actor, famous for roles in films such as Footloose and Mystic River, has long fronted EEs advertising campaign. I found the adverts vaguely interesting to begin with but over time they have become so grating that I will not sit down to watch a film at a cinema before I am certain all the adverts have rolled. Even Britney Spearss appearance in an EE advert last summer failed to stir me. I would hope Mr Bacon is as disgusted as I am by the dastardly way EE (now owned by BT) has behaved towards its customers. Certainly, EE has been footloose when acting in the best interests of customers. Charging customers for using a customer services number they thought was free is bad enough although EE did have the good grace to issue refunds promptly. Far worse was overcharging more than 32,000 customers who rang its customer services number while roaming within the EU and then deciding not to refund most of them. Instead, it made a donation to charity. Although EE has now made refunds to most overcharged customers, nearly 7,000 (out of pocket to the tune of 60,000) have yet to be traced. Ofcoms fine is welcome although the episode reinforces the view that customer service standards across swathes of consumer-facing industries remain lamentable. For buyers of financial products, websites such as fairerfinance can help identify customer-friendly providers (sadly, its analysis does not extend to mobile phone providers). Customers can also have their say on which companies provide good or bad service by voting in the customer service awards organised by monthly finance magazine Moneywise. Now in its ninth year, the awards are the most comprehensive of their kind. You can vote here. If you can spare the time, do cast your vote. Only by exposing bad customer service, while praising those which deliver service par excellence, will companies wake up to the fact that quality customer service should be a given, not a rare occurrence. Maybe Mr Bacon could say as much in his next EE advert. That is, after apologising for the latest EE debacle. The Prime Ministers speech on Brexit last week brought some clarity, but only on things that were already obvious. On the details of how Brexit will take shape and what the eventual new agreement with Europe will look like, we are still very much in the dark. Britain, Theresa May declared, will leave the single market. This came as a surprise to some, but it is hard to see why. The vast majority of people understood that to be at the core of what leaving the EU would mean even before the referendum. The signals from Mays Government since June have always indicated that leaving the single market was all but inevitable. Speech: Theresa May declared that Britain will leave the single market As for the other key issues involved in Brexit, we remain without details. On immigration the PM and her Chancellor Philip Hammond made emollient noises last week citing the economic benefits migration has brought. Some business leaders, notably the pro-Brexit (but not anti-immigration) boss of Next Lord Wolfson, have expressed relief. But we are still dealing with mood music rather than any clear facts. How much EU immigration will be allowed and whether EU citizens will continue to get preferential rights to work in the UK is unclear and will be the subject of negotiation with the rest of the EU. As for our future trade relations with Europe, we still have little idea of what shape this will take, mainly because it will depend on what the 27 other member states agree after negotiation. One blue-chip boss told me last week that sorting this detail would be crucial. Too much paperwork at the border, he said, could be immensely damaging. Adding just a few hours to how long it takes a lorry to pass either way through customs would play havoc with supplies to British manufacturers and retailers and with British exporters. Work: Whether EU citizens will continue to get preferential rights to work in the UK is unclear We do not know what shape the new custom arrangement will take. Then there was the rhetoric of threat brandished by May and Hammond. Both warned last week that unless we get a good deal with the EU, we could walk away and use our tax system as a competitive tool to face down Europe. In other words, cut corporate taxes to attract global business. Whether or not this bellicose approach is good diplomacy, there have to be doubts about whether this would be the right response. The PM has rightly highlighted the disenchantment many people feel with a version of globalisation that allows corporations and the international elite to benefit from a borderless world. Embracing this form of globalisation cutting business tax aggressively to attract more Googles and Apples would fly in the face of the public mood of recent years as well as Mays own rhetoric. It is also surely not what most people who voted from Brexit were aiming for. Right signals: Satellite specialist Inmarsat is among fund manager Simon Gergels leading holdings Investment trust Merchants remains one of the industrys most popular vehicles among investors searching for high and growing income. With a yield of more than five per cent, it offers a more attractive income than most other UK equity income oriented funds, which average 3.6 per cent. It has also managed to increase its payouts for 34 years running. Last week, its board announced a small rise in next months quarterly dividend. Provided there are no nasty surprises before April, when it will confirm the final dividend payment for the current financial year, it means that 34 will become 35. Understandably, longstanding manager Simon Gergel is proud of the trusts impressive record. It is our focus, he says. We are income seekers and we make no apology for buying shares that provide the high yield we require. Its why so many private investors hold the trust. Its biggest investors are those who have bought shares through fund platforms Alliance and Hargreaves Lansdown and via stockbroker Brewin Dolphin. Gergel, who works for asset manager Allianz Global Investors, is unfazed by Prime Minister Theresa Mays vow last week to take Britain out of the European single market. He says that if the economy is hit by the march towards Brexit, he believes the make-up of the trusts portfolio will shield it from the worst effects. The trust is more than 60 per cent exposed to FTSE 100 firms, he says. Most of these are not dependent on the UK economy. They derive most of their earnings abroad. So they should be protected from any fallout. Merchants has stakes in 44 companies. Its biggest holdings are in businesses renowned for being dividend friendly, such as oil giants BP and Royal Dutch Shell and bank HSBC. But it also has positions in firms that are normally off the radar of income-seeking fund managers. Among its top ten holdings are exhibitions organiser UBM and satellite specialist Inmarsat. UBM is a super business, says Gergel. It does not absorb vast amounts of capital, it gets paid in advance and its exhibitions have longevity, getting bigger every year. The high barriers to entry mean its cash flow is not threatened by competitors. Dividend friendly: Merchants has stakes in 44 companies, including BP and HSBC Among the companys longest running exhibitions is the Hong Kong Jewellery and Gem Fair, one of Asias top fine jewellery events. Inmarsat, he says, is booming on the back of strong demand for satellites from the marine and aviation industries and governments worldwide. Though Merchants income record is beyond reproach, its relative overall performance is a little disappointing. Over the past one and three years, it has underperformed its benchmark, the FTSE 100 Index. In the past year, it returned 22 per cent against the Footsies 28 per cent. Gergels retort is to point to the trusts outperformance over the past five years and, of course, the higher yield Merchants offers 5.1 per cent compared with the Footsies 3.6 per cent. From next month, the trust will use the FTSE All-Share Index as its benchmark, reflecting its increasing exposure to stocks outside the FTSE 100. Two additional features should reassure investors contemplating Merchants as a home for their money. One is the trusts low ongoing charge of 0.58 per cent. The other is just under a years worth of income in reserve, which can be drawn upon if the trust at any stage has to top up payments to shareholders in order to keep the growing dividend record heading towards 40 years. The billionaire owners of retail brands such as Fortnum & Mason, Heals and Primark gave millions of pounds to good causes last year thanks to record dividend payouts. Wittington Investments, an investment arm of the Weston family, paid out 109million according to its latest accounts, with another payment of 47million coming after the end of the financial year. Just under 80 per cent will go to The Garfield Weston Foundation which supports around 1,500 causes in health, education, youth and the environment, including the Salvation Army, Bletchley Park Trust and Demelza childrens hospice. Department store: Fortnum & Mason in London Accounts just filed show pre-tax profits of 1.1billion in the year to September 17, 2016, up from 727million the previous year. Sales were 13.6million, up from 12.9million. Wittington also owns the Grand Hotel Brighton as well as property in and around London. Guy Weston, grandson of the Associated British Foods groups founder, said in notes to the accounts that the decision to leave the EU had had some immediate impact on ABFs results because of currency effects. But he said the longer term impact would only become apparent as details emerged of how the exit will be engineered. He added that the company was formulating plans to take advantage of the changing landscape and to mitigate risk. The Foundation was set up in 1958 by Willard Garfield Weston, a Canadian who moved to the UK in 1932 and started Associated British Foods, now a 13.4billion turnover group of retail, agriculture and grocery businesses. The car industry will unveil its best manufacturing figures for 44 years this week including soaring exports but news of the boom may be overshadowed by fresh warnings of the threat from Brexit. Mike Hawes, head of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, will appear before MPs this week and is widely expected to deliver a dire warning of the threat faced by the industry. However, one critic has warned that the automotive industry is at risk of talking itself into a crisis. You cannot keep talking the industry down like this, said Garel Rhys, professor of motor industry economics and director for automotive industry research at Cardiff Business School. On the move: Many expensive marques such as Rolls-Royce are exported to countries outside the EU The SMMT urged the Government to stay in the single market after the Brexit vote an option ruled out by the Prime Minister last week. The industry is now keen to secure a customs deal with Europe that would save it from billions of pounds in tariffs on cars exported to the Continent. If tariffs are imposed it will have a huge impact on the industry, said Helen Foord, at Vauxhalls parent company General Motors. Were talking hundreds of millions of pounds in an industry not known for huge profits. We could be at a huge competitive disadvantage. Figures due this week will show that Britain produced more than 1.7million cars last year, the highest total since 1972. But with 80 per cent sold as exports, the Brexit vote means nothing is being taken for granted. Foord said: Those figures are from before Brexit. Remember we havent had Brexit yet. Last week, Hawes said not having a tariff-free agreement in place would jeopardise investment, growth and consumer choice. He added: Achieving this will not be easy and we must, at all costs, avoid a cliff-edge, and reversion to World Trade Organisation tariffs, which would threaten the viability of the industry. The SMMT has estimated that the cost of taking the UK out of the single market would add 1,500 to the cost of buying a car in the UK, and a 10 per cent tariff on imports would cost the industry 2.7billion a year. The car industry will unveil its best manufacturing figures for 44 years this week Lower pound and high productivity will help UK carmakers beat Brexit But while the car industry raises the alarm, some observers say this could do more harm than good and it should not talk itself down. Prof Rhys, an expert from Cardiff Business School, who last year produced a report for the Government on the impact of Brexit on Nissans Sunderland plant, warned: Loose talk can cost jobs. According to Prof Rhys, 650,000 jobs rely on Nissans presence in the UK. Its decision to build the X-Trail and Qashqai in Sunderland was seen as a vote of confidence and a sign of its belief in Government assurances that Brexit would not hurt Nissans competitiveness. But just two days ago in Davos, Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn said the group would re-examine its investment strategy once the terms of Brexit become clear. He told reporters: When the package comes, you will have to re-evaluate the situation, and ask will the competitiveness of your plant be preserved? Were going to have to make decisions on investment within the next two to three years. So the faster the Brexit results come, the better. Prof Rhys argued that the lower exchange rate for the pound and high productivity of UK car manufacturers would mean tariffs should not be an insurmountable problem. You should be able to cover the effects, he said. Plus if Donald Trump decides European Union tariffs are too onerous, the UK will have preferred nation status. Many cars produced in Britain, such as Bentley, Rolls-Royce, McLaren and Aston Martin, are exported outside the EU anyway to the US or Asia, he said. We export 80 per cent of production and import 85 per cent of the cars we drive, he said. The British-owned manufacturers are all enjoying record years. Because we make expensive, upmarket cars we are far removed from competition with cheaper imports from the rest of the world. So far there are not many in the industry who share his confidence. What you need to know each week: Listen to the This is Money podcast British firms owe close to 2.6billion in overdue VAT, as they continue to struggle to find cash to meet tax deadlines, online business finance supermarket Funding Options has warned. At the same time, low confidence levels in 2016 may have cost thousands of new jobs. Funding Options chief executive, Conrad Ford, said the overdue VAT figure had remained stubbornly high over the past few years despite growth in the economy. It rose from 2.55billion in 2014-15 to 2.59billion in 2015-16. VAT bill: British firms owe close to 2.6billion in overdue VAT Revenue & Customs has the power to award late payment penalties and to seize assets. Ford said: The ongoing fallout from Brexit could hamper small firms further, particularly for those that export products outside the UK as the fall in sterling affects exchange rates. Paying a VAT bill late is not necessarily a sign that a firm is doing badly. If a business is doing well but is not being paid on time, it might not have the cash to pay the VAT bill. The boss of holiday camp operator Butlins has urged the Government to reduce VAT in the tourism sector to make it cheaper for people to holiday in the UK. According to Dermot King, VAT across the tourism industry should be cut from 20 per cent to 5 per cent. Meanwhile, low levels of confidence in 2016 could have cost the UK 2.2billion in investment and 249,000 jobs, according to research from business consultancy Newable. Its figures suggest that, had confidence been at the same level as the long-term average between 1972 and 2015 the UK would have enjoyed a better business year. Newables Gross Domestic Confidence report, in partnership with the Centre for Economic and Business Research, has revealed a sharp fall in confidence last summer following the Brexit vote. There was a 65 per cent correlation between business confidence and employment growth, though with a delay of two quarters. There was a 56 per cent correlation between business confidence and business investment, with a two-quarter lag. Newable said confidence played a significant role in other factors such as determining business-to-business and research and development spending. Newable chief executive Chris Manson said: Intuitively, we know that confidence underpins commerce. It is what keeps us buying, suppliers supplying, funders financing and employees working. If firms arent feeling confident, we arent creating jobs or attracting investment. Moving forward into 2017, it is essential that not only the private sector supports confidence there is a huge role for the Government to play in helping to reduce uncertainty and install confidence. However, Emma Jones, founder of small business support group Enterprise Nation, which will on Wednesday announce its trade missions for 2017, said: We saw more than 2,500 enthusiastic new entrepreneurs come to our three StartUp 2017 events last week. It demonstrates unequivocally that the appetite to start a business in this post-Brexit, Trump-era, unpredictable world is still incredibly high. Similarly, the desire to build and grow a business, with all the complexity that uncertainty and new regulation bring, also shows no signs of abating. Theres no doubt that the advice we give needs to be sensitive to this. For example, those that have had to absorb extra costs as a result of the pounds fall may need help renegotiating supplier contracts, refinancing to bridge the gap or introductions to currency brokers that can do a better deal for them. She added: We also think focusing on export is key. Were about to launch our 2017 Go Global programme of five export missions to trading hot spots designed to incorporate up-to-the-minute advice for small companies. Seedrs, the crowdfunding site backed by star fund manager Neil Woodford, has partnered with Chinas InteBridge Venture Capital to co-host the UK division of a start-up competition supported by the Shenzhen Government. The China Innovation and Entrepreneurship International Competition UK division will take place in London on March 28. There will also be competitions in the US, Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, India and Germany. Ten UK winners will be flown to Shenzhen in April to compete for 100,000. Support: Seedrs is backed by star fund manager Neil Woodford Twenty entrepreneurs in each location will be selected to pitch their business for prizes in the national round. Visit icit.seedrs.com. The Prison Service has been criticised for refusing to confirm if two brothers who were jailed for their part in the horrific killing of a woman as she cradled a baby have been released or deported. In August 2005 Zainab Kalokoh was shot dead as she held her little niece, Adama, during a bungled robbery at a christening party in Peckham, south London, in a crime which shocked the country. The gunman, Roberto Malasi, was jailed for life for murder. But Diamond Babamuboni, 17, and his brother, Timy, 15, received lesser sentences, partly because they were convicted as juveniles, despite doubts about their true ages. WALKING THE STREETS? Timy Babamuboni (left) and his brother Diamond (right) claimed to be 15 and 17 respectively but their true ages were never proved. The Prison Service has refused to say if they have been released or whether they have been deported to Nigeria Rory Geoghegan, from the Centre for Public Safety think-tank, said: 'Justice must be seen to be done. The public have a right to know whether violent criminals who have been recommended for deportation at the end of their sentence have been deported.' 'The public have had enough of the human rights of violent thugs and other criminals routinely trumping those of the innocent and the public at large.' The Babamuboni brothers were both convicted of manslaughter and given indeterminate sentences, with minimum tariffs of eight years each. INNOCENT VICTIM: The killing of Zainab Kalokoh (pictured), who was holding a baby when she was shot, was headline news when she was gunned down at a christening party Timy claimed to be 15 at the time and Diamond 17 but police officers suspected they were older. The judge, Mr Justice Gross, said they would have got minimum sentence of 16 years if it had been proved they were adults. Sentencing the brothers, along with Malasi and a fourth defendant in 2007, Mr Justice Gross told the Old Bailey: 'What you four did that night was evil. In a cruel irony, many of the guests had come to this country to escape the violence of Sierra Leone.' Timy claimed to have been born on either 23 March 1991 or 23 August 1991 while his brother claimed to have been born on 27 March 1989. But because both were born in Nigeria and their birth certificates were thought to be forgeries it was impossible to ascertain how old they were and both refused to undergo dental tests which would have given their true age. Their birth certificates were written in the same handwriting and had consecutive numbers, despite them having been born two years apart. Zainab Kalokoh (pictured, second from right) and her husband Alieu Kargbo (far right) were attending a christening party on the Wood Dene estate in Peckham when she was killed The judge ordered Diamond to be deported to Nigeria after serving his sentence. But he said he could not deport Timy because he had been given indefinite leave to remain, prior to the killings, because of his age. Malasi, who was given a minimum tariff of 30 years, cannot be deported at the end of his sentence because the 18-year-old was given indefinite leave to remain before his conviction. Local MP Harriet Harman said at the time the sentences would be 'welcomed in a community of law-abiding, hard-working people'. Several MPs and immigration lawyers, backed by Labour's former home secretary Jack Straw, called for dental tests recently to determine the age of some migrants from Calais's The Jungle camp after questions were raised about whether some were actually 'children'. The Babamuboni brothers were living in a flat (circled) only yards from where Zainab Kalokoh was gunned down Mail Online applied, under the Freedom of Information Act, to know if the Babamuboni brothers had been released and deported. The Ministry of Justice replied: 'We can neither confirm nor deny whether the MoJ holds the information that you have requested.....we do not have to consider whether or not it would be in the public interest for us to reveal whether or not the information.' Mr Geoghegan, a former police officer, said: 'The public cannot have confidence in our justice system if they cannot be assured that dangerous criminals are being dealt with and that dangerous foreign criminals are being deported.' He said: 'Dangerous foreign criminals must be deported. Failing to do so is an affront to justice that makes Britain both less safe and more divided.' HAVE THEY GOT JUSTICE? Mrs Kalokoh's uncle, Alfred Sesay, (pictured, left), and her older brother, Augustine Pratt (right), sat through the trial of her killers at the Old Bailey Mr Geoghegan said: 'With more than 550,000 foreigners arriving in the UK last year and very real concerns over the level and impact of immigration, it is essential for any criminal element to be seen to be detected and deported.' He said: 'Where a judge has recommended the deportation of criminals, the public have a right to know if that recommendation was honoured by the government.' 'This not a pro- or anti-immigration argument. Deporting foreign criminals and letting the public know is straightforward common sense.' In the United States it is routine for details of where prisoners are incarcerated and when they are due to be released to be posted online on individual states' department of corrections websites. But there is no such openness in the UK and sometimes even victims' relatives are not informed when a killer is released from prison. The Home Office has since confirmed that both Timy and Diamond Babamuboni were freed and deported to Nigeria last year. JPMorgan Chase & Co directors paid Chief Executive Jamie Dimon $28 million in total compensation for 2016, a four per cent bump from the prior year. Dimon's package includes a base salary of $1.5 million as well as cash and stock-related instruments that are tied to Dimon's performance, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Dimon's base salary was the same in 2015, as was his $5 million cash performance bonus. The increase came from an additional $1 million in performance share units. JPMorgan Chase & Co directors paid Chief Executive Jamie Dimon $28 million in total compensation for 2016, a four per cent bump from the prior year The board 'took into account the firm's strong performance' in setting Dimon's pay, the company said. Last year, JPMorgan's profit rose 1 per cent, to nearly $25 billion. Return on tangible common equity, a key measure of profitability and a factor in the compensation, was 13 percent for the third consecutive year. Shares of JPMorgan, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, rose by 31 per cent in 2016, compared with a 26 per cent gain in the KBW bank stock index. Dimon's pay has been a sensitive topic for JPMorgan. The company changed its practices last year to tie more of his compensation to objective measures of performance and leave less leeway for judgment by directors. Last year, JPMorgan's profit rose 1 percent, to nearly $25 billion. Return on tangible common equity, a key measure of profitability and a factor in the compensation, was 13 percent for the third consecutive year The decision came after investors and proxy voting advisers complained that Dimon's pay was too arbitrary. Shareholders voted to endorse the new structure at their annual meeting in May. Directors are expected to describe their rationale for Dimon's 2016 package in more detail in a proxy statement ahead of this year's annual meeting. Other top JPMorgan executives are paid with a somewhat different mix of salary, cash and stock-related incentives. The performance pieces are like last year's and almost all consist of 40 per cent cash, 30 per cent performance share units and 30 per cent restricted stock units, a company spokesman said on Thursday. Advertisement Robert Dwyer Jr was driving home from a class at Penn State University when he heard on the radio that his politician father had been shot at a televised press conference. He didnt know if his father was dead or alive, if hed been attacked or had shot himself. It was 11am EST on January 22, 1987 when Budd Dwyer, hosting a meeting for the media where he had been expected to resign, gave a rambling speech, took out a Smith and Wesson .357 revolver, put it in his mouth and pulled the trigger. There was chaos: people ran for their lives; those who stayed had pleaded with him to put the gun down, others had tried to snatch it from his hand. His final words were: Dont, dont, dont, this will hurt someone. His suicide was broadcast to a television audience across Pennsylvania that lunchtime and again later in the day. The footage, which DailyMail.com has decided not to show, survives on the internet today, but one person who has doggedly managed to avoid the footage for the past 30 years is Budds son, Rob. Scroll down for video Robert Dwyer Jr, known as Rob, was driving home from a class at Penn State University when he heard on the radio that his father had been shot on a televised press conference. He holds his father R. Budd Dwyer's Treasurer of Pennsylvania name plate Robert Budd Dwyer shot himself with a Smith and Wesson .357 revolver that he pulled out of a briefcase during the press conference where it was thought that he was going to announce his resignation from office. His final words to the shocked room were: Dont, dont, dont, this will hurt someone as he tried to keep people away (pictured left). Pictured right in an official portrait In an interview with DailyMail.com ahead of the anniversary of his fathers death, he said: You read about it, you talk about it, you talk to people that were there... You see anyone die, especially your father, in such a dramatic fashion its just I dont even know how to describe it. You just sit there and its like wow. Its a haunting scene. And the toll it left on the family? Id tell anyone thinking about suicide that the scars and the emotional toll that it leaves on those left behind is immense, he said. Pennsylvania State Treasurer Budd Dwyer had been a politician for nigh on 22 years, serving in the states house of representatives and in the state senate but in his role as treasurer he had been found guilty of racketeering, bribery, fraud and conspiracy after being accused of taking a bribe during a bidding process for a $4.6million government contract. The following day, January 23, he had been due to be sentenced and was expecting to be jailed for 55 years. Such is the enduring horror of that day and the conspiracy theories surrounding the case and whether he was innocent, as he continued to insist, that a feature film about Dwyer is currently in the works. Dwyer (right) poses in a family photo with his wife Joanne, daughter Dyan 'Dee Dee' and son Rob. They had expected that he was to be sentenced to up to 55 years in prison Dwyer had served in the political sphere for almost 22 years going person to person to campaign often times. In 1986, he was found guilty of racketeering, bribery, fraud and conspiracy after being accused of taking a bribe during a bidding process for a $4.6million government contract Rob, now 51, drove his father to work the day he took his life. He said: He was insistent when I was dropping him off, he said go right home after your class, go right home' Now 51, Rob he has lived with his fathers very public suicide for the past three decades. He had driven his father to work that day. He said: That day he had me drive him into the office because I was going to class and it was a terrible snowy day. He was insistent when I was dropping him off, he said go right home after your class, go right home. I thought OK and at the time that the class had ended was when he was going to be in his press conference. Many had been expecting his father to announce his resignation from his position as Pennsylvania State Treasurer ahead of his inevitable incarceration. The reality was far worse. By the time he got home to his mother Joanne and then-18-year-old sister Dyan in Hershey, PA he found his father had sent two of his staff to the house, presumably to comfort his family but even they didnt know ahead of time why they were being sent. It was then that he found out after phone calls to his fathers aide that he had taken his own life. He had left his wife, his son and his daughter a note each. To my mother it was more an explanation of what he did and why he did it in the case to bring attention to the injustice that had happened. Pretty much a recap of what they had had together and how much he had loved his life with her, he said. You see anyone die, especially your father, in such a dramatic fashion its just I dont even know how to describe it. You just sit there and its like wow. Its a haunting scene - Robert Dwyer Jr Mine was a letter of what he expected from me moving forward and how proud he was of me and how difficult this was for him but he knew it was for the best because he wanted to show how awry the justice system had gotten. He keeps it with other mementoes in a secure box in his home in Scottsdale, Arizona. It sits alongside drawings, his fathers jack knife and a Penn State Cup from the 79 Liberty Bowl. His sister has never shared the contents of her letter. Dwyer had handed them to his staff at his press conference before the shooting. He had also prepared an envelope to be given to recently-elected Pennsylvania Governor Bob Casey, in the other was an organ donor card. The Dwyers had come together already ahead of Budds sentencing. Rob was studying at the Harrisburg, PA campus of Penn State, having relocated from University Park and Dyan had taken some time away from college to be at home. The Dwyers were very supportive of their father's political ambitions, pictured at his last swearing in as Treasurer in 1984. Rob was studying at the Harrisburg, PA campus of Penn State, having relocated from University Park and Dyan had taken time away from college to be at home so they could prepare for Dwyer's incarceration In the 2010 documentary, Honest Man: The Life of R. Budd Dwyer, Joanne - who died in 2009 - and Dyan both wished that they could have been more in tuned with Dwyer's decision. He gave them and Rob letters expressing his love for them and an explanation as to why he took his life Theyd spent Christmas 1986 trying to make the most of their holiday season. It had been both Dwyer and the familys favorite holiday. We had bought him a typewriter because he said that he wanted to compose his memoirs and tell his story. We thought it was all sort of going to come in the future. He would spend a lot of time typing, so we thought ok, sort of typing his memoirs, never realizing what he was doing at the kitchen table and typing away. A year and a half after Dwyers death, the family relocated to Tempe, Arizona, about as far away as they could get from Hershey and still be in the U.S. Rob and Dyan tried to help their mother learn how to pay bills, they got her a dog for companionship but it was clear that she would never get over her husbands death. She battled alcoholism for the rest of her life and passed away in 2009 after developing cancer in her mouth and throat. Joanne, pictured with Rob and Dee Dee in 1970, relocated to Tempe, Arizona following Dwyer's death. She suffered from alcoholism and died in 2009 because of tumors in her mouth and throat I dont think my mother ever fully recovered, Rob said. She had had a battle with alcohol through the remainder of her life and that had been a crutch for her. She went forward and moved to Arizona and got a job at Arizona State University and eventually got her own business which was a book store called Acceptance Books. She had books on alcoholism and it was sort of a bookstore where they had the books to help people through addictions and trauma. Joannes last interview had been filmed right before her death for the 2010 documentary Honest Man: The Life of R.Budd Dwyer. She felt hopeless for not being aware of her husbands deteriorating mental state. Maybe if I had been more astute and more aware. Wouldnt you think being a counsellor I could have picked up that stuff or put it together like that and you know I didnt, Joanne said. We always go through a period of anger that took a while too. I question why, you know we could have worked this out. We could have done something. It is a normal feeling of anger but then I understood why he did it because he left three beautiful letters. One for each of the children and one for me. Dyan, now 48, tried her best to resume life at the University of Pennsylvania. My sister went back to school and tried to resume her regular activities. I stayed and tried to help my mother figure out how to pay bills and all the things my father would have done, I helped my mother transition into that, shared Rob My sister would come back and forth and we would spend weekends together, we got her a dog but the three of us spent a lot of time together. Dyan soon followed her brother and mother to Arizona. She is married with an 18-year-old son. Rob, who is married to Jeanne and is father to Tayler and Ross, aged 25 and 21 is a real estate agent in the Phoenix area, has had his own demons to deal with. Angry, sad and confused, he turned to food as a coping mechanism in the absence of his father. I started to realize hmph, you are almost 300lbs, this isnt going to work and I joined Weight Watcher and lost 90lbs. Rob looks at photos of his family at his home Scottsdale, Arizona. Rob is now married to Jeanne and is father to Tayler and Ross, aged 25 and 21 is a real estate agent in the Phoenix area Rod holds a photo of his parents. I dont think my mother ever fully recovered, Rob said He started seeing a clinical psychologist who was very much worried about his mental state and ability to process what had happened. She made him read a book by M. Scott Peck called People of the Lie, which he cites as offering him clarity as to why Dwyer took his life. Rob and Dyan do their best to live up to their father's legacy, especially as Treasurer where he worked to modernize the office People will do things that are bad but they justify them as good, Rob said. It is something that you need to accept that that is the way some people process things. This happened and the circumstance that you need to accept and move forward and make the best of your life. Our focus was to make sure that we lived the way that our father wanted us to live our lives. Weve lived it and we have tried to emulate the good that he has done with being a good person and being someone that he could be proud of. Hate and revenge can eat you up. For a while you have those emotions but all youre doing is killing your own soul. Its tragic and of course you say that you dont want that to happen, you wouldnt want your fathers life to end that way but I am where I am now because of that. Dwyer pictured with President Gerald Ford. Rob said: Our focus was to make sure that we lived the way that our father wanted us to live our lives. Weve lived it and we have tried to emulate the good that he has done with being a good person and being someone that he could be proud of' He has been able to put his anger aside and he is able to focus the positives in his life his great life with a great wife and kids. My sister does too. Rob has set his anger aside and focuses on the positives in his life, his wife and kids. But he admits: To be honest, I dont want to say its faded But he admits: To be honest, I dont want to say its faded. In 1986 an anonymous letter sent to Governor Dick Thornburgh alleged that California-based firm Computer Technology Associates (CTA) had bribed its way to securing a $4.6 million public contract. The deal was cancelled two months after it was signed and no money ever changed hands however, federal prosecutors launched an investigation and Dwyer was charged, along with CTA owner John Torquato Jr, CTAs attorney William Bill Smith and the former chairman of the state party committee, Bob Asher. Smith pleaded guilty to offering Dwyer and Asher $300,000 in bribes and received a reduced sentence. Torquato Jr also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 4 years. Smith spent 3 and a half years in prison. Asher was found guilty alongside Dwyer and only received a year in prison after he resigned from office. Upon release, he got back involved with politics eventually becoming Pennsylvania's Republican National Committeeman. But it would be no such fate for Dwyer who the judge had already warned would face 55 years in prison. His son Rob told the documentary: I said Look, did you do anything wrong, did you take the money because it doesnt matter to me, I just need to know, And he goes: I absolutely did nothing wrong. With his fathers work in politics diminished, Rob doesnt see a political career in his future any time soon. He is a registered Republican, identifying as fiscally conservative and socially moderate but isnt a fan of the court system. I really question whenever you see a news report and whenever you see that someone has been indicted. Prosecutors try to dumb down juries to try to make it easier to win their argument. It is a flawed system. My dad used to say we dont have a justice system we just have a legal system. It is just a system where legal things are just processed through regardless of intent or outcome and people do it to further their careers. The real estate agent doesn't have political ambitions and is not a fan of the legal system. Rob said: My dad used to say we dont have a justice system we just have a legal system. It is just a system where legal things are just processed through regardless of intent or outcome and people do it to further their careers While Rob believed in his fathers innocence from the start, he doesnt agree with him taking his own life to get answers. He said: I didnt realize the number of people he had touched as far as helping and trying to make peoples lives better. The suicide and the tragedy of that, I think really overshadows a lot of that. I think the main thing is that he wanted to finally be able to tell his side of the story, that he couldnt tell and in doing so, I think the idea of being incarcerated and punished for something that he didnt do was just too much. He was one of the good guys. I think he wasnt on guard enough to know to protect himself when people were trying to do him harm or use him as a vehicle to gain things for themselves. Rob doesn't agree with the method Dwyer used to press his innocence. He said: I didnt realize the number of people he had touched as far as helping and trying to make peoples lives better. The suicide and the tragedy of that, I think really overshadows a lot of that' I think the main thing is that he wanted to finally be able to tell his side of the story, that he couldnt tell and in doing so, I think the idea of being incarcerated and punished for something that he didnt do was just too much,' he said. Rob keeps all his keepsakes of his father in a box he has in his closet Joanne also believed that her husband was innocent from the start. In the documentary, filmed in 2009, she said: I dont have any doubt, Ive never had any doubt. I think the majority of people believe in Budds innocence and anybody who knows him certainly does. Perhaps one way that justice was served in some backwards way was the pension Joanne received because her husband never resigned from his role. Totalling $1.2million, it was the largest pension in Pennsylvania at the time. Many, including the Dwyers, believed he had done this intentionally as a parting gift to his family. It enabled my mother to be able to reassess what she wanted to do, move to Arizona and start a new life for herself. It gave her the ability to help her kids out when they needed it, Rob said. It certainly didnt make up for any companionship or the time that she would have spent with my father but it gave her the chance to make some decisions and do some things that she wouldnt have been able to do otherwise. Nevertheless, there were those who werent thrilled with the Dwyers newfound riches. Of the 800 1000 letters that they received from well-wishers, Rob says just three spewed hateful words about the politician. None of the three were signed of course but there was one in particular that stood out that was just about how horrible he was, how he got what he deserved and the last sentence was: Im glad hes dead. For confidential support call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255 The Prime Minister plans to create a network of 'builders universities' to train a post-Brexit generation of manual workers Theresa May is to declare war on educational snobbery by setting up a network of prestigious builders universities to train a post-Brexit generation of manual workers. The Prime Minister believes too many families push non-academic children towards university degrees when they could follow better-paid careers by learning a trade. The move will form part of the Governments long-awaited industrial strategy, which will earmark billions of pounds for training schemes, research and development and cutting-edge robot technology to get the whole economy firing, according to Mrs May. But the most striking proposal in the consultation being launched by the Prime Minister at a regional Cabinet meeting in the North-Weston Monday is an attempt to bridge the historic prestige gap between academic and vocational careers. A total of 170 million will be spent on a string of new Institutes of Technology in England and Wales, taking students from age 16 to 19. The aim is to equip them with engineering, construction and other hands-on skills. Mrs May will also ensure every city has a designated free school for 11 to 18-year-olds acting as a specialist centre of learning for maths, in a bid to redress the shortage of graduates in the subject. Theresa May believes too many families push children towards university when they would be better suited to more lucrative careers in a manual trade Mrs Mays plans have been given added impetus by her pledge to curb EU migrants after Brexit, which critics fear could lead to a shortage of workers such as plumbers. The reforms come as research shows many university degrees offer a questionable return on the investment. On average, a degree adds 100,000 to a graduates earnings over a lifetime, although a medicine or dentistry degree adds nearly 400,000. But studying a subject such as creative arts or design leaves a student worse off by 15,000. Nearly half of graduates take jobs that dont need degrees. The average salary for a plumber is just over 28,000 1,000 above the UK average. A senior Government source said last night: Mrs May thinks it is unwise to force less academic pupils into the strait-jacket of university, leaving them drowning in debt for the sake of a poor degree particularly when we have a chronic shortage of British plumbers and engineers. As part of the Government's new industrial strategy billions of pounds will be earmarked for training schemes, research and development and cutting-edge technology Thats why she thinks there should also be a university for the builders of the future as well as the lawyers and doctors. Mrs May said last night: Our modern industrial strategy is a critical part of our plan for post-Brexit Britain. As we leave the EU, it will help us grasp the bigger prize: the chance to build that stronger, fairer Britain that stands tall in the world and is set up to succeed in the long term. That means boosting technical education and ensuring we extend the same opportunity and respect we give university graduates to those people who pursue technical routes. The strategy is welcomed by Mrs Thatchers Education Secretary Lord Baker, a veteran campaigner for technical education, who blames snobbery for the closure of technical schools after the war. Writing in todays Mail on Sunday, he says parents wanted their children to go to the grammar school on the hill rather than study in shabby premises with dirty jobs and greasy rags down in the town. Television personality David Campbell has created controversy by dressing up his two-year-old twins in political T-shirts for an anti-Donald Trump rally. Betty and Billy wore feminist slogans as they joined thousands of demonstrators in Sydney on Saturday to show their disapproval at the new U.S. president. Betty's godmother Magda Szubanski voiced support for their political activism. Recording artist David Campbell tweets an image of his twins Betty (left) and Billy (right) in feminists T-shirts Betty (right) with her godmother Magda Szubanski, who has expressed support for the twins' political protest participation against Donald Trump 'I couldn't be at the Women's March today but here is my heavenly goddaughter Betty representing,' the comedienne said on Instagram. Betty had a 'crush the patriarchy' T-shirt while her brother Billy wore an outfit with the slogan 'feminism is for everyone'. Mr Campbell, 43, was among an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 protesters who marched from Hyde Park to Martin Place in Sydney as Mr Trump spent his first day in the Oval Office. Feminists and left-wing activists in cities around the world rallied against the U.S. commander-in-chief's comments about women's appearance and his brag about grabbing them 'by the p****'. Activists are also concerned that Mr Trump will agree to calls within his Republican Party to defund Planned Parenthood, which provides abortions. Nine Network Today Extra presenter David Campbell is outspoken about his left-wing views on social media David Campbell posted an emoji to disagree with Daily Mail columnist Piers Morgan's critique of the feminist demonstrations Thousands of demonstrators march through Sydney on Saturday to voice concern about Donald Trump's stance on women's issues The presenter of the Nine Network's Today Extra program on Sunday posted a Twitter emoji to disagree with Daily Mail columnist Pier Morgan's tweet: 'I'm planning a "Men's March" to protest at the creeping global emasculation of my gender by rabid feminists. Who's with me?' Mr Campbell's left-wing views occasionally put him at odds with his co-presenter Sonia Kruger, who last year said she supported Mr Trump's call to ban Muslim migration. The recording artist and Smooth-FM broadcaster is also the son of rock star Jimmy Barnes and has previously dressed his twins in Batman and Star Wars costumes. Today Extra presenter Sonia Kruger (left) supports Donald Trump's call to ban Muslim migration which David Campbell (right) disagrees with Rock star Jimmy Barnes with his grandchildren (left to right) Dylan, Billy and Betty David Campbell (left) with twins Billy (second left) and Betty (right) in Batman outfits as Robin Walmart store cameras allegedly show the moment an accused killer, Markeith Loyd (pictured) stood over an Orlando Police Lieutenant Debra Clayton, repeatedly shooting her until she eventually died Walmart store cameras allegedly show the moment an accused killer stood over an Orlando Police Lieutenant repeatedly shooting her until she eventually died. Lieutenant Debra Clayton was on duty at a Walmart when a witness approached her, telling her that Markeith Loyd, who was wanted for the December 13 murder of his ex-girlfriend, was in the store. Clayton called for backup before pursuing the suspect. Camera footage shows her pursue him as he ran for cover between store pillars, reported ABC news. When she finally approached him, he had his gun pulled. As she was drawing her gun, he shot three times ,hitting her in the hip. Clayton fell to the ground, but was able to roll onto her back to point her gun at the suspect as he came closer. He then got closer to her with his arm outstretched, and shot her repeatedly as she was on her back, according to an arrest warrant. The lieutenant attempted to fire back as he stood over her, but he shot her in the head and was able to quickly run to a vehicle and escape the area, reported ABC. Scroll down for video Orlando Police Chief John Mina said that Loyd could have easily escaped after wounding Clayton, but chose to 'stand over her defenseless body' and kill her Loyd was charged with first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer in connection with Clayton's death, as well as attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, carjacking with a firearm, aggravated assault and wearing a bulletproof vest Lieutenant Debra Clayton was on duty at a Walmart (pictured) when a witness approached her, telling her that Markeith Loyd, who was wanted for the December 13 murder of his ex-girlfriend, was in the store According to the warrant, exchange of gunfire lasted six seconds. A medical examiner has determined that Clayton died from a gunshot wound to her neck. Orlando Police Chief John Mina said that Loyd could have easily escaped after wounding Clayton, but chose to 'stand over her defenseless body' and kill her. At the time of her death, Clayton was a police master sergeant, but was promoted at her funeral. Loyd was charged with first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer in connection with Clayton's death, as well as attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, carjacking with a firearm, aggravated assault and wearing a bulletproof vest. He has been held with no bond, and did not enter a plea. He appeared without legal representation, reported ABC. At the time of her death, Clayton was a police master sergeant, but was promoted at her funeral Someone also appears to have vandalized Clayton's police vehicle, which has been siting strewn with flowers and flags as a memorial to the fallen officer Flowers have been placed in front of the Walmart where Clayton was killed in honor and memory of the fallen officer While leaving the courtroom Thursday, he said to Judge Bingey 'F*** you'. Loyd was combative when he appeared in court for the alleged murder, interrupting the judge and refusing to answer to questions. He was caught on Tuesday after a nine-day pursuit by police. He was wanted for alleged murder of Clayton and of his pregnant ex-girlfriend Sade Dixon in December. In Dixon's death he has been charged with one count of first-degree murder with a firearm, one count of unlawful killing of an unborn child, one count of attempted first-degree murder with a firearm and two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm. Orlando police have released a video of Loyd's arrest. The video was shot in a police chopper, from where he was shot. It shows Loyd crawling away from a house towards officers by the road. When he reached the police officers, footage shows at least one kick him in the head, reported ABC. Use of force in his arrest is currently under investigation. Someone also appears to have vandalized Clayton's police vehicle, which has been siting strewn with flowers and flags as a memorial to the fallen officer, reported ABC. Advertisement President Donald Trump had trouble avoiding protesters in Washington on his way home to the White House as thousands took to the streets surrounding his motorcade. Trump was on his way back from the Central Intelligence Agency on Saturday when he got a first-hand look at the Women's March on Washington. Hundreds of protesters lined the motorcade route as Trump sped back to the White House, many screaming and chanting at the president. President Donald Trump had trouble avoiding screaming protesters in Washington on Saturday as hundreds lined the motorcade route as he sped back to the White House. Hundreds of protesters lined the motorcade route as Trump sped back to the White House Many were holding bright pink signs as they screamed and chanted as Trump wound his way past them in the impossible-to-miss presidential limo. Thousands gathered on the Ellipse, which is visible from the White House lawn, as some chanting: 'Welcome to your first day, we will never go away'. Their roar was also clearly audible to passengers stepping out of the presidential motorcade and back into the White House. The president was on his way back from CIA headquarters where he moved to repair his tumultuous relationship with America's spy agencies on his first full day in office. But his bridge-building visit quickly morphed in a platform for the new commander in chief to complain about media coverage of his inauguration, misstating the size of his crowd. He told employees of the spy agency that reported attendance numbers for his swearing-in dramatically undershot the truth. His declaration suggested that he believes one unnamed television network may have aired an overhead image shot long before the ceremony began. 'We had a massive field of people. You saw that. Packed,' he told the CIA workers. 'I get up this morning, I turn on one of the networks, and they show an empty field. I said, 'Wait a minute! I made a speech! I looked out. The field was it looked like a million, a million and a half people!'' Trump was on his way back from the Central Intelligence Agency (pictured leaving CIA headquarters) on Saturday when he got a first-hand look at the Women's March on Washington The president moved to repair his tumultuous relationship with America's spy agencies on his first full day in office Trump's motorcade route was surrounded by protesters in Washington on Saturday Many were holding bright pink signs as they screamed and chanted as Trump wound his way past them in the impossible-to-miss presidential limo Protesters demonstrate near the White House as as the motorcade carrying Donald Trump returns Protesters from the the Women's March hold signs while watching the motorcade of President Trump retun to the White House His CIA visit took place as throngs of women wearing bright pink, pointy-eared 'p****' hats descended on the nation's capital and other cities around the world for marches organized to push back against the new president. Celebrities including Madonna, Ashley Judd, Charlize Theron, Julia Roberts, Amy Schumer and Emma Watson were among those to participate across the country. In Washington, seas of people caused chaos as they blocked traffic on their way from the National Mall to the White House. On one street, a police car trying to move got stuck in the crowd. Marchers surrounded a float that had several supporters of President Donald Trump on board and chanted, 'shame.' The National Mall in DC was completely filled with a sea of protesters during the Women's March on Washington on Saturday The march is expected to be largest inauguration-related protest in US history and comes the day after Donald Trump was sworn in as President of the United States. Pictured: Washington Madonna and Ashley Judd spewed lewd rants against the new president as more than half a million marchers took to Washington Protesters participating in the Women's March on Washington took over the streets and blocked traffic on their way from the National Mall to the White House Other marchers were shouting 'black lives matter' and 'my body, my choice' as they moved along Pennsylvania Avenue toward the White House. It comes after 230 protesters were arrested on Inauguration Day in Washington - they will now be charged with felony rioting. As thousands protested against the president, some members of the First family were inside the White House bowling as they tested out their new home's facilities. Donald Trump Jr, his wife Vanessa and their daughter Kai Madison were filmed having fun at the White House Bowling Alley. Advertisement It appears there is no bad blood between President Donald Trump's ex-wives Marla Maples and Ivana Trump, who both traveled to Washington D.C. to see their former husband take the oval office. Ivana, mother to Ivanka, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., was photographed leaving her New York City townhouse on Thursday afternoon as she made her way to watch Donald be sworn in as the 45th President. Marla Maples, mother to Tiffany Trump, posted an excited Instagram live story waiting on her daughter to arrive at the event, in her front row seat to the ceremony. Scroll down for videos Marla Maples, mother to Tiffany Trump, posted an excited Instagram live story waiting on her daughter to arrive at the inauguration, with a front row seat to the ceremony Marla Maples, top left, shared a photo of her and daughter Tiffany, bottom right of left, at the Inaugural ball on Friday evening - and posted gym selfie, right, as she watched Tiffany leave for the inauguration In the video, she shares her front-row view of the inauguration and tells her followers: 'We're waiting on Tiffany to arrive,' 'God bless America - and everybody.' Marla Maples was accused of breaking up Ivana's marriage to the billionaire businessman, who were wed from 1977 to 1992. Marla shared a number of encouraging photos and videos supporting she and Donald's daughter, including a photo of the two together at the Inaugural ball on Friday evening, and a gym selfie as she watched Tiffany board her flight to DC for the ceremony. She wished her daughter good luck as she exercised, saying: 'There's my baby, getting ready to take off!' 'Prayers everybody, for all of us.' On her way: Ivana Trump was photographed leaving her New York City townhouse on Thursday afternoon Ivana, 67, donned a vibrant blue fur coat over a pinstripe pantsuit, carrying an equally colorful purse for her trip to the inauguration. When asked as she was leaving her home on Thursday if she thought her ex-husband would make a good president, Ivana said: 'Yes, he will.' Son Eric sang the praises of his mother to Us Magazine, stating: 'She is the most supportive person. She knows who he is,' 'And I have the greatest mom in the world. I mean, she is tough and she is strong and she is elegant. And she can be outspoken as well. 'She's just, she's great. She's larger than life. I mean, she was a disciplinarian to us as children. 'We had manners. We opened the doors. We said, 'Thank you.' We said, 'Please.'' Ivana was one of the first people to say that she believed Donald could become the next president of the United States. She revealed in an interview back in May that she would be casting her vote for her ex come November, adding that she felt certain he would be setting up shop on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue come next January. 'I think he's going to win,' Ivana told People. When then asked if he was getting her vote, she replied; 'Yes, of course I'm going to vote for him. 'He's going to run the country as a business. He's going to negotiate. 'And he knows how to make decisions.' Support: When asked as she was leaving if she thought Donald would make a good president, Ivana said: 'Yes, he will' 'Probably five years before our divorce, Reagan or somebody brought him a letter and said, 'You should run for president,'' said Ivana. 'So he was thinking about it. But then . . . there was the divorce, there was the scandal, and American women loved me and hated him.' She later added; 'But he was always tooling around with the idea.' In that same interview Ivana said she speaks to the Donald before most of his appearances and gave him the phrase; 'You think it, I say it.' Family first: She joined her three children with Donald, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric, as well as her eight grandchildren (Donald, Ivana and Ivanka above in 1998) Alleged foe: Marla Maples, the woman who allegedly broke up Ivana's marriage to Donald and became his second wife, also attended the inauguration Presidential support: 'Probably five years before our divorce, Reagan or somebody brought him a letter and said, 'You should run for president,'' said Ivana of Donald being encouraged buy the former president Ivana was a 28-year-old model from Czechoslovakia in 1977 when she married Donald. The couple went on to have three children before divorcing in 1992. She was rumored to have gotten approximately $20million, their $15million estate and 49% ownership in Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach in their divorce. She also reportedly receives $350,000 a year in alimony and was able to keep all her jewelry. Ivana went on to get married two more times, first to Riccardo Mazzucchelli in 1995, a union that was dissolved after two years. A woman has been caught on camera repeatedly banging on car windows after noticing a Muslim woman inside wearing a face covering. The aggressor was filmed accusing a woman, wearing a niqab, of being a terrorist, as she sat in a car with her husband at Macquarie University in Sydney's northwest. Ramzy Alamudi posted to Facebook last week's encounter, which occurred as his wife wore a veil covering her face except for her eyes. Scroll down for videos The woman was filmed pointing at the woman wearing a niqab and accusing her of being a terrorist The footage, which runs for one minute and 37 seconds, was taken as Mr Alamudi and his wife sat in their parked Toyota Yaris discussing her exam results on Friday afternoon. 'This lady has told my wife to take off her scarf,' he said to the camera. The Asian woman, wearing a small backpack, was filmed banging on the passenger side window of the car with her right hand, next to where the veiled woman was sitting. She then walks around to the driver's side and bangs on the window before repeatedly pulling at the locked door handle and making a gesture with her index finger, along her eyes, to indicate her disapproval at the niqab. The woman tried to open the passenger-side door where the Muslim woman was sitting The woman banging on the driver's side window demands the Muslim woman get out Mr Alamudi can be heard saying, 'Call security.' His wife, who filmed the confrontation, replies: 'Just drive, just drive.' Mr Alamudi asks the woman banging on the window what's wrong, causing her to point aggressively at his wife and say, 'Get out.' The Muslim woman replies: 'Who are you? Who are you?' The aggressor replies: 'F*** off.' The aggression continues, with the woman walking back to the passenger side and pulling at the door handle and banging on the window. Mr Alamudi said: 'She deserves something.' His wife then calls security as the woman lifts up the windscreen wipers. As Mr Alamudi opens the driver's door of the car, the woman points at his wife. 'Who are you? Why have you got a mask? Terrorist. You have gun?,' she said. Mr Alamudi then restrains the aggressor. Ramzy Alamudi got out of the car and restrained the woman after she kept harassing him and his wife He told his Facebook followers he had posted the video to demonstrate racist discrimination. He explained he was in the car with his wife minding his own business as they discussed her exam success. The video of the woman, who was not a student at Macquarie University, has been viewed more than 300,000 times and was shared by Islamophobia Register Australia on their Facebook page. One Facebook follower Haj Qahtan praised the couple. 'Well handled, guys,' he said. The woman glares at the Muslim woman wearing a niqab face covering Afterwards, the woman demanded the Muslim couple provide ID. Witness Emily Grace Guff told her Facebook followers the woman had been ranting at the Muslim couple as her baby was sitting in her unlocked car, metres away. 'This deranged woman had the nerve to attack his wife because of the burqa she was dressed in, claiming she "didn't feel safe"around people like her,' she said. 'It makes me sick to know we co-exist in a world where this happens so frequently, people thinking they have the right to belittle someone else because of their race or religion.' In a follow-up video, this woman told Mr Alamudi she found his wife 'scary' before a security guard arrived. Keen game shooter Mr Cameron said that when he takes aim at a pheasant, he imagines it is called Boris or Michael David Cameron has owned up to taking revenge on Boris Johnson and Michael Gove for destroying his premiership in the EU referendum by pretending that he is firing a gun at them. Keen game shooter Mr Cameron said that when he takes aim at a pheasant, he imagines it is called Boris or Michael. The former Prime Ministers light-hearted confession was made in an after-dinner speech to bankers at the Davos summit of economic leaders in Switzerland. His comments emerged as a leaked email showed pro-Brexit Tory MPs have been told they dont need to contribute to a fund to buy a farewell gift for Mr Cameron to mark his Commons exit. His remark about shooting Mr Johnson and Mr Gove was made when he spoke at a dinner hosted by City accountants Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Asked how he filled his days since quitting No 10, Mr Cameron replied with a grin: I have used the extra time to take up shooting again. I find that when I shoot a few Borises and Michaels I feel a whole lot better. It was said only half in jest: friends of Mr Cameron reveal he is still bitter at the way he believes the pair betrayed him over Brexit. He claims both men indicated they would remain loyal during the referendum last year. Neither was he joking about taking up shooting. After a decade-long break from the bloodsport to avoid controversy when he was Tory leader, Mr Cameron, who has stalked deer and been fox-hunting in the past, has been shooting twice since leaving Downing Street. Last month he took part in a shoot at the Salperton estate in Gloucestershire. In Mr Camerons Davos speech, he added that despite giving up frontline politics, he was still fully wedded to public service, and quipped: In the meantime Im available for weddings and bar mitzvahs. Mr Cameron and former Chancellor George Osborne are both hoping to reap rich rewards on the after-dinner circuit, and both are believed to have earned five-figure sums for speaking at Davos. But Mr Cameron can expect considerably less from a whip-round among Conservative MPs to buy him a farewell gift after he resigned as MP for Witney. Fiends of Mr Cameron reveal he is still bitter at the way he believes Boris and gove betrayed him over Brexit After some anti-EU Tories declined to make the suggested 25 per head contribution, the collection organiser, senior Conservative MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, emailed them a second begging letter but also said: I fully respect any colleague who does not wish to make such a donation. One pro-Brexit Tory MP said: It appeared to be saying if you dont like him dont reach into your pocket so I didnt. A backbench ally of Mr Cameron said: The email is feeble and gave Davids critics carte blanche not to dip their hands in their pockets for him. He deserves better. The MPs hope to buy Mr Cameron a rare first edition of a history book by Winston Churchill, signed by the author. Psychiatrist Colin Brewer, who is no longer allowed to practise in Britain, wrote medical reports stating the patients had the mental capacity to choose to die A doctor who was struck off has helped six British dementia sufferers to end their lives at assisted suicide clinics in Switzerland. Psychiatrist Colin Brewer, who is no longer allowed to practise in Britain, wrote medical reports stating the patients had the mental capacity to choose to die. None of the six who died between 2013 and 2016, among them an eminent physicist was suffering from a terminal illness. Last night, Brewer told The Mail on Sunday he had carried out a series of mental assessment tests on the patients before they went to Dignitas. But campaigners against assisted dying said it is hugely dangerous to enable people with diminished mental capacity to end their lives. Five of the Britons died at Dignitas in Zurich, while the other died at another Swiss suicide clinic called Life Circle in Basel. After being diagnosed with dementia by their doctors, and having already decided to go to Dignitas, they went to Brewer before the disease progressed to the point where they could no longer be judged of sound mind. Brewers reports were assessed by Dignitas, along with other information, before they were allowed to die. Five of the Britons died at Dignitas in Zurich, pictured, while the other died at another Swiss suicide clinic called Life Circle in Basel The patients end their lives no later than three months after Brewers assessment and before they are suffering the severe effects of dementia. The patients included a 78-year-old teacher as well as the leading scientist, Professor John Fayers, who was 83 when he took a fatal dose of barbiturates at Dignitas in 2013. Assisted suicide is a criminal offence in the UK and carries a maximum jail sentence of 14 years, but it is allowed in Switzerland. Inside the Dignitas clinic an anonymous building in a Zurich suburb are rooms for patients with kitchenettes and dining areas. Patients drink the fatal dose of barbiturate dissolved in water. Most die painlessly less than 20 minutes later. The deaths are monitored by Dignitass trained carers, who are known as companions and stay behind to deal with the police and undertakers. Brewer ran an addiction clinic in London before he was struck off in 2006 by the General Medical Council after a patient for whom he had prescribed drugs died. He can see and assess patients offering non-medical services as long as he makes clear that he is not on the medical register. TEACHER WHO WANTED A 'CALM AND HAPPY' DEATH Ron Hall, with wife Kathy, died in the Swiss clinic surrounded by close relatives Retired science teacher Ron Hall decided to die at a Swiss assisted suicide centre when Alzheimers began to rob him of all the things he enjoyed in life. His daughter Penny told how, in a cruel twist of the disease, he remained fully lucid while losing his ability to function normally. Penny said: Dad was very active, very bright and interested. But gradually all the things that gave him pleasure were being taken away. He couldnt cycle, he couldnt shower or dress himself, and he lost the ability to read, which was one of the worst things for him. Alongside all of this he was totally aware. So he had to suffer the cruelty of knowing exactly what was happening to him and where it was going. In 2014, after more than 18 months of suffering and still in the earlier stages of the disease, the 78-year-old sat down with his wife Kathy and took the decision to end his life at Dignitas. His family then sought out the services of Dr Colin Brewer and asked him to verify that Ron was mentally able to make the decision to choose to die. On September 14, 2014, Ron and his family flew to Dignitas where he died two days later. With him were his wife, their two daughters and their three grandchildren. Penny said: It was actually a very beautiful death. He was very calm and happy and I would definitely choose it myself. Advertisement Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, Dr Brewer said that he regularly refuses to write reports for dementia patients who contact him because they are no longer lucid enough to make the decision to take their lives. Last year, he turned two patients away because they were too demented, he said. The 76-year-old psychiatrist said: More and more people are living long enough to get dementia, although most of the people I see are in their 70s and therefore not particularly old. People are also more aware of dementia now. These are people who know that dementia means the gradual annihilation of their personalities and for most people their personality is the most important thing. Its who they are. None of them said I want to go to Switzerland because Im a burden on the family. They said Im going to Switzerland because Im going to lose my mind and I dont want to be alive when that happens. Dr Brewer has also written assessments for people with illnesses such as cancer and motor-neurone disease, stating that they were mentally alert enough to choose to die. Between 2013 and 2016, he has assessed 18 patients who have died at Swiss assisted suicide clinics. Baroness Ilora Finlay, one of Britains most eminent end-of-life doctors and an opponent of legalising assisted suicide in the UK, warned that dementia patients risked cutting their lives short without good reason if they go to Dignitas. Dignitas is a Swiss assisted dying group that helps those with terminal illness and severe physical and mental illnesses to die assisted by qualified doctors and nurses She said: You dont know how the disease [dementia] might or might not progress. Some people may be frightened and may be in despair. But if you assist their suicide you cut their life off by months or years when they may never have gone on to experience more severe forms of the disease as something could intervene and cause them to die sooner. Alistair Thompson, a spokesman for the group Care Not Killing, added: Its a hugely dangerous trend to start allowing people with diminished mental capacity to end their lives. A lot of people fear that when there is a care crisis within the NHS there will be more pressure on people who are elderly and frail to think about ending their lives. Dignitas, set up in 1998, allows foreigners to use its services and according to its own figures up until last year, 310 Britons had died there. Anyone who wants the organisations help must also prove they have the mental capacity to be able to take the decision to kill themselves. Dr Brewer, an associate co-ordinator for right-to-die group My Death My Decision, said he is the only doctor in Britain willing to assess if dementia patients who want to be helped to die are of sound mind. He explained: You dont have to be a doctor to assess mental capacity. Its helpful but its not essential. Advertisement A major malfunction in the UK's Trident nuclear missile deterrent was covered up by Downing Street, it was claimed last night The former head of the Royal Navy blasted No10 today over its 'bizarre and stupid' decision to 'cover up' a major malfunction in the UK's Trident nuclear missile deterrent and said it made Britain look like North Korea. It was claimed last night that Downing Street imposed a 'news blackout' about the failed test just weeks before a crucial Commons vote on the future of Britain's nuclear deterrent. Today Theresa May refused four times to say if she knew about a major malfunction in the UK's Trident nuclear missile deterrent. But Admiral Lord West, who led the Navy from 2002-2006 and later served as a security minister, said the decision not to admit the failed test was 'extraordinary'. The PM is facing calls to 'come clean' about what she knew about the botched test by giving a statement to Parliament tomorrow. However it is more likely to be Defence Secretary Michael Fallon who will make the statement to MPs. A Trident II D5 missile veered off course during a test last June near the coast of Florida last June, the Sunday Times reported. The PM was accused of omitting any reference to the failed test when the Commons voted in July to spend 31billion on four new Trident submarines. Today she repeatedly avoided direct questions on her knowledge of the test, simply saying she had 'absolute faith in our Trident missiles'. Lord West hit out at ministers and officials over their failure to disclose the episode and said it was probably the work of some 'silly' special adviser [Spad] trying to be 'clever'. Theresa May, pictured on the Andrew Marr Show today, refused four times to say if she knew about a major malfunction in the UK's Trident nuclear missile deterrent He told the BBC: 'The whole point of testing and firing things is to see that they work. What I am shocked by is why the Government didn't come clean about it. 'If a firing goes wrong, you should say that it's gone wrong unless you think there's something that means so fundamentally wrong that the whole system is no longer viable. 'And from what the Government says that there was a minor glitch with the missile and they're quite happy with the system still, in which case go ahead and let people know. The former head of the Royal Navy Lord West, pictured, blasted No10 today over its 'bizarre and stupid' decision to 'cover up' a major malfunction in the UK's Trident nuclear missile deterrent and said it made Britain look like North Korea 'Otherwise we're rather like the Soviet used to be, or like North Korea or China, where they won't admit to things going wrong when you're actually testing them to see if they do or don't go wrong.' He added: 'Historically, we've made a bit of a pageant of these events because it shows that the system works properly and we've had a boat accompanying it and we then send out pictures of the firing. 'You show the missile streaking away, we say we've conducted a firing, those videos are released. 'But I think it is bizarre and stupid that they didn't say that there had been a firing and that there'd been a missile malfunction, that it was a minor fault indeed, if it was something that was fairly straightforward and not top secret that went wrong they could have even said what it was. 'It's much better to be open, but I imagine it was some Spad or something some silly Spad said 'ooh let's not tell anyone' and they thought this would be clever advise and it's not it's absolutely stupid actually.' Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called for 'full disclosure' about who knew what when, while Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called the failed test 'a pretty catastrophic error'. The long-standing unilateralist said we should use the revelations to have a 'serious discussion' about the future of our nuclear deterrent. 'I think this failure is something that ought to pause everyone for a moment and just think what happened,' he said. Mrs May dodged questions on her knowledge of the failed test during an interview on the Andrew Marr Show today 'We understand the Prime Minister chose not to inform Parliament about this and it's come out through the media some months later. 'It's a pretty catastrophic error when a missile goes in the wrong direction and whilst it wasn't armed, goodness knows what the consequence of that could have been, I think we need a serious discussion about that.' Mrs May was repeatedly pressed on her knowledge of the failed test on the Andrew Marr Show this morning. But she dodged the questions, saying: 'When I made that speech in the House of Commons, what we were talking about was whether or not we should renew our Trident, whether or not we should have Trident missiles, an independent nuclear deterrent in the future. 'I think we should defend our country, I think we should play our role in Nato with an independent nuclear deterrent. 'Jeremy Corbyn thinks differently, Jeremy Corbyn thinks we shouldn't defend our country.' Jeremy Corbyn, a long-standing unilateralist said we should use the revelations to have a 'serious discussion' about the future of our nuclear deterrent Asked again, Mrs May replied: 'The issue we were talking about in the House of Commons was a very serious issue. 'It was about whether or not we should renew Trident, whether we should look to the future and have a replacement Trident. 'That's what we were talking about in the House of Commons, that's what the House of Commons voted for.' When host Andrew Marr asked about her knowledge of the test for a final time, Mrs May said: 'There were tests that take place all the time for our, regularly, for our nuclear deterrents. 'What we were talking about in that debate that took place was about the future.' During the test last June the missile, fired from HMS Vengeance, was aimed at a sea target off the west coast of Africa but may have gone in the wrong direction, towards the US. The missile, fired from HMS Vengeance (pictured) during a test near the coast of Florida, was reportedly aimed at a sea target off the west coast of Africa but may have gone in the wrong direction, towards the US It was the only firing test of a British nuclear missile in four years. A senior naval source told the Sunday Times: 'There was a major panic at the highest level of Government and the military after the first test of our nuclear deterrent in four years ended in disastrous failure. 'The upcoming Trident vote made it all the more sensitive.' The incident took place shortly before Mrs May replaced David Cameron as Prime Minister. Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, pictured, called for 'full disclosure' about who knew what when Last night, Labour MP Kevan Jones, a former defence Minister, called for an inquiry into the affair. He said: 'The UK's independent nuclear deterrent is a vital cornerstone for the nation's defence. If there are any problems, they should not have been covered up in this ham-fisted way.' Shadow defence secretary Nia Griffith said: 'This report of a Trident missile veering off course during a test is clearly a very serious matter indeed, and we need to know exactly what happened.' 'Furthermore, it is completely unacceptable that today the Prime Minister chose to side-step questions on the test, and would not even tell us when she knew about the incident. 'I am demanding the Prime Minister come to Parliament tomorrow to give a full explanation to MPs.' A Government spokesman said: 'The capability and effectiveness of the Trident missile, should we ever need to employ it, is unquestionable. 'In June the Royal Navy conducted a routine unarmed Trident missile test launch from HMS Vengeance, as part of an operation which is designed to certify the submarine and its crew. 'Vengeance and her crew were successfully tested and certified, allowing Vengeance to return into service. We have absolute confidence in our independent nuclear deterrent.' Officials refused to provide further details on the submarine's operations, citing 'obvious security reasons'. Britain's biggest private hospital firm altered a patients medical records so that they falsely suggested he was given vital treatments he did not receive and which might have prevented a deadly condition that came close to killing him. Former retail sales manager Eddie Amani found himself in agony and fighting for every breath when he developed multiple pulmonary embolisms blood clots caused by deep-vein thrombosis that formed in his legs or pelvis and travelled to his lungs following spinal surgery. Eddie Amani (pictured) is suing the London Independent Hospital after they altered his medical records suggesting he was given vital treatment when he had not received He ended up being transferred to the nearest NHS hospital as a blue light emergency, and pulled through only after spending four days in intensive care. He remained in hospital for a further month, and was forced to take blood-thinning drugs for 18 months. He endured several further hospital admissions after struggling again to breathe. The bogus records compiled at the London Independent Hospital in Stepney, East London, which is owned by BMI Healthcare, said Mr Amani was treated with drugs and leg pumps in the days after his operation in an attempt to prevent this condition from developing. But this did not happen. When Mr Amani complained, BMI tried to deny the records had been altered. But when the official watchdog, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, carried out an inquiry, it confirmed the allegation was true. In a confidential report, seen by this newspaper, the ombudsman said: We find evidence to suggest that the hospital amended aspects of Mr Amanis medical records after its transfer from its service it was clear that his medical records had been wrongly amended after his transfer. This was an unreasonable action, the report added, and against guidelines. It amounted to a serious failing. Father-of-four Mr Amani, 54, told The Mail on Sunday he is now suing BMI for damages. Ive been fighting them since I came out of hospital, and Im horrified by their behaviour. But this isnt about money. I want to make them accountable for what they did. His case is the second highlighted by this newspaper in which BMI has displayed a questionable attitude to documents. The MoS revealed in 2015 that BMI concealed vital evidence from the trial of surgeon David Sellu, who was charged with manslaughter because of delays in treating a patient who died from a perforated bowel at BMIs Clementine Churchill Hospital in Harrow, North-West London. Convicted at the Old Bailey and jailed for three years, Mr Sellu, who had had an unblemished 40-year career, was locked up with murderers and terrorists in Londons high-security Belmarsh prison. But hidden from his trial was the report of an internal BMI inquiry, which uncovered multiple failings in the hospitals response that had nothing to do with Mr Sellu. The Court of Appeal quashed his conviction last October. Mr Amani initially went into hospital to have minor surgery on his spine but has now been left permanently disabled unable to walk and forced to wear a back brace Mr Amanis ordeal began when he was farmed out as an NHS patient to BMIs London Independent Hospital in December 2013. NHS contracts with private firms are currently worth more than 500 million a year. He was suffering from a degenerative disc disease and expected to undergo a spinal decompression, a relatively minor procedure to relieve stresses on his vertebrae. Instead, his surgeon performed a spinal fusion operation. According to Mr Amanis legal claim for damages, he was not told this has a high failure rate. Before the operation he was mobile and in good health, but it has left him permanently disabled, unable to walk unaided and forced to wear a back brace. The ombudsmans inquiry found Mr Amani should have been assessed at the outset as being at high risk of developing deep-vein thrombosis and consequent pulmonary embolism, because his cousin had died from the condition just a month earlier and the operation was bound to leave him immobile for days. The original patient notes: Mr Amani's real records from London Independent Hospital which were with him in the ambulance that transferred him to and NHS hospital show he was not fitted with Flowtron leg pumps until December 15 And how they were altered: The doctored record with ticks in the relevant boxes, indicating he was given the pumps daily from December 11 to December 15 Clinical staff need to be alert to the risk of these conditions developing, the ombudsmans report said. This is particularly important for patients with high-risk factors and for those patients who are slow to mobilise following surgery. The dangers should have been discussed with Mr Amani as part of the consenting process, the report added. However, the hospital failed to appropriately explain the potential risk. He had the operation on December 11, 2013. He said: Four days later, I woke up feeling terrible and drenched in sweat. My pulse was racing and the nurses called the intensive-care specialist. He told me they were scared I was going to have a heart attack. About 250,000 people die in Britain from pulmonary embolism each year but, at first, the intensive care specialist who examined Mr Amani on December 15 was confident he did not have the condition. However, as the morning wore on, he deteriorated. I was struggling to breathe, holding my chest, fighting for every breath, he said. It was the worst feeling Ive ever had. I thought I was going to die. Because it was a weekend and there was no radiologist on duty, he had to wait several hours for a CT scan, and at first, the scanner did not work. When it was finally carried out, it revealed he had multiple pulmonary embolisms and needed immediate transfer to an intensive-care unit. But by this time Mr Amani said he had simply lost confidence in the private hospital and demanded to be moved to the NHS Royal London Hospital. His condition was now so serious that once he was in the ambulance, it took half an hour to stabilise him before he could be moved. Had he not asked for the transfer, the alteration to the BMI medical records would not have come to light. Travelling with him in the ambulance were his genuine records, which suggested he had not been given any treatments to prevent thrombosis and embolism until his symptoms began. He later obtained these records. But when he complained to BMI after being discharged from the Royal London, he was sent the altered records, which made several false claims. First, they stated he was risk-assessed and warned about thrombosis and embolism before he had the operation. In the genuine records, the section containing this claim is blank. Second, in the altered records are ticked boxes giving the impression that on December 11 he was fitted with anti-embolism TED & Flowtrons leg pumps standard measures to prevent thrombosis, and had continued to wear them until he left the BMI hospital on December 15. In the genuine record, the boxes are blank. And it's not the first time they've been caught out: Our 2015 report on how BMI concealed crucial evidence in the Old Bailey trial of one of its surgeons Mr Amani said: I was not fitted with the Flowtron pumps until I was taken ill. If I had been, I would have been catheterised, because the pump machine would have stopped me from getting out of bed. In fact, I was able to get up to go to the bathroom. Corroborating his account is the fact that the pumps were prescribed in the genuine records and dated December 15 by the intensive- care specialist, Dr U Wijaysinghe. He did not see Mr Amani at all before December 15. Finally, the altered records suggest he was given Clexane, a drug used to combat embolism, every day from December 11. The genuine records show that this too was not prescribed until December 15. When he was finally discharged, Mr Amani complained to BMI. In response, it commissioned an independent review from health expert Peter Hutton. He merely looked at statements provided by Kirsty Baker, the hospitals executive director. Among them was a statement from a doctor who claimed Mr Amani had refused the leg pumps the very treatment which the altered records claimed he was given continuously for four days. Mr Amani said he never met this doctor, and his genuine medical records contain no mention of him. Neither does a statement from Dr Wijaysinghe. Moreover, the hospital also provided a brochure about the risks of embolism which in fact was not printed until after Mr Amani was discharged. There is evidence that other patients care was sub-standard in the period when Mr Amani was at the London Independent Hospital. Two months after his operation, in February 2014, the Care Quality Commission carried out a surprise inspection. This found that on some occasions, the delivery of care did not always ensure peoples safety and welfare. It highlighted a failure to go through pre-operation checklists laid down by the World Health Organisation, adding that operating theatre staff did not always communicate appropriately with people. One doctor had misled a patient by giving out false information that bordered on story-telling. The commission also uncovered two cases of inaccurate medical records. The ombudsman ordered BMI to develop an action plan to ensure that future patients were properly warned about the risk of embolism and appropriately treated. As for altering records, it must ensure this event does not happen again and reaffirm expected practice for record-keeping. Although Mr Amani spent days in intensive care and many months afterwards on anti-embolism drugs, the ombudsman stated that his embolisms were not significantly life-threatening, and he could not prove the records were changed maliciously. He ordered BMI to pay him just 500 compensation. Mr Amani refused to accept it. A BMI spokesman said: We do not comment on individuals care. We can confirm that should a patient have cause to complain, this is investigated and responded to in accordance with our complaints policy. In the event the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman investigates the matter, we follow the recommendations made. The first photos of John Ibrahim's 'secret' firstborn daughter have emerged - and the adorable three-year-old brunette bears a striking resemblance to her father. The Sydney nightclub owner's daughter Eliana is a love child he had with a long-time friend known only as Skye, Confidential reported. With the same cheeky grin and eerily similar facial features, photographs uploaded to social media capture Eliana in blissful joy with her adoring mother Skye. Scroll down for video The first photos have emerged of John Ibrahim's 'love child' daughter Eliana, aged 3 Eliana is Ibrahim's firstborn daughter, and is pictured with her mother Skye - who is believed to be a long-time close friend of the Sydney nightclub owner Ibrahim (left), 46, is also the father of 18-year-old Daniel Jon Taylor (right) The child's mother, Skye, was once in a romantic relationship with Ibrahim, but the bond is now understood to be completely platonic. 'He is really openly telling friends he adores her and that she is the apple of his eye,' a close friend of Ibrahim told Confidential. 'John is smitten and supporting Eliana and Skye both financially and emotionally.' Ibrahim was seen looking after his daughter while holidaying on a luxurious Hayman Island resort in Queensland in the last week of 2016. The 46-year-old is also the father of 18-year-old Daniel Jon Taylor, who is serving his third year of deployment in the Australian Army. After purchasing a 20 per cent stake in Tunnel nightclub when he turned 19, Ibrahim went on to invest in several clubs littered up and down Kings Cross strip. He was accused of being the 'lifeblood of the drugs industry of Kings Cross' during a royal commission in 1996 but denies any involvement in the drug trade. He has been dubbed 'Teflon' John as no charges have stuck. Pope Francis says he'll wait to see what U.S. President Donald Trump does before forming an opinion about him. In an interview published Saturday evening by Spanish newspaper El Pais, Francis says he doesn't like 'judging people early. We'll see what Trump does.' Asked about populist-style political leaders emerging in the United States and Europe, Francis warned against seeking a savior in times of crisis. Pope Francis says he'll wait to see what U.S. President Donald Trump does before forming an opinion about him He said Adolf Hitler in the 1930s' Germany 'was voted for by the people and then he destroyed the people.' Francis laments that in crises 'we look for a savior to give us back identity, and we defend ourselves with walls, barbed-wire fences, from other peoples.' He was interviewed Friday at the Vatican at the same time as Trump's inauguration ceremony. Pope Francis also sent a personal message to Trump minutes after he was inaugurated saying he must take care of the poor and the outcast during his time in office. Pope Francis also sent a personal message to Trump minutes after he was inaugurated saying he must take care of the poor and the outcast during his time in office 'At a time when our human family is beset by grave humanitarian crises demanding farsighted and united political responses, I pray that your decisions will be guided by the rich spiritual and ethical values that have shaped the history of the American people and your nation's commitment to the advancement of human dignity and freedom worldwide,' the message read. 'Under your leadership, may America's stature continue to be measured above all by its concern for the poor, the outcast and those in need.' Francis, the irst pope from Latin America, has made concern for the poor and the weakest members of society a key platform of his nearly four-year-old papacy. Rising Democrats turned out in force at various women's marches around the country on Saturday, galvanizing supporters after a resounding defeat in the 2016 elections. Senators Kamala Harris (D-CA), Tammy Duckworth (D-Il), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) gave defiant speeches in Washington DC while Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) marched among the crowds on the National Mall. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) rallied protesters in their respective states and Hillary Clinton expressed her support on Twitter a day after she attended Trump's inauguration. Harris, who made history as the first ever Indian American senator and the first black senator in California, acknowledged the 'bumpy ride' ahead and urged people to get to work Duckworth (left), who lost her legs in the Iraq War, said: 'I didnt give up literally parts of my body to have the Constitution trampled on' while Gillibrand (right) called for equal representation and pay More than half a million people are believed to have taken to the streets on Washington DC (pictured) to protest against President Donald Trump More than 500,000 are believed to be taking part in the historic march in the nation's capital More than half a million people took to the streets in Washington DC a day after Donald Trump's inauguration. The sea of women, many of them wearing knitted beanies with cat ears, made up what is believed to be the largest inauguration-related demonstration in US history. Harris, who made history in November as the first ever Indian American senator and the first black senator in California, said the march was 'absolutely personal' for her. She acknowledged the challenges ahead, and urged people to press on, saying: 'Lets make today a beginning. Lets buckle in because its going to be a bumpy ride and then lets go back to Ohio and New York and Florida and California and lets get to work.' Duckworth, a Purple Heart Iraq war veteran who lost both her legs in the conflict, wore a black motorcycle jacket on Saturday, which she called her 'Don't f with me' jacket. She declared: 'I didnt give up literally parts of my body to have the Constitution trampled on. You will not roll back our rights, not as long as were here, not as long as were breathing.' Booker posed with activist and president of Planned Parenthood Cecile Richards, who gave a speech in DC, saying: 'We Booker posed with pop singer Katy Perry, who campaigned for Hillary Clinton Gillibrand, who took over Clinton's senate seat in New York when she became Secretary of State, called for equal representation in Congress. She said: 'I promise you if we had 51 percent of women in Congress, do you think we'd be debating access to contraception? Do you think we would be debating whether to have paid leave? 'Do you think it would be so hard to end sexual assault on college campuses and in our military? It would not!' Claire McCaskill, D-MO, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-CA. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-FL, and Booker were also on stage. In Boston, Warren said: 'Donald Trumps campaign was about attacks on women, attacks on African-Americans, attacks on Latinos, attacks on religious groups, attacks on immigrants' Warren rallied up crowds of about 175,000 people gathered at Boston Common on Saturday In Boston, Warren addressed crowds of about 175,000 people and said: 'Donald Trumps campaign was about attacks on women, attacks on African-Americans, attacks on Latinos, attacks on religious groups, attacks on immigrants. 'We come here to stand shoulder to shoulder to make clear we are here, we will not be silent, we will not play dead, we will fight for what we believe in.' Sanders appeared at a rally in Montpelier, Vermont, and issued a brief message of unity. He also tweeted: 'President Trump, you made a big mistake. By trying to divide us up by race, religion, gender and nationality you actually brought us closer' Sanders also called for 'reproductive justice for all women' and wrote: 'This is not a time for despair, but rather a time for action. We are standing up and fighting back. #WomensMarch'. A day after Hillary Clinton attended Trump's inauguration, she tweeted: 'Thanks for standing, speaking & marching for our values @womensmarch. Important as ever. I truly believe we're always Stronger Together.' Sanders appeared at a rally in Montpelier, Vermont, and issued a brief message of unity The crowd chanted his name after Sanders (pictured speaking) said: 'We are going to create ... a nation based in love and compassion not on hate and bigotry!' It is a sparkling wine that offers richness and finesse, and is perfect for making the loyal toast. Especially when you consider that its the first product from a promising new British vineyard-owner the Queen. For Her Majesty has turned wine-maker, producing 3,000 bottles of fizz from her Windsor Great Park estate. All the bottles were quickly snapped up, despite not being available from high street wine merchants such as the suitably regal-sounding Majestic. The Queen has turned wine-maker, producing 3,000 bottles of fizz from her Windsor Great Park estate The Queen is the latest landowner to join the booming business in English sparkling wine, which is increasingly challenging French champagne and Italian prosecco as the tipple of choice. The industry now boasts annual sales of about 100 million. But she is also rejoining an old family business Henry II first cultivated grapes at Windsor Castle in the 12th Century. This new Windsor Great Park bubbly has been more than five years in the making, as 16,700 chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier vines all of which are champagne varieties were planted in a seven-acre, south-facing patch of the park in 2011. The first grapes were harvested in October 2013, and after fermenting, blending and spending two years ageing in the cellars, the wine was released three months ago. The fizz was 12 per cent proof and available only as part of a three-bottle gift set for 75, but it soon sold out. Grapes from the estate were made into wine at the family-run Ridgeview estate in Ditchling, East Sussex. Ridgeview chief executive Tamara Roberts said: The Windsor grapes are very good. The sparkling wine was released three months ago and available only as part of a three-bottle gift set for 75 I have tried the finished product and it is delicious a superb example of a top-quality English sparkling wine. And as the vineyard matures, the wines will get better and better. A second batch of wine is expected to be released this autumn, priced 35 a bottle, and Ms Roberts estimates that within six or seven years, the vineyards could be producing 20,000 bottles annually. Because the first vintage was so small, Ms Roberts said it was likely many buyers would keep the wine as an investment rather than drinking it. However, it is recommend that it be consumed by 2025. She said: I have got a bottle at home in a beautiful box and I might hold on to that. Rare vintages can go for astonishing prices. She added: It is impossible to guess how much it might be worth one day its however much someone is prepared to pay but it has all the right accolades, grown on the Queens estate, the first vintage. Who knows? The crop was planted and harvested by wine retailer Laithwaites, tenant farmers at Windsor. The Duke of Edinburgh, who is head ranger of the Great Park, paid particular attention to the project. The grapes sent to Ridgeview in October 2013 were quickly pressed to make the base wines. In 2014, they were blended and bottled, with more yeast and sugar added to create a second fermentation, the traditional method of making the bubbles. The wine then spent 24 months ageing in the cellars. Julia Trustram Eve, of the English Wine Producers trade body, said: It is fantastic to see another home-grown success. I have not been fortunate enough to taste any myself, but I have dropped a monumental hint with the maker that I would very much like to do so. International Development Secretary Priti Patel was left red-faced yesterday over her academic credentials as a result of an unwarranted slur against those of Commons Speaker John Bercow. The Times newspaper was forced to apologise to Mr Bercow last week after publishing an obituary of TV political pundit Professor Anthony King, who taught both Tory politicians at Essex University. It stated that King, who died aged 82, had said that when Bercow studied politics at Essex in the 1980s, his thesis was so bad I virtually had to rewrite it. Priti Patel (pictured) is belived to be the student whose thesis was 'so bad' it had to be 'virtually re-written' according to Professor Anthony King Another newspaper, The Herald in Scotland, claimed King had been scathing about student Bercow in private. It now seems both newspapers put two and two together in naming the struggling student and got the wrong answer. In fact, Kings dunce barb was not aimed at Mr Bercow but at Ms Patel. Far from lambasting Mr Bercow, who won a First Class Honours degree, King described him as outstanding and also Right-wing and pretty stroppy. The riddle of the Essex University Tory dunce started after The Times obituary said King had described the thesis by John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, as so bad I virtually had to rewrite it. But Bercow was innocent. It led to an apology on Thursday in The Times. The paper reported there had been an editing error, and added: The remark was in fact made about another, unnamed student, now a serving Cabinet Minister. But that gave a big clue to the Cabinet Ministers identity: Ms Patel is the only one at Theresa Mays top table who went to Essex. And it was confirmed by a source close to the university, who said: Anthony did not suffer fools. I have heard him tell the Priti Patel story. He didnt mean any offence by it. I am sure she worked hard. Ms Patel, the daughter of Ugandan Indian immigrants, won a place at Watford Grammar School and obtained a degree at Keele University, before studying for a Masters in Government and Politics at Essex in 1995. After winning the seat of Witham in Essex in 2010, Ms Patel was fast-tracked to the Cabinet. She was a key member of the Brexit campaign and a source close to Boris Johnson said: She proved that one great Essex girl is worth more than a dozen Oxbridge Tory white stale males. The accusation was thought to be about John Bercow (pictured) until The Times was forced to apologise for their blunder When Kings death was announced, Ms Patel tweeted: Saddened to hear Professor King has passed away. He was a great analyst of UK politics and an inspirational tutor. Paul Whiteley, Professor of Government at Essex and a former colleague of King, said: Anthony was a great teacher and could be very forthright. Bercow was in many ways courageous. In those days, students at Essex were very radical but it didnt stop him banging the drum for Margaret Thatcher. Kings blast at Patel was not the only example of his candour. When he served on the Neill Committee inquiry into standards in public life in the 1990s, he complained in private about distinguished fellow panel members, saying they were so uninteresting that in three years on the committee I havent had a lunch, dinner or telephone conversation with one of them. Priti Patel declined to comment. Nearly 50,000 Britons are to be warned they may have picked up a potentially deadly bug from contaminated medical equipment during open heart surgery, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. The alert follows the deaths of at least 15 patients from the bacteria, which can lie dormant for five years, while another nine are fighting for their lives. Victims said to be just the tip of a much bigger iceberg include a seven-year-old child, though health officials refuse to say if the youngster survived. Alan Diplock, pictured with his daughter died from the bug, Mycobacterium chimaera Last night, there were fears hundreds more people could have unknowingly developed deep-tissue infections caused by the bug, Mycobacterium chimaera, which eats healthy blood cells. Victims have endured painful endocarditis infection of the inner lining of the heart and other life-threatening problems including abscesses on the aorta. Health officials have known about the problem, which is treatable with antibiotics, since 2014, documents reveal. But only now are they preparing to write to up to 47,000 patients who have undergone heart valve operations since January 2013 and could have been put at risk of infection. Patients will be provided with a list of symptoms and told to see their doctor if they are concerned. Nearly 50,000 Britons are to be warned they may have picked up a potentially deadly bug from contaminated medical equipment during open heart surgery, The Mail on Sunday can reveal At least two bereaved families have embarked on legal action against the NHS amid claims the lives of their loved ones could have been saved had patients and staff been warned. The source of the infection is a type of machine used to heat and cool blood when it is circulated outside the body during heart surgery. Studies show Mycobacterium chimaera a common, slow-growing bug normally found in soil and water can develop in the heater-cooler units, if they are not thoroughly sterilised. It can then be dispersed in the air in tiny water droplets, landing on tissue exposed during open-heart surgery. Almost all those known to have been affected were patients who underwent heart valve replacement or repair. Twenty-six cases have now been confirmed by Public Health England in patients who underwent operations from 2007 to 2015. Of those 26, 15 have died, nine are still ill, and just two have fully recovered. Two bereaved families taking legal action claimed NHS hospitals should not have used defective equipment, and staff failed in their duty of candour to properly inform patients of the risks. They believe officials handling of the problem amounts to a cover-up. Retired fisherman Alan Diplock died last July at the age of 65, three years after a heart valve replacement operation at Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton. Mycobacterium was only identified as the culprit in June 2015. Mr Diplock battled it for a further 13 months till his death. His daughter Kerry-Anne Orakwusi said: We want this issue highlighted so other people who have this kind of surgery know about the risk. Retired insurance broker Brian Smith, 73, died last August two years after valve replacement Retired insurance broker Brian Smith, 73, died last August, exactly two years after valve replacement surgery at University Hospital Coventry. At his inquest last November, his family discovered five other heart patients at the same hospital had been infected by the same bug. Clinical negligence expert Paul Balen, of Freeths Solicitors in Nottingham, said: Theres no question: these 26 cases are just the tip of a much bigger iceberg there could be hundreds who have died. Last night, NHS England and Public Health England issued a joint statement explaining the delay in notifying patients, saying: It is important to remember that the risk of contracting this infection remains low. A balance needs to be struck between deriving benefit from notifying patients to that of causing undue alarm. We have been guided by the best clinical advice, as international knowledge and evidence about this infection has grown. UK-owned LivaNova, the firm that makes the Sorin 3T heater-cooler machines thought to pose the risk, said it introduced a revised disinfection process to new machines in August 2014 after the threat emerged. A bank? Sorry sir I'm afraid they've all move to Frankfurt Security is set to be heightened at jails across the country in a fresh bid to contain dangerous criminals. Four prisons will get more money for guards and tougher measures to keep inmates under control as they become part of the high-security estate. The jails HMPs Swaleside in Kent, Garth in Lancashire, Isle of Wight and Gartree in Leicestershire hold the most serious offenders including lifers convicted of murder, rape and child abuse. Prison union leaders said they had not been given a proper explanation of the plans, which follow a series of disturbances in jails. The Ministry of Justice also plans to put prisons into clusters controlled by super governors with increased autonomy. A female employee of Fire and Rescue NSW alleges she was sexually harassed by male colleagues who asked her if she was 'wearing a G-string' and made comments about her breasts. Her story is one of a number of allegations made in an explosive confidential report obtained by the Sunday Telegraph. The report, by former judge Roger Boland, contains claims by 16 male and female employees, who say senior FRNSW managers were covering up bullying and harassment. 'Boys club': Senior Fire and Rescue NSW managers have been accused of failing to investigate allegations of bullying and harassment in the workplace. File photograph - the firefighters pictured were not involved in the alleged harassment The report, by former judge Roger Boland, contains claims by 16 male and female employees, who say senior FRNSW managers were covering up bullying and harassment. File photograph One woman alleged she was asked by male colleagues if she was 'wearing a G-string,' and said the co-workers complained they 'can't see her t*****s.' 'I used to come home crying at night,' the woman said, according to the report. The woman, who worked at an NSW fire station between 2012 and 2014, also said she heard a female colleague being called 'a skank and a slut.' She also said she heard male colleagues making abortion jokes behind the female colleague's back. She labelled her former workplace a 'boys club.' 'Senior management of FRNSW were aware that [the station where the woman worked] has been problematic in respect of workplace bullying behaviour for a considerable time and there was a history of allegations of bullying and harassment,' Mr Boland wrote. Another woman said she was not given an appropriate place to change into her uniform, and alleged she was being discriminated against because of her gender, according to the report. A woman said she was not given an appropriate place to change into her uniform, and alleged she was being discriminated against because of her gender, according to the report. File photograph - the firefighters pictured were not involved in the alleged harassment The report was commissioned by Emergency Services Minister David Elliott in 2015 after the issue of workplace harassment was raised in parliament. File photograph - the firefighters pictured were not involved in the alleged harassment A male senior firefighter also alleged that he was assaulted and bullied at work. Mr Boland's report says a proper investigation into the man's bullying allegations was not done, according to the Telegraph. The report was commissioned by Emergency Services Minister David Elliott in 2015 after Member for Shellharbour Anna Watson raised the issue of workplace harassment in parliament, the Telegraph reported. The report suggested FRNSW failed to follow procedure in investigating complaints in at least 10 out of the 16 reported cases, according to the Telegraph. Ms Watson has called for a parliamentary inquiry into the allegations made into the report. In response to a request for comment by Daily Mail Australia, an FRNSW spokesperson wrote the agency 'upholds strict professional standards.' The statement continued: 'Inappropriate workplace conduct, including bullying and harassment, is not tolerated. Historical allegations of bullying and harassment of employees date back some years and have been extensively investigated and addressed by FRNSW.' 'Additionally, independent bodies have also comprehensively examined and reviewed these issues. FRNSW has cooperated fully with these external inquiries and has worked hard to implement a range of recommended reforms resulting in significant cultural change.' A mother who cried 'Find my daughter!' as she was pulled from the rubble of an Italian hotel struck by an avalanche last week has finally been reunited with her little girl. Ludovica Parete, six, was trapped for more than 48 hours in sub- zero temperatures. The Parete family were on holiday at the Hotel Rigopiano in the village of Farindola in central Italy when the avalanche struck, at about 5.30pm local time (4.30pm GMT) on Wednesday, dumping 16ft of snow on the resort and killing at least five people. Safe at last: Ludovica Parete, six, was trapped for more than 48 hours in sub- zero temperatures Holding on: Wrapped in a blanket, Ludovica is rushed to hospital after the avalanche Miraculously, the family's father, Giampiero, 38, had gone to get headache tablets from his car when the four-storey hotel was crushed, trapping up to 30 people inside. Mr Parete, a chef, raised the alarm, but his wife Adriana and the couple's two children, Gianfilippo, eight, and Ludovica were trapped in the building. Mrs Parete and her son huddled by the kitchen stove for warmth and were rescued on Friday. But it was not until late that night that Ludovica was lifted out like most of the survivors so far, unharmed. Rescue officer Marco Bini said: 'The snow insulated them and protected them from the freezing temperatures outside. It was like being in an igloo.' On being rescued, one of the first things Ludovica asked for was a biscuit. Family friend Quintino Marcella spoke to the little girl by phone on Friday evening. 'She is OK,' he said. 'She asked for Ringos.' Ringos are a type of vanilla and chocolate biscuit popular with Italian children. Ludovica was taken by helicopter to the city of Pescara, where she was being assessed in hospital alongside three other children. Firefighters lift the girl from the ruins of the hotel after the avalanche struck, at about 5.30pm local time (4.30pm GMT) on Wednesday Giampaolo Parete with his wife, Adriana, son Gianfilippo and daughter Ludivica Rescuers said all the children trapped in the hotel were saved because they had been playing in the billiard room, which suffered less damage. But up to 16 people are still missing. Italian media reported yesterday that it is thought voices had been heard overnight on Friday. Mrs Parete had been filmed being brought out from the rubble with her son on Friday and was heard shouting for rescuers to find her daughter. A hospital spokesman said: 'Mr Parete's wife and son are in excellent condition. They have light hypothermia and dehydration. 'They survived because they had access to the heavy clothing in their suitcases and because they were not in contact with the snow but inside a room that was closed off. 'They are also getting psychological help because it was a very traumatic situation.' Mr Parete later posted on Facebook: 'Thank you everyone from my heart, big hugs.' A manslaughter investigation has been launched, with prosecutors looking into whether a warning about a potential avalanche was taken seriously, and whether the hotel should have been evacuated sooner following heavy snowfall. Prosecutor Christina Tedeschini said: 'That hotel, should it have been open?' Firefighters were yesterday hoping to find more survivors and had located five people still trapped inside. It is not known what caused the avalanche, although a record high snowfall and a pair of earthquakes in the area could be responsible. Jared Kushner's younger brother Joshua was spotted at the Women's March on Washington on Saturday. Washingtonian editor Jessica Sidman tweeted his photo, saying 'Oh hey, it's Jared Kushner's brother'. Kushner and his long-term model girlfriend Karlie Kloss both voted for Hillary Clinton, reported New York Magazine, but his sighting at an explicitly anti-Trump event might be surprising to some, especially so soon after the controversial appointment of his brother to serve on Trump's administration. But Kloss did not appear to have made the trip to DC with Kushner, with the model spotted looking fashionable on the streets of Manhattan instead. Scroll down for video The Washingtonian editor Jessica Sidman tweeted his photo, saying 'Oh hey, it's Jared Kushner's brother' She also tweeted that another marcher asked if he was related to Jared Kushner, and he said said yes, claiming he was just observing Kloss did not appear to have made the trip to DC with Kushner, with the model spotted looking fashionable on the streets of Manhattan instead The 24-year-old supermodel was seen wearing an eye-catching blue striped dress and fur coat in New York running errands. Sidman also tweeted that another marcher asked if he was related to Jared Kushner, and he said said yes, claiming he was just observing the march. The Justice Department announced on Friday that Kushner would be allowed to serve as a White House adviser, despite a federal anti-nepotism law. They determined that the White House is not an 'executive agency' and is therefore exempt from restrictions on hiring in a 1967 law. 'In choosing his personal staff, the President enjoys an unusual degree of freedom, which Congress found suitable to the demands of his office,' the document claims. The president's son-in-law will have to divest himself of holdings that are considered a conflict of interest and fill out a financial disclosure form. And he will be unable to take actions that could benefit his businesses of that of his wife, Ivanka. Kushner and his long-term girlfriend Karlie Kloss both voted for Hillary Clinton in the November election Pictured here with the family is Joshua Kushner's girlfriend Karlie Kloss. Though Kloss and Kushner both voted for Hillary, Kushner has not come out in opposition of his brother's place in the Trump administration Ivanka Trump and her husband worked closely with Trump's campaign, and will play important roles during the President's time in the White House. However, Kushner's family has a complicated political presence, prompting questions to his ties to the Trump presidency. He is the son of a once elite and prominent democrat, Charles Kushner. Charles Kushner was a New Jersey real-estate titan before pleading guilty to 18 counts of tax evasion, illegal campaign donations, and witness tampering more than a decade ago, according to Vanity Fair. He also was a top political donor for many years to Democratic candidates such as Bill and Hillary Clinton. Joshua Kushner has not previously been openly unsupportive of his brother's role in the Trump Administration. Jared Kushner, an advisor in Trump's administration, is pictured with Ivanka Trump. Kushner's family has a complicated political presence, prompting questions to his ties to the Trump presidency Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited Bourke Street on Sunday to pay respect to the victims of the deadly Melbourne car rampage. 'We are with you, we mourn with you, we thank you, we love you,' Mr Turnbull said in remarks at the scene where five people were killed on Friday when a crazed motorist ploughed into pedestrians. Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews also offered his condolences, and announced a fund has been opened to support the family members of those who passed away. Mr Andrews also announced a vigil will take place at Federation Square at 5.30pm on Monday. Scroll down for video Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited Bourke Street on Sunday to pay respect to the victims of the deadly Melbourne car rampage 'We are with you, we mourn with you, we thank you, we love you,' Mr Turnbull said in remarks at the scene where five people were killed when a crazed motorist ploughed into pedestrians Mr Turnbull also took the time to praise law enforcement officers, saying Australia has 'the best police and security services in the world' 'We are with you, we mourn with you, we thank you, we love you,' Mr Turnbull said in remarks at the scene where five people were killed when a crazed motorist ploughed into pedestrians Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited Bourke Street on Sunday to pay respect to the victims of the deadly Melbourne car rampage Opposition Leader Bill Shorten speaks to members of the public after laying flowers on the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth Street in Melbourne on Sunday Mourners visit Melbourne's centre to pay their tributes to the victims who were killed on Friday Floral tributes line the streets in Melbourne's centre, where four people were killed on Friday 'You were a bystander. You were innocent. You could have been any one of us. You won't be forgotten' tribute reads Twenty-six people remained in hospital on Saturday as police fear the death toll will rise. On Sunday, commissioner Ashton said around 300 witnesses had been heard. The Prime Minister said that all Australians were with Melbourne residents in their grief. 'All Australians are with you. People of Melbourne, people of Victoria, in your grief. We are with you in solidarity,' Mr Turnbull said. 'We are grieving with you, we are mourning those whose lives have been lost. We are praying for the recovery of those who were injured.' 'We admire and thank the heroism of the first responders, the policemen we spoke to just a moment ago, the emergency workers who rushed to the scene, heedless of the risk to themselves.' Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (right) and Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews speak at a media conference on Sunday The Prime Minister said that all Australians were with Melbourne residents in their grief Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull lays flowers at a floral tribute on the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth Street after a man went on a rampage in a car through busy Bourke St mall Mr Turnbull also took the time to praise law enforcement officers, saying Australia has 'the best police and security services in the world.' 'Our police officers seen here today work night and day to keep us safe, standing on the front lines, taking on threats and horrors most of us would find almost unimaginable,' Mr Turnbull said. He said officers can count on his 'absolute, unequivocal, total support.' Mr Andrews sounded emotional when he remarked that 'nothing is sadder than [the death of a] three-month-old baby.' He said he felt 'sad, angry, resolute' after Friday's tragedy. Mr Andrews said he will 'honour that three-month-old baby, and honour all those who have lost their lives there, all of those who have had their lives forever changed.' Three people were killed in the street and two others died in hospital after the alleged driver identified as Dimitrious Gargasoulas, 26, drove into crowds of people in a crazed rampage on Friday afternoon. Mourners visited the scene of the attack in Melbourne's centre to pay their respects, just one day after the horrifying attack. Hundreds of flowers and messages of love line Bourke Street and surrounds. A young boy joins the masses of mourners leaving floral tributes at the sight of the crime Three people were killed in the street and two others died in hospital after Dimitrious Gargasoulas, 26, allegedly drove into crowds of people Mourners visited the scene of the attack in Melbourne's centre to pay their respects, just one day after the horrifying attack More have taken to social media to express their sadness and support for the victims' families. 'My heart goes out to the families who are affected by the incident in Melbourne yesterday,' one woman said. 'It is a very sad day for all of us in Melbourne my thoughts and prayers for the affected people who suffered from this criminal attack.' 'Our hearts go out to the victims of this tragedy people who lost their lives, those injured, those who witnessed this horrific event. Many lives changed yesterday,' another said. Firefighters who attended yesterday leave flowers on the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth Street Two firefighters return to the scene to lay flowers in memory of those who lost their lives on Friday Two firefighters return to the scene to lay flowers in memory of those who lost their lives on Friday Firefighters who attended yesterday, shed a tear as they left flowers at the chilling scene Firefighters who rushed to the scene on Friday returned on Saturday to pay their tributes. The group of men appear sombre as they remember the lives lost in the chilling attack. The firefighters were pictured contributing flowers to the growing tribute on the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth Streets. People break down in tears as they pay their respects to the victims of the chilling attack It was a sombre scene on Saturday as people broke down in tears in Melbourne's centre A little girl is pictured contributing to the growing floral tribute in Melbourne's centre on Saturday Mourners comfort each other as they pay their tributes to the people who lost their lives in the attack A mourner prays where flowers are being laid on the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth Street Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews lays flowers on the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth Street Mourners also urged the Melbourne community to keep its chin up following Friday's attack. 'Such a sad time for Melbourne but we all stick together, stronger than ever Sending prayers to families who lost loved ones and the injured. Melbourne stands with you,' one woman said. 'Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that,' another person said quoting Martin Luther King Jr. People mourn the lives lost in Friday's horrific attack which killed four and left 26 others injured A woman is seen laying flowers on the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth Street, the scene of the crime Flowers line the grounds at Bourke Street and Elizabeth Street, one day after the shocking attack Chief Executive Officer of Ambulance Victoria Tony Walker joined the growing number of mourners at Bourke Street on Saturday to pay his respects. 'An honour to join with my emergency service colleagues to pay our respects to those who lost their lives at Bourke Street yesterday,' he said. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews also visited Bourke Street on Saturday, the home of what he called a 'terrible crime a senseless evil act'. 'You were a bystander. You were innocent. You could have been any one of us. You won't be forgotten,' he wrote alongside a photo of the floral tributes. Two young boys are pictured laying flowers as mourners gather in Melbourne's Bourke Street A man is pictured laying a bunch of flowers at the scene of the Bourke Street rampage Mourners look on in shock and disbelief at Melbourne's centre which has now become the site of a chilling crime Nigel Farage will be a 'close adviser' to Donald Trump, one of the new US President's key allies has revealed. Phil Bryant, Governor of Mississippi, made the remarks on Thursday night at an inauguration party in Washington DC. He said on the top floor of the five star Hay Adams hotel overlooking the White House that the former Ukip leader will be a 'close but unofficial adviser' to the new President. Nigel Farage was in a celebratory mood after Trump's inauguration on Friday, and was pictured leaving a party outside the Mayflower Hotel in Washington Phil Bryant, Governor of Mississippi, made the remarks on Thursday night at party thrown for Mr Farage in Washington DC The Telegraph reported that Bryant said: 'There is an opportunity for him to work directly with the president, we call it 'close but unofficial'.' He called Mr Farage a 'humble man who just believes in great Britain and trying to make sure it achieves that greatness'. Mr Bryant added: 'I don't want to speak for the president but I know that the president has a great deal of trust in Nigel Farage, and I think he is going to turn to him as an adviser and there would be none better.' On Friday Farage praised Donald Trump's inauguration speech and declared a new era for US-UK relations. He told MailOnline it was a 'great speech and good for the UK' after the new US President promised to 're-enforce old alliances' in his address to the nation in Washington. It was interpreted as a reference to the 'special relationship' between the US and the UK, which critics claimed Barack Obama undermined during his eight years in office. Nigel Farage, pictured at a Trump inauguration party in Washington on Thursday, praised Donald Trump's speech and declared a new era for US-UK relations Following Mr Trump's speech, Mrs May said: 'I congratulate President Trump on taking office today. 'From our conversations to date, I know we are both committed to advancing the special relationship between our two countries and working together for the prosperity and security of people on both sides of the Atlantic. 'I look forward to discussing these issues and more when we meet in Washington.' Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage said there was a 'can-do attitude' in the new administration that would mean a new agreement would take months rather than years. Mr Farage insisted the Republican was offering the UK a 'great gift' because a trade deal would strengthen the country's hand in its Brexit negotiations. He told Sky News: 'What I saw with the Trump team were people who came from the private sector, not from the public sector, where time is money, and they said 'do you know what, we could get this done and dusted in 90 days'. 'Now, look whether it takes 90 days or 120 days isn't the issue. The point I'm making is that this new administration here has a can-do attitude of people who are not public sector, they are not nine to five, they are people who will work 24/7 to get things done. 'The point is this, the Trump incoming presidency, his administration is offering our country a gift, a great gift, not just for business, not just for trade, not just for investment, but actually to strengthen our hand in negotiating with the European Union.' The MEP, who was the first British politician to hold talks with President-elect Trump following his shock election win, said the billionaire and Prime Minister Theresa May are 'very different people' but have 'great common interests'. He added: 'I would like to see Theresa May here as quickly as possible.' Mr Farage and the other members of the so-called 'Bad Boys of Brexit' hosted their first boozy Washington DC party ahead of Mr Trump's inauguration. The former Ukip leader, who was the first British politician to meet Mr Trump after his election win, toasted the billionaire tycoon in front of a rowdy crowd. He said: 'Brexit was great but Trump becoming president is Brexit plus, plus, plus. He is the only man I've ever met in my life who has made me feel like an introvert'. Mr Farage later attended a lavish party at the five-star Hay-Adams Hotel on Thursday evening to celebrate Mr Trump's inauguration. The 400 guests at the British-hosted event, which included around 100 US politicians, were handed Champagne and mini portions of fish and chips. Fox News hires Nigel Farage as prime-time pundit to 'offer political analysis' Nigel Farage has been hired by the American Fox News Channel as a pundit, it was announced on Friday. The former Ukip leader will offer 'political analysis' across the network - one of the most-watched news channels in the US. He already has his own nightly show on UK radio station LBC. Mr Farage has become an increasingly visible figure in America since Donald Trump was elected President in November and has appeared on US TV numerous times. And within seconds of Mr Trump finishing his inauguration speech, Mr Farage praised him on Twitter, writing: 'A very strong speech...he means it.' The new US President and Mr Farage was the first British politician to meet the Republican after his election victory. Bad Boys of Brexit: Nigel Farage is joined by Andy Wigmore, Lord Ashcroft, Governor of Mississippi Phil Bryant and Arron Banks outside their Washington party last night Mr Farage, who the US President calls 'Mr Brexit', is in Washington on Friday to attend the inauguration. The channel said in a statement on Friday: 'FOX News Channel (FNC) has signed former United Kingdom Independence Party Leader (UKIP) Nigel Farage as a contributor. 'In this role, he will offer political analysis across FNC and FOX Business Network's (FBN) daytime and primetime programming.' Last night Mr Farage and the other members of the so-called 'Bad Boys of Brexit' hosted their first boozy Washington DC party ahead of Mr Trump's inauguration. The former Ukip leader, who was the first British politician to meet Mr Trump after his election win, toasted the billionaire tycoon in front of a rowdy crowd. He said: 'Brexit was great but Trump becoming president is Brexit plus, plus, plus. He is the only man I've ever met in my life who has made me feel like an introvert'. Friends: Lord Ashcroft, Governor Bryant, Judge Jeanine Pirro, Mr Farage and Andy Wigmore pose up Guests at the DC drinks party were handed mini portions of fish and chips at the British organised event Earlier he posed with Lord Ashcroft, Governor of Mississippi Phil Bryant and Arron Banks outside the historic Mayflower Hotel in the city last night. Mr Farage later attended a lavish party at the five-star Hay-Adams Hotel on Thursday evening to celebrate Mr Trump's inauguration. The 400 guests at the British-hosted event, which included around 100 US politicians, were handed Champagne and mini portions of fish and chips. In a speech to the packed room he said: 'Brexit was great but Trump becoming president is Brexit plus, plus, plus. He was right when he said it was a movement - but a movement can't exist, or flourish, without a leader. And Trump is the only man I've ever met in my life who has made me feel like an introvert. The view of the White House from the Bad Boys of Brexit party - another party on Saturday could be attended by President Trump 'He is a larger than life personality. When he was given the rule book for how you run for president he tore up the book and threw it out of the window. And I guess, when I look back in the years to come, perhaps the greatest joy of 2016 was that realisation, as state after state in the mid-West went red, just to see the faces of those democrats. 'I've spent most my life in politics being regarded, I suppose, as the patron saint of lost causes. Judge Jeanine Pirro poses next to a pile of Bad Boys of Brexit books 'Through most of my life, what happens in America in terms of social trends or developments, we follow four or five years later. America is the leader. Now I would like to think in my own little way that what we did with Brexit was the beginning of what is going to turn out to be a global revolution and that Trump's victory is a part of that'. Mr Farage said: 'We've had Brexit and perhaps that contributed just a little bit to things changing in the USA and who's to say that bandwagon won't continue to roll in 2017 across much of Europe.' It came as Mr Farage said Donald Trump's inauguration will be historic because it marks a 'significant change in direction' for America. The former Ukip leader is attending the ceremony in Washington DC, where Mr Trump arrived on Thursday as he prepares to be sworn in as US president. After arriving in the US capital, Mr Farage said: 'I get a sense of the history, and that this particular inauguration is a very significant one because in so many areas it marks a significant change in direction. I'm very excited about it. Mr Farage was reportedly hosting last night's event with Ukip donor Arron Banks, but he insisted he was a guest and said Mr Trump was not expected to show up. 'It's to celebrate the fact that in 2016 we saw this dramatic change in politics,' he said. 'I suppose the party is the international dimension in all this'. Mr Farage was a guest of Mr Bryant after the US politician invited him to attend a Trump rally in Jackson, Mississippi in August. Mr Trump hailed Mr Farage as a 'great guy' during an interview with The Times earlier this week. Lord Ashcroft posted this picture of the party, whose guests also heard a speech from Mr Farage Nigel Farage poses with Ted Malloch, who is tipped as leading candidate to become Donald Trump's ambassador to the EU promises 'game-changing' Farage with Brexiteers including Leave backer Aaron Banks (centre blue suit), Andy Wigmore (far left), Michael Ashcroft (second left) Mr Farage will attend a lavish party at the five-star Hay-Adams Hotel on Thursday evening to celebrate Mr Trump's inauguration Mr Farage is attending the inauguration ceremony on Friday as a guest of Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, who first invited him to a Trump rally in Jackson, in the state back in August. Mr Trump hailed Mr Farage as a 'great guy' during an interview with The Times earlier this week. Inauguration events started on Thursday when Mr Trump and Vice President elect Mike Pence laid wreaths at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. Watched by Mr Trump's family they placed a wreath in front of the Tomb of the Unknowns, which commemorates the nation's unidentified war dead. A concert - dubbed the Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration - is due to take place at the Lincoln Memorial later. Country stars Lee Greenwood and Toby Keith and rock band 3 Doors Down will perform at the event amid reports Mr Trump has struggled to attract famous names to take part. Broadway star Jennifer Holliday pulled out of the concert, citing concerns raised by fans from the LGBT community. Advertisement Most of the 230 rioters arrested after violent protests erupted in Washington D.C. following Donald Trump's inauguration will be charged with felony rioting, federal prosecutors said on Saturday. The charge carries a punishment of up to ten years in jail and a $25,000 fine. Thousand of protesters launched a violent rampage just blocks away from the White House as anti-Trump demonstrators smashed store windows, set fire to cars and threw bricks at police. Scroll down for videos More than 95 people have been arrested so far during the riots. Hundreds of protesters dressed in black marched through the streets of D.C. breaking windows and hurling projectiles A Washington D.C. Metro Police Officer arrests an anti-Trump protester, after a confrontation that led to several dozen protesters being cornered and then arrested for vandalism A young male rioter kicked in a car's windshield as fellow protesters watched on Many of those arrested are due to appear in court on Saturday, according to WUSA 9. Heated clashes broke out in McPherson Square and along K Street as hundreds of riot police fired tear gas and drew their nightsticks to contain the masked mob. As the rioting unfolded, Trump and his family were arriving at a review stand at the White House to see the end of the inaugural parade. Militant anti-Trump protesters gave a foretaste of what could follow during the violent outbreaks, which has so far seen 217 people arrested and at least six police officers injured. A nurse rinses pepper spray out of the eyes of a young anti-Trump protester who got sprayed during a clash with D.C. Metropolitan Police A limo was set on fire after masked protesters wearing all black threw a flare into the vehicle. They had reportedly run up to the car and smashed its windows in D.C. following Trump's inauguration Riot police have arrested nearly a hundred people for the explosive protests in the streets of D.C. Washington police said numerous individuals were charged with rioting Police use pepper spray on the mob of protesters in McPherson Square. A violent rampage started just two blocks from the White House in the square and along K Street Rioters set off multiple fires as they confronted police as protests over Trump turned ugly Rioters set fire to a limousine and scrawled 'We the people' on the side of the vehicle Police have arrested nearly 100 anti-Trump protesters on Friday. Rioters hurled rocks and other debris at a Starbucks Cafe window as they ran through the streets on in protest of President Trump Just before the parade started, clashes broke out between more than 400 stone-throwing protesters and riot police in McPherson Square - just blocks from the parade in honor of newly sworn-in president. As Trump's motorcade wound its way up Pennsylvania Avenue in the parade to the White House, protesters also descended on Franklin Square Park where they graffitied a stretch limo before setting the vehicle ablaze right outside the Washington Post building. 'Groups of people started gathering around the limo. There was a sense of something going to happen. People were shouting 'it's going to blow'. We tried to move them back,' DailyMail.com columnist Katie Hopkins, who witnessed the ordeal, said. 'The inauguration parade for the president is just blocks away from where all this is happening.' Hopkins said the anarchists set things ablaze and started throwing bricks, stones and rocks. 'These people are here for this purpose - these guys are here for the fight,' she said. A protester burns one of Trump's Make America Great t-shirt just hours after he was sworn in as president SWAT team police in full riot gear moved in spraying pepper spray in a bid to disperse the rioters. Among those where hit were Hawk Newsome, leader of Black Lives Matter in New York. City police chief Peter Newsham said at least 217 people were arrested and would be held overnight before appearing in front of a judge. 'The charge is rioting,' he told reporters. 'Our intention going into this event was to make zero arrests, and unfortunately they forced our hand.' Meanwhile, prominent white supremacist Richard Spencer was sucker-punched by a masked protester in the street while giving an interview to journalists. Anti-Trump demonstrator set a 'Make America Great Again' hat on fire as masked, black-clad protesters carrying anarchist flags smashed windows and scuffled with riot police in D.C. A Trump supporter was seen trying to pull an American flag out of a fire lit by a protester just hours after the inauguration Protesters swarmed the streets in Washington as they set fire to mutliple trash cans Most of the noisy protests - including an array of anti-racist, anti-war, feminist, LGBT, pro-immigration and marijuana legalization groups - were peaceful. But some protesters had earlier dragged trash cans into the road before setting them on fire. Vendors selling Trump T-shirts suddenly started offering them as 'fire fuel, and set them alight. One police van retreated quickly, reversing a whole city block at high speed after a rock smashed through its window but within minutes reinforcements arrived as a SWAT team in full riot gear blocked K Street and threatened to pepper spray yelling demonstrators. A rock also hit a Secret Service vehicle forcing it to beat a hasty retreat. Thugs dressed head-to-toe in black with their faces completely hidden urged the mob to gather pieces of paving stone to use as missiles. Vandals set the limo afire after totally trashing it smashing its windows and scrawling graffiti on its side, leaving its horn constantly blaring. Broadcaster Larry King said that while he was in a studio, the windows of his SUV were smashed by protesters. 'Protestors in DC smashed the windows of my hired SUV & many other cars. I was working in-studio & am ok, but my driver is a bit rattled,' he tweeted. Police in riot gear deployed pepper spray and made arrests after protesters smashed the windows of downtown D.C. businesses A rioter wrapped in a rainbow flag walks very close to the police line as protests turned violent in Washington An angry protester faces off with a line of riot police during a demonstration in D.C. A TV truck was also smashed as the mob ignored calls to stop from one section of the crowd who said the new administration wanted them to riot. 'Please stop. This is not ok,' pleaded one young woman. 'This is what they want. They will eat this up.' The protesters shouted 'F... Trump,' calling his new administration 'fascist' and 'illegitimate.' They brandished placards variously denouncing the new president as racist, homophobic and anti-women. Police blasted them with tear gas and stun grenades and several women claimed they had been maced as they struggled with tears seeping from their eyes. Riot police chased the group, some openly promoting anarchy, down 10th and E streets, about a mile from the Mall. More than 500 people, many wearing masks and handkerchiefs over their faces, marched through the center of DC. They attacked cars and shop windows, smashing glass panes at a Bank of America branch, a McDonald's outlet and a Starbucks shop. Luis Villarroel from Virginia dropped passengers off near the corner of 13th and K Streets NW then parked in front of the Washington Post building. He got out of his Lincoln MKT limo when he heard loud noises and 'hundreds of masked men' coming his way. He said the protesters 'threw food at him' and started beating his limo. They threw a flare inside the limo, which is still visible on the seat. Activists leave the site of a limousine which was set ablaze during a protest against Trump. Someone wrote on the side of the burning limo: 'We the People' Unruly protesters were pursued by riot police who used flash bang grenades and pepper spray to subdue the crowd. Several windows were broken including a McDonald's restaurant's Police managed to funnel the protesters away, but security was stepped up for this afternoon's Presidential parade. D.C. police reported that two uniformed officers sustained minor injuries and police vehicles were damaged in the riots. President Trump began his reign at the White House today greeted by rain and vast empty spaces at his inauguration. Unlike the inauguration ceremonies for former President Obama where crowds filled the Mall past the Washington Monument, Trump's acceptance speech was greeted by far less spectators. As he spoke areas at the back of the Mall were empty and the three second delay in his words reaching those at the back only added to the low key atmosphere. There were muted cheers and very little chanting to greet the President among the spectators that stood with space to walk freely behind them. A police officer falls to the ground as another shoots pepper spray at protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the inauguration Riot police used flash bang grenades and pepper spray to subdue the destructive crowd Activists run after being hit by a stun grenade while protesting against Trump on the sidelines of the inauguration The riots in D.C. in response to Trump's inauguration have led to nearly a hundred arrests. Several windows were broken including a McDonald's restaurant's Trump's inauguration attendance was not as expected and the National Mall sat half-empty (left) compared to Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration turn out (right), which saw an estimated 1.8million people on the below freezing day Past inaugurations saw higher attendance numbers. According to D.C. Metro's ridership statistics, only 193,000 trips were taken by 11am on Friday morning, compared to 2013 when 317,000 people had used the public transportation As anti-Trump demonstrators attempted to block the way to the parade walk and smashed up shop windows, supporters and protesters alike flocked to Washington D.C. for inauguration day. Attendance was not as expected and the National Mall sat half-empty compared to Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration turn out, which saw an estimated 1.8million people on the below freezing day. The half-empty ceremony, which expected a turn out of 900,000 people, saw temperatures in the 40s and some rain was expected. Past inaugurations saw higher attendance numbers. According to D.C. Metro's ridership statistics, only 193,000 trips were taken by 11am on Friday morning, compared to 2013 when 317,000 people had used the public transportation. In 2009, numbers reached 513,000 and Bush's 2005 ceremony had 197,000 rides. Demonstrators came from across the US to voice their objection President Donald Trump - despite being a tiny minority compared to vast crowds there to hail him. Some said they would also have protested Hillary Clinton. Protests became violent and destructive as shop windows were smashed out in retaliation to Trump being sworn in on the steps of Capitol Hill. Several thousand inauguration-goers were held up for an extra hour by just a handful of animal rights protesters who blocked an entry point at 7th Street and D600nw and were met by soldiers and police with dogs. Protesters demonstrated near the parade route where Trump will walk after taking the oath of office Those who had come to voice their anti-Trump views repeatedly shouted 'Let us in' as the rain came down and senior police officials gathered to examine how best to solve the situation. One protester who held up the lines brandished a placard which read : 'Queers for human and animal rights.' Alena Chavez, 20, a student who had traveled from San Francisco, California, said: 'Trump needs to learn how to respect women, all races and religions and understand that we know he will not make a great President.' Due to the expected downpour, the National Park Service has revised its policy on umbrellas. It eased up on the 'no umbrella' rule, allowing collapsible 'totes'-style umbrellas along the parade route and on the National Mall. On the Capitol grounds regular umbrellas are still prohibited in any ticketed area. The nation's soon-to-be president joked about the chance of a downpour. 'That's OK,' Trump told campaign donors at an event Thursday night, 'because people will realize it's my real hair.' 'Might be a mess, but they're going to see that it's my real hair,' he said. As historic numbers turned out to express their dissent towards the Trump Administration, another group came forward to assert their support of the 45th President. Bikers For Trump, a self-explanatory organization who aim to 'promote and coordinate peaceful rallies and events nationwide' held their own celebration on Saturday while the millions of women marched nearby. As a counteractive event, the group set up along the inaugural route in Washington, D.C. to rally for their beliefs. As historic numbers turned out to express their dissent towards the Trump Administration, another group came forward to assert their support of the 45th President Bikers For Trump, a self-explanatory organization who aim to 'promote and coordinate peaceful rallies and events nationwide' held their own celebration while the millions of women marched nearby A six-year-old girl captured the hearts of demonstrators at the Women's March in Washington DC on Saturday as she delivered a message of hope. Sophie Cruz, the daughter of two undocumented immigrants from Mexico, made an appeal to 'protect our families' in a speech she delivered in both English and Spanish. It's not the first time she's made waves as an activist. The six-year-old first gained media attention in 2015 when she delivered a letter to Pope Francis about immigration reform, and she went on to meet Barack Obama in 2016. Sophie Cruz, the daughter of two undocumented immigrants, made an appeal to 'protect our families' in a speech she delivered in both English and Spanish at the Women's March in DC Cruz took to the stage on Saturday and addressed the thousands of protesters with poise With her family members standing beside her, Cruz said: 'Let us fight with love, faith and courage so that our families will not be destroyed' Cruz took to the stage on Saturday and addressed the thousands of protesters with poise. With her family members standing beside her, Cruz said: 'We are here together to make a chain of love to protect our families. 'Let us fight with love, faith and courage so that our families will not be destroyed. 'I also want to tell the children not to be afraid, because we are not alone. There are still many people that have their hearts filled with love... 'Lets keep together and fight for the rights. God is with us.' She repeated the speech in Spanish, and chanted 'Si, se puede', or 'Yes, we can.' Social media exploded with adoration, with some Twitter users heralding her as 'our future' while Nella Zuniga wrote: 'I wanna be #SophieCruz when I grow up' Social media exploded with adoration, with some Twitter users heralding her as 'our future' while Nella Zuniga wrote: 'I wanna be #SophieCruz when I grow up.' Another Twitter user wrote: 'That moment when a young child gives an infinitely better speech, IN 2 LANGUAGES, than the President #sophiecruz #WomensMarchOnWashington' This isn't the first time Cruz has been catapulted to the world stage - she broke through the pope's ironclad security operation when he visited Washington DC in 2015. She handed over a letter pleading for him to intervene in her parents' battle to stay in the United States after they arrived in California from Mexico more than a decade ago. The note called upon the 78-year-old pontiff to help her mother and father, as well as the millions of others who are in the U.S. illegally, to remain in the country. This isn't the first time Cruz has been catapulted to the world stage - she broke through the pope's ironclad security operation when he visited Washington DC in 2015 She handed over a letter pleading for him to intervene in her parents' battle to stay in the United States after they arrived in California from Mexico more than a decade ago It stated: 'I believe I have the right to live with my parents, I have the right to be happy. 'All immigrants just like my dad help feed this country. They deserve to live with dignity. They deserve to live with respect. They deserve an immigration reform.' She also handed the leader of the Catholic church a bright yellow t-shirt that read: 'Pope: rescue DAPA, so the legalization would be your blessing.' The schoolgirl was part of a group of activists from La Hermandad Mexicana Transnacional, a West Coast-based immigration advocacy organization. In 2016, Cruz was invited to the White House for Cinco de Mayo. She met with both Barack Obama and Joe Biden while her parents waited outside since they could not pass the security checks without social security numbers. A trail camera has captured an image that has sparked a debate whether one of Australia's lost animals has a sub-species living in Perth. The footage was captured on the outskirts of Perth and shows a dog-like animal with an extremely long tail. The cameras were placed in the property after the owners said their pet dog was killed by an unknown animal. Can you spot the animal that has sparked a debate online The dog-like animal in the background was spotted on a backyard camera and has sparked a debate whether it is a sub-species of the extinct mainland Tasmanian Tiger or a fox A trail camera has captured an image (above) that has excited Tasmanian Tiger hunters to the possibility that the animal may still roam freely across Australia With recent sightings reported of the extinct Tasmanian Tiger roaming around just an hours drive of Perth, an online debate is raging whether the animal could be a fox or a mainland species of the thylacine. The Tasmanian Tiger or thylacine officially became extinct in 1986, despite the death of the last known thylacine in Hobart Zoo in 1936. The Tasmanian Tiger The thylacine looked like a large, long dog with stripes and a long stiff tail. Often shy and secluded the thylacine became extinct after the introduction of European settlers The last known thylacine died in Hobart Zoo in 1936 Despite hundreds of reported sightings no conclusive evidence has been provided that the Tasmanian Tiger is alive The latest reported sighting was from the Thylacine Awareness Group in South Australia Advertisement The Tasmanian Tiger looked like a long dog with stripes and had a heavy stiff tail. With debate raging whether the animal could be a fox, Thylacine Awareness Group Of Australia founder Neil Waters said it could possibly be a sub species of the thought to be extinct Tasmanian Tiger. 'My claim is there is more than one species of thylacine's. Tasmanian Tigers in Tasmania were isolated so they probably had a narrower gene pool,' Mr Waters told Daily Mail Australia. 'With the mainland being bigger there is a lot more scope for a sub species. 'I agree the head looks like a fox, but the rear end I can't find a fox online that looks like that. The tail is exceptionally long and even in thickness. 'It looks like it is covered in fur. It doesn't look like a fox at the rear end.' In Novemeber the Thylacine Awareness Group Of Australia released special footage of what they believed to be a Tasmanian Tiger Tasmanian Tigers on the mainland of Australia are thought to have become extinct over 2000 years ago but Mr Waters hopes that his research can help prove they still roam the country Mr Waters said there have been numerous reported sightings of the Tasmanian Tiger an hours drive from Perth, both historical and recent, but none have been confirmed. In November the Thylacine Awareness Group Of Australia released special footage of what they believed to be a Tasmanian Tiger captured by trail cameras on a property in Nannup in Western Australia. Mr Waters told Daily Mail Australia the animal moved exactly like a thylacine. 'The animal has a very peculiar gait, the way it walks is quite weird,' Mr Waters said. 'In one of the clips you can clearly see stripes down the side.' Mr Waters has in his possession over 500 sighting of thylacines in South Australia alone 'Benjamin' the last captive Thylacine died at Hobart Zoo in 1936 Tasmanian Tiger GONE FOREVER? ONCE-COMMON PREDATOR KILLED OFF The thylacine, more commonly known as the Tasmanian Tiger, was named for its final habitat though fossil records and cave paintings show it was once common across Australia and also lived in Papua New Guinea. Despite being called tigers due to the distinctive stripes on their back, thylacine are actually predatory marsupials, very closely related to the Tasmanian Devil. By the time Europeans arrived in Australia thylacine were already confined to coastal regions and Tasmania, believed to have been out-competed by other species such as dingoes. Aggressive hunting by the new settlers in order to protect flocks of sheep they brought with them all but wiped the thylacine out, with bounties offered per scalp a hunter could bring back. By the turn of the 20th century the once-common animal was considered rare and zoos from around the world bid to get one for their collection. Sadly many died being captured or transported, or perished in captivity from unsuitable living conditions or unfamiliar climates. The last known thylacine was kept in a zoo in Hobart from 1933, dying just three years later. It is thought that the animal perished from exposure after a forgetful zookeeper left it sitting in its cage all night instead of locking it away in its hut. Advertisement A note that appeared to be a bomb threat was discovered in a airplane restroom on a JetBlue flight forcing the jet to be diverted. The flight from Newark Liberty International Airport to Santiago, Dominican Republic was diverted on Saturday according to WSVN. The suspicious message forced the aircraft to land in Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport as a precautionary measure. A suspicious note caused the emergency landing while the JetBlue plane was en route to the Dominican Republic Passengers were forced to deplane so it could be inspected for a sign of a bomb No explosives were discovered on Flight 893. All of the passengers were rescreened at the Fort Lauderdale before continuing on their journey. Broward County Sheriff's Office bomb squad forced passengers off the plane examined the Airbus A321 at 4.20pm. The squad and SWAT team finished the investigation at 7.15pm. In a statement, JetBlue said: 'Out of an abundance of caution, JetBlue flight 893 from Newark Liberty International Airport to Santiago, Dominican Republic, is diverting to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after a security report.' A spokesman for the FBI's Miami office said they were aware of the threat. There have not been any arrests so far. These two suspects are wanted in a burglary of a Manhattan Sephora in which two employees were assaulted with pepper spray A burglarizing duo are wanted by New York police after the two allegedly assaulted two employees with pepper spray at a Manhattan makeup store. The unknown man and woman reportedly entered a Sephora on Lexington Avenue around 5.30pm on December 14, and attempted to steal several items. When the employees confronted them, the vandals dropped their stolen items and accosted the employees with pepper spray. The employees, a 24-year-old woman and 21-year-old man, were treated on the scene, according to Pix 11. Police are now appealing to the public for help identifying the two suspects. The unknown man and woman reportedly entered a Sephora on Lexington Avenue around 5.30pm on December 14, and attempted to steal several items The male suspect is described as 5 feet 7 inches, between 20 and 25 years old. The female suspect is described and 5 feet feet inches, between 20 and 25 years old and weighing roughly 135 pounds. Those with information may contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting http://www.nypdcrimestoppers.com, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. A former death row inmate in Delaware has been acquitted of all charges after being retried for a drug-related killing. Isaiah McCoy, 29, who waived his right to a jury trial, bowed his head and wept after a judge declared him not guilty in the 2010 killing of 30-year-old James Munford. On Thursday, he reunited with his family outside of Howard R. Young Correctional Institution in Wilmington, Delaware. McCoy was able to hug his daughter for the first time who was not yet born at the time he was arrested. He had served six and a half years on death row since his arrest. Isaiah McCoy hugs one of his daughters as he walks out of Howard R. Young Correctional Institution Disaiah Johhson was pregnant with McCoy's daughter when he went to prison. She told Delaware State News before he was released: 'Im excited for my daughter who is finally going to touch her father, and he is about to hold one of his children, which he has never experienced.' McCoy was convicted and sentenced to death in 2012, but Delaware's Supreme Court ordered a new trial, citing errors by the judge and prosecutor at trial. The Supreme Court also criticized the prosecutor for 'pervasive unprofessional conduct.' McCoy, who has a long criminal history, maintained his innocence in the case. He was accused of shooting Munford to death during a drug deal in the rear parking lot of the Rodney Village Bowling Alley on May 4, 2010. From left, back, Michael Wiseman, Isaiah McCoy, Disaiah Johnson, Herb Mondros, and Phil Primason pose for a photo McCoy's two daughters after he is released from prison The deal was supposed to be for 200 ecstasy pills and crack cocaine, but during the transaction, McCoy pulled out a gun and shot Munford, according to prosecutors. Isaiah McCoy, 29, who waived his right to a jury trial, bowed his head and wept after a judge declared him not guilty in the 2010 killing of 30-year-old James Munford The Kent County judge who retried McCoy noted that there was no physical evidence linking McCoy to the crime. He also said the two alleged accomplices gave contradictory testimony against him. After walking free, McCoy told Delaware Online: 'I just want to say to all those out there going through the same thing I'm going through 'keep faith, keep fighting'. 'Two years ago, I was on death row. At 25, I was given a death sentence and I am today alive and well and kicking and a free man.' He added that he planned to spend the next days with his daughters and to let his new situation sink in. 'Give myself some time, and then I'll be ready to tackle the world,' he said. A spokesman for the Department of Justice said prosecutors were disappointed by the verdict from Kent County Superior Court Judge Robert B. Young. A spokesman said: 'While we are disappointed with the outcome of this case, we respect the decision of this court. This was a difficult case and the court indicated the basis for its decision at the time of the verdict.' A man is recovering from surgery after being shot by police in a Gold Coast apartment basement. Two constables were investigating reports of a suspicious vehicle at Solaire Apartments in Surfers Paradise about 1.30am on Sunday when they were confronted by a man with a weapon. Superintendent Michelle Stenner said a number of shots were fired by the officers at the Cypress Avenue property, at least one of which hit the man. A man is recovering from surgery after being shot by police in a Gold Coast apartment basement The man, who was known to police, has undergone surgery for non-life threatening injuries and remains in a stable condition at Gold Coast University Hospital. A female constable is also in a stable condition after being treated for shock and grazes at the same hospital. Her male partner is in 'good spirits' and is assisting with the investigation into the shooting. 'Both the officers have shown tremendous bravery and courage in the face of what could have been a very dire outcome for all involved,' Supt Stenner said. Two constables were investigating reports of a suspicious vehicle at Solaire Apartments in Surfers Paradise about 1.30am on Sunday Police fired a number of shots after they were confronted by a man with a weapon, at least one of which hit him The man, who was known to police, has undergone surgery for non-life threatening injuries and remains in a stable condition at Gold Coast University Hospital 'This is probably an officer's worst nightmare.' Claire Glidden, who lives in the apartment building across the road, said she was woken by her barking dogs and shouting. 'I did hear bangs but not loud enough to be gunshots but it was in the garage so they were muffled,' Ms Glidden said. 'It's crazy. You don't expect it on the street you live on.' Pauline Hanson has suggested some anti-Donald Trump protesters in Australia were overweight. The One Nation leader poked fun at Women's March demonstrators who took to the streets to mark the new U.S. president's first day in power. 'It's good that they were out and about and doing a bit of walking because it looked like a few of them needed to get a bit of sun and do a bit of exercise,' Senator Hanson said on Facebook. Scroll down for videos Pauline Hanson (pictured) also described protests in Brisbane as sad and undemocratic Sydney's march from Hyde Park to Martin Place, attracted the biggest crowd of about 10,000 on Saturday, as a sign writer emblazoned 'Trump' in the sky to the annoyance of demonstrators. Her comments were directed mainly at the Brisbane marchers who chanted: 'Donald Trump, go to hell. Take One Nation there as well.' The Queensland senator asked her Facebook followers if 'these clowns have anything better to do with their time other than to hold sad, anti-democratic protests'. Ironically, she was talking about Brisbane, in Queensland, where demonstrations were banned under Joh Bjelke-Petersen's National Party government during the 1970s and 1980s. The Sydney demonstration (pictured) attracted 10,000 people to the march from Hyde Park to Martin Place However, Senator Hanson praised the demonstrators for at least being more civil than their counterparts in the United States. 'Oh, well, at least they didn't seem as bad as the left-wing protesters in Washington who were vandalising businesses and committing assaults,' she said on Sunday. Earlier, Senator Hanson took credit for Mr Trump's inauguration message of transferring power from Washington D.C. and giving it back to the people. Like the U.S. president, she has also called for a ban on Muslim migration. 'Donald Trump has been watching my lead over the last 20 years,' Senator Hanson told the Seven Network's Weekend Sunrise programme on Sunday. Pauline Hanson puts up a Facebook message mocking anti-Donald Trump supporters for being a little bit fat Women's March demonstrations were held in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra on Saturday. They were timed to coincide with marches in Washington D.C. at the National Mall, which attracted about one million people as Mr Trump was sworn-in as the 45th President of the United States. Feminists and left-wing demonstrators are taking issue with the Republican Party's call to end funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion programme, and the billionaire's past comments denigrating women. More than 2.5 million people across the U.S. marched against President Trump. A homeowner has won the right to keep a large tree in their yard despite a neighbour claiming the Chinese elm took $500,000 off her property value. Dr Kathryn Radford had previously successfully argued the nine-metre tree blocked views of the Brisbane city skyline from her Auchenflower home. But a tribunal last month overturned the ruling on appeal, because the city views were only visible from a 'contrived' standpoint, the judgement said. The nine-metre tall chinese elm tree is pictured in a yard at Auchenflower, Brisbane According to an August 2015 ruling, Dr Radford would cut down the neighbour's tree and replace it with two metre Tuckeroo trees at her own expense. Justice Tim Carmody and Senior Member Ian Brown overturned the decision in the 'fiercely contested' dispute at the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal in December. A person would have to lie down on the upper deck, stand on a chair on the lower deck, or stand half way on a flight of stairs to enjoy the view when she purchased the property, the judgement said. Dr Kathryn Radford said the tree blocked her city views, but the tribunal found the views were only visible from 'contrived' standpoints 'It could not be considered reasonable to protect views from Dr Radford's dwelling that can only be enjoyed from such contrived positions,' the judgement said. She had failed to establish the tree was a 'severe obstruction' that interferes with the use and enjoyment of her land in a substantial, ongoing and unreasonable way, the judgement said. Dr Radford purchased the property in 2003 and renovated up. The neighbours purchased their property in 2005 and cleared vegetation, providing the chinese elm with sunlight and it promptly grew. Dr Radford argued a realtor quoted a $500,000 loss in property value, from $2 million to $1.5 million, News Corp reported after the 2015 judgement. Christopher Spivey, 54, (pictured) claimed the murder of Fusilier Rigby was 'staged The mother of murdered soldier Lee Rigby said she was threatened with arrest unless she attended the appeal hearing of a conspiracy theorist troll who taunted her over his death. Lyn Rigby said her treatment by authorities was 'absurd and shocking' after she was summoned to a court hearing where a graphic image from her son's murder featured as evidence. Mrs Rigby said she was left 'trembling from head to foot' when a photo of Islamic extremist Michael Adebolajo, covered in her son's blood and brandishing a meat cleaver, was shown to the court. 'This has been one of the worst weeks since Lee died and it brought all the terrible emotions flooding back to me as if my son had been murdered all over again,' she told the Sunday People. 'I believe in our justice system because it put Lee's killers behind bars but I don't believe we should have been forced to court for this man. 'And to threaten us with prosecution if we didn't attend was just absurd and shocking as well as deeply upsetting. It suggests that my grieving family has somehow done something wrong.' Christopher Spivey, a grandfather from Rochford, Essex, was convicted of harassing the Rigby family and sending grossly offensive messages over social media in 2015. He posted a series of comments on social media about the May 2013 killing in Woolwich, south east London - including claiming the soldier had never existed and that the story of his murder was a conspiracy. Lyn Rigby said her treatment by authorities was 'absurd and shocking' after she was summoned to court where a graphic image from her son's murder featured as evidence The troll also published the family's home addresses and private photographs online and contacted the soldier's sister, Sarah McClure claiming her husband, Rob, also a soldier, and Fusilier Rigby were the same person. Spivey was eventually found guilty but escaped being sent to jail when a judge suspended his sentence. After maintaining his innocence he launched an appeal which was reportedly dismissed after a four-day hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court last week. Mrs Rigby questioned why she and her daughter were made to attend the hearing via videolink from Bury magistrates' court after they submitted witness statements. 'It's horrific enough losing my son in such a violent way but to listen to this man's twisted drivel was just heaping more misery on me,' she said. Dave Hines, founder of the National Victims' Association, criticised her treatment and ministers for failing those affected by crime. Fusilier Rigby (pictured) was hacked to death by terrorists in south London in May 2013 'I feel for Mrs Rigby and the horrendous ordeal she has had to go through. It's beyond comprehension, it's completely outrageous and the public will be shocked. 'Families like this are let down by the system,' he said. Last week Spivey lost an appeal against a suspended six month jail sentence handed down at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court. The former builder told a judge at Chelmsford Crown Court: 'It was a fake event allowed to go ahead by the Government, aided by the security services.' But Judge Christopher Morgan dismissed Spivey's appeal and labelled his internet postings on his website as 'malicious and oppressive'. He added that Spivey 'targeted' Fusilier Rigby's mother and sister and was aware of the risk they might see what he had written. He said Spivey took no account of the fact the family were grieving. Rejecting the appeal Judge Morgan said: 'A person grieving for a child and directly involved in events would be affected. 'The assertion that the murder of her son was a hoax to someone not connected with Lee Rigby may have simply been dismissed as the deluded comment of an obsessive, a conspiracy theorist or a crank.' Lyn Rigby had to relive the events of her son's horrific death as she gave evidence via video link from the Manchester area. She was visibly distressed as she spoke of feeling frightened when her address and family photographs were published by Spivey. She told the court: 'We just couldn't go out anywhere. We were frightened to answer the door. Conspiracy theorist Christopher Spivey, a grandfather from Rochford, Essex, was convicted of harassing the Rigby family and sending grossly offensive messages over social media in 2015 'It got to the point where my youngest got so frightened she would go around checking on windows and doors three times before she went to bed, over and over again. 'It made us very frightened. I got very distressed over it as I thought we were being watched all the time.' Spivey also published pictures of her house, photos and names of Fusilier Rigby's sister Sara McClure, her children and information about her partner Robert Sergeant. Mrs McClure, who also gave evidence via video link, said she felt 'scared and vulnerable'. She added: 'We moved house, we had to leave our home because we were worried somebody was going to come for us.' Michael Adebolajo, 29, and Michael Adeowale, 22, were both jailed for life in February 2015 for Fusilier Rigby's murder following a trial at the Old Bailey. Spivey was originally convicted in July 2015 of two charges of harassing Lyn Rigby and Sara McClure. Fusilier Rigby, from Rochford, Essex, was off duty when he was attacked and killed by Michael Adebolajo (left) and Michael Adebowale (right) He was also found guilty of two offences of sending grossly offensive or menacing messages by public communication between May 2013 and November 2014. Spivey received a six month prison sentence, suspended for two years and a lifetime restraining order banning him from any future contact with those involved. He was also banned from publishing any material about them on the internet, ordered to pay 2,000 costs and his computer equipment was forfeited. Judge Morgan left that sentence in place and ordered Spivey, unemployed and on benefits, to pay a further 2,000 costs. A spokesman for the judiciary said: 'Judges are acutely aware of the need to reduce as much as possible the painful ordeal witnesses have to go through in cases such as this one, and the option of video links means at least they don't have to attend court. 'But courts do have to balance that consideration with the need to ensure that justice is done. 'The legislation for an appeal from a magistrates' court to the Crown Court (as this one was) requires that there is a re-hearing. 'This means that the prosecution has to call the evidence on which it relies - at the Crown Court - in order to prove the case against the accused, unless he is prepared to make admissions of fact. 'That is the only way that the witnesses whose account is an essential part of the case can be spared from giving their evidence a second time.' He added: 'Judges cannot comment out of court on cases they or colleagues have heard.' Adrienne Smith, 43, is charged with desecrating her late husband's remains An operating room technician was denied bail after she was charged with desecrating her husband's body. Adrienne Smith, a mother of four from Bergenfield, New Jersey, appeared in court on Saturday. The 43-year-old is accused of chopping up her husband Randolph Smith's corpse, putting it in six plastic bins and then scattering them around Burlington City according to NJ.com. Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Danielle Grootenboer said she should not be allowed out of jail before her next court date just because she has a family to take care of. She was arrested on January 20 at a family member's home in New Brunswick. For Smith's day job, she works as an operating room technician. Operating technicians help with the operation before, during and after the surgical procedure. This entails handling tools, transporting patients and setting up equipment. Randolph Smith's (pictured) body was found chopped up in six bins in Burlington City Smith's 40-year-old brother, Orville Cousins, is also charged with defiling his brother-in-law's remains. Randolph Smith's cause of death is still unknown. Prosecutors say they found 'materials' bought for chopping up the body at Smith's home. Smith and Cousins purchased the materials together two days after Smith claims her husband went missing. Orville Cousins was also arrested for desecrating a dead body The mother told police her husband left their home at 8.30pm Christmas Eve but he left and did not come back. Smith reported him missing on January 2 and said he left their home on Morgan Street with someone she did not know. The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office contacted the Major Crimes Unit. Later, human remains in plastic bins were found in Burlington City and detectives determined they were Randolph Smith's body. Burlington City is an hour and a half drive from Bergenfield. NorthJersey.com also reports Smith was charged with hindering apprehension in addition to desecrating a body. Cousins, who is from the Bronx, is currently being held in jail in New York. He is reportedly single and unemployed. The investigation is ongoing and there have not been any murder charges. The Dalai Lama said he hopes that President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will work together for global peace. The exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists said the world needed leaders with compassion. He made the remarks Saturday at a program in New Delhi organized by the women's chapter of an industry group, according to the press statement. Scroll down for video The Dalai Lama said he hopes that President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will work together for global peace at a talk in New Delhi, India on Saturday He said the world needs leaders with compassion and that the world is moving toward peace and non-violence He said the world is moving toward peace and non-violence, and he hopes Trump and Putin will come closer and work toward creating global peace. The Dalai Lama had said in Mongolia in November that he had 'no worries' about Trump's election as US president and looked forward to meeting him after he took office. The 81-year-old monk said he has always regarded the US as the leader of the 'free world' and wasn't concerned about remarks made by Trump during the election campaign. He said: 'I feel during the election, the candidate has more freedom to express. Now once they (are) elected, having the responsibility, then they have to carry their cooperation, their work, according (to) reality.' The Dalai Lama has met former US presidents, including four meetings with Barack Obama. Such meetings anger Beijing, which accuses the Tibetan leader of trying to split Tibet from China. The Dalai Lama has long called for Tibet to remain under Chinese rule, but with greater political participation by Tibetans and stronger protections for its traditional Buddhist culture. China says Tibet has been part of its territory for centuries, although many Tibetans say they were effectively an independent country for much of that time. Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated Trump in a phone call and the country's state media had welcomed his election as harkening a less confrontational policy toward China. Those outlets also applauded Trump's announcement that he would abandon a US.-led free trade agreement in Asia that had excluded China. But leaders were angered when Trump received a phone call from Taiwan's Tsai Ing-wen in December, becoming the first president or president-elect to speak directly to the regime in 37 years. Trump has also accused Beijing of unfair trade practices and pledged to bulk-up the US military, leaving questions as to his ultimate approach to relations with the world's second-largest economy as he begins his presidency. Nicola Urquhart searching for Corrie today The mother of Corrie McKeague has revealed she is now looking for his body, as she desperately searched a woodland area known for being a 'dogging' and gay cruising site. The mother of the missing RAF gunner admitted her fears after arranging for 140 people to help scour roadsides and undergrowth for the 23-year-old. Nicola Urquhart, of Dunfermline, Fife, made the claim during an independent probe for him near the Fiveways junction of the A11 in Mildenhall, which she organised. Speaking yesterday, Mrs Urquhart said: 'In my head, I have to think there is a chance he could be out there and being held against his will and that he might come back alive. 'But searching like this is hard because I know I am looking for a body. 'It is very difficult, but it needs to be done. 'I've got to look for him. I've got to try and find him.' Last week, police confirmed Mr McKeagues membership of internet dating sites including FabSwingers, where he talked of enjoying threesomes, adult parties, blindfolds, sadomasochism and role play. Detectives confirmed it would form part of their investigation into his disappearance. He also appeared on gay social networking site Grindr, although his family insist it is a fake. During the latest search, volunteers were split into 15 teams and ferried around by 14 four-wheel-drive vehicles. The news comes as Martin McKeague (right), the father of missing RAF gunner Corrie McKeague (left), said he is 'just a dad who's trying to get his son back'. Search teams were out near the Fiveways junction of the A11 near Mildenhall, Suffolk, earlier today A total of 140 supporters, including search-and-rescue teams from four counties and cadaver dogs, took part in the hunt for him Mrs Urquhart's came as the 23-year-old's father revealed his devastation over his missing son, who vanished during a night out with friends in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on September 24. Martin McKeague, of Cupar in Fife, said he is 'just a dad who's trying to get his son back' as the four month anniversary of his son's disappearance approaches. Mr McKeague, 48, who was speaking to the Sunday People, said: 'I'm still trying to get my head around everything. I'm doing the best I can.' Mrs Urquhart, a Police Scotland family liaison officer, joined a team of 140 supporters in an eight hour search around the area where her son's mobile phone signal was last picked up. The group consisted of 40 supporters from the Find Corrie Facebook page, which has 100,000 followers, search-and-rescue teams from Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, a drone team and five cadaver dogs, which are trained to find corpses. Corrie's brother, Darroch, 21, (above) took part in the search and said: 'We got a lot of ground covered today. Despite not finding anything, we have been able to rule out areas by saying that Corrie is not there' The cadaver dogs are specially trained to find dead bodies. The family's decision to use them seemingly confirms their hopes of finding Corrie alive are diminishing Scores of people turned up to root through the five-square miles of woodland and fields Mrs Urquhart's decision to launch an independent search follows her criticism of Suffolk Police where she questioned the decisions they made But despite their best efforts, no trace of the young man was found. Corrie's mother previously criticised Suffolk Police and the 'decisions' they made while carrying out the search for her son. But today she insisted that she remained supportive of the force and just wanted to do what she could to help. She said: 'A lot of people seem to be under the impression that I am doing my own searches because the police do not want to. 'That is absolutely not the case. The police are behind what we are doing 100 per cent. It is simply not possible for the police to search every single area for every single missing person. 'But I am lucky enough to have a big army of people on Facebook who are desperate to help. 'The police have even suggested some areas where we are looking today, so we are working in co-operation with them and to assist them. 'Our search has been done by people who are trained in search and rescue so the police now know that certain areas have been searched properly and Corrie is not here.' Mr McKeague, who split from Mrs Urquhart when Corrie was nine, and Suffolk Police did not take part in the search, according to The Mirror. The Scotland Police family liaison officer also revealed her son and his partner were members of a swingers website this week in an effort to try and find him Mrs Urquhart said: ' I am lucky enough to have a big army of people on Facebook who are desperate to help' She added: 'Our search has been done by people who are trained in search and rescue so the police now know that certain areas have been searched properly and Corrie is not here' The gunner's brother, Darroch, 21, also took part in the search today. He said: 'We got a lot of ground covered today. Despite not finding anything, we have been able to rule out areas by saying that Corrie is not there.' The search was the second one to be organised by Mrs Urquhart and followed an earlier one just before Christmas. Andy King, of Suffolk Lowland Search and Rescue, said: 'We have been concentrating on looking at places where a vehicle could have been driven and a body dumped. There are a lot of small paths and roads around here. 'If something had happened to Corrie and there was foul play and you had to get rid of him, put him in the back of a car, these are areas where you could go discreetly park up and dispose of a body reasonably easily.' The volunteers were split up into teams who were each allocated an area to examine in the countryside. Corrie was last seen by CCTV at 3.25am last year. A camera, which was constantly rotating, filmed him walking into an area used for waste collection bins at the back of a Greggs takeaway. But Corrie, who was was wearing a light pink shirt and white jeans, was not filmed leaving the area or anywhere else in the town centre later on. Records revealed that his mobile phone later moved to the Barton Mills area in a vehicle before disconnecting from its network. One theory is that it might have been picked up by a bin lorry collecting rubbish from Greggs, as the vehicle's movement matched that of the phone. A huge police hunt has since failed to find any trace of Corrie, despite his family launching a campaign to highlight his disappearance. Corrie was last seen on a night out in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on September 24. Here he is walking along Brentgovel Street at around 3.20am He then disappeared and his family and girlfriend, April Oliver, have not heard from him since April (right) has since discovered she is pregnant with the pair's child. She holds a scan with Nicola Initially it was thought that he might have tried to walk back the seven miles to his base at RAF Honington, Suffolk, and might have been hit by a car. Earlier this week, Mrs Urquhart confirmed that Corrie, who was stationed at RAF Honington in Suffolk, and his pregnant partner, April Oliver, 21, were both members of a swingers website. She has said she chose to reveal this information because it might aid the search for her son. She told the Sunday Express: 'What if these sites had something to do with what happened to Corrie? This shouldn't be about trying to find salacious gossip on Corrie or April. We've not painted him as an angel. We've tried to be honest about everything we know.' Police have questioned a 28-year-old woman this week who met Corrie on Fab Swingers five months before he disappeared. Immigration policy could see more nurses, engineers and even ballet dancers coming into the country after the Government rejected plans for regional visas that would have given London and Scotland special entry plans. Policies could now be tailored to the needs of employers using the Shortage Occupations List, based on where employers say they see skills shortages. The shortage policy is currently used in the UK to grant Tier 2 work permits, which includes healthcare workers, engineers, software developers, builders, ballet dancers and more. This come after calls from Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and London Mayor Sadiq Khan for changes in immigration policies. Following the Government rejecting plants for regional visas, immigration policies in the UK could be tailored to the needs of employers using the Shortage Occupations List A Government source told The Express: 'What is under consideration is a sectorled immigration policy whereby employers tell us where the skills shortages are and we aim to fill them. 'It will be a case of, for example, the construction industry saying: we are short of this many builders and us seeking to recruit accordingly from overseas rather than immigration on a regional basis, as is the case in countries like Australia and Canada.' After the EU referendum result, Sturgeon demanded new powers over immigration while Khan lobbied for a 'London visa', which would allow businesses to continue to hire from abroad after the end of free movement within the EU. Another proposal for immigration is to grant visas to 'seasonal workers' who can show they will spend fewer than nine months in the UK while doing time-sensitive work. Sectors across the UK are suffering from a decline in home-grown workers, though the UK's unemployment rate fell to a ten-year low last week to 1.6million. In her Brexit speech on Tuesday, Theresa May vowed to deliver an immigration system that 'serves the national interest'. In her Brexit speech on Tuesday, Theresa May (pictured above on Thursday) vowed to deliver an immigration system that 'serves the national interest' Ending EU freedom of movement rules would be a top priority in the upcoming negotiations with Brussels, she said. And although she insisted UK firms will continue to be able to fill skills shortages by recruiting foreign workers, the Prime Minister acknowledged that the 'sheer volume' of migration over the last decade had put a huge strain on public services. Mrs May's announced the red line on immigration in her keynote speech today in which she set out her bold blueprint for cutting ties with Brussels. A Home Office spokesman told MailOnline: 'Voters made it clear during the referendum that they wanted the country to take back control of immigration. 'This Government will deliver on that by building an immigration system that works for everyone. 'Once we have left the European Union it will be the Government that sets our immigration rules.' Australia's High Commissioner in London Alexander Downer said that in order to strike a free trade deal, Britain would have to relax its immigration rules. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'We would want to see greater access for Australian business people working in the UK and that's often been a part of free trade negotiations.' Tobias Neto found the Victoria Cross medal (pictured) buried in mud on the banks of the River Thames in London A Victoria Cross medal thought to have been awarded to a brave Crimean War soldier ended up in the River Thames after he had a mental breakdown, it was revealed today. The 160-year-old medal, which is worth at least 50,000, was found by a treasure-hunter who was 'mudlarking' using a metal detector. Tobias Neto, from Putney, south west London, discovered the item which was one of 16 medals given to British soldiers at the Battle of Inkerman on November 5, 1854. Only two of the collection of VCs were unaccounted for and it is believed the one Mr Neto, 54, found belonged to a private named John Byrne. He was given the prestigious medal - the highest award in the United Kingdom honours system - after he returned to the front line in a bid to rescue a fellow soldier during the heated battle. But following his safe return to Britain after the war, it seems he suffered from with post-traumatic stress disorder, reports Patrick Sawer at the Sunday Telegraph. A painting of Private John McDermond at the Battle of Inkerman on 5th November 1854. McDermond was awarded the other VC medal which has not been accounted for He suffered a mental breakdown ended up turning a gun on himself at the Crown Inn in Newport, south Wales, in July 1879. Byrne, from County Kilkenny in Ireland, did so after he shot an 18-year-old work colleague called John Watts in the arm, according to the newspaper. He had been working for the Ordnance Survey after his role in the war and became convinced his medal had been taunted by Mr Watts - so decided to shoot him. Byrne was then surrounded by police officers so decided to turn the revolver he had just used to shoot himself. Byrne's landlady, Eliza Morgan, also told the inquest that she heard him say 'I served my Queen and country for 21 years and I'll never be insulted by a curr puppy' before adding that Watts 'isn't fit to black my boots'. McDermond, a Scottish soldier, also fought in the Crimean War His inquest then heard how Byrne told the landlord of the Crown Inn, Salter Davy, that he shot Watts 'by accident'. Mr Neto informed the Museum of London about his discovery and is now convinced Byrne threw it in the Thames 'in a fit of regret and despair', reports the paper. He previously told the Mail On Sunday: 'I was detecting in my usual area in December last year when I came across what looked like a large brooch. 'Only when I got home did I realise I had a Victoria Cross on my hands, when I read the writing "For Valour" below the crown. 'Then I noticed the date on the reverse: November 5, 1854. I could be the only person in the world who has found a VC.' It has also been suggested that the medal could have belonged to John McDermond, a Scottish soldier. His medal has not been accounted for. Ms Sumnall told the Sunday Telegraph: 'Given how few VCs have been awarded over the years, this was by all measures an incredible discovery. 'We may never establish with certainty to whom it belonged, but the stories that lie behind this medal are truly fascinating.' Advertisement These two little girls must be the envy of all of their peers after their parents decided to take them on a 16 month European tour. Richard and Catherine Thorley took daughters Libby, 8, and Lottie, 11, out of school and out into a world of adventure travelling around the continent in a campervan. The girls have since enjoyed an incredible range of amazing experiences in 27 countries, fromsea kayaking in the Norwegian fjords and swimming with sea lions in Spain to making their own pizza in Sicily and visiting the Vatican in Rome. Scroll down for video Richard and Catherine Thorley took daughters Libby, 8, and Lottie, 11, out of school and out into a world of adventure travelling around the continent in a campervan The girls have since enjoyed an incredible range of amazing experiences in 27 countries, from sea kayaking in the Norwegian fjords and swimming with sea lions in Spain to making their own pizza in Sicily and visiting the Vatican in Rome 'Looking back over our 'Year across Europe'... this has to be up there as one of our favourites.. Sea Kayaking the Eidfjord, Norway!!' The family wrote on their Instagram page 'Surely we can grab a picnic anywhere if we managed one here in the Scottish snow!!! Truth is it was hot soup in the bowl!!!' this Instagram snap was captioned Both Thorleys are teachers themselves (Richard, PE and Catherine, Maths) but claim taking their children out of school on the 37,000 mile journey is the best decision they've ever made. 'We decided to pick a country and see how broad we could make the learning experience for our girls,' the parents wrote on their blog, 'Understanding the culture of other countries has certainly broadened our girls horizons.' But education has certainly not been abandoned. Two or three mornings a week they have classroom-style lessons, both with their mum, 36, and dad, 39, as well as using education apps to help them with Maths, English and languages. They say that Lottie and Libby are in fact ahead of their contemporaries in most subjects, with Libby already studying geometry and Lottie winning a Lonely Planet award for her photographic skills. The pair are said to be thriving thanks to their 'world schooling,' and while other school girls are in a classroom poring over textbooks, their children are experiencing the subjects in real life. They've learned about history at the WWII graves at Ypres, geography by climbing Mount Etna, and science by exploring glaciers in Norway. There's plenty of opportunity for reading too, when the family are relaxing in their campervan which has no television. It's hardly surprising that Enid Blytons Famous Five books are among their favourites. The children have enjoyed an immersive education by visiting museums and sites of historical importance, such as the Vatican in Rome Both Thorleys are teachers themselves (Richard, PE and Catherine, Maths) but claim taking their children out of school on the 37,000 mile journey is the best decision they've ever made The picture behind Lottie's butterfly winning entry into the Lonely Planet Young Travel Photography competition The family have visited archaeological sites such as the Valley of Temples in Agrigento, Sicily 'We decided to pick a country and see how broad we could make the learning experience for our girls,' the parents wrote on their blog, 'Understanding the culture of other countries has certainly broadened our girls horizons' But education has certainly not been abandoned. Two or three mornings a week they have classroom-style lessons, both with their mum, 36, and dad, 39, as well as using education apps to help them with Maths, English and languages Thanks to their extensive travelling the girls can speak a bit of five languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and English, which should stand them in good stead when they return in time for Lottie to start secondary school in September. The parents make sure their daughters don't miss out on friends by ensuring they return home every two months - but they're told not to brag too much about their adventures! Richard and Catherine's five-year savings have gone towards funding the trip and they also bring money in from their very successful website and by writing travel articles for various publications. They aim to spend around 50 a day and last year spent just 18,000 - which included the running of their home in Yorkshire. The pair are said to be thriving thanks to their 'world schooling,' and while other school girls are in a classroom poring over textbooks, their children are experiencing the subjects in real life Thanks to their extensive travelling the girls can speak a bit of five languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and English, which should stand them in good stead when they return in time for Lottie to start secondary school in September The parents make sure their daughters don't miss out on friends by ensuring they return home every two months - but they're told not to brag too much about their adventures! One family adventure was paddle boarding on the salt marshes on Ile de Re off France Richard and Catherine's five-year savings have gone towards funding the trip and they also bring money in from their very successful website and by writing travel articles for various publications They aim to spend around 50 a day and last year spent just 18,000 - which included the running of their home in Yorkshire The family's travels began in October 2015 and they headed through France to Spain, visiting Seville, Madrid, Barcelona and Toulouse, down to Gibraltar before visiting the coast of Portugal and the capital of Lisbon The family enjoyed their stay at La Marina Resort campsite in Alicante, Spain which had its own waterpark Food is bought locally and they cook in the van, but do occasionally treat themselves to a meal out. The family's travels began in October 2015 and they headed through France to Spain, visiting Seville, Madrid, Barcelona and Toulouse, down to Gibraltar before visiting the coast of Portugal and the capital of Lisbon. Then, after Christmas back at home, they were off on a British road trip, from John OGroats to Lands End, before voyaging to the Adriatic to visit Dubrovnik and later a summer in Scandinavia, travelling in France and a trip to Iberia. But the parents are quick to point out that they'd never go to any country that would put their children in danger. For now though, they're making enough family memories to last them a lifetime. Defence cuts means the only remaining fighting unit in the British Army could be completely destroyed in an afternoon by a 'competent enemy' such as Russia, a new report has warned. An army think-tank has said years of reduced budgets means Britain's ability to remain an effective fighting force has been 'effectively removed'. They also say that cuts have resulted in a 'hollowing out or depletion of the army's capabilities', especially when faced with a severe threat. Defence cuts means the only remaining fighting unit in the British Army could be completely destroyed in an afternoon by a 'compotent enemy' such as Russia, a new report has warned (file pic) The report was compiled by the Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research (CHACR), the army's own think tank, which is based at the royal military academy in Sandhurst. It was written after a two-day seminar last year attended by both serving army officers, veterans and military academics and comes amid heightening tensions between the UK and Russia. And although the report admits that Britain is not facing an immediate risk of a direct attack it adds the country could be dragged into conflict if there is aggression towards allies or countries of strategic importance. The report explains: 'This raises an important question: is the British Army ready for such a possibility? 'If one merely sees preparedness through net manpower and kinetic force capacity, the answer might be a simple no: the British Army is at its smallest and has faced years of budget cuts. The report was written after a two-day seminar last year attended by both serving army officers, veterans and military academics and comes amid heightening tensions between the UK and Russia. Pictured is Russian president Vladimir Putin 'The prospect of "losing the division in an afternoon" will weigh heavily on the chain of command, with strategic-to-tactical command compression almost inevitable as politicians appreciate the stakes involved in committing the division to battle.' The report also adds how if the UK were at war, there would be 'political pressure' to try and safeguard the fighting division. The last time the fighting division was sent to war was in 2003 during the Iraq War but according to experts if they were to be deployed now, at best they would only be able to deploy a brigade of 10,000 troops. However, the Ministry of Defence told the Sunday Times: 'The army... is ready and capable of deploying a potent, large scale, war-fighting force at divisional level with sufficient notice.' News of the report comes as the British Army sent a tank through the Channel Tunnel last week for the first time as the military prepares to respond to Russian ground forces in Europe. Soldiers sent tanks, the Warrior fighting vehicle and recovery vehicles across to France on train wagons in the early hours on Wednesday. They made the 40-minute return journey a few hours later. The forces have used the Channel Tunnel to ferry supplies and equipment but never armoured vehicles. The British Army has sent a tank and various armoured vehicles through the Channel tunnel for the first time as part of a military exercise to practise for a deployment to Europe A Challenger tank and matching recovery vehicle, a Warrior armoured fighting vehicle, a Warrior recovery vehicle and a reconnaissance vehicle were all sent across the Channel during the exercise. The army is said to be looking for ways to transport its tanks once bases in Germany are shut down at the end of the decade. A defence source said: 'This was not a charge to Eastern Europe. You have to practice before you try and move hundreds of tanks through the tunnel. 'It is testing the viability of using the tunnel should we be required to move our armoured troops.' However the move comes as Britain's relations with Russia are in deep freeze after Moscow blamed MI6 for the dossier of sordid claims about new US president Donald Trump. A former Army sharp-shooter who killed her wealthy husbands pregnant mistress is making her devoted daughter homeless. Jasmin Salmon, 24, from Liverpool, was just 10 years old when her mother Rena, 56, shot dead pregnant Lorna Stewart. Jasmin stuck by the murderer for 14 years and travelled to Askham Grange Grange Prison in North Yorkshire every month to visit her. Rena was freed two years ago after it was revealed she was battling cancer towards the end of her sentence. And now the killer has turned on her daughter in a dispute over a 50,000 flat, which is now worth 88,000. Rena was freed two years ago after it was revealed she was battling cancer towards the end of her sentence Jasmin told The Mirror: 'I stood by mum for 14 years even after what she did. Now she's got a solicitor threatening to take my home. 'I can't believe she's doing this. I used to speak to mum five times a week. I've been there for her, I've been through a lot because of what she did. Now she's turned on her own daughter.' According to Jasmin, her mother loaned her 65,000 to buy and renovate the home in 2015, but she has now asked solicitors to declare the property in her own name. The body piercer said her relationship has broken down with her mother and the pair have had many 'petty rows' because of the killer's mood swings - one being over a pet lizard. Jasmin added: 'After one argument she threw me out of my own flat and moved my belongings to my boyfriend's. She just bagged it and left it at his door.' The married mother-of-two shot Miss Stewart, 36, twice with a double-barrelled shotgun in her beauty salon, then sent a text message to her estranged husband Paul confessing to the murder. The day before the shooting, Salmon told a friend: Ive got a gun. Im not going to kill her. Im just going to hurt her, to shoot her so she cant have babies. The married mother-of-two shot Miss Stewart (pictured left and right with her daughter Jasmin) twice with a double-barrelled shotgun in her beauty salon It later emerged that Miss Stewart was two months pregnant with Mr Salmons child when she was murdered. Salmon was jailed for life, with a recommendation that she serve at least 14 years. She was released from Askham Grange womens prison in North Yorkshire in September after spending 14 years behind bars. This included the eight months she spent on remand before her trial in May 2003. In her first public comments since her release, Salmon initially said: I had a heart attack last year and Im having treatment for cancer. I do voluntary work I live on my own, I dont want people to know where I am. Later she said she has incurable cancer and is taking her life one day at a time. She added she did not want to talk about her time behind bars, but revealed: I have breast cancer with secondary cancer. I had surgery last year, but because of my heart I couldnt have chemo. Ive had radiotherapy, but they dont know how long Ive got left. Im just taking things day by day. The murderer said she would be spending her first Christmas since being released on her own. It will be quiet, but I dont mind, she added. Im used to spending Christmas on my own I did it for 14 years. The countdown to murder began in January 2002 when Salmon learned her husband was having an affair with Miss Stewart, their next-door neighbour The Salmons were friends of Miss Stewart and her husband Keith Rodrigues in the upmarket village of Great Shefford, near Hungerford, Berkshire Behind bars, she befriended Maxine Carr who provided a false alibi for Soham murderer Ian Huntley and also gave an interview to The Guardian in which she portrayed herself as a victim. She told a womens rights campaigner who talked to her in jail for the article in 2004: I hate what Ive done, but Im not the only one responsible for all this pain. This is not a crime you could fit into a neat hole, with a classic explanation. I firmly believe that I deserve to be punished for my crime, but I will always deny it was murder. The countdown to murder began in January 2002 when Salmon learned her husband was having an affair with Miss Stewart, their next-door neighbour. Keith and Lorna Stewart on their wedding day The Salmons were friends of Miss Stewart and her husband Keith Rodrigues in the upmarket village of Great Shefford, near Hungerford, Berkshire. The couple had extravagant parties for friends in the village, and even downed glasses of Pimms in their outdoor hot-tub with Miss Stewart and Mr Rodrigues. But then Salmon became aware of her husbands betrayal with her close friend, an attractive massage therapist. Mr Rodrigues told Salmon he had discovered from an email on his wifes computer that she and Mr Salmon were having an affair. The couple later set up home together and Miss Stewart reverted to her maiden name. Nine months later, in September 2002, Salmon took one of the shotguns her husband of 17 years had left at their home and marched into Miss Stewarts beauty salon in Chiswick, West London, to carry out the murder. After her arrest, Salmon, a former member of the Womens Royal Army Corps, waged a hate campaign against her estranged husband, then an IT consultant earning 130,000 a year. In May 2003, the Old Bailey was told that neither of them knew Miss Stewart was pregnant and this fact was kept from the jury to avoid prejudicing the trial. Salmon, trained to use firearms during ten years in the Army, blamed her actions on her troubled childhood. She denied murder but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. She was found guilty of murder and jailed for life. Uri Geller claimed today that he told Theresa May she would be Prime Minister two years ago when he showed her how to bend spoons in his garage. The famous illusionist invited the then-Home Secretary to his 15million home in her Berkshire constituency two and a half years ago. He showed her his bent spoon collection and said his premonition of her future promotion to No 10 came to him when he picked up a spoon that once belonged to Sir Winston Churchill. And today Mr Geller made another prediction - that Brexit will have 'a positive outcome'. Uri Geller, left, claimed today that he told Theresa May, right, she would be Prime Minister two years ago when he showed her how to bend spoons in his garage Last week it was revealed that Mr Geller's psychic abilities were tested by the CIA during a week-long experiment more than three decades ago. Mr Geller, 70, told The Sun on Sunday: 'I had taken her out to the garage of my old home to show her how I bent spoons. 'I happened to pull out one that once belonged to Winston Churchill. Then it struck me. I said, '"Theresa, you will be the Prime Minister". Mr Geller, who has since returned to his native Israel, added: 'She laughed but I was right. I dont know if it was intuition, psychic powers or telepathy. This was about two-and-a-half years before it happened.' He said he contacted her when she became Prime Minister last July to offer his congratulations. Mr Geller became famous in 1969 when he began performing in his native Israel. He bent cutlery, described hidden drawings and made watches stop with what he described as the power of his mind. The famous illusionist invited the then-Home Secretary to his 15million home in her Berkshire constituency two and a half years ago In the 1970s, he travelled to America, where his paranormal abilities were tested by academics. The Secret Life of Uri Geller: CIA Masterspy?, a book by Jonathan Margolis, tells of his life, from being an Israeli paratrooper to working with the CIA. Theresa May, pictured visiting a school in her Maidenhead constituency on Friday, visited Uri Geller's home two and a half years ago, the famous illusionist said Geller has also written other novels and worked as a model. He lives in Sonning, Berkshire, with his wife Hanna, 64. Their son, Daniel, 33, is a lawyer in London and their daughter Natalie, 32, is a Hollywood actress. Last week newly published documents revealed that Mr Geller was brought to Stanford Research Institute in August 1973 where experts tried to judge whether he had paranormal abilities over a period of eight days. The experiments were part of the controversial Stargate programme. According to the documents, Geller was placed in a sealed room during the experiment where random words were taken from a dictionary. A scientist was then asked to draw a picture based on the word. After the drawing had been completed it was taped on the wall outside of his room and he was asked to describe what had been sketched via intercom. In one test, the word fuse was used and a scientist drew a firecracker. The previously secret document said Geller: 'His almost immediate response was that he saw a 'cylinder with noise coming out of it'. 'His drawing to correspond with it was a drum, along with a number of cylindrical-looking objects.' An Egyptian former teacher who took his daughter from her English mother five years ago has told a judge the youngster is now 3,500 miles from the UK and beyond his control. Elsa Salama - who will be ten years old in February - vanished in December 2011 after her father Tamer Salama took her from her mother Naomi Button while all three were visiting Egypt, judges have heard. Ms Button, a leadership consultant in her 40s from Leeds who was once married to Mr Salama, has not seen Elsa since and has launched family court action in England in the hope of getting her back. Elsa Salama (pictured above as a young child) - who will be ten years old in February - vanished in December 2011 after her father Tamer Salama took her from her mother Naomi Button while all three were visiting Egypt, judges have heard Ms Button (left and right), a leadership consultant in her 40s from Leeds who was once married to Mr Salama (right), has not seen Elsa since and has launched family court action in England in the hope of getting her back Mr Salama - who lives in Manchester and has lived in Nottingham and Southampton - was jailed in January 2012 for breaching judges' orders to arrange Elsa's return to England or to reveal where she was. He was released in December 2013 after a judge ruled that continuing to keep him in prison was no longer proportionate or justifiable. Mr Justice Baker, the judge currently overseeing the litigation at hearings in the Family Division of the High Court in London, has heard that Elsa is living with Mr Salama's mother in Cairo. And Mr Salama, who is also in his 40s, says Elsa is under the control of his relatives in Egypt. 'The people who are in control are 3,500 miles away,' Mr Salama told Mr Justice Baker at the latest hearing on Friday. 'The family is in control.' He added: 'The family is not prepared to do anything (Elsa) is not willing to do.' As of November, Ms Button had been in contact with her daughter via Skype - but not recently. Elsa disappeared on December 27, 2011, after her parents, who had separated, took her on holiday to Sharm el-Sheikh to visit Salama's family. Salama sneaked her out of their apartment and texted Ms Button to demand she sign a contract giving up all parental responsibilities. Mr Salama, who is also in his 40s, says Elsa is under the control of his relatives in Egypt. He told a judge the youngster is now 3,500 miles from the UK and beyond his control As of November, Ms Button had been in contact with her daughter via Skype - but not recently Ms Button went to the British Embassy and the local police for help but was forced to return to the UK to get legal advice. Meanwhile, Mr Salama also returned to England, where he had been training in Southampton to be a physics teacher. He was detained by police and in January 2012 was jailed for contempt of court as he refused to reveal where he is hiding his daughter. Elsa is believed to be living with Mr Salama's mother in Cairo, Egypt Ms Button met Mr Salama when he was working at an international school in Sharm el-Sheikh in 2005. The couple married in Egypt in 2006 and moved to England in 2007 following Elsa's birth. They separated in 2009 but continued to live together in the family home in Leeds for Elsa's sake until Salama began a teacher training degree in August 2010. Ms Button agreed in 2011 to go on holiday with him to Egypt so Elsa could see her grandparents. While they were there, she asked him to consider a divorce and admitted she had struck up a relationship with an ex-boyfriend. Furious, Mr Salama tried to make her give up Elsa by accusing her of adultery - a criminal offence in Egypt. Mr Salama has failed in a bid to bar journalists from reporting the latest stage of litigation. He says detail aired at private family court hearings should remain private. He has complained that previous media coverage has been partisan and has not given his side of the story. But Mr Justice Baker says the case has previously been reported as a result of Mr Salama being jailed for contempt at a public hearing. He said judges had made enormous efforts to reunite Elsa with her mother in recent years - and he said the media had assisted The judge added that any view the case was in the public domain and that the latest stage of the litigation can be reported. A brazen thief was caught on camera stealing a bunch of flowers from a memorial for the five victims killed in the Melbourne CBD rampage. The heartless man was filmed grabbing the bouquet from outside a Bardot shop on Bourke Street, where a crazed driver mowed down dozens of pedestrians on Friday. He jumped on to a waiting tram to make a quick getaway but didn't get far before shocked onlookers yelled for police. A brazen thief was caught on camera stealing a bunch of flowers from a memorial for the five victims killed in the Melbourne CBD rampage The heartless man was filmed grabbing the bouquet from outside a Bardot shop on Bourke Street, where a crazed driver mowed down dozens of pedestrians on Friday Bystander Joshua Arnott, who took the video as he waited for a friend at about 8am on Sunday, said officers were on the thief 'real quick'. He was filmed being dragged off the tram and frogmarched back to the makeshift memorial to put the flowers back. Police were then heard issuing the man, dressed in a black hoodie, pants and white sneakers, with a move on notice to leave the area. He jumped on to a waiting tram to make a quick getaway but didn't get far before shocked onlookers yelled for police who dragged him off Officers frogmarched him back to the makeshift memorial to put the flowers back Police were then heard issuing the man, dressed in a black hoodie, pants and white sneakers, with a move on notice to leave the area His day went from bad to worse when he ran over to catch the same tram as before, but it left just as he arrived at the kerb. Mr Arnott said it was not the thief's first attempt to snatch flowers from the small shrine, as he was prevented from taking them earlier. 'She started really screaming "put them down!" so he just tossed them in the middle like it was trash,' he told Seven News. His day went from bad to worse when he ran over to catch the same tram as before, but it left just as he arrived at the kerb Bystander Joshua Arnott, who took the video, said it was not the thief's first attempt to snatch flowers from the small shrine, as he was prevented from taking them earlier The small memorial was one of many scattered along the busy shopping strip Just two minutes later the man was back to try again, but this time Mr Arnott, who kept watching him, was ready to catch him in the act. He said the offender was lucky he didn't try the awful heist later in the day when more people were around, or things would likely have turned violent. The small memorial was one of many scattered along the busy shopping strip where five people, including a baby and small child, died and 37 others were injured. They were placed there in memory of five people, including a baby and small child, whodied and 37 others were injured Matthew Si (L), 33, and Jess Mudie (R), 22, were two of the five killed on Friday The woman caught on camera accusing a Muslim woman of being a terrorist because she was wearing a niqab has been charged. Ramzy Alamudi said he and his wife were sitting in their car at Macquarie University, northwest Sydney, when the woman began berating her for her choice of clothing. 'Who are you? Why have you got a mask? Terrorist. You have gun?,' the woman said. The 35-year-old woman has been charged with destroy or damage property and common assault following the Friday incident, NSW Police told Daily Mail Australia. Scroll down for video The 35-year-old woman filmed accusing a woman wearing a niqab of being a terrorist has been charged with destroy or damage property and common assault Video shows the woman allegedly attempt to pull off windscreen wipers and allegedly keyed the car the married couple were sitting in, about 1pm on Friday. The woman was issued with a field court attendance notice to appear at Burwood Local Court on Monday, March 13. The married couple were sitting in their parked car and were about to drive off for celebrations after the wife finished her final exam in her medical science degree. 'We were super excited to make our way out of the university to go celebrate,' Mr Alamudi wrote on Facebook. 'However, things took a sudden shift for the worse.' The woman was filmed banging on the passenger side of the window, before she walked around to the driver's side where she again banged on the window and attempted to pull the locked door handle. 'Who are you? Why have you got a mask? Terrorist. You have gun?,' the woman was filmed saying The 35-year-old woman tried to pull the locked door handles in the Friday incident 'Call security,' Mr Alamudi could be heard saying. His wife, who filmed the confrontation, replied: 'Just drive, just drive.' Mr Alamudi asked the 35-year-old woman what was wrong, when she pointed aggressively at his wife and said, 'Get out.' The Muslim woman replied: 'Who are you? Who are you?' The 35-year-old woman said: 'F*** off.' She again walked back to the passenger side and tried to pull the door handle and bang on the window. Mr Alamudi's wife then called security as the woman allegedly lifted up the windscreen wipers. As Mr Alamudi opened the driver's door of the car, the woman pointed at his wife. 'Who are you? Why have you got a mask? Terrorist. You have gun?,' she said. Ramzy Alamudi got out of the car and restrained the woman before security arrived Mr Alamudi then restrained the woman. He told his Facebook followers he had posted the video to demonstrate racist discrimination. The video of the woman has been viewed more than 712,000 since it was uploaded on Saturday. Many viewers praised the couple. 'Well handled, guys,' Haj Qahtan commented. Afterwards, the woman demanded the Muslim couple provide ID. Witness Emily Grace Guff told her Facebook followers the woman had been ranting at the Muslim couple while her baby was sitting in her unlocked car, metres away. 'This deranged woman had the nerve to attack his wife because of the burqa she was dressed in, claiming she 'didn't feel safe' around people like her,' she said. The woman glares at the Muslim woman wearing a niqab face covering 'It makes me sick to know we co-exist in a world where this happens so frequently, people thinking they have the right to belittle someone else because of their race or religion.' In a follow-up video, the 35-year-old woman told Mr Alamudi she found his wife 'scary' before a security guard arrived. In a statement, Macquarie University called the incident Islamophobic. 'The couple has been shaken by the incident and requests that their privacy be respected,' a spokesperson for the university said. 'They will not be providing any further commentary on the incident at this stage.' In his Facebook post, Mr Alamudi said this not an isolated incident. 'Unfortunately, this type of Islamophobia isn't isolated to this one individual and incident. Rather, it is an overarching systematic issue in our society that continues to be bred by the propaganda of some media and some politicians. Dehumanizing Muslims. This is the problem.' Theresa May has confirmed she will meet new US President Donald Trump for talks at the White House on Friday. In a major coup for No 10, she will be the first world leader to visit President Trump in the White House and they will meet less than a week after his inauguration. The PM, who has publicly criticised the billionaire in the past, insisted she 'won't be afraid' to challenge his 'unacceptable' views but said the focus of the meeting in Washington will be on trade, Nato and Syria. She said she looks forward to welcoming Mr Trump to Britain 'sometime this year' but said invitations for state visits are decided by Buckingham Palace. Theresa May has confirmed she will meet new US President Donald Trump for talks on Friday She refused to say whether she will use Friday's meeting to bring up his controversial comments about women, but she told the BBC today: 'I will be talking to Donald Trump about the issues that we share - it's the special relationship that enables us to say when we think things are unacceptable.' 'Whenever there is something that I find unacceptable I won't be afraid to say that to President Trump,' she added. She insisted that being a female Prime Minister and the first foreign leader to meet Mr Trump since his inauguration will be the 'biggest statement' she can make about the role of women in the world. Mrs May did vow to use Friday's meeting to confront Mr Trump over his opposition to Nato. She said she will reiterate the importance of the military alliance and press him to continue America's support to help protect Baltic states against Russian aggression. But Ted Malloch, a close Trump adviser who is tipped to be his choice for the US ambassador to the EU, said the President will pursue a radical shake-up of Nato. Mrs May's vow to stand up for women's rights during the Trump presidency comes after a weekend in which hundreds of thousands of people around the world joined women's marches to protest against Mr Trump. THERESA MAY VOWS TO CONFRONT TRUMP ON NATO Theresa May, pictured arriving at the BBC in London today, insisted she 'won't be afraid' to challenge Trump's 'unacceptable' views but said the focus of their meeting later this week will be on trade, Nato and Russia Theresa May will tell Donald Trump he must recognise the value of Nato when she becomes the first world leader to meet the new US President on Friday. She vowed to press the US President to commit to continued US support for the mutual defence alliance. He has previously branded Nato 'obsolete' and in a sign that he intends to keep to his 'America First' strategy one of his close advisers said today that the new US administration will pursue a radical shake-up of the organisation. In the latest attack on Nato from Team Trump , Ted Malloch, tipped to be the next US ambassador to the EU, suggested there would be more 'burden sharing' in the military alliance. Asked about President Trump's stance on Nato now he has entered the White House, Mr Malloch told the BBC today: 'I think that the institutions will be recreated. 'Some of them may be taken down, there may be some new ones. 'I think Nato itself and certainly the defence secretary will have discussions with Donald Trump about how Nato can be reformed and reshaped and maybe there'll be more burden sharing. That's an important thing for Mr Trump.' Mrs May said she would confront Mr Trump on his opposition to Nato and urge him to make clear that America stands ready to defend the Baltic states in the event of Russian aggression. She will tell him that Britain is committed to spending a minimum of 2 per cent of national income on defence until at least the 2020 General Election and will pledge to press other Nato members to 'step up to the plate and pay their way'. Mrs May told the Andrew Marr Show today: 'I've spoken to him about Nato - Nato is very important, Nato has been the bulwark of our security here in Europe and we work together in Nato. 'We've both made the point before about contributions being made by countries, the United Kingdom is spending 2 per cent of its GDP on defence, I believe that's important.' She added: 'What is important is that we recognise the value of Nato, which he does, the value of Nato as an organisation that is helping us to defend Europe and defend the interests of all of those allies who are in Nato.' Advertisement An estimated 500,000 people joined the 'pink pussy hat' march in Washington and 100,000 marched in London yesterday. In October Mrs May hit out at revelations that Mr Trump had boasted that his fame allowed him to 'do anything' to women - such as 'grabbing them by the pussy'. She said his comments were 'unacceptable'. Mrs May also lashed out at Mr Trump over his pledge at the end of 2015 to ban Muslims from entering the US and branded him 'plain wrong' after he claimed police in London were afraid to go out and police the streets of London. She told the Andrew Marr Show today: 'I have already said that some of the comments that Donald Trump has made in relation to women are unacceptable, some of those he himself has apologised for. 'When I sit down I think the biggest statement that will be made about the role of women is the fact that I will be there as a female Prime Minister, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, directly taking to him about the interests that we share.' The PM highlighted her 'track record' in defending the interests of women, including moves to tackle modern slavery and domestic violence while home secretary. She said she will use Friday's meeting with Mr Trump as an 'opportunity to talk about trade, world challenges, defeating terrorism and conflict in Syria'. The Prime Minister, who was the tenth world leader to be phoned by Mr Trump after his election, was due to meet him in February but will now fly out this week. The pair are expected to discuss a new deal for Britain as it prepares to exit the EU and Mr Trump hopes their co-operation will match the friendship between Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. It was revealed that Mr Trump refers to Mrs May as 'my new Maggie'. Mr Trump will also invite Mrs May to unveil a statue of Sir Winston Churchill which he has returned to the Oval Office after Barack Obama removed it. The PM has said she is 'confident' of striking a deal and has suggested the UK and US could even reduce barriers to trade before being able to sign a formal agreement after Brexit. She insisted Mr Trump was looking for 'early' talks on a UK-US free trade deal despite his 'America first' strategy sparking concerns that he would not be willing to reach an agreement. 'He and people around him have also spoken of the importance of a trade arrangement with the United Kingdom and that is something they are looking to talk to us about at an early stage, and I would expect to be able to talk to him about that alongside the other issues I will be discussing with him when I am in Washington,' she said. Mrs May has also spoken of reducing barriers to trade before a formal deal can be reached after Brexit, amid reports of potential moves to set up a 'passporting' system for transatlantic banking. One of the items said to be on the agenda is a possible 'passporting deal' which would allow British and American firms to set up and trade in each other's countries with minimum regulatory hurdles. And Mrs May defended Mr Trump's widely criticised 'America first' message: 'If you think about it, any leader, any government, as we do here in the United Kingdom when we look at any issue, we ensure that we're putting the UK's interests and the interests of British people first.' The Prime Minister insisted Mr Trump was committed to Nato despite worries that he has consistently undermined the mutual defence alliance at a time of Russian aggression. At their meeting, the pair could agree a statement emphasising their commitment to spending at least 2 per cent of GDP on defence and urging other Nato countries to match them, according to reports. President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address after being sworn in as the 45th president of the United States Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts In a major victory for No 10 Theresa May, pictured on the Andrew Marr Show today, will be the first world leader to visit President Trump in the White House and they will meet less than a week after his inauguration Mrs May said: 'I've spoken to him about Nato - Nato is very important, Nato has been the bulwark of our security here in Europe and we work together in Nato,' she said. 'We've both made the point before about contributions being made by countries, the United Kingdom is spending 2 per cent of its GDP on defence, I believe that's important.' She added: 'What is important is that we recognise the value of Nato, which he does, the value of Nato as an organisation that is helping us to defend Europe and defend the interests of all of those allies who are in Nato.' Mrs May also suggested her visit would be followed by a state visit by Mr Trump to Britain this year, which would include an audience with the Queen and the pomp and pageantry of which the President seems so fond. 'I would look forward to welcoming President Trump here to the United Kingdom sometime this year if that's possible but of course in terms of state visits that's a matter for Buckingham Palace and they haven't announced the visits this year yet,' she said. In his inauguration speech, President Trump, whose mother is Scottish, pledged to 'reinforce old alliances' in a sign that Britain's special relationship with the US could be boosted under the new regime. The Prime Minister, who has publicly criticised the billionaire in the past, insisted she 'won't be afraid' to challenge his 'unacceptable' views but said the focus of the meeting in Washington will be on trade, Nato and Syria. Pictured, Theresa May on the Andrew Marr Show today Nigel Farage, pictured at a Trump inauguration party in Washington on Thursday, praised Donald Trump's speech and declared a new era for US-UK relations Meanwhile, it has been speculated that Nigel Farage will become a member of Trump's team. Phil Bryant, Governor of Mississippi, revealed at a party thrown by Farage that the former UKIP leader will be made a 'close but unofficial adviser' to the new President, reported the Telegraph. Mr Bryant said: 'There is an opportunity for him to work directly with the president, we call it 'close but unofficial'.' On Friday Farage praised Donald Trump's inauguration speech and declared a new era for US-UK relations. He told MailOnline it was a 'great speech and good for the UK'. Mr Trump's mention of 'old alliances' was interpreted as a reference to the 'special relationship' between the US and the UK, which critics claimed Barack Obama undermined during his eight years in office. After Trump's speech, May said: 'I congratulate President Trump on taking office today. 'From our conversations to date, I know we are both committed to advancing the special relationship between our two countries and working together for the prosperity and security of people on both sides of the Atlantic. 'I look forward to discussing these issues and more when we meet in Washington.' Advertisement These are the shocking scenes which show the complete destruction of the Hotel Rogopiano in central Italy. The contrasting photographs show a quaint hotel in the Italian mountains basking in sunshine, and then something akin to the scene of a disaster movie. Survivors of Italy's avalanche disaster have revealed how they ate snow to stay hydrated and sang to keep their spirits up as as they huddled in the pitch black beneath the devastated Hotel Rigopiano. Nine people have been pulled alive from the rubble since rescuers first reached Hotel Rigopiano in the mountains of central Italy early on Thursday. They included nine-year-old Edoardo Di Carlo, but his mother, Nadia Aconcciamessa, a nurse in the nearby town of Penne, was among the dead. Edoardo's father and the parents of six-year-old Samuel Di Michelangelo, who was rescued, are still missing. Rescuers combing the wreckage say they have detected no signs of life since Saturday. But a spokesman for the rescuers, Luca Cari, said: 'We have hope. Even if there are no signs of life, you could drill through a wall and suddenly there'd be contact. That's what happened with the other survivors.' Slide me This is the shocking damage caused by the avalanche which wiped out the Hotel Rigopiano in central Italy Giorgia Galassi (pictured, left) said her boyfriend Vincenzo Forti (right) had kept the survivors' spirits up by leading them in song as they huddled in the pitch black waiting to be rescued Rescue workers are still at the scene searching for the 23 people who still have not been accounted for Rescuers hope the missing people may be surviving in air pockets underneath tonnes of snow which destroyed the hotel Giorgia Galassi, a 22-year-old student, described from her hospital bed the words she told her rescuers as they closed in on her. 'I said "I'm Giorgia and I'm alive". It was the most beautiful thing I've ever said,' she said. But Miss Galassi and her boyfriend Vincenzo Forti, 25, had to wait another 18 hours before they were finally extracted in the early hours of Saturday as the rescuers gave priority to getting the children out first. She said she was knocked unconscious by the avalanche but said: 'When I came round we were on the ground, bruised but not really hurt. It was pitch black, the only thing we could hear were the voices of the others near us, echoing.' Shortly before 5pm local time, the fire brigade found the body of one of the missing people in the hotel's wreckage. There are still 23 people unaccounted. Scores of rescuers are still digging through the snow amid fading hopes that survivors may be alive in air pockets On Friday night Edoardo Di Carlo (pictured, centre) was pulled alive from the wrecked hotel The rescuers - a mixture of soldiers, firemen and mountain rescue volunteers - are continuing the search despite the high risk of another avalanche Another survivor, Francesca Bronzi, said: 'It was very claustrophobic but the worst thing was the thirst, I was constantly wetting my lips with ice and dirty snow.' Adriana Parete and her eight-year-old son Gianfilippo survived when a ceiling beam came to rest only feet away from their heads. 'I hugged him and I think we stayed like that for the rest of the time, day and night,' she said. Georgia said her boyfriend kept everyone's spirits up by leading them in song and she said: 'He never had any doubts, he kept us all up. He gave the group strength. I just felt like I was trapped in a box. I cried a lot.' As the painstaking rescue operation entered a fourth day, firefighters and mountain rescue experts again had to battle extreme weather conditions as they tried to locate the 23 people thought to be trapped under a vast pile of snow and the mangled ruins of the hotel after Wednesday's avalanche. No survivors have been found since Friday but the rescuers have refused to give up hope that more people could still be clinging to life in air pockets under the snow. Five bodies have been recovered. The avalanche was triggered after a series of powerful earthquakes displaced huge piles of snow on the Gran Sasso mountain after 36 hours of precipitation. Rain is making the snow heavy and complicating the rescue operation. Officials say there is a high risk of another avalanche. The Italian Mountain Rescue Service are busy cutting through the snowdrifts which have cut off the remote area A volunteer from the north of Italy clears the road with his own car snow plough in the village of Castello, 10 miles from the site where an avalanche engulfed the mountain hotel Rigopiano in Farindola Pictures have emerged of the moment a young girl in a pink jumper was pulled from the rubble by a smiling rescue worker Four children were rescued on Friday, dug out from under tonnes of snow and debris in the remote valley in the Italian Alps Italian rescue workers pull a young boy out of the snow. Rescue officer Marco Bini said: 'The snow insulated them and protected them from the freezing temperatures outside. It was like being in an igloo' One of the three children that were rescued from the avalanche-hit Rigopiano Hotel late on Friday night is pictured in an ambulance Rescuers have not given hope that more survivors could be pulled out as they believe there are still air pockets A girl carried to safety by rescue workers on Friday. A total of four children have been pulled out of the hotel Rescue teams have continued to work night and day since Thursday trying to rescue people from the hotel A woman is seen being pulled to safety by rescue workers on Friday, two days after an avalanche destroyed the hotel Authorities believe about 23 people are still missing after the avalanche almost entirely buried the hotel Rescue workers have been using shovels, saws and just their gloved hands in the hope of reaching survivors According to local media reports, rescuers have heard a number of other voices from under the rubble. These reports were unconfirmed Pictured is one of the other children pulled out to safety on Friday. A total of nine survivors have now been pulled to safety One of the female survivors who was pulled to safety on Friday, two days after the avalanche hit the hotel Firefighters are continuing efforts to get to other potential survivors still trapped inside the Hotel Rigopiano A firefighter climbs through an opening being used to access the hotel building, which was buried by tons of snow Rescue workers said pulling the nine survivors from the snow had raised hopes others would be found in similar air pockets He said the rescue team had been alerted to their possible location when they detected smoke from fires the group had lit to keep warm. 'They were all in reasonable health, if very cold,' he said. 'The fire will have been using up the oxygen so we were lucky to find them. 'Their faces said it all, it was like they had been reborn.' Two hotel guests who were outside the building when the avalanche struck are also counted in the total number of 11 survivors. Rescuers have pulled three more children alive from the ruins of an Italian hotel, two days after it was hit by an avalanche. Pictured is two of the three child survivors Rescue workers cheer as they pull a youngster alive from the barricaded hotel after an avalanche hit it almost two days ago One of the survivors is taken to hospital by helicopter after being pulled from the Hotel Rigopiano in Farindola, central Italy A group of 10 people, including four children, were found alive after hiding in a kitchen of the barricaded hotel So far, the bodies of three men and two women have been pulled out by rescue workers. The victims have not yet been identified. A tsunami of snow smashed into the spa hotel on Wednesday afternoon, obliterating the four-storey building and spreading debris for hundreds of metres down the valley in the Gran Sasso park in the heart of Italy. Around 30 people are believed to have been in the hotel at the time. Rescue teams would continue to work night and day until everyone was accounted for, Cari said. However, authorities have been criticised by some of the families who are waiting desperately to find out news about their loved ones. One man, identified as the father of Stefano Feniello, expressed his anger in front of television cameras, pointing at the cars of local officials. Dozens of rescue workers can be seen using spades to dig their way through the snow in a bid to get to those still trapped Other rescue teams can be seen working in the area around the Hotel Rigopiano that was hit by an avalanche on Wednesday A team of rescue workers can be seen walking to the Hotel Rigopiano, near the village of Farindola Rescue teams continued to dig in the hope of finding other survivors as more snow fell on Saturday Rescue workers were pictured checking the rooms inside abandoned houses in villages and isolated areas in the Abruzzi mountains district Rescue workers are pictured at their base in the nearby town of Penne, where the rescue operation is being co-ordinated Two firefighters are pictured taking a nap in a sports hall in the town of Penne, which is currently being used as a base Dramatic photographs show the levels of snow that hit remote areas in the Abruzzi mountains district, including two cars buried in the snow that ended up on their noses He shouted: 'What are they doing? They aren't doing anything. Why didn't they go get the kids out the night before the disaster?' He said he had been told that his son had survived, but officials had supplied no clear information by midday Saturday, nearly three days after the tragedy. One of the children found on Friday is believed to be the daughter of a woman who was pulled out with her son earlier in the day, begging for rescuers to 'Find my little girl'. Those who have been pulled from the snow were taken to hospitals in the cities of Pescara and Aquila. Incredible footage emerged earlier in the day showing a mother and her eight-year-old son being rescued. Emerging from the structure rescue crews patted the eight-year-old boy called Gianfilippo on the head in celebration before a woman, thought to be Adriana Vranceanu, emerged to chants of 'Brava Brava!' before she shouted 'Find my daughter!' The survivors appeared fully alert and walking on their own. Both were helped down to a stretcher for the helicopter ride out. They are the family of cook Giampiero Parete who escaped the avalanche after going to fetch headache tablets from his car for his wife when it hit. Those who have been pulled from the snow were taken to hospitals in the cities of Pescara and Aquila Late on Friday night, civil protection chief Fabrizio Cari said five people have been pulled to safety, including four children Rescue teams pull a woman to safety after she was found alive in the Hotel Rigopiano, 40 hours after it was hit by an avalanche The young boy was fully alert as he made his way out of the hotel and was then put on a helicopter to be taken to hospital Rescue teams desperately worked to pull survivors from the Hotel Rigopiano on Friday, after an avalanche buried the building The rescued mother is Adriana Parete and her son, who are the family of cook Giampiero Parete who escaped the avalanche after going to fetch headache tablets from his car for his wife when it hit. Their six-year-old daughter is believed to be among the children that have also now been pulled out Simona Di Carlo, the aunt of Edoardo Di Carlo, one of three children pulled out from the hotel A doctor treating the Paretes told a press conference: 'Mr Parete's wife and son are in excellent condition. They have light hypothermia and dehydration and they're being monitored overnight. 'Mr Parete has been dismissed but has chosen to be with his wife and child. 'They survived because they had access to the heavy clothing in their suitcases and because they were not in contact with the snow but inside a room that was closed off. 'They are also getting psychological help because it was a very traumatic situation.' Mr and Mrs Parete's six-year-old daughter Ludovica is believed to be among the children that have also now been pulled out of the hotel by rescue teams. It means that all four children thought to have been trapped inside the hotel have now been rescued, including one who asked for her favourite biscuits after being pulled out. A group made a fire to keep warm and eaten food they found in cupboards in the kitchen. Other guests had sought refuge in the bar and billiards area of the four-storey building. Among the survivors are Eduardo Di Carlo, eight, and his parents Sebastiano and Nadia, both 48, who own a pizzeria in the nearby town of Penne. Last night the boy's grandfather Giovanni Di Carlo told the Daily Mail: 'It's the miracle we prayed for. All three are alive.' A rescue worker said those that were pulled free were were speechless after being saved. In addition the hotel's dogs Wolf and Cloud, were also pulled alive from the building and are being cared for by a hotel worker who had earlier escaped. Firefighters work at Hotel Rigopiano in Farindola, as they try to dig the snow away from the building using just shovels Rescue work continued throughout last night, but authorities say the prospects of anyone being rescued alive looked bleak Rescue teams have located the group hiding in a kitchen of the barricaded hotel but are have difficulty pulling them to safety until specialist equipment arrives An aerial view showing the search area rescue teams are working at to free people trapped inside a hotel hit by an avalanche Rescue crews located more than eight people alive in the rubble of an avalanche-crushed hotel on Friday, an incredible discovery that boosted spirits two days after the massive snow slide buried around 30 people in the resort Rescue teams said there was still hope of finding survivors after a barrage of snow hit the Hotel Rigopiano in the village of Farindola on Wednesday ripping the three-storey building from its foundations and moving it ten metres. Fire brigade spokesman Luca Cari said: 'They are alive and we are talking to them.' A rescue helicopter swoops down towards the hotel in central Italy that had been buried under an avalanche since Wednesday Rescue workers attempt to get to the scene of the hotel by ploughing through the snow which is up to 15 feet deep Some of the survivors pulled from the hotel arrive by helicopter at an airport in Pescara before being taken to hospital for treatment A tracked vehicle of the Italian army brings rescuers for the operation in the area was hit by an avalanche in Farindola HOTEL'S SHEEPDOGS SURVIVE DEADLY AVALANCHE Two victims that were caught up in the Italian avalanche that had a happy ending were the Hotel Rigopiano's dogs, who have been reunited with their puppies. Lupo and Nuvola (Wolf and Cloud), a pair of shaggy white Abruzzo sheepdogs who were born and raised in the ill-fated hotel, were initially feared to have perished in Wednesday's tragedy. But they were found on Thursday ambling along a road in Villa Cupoli, a hamlet more than two miles away, according to resident Martina Rossi, who worked at the hotel but was not there when the avalanche struck. Earlier today, the hotel's dogs Wolf and Cloud were found alive after previously going missing after the avalanche. This picture of the dogs was posted on Facebook overnight She told the AFP news agency: 'I saw them in the street about 9.30 pm on Thursday night, and my heart started beating very fast. 'I called their names and they recognised me, I was so happy. I have no idea how they got there.' With the hotel owner among the people missing under the ruins, the dogs have been taken in by another local resident who had just adopted a litter of puppies Nuvola had recently given birth to. Also known as the Maremmano, the Abruzzo sheepdog breed is known for its photogenic appearance with the puppies resembling furry Polar bear cubs. Their white coats are the result of selective breeding in their native regions of Abruzzo and the Tuscan Maremma. The colour enabled them to blend in with sheep flocks they were assigned to protect from wolves. Advertisement People waiting outside the hospital in Pescara began hugging after hearing survivors had been found at the avalanche hit hotel A supermarket in the Italian town of Penne, close to where the avalanche occurred partially collapsed following a series of earthquakes and snow A man walks in the town of Penne, central Italy, following a series an avalanches that have left five people dead A firefighter walks inside Hotel Rigopiano in the part that has become accessible since the avalanche hit the building A firefighter working at the hotel in Farindola opens a door to find snow packed together outside as he searches for survivors Two bodies have been extracted from the rubble and two survivors suffering from hypothermia taken to hospital The names of those believed to have been trapped in the hotel began to emerge on Friday. Husband and wife Corporal Luciano and his wife Silvana Angelucci were among the people identified as staying in the hotel. The couple who are both hairdressers and run a well-known beauty spa in the region Chieti , had only arrived at the hotel on Sunday. Another couple, Marco Vagnarelli and Paola Tomassini, were also believed to have been trapped in the avalanche of snow. The pair, who are from Castignano, messaged Mr Vagnarelli's brother to say they couldn't leave the hotel due to the weather conditions. Among the others believed to have been trapped are Alessandro Ricetti, 33, hotel employee Emanuele Bonifazi, as well as other couple Jessica Tinari and Marco Tanda. Others reported missing included Stefano Feniello, 28, and Francesca Bronzes, 25, as well as hotel employee Ilaria Di Biase. Police chief Domenico DiMichelangelo, alongside his wife Marina and their seven-year-old son, were among those trapped Husband and wife Corporal Luciano and his wife Silvana Angelucci who work as hairdressers were also reported missing Marco Vagnarelli and Paola Tomassini, from Castignano, were believed to have been trapped by the avalanche Stefano Feniello, 28, and Francesca Bronzes, 25, were in the hotel at the time that the avalanche struck Hotel employees Emanuele Bonifazi, left, and Ilaria Di Biase, were also reported missing following the disaster Special army mountain rescue teams were seen riding in vehicles with caterpillar tracks following the disaster. 'A small avalanche has created a wall of snow across the path to the hotel, we are heading up there now to knock it down,' said army Major Nicola Cappozolo. 'As long as there is hope of finding survivors we'll be there' Italian broadcasters showed images of piles of masonry and rubble in the entrance area of what they dubbed a 'coffin hotel'. Giampaolo Parete, 38, a chef who was on vacation there, was one of two people rescued from the three-storey hotel. A rescuer arrives at the wrecked Hotel Rigopiano and looks up the mountainside where the avalanche hurtled down the slope yesterday Rescuers have been digging through the huge piles of snow which crashed down onto the hotel when the snow came down the mountain Up to 30 people are feared dead after an Italian ski hotel was buried by an avalanche during a series of earthquakes Italy's Civil Protection Agency said there had been around 30 guests and staff at the hotel on the eastern lower slopes of the Gran Sasso mountain Dramatic pictures from inside the hotel show how part of the building collapsed under the weight of the avalanche Rescue workers continued to search for victims at the Hotel Rigopiano in the town of Farindola The desperate phone call made by a chef who survived the disaster has been revealed. He told his boss: 'Help me, an avalanche has hit and the hotel isn't there anymore. It's disappeared' Rescuers were met with an eerie silence today as they arrived at the Hotel Rigopiano and began digging through the snow in an attempt to find survivors (pictured) A police helicopter dropped off food supplies for rescuers at the scene of the disaster His boss, restaurant owner Quintino Marcella, said he received a phone call at 5.30pm on Wednesday. He said: 'He calls me and says 'Help me, an avalanche has hit and the hotel isn't there anymore. It's disappeared. It's buried. Two of us are here but call rescue crews.''' Marcella said he immediately called police and the prefecture's emergency coordination centre, but the prefect's office assured him that the hotel had phoned two or three hours earlier reporting everything was OK. Marcella said he frantically tried to call other emergency numbers but no one took him seriously. Speaking on Sky TG24, he said only hours later, after 8pm, did the response begin. He said his chef kept saying 'Help, help, help, help.' The hotel is located around 55 miles from the epicentre of the earthquakes yesterday He told an Italian newspaper, La Repubblica, the group had all checked out of the Hotel Rigopiano and had gathered in the lobby. But heavy snow had made the road outside impassable and they were waiting for a snow plough to clear a path up to the hotel. As they waited in the foyer the avalanche cascaded down the mountainside, smashing into the hotel and burying them under a huge pile of snow. Marcella told La Repubblica: 'Giampaolo and all the other guests had paid and had reached the lobby, ready to go as soon as the snow plough arrived.' 'They had already prepared suitcases. All the customers wanted to leave.' Earlier, it emerged that a father had survived the tragedy because he left to get headache medicine from his car for his wife when the avalanche hit the building. But he told doctors the wall of snow had buried his wife and two children. The four-storey hotel was completely buried in snow after the avalanche hit on Wednesday Shocking images from inside the hotel show how snow had cascaded down stairways and corridors Up to 30 people are feared to have been killed after an Italian ski hotel was buried by an avalanche during a series of earthquakes There are reports this morning that as many as 30 people - guests and staff- are missing after the avalanche crashed in to the three-storey hotel, shifting it up to 30ft A man is escorted by Alpine policemen and a fireman outside the Hotel Rigopiano, near the village of Farindola A road block is in place preventing people from entering the village where the tragedy struck Rescuers, who have begun extracting bodies after battling through blizzard conditions to reach the hotel on skis or by helicopter, say there were no signs of life inside the building Rescuers have started the grim task of excavating snow from the interior of the building Another photograph shows the snow filling up the inside of the Hotel Rigopiano A photograph shows the damage done inside the spa hotel after it was buried by the avalanche Separate aerial video shows how a column of rescue vehicles attempting to reach the remote community had become completely stuck in huge snow drifts A snow-plough truck made its way through the snow in order to reach the Rigopiano Hotel A rescue convoy became stuck in snow drifts as emergency crews scrambled to reach the village The Hotel Rigopiano pictured before the devastating avalanche hit yesterday (file photo) Emergency crews were eventually able to fund a way in to the Hotel Rigopiano, which has been crushed by an avalanche Police released images showing the damage done to the interior of the hotel following the avalanche A car is buried in snow in the nearby town of Penne, which is about six miles away from Farindola An Army transport truck carrying tank ammunition skidded off a snowy road in Poland on Saturday, injuring two U.S. soldiers. A preliminary investigation indicated that the truck was travelling too fast for the winter road conditions, and the driver lost control and slid off the road, according to a Polish Defense Ministry communique. Some of the M-1 ammunition for M-1 Abrams tanks the truck was hauling spilled onto the road leading to Zagan, where several hundred U.S. troops and equipment for an American armored brigade are based. The American deployment to Zagan began earlier this month, and is the first continuous U.S. troop deployment to the NATO ally since the fall of communism in 1989. A U.S. Army transport truck (pictured) slid off a snowy road in Poland on Saturday, spilling tank ammunition and injuring two soldiers The uninhabited stretch of road where the crash occurred is pictured. The road runs to the Polish town of Zagan, where several hundred U.S. troops are based About 3,500 U.S. troops are deploying to Poland under Operation Atlantic Resolve, a plan approved by former President Barack Obama to ease the worry in a region nervous about Russian military activity. The U.S. tanks in the area have brought strong criticism from Russia, with the Kremlin calling the deployment a threat to its safety and interests. The crash on Sunday occurred after dark, and the road was temporarily closed as Polish and U.S. troops secured the spilled ammunition. There are no buildings in the area of the crash. A spokesman for local firefighters, Capt. Dariusz Szymura, tells television station TVN24 that one of the soldiers was hospitalized. The other injured solider was treated at the scene. Four adults and a six-year-old boy have been injured after a shooting outside a Florida home. Police were called to the property in the 500 block of Northeast 2nd Street in Boynton Beach, Florida, around 4.30pm on Saturday after reports of gunshots. They arrived to find five people with gunshot injuries who were rushed to hospital. None of the injuries were life threatening, Local 10 reports. Four adults and a six-year-old boy have been injured after a shooting outside a Florida home Police were called to the property in the 500 block of Northeast 2nd Street in Boynton Beach, Florida, around 4.30pm on Sunday after reports of gunshots (a car window is smashed by a gunshot) 'It's sad but they don't care about human life,' a neighbor explained. 'They shoot, they don't care if a kid could be there.' 'Children are running up and down the streets,' another neighbor said. 'You just bust out of nowhere and come shoot up somebody's - that's crazy.' No arrests have yet been made. Police say the motive behind the shooting is unclear (officers at the scene) Officers say the suspect drove off in a white four-door sedan with dark tinted windows. No arrests have yet been made. Police say the motive behind the shooting is unclear. Delray Medical Center was locked down due to a safety precaution. A British sniper in Iraq killed three ISIS terrorists with one bullet in what has been described as a shot in a million. The SAS marksman fired one bullet that killed two men instantly before it ricocheted into a third during a November mission in a remote northern Iraqi village. The sniper fired his single .338 Lapua Magnum bullet from a L115A sniper rifle from a range of 1,800m just as the senior ISIS members prepared to fire shots into a crowd of women and children. An SAS marksman fired one bullet and killed two senior ISIS members instantly before it ricocheted into a terrorists during a November mission in a remote northern Iraqi village (file photo) A source told The Daily Star Sunday that the shooting happened during a covert SAS intelligence gathering as the troops monitored Islamic State-controlled areas while Iraqi forces advanced toward Mosul. The SAS squad was tracking the IS members when dozens of women and children tried to flee from the extremists. When the terrorists ordered the civilians to stop and pointed a machine gun at the crowd from a second-storey window, the SAS team decided they had no choice but to open fire and save the fleeing group. The sniper, whose rifle was fitted with a suppressor to reduce noise, fired his once-in-a-lifetime shot. The bullet first struck the man holding the machine gun in the head then hit a second terrorist in the chest. It passed through his body, ricocheted off a wall and hit a third man - who was in the same room - in the neck. The source said the 'shot was one in a million' and added that he didn't believe it was planned. 'Alongside the sniper was an SAS spotter, who was watching the target through binoculars,' he said. 'The whole incident was over in a flash.' The third man lasted for about 30 seconds before dying, while the others were killed instantly a source told The Star. Iraqi forces launched in October a campaign backed by a US-led coalition to take back Mosul from the hardline Sunni group which captured the city in 2014, declaring from its Grand Mosque a 'caliphate' that also spanned parts of Syria. Mosul is pictured above on Saturday 'No one could quite believe what had happened,' the source added. The SAS team entered the house following the shooting and confirmed that the three men were dead. They took fingerprints and photos of the scene before leaving by helicopter. The Ministry of Defence told MailOnline that it does not comment on SAS activity. Iraqi forces launched in October a campaign backed by a US-led coalition to take back Mosul from the hardline Sunni group which captured the city in 2014, declaring from its Grand Mosque a 'caliphate' that also spanned parts of Syria. Mosul is the last major city stronghold under Islamic State control in Iraq. Islamic State detonated explosives in the largest hotel in western Mosul on Friday, in an attempt to destroy it and prevent Iraqi forces from using it as a landing spot or base in their offensive to capture the city, witnesses said on Sunday. The Mosul Hotel, shaped as a step pyramid, appeared to be leaning to one side after the explosions, said two witnesses contacted by phone, requesting anonymity as the militants punish by death those caught communicating with the outside world. The Mosul Hotel sits alongside the Tigris river that cuts the city into two halves. The explosion comes as Iraqi forces appear about to take full control of the eastern side and prepare to attack the western bank. A group of Canadians say they blocked from entering the U.S. after telling border agents they were planning to take part in the Women's Day march. Sasha Dyck, of Montreal, was one of eight protesters who had arranged to travel down to Washington together for the demonstrations. The group, six Canadians and two French nationals, say they were very upfront when asked why they were trying to cross into the U.S. at the border that connects St Bernard de Lacolle in Quebec with Champlain, New York, on Thursday. Sasha Dyck, of Montreal, was one of eight protesters who had arranged to travel down to Washington together for the demonstrations But when they told the border agents of their plans, they say they were pulled over and detained for two hours as their cars were searches, cellphones examined and they had their photos and fingerprints taken. The French citizens were turned away and told they would now require a visa to enter the United States. While the Canadians were told to go home, and warned that if they tried to cross the border again this weekend, they would be arrested. 'And that was it, they didn't give a lot of justification,' Dyck told the Guardian. 'I think it's a shame. I think the U.S. has historically been a very open country -- open to other ideas or open to other people. Perhaps we're seeing the start of them closing in on themselves,' he added to the CBC. The group were hoping to attend the Women's March in Washington on Saturday (pictured) Protesters march during the Women's March On Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC He added that when he had crossed the border in 2009 for Obama's inauguration, he had received a very different welcome. 'At that point, the border guard said, 'Come on in!' It was open arms. They were so happy to celebrate with the world. It's going to be a very different feeling this time.' Another party of protesters who attempting to cross into the U.S. at the same border say they too were detained on Thursday. Briton Joe Kroese, 23, a Canadian and two Americans say they were held for three hours when they admitted they were considering attending the Women's March. Kroese said both he and the Canadian were refused entry as they were planning to attend what the border agent reportedly called a 'potentially violent rally'. They were also told not to try and enter the U.S. for several months, while Kroese was told he would now need a visa to enter the US. Montreal resident Joseph Decunha, who says he was also turned away when he tried to cross late Thursday, claims he was asked: 'The first thing he asked us point blank is, 'Are you anti- or pro-Trump?' The group, six Canadians and two French nationals, say they were very upfront when asked why they were trying to cross into the U.S. at the border (pictured on the map) that connects St Bernard de Lacolle in Quebec with Champlain, New York, on Thursday 'They told me I was being denied entry for administrative reasons. According to the agent, my travelling to the United States for the purpose of protesting didn't constitute a valid reason to cross.' He believes that if he had told them that he was a Trump fan, he would have been allowed in. US Customs and Border Protection refused to comment on individual cases but said that agents tried to strike an 'important balance' between securing the borders 'while facilitating the high volume of legitimate trade and travel that crosses our borders every day, and we strive to achieve that balance and show the world that the United States is a welcoming nation.' Advertisement Palestinian National Security Forces loyal to Hamas held a graduation ceremony for members on Sunday. The ceremony, held in Gaza City in the northern region of the Gaza Strip, saw members showing off their military skills and burning a mock Israeli post - as well as an Israeli flag - as part of a drill. The men showed off their fighting skills, marched in formation and even broke cement blocks with their hands during the event. The ages of those featured in the ceremony ranged from small children to middle-aged adults. Meanwhile, Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip, has managed to end a recent series of protests over the electricity crisis with a security crackdown and aid from Qatar used to purchase more fuel. Palestinian National Security Forces loyal to Hamas held a graduation ceremony for members on Sunday. Hamas is the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip The ceremony, held in Gaza City in the northern region of the Gaza Strip, saw members showing off their military skills and burning a mock Israeli post - as well as an Israeli flag - as part of a drill. Pictured above, a Palestinian man helps a boy set fire to an Israeli flag during a graduation ceremony The men showed off their fighting skills, marched in formation and even broke cement blocks with their hands during the event Men of all ages were featured in the ceremony in Gaza City on Sunday. Those who took part ranged from young boys to teens to middle-aged adults But frustration in places like Jabalia remains, and there are once again warnings that deteriorating conditions in the Palestinian enclave of two million people may be leading to a larger eruption of anger. Gazans face electricity shortages all year, but the problem is exacerbated in winter and mid-summer, when power usage spikes. The Hamas authorities in the coastal enclave usually provide electricity in eight-hour intervals, but supply was reduced to four hours this month. Protests began modestly, with dozens of people holding candles, before culminating on January 12 with thousands marching in Jabalia towards the electricity company. Hamas security forces fired into the air to disperse the crowd, carried out arrests and hit an AFP photographer who required stitches to his face. Further protests were prevented by a show of force by Hamas security. A member of Palestinian National Security Forces loyal to Hamas hangs a Palestinian flag after removing an Israeli flag from a mock Israeli army post during the ceremony Members of the Palestinian Hamas security forces were seen making tower formations and showing off their skills in the event During the ceremony, members of the ceremony had to take over a mock Israeli post as part of a drill (pictured above) During the drill, the men wore black shifts, camouflage pants, combat boots and vests while carrying large guns Perhaps sensing the urgency, Hamas sought help, including from Turkey and Qatar, which agreed to donate $12 million for fuel purchases. On Monday, Hamas said it was returning to eight-hour electricity -- and was releasing all those arrested in connection with the protests. A Gaza government spokesman argued that Jabalia protesters were attacking security forces and public buildings, but also said that Hamas was responding to demands by working to improve electricity supply. Egypt's border with Gaza has also remained largely closed, and unemployment is around 42 per cent. Three wars since 2008 between Palestinian militants in Gaza and Israel have left behind death and destruction, not to mention psychological scars. Even those with longtime businesses have suffered. During another part of the ceremony, members showed off their fighting skills and tried to take one another down The combat fights appeared to be performed on large mats to help prevent the military members from being injured during the ceremony Along with combat and military skills, men were seen breaking cement blocks with their fists during the ceremony on Sunday "I need electricity for more than eight hours to complete my work for the customers," said 29-year-old Mohamed Abu Sharaf, whose family has had a print shop in Gaza City for 40 years. As he spoke, the electricity cut again. The recent shortages were complicated by a dispute with the Palestinian Authority, based in the West Bank and dominated by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party. Fatah and Hamas remain divided despite repeated attempts at reconciliation. The Palestinian Authority handles fuel purchases from Israel since the Israeli authorities do not deal directly with Hamas, which they consider a terrorist organisation. The PA then requires Hamas to reimburse it for bills and taxes, but Gaza's electricity company faces cash shortages because many customers do not pay. As the men punched through stacks of cement blocks, the blocks were set on fire to make the task more difficult Members of Palestinian National Security Forces loyal to Hamas march in formation during the graduation ceremony One of the victims of the Melbourne massacre was a 'badass' young woman with a bright future ahead of her. Dimitrious 'Jimmy' Gargasoulas, 26, allegedly mowed down dozens of people when he drove down Bourke Street mall in the CBD on Friday. The heartbroken families of some of his victims have shared tributes for their lost loved ones, with Jess Mudie, 22, Matthew Si, 33, and Thalia Hakin, 10, named as some of his five victims, with fears the death toll will rise. Jess was visiting Melbourne from Sydney, where she worked as a consultant for insurance company Marsh & McLennan, according to her Facebook page. Jess Mudie, 22, is one of the five victims of the Melbourne massacre She worked as a consultant for an insurance company and was visiting from Sydney, where she grew up in the southwest In a statement, Jess's family spoke of the loss of their 'most badass daughter and sister' In a statement, Jess's family spoke of the loss of their 'most badass daughter and sister'. 'You will always be a part of us and are one of the strongest people we know,' the letter said. 'We are constantly inspired by your love for everyone around you and the lengths you will go to for the people you love. 'We love your extravagant humour, the fact that you always laughed at your own jokes and your ridiculous names for everything like 'the guch'. You are always up to do everything and are such bright bubble of joy. 'Remember me in the morning is your cocktail of choice, and your personality ensures that will always be the case. 'You are strong, beautiful, determined, always work hard to get what you want and never shy away from a challenge. BAIL LAWS TO CHANGE Victorian bail laws are set to change after the Bourke Street Mall tragedy, in which a man allegedly drove through a crowd just days after being bailed on an assault charge. Dimitrious 'Jimmy' Gargasoulas was bailed against the wishes of Victoria Police five days before Friday's attack. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews admitted he was frustrated with the bail system. 'It's my job, though, to take that frustration and that anger and the deep sadness that I feel, and that every Victorian feels, and to make sure that's put into reform and change,' Mr Andrews told reporters on Sunday. He foreshadowed changes to the bail system, in which Victoria uses volunteer bail judges for out-of-hours decisions. 'We do have a number of unique features of our system, but ... we have to have a close look at these arrangements,' Mr Andrews said. 'If changes need to be made then they should be, and be in no doubt they will be.' Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said he could not speak freely about bail, but it would be covered in a coronial review. 'We've expressed frustration over the course of the journey about bail issues. We haven't made a secret of that,' he told reporters. Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said the whole bail system needed reform. 'The bail system in this state is broken and it needs to be fundamentally reformed,' Mr Guy told reporters. He said Victoria would likely need to build new facilities to hold more people on remand if bail changes went ahead. Advertisement In a statement, Jess's family spoke of the loss of their 'most badass daughter and sister' 10-year-old girl Thalia Hakin was killed in the rampage on Friday. Her mother and sister remain in hospital 'You always tell it like it is and if someone wanted the truth you would not be afraid to tell them. 'You are so head strong and assertive in everything that you do, your love for your family and friends is immense, and you are always there when any one needs support,' the letter said. Jess grew up in southwest Sydney, where she attended Holsworthy High School. On Sunday evening, the school described her death as 'incomprehensible'. 'It is with much sadness and deepest sympathy that we convey the incomprehensible passing of ex student Jessica Mudie,' the school wrote on Facebook. 'On behalf of all Holsworthy High staff, students and the wider community we send our heartfelt condolences to the Mudie Family at this very sad time. Jess's boss, CEO Scott Leney, said staff with the insurance company were 'shocked and saddened' by the news. 'Although with us for just under a year, she had already won the admiration and friendship of those she worked with and had a bright future ahead of her,' he told Daily Telegraph. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited Bourke Street on Sunday to pay respect to the victims of the deadly Melbourne car rampage 'We are with you, we mourn with you, we thank you, we love you,' Mr Turnbull said in remarks at the scene where five people were killed when a crazed motorist ploughed into pedestrians Mr Turnbull also took the time to praise law enforcement officers, saying Australia has 'the best police and security services in the world' Opposition Leader Bill Shorten speaks to members of the public after laying flowers on the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth Street in Melbourne on Sunday Mourners visit Melbourne's centre to pay their tributes to the victims who were killed on Friday Floral tributes line the streets in Melbourne's centre, where four people were killed on Friday Mr Si's wife Melinda said he was a devoted husband and a loving father, brother and son. She said they had just finished having lunch togehter in the city, when he was struck and killed. They had just parted to go back to their respective offices. 'The family would like to thank everyone who helped Matt at the scene and did their best to save him,' her statement says, asking for privacy so the shattered family can mourn. 10-year-old girl Thalia Hakin is among those to have died. Her mother, Nathalie, and sister, nine-year-old Maggie, were also injured and remain in hospital. On Sunday evening, the Jewish community held a service for Thalia and other victims, to pray for those killed and for a speedy recovery for the injured. The service was held at the Werdiger Family Hall from 7.30pm. Members of the Jewish community arrive for a prayer vigil for 10-year-old girl Thalia Members of the Jewish community arrive at the Werdiger Family Hall in Melbourne on Sunday Mourners from the Jewish community arrived about 7.30pm for the service on Sunday Member for Caulfield David Southwick arrives at a prayer vigil for Jewish community Members of the Jewish community pay respects to Thalia Hakin and other lives lost Liberal MP Tim Wilson arrives at the prayer vigil with the Jewish community for the victims Members of the Jewish community arrive at Wediger Family Hall in Melbourne Rabbi Daniel Rabin, president of Rabbinical Council of Victoria, addressed the service before the Hebrew prayers at the service in St Kilda East on Sunday. He said the school community was shocked by the 'horrific tragedy'. 'We mourn the loss of our dear student and community member Thalia Hakin, as well as the others who lost their lives,' Rabbi Rabin posted on Facebook. 'Our thoughts and prayers are with the Hakin family.' A crowdfunding page set up by martial arts trainer Avi Yemini has raised more than $37,000 for the family by 8pm on Sunday. '(I saw) two little girls who came to class each week with bright and warm smiles,' Mr Yemini posted on the crowdfunding page. 'You were a bystander. You were innocent. You could have been any one of us. You won't be forgotten' tribute reads Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull lays flowers at a floral tribute on the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth Street after a man went on a rampage in a car through busy Bourke St mall 'They were always happy and bubbly and I am heartbroken to know that they have been torn apart in this most senseless and horrific way.' Caulfield MP David Southwick said the death of a community member 'really hits home'. 'I can understand the anger and sadness that everyone is feeling right now and we owe it to Thaila and other victims to fix the law and order problems we have in Victoria,' Mr Southwick said. A three-month-old baby became the fifth victim to die from their injuries on Saturday. Four people remain in a critical condition and police fear the death toll will rise. A 25-year-old man was also killed and has not yet been named. A total of 37 people have been treated in hospital. 26 people remain in hospital, police said on Saturday. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (right) and Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews speak at a media conference on Sunday The Prime Minister said that all Australians were with Melbourne residents in their grief The driver was shot by officers as he allegedly mowed through the crowd. Gargasoulas was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries and has undergone surgery for wounds to the arm. He remains in hospital under police guard and has not yet been interviewed. He has been linked to a stabbing in Windsor early on Friday, which left his brother in a critical condition. Following the stabbing, it is alleged Gargasoulas took a woman, who is known to him, hostage in his car. She managed to escape from the car on the Bolte Bridge. Around 300 witnesses to the incident on Friday afternoon have been heard, police commissioner Graham Ashton said. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited Bourke Street on Sunday to pay respect to the victims of the deadly Melbourne car rampage. A young boy joins the masses of mourners leaving floral tributes at the sight of the crime Three people were killed in the street and two others died in hospital after Dimitrious Gargasoulas, 26, allegedly drove into crowds of people Mourners visited the scene of the attack in Melbourne's centre to pay their respects, just one day after the horrifying attack 'We are with you, we mourn with you, we thank you, we love you,' Mr Turnbull said at the scene. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews also offered his condolences, and announced a fund has been opened to support the family members of those who passed away. Mr Andrews also announced a vigil will take place at Federation Square at 5.30pm on Monday. Mr Turnbull said all Australians shared Melbourne's grief. 'All Australians are with you, people of Melbourne, people of Victoria, in your grief. We are with you in solidarity,' he said. 'We are grieving with you, we are mourning those whose lives have been lost. We are praying for the recovery of those who were injured.' Firefighters who attended yesterday leave flowers on the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth Street Two firefighters return to the scene to lay flowers in memory of those who lost their lives on Friday Two firefighters return to the scene to lay flowers in memory of those who lost their lives on Friday Firefighters who attended yesterday, shed a tear as they left flowers at the chilling scene 'We admire and thank the heroism of the first responders, the policemen we spoke just a moment ago, the emergency workers who rushed to the scene, heedless of the risk to themselves.' Mr Turnbull praised law enforcement officers and said Australia 'the best police and security services in the world'. 'Our police officers seen here today work night and day to keep us safe, standing on the front lines, taking on threats and horrors most of us would find almost unimaginable,' Mr Turnbull said. He said officers can count on his 'absolute, unequivocal, total support'. Mr Andrews sounded emotional when he said 'nothing is sadder than [the death of a] three-month-old baby'. He said he felt 'sad, angry, resolute' after Friday's tragedy. People break down in tears as they pay their respects to the victims of the chilling attack It was a sombre scene on Saturday as people broke down in tears in Melbourne's centre A little girl is pictured contributing to the growing floral tribute in Melbourne's centre on Saturday Mr Andrews said he will 'honour that three-month-old baby, and honour all those who have lost their lives there, all of those who have had their lives forever changed'. Mourners visited the scene of the attack in Melbourne's centre to pay their respects, just one day after the horrifying attack. Hundreds of flowers and messages of love line Bourke Street and surrounds. More have taken to social media to express their sadness and support for the victims' families. 'My heart goes out to the families who are affected by the incident in Melbourne yesterday,' one woman said. Mourners comfort each other as they pay their tributes to the people who lost their lives in the attack A mourner prays where flowers are being laid on the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth Street Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews lays flowers on the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth Street 'It is a very sad day for all of us in Melbourne my thoughts and prayers for the affected people who suffered from this criminal attack.' 'Our hearts go out to the victims of this tragedy people who lost their lives, those injured, those who witnessed this horrific event. Many lives changed yesterday,' another said. Firefighters who rushed to the scene on Friday returned on Saturday to pay their tributes. The group of men appeared sombre as they remembered the lives lost in the chilling attack. Mourners also urged the community to keep its chin up following Friday's attack. 'Such a sad time for Melbourne but we all stick together, stronger than ever Sending prayers to families who lost loved ones and the injured. Melbourne stands with you,' one woman said. People mourn the lives lost in Friday's horrific attack which killed four and left 26 others injured A woman is seen laying flowers on the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth Street, the scene of the crime Flowers line the grounds at Bourke Street and Elizabeth Street, one day after the shocking attack Two young boys are pictured laying flowers as mourners gather in Melbourne's Bourke Street A man is pictured laying a bunch of flowers at the scene of the Bourke Street rampage 'Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that,' another person said quoting Martin Luther King Jr. Chief Executive Officer of Ambulance Victoria Tony Walker joined the growing number of mourners at Bourke Street on Saturday to pay his respects. 'An honour to join with my emergency service colleagues to pay our respects to those who lost their lives at Bourke Street yesterday,' he said. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews also visited Bourke Street on Saturday, the home of what he called a 'terrible crime a senseless evil act'. 'You were a bystander. You were innocent. You could have been any one of us. You won't be forgotten,' he wrote alongside a photo of the floral tributes. Mourners look on in shock and disbelief at Melbourne's centre which has now become the site of a chilling crime Labour MPs accused their leader Jeremy Corbyn of 'undermining' Nato after he refused to say whether he would deploy British troops to defend a Nato ally invaded by Russia. The pacifist Labour leader said he was 'not in favour of anybody invading anywhere' and would do everything he can to de-escalate tensions with Russia now. A Labour MP told MailOnline: 'The British public want a PM with an unwavering commitment to this mutual defence system - not a vacillating pushover'. It comes amid heightened concerns over Russian aggression and the future of Nato after President Donald Trump complained the United States has 'subsidised the armies of other countries' and 'defended other nations' borders while refusing to defend our own'. Jeremy Corbyn has refused to say whether he would deploy British troops to defend a Nato ally invaded by Russia Baltic nations fear a Russian incursion as Vladimir Putin masses troops on their borders. Britain has responded by sending 800 soldiers backed by tanks and drones to join a Nato show of strength in Estonia. Under the Nato mutual defence pact, an invasion of a Baltic member of the alliance would be seen as an attack on all members. Asked if he would deploy UK troops to uphold the pact in the event of a Russian incursion, Mr Corbyn told Sky News: 'I would want us to try and de-escalate the tensions as of now. 'And there are some signs that could happen. Baltic nations fear a Russian incursion as Vladimir Putin masses troops on their borders. Britain has responded by sending 800 soldiers backed by tanks and drones to join a Nato show of strength in Estonia. Pictured, members of the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade participate in the NATO 'Spring Storm' military exercises on May 17, 2014 near Otepaa, Estonia 'That means building up a positive relationship with Russia - Nato-Russia talks are important, EU-Russia talks are important. 'And on that, include issues of human rights and justice in Russia, include removal of troops away from the border.' Asked again if he would commit troops, Mr Corbyn said: 'It's a hypothetical question. Another MP, John Woodcock, pictured, sought to reassure the public and Baltic states that Labour was staunchly in favour of defending our Nato allies despite the leader's 'relaxed' stance 'I'm not in favour of anybody invading anywhere else and I would do everything I could to bring about a situation where there are reasonable, productive relationships between all countries so we don't end up in a situation where lives are put at risk and people's liberties are at risk as well.' But his comments caused fury among Labour MPs. One said: 'NATO's position as the cornerstone of our national defence stands on the brink because of Trump's uncertainties - so the last thing we need is an Opposition Leader in the UK also undermining its role. 'The British public want a PM with an unwavering commitment to this mutual defence system - not a vacillating pushover'. Another MP, John Woodcock, sought to reassure the public and Baltic states that Labour was staunchly in favour of defending our Nato allies despite the leader's 'relaxed' stance. 'Jeremy Corbyn's style as leader is to be relaxed about expressing his personal viewpoint but Labour's position is clear: we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our NATO allies who are enduring Russian aggression,' he told MailOnline. 'I was pleased to be able to accompany shadow defence secretary in a visit to Estonia last month where we gave our friends on NATO's Eastern border that strong message of support.' Baltic nations fear a Russian incursion as Vladimir Putin, pictured, masses troops on their borders Mr Corbyn's comments came just 24 hours after one of his shadow defence ministers urged him to 're-emphasise' Labour's backing for Nato. Writing for LabourList, Wayne David said: 'It is important that any notion of Britain weakening its commitment to Nato is given short shrift. 'If anything, given the growing need for a close working relationship with our European partners on defence matters, our commitment to Nato is more important than ever before and needs to be re-emphasised. 'The reality of modern defence is that joint projects and practical cooperation is increasingly essential if we are to maintain an effective approach to defence for Britain. 'Central, of course, to Nato is Article 5. This is the cornerstone of NATO and commits all members of the alliance to defend each other if attacked. An attack on one, is an attack on all. Labour continues to unambiguously support this commitment.' Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis told a crowd of anti-Trump protesters they needed to let their voices be heard at the Women's March in Atlanta. The 76-year-old activist led the march of 60,000 people and said they 'can not afford to be silent', and in order to make a change things needed to be turned 'upside down', on Saturday. The Georgia representative reminded the sea of demonstrators that he knew 'something about marching' and he was 'ready to march again' for social justice. Lewis and Trump were engaged in a bitter feud after the Democrat politician said the billionaire would not be a 'legitimate' president, days before the inauguration. Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis told a crowd of anti-Trump protesters that they couldn't afford to be silent at the Women's March in Atlanta on Saturday Lewis (left) and Trump were engaged in a bitter feud after the Democrat politician said the billionaire would not be a 'legitimate' president, days before the inauguration In retaliation to his comments, Trump took to Twitter to rant about Lewis and said he should focus on 'fixing' his 'crime infested' and 'horrible' district. He continued and said Lewis was 'all talk, talk, talk' and the civil rights leader took 'no action', which drew a wave of backlash from the congressman's hometown. As Lewis walked on stage at the march, protester's began proudly chanting 'Fifth District' [the area Lewis represents]. Addressing protesters in the rain, Lewis said: 'I'm fired up! I'm ready to march! I have on my marching shoes. Let's do it!' Trump tweeted 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' He said: 'When I was much younger and had all of my hair and was a few pounds lighter, I marched in Nashville. 'I marched in Washington. I marched from Selma to Montgomery, and I'm am ready to march again.' Lewis organized the march in Selma, Alabama, one of the most iconic moments of the civil rights era on March 7, 1965. The peaceful protest turned violent when state troopers began attacking the marchers, including Lewis. Lewis is among the most revered leaders of the civil rights movement and has devoted himself to promoting equal rights for African American. He was involved in several key moments of the civil rights movement, such as the Selma March Lewis greeted well-wishers as he arrived at the Women's March in Atlanta. At the rally, Lewis told the AP : 'We've made progress, but there are forces in America that want to take us back to another time and another place' An estimated 60,000 people attended the Women's March in Atlanta. Across the United States more than 2.5million people were involved in the protests The Women's March in Atlanta had an estimated turn out of 60,000 people, despite the rainy weather. Both women and men took to the streets to march for social justice in response to Trump's election. Across the United States, more than 2.5milllion people participated in such demonstrations in several cities. Mark Richardson, 29, was detained in Glasgow by police on Friday A cocaine baron, who was on the run for six months, has been arrested after a rival crime boss was shot outside a primary school. Mark Richardson, 29, was detained in Glasgow by police on Friday, after going into hiding last July and failing to appear in court twice and saying it was 'too dangerous' to attend. Police Scotland reportedly made it their top priority to arrest Richardson, after a number of tit-for-tat shootings in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Last week, Ross Monaghan, 35, was shot from close range as he dropped a child off at St George's Roman Catholic Primary School in Penilee, Glasgow. Richardson will be questioned over the shooting of the Lyons crime boss Monaghan, but Police Scotland say his arrest is not in direct connection to the gun attack, according to the Daily Record. Monaghan is believed to be a member of the Lyons gang, and was found not guilty in the murder of Daniels gang member Kevin 'Gerbil' Carroll. The gangs are among Glasgow's most notorious, with several deaths attibuted to a drug turf war between the two. In 2010, Richardson was jailed for 10 years after police broke down his 5million drug trafficking regime. He was previously convicted for cocaine trafficking with his father, Mark, in 2007. Richardson was jailed in 2010 for 10 years after police smashed his 5million racket. Ross Monaghan, 35, was shot from close range as he dropped a child off at St George's Roman Catholic Primary School in Penilee, Glasgow Richardson went into hiding last year and failed to attend the High Court in Edinburgh (pictured) twice It was his second conviction for drug-dealing after he was first jailed for trafficking cocaine with his dad, also Mark, in 2007. Police Scotland said: 'A 29-year-old man has been arrested in connection with an outstanding warrant in the Ballieston area of Glasgow.' Richardson is expected to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court tomorrow. Hundreds of thousands of workers could chuck a sickie on Friday to nurse Australia Day hangovers and score a four-day weekend. The national holiday falls on a Thursday this year, with Friday considered a normal working day and ruining the long-weekend. It's likely the country will see a spike in use of sick leave to keep the weekend going, and it comes at a cost. Up to 200,000 workers could call in sick on Friday, after Australia Day (stock image) The national holiday falls on a Thursday this year, with Friday considered a normal working day and ruining the long-weekend (stock image, women at Terrigal beach in NSW) Up to 200,000 sickies could cost business nation-wide more than $62 million, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief James Pearson told Daily Telegraph. And it's more than likely feigning a cough won't fool the buss this Friday. NSW and Queensland have 13 public holidays. Victoria, South Australia, ACT and the Northern Territory all have 14 annual holidays. The average public sector worker takes about eight or nine sick days each year, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures. Hangovers could cost business across the country up to $62 million on Friday It's likely the country will see a spike in use of sick leave on Friday (Australia Day stock image) Within hours of being sworn in as president of the United States on Friday, Donald Trump immediately started making decorative changes to the White House. The Oval Office was redecorated for Trump, as gold curtains were installed behind the Resolute desk, replacing the crimson curtains that were installed under Barack Obama tenure. The change was first noticed when Trump sat at the Resolute desk to sign an executive order on Obamacare and other memos in his first actions as president on Friday evening. In addition to the curtains being changed, the real estate mogul also got rid of a huge, circular rug from Obama's presidency that featured quotes from leaders including, MLK Jr. and four former presidents. It's replacement appears to be the sunburst gold and yellow rug with garland edges designed by Laura Bush during her husband's presidency, as it's said Bush requested to have one that expressed his spirit of optimism, ABC News reported. It appears that the couches inside the historic office were also replaced, as they are now brocade and no longer grey suede, CNN reported. Scroll down for video Revamped: The Oval Office was redecorated for Trump, as gold curtains were installed behind the Resolute desk. Trump is pictured above signing his first executive order on Friday New era: Trump replaced the the crimson colored curtains that were installed under former president Barack Obama's tenure. Above Obama sits on the Resolute desk inside the Oval Office Out with the old: Obama's White House photographer Pete Souza marked the change in the curtains with the post above on Instagram where he wrote, 'I like these drapes better than the new ones' Changed up: This is the picture taken as Barack Obama left the Oval Office on Friday morning. You can see that his crimson curtains were still in place All gold: The billionaire is widely known for loving gold accents and features when it comes to interior decorating. He is pictured above inside his residence in November during an interview The billionaire is widely known for loving gold accents and features when it comes to interior decorating, as both his office and homes around the country feature it throughout. But it's unclear if he plans to bring more sweeping changes to include gold fixtures inside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. In a 2015 interview with People prior to the election, Trump said that he wouldn't change too much inside the building. 'If I were elected, I would maybe touch it up a little bit, but the White House is a special place,' Trump stated. 'You don't want to do too much touching.' It is common for a newly elected president to redecorate the Oval Office as well as other parts of the White House, which is worth $397.9million. The living quarters inside the 132-room building is the area inside of the White House where the First Family has most authority in making changes. It's allowed for rooms in that specific area to be repainted to their liking as well as new decorations, bedding and furniture pieces are often times brought in for the First Family. Both his office and homes around the country feature gold accents throughout. Trump is pictured above inside Trump Tower, as his gold colored pictured frames can be seen on the wall behind him It is common for a newly elected president to redecorate the Oval Office as well as other parts of the White House, which is worth $397.9million. Above Trump and Melania are pictured during the Inauguration parade It's common for the First Lady to take the lead on changing the living spaces for the family, so it seems as though Melania's taste and preferences will likely be dictated in what the rooms inside the living quarters will look like for the next four years while Trump is in office. The changes that are made within this area is designed and supervised by an interior designer who works closely with the First Lady, along with the White House curator and the chief usher. On January 3rd, Melania met with the usher and curator to begin making changes, as she will stay in New York City with the couple's son, Barron, for at least the first six months of her husband's term. Though the First Family is allowed to make changes within the White House, there are rooms inside the historic building that are untouchable, such as the Lincoln Bedroom and public spaces like the state dining room and Green Room. Changes that are sought to be made to any of those rooms have to be approved by from the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, as the White House is a living museum that contains hundreds of years of American History. It has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. As Melania and her husband are likely preparing a list of changes they wish to make for the living quarters, it is unclear if the family will pay for the renovations or if they will use the $100,000 per term that's allocated by Congress to redecorate the White House. It's common for the First Lady to take the lead on changing the living spaces for the family, so it seems as though Melania's preferences will likely be dictated in what the rooms inside the living quarters will look like. Above they are pictured on Friday at Liberty Ball Back in the Oval: A bust of Winston Churchill created by renowned post-war British sculptor Jacob Epstein is one of two identical versions that is now back on a table inside the Oval Office Up to $100,000 of taxpayer money can be used by the First Family to make changes inside, but they are not obligated or forced to use it. The Obamas made a huge statement when they did not use the money or accept donations to redecorate the White House, as they paid for it out of their own pocket. Trump has followed through with one of his promises, as he returned a Winston Churchill bust that Obama had removed to be replaced with a bust of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As DailyMail.com reported Saturday morning, the Churchill bust that was on view inside the Oval Office is not the one owned by the British government. Trump's remarks appear to confirm that it is an identical version that was already on display in the White House residence. He said that 'in the meantime, we have a bust of Churchill.' Although Churchill's return to the Oval Office may send an immediate signal about the new president's inclinations or worldview, Trump has yet to reinstall the original bust that the British Government loaned to President George W. Bush in 2001. Fresh start: Trump (above on Friday) had the bust of Churchill (circled left) brought back into the office, as he apparently told UKIP leader Nigel Farage days after the election win of his plans to do so Close up: During a 2010 visit to the White House, Obama shows then-Prime Minister David Cameron of the bust of Churchill located outside the Treaty Room, an office in the residence That bust was returned when President Obama took office. Trump's transition team requested that it be loaned once again shortly after British foreign secretary Boris Johnson visited Trump Tower. But the loan, authorized by Prime Minister Theresa May, has not yet taken place. In fact, the sculpture is still on display in the library of the British Ambassador's residence in Washington. 'The prime minister has said she is happy for us to loan the Churchill bust to the White House in response to a request from President Trump's transition,' an embassy spokesman told DailyMail.com. 'We are still working on the details of the loan.' Having a bust inside the Oval Office of Britain's wartime leader, who former President Franklin Roosevelt hosted at the White House for extended visits, carries significance in whatever its form by demonstrating the close ties and 'special relationship' between the two nations. The sculpture has attracted scrutiny and comment, along with some misinformation, throughout its recent history. There was a transatlantic flap when Obama removed the Churchill bust in 2009. UKIP Nigel Farage who tweeted the message above about the bust days following Trump's election win Obama was hit with a lot of criticism from Great Britain's nationalist UKIP Party for moving the Churchill bust out of the Oval Office in 2009 to make room for busts of MLK Jr. and former President Abraham Lincoln. The White House at first denied it had been removed, but it was later confirmed that it had been returned to the British Embassy. According to a White House 'fact check' from 2012 that was itself an update on inaccurate earlier information, then-Prime Minister Tony Blair lent the White House the bust at a time when the White House version was being worked on. Reporters allowed into the Oval Office Friday for the document signings observed the change, and Churchill's reappearance drew immediate attention once again. Obama defended the removal on a trip to the United Kingdom. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer sent the above photo and tweet showing the MLK Jr. bust placed in a different area within the Oval Office, as it still remains inside despite conflicting earlier reports that it had been removed by Trump 'I love Winston Churchill, I love the guy,' Obama said at a press conference in London with then-Prime Minister David Cameron. He was photographed showing the bust already in the White House collection to Cameron at the White House. The former senator said that he had the bust of Churchill moved to a room nearby where he still saw it daily, but Boris Johnson, who is now the United Kingdom's Foreign Minister, suggested that Obama had it moved because it 'is a symbol of the part-Kenyan president's ancestral dislike of the British Empire.' Days following his election win, Trump met with the former leader of the UKIP Nigel Farage who tweeted after that they had discussed the bust of Churchill. 'Especially pleased at @realDonaldTrump's very positive reaction to idea that Sir Winston Churchill's bust should be put back in Oval Office,' Farage tweeted. Press Secretary Sean Spicer confirmed that the MLK Jr. bust is still inside the office for now, as it is positioned below the Norman Rockwell painting of the State of Liberty's torch photographs show. Nine in ten backyard swimming pools do not meet safety standards, it has been revealed, after a horror summer of child drownings. Shocking figures from 18 local councils in Sydney show massive compliance failure rates, with 98 per cent of pools in one council not passing inspections. Faulty self-closing gates, rusty and damaged locks, and landscaping that made it easier for youngsters to climb in were the top reasons for a pool to fail. Children like 23-month-old twins Robbi and Charli Manago (pictured) have died in backyard swimming pools Shocking figures from 18 local councils in Sydney show massive compliance failure rates, with 98 per cent of pools in one council not passing inspections (Manago's pool pictured) The worrying figures, obtained by the Daily Telegraph, follow the deaths of four children - including twin toddlers - in the past five weeks in Sydney alone. They included 23-month-old twins Robbi and Charli Manago, 20-month-old Aria Dunn, and two-year-old Vera Peacock. Elsewhere in Australia, two-year-old Alex Grove drowned on the Sunshine Coast on January 12, and Taya, four, and Patricia Young, three, died in Brisbane in November. Taya (R), four, and Patricia Young (L), three, died in Brisbane in November Faulty self-closing gates, rusty and damaged locks, and landscaping that made it easier for youngsters to climb in were the top reasons for a pool to fail After all these deaths, chilling footage of a two-year-old boy in Adelaide climbing up a 1.45 metre-high pool gate an unlocking it in just 21 seconds was posted online. Mother-of-four Wendy Atkinson shared the footage to show parents their pools were not as safe as they thought and to keep closer eye on their kids. 'You wanna (sic) know how drownings occur, this is how. I refuse to have another child drown before every parent has had a chance for my beautiful two-year-old son to educate them,' she wrote. One-year-old girl Aria Dunn tragically drowned in a backyard swimming pool in Sydney's southwest Two-year-old Alex Grove died in hospital hours after being pulled unconscious from a backyard inflatable pool Pool safety laws were strengthened two years ago to improve swimming pool barriers to minimise the risk of child drownings. But it stopped short of mandating random inspections so few councils do them, and most only take a look if a homeowner requests. Some like Blacktown use Google Maps to spot backyard pools and employ a team of five full time inspectors to knock on doors and charge families $150 to check each pool. After all these deaths, chilling footage of a two-year-old boy in Adelaide climbing up a 1.45 metre-high pool gate an unlocking it in just 21 seconds was posted online The strategy, lauded by Mayor Stephen Bali although he'd like to charge a pool levy, inspected 18,000 pools last year and 90 per cent of them failed. In contrast, Liverpool council inspected just 160 pools in the same year as it does not do random checks. The Royal Life Saving National Drowning Report 2016 recorded 83 child private swimming pool drownings in 2002 to 2015. It said in 59 per cent of cases the children were left completely unsupervised. Hospital officials say a student wounded in a school shooting is still listed in critical condition, but is stable. Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus didn't release any other information Saturday on 16-year-old Logan Cole. Cole asked family members to pray for his alleged shooter. Police have said he was a random victim of 17-year-old senior Ely Ray Serna, who wielded a shotgun Friday morning at West Liberty High School. Scroll down for video Logan Cole, 16, was shot multiple times at the West Liberty Salem High School Ely Ray Serna stands accused of using a Mossberg Model 500 12-gauge shotgun to shoot two students at West Liberty Salem High School Logan's father, Ryan Cole, wrote on Facebook that his son was released from the hospital's Intensive Care Unit Saturday night, the Journal-News reported. He added that his son has 70 to 80 shotgun pellets in his body, will need a neck and back brace for months and has lung damage. Nonetheless, family members say one of the first things Logan asked when he awoke in hospital was that his family pray for the alleged gunman. Serna faces a preliminary assault charge and an initial hearing is scheduled for Monday. Prosecutors are seeking to charge Serna as an adult for numerous charges including attempted murder, felonious assault, improper discharge of a firearm, inducing panic and illegal conveyance of a deadly weapon in a school. Serna stands accused of using a Mossberg Model 500 12-gauge shotgun to shoot two students at West Liberty Salem High School, Champaign County Prosecutor Kevin Talebi said. Prosecutors seek to charge Ely Ray Serna, 17, as an adult for multiple charges including attempted murder and felonious assault Cole was shot multiple times at the school in Salem Township as Serna allegedly opened fire in the hallways on Friday morning, the Springfield News Sun reported. Another unidentified student was struck but sustained a non life-threatening injury, WHIO reported. Serna is in custody after Cole was shot Friday morning at West Liberty-Salem High School in West Liberty. Pictured: Parents picking up their children Students said they heard gunshots break out on the K-12 school campus about 50 miles outside of Columbus just as classes began on Friday morning. Staff members at the school restrained Serna and minimized the number of victims until deputies arrived at the scene, according to 10TV. Cole was not the intended target of the shooting, which was meant to harm more people, Champaign County Sheriff Matthew Melvin said. Students said they heard gunshots break out on the campus on the K-12 school campus just as classes began on Friday morning Cole remains in the hospital in critical but stable condition. Serna was taken into custody without incident. Both were students at the school. Pictured: An account of the crime scene uploaded to Snapchat Courtesy WHIO Cole's family released a statement that solicited prayers for Cole, as well as the alleged gunman and his family. It read: ' We are thankful for the Lords protective hand on our son. We are also grateful for the outpouring of support from our family, friends, and community. 'We would like to ask for continued prayers for Logan. Also, wed like to encourage prayer for the community, the other student, and his family. 'We are certain they have been deeply hurt as well. We are confident that God has a purpose and plan through this tragedy.' Cole was not the intended target of the shooting, which was meant to harm more people, Champaign County Sheriff Matthew Melvin said. Pictured, deputies giving a press conference The school was on lockdown for several hours and students were transported on buses to the Lions Club Ball Park about three miles away, where they were picked up by friends and family. A student, Avery Seymour, told WDNT, she heard gun shots but thought it was noise from nearby construction. Bloody footprints in a Calgary, Canada home may hold the key to revealing what happened to a five-year-old boy and his grandparents who disappeared in 2014, a court heard Friday. Douglas Garland, 56, is charged with the murder of Nathan O'Brien and his grandparents Alvin and Kathy Liknes after they vanished on June 29, 2014, leaving behind a blood-soaked bedroom. Throughout the house were bloody bootprints - in a boot size the same as Garland's - the court heard during the first week of Garland's trial, according toGlobal News. That was just one small part of a litany of evidence against Garland that emerged in court - including saws and meat hooks covered in DNA, and a burn barrel containing a tiny tooth. Murdered: Kathy Liknes (left) and her grandson, Nathan O'Brien (right) were murdered in July 2014 and their bodies disposed of on a nearby farm in Calgary, Canada, local police allege Trial: Douglas Garland (left) is accused of killing Nathan, Kathy and her husband, Alvin (right). Last week the prosecution said at the start of his trial he killed them over an old business beef Jennifer O'Brien had left her son with her mother and stepfather on the night of June 29, 2014, after helping them with an estate sale. When she returned to their house the next day, she found all three missing and their bedroom, hall and kitchen awash with blood. Garland, who has convictions for drug manufacturing, is accused of taking the three to his parents' farm, before murdering them there and disposing of their bodies. Police say they found the boy's DNA on a saw along with Alvin's, as well as Kathy's DNA on meat hooks, and a tiny tooth in a burn barrel. On Friday the court heard how Sgt Lynn Gallen, a forensic investigator with 4,000 cases to her name, had noticed there was 'something different about the footprints in this particular case. 'The footwear impressions that we were seeing appeared to be in blood,' she said. Photographs of the prints were sent to a police database which came back with three possible types shoes, including a size 13 Dr Scholls Delta 2. When police raided Garland's home, the court heard, they found a pile of shoeboxes - including one for a pair of size 13W Delta 2s. The prints on the floor were then matched to a pair of Delta 2s bought by police - though they admitted that they never found any Delta 2s on the property. Evidence: Bloody prints were found in the home (this one was in the garage). Police matched them to size 13 Dr Scholls boots. An empty box of those boots was found at Garland's home Found: Police found the box for the Dr Scholls boots (yellow box at top of pile under '83' police evidence marker) in Garland's home, though they didn't find the boots themselves Some of the footprints were found in the kitchen; others were found in the garage, the National Post reported. But the most chilling of all was found in the bedroom, on a bedsheet - consistent, Gallen told prosecutor Vicki Faulkner, with 'somebody standing on the bed or putting a shoe on the bed'. That same bed was splattered with blood, she said. Garland was arrested two weeks after the disappearances, at a farm owned by his parents; the same property that, police said, he had once used to manufacture drugs. It was reported at the time that he and Alvin Liknes - who are related through Garland's sister's comnon-law marriage - had worked on a pump patent together years before, until Liknes fired him with pay. Prosecutors allege that deal had soured in Garland until he was driven to murder. He didn't expect Nathan to be at the Likneses' home when he broke in, they said. The defense said on Friday that the Likneses had helped out on the farm in 2007 - possibly to establish a reason for their DNA being found at the farm. However, that would do little to explain why Kathy Liknes' DNA was found on meat hooks there, or Nathan and Alvin Liknes' DNA was found on a saw. Gory: This is the gory crime scene found by Nathan's mom when she went to pick him up the following morning. DNA of all three victims was also found at Garland's parents' farm Earlier, on Monday, Nathan's mom, Jennifer, had told the court how she arrived at her mom's home to find the horrific crime scene. 'I saw pools of blood and hand marks of blood on the wall in front of me, so I thought something was really wrong here,' she said. 'Something has happened here. Something really bad has happened here.' She said the police had told her to lock herself in her car until they arrived. When they did, they took her shoes, which had blood and hair - which she believed to be Nathan's - on the soles. The court also heard that over the days that followed, police combed nearby properties, including Garland's parents' farm. There, they said, they found a still-smoldering burn barrel containing bones and a tooth. They also found burned flesh nearby, and the hooks and saw with the family's DNA on them. In one of the outbuildings was a bag containing handcuffs, a dagger and a leather baton, police added. Multiple guns and knives were also found on the property. Horror: Nathan's mom, Jennifer (pictured in 2014 with husband Rod) found the grisly scene. She held out hope that the three would be found, but they had vanished Garland's criminal history dates back to 1992 when police raided his parent's farm on suspicion he was producing drugs. They found ingredients to make crystal meth, but no final product. Drug charges were filed but Garland skipped town and lived on the run for seven years. He was discovered in 1999 living in British Columbia under the name of the dead teenager, and later served 39 months jail after being convicted of drugs charges. Garland had used a fake identity - that of Matthew Hartley, a teenager who had died in a car crash in 1980 - to gain employment as a chemical mixer, but that ended in 1997 after a promotion led to him suffering a nervous breakdown. He then filed for unemployment benefits under the assumed name, but that was denied after his true identity was revealed. Garland, who also dropped out of medical following a nervous breakdown, then sued in the federal tax court and won. His last encounter with the law prior to being arrested for the murder of Nathan and the Likneses was a traffic offence in 2009. Gambia's capital on Sunday was awaiting the arrival of the country's new leader and an era of democracy, hours after the authoritarian ruler of 22 years flew into exile with an extraordinary set of assurances from the international community. Even as new President Adama Barrow remained in neighboring Senegal awaiting a triumphant return after a whirlwind political crisis sparked by his December election win, former leader Yahya Jammeh appeared to be guaranteed the right to come home. A joint declaration issued shortly after Jammeh left by the United Nations, African Union and West African regional bloc ECOWAS said the bodies will work with Barrow's government to make sure Jammeh, his family and his close associates are not the target of punishment. Gambian soldiers leave a ferry that also brought back people returning to the city in Banjul, Gambia. Gambia's capital on Sunday was awaiting the arrival of Adama Barrow as the country's new leader, hours after the authoritarian ruler of 22-years Yahya Jammeh fly into exile Some of the 45,000 people who had fled the tiny country during political crisis have begun to return Former president Yahya Jammeh (left) had pledged to rule Gambia for a billion years, until he lost the presidential election to former Argos worker, Adama Barrow (right), from north London But a top Barrow adviser, Mai Ahmad Fatty, said the declaration didn't have the new leader's approval. 'I was very shocked to learn from Facebook that the document we had rejected was already posted at the websites of both ECOWAS and the AU,' he said Sunday. 'Gambia will neither respect nor honor what was contained in that joint declaration. We don't consider it legally binding on us.' Although the declaration was written to provide Jammeh with maximum protection, 'it doesn't give him an amnesty, and under international law in fact you can't amnesty certain crimes like torture and massive or systematic political killings', international rights lawyer Reed Brody said in an email. 'Depending where Jammeh ends up, though, the real obstacles to holding him accountable will be political,' Brody wrote. The unpredictable Jammeh, known for startling declarations like his claim that bananas and herbal rubs could cure AIDS, flew off late Saturday with a wave as supporters and soldiers wept. He was last seen flying toward Equatorial Guinea, which is not a state party to the International Criminal Court. With Jammeh gone, a country that had waited in silence during the standoff sprang back to life. Shops and restaurants opened, music played and people danced in the streets A ferry filled with returnees from Barra arrived at Banjul Port a day after Jammeh departed from the capital Returnees carrying suitcases and other belongings were met by aid workers when they arrived off the ferry The nation of 1.9million, which promotes itself to overseas tourists as 'the Smiling Coast of Africa', has been a major source of migrants heading north toward Europe because of the situation at home Jammeh's dramatic about-face on his election loss to Barrow, at first conceding and then challenging the vote, appeared to be the final straw for the international community, which had been alarmed by his moves in recent years to declare an Islamic republic, leave the Commonwealth and leave the ICC. With global backing, Barrow was sworn in Thursday at Gambia's embassy in Senegal for his safety, hours after Jammeh's mandate expired at midnight. Meanwhile, Jammeh was abandoned by his defense chief and many Cabinet members. A regional military force that had been poised to oust Jammeh if last-minute diplomatic efforts failed entered Gambia shortly after his departure and was securing the country and its capital, Banjul, ahead of Barrow's arrival. 'President Barrow would like to leave (Senegal) as soon as possible. One can't leave the country open,' Marcel Alain de Souza, chairman of the regional bloc, told reporters. But part of Gambia's security forces needed to be 'immobilized', he said, and he confirmed that Jammeh had had mercenaries by his side during the standoff. De Souza also revealed details of the negotiations before Jammeh's departure. In response to his insistence on 'a sort of amnesty' for him and his entourage, the West African regional body attempted to have Gambia's national assembly vote on an amnesty law. Former Gambian president Yahya Jammeh boards a plane at the airport as he flees into exile on Saturday Jammeh had ruled the tiny country since 1994 and had pledged to rule The Gambia for a billion years A security officer of former president cries as he arrives at the airport before flying into exile from Gambia 'Sadly, we couldn't reach a quorum. The deputies had fled,' de Souza said. 'Most were in their villages. The others were in Dakar,' Senegal's capital. Jammeh also wanted to stay in his home village in Gambia, but regional heads of state preferred that 'for the moment' he leave the country, de Souza said. With Jammeh gone, a country that had waited in silence during the standoff sprang back to life. Shops and restaurants opened, music played and people danced in the streets. As he waited for the arrival of the regional force in Banjul, Gambia defense chief Ousmane Badjie said the military welcomed it 'wholeheartedly'. With proper orders, he said, he would open the doors to the notorious prisons where rights groups say many who have disappeared over the years may be kept. 'We are going to show Barrow we are really armed forces with a difference, I swear to God,' Badjie said. 'I have the Quran with me.' Some of the 45,000 people who had fled the tiny country during the crisis began to return. People in Gambia were pictured dancing in the streets after hearing that the former president had left the country A driver celebrates after former leader Yahya Jammeh boarded a plane leaving the country he had ruled for 22 years There had been a poltiical crisis when Jammeh refused to step down and hand power to newly-elected Adama Barrow The nation of 1.9million, which promotes itself to overseas tourists as 'the Smiling Coast of Africa', has been a major source of migrants heading north toward Europe because of the situation at home. 'I think it will be safer now,' said 20-year-old Kaddy Saidy, who was returning to Banjul with her three young children. Barrow, who has promised to reverse many of Jammeh's actions, told The Associated Press on Saturday that at he will launch a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate the alleged human rights abuses of Jammeh's regime. 'After 22 years of fear, Gambians now have a unique opportunity to become a model for human rights in West Africa, in which no one need to be afraid to stand up or speak out,' Amnesty International's deputy director for West and Central Africa, Steve Cockburn, said in a statement Sunday. Meanwhile, flights to the UK from the crisis-stricken country were suspended by British tour operators earlier this week, the Foreign Office said. All package holiday tourists have now left the country, Thomas Cook confirmed,but the tour operator said those with flight-only bookings could be left stranded - as flights to the region have been suspended. Coalition soldiers patrol the main street of Karang, Senegal, near the border with The Gambia. Former president Yahya Jammeh had said he would step down after 22 years of power to keep peace in his country or face a military intervention Jammeh appeared on state television saying he had decided to 'relinquish the mantle of leadership' in order to stop The Gambia from descending into civil war Holidaymakers were forced into a chaotic exodus earlier this week as the country teetered on the brink of military conflict following post-election unrest. Tourists in the country were warned to leave earlier this week in case of any impeding civil-war. Around 1,000 sun-seekers on Thomas Cook packages were ordered to pack their bags and head for the airport after the Foreign Office issued an alert late on Tuesday. All package holiday tourists have now returned to the UK before air travel was halted, but some passengers who travelled independently could remain, Thomas Cook said. Thomas Cook said 2,524 British travellers left Gambia on 16 flights between Wednesday and Friday, 'accounting for all customers who wanted to leave the country'. The final flight out of Banjul airport was at 7pm on Friday night, it added. On Wednesday, Thomas Cook dispatched extra staff to Gambia and began extra repatriation flights, saying there were some 3,500 customers in the country. The Church of England, led by the Archbishop of Canterbury (pictured), is considering reform on attitudes to gay clergy The Church of England is considering plans to turn a blind eye to the sex lives of gay clergy in bid to avert a growing rift over its treatment of homosexuality. Under the current system, gay members of the clergy are asked to be celibate, change jobs or seek a promotion to become a bishop when they are ordained. The House of Bishops will tomorrow discuss proposals to overhaul the system so homosexuals will not be asked about their private lives when they join the church. But Ben Bradshaw, a Labour MP who is in a civil partnership, criticised the policy for shrouding homosexuality in secrecy as clergy would still be expected to be celibate. He told the Sunday Times: 'It is progress for them to stop asking the celibacy question but it still leaves the Church of England policy based essentially on dishonesty and encouraging its clergy to lie.' The move follows three years of debate on homosexuality within the church, since same-sex marriage became legal and the first ceremony in March 2014. The church, led by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, still refuses to perform gay marriages, leading to growing rifts within the church. The new proposal comes just a few months after the church alleged that gay clerics had sparked a 'witch hunt' by alleging that 11 bishops were gay in September. It seemed to be a move from gay clerics to put pressure on more than 100 bishops who met secretly later that month to discuss attitudes to homosexuality. Also in September, the suffragan or junior Bishop of Grantham revealed he was gay and in a celibate same-sex relationship in a newspaper interview. It is proposed that gay clergy will not be asked about their sex life, unlike the current system, and the recommendations will be put before the Synod (pictured in 2012) in February A group of 14 married gay and lesbian clergy from pressure group Changing Attitudes also called for a relaxation of CofE rules on gay relationships. The Synod, the church's parliament of lay members, had also discussed the issue in July and debate continues to rage on within the church. The recommendations put forward by the bishops when they meet tomorrow will then be considered by the Synod in February. Mr Bradshaw suggested that if the church does not usher in equality then the Government should intervene as it did in 2012 when the Synod refused to allow women to become bishops. Some members of the clergy have also hinted at a campaign of civil disobedience if the church does not move forward. One example could be carrying out celebrations for marriages performed elsewhere if they are not allowed to marry same-sex couples themselves. A total of 16 people have died following devastating storms and tornadoes in Georgia and Mississippi, part of the severe weather wreaking havoc across the southeast. In addition to the 12 dead and at least 23 people injured in southern Georgia, four people died after a tornado tore through hundreds of homes in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on Saturday. The deadly weather is now headed towards Florida, officials say. Scroll down for video A total of 16 people have died following devastating storms in Georgia (pictured) and tornadoes in Mississippi, part of the severe weather wreaking havoc across the southeast over the weekend The deadly storms ripping across the southeast have claimed over a dozen lives, and is now headed towards Florida, officials say. The storm in Mississippi (pictured) killed four on Saturday Jeff Bullard sits in what used to be the foyer of his home as his daughter, Jenny Bullard (left) looks through debris at their Georgia home that was damaged by a tornado There have been 30 preliminary reports of tornadoes this weekend, with 11 in Georgia. This map shows where the reports of tornadoes have been made over the weekend The governor of Georgia has declared a state of emergency in seven counties that have suffered deaths, injuries and severe damage from weekend storms. Gov. Nathan Deal's office said Sunday the emergency declaration includes Brooks, Cook and Berrien counties where 12 people have been confirmed dead, all along the Florida-Georgia line. At least another 23 people were injured. In southeast Georgia there are rare 'high risk' notices of severe weather, with these locations possibly experiencing stronger, longer track tornadoes. National Weather Service said northern Florida and bits of Alabama could face 'intense' tornadoes, winds and large hail. The deadly weather is now headed towards Florida, officials say. This map shows several cities in north Florida and surrounding areas that are under tornado watches for Sunday The worst may be yet to come as another round of 'high risk' severe weather, including more potential tornadoes, heads for the region on Sunday. This map shows what areas in the region are expecting severe weather for Sunday Jenny Bullard (pictured) said she and her parents were fortunate to escape with their lives as a storm destroyed their brick house in Cook County, Georgia on Sunday In total, seven people were confirmed dead after an 'apparent tornado leveled' roughly 20 mobile homes near Adel, Georgia, in Cook County, the county coroner Tim Purvis said. He added that emergency responders were searching for victims still trapped. Jenny Bullard said she and her parents were fortunate to escape with their lives as a storm destroyed their brick house in Cook County. The 19-year-old Bullard says a wall and a door fell on her, but she managed to reach her father and help free him from a pile of debris. They escaped with her mother through a hole in the wall of what had been a home office. The South Georgia Motorsports Park was also badly damaged - a grandstand was ripped apart, according to Fox News. Two people were killed after their mobile home was struck by a tornado and moved nearly 100 yards onto a Georgia highway, according to Brooks County Coroner Michael Miller. He added to Fox News: 'I don't know if it rolled or was lifted, but it blocked the entire highway.' A total of 16 people have died following devastating storms in Georgia (pictured) and tornadoes in Mississippi, part of the severe weather wreaking havoc across the southeast over the weekend At least five people were confirmed dead in Adel, Georgia (pictured). A county corner said an 'apparent tornado leveled' roughly 20 mobile homes near Adel A map shows cities in the weather danger zone for Sunday, which include Albany, Savannah and Valdosta in Georgia along with Tallahassee and Jacksonville in Florida President Trump made his condolences to the 'great people' of Georgia affected by the tornadoes to the press today from the White House. He said: 'I want to start off by telling you I just spoke with Governor Nathan Deal of Georgia, great state, great people. 'Florida affected, Alabama affected by the tornadoes, and just expressed our sincere condolences for the lives taken.' The deaths in Georgia's storms were related to severe weather, but an official for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency could not specify whether tornadoes were the cause of the deaths. Margarita Morales, carries her possessions out of a house she shared with two other people after a tornado destroyed the residence in Hattiesburg, Mississippi on Saturday Other officials investigating have credited the deaths and wreckage to an 'apparent' tornado. Over the course of the weekend there have been 30 preliminary reports of tornadoes in the South, with at least 11 reported in Georgia alone. The worst may be yet to come as another round of 'high risk' severe weather, including potential tornadoes, heads for the region on Sunday. The National Weather Service in Jacksonville, Florida, has issued tornado warnings for counties in southeastern Georgia and a severe thunderstorm warning for the Florida panhandle. Cities in this danger zone include Albany, Savannah and Valdosta in Georgia along with Tallahassee and Jacksonville in Florida, reports the Weather Channel. This map details where there are issues of severe storm alerts for Sunday, with a majority in the South Four people died and hundreds of homes were destroyed after a tornado ripped through Hattiesburg, Mississippi (pictured), on Saturday morning The Hattiesburg, Mississippi, tornado (pictured) was part of a wall of stormy weather traveling across the region, bringing with it rain and unstable conditions The devastating storm in Mississippi (pictured) caused 'massive damage' and flipped cars over, tore apart homes and ripped trees from their roots. Thousands of homes were left without power A tornado in Hattiesburg, Mississippi killed four people, including a 20-year-old, after it went through a 25-mile path, early on Saturday morning. The Forrest County coroner identified the dead as Earnest Perkins, 58; Cleveland Madison, 20; David Wayne McCoy, 47 and Simona Cox, 72. The tornado had winds above 136 mph and a team of more than 40 firefighters were sent door-to-door to search for the dead and injured. The southeastern United States has been pounded by storms, high winds and unstable weather over the weekend. Pictured: Mayor Johnny DuPree of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, has signed an emergency declaration for the city, which reported 'significant injuries' and structural damage after the twister blew through the city and surrounding area Pictured: Hattiesburg city officials originally confirmed via Twitter that four people had died and said a team of more than 40 firefighters were going door-to-door to search for the dead and injured Pictured: Murray said that among structures damaged was a Hattiesburg fire station. He says the city does not yet have an estimate on how many buildings are damaged or destroyed A sexy New York cop catches crooks by day and shows off her curves by night working a a lingerie model. Samantha Sepulveda is an officer in Freeport, Long Island, according to a New York government website, making $143,000 last year. But when she's not heating the beat, she's hitting the beach to show off her bikini-clad body for her Instagram account which has got more than 110,000 followers. Scroll down for video Samantha Sepulveda (left in uniform, and right, out of it) is an officer in Freeport, Long Island but also moonlights as a lingerie model When she's not heating the beat, she's hitting the beach to show off her bikini-clad body for her Instagram account which has got more than 110,000 followers She claims she is so attractive, she doesn't even need to grapple with suspects; they come along willingly. 'I talk men into handcuffs all the time because they don't want to fight me,' she told The New York Post. 'You can arrest me any time!' is another favorite joke she hears at crime scenes. Sepulveda believes that being a female cop means she can deal with tense stand-offs better than the guys. She claims she is so attractive, she doesn't even need to grapple with suspects; they come along willingly The selfie-loving cop has since traveled the world modeling underwear in the UK and Spain, to Australia and Nicaragua Sepulveda, 32, became a cop in 2010. Three years later a friend invited her to model in a runway fashion show for their lingerie company 'With a female officer, their guard is lowered. There's less aggression and the situation is defused,' she said. In one example, she claims she was patrolling her small town when a man, who had beaten his wife and threatened to kill cops running after him, was so overwhelmed by her beauty, he froze. He even asked her out on a date as she arrested him, according to Sepulveda. Sepulveda, 32, became a cop in 2010. Three years later a friend invited her to model in a runway fashion show for their lingerie company. The selfie-loving cop has since traveled the world modeling underwear in the UK and Spain, to Australia and Nicaragua. Meanwhile, Sepulveda, who earned an MBA in finance before joining the force, says she tries to keep it professional at work The Dominican Republic-born cop says she goes make-up free and ties back her hair when in uniform While she admits her raunchy campaigns have raised some eyebrows, she insists her sexy shots 'celebrate a woman's body.' She added that many of her male cop colleagues moonlighted as plumbers or electricians, but if anyone had a problem with her job, she had one piece of advice. 'If people find the (photos) offensive, close your eyes!' Meanwhile, Sepulveda says she tries to keep it professional at work. The Dominican Republic-born cop, who earned an MBA in finance before joining the force, says she goes make-up free and ties back her hair when in uniform. Swedish detectives are investigating allegations that a woman was gang-raped in an attack that was broadcast on Facebook Live. A witness who watched the incident online said she saw the victim being stripped and then sexually assaulted by several armed men and said the attack only ended several hours later when police arrived and switched off the webcam. The Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet said the assault took place in a flat in the town of Uppsala, north of Stockholm, on Saturday night and three people had been arrested. Three men were arrested in Uppsala (pictured) in Sweden after the incident on Saturday night Police were alerted by Josefine Lundgren, 21, who looked on in horror as she watched the live stream on a closed Facebook group. She told Sweden's Expressen newspaper: 'He pulled her clothes off and lay on top of her.' Ms Lundgren said she saw uniformed police arrive at the scene and arrest the culprits. Another online witness told the paper: 'At first I thought it was a poorly orchestrated joke.' He said: 'The first thing you think is "how can you do such a thing to a girl?" And how can you do it live? It is totally sick.' The incident will be more bad publicity for Facebook Live, following the online torture of a man with learning difficulties in Chicago earlier this month The apartment is being examined by forensic scientists, three men are being questioned and the woman is thought to be recovering in hospital. In June last year gang member Antonio Perkins, 28, unwittingly live streamed his own death on Facebook after he was shot dead in Chicago while using the real time video app. And earlier this month four black people were charged with a hate crime after a white man with learning difficulties was tortured on Facebook Live. The gang shouted: 'F*** Trump' and 'F*** white people' during the attack, also in Chicago. Kay Heggestad wrote her own obituary before dying of cancer on January 13 A doctor wrote her own joke-filled obituary for her family to publish after she lost her battle with cancer last week. Kay Ann Heggestad, 72, died on January 13 after a two-year battle with bone marrow cancer. In her obituary, the grandmother from Madison, Wisconsin, joked about her 'wimpy' health battle, describing herself as a 'whiner' who was 'always right'. She also told friends not to grieve her death, morbidly writing: 'It will not bring me back, just makes you feel bad' and insisted to have never dyed her hair - 'just ask her hairdresser'. Dr Heggestad, a beloved family practice doctor, left the obituary on her computer with instructions for her family to submit it to a local newspaper in the event of her death. Her obedient widower Paul Wertsch told DailyMail.com: 'She loved to make people laugh' and wanted her death to be no different. 'Kay Ann Heggestad, age 72, bought the farm, is no more, has ceased to be, left this world, is bereft of life, gave up the ghost, kicked the bucket, murio, c'est fini,' Dr. Heggestad said of herself. 'She died on Friday, Jan. 13, 2017, after a wimpy non-battle with multiple myeloma, a nasty bone marrow cancer, after almost two years to the date of diagnosis. 'No one should say she fought a courageous battle, because she did not! Unlike most folks, she complained all the way. What a whiner!' 'Many said she did not look "that old" and no, she did not dye her hair when she had some, except for occasional highlights. You can ask Jodi, her hairdresser,' it continued. Between jokes and nostalgic reflections of her shining medical career were heartwarming tributes to her family. The 72-year-old's husband, Dr Paul Wertsch, said she 'loved making people laugh' in life and wanted her death to be no different Dr Heggestad told friends 'not to grieve' for her because it 'wouldn't bring her back' 'Paul was "the best husband" in the world. Really. She is also survived by an excellent sister, sister-in-law, and by dozens of uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews all over the U.S. and in Norway; and some out-of-this-world friends who supported her through the final months. 'If she started to name them, this obit would triple in length you know who you are.' Giving instructions to her loved ones about her death, Dr Heggestad continued: 'She had a great life and wants people to not grieve. (In case anyone would). Grieving won't bring her back so what is the point just makes you feel bad. And, she had a T-shirt that said, "I know what is right for everyone." She was right.' Her husband, who is also a doctor, said the family knew she had been working on the obituary throughout her battle and that it was typical of his wife's good nature. 'She never kept anything much a secret,' he told DailyMail.com on Sunday. Dr. Heggestad left an envelope for the family to open in the event of her death which included instructions for the obituary. Dr Heggestad's husband submitted his own obituary where he eulogized her as a 'world changer' 'She was a very organized person. She loved to make people laugh. That was the great thing about her, one of. 'She was also very competitive. She had a friend who suffered leukemia and they joked about who would have the funnier obituary'. Dr. Wertsch submitted his own obituary with help from the rest of the family to share 'the bits she'd left out'. 'Kay Ann Heggestad was a wonderful wife, a superb mother, a one-of-a-kind, amazing family doctor, and, truly, a world changer. 'She used her ferocious determination to make the world a better place and to do it with humor. That is definitely a trait she has inspired in all of her surrounding family. 'The words of love and respect we could give this woman would fill a library of books. She influenced every person she met in a different and remarkable way. She will be missed deeply,' it read. It also honored her activism work for the LGBT community which she began campaigning on behalf of after discovering her son was gay and told how she had fought sexism to become a doctor. A funeral was held for Dr. Heggestad on January 18 in her hometown. A man who shot and critically wounded another person at a demonstration at the University of Washington against a far-right blogger claims he opened fire in self-defense. The suspected gunman, who turned himself in to police, said he believed the 34-year-old who was shot was a white supremacist who earlier attacked him outside the university's Kane Hall. Milo Yiannopoulos, a leading figure in the alt-right movement - which has been linked to white supremacy and racism, was due to speak inside the hall. Scroll down for video A man who shot and critically wounded another person at a demonstration at the University of Washington against a far-right blogger claims he opened fire in self-defense. Pictured is the man who was shot The injured man remains at Harborview Medical Center and is in a critical condition after undergoing surgery, the Seattle Times reports. A photograph taken during the protest shows the 34-year-old who was shot being led away from the area by three people as blood streamed down the side of his face. The identity of the suspected shooter has not been released, however police initially said he was an Asian male in his fifties, according to the New York Daily News. Friends of the man who was shot say he is not a white supremacist, and that he has a tattoo of a swastika that had been 'crossed out'. Earlier, hundreds of protesters clashed on the Seattle campus, with police saying some people had been seen hurling bricks and blue paint. Hundreds of people gathered at the University of Washington on Saturday night - where right-wing troll Milo Yiannopoulos was due to speak Seattle Police officers dressed in protective gear stand outside Kane Hall on the University of Washington campus during Saturday night's protest Fights broke out between Yiannopoulos' supporters and protesters after people tried to block the door to the hall, prompting police to respond in riot gear. Yiannopoulos was supposed to begin his talk at 7pm, but the event was pushed back by an hour. The 32-year-old troll was permanently banned from Twitter last year after 'Ghostbusters' actor Leslie Jones reported being the victim of an onslaught of racist abuse on the platform. Hundreds had rallied against a talk by far-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos. The event (pictured) was meant to start at 7 pm but was delayed by an hour A protester holds a sign that reads 'Make Fascists Afraid Again!' during a demonstration in front of Kane Hall on the University of Washington campus Officers responded to the campus (pictured) Friday night to remove a man with a suspected gunshot wound to the abdomen. Anti-Trump protesters had joined the rally The commentator, who has been seen as a spokesperson for the alt-right and has spoken against feminism and Islam, was seen as the instigator of the hateful messages. Yiannopoulos reacted to the shooting on Facebook and offered his prayers to the victim. However, he did not stop his speech after learning of the shooting, instead saying: 'If I stopped my event now, we are sending a clear message to these people that they can stop our events by killing people.' The campus' Red Square had been the scene of a tense rally as protesters tried to block the doors to Yiannopoulos' talk. Pictured, officials stand near an ambulance at the protest A protester is pictured waiting for treatment after being pepper-sprayed by police at the University of Washington where people rallied against Yiannopoulos Theresa May will tell Donald Trump he must recognise the value of Nato when she becomes the first world leader to meet the new US President on Friday. She vowed to press the US President to commit to continued US support for the mutual defence alliance. In discussions with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg this afternoon, the Prime Minister referred to the alliance as 'the bulwark of our defence' and that it needed to 'evolve to counter the biggest threats of the day'. President Trump has previously branded Nato 'obsolete' and in a sign that he intends to keep to his 'America First' strategy one of his close advisers said today that the new US administration will pursue a radical shake-up of the organisation. Theresa May, pictured left on the Andrew Marr Show today, will tell Donald Trump, pictured right at the CIA yesterday, he must recognise the value of Nato when she becomes the first world leader to meet the new US President in the White House on Friday A spokesperson for No. 10 today said: 'The Prime Minister spoke to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg this afternoon. 'They discussed the continued importance of the Alliance as the bulwark of our defence, and agreed on the need for the Alliance to continue to evolve to be able to effectively counter the biggest threats of the day, in particular terrorism and cyber attacks. 'The Prime Minister said she would be taking these messages to Washington later this week where she is expected to discuss NATO with President Trump.' In the latest attack on Nato from Team Trump , Ted Malloch, tipped to be the next US ambassador to the EU, suggested there would be more 'burden sharing' in the military alliance. Asked about President Trump's stance on Nato now he has entered the White House, Mr Malloch told the BBC today: 'I think that the institutions will be recreated. 'Some of them may be taken down, there may be some new ones. 'I think Nato itself and certainly the defence secretary will have discussions with Donald Trump about how Nato can be reformed and reshaped and maybe there'll be more burden sharing. That's an important thing for Mr Trump.' But he insisted it 'doesn't mean we're moving out of Nato'. In the latest attack on Nato from Team Trump, Ted Malloch, pictured on BBC One's Sunday Politics programme suggested there would be more 'burden sharing' in the military alliance Mr Trump cast fresh doubt on Nato during his inauguration speech on Friday, pledging to follow an 'American first' foreign policy and hitting out at his predecessors in the White House for 'subsidising the armies of other countries while allowing for the sad depletion of our military'. But today Mrs May said she would confront Mr Trump on his opposition to Nato and urge him to make clear that America stands ready to defend the Baltic states in the event of Russian aggression. She will tell him that Britain is committed to spending a minimum of 2 per cent of national income on defence until at least the 2020 General Election and will pledge to press other Nato members to 'step up to the plate and pay their way'. Only five of the 28 Nato member states currently meets the 2 per cent spending target. Two of those are Britain and the US. Mrs May told the Andrew Marr Show today: 'I've spoken to him about Nato - Nato is very important, Nato has been the bulwark of our security here in Europe and we work together in Nato. 'We've both made the point before about contributions being made by countries, the United Kingdom is spending 2 per cent of its GDP on defence, I believe that's important.' Only five of the 28 Nato member states currently meets the 2 per cent spending target. Two of those are Britain and the US. Pictured, members of the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade participate in the NATO 'Spring Storm' military exercises on May 17, 2014 near Otepaa, Estonia She added: 'What is important is that we recognise the value of Nato, which he does, the value of Nato as an organisation that is helping us to defend Europe and defend the interests of all of those allies who are in Nato.' In his first interview with a UK newspaper last week Mr Trump said of Nato: '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 weren't paying what they're supposed to pay.' He went on: 'So we're supposed to protect countries but a lot of these countries aren't paying what they're supposed to be paying, which I think is very unfair to the US.' There were signs of compromise from Europe on Nato after Mr Trump's reassertion of his pledge to reform the organisation. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he was preapred to address Mr Trump's complaints, including 'fairer burden-sharing among allies'. He added: 'I look forward to working closely with President Trump to reinforce our Alliance, to ensure that we continue to respond to evolving challenges.' There were signs of compromise from Europe on Nato after Mr Trump's reassertion of his pledge to reform the organisation. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, pictured, said he was preapred to address Mr Trump's complaints, including 'fairer burden-sharing among allies' Mrs May also insisted she 'won't be afraid' to challenge Mr Trump's 'unacceptable' views on women. But the PM, who has publicly criticised the billionaire in the past, refused to say whether she would use Friday's meeting to raise her concerns and instead the focus of the talks in Washington will be on trade, Nato and Syria. She said she looks forward to welcoming Mr Trump to Britain 'sometime this year' but said invitations for state visits are decided by Buckingham Palace. Mrs May told the BBC: 'I will be talking to Donald Trump about the issues that we share - it's the special relationship that enables us to say when we think things are unacceptable.' 'Whenever there is something that I find unacceptable I won't be afraid to say that to President Trump,' she added. She insisted that being a female Prime Minister and the first foreign leader to meet Mr Trump since his inauguration will be the 'biggest statement' she can make about the role of women in the world. PM insists she 'won't be afraid' to challenge Trump's 'unacceptable' views on women Theresa May insisted today that she 'won't be afraid' to challenge Donald Trump's 'unacceptable' views on women during his presidency. But she refused to say whether she will use her first meeting with him on Friday to raise concerns and instead the the focus of the meeting in Washington will be on trade, Nato and Syria. The PM, who has publicly criticised the billionaire in the past, also hinted that Mr Trump could come to the UK later this year. She said she looks forward to welcoming thew President to Britain 'sometime this year' but said invitations for state visits are decided by Buckingham Palace. Theresa May has confirmed she will meet new US President Donald Trump for talks on Friday Mrs May told the BBC: 'I will be talking to Donald Trump about the issues that we share - it's the special relationship that enables us to say when we think things are unacceptable.' 'Whenever there is something that I find unacceptable I won't be afraid to say that to President Trump,' she added. She insisted that being a female Prime Minister and the first foreign leader to meet Mr Trump since his inauguration will be the 'biggest statement' she can make about the role of women in the world. Mrs May's vow to stand up for women's rights during the Trump presidency comes after a weekend in which hundreds of thousands of people around the world joined women's marches to protest against Mr Trump. An estimated 500,000 people joined the 'pink pussy hat' march in Washington and 100,000 marched in London yesterday. In October Mrs May hit out at revelations that Mr Trump had boasted that his fame allowed him to 'do anything' to women - such as 'grabbing them by the pussy'. She said his comments were 'unacceptable'. Mrs May also lashed out at Mr Trump over his pledge at the end of 2015 to ban Muslims from entering the US and branded him 'plain wrong' after he claimed police in London were afraid to go out and police the streets of London. Theresa May insisted that being a female Prime Minister and the first foreign leader to meet Mr Trump since his inauguration will be the 'biggest statement' she can make about the role of women in the world She told the Andrew Marr Show today: 'I have already said that some of the comments that Donald Trump has made in relation to women are unacceptable, some of those he himself has apologised for. 'When I sit down I think the biggest statement that will be made about the role of women is the fact that I will be there as a female Prime Minister, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, directly taking to him about the interests that we share.' The PM highlighted her 'track record' in defending the interests of women, including moves to tackle modern slavery and domestic violence while home secretary. She said she will use Friday's meeting with Mr Trump as an 'opportunity to talk about trade, world challenges, defeating terrorism and conflict in Syria'. The Prime Minister, who was the tenth world leader to be phoned by Mr Trump after his election, was due to meet him in February but will now fly out this week. The pair are expected to discuss a new deal for Britain as it prepares to exit the EU and Mr Trump hopes their co-operation will match the friendship between Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. It was revealed that Mr Trump refers to Mrs May as 'my new Maggie'. Mr Trump will also invite Mrs May to unveil a statue of Sir Winston Churchill which he has returned to the Oval Office after Barack Obama removed it. The PM has said she is 'confident' of striking a deal and has suggested the UK and US could even reduce barriers to trade before being able to sign a formal agreement after Brexit. She insisted Mr Trump was looking for 'early' talks on a UK-US free trade deal despite his 'America first' strategy sparking concerns that he would not be willing to reach an agreement. 'He and people around him have also spoken of the importance of a trade arrangement with the United Kingdom and that is something they are looking to talk to us about at an early stage, and I would expect to be able to talk to him about that alongside the other issues I will be discussing with him when I am in Washington,' she said. Mrs May has also spoken of reducing barriers to trade before a formal deal can be reached after Brexit, amid reports of potential moves to set up a 'passporting' system for transatlantic banking. One of the items said to be on the agenda is a possible 'passporting deal' which would allow British and American firms to set up and trade in each other's countries with minimum regulatory hurdles. And Mrs May defended Mr Trump's widely criticised 'America first' message: 'If you think about it, any leader, any government, as we do here in the United Kingdom when we look at any issue, we ensure that we're putting the UK's interests and the interests of British people first.' A judge has jailed a mother-of-two who recorded a rape victim giving evidence against her paedophile boyfriend before he was jailed for raping two underage girls. Patrice Brown made a 12-minute recording while her boyfriend Dwayne Kesto was on trial for the historic rapes of two young girls, after which he was jailed for 16 years. She claimed the camera on her iPhone had malfunctioned after she dropped it in a toilet and started automatically while she sat down during the trial. The girlfriend of a convicted paedophile rapist who recorded one of his victims giving evidence has been jailed for contempt at Wolverhampton Crown Court (pictured) But the judge brushed off the story as a falsehood and made an example of the 28-year-old student, who was convicted of Contempt of Court in December. Sentencing Brown on Friday to three months in jail, the judge told her 'a message needed to go out to the public' that recording witnesses 'cannot happen'. Judge James Burbidge QC said: 'It wasn't an accident, you were doing it deliberately.' He added: 'If people come to court prepared to give evidence, whether vulnerable or not, and believe what they say is being recorded by a member of the perpetrator's family - and might be used elsewhere - that would undermine the system of justice. Judge James Burbidge QC (pictured) jailed Brown for three months at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Friday The Contempt of Court Act bans making a recording in court without permission, a rule he said was crucial for protecting witnesses. The mother-of-two, pleaded with the judge not to send her to jail claiming it was 'ridiculous' at Wolverhampton Crown Court. But Judge James Burbidge QC said the matter was so serious he had been left no choice but to put her behind bars as she continued to deny deliberately filming the footage. The judge told her: 'A message needs to go out to the public, that that frankly cannot happen.' Brown did not go quietly and said to the judge: 'I was only there to seek justice myself. I haven't made any arrangements for the care of my kids.' Judge Burbidge replied he had kept the sentence 'as short as reasonably possible' and ordered her taken down. There was no evidence suggesting Brown had shared the footage but she had been keeping her boyfriend's mother, then living in Jamaica, updated about the trial. Her boyfriend Kesto, from Harborne, Birmingham, was jailed for 16 years at the same court in August 2016 after being convicted of historic rapes against two young girls. She made a 12-minute recording during the trial, which she claims was an accident, but the judge dismissed her story. Stock image Brown had visited court to support her partner throughout his trial, sitting in the public gallery. Suspicions were raised that illicit recording was taking place on the second day of proceedings and Brown was arrested two days later on July 14 2016. Police examined Brown's phone and found the video clip as well as audio clips discussing the trial - which had been sent to Kesto's mother via WhatsApp. Brown, also from Birmingham, said her phone had not been working properly after suffering water damage. She also claimed to have been 'set up' after her arrest, part-way through her lover's trial. Advertisement Incredible images capture reality of life on a dirt bike in New York City as police vow to crackdown on the 'menace.' David Delgado, 40, a Bronx photographer, has noticed a growing number of bikers gathering in his borough for the past seven years. But unlike the city's weekend riders - the city boys and bankers who just want a taste of the road on the back of a $30,000 Harley - the dirt bikers are underground. Incredible images capture reality of life on a dirt bike in New York City (packs of dirt bike riders gather in the Bronx for daring stunts) Unlike the city's weekend riders - the city boys and bankers who just want a taste of the road on the back of a $30,000 Harley - the dirt bikers are underground (Two riders take a break during a night ride out) 'Packs' have 'no regard for the law, no respect for police, and they really live it,' Delgado said (A member of Harlem Legends stands watch on top of his bike for cops) Packs of bikers can often be seen riding around the Bronx, flouting the law, performing dangerous stunts, and showing off for their friends 'They have no regard for the law, no respect for police, and they really live it,' Delgado told the New York Times. 'We used to get chased, but we still had licenses and insurance. These guys ride with no helmets, licenses, insurance, anything.' 'Packs' of bikers can often be seen riding around the Bronx, flouting the law, performing dangerous stunts, and showing off for their friends. 'The riders, who call their loose movement 'bike life,' also drive four-wheel all-terrain vehicles, and focus more on group solidarity than on competition. 'A guy gets killed and guys will say, 'That's bike life.' But 'bike life' is becoming increasingly difficult in the city. A pack of Bike Life riders take over a gas station to refuel before crossing the 145th street bridge into Harlem Young rider Little Peanut (center) poses for a picture among fellow riders in the Bronx, New York Little Ben and Moreno keep and eye on a NYPD patrol car as they drive by - police have threatened to crack down in riders Dennis poses with his bike Success under a bridge prior to a ride out as 'bike life' becomes increasingly difficult in the city Last year, fed up with the noise, pollution and traffic, the NYPD announced it was waging war on bikers. Since then, police have made hundreds of arrests and seized more than 600 bikes - destroying many of them. 'We want to send out a very strong message to the nitwits and knuckleheads who insist on operating these illegal vehicles on the streets, sidewalks, parks, and housing developments of the city of New York, creating extraordinary danger not only for themselves but more importantly for the public,' said Police Commissioner Bill Bratton after sending bikes to the crusher last fall. 'These bikes & riders are a menace.' Bratton said seizures of the illegal vehicles - which he called 'a plague on the city' were up 96 percent from 2015 while the Bronx saw the most confiscations with more than 180 last year. Last year, fed up with the noise, pollution and traffic, the NYPD announced it was waging war on bikers (A pack of riders take over the two Manhattan bound lanes of the Bruckner Expressway) A couple on a Yamaha Banshee perform a wheely a night ride out at Hunts Point, in New York A$AP TyY of the Hip-Hop collective, A$AP MOB, poses on top of his bike as he waits for a pack to form But while their way of life is under threat in New York from police, it will take more than a few confiscations to rid the city of the 'menace' which can also be found in cities across Europe Chief of Patrol Carlos Gomez added that groups of the bikers 'can be very intimidating' and project 'a sense of lawlessness in our city.' Delgado said that he has seen 'packs' of bikers riding in 'ride outs' in anything from groups of three to a couple hundred. But while their way of life is under threat in New York from police, it will take more than a few confiscations to rid the city of the 'menace' which can also be found in cities across Europe. 'It's about being a brotherhood,' Delgado said. 'These guys wouldn't be friends if it weren't for bike life. In the same pack, some of them are Bloods, some are Crips, and some are white kids from Connecticut, all come to the Bronx.' Brian along with family members visit Fat Boy's grave site on the eve of the anniversary of his death Pedestrians in the Bronx look on as riders perform stunts for their audience This is the chilling moment police say a teenager sneaked into his old workplace and dressed up in an all-black outfit to kill his former colleagues with a knife and rifle - only to be caught on CCTV. Xavier Roy, 19, is accused of entering the IGA supermarket on June 12, 2015, the day after he quit, and attempting to murder his colleagues with a knife and pistol - only failing when the gun proved faulty, and his victims fought back. The shocking video was played before a court in the Quebec town of Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier, where Roy stood trial on Tuesday, le Soliel reported. Scroll down for video Armed: Xavier Roy, 19, was identified as the armed man in this footage, who took two members of staff hostage in the Canadian supermarket where he used to work on June 12, 2015 Quick change: Roy (left) is seen entering a room in a corridor at the back of the store, where he resigned the day before. A black-clad figure (right) with a gun and knife then leaves the room Trial: Roy (pictured) is currently on trial. He is accused of slashing one man in the head and cutting a 19-year-old's face, head, arms and back after trying to shoot him dead The footage begins with a man - identified by prosecutors as former shelf-stacker Roy - buying a drink in the front of the store. He then ducks around to the rear of the supermarket, where he runs into a side room. A figure, clad entirely in black, including a mask or balaclava, then emerges with what appears to a gun and knife in his hands. That figure - again, identified as Roy - then strides confidently through the building. Off camera, he slashes concierge Christian Lopez in the head - but Lopez is able to get away and call police. Roy then backs fellow shelf-stacker Gabriel Blanchet, 19, into an office with the gun. Blanchet testified that he recognized Roy, and told him: 'If you're Xavier and this is a joke, this isn't funny.' Moments later supervisor Karmilya Tardif arrives with a drawer full of cash and becomes the gunman's second hostage. Roy ducks out for a second as a man walks by the door, oblivious, and Tardif tries to kick off the door-stopper and slam the door behind him, but Roy quickly marches back in, demanding the money. He then backs the pair up against a wall and puts his gun to Blanchet's head and pulls the trigger. But Blanchet is spared when the gun doesn't go off. 'Damn, it doesn't work!' Roy said, according to Blanchet, before taking his knife and preparing to stab the young man. At this point Blanchet - realizing he has no choice - leaps up and grabs Roy, with Tardif following suit. The pair manage to wrest the knife out of Roy's hands, and unmask him. Roy is then seen fleeing the supermarket. Struggle: Gabriel Blanchet, 19, is seen struggling with Roy while supervisor Karmilya Tardif steps in. Blanchet said Roy tried to shoot him but the gun broke; he was then cut repeatedly Blanchet, meanwhile, was left with wounds on his arm, back and temple, and under his eye. He had to remove his shirt to make a tourniquet, the court heard. Police picked up Roy at his parents' home that night. He faces two counts of attempted murder. The jury also watched footage of him buying the knife and gun at a Canadian Tire shop earlier. Roy's former manager, Maryse Mercier, testified that he had been a model employee whose only fault was asking for days off a few too many times. Tardif said that he had been a solitary and reserved individual. But the teen's father said his son had been bullied and mocked by his colleagues, and was left to tend to himself after he suffered a workplace injury. He resigned on June 11, 2015, despite protestations from his manager, who wanted to keep him on the team. A mother has lost her battle with cancer on the day she was due to start pioneering treatment in Germany. Kristina Trewick, 47, from Blyth, Northumberland, had already beaten breast cancer twice but the disease returned - and this time it was terminal. She was due to fly out to Germany to start a pioneering treatment not available in the UK. Kristina Trewick (pictured) lost her battle with breast cancer on the day she was die to start pioneering hyperthermia treatment in Germany Kristina hoped the three-week stint of hyperthermia treatment would improve her quality of life. But just days before the trip, the mum-of-one's health rapidly deteriorated and she died in Cramlington Hospital on Friday January 13. Paying tribute to his sister, Geoff Wright, 41, said: 'She was very brave and her death will leave a massive hole in a lot of people's lives. 'Kristina was all about helping other people and was a people person. She always fought for the underdog. 'She was an inspiration to others because she was always so strong and was determined to live a full life.' What is hyperthermia treatment - and why isn't it offered here? Hyperthermia treatment involves exposing areas in the body to high temperatures. By increasing the temperature, cancer cells become damaged and killed. But normal cells in the area would recover. The treatment can also make some cancer cells more sensitive to radiation, The treatment can be used for local small areas, for instance a tumor, regional for a larger area, or wide-spread for the whole body. Heat can be applied in different ways for the treatment. Either high energy waves can be aimed at the area emitted from a machine outside the body, or a thin needle or probe can be inserted into the tumour for ten to 30 minutes which releases energy to heat the tissue around it. The probe is guided by ultrasound, MRI or CT scans. The dead cells killed by the heat are not removed, but become scar tissue and shrink over time. The treatment can be used in conjunction with chemotherapy, with also kills the cancer cells. So far, the treatment is not available in the UK as it has not been ruled safe. But clinics in Germany offer the treatment because they operate under fewer regulations. Advertisement The mum was first diagnosed in 2005 with breast cancer aged just 36. She began four weeks of intensive radiotherapy and underwent a lumpectomy before she was given the all clear. But four years later, Kristina was given the devastating news that the cancer had returned - in the same breast. The mum-of-one had already battled breast cancer twice before it came back - but this time it was terminal She underwent a mastectomy and four months worth of chemotherapy before deciding to have her breast removed in the hope of reducing the risk of the disease returning. But in 2015, Kristina was diagnosed with the disease for a third time which had spread to her lungs, liver and lymph nodes - and was told it was terminal. Doctors had also found that she had also developed bony disease - a condition which weakens the bones and makes them more prone to fracture. Kristina underwent more rounds of chemotherapy to reduce the size of the new tumours, but it meant she had to give up her job working as a mobile Valley Care warden for Northumberland County Council and the Northumbria NHS Trust. Wanting to improve her quality of life, Kristina visited a clinic in Germany - a country with one of the highest cancer-survival rates in Europe - to receive hyperthermia treatment. Well-wishers set up an online fundraising page to help Kristina to raise money for the treatment which is not available in the UK - and raised 7,000 The treatment can make some cancer cells more sensitive to radiation - a treatment not yet offered in the UK. Friends and family set up an online fundraising page for Kristina to try and raise money for the pioneering treatment, and manged to raise 7,000. But on the day Kristina was due to start treatment, her health deteriorated and she sadly died in hospital. Geoff said: 'We are still coming to terms with everything. 'I'm still expecting that I'll just pick up the phone and she'll be there. 'She meant so much to us.' Donald Trump might have violated US law on his first full day as President of the United States. Trump posted to both his personal account and the official @POTUS account throughout the day but deleted one particular tweet from his personal account - a potential violation of the Presidential Records Act. On Saturday morning, he tweeted: 'I am honered to serve you, the great American People, as your 45th President of the United States!' Thousands poked fun at his incorrect spelling of the word 'honored' and within minutes the tweet was deleted and a new one went up with the correct 'honored.' Trump's first attempt to say he was honored to serve didn't go too well It was eventually corrected to 'honored' - this isn't the first time the president has misspelled a tweet. This tweet was also deleted. Both deletions may have been in violation of the Presidential Records Act But that tweet was later deleted as well. Both deletions may have violated the Presidential Records Act, which mandates the preservation of all presidential records, the New York Post reported. Thousands of tweeters enjoyed pointing out Trump's spelling error. 'Kinda fitting he doesn't know how to spell honor, lol,' wrote Sam Morrison. 'Are you honered to be the most illiterate President of the United States?' cracked David Nuzzy Nussbaum. 'I have the best typos! Nobody has better typos than me! Sad!' wrote Jules Suzdaltsev, parroting Trump's usual bombastic style. Irony: One commentor wrote that 'its kinda fitting that he doesn't know how to spell "honor" lol' Sassy: One commentor wrote: 'Are you also "honered" to be the most illiterate President of the United States' Inspired: One tweeter wrote a potential explanation for Trump in his distinctive social media voice Before taking the oath of office on Friday, President-elect Donald Trump had to hand over his Android phone as the leader of the free world will have to tweet on a more secure device. The New York Times reported that Trump swapped out his phone for a 'secure, encrypted device approved by the Secret Service with a new number that few people possess.' This isn't the first time Trump has taken heat for his spelling mistakes. In December, he railed on Twitter that China had ripped a research drone out of international waters in an 'unpresidented' act - which left him the butt of many jokes. It was soon corrected to 'unprecedented.' A Connecticut warehouse employee was tased by police after allegedly stabbing two co-workers. Hasudin Siljkovic is accused of attacking his colleagues at C&G Wholesales Grocer in Windsor Locks on Tuesday, slashing one colleague in the back and another on the hand with his knife. The 27-year-old was filmed on surveillance cameras lunging at police after the alleged attacks. Hasudin Siljkovic was floored by officers in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, who tased him as he approached one of them with a knife he'd allegedly earlier used to stab colleagues The 27-year-old was first circled by police but would not drop his weapon (left). Police were able to kick his knife away from him after tasering him (right) Footage of the attack shows him clutching the knife as he is surrounded by officers. After circling him at a distance, the officers told Siljkovic repeatedly to drop the weapon but were ignored. As he advanced towards him, one of the officers fired his Taser gun but it did nothing to stop Siljkovic. The second officer, who was standing behind him, fired his and the suspect was brought to the ground. Officers were seen kicking his knife away from him as they handcuffed him. He was taken to hospital later and found not have suffered any serious injuries. Cuts on the suspect's face are believed to have been inflicted as his second alleged victim tried to fight him off. Siljkovic appeared in court last week charged with second degree assault, WSFB reports. He has not yet entered a plea. Members of an Amish community in Kentucky are crying foul over a town ordinance that requires horses on public streets to wear bags that catch manure, claiming in a lawsuit that the rule violates their freedom of religion. The contentious 'horse diaper' law has divided residents of Auburn, Kentucky, a small town roughly 150 miles south of Louisville, for years. The law, passed in 2014, mandates horses wear a 'properly fitted collection device' on public streets. But some Amish residents have complained that the devices might scare the horses they use for transportation, and a new lawsuit claims the law infringes upon their religious freedom, the Wall Street Journal reports. An Amish community in Auburn, Kentucky is crying foul over an ordinance that requires horses to wear manure-catching bags, claiming the law targets their religion (file photo) Dan Mast and another Amish man filed the suit last month, claiming that as of October the city had at least 25 pending cases against Amish men for failing to use horse diapers. Mast, 27, spent 10 days in jail over the issue last year, after refusing to pay a $193 fine. Mast's father, Amos Mast, also had at least two manure-bag violations brought against him by city authorities. 'These are kind, good, peace-loving people, they're not troublemakers,' Mast's attorney in that case, Jay D. Joines, told the Bowling Green Daily News at the time. The Masts are members of the Old Order Swartzentruber Amish religion, a conservative Amish sub-group with settlements in 13 U.S. states and Ontario, Canada. The city had 25 manure-law violations pending against Amish residents, the suit claims. Plaintiff Dan Mast, 27, spent 10 days in jail for refusing to pay fines in the matter (file photo) Among other restrictions shunning 'things of the world,' the group bans members from riding in cars, except for emergencies. Leaders in the Kentucky community decided that the equine manure bags would violate those tenets. Mast's suit, against the city of Auburn, its mayor and police chief, claims the law is intended to persecute the Amish for their beliefs. A lawyer for the city wants to preserve harmonious relations with the Amish, adding that he thinks the issue has been blown out of proportion. Twenty people armed with guns were taken into custody while patrolling outside the home of a mother who says she no longer feels safe after she was brutally arrested last month. Police in Fort Worth, Texas, detained the large group of people after they were called to the home of Jacqueline Craig on Saturday. Police also took the guns away from the group. The group did not point the guns at anyone or at officers, KXAS reports. Scroll down for video A group of armed men were handcuffed and detained as they were patrolling outside the home of a black woman who was filmed being tackled to the ground by a white cop Craig made headlines last month after she was slammed to the ground and arrested by a white cop after she had called police to report a neighbor who had alleged put her seven-year-old son in a choke-hold. The neighbor claimed Craig's son threw a piece of paper on the ground, and when officer William Martin was speaking to the upset mother, he questioned why she did not teach her son not to litter. Seconds later, the video showed the cop had wrestled Craig to the ground and had a taser in her back. He then lifted the taser and began pointing it at the downed mom's children. The video then showed him charge at Craig's 19-year-old daughter, Hymond, and tackle her to the ground as well. The men were spotted in the street outside Jacqueline Craig's home in Fort Worth, Texas. They were wearing jackets and carrying guns Police arrived and demanded the men get on the ground (left), before they handcuffed and detained them (right) Speaking on Sunday, a lawyer representing the Craig said Saturday's patrol took place because the family does not feel protected by police anymore, according to the Dallas Morning News. The group who were on guard around the home stepped forward to help Craig and her children, Lee Merritt said. 'They felt it was their responsibility to come up and show their support,' the attorney said. The incident comes after Jacqueline Craig and her daughter, Hymond (both pictured), were filmed being tackled to the ground aggressively by a police officer last month Officer William Martin was filmed arguing with the mother (left), before he tackled her to the ground and held a taser in her back (right) The dramatic video showed Craig being pinned to the ground, before Martin charged at her 19-year-old daughter and arrested her as well (right) It comes after the cop who was caught on camera was suspended for 10 days over the incident. The Craig family had asked for Martin to be fired, and their lawyer accused him of racism - because the neighbor they complained about it white. Fort Worth police Chief Joel Fitzgerald said earlier this month once Martin's punishment is finished he will return to the same neighborhood. 'He's ready to get back to work, he's very sorry for what transpired,' Fitzgerald said at a press conference on January 9. (Xinhua) 08:31, January 22, 2017 People participate in the Women's March protesting Trump's presidency following the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, in Washington D.C., the United States, Jan. 21, 2017. About half a million people showed up for Women's March in the country's capital on Saturday to challenge the new U.S. president. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) Over one million people Saturday took to the streets and staged rallies across the United States to protest against President Donald Trump's first full day as the 45th U.S. President. In New York City, at least 200,000 crowd gathered near Trump Tower in Manhattan for the Women's March on New York City. Carrying signs that said "Dear Trump Don't be the person we think" and "I wish your inauguration was fake news!." More and more people lined the streets on the 42nd Street and 58 Street, waiting for taking part in the Women's March on NYC. Police have already blacked the roads. At the New York march, Bridget Mills, 41, told Xinhua "I hope it sends a message (to Trump) that we're listening, we are paying attention to if he cares morally about people's civil rights and America's standing in the world." Gengil, in her 20s, lives in Halem, black, marching with five of her sisters, said "our diverse America is inclusive, resilient, brave, and it is for white, black, latino, Asian etc., this is the message we want to send to President Trump." Cynthia Stern, middle aged woman, said "I'm not accepting the things I cannot change, I'm changing the things I cannot accept. Protest has changed many many things (in U.S. history), including women's rights to vote by the civil rights movement in the 60s." Demonstrators had planned to take their rally cries to the doors of Trump Tower, but police stopped them south of the building on East 55th Street. Organizers said the Women's March on NYC was for anyone unable to participate in the Women's March on Washington. In Washington, D.C., about half a million people showed up for Women's March in the country's capital to challenge the new U.S. president. "We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war," actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd. "Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack, and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. Marchers took to the streets near the National Mall in Washington, D.C., calling for women's rights and voicing their opposition to the newly-inaugurated President Donald Trump. Brandishing signs that read "women's rights are human rights" and "Hear our voice", protesters from across the country marched slowly along major avenues in downtown Washington as they chanted "this is what democracy looks like" and "women and girls can change the world," in a powerful display of rejection of Trump's agenda and what they said his insulting attitudes towards women. "I am very, very concerned about the next four years. I think we have a lot of rights that are going to be trampled on under the Trump administration," said Elisabeth Moore, a protester from New Haven, Connecticut. "His bigotry and his views towards women are extremely troubling to me." Moore also spoke unfavorably about Trump's inaugural address on Friday, calling it "disgusting" and saying that it was part of the reason for the huge turnout on Saturday. The organizers had initially sought a permit for a gathering of 200,000, but they estimated that as many as a half million people participated the event in the nation's capital. The marchers packed the metro stations in downtown Washington on Saturday afternoon, with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority recording more than 597,000 trips as of 4 p.m.. In Los Angeles, more than 500,000 of protesters Saturday rallied and marched peacefully through downtown Los Angeles chanting "Love Trumps hate", one day after Donald Trump was sworn into the Oval Office. LA's gathering was a part of Women's March, a national wide protests triggered by the new President of United States, who continued his angry railing against liberals supporting mostly Hillary Clinton in elections last November. Protesters showed their different appeals with colourful placards saying "Trust the progress", "Love not hate makes America great", "Get your tiny hands off my rights" and even "No more oil." "We want to let him know that he has been divisive, but yet we are still promoting women's rights, promoting gay rights, promoting pro choice, promoting the United States, not discriminating on the base of race, sex, or religion," Cheryl Lacour, an female attorney told Xinhua. Chertl said she and her friends accepted the result of the election, so they joined the protests across the country to fight for the future instead of the past. "We want to make this new president accountable," she said, "Today is to let him know what he has to face on the first day in his office." In front of the City Hall, Jesse Turk told Xinhua, as a gay man he was terrified since Trump was elected, saying "this is a march to show our visibility and show the fact that we don't agree with what's going on, what he's doing, how he's doing and who he has chosen to do it." The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) estimated that 500,000 took part in Saturday's march however organizers insisted the number was higher. In Chicago, around 250,000 people joined Women's March on Chicago, organizers said. Hudreds of thousands of people flocked to downtown Chicago to join the march. The event was said to be the largest women's march outside of the March on Washington, organizers said. 16 arrested in anti-Trump protests in Chicago Loop, Chicago police said. They face charges ranging from disorderly and reckless conduct to aggravated battery. The protest drew participants from all walks of life: young and old, academics and laborers, even parents with children on their shoulders. Protesters are still arriving at the rally, many with signs critical of President Donald Trump. An estimated 22,000 staged protests in Houston against Donald Trump. By afternoon, the protest rallies had been peaceful. A radical left-winger dubbed 'France's Jeremy Corbyn' is on course to become the Socialist Party's candidate in presidential elections this spring. Benoit Hamon, a 49-year-old former education minister, has caused a stir with his policies including giving a guaranteed income of around 550 a month to every citizen. Costed at an estimated 346 billions a year, the plan would be phased in over three years and funded through higher wealth taxes. But despite his hard-Left view of the world, Mr Hamon was by 9pm this evening leading in the first round of the Socialist Party primary by 35.2 per cent, compared to his nearest rival, Manuel Valls on 31.5 per cent of the vote. Benoit Hamon (pictured) is on course to become the Socialist Party's candidate in presidential elections this spring Mr Valls, who was Prime Minister until last year, said he hoped to replace Francoise Hollande as president, so as to prove that his party 'is not dead'. He is hoping to put almost five years of mediocre Socialist governance behind him, saying: 'I'm the one who can win, who can stop the far-Right.' In fact opinion polls suggest that the Socialists will be wiped out in the first round of the actual presidential elections in May. It follows Mr Hollande effectively already conceding defeat last year, announcing that he would not even bother seeking re-election. His presidency has been characterised by soaring unemployment, business failure, and violent street demonstrations. This has led to increasing support for the far-Right National Front, who are hoping their leader Marine Le Pen will become head of state. Protectionist maverick Arnaud Montebourg (pictured) is one of Mr Benoit's rivals with , with 18.7 per cent of the vote She has been unable to win a seat in Parliament, and her party is still considered a racist and anti-Semitic one, but Ms Le Pen believes she can spring a surprise as the Brexit vote in the UK, and President Donald Trump's victory in the USA. Mr Valls's main opponents in today's vote were Mr Benoit and protectionist maverick Arnaud Montebourg, who by 9pm was on 18.7 per cent of the vote. As well as the basic income of 550, Mr Hamon's policies include the legalisation of cannabis. Unless one candidate gets a 50 per cent plus majority today, the top two will go through to the second round of voting next Sunday. Hollande's tempestuous Presidency has led to increasing support for the far-Right National Front, who are hoping their leader Marine Le Pen (pictured) will become head of state The partial results were from 3,090 polling stations, in a vote which saw some 1.9 million people taking part. As well as Ms Le Pen, the eventual winner will be up against Francois Fillon, the conservative Republican candidate who is already the favourite to succeed Mr Hollande. Also in the mix is Mr Hollande's former economy minister, Emmanuel Macron, who will stand as an independent. Mr Macron, who used to be an investment banker, is proving extremely popular, and is likely to take even more votes away from the Socialists. The Socialists expect stome 1.5 million voters to take in the first round today, far fewer than the 4 million who turned out for the Republican primary last year. She tried drugs. She tried arguing. She tried writing a book. After a quarter century, the daughter of the longest-held American hostage during Lebanon's civil war says she's found her father's love. And it took coming face-to-face with one of his captors to do it. 'I was searching and searching and this search, the journey, brought me closer to my father,' said Sulome Anderson, a Brooklyn journalist whose father, Terry Anderson, was seized by Shiite kidnappers in Beirut in 1985 and held until 1991. She said: 'I love my dad very much. My dad has always loved me. I just didn't know that because he wasn't able to show it to me.' New perspective: Sulome Anderson, 31, wrote The Hostage's Daughter, which details her relationship with journalist father who spent six years in captivity during Lebanese Civil War The book describes what happened after she met her father, Terry Anderson, for the first time at age six after his release in 1991. Pictured: The pair when Salume was 11 Terry Anderson was seized by Shiite kidnappers in Beirut in 1985 and held until 1991. He was the chief Middle East correspondent for the Associated Press at the time: Pictured: Terry following his release in 1991 Her recently published book, The Hostage's Daughter, chronicles what happened after she met her father for the first time at age six after his release from his long imprisonment. Anderson, then the chief Middle East correspondent for The Associated Press, was among around 100 foreign hostages taken during the Lebanese Civil War. Sulome Anderson said she expected him to be a 'superman' as a young child. Real life was more turbulent. Before she turned 10, the two were having screaming fights. 'One of the problems that we had after I came home was communication,' Terry Anderson said in a telephone interview from his Orange, Virginia, home. He added: 'I was not able to express my feelings well and of course she was a very small girl in a very confusing and often scary world. So we didn't really connect very well.' Inner turmoil: Sulome Anderson said she expected her father to be 'superman' as a young child but real life was more turbulent. Before she turned 10, the two were having screaming fights. Pictured: the pair in 1992 Her father said: 'I was not able to express my feelings well and of course she was a very small girl in a very confusing and often scary world. So we didn't really connect very well.' Pictured: the pair in 1991 Sulome, now 31, said she escaped into drugs and depression for years, growing so distant from her father that they went weeks and months without speaking. They became more estranged as Terry Anderson and his wife, Sulome Anderson's mother, divorced. Sulome Anderson hated when he married a horse trainer only six years older than herself. At the peak of her rebelliousness, she cranked up the volume of the song 'Gold Digger' by Kanye West, a passive aggressive message to the wife of a man who received tens of millions of dollars after suing Iran. The money, through bad investments, eventually disappeared. The new marriage fell apart. Sulome escaped into drugs and depression for a time as her and her father barely spoke to each other for months on end. Pictured: Sulome in 1990 in front of a birthday collage for her father, who at the time was still held captive Looking back: Sulome's recent trip to Lebanon to research her father's kidnapping brought her face-to-face with one of his captors - and brought her closer to her father Sulome met a Hezbollah official who revealed himself to have been one of her father's teenage captors. She confronted him and then forgave him Sulome said her father gave her a Rolex after she graduated from New York University with a 3.7 grade point average, but she pawned it for drugs within a month. She attempted suicide three times. Her climb out of darkness began after learning she suffered from borderline personality disorder. By 2009, she had given up plans to be an actress and decided to become a journalist. Before long, she headed to Lebanon, her mother's birthplace, and began trying to reconstruct the events surrounding the Lebanese hostage crisis that tore her family apart. The trail she followed led her to a Hezbollah official in one of the southern towns near the Israeli border. That man revealed himself to have been one of her father's teenage captors. Sitting in a room with the man's wife and children, she confronted him, and then forgave him. Terry Anderson said he was amazed at the encounter. He said: 'I was just astounded that she found somebody who had been there on the other side and interviewed him, which I thought took a fair amount of guts.' 'I am their face': Sulome Anderson tweeted that her mother is Jewish and her father is Palestinian with the hashtag 'Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies' United: She made headlines in 2014 when she posted a photo of herself kissing her Jewish boyfriend and holding a sign that said 'Jews and Arabs REFUSE to be ENEMIES' Terry Anderson, now 69 and retired, was amazed at the encounter his daughter had with one of his former captors. Pictured: Anderson in 2011 He added that he'd never discouraged the pursuit. Anderson, now 69 and retired, said: 'I think she did some extraordinary things, went on a very difficult personal journey, but also accomplished a pretty important piece of journalism doing it.' He added: 'She's now a better journalist than I ever was.' He said he'd been scared for his daughter as she pursued her career, but he never tried to interrupt her journey. In the book, Sulome Anderson tells of nearly entering Syria last year to report on developments there when an FBI agent warned her intelligence officials believed her life was in danger. She didn't go. Terry Anderson said his daughter had not told him in advance of that trip 'because I would have screamed and hollered.' He said: 'We seem to have moved up an entire level in evil since my day.' A drug company that bought up the rights to a $40 infant epilepsy medicine and its competing product was able to increase the price to $34,000 per vial because it created a monopoly, federal regulators have alleged. In 2014, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals acquired drug company Questcor and with it the rights to Acthar Gel, a hormone injection used to help babies under the age of one with rare infantile spasms. But according to a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), they also acquired Questcor's rights to Synacthen Depot, a different drug with the same application. They then shelved that drug while hiking the price of the 60-year-old Acthar Gel to 85,000 per cent more than it had cost just a decade previously. That led to suit, which they settled on Wednesday, The Washington Post reported. Sued: Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals settled a $100m lawsuit Wednesday after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accused them of sustaining a monopoly for their drug Acthar Acthar Gel was first approved by the FDA in 1978 for use on babies with infantile spasms - a rare epileptic condition that can affect up to 2,500 kids a year in the US. Children with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, tuberous sclerosis and similar health issues are more likely to suffer symptoms, which emerge before the child's first birthday. Hiked: Acthar, approved in 1978, sold for $40 per vial in 2001. In 2015 it cost $34,000 per vial. Mallinckrodt bought the rights when they acquired Questcor in 2014 In 2001, Questcor bought up the rights to Acthar, which was then being sold for $40 per vial, for $100,000 plus royalties. They then began hiking the price. In 2013 it bought the US rights to Synacthen Depot, which is produced by Swiss company Novartis and can also be used to treat infantile spasms, for $135 million. According to the lawsuit, it did so because even though Synacthen wasn't yet approved by the FDA, it posed a 'nascent competitive threat' to Acthar. 'Questcor took advantage of its monopoly to repeatedly raise the price of Acthar,' Edith Ramirez, chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission, said in a statement. 'We charge that, to maintain its monopoly pricing, it acquired the rights to its greatest competitive threat, a synthetic version of Acthar, to forestall future competition.' By 2014, Questcor was charging $28,000 a vial for Acthar. It was then that Mallinckrodt bought up Questcor, and all of their rights. According to the lawsuit it continued the monopoly, hiking the price further. The drug's price was pushed all the way up to $34,000, bringing in $1 billion in 2015 alone, the lawsuit alleged. Mallinckrodt settled the lawsuit on Wednesday for $100,000 - just 0.01 per cent of the money it was said to have made in 2015 - and an agreement to pursue FDA approval of Synacthen for treating infantile spasms and nephrotic syndrome. Some of the money would also go to pay for the legal fees of five states that pursued their own suits along with the Federal Trade Commission. Allegation: The FTC said Questcor bought the rights to Swiss drug Synacthen Depot because it was a competitor, then shelved it to create a monopoly that it said Mallinckrodt continued Treatment: Both drugs are used to treat epilepsy in babies. Mallinckrodt admitted no fault in the settlement but said it would also send Synacthen to FDA trial for infant epilepsy treatments However, the agreement did not 'constitute... any admission of liability or wrongdoing,' the company said in a statement. It also said that trials of Synacthen would be extremely expensive, and difficult to perform as it would require patients to stop using Acthar. 'We continue to strongly disagree with allegations outlined in the FTC's complaint, believing that key claims are unsupported and even contradicted by scientific data and market facts, and appear to be inconsistent with the views of the FDA,' the company said. It also said that it would pursue trials for the use of Synacthen in patients suffering from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a disease causing muscular degeneration. Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals' case came to the public's attention thanks to another accused price-gouger, Martin Shkreli, of Turing Pharmaceuticals. Shkreli had mentioned Mallinckrodt's case while under questioning last year for increasing the price of toxoplasmosis medication Daraprim - which he bought from another company - by more than 5,000 per cent. An after-hours magistrates court will handle now bail matters following outrage over the Bourke St Mall tragedy, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced. Volunteer bail justices will no longer be used for serious matters in out-of-hours decisions, Andrews announced on Monday. It followed the shocking incident on Friday in which Dimitrious 'Jimmy' Gargasoulas, 26, allegedly mowed down pedestrians causing five deaths and leaving dozens injured. He had been bailed against the wishes of Victoria Police five days before Friday's attack in central Melbourne. Scroll down for video Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews lays flowers at Bourke Street Mall on Saturday Tevita Mahina, 17, attempted to stop the vehicle before it plunged through a crowd Bail laws are set to change after the tragedy, in which a man allegedly drove through a crowd just days after being bailed on an assault charge One of the victims of the tragedy, Jess Mudie, 22, from Sydney Gargasoulas' alleged actions before the Bourke St Mall tragedy Evaded police before Christmas in his car Did a burnout outside the St Kilda police station Stabbed his brother Angelo Went to a police station raving Repeatedly called 000 want to speak to a specific officer Had warrants out for his arrest before his release on bail on January 14 Source: Herald Sun Advertisement Gargasoulas was granted bail on January 14 by a bail justice - who was a volunteer working out-of-hours without formal legal training, the Today show reported. Police had reportedly laid complaints about his release and during days before the tragedy, had done burnouts outside a police station and went 'ranting and raving' to another, according to the show. He also allegedly posted a message to Facebook which read: 'I'll take you all out'. Andrews said on Monday: 'We owe it, all of us, to the memory and the legacy, each of the families, and those victims are owed nothing less than the hard work required and our singular focus to make the change necessary to make Victoria safer. He said 'no expense will be spared to get this right', and extra magistrates and resources would be engaged. Former Director of Public Prosecutions Paul Coughlan will also review the entire bail system. Care is provided for victims injured in the attack after it took place on Friday 'On the broader issue of the way our bail system operates it is obviously an area where significant reform needs to be made,' Mr Andrews said. 'Nothing will be off the table. Nothing will be off limits.' Mr Coughlan has a deadline of April 3 to provide the government with urgent advice on changes to the bail system. Attorney-General Martin Pakula said Mr Coughlan's review would look at the balance between community protection and the presumption of innocence. Matthew Si, 33, was also a victim of the tragedy. His family have thanked the public for their condolences but asked for privacy to mourn their loss 'We want him to look at the current exceptional circumstances, show cause and unacceptable risk provisions and provide us with advice on whether they appropriate in the current circumstances,' Mr Pakula told the press conference. He said among considerations would be whether more offences should be added to show cause and to exceptional circumstances., and how magistrates look at prior offending when considering bail. Chief Magistrate Peter Lauritesen has been working with the government to make the changes. 'He recognises the need for change in this area,' Mr Pakula said. 'I am looking forward to continuing to speak with him and the chief executive of the court over the coming days in order to get this after hours court up and running.' Mr Andrews said it was expected two to three additional magistrates would be made available 'within days' while the establishment of the night court would take 'a little longer'. He said the work of volunteer bail magistrates should not be undervalued, but serious and complex cases need the extra resources and experience the magistrates court had. Visitors lay flowers at a floral tribute on Bourke street in Melbourne President Donald Trump held his first swearing in ceremony for 30 senior staff members in the East Room of the White House on Sunday afternoon. Trump took to the podium around 2:30pm (ET) for the start of the brief ceremony, as his oldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, was present for the notable occasion since her husband, Jared Kushner, was sworn in as a senior advisor in his administration. The 70-year-old stood by as Vice President Mike Pence officially swore in the senior staff members that included Trump's son-in-law, Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer, Reince Priebus and Omarosa Manigault. Before the ceremony began, the billionaire shared that he found a letter that was left for him written by former President Obama inside the Oval Office. Scroll down for video New beginnings: President Donald Trump (pictured above next to Vice President Mike Pence) held his first swearing in ceremony for 30 senior staff members in the East Room of the White House on Sunday afternoon Happy times: The president's oldest daughter, Ivanka Trump was present for the notable occasion since her husband, Jared Kushner, was sworn in as a senior advisor. She is pictured holding son Joseph, who appears to be tuckered out from a likely busy day Busy woman: Despite the hectic last few days, Ivanka was still all smiles before the ceremony while chatting with a guest in the East Room on Sunday All in this together: The 30 senior staff members who were sworn in included: Front row from left to right: Kellyanne Conway (Counselor to the President), Jared Kushner (Senior White House Adivsor), Steve Bannon (chief strategist and Senior Counselor) and Reince Priebus (White House Chief of Staff). Second row from left to right: Hidden behind Bannon, Omarosa Manigault (Assistant to the President), Hope Hicks (White House Director of Strategic Communications), Stephen Miller (Senior Advisor to the President for Policy),Donald McGahn (White House Counsel), Sean Spicer (White House Press Secretary), Katie Walsh (Deputy Chief of Staff), and Michael Flynn (National Security Adviser) New leadership: The first two rows of the group of 30 at Sunday's ceremony appeared to be the top members of the leadership inside Trump's White House Friendly gesture: Before the ceremony began, the billionaire shared that he found a 'beautiful' letter (above) that was left for him written by former President Obama inside the Oval Office 'I just went to the Oval Office and found this beautiful letter from President Obama,' Trump said while holding up the letter simply addressed 'Mr. President'. 'It was really very nice of him to do that. And we will cherish that. We will keep that. And we won't even tell the press what's in that letter.' While still giving remarks before the ceremony, Trump told his top advisers that they are in the White House not to 'help ourselves' but to 'devote ourselves to the national good.' 'This is not about party, this is not about ideology. This is about country, our country. It's about serving the American people,' he said. 'Public service is a high and great calling, it's our solemn duty, together, to protect the country, our country, this great, great country. 'To defend its workers and promote the well being of all Americans. So many people are depending on us and on you as families, as people that are going to get it done. So many people. The veterans. 'The unemployed. Men and women serving in harm's way overseas. Victims of crime and young Americans looking to fulfill their dreams.' The 45th president also said 'it's been a very interesting few days', as he is set to meet with a number of notable leaders from around the world in the next few weeks. Dear Mr. President: Of the gesture by Obama, Trump said: 'It was really very nice of him to do that. And we will cherish that. We will keep that.' Above Trump holds the letter he received from Obama Secret is mine: Trump put the letter back inside his suit jacket pocket and said: '...We won't even tell the press what's in that letter' Busy days ahead: The 45th president also said 'it's been a very interesting few days', as he is set to meet with a number of notable leaders from around the world in the next few weeks 'Prime Minister May will be coming over to the United States shortly,' Trump said. 'We're also meeting with the prime minister of Canada and we will be meeting with the president of Mexico, who I know.' Trump said he will discuss immigration and renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement when he meets with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. 'I ran a campaign somewhat based on NAFTA. But we're going to start renegotiating on NAFTA, on immigration and on security at the border.' The White House announced that the meeting with Nieto is set to take place January 31st. During his remarks, Trump also said that Mexico has been 'terrific, actually, terrific and the president has been really very amazing and I think we are going to have a very good result from Mexico for everybody involved. It's really very important.' 'All of the people in this room we are going to do some great things over the next eight years', Trump said seemingly alluding to the fact that he may run for a second term in office. Pledge to serve: After brief remarks from Trump, Pence (above) officially swore in the more than a dozen senior staff members in the ceremony on Sunday afternoon in the East Room Proud moment: Trump's most senior staff members all appeared to happy during the ceremony. Above from left to right: Kellyanne Conway, Jared Kushner, Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus Top team members: Conway looks toward a smiling Kushner during the ceremony while applauding before being sworn in on Sunday Brotherly love: Jared Kushner later posed for a picture with his brother Joshua, a day after Joshua was spotted at the Women's March 'It's a great group of people. And if they're not, I'm going to let you know about it,' Trump quipped. 'That's the bad news about [me], I will let you know if they are not doing the job, OK? I'll praise them if they're doing it, I'll let you know if they're not doing it. I know they'll do a fantastic job. I'm so proud of them.' He also acknowledged those killed in the South due to a number of deadly storms that have hit the state of Georgia. 'I want to start off by telling you I just spoke to Gov. Nathan Deal of Georgia, great state, great people,' Trump said. 'Florida affected, Alabama affected by the tornadoes. I just expressed our sincere condolences for the lives taken. 'Tornadoes were vicious and powerful and strong and they suffered greatly. So we'll be helping out the state of Georgia. 'We'll be speaking to Gov. Scott right after this. We'll be - Alabama's a special place, Florida's a special place, but they got hit hard, they all got hit hard. 'Looks like Georgia's lost at least 11 people as of this moment, lot of people. So behalf on all of us, Gov. Deal, condolences.' Ready to work: White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus (center) took to the podium after being sworn in first saying 'it's our duty to serve with character and integrity and to support President Trump.' Loyal: After the ceremony on Sunday in the East Room, Trump spoke with Conway, who is officially the Counselor to the President (above) White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus took to the podium after being sworn in and said: 'It's our duty to serve with character and integrity and to support President Trump.' He thanked Trump and Pence, along with his family members before the brief ceremony ended. 'I want to thank God and ask for his protection over us as we serve President Trump, Vice President Pence and our beloved country,' Priebus stated to a round of applause. After the ceremony, Trump walked around the East Room shaking hands and speaking to a few people before departing the area alongside his senior staff members. Jared Kushner's brother was among White House guests who watched him get sworn in to the president's staff on Sunday, a day after attending an anti-Trump Women's March. The 31-year-old venture capitalist was seen congratulating his older sibling in the East Room after he was formally sworn in as a senior adviser to Donald Trump. He subsequently posted a picture to Instagram of the brothers posing in front of a portrait of John F Kennedy. On Saturday he joined crowds of outraged women and men protesting against the new administration at the Washington DC Women's March. Kushner told others there he was merely 'observing' and not taking part. Brotherly love: Shortly after the swearing in ceremony, Joshua Kushner shared an photo on Instagram of the two brothers posing in front of a portrait of John F Kennedy Joshua Kushner (right) was among guests at the White House on Sunday to watch his older brother Jared (left) be sworn in as a senior adviser to the president On Saturday, the 31-year-old was pictured among the crowd at the Washington DC Women's March He was not joined by his model girlfriend Karlie Kloss who remained in New York City for the weekend. Kloss is another avid Clinton fan. She and her boyfriend nevertheless socialize with his brother and sister-in-law despite their political preference. Joshua Kushner did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Sunday. He declined to take part in an Esquire interview about his connection to the Trumps and how they differ last year, telling the magazine through a spokesman that he loved Jared and didn't want to embarrass him. The same spokesman however confirmed he was a 'lifelong Democrat' and would not be voting for his brother's father-in-law at the election. Joshua sat next to his sister-in-law at the swearing-in ceremony despite holding his own, drastically different political opinion Kushner, 35 (second from left) was sworn in alongside counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway, Chief Strategist Steve Bannon (second right) and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus (right) on Sunday Joshua Kushner and his long-term girlfriend, model Karlie Kloss, are Democrats. Neither voted for Donald Trump in November Charles Kushner, the brothers' father, was once a prominent and elite Democrat. In 2005, he was convicted of 18 counts of tax evasion, illegal campaign donations and witness tampering. He also was a top political donor for many years to Democratic candidates such as Bill and Hillary Clinton. Jared Kushner, who married Ivanka in 2009, campaigned with his wife throughout her father's presidential campaign. The certainty of his role in the administration came under threat from an anti-nepotism law but he was confirmed earlier this week and sworn in alongside other central figures on Sunday shortly after 2pm. More than a dozen of Trump's staff were sworn in at the event including Press Secretary Sean Spice, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and Kellyanne Conway, another senior adviser. Barbara Bush has recovered from bronchitis, but will stay in the hospital for another night in order to remain close to husband George H.W. Bush as his health improves. The former president was receiving treatment at the Houston Methodist Hospital in Texas for breathing difficulties brought on by pneumonia, while his wife was hospitalized on Wednesday after feeling run down with a persistent cough. His vital signs are normal and doctors hope he can be moved out of intensive care in the next day or two, said Bush family spokesman Jim McGrath. Barbara Bush has recovered from bronchitis. She is staying in the hospital in order to remain close to husband George H.W. Bush, who is still recovering from respiratory problems His vital signs are normal and doctors hope he can be moved out of intensive care in the next day or two, said Bush family spokesman Jim McGrath George H. W. Bush, 92, was admitted to the hospital after suffering from a 'shortness of breath'. McGrath said that the former president was moved to the intensive care unit to address an acute respiratory problem from pneumonia. The former president was put on a ventilator to assist his breathing and underwent a procedure to protect and clear his airway. Doctors inserted a breathing tube on Wednesday and removed it two days later after his condition improved. Barbara Bush, 91, entered the same hospital on Wednesday 'as a precaution after experiencing fatigue and coughing'. Doctors determined she had bronchitis, and her health has improved since receiving treatment. 'Mrs. Bush was given the option of being discharged today, but has elected to remain at Houston Methodist Hospital one more evening to continue her recovery and to be closer to her husband,' McGrath said. George H. W. Bush, 92, was admitted to the hospital after suffering from a 'shortness of breath' while Barbara Bush, 91, entered the same hospital on Wednesday with bronchitis The former president planned on skipping Donald Trump's inauguration before he was admitted to the hospital and sent over a letter explaining why George W. Bush posted an update on his father's health (above), thanking people for their well wishes and support McGrath said on Sunday: 'Mrs. Bush was given the option of being discharged today, but has elected to remain at Houston Methodist Hospital (above)' The former president planned on skipping Donald Trump's inauguration before he was admitted to the hospital. In a letter he sent to Trump explaining their absence, Bush wrote: 'Barbara and I are so sorry we can't be there for your inauguration on January 20th. 'My doctor says if I sit outside in January, it likely will put me six feet under. Same for Barbara. So I guess we're stuck in Texas. 'But we will be with you and the country in spirit. I want you to know that I wish you the very best as you begin this incredible journey of leading our great country. If I can ever be of help, please let me know.' In response, Trump tweeted: ' Looking forward to a speedy recovery for George and Barbara Bush, both hospitalized. Thank you for your wonderful letter!' The couple also received well wishes from Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Senator John McCain, among many others. The Carters, the Clintons and the Bushes at the inauguration on Friday In a tweet on Saturday, McGrath said the couple's spirits were up, they were very interested 'in inauguration doings' and were 'very happy' that President Donald Trump went to see the men and women of the CIA. On Saturday, Trump traveled to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, and spoke to a group of about 400 people in attendance. Bush served as CIA director from 1976 to 1977. McGrath also added the Bushes wanted to make sure 'they thank their well-wishers for their kindness, and especially their prayers.' New White House press secretary Sean Spicer's angry tirade against White House reporters on his first day on the job wasn't his first clash with the press: while in student government he brought a complaint against his college paper after it called him 'Sean Sphincter.' The 1993 article, which was uncovered by DailyMail.com, offers the first confrontation in what may prove to be contentious relations with the 'dishonest media' despised by Spicer's boss, President Donald Trump. The article in the College Voice describes an effort to ban smoking within school buildings at Connecticut College. It passed on a 21-1-0 vote, and would not have impacted the status quo policy in the library, although what inflamed Spicer was the kicker. 'The policy also will not correct the current policy of creating smoking and non-smoking rooms for self-scheduled exams, according to an amendment added by Sean Sphincter, house senator of JA,' according to the article, which references the Jane Addams dorm, where Spicer was a representative. Spicer, understandably, wasn't pleased. Scroll down for video White House press secretary Sean Spicer, pictured at a White House swearing in ceremony Sunday, tore into the media on his first day on the job. When he was in college two decades ago, he clashed with the college paper after an unfortunate mangling of his name 'They said it was spell check error,' one former College Voice staffer recalls. 'It just never got caught.' Spicer didn't buy it, and demanded an apology and more. In an angry letter to the paper, he responded, 'I am writing in response to the article in the April 26 edition of the Voice in which my name was "misspelled".' Contrary to the paper's claim that it was a mistake, Spicer called it 'a malicious and intentional attack,' the Washington Post noted in a profile in August. 'The First Amendment does uphold the right to free speech, however, this situation goes beyond the bounds of free speech,' he added. Spicer didn't just complain he in effect sued the paper by bringing a complaint before the college Judiciary Council, recalls then-publisher of the paper, Jon Finnimore. The College Voice of Connecticut referred to Spicer as 'Sean Sphincter' in a 1993 article about an effort he promoted as a member of student government. Spicer 'went nuts,' according to the paper's publisher, and brought a compliant to a school judicial council Spicer laced into the media Saturday, his first day on the job, calling out 'shameful and wrong' efforts to 'lessen the enthusiasm' for the inauguration Another campus publication, the Blats satire magazine, wrote at the time that Spicer can 'talk and talk and talk ... without saying anything of consequence' Spicer attended Connecticut College, where he was an outspoken conservative on campus and served on the student government Spicer blasted at the paper in his letter: 'The response that I received from the publication was that [it] was [an] unintentional mistake which they rectified with a correction, Spicer wrote. Maybe I am not all that familiar with the production of a newspaper, but I am really not sure how this can be explained as unintentional. He continued: I find this notion of the paper subscribing to professional standards rather silly considering the weekly habit of misspellings, misquotes, and half-truths. If the paper is indeed in the habit of using professional standards, maybe they should start to write and report like professionals. 'For those of us who were involved with student government, for those of us involved with the student newspaper it was a big deal,' Finnimore said when contacted by DailyMail.com. The council had the ability to boot students off campus. Finnimore, who is now a technology manager at job site Monster.com, said that when the author wrote the infamous article in 1993, an early version of autocorrect had changed 'Spicer' to 'sphincter.' The author kept it in as a way to get a laugh out of editors. 'We all took the paper copy and marked it with an editor mark saying, 'change this,' Finnimore said. 'We put 'ha ha' or 'funny,' but marked it this must be changed.' But all through the chain, 'none of us actually changed it.' More than two decades later, Finnimore acknowledged, 'We made a mistake. We definitely screwed up.' But it is Spicer's furious response that sticks with him. Spicer in a 1992 article in the Connecticut College paper 'When I presented him with data about U.S. libel law [regarding writings about public figures], he did not care. This is the whole perception of, "The facts dont matter, I need to have my viewpoint upheld."' Spicer 'just couldnt let it go, even when presented with facts, which is I think an allegory for some of our current situation today.' 'It did refer to him as Sean Sphincter, and he went nuts!' Finnemore continued. 'He brought official judiciary board charges against the newspaper for libel got the administration involved. There was a significant amount of contention around that.' 'For those of us who were involved with student government, for those of us involved with the student newspaper it was a big deal,' he recalled. An article in another college paper mocked the future press secretary with a sarcastic tone. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer makes a statement to members of the media at the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. This was Spicer's first press conference as Press Secretary where he spoke about the media's reporting on the inauguration's crowd size 'Sean Spicer can talk and talk and talk, and after the dust settles and after the air is still, man mouths are quivering in awe and wonder at the way Sean can spin his yarn out for miles, without saying anything of consequence,' according to the article in satire publication Blats. Spicer didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about the decades-old incident. On Saturday, Spicer also went after the motives of the collective media, after numerous outlets relied on aerial photos to conclude there were far more people at Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration notwithstanding Trump's claim that a million or million and a half people attended 'These attempts to lessen the enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong,' Spicer said. 'There's been a lot of talk in the media about the responsibility to hold Donald Trump accountable,' Spicer continued. 'And I'm here to tell you that it goes two ways. We're going to hold the press accountable, as well. The American people deserve better. And as long as he serves as the messenger for this incredible movement, he will take his message directly to the American people where his focus will always be.' Spicer did not take any questions after delivering the lecture. His media lecture on Saturday notwithstanding, Spicer has formed constructive relations with many media members for years during his time on Capitol Hill. In his first tweet, he thanked outgoing White House press secretary Josh Earnest for his help with the transition. After his upbraiding of the press, Brian Fallon, who likely would have held the job had Hillary Clinton won, weighed in. He told CNN on Sunday he was concerned that 'this is somebody that is going to put his standing with his boss ahead of his integrity and his standing with the press corps.' Advertisement Warnings for avalanches, mudslides and wildfires were issued across various parts of California on Sunday as winter storms continue to batter the state. Ski resorts in the Sierra Nevada Mountains were closed under the 'high danger' of avalanche and gale force winds. In San Francisco, rivers burst their banks and flood water poured through streets after more than 24 hours of relentless rain. Neighborhoods near Santa Barbara were evacuated amid concern for wildfires. Scroll down for video California suffered another day of brutal storms on Sunday. Above, a resident surveys the damage to her home in Duarte where gale force winds battered the region In Duarte, California, a mailbox survived the storm which scattered mud and debris across roads Rain, snow and heavy winds have been battering the state for two days and are not expected to let up until Monday Winds as fast as 140mph were predicted in the Sierra Nevada mountain range where up to four feet of snow is predicted. The National Weather Service issued a storm warning in the region to last until Monday night. 'Snow will continue to fall over the Sierra as an intense storm moves into the region,' it said. 'Significant amounts of snow are forecast that will make travel dangerous. Only travel in an emergency. If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency.' Floodwaters swept through mountain communities in the state. Paradise Park in Santa Cruz (above) was flooded by river water Rain was expected to continue battering the state until late on Sunday with weather warnings issued until Monday. Above, the hillside community of Paradise Park in Santa Cruz on Sunday afternoon Residents in Felton, California, survey the flood damage after a day of heavy rain and strong winds In the San Francisco Bay area, heavy rain produced flood water and sparked fear of mudslides. A Flash Flood watch was issued to last until Monday. Thunderstorms which began this morning are expected to gather strength throughout the afternoon, the National Weather Service advised. In greater Los Angeles, mountain communities were told to expect up to six inches of rain. Los Angeles is subject to four separate weather warnings; high surf, high wind, flash flood and flood. Hillside communities near Santa Barbara were evacuated yesterday amid fear of wildfires. Officials say potential debris flows could restrict access for emergency responders. Heavy rain is predicted in other parts of the state, triggering flash flood warnings. Above, cars plow through street water in the Van Nuys area of Los Angeles Los Angeles is currently subject to four separate weather warnings; flood, high surf, wind and flash flood A homeless Boston man was arrested after he allegedly attempted to blow up a squad car during rush-hour with a propane tank and fireworks. Asim Kieta, 42, was arrested Saturday because police believed he was responsible for explosions that damaged a police vehicle on Friday. The homeless man, originally from Dorchester, Massachusetts, is thought to have used a propane tank and possibly fireworks in the 'deliberate attack', police said on Sunday. Asim Kieta, 42, was arrested Saturday after Boston police believe he was responsible for explosions that damaged a police vehicle on Friday Kieta is reported to have a lengthy criminal record, but officials are still investigating his motive in the rush-hour explosion. He is charged with assault with intent to murder, assault and battery with a deadly weapon, and assault and battery on a police officer, among other charges. Friday's explosions took place right outside the Boston Police substation on West Broadway in South Boston. Officers first noticed a small fire near the police cruiser and moved it out of the way before two more explosions went off. The homeless man, originally from Dorchester, Massachusetts, is thought to have used a propane tank and possibly fireworks in the 'deliberate attack' police say. The explosions took place right outside the Boston Police substation on West Broadway in South Boston Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said a second explosion involving the same device occurred after officers moved the vehicle. He added that some officers may have suffered minor injuries. Kieta was eventually tracked down using surveillance video, where he was found sitting in his 2014 Toyota Camry, in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Video from earlier on Friday morning showed the suspect in a large hooded coat, coming out of the Camry with what appears to be a grocery bag and walking towards the police station, the Boston Herald reported. Kieta is then seen returning to the car and driving 'quickly' away, the paper continued. Police and a bomb squad searched this Toyota car after a traffic stop on Saturday. Kieta was eventually tracked down using surveillance video, where he was found sitting in his 2014 Toyota Camry, in Charlestown, Massachusetts The FBI is still investigating what the device was made with but it seems to involves a propane tank and possibly firework, Evans said to the Boston Herald. He added: 'I'm thrilled we got him. 'We have no indication at this time that this is anything that's part of a plot. The CNS Ningde, a Type-056 class corvette, sails in waters off Dalian, Liaoning province, in November. Provided To China Daily The People's Liberation Army Navy has commissioned its 31st Type-056 class corvette, marking a new addition to the world's largest fleet of modern corvettes. The CNS Ezhou with a hull number of 513 was delivered to the East Sea Fleet in a naval base in East China's Fujian province on Wednesday, PLA Daily reported, saying the ship will perform coastal patrol, fishery escort, anti-submarine and anti-ship operations. It is the second ship that has been commissioned to the PLA Navy since the start of 2017, following the CNS Kaiyangxing, a Type-815A class electronic reconnaissance ship, which now belongs to the North Sea Fleet. The newest of the Type-056 class to enter service, the Ezhou is 89 meters long and 11 m wide and has a full displacement of 1,254 metric tons. With a maximum speed of 52 km/h, the ship features good maneuverability, a high level of automation and stealth capability, and is capable of hitting aircraft, ships and submarines, the report added, noting it can carry one anti-submarine helicopter. In addition to the Navy, the China Coast Guard is also attracted to the fast speed and reliable self-defense capacity of the Type-056 vessels and has introduced a number of such ships, which have appeared in operations near Huangyan Island and the Diaoyu Islands, the newspaper said. China began to build the Type-056 class around 2012 to modernize its coastal defense flotillas that were composed of the antiquated Type-037 class corvettes, which were virtually submarine chasers, and some other old patrol boats. The first Type-056 class ship, CNS Bengbu, was delivered to the East Sea Fleet in February 2013. Before the Ezhou, a total of 30 Type-056 class ships have been commissioned for the Navy, official statistics show. Russia has the world's largest corvette group that consists of about 80 vessels, but most of them were built in the 1980s and 1990s and cannot compete with the Type-056 in terms of technology and equipment, defense observers said, adding that the Type-056 fleet is now the biggest force of modern corvettes of all navies. Information from IHS Jane's Fighting Ships shows a Type-056 class corvette is armed with four YJ-83 anti-ship missile launchers, a 76-mm gun, two 30-mm cannons, two triple-barreled lightweight torpedo launchers, and an eight-cell HHQ-10 short-range anti-aircraft missile launcher. The industry publication also says that some of the Type-056 class vessels have enhanced anti-submarine capabilities with towed and variable-depth sonar. According to a ranking by the British website Naval Technology, the Type-056 is one of the world's 10 best modern corvettes along with Sweden's Visby class and Germany's K130 Braunschweig class. Cao Weidong, a researcher at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, said despite the Type-056 class being smaller compared with frigates, it will be as powerful as frigates in battles in coastal waters thanks to its stealth design and strong firepower. Du Wenlong, an equipment expert at the PLA Academy of Military Science, said that in addition to coastal defense, Type-056 class ships can also help with long-range operations. Hunters shot dead five dogs at a Britons animal rescue centre in southern Spain, police believe. The gunmen shot the pets and gouged the eye of a horse after creeping on to the property at night. Locals believe it was a revenge attack because landowner Illona Mitchell refused to let them hunt on her land. Animal rescue centre owner Illona Mitchell, 48, is pictured with daughter Ella at their home in Spain with three dogs that survived the attack Miss Mitchell, 48, left the UK in 2004 to live in the Sierra de Baza mountain range after buying 173 hectares of land for 100,000. Initially, she accepted that hunters roaming across her land to shoot pheasants, deer, wild boar and rabbits was part of Spanish culture. But as her rescue centre flourished, she decided to seek a ban on the hunting as it was cruel to animals. The ban was granted in May last year, threatening hunters who ignored it with hefty fines. Since then Miss Mitchell and her 11-year-old daughter Ella have faced intimidating late-night visits to their home by hunters angry at her decision. Her partner, Spanish farmer Isi Doro, 39, has been criticised for siding with Miss Mitchell, who some locals are calling the stupid English woman. The former restaurant manager from Chester said: I am sickened as to why someone would carry out such a cruel and barbaric attack on innocent, defenceless animals. The gunmen gouged the eye of a horse and shot five dogs at the rescue centre in Granada 'As rescue dogs, they have already suffered mistreatment or at the very best have been ignored. And just when they reach a place of supposed sanctuary, they are made to suffer even more. The group of hunters are believed to have killed the dogs with pistols hours after many locals in the nearby village of Caniles, near Granada, attended a parade to mark Three Kings Day, or the Epiphany. Miss Mitchell believes that it had been planned for a night when the police would be busy elsewhere. Her friend Mandy Lewis and her husband found the bodies of the dogs when they arrived at the kennels the next morning. Three crossbreeds Dizzy, seven, Coco, two, and two-month-old Maisie were dead after being shot in the head, but two others were still alive. German shepherd Jack, five, had been shot through the roof of his mouth. He died within half an hour of being taken to a vet. Locals believe it was a revenge attack because Miss Mitchell refused to let them hunt on her land Crossbreed Domingo, three, was shot in the side of the face and died the next morning. A sixth dog is missing. Mrs Lewis, 44, said: All of a sudden I heard my husband screaming, Theyre dead, theyre dead. The dogs are dead. I quickly ran up to where he was. Its the most horrific thing Ive ever seen in my life. Our life here now feels a bit tainted. Some part of what we were all trying to achieve here has been lost. During the attack, in the early hours of January 7, one of Miss Mitchells ten horses suffered a deep gouge to his right eye. Vets have struggled to treat four-year-old Rocco because he gets nervous when approached by strangers. Miss Mitchell said: The only motive I can think of is hunters getting revenge. I recently stopped hunting on my land, and made this clear to all local hunting groups. It has led to me receiving harassment from local hunters calling at my house. They have also stopped me in the street, hurling insults and intimidating me. This happens several times a week. Domingo, three, (pictured) was shot in the side of the face and died the next morning They even forged my signature on an official document, suggesting I was happy for them to hunt on my land. Others said they would carry on hunting regardless. But this is not going to drive me away. I appreciate I have a problem to deal with, but its not going to stop me caring for abandoned animals. The attack in the mountain range where farmers grow olives, grapes and almonds came days before the hunting season started. Police officers told her that it was one of the worst attacks on animals they had seen. They have put extra patrols in the area in an attempt to stop more attacks. Officers have questioned some hunters, but no arrests have been made. Miss Mitchell and her friends have put up posters in the village showing the dead dogs and promised a reward for information leading to the arrests of the culprits. A video said to be shot in Yellowstone Park in Wyoming shows a group of shadowy bipedal figures, raising questions about whether this may be yet another potential sighting of a 'Bigfoot' creature. The footage was captured on Christmas Day, in a cellphone video of the National Park Service-controlled live video feed from Yellowstone's Old Faithful geyser, according to the anonymous YouTube user who posted the video. 'The park's webcam, normally trained on Old Faithful, suddenly zoomed in on a geyser erupting off in the distance [and] was also broadcasting live video of some very large individuals,' the user explained under the account name Bahinko. The video opens with what appear to be two shadowy figures seated in the snow, as a woman viewing the live-feed exclaims 'that can't be right' in the background. The footage was captured on Christmas Day, in a cellphone video of the National Park Service-controlled live video feed The video opens with what appear to be two shadowy figures in the snow After roughly four minutes, the two seated figures are then joined by a third figure, which walks in a distinctive two-legged shuffle, moving one foot at a time. Three additional figures soon move out from behind the trees, making a total of six. 'The video is poor quality yet it provides some info about body shapes, movements, and behavior,' wrote Bahinko. 'So it's up to the viewer to determine whether or not they're human. My gut feeling tells me they're not.' Three additional figures soon move out from behind the trees, making a total of six A spokesperson for the National Park Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday. Videos from North America purporting to show large simian creatures unknown to science have surfaced regularly since at least the 1960s. Most of those videos have been ruled hoaxes or mistaken identifications by experts. The video from Christmas appears to be shot in the area near Old Faithful where a similar sighting was reported in 2014. In a video dated December 29, 2014, a bipedal figure can be seen briefly near a herd of buffalo before the camera quickly pans out. Still here: Hani al-Sibai at his London home An Islamic hate preacher has won 123,000 in legal aid despite links to a terror group which murdered 30 British tourists at a Tunisian beach resort. Hani al-Sibai was granted public money to help him fight deportation even though he is alleged to be a 'key influencer' of the extremist Ansar al-Sharia movement. This group is believed to have recruited Seifeddine Rezgui, the gunman who massacred 38 British and other tourists at Sousse in June 2015. Al-Sibai, 55, whose three-storey housing association home in West London is worth 1million, is also said to have radicalised Mohammed Emwazi, the infamous Islamic State executioner best known as 'Jihadi John'. He described the 2005 7/7 terror attacks in London as a 'great victory' for Al Qaeda and hailed Osama Bin Laden as 'a lion among the lions of Islam'. The taxpayer-funded payments will horrify families of the British Sousse victims, who last week heard harrowing evidence of how their loved ones were gunned down in a 20-minute rampage. Days after the Tunisia terror attack, the Daily Mail revealed connections between the atrocity and extremists in the UK. Al-Sibai arrived in Britain in 1994 and was refused asylum in 1998 because of his involvement with the Egyptian terror group Islamic Jihad. He was jailed while the Government tried to deport him, but had to be freed after less than a year because Egypt failed to provide assurances that he would not be in danger there. Human rights laws make it impossible for suspects to be returned to countries where they might be tortured or killed. Over two decades he has received 123,000 in legal aid, which paid for representation by top human-rights lawyers. Al-Sibai also used public funds to sue the authorities for unlawful detention. In 2004, the High Court ruled that 14 days of his ten months behind bars during 1998 and 1999 were not legally justified the Government should have let him go as soon as it knew there was no chance of deporting him. He received compensation but the Home Office would not disclose the figure to the Mail. Al-Sibai used public funds yet again to go to the European Court of Justice and challenge his inclusion on an official list of Al Qaeda affiliates. He won his case thanks to a series of official blunders, including not being given a proper chance to defend himself. On the move: Hate preacher Hani Al-Sibai in his car outside his west London home The hate preacher was referenced as a 'key influencer' of the Ansar al-Sharia terror group in a 2013 report by the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, based in The Hague. Its report said: 'Al-Sibai's involvement in international jihadism runs long and deep. When Ansar al-Sharia held a conference in May 2012, al-Sibai was one of several foreign scholars to address the audience by video.' Two years later in November 2015, the hate preacher was condemned by an Upper Tribunal immigration court judge who accused him of 'explicit direct encouragement or incitement to acts of terrorism'. He had appeared in a video on May 2, 2011 the day 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden was killed and called him 'a lion among the lions of Islam'. He also described him as the 'reviver of Islam' and called the 7/7 bombings a 'great victory' for Al Qaeda which 'rubbed the noses of the world's eight most powerful countries in the mud'. His involvement in jihadism runs deep The hate preacher is now in the UK on 'limited leave', which can be renewed every six months as long as there is still a risk of him being harmed in Egypt. He denies being involved in terrorism, that he is a key influencer, leader or close associate of the Islamic fanatics behind the Tunisia attack and he denies rejoicing in the 2005 terror attacks. He said he merely pointed out that the bombings were in fact a 'great victory' for Al Qaeda. And he also denies radicalising 'Jihadi John'. A lawyer representing him added: 'To the best of his knowledge, he never met him. He asks we repeat his condemnation of the killing of innocent people wherever this occurs in the world, including those in Tunisia.' The Ministry of Justice said it had cut fees paid to lawyers in legal aid cases by more than 20 per cent since 2010. A spokesman added: 'Applications for legal aid are subject to a strict means test. Those who do meet the relevant thresholds may still be required to pay a significant contribution towards the costs of their defence.' Advertisement Donald Trump paid tribute to the nation's law enforcement officers and first responders at a special gathering at the White House's Blue Room Sunday - but paid attention to one in particular. Trump was addressing the assembled representatives of the nation's agencies when he called out to Comey, who was hidden away at the back of the room. Comey - whose much-criticized October revelation that the FBI had reopened its investigation in the Clinton servers may have cost Hillary the election - strode awkwardly over to shake Trump's hand. But the gregarious leader pulled Comey in for an even more awkward hug as he announced: 'He's become more famous than me!' Scroll down for video Hug it out: At a meeting to honor first responders, Donald Trump singled out FBI director James Comey (left and right) and said he's 'become more famous than me!' He also pulled in Comey for an awkward hug (right) Called out: Trump was thanking first responders and law enforcement officials for their work during the inauguration when he invited Comey over from across the room. The FBI head looked awkward as he traversed the large blue rug in the center Comey looked deeply uncomfortable to be singled out in the event, which was intended to honor first responders and law enforcement officials who'd helped with Friday's inauguration and festivities. The other attendee who got special treatment was John Clancy, Director of the Secret Service, whom Trump promised would do a 'great job'. He, too, was invited out of the crowd to share an awkward moment with the President, as a traditional greeting turned into a 'bro handshake' by grasping Clancy's thumb between his own thumb and forefinger partway through. During the rest of the event, Trump thanked the officials for their work on the inauguration, saying the day was 'such a success and such a safety success.' Earlier Sunday Trump attended the swearing in of his national advisers, telling them they're in the White House to 'devote ourselves to the national good.' He was at the ceremony in the White House's East Room, where he said their work isn't about party or ideology, but 'about serving the American people.' Trump praised his team's talent. But he also joked that if his advisers are not doing their jobs well, 'I will let you know.' Vice president Mike Pence joined Trump for the event and carried out the official swearing in. Bros: Trump also shook hands with Joseph Clancy, director of the Secret Service at the event, turning it into a 'bro handshake' by grasping Clancy's thumb between his own thumb and forefinger partway through Earlier in the day, Trump had announced that he would discuss immigration and renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement when he meets with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. He said the meeting would take place on January 31. Nieto is also expected to meet soon with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeu, whose country is also in NAFTA. Trump has blamed the three-nation trade pact for disadvantaging American workers and causing companies to move out of the US. Trump's first formal meeting with lawmakers as president is expected tomorrow, as he speaks to bipartisan congressional leaders. His congressional agenda includes repealing and replacing the nation's health care law and passing tax reform. He will also be seeking Senate support for his yet-to-be-named nominee to fill the current Supreme Court vacancy. Fifteen people remain in hospital after a man ran his car down Melbourne's Bourke Street mall - and two are fighting for their lives. Grave fears are held for two who remain in a critical condition - as police say Dimitrious 'Jimmy' Gargasoulas, 26, the man accused of the attack, will face multiple murder charges. 'We have grave fears for their health and wellbeing,' Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said on Monday. Scroll down for video Dimitrious 'Jimmy' Gargasoulas, 26, the man accused of the attack, will face multiple murder charges A bystander, Tevita Mahina, 17, attempted to stop the vehicle before it plunged through the crowds Victims injured in the attack are tended to after being hurt in the tragedy, which took place on Friday The driver of the vehicle (red, centre) drove it down Melbourne's busy Bourke Street Mall 'What occurred on Friday is not only a cause of great sadness, but it is a cause of legitimate and, I think, profound anger. All of us feel it,' Mr Andrews said. So far, five people - Three adults and two children, a three-month-old baby and 10-year-old - have died after a man deliberately drove into people in the crowded mall at lunchtime on on Friday. Gargasoulas is in hospital being treated for a gunshot wound and is likely to face multiple murder charges. Victoria Police are still waiting to interview him. He had surgery on Saturday for a gunshot wound he sustained when police stopped his alleged deadly drive into lunchtime crowds on Friday. Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton says Victoria Police are still waiting for the go-ahead to interview him, and he will face 'multiple' murder charges as soon as they do. The accused allegedly drove his vehicle through crowds in Melbourne's busy city centre One of the five people who died after the tragedy on Friday , Jess Mudie, 22, from Sydney Matthew Si, 33 (left), and Thalia Hakin, 10 (right) were also killed in the incident Thalia Hakin, 10, Jess Mudie, 22, Matthew Si, 33, a three-month-old baby and a 25-year-old man died. More than 30 were injured with 13 remaining in hospital on Sunday, at least two of them still fighting for their lives. 'They are critical. They're in a very, very serious condition,' Andrews told reporters. 'The fear is of course that the death toll from this evil act will rise.' The fear is of course that the death toll from this evil act will rise. Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews Thousands of Victorians and visitors laid flowers in Bourke St on Sunday as families paid tributes to their loved ones. The Jewish community in St Kilda East held prayers for Thalia and all the other victims, praying for a speedy recovery for the injured. 'I think all Victorians can identify... with a girl who was going into grade five, her life all in front of her, robbed by some crazed person,' Federal MP Michael Danby said. Mr Si was a devoted husband and a loving father, brother and son, his wife Melinda said in a statement. People flocked to Melbourne GPO to lay floral tributes and mourn for the victims of the Bourke Street attack Masses of flowers laid at a floral tribute on Bourke street in Melbourne on Sunday They had just finished lunch together in the city, and parted to go to their respective offices, when he was struck and killed. 'The family would like to thank everyone who helped Matt at the scene and did their best to save him,' Ms Si says. Ms Mudie's family wrote a tribute letter that was released to media: 'To our dearest and most badass daughter and sister, Jess. You are always up to do everything and are such bright bubble of joy. ' Gargasoulas' alleged actions before the Bourke St Mall tragedy Evaded police before Christmas in his car Did a burnout outside the St Kilda police station Stabbed his brother Angelo Went to a police station raving Repeatedly called 000 want to speak to a specific officer Had warrants out for his arrest before his release on bail on January 14 Source: Herald Sun Advertisement Gargasoulas had been driving erratically around Melbourne after allegedly stabbing his brother, who is also in hospital, much earlier that morning. The accused was well known to police and had been bailed on an assault charge just five days before Friday, when he was due to attend court. Mr Andrews said bail laws would be reviewed following the attack. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull joined Mr Andrews and laid a wreath at the memorial site on the steps of the old GPO in the mall. 'The loss of fellow Australians in such a shocking, wanton, criminal attack is a tragedy,' Mr Turnbull told reporters. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said an 'evil, murderous hoon' had attacked one of Melbourne's iconic places. A tax deductible fund has been set up to help the families of victims who died as a result of the attack, with the Victorian and federal governments putting in $100,000 each. A public vigil is being planned for Monday night at Federation Square. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews (dark jacket) and Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle lay flowers The Good Samaritan who was shot dead while trying to stop a robbery at a Texas shopping mall has been identified as former Marine Jonathan Murphy. Murphy was described by devastated family members as a dedicated family man and husband to his wife, Aimee. The couple had gone to the mall on Sunday to have their wedding rings cleaned when the 42-year-old car dealership manager heroically tried to stop the robbery at Rolling Oaks Mall in San Antonio. Scroll down for video Jon Murphy (pictured) has been identified by friends as the Good Samaritan who was shot dead while trying to break up a robbery at a San Antonio mall on Sunday A GoFundMe page has been created to help raise money for Murphy's family, and people have also used the page to share memories of the 42-year-old. 'For as long as I've known them, I've been amazed at how passionately Jon and Aimee Murphy loved each other. They looked after each other and their family the way thoroughly good people do,' the page's creator, who claimed to have dated Murphy's step-daughter, wrote. 'Jon was a first rate protector. When I started dating his step daughter, he let me know in no uncertain terms that his eyes were on me, and I was a better man for it. 'When someone tried to break into his house when his family was home a while back, he sprang into action with little regard for his own safety and saved the day. He worked as hard and selflessly as anyone I've ever met, and he did it all for his family. A second suspect (pictured) in the robbery and shooting was arrested by police on Sunday night The 35-year-old suspect is walked past the media with his hands cuffed behind his back on Sunday night The second suspect (pictured) was described as a 35-year-old Hispanic man, and has been charged with capital murder and two counts of aggravated assault 'Jon, the protector, lost his life making sure nobody else did.' The fundraiser had raised about $22,000 by 4pm on Monday. It comes after San Antonio Police said the two men they believe tried to rob the jewelry store at the Rolling Oaks Mall about 3:30pm on Sunday are in custody. Chief William McManus said one of the men shot and killed Murphy as they attempted to escape. A woman holds her child after San Antonio police helped her and other shoppers exit the Rolling Oaks Mall after a deadly shooting The mall was placed into lockdown after two armed men attempted to rob Kay Jewelers inside Rolling Oaks Mall about 3.30pm on Sunday. Terrified shoppers and their children leave the mall, above The second suspect, who initially fled the scene, was apprehended Sunday night after a car crash in nearby Converse, police said in a statement early Monday. He was described as a 35-year-old Hispanic man, and has been charged with capital murder and two counts of aggravated assault, according to mysanantonio.com. Two weapons were recovered from the suspect. The other alleged robber was in a critical condition at San Antonio Military Medical Center on Sunday night. It is believed that he is the person who shot Murphy. McManus called the fatal shooting 'absolutely senseless'. San Antonio police help shoppers exit the Rolling Oaks Mall after the shooting Multiple police and emergency units rushed to the mall after the shooting was reported about 3.30pm on Sunday 'This is a robbery gone really, really bad,' he said. The second robber fired his weapon as he fled the mall, injuring a man and a woman. In total, five people - not including Murphy - were hospitalized after the shooting. However, one of the alleged robbers was also hit, when another individual in the mall who was carrying a licensed concealed handgun shot him. The injured shoppers, along with the wounded robber, were taken to a hospital, San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said. Multiple people who were inside the mall at the time of the shooting took to social media to say they were hiding in the back of some stores and in bathrooms Two other people - a woman who complained of chest pains and a pregnant woman who had labor pains - were also taken to hospitals, Hood said. Authorities have released no details on the conditions of the injured bystanders, but police said the wounded suspect was in critical condition. Both suspects face preliminary charges of capital murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Police have not released the names of the suspects. Paramedic and police vehicles were spotted outside Rolling Oaks Mall in San Antonio, Texas on Sunday afternoon after a man who shot dead trying to stop a robbery All six gunshot victims and the shooting suspect were transported to nearby San Antonio Medical Center. Shoppers exit the mall, above The shooting took place inside Rolling Oaks Mall in San Antonio The former boss of Rolls-Royce has hired the lawyer who defended rogue trader Nick Leeson. It came as investigators pledged to bust the circle of corruption surrounding the engineering giant. Sir John Rose is understood to have enlisted the help of lawyer Stephen Pollard after he become one of a number of past employees at the firm being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office. Investigators warned that they were urgently working to bring charges against individuals after Rolls-Royce admitted international bribery, corruption and false accounting stretching over 24 years. Sir John Rose, pictured, is believed to have hired lawyer Stephen Pollard as he is investigated by the Serious Fraud Office The SFO is also following new leads of similar criminality in other companies connected to Rolls-Royce, insisting it was not a case of one bad apple. It said it was intent on busting the complete circle of corruption surrounding Rolls-Royce including the executives, the intermediaries who channelled bribes and their recipients. Mr Pollard, who works at the Mayfair branch of US firm WilmerHale, is best known for defending Barings rogue trader Leeson more than two decades ago. Leeson was accused of fraudulent trading that triggered the collapse of Barings Bank. Mr Pollard has since advised in a string of high-profile financial crime cases. Mr Pollard, pictured, represented rogue trader Nick Leeson after he was accused of fraudulent trading that triggered the collapse of Barings Bank in the mid-1990s The Mail revealed on Saturday how a number of leading figures at the engineer, including Sir John, 64, who was chief executive at the business for 15 years, were being investigated by the SFO. Last week the company agreed a deferred prosecution agreement after it admitted international bribery, corruption and false accounting between 1989 and 2013. The High Court described issues at the scandal-hit firm as egregious criminality over decades which implicated very senior executives and the controlling minds of the company. Rolls-Royce agreed to pay a record-breaking 497million in fines, as well as making plea bargains with US and Brazilian authorities that will cost the company a further 174million. While the deferred prosecution agreement stops Rolls-Royce from being dragged through a trial, it does not prevent individuals at the firm from facing charges. Investigations into the business began in 2012, a year after Sir John left the company, when whistleblowers made allegations regarding suspicious payments it had made to middlemen around the world in order to secure lucrative contracts. The inquiry found that the FTSE 100 company seen as one of the giants of British engineering had secretly paid off senior company and government officials in 11 developing countries including India, Thailand, Nigeria, Russia and Brazil. Leeson, pictured, was jailed in Singapore in 1996 for fraudulent trading but was released in 1999 when he was diagnosed with colon cancer, which he survived The deals sealed with these bribes inflated Rolls-Royces sales by around 250million. Sir John and other senior officials at the business have been accused of knowing about the issues but failing to report them. Current Rolls-Royce boss Warren East said: This was unworthy of everything which Rolls-Royce stands for, and that our people, customers, investor and partners rightly expect from us. Sir John and Mr Pollard declined to comment yesterday. Pauline Hanson has asked Australian women who rallied at an anti-Trump march why there wasn't a protest for Islamic women. The One Nation leader has taken a swipe at protesters, who took to the streets on Saturday to mark the new U.S. president's first day in power. 'I want you to ask yourself - Where is the#WomensMarch to protest the suffering of women in countries under the rule of Islamic Extremists?' she asked. Her remarks comes after tens of thousands of women marched around Australian cities over the weekend. The Queensland senator then suggested the Women's March demonstrators in Australia were 'overweight' in a scathing attack on Facebook. Scroll down for video Pauline Hanson has taken to Twitter to ask Australian women who rallied at an anti-Trump march why there wasn't a protest for Islamic women Pauline Hanson (pictured) also described protests in Brisbane as sad and undemocratic 'It's good that they were out and about and doing a bit of walking because it looked like a few of them needed to get a bit of sun and do a bit of exercise,' Senator Hanson said on Facebook. The Sydney march attracted the biggest crowd of about 10,000 on Saturday, as a sign writer emblazoned 'Trump' in the sky to the annoyance of demonstrators. Her comments were directed mainly at the Brisbane marchers who chanted: 'Donald Trump, go to hell. Take One Nation there as well.' The controversial politician asked her Facebook followers if 'these clowns have anything better to do with their time other than to hold sad, anti-democratic protests'. Ironically, she was talking about Brisbane, in Queensland, where demonstrations were banned under Joh Bjelke-Petersen's National Party government during the 1970s and 1980s. The Sydney demonstration (pictured) attracted 10,000 people to the march from Hyde Park to Martin Place Tens of thousands of women rallied in support of equal rights in Sydney on Saturday However, Senator Hanson praised the demonstrators for at least being more civil than their counterparts in the United States. 'Oh, well, at least they didn't see as bad as the left-wing protesters in Washington who were vandalising businesses and committing assaults,' she said on Sunday. Earlier, Senator Hanson took credit for Mr Trump's inauguration message of transferring power from Washington D.C. and giving it back to the people. Like the U.S. president, she has also called for a ban on Muslim migration. 'Donald Trump has been watching my lead over the last 20 years,' Senator Hanson told the Seven Network's Weekend Sunrise programme on Sunday. Tens of thousands of women rallied from Hyde Park to Martin Place in support of equal rights Ms Hanson mocked anti-Donald Trump supporters by suggesting they were overweight Women's March demonstrations were held in several Australian cities, including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra. They were timed to coincide with marches in Washington D.C. at the National Mall, which attracted about one million people as Mr Trump was sworn-in as the 45th president of the United States. Feminists and left-wing demonstrators are taking issue with the Republican Party's call to end funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion programme, and the billionaire's past comments denigrating women. More than 2.5 million people across the U.S. marched against President Trump. Maureen Braddy, 16, disappeared along with a friend from a dance in Bendigo in 1968 Two Victoria teens left a dance in 1968 and were never seen again - but now police hope that a $1 million reward will lead to clues into their disappearance. Maureen Braddy, 16, and her 17-year-old friend Allan Whyte were last seen leaving a YMCA dance in Mundy Street at California Gully in Bendigo on Saturday November 23, 1968. No trace of the teenagers has ever been found, despite extensive investigations over the past 48 years. A 2014 inquest found Maureen and Allan most likely met with foul play and are deceased. It also found they likely died on or about the night of their disappearance. Maureen's father, Stanley Braddy, was considered 'highly suspicious' at the time but the inquest could not conclude he was involved in the disappearances. Mr Braddy's second daughter, Lynette Ireland, who was only eight years old at the time of the disappearances, recalled the night of the disappearance. The inquest heard that on the night of the dance, she witnessed Mr Braddy and another man carrying a bloody person that she believed was the body of Allan Whyte. But Victoria's deputy coroner, Iain White, said that her testimony was not reliable because her memories had been recovered with the help of a hypnotherapist. 'There are acknowledged dangers associated with recovered memory testimony,' Mr White said. Allan Whyte, 17, is presumed dead after his 1968 disappearance Mr Braddy denied any involvement and told police a theory that Maureen and Allan had been abducted and enslaved. In 2012, Mr Braddy told detectives that he had been contacted by two unnamed Bendigo policemen who told him 'not to worry' about the teens as they were being financially supported by the government. He said he believed his daughter and Allan had gone on to have two children and that they were living a happy life. Police said his story was 'wholly incredible,' but at the time lacked evidence to accuse Mr Braddy of involvement in the disappearance. Investigators hope Monday's $1 million offering will bring renewed interest to the case. Detective Inspector Stephen Dennis believes someone within the community of Bendigo holds the key to solving the mystery. 'We are hoping that today's $1 million announcement will encourage someone out there with crucial information or direct knowledge of this disappearance to come forward,' he said. The reward of up to $1 million will be paid at the discretion of the Chief Commissioner of Police for information leading to the apprehension and subsequent conviction of the person or persons responsible for the alleged abduction and murder. She's a patriot, and she has the shoes to prove it. Tiffany Trump showed off a pair of Stars And Stripes stilettos Sunday in a photo taken next to her brother Eric at the top of the White House. The youngest of Donald Trump's two daughters posed with her older brother as the family enjoyed their first weekend at the Pennsylvania Avenue residence, following the new president's inauguration. Tiffany's shoes, glittery lace-up flats by Florence-based brand Aquazzura, retail at $725, although they are currently on sale. Tiffany Trump showed off a pair of $725 Stars And Stripes shoes Sunday in a photo taken at the top of the White House next to her brother Eric (pictured) The American flag shoes (pictured), glittery lace-up flats by Florence-based brand Aquazzura, retail at $725, although they are currently on sale The mogul's daughter paired the Stars And Stripes shoes with a three-quarter length coat, dark pants and a light blue scarf. Eric, meanwhile, posed next to his sister in a dark suit and red tie. Tiffany, who has participated in the inauguration events with her Democrat boyfriend Ross Mechanic, attended a prayer service with other members of the family and her newly sworn-in father Saturday at Washington National Cathedral. Eric said in his first post-inauguration interview Saturday that it had been surreal to watch his father become the 45th president of the United States, beginning with when Trump deposed a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery the day before the inauguration. Eric Trump also shared this snap on Instagram with wife Lara. He captioned it: 'Cool photo from the top of the White House! Headed home after an unforgettable weekend' Tiffany attended a prayer service with other members of the family and her newly sworn-in father Saturday at Washington National Cathedral (pictured) 'You're sitting there overlooking all of Washington. I think it was at that moment that it hit me that this is really real. He is now the commander-in-chief of the United States. He has unbelievable responsibility on him. It was really a surreal moment,' Eric told Fox News. 'It is a heavy burden that he has and it's a heavy burden that every commander-in-chief has. I think that very much sank in.' He recalled walking out of the Capitol with his family right before Trump took the presidential oath. 'When you walk down the hallway out of the Capitol, down the stairs and you pass the honor guard - it was so powerful and then you come out this door and it's just massive. All there is a sea of people,' Eric said. 'That's a 60-second period of time when you start that walk to the time you get to your seat. That's a sight that I will never forget as long as I live, it was truly an unbelievable moment.' Eric Trump also shared a snap on Instagram with wife Lara on Sunday. He captioned it: 'Cool photo from the top of the White House! Headed home after an unforgettable weekend.' His brother Donald Jr shared a family photo on Sunday giving a glimpse of how the family have settled in the White House. The snap showed Donald Jr's son Tristan, who stole the show while Trump signed his first executive orders Friday, having lunch at the White House in his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pajamas. Trump has said he plans to make Monday the first big day of work for his administration. His wife Melania and son Barron will head back to New York City until the end of the school year. (Xinhua) 08:43, January 22, 2017 In his first official visit to the top U.S. spy agency, U.S. President Donald Trump vowed Saturday that "radical Islamic terrorism" has to be eradicated "right now". Trump told hundreds of staff of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) headquarters in Langley, Virginia, that the U.S. has to get rid of the Islamic State (IS), the terror group based in the Middle East that has launched terror attacks against Western countries in the past years. "We have to get rid of IS, we have no choice," he told the audience. Trump described "radical Islamic terrorism" as "evil" unseen before, adding that it should be "eradicated just off the face of the earth." "But we gonna end it. It's time. It's time right now to end it," said Trump. He did not offer details of his plan to fight terrorism, though he said the CIA would do a "phenomenal job" on this. Trump, who was sworn in as the 45th U.S. President on Friday, strongly denied previous media reports that he was in feud with the intelligence community, which concluded that Russia helped him win the presidential race with hacking activities. "There's nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community" than he does, Trump stressed. He scolded the U.S. media as "the most dishonest people" by reporting his feud with the intelligence community, although he previously criticized the intelligence agencies for leaking the reports that Russia may have "compromising materials" about him. Trump also promised stronger support to the U.S. intelligence community than any other president did. "I'm so behind you," Trump said, adding that maybe some time in the future the intelligence community will get more support than wanted. But Trump's first day after becoming president was marred by widespread massive anti-Trump protests held across the U.S. and other parts of the world. Over one million people Saturday took to the streets and staged rallies across the United States to protest against President Donald Trump's first full day as the 45th U.S. President. Search teams have rescued a 58-year-old North Dakota man who got lost in Rocky Mountain National Park and spent a frigid night in deep snow. The hiker has been identified as Sheldon Seaborn of Grand Forks, who veered off of the North Longs Peak Trail on Friday. Two skiers spotted him on Saturday approximately 300 yards off of the trail deep in the heavy snow. More than 15 park rangers then rescued him using a toboggan and provided medical assistance. Search teams have rescued a 58-year-old North Dakota man who got lost in Rocky Mountain National Park and spent a frigid night in deep snow Kyle Patterson, a spokesperson for Rocky Mountain National Park, told the Denver Channel: 'He was evacuated via a toboggan litter to Glacier Gorge Trailhead where he was taken by an Estes Park Medical Center ambulance to the Park and Ride area along Bear Lake Road.' Upon his rescue, Rangers fund Seaborn suffering from hypothermia and other 'exposure related' injuries. He was airlifted to University of Colorado Hospital for further treatment. Two skiers spotted Sheldon Seabornapproximately 300 yards off of the trail deep in the heavy snow. More than 15 park rangers then rescued him using a toboggan and provided medical assistance Seaborn was found on the trail just south of Alberta Falls on the Colorado mountain range. The North Long Peak Trail is described as an 'infrequently' used area. It is said to have ideal views of the Glacier Gorge, Flattop and Hallett Peak, and the Mummy Range, A biologist has named a newly discovered moth after Donald Trump because of the overwhelming similarity between the insect's hair and that of the newly installed president. Canadian biologist Vazrick Nazari was examining samples contained within the Bohart Museum of Entomology when he noticed the resemblance between the moth and the billionaire former business mogul. On further examination, Nazari believed he found a new species of moth that had not previously been documented so got the privilege of naming the insect. Canadian biologist Vazrick Nazari has named a newly-discovered micro moth DonaldTrumpi The 3.6mm-long moth is described as having 'strongly curved' genitalia and an 'acute tip' Nazari said he named his new moth after Trump, left, to help highlight the insect's plight and the fact that its home in California and Mexico are under threat and need conservation The Neopalpa donaldtrumpi lives in southern parts of California and Baja California in Mexico, but unfortunately it is under threat. Nazari outlined his findings in the journal ZooKeys, along with photographs of the new specimen. He uses the journal to describe the insect in minute details. Unfortunately for Mr Trump, the new moth is rather small, measuring on average about 3.6mm to 4mm. According to the Nazari's description of the new moth, it can be differentiated between other similar insects by its external appearance, including its 'yellowish-white scales covering the frons of the adult head, and the distinctive orange-yellow coloration of the forewing dorsum'. Examination of the moth's genitalia have discovered it is 'strongly curved' and has 'an acute tip'. According to Nazari: 'The discovery of this distinct micro-moth in the densely populated and otherwise zoologically well-studied southern California underscores the importance of conservation of the fragile habitats that still contain undescribed and threatened species, and highlights the paucity of interest in species-level taxonomy of smaller faunal elements in North America. 'By naming this species after the 45th President of the United States, I hope to bring some public attention to, and interest in, the importance of alpha-taxonomy in better understanding the neglected micro-fauna component of the North American biodiversity.' Good-looking flight attendants have always been a key sell when it comes to competing airlines. Which is perhaps why one travel company decided to find out which carrier boasts the most beautiful of them all. Using software to generate a single 'face' for each airline made from multiple photos of its female staff, and then asking people to vote for their favourite, six airlines came out on top, with Emirates winning first prize. Software was used to generate a single 'face' for each airline made from multiple photos of its female staff - pictured (left) Emirates (centre) American Airlines and (right) WestJet Rounding out the rest of the top three were SkyWest (left), United (centre) and Delta (right) respectively - all American-based carriers The somewhat bizarre virtual beauty contest, carried out by travel site Trippy, quizzed 2,000 people on their preferences to arrive at the winner. Emirates, an airline based out of the United Arab Emirates, had the most attractive female flight attendants, according to the survey, averaging a 7.17 out of ten rating. The photo composites were crafted using LinkedIn profile pictures of staff from 17 top airlines around the world. The Emirates portrait was followed closely by American Airlines, then WestJet - a Canadian based carrier. The somewhat bizarre virtual beauty contest quizzed 2,000 people on their preferences to arrive at the winner Rounding out the rest of the top three were SkyWest, United and Delta respectively - all American-based companies. Three airlines scored average ratings below six out of ten; AirTran, Frontier, and Southwest Airlines, again, all being American. Researchers said they only analysed female flight attendants 'due to the larger availability of female photos on LinkedIn'. Researchers said they only analysed female flight attendants 'due to the larger availability of female photos on LinkedIn' The vast majority of passengers, of course, favour certain airlines for more practical reasons. But Emirates still came out on top at last year's prestigious Skytrax awards - otherwise known as 'the Oscars of the aviation industry' - winning the title of best overall airline in the world. It's not the first time flight attendants have been ranked en-mass for their attractiveness. Last year, the first class flight attendant behind the popular 'A Fly Guy' blog rounded up a selection of the 'sexiest' cabin crew members across the globe. Last year, a prominent blogger rounded up a selection of the 'sexiest' cabin crew members across the globe - pictured (left) an employee from United Airlines and (right) British Airways Of more than half a million selfies submitted, the top 60 were listed, including those from a Russian air hostess who works for Aeroflot (left) and an Israeli who works for El Al (right) He encouraged fellow air hosts and hostesses to submit their selfies to his website with the hashtag '#crewfies' - and claims to have amassed photos from more than half a million crew members. In what must have been quite a lengthy process, Jay compiled a list of the top 60 photos from staff in 49 countries worldwide, working across almost every airline. Those in the round-up - not ranked in any particular order - included male and female staff from carriers including United Airlines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Russian operator Aeroflot, and Israeli airline El Al, among others. Advertisement Nearly 100,000 visitors enter the UK every day. And spending a combined 2.5 million every hour, they're clearly busy. According to this new infographic - which reveals what foreign tourists are doing and how they are spending their cash on a real-time basis - a whopping 100 million, for example, is spent each month on fish and chips alone. As for moving around, visitors take more than 190,000 train journeys per hour - that's upwards of 3,100 a minute. Visits to British beaches average around 5,400 per hour, while the Tower of London draws in a lesser number of 322 an hour, and Stone Henge only attracts 93. The following interactive counter, created by Character Cottages, charts everything from how much tea is being served by the National Trust, to how many British gig tickets are flying off the shelves at any one time. When Geri Horner took this snap of herself, below, in full bloom on Friday night she was blissfully unaware that hours later she would be rushed to hospital to give birth. The 44-year-old former Spice Girl had her second child yesterday morning, a boy weighing 7lb 8oz. Last night she revealed on Instagram that his name is Montague George Hector. He is her first child with Red Bull F1 team principal Christian Horner, whom she married in 2015. Geri Horner had her baby boy, called Montague George Hector, and he shares a birthday with Emma Bunton The baby was also a happy surprise for Geris former bandmate and still close friend Emma Bunton as they share a birthday. Yesterday Geri took to Twitter to send a Happy Birthday Emma Bunton message, pointing out that she and her new baby are birthday twins. Geri also has a ten-year-old daughter, Bluebell. He already has the bristling beard, now James Middleton has gone full hipster by moving his marshmallow business Boomf to trendy new premises actually an old shipping container. Based on Regents Canal in ultra-hip Hackney, the multi-coloured metal office costs the Duchess of Cambridges brother just 322 a month to rent. That will keep his bank managers happy after they lent the firm a cool 500,000. US blogs suggest that Amal Clooney may be preparing for the patter of tiny feet so was there a clue when she visited the exclusive Josh Wood hair salon in Holland Park? US blogs are suggesting Amal Clooney may be pregnant, and she is said to have hidden a 'bump' in a salon in Holland Park My spy sat next to her there on Monday and heard stylists whispering that her cream jumper seemed to be concealing a bump. Im told the bump was the subject of fevered speculation on the shop floor long after Amal wafted away with a glossy new do. The Real Housewives of Melbourne's Gamble Breaux made headlines in December for slamming The Real Housewives of Sydney and calling them 'feral.' And again, the petite blonde seemed to take another swipe at the cast when speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald recently. The 44-year-old art collector and consultant again called the cast 'feral' and said they'll make her and her castmates look tame. Scroll down for video Speaking up: The Real Housewives of Melbourne's Gamble Breaux seemed to takes a swipe at The Real Housewives of Sydney recently She said her views come from having lived in her native Sydney - the eastern suburbs - before moving to Victoria, where she lives in Mt Eliza with husband Dr Rick Wolfe. 'Sydney women, if they are gold diggers, they are the worst. They will cut your throat. My experience is they can be the most slanderous, evil, and calculated,' Gamble said, adding they try to steal a woman's partner. But she clarified she's not entirely sure if the RHOS cast will act the same way as other Sydney women and regrets having a feud with RHOS' Lisa Oldfield. Claws are out? After calling the cast 'feral', she said her views come from her experience with other Sydney women who will 'cut your throat' 'I'll be watching': Gamble told Daily Mail Australia about her comments, saying she thinks the RHOS (cast is seen) will be 'awesome' Gamble told Daily Mail Australia about her comments, saying she thinks the RHOS will be 'awesome.' 'I was commenting about the women in the eastern suburbs that I knew. I don't know any of the cast but presume if they're anything like the people I've met, it will be full on.' 'I've heard from behind the scenes that it's hilarious wacky and intense. I'll be watching!' In December, Gamble told The Herald Sun in December that the RHOS 'are completely feral.' 'The fact is Sydney is brassy, but Melbourne is gold,' she continued. Defending herself: In September, she lashed out at Lisa Oldfield, (seen) who had made repeated attacks on the Melbourne cast in the media In September, she lashed out at Lisa Oldfield, who had made repeated attacks on the Melbourne cast in the media. Taking to Facebook, Gamble commented: '(Anna Wintour) wannabe can eat my p***y lips! 'Good luck riding off our ratings you stupid old cow. Blood sucking ticks like you wouldn't survive in Melbourne.' After Lisa dissed the Melbourne ladies yet again, Gamble responded again with another slam. 'I hear Real Housewives of Sydney is already getting rave reviews... from its cast!' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'I suggest Lisa save her petty bulls**t for the unfortunate women she will be spending the next four months with.' Meanwhile, another Sydney Housewife, artist Athena Levendi, has also taken a savage swipe at the Melbourne cast. 'They look like retired casino waitresses': Meanwhile, another Sydney Housewife, artist Athena Levendi, (seen) has also taken a savage swipe at the Melbourne cast Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia, the statuesque blonde remarked: 'The Melbourne Housewives to me look like retired casino waitresses.' 'They lack decorum,' she concluded with a laugh. Gamble has aired much of her personal life on The Real Housewives of Melbourne and is known for her confident personality and not holding back. Gamble and her beau Dr Rick, tied the knot in 2016 at a lavish beachside ceremony in Byron Bay, broadcast on Arena for fans to see. In the public eye: Gamble has aired much of her personal life on The Real Housewives of Melbourne and is known for her confident personality and not holding back Gamble became engaged when the revered eye surgeon popped the question during an episode in season two of RHOM. The pair had previously been together for five years, and while Gamble didn't have any children of her own she has become the proud step-mother to Rick's three kids. RHOM will return for season four this year, while RHOS season one, is set to premiere in February. She announced her pregnancy in an eloquent think piece about what it means to be a woman and a mother during the recent election cycle for Glamour magazine in October. And on Saturday, a heavily pregnant Amber Tamblyn managed to attend, protest and walk at not one, but TWO of the Women's Marches following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. The 33-year-old actress started the day early in Washington, D.C., on the front lines of the protest and continued to New York City to march in another anti-Trump rally . Ready to pop: Heavily pregnant Amber Tamblyn caressed her bulgeoning belly as she posed alongside Amy Schumer and the comedian's guests, all clad in orange NASA uniforms in D.C. The expectant mother caressed her burgeoning belly as she posed alongside Amy Schumer and the comedian's guests, all clad in orange NASA uniforms. Amber showcased her bump in a 'Women are Powerful and Dangerous' shirt given to her by friend and fellow feminist Lena Dunham. Aside from documenting the day on her own social media accounts, the 127 Hours actress also too over Marie Claire magazine's Instagram story. Among the pandemonium, the starlet somehow found her Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants co-star America Ferrera in D.C. Showcasing her bump: Amber wore a 'Women are Powerful and Dangerous' shirt given to her by friend and fellow feminist Lena Dunham Reunited: Among the pandemonium, the starlet somehow found her Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants co-star America Ferrera in D.C. Friends forever: In the Big Apple, the Two and a Half Men actress found Blake Lively, another co-star of the beloved 2008 film The pretty brunette posted a selfie with Ferrera - who's the chairwoman of the Women's March on Washington - and posted it to Instagram with the caption: 'Sister for life. For real. Forever. #womensmarch.' And though she looked like she was ready to pop, Tamblyn somehow managed to get to NYC to join thousands of other protesters in a second peaceful rally. In the Big Apple, the Two and a Half Men actress found Blake Lively, another co-star of the beloved 2008 film. Cozying up to her blonde bestie, Amber snapped another selfie and shared it, writing: 'Sister #2 located in NYC march! #womensmarchnyc.' The D.C. and NYC marches are two of many marches that took place a day after the presidential inauguration. The event - which has garnered huge international attention - has been organized in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, as well as 55 global cities including Tokyo, Sydney, Paris, London, Berlin, and Amsterdam. According to CNN, the mission of the protest is to 'send a bold message' to the new administration' and to the world 'that women's rights are human rights.' Meanwhile in D.C.: The D.C. and NYC marches are two of many marches that took place a day after the presidential inauguration Tamblyn spoke with Cosmopolitan on Friday, the day of President Trump's inauguration. She warned that the 'most dangerous thing we can do' is to 'be complacent.' Amber - who is married to comedian David Cross - said: 'As much as I don't want to say grow a thicker skin, I think we kind of have to. 'And we have to not be so triggered. It's easy to say that, but it's hard to actually let it go through you, as opposed to let it affect you.' Hollywood star Milla Jovovich's journey around the world to promote her latest sci-fi thriller Resident Evil is proving to be a long-running farewell. The 41-year-old Ukraine-born actress has journeyed from Tokyo to Los Angeles and even Mexico as part of the final-installment of the popular franchise. After debuting in Resident Evil in 2002, Jovovich told the Daily Telegraph it felt weird to be bidding goodbye to something that has been a part of her life for 15 years. Scroll down for video End of an era: After 15 years at the helm of sci-fi franchise Resident Evil, Milla Jovovich is currently on somewhat of a goodbye tour 'It's definitely weird to think that its all coming to an end,' Jovovich said. 'It's been such an amazing and such a long journey I never would have expected 15 years ago to still be on the boat.' During her time as a part of the hit franchise, Jovovich's life has changed massively. In 2009 she married Resident Evil's director, Englishman Paul Anderson and the couple now have two daughters - Ever, nine, and Dashiel, one. Doting mum: Jovovich has two daughters - Ever, nine, and Dashiel (pictured), one Passing it on: Jovovich's daughter Ever (right) stars in the latest film alongside her mother Happy family: In 2009 she married Resident Evil's director, Englishman Paul Anderson (right) Joined by her eldest daughter on screen in the franchise's final installment, the leading lady said it had only been a matter of time before Ever made her debut. 'She really is serious about it. If I can keep this fire burning and I can keep her from burning out really young, shes going to be a force to be reckoned with she'll have an incredible career ahead of her,' Jovovich said. This week the popular actress stunned as she walked the red carpet in Germany for the premiere of her latest film. Wearing a semi sheer black blouse with lacy collar that revealed a black bra, Milla's smiles were a far cry from the serious character she portrays on stage. Made up: Milla's brows were arched with dark brown pencil and she wore charcoal shadow on her eye-lids with back mascara. She added some rosy blush and cherry red lip color Ready to roll: The actress, 41, reprises her role of Alice in the final installment of the sci-fi action horror franchise She paired the stylish top with a calf-length black leather skirt that featured loose pleats and heeled black boots. Her short dark hair was worn in a feathered look tucked behind the ears. Her brows were arched with dark brown pencil and she wore charcoal shadow on her eye-lids with back mascara. Milla added some rosy blush and cherry red lip color. All black: She wore a semi sheer blouse with lacey collar that revealed her black bra and she paired it with a calf-length leather skirt that featured loose pleats and heeled black boots The actress was joined at the Berlin premiere by her husband. Anderson wrote the screenplay for all six of the Resident Evil movies and directed four of them including Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. Milla reprises her role of Alice in the final installment and finds herself in a race against time as the Umbrella Corporation prepares for a final strike against the remaining survivors of the apocalypse. The film also stars Ali Larter, Shawn Roberts, Ruby Rose, Eoin Macken, William Levy, and Iain Glen. Side by side: The actress was joined at the Berlin premiere by her husband Paul W.S. Anderson He's permanently relocated to Spain since quitting TOWIE. But Elliott Wright was back on home turf on Saturday, jetting into Gatwick airport alongside his stunning fiancee Sadie Stuart just in time for his cousin Mark Wright's birthday celebrations. The reality star, who starred in his own show Playa In Marbella, looked ready to get into the party spirit as he prepared to reunite with Mark and his stunning wife Michelle Keegan. Scroll down for video Just touched down in London town! Elliott Wright was back on home turf on Saturday, jetting into Gatwick airport alongside his stunning fiancee Sadie Stuart just in time for his cousin Mark Wright's birthday celebrations Clutching his leather bomber jacket close to his chest, Elliott appeared to be feeling the cold after months spent in sunnier climes. He appeared to be making a long trip, pushing a cart piled high with suitcases in front of him. Sadie opted for a casual ensemble, sporting an all-black ensemble and a statement designer bag. Main man: The reality star was ready to get into the party spirit as he prepared to reunite with his cousin Mark and his stunning wife Michelle Keegan Elliott and Sadie got engaged last year after a whirlwind 10 month romance. He enthused: 'Sadie is stunning, she's incredible. My children love her. That's important for any parent. If it was a case my children didn't like her, or she wasn't interested then it would be a no go area.' The star quit the ITVBe reality show last year to move back to Spain and focus on his successful restaurant business, which he has built over nine years. Lovebirds: Elliott and Sadie got engaged last year after a whirlwind 10 month romance Living it up in Spain: Clutching his leather bomber jacket close to his chest, Elliott appeared to be feeling the cold after months spent in sunnier climes Meanwhile, Mark and Michelle were seen arriving in London ahead of the former TOWIE star's big 3-0. Michelle posted a sweet and tender message for her other half via social media on Friday. Taking to her Instagram, the 29-year-old actress sent her husband a sweet message as she shared a collage of photos featuring the couple. Featuring a series of loved-up snaps, taken from throughout their relationship, the former Coronation Street star was sure Mark knew he was adored. She wrote: 'Happy 30th birthday to the other half of me. @wrighty_ not only my husband but lucky enough to call my bestfriend. [sic].' She has never been one to mince words when it comes to discussing America's 45th president. And Caitlin Stasey, 26, certainly didn't hold back this week when she shared a series of anti-Donald Trump messages on social media while attending a women's march in Los Angeles. Taking to Instagram during the march on Saturday, the former Neighbours actress shared a photo of protesters standing on a city street, with one man holding a poster reading: 'ILLEGITIMATE PRESIDENT'. Scroll down for video Standing her ground: Caitlin Stasey, 26, certainly didn't hold back this week when she shared a series of anti-Donald Trump messages on social media while attending a women's march in Los Angeles In a subsequent post, she shared another glimpse from within the picketing crowd, this time in video form, alongside the caption: 'F*** TRUMP'. The passionate feminist also shared an image of a man holding a sign that read 'SAD' alongside the drawing of a tear-drop. 'Glad @spillzdylz got the memo out,' wrote Caitlin in the caption, referring to her pal Dylan Meyer. Not shy: Caitlin has never been one to mince words when it comes to discussing America's 45th president, Donald Trump Angry: Taking to Instagram during the march on Saturday, the former Neighbours actress shared a photo of protesters standing on a city street, with one man holding a poster reading: 'ILLEGITIMATE PRESIDENT' Passionate: In a subsequent post, she shared another glimpse from within the picketing crowd, this time in video form, alongside the caption: 'F*** TRUMP' Despair: The passionate feminist also shared an image of a man holding a sign that read 'SAD' alongside the drawing of a tear-drop Also making an appearance on Caitlin's Instagram page was her long-time actress pal Keenan Macwilliam, who co-founded Caitlin's feminist website Herself.com. Other Australian celebrities took a stand against Donald Trump's position on women's issue. Naomi Watts attended the New York City women's march over the weekend, making sure to document the experience in the form of a selfie on Instagram. In good company! Also making an appearance on Caitlin's Instagram page was her long-time actress pal Keenan Macwilliam (centre) who co-founded Caitlin's feminist website Herself.com 'Girl power': Naomi Watts attended the New York City women's march over the weekend, making sure to document the experience in the form of a selfie on Instagram Standing on a bridge overlooking a swarm of protesters below, the iconic actress wrote: '#womensmarch #nyc #community #girlpower #sisterhood'. The Originals actress Phoebe Tonkin also took part in the Down Town Los Angeles women's march, sharing a series of anti-Trump posts on her Instagram account, including a selfie that pictured herself wearing a shirt emblazoned with the phrase: 'The Future Is Female'. Next to a video taken from within the protesting crowd, Phoebe wrote: 'THIS IS DEMOCRACY! THIS IS AMERICA and this is a REAL crowd Donald Trump.' 'The Future is Female': The Originals actress Phoebe Tonkin also took part in the Down Town Los Angeles women's march, sharing a series of anti-Trump posts on her Instagram account 'The energy today at the @womensmarch #DTLA was magic. Oh and your new press secretary is a piece of s***. March on Sisters!!' she wrote. In another post, Phoebe was seen posing at the rally alongside fellow Australian actress Bella Heathcote and New Zealand starlet Rose McIver, each of whom in turn documented the experience on their social media accounts. Meanwhile, in Austin, Texas, Australian model Nicole Trunfio attended a local women's march in protest of Donald Trump. Gal pals: In another post, Phoebe was seen posing at the rally alongside fellow Australian actress Bella Heathcote and New Zealand starlet Rose McIver, each of whom in turn documented the experience on their social media accounts On Instagram, proud Nicole shared a photo of herself beaming with her eyes closed among a hoard of protesters. She held a sign above her head emblazoned with the words: WOMEN'S RIGHTS BLACK RIGHTS TRANS RIGHTS IMMIGRANT RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS'. Glamorous as ever, the slender beauty made sure to don her Chanel handbag to the event. Wearing a Chanel bag, of course! On Instagram, proud Nicole Trunfio shared a photo of herself beaming with her eyes closed among a hoard of protesters in Austin, Texas 'Our little mascot': Extra TV host Renee Bargh wasn't shy to show her support for the anti-Trump women's movement, taking to her Instagram page with a photo of herself rallying in Los Angeles with a group of female friends Extra TV host Renee Bargh wasn't shy to show her support for the anti-Trump women's movement, taking to her Instagram page with a photo of herself rallying in Los Angeles with a group of female friends. 'Our little mascot. Hear us roar! #WomensMarchLA,' she wrote, referring to a young girl pictured holding a sign that read: 'I THROW FEWER TANTRUMS'. Back in Australia, Zoe Foster-Blake echoed the sentiment with her own Instagram tribute, sharing a photo of an elderly woman holding a sign that read: 'I can't believe I still have to protest this f****** s****'. 'Oh! What a kingtide swell of love and joy and adoration for my lady sisters I have as I gleefully scroll through my feed this morning! So much feels! So many heart! Such YES!' Zoe wrote in the caption. Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the opening of the 2017 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and delivers a keynote speech on January 17, 2017. [Photo: Xinhua] Attendees of the now-concluded World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland expressed optimism about the Chinese economy, which they said has gained a new impetus through rising consumption and a growing middle class. Li Daokui, Director of the Center for China in the World Economy at Tsinghua University, was among those noting the growing role of consumption and services in the world's second largest economy. "Consumption contributed to more than 70% of China's economic growth in 2016, and the added value of the tertiary sector in China's GDP has surpassed 50%. Development of cities in western China has been on a fast track. After many years, development of the western regions, which we have been very concerned about, is no longer lagging behind, " said Li. As China continues to transition from export-led growth to a model driven by consumption and services, there also appears to be optimism among international organizations, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In its latest World Economic Outlook update, the IMF raised China's growth forecast for 2017 to 6.5%, up from the 6.2% projection made in October. The IMF says its revision is based on expectations of continued policy support for the economy. Thomas Jordan, Chair of the Swiss National Bank, the nation's central bank, described China as an increasingly important driver of global economic growth. "So China is a key country for the world economy. It's one of the drivers, if not the driver, of world growth. So all good numbers that come out of China are very positive signals for the world economy," explained Jordan. Multinational companies with operations in China also seem to be increasing their bets on the Chinese market, particularly given the rapidly growing ranks of the middle-class consumers. "(The) Chinese economy will be increasingly relevant to economies all around the world, obviously including the United States. I think businesses continue to grow well. I think a lot of it is about the growing Chinese middle class and a shift towards more consumer behavior. Obviously, that's good for us. The most predominate guests in our hotels in China are Chinese travelers," said Arne Sorenson, President and CEO of Marriott International hotels. Joe Kaeser, CEO of German industrial giant Siemens, said his company has been able to expand its business in China through localization. "We do realize, and we have done that, that localization matters, that innovation, technology needs to be brought to the country where we do business in. We've been very adamant about it. We have almost 4,000 people working for Siemens in China, so we are very proud of the history, and we have a lot we can do together for a very bright future," said Kaeser. The optimism comes in the wake of new Chinese government analysis showing China's economy grew 6.7% through 2016. Model Kris Smith is clearly reaping the benefits of the muscle gains from his strict workout routine. But it appears he ran into one of the little-known downsides of sporting a hulking frame. The 38-year-old appeared to be having trouble finding room to fit his buff body as he soaked up the sun at Sydney's crowded Red Leaf Beach on Saturday. Scroll Down For Video Too buff? Model Kris Smith was spotted flaunting his buff, topless body at Sydney's crowded Red Leaf Beach on Saturday, appearing to have difficulties finding room to fit his hulking frame The TV presenter was snapped looking perplexed on the sand, his six pack-clad torso exposed while wearing nothing but a tiny pair of swim shorts. The hunk's flawless, muscular chest was bronzed to perfection, cutting a tall, dark and handsome figure as he stood on the beach. His sculpted biceps were clenched as he held onto a vibrant orange towel. There appeared to be little room for Kris to fit his dauntingly bulked figure. Brooding: The brooding 38-year-old gave his foot a rest from the red-hot sand, wearing blue and white Ralph Lauren board shorts, cut above the knees to expose his trained thighs His defined, stubbly jawline was tilted to form a downcast gaze at the modest patch of free space. In another snap, the model gave his foot a rest from the red-hot sand, moving his towel into an open hand to try and lay it down. He wore blue and white Ralph Lauren board shorts, cut above the knees to expose his trained thighs. In the distance, expensive Double Bay houses overlooked the scores of beach bodies looking to work on their tan in the scorching heat. Back at the beach! Last week, Kris had a more important task to carry out at the beach. The Myer ambassador saw the 40 degree plus Sydney heatwave as the perfect time to test just how waterproof his new Iphone was Last week, Kris had a more important task to carry out at the beach. The Myer ambassador saw the 40 degree plus Sydney heatwave as the perfect time to test just how waterproof his new iPhone was. Once again stunning and shirtless, he stood on a pier to explain his plans in the short Instagram clip. smith The rumours: In the short Instagram clip,tThe TV presenter said to followers 'So the rumours be, the iPhone 7...are actually waterproof - so let's test. Here we go!' 'So the rumours be, the iPhone 7,' he began telling fans before getting distracted by his friend Carlo Napolitano standing behind him. 'A fine figure of a man over there,' he told viewers in a side-note before continuing: '...are actually waterproof - so let's test. Here we go!' After jumping into the ocean and surfacing up for air, the still recording phone appeared to be fully functional. All good! After jumping into the ocean and surfacing up for air, the still recording phone appeared to be fully functional The Bachelors: Over the weekend recently single Kris was joined by former Bachelorette winner and also recently single Sasha Mielczarek, with the pair seen partying together at The Stingray Lounge on the Gold Coast Kris told his followers cheekily in the caption: 'And yeah it still works people, even after seeing @carlonap topless' followed by a laughing face emoji. Over the weekend recently single Kris was joined by former Bachelorette winner and also recently single Sasha Mielczarek, with the pair seen partying together at The Stingray Lounge on the Gold Coast. According to The Daily Telegraph, the duo took the party up a notch, with Kris later 'seen in line at strip club Hollywoods'. Kris split with his on-and-off partner Maddy King in October last year after four years. She was one of the few celebrities on hand for Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday. And it seems Caitlyn Jenner may not have been very impressed with the wave of massive protests sweeping the nation on Saturday. The 67-year-old former Olympian and transgender reality star did not look amused as she made her way through LAX after her flight back from Washington. Unhappy? It seems Caitlyn Jenner may not have been very impressed with the wave of massive protests sweeping the nation on Saturday Aside from a slick of light rose lipstick, the former Jenner patriarch looked mostly fresh-faced after her flight, although her eyebrows seemed to put on a show of their own. As she made her way through the terminal, she appeared to furrow and arch her brow at various times while being photographed. She kept her wardrobe quite simple for her trip, opting for a white v-neck sweater, loose bluejeans and tan peep-toe strappy heels. Curious: Aside from a slick of light rose lipstick, the former Jenner patriarch looked mostly fresh-faced after her flight, although her eyebrows seemed to put on a show of their own Practical: She kept the rest of her wardrobe quite simple for her trip, opting for a white v-neck sweater, loose bluejeans and tan peep-toe strappy heels Not so triumphant? As she made her way through the terminal, she appeared to furrow and arch her brow at various times while being photographed Of course Caitlyn looked far more elegant at the new president's Liberty Ball on Friday evening. While she attended the event solo, she looked effortlessly elegant in a slinky floor-length navy gown that featured a ruffled one-shoulder neckline. Feeling blue: Caitlyn was one of the few celebrities on hand for Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday, and his Liberty Ball Friday evening (pictured) Though her children were ardent Hillary supporters, Caitlyn has been very vocal about her support of Trump and has long been an advocate of Republican principals. She tweeted on Wednesday ahead of the ball: 'Republicans need help understanding LGBTQ issues and I'm here to help!' Caitlyn, on her now-canceled E! spin-off show I Am Cait, had criticized Hillary Clinton, while she said that Trump 'seems to be very much for women' in a June 2016 interview with STAT News. Getting political: She tweeted on Wednesday ahead of the ball: 'Republicans need help understanding LGBTQ issues and I'm here to help!;' Last year, she also praised Trump for condemning a North Carolina law that relegated transgender people to only using bathrooms of their birth gender. Trump told the TODAY show in April that Caitlyn would be free to use whatever bathroom she prefers in any of his buildings. 'He seems very much behind the LGBT community because of what happened in North Carolina with the bathroom issue; he backed the LGBT community' said Caitlyn, who's also expressed interest in acting as a trans ambassador for the party. While Caitlyn has remained optimistic about Trump's view of the LGBT community, the new president's actions have been less than reassuring for observers. On inauguration day, Trump's team removed several webpages from the whitehouse.gov site without comment, including those dealing with civil rights, climate change and LGBT issues. As Hollywood stars go, he is one of the biggest while she is one of the brightest rising. Keanu Reeves and Lily Collins dropped into Applegate's Deadline Hollywood Studio at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday to chat about their upcoming film. In To The Bone, Lily plays Ellen, a young girl battling anorexia. Group effort: Marti Noxon, Lily Collins, Carrie Preston and Keanu Reeves chatted about their upcoming film To The Bone at Applegate's Deadline Hollywood Studio at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday Reeves meanwhile plays Dr William Beckham, an unconventional physician who challenges her to face her condition and embrace life. They were joined by the film's director Marti Noxon, who also wrote the film, based on her own battle with the eating disorder when she was young. Noxon - making her directorial debut - was a writer and producer on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and currently exec produces Code Black and Girlfriend's Guide To Divorce. True story: Noxon, who also wrote the film, based it on her own battle with the eating disorder when she was young Also on the couch was The Good Wife star Carrie Preston, who plays Lily's stepmother. The film is an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Keanu fans are also eagerly awaiting Chapter 2 of his John Wick franchise, set for release next month. Co-star: The Good Wife star Carrie Preston, who plays Lily's stepmother In the sequel John is forced out of retirement once more by a former associate plotting to seize control of a shadowy international assassins guild. Bound by a blood oath to help him, he travels to Rome where he squares off against some of the worlds deadliest killers. Lily meanwhile, fresh off her Golden Globe nomination for her turn in Rules Don't Apply, is also set to appear in Okja and Halo Of Stars this year. She famously won an Oscar for playing her most iconic role as the Queen. Taking her experience of leadership to new levels outside the realms of film, Dame Helen Mirren took part in New York's Women's March on Saturday, insisting the experience was 'amazing'. The 71-year-old actress appeared to take to her new motivational role with aplomb as she inspired the growing crowd at an impromptu rally outside One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza in the Big Apple alongside Sex And The City's Cynthia Nixon. Scroll down for video Support: Helen Mirren took part in New York's Women's March on Saturday, insisting the experience was 'amazing' Absorbing the passionate energy of the crowd, the British star joyfully threw her hands in the air as she continued her speech to a packed audience at the empowering demonstration. An honourary New Yorker for the day, the Collateral Beauty star stood at the event's wooden podium as she held the mic in her hand to deliver an awe-inspiring address, much like her award-winning portrayal of the Queen. The Hollywood A-Lister clearly had enough to say to her fellow female activists as they cheered and waved their many placards to her wise words. Briefly speaking to the crowd infront of her, she declared in a clip captured on Twitter: 'I came on the subway, and I just followed the crowd because I knew you knew where you were all going. 'It was amazing just to be on the subway was a great experience, all I want to say is today I am a New Yorker.' Inspirational: The 71-year-old actress appeared to take to her new motivational role with aplomb as she inspired the growing crowd with her articulated words on the star-studded stage alongside Sex And The City's Cynthia Nixon Energy: Absorbing the passionate energy of the crowd, the British star joyfully threw her hands in the air as she continued her speech to a packed audience 'I am a New Yorker': Briefly speaking to the crowd infront of her she declared: 'Iam a New Yorker' Admiring the huge turnout for the march, she took to her social media to document the historic day, captioning one of her snaps out on the streets amongst her fellow females: 'This is amazing!' Helen's enthusiasm for the day's events appeared to capture the spirit of social media as a number of fans shared her selfies and words across Twitter, proving she's become much more than a national treasure in the UK. One proud user, proclaimed his 'love' for the star when he rehashed an apparent spotting of the actress in the city. National treasure: Helen's enthusiasm for the day's events appeared to capture the spirit of social media as a number of fans shared her selfies and words across Twitter, proving she's become much more than a national treasure in the UK In good company: Helen joined Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney at the impromptu rallu Picture perfect: The film star made time to take a snap with OITNB star Taylor Schilling at the march Proud: One proud user, proclaimed his 'love' for the star when he rehashed an apparent spotting of the actress in the city @BCDreyer wrote: ' A non-Twitterian friend reports: "Just saw climb over a police barricade. I love NYC."' Also speaking at the impromptu rally was former SATC star Cynthia Nixon, who drived the point that women are the masters of change. She said: 'We are not rolling back the tarp on the progress that we have made. To every woman here who won't give up, women make the change.' Changing tides: Also speaking at the impromptu rally was former SATC star Cynthia Nixon, who drived the point that women are the masters of change Helen and Cynthia were two of a reported 350,000 who turned out to march in support of women's equality and human rights. Joining her at the march was actresses Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie Perez and Taylor Schilling of Orange is the New Black fame - which kicked off before 11 a.m. New York's march was one of 600 protests held all over the globe in solidarity with women in America, who are worried that Trumps inauguration threatens issues such as abortion, diversity and climate change. Stronger together: Helen and Cynthia (pictured with her partner Christine Marinoni and son) were two of a reported 350,000 who turned out to march in support of women's equality and human rights Mr Trump's presidential campaign was plunged into crisis after a 2005 tape recording came to light of him bragging to TV host Billy Bush about groping women and that he can 'grab them by the p***y' because of his celebrity status. The marches around the world attracted numerous celebrities including Katy Perry, Scarlett Johansson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emma Watson, Ashley Judd, Cher, America Ferrera, Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Charlotte Church, Yoko Ono and Amy Schumer. Some 2.2 million people are believed to have marched to promote women's and human rights. Huge demonstrations have also been held in cities including Paris, Berlin, Edinburgh, Rome, Prague, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Athens, Copenhagen, New Delhi, Brussels, Mexico City, Barcelona, Manila, Toronto, Madrid, Geneva, Cardiff and Sydney today in opposition to the 45th President of the USA. She has been very open about her past abusive relationships, and even went as far as uploading a selfie of her bruised face on social media earlier this week. But now Danielle Lloyd has spoken out about the first ever incident of abuse, which triggered her long-lasting anxiety - an attempt of sexual assault when she was 13. The 33-year-old spoke to The Mirror about the traumatic ordeal, explaining that the event not only 'stole her innocence' but has since ruined 'her relationships, self-esteem, everything'. Scroll down for video Traumatising: Danielle Lloyd has spoken out about how she was sexually assaulted by a ski instructor during a school trip to Austria when she was 13 - triggering her anxiety Having mentioned the event on Channel 5's In Therapy last week, the former Celebrity Big Brother star revealed to the paper that a predatory ski instructor had attempted to assault her in a toilet. Recalling the event, she admitted gravely: 'That predator took my innocence away and I can never get it back. Its affected the way Ive been in relationships, my self esteem, everything.' She further explained that the incident had occurred during a dinner on a school trip to Austria, when the instructor followed her teenage self into the toilets. Tough times: The former Celebrity Big Brother star revealed a predatory ski instructor had attempted to assault her in a toilet The star recalled being dragged into one of the cubicles and the horror of the moment. While she confessed he had both inappropriately touched her and became violent, she admitted she was lucky things didn't take a turn for the worse. She had discussed the traumatic incident during the ski trip on Channel 5's In Therapy - which debuted earlier this week - and penned the event as the cause for her now crippling anxiety. Terror: She recalled: 'He dragged me into one of the cubicles. I can still feel his hands on me. I can remember him grabbing me, the smell, the colours, I dont think it will ever leave me' 'The whole time I felt like I deserved it and I'd done something to make that man do that to me,' she confessed on the programme, adding: 'I am the way I am today because of that episode.' Danielle has been very open about her previous abusive relationships in the past - even posting a photo of herself with a bruised face to social media on Wednesday, in a bid to hit back at haters regarding her abuse claims. The mother-of-three shared the image after Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace blasted her recent This Morning interview on Twitter, writing: 'Girl get in the real world!!! There are real problems with real abusive ex partners. This self absorbed BS is boring'. Honest: Danielle has been very open about her previous abusive relationships in the past - with her even posting a photo of herself with a bruised face to social media on Wednesday Hitting back: The mother-of-three shared the image after Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace blasted her recent This Morning interview on Twitter (above) Danielle fired back with the harrowing image and wrote: 'You know what? @aisleyne1 is right there are some real abusive exes out there! This wasn't Jamie But don't tell me I don't know about abuse.' Having never confided in ex-husband Jamie O'Hara about the incident, she also admitted that her new fiance Michael ONeill was the first person to know - as she felt he was the first man she could properly trust. Danielle and her electrician beau went public with their romance in November 2015 - and became engaged the following April. Moving on: She also confessed that her new fiance Michael ONeill was the first person to know about the event - as she felt he was the first man she could properly trust Talking to OK! at the time of their engagement, Danielle was still quick to make a few snide remarks about her ex Jamie. 'Hopefully this marriage will be different to my last one and Michael won't cheat!' she quipped. Before adding in a subtle dig: 'I get a lot more help and support from Michael, not just around the house or with the boys but emotional support.' Hurting: She also admitted that their three children, Archie, six, Harry, five, and George, two, have now begun to get picked on at school as a result of Jamie's remarks in the house The revelations come days after Danielle hit out at critics who had mocked her claims of regular panic attacks, since ex-husband Jamie entered the Celebrity Big Brother house and spoke openly about their relationship. She revealed on Twitter that she suffered 'depression and anxiety', but that she 'has to be strong' for her kids - in light of hate received from Jamie's claims that he pays her up to 15k a month as part of their divorce settlement. The beauty queen further admitted that their three children, Archie, six, Harry, five, and George, two, have now begun to get picked on at school as a result of Jamie's remarks in the CBB house. Danielle explained on This Morning: 'Hes in there not understanding what hes saying and the impact its having on me and the childrens lives.' Some of them just voted for the first time; some of them are not even old enough to vote at all. But young female celebs still demanded their voices be heard during Saturday's thunderous Women's March. Zendaya, Willow Smith, Miley Cyrus, Ireland Baldwin, Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande and Bella Thorne were just some of the teen and twenty-somethings that got involved in person and on social media. Scroll Down for video Hear our voices: Zendaya, Bella Thorne and Demi Lovato were among the teens and twenty-somethings who joined the Women's March on Saturday Zendaya, 20, took over Vogue's Snapchat account for the event, filming herself marching with the crowd - even if she didn't know where to. 'We don't even know where we're going , we're just following the crowd,' she gleefully announced. 'We're just following the fabulousness.' She joined in the chats of 'They go low, we go high' and 'Yes we can', and shared pics of her favourite placards, including 'A woman's worth is not determined by her appearance', and 'Putin in the White House'. Bella Thorne also had her Snapchat ready, filing herself and her posse as they added their voices to the throng. Leading: Zendaya, 20, took over Vogue's Snapchat account for the event, filming herself marching with the crowd - even if she didn't know where to Fab: 'We don't even know where we're going , we're just following the crowd,' she gleefully announced. 'We're just following the fabulousness.' Involved: She joined in the chats of 'They go low, we go high' and 'Yes we can' Popular: The young singer stopped to take photos with fans young and old Dressed all in pink, with some glitter make-up to boot, the 19-year-old braved a cold nose as she joined in. 'Guys I'm here, I'm marching, if you're not, make your way cause I'm gonna f***ing march!' she declared. Like Zendaya she joined in chants of 'This is what democracy looks like!' and snapped some of her favourite signs too, which were a little more colourful. Thorney issue: Bella Thorne also had her Snapchat ready, filing herself and her posse as they added their voices to the throng Chilly: Dressed all in pink, with some glitter make-up to boot, the 19-year-old braved a cold nose as she joined in Join me: 'Guys I'm here, I'm marching, if you're not, make your way cause I'm gonna f***ing march!' she declared Proud: 'Honestly makes me really happy because i see a lot of teens out here,' Bella proudly told her Snapchat followers. 'Not just men and women but actual teenagers.' Don't grab it: Bella had a digital sign of her own via a Snapchat filter, which read: 'I'm here for abortion rights'. It also featured a little placard reading 'hands off', held up by an angry looking pussy One protester had a rainbow coloured umbrella on his placard which read: In case of golden showers'; another declared: 'Our rights are not up for grabs, and neither are' along with a very detailed painting of a vagina. Bella had a digital sign of her own via a Snapchat filter, which read: 'I'm here for abortion rights'. It also featured a little placard reading 'hands off', held up by an angry looking pussy. 'Honestly makes me really happy because i see a lot of teens out here,' Bella proudly told her Snapchat followers. 'Not just men and women but actual teenagers.' Pee'd off: One protester had a rainbow coloured umbrella on his placard which read: In case of golden showers' Pricey: She also spotted this effigy with a rather fetching jacket Young start: Despite not even being old enough to vote, 16-year-old Willow Smith got in on the action, sharing a pic of herself in the middle of a march, holding aloft a 'Savages for equal rights' sign Despite not even being old enough to vote, 16-year-old Willow Smith got in on the action, sharing a pic of herself in the middle of a march, holding aloft a 'Savages for equal rights' sign. Miley Cyrus, 24, meanwhile put on a typically colourful display as her foundation - Happy Hippie - supported Planned Parenthood. She even got Jamie Lee Curtis dancing in one of her Instagram boomerangs, who was holding an apt 'what she said' placard. Trademark: Miley Cyrus, 24, meanwhile put on a typically colourful display Backing: Her foundation - Happy Hippie - declared its support for Planned Parenthood on the day Protest: This will have been Miley's second time to vote in a Presidential election - and the first to not go her way Scream queen: She even got Jamie Lee Curtis dancing in one of her Instagram boomerangs, who was holding an apt 'what she said' placard Fellow 24-year-old Demi Lovato also found herself some celeb backing in the crowd, linking up with U2's The Edge and Lance Bass as she marched. Ariana Grande shared a number of photos of her favourite protester: her 91-year-old grandmother 'nonna' Marjorie. 'today filled my heart with so much hope !! got to meet many beautiful, passionate people and march alongside my loved ones. the sun came out for us,' she wrote. Famous faces: Demi Lovato also found herself some celeb backing in the crowd, linking up with U2's The Edge In sync: She also ran into Lance Bass as she marched 'We are so much stronger and louder than hatred, ignorance, sexism, racism, agism, homophobia, transphobia, body shaming, slut shaming, prejudice, discrimination of all kinds, patriarchal conditioning and the backwards expectations of what a woman should be! 'I'm so proud of / inspired by everyone who marched today and thankful that there are so many people on this planet currently celebrating how brilliant and magical women truly are! 'let's keep our voices loud, passionate & peaceful! let's continue being strong for each other and to build each other up! let us stay connected to our divinity,' she concluded. 'Not a bad idea!': Ireland Baldwin shared a selection of her favourite signs, including one calling for her dad Alec Baldwin - pictured as Trump in his famous SNL skit - as an alternative choice for president Even those who could not be there were there in spirit or at least on social media. Ireland Baldwin shared a selection of her favourite signs from the marches (Ikea has better cabinet choices / 'Though shalt not mess with women's reproductive rights - Fallopians 4:28'). Best of all was a young child calling for Ireland's dad Alec Baldwin - pictured as Trump in his famous SNL skit - as an alternative choice for president. 'Wish i could be marching with my fellow supporters!' the 21-year-old wrote. 'love to everyone who's out there making a difference' Still going strong: Ariana Grande shared a number of photos of her favourite protester: her 91-year-old grandmother 'nonna' Marjorie Nonna: 'today filled my heart with so much hope !! got to meet many beautiful, passionate people and march alongside my loved ones. the sun came out for us,' she wrote United: 'We are so much stronger and louder than hatred, ignorance, sexism, racism, agism, homophobia, transphobia, body shaming, slut shaming, prejudice, discrimination of all kinds, patriarchal conditioning and the backwards expectations of what a woman should be!' she wrote Bella Hadid meanwhile posted perhaps the most confusing post of the day, when she accidentally shared a pic of the 1995 Million Man March instead. 'F*ck yeah! Women! I feel so proud My city of birth and every woman just came thru!!!!!!' the LA native perplexigly wrote of the Washington pic. 'Sad I couldn't be there but incredibly proud of the women that are representing ! Xox we miss you Obama,' the 20-year-old added. Good effort: Bella Hadid meanwhile posted perhaps the most confusing post of the day, when she accidentally shared a pic of the 1995 Million Man March instead Vanessa Hudgens, 28, also took to Instagram to make her voice heard as she posted a black and white snapshot. With a photo of herself and friends holding up signs in protest, she captioned the raw image, 'United we stand.' Singer Halsey, 22, took to Twitter on Thursday and shared with her 3.85 followers her plans for the Women's March. 'United we stand': Vanessa Hudgens, 28, also took to Instagram to make her voice heard as she posted a black and white snapshot 'Make sure to support your local #womensmarch! Cant wait to march with those of you who I'll see in Washington D.C. on Saturday,' the Closer songstress wrote. And she followed through while posting an Instagram snapshot at a rally with a group of friends which she captioned: 'look cute and fight injustice.' She also shared another photo of a massive group of demonstrators which she wrote alongside, 'History has its eyes on you.' 'History has its eyes on you': Singer Halsey, 22, took to Instagram and posted a snapshot at a rally with a group of friends After his leading role in Coyote Ugly he began to travel and work around the world. But despite currently living in London, Adam Garcia seemingly still calls Australia home attending an Australia Day party for Qantas in the English capital. The 43-year-old Hollywood star, who was born in country New South Wales, looked incredibly dapper alongside his elegant wife Nathalia Chubin at the black tie event. Scroll down for video Born and bred: Adam Garcia seemingly still calls Australia home attending an 'Australia Day' party for Qantas in the English capital alongside his British wife Nathalia Chubin With his hair slicked to one side, Garcia pouted at the cameras as he stood on the red carpet in his black suit with matching bow tie. Next to him stood his glamorous 32-year-old wife Natalia, who dazzled in a black jump suit. Allowing her garment's see-through lace sections to show off her svelte figure, she smiled happily alongside her beau as they walked the red carpet. The pair announced their engagement in early 2015 and married just months later. Smooth: The 43-year-old star, who was born in New South Wales, looked dapper on the red carpet Happy couple: Garcia and Chubin announced their engagement in early 2015 and married just months later Roaming far: Garcia now lives in London, the home city of his 32-year-old wife Nathalia Keeping much of their engagement and wedding secret, it was later revealed the pair tied the knot at a registry office in Chubin's home city of London. Later in 2015 the couple welcomed their first child, a daughter, Arya Storm. Just last year Garcia was supposed to take the lead in the Australian production of stage favourite Singin' in the Rain. Secretive: The couple married at a registry office in London in an attempt to avoid attention Sports lover: An avid soccer fan, Garcia regularly posts photos from Emirates Stadium, home of his side Arsenal During one performance the triple-threat tore his calf muscle, forcing him to pull out of the production, a decision he admitted left him 'gutted'. Following on from his success in films such as Coyote Ugly and Bootmen, Garcia has moved between roles over recent years. Among his recent positions was a stint judging on Dancing With the Stars. On Friday, she was seen soaking up the sun in a tiny G-string bikini and showing off her incredible figure. And at the weekend, The Bachelor's Alex Nation showed off her bikini tan line and gave a glimpse of underboob as she enjoyed time at one of her friend's hens. The 25-year-old mother of one sipped on champagne and snapped images on her phone as she stunned in a cut out summery frock. Scroll down for video Pretty: The Bachelor's Alex Nation showed off her bikini tan line and gave a glimpse of underboob as she enjoyed time at one of her friend's hens, wearing a summery frock Snapping a selfie? Alex tied her hair up into a bun and wore light makeup including dewy foundation and a pink lip Giving a glimpse of underboob, the model and reality TV star was dressed to impress, with her dress featuring a tie-up front. The dress featured an a-line skirt and she teamed the look with simple nude heels and chandelier earrings. Alex tied her hair up into a bun and wore light makeup including dewy foundation and a pink lip. Chic: The dress featured an a-line skirt and she teamed the look with simple nude heels and chandelier earrings Picture perfect: The model and reality TV star was dressed to impress, with her dress featuring a tie-up front Tucking in: The blonde beauty enjoyed a cold drink while eating lunch Girls day! The event was held at Green Olive winery in Victoria's Red Hill The event was held at Green Olive winery in Victoria's Red Hill, with Alex sharing a group shot from the day to her Instagram. She appeared in high spirits, laughing and smiling as she walked around the green fields and talked to her friends. At one point, she could be seen taking images on her phone and sitting down at a table having some food and sipping on a drink. Keeping her fans up-to-date: Alex sharing a group shot from the day to her Instagram Enjoying herself: She appeared in high spirits, laughing and smiling as she walked around the green fields and talked to her friends Relaxed: Alex beamed as she chatted away Where too next? The reality star appeared to balance herself as she walked over stones (L) Group shot: The stunner posed up with some pals for a snap Alex - who is dating former Bachelor Richie Strahan - recently spoke out against critics of her parenting style with six-year-old son Elijah, who she often shares doting social media posts about. Alex had shared a sweet snap of her and Elijah, followed with a lengthy comment on the pressure parents face. Alex became a mother while still a teenager, giving birth to her son at the tender age of 19. Off the market: Alex is dating former Bachelor Richie Strahan Hitting back: She recently spoke out against critics of her parenting style with six-year-old son Elijah Her boy: Alex had shared a sweet snap of her and Elijah, followed with a lengthy comment on the pressure parents face Her journey: Alex became a mother while still a teenager, giving birth to her son at the tender age of 19 'As mothers/parents, we can often be too hard on ourselves. We put this unrealistic expectation of ourselves to be the 'perfect parent'. Truthfully, there is no such thing,' she wrote. The reality TV star also drew on her own experiences, namely the negative comments she attracted after leaving her child to compete on The Bachelor. 'It's no secret that I have been widely criticised for how I parent my son. People going as far as saying that I've neglected him and even further, saying he's better off without me,' Alex said. Speaking up: Alex assured her fans there was 'no such thing' as being a 'perfect parent' Critics: The reality TV star also drew on her own experiences, namely the negative comments she attracted after leaving her child to compete on The Bachelor Not happy: She said it's unfair that some people judge her when they don't know her 'It's interesting isn't it, how people can feel so entitled to press such an opinion on to others- without even knowing the person personally. 'What has happened to the act of encouragement and finding happiness in seeing happiness in others?' She and Richie fell in love on Channel Ten's The Bachelor, last year. Going strong: She and Richie fell in love on Channel Ten's The Bachelor, last year Lining up: Alex faced the queue for a drink Bronzed: After her recent beach season, Alex showed off a natural golden glow Advertisement It seems Dirty Dancing enjoyed a small resurgence on Saturday in downtown Los Angeles. Star Jennifer Grey took to the streets with hundreds of thousands of others protesting the presidency of Donald Trump, and ended up dancing wildly with pop starlet Miley Cyrus. And the 56-year-old actress brought along a powerful message as well, which was a clever play on one of the most famous lines from the classic film, originally uttered by Patrick Swayze: 'nobody puts Baby in a corner.' Nothing fancy: Dirty Dancing star Jennifer Grey took to the streets with hundreds of thousands of others protesting the presidency of Donald Trump, and ended up dancing wildly with pop starlet Miley Cyrus Her homemade white t-shirt read 'nobody puts p**** in a corner,' which was obviously an allusion to Donald Trump's infamous 'grab her by the p****' remark. In addition to her statement t-shirt, the Ferris Bueller's Day Off star also rocked a pair of ripped, tight jeans, and some functional cross trainers. Later, she posted a quick clip to Instagram of her and Miley, 24, rocking out to Queen's classic Under Pressure. Still grooving: Later, she posted a quick clip to Instagram of her and Miley, 24, rocking out to Queen's classic Under Pressure All together! Next, Jennifer joined other A-listers, such as Frances Fisher, 64, Kerry Washington, 39, and Jamie Lee Curtis, 58 for some selfies Next, Jennifer joined other A-listers, such as Frances Fisher, 64, Kerry Washington, 39, and Jamie Lee Curtis, 58 for some selfies. Natalie Portman stood up for her beliefs on Saturday as well. The pregnant actress made her feelings clear in a 'We should all be feminists!' shirt as she spoke to the hundreds of thousands gathered on the streets of Downtown LA. She wasn't alone, with stars as varied as Jane Fonda, Vanessa Hudgens, and Miley Cyrus showing up to do their part for the cause. Starlets from the film and music industries flocked to the event, with estimates putting the number of attendees in Los Angeles at around 750,000. 'We should all be feminists!' Pregnant Natalie Portman makes her feelings clear in logo T-shirt as she joins Miley Cyrus, Vanessa Hudgens and Jane Fonda at Los Angeles Women's March on Saturday Truth: Starlets from the film and music industries flocked to the event, with estimates putting the number of attendees in Los Angeles at around 750,000 Powerful: People took to the streets of Los Angeles on January 21 holding up signs like 'Protect Women's Health' Officials have said this march is the largest since the famous 2006 immigration protest in downtown. Vanessa Hudgens, 28, and Miley Cyrus, 24, showed up early with bells on. The outspoken feminists wore loud outfits to draw attention to a cause close to their hearts. Vanessa marched with a handmade 'I am woman hear me roar!' sign, while Miley created a 3D Happy Hippie - her non-profit- '4' P***y Power' poster. Her message loud and clear: High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens had on a shirt that read 'Yeah P****' Representin': Miley Cyrus represented her non-profit Happy Hippie Foundation while joining the march in a unique ensemble The celebrities joined civilians in chanting 'Love Trumps hate' as they made their way toward City Hall. The Los Angeles march is one of dozens of protests worldwide. The event - which has garnered huge international attention - has been organized in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, as well as 55 global cities including Tokyo, Sydney, Paris, London, Berlin, and Amsterdam. Star power: Miley was joined by Marcia Gay Harden (L) and Jane Fonda (R) at the march Feminist: Miley's sign stood for Happy Hippie for P***y Power Mom plus one: A very pregnant Natalie showed up in support of the movement No idleness here: Kesha came out with a handmade sweater reading 'President, I DARE you to "grab" me by the p***y' Kesha came out with a handmade sweater reading 'President, I DARE you to "grab" me by the p***y.' The songstress has had a tough time at the hands of men who have exercised power over her in the past few years, namely music producer Dr. Luke, in which she was involved in an exhausting legal battle. Rallying: Emily Ratajkowski joined in on the political fun holding a strong message in hand Stunning Emily Ratajkowski was part of the day's action. The introspective feminist made a hand-drawn sign with a quote by Naomi Wolfe: 'The enemy is not lipstick but guilt itself, we deserve lipstick, if we want it and free speech, we deserve to be sexual and serious or whatever we please.' We The People: Jessica Biel made an appearance holding a poster with a powerful message Fierce ladies: Jamie Lee Curtis, 58, and Jane Fonda, 79, posed together on an off moment from marching. Curtis' sign said 'what she said' with arrows pointing in all directions Symbol: Juliette Lewis held up her hand in a clenched fist, symbolizing her solidarity and support to the women's movement Making a statement: Mandy Moore was also in attendance, wearing the uniform of the day: a pink 'p****y hat' 'Standing with my sisters:' Nicole Richie attended the protest in a 'Stronger Together' shirt The apply doesn't fall far from the tree: Idina Menzel is joined by her mom at the protest Like mother, like daughter: Helen Hunt brought along her daughter Makena for the day Young activist: Rowan Blanchard, 15, marched with a 'Predator in Chief' sign Showed up in pink: Jodie Sweetin showed up for the early morning rally She's already one of the most recognizable stars out there. But Reese Witherspoon seemed really determined to stand out during a spot of shopping in Beverly Hills on Sunday. The actress, 40, was hard to miss in a bright royal blue jacket with red floral accents, blue jeans, and hot red purse on her arm. Stopping traffic! Reese Witherspoon seemed determined to really stand out during a spot of shopping in Beverly Hills on Saturday The Legally Blonde actress stepped out in ankle boots and scraped her blonde locks up into a messy yet stylish little updo. She rocked a pair of large sunglasses and dressed the look up with numerous large silver rings. Spreading the love: Witherspoon's bold red purse had a heart-shaped keychain Once inside the shop, Reese looked deep in thought as she perused through a rack of very stylish clothing. Reese has been busy lately filming the film adaptation of the beloved children's book A Wrinkle In Time, and the star was clearly taking full advantage of a well-deserved day off from work. The actress, however, did take some time to show her support for the numerous Women Marches occurring around the world in response to the inauguration of the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump. Decisions, decisions: Once inside the shop, Reese looked deep in thought as she perused through a rack of very stylish clothing Taking to Instagram, Reese wrote: 'Go Sisters! #womensmarch', along with a photo of three raised fists. Reese has been married to talent agent Jim Toth since 2011. The couple have a son, Tennessee James Toth, who is now four years old. The actress also has daughter Ava, 17, and son Deacon, 13, from her previous marriage to Ryan Phillippe. A ceremony is held in Beijing to honor China's grassroots heroes on Saturday, January 21, 2017. [Photo: Xinhua] China's Internet users have selected 10 individuals as the 2016 grassroots heroes, or China's "Good Samaritans." The winners were announced and honored Saturday at an event sponsored by Xinhua News Agency. He Xinglong, a village doctor who has been working in impoverished villages for 16 years, was among the awarded heroes. Liu Tianming, a migrant worker from the countryside, has raised over 3.5 million yuan (over 509,246 U.S. dollars) in the past 16 years, helping over 300 left-behind children and raising the public awareness on charity. Other heroes include Liu Mei, who has helped over 1,000 children and their parents combat autism over the past 11 years; Jiang Chuanchun, who is devoted to educating drug-addicts in drug rehabilitation centers; Wei Deyou, who has spent over five decades safeguarding the border in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region; and Li Jinlong, who saved 17 people in a flood in Bijie City in southwest China's Guizhou Province. The event, held annually since 2010, is aimed to promote the good deeds of ordinary people and to improve moral awareness in society. They say you should never wear white to a friend's wedding. But Anna Heinrich looked very bridal on Saturday as she and her Bachelor beau Tim Robards attended best friend Caroline Matson's ceremony. Anna, 30, shared photos from inside the Royal Motor Yacht Club, in Sydney, showing her wearing a tight-fitting light coloured gown - leaving followers to wonder if it was a test run should she and Robards tie the knot. Scroll down for video Up next? Anna Heinrich looked stunning in a light-coloured gown at her best friend's wedding on Saturday, leaving many to wonder when she and beau Tim Robards (left) will tie the knot 'Is it you're (sic) guys turn next?' one commenter wrote on Instagram. 'I adore you both and hope to see you guys down the alter next,' another wrote. 'Well you [two] are definitely marriage material!' one woman commented. Anna, a criminal lawyer, earlier shared a photo of the bride on Instagram leaving her fans confused and questioning if SHE had got married. Stunning sisters: Charlotte Heinrich shared this photo of her sisters Andrea and Anna Always the bridesmaid? Anna attended her best friend Caroline Matson's wedding ceremony at the Royal Motor Yacht Club in Sydney on Saturday 'Thought this was you for a sec! Gorgeous!' wrote one excited fan. Before the ceremony, Anna shared a photo of herself with Caroline, accompanied by a sweet caption. '19 years of friendship and I couldn't be more honoured to stand by your side tomorrow,' she wrote. She continued: 'You are going to make the most beautiful bride #mybestie #loveyou #TheBlunts2017'. Anna, who served as a bridesmaid, later posted a photo of herself with her two sisters enjoying the wedding. Happy couple: Tim and Anna fell in love while on the first return series of the Bachelor in 2013 '19 years of friendship and I couldn't be more honoured to stand by your side tomorrow': Anna paid a touching tribute to her best friend Caroline before her special day Cheeky! A few months earlier while seemingly at the Hens Party, Andrea shared this photo of her and sister Anna It's unclear if Anna's longtime boyfriend Tim Robards had attended the wedding with her, or if he had a prior commitment. The reality TV couple, who met on The Bachelor in 2013, recently bought a $630,000 investment property together. The couple's marital status has long been a subject of interest to fans, with many desperate for the chiropractor to propose. Last year, Tim told The Daily Edition he was 'getting closer' to asking and said he planned to do something unexpected. Kiis FM's high-rating host Jackie O thinks Em Rusciano can handle her new morning radio slot for rival 2dayfm. But the blonde beauty doesn't agree with the new hosts decision to broadcast from Melbourne. In response, the 37-year-old said the claims were 'insulting to the Sydney public.' Scroll down for video Offensive? Jackie O complimented 'strong female' Em Rusciano in a recent interview, but later insulted the new 2DayFM breakfast host when she disagreed with Em's decision to not record the show in Sydney Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, 41-year-old Jackie described the new 2dayfm talent a 'strong female' and believed that'd she'd be able to handle the role. However, the beauty holds strong opinions about Em's decision to not broadcast from Sydney, despite that being where the show will be targeted. 'I truly believe you need to broadcast from Sydney because theres so much youre missing out on if youre not.' She told the publication. Jackie then reference the recent heatwave in the state, noting that it would be a disadvantage to not be able to comment from experience. Rubbish: In reply, the 37-year-old rubbished the claim, saying: 'I think its really insulting to the Sydney public to think theyre going to give a shit.' Em, who also spoke to the publication, was quick to rubbish these claims, taking offence to the logic. 'I think its really insulting to the Sydney public to think theyre going to give a shit.' She said. The dark-haired mother-of-two then rattled off the large amount of presenters who broadcast from outside of their show's locality, including Hamish and Andy, Marty Sheargold and even Jackie's shock-jock co-host Kyle Sandilands. 'Kyle comes out of LA for seven months of the year.' Em said. Hypocrite? The mother-of-two then pointed out that Jackie O's co-host broadcasted out of LA for seven months of the year The publication then got another radio rival to weigh in, with WSFM's Amanda Keller believing that if the program is comedy-centric, it doesn't really need to be recorded from the same state its audience resides. After Sam Frost and Rove McManus had notorious rating struggles in the slot Em is taking over, it would be easy to assume that personality - who has had well-documented struggles with stress - would be feeling the pressure. This didn't appear to be the case in the interview, as the personality firmly stated: 'I dont feel any pressure because all I can do is my best and if people hate it then we get sacked and theyll get someone else.' Fans don't have long to wait to see the new host in action, with the 2DayFM show premiering in Sydney on Monday. Tough Challenge: Jackie O and Kyle typically dominate the morning slot, with Em Rusciano facing an uphill battle to gain ground in the ratings If there is in fact trouble in paradise, The Bachelor's Tiffany Scanlon won't be finding out. The blonde beauty will no longer join her girlfriend Megan Marx in Bali as planned. The 30-year-old took to Instagram on Sunday to break the shocking news to her fans. Scroll Down For Video Change of plans: Tiffany Scanlon broke the news that she would no longer be flying to Bali on Sunday to join her girlfriend Megan Marx. The pair were planning to move in together after meeting on the set of the dating show Accompanying the revelation was an alluring picture that showed the star flaunting her stunning frame and ample assets in a white swimsuit. The sunglasses-clad beauty let her luscious blonde locks tumble down her back as she stood in shallow water at the beach. Her cleavage was exposed as it spilled over the top of the tight swimwear. In the caption, Tiffany announced that sickness was the reason for her cancellation. 'Sometimes things don't go to plan...unfortunately I will not be flying over to Bali today due to a health issue,' she wrote. All good! In the caption, Tiffany announced that sickness was the reason for her cancellation, re-assuring worried fans that the decision was not related to issues with Megan 'But I am doing ok and I will hopefully head over in the next few days.' The personality concluded, re-assuring worried fans that the decision was not related to issues with Megan. As early as Last Friday, the couple were spotted flaunting their amazing bodies, sharing revealing bikini photos with their fans. The photos come after Megan revealed they are forced to constantly rebuff sexual advances for threesomes and men who claim they can turn them straight. Babes! Last Friday, the couple both posted sexy bikini snaps to Instagram on Friday. Tiffany is pictured here Flashing her washboard abs, Tiffany showed off her taut beach body in an artsy black and white photo. Looking down at her feet, the revealing swimsuit revealed some cleavage and her tanned limbs. Tiffany accompanied the beach picture with an inspirational quote for her followers. Looking good! Megan shared a similarly beachy photo that same day, wearing the same yellow bikini she was pictured in earlier this week 'I'm certainly no poet but this came to me last night and I wanted to share it to show that everything in life is a lesson and every cloud has a silver lining,' she captioned the photo. 'Have a fabulous Friday!' Megan shared a similarly beachy photo that same day, wearing the same yellow bikini she was pictured in, earlier this week. Moving on! Tiffany is preparing to join her lady love in Bali, where the two will move in together The striking blonde flaunted her cleavage and toned tummy as she posed arms in the air. Showing off her quirky personality, Megan added a bizarre caption to the photo: 'What if God is actually a chicken Food for thought.' Megan recently fired off an open letter, blasting men who constantly approach the couple for threesomes. Unusual meeting: Tiffany met Megan while they were competing for Richie Strahan's affection on The Bachelor In the open letter, published by Popsugar, Megan said she finds it bizarre how men who are complete strangers think it is OK to solicit the couple for a threesome. She recalled that the last time she had been propositioned was at an event, the fifth time that night. 'I gave the fellow in question who was dressed neatly in linen boat pants and a pale blue Hilfiger shirt a good stare, and said, "That's a pretty rude question, don't you think?"' Megan wrote. Unwanted: The couple's bikini snaps come after Megan fired off an open letter, blasting men who constantly approach the couple for threesomes 'Apparently I can't take a joke and am "uptight," but I've decided to continue to be totally unfunny and deny sexual advances from strangers. Sorry not sorry, a**hole.' The Western Australian beauty also label the constant quips from males who offer to 'turn her straight' offensive. 'What you're actually saying is that you could "turn me" from an all-sex-attracted woman into a cheater,' Megan said. She's the Aussie model who relocated to America and enjoys a glittering career on the runway. But on Saturday, Nicole Trunfio turned protester, joining millions of people around the world protesting for women's rights and against new US president, Donald Trump. The brunette beauty posted multiple Instagram images from the march on the Capital, one in which she was holding a large placard. Scroll down for video Right to fight: On Saturday Nicole Trunfio turned protester, joining tens of thousands of people protesting for women's rights and against the US president, Donald Trump The sign read: 'Your silence will not protect you.' She captioned the black and white image: 'Woman's March today in #womansmarch #stayawake.' Another photo saw the Perth-born beauty holding a sign that read: 'Womens Rights, Black Rights, Trans Rights, Immigrant Rights Are Human Rights.' Standing up: Another photo saw the Perth-born beauty holding a sign that read - Womens Rights, Black Rights, Trans Rights, Immigrant Rights Are Human Rights A third image showed her wearing a jacket with a proactive slogan at the Capital of Texas. Nicole was far from alone as millions of people joined rallies around the world to protest against Donald Trump on his first day as US president. Rallies in Los Angeles and Washington drew as many as half a million people each. Worldwide: Nicole was far from alone as millions of people joined rallies around the world to protest against Donald Trump on his first day as US president The rally Nicole attended in Austin, Texas, was expected to be attended by 20,000 people, however, most rallies were more widely attended than original estimates. In a global exclamation of defiance and solidarity, protesters sent the new US president an emphatic message that they will not let his agenda go unchallenged. Many of the women came wearing pink, pointy-eared 'pussyhats' to mock the new president. Settled in the US: Nicole lives on a Texas ranch with her one-year-old son Zion and American musician husband Gary Clark Jnr, who she married in April last year Plenty of men joined in, too, contributing to surprising numbers everywhere from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles to Mexico City, Paris, Berlin, London, Prague and Sydney. Nicole lives on a Texas ranch with her one-year-old son Zion and American musician husband Gary Clark Jnr, who she married in April last year. At just 17, she's already a savvy business owner. And socialite Lianna Perdis was pictured arriving in Sydney on Saturday as she prepares to kick off a four-day tour to promote her very own line of cosmetics. The Heiress to the Napoleon Perdis makeup empire arrived in style on an Emirates First Class flight from her base in Athens. Scroll down for video Chic: Lianna Perdis was pictured arriving in Sydney on Saturday as she prepares to kick off a four-day tour to promote her very own line of cosmetics Total Bae Sporting black leggings and a pink sweater, the teen cut a casual-chic figure as she hauled her luggage through the terminals before driving off in a waiting Bentley. The teen is expected to partake in a whirlwind tour of Sydney and Melbourne to promote her brand #TotalBae, which launches at Myer and David Jones next month. The model will also do a masterclass with her father Napoleon Perdis in Melbourne and host an intimate breakfast for beauty insiders at the family base in Sydneys Double Bay on Tuesday. Stylish arrival: The Heiress to the Napoleon Perdis makeup empire arrived in style on an Emirates First Class flight from her base in Athens Socialite status: Sporting black leggings and a pink sweater, the teen cut a casual-chic figure as she hauled her luggae through the terminals before driving off in a waiting Bentley Lianna's arrival comes days after she landed the cover of Harper's Bazaar Greece. She dazzles in a new 8-page spread for the fashion publication, and she recently credited her parents, Napoleon, 46, and Soula-Marie, 45, with teaching her to be comfortable in her own skin. 'I've got a Cali girl accent, a Greek girl's features and an Aussie girl's spirit,' she said of her unique appeal. Up and coming: Lianna continues to make her mark on the fashion world at the tender age of 17, with the model recently landing the cover of Harper's Bazaar Greece 'My parents always encouraged my sisters and I to be confident and comfortable in our own skin. She added: 'You're not going to be everyone's cup of tea - and that's okay. It's about knowing who you are, what you stand for, and feeling happy and confident from within, even on the days you might not necessarily be feeling it.' On the Harper's cover, the socialite wows in a strapless red ball gown, complete with an oversized black bow. Wow: The socialite dazzles in a new 8-page spread for the fashion publication She is seen casually posing atop a large ladder while showcasing her best model angles. In other snaps from the shoot, Lianna stuns in a series of vibrant and feminne outfits. The beauty oozes confidence in a pink long-sleeved sequienned dress. Talented: She is also pictured modelling a pleated pink skirt paired with a tan-coloured bodysuit She is also pictured modelling a pleated pink skirt paired with a tan-coloured bodysuit. Lianna dazzles in a chic pink fringe dress and matching blazer as she strikes a pose. Her Harper's cover marks her fifth magazine cover between Europe in Australia. Style: Lianna dazzles in a chic pink fringe dress and matching blazer as she strikes a pose Though she is not yet 18, she already has her very own line of cosmetics, recently walked in her very first runway and has signed to CHIC Management. Despite her feats, Lianna insists she's still an ordinary teen. 'I wake up at 6am and dread it every morning, catch the bus, go to school, take exams, grab coffee with my friends after school and then study,' she said. Rising star! Lianna wowed in her very first runway show for celebrity designer, Dimitri Petrou (right) in Athens, Greece last month Last month, she wowed in her very first runway show for celebrity designer, Dimitri Petrou in Athens, Greece on Tuesday. Lianna strutted down the the catwalk during The Couture Affair Autumn Winter 2016/17 show and despite oozing confidence, she told Daily Mail Australia that the experience was 'nerve wrecking.' 'It was a combination of many feelings,' the cosmetics heiress said in a statement on Wednesday. Fashionista: The 16-year-old, who recently signed to CHIC Management, strutted down the the catwalk during The Couture Affair Autumn Winter 2016/17 show and despite oozing confidence, she told Daily Mail Australia that the experience was 'nerve-racking.' 'It was so surreal and a tad nerve wrecking. But something I've been dreaming of, since I was five, when I first 'walked' in my mum's heels. And so humbled and excited to be in the finale!!!' Dimitri Petrou is familiar with the Perdis family as he was commissioned to design her Sweet 16th dress. Red carpet photos from the event show Lianna wearing an oriental-inspired gown paired with black velvelt gloves. Success: 'It was a combination of many feelings,' the cosmetics heiress said in a statement on Wednesday Reflecting: 'It was so surreal and a tad nerve wrecking. But something I've been dreaming of, since I was five, when I first 'walked' in my mum's heels. And so humbled and excited to be in the finale!!!' Backstage snaps show the teen show her getting her hair and makeup done as she excitedly prepares to walk in her first ever runway show. In October, she signed to international agency Chic Model Management - signalling a very bright future for the rising star. The agency manages the likes of Home And Away star Pia Miller, Miss Universe Australia Laura Dundovich and model Chloe Maxwell. Making moves: Lianna signed with Chic Model Management in October 'Lianna is an impressive young girl who is not only smart and well presented but also stunningly beautiful,' Chic Management told The Daily Telegraph. It has been a big year for the rising star, with the striking teen gracing the cover of Girlfriend's July issue after launching Total Bae in May. The socialite, who was born in Australia and raised in the US, now splits her time between Athens and Australia with her parents and three younger sisters - Athina, Angelene and Alexia. Famous family: The young beauty splits her time between Athens and Australia with her parents and three younger sisters - Athina, Angelene and Alexia And while she was Down Under last year, she spoke to Daily Mail Australia about her stance on plastic surgery and beauty. With plenty of young celebrities going under the knife in their teens, the natural beauty admitted she felt no pressure to get cosmetic work done. 'Obviously everyone has insecurities and no one is perfect but I don't think you should get work done to change how you look,' she said. Speaking highly: Chic said the 16-year-old was 'impressive young girl who is not only smart and well presented but also stunningly beautiful' 'You're beautiful the way you are,' Lianna added. Meanwhile, it's no secret that the young beauty's father has had work done, with Napoleon himself being quite open about his use of Botox injections. While Lianna says she understands her father's choice, noting he 'does it for age reasons,' cosmetic work is not a path she's keen to go down. Non-stop: It has been a big year for the rising star, with the striking teen gracing the cover of Girlfriend's July issue after launching her own Total Bae cosmetics range in May She also spoke about her decision to enter into the family business and whether she thinks her younger sisters will follow suit. 'Not everyone wants to work with the business,' the teenager said. 'I hope they do, but for right now, that's what I like doing and they're all really proud of me and supportive.' 'If you're doing something that you enjoy, then it's not necessarily hard or stressful for you.' Confident: Lianna told Daily Mail Australia that she isn't keen on cosmetic surgery, saying: 'You're beautiful the way you are' She recently escaped the harsh British Winter with a sun-drenched getaway. But Leigh-Anne Pinnock proved to acclimatise well to the chill back on home turf as she turned heads in a funky ensemble while celebrating a pal's birthday at Steam & Rye in London with Ciroc Vodka. The Little Mix star, 25, looked sensational in a short pink Moschino dress as she strutted forth in sexy metallic thigh-high boots for the party night out. Scroll down for video Little Minx: Leigh-Anne Pinnock, 25, turned heads in a short pink Moschino dress as she strutted forth in sexy metallic thigh-high boots while celebrating a pal's birthday at Steam & Rye in London Leigh-Anne's logo-clad top skimmed her petite frame before flashing a snippet of her toned legs with its short hemline. Channelling her inner Barbarella, the former X Factor champ kept it stylish in a pair of racy silver boots which hugged on to her toned pins. The songstress braved the freezing temperatures by foregoing a coat, instead opting for a small handbag and accessorising with a statement silver choker. Her raven tresses were teased and styled into glamorous curls - framing her striking features, which boasted fluttery peepers, chiselled cheekbones and pink pout. Fashionista: Channelling her inner Barbarella, the Little Mix star kept it stylish in a pair of racy silver boots which hugged on to her toned pins. The stunner looked just as attention-grabbing during her recent beachy break which she documented on Instagram to her 2.2 million followers. In one playful snap on a golden shoreline, Leigh-Anne and her sister Sarah posed in their bikinis as they held aloft two flags. Staring off into the distance as her sister smiled at the camera, Leigh-Anne alluded to the fact the sister-act had been holidaying in Jamaica. She captioned the snap: 'Home time.. till the next time JA @sairahpinnockii [sic].' The Secret Love Song hit-maker shared another saucy snap, this time showcasing her pert and perky bottom in a skimpy black bikini. Beach babe: The stunner looked just as attention-grabbing during her recent beachy break which she documented on Instagram to her 2.2 million followers Bottoms up! The Secret Love Song hit-maker shared another saucy snap, this time showcasing her pert and perky posterior in a skimpy black bikini Sat with her back to the camera, Leigh-Anne ensured the focus was on her derriere as she posed in a nonchalant manner on the edge of a sunlounger. This all comes in light of her romantic drama, despite only having just gone public with her new beau, Andre Gray Leigh-Anne appeared thrilled to make her romance with the Burnley star official when she posted a picture on her Snapchat feed. But the Burnley striker's ex girlfriend was reportedly not as happy with the news as the Little Mix star. According to reports the woman, who had been in a six-year relationship with Andre, was left 'devastated' as she was under the impression they were on a break. New couple alert? The star's boyfriend's ex was reportedly not happy with the news that Leigh-Anne is now dating Andre Gray A source close to his ex told The Mirror: 'When she saw Andre was with Leigh-Anne she was devastated. 'She didn't realise their relationship had officially ended and she thought they would work things out. But then she got the shock of her life. 'Andre said he needed some space. It was soon after that she heard he was dating Leigh-Anne. She was heartbroken.' According to the publication, Andre is still on friendly terms with his ex, though their communication is not romantic. Mailonline has contacted their representatives for comment. She's known her effortlessly chic style and her remarkable acting. But Cate Blanchette, 47, kept her look casual and low-key as she arrived at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York City. The Australian actress is currently starring in the Sydney Theatre Company's production of The Present on Broadway, starring alongside Rake actor Richard Roxburgh. Scroll down for video Low key: Cate Blanchette, 47, kept her look casual as she arrived at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York City She stepped out of a black SUV with her son Roman, 12. The blonde beauty appeared to be slightly under the weather as she covered her hand over her mouth. Often regarded as one of the best dressed actresses on the red carpet, Cate opted for a low-key hairstyle of a messy bun as she made her way to work. Wrapped up: The Australian actress was wrapped up in a gray scarf as she arrived at the Ethel Barrymore theatre Keeping it casual: She was dressed for the Manhattan chill in double denim and a gray over coat. The actress accessorised with a cat eye sunglasses and white platform dress shoes The multi-award-winning actress was dressed for the Manhattan chill in double denim. She wrapped herself up in a warm gray wool scarf and clutched a matching down coat. The Elizabeth star accessorised with a cat eye sunglasses and completed her outfit a white platform dress shoes and a black shoulder bag. Equality march: Only a few nights ago when she was spotted at the New York's equality march called The Ghostlight Project in light of the anti-Trump marches across America Roman dutifully joined his talented mother at the theatre, bringing along a paper bag and a special edition of the Batman comic books. It was only a few nights ago when she was spotted at New York's equality march called The Ghostlight Project. The UN Goodwill Ambassador attended the march with her adopted one-year-old daughter Edith. The movement is dedicated to highlighting inclusion and compassion for everyone regardless of differences, as part of anti-Donald Trump marches across the globe. He's been in London promoting his latest flick Gold. And Matthew McConaughey put in an understated appearance as he arrived at London's Heathrow airport to return to America with wife Camila Alves. The actor,47, sported beanie and a shades as he headed through the terminal with the Brazilian model, 34. Scroll down for video Low profile: Matthew McConaughey put in an understated appearance as he arrived at London's Heathrow airport to return to America with wife Camila Alves Dressed in a grey T-shirt and beige slacks and overcoat, he added a splash of colour with his red hat. Camila looked stylish in white jeans and a black overcoat, opting for comfort in trainers and accessorising with aviator shades. The duo, who married in 2012, are parents to 8-year-old son Levi, 7-year-old daughter Vida and 4-year-old Livingston. Power couple: The actor,47, sported beanie and a shades as he headed through the terminal with the Brazilian model, 34 On Friday Matthew revealed when it came to preparing for his latest project, Gold, his weight-gain was fun. Speaking on The Graham Norton about his prep for the up-coming flick, the actor said his family missed him being fat as he revealed he ate cheeseburger and beer for breakfast. In the interview the Oscar-winning star joked that his 47-pound weight gain had been a very fun period for him and his family. Roly-poly fun: It seems that it wasn't all just work for Matthew McConaughey when it came to preparing for his latest project, Gold, as he admits his weight-gain was fun He told Graham: 'Ive had roles where Ive lost a lot of weight, but for this one got to gain a lot of weight. Gaining is much more fun!' And it seems that the Dallas Buyers Club star wasn't the only one who enjoyed the period of lax rules and living made his family happy too. 'For six months I had a rule that everyone had to say yes to every desire they wanted 24/7,' he said, before adding:'I was a real yes man.' Quite the bulk: Speaking on The Graham Norton about his prep for the flick, the actor, 47, said his family missed him being fat as he revealed he ate cheeseburger and beer for breakfast He elaborated on the family's 'fun' regime, explaining: 'Pizza night could be any night and if the kids wanted to go bowling at midnight on a school night that was a great idea too. 'Cheeseburger and beer for breakfast was a great idea too. I really relaxed on the rules!' And speaking of his family's reaction to his weight-gain, he said: 'It was fun and my family kind of misses me being a fat ass. Just say yes: He told Graham: 'For six months I had a rule that everyone had to say yes to every desire they wanted 24/7. I was a real yes man' 'Cheeseburger and beer for breakfast was a great idea too. I really relaxed on the rules!': The Oscar-winner admitted that the 47-pound weight-gain was a really fun period of his life 'My nickname in the family was Captain Fun. The whole family probably put on a little extra luggage but I was fat and happy!' However, it seems that shifting the bulk he put on to play the roguish Kenny Wells in the true-to-life film wasn't so easy to live with after shooting had wrapped up. 'I didnt think about it until I got there and when I did get there I noticed that quite a lot of fat had really settled in,' he said of his reaction after production had wrapped. Mr. Big! And speaking of his family's reaction to his weight-gain, he said: 'It was fun and my family kind of misses me being a fat ass' Is this it? It wasn't so easy to shift the weight it would seem, as the actor admitted: 'I did have a few moments when I looked in the mirror and thought, "This may be it buddy!' A golden role: Gold sees Matthew take on the role of Wells, a prospector desperate for a lucky break who teams up with a similarly eager geologist An adventure: The pair set off on a journey to find gold in the uncharted jungle of Indonesia, but if they thought getting that was hard, they soon find out keeping it is even more difficult 'I did have a few moments when I looked in the mirror and thought, "This may be it buddy!' Gold sees Matthew take on the role of Wells, a prospector desperate for a lucky break who teams up with a similarly eager geologist. The pair set off on an amazing journey to find gold in the uncharted jungle of Indonesia, but if they thought getting the gold was hard, they soon find out keeping it is even more difficult. Star-studded: Graham's other guests on his Friday night show include (L-R): Christina Ricci, Josh Widdicombe and Ed Sheeran Main man: Matthew later attended a screening of his new film at London's Ham Yard Hotel Casual: The star looked typically relaxed in a loose fitting shirt, jeans and scuffed boots She always looks polished in glamorous gowns on the red carpet. But Karlie Kloss proved she can nail off-duty chic too, as she stepped out in New York looking effortlessly cool on Saturday. The 24-year-old supermodel teased a glimpse of her svelte physique in an eye-catching blue striped dress teamed with a fur hat. Scroll down for video Say it in stripes! Karlie Kloss, 24, stepped out in New York looking effortlessly cool on Saturday The brunette beauty warded off the January chill in a black military-inspired coat teamed with black Chelsea boots. Toting some luxurious Alexander McQueen arm candy, the catwalk queen looked cool and casual as she ran errands. With her honey-hued hair looking sleek, she shielded her striking features behind a pair of edgy round-eye shades. Continuing her fashion streak, the model took a walk on the wild side in leopard print boots as she stepped out in New York City on Friday. So chic: The supermodel teased a glimpse of her svelte physique in an eye-catching blue striped dress teamed with a fur hat Catwalk queen: Karlie Kloss took a walk on the wild side in leopard print boots as she stepped out in New York City on Friday The former VS model showcased her long lean legs in tight-fitting cream cropped skinny jeans. Her grey sweatshirt read Vitamin D, although there didn't appear to be much of it breaking through the clouds in the city. Looking flawless make-up free, Karlie brought a wide smile and a designer handbag as her perfect accessories. Stunning: The former VS model showcased her long lean legs in tight-fitting cream cropped skinny jeans And the busy star certainly has plenty to be happy about as she continues to juggle her modeling career also being the face of Swarovski and Carolina Herrera's Good Girl campaign while studying at New York University. She has also been all about business lately - running her coding company, Kode With Klossy. She spoke to Fast Company, for whom she recently graced the front cover, and discussed how she found her passion for app and coding. Busy: She shared a moodily lit shot on her Instagram Karlie said: 'I follow my nerdy passions, even if they are kind of unexpected.' Adding: 'Being true to yourself, as cheesy as that sounds, is important. If you don't enjoy what you're doingif you're pretending to be something you're notthen it's not sustainable.' The Chicago-born stunner began spreading that interest to younger ladies, launching her own free summer coding program for girls ages 13 to 18. She also shares coding tidbits via her YouTube channel, Klossy, on a playlist titled, 'Coding is a superpower! #CSforAll.' She moved to the Big Apple seven years ago and would eventually go on to become an international supermodel. And Ajak Deng took to Instagram on Thursday to mark the anniversary of her big move from Melbourne to New York, by sharing a revealing lingerie selfie. The 27-year-old South Sudanese-born beauty showed off her seemingly endless legs and toned torso in a throwback snap taken at her very first apartment and gushed about her continued success in the fashion world. Throwback! Ajak Deng took to Instagram on Thursday to mark the anniversary of her big move from Melbourne to New York, by sharing a revealing lingerie selfie 'Today marks 7years in NEW YORK CITY for me woohoo,' she captioned the stunning image. '7 years of independence, 7 years of loneliness, 7 years of continuous success and love with the one and only @imgmodels. She playfully added: 'My heart is so full today, thank you. Oh and the fact that my body has never change. #IWasMadeForThis.' Making a splash! The IMG star is one of the most sought-after models and has walked on countless runways for the likes of Louis Vuitton and Lanvin among others The IMG star is one of the most sought-after models and has walked on countless runways for the likes of Louis Vuitton and Lanvin among others. The statuesque beauty is often hailed for her supermodel proportions and regularly flaunts her incredible physique on social media. Earlier this month, she posed up a storm in a series of selfies while wearing only a towel. In the first photo, she stands before the mirror with one arm posed dramatically on her hip. Strike a pose! Supermodel Ajak Deng looks stunning in a series of dramatic bathroom selfies wearing only a towel Wearing a crisp white towel, Ajak juts one of her trim pins forward, showing off her model experience with a striking facial expression for her smartphone. She captions the snap simply with a hashtag of her own name 'ajakdeng.' The next snap sees Ajak trying out a more flamboyant stance, lifting one leg into the air before her. Showing off her karate? The next snap sees Ajak trying out a more flamboyant stance, lifting one leg into the air before her Her long lean arms are on full display as she poses them with theatrical flair on either side of her model figure. Tilting her head slightly to one side, Ajak locks eyes with her reflection in concentration. 'I just had to do it,' she captions this photo. Refugee: Ajak was born in South Sudan but fled the country aged 12, her mother sadly perishing from Malaria in a Kenyan refugee camp Ajak was born in South Sudan but fled the country aged 12, her mother sadly perishing from Malaria in a Kenyan refugee camp. The rest of the family made it to Australia in 2005 when Ajak was 15 years old. The striking beauty was discovered while still in high school and signed to FRM Model Management in 2008. Uncovered: The striking beauty was discovered while still in high school and signed to FRM Model Management in 2008 She made headlines in February last year by declaring her plans to quit modelling over her frustration with the industry. Ajak made the revelation in a post shared to Instagram, writing 'I am happy to announce that I am officially done with the fashion industry, I will be moving back to Australia in order to live the life that I fully deserved. Which is real life.' 'I can no longer deal with the fakes and the lies,' Ajak added. Nearly retired: She made international headlines in February last year by declaring her plans to quit modelling over her frustration with the industry 'My life is too short for this dramatic life.' The supermodel had previously taken to social media to vent her frustrations over racism in the industry, claiming in 2014 she was kicked out of Balmain for being black in a since-deleted tweet. Her manager Stephen Bucknall backed Ajak's frustrations, telling The Herald Sun Ausralian brands were more willing to book caucasian models. 'My life is too short for this dramatic life': The supermodel had previously taken to social media to vent her frustrations over racism in the industry 'The budgets probably arent big enough for (Deng), because shes a big money earner, but they will spend the money on a Miranda Kerr or a Jess Hart,' he said. 'Theyll book the big caucasian girls, spend the big dollars, and fly them in from LA, but Im yet to see them book a dark skinned girl in that way.' But a week later Ajak vowed to stay in the modelling game and fight for wider acceptance of darker-skinned models in the fashion industry. Stayed on: But a week later Ajak vowed to stay in the modelling game and fight for wider acceptance of darker-skinned models in the fashion industry (Xinhua) 09:12, January 22, 2017 South Korean people condemn a right-wing Japanese hotel chain, which caused uproar by placing books distorting the Imperial Japan's wartime history in guestrooms of its 400-plus hotels. APA Group touched off anger online both in South Korea and China for books, one of the hotel chain's amenities, which deny the 1937 Nanjing massacre and the comfort women, or Korean women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese military brothels before and during World War II. A video was recently posted on a social networking site showing passages from a book, titled "The Real History of Japan: Theoretical Modern History Two," authored by Toshio Motoya, president of the Japanese land developer and operator of hotels for budget-conscious tourists. His book, written under the penname of Seiji Fuji, supports history revisionist views, claiming that Japan's wartime atrocities were concocted by South Korea and China. It describes comfort women victims as common prostitutes, while claiming the Nanjing massacre was fabricated despite a plethora of evidences. "Such absurd acts by civilian Japanese rightists were triggered partly at the instigations of the right-wing Japanese government and right-leaning media outlets," Cheong Wooksik, director of local advocacy group Peace Network, told Xinhua on Saturday. Choeng said promoting and selling books, which deny the comfort women issue and the Nanjing massacre, is an "unrighteous act" though Motoya is just a civilian hotelier, urging the Japanese government led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to take the lead in looking squarely at history. Though there are conscientious activists working in Japan, the director said, ultra-right moves spread on shortage of government and media efforts in Japan to allay "clannish nationalistic acts," which he said are very regrettable amid frayed ties between Northeast Asian neighbors. South Korean news organizations, the majority of them focusing on the scandal that resulted in the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, put their spotlight on right-leaning responses from Japanese netizens. Yonhap news agency reported that a majority of comments, posted by Japanese netizens on the Internet, support the distorted books put in APA's hotel rooms, with some encouraging the hotel executives and others describing it as freedom of speech. The report caused furor here over Japan, leading South Korean netizens to post negative online comments on the Japanese hotel chain and the right-leaning Japanese society. One netizen denounced the denials of the massacre in Nanjing and the forcible recruitment of comfort women as "bullshit," with another regarding the book as part of the hotelier's strategy to court right-wing Japanese tourists in the right-leaning country. Another netizen demanded the cancellations of travel to Japan. Motoya and his wife Fumio Motoya, founders of the privately-owned APA Group, are famous backers of Abe for a long time, according to local newspaper Chosun Ilbo posting an undated photo showing the Motoyas and Abe. The newspaper denounced the hotel chain likening its complete history distortion to free speech. APA has refused to remove the contentious books from rooms, saying in a statement that Japan guarantees freedom of speech. Controversy over the right-wing literature followed a diplomatic friction between South Korea and Japan over the statue symbolizing teenager South Korean victims to Japan's wartime sex enslavement. The bronze, life-size statue of a seated girl which is dressed in traditional Korean costume was put up outside the Japanese consulate in South Korea's southern port city of Busan in December. The first statue was placed in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul in December 2011. In retaliation, Japan recalled its ambassador to South Korea and its consul general in Busan, stopping negotiations on the bilateral currency swap deal. The Busan statue was installed by South Korean civilians to protest against the Park Geun-hye government's "final and irreversible" agreement with Japan on the comfort women issue that was reached on Dec. 28, 2015. It caused a barrage of criticism for the absence of Japan's acknowledgement of legal responsibility and its sincere apology for the wartime crime against humanity. "The Dec. 28 agreement should not have been reached," said Cheong, the Peace Network director. He noted that Japan will disgrace itself if it continues to attempt the removal of the Busan statue, which he said was set up to prevent the brutalities from happening again through promulgations. Celebrities including Lara Worthington (nee Bingle), Lisa Wilkinson, Zoe Foster Blake, Nicole Trunfio, Phoebe Tonkin, Mia Freedman and Imogen Anthony have all taken to social media to lend their support to Women's Marches this week. They join millions of people around the world protesting for women's rights and against new US president, Donald Trump, over the weekend. Model Lara, 29, showed her solidarity by posting a photo of suffragettes marching in the early-20th Century and added the hashtags: #womensmarch #womensrights. Scroll down for video Action: Celebs including Lara Bingle, Lisa Wilkinson, Zoe Foster Blake, Nicole Trunfio, Phoebe Tonkin, Mia Freedman and Imogen Anthony have all taken to social media to thrown their support behind women's marches Women rule: Lara Bingle showed her solidarity by posting a photo of suffragettes marching in the early-20th Century and added the hashtags #womensmarch #womensrights Actress and model Phoebe Tonkin, 27, attended the march in LA, alongside fellow Aussie actress Isabella 'Bella' Heathcote, 29. She posted an image from the event to Instagram, captioned, 'Ladies who march' and added love heart emojis. Imogen Anthony, 25, wrote an expletive laden post, which she shared with her Instagram followers on Sunday. The Instagram sensation shared a photo of a sign that read 'strong, powerful, beautiful women' and added a lengthy caption. Scroll down for video LA protesters: Actress and model Phoebe Tonkin, 27, attended the march in LA, alongside fellow Aussie actress Isabella 'Bella' Heathcote, 29 'Yes we f*****g are, and the world ain't S**T without us. NEVER underestimate the power of a woman,' she wrote. 'So treat us better, or we will sew our wombs up and you can figure out a way to reproduce on your own with science and stem cells or some s**t'. Author Zoe Foster Blake, 36, shared a photo of an elderly protester carrying a sign that read, 'I can't believe I still have to protest this.' Marching: Mia Freedman attended a rally in Sydney with her mother and daughter, captioning the image,'Three generations marching for women's rights.' Proud: Mia Freedman, 45, posted an image of her belly as she watched imagery from protests around the world She added the caption: Oh! What a kingtide swell of love and joy and adoration for my lady sisters I have as I gleefully scroll through my feed this morning!' 'So much feels! So many heart! Such YES!' Lisa Wilkinson, 57, shared a meme that read, 'a woman's place is in the resistance' and added the hashtag, #womensmarch. She can't believe it: Zoe Foster Blake, 36, shared a photo of an elderly protester carrying a sign that said, 'I can't believe I still have to protest this'. Love and joy abound: She added the caption: Oh! What a kingtide swell of love and joy and adoration for my lady sisters I have as I gleefully scroll through my feed this morning!' Showing support: Lisa Wilkinson, 57, shared a meme that read, 'a woman's place is in the resistance' On their side: Lisa added the hashtag, #womensmarch to her Instagram post Mia Freedman, 45, posted an image of her belly as she watched imagery from protests around the world. She also attended a rally in Sydney with her mother and daughter, captioning the image, Three generations marching for women's rights.' On Saturday, Nicole Trunfio turned protester, posted multiple Instagram images from the march on the Capital, one in which she was holding a large placard. Threatening: 'Treat us better, or we will sew our wombs up and you can figure out a way to reproduce on your own with science and stem cells or some s**t' Imogen said on Instagram Is that a fact! "The world ain't S**T without us. NEVER underestimate the power of a woman,' Imogen wrote The sign read: 'Your silence will not protect you.' She captioned the black and white image: 'Woman's March today in #womansmarch #stayawake.' Another photo saw the Perth-born beauty holding a sign that read: 'Womens Rights, Black Rights, Trans Rights, Immigrant Rights Are Human Rights.' Right to fight: On Saturday Nicole Trunfio turned protester, joining tens of thousands of people protesting for women's rights and against the US president, Donald Trump Standing up: Another photo saw the Perth-born beauty holding a sign that read - Womens Rights, Black Rights, Trans Rights, Immigrant Rights Are Human Rights A third image showed her wearing a jacket with a proactive slogan at the Capital of Texas. Nicole was far from alone as millions of people joined rallies around the world to protest against Donald Trump on his first day as US president. Experts estimate over 650 protests were held in the US this weekend. Rallies in Los Angeles and Washington drew as many as half a million people each. Worldwide: Nicole was far from alone as millions of people joined rallies around the world to protest against Donald Trump on his first day as US president The rally Nicole attended in Austin, Texas, was expected to be attended by 20,000 people, however, most rallies were more widely attended than original estimates. In a global exclamation of defiance and solidarity, protesters sent the new US president an emphatic message that they will not let his agenda go unchallenged. Many of the women came wearing pink, pointy-eared 'pussyhats' to mock the new president. Settled in the US: Nicole lives on a Texas ranch with her one-year-old son Zion and American musician husband Gary Clark Jnr, who she married in April last year Plenty of men joined in, too, contributing to surprising numbers everywhere from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles to Mexico City, Paris, Berlin, London, Prague and Sydney. Nicole lives on a Texas ranch with her one-year-old son Zion and American musician husband Gary Clark Jnr, who she married in April last year. They say parting is such sweet sorrow, and Ariel Winter certainly seemed to be sorry to leave her boyfriend behind in Australia and head home. Ariel spent a short but blissful vacation with her actor beau Levi Meaden, who 11 years her senior, and currently filming 'Pacific Rim 2' in Sydney. The pair couldn't keep their hands off each other as the Modern Family star made her way to Sydney International airport en route back to LA. Home bound: They say parting is such sweet sorrow, and Ariel Winter certainly seemed to be sorry to leave her boyfriend behind in Australia and head home Love fest: Ariel spent a short but blissful vacation with her actor beau Levi Meaden who is currently filming 'Pacific Rim 2' in Sydney Dressed in some comfy travelling clothes including a hoodie, tights and Yeezy Boost sneakers, the 18-year-old actress gave her 29-year-old man a serious smooch on a Sydney street. The pair have only been dating a few months after going public in November but appear to already be smitten. They were spotted out together late in Sydney last week, checking out clubs and smoking cigarettes together. So keen: The pair shared some serious PDA in the street before Ariel left Australia Kissy kissy: Dressed in some comfy travelling clothes including a hoodie and tights, the 18-year-old actress gave her 29-year-old man a serious smooch on a Sydney street They also shared a romantic moment on Sydney Harbour, embracing by the water. Prior to arriving in Sydney, Ariel was holidaying in Bora Bora reportedly with travelling companion Nolan Gould, who plays her younger brother on Modern Family. The teenager has complained that she comes under fire for doing what every other girl her age does. Ariel still doesn't understand why she gets backlash for posting images of her scantily-clad ensembles to her 3.6M social media followers. Travelling: Prior to arriving in Sydney, Ariel was holidaying in Bora Bora reportedly with travelling companion Nolan Gould, who plays her younger brother on Modern Family Smitten: Ariel and her man shared a romantic moment on Sydney Harbour, embracing by the water She lamented: 'They kind of glorify and objectify a lot of the things that I do, and I wish people would just see me as the normal 18-year-old that I am. I'm doing the same things that everybody my age is doing' 'They kind of glorify and objectify a lot of the things that I do, and I wish people would just see me as the normal 18-year-old that I am,' she previously lamented to Self magazine. 'I'm doing the same things that everybody my age is doing...people are taking it and making it [seem] like Im doing stuff that is crazy when really Im just being me. I wish people would see that.' The aspiring federal prosecutor graduated from Campbell Hall School last June, and she plans on beginning her pre-law studies at UCLA this fall. Fans can catch Ariel and Sofia as Alex Dunphy and Gloria Delgado-Pritchett on the eighth season of their mockumentary sitcom, which airs Wednesdays on ABC. His heart was broken following his shock split from The Bachelorette's Sam Frost two days after Christmas. But it appears Sasha Mielczarek is moving on from the drama, as the former reality star was pictured flexing his guns while hanging out with friends at the beach on Sunday. The 32-year-old took to Instagram to share a shirtless snap of himself on a Hyams Beach, in Jervis Bay south of Sydney with an Irish mate. Scroll down for video Mr Brightside! Sasha Mielczarek appears to be doing just fine flaunting his oiled up six pack and biceps at the beach weeks after his break up with The Bachelorette star Sam Frost The bright sun forced Sasha and his friend to squint in the photo, but this didn't stop the construction manager from flaunting his oiled-up six pack and muscular biceps for the camera. He captioned his post: 'Wasn't even bright at Hyams Beach today! 'Bloke at the pub told me it's the whitest sand in the world...must be true! #meetmyirishfriend #heissingleandreadytomingle #blokehasbeenknowntobreakacollarbone' New hairdo: Sam Frost, 27, appears to have bounced back from heartbreak - with the former Bachelorette star telling her Instagram followers on Friday that she's 'feeling like me again' Meanwhile, Sam Frost, 27, appears to have bounced back from heartbreak as well - after telling her Instagram followers on Friday that she's 'feeling like me again.' Sporting a new hairdo and a beaming smile, the radio personality posed for a selfie to show off the results of her hairdresser appointment and new makeover. Her luscious blonde locks were neatly styled in a side part and loose romance curls. Brave: The Bachelorette star was left heartbroken after confirming her split from Sasha Mielczarek last month 'I heart you @headcasehair,' she captioned the snap while tagging a Sydney salon. 'Feeling like me again xo.' The bubbly blonde wore skinny blue jeans and a sheer white T-shirt as she carefully positioned her smartphone for the snap. Sam appeared to be in high spirits, weeks after the world around her began to crumble in a very public way. Last month, the financial assistant- turned- radio personality confirmed her shock split from construction manager Sasha Mielczarek, 32, just two days after Christmas. 'After 18 months together, Sam Frost and Sasha Mielczarek have come to a mutual decision to end their relationship,' a statement read, in part. Happier times: The couple fell in love on the Bachelorette in 2015 and are seen during their Balinese getaway last year Challenge: Sam had a hellish year in 2016, both personally and professionally. 'It is important to stress that there is no bitterness or scandal, they have just come to the realisation that the best way forward is to separate,' part of it read, adding that they remain friends. In October, the pair, who battled breakup rumours for the latter part of 2016, denied a split. Meanwhile, Sam appeared to have undergone a dramatic body transformation after being photographed late last year looking extremely slim. Smiling through the pain: Sam and Sasha were constantly faced with breakup rumours, which no doubt added strain on their relationship Sam made headlines at the time when she deleted her Instagram, Twitter and Facebook page, after denying New Idea's claims that they had separated. Hitting back at the claims on Facebook - before deleting her account - Sam claimed her and her ex were 'stronger than ever' and 'prefer to keep social media out of our relationship.' Sam and Sasha also unfollowed each other on Instagram, before she deleted her account. Having a ball: Exes Sam and Sasha documented their romantic trip on social media last year Days after last month's the split announcement, in January, it was announced that her and co-host Rove McManus' 2Day FM breakfast show was axed, just one year after its debut. A statement released by Southern Cross Austero confirmed that Rove and Sam would move to the 7-8pm weekday time-slot from January 30 this year. 'The decision came after Rove & Sam along with SCA executives took some time off over the Summer and after review, decided that the best route forward for all was to move their show into another time slot,' it read. Out: Sam and co-host Rove McManus' 2Day FM breakfast show was axed this month, just one year after its debut. Ouch! Earlier this month, a statement released by Southern Cross Austereo confirmed that Rove and Sam would move to the 7-8pm weekday time-slot The radio show axing news may not have come as a surprise to those who read last month's radio ratings, however. KIIS FM's Kyle and Jackie O nabbed the top spot among the Sydney breakfast radio shows, finishing on a 10.5 per cent radio share despite dropping 0.3 per cent. Rove and Sam suffered yet another blow, claiming just 3.8% audience share and slipping to 10th place overall, making it their lowest score in six months. Declining listenership: The news may not have come as a surprise to those who read last month's radio ratings, however In July, Sam revealed she had been having suicidal thoughts after bullying from cruel online trolls about her radio show, and had been undergoing therapy. Last week, she enjoyed a relaxing trip to Bali in a bid to recharge despite having travelled there with Sasha for a romantic getaway months prior. Isabel Lucas is headed to the land of OZ, and not the one we call Australia. The Aussie actress, who is now based in Los Angeles, has landed a role as the bewitching Anna in the otherworldly TV drama Emerald City. The lavish production re-imagines the classic big screen fairy tale, The Wizard of Oz, and the beauty has a recurring role as a counselor to the iconic Wizard. Enchanted: Isabel Lucas has landed a role as the bewitching Anna in the otherworldly TV drama Emerald City Gorgeous sets: The lavish production re-imagines the classic big screen fairy tale, The Wizard of Oz, and the beauty has a recurring role as a counselor to the iconic Wizard She co-stars alongside Vincent D'Onofrio who plays the role of Frank Morgan, a human from earth who later reinvented himself as the Wizard of Oz. Her character Anna plays a pivotal role in advising the Wizard in important decisions that could endanger his plans. The costumes in the series are elaborate, with Isabel donning an otherworldly blue dress with a high neck and a large round head covering. Fashion savvy: The costumes in the series are elaborate, with Isabel donning an otherworldly blue dress with a high neck and a large round head covering That's not Harry Potter: Vincent D'Onofrio plays the role of Frank Morgan, a human from earth who later reinvented himself as the Wizard of Oz In the new vision of The Wizard of Oz, Kansas native Dorthy Gale, who is 20 in this version, is brought to the Land of Oz by a tornado, just as she in in the original. However the series explores a much wider range of story lines as Dorothy sets out to find the Wizard and fulfill a prophecy that will change everyone's lives forever. Although she is starring in a TV series and got her start on Home and Away, the 31-year-old actress says she doesn't actually watch TV. Seer: Her character Anna plays a pivotal role in advising the Wizard in important decisions that could endanger his plans Isabel revealed on the Kyle and Jackie 'O' show that she doesn't even own a TV. She said, 'I don't have a TV so I don't watch a lot of shows even though I know there is a lot of great television being made'. However she added, 'I definitely go to the cinema more'. Emerald City begins airing in the USA January 28, on NBC. No TV! Although she is starring in a TV series and got her start on Home and Away, the 31-year-old actress says she doesn't actually watch TV because she doesn't even own a TV set Kyle Richards has been married to real estate agent Mauricio Umansky for 21 years. And to celebrate their anniversary, the Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star took to Instagram to share three never-seen-before images from her grand wedding. In her caption, the 48-year-old aunt of Paris and Nicky Hilton said she is the 'happiest girl in the world.' Wedded bliss: Kyle Richards has been married to real estate agent Mauricio Umansky for 21 years. And to celebrate their anniversary, the Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star took to Instagram to share three never-seen-before images from her grand wedding In her first time she is seen in her long white lace and tulle wedding gown as she poses with a very youthful-looking Mauricio. The beauty has her hair up and is wearing diamond jewelry. Kyle is kicking up one leg, exposing her garter belt. And she is holding on to her wedding bouquet that is made of pink roses. So much pink! In another shot, the star is posing with her wedding party Her caption reads: '21 years ago today I married my best friend I had no idea where the road would take us at that time , but I knew I would always be happy as long as I have you by my side 'Thank you for making me the happiest girl in the world. I love you more ! ' In another shot, the star is posing with her wedding party. Her kid: In her last image, the star is leaning down to look at her eldest daughter, who she had from a previous relationship. Her caption reads: 'Farrah also wore a white dress & got a ring' The siren is in the middle, in front of Mauricio. And she appears to have at least 11 women in her bridal party. All of the ladies are dressed in a pretty soft pink. It also looks as if Paris and Nicky are there. Surviving fame: The couple, seen here in last year, have grown closer as their Bravo show has taken off They are standing on front of a white mansion. The caption reads: 'Our ridiculously large wedding party #bigfamily #anniversary @farrahbritt is the "mini bride " #1996.' In her last image, the star is leaning down to look at her eldest daughter, who she had from a previous relationship. Her caption reads: 'Farrah also wore a white dress & got a ring Repost @farrahbritt 21 Years Ago Today Happy Anniversary @kylerichards18 @mumansky18 love you both so so much and love the example you set for us everyday .' The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills airs on Tuesdays. The new owners of Teresa and Joe Giudice's former home have demolished it. The property that was once featured on the Real Housewives Of New Jersey came down Friday and the next step is to sell the lot, according to TMZ. Joe and Teresa, both 44, bought the Jersey Shore house for $347,000 in 2005 but lost it to foreclosure during their legal problems. Going, going, gone: RHONJ stars Teresa and Joe Giudice's one-time Jersey Shore home that they lost to foreclosure during their legal problems has been demolished The new owners - who want to remain anonymous - made out when the Giudices went broke. They snapped the house up from the bank in August for just $127,000. Joe and Teresa had already lost their Manahawkin vacation home but managed to hang on to their Montville Township mansion last year after pleading guilty to making a fraudulent bankruptcy claim in 2009. Dark times: The couple pleaded guilty to making a fraudulent bankruptcy claim and other charges in 2009. They are seen outside a Newark, New Jersey court in March 2014 As it was: Joe and Teresa, both 44, bought the house for $347,000 in 2005. The new owners snapped it up from the bank in August for just $127,000 and knocked it down on Friday Teresa was sentenced to 15 months in a federal prison and Joe, an Italian, was sentenced to 41 months. He also faces possible deportation back to his homeland. The couple were allowed to serve their sentences separately so one parent could stay at home to look after their four daughters, Gia, 16, Gabriella, 11 Milania, 10 and Audriana, six Teresa opted to go first, beginning her sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, on January 5, 2015. Still living in luxury: The couple hung on to their mansion in Montville Township, N.J. Backing his wife: Joe joined Teresa for her book signing at Mount Airy Resort Casino in Mount Pocono City, Pennsylvania, last March before going to Fort Dix Correctional Institution in NJ J She was released on December 23, 2015. Joe is currently doing time at Fort Dix Correctional Institution in New Jersey after surrendering himself last March. Meanwhile, the beautiful brunette star was back on TV for the seventh season of RHONJ, which wrapped in November. She enjoyed a jaw-dropping 18 vacations over the course of 2016 - and Millie Mackintosh is wasting no time in clocking up the air miles as 2017 gets under way. On Sunday, the 27-year-old beauty let her bevy of social media followers know that she's departed UK shores once again as she shared glamorous shots from Paris. The former Made In Chelsea star set pulses racing as she uploaded an image of herself wearing just a short silk ivory slip as she looked out of a grand window. Scroll down for video A room with a very nice view: Millie Mackintosh shared a shot of herself wearing just a slip as she enjoyed the view from her room in Paris on Sunday Next to the snapshot, which showed her from the back as she ran a hand through her golden brown tresses and posed seductively, she wrote: 'Sunday afternoon in Paris,' followed by a heart. Earlier in the day, she was in full tourist mode as she visited the breathtaking Notre-Dame Cathedral, where she posed for a stylish selfie wearing tortoise shell sunglasses and a black turban. 'I had to join in with the other tourists and take an obligatory selfie in front of a medieval land mark,' she captioned the image. A sight to behold: She also paid a visit to Notre-Dame Cathedral - and posed for a selfie Since reigniting her romance with Hugo Taylor last year, she has kept fans entertained with a stream of snapshots from her travels and exploits. And Millie recently revealed that one of the factors she so adores about her beau is his precision when it comes to taking the perfect picture for Instagram. 'I love taking pictures, and Ive got a very good boyfriend as well who will take literallyhe takes a lot of pictures very quickly, he just knows the angles,' she cooed in an interview with GLAMOUR. Insta attraction: Millie Mackintosh has gushed about her beau Hugo Taylor's ability to take the perfect shots for Instagram She added: 'He hands me my phone and theres about fifty different options and Im like, "Thats why I hired you, thank you." Thats the key, its the patient Insta-boyfriend.' During her interview, which took place on Wednesday as part of the publication's week-long #ThePositivityProject pop-up initiative, the beauty also spoke about why living in the limelight is something that appeals to her. 'I think maybe somewhere deep inside me Ive always been a bit of an attention seeker,' she admitted. Telling all: The reality TV star-turned-designer made the revelation earlier this month during an interview for GLAMOUR's week-long #ThePositivityProject pop-up initiative Shots: Since getting back with Millie in May, Hugo has shared countless shots of his belle Holding on tight: Millie shares a slew of snapshots from their recent getaway to Cape Town And while Hugo, 30, is able to capture his belle in a flattering light at all times, Millie revealed that a years-old hair disaster once left her far from camera ready. She said: 'I went through a phase of hating being called strawberry blonde, which actually now Ive really embraced because its quite a rare hair colour 'So I used to dye it a really toxic shade of blonde that I once did at my friend's house when I was about 14 and I came back to school with like bright yellow hair and it was like straw and instantly wouldn't dry nicely because it was so brittle.' Naked ambition: Over the festive season, Millie shared a completely nude snap on Instagram Bootylicious! Millie also shared a smouldering snap in a high cut purple swimsuit. She captioned the shot 'leaving 2016 behind' as she gazed out over the ocean Over the festive season, Hugo's camera skills were pushed to the limit, as the couple enjoyed a sun-soaked break in Cape Town, South Africa. Last week, Millie shared a sweet snap of the duo cosied up in front of a blissful setting while Hugo sent temperatures soaring with a slinky lingerie snap of his girlfriend. Clearly proud of his stunning partner, Hugo took to the photosharing site to post a sexy snap of the reality beauty sitting at his feet in a negligee. Bust-booster! Millie put on a busty display as she posed in a retro black bikini as she enjoyed her 18th holiday of 2016 Isn't life peachy? The ex-reality star showcased her gym-honed figure as she ran into the sea in her black scallop-edged halterneck bikini top and matching retro-style bottoms Fun in the sun! Wearing her wavy auburn locks tied halfway off her face, the TV personality turned fashion designer offset her winter tan with a pair of mirrored circular sunglasses Looking sensational as she went make-up free, the stunner gave a cheeky grin to the camera while sizzling in her silky number. The silk lingerie boasted tiny spaghetti straps which sat on her slender shoulders while the plunging neckline flashed her perky cleavage. While Hugo was opting for sexier snaps, Millie went for a more romantic look as she shared a stunning image in which the couple cosied up in front of a lake. Pucker up, baby! Millie and Hugo looked more in love than ever as they packed on the PDA in yet another social media snap Stunning: Admitting he was ending the year on a definite high, Hugo held a glass of champagne in one hand as he looked out towards a beautiful sunset Looking angelic in a white maxi dress, the fashion designer held on to her boyfriend's arms as they looked out onto the sunset. She added a caption reading: 'New favourite place for sunset' - after which the stunning shot amassed over 11,000 likes in just one hour. Throughout the trip, the couple worked hard on their tans, though two weeks ago Millie flashed a look at some painful looking sunburn on her derriere. Chic: The reality star turned fashion designer looked typically stylish in a blue gingham bardot top and white hotpants as she posed in front of a picturesque back drop with a glass of wine Puppy love: Bikini-clad Millie showed off her tattooed back as she perched on the beach, while surrounded by adorable pooches during her getaway Sporting a tiny black bikini, red skin was on show as the star climbed the steps to head back to her villa after another beach day. Meanwhile, while Millie has been flaunting her enviable figure in a number of saucy swimsuits, she decided to take it one step further as she shared a completely nude snap on Instagram. Proud of her gym honed physique, the former reality star posted the incredibly saucy snap of her gazing out of her hotel room in the nude to her 1.3 million followers. Captioning her naked pic, she cheekily wrote: 'My morning view'. Inked up: Hugo gave Millie a run for her money in the tattoo stakes as he showcased four etchings on his back as he wandered towards the sea in another Instagram snap In search of sun: The statuesque beauty left her Instagram followers green with envy as she revealed she was on her 18th holiday in 12 months Last year was turbulent for Millie - announcing her split from rapper husband Professor Green, 33, in the early part of 2016 - though she was able to take her mind of things with plenty of exotic holidays. Her trip to South Africa marked her 18th vacation for 2016 alone. Since reuniting with Hugo in May, Millie has taken her globe-trotting to Monaco, Mauritius, Greece and France's Antibes, among many other destinations. Holiday glow: Although it's been a turbulent year in terms of Millie's personal life, she's taken her mind off things with plenty of exotic holidays Christmas looks very different this year: Millie was waking up to beau Hugo and 'the breakfast of dreams' on Christmas Day, following her split from husband Professor Green in February In fact, by the time Millie and Pro Green's divorce was finalised that month, she was kicking off a string of jet-set vacations with a celebratory trip to Monte Carlo on Hugo's 30th, which came just two days after the paperwork was completed. Millie and Hugo previously dated back in 2011 when they met on E4 reality show, Made In Chelsea. But the union was not to last and ended rather dramatically when Millie discovered Hugo had cheated on her with her friend, Rosie Fortescue. Quite the contrast...: In 2015, Millie (centre with ex-husband Professor Green) was celebrating her second Christmas with her now-ex-husband, her parents and grandfather Jet-setter: Millie and sunglasses entrepreneur Hugo flew Business Class to South Africa in the evening of Christmas Day following a low-key yuletide in London At the time, Millie claimed she would always love Hugo, saying in an interview: 'I loved him - those feelings dont disappear but I just always have to remind myself why were not together. 'I do think that, for the rest of my life, every time I see him, Ill get that feeling in my stomach. I dont think I could ever not get that butterfly feeling.' Millie and Pro Green announced their split in February after just over four years together. Their two-and-a-half-year marriage was dissolved in just 30 seconds in May. Make-up free Millie: The former Made In Chelsea let fans know that she was happily watching the sun rise in South Africa during the festive season Full steam ahead! Millie's string of jet-set getaways sped up in May, when she took a break to Monte Carlo for Hugo's 30th birthday just two days after her divorce was finalised In a statement at the time, they said: 'It is a mutual decision, we still care deeply about each other and would like it to be known that it is on amicable terms and we wish each other well.' They were granted a decree nisi at Central London Family Court with Millie citing 'unreasonable behaviour' as the reason for their split. Millie and Stephen started dating in November 2011 after the rapper saw her on the cover of men's magazine FHM, and they eventually tied the knot in September 2013. The rapper has since moved on with model Fae Williams. The sweet life: One of her most luxurious holidays was a trip to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius with a large group on a shoot for Hugo's sunglasses brand, Taylor Morris Romantic: While her year of holidays began with an ill-fated trip to Florence with husband Pro Green, Millie was ending 2016 with boyfriend Hugo Advertisement He made his international breakthrough in the 1996 cinematic offering from Danny Boyle as mischievous Mark Renton in the original Trainspotting movie 21 years ago. Now over two decades on, Ewan McGregor is back on the orange carpet for the premiere of the sequel to the nineties cult classic, T2: Trainspotting, in Edinburgh - and hardly looked a day older. The 45-year-old star appeared in awe as he soaked up the atmosphere of the awaiting crowd with his trademark mischievous grin in place as he reunited with his co-star Kelly Macdonald on Sunday night. Scroll down for video Back together: Thec cast of Trainspotting reunited after 21 years on the orange carpet of the film's sequel on Sunday night. Director Danny Boyl posed alongside lead Ewan McGregor, Ewan Bremner, John Hodge, Irvine Welsh, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller, Kelly Macdonald and Anjela Nedyalkova (pictured L-R) Then and now: The stars and director Danny Boyle were fresher faced back in 1996 for the original film's premiere in Glasgow before the movie became one of the '90s biggest cult hits Wrapping his arm around his friend and cast member, Ewan cut a stylish figure in an all black look in contrast to the bright gleaming orange carpet. In high spirits, the Star Wars star attempted to combat the plummeting temperatures as he donned a simple black blazer over his physique while sporting a pair of dark denims for the occasion. Adding his usual fashion flair, Ewan teamed his orange carpet ensemble with a pair of casual Adidas trainers with neon detailing as he wrapped a steel grey scarf around his neck, before finishing his look with a head-turning black fedora to cover his seemingly shaved head. Still smiling: Ewan, now 45, still boasted the same cheeky grin as he did in the film which catapulted him to fame thanks to his role as charming drug addict Renton back in 1996 Begbie's back: Scottish screen veteran Robert Carlyle repirses his role as psychopathic Francis Begbie (right in 1996) Here comes trouble: Ewen Bremner certainly looked much more dapper on Sunday night than his Daniel "Spud" Murphy character did in the original Hair today, gone tomorrow: Jonny Lee Miller, now 44, sports a shaved head unlike the bleached blond mop he had while playing Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson in the dark comedy Still stunning: Kelly Macdonald looked elegant and demure but still just as pretty as she did while playing schoolgirl clubber Diane In awe: Ewan appeared in awe as he soaked up the atmosphere of the awaiting crowd alongside his co-star Kelly for the premiere of their new film Excited: Wrapping his arm around his friend and cast member, Ewan cut a stylish figure in an all black look in contrast to the bright gleaming orange carpet Warming up: Ewan held onto his co-star Kelly tightly as they braved the cold temperatures for their cinematic outing Having a laugh: The two giggled inbetween getting their photo taken for the star-studded event in Scotland Star-studded: The Scottish actress stunned at the premiere in a simple silk dress with a daring front slit that showcased her alabaster toned pins Complementing her two-time Golden Globe co-star, Kelly - who returns to play her pivotal role of Diane Coulston in the sequel - stunned in a simple silk black dress that featured a daring thigh high slit that flaunted her alabaster toned pins. The 40-year-old's floral patterned outfit choice featured a twisted neckline that teased at her decolletage with key-hole detailing as she attempted to cut the winter weather with her long satin sleeves. Injecting height into her petite frame, she slipped on a pair of fashion forward black pointed shoe-boots which offset her vibrant red lipstick and loosely waved chin-length tresses. The film's cast came out to support the sequel to the iconic film in their droves alongside the Oscar winning director Danny Boyle. Happy out: Ewan appeared happy to catch up with his co-stars at the film bash as he sauntered up the carpet Having a blast: Kelly appeared in a fit of laughter as she tried to compose herself for the awaiting cameras Amongst the cast, Ewen Bremmer - who returns to his renowned role of Spud in the flick - looked a far cry from his character as he sported a grey tweed three piece suit for the occasion as he waved to the crowds. In juxtaposition to Bremmer, Jonny Lee Miller - who plays Sick Boy in the highly-anticipated sequel - took a page out of Ewan's style book as he opted for a smart casual ensemble, paying homage to the original nineties film in his leather bomber jacket and jeans. Happy to be on the orange carpet, Robert Carlyle appeared in jovial spirits as he celebrated his return to his role as Begbie alongside Shirley Henderson. Two decades on from the original, Ewan described on the night that reuniting with his fellow Trainspotting cast was an 'amazing' experience, while insisting he and Danny Boyle still have a 'wonderful dynamic' in their professional lives. He said: 'It is quite daunting to come back to a character who is so well known and loved. Like all of the characters in Trainspotting, they are people who we feel like we know. The gang is back together! Ewen, Ewan, Jonny and Robert were all smiles as they posed together 21 years on at the world premiere What a difference two decades make! The stars of the highly-awaited T2: Trainspotting looked decidedly more mature than the first installment in 1996 Back then: The actors cut a completely different figure now then they did in 1996's promotional posters for the original film Jokes: Ewan and Danny appeared to have put their tumultuous past behind them as they joked together Film friends: Director Danny Boyle arrived at the event alongside the film's stars Ewen Bremner and Johnny Lee Miller (Pictured L-R) Star-studded: Stars of the original movie as well as the sequel Robert Carlyle and Shirley Henderson stepped out for the world premiere 'They are like people who we have really met in life - Begbie, Sickboy, Spud and Diane. It was sort of daunting, but I am Renton, and Renton is me. 'I haven't lived in Scotland since I was 17 years old and there was a sort of trepidation about coming back, thinking maybe I don't have it any more, but then Renton hasn't been in Scotland for 20 years either because he's been in Amsterdam, so our stories are not dissimilar I guess.' Speaking fondly of reuniting with Boyle and his castmates, he added that not much has 'changed' between them He added: 'It was very lovely to work with Danny again. I didn't feel like that had changed. The dynamic there was wonderful, and I found him to be a director who pushes you. He is somebody I have done my best work for, I think he pulls great work out of actors. He knows how to do that somehow. 'Just being back with these characters again. Looking back into the eyes of Sickboy again, looking into the eyes of Spud, Begbie and Diane. It was amazing. That was the best bit, they are like people we know.' In the blue: Bulgaria actress Anjela Nedyalkova - who stars in the sequel as the female lead - stunned in a floor-length blue sequin gown Hell for leather: Johnny - who is revisiting his role as Sick Boy in T2: Trainspotting - worked a leather coords for the event Stepping out: Author of Trainspotting Irvine Welsh attended the premiere with his wife Beth Quinn All smiles: Filmmaker Danny beamed on the orange carpet alongside the star-studded cast Johnny and Robert (Pictured L-R) Pen to film: Scottish novelist Irvine attended the premiere alongside the film's writer John Hodge (Pictured L-R) What a gent: Robert stopped to take a selfie with a female fan as he held onto his marker, which he signed autographs with Amongst the cast, Ewen Bremmer - who returns to his renowned role of Spud in the flick - looked a far cry from his character as he sported a grey tweed three piece suit for the occasion as he waved to the crowds. In juxtaposition to Bremmer, Johnny Lee Miller - who plays Sick Boy in the highly-anticipated sequel - took a page out of Ewan's style book as he opted for a smart casual ensemble, paying homage to the original nineties film in his leather bomber jacket and jeans. Happy to be on the orange carpet, Robert Carlyle appeared in jovial spirits as he celebrated his return to his role as Begbie alongside co-star Shirley Henderson. The original movie proved to be one of the iconic movies of its generation - a shocking story of four Edinburgh friends and their hedonistic heroin use. And as the full-length trailer for the flick was released in November, it appeared little had changed for the lads, who were getting up to the same old wild antics - even in their favoured same old back street boozer. With beloved characters Renton, Spud, Begbie and Sick Boy returning - albeit looking older and greyer - there's more than enough sex, illicit drug use and troublemaking to make fans of the original feel nostalgic. Perhaps one of the biggest changes shown in the trailer is Kelly MacDonald's character Diane Coulston carving out a career as a smart businesswoman after making her debut as an impressionable - and quite calculating - schoolgirl. And many other parts of the trailer will have fans both lapping up the fresh dose of action as well as feeling like they're taking a trip down memory lane. Rock chicks: Tallia Storm, 18 - who wasn't alive when Trainspotting was first released - flaunted her rock chick style in a pair of racy leather pants while Sadie Frost looked demure in a nineties inspired slip dress Show-stopping: Outlander stars Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe brought the heat in their sizzling red carpet looks Sheer bliss: Actress Erin Gavin flaunted her figure in a sheer floral embellished dressed which showcased her curves from all angles Dapper: Edinburgh based hip hop group Young Fathers took to the orange carpet showcasing their individual style Adapted from Scottish author Irvine Welsh's 2002 novel Porno and directed by the returning Boyle, Trainspotting 2 - abbreviated for the screen as T2 - sees the reunited cast attempt to make a name for themselves in the lucrative adult film industry. Speaking about the movie earlier this year, Welsh - who also returns as hapless drug dealer Mikey Forrester - told NME: 'I tell you, this film is going to be quite emotional for people. 'Because the film sort of tells you to think about yourself. You are going to be thinking: "F**k. What have I done with my life?"' The premiere attracted the biggest names in Scottish music, film and TV with 18-year-old singer Tallia Storm, Young Fathers and Erin Gavin. While Sadie Frost stepped out in style for the event alongside Outlander stars Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe. She joined the Women's March protesting Donald Trump's presidency in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday. And Vanessa Hudgens still had enough energy to go out to dinner with sister Stella that evening. The couple were spotted heading into an eatery in West Hollywood. On a high: Vanessa Hudgens still had enough energy to go out for dinner with sister Stella on Saturday evening in Los Angeles after the pair joined in the Women's March earlier that day The 28-year-old actress continued the femme power message in a baby pink crushed velvet jacket and trousers from PrettyLittleThing that she wore over a low-cut grey T-shirt. Vanessa, who found fame in the High School Musical franchise, accessorised with a glitzy pendant she wore on a chain and two gold chokers. She was dressed very differently earlier in the day when she turned up at the march wearing a white cropped T-shirt with the logo 'Yeah p***y' reflecting the event's theme. The star teamed it with low-cut jeans and sneakers and popped a black, red and gold cap on her beautiful brunette tresses. She also had a black zip-up sweater for the chilly day and carried a banner that declared: 'I am woman hear me roar.' Suits her: The 28-year-old actress continued the femme power message of the march in a baby pink crushed velvet jacket and trousers from PrettyLittleThing that she wore over a low-cut grey T-shirt Vanessa and Stella joined a slew of celebrities at the Women's March including Natalie Portman, Jane Fonda, Miley Cyus, Marcia Gay Harden, Kesha, Emily Ratajkowski, Jessica Biel, Jamie Lee Curtis, Juliette Lewis, Mandy Moore, Nicole Richie, Idina Menzel, Helen Hunt, Jodie Sweetin, Rosanna Arquette and Maria Shriver, Some 750,000 people supported the event in Los Angeles, which garnered huge attention across the US with similar marches in all 50 states and the US territory of Puerto Rico. Women around the world also marched in 55 cities including Tokyo, Sydney, Paris, London, Berlin and Amsterdam. Hear Me Roar!: Vanessa proudly carried a placard at the event with her gal pals Meanwhile, Vanessa will next be seen in NBC's comedy series Powerless. It follows the staff of an insurance company specialising in products to protect defenceless bystanders from the collateral damage of Superheroes and Supervillians. It's due to hit the small screen on February 2. Victoria's Secret Angel Elsa Hosk was inspired by the Women's Marches across the globe on Saturday. The 28-year-old Stockholm, Sweden native took to Instagram to write about her 'solidarity with my sisters' by sharing a photo of with her pals on the beach. Their hands were raised as they flashed their bikini bottoms. The stunning star has been on a photo shoot in Tulum, Mexico, all week. Her mini march: Victoria's Secret Angel Elsa Hosk was inspired by the Women's Marches across the globe on Saturday. The 28-year-old Stockholm, Sweden native took to Instagram to write about her 'solidarity with my sisters' by sharing a photo of with her pals on the beach Flawless: The day before the beauty shared a photo where she was in a skimpy green bikini 'YES WE MUST,' she began. 'For my mothers. For my sisters. For our future daughters. For the women who taught me and raised me to stand up, speak up for my rights. 'Running, marching here in solidarity with @womensmarch and my brothers and sisters who are in Washington, New York City and all over the world. We, here in Tulum, are with you in spirit.' The day before the beauty shared a photo where she was in a skimpy green bikini. And after that she posed on a bed with a bag of Cheetos, calling the chips her breakfast. All models say they eat junk food: And after that she posed on a bed with a bag of Cheetos, calling the chips her breakfast On Friday uploaded a jaw-dropping shot to Instagram in which she's seated with her legs crossed on the sands of a beach in Tulum, showing off her incredible physique in a white bikini. The 5 ft9 model, who captioned the shot with five emojis of the sun, had her arm covering her face, while her abs were well-highlighted. The tan blonde stunner's mile-long legs were picture perfect as she had her feet dug into the sand in the tropical paradise. Beauty on the beach: Hosk showed off her amazing figure in a shot off the Mexican coast she posted to her Instagram page on Friday The one-time winner of Sweden's Next Top Model, who's walked for high-end fashion houses such as Dolce & Gabbana, Dior and Ungaro, clearly pleased many of her 3.4 million followers on the social media site, as she racked up about 100,000 likes in six hours. Elsa's career in 2015 had a huge boost when she was promoted to Angel status by Victoria's Secret, joining an elite group of famed supermodels that include Alessandra Ambrosio, Jasmine Tookes, Behati Prinsloo and Stella Maxwell. Elsa, speaking about her ascension up the catwalk ranks in a 2015 interview on her website, described her initial days as an Angel for the lingerie giant as 'amazing and unexpected. Picture perfect: The 28-year-old showed off her flawless face in a shot earlier this week on the social media site Natural beauty: The Stockholm stunner's chiseled physique might come in part to her athletic background, as she played professional basketball in her native Sweden 'When I came here to New York and I was leaving my old life in Sweden behind, I knew I wanted to go for it. I was going to model full time and approach it with the same drive thats always allowed me to push myself.' She said one of her favorite aspects, in particular, is the brand's annual fashion show, which she walked in late last year. 'I love working with the brand, especially when we get to do something as big as the show,' she said. 'Those events are larger than life, and it feels wonderful to be a part of something that beloved. 'Everyone knows the Victorias Secret Fashion Show,' she said, 'and it was always something Id watched growing up.' Social media savvy: The comely catwalk star showed off a classy, casual look in this shot she posted from Miami earlier this week Northern China's Hebei Province has pledged to continue to cut steel and iron capacity in 2017, in a bid to counter the severe smog that often envelopes the province for days on end. Yuan Tongli, vice governor of the province, introduced on Saturday a spate of measures for the province to undertake in 2017 to combat smog, including cutting 15.62 million tons of steel capacity and 16.24 million tons of iron capacity. The province has faced severe air pollution in recent years, especially PM2.5, or fine particulates that are believed to be particularly dangerous to human health. The province issued a total of three red alerts -- the highest alert in China's three-tier early warning system for smog -- and four less severe orange alerts in 2016. In a latest report published by China's Ministry of Environmental Protection, six out ten of the country's worst air-polluted cities are in Hebei. High-emission and high-polluting industries are believed to play a major role in Hebei's air problems, while overcapacity in those industries is also believed to weigh on the province's economic growth. The province has therefore carried out what's dubbed "6643" projects since 2013, according to the vice governor. It aims at cutting 60 million tons of steel capacity, 40 million tons of coal consumption, 61 million tons of cement capacity and 36 million weight cases of flat glass from 2013 to 2017. The province has been steady in meeting its targets: Steel, iron, cement and flat glass have been reduced by respectively 44.38 million tons, 43.76 million tons, 65.17 million tons and 59.06 million weight cases from 2013 to 2016, Yuan said. Once the heartland of China's steel production and taking up about one fourth of the country's total output, the steel industry was replaced by equipment manufacturing as the province's pillar industry for the first time in 2016, according to Yuan. Efforts in combating air pollution have paid off, Yuan said. The province registered 207 days of meeting the country's air quality standards in 2016, an increase of 17 days from 2015 and 78 days from 2013. Average concentration of PM2.5 was 70 micrograms per cubic meter, a decrease of 35.2 percent from 2013. She has recently returned from an idyllic holiday in Barbados. And Tallia Storm appeared keen to show off her golden tan on Sunday, as she headed to the T2 Trainspotting premiere in Edinburgh. The 18-year-old flashed her enviably toned tum and sun-kissed skin in a racy black lace bra, layered stylishly beneath a ripped T-shirt, as she made her glamorous arrival on the orange carpet. Scroll down for video Saucy: Tallia Storm, 18, seemed keen to show off her tan from her recent Barbados holiday on Sunday, as she arrived at the T2 Trainspotting premiere in a ripped T-shirt and black lace bra The daughter of film director Sascha Hartmann certainly turned heads at the star-studded premiere in her subtly sexy ripped T-shirt and leather trouser combo. Tallia flashed her flat stomach and glowing skin in the logo tee, which was ripped down the front to saucily reveal her skimpy black lace bra beneath. Keeping the look demure however, she teamed the top with a pair of figure-hugging leather strides and striking lace up boots, which elongated her already leggy frame. Posing up a Storm: The daughter of film director Sascha Hartmann certainly turned heads at the star-studded premiere in her subtly sexy ripped T-shirt and leather trouser combo Keeping warm in the chilly Scottish temperatures she added a sleek matching leather jacket on top, and accessorised with a smattering of silver and black necklaces to further allude to her delicate cleavage. Tallia styled her hair into loose, bouncy waves before tying her look together with a glamorous slick of red lipstick. The Elton John protege was sure to show off her newly bronzed skin in the raunchy top as she posed for cameras - having recently returned from a luxurious winter getaway in Barbados. Star of the show: Tallia styled her hair into loose, bouncy waves before tying her look together with a glamorous slick of red lipstick The budding popstar had endlessly documented the trip with fans - posting numerous bikini clad snaps to her Instagram page from the break with her film director father and mother Tessa Hartmann. Tallia's appearance at the star-studded premiere is her first public outing since her return to the UK. The new flick T2: Trainspotting sees the reunited cast of the original Danny Boyle movie attempt to make a name for themselves in the lucrative adult film industry. Reunited: The new flick T2: Trainspotting sees the reunited cast of the original Danny Boyle movie attempt to make a name for themselves in the lucrative adult film industry With beloved characters Renton, Spud, Begbie and Sick Boy returning - albeit looking older and greyer - there's more than enough sex, illicit drug use and troublemaking to make fans of the original feel nostalgic. Tallia has recently come on to the scene after being discovered at the age of 13 - when she handed David Furnish a sample CD and letter addressed to his partner Elton John. She was then invited to perform a 25 minute set at his gig Falkirk in front of thousands, propelling her into the spotlight. Proving talent runs in the family's genes, Tallia's mum Tessa, a brand strategist and publicist, was awarded a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) from Prince William at Buckingham Palace earlier this month. Joanna Krupa looked like she was posing nude during a bathroom selfie shared to Instagram on Sunday. The Playboy cover girl uploaded a gif where he was moving her hips as she wore some very light-colored undies that were hard to see. She did not seem to have on a bra. But the Polish darling insisted she was wearing lingerie and she told her haters to 'relax.' Nearly naked: Joanna Krupa looked like she was posing nude during a bathroom selfie shared to Instagram on Sunday We get it: Last month she talked to Express.co.uk about her love of showing off her hard-earned body. She said: 'I'm very proud of my body, I work really hard, I workout and try to stay in shape and eat healthy' The Real Housewives Of Miami star held her phone in front of her face and had an updo. Her caption read: '2017 #body #goals #fit #nofilter #joannakrupa.' She added: 'Yes I do have Nude color on so relax #haters.' Take that haters! The Real Housewives Of Miami star held her phone in front of her face and had an updo. Her caption read: '2017 #body #goals #fit #nofilter #joannakrupa yes I do have Nude color on so relax #haters' But it looks like she has no bra on: The reality siren added: '#imamodel' She added: '#imamodel.' Last month she talked to Express.co.uk about her love of showing off her hard-earned body. She said: 'I'm very proud of my body, I work really hard, I workout and try to stay in shape and eat healthy. I'm super proud of it and I believe if you have it you flaunt it! . 'You should feel like a beautiful woman, no matter what and what I do on my Instagram is my business. It's my personal Instagram, if somebody feels like they shouldn't be looking at the photos that I'm posting then they shouldn't be following me. Cooling off: The reality star was seen in the snow as she enjoyed a 'winter wonderland' vacation with her dog 'I'm a model, that's my background, if you look at the biggest top models in the world they've all posed super sexy and naked and in lingerie, so I just think it's part of the industry we are in.' Krupa has had a busy January already. First the blonde beauty was seen on a beach in Miami. She modeled a green bikini as she talked about enjoying the sun in a social media post. Then the reality star was seen in the snow as she enjoyed a 'winter wonderland' vacation with her dogs. She was also seen with two of her pals in an urban setting. She recently shared details of the gruelling workout regime that has helped her gain and maintain her fabulous figure. And Kate Beckinsale, 43, showed off the breathtaking results of her hard work as she stepped out at the London Critics' Circle Film Awards on Sunday. The British beauty wowed as she arrived at the English capital's May Fair Hotel in a plunging white kimono-style gown, which featured a thigh-high slit. Scroll down for video All white on the night: Kate Beckinsale attended the London Critics' Circle Film Awards at the May Fair Hotel on Sunday night She accentuated her enviably tiny waist by cinching her flowing ensemble with a black sash belt. The mother-of-one teamed her dress with a pair of black strappy heels, which perfectly matched her manicure and pedicure. Her chestnut brown tresses were perfectly styled into Old Hollywood waves, which rested on her shoulders. White hot! The actress wowed as she graced the red carpet in a white kimono-style gown Waist not, want not: Her flowing dress was cinched at the waist with a black sash belt She's a winner! She scooped the British/Irish Actress trophy for her role in Love & Friendship Standing tall: The British beauty teamed her dress with a pair of black strappy heels Top choice: As made her way down the red carpet, Katie posed for a snap with critic Rich Cline Flawless: Kate accentuated her flawless complexion with a dusting of bronzer across the apples of her cheek Picture perfect: Actor Tom Bennett and Kate posed for a snap inside the venue With class: Kate took to the podium to accept her coveted award in style Filled with glee: Kate appeared full of glee as she posed with her award on the red carpet Monochrome muse: The actresses complemented each other in their monochrome ensembles Standing strong: The successful stars glowed as they picked their honours She enhanced her natural beauty with a dusting of naturally-hued makeup, while gold chandelier earrings gave her ensemble an extra touch of sparkle. Kate had much to celebrate at the awards show, as her acclaimed film, Love & Friendship was nominated for seven awards, equalling Moonlight. And she proved to be on the early winners on the night, scooping the British/Irish Actress trophy for her efforts in the picture. Chic: Contrasting Kate's choice of ensemble, Naomie Harris stepped out in a black gown Co-star: She posed for a snapshot with her dapper Moonlight co-star Alex R. Hibbert Bright: She brightened up her stylish sleeveless dress with a pair of pink-and-gold shoes Golden touch: She also added extra pizazz to her ensemble with a rose gold clutch bag Hair we go: The British beauty wore her raven tresses in a long, flowing style with side parting Hot! Naomie held on tight to her award as she posed on the red carpet in her contrasting hot pink shoes Screen sirens: The two Hollywood heavyweights stood side-by-side after picking up their honours at the awards Shinning bright: Kate, award winner Isabelle Huppet and Naomie showcased their glassware Inside the event, she rubbed shoulders with a host of familiar faces, including Naomie Harris, Kristina Rihanoff and her beau Ben Cohen. Earlier this month, the mother-of-one flaunted her fabulous figure in a revealing Instagram shot wearing just a bra 'It's Monday morning. Sniff your armpit and then try to twist your own head off who's with me,' she captioned the shot, making fun of her dramatic pose. So in love: Couple Ben Cohen and Kristina Rihanoff looked stylish as they arrived at the event Hot mama: The mother-of-one wowed as she arrived in a figure-hugging grey patterned dress Hot mama! Dancer Kristina has a six-month-old daughter, Milena, with her boyfriend Ben All the right moves: The couple met when they were partners on Strictly Come Dancing in 2013 The behind-the-scenes shot was from a shoot for Shape Magazine, where she gave some hints as to how one manages to maintain such a fantastic physique. She insisted she steers clear of alcohol, claiming she has never had an entire glass of anything alcoholic. 'I don't drink alcohol. I feel [its effects] very quickly, so I've never actually had an entire glass of anything alcoholic,' she said. Pose: Actress Kate Victors, left, posed for a shot with Critics' Circle president Anna Smith Going for gold: Kate wowed in a gold-accented dress, which she teamed with a gold clutch Stepping out: Emma Greenwell, left, and Alice Lowe, right, showed off their sartorial efforts Top of the crops: Welsh actress Morfydd Clark donned a blue trouser suit with a black crop top In addition she credited tough graft in the gym for sculpting her lithe legs and taut tummy. She said: 'Hard-core workouts have really made a big difference in my life. I have a lot of internal energy, and intense exercise helps me channel that energy. 'I find balance by doing a workout that makes me pour sweat. I never was that girl before, but I am now.' Ladies first: Attendees at the glittering bash were in jovial spirits as they mingled Black to basics: Jessica Barden, left, and Madeleine Mantock went for stylish black ensembles Suited and booted: Actor Tom Bennett looked dapper in his choice of striped three-piece suit Style: George MacKay, left, and Lewis MacDougall, right, stepped out in style for the big night The critics: Critics Rich Cline and Anna Smith posed together ahead of the awards show Turning heads: Kate stood out in her bright white frock as she mingled (L-R) Tom Bennett, Kate Beckinsale and Rebecca Bennett cosied up at the bar (L-R) Winner of Best British/Irish Actress Kate, winner of The Dilys Powell Excellence in Film Award and the Actress of the Year Award Isabelle Huppert, and winner of Best Supporting Actress Naomie Winners: The three women posed together proudly with their awards Apple Tree Yard Rating: Never has a TV drama raised so many awkward, sweaty questions such as, 'Is my wife unfaithful?', 'Has my husband guessed?' and 'Is that George Osborne having a knee-trembler in a Commons broom cupboard?' The black-haired, smooth-voiced devil in the blue tie was not the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, of course. Perish the thought. Ben Chaplin, as the suave civil servant whose penchant for sex in public places fuelled a very saucy start for Apple Tree Yard (BBC 1), simply happens to look and sound rather like the man who scurried out of 11 Downing Street last summer. Never has a TV drama raised so many awkward, sweaty questions such as, 'Is my wife unfaithful?', writes Christopher Stevens And like Osborne's infamous Project Fear, this psychological thriller is set to get the whole country in a lather over the next few weeks. You've had Brexit now get ready for Sexit. Emily Watson plays Yvonne, the 50-year-old mother of grown-up children who has a glamorous career as a genetics expert but a cripplingly dull marriage. Her hubbie Gary (Mark Bonnar) could bore, and snore, for Britain. His idea of passion is a peck on the cheek. So Yvonne is ripe for passion, a fact that is tantalisingly obvious to Chaplin's parliamentary predator. After she gives evidence to a Commons select committee, he moves in so fast that we never learn his name: 'Hello my dear, follow me, close that door, grrr-owll,' and the deed is done. 'Sex with you is like being eaten by a wolf,' she gasps. But she's keen to be devoured again, and he can't resist coming back for more. Their first encounter was meant to be 'Wham-Bam-Thank-You-Madam-Speaker' and nothing more. But it soon becomes an all-consuming affair. Watson and Chaplin generate an electric energy. It's easy to believe they want to tear each other's clothes off especially Yvonne, who has apparently been starved of sex for years. The story builds tension from the start: we see Yvonne in the back of a police van, handcuffed and on her way to trial, before the narrative backtracks to the start of her fling. Emily Watson plays Yvonne (pictured), the 50-year-old mother of grown-up children By the end of the episode, her life is already in freefall. She's having sex in doorways with the Wolf of Westminster. Her marriage is at breaking point, after her husband lied about his relationship with his much younger research assistant. And then, at an office party, her creepy colleague discovers her affair, corners her, and rapes her. This is gritty stuff. And it came directly after Call The Midwife, in which a pregnant young mother was beaten and burnt with a cigarette on her breasts by her husband. But it isn't the pell-mell plot that will have the whole country talking about this howlingly good drama. It's the moral questions can you forgive Yvonne for her behaviour? And would you ever be tempted, in her situation, to do the same? The same dilemmas underpinned TV's last great adultery drama, Doctor Foster, which saw Suranne Jones's character resort to any means, legal or not, to exact revenge on her cheating husband. But Apple Tree Yard goes further still. Yvonne doesn't want to punish Gary, even if he is dishonest and dull. She is overcome by lusts she never imagined she could feel. And she discovers she loves it. By the end of the episode, her life is already in freefall. She's having sex in doorways with the Wolf of Westminster The subterfuge, the illicit meetings, the adrenaline, it all turns her on. 'Sex may be an animal pleasure,' she decides, 'but adultery, I am discovering, is a human one.' In other words, betraying her husband might be difficult at first, but it soon becomes addictive. It helps that her lover is so adept at it. He knows just which smartphone to use for secret texts, and how to avoid the peeping eyes of CCTV cameras. In fact, he might not even be a conventional civil servant, but a spy. All this is so plausible that it ought to come with a government warning: 'Don't try this at home.' But of course, you wouldn't dream of it... would you? Anyone hoping to end the weekend with a cosy night of comfort viewing on BBC TV last night will have received a bit of a shock. For instead of the gentle pleasures that have traditionally graced the Sunday night schedule, last nights was punctuated by dramas featuring domestic violence, adultery and rape. Old favourites such as All Creatures Great and Small and Heartbeat were so popular they remained in the slot for years, but the BBC clearly has a very different idea of what people want now. Domestic violence: Call The Midwife contained some gritty scenes last night After a particularly dark series of Sherlock, which ended last week, the 9pm slot on BBC One has been filled by the gritty drama Apple Tree Yard. The first episode showed Emily Watsons character, a middle-aged scientist named Yvonne, enjoying a steamy affair with a civil servant. The pair were shown having sex in a broom cupboard beyond the Commons chapel, by a fire escape down a London alleyway and in the bathroom of a restaurant. And in the final few moments, the action went from raunchy to sinister when Yvonne was pushed on to a sofa and raped by a colleague at a work party. The shocking show came straight after the first episode of the sixth series of Call The Midwife, featuring a domestic violence storyline involving a heavily pregnant woman. After a particularly dark series of Sherlock, which ended last week, the 9pm slot on BBC One has been filled by the gritty drama Apple Tree Yard The pre-watershed episode had several disturbing scenes, showing a new character, Trudy Watts, being pinned up against a wall and pushed to the floor by her husband when she denied his advances. Later, he stubbed out a cigarette on her chest and locked her in their bedroom, before she went into labour. Both scenes were watched by their five-year-old son. Future storylines will cover female genital mutilation, thalidomide and the impacts of an explosion. Despite the recent success of comforting ITV dramas such as Downton Abbey and Victoria, the BBC has seemed keen to push towards more hard-hitting fare on Sunday nights. The second series of Poldark, which went head-to-head with Victoria last summer, featured a sex scene that many interpreted as rape. And the recent series of Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, included Mary Watson being shot dead, a plot about a drowned child and a secret agent being tortured. It is all a far cry from the veterinary drama All Creatures Great And Small, which set the mold for cosy Sunday night TV after it first aired in 1978. He first brought his infamous film character Francis Begbie to life in 1996's groundbreaking flick Trainspotting. Now, Robert Carlyle has hinted that his beloved role - who is the focus of Irvine Welsh's 2016 book, The Blade Artist - will be back on cinema screens in a possible spin-off. Speaking at the World premiere of T2: Trainspotting, the 55-year-old actor admitted the sequel to the original cinematic endeavor won't be the last fans will see of his character after author Welsh said there's 'room for one more' film. Scroll down for video What a tease! Robert Carlyle has hinted that his beloved character - who is the focus of Irvine Welsh's 2016 book, The Blade Artist - will be back on cinema screens in a possible spin-off Commenting on a possible trilogy, the Once Upon A Time star insisted he's up for starring in another flick. 'We've been talking about that, I am up for doing it,' he said. 'So maybe we ain't seen the end of Begbie just yet.' In the latest installment of the Scottish movie, Carlyle's character Begbie returns to his hot tempered ways, but is now dealing with serious responsibility in his life as a father. Coming back? The 55-year-old actor admitted the sequel to the original cinematic endeavor won't be the last fans will see of his character after Welsh said there's 'room for one more kind' of themed film Opening up about the new dimension to his character, he insisted that it was important to see his vulnerability and set up a possible third film centred on him. He admitted: 'That is the first time you see maybe there is another side to this guy. There is something quite emotional about that. 'He's capable of feeling something more just rage, so I am pleased that that element of Begbie has been shown. And maybe that sets up another film in fact because Irvine Welsh has written The Blade Artist." Returning: In the latest installment of the Scottish flick, Carlyle's character Begbie returns to his hot tempered ways, but is now dealing with fatherhood What a difference two decades make! The stars of the highly-awaited T2: Trainspotting looked decidedly more mature than the first installment in 1996 Back then: The actors cut a completely different figure now then they did in 1996's promotional posters for the original film Excited to have come together again with Danny Boyle and the original cast, Robert insisted that the sequel was 'a long time coming.' He divulged: 'It's been 20 years coming, it's been a long time coming. We always felt that we would do it, but as the years went by, you thought is this ever really going to happen. 'Danny was always determined we were going to be 20 years older before he was going to shoot it.' Trump to CIA: "I am with you 1,000 percent" President Donald Trump told the CIA Saturday it had his full support as he paid a visit to mend fences after publicly rejecting its assessment that Russia tried to help him win the US election. "I am with you 1,000 percent," Trump said in a short address to CIA staff after his visit to the agency headquarters in Virginia. In his first full day in office, Trump moved swiftly to confront simmering tensions left by US intelligence findings that Russia interfered in the US election to try to tip the outcome in Trump's favor. US President Donald Trump speaks during a visit to the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Virginia on January 21, 2017 MANDEL NGAN (AFP) "I love you, I respect you," he told members of the US intelligence community. "We're all on the same wavelength, right?" he asked, referring in particular to the fight against the Islamic State group. "We have not used the real abilities that we have. We've been restrained. We have to get rid of ISIS." Mike Pompeo, Trump's pick to lead the CIA, has not yet been confirmed by the US Senate. A 53-year-old Republican lawmaker, Pompeo is considered a foreign policy hawk and was an ardent opponent of former president Barack Obama's administration. Outgoing CIA director John Brennan had stern words for Trump last Sunday, saying he needed to be more "disciplined" in his public comments. "I don't think he has a full appreciation of Russian capabilities, Russia's intentions and actions," Brennan said of Trump on Fox News Sunday. Trump, likening US intelligence to Nazis, suggested Brennan himself may have leaked an unsubstantiated report that the Russians had gathered damaging salacious personal information about him. The intelligence agencies had given both Trump and Obama a summary of the dossier, which later was published in full by BuzzFeed. Fury, concern over Trump presidency Women poured into Washington to express concern, anger and outrage over Donald Trump's taking over as the 45th US president, in the "Women's March on Washington." That demonstration inspired many more nationwide, with more than two million people flooding the streets of US cities for a peaceful day of protest. Here are the views of some who spoke to AFP. - 'Furious' - Women poured into Washington to express concern, anger and outrage over Donald Trump's taking over as US president, inspiring many more protests nationwide ZACH GIBSON (AFP) Jennifer Behr, a fashion accessory designer from Brooklyn, arrived from Baltimore on a train packed with passengers wearing pink "pussy" hats, one of the symbols of the protest. "It's important we assert our majority and we have a large physically presence" to show President Donald Trump and the Republican majority in Congress "that they cannot railroad our country," said Behr, 42. "I am furious at Trump's treatment of women and how he talks about women," she said. She was especially incensed about the "decades of Republican attacks" on Democrat Hillary Clinton "and trying to undermine her as a strong women throughout her career." - 'Part of history' - A group of highschoolers from Chicago who had chartered an overnight bus to the rally chanted and waved a banner that read "Illinois youths grab 'em by da" above a picture of a cat. "I'm part of history and one day will tell my children about this," said 16-year-old Maria Iman, whose parents are from Mexico. "They didn't have a voice -- I wanted to be here showing them that their voice does matter." - 'He's a narcissist' - Christina Coughlin flew in from San Francisco, joining up with five friends who also journeyed to the US capital for the demonstration. "I live in San Francisco -- I learned that I cannot be complacent in that place of safety where it is very liberal and socially conscious," the 39-year-old said. "I can't just relax into that; I have to stand up for things." Her friend Tanya Gaxiola, 39, flew in from Tucson, Arizona with her husband. "He's a narcissist and seeks approval, and this is a big display of disapproval," she said of the new president. "Hopefully it will affect him. Hopefully it catches his attention." - 'Protect our rights' - Trisha Norman, 72, traveled from North Carolina for the protest and clutched a sign that read "Beware of the Gaslighter in Chief" -- a reference to a form of manipulation featuring denial, misdirection and outright falsehoods to sow doubt and confusion. "I want protect our rights," she said, and to "bring attention that when people are standing together, they will be strong." - Muslims not 'terrorists' - Norman was accompanied by her sister Barbara Hilton, 62, who wore a pink "pussyhat," the knitted caps marchers have adopted in a sly allusion to Trump's crude sexual references to women. "The family of my husband are immigrants," said Hilton. "They are Muslim. Not one is a terrorist." - 'So against' Trump - Kim Lee-Wilkins came from Maryland specifically to protest against Trump's efforts to repeal Obama's signature accomplishment, the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. But a lot more than that was at stake, she said. The 60-year-old African American said she fears a return to the ugly days of racial segregation. "Now we are going back to where we were in the 50s, and I am not going to stand for it," she said. Trump "doesn't stand for me, he doesn't stand for the majority of the people around here, so I am here to make a stand and my voice will be heard," she said. "Most of America is very open to human rights, religious rights, everything, and that's what these people are standing for right now." - Protesters on a plane - Kathy Small flew in from Flagstaff, Arizona for the march. "The plane was filled with people who were coming from little towns to come here," said the 67 year-old professor. She found it "remarkable" that the crowds were thin for Trump's inauguration on Friday. "It doesn't look anything like Obama's inauguration where I think the country was genuinely happy as a whole," she said. - 'Can't rob us' - Mara Naaman brought her two kids to the New York march, where organizers claimed a crowd count of half a million. "I don't want the world to feel that he represents all of us," the 42-year-old said. "When you see all of the women out today you feel like he can't rob us." - 'A beautiful sea of humanity' - Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Andrew Neiman said the gathering was the largest he had seen in the city in his three decades on the job in the city where organizers estimated a turnout of 750,000. "I have actually really enjoyed my day today," he said. "It is a beautiful sea of humanity. It was wonderful." Cassy Clarke, an elementary school teacher, said she "was never someone who goes into the streets, but since Trump go elected I protested twice and intend to go as often as needed." "Today made me proud to be an American again." Demonstrators protest during the Women's March outside the White House in Washington, DC Joshua LOTT (AFP) Police block demonstrators who surrounded a parade float with Donald Trump supporters during the Women's March in Washington, DC Joshua LOTT (AFP) MH370 families plead for search to continue at Australia meet Grieving relatives of MH370 passengers will appeal for the hunt for the missing airliner to continue at a meeting between the Australian and Malaysian transport ministers in Perth on Sunday. Australia, Malaysia and China on Tuesday suspended the deep sea hunt in the southern Indian Ocean almost three years after the Boeing 777 disappeared on March 8, 2014 with 239 people on board. "The MH370 next-of-kin implore the government of Malaysia to use this opportunity to urgently consult and reconsider the decision to suspend the search for MH370," campaign group Voice370 said in a statement. No trace of the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 has been found after a nearly three-year long search of the 120,000 square-kilometre designated search zone ABIS NICOLAS GONZALEZ (AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE/AFP/File) "Personal letters appealing for a continuation of search from many family members are to be delivered personally to the Malaysia Minister of Transport during his visit to Perth." No trace of the plane has been found in the 120,000 square-kilometre (46,000 square miles) designated search zone. But three fragments recovered on western Indian Ocean shorelines have been confirmed as coming from MH370. "I understand the disappointment and frustration felt by the families," Australia's Transport Minister Darren Chester said in a statement. "The tripartite decision to suspend the search in the absence of any credible new evidence leading to the specific location of the aircraft was not taken lightly," he added. The meeting with his Malaysian counterpart Liow Tiong Lai was informal, according to the statement. Both ministers are set to meet the crew of Fugro Equator -- the last ship to leave the search area off Australia's west coast -- in Perth on Monday. Chester has left the door open for future operations, saying Wednesday the search could be revived if there is "credible new evidence" pinpointing MH370's location. In Mosul battle, Iraq forces face fewer IS-planted bombs Iraqi forces used to facing deserted, explosives-rigged streets and booby-trapped buildings have not encountered as many bombs planted by jihadists in Mosul as they did in earlier battles against them. The Islamic State group has no qualms about killing civilians, but the presence of a large number of residents in Iraq's second city discouraged the jihadists from extensively sowing it with explosives, officers say. While previous urban battlefields in Iraq's war against IS were largely depopulated by the time the country's forces moved in, Mosul still sheltered a million-plus people when the offensive to retake it was launched three months ago. While previous urban battlefields in Iraq's war against IS were largely depopulated, Mosul still sheltered a million-plus people when an offensive to retake it was launched AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (AFP) If explosives had been widely planted by the jihadists ahead of the battle, they would have been at risk of being triggered before Iraqi forces arrived. So while the systematic mining of roads and rigging of buildings with bombs has arguably been IS's signature defence system against Iraqi forces, in Mosul, the jihadists had to change tack. Iraqi forces have seen less booby-trapping in Mosul than in Anbar and Salaheddin provinces, where earlier key battles against IS took place, said Staff Lieutenant General Abdulghani al-Assadi, a top commander in the elite Counter-Terrorism Service. "The reason is the families remained in their neighbourhoods, in their houses," Assadi said. Some residents of the city have ventured out of their homes just moments after the fighting died down, and in recaptured areas of eastern Mosul, stores are reopening, goods are displayed in front of shops, civilian cars and pedestrians move along some streets and children play outside. - 'No comparison' - Staff Lieutenant General Sami al-Aridhi, another senior CTS commander, said there was "no comparison" between the number of bombs planted in Mosul and those in Anbar province, where Iraqi forces retook the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah from IS. There are fewer because "here in Mosul, the residents didn't leave," Aridhi said. "Now, when we advance into any neighbourhood, we don't think that the street is booby-trapped; our vehicles move normally." IS needed civilians in Mosul to maintain at least the veneer of a functioning "state," and extensively planting bombs that could be triggered by residents would have both reduced their defensive utility and risked stoking popular anger against the jihadists. This does not mean that IS has completely forgone the use of bombs in Mosul. It is a "change of strategy" for IS, said Captain Qaisar Fawzi, an officer in an Iraqi army engineering battalion. "They did not rely on roadside bombs, they relied on explosives-rigged vehicles," he added. Vehicles rigged with bombs "are indeed the enemy's weapon of choice in the battle of Mosul," said Colonel John Dorrian, spokesman for the US-led anti-IS coalition. But, according to Assadi, in "important areas, the residents were displaced... and (IS) started to booby-trap them." Lise Grande, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, said that bombs planted by IS have still posed a threat to civilians. "People who are trying to flee Mosul... have stepped on booby-traps and IEDs (improvised explosive devices)," killing some and wounding others, Grande said. - Civilians obstacle to both sides - And "based on experiences from other occupied areas, we're worried that IEDs have been planted by (IS) in schools, hospitals and other public buildings," she said. The large numbers of civilians in Mosul have also hampered Iraqi offensive operations. Aridhi said that while security forces could previously strike IS from a distance, "here, we are not able to use any fire, because citizens are present." "We are delayed because people are present," he said. Assadi agreed, saying that there is "little booby-trapping, few bombs, but (many) citizens whom we must protect." Iraqi forces do however still use heavy weapons in Mosul: helicopters and warplanes have frequently carried out strikes inside the city, and artillery as well as large unguided rockets are fired inside it. The combination of civilians staying in the city and the lower number of bombs planted inside it means life has returned to some recaptured areas in Mosul far quicker than in other cities retaken from IS. Parts of Ramadi and Fallujah are still uninhabitable, but while some houses and buildings in Mosul have been wrecked and streets are cratered by bombs and strewn with rubble, other places have escaped largely unharmed. "The booby-trapping began after the start of the Mosul operation," said resident Raed Mohammed, speaking to AFP at a roundabout in the city's east where street vendors were out selling goods, but which was still overlooked by an IS billboard and marred by damaged buildings. People were going about their daily lives before that and, had the jihadists extensively planted bombs, "it's likely that they themselves would have been exposed to explosions." The IS group has no qualms about killing civilians, but the presence of a large number of residents in Mosul discouraged them from extensively sowing explosives AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (AFP) Cheng Yanxin, a 70-year-old sanitation worker, lost three months of his salary on Jan. 12. He has since recovered the money, thanks to the help of kind-hearted people. Cheng planned to use the money for Spring Festival shopping, but later lost track of the cash. Zhao Ping, the manager of a steamed bun shop, generously helped the old man to search for his lost savings. Zhao also shared the story on social media, asking others to look for the envelope of money as well. Just five minutes later, Cheng began receiving calls from people offering to join the search efforts. Within two hours, an envelope with 3,360 RMB was sent to Cheng. In fact, the money in this envelope, which exactly matched Cheng's lost salary, was not his salary at all but rather donations given by warm-hearted people from 25 provinces. Ageless Venus dares to dream of Serena final at Australian Open Ageless Venus Williams is daring to dream of a possible glamour Australian Open final against sister Serena, but admits they both have their work cut to get there. The American great progressed to an amazing 37th career Grand Slam quarter-final Sunday, needing all her big-match experience against determined German qualifier Mona Barthel 6-3, 7-5. It sets her up against Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for a place in the last four and with Serena in the other side of the draw, the earliest they can meet will be the final. Venus Williams beat Mona Barthel 6-3, 7-5 to qualify for a 37th career Grand Slam quarter-final at the Australian Open PAUL CROCK (AFP) Asked if she had thought about playing a ninth Grand Slam final against her sister, she replied: "That could hopefully happen. We both still have to work very hard to get there. "Today I played a qualifier, and she hardly ever missed. So it doesn't matter who you come up against, they are coming and they want to win, too. "They have nothing to lose. I'm going to be focused on winning one round at a time and focus on doing what it takes to be there." The sisters played each other for the first time in Melbourne in 1998, with Venus coming out on top of the second-round match on her way to the quarter-finals. So far, they have met in eight Grand Slam deciders, with Venus winning just once, at Wimbledon in 2008. Serena, gunning for a record-breaking 23rd major crown, faces Barbora Strycova for a place in the quarters on Monday. - 'Not the end goal' - Venus's victory over Barthel thrust her into the last eight for a ninth time at a tournament she is yet to win during a career that has earned her seven Grand Slam trophies, though none since that Wimbledon 2008 title. Next up is Pavlyuchenkova, who upset her fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-3. Despite an elbow injury derailing her build-up to the opening Grand Slam of the year, Venus, who is yet to drop a set, said she was feeling fine. And the 13th seed warned there was still plenty left in the tank. "I think the first time I played this tournament I reached the quarter-finals, so I have done this," she said. "This is where you want to be, because you set yourself up to move forward, but this is not the end-all for me. This is not the end goal." Williams and Barthel had met two times before, with the American winning both. But despite her lowly 118 ranking, Barthel was never going to be a pushover. She has three career singles titles to her name and is on the comeback trail after suffering chronic fatigue illness last year, which forced her out for four months. Seeded 13, Williams used her wealth of experience to pounce early and storm to a 3-0 lead. She gave a service game away before reasserting her dominance with another break back. Undeterred, Barthel kept coming back, winning a titanic seventh game that included six deuces to keep her hopes alive. Williams, with the bright sun appearing to cause her problems, hit more unforced errors in the set but a superior number of winners made the difference as she finally nailed it in 42 minutes. Suspected rebels kill two soldiers in India's northeast Indian troops killed two suspected rebels late Sunday, hours after the death of two soldiers in an ambush in the country's restive northeast, the defence ministry said. In the morning ambush the militants lobbed grenades at the vehicles used by the soldiers before detonating a small bomb in the Tinsukia district of Assam state. After a search the army "has been successful in neutralising two terrorists from the group which had attacked our troops in the morning..." the statement said. Assam has seen decades of unrest among ethnic and separatist groups that resist rule from New Delhi STRDEL (AFP/File) The ministry said the soldiers from the paramilitary Assam Rifles were escorting tourists returning from a festival in the neighbouring state of Arunachal Pradesh when their vehicles came under attack. Northeast India, linked to the rest of the country by a narrow land corridor, has seen decades of unrest among ethnic and separatist groups. The region is home to dozens of tribal groups and small guerrilla armies that resist rule from New Delhi. Many are fighting for independent homelands for their tribes and often compete against each other. More than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have lost their lives to insurgency in Assam during the past two decades. Syria rebels arrive in Astana for talks with regime Members of the Syrian opposition delegation arrived Sunday in the Kazakh capital Astana for face-to-face peace talks with the war-torn nation's government. The talks, set to begin on Monday, will be the first time a delegation composed exclusively of rebel groups will negotiate with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Chief opposition negotiator Mohammad Alloush flew into Astana on Sunday morning, according to an AFP correspondent who saw the delegation arrive. A member of the Syrian pro-government forces gestures to tanks as they patrol the northern embattled city of Aleppo on December 14, 2016 George Ourfalian (AFP/File) He was accompanied by around a dozen rebel figures, including Fares Buyush of the Idlib Army, Hassan Ibrahim of the Southern Front and Mamoun Hajj Moussa of Suqur al-Sham. A source close to the opposition's team told AFP that the delegation had been broadened from eight rebel figures to a total of 14, in addition to 21 legal and political advisers. The 10-member government delegation, headed by its UN ambassador Bashar al-Jaafari, left Damascus on Sunday, according to Syrian state news agency SANA. Rebels have insisted the talks will focus solely on reinforcing a frail nationwide truce brokered by opposition supporter Turkey and regime ally Russia last month. Although the two countries have backed opposing sides of Syria's nearly six-year conflict, they have worked hand-in-hand in recent weeks to secure an end to the brutal war that has killed more than 300,000. The Astana talks, which Assad ally Iran is also helping organise, will be the first test of this new partnership. They will be held in the city's luxury Rixos President Hotel, where staff members were setting up a single large table in a conference room under blue banners bearing the hashtag #AstanaProcess. Rebels and regime figures are expected to sit in the same room, along with UN envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura. De Mistura on Sunday hailed the talks as a "good initiative" in comments carried by Russian news agencies. Israel's Netanyahu says to speak with Trump later Sunday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he would speak with US President Donald Trump by telephone later in the day, their first talks since the billionaire businessman took office. Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting that he planned to discuss with Trump the conflict with the Palestinians, Syria and "the Iranian threat." Trump has pledged strong support for Israel and vowed during his campaign to recognise Jerusalem as the country's capital despite the city's contested status. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on January 22, 2017 Ronen Zvulun (POOL/AFP) Israeli right-wing politicians have welcomed Trump's election, with hardliners who oppose a Palestinian state hoping it will allow them to move forward with their goal of annexing most of the occupied West Bank. In an initial move, Israeli officials on Sunday approved building permits for 566 settler homes in annexed east Jerusalem. Hardline Israeli ministers are also pushing to annex a large Jewish settlement near Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, a move many say would badly damage prospects for a two-state solution. Netanyahu also strongly opposed the nuclear deal between Israel's arch-foe Iran and global powers, including the United States. Trump criticised the nuclear deal during his campaign. African troops prepare for Gambian president's return West African troops approached the Gambian capital on Sunday to secure President Adama Barrow's arrival from neighbouring Senegal, as controversy erupted over the assurances offered to Yahya Jammeh to guarantee his departure. Jammeh flew out of The Gambia on Saturday, ending 22 years at the helm of the tiny west African nation, and headed for Equatorial Guinea where he is expected to settle with his family. However, Equatorial Guinea authorities refused to confirm Jammeh's arrival on Sunday despite an opposition statement condemning the relocation. Soldiers from The Gambia and ECOWAS soldiers patrol in front of the Second Infantry Battalion Camp in Farafenni, Gambia on January 22, 2017 SEYLLOU (AFP) The Senegalese general leading a joint force of troops from five African nations said soldiers had entered The Gambia to "control strategic points to ensure the safety of the population and facilitate... Barrow's assumption of his role". An AFP journalist stationed across the river that divides the Banjul peninsula from the northern part of the country said around 100 heavily armed Senegalese troops travelling with armoured vehicles were waiting to move into the capital. Senegalese forces had briefly crossed into the former British colony on Thursday but pulled out shortly afterwards, with Sunday's troop movement the first by soldiers from the joint force. Marcel Alain de Souza, a top official with the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), which organised the deployment, said the country "could not be left open" for long, and that Barrow must be in place "as soon as possible". A senior Senegalese military source told AFP that his forces had met little resistance on Sunday, as army chief Ousman Badjie has already declared his loyalty to Barrow. - Comfortable terms - Following Barrow's win in the December 1 election, Jammeh refused to step down, triggering weeks of uncertainty that almost ended in a full military intervention. The longtime leader, wearing his habitual white flowing robes, waved to supporters before boarding a small, unmarked plane at Banjul airport alongside Guinea's President Alpha Conde after two days of talks over a departure deal. He left behind a small minority of diehard supporters, some of whom wept as his plane departed. The choice of Equatorial Guinea for his exile has helped ease concerns that Jammeh might interfere in his nation's politics if he stayed in Guinea, whose border is not far from The Gambia's eastern region. The strongman personally controlled certain sections of the security forces, and his long tenure was marked by systematic rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and arbitrary detention. But critics have raised concerns over the wording of a statement issued by the UN, ECOWAS and the African Union that seemed to offer Jammeh comfortable guarantees for his future. "No legislative measures" would be taken that would infringe the "dignity, security, safety and rights" of Jammeh or his family, it said, noting that property "lawfully" belonging to him would not be seized. However, experts told AFP the document was not legally binding. Equatorial Guinea is not a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court, meaning Jammeh would not be extradited in the event he was charged with crimes against humanity or other serious offences. His expected arrival in the country was met with ire as the opposition Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS) blasted President Teodoro Obiang Nguema for showing "contempt" towards Equatorial Guinea and "thinking only of his personal gain" by granting Jammeh "political exile". Obiang is a similar strongman to Jammeh who has been in power since ousting his uncle in 1979. - 'Democracy is back' - Jammeh took power in a 1994 coup from the country's only other president since independence from Britain, Dawda Jawara, making this The Gambia's first democratic transition of power. "We are going to wait for Barrow at the airport all the way to State House. Before we were scared to come out," said security guard Babacar Jallow, describing Jammeh as "a killer". With Jammeh gone, all eyes will be on the Barrow administration as they make their first steps as a government of reform and development. "The will of the people has come to be -- at last," said Isatou Touray, a key official in the government-in-waiting. "Democracy is back, you can't stop the people." The first priority will be to ensure the safe return of tens of thousands of people who have fled in recent weeks fearing a bloody end to the crisis, Touray said on Saturday. The crisis had also sparked the exodus of thousands of foreign visitors, dealing a potentially devastating blow to a country which earns up to 20 percent of its income from tourism. The United States on Sunday hailed "the commitment to democracy and the restraint shown by the Gambian people over the past weeks," as well as the leadership showed by west African heads of state who mediated the crisis. The Gambian political crisis Vincent LEFAI, Kun TIAN (AFP) Gambian President Adama Barrow won a December election SEYLLOU (AFP/File) Gambia's former president Yayha Jammeh (C), the country's leader for 22 years, waves from the plane as he leaves the country in Banjul on January 21, 2017 Top seed Kerber stunned by Vandeweghe at Australian Open World number one Angelique Kerber was knocked out of the Australian Open on Sunday in a stunning upset by a supremely confident Coco Vandeweghe, as yet another big seed was sent packing early. The German, defending a Grand Slam title for the first time, had no answers to the big-hitting American who powered past her 6-2, 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena to make the quarter-finals in one of the biggest wins of her career. Kerber's meek demise follows the early exits of women's third seed Agnieszka Radwanska, fourth-ranked Simona Halep and sixth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova at a tournament that has been thrown wide open. Germany's Angelique Kerber hits a return against Coco Vandeweghe of the US during their women's singles match at the Australian Open in Melbourne on January 22, 2017 SAEED KHAN (AFP) On the men's side, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic suffered similar fates. Top-seeded Kerber was bidding to be the first woman to successfully defend an Australian title since Victoria Azarenka in 2013, but it all went horribly wrong against a player ranked 35. "It's really special, to play a number one player in the world on any stage and any round. So I think I believe this is my first number one win. I'll take that," said Vandeweghe. "Last year I came here and didn't win a match. Now here I am. It was just another opponent in the way of my goals for this year," she added. "I set a goal this tournament of making the quarter-finals and the semi-final of a Grand Slam this year." Vandeweghe, who made the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2015 but had never been past the third round in Melbourne, now faces dangerous seventh seed Garbine Muguruza for a place in the last four. Muguruza blasted into her first Melbourne quarter-final with a two-set thumping of Romania's Sorana Cirstea. The Spanish French Open champion is in ominous touch with either Venus Williams or Russia's Anastasia Pavlyunchenkova awaiting her or Vandeweghe in the semis. - Kerber unsettled - Kerber had been slowly getting into her groove after an indifferent build-up to Melbourne, with early exits in Brisbane and Sydney this month. But the fiercely competitive American was full of confidence after ending the campaign of Canadian comeback queen Eugenie Bouchard in round three. She wasn't overawed by a packed crowd on Rod Laver Arena, easily holding serve and troubling the left-hander by cranking big backhand and forehands from the baseline. A break came her way in the fifth game after a long rally produced a forehand winner and she broke again soon after, unsettling Kerber as she kept racing to the net to win points. Rattled, the world number one regrouped and three unforced errors then a double fault on the Vandeweghe serve handed her her first break of the match in the opening game of set two. But she looked unsteady self and a weak backhand to the net allowed the American to break back for 3-3 with Kerber having no answers. Muguruza said earlier that she was looking forward to testing herself against the American, if she upset Kerber. "We've played a lot, a couple of times. It's 1-1 head-to-head. She's a tricky player. She has a lot of power, full shots, serve, everything. She can play very well," she said. In her match, Muguruza was running hot against Cirstea and was in the zone from the beginning. Erdogan visits Africa eyeing action on nemesis' network Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan flew to Tanzania Sunday to start a three-nation east Africa tour seeking action against the network of an exiled cleric he blames for last year's failed coup. At issue is an international network of charities and schools affiliated with a movement run by US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, Erdogan's nemesis, which has been routinely accused by Ankara of coordinating "terrorist activities". "We will raise the issue of FETO's activities in African countries like Tanzania, Mozambique and others," Erdogan told reporters, referring to Gulen's network which he dubs the Fethullah Terror Organisation (FETO). Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech at the Presidential complex in Ankara, on January 19, 2017 Adem ALTAN (AFP/File) "We will raise with our counterparts what our expectations are in regards to the fight against FETO," he said before leaving on a five-day tour which will also take him to Mozambique and Madagascar. Following July's failed coup, Turkey launched a major crackdown. It detained more than 43,000 people over alleged links to Gulen, with Erdogan vowing to eradicate any social, charitable or commercial activity with ties to the preacher's Hizmet movement. Gulen, a former Erdogan ally, vehemently denies he was behind the attempted putsch. A reclusive figure, he has lived in self-imposed exile in the state of Pennsylvania since 1999. Hizmet describes itself as promoting Islam through charity efforts and educational work in countries stretching from Turkey to Africa and Central Asia to the United States. But Turkish officials accuse Gulen of using his vast private education network to build influence, and of running a "parallel state" inside Turkey. Nearly 70 killed in fresh Yemen fighting Clashes in Yemen killed at least 66 people in 24 hours, medics and security sources said Sunday, as pro-government forces pushed to oust rebels from a key stretch of coastline. Air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition and fighting near the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait killed at least 52 fighters among Shiite Huthi rebels and allied troops loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, the sources said. Fourteen members of the pro-government forces were also killed. Smoke billows behind a building following a reported air strike by the Saudi-led coalition in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on January 22, 2017 MOHAMMED HUWAIS (AFP) Forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi launched a vast offensive on January 7 to retake the Dhubab district overlooking the Bab al-Mandab, a key maritime route connecting the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Coalition warplanes and Apache attack helicopters have been pounding rebels in support of pro-Hadi forces advancing towards the Red Sea city of Mokha, military sources said. By Sunday, loyalist forces were within 10 kilometres (six miles) of Mokha, they said, but the offensive has been slowed by mines laid by rebels. The rebels took their dead to a military hospital in Hodeida, a major western port city they control, a medical source told AFP. The hospital received 14 dead on Saturday and 38 on Sunday, as well as 55 wounded rebels, the source said. On the pro-government side, 14 soldiers were killed and 22 wounded, according to medics in the southern port city of Aden where Hadi's government is based. The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 in support of the beleaguered president. But despite its massively superior firepower, the rebels and their allies still control the capital Sanaa and much of the central and northern highlands, as well as the 450-kilometre (280-mile) Red Sea coast. United Nations peace envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed arrived in Sanaa on Sunday for talks and to push a peace plan that would restore a ceasefire and lead to a political transition in the country. The plan would lead to a political transition under which Hadi's powers would be significantly reduced. The World Health Organization says that more than 7,400 people have been killed since the coalition intervention began. A UN spokesman has said the civilian death toll alone could top 10,000. Iraq forces take two more areas in east Mosul Iraqi forces on Sunday retook two areas from the Islamic State group in Mosul, sealing their control of the east bank three months into an offensive to reclaim the city. They recaptured "Al-Milayeen neighbourhood and Al-Binaa al-Jahiz area and raised the Iraqi flag over the buildings", the military said in a statement. "These are the last neighbourhoods of the centre of the city (on) the left bank," the statement said, referring to eastern Mosul. Iraqi forces battled the last holdout jihadists in east Mosul after commanders declared victory there and quickly set their sights on the city's west, where more tough fighting awaits AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (AFP) It also said that federal forces had retaken control of the road linking Mosul, Iraq's second city, to Dohuk, a provincial capital in the west of the autonomous region of Kurdistan. The latest progress effectively seals the Iraqi forces' control over the east bank, with only the neighbourhood of Rashidiyah, on Mosul's northern edge, left to retake. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and top commanders in the Counter-Terrorism Service, which has spearheaded operations inside Mosul, had already declared the city's east "liberated" on Wednesday. The Joint Operations Command coordinating the battle against IS in Iraq had said then that a few more days would be needed to clear the last pockets of holdout jihadists. Iraq's top brass and its foreign allies were expected to confer in the coming days on the strategy to adopt to conquer the west bank of Mosul, which is still under full IS control. A huge offensive, Iraq's largest military operation in years, was launched on October 17 to retake Mosul, the last major stronghold IS had in the Iraqi part of its self-proclaimed and now crumbling "caliphate". - West Mosul next - Residents of parts of eastern Mosul, some for several weeks already, have tried to resume a normal life, despite the circulation of goods being restricted. On Sunday, a few dozen students and activists gathered at the gate of the University of Mosul, which IS had used as a headquarters during its two-and-a-half-year rule and which was severely damaged in the fighting. They celebrated the recapture of one of the country's most prestigious institutions by chanting slogans, raising an Iraqi flag above the arch that marks the campus entrance and unfurling a banner calling for its swift reopening. The west side of Mosul is a little smaller but more densely populated and home to some of the jihadists' traditional bastions. It contains the old city of Mosul, a maze of narrow streets crammed with shops, mosques and churches that will be impassable for larger military vehicles. That area houses Al-Nuri mosque where the IS group's Iraq-born supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a caliphate in June 2014 after his forces took the city. "IS and Sunni insurgent groups also have had historical support zones in western Mosul," said Patrick Martin, Iraq analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, warning that federal forces there may receive less warm a welcome than in the east. A temple fair opened on Jan. 20 at Al-Azhar Park in Cairo, Egypt, ahead of the upcoming Chinese Spring Festival holiday. More than 10,000 people visited the temple fair, which is a traditional holiday activity for Chinese people to celebrate the new year. Organized by Egytian tourism and culture ministries as well as the Chinese Embassy in Egypt, a series of China-Egypt cultural exchange activities are to be held in 2017 in cities including Cairo and Aswan to promote ties between the two countries. (Photo/People's Daily Online) Philippines vows no whitewash in S. Korean businessman's murder Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's office vowed on Sunday there would be no cover-up or whitewash in the investigation into a South Korean's alleged murder by police. The kidnapping and killing of the businessmen has fuelled fears about widespread abuse by officers as they prosecute Duterte's deadly anti-drug war. The businessman disappeared from his home in Angeles City north of Manila last October. Policemen stand by a crime scene where the body of an alleged robber lies on the street in Manila on December 23, 2016 NOEL CELIS (AFP) Police from a special anti-drug unit abducted him under the guise of a raid on illegal drugs. A policeman then strangled him inside Camp Crame, the national police headquarters in Manila, the Justice Department said last week. "We are outraged by the abduction and slay of a South Korean executive inside Camp Crame," said Duterte's spokesman Ernesto Abella. "We assure everyone that there will be no whitewash or cover-up. We will not tolerate abusive, errant policemen who betray the organisation." The kidnappers demanded a ransom from the victim's wife and she initially paid five million pesos ($100,000), thinking he was still alive, authorities said last week when they first announced details of the police officers' involvement. The policemen for months led the wife to believe her husband was alive but he had been in fact killed on the day he was abducted, investigators said. The officers involved were from a task force focused solely on illegal drugs and stationed at the sprawling Camp Crame. The incident has shocked and angered the South Korean government, with Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se demanding those behind the crime be brought to justice. The police have come under intense scrutiny as the frontline troops in Duterte's efforts to eradicate illegal drugs in society, with human rights groups accusing them of mass extrajudicial killings. Police have reported killing 2,250 drug suspects since Duterte assumed office, with 3,710 others murdered by unknown suspects who at times have left signs at the crime scenes accusing their victims of being drug dealers or addicts. Equatorial Guinea stays silent on Jammeh's presence Officials in Equatorial Guinea refused to comment on Sunday on whether ousted former Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh had arrived in the country. But in a statement, Equatorial Guinea's opposition denounced the presence of Jammeh, whose 22-year reign was marked by systematic human rights abuses, on their soil. Jammeh slinked off in the dead of night from The Gambia's capital Banjul in the early hours of Sunday on an unmarked plane alongside Guinea-Conakry's President Alpha Conde. Gambia's former president Yayha Jammeh (C), the country's leader for 22 years, waves from the plane as he leaves the country in Banjul on January 21, 2017 The strongman's departure ended six weeks of political turmoil sparked by Jammeh's refusal to accept his election defeat to new Gambian President Adama Barrow. Following a short stopover in Conakry, the Guinean capital, Jammeh was due to head to Equatorial Guinea, a top Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) military official said. But asked by AFP to confirm this news, Equatorial Guinean authorities did not comment. However, Equatorial Guinea's Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS) opposition hit out at the decision to grant Jammeh "political exile". "The CPDS rejects this decision and holds" President Teodoro Obiang Nguema "responsible" for any consequences Jammeh's presence on Equatorial Guinean soil could bring, the opposition said in a statement acquired by AFP. The CPDS said other countries had offered to host Jammeh and stressed that Equatorial Guinea has "never welcomed political exiles". The opposition accused Obiang of showing "contempt" towards the country and "thinking only of his personal gain". Obiang has been president of Equatorial Guinea since ousting his uncle in 1979. He has been accused of human rights abuses, extrajudicial killings, being a dictator and of encouraging a personality cult in the tiny oil-rich nation. Trump, Netanyahu discuss 'threats posed by Iran': White House US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday discussed threats from Iran and agreed peace between Israel and the Palestinians must be "negotiated directly," the White House said. The two leaders spoke by telephone and "agreed to continue to closely consult on a range of regional issues, including addressing the threats posed by Iran," the White House said in a statement, signaling the new administration's tougher line on Tehran. There was no mention of Trump's suggestion to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. US President Donald Trump speaks during the swearing-in of the White House senior staff at the White House on January 22, 2017, in Washington, DC MANDEL NGAN (AFP) Such a transfer would break with the consensus of the vast majority of the international community, which does not recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. That move -- long promised by presidential candidates of all stripes -- could provoke a backlash in the region. The White House on Sunday appeared to play down suggestions that a decision was imminent. "We are at the very beginning stages of even discussing this subject," White House press secretary Sean Spicer told AFP. Like other major powers, the US currently has its embassy in Tel Aviv. Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas has warned that moving the embassy would deal a huge blow to hopes for Middle East peace, and the UN and EU have voiced deep concern over the proposal. During the phone call on Sunday, Trump also stressed the need for direct talks between Palestinians and Israelis. Trump overstates crowd size at inaugural WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump's speech Saturday at the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency turned into the latest battle in, as he put it, his "running war with the media." He had two central complaints: that the media misrepresented the size of the crowd at his inauguration and that it was incorrectly reported a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. was removed from the Oval Office. A look at those assertions: TRUMP: "I made a speech. I looked out. The field was it looked like a million, a million and a half people." The president went on to say that one network "said we drew 250,000 people. Now that's not bad. But it's a lie." He then claimed that were 250,000 right by the stage and the "rest of the, you know, 20-block area, all the way back to the Washington Monument was packed." President Donald Trump points to a member of the audience after speaking at the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va., Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) "So we caught them," said Trump. "And we caught them in a beauty. And I think they're going to pay a big price." THE FACTS: Trump is wrong. Photos of the National Mall from his inauguration make clear that the crowd did not extend to the Washington Monument. Large swaths of empty space are visible on the Mall. Thin crowds and partially empty bleachers also dotted the inaugural parade route. Hotels across the District of Columbia reported vacancies, a rarity for an event as large as a presidential inauguration. And ridership on the Washington's Metro system didn't match that of recent inaugurations. As of 11 a.m. that day, there were 193,000 trips taken, according to the transit service's Twitter account. At the same hour eight years ago, there had been 513,000 trips. Four years later, there were 317,000 for Obama's second inauguration. There were 197,000 at 11 a.m. in 2005 for President George W. Bush's second inauguration. White House press secretary Sean Spicer later added to the misstatements. Spicer claimed that it was the first time white "floor coverings" were used to protect the grass on the National Mall and that it drew attention to any empty space. But the same tarp was used four years ago. Spicer also said it was "the first time that fencing and magnetometers went as far back on the Mall, preventing hundreds of thousands of people from being able to access the Mall as quickly as they had in inaugurations past." The Secret Service says that this was the first time security fencing was installed around the National Mall for an inauguration. To get onto the Mall, people were required to go through one of seven checkpoints where their bags were checked, but there were no magnetometers used at those checkpoints. A law enforcement official not authorized to publicly discuss the inauguration says officials were "not aware of any issues with flow rate in and around the National Mall." Spicer then said, "This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration period both in person and around the globe." He offered no evidence and there is no immediate way to confirm such a claim. But photo taken during Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration showed substantially more people on the Mall. It is not known how many people watched the ceremony on television around the globe. In the U.S., Nielsen estimates 31 million viewers watched TV coverage, but that's less than Barack Obama's and Ronald Reagan's first inaugurations. The exact size of the crowd Friday may never be known. The National Park Service stopped providing estimates in the 1990s. ___ TRUMP: The president also went after a reporter who incorrectly wrote that the president had removed a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. from the Oval Office. The reporter later acknowledged the error, saying a Secret Service agent and a door had obstructed his view of the bust when reporters were allowed into the room briefly after Trump's swearing in. "But this is how dishonest the media is," Trump said. "Now, big story, the retraction was like, where?" he asked. "Was it a line or do they even bother running it?" THE FACTS: Trump is right. The reporter for Time magazine made an error. The White House said Trump never removed the King bust from the Oval Office. The error about the bust was first transmitted in a pool report distributed among reporters. The White House often uses a pool system when not all reporters who want to attend an event can be accommodated in a space. At 7:30 p.m., reporter Zeke Miller wrote a pool report saying, "The MLK bust was no longer on display." Once Miller realized his error, an update was sent to the pool. "The MLK bust remains in the Oval Office, in addition to the Churchill bust, per a WH aide. It was apparently obscured by a door and an agent during the spray. Your pool offers sincerest apologies." Miller also corrected the error on Twitter, and Time magazine corrected its story based on his report. "Correction: An earlier version of the story said that a bust of Martin Luther King had been moved. It is still in the Oval Office," it reads. ___ Associated Press writer Jessica Gresko contributed reporting. ___ Reach Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire and Colvin at http://twitter.com/@colvinj FILE - This Jan. 19, 2013 file photo shows crews laying down special mats to protect the lawn on the National Mall, for the 57th Presidential Inauguration in Washington. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer incorrectly said Saturday, Jan. 21 that 2017 was the first time in our nations history that floor coverings had been used to protect the grass on the mall. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Families lobby Malaysian minister to resume search for MH370 CANBERRA, Australia (AP) Relatives of passengers and crew aboard the missing Malaysian airliner plan to present the Malaysian transport minister in Australia with letters urging that the search resume. Sheryl Keen, a supporter of the international victims' advocacy group Voice370, said Sunday she plans to personally hand to Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai dozens of letters from relatives when Liow meets this week in the west coast city of Perth with his Australian counterpart Darren Chester. Last week, Malaysia, Australia and China announced that the deep sea search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 had been suspended, perhaps forever, after a sonar scan of 120,000 square kilometers (46,000 square miles) of the Indian Ocean west of Australia failed to find any trace of the Boeing 777 that vanished on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board after flying far off course during a trip from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing. Keen, who chairs her own support organization Aircrash Support Group of Australia, said she had yet to hear from the Malaysian Consulate in Perth whether she would be allowed a one-minute meeting with Liow on Sunday or Monday. "The general content is urging him to continue the search," Keen said. "I do believe some of them are quite heartfelt and others are quite brief." Chester said he would hold an informal meeting with Liow on Sunday. Both ministers will welcome the final search ship Fugro Equator when it returns from the abandoned search area to Perth's port at Fremantle on Monday. "We will both be in Perth tomorrow to thank the crew of the Fugro Equator for their search efforts in trying conditions," Chester said in a statement. Voice370 wants the ministers to use the meeting to reconsider the suspension of the search. "A quick decision to extend the search would avoid the immediate demobilization of the equipment on board the search vessel, Fugro Equator, and additional costs at a later date for mobilization of vessels," Voice370 said in a statement. But Chester said the decision to suspend the search "was not taken lightly." "I understand the disappointment and frustration felt by the families," he said. "Not knowing the final resting place of their loved ones only adds to the tragedy of the situation." Voice370 has launched an online petition to increase public pressure on the governments to continue the search. Because the airliner was registered in Malaysia, the Malaysian government has a final say on the search's future. Australia, Malaysia and China agree they won't relaunch the search until they have credible evidence pointing to the plane's exact location. Malaysia has offered a reward to any private company that found the plane's fuselage. The government has not put a figure on that reward. China investigates former local party boss for bribery BEIJING (AP) China's top prosecutor's office said Sunday it is conducting a bribery investigation into a high-ranking official who was the mayor of a port city at the time of a warehouse explosion that killed 173 people. The two-sentence announcement about Huang Xingguo by the national prosecutor's office made no mention of the explosion in a warehouse in Tianjin, a city of 15 million people east of Beijing. But other officials have been punished on charges they took bribes to ignore safety violations that led to the blast, one of China's deadliest workplace accidents. Investigators found the warehouse held illegal stores of the combustible fertilizer ammonium nitrate, which caught fire and caused a series of blasts. At a public meeting last year, Huang, who was the city's interim Communist Party chief and mayor, expressed "deep compunction" about the explosion. State media reported in September that he had been removed from his positions. He was expelled from the ruling party this month. The country's Central Committee for Discipline Inspection said Huang had "severely violated political discipline," according to the official Xinhua News Agency. It said he took "huge bribes of property and money" and used his position to improperly benefit his son and others. Most of the people killed in the explosion were firefighters and police who weren't told ammonium nitrate was in the building. The accident drew international attention to China's workplace safety problems and endemic corruption. Chinese President Xi Jinping has launched a signature national anti-corruption campaign snaring officials and party cadres at all levels. The head of a logistics company linked to the blast was given a suspended death sentence and lesser penalties were imposed on 48 other government officials and company employees. And the former head of China's national safety regulator, the State Administration of Work Safety, was charged last year with taking bribes and embezzlement. ___ The Latest: Watchdog group says it will sue President Trump WASHINGTON (AP) The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times EST): 8:20 p.m. A legal watchdog group says it will file a lawsuit alleging that President Donald Trump is violating the Constitution by allowing his businesses to accept payments from foreign governments. President Donald Trump, center, accompanied by Vice President Mike Pence, right, arrives for a White House senior staff swearing in ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) The group says he is violating a clause in the Constitution that prohibits his businesses from receiving anything of value from foreign governments. Because he didn't divest his businesses, they say, he is now getting gifts from foreign governments via guests and events at his hotels, leases in his buildings and real estate deals abroad. White House Director of Strategic Communications Hope Hicks directed inquiries to Trump attorney Sheri Dillon. Hicks says in an email: "She was very clear on this issue two weeks ago and nothing has changed; the president has no conflicts." The liberal-funded watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington say they planned to file the lawsuit in the Southern District of New York on Monday. ___ 5 p.m. The White House says President Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that peace with the Palestinians "can only be negotiated directly between the two parties" and that the U.S. will work closely with Israel on that goal. Trump and Netanyahu spoke by phone Sunday, their first conversation since Trump's inauguration. The White House says Trump invited Netanyahu for a visit to Washington in early February. According to the White House, the two leaders agreed to consult on a range of regional issues, including "the threats posed by Iran." The White House says the president also affirmed his "unprecedented commitment to Israel's security" and his administration's focus on countering terrorism. Netanyahu had a frosty relationship with Trump's predecessor, former President Barack Obama, and has so far spoken favorably about the new U.S. leader. ___ 4:35 p.m. President Donald Trump is expected to meet with bipartisan congressional leaders at the White House Monday night. That's according to a person familiar with plans for the meeting. The meeting would be Trump's first formal meeting with Hill leaders as president. He did mingle with lawmakers at an inaugural lunch on Capitol Hill and also met with Republican leaders during the transition. Trump's congressional agenda includes repealing and replacing the nation's health care law and passing tax reform. The president will also be seeking Senate support for his yet-to-be-named nominee to fill the current Supreme Court vacancy. The person familiar with the plans insisted on anonymity in order to confirm the meeting ahead of an official announcement. Julie Pace ___ 4 p.m. President Donald Trump is singling out FBI Director James Comey at a reception to thank law enforcement offers and others that helped during his inauguration. Trump called Comey up to where he was standing to offer a handshake and hug. He says Comey has "become more famous than me." Trump was speaking in the Blue Room of the White House to law enforcement officers and other agency heads who'd helped with Friday's festivities. Trump thanked the officials for their work on the inauguration, saying the day was "such a success and such a safety success." ___ 2:50 p.m. President Donald Trump says he will discuss immigration and renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement when he meets with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. The White House has said the meeting will take place Jan. 31. Trump ran for office on a pledge to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and have Mexico pay for it. He reiterated that promise following the election, and on Sunday he said Mexico has "been terrific." The president is also expected to meet soon with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose country is also a partner in NAFTA. Trump has blamed the three-nation trade pact for disadvantaging American workers and leading companies to move out of the U.S. ___ 2:35 p.m. President Donald Trump is telling his top advisers that they're in the White House to "devote ourselves to the national good." Trump is swearing in his senior White House team during a ceremony in the East Room. He says their work isn't about party or ideology, "it's about serving the American people." Trump praised his team's talent. But he also joked that if his advisers are not doing their jobs well, "I will let you know." Vice President Mike Pence joined Trump for the event and carried out the official swearing in. ___ 2:30 p.m. President Donald Trump has spoken with Gov. Nathan Deal of Georgia to express his condolences about those killed by the powerful tornadoes that have ripped through his state. Trump described the tornadoes as vicious and powerful during remarks in the East Room of the White House during his second full day in office. He says he'll be speaking with Gov. Rick Scott of Florida later this afternoon. Deadly weather in the southeast has killed at least 15 people and injured dozens more. ___ 1:25 p.m. The White House says it's at the "very beginning" of discussing plans to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The statement follows reports in Israeli media that President Donald Trump had imminent plans to announce the move. Trump is scheduled to speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by telephone later Sunday. Like many presidential candidates, Trump promised to make the embassy move. But presidents have avoided following through on that pledge in part because of concerns that it would inflame tensions in the Middle East. ___ 11:35 a.m. White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway says President Donald Trump will not release his tax returns, appearing to shut the door on a decades-long tradition of transparency. Every president since 1976 has released their returns. During the campaign, Trump refused to make his filings public, saying they were under audit by the Internal Revenue Service and saying he'd release them after that review is complete. Conway was asked Sunday about a petition on the White House website signed by more than 200,000 people calling for Trump to release his returns. Conway told ABC's "This Week": "The White House response is that he's not going to release his tax returns." She added: "We litigated this all through the election. People didn't care." Polls show a majority of Americans want him to release the returns. ___ 11:30 a.m. Transportation officials in Washington say more than a million trips were taken on the city's rail system Saturday a tally that is hundreds of thousands more than on Inauguration Day and sets a Saturday record. Metro tweeted Sunday that 1,001,616 trips were taken on the rail system on Saturday, the day of the Women's March on Washington. Metro spokesman Dan Stessel had said that on Friday, the day of Donald Trump's inauguration, just over 570,000 trips were taken on the rail system. Saturday's ridership number topped the previous Saturday ridership record set in 2010 on the day of the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear hosted by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. More than 825,000 trips were taken that day. ___ FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2017, file photo, Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto listens during an event announcing an accord meant to strengthen the national economy and keep down household costs, in Mexico City. A new poll conducted from Jan. 11-15, shows Pena Nieto's approval rating has fallen to a historic low of 12 percent. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell,File) President Donald Trump's adviser Kellyanne Conway gets ready to go on television outside the White House, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) Incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, left, and Chief strategist for President-elect Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, right, walk out after attending church service at St. John's Episcopal Church across from the White House in Washington, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017. (Ronen Zvulun/Pool Photo via AP) Protesters build a wall of signs outside the White House for the Women's March on Washington during the first full day of Donald Trump's presidency, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017 in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) British Prime Minister Theresa May gestures as she speaks on the third day of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) Intensive negotiations ahead of Russia-led Syria talks ASTANA, Kazakhstan (AP) Delegates from Russia, Turkey and Iran held hours-long talks in Kazakhstan Sunday on the eve of negotiations between Syrian rebels and President Bashar Assad's government, trying to forge common ground that would nudge forward a political settlement for the country's civil war. The talks between the two warring sides are the first in a year, and are meant as a first step to consolidate a cease-fire reached last month. Whether Russia and Turkey will manage to bolster the cease-fire they brokered on Dec. 30 will be a key measure of success for the Astana meetings, Syrian opposition spokesman Yahya al-Aridi told reporters in the Kazakh capital Sunday. Spokesman for the Syrian opposition Yahya Al-Aridi speaks to the media ahead of Syria peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017. Syrian rebel delegates huddled in Kazakhstan Sunday ahead of talks with government representatives scheduled to begin Monday, the first such negotiations between the two sides in a year. At the top of the agenda is an effort to consolidate a fragile cease-fire agreement reached last month and ease humanitarian suffering in the war-ravaged country. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits) The opposition delegation, which arrived in Astana earlier in the day, is made up of about a dozen rebel figures led by Mohammad Alloush, of the powerful Army of Islam rebel group. The Syrian government is sending its U.N. ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, and military delegates. The U.N.'s Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, is participating in the talks, which are to be followed by more political talks in February in Geneva. The new U.S. administration is not directly involved, because of the "immediate demands of the transition," the State Department said Saturday, but Washington will be represented by the U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan, George Krol. The talks are sponsored by Russia, Iran and Turkey, and are the latest attempt to forge a settlement to end a war that has by most estimates killed more than 400,000 people since March 2011 and displaced more than half the country's population. At the top of the agenda for the talks, which will be held at the Rixos President Hotel, is an effort to consolidate last month's cease-fire. The truce excludes extremist groups such as the Islamic State group and the al-Qaida affiliate in Syria. It has reduced overall violence, but fighting and violations continue on multiple fronts. "If this can be achieved, this can help the political process," said al-Aridi. The scope of the aims reflects the constrained position of the opposition, which last year was pushing for a political transition in Syria that would exclude Assad. Al-Aridi said there was no plan to discuss Assad's position before addressing what he said were ongoing government violations of the cease-fire. "I don't think there's a context for that now. Nobody is ready for this," al-Aridi told reporters in Astana. "We need a commitment to that cease-fire." "If the other side doesn't care about stopping the bloodshed in Syria, and cares most about staying in power at the expense of Syrian blood ... in that case, nothing will work," he said. Reflecting the enormous distrust at play, he described the Iranians as "spoilers" and "occupiers" and claimed they are not serious about the entire process. Iran and Russia have provided key financial and military support to Assad's government, while Turkey has backed the opposition. Ja'afari told reporters on the plane to Astana that in addition to cease-fire talks, a priority was to "unify efforts to combat terrorism." He said the meeting will "test the credibility and seriousness of participants sitting around the table and those who support them." Russian President Vladimir Putin's special adviser on Syria, Alexandre Lavrentiev, said after more than four hours of meetings with the Turkish and Iranian delegations that the three state delegations were "moving toward a united front." It was not clear whether the two sides will hold face-to-face meetings. If they do, it would be the first time in three years, and the first time Syrian government representatives sit down with an opposition delegation made up mainly of rebel factions. The opposition has promised to highlight the government's harsh siege tactics, which have cut off hundreds of thousands of Syrians from food and medical access. In the Damascus suburbs such as Madaya, Zabadani and parts of the central city of Homs and its environs, civilians have been under siege by government forces since at least 2015. Turkey could play a crucial role in the latest attempt to resolve a conflict that has confounded the world's diplomats for years. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is embroiled in troubles at home and has moved closer to Russia recently, prioritizing the fight against Kurds and the Islamic State group over support for the Syrian rebels he has propped up for years. Assad's forces meanwhile recaptured the northern city of Aleppo last month with considerable Russian aid, dealing a devastating blow to the opposition, which had held onto eastern parts of the city for four years. The talks will be closely followed in Syria and by the millions of Syrian refugees scattered across the globe. "If Turkey is now feeling the guilt over what it committed toward the Syrian people, we hope that it will give at this conference something positive, to speed up an end to the crisis," said Anas Farfouti, a resident of Aleppo who supports Assad. At Istanbul's Ataturk airport, journalists and delegates heading to Astana shuffled past Syrians who have fled the country. "If this war ends in five years, it will be a blessing," said Fadwa, a Syrian in transit between a European country, where she was granted asylum, and the region, where her relatives were still seeking onward passage. She declined to give her last name, out of concern for the safety of relatives still living in Damascus. She accused both sides of prioritizing their foreign sponsors over the protection of civilians, and said the war would drag on until foreign powers "partition" Syria. ___ Karam reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Aleppo, Syria, and Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria contributed to this report. Spokesman for the Syrian opposition Yahya Al-Aridi speaks to the media ahead of Syria peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017. Syrian rebel delegates huddled in Kazakhstan Sunday ahead of talks with government representatives scheduled to begin Monday, the first such negotiations between the two sides in a year. At the top of the agenda is an effort to consolidate a fragile cease-fire agreement reached last month and ease humanitarian suffering in the war-ravaged country. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits) Turkish president targets cleric's schools on Africa visit JOHANNESBURG (AP) Turkey has courted Africa for more than a decade, boosting trade, opening more than two dozen new embassies and Turkish Airlines routes and dispatching aid to conflict-torn Somalia. More recently, the Turkish government lobbied African nations to close or take over local schools linked to Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Turkey of masterminding a failed coup attempt last year. So while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan travels with a big business delegation to Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar this week, he is also focusing on what he calls a security threat. Turkey accuses international schools inspired by Gulen of providing militant recruits for his movement, which in turn says an increasingly authoritarian government is casting as wide a net as possible for perceived opponents. "It is only expected that they are trying to fight the battle in Africa with the Gulenists," said Ahmet Kasim Han, an associate professor of international relations at Kadir Has University in Istanbul. FILE - In this Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017 file photo, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters in Istanbul. While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan travels with a big business delegation to Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar this week, he is also focusing on what he calls a security threat. Turkey accuses international schools inspired by Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen of providing militant recruits for his movement, which in turn says an increasingly authoritarian government is casting as wide a net as possible for perceived opponents. (Kayhan Ozer/Presidential Press Service, Pool Photo via AP, file) "There is also the understanding that the existing Gulenist networks in the West are harder to take on because of Turkey's capability limitations in the West, especially when it comes to influence and imagery problems," Han said. Turkey, a NATO member repairing frayed ties with Russia, has a sometimes testy relationship with old allies in the West over Turkey's human rights record and other matters. The overtures to Africa are partly an effort to build Turkey's international profile as a partner and counter to global powers on a continent with a bitter history of Western colonialism and Cold War-era conflict. Turkey's involvement in Africa feeds into the Turkish ruling party's "self-perception as the protector of Muslims and Muslim minorities around the world," said Sener Akturk, associate professor in the international relations department at Koc University in Istanbul. And winning African support dovetails with Erdogan's argument that the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia "do not represent and do not serve the world" and the U.N. should be reformed, Akturk said. Shortly before leaving for Tanzania on Sunday, Erdogan said he planned to talk to African leaders about the "intense activities" of the Gulen movement on the continent. "Sensitivities toward this organization and its intentions are increasing within friendly African countries," said Erdogan, who ends his trip on Wednesday. "There is no longer the possibility for these bands of murderers to hide, claiming dialogue, service, education and trade." On Jan. 9, Erdogan said Gulen's organization previously had schools in 115 countries, and that Gambia was among six nations that had shut them. Schools in the African countries of Guinea, Somalia, Chad, Senegal, Mauritania, Niger and Gabon have been transferred to Turkish government control, he said. The schools follow national curricula, serve children through high school and are popular with local elites because of good academic results. They deny any link to the botched military uprising in Turkey in July that led to a purge of alleged loyalists of Gulen, a U.S.-based critic of Erdogan who had expanded his international influence with a message of interfaith harmony. The schools once had the approval of Erdogan's government, whose former alliance with Gulen partly derived from joint opposition to the hard-line secular circles that had ruled Turkey. The partnership evolved into an increasingly acrimonious rivalry several years ago. In Ethiopia, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said this month that schools linked to Gulen will be transferred to Turkish government control. He said he discussed the matter with Erdogan during a visit by the Turkish president. "I told him that if there is something wrong with the establishment of the schools, then he should give us a way out how to keep the schools running," the prime minister said. "They agreed on this and they have set up a foundation." In Tanzania, 11 schools in the Feza system inspired by Gulen have a total of 3,000 students, just over half of them Muslim. Turkish diplomats have tried to "convince government officials to give these schools as a gift to Erdogan during his visit," Feza director Ibrahim Yunus said in an email to The Associated Press. He dismissed the allegation that the schools are a security threat. Some parents asked the Feza system to start a university, and the Tanzanian government allocated land 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Dar es Salaam for the institution, according to Yunus. Turkey's crackdown on suspected supporters of Gulen has undermined the plan. "Unfortunately, because of the purge on businesspeople in Turkey, we are having difficulty in finding donors for that project," Yunus said. ___ Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey and Elias Meseret in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia contributed. ___ Follow Christopher Torchia on Twitter at www.twitter.com/torchiachris Southampton inflicts 11th loss of Leicester's title defence SOUTHAMPTON, England (AP) Southampton condemned Leicester to the 11th loss of its Premier League title defense with a 3-0 victory on Sunday, leaving the champions five points above the relegation zone. James Ward-Prowse, Jay Rodriguez and Dusan Tadic scored as Southampton eased to victory, leaving Claudio Ranieri's Leicester looking short of ideas in attack and worryingly frail at the back. Southampton's joy was tempered by an ankle injury to captain Virgil van Dijk, leaving Claude Puel's team short of center backs after Jose Fonte's move to West Ham. Southampton's Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, left, and Leicester City's Wilfred Ndidi battle for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Southampton and Leicester City at St Mary's, Southampton, England, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017.(David Davies/PA via AP) Leicester's decline continued unchecked on the south coast as last year's defensive linchpins Robert Huth and Wes Morgan were exposed. Huth inadvertently laid on Southampton's second goal, his attempt at a headed clearance turning into a knock-down that let the lurking Rodriguez sneak in and finish with relish in the 39th minute. And a potential own goal from Morgan was ruled out due to a foul from Maya Yoshida. That reprieve hardly spared the visitors' blushes however, with Tadic scoring a penalty in the 86th after Morgan fouled Shane Long. Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri looks on during the English Premier League soccer match between Southampton and Leicester City at St Mary's, Southampton, England, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017.(David Davies/PA via AP) (File photo) China has lately witnessed an increase of so-called empty-nest youth, or young people who live alone, which experts believe is a cause for public concern. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that 12.45 percent of households were inhabited by one person in 2015. The figure in 2008 was 8.3 percent. Specifically, of this empty-nest population, solitary young residents are especially common, the Xinhua News Agency reported. The term empty-nest was originally applied to elderly people living alone after their children are grown and out of the house. A report on empty-nest youth found that this group tends to feel lonelier than their peers, and their personal lives are largely confined to their rented apartments. As they typically live far from work to save money on rent, these youth often spend hours commuting, leaving them exhausted in the evenings. Even so, this population chooses to live in big cities, as they are attracted to the opportunities in such metropolises. Meanwhile, empty-nest youth are more inclined to spend money on better food, high-quality clothes and digital products. Some 21 percent of the group have no savings or are slightly in debt, according to the report, which was conducted by Baidu Waimai and Wacai.com. The emergence of empty-nest youth is a result of imbalanced social and economic development between big cities and smaller towns. It is also a natural result of China's ongoing urbanization, Wang Yingmei, an associate professor of psychology at Sichuan University, told Xinhua. Still, experts warned that the growing size of this group could bring problems, affecting the population's psychology and marital aspirations. Some recommended that youth get in engaged in community activities. Illinois treasurer seeks payout of unclaimed life insurance PEORIA, Ill. (AP) A measure backed by Illinois' treasurer could help ensure that insurance companies have paid out money properly to beneficiaries of life insurance policies. The proposed legislation would require companies to examine the past 20 years of their records to ensure that money was distributed properly, the (Peoria) Journal Star (http://bit.ly/2j3XNo6) reported. State Treasurer Michael Frerichs said the measure is important for individuals who don't know they have funds owed to them. "We think there are tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars more that should be paid out to the loved ones, the heirs or beneficiaries, of Illinois life insurance holders," Frerichs said. Frerichs' office has been working with about 20 of the largest companies that sell such policies in Illinois. So far, there has been about $500 million found in unpaid life insurance benefits. Not all such companies cooperated with the efforts of the treasurer's office. Some of the insurance businesses weren't responsive, and others told the office they didn't want to participate. Peoria County Board Chairman Andrew Rand said the proposed legislation is common sense. "It seems so self-evident that the one event that the policy protects and covers, the death, would be the one responsibility the insurer would have," he said. "Death is a certainty, and that's why the life insurance policy was created." The proposed legislation is also backed by the NAACP, AARP, the activist group Citizen Action and the Illinois Funeral Directors Association. ___ Massachusetts Congressman Joe Kennedy said Democrat party leaders should listen to voters' economic concerns He's heir to a famed political family that traces its roots back to Boston's bare-knuckled campaigns when Democratic ward bosses kept a close ear to the city's narrow streets and tenement hallways. Massachusetts Congressman Joe Kennedy says contemporary party leaders could take a page from that history by listening harder to the economic worries of Democratic voters who bolted the party in November. It's not always an easy message for Democrats still reeling from Donald Trump's win to hear, especially in a state that handed Hillary Clinton a 27-point margin. But Kennedy said Democrats have little choice. 'There was a message sent on this Election Day where many voters that had traditionally come back home to the Democratic Party didn't,' Kennedy told The Associated Press. 'I think not taking the time to ask the question why, to listen to their response, and to try to understand why we lost some folks that had been in support of Democratic candidates and the Democratic Party for so long is folly.' In an interview Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017, with The Associated Press, Kennedy said his fellow Democrats have to listen harder to those core party voters who failed to come home in the November 2016 election Congressman Joe Kennedy says Democrats should focus more on voters' economic concerns Kennedy said Democrats can do that while also sticking to their progressive roots, including standing up for 'people that feel marginalized and voiceless.' 'We've got a proud history of that and we should never back away from that,' he said. 'You can do that while also recognizing there are an awful lot of people in our country hurting and that we have to do a better job addressing the economic needs of working class and middle class voters.' Kennedy the grandson of Attorney General Robert Kennedy and grandnephew of President John F. Kennedy said he's willing to work with Republicans, emulating the political deal-making his great-uncle, Sen. Edward Kennedy, used to build coalitions across party lines. Kennedy said there are few other options for a member of a minority party in an institution where bills need Republican support to pass. 'You've got to fight, but you've got to also try to move an agenda forward,' he said. 'If you're just out there screaming and yelling, there are people out there who need help and need help now and they deserve progress, too.' Kennedy spoke at the Democratic National Convention in July. He believes Democrats can gain back the voters they lost next election Kennedy's pragmatism was also at the root of his decision to attend the Trump inauguration out of respect for the presidency, while dozens of other House Democrats refused. His more measured tone contrasts to others in the party like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has positioned herself as a top political foil to President Trump. Kennedy's 4th Congressional District is a microcosm of Massachusetts, encompassing communities like Newton where Trump got just 17 percent of the vote to Rehoboth, where Trump received 53 percent. One of the biggest political questions in Massachusetts politics is where Kennedy may be headed in the future. Some question push for tougher penalties for attacking cops JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) Gov. Eric Greitens is pushing to toughen Missouri's already stiff penalties for attacking a police officer, reflecting similar efforts underway in other states and pleasing many in Missouri's law enforcement community, which has been on the defensive since the police killing of an unarmed black 18-year-old in Ferguson more than two years ago. Whether such changes are needed is debatable among those who think they aren't is a fellow Republican lawmaker and legal expert who helped craft revisions of the state's criminal code that just took effect. "We can feel like we're doing a great thing and we're really solving the problem," said state Sen. Bob Dixon, a leader on criminal law and chair of the chamber's committee on criminal laws. "This does not solve that problem." FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2017, file photo, Missouri Gov.-elect Eric Greitens speaks in Jefferson City, Mo. The newly seated Governor is pushing to toughen Missouri's already stiff penalties for attacking a police officer, reflecting similar efforts underway in other states and pleasing many in Missouri's law enforcement community, which has been on the defensive since the police killing of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner File) Greitens, a former Rhodes Scholar and Navy SEAL officer who ran multiple campaign ads featuring him firing large guns, pledged during his first major policy speech to help pass "the toughest laws in the country for anyone who assaults a peace officer," even though Missouri already has harsher penalties for people who hurt cops or first responders. He also spoke about a "Ferguson effect," which allegedly has made officers more hesitant about performing their duties since the 2014 killing of Michael Brown due to a fear of being questioned later on. Brown's killing by a white Ferguson officer sparked months of protests and led to a Department of Justice investigation of the department. The officer wasn't charged. Lawmakers in more than a dozen other states and Congress have proposed making it a hate crime to assault an officer. Louisiana became the first state to enact such legislation in May, allowing prosecutors to seek stronger penalties when police, firefighters and emergency medical crews are intentionally targeted because of their professions. Almost every state, including Missouri, already has tougher penalties for assaults or other offenses against police, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. A Missouri conviction for second-degree assault, in which someone is seriously injured or a lethal weapon is used, currently carries a sentence of one day to seven years in prison or a fine. When the victim is a police officer, the penalty is five to 15 years. Legislation proposed by GOP state Sen. Doug Libla would double it to 10 to 30 years or life behind bars. Police deaths on the job have generally declined over the past four decades, from a recent high of 280 in 1974 to a low of 109 in 2013, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, which tracks officer deaths dating to the 18th century. But officer deaths have steadily risen since then, up to 136 in 2016. Those figures include attacks on police as well as accidental deaths such as car crashes. Those pushing for stiffer penalties say they could serve as a deterrent. They point to an attack in Dallas last July in which a military veteran killed five officers at a protest, in what was the deadliest day for American law enforcement since Sept. 11, 2001. Ten days later, a former Marine killed three Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police officers. Dixon, the Republican state senator, is skeptical about this argument. He said criminals who repeatedly break the law might take note of stricter punishments and be deterred by them, but that it probably wouldn't apply to cases of shootings of police. "The person who shoots a cop probably didn't look up the statutes to see what the penalty was," Dixon said. "It's a one-time deal." Thomas B. Harvey, co-founder and executive director of the St. Louis civil rights law firm ArchCity Defenders, said people who attack police already face tough prosecution and punishment in Missouri. He said the push by some politicians for even stiffer punishments amounts to "pandering to police officers and to a certain constituency," and that it's politically difficult to oppose such positions. "Those folks run huge risk of being characterized as anti-police and having anti-police bias," Harvey said. "It's a no-risk, high-reward type of legislation for people. ... I don't think it meaningfully increases protections for police officers, either." Dan Isom, a former St. Louis police chief and endowed professor of policing and community at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said such policies are about more than deterrence. "It's important for the morale of police officers too for the public to say we value what you do, we are supportive of what you do, we place value on protecting you and doing what we can from a policy standpoint to make sure that you are protected in the work that you do," Isom said. He later added: "Just because some people violate it doesn't mean we shouldn't make it stringent, make it a priority and hold people accountable for what they do." ___ This story has been corrected by deleting a reference to the five Dallas officers who were killed in an attack last year being white. One of them, Officer Patrick Zamarripa, was Hispanic. ___ Charge dropped against man who burned flag at RNC in Ohio CLEVELAND (AP) The man whose case led to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the burning of the American flag being protected by free speech no longer faces a charge over another flag-burning at last summer's Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Cleveland.com reports (http://bit.ly/2iTxPQS ) court filings show prosecutors last week dropped the misdemeanor assault charge against Gregory "Joey" Johnson. A city spokesman didn't immediately return messages seeking comment. The 60-year-old San Francisco man was arrested after he set an American flag on fire during a July 20 protest near an RNC security entrance. Johnson's attorney says the charges were politically motivated. Johnson's torching of a flag at a GOP convention three decades ago led to the landmark 1989 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said flag-burning is protected by the First Amendment. ___ NY governor seeks $2B to fix some of nation's oldest pipes ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants $2 billion to address some of the nation's oldest water and sewer systems and while that sounds like a lot of money, it's a drop in the bucket of what the state's experts say is truly required. They say it would actually cost $80 billion in the coming years to replace crumbling water mains, modernize sewer systems and remove lead pipes. Many of the state's water systems began wearing out long ago. The Erie County Water Authority had 1,453 water main breaks in 2015. There were nearly 400 the same year in Syracuse, where local officials calculated last year that they'll need $726 million to fix 550 miles of pipe. In New York City, an estimated 20 percent of the treated water that enters municipal pipes leaks out before it makes it to a faucet. FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2016 file photo, the Hoosic River runs through the village of Hoosick Falls, N.Y. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has a plan to spend $2 billion to address water contamination and the state's aging, leaky pipes as well as fund efforts to clean up toxic contaminants like the industrial chemical PFOA that tainted the tap water of the upstate village. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File) "It's becoming more and more of a problem," Cuomo said when he announced the $2 billion proposal. "The time to address it is now." One of the reasons why the state's pipes have gotten so bad is many people don't think about the need for maintenance until a pipe bursts, a river is contaminated by sewage or a toxin is found in tap water. And funding for water systems has repeatedly lost out to other pressing needs like rising education and health care costs. This past year, however, water quality became front-page news when the industrial chemical PFOA was found to have tainted the tap water of the upstate village of Hoosick Falls. Across the nation, the Environmental Protection Agency pegs the total cost of maintaining, replacing, upgrading and expanding the nation's sewer and drinking water systems at $1 trillion over 20 years. "This is often not considered a hot-button issue. We simply just expect that our water is there and clean when we turn on the faucet," said Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a Long Island Democrat. Long Island is the site of one of the state's most challenging water quality problems, caused by chemicals used in aviation manufacturing that seeped into the groundwater. A recent state report determined it could cost up to $587 million and take up to 100 years to fully clean up the problem, which affects the drinking water used by 250,000 people. Environmental advocates praised the Democratic Cuomo for including the $2 billion in the budget proposal he unveiled Tuesday. Adrienne Esposito, executive director for the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, said the money, if approved by lawmakers, would be a "game changer." "With sewage overflows fouling our waterways and toxic chemicals making drinking water supplies unsafe to drink, the time has come to make a significant investment," she said. The $2 billion would be spent over five years. It would come on top of $200 million for water projects approved by lawmakers last year. Hearings on Cuomo's budget proposal are planned with a vote expected before April 1. While many of the proposals in Cuomo's budget face challenges with lawmakers his call to make state college tuition free for middle-class students being one notable example the water funding is already winning supporters in both parties. That pleases advocates who have been pushing for significant funding for years. "We've come a long way," said Liz Moran, of the group Environmental Advocates of New York. "But it still falls short." FILE- In this Jan. 15, 2016 file photo, members of a repair crew work around a hole in the middle of Fifth Avenue caused by a broken water main in New York. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has a plan to spend $2 billion to address water contamination and the state's aging, leaky pipes. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) Little is known on status of US student held in North Korea CINCINNATI (AP) There's been little public word about what has happened to an American college student detained in North Korea, as a new administration takes over one year later amid deep U.S. concerns about the hostile country's nuclear and missile development. North Korea announced last Jan. 22 it had detained Otto Warmbier, a 21-year-old University of Virginia student from suburban Cincinnati, earlier that month for alleged anti-state crime. Warmbier, who had visited North Korea with a tour group, was sentenced in March to 15 years in prison at hard labor after a televised tearful public confession to trying to steal a propaganda banner. Such North Korean detentions of U.S. citizens for offenses that might seem minor to outsiders Warmbier said he wanted to take the banner home for a woman in Ohio who wanted to hang it in her church are seen in Washington as having political motives, and Warmbier's has come during a time of worsening tensions. FILE - In this March 16, 2016, file photo, American student Otto Warmbier, center, is escorted at the Supreme Court in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea announced Warmbier's detention Jan. 22, 2016, and the University of Virginia student from suburban Cincinnati was sentenced in March 2016 to 15 years in prison at hard labor after a televised confession that he tried to steal a propaganda banner. As President Donald Trump's administration takes office one year later, there's been little public word about what has happened to Warmbier. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin, File) The State Department calls the sentence "unduly harsh," and spokesman John Kirby said in a statement last week in response to an Associated Press query that the department continues to work for Warmbier's "earliest possible release." Noting that he has gone through North Korea's criminal process and been detained more than year, he said: "We continue to urge the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of North Korea) to pardon him and grant him special amnesty and immediate release on humanitarian grounds." Another U.S. tourist from Ohio, Jeffrey Fowle, was arrested in 2014 for leaving a Bible in a nightclub and was freed after six months. Already at odds over its nuclear tests and missile launches, North Korea in July called new U.S. sanctions aimed directly at Kim Jong Un and other top leaders for human rights abuses the equivalent of declaring war, and diplomats inquiring about Warmbier and a Korean-American also being held have been told they were being treated under "wartime law." It's not clear what that means, although it could imply tougher treatment. The United States doesn't have diplomatic relations with North Korea. North Korea has refused repeated Associated Press requests in Pyongyang to speak with Warmbier. The Warmbier family and people in contact with them have been cautious about commenting on the sensitive situation. A spokeswoman for Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich said he continues to be "very concerned" about Warmbier and discussed him during a White House visit in late 2016. The spokeswoman, Emmalee Kalmbach, said Kasich has encouraged U.S. authorities to keep the Warmbier family informed. Warmbier's parents said after his public confession last February that they hadn't been able to communicate with him, and his father, Fred, expressed hope his son's "sincere apology" would persuade North Korea to allow him to come home. The statement was released through the University of Virginia. Although there has been scant news on Warmbier since his sentencing, his situation could re-emerge as Donald Trump's administration begins dealing with North Korea. He has said he will push China to exert its influence on North Korea to bring it into line, but Trump also said during his presidential campaign that he would be willing to meet with Kim Jong Un. There's little doubt North Korea would like to use Warmbier to get a U.S. president to travel to "kowtow and ask for him back," said Boston University Professor Emeritus Walter Clemens, whose extensive writings on North Korea include two books. But there's always the hope that such a meeting could open a way to improving current tensions, he said. "It's obviously very terrible for the family and for Mr. Warmbier," said Clemens, a Cincinnati native. "But he could conceivably be the bridge for establishing a rapprochement between the United States and North Korea." University spokesman Anthony P. de Bruyn said he wasn't aware of any recent family statements, adding that he's not a spokesman for them. "The university continues to closely follow the unfortunate situation involving Otto Warmbier and remains in regular contact with the Warmbier family," he said by email. U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, of the Cincinnati area, said: "I continue to stay in close touch with the family as well as the administration, and hope that Otto will be released soon." ___ Associated Press writers Matthew Pennington in Washington and Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul contributed to this report. Follow Dan Sewell at http://www.twitter.com/dansewell. For some of his other stories: http://bigstory.ap.org/content/dan-sewell Brenda Barnes, executive who quit to raise children, dies NAPERVILLE, Ill. (AP) Brenda Barnes, whose decision to leave the top job at Pepsi-Cola set off a national debate about mothers in the workforce, has died at age 63. Erin Barnes says her mother died in Naperville, Illinois, on Tuesday from complications of a stroke. In 1997, the elder Barnes left her job as CEO of Pepsi-Cola North America to spend full time raising her children. She was both heralded and criticized for rejecting the role of the superwoman who could effortlessly balance family and work. As her children grew up and readied for college, Barnes returned to the corporate world, taking an executive position at Sara Lee Corp., the Downers Grove, Illinois-based food maker, in 2004. She became Sara Lee CEO in 2005. Police officer shot in the arm in Belfast in drive-by attack LONDON (AP) Northern Ireland officials say that a police officer has been shot in the arm in Belfast. The Police Service of Northern Ireland said Sunday night that the officer's injuries aren't life-threatening and he is being treated in a hospital. His condition is stable. The officer was shot in a drive-by attack at a gas station. Dissident Irish republicans have at times attacked security forces in the last decade, but there has been no claim of responsibility. The officer hasn't been identified and police didn't report any arrests. Police Federation for Northern Ireland chairman Mark Lindsay said the shooting is "a stark reminder of the determination on the part of terrorists to murder and maim police officers." This is the moment a matador was gored on the day that bullfighting returned to Colombia's capital for the first time in four years. Dramatic pictures show a huge bull trampling a man during the controversially reintroduced 'fiesta brava' in Bogota. The incident unfolded amid mass protests outside the bullright in which animal rights activists clashed with riot police and harassed spectators. Scroll down for video Pictures captued the moment a matador was gored on the day that bullfighting returned to Colombia's capital for the first time in four years Dramatic pictures show a huge bull trampling a man during the controversially reintroduced 'fiesta brava' in Bogota The incident unfolded amid mass protests outside the bullright in which animal rights activists clashed with riot police and harassed spectators Police had to fire tear gas to control the protesters, many of whom shouted 'murderers' and 'torturers' while spitting and sometimes coming to blows with spectators nervously making their way to Bogota's 1930s-era brick bullring. There were several arrests as tensions ran high in what at times seemed a reflection of deep social divisions between wealthy, well-dressed spectators who had expected a booze-filled, fun afternoon and a crowd of mostly young, angry protesters screaming obscenities at all who passed before them. 'Everyone you see going are old, conservative elites,' said David Saitru, a 17-year-old protester dressed in black to mourn what he considered the barbaric killing of the bulls. 'My generation thinks differently. We're not prepared to see an animal suffer.' Animal defense activists challenge police ahead of a bullfight, the first such events in four years, outside the Santamaria bullring in Bogota A woman aids a man injured during clashes between animal rights activists and police ahead of a bullfight in Bogota There were several arrests as tensions ran high in what at times seemed a reflection of deep social divisions between wealthy, well-dressed spectators who had expected a booze-filled, fun afternoon and a crowd of mostly young, angry protesters screaming obscenities at all who passed before them Police had to fire tear gas to control the protesters, many of whom shouted 'murderers' and 'torturers' while spitting and sometimes coming to blows with spectators nervously making their way to Bogota's 1930s-era brick bullring Bogota's previous leftist mayor outlawed bullfighting in 2012. But the constitutional court later overturned the ban, ruling that it was part of Colombia's cultural heritage and couldn't be blocked. Mayor Enrique Penalosa says that while he sides with animal rights activists who consider the bulls' slow, agonizing death in front of an audience a barbaric throwback, he has no choice but to enforce the high court's ruling. This week he said he supports legislation working its way through congress to prevent state resources from financing bull fights and leaving it up to each district to decide whether they can take place. Bogota's previous leftist mayor outlawed bullfighting in 2012. But the constitutional court later overturned the ban, ruling that it was part of Colombia's cultural heritage and couldn't be blocked Mayor Enrique Penalosa says that while he sides with animal rights activists who consider the bulls' slow, agonizing death in front of an audience a barbaric throwback, he has no choice but to enforce the high court's ruling The eight countries where bullfighting still takes place are increasingly putting restrictions on the spectacle, in some cases stipulating the bulls be spared a violent death The eight countries where bullfighting still takes place are increasingly putting restrictions on the spectacle, in some cases stipulating the bulls be spared a violent death. In Ecuador, dozens of cities, including the capital Quito, voted to prohibit bullfighting in a 2011 nationwide referendum. A few states in Mexico have also banned the blood sport. In Spain, where the tradition began, the Constitutional Court reversed in October 2016 an earlier ban on bullfighting in Catalonia passed by the regional parliament. Some promoters are working toward holding the first bullfighting in Barcelona, probably in March. Bogota's bullring received a major cleanup ahead of Sunday's reopening and organizers say that one of the biggest beneficiaries of this season's six scheduled bullfights is Bogota itself and that for every dollar in profit about a third goes to the city government. 'We had a fight for freedom and the right to work, which are pillars of our democracy,' Felipe Negret, head of Bogota's Bullfighting Corporation, told El Tiempo newspaper. Every year, approximately 250,000 bulls are killed in bullfights worldwide, according to US-based Humane Society International. Police officers scuffle with animal defense activists before a bullfight, the first of such events in four years, outside the Santamaria bullring in Bogota Animal rights activists push a barrier toward police, ahead of the festival in Colombia Vettel Wins Nations Cup for Germany MIAMI (AP) After a disappointing showing on the first day of the Race of Champions, Sebastian Vettel bounced back in a big way. Vettel single-handedly won the Nations Cup for Germany, winning all eight of his races while beating United States NASCAR drivers and brothers Kurt and Kyle Busch in the final. "We didn't get to race against each other, so we still don't know who the better 'Busch' is," Kurt Busch said, "but we know Vettel can whack two Busches in one day." Vettel, a four-time Formula 1 world champion, was knocked out in the group stage in Saturday's individual event as Juan Pablo Montoya won the Champion of Champions. "The bigger trophy was there yesterday for grabs, but (I didn't win), so I wanted to make sure I didn't leave empty-handed," Vettel said. There were supposed to be 10 two-driver teams in the Nations Cup, but Pascal Wehrlein was unable to compete with Vettel after getting into a crash Saturday and being held out as a precautionary on doctor's advice, leaving Vettel to handle the responsibility of driving each race for Germany. "Maybe it helped after yesterday to take it a bit more serious," Vettel said. "I started off on the wrong foot, so the day was very short for me. Today, I just wanted to get some time on the track and it obviously worked out very well, but it would have been nicer to share it with Pascal." Vettel edged Montoya in the first semifinal race ending Montoya's run of winning nine consecutive races over two days. Kurt and Kyle Busch beat Team USA IndyCar drivers Alexander Rossi and Ryan Hunter-Reay in the semifinals. Kurt Busch slipped by Rossi in the deciding race. "It was an honor to go out there and race for the United States along with my little brother Kyle," Kurt Busch said. "To advance out of the group as the NASCAR group, we definitely wanted to do that ahead of the IndyCar guys and the Rally Car guys." It was a unique experience for the Busch brothers who race for different teams on the NASCAR circuit. "I had a super time, a lot of fun, to be teamed up with Kurt there, but also yesterday to beat some of these guys from around the world in all different kinds of cars was exciting for me," Kyle Busch said. Petter Solberg gave the World Team a win over America in the final race of a 10-race event to conclude the day. Solberg was aggressive on the track driving the RX Supercar Lite to beat Scott Speed. "Scott Speed came to me and said, 'I'm going to beat you,'" Solberg said. "I was thinking, 'OK, you can try.' So I was really focused and went out proper around the start. I felt really good and was really happy." The Polaris Slingshot SLR was involved in its second crash in as many days when Gabriel Glusman lost control on the final turn and bounced into two barriers before coming to a stop ending his day. The undated photo shows firearms seized by the police in Dalian of northeast China's Liaoning Province. [Photo: Dalian Evening News] The police in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province said they have arrested 27 suspects over illicit online trafficking of firearms. A total of 105 firearms, 147 components and over 1,200 rounds of ammunition have also been seized. According to news portal Chinanews.com, the criminal case was the largest in the city's history involving online trafficking of firearms. The police said the 27 suspects belonged to a criminal gang that covered 25 provinces and cities in China and that the network had illegally manufactured and traded firearms and ammunition through social media app Wechat. Further investigation is still underway. After mass turnout, can protests turn into political impact? DENVER (AP) Deb Szeman, a self-described "homebody," had never participated in a demonstration before hopping on an overnight bus from her home in Charlotte, North Carolina, to attend the women's march on Washington. She returned on another bus that pulled in at 4 a.m. Sunday, full of people buzzing about what might come next and quipping that they would see each other at the next march. "I wouldn't have spent 18 hours in Washington, D.C., and taken the bus for seven hours both ways if I didn't believe there was going to be a part two, and three and four and five," said Szeman, 25, who works at a nonprofit and joined the National Organization for Women after Trump won the White House. Protesters move along Constitution Avenue at the Women's March on Washington during the first full day of Donald Trump's presidency, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017 in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) "I feel like there's been an awakening," she said. More than a million people turned out Saturday to nationwide demonstrations opposing President Donald Trump's agenda, a forceful showing that raised liberals' hopes after the election denied them control of all branches of federal government. Now, the question is whether that energy can be sustained and turned into political impact. From marches against the Iraq War in 2003 to Occupy Wall Street, several big demonstrations have not directly translated into real-world results. In Wisconsin, for example, tens of thousands stormed the state Capitol in 2011 to protest Gov. Scott Walker's moves to weaken unions. Walker has since been re-elected. Trump also won the state in November as Republicans increased their hold on the statehouse, part of the GOP's domination of state-level elections in recent years. Organizers of Saturday's marches are promising 10 additional actions to take during the first 100 days of Trump's presidency. So far, the first and only is for supporters to write to their senators or representatives. Groups scrambled so fast to arrange the massive demonstrations in only a few weeks that they have had limited time to determine how to channel the energy into additional action. But, they promise, it's coming. "The left has really woken up and said, 'My gosh, we've been fighting the symbolic fight, but we haven't been fighting the institutional fight,'" said Yong Jung-Cho of the activist group All of Us, which organized protests at the inauguration as well as the women's march. There's still value in symbolism. Saturday's immense crowds ruffled the new president as his press secretary falsely contended that Trump had broken a record on inauguration attendance. Jamie Henn of the climate action group 350.org said that reaction is a hint on how to build the movement. "Size matters to this guy," Henn said. "It's like dealing with a schoolyard bully and some of us need to go back to middle school and revisit what that's like" as they think up new tactics. Saudi Garcia, a 24-year-old anthropology student at New York University, is a veteran of Black Lives Matter protests in New York. She rode to Washington with longtime, largely minority activists to block checkpoints to the inauguration. She was heartened to find herself in a very different crowd Saturday, which she described as largely white women, many of whom brought young children to the women's march. Garcia hopes those women stay involved in fighting Trump. "We need to be like the tea party was in 2009," Garcia said. "Those people were relentless showing up at town council meetings, everywhere." Stan A. Veuger of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, co-authored a study of how the nationwide demonstrations that launched the tea party movement led to increased conservative political clout. Higher attendance at individual demonstrations correlated with more conservative voting by congressional members and a greater share of Republican votes in the 2010 election, when the GOP won back the House, he said. But, Veuger cautioned, it wasn't automatic. The tea party activists also went home and volunteered in local organizations that helped change the electoral results. "Political protests can have an effect," he said. "But there's nothing guaranteed." One positive sign for the left, he added, was that the women's marches seemed to draw an older crowd not deeply rooted in demonstrating people who are more likely to volunteer, donate and vote. Beth Andre is one of them. Before the election, the 29-year-old who works in crisis services at a college had bought a ticket from her home in Austin, Texas, to Washington to watch what she thought would be Hillary Clinton's inauguration. After Trump won, she canceled the trip. She was heartbroken again when she realized that meant she could not attend the women's march. But a friend invited her to a meeting to plan a women's march in Austin instead. Andre has never been involved in a protest movement before. Still excited after Saturday's demonstration, she's planning to attend lobbying workshops by her local Democratic Party and is thinking of running for office. "We want to be able to harness that energy and anger that we have right now and turn it into something good," she said. A crowd fills Independence Avenue during the Women's March on Washington, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Crowds march up Church Street towards Romare Bearden Park during Saturday's Women's March on Charlotte, which drew at least 10,000 people according to CMPD. The mile-long march was scheduled to coincide with a national demonstration Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017, in Washington, D.C., the day after Donald Trump's inauguration as president. The march started at First Ward Park, traveled down Tryon Street to 4th St. to Church St. and ended at Romare Bearden Park. "The Women's March on Charlotte is a first step in uniting our communities and in empowering grassroots change," march organizers say on the march's website. "We will work peacefully to send a bold message to our elected leaders that women's rights are human rights." (Diedra Laird/The Charlotte Observer via AP) Protesters listen to a speaker as they fill the streets of downtown Los Angeles during the Women's March against President Donald Trump Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017. he march was held in in conjunction with with similar events taking place in Washington and around the nation following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) Demonstrators attend the Women's March on Washington near the White House on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017 in Washington. (AP Photo/Sait Serkan Gurbuz) New cars could be allowed to stay on Britains roads without an MOT for four years, the Government has proposed. Extending the period before the safety check is required from three years would save motorists more than 100 million, the Department for Transport (DfT) said. The policy, which would also apply to motorcycles, could come into effect next year subject to a public consultation. It is a legal requirement for vehicles to be roadworthy (Andrew Matthews/PA) It would bring Britain into line with Northern Ireland and many other European countries including France, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Denmark and Norway. The AA said the change would generally be supported by drivers, although the backing would not be overwhelming. In 1967 the MOT-free period was slashed from 10 to three years. The DfT believes the development of safer technology and improved manufacturing means new vehicles stay roadworthy for longer. A number of vehicle parts are checked during MOTs to ensure they meet legal standards (John Stillwell/PA) Its figures show that the annual number of three and four-year-old cars involved in accidents where a vehicle defect was a contributory factor has fallen by almost two-thirds, from 155 in 2006 to 57 in 2015. Transport Minister Andrew Jones said: We have some of the safest roads in the world and MOT tests play an important role in ensuring the standard of vehicles on our roads. New vehicles are much safer than they were 50 years ago and so it is only right we bring the MOT test up to date to help save motorists money where we can. Do you think the first MoT for new cars should be? Edmund King OBE (@AAPresident) January 22, 2017 Under existing laws, vehicles must undergo the test on the third anniversary of their registration and every 12 months if they are over three-years-old. More than 2.2 million cars each year take their first test, which costs a maximum of 54.85. Motorists can be fined up to 1,000 for driving a vehicle without a valid MOT. It is also a legal requirement that vehicles are roadworthy, regardless of whether they have passed an MOT. In November the AA commissioned a poll of more than 19,000 drivers to ask if they would be in favour of extending the period for new cars to have their first MOT from three years to four. Some 44% were in favour of such a move, while 26% were opposed and a third did not have a view either way. The mother of murdered soldier Lee Rigby said she was threatened with arrest unless she attended the appeal hearing of an internet troll who taunted her over his death. Lyn Rigby said her treatment by authorities was absurd and shocking after she was summoned to a court hearing where a graphic image from her sons murder featured as evidence. Mrs Rigby said she was left trembling from head to foot when a photo of Islamic extremist Michael Adebolajo, covered in her sons blood and brandishing a meat cleaver, was shown to the court. Lee Rigby was killed in 2013 (Family handout/PA) This has been one of the worst weeks since Lee died and it brought all the terrible emotions flooding back to me as if my son had been murdered all over again, she told the Sunday People. I believe in our justice system because it put Lees killers behind bars but I dont believe we should have been forced to court for this man. And to threaten us with prosecution if we didnt attend was just absurd and shocking as well as deeply upsetting. It suggests that my grieving family has somehow done something wrong. Conspiracy theorist Christopher Spivey, a grandfather from Rochford, Essex, was convicted of harassing the Rigby family and sending grossly offensive messages over social media in 2015. Christopher Spivey appealed his conviction (John Stillwell/PA) He had posted a series of comments on social media about the May 2013 killing in Woolwich, south east London including claiming the soldier had never existed and that the story of his murder was a conspiracy. The troll also published the familys home addresses and private photographs online and contacted the soldiers sister, Sarah McClure claiming her husband, Rob, also a soldier, and Fusilier Rigby were the same person. Spivey was eventually found guilty but avoided being sent to jail when a judge suspended his sentence. After maintaining his innocence he launched an appeal which was reportedly dismissed after a four-day hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court last week. The family was shown a photo of Islamic extremist Michael Adebolajo (Metropolitan Police/PA) Mrs Rigby questioned why she and her daughter were made to attend the hearing via videolink from Bury magistrates court after they submitted witness statements. Its horrific enough losing my son in such a violent way but to listen to this mans twisted drivel was just heaping more misery on me, she said. Dave Hines, founder of the National Victims Association, criticised her treatment and ministers for failing those affected by crime. I feel for Mrs Rigby and the horrendous ordeal she has had to go through. Its beyond comprehension, its completely outrageous and the public will be shocked. Families like this are let down by the system, he said. More than a million people joined rallies around the world to protest against Donald Trump on his first day as US president. In a global exclamation of defiance and solidarity, they sent him an emphatic message that they will not let his agenda go unchallenged. Marchers in Washington DC chanted: Welcome to your first day, we will not go away! Many of the women came wearing pink, pointy-eared pussyhats to mock the new president. Plenty of men joined in, too, contributing to surprising numbers everywhere from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles to Mexico City, Paris, Berlin, London, Prague and Sydney. President Trump, you made a big mistake. By trying to divide us up by race, religion, gender and nationality you actually brought us closer. pic.twitter.com/U7deCCTFx9 Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 21, 2017 The Washington rally alone attracted over 500,000 people according to city officials - apparently more than Mr Trumps inauguration drew on Friday. It was easily one of the biggest demonstrations in the citys history, and as night fell, not a single arrest was reported. We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war, actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd. Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack, and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. We are America, and we are here to stay. The Womens March on Washington appeared to accomplish the historic feat of drawing more people to protest against the inauguration than the ceremony itself attracted. The designated march route alongside the National Mall was impassable. Men joined women on the march (Ross D Franklin/AP) It far surpassed the 60,000 people who protested against the Vietnam War at Richard Nixons second inauguration in 1973. Before Saturday, that was thought to be the largest such demonstration in inaugural history. Christopher Geldart, Washingtons homeland security director, said the crowd exceeded the 500,000 that organisers told city officials to expect. Around the world, women brandished signs with slogans such as Women wont back down and Less fear more love They decried Mr Trumps stand on such issues as abortion, health care, diversity and climate change, and they branded him a sexist, a bully, a bigot and more. In New York, well over 100,000 marched past Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. More than 100,000 also gathered on Boston Common, and a similar number demonstrated in Los Angeles. Inaugur...what? President Trump must feel pretty small today.#WomensMarch pic.twitter.com/i2au0JcVq1 Nicholas Kitchel (@nicholaskitchel) January 21, 2017 More than 600 sister marches were planned worldwide. Crowd estimates from police and organisers around the globe added up to well over a million. Hillary Clinton, who lost to Mr Trump, thanked Saturdays participants. Thanks for standing, speaking & marching for our values @womensmarch. Important as ever. I truly believe we're always Stronger Together. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) January 21, 2017 The hand-knit pussyhats worn by many women served as a message of female empowerment, inspired by Mr Trumps crude boast about grabbing womens genitals. The marches were a magnet for A-list celebrities, unlike Mr Trumps inauguration, which had lacked top performers. Alicia Keys sang Girl On Fire for the Washington crowd, Madonna gave a passionate address to the gathering and Cher said Mr Trumps rise has people more frightened maybe than theyve ever been. Julia Roberts, Scarlett Johansson, Katy Perry, Emma Watson, Amy Schumer, Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal and feminist leader Gloria Steinem also among the A-list celebrities in attendance. Adam Hadwin became only the eighth player to break 60 on the PGA Tour as a stunning 59 gave the Canadian a one-shot lead at the CareerBuilder Challenge in California. Two of the eight rounds of 59 in PGA Tour history have now come in the last 10 days after Hadwin followed Justin Thomas effort in Hawaii last week with a 13-under-par total at LaQuinta CC. 59! Adam Hadwin becomes the eighth player in PGA TOUR history to shoot a 59. pic.twitter.com/RUi7KukWMQ PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 21, 2017 That moved the 29-year-old to 17 under and vaulted him 44 places up the leaderboard. Adam Hadwin (Chris Carlson/AP) American Dominic Bozzelli lies second on 16 under after a three-under 69 at the Nicklaus Tournament Course the first three rounds have been played over three different layouts with a 54-hole cut taking place ahead of Sundays final round at PGA West with halfway leader Hudson Swafford, Brian Harman, Bud Cauley and Chad Campbell a shot further back. Hadwin was in danger of missing the cut when he started his round on four under, but birdied six holes in a row from the second and threw in another on the ninth to turn in 29. How good is this? 29-30--59 A keeper, for sure. pic.twitter.com/Nd3gLn2mwu PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 22, 2017 Five successive gains from the 11th put Hadwin in sight of a sub-60 round, and when he holed from seven feet on the penultimate hole it looked as though he may even have a chance to match Jim Furyks PGA record low round of 58. However, he almost undid his good work by missing the green at the last, only to get up-and-down successfully to maintain a blemish-free card. I thought about it (breaking 60) on 11 walking off, Hadwin told pgatour.com. I walked up 17 and I said to my caddie Joe it looks like theres a lot more people than when we teed off today! I was shaking, I really was. I knew what was at stake and the last thing I wanted to do was miss a three-footer for 59. 59 and the 54-hole lead @cbgolfchallenge ... 1. Hadwin -17 2. Bozzelli -16 3. Swafford -15 3. Harman -15 3. Cauley -15 3. Campbell -15 pic.twitter.com/PCjZWaAqSF PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 22, 2017 (It was) perfect I guess, I got away with a few shots on the back nine and for whatever reason whenever I hit a putt it went in. Everybody talks about being in the zone and it being your day it was my day. Phil Mickelson had been in contention at the halfway stage but found water en route to a double bogey on the 18th as he shot 73 on the Stadium Course to lie eight shots back. SNP MPs at Westminster will absolutely vote against the triggering of Article 50, Scotlands Brexit minister Mike Russell has said. The Scottish Government minister said if the partys MPs voted in support of this they would be endorsing Theresa Mays vision of an isolationist Britain. The Prime Minister has made clear her intention to take the UK out of the single market when it leaves the European Union with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon warning in response this undoubtedly makes a second independence referendum more likely. Mike Russell Early for a Sunday trip on @Western_Ferries but en route to pre-record for @Sun_Pol_Scot pic.twitter.com/dkmab5x5hB Michael Russell (@Feorlean) January 22, 2017 Under the circumstances of a so-called hard Brexit, independence campaigners could make winning progress if another vote is held, Mr Russell added. Holyroods Minister for UK Negotiations on Scotlands Place in Europe insisted that in the present circumstances I dont think there is any possibility of the SNP MPs supporting the Article 50 Bill. He told the BBCs Sunday Politics Scotland that was because endorsing Article 50 is not just endorsing the vote in the United Kingdom and of course the vote in Scotland was very different its actually endorsing the type of position Theresa May has taken on the type of Brexit she wants, and thats endorsing the type of country she wants. Read more about our plan to protect Scotland's place in Europe here: https://t.co/MrU2tVxjd0 #bbcsp pic.twitter.com/xJeGVsYa2M The SNP (@theSNP) January 22, 2017 Mr Russell continued: She wants an isolationist country, she wants a country that is inward looking and she wants a country which is rejecting the benefits of migration. Thats not the country any of us want to see Scotland being and that is one of the strongest reasons for saying we reject it. In the 2016 referendum 62% of Scottish voters backed keeping the UK in the EU, with the Scottish Government having now put forward a paper setting out various options aimed at mitigating the impact of Brexit. Theresa May has told Natos chief she will emphasise the importance of the alliance when she meets President of the United States Donald Trump on Friday, Downing Street said. In a phone call with Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg, the Prime Minister also said it must evolve to deal with modern threats like terrorism and cyber warfare. It comes after a senior ally of Mr Trump said he will look at reforming and reshaping Nato. Ted Malloch, tipped to be the next US ambassador to the EU, suggested there would be more burden sharing in the military alliance, in the latest sign that Mr Trump will pressure Nato countries to increase their defence spending. After Mrs Mays phone call with Mr Stoltenberg on Sunday afternoon, a Number 10 spokesman said: They discussed the continued importance of the alliance as the bulwark of our defence, and agreed on the need for the alliance to continue to evolve to be able to effectively counter the biggest threats of the day, in particular terrorism and cyber attacks. The Prime Minister said she would be taking these messages to Washington later this week where she is expected to discuss Nato with President Trump. Mrs May has insisted Mr Trump remains committed to Nato, despite his previous description of it as obsolete. The president has also criticised other member states for failing to meet the defence spending target of 2% of GDP. His comments have sparked concerns about US commitment to Nato at a time of heightened Russian aggression. Mr Malloch, when asked about how the US would reassert its global role, told BBC1s Sunday Politics: I think that the institutions will be recreated. Some of them may be taken down, there may be some new ones. I think Nato itself and certainly the Defence Secretary will have discussions with Donald Trump about how Nato can be reformed and reshaped and maybe therell be more burden sharing. Thats an important thing for Mr Trump. How Ballistic Missile Defence works - a #NATO video animation pic.twitter.com/yni4uqudRg NATO (@NATO) January 22, 2017 Mr Malloch said the new president would be giving the government back to the people, which would reshape the countrys international relations. He added: It doesnt mean were moving out of Nato. It doesnt mean that were giving up any of the seats of power we have where all the treaties will be torn up, it simply means were going to put our interests, our national interests first. Theresa May on The Andrew Marr Show Speaking on BBC1s The Andrew Marr Show, Mrs May said: Ive spoken to him about Nato Nato is very important, Nato has been the bulwark of our security here in Europe and we work together in Nato. Weve both made the point before about contributions being made by countries, the United Kingdom is spending 2% of its GDP on defence, I believe thats important. Frances governing Socialist Party will choose between Benoit Hamon and ex-prime minister Manuel Valls for its presidential candidate after five other contenders were eliminated in the first-round of the partys primary contest on Sunday. Mr Valls, who quit as premier last month, qualified for next weekends decider but was trailing in early counting to Mr Hamon who performed well in debates leading up to the poll. Je continuerai a defendre la priorite donnee a la question sociale, a la conversion ecologique et au renouveau democratique. #PrimaireGauche pic.twitter.com/sVdOc7EqK1 Benoit Hamon (@benoithamon) January 22, 2017 Whoever wins next Sundays contest, however, will face an uphill task in trying to maintain occupancy of the Elysee Palace for the party with Frances current head of state Francois Hollande having decided not to seek a new mandate after a first term blighted by terror attacks that forced him to call a state of emergency. Current polling suggests the official Socialist candidate could come fifth in the first round of the presidential contest in April which whittles the field down to two contenders for the deciding round on May 7 where the victor claims the keys to the Elysee Palace. Mr Valls has found it hard to disassociate himself with the policies of Mr Hollande having been in charge of delivering them until a few weeks ago. Manuel Valls Early results put Mr Hamon on around 35% of the vote with Mr Valls close behind on 32%. The third-placed candidate in the field of seven, Arnaud Montebourg, was back on 18% and he, Vincent Peillon, Francois de Rugy, Sylvia Pinel, Jean Luc Bennahmias are now eliminated. Mr Montebourg, conceding defeat, immediately endorsed Mr Hamon for the second round. Between 1.5 million and two million votes were cast on Sunday, a lower turnout than the 2011 primaries which saw Mr Hollande emerge as the Socialist candidate against deeply unpopular centre-right incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, whom he defeated in 2012. That win saw the Socialists end 17 years of centre-right rule at the Elysee. Current polling suggests far right leader Marine Le Pen and the centre rights Francois Fillon will contest the presidency on May 7. Emmanuel Macron However, with former Socialist and now centrist Emmanuel Macron polling well in third place overall, closing in on Ms Le Pen and Mr Fillon, and leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon also outperforming the Socialists there could still be a left wing presence in the second round if enough voters coalesce behind one candidate in the first round on April 23. Mr Macron, 39, is proving popular with younger voters in the big cities although is yet to make an impact in the countryside where Mr Fillon, a 62-year-old married to Welshwoman Penny Clarke, has his core support. Polling suggests Mr Fillon, whose victory in the centre-right primaries shocked the pollsters, or Mr Macron would beat Ms Le Pen in the second round even if she wins the first round. Mr Hollande was in Chile visiting a solar project in the Atacama desert during Sundays voting. Wikileaks' founder Assange says stands by U.S. extradition offer LONDON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange, who has been holed up at Ecuador's London embassy since 2012, said on Thursday he stood by his offer to be extradited to the United States providing his rights were protected. Assange said last week he would accept extradition if former military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning were freed and on Wednesday U.S. President Barack Obama commuted Manning's 35-year sentence, meaning she will be released in May. "I stand by everything I said including the offer to go to the United States if Chelsea Manning's sentence was commuted," Assange said in a live online audio news conference. "It's not going to be commuted (until) May. We can have many discussions to that point." Obama said Manning, who was responsible for a 2010 leak of classified materials to Assange's anti-secrecy group, the biggest such breach in U.S. history, had served a tough prison term and that justice had been served. However, he denied that the commutation was granted because of Assange's offer. Manning, formerly known as U.S. Army Private First Class Bradley Manning, was born male but revealed after being convicted of espionage that she identifies as a woman. The White House said her sentence would end on May 17 this year. Asked by Reuters if he would hand now hand himself over to the authorities, Assange, 45, who fled to the Ecuadorean embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations of rape, said there was no change in his position. He said U.S. authorities should drop their case against him or unseal their charges against him. "We look forward to having a conversation with the DoJ (Department of Justice) about what the correct way forward is," he said. NEWSMAKER-Unpredictable Jammeh relinquishes generation-long grip on Gambia By Edward McAllister BANJUL, Jan 21 (Reuters) - He vowed to rule Gambia for "a billion years". But Yahya Jammeh, who ran the nation of 1.8 million for a generation after seizing power in 1994, was forced out by regional military forces this week after refusing to accept his defeat in a Dec. 1 election. True to his reputation as one of Africa's most unpredictable leaders, Jammeh defied deadlines to leave power but then said on Saturday he was stepping down as West African troops closed in. Jammeh denies allegations of torture and killing opponents while in power. But his rule and a flagging economy saw thousands flee across the Sahara and Mediterranean to Europe each year. Hours before Jammeh's announcement, new President Adama Barrow, who was sworn in in neighbouring Senegal last week, dared not believe that his opponent had finally given in. "We are skeptical because he is so unpredictable," Isatou Touray, a senior Barrow aide, told Reuters. The concerted way in which West African leaders rounded on Jammeh after his election defeat showed his isolation, which had worsened as his behaviour grew increasingly bizarre. He claimed to have a herbal cure for AIDS that only worked on Thursdays and advocated slitting the throats of homosexuals. In 2009, he arrested hundreds of people for witchcraft. CHARM AND TORTURE In his earlier years, Jammeh showed glimpses of charm and generosity. When celebrating his 48th birthday in Banjul in May 2013 he saw a street hawker selling peanuts with a child strapped to her back. Without hesitating, he sent an aide over with a gift: $1,000 in cash, double the average annual wage. "He could change a life in minutes," said his former press secretary, Fatou Camara, who witnessed the incident. "When you are close to him, it is impossible to believe the killings." Over time, such incidents became rarer as paranoia set in and Gambia morphed into a repressive police state. That showed itself as he reversed course over his election defeat. "I am not a coward. My right cannot be intimidated and violated. This is my position. Nobody can deprive me of that victory except the Almighty Allah," he said on Dec. 21 as the diplomatic offensive against him gathered steam. When Jammeh deposed the regime of Dawda Jawara, who had ruled since independence from Britain in 1965, he was welcomed as a fresh start, a quiet man with little education who grew tomatoes and lettuce on his farm. Friends and victims alike say he changed after a coup attempt by a vanguard of the military in 2006. "He could be very jovial and kind and then lose his temper like a mad dog," said Momodou Sowe, 36, an aide to Jammeh between 2003 to 2012. Musa Saidykhan, then editor-in-chief of The Independent newspaper, was arrested shortly after the coup. His paper had reported Jammeh understated the number of people rounded up. Saidykhan was taken to the National Intelligence Agency, next to one of Banjul's white sand beaches. There, in a room Gambians nicknamed the "Crocodile Hole", agents electrocuted his genitals, beat him with batons, suffocated him with a plastic bag and broke his right hand. "They said I write with my right hand and that is what is causing the trouble," he told Reuters. Saidykhan left Gambia after his 22-day ordeal and is now a social worker in the United States. As the economy struggled from lack of investment, Gambians became bolder, expressing dissent even after dozens were arrested for protesting in April and May last year. (Xinhua) 13:28, January 22, 2017 The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is an agreement of unprecedented scope and ambition, which the Australian government will continue to advocate strongly, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Steven Ciobo said on Sunday. "TPP promises new export opportunities for our farmers, services suppliers and goods exporters. It promises to support the growth of trade in our region, contributing to economic growth and new jobs," Ciobo said. "(U.S.) President (Donald) Trump's decision not to ratify the TPP at this time is disappointing, although not unexpected," he said, referring to the White House's statement soon after Trump's inauguration that its trade strategy to protect American jobs will start with withdrawal from the 12-nation trade pact. "The TPP is too important as a driver of the creation of more Australian jobs not to do all we can to see the agreement enter into force," Ciobo said. "The Turnbull government does not shy away from standing up for what is in our national interest - continuing our strong advocacy on the benefits of the TPP is no different." Ciobo said he had taken time to talk with his TPP counterparts on ways to lock in the benefits from the TPP, without the United States if need be. "This week at the World Economic Forum I met with Japan, Canada, Mexico, Singapore, New Zealand and Malaysia to discuss alternatives." "The shape this takes will be the subject of discussion over coming months. A number of options are available to us and there is a strong desire to ensure the benefits of the TPP are not lost." He also indicated that the Australian government would like the parliament to ratify TPP, sending the strongest message on the importance of the TPP and called on the opposition to support. "It would be a clear statement from the Australian Parliament that we reject protectionism and that open markets are the path to long-term sustainable job creation." Mexico's president to meet with Trump amid populist pressure at home By Michael O'Boyle IXMIQUILPAN, MEXICO, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U.S. President Donald Trump will meet at the end of this month to discuss trade, immigration and security issues, as the Latin American leader faces increased populist pressure at home. Trump's spokesman Sean Spicer told a news conference on Saturday that the two leaders will meet on Jan. 31, the week after senior officials of both administrations hold bilateral talks in Washington. Trump is committed to renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and would move to withdraw if no "fair deal" is forthcoming, according to the White House website. Pena Nieto, whose popularity has plummeted due to corruption scandals and rising inflation, has been criticized for lacking a clear strategy to counter Trump's threats to crimp trade and deport illegal immigrants. Seeking to capitalize on that discontent, Mexican 2018 presidential forerunner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Saturday said he would tour major U.S. cities starting in February. "Enough of being passive," Lopez Obrador of the leftist Moreno party said in a statement. "We should put a national emergency plan in place to face the damage and reverse the protectionist policies of Donald Trump." Lopez Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor mounting his third presidential bid, said at a rally in the border city of Ciudad Acuna that he would "stop the hate promoted by propaganda against migrants." Many in Mexico are worried about another Trump promise, that he will make Mexico pay for a border wall, possibly by blocking wire transfers out of the United States from Mexican nationals. "We shouldn't pay for the wall," said Christina Validez, waiting to pick up a wire transfer from her husband in the United States at a bank in Ixmiquilpan. "It's the other way around, all United States presidents should be grateful that all the migrants have helped the economy." The area around Ixmiquilpan, in the central state of Hidalgo and home to some 94,000 people, received about $100 million in foreign remittances in 2015, according to data from Mexico's central bank, more than 10 times the municipal government's annual budget. Validez said she depends on the money sent back to make ends meet and she complained about "everything" becoming more expensive after the government hiked regular gasoline prices by 14 percent at the start of the year. Looting and violent protests followed the gasoline hike around the country. Two people died in Ixmiquilpan in clashes with state and federal police after protesters blockaded a highway and burnt vehicles. On Saturday, Mexicans, many with relatives in the United States, queued for hours outside a bank located in an appliance store in Ixmiquilpan's town center. The store had cut back hours, opening only briefly, to process wire transfers and payments after protesters angry about the gasoline hike forced the closure of stores owned by big corporations, demanding support of local businesses. Stores in the town owned by Wal-Mart and convenience store operator Femsa were forced to close and were still shuttered two weeks later. On Friday, people gathered outside a Ford Motor Co showroom in the capital to protest the company's cancellation of a $1.6 billion investment in an auto plant in Mexico after months of pressure from Trump. During his U.S. tour, Lopez Obrador, who finished second to Pena Nieto in the 2012 presidential vote, plans to meet people of Mexican origin living in major cities, starting Feb. 12 in Los Angeles, then to Chicago, Phoenix and others. Pena Nieto said earlier on Saturday that he highlighted the importance of the U.S.-Mexico relationship on a call with Trump. "We don't know if the government is defending us, if it's with us or not," said Margarita Escamilla, a legal resident in the United States from Ixmiquilpan visiting family. Trump to meet with British Prime Minister May next week - White House WASHINGTON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is set to meet next week with British Prime Minister Theresa May and has talked about meeting Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Jan. 31, White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters on Saturday. The date of May's visit was not immediately clear in the brief statement from Spicer. Trump plans to meet with UK's May, Mexico's Pena Nieto -White House By Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is arranging to meet soon with British Prime Minister Theresa May and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, two long-standing U.S. allies concerned about how his presidency will affect their relationships with Washington. Trump will meet on Friday with May in Washington, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Saturday. The meeting will be an opportunity for May, who initially struggled to build relations with Trump's transition team, to discuss what has long been termed the "special relationship" between the two nations, a central pillar of Britain's foreign policy. Trump, who endorsed the British vote to leave the European Union and is friends with May critic Nigel Farage, has said he wants to arrange a swift bilateral trade deal with the United Kingdom. May's office declined comment. Trade will also be part of the agenda for Trump's meeting with Pena Nieto along with immigration and security, Spicer told reporters. The leaders spoke by phone on Saturday and discussed meeting on Jan. 31, he said. Trump has said he wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, signed in 1994 with Canada and Mexico, in order to improve terms for U.S. workers. China party paper says no "provocation" can stop its military drills BEIJING, Jan 22 (Reuters) - China's military will carry out drills regardless of foreign provocations and pressure, the Communist Party's paper said on Sunday, adding that exercises far out at sea like those conducted recently by its sole aircraft carrier will become normal. China caused unease among some countries in the region last month when the carrier the Liaoning, accompanied by several warships, cruised around self-ruled Taiwan and into the Pacific for what China called routine drills. Earlier this month, Taiwan scrambled fighter jets and navy ships as the Liaoning then passed through the narrow waterway separating China from the island Beijing claims as its own. For its part, China was alarmed this month when U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state Rex Tillerson said China should be denied access to islands it has built in the contested South China Sea. The People's Daily said no amount of "word bombs", such as Tillerson's South China Sea remarks, could stop China's military drills. "These provocations, pressure, fantasies and over-exaggerations will not prevent the normal drills of the Chinese military," the paper said in a commentary. "The meddling and disruption of countries from outside the region can only run counter to the consensus of common interests that accords with this region and the world," it added. "Henceforth, the Chinese military's exercises far out at sea will become a kind of normal, extremely normal drills," the paper said. China has invested billions of dollars in an ambitious military modernisation programme, especially its navy. The Chinese navy has been exercising in waters far from home more often as it seeks to hone its operational abilities, and it has joined international anti-piracy patrols off the coast of Somalia. In 2015, five Chinese ships carried out exercises in international waters in the Bering Sea off the U.S. state of Alaska. China says it has a legitimate need to develop its "blue water" naval capabilities to protect the trade lanes on which the country's economy depends, to defend the interests of its citizens overseas and uphold its global obligations. Vietnam police arrest dissident for propaganda against state HANOI, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Police in Vietnam arrested a dissident on Saturday for posting anti-state material on the internet, as part of an ongoing crackdown on critics of the Southeast Asian country's Communist rulers. Tran Thi Nga, 39, was arrested in northern province Ha Nam, the province's police said on their website, adding that she had been "using the internet to spread some propaganda videos and writings that are against the government of the Social Republic of Vietnam." Several local dissidents and bloggers showed support for Nga in posts on their Facebook accounts after her arrest. Despite sweeping reforms to its economy and increasing openness toward social change, including gay, lesbian and transgender rights, Vietnam's ruling Communist Party retains tight media censorship and zero tolerance for criticism. At the end of 2015, there were at least 130 political prisoners in Vietnam, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch. China sets up $14.6 bln internet investment fund - Xinhua By Dominique Patton BEIJING, Jan 22 (Reuters) - China has set up a 100 billion yuan ($14.55 billion) fund to support investment in the internet sector, said official news agency Xinhua on Sunday. The fund, backed by China's cabinet, is designed to help turn China into a major player in internet technology, said the report. An initial 30 billion yuan has already been raised from major banks and telecoms firms including ICBC, China Mobile and China Unicom. Up to 150 billion yuan in credit will be available to companies that have been invested by the fund, Xinhua said. Syrian army and allies take village from Islamic State BEIRUT, Jan 22 (Reuters) - The Syrian army and its allies on Sunday drove Islamic State from the village of Soran, east of Aleppo, state media and a military media unit run by Hezbollah reported, bringing them closer to territory held by Turkey-backed rebels. Several overlapping conflicts are being fought in Syria, dragging in regional and global powers as well as the government and local groups, complicating the battlefield in the north of the country and raising the risk of an escalation in the war. The main struggle in Syria's civil war is between President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Iran, Russia and Shi'ite militias including the Lebanese Hezbollah, against rebels that include groups backed by Turkey, Gulf monarchies and the United States. However, both those sides, as well as a separate group of Kurdish-led militias, are also fighting against Islamic State and retaking territory which the jihadist group controls in northern Syria. The village of Soran is located 16km (10 miles) southwest of al-Bab, which rebels supported by Turkish jets, armour and special forces are attempting to capture from Islamic State after reaching its outskirts a month ago. Although Turkey has long been one of the biggest supporters of anti-Assad rebels, its entry into Syria last summer was aimed at pushing Islamic State from its border and at stopping Kurdish groups linking two enclaves they control along the frontier. After rebels lost their pocket of territory in Aleppo in December, Turkey and Assad's main supporter Russia brokered a ceasefire and peace talks in Syria between the government and insurgents. Israel's Netanyahu to speak with Trump on Sunday, Iran on agenda JERUSALEM, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he would later in the day hold his first conversation with Donald Trump since his inauguration as U.S. president. Syrian army nears Turkey-backed rebels in new advance BEIRUT, Jan 22 (Reuters) - The Syrian army and its allies on Sunday drove Islamic State from several villages east of Aleppo, a military media unit run by Hezbollah and a war monitor reported, bringing them closer to territory held by Turkey-backed rebels. Several overlapping conflicts are being fought in Syria, dragging in regional and global powers as well as the government and local groups, complicating the battlefield in the north of the country and raising the risk of an escalation in the war. The main struggle in Syria's civil war is between President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Iran, Russia and Shi'ite militias including the Lebanese Hezbollah, against rebels that include groups backed by Turkey, Gulf monarchies and the United States. However, both those sides, as well as a separate group of Kurdish-led militias, are also fighting against Islamic State and retaking territory which the jihadist group controls in northern Syria. The army and its allies captured the villages of Sora, Moran, Surja al-Saghira and Surja al-Kabira, located about 16km (10 miles) southwest of al-Bab and roughly the same distance east of Aleppo. Rebels supported by Turkish jets, armour and special forces are attempting to capture al-Bab from Islamic State after reaching its northern outskirts a month ago. Although Turkey has long been one of the biggest supporters of anti-Assad rebels, its entry into Syria last summer was aimed at pushing Islamic State from its border and at stopping Kurdish groups linking two enclaves they control along the frontier. After rebels lost their pocket of territory in Aleppo in December, Turkey and Assad's main supporter Russia brokered a ceasefire and peace talks in Syria between the government and insurgents. Death toll at Italian hotel hit by avalanche rises to six, 23 still missing PENNE, Italy, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Italian rescue workers have found the dead body of a man in the wreckage of the hotel in central Italy that was buried in an avalanche last week, the Italian fire service said on Sunday, with 23 people were still missing as the search operation continues. "At Hotel Rigopiano, at 1645 CET, the fire brigade located the dead body of one of the missing people," the fire service said in a Tweet. The death toll stands at six, with 23 people still missing, Paolo Molinari from the Civil Protection agency said. Nine people, including four children, were pulled alive from the piles of rubble and snow on Saturday. The luxury Hotel Rigopiano, located at the foot of a mountain chain in the central Italian region of Abruzzo, was hit on Wednesday by an avalanche caused by an earthquake. An earlier statement from the national fire service said the number of people missing had risen to 24 after a rescued person said that a hotel employee, of Senegalese origin, was inside the building at the moment of the avalanche. "Operations continue, both inside and outside the hotel, there is no change in the numbers (of saved and dead people)," fire brigade spokesman Luca Cari said later. An official from the national protection agency told reporters that efforts were being made to find alternative routes into the hotel. Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Sunday his government would work to find ways to give the national bodies involved in emergency and reconstruction operations more power. "We must be faster, and to do so we have to give more effective powers," he said in an interview on state television RAI, adding that these operations could not be dragged down by bureaucracy. He said the government had to find a way to fight against delays and corruption. EATING SNOW Survivors said they ate snow, some dirty, to quench their thirst as they spent days in the dark, trapped in narrow corners of the hotel's rooms after walls and ceilings had collapsed. Nine of the 11 survivors are still hospitalised in the nearby city of Pescara, with some of them expected to leave hospital as soon as Monday. Some rescue workers said they did not rule out finding more survivors, almost four days after the disaster. Emanuele Cherubini, a helicopter paramedic, told Reuters that the hotel "is full of places to shelter in ... so if someone had the good fortune to find one of those places with an air pocket..." He said saving three children was a very moving experience. Major Marco Amoriello said rescue efforts were continuing, despite the difficult weather conditions and forecasts which were "not looking good". "We certainly won't be stopping because of that," Amoriello said. Around 120,000 tonnes of snow, the equivalent of about 4,000 lorries, covered much of what was left of the hotel, a rescue official told Sky TG24 TV. "Thank you for being close, and for the real help you are bringing," said Pope Francis on Sunday at his weekly Angelus audience, referring to those involved in the rescue and relief operations and asking people to pray for them and the families of the victims. Mu Anhu's mother welcomes her son at home on Jan. 18. Mou Anhu and his wife, Li Fang, are both migrant workers from Guizhou province. Now, however, both have made the decision to stop working far away from home, primarily because of their 4-year-old son. The boy is already shy in front of his parents, as he so rarely has the opportunity to see them. It took the couple 44 hours to travel the 1,400 kilometers from Guangdong province to their hometown on Jan. 18. Despite the cold temperatures, bad road conditions and mechanical issues with their motorcycle, they were steadfastly undeterred. "I felt like I was dancing as the motorcycle rolled down the bumpy road," Li joked. Mou was less upbeat, as delays caused him to miss his best friend's wedding. Mou wants to learn some new skills and start to earn a living through animal husbandry. Mu Anhu and his son "My son is due to start kindergarten, but he is often shy and uncomfortable. We want more time with him, as he has been taken care of by my elderly mother for the past four years," he explained. Ven. Maduluwave Sobitha Thera on Common Candidate: Yes, I am ready to stand as a Single-Issue presidential candidate, I will serve for six months only within which time I will abolish the Executive Presidency and institute a parliamentary system by constitutional methods. The roots of bribery, corruption, nepotism and bad governance lie in Executive Presidency, [Translated extract from Thinakkural, Feb. 2-2014] A wide spectrum representing civil and political society politicians, religious dignitaries, academics, artists, professionals, media persons, trade unionists, civil society activists and students- voted for the Common Candidate on one main issue, namely, the abolition of the executive presidency based on appeals by Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha thero of National Movement for Social Justice (NMSJ), who sought a return to parliamentary form of government. Horata Pera Muttiya a trial balloon? At the end of his second term in end 1988, JR was toying with the idea of using his 5/6 in a third attempt; he used two of his lieutenants to go public demanding the boss to consider their earnest request, but was compelled to drop the idea considering negative intelligent reports based on 88/89 terror period which marked killings of civilians, destruction of national assets and unspeakable atrocities committed against humanity - in one of nations darkest phases . The people identified not only the muttiya, but the hand that pushed it. CBK, sans a 2/3 majority had a desire in mid 2004, of extending her term as an executive prime minister with or without a referendum in early 2005. Tsunami, the immense natural disaster that killed over 30,000 people and displaced nearly 500,000, created a deep psychological impact. P-TOMS followed destroying her ambitious schemes. Mahinda, who was brimming with confidence was successful in pushing through the legislature the necessary amendments but the voter had other ideas. The SLFP, in a recent move is toying with the idea of making President Sirisena contest in 2020. Some senior ministers and Sirisena loyalists have, at media shows, said the party CC wished him to enter the fray, they continued, he has to abide by the party decision. "Ranil Wickremesinghe with former LSSPer, Jayampathy Wickremeratne PC, drafted the 19th Amendment vesting all powers in the Prime Minister. The PM was to be the head of government, but the other stake holders did not agree to this move" Junius Richard Jayewardene, the architect of Executive Presidency was asked what he thought on CBKs pledge to JVP in November 1994, assuring the abolition of Executive Presidency, the old fox described the promise a faux pas. In the past, abolition of Executive Presidency has been soberly undertaken prior to elections by every prospective candidate and manifestly discarded afterwards. CBK made a pledge in writing to JVP assuring the abolition of Executive Presidency before 15th July 1995. Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna withdrew its presidential contender to ensure her victory. Ingenuous lady Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, the daughter of two Prime Ministers, who succumbed to indigenous political wisdom not only remained in the position until the end of her six-year term, but had the audacity to backtrack on the promise and contest a second term as well. The gullible but compassionate Sri Lankans did cast a sympathy vote for the wounded lady who survived a terrorist bomber to be back in the hot seat for a second term. However, CBK used all the Executive powers for two terms; she even misused her powers in numerous ways especially during her last two years in office. At the 2005 November presidential elections Mahinda Rajapakse promised the abolition of Executive Presidency. MR went a step further; he not only disrespected the assurance he made to the people in his chinthanaya, but introduced 18th Amendment to the Constitution abolishing the clause preventing him from contesting a third term. He became answerable for the surfacing of the most fraudulent and corrupt ruling clan in our history. [prior to Jan 8] They Promised abolition of executive presidency Ranil Wickremesinghe with former LSSPer, Jayampathy Wickremeratne PC, drafted the 19th Amendment vesting all powers in the Prime Minister. The PM was to be the head of government, but the other stake holders did not agree to this move. Therefore they pruned down some powers of the President and left some behind. What JR in 1966 and Colvin in 1972 Said A strong executive seated in power for a specific period, not subject to the whims and fancies of an elected legislature will not be afraid of taking correct but unpopular decisions. This seems to me a very necessary requirement in a developing country faced with grave problems.- JR as Minister of State. Constitutions are drafted by human societies in accordance with the circumstances of the time at which they were drawn up- Dr. Colvin R. de Silva The combined powers of both the legislative and the executive which fused into one distinct being in the 1978 Constitution - was a noteworthy change from the Westminster form that we have been following, which defined the separation of powers of head of state known as President and head of government, the Prime Minister. "Junius Richard Jayewardene, the architect of Executive Presidency was asked what he thought on CBKs pledge to JVP in November 1994, assuring the abolition of Executive Presidency, the old fox described the promise a faux pas." The cabinet on March 15, 2015 decided that the Presidency needs to be reformed on certain features, including the term limit back to two, period of presidency to five instead of six, and powers on the dissolution of parliament only after four and a half years. The Westminster system clearly says, the PM cannot take a particular decision without the approval of the cabinet, and then for parliament for a debate if the cabinet fails to pass it unanimously. H. W. Jayewardene QC, the brother of JR, in 1978, created a characteristic and unparalleled executive presidency when he drafted the Constitution by merging both French and the United States Presidential systems. The Constitution of 1947 had the executive commands bestowed with the Governor-General who was chosen by the crown as its representative. The Cabinet, Judges of the Supreme Court and members of the Public Service Commission were appointed by the Governor-General on PMs recommendations, a system that encouraged transparency, with restrictions for nepotism and partiality. Under the JR Constitution, the President was elected by people, therefore it was argued that vesting this power with an outside authority was a breach of peoples sovereignty. Three Schools of Thought "President Maithripala Sirisena promised to implement a 100-day reconstruction programme where he pledged to restructure the executive branch within 100 days if elected, by strengthening the judiciary and parliament, to fight against corruption and to investigate allegations of war crimes, repeal the 18th Amendment etc." There are three schools of thought, all with divergent views on the Presidency; some wants to continue it in its present form; they think proper implementation of growth strategies can be more competently apprehended under an executive President. Second school professes total abolition, and a third believes in a few more amendments. The opponents of the executive presidential system would argue that there is a concentration of governmental power in a distinct individual at the expense of Parliamentarians, but even under the parliamentary system, the head of the state PM becomes a virtual autocrat with declaration of an emergency. The prospect of being held answerable will prevent the Executive President from being disrespectful of the law of the land. Further there are provisions for the impeachment of the Executive President while in office; of course, under specific criteria. Maithripala Sirisena never said in his manifesto that he would abolish the Executive Presidency altogether. Let me quote directly from Maithris manifesto, The new Constitutional structure would be essentially an Executive allied with the Parliament through the Cabinet instead of the present autocratic Executive Presidential System. Under it the President would be equal with all other citizen before the law. I guarantee that in the proposed Constitutional Amendment I will not touch any Constitutional Article that could be changed only with the approval at a Referendum. I also ensure that I will not undertake any amendment that is detrimental to the stability, security and sovereignty of the country. My Amendments will be only those that facilitate the stability, security and sovereignty of the country. President Maithripala Sirisena promised to implement a 100-day reconstruction programme where he pledged to restructure the executive branch within 100 days if elected, by strengthening the judiciary and parliament, to fight against corruption and to investigate allegations of war crimes, repeal the 18th Amendment etc,. An ideal executive must be both stable as well as responsible to the people who elected it.- Ambedkar The reality has been that anybody elected to that all-powerful position having powers to do anything but change man into woman and vice versa will be averse or unable to renounce those powers. However, the President who kept mum on the issue should not give lame excuses to the people quoting his partys CC - and if the SLFP is unable or not willing to stick to the pledge they had made before January 8, then they should go before the people for them to decide. They choose once in five years who shall oppress them for the next five years! ; said, Karl Marx The American democratic process is flawed. Democracy means one person one vote. Democracy is at its best when all of its citizens vote. It is a travesty when in the worlds beacon of democracy, the United States of America, one candidate can win the presidency by losing the popular/people vote and winning the electoral college vote. But this is the flawed system now in America. In this flawed system, America has Donald John Trump as its 45th President. This democratic system also gives the right to 50 elected representatives of the people to choose to boycott the Inauguration of the new President. The civil rights icon Congressman John Lewis told the world that Donald Trump was not a legitimate president. Over 50 % of America did not vote for the new President. The reality is that the former reality show star and real estate billionaire is now the President of the USA and leader of the free world!!! Will he lead? He wants to Put America First. The campaign is over. He did it HIS WAY and even danced with his wife at an inauguration Ball to Frank Sinatras MY WAY!! The dance is over. Now the hard work begins of above all uniting a very divided nation. Let us see if he can Make America Great Again. The Democrats produced a very flawed candidate with arguably the most powerful resume of any candidate for president in recent memory, Hillary Rodham Clinton. The overwhelming evidence of Russian interference in the election, the yet inexplicable behaviour of FBI Director James Comey, the clouds hanging over the Clinton Foundation, the unprecedented ugliness of the Trump Campaign and the distrust of and many missteps of Hillary Clinton, clearly cost her the election. She along with her husband Former President Bill Clinton now appear to have lost their lustre. It is sad. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. With all the ugliness and bitterness in the Presidential Campaign, the world has just witnessed an unbelievably graceful transfer of power in the most powerful nation in the world. This is a lesson for the world. This would not have happened if not for the grace and leadership displayed by now Former President Barack Obama and the amazing First Lady Michelle Obama. Donald Trump was the man who for years questioned Obamas legitimacy as a President and led the movement demanding to see the Presidents birth certificate. Trump and the birther movement believed that Barack Obama was born in Kenya and not in America! Two weeks ago, I was invited to a mens Christian prayer breakfast in Southern California. The vast majority of the 200 participants believed that Barack Obama was a Muslim! How could Obama embrace Donald Trump who addition to questioning his legitimacy as President promised in his campaign to undo the entire Obama legacy which included the Affordable Care Act, the Iran Nuclear Agreement, the Trans Pacific Trade Agreement, etc etc??? "With all the ugliness and bitterness in the Presidential Campaign, the world has just witnessed an unbelievably graceful transfer of power in the most powerful nation in the world" Business and government leaders must know when to let go with grace. Former British Prime Minister David Cameron, whatever one might think of him, did not have to resign. But he chose to let go and resign with grace. What is grace? The biblical definition is Unmerited favour. A good thing is done to us that we do not deserve or earn. Every human being on earth is moved to tears when the Christian hymn is sung: Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me; I once was lost but now I am found; was blind but now I see. Grace is also defined as follows: Smoothness and elegance of movement; courtesy, politeness, decency, breeding, respect; to bring honour or credit to someone or something by ones action, attendance or participation. Barack and Michelle Obama may have given grace a new meaning. Who can forget the images of Barack and Michelle Obama with Donald and Melania Trump at the inauguration especially during the welcome to the White House for tea and the departure of Barack and Michelle on Marine One which took them to Andrews Air Force Base for the Air Force One flight to California. Because Barack Obama was no longer the President, the plane was not called Air Force One!! The New American President and his wife must also be given credit for their graciousness to the Obamas at the inauguration. However, it was the incumbent President, Barack Obama, who took the lead and gave instructions to his staff to make the transition peaceful and graceful putting all the ugliness behind. How many leaders in Sri Lanka can you think of who have grace? How many leaders know how to let go and depart the stage with grace? How many leaders in Sri Lanka resign or leave the stage because it is the right thing to do? Doing the right thing with grace is at the core of leadership and must be taught in every pre-school, high school, college, university, professional institute, government organization, business organization and every church, mosque and temple. Signs that suggest that the drought, which was prevailing in the country had begun to end, have appeared with several areas of the country getting fair amount of showers over the weekend, the Department of Meteorology said today. A spokesman for the Department told the Daily Mirror that the highest rainfall of 94.2 mm was recorded from Vakarai today, while Aralaganwilla received 62.5 mm of rain. Jaffna received 52.1mm, Passikudah 55 mm, Polonnaruwa 40.9 mm and Colombo 16 mm. However, the hydro catchment areas only received an average rainfall of 10 mm. The Department however, predicted enhanced showery weather in the coming few days. Showery weather condition is expected to enhance during the next few days due to the wave type disturbance in the vicinity of Sri Lanka, the spokesman said. Showers or thundershowers were predicted at times in the Northern, North-central, Eastern, Central, Uva and the Southern Provinces. Showers or thunder showers are expected elsewhere, particularly after 2.00 pm. Heavy falls (About 100 mm) were predicted at some places. More than one million people have been affected because of the drought which is prevailing in the 18 districts of the country in the recent months. (YP) The speech by the new US President Donald Trump after his inauguration on Friday has been met with mixed reactions those for him absolutely praising, while those of the liberal left condemning it. Anyway, this has been a hallmark of Trump from the very moment he expressed his desire to seek the Republican Party nomination. However, most people watched the speech of Trump with a bated breath- those who love him as well as those who hate him. Bated breath because here was a man who defied all odds, beat the intellectuals, liberal elites, pollsters, analysts, commentators, international media, Hollywood stars, INGOs, multinational corporations, international manipulators like George Soros and even the CIA to get elected with a record number of electoral college votes. The above list could be very well termed as the Internationalist tribe. Add the European Union and the United Nations system to it and you get the buzz word of all pundits i.e. The International Community. As the Godfathers and Godmothers of Neo-conservatism and Neo-liberalism including Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton that presided over this so-called International Community since the mid 90s listened on, President Trump blankly said: We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first. We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to follow. This is exactly the opposite of what the U.S. and the so called International Community has been doing for about quarter a century since the end of the Cold War. They have not respected the sovereignty and the interests of other nations and countries but have been imposing their own interpretations of democracy and human rights on others with missionary zeal reminiscent of colonial missionaries, who came to convert the heathens of invaded countries about three centuries before. It is this lack of respect on the part of the U.S. and the International Community towards others that had led to much strife and unrest across the globe with double standards being applied brazenly with regards democracy and human rights. The words Democracy and Human Rights were used as a tool for intervention and destabilization. This double speak and hypocrisy reached new heights under the Obama-Hillary regime with flourishing countries and nations reduced to rubble through the covert and overt assistance of the CIA and the State Department. It is these destabilization moves that led to the creation of terrorist outfits like ISIS, in a similar manner to how India assisted the creation of the LTTE monster in the early 1980s. Ironically President Obama who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize was responsible for unloading tons of explosives killing thousands of people in many countries that were destabilized with the intervention of the U.S. and the International Community. In such a scenario the plain speak of Trump is more authentic. He did not mince his words but spoke bluntly: We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones and unite the civilized world against Radical Islamic Terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the Earth. At the bedrock of our politics, will be a total allegiance to the United States of America, and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other. When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice. It will be still too early to understand how the State Department and the CIA would function under the Trump administration. But, President Trumps speech indicated a clear attitudinal change. It still remains to be seen as to how far it would go. As far as Sri Lanka is concerned, let us hope that the U.S. and the so-called International Community would leave us alone without imposing themselves on us any more as it had been doing during the war and much severely afterwards for the simple reason of defeating a dreaded terrorist outfit. Let us wish Good Luck to President Trump as he treads a new course in making America great again and hope that a new world order would arise that could make all countries great again and are treated with mutual respect without being dictated upon by the so-called International Community. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) was ready to topple the incumbent Government even before 2020 if there was an opportunity, party leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said today. Speaking at the forming of Diriya Samithi in Maharagama yesterday, Mr. Dissanayake said people would have to punish them now if the FCID, Judiciary or the Attorney General was not going to do so. If the FCID, Judiciary or the Attorney General was not doing it people will have to do it. Corruption has to be pushed out of office. It has to be done at the national election of 2020. However, we are ready to do it even before if there is an opportunity, he said Referring to political situation in the country, he said that the time was moving fast, while the political situation also changes speedily. Every ruler in the past went through a period where he or she could sail smoothly. However, this regime had become unpopular very soon. This is not an issue with Maithri or Ranil. This is because the social system is going down rapidly. This is going to become a norm in Sri Lankan politics in future. People will have to face this situation, he said. He said it was essential to set up centres in villages, which can capture power at the 2020 elections. These centres will be centres of State workers, doctors, lawyers, business leaders, university dons, artistes, fishermen and journalists. It will be a centre of all these people and the common masses. We will establish professional associations in all districts. It has to be connected with the grassroots level. This is the objective of Diriya Samithi. We have established around 1, 000 such associations, we need to establish more. We will establish powerful associations, he said. Doctors, fishermen, peasants and students fight for their rights through their associations. Villagers do not have such associations. They are virtually slaves. However, we will establish a peoples network. The closely knitted associations among the villagers are no more. The entire village used to moan whenever there was a funeral, entire village used to come together whenever someone fell ill. One cannot find such a close association among the villagers today. Other political forces establish village level associations to get jobs for their members. However, our associations are ones which could influence the Government in development, he added. Mr. Dissanayake stressed that countrys economic strategies should be changed. There was urbanization in many parts of the world. China, and the United States of America and a number of other countries became urbanised. More than 100 million people migrate into urban areas in China annually. However, in Sri Lanka it did not happen. If there were public holidays for four days, in Colombo one cannot find a shop to have a cup of tea. The development has to be village centered, a road net work and a communication net work is needed. This should be countrys development strategy, he said. He also said that people needed leaders at village level. (YP) Discussions between the Chief Ministers and former president Mahinda Rajapaksa had been concluded without any agreement reaching upon, Central Province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake said today. Chief Ministers of six Provinces representing the SLFP outside the North and East met former President Mahinda Rajapaksa this morning at his official residence at Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo to discuss the strategies for the restoration of unity among party circles before the upcoming Local Government and Provincial Council elections. However, North Central Chief Minister Peshala Jayarathna did not participate at the meeting. Mr. Ekanayake said Prof. G.L Peiris, Bandula Gunawardena, Gamini Lokuge, Johnston Fernando and Prasanna Ranatunga had participated with former president to the meeting. We have discussed several matters, including present situation at the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). We couldn't come to an agreement with former President and other members during todays meeting. They had not agree with this governments policy. However the discussion ended leaving room for further meetings, he said He said President Maithripala Sirisena had been informed about the meeting and said they would brief the President regarding the outcome of the meeting. Meanwhile, Western Province Chief Minister Isura Devcapriya said the meeting was successful however failed to reach an agreement saying that such issues could not be sorted out with just one meeting. (Darshana Sanjeewa) Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe returned to the island a short while ago after attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. The PM arrived at the Katunayake Bandaranaike International Airport on flight No EK348 of the Emirates Airlines at 18.05 p.m. today. (T.K.G.Kapila) A police officer of the Mangalagama Police received serious injuries when he shot himself with the fellow officers duty weapon last night. Police said the injured was rushed to Gonagolla Hospital and transferred to the Ampara general hospital. Unable to cope with the horrific and reprehensible conditions of the prisons, powerful prisoners on the lookout for better facilities, get admitted to the prison hospital unethically. Though it has been surmised through several incidents that influential prisoners receive preferential treatment in prisons it was only recently that a politician came into the limelight by exposing the ongoing corruption in prisons. Disclosing the mafia in prisons purportedly perpetrated by prison doctors MP Hirunika Premachandra told parliament last month that several doctors had a hand in giving unlawful special treatment to prisoners. Pointing out how this malpractice was a contravention of the prison ordinance she said that the genuinely ill were disregarded. She thus accused Dr. Lakshman Jayamanne, the Medical Officer in Charge and Dr. Malinda Wanigasekara of the Prison Hospital. The prison medical staff falls under the purview of the Health Ministry and currently there is an inquiry against them. According to the performance report of 2015 there are 20 employed medical officers in the Department of Prisons though there are 40 approved posts. There are 17 registered/assistant medical officers as well. Ms Premachandra revealed the fraudulent nature of certain prison doctors who allegedly made money out of it. She noted how mobile phones and related accessories were in the possession of prisoners and how fake medical reports have been prepared. Citing an example, she pointed out how a prisoner who was deemed fit to go after completing his one year prison sentence (which he had allegedly spent at the prison hospital) had been given a medical report stating he was sick when he was re-imprisoned the same day. According to her an MP had been given a medical report without an ECG stating that he had a grave heart disease. Another politician had been given a mattress for a testicular disease. She remarked that there was a furnished room with an attached bathroom, a mosquito net and bed in the new magazine prison allocated for politicians serving their term in prisons. Certain parties have challenged the accuracy and ethicality of these statements. A retired commissioner, who accepted the occurrence of corruption within prisons told us that the MP had made a mockery of State service and it is not possible for the Prison Commissioner to reveal confidential medical records. Doctors are given hampers and foreign trips in exchange of medical reports -Lionel Weerasinghe- Retired Commissioner General of Prisons Just like other institutes there is corruption going on in prisons. Prisons are built to accommodate those of the lower classes as most prisoners are from those strata of society. But when the elite, middle class people, businessmen, and politicians come, they dont find the facilities they have been accustomed to. Naturally they look for means to get those facilities, said Lionel Weerasinghe, a retired Commissioner General of Prisons. Elaborating on how prisoners are admitted to the prison hospital he said that those who complained of an ailment when being admitted to prisons were referred to the prison doctor who decided whether the prisoner should be hospitalized or sent to the cell. If the judiciary recommends medical treatment then the person is directly admitted to the prison hospital. The prison hospital does not have specialised clinics. So when the necessity arises for specialised treatment they have to be directed to the General Hospital, he said. According to the Prison Ordinance the medical officer, assistant medical officer and apothecary are under the supervision and control of the Director-General of Health Services. The medical officer is supposed to furnish full particulars of every case of compulsory or artificial feeding carried out by him to the Superintendent and the Director General of Health Services. However Weerasinghe charged that these proceedings did not take place. He noted that through the prison ordinance doctors have the total authority of ensuring prison healthcare. Doctors are supposed to update their journal daily. I dont think it is maintained, which is why such corruption takes place, he said. When a case requiring special attention is brought before a medical officer he should report the case and the recommendations in writing to the Superintendent. When we asked Weerasinghe if politicians received preferential treatment he replied that this was a time when doctors were given hampers and foreign trips in exchange of medical reports. "Our Prison Ordinance was amended several times under the British governance. But after we gained independence there has not been even six amendments. The population of the country has increased. Our way of life has changed. But the ordinance remains almost unchanged, he added" Labouring prisoners are supposed to be examined from time to time by the medical officer. The medical officer should enter the names of any prisoner who are unfit to work in the medical journal. This raises doubts as to whether influential prisoners attempt to avoid labour through the doctors prognostic. The prison sentence of certain inmates include hard labour. Today, prison labour includes training and production unlike in the past. In regional prisons inmates do domestic labour, whereas you find organised labour in the Welikada, Bogambara and Mahara prisons. We dont make prisoners clean drains or cook in the kitchen. Labour is humane though the verdict states hard labour, he said. Stating that the causes for giving preferential treatment were deeper and not apparent as one thought he said there were serious flaws in the justice system as the remand population is much higher than the number convicted. The delay in providing justice is a serious issue. The increased number of remand prisoners point out that there is something wrong somewhere in the justice system. Most people have a punitive attitude. Due to this punitive mentality cases get piled up and results in overcrowding. Due to the condition of the prisons its officers focus on maintaining prisons than developing them. This is why one group is forced to look for facilities, he said. Our Prison Ordinance was amended several times under the British governance. But after we gained independence there has not been even six amendments. The population of the country has increased. Our way of life has changed. But the ordinance remains almost unchanged, he added. If there is a complaint against a doctor, he cannot proceed with his work until he is proven not guilty -MP Hirunika Premachandra Speaking to Daily Mirror MP Hirunika Premachandra said that Dr. Malinda Wanigasekara has been transferred to the National Cancer Hospital in Maharagama, while no action has been taken against the other doctor who allegedly has a rape case and a maintenance case levelled against him. I got all the information pertaining to these allegations by mid-November. Thereafter I investigated the matter and was able to find out details about the prison, prison hospital, prison doctors and the prisoners, she said. "I got all the information pertaining to these allegations by mid-November. Thereafter I investigated the matter and was able to find out details" According to the doctors ordinance if there is a complaint against a doctor, the doctor cannot proceed with his work in any hospital until he is proven to be not guilty. However one doctor is still working at the Welikada prison hospital. I am very perplexed. I dont know who is helping him. Most of the doctors are with this doctor. So he is free, she added. VIPS have been receiving preferential treatment based on medical recommendation for the past 25 years or so -Wijedasa Rajapakshe- Minister of Justice Minister of Justice, Wijedasa Rajapakshe admitted that VIPs have been receiving preferential treatment based on medical recommendation for the past 25 years or so. According to the constitution all are equal before the law. But regrettably, we have observed how certain VIPs have received different treatment at prisons based on medical recommendation, he said. Stating that there were two aspects to the malpractice he said, When prison doctors conduct themselves in such a manner people lose confidence on the entire judiciary. Secondly, the integrity and dignity of the medical professionals are lost. "When prison doctors conduct themselves in such a manner people lose confidence on the entire judiciary" On the other hand if a medical doctor says that an inmate is in need of medical attention others cant deny it as he is specialised in that field, he said. He added that if prison authorities denied a doctors recommendation and if the prisoners condition became severe as a consequence, the prison authorities would fall into trouble. He also said prison doctors may have the opportunity to give preferential treatment because there was no one above him in the hierarchy. It is now high time for the Prison Ministry, the Justice Ministry and the Health Ministry to come together and formulate guidelines and regulations to be followed, he said. Since the inquiry is pending I cannot state that certain individuals have been given such treatment -D. M. Swaminathan- Minister of Prison Reforms Commenting on the allegations made by MP Hirunika Premachandra that there is a furnished room in the new magazine prison allocated for politicians, the Minister of Prison Reforms D.M. Swaminathan,said, As public servants and MPs we are bound and committed to uphold the Constitution of Sri Lanka and no prisoner is given preferential treatment. With regard to MP Premachandras allegations there is an ongoing inquiry which is conducted by prison authorities. I was briefed by the prison authorities that even MP Premachandra was made aware of this inquiry and that the prison authorities requested an appointment from her to obtain a statement from her and so that she too can share the information that she has with the prison authorities, with regard to these allegations. "As public servants and MPs we are bound and committed to uphold the Constitution of Sri Lanka" Since the inquiry is pending I cannot state that certain individuals have been given such treatment since it has not been proved. However, if the inquiry finds evidence to that effect we will definitely take action against officials who have given preferential treatment to prisoners. Only after the report is handed over to me, I can speculate on the course of action that will be taken, he said when asked about measures to prevent preferential treatment. We are very disappointed about the comments made by certain politicians -Samantha Ananda- GMOA Media Spokesman Samantha Ananda, the media spokesperson for the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) said that an independent inquiry free of political influence should be conducted to look into the veracity of the allegations instead of solely accusing doctors without credible facts. It is unfair by the doctors to face such criticism because, as far as we know, doctors in the prison hospital do a very difficult job with minimum facilities, he said. Prisoners have various kinds of diseases. Doctors need to take extra precautions when handling them as some may act differently, he added. Stating that the doctors duty was to examine the patient and treat any detected diseases he said, If a doctor gives saline to a prisoner one might see that as preferential treatment. But it is the doctor who has the specialised ability to detect whether saline should be given. A lay person should accuse a doctor publicly of malpractice after informing the responsible authorities and getting their opinion on it. As a union we are very disappointed about the comments made by certain politicians. If doctors refuse to work in prison hospitals these politicians should be held responsible, he added. Acting Director General of Health Services -Dr. Jayasundara Bandara Dr. Jayasundara Bandara, the newly appointed Director General of Health Services said that all prison doctors are appointed by the Ministry of Health. Prison doctors, nurses and other medical services should be provided and regulated by the Ministry of Health. There is a directorate called prison health welfare, he said. He said that the ongoing inquiry regarding two doctors was not related to the regulation of health services but rather to the misuse of medical supplies etc. The allegations are all rumours -Thushara Upuldeniya- Prisons Media Spokesperson Thushara Upuldeniya, Prisons Media Spokesperson said that prisoners were admitted to the prison hospital based solely on the doctors recommendation. Some prisoners need special treatment under medical grounds. So they are under the special observation of the medical staff. If the prison doctor cant manage that patient then he will be directed accordingly, he said. When asked about politicians being given special treatment he said that the allegations were all rumours. Venerable Rathana Thera did not achieve anything by coming into Parliament but he would be able to achieve much for the country if he resigned as a Member of Parliament, State Minister of Skills Development Palitha Range Bandara said. He said monks should not come into Parliament as such a thing would not benefit the people and the clergy as well. Mr. Range Bandara, who was speaking during a ceremony held at the Ministry yesterday, said monks coming into Parliament was a hindrance to the development of the society. There were eight monks who entered Parliament in 2004. They were well respected but they had lost that respect by the time they left the House, the state Minister said. He also called for discussion among the Buddhist clergy on monks entering politics. (Yohan Perera) Letter to the Editor: Indian media should focus on synergy rather than confrontation with China File Photo: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the world-renowned terra-cotta warriors in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, May 14, 2015 Indian media is behaving in a highly provocative manner regarding China. The successful test-firing of Indias long range ballistic missile, purchase of Rafale fighter jets from France and selling of weapons to Vietnam should have been reported objectively. There is no need for the media in India to be so subjective by coining phrases like they cover entire China & "to counter the Chinese threat. India has very serious issues at home. Its highly regretful that inspite of 70 years of independence from the British colonial rule, India has the largest number of malnourished kids in the world, biggest number of people, who dont have access to toilets. Go on any train journey in India, open the window early in the morning and watch this spectacle of people defecating openly in Incredible India. India is very proud of the countrys so called demographic dividend. High numbers of youth in India are wrongly regarded as an asset. This constitutes a big liability in the absence of proper education and job access. Unemployment is highly prevalent in India. Majority of youngsters all over the country vie to get a government job through hook or crook. Their underlying motivation is that Indian government departments are highly overstaffed, have zero accountability plus offer plenty of under the table money making opportunities. All over the country, whenever even job vacancies for sweepers/cleaners are advertised in government departments. Millions of job applications come from the so called bright youth of India with graduate, post-graduate, engineering and MBA degrees. Is this India shining, where a highly educated youngster is happy to work as a cleaner? India is highly divided across caste and community lines. People dont come out to protest about the absolute failure of govt on all fronts. Caste/communities unite and block roads, railway tracks for days on end, indulge in arson, violence, killings and rapes in the name of demanding govt job reservations. This phenomenon is common across the whole country. Political parties vie with each other to offer reservations in govt educational institutions/jobs to these hooligans, in order to develop caste vote banks. These illogical govt decisions are then put on hold by the courts. This continues for years with no end in sight. If every community in India is so backward, why dont rename the country as Backwardistaan? (the land of the backwards) at least it would provide a lot of Western aid to India. This can be utilized for the forward march of India and its billions of communities. Vast number of which claim themselves as royal/martial race etc. in private conversations but have no shame/guilt in demanding reservations as backward communities. India is nowhere close to China inspite of both countries being neighbors. The majority of girls in India cannot marry a life-partner of their choice. They dare not venture out by themselves in many parts of the country. Women cant enjoy an evening with friends over a few drinks without being falsely labeled as whores and facing molestation/rape threats. Indian media should focus its attention towards waging a war against the aforesaid grave issues facing the nation. Media should create mass awareness in Indian society about how the hypocrite, backward, corrupt attitude of the establishment is harming the country. Print/electronic media in India should educate the masses about the much needed social/political reforms in the country. It is futile for Indian media to behave in an arrogant manner by threatening China, which is far more advanced/developed than India in every sphere. Indian media should focus on the successful transformation of China from a primarily rural economy in the 50s to an established global power in the present times. War-mongering and a hawkish attitude towards China would not bring anything to India except a sense of false/misplaced pride. Good relations with China can positively transform India and its vast population in a very short span of time. Indian media should concentrate on mending fences and improving ties between China and India thereby creating a positive synergy between these two ancient civilizations. The author is an Indian national settled in China The opinions expressed are solely those of the author. A large amount of money amounting to Rs.5.7 million had been stolen by two unidentified persons that had broken into an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) belonging to a State bank in Medagama, Bibila on Friday (20) night, the Police learned this morning. Manager of the Bank Ms. A. D. S. S. Fernando said that she had loaded the teller machine with sufficient money on the same day before the bank was closed for the weekend. When the bank was opened for cleaning operations today (22) the owner of the adjoining shop alerted the bank management that he had visuals of two unknown men breaking into the bank through its rear door captured by his shop's CCTV camera. The bank management realising the loss had immediately lodged a complaint with the Police. The complaint said that the thieves had managed to break into the ATM cubicle by cutting the banks CCTV system before entering the ATM cubicle and had fled with the recorder containing the visuals as well. The Medagama Police initiating preliminary inquiries with the help of Police sniffer dogs recovered a knife believed to be left behind by the fleeing suspects in a nearby paddy field. OIC Medagama Police O. A. S. R. Dayarathna is conducting investigations on the instructions of the SSP Moneragala Division Sujith Wedamulla. (Prasanna Pathmasiri) A group of five children bathing in the Mahaweli River at Dunhinda in Gampola yesterday got into difficulty and three of them disappeared while others managed to escape unhurt. Police said the disappeared were residents of the age and about 13 years of age. Navy divers had recovered the bodies of the victims a short while ago and referred them to Nanu Oya hospital for postmortem examination. Gampola police are conducting further investigations. Residential meditation retreat 200 monks/nuns of the Maha Sangha to participate 10 days retreat starting from January 21 unique event that takes place later this month when Ven. Ajahn Brahmavamso conducts a residential meditation retreat exclusively for monks and nuns at Bandarawela. Around two hundred members of the Maha Sangha, including monks and nuns will participate in the 10-day retreat starting January 21. The world-renowned meditation teacher has conducted several retreats in Sri Lanka where both the Maha Sangha and the laity participated. Accepting the invitation by the Ajahn Brahm Society in Sri Lanka, he suggested that a retreat for monks and nuns will be most beneficial since they in turn could spread the meditation practice among larger numbers. He stressed that such a retreat is of great value to Sri Lanka with its large community of monks and nuns spread throughout the country. Ven. Ajahn Brahm has a busy schedule of programmes both at the Bodhinyana Monastery, the forest monastery in Perth, Australia where he resides, as well as his constant visits to other countries, and we are indeed very fortunate to have him with us in Sri Lanka, says a spokesperson of the Ajahn Brahm Society. "Ven. Ajahn Brahm has a busy schedule of programmes both at the Bodhinyana Monastery, the forest monastery in Perth, Australia where he resides, as well as his constant visits to other countries, and we are indeed very fortunate to have him with us in Sri Lanka" This is a historic event where a large number of the Maha Sangha meet to meditate and discuss the Dhamma under the guidance of Ven. Ajahn Brahm. The response has been most encouraging and it is after much planning that the society has been able to accommodate such a large number with ideal facilities to meditate. The venue of the retreat is the Bandarawela resort managed by Sri Lanka Tourism which has been working in close cooperation with Ajahn Brahm Society over the past several years. In addition to Ajahn Brahm, one of his senior-most pupils, Ajahn Brahmali has also been conducting meditation programmes at the resort. "The venue of the retreat is the Bandarawela resort managed by Sri Lanka Tourism which has been working in close cooperation with Ajahn Brahm Society over the past several years. In addition to Ajahn Brahm, one of his senior-most pupils, Ajahn Brahmali has also been conducting meditation programmes at the resort" The practice of bringing the dana for the participants of retreats is one that the temples together with dayakayas in and around Bandarawela started from the first visit of Ajahn Brahm ten years ago. The temple monks accompanied the dayakas when they brought the dana to ensure that everything went off smoothly. For this retreat too having noticed this practice many volunteers have come forwards to offer dana. The morning dana will be offered by both the Ajahn Brahm Society members and others who wish to offer dana to the Ariya Sangha. As in the past, the dawal dana will be offered by the people in Bandarawela and surrounding villages coordinated by the area temples. The support extended by these temples go a long way to make these retreats a success. Following traditional practice the monks and nuns will go on pindapatha to a nearby location where the dana will be offered. The Ajahn Bahm Society Sri Lanka would also like to thank the many contributors and volunteers without whose support this retreat would not have been possible. Twelve Chinese fishermen left from the Philippine capital of Manila on Jan. 20, bound for Xiamen in southeastern China's Fujian province, Chinese Commercial News reported. The Philippine court reportedly issued an order for the release of the fishermen on Dec. 1, 2016. The fishermen expressed their gratitude in a letter to the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines, as well as to other organizations that offered help. In April 2013, the fishermen were arrested when their vessel ran aground in Tubbataha Reefs due to bad weather. In 2014, a Palawan court convicted the fishermen of poaching and violating the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park Act of 2009, sentencing them to prison. The 24th Chinese naval escort task force arrived in Doha, Qatar on Jan. 21 local time, starting its five-day visit to the country. It is the second visit by the Chinese Navy to Qatar. The task force was welcomed by 400 representatives from the Chinese Embassy in Qatar, local Chinese companies, overseas Chinese and Qatari marines. The two countries' marines will visit each other's fleets, and other exchanges will also be carried out during the visit. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 22 By Azad Hasanli Trend: The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is ready to participate in financing of the Southern Gas Corridor project, Sayed Aqa, IDB vice-president, said in an exclusive interview with Trend. The talks concerning this issue are still underway, according to him. "A number of technical issues are now being discussed. As soon as they are solved, IDB will become a partner [of Azerbaijan] in this project," he said. Sayed Aqa noted that not only export of energy resources but also the efficiency of their use is very important. A mission headed by IDB Vice-President Sayed Aqa was in Baku in Jan. 17-20. A grant agreement which envisages the study of the possibilities of introduction of Islamic banking principles in Azerbaijan was signed during the visit. The Southern Gas Corridor envisages transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region to Europe via Georgia and Turkey. The gas will be exported through expansion of the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @AzadHasanli Watts Water Technologies, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells products, solution, and systems that manage and conserve the flow of fluids and energy into, through and out of buildings in the commercial and residential markets in the Americas, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. The company offers residential and commercial flow control products, including backflow preventers, water pressure regulators, temperature and pressure relief valves, and thermostatic mixing valves. It also provides heating, ventilation, and air conditioning and gas products, such as boilers, water heaters, custom heat, and hot water solutions; hydronic and electric heating systems for under-floor radiant applications; custom heat and hot water solutions; hydronic pump groups for boiler manufacturers and alternative energy control packages; and flexible stainless steel connectors for natural and liquid propane gas in commercial food service and residential applications. In addition, the company offers drainage and water re-use products comprising drainage products and engineered rain water harvesting solutions for commercial, industrial, marine, and residential applications; and water quality products that include point-of-use and point-of-entry water filtration, conditioning, and scale prevention systems for commercial and residential applications. Further, it provides smart mixing system under the IntelliStation name. The company sells its products to plumbing, heating, and mechanical wholesale distributors and dealers, as well as original equipment manufacturers, specialty product distributors, do-it-yourself chains, and retail chains; and directly to wholesalers and private label accounts. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1874 and is headquartered in North Andover, Massachusetts. 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. AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of prescription medicines. Its marketed products include Calquence, Enhertu, Faslodex, Imfinzi, Iressa, Koselugo, Lumoxiti, Lynparza, Orpathys, Tagrisso, and Zoladex for oncology; Brilinta/Brilique, Bydureon/Byetta, BCise, Byetta, Crestor, Evrenzo, Farxiga/Forxiga, Komboglyze/Kombiglyze XR, Lokelma, Onglyza, Qtern, and Xigduo/Xigduo XR for cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism diseases; Bevespi Aerosphere, Breztri Aerosphere, Daliresp/Daxas, Duaklir Genuair, Fasenra, Pulmicort, Saphnelo, Symbicort, and Tudorza/Eklira/Bretaris for respiratory and immunology; and Andexxa/Ondexxya, Kanuma, Soliris, Strensiq, and Ultomiris for rare diseases. The company's marketed products also comprise Synagis for respiratory syncytial virus; Fluenz Tetra/FluMist Quadrivalent for Influenza; Seroquel IR/Seroquel XR for schizophrenia bipolar disease; Nexium, and Losec/Prilosec for gastroenterology; and Vaxzevria and Evusheld for covid-19. The company serves primary care and specialty care physicians through distributors and local representative offices in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Australasia. It has a collaboration agreement with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to research, develop, and commercialize small molecule medicines for obesity; Neurimmune AG to develop and commercialize NI006; Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to develop eplontersen, a liver-targeted antisense therapy in Phase III development for the treatment of transthyretin amyloidosis; Proteros Biostructures GmbH to jointly discover novel small molecules for the treatment of hematological cancers; Sierra Oncology, Inc. to develop and commercialize AZD5153. The company was formerly known as Zeneca Group PLC and changed its name to AstraZeneca PLC in April 1999. AstraZeneca PLC was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 22 By Huseyn Veliyev Trend: The European Commission intends to finance Azerbaijans projects prepared as part of the "Harmonizing Digital Markets of EU and Eastern Partnership Countries HDM Initiative" in 2018-2019, Tofig Babayev, director of the Regional Information Technologies Academy (RITA), told Trend. Earlier, Azerbaijan prepared six project proposals in connection with requirements of the HDM Initiative, which were previously presented to the European Commission in order to obtain financing. The projects were prepared in six directions of the HDM Initiative e-customs, e-commerce, e-business, e-security and others. The HDM Initiative is aimed at addressing important issues on formation of the legal basis, improving customs procedures and implementation of software for trading. It envisages the creation of a single digital zone, which provides entrepreneurs with a single field in order to conduct trade operations and mutual settlements. Babayev said that in December 2016, Lithuania hosted a two-day conference of the European Commission dedicated to the HDM Initiative in the e-trade, the concept of which combined such areas as e-commerce, e-customs and e-logistic. "In accordance with the decision made, starting from the first half of 2017, the Eastern Partnership countries will begin studies regarding the implementation of projects that combine all these directions in the e-trade," Babayev said. "The selection of experts [for holding the research] from six participating countries of the Eastern Partnership is currently underway." "The contract with these experts will be signed in mid-February 2017," Babayev noted. "In general, the work in this direction should be completed by May 2017." For several reasons, it is not possible to name the exact amount that may be required for implementation of the projects, he said. It is also planned to resolve issues related to the mutual recognition of e-signatures within the e-trade sphere, which is a part of the cross-border trade transactions, Babayev noted. Southern Copper Corporation engages in mining, exploring, smelting, and refining copper and other minerals in Peru, Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, and Chile. The company is involved in the mining, milling, and flotation of copper ore to produce copper and molybdenum concentrates; smelting of copper concentrates to produce blister and anode copper; refining of anode copper to produce copper cathodes; production of molybdenum concentrate and sulfuric acid; production of refined silver, gold, and other materials; and mining and processing of zinc and lead. It operates the Toquepala and Cuajone open-pit mines, and a smelter and refinery in Peru; and La Caridad, an open-pit copper mine, as well as a copper ore concentrator, a SX-EW plant, a smelter, refinery, and a rod plant in Mexico. The company also operates Buenavista, an open-pit copper mine, as well as two copper concentrators and two operating SX-EW plants in Mexico. In addition, it operates five underground mines that produce zinc, lead, copper, silver, and gold; a coal mine that produces coal and coke; and a zinc refinery. The company has interests in 82,134 hectares of exploration concessions in Peru; 493,533 hectares of exploration concessions in Mexico; 246,346 hectares of exploration concessions in Argentina; 29,888 hectares of exploration concessions in Chile; and 7,299 hectares of exploration concessions in Ecuador. Southern Copper Corporation was incorporated in 1952 and is based in Phoenix, Arizona. Southern Copper Corporation operates as a subsidiary of Americas Mining Corporation. AmerisourceBergen Corporation sources and distributes pharmaceutical products in the United States and internationally. Its Pharmaceutical Distribution segment distributes brand-name and generic pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter healthcare products, home healthcare supplies and equipment, and related services to various healthcare providers, including acute care hospitals and health systems, independent and chain retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, medical clinics, long-term care and alternate site pharmacies, and other customers. It also provides pharmacy management, staffing, and other consulting services; supply management software to retail and institutional healthcare providers; and packaging solutions to various institutional and retail healthcare providers. In addition, this segment distributes plasma and other blood products, injectable pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and other specialty products; provides other services primarily to physicians who specialize in various disease states, primarily oncology, as well as to other healthcare providers, including hospitals and dialysis clinics; and offers data analytics, outcomes research, and additional services for biotechnology and pharmaceutical manufacturers. The company's Other segment provides integrated manufacturer services, such as clinical trial support, product post-approval, and commercialization support; specialty transportation and logistics services for the biopharmaceutical industry; and sells pharmaceuticals, vaccines, parasiticides, diagnostics, micro feed ingredients, and various other products to customers in the companion animal and production animal markets, as well as demand-creating sales force services to manufacturers. AmerisourceBergen Corporation was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 22 By Fatih Karimov Trend: An Iraqi delegation is scheduled to visit Tehran this week to discuss resuming electricity import from Iran, which is suspended since Jan. 1, the Islamic Republics deputy energy minister, Houshang Falahatian said. He added that Iran has stopped electricity export to Iraq, because the related contract expired, Fars news agency reported Jan. 22. He further said that a new contract should be signed between the parties, adding that the details will be discussed during the visit of Iraqi delegation to Tehran. Falahatian also said that Iraq owes Iran over $1.2 billion for electricity import. Early in January an Iranian delegation traveled to Iraq to discuss extending the electricity export deal. At that time, Arash Kordi, the managing director of Iran Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company, said that Iran is expected to resume electricity export to Iraq within one month. Iran was exporting 700-1,000 MW of electricity to Iraq under the previous contract. The country exported 9.88 billion kWh of electricity last fiscal year (ended March 2016), of which 69.1 percent went to Iraq. Paycom Software, Inc. provides cloud-based human capital management (HCM) solution delivered as software-as-a-service for small to mid-sized companies in the United States. It offers functionality and data analytics that businesses need to manage the employment life cycle from recruitment to retirement. The company's HCM solution provides a suite of applications in the areas of talent acquisition, including applicant tracking, candidate tracker, background checks, on-boarding, e-verify, and tax credit services; and time and labor management, such as time and attendance, scheduling/schedule exchange, time-off requests, labor allocation, labor management reports/push reporting, and geofencing/geotracking, and Microfence, a proprietary Bluetooth. Its HCM solution also offers payroll applications comprising better employee transaction interface, payroll and tax management, Paycom pay, expense management, mileage tracker/fixed and variable rates, garnishment management, and GL concierge applications; and talent management applications that include employee self-service, compensation budgeting, performance management, position management, and Paycom learning and content subscriptions, as well as my analytics, which offer employment predictor reporting. In addition, its HCM solution provides manager on-the-go that gives supervisors and managers the ability to perform a variety of tasks, such as approving time-off requests and expense reimbursements; direct data exchange; ask here, a tool for direct line of communication to ask work-related questions; document and checklist; government and compliance; benefits administration/benefits to carrier; COBRA administration; personnel action and performance discussion forms; surveys; and affordable care act applications, as well as Clue, which securely collect, track, and manage the vaccination and testing data of the workforce. Paycom Software, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 22 By Fatih Karimov Trend: Irans imports from Germany increased by 36.39 percent in terms of value, year-on-year during the first ten months of current fiscal year (March 20, 2016-Jan. 20, 2017), according to the Iranian Customs Administrations latest monthly report. Iran imported $1.962 billion worth of goods from Germany during the 10-month period. Germanys exports to Iran accounted for $182 million during the tenth Iranian calendar month of Day (Dec. 20-Jan. 20). China was the main exporter of goods to Iran in the 10-month period. Iran imported $8.403 billion worth of goods from China in the period indicating a fall by 1.27 percent in terms of value year on year. After China, the UAE ($5.488 billion), South Korea ($2.786 billion), Turkey ($2.193 billion) and Germany were other biggest exporters of goods to Iran. The Islamic Republics imports from the UAE decreased by 11.47 percent, meanwhile South Korea exports to Iran witnessed a fall by 8.74 percent. Turkeys exports to Iran also registered a fall by 10.99 percent during the 10-month period year on year. Iran imported 27.55 million tons of goods, worth $34.982 billion, during the 10-month period, which is 3.21 percent more in terms of value as compared to the same period of preceding year. Motor vehicles with internal combustion engine worth $1.162 billion topped the list of Iran's imported goods during the 10-month period. After car, corn fodder worth $1.161 billion, soybean worth $774 million and car parts worth $666 million were among other main imported goods of the Islamic Republic in the first ten months of the current fiscal year. Tehran, Iran, January 22 By Mehdi Sepahvand Trend: Iranians made 1 billion minutes international phone calls in the first 10 months of the current Iranian fiscal year (since March 20), according to Sohrab Aqbayat, an official with the Telecommunications Infrastructure Company. The phone calls were made through circuit equipment and simultaneous forwarding of calls on the VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), Aqbayat said. 775 million minutes of the phone calls were made from Iran outward and 508 million minutes were received from outside. Iranians had made 2.2 billion minutes international phone calls during the previous Iranian year. Charlottesville High School teacher Tina Vasquez started one of her classes recently with a brief lecture about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The declaration, passed by the United Nations in 1948, is a measure for how nations throughout the world are expected to treat all people the citizens of the world. Fittingly, the basic premise of this social studies elective class, Becoming a Global Citizen, is about human rights and how people around the world can fight to have those rights recognized. This is a microcosm of the world in this classroom, Vasquez said about the course. Scanning the classroom, there are teens of every color who have been raised in different cultural and religious traditions. The diversity of the classroom is intentional, meant to elicit and promote cross-cultural dialogues about the world, culture, current events and unity. According to Vasquez, the class blends ethnic and global studies but also is focused on student empowerment and social activism. Its hard to reach out and talk to other people. But I feel like Im getting out there, Anthony Scott-Goins, a 17-year-old senior born in Charlottesville, said about the class. I would say its more diverse than any other class Im in. Being able to talk to them and see their views, it opens you up to a new perspective. You can say anything in here even if its not the best statement, they wont take offense to it, he said. Theyll say how they feel also. Its a respectful debate. We all understand whats going on. Aleena Haidari, a 16-year-old junior, has lived in Charlottesville for two years. Originally from Afghanistan, she is of the Hazara ethnic group and a Muslim. She said she felt stereotyped by other students when she first arrived. When I first came here, there were students being stereotyped, myself included. I didnt like that. And when students come from different countries, they dont have such good associations with other students, so I wanted to help them, she said. Right now, Im seeing a lot of prejudice against Muslims and other minorities, so those things really motivate me to be better. The differences between the students go beyond skin color and religious beliefs. Among this years class is Gabriel Herndon, a 17-year-old senior who has Aspergers syndrome. Gabriel said he signed up for the class to learn about the rights of people from other countries. So far, he said, hes learned about that from class discussions and assignments. He said he also has taught others in the classroom. Ive taught them about how to respect others for who they are. They need to know about disabled people being mistreated, he said. People sometimes think disabled people are weird or come from some different place. They dont know what you do, he said, adding that a number of disabled people on the autism spectrum such as Pokemon creator Satoshi Tajiri have made an impact on the world in various ways. Even among our international students, there are huge differences in experiences, religions, value systems and cultural traditions. And even different experiences with government, Vasquez said, noting that the Muslims students come from vastly different parts of Africa and the Middle East. She added that, among the Western students, there are sometimes European transfer students, or Latin Americans who were born in the United States but strongly identify with their cultural heritage. At the beginning of the year, Vasquez said, its one of the first things I ask them: What are you bringing to this class? What skills, what talents, what backgrounds, what knowledge? She said the questions let students voices be heard and inform how the class, which she said is student-led, will proceed each year. Over the last several years, a variety of topics have become part of the lesson plan. Individual and collective identity, gender, race, animal rights, refugees and immigration, education and criminal justice reform are a few examples. Four years ago, Vasquez, an English teacher at CHS, partnered with former University of Virginia professor Carol Anne Spreen to create a class that focused on human rights and integrating the school systems immigrant and refugee students with other students. Vasquez said educators considered how with ESL learners, their experience is focused on deficiencies and catching up and preparing for tests. The students felt they didnt have a lot of opportunities to really do authentic work or really get to work with a mix of mainstream students. We talked about how there are real-life issues and how they could learn about their rights and advocate for themselves as refugees and immigrants. In its inaugural year, university students were part of the class. But more recently, its been solely high school students, with about 15 enrolled each year. Eric Irizarry, Charlottesville High School principal, said the class has been important for a number of reasons. Especially for some of our older students, you look at voting and what rights they have as a citizen. But to the scope of the class, I think its unique because they do have a powerful voice here and they encourage their peers to have a voice, he said. The progress of the class since its inception, as exhibited by the students and the projects theyve taken on both in and outside of school, has been fairly significant. Recently, Kibiriti Majuto, an African Muslim refugee in the class who is also the schools senior class president, was the focus of a story in The Atlantic about being reared in the American education system. Majuto and others in the class also were the focus of a C-Ville Weekly cover story recently about how they went to Congress with Amnesty International to lobby for refugee rights. A few days following the presidential election, the class decided to make posters that celebrate the schools diversity. Each one of the posters said, We are followed by a number of different personal and cultural identities. In the context of the school, the posters summarized that all of the students each have their own identity but are all also Charlottesville High School Black Knights. I think people dont realize the diversity of the students we serve here. But when its written out on the walls, it shows that we serve a diverse group of folks and support everybody, Irizarry said. According to school division spokeswoman Beth Cheuk, about half of the 1,200-plus students at CHS are white. The other half are Asian, African-American or Hispanic. About 100 students are currently enrolled in the schools English as a Second or Other Language program, she said. Irizarry said: You dont want to forget about them. Sometimes they need those avenues to have their voices heard. CINCINNATI Theres been little public word about what has happened to a University of Virginia student detained in North Korea, as a new administration takes over one year later amid deep U.S. concerns about the hostile countrys nuclear and missile development. North Korea announced last Jan. 22 it had detained Otto Warmbier, a 21-year-old from suburban Cincinnati, earlier that month for alleged anti-state crime. Warmbier, who had visited North Korea with a tour group, was sentenced in March to 15 years in prison at hard labor after a televised tearful public confession to trying to steal a propaganda banner. Such North Korean detentions of U.S. citizens for offenses that might seem minor to outsiders Warmbier said he wanted to take the banner home for a woman in Ohio who wanted to hang it in her church are seen in Washington as having political motives, and Warmbiers has come during a time of worsening tensions. The State Department calls the sentence unduly harsh, and spokesman John Kirby said in a statement last week in response to an Associated Press query that the department continues to work for Warmbiers earliest possible release. Noting that he has gone through North Koreas criminal process and been detained more than year, he said: We continue to urge the DPRK (Democratic Peoples Republic of North Korea) to pardon him and grant him special amnesty and immediate release on humanitarian grounds. Another U.S. tourist from Ohio, Jeffrey Fowle, was arrested in 2014 for leaving a Bible in a nightclub and was freed after six months. Already at odds over its nuclear tests and missile launches, North Korea in July called new U.S. sanctions aimed directly at Kim Jong Un and other top leaders for human rights abuses the equivalent of declaring war, and diplomats inquiring about Warmbier and a Korean-American also being held have been told they were being treated under wartime law. Its not clear what that means, although it could imply tougher treatment. The United States doesnt have diplomatic relations with North Korea. North Korea has refused repeated Associated Press requests in Pyongyang to speak with Warmbier. The Warmbier family and people in contact with them have been cautious about commenting on the sensitive situation. A spokeswoman for Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich said he continues to be very concerned about Warmbier and discussed him during a White House visit in late 2016. The spokeswoman, Emmalee Kalmbach, said Kasich has encouraged U.S. authorities to keep the Warmbier family informed. Warmbiers parents said after his public confession last February that they hadnt been able to communicate with him, and his father, Fred, expressed hope his sons sincere apology would persuade North Korea to allow him to come home. The statement was released through UVa. Although there has been scant news on Warmbier since his sentencing, his situation could re-emerge as Donald Trumps administration begins dealing with North Korea. He has said he will push China to exert its influence on North Korea to bring it into line, but Trump also said during his presidential campaign that he would be willing to meet with Kim Jong Un. Theres little doubt North Korea would like to use Warmbier to get a U.S. president to travel to kowtow and ask for him back, said Boston University Professor Emeritus Walter Clemens, whose extensive writings on North Korea include two books. But theres always the hope that such a meeting could open a way to improving current tensions, he said. Its obviously very terrible for the family and for Mr. Warmbier, said Clemens, a Cincinnati native. But he could conceivably be the bridge for establishing a rapprochement between the United States and North Korea. UVa spokesman Anthony P. de Bruyn said he wasnt aware of any recent family statements, adding that hes not a spokesman for them. The university continues to closely follow the unfortunate situation involving Otto Warmbier and remains in regular contact with the Warmbier family, he said by email. U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, of the Cincinnati area, said: I continue to stay in close touch with the family as well as the administration, and hope that Otto will be released soon. Tehran, Iran, January 22 By Mehdi Sepahvand Trend: The Iranian Persian Gulf Star Oil Company (PGSOC) exported 280,000 barrels of its debut naphtha to the United Arab Emirates. The PGSOC is also loading its second cargo of naphtha for export, Mehr news agency reported January 22. The refinery is also planning on inaugurating by March its first phase which will produce 10 to 12 million liters per day of Euro 4 gasoline, ridding Iran of the need to import gasoline. The factorys distillation unit recently came on stream, producing 120,000 bpd of gas condensates, 12 million liters of naphtha, 4.5 million liters of gas oil, 1 million liters of kerosene, and 300 tons of liquid gas per day. WAYNESBORO With gerrymandering coming increasingly under fire especially extreme versions of the practice in which legislative districts are blatantly carved up solely to ensure control by one party Del. R. Steven Landes, R-Weyers Cave, has proposed an amendment to the Virginia Constitution that would remove political considerations from redistricting. The General Assembly redraws legislative districts every 10 years to account for changes in population. Too often, though, the party in control of the General Assembly uses redistricting as a way to carve up districts to favor incumbents of future candidates. Brian Cannon, the executive director of OneVirginia 2021, a nonpartisan redistricting group, said the Landes amendment would stick to the main roads and natural boundaries that originally were supposed to govern redistricting. Landes said his amendment would level the playing field by showing no favoritism to either Democrats or Republicans. Many Virginians have expressed concern over the redistricting process, he said in a statement. This amendment will ensure that Virginias legislative districts are drawn in an objective manner. Landes added that his measure would leave the redistricting responsibility to the General Assembly, not an independent commission. Some states have gone the route of bipartisan commissions to redistrict. Redistricting is clearly the responsibility of the General Assembly, he said. [This] assures a more objective process while keeping that process under the purview of the General Assembly, where it belongs. The amendment specifies in its language that no electoral district shall be drawn for the purpose of favoring or disfavoring any political party, incumbent legislator, member of Congress, or other individual or entity. The delegate said his efforts, which included work with the OneVirginia2021, focused on clear and simple language. Cannon said lines for legislative districts should not be drawn to remove a political opponent or incumbent legislator from his or her district. Landes resolution for the amendment goes before a subcommittee of the House Privileges and Elections Committee on Monday. A full committee vote could take place the following Monday, Cannon said. The amendment would need to pass both this years General Assembly and the 2018 General Assembly before it could go to Virginia voters in the fall of 2018. State Sens. Jill Holtzman Vogel, R-Fauquier, and Janet Howell, D-Fairfax, have proposed a similar constitutional amendment in the Virginia Senate. That amendment contains much more prescriptive language, according to Landes. The Senate amendment speaks to districts that would be contiguous and compact. Other language in the Senate amendment speaks to deviations permitted by applicable law. Albemarle County authorities are standing behind a bipartisan-backed bill that would examine the effectiveness of expanding the number of misdemeanor crimes that require the collection of DNA from offenders. Bill H.J. 711, sponsored by House Minority Leader David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville, and cosigned by Del. R. Steven Landes, R-Weyers Cave, asks the Virginia Crime Commission to take a look at data from other states that have expanded their own DNA databases by collecting DNA from a wider range of misdemeanor offenders. The bill follows efforts from local delegates to expand Virginias own database. In early 2015, Toscano and Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle, pushed a bill through the House of Delegates that added a slew of serious, Class One misdemeanors to the list of convictions for which the state requires offenders to submit a DNA sample to the states data bank. Those misdemeanor charges included stalking, sexual battery and attempted rape. The effort was inspired by the high-profile murder case of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham, who was abducted from the Downtown Mall in September 2014; her body was found in Albemarle County weeks later. The man convicted in her death and a series of other violent crimes, Jesse Matthew Jr., had a prior misdemeanor conviction for trespassing in 2010. Toscano believes that if Matthew had provided a DNA sample at that time, he could have been caught before he ever met Hannah Graham. That bill and the latest efforts have received ardent support from Albemarle County Sheriff J.E. Chip Harding, who has championed DNA database expansion for years. While Harding and others would like to add more misdemeanor offenses to the list, doing so would create additional costs that likely wouldnt sit well with the General Assembly at this juncture. From what we were hearing, there was a strong feeling ... that there would be a very small chance of moving anything forward that would require any additional funding this year because of budget concerns, Harding said. So we got to thinking about asking for a study would actually be a better way. The study would take a look at DNA database models from New York and Wisconsin, two states that have a broader range of misdemeanor convictions that require DNA collection. According to data collected by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services since the state expanded its misdemeanor list in 2012, the average first-time felon had three previous misdemeanor convictions, and 89 percent of New Yorks 3,547 offenders linked to sexual assault were in the database for non-sex crimes, such as petty larceny and trespassing. Harding believes stats like those should help convince skeptics that the expansion can help save lives and exonerate those falsely convicted. Thats why he and county prosecutor Robert Tracci penned a letter to the General Assembly on Friday, citing the figures and urging their support for the bill. If we just get enough folks to look at how powerful it is, I dont think well have a problem, Harding said. The letter notes that the expansion is not a partisan issue; while Toscano is a Democrat and Landes is a Republican, each has espoused similar sentiments about what the expansion could do for crime prevention. While DNA collections can be pricey, the study proposed in H.J. 711 also would allow for an examination of best fiscal practices when it comes to expanding the collection requirements, Landes said. They might be able to find options for the legislature to consider that would accomplish what the goal is and, at the same time, do it in a more cost-effective manner, Landes said. But thats what the study is intended to do, is to get more details, get more specifics on what the impact would be and find out what the costs are. While the bill itself is only calling for a study, the concept of actually expanding the database is not without its detractors. John Whitehead, a civil liberties lawyer and founder of The Rutherford Institute in Albemarle County, has raised concerns about the efficacy of DNA testing and its ability to predict future criminal activity. Whitehead objects to the crime commission performing a study, and he instead believes that an independent study should be conducted by scientists and other experts in the field. We really need think this out, and it should not be a rushed job, Whitehead said. I would want some independent experts in there that really understand the science of DNA, not just crime folks. Toscano agrees that there are civil liberties issues in play when it comes to DNA collection, but he said the crime commissions study would explore those risks and formulate a game plan for avoiding them. The proposal is that we approach this prudently and carefully to make sure that were not going to be violating peoples rights, Toscano said. There are some people who dont believe you should ever be able to take the DNA. Were never going to convince them. But for people who believe that there is an appropriate role, we have to address the legitimate concerns of the civil libertarians. Toscano predicts that the bill will be taken up by the General Assembly sometime this week. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 22 By Khalid Kazimov Trend: Iranian Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi has denied that a terrorist will was behind the tragic incident of the collapse of Plasco building in Tehran. He has said that the security official have, so far, found no evidences proving that there was a terrorist will or sabotage behind the incident, IRNA news agency reported. The officials, however, will continue to probe into the incident, he added. He further warned against the possibility of occurring similar incident as there are many decrepit buildings in Tehran. Iran's oldest high-rise in downtown Tehran collapsed on Jan 19 following a major fire in the building, leaving many firefighters buried under rubble, some of who are presumed dead. On Donald Trumps first full day as president, two prominent historians tried to answer the question on the minds of many people: Is this the new normal, or is his election just a fluke of history? The answer: Well know soon enough. Jon Meacham and Doris Kearns Goodwin headlined the Richmond Forum at the Altria Theater on Saturday evening. They are two of the nations best known and most respected presidential historians who, between them, have written best-selling books on Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon B. Johnson. About 4,500 people attended Saturdays aptly timed talk titled A History of Americas New Presidents. This was Meachams second appearance at the Forum and Goodwins fourth. Goodwin said there are parallels to the early 20th century that can help explain Trumps surprising rise to the presidency. She said the world was changing, with the industrial revolution and inventions such as the car speeding up life; people living in rural America felt as if those in the city were taking them over, and there was mass immigration. What we see today is a technological revolution, immigration, people in the rural areas feeling like they are separated off from the city, theres a great gap between the rich and the poor as we had at the turn of the 20th century, Goodwin said. So that same potent mix allowed Trump to become the nominee. The major difference between this past election and previous times when there was populist upswing is that there werent mechanisms in place to keep Trump out of the mix. In the early part of the 20th century and even later, the parties were led by politicians who would step in and stop someone they considered to be a demagogue or who pushed a particular paranoia. That didnt happen this time, Meacham said. To some extent, Trumps triumph in the Republican Party is the first reported case of a hijacker boarding a plane and having the passengers side with him. He said a large reason for that is that people have less trust in their government, and the costs of supporting a family have helped lead to that attitude. We have to respect the fact that the right number of voters made this decision, Meacham said. In an interview before the presentation, the historians said one of the big topics to be debated in coming years is whether Trumps election was a true political turning point in the U.S. that will usher in an era where outsiders are sent to Washington, or if it was a moment when a single man was able to capitalize on a situation to catapult himself to the pinnacle of power. The question will be, I think, is whether or not this nonpolitical mood gets overturned or exacerbated through him. That was the big part of this election, Goodwin said. When you think of anyone who ran on the Republican side and who had political experience, that was a scar against them in those primaries. Are we going to continue to feel this anger and disappointment with politicians so that we want people outside the field? Or will having the experience of someone who was not politically experienced convince us that maybe theres something to having people who have public experience being our public leaders. Goodwin won the Pulitzer Prize in 1995 for her book No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II. She earned her doctorate from Harvard University where she taught government and a class on the American presidency. Her book, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln was the basis for the Steven Spielberg film Lincoln. For Meacham, the question is whether this nationalistic, quasi-populist idea be defined in an enduring way, or is this a fever that will break? Meacham won the Pulitzer Prize for his book, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House. Some observers have compared Trump with Jackson, but Meacham does not like the comparison. He said that at the time Jackson became a president, he was a former senator, a former judge and a former presidential candidate. He said Jackson, while fiery, actually was careful and waited for others to act before making his first move. The Jackson I believe in had a temper but had the temperament to control it, he said. Jackson understood his own weaknesses and worked not to let them undermine him and his presidency. That, Meacham and Goodwin said, is one of the keys to a successful presidency. A president who often is isolated, pushed in dozens of directions and facing unbelievable pressure must understand his limitations and weaknesses, and then find a way to get past them. They worry that Trump has not developed the right temperament, empathy and humility that it takes to take over such a huge job. There is a direct line between character and statescraft, Meacham said. They say Trump so far has been unable to show that he understands where hes lacking and that could lead to problems, undermining his own work and the office of the president. I worry, honestly, Meacham said. My youngest child is eight. Shes going to grow up with Donald Trump getting off that helicopter, and Donald Trump addressing the nation if a space shuttle blows up. My 14-year-old grew up with Barack Obama doing that, and George W. Bush doing that. Both of whom, whatever you think of them politically, understood the dignity of the office, and I think upheld the dignity of that office. And its a very open question if (Trump) will do that. They said that, historically, the office magnifies a persons strengths and weaknesses. So, despite their concerns, they say it will take time to see how Trump will do, and that he deserves time. Ultimately Im optimistic, Meacham said. We survived Fort Sumter, well survive this. Thats exactly right, Goodwin said. When it comes to policing for profit, no one is immune from temptation. Just ask Attorney General Mark Herring. The knock against the practicesometimes called civil asset forfeiturehas been clear and simple for many years: Allowing law-enforcement agencies to confiscate peoples personal property without even filing criminal charges, let alone obtaining a conviction, violates the nations bedrock principles regarding justice. Whats more, allowing law-enforcement agencies to keep and spend the proceeds of such seizures gives them an overwhelming incentive to further abuse an already abusive system. This is not a new concern. Congress tried to address it more than 15 years ago, when it passed the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act. The measure produced underwhelming results. Two years ago two former directors of the Justice Departments asset-forfeiture division urged Congress to kill the program entirely. Government self-interest corrupted a crime-fighting tool into an evil, they wrote in The Washington Post. As two people who were heavily involved in the creation of the asset forfeiture initiative at the Justice Department in the 1980s, we find it particularly painful to watch as the heavy hand of government goes amok. The program began with good intentions but now, having failed in both purpose and execution, it should be abolished. They offer good adviceparticularly for Virginia, which the Arlington-based Institute for Justice says has some of the worst civil forfeiture laws in the nation. Last year the House of Delegates passed a bill that would have required a criminal conviction before property could be confiscated. The Senate killed the measure. Legislators did slightly tighten the standard of proof in forfeiture proceedings, which is an improvement but only a modest one. Not many people can afford to challenge the confiscation of their property, especially when doing so would cost them more in legal fees and lost wages than the property is worth. Law-enforcement agencies sometimes defend asset forfeiture by arguing that it deprives criminals of their ill-gotten gains and strengthens law enforcement. Who could be against that? But since criminal charges are rarely filed, thats circular reasoning: We took the property because the owner was a criminal, and we know he was a criminal because we took his property. Last year Attorney General Eric Holder announced some reforms of asset forfeiture. They might not be long for this world: Donald Trumps nominee for the post, Jeff Sessions, supports policing for profit. But even existing reforms can be undermined, sometimes by the very people who are supposed to enforce them. Formal Justice Department policy prohibits paying for raises with funds gained through equitable sharing of property seizures carried out in joint federal-state operations. But somebody at Justice put together an informal PowerPoint presentation showing states how they could get around that rule. All a state has to do, the presentation explained, is to use funds from seizures on other expenses, such as operations and vehicle maintenance. That frees up money that can then be allocated for pay hikes. Virginia took in more than $100 million from a case against Abbot Laboratories. In this instance, the case was legit: The company pled guilty. But Herrings office then used some of the money just as the Justice presentation advised: to hike salaries. (It also should be noted that Herrings predecessor, Ken Cuccinelli, distributed the vast bulk of the proceeds to state and local law-enforcement agenciessome of it while he was running for governor. State lawmakers were taken by surprise, and some of them were not happy about it.) To be clear, salaries need hiking, badly. Some laywers in the AGs office make substantially less than lawyers working in local commonwealths attorney officesand far, far less than they could make in private practice. Thats not the issue. The issue is the way in which the Justice Department encouraged states to circumvent its own clear directiveand the fact that Virginia did so. While the behavior is less nefarious than the many cases in which the police have stolen from innocent people, it does offer another example of the ways in which meting out justice can become an exercise in self-dealing. Think of the episode as one more data point in a case that needs no further proof. Its high time for Virginia to end asset forfeiture in any case that lacks a criminal convictionand to allocate the proceeds to charity, so that policing is no longer tainted by profit. The intent of a republic is that we the people would select one of our neighbors to go to Richmond to bring our voice there and look out for our interests, at least a majority voice anyway. With this in mind I would like to commend Culpepers Delegate to the General Assembly Nick Freitas in personifying that spirit. During the preparation for this Assembly session, Nick was very receptive to what we were interested in and the ensuing dialog with Piedmont Green Party leadership, mostly co-chair Elizabeth Melson, led to the filing of HB 2315: Instant Run-Off Voting. It must be noted that Nick is a member of the GOP, yet he gave audience to us, a different party, and did so pleasantly. True representative democracy in action. This bill, as law, would change the system of voting for statewide offices from a two-party system, to an all people participatory one. By ranking candidates by preference, rather than simply selecting what may be the lesser of two evils, every vote counts all the time and people are free to vote their conscious. But this isnt all. Nick has also heard other people with interests along with us in filing HB 2028 which authorizes the production of industrial hemp. Another great bill we support is HB 2030 which makes it easier for farmers to sell directly to an end consumer. In an earlier column we promised to expose elected officials when we needed and praise them when we think they are doing well. As far as we are concerned, our Del. Nick Freitas has been a rock star and for all involved there were no party lines to block us, only dialog about what was best for Virginia. We should be proud to have him as a representative during this session at this moment. Go to http://richmondsunlight.com and urge passage from the committees or contact us at piedmontgreens.com. The Astana talks on Syrian settlement will last 24 hours and be held behind closed doors, Sputnik reported. The Astana talks on Syrian settlement will start at 07:00 GMT on January 23 and are expected to end at 07:00 GMT on January 24, Kazakhstans Foreign Ministry said on Sunday. The talks will begin on 23 January at 1pm [local media]. The talks will end on 24 January 1pm (subject to change), the ministry said in a media guide. The ministry noted that the talks would be held in the hotel Rixos President Astana. Please be informed that the talks will be held behind closed doors, the media guide said. The Foreign Ministry added that the final press conference was scheduled for 08:00 GMT, January 24 but it was unclear whether the conference would be held. The delegations from Russia, Turkey and Iran as well as the UN's Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura have already arrived in Astana. Islamic State's terrorists detonated explosives in the largest hotel in western Mosul on Friday, in an attempt to destroy it and prevent Iraqi forces from using it as a landing spot or base in their offensive to capture the city, witnesses said on Sunday, Reuters reported. The Mosul Hotel, shaped as a step pyramid, appeared to be leaning to one side after the explosions, said two witnesses contacted by phone, requesting anonymity as the militants punish by death those caught communicating with the outside world. The Mosul Hotel sits alongside the Tigris river that cuts the city into two halves. The explosion comes as Iraqi forces appear about to take full control of the eastern side and prepare to attack the western bank. Iraqi forces launched in October a campaign backed by a U.S.-led coalition to take back Mosul from the hardline Sunni group which captured the city in 2014, declaring from its Grand Mosque a "caliphate" that also spanned parts of Syria. Mosul is the last major city stronghold under Islamic State control in Iraq. U.S. President Donald Trump told CIA officers on Saturday that he has great respect for the agency, denying that he had a feud with the intelligence community, Reuters reported. In his first official visit to a government agency as president, Trump was effusive with his praise, telling the officers, who came in on their time off to see him, that he loved them and had their back. Twenty-four people are missing from the wreckage of a hotel in central Italy that was flattened by a deadly avalanche, with difficult research and rescue operations still ongoing, authorities said on Sunday, Reuters reported. A statement from the national fire service said the number of people missing rose by one after a rescued person said that a hotel employee, of Senegalese origin, was inside the building at the moment of the avalanche. So far five people have been confirmed dead, and nine, including four children, were pulled alive from tons of rubble and snow on Saturday. "Operations continue, both inside and outside the hotel, there is no change in the numbers (of saved and dead people)," spokesman Luca Cari said in the statement. The luxury Hotel Rigopiano, located at the foot of a mountain chain in the central Italian region of Abruzzo, was obliterated on Wednesday after an avalanche caused by an earthquake smashed into its spa and demolished the four-storey building. "The situation unfortunately is the same as the last few days, we keep working nonstop, under extremely difficult weather conditions... but we will carry on working as quickly as we possibly can," said Major Marco Amoriello. He added that weather conditions were not helping operations and that the forecast for the next few days did not look good. "But we certainly won't be stopping because of that," Amoriello said. Some rescue workers said they did not rule out finding more survivors, more than three days after the disaster. Around 120,000 tonnes of frozen snow covered much of what was left of the hotel, a colonel from a fire brigade team working on-site told television Sky TG24. "Thank you for being close, and for the real help you are bringing," said Pope Francis on Sunday at his weekly Angelus audience, referring to those involved in rescue and relief operations and asking to pray for them and the families of the victims. Prosecutors in the central Italian city of Pescara have opened a probe over alleged unintentional multiple manslaughter and negligence causing a large-scale disaster. Over 500 people have been evacuated on Sunday from a refinery located in the Japanese city of Oita, Wakayama Prefecture as it caught fire, Sputnik reported. According to Kyodo news agency, the local authorities were recommended to evacuate some 3,000 people. The evacuated people were accommodated in two evacuation stations. There is no data on the cause of the fire, as well as on the casualties so far. The refinery caught fire at 07:00 GMT. According to the preliminary information, a container with lubricants flamed up, while no blasts were reported. The fire area has reached 100 square meters [3.8 square miles]. Some 20 fire brigades were sent to combat fire in the area. 06:51 (GMT+4) The storms, raging in the southeast of the United States at the weekend, killed at least 18 people, injured many, inflicted heavy damage on homes and cut power, Sputnik reported. According to USA Today newspaper, 14 people were killed in Georgia and four in Mississippi. The search and rescue operations are reportedly underway in Georgia. 22:03 (GMT+4) Severe weather has killed 11 people and injured 23 in the US state of Georgia, emergency officials said, BBC reported. Tornado warnings were issued for parts of the state overnight on Saturday. Four people were killed by tornadoes in Mississippi earlier in the day. The Georgia Emergency Management Agency said victims were in the southern Cook, Brooks and Berrien counties. Seven of those killed were at a mobile home park in Cook County apparently struck by a tornado overnight. Cook County coroner Tim Purvis said numerous mobile homes had been "levelled" before dawn on Sunday in the park near the city of Adel. He said emergency teams were still searching for survivors. Mr Purvis estimated that the park has about 40 mobile homes in total, and roughly half were destroyed. In Brooks County, coroner Michael Miller said two people died when an apparent tornado tossed a mobile home around 100 yards into the middle of Highway 122. Swathes of the south-eastern United States have been hit by storms over the weekend. In southern Mississippi, four people died in the path of a tornado with winds above 218 km/h (136 mph). The National Weather Service in Atlanta/Peachtree City said a "significant tornado outbreak" was expected on Sunday around the Florida-Georgia border, with storms expected from noon onwards. In a tweet, it said rainfall had been significant in the past 24 hours, with the city of Charlotte getting 13.6cm (5.3 inches). A severe thunderstorm warning is in effect for northwest Florida. The Georgia Emergency Management Agency issued advice on the best and worst places to shelter from a tornado late on Saturday, advising locals in the path of a tornado to cover themselves with blankets or a mattress for protection. It said the safest place to be is "a basement or interior room, stairwell, or hallway on a low floor". Windows, doors, and outside walls are to be avoided. It also warned against underestimating flash floods, saying just six inches of fast-moving water can knock a person off his or her feet, and two feet can sweep away a full-sized car. Officials from Turkeys Foreign Ministry are working for a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Jan. 22, Hurriyet reported. We will discuss this issue [Middle East] in a meeting with Mr. Trump but I do not know when this meeting will be scheduled. Officials from the Foreign Ministry are working on the meeting, where we will discuss this issue, Erdogan added. We are on the side of respecting the territorial integrity of the Middle East. We are not thinking about dividing up the Middle East, which would not be right and would disrespect the people of the region, he added, speaking to reporters ahead of an official three-country trip to East Africa. An airplane, belonging to Turkish Airlines, made an emergency landing in Kermanshah in Western Iran, while it was en route to Istanbul from Kuwait, IRNA reported. The Airbus 320 called for an emergency landing in Kermanshah's Shahid Ashrafi Airport due to technical failure. The passengers were taken to a nearby hotel and will be sent to Istanbul by another plane Sunday night. A substitute plane has reportedly left Turkey to Kermanshah to take the passengers to Istanbul, the official said. Kim Go Eun and Gong Yoo star in the tvN fantasy drama 'Goblin.' (Photo : YouTube/tvN drama) "Goblin" TV ratings continued its upward climb as the tvN fantasy drama reached the end of its 16-episode run. Viewership shares in Seoul reached the 20 percent mark while Gong Yoo, Lee Dong Wook and other cast members share their thoughts on the end of the popular series. Gong's hit drama "Goblin" capped off its series finale with a two-episode broadcast that featured heartbreaking plot lines as the fates of beloved characters were revealed. Aired back-to-back on Jan. 21, Saturday, the final episode registered record-breaking numbers for the tvN drama. Advertisement "Goblin" episode 16 posted TV ratings of 18.68 percent across the South Korean nation and viewership shares of 20.98 percent in Seoul, according to Nielsen Korea. More than 2.3 million households nationwide tuned in to watch the tvN drama's finale, while around 1.1 million households in Seoul watched the drama's final broadcast. Meanwhile, tvN recently unveiled photo stills of the cast members showing hand-written messages for avid viewers. Released several hours ahead of the fantasy drama's finale, as obtained by Korean news outlet Donga, lead stars Gong, Lee, Kim Go Eun, Yoo In Na and Yook Sungjae conveyed messages of gratitude for the fans' support. Gong channeled his inner goblin as he quoted one of his character's popular dialogues to express his love for the fans and that he was happy to have stayed by the viewers' side through the tvN drama. The "Train to Busan" star even ended his message with a "Gong-blin" signature which is an inflection of his name and his immortal persona in the series. The actor's co-star Lee also conveyed his appreciation for the viewers' support and requested the fans to remember his grim reaper character for a long time. Yoo, Kim and Yook also thanked the viewers for watching the tvN drama and for expressing love towards their characters Sunny, Eun Tak and Deok Hwa, respectively. "Goblin" is set to release a two-episode special in early February that contains blooper reels, behind-the-scenes footage and cast interviews. Watch a clip from the series finale below: New Delhi: The forthcoming Union Budget is likely to announce measures to promote cashless economy in the country to maintain surge in digital transactions post-demonetisation. Sources said that on the anvil may be steps to bring down limit for imposing tax collected at source (TCS), quoting PAN, and putting an upper limit on holding of cash by individuals. Currently, one per cent tax collected at source (TCS) is imposed for using cash to buy goods and services over Rs 2 lakh. According to sources, the government is likely to bring down this limit so as to discourage cash transactions. If the limit for imposing TCS is brought significantly to around Rs 1 lakh or even below, it will discourage people to use cash for large transactions, said sources. The government may also bring down the limit for providing PAN for cash transactions in the Union Budget and more items may be brought where quoting of PAN will be mandatory of the transaction is done through cash. Currently, a cash payment of over Rs 50,000 in connection with foreign travel (including fare, payment to travel agent and purchase of forex) requires PAN. PAN is mandatory for cash payments of more than Rs 50,000 for cash cards or prepaid instruments. PAN is also required for making a cash deposit of more than 50,000 or purchase of bank draft/pay orders/bankers cheque of the equal denomination on a single day, payment of life insurance premium of Rs 50,000 in a year. To discourage cash holdings, the government may announce upper limit for using cash for making transactions. Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money has recommended a total ban on cash transactions above Rs 3 lakh and an act be framed to declare such transactions as illegal and punishable by law. It had also asked for restricting maximum cash holding with individuals between Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh to curb illegal wealth in the economy. On analysis, details of more than 60 lakh accounts which have cash deposits of Rs 2 lakh. New Delhi: Expanding scrutiny of suspicious transactions post demonetisation, the government has begun analysing deposits in new accounts and loan repayments as well as transfers to e-wallets and advance remittance for imports during the last 10 days of deadline to turn in junked notes. After analysing cash deposits made in bank and post office accounts during the 50-day window provided to get rid of the junked 500 and 1,000 rupee notes, authorities are now examining term deposit and loan accounts that were opened after November 8 demonetisation decision. "Income Tax Department is already taking actions in cases where cash deposits above Rs 50,000 have been made without quoting of PAN. "The Income Tax Department is using tools and its sources to identify each of these persons and is confident that there would be a big expansion in the tax base and a quantum jump in direct tax collection," a senior government official said. A close watch has been kept on the persons making cash deposits in the last 10 days of the demonetisation scheme, e-wallets, advance remittance for imports etc, and continues to work on collecting and analysing more data regarding cash deposits, he said. The focus is also on non-cash deposits in various bank accounts by way of RTGS and other means, and would continue to share its findings with the concerned law enforcement agencies. "Analysis of the deposits made, by way of cash and non-cash, in various kinds of new accounts including term deposit accounts and loan accounts that have been opened during the period of demonetisation is being done," he said. "Income tax department and other agencies like ED are taking action based on the analysis." Besides, regular reporting by the banks through Suspicious Transaction Reports has seen more than four-fold increase in this period and the same are being analysed for dissemination. On analysis, details of more than 60 lakh accounts which have cash deposits of Rs 2 lakh and above have been disseminated and the total amount deposited in these accounts is more than Rs 7.34 lakh crore. Also, details of cash deposits totalling more than Rs 10,700 crore in different accounts in the North-Eastern states have also been disseminated. The official said Income-Tax Department and ED have been provided with the details of cash deposits of more than Rs 16,000 crore in different accounts of various kinds of cooperative banks as well as more than Rs 13,000 crore deposits made in Regional Rural Banks. "The Income Tax Department has undertaken numerous actions, both intrusive and non-intrusive, based on the intelligence and in turn referred a number of cases for parallel investigation by ED and CBI. The actions have unearthed non-filers, huge amounts of unaccounted income and shell companies," he said. The Income Tax Department is also undertaking data analysis and comprehensive matching of the huge intelligence inputs with government databases to have a more effective and focused non-intrusive action against tax evaders in the coming days. New Delhi: In order to encourage banks to provide education loans, RBI has said rescheduling of payment period of such loans due to unemployment of borrower will not be treated as restructured accounts for computing NPAs. Banks may allow up to three spells of moratorium (not exceeding 6 months each) during life cycle of education loan, taking into account spells of unemployment/underemployment, "without treating the exercise as restructuring", RBI said in a letter to the Indian Banks' Association (IBA). However, banks would be required to maintain a higher provisioning of 5 per cent during the additional moratorium period and one year thereafter. The RBI's response was on a clarification sought by the IBA whether the education loans with extended repayment period be treated as restructured loans. "The facility of extended repayment period and increased number of moratorium for repayment may be extended to existing borrowers whose accounts are classified as 'standard'...," said the Reserve Bank of India. As per RBI's Master Circular of July 2015, accounts that are restructured from April 2015 will attract higher provisioning and will be classified as NPA. In 2013, the Department of Financial Services (DFS) had notified that if the repayments in education loans are extended due to revision in the repayment period, the same may not be treated as restructuring. IBA had written to RBI to confirm that the notification of DFS of 2013 "holds good even now" and that banks need not treat such extended repayment period of education loans as restructuring. IBA said the relaxation in repayment of loans is needed as "it may so happen that a borrower fails to get a good income or a job if the market has a slow-down". On the other hand, it said, the student may not get a job, due to macro-economic conditions, which may result in default and spoils the credit score of both the student and his parents who are usually co-borrowers. Mumbai: The controversy surrounding the death of Jiah Khan refuses to abate even after more than three years of the incident. New twists and turns have been emerging in the case ever since. The latest development in the case has been appearance of the dupatta, which was used by Jiah to allegedly hang herself, reported mid-day. Jiahs mother Rabia, who has been fighting to get justice for her daughter, and her lawyers had raised the issue of the missing dupatta several times as they felt it was an important object in determining if the death was due to suicide or homicide. It came to light that the dupatta was with the Forensic Science Laboratory since the time of the incident when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Juhu Police submitted it and other objects of evidence to the special womens court on Friday. Rabias lawyers claim that the CBI didnt get possession of the dupatta and hence raises questions about the chargesheet that the agency submitted in the case. Advocate Swapnil Ambure was quoted as saying, "The Chandigarh team could not come to a conclusion without examining the dupatta and other materials. How then could the CBI claim to have to completed its probe?" The lawyers have decided to raise the issue at the hearing on Monday. A still from the film. Mumbai: If you were to tell someone that Hrithik Roshan's 'Kaabil,' had an upper hand over Shah Rukh Khan's 'Raees' going into its January 25 clash, they would rightfully have laughed it off. However, a day into its screening, the industry can't stop lauding the revenge saga. 'Raees,' might still have the better opening courtesy its massive hype, but Hrithik Roshan might finally have overcome his hit drought. If insiders are to go by, the film is his best performance till date and is all set to be a blockbuster. Its fantastic and Hrithik Roshan is brilliant. Itll be a huge hit. Yami is good, Sanjay Guptas work is very nice, Ronit Roy is excellent, but its ultimately Hrithiks film and hes unbelievable .Its his best film till date," an immensely impressed Shabana Azmi told reporters, post the screening. Sussanne Khan, Hrithik's ex-wife was also quite vocal about her favourable thoughts on the film. "The film is unbelievable! It's one of the best films ever .You'll go mad if you see it," she said elatedly. Sussanne also took to Twitter to appreciate his efforts on the film. Bollywood biggies also took to Twitter to sing laurels of the film and its crew. Here are a few of the tweets: We can barely wait for the film's release now. Helmed by Sanjay Gupta, 'Kaabil' stars Yami Gautam, Ronit Roy and Rohit Roy apart from Hrithik. Priyanka will next be seen in the third season of the series 'Quantico'. Los Angeles: Actress Priyanka Chopra extended her support for the Women's March that was organised in Washington DC, a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States of America. The 34-year-old actress could not be a part of the peaceful protest due to her busy shooting schedule. However, Priyanka took to Twitter to say, "So proud of all my sisters and the men that are at the #WomensMarch I'm so upset I couldn't go. #girllove #womensrightsarehumanrights." Mumbai: Shah Rukh Khan is not only a brilliant actor but also a supportive father to his kids, Suhana, Aryan and AbRam. We all know the actor has raised his kids with discipline and encouraged them to follow their dreams. In a recent interview to a daily, he spoke about their plans to venture in the film industry. "If my kids love acting as much as I do, then they should be actors. I think Suhana likes acting a lot, and Aryan is more bent towards making films. He writes a bit and now he is studying filmmaking. There has to be a certain amount of education that they need before they can think of doing this," the actor told to Times of India. Shah Rukhs rags to riches story is known to all. He strongly believes in hard work and honesty, even if it means starting from scratch; and he has imparted those same values with his kids. He said, "I believe that just wanting to act without doing theatre or getting some sort of formal training might not work. I can share my experiences with them, but they should get exposed to an outside world which will teach them something new, instead of learning what I am doing and what already exists. An actor should bring something new to the table, and not what is already done. They should experience all that and figure it out for themselves. I believe you should love whatever you do. I hope they love it, and if they do, I hope they get an opportunity to be actors. It is not like I am chalking out their career path." Shah Rukh Khan will be next seen in Rahul Dholakias 'Raees', alongside Mahira Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, releasing on January 25. Sushant Singh Rajput was last seen in the movie 'M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story' Mumbai: Sushant Singh Rajput wont stop himself from giving his best for the role in his forthcoming movie, Chanda Mama Door Ke directed by Sanjay Puran Singh, even after not being acknowledged in a recent award show for his brilliant performance in M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story. Sushant, who recently took lessons on flight simulation for the science fiction film, will be heading to NASA for further training. Speaking to a leading daily, Sushant said, I am playing an astronaut in the film and I just finished training on a simulator this week. Sanjay has given me around 15 books and eight documentaries, including For All Mankind (1989) that documents National Aeronautics and Space Administrations (NASA) Apollo mission, to understand the life of astronauts. He further added, Sanjay has contacts in NASA. I will spend almost a month with them to understand an astronauts body language and mindset. Sanjay has already given a uniform with a badge. I wear it almost every day. I cant wait to work on the film. 'Chanda Mama Door Ke' will also star Nawazuddin Siddiqui in a pivotal role. The movie is also said to have south superstar Mohanlal in a cameo. Sridevi was last seen in the Tamil film, 'Puli'. Mumbai: Two Pakistani actors, Adnan Siddiqui and Sajal Ali have been granted Indian Visas to act in Sridevis upcoming film, Mom. The Pakistani film fraternity have welcomed the Indian governments move to issue visas to the neighbouring country, amid existing tension between the two countries. Siddiqui is expected to play Sridevis husband, according to a report in Hindustan Times, while Sajal Ali is set to play her daughter. Hopefully this will improve the relation between the two countries, said film producer Mehmood Mandviwala while speaking to reporters in Pakistan. Exhibitors are also hoping for the move to facilitate better exchange of artists across the border. Earlier, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena had issued a blanket ban on Pakistani artists working in India, after the Uri terror attack. Fawad Khan starred in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, while Mahira Khan will be seen in Shah Rukh Khan upcoming film, Raees. Sridevi was last seen in the Tamil film, 'Puli'. 1 My recent trip to Warsaw, the capital of Poland, was a memorable one. The picturesque locales and snow-ladden landmarks were truly sights to behold. I visited the place during the months of November-December, and the temperature was -10 C. Since, I love snowfall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there! 2 The entire city of Warsaw, was destroyed during the World War, the entire place has a 16th century vibe. The architecture was re-built with an old-world vibe and it literally transports you back to an era you probably just read about. The must visits are the Citys Old Town for its gothic architecture, Market square for its colourful buildings, and monuments with mermaid statues. 3 Poland is certainly not a place for vegetarians. The only respite is how Poland is the place for potatoes. The locals thrive on meat. I indulged in mashed potatoes, chicken steak with potatoes and fish. Oh, and lets not forget how Poland knows its desserts well. There are a myriad variants of delectable apple pie and irresistible cheese cakes. The customary Christmas sweet pudding is another must-have. 4 While I was busy exploring the mesmerising landscapes, I also managed to bring home a couple of interesting buys which included toys for my nephew, bags, and tonnes of mermaid engraved showpieces. 5 As much as I loved my trip to Poland, I must say the next check-in to Slovakia was even better! One of the trips to the mountains remain one of my fondest memories of the place. As told to Pooja Prabhan CNS Ningde, a Type 056-class corvette. (Photo : PLAN) The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has commissioned the CNS Ezhou (513), its 31st Type 056- class corvette into the world's largest fleet of modern corvettes. The CNS Ezhou was delivered to the East Sea Fleet on Jan. 18. PLAN said the warship will perform anti-submarine; anti-ship; coastal patrol and fishery escort operations. Advertisement The Ezhou is the second ship commissioned by PLAN this year. The CNS Kaiyangxing, a Type-815A class electronic reconnaissance ship or spy ship now with the North Sea Fleet, was the first warship commissioned in 2017. Ezhou is 89 meters long and 11 meters wide and displaces 1,254 metric tons. It has a maximum speed of 52 km/h and is highly maneuverable. A key advantage is the warship's high level of automation and stealth capability. PLAN claims Type 056 corvettes are capable of attacking aircraft, ships and submarines. China began to build the Type 056-class in 2012 to modernize its coastal defense flotillas then consisting of the antiquated Type-037 class corvettes, which were submarine chasers. The first Type-056 class ship, CNS Bengbu, was delivered to the East Sea Fleet in February 2013. Before the Ezhou, a total of 30 Type 056-class corvettes were commissioned into the Navy. Type-056 class corvettes are armed with four YJ-83 anti-ship missile launchers; a 76 mm gun; two 30 mm close in weapon system autocannons; two triple-barrel lightweight torpedo launchers and an eight-cell HHQ-10 short-range anti-aircraft missile launcher. Cao Weidong, a researcher at the PLAN Military Studies Research Institute, said despite the Type-056 class being smaller than frigates, it will be as powerful as frigates in battles in coastal waters thanks to its stealth design and firepower. Type-056 class ships can also help with long-range operations, said Du Wenlong, an equipment expert at the PLA Academy of Military Science. Chinese shipyards at Liaonan, Wuchang, Hudong and Huangpu are turning out corvettes at the rate of one every six weeks, an impressive record. The new warships will be distributed among PLAN's South Sea, East Sea and North Sea Fleets. A number of Type 056s are also being built for the China Coast Guard. On Saturday evening, 30 cities around the country, including Hyderabad, echoed the seething rage felt by every woman as people irrespective of age and gender took to the streets with one crisp message: I Will Go Out. Raising placards and slogans, people marched along to express their stand against patriarchy, violence and harassment, and signed a mass petition demanding safety for women in public spaces. Bhamiudipati Durga, a middle-aged woman, said, I am saddened that such a walk was necessary, while her friend, Alavya Baldev, who has a teenage daughter, added, We want our children to be safe and be free to move around without fear. The case has been the same right from my college days, so we need a discussion. NCC cadets from St Francis College for Women also took part in the march Interestingly, men also took part in the walk with equal gusto. Karthik, a software engineer, says, I am here because men are the cause for the plight of womens safety today. Once we form a pressure group, more people will be wary. His friends, Raju and Vinay explain, The reason for such happenings is lack of sex education and embarrassed parents who dont talk to kids about it. Young girls are taught about good and bad touch, but what about boys? If I become a father, I will educate my son about it too. The march caught the attention of bystanders who appeared to have gone into deep thought. But does such a march really make a difference? Imran Khan, an onlooker, says that it will. The change may not happen overnight, but such marches will definitely strike a chord. Even amongst us are people who have eve-teased, but with such marches, they will feel ashamed and wont repeat it. People of various backgrounds showed up to reclaim the streets What started as a Facebook group turned into a nationwide movement. Varsha Bhargavi from the Child Rights Protection Forum and Apurva Vuriti, a student of Women Studies at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad, said that organising was not difficult. It was very easy to organise because the cause spoke for itself. Almost all women resonate with it because theyve all faced it. Men were also present at the march holding creative placards. Varsha went on to explain that in rural India, the situation is much worse. Recently, in Mahbubnagar, some guy had etched a girls name on a wall, following which her parents stopped her and her friends schooling and started looking for grooms. Luckily, a teacher intervened in the matter; otherwise, we would have been talking about two cases of child marriage and no education. All this, just because of one guy. Many others shared such experiences and thanked the police for managing the traffic while the walk was on. Dawn turned to dusk, but the crowd stayed, proving that the streets are theirs too, even after sunset. Meanwhile In America... The Womens March on Washington saw thousands march not just in DC but around the United States with even Hyderabadis taking part in the marches, that were held on Saturday to raise awareness about the protection of human rights. Binit Kaur, a psychologist from the city who moved to Seattle recently, took part in the march there, and was amazed with the response it received. The sheer enormity of the event hit me as I faced the largest crowd of people Id ever seen. The estimated numbers were 1,30,000. The signs were creative, intelligent and fun. One of my favorites was held by a silver-haired lady saying Now youve pissed off Grandma! Actress Lakshmi Manchu also participated in the march Tollywood actress Lakshmi Manchu was at the Los Angeles chapter of the march, and posted a couple of pictures from the venue. She captioned one, Ready to march. Care for ur rights. The world is one place #notmypresident (sic). Ludhiana: A minor, who was accused of killing a 9-year-old boy, then removing his heart and eating his flesh, has admitted to committing the crimes, Punjab police officials said on Sunday. The parents of the victim have also demanded the crime to be considered as heinous and rarest of rare and treat the suspect as an adult. The victims body was found in a sack, chopped into six pieces on Tuesday, near the suspects house. Both the victim and the suspect lived in the same locality, within a mere few metres. According to a report in The Indian Express, the inconsolable parents have now asked the minor suspect to be tried as an adult, as more details of the bone chilling incident surface. We wont accept courts verdict if he is set free after a few years. We want life term or death penalty for him. If he is a child, then wasnt my son so? questioned the mother. His father was also quoted as saying, "I havent told my wife about the missing heart in the body. If they cant do anything more than giving punishment of few years, they should hand him over to us. Treat him as an adult or give him to us." While the teen suspect first denied the crime, he confessed after he was interrogated by the police. According to the report, the suspect also handed over the blood soaked shirt from the crime to the police. The victim, Deepu was the second of four children of the migrant couple, Dilip Kumar and Sangeeta. His parents stated that he stayed at home and took care of his siblings. His mother works as a domestic help while his father is a daily wage labourer. The suspects parents are also migrants from Uttar Pradesh. Following the December 16 gang-rape in Delhi, the Juvenile Justice Act was amended, allowing minors to be treated as adults in case of heinous crimes. The decision however lies with the court, police officials were quoted as saying. Earlier the maximum punishment for minor was three years at a juvenile home. One of the victims suffered injuries to lower hip, while the other victim received wounds in his chest. (Photo: PTI) Chennai/Madurai: Three persons died, two during Jallikattu in Pudukottai and one during demonstration at Madurai, as the bull taming sport was today conducted in various parts of Tamil Nadu amid protests which forced chief Minister O Panneerselvam to leave for Chennai without inaugurating it at Alanganallur. Protesters at Alanganallur in Madurai refused to conduct the sport, steadfast in their demand for a 'permanent solution' to ensure unhindered annual conduct of the sport. Panneerselvam had yesterday said he would inaugurate the bull taming sport at Alanganallur, famous for holding Jallikattu events, at 10 am. With an Ordinance being promulgated for holding jallikattu, the sport was organised in several parts of the state, including Rapoosal in Pudukottai district. Police said two persons were killed and 28 injured when they were gored by a bull during jallikattu at Rapoosal in which several bulls were used and many sportsmen took part. They said 48-year-old Chandramohan, from Jaihindpuram, died due to dehydration in Madurai city when he was taking part in the protests along with students and youths demanding a permanent solution for holding Jallikattu. At the Marina beach, epicentre of the stir for the last six days, protesters continued to stay put demanding a permanent solution for holding the sport besides a ban on animal rights group PETA. Groups of agitators continued their protests at several locations in the state, raising the same demand. Speaking to reporters at Madurai before leaving for Chennai, Panneerselvam said, "The ban on jallikattu has been removed completely, the sport will be held at Alanganallur, on a date decided by local people." He said jallikattu was held in all parts of Tamil Nadu with the local adminstration and police taking all stipulated measures to hold the sport. With protesters demanding a permanent solution for holding the sport and raising slogans that ordinance was only a temporary measure, Panneerselvam said: "State's Jallikattu ordinance route is permanent, robust and sustainable, will be made into a law in the coming Assembly session." He reiterated that there was no ban following the promulgation of the ordinance and said the ordinance would be replaced by a law after bringing in a bill in the Assembly session, beginning at Chennai tomorrow. Panneerselvam, who had announced that he would inaugurate Jallikattu at Alanganallur, had to stay back in a hotel in Madurai following the stir there by protesters who demanded a permanent measure to be in place. Following that, Panneerselvam was expected to inaugurate Jallikattu at Natham Kovilpatti in Dindigul. However, there were protests there too, raising the same demand. Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government has filed a caveat in the Supreme anticipating challenge to its ordinance allowing Jallikattu in the state. Following unrelenting protests, DMK and other Opposition parties urged the Centre to take steps for conducting the sport annually without any hindrance. The Karnataka High Court had passed an interim order last year November, staying Kambala on a petition filed by PETA and the next hearing was on January 30. (Photo: PTI) Bengaluru: Amid the raging protests over Jallikattu in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, organisers of 'Kambala' (buffalo race) in Karnataka on Sunday decided to hold the traditional sport in Mangaluru on January 28 in violation of court orders restraining the same. The decision was taken at a meeting held by the members of the Kambala Committee in Mangaluru, the committee's president Ashok Rai said. The Karnataka High Court had passed an interim order last year November, staying Kambala on a petition filed by PETA and the next hearing was on January 30, he said. "We have decided to conduct Kambala races on January 28 before the matter comes up for hearing in the court," he said. The traditional buffalo race will be held from 11.30 am till evening, he added. "We have been motivated by the success of Jallikattu movement in Tamil Nadu. We are also planning a massive protest in Mangaluru (January 28) in which 50,000 persons including politicians and those from the film industry are expected to attend," Rai said. The rally would be held before the commencement of Kambala and 200 pairs of buffaloes would be paraded, he said. Kambala is a traditional annual buffalo race conducted in marshy fields in coastal districts. Meanwhile, RSS Media Coordinator in Karnataka said the outfit favours Kambala just as Jallikattu and these should be held with no violence. "Kambala and Jallikattu are part of our agro-based traditions and is one of the indigenous way for conservation of native cattle breeds. We are in favour of it. Both Kambala and Jallikattu should continue with no violence," he said. Meanwhile, Tulunad Rakshana Vedike is planning to hold a protest in Mangaluru on January 24 against the ban on Kambala. Lucknow: The ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday released its manifesto for UP Assembly elections promising a bunch of schemes for all round development of the state at a function which SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav and his brother Shivpal gave a miss. With an eye on development, Akhilesh riding on the crest of "kaam bolta hai" (work speaks) slogan, announced schemes which prioritise development of the state. The manifesto announced distribution of laptops, Kanya Vidya Dhan, Samajwadi Pension, laying of Purvanchal Expressway, and establishing Janeshwar Mishra model villages besides improving helplines for police and women. He said the model villages in the name of Janeshwar Mishra would be a tribute to the Samajwadi leader on his death anniversary on Sunday. The Chief Minister, in his new role as the Samajwadi Party national president, directed all candidates to prepare a road map for development of their respective Assembly constituencies. A highlight of the manifesto was Samajwadi Kisan Kosh for farmers to purchase seeds and fertilisers, perhaps to match the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Bima Yojana. As Mulayam and Shivpal, the warring uncle of Akhilesh, were conspicuous by their absence, senior SP leader Azam Khan rushed to the SP patriarch's bungalow to bring him to the event. But even then Mulayam did not grace the occasion where senior party leaders and Dimple Yadav, MP and wife of the chief minister were present. In an impassioned appeal to the electorate to vote SP back to power, Akhilesh said, "We got support on 2012 manifesto, we also fulfilled promises made in it." "The manifesto is a 'sankalp' (promise) to form future government. It's clear that we all want to form Samajwadi Party government. If you work for 5 years, you will get government of five years," he said. The chief minister asked party workers to go to the masses and make them aware of the schemes implemented by his government during the past five years. "A lot of work has been done in a big way. We have to work more in future. I tried for the past five years not to leave path of socialism and also ensure balanced development to improve rural economics," he said. Earlier on Sunday, the Samajwadi Party and the Congress finalised their alliance after days of uncertainty, with the latter getting 105 seats to contest the elections. Akhilesh also ridiculed his political opponents, saying, "Some parties are there who have nothing to do." He slammed BJP for its Lok Sabha poll promises and asked what happed to its 'Sab ka saath, sab ka vikas' slogan. "People are desperately looking for those who had promised acche din," he said. In a veiled attack on Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi, he said BJP has nothing to speak on development. "They sometimes give you 'jhadu' (broom) or ask you to perform yoga," he said. He also took on BSP, claiming that the 'Patthar Wali Sarkar' has done nothing for UP except erecting stone statues of elephants, its poll symbol. "If BSP comes to power, its government will install bigger elephant statues," he alleged. The 32-page SP manifesto promises 24 hour power supply to villages and effective dial 100 so that police reaches within 10-15 minutes. "In days to come, the government will move one step forward and ensure better connect with people. Samajwadi smartphone scheme is one effort," Akhilesh said, adding that already 1.40 crore registrations have been made for the same. He said Samajawdi Party pension will benefit one crore people and Rs 1000 pension would be given to each one of them. With an eye on the rural areas, he announced welfare schemes for labourers and added that poor women will be given pressure cookers. The manifesto promised setting up of hostels for working women, mid-day meal for farm workers, free medical treatment to the poor and an end to 'inspector raj'. It promised expansion of metro rail in Kanpur, Agra and Meerut. It also promised air ambulance at Lucknow, ambulance for animals, free treatment to those with Rs 1.5 lakh annual income and one litre ghee a month to improve the health of malnourished children. Akhilesh exuded confidence that his party will sweep 300 of the 403 seats, up from 224 it had won in 2017. Referring to his dream project, Lucknow-Agra expressway, he said it has reduced the travel time considerably. "Those who have travelled know it the best," he said. "If given chance, it (expressway) will reach Ghazipur and Ballia," he said. The SP manifesto also promised setting up of 'mandi' (market) and skill develoment centres in rural areas to give a boost to the state's economy. He said while SP was anxious for the state's development, BSP was preoccupied with bigger statues of elephants to surpass the huge statue of Janeshwar Mishra here or Shivaji statue in Maharashtra. In an apparent reference to the ups and downs in the state politics, he turned philosophical and said, "Hame jaise jaise din dekhe the dekh liye, bahut kam samay mein...acche bure kharab sab dekh liye... "Please tell me what is acche din...what is your definition of acchey din...many times attempts were made to vitiate the atmosphere in the state...trust me again and let us form government. Balanced development will be carried forward...," he said. Earlier, addressing workers, party leader Ahmad Hasan termed BSP surpemo as "anti-Muslim", claiming that in her regime "there were no Muslim DMs in any of 75 districts. Even an eligible Muslim officer was not made Chief Secretary." "She had sought vote for Modi in Gujarat and you all should be aware of it," he said. "In past five years, SP government has fulfilled all promises it made in its 2012 manifesto. Akhilesh had faced challenges, both political and governance. But, we salute him for his initiatives. Everyone in the state trusts him," he said. Hasan alleged that Mayawati had made a "record in corruption" and National Rural Health Mission scam alone was to the tune of over Rs 5,000 crore. Party vice president Kironmay Nanda said this Assembly elections is crucial and SP will form government for the second time. "There is no alternative to SP. In 2012, the state was backward and election was fought on the face of 'netaji' (Mulayam). We implemented all the schemes promised by us. UP will become Uttam Pradesh in our next regime," Nanda said. New slogans like "Jiska UP, Uska Desh; Bachcha Bachcha Akhilesh" (Country belongs to that party which rules UP, it is Akhilesh all over). Akhilesh's wife Dimple attended the manifesto release function for the first time and posed with him donning the bright red SP cap. It released a few other papers claiming that the Chief Minister was participant in some of the sessions at WEF. (Photo: Video grab) Amaravati: Clearing air over the controversy surrounding recent visit of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to Davos for the World Economic Forum, the office of state government's communications advisor on Sunday issued letters claiming that the CM was indeed "invited" for the annual event in Switzerland. The communications advisors office also released a letter sent by World Economic Forum (WEF) managing board member Philipp Rosler "inviting" Naidu for the conference. It released a few other papers claiming that the Chief Minister was participant in some of the sessions at WEF. "The news in circulation in some quarters that the CM was not a special invitee at Davos and that his name did not figure in the list of speakers is false and amounts to false propaganda," the communications advisors office said. Opposition parties had dubbed Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's recent trip to Davos as a "publicity stunt" and alleged that he was not an invitee to the event but a paid delegate. They had demanded that the CM give an explanation to the people in this regard. State Congress vice-president Nadendla Manohar wrote a letter to Chief Minister today demanding that the latter gave an explanation to the people on Davos trip for which the government spent over Rs 7.27 crore. "Your trip leaves a lot of suspicion that you are spending crores of rupees of public money just to garner publicity. "You sought to make people believe that your annual trips to Davos were bringing in crores of rupees as investment into the state. "But in reality nothing has happened," Manohar pointed out in the letter. YSR Congress spokesman Ambati Rambabu alleged that the Chief Minister was not an invitee to the annual WEF conference but attended it by paying USD 3.2 lakh as a delegate. Guwahati: Two suspected Naga rebels were killed in an encounter with the Assam Rifle, which also lost two of its soldiers in an ambush by heavily armed rebels in Upper Assams Tinsukia district on Sunday. The incident took place at Barabasti 12th Mile on NH-53 near Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border. Five army soldiers were also injured in ambush and shifted to base hospital at Tinsukia for treatment. Though, security sources claimed it to be a joint operation of anti-talk faction of the Ulfa (I) and National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang faction), the Ulfa (I) rebels called up local newspapers claiming the responsibility for the ambush. The defence spokesperson Colonel Suneet Newton said that army soldiers were on routine area domination duty when ambush took place. We have also killed two militants in retaliatory fire on militants, he said adding that militants were targeting to disturb a religious congregation--an annual event at Parshuram Kund. Pointing out that army was dominating the area to keep hundreds of domestic as well as foreign tourists coming from Nepal protected, he said that army has launched massive combing operations in the area. Informing that there were 15 to 20 militants who laid ambush, security sources said that security forces had prior alert about the movement of militants in the area. Pointing out that Assam Police was also alerted about the militants plan to target security forces in the run up to the Republic Day, security sources said that Ulfa (I) has been trying hard to escalate the offensive against the security forces to make their presence felt. Meanwhile, hundreds of tourists were struck on the national highways-53 in between Nampong in Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh and Jagun in Assam following the encounter between army and militants. Most of them were returning from Parshuram Kund Mela. The Ulfa (I) and NSCN-K in a similar joint operations had ambushed an army convoy in Tinsukia district in November 2016 also and killed three army soldiers. From New Delhi to Kolkata in the east, Chennai in the south and Mumbai in the west, activists, students, and professionals gathered at marches and street plays or sang songs and recited poetry on equality for women. (Photo: PTI) Bengaluru: Hundreds of women gathered in over 30 towns and cities across the country late on Saturday, saying they were "occupying the night streets" to demand safety in public spaces after reports of the mass molestation of women in Bengaluru on New Year's Eve. In Bengaluru, protesters marched from the City Central Railway Station till Freedom Park . The protesters, accompanied by drummers, chanted slogans like "my body, my right" and "freedom for women". Senior citizens, students, children, men, women and members of transgender community took part in the protest. It was the first march of its kind in the city after the New Year's Eve incidents. Bindu Malini, a city-based artist, along with Deepti Sudhindra among others performed at Freedom Park . Passages from The Vagina Monologues by author Eve Esler were read and a petition was proposed asking the state government to make public spaces safe for women. We are angry. There is no denying that we aren't as safe as we need to be. Shockingly, we found out that most of Rs 300 crore set aside for women safety has not been used. Karnataka has not mentioned a single line in the budget about making urban spaces safe for women and that needs to change. It is a long struggle but this is only the beginning. Women need to come out and stand together in the fight," said Tara Krishnaswamy, a member of Citizens for Bengaluru. Organisers of the 300-strong march said most women have experienced being pinched, groped, molested, or faced lewd comments in public -- from travelling on the bus to shopping in the market to walking in the street. "I have so many stories of being made to feel uncomfortable in public spaces," said Divya Titus, one of the organisers of the Bengaluru march. "Despite a legislation, we still see sexual harassment. I decided enough is enough. We have to stop normalising these events." From New Delhi to Kolkata in the east, Chennai in the south and Mumbai in the west, activists, students, and professionals gathered at marches and street plays or sang songs and recited poetry on equality for women. The participants, which also included many men, chanted slogans such as "Freedom, Freedom, Freedom!" and held banners saying "Take back the night. Break the silence. End the violence" and "Nobody asks what my molester was wearing." "Since the age of 12, I have never felt comfortable or safe on the streets - day or night, but first time I have ever attended a march like this ," said Anuradha Sinha, 37, a program manager at a e-commerce company. "I have a 3-year-old daughter and given the situation we face today in terms of sexual harassment, I don't want my daughter to grow up and endure we have to go through every day. It has to change." The marches coincided with marches being held around the world following U.S. President Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday, but organisers of the #IWillGoOut campaign said their demands were different from those in other countries. The campaign in India was launched this month after reports of sexual assaults during celebrations on Dec. 31 in Bengaluru, where several women were allegedly groped and assaulted by a mob in the city's central business district. The state home minister later told television networks "such incidents do happen", while another politician blamed women for following "western culture", dressing inappropriately and staying out late. The attacks, reminiscent of those blamed on migrants in German cities during New Year's Eve celebrations in 2015, shocked many Indians, since Bengaluru, home to many well-educated professionals, is regarded as safer for women than New Delhi. Lucknow: The Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) on Sunday resolved differences over seat sharing for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh polls, with the Congress getting 105 seats to contest. According to reports, Congress leaders said that the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP has offered the party 105 seats, an offer which has been accepted. On Saturday, the Congress had asked for 110 seats and had rejected an offer of 99. After initial talks failed to solve the deadlock, Congress President Sonia Gandhi had stepped in late on Saturday. On Sunday, Congress leader Ahmed Patel denied reports that junior leaders of the Congress had been involved in the negotiations. Discussions took place at the highest level, between Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav, Priyanka Gandhi and others, he asserted. The fate of the SP-Congress alliance hung in the balance on Friday after Akhilesh Yadav announced candidates for 191 seats, of which 7 seats were already held by Congress MLAs. This ruffled feathers in the grand old party and put the possibility of an alliance in doubt. SP leaders had at the time said that no more than 80 to 85 seats would be allotted to the Congress. Meanwhile, the SP is set to release its election manifesto on Sunday. 403 Assembly seats in UP go to the polls starting February 11. The ruling SP, which recently emerged from a feud between Akhilesh and his father Mulayam, has claimed that an alliance with the Congress would help the coalition win over 300 seats. Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad on Sunday said he has been discussing with the Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) for forging an alliance in Uttar Pradesh where Assembly election will be held in February and March. "I have been consistently in talks with Samajwadi Party and Congress' top leadership for stitching an alliance between the three parties in Uttar Pradesh," he said in a tweet. "Hoping and doing my best to stitch the Bihar-like alliance," Prasad said. The ruling coalition in Bihar consists of RJD, JD(U) and Congress. While Chief Minister Nitish Kumar belongs to JD(U), RJD has the maximum MLAs in the alliance. Prasad, who has family ties with Samajwadi Party leaders, had tried in vain to intervene in the battle for party's leadership between Mulayam Singh Yadav and his Chief Minister son Akhilesh Yadav last month. Once Akhilesh, who finally wrested the SP chief's post from his father and got its 'bicycle' symbol from the Election Commission, the Prasad family pitched its support to him and promised to campaign for the faction led by him. Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach attends Fashion 4 Development's 6th Annual Official First Ladies Luncheon at The Pierre Hotel. (Photo : Craig Barritt/Getty Images) Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach has revealed what fans can anticipate from her after she passes the crown to her successor in the forthcoming beauty pageant on Jan. 30. Wurtzbach is back in her home country, Philippines, for the pre-pageant activities of the 65th Miss Universe. In an interview with one of the big networks in the Philippines, she revealed that she was tapped by the Miss Universe Organization to be an ambassador after her reign. Advertisement "They did mention that to me before I left New York. We're still finalizing everything now with the legal team of Miss Universe. She (MUO President Paula Shugart) was right, we did talk about that, so I guess I'm staying," she said when asked by the reporter to talk about her ambassadorial post. It seemed that the executives of the Miss Universe organization have fallen in love with Wurtzbach's charms and hardwork. It should be noted that the reigning beauty queen has worked non-stop for the advocacies and causes that the organization supports. Meanwhile, Wurtzbach will stay in the Philippines until February to shoot commercials. She admitted that her schedule for next month is already full. After her endorsement shoots, she will fly back to New York to fulfill her duties and responsibilities as an ambassador of the organization. Apart from endorsements and being an ambassador, Wurtzbach could also be opening herself to acting opportunities in the international scene. She will appear as a special guest in the upcoming Asia's Next Top Model Cycle 5. She already wrapped up the filming of the episode in December. The 65th Miss Universe will be held in Manila, Philippines on Jan. 30. Watch the video of Pia Wurtzbach below. Vadodara: The wife of an Indian fisherman, who died in a Pakistani jail, has urged External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, to find out the cause behind his sudden death. Jeeva Bhagwan Bamnaiya, a native of Khan village in Gujarat's Gir Somnath district, died in a Karachi jail on January 4, a day before 218 Indian fishermen, mostly from the state, were released by Pakistan as a "goodwill gesture". The deceased was among the group of Indian fishermen who were lodged in the Pakistani jail. Bamnaiya was also supposed to be released along with them on January 5. Bamnaiya 's wife Vegiben, in a statement issued here, urged Swaraj to find out the exact cause behind Jeeva's death. Vegiben narrated "the incidents as told to her by the other Indian fishermen, who were freed, before the death of her husband." "It is necessary to know the exact cause behind the sudden death of my husband," she demanded. Earlier, Rajya Sabha member Parimal Nathwani had also written to Swaraj to take up with her Pakistani counterpart the issue of expediting the process to bring Bamnaiya's body back to his native place. Meanwhile, Gujarat Fishermen Association's senior vice-president Veljibhai Masani requested the Gujarat government to provide financial aid to Vegiben. New Delhi: The Human Resource Development Ministry has rejected an RTI appeal for making public a panels report on the death of research scholar Rohith Vemula in University of Hyderabad. Replying to an RTI query, the ministry had said that the file concerned was under submission and a copy of the report cannot be provided. Aggrieved at the response, an appeal was filed with the First Appellate Authority of the ministry. As such I do not find any infirmity with the reply of the Central Public Information Officer (given earlier) and your appeal stands disposed of as far as the answering Appellate Authority is concerned, the HRD Ministry said in reply to the appeal. The HRD Ministry had in February last year appointed a Commission of Inquiry under Justice (retired) Ashok Kumar Roopanwal to look into the events at University of Hyderabad, culminating in the suicide by Vemula. It was also tasked with reviewing the existing grievance redressal mechanism for students at the university and to suggest improvements. The Commission was asked to submit its report within three months of its formation. After the panel submitted its report to the Ministry, media reports had claimed that the Commission had raised questions on Vemulas Dalit status and attributed his suicide to personal reasons. The university authorities too have been absolved of any blame for Vemulas death as the Commission held that they were not working under political pressure, the reports said. Vemulas suicide in January 2016 had triggered a huge political furore with the then HRD Minister Smriti Irani coming under attack, along with Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya who had written a letter to the former related to the matter. If you are not satisfied with this reply, you may like to prefer second appeal before Central Information Commission, the Appellate Authority said. Youngsters and students during the protest to lift ban on jallikattu and impose ban on PETA, at Kamarajar Salai, Marina Beach in Chennai on Saturday. (Photo: PTI) Chennai: Jallikattu began in parts of Tamil Nadu on Sunday, including Tiruchirappalli district, with traditional fervour even as protests continued at Alanganallur in Madurai, where people refused to hold the famous sport seeking a "permanent solution". Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who had on Saturday said that he would inaugurate the event at Alanganallur, is now expected to do so in neighbouring Dindigul district. The bull taming sport began at Manapparai in Tiruchirappali district with thousands witnessing the event as bulls roared out into the sporting arena. Youths tried to hold on to the hump for a brief distance as the animals sped fast towards the exit. Hundreds of bulls and youths participated in the show. Owners of winning animals and youngsters were awarded with prize money. 'Manjuvirattu', another form of jallikattu, was reported from villages in Dharmpauri district. Sections of protesters continued to stay put at several locations in the state, including the Marina here. At Alanganallur several sections of agitators declined to hold the sport. They blocked the ways to the entry and exit points of the sprawling sporting area. A group of organisers removed the bulls from the arena as well. They demanded a permanent solution, declining to accept the ordinance promulgated to hold the sport. According to the officials, Panneerselvam is now expected to inaugurate Jallikattu at Kovilpatti near Natham in Dindigul district. Jallikattu remained banned following a Supreme Court order in May 2014. Meanwhile, officials were also making arrangements for holding Jallikattu in Alanganallur. Officials are trying to pacify and convince Jallikattu organisers that the ordinance is the permanent solution. Agitators were told that the ordinance will be replaced by a law. A Bill in this regard will be adopted in the Assembly and it will become a permanent law and solution as well, they said. Jallikattu was inaugurated by Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar in Pudukottai where hundreds of youngsters are competing. Bulls are being let into the sporting arena one by one and the youths are trying to jump on to the hump of the bulls which are trained to not allow participants to get near them. The sport is being witnessed by thousands of spectators. Top district police and local government officials are overseeing the conduct of the sport. They said all precautionary, security measures are in place. Meanwhile, "Rekla Race" (Ox cart race) popular in the "Kongu" region (Western Tamil Nadu) of the State is all set to start at the sprawling Codisa Grounds in the textile city of Coimbatore. Each two-wheeled cart will be driven by its owner and the cart will be steered by two bulls latched on to the yoke. Shortly, Local Administration and Rural Development Minister S P Velumani will inaugurate the race in which many enthusiastic participants are in the fray. The sport will be held in two categories, 200 and 300 meters race for "junior" and "senior" categories of bulls. Officials have so far identified 23 bodies of the 39 passengers who died. (Photo: DC) New Delhi: With Railway suspecting sabotage in derailment of Hirakhand Express in Andhra Pradesh, the Home Ministry may ask the NIA to include the incident in its ongoing probe into possible role of Pakistan spy agency ISI in Indore-Patna Express mishap last year. "The Home Ministry may ask the NIA to see if the derailment in Andhra Pradesh today was a subversive act. The NIA can expand the scope of their ongoing probe," official sources said. The National Investigation Agency is looking into the claims of three arrested persons that the derailment of Indore-Patna express on November 20, 2016 in which at least 150 people were killed, was carried out at the behest of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The trio -- Moti Paswan, Uma Shankar and Mukesh Yadav -- were arrested last week from East Champaran district of Bihar. They had claimed to have got Rs 3 lakh to plant improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at Ghorasahan railway station under the district on October 1 last year. Bihar Police has reportedly recovered the IEDs. A team of NIA officials has already gone to Bihar to probe the accused and verify their claim. The three arrested persons have reportedly "confessed" about the ISI's possible role in the last year's derailment. They also claimed to be working for the ISI, the sources said. At least 39 people lost their lives due to the derailment of Hirakhand Express at Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh last night. Railway spokesperson Anil Saxena said there are indications of foul play as a goods train passed the same track just two hours before the mishap, which occurred in the Naxal-prone zone just ahead of the Republic Day. However, Odisha Police ruled out involvement of Naxals in the mishap. Odisha DGP K B Singh said "there is no indication of Maoist hand behind the derailment". According to railways, prima facie there was rail fracture which caused the derailment. But it has to be ascertained through whether the fracture was due to sabotage or because of negligence and lack of maintenance. "The real cause will be known only after inquiry by the Commissioner Railway Safety," Saxena said. "There are indications of foul play as goods train passed the same track just two hours before the mishap. The inspection by the patrol team also found the track okay yesterday," he said. "The driver applied emergency brake after feeling a big jerk and heard a loud sound. The area is Naxal prone and the incident happened just ahead of Republic Day," Saxena said. Railway Protection Force Director General S K Bhagat said, "Nothing can be ruled out right now. But the actual cause will be ascertained only after the inquiry." Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu said all angles will be probed and "stringent action" will be taken against those found responsible for it. "Those responsible for the derailment will not be spared ... Stringent action will be taken against those who played with the lives of so many people," he said. The mishap comes at a time when Railway Protection Force is on extra vigil in view of Republic Day as there is always apprehension of terror attacks around this period. Besides, railways has strengthened the safety preparedness after two consecutive train derailments near Kanpur recently, including the one in November. Meanwhile, East Coast Railways, Bhubaneswar, issued a notification that an inquiry by Commissioner of Railway Safety will commence tomorrow. Ram Kripal, Commissioner of Railway Safety, South Central Circle, will hold a statutory inquiry commencing from 5.30 pm tomorrow, the notification said. Officials also said they have so far identified 23 bodies of the 39 passengers who died. Amritsar: A Thailand national on Sunday lodged a police complaint alleging she was molested by the son of a hotel owner here, police said. In her complaint, the Bangkok-based woman said she was molested by the accused at the hotel in which she was staying during her visit to the city on November 6, 2016. Prabhjot Singh has been booked and the case is being investigated, police said. No arrest has been made in this connection, they said. The bill would replace the ordinance, promulgated yesterday for conducting the bull taming sport after a three-year-long ban. (Photo: PTI) Chennai: The Jallikattu issue is likely to dominate the Tamil Nadu Assembly session beginning tomorrow with the AIADMK government set to move a bill to replace the ordinance for the conduct of the bull taming sport and amend the PCA Act. The session, likely to be brief, is being held at a crucial juncture with the state witnessing raging protests over Jallikattu. The assembly is meeting for the first time after late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's death on December 5, 2016. Being the first session of the year, it would open with the customary Governor's Address. The O Panneerselvam-led AIADMK government is all set to move the bill to amend the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, with the main opposition DMK and its allies Congress and IUML, expected to lend their support. The bill would replace the ordinance, promulgated yesterday for conducting the bull taming sport after a three-year-long ban. Though it has a window of six months to replace the ordinance, the government has made it clear that the bill would be moved during this session itself. The protesters have dubbed the ordinance as a temporary measure and sought a 'permanent solution' for the conduct of Jallikattu. >>>> Despite rain, people are seen participating in the protest demanding permanent solution for jallikattu at Tamukkam in Madurai, on Saturday (Photo: K. Manikandan) Madurai: Uncertainty hangs over the conduct of jallikattu at Alanganallur on Sunday, whose village festival committee on Saturday evening dedicated the proposed event to the youth, even as local people refused to let the authorities inside the town. But the authorities are doubly keen to ensure the event takes place without any hitch. Though the village festival committees of Alanganallur, Avaniyapuram and Palamedu have agreed to conduct the jallikattu following the ordinance promulgated by Tamil Nadu Governor enabling the sport, the people protesting at Alanganallur have opposed the move. "Until the government finds a permanent solution for the conduct of jallikattu for every Pongal, we will not allow the event at Alanganallur," said the protesters who blocked the main road in the town preventing the collector Veera Raghava Rao and SP, Vijayendra S Bidari from inspecting the 'Vaadivasal (the entry point of bulls into the arena)'. Mr. Veera Raghava Rao tried to pacify the agitators stating that the ordinance promulgated would enable for the conduct of jallikattu permanently. "According to the ordinance, the government can conduct jallikattu in all the notified villages. After Alanganallur, we will organise the event at Avaniyapuram and Palamedu in the coming week, which also got notified in Madurai district," The collector told reporters that though the Alanganallur Jallikattu Vizha (Festival) Committee and the villagers have agreed for the conduct of the event, it was the youths who were now opposing it. "The government has brought in the ordinance respecting the sentiments of Tamil people. It is not right to oppose it," he said. Yet, thousands of villagers at the protest site refused to agree with the authorities' views. Though the protesters tried to stall the arrangement made by district administration, the district collector Rao is to go ahead. "We will erect double barricades for eight feet in the bull catchment areas and around the gallery. As many as 17 animal husbandry teams have been formed to check the bulls' health and 20 medical teams to examine the bull tamers who participate in the event," he said. At least11 '108 ambulance' service, 15 mobile medical teams and five fire engines would be deployed in the venue to attend to any emergency. Nearly 2,500 police personnel would be deployed for security and to help conduct the event peacefully. As more number of people are expected to participate in the event, the authorities have decided to set up 15 LED screens at the venue. After Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam held meeting with officials here late evening Saturday, state cooperation minister Sellur K. Raju and P.R. Rajasekaran, president of Jallikattu Pervaai have left to Alanganallur to convince protesters to give up agitation and facilitate conduct of the bull sport. We are making efforts to make the people understand the ordinance and the legislation that will follow, so that they will cooperate in the conduct of jallikattu on Sunday, said an official. Hyderabad: Traffic and civic problems are are never ending for the residents of Golconda. These issues are also a major concern for tourists who come from various parts of the country to visit the historical monument. The tourists, especially from abroad, feel sad looking at the condition of roads as most of the garbage is always seen lying by roadsides. Ms. Marilyn, a citizen of Venezuela, who came to India for a months holiday said, I have been to Agra, Mumbai and now Hyderabad. People of this city are very warm and welcoming, but the condition of these monuments are deteriorating as they are not maintained properly. I visited Hyderabad a few years ago but at that time these structures and the roads were well-maintained. The roads leading to Golconda are filled with the stink of garbage as it is thrown on roadsides in front of shops, which is very unhygienic, said the visitor. Moreover, the Fateh Darwaza which was one of the pathways to the fort is now in a dilapidated condition. Also, the Moti Darwaza which led to Heerakhana once upon a time is neglected now as most of the garbage is thrown near this darwaza. This pathway was used to import pearls and diamonds into the monument during the days gone by. Today, it is the stench of garbage that welcomes tourists visiting from this darwaza, as the garbage is dumped right in front of it. If the truck of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation doesnt come even for a single day, than the heap piles up like a mountain creating problems to residents and tourists, said Mr Md. Afzal a social worker. Mr Rohan Jain, a resident of Nanalnagar said, The traffic problems at the monument should be addressed as early as possible, as the roads leading to Golconda are narrow and with more tourists coming, the roads here get jammed very frequently throughout the year. Hyderabad: CPI(M) general secretary SitaramYechury on Sunday claimed that the BJP will taste another electoral defeat in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. Mocking at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said the voters of Delhi and Bihar had already given "talaq" to the saffron party and it was going to get the same "message" for the third time from the voters of Uttar Pradesh. "They are opposing triple talaq. BJP has already been given talaq twice in the Delhi and Bihar polls. Modi is going to get the third one from the people of Uttar Pradesh in the ensuing Assembly election. And finally, they will be ousted by the people in the 2019 general election," Yechury told a meeting organised by the Dalit Hakkula Sadhana Samiti here. He accused the Centre of "unleashing a financial emergency" in the name of demonetisation and claimed that the move was expected to have a bearing on the country's economic growth. Meanwhile, CPI general secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy said the NDA government did not take any step to arrest the likes of Lalit Modi and Vijay Mallya, while BJP leader Gali Janardhan Reddy was not arrested, in spite of spending a huge amount on his daughter's wedding after the currency ban. BR Ambedkar's grandson and former MP Prakash Ambedkar alleged that a major chunk of black money was deposited in the banks before November 8, the day Modi announced demonetisation. Lucknow: Samajwadi Party and Congress on Sunday forged an alliance to jointly contest all the 403 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, insisting it was done to prevent "communal BJP" from coming to power. The ruling Samajwadi Party will contest 298 of the state's 403 seats leaving the rest 105 for Congress. "For unity and integrity of India and following secular ideology, we will continue our fight under SP National president Akhilesh Yadav," state Samajwadi Party chief Naresh Uttam told a press conference addressed jointly with UP PCC president Raj Babbar. "The country's secular fabric will become stronger when Akhilesh Yadav becomes the chief minister again," Uttam said. He said the idea was to "uproot communal BJP" and make UP a leading state by removing both BJP and Mayawati's BSP. The PCC chief said Congress has accepted SP's offer of 105 seats keeping in mind the prevailing situation in the country and also the atmosphere in the state. "Keeping these factors in mind, Congress leadership agreed to strike an alliance to thwart BJP's divisive politics and at the same time to boost secularism and promote communal and social harmony. "Our ideologies are not different. We share many common ideologies," he said, adding both the parties believed in social justice and development, peace and good atmosphere. He said the alliance between the two youth leaders -- Akhilesh and Rahul Gandhi -- will ensure that politics transcends narrow boundaries of caste and religion. He also said BJP had created hardships for the people with its note ban decision. "Now people have an opportunity to teach BJP a lesson," he said. When asked to comment on Congress' slogan "27 saal, UP behaal" Raj Babbar said, "Now UP will embark on the rapid path of progress and there will be no 'badhali' (in a bad state)." Huge Portion of Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica is About to Break-off and Become an Iceberg The massive fissure on the Larsen C Shelf. (Photo : NASA) A massive chunk of ice estimated to be 5,000 square kilometers in area will soon break-off from Antarctica, a dismaying phenomenon some scientists are attributing to climate change. The fissure on Larsen C, the largest segment of the Larsen Ice Shelf, has grown by another 10 kilometers since the start of the year, bringing the rift's total length to 195 km. Only 19 km of ice now connects the future iceberg to it's the Larsen Ice shelf. The fissure is 300 meters wide. Advertisement Once the fissure extends from end to end, a giant iceberg larger than the U.S. state of Delaware will break off Antarctica to float into the Southern Ocean as a mammoth iceberg. This iceberg, one of the largest on record, will then break-up into smaller pieces over time as it melts in warmer waters. Scientists estimate an iceberg this huge plus the land ice it would set free to melt in the ocean will raise sea levels by about four millimeters. The loss of Larsen C "will fundamentally change the landscape of the Antarctic Peninsula," said Project MIDAS, a British Antarctic research project that's tracking the crack. While there isn't enough data to know to confirm if the split is a result of climate change, there's "good scientific evidence" climate change caused thinning of the ice shelf, said British researchers. "When it calves (or breaks-off), the Larsen C Ice Shelf will lose more than 10% of its area to leave the ice front at its most retreated position ever recorded; this event will fundamentally change the landscape of the Antarctic Peninsula," said the researchers. "We have previously shown that the new configuration will be less stable than it was prior to the rift, and that Larsen C may eventually follow the example of its neighbor Larsen B, which disintegrated in 2002 following a similar rift-induced calving event." As America inaugurated its 45th President in Washington D.C. on Friday, the world waited with trepidation to hear President Donald Trump, the crusader for Making America Great Again and champion of the forgotten men and women of our country, spell out his agenda for the next four years. Mr Trump emphatically restated old themes, combining populism and nationalism, standard fare in his pre-election stump speeches. The question being asked is whether he is overturning the post-World War II liberal order created under American leadership that ushered the birth of the United Nations at San Francisco, the Marshall Plan to lift both the vanquished and allied nations in Europe, the World Bank and Bretton Woods institutions to spread American aid and Nato to fashion a common defence. He achingly noted that the American dream is redistributed across the entire world. Richard N. Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, was quoted by the New York Times that Harry Truman, Dean Acheson and others who followed had sought World First and not America First. What does the phrase America First really imply? Basically, all nationalistic leaders ranging from President Xi Jinping of China to Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India want their own countrys interests held supreme. However, for the United States, as underwriter of global regimes, US exceptionalism has been about not only espousing liberal and democratic ideals, but spreading them globally. President John F. Kennedy had in 1961 committed his country to protect human rights at home and around the world. George W. Bush expended tremendous national resources attempting to plant democracy in Saddam Husseins Iraq and Talibanised Afghanistan. It is this evangelism that Mr Trump is now tampering with realism. The US will no longer drain its resources to protect allies or carry unevenly large weight in alliances. He is rejigging a phrase used by Charles Lindbergh in the 1930s to advocate US isolationism. He explained in an election-time interview that he was using it as a brand new, very modern term. There was nothing modern in certain parts of his inaugural address that tackled the theme in clearly counter-globalisation and anti-free trade terms. He said US interests would take primacy over trade, taxes and foreign policy. His slogan Buy American, Hire American, which he tweeted immediately in bold letters, broadcast unadulterated protectionism, flouting international trade and investment regimes or agreements to which the US is a party. But his dark worldview is fraught with contradictions and paradoxes, which will challenge his Cabinet while it is translating this into actual policy. Take his pledge to eradicate radical Islamic terror from the face of the planet. Many in India hope that it provides a ledge to rest Indias angst over Pakistani sponsorship of anti-India terror groups. But for him, so far, it seems limited to ISIS. Additionally he has not understood, despite US experience since 2001, that counter-terrorism cannot succeed without conquering the hearts and minds of Muslims simultaneously. President Barack Obama had attempted in 2009 in his address at Cairo University to do that, but the subsequent Arab Spring altered the framework. Mr Trump contrariwise has chided the United Nations over the UN Security Council resolution which condemned new Israeli settlements in occupied West Bank. Mr Trump also favours moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Both or either of these acts will add to disaffection in the Islamic world. Furthermore, outsourcing the fight against ISIS to Russia while needling Iran will be a non-starter as those two countries are working in tandem to stabilise Syria, including by ruthless means like bombing Aleppo unmindful of the loss of civilian lives. What does a Trump presidency augur for India? Clearly, there is cause for concern regarding US visa policies, that will hit information technology workers or even Indian students, as post-study job permits might be restricted. Mr Trumps partiality towards Vladimir Putin may create convergence about fighting ISIS but not necessarily Indias terror problem. In fact, it may solidify the emerging Russia-China-Pakistan-Iran agreement that ISIS is the primary menace and that the Taliban in Afghanistan thus an automatic ally, and not an antagonist threatening the elected regime in Kabul. That would upend Indias Afghanistan policy. Of greater interest to India should be Sino-US relations. A trade war can unleash forces that may damage China more than the US, which could up the ante by calling Chinas bluff on its militarisation of artificial islands in the South China Sea in breach of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Contrariwise, Mr Trump may compromise on the South China Sea issue, accepting the status quo while barring more dredging and militarisation, provided his trade-related demands are met. Thus, it would be wise for India not to slipstream behind the US while remaining prepared to exploit the situation as it evolves. The US will attempt to outsource regional security duties to friends and allies as it reduces its own financial burden. India will have to hedge and balance. The Trump presidency thus brings uncertainty as he experiments to resolve the paradox between America First and the interconnected nature of global economy and supply chains and US commitments to allies. For instance, trade with Mexico may be low single-digit as a portion of US GDP, but it affects at least five million US jobs. Similarly, counter-measures by China, reacting to the imposition of duties on their products, may have unforeseen effect on US households as costs rise. Mr Trump will discover that populism may be fine with a megaphone in hand or a Twitter button under control, but the Oval Office and the long arc of history will force reality on him. But one certainty looms that the 45th US Chief Executive will always be The Donald before being President Trump. After nearly two weeks dramatic developments over the split in the Samajwadi Party and the claims of the two factions, the Election Commission delivered its verdict in favour of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. One newspaper headline screamed: Election Commission gifts Samajwadi Party & cycle symbol to Akhilesh Yadav. Some eyebrows were raised about ECs disposal of the case in a record time of less than two weeks. Some even tried to look for motives. All that is a great deal of distortion of facts and a lot of interpretation. We need to understand the law, its processes and the practice followed by the commission in the past. The split in a political party is a subject under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order 1968, which gives the EC exclusive power to decide on the split. As per para 15, the EC can decide in favour of any faction or freeze the symbol. The EC has not gifted the name of the party and its symbol to Akhilesh Yadav, but has only adjudicated in his favour. The procedure that the EC followed was exactly as it has always done. Before 1968, the commission issued notifications and executive orders under the Conduct of Election Rules 1961. The best-known split before the order was in 1964 when the Communist Party split and one faction approached the EC not to recognise it is the real party, but with a new name the Communist Party of India (Marxist). The EC did not have to wait long after the 1968 order. Within a year, there was a split in the Congress when the old guard, known as the Syndicate, expelled then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for not supporting the official candidate for President of India. Indira Gandhi did not claim the ownership of the parent body but got her group recognised as the new Congress (I), while the other group was named Congress (O). Indira was given the symbol of cow and calf, while the latter was allowed to retain the pair of bullocks (Sadiq Ali vs Election Commission of India, 1972). The most significant aspect of this judgment is that the Supreme Court upheld para 15 of the Symbols Order, deriving its authority from Article 324, which gives a reservoir of powers for all matters relating to superintendence, direction and control of all elections. After 1971, Indira faction was recognised as the real Congress and allowed to retain the cow and calf symbol. The Congress split again in 1978. On this occasion, the cow and calf was frozen and Indira chose the hand as the party symbol, the other faction opting for charkha. After M.G. Ramachandrans death, two factions of the AIADMK emerged one under his wife Janaki and the other under Jayalalithaa. The EC refused to recognise either of the two factions and froze the partys two leaves symbol. Later, the two factions merged under Jayalalithaa and she got back two leaves. In 1994, N. Chandrababu Naidu was allowed to retain the cycle symbol. Thus there are precedents when the original symbol was frozen or alotted to one faction, depending on the support they enjoyed. In all these cases, the EC has applied the test of majority, which had been upheld by the Supreme Court as early as 1972. In the current case, the EC found a clear majority with the Akhilesh faction, which had produced evidence of almost 90 per cent support both in the organisation and in the legislatures. Was the ECs decision taken in haste, that too for some inexplicable reason? Not at all. The EC is an efficient organisation known for its impartiality and quick decision-making. What facilitated the quick decision was a virtual no-show by the parent group, which provided absolutely no evidence, despite repeated reminders and after being given a lot of opportunities. What helped the Akhilesh group was the prompt generation of evidence and its presentation, thanks to Ram Gopal Yadavs enormous experience of election laws. The anti-climax of Mulayam Singh Yadav extending support to Akhilesh after all the battle is also not unprecedented, as clear from the above analysis. Parties have split and then remerged in the past too. Therefore, far from being frowned upon, the EC deserves kudos for its smart and timely decision. There was immense political expediency in the Centres hurried endorsement of a Tamil Nadu ordinance removing the bull from the Prevention of Animal Cruelty Acts ambit. Politicians in Chennai and New Delhi may have had no alternative but to act swiftly amid rising protests at Chennais Marina Beach and elsewhere. As tradition trumped modernity, the bulls ran in parts of Tamil Nadu in Jallikattu and rekla races on Sunday, but not in the most traditional centre, Alanganallur near Madurai, where the protesters refused to allow the chief minister to flag off the event. The protesters seek a solution more permanent than the ordinance, so an impasse looms, defeating the efforts to allow Jallikattu to be freely held. Emotions are still running high after a public uprising was triggered by the Supreme Courts ban on Jallikattu, a movement that had no recent parallel, not being politically or ideologically inspired. The protests became a rallying point for Tamil pride, dented somewhat in events ranging from the lack of Cauvery waters, leading to a high number of farmer deaths in the harvest season, to the festering fishermens issue with Sri Lanka. The Tamil Nadu government has promised a more wholesome solution in a law to be passed in the Assembly, which the judiciary can later examine regarding its legitimacy. Given the depth of public sentiments, the issue is a tricky one for the legislature as well as judiciary, with only the executive having acted with alacrity to satisfy the growing public demand for a cultural tradition, which however is laced with cruelty to bulls in the form in which Jallikattu is now practised. The principal antagonist and prime litigant in this is the international organisation Peta, much reviled at this point, but which also has many things to hide like the euthanasia practices to put down abandoned animals in its care and its sometimes violent demonstrativeness. The major point in the debate is, however, not Peta but whether Jallikattu is so offensive a traditional practice that it cant be allowed, and whether cultural symbols can be suppressed by the courts, which may be far removed from ground realities. The judiciary is by no means infallible and yet it must always act on constitutional principles and not pander to public sentiments. However, a sanitised version of Jallikattu, in which the bulls come to little injury in a one-day sport, would do no harm in a country that is a leading exporter of beef, with its concomitant processes of animal slaughter. There are bigger issues like child marriage and harassment of women, that must occupy our minds more than a few bulls running in an ancient pastime. Jallikattu cant be a defining debate between culture and change, between tradition and modernity. Amid some controversy, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar used the power of government to end liquor consumption in the state last April, and further tightened the laws in August. The effort is worth a look at the social and political level. The CM led a huge rally on Saturday at Patnas famous Ramlila Maidan to spread the message of anti-alcoholism. However, no data has been adduced to show that this is a problem that needed addressing. It is generally thought that speaking out against liquor consumption is popular with women from the poorer sections of society, where men are often thought to drink away hard-earned family incomes. There is again no data for Bihar to suggest that alcohol is killing people or ruining families. Mr Kumar has a very small caste base of his own. He hopes women cutting across caste lines will back him vigorously for attacking a social evil. But its doubtful if his party can win a sufficient number of seats on this count alone to make him leader of the government, without the aid of viable allies. Alcoholism is a disease but the moderate consumption of alcohol socially isnt really harmful and is in fact often recommended for medical reasons. After all, playing cards can be used for a game of bridge or to gamble. When the culture of banning food or drink takes over, the state frequently misses doing its essential tasks and slips into devising moral codes that goons often take advantage of to enhance their power or to make money. Xiaomi India, in a recent tweet back in November had stated that it had started accepting applications for the Android Nougat Alpha build for Mi5 users. Leading Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has started rolling out the Android 7.0 Nougat update within the MIUI 8. The update is still in its beta phase. Currently, as of now Mi5 has been selected for the Nougat beta testing program with the final build version rollout soon. Xiaomi India, in a recent tweet back in November had stated that it had started accepting applications for the Android Nougat Alpha build for Mi5 users. It was earlier rumoured that the Android 7.0 Nougat would be based on the MIUI 9 but it is revealed that the company is working within the MIUI 8. But as we see from the screenshot, the beta version has been released on the Mi5 which we updated the device with. Considering it is in the beta version, we would suggest the stable update for the 7.0 Nougat is in the works. The Android 7.0 Nougat OTA update was first available for the Nexus 6P and the Nexus 5X flagship smartphones, with Pixel running the Nougat from the box. The rollout then went for other OEM devices including Samsung, LG, HTC, Moto, Asus, OnePlus, Huawei and other smartphones. The final list for the MIUI 8 beta supported devices given in MIUI forum which will support the beta version of the 7.0 Nougat are Redmi 1S, Redmi 2, Redmi 2 Prime, Mi 3, Mi 4, Redmi Note 3 Qualcomm, Redmi Note 3 Special Edition, Redmi Note 4 MTK, Mi 4i, Redmi Note 2, Redmi Note 4G, Redmi Note Prime, Mi Max 32GB, Mi 2/2S, Mi 5, Mi 5s, Mi 5s Plus, Mi Note, Redmi 3/Prime, Redmi 3S/Prime, Redmi Note 4 Qualcomm. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. China's largest chip maker has announced it will invest $30 billion (roughly Rs. 2,04,579 crores) to build a new semiconductor factory, as the world's second largest economy seeks to reduce its dependence on foreign technology. The state-owned Tsinghua Unigroup will open the facility in the city of Nanjing in eastern Jiangsu province, where it will mainly produce chips used in consumer electronics such as cellphones, cameras and computers, according to a statement posted Thursday on the company's official website. The project "is of great significance to the independent innovation, large-scale production, and marketization of China's integrated circuit industry", the statement said. The announcement comes after attempts by the company to take-over US chip makers Micron Technology and Sandisk were curbed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) over national security concerns. Its ambitions to acquire American technology thwarted, Tsinghua Unigroup has shifted its focus to building plants in China, launching a $24 billion memory chip factory in Wuhan city last month, according to online news site Sohu. China was the largest market for semiconductors in the world in 2015. Its excessive dependence on imported chips has raised concern in Beijing over the country's national security, according to a report by the US Department of Commerce. In 2014, Chinese authorities pledged CNY 100 billion ($14.6 billion) to support the industry, with the aim of building a "globally competitive semiconductor sector by 2030", according to two statements by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in 2014 and 2015. In a speech on cybersecurity last April, Chinese president Xi Jinping warned that China must gain control of "core" technology, saying that leaving it in the hands of foreigners is "our greatest hidden danger." The drive by China to expand its role in the market, long dominated by US firms like Intel and Qualcomm, has raised concerns in Washington. A report to President Barack Obama by a presidential science panel last month warned that China is set to challenge American dominance in the industry. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. US President Donald Trump has apparently traded in his Android phone for a secure, encrypted device approved by the Secret Service with a new number that few people possess. Trump has been well-known for using Android phones; plenty of his tweets have suggested he prefers the platform when posting messages on-the-go. The change is akin to when former President Barack Obama had to give up his personal BlackBerry before entering the White House, though he has been known to continue carrying the device throughout his presidency. The switch from Android to a secure smartphone also comes with the Secret Service requesting Trump stop using his own airplane and adopt the more-secure Air Force One jet. "This week, he was forced to abandon his cherished 'Trump' 757 for an Air Force jet, and, according to people close to the transition, he has traded in his Android phone for a secure, encrypted device approved by the Secret Service with a new number that few people possess," The New York Times reported. While Obama did indeed continue to use other devices, his official smartphone apparently prevented him from doing much, even snapping photos. When Obama was given a smartphone to replace his BlackBerry he had said that the NSA told him, "Mr President for security reasons this is a great phone, state of the art, but it doesn't take pictures, you can't text, the phone doesn't work, you can't play your music on it". "Does your three-year-old have one of those play phones? With the stickers on it? That's basically the phone I've got," Obama had earlier said. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. In a bid to promote Aadhaar-based payment system, especially in rural pockets, UIDAI has favoured "incentives" for shopkeepers using the biometric mode for digital transactions, in line with commission given by banks to Business Correspondents. "If a merchant is using Aadhaar-enabled payment systems then he should be put at par with Business Correspondent and whatever facility and commission is available to the Business Correspondent, he should be paid on the same lines," Ajay Bhushan Pandey, CEO of UIDAI, told PTI. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is the nodal body responsible for rolling out the Aadhaar programme in the country. "We are saying wherever you do not have business corespondents, supposing a merchant is able to facilitate payment directly from the Aadhaar-linked bank account, then there has to be a system in which the merchant should get the incentive," he said. Doing this would be a win-win for banks too, Pandey said. "It is beneficial for banks also, because banks do not have to hand over that much cash to the Business Correspondent...it is a win-win situation," he added. Pandey said that incentivising shopkeepers who adopt the biometric payment system would also "remove an extra layer" as consumers today approach banks, ATMs or business correspondents for withdrawl of money to purchase items such as ration. "Once this incentive is given, it will give a solid push to digital payment particularly to those sections who do not have access to cards, smartphones, or internet banking. This section of the society will be best dealt, in this manner," he said. Noting the current incentive for Business Correspondent is up to one per cent of the transaction value subject to cap of Rs. 15, Pandey said where incentivising merchants is concerned banks could fix the modalities depending on transaction volumes. "So far as the banks are concerned nothing is changing... the banks were paying this kind of commission to the Business Correspondents and they will continue to pay at similar levels," he pointed out. Pandey said that discussion to this effect is on with all major banks. "They are also evaluating. They also need to take a considered decision. This is the beginning it will take some time," he said. Aadhaar-based payment system is currently being used by 1,10,000 business correspondents for disbursing cash, and is also being utilised in Common Service Centres to pay for various services. Digital payment channels like mobile wallets, USSD and RuPay have seen massive uptake and rise in transactions post demonetisation on November 8. Even in case of Aadhaar-enabled payment system, the volume of transactions have jumped 2.5 times post demonetisation from 6 lakh a day before November to 15 lakh transactions per day at present. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. This handout image received courtesy of Doctors Without Border (MSF) shows people standing next to destruction after an air force jet accidentally bombarded a camp for those displaced by Boko Haram Islamists, in Rann, northeast Nigeria. (Photo: AFP) Kano (Nigeria): As many as 236 people may have been killed in the botched Nigerian air strike against Boko Haram that hit a camp for civilians displaced by the unrest, a local official told AFP on Saturday. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) yesterday had said the death toll from Tuesday's strike on the town of Rann in the far northeast had risen to 90, although it claimed that could climb as high as 170. But Babagana Malarima, president of the local Kala-Balge government in Borno State where the strike took place, claimed the death toll is much higher. "From what the people who buried the dead victims with their hands told me, not those who treated the wounded, they buried 234 dead," said Malarima on Saturday. "And I later got a report that two of the injured taken to Maiduguri died." The bombed camp had been set up to help people fleeing Boko Haram Islamists in Borno State. Nigeria's air force said it was investigating the incident but military commanders had already claimed it was a mistake. "Our people are really traumatised that a fighter jet belonging to their country can make this mistake and kill them the way it did in their own country," fumed Malarima. "Lives and property have been lost. It is not enough to just bury the dead and pray for their souls. Their families should be supported as is done in other countries. They should not be forgotten. "The death toll is colossal. We are in grief." Tuesday's strike happened while humanitarian workers were distributing food in Rann, a small town close to the Cameroon border where some 20,000 to 40,000 people had sought refuge. MSF said most of the victims were women and children. At least six Red Cross volunteers were amongst the dead with another 13 injured. Rann only recently became accessible to aid agencies because of improved security. But yesterday night, security forces said Boko Haram launched an attack on Rann that was repulsed, leaving at least 14 militants dead. Nigeria's chief of army staff Lieutenant-General Tukur Buraitai said yesterday while visiting Rann that Thursday's attack showed the military were acting on credible intel. "This incident happened in the midst of a civilian population and it was based on intelligence received that Boko Haram had moved into the area," said Buraitai. "The air force was briefed and they came and the incident happened. "And yesterday we received a report that Boko Haram were back. Soldiers repelled them." Buraitai added: "This shows that there is credibility in the intelligence report we received that these people (Boko Haram) are moving into Kala-Balge area. "A mistake was made. We pray it doesn't happen again." At least 20,000 have been killed and more than 2.6 million made homeless since Boko Haram Islamists' insurgency began in 2009. Langley (Virginia): On his first full day in office, United States President Donald Trump on Saturday berated the media over its coverage of his inauguration, and turned a bridge-building first visit to CIA headquarters into an airing of grievances about "dishonest" journalists. But it was Trump who spread inaccuracies about the size of the crowds at his swearing in. Standing in front of a memorial for fallen CIA agents, Trump assured intelligence officials, "I am so behind you." He made no mention of his repeated criticism of the intelligence agencies following the election, including his public challenges of their high-confidence assessment that Russia meddled in the White House race to help him win. "There is nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community and CIA than Donald Trump," he said, blaming any suggestion of a "feud" on the media. Trump's decision to travel to CIA headquarters so quickly after taking office was seen as an attempt at a fresh start with the intelligence agencies he will now rely on for guidance as he makes weighty national security decisions. Following his private meeting with top CIA leaders, Trump said the U.S. had been "restrained" in its efforts to combat terrorism, calling the threat "a level of evil we haven't seen." But in unscripted, stream-of-consciousness remarks, Trump appeared more focused on settling scores with the media. He defensively touted the crowd size for his swearing-in ceremony, wrongly claiming that the throngs on the National Mall stretched "all the way back to the Washington Monument." Photos and video clearly showed the crowd stopping well short of the landmark. Trump's visit took place as throngs of women, many of them wearing bright pink, pointy-eared hats, descended on the nation's capital and other cities around the world for marches organized to push back against the new president. Hundreds of protesters lined the motorcade route as Trump sped back to the White House, many screaming and chanting at the president. The Washington rally alone attracted more than 500,000 people by the unofficial estimate of city officials. It appeared to be more people than attended Trump's inauguration on Friday, but there were no comparable numbers. The city did not release an estimate for the inauguration. The National Park Service does not provide crowd counts. During his remarks at the CIA, the president claimed the inaugural crowds topped 1 million people, offering no evidence. Suggestions that weak enthusiasm accompanied his inauguration clearly irked the new president. Shortly after his remarks, he dispatched his press secretary, Sean Spicer, to the White House briefing room to aggressively reinforce the message. "There's been a lot of talk in the media about holding Donald Trump accountable. And I'm here to tell you that it goes two ways. We're going to hold the press accountable as well," Spicer said in his first on-camera appearance at the White House. Trump, and later Spicer, also slammed a Time magazine reporter for incorrectly reporting Friday that Trump had moved a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. out of the Oval Office. But Trump followed with a misstatement of his own, saying the reporter had not corrected the mistake. In fact, the item was quickly retracted. High-level CIA brass stood largely silent during Trump's remarks, though some of the roughly 400 other officers in attendance cheered on the president during his remarks. California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, slammed Trump for using his CIA visit to squabble over media coverage. "He will need to do more than use the agency memorial as a backdrop if he wants to earn the respect of the men and women who provide the best intelligence in the world,' Schiff said. The inaugural celebrations have been shadowed by reports that the CIA and other federal agencies are investigating Russian interference in the presidential election on behalf of Trump. McClatchy reported that the investigation included whether money from the Kremlin covertly aided Trump. The New York Times said agencies were examining intercepted communications and financial transactions between Russian officials and Trump's associates. FBI Director James Comey has declined to confirm or describe the nature of the government's investigation, both during a congressional hearing and in closed-door meetings with members of Congress. Saturday marked the end of three days of inaugural celebrations, with Trump and his family attending a national prayer service traditionally held for the new president. The president and his wife, Melania, and Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, sat in a front pew at Washington National Cathedral for the morning service. The interfaith service is a tradition for new presidents and is hosted by the Episcopal parish. But the decision to hold a prayer session for Trump sparked debate among Episcopalians opposed to his policies. Bishop Mariann Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington wrote in a blog post that while she shared "a sense of outrage at some of the president-elect's words and actions," she felt an obligation to welcome all people without qualification, especially those who disagree and need to find a way to work together. Trump arrived at the cathedral mid-morning. The service included readings and prayers from Protestant, Jewish, Sikh, Mormon, Buddhist, Roman Catholic, Baha'i, Episcopal, Hindu and Native American leaders. But the program was remarkable for the large number of evangelicals participating, including two former presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention, the country's largest evangelical denomination. Several speakers had served as Trump advisers and supporters who spoke at the Republican National Convention. Xia Vigor and Alonzo Muhlach are two of the eight contestants of the first Filipino kiddie version of 'Your Face Sounds Familiar,' which is hosted by Billy Crawford, the International Male Artist of the Year at 2003 NRJ Music Awards. (Photo : YouTube/ABS-CBN Entertainment) Xia Vigor, 7, became an instant international sensation because of the viral video showing her impersonating Taylor Swift with the song "You Belong With Me" on the Filipino kiddie version of "Your Face Sounds Familiar." After this, Vigor impersonated Axl Rose on the show with the song "Sweet Child o' Mine." Advertisement Vigor's impersonation of Swift became even more controversial when "Good Morning Britain" host Piers Morgan, 51, criticized it and claimed that the show sexualized the Filipino girl. The child's British father Alan Vigor, 50, and Filipino mother Christy Bernardo, 42, were quick to defend their daughter and the show. Alan told Daily Mail that Morgan is wrong and does not understand the context. The property developer added that the culture in the Philippines is very different and Filipinos see things differently. "It's like a pantomime," Alan said. "It's been taken out of context. She's not going to a friend's birthday party in high heels and lipstick. It's not like that. She would never dress up like that on a normal day." Bernardo also told the publication that Xia is very into everything. The mother described her daughter a very inquisitive girl who wants to do many things and said she wants to give her daughter the chance to do so. Currently, Xia lives in Quezon City, Philippines, with her parents. She was born in Exeter, Devon, England on June 23, 2009. After Xia's impersonation of Swift went viral online, the research team of Ellen DeGeneres's talk show contacted the staff of the Filipino kiddie version of "Your Face Sounds Familiar," Filipino publication Bandera has learned. DeGeneres reportedly wants to feature Xia in her show. Several Filipinos have been featured as guests on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in the past. Among them are "Glee" alum Charice Pempengco and rock band Journey member Arnel Pineda. Watch Xia impersonate Rose with the Guns N' Roses song "Sweet Child o' Mine" here: Donald J Trump, who signed his first set of documents as the 45th President of the United States hours after the inauguration ceremony, continues to remain in highlight, particularly on social media. This time round, it was his signature that made people talking about the new US President on Twitter. Donald Trump signing his first documents as the US President. (Photo: YouTube screengrab) While some compared his signature with the reading of a Richter scale, there was one Twitter user, who likened it to the Black Gate of Mordor. Mordor is a fictional world of Middle-earth created by English writer J. R. R. Tolkien, and the Black Gate is one of the locations in Mordor. Below are some of the tweets in which Twitterati posted their opinions about Trumps signature: Is it merely coincidence that Donald Trump's signature closely resembles The Black Gate of Mordor? pic.twitter.com/1QD1ogOoIM MY FAVORITE (@michaelgracejr) January 21, 2017 Donald Trump's signature legit looks like a lie detector test chart pic.twitter.com/0pHc7BW6Hq RyansAverageLife (@RyanAbe) January 20, 2017 Play our new game "Trump Signature or Richter Scale Reading". pic.twitter.com/zABmnhKG1k Hardly Serious (@SeriousHardly) November 8, 2016 The only thing that's 'surprising' about Donald Trump's signature is that someone so crass and ignorant can actually write. geoffh (@geoffh33) January 22, 2017 Donald Trump's signature looks like a Richter scale mid-earthquake. pic.twitter.com/hkjlUrYIDW Clarke Richards (@clarkerichards) January 22, 2017 Come on guys - let's not act surprised that #DonaldTrump's signature looks like a plagiarized seismic reading... pic.twitter.com/8WJwZpNG2v Michelle Lem (@MichelleLem) January 21, 2017 Donald Trump's signature looks like the wild fluctuations of a nation before the inevitable flatline. pic.twitter.com/lfYpIRTLwx Maral (@StatusInBeirut) January 21, 2017 Washington: The United States has no choice but to get rid of ISIS and 'radical Islamic terrorism', the new US President Donald Trump has said. "We've been fighting these wars for longer than any wars we've ever fought. We have not used the real abilities that we have. We've been restrained. We have to get rid of ISIS. Have to get rid of ISIS. We have no choice. Radical Islamic terrorism," Trump told members of the CIA community at its headquarters in Langley. Reiterating his remarks on the inauguration day, Trump said, "it has to be eradicated" just off the face of the Earth. "This is evil. This is evil," he said in his maiden address to the CIA officials. "I can understand the other side. We can all understand the other side. There can be wars between countries, there can be wars. You can understand what happened. This is something nobody can even understand. This is a level of evil that we haven't seen. You're going to go to it, and you're going to do a phenomenal job," he said. "But we're going to end it. It's time. It's time right now to end it," he added. Trump's nominee for CIA Director Mike Pompeo has not been confirmed by the Senate yet. Referring to CIA, Trump said he believes that "this group is going to be one of the most important groups in this country towards making the country safe, towards making it winners again, toward ending all of the problems." "We have so many problems that are interrelated that we don't even think of, but interrelated to the kind of havoc and fear that this sick group of people has caused. So I can only say that I am with you 1,000 percent," he added. Washington: In a tragic incident, a 49-year-old man shot and killed his wife, mistaking her for a burglar. Police were dispatched to a home in Goldsboro, North Carolina, in reference to a person being shot, authorities said. Gina Williams, 48, was found lying on the front porch with a gunshot wound to the neck, WTVD-TV reported. Billy Williams, 49, was trying to revive his wife. Deputies seized a handgun that was seen on the front porch. Authorities pronounced Gina Williams dead on the scene. After an investigation, authorities learned Gina Williams had left around 6 pm on Thursday for an overnight shift at work. She was not expected home until 8 am, Friday. Deputies said one of the two children inside the home heard a noise at the front door. The child thought someone was trying to break into the home and woke up Billy. Billy retrieved a handgun from the gun safe in the bedroom and approached the front door, police said. Unknown to Billy, his wife had left work early and came home. There was no front porch light on when Billy opened the front door and shot the person on the porch. Police said Billy fired one shot, which struck his wife in the neck and killed her. Till now, no charges have been filed against Billy. The investigation is still ongoing. Vatican City: Pope Francis has told an interviewer that he'll wait to see what US President Donald Trump does before forming his opinion. In an interview published on Saturday evening by Spanish newspaper El Pais, Francis says he doesn't like "judging people early. We'll see what Trump does." Asked about populist-style political leaders emerging in the United States and Europe, Francis warned against seeking a saviour in times of crisis. He said Hitler in the 1930s' Germany "was voted for by the people and then he destroyed the people." Francis laments that in crises "we look for a saviour to give us back identity, and we defend ourselves with walls, barbed-wire fences, from other peoples." He was interviewed Friday at the Vatican at the same time as Trump's inauguration ceremony. Raviprakash, a medical doctor, has a special love for vintage cars and bikes, and is the proud owner of a huge collection at his farm house in Rajarajeshwari Nagar. A Lanchester owned by Motilal Nehru, a Rolls Royce owned by Tamil actor-politician MG Ramachandran, a Studebaker owned by celebrated Kannada poet Kuvempu and cars once owned by the royal families of India are part of his collection. He buys the cars, mostly beat-up, and then works on them at his workshop. Tinkering, painting, upholstering, and work on the engine is done under one roof. Ravis family is equally enthusiastic about his collection and considers the automobiles part of the family. A group of mechanics, as dedicated as Ravi, work at the garage and maintain the cars and motorbikes. Ravis cars are regulars at events in and around Bengaluru. He also maintains vehicles abroad to participate in overseas events. He intends to start a vintage car and bike museum in Bengaluru, which he says is going to be the largest automotive museum in the country. Visit classicchase.in for more info More than a million Americans have taken to the streets from New York to Los Angeles to participate in a women's march in an unprecedented rebuke of President Donald Trump's alleged divisive policies and anti-women views. The protest came a day after Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. "This is more than just a single day of action, this is the beginning of a movement to protect, defend and advance human rights, even in the face of adversity," declared organisers of the Women's March at the conclusion of the successful protest. Participants of the Women's March said they have joined this because of the alleged divisive policies of the new American president. Five Indian-Americans elected to the Congress enthusiastically joined the march. In Washington DC, organisers said some half a million people participated in the march, while crowd swelled more than this in Los Angeles. In Washington protesters filled Pennsylvania Avenue. In the evening, the crowd moved toward the White House. Filmmaker Michael Moore, feminist icon Gloria Steinem, musician Alicia Keys and other speakers emotionally attacked Trump for his views on immigration, Muslims and women. Metro trains were packed with pink "pussyhat" wearing protesters a reference to Trump's claim in a 2005 video that he grabbed women. Pop diva Madonna, wearing a black pussyhat, made an impromptu appearance on the protest's main stage near Washington's National Mall. "It took this horrific moment of darkness to wake us the f--k up," Madonna told the crowd. "It seems as though we had all slipped into a false sense of comfort, that justice would prevail and that good would win in the end." In a sly allusion to the crude remarks Trump made on the tape, many marchers, women and men alike, wore pink pussy hats sporting cat ears. Demonstrators in New York City marched toward Trump Tower -- the President's main residence when he's not in the White House -- but were blocked at Fifth Avenue. In Chicago some 150,000 people attended, while in Boston tens of thousands of marchers joined the protest which among others was addressed by Senator Elizabeth Warren. "We can whimper. We can whine. Or we can fight back!. We come here to stand shoulder to shoulder to make clear: We are here! We will not be silent! We will not play dead! We will fight for what we believe in!" Warren said. "This is a do or die battle for us. We need to fight against the onslaught on our human rights," said Monika, a small time documentary maker from New York, who came to Washington DC to attend the women's march. Yesterday, former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton came out in support of the march. "Thanks for standing, speaking & marching for our values @womensmarch. Important as ever. I truly believe we're always Stronger Together," she said in a tweet. Ruling Samajwadi Party today released its manifesto for Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections promising a bunch of schemes for all round development of the state at a function which SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav and his brother Shivpal gave a miss. With an eye on development, Akhilesh riding on the crest of "kaam bolta hai" (work speaks) slogan, announced schemes which prioritise development of the state. The manifesto announced distribution of laptops, Kanya Vidya Dhan, Samajwadi Pension, laying of Purvanchal Expressway, and establishing Janeshwar Mishra model villages besides improving helplines for police and women. He said the model villages in the name of Janeshwar Mishra would be a tribute to the Samajwadi leader on his death anniversary today. The Chief Minister, in his new role as the Samajwadi Party national president, directed all candidates to prepare a road map for development of their respective Assembly constituencies. A highlight of the manifesto was Samajwadi Kisan Kosh for farmers to purchase seeds and fertilisers, perhaps to match the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Bima Yojana. As Mulayam and Shivpal, the warring uncle of Akhilesh, were conspicuous by their absence, senior SP leader Azam Khan rushed to the SP patriarch's bungalow to bring him to the event. But even then Mulayam did not grace the occasion where senior party leaders and Dimple Yadav, MP and wife of the chief minister were present. In an impassioned appeal to the electorate to vote SP back to power, Akhilesh said, "We got support on 2012 manifesto, we also fulfilled promises made in it." "The manifesto is a 'sankalp' (promise) to form future government. It's clear that we all want to form Samajwadi Party government. If you work for 5 years, you will get government of five years," he said. The chief minister asked party workers to go to the masses and make them aware of the schemes implemented by his government during the past five years. "A lot of work has been done in a big way. We have to work more in future. I tried for the past five years not to leave path of socialism and also ensure balanced development to improve rural economics," he said. Akhilesh also ridiculed his political opponents, saying, "Some parties are there who have nothing to do." He slammed BJP for its Lok Sabha poll promises and asked what happed to its 'Sab ka saath, sab ka vikas' slogan. "People are desperately looking for those who had promised acche din," he said. In a veiled attack on Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi, he said BJP has nothing to speak on development. "They sometimes give you 'jhadu' (broom) or ask you to perform yoga," he said. He also took on BSP, claiming that the 'Patthar Wali Sarkar' has done nothing for UP except erecting stone statues of elephants, its poll symbol. "If BSP comes to power, its government will install bigger elephant statues," he alleged. The 32-page SP manifesto promises 24 hour power supply to villages and effective dial 100 so that police reaches within 10-15 minutes. "In days to come, the government will move one step forward and ensure better connect with people. Samajwadi smartphone scheme is one effort," Akhilesh said, adding that already 1.40 crore registrations have been made for the same. He said Samajawdi Party pension will benefit one crore people and Rs 1000 pension would be given to each one of them. With an eye on the rural areas, he announced welfare schemes for labourers and added that poor women will be given pressure cookers. The manifesto promised setting up of hostels for working women, mid-day meal for farm workers, free medical treatment to the poor and an end to 'inspector raj'. It promised expansion of metro rail in Kanpur, Agra and Meerut. It also promised air ambulance at Lucknow, ambulance for animals, free treatment to those with Rs 1.5 lakh annual income and one litre ghee a month to improve the health of malnourished children. Akhilesh exuded confidence that his party will sweep 300 of the 403 seats, up from 224 it had won in 2017. Referring to his dream project, Lucknow-Agra expressway, he said it has reduced the travel time considerably. "Those who have travelled know it the best," he said. "If given chance, it (expressway) will reach Ghazipur and Ballia," he said. The SP manifesto also promised setting up of 'mandi' (market) and skill develoment centres in rural areas to give a boost to the state's economy. He said while SP was anxious for the state's development, BSP was preoccupied with bigger statues of elephants to surpass the huge statue of Janeshwar Mishra here or Shivaji statue in Maharashtra. In an apparent reference to the ups and downs in the state politics, he turned philosophical and said, "Hame jaise jaise din dekhe the dekh liye, bahut kam samay mein...acche bure kharab sab dekh liye... "Please tell me what is acche din...what is your definition of acchey din...many times attempts were made to vitiate the atmosphere in the state...trust me again and let us form government. Balanced development will be carried forward...," he said. Earlier, addressing workers, party leader Ahmad Hasan termed BSP surpemo as "anti-Muslim", claiming that in her regime "there were no muslim DMs in any of 75 districts. Even an eligible Muslim officer was not made Chief Secretary." "She had sought vote for Modi in Gujarat and you all should be aware of it," he said. "In past five years, SP government has fulfilled all promises it made in its 2012 manifesto. Akhilesh had faced challenges, both political and governance. But, we salute him for his initiatives. Everyone in the state trusts him," he said. Hasan alleged that Mayawati had made a "record in corruption" and National Rural Health Mission scam alone was to the tune of over Rs 5,000 crore. Party vice president Kironmay Nanda said this Assembly elections is crucial and SP will form government for the second time. "There is no alternative to SP. In 2012, the state was backward and election was fought on the face of 'netaji' (Mulayam). We implemented all the schemes promised by us. UP will become Uttam Pradesh in our next regime," Nanda said. New slogans like "Jiska UP, Uska Desh; Bachcha Bachcha Akhilesh" (Country belongs to that party which rules UP, it is Akhilesh all over). Akhilesh's wife Dimple attended the manifesto release function for the first time and posed with him donning the bright red SP cap. At Alanganallur, protesters declined to hold the sport by blocking the entry and exit points of the sprawling sporting arena. A group of organisers had removed the bulls from the arena as well. Tension prevailed in Manojipatti village near Thanjavur when villagers refused to conduct jallikattu. They placed barricades en route to the venue where Agriculture Minister Duraikannu is expected to inaugurate it. At Pudukottai, jallikattu was inaugurated by Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar. In Thanjavur, nearly 500 youths reportedly picketed a passenger train from Mayiladuthurai to Tirunelvelli at Kumbakonam as part of the protest. Kangeyam cattle research centre president Karthikeya Senathipathy in a Facebook post appealed to the youths to end the stir as an ordinance has been promulgated for holding the bull taming sport. The inauguration of the 'Rekla Race' (Ox cart race), popular in Western parts of Tamil Nadu, at Coimbatore witnessed protests from students demanding a permanent solution for holding of jallikattu. Even as the race was flagged-off by state Local Administration Minister S P Velumani, a large number of students arrived at Codisia Grounds, venue of Rekla race, and staged a sit-in on the premises. Speaking to reporters, Velumani said some "vested interests" were trying to create confusion among the students about the ordinance. The students said they will "allow the race" to be held only after, what they called a "permanent solution", was in sight. Jallikattu was banned following a Supreme Court order in May 2014. Jallikattu was conducted in various parts of Tamil Nadu today even as protests continued at Alanganallur in Madurai where people refused to hold the famous sport seeking a "permanent solution", forcing chief Minister O Panneerselvam to leave for Chennai without inaugurating it.Panneerselvam had yesterday said he would inaugurate the bull taming sport at Alanganallur, famous for holding jallikattu events, at 10 AM.Groups of protesters continued to stay put at several locations in the state, including the Marina Beach at Chennai, epicentre of the stir for the last six days. The protesters are seeking a permanent solution for holding the sport, besides a ban on animal rights group PETA.As protesters demanded a permanent solution for holding the sport and raised slogans that ordinance was only a temporary measure, Panneerselvam said: the "State's jallikattu ordinance route is permanent, robust and sustainable, will be made into a law in the coming Assembly session."He reiterated that there was no ban following the promulgation of the ordinance.The Chief Minister said the ordinance will be replaced by a law after bringing in a bill in the Assembly session, beginning at Chennai tomorrow.Speaking to reporters at Madurai before leaving for Chennai, Panneerselvam said,"The ban on jallikattu has been removed completely, the sport will be held at Alanganallur, on a date decided by local people."He said jallikattu was held in all parts of Tamil Nadu with the local adminstration and police taking all stipulated measures to hold the sport.Continuing blockades and agitations here at Alanganallur and Tamukkam grounds, besides neighbouring Natham Kovilpatti in Dindigul, put a question mark over Panneerselvam inaugurating jallikattu.Panneerselvam, who had announced that he would inaugurate jallikattu at Alanganallur, had to stay back in a hotel here following the stir there by protesters who demanded a permanent measure to be in place.Following that, Panneerselvam was expected to inaugurate jallikattu at Natham Kovilpatti in Dindigul. However, protests erupted there too placing the same demand for a "permanent solution." Terming previous BSP government as "patthar wali sarkar", Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today alleged that it did nothing except for installing stone statues of elephants, its election symbol, a charge refuted by BSP supremo Mayawati. Releasing the SP manifesto as the new president of the ruling party, Akhilesh said, "Previous 'patthar wali sarkar' has done nothing for UP except erecting stone statues of elephants." "If BSP comes to power again, its government will install bigger statues of elephants," he said, attacking Mayawati. The BSP chief instantly hit back, saying, "By mentioning our symbol elephant, Akhilesh has given free publicity and our party is grateful for this." She dubbed the SP manifesto as "mere formality and publicity gimmick". "It (manifesto) has been prepared to befool people as SP government did nothing in past five years and people are fed up with its misrule. SP should have introspected itself on what it had done to fulfil earlier promises," she said. "The SP government should have sent hooligans and mafias behind bars. But it failed and law and order of the state is worse," she rued. She asked as to why people of the state should rely on "tainted face of the head of the corrupt and criminal, government, in which incidents of communal riots rose". Akhilesh earlier said that while SP was anxious for the state's development, BSP was preoccupied with 'elephants', bigger statues of elephants to surpass the huge statue of Janeshwar Mishra. "If she takes a cue from Maharashtra and starts competing with it, she will spend all money in state exchequer on installing statues bigger than that of Shivaji in Maharashtra," he said causing peals of laughter among party workers. "Our government has a lot of achievements, but she (Mayawati) has nothing to mention," he said. While announcing free pressure cooker scheme for poor women, Akhilesh said, "This idea should have dawned on her first. She should have thought about it, but SP has stolen a march over her by announcing a scheme to provide free cooker to rural women." Ruling out the much-talked about US-China trade war under the Trump presidency, founder of China's e-commerce giant Alibaba Jack Ma said the poor plight of American economy was due to the costly wars waged by Washington and has nothing to do with trade ties with Beijing. China and the US will not start a trade war as President Donald Trump is an open-minded person who needs more time, Ma said. Ma, who has met Trump promising to create a million jobs in the US and market a million American products, said it is wrong to ascribe America's economic problems to China. It is the US that is responsible for its sluggish economy, given that USD 14 trillion was wasted on waging war over the past 30 years rather than investing in infrastructure. China did not steal American jobs, Ma said, adding that the loss of jobs is a strategic mistake on the part of the US, state-run People's Daily reported today. The US adopted a strategy to control intellectual property rights and select brands three decades ago, leaving lower-level works to the rest of the world, Ma said. Besides, multi-national American enterprises like Microsoft and IBM have created hundreds of millions in profits through globalisation. This large sum could have been invested in infrastructure and employment, but was instead put towards 13 wars, he said. The US simply failed to allot the funds reasonably, Ma said adding his meeting with Trump was much more productive than expected the discussions mainly focused on the issues of SOEs and China-US trade, especially American enterprises selling in Asia through Alibaba's platform, which will provide about one million jobs for Americans in various ways. It is easy to wage a trade war, but hard to end the war - perhaps even impossible. If trade stops, the war will start, Ma predicted noting that trade enables people to exchange both culture and business ideas, while also acting as a deterrent for war. Sino-US trade volume grew from USD 2.5 billion in 1979 to USD 519.6 billion dollars in 2016, surging by 211 times within 38 years. The trade balance however tilted heavily in favour of China as it exports over USD 400 billion worth of goods to US. Amid talks of trade war between the top two economies of the world, China questioned the US ruling to levy heavy duties on several Chinese products days before Trump took over. Article 151 of constitution gives parliament the final say on the Red Sea island agreement, says Abu Shoqa, the head of parliament committee of legislation and constitutional affairs Head of the Egyptian parliament's committee of legislative and constitutional affairs Bahaaeddin Abu Shoqa told reporters Monday that he has no comment on today's High Administrative Court ruling, which upheld a June 2016 decision by an administrative court voiding the April 2016 maritime re-demarcation deal between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. "However, we will deal with the agreement related to these two islands in accordance with the constitution and the law," said Abu Shoqa. The cabinet referred on 1 January the controversial agreement, which would place the two Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir in the Gulf of Aqaba under Saudi soveirgnty, to parliament for voting. Abu Shoqa said "article 151 of the constitution states that the president of the republic represents the state in its foreign relations and signs deals which will be ratified only after being approved by the House of Representatives." This article, Abu Shoqa added, gives parliament the final say on the agreement. Reactions from other MPs differed. Alaa Abdel-Moneim, a leading member of the legislative and constitutional affairs committee, told reporters that parliament should respect final judicial rulings. "This is a final judicial ruling and it has clearly stated that the two islands are Egyptian; parliament should respect this," said Abdel-Moneim. Abdel-Moneim, however, said the government still has the right to appeal the ruling before the Supreme Constitutional Court. "They could resort to the Constitutional Court to decide whether article 151 of the constitution applies to this deal," said Abdel Moneim. Mohamed Abu Hamed, an independent MP, said that as long as the agreement is referred to parliament, it would be put to discussion. "Parliament has the final say on the maritime border demarcation deal between Egypt and Saudi Arabia in accordance with article 151 of the constitution," said Abu Hamed, adding that Saudi Arabia could resort to international arbitration to get a final resolution on whether the two islands of Tiran and Sanafir are Egyptian. In a statement to reporters, the pro-government parliamentary bloc "Support Egypt" said the ruling cannot change the fact that parliament has the sovereign right to decide on the border agreement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Head of the bloc Mohamed El-Sewedy told reporters that "while there should be a separation among powers, parliament still has the absolute right of giving a final say on foreign agreements signed by the president of the republic." Search Keywords: Short link: Two persons were killed and scores injured during Jallikattu held today in the shadow of widespread protests as an ordinance failed to end the six-day -long agitation with Chief Minister O Panneerselvam forced to make a retreat without inaugurating the main event at Alanganallur following demand for a permanent resolution. A protester, 48-year-old Chandramohan from Jaihindpuram, also died due to dehydration in Madurai city when he was taking part in a demonstration along with students and youths. The traditional sport, which was banned by the Supreme Court, was organised in several parts of the state, including Rapoosal in Pudukottai district following promulgation of the ordinance yesterday. Police said two persons were killed and 28 injured when they were gored by a bull during Jallikattu at Rapoosal in which several bulls were used and many sportsmen participated. Protesters at Alanganallur in Madurai, however, refused to conduct the sport, steadfast in their demand for a "permanent solution" to ensure unhindered annual conduct of the sport. Panneerselvam, who had announced that he would inaugurate Jallikattu at Alanganallur, had to stay back in a hotel in Madurai following the stir there. Later, he was expected to inaugurate Jallikattu at Natham Kovilpatti in Dindigul. However, there were protests there too, raising the same demand. Groups of agitators continued their protests at several locations also in the state, raising the same demand. At the Marina beach, epicentre of the stir for the last six days, protesters continued to stay put demanding a permanent solution for holding the sport besides a ban on animal rights group PETA. Speaking to reporters at Madurai before leaving for Chennai, Panneerselvam said, "The ban on jallikattu has been removed completely, the sport will be held at Alanganallur, on a date decided by local people." He said Jallikattu was held in all parts of Tamil Nadu with the local administration and police taking all stipulated measures. With protesters demanding a permanent solution for holding the sport and raising slogans that ordinance was only a temporary measure, Panneerselvam said, "The state's Jallikattu ordinance route is permanent, robust and sustainable, will be made into a law in the coming Assembly session." Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government has filed a caveat in the Supreme anticipating challenge to its ordinance allowing Jallikattu in the state. Following unrelenting protests, DMK and other Opposition parties urged the Centre to take steps for conducting the sport annually without any hindrance. DMK working president M K Stalin urged the chief minister to hold talks with protesters and "stop insisting" that the ordinance route will yield permanent results. "Despite its safeguards, an ordinance that does not enjoy the confidence of people will not yield any practical results. Therefore, the Chief Minister should stop insisting that the ordinance route is permanent and talk to the protesting youths and explain to them the state government's efforts for a permanent solution to the matter and pacify them," he said. BJP leader and Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan urged the protesters to withdraw their agitation across the state, including on the Marina Beach. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had "explained" the legal situation in this regard but fully backed the state's efforts to hold the bull taming sport. Meanwhile, animal rights group PETA faced more flak over its opposition to Jallikattu. After top Tamil film actors Suriya and Vijay, veteran star Kamal Haasan today slammed the NGO. "PETA go ban bull riding rodeos in Mr Trump's US You're not qualified to tackle our bulls," he said in a tweet. Haasan, who had yesterday heaped encomiums on students for the ongoing protests, also said that "people at long last are getting a taste of true democracy". "People at long last are getting a taste of true democracy. Gone are the days of leaders. We need humble pathfinders & social reformers," he said without elaborating. Suriya and Vijay have supported the protest by the students and lashed out at PETA for opposing the bull taming sport. As pro-Jallikattu protests continued, many inter and intra-state trains were cancelled fully or partially as has been the case for the past three days. At Thanjavur, students held placards and staged protests between the railway station and old bus-stand area. Some students continued their protest for the sixth day in front of the Thanjavur head post office. Some 500 youths reportedly picketed a passenger train from Mayiladuthurai to Tirunelvelli at Kumbakonam as part of the protest. 'Manjuvirattu' (a variety of jallikattu) was held at Sevoor and Iruveli in Ramanathapuram and people participated on a large-scale. In a tragic incident, a 49-year- old man shot and killed his wife, mistaking her for a burglar. Police were dispatched to a home in Goldsboro, North Carolina, in reference to a person being shot, authorities said. Gina Williams, 48, was found lying on the front porch with a gunshot wound to the neck, WTVD-TV reported. Billy Williams, 49, was trying to revive his wife. Deputies seized a handgun that was seen on the front porch. Authorities pronounced Gina Williams dead on the scene. After an investigation, authorities learned Gina Williams had left around 6 PM on Thursday for an overnight shift at work. She was not expected home until 8 AM Friday.Deputies said one of the two children inside the home heard a noise at the front door. The child thought someone was trying to break into the home and woke up Billy. Billy retrieved a handgun from the gun safe in the bedroom and approached the front door, police said. Unknown to Billy, his wife had left work early and came home. There was no front porch light on when Billy opened the front door and shot the person on the porch. Police said Billy fired one shot, which struck his wife in the neck and killed her. Till now, no charges have been filed against Billy. The investigation is still ongoing. An Oxford University college for priests in the UK has issued a new inclusive language policy, calling on its staff and students to use gender-neutral terminology when referring to God. Wycliffe Hall based in Oxford, which trains clergy for the Church of England, recommends that "the one who" be used instead of "He" in references to God and advocates choosing hymns in which references to "son" can be changed to "child". The language policy also wants to replace words like "mankind" with "humankind", The Sunday Times reported. The document explains: "The patriarchal masculine has become a form of alienation for many women and indeed many men." The college wants its members to must use a version of the Bible, 'Today's New International Version', that has gender-neutral language. For example: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God" becomes "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God". Janet Soskice, professor of philosophical theology at Cambridge, told the newspaper that there were both pros and cons to using inclusive language. "You cannot dry-clean history. At one American university they have a prohibition on using the phrase 'Father, Son and Holy Spirit' in the chapel. That means no holy eucharist service can take place there. Every gain has a loss," she said. A similar guide published by the UK's Modern Church charity also states that the repetition of masculine language about God is "consistently sexist" and "harmful and demeaning to women as co-equal children of God". Samajwadi Party and Congress today sealed a pre-poll pact to contest the UP assembly elections, ending days of suspense and feverish parleys, with compulsions of realpolitik forcing the two parties to come together to thwart BJP's attempt to storm back to power after 15 years. The alliance, which at one stage looked doomed with both sides driving a hard bargain, was announced by the chiefs of the state units of the two parties who declared while SP will have the lion's share of 298 of 403 seats, Congress willl contest the remaining 105. At one stage senior SP leader Naresh Agarwal had said the possibility of an alliance was "almost over" and blamed the "stubborn" attitude of Congress for the deadlock. "SP and Congress have forged an alliance and will contest UP assembly polls together," SP state president Naresh Uttam told the hurriedly convened press conference. UP PCC chief Raj Babbar hoped the SP-Congress alliance will reap a bumper electoral harvest in the state and fulfil aspriations of all sections of the society. He said a Common Minimum Programme will be drafted within a week of the alliance coming to power. "For unity and integrity of India and following secular ideology, we will continue our fight under SP national president Akhilesh Yadav," state Samajwadi Party chief Naresh Uttam told a press conference addressed jointly with UP PCC president Raj Babbar. "The country's secular fabric will become stronger when Akhilesh Yadav becomes the chief minister again," Uttam said. He said the idea was to "uproot communal BJP" and make UP a leading state by removing both BJP and Mayawati's BSP. Babbar said Congress has accepted SP's offer of 105 seats keeping in mind the prevailing situation in the country and also the atmosophere in the state. "Keeping these factors in mind, Congress leadership agreed to strike an alliance to thwart BJP's divisive politics and at the same time boost secularism and promote communal and social harmony. "Our ideologies are not different. We share many common ideologies," he said, adding both the parties believed in social justice and development, peace and good atmosphere. The alliance was said to have materialised after Congress president Sonia Gandhi intervened. One of the reasons for the delay in announcement of the tie-up was reportedly Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's unhappiness over Congress leadership sending light-weight emissaries like election strategist Prashant Kishor for talks. However, senior Congress leaders later got involved and salvaged the deal. Sonia Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel tweeted: "Wrong to suggest lightweights were dealing on behalf of Congress party. Discussion was at highest level- b/w CM (UP), GS I/C (Ghulam Nabi Azad) & Priyanka Gandhi." Azad, Congress general secretary incharge of UP, too said Priyanka, who had hitherto limited herself to Amethi and Rae Bareli parliamentary seats represented by her brother Rahul and mother Sonia respectively, played a major role in identifying the seats to be contested by the party and in alliance talks. Azad told a TV channel the alliance was forged to prevent a split in secular votes which would have benefited BJP. He rejected reports in a section of the media that talks had hit a hurdle over Congress's demand for all assembly segments falling in Amethi and Rae Bareli Parliamentary constituencies. "There was no such talk. We wanted seats in every region, be it eastern UP, western or central UP, Bundelkhand...We had earlier decided to go it alone but dropped the idea after secular forces felt we should come together to thwart attempts by BJP to come to power. "In the mean time, as Samajwadi Party lost heft due to infighting, we demanded 150 seats. We wanted a respectable seat-sharing arrangement. This decision has been made for the country's unity, for keeping secularism alive," he said. Hours after the pact was announced, Samajwadi Party released a list of 77 nominees, leaving three assembly seats for Congress falling in Sonia's Rae Bareli Parliamentary constituency. According to SP sources, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had initially offered 100 seats to Congress but they demanded 120. Samajwadi Party then argued that it had 234 sitting legislators and there were some others who would also contest. Thus, the ruling party needed at least 300 of the 403 seats. But, Congress leaders had informed the SP that in such a scenario, there cannot be an alliance. Congress' Central Election Committee met in Delhi and went ahead with finalising candidates for 140 seats which will go to polls in the first two phases. The party, however, did not declare its candidates for these seats, leaving a window for a possible alliance for which talks were held till wee hours today. Congress was also keen to include Ajit Singh-led RLD in the alliance, which the Samajwadi Party did not want. SP had maintained it will have no truck with RLD and, if Congress wanted, it could give its share of seats to Ajit Singh's party. Leaders like RJD president Lalu Prasad, who has family ties with Akhilesh Yadav, also played a 'behind the scene' role in coming together of the two parties. "I have been consistently in talks with Samajwadi Party and Congress' top leadership for stitching an alliance between the two parties in Uttar Pradesh," he said in a tweet. Once Akhilesh finally wrested the SP chief's post from his father Mulayam Singh Yadav and got its 'bicycle' symbol, Prasad backed him and promised to campaign for the faction led by the chief minister. In the 2012 Assembly polls, SP had won 224 seats with a vote share of 29.3 per cent, while Congress bagged 28 seats with an 11.7 per cent vote share. Coming together of the two parties would pave the way for a three-cornered fight, with Mayawati's BSP and BJP being the other major contenders for power. Given the SP and Congress's performance in the last assembly polls, the new alliance could pose a tough challenge to its rivals. East-West Soiree, an evening of fine music presented by Dutch pianist Monique Copper and organised by International Music and Arts Society (IMAS), saw a packed house with people of all age groups at My Fortune Hotel. The talented musician mesmerised the audience with her nimble fingers on the piano. Monique, who has performed in the city earlier, ably played pieces that reflect the East-West connection. According to her, it is a popular theme today both in The Netherlands and outside. The concert featured beautiful compositions by Western classical composers influenced by the East and Asian composers influenced by the West. A few songs of Rabindranath Tagore were also on her programme. She played two works of French composer Debussy, who with his contemporaries was influenced by Eastern musical elements. One could clearly hear the unique sounds of the gamelan, an Indonesian percussion instrument. Monique also included four works by Dutch composers and compositions each of Indonesian composer Sjukur and Yun Yi of Malaysia. What made the concert even more special was the precise introduction of all the works and their unique features by the musician before playing each of them. Our society always likes to present something different and in Moniques piano recital, this was emphasised by her exploration of the East-West connection, showcasing compositions by Western composers influenced by Eastern musical elements and by Asian composers bringing their culture into a Western consciousness. This gave her performance a unique flavour, said Urmila Devi from IMAS. Former foreign secretary of India, Nirupama Rao, who was a part of the audience, thoroughly appreciated the performance. What was particularly appealing was the treatment of Eastern themes through a Western musical idiom. That came through in many of the pieces she played which depicted the influence of Indonesia with which the Dutch have had a long historical connection. Even though they were Western pieces, the treatment of Tagore songs brought out the underlying Indian influence, expressed Nirupama. The artiste herself was pleased to be performing in Bengaluru for the third time. I felt nice on being invited back by the International Music and Arts Society and their daring choice of my programme because it is not really easy listening. Straightaway, I felt the warm reception and it felt very close with no barriers between the cultures. We had a full house with audience of all ages. I saw the young being very pleased and happy, Monique said adding, One can only dream of an audience like the one in Bengaluru, but for my concert, it has been a reality. We are in a culture of silence. But, the nation calls us to the culture of life. One has to raise his voice against injustice. As Swami Vivekananda said we have to rise and be awakened till we reach our goal, said Supreme Court Judge Justice Kurian Joseph. He was speaking during the valedictory of the 10th National Youth Convention organised by CBCI and Indian Catholic Youth Movement (ICYM) at St Aloysius College premises here on Sunday. He further said that the Indian Constitution and Christianity both preach us to shun discrimination of any kind. Therefore, if one becomes a good Christian, one is a good Indian as well. Christianity says that all are equal before God. The Indian Constitution too, states that all have equal rights regardless of their status and stature, he said. Religious equality In India, despite having several languages, all have an equal identity of being Indians, before any religious identity. India has welcomed all religions and has never said no to any faith. We are being given the right to preach, practice and propagate any religion. He meanwhile called upon the youths to be the change they look forward to. The youths should partake in development activities because it brings peace. Unless the youths contribute towards nation building, they cannot be responsible citizens of the country. Active participation in development programmes of the nation is an active participation in the kingdom of God. He meanwhile said that everyone has a duty to pay taxes and evading tax is a sin. The prime minister has given the call for Swacch Bharat campaign. We have to take pledge to keep our environment clean. One has to support the civil society movements meant for a good cause, he added. Bengaluru Archbishop Most Fr Bernard Moras said that Christians have been following secularism and standing for the rights of the minority. But, efforts are being done to dilute these rights. If such efforts are not opposed and fight for the rights is not carried forward, the rights may disappear one day. We have the right to proclaim our faith, he said. Prior to the valedictory, thousands of youths took out peace rally from Rosario Church to the programme venue. Youth from 170 dioceses and 12 regions took part in the convention. Cultural programmes were held on the occasion. Mangaluru Bishop Dr Aloysius Paul DSouza, Udupi Bishop Fr Jerald Isaac Lobo, Ballari Bishop Fr Henry DSouza, Belgaum Bishop Fr Peter Machado, Msgr Fr Denis Moras Prabhu, Rajya Sabha MP Oscar Fernandes, Government Chief Whip in the Legislative Council Ivan DSouza and Mangaluru South MLA J R Lobo were present. DH News Service Karnatakas pride in being home to the largest number of tigers in the country one of the most endangered species of animals in the world was dented with the accidental death of four tigers in a matter of a fortnight. That two of them were actually murdered by careless officials of the state forest department in botched up tranquilisation efforts, speak of the departments ill-preparedness to deal with such situations. The first of the incidents, outside the Nagarahole Reserve, in which a straying tiger was pursued by the forest staff late into the night and darted thrice, happened Tuesday last. Senior officials have admitted that the big cat died of an overdose of the tranquiliser and the operation was carried out in complete violation of the guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), but till now no action has been taken against the guilty. Environment and Forests Minister B Ramanath Rai should order an inquiry and hand out punishment at the earliest to all those involved. The magnificent tigers, whose worldwide population has plummeted from around one lakh a century ago to less than 4,000 according to Global Tiger Forum, play a critical role in keeping a check on herbivore population that devour forests and in maintaining the ecological balance. India is home to 70% of global tiger population and the 2015 census put Karnataka on top of the list with 406 tigers, a majority of them being in the Bandipur and Nagarahole reserve forests. Ever since the launch of Project Tiger in 1972 with the creation of nine core buffer areas, which have since expanded to 48 tiger reserves across the country, India has been able to arrest the decline in the tigers population. Utilising generous funding from the Centre, Karnataka too was able to create necessary infrastructure for conservation. The Kudremukh National Park, which has received NTCA approval, should be notified at the earliest in order to create more space for tigers. But theres no denying that burgeoning human population has led to indiscriminate felling of trees and encroachment of forests, resulting in the ever-shrinking of space for animals and a sharp increase in man-animal conflicts. The escalation in cases of wild animals straying into human habitats has understandably put the forest department officials in a dilemma. They come under enormous pressure from the public as well as elected representatives to save humans and their standing crops, while they also have responsibility towards animals. As far as tigers are concerned, Karnataka has perhaps breached the sustainability point and the Central government should come to its rescue by exploring the possibility of relocating some of them to other states or even Nepal, Bangladesh or China with whom bilateral arrangements exist. Four men, convicted of killing 34 upper-caste Bhumihars in Bihar 25 years ago, will not be hanged as President Pranab Mukherjee has commuted their death sentences to life imprisonment, setting aside a recommendation from the home ministry. Krishna Mochi, Nanhe Lal Mochi, Bir Kuer Paswan and Dharmendra Singh escaped the noose after Mukherjee considered their mercy petitions and decided to commute the death sentence to life term. The convicts were awarded the death sentence in 2001 by a sessions court in connection with the 1992 killing of 34 Bhumihars by members of the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC, now CPI-Maoist). The Supreme Court confirmed the death sentence in 2002, by a majority judgement of 2:1. However, Justice M B Shah dissented with such an award. Endorsing the Bihar governments decision to not grant mercy, the home ministry had in August last year recommended that their plea to commute the death sentence be rejected. However, the President said that the delay in handing over the mercy petitions by the state government and the observations made by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), among others, need to be considered before taking a decision. The NHRC had last year said that after an analysis of the facts and materials placed before the commission, it emerges that the four convicts in question had submitted their mercy petitions prior to 07.07.2004. It is clear from the admission of the Inspector General (Prisons and Correctional Services) of Bihar that the mercy petitions of the four convicts were forwarded to the secretariat of the President through the home department vide letter dated 07.07.2004, it said. Indias plans to link Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar by train, which was announced by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu recently, could provide a shot in the arm to sub-regional trade and travel. Overland connectivity within and between these countries is at best dismal, standing in the way of better interaction among people. At present, most interaction between these countries is restricted to air travel, which means that it is expensive in terms of costs and thus restricted to just a small number of largely elite people from these countries. Existing cross-border roads are in a shoddy condition. Besides, trucks can transport only a limited amount of cargo. It is for this reason that the proposed rail network linking India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar could prove a game-changer. Already, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal are part of the BBIN group. Indian analysts have been calling for inclusion of Myanmar in this grouping, and it is heartening that the first step towards this is being taken with the railway link plan that will include Myanmar. With India-Pakistan hostility blocking the Saarc from moving towards meaningful regional links, trade and travel, India has been exploring other sub-regional options. The railway network to its east is an important step in this direction. Additionally, it will improve Indias outreach to Southeast Asia and beyond. Cross-border travel that involves the masses would also improve interaction and understanding of each others cultures and way of life. There are several challenges that the five countries will have to overcome to make the rail network a reality. One is domestic opposition to the project. The BBIN motor vehicles agreement ran aground recently when Bhutans upper house of parliament voted against it and thus blocked its operationalisation. Concerns over the impact of increasing traffic on the mountainous countrys fragile environment were behind the opposition. The proposed railway network could, therefore, run into stronger opposition. The governments of the participating countries must sell the idea of the rail links benefits to their people. Also, the success of the link plan will depend on rail connectivity in Indias Northeast, which is in a decrepit condition. Successive governments at the Centre have pledged rail development in the Northeast but done little to implement these projects. Indias neighbours are unlikely to be impressed or enthused by the cross-border rail link plan if construction of rails in the Northeast is not hastened. India and its eastern neighbours are on the right track in wanting to improve rail connectivity. The question is whether they have the political will to make it a reality. On Monday, Egypts High Administrative Court rejected a government appeal and affirmed Egyptian sovereignty over the islands of Tiran and Sanafir Egyptian MP Ibrahim Hegazy submitted on Thursday a letter to parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Aal urging him not to allow a parliament vote on a government deal to transfer two strategic Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, given the recent court verdict affirming Egyptian sovereignty over the islands. On Monday, Egypts High Administrative Court rejected an appeal by the government against a June 2016 decision by a lower administrative court that voided the April 2016 Egyptian-Saudi maritime demarcation deal. The deal between Cairo and Riyadh, signed in April 2016, would place the two islands in the Gulf of Aqaba under Saudi Arabian sovereignty. Shortly following the Monday court verdict, parliament speaker Abdel-Aal said in a TV interview that parliament will have final say on the agreement despite the ruling. The cabinet had approved the agreement and submitted it to parliament for a vote on 1 January, two weeks before the date set by the High Adminstrative Court for a ruling. In line with Article 151 [of the constitution] and with full respect for the Egyptian judiciary, I insist that it is parliament that still has the final say on international agreements, including the maritime border demarcation agreement with Saudi Arabia, Abdel-Aal stated. However, MP Hegazy cited the same article in his letter to Abdel-Aal as grounds for not voting on the deal, saying that the deal should have been made by the president, not the cabinet as such deals are not in its jurisdiction. According to Egypts State Information Service website, Article 151 of the constitution stipulates that the president of the republic represents the state in foreign relations and concludes treaties and ratifies them after the approval of the House of Representatives. In all cases, no treaty may be concluded which is contrary to the provisions of the Constitution or which leads to concession of state territories. The government has argued that the Red Sea islands are originally Saudi, and therefore the deal does not constitute a concession of state territories. The deal has sparked widespread public outcry in the country. A number of street protests took place after the deal was announced in April. Dozens of protesters were arrested and tried for demonstrating against the deal without permission; most have been since released after paying hefty fines. The government has also appealed the administrative courts June decision to void the deal in front of the Supreme Constitutional Court, which is yet to decide on whether it will hear the case. Search Keywords: Short link: India has made appreciable progress in primary education in recent decades as for as enrolment of children in school is concerned. But drop-out rate and poor performance of children in government schools, where most of the poor students study, are problems evading solution. Studies have shown that even after 4-5 years of schooling, children fail in simple tests of reading, addition and subtraction. Inadequate infrastructure, high studentteacher ratio and poor quality of teaching are the reasons traditionally attributed for this situation. While these reasons are valid enough, there is increasing realisation across the world that poverty is the major factor affecting educational outcomes especially at the primary stage. It is now recognised in many countries that family and social environment of the children have a greater impact on the performance of children than the quality of teaching at school (Unicef). Children from poor families score significantly lower in vocabulary, communication skills, simple arithmetic and the ability to concentrate compared to children from higher income households. The differences start showing up at the age of 3-4, even before the start of schooling and are found to last even in later years as shown by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) which assessed reading, math and science scores of 15-year old children in 43 countries. The traditional misconception that underperformance is due to genetic or hereditary factors was challenged by child psychologists in the second half of the 20th century who came to the conclusion that intelligence is shaped more by the environment in which the children grow up. A study by World Health Organisation has shown that maternal health during pregnancy and the quality of antenatal and postnatal care she receives are important factors affecting childs physical and mental development. Lack of adequate nutrition for the pregnant mother can affect normal brain development of the child. Most women and children from poor families are deprived of medical care and nourishing food when it is most needed. As a result, premature birth and low birth weight are more common among the poor which in turn leads to disabilities like attention and memory deficit (Commission on the Social Determinants of Health-Early Child Development of the WHO). As the development of brain occurs mainly during the early phase of life, nutritional deficiency at this stage has a lasting effect on the psychological and intellectual growth of the child. Early years are crucial for the development of cognitive and social skills in children. Along with nutrition and medical care, nurturing relationships and inspiring role models also play a vital role in the early phase of a childs life. But being over worked and over stressed, poor parents are unable to show warmth and sensitivity and tend to be harsh and high-handed with their children. The consequent emotional disturbance affects the childs social adaptability and learning capability. Hence, poor parents need to be helped to learn parenting skills so that their frustrations are not passed on to the children. Playing with toys, reading and listening to stories, reciting rhymes etc develop curiosity, imagination and a sense of exploration in children. But having been deprived of these joys in their childhood, the poor parents dont realise its importance. Even the few who realise its value, find themselves helpless for want of money and time. A number of countries have carried out extensive research for finding ways to mitigate the negative effects of poverty on child development and at least two worthwhile approaches have emerged out of this quest. One of these approaches adopted by countries like Mexico and Nicaragua is the Conditional Cash Transfer programme which is linked to immunisation, nutrition and school attendance. This approach has resulted in significant improvements in educational outcomes of poor children. Another approach which is found equally effective is the Early Childhood Intervention programme (ECIP) adopted in countries like Canada and USA. Comprehensive development Apart from improving the school performance of children, the implementation of ECIP has also contributed, over a period, to general prosperity according to researchers who monitored the project on a continual basis. The National Head Start Programme of USA is one of the earliest and most successful Early Childhood Intervention programmes. The NHSP aims at comprehensive development of preschool children (3-5 years) of poor parents. The programme designed by paediatrician Dr Robert Cooke and professor of psychology Dr Edward Zigler prepares children for school while also focussing on involving parents in the education of children. It also focuses on prenatal and postnatal care of mother and nutritional needs and immunisation of children. The programme tries to develop cognitive and social skills in children by a combination of play and instruction. In course of time, many countries adopted similar programmes although with some variations. But the focus everywhere was to provide support to children in the form of learning activities and training the parents to enhance their capacity for providing a care giving environment at home. The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement studied the Early Childhood Intervention Programmes of eight countries and published the findings in February 2016. Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Poland, the Russian Federation and the United States participated in the programme and submitted data on their early childhood development programmes. The study of the data proves conclusively that well designed interventions can advance child development and education in the early years and a successful adult life later. India needs to replicate such interventions much more vigorously as the severity of poverty here is more acute in the absence of comparable social security measures. While it is worthwhile to replicate interventions whose efficacy has already been proved elsewhere, it is necessary to adopt the interventions to suit the local conditions. First generation learners, whose parents and forefathers were denied education for economic, religious and cultural reasons, need special care and attention to ensure that they dont lag behind others. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of United Arab Emirate (UAE) will be the chief guest for the 68th Republic Day celebrations this year. The crown prince of Abu Dhabi is also the deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces. Most importantly, a contingent of the UAE Armed Forces will become the first Arab soldiers to join the military parade on the Republic Day. Sheikh Mohammed is the most prominent Arab leader to be invited as the chief guest on this important occasion, after late Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz in 2006. It is hoped that this visit will further facilitate mutually beneficial and sustainable cooperation between India and the UAE. Indians constitute the largest expatriate population in UAE, numbering almost one-third of the total population of the country. A majority of Indians live in the three largest cities of the UAE Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. The aviation sector is a major contributor to commercial exchange and sustained bilateral economic growth; the current average of more than 1,000 flights a week indicates strong bilateral ties. Indias relationship with UAE was enhanced further in August 2015 with the high-visibility visit to Abu Dhabi by Narendra Modi, who became the first Indian prime minister to do so in more than three decades. This was followed by the visit of Shaikh Mohammad to India in February 2016. Bilateral trade was $60 billion in 2015, and both sides aim to take it to $100 billion by 2020. The Modi government, which has invested a great deal in elevating the level of Indo-UAE ties, is hoping that a more robust engagement with the UAE will help India reap the benefits in infrastructure, energy and counter-terrorism. The increasing importance of the UAE in Indian diplomacy can be explained against the backdrop of fast changing global economic, political and security landscape. The oil price volatility in recent years has led Abu Dhabi and Dubai to prioritise diversifying revenue sources. The UAEs economic integration with the Arab world is not without challenges. Countries like Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen are deeply entangled in violent conflict. The experiment of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has not produced expected results. Moreover, a high rate of unemployment among Arab youth is a trigger that can add fuel to the fire of terrorism. The developmental disparities among the Arab countries also make cooperation within the Arab world a highly complex matter. At the same time, the UAE seems apprehensive of the ongoing global political developments and their impact, particularly the ongoing fight against the Islamic State (IS), President Donald Trump assuming office in the United States and the Brexit. The UAE is particularly worried with the rising tide of terrorism and extremism in the South Asian region. All these developments are prompting the UAE to review old relationships and forge new ties. It has therefore embarked on a closer relationship with India on issues of security and counter-terrorism, and has frequently deported Indians suspected of having links with the IS. Going beyond the mutual economic opportunities, the India visit by Shaikh Mohammad sends out a significant message at a time when Afghanistan has witnessed extreme instability and the ever present threat of large-scale violence due to Pakistans continued support to the Taliban. Recently, five diplomats of the UAE were killed in a terror attack on January 10 in Kandahar province of Afghanistan. This was the first time UAE nationals were targeted inside Afghanistan. It has obviously raised questions about why the UAE continues to invest so much in its relations with Pakistan, both politically and economically. Kandahars police chief has blamed Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Haqqani Network for the attack. It is a well known fact that terrorists belonging to Haqqani network continue to be provided sanctuary by the Pakistani security establishment. Growing rift There are reports of a growing rift in relations between Pakistan and some of its closest Arab friends, especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE, since 2015. Pakistans refusal to participate in the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen provided the initial spark to this downward spiral. In fact, Pakistans decision not to send its troops for the Yemen campaign was interpreted as a betrayal by Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Pakistan was keen to benefit economically through its ties with these countries but could not be relied upon to render any assistance when required. It was an exposure of Pakistans double dealing. The political attitudes towards India in the UAE are being turned around which has resulted in the slow separation of Pakistan from its longstanding Arab backers. The upgraded India-UAE relationship has the potential to hurt Pakistans audacity as there has been perceptible shift in UAEs position over Kashmir. During their interaction with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Indias political leadership will emphasise with more confidence that Pakistan is the real source of terrorism and extremism, with devastating consequences for millions of people in the region. (The writer is Assistant Professor, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, Sardar Patel University, Jodhpur) Aimed at ending the growing traffic menace in urban areas and enhancing passenger comfort, the Centre is exploring different modes of public transportation. The ministries of road transport and urban development are jointly studying six of the latest mass rapid transport technologies metrino, stadler buses, pod taxis, hybrid buses, hyperloop and freight rail road. The government is exploring cost-effective modern technologies for the public transport sector, as the current system is unable to address the traffic crisis in the country. Though the metro train system is coming up in several cities across the country, it is not sufficient. The cost of constructing the metro system is also very high. The government is considering newer modes of transportation, and will suggest alternate technologies to the states. However, it will be up to the state governments to adopt it. A panel headed by Niti Aayog member V K Saraswat is studying the six technologies, and will suggest to the government those best suited to Indian cities, an official in the road rransport ministry told DH. Representatives of the companies that developed these technologies had recently made presentations before Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. Former Indian Engineering Services officer E Sreedharan, who has been dubbed the metro man, has suggested elevated rail and road systems to carry goods. Sreedharan suggested constructing elevated corridors with rail lines where freight trucks can move at high speeds, thereby saving time and allowing the transportation of more goods. Ensuring a comfortable urban transportation is a challenge to the government as the number of personal vehicles are increasing. Further, providing a comfortable transportation system to commuters would be one of the features of the Smart Cities Mission. Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu recently said that the Union government is planning to introduce a Green Urban Mobility Scheme, with a funding of Rs 25,000 crore, which will invest in footpaths, cycle-tracks, public-bike sharing, bus rapid transit systems and urban freight management. DH News Service The government is exploring cost-effective modern technologies for the public transport sector, as the current system is unable to address the traffic crisis in the country The word popped up in the opening sentence of Barack Obamas first inaugural address and in the opening paragraphs of George W Bushs. Humbled, each man said of himself, and while it was pure cliche, it was also what we wanted and needed: a sign, no matter how rote, that even someone self-assured enough to pursue the presidency was taking the measure of that responsibility and asking if he was worthy of it. Does that question cross Donald Trumps mind? I dont think so. I certainly didnt get that sense from his inaugural remarks, and not just because humbled went missing. As he stood just feet from four of the last six presidents, he trashed them, talking about a Washington establishment blind and deaf to the struggles of less fortunate Americans. He characterised his election as part of a historic movement, the likes of which the world has never seen. Forget about his loss of the popular vote. Or his 40% favourability rating. Or the puny crowd at his inauguration in comparison with the throngs at Obamas eight years ago. Trump remained a singular man on a singular mission a legend in his own mind. Weve already become so accustomed to his egomania that we sometimes forget how remarkable it is. Hes a braggart beyond his predecessors in the Oval Office, and that says something sad and scary about the country that elected him and the kind of leader hes likely to be. With Trump we enter a new age of arrogance. Hes the cock crowing at its dawn. His first stop after arriving in Washington on Thursday afternoon for the inaugural festivities was his recently opened hotel, a transformation of the Old Post Office. He pronounced its principal ballroom gorgeous and declared that a total genius must have built this place. He was referring to himself. Then, talking about his nominees for top administration jobs, he said: We have, by far, the highest IQ of any Cabinet ever assembled. Thats obviously unknowable. But its entirely in keeping with his nonstop insistence that everything about him is magical, epochal, amazing. As he went through the traditional inaugural paces, he toggled between the dignified bearing expected of a man in his role and the coarse bravado that he prefers. His remarks to his supporters at the Lincoln Memorial included the assertion that his victory was really theirs. You had much more to do with it than I did, he told them. Im just the messenger. But then he recited, for perhaps the thousandth time, how emphatically he defied so many pundits predictions and how huge his rallies were. He has indulged this tangent so repeatedly that Politico recently published a story with the headline Trump Cant Stop Talking About How He Won. And while he kept his remarks at the inauguration brief and said you and we much more often than I, thats exactly why they were so flaccid. To find his full voice, he must be singing his own praises. It was a dark speech, bemoaning this American carnage of gangs and drugs. It was a mean speech, insulting every one of his new colleagues by describing politicians as all talk and no action constantly complaining but never doing anything about it. But mostly it was a flat speech, bereft of the poetry that this tense juncture called for. He used pared-down language, simple sentences and a sluggish delivery, as if he were reading to children. Call it the Goodnight Moon of inaugural addresses. He does as he pleases, expectations be damned, and indeed the most striking aspect of Trumps transition was an absence of humility. Although he owed his Electoral College win to just 77,000 votes in three states, and it was clouded by questions about James Comey and the Russians, he didnt bother much with outreach to adversaries or appeals for unity. He put together that high-IQ team of his with few of the usual courtesies and considerations. None of his Cabinet nominees are Democrats. None is Latino. Only one, Ben Carson, his choice for housing secretary, is black. Many are billionaires or bigmouths whose outsize vanity mirrors Trumps. Every president in my lifetime has been conceited. Its more or less a job requirement. Bush had a bloated faith in his gut and his charm, while Obama fancied himself the smartest, most soulful person in almost any room. But they were nothing like Trump, whos a preening cartoon. He brags like he breathes. Its autonomic. And he gloats the way our parents and teachers always told us not to. Self-congratulatory campaign But that admonition predated Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. Social media have blurred the line between sharing and showing off, and theyve turned self-promotion into a tic. His campaign was an unprecedented orgy of self-congratulation. At the start of almost every rally, he trumpeted his poll numbers, and I dont mean a few quick bleats I mean a vulgar music that could go on for minutes. At the conclusion of almost every debate, he announced how brilliantly hed done. When he stepped up to a microphone to introduce Mike Pence as his running mate, he seemed to forget all about him, and instead paid tribute to himself in a rambling soliloquy more than 20 minutes long. He didnt stick around onstage for Pences remarks. At the Republican National Convention, warning of national decline, he thundered, I alone can fix it. And in the months before and after, he complimented himself out loud and lavishly on everything from the magnitude of his wealth to the majesty of his phallus. Presidential? Hah! But neither was the tweet that wished a Happy New Year to all, including to my many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly they just dont know what to do. Love! Its staggering, and its endless. During his only real news conference as president-elect, he mused that he could master the management of the country and of his business simultaneously, noting that while the law bars other government officials from such double duty, theres no such formal restriction on the president. I would be the only one that would be able to do that, he said. I could run the Trump Organisation great, great company and I could run the country. Id do a very good job. It was like a Russian nesting doll of self-infatuation: boast within boast within boast. The Trumps are extreme, but theyre also emblematic of a creeping crassness and lack of restraint in public life. What does that bode for the coming months? Weve seen hints in the past ones. Under fire, Trump rages, rails and frequently doubles down on his convictions and even his fictions. He rearranges reality to suit his self-regard, flinging accusations of rigged surveys and fake news. A humbler man would doubt himself, extend an olive branch to his enemies, contemplate a middle ground. But then a humbler man wouldnt have come down that escalator at Trump Tower and proceed to say what Trump said and do what he did. As I watched him flourish, I watched humility die. On Friday, our 45th president said its last rites. The BangaloreOne office beside the Indian Institute of Plantation Management near Mallathahalli is non-functional. Residents of Ullalu, Mallathahalli, Jnanabharathi Layout, Mariyappanapalya, Jnanaganga Nagar, Nagarabhavi and surrounding localities go to Kengeri satellite town or Nagarabhavi BDA complex for making utility bill payments and other services. If the authorities concerned open the facility at Mallathahalli, it will benefit residents immensely. Kiran M Water bill payment Consumers are made to wait for more than an hour at BangaloreOne Centre, RTO complex, Yeshwantpur for the monthly water bill payments. The staff there always complain of the server being down. While Bescom has introduced cashless transactions, BWSSB is yet to do so. I request BWSSB to make arrangements for people to pay bills online or rectify the technical glitches at BangaloreOne centres. Padmanabha Rao, Mathikere Nightmare for pedestrians Crossing the Rajarammohan Roy Road from the Woodlands side to PF office has become a nightmare. There are many such road junctions in the city which deserve urgent attention. K Srinivasa Rao Ittamadu Main Road dangerous for pedestrians The stretch of Ittamadu Main Road, from Janata Bazaar Junction to VBB Bakery and to Arehalli Cross from VBB Bakery is congested. With several curves, it is difficult for pedestrians to walk. Adding to the woes is the heavy rush of vehicles and vendors occupying footpaths. I request the government agencies to make the stretch pedestrian- friendly. R B Deshpande ,Ittamadu Main Road, AGS Layout Unutilised shopping complex Five years ago, foundation stone was laid to re-build the entire Jayanagar shopping complex in four phases within five years. The first phase of construction was completed two years ago. This building has seven floors with underground parking space. But till date, it is kept locked due to reasons unknown to public. A good asset is wasted without utilisation. B G Rao, Canara Bank Colony Jayanagar Crematorium in bad state The cremation ground adjacent to TR Mills in Chamarajapet lacks cleanliness. Items leftover by users are strewn everywhere. Broken pieces of earthen pots are dumped there, posing danger to the people. Above all, there are no lights in the dark hours. I suggest the BBMP officials to place garbage bins at convenient locations to dump discarded items and deploy staff to sweep the place at least twice a day. R Sridhar, Basavanagudi Dysfunctional streetlights Streetlights are not working on the stretch from Mariyappanapalya (near Bangalore University) towards university quarters, making it difficult for motorists to drive. Will the authorities concerned look into this issue? Kiran Manjunathaswamy Remove median Passengers taking a right turn while travelling from Srirampuram to Navarang Theatre on the Mahakavi Kuvempu Road, towards Subramanyanagar/Rajajinagar II stage, have to travel up to the end of Mariyappanapalya park, take a right turn near Manjushree Medicals and come back on the same road for about half a km. This results in unnecessary traffic jams on the main road between the park and Navarang, apart from inconveniencing people travelling to Subramanyanagar. The road median laid by BMRCL has blocked direct access of the road from Subramanyanagar community hall to Prakash Nagar. I request the authorities concerned to remove the median near Kuvempu Road Metro station to facilitate smooth flow of traffic. The three streetlights in the middle of the road can be relocated to either side of the road. S Seshadri, Rajajinagar II stage Stray dog menace The Naidu Layout, Kuvempunagar 1st stage, Singapura, has become a haven for street dogs. As the garbage is dumped on a vacant land, scores of street dogs are always seen in the vicinity. Many a times, the dogs have attacked pedestrians and two-wheeler riders, causing accidents. The BBMP must wake up to this menace. V S Krishna Murthy, Naidu Layout, Kuvempunagar 1st stage Drain water flowing on street Drainwater has been flowing out for the past seven days from building No 53, Rangaswamy Temple Street, BVK Iyengar Road cross. This has been creating health issues for people residing nearby. The authorities must fix the problem at the earliest. Vinod Kumar Contain froth in Varthur lake The froth in Varthur Lake is spilling on to state highway 35 at Varthur bridge and causing inconvenience to pedestrians at Varthur Kodi in Whitefield. Millions of litres of sewage water is being released into the citys two biggest lakes, Bellandur and Varthur lakes. However, no action has been taken by the authorities to tackle this. Affected citizens Dug-up road raising dust in Mathikere BBMP has dug up the entire area in Mathikere and this has resulted in dust entering the homes in the area. The authorities must do the needful. Nikhil Inspired by the success of the Jallikattu movement in Tamil Nadu, organisers of Kambala (buffalo race) in Karnataka on Sunday decided to hold the traditional sport in Moodbidri in Dakshina Kannada district on January 28 by defying ban order. The decision was taken at a meeting held by the Kambala committee at Moodbidri, its president Ashok Rai said. The High Court of Karnataka had passed an interim order in November last year, staying Kambala on a petition filed by PETA. The next hearing is on January 30, he told PTI. We have decided to conduct Kambala races on January 28 before the matter comes up for hearing in the court, he said. All Kambala organisers will take buffaloes to Swaraj Maidan in Moodbidri. Later, they will proceed to Kadalakere Nisargadhama, the venue for Kambala. The traditional buffalo race will be held from 11.30 am till evening, he added. We are also planning a massive protest in Mangaluru on January 28 where 50,000 people, including politicians and film stars, are expected to attend, Rai said. The rally would be held before the start of Kambala, and 200 pairs of buffaloes would be paraded, he said. Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers Ananth Kumar said Kambala was Karnatakas right and he would urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow the traditional sport. RSS media coordinator in Karnataka said the organisation favoured Kambala just as Jallikattu and these should be held with no violence. Kambala and Jallikattu are part of our agro-based traditions and are one of the indigenous ways for conservation of native cattle breeds. We are in favour of them. Both Kambala and Jallikattu should continue with no violence, he said. We all want to save Kambala. The government should impress upon the court. We are ready to go to jail, said Moodbidri MLA and president of Moodbidri Kambala committee K Abhayachandra Jain. India has invited US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania for an early visit to New Delhi, although his inaugural speech added to the apprehensions of the countrys information technology industry. We look forward to an early opportunity of welcoming you and Mrs Melania Trump to India, President Pranab Mukherjee conveyed in a congratulatory message to his US counterpart. Shortly after Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to congratulate him. Looking forward to working with President to further deepen India-US ties and realise the full potential of our cooperation, the prime minister posted on the micro-blogging site. Mukherjee and Modi sent out congratulatory messages to Trump, even as the new US Presidents inaugural speech sent out a signal that the new American administration might indeed start an era of fierce protectionism. Trumps strong views on immigration during the campaign had created a perception that he would take a tough stand on migrants, not only those who enter the country illegally, but also the professionals who migrate to the US legally. His campaign rhetoric had included a promise to overhaul the H1B visa issuance programme and a review of issuance of green cards. DH News Service Usually confined to the background, Priyanka Vadra has taken centre stage in the hard-nosed negotiations for the alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. For the first time, the Congress publicly acknowledged Priyankas role in thrashing out a deal with the SP, which was seen in party circles as an indication of a larger role for Priyanka in politics. Priyanka, the younger sister of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, was the sounding board for ideas and the go-to person for matters related to the Parliamentary constituencies of Amethi and Rae Bareli. But since the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, she has moved to strategy-making for the Congress campaigns and taking a keen interest in matters related to Uttar Pradesh, a state where the party has been out of power for three decades. Ahmed Patel, the political secretary to the Congress president, took to Twitter to acknowledge Priyankas role in the negotiations with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. Minutes after the Congress-SP alliance was announced, AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, the election in-charge for UP, thanked Priyanka for her role in the negotiations. Discussion was at highest level between CM(UP), GS I/C & Priyanka Gandhi, Patel tweeted. The leaders of the Congress and the SP have been discussing the alliance for quite some time but talks appeared to have snapped after Akhilesh reneged on the 120 seats he had promised to the Congress. Priyanka is learnt to have swung into action by speaking to Akhilesh late Saturday night to salvage the alliance. Congress workers from UP have long been demanding a greater role for Priyanka in the state, particularly in campaigning. Joint rallies by Priyanka and Dimple Yadav, the wife of Akhilesh, have also been talked about. Despite large-scale protests for reportedly preferring relatives of party leaders and outsiders over loyal workers, the BJP, which declared its second list for Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls on Sunday, once again fielded several turncoats and kin of saffron party leaders. The second list contains 155 nominees for the third, fourth and fifth phases of polling in the state. It has the names of Union minister Rajnath Singhs son Pankaj Singh, who has been fielded from Noida and BJP MP Hukum Singhs daughter Mriganka Singh, who will contest from Kairana in Shamli district. Former Uttar Pradesh Congress president Reeta Bahuguna Joshi, who crossed over to the BJP a few months ago, has secured a nomination from Lucknow (West) seat. She was a sitting MLA from Lucknow Cantonment seat. Another Congress leader Nand Gopal Nandi, who switched loyalty barely a few days ago, has been fielded from Allahabad (South) seat. Former Bahujan Samaj Party MP Brijesh Pathak, who had joined the BJP a few months ago, will contest from Lucknow (Central) seat. The BJP has given a ticket to Congress Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singhs first wife Garima Singh from Amethi constituency. Utkarsh Maurya, the son of former BSP leader Swami Prasad Maurya who joined the BJP recently, has been fielded from Unchahar. Swami Prasad himself is an aspirant to the Padrauna seat, which is yet to be declared by the BJP. BJP MP Sarvesh Singhs son Sushant Singh is contesting from Badhapur, while UP BJPs chief spokesperson Hridaynarayan Dikshit, in the fray from Bhagwant Nagar. BJPs national spokesperson Siddharth Nath Singh is the party candidate from Allahabad West. DH News Service Students fail to recognise Akhilesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday said that a lot needs to be done to improve the standard of education in government primary schools in the state, reports DHNS. Only the poor students study in government primary schools, Akhilesh said, releasing the partys election manifesto. He said that primary school students do not even recognise their chief minister. Once, while visiting a primary school in Raebareli district, I asked a student who I was, and he replied Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh remarked. The president stressed to the visiting parliamentary delegation the need for international cooperation to combat terrorism, which threatens all countries Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi told a visiting Canadian parliamentary delegation on Saturday that his country is eager to change the popular discourse on religion, moving away from extremist interpretations and the prejudice these provoke against religion, state news agency MENA reported. El-Sisi met with the delegation in the presidential palace in Cairo's Heliopolis. The president said he is also keen to promote values of tolerance, coexistence and acceptance of the other. El-Sisi discussed with the delegation the government's latest efforts to create jobs and improve conditions for foreign investment. The president spoke on Egypt's efforts to combat terrorism, emphasising the need for international cooperation to eradicate the problem, which he said threatens all countries. El-Sisi also said that the parliamentary delegation's visit represents a prime opportunity to renew parliamentary relationships between Egypt and Canada. The president noted that there is a large Egyptian community in Canada, and hundreds of Egyptian students studying at Canadian universities. Search Keywords: Short link: Forest officials on Sunday caught three Bengalureans for poaching and smuggling blackbucks from the Badamakanahalli reserve forest on the outskirts of Kolar Gold Fields. The prime suspect is Mohammad Jabran. He, along with two others Selvam and Manjunath, hunted a male and a female blackbuck with a .202 rifle. The animals were about five years old. Forest officials arrested the men when they were trying to smuggle the carcasses to Bengaluru. Jabran owns a farmhouse on the edges of the Badamakanahalli reserve forest and visited it often. Residents of surrounding villages had complained to forest officials that some people were hunting animals in the forest which is home to thousands of blackbucks. Forest officials are investigating whether Jabran has links with the gang that had poached two Sambar deer in Chikkamagaluru on New Years Day. A JMFC court has remanded the three men in judicial custody. After hard bargaining over seat-sharing, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress on Sunday formally announced a historic alliance in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Though details of the seats to be contested by the two parties were not announced, state SP president Naresh Uttam and UP Congress chief Raj Babbar, at a joint press conference here, said the SP would contest 298 seats and Congress the remaining 105. The two leaders termed the alliance a new beginning, which would put the state on the path of development and rid it of the polarising and communal policies of the BJP. It is a historic beginning to uproot the BJP and BSP... it will herald a new era in UP... it shows our commitment towards communal amity and peaceful coexistence, he said. Uttam made it clear that Akhilesh Yadav would be the face of the alliance. The Congress and SP will contest the polls together... we will make Akhilesh Yadav chief minister again, he said. Babbar said the alliance would give people a common minimum programme within one week of forming the next government, which would ensure transparent governance and all-round development of the state. We will seek the mandate of the people on the basis of constructive policies and programmes, and not on caste or religion, he added. The pre-poll pact had earlier hit a hurdle over seat-sharing and both the parties had put up their candidates for almost all the seats, where polling was scheduled in the first two phases. Sources said hectic parleys between the two parties continued late on Saturday. The Samajwadi Party had offered 85 seats to the Congress, but it wanted 120. As neither of them wanted a division of Muslim votes, which play a crucial role in around 125 seats, a deal was finally struck. DH News Service Egypt's State Security Prosecution ordered on Sunday a four-day detention pending investigation for three people, including a Ministry of Finance official, for conducting an EGP 4 million bribe deal. The official the ministry's consultant for real estate taxes is charged with receiving the bribe in exchange for manipulating the value of a parcel of land attached to a tourist resort. The charged include the Ministry of Finance's consultant for real estate taxes, the contracting company's representative; and the person who allegedly mediated the bribe deal. Prosecution investigations revealed that the case would have squandered EGP 500 million out of the country's general budget. Last December, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi spoke on the importance of fighting corruption in the country, saying that he himself would be ready to be held accountable in any case of wrongdoing. In July 2016, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail announced that Egypt had significantly improved its rank on Transparency Internationals annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), but misstated the country's rank as 84 out of 176 countries. Transparency International reported Egypt's correct ranking as 88 for 2015. Egypt lost one point in the 2015 CPI compared to the previous year, registering 36/100 points (with 100 equalling zero corruption), Transparency International reported. The organisation said political corruption remains a huge challenge for the government. Vehicles are breaking the speed limit as they enter Castlefinn, a Donegal County Council speed survey has confirmed. I raised the issue of vehicles speeding on the approaches to Castlefinn late last year and I voiced the very real concern I had that a serious accident was imminent as a result of this, Sinn Fein Cllr. Gary Doherty said. The councillor said his concerns have been vindicated through the results of the speed survey. At the January meeting of the Stranorlar Municipal District, council reported that in November of last year, in response to representations made at the last municipal district meeting, that the road design office completed a speed survey on the N15 Lifford-bound approach to Castlefinn in close proximity to the school. The results of this survey confirm that there is an issue at this location with vehicles speeding on approach to and through Castlefinn on the N15, Garrett Doherty, area council manager for roads, told local councillors. The councils road safety engineer will prepare a report on the issues for the regional road safety engineer at Transport Infrastructure Ireland, formerly the National Roads Authority, for consideration of further traffic calming measures, if any, that could be introduced. In the interim, Mr. Doherty said the councils road safety engineer will report the speeding issue at the location to the traffic division of An Garda Siochana and request additional enforcement in the area. "The results of the survey confirm that vehicles are speeding on the approaches and through Castlefinn village, despite the traffic calming measures which are already in place, in the form of gateway signage and central refuge islands, Cllr. Doherty said. He said the TII is responsible for determining traffic calming measures on national roads but said, We certainly need to explore all options. Cllr. Doherty said additional traffic enforcement in the village is also hoped to act as a deterrent until potential further traffic calming measures could be put in place. He said he believed there were speed issues on both sides of the village. And while welcoming the survey, Cllr. Doherty said, I would also appeal to motorists to slow down and adhere to the speed limit when travelling through Castlefinn, and to be mindful of pedestrians who will be crossing the road. The Alabama Historical Commission had added two Elba location to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage as of Dec. 1, 2016. According to a news release, the old Coffee County Jail and Mulberry Heights School in Elba will now officially be known as historic sites on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage. With the addition of the Coffee County Jail and Mulberry Heights School, Coffee County now has eight sites listed on the Alabama Register. When the news came of the declarations from the Alabama Historical Commission we were thrilled, Elba Chamber of Commerce President Sandy Bynum said. The preservation of our history and positive use of spaces helps breathe new life into our local institutions. Mulberry Heights School was cited as being listed for its association with education and ethnic heritage. The old school was originally constructed in the 1950s with the addition of a gym and other classrooms in 1966. The school was built to accommodate African American students during segregation. The site was the location originally of the first African American school called Rosenwald School in Elba built by Mulberry Baptist Association in 1927. The Rosenwald School was burned and later the Elba Colored School was built in its place before being replaced by Mulberry Heights School. The school was closed after segregation when all students were put together at Elba City Schools. Elba Zion Missionary Baptist Church purchased the structure of the old school and plans to restore the property as a new community center. The old Coffee County Jail in Elba was cited as being listed for its architecture and heritage. The jail was constructed originally in 1912 using bricks baked in a kiln on the banks of the Pea River. The original construction had separate cells built for men, women, white, African American and the insane. The jail was built onto in the 1950s and was used all the way up until the 1990 flood when it was officially closed for good and the new Coffee County Jail in New Brockton took over. The old jail has been vacant ever since but has been the site of haunted house tours, ghost hunts and various other local events, including a movie night during Halloween last year. The City of Elba plans to restore the old jail as a local county history museum. Families of the Egyptian workers reportedly kidnapped in Libya held a small demonstration in downtown Cairo on Saturday urging President El-Sisi to interfere Related Families of Egyptians kidnapped in Libya call on Sisi to end their crisis Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is still following the case of 15 missing Egyptians in Libya, ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid told Ahram Online on Sunday. The fifteen migrant workers from Egypt were reportedly kidnapped and tortured in Libya earlier this month. According to the captives' families, the kidnappers have demanded a ransom of 300,000 Libyan dinars (around EGP 4 million), threatening to kill the captives if it is not delivered. "We cannot confirm whether they have been kidnapped or not -- we do not have an Egyptian embassy in Libya, so we are following the issue from Cairo. And we cant tell in whos custody they are in it might be the authorities or it might be militant groups, nothing has been confirmed yet," Abu Zeid said. The families of the Egyptian workers reportedly kidnapped staged a protest on Saturday in downtown Cairo, near the Egyptian press syndicate, demanding that the president interfere to bring their relatives home. "We need President [Abdel-Fattah] El-Sisi to interfere, he is our president, who else should we go to? And what else should we do? I submitted complaints everywhere, but nothing happened," Mohamed Rabie El-Sherbiny from Damietta governorate, whose father is among the 15 kidnapped, told Ahram Online on Saturday. Security forces dispersed the protest and four of the demonstrators were briefly detained, including two photojournalists, according to El-Sherbiny. Last week, the brother of one of the kidnapped Egyptians, Hamada Salah, told Ahram Online he had received a message from the kidnapper telling him his brother had been killed. Salah has not been able to confirm the information. A screenshot of the message Salah received went viral on Facebook, along with photos of the captives' torture. Ahram Online could not independently verify the authenticity of the photos circulating on social media of the reportedly kidnapped Egyptians. In 2015, Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs began urging citizens to avoid travel to Libya due to unstable security conditions following the killing of 20 Egyptian migrant workers near Derna by the Islamic State militant group. The warning was renewed in 2016 and is still in effect. Despite the government's warning and Libya's difficult economic conditions, Egyptian workers continue to migrate to the country. Search Keywords: Short link: On Friday, while Alabama lawmakers joined much of the rest of the nation with an eye toward the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump, a federal court panel set the states legislative agenda when it struck down a portion of the redistricting plan crafted by the first Republican legislative majority since Reconstruction. The court ruled that the reapportionment relied too heavily on race in 12 of 36 districts under scrutiny. One of the affected districts Senate District 28 stretches from Lee County into Dothan, and is held by Billy Beasley, a Democrat from Clayton in Barbour County. Nine House districts and three Senate districts must be redrawn prior to the 2018 election. Although the 2012 plan passed muster with the U.S. Justice Department, which has had oversight of Alabama legislative districts since passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1965, the Legislative Black Caucus and the Alabama Democratic Conference filed suit in federal court, and ultimately the U.S. Supreme Court appointed a judicial panel to review the reapportionment plan a second time. One judge on the panel, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson, went a step further, pointing out an additional 10 House districts and two Senate districts as questionable with regard to racial gerrymandering. That muddies the water for lawmakers, who have continuously sidestepped a growing chasm between revenue and expenditures, and now faces the burden of redrafting legislative districts that must be approved in time for the 2018 elections. Each district under consideration the 12 struck down and the additional 12 pointed out by Thompson is held by a Democrat. Those dozen districts to be redrawn affect 9 of 33 House Democrats and three of eight Senate Democrats. Its a daunting task. Reapportionment must consider race in order to ensure proper representation for minorities, but must not rely too heavily on race so that minority districts are packed. Perhaps the best way to ensure the creation of equitable legislative districts is to move the task from the purview of the majority and turn it over to a bipartisan reapportionment committee. Doing so may well expedite the work of redistricting and allow lawmakers to get their minds off re-election and redirect their attention to the states fiscal woes. 6 April Movement co-founder Mohamed Adel has been released Sunday from Aga police station in Mansoura city, after finishing Saturday a three and a half year prison sentence on charges of violating Egypt's protest law, his lawyer Sayed El-Banna confirmed to Ahram Online. Adel will remain on probation for three years, and will have to report to Aga police station on a daily basis for 12 hours, from 6 pm to 6 am. Adel will be facing the same probationary terms mandated on Ahmed Maher, the co-founder of 6 April, who was released from jail two weeks ago after finishing his sentence in the same trial. "We wish to remove this unjust and maximum probation for Adel and Maher; Adel has to sit for exams towards his diploma in Cairo, he will not be able to do so, he already spent three years in prison, and with those everyday 12 hours in the police station he will stay half imprisoned, he will not be able to work or to lead a normal life," Said El-Banna. In December 2013, an Egyptian misdemeanour court sentenced Adel and Maher along with long-time activist Ahmed Douma who were at the forefront of Egypt's January 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak to three years in jail and fines of EGP 50,000 each on charges that included breaking the controversial protest law. In March 2016, a Maadi court upheld a six-month prison sentence for Douma and Adel for assaulting police officers assigned to a court in the district in 2013, while they were on trial in another case. Adel finished his six months sentence on this conviction. Douma, however, is serving a life sentence in another case, where he has been sentenced to 25 years in prison and fined EGP 17 million for involvement in the December 2011 cabinet clashes. He is awaiting an appeal trial in April. Search Keywords: Short link: The news that Betsy DeVos will not divest her financial interest in Neurocore, a Michigan biofeedback company, should alarm anyone who cares about the health and safety of our children. Because this is not simply a financial issue; its part of a disturbing trend in Ms. DeVos involvement and activism in education, and her potential confirmation as Secretary of Education. As reported in the New York Times, DeVos is a strong supporter of using biofeedback technology to help children and teenagers enhance their performance in schoolMs. DeVos and her husband promote Neurocore heavily on the website for Windquest Group, a family office the couple use to manage some of their many investments. The only problem with this is that Neurocores product is not a pedagogical technique, or even a widely accepted medical intervention. In fact, Michigans Department of Insurance and Financial Services recently denied a claim for Neurocores services: a randomized, prospective, single blind single center controlled trial was done to access the efficacy of biofeedback in reducing the frequency and severity of migraine and tension type headaches. Sixty-four patients with migraines with or without aura and/or tension type headaches, age eighteen to fifty-five, who had suffered from headaches for more than one year, were entered into the study. Patients were randomly assigned to receive biofeedback in addition to the basic relaxation instruction or relaxation techniques alone. Biofeedback training consisted often, fifty minute sessions utilizing standard electromyogram (EMG) feedback from the frontalis and trapezius muscles and temperature from the third finger ofthe dominant hand. Visual and auditory feedback was provided. Thirty-three patients were assigned to receive biofeedback plus the relaxation techniques and thirty-one, the relaxation techniques alone. All patients were asked to respond to periodic questionnaires for thirty-six months. In their conclusion, the authors state that biofeedback is an extremely costly and time consuming treatment modality that, in their study, provided no additional benefit when compared to simple relaxation techniques alone in the treatment ofmigraine and tension type headaches in adults. While Ms. DeVos believes that biofeedback is a valuable strategy for addressing ADHD, medical experts are not at all convinced that this disorder can be effectively diagnosed, or treated, through electroencephalography: A 2013 article in The Detroit News questioned the efficacy of diagnostic testing for A.D.H.D., citing an article in the American Academy of Pediatrics News that suggested more research was needed. The medical research here doesnt seem to have made much of an impact on Neurocores advertising pitch: In its marketing materials, Neurocore makes a direct pitch to parents, featuring the personal stories of numerous children in YouTube videos and offering tips on Twitter about helping students focus at school. On Friday, Neurocore posted a typical tweet Do you suspect your child may have teen ADHD? Check out these common signs with a link to its website and a photo of a student at his desk. Or on the thinking of the corporations chief medical officer: Still, Dr. Fotuhi expressed confidence in the field. Its in its infancy, he said, but I can envision in the coming years, well have objective dataHe said Neurocore had recently begun analyzing its data and results would be published soon in a scientific journal. Heres what is dangerous about this issue: medicine and education are not professions that can afford to employ a Ready, Fire, Aim approach. Before physicians, or teachers, apply a technique or intervention with patients, or students, it is incumbent upon them to rigorously and strenuously test, examine, and analyze those strategies in experimental settings, and to vet these ideas widely and transparently in an effort to determine any potential problems or unintended consequences. Dr. Fotuhis acknowledgement that while Neurocore has just recently begun to gather and examine data on their biofeedback techniques, but is already advertising their services directly to parents at a cost of $2000 per session, is terrifying. And the fact that Betsy DeVos stands to benefit financially from this reckless activity is absolutely disqualifying with respect to her confirmation as Secretary of Education. Even more disturbing, the evidence here suggests that DeVos involvement with this untested medical intervention masquerading as pedagogical product is merely part of a larger trend in Michigans charter school sector. As Ive written about previously, Michigan eye doctor and charter school operator, Steve Ingersoll, ran a similar scheme in his schools in Northern Michiganuntil he was sentenced to a federal prison stay for his crimes. Instead of biofeedback, Dr. Ingersolls scam was called Integrated Visual Learning (IVL), and involved testing childrens eye movements as some sort of diagnostic evaluation: Heres a teachers account of IVL, and how it was used in Dr. Ingersolls school: His claims were/are at best a novelty in my opinion. If I recall correctly, students were initially given a screener to see how their eyes tracked on a page of text. This was done with a special machine and a pair of glasses hooked up to the machine. If their eyes didnt track from left to right (as in how a person reads a page of text) and from one line to the next in the correct zig zag pattern during reading, then they were considered to need therapy. Therapy was expensive and rarely covered by insurance. Whats missing here is any description of how children learn. How does this test help teachers adapt instruction? What happens when a childs eyes dont zig zag? Are they taught differently, or just not admitted to the school? Um, not so muchaccording to another teacher: There was NO room in the school specifically for IVL testing. There may have been equipment, but kids were never observed for vision. The IVL methods were taught to all kids, because Ingersoll made the staff do it; middle school and high school as well. Even the Special Education teachers had to teach it. which meant critical standards were not met. Dr. Ingersolls unethical actions were possible in large part due to Ms. DeVos efforts to eliminate any meaningful regulation or oversight for Michigans charter school industry. Michigans charter school industryand thats what it is, an industry; not an educational system, but rather a business model designed to steal public money and slip it into private bank accountsis wildly out of control, an unregulated Wild West playground for unscrupulous hucksters, quacks and charlatans who see our school system and our children as an untapped well-spring of profits. And the stream is flowing. If Michigan is any indication, we are about to witness a radical experiment in our nations schoolsan experiment using our children as unwilling guinea pigs, with no regard for data or ethics, and a total obsession with profits. Betsy DeVos is clearly demonstrating that she is more concerned with benefitting from her financial investments than with making sure that our countrys children have access to education that is research-based, pedagogically-sound, and safe. Ms. DeVos has been honest about her lack of knowledge about children, learning, or schools, and now has shown her willingness to subject our children to radical, untested teaching methodsall in the name of profits. Betsy DeVos should not be permitted to set foot in our schools, much less run them. The ideas and policies that she espouses represent a clear and present danger to American education, and our children. Call your representatives and tell them to vote against her confirmation as Secretary of Education. Yesterday, people around the world rose as one to say that the fascist leanings of Pr*sident Donald Trump will never be allowed to spread without a powerful, unified resistance standing in its way. Anne and I were in Washington, D.C. to observe and participate in the Womens March while similar Marches were happening across the nation and across the globe. 1,000,000 marchers in Washington, D.C. 750,000 marchers in Los Angeles. 250,000 marchers in Chicago. 400,000 marchers in New York City. 175,000 marchers in Boston. 100,000 marchers in Denver. 100,000 in London and tens of thousands more in Paris and Mexico City and Prague and the Bahamas and even in Antarctica! Meanwhile, President Trump and his press secretary set about chastising the media for misrepresenting how many people showed up at his inauguration. While most believe this is about his ego, and maybe thats part of it, its my belief that it another puff of chaff thrown into the air to distract us from what hes actually doing. If were arguing about how many people showed up at his inauguration, we run the dead serious risk of missing something else he said yesterday at a speech at the CIAs headquarters in Langley, VA: The old expression, to the victor belong the spoils, you remember they always used to say: Keep the oil. I wasnt a fan of Iraq. I didnt want to go into Iraq. But I will tell you: When were in? We got out wrong. I always said, in addition to that: Keep the oil. Now I said it for economic reasons. But if you think about it, [CIA Director nominee] Mike [Pompeo], if we kept the oil you probably wouldnt have ISIS, because thats where they made their money in the first place. So we should have kept the oil. But, okay. Maybe youll have another chance. Maybe youll have another chance to go in and steal Iraqs oil, Trump told the CIA. It is, perhaps, the most terrifying thing Donald Trump has uttered since he began running for president. But, its clear that Pr*sident Trump is NOT going to be allowed to enact his agenda without a fight from those of us who oppose him. Remember: fewer Americans voted for him for president than voted for his opponent, Hillary Clinton. Here are some of Annes remarkable photos from the march in Washington, D.C. yesterday. What you see is diversity manifest. All ages, all ethnicities, all gender expressions, people from all across the country (we even heard of folks there from Alaska!) All speaking with a common voice to say, this is not normal, this is not acceptable, and we will FIGHT Donald Trumps fascist moves every step of the way. NOTE: Because Donald Trump lost the national popular vote by an historic margin of nearly 3,000,000 votes, I will be writing Pr*sident rather than President to include the asterisk that should appear under any mention of his presidency. Enjoy. Senator Gary Peters meets with Michigan marchers in Hancock Park before the rally Senator Debbie Stabenow meets with Michigan marchers in Hancock Park before the rally Brick x Brick And, finally, one photo not taken by Anne: *Donald Trump is the largest loser of the popular vote in history to become the President of the United States of America. 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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 consulate is now fully operational and will service over 20,000 Russians living permanently in Hurghada A new Russian consulate officially opened its doors in Egypts Red Sea resort of Hurghada on Sunday. The Russian consulate, which was established by a governmental decree issued in November 2015, is the third in Egypt, joining two others located in Cairo and Alexandria. The attendees at the opening ceremony included the Governor of the Red Sea General Ahmed Abdallah, the Russian Consul Gameshed Politiv, a number of Russian investors and members of the Russian community in Hurghada. The consulate has already been providing consultations to Russians on citizenship matters, notary certification, legalisation and other issues, according to a statement made by foreign ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova on 19 January. The consulate is now ready to provide all consular services and will be attending to more than 20,000 Russian civilians who live permanently in Hurghada. I am very optimistic about the return of Russian tourism within a month as all tourist facilities are ready to serve our tourists, stated Ambassador Sergey Kirpichenko at the opening ceremony. This statement comes after Russian security delegations carried out last week a five-day inspection of Hurghada airport. The opening of the consulate is a positive step towards the recovery of a tourist industry that has been hit hard since the deadly crash of a Russian plane in Sinai in October 2015 and the suspension of all Russian flights to Egyptian airports. Hurghada has long been a popular tourist destination for Russians. Search Keywords: Short link: By F orbes , Jan . 22 , 2017 When Barack Obama joined the U.S. Senate in 2005, he was a 43-year old former law professor making $85,000 a year. In the 12 years since then, he won the White House, reworked the nations laws, ended two warsand earned $20 million. Three-fourths of that money came from lucrative book deals, according to a FORBES analysis of 16 years of tax returns and financial disclosure documents. In total, Obama has earned $15.6 million as an author since arriving in Washington. 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networking, and obtains final approval from the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA). The company said in a statement it is currently completing experimental networking, which is to be followed by launching the service commercially to customers in accordance with the NTRA's technical regulations and security demands. The Orange statement comes after recent media said the NTRA had recently urged Egypt's three major telecom companies -- Orange, Vodafone and Etisalat -- to stop their experimental networking on the 4G service due to its reported disrupting effects on the quality and strength of the current service. In October, 2016 Orange Egypt became the first mobile company in the country to acquire the new 4G internet services licence after signing a $484 million agreement with the national telecom regulator. Orange, along with Vodafone Egypt and Etisalat, had declined in September to apply for the 4G licence under the NTRA's offered conditions. However, the NTRA agreed to provide Orange and the other mobile operators with new terms that increase the speed of 4G to 2x10 MHz as opposed to the 2x2.5MHz to 2x5MHz initially offered. Telecom Egypt (TE), the countrys sole landline operator, was the first operator to sign the deal with the 4G licence deal with the NTRA in August, buying a 15-year 4G mobile license. Egypts 4G licencing comes as part of a long-awaited scheme to reform the countrys telecoms sector. The 4G succeeds 3G in providing higher speed internet access for mobile phones. Search Keywords: Short link: In an official statement by the Egyptian prosecution, Sadek agreed to the request in the frame work of continued cooperation between the Egyptian and Italian prosecutors to resolve the one-year-old case, which led to strains in relations between the two countries. The CCTV footage to be retrieved are those caputred by security cameras at Dokki's Metro station, which reportedly recorded the last images of the Italian student before his disappeared on 25 January, 2016. Sadek also urged Egyptian security agencies to finalise their investigations on the incident. The decision by Egypt's Sadek comes two days after Italy's foreign minister Angelino Alfano told the Italian parliament that his country will not rest until it uncovers the truth behind the murder. Alfano affirmed that cooperation between Italian and Egyptian prosecutors has produced fruitful results. Regeni had been in Cairo for several weeks conducting research on independent trade unions, when he went missing on the fifth anniversary of Egypts 2011 Revolution. His body was found on 3 February on a roadside on the outskirts of Cairo bearing signs of torture. Egypt has strongly rejected suggestions that security forces were involved in Regeni's murder. In December, Egypt's prosecutor-general visited Rome to discuss developments in the investigation, the fifth such meeting between Egyptian prosecutors and their Italian counterparts since the murder. Sadek assured the parents of Regeni of Egypt's commitment to achieving justice in the case during the visit. Search Keywords: Short link: Written by ACM *Strasbourg/CoE/Angelo Marcopolo/- While the 47 Member States-strong CoE is Ready to Participate in a Ground-Breaking International Conference for a "European Pillar of Social Rights", organized by EU Commission (which includes a core of 28 Member States) in Brussels next Monday, the New US President, Don Trump's apparent Support for a Key Provision of CoE's Social Charter about MedicAid to Help Poor People's Access to Health Care, is "very Welcome", and Timely shows that even "Conservative Governments" can, sometimes, Advance Further than some so-called "Progressive" (Leftist) Governments, particularly in Issues which concern Core Human Rights, and are an integral part of Both European and World "Civilisation", at least in the Post-War II current era of the Last 65 Years (1945-2017), Replied, in substance, the Experienced CoE's Human Rights' Director, Christos Giakoumopulos, in one among three Questions raised by "Eurofora", (See Infra), in a Press Conference organized Today in Strasbourg, (by a Timely Coincidence, Just Before Trump's Official Inauguration starts in Washington, full of relevant Symbolic Statements : See also Infra). The unusual Move came as the Highest CoE's Official, its Secretary General, Thorbjorn Jagland, an Experienced former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister from Norway, and Long-time f. Chairman of Oslo's "NOBEL" Peace Prize Committee, has just Published a Letter Today, send to EU Commission's President, Jean-Claude Juncker, another Experienced former Long-Time Prime Minister of Luxembourg, and Chairman of uroGroup, accompagnied by a Fully-Fledged relevant Legal Study of that Serious matter, in the form of an Official "Opinion", Together with an Explicit "Tableau" showing an overall view of all CoE Social Charter's Rights already Recognized by Each one among its 47 Member States, including, for Most of them, its New "Collective Complaints" Mechanism due to Monitor the actual Implementation of the prescribed Rules. His interlocutor, Juncker, (who addressed, Earlier this Week, EU Parliament's Plenary in Strasbourg, on the occasion of EU Member Malta's incoming Presidency of EU Council, Debating with MEPs its Program for the Period of the Next 6 Months : January - July 2017), has gone on Record for a Famous Call to his ChristianDemocrat/EPP (Center-Right) Political Family, to - "Never Abandon Social Issues to the <>!", as he had Strongly Reminded, already, during the Latest, May 2014 European Elections...., (a Move which, Obviouslyn Fits as a Glove the more Recent Don Trump's, above-mentioned Stance in the USA : See also Infra). + Juncker is also Well Known for an Historic Report on the "Cooperation between the EU and COE", inside the ReUnified Europe's New Institutional Architecture, published on 2006 in Strasbourg, (Comp. relevant Juncker's Press Conference at the CoE, where he Replied also to "Eurofora" co-Founder's Questions, published then at "TCWeekly", etc), in response to an Official Demand from CoE's PanEuropean Heads of State/Governments Summit in Warsaw, Poland, on 2004, inviting him to do so. All this Timely came while, also Experienced CoE's Deputy Secretary General, Gabriela Battaini-Dragoni, was just Introduding, almost in Parallel in Strasbourg, a Special Event on Various Concrete Programmes for EU - CoE Cooperation, together with the Director General of CoE's Programs, Verena Taylor, which Included, f.ex., the "South", "Western Balkans and Turkey", as well as an overall "Framework" for "EU/CoE Programmatic Cooperation", (which is also, by another Good Coincidence, a Priority of the current Cyprus' Presidency of CoE's Highest Political Body : that of its Committee of Ministers, for the Period of November 2016 up to the End of May 2017, as also the Cypriot Foreign Minister, Ioanis Kasulides, a former Top MEP at EU Parliament, and Now Chairman-in-office of CoE's Ministerial Committee, Earlier Highlighted in Statements to "Eurofora" : See, f.ex. .....). Jagland urges, in his Letter to Juncker, to "promote Legal Certainty and Coherence, between European Standard-Setting Systems, Protecting Fundamental Social Rights", by "ensuring thet (CoE's) (Pan-) European Social Charter" becomes "Central to (EU's) Pillar", in order to "Make Europe not only More Prosperous, but also More Equitable and United". But European and PanEuropean current Efforts to Develop People's Social Rights, despite several Difficulties, Unexpectedly received, apparently, a Symbolic but Strong Boost from ...New US President's Don Trump's USA ! ------------------------------------------ "Eurofora"'s 3 Questions + CoE Human Rights Director's Replies at the Press Conference : ------------------------------------------- (A) "Eurofora" initialy observed that CoE's Top Official had stressed, in order to Support the View that an EU/COE Cooperation on Social Rights should currently Advance Further, (Comp. Supra), that : - "the Time is Now !". - In this regard, we Pointed at "the (New) Fact that Even North America, which has (been considered to be), Traditionaly with Less Social Protection, than, at least in Europe, and even from the Right Side of the Political Spectrum, (i.e.) even from Conservatives, as (New US President) Donald Trump, Despite of all those Contradictions alleged by Critics, he Surprized his own Party, by Saying, anew These Days, that he'd like, (as f.ex. Ohio Governor Kasich had already claimed that he's alreadu done in his Federated State, during the GOP's Primaries' Public Debates between 14 Candidates competing for the November 2016 US Presidential Election), (for American People), to have, at least an Elementary, General Access to Health Care", even if it's "Contrary to some Tradtional Fiscalist" Lobbies, as we observed, citting certain "Pubic Declarations of both", in this regard. => -"Don't you think that, if he (Trump) succeeds to really make this happen, it would be an Encouraging Sign for Europe, at least for some Governements ?", "Eurofora" asked. ------------------------------------------- - That's "very Welcome", observed from the outset the PanEuropean CoE's Human Rights' Director, in Reply to "Eurofora"s Question on this particularly Topical point of New US President Don Trump's, Declared Aims, (which is also Characteristic of his Original Positions Expressed,n in Wide Terms, already at his Historic Concluding Speech at the American Conservative Party's National Convention, last July 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio, when he Ensured to get the Confirmation as Official GOP's Candidate for the Subsequent, November 2016 US Presidential Election, after Winning a particularly "Hot" and Long Race among More than 14 initial Candidates, and, Concisely but Clearly, also in his Landmark "Inauguration" Speech, Today in Washington D.C., when he Officialy Entered in the White House as POTUS"). - Indeed, "I think that it's Important to Consider Social Rights as an integral Part of Human Rights", CoE's Top Official stressed. - "They are Human Rights, (also) because .. it's the Collective History and Experience from the 2nd World War that has Produced these Rights, in the Same Way that it has produced the U.N. Universal Declaration and the (CoE's) European Convention for Human Rights". => That's why, "I doN't think that Human Rights are a question of policies from <> or <> Governments", he clearly underlined. - "It is an Issue of Common European Values, and of (International) common Civilisation". - It's "on this Basis that the Construction of Europe pursued for More than 60 Years now", (1945-2017). And, if this has been recognized , it has to be considered as More Important than mere Fiscal Policies. It's as Simple as that". - "So, it's not an Issue of Political Parties, has Not to do with (their competing) Policies : It is a Legal Issue, and a Worldwide Civilisation Issue", he Concluded. >>> - In consequence, indeed, (as in the above-mentioned case in New US President Don Trump's relevant Statements : Comp. Supra), "a Conservative Government can be very well Interested into Social Rights, in the Same Way as a Non-Conservative (f.ex. Leftist) Government", PanEuropean CoE's Human Rights' Director stressed. + Sometimes, it can be that certain so-called "Conservative Governments Advance further in key Social Rights, while, on the Contrary, some so-called "Progressist" (Leftist) Governments might Backtrack", he added. ------------------------------------------------ + "Eurofora" Further Asked COE's Human Rights' Director, whether the Priority for Cooperation with the EU on Social Rights would be, Now, rather on the Substantial Rules about the Issues, or on the Procedural Mechanism of Monitoring their Application, if not at Both. ++ We also Questioned Giakoumopoulos about the Countries which currently were "at the Forefront" of CoE's moves about its Social Charter. => His Replies, were Mainly to Admit, in Fine, that Rules on the Substance of Social Rights appeared quite more Important, even if CoE's Collective Complaints Mechanism was also quite Useful, particularly in certain aspects, (See infra), while, among at least the Obvious "Forefront" CoE Member Countries, currently Committed in developing further the Social Charter, was, inter alia, f.ex., Italy, Belgium and Cyprus, (etc), the 2 Last of which have either a Big Coalition including the Right, or even a 100% Center-Right Governement, (as that of Cypriot President Anastassiades, a Long-Time and active Member of the ChristianDemocrat/EPP Party at European level). >>> I.e., in Brief, 2 Replies which brought Even Closer to New US President Don Trump's Neo-Conservative Policies, (See Infra), with those of at least some among his closer Interlocutors in Europe... -------------------------------------- (B) + - "You asked of it's 1st for the Substantive Issues (of COE's Social Rights' rules), or for the Procedure (by which their Implementation is Verified and Sanctioned)". "Whether it's the Mechanism, that is more, or the Substance", CoE's Human Rights' Director resumed "Eurofora"s First subsequent Question (Comp. Supra). - Once "Again, I don't feel that we can make such a Difference between the two, and we wish that they are Both present". - Nevertheless, "what I can say is that, in Some Areas, the Collective Complaints Mechanism has been Able to Alarm, to Warn, our (CoE's) Membe States of the Dysfunctioning of certain Instruments, Both in National and in EU Legislation, at a very Early Stage. And if Measures had been Taken at that Time, they might have Avoided a Subsequent Discussion, which has been <>", the Experienced CoE's Top Official observed. - "I'm Talking, for instance, about the <> Issue, which has Become a Major Issue in the EU Today", he pointed out, as a concrete Topical Example. "The Problems of the <> Legislation, and the Way it had been Applied at some stages, was Singled out as a Social Rights' Problem, and as an Issue of Potential <>, by the (CoE's) PanEuropean Committee on Social Rights, several Years Ago". "At the time, it had not been considered as such, and had rather Worried, than made (CoE's) Member States to really Commit to React to this. But Now, it has Become an Issue, which is even Divisive of Policies inside the EU" nowadays. - "So, I think that the Mechanism is Important", (at least) "as an Early Warning System, and I think that it has also an Impact on the Substance of the Social Rights, and the Way that they are Implemented", he Concluded on this point. +"But, there are Main Positions of Substance, which may be Improved, Even withOut a (Control) Mechanism". So that, "I doN't think that the Mechanism is an Absolute, which Should have a Precedence", at all, he Concluded on this point. + "AnOther Example is that the (CoE's) European Committee on Social Rights has Received an Important Amount of Collective Complaints against Greece, in the Recent Years, although Greece was Not Bound by the (New) Revised (CoE's) PanEuropean Charter". => - "So the Substantive side of accepting more (Social) Rights, is Not Necessarily Linked with the Mechanism, as such", he reiterated. ------------------------------------------------- (C) - Concerning our 3rd Question, (Comp. Supra), "F.ex. the UK, that you ("Eurofora") mentioned as "Recalcitrant" nowadays, nevertheless was the 1st Country to Ratify the (CoE's Social) Charter !", Giakoumopoulos reminded from the outset, in his Reply to "Eurofora"s 3rd Question (Comp. Supra). => - This Fact proves that : - "Things Change !" So that, some "Countries who were very much Favorable to the (CoE's) Social Charter abandoned their interest, and Countries that were very Reluctant, now they are in favour it, i.e. they have Changed". - "But, this is True, that there are some (CoE) Member States which are at the Forefront of the whole Operation", to Boost basic Social Rights in all Europe, he Agreed. - F.ex., "It wasn't a Secret that this was moved by the (CoE's) Turin process", (Named after an Important PanEuropean 2015 Ministerial Conference in that City), "very much Supported by the Italian Government". And "it is pursued Further by the (Forthcoming, Next Week, Jan. 2017) Conference in Brussels, which s supported both by the EU and by the Belgian Government". While it's allso concerned by another "Conference in Cyprus, which means that the (currently CoE's President for the Period of November 2016 to May 2017) Government of Cyprus is very much on he Same line", etc. => - "So, we (COE) really feel that it's the Right Time for a Collective Commitment in favour of Social Rights", "and I think that it's High Time to have it", he Urged, in Conclusion. ----------------------------- CoE's relevant Social Charter's Rules ------------------------------------------------------ As as it regards Legal Rules, PanEuropean CoE's Social Charter's "Part I, 13", provides, precisely, and right from the Start, that "Anyone withOut Adequate Resources has the Right to ...Medical Assistance", (while, also, its 11, recognizes at "Everyone" - i.e. even Not Poor People - "the Right to ...the Highest Possible standard of Health attainable", Excluding, in principle, grave "Medical AppartHeid" Discriminations). + As for CoE's Social Charter's "Article 13", its 1 Requires from all Member States to "Ensure that Any Person, who is withOut Adequate Resources, and who is Unable to Secure such Resources, either from his Own Efforts or from Other Sources", is "Granted, ... in case of Sickness, the (Health) Care Necessitated by his condition". Both these Key Articles have been Officialy Endorsed by Most of CoE's 47 Member States. ------------------------------------------- The Situation in the USA+: Trump, Kasich, + relevant Debates (also in the EU) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The New US President has Firmly Evoked several Times his Intention to Maintain and Fix "Medic-Aid" to poor People in Need, at least Twice in his 2015-2016 Pre-Electoral Campaign, and Confirmed that Recently in an 2017 Interview to mainstream Press. Meanwhile, this had been also Reiterated, at least in an elementary but clear form, in principle, by his New White House Chief of Staff, Priebus, a former GOP National Ciommittee Chairman, in Other such Press Statements about MedicAid, etc). MedicAid had been Historicaly Strengthened, (particularly on fragile, Elder People), also by the Popular former US President Ronald Reagan, (also a Conservative), in the Past. On the Contrary, according to Recent US mainstream sources, Nowadays, More than ...30 Millions of American People are still "UnInsured", Despite several Years of a Controversial, Obama's "Affordable Care" Act ! ------------------------------------------- An Interesting, Already pre-Existing such Fact, in Nowadays North America, build also by a Conservative US Politician : John Richard Kasich, Twice Elected Governor of Ohio, (where were Born the 2 Greatest American Astronauts : Glenn and Armstrong : The First Men in History to Orbit the Earth and to Walk on the Moon, respectively). Governor Kasich, (a 2nd Generation European Migrant from Central-Eastern EU Countries : Check Republic and Croatia), who participated Actively in the 2015-2016 GOP Primaries for the Selection of the Candidate to November 2016 US Presidential Election, almost up to the End, competing side by side with Don Trump, had been considered, in the Past, as "a Fiscal Conservative", but Proved that adequate Financial Austerity and Economic Growth can, sometimes, go Together with elementary Human Rights, such as that of poor or impoverished People to Health Care : - Indeed, (as Kasich himself repeatedly Claimed, during several Public Debates in the GOP's Primaries, withOut being Ever Contradicted by Anyone), as Governor of the Federated State of Ohio, he stresed that he was Proud to have Succeeded to Cut Taxes and Diminish Debt, at the Same Time that Employment has risen Higher, and an Economic Growth re-appeared, while also Providing for all People who Faced Money Obstacles to Health Care, a Right to Access MediCare, "in order to keep all our Citizens Standing on their Feet", as he characteristicaly said, (Noting, also, by the way, that Prevention avoided Costly Urgencies provoked by otherwise threatening Illnesses, Limited Epidemics, Helped Productivity and Poor Families to also look after their Children, etc., so that it Spared, in fact, a Lot of Money that Public Authorities risked to have to Spend, Otherwise) ! However, it's also True that Many Other Right-wing Politicians, Both in the US and in Europe, have Recently Complained about "Excessive Public Spending" around Medic-Aid to all People in Need, (in certain Countries, even to Total Strangers, withOut any Relation, History or Attachment, linked to the Host Country, who just Happen to Pass By, or Cross through it, for a while). Nevetheless, this Possible Problem has been Attributed, by at least some among the Most Important such Righ-Wing Politicians, (also Both in the USA and in Europe), either to frequent Abuses of Facturation by some unscrupulous Bureaucrats, (as has Denounced, f.ex., Strasbourg's mainstream Center-Right French MEP, from the former Governing -and now Main Opposition- Party of UMP/The Republicans, as well as Experienced Long-Time CoE's PanEuropean Assembly's Member, Andre Schneider, a former Professor in Civil Society), and/or some too Technocratic Procedures, through which, often Unnecessary Expensive Choices might be Imposed to UnInformed and/or Unable to react, Poor Sick People, at least partly for the Sake of Selfish Interests of a Caste of Uncontrolled Technocrats, Eager f.ex. to Find Public Funds for Sophisticated Machines of Uncertein or DisProportional Usefulness, to Hire Staff subordinate to their Orders and/ro Carreer, etc. (A quite Obvious Risk, which had been, Earlier, Denounced, f.ex., by the Young US GOP Politician, and Former 2008 Candidate for US vice-President,n who became recently the powerful Senate's new President, Paul Ryan - someone who Endorsed Trump Only much Later than others, being often Criticized for that by several People from his Electoral Base). One, among Many and Various practical Possibilities able to Help Prevent such kind of eventual Abuses, (in Addition to a Normal Fight against Fraud, here, as also elsewhere), might, perhaps, be also an alleged Proposal Examined by Trump's Nominee for New "Secretary of Health and Human Services", (i.e. Minister for Health and Social Issues), Tom Pricen a Republican Congressman used to serve as US Congress' Budget Committe Chairman since 2015. Tom Price's alleged Draft Plan reportedly includes the Allowance of Positive Tax Benefits to Poor People, Exclusively Destinated to Health Care services, which could Give them a Possibility to knowingly Calculate and Choose the Best possible Cost-Benefit relation between Various shemes of Private Insurance for Care, and/or, quite "Freely" Plan their own Access to Health services, according to what is perceived as their Real Needs among several availale possibilities. Another Possibility, (eventually Complementary to the Previous one), could Obviously be the Setting up of Internal Mechanisms for adequate and Independent Monitoring, (in Direct Contact and Dialogue, both with the Patient and the concerned Doctors), aiming to Prevent any serious Abuse, by anyone who might be concerned. + Moreover, Don Trump has also Timely Denounced, according to many Recent Reports at the Press, some "Big Pharma" Industry's "Disastrous" Abuses, including, particularly, a Notorious Deplorable Trend to often Blow up its Market Prices for several Medical Drugs, whose Production, in fact, Costs considerably Less : - "The Drug Industry (is) ... Getting Away with Murder !", has strongly criticized, inter alia, the New US President. In such a Context, even a Frontrunner in the Crucial, Forthcoming French Presidential Election of April-May 2017, as Francois Fillon, former Prime Minister of Sarkozy during 5 Years, (2007-2012), and recent UnExpected Winner of his Center-Right "Republican" Party's Primaries on November 2016, after an Initial Attempt to Cut MedicAid, (Widely Criticized, Not Only by Socialists, but also by Politicians of his own Party, as f.ex. Henri Guaino, etc., and even by Rightist "National Front" Leader, Marine Le Pen, etc), Finaly Decided to Review his stance, according to a relevant Public Debate, at the Beginning of this Year, as his Spokesman reportedly stressed recently. Last, but Not Least : According to a Recent Article Published in France by Mainstream Newspaper "Le Figaro", and Signed even by its own Proprietor : the Son of Famous Engineer Marcel Dassault, Serge : a Fiscal Conservative, explicitly Aiming at Justifying a Wider Call to Limit unnecessary State Expenses, in order to Eradicate a Growing Public Debt), a generaly Unknown, but Spectacular Fact, reveals that : - While the Less important, allegedly Counter-Productive, often Accused to be "Lazy", and Controversial Limitation of Weekly Working Hours down to Only 35 per week, (instead of 40, previously), which obviously Serves mainly Employed People with Not Any Real Problem or Threat of Poverty, even Less about Health and/or Life, etc.), would Cost to the French State Budget, about ... 21 (Twenty one !) Billions per Year, - while, on the Contrary, the above-mentioned "MedicAid" Programs, (of Vital Importance for the Life of People Deprived of Sufficient Resources to pay Access to Healh Care) would Cost "only" 1 (One) Billion , i.e., an almost "Negligeable" Quantity, Comparatively, (just 1 instead of 21 Billions /Year) ! So that whoever might, eventualy, Claim to Keep that Controversial, Superfluous, almost Insignificant, but Too Costly, 21 Billions Worth, limitation of just 4 or 5 Work Hours per Week, for a Tiny Pleasure of Healthy, Egoist and fully Employed Cushy Job Holders, while, at the Same Time, he might Ask to Cut the "Only" 1 Billion /per Year (i.e. X 20 Times Less !) Vital "MedicAid" to Sick and Poor People in Need for ther Health and/or Life at Risk, would Certainly be a Bigoted, InHuman, Stupid and Unecessary Cruel, Irresponsible WrongDoer, that neither History, nor the People, would Never Forget to Punish, in one way or other, for such a Gross Crime.-Smart and Conscious People could certainly be Able to Find much Better, Alternative Solutions... Finally, the New US President's main Aim, in this regard, Obviously is to Help Bring Back to "Good Jobs", as he said, Most or All of those People who had been Obliged, in one way or another, in the Past, to Fall to a "Poverty Trap", for a Short or Longer period of Time, at least as far as Health Care is concerned, so that they would soon Find anew a way to Freely and Independently Access Medical services normaly again, in the foreseable Future, so that any such provoked Problem would more or less "Disappear", sooner of later, at least for its Largest Part, (Comp. Supra). --------------------------------------------------------- + Trump's Inauguration Speech Today (relevant points) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- + By a Timely Coincidence, Just a Few Hours After that COE's Press Conference on EU/CoE possible Cooperation on Social Rights, earlier Today (Comp. Supra), the New US President, Don Trump, Symbolicaly was stressing, in his "Inaugural Address", to the Citizens watching the Public Ceremony of his Official Entry into the White House on 20.1.2017, after his Surprize Win at the November 2016 Election : - "Todays ceremony, ...has very Special Meaning. Because today we are not merely transferring power from one Administration to another, or from one Party to another but we are Transferring Power from Washington, D.C., and Giving it Back to You : the People !", as he said, "to Everyone Gathered here Today and Everyone Watching", widely Applauded. - "For too long, a Small Group in our nations Capital has Reaped the Rewards of Government, while the People have borne the Cost". - "Washington Flourished But the People did Not Share in its Wealth"; he Denounced. - On the Contrary, "Politicians Prospered But the Jobs Left, and the Factories Closed" - The Establishment protected Itself, but Not the Citizens of our country". - "Their victories, have Not been Your (People's) Victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs; and While They Celebrated in our nations Capital, there was Little to Celebrate for Struggling Families all across our land". - "That all Changes starting right here, and right Now, because This Moment is Your moment: it Belongs to You", (the People). - "This is Your (People's) Day. This is your celebration". - "And this, the United States of America, is Your country". - "What truly Matters, is Not which Party controls our government, But whether our government is Controlled by the People" : That's why, "January 20th 2017, will be remembered as the Day the People Became the Rulers of this nation again". - "The Forgotten Men and Women of our country will be forgotten no longer". - On the Contrary, "Everyone will be Listening to You Now !", he said to the People, Calling them "to Become part of an Historic Movement, the likes of which, the World has Never seen Before !" - At the Center of this Movement is a Crucial Conviction: that a Nation exists to Serve its Citizens". - F.ex., "Americans want great Schools for their children, Safe Neighborhoods for their families, and Good Jobs for themselves. These are the Just and reasonable demands of a righteous public". - "But for too Many of our Citizens, a Different Reality exists: Mothers and Children Trapped in Poverty, in our Inner Cities; rusted-out Factories scattered like Tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an Education system, flush with cash, but which Leaves our young and beautiful students Deprived of Knowledge; and the Crime and Gangs and Drugs that have Stolen too many Lives and Robbed our country of so much Unrealized Potential", he Denounced. - "This American Carnage Stops right here and stops right now". (...) - "One by one, the Factories Shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions upon Millions of American Workers Left Behind." (...) - "But that is the Past. And now we are looking only to the Future. ... From this day forward, a New Vision will govern our land". (...) - "I will Fight For You (the People), with every Breath in my body and I will Never, ever Let you Down", Don Trump promissed. - "We will bring back our Jobs. We will bring back our Borders. We will bring back our Wealth. And we will bring back our Dreams. We will build new Roads, and highways, and Bridges, and Airports, and tunnels, and Railways all across our wonderful nation" => -" We will Get our People Off of Welfare, and Back to Work reBuilding our country", he Promissed (in a Relevant Point also to Medic-Aid). (...) - "We do Not seek to Impose our way of life on anyone, But rather to let it Shine as an example for everyone to follow" - He also used CoE's Human Rights' Director's reference to the "Civilized World" (Comp. Supra), when he Added the Promisse that - "We will reinforce Old Alliances and Form New ones and Unite the Civilized World, against Radical Islamic Terrorism, which we will Eradicate completely from the face of the Earth". (...) "There should be No Fear we are protected, and we will always be protected. We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement and, Most Importantly, we are Protected by God". ------------------- - However, "We must Speak our minds Openly, Debate our disagreements Honestly, But Always pursue Solidarity", Don Trump Urged. - ..."We must Think Big, and Dream even Bigger", at the same Time that "we understand that a nation is only Living as long as it is Striving". - "We (People's Movement : See Above) will No longer Accept Politicians who are all Talk, and No Action constantly complaining but Never Doing anything about it. The time for Empty Talk is Over. Now arrives the Hour of Action". => "Do Not let Anyone Tell you "it CanNot be done. No Challenge can Match the Heart and Fight and Spirit of America", (...). - "We stand at the Birth of a New Mllennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of Space, to Free the Earth from the Miseries of Disease (anOther Reference to a Promisse of Universal Access to Human Health possibilities), and to harness the Energies, Industries and Technologies of tomorrow". - While "It is time to remember that old Wisdom our soldiers will never forget: that whether we are Black, or Brown, or White, We All Bleed the Same Red Blood", he Warned. - And, "whether a Child is born in the Urban sprawl of Detroit, or the Windswept plains of Nebraska, they Look up at the Same night Sky", (an Ancient, 16th Century Chinese Civilisation moto, of a curiously Disappeared Society's Credo, partly Re-Discovered, Soon Afterwards, at Chile/Peru's High Mountains among the Incas...). They fill their heart with the Same Dreams, and they are infused with the Breath of Life by the Same almighty Creator". - "So to All Americans, in Every city, Near and far, Small and Large, from Mountain to Mountain, and from Ocean to Ocean, Hear these Words :" - "You will Never be Ignored Again ! ", (he Stressed in fine, Reminding the Symbolic Promisse that he had made already at the few First Words that he had pronounced immediately After hiw Surprize, UnExpected Electoral Win of 2016 US Presidential Election, at MidNight of November 9)... - "Your (People's) Voice, your Hopes, and your Dreams, will Define our American Destiny. And your Courage and Goodness and love will ForEver Guide us along the way", he Concluded. (../..) ------------------------------------------- *** ("DraftNews", as already Send to "Eurofora" Subscribers/Donors, earlier. A more accurate, full Final Version, might be published asap). *** A likely slowdown in Brexit media focus this year will support the British pound, according to strategists at French bank BNP Paribas. Long-term FX investors will enter the market to support sterling should it probe below 1.20. At 1.20, the pound to dollar exchange rate would undershoot fair value, according to the bank's quantitative model. Tuesday's session finds the pound weaker against the majority of currency peers after Brexit ruling defeat. Sterling was trading at 1.2534 at the end of Monday's New York FX session, up 1.29% from last week's close. Although the British pound is expected to be firmly in the spotlight early next week, as we learn on Tuesday of the judgment from the British Supreme Court on the Brexit legal battle, its partially the Brexit news flow itself which will ease downward pressure on sterling in 2017, according to Sam Lynton-Brown, FX Strategist for BNP Paribas. GBP USD Exchange Rate to See Low Volatility Rise on Brexit News Following British Prime Minister Theresa Mays speech last week a speech which carried the pound to dollar exchange rate from around 1.2050 up to 1.2415 and of course following Tuesdays important news, there could start a period where the news flow around Brexit slows down and becomes repetitive, according to Lynton-Brown. And in this scenario, Lynton-Brown says that its likely that short sterling exposures will be reduced, resulting in a low volatility rise in the British currency. As for the judgment, some analysts believe that there is still a chance that Prime Minister Mays government could win her appeal against Novembers High Court ruling, which decreed that an Act of Parliament must be passed to invoke article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty something that Mrs. May believes would delay, and possibly compromise, her Brexit vision. A government win may prompt another fall in the pound dollar exchange rate, although this (a government victory) is unlikely according to another of BNPs FX Strategists, Daniel Katzive, who says in the banks weekly FX outlook: The government is generally not expected to win this appeal, and furthermore, the significance of this ruling has diminished since last months parliamentary resolution supporting the Q1 timeline for Article 50. The Pound is Trading at Levels Reflecting a Worst-Case Scenario According to BNP Paribas quantitative framework for valuing currencies its CLEER model the current valuation of the GBP USD exchange rate, which closed a little shy of 1.24 on Friday, reflects a post-Brexit worst-case scenario in terms of trade and capital outflows. In other words, the bank believe that all, or most, of the negative news and gloomy forecasts are already priced in to sterling markets. And experienced FX investors will know that wherever that is true, the next move is almost certainly up. What Are the Specifics of BNPs Valuation? Well, BNPs CLEER model generates a fair value for exchange rates based upon macroeconomic variables. It provides a quantitative framework around which the bank can analyse the impact of different post-Brexit scenarios on the value of sterling. Essentially the model simulates what might happen to sterling based upon various input factors. One such factor is the UKs broad basic balance of payments (BBBoP). Into their model, BNP have input BBBoP values that are consistent with previous periods of UK economic crisis, such as the early 1990s and the 2008/09 financial crisis. In those periods the BBBoP reached as low as -10% of GDP. And so in simulating a decline in the UKs current BBBoP (currently +13.9%) to previous crisis levels (-10%), CLEER signals that a fair pound to dollar valuation should be 1.30. Given that valuation, and given the current market rate of GBP USD, you might wonder why the bank isnt even more positive about the future of the pound. If they have any faith in their model, why arent they shouting BUY from the rooftops? Well, there is the not-so-small matter of the Bank of Englands quantitative easing to factor in. BNP FX Strategist, Sam Lynton-Brown, tells us that: If we further note that a currency tends to undershoot its CLEER by 5-10% when its central bank is engaged in quantitative easing, this provides a simulated fair value [for pound to dollar] of 1.18. And its for this reason that the bank conclude that we should expect long-term investors to be buyers below 1.20. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON A decades-long fight by oil and gas companies to open drilling in the deserts and mountain ranges of the western U.S. will have a new champion now that President Donald Trump has taken office. The federal government owns in excess of 600 million acres, almost entirely concentrated in Western states including Alaska, Utah and Nevada, where Trump has promised to reverse former President Barack Obamas policies that restricted energy development on public lands. Trumps goal: Grow local economies and make the country energy independent. Far from the major shale plays in Texas and North Dakota, those lands have largely been left out of the hydraulic fracturing boom that swept the country over the past decade. A report by the Congressional Research Service said federal lands represented 21 percent of U.S. oil and gas production in 2015, down from 36 percent in 2010. But wildcatters from Texas have long maintained that modern drilling techniques honed in fields such as the Eagle Ford and the Permian Basin could allow them to get at oil and gas deposits in little-explored federal lands. In western Colorado, for example, the U.S. Geological Survey estimates that the Mancos Basin holds 66 trillion cubic feet of natural gas a deposit close in size to the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania. But attempts to develop the Colorado shale field were dealt a blow late last year after the Bureau of Land Management canceled 25 leases that were more than decade old, citing low production figures and the prevalence of hikers and other sportsmen using the area. Similar rulings elsewhere, along with environmental reviews that can run close to a decade, have turned many companies away from drilling on federal lands, said Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, a trade group representing oil and gas companies. We have shale plays on federal lands in the West we cannot get access to, Sgamma said. When theres no political will behind a development, the inertia in the bureaucracy really takes over. Under Obama, drilling on federal lands slowed drastically from the oil-friendly policies of President George W. Bush. In 2014, even before the crash in oil and gas prices caused companies to pull back, the number of wells drilled on federal lands had fallen 50 percent since 2008. Trump has laid out a loose plan for federal lands that would expand leasing for energy production, lift a moratorium on new coal mines and remove regulations that the energy industry says can delay projects. But how much of an effect such moves would have is unclear. Interest in federal lease sales has declined along with prices, with oil and gas companies buying just 23 percent of the leases offered last year, according to the Interior Department. Coming off one of the worst oil busts in history, the appetite for forging into frontier areas is low, said Clay Lightfoot, a Houston-based research analyst with consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. Developing these fields would be particularly costly because they dont have the pipelines, road and ready supply of workers available in more established fields, such as the Permian Basin in West Texas. In a price environment like we have now, operators are going to allocate capital to projects where theres existing infrastructure and a lot of historic production, things that will remove uncertainty, Lightfoot said. Are their resources on federal land? Yes, probably. But to figure out what there is and whats feasible are decisions that are going to need lots of money behind them. In addition, any oil and gas projects close to national parks and monuments or on land considered wild or culturally significant to Native Americans are likely to face protests and lawsuits. Groups are already mapping out a strategy similar to what they have used to disrupt pipeline projects such as the Keystone XL and the Dakota Access, despite statements by Trump, whose son Donald Jr. is an avid hunter, that protecting wilderness areas will be a priority, said Lena Moffitt, director of the Sierra Clubs Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign. Were hopeful (Trump) will continue to subscribe to the conservation ethics he referenced throughout the election, she said. But if he doesnt, well be there. As Obama wound down his presidency, he used executive power for permanent protection for federal lands and waters he considers too pristine or culturally important to develop. Chase Huntley, energy and climate program director at the Wilderness Society, said the president, has protected more acres onshore and offshore than any president in history. 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. Over the past two years, Obama has designated more than 4.6 million acres of federal lands as national monuments, including more than 1.3 million acres of buttes, canyons and Native American ancestral grounds in Utah as a national monument named Bears Ears. The areas underlying oil and gas deposits had attracted the interest of energy companies. But the designation, announced last month, is likely to make development anywhere close to the monuments boundaries very difficult, industry officials said. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, has reportedly pressured Trump to try to pull back the Bears Ears monument designation, a type of move no president is believed to have attempted. But whether Trump would consider such an action is unclear. During a recent confirmation hearing, Interior Secretary nominee Ryan Zinke called himself an unapologetic admirer of Teddy Roosevelt, the president who created the National Park system and designated 18 sites, including the Grand Canyon, as national monuments to protect them. There are lands that deserve special recognition, Zinke testified, where man is more of an observer than an active participant. james.osborne@chron.com Twitter.com/osborneja I was one of the executors of my mothers estate, which included a rent house built in 1927 at 236 W. Ridgewood Court. There have been some individuals stopping at the house on a bike tour of Prohibition houses. My mother had told us that the house was built by a bootlegger who signed it over to his lawyer to pay his legal bills. I think the lawyers last name was Brown. There is a basement room in the back of the house, which, according to my mother, was used to make and store bootleg whiskey during Prohibition. Any information you can provide about the house would be appreciated. Bill Tsakopulos The Prohibition era in San Antonio sometimes called little Chicago for the violence associated with illegal liquor was just like the citys old red-light district and prostitution (discussed here July 9, 2016). Neither was glamorous, and the associated activities were bad for almost everyone involved. In 1929, Texas led the nation in killings related to Prohibition, with 114 out of 1,380 victims nationwide. The bootlegger known as Lynn Stephens almost surely was responsible for at least one of them. It was he who once occupied the house at 236 W. Ridgewood Court. As S.C. Norris, one of his many aliases, he appears at that address in the 1927 San Antonio city directory, as researched by a San Antonio Conservation Society library volunteer. Its not where he was living at the time of the crime that made him infamous, though. Stephens was present at the ambush of a pair of Prohibition enforcement agents early on the morning of Sept. 25, 1929, on a lonely stretch of Pleasanton Road. One of them, veteran officer Charles Stevens, was shot during the gunbattle and died of his wounds hours later in Santa Rosa Hospital. Witnesses put Stephens at the scene, but he eluded capture despite a citywide manhunt in which local authorities enlisted the help of Prohibition agents from as far away as Fort Worth. Ten years into Prohibition, the federal and state laws prohibiting the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages were deeply unpopular. The state law never was enforced in Bexar County, says the San Antonio Light, Nov. 19, 1944. Respected citizens winked at the activities of lawbreakers who made and sold concoctions that were only a little less than lethal. The attitude of local law enforcement was Let the federals do it. Stevens did. He had an outstanding record in the nation in the number of stills he raided and the number of arrests he made and had led a Sept. 24, 1929, raid on the jewel in Stephens rum king crown. His gang operated a manufacturing plant comprising three stills in the brush off-road in Atascosa County that could make 300 gallons a day. The product, valued at $10 a gallon, was something called sugar whiskey, a clear liquid that could be made quickly. Typically, juniper extract was added and fake labels bearing the name Gordons Dry Gin London were affixed to the bottles, says the Light, Sept. 29, 1929. Stevens and other officers found the plant, smashed equipment, dumped the fermenting mash and arrested a few luckless employees. That was enough for Stephens to plot revenge. As others involved in the Stevens ambush were tried in the following years, multiple witnesses described Stephens as the mastermind, planning a trap in which the agents would be lured to stop near Mitchell Lake by a woman Stephens sister flagging them down with a light, while another woman was picking up cabbages in the road. When the officers stopped, Stephens emerged to stick a gun in the window of their car and said, Stick em up. When Stevens instead reached for his own gun, Stephens and his gang started firing on him. After the assault on Stevens and his partner Pat Murphy, agents raided several other properties associated with Stephens gang, trashed the liquor and made additional arrests. About 4,700 gallons of liquor were found at 214 Claremont St., the house in which Stephens then was living. The alcohol was destroyed by the Prohibition officers which means it was poured onto the floors and grounds of the house. A spark from someones cigarette ignited the alcohol; the resulting fire did no structural damage to the house. This is where witnesses said Stephens returned after the attack, with a bullet wound in his foot that he showed off to confederates and managed to get treated by a physician. As the manhunt progressed, Stephens disappeared, but he had a lot of places to hole up locally. He was the alleged owner of a garage on Broadway that was the gangs headquarters and home to his fleet of trucks, had an interest in a cooperage (barrel-making) business and bossed a gang that yielded 35 defendants in one conspiracy case alone. Rumors had him in Mexico within a week of the slaying; he later said it was a ranch near New Braunfels and claimed to have used 13 aliases and lived a clean life as a carpenter, mechanic, oil field worker and construction worker in Texas and Louisiana during the next 20 fugitive years. Stephens surrendered to Bexar County Sheriff Owen Kilday on Oct. 16, 1949 because after a stomach ulcer ruptured, he lost the will to run and went on trial for Stevens murder the next year. Born Percy Lynn Walden in 1899 in Arkansas, Stephens was a nondescript-looking, heavy man with dark, wavy hair who might have been a cop-killing waste of protoplasm but had a loquacious knack for saying stuff that reporters thought made good copy. His defense, which started with a flurry of delays, was as outrageous as it was changeable; he was not guilty for reasons of insanity well, back then, in 1929, he was insane, but he was OK by the time of the trial by district court in Floresville. (His barber, a rebuttal witness, took the stand to say that Stephens seemed fine to him in 1929.) He said he couldnt have shot Stevens because of his foot wound, although other witnesses said the Prohibition agents didnt start shooting until after Stephens did. Or maybe he wasnt even there because he was saving a woman from drowning in Mitchell Lake or he was just heading up the hill to talk to his sister. Anyway, he and his boys brought only their guns to a humdrum night of distillery work because they feared Stevens, known to have killed two men in the line of duty. Oh, and Stephens only hid from the law after the ambush because although he knew he hadnt killed anyone, he was worried about Prohibition-related charges: There were so many people calling me rum king, Al Capone, gangster, that I couldnt face it. He even denied heading his own criminal organization, made up mainly of men under 21 years old and a few female relatives: It was like a big family. It was not a well-regulated institution. The jury didnt buy any of this. Stephens was convicted of murder with malice aforethought and given a sentence of 38 years in prison, although the state had asked for the death penalty. At Wynne Prison Farm near Huntsville, he was given light duty on account of his stomach condition. Through a series of unsuccessful appeals, he kept complaining to anyone who would listen about bad jail food, improper treatment of his ulcer, faithless friends and political prosecutors. Stephens often said he hadnt been given a fair deal. If he thought the same of Stevens, he was never recorded as saying so. historycolumn@yahoo.com Twitter: @sahistorycolumn Facebook: SanAntoniohistorycolumn Egypt's National Defence Council agreed in a Sunday meeting to extend the deployment of Egyptian Armed Forces units in the Red Sea and the Bab Al-Mandab strait, MENA reported. A statement by the Egyptian presidency said that the meeting approved extending the mission of the Egyptian Armed Force units on a foreign assignment to defend the country's national security in the Red Sea and the Bab Al-Mandab strait. The statement did not put a timeframe on the duration of the extension, according to MENA. The meeting was headed by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and attended by the ministers of defence, finance, foreign affairs and interior, as well as commanders of Egypt's Armed Force along with the chiefs of intelligence agencies. Egypts has been participating in the Saudi-led military operation in Yemen against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels since March 2015. Search Keywords: Short link: AUSTIN Within hours of Donald Trump being sworn in as president Friday, a federal court in Corpus Christi postponed a scheduled hearing in the Texas voter ID case until next month at the request of the Justice Department. Lawyers for the department asked for a delay in the hearing scheduled for Tuesday, citing the change in presidential administrations. Because of the change in administration, the Department of Justice also experienced a transition in leadership, the departments petition states. The United States requires additional time to brief the new leadership of the department on this case and the issues to be addressed at that hearing before making any representations to the court. In the past, the agency has asked that hearings in the case be expedited because of the issues involved. The court agreed to the delay, postponing the hearing until Feb. 28. A lawyer for one of the plaintiffs expressed disappointment at the delay. This delay for us is not in the interest of resolving a case that has been going on for far too long, said Leah Adeh, senior counsel with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. We all have been expending far too many resources on it, and we really want a hearing to get to a decision that this law needs to be struck down. Aden said she did not have any reason to believe that the delay was a deliberate move to weaken the case against the law, but she said elections are upcoming and that a resolution needs to come quickly. Texas voter ID law has been the subject of litigation for years. In 2012, a federal appeals court in Washington first blocked the implementation of the law requiring voters to show a photo identification before they could cast a ballot. That court ruled that the law had a disproportionately negative effect on minority citizens in Texas. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court, ruling in a separate case, allowed Texas to implement its law, which it quickly did. The Texas State Conference of the NAACP and the Mexican American Legislative Caucus of the Texas House challenged the law in federal court, and a trial in 2014 showed that the states ID requirement would create discriminatory barriers to voting. U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos ruled the Texas law unconstitutional, but the U.S. Supreme Court allowed it to remain in effect for the 2014 election. Last July, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the law had a racially discriminatory effect in violation of the federal Voting Rights Act. The court sent it back to the lower court in Corpus Christi for additional review. That was to be the focus of the Tuesday hearing, court filings show. Reporter Mihir Zaveri contributed to this report. WASHINGTON President Donald Trumps visit Saturday to the CIA suggested an effort to mend fences with intelligence services after quarrelsome days rooted in Russias attempted interference in American elections. In his first official visit since being sworn in as president Friday, Trump told 200 employees at the CIAs Langley, Virginia, headquarters outside Washington that he backs them 1,000 percent. Youre going to get so much backing that youre going to say please, dont give us so much backing, Trump said. Referring to the news media as among the most dishonest human beings on earth, Trump said: They sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community. I just want to let you know that the reason youre my No. 1 stop is exactly the opposite. Barbs passing between Trump and intelligence officials in the run-up to his taking office have been as extraordinary as Russias election-year hacking into Democratic National Committee computers and the emails of John Podesta, Hillary Clintons campaign chairman, analysts say. U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-San Antonio, the only former CIA officer in Congress, spoke in an interview of his view of the success of the Russian operation, which U.S. intelligence officials have named Grizzly Steppe. Grizzly Steppe is going to be considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest, covert action campaigns by Russian intelligence, Hurd said, adding his belief that Trump won the election fair and square. This is going to go down in Russian history as the greatest because it drove a wedge, whether real or perceived, between the commander in chief, the intelligence community and the American public. And that was the ultimate goal of Russian intelligence, he said. The CIA presently is without a leader after an effort Friday in the Senate to speed through Trumps nomination of U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., as CIA director blew up. Democratic senators, who had questioned Pompeo aggressively on interrogation methods and other matters, said they opposed a rushed confirmation. The CIA usually is the first government agency to build a relationship with a new president with briefings that start even before elections. But with Trump who went so far as to liken U.S. intelligence officials to Nazis relations with the CIA and the 17-agency intelligence community have been anything but normal. Former CIA Director John Brennan, who Trump accused of leaking fake news about an unverified Russian dossier, called Trumps Nazi reference repugnant. Brennan stepped down Friday. Tell the families of those 117 CIA officers who are forever memorialized on our wall of honor that their loved ones who gave their lives were akin to Nazis, Brennan said last week in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. Hacking looms large The Russian hacking looms large in Washington and Trump is unlikely to escape the issue any time soon. The FBI, CIA and other federal agencies are investigating, and the Senate Intelligence Committee intends to compel senior Trump campaign officials to testify as part of its inquiry. Earlier this month, U.S. intelligence officials reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered hacking and fake news to sabotage Hillary Clintons election prospects and undermine faith in the U.S. democratic process. Trump has said he believes Russia took part in hacking while denying allegations that his campaign played a role. But pre-inauguration polls showed that most Americans disapprove of Trumps response to the hacking. Nearly every new president in has run into problems working with intelligence agencies, said Peter Feaver, part of George W. Bushs National Security Council staff and a Duke University professor. Whats different this time is that the incoming president has found himself in a series of disputes with that part of government. What it means is that what always is challenging is going to be even more so, Feaver said. Trumps preparation also appears to have been slowed by refusing to consider dozens of Republican security experts who signed letters during the campaign critical of the GOP nominee. One such letter, signed by 50 officials, some who worked for George W. Bush, contended that Trump lacks the character, values and experience to be president and that he would put the nations security at risk. Intelligence experts and Texans in Congress view Trumps appointments to key intelligence posts as a good start, and Trumps visit to Langley on Saturday could help. But building the relationship could take time, and the ongoing investigations into the Russian hacking and Trumps reaction to what is publicly disclosed could further complicate matters. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, said the president and intelligence services need to be on the same page with a good working relationship. Everybody has been taken aback by how hostile Donald Trump has been to the intelligence community, Castro said. That kind of hostile relationship is not good for the security of the country. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a newly installed member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he believes Trumps appointees to key posts will help him forge a strong relationship with intelligence agencies. Support for waterboarding? Pompeo, whose nomination is scheduled to be debated Monday, is a hawkish member of the House Intelligence Committee who was a leader in the GOPs drive to investigate the attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state. On Saturday, it was disclosed that Pompeo told senators in written responses to questions that he was open to returning to waterboarding and other controversial interrogation methods. Dan Coats, a former Indiana senator who was a high-profile lobbyist in Washington, was chosen by Trump as director of national intelligence. In between stints in the U.S. Senate, Coats headed a team of lobbyists for Cooper Industries, a Houston company that moved its business address to Bermuda in what was viewed as an effort to avoid U.S. taxes. As I understand his concerns, Cornyn said of Trump, its been that intelligence collection and reporting has been mixed up with politics. He understandably believes thats a bad mixture. I do, too. Cornyn added: "My expectation is that youll see a change with the new leadership that Mr. Trump will have selected himself and that our intelligence services will get the uniform support from the White House to the Congress that they so richly deserve. Daniel Benjamin, a former counterterrorism adviser at the State Department, said Pompeo and Coats can be expected to cast themselves as the strongest champions intelligence agencies have seen. Will it work? Benjamin asked. It's an open question, but they won't have a leg to stand on if Trump issues another denigrating tweet or starts pushing a genuinely pro-Russia policy. The professionals know the score. Trump and the GOP-led Congress enjoy common ground on key issues such as repealing the Affordable Care Act, trimming federal regulations and revising the income tax system. Less harmony exists on matters related to the Russian hacking and intelligence matters. Divergent views sounded recently when Trump tweeted support for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, whos widely reviled on Capitol Hill. After Trumps tweets, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., called Assange a sycophant for Russia. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., asserted that Assange had put lives in direct danger by leaking documents. Restructuring Trump transition aides, speaking not for attribution, have told reporters from various news outlets that Trump plans changes in the CIA, which already is in the midst of restructuring. The Trump administration also will need to confront proposals related to the National Security Agency, which could have impacts in San Antonio, where the NSA has a major intelligence hub. Outgoing Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is among those who have recommended splitting the U.S. Cyber Command from the National Security Agency, a proposal that has found favor among some analysts. Its not a question of if the two commands should split, but when, said Paul Rosenzweig, author of the book Cyber Warfare: How Conflicts in Cyberspace are Challenging America and Changing the World. Critics say theres been a confusion of mission in the present structure, with the NSA working to get inside computer networks while Cyber Command functions to protect systems. Critics also point out that the two entities operate under different legal authorities and with a different culture. We want Cyber Command to develop a history of its own, just as the Air Force has been able to do after 70-some years, said Rosenzweig, a consultant and visiting fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation. bill.lambrecht@hearstdc.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON - Hundreds of thousands of women from around the United States descended on the nations capital Saturday the largest among hundreds of protests around the world protesting the presidency of Donald Trump just a day after his inauguration. Dressed in pink pussyhats - a stark contrast to Trumps red Make America Great Again ball caps - men and women alike brandished signs calling for greater equality both along gender and racial lines. Among the chanting crowds that gathered on the National Mall, JoAnn Boone, 61, of San Antonio, said she never had been in a march before and did not consider herself an activist. It is absolutely amazing that this is going on around the nation and worldwide. There are several messages were sending, and one is that the lack of respect toward us is just intolerable, Boone said. Called the Womens March, city officials estimated the crowd at close to a half-million people, part of a movement that drew millions of people in demonstrations across the nation, from New York to Houston to San Francisco, and as far abroad as Myanmar and Australia. In Prague, hundreds gathered in Wenceslas Square in freezing weather, waving portraits of Trump and Russias Vladimir Putin. The Washington protest swelling far beyond the original parade permit for 200,000 people was a celebrity-studded event, including the actresses Scarlett Johansson and Ashley Judd and musical performers Madonna and Alicia Keys. The crowds were so thick for the participants, organizers had to rethink plans for a formal procession to the White House. We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war, actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd. Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. ... We are America and we are here to stay. In his inaugural speech Friday, Trump attempted to speak to minority groups, many of which opposed his candidacy. Whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots. We all enjoy the same glorious freedoms, and we all salute the same great American flag, he said. But those words seemed to have done little to quiet the anger expressed by those joining in Saturdays protests. Creative signs cut from cardboard were as much a feature as shouted slogans. From We shall over-comb and Nasty Woman to Free Melania, protesters took personal aim at Trump, often using his own statements against him. Some protesters compared the massive outpouring to the protest movements of a bygone era, moribund in recent times, but one that Trumps surprise election victory might be bringing back to life. It could also be a sign of stiffening resistance to Trumps Make America Great Again agenda, which many see as code for weakening the rights of women and minorities. I am a child of the 70s, and Im getting a little old for this, said Marcella Alexander Jones, an African-American woman with family roots in Alabama. Our people suffered tremendously, and now things are going backwards. Its time for young people to get involved. The throngs of people traveling into the city for the protest march quickly overwhelmed the Washington public transit system, with packed trains pulling into Metro stations miles away from the mall. Among the crowds making their way to the National Mall Friday afternoon was Rich Arenschieldt, a 56-year old retired writer from Houston. As a gay man who suffers from cerebral palsy, he said he thought it important he was there not to protest but bring awareness. Arenschieldt said he was horrified by Trumps mocking on the campaign trail of a New York Times reporter who is also disabled. That was the thing that resonated most with me, of all the political rhetoric, he said. For some Democratic politicians, the marches presented a chance to side with protesters in their fight against Trump. Speaking at the Boston protest, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Trumps swearing-in was, burned in my eyes forever. We will not forget. We do not want to forget. We will use that vision to make sure we fight harder and tougher and more passionately than ever, she said. The Washington event was originally planned to end with a march along the Mall, finishing up at the White House. But organizers had to change plans as the size of the crowds made movement in some locations near impossible. People began flooding onto the mall early Saturday morning. By noon, Independence Avenue was so jammed, people were standing shoulder to shoulder, hardly able to move. But there was no sign of the riots that erupted Friday in downtown Washington, as black-masked protesters pelted rocks at police with riot gear and set a limousine on fire - all as the inaugural parade made its way peacefully up nearby Pennsylvania Avenue. Among the crowds gathered on the mall Saturday were families with strollers and the elderly and young alike. Ron Powers and his 15-year-old daughter Eden traveled by bus from Nashville, Tenn., after he saw news of the protest march on Facebook. Its amazing for me to see people come together for a common goal, Eden said. They are passionate and will hopefully put pressure on. In the presidential election, Trump won about 42 percent of female voters - comparable to Republican Mitt Romneys tally in the 2012 election. But for many women, Trump is a particularly divisive figure. During the campaign, numerous women came forward reporting they had been sexually harassed and groped by the real estate billionaire - allegations Trump denied. In October, a 2005 videotape surfaced with Trump bragging to television personality Billy Bush about grabbing and forcefully kissing women, saying when youre a star, they let you do it. Nia Ledesma, a military veteran from Phoenix who said she had been a victim of rape, expressed hope the protests would empower abused women to speak out. As women, we are powerful together, Ledesma said. We need to keep this movement going. Standing out on the mall Saturday in Washington, Anita Suggs, 58, a native West Texan, held a sign that read You Aint Seen Nothing Yet. Now living in Asheville, N.C., she said she feared Trumps election proved what she had long felt. Many parts of the country are becoming close-minded to different cultures and points of view. They fear the unfamiliar, she said. The Associated Press and Washington Post contributed to this report. AUSTIN In West and South Texas counties, there was a 50 percent drop in abortions after a 2013 state law led to the closure of most abortion clinics, forcing women to travel farther to get services, according to a new report. The increased distances to the nearest abortion facility were closely associated with decreases in the number of abortions between 2012 and 2014, the study by the Texas Policy Evaluation Project found. Women in about 50 West and South Texas counties, including eight around the Rio Grande Valley, had to travel 100 miles or more to get an abortion when clinics closed after House Bill 2 was signed into law by then-Gov. Rick Perry. The decrease in abortions in those counties averaged 50.3 percent. That law, among other things, required all abortion clinics in Texas to meet the standards of an ambulatory surgical center and doctors who provided abortions had to obtain admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of a clinic. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court, on a vote of 5-3, ruled the two provisions in the Texas law were unconstitutional by placing an undue burden on womens ability to obtain a legal abortion. In the meantime, more than half of Texas facilities providing abortions closed, decreasing from 41 in 2012 to 17 in 2016, the study found. All are clustered in a handful of urban counties. The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Thursday, three days before the anniversary of the landmark case Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion. In 2012, there were 66,098 abortions performed on Texas residents, including 97 abortions done out of state, the study said. In 2014, after HB 2 was enacted, Texas residents had 53,882 abortions, but the number obtained out of state grew to 754. Overall, there was an 18.5 percent decline in abortions performed on Texas residents between 2012 and 2014, according to statistics published by the Texas Department of State Health Services. The study says that statistics do not include women who self-induced abortions or those who may have traveled to Mexico to seek services. Our study gives further insight into the ways that the clinic closures due to Texas restrictive law resulted in an undue burden on women seeking access to abortion care in Texas, Dr. Daniel Grossman, an investigator with TxPEP, said in a news release. It corroborates the findings of our previous qualitative research, where we heard from women that the long distances to the nearest clinic created significant financial and logistical barriers to care. Grossman disclosed that he was an expert witness for an abortion clinic that challenged the state law in federal court. Counties that did have an open facility in 2014 had minimal distance change, but there was still a 15.9 percent decline in abortions. The study said this indicates facilities struggled to meet the demand for abortions. elutz@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate In a move that surprised members of Our Lady of the Atonement parish, the Archdiocese of San Antonio has replaced Father Christopher Phillips as pastor, citing pastoral concerns about the former Anglican priest ordained a Catholic clergyman in the 1980s. Several church members said they were heartsick about the removal and fearful of a potential shift from the parishs traditional Anglican-style worship services. The archdioceses decision was effective Thursday. It has appointed Monsignor Frank Kurzaj as parish administrator to assume Phillips role. Kurzaj, most recently pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Floresville, has served in several other parishes in the archdiocese. A few parishioners credited Phillips with increasing the flock and focusing on Scriptural study and sacred music. He also has been managing a major expansion of its school, Atonement Academy, they added. Many of the founding members of the parish were former Episcopalians who converted to Catholicism. Phillips, the parishs first and only pastor, was ordained by then-Archbishop Patrick Flores, who died Jan. 9. In a one-page letter to parishioners, Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller called the Catholic Churchs pastoral provision to bring Anglicans into the fold a great blessing in our archdiocese, and a path for many of our separated (Anglican) brothers and sisters. But he noted that his concerns relate to expressions in the life of the parish that indicate an identity separate from, rather than simply unique, among the parishes of the archdiocese and that he has asked Phillips to dedicate some time to reflect on certain specific concerns that I have shared with him. The letter praised the parish as one that attracts many Catholics who want clarity of doctrine and traditional liturgical expression. In a separate statement, Garcia-Siller noted serious concerns regarding a lack of ecclesial communion with the parish and the Archdiocese of San Antonio. Two parishioners and one former parishioner said they interpreted the archbishops concern as a reference to a longtime hope by Phillips and other members of Our Lady of the Atonement to someday leave the auspices of the archdiocese and join the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. The Houston-based ordinariate is a Catholic diocese or jurisdiction that oversees about 40 churches of converts from the Anglican tradition in the U.S. and Canada. One former parishioner, James Griffin, who now belongs to a Catholic church in Philadelphia thats under the ordinariate, said joining that diocese was the hope at Atonement. This has been an ongoing process, but I dont know how long that has been the case, said Griffin, a parishioner at Atonement for about 10 years who was baptized by Phillips. Parishioner Allison Wiggins said leaving the archdiocese was always the plan. Archdiocese officials did not respond to questions. Its statement said it would make no further comment at this time out of respect to Father Phillips and the faithful at Our Lady of Atonement. Like many former Anglican priests who converted and became Catholic priests, Phillips is married. He has several adult children. A story in October by the Catholic website Crux described Atonements worship as high-church Anglican liturgy celebrated with solemnity, grace and beauty, but the parish is happily free of the right-wing extremism and apocalyptic conspiracy theories too often associated with the Catholic traditionalist movement. Wiggins said shes heartbroken that this has happened to Father Phillips, and we look forward to his return to the pulpit. In an unsigned email from the church office to parishioners, provided by a founding parishioner, Chuck Wilson, the parish staff seemed surprised at Phillips removal from the parish operations, including its school. We were notified today of the canonical process being instigated by the archdiocese to remove Fr. Phillips, it said. The archbishop stated that Fr. Phillips has done nothing wrong, but his ministry is detrimental to the faith of the people and keeps the people of the parish separate from the communal activities of the archdiocese. The email said Phillips has been removed from the parish grounds for 15 days. Wilson said Phillips personal residence is at the parish. It hit me right between the eyes, said Wilson, who founded the St. Josephs Foundation, which specializes in canon law. He said the foundations canonical lawyer will represent Phillips. The foundation is based in Ohio. Im heartsick over this, Wilson said. I cant tell you I literally weep over it. Hes being removed as pastor, and he did nothing wrong. eayala@express-news.net Twitter: @ElaineAyala This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON - By the time Donald and Melania Trump had their first dance at an inaugural ball Friday evening, Trump had approximately two Cabinet members in place. Thats a historically low number for a presidents first day in office - and its largely thanks to Senate Democrats delaying confirmation of President-elect Trumps picks. Trump had nominated much of his Cabinet at a historically quick clip, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had hoped to have up to seven of those nominees in place hours after Trump takes the oath of office on Friday. McConnells optimism was buoyed because Republicans control the Senate and Democrats can no longer filibuster Cabinet nominees by requiring 60 votes to pass instead of a simple majority. All Democrats, who oppose Trumps picks, can do is slow down the process, by asking some nominees back for questioning or dragging a vote on for days. Turns out thats exactly what theyre doing. The Senate voted Friday on two of Trumps nominees - retired Gen. John Kelly to lead the Department of Homeland Security and retired Gen. James Mattis to lead the Department of Defense. The rest, say Democrats, need more vetting. Heres Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., talking to reporters on Thursday: Let me be clear, Democrats will allow the confirmations of and vote for nominees who would not have been chosen by our party, but what we will not support are nominees who are so extreme in the viewpoints or their noncompliance with the ethics laws and practice that they have demonstrated themselves to be unfit. That has Senate Republicans incredibly frustrated. We need to, sort of, grow up here and get past that, McConnell said on CBSs Face the Nation earlier this month. We need to have the presidents national security team in place on day one. McConnell has some historical precedent to back up his point, said Robert David Johnson, a history professor at Brooklyn College. On his first day in office, President Jimmy Carter had eight of his Cabinet nominees confirmed. Within two days of his inauguration, Ronald Reagan had 12 of his nominees in place. Within 24 hours after his inauguration, Bill Clinton had 13 in place. Even Former President George W. Bush, whose transition period was swept up in a dramatic Supreme Court decision about his election, had seven of his nominees confirmed on January 20, and four more in four days. Former President Barack Obama - as Republicans are pointing out - had seven in place by the time he and Michelle Obama had their first dance. Johnson says the only historical comparison to Trumps thin Cabinet on day one could be President George H.W. Bush, who had zero nominees confirmed on his first day. Bushs problem was that he was facing a Senate controlled by the other side. Then-Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, D-Maine, was drawing out Bushs nominees to, send a message that the Senate is a place to be reckoned with, Johnson said. The fact Trump will start his presidency with so few Cabinet members in place underscores just how partisan this process has become. For most of this century, there was little to no political drama surrounding nominees. Members of the Syrian opposition delegation arrived Sunday in the Kazakh capital Astana for face-to-face peace talks with the war-torn nation's government. The talks, set to begin on Monday, will be the first time a delegation composed exclusively of rebel groups will negotiate with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Chief opposition negotiator Mohammad Alloush flew into Astana on Sunday morning, according to an AFP correspondent who saw the delegation arrive. He was accompanied by around a dozen rebel figures, including Fares Buyush of the Idlib Army, Hassan Ibrahim of the Southern Front and Mamoun Hajj Moussa of Suqur al-Sham. A source close to the opposition's team told AFP that the delegation had been broadened from eight rebel figures to a total of 14, in addition to 21 legal and political advisers. The 10-member government delegation, headed by its UN ambassador Bashar al-Jaafari, left Damascus on Sunday, according to Syrian state news agency SANA. Rebels have insisted the talks will focus solely on reinforcing a frail nationwide truce brokered by opposition supporter Turkey and regime ally Russia last month. Although the two countries have backed opposing sides of Syria's nearly six-year conflict, they have worked hand-in-hand in recent weeks to secure an end to the brutal war that has killed more than 300,000. The Astana talks, which Assad ally Iran is also helping organise, will be the first test of this new partnership. They will be held in the city's luxury Rixos President Hotel, where staff members were setting up a single large table in a conference room under blue banners bearing the hashtag #AstanaProcess. Rebels and regime figures are expected to sit in the same room, along with UN envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura. De Mistura on Sunday hailed the talks as a "good initiative" in comments carried by Russian news agencies. In addition to the hundreds of thousands killed, more than half of the country's population has been displaced since Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011 with protests against Assad's rule. Search Keywords: Short link: Hard hit rural communities across the UK are being given a helping hand by countryside charity, the Princes Countryside Fund, who have announced 670,000 of vital grant support for rural initiatives. The Fund, established in 2010 by Prince Charles, has announced that it will be supporting 19 projects across the UK through its grant giving programme which has awarded over 8 million since 2010. It aims to improve the prospects of family farm businesses and the quality of rural life, believing more is needed to be done to help those affected. New projects include funding to assist the communities of Alfrick and Lulsley in Worcestershire, St Tudy in Cornwall, Wereham in Norfolk and Llangunllo in Wales to run vital community services and improve local assets. Assistance in building networks of support for farming communities in the Peak District, Dartmoor, Herefordshire and Cumbria and the Yorkshire Dales has been provided as well as specialist advice and support to build business resilience and develop farmers skills. Grants have also been awarded to train the next generation of forestry and woodland managers in Scotland and Wales and to support Scottish island processing enterprises. 'Innovative projects' Lord Curry of Kirkharle, chairman of The Princes Countryside Fund said: We are delighted to be able to support such a wide range of innovative projects that will provide a lasting legacy in so many rural areas. The next five years are critical for our rural communities and against a background of growing uncertainty, our grant programme provides essential support to people living and working in the countryside. Rural communities need to be prioritised. It is easy to forget just how much we depend on rural businesses and family farms. With an ageing rural population and a shortage of new entrants embarking on rural careers, it is vital that we continue to support grassroots initiatives to ensure we maintain a thriving and sustainable future for our rural communities. There has been a 67 per cent increase in requests for help from working farmers in 2016, according to rural charity, R.A.B.I. Grants awarded Alfrick and Lulsley Community: 27,000 Dartmoor Hill Farm Project: 44,000 Devon Cattle Breeders' Society: 24,000 Devon Communities Together: 49,961 Falkland Stewardship Trust: 30,000 Farming Community Network: 27,475 Friends of Nidderdale AOB: 50,000 Groundwork North Wales: 47,259 Herefordshire Rural Hub: 46,680 Llangunllo Community Hall: 5,000 Myerscough College: 30,600 Pasture Fed Livestock Association: 40,500 Patterdale Parish Community Flood Group: 25,000 SAOS: 50,000 The Farmer Network: 49,520 The Farming Life Centre: 13,146 The St Tudy Community Shop: 25,000 Wereham Village Hall: 31,650 Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust: 50,000 The Avon and Somerset Police's Rural Crime Team will be featured on the BBCs Countryfile programme tonight (22 January). The team will be talking about their response to livestock theft and how they will be dealing with issue in 2017. The programme will feature Chief Superintendent Ian Wylie and local farm John Vigar, from Langport, who had 220 sheep stolen last summer. The team will speak to John, and their counterparts from Lancashire Constabulary, about work by police up and down the country to help prevent livestock theft, and how the public can help. Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner Sue Mountstevens said: We know that certain crimes such as livestock thefts have a significant impact on the livelihoods of our farmers, their families and their business. Thats why its important the police take rural crime seriously, for too long local people felt that rural crime was not a priority. The police have been on a long journey over the past four-years developing relationships, listening, learning and building up real expertise in this area. The police and the dedicated rural crime team are working hard, taking on the criminals that prey on our rural communities. Im pleased that Countryfile has highlighted the impact of rural crime, the ways the police are tackling it and reinforced the importance of us tackling this issue together. 34 calves stolen This week 34 calves, 10-15 months old, of Friesian/Limousin/Angus breeds were stolen from land near Wells in Somerset, and the team are really keen to encourage people to watch the programme on Sunday, to emphasize the impact of livestock theft on local farmers. The team also launched a new text number this week, 81819, to enable the public to pass on intelligence and information about rural crime directly to the Rural Crime Team. Inspector Joanna Mines, from the Rural Crime Team in Somerset, said: We are trialing the number for three months. Many people who belong to our FarmWatch scheme had said they wanted a facility to be able to pass on information and respond to messages quickly, and this new number will allow that. We want to hear from anyone who has information about any suspicious or potentially criminal activity in their area, for example - details of people/vehicles seen behaving suspiciously, potentially stolen goods or livestock being offered for sale either to the public or at markets, sightings of stolen vehicles we might put out an alert for. No matter how small or insignificant people may think information is, it may be a vital piece of a jigsaw that helps us fill in the gaps and either prevent a crime or bring offenders to justice. Syrian rebel delegates met in Kazakhstan Sunday on the eve of their first talks with the government in a year, in which the two sides hope to consolidate a cease-fire reached last month and deliver humanitarian aid. The talks in the Kazakh capital, Astana, are sponsored by Russia, Iran and Turkey, and are the latest attempt to forge a political settlement to end a war that has by most estimates killed more than 400,000 people since March 2011 and displaced more than half the country's population. The U.N.'s Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, is participating in the talks, which are to be followed by more political talks in February in Geneva. The new U.S. administration is not directly involved, because of the "immediate demands of the transition," the State Department said Saturday, but Washington will be represented by the U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan, George Krol. The opposition delegation, which arrived in Astana on Sunday, is made up of about a dozen rebel figures led by Mohammad Alloush, of the powerful Army of Islam rebel group. The Syrian government is sending its U.N. ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, and military delegates. At the top of the agenda for the talks, which will be held at the Rixos President Hotel, is an effort to consolidate a cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey last month. The truce reached on Dec. 30, which excludes extremist groups such as the Islamic State group and the al-Qaida affiliate in Syria, has reduced overall violence, but fighting continues on multiple fronts. "If this can be achieved, this can help the political process," said Yahya al-Aridi, a spokesman for the opposition delegation and a member of the High Negotiations Committee, a political group which led the opposition negotiating team to Geneva last year. The scope of the aims reflects the constrained position of the opposition, which last year was pushing for a political transition in Syria that would exclude President Bashar Assad. Al-Aridi said there was no plan to discuss Assad's position before addressing what he said were ongoing government violations of the Dec. 30 cease-fire. "I don't think there's a context for that now. Nobody is ready for this," al-Aridi told reporters in Astana. "We need a commitment to that cease-fire," he said, suggesting the opposition is there to test the other side's "good will." "If the other side doesn't care about stopping the bloodshed in Syria, and cares most about staying in power at the expense of Syrian blood... in that case, nothing will work," he said. Reflecting the enormous distrust, he described the Iranians as "spoilers" and "occupiers" and claimed they are not serious about the entire process. Iran and Russia have provided key financial and military support to Assad's government, while Turkey has backed the opposition. Experts from all three countries held an hours-long preparatory meeting Sunday in Astana. Aleksandr Musiyenko, spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Astana, told reporters that the task at hand is "not an easy one." "I can only talk for the Russian delegation. Th?re is a real fighting spirit, decisive, we are trying to find an agreement with everyone, that's what we're striving for," he said. The opposition has promised to highlight the government's harsh siege tactics, which have cut off hundreds of thousands of Syrians from food and medical access. In the Damascus suburbs such as Madaya, Zabadani and parts of the central city of Homs and its environs, civilians have been under siege by government forces since at least 2015. Turkey could play a crucial role in the latest attempt to resolve a conflict that has confounded the world's diplomats for years. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is embroiled in troubles at home and has moved closer to Russia recently, prioritizing the fight against Kurds and the Islamic State group over support for the Syrian rebels he has propped up for years. Assad's forces meanwhile recaptured the northern city of Aleppo last month with considerable Russian aid, dealing a devastating blow to the opposition, which had held onto eastern parts of the city for four years. The talks will be closely followed in Syria and by the millions of Syrian refugees scattered across the globe. "If Turkey is now feeling the guilt over what it committed toward the Syrian people, we hope that it will give at this conference something positive, to speed up an end to the crisis," said Anas Farfouti, a resident of Aleppo who supports Assad. At Istanbul's Ataturk airport, journalists and delegates headed to Astana shuffled past Syrians who have fled the country. "If this war ends in five years, it will be a blessing," said Fadwa, a Syrian in transit between a European country, where she was granted asylum, and the region, where her relatives were still seeking onward passage. She declined to give her last name, out of concern for the safety of relatives still in Damascus. She accused both sides of prioritizing their foreign sponsors over the protection of civilians, and said the war would drag on until foreign powers "partition" Syria. Search Keywords: Short link: Retailers stocking more British pork but 'more can be done' The first few pens were all heavy calves, with T & R Wrigglesworth selling three averaging 452kg for 316c/kg and $1427 to Willowbank, the volume buyer at the sale. "We definitely saw a flurry of activity (in the wool market) in the lead up to Christmas which was to ensure there was enough stock to meet the orders prior to the break, as well as supply to get the mills back in action." Pitts: Before voting, take a look at your sample ballot in Cumberland County and NC Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh flew out Saturday from the country he ruled for 22 years to cede power to President Adama Barrow and end a political crisis. Jammeh refused to step down after a December 1 election in which Barrow was declared the winner, triggering weeks of uncertainty that almost ended in a military intervention involving five other west African nations. The longtime leader, wearing his habitual white flowing robes, waved to supporters before boarding a small, unmarked plane at Banjul airport alongside Guinea's President Alpha Conde after two days of talks over a departure deal. He landed in Conakry, Guinea's capital but set off again for Equatorial Guinea, where he will remain in exile, the president of the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), Marcel Alain de Souza, said at a Dakar press conference. "No legislative measures" would be taken that would infringe the "dignity, security, safety and rights" of Jammeh or his family, ECOWAS said in a joint declaration with the African Union and United Nations. Jammeh could return to The Gambia when he pleased, the statement added, and property "lawfully" belonging to him would not be seized. Jammeh finally said he would step aside in the early hours of Saturday morning and hand power to Barrow, who has been in neighbouring Senegal but is expected back in The Gambia imminently. "I call on President Barrow to come in immediately and take over the supreme responsibility of president, head of state, commander in chief and first citizen of our republic," Jammeh said, according to remarks read out on state television before he left the country. It would be improper not to "sincerely wish him and his administration all the best," he added. Jammeh took power in a 1994 coup from the country's only other president since independence from Britain, Dawda Jawara, making this The Gambia's first democratic transition of power. The choice of Equatorial Guinea for his exile helps ease concerns that Jammeh might interfere in his nation's politics if he stayed in Guinea, whose border is not far from The Gambia's eastern region. Scenes of jubilation broke out almost immediately on streets near Banjul, the port capital, after the news filtered out that Jammeh had gone. "We are free now. We are no longer in prison. We do not have to watch our back before we express our opinions," said Fatou Cham, 28, who was celebrating with her friends. Activists will be keen to see Jammeh -- who controlled certain sections of the security forces -- refused amnesty for crimes committed during his tenure, which was marked by systematic rights abuses. Jim Wormington, West Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, called Jammeh's departure "the chance to usher in an era based on respect for the rule of law and human rights." Jammeh's departure followed days of mediation led by Mauritanian president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and Guinea's Conde, who said in a statement he "welcomed the successful outcome of the crisis in The Gambia, which, through dialogue, avoided a bloodbath." Jammeh attempted to build a personality cult and has left behind a small minority of diehard supporters, some of whom wept as his plane departed. "We wanted to be behind this man for a century or more," said Alagie Samu, speaking on the tarmac. "He is the most successful, visionary leader in the entire world." Dressed in green, the colour of his political party, some were loyal to the end. "No human being is perfect, but for 22 years in the country here he has tried hard for Gambians," said a woman with cheeks wet from tears, who did not wish to be named. The Gambia is one of the world's poorest nations and although education and health standards have lifted in recent years, poverty remains endemic. With Jammeh gone, all eyes will be on the Barrow administration as they make their first steps as a government of reform and development. "The will of the people has come to be at last," said Isatou Touray, a key official in the government-in-waiting. "Democracy is back, you can't stop the people." Army chief Ousman Badjie, a former Jammeh loyalist, has pledged allegiance to Barrow along with top defence, civil service and security chiefs. The first priority will be to help the tens of thousands who have fled in recent weeks fearing a bloody end to the crisis to return safely, Touray said earlier Saturday. Barrow could leave Dakar as early as Sunday to return to The Gambia, a source told AFP. Search Keywords: Short link: Theres no denying that The Walking Dead is one of televisions most popular shows, despite its recent slump in ratings following an extremely chaotic and violent opening to the series seventh season. Whilst there will always be a divide in the viewers who are happy with whats being presented and those who expect more from the creators, its rare you hear criticism from the cast who are actually a part of the show. Actor Lennie James, who plays Morgan in the series is happy to call out how horrible it was to film during season 7, however. Credit: AMC Speaking to NME, the actor spoke about filming season 7 and explained: (It was) horrible, just horrible I swear to God, horrible. But it was the same for everybody. Everyones had more time off this season than theyve ever had, but its horrible. I hated it, and I complained about it and Im not a complainer every day. How you doing Lennie? I hate it! You want tea or coffee? I hate it! It was horrible, because you just didnt see anybody. And because we filmed The Kingdom in a completely different area to where they were filming Alexandria, the Hilltop, or the Saviors, it meant that no one was close to each other. Elaborating a little more, James recalled a conversation he had with showrunner Scott M Gimple, in which he said: I see what youre doing, I respect what youre doing, but dont ever do this to me again because I hate it. The Walking Dead is currently on a break, and returns to screens in the US on February 12, broadcasting on AMC. It returns to the UK a day later on FOX. by Daniel Falconer for www.femalefirst.co.uk find me on and follow me on If theres one thing that defines Arjun Kapoor its conviction. Theres no way youll ever catch him on the back foot. Hes so surefooted and confident, that any and every goggly gets slogged straight out of the park. Be it touchy topic of girlfriends, allegations of nepotism or just using his influence to make the careers of actresses. Hes not flustered by any of it. Rather he talks straight logic and keeps a grounded air about himself. Better still are his insights on comedy and comic timing, something that will hold him in good stead for his upcoming movie Mubarakan. A true sport at the movies, Arjun Kapoor has the right spirit to excel at a young romance like Half Girlfriend too. Hes one actor from the younger lot who always comes across wiser than his years. This young lad is cut from a different cloth. He doesnt mince his words nor does he take offence. He simply keeps his chin up and gives life at the movies his best shot. Are you apprehensive about the fact that Mubarakan is your first comedy? I havent been offered many comedy films. As it is few are made. Last year, we just had Housefull 3. This year perhaps, we have just two Judwa 2 and Mubarakan. And most of them are attempted by actors who are already stars. Salman (Khan) bhai, Akshay (Kumar) do these films because they have a solid command over comedy. Anees (Bazmi) Bhai is the correct director for this genre. He knows the language that appeals to the common man. Its one of the toughest genres because aapko sabko hasana hai. Your timing has to be right. The challenge in comedy is not to lose freshness. Its tough to be natural and make it funny at the same time. What makes Mubarakan unique? When Mubarakan came my way, Anil (Kapoor) chachu had already said yes. I thought if he has said yes then there must be something in it. Ive always wanted to be a hero of the masses. When I heard it, I loved it essentially because its not a double-role film. Its a two-hero film where Im playing two characters, Charan and Karan. Its not about mistaken identities. Were two brothers whore together through the film. Something like Dhoom:3, which had Aamir Khan playing Sahir and Samar. Its a complete family entertainer, where theres chaos around a wedding, with the two heroines Athiya Shetty and Ileana DiCruz confused between the two heroes. Its sort of No Entry meets My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Its risky to do a film thats expected to reach across every home in the country. And it was about time I took that risk. How was the experience of working with chachu Anil Kapoor? I havent shot with him yet. The Punjab schedule was completed without him. I dont know how it will be to spend time with him in a work environment. The thought excites me. I want to consume that experience. I want to know what makes chachu, Anil Kapoor. Its one thing to discuss work, its one thing to watch the other person work and its one thing to share the same screen space. I feel like a student in front of him. Such experiences leave an impression on you and go on to define you as an actor. Whats your first memory of Anil Kapoor? My first memory is of him is digging into baingan bharta, rajma/chawal and chicken with me on the dining table and also eating off my plate! Hes always been this energetic guy. Today they call Varun (Dhawan) and Ranveer (Singh) energetic. But Anil chachu has a controlled energy about him. Mr. India is my first significant memory of him as an actor and then Ram-Lakhan. Mr. India dekhe bina main khana nahin khata tha. Initially, it was difficult to understand whether I was really watching chachu or some star on screen. I was confused. What kind of a film is Half Girlfriend? Mohit Suri has a clear style of filmmaking. Hes young and hence people forget how many films he has behind him. He started when he was 22. Hes just a couple of years older than me. He has managed to create an interesting world in Half Girlfriend where hes given a new take to the quintessential poor-boy-rich-girl angle. The conflict in the film is created by the fact that the boy and girl know that they cant be together because they belong to different worlds. But still something connects them; they have a relationship that cant be defined. It also deals with a fallacy in our society. The moment you speak English, even if youre not making sense, youre taken seriously. At the same time, even if you come across an intelligent person who talks in Hindi, you tend to think, Oh, hes not educated, he speaks Hindi. That mental barrier, that prejudice has remained since ever. Why should the language you speak define how cool or intelligent you are? Its a huge problem reflecting the way we think. Im glad the film is addressing it. Renowned Hollywood actor Miguel Ferrer, who appeared in famous movies like The Night Flier, RoboCop, Iron Man 3 and many others, passed away on Thursday, 19 January 2017 after battling with throat cancer. Apart from movies, Miguel Ferrer is also a popular face in the CBS's series NCIS: Los Angeles for the past seven seasons. "Actor Miguel Ferrer passed away peacefully in his home this morning after losing his battle to cancer. He was surrounded by close family and friends, including his wife Lori, sons Lukas and Rafi, and his brothers and sisters." CBS declared in a statement. Miguel Ferrer was related to iconic Hollywood actor George Clooney. He is the cousin of the actor. "Today history will mark giant changes in our world, and lost to most will be that on the same day Miguel Ferrer lost his battle to throat cancer. But not lost to his family," said Clooney. "Miguel made the world brighter and funnier and his passing is felt so deeply in our family that events of the day, monumental events, pale in comparison." Clooney added. "Miguel was a man of tremendous talent who had a powerful dramatic presence on screen, a wicked sense of humor, and a huge heart. Our thoughts go out to his wife Lori, his sons, and his entire family. He will be greatly missed." said CBS's R.Scott Gemmill. The British government was accused on Sunday of covering up a failed test of its nuclear weapons deterrent last year, just weeks before lawmakers voted to renew the system. Prime Minister Theresa May refused to say whether she knew about the reported malfunction of an unarmed missile when she urged MPs to support updating the Trident nuclear system. The Sunday Times newspaper, citing a senior naval source, claimed that the Trident II D5 missile failed after being launched from a British submarine off the coast of Florida in June. The cause of the failure is top secret but the source suggested the missile may have veered off in the wrong direction towards the United States. "There was a major panic at the highest level of government and the military after the first test of our nuclear deterrent in four years ended in disastrous failure," the source told the paper. "Ultimately Downing Street decided to cover up the failed test. If the information was made public, they knew how damaging it would be to the credibility of our nuclear deterrent." The malfunction came just weeks before the House of Commons was asked on July 18 to approve the replacement of the ageing submarines that carry Britain's nuclear arsenal. May was not prime minister at the time of the test, but she took office shortly before the vote and successfully appealed to lawmakers to approve the 41 billion (47 billion euro, $50.7 billion) project. In a BBC interview on Sunday, she sidestepped questions about whether she knew about the malfunction when she made her statement to MPs. "What we were talking about is whether or not we should renew Trident," she said. "I have absolute faith in our Trident missiles," she continued, adding that tests take place "regularly". Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, a longstanding opponent of nuclear weapons, said it was a "pretty catastrophic error" for a missile to go in the wrong direction. A government spokesman confirmed the Royal Navy conducted a routine test launch of an unarmed missile last June from HMS Vengeance, one of Britain's four nuclear-armed submarines. It was "part of an operation which is designed to certify the submarine and its crew", he said. "Vengeance and her crew were successfully tested and certified, allowing Vengeance to return into service. We have absolute confidence in our independent nuclear deterrent," he said. Britain is one of only three nuclear-armed NATO nations, along with the United States and France. Search Keywords: Short link: SAN DIEGO (dpa-AFX) - Apple Inc. (AAPL) has filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) on Friday, accusing the chipmaker of charging royalties for technologies it has nothing to do with and for not paying about $1 billion in promised rebates. According to Apple, the maker of iPhones, as it innovates with unique features such as TouchID, advanced displays and cameras, Qualcomm collects royalties for no reason and thus, it becomes more expensive for Apple to fund these innovations. Apple accused Qualcomm of charging it at least five times in payments than all the other cellular patent licensors that Apple has agreements with combined. Qualcomm is a key supplier of modem chips to both Apple and Samsung Electronics Co. (SMSN.L, SSNNF.OB, SSNLF.OB). 'To protect this business scheme Qualcomm has taken increasingly radical steps, most recently withholding nearly $1B in payments from Apple as retaliation for responding truthfully to law enforcement agencies investigating them,' Apple said in a statement. 'We are extremely disappointed in the way Qualcomm is conducting its business with us and unfortunately after years of disagreement over what constitutes a fair and reasonable royalty we have no choice left but to turn to the courts,' Apple added. Qualcomm responded on Saturday by saying that Apple's claims are 'baseless'. Don Rosenberg, executive vice president and general counsel of Qualcomm said, 'Apple has been actively encouraging regulatory attacks on Qualcomm's business in various jurisdictions around the world, as reflected in the recent KFTC decision and FTC complaint, by misrepresenting facts and withholding information.' 'We welcome the opportunity to have these meritless claims heard in court where we will be entitled to full discovery of Apple's practices and a robust examination of the merits,' Rosenberg added. Apple's lawsuit comes after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission or FTC said earlier this week that it filed a lawsuit, charging Qualcomm with using anticompetitive tactics to maintain its monopoly in the supply of a key semiconductor device used in cell phones and other consumer products. In December 2016, the Korea Fair Trade Commission or KFTC fined Qualcomm about 1.03 trillion South Korean won or about $865 million, saying it found certain of Qualcomm's business practices in violation of Korean competition law. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de DUBAI, UAE, January 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Shell today announced that it has been chosen by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd as the exclusive manufacturer and supplier of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Genuine Engine Oil. From October 2016, this oil has started to become available to Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Dealers around the world. The new passenger vehicle engine oil has been developed and rigorously tested to meet the latest Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd. passenger vehicle engine specifications and to work perfectly with their V12 engines. Shell PurePlusTechnology, present in Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Genuine Engine Oil,helpsprotect the engine from power-robbing deposits and sludge. In addition, its properties enable the oil to reachpeak operating efficiency sooner in challenging conditionswith low oil consumptionand long engine service life. "We are delighted to have been chosen to develop and supply the new passenger vehicle engine oil for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd., using our most recent innovation - Shell PurePlus Technology," said Richard Jory, Shell's Global Vice President for Lubricants Key Accounts. Shell PurePlus Technology is a breakthrough in how passenger vehicle engine oils are formulated. It is a patented gas-to-liquid (GTL) process, developed over 40 years of research, which converts natural gas into crystal clear base oil. Base oil, usually made from crude oil, is the main component of finished oils and plays a vital role in the quality of the finished passenger vehicle engine oil. The base oil is produced at the Pearl GTL plant in Qatar, a partnership between Shell and Qatar Petroleum. Notes to Editors Genuine (part) Oils are OEM-owned branded oils. They are specially formulated by lubricant suppliers such as Shell to meet specific needs of a given OEM's different vehicle components. Aftermarket or service-fill oils refer to any oils put in any passenger vehicle such as a car or motorcycle, during the after-sales service for the general upkeep of a vehicle in its lifetime. Shell's world-class engine oil technology has enabled the development of engine oils that improve performance, help to improve fuel economy and extend engine life. Premium engine oils, containing Shell PurePlus Technology and proprietary advanced additive technology, are specifically designed to allow drivers to get the most from their modern engines. The passenger vehicle engine oil industry is increasingly moving towards synthetic oils over mineral oils because of the improved performance benefits offered in line with stringent emission regulations and fuel efficiency demands. Synthetic oils are manufactured from crude oil or gas using advanced chemical processes. This is in contrast to mineral base oils, which are complex mixtures of naturally occurring hydrocarbons found in crude oil. Shell provides global accessibility to its leading products with a strong global lubricants supply chain network of 7 base oil manufacturing plants, over 40 lubricant blending plants and 15 specialist grease plants. To provide Shell PurePlus Technology enabled engine oils around the world, Shell integrated its supply chain with its gas value chain in Pearl GTL, Qatar . This world-scale facility is the largest source of GTL products and the only commercial source of GTL base oil today. About Shell Lubricants The term "Shell Lubricants" collectively refers to Shell Group companies engaged in the lubricants business. Shell sells a wide variety of lubricants to meet customer needs across a range of applications. These include consumer motoring, heavy-duty transport, mining, power generation and general engineering. Shell's portfolio of lubricant brands includes Pennzoil, Quaker State, Shell Helix, Shell Rotella, Shell Tellus and Shell Rimula. We are active across the full lubricant supply chain. We manufacture base oils in seven plants; blend base oils with additives to make lubricants in over 40 plants; distribute, market and sell lubricants in over 100 countries. We also provide technical and business support to customers. We offer lubricant-related services in addition to our product range. These include: Shell LubeMatch -the market leading product on-line recommendation tool, Shell LubeAdvisor - helps customers to select the right lubricant through highly trained Shell technical staff as well as online tools, and Shell LubeAnalyst - an early warning system that enables customers to monitor the condition of their equipment and lubricant, helping to save money on maintenance and avoid potential lost business through equipment failure. Shell's world-class technology works to deliver value to our customers. Innovation, product application and technical collaboration are at the heart of Shell lubricants. We have leading lubricants research centres in China, Germany, Japan (in a joint venture with Showa Shell), and the USA. We invest significantly in technology and work closely with our customers to develop innovative lubricants. We have a patent portfolio with 150 + patent series for lubricants, base oils and greases; more than 200 scientists and lubricants engineers dedicated to lubricants research and development. Customer benefits include lower maintenance costs, longer equipment life and reduced energy consumption. One of the ways we push the boundaries of lubricant technology is by working closely with top motor racing teams such as Scuderia Ferrari and BMW Motorsport. These technical partnerships enable us to expand our knowledge of lubrication science and transfer cutting-edge technology from the racetrack to our commercial products. Royal Dutch Shell plc Royal Dutch Shell plc is incorporated in England and Wales, has its headquarters in The Hague and is listed on the London, Amsterdam, and New York stock exchanges. Shell companies have operations in more than 70 countries and territories with businesses including oil and gas exploration and production; production and marketing of liquefied natural gas and gas to liquids; manufacturing, marketing and shipping of oil products and chemicals and renewable energy projects. For further information, visit http://www.shell.com Cautionary Note The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this press release "Shell", "Shell group" and "Royal Dutch Shell" are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words "we", "us" and "our" are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies. 'Subsidiaries', "Shell subsidiaries" and "Shell companies" as used in this press release refer to companies over which Royal Dutch Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to "joint ventures" and "joint operations" respectively. Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as "associates". The term "Shell interest" is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest. This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management's expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as 'anticipate', 'believe', 'could', 'estimate', 'expect', 'goals', 'intend', 'may', 'objectives', 'outlook', 'plan', 'probably', 'project', 'risks', "schedule", 'seek', 'should', 'target', 'will' and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this press release, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell's products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; and (m) changes in trading conditions. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell's 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2015 (available at http://www.shell.com/investor and http://www.sec.gov ). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward looking statements contained in this press release and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this press release, 30 November 2016. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this press release that United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website http://www.sec.gov . France is emerging as one of the most active European countries in terms of venture capital investment activity. A trend confirmed by the latest official data available. During the first half of 2016, 5.5 billion were invested in more than 1,000 companies (3.75 billion in the first semester of 2015). Out of the total, 573 companies received investments of less than 1m, this showing a meaningful involvement in startups. Among recent highlights coming from the country, Toulouse-based IoT company Sigfox received $150m in Series E funding becoming one of the few unicorns to be created in Europe. In addition, STATION F, a maxi startup hub, has been launched in Paris. In addition, in the second semester of 2016 and at the beginning of 2017, some venture capital firms have launched (and closed) new funds, which will inject new financial resources into tech startups and growth stage companies. Have a look at these new funds TECH & DIGITAL Serena Capital, a Paris, France-based venture capital firm, has just launched an 80m fund dedicated to investing in Big Data and Artificial Intelligence startups with the potential to disrupt such business sectors as banking, insurance, health, energy, manufacturing, trade, logistics, etc. The fund invests 500k to 3m in the first financing rounds of each startup. Alven Capital, a Paris, France-based early-stage venture capital firm, closed its fund at 250m, which invests in French entrepreneurs in the digital technology space. Partech Ventures closed the following two funds: -Partech Entrepreneur II, a 100m seed fund (closed in December 2016) focused on international game changers in such sectors as e-commerce, transport, virtual reality, fintech and insurtech, among others; and Partech Growth, a 400m growth fund (closed in June 2016) which invests 10M to 50M in technology and digital companies already having achieved significant revenues. In addition, the Paris-based firm will manage the 50m The Paris Saclay Seed Fund, a vehicle dedicated to investing 100k to 2m in pre-seed and seed stage companies coming out of the Paris Saclay Universitys ecosystem. Daphni, a Paris, France newly formed venture capital firm, launched a 150m fund to make seed and Series A investments in European startups developing B2User, User2User and B2B2User solutions with partially proven product-market fit, a large addressable market, and an international strategy, The fund commits 300k to 3m for each operation. Idinvest Partners, which held the initial closing of its second capital growth fund, at 250m, invests in unlisted European businesses operating in Digital, Health, and Energies & Cities sectors whose prospects for growth are global. The firm aims to hold a final closing of 350m/400m in the first quarter of 2017. 360 Capital Partners took over the management of Robolution Capital, an 80m fund dedicated to robotics, AI, and Internet of Things across Europe. Paris and Lille, France-based venture capital firm CapHorn Invest held the first close of its second fund at 100m. The fund, which has a final target of 125M, aims to make initial minority investments (from 0.5m to 4m) in seed and Series A & B rounds of 20 SMEs reinventing traditional markets via digital technologies. BlackFin Capital Partners has launched a 120m venture capital fund focusing on FinTech opportunities across Europe. The fund focuses on the FinTech space including all aspects of banking, payments, wealth and asset-management, brokerage, insurance, insurance distribution, financial software and technology, technology related to regulatory requirements, financial media, etc. HEALTHTECH & BIOTECH iBionext Growth Fund, a Paris, France-based venture capital fund which specializes in the creation and development of innovative healthcare startups, has already held the first closing, at 46m. The fund invests in innovative healthcare companies developing high potential disruptive technologies with highly unmet medical needs in the fields of biotech, medtech and connected medical devices. Sofinnova, a Menlo Park, CA-based biotech-focused investment firm, closed its latest fund, at $650M. It aims to make investments in 20-25 companies typically ranging from $15 to $35M per company. CORPORATE VENTURE CAPITAL Global services company Sodexo launched a 50m strategic venture capital fund Ventures investing in startups with high growth potential in line with its activities to monitor, anticipate and respond to evolutions in the sectors and markets it operates including Food-Tech, health and wellness, data, mobility and smart buildings. Groupe PSA, which owns Peugeot, DS and Citroen, has launched a 100m initiative to invest in tech startups that develop services linked to automotive mobility including B2C car sharing services, B2B car sharing and fleet management, connected aftersales and lead business, and smart services and car related big data. FinSMEs 22/01/2017 MainStreaming, a Milan, Italy- and San Francisco, CA-based global video delivery platform, raised 4m in Series A venture capital funding. United Ventures made the investment. The company intends to use the funds to expand globally. Co-founded by Antonio Corrado (CEO), Philippe Tripodi (COO) and Giovanni Proscia (CTO), MainStreaming provides a global video delivery platform which allows users to distribute high quality video on-line in real-time to meet the needs of emerging markets such as OTT TV (Over the Top Television) and offer traditional broadcasters the opportunity to migrate their content over IP. In particular, the companys Video Delivery Network service is targeted at both large global broadcasters, OTT TV (Over-the-top TV) and digital media companies and at emerging media companies, publishers and local broadcasters, supporting them with encoding, management and video content distribution functionalities. FinSMEs 22/01/2017 On September 19, 2012, I was at Mehboob Studio for some patchwork shoot for an ad film, with the cast of Karan Johars upcoming film, in which he was launching three new faces. When the three of them entered, their personality differences were stark. There was the lively one, Varun (Dhawan), who cheerfully greeted everyone on the set. There was the brooding one, Sidharth (Malhotra), who preferred to spend time by the mirror. And there was the shy one, Alia (Bhatt), who looked far more nervous and self-conscious than one would expect an actor to be. Needless to say, that day everyone made the shoot about the boys. Exactly a month later, Student of the Year hit theatres. That film was about the boys as well, because in the film, Alia Bhatts character wasnt even a serious contender for the title. Her Shanaya Singhania wasnt much more than arm candy for the boys; and as an actor, Alia just scraped through that part, looking truly at ease only in the songs. There was a phase in her career when it looked like Alia Bhatt was doomed to go down the same path that women in cinema (and indeed, most other professions) tend to go in the shade of the larger-than-life alpha-male. But it took Alia only one more film her next release, Imtiaz Alis Highway to make everyone notice her precocious talent. Alia was searing in Highway, displaying a maturity that few actors that young have ever shown. She could hold long takes with the camera just on her, she could show emotional range *within* those long single takes, and most of all, she could convince you that she was the character. If you compare Highway with her latest release, Gauri Shindes Dear Zindagi, youll notice how remarkably similar the two films are, if you consider plot alone. A young girl with an active life has a chance encounter with a mysterious older man. She opens up to that man, eventually revealing to him her deepest, darkest secret. She falls in love with that man soon after, but realises theres no future there. So she moves on with positivity, a stronger person. So similar in theme, yet the two films are so remarkably different in space and texture, that you fully begin to appreciate the range Alia Bhatt, the actor, has. Her Veera in Highway and her Kaira in Dear Zindagi were two different urban girls, who could also exist in any city in the country. Yes, most of her films have had her play the chirpy urban girl, but shes managed to set each of them apart in different ways. Her Ananya Swaminathan in 2 States was bold and mature, her Kavya in Humpty Sharma was spunky and funny. And who can forget Udta Punjab, easily one of the finest performances of 2016? Scarcely would one have imagined Alia Bhatt as the diminutive, tanned and freckled Bihari girl living a life fraught with tragedy. It wasnt just a physical and emotional departure for her, but also a reminder of the fact that young female actors today are staking their claim to diverse, daring roles that push their limits as actors. There has been talk of Sonam Kapoor deserving Best Actor Female awards over Alia Bhatt for her terrific performance in Neerja. Sonam was excellent, but you cannot help feel that the role could have been done by many of the leading young female stars of today. (Surely we can imagine Parineeti Chopra or even Alia Bhatt doing an equally good, if not better job had they done Neerja instead.) However, Alias anonymous rural Indian girl in Udta Punjab is the kind of performance you just cannot imagine any other actor doing, simply because that character seemed like a whole new person altogether. Alia Bhatt also sets a terrific example with how little she cares about whats said about her. Remember, there was a time in 2014 when, if there was one name that could rival Narendra Modis presence in Whatsapp group discourse across India, it was Alia Bhatt all because of a Koffee With Karan rapid fire. While Indias patriarchy (which includes men and women alike) was sniggering at Alias IQ, she was sporting enough to star in that excellent AIB sketch, Genius of the Year. It is this attitude that makes her a beacon of hope for our cinema, because if an actor doesnt care whats said about them, they will be willing to be truly courageous with their choice of roles. Films are being made specifically keeping Alia Bhatt in mind. That can only augur well for a nation thats starved of films that break the mould and bring forward what its really like to be a woman in India. If music be the food of love, play on. William Shakespeare It was not too long ago that only a handful of music festivals were organised in India. There was Sunburn, and then the NH7 Weekender the go-to events on every music lover's list. Cut to today, when people are absolutely spoilt for choice. Almost every part of India, today, boasts of a music festival. This weekend, Alibaug got a dose of foot-tapping sounds with Nariyal Paani (21-22 January). Apart from that, the year will witness impressive line-ups at the Ranthambore Festival (Chittorgarh), Goat Festival (Goa), Ziro Festival of Music (Ziro Valley), Riders Music Festival (Delhi), Goa Sunsplash (Goa), Lights Music Festival (Mumbai), Go:MADras (Mahabalipuram), When Mountains Call (Manali), The Lost Party, and Mad Decent Block Party (Mumbai, Hyderabad and Delhi), Ragasthan (Jaisalmer), Jodhpur RIFF (Jodhpur), Storm (Bengaluru), Escape (Naukuchiatal), Kasauli Rhythm and Blues fest (Kasauli), Gulmarg Winter Fest (Gulmarg), Mojo Rising (Kochi), World Sufi Spririt Festival (Nagaur), and Parvati Peaking Festival (Parvati Valley), among others. These events are spread across the country, and as is evident, not restricted to the metros anymore. So, what lead to this mushrooming of music festivals in India? Music festivals have been trending globally for a while, becoming increasingly popular. India is very much a part of this trend cycle now, says Sarah Chawla, founder Wild City, one of the partners of Magnetic Fields, an experiential music festival that is held in the month of December in Rajasthans Alsisar. On the other hand, Ashutosh Pande, programme director of the upcoming Ranthambore Festival (an event that has a strong focus on nature conservation), feels that over the past five years, India has turned into Europe in terms of destination music and cultural festivals. I think this is a great sign and it helps people discover amazing destinations in India. It also gives the people in big metros a stronger reason to take time out of their packed schedules and plan a weekend trip filled with beautiful experiences, he says. According to Raj Desai, one of the partners of The Lost Party, a multi-genre festival that takes place in Lonavala, in February, a financially stable and more explorative young generation is spearheading a cultural revolution of sorts, and festivals are a great way to explore this sentiment. Mikhail Mehra, founder Oji, organiser of the international travelling festival Mad Decent Block Party in India, says it doesnt take much to create a music festival. You throw enough money at it and boom you have a festival. Its like a movie; if you have enough money, you can make one, doesnt mean that its going to be good, and people are going to show up to see it, he adds. While these events are open for all, they are usually targeted towards young professionals between the age group of 25 to 35 years. While their numbers are increasing, it is not a cakewalk to organise a music festival. This is what makes their proliferation even more surprising. While some say logistical and statutory problems are always present in a country like India, others feel that the guest-list culture creates issues. People somehow are under the impression that festivals make a lot of money. This is not always true, specially not in the formative years of a festival. We spend a lot of money and manhours to build this, and present a unique experience to the audience. It's not only petty but also unfair to not even pay the meagre entry amount for an experience, says Desai. In addition to that, bureaucracy, high tax rates and archaic practices across the private and public sectors create roadblocks. Even the selection and finalisation of the artistes require a lot of effort and time. Different festivals have different favourites, and international artistes are a must. Most festivals, both big and small, aim to add the global touch to their event, and hence, make sure to have at least a few international names on their line-ups. The market does respond a lot more to international names, but theres also a niche audience that responds better to the kind of music you play rather than the names you have on the roster, confirms Desai. However, in spite of the obstacles, most organisers feel that there is a long way to go before music festivals reach a saturation point in the country. There is a huge potential for boutique festivals around art, music, and culture in India, says Pande. Desai echoes a similar stance, saying that the market in India is growing constantly. There is something for each and every one here. The only ones who might be impacted will be festivals who don't keep up with the ever-changing tastes of young India, he adds. Chawla, on the other hand, has a slightly different view. She believes that like most things, music festivals will, too, reach a point when they will lose their steam. Till then, I hope this trend brings more quality events, music, and supports the growth of the Indian creative community, she says. Not just music, many such festivals are also turning into experiential platforms, where they not only offer popular musical acts to people, but also other activities such as yoga and mediations camps, workshops, drum circles, interactive cookouts, and more. But what about competition? Isnt survival tough with the number of music festivals increasing with every passing year? Its important that there are other festivals on the market. Competition is healthy. Complacency kills creativity, Chawla counters. At the same time, for some, competition is just a word that should be shoved under the carpet. Our biggest competition has and will always be ourselves. The moment I look back and feel like we havent stuck to our core values, is the moment I pack it all in, and become a hermit, says Mehra. Desai, too, says that it's a limited but expanding market now. He assures us: Audiences sample all kinds of festivals. Music is the winner An increase in the number of music festivals has also promoted the cause of indie musicians. The indie music sceene has received an impetus as these events serve as platforms for artistes playing non-film music. Srikanth Unni, a 24-year-old advertising professional who is a regular at several music festivals, says these events serve as great educators of what is happening in the Indian underground music scene. Every time I attend a music festival, I get to know of at least one great band I havent heard of before. I love the fact that I get exposed to great alternate music through these events. It was at one such festival that I was introduced to the music of Peter Cat Recording Co," Unni says. "I have been religiously following their music since then." By Nita Bhalla and Anuradha Nagaraj NEW DELHI/CHENNAI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Hundreds of women gathered in over 30 towns and cities across India late on Saturday, saying they were "occupying the night streets" to demand safety in public spaces after reports of the mass molestation of women in Bengaluru city on New Year's Eve.From the capital New Delhi to Kolkata in the east, Chennai in the south and Mumbai in the west, activists, students, and professionals gathered at marches and street plays or sang songs and recited poetry on equality for women.The participants, which also included many men, chanted slogans such as "Freedom, Freedom, Freedom!" and held banners saying "Take back the night. Break the silence. End the violence" and "Nobody asks what my molester was wearing." "Since the age of 12, I have never felt comfortable or safe on the streets - day or night, but first time I have ever attended a march like this ," said Anuradha Sinha, 37, a program manager at a e-commerce company."I have a 3-year-old daughter and given the situation we face today in terms of sexual harassment, I don't want my daughter to grow up and endure we have to go through every day. It has to change."The marches coincided with marches being held around the world following U.S. President Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday, but organisers of the #IWillGoOut campaign said their demands were different from those in other countries. The campaign in India was launched this month after reports of sexual assaults during celebrations on Dec. 31 in Bengaluru, where several women were allegedly groped and assaulted by a mob in the city's central business district.The state home minister later told television networks "such incidents do happen", while another politician blamed women for following "western culture", dressing inappropriately and staying out late. The attacks, reminiscent of those blamed on migrants in German cities during New Year's Eve celebrations in 2015, shocked many Indians, since Bengaluru, home to many well-educated professionals, is regarded as safer for women than New Delhi. Sex crimes are common in India, where the National Crime Record Bureau says more than 34,000 rapes were reported in 2015, although women sometimes do not report assaults for fear of the associated social stigma.The fatal gang rape of a woman by six assailants aboard a bus in Delhi in December 2012 sparked global outrage and led to calls for greater protection for women moving around India's cities.While the government has brought in tougher legislation on sexual assault, activists say more could have been done. At least 30 Indian towns and cities - including Hyderabad, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Puducherry, Lucknow, Pune, Jammu, Dharamsala and Bhopal - held events, with a few hundred participants turning out in each city, said organisers.In Bengaluru, where around 300 people gathered, organisers said most women have experienced being pinched, groped, molested, or faced lewd comments in public -- from travelling on the bus to shopping in the market to walking in the street."I have so many stories of being made to feel uncomfortable in public spaces," said Divya Titus, one of the organisers of the Bengaluru march."Despite a legislation, we still see sexual harassment. I decided enough is enough. We have to stop normalising these events." (Reporting by Nita Bhalla @nitabhalla in Delhi and Anuradha Nagaraj @AnuraNagaraj in Chennai. Additional reporting by Subrata Nagchoudhury in Kolkata. Editing by Astrid Zweynert. 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) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Magdalena Mis, Nita Bhalla and Ellen Wulfhorst LONDON/DEHLI/WASHINGTON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Hundreds of thousands of women took to the streets in cities around the world on Saturday in opposition to U.S. President Donald Trump, a day after his inauguration.Organisers expected up to one million people to participate in the marches in a global display of unity that culminated in a march in the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C.Women protesters, many wearing pink knit hats, marched through downtown Washington around the White House and other landmarks, and also protested in other U.S. cities.Thousands of women also took to the streets of Sydney, London, Tokyo, New Delhi and other European and Asian cities in solidarity.Trump has angered many people with comments seen as demeaning to women, Mexicans and Muslims, and worried some abroad with his vow on Friday to put "America First".We asked some of the people taking part in these events why this had become a global day of action and what they hoped to achieve."I came in support of women's rights and to protect our future and our health, and to prevent backsliding from the few gains we've made in the last few decades," Karla Jackson, a 56-year-old pensioner from Raleigh, North Carolina, said as the Washington march got underway.Meredith Dutterer, 37, of Clover, South Carolina, came to Washington with her nine-year-old daughter Ellie. "We came to celebrate women's equality, because she's nine and I'd like for her to have more opportunities than I had," Dutterer said.In London organisers said an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 people took part in the march, including Mayor Sadiq Khan."I'm here to show support for all the women, especially in Washington," said Penny Dedman, 66."They need to see other people coming together. People woke up this morning realising (Trump's presidency) was real. We have to do something about it," she said. "In 2017 it's a disgrace there's inequality, so I'm here to support equality and freedom, and protest against sexism and the suppression of women's rights," said writer Kip Hall, 42, another London protester and one of the many men who joined the march.In Barcelona, Spain, around 2,500 people joined the protest, organisers said."My message is that it is time to wake up and inform ourselves. This is no time to sit by. We need to make it happen," said Stephanie Loveless, 33, a doctoral researcher and organiser of the Barcelona march.Protesters also took to the streets of the Indian capital New Delhi. "I am here because I want to go out without feeling scared of being molested. You face it day and night. It has become normalised," said activist Logna Bezbaruah, 25."I am here today because I support the cause of equality. Women aren't asking for more rights, just equal rights," said activist Bhanu Pratap Pangtey, 27.In Bengaluru, where police are investigating reports of the mass molestation of women on New Year's Eve, protesters said people should fight against sexual harassment being seen as normal. "I and a lot of my friends have to deal with a lot of crap, mostly from men," said Gayatri Ashta, 25, a technology consultant. "Somewhere my anger had over the years become acceptance and then plain complacency. This march has reminded me that we don't have to accept this," she said. (Reporting by Magdalena Mis @MagdalenaMis1 in London, Ellen Wulfhorst @EJWulfhorst in Washington and Nita Bhalla @nitabhalla in Delhi. Additional reporting by Megan Rowling @meganrowling in Barcelona. Editing by Astrid Zweynert @azweynert.; 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) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. One cold morning early this month, Krishna Lal Sinha curled himself on a willow bench inside a bunker, his rifle pointing at the slow, melancholic movement on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway of all kinds of private and passenger cars and buses, heavy trucks and an occasional VIP or forces' convoy. Life seems frozen by the bitter winter chill of January. Chillaikalan the harshest, 40-day spell of winter beginning December 21 is the most difficult period of the year for millions of people living in Kashmir. Soldiers serving in the Valley, be they from the Army, CRPF or BSF, are no exception. From them, however, the difficulties of winter come at a cost both in terms of their physical as well as psychological well-being. Sinha, a resident of Bihar, looks to be in his fifties barely a few years away from retirement in the Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF). A chilly wind sweeps the paddy fields where the small bunker has been set up. Sinha is visibly shaken by the cold. He gets up from the bench; his frail body is shivering involuntarily, the signs of old age visible on his wrinkled face, protruding eyes and streaks of grey in his mustache and hair. He looks tired. The posting in Kashmir, the third in his career, has only multiplied his miseries. While serving in other states was no easy job, it was relatively better. At least there were safer working and better weather conditions. Like that of other jawans, Sinha's day starts at 5:30 am when most of Srinagar city and other parts of the Valley are in deep slumber. Before he gets ready for the morning patrol, he has to wait for his turn in the common washroom complex to wash his face or bathe, sometimes with icy-cold water when the warm water supply runs out. A short walk in subzero temperature from the dormitory to the washroom complex and back is the first of the many daunting tasks he carries out throughout the day: prayers and exercise follow if weather permits. An Indian soldier lives a sub-standard life, Sinha told me as we sat near the bunker. To beat the subzero temperatures, our dormitory is supplemented with a traditional coal heater. During the night, I often wake up in fits of coughing. I am suffering from a chest ailment, he said, sipping tea from a steel glass. Look at the soldiers in developed countries. They live the life a soldier deserves for his sacrifices, Sinha says. Then look at us. Tea in a steel glass. Half burnt roti. Unhygienic dal. No portable heaters or bottles. Cold food on patrol. Long stretches of duty. If this isn't humiliation, what is? Sinha says the five months of unrest in Kashmir put extra burden on them. Some people sometimes didnt even get a place to sleep," he says, referring to the summer unrest of 2016 when paramilitary soldiers brought into the Valley from other states at the peak of the crisis were ferried from one place to another at night because the police stations lacked space to accommodate all of them. The Srinagar-Jammu national highway has emerged as one of the easy targets for militants in the past few years. Militant groups like Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba have killed dozens of soldiers in multiple deadly strikes on Army and paramilitary convoys on the stretch from Qazigund to Srinagar. These surprise attacks by militants make the job of soldiers like Sinha and his colleagues stationed along this strategic road life-threatening. Other threats include the freezing winter. Last week, while collecting wood for a bonfire from the nearby willow plantation, the owner appeared and had a fight with soldiers for taking his wood without permission But then, after seeing their condition, he was kind enough and gave it away, It was humiliating and touching at the same time, said Sunil Kumar, a colleague of Sinha's who joined the conversation. We dont know what to do when it snows. We have no means of warming up our bodies, he added. Sinha asks Kumar to show me the video clip of Tej Bahadur Yadav, a BSF soldier, who posted videos on Facebook, complaining of poor quality food served to them. Heralding a wave, other soldiers have followed in Bahadurs footsteps by complaining about their sub-standard life. This was followed by strict instructions from Indian Army Chief Bipin Rawat about the use of social media by soldiers for voicing their complaints. One morning early this week, I travelled to Poonch where Yadav was posted in the 29 Battalion, which gets its rations supplied by the Field Supply Depot (FSD) of the Armys 93 Infantry Brigade, because it comes under the operational command of the army. In Khet, a BSF base 8 km from the battalion headquarters at Mandi in Poonch, Yadav's colleagues admired his courage in complaining of corruption against his own officers. His series of videos about half-burnt parathas, dal that is more of turmeric and salt, and allegations of corruption, shook the nation. BSF soldiers who spoke in whispers, claim that from 1 January to 28 February, most of the food served to them at forward locations is packed because snow cuts off the road leading to a post, a normal practice in a challenging situation. However, a soldier in Khet told me, Yadav sahib showered exemplary courage. How many of us will dare to do that? Since the video surfaced, Yadav has been shifted from the base at Khet to another unit at Rajouri, around 110 km away. Aap to Kashmir se hain, aap ko to pata hoga humare officer kaise taeel bechte hain din dahade (As you are from Kashmir, you must be knowing how our officers sell fuel in broad daylight), another soldier said, before hurriedly boarding his truck. As long as we give our lives for India, our bosses and politicians are happy with us. But when we have genuine complaints to improve our lives, they start choking our voices, Kumar, the soldier in Kashmir, told me in a disappointed tone. If this doesnt shake the conscience of our ministers, officers and general Indian public, who always want us to go to war, nothing can, he said. In this open-air bunker in Srinagar, Sinha and Kumar battle the cold and the fear of death for 8-10 hours every day, taking turns to sit on a bench made of willow sticks. A vehicle serves tasteless food from time to time but nobody bothers about the heating arrangements. We can't survive on food alone. My body freezes in this chill, Sinha said. Im old now, I cannot stand on my feet for hours every day. This routine has to stop for every soldier. There have to be shorter rosters so that we can carry our duty effectively. There is no dearth of manpower in Kashmir, he says. Every day before going into this bunker, we have to clear dog shit from the floor. This may not sound true to our officers and ministers. Is this what an Indian soldier deserves? Kumar asked. In 2016, India spent more of its budget on defense than Russia and Saudi Arabia and is likely to spend more than the United Kingdom in 2018. Despite a huge spending of 2,46,727 crores in 2015-16 by the Government of India, soldiers like Kumar and Sinha still complain of being ill-equipped. We literally have to dodge bullets and bricks every day. All we have got is this bullet-proof jacket to protect our chest and a helmet for our head, Sinha says. You know why we overpower militants easily? Because they are more ill-equipped than us, he provides the answer mockingly, looking down at his INSAS rifle. He contrasted this with the gear possessed by soldiers in Hollywood movies his son showed him last summer, when he was on vacation. My son told me what America and Russia discards, India buys it for its soldiers, Sinha says, recalling the Hollywood movie Hell and Back Again shown by his son, who doesnt want to be a soldier in India but in the US. Kumar and Sinha say the working conditions often lead to mental disturbances which sometimes end up consuming the lives of soldiers. Many Indian soldiers have committed suicide in past few years, the reasons of which aren't known or addressed so far by the authorities. There is bureaucracy even in sanctioning leave. Dont you read the news of soldiers committing suicide or killing colleagues?" Kumar says, angrily. A colleague who served with Kumar in Punjab, shot a fellow solider before turning his service rifle on himself last year in Poonch. The mental wellbeing of the soldiers, particularly BSF and CRPF, surprisingly never receives attention, while the Army has its own psychiatry facilities. The BSF and CRPF have general line doctors but they still dont have psychiatry facilities," Dr Arshad Hussain, an associate professor of psychiatry at Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital (SMHS) Srinagar, says. And mind you, they reach out to us only when the illness is very severe, which actually tells us that mild or moderate illnesses get either overlooked or are not seen as a threat. That indicates the emphasis is not on mental health, but physical health. And that is disturbing, Dr Hussain added. Ashok Kumar Sharma, a retired BSF soldier and a resident of Samba district in Jammu, was sitting on a roadside pavement when I met him on Wednesday afternoon. A tall, thin man in his late 50s, Sharma served in a majority of the conflict zones in India, before completing his tenure honorably and is now a happy man living a retired life. He says he has regrets. Isnt it an irony? Sharma says, "We all have to be Tej Bahadur to not live a life-so-ordinary. While the children of soldiers serving in the Army have quotas in Army schools, paramilitary forces dont have that. They (the Army) have canteen facilities, we dont. They have medical facilities after retirement. We dont. The Jammu and Kashmir government publishes jobs and there are quotas for ex-servicemen but paramilitary forces can't apply. The 'Indian soldier' is not only (from the) Army but para-military forces too, and the story of an Indian soldier is that of a man who everyone wants to use for different purposes, but no ones wants to put himself in his shoes, Sharma told me. It is the story of every soldier, including (from the) Army who have better funds but not better working conditions. So if Tej Bahadur talked about the bad food, what is wrong in it?" he asks. "If the system has to change, people like him should be rewarded, not punished. Indonesian authorities have detained 17 nationals returning from Syria, including children, suspected of being involved in radical activity, officials told Reuters on Sunday. Immigration office spokesman Agung Sampurno said the people, including a two year-old girl and a three year-old boy, were arrested at Soekarno-Hatta airport upon disembarking an Istanbul-Jakarta Turkish Airline flight on Saturday. They have been handed over to the police's anti-terrorism unit for questioning, Sampurno said. "They are currently still under an interrogation process. If we find any relation to crime on terrorism, we will continue the investigation. If not, they will be handed over to their families," the chief of Densus 88, police's anti-terrorism unit, Eddy Hartono told Reuters. Police have been monitoring dozens of returning citizens over concerns they could be linking up with networks to equip a new generation of radicals with the skills and equipment required to launch a major attack at home. Police killed 33 people and arrested 170 in 2016 for foiled attempts to launch attacks, a significant increase compared to 2015, according to their statistics. A gun and bomb assault in the heart of Jakarta in January 2016 killed four people and was the first attack in Southeast Asia claimed by Islamic State. Search Keywords: Short link: Chennai: Jallikattu began in parts of Tamil Nadu on Sunday, including Tiruchirappalli district, with traditional fervour, even as protests continued at Alanganallur in Madurai, where people refused to hold the famous sport seeking a "permanent solution". Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who had on Saturday said that he would inaugurate the event at Alanganallur, is now expected to do so in neighbouring Dindigul district. The bull taming sport began at Manapparai in Tiruchirappali district with thousands witnessing the event as bulls roared out into the sporting arena. Youths tried to hold on to the hump for a brief distanceas the animals sped fast towards the exit. Hundreds of bulls and youths participated in the show. Owners of winning animals and youngsters were awarded with prize money. 'Manjuvirattu', another form of jallikattu, was reported from villages in Dharmpauri district. Sections of protesters continued to stay put at several locations in the state, including the Marina here. At Alanganallur several sections of agitators declined to hold the sport. They blocked the ways to the entry and exit points of the sprawling sporting area. A group of organisers removed the bulls from the arena as well. They demanded a permanent solution, declining to accept the ordinance promulgated to hold the sport. According to the officials, Panneerselvam is now expected to inaugurate jallikattu at Kovilpatti near Natham in Dindigul district. Jallikattu remained banned following a Supreme Court order in May 2014. Meanwhile, officials were also making arrangements for holding Jallikattu in Alanganallur. Officials are trying to pacify and convince Jallikattu organisers that the ordinance is the permanent solution. Agitators were told that the ordinance will be replaced by a law. A Bill in this regard will be adopted in the Assembly and it will become a permanent law and solution as well, they said. Auto refresh feeds The state government in Tamil Nadu has declared Thursday a holiday. With schools and colleges remaining shut, numbers of protestors at Marina Beach expected to swell. "Jallikattu is the sport of the brave," he said. "In addition to this, Tamil Nadu is also facing drought. This has caused immense pain and misery to Tamil Nadu," he said. "We requested the Centre for drought-relief measures. We have requested the Centre to sanction Rs 32,000 crore for drought relief." "PM Modi said he gives highest importance to cultural values of the state. He assured he will extend full support to us," ANI further quoted him as saying. "We need to bring an emergrency ordinance," said the Tamil Nadu chief minister. "I have met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We all want an emergency ordinance to be brought for jallikattu." Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam addressed reporters and said that he had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked him to pass an emergency ordinance. Jallikattu the sport of the brave, we want emergency ordinance: Panneerselvam Equally shocked (to see video of cop committing arson), hope some sort of explanation is given to us so that we can calm down: Kamal Haasan pic.twitter.com/j6sl0jNJNF Addressing the media on Tuesday, actor Kamal Haasan questioned the Chennai police action against the protester and said that anyone who opposes Jallikattu (on whatever count) has double standards. "I was shocked (to see video of cop committing arson), hope some sort of explanation is given to us so that we can calm down." Have been demanding this for over 20 yrs. We were the early agitators of this law because it showed double standard-Kamal Haasan #Jallikattu Kamal Haasan comes out in full support of jallikattu and said that it cannot be banned. He asked why is not Peta also looking into the treatment of Kerala's temple elephants. "People make fun calling this a leaderless movement, but look at the cohesion among the people." When asked on why he is not actively part of the movement, Kamal said, "I kept out because I didn't want to steal the limelight on the agitating students." Kamal said that the violence in Chennai has disturbed him. He also added that he hopes that the videos showing police indulging in arson are fake. "CP Ramaswami Iyer wanted a separate Trivancore, would you call him anti-national? Even Tamil Nadu wanted to go separate. It is Patel and VP Menon integrated India. However, we must clarify and why did he said such things. There is some legitimacy in the complaint." I could have imagined a scenario where MGR would have come to meet protestors. He would have also protested with them: @ikamalhaasan "I could have imagined a scenario where MGR would have come to meet protestors. He would have also protested with them." Even MGR would have supported the movement On the question whether he supports a ban on Peta itself, Haasan said that it is wrong to ban the animal welfare organisation as India is a democracy. He said that we must rather correct them wherever necessary. Chennai: Violence broke out on Monday in Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu as police cracked down on protesters even as the six-day-old 'Marina uprising" was called off after the state Assembly passed a bill to replace the ordinance allowing the banned jallikattu. The agitation in Madurai, famous for its Alanganallur bull taming event, Tiruchirapalli, Coimbatore and other places were also withdrawn late in the evening. After the crackdown early in the morning, the sands of Marina beach and areas around it in Triplicane, Teynampet and Sellur in Madurai and Gandhipuram in Coimbatore witnessed pitched battles between the protesters and police who fired teargas shells and resorted to lathicharge to disperse the large crowds. There were incidents of stonethrowing and burning of vehicles and sundry items at various places in protest against the police action. Police personnel and their vehicles along with those of public were targeted. A number of policemen and members of the public were also injured. Police suspected that some protesters belonged to ultra-left organisations like CPI-ML and Revolutionary Youth Front of India but the agitators said the students and youth who had given the call were not involved in the violence. Initially, crowds defied appeals for withdrawing the agitation but the protesters were not in a mood to relent. Acting quickly, the AIADMK government tabled the bill in the Assembly after the Governor's address to replace the ordinance for conducting jallikattu without any hindrance. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment), Act, 2017 piloted by Chief Minister O Panneerselvam was adopted unanimously by a voice vote after a brief debate. After the ordinance, for which the Centre gave quick approval last week, was enacted, pro-jallikattu organisations and film director Gautaman appealed to the protesters to withdraw the stir. Parallely, former Madras High Court judge Justice Hari Paranthaman acted as a mediator by explaining the process of lawmaking through ordinance and said for the moment this was a "permanent solution" that is a victory for the agitators. The agitators numbering a few thousands withdrew their protest after appeals by the judge and office bearers of advocates associations. Tamil stars Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan also expressed concern over the violence and called for restraint by the agitating students. The protesters fought pitched battles with police in several pockets in Chennai, especially around Marina Beach from where thousands were evicted, and blocked roads in various parts of the city. Police fired teargas shells and resorted to lathicharge at some places as sections of protesters, removed from Marina in an early morning crackdown, pelted stones. The agitators went on a rampage, setting on fire vehicles at a few places, including in front of Ice House Police Station near the beach. While vehicles were gutted, the front portion of the station and the name board were damaged in the fire. Similarly, vehicles including some cars were set on fire by unidentified elements near Nadukuppam in Triplicane area, close to Marina. Several schools chose to shut early in view of the sudden turn of events while city buses went off the roads as a preventive measure. In Coimbatore, police forcibly evicted the protesters from VOC Park Grounds and lathicharged students in Gandhipuram bus stand. As the appeal made by senior officials to clear the grounds failed, police in large numbers started to bodily lift them and shift them out of the venue. Some 200 people sat on dharna near the Central bus stand in Gandhipuram to protest police action. Police managed to chase them away. Even as some protestors were seen leaving the venue voluntarily, police removed nearly 300 protesters from there, police said. Protesting against the police action, some youths formed human chain on the main Avanashi chain and police made a cane charge to disperse them, police said. A section of protesters were standing and raising slogans in support of their demand for permanent Act for conducting jallikkatu and against Peta and Police, near the Central Jail, some 200 metres from the venue, prompting the police to take into custody nearly 300 persons, they said. Police said they had cleared the grounds, venue for the Republic day function, and it is under control of the district administration and police. Police resorted to lathicharge at two places in Coimbatore to disperse protesters, who allegedly indulged in stone pelting against police. Protests continued in Madurai with protesters throwing stones on police at Alanganallur. Police forcibly removed protesters from protest venues at Alanganallur when they refused to heed their repeated requests to disperse. According to Alanganallur police, 20 persons, many of them policemen, were injured in stone pelting by protesters. Roads near the protest venue were strewn with stones, glass pieces and wooden logs. Earlier, the Alanganallur village committee, which was satisfied with the ordinance, announced that jallikattu will be held on February one and in Palamedu on 2 February. On Sunday, the chief minister could not launch the jallikattu event in Alanganallur as planned due to locals' protests. Though the decision of the local committee was made through public annoucement system, some miscreants at the "agitation venue" refused to disperse and started pelting stones, police said. There was a scuffle between police and some of the youths in which some protesters were injured. Police were forced to take action as several rounds of talks failed, an official said. Police said the situation was fully under control and some persons who were seen instigating the crowd have been detained for questioning. Meanwhile, DIG of Police Anand Somani led a flag march in the village to boost the confidence of the local people. In Madurai, Additional SP Murugesh held talks with protesting students and urged them to disperse. One woman was injured in the scuffle between police and youths in the city. In Madurai, students continued to block a train at Sellur for the fifth day. Meanwhile, an Erode report said several students sustained minor injuries when police made a lathicharge after a section of them indulged in violence, refusing to disperse. Two buses were damaged when some miscreants pelted stones while they were being dispersed by police at Thomaiyarpuram railway station where they tried to block train traffic. A report from Tiruchirapalli said a jallikattu event was held at Kumlur near the city, in which seven persons were injured. All the injured were treated as outpatients. Faced with the recent large-scale protests across Tamil Nadu over the ban on jallikattu, the Narendra Modi government has finally endorsed an Ordinance sponsored by the state government. Making an exception for bulls in the Prevention of Animal Cruelty Act, the Ordinance sanctions holding the sport, which is traditional in the culture of Tamil Nadu. The immediate crisis may have been partially resolved but the cultural fault lines remain as challenging and strong as before. The massive protests have shown the remarkable extent to which local culture still continues to shape the imagination of people at large. Popular outrage at the potential banning of the sport shows that the perception of an outside agency tampering with, or slighting local identities is not something people are willing to accept with equanimity. The continuing tussle between tradition and modernity remains deeply fraught. Many may consider the anger over the jallikattu ban to be an oddity, a sentiment out of sync with the culture and modernity of the globalised 21st century world we inhabit. However, the depth and extent of popular rage with thousands spilling out on the streets of Chennai flies in the face of such a simplistic interpretation of events. The immediate reason behind this surge of public discontent is the belief that the government is infringing on local culture and that authorities are taking away peoples right to celebrate a sport traditionally held during the harvest season of pongal. But thats not the only reason stoking the anger. There seem to be several other layers woven into the fabric of these protests, layers that suggest a reservoir of discontent. The preservation of local and cultural identity is just one provocation that has served as an outlet to more long term accumulated popular anger. The grievances, as listed by protesters themselves are varied, ranging from neglect of farmers, government high-handedness and arrogance, to corruption. Consider in this context, The Indian Express report: Others (protesters) agreed that the ban on Jallikattu was just the trigger behind the spontaneous protests. It also quoted Chandra Mohan, a filmmaker-turned-anti-corruption activist, as saying that the frustration among the people was building for some time. The protesters, the filmmaker claimed, wanted to send a message to the top that they cannot snatch away the rights that are a part and parcel of farmers. Clearly, the jallikattu ban has brought to the fore a whole set of other long gestating grievances, which go beyond the immediate event. On the protesters list of grievances are the protracted struggle against the civil nuclear plant at Kudankulam, the recent push towards demonetisation, the central governments deliberate slighting of regional sentiments, and the like. The feeling that big brother is riding roughshod over Tamilian pride and regional sentiment appears to be widespread. The discourse around tensions between the Centre vs states, and regional vs federal structures so often fanned by regional political parties have had a significant role to play in accentuating local/parochial sentiments. Despite claims to the contrary, the furore around the jallikattu ban is testimony to the reality that regional pride and identity continue to be issues that are as emotive today as they were a decade ago. In fact, it may even be suggested that over the last decade or so instead of receding, sentiments of regional pride local asmita have acquired new dimensions. The present day celebration of jallikutta, according to an editorial in The Hindu, is vastly different in form from the traditional form the sport took in the past: whatever the views of the youth taking part in the demonstration, jallikattu in its present form is of relatively recent origin, intended to make bulls run amok for the sake of spectacle. Instead of the traditional form of one man against one animal, latter-day jallikattu is a mass-participant ritual of hundreds of men chasing a bull and trying to hold on to its hump or stop it by pulling at or twisting its tail. As the desire and demand for spectacle has gained ground, so has a sense of popular disaffection with authorities. In the direct line of fire is the government, often both at the Centre and in the state. Its by now established that peoples distrust of political parties is at an all-time high. This is the reason why voters are turning more and more towards outsiders who challenge business as usual. Large scale cynicism with the conventional political system has paved the ground for spontaneous popular upsurge. What is noteworthy in all such cases is the cross-section of people who participate in these movements. Such incidents of resistance, whether over a court order, land acquisition, or the installation of unwanted industries, are increasing every day. In this context, the diverse people participating in the Tamil Nadu protests bring to mind the spontaneous and equally diverse character of the anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare in 2011. Even then, Hazares call to end corruption had opened up the floodgates of pent-up popular anger. The two-and-a-half-month long economic blockade in Manipur imposed by the United Naga Council (UNC) is seen as a sign of the Government of Indias failure to strike an amicable conclusion to Naga peace talks, an initiative that was publicised with much fanfare. Though the government had recently sent 4,000 para-military troops to counter the economic blockade, it could hardly be of any help in controlling the situation. Rather the situation has turned worse as the UNC decided to intensify the blockade just after the date of Assembly election was announced. When asked if the organization is likely to soften its blockade to facilitate the election process, Milan Shimray, an UNC leader said to Firstpost in a terse statement, We do not prioritise the election, but we prioritise the issue of integrity of the ancestral land of the Nagas. George Gwaitye, a Kuki leader in Manipur said to Firstpost that the Election Commission might face difficulties in holding free and fair elections in some areas of Manipur. The elections are likely to be free and fair in areas thickly populated by Kukis. But it is unlikely to be the same in the areas where National Socialist Council of Nagaland Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) dominates, he said. Even the Election Commission of India is worried about the uncertainty that has cropped up due to the economic blockade reports DNA. Quoting sources in the commission, the report says that the constitutional body thinks it might face logistical problems in transporting of manpower and equipment to 30 of the 60 constituencies in the state. The blockade has also crippled the election campaign of the political parties. N Biren a leader who recently switched to BJP from Congress, is finding it difficult to campaign for the party as the blockade has resulted in scarcity of petrol in the state. We have to use vehicles in our campaign. But since fuel is not easily available, it has become difficult for us to do that. I hope the Centre will definitely come up with a solution to the blockade, he said. The issue of ancestral land of the Nagas resurfaced prominently just before the Assembly election, on account of the Manipur government's decision to create seven districts, by bifurcating a few of the Naga-dominated ones. Though the move purportedly made to facilitate administrative convenience went down well with the other tribes and ethnic groups of the state, Nagas opposed it vehemently, dubbing it as a step to divide the Nagas and their land. In a press statement the UNC said that it sees this decision as arbitrary an bifurcation of Naga land without their knowledge and consent. Protesting the creation of Sadar Hills and Jiribam district, it further said that the land and the Nagas are inseparable and Nagas, being owners of their land, will not let anyone decide for them. This statement was seen to be informed by the long-term demand for a greater Nagaland by uniting Naga inhabited areas of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal, made by the insurgent group NSCN(IM), with which the Government of India has entered into the memorandum of agreement for peace talks. Further, striking a chord similar to that of the NSCN(IM), the UNC sought Political intervention from the Government of Indiato settle the Indo-Naga political issue once and for all for it is impossible for the Nagas to live under the oppressive and hegemonic communal Government of Manipur. Since RN Ravi, the architect and the interlocutor of the talks decided to go mum, very little is known about the stand the memorandum of agreement takes on the issue of territorial integrity of Manipur. This has led to heightening of ethnic tensions with Nagas on one side and the Kukis and Meiteis on the other. In contrast to the popular expectation among the Nagas that the demand for unification of Nagas dwelling in the neighbouring states would find its place in the memorandum of agreement, the other ethnic groups have hoped that the peace accord would not agree upon issues crossing the territorial limits of Nagaland. It was expected that the content of the accord would be made public since it involved the question of territorial integrity of the concerned states. But it remained unknown even after being signed a year and a half ago. Protracted silence on the part of Government of India even in the face of the NSCN(IM) and UNC repeatedly claiming that the demand for a greater Nagaland has not been given up raises serious questions on the government's intentions. Is the silence on the peace talks on the part of the government prompted by the demand for a greater Nagaland? Or is it a mere tactic to keep the people of Manipur in the dark about any compromise made on the territorial integrity of the state before Assembly elections? Even the attempts made by the BJP to persuade the public fell short as the government remained silent. Thus a Naga accord intended to end the countrys oldest insurgency became the reason of BJPs undoing in Manipur. The Centres helplessness was felt even when a group of civil society organisations from Manipur recently the home minister in Delhi, urging him to solve the crisis caused by the economic blockade. The home minister was seen expressing concern and assuring the people to provide with further security forces, turning away from the burning issue of the Naga peace talks. If one remembers the heydays of the peace accord signed on 3 August 2015, the ruling party was at a loss when the Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi took on the government in Parliament, alleging that even Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh was kept in the dark about the content of the agreement. The home minister, otherwise eloquent, was seen grappling for a convincing reply. Imphal Free Press reported that the group of civil society organisations, though they met the home minister in Delhi, spurned RN Ravis offer for talks. The reported reaction of the civil society groups to the offer was not surprising. For RN Ravi to keep mum on the Naga peace talks has not only been seen as playing hide-and-seek with an issue as serious as territorial integrity of Manipur, but also as someone giving undue indulgence to the NSCN(IM), an insurgent group. During the peace process, the NSCN(IM) fortified its presence in the Naga-dominated areas of the North-East India. In an article published in Firstpost it was reported that the NSCN(IM) also increased its cadre strength to 5,000 after signing the peace talks on account of the unrealistic promises made by the interlocutor to rehabilitate them into the BSF; thus frustrating the very purpose of bringing peace to the region. 'Jamva chalo ji.' Stories of how the Parsi community came to the Indian subcontinent are fairly well known by now, as are certain standard aspects of their culture. Parsi cuisine, however, is not as well known as it deserves to be. Beyond the regular salli boti or dhansak, not much is known about the range of dishes and preparations Parsi cuisine has to offer. With influences from Azerbaijani, Kurdish and Turkish cuisines, this under-rated cuisine is one that deserves attention, and appreciation. Here are a few of our favourites: 1. Chicken Farcha at Sodabottle Openerwala, New Delhi Move over fried chicken; farcha is here. Fried food is a favourite in pretty much every cuisine in the world, and the Parsis are no different. Chicken farcha is the delicious Parsi counterpart to the fried chicken we come across in fast food chains. 2. Dhansak at Dorabjee & Sons, Pune Arguably the most popular Parsi dish, its a typical Sunday lunch preparation. Dhansak is a three-lentil curry made with chicken or mutton and a secret spice mix. Polish it off with a plateful of brown rice. 3. Bheeda Par Eedu at Rustoms Parsi Bhonu, New Delhi A dish that brings vegetable and eggs together is sure to be healthy. Bheeda par eedu literally means eggs on okra. Okra is sauteed in spices, then topped with eggs. Yummy and tiny, its a great breakfast dish or mid-meal snack! 4. Berry Pulao at Brittania & Co., Mumbai Berries in a pulao? Even though it may sound unconventional, the berry pulao at Brittania & Co., has attained iconic status. That's probably because this true blue Persian dish has been adapted to appeal to the Indian palate. This rice, berry and meat ensemble is flavourful yet subtle. 5. Lagan nu Bhonu at Jimmy Boy, Mumbai If you get invited to a Parsi wedding or ceremony, youre in for the feast of a lifetime. Lagan nu bhonu literally translates to 'food at the wedding'. This three- or four-course meal is replete with flavour and is often served on a banana leaf. 6. Saas ni Machi@Jimmy Boy, Mumbai A dish meant for celebrations, jashn and ceremonies, its also a part of lagan nu bhonu. This Parsi wedding favourite is fish cooked in a white sweet and sour curry emulsion. Saas ni machi is a dense dish, often served with poppadoms or khichri. 7. Jardaloo Salli Murghi at Rustoms Parsi Bhonu, New Delhi A thick spicy gravy with a sweet note to it that's what the jardaloo salli murghi is. Dried apricots gives this curry the sweet taste that balance the spices and robust consistency. The potato shreds (salli) give it a much needed crunch. 8. Kolmi no Patio at Sodabottle Openerwala, New Delhi Another under rated dish is the kolmi no patio. Shrimp in thick and spicy tomato gravy are a tangy delight to pair with brown rice. 9. Patra ni Machi at Rustoms Parsi Bhonu, New Delhi A wedding favourite, it loosely translates to fish in a leaf. The fish is marinated in a mild spice mix and wrapped in a banana leaf, then steamed. Healthy and delicious, that's patra ni machi for you. 10. Akuri at Kyani & Co., Mumbai Eggs have a special place in Parsi cuisine and akuri is a breakfast favourite. Its the Parsi counterpart of scrambled eggs. Almost runny but not under-cooked, these eggs are made to perfection and served with bread. This article originally appeared on Burrp Mumbai: Senior leaders of Shiv Sena and BJP on Monday held joint parleys in Mumbai to discuss an alliance for the ensuing civic elections. "The talks, held tonight, were preliminary in nature. Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will discuss the issue further in a day or two," Sena MP Anil Desai told PTI. With barely 35 days left for the election of corporators for BMC, the country's richest civic body, there is no word yet on an alliance between the bickering allies in the state government. In the 2012 civic election, the Sena contested 158 seats and won 75, whereas the BJP contested 69 and won 32 seats. However, in the 2014 Assembly election, the BJP emerged as the number one party in Mumbai. Of 36 seats, the BJP won 15 seats, while the Sena won 14 seats. This, and the recent results of municipal council polls have led BJP leaders to demand more seats than last time, if an alliance were to happen. Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar last week said his party is 'positive' about an alliance with ally Shiv Sena, ahead of the upcoming local bodies polls, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. "We are positive on the issue of an alliance with Shiv Sena," Shelar had said after discussing the alliance issue with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' at the latter's official residence 'Varsha' in south Mumbai. Ten municipal corporations including Mumbai, Thane,Pune and Nagpur, 25 Zilla Parishads and 283 Panchayat Samitis are scheduled to go to polls next month. Diggy Raja, as the Congress party national general secretary Digvijaya Singh is called by his cronies, was a worried man when he hurriedly took the evening flight from New Delhi for Goa, a state he is supposed to be in-charge of at the partys central office. His discomfort was understandable as his diktat had been defied and the plot he had authored was threatening to go haywire. Singh, much against the desire of the partys state unit chief Luizinho Faleiro, had earlier announced that the Congress would contest only 36 of the 40 seats in the Goa State Legislative Assembly polls, while getting into a tactical understanding with the Goa Forward (GF). The seats, the party had decided against contesting, included Fatorda constituency of South Goa. After hectic parleys lasting two days, Singh was seen cutting a sorry figure on Saturday when he announced in Panaji that the Congress would contest 37 seats without having any understanding with the GF. Pain was writ large on his face when he emphasised that the party was united, though Faleiro was absent when he made the announcement. Fatorda could be just one constituency which may or may not count for much when the new government is formed in Indias smallest state in mid-March, but the Fatorda controversy has exposed chinks in the Congress armoury while indicating all may not be well with the faction-ridden party. What is alarming for the party is that the Fatorda controversy suggests factionalism is very much prevalent in the partys central office since Faleiro was supposed to be in constant touch with a senior leader in New Delhi when partys Fatorda block president Joseph Silva filed his nomination and presented the mandatory Form B, duly signed by Faleiro, establishing his credentials as the official Congress party candidate from the constituency. Singh had reasons to be miffed with Faleiro since he had decided to leave aside Fatorda seat for the incumbent independent state lawmaker and now GF mentor who had preferred to lobby for the Congress support in New Delhi. An annoyed Singh instructed the state unit to withdraw Form B issued to Silva which was duly complied with. Only Faleiros emissary reached the returning officers office after the process of filing of nominations had got over. Singh tried to prevail upon Faleiro and the state unit to withdraw Silvas candidature. Intense talks over the next two days made no headway as the state unit stuck to its condition of withdrawing Silva from the fray only if the GF withdrew its candidates from two other seats, namely Saligao and Velim in lieu of Fatorda, which was not acceptable to Serdesai and the GF. Faleiro remained undeterred and Silva in the fray when the last date for withdrawal elapsed on Saturday afternoon. A peeved Serdesai, who was earlier accused by the Congress insiders of entering into a private deal with Singh to procure support, lost no time in charging Faleiro of being in cahoots with Goas ruling BJP and entering into a secret private deal with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar under which he would not be chargesheeted in a corruption case that was filed against him when Parrikar was the Goa chief minister. Singh-Faleiro face-off was in the offing for some time, as they had taken divergent routes to reach the common goal to bringing the Congress party back to power in the coastal south-western state. While Faleiro was against the alliance, Singh advocated for it, especially with the GF. Also, while Faleiro wanted to replace old and failed leaders by giving chance to new young faces, Singh was opposed to denying party nominations to the old guard. This was also due to the fact that they draw their respective strengths from two top most individuals of the party. While Singh is supposed to be part of a coterie around Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Falerio is supposed to be close to Rahuls mother and the partys national president Sonia Gandhi. The coterie around Rahul is being blamed for trying to create fissures between the mother and son and hasten the process of installing Rahul as the new Congress president in place of Sonia, who is not keeping well for some time now. The change at the top is inevitable, but the hurry of the coterie around Rahul is questionable. This coterie is also being blamed for Rahuls decision to move out of his mothers bungalow at 10 Janpath and move into his own Tughlak Lane bungalow which he has used in the past as his office. It is not that unlike son Rahul, mother Sonia is not surrounded by a coterie and takes her decisions independently. The coterie around Sonia is, however, not prepared to let her handover the reigns of the party to Rahul yet, fearing they would be shunted out from their key posts. It is no secrets in the political circle that the younger Gandhi differs over roles of the Sonia coterie in the future setup of the party. The coterie politics which has been in existence since the days of Indira Gandhi and considered a bane for the party, leading to its sharp decline. However, existence of two coteries and with both working at cross purposes may come into the way of Rahul's desire to rebuild the party and make it fighting fit for the 2019 General Elections where he is likely to be pitched once again against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The ugly factional fight that reared its head in Goa to potentially undermine its prospects when the state goes to polls on 4 February may just be a pointer towards the troubles brewing within the 131-year-old party, trying to find its foothold in Indian politics yet again. After days of frantic negotiations, on Sunday, the Congress and Samajwadi Party forged a pre-poll alliance to contest the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls together. The two parties reached a seat-sharing agreement the Congress will contest 105 seats and the Samajwadi Party 298 seats. At a joint press conference in Lucknow, leaders the two parties said SP will contest 298 of the 403 seats and Congress the remaining 105. "SP and Congress have forged an alliance and will contest UP assembly polls together," SP state president Naresh Uttam told the hurriedly convened media briefing. UP PCC chief Raj Babbar hoped the SP-Congress alliance will reap a bumper electoral harvest in the state and fulfil aspriations of all sections of the society. He said a Common Minimum Programme will be drafted within a week. SP will have 298 candidates and Congress will have 105 in #UPElection2017 : Naresh Uttam, SP pic.twitter.com/ckNjXr8C5D ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 22, 2017 Talks between top Congress and SP leaders had been going on for the past several days, but got delayed as the two parties differed on the seat-sharing agreement. Sure that this alliance (SP and Cong) will set an example; will strive hard for upliftment of poor & development of state: Raj Babbar, Cong pic.twitter.com/a4fBNhDXCq ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 22, 2017 Sources also told PTI that the alliance materialised after Congress president Sonia Gandhi intervened. According to sources, top leaders of both the parties finalised the seat-sharing arrangement late on Saturday night and a formal announcement was made in Lucknow on Sunday evening. Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel had earlier tweeted: "Discussion was at highest level- CM (UP), GS I/C & Priyanka Gandhi." Wrong to suggest lightweights were dealing on behalf of Congress party.Discussion was at highest level- b/w CM (UP),GS I/C & Priyanka Gandhi Ahmed Patel (@ahmedpatel) January 22, 2017 Prospects of forming of an alliance between Samajwadi Party and Congress for the Uttar Pradesh polls had run into rough weather, with both parties hardening their stance over the number of seats. At one stage senior SP leader Naresh Agarwal had said the possibility of an alliance was "almost over" and blamed the "stubborn" attitude of Congress for the deadlock. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had initially offered 100 seats to Congress but they demanded 120. Samajwadi Party then argued that it had 234 sitting legislators and there were some others who would also contest. Thus, the ruling party needed at least 300 of the 403 seats. But, Congress leaders had informed the SP that in such a scenario, there cannot be an alliance. On the other hand, Congress' Central Election Committee met in Delhi and went ahead with finalising candidates for 140 seats which will go to polls in the first two phases. The party, however, did not declare its candidates for these seats, leaving a window for a possible alliance for which talks were held till wee hours of Sunday. "We had a meeting of CEC for the first and second phase," Congress general secretary incharge of Uttar Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad had told reporters in Delhi yesterday, adding the party's candidates for 140 seats were finalised. However, a cofident UP Congress chief Raj Babbar had maintained, "There are no roadblocks in the talks." Congress was also learnt to have been demanding that its candidates should be fielded in Amethi and Rae Bareli segments of the Lok Sabha constituencies represented by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. It was not immediately known to what extent the SP had accomodated Congress' demand. Congress was also keen to include Ajit Singh-led RLD in the alliance, which the Samajwadi Party did not want. SP had maintained it will have no truck with RLD and, if Congress wanted, it could give its share of seats to Ajit Singh's party. SP vice president Kironmoy Nanda said after the alliance with Congress, "We will get an absolute majority in the state and Akhilesh will become chief minister again." In the 2012 Assembly polls, SP had won 224 seats with a vote share of 29.3 percent, while Congress had bagged 28 seats with an 11.7 percent vote share. A party or alliance which garners 40 per cent of the votes will sweep the polls. Earlier, RJD president Lalu Prasad today tweeted that he was in talks with the Congress and Samajwadi Party for forging an alliance between the two parties in Uttar Pradesh. "I have been consistently in talks with Samajwadi Party and Congress' top leadership for stitching an alliance between the two parties in Uttar Pradesh," he said in a tweet. "Hoping and doing my best to stitch the Bihar-like alliance," Prasad tweeted. Prasad, who has family ties with Mulayam, had tried in vain to intervene in the battle for party's leadership between the SP patriarch and his Chief Minister son Akhilesh Yadav in the power game in the ruling party. Once Akhilesh finally wrested the SP chief's post from his father and got its 'bicycle' symbol from the Election Commission, the Prasad family pitched its support to him and promised to campaign for the faction led by the chief minister. There are 403 Assembly seats in UP, election for which would be held in seven phases starting 11 February. The last phase of the poll would take place on 8 March. Counting would be held on 11 March. With inputs from PTI Confident that the Samajwadi Party will win 300 seats in the forthcoming Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday released the party manifesto at a rally in Lucknow in the presence of his wife and Lok Sabha MP Dimple Yadav. However, his father and family partriarch Mulayam Singh as uncles Shivapal and Ram Gopal were conspicuously absent from the event. The party was also expected to announce its alliance with the Congress, although no such formal announcement took place. UP polls 2017: Akhilesh Yadav releases Samajwadi party's election manifesto pic.twitter.com/XMp1mFMpk8 ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 22, 2017 Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav speaking at Samajwadi Party election manifesto event pic.twitter.com/rEBzZozaQM ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 22, 2017 Urging his party workers to work hard until the elections are over, the chief minister also appealed to the youth to support him, observing that if the 1.4 crore newly registered voters exercise their right, then, he believed, the Samajwadi Party would surely be forming the next government. The chief minister also asked party workers to go to the masses and make them aware of the schemes implemented by his government during the past five years. "A lot of work has been done in a big way. We have to work more in future. I tried for the past five years not to leave path of socialism and also ensure balanced development to improve rural economics," Akhilesh said. The new party national president, directed all candidates to prepare a road map for development of their respective Assembly constituencies. The way registration has been done, if voting gets done in the same way, Samajwadi Party will get 300 seats: UP CM @yadavakhilesh News18 (@CNNnews18) January 22, 2017 Hard-selling his development agenda, the 43 year-old chief minister claimed that his government has also carried out developmental activities which were over and above what they had already promised in the manifesto. Aane waley samay mein hum kya karna chahte hain wo humare ghoshnapatra mei shaamil hai,kyunki idhar boht kch rajneeti mein hua hai: Akhilesh pic.twitter.com/YbOs1cjAuH ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 22, 2017 Reiterating that his government stands for samajwad (socialism), balanced economic development in the state, Akhilesh added that both expressways and rural development both go hand in hand for the government. Akhilesh, while taking potshots at the Opposition, said that the people know who are their true "shubhchintak" (well wishers). Akhilesh targeted both the BJP and the BSP at the rally. Slamming the BJP for not delivering on its promise of 'acche din', Akhilesh taunted the Narendra Modi government while saying that the people are now questioning 'acche din'? Jinhone achhe din ka naara diya,3 saal ho gaye,UP ka chunaav aa rha hai toh ho sakta hai budget mein kuch nayi cheezen dedein:Akhilesh Yadav pic.twitter.com/xTe5yc48Ap ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 22, 2017 Akhilesh also took a jibe at the BSP, specifically pointing out party supremo Mayawati's obssession with building statues across the state. Ye patthar wali sarkar bahut TV par aa rahi hai, socho TV agar takraa gaya pattharo se to kya hoga TV ka: UP CM Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow pic.twitter.com/aVrCmpyzDb ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 22, 2017 Wo patthar jo Lucknow,Noida me lage hain yaad dilaate hain agar sarkaar ban gayi to isse bade bade haathi laga diye jayenge: Akhilesh Yadav pic.twitter.com/268aSbn586 ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 22, 2017 Focusing on the manifesto next, Akhilesh announced a series of promises that his government would fulfill if they are elected. Akhilesh stressed on the various infrastructure projects completed by the Samajwadi government, including the Agra Expressway and the Lucknow Metro, which he claimed was built at a very fast pace. The next government, he said, would build the Purvanchal Expressway and link district headquarters across the states with four-lane roads. Akhilesh promised to strengthen his flagship laptop scheme while promsing to improve the education sector in the state. The party manifesto promised a women education fund. The Samajwadi Party leader also promised special ghee and milk powder packets for malnourished children, especially in the drought-hit region of Bundelkhand. In coming days we will work on improving the quality of education: UP CM @yadavakhilesh Image - ANI pic.twitter.com/NkAdSctaTq News18 (@CNNnews18) January 22, 2017 Poor kids of primary schools will be given 1 litre Ghee and 1 Kg of Milk powder every month: UP CM @yadavakhilesh pic.twitter.com/CYq5Q4Dxii News18 (@CNNnews18) January 22, 2017 Poor kids of primary schools will be given 1 litre Ghee and 1 Kg of Milk powder every month: UP CM @yadavakhilesh pic.twitter.com/CYq5Q4Dxii News18 (@CNNnews18) January 22, 2017 Reaching out to the youth, the leader promised skill development and self-employment schemes. Speaking on the various issues of farmers, Akhilesh announced that the next government will constitute a fund to help aggrieved farmers. We are bringing in Skill Development on the side of Expressway. Under the Lohia Awas Yojana massive work has been done: @yadavakhilesh pic.twitter.com/hsBeCFaN5T News18 (@CNNnews18) January 22, 2017 The chief minister promised populist measures like giving Rs 1,000 as pension to one crore people. Akhilesh also added that poor people will be given free wheat and rice. We will be giving Rs 1000 as pension to 1 crore people. Poor people will be given free wheat and rice: UP CM @yadavakhilesh News18 (@CNNnews18) January 22, 2017 The poll announcements were expected to be in the midst of a talk of possible tie up with Congress. According to media reports, the party is set to get 104-106 seats while the rest would be contested by the Samajwadi Party. The latest development comes after the talks for an alliance were all set to fail over seat-sharing arrangements. It is indeed rare that the gist of a prime ministers address at the countrys Combined Military Commanders Conference, let alone the full text, is not released to the media. But that was precisely what happened on 21 January when Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the conference at Dehradun, thanks to the directives of the Election Commission. And these directives, which also proscribed the prime minister to hold a public rally in the state that day, followed the complaints to the Commission by the Congress party about Dehradun being made the venue of such a conference. The Congress saw political motives of the Modi government behind the supposed change (this charge has not been supported by any hard evidence, though) of the venue from Gangtok in Sikkim to the capital of the poll-bound Uttarakhand. It had asked the Commission to put off the conference. Merits in the ECs directive to blackout Modis speech can always be debated. For instance, if the Commanders Conference was held in some other state not facing elections, Modi's speech there could have easily reached in this age of instant communications to the electorate of Uttarakhand. What qualitative difference would it have made then? At the same time, however, one should appreciate the concerns of the commission in taking that decision. The concerns relate to the possible collateral advantages that the prime ministers address at a military function would have on Uttarakhands electorate, a significant section of which is constituted by the servicemen, ex-service men and their families. It must be noted that the 'fauji factor' plays an extremely important role in Uttarakhand, given the fact that about 40 percent of the population of the Himalayan state comprises serving and retired soldiers, officers and their families. The Army, it is noteworthy, raises two of its most important regiments from the state Garhwal and Kumaon. There are about two-lakh ex-servicemen in Uttarakhand, along with more than 80,000 people currently serving in the armed forces. And there are nearly 40,000 widows of the defence personnel in the state. In fact, as of 20 January, of the 60,82,823-strong electorate in Uttarakhand (total population is 1,01,16,752), as many as 82,213 happen to serve presently in the three armed services (58,210 males and 24,003 females). These figures are as per the official website of the Chief Electoral Officer of Uttarakhand. It is widely believed that the fauji factor does invariably go in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It is the BJP which had made B C Khanduri, a retired Major General, the Chief Minister of the state. Given the relatively smaller Assembly constituencies, the votes of the servicemen have played the crucial difference (often in double digits) in determining the winners and losers. The most notable case in this regard happens to be the by-elections held for the Pauri-Garhwal Lok Sabha seat in February 2008 following the election of Khanduri as the Chief Minister of the state and his subsequent resignation from the Lok Sabha, in which it was the postal ballots of the serving army men that tilted the balance in favour of BJP candidate Lt Gen TPS Rawat (retd). No wonder why there is a popular theory that by keeping the 'fauji-factor' in Uttarakhand in mind, the Modi government recently chose General Bipin Rawat as the Chief of the Army Staff by ignoring the well established convention of seniority in the Army. General Rawat superseded two of his seniors in the process. He hails from the Pauri-Garhwal region and is the first officer from Uttarakhand to have risen to the rank of an Army Chief. The basic idea of the BJP-led government at the centre, so runs the logic, was to project General Rawat as the pride of Uttarakhand and thus attract votes for the BJP. The BJP has also used Congress Vice president Rahul Gandhis critical comments of the surgical strikes in Pakistan-controlled territories last year as an electoral opportunity to woo the serving and ex-service men in Uttarakhand. In a campaign named BJP ka abhiyan-Sainik ka samman, the party has felicitated armymen, ex-servicemen and their families across the state. However, the issue that the BJP wants to highlight the most to convert the fauji-factor in its favour is the one pertaining to the One Rank One pension (Orop). And ironically, the Congress is leaving no stone unturned in convincing the people that the Modi government has cheated the ex-servicemen and their families by not implementing the Orop. It, therefore, remains to be seen whose version the electorate is going to buy. In a public rally in the state last December, the prime minister had said that out of Rs 10,000 crore needed for the Orop scheme, Rs 6,600 crore had already been released by the Centre and that the remaining would be released soon. According to former Chief Minister Khanduri, who is the present Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, Almost 90 percent of the issues around Orop have been resolved by us (the Modi government). It will definitely attract votes for the BJP. But then, the point is that the Congress is exploiting the pending problems of 10 percent with the Orop by saying that Modi-governments scheme is incomplete. In fact, at the national level the party has garnered the support of a section of the veterans led by Maj Gen (Retd) Satbir Singh, which has been continuing its protests at Delhis Jantar Mantar for the last two years (in the forms of relay hunger strikes and periodic fasts onto death campaigns) against the Modi government over what it says for the partial implementation of the Orop. These protestors have pledged their support to the Congress in both the poll-bound states of Punjab and Uttarakhand. As a result, if Lt. Gen. (retd.) TPS Rawat (who has since left the BJP) is to be believed, The ex-servicemen votes are divided. By not agreeing to all demands under the Orop scheme, which it had promised, the BJP has earned the ire of the ex-servicemen. It may be noted that the veterans were receiving Orop until 1971, the year when the Indira Gandhi government cut down military pension from 70 percent of the last pay drawn to 50 percent of the last pay drawn and increased, simultaneously, the pension of the civil servants from 30 percent of the last pay to 50 percent. Since then, it has so happened that every central government has downgraded the military in pay, perks and status, compared to the civilian bureaucrats. It was on 5th September 2015 that the Modi government acceded to the demand of the veterans by saying that the implementation of the Orop scheme equal pension for equal number of years in the service in the same rank for over 25 lakh ex-service men (ESM) and their dependents in the country benefit would be given with effect from 1st July, 2014, fixed on the basis of the calendar year 2013. Arrears will be paid in four half-yearly installments. All widows, including war widows, were paid arrears in one installment. The pension will be re-fixed for all pensioners retiring in the same rank and with the same length of service as the average of minimum and maximum pension in 2013. Those drawing pensions above the average will be protected. The government also decided that the gap between the rate of pension of current pensioners and past pensioners will be bridged every 5 years. Although the veterans have been demanding equalisation of pension every year, the government went for a compromise of every five years, as against the present system of pay revisions for all the government servants every 10th year. It is said that this compromise is not for the monetary implications (which will not be much) but for administrative difficulties. When defence minister Manohar Parrikar announced the Orop scheme on 5th September 2015, there was a little confusion over whether personnel who retire voluntarily will be covered under the Orop scheme. But subsequently, both the prime minister and defence minister clarified separately that everyone who retires early (because of injury, illness, lack of further promotions or family compulsion after serving the mandatory tenure15 years for jawans, 20 years for officers) will get benefit of Orop. Of course, still there are some minor irritants in the Orop implementation. But then, the government is looking into them through a judicial committee. If still dissatisfied, the veterans can always to go higher courts. But these issues are not major enough to say that the Modi government has actually betrayed the ex-servicemen by not restoring the Orop scheme (that was discontinued by the Indira Gandhi government), a promise Modi had made as a prime ministerial candidate. Incidentally, the very definition of the Orop was devised in 2011 by a parliamentary committee that was headed by BJP leader Bhagat Singh Koshyari, former Uttarakhand Chief Minister. And what does he say about the mischief makers led by Major General (Retd) Satbir Singh? Maybe some in the agitation are thinking just because the government is listening to them they should squeeze out as much as possible. Greed may be playing a part. I cant rule out that there may be political motivations to this issue as well. According to him, the government had walked more than 99 percent on its promise. It is worth mentioning here that based on the Koshyari Committees report, the then UPA government led by Manmohan Singh had arrived at a figure of Rs 1,300 crore required to pay the arrears for Orop in 2011-12. In 2013-14, the government enhanced the amount to Rs 1,573 crore. P Chidambaram, the then finance minister, in his interim budget speech on 17 February 2014 had granted a measly Rs 500 crore (based on the estimate of Rs 1,573 crore) for the year 2014-15. Against this background, the Modi government spending nearly Rs 10,000 crore a year on the Orop is a significant improvement, even though there are some grey areas in the scheme to be sorted out by a judicial committee. But then, will the fauji-factor in Uttarakhand be amenable to this improvement? We will know the answer on 11 March. France's fractured Socialists were voting Sunday to choose a presidential candidate with the party in danger of being reduced to also-rans as Europe shifts to the right. The two-round primary is viewed as a crucial test of the Socialists' ability to re-invent themselves, with their outgoing flagbearer President Francois Hollande deeply unpopular after five years in office. The presidential election in April and May is shaping up as a three-way battle between conservative ex-premier Francois Fillon, far-right leader Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron, the 39-year-old former economy minister who is stealing the headlines from his former Socialist government colleagues. Most opinion polls currently show a Fillon-Le Pen runoff as the most likely scenario, with Macron possibly finishing ahead of the Socialist candidate in the first round but both being eliminated. A poll published on Thursday gave Macron between 17 and 21 percent of the first-round vote. Hollande's former prime minister Manuel Valls, who quit the cabinet in December, was the favourite to win the Socialist nomination when the seven candidates began campaigning. But many observers believe he has run a lacklustre campaign and two contenders from the party's left flank -- protectionist maverick Arnaud Montebourg and former education minister Benoit Hamon -- will push him hard to reach next Sunday's runoff. Hamon has performed strongly in the three TV debates of a short campaign, attracting attention with his proposal to pay the poor and 18 to 25-year-olds a "universal income" rising from 600 euros to 750 euros ($640 to $800) a month -- an idea dismissed as ruinously expensive by Montebourg. "I voted for Benoit Hamon because to me he is the one best placed to revive the Socialist party," said Jean Claude, who cast his ballot in Millau, southwestern France. Dominique, a man in his 40s who voted in eastern Paris, said he was backing Valls. "My main concern is that the left reaches the second round (of the presidential election). Valls is the most credible option against Macron," he said. Macron, a relative newcomer to politics who resigned from the government in August to set up his own centrist movement, has drawn large crowds to his campaign events in recent weeks. Some Socialist heavyweights have hinted they could support Macron over their party's nominee if he looks to have a better chance of reaching the second round of the presidential election against Le Pen. Le Pen, who leads the anti-immigration National Front (FN), told a meeting of rightwing populist parties in Germany on Saturday that Europe was about to "wake up" following the victory of Donald Trump in the US election and the British vote to leave the European Union. Geert Wilders' far-right party is forecast to perform strongly in March's Dutch general election. Macron himself has ruled out a pact with the Socialists, announcing Thursday that his En Marche movement would field hundreds of candidates in parliamentary elections in June. The Socialist primary has failed to energise voters who are hungry for change after economic stagnation under Hollande. Turnout was markedly lower than in the centre-right Republicans primary last year, election officials said. Polling stations close at 1800 GMT. Two hours beforehand, one million people had voted, according to figures from 70 percent of the polling stations. At the same point in the Republicans' primary that chose Fillon as the rightwing candidate, the figure was well over two million. Communist-backed firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon, who like Macron is polling in double digits in his campaign as an independent, also risks splitting the leftwing vote. Valls, who was slapped this week by a protester, set out to modernise the party but has struggled to unite his camp, with his rivals accusing him of betraying leftist ideals by forcing through labour market reforms. The four other candidates running in the primary are former education minister Vincent Peillon, ecologist Francois de Rugy, ex-MEP Jean-Luc Bennahmias and radical left candidate Sylvia Pinel. Search Keywords: Short link: Millions of American women marched against Donald Trump and what they believe he stands for. In several cities, spewing pretty much the same sort of arbitrary venom and canned hostility they have ironically blamed him for displaying. How are they any better? Trump didn't take a bazooka and hold the US to ransom, he won the vote. And if the Americans can't stop a hacker from messing about with their voting system what price their chances stopping a nuclear bomb. For the sake of argument, let's accept that Trump has asked for it. He is personal, nasty, racist, hateful, mean-spirited. Have you heard and read the comments of the people who marched and their sisters and brothers around the world, who believed that when they are slagging off the incumbent and fighting the good fight, it is for the good values enshrined in them. All these comments are equally personal, nasty, racist, hateful and mean-spirited. "Who is using the Trump family brain cell today?" "His name is actually Donald Drumpf." "Orange mophead. Fat man." "The family looks like something morphed." "Half of them must be members of the KKK. They look racist." How many of us badmouthed his wife Melania from the comfort of our homes. Called her the wicked witch. Guessed how much cosmetic surgery she has had with ill-concealed glee. After all, they are public property, we can say what we like about them. We don't even know her. We did not even let the children off the hook. Many of us making these personal remarks are not even Americans but it is okay to dissect the first family of that country with ugliness and then righteously condemn the new president for being crude. How are so many of us any different? The news media was taking cheap shots during the inauguration. Come on, where were most of these women on voting day and why didn't they ensure that Hillary Clinton romped home? Now, they are slamming stable doors after the horse has cantered off. The American people chose. Live with it and give the man a chance. They are so hypocritical, they even put a picture of 10-year-old Barron Trump with his eyes closed claiming he was asleep during his father's speech. Some even accused the Trumps for bad parenting allowing the kid to stay up till 3 am on the night his dad becomes the President of the United States. Speak about dredging for insult. There is a whole page of derisory labels for Trump. This is one sentence: "Donald Sissypants obviously does not believe in freedom of speech and dissent, since he demanded that the cast of Hamilton apologise to Mike Pence for making their thoughts and desires known. According to Little Donnie Whinydiaper, no one should ever disagree with or contradict his infallible wisdom ... or is it his infantile whiz-dumb?" And these are some of the softer names they have called him: "The Tweet Twit, The Twitter Flitterbug, The Conspiracy Errorist, Puerile Thin-Skinned Crude 70-Year-Old Bombastic Huckster (Joe Klein), Capricious Authoritarian Monarch (Dan Rather), Super Callous Fragile Ego Extra Braggadocious." Go read the muck of the trolls on the net. Against their vituperative written from the confines of anonymity, Trump comes off as a choirboy. Will the Americans give him his 100-day honeymoon or simply hang him out to dry? You cannot logically expect him to carry the sins of the past on his back and do a good job. Let it go and stop being so pious. None of us, Americans or non-Americans, who have spent inordinate amounts of time spewing hatred and making personal remarks really have the right to rabbit on and on. Enough already. London: Oxford University has been directed to face trial after an Indian-origin student sued the varsity for "hopelessly bad" and "boring" teaching which allegedly resulted in him getting a second class degree and in turn led to loss of earnings in his career as a lawyer. The world-famous university had applied to the High Court in London to dismiss the claim by Faiz Siddiqui but in an 18-page judgement by Justice Kerr last week the court ruled that Oxford does have a case to answer, 'The Sunday Times' reported. Siddiqui, who studied modern history at Brasenose College at the university, accuses its staff of "negligent" teaching of his specialist subject course on Indian imperial history, which led to him getting a 2:1 back in 2000. The 38-year-old's barrister Roger Mallalieu had told the court that the problem came down to four of the seven staff teaching Asian history being on sabbatical leave at the same time during the 1999-2000 academic year. Siddiqui believes he could have had a high-flying career as an international commercial lawyer if he had not got lower grades and decided to take the legal route, which came to light last month. His legal team had singled out the "boring" standard of tuition that Siddiqui had received from David Washbrook, an expert on the history of southern India between the 18th and 20th centuries. Mallalieu claimed that the eminent historians teaching had suffered from the "intolerable" pressure of the staff shortages on the course. "There is no personal criticism of Dr Washbrook. Our target is on the universitys back for allowing this to happen," Mallalieu told the court. Siddiqui, who trained as a solicitor after college, suffers from depression and insomnia, which he links to his "disappointing examination results". Oxford University had argued that the claim was baseless and should be struck out because of the over 16 years that had passed since Siddiqui graduated. Professor Alan Smithers, an education expert at Buckingham University, told the newspaper: "This is a test case and in future universities will have to ensure that what they do stands up to critical inspection in the courts. In the past, universities have been quite cavalier about the quality of their teaching. "If Mr Siddiqui wins, this will open the door to a flood of other students who do not think they got the degree they deserved because of issues about the teaching they received." Oxford University has declined to comment on the latest judgement so far. First day first show on Planet Trump went as per script: Rip Obamacare to shreds and promise the moon. Its easy to see this as Trumps inherent dislike of Americas first black presidents legacy. Theres much more to it - Obamacares opponents were once its fans and they are the ones who gave Trump his final push into the White House. Repealing Obamacares worst features is Trumps gift to a new voting bloc in the final bend of the 2016 election. Who are these people? Those earning around just a shade less than $100,000 per year and spending close to 75% more than they did in 2010 on insurance alone. As headlines scream about the millions who spilled out onto US streets cities in a stunning rebuke against Donald Trump, the new US president is swiftly investing time in a high yield matter - shredding the 955 page Obamacare and promising healthcare coverage for all. Despite news cycles awash with Trump tapes and the FBI email dump on Clinton,Trump enjoyed a bump in the two weeks before the November 8 election from US citizens reeling under rising healthcare premiums that were set to go up sharply in 2017 - on average by about 25 %. Republicans argue that higher prices will stop young Americans from signing up which means a spiral of losses for insurers and higher prices until the insurance market fails. For the moment, many customers are protecting themselves from premium increases by switching to plans with lower costs and therefore, fewer benefits. "We're going to have insurance for everybody," Trump told Washington Post over the weekend. Republicans are opposed to the fundamental redistributive economics of Obamacare from the start - Americans who can afford it buy insurance directly from a provider and charged higher premiums that go to subsidise people who buy insurance from the government. This is a rough outline of Americas healthcare system: It relies almost entirely on the private sector, one in three Americans is covered by government-led insurance which is Medicare for those over 65 or Medicaid for the poorest. Half of all Americans are insured through their employers and seven percent via the individual market which serves the self-employed or employees whose offices dont offer coverage. Obamacare has been the most overarching overhaul of the US healthcare system since the 1960s and remained controversial since it was born in 2010. In its short history from 2010 to now, Obamacare has been debated in the Supreme Court four times; it was also the reason for the two week government shutdown in 2013. Republican-controlled Congress is now likely to follow through by keeping Obamacares best features, dumping its controversial ones and hoping that ownership of its bright side becomes a Republican asset in public memory. These are likely to be jettisoned: -- The requirement that every American have health coverage. -- Government subsidies for covering low-income workers. For now, these provisions wont come under the knife: -- Parents can carry children on their policies until they're 26. -- Insurers are forbidden from from denying coverage to those with pre-existing medical conditions. -- Companies cannot charge women more than men Theres zero clarity on how Trump plans to give every American insurance but if he does pull it off, it could silence critics and win him new supporters in the homeland. Trump insists that none of the 22 million Americans who gained coverage during Obama's tenure will lose it. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price has clarified that only those currently covered by Obamacare will continue to enjoy "access" to health services. Insurance companies are turning away from Obamacare because fewer Americans are signing up. For middle class Americans, the subsidies for buying Obamacare policies are not lush enough and the fines for not having coverage too small to get them to enroll. Trump takes office and turns the knife into Obamacare with an approval rating of just 37 percent - freshly minted US presidents usually begin with ratings above 50 percent. Trump wrapped up the presidential debates with low ratings too, that did not stop him from taking the White House. Obama leaves the White House with fantastic approval ratings and millions angry about rising healthcare costs. A lot does not add up. The Trump ascendancy has certainly returned protestors to the streets but dont forget the small detail that it's the Obama years and many of those who voted Obama in who made up the ingredients for Trumps shock win. As comparisons between a Trump-led world and other hyper-nationalist politicians abound, look east to Poland. The first year of Jarosaw Kaczynskis rule had all the parallels of Trumpian dystopia but its been far from what was expected. Liberal Poles thought Kaczynski would be erratic, reward the rich, hurt the poor and rile the working class. Instead, he has rebooted crucial social contracts to the amazement of critics. Obama promised to close down Guantanamo - he had eight years to do it and did not. Thats why, when Trump asked Hillary You had 30 years, why couldnt you change anything?, his core base cheered lustily and swarmed to the voting booth. Despite all that looks impossible about transforming Obamacare, its still just the first week on Planet Trump. A far less abrasive President with a silver tongue had a lot more time. (Nikhila Natarajan is a Visiting Fellow at Observer Research Foundation | @byniknat) By Warren Strobel and Matt Spetalnick | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The White House said on Sunday that it is only in the early stages of talks to fulfill President Donald Trump's pledge to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, an action that would likely spark anger in the Arab world."We are at the very beginning stages of even discussing this subject," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said in a statement. Aides said no announcement of an embassy move was imminent.Washington's embassy is in Tel Aviv, as are most foreign diplomatic posts. Israel calls Jerusalem its eternal capital, but Palestinians also lay claim to the city as part of an eventual Palestinian state. Both sides cite biblical, historical and political claims.Trump, who vowed during the 2016 presidential campaign to move the embassy, was due to speak by phone on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, their first call since the U.S. businessman-turned-politician took office on Friday. Any decision to break with the status quo is likely to prompt protests from U.S. allies in the Middle East such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt. Washington relies on those countries for help in fighting the Islamic State militant group, which the new U.S. president has said is a priority.The U.S. Congress passed a law in 1995 describing Jerusalem as capital of Israel and saying it should not be divided, but successive Republican and Democratic presidents have used their foreign policy powers to maintain the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv and to back negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on the status of Jerusalem. In early December, then-President Barack Obama renewed the presidential waiver until the beginning of June. It is unclear whether Trump would be able to legally override that waiver and go ahead with relocation of the embassy.U.S. diplomats say that, despite the U.S. legislation, Washington's foreign policy is in practice broadly aligned with that of the United Nations and other major powers, which do not view Jerusalem as Israel's capital and do not recognize Israel's annexation of Arab East Jerusalem after its capture in the 1967 Middle East war. Israel approved building permits on Sunday for hundreds of homes in three East Jerusalem settlements in expectation that Trump will row back on the previous administration's criticism of such projects. (Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe, Warren Strobel and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Howard Goller) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Kylie MacLellan | LONDON LONDON Prime Minister Theresa May promised on Sunday to challenge any "unacceptable" talk when she meets President Donald Trump later this week, as she tries to secure Britain's "special relationship" with the new U.S. administration. May, Britain's second female premier, made the comments after thousands of women marched in London on Saturday to protest about Trump's attitude to women, joining demonstrations held in major cities across the globe.She told the BBC she would use Friday's meeting in Washington to discuss issues including future U.S.-UK trading relations, following Trump's promise to put "America first" in his inauguration speech on Friday.Since Britons voted last year to leave the European Union, May's government has been keen to deepen ties with the United States and other nations outside Europe to show that Brexit will not diminish its standing in the world. May indicated she would not shy away from any difficult issues, when asked about the controversy over Trump's comments on women. This erupted last year during the presidential election campaign over a 2005 video in which he boasted about grabbing women's genitals."I've already said that some of the comments that Donald Trump has made in relation to women are unacceptable, some of those he himself has apologised for," May said."When I sit down (with Trump) I think the biggest statement that will be made about the role of women is the fact that I will be there as a female prime minister," she said. "Whenever there is something that I find unacceptable I won't be afraid to say that to Donald Trump." Trump's election has raised questions over the future of the so-called "special relationship" that has underpinned close British-American ties for decades, but the new U.S. leader has said he believes Brexit will be "a great thing".May, who initially struggled to build relations with Trump's team, said she would also use the meeting to discuss the NATO defence alliance and challenges such as defeating terrorism and the conflict in Syria. COUP FOR MAY Becoming one of the first world leaders to meet with Trump following his inauguration will be viewed as a coup for May, who was perceived to have been snubbed by the billionaire following his election when he spoke first to nine other world leaders. She will be trying to improve relations with Trump after he irritated the British government by meeting Nigel Farage, an outspoken anti-EU campaigner and critic of May, and saying he would be a good choice for Britain's ambassador to Washington.Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn cast doubt on whether Trump, who has promised to protect American jobs and industry from foreign imports, would offer Britain much."There were no signs of any special relationship in Donald Trump's inauguration speech. Quite the opposite, it was 'America first, America only'," he told Sky News. "The idea that Donald Trump is suddenly going to roll over and offer some trade deal with Britain which doesnt have strings attached ... I think she needs to be extremely careful."British newspapers were divided on the visit, with the Sunday Telegraph reporting Trump calls May "My Maggie", referring to her predecessor Margaret Thatcher, who enjoyed a close relationship with her U.S. counterpart Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. The front page of the Mail on Sunday however, ran the headline: "Cut out your sexist insults, Mr President".Brexit supporters have cheered comments by Trump that he wants to arrange a swift bilateral trade deal with Britain, but others have cautioned his protectionist policies make an agreement which is good for Britain unlikely.The Telegraph also reported plans were underway for a state visit to Britain later this year by Trump, who has played up his ancestral ties to Britain, saying in an interview this month that his Scottish mother was "so proud" of Queen Elizabeth. (Additional reporting by William James; Editing by Mark Potter and David Stamp) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. As I write this, Donald Trump has just being sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. I am preparing to speak with my feet, to join the rising tides of protest in the American south. What is the purpose of protest? Where is the gratification in joining the tide? In the face of immense adversity and fear, it is easy to become despondent. Becoming a part of the crowd reaffirms the power of the people, and the strength of the peoples mandate. Why are the elites so afraid of these demonstrations? President Trump has taken to Twitter several times to decry protests as unfair and petty. Protesters have been called snowflakes and outside agitators, a manipulated and confused mass. This is a simple and selfishly motivated smear campaign. When people mobilise, those consolidators of power have everything to fear. These protests are unwanted exposure for the new corporate elites. These protests threaten the new ruling classs ham-fisted grip on power. The people will not be silenced. As long as systemic racism exists, there will be black resistance. As long as workers are extorted and underpaid, there will be unions. As long as corporations drill down into the earth to extract the oil that pollutes our water and dirties our air, there will be people chaining themselves to heavy machinery. Resistance is a heartbeat. It rises when we work slowly because we know that we are not getting paid enough. It rises when we yell back to street harassers and gropers. It rises when we sing and march. It rose on the Edmund Pettis Bridge. It rose in Syria and in Egypt. It rose when India threw off the shackles of imperialism and white supremacy. We must place our hope in these flashpoints of resistance. Most people out on the street today have much to lose in the next four years. Not only have people been insulted by Trumps talk, but also recognise that white supremacy means more violence against all people of colour. People recognise that boys are growing up in an era where a man can brag about sexual assault and then become president. They see the minimum wage being abolished and the most basic healthcare provisions being taken from them and their children. They see families being torn asunder and budgets for public schools being slashed. These protests are a crosshatch of varied and sometimes conflicting priorities and goals. But solidarity should be centered in this narrative. Partisans cannot hijack protests that center human lives, rights, and dignity. Many of these groups are out today. There are the partisans, from the Pantsuit Nation to the Bernie Bros. There are the labour unions, the anti-capitalists and anti-fascist coalitions. There is Black Lives Matter, a group that has been slandered by alt-right news outlets as a terrorist organisation. There are the queer coalitions and members of the First Nations and the water protectors of Standing Rock. There are immigrants rights groups and workers of all stripes. Its tempting to view the tides as monoliths. People agree, people disagree, people are part of smaller communities with different goals and interests. It is important to counter the prevailing notion that these protests are a uniform and uniformly partisan mass. These arent Democrats protesting Republicans. These are coalitions fighting to resist corporate and state actions that put non-violent offenders in jail for twenty years. These are coalitions fighting against the normalisation of rape and sexual assault. These are groups making connections between moneyed interests, detention, and deportation. These are people resisting the violence that American settlement wrought on the people who were here before Europeans landed on these shores. And now more than ever, its important to realise the world in which we support one anothers fundamental rights. This starts to happen in the streets. When we step out of our homes and look at each other, we recognise that were all really fighting for the same thing. Were fighting to be seen and heard. Were fighting because were tired of being governed by fear and intimidation. And were fighting for each other. These protests are not about four years from now. Theyre about now and tomorrow and the next several decades of human existence. Now is not a time for pontificating. It is a time for action and resistance. It is the time for coalition building and the strengthening of ties. This isnt about partisanship or vying for power, but about cherishing and fighting for our selves and for one another. Protests are scary because they are non-hierarchical. People are invested in one another and common objectives on the streets. And thats what we feel when were there. That feeling is what we should be fighting for. By Scott Malone and Ginger Gibson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Hundreds of thousands of women filled the streets of major American cities to lead an unprecedented wave of international protests against President Donald Trump, mocking and denouncing the new U.S. leader the day after his inauguration.Women activists, outraged by Trump's campaign rhetoric and behavior they found to be especially misogynistic, spearheaded scores of marches in the United States and sympathy rallies around the world on Saturday. Organizers said they drew nearly 5 million protesters in all, far surpassing crowd expectations.The demonstrations also highlighted strong discontent over Trump's comments and policy positions toward a wide range of groups, including Mexican immigrants, Muslims, the disabled and environmentalists.In contrast to the heated, often shrill tone of the presidential campaign, and the grim imagery of "American carnage" Trump evoked in his inaugural address, the mood during Saturday's protests was largely upbeat, even festive.Chanting such slogans as, "We need a real leader, not a creepy tweeter," and "Hey-hey, ho-ho, Donald Trump has got to go," many marchers wore knitted pink cat-eared "pussy hats" in a reference to Trump's boast, in a 2005 video made public weeks before the election, about grabbing women by the genitals. While women constituted the bulk of the demonstrators, many were accompanied by husbands, boyfriends and children.The planned centerpiece of the protests, a Women's March on Washington, appeared to draw larger crowds than turned out a day earlier to witness Trump's swearing-in on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. No official estimates of the turnout were available, but it clearly exceeded the 200,000 marchers projected in advance by organizers, filling long stretches of downtown Washington around the White House and the National Mall.MASS TURNOUTS Hundreds of thousands more women thronged New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver and Boston, adding to a public outpouring of mass dissent against Trump unmatched in modern U.S. politics for a new president's first full day in office.So-called Sister March organizers estimated 750,000 demonstrators swarmed the streets of Los Angeles, one of the largest of Saturday's gatherings. Police said the turnout there was as big or bigger than a 2006 pro-immigration march that drew 500,000.Some 400,000 marchers assembled in New York City, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio, though organizers put the number there at 600,000. The Chicago event grew so large that organizers staged a rally rather than trying to parade through the city. Police said more than 125,000 people attended, while sponsors estimated the crowd at 200,000, the same tally they reported for Boston, and Denver..Smaller protests were held in such cities as Seattle, Portland, Oregon, Madison, Wisconsin, and Bismarck, North Dakota. The protests, mostly peaceful, illustrated the depth of division in a country still reeling from the bitterly fought 2016 election campaign. Trump stunned the world by defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton, a former secretary of state and first lady who made history as the first woman nominated for president by a major U.S. political party.Pam Foyster, a resident of Ridgway, Colorado, said the atmosphere in Washington reminded her of mass protests during the 1960s and '70s against the Vietnam War and in favor of civil rights and women's rights."I'm 58 years old, and I can't believe we are having to do this again," Foyster said. Although Republicans now control the White House and both houses of Congress, Trump faces entrenched opposition from wide segments of the public, in contrast with the honeymoon period new presidents typically experience when first taking office. In a Twitter post early on Sunday, the new president appeared to downplay the significance of the protests when compared to his victory in the Nov. 8 election."Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election!" he tweeted. "Why didn't these people vote?" A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll found Trump had the lowest favorability rating of any incoming U.S. president since the 1970s. AROUND THE WORLD Women-led protests against Trump, who has vowed that U.S. policy would be based on the principle of "America first," also were staged in Sydney, London, Tokyo and other cities across Europe and Asia.Sister March sponsors boasted some 670 gatherings around the world in solidarity with the Washington event, estimating a global turnout of more than 4.6 million participants tallied through online march registrations, although those numbers could not be independently verified.Trump, in a Twitter post on Saturday, wrote, "I am honored to serve you, the great American People, as your 45th President of the United States!"Attending an interfaith service at Washington National Cathedral before visiting the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters, Trump made no mention of the protests. But he angrily attacked media reports, including photos, showing that crowds at Friday's inaugural were smaller than those seen in 2009 and 2013, when Barack Obama took the oath of office for his first and second terms as president. "I made a speech, I looked out, the field was, it looked like a million, million and a half people," Trump said at his CIA visit. "They showed a field where there were practically nobody standing there."Saturday's march in Washington overwhelmed the city's Metro subway system, with enormous crowds reported and some stations temporarily forced to turn away riders.The Metro reported 275,000 rides as of 11 a.m. (1600 GMT) Saturday, 82,000 more than the 193,000 reported at the same time on Friday, Inauguration Day, and eight times normal Saturday volume.The peaceful atmosphere of Saturday's march contrasted sharply with unrest the day before, when groups of black-clad anti-establishment activists, among hundreds of anti-Trump protesters, smashed windows, set vehicles on fire and fought with riot police, who responded with stun grenades.Washington prosecutors said about $100,000 in damage had been done and 230 adults and five minors had been arrested.Clinton won the popular vote in the Nov. 8 presidential election by around 2.9 million votes and exceeded Trump's support among women voters by more than 10 percentage points. Trump, however, easily prevailed in the state-by-state Electoral College vote that actually determines the outcome of the race.Trump offered few if any olive branches to his opponents in his Friday inauguration speech."He has never seemed particularly concerned about people who oppose him," said Neil Levesque, executive director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College.But the lawmakers who Trump needs onside to achieve his policy goals may be more sensitive to the show of mass opposition demonstrated by the anti-Trump rallies, Levesque said."Members of Congress are very sensitive to the public mood, and many of them are down here this week to see him," Levesque said. (Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert, Mike Stone, Jonathan Landay, Ian Simpson Ginger Gibson and Joel Schectman in Washington; Lisa Girion in Los Angeles; Jonathan Allen in New York; Timothy McLaughlin in Chicago and Deborah Todd in San Francisco; Writing by Scott Malone and Steve Gorman; Editing by Leslie Adler, Simon Cameron-Moore and Mark Potter) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. China's Guangzhou Goodsense Decorative Building Materials Co. Ltd. is set to establish a new factory in Egypt with an Egyptian-Saudi-Chinese capital of $100 million to manufacture aluminium composite panels, Egypt's Trade Minister Tarek Kabil announced on Sunday. In an official press statement by the ministry, Kabil said that the government will allocate a 16,000 square-metre area in the industrial zone of Ataqa in Suez Governorate. The Chinese company aims to "benefit from the available major competitive advantages represented in the [Egyptian] market that exceeds 90 million consumers, and also benefit from several free trade agreements signed between Egypt and several countries and main economic clusters worldwide, which allows for an production of goods at economical prices for more than 1.6 billion consumers," the statement reads. According to Kabil, the Egyptian partner for the project is WellBond, which is an Egyptian-Saudi company manufacturing aluminium composite panel, currently produces 600,000 metres per year covering 8-9 percent of Egyptian market's needs. Search Keywords: Short link: While I was in the US recently , I had a chance to briefly use the Nokia 6 which is the first ever smartphone from HMD Global which calls itself the home of Nokia phones. The company is launching the Nokia 6 in China this month and expected to launch more devices at Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona next month. Nokia was once a house hold name in India and many other markets. Sadly the previous Nokia management never managed to release an Android smartphone as the company embraced Windows Phone from Microsoft. Post that Nokia was acquired by Microsoft and the company continued to release Lumia smartphones which failed to gain main stream adoption in a smartphone market dominated by Android phone makers and Apples iPhone. All that is going to change with HMD Global taking over the Nokia brand from Microsoft last year and the new entity is aiming to bring to the market what was once not possible under the previous entity. Say Hello to the Nokia 6 The first real Nokia Android smartphone I was once an ardent Nokia fan and still have my collection of Nokia Symbian phones like the E-series and PureView camera phones. The build quality and reliability of those phones were hard to match back then and even today, very few phones come close to that. When I first laid my hands on the Nokia 6, I was hoping that this phone does not disappoint in this department and thankfully I was impressed. The build quality is top-notch and will certainly make a few Android OEMs go back to the drawing board. And I am not exaggerating, it can be sometimes used as a self-defense weapon ! Nokia claimed in the product release that it takes 55 minutes to machine a single Nokia 6 from a solid block of 6000 series aluminium, then receives 2 separate anodising processes, taking over 10 hours to complete, with each phone being polished no less than 5 time. All this makes total sense when you pick up the phone and spend a couple of minutes. For a phone priced at 1699 RMB, it certainly feels premium and i am sure this will be seen across the companys portfolio. The 5.5 Full HD display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 had curved edges and vibrant colour reproduction. Below the display you have the clickable home button at the centre and a back and menu key on either side. Underneath the home button sits the fingerprint sensor. Powering the phone is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor with 4GB of RAM alongside and phone was Android 7.0 Nougat with China only UI. There is 64GB of storage on board along with room for expansion up to 256GB. The phone packs s 8MP camera on the front and a 16MP camera on the back. From the very limited time i spent with the camera, it seemed promising and pretty quick. This could be a clear differentiator as very few entry-level phones have good camera features. Just to make it clear, the unit i got a chance to use is the one launching in the China market and packaging and software is bound to change for other markets. Nokia has an uphill mountain to climb and the re-entry is surely late but the company surely has a fair chance considering the trust and brand loyalty the Nokia brand achieved over years. The Nokia 6 just gives us a glimpse of the future and I am totally excited! Are you excited about the Nokia 6 and can Nokia make a comeback ? Share your thoughts in the comments. Wamda has been putting on weekly performances of shadow puppets and Egyptian aragouz puppets for over a decade, enthralling a new generation In the courtyard of a medieval Cairo house, a young audience have gathered in anticipation of a weekly puppet show, showing the same passion their ancestors must have felt in the thirteenth century, when this art came to Egypt. The puppets, handmade from leather and cardboard, let their shadows fall on the white screen, and the magic begins. Tales of folk heroes from long ago are spun in the heart of Islamic Cairo, just as they had been centuries before. The Wamda troupe were established in 2004 by university professor of theatre Nabil Bahgat, whose fascination with Egyptian folk arts led him to document, revive and renovate shadow puppets and aragouz, a traditional Egyptian puppet character. Under the umbrella of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, Wamda was granted a permanent residence in El-Sehaymi house in medieval Cairo, where they now put on a free weekly puppet show featuring both shadow puppets and aragouz, alongside a permanent exhibition on Egyptian folk dolls at the same premises. We worked with Egypts last shadow puppeteer Hassan Khanoufa and learnt a lot from him, explained Ali Abu-Zeid, Wamda manager and performer. Abu-Zeid, who was originally a student of Bahgat and who joined Wamda at the very beginning, explained that he truly believes in Bahgats motto, we have our own means to express ourselves, referring to folk culture. We believed in this idea and it created a real opportunity for us because over time we became the only troupe that shows shadow puppets and aragouz in the same performance, he said. Shadow puppets and aragouz are a couple of our enchanting folk arts, and were quite popular during the Mamluk era. According to a book on the topic issued by the culture ministry in 1961, shadow puppets was first established in India, and the art reached Egypt via Shams Ibn Daniel Al-Mawsely, who came to Egypt in 608 AH/ 1208 AD. He studied medicine and owned a little shop where he cured eye ailments, but as well as this, he was a satirist who excelled in creating characters and stories that documented the status quo in poetic form. His witty babat (sketches) were passed from one generation to the next, until they reach us today through Wamda. Wamda has repurposed these ancient sketches, adding modern twists and removing elements of violence or discrimination. As well as their weekly performance, Wamda also hosts a workshop every week for children between 9 and 18 to learn how to make the different puppets and create their own stories. Ten-year-old Seif Ali has attended the workshops every single Friday for a year and counting. He has his own shadow and aragouz puppets and creates his own show at home. I love working with shadow puppets; it gives me great happiness. They are our heritage and I do not want them to perish, they are all that is left of Hassan Khanoufa, he told Ahram Online. Ali explained that his favorite babat is that of the fisherman who is pursued by a crocodile. Sixteen-year-old Hagar Kadry has been a dedicated audience member of Wamda for the past six years. Not only does Kadry have her own set of shadow puppets now, she even performs shows for children during Egypts annual orphan day. Our aim was to create a generation that is closely connected to these folk culture examples, that is influenced by it rather than by modern, violent superheroes in popular culture, said Abu-Zeid. This form of art depends to a great deal on improvisations. I remember Dr. Nabil, when writing the script for us to memorise, would leave a big space in the paper, and when he asked, he told us this is the space for your own improvisation depending upon the audience, he explained. Information: Wamda performs every Friday at 6:30pm at El-Sehaymi house in Khan El-Khalili, medieval Cairo. Puppet-making workshops are held on Fridays at 3pm. El-Sehaymi house: Tel. 28658865 Search Keywords: Short link: After confiscating a rare aluminum penny a California man inherited from his father, the U.S. Mint is saying it will do the same if it finds in circulation similar coins it never intended to circulate. That adds up to a striking change of policy, say some coin collecting experts. This is the first Ive seen anything like this, said Paul Montgomery, a coin dealer and author of a book on rare coins. I see the government getting very active in lots of things, but confiscating collectable rare coins has never been one of them. The controversy is the focus of an upcoming episode of the FOX Business Network series Strange Inheritance. On Monday, January 23 at 9 p.m. EST, host Jamie Colby investigates the curious story of Denver Mint worker Harry Lawrence, who died in 1980 and left his son Randy a plastic bag of misstruck error coins. On a whim 33 years later, Randy Lawrence, who relocated to La Jolla, California, brought the baggie to coin dealer Michael McConnell. McConnell homed in on one item in particular a 1974 aluminum penny. McConnell said he first assumed the American penny coin was mistakenly struck on an aluminum blank meant for a foreign coin. (The U.S. Mint strikes coins for a number of other countries.) However, McConnell ultimately concluded it was related to a run of aluminum pennies the Mint produced but never circulated and ultimately melted down. In the seventies, the Mint hoped to save money by switching from copper to a less expensive metal, but the experiment was a bust, said Montgomery. The aluminum coins didnt work in vending machines, and if kids swallowed them they wouldnt show up in x-rays either. Once word got out that Lawrence and McConnell would put the apparently one-of-a-kind penny up for auction, collectors compared it to the most storied coins in American numismatics: Five 1913 Liberty Head nickels, one of which sold at auction for $3.7 million in 2010. I was getting phone calls from across the country as well as seeing articles across the world Russia, China, Lawrence told Colby. In my mind, the price just kept going up. Thats until the government stepped in and demanded he hand over the penny. Lawrence filed suit, but eventually gave the penny back. The government itself has since displayed the penny on the coin show circuit. A Mint spokesman said the government will do the same thing if it learns of other coins like Lawrences have slipped into circulation. The statement, however, did not commit the feds to trying to reclaim other highly valuable, high-profile coins that have been bought and sold by the collectors through the years. Montgomery, whose book concluded the 1913 Liberty Head nickels were probably struck by a rogue Mint worker, notes that the government has never demanded the return of those coins. He wondered why the Lawrence coin was treated differently. Each one of those nickels have been owned and purchased and millions of dollars have traded hands and yet the government has never gone after them. Why this aluminum penny? The White House vowed on Sunday to fight the news media "tooth and nail" over what officials see as unfair attacks on President Donald Trump, setting a tone that could ratchet up a traditionally adversarial relationship to a new level of rancor. A day after the Republican president used his first visit to CIA headquarters on Saturday to accuse the media of underestimating the crowds at his inauguration, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus expressed indignation at the reports and referred to them as "attacks." "The point is not the crowd size. The point is the attacks and the attempt to delegitimize this president in one day. And we're not going to sit around and take it," Priebus said on "Fox News Sunday." Priebus complained about a press pool report that said the bust of Martin Luther King Jr had been removed from the Oval Office. The report on Friday night was quickly corrected but Trump called out the reporter by name at the Central Intelligence Agency on Saturday, as did spokesman Sean Spicer later in the day. "We're going to fight back tooth and nail every day and twice on Sunday," Priebus said. The chief of staff also repeated Spicer's accusations that the media manipulated photographs of the National Mall to show smaller crowds at Friday's inauguration. Aerial photographs showed the crowds for Trump's inauguration were smaller than in 2009, when Barack Obama, the nation's first black president, was sworn in. The unexpectedly high turnout for Saturday's Woman's March on Washington outpaced the inauguration turnout. The Washington subway system reported 275,000 rides of as of 11 a.m. (1600 GMT) on Saturday. The subway system said 193,000 users had entered the system by 11 a.m. on Friday, compared with 513,000 at that time during Obama's 2009 inauguration. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Jeffrey Benkoe) Below is an earlier reported version from Reuters: The White House on Saturday accused the media of framing photographs to understate the crowd that attended Donald Trump's inauguration, a new jab in a long-running fight between the new president and the news organizations who cover him.] In an unusual and fiery statement on Saturday night, White House spokesman Sean Spicer lashed out about tweeted photographs that showed large, empty spaces on the National Mall during the ceremony on Friday. "This was the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period. Both in person and around the globe," Spicer said in a brief statement. "These attempts to lessen the enthusiasm about the inauguration are shameful and wrong." Washington's city government estimated 1.8 million people attended President Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration, making it the largest gathering ever on the Mall. Aerial photographs showed that the crowds for Trump's inauguration were smaller than in 2009. Spicer's rebuke followed a larger-than-expected turnout for women's marches protesting Trump across the United States on Saturday, including at the flagship event in Washington, where a crowd of hundreds of thousands clogged the streets and appeared to be larger than those who came for Trump's inauguration. Spicer, who did not take questions from reporters, said spaces for 720,000 people were full when Trump took his oath. He also said the National Park Service does not put out official crowd counts. "No one had numbers." Washington's Metro subway system said 193,000 users had entered the system by 11 a.m. on Friday, compared with 513,000 at that time during Obama's 2009 inauguration. On Saturday, Metro reported ridership of 275,000 at 11 a.m. as it struggled to handle the crowd converging on downtown Washington for the protest march. Trump has long used the media as a foil during his unconventional climb to the White House. On Saturday, he blamed the media for making up his feud with the CIA over its investigation into Russian hacking. Spicer also criticized a reporter who made an error in a pool report during a brief ceremony in the Oval Office on Friday. Earlier, Trump called out the reporter by name at the CIA headquarters. "There's been a lot of talk in the media about the responsibility to hold Donald Trump accountable, and I'm here to tell you it goes two ways. We're going to hold the press accountable as well," Spicer said. (By Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton; Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert and Andy Sullivan; Edited by Kieran Murray and Mary Milliken) Ruby Rose is getting candid about struggling with her sexuality while growing up. The 30-year-old actress looks gorgeous in a photo shoot for Net-A-Porter's The Edit magazine, and in the accompanying interview, she opens up about her difficult childhood in Australia. Rose says she knew she was different by the age of six. "Everyone had Barbies; I had Ninja Turtles and Superman," she recalls to the magazine. "I was crazy about Archie comics. I played footie with the boys." WATCH: Ruby Rose Gets Stung By a Jellyfish While Getting Vacationing in Ibiza Rose says she was bullied by other girls for her unconventional ways, then later tried "the feminine thing" by wearing makeup and growing her hair. She was then accused of trying to steal other girls' boyfriends, but was still bullied when she came out as gay. "'First you want our boyfriends, now you want us' -- that kind of thing," she explains. "I couldn't win." She also took a beating from a couple of boys, which landed her in the hospital. "They didn't see me as a woman," she says. Although Rose confesses she felt like she had been born into the wrong body, and longed to become a boy at the time, these days, she says she's glad she didn't opt for gender reassignment surgery. "I'm a woman," she says. "I want to have babies one day, so I'm glad I didn't make changes earlier in my life." The "xXx: Return of Xander Cage" star is now happily dating The Veronicas' Jessica Origliasso. But the former "Orange is the New Black" actress remains coy about whether or not she'll ever tie the knot. "I don't know. Can you imagine?" she says. "Ruby Rose in a white floor-length gown and her Hells Angels tattoos?" NEWS: 17 Reasons Why Ruby Rose Is Your New Girl Crush ET talked to Rose at the premiere of "xXx: Return of Xander Cage" in Hollywood on Thursday, where she gushed about her girlfriend, who accompanied her to the event. "She is the most amazing person," Rose told ET. "We just jam every night. We just play music and sing and cook dinner, and she's amazing. She's wonderful." "She's always such a [source of] moral support for me and a moral compass," she added. "I'm so glad she came tonight." Burning pee is the worst. Only a few things should be happening when you pee, and almost bursting into tears isnt one of them. Ridding your body of waste via your urine? Sure. Wondering why all people with vaginas dont get the luxury of peeing standing up, thus avoiding any toilet seat germs as [harmless as they may be)? Why not. But if youre preoccupied while peeing because it feels like hellfire is raining down from your urethra, youve got a problem. Luckily, ob/gyns have solutions. Here, the eight most common causes of burning, painful urination, plus how to treat them. 1. You have a urinary tract infection. This is the biggest culprit behind painful peeing, Sarah Yamaguchi, M.D., ob/gyn at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, tells SELF. A UTI happens when bacteria, often E.Coli, gets into your urethra. The result: unpleasant symptoms like a persistent urge to hit up the bathroom and burning during urination. If youre having burning, particularly at the end of the urinary stream, it might be a sign of a urinary tract infection, Alyssa Dweck, M.D., a gynecologist in Westchester, New York, and assistant clinical professor of obstetrics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, tells SELF. If you do, in fact, have a UTI, a doctor can prescribe a round of antibiotics to kick the infection (and pain) to the curb. And if UTIs regularly besiege your poor body, make sure to take preventive measures, like staying hydrated, wiping from front to back, and peeing after you have sex. 2. You have a yeast infection. An uncomfortable burning sensation while you pee is also a common symptom of yeast infections, which happen due to an overgrowth of yeast in the vagina, Yamaguchi explains. Theyre often accompanied by another telltale symptom: With a yeast infection, youll usually have thicker discharge, one that basically looks like white cottage cheese, she explains. Anti-fungal medications can clear up the infection, some of which are OTC, and some of which are prescribed (but its smart to see a doctor just in case before grabbing an OTC medication, especially since some sexually transmitted diseases seem like regular ol vaginal infections). To avoid recurrent yeast infections, Yamaguchi recommends maintaining good hygiene, wearing cotton underwear for breathability (or at least underwear that has a cotton crotch), and changing ASAP after you work out instead of lounging around in your sweaty gear. 3. You have bacterial vaginosis. Oh, bacterial vaginosis, you evil, foul-smelling wench. Yup, this infection, which arises when the good and bad bacteria in your vagina get thrown out of whack via sex, products you use, and the like, can lead to fish-scented discharge in addition to painful pee, Dweck says. Once your doctor determines that you have this infection, theyll prescribe antibiotics for you to take either orally or vaginally. 4. You have a sexually transmitted disease. Plenty of STDs can cause painful pee as just one of their annoying symptoms (when symptoms show up, that isin many cases, STDs exhibit no symptoms at all). Herpes, an extremely common viral infection known for causing sores on the mouth and genitals, is one possibility, Yamaguchi says. Chlamydia, a bacterial infection especially prevalent in women under 25, and gonorrhea, another bacterial infection that shows up a lot in that age range, are other common causes, Dweck says. Both chlamydia and gonorrhea can also lead to abnormal discharge, like some thats yellow or green, so be on the lookout for that as well. And trichomoniasis, the most common curable STD, can also present with terrible-smelling discharge and pain while peeing. 5. You have some sex-related vaginal tears. The sharp, sudden pain of burning while peeing might come with a surge of panic that something is really, really wrong, but thats not always true. Little abrasions from sex can cause some burning while peeing and irritation, Yamaguchi says. To cut back on that yikes-inducing feeling, she recommends pouring warm water over your vaginal area when youre peeing. The temperature will help interfere with the nerve pathways, she says. And to avoid the issue altogether, she suggests making sure youre plenty lubed up whenever your vaginas getting some attention. Heres everything to know before you buy some lube for sex. 6. Or some non-sex-related vaginal tears. Many women experience burning pee after they give birth. Since all the tissue down below stretches in an impressive way to make room for the baby, vaginal and perineal tears can occur. This is why many new moms, including Chrissy Teigen, rely on perineal irrigation bottles, aka devices that make it even easier to squirt warm water on yourself to dull the pain. 7. Youre using unnecessary feminine hygiene products. Weve been led to believe that the vaginal area is super dirty, and we should be cleaning with deodorizers and perfumesthats not the case, Dweck says. The vagina has a good self-cleaning protocol, if you will, to keep its pH in balance and keep things in order. But when you use products like douches or feminine hygiene washes, you might wind up with irritation that leads to urinary burning. If your skin is super sensitive, this can even happen from fragrant bubble baths, Dweck explains. Really, you dont need anything beyond a gentle, fragrance-free soap and some water to wash your vulva, and you dont even need to wash your actual vagina. Let it clean itself in peace, please! 8. Youre dealing with post-menopause atrophic vaginitis. Hormonal changes during menopause can result in a phenomenon known as atrophic vaginitis, or vaginal atrophy, Yamaguchi says. The skin of the vulva and vagina thin out, which can lead to some burning and irritation during sex, urination, and while just going about your daily life. If youre dealing with this, chat with your doctor to determine whether hormonal supplementation may help your symptoms, and if not, how to find relief. Forum Expanded will also feature films from other Arab countries: Qatar, Lebanon and Palestine Three Egyptian films and installations, as well as several Qatari, Lebanese and Palestinian films, will be shown at this years Berlinale Forum Expanded. The exhibition will open on 8 February, and the film screenings will run from 10 February until the Berlin International Film Festival ends on 19 February. The Forum section of the Berlinale showcases avant-garde, experimental works, political reportage and many overall different and daring works. In this section, documentaries and feature films alike straddle the line between art and cinema. Forum Expanded, which was launched in 2006, presents film, video installations and live performances on varying themes and in multiple venues across Berlin. This year, two Egyptian films will take part in the Forum Expanded film category -- Seif Taghreeby (Experimental Summer) and One Plus One Makes a Pharaohs Chocolate Cake -- and one installation from Egypt. Seif Taghreeby (Experimental Summer, 2016) is directed by Mohamed Lotfy and follows Mahmoud and Zeinab, on the search for the original version of an 1980s Egyptian film, copies of which were confiscated -- for unknown reasons -- by the government film agency at the time of its release. Egyptian director Mahmoud Lotfy is an independent director and one of the founders of Otaku Digital Film production company, which is behind Seif Taghreeby. The Swiss-Egyptian production One Plus One makes Pharaohs Chocolate Cake, directed by Marouan Omara and Islam Kamal is a documentary that centres on two musicians -- Islam Chipsy, a pioneer of Egypts Mahraganat music genre that fuses electronic and acoustic sounds on his keyboards, and Swiss electronic musician Aisha Devi. The film, which was produced by Alexandria-based studio Fig Leaf, will premiere at the Forum Expanded. Forum Expanded group exhibition will also feature one Egyptian installation: Hawamesh Aan Al-Hegra (Footnotes on Migration), by Take to the Sea. Films from several other Arab countries will be taking part in the section as well. Two Lebanese films will be screened: the Qatari-Lebanese production Sokun Al Sulhufat (Turtles are Always Home), by Rawane Nassif; and Not Every Day is Spring, by Haig Aivazin. The Palestinian-French-Qatari production Off Frame AKA Revolution until Victory by Mohanad Yaquibi, will also take part in the programme. To create the film, director Yaquibi searched through archives around the world for films by the Palestinian Film Unit (PFU), a militant filmmaking collective whose aim was to accompany the Palestinian Revolution and bring it into international view. 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: There was one moment in Jeff Sessions confirmation hearing, writes Slates Dahlia Lithwick, that revealed why so many are so terrified of him. Lithwick deemed this moment so inflammatory that she called it reprehensible and gobsmacking. Somewhat more restrained, Politicos Seung Min Kim and Josh Gerstein said it was head-scratching. What was this extraordinary occurrence? Had Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general of the United States embraced the notion of a terrorist state like, say, Iran having nukes? Was he in favor of packing the electorate with illegal immigrants and thus changing the electoral landscape forever? Had he admitted to using a private server for thousands of classified documents? Perhaps he voiced his support for abortion-on-demand, thereby adding to the more than 50 million children that have been terminated since Roe v. Wade? Of course, not. Senate Democrats and their media allies see none of these things as reprehensible (as they certainly are). No, the gobsmacking moment was when Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island asked Sessions: A secular person has just as good a claim to understanding the truth as a religious person, correct? Sessions, transparent in his beliefs, replied doubtfully: Well, Im not sure. This moment, preserved in C-Span amber for all eternity, was, according to Lithwick, one that demonstrates why Democrats are rightly very, very afraid. Afraid? Lets examine this exchange for a moment and the historically valid and entirely rational reason for the Alabama senators skepticism. In 2011, I published my first book "The Grace Effect." The book is chiefly the powerful story of our remarkable adopted daughter, Sasha, who was abandoned at birth and, until the age of eleven, was raised in Ukrainian orphanages where children suffered material, intellectual, and spiritual deprivation in the extreme. I give the reader a glimpse of that world through Sashas eyes and experiences, exploring a larger question: How are we to account for the fact that in some parts of the world there is a higher regard for human life, dignity, freedom, property, and the Rule of Law than in others? Is it education? Wealth? ObamaCare? None of the above. The defects of human society are the defects of human nature, wrote "Lord of the Flies" author William Golding. Indeed. A given philosophy, creed, or religion will either restrain our darker impulses or exacerbate them, but escape them we cannot. These days there is a lot of talk about religionChristianity in particularand its role in public life. Whether it is protesting nativities, the push to remove In God We Trust from our currency, or prayer in public schools, Christianity in America is under siege. The secular elites argue that the religion is a bit like smoking: It is harmful, but if you must do it, do it in the designated areas only. Apparently, a senate confirmation hearing is no place to light-up. But Senator Sessions read my book shortly after its publication and liked it very much. He knows Sashas story. He knows that she suffered at the hands of a godless bureaucracy that did not regard people as beings made in the image of God and therefore of intrinsic value, but instead believed them to be an accident in space and time and just so much raw material for the construction of the superstate. Indeed, the only absolute was the state itself. As a student of history, no doubt Senator Sessions also knows that secular regimes, lacking any belief in laws beyond those they manufacture, alter, and violate at will, were responsible for the deaths of no less than 100 million people in the Twentieth Century alone. Thats more than all religious wars from all previous centuries combined. That is because atheism unquestionably exacerbates the evil in our nature. And if Christianity doesnt make you goodstrictly speaking, from a theological perspective, none of us areit makes you better than you might otherwise be. I am reminded of novelist Evelyn Waughs famous quip, made in response to someone drawing attention to his all-too-obvious faults: Without supernatural aid, I would hardly be a human being. All of this is at the heart of the Senators remarks: If one does not believe in a Lawgiver, how can we be sure he will acknowledge any law at all? The point isnt that the secularly-minded cannot be morally outstanding people; the point is that there is no logically compelling reason to be anything other than entirely selfish. I mean, if there is no God to judge you in the next life for your actions in this one, why not do preciously as you want to do? Americans should be comforted by the knowledge that the man who might become the highest law enforcement officer in the country believes that some laws are absolute and inviolable no matter what the cultural zeitgeist of the moment is; because sometimes the zeitgeist says slavery is OK and Jews should go to concentration camps. In his farewell address in September of 1796, Washington offered this warning: And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. Washington was not simply playing to the masses by tossing them this morsel of religious rhetoric. He was referring to a dangerous European experiment, the French Revolution, which sought the destruction of the Church and institutionalized atheism. The experiment was a failure. What followed was regicide, civil war, and the Reign of Terror. The Cultural Lefts romance with secularism is naive at best, malicious at worst. History demonstrates where that worldview all too often leads. The moral and intellectual sensibilities of the West are still running off of the accumulated capital of a rich Judeo-Christian heritage. But watch out. When the fumes in that tank are spent, tyranny cannot be far away. As T.S. Eliot rightly observed, If Christianity goes, the whole culture goes. During an interview published on Saturday, Pope Francis said he would wait and see what a new President Donald Trump does before judging. The Pope was interviewed on Friday at the Vatican by the Spanish newspaper El Pais. Francis went on to tell the interviewer that he doesn't like "judging people early. We'll see what Trump does." Francis warned against seeking a savior in times of crisis when asked about the type of political leaders emerging from the U.S. and Europe. Francis added that Adolf Hitler in the 1930s' Germany "was voted for by the people and then he destroyed the people." "We look for a savior to give us back identity, and we defend ourselves with walls, barbed-wire fences, from other peoples," the Pope said. The interview was held at the same time as Trump's inauguration ceremony. The Associated Press contributed to this report. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer angrily accused the media Saturday of false reporting on the inauguration as part of what he called a shameful attempt to minimize enthusiasm for President Trump, beginning his tenure as the administrations top spokesman on a combative note. Spicer summoned the press to the briefing room at the end of Trumps first full day in office to specifically condemn two pieces of reporting a reporters erroneous claim, since retracted, that an MLK bust was removed from the Oval Office; and photos appearing to show light crowds at Fridays inauguration. Spicer called the former claim, made on Twitter, irresponsible and reckless. He went on to say inauguration photos were framed to minimize their enormous support on the National Mall, while suggesting the reason crowds looked smaller was because floor covering used to protect the grass highlighted where people werent standing and fences kept supporters from quickly accessing the scene. Spicer also pushed back on what he called inaccurate crowd estimates, stressing, No one had numbers, since the National Park Service, which oversees the National Mall where spectators stand, no longer makes public an official crowd count. Yet Spicer went on to put out their own estimate based on the capacity of certain spaces stretching from the Capitol to the Washington Monument and declared: This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe. Trump made similar comments a couple hours earlier during a visit to the CIA headquarters, where he said reporting low-end crowd numbers was the medias latest attempt to mistreat him, much like he suggested they did in exaggerating a rift between him and the U.S. intelligence community over Russia meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Spicer also argued Trump visited the CIA without an agency director because Senate Democrats are slowing the confirmation of Kansas GOP Rep. Mike Pompeo. Thats what you guys should be covering, he said, adding Trump got a five-minute standing ovation at the agencys headquarters. Former President George H.W. Bush's health continues to improve and his wife, who is also recovering from illness, has chosen to remain hospitalized one more night to be "closer to her husband," a family spokesman said Sunday. The 92-year-old former president and his wife Barbara remained at Houston Methodist Hospital. He has been receiving treatment for breathing difficulties from pneumonia while she is recovering from bronchitis. The 41st president's vital signs are normal and doctors hope he can be moved out of intensive care in the next day or two, said Bush family spokesman Jim McGrath. Bush has been in the Houston hospital now for a week. Doctors on Wednesday inserted a breathing tube, and a ventilator was employed to assist his breathing. The tube was removed Friday. Barbara Bush, 91, entered the hospital Wednesday after feeling run down and coughing for the past few weeks. Doctors determined she had bronchitis. Her health has improved since receiving treatment. "Mrs. Bush was given the option of being discharged today, but has elected to remain at Houston Methodist Hospital one more evening to continue her recovery and to be closer to her husband," McGrath said. McGrath added the Bushes wanted to make sure "they thank their well-wishers for their kindness, and especially their prayers." In a tweet on Saturday, McGrath said the couple's spirits were up, they were very interested "in inauguration doings" and were "very happy" that President Donald Trump went to see the men and women of the CIA. On Saturday, Trump traveled to CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., and spoke to a group of about 400 people in attendance. Bush served as CIA director from 1976 to 1977. The couple's 72-year marriage is the longest of any presidential couple in American history. White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus on Sunday defended President Trump and a top aides sharp criticism this weekend of news agencies, saying there is an obsession by the media to delegitimize this president. We are not going to sit around and let it happen, Priebus told Fox News Sunday. Trump suggested to CIA staffers Saturday on his visit to the agency that his well-publicized rift with the U.S. intelligence community was drummed up by the media. Trump didnt agree with some in the intelligence communitys who concluded that Russia influenced the 2016 White House race to help him win. And he argued more recently that somebody within that community leaking an unofficial dossier with alleged damaging personal information about him was like living in Nazi Germany. Priebus told Fox that one bad actor likely leaked the document so Trump wasnt angry at all of the countrys intelligence officers. Im telling you; It was a love fest in there, Priebus said about Trumps visit at CIA headquarters that was attended by about 300 staffers. He also suggested that a reporter was at best careless in erroneously reporting that Trump has removed a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. from the Oval Office. It could have had explosive ramifications. It was shoot first, point later, he said about the inaccurate report, for which the reporter later apologized. Priebus also defended Trump and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicers comments Saturday about the news media underreporting the crowd size at Trumps swearing-in Friday. At a hastily called White House press conference, Spicer angrily accused the media of false reporting on the inauguration as part of what he called a shameful attempt to minimize enthusiasm for Trump. He then left without taking questions. Priebus said Sunday: The point is not the crowd. The point is the media is trying to delegitimize the presidency." President Trump has no immediate plans to use his executive powers to undo the Obama administrations order that protects some young illegal immigrants known as dreamers, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus made clear Sunday, in previewing the new administrations first full week. I think were going to work with the House and Senate leadership, as well as to get a long-term solution on that issue, Priebus told Fox News Sunday. I'm not going to make any commitments to you, but I'm obviously foreshadowed there a little bit. Immigration advocates had warned since essentially the start of the 2016 presidential race that Trump, if elected, would crack down on illegal immigration. To be sure, Trump won the race on a platform that included vows to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to keep out illegal immigrants. But many already in the country and others have expressed greater concerns about Trump undoing President Obama's 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals executive action that defers deportation for an estimated 700,000 illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents -- and known as "dreamers." Those concerns recently surfaced during retired Marine Corps Gen. John Kellys confirmation hearing on become Homeland Security secretary when California Sen. Kamal Harris pressed him on whether Trump would roll back DACA. I dont know what the incoming administration is doing with that, Kelly responded. But I promise you, I will be involved in the process. Priebus nevertheless said Sunday that Trump could as earlier as this week sign executive orders related to trade, national security and other aspects of U.S. immigration policy. He also said that Defense Secretary James Mattis would obviously be a part of the conversations about national security, considering the Senate on Friday confirmed him and Kelly to their respective posts. Priebus said that Trump plans to travel to Philadelphia on Thursday to speak with congressional Republican leaders at their annual legislative retreat and that tax reforms remain a top, early priority. We have tax reform that we finally can get through, he said. And were working with Paul Ryan and leadership and the team that President Trump has put together. It's given us a formula to finally get big things done in this country. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday accepted a phone invitation from President Trump to visit the United States next month, according to the White House. The call was purportedly part of a broader effort to strength U.S.-Israeli ties now that Trump is officially president and included Trump restating that defeating ISIS and other Islamic terrorist groups remains a top priority. The two world leaders agreed to continue to closely consult on a range of regional issues, including the threats posed by Iran and relations between Israel and the Palestinians, the White House also said. Trump during the call also emphasized that peace between Israel and the Palestinians can only be negotiated directly between the two parties, and that the United States will work closely with Israel to make progress towards that goal, according to the White House. The two leaders spoke after Trump won the presidential election on Nov. 9. And Netanyahu called Trump a true friend of Israel, after Trumps victory. Trump, a Republican, has been critical of how his predecessor, Barack Obama, and his administration treated Israel, considered the United States closest Middle East ally. Most recently, the administration effectively backed a United Nations resolution that opposed Israel building more settlements in the disputed West Bank. President Donald Trump shook hands with FBI Director James Comey Sunday afternoon during a reception for law enforcement officials and first responders. Trump joked that Comey had "become more famous than me" as he greeted the nation's top law enforcement official. Comey also shook hands with Vice President Mike Pence. Some Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, blamed Comey for Clinton's defeat in last year's presidential election after he publicly announced a new development in the investigation into the former secretary of state's private email server days before the vote. Comey later said the new evidence did not change the bureau's decision not to pursue charges against the Democratic nominee. Earlier this month, the Justice Department Inspector General opened an investigation into Comey's handling of the email case. Trump briefly addressed law enforcment officers and other agency heads who helped with Friday's inauguration festivities. The president said his swearing-in was "such a success and such a safety success and we want to thank you all." President Trump visited the CIA on Saturday in a conciliatory bid to end a feud with the intelligence community -- a dispute he suggested was overblown by the media -- while making clear one of his top priorities will be to destroy Islamic State terror groups. We have to get rid of ISIS. We have no choice. Radical Islamic terrorism, it has to be eradicated, said Trump, on his first full day in the White House and his first official agency stop of his presidency. Trump's decision to travel to CIA headquarters so quickly after taking office was seen as an attempt at a fresh start with the intelligence agencies he will now rely on for guidance as he makes weighty national security decisions. Following his private meeting with top CIA leaders, Trump said the U.S. had been "restrained" in its efforts to combat terrorism, calling the threat "a level of evil we haven't seen." Trumps trip across the Potomac River to the agencys headquarters in northern Virginia follows a tumultuous past couple of months in which the U.S. intelligence community has suggested Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 campaign was meant to help Trump beat the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The CIA, FBI and other agencies in the so-called U.S. intelligence community recently issued a report that stated Putin and Russia meddled in the race, though it found no evidence of vote tampering. However, Trump last week suggested outgoing CIA Director John Brennan may have leaked an unofficial dossier on him containing embarrassing and highly suspect allegations, and compared the situation to living in Nazi Germany. John Brennan has denied such accusations and said Trump lacks a full understanding of Russian capabilities and the actions the country is taking in the world. Nobody feels stronger about the intelligence community than Donald Trump, the president said Saturday. I love you. I respect you. Theres nobody whom I respect more. We are going to start winning again." Trump suggested that the news media, which he has repeatedly argued are dishonest and have treated him unfairly, overplayed his concerns about intelligence officials. He also accused the media of mischaracterizing the size of his inauguration crowds. California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, slammed Trump for using his CIA visit to squabble over media coverage. "He will need to do more than use the agency memorial as a backdrop if he wants to earn the respect of the men and women who provide the best intelligence in the world,' Schiff said. Former CIA Director John Brennan went further. His former aide Nick Shapiro released a statement saying "Brennan is deeply saddened and angered at Donald Trump's despicable display of self-aggrandizement in front of CIA's Memorial Wall of Agency heroes. Brennan says that Trump should be ashamed of himself." We are going to do great things, said Trump, who also tried to reassure the roughly 400 agency employees who assembled at the headquarters that his pick to run the agency now, Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo, would advance the CIA and its mission as the countrys top spy agency. Before joining Congress, Pompeo was first in his class at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, served in the Army and graduated from Harvard Law School. Everything hes done is a home run, Trump said. People like him. People respect him. You are going to be getting a total star." Trump said during his winning campaign that President Obama didnt do enough to destroy ISIS, the upstart terror group that emerged in the chaos of the Middle East and has since claimed responsibility for dozens of terror attacks over the past several years that have killed hundreds. Trump had begun his first full day in the White House by attending the traditional, post-inauguration National Prayer Service. The roughly one-hour, interfaith service at the Washington National Cathedral included the National Anthem and a Muslim prayer. Hold fast that which is good, said Bishop Mariann Budde, of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. Make no peace with oppression. Strengthen the weak. Honor all people." Trump posted on Facebook on Saturday night saying, Thank you for the prayers and continued blessings upon our country during the National Prayer Service this morning. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The Senate is expected on Monday to hold its confirmation vote on President Trumps pick for CIA director, Kansas GOP Rep. Mike Pompeo. But the chambers Republican and Democratic leaders this weekend offered sharply different perspectives about the future of the presidents 20-plus Cabinet nominees. Top Senate Democrats on Friday postponed Pompeos vote saying they wouldnt rush through the confirmation process for Trump and fellow Republicans who control Congress. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told CNNs State of the Union on Sunday that several of Trumps remaining nominees will be subject to a thorough debate. The New York Democrat said he was dubious about eight or nine of Trump's picks -- citing potential conflicts of interests and policy stands. The Senate has so far confirmed just two Trump nominees: Gens. James Mattis, as defense secretary, and John Kelly, as Homeland Security secretary, on Friday when Trump was sworn-in as president. However, Senate Democrats have little chance of blocking a confirmation unless some chamber Republicans defect. Senate Republicans have a 52-to-48 majority and need only a simple majority of 51 to confirm a nominee. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell expressed confidence Sunday about having enough votes to get all of Trumps nominees confirmed. I believe well be able to confirm the presidents entire Cabinet, the Kentucky Republican told Fox News Sunday. Im optimistic. The prospects for former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson becoming secretary of state improved this weekend when two influential Republican senators expressed support, after having waivered over Tillersons past professional ties to Russia. "Though we still have concerns about his past dealings with the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin, we believe that Mr. Tillerson can be an effective advocate for U.S. interests," Sens. John McCain, Arizona, and Lindsey Graham, South Carolina, said in a joint statement. Tillerson also faces a vote Monday, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. McCain, Graham and fellow GOP Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida, have questioned whether Tillerson has too many conflicts of interests to champion U.S. policy abroad, especially in Russia. As CEO of ExxonMobil, Tillerson spoke out against U.S. sanctions levied on Moscow following its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014. The penalties cost the energy giant hundreds of millions of dollars. The episode became even more of a concern after the U.S. intelligence community concluded Russia meddled in the presidential election to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton in the White House race. McCain and Graham are not on the Foreign Relations committee, like Rubio. However all three will cast a final vote on the Tillerson nomination, if he gets enough votes Monday in the committee, which has 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats. Graham told CBS' "Face the Nation" that he was persuaded to back Tillerson after they met privately. According to Graham, Tillerson told him "when America doesn't lead, other people will, and the vacuum is always filled by bad actors. He said that we have to have a foreign policy that engages the world. We need to lead from the front." McCain said on ABC's "This Week" that he talked to Tillerson about his views on Russia and his duty heading a major corporation. This wasn't an easy call," McCain said. "But I also believe that, when there's doubt, the president, the incoming president, gets the benefit of the doubt." Rubio, who challenged Trump for the GOP nomination last year, clashed with Tillerson at a hearing earlier this month. Rubio bristled at Tillerson's refusal to label Putin a "war criminal" or condemn human rights violations in Saudi Arabia and the Philippines in strong enough terms. He also chided Tillerson over the need for "moral clarity." Hours after Trump was sworn in on Friday, Rubio was tight-lipped, saying he would make his decision "certainly before the vote" Monday and that Tillerson's responses to written questions had addressed "some of" his concerns. Still, a "no" vote from Rubio would not doom Tillerson's confirmation, because the nomination could go directly to the Senate floor even without a positive committee recommendation. But it would be an embarrassing rebuke to Trump just as his presidency gets under way, with questions swirling about his ties to Russia. The Associated Press contributed to this report. New U.S. first lady Melania Trump channeled style icon Jacqueline Kennedy on Friday but the Inauguration Day fashion headlines were stolen by a military-style coat worn by one of her husband's aides. Trump, 46, the White House's first former model, chose American designer Ralph Lauren's baby blue cropped jacket with cowl neckline and matching dress for the swearing-in ceremony in Washington. But the outfit grabbing most attention was the patriotic red hat with red, white and blue coat with brass buttons worn by Kellyanne Conway, senior aide to President Donald Trump. The $3,600 double-breasted Gucci coat evoked the American Revolution era and took social media by storm with ridicule, memes and comparisons ranging from Paddington Bear to Napoleon and a nutcracker. Conway described it "Trump revolutionary wear" in an interview with NBC television. The satirical "Daily Show" commented on Twitter that Conway was "dressed as the era Trump wants to take America back to." Style website Racked, however, complimented Conway as "the most high-fashion person in Washington" on Friday. By contrast, Melania Trump's outfit, worn with long matching gloves, stiletto shoes, and her long hair swept up in a loose bun, had a 1960s vibe. The outfit, like other presidential inauguration dresses, will later be sent to the Smithsonian Museum. Fashion magazine Elle said Melania's choice "takes a very literal page" from Kennedy's inaugural look in 1961. "It's a look that, overall, is very safe, if a bit costume-y (dye-to-match pumps!). As our first reality TV president enters office, this is a family that is undeniably aware of what works on TV, and this look is very on-the-nose, Jackie Kennedy-inspired, 'presidential,'" wrote Elle's Leah Chernikoff. Melania Trump's Inauguration Day outfit had been the cause of much speculation after Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs and other leading designers said publicly they would not dress the 5-feet-11-inch (1.8-m) former model for her big day because they opposed her husband and his policies. Lauren and his eponymous corporation became synonymous with American style through his preppy line of Polo shirts, casual slacks and shorts in the 1970s. The company's Facebook page filled on Friday with both praise and dismay at his decision to dress Trump for the swearing-in ceremony in Washington D.C. He also designed the signature pantsuits worn by Trump's rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, both during the 2016 election campaign and on Friday. Elsewhere, white was the dominant color. Ivanka Trump, who has her own fashion line, donned a white pantsuit with an asymmetrical cut that was designed by Oscar de la Renta. Clinton went for a cream coat over a more traditional pantsuit, and Tiffany Trump wore a white double breasted coast over a white dress. Melania Trump began her career as a teen model in her native Slovenia and has been featured on the cover of magazines like Vogue and GQ. The Trump ladies will later change into formal gowns for the inaugural ball in Washington on Friday evening. On social media, Americans were abuzz about the day's fashions. "Who wore it better: Kellyanne Conway or Paddington Bear?" wrote Michael Hopper, one of those ridiculing her outfit on Twitter. Peggy Feigenbaum expressed outrage at Ralph Lauren for dressing Melania Trump on the company's Facebook page. "You are now history...How could you dress HER?!!!!!! Done with you and ashamed of you," she wrote. Search Keywords: Short link: The Trump administration has decided against sending a U.S. delegation to Kazakhstan for talks on the war in Syria, despite receiving a formal invitation from the Kazakh government with the backing of Russia and Turkey, the State Department said Saturday. Instead, the U.S. will be represented in Astana only by its ambassador to Kazakhstan. The United States is committed to a political resolution to the Syrian crisis through a Syrian-owned process, which can bring about a more representative, peaceful, and united Syria, the State Department said in a statement. Given our presidential inauguration and the immediate demands of the transition, a delegation from Washington will not be attending the Astana conference. Russia has seized on the election of Donald Trump to call for greater cooperation between Moscow and Washington to end the Syrian civil war. The Kremlin purposefully excluded former Secretary of State John Kerry from Syria negotiations sponsored by Moscow and Ankara and held at the end of last year. The two countries have sought to take the lead on diplomatic efforts, eclipsing the administration of former President Barack Obama. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other senior officials, however, have voiced hope that Mr. Trump will be more cooperative in Syria. Click for more from The Wall Street Journal. It wasnt a tapped phone, a hacked computer or a double agent that tipped off North Korea that the U.S. Navys biggest and baddest aircraft carrier was steaming toward the peninsula -- it was a perfectly innocent bunch of shutterbugs. When Pyongyangs state-run media agency mentioned the ships itinerary in a news release, a day before it was first reported in the South Korean media, alarm bells went off, according to the South Korean newspaper The Hankyoreh. U.S. and South Korean military officials initially feared a phone tap, intelligence leak or hacked email account might be to blame, according to South Korean media reports. [pullquote] But it turned out that on Saturday night, a Seoul-based camera association known as the O Club had told its members that an aircraft carrier would berth in Busan on May 11, and that people were needed to drive American sailors around, a South Korea Ministry of National Defense said. looking for two Busanites who can drive and speak basic English, read the message, posted on a photography website. A U.S. naval aircraft carrier is coming on the 11th and leaving on the 13th, and you would just need to transport the U.S. sailors. Pay is 110,000 won ($101) a day. Two people wanted. Send a message if youre interested. Another post offered suggestions on where to get good pictures of the massive ship. Someone in North Korea saw the ad and did some low-risk intelligence gathering. Although neither post named the ship, officials believe North Korea were able to put together the details using other information already made public, including a post on the U.S. Navys website last week that said the nuclear-powered Nimitz had entered the jurisdiction of the 7th Fleet, a South Korean Ministry of Defense official said Wednesday. The U.S. and South Korea are staging anti-submarine exercises this week, and the Nimitz will participate in another joint naval exercise next week. Although the exercises come as tensions are rising between North and South Korea, officials publicly sought to downplay the Nimitzs appearance. We are not trying to deliver any message to North Korea with this exercise, a spokesman for the South Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff said, referring to this week's anti-submarine drills. This exercise is for improving the U.S.-South Korean war-fighting power. North Korea has vowed immediate countermeasures if even one shell fired during the joint U.S.-South Korea exercises lands in North waters. The U.S. and South Korea are trying to push the present state of war to an actual war, according to a statement posted on the Norths government-run Korean Central News Agency website. next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 It was Oct. 21, 1983, when the parents of Lt. William Scott Sommerhof received a letter from the 25-year-old Marine serving in Beirut, who wrote of his excitement to be returning home soon and who had already begun his Christmas shopping. Two days later, Sommerhof and 240 other U.S. military personnel were killed when suicide bombers detonated two trucks of explosives at military barracks in Lebanon in the first major terrorist attack against the U.S. The attack was the deadliest day for the United States Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II, and produced the highest death toll for the U.S. military since the first day of the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War. For the families of those killed, three decades and many more terror attacks have not diminished the memory of soldiers and sailors who paid the ultimate price in the savage bombing that ushered in an age of terror. "He was an angel, he truly was," Jocelyn Sommerhof, of Evansville, Ill., said on the thirtieth anniversary of her son's death. "Even from the time he was a little boy, he looked up to the military." [pullquote] At 6:22 a.m. on Oct. 23, a 19-ton, yellow, Mercedes-Benz stake-bed truck made its way toward the Beirut International Airport, where the U.S. 24th Marine Amphibious Unit was deployed. The driver, an Iranian national named Ismail Ascari, drove onto an access road leading to the compound, accelerating at great speed before crashing into a wire barrier separating the parking lot from the building. The truck continued to barrel through the compound, eventually crashing into the lobby of the building that served as the barracks for the 1st Battalion 8th Marines. The force of the blast collapsed the four-story building, killing many instantly and crushing others inside. In all, 220 Marines, 18 sailors and three soldiers died. Another 58 French paratroopers were also killed in the attack. The forces were part of a multinational team of American, British, French and Italian soldiers who were sent to Beirut to assist the Lebanese Armed Forces during the Lebanese Civil War. Their deployment followed massacres by militiamen at two refugee camps. The bombings were blamed on the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran. At the time, President Reagan called the attack a "despicable act," although no perpetrators were ever brought to justice. The U.S. pulled out of Lebanon in 1984 after a Pentagon commission found the military lacked the training and expertise to deal with the terror threat. In 2004, Condoleezza Rice, then the national security advisor, told the 9/11 Commission that the Beirut attack was what started the U.S. long-running war on terror. "The terrorist threat to our nation did not emerge on Sept. 11, 2001," Rice said. "Long before that day, radical, freedom-hating terrorists declared war on America and on the civilized world. The attack on the Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983, the hijacking of the Achille Lauro in 1985, the rise of Al Qaeda and the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, the attacks on American installations in Saudi Arabia in 1995 and 1996, the East Africa bombings of 1998, the attack on the U.S.S. Cole in 2000. These and other atrocities were part of a sustained, systematic campaign to spread devastation and chaos and to murder innocent Americans." Still, some believe the Beirut attack has been forgotten as new acts of terror have occurred in the intervening years. "I'd like to think that people will always remember this day," Sommerhof said, "Because it was the first horrific act of terrorism that this country ever faced." Survivors, family members and supporters have long lobbied for an official postage stamp commemorating those who died in the attack. To date, the U.S. Postal Service and the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee have not agreed, although a private vendor stamp created by the group is approved for use as postage by the USPS. At Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, in Jacksonville, N.C., military officials marked the anniversary Wednesday morning with a ceremony at the camp's Beirut Memorial. The special ceremony also honored other fallen service members and survivors who served in Lebanon from 1958 to 1984 and in Grenada. Gen. James F. Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps, was the featured speaker. For Sommerhof, such recognition of her son's service helps keep his memory alive. "He was a good student and fun loving," Sommerhof said of her son, who graduated the University of Illinois, where he went through the school's ROTC program. She said her son, who went by "Scott," admired two uncles who had long served in the military. "They were heroes to him," she said. Boston Herald: 'Nine lovely trees' pay tribute to Marine valor next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 Families are mourning four people who died in a tornado that plowed a 25-mile path across southern Mississippi as the living begin to look to recovery. Two of those killed Saturday were relatives: a grandfather who died in a trailer park and a grandson who died in bed at home. Hundreds of structures were damaged or destroyed in Hattiesburg. The neighboring city of Petal may be even harder hit, proportionally. William Carey University is looking for a place to hold classes, after the storm damaged most of the buildings on its Hattiesburg campus. Utilities warn power restoration could be protracted in areas where poles were snapped, even as crews worked into the night. State Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney estimates insured damage will top $200 million. Georgia ramped up its state of emergency Monday as crews organizing the cleanup from the weekend's deadly storms begged for additional aid. Gov. Nathan Deal expanded his emergency declaration to include nine additional counties in southern Georgia. The declaration frees up state resources to assist storm victims. The storms killed at least 20 people, most of them in Georgia. SLIDESHOW: DEADLY TORNADOES SLAM SOUTHEAST Dozens of homes demolished in Albany after tornado barrels through #fox5storm #fox5atl pic.twitter.com/tjnCdGUxfo denisedillon (@DillonFox5) January 23, 2017 The governor promised to visit the storm-ravaged areas later this week, offering his "thoughts and prayers" to victims there. North Georgia was under a wind advisory for most of the day Monday, as forecasters warned wind gusts could top 40 mph, Fox 5 reported. The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for much of Charlotte, N.C., as well as for several streams in Cabarrus County just east of Charlotte. Emergency officials in Georgia confirmed a 20th death in connection with the storms. Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler said a fourth person died in his county Sunday, without elaborating. Many families in the area had "no homes, no food, no warmth, no hope," County Commission Chairman Chris Cohilas said during a news conference Monday, apparently choking back tears. Pleading for aid, he said, "we've exhausted everything we have." At least 15 people were killed in south Georgia alone, including seven from an apparent winter twister that tore through a trailer park before dawn Sunday. Officials reported four deaths Saturday in Mississippi as the storm system ramped up. In addition, a tree knocked over by strong winds split a home in half, killing one person in Columbia County, Fla., emergency officials said. In southwest Georgia, Bridget Simmons along with her parents, her daughter and her grandson were in their brick home in the city of Albany when the sky got dark Sunday afternoon and the wind began to howl. "I was in the den and I heard that loud roar and I grabbed the baby and I said, `Let's go guys. This is it.' We laid down and that was it." The wind was so loud, she added, "you could hear it beating back and forth." Minutes later, their home was largely unscathed, save for a carport that collapsed atop two cars. But trees were down all around, police sirens wailed and authorities would add four more deaths for an overall count of at least 19. The National Weather Service said a survey team concluded Monday that a tornado left a path of destruction a half-mile wide in parts of Albany. The agency said it was an EF-2 tornado or stronger, meaning it packed winds of at least 111 to 135 mph. Some 60 miles away from Simmons' home, Coroner Tim Purvis in south Georgia's Cook County confirmed seven people died at the mobile home park in the rural community of Adel, where about half of the 40 homes were leveled. Debris lay about not far from mobile homes largely untouched but emptied of survivors and cordoned off by police. Elsewhere, shredded siding from mobile homes, a house stripped of exterior walls but left standing, even a piano blown outdoors, all bore evidence of the power of the powerful storms system that tore across the Deep South. The 15 killed in south Georgia included two deaths each in the counties of Berrien and Brooks. In South Carolina, the National Weather Service has confirmed that two tornadoes struck over the weekend, injuring one woman who was trapped in a mobile home that was damaged near Blackville. The weather service says a tornado touched down about 3:45 p.m. Saturday in Barnwell County and moved into Bamberg County. The other occurred in Orangeburg County a few minutes later. Weather experts say tornadoes can hit any time of year in the South -- including in the dead of winter. Even north Florida was under the weekend weather threat. While the central U.S. has a fairly defined tornado season -- the spring -- the risk of tornadoes "never really goes to zero" for most of the year in the Southeast, explained Patrick Marsh of the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. He said 39 possible tornadoes were reported across the Southeast from early Saturday into Sunday evening -- none immediately confirmed. Of that, 30 were reported in Georgia, four in Mississippi, and one each in Louisiana and South Carolina. January tornado outbreaks are rare but not unprecedented, particularly in the South. Data from the Storm Prediction Center shows that, over the past decade, the nation has seen an average of 38 tornadoes in January, ranging from a high of 84 in 2008 to just four in 2014. Nineteen-year-old Jenny Bullard said she and her parents, Jeff and Carla, are glad to have escaped without major injury after an apparent tornado battered their home in Cook County. They are a farming family dating back generations, living not far from where the mobile homes were destroyed. The middle section of their brick house was blown off the slab, leaving nothing but the kitchen island standing. On one side, the parents' bedroom remained intact. Jenny's bedroom on the other side was smashed in -- and a piano was blown out of the house. She recalled awaking to the sound of hail before dawn. "The hall wall came in on me and I fell down. And our backdoor came through and fell in on me. And I heard my dad calling my name ...There was a bunch of stuff on top of him and I just started throwing everything I could until I got to him," she said. Together, she and her father met up with their mother and got free. The young woman wore a sling on one arm hours afterward Sunday as she went back through the debris for belongings. Bricks lay scattered about, alongside their possessions and furniture. "The first thing I wanted to do was get all the pictures," she said. Across the street, where the Bullards kept farm equipment in sheds, one shed was blown in amid twisted metal. Two grain silos were blown over. "It's a horrible tragedy. But all this stuff can be replaced," she said. "We can't replace each other. We're extremely lucky. My dad is lucky to be alive." Click for more from Fox 5. The Associated Press contributed to this report. People are being told to lock their doors after an elderly woman was stabbed to death in her home in the normally bucolic Vermont town once home to Norman Rockwell, the mid-20th century illustrator of the American ideal. Police are asking Arlington residents to keep their lights on and report anything suspicious that could help investigators find who is responsible for the death of 81-year-old Helen Jones. Her body was found in her home Jan. 4. No arrests have been made. Police are releasing few details of what they know about her killing, saying they don't want to compromise their investigation, Residents attending a local community meeting said they're scared. Arlington is home to about 2,300 people. Residents hold occasional reunions of people who once posed for Rockwell's paintings. A news station is reporting a new development in a cold case that has stymied investigators in northwest Florida for nearly three decades. WTVY in Dothan, Ala., reports that a retired Florida sheriff has agreed to help investigate the high-profile killings of Robert and Kathryn McRae, who were shot execution-style in their Graceville home on Jan. 27, 1989. We've got probable cause to arrest a lot of people but we can't because we don't have that bit of information that would help do it," former Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen told a news conference Thursday in Marianna, Fla. Jackson County Sheriff Lou Roberts is overseeing the McRae investigation. He and McKeithen are longtime friends. The station reports that there has been speculation for years that the McRae murders may be linked to an Alabama cold case. Acie and Carolyn Worthy were found dead in their Tuscaloosa County home after it had been set on fire. Investigators say the couple was shot dead when they arrived home from evening church services. The McRae and Worthy murders occurred eight months apart, according to the station. Like the McRaes, Worthy and his wife were wealthy. Robbery isn't a motive in either case, the station reported. Jackson said he spoke to investigators on the Worthy case recently but isnt convinced the two cases are connected. "We're looking lots of places and we don't know where the investigation will take us, but we are committed to solving this crime," he said, according to WTVY. A hardbound edition of "The Hobbit" is back on the shelves at a New York library nearly 40 years after it was checked out by a reader who traveled the world as a Marine. Bob James tells WSTM-TV in Syracuse that he checked out the J.R.R. Tolkien book from the Tompkins County Public Library in Ithaca before enlisting in the Marines in 1979. The book became so popular with his fellow Marines that there was a waiting list. James believes the book was passed along to Marines and sailors serving aboard at least eight different ships in the western Pacific. He brought the book the home after getting out of the Marines and held onto it until Monday, when he returned it to the library. The library didn't charge him any late fees. Horse diapers have been thrust into the debate over religious freedom. Two Amish men in Auburn, Ky., filed a lawsuit last month saying a city ordinance requiring horses to wear equine diapersbags designed to catch manureviolated the ability of Amish residents to exercise their religion. The ordinance, passed in 2014, broadened an existing law mandating the removal of dog waste in public places. The new law, which the city said was spurred by complaints from neighbors about horse manure, requires a properly fitted collection device to be placed on all horses walking on the street. Residents of Auburn say the issue has divided the town of about 1,300 for years. Members of the towns Amish community have refused to comply with the ordinance, saying equine diapers violate the communitys religious standards. That stance has landed many of them in court, or worse. Last year, after a jury found Dan Mast guilty of violating the ordinance, he refused to pay the $193 fine and spent 10 days in jail. Last month, Mr. Mast, 27 years old, and another Amish plaintiff filed a lawsuit against the city of Auburn, its mayor and police chief in which they argue the law is intended to prosecute the Amish based on their religious beliefs. As of October, the city of Auburn had more than 25 pending cases against Amish men who failed to attach diapers to their horses, according to the suit. The plaintiffs are members of the Old Order Swartzentruber Amish religion, one of the most conservative Amish orders. They believe in shunning things that are of the world, the lawsuit said, including technology that some Amish groups accept, like fax machines, LED lights and gas-powered refrigerators. Before the ordinance passed in 2014, the community elders decided the equine diapers wouldn't be permitted by the Swartzentruber church. A lawyer for the defendants, W. Currie Milliken, said the issue has been blown out of proportion, and the city wants to preserve its friendly relationship with the Amish. Click for more from The Wall Street Journal. The hey-day of Islamic architecture in Cairo left prints all over the city; one of the best places to discover them is on historic El-Muezz street El-Muezz Street was once the heart of fortified Cairo or El-Qahera- when it was founded by Gawhar El-Saqelli as the capital of the Fatimid Dynasty in 969. "When the borders of Cairo were drawn, the fortunetellers noted that planet Mars known as "the Conquering Star" or Al-Najm El-Qaher- was rising at the time. They suggested that the new capital be called El-Qahera or "the Conqueror" relayed our knowledgeable guide Mohamed Khalil, head of the Department of Monument Awareness at the Ministry of Antiquities. Our walk took us through Al-Ghuriya. Here in the 19th century El-Muezz street was joined with Al-Azhar, our guide explained, creating the Ghuriya area that took its name from the venerable Wekalat Al-Ghuri built in 1504 as a merchant inn. The other side of El-Muezz holds Al-Hussein Mosque, Khan El-Khalili and other landmarks. Our walk started from Bab Zuweila, the southern gate and one of the ports of Cairo built by El-Saqelli. It acquired its name from a tribe of Berbers who accompanied the Fatimid Caliph to Egypt and were responsible for guarding the gate. The gate was also known as Bawabbat Al-Metwalli during the Ottoman period.Al-Metwalli was a tax collector who used to sit on the gate, collecting tolls from workers who could use only that passage to enter and exit Al-Qahera. Bab Zuweila was famous into the 19th century for the executions that sometimes took place there. At times the severed heads of criminals would be displayed along the tops of the wallsthe most famous of which were those of the Mamluks killed in the Citadel massacre of 1811. Bab Zuweila has two towers that can be accessed via steep and tiring steps. The structures were built to monitor enemy troops attempting to enter the fortified city. Today, the walls provide one of the best views of old Cairo. Our walk brought us next to the Mosque of Sultan Al-Muayyad, originally a jail in which Sheikh Al-Muayyad was imprisoned. Al-Muayyad vowed that if he were ever released, he would someday destroy that jail and build a mosque in its place. When he was eventually released, and rose to become Sultan of all Egypt, Al-Muayyad honored the vow, building a new mosque on the location in 1415. The mosque's mimbar (pulpit) was once one of the most spectacular in Islamic architecture, but was recently looted. Although the thieves were arrested, the damage was done. It was later restored but in a rather amateurish way. Up the road a little way is the sabil (public water dispensary) of Muhammad Ali, the founder of the modern state in Egypt. Ali built the site in memory of his son Tosson, who died of plague at the age of 22. The sabil is one of the first buildings in Cairo to be built in the Ottoman architectural style, with decorative ornaments carved into marble brought from Turkey. The purpose of the sabil was to provide ordinary people with fresh and free drinking water. It contains a huge underground reservoir of water, which would be drawn up in buckets set out for the public in basins outside the structure. There were once over three hundred Asbelah (sabils) - in Cairo that offered free drinking water the main source of the resource in the pre-modern era. Most of the sabils were eventually transferred into schools. Mohammed Ali established a kuttab a school where children learn to recite and memorise Quran in the second floor of the sabil. Some of the desks that the school children used to sit on are still there. At the end of El-Muezz Street before its intersection with Al-Azhar lies the complex of Sultan Qansuwa Al-Ghuri or Wekalet Al-Ghuri built by and named after the second last of the Mamluk sultans, who reigned from 1501 to 1516. The complex comprises his mausoleum, with a grand hall called the khanqah on the left and a mosque and madrasa on the right. The Mosque has a large minaret visible from Bab Zuweila, and is known for its high rectangular tower that boasts five bulbs unlike most mosques, whose minarets claim only one or two. The fifth was not added until the 19th century, to repair a collapse in the top of the tower. Our guide told us it was once rumoured that the sultan stored gold coins in these bulbs, although the historical record cannot confirm them. The complex madrasa was inaugurated in 1503 with a great banquet attended by the Abbasid Caliph and the top military and civilian officials of the day. Today, the khanqah and mausoleum of the complex function as a cultural center. Al-Ghuri himself was never buried in his mausoleum. He died of a heart attack while fighting the Ottoman Turks outside Aleppo and his body was never found. However, his wives and children were buried at the site. The dome of the mausoleum was originally made of bricks and covered over with green tiles. Plagued by structural problems, it required rebuilding three times during Al-Ghuri's lifetime and never came out quite right. The khanqah provided a meeting place and sometimes housing for Sufi mystics. At the end of that walk, green tea in the traditional tin teapots is recommended in El-Fishawy Cafe. It is the most famous and most crowded cafe in the area. You just have to cross Al-Azhar Street to the other side of El-Muezz Street preferably via the metro- and the cafe is a short walk from there. Search Keywords: Short link: Croatia formally becomes the 28th member of the European Union on Monday, the bloc's first addition since Bulgaria and Romania joined in 2007. Croatia is becoming a member after a decade of negotiation, and marks a historic turning point for the country which went through a civil war after declaring independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. WHAT DOES CROATIA HOPE TO GAIN WITH EU ENTRY? Some 11.7 billion euros ($15.2 billion) in EU investment funds promised over the next seven years, if the Croats can devise acceptable programs for their use. Access to the much larger EU markets. Possibility of finding jobs in some EU states, although many have already established restrictions for Croatian citizens. Less expensive study opportunities for Croatian students in EU schools and universities. WHAT IS THE EU GETTING FROM CROATIA'S ENTRY? More stability in the Balkans. A slightly larger market for EU goods. Less hassle at the borders for EU citizens traveling to Croatia. Easier and less bureaucratic purchase of property by EU citizens in Croatia. FACTS ABOUT CROATIA The horseshoe-shaped country is in the Balkan peninsula, along the Adriatic coast. The country has 4.2 million people, mostly Roman Catholics, and is considered one of the most Catholic nations in Europe. It borders Bosnia, Serbia, Hungary Slovenia, Italy and Montenegro. Serbs, who are Orthodox Christians, are the biggest minority. HISTORY Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia 22 years ago. It was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, before joining a union with Serbia and Slovenia in 1918, under the rule of a Serbian royal family. This country broke up in World War II with German occupation, when Croatia became a Nazi puppet state; tens of thousands of Jews, Serbs and anti-fascist Croats were killed in concentration camps. After the war Croatia became part of communist-led Yugoslavia, which broke up in the early 1990s' in a civil war. STATEHOOD Croatia declared independence in 1991, triggering a rebellion by minority Croatian Serbs and an onslaught by the Serb-led Yugoslav army. About a third of the country's territory was occupied by the Serbs, and many areas were reduced to rubble before a U.N. peacekeeping force moved in. The war ended in 1995, when Croatia retook territories in an offensive. CROATIA TODAY Croatia is known mostly for its stunning Adriatic coast. The island of Hvar became a fashionable destination which has welcomed international stars like Beyonce or Tom Cruise. The walled city of Dubrovnik is protected as a UNESCO heritage site and a favorite destination for cruise ships. North toward Italy is the Istria peninsula, well known for its wine, cheese and leisurely lifestyle. ECONOMY Croatia has been in recession for the past five years and unemployment is around 20 percent. One of the biggest problems is corruption: Transparency International ranked Croatia below Rwanda, Jordan and Cuba in its graft index for 2012. But Croatia's economy is not big enough to seriously jeopardize the EU, as was the case with Greece or Spain. ANYTHING TO LOSE WITH THE EU ENTRY? Many in Croatia fear that EU's market will be too competitive for Croatian companies and that many will not survive. Opening the EU market will lead to customs restrictions on trade with other Balkan states which have been Croatia's main markets. Croatian fishermen are afraid they will lose the battle against better-equipped Italians or Slovenes who now have free access to the Croatian part of the Adriatic sea. People fear prices will go up once Croatia adopts the euro, which is several years away. WHAT IS CROATIA KNOWN FOR? Croats claim they invented the bow tie. They say it originated during the Prussian wars of the 17th century among Croatian mercenaries who wore scarves around their necks. ____ Associated Press reporter Jovana Gec contributed. At least one U.S. citizen was among the casualties of the massive Ecuador earthquake, according to published reports. State Department spokesman John Kirby confirmed to reporters that an American citizen, who has not been publicly identified, is among the dead. By Monday evening, the tally of those who died stood at 350, and that number was expected to continue rising. The 7.8-magnitude earthquake flattened villages along Ecuadors Pacific coast. Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said the earthquake was the worst natural disaster to occur to his nation since a 1949 quake in the Andes killed more than 5,000 people, according to the Washington Post. Correa added that rescue teams were having a difficult time reaching the areas hardest hit because of destroyed roads and landslides. U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement, This is a heartbreaking tragedy that will challenge the people of Ecuador to their core. I extend my heartfelt thoughts to them and to the Ecuadorean-American diaspora, including the large community in New Jersey." In recent years relations between the United States and Ecuador have been frosty, especially after a U.S. diplomatic cable was leaked in 2011 that suggested Correa, who has often been critical of U.S. policy, was turning a blind eye toward police corruption and the country's granting asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange the following year. Ive called on the Obama Administration for a swift response, and I applaud [its] efforts so far, the senator said. It is my understanding that the United States has offered and Ecuador is preparing to accept U.S. disaster assistance It is my hope that extending this offer is the first step in a new direction for U.S.-Ecuador government-to-government relations. That assistance includes $50,000 in immediate disaster assistance for search and rescue, humanitarian needs and an assessment of the most impacted regions. Ecuador also asked for help with potable water, hygienic supplies and sanitation goods. The Director of USAID's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) arrived in Ecuador yesterday and will be meeting with Ecuadorean officials, the senators office said. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram The World Economic Forum wrapped up today. The looming inauguration of now President Donald Trump dominated dialogue. The big story of Brexit almost felt like distant history. But Britain's Prime Minister, Theresa May, put a fresh spin on the dramatic event, in a speech, saying, "We want a truly global Britain." So instead of positioning the UK as a country in retreat, in inward mode, she thrust it forward as a country looking beyond Europe, "into the wider world." Many Europeans tried to put on a brave face about the battering the European Union took this year, but the cracks were never far from the surface. One panel called "Which Europe Now?" broke into as much of an argument as the genteel forum allows for, with one head of state saying, essentially, enough talk about more bonding and merging. The message-it's broken. Let's just do what we can to make it work. Emma Marcegaglia, head of the Italian energy giant, ENI, spoke about how dreams of equality were never realized in the European project. "What happened in this period when we have the euro is the divergence among countries didnt diminish, but it increased, and this is not sustainable. We started the euro with a difference in competitiveness between north and south, and the idea was with the euro and with coordination of policy, the gap should narrow. What happened was the opposite." She also suggested that more investment by the stronger into the weaker countries is imperative. Marcegaglia believes there shouldn't just be penalties for debt and deficit, but also for holding a surplus. Cyber security seemed to trump terrorism in discussions this year--the President of BT Americas, Bas Burger, said that despite the massive concerns about hacking of political systems and meddling in US elections, the biggest cyber threats are commercial. He said that compared to 2014, he has seen a 1000% increase in the number of attacks on his company. "There is a realization now that every company every second of the day can be hacked and is being hacked as we speak, so people who run these companies need to think, how am I going to protect my organization. Best way to do that is to look at your company as if you were a criminal and think, ok, where are my values." He laid out the cat and mouse game involved in outsmarting the hackers and criminals, who are not only syphoning money from people via the internet, but stealing ideas, pharmacuetical formulas, posing as employees and extorting money for withdrawing viruses. And then there are the issues of privacy, bullying and trolling which become more problematic with each year. One off-the-record session was about creating some sort of Magna Carta for the internet. It brought together a host of celebrities, from Sir Tim Berners Lee, founder of the worldwide web, to youth mentor and music star William Adams, otherwise known as Will.i.am. The debate between the good and the bad of our tech society coursed through the Swiss Alps, with talk of the need to keep education and training ongoing in people's lives so they don't become irrelevant and redundant. Our attachment to technology was cursed and blessed. Bas Burger said, "There was research, I believe done in the United States, where you could ask your children-you can either go to jail with your phone, if you are punished for something, or you can stay outside, without your phone. The majority of kids actually picked jail, with the phone. " Finally, Tweeter-in-Chief, President Donald Trump's habits were much discussed: Are they a diversionary tactic, to keep the media from holding the President to account, and getting the answers they need? Or are they a helpful, responsible provision of information? The jury remains out on how the media should handle his missives, and whether they should cover each one, or be selective. But all were in agreement, Trump appears unlikely to kick the habit anytime soon. Relatives of passengers and crew aboard the missing Malaysian airliner plan to present the Malaysian transport minister in Australia with letters urging that the search resume. Sheryl Keen, a supporter of the international victims' advocacy group Voice370, said on Sunday she plans to personally hand to Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai dozens of letters from relatives when Liow meets this week in the west coast city of Perth with his Australian counterpart. Last week, Malaysia, Australia and China announced that the deep sea search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 had been suspended, perhaps forever, after a sonar scan of 120,000 square kilometers (46,000 square miles) of the Indian Ocean west of Australia failed to find any trace of the Boeing 777 that vanished almost three years ago. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 Thousands have marched through the Romanian capital and other cities to protest a government proposal to pardon thousands of prisoners which critics say could reverse the anti-corruption fight. More than 10,000 protesters massed in University Square on Sunday evening, and later broke through police lines, before heading toward government headquarters. Protesters cheered after President Klaus Iohannis, a government critic who supports the anti-corruption drive, turned up at the protest. Some protesters were elderly, while others carried children on their shoulders. Demonstrators called the ruling Social Democratic Party "the red plague." Premier Sorin Grindeanu wants to pass an emergency ordinance to pardon prisoners which his government says would ease overcrowding in prisons. Critics say it would help government allies convicted of corruption. Prison authorities say 3,700 prisoners could be freed. The Dalai Lama said he hopes that President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will work together for global peace. The exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists said the world needed leaders with compassion. He made the remarks Saturday at a program in New Delhi organized by the women's chapter of an industry group, according to the press statement. He said the world is moving toward peace and non-violence, and he hopes Trump and Putin will come closer and work toward creating global peace. The Dalai Lama had said in Mongolia in November that he had "no worries" about Trump's election as U.S. president and looked forward to meeting him after he took office. Trump was inaugurated Friday. The Dalai Lama has met former U.S. presidents, including four meetings with Barack Obama. Such meetings anger Beijing, which accuses the Tibetan leader of trying to split Tibet from China. The Dalai Lama says he simply wants a higher degree of autonomy under Chinese rule. The Dalai Lama has been based in India's northern hill town of Dharmsala since fleeing Tibet during an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 Rescue crews digging through an Italian hotel buried in an avalanche say there could be additional survivors more than three days after tons of snow came barreling down a mountainside. Rescuers told reporters in the central Apennine mountains on Sunday morning there are air pockets in some of the Hotel Rigopiano's wreckage. But they haven't been able to reach all those areas yet. Nine survivors from the Wednesday evening avalanche were located in air pockets inside the crushed hotel on Friday. Rescue officials say there are other spaces where some of the 23 people still missing might be found alive. Five bodies have been recovered from the hotel's wreckage. Rain is making the snow heavy and complicating the manual rescue operation. Officials say the risk of fresh avalanches is high. Rumen Radev has assumed office as Bulgaria's new president after an inauguration ceremony in front of the landmark Alexander Nevski cathedral in Sofia. In his first speech as president, Radev underscored the idea of continuity and pledged to work for a "united society in the name of democracy." Radev said he would be a president for all Bulgarians regardless of party affiliations, ethnicity or religion. He also said he will work with Bulgaria's partners to hasten the country's integration with Europe, but also vowed to "stand up for the rights and dignity of his people." Radev is Bulgaria's fifth democratically elected president. He replaced Rosen Plevneliev in the largely ceremonial post. Northern Ireland officials say that a police officer has been shot in the arm in Belfast. The Police Service of Northern Ireland said Sunday night that the officer's injuries aren't life-threatening and he is being treated in a hospital. His condition is stable. The officer was shot in a drive-by attack at a gas station. Dissident Irish republicans have at times attacked security forces in the last decade, but there has been no claim of responsibility. The officer hasn't been identified and police didn't report any arrests. Police Federation for Northern Ireland chairman Mark Lindsay said the shooting is "a stark reminder of the determination on the part of terrorists to murder and maim police officers." Tensions have been rising in Northern Ireland in advance of new elections. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 Syrian rebel delegates are meeting in Kazakhstan ahead of talks with government representatives that are scheduled to begin Monday. The talks in the Kazakh capital, Astana, are sponsored by Russia, Iran and Turkey, and represent the first such negotiations between the two sides in a year. The U.N.'s Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, is participating in the talks. The new U.S. administration is not. The opposition delegation, which arrived in Astana on Sunday, is made up of about a dozen rebel figures led by Mohammad Alloush, of the Army of Islam rebel group. The Syrian government is sending its U.N. ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, and military delegates. At the top of the agenda is an effort to consolidate a cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey last month. next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 British Prime Minister Theresa May says she will discuss free trade and the importance of the NATO military alliance when she meets President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday. May is set to become the first foreign leader to meet with the new president. She said Sunday she looks forward to expanding the "special relationship" between the U.S. and Britain. She told the BBC's Andrew Marr that the Trump administration is interested in a good trade deal with Britain despite its stated "America first" policy. May says Trump values NATO even though he has spoken critically of the alliance. The prime minister did not directly answer questions about whether she would challenge Trump on some of the comments he has made about women. She earlier criticized him for derogatory comments. British Prime Minister Theresa May said Sunday she plans to discuss free trade and the importance of the NATO military alliance when she becomes the first foreign leader to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington. The White House's invitation for May to meet with Trump on Friday was seen in Britain as affirmation that Trump values the vaunted "special relationship" between the United States and its longtime ally across the Atlantic. She told BBC's Andrew Marr that the Trump team is interested in discussing a new trade arrangement with Britain despite the "America first" theme of Trump's inaugural address and his vow to evaluate every trade deal for its possible benefits to the United States. Any national leader would do the same when deciding whether to sign a trade pact, May said. Britain sees a future trade agreement with the United States as vital as the country prepares to leave the European Union. However, Britain's desire for increased trade could clash with Trump's protectionist stance. May said she would also raise the value of the NATO military alliance during the meeting. She called it the "bulwark" of Europe's defense system. Trump has rattled European allies by suggesting NATO is "obsolete" and that the United States might not come to the aid of countries that don't meet targets for their own defense spending. May maintained that Trump understands NATO's vital role. European leaders worry about a watering down of the NATO role given the increasingly aggressive actions by Russia in recent years. The prime minister did not directly answer questions about whether she will use Friday's meeting to challenge Trump over derogatory comments he has made about women. May criticized crude remarks of his that surfaced during the presidential campaign. But she said she would speak out if she finds his future behavior or comments "unacceptable." May said she has a long track record promoting equal rights for women, adding that she is proud to be Britain's second female prime minister. "When I sit down, I think the biggest statement that will be made about the role of women is the fact that I will be there as a female prime minister, prime minister of the United Kingdom, directly taking to him about the interests that we share," she said. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy Danielle Kitzmiller wasnt looking for a handout; she just wondered if people who sell leggings might give her a discount on a few pairs for her son. But when LuLaRoe representatives in Stafford County heard how their productsoft and clingy pajama-like pants in assorted colors and patternsmight help her son get a leg up on treatment for a skin disease, they didnt offer kid-sized pants at a reduced price. They started sending free ones until 4-year-old Jackson was almost knee-deep in leggings. He got 27 pairs, a puzzle and toys. Consultants also sent a LuLaRoe outfit for his mother. I was floored, Kitzmiller said, adding that she wasnt expecting anything of the sort when she posted her plight on the Stafford Talk Facebook site. That was unbelievably sweet. Its not the only example of kindness shown to the military family. Kitzmillers husband, Randy, is a special agent in the Air Force and currently deployed to Korea. She is British and has no family locally, although she has made a lot of friends in their three years in Aquia Harbour. In addition to being a mother to Jackson, 4, and Ethan, 2, Kitzmiller also runs a mobile dog-grooming business, specializing in pooches that arent thrilled about getting a haircut. She sets up shop in homes, then cuts and clips where the dogs are comfortable. She suspended her grooming business for January and February because of Jacksons health problems. While hes been tested for various allergies, he suffers from an extreme case of eczema that drives him crazy, she said. He scratches until his arms and legs bleed. Its not unusual for his sheets to be covered in blood each morning. Dirt and germs from his fingernails get transferred into the open sores, and serious infections result. Hes developed abscesses that start as a tiny pimple, become red and inflamed and have to be lanced. Twice in the days before and after Christmas, he was hospitalized, with one infection that led to sepsis, a complication which causes blood poisoningand can be fatal. His skin doesnt work properly, it doesnt protect him like it should, his mother said. His is kind of like Swiss cheese. She says shes tried every home remedy possible since his birth, when his skin was as rough as fine sandpaper. But nothing seemed to stop the itching. After the last hospitalization, doctors suggested wrapping gauze strips impregnated with Vaseline over Jacksons arms and legs, then putting on compression pants to keep the dressings in place. The pants provided by the hospital were expensive and werent covered by insurance. And, they didnt hold the gauze in place when Jackson acted like a normal 4-year-old. Kitzmiller wondered if LuLaRoe leggings would do the trick, and she quickly got an answer. Most of the leggings came from Stafford residents, who sell the popular clothing online or have parties showing the offerings. Kitzmiller also got pants from Lindsey McGovern, who makes customized childrens clothing through her business, WinCoBaby. Those who knew her from her grooming business sent Jackson pants featuring the Union Jack flags and red phone booths, which she calls telephone boxes. Friends also sent hot meals, helped with her younger son and made arrangements for her dogs to find new homes when Jackson was hospitalized. The LuLaRoe culture is to bless lives and strengthen families, said representative Laci Nicholas, whose husband also is in the military and currently deployed. I know the strain it can cause a family, and I can only imagine the added obstacle of having a child ill on top of it, Nicholas said. Stephanie Sonnenberg believes other consultants helped for the same reason she did. A pair of leggings is really nothing, if her son is happy and it makes it easier for her. The treatment seems to be working, and Kitzmiller is grateful for the gifts from consultants Jenn Moody, Samantha Storch, Leigha Pecher, Sarah McClutchy, Nicholas and Sonnenberg. Jackson is doing great, a few little sore bits here and there, but overall the best hes looked, pretty much ever, the mother said. When Terry Ayton was being treated for congestive heart failureand hospitalized twice in mid-Decemberthe last thing on her husbands mind was Christmas presents. In fact, Gary Clark thought he and Ayton had agreed that her health was the top priority, and that everything else, from decorating to shopping, would go on the back burner. Little did he know that even as Ayton struggled for breath, she was making arrangements to get him a gift, a new coat she believed he desperately needed. Clark had been wearing the same Nextel NASCAR fleece jacket for at least 15 yearsand it looks it, she groused. So, when James Acors, the respiratory therapist at Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center, talked with Ayton as he gave her a breathing treatment the week before Christmas, he asked if she was ready for the big day. She shared her dilemma, and the two started talking. He told her hed just gotten a new coat, a black Michael Kors waist-length pea coat. She said that sounded nice. Hed worn it to work that day and said hed bring it by her room before his 12-hour shift ended. It was an emotional day for Acors and others, emailed Susan Coleman, the hospitals marketing director. The staff dealt with various traumas, including preparing organs for a transplant, Coleman said. Acors had been working for almost 11 hours when he remembered he hadnt been back to see Ayton. He grabbed the coat and visited her room. They discussed where he bought it, for how much and what size her husband needed. Acors lives in Tappahannock, about 45 miles from the hospital, but he wasnt scheduled to work the next day. Ayton didnt know if shed still be there by the time Acors returned to work, so the coat idea sort of hung in the balance. Acors decided to put on his elf hat and make it happen. After he left the hospital, he drove to the Peebles in Tappahannock, where hed bought his coat, and got another one just like it for $80. The next morning, Dec. 23, he made the 90-mile trip from home to the hospital and back again, even though it was his day off. Ayton paid him for the purchase, and Acors hid the coat in her hospital room closet. When the married couple, who live in the Wilderness area of Spotsylvania County, celebrated Christmas a few days later, Clark was beyond surprised. He wondered how shed pulled it off, given shed been sick as a dog. Then I find out she had this little conspiracy on the side, he joked. She kept it a surprise the whole time. Both credit Acors, who Clark said definitely went over and above the call of duty. He helped one hospital patient breathe a little easier during the holiday rush. When the Spotsylvania County couple celebrated Christmas a few days later, Clark was surprised when he received the coat. He wondered how shed pulled it off, given shed been sick as a dog. Ever take a vacation trip that was so awesome you vow to return, yet years later youd never gotten around to it? Yeah, I do that a lot, too. And yet, every once in a very long while, I actually do make that return trip. And sometimes its as good or better than the first time. Take Maine, for instance. Weve been to Maine many timeseasily a dozen. But just where in Maine? Sure, theres always the coast. Who doesnt love the fishing boats, the fog rolling in, the deep bellow of the foghorn at the lighthouse and, of course, fresh lobsters and blueberries and, oh my goodness, how could I forget that rhubarb pie? Everybody goes to the coast, and why not? But there is inland Maine, the vast forests stretching almost the length of the state, from not far outside Boston all the way to Quebec. Some years ago on a flight from Dulles Airport to Montreal, it seemed our jet spent most of its time over the Maine woods. But I digress. There is a new Maine Woods National Monument, or soon will be, and it preserves land adjacent to Maines own Baxter State Parkthousands of acres in all. It seems half the folks I know have climbed Mount Katahdin in Baxter, northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. Yet, despite all those Maine trips, Ive never summited that peak, which so many rave about. Ive never even been to Baxter State Park, where you really can hear the soulful call of the loons at night. Sure would love to do that before these bones get too old. And while in the neighborhood, theres a little village of Kingfield Id like to visit to see the 1916 Stanley Steamer that a favorite uncle willed to the Stanley Museum there. That relative would be Province Henry, a brother of my mom and a former spy and memorable character if ever there was one. The list of places to return to and new things to see there is very long. My son told me a couple of weeks ago that hed sure like to go to Oshkoshthats shorthand for Oshkosh Air Venture, the worlds largest aerial extravaganza, in the town of the same name on Wisconsins Lake Winnebago. Every year I vow to return there, yet its been about 20 years since last time. Where else can you see a large fraction of the entire United States population of civil aircraft, parked in row upon row far as the eye can see (well, almost), amidst a throng of close to a million people? Further west there is Yellowstone. Not just a national park, but one of the grandest spectacles of nature on the planet, and its close neighbor, Grand Teton National Park. Yellowstone, has more than 10,000 (yes) thermal features spread around its 2.2-million acres located in parts of three states (Wyoming, Idaho and Montana). I did get back to Alaska in September 2015, marking the end of a 25-year interregnum since the last time in the far northland frontier country. And that second time in Alaska did not disappoint. How could it? Ive heard it called the last frontier and the final frontier. Either one works for me. Natural forces are still in charge there and most of the roads just peter out at the forest edge and leave a gigantic gap in your imagination. Alaska has no patience or sympathy for fools and the unprepared. People still disappear regularly into the wilds of Alaska, leaving behind no single trace. British Columbia is almost wild as Alaska and you can get there by car. Weve been there a few times, but never really gotten back into those remote areas that beckon so loudly if your ears are tuned to hear those siren calls. Its a long list, that tally of spots on the earth I have some hope of getting back to. Im thinking also of places in Mexico, France, Ireland, Italy and New Zealandalmost any place Ive ever roamed, actually. Mine is a restless family, I guess. Most of us love travel more than anything but life itself. Yes, time and money are what make travel possible, but there are so many clever ways to make time and shave expenses and still have an experience youll never forget. Paul Sullivan of Spotsylvania County, a former reporter with The Free LanceStar, is a freelance writer. Email him at PBSullivan2@cs.com. I couldnt help but smile the other day when I heard a stranger talking about something he learned in high school that served him well. For me, it brought to mind blue corduroy jackets. Thats because of some unique training I got as a teen member of the Future Farmers of America. Todays members still wear those blue jackets with corn-gold accents. I didnt end up in my schools FFA because of an ambition to become a farmer. I was, as an eighth-grader at Rappahannock High School in Richmond County in the late 1960s, required to take either agriculture or home economics. Like most boys, I took agriculture. The class mixed training in that field with shop skills. For many of my classmates, that made sense because their families operated farms that would be their future. A few of my guy friends bucked the tide and took home economics, largely to be the only guys in a class full of girls. Though they were the butt of many jokes, those fellows probably got the last laugh as the cooking and sewing skills they learned served them well in later life. I probably got what few mechanical and fix-it skills I possess in my time in the wood- and metal-shop portion of that agriculture class. But my training in the FFAwhich all members of the agriculture class joinedserved me the very best. I was serving as a member of something then known as the degree team, a learning competition where six FFA members went up against other schools in the proper conducting of a meeting. The purpose of the competition was to teach students parliamentary procedure. To compete, teams from different schools conducted mock FFA chapter meetings to demonstrate their knowledge of basic parliamentary law and the correct use of parliamentary procedures. That meant things like the making and seconding of motions or the proper way to bring long discussions to a head by calling for a vote on the issue at hand. Memory blurs on how I ended up on this team, though it was probably a choice between something like it and competitions in driving four-wheeled wagons, which I was terrible at. I certainly had no idea, as we were learning about this thing called parliamentary procedure, that it would come in handy later. But that it did when I came to work here at The Free LanceStar as a reporter and found myself trying to decipher the actions of boards of supervisors, planning commissions and school boards in the city and in counties all around this region. When votes died for lack of a second or when the previous question was called for, I knew enough of Roberts Rules of Order to have a clue what was going on. I dont remember a lot about the competitions, except for being as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, waiting for the moment when judges would toss us curves about fine points of procedure. A long car trip from Warsaw to Montevideo High School near Harrisonburg sticks out. But thats only because my teenage self was more impressed with the pizza place where we ate after the competition than the contest. I believe my role on the team was parliamentarian, a roster spot that required me to rule on something we planned to come up in the mock meeting. I would brag about winning the honor of Star Greenhand in my class that year, except it was my last moment in FFA as further agriculture classes werent in the cards for me. I still have the pin in my dresser door at home, as I was proud of it that year. Even if I was a miserable failure trying to catch a greased pig and making a wooden toolbox that could actually hold tools. WASHINGTONSmall knots of Fredericksburg-area residents joined the massive throng of marchers from D.C. and around the world Saturday to declare their dedication to equality, resistance and womens rights. It was very emotional. It was great to be here, said Lynn Ackermann, a retired high school math teacher from Fredericksburg. It was just so crowded that we could hardly march. A friend who joined her, Susan Dluges of Fredericksburg, said she came to protest the presidency of Donald Trump. Im tired of his crass remarks, Dluges said. I dont think hes a good person to be president. University of Mary Washington student Nate Nuval, 22, said this election was the first time he voted, but he thinks he will be more involved in the future. I never paid enough attention, he said. Equality for all brought him to D.C. Saturday, he said. Just in general for all people and I think especially with certain things that Donald Trump has said and that [Vice President] Mike Pence has pushed forward have been almost against women specifically, Nuval said. He said he was surprised by the number of people, estimated at 750,000 to 1 million, and by how friendly the crowd was. Despite the numbers and the crush of people packed together, the crowd was largely quiet during the speeches from the small platform on Independence Avenue and Third Street near the U.S. Capitol. A single projection screen and limited speakers were no match for the crowd, and hundreds of people jostled, occasionally breaking into chants and songs led by individuals with megaphones or perched in trees, as they waited two to four hours for the march to start. When it did begin, the slowly moving mass of people spilled over the planned route, causing additional road closures and marches down streets adjoining Independence Avenue. Squeezing through the crowds, some carried signs showing their allegiance to groups such as various unions, while others passed out fliers and cards. Genevieve Thiers, the founder of SitterCity.com, said she came into the city with 150 people on buses representing RiseParty.org, a group trying to provide direction for action after the march. But almost everyone had gotten separated, she said. D.C. residents Flora Horvath and Flavia Bleahu, who found a vantage point on a bridge over 7th street near the LEnfant Metro station, said their attendance was a little unusual for them. Im here to support the cause. I think that its very inspiring to see this large group of women and men and everyone on the planet kind of coming together and supporting womens rights. And all peoples rights, said Bleahu, who was born in Romania. Now a national security consultant, she and her father are naturalized citizens, but her brother and mother are still in the process. Political attacks on immigrants worry her, she said. Horvath, who is the only member of her family born on U.S. soil and currently the only American citizen, said her participation this year is out of character. Im not a political person, usually, but this election and particularly a few of [Trumps] tweets and sort of the buildup to this march made me feel like I really need to be here, said Horvath, a health care consultant. Dressed in flowing clothes and carrying a rainbow flag, lifelong capital residents Brian Perkins, 25, and Johari Shreeves, 24, headed to the march with their friends Darion Long, 26, who has lived in the city for 12 years, and Ciara Houston, 25, who moved to D.C. less than two years ago. The friends, who described themselves as family, said they didnt care much about the controversy of color that surrounded the beginning of the march in November, when black women and members of other minorities criticized white feminism for failing to include the concerns of other marginalized groups. Im saying this as a strong black woman raised by another strong black woman, Shreeves said. I speak to white women. I listen to them. They listen to me. Long said, I dont think you should have a color to it, and Perkins added, I feel like thats good, because we have allies. As for the new president? Im going to pray for that man, Shreeves said, shaking her head. Im going to give it to God, Long echoed. On a Metro train heading away from the crush downtown, members of Church World Service rested after a long day and a lot of travel. The group is an arm of the National Council of the Churches of Christ that offers relief, development and other assistance to immigrants and refugees. Norah Bagrinka, a genocide survivor from Rwanda who now lives in Ohio, took the oath of citizenship two days before the march, on President Barack Obamas last full day in office, she said. Thirteen years after seeking asylum in the United States, she had hoped to vote in the 2016 election, but the citizenship process took a little too long, she said. I wanted my voice to be heard, Bagrinka said. I wanted a voice for refugee women. People dont understand why we are here. Its not refugees first choice to leave their homes, she said; they do it to escape violence. As an interpreter for the 2005 Oscar-nominated documentary God Sleeps in Rwanda and through her partnerships and her own organization, Refugee Women in Action, she wants to bring women together, she said. We now need to send a message to the other states and keep the culture, Bagrinka said. Other women, without their help, I wouldnt be who I am today. They uplifted me. They encouraged me to go on when it was so hard. So I think we need to keep the courage. If you want to teach a nation, you teach a woman. The King George Sheriffs Office recently honored workers for their assistance in training others how to use a new dispatch system, apprehending a suspected robber and saving the life of an overdose victim. The department answered 28,591 calls for service in 2016, said Sheriff Steve Dempsey. Depty Stephen Patla received a life-saving award for his work on Jan. 3, when he injected a dose of the emergency treatment Narcan into the leg of an unconscious man who had overdosed on opiates. A second dosage was needed, and the man awoke and was transported to the hospital. Patla undoubtedly saved this mans life, Dempsey said. Rhonda Smith, communications director, worked with the countys Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services to implement a new emergency medical dispatch system. After she learned the ins and outs of the system, she trained and certified others. In December, a Virginia State Police audit noted no serious errors in the system, Dempsey said. Smith received a letter of achievement for her efforts while the following workers earned letters of recognition. Lisa King worked with Smith to make sure records are accurate and that supporting documentation is on file. Tina Fenwick and Virginia McDowney trained the countys four new communications officers. Deputy Alison Nowacki and her K-9 partner, Kilo, handled 50 service calls in 2016, in which they found numerous drugs, apprehended an escaped prisoner for State Police and assisted with tracking suspects in other jurisdictions. The deputy has received an award from Mothers Against Drunk Driving for two consecutive years and a 2016 award from the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board for her handling of a critical incident involving a mentally ill patient. During their first year as a team, Deputy Wayland Carter and his K-9 partner, Axel, trained more than 300 hours, were involved in 29 drug finds, apprehended two suspects and helped locate an elderly person who wondered away from home. Deputy Brian Woodring and Deputy Kyle Raines were recognized for quick reactions in three separate incidents. Woodring was involved in a traffic stop that turned into a pursuit, with speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour. His actions led to the disarming of a driver who had been involved in a Caroline County disputethen had gone home to get a gun and was returning to do harm, the sheriff said. Raines located the suspect of a gas station robbery, approached the man and asked for identification. When the suspect ran, Raines chased him until he scaled the fence at the Navy base in Dahlgren. Other units arrived, and the suspect was apprehended. Raines also responded to a night-time burglary, tracked and located the suspect and took him into custody. Oh my God, Im alivebut please dont let me burn, Roberta Bobbi Boucher implored as she hung upside down from the wreckage of her plane, which crashed June 6 in Stafford County. Boucher, 63, of Fredericksburg, said she remembers every single moment of the day of the crash. She recalled being giddy with excitement as she climbed into the single-seat aircraft she had designed in her shop, The Plane Doctor, at Shannon Airport in Spotsylvania County. And she felt comfortable behind the controls of the Duo Deuce. In addition to decades of experience as a certified airframes and power-plants mechanic, she is also a certified aircraft inspector and flight instructor. For Boucher, flying never gets old. The experimental aircraft had been approved by an engineer and Boucher had done all her usual checks prior to boarding, so she felt confident as she steered it onto the runway of Stafford Regional Airport to perform a high-speed taxi. But things quickly started going downhill. She inadvertently lifted off and experienced engine failure. As she approached Interstate 95, her stomach felt like it was in knots. She feared that she would hit the cars and trucks she could see beneath her, driving along the highway. All of a sudden, the plane stalled and began to plummet. I just closed my eyes, she said. I didnt want to see it coming. I think maybe subconsciously I knew that if I could see what was coming, I would tense up. The plane ended up nose-diving into a field of mulch between Centreport Parkway and Interstate 95. She remembers hitting the ground hard, and the plane sliding before coming to an abrupt stop. Then, in what seemed like slow motion, the tail came up until the plane stood straight on its nose. Boucher remembers praying the plane would not tip over, but, within moments, it started to fall. The glass canopy surrounding the cockpit smashed, upside down, into deep mulch. It covered her. My adrenaline was going so fast that time just kind of stopped, and seconds turned into hours, she said. COMPASSION, HEROISM Shortly after the crash, a man jumped over the fence from I95 and ran toward her yelling Are you OK? over and over again. She managed to call out Yes, as she watched fuel gush from the plane and soak the ground around her. Once the man reached the plane, he began trying to dig Boucher out of the mulch. He managed to grab her hand, and give it a squeeze. He kept trying to reassure her by saying, Im here, Im here. Boucher still chokes up when she thinks about the moment when the manwhose identity is still a mystery to hertook her hand in his. She knew, as she dangled upside down, drenched in fuel with coarse mulch matted against her face, that death was imminent if the plane exploded. She needed the touch of another human being to remind her she was not alone. At that point, human contact was a wonderful thing, she said. I wish I knew his name. When fire and rescue personnel arrived, they saw the man, joined by someone from Stafford Airport, furiously pulling at the dirt to free Boucher. The rescue crew told them to stop because the plane was leaking fuel, but the men kept digging. Boucher heard one respond, Im already drenched, it doesnt matter. She describes the moment as the greatest display of human compassion and heroism she has ever witnessed. As emergency personnel worked to free her, they began cutting the planes canopy. Her arm was trapped in the wreckage of it, and she screeched as they inadvertently began sawing into her arm. The noise from the generators made it difficult for them to hear her pleas at first. As fire and rescue workers stood ready with hoses to spray the plane if it caught fire, the rescuers managed to pull Boucher out of the wreckage. She remembers squeezing her eyes against the glare of the sun. She recalls hugging one of the fire and rescue workers and thanking him for saving her. On the way to Mary Washington Hospital in the ambulance, the emergency personnel asked Boucher for the names of her doctors. When she arrived at the hospital, her doctors and friends were gathered just outside the Emergency Room. The surgeon discovered that Bouchers third thoracic vertebrae had been crushed in the accident. After determining that the spinal injury was beyond his expertise, he sent Boucher to a hospital in Richmond. Boucher cannot remember how long she was at MWH, but she does remember being transported to the helicopter that would fly her to Richmond. The crew asked who the patient was and the hospital staff said Bobbi Boucher. Bobbi Boucher of Shannon Airport? they asked. We know Bobbiwe will take good care of her. LONG, SLOW RECOVERY Boucher spent 10 days in the intensive care unit. She had multiple IVs, a feeding tube and several broken bones. Nurses would come in to flip her over every 45 minutes, making it difficult to rest. She also had to undergo many Xrays, which she recalled being ice cold and painful due to her back injury. Despite her age and the severity of her symptoms, Boucher began to heal quickly. At first, she could barely move her left arm and she had severe pain between her shoulder blades when pulling or pushing. She also couldnt walk because of muscle atrophy. I had a feeling my doctors were surprised I was healing so quickly, Boucher said. My body knew what it had to do. But, recovery has been long and slowtoo slow. Full recovery will take a yearand she will probably never completely return to normal, but Boucher can now walk, although she often uses a wheelchair or walker. She can also drive, although it can be difficult. Pushing and pulling continues to be strenuous, which makes her responsibilities at her aircraft repair shop challenging. She gets by with the help of her friend, Linda Knowles, who she met several years ago in Florida at the Air Race Classic, an annual cross-county air race for female pilots. Her injuries have not kept her away from planes. Boucher continues to spend her days in the hangar at the airport where her shop is located. Knowles serves as her hands, and Boucher instructs her on what to do. She has also flown againan experience she described as both unnerving and exhilarating. She went out briefly in a low-wing plane with a copilot. While it was difficult to board the plane, she said it was easier to fly than drive, since air controls dont require the pushing and pulling motions that aggravate her back injury. EAGER TO SOLO AGAIN Boucher has always been independent, so it has been difficult learning to rely on others for help. While she feels grateful she is not paralyzed, she said everything feels different and she is worried about her business. I feel like Im going to lose my shop because of this accident, she said. I have always wanted to go on my terms. But, I wouldnt have this shop without Linda right now, and I still have so many business expenses to pay. Im worried keeping this shop has just become a pipe dream. She says she is grateful to everyone who has supported her. She recalls being blown away by the number of people who came to visit her at the hospital in Richmond. She even heard the hospital had to turn away visitors. Her friend, Andrew Ellison, started a GoFundMe page to assist with her medical expenses. She appreciates the generosity of friends, acquaintances and total strangers who contributed. I spend my days in this little shop working on planes, she said. I didnt realize I had an effect on so many people. But if anyone knows planes, it is Boucher, and her impact on the world of aviation has been far-reaching. Her love of planes began during the early days of her service in the Navy as a jet engine mechanic. She spent several years working on the jet engines of the P2V Neptune, an aircraft designed to hunt submarines, and later, on P-3s. She was able to get her A&P certificate and flight engineer rating while in the Navy. After her military service ended, she worked for Shannon Airport for five years before opening The Plane Doctor in 1983. Her career highlights include a trip to Africa in 1998, at the request of the World Wildlife Foundation to build and fly a Beaver RX 550 ultralight aircraft for the foundation. She arrived in Central Africa just days after a coup, so her host carried a machine gun on the 13-hour journey by truck to the remote destination. She spent 15 days putting together and testing an airplane that would be used to detect elephant hunters who were killing the animals for ivory. The trip had an unfortunate ending. Shortly before Boucher was scheduled to return home, the patched-roof building where the airplane was being stored collapsed, and crushed the airplane. Without new parts, which could take months to get there, the plane was irreparable. After working on something so long, it was hard to lose it, Boucher said. Boucher has also participated in five Air Race Classics, something she hopes to repeat. However, the race is expensive and money is tight, so keeping her shop going will continue to be her main priority. Im looking forward to getting back into an airplane by myself again, she said. Stafford County Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Bart Lace was honored for leading initiatives in the use of firefighter foam and operational response to emergencies involving crashed or disabled aircraft. Lieutenant Matt Warren, the primary coordinator of both the Coats for Kids and Stuff the Bus initiatives for the department, is also the primary point of contact for the Blue Star Mothers group. The group uses the Berea Station to package supplies which are sent to military personnel deployed around the world. Firefighter/Medic Dan Mechling co-coordinated this years Fill the Boot initiative, a partnership between the International Association of Firefighters and the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and is a 2016 graduate of the Northern Virginia Fire and Rescue Leadership Development Institute. RICHMONDVirginia lawmakers are attempting to tackle the states opioid epidemic with a slew of bills that aim to widen the availability of the opiate overdose medication naloxone. We are facing a crisis in Virginia and in the nation, losing more people to opioid overdose than to car crashes, said Rep. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax. She is sponsoring HB 1449, which will allow individuals trained and authorized by the Department of Behavioral Health, in coordination with the Board of Pharmacy, to go into the community with the life-saving antidote naloxone so they can get to the people who are most at risk, Boysko said. Her bill is one of five pieces of legislation this session that seek to make naloxone more available to the public. A standing order for the drug was issued by State Health Commissioner Marissa J. Levine in November, making naloxone available to any Virginian at pharmacies across the state without a prescription. The price is $120 before insurance. Pharmacies may now dispense naloxone without a prescription, but logistical, financial and stigma-related reasons keep some of the most at-risk individuals from getting it there, and many pharmacies do not carry it, said Rep. Dave LaRock, R-Hamilton. He has introduced HB 1453, a bill nearly identical to Boyskos. Even when naloxone is available at a pharmacy, some people will buy the drug without knowing how to properly administer it, rendering the drug ineffective. Programs such as REVIVE!, offered by the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, teach citizens how to use naloxone, but they are not allowed to distribute the drug to participating students once the class is over. Some people may worry that the widened availability of naloxone would encourage opiate users to continue using illegal drugs without fear of death. However, the Behavioral Health Departments website says the drug is not a safety net that allows individuals with opioid-use disorder to continue or increase use because naloxone induces the recipient into withdrawal, which the site says is extremely unpleasant. Last week, the Senate unanimously passed SB 1031, which would add employees of the Virginia Department of Forensic Science and the medical examiners office to the list of people allowed to obtain and administer the opioid antagonist. That bill is awaiting action in the House of Delegates. Boysko said she is optimistic that her bill will be among the legislation passed involving naloxone. I look forward to seeing it pass along with the other legislative efforts so that we can help people get onto the road to recovery, Boysko said. LABELS are limiting by their very nature. But consider these: writers, poets, men, women, athletes, warriors, politicians, presidents, progressives, conservatives, liberals, agitators, conformists, natives, migrants, bluebloods, blue-collar folks, rulers, revolutionaries, founding fathers, Republicans, Democrats. Plus a few figures from antiquity or an occasional character from fiction, thrown in for good measure. Sounds like the rich and varied stew that is humanity. The common denominator here is that each of these individualsand no doubt weve failed to cover all of the categories that one mightmust have led an interesting and consequential life. Thats the idea behind one of the Fredericksburg areas greatest cultural treasuresthe University of Mary Washingtons annual Great Lives lecture series. The 2017 season starts Tuesday evening. Where else can one hear, in a few months, about such a far-ranging group of fascinating figures from biography and history? For free, in person, as explained by fine authors who are authorities on their subjects? One place: Fredericksburg, Virginia, every winter. Thats because the University of Mary Washington, since 2003, has hosted the nations only lecture series to focus solely on historical figures. Steadfastly supported by Philadelphia businessman John Chappell and a slew of local donors, it brings biographers and historians from across our landand sometimes over an oceanto the burg. It is the longest-running such program in America, and much admired by writers who devote themselves to biographiesthe gateway drug to history, as one knowledgeable reader quips. Elsewhere, there is nothing comparable. Here is whos on tap this year: Woodrow Wilson, Frank Sinatra, Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, Nat Turner, John Wayne, Ty Cobb, Douglas MacArthur, Harriet Tubman, George Custer, George Lucas, Pauli Murray and Eleanor Roosevelt, Hawaiis Queen Liliuokalani, Mark Twain, Russian nobles Nicholas and Alexandra, Salems witches, Andrew Jackson, Nero and Caligula, Agatha Christie, and Virginias Jeffersons and Hemingses. (Some timely names in that list!) Three Pulitzer Prize winners will be among the speakers, to hint at the caliber of 2017s presenters. But an author, of course, doesnt need that notoriety to offer inspiration, provoke thought and rivet listeners. Our region is incredibly fortunate to have such erudite writers share their research and insights with us. Especially now, at a point in Americas public conversation when a compassionate view of human endeavor seems so essential. Knowing some history is always wise. People in the present always need to learn from what worked, and what didnt, in the past. And, we argue, to question everything. More than ever, civilization needs creative, well-sourced and well-debated ideas, inventions, actions and political thoughts. But enough musing. The main thing is to suggest that you head over to UMWs Dodd Auditorium and hear what a Great Lives author has to say, particularly if youve never done so. Its a marvelous way to shake off winter doldrums, animate your thoughts and enjoy others company. Wed be remiss to close without noting that the program, formerly known as the Chappell Lecture Series, was recently renamed the William B. Crawley Lecture Series for its director and co-founder, the UMW history professor emeritus. Mr. Chappell, who recently pledged support for another five years of talks, insisted on that honor. If we identify the series more closely with its champion, that might be something important for Great Lives, he told a ballroom full of lecture-series enthusiasts last month. Think of what [Dr. Crawley] has accomplished over 13 years and more than 200 wonderful lectures, and how many people he has sent home into wintry evenings in Fredericksburg feeling wonderful about what they have heard, he said. The 14th season kicks off Tuesday with a presentation on one of the nations most significant and controversial presidents, Woodrow Wilson. The speaker, David O. Stewart, is an attorney and historian who has written best-selling works of fiction and nonfiction. At Great Lives, he has spoken previously on John Wilkes Booth and Aaron Burr. Stewart, author of the historical novel The Wilson Deception, speaks at 7:30 p.m. in George Washington Hall. No tickets are required. We thank series co-founders Crawley and Carter Hudgins, the Chappell family, other supporters and UMW staff members for delivering this nonpareil to our doorstep. Hacking allegations must be taken seriously Recent columns by Donnie Johnston and a few letters to the editor reflect a dangerously casual attitude toward CIA allegations of Russian attempts to influence our last election. Like President Trump, they impulsively dismissed the allegations, claiming that there is no evidence of actual influence and that Russian espionage is nothing new. They are right to a degree; like suicide, the result of this election appears self-inflicted. However, they do not understand the bigger picture. Knowing whether or not Russia attempted to influence the election should concern all rational, patriotic Americans. Today, its the unique nature of these illicit attempts, not the immediate results, that should concern us. The hacking allegations may be an indicator that Russia is using more sophisticated techniques to negatively influence our discourse on national issues. Even if Russia failed in 2016, what about future elections? When our national intelligence agencies are unanimously alarmed, we owe our posterity a full investigation. These allegations may foreshadow more advanced threats to come. Dismissing them without proper vetting requires one to ignore more history with Russia than is prudent, and abandon more reason than is wise. Should we take the CIAs word with a grain of salt? Absolutely, but the only way to do it responsibly is to air the evidence in Congress for public consumption and debate. Now that President Trump reportedly accepts the CIA findings to some degree, perhaps he will construct a response that provides actual leadership instead of sophomoric social-media insults. Nevertheless, I imagine that more obstinate Trump supporters will still urge the nation to move on, calling these allegations much ado about nothing. If so, lets hope that history wont have a reason to call their dubiously premature denials treason. Now that really would be deplorable, right, Donnie? Michael Brown Locust Grove Free Freightnet Membership List your company in the Freightnet directory. It's Free, it's Easy and your company can be displayed in front of potential freight buyers within 24 hours. Farm charities are among the beneficiaries who have received 670,000 in grant support this month from the Princes Countryside Fund Established by the Prince of Wales in 2010, the fund aims to improve the prospects of family farm businesses and the quality of rural life. The fund has announced it will be supporting 19 projects across the UK through its grants programme, which has awarded more than 8m since it was founded. See also: Resilient farmers benefit society, says Prince Charles Farming-related beneficiaries include the Pasture Fed Livestock Association (40,500), the Farming Life Centre (13,147) and the Farming Community Network (27,475)/ Recipients in Lancashire include Myerscough College (30,600). Meanwhile, in neighbouring Yorkshire, the Farm Network received 49,520. In south-west England, the Devon Cattle Breeders Society was given 24,000 and the Dartmoor Hill Farm Project got 44,000. Scotland In Scotland, the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society (SOAS) received 50,000. Fund chairman and Northumberland farmer Lord Curry of Kirkharle said it was vital to support fragile rural and farming communities. He said: We are delighted to be able to support such a wide range of innovative projects that will provide a lasting legacy in so many rural areas. The next five years would be critical for rural communities, said Lord Curry. Against a background of growing uncertainty, our grant programme provides essential support to people living and working in the countryside. Rural communities need to be prioritised. It is easy to forget just how much we depend on rural businesses and family farms. Just a few months ago, the congregation I serve unanimously adopted a set of tenets statements about our church that they discussed and reworked in small groups for several weeks. These nine tenets are intended to state plainly the shared values and intentions of our church community a congregation frequently troubled by the actions and voices of people who view or practice the Christian faith so very differently. I offer these tenets here, not to disparage other viewpoints, but to spell out clearly what we believe it means to follow Jesus (and what we know many other Christians believe as well). If you are skimming this article, I think you will find Nos. 3, 4, 6 and 7 to be somewhat unexpected and worth noting in that many people might be surprised by the idea that Christians might hold such perspectives. Tenets of First United Methodist Church, Corvallis (adopted October 2016) The people of First United Methodist Church Corvallis share these understandings 1. We are committed to deepening our trust in the unconditional love of God, shown to us through the life and teachings of Jesus. We celebrate that this great love is open to everyone. 2. Among the ways we experience this love of God is through sharing in worship, music, service, study, intergenerational friendships, common meals, play, and opening our space to others. All are invited. 3. The Bible is our sacred text, filled with stories and teachings that rose out of faithful peoples experiences of God and of Jesus. While we do not see all aspects of the Bible as factual or literally true, we believe scripture holds many great truths. 4. We share a faith journey grounded in questions and the search for understanding rather than in certainty and absolute answers. For this journey we draw upon experience, reason, history, as well as traditional and current scholarship. 5. Following Jesus is both life-changing and difficult, requiring constant resistance to self-interest and apathy. As a community of children, youth, and adults we are a work in progress, learning to love more fully. 6. While following Jesus is one way to know and experience the love of God, we respect and appreciate other peoples spiritual journeys. 7. We know that the truest, fullest expression of what we believe about God is revealed in how we behave toward others and ourselves. Therefore, we work for a less violent world, a healthier planet, human rights, and economic justice. While we minister directly with many who struggle, we also aim to correct the root causes of these concerns. Often we work in collaboration with other organizations and faith communities. 8. Led by the Spirit of God, we strive to be open, honest, and faithful as we support each other in the particular work we feel called to do the varied ways we put our faith into action through respectful words and deeds. 9. We are learning to laugh more and not take ourselves too seriously, trying to be positive, creative, and forgiving in our lives together. I should add that we really mean it when we choose words like all and everyone. Our church is open to people no matter ones economic or social status, age or skin color, mental capacities or personal history, gender identity or sexual orientation or anything else that can be used to label people and create division. Finally, I must say that we do fully recognize the distance between our reality and the ideal of our intentions and thats why No. 9 is important! I felt the crush of tens of thousands of marchers yesterday in Washington, D.C., and momentarily flashed back to my first political rally. It was 1968, I was 12, and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy spoke to an enthusiastic audience of a couple thousand Portlanders in a high school gym. Back to this present-day crush of an estimated half-million people from throughout the country, I felt a bit like Dorothy when she said, Toto, Ive a feeling we're not in Kansas any more. Unlike that 1968 Portland crowd, these marchers came from throughout the country to share diverse viewpoints often imprinted, etched, silkscreened and painted on posters, buttons, hats, T-shirts, flags and banners. I even saw one emblazoned cape. Though we strained to hear an occasional phrase or line from people speaking at a far-off stage, the messages that reaffirmed my decision to endure a red-eye flight across the country came from those signs proudly held high. Just days after last falls election, I started making plans to attend the march, scrapping my hopeful pre-Nov. 8 plan to take my daughter Marissa to the inauguration. I wanted us to be part of something bigger, something historic, something positive. I also sought affirmation that my vision for America the vision that fueled my support for Hillary Clinton was not an out-of-touch vision of a "liberal elite." The signs did that. Some were bold and brassy. Others oozed sarcasm and irony. Some blasted the new president, while others mocked his fascination with twitter and his mile-wide ego. More often than not, however, carefully chosen words pleaded passionately for justice and equality, offered promises of love and hope, warned of frightening consequences of this new administration, or challenged marchers to take action beyond this march. "Women's rights are human rights." "Only love can drive out hate." "Nasty women will not be silenced." "You can't delete my voice." Keep your tiny hands off public lands. "What are you going to do tomorrow?" As I inched along with the crowd toward the Washington Monument, one simple, hand-lettered sign seemed to state the common theme of this gathering: This is what democracy looks like. Yes, it is. And what it sounds like. And what it feels like. And why those of us who marched in D.C. and all over the country Saturday will not just get over it. We cant. There is too much work to do. Protests in Bonn : Anti-Trump demo and Sister Womens March Demonstrators joined an anti-Trump rally and the Bonn Sister March to the Womens March on Washington DC on Saturday afternoon. Foto: Lisa Kelley Bonn Demonstrators joined an anti-Trump rally and the Bonn Sister March to the Womens March in Washington DC on Saturday afternoon. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken The inauguration of the new US president Donald Trump on 20 January prompted people to take to the streets in Bonn as well as in America. Protesters gathered for an anti-Trump demonstration on Saturday, 21 January at 2pm at the Kaiserplatz in the centre of Bonn. The demonstration was organised by the Bonn Youth Movement, which sees the election of Donald Trump as a sign of a worldwide swing to the right, that also affects Germany and against which there is a need to act. The hundred or so participants marched from Kaiserplatz to the main train station and down Poststrae to the Marktplatz. A bus carrying the Bonn Carnival prince and princess to an event at the same time was unable to get through the crowd of people and the Prince and his Bonna had to make their way on foot. The demonstrators then marched along Sternstrae to Friedensplatz. Apart from the Carnival royal couples bus, traffic was only slightly affected and the demonstration was peaceful. Nearly 200 people joined Saturdays Bonn Sister March to the Womens March on Washington DC, organised by American Sonja Seitamo. Participants gathered at 2.30pm on Martin Luther King Strae before marching through the Rheinaue. The demonstration had a truly international flavour, with participants from Germany, America, England, Holland and Spain among other countries. Demonstrators said they were marching for peace, inclusivity, for their children and for the climate. Two students even cycled from Cologne to join and make a statement. For many it was their first ever march, others were demonstrating for the first time since the Cold War. Seitamo said she was delighted and touched so many people joined her to speak up for their beliefs. Foto: Lisa Kelley Demonstrators joined an anti-Trump rally and the Bonn Sister March to the Womens March on Washington DC on Saturday afternoon. zuruck weiter NASTY! South African Woman Arrested For Trying To have Sex With Her Son - Photos nametalkam at 22-01-2017 11:07 AM (5 years ago) (m) When asked why the 36-year-old woman would engage in such a public show, she immediately blamed it on having too much alcohol she had consumed during the day saying: I wouldnt do that with a sober mind we all know that, I love my son as much as I love myself, I respect him too and Im proudly a ZCC church goer, Im a respected figure too at my church and my community, I would like to take this moment to apologize for what happened, I promise it wont happen again. In Durban, South Africa, a mother has been arrested for allegedly trying to practice sleeping with her 10-year-old son in front of many people at the beach. The video which has been circulating on social media captures the moment the 10-year-old son is seen removing the womans underwear before climbing on top of her at a crowded beach as people watched.I wouldnt do that with a sober mind we all know that, I love my son as much as I love myself, I respect him too and Im proudly a ZCC church goer,Im a respected figure too at my church and my community, I would like to take this moment to apologize for what happened, I promise it wont happen again. Post Reply I specialize in investigative reportage across several subject matter and sectors but mainly focus on metro events and investigation. Do leave your thoughts and opinion on my reports to let me know what you think about them. Thank you Posted: at 22-01-2017 11:07 AM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero akinmanchy at 22-01-2017 12:06 PM (5 years ago) (m) Na wetin too much alcohol dey cause Life na jeje so just try to take am softly Posted: at 22-01-2017 12:06 PM (5 years ago) | Hero Na wetin too much alcohol dey cause Reply akinmanchy at 22-01-2017 12:08 PM (5 years ago) (m) But on second thought u must have had a little bit of this barbaric act in ur mind b4 alcohol took charge. For this reason u must face a severe penalty Life na jeje so just try to take am softly Posted: at 22-01-2017 12:08 PM (5 years ago) | Hero But on second thought u must have had a little bit of this barbaric act in ur mind b4 alcohol took charge. For this reason u must face a severe penalty Reply Tripleflash at 22-01-2017 12:25 PM (5 years ago) (m) Ohh..all of a sudden d alcohol dissappeared n yu started talkyn lyk a sane person abi. Kip decievyn ursef. Rubbish! Posted: at 22-01-2017 12:25 PM (5 years ago) | Upcoming Ohh..all of a sudden d alcohol dissappeared n yu started talkyn lyk a sane person abi. Kip decievyn ursef. Rubbish! Reply james987 at 22-01-2017 01:16 PM (5 years ago) (m) When better guys or men go dey ask una out,una go dey form,now e dun scratch you till na sacrilege you wan commit.. For how long this dun dey go on? ? I mean inside house. Nonsense Posted: at 22-01-2017 01:16 PM (5 years ago) | Hero When better guys or men go dey ask una out,una go dey form,now e dun scratch you till na sacrilege you wan commit.. For how long this dun dey go on?? I mean inside house. Nonsense Reply gogoman at 22-01-2017 01:20 PM (5 years ago) (m) she don dey do am for house tay tay Posted: at 22-01-2017 01:20 PM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero she don dey do am for house tay tay Reply james987 at 22-01-2017 01:43 PM (5 years ago) (m) Quote from: gogoman on 22-01-2017 01:20 PM she don dey do am for house tay tay Ofcos if not why the small boy no go fear to pull em mum under wears?. Seems like na wetin she dey always ask am to do for house when them dey alone or at nites. Just dey destroy 10yr old pikin future Posted: at 22-01-2017 01:43 PM (5 years ago) | Hero Ofcos if not why the small boy no go fear to pull em mum under wears?. Seems like na wetin she dey always ask am to do for house when them dey alone or at nites. Just dey destroy 10yr old pikin future Reply beneno at 22-01-2017 01:57 PM (5 years ago) (m) Poster you said the Video has been Circulating and I wonder why you didn't post the Circulating video along with the news Posted: at 22-01-2017 01:57 PM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero Poster you said the Video has been Circulating and I wonder why you didn't post the Circulating video along with the news Reply owolaborn at 22-01-2017 03:46 PM (5 years ago) (m) where is da video? Posted: at 22-01-2017 03:46 PM (5 years ago) | Upcoming where is da video? Reply zeigbo at 22-01-2017 04:08 PM (5 years ago) (m) Evil everywhere They can close the door against me but can't stop me frm coming in Posted: at 22-01-2017 04:08 PM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero Evil everywhere Reply onyeozo at 22-01-2017 04:11 PM (5 years ago) (m) which kind alcohol be that, The thing dey her mind since Posted: at 22-01-2017 04:11 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac which kind alcohol be that, The thing dey her mind since Reply xspraise at 22-01-2017 07:04 PM (5 years ago) (m) Alomo don dey work I am Victor, I write reportage on sport news and latest metro happenings in Nigeria. Posted: at 22-01-2017 07:04 PM (5 years ago) | Hero Alomo don dey work Reply uchedibie at 22-01-2017 08:38 PM (5 years ago) (m) this world is becoming a serious something Posted: at 22-01-2017 08:38 PM (5 years ago) | Newbie this world is becoming a serious something Reply chukkychukky at 22-01-2017 08:40 PM (5 years ago) (m) too bad Joramentity aka chukkychukky Posted: at 22-01-2017 08:40 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac too bad Reply crocatum at 22-01-2017 10:02 PM (5 years ago) (m) no, in fact sleep with a horse, because you had too much akalol Posted: at 22-01-2017 10:02 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac no, in fact sleep with a horse, because you had too much akalol Reply tommy70 at 22-01-2017 11:53 PM (5 years ago) (m) Posted: at 22-01-2017 11:53 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac Reply DeboNero at 23-01-2017 08:24 AM (5 years ago) (m) She should b shot!!! Posted: at 23-01-2017 08:24 AM (5 years ago) | Upcoming She should b shot!!! Reply kachasi at 23-01-2017 08:55 AM (5 years ago) (m) i dont know what the world is turning into now Posted: at 23-01-2017 08:55 AM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac i dont know what the world is turning into now Reply Oways at 23-01-2017 10:24 AM (5 years ago) (m) They are into it for long now Posted: at 23-01-2017 10:24 AM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac They are into it for long now Reply Xiaomi Redmi Note 4: Reasons you should get this smartphone Features oi -Samden Sherpa Carrying on the legacy of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is the new Redmi Note 4 Well, if you have been in touch with the latest happenings in the smartphone domain then you might as well know that Xiaomi one of the popular Chinese brands has just announced its first smartphone for India in 2017. The announced device is the much anticipated Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 which is the successor to the Redmi Note 3 which has been a game changer smartphone for the company. In fact, the Redmi Note 3 has been a disruptive smartphone in the budget smartphone category. And now carrying on the legacy of the Redmi Note 3 will be the Redmi Note 4. The new smartphone seems to come with a well-rounded update and this should be a good buy for someone looking for a low budget primary phone or for someone who is looking for a backup phone. Besides, the smartphone will be going on sale from 23rd January on Flipkart and on the company's official website mi.com. SEE ALSO: Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 review: Xiaomi's budget legacy continues So if you are wondering or still deciding whether to buy the smartphone or not, here are some reasons that you should get the smartphone. Premium Look It is one of the few smartphones in the budget segment that looks great and comes with a good metal finish. The build quality looks quite sturdy, safe and dependable. Also, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 does come in three color variants which are gold, silver, and a matte black. The choice of color that Xiaomi has put in does lend the smartphone solidity and good looks. Display The Redmi Note 4 comes with a 5.5-inch screen with a resolution of 1920x1080p. So the big-screen will provide ample space for reading e-books, web browsing, movie playback and will make gaming fun. All in all the display looks good. Furthermore, the Redmi note 4 does offer numerous modes for useful customization options. Incredible battery life Well, with the Redmi line of smartphones the battery life has always been great and the Redmi Note 4 obviously comes with better performing battery. It has a 4,100mAh battery and this is surprisingly a larger battery compared to some flagships out there. And as per the company, the new battery is 25 percent better than the Redmi Note 3. That being said you can already guess how the battery will perform. SEE ALSO: Weekly Roundup: Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, Lenovo Phab 2 Pro, Vivo V5 Plus,Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro and more Performance The smartphone comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 eight-core processor which many might have viewed as a downgrade compared to the Snapdragon 650 on the Redmi Note 3. However, that is not the case. Just to clear the air, the Snapdragon 625 has been built on a 14nm manufacturing process as opposed to a 28nm process for the Snapdragon 650. So 650 might be theoretically faster but the Snapdragon 625 consumes less power and reduces latency. Now, if you combine higher RAM and a slightly better optimized operating system you will get a phone which is a better performer. Throwing some more technical stuff at you, the 625 also has better thermals meaning it never gets over heated even while intensive usage. 7 interesting ways to use your smartphone Software While Xiaomi has mentioned that new updates will be available soon, as of now the Redmi Note 4 runs Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) with Xiaomi's multi-featured MIUI 8 user interface over it. The UI does come with some great customization options and the flexibility to change the look and feel of the phone is cool. Great Value Phone for Everyone The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 is being offered in three models with 2GB RAM and 32GB storage, a model with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage and the model with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. And for all the smartphones you have to pay less than Rs 15,000. The phone provides great value for money. Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals Best Mobiles in India Trump to CIA: 'I Am So Behind You' By Mary Alice Salinas January 21, 2017 President Donald Trump, who has sharply criticized the U.S. intelligence community, told workers at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on Saturday, "I am so behind you." Trump delivered remarks at the agency's headquarters in Langley, Virginia, on Saturday, his first full day as U.S. president. "I know maybe sometimes you haven't gotten the backing that you wanted and you're going to get so much backing. Maybe you're going to say, 'please don't give us so much backing,'" said the newly sworn-in leader, prompting laughter. CIA officials said about 400 CIA staff members were present for the president's remarks. Trump made clear the fight against Islamic State will be a top priority and that his administration will ramp up America's approach. "We've been fighting these wars for longer than any wars we've ever fought," he said. "We have not used the real abilities that we have, we've been restrained. We have to get rid of ISIS, have to get rid of ISIS. We have no choice." ISIS is an acronym for Islamic State. 'Olive branch' The president's visit was an apparent bid to mend fences and meet with top security officials, according to analysts. "It's kind of an olive branch for the intelligence community," said Aki Peritz, a former CIA counterterrorism analyst and coauthor of Find, Fix, Finish: Inside the Counterterrorism Campaigns That Killed bin Laden and Devastated Al Qaeda. Intelligence officials have argued that Trump's disparaging remarks about spy agencies and their work has hurt staff morale. "The CIA employees are all pretty smart people, they're professionals, they're well-educated," said Peritz. "One kumbaya speech is not going to really change their grave concerns that they're having with the current president." For months, Trump refused to side with CIA and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conclusions that Russia hacked the Democratic National Convention in a bid to meddle in U.S. elections, in part to boost his chance of winning. It was not until a January 11 press conference that Trump conceded "I think it was Russia" who carried out the DNC hacking, but later added it may have also been someone else, including China. The new U.S. president has continued to reject claims Moscow carried out the attacks to undermine his former Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and to help propel him in the White House. He has also repeatedly noted the agencies' previous errors and suggested the U.S. intelligence community may have leaked an unsubstantiated report that Russia has compromising information about him. During his remarks Saturday, Trump said the reason for his stop is his "long-running war with the media," whom he said "made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community." 'Total star' nominated to lead Trump's CIA visit comes after congressional Democrats succeeded in stalling until Monday Senate consideration of Trump's choice for CIA director, Representative Mike Pompeo. Republican lawmakers denounced the delay and noted that it leaves the spy agency leaderless over the weekend. Trump hailed Pompeo, telling CIA staff his nominee is the clear choice for the job. "You will be getting a total star. You're going to be getting a total gem," he said. Another former CIA official questioned why the president visited the agency on a weekend. Typically, such visits are made during the week when the greatest number of workers are present. Often, a receiving line is also formed to greet staff members. "There's a real effort orchestrated so that it is a morale-boosting visit," said Carmen Medina, former CIA Deputy Director of Intelligence. "It's conceivable that it could be about some sort of national security and intelligence issue, that either the president has requested a briefing or the intelligence community has suggested he receive a briefing," she said. Before his visit to the CIA, the newly-installed president along with his family and Vice President Mike Pence and Pence's wife, Karen attended a prayer service at Washington National Cathedral. Early Saturday, Trump took to Twitter to express gratitude to the American people for participating in Friday's inauguration activities and to thank the news media for the generally favorable reviews of his inauguration speech. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Inherent Resolve Strikes Target ISIL in Syria, Iraq From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release SOUTHWEST ASIA, Jan. 21, 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 yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports. Strikes in Syria Attack, bomber and fighter aircraft conducted 22 strikes consisting of 28 engagements in Syria: -- Near Abu Kamal, two strikes destroyed two oil wellheads. -- Near Raqqa, 16 strikes engaged six ISIL tactical units; destroyed six fighting positions, two supply caches, an oil wellhead and a mortar system; damaged two supply routes; and suppressed five ISIL tactical units. -- Near Tanf, a strike destroyed two fighting positions. -- Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes destroyed two oil refinement stills, an oil wellhead and an oil storage tank. Strikes in Iraq Attack, bomber, fighter and rotary aircraft conducted four strikes consisting of 21 engagements in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government: -- Near Kirkuk, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL-held building and a supply cache. -- Near Kisik, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and damaged two vehicles. -- Near Mosul, two strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit; destroyed 29 watercraft, three fighting positions, two vehicles, a mortar system, a light machine gun and an anti-air artillery system; and damaged eight supply routes. Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike. Part of Operation Inherent Resolve The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat it poses to Iraq, Syria, the region and the wider international community. The destruction of targets in Syria and Iraq further limits ISIL's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Libya, Neighbors Hold Talks in Cairo to End Country's Crisis By Edward Yeranian January 21, 2017 Rival Libyan leaders met Saturday in Cairo with diplomats from seven neighboring states to discuss forming a new government acceptable to all parties. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told journalists that further talks would take place in Algeria next week. Diplomatic talks between rival Libyan leaders and representatives of Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan, Algeria, Chad, Niger and Mali ended Saturday with an agreement to hold further discussions next week in Algeria. Behind-the-scenes meetings between key players in the Libya negotiations, including army general Khalifa Hafter, also have been taking place. Hafter, who commands Libyan military forces in the eastern part of the country, is opposed by political figures close to the Muslim Brotherhood. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri, who coordinated the talks, stressed that Cairo was waiting for the new Trump administration to gain its bearings before discussing the Libya situation and other regional issues: He said Egypt is waiting for new U.S. officials to be in place in order to come up with a common position to deal with chronic regional problems, including Libya. Egypt and most of the six other regional states present at the gathering have been calling for the lifting of the U.N. arms embargo placed on the military under the command of General Hafter. Foreign Minister Shoukri argued that General Hafter's forces are the country's national army and that the U.N. embargo should be lifted so that it can carry out its duties. U.N. special envoy for Libya Martin Kobler, who was also at the talks, told Arab media he thinks General Hafter should "play a role" in any solution to the Libyan conflict. Hafter, who is supported by the Libyan parliament in Tobruk, is opposed by a number of Islamist figures in the "unity government" of Fayez al-Saraj. Libyan political analyst Abdel Wahab Laytan told Arab media he thinks rival Libyan leaders who attended the Cairo talks agreed on the need for a compromise. He said most Libyan leaders are eager to put an end to the current political impasse in the country, but they disagreed over the details of a compromise. Fayez al-Saraj's government, which has had friction with other political factions in the capital, Tripoli, has yet to be officially approved by the parliament in Tobruk. U.N. envoy Kobler stressed that he "hoped that 2017 would be the year of resolution for the Libyan conflict, and not just a time for more talks." Algeria's representative to the talks indicated that most of Libya's neighbors "would like to see greater stability in the country to put a stop to terrorism originating in Libya, as well as illegal migration." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Alarmed at destruction in Syria's Palmyra, UN Security Council reiterates need to stamp out hatred and violence espoused by ISIL 20 January 2017 Amid the destruction of cultural heritage in Syria, including that of the famed tetrapylon and parts of the Roman theatre in Palmyra by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh), the United Nations Security Council has reiterated that the terrorist group must be defeated and that the intolerance, violence, and hatred it espouses must be stamped out. In a statement today, the 15-member Council also expressed alarm at reports of executions in the historic theater of Palmyra and expressed deep concern for the safety of thousands of residents inside the city as well as for the protection of the World Heritage site of Palmyra. It also expressed concern that ISIL and other entities associated with Al-Qaida "have generated income from engaging directly or indirectly in the looting and smuggling of cultural heritage items from archaeological sites, museums, libraries, archives, and other sites in Syria, which is being used to support their recruitment efforts and to strengthen their operational capability to organize and carry out terrorist attacks." The Security Council also underlined the need to bring perpetrators of these acts to justice. Earlier today, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had also condemned the destruction in the Syrian city and called on the international community to "stand united against cultural cleansing." The agency along with the Operational Satellite Programme (UNOSAT) at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) had confirmed the destruction. An oasis in the Syrian desert, northeast of Damascus, Palmyra contains monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centers of the ancient world. From the 1st to the 2nd century, the art and architecture of Palmyra, standing at the crossroads of several civilizations, married Greco-Roman techniques with local traditions and Persian influences. Palmyra, however, has been on the list of World Heritage in Danger since 2013. Calling the destruction "a new war crime and an immense loss for the Syrian people and for humanity," UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova underlined that "the protection of heritage is inseparable from the protection of human lives, and we must all unite to put this at the center of all efforts to build peace." "This new blow against cultural heritage, just a few hours after [] reports of mass executions in the theatre, shows that cultural cleansing led by violent extremists is seeking to destroy both human lives and historical monuments in order to deprive the Syrian people of its past and its future," she added. The tetrapylon was a monument marking a major road intersection along the colonnaded street of Palmyra. According to the UN cultural agency, it was a testimony to the grandeur of the era around 270 AD, during which Queen Zenobia had reached the height of her power. Recalling its significance, Ms. Bokova said "the tetrapylon was an architectural symbol of the spirit of the encounter and openness of Palmyra and this is also one of the reasons why it has been destroyed. Its position and shape are unique in ancient architecture and testified to the specificity of Palmyrene identity, as a source of pride and dignity for all Syrians today." UNESCO further noted that according to satellite images, Palmyra's theatre dating from the 2nd century AD and built in the center of a semicircular colonnaded piazza, to the southwest of the main colonnaded street also suffered damage at its formerly well-preserved proscenium wall, decorated with ten curved and nine rectangular niches placed alternately. In 2015, condemning the destruction and smuggling of cultural heritage in Syria and Iraq by ISIL and the Al-Nusrah Front, Security Council adopted a resolution that, among others, banned all trade in looted antiquities from those countries. It also encouraged steps to ensure such items are returned to their homelands, and called on UNESCO, Interpol, and other international organizations to assist in such efforts. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkish Parliament Approves Draft Bill On Expanding Presidential Powers January 21, 2017 The Turkish parliament approved a draft bill early on January 21 that would dramatically expand the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and pave the way for a referendum on changing the constitution later this year. The government says the proposals -- which will create an executive presidency for the first time in modern Turkey -- will ensure a simpler and more effective administration, critics say it will give Erdogan more unchecked power. The 18-article draft constitution was approved with 339 votes in the 550 member assembly. At least 330 deputies -- a three-fifths majority -- were needed to adopt the bill. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has a comfortable majority in the parliament. The changes won the support of most deputies from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which has been accused of taking bribes from the AKP. The reform would allow Erdogan to issue decrees, declare emergency rule, appoint ministers and top state officials, and dissolve the parliament. Erdogan became president in 2014, after over a decade as prime minister and has been accused by critics of increasing authoritarianism with the arrest and dismissal of tens of thousands of police, judges, military officers, journalists, and academics since a failed coup attempt on July 15. Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/turkey-draft-bill-expanding -presidential-powers/28248287.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Kyiv Urges Trump To Keep Sanctions On Russia Christopher Miller January 21, 2017 KYIV -- Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak has urged U.S. President Donald Trump to continue providing his crisis-stricken country with political and military assistance, urging Trump to continue sanctions against Russia to deter "further escalation" of the war in eastern Ukraine by the Kremlin. In an exclusive interview with RFE/RL on January 21, a day after Trump's inauguration, Poltorak said it is "very important for Ukraine to have the political backing of the United States" and for Trump to "keep sanctions imposed against Russia in place, as this is one of the major aspects that is deterring any further escalation on the part of President [Vladimir] Putin." Poltorak said lifting sanctions would send a dangerous signal to Russia and other countries that violate international law -- possibly bringing "chaos to the world" -- because it suggests they will likely face minimal consequences for future illegalities. He suggested that Russia would be enticed to seize more Ukrainian territory or even invade a NATO-member country. Trump, who has spoken admiringly of Putin, told The Wall Street Journal recently that he plans to keep the sanctions in place "at least a period of time," but suggested he would consider lifting them if Russia helps the United States fight terrorists. The Obama administration first imposed sanctions against Russia after it invaded and illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula in 2014. Obama hit Moscow with more sanctions in January in response to Russia's alleged hacking during the U.S. election. "If you get along and if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebody's doing some really great things?" Trump told The Wall Street Journal. Poroshenko Hopeful Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 20, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he remains "hopeful to continue fruitful Ukraine-USA cooperation and expect Transatlantic unity." Eighteen countries have provided Ukraine with military-related assistance. Poltorak said most foreign assistance has come from the United States, Britain, Canada, and Lithuania in the form of military training and military equipment. Washington's assistance has included more than $1.3 billion in assistance, including the cost of training and equipment, since 2014. Only Lithuania has provided Ukraine with small arms and ammunition, Poltorak said. While it remains to be seen whether Trump will continue supporting Ukraine, other allies have promised their continued support. Britain's Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said in Kyiv on January 20 that Britain "stands firm" with Ukraine and would continue training its military. More than 9,750 people have been killed in Ukraine's fight against Russia-backed separatists in the country's eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, according to the United Nations. Russia denies supporting the separatists with money, weapons, and soldiers despite an overwhelming amount of evidence. U.S. Assistance 'Critical' A peace deal meant to end the conflict, known as the Minsk accord, has been violated on an almost daily basis since a second version of it was agreed in February 2015. Security monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) documented more than 300,000 cease-fire violations in 2016, Principal Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug told RFE/RL last week. Poltorak told RFE/RL the only way to end the conflict is through political and diplomatic means, "but these means are only possible if [Ukraine] will have a powerful army." He said significant progress has been made since early 2014 in modernizing Ukraine's 250,000 -strong armed forces. The country had just 5,000 to 6,000 combat-ready troops when the conflict broke out in 2014. Ukraine also has been producing new tanks and refurbishing old ones, as well as producing its own unmanned fighting vehicles and aerial drones. Still, Poltorak said, U.S. assistance especially assistance with troop training was critical for Ukraine. "Unfortunately, we cannot influence whatever decisions [Trump] might take or not take" in regard to U.S. assistance for Ukraine, Poltorak said. Regardless, Poltorak said, "we will protect our own country to the very end." "What I can be sure of is that Putin and his forces won't have an easy walk around the territory of Ukraine," Poltorak concluded. Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-urges-trump-keep- sanctions-russia/28248805.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Edge data centres will account for most of the telecom server market growth and is projected to reach US$14 billion by 2026 according to a new report from DellOro Group. Danville Community College and DCCs African American Culture Club hosted guest speaker Emma Edmunds on Jan.17, for the colleges observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Edmunds, a King Scholar and curator of the traveling exhibit 1963 Danville Civil Rights Movement: the Protests, the People, the Stories, shared some of the historic accounts of that movement in a multimedia presentation in DCCs Oliver Hall. She has been formally researching the history of civil rights in Danville since 1998, when she received a Virginia Foundation for the Humanities Residential Fellowship. As a Halifax County native, Edmunds said she was shocked to learn of the protests, arrests and other historically significant events that took place in Danville from 1945 to 1975 and that she wanted to know more about the history that shaped her community. Kyesha Jennings, DCC English professor and advisor of the African American Culture Club, said that it is important to educate students and the local public about Danvilles role in the 1960s civil rights movement. Danville has a rich civil rights history that is not talked about or celebrated enough. We need to acknowledge the progress the city of Danville has made over the years as a result of the commitment of local civil rights leaders both black and white, Jennings said. Telling the stories is also a way of saying thank you for what you have done to those who were committed to creating change, even if they are no longer physically with us today. Edmunds presentation included a recorded audio performance of Legend of Danville, a song written by Matthew Jones, which details the events that took place in the summer of 1963. The lecture ended with a recitation of the Birmingham Pledge, a grassroots effort to recognize the worth of every individual by making a personal, daily commitment to remove prejudice from our own lives and to treat all people with dignity and respect, as stated on thebirminghampledge.org. On Jan. 18, students, faculty, and staff visited Edmunds exhibit currently on display at the Danvillian Gallery on North Union Street. DCC also participated in MLK Day of Service held at Averett Universitys North Campus on Jan. 16. The event featured art, story, and photography contests. Jennings said she was pleased with the attendance for the talk on Tuesday. Understanding the unique challenges our students face made the turnout even more rewarding. They often have to balance school, work and their family lives, Jennings explained. For more information about DCCs African American Culture Club and to find out about upcoming Black History Month events at the college, contact Kyesha Jennings at (434) 797-8549 or kjennings@dcc.vccs.edu. Recently, author August Wallmeyer penned two editorial series, one for the Richmond Times-Dispatch and one upcoming for the Roanoke Times focusing on his new book, The Extremes of Virginia. He correctly identifies that there are two separate and unequal commonwealths, as many of us are well aware. There is NoVa, Virginia near and north of I-64, plus near and east of I-81 and west of the Chesapeake Bay; and the rest of Virginia, RoVa. This pattern is no different than any other state in the union. It exists everywhere. NoVa has benefited from large public investments in two areas during the 20th Century: research and development (at places such as universities and federal facilities) and advanced manufacturing facilities (such as ship yards). NoVa is prosperous. Much of RoVa stayed in the old, low-skill, low-wage economy (mining, furniture, textiles and natural resource-based enterprises). RoVa fell behind NoVa, in part because of the decisions made locally as well as in Richmond and Washington, but also by local governments. Today, Danville is a mil ltown without a mill. The same could be said about many RoVa communities. Whether its a mill, a mine or a crop. I recently had the opportunity to speak with Wallmeyer about his book and to discuss an important fact that he missed in the telling of our story. He missed our progress. Just like so many who live here miss our progress, too. We are moving from being a mill town to being a will town. In areas like ours, we are creating a new economy and a new culture at the same time. The new economy is based on high skills in areas like advanced manufacturing that are supported by excellent community colleges and strong high school educations. Were trying to build these new pathways, but doing so in an economy where its impossible to see around the corner and in an environment in which companies need fewer, but more highly skilled employees is challenging. We must build multiple pathways, not relying on a select few, which in some part was our problem in the past. And we are succeeding slowly but steadily. Recently, the creation of the Hass Center at Danville Community College and the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research has helped our region to attract Kyocera SGS Precision Tool and Overfinch. The Launch Place, based in Danville, operates a seed fund and provides technical assistance to entrepreneurial start-ups in the region. In the last four years, they have helped to recruit 14 high-tech, high-skill entrepreneurially driven firms to the area. While exciting, we realize that neither of these are the single answer to turnaround our economy but we know they are all pieces of completing the puzzle. Also while building a new economy, we are building a new culture that invests in education and health, rewards smart risk-taking and turns old liabilities into new assets. We are changing our attitude. Instead on focusing on what we cannot do, we focus on what we want to be. We are learning how to compete based on programs designed to build excellence and regional cooperation. We no longer see ourselves as the cheap option, but instead as the most qualified and poised for success option. Several years ago, we began asking what kind of schools do we need to be successful in the future? What kind of degrees do we need to offer? What soft skills do our students need to be successful? And how much investment do we need to get to where we need to be? These are many questions with many answers but in short, we need students who are healthy, ready to learn and given the opportunity to think creatively and innovatively both inside and outside the classroom. Here are some programs that are helping us achieve just that: With help from the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, Smart Beginnings Danville Pittsylvania County has led the campaign to, in just five years, go from 31 percent of our 5-years-old not being ready for kindergarten to 14 percent today. The Health Collaborative, representing more than 50 regional organizations, has mounted an effort to reduce the inappropriate use of local emergency departments, while addressing chronic health problems in our poorest neighborhoods. The Danville Pittsylvania Chamber of Commerce has created a Young Entrepreneurs Academy that has helped 36 high and middle students start their own businesses. All of this is our progress as I pointed out to Wallmeyer. I have given many reasons to show that our future is bright in Southside Virginia, but this doesnt mean that all our problems have disappeared. We still have much to overcome. We continue to build new competitive advantages from the ground up. Slowly, and with growing momentum, we are shifting from the place of failure he portrays in his book, to a region that can. Wallmeyer is right we do have two commonwealths. But he missed the fact that communities throughout RoVa are making real progress, starting with local priorities, local strategic plans and local collaboration. We have continued our conversations, and I look forward to talking with him more and sharing our story of progress as we continue to evolve our economic development practices, prosperity pathways and the reimaging of our community. This is our collective story to tell. This is our future we are crafting for our children, our childrens children and ourselves. Our past is littered with problems, but our progress is well underway, and we will succeed in transforming our region for the 21st century, if we continue to build a new culture and a new economy in Southside Virginia. For the third consecutive session of the General Assembly, legislators are considering major reforms to the structure of the health care industry in Virginia. And for the third consecutive year, our advice to the Assembly is simple: Go slow, think about the ramifications of any actions you take and, lastly, do no harm. Virginia regulates hospitals and health care delivery through granting of whats known as a Certificate of Public Need. The idea is any entity wanting to embark on a costly venture such as building a new hospital or investing in multi-million dollar imaging services must demonstrate to state regulators the public need of such a project. How would existing providers be affected? If there are similar services already in place, could the market support both or would both be harmed? In the 2015 session, Del. Kathy Byron introduced legislation that essentially would have gutted Virginias COPN system. Because there was so little time to fully study the ramifications of such a move, the bill was set aside and a commission established to recommend reforms for the 2016 session to consider. That panel issued its report in late 2015 and called for targeted reforms to address areas of health care that had become ubiquitous in the market since the last time regulations were written. Legislators, however, took off in three different directions: outright repeal, a major rewrite and a path resembling the commissions recommendations. When compromise eluded the Assembly, the entire issue was tabled for the year, and a working group of legislators created to attempt to craft a compromise approach. The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association, which represents the hospital industry in Richmond, has had the same concern from the beginning: that any reform not enable any competitor to legacy providers of investment-heavy services to cherry pick the most profitable services, leaving the legacy provider in a weakened financial state. The two main concerns we have with radical COPN reform are (1) the vast differences between a rural medical service area and an urban area and (2) the idea that the health care sector can be operated on free market principles in which the invisible hand of the market determines success or failure of any player. First, the rural vs. urban distinction. The Central and Southside Virginia regions may be centered around the urban centers of Lynchburg and Danville, but the overall region is most definitely rural in nature. In these regions, only the legacy providers, Centra and Danville Regional Medical Center, are capable of bringing costly, new and innovative service to patients, and that patient-base is only capable of supporting one such provider. Any reform that would enable competitors to cherry pick profitable services would weaken the legacy providers to dangerous levels. Second, the idea that the health sector is no different from any other sector of the economy. It simply isnt. Bryan Stephens, the president of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, put it best: As a business leader, I believe in a free market. But an honest discussion of COPN requires an open acknowledgement that health care simply is not a free market. A free market system requires a level playing field we dont have a level playing field. Repealing COPN would make an already uneven playing field even more slanted. And that concerns the business community. We want a top-quality health care system for all Virginians, one that is efficient, strong and stable. And we believe that any reforms to the system should have those goals first and foremost. To the editor: Im writing in reference to a Dec. 16 article in the Register & Bee, Lawsuits cost taxpayers over $38.6 million. It stated that lawsuits cost taxpayers over $38.6 million in Virginia alone defending and settling claims against jails, sheriffs departments, prisons and mental health facilities in the past five fiscal years, according to data from the Virginia Department of Treasury. The article also stated taxpayers are getting robbed twice, and the attorneys who are representing sheriffs are getting rich according to Richmond Sheriff C.T. Woody. That article has led me to write about something that is robbing hard-working taxpayers like myself, and others in the city of Danville and Pittsylvania County out of millions of dollars. It is called zero-tolerance. New for the residents of Danville and Pittsylvania County who dont know what it is, I will explain it to you. This zero-tolerance rule was implemented here in the City of Danville and Pittsylvania County for ex-offenders. After they have completed his or her time of incarceration and if probation or parole is a part of their condition when they are released back into society, they will have to report to Probation and Parole District 14 here in the City of Danville, in which this zero-tolerance rule was implemented for ex-offenders. Now I also would like to emphasize to the residents of Danville and Pittsylvania County that District 14 is the only district in the state of Virginia that has a zero-tolerance rule. This zero-tolerance rule means exactly zero chances to these ex-offenders. I have seen first-hand what this rule does to ex-offenders. If one of these offenders receives any petty infraction such as a speeding ticket, jay walking or driving with a brake light out and not knowing, if they are pulled over and given a ticket for this petty infraction and if they plead guilty or they are found guilty, they will be violated and sent back to jail or in some cases back to prison. But for a person who is not on probation or parole here in Danville, they would only receive the ticket and pay the fine for some petty infraction. So would someone please tell me how can these ex-offenders ever get a second chance in society with a rule like this in place? Their chances are zero. Not only is this zero-tolerance rule an injustice, I also find it discriminatory to our ex-offenders. It is also a slap in the face for us hard-working taxpayers out here because our tax dollars keep these jails, prisons and court systems up and running. For this city and Probation and Parole District 14 courts to justify a rule like this is ridiculous. Shame on our probation and parole and our courts for this injustice. Now we know why our jails in Danville and Pittsylvania County are running over with offenders. In closing, these offenders will never have a second chance in society because the odds they have been given are zero with a revolving door behind them. Gov. Terry McAuliffes proposal to close a $1 billion shortfall, cutting state funding for public universities and colleges by 5 percent, just maybe this zero-tolerance rule could help contribute to this $1 billion shortfall. Im calling on the City Council and the mayor to repeal this rule. MICHAEL BARKSDALE Danville Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo has announced major changes to the states health-care system, a part of which included two resignations: Human Services Director Melba Depena Affigne and Chief Digital Officer (CDO) Thom Guertin, who oversaw the system's design and implementation."Rhode Islanders deserve a system that they can be confident in, Raimondo said in a press release . "We are making changes in our leadership team so we can do a better job holding our vendor and our departments accountable.In September 2015, Rhode Island spent $80 million to roll out a new eligibility portal for health and human services called the United Healthcare Infrastructure Project (UHIP). It was the first update the system has seen since the 1980s, so the goal was to create an upgraded system that is compliant with current federal requirements.After months of setbacks within the states Department of Human Services, the governor decided to rethink the system. Part of her decision involves withholding $15 million from Deloitte, a UHIP vendor.Rhode Islanders won't pay a penny more to Deloitte until we complete an assessment of their contract and I'm satisfied they're in compliance with the terms," Raimondo said in the release. "Once it's operating properly, this system will improve customer service and save taxpayer money."Both Depena and Guertin will remain in their respective departments until the transition has been smoothly made. In the meantime, state CIO Chris Antonellis has been appointed as the acting director of Rhode Islands IT division. "Trust me. I'm like a smart person," said President Trump in a speech at the CIA today. Um, wrong crowd. Intelligence officers can figure out for themselves whether the president is smart. So what did they hear from the president? A speech that was largely about how wonderful Donald Trump is. And how great his inauguration was. And how dishonest the media are because they just didn't see the crowds he saw cheering on his great speech. "It looked honestly, it looked like a million and a half people," Trump said. "Whatever it was. But it went all the way back to the Washington Monument. "And I turn on, with my steak and I get this network shows an empty field. And it said we drew 250,000 people. "Now thats not bad. But its a lie. We had 250,000 people literally around, you know, the little bowl that we constructed. That was 250,000 people. The rest of the 20 block area all the way back to the Washington Monument was packed. "So we caught them. And we caught them in a beauty. And I think theyre going to pay a big price." So intelligence professionals should trust what Trump says, that his crowd stretched all the way to the Washington Monument, not what they actually saw. "I get up this morning. I turn on one of the networks and they show an empty field. I say: 'wait a minute. I made a speech. I looked out. The field was. It looked like a million, a million and a half people.' They showed a field where there was practically nobody standing there. And they said 'Donald Trump did not draw well.' And I said 'well it was almost raining.' The rain should have scared them away. But God looked down and he said 'were not going to let it rain on your speech.' "In fact, when I first started I said 'oh no.' First line, I got hit by a couple of drops. And I said 'oh, this is too bad, but well go right through it.' But the truth is: that it stopped immediately. It was amazing. And then it became really sudden, and then I walked off and it poured right after I left - it poured." No need for intelligence officials to check what the weather really was Friday. They can trust the president. He said: "So I can only say that I am with you 1000%. And the reason youre my first stop is that as you know, I have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on Earth. "And they sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the Intelligence Community. And I just want to let you know, the reason youre the number 1 stop is exactly the opposite. Exactly. And they understand that too." Intelligence officials should forget everything Trump said and tweeted to disparage their work and trust that he never said any such thing. It was all invented by the dishonest media. But this was a serious occasion. The president was speaking to a serious agency, with serious work to do. It's been responsible for protecting our country from terrorist attacks and tracking down terrorists in the world's most dangerous places - like Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. It's had tremendous success. So of course the president spoke with both gratitude and gravity, saying: "You know what? When I was young, And when I was of course, I feel young. I feel like Im 30. 35. 39. Somebody said 'are you young?' I said 'I think Im young.' "You know, I was stopping when we were in the final month of that campaign. Four stops, five stops. Seven stops. Speeches -- speeches -- in front of twenty five, thirty thousand people. Fifteen thousand, nineteen thousand, from stop to stop. "I feel young. "But when I was young -- and I think were all sort of young -- when I was young, we were always winning things in this country. Wed win with trade. Wed win with wars. "At a certain age I remember hearing from one of my instructors 'The United States has never lost a war.' "And then, after that, its like, we havent won anything. We dont win anymore." Well, enough. You can tell how smart a speech the president delivered to our intelligence community. Just don't read it. Trust him. 1618 Wine Lounge has changed its name to 1618 Midtown to reflect its location in Greensboro and expanded offerings. 1618 Wine Lounge opened in 2011 as a 38-seat lounge and bar, serving artisan cocktails, craft beers and wine. In the beginning, we were mainly an after-work spot, with patrons enjoying cocktails through the early evening, co-proprietor Nick Wilson, said in a news releaseannouncing the name changes. Through the years, the wine lounge evolved into much more than a place to hang out and enjoy a glass of wine and appetizers with friends, Wilson said.. Customers desires for an expanded menu prompted major renovations in 2013, adding a 28-seat semi-private dining room to the back of the restaurant and a full kitchen. We moved from an eight-item appetizer list to a full menu, offering salads, entrees and full-size desserts, Wilson said. In 2016, a full-time pastry chef was added, creating innovative sweets like the new cranberry pistachio espresso sundae with caramel ice cream. As 1618 Midtown, the restaurant is now consistent with all 1618 Concepts establishments, which incorporate the physical location as part of its name, according to the news release. We have 1618 Seafood Grille, which takes its name from its street address on Friendly Avenue and 1618 Downtown, which reflects its location on South Elm Street, Wilson said. The restaurant celebrated the new name during an invitation-only reveal party Sunday. 1618 Midtown is at 1724 Battleground Ave., Suite 105 in Greensboro (336-285-9410). For more information, visit www.1618Midtown.com or through Facebook. Curb market to hold annual Chili Challenge The Greensboro Farmers Curb Market will host the sixth annual Chili Challenge from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Jan. 28. The market is at 501 Yanceyville St. in Greensboro. The competition is the markets kickoff fundraiser for 2017. Local chefs, farmers and food enthusiasts will compete for the bragging rights for the best chili in the Triad. Live music will by performed by Gary Mitchell beginningat 8 a.m. and by Laura Jane Vincent at 10 a.m. The cost of the Chili Challenge is $5 for a sampling plate of the competing varieties, with proceeds benefiting the market. For information, call (336) 373-2402 or visit www.gsofarmersmarket.org. K&W celebrating its 80th anniversary K&W Cafeterias will celebrate its 80th anniversary this year. The company will offer special prices on desserts the third Wednesday of every month, starting today. K&W will hold a larger celebration Aug. 14-16. The company also will offer commemorative merchandise for sale. The restaurant is a family-owned company that took its name in 1937 when T.K. Knight and brothers Thomas, Kenneth and William Wilson changed the name of the Carolina Coffee Shop that had opened in 1935 on Cherry Street in downtown Winston-Salem to K&W Restaurant. Grady T. Allred Sr. became the sole owner by 1941 and started adding locations. In 1952, he introduced the cafeteria-style service that continues to this day. When Allred died in 1983, K&W had 16 locations. It now has 33 locations in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. Local restaurants include: Greensboro: Friendly Center, 3200 Northline Ave., (336) 292-2864, and 3710 S. Holden Road (336) 852-1661. High Point: 1661 Westchester Drive, (336) 886-4422). Asheboro: 881 Curry Drive, (336)625-9755) Burlington: 2629 Ramada Drive, (336) 226-4745. For more information, visit www.kwcafeterias.com. Guilford County residents now have an upgraded way of receiving urgent and important information through cellphones, text messages, home phone and email. Called G.E.A.N.I., the Guilford Emergency Alert, Notification and Information system will send public-safety messages to all residents and businesses within Guilford County and to High Point residents who are in Forsyth, Davidson and Randolph counties. The system provides time-sensitive, geographically based messages about evacuations, shelter-in-place incidents, severe-weather response and recovery efforts, law enforcement activities and other urgent incidents that affect safety. People and businesses with traditional landline phone numbers published in local phone books are automatically enrolled in G.E.A.N.I., and will receive notifications pertaining to the geographic area of the address associated with the phone number. Unpublished landline numbers, cell phones and VoIP telephones are not automatically added to the system database. People who want to receive notifications on those numbers or to get alerts by text and e-mail must register at www.readyguilford.org. Public safety personnel will send voice notifications to designated phones from telephone number (336) 641-8100: this number should be added to telephone contact lists. Q: I was prescribed high-dose ibuprofen for a knee injury. Two months later, I went to a new primary doctor. My blood pressure was 188/100. It is normally 120/70. Does ibuprofen raise blood pressure? A: Ibuprofen and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can in fact raise blood pressure (BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, Oct. 24, 2012). Doctors generally figure that if your blood pressure goes up on one of these drugs, you should take prescribed anti-hypertensive medicine. But if your knee is starting to heal, you might want to consider a different way of managing your discomfort. Talk with your doctor about whether a topical NSAID such as Voltaren Gel might be one approach. Or perhaps you would benefit from an anti-inflammatory herbal medicine such as boswellia or curcumin, or a home remedy like tart cherry juice. You can learn about these options in our newly revised and expanded Guide to Alternatives for Arthritis, available online at www.PeoplesPharmacy.com. Q: After many years, my wife and I suspected problems related to her Nexium and my Prilosec. We both opted for probiotics instead. That was four years ago. We had no trouble quitting, and we have not had heartburn since starting a probiotic regimen. I am no longer diagnosed with Barretts esophagus. We use a product that has more than 60 billion organisms per dose, including 10 strains of bacteria plus a prebiotic. A: The importance of the bacteria living in the digestive tract has become increasingly clear in recent years. A diverse collection of bacteria is usually associated with good overall health. Recent research has shown that people who consumed a specific probiotic yogurt every day changed their bacterial balance and reduced their problems with indigestion (BMJ Open Gastroenterology online, Sept. 16, 2016). The field of probiotic therapy is still developing. We look forward to a time when doctors will be able to specify which probiotic strains will be most helpful for a particular digestive problem. Q: I have been washing my hands obsessively and have been very careful not to touch my face. But many people around me have been sick with the flu, including a co-worker who dragged herself into the office despite a high fever. I started with a little tickle in my throat Monday night, and by Tuesday morning I was really sick with fever, aches, chills and a terrible headache. I went straight to the doctor and was prescribed Tamiflu, which I immediately started taking. I was too sick to do anything but try to sleep for two days. By the end of the second day, though, the fever was gone, and I started to feel a bit better. The next day, I felt well enough to go to work, and I was completely recovered the day after. Thank goodness for Tamiflu! Many of my co-workers were out a lot longer. A: Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) can shorten a bout of the flu by up to a day and a half. That may not sound like much, but it makes a difference when you feel as terrible as you did. A recent review from Germany concluded that The benefits of antiviral drugs ... outweigh their risks (Deutsches Arzteblatt International, Nov. 25, 2016). The most common side effects of Tamiflu include digestive-tract upset and headache. Some people report psychological side effects. A rash requires immediate medical attention. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close With Martin Luther King Jr. Day having just passed, one of Dr. Kings quotes is particularly relevant to the battle over the Affordable Care Act. Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism, Dr. King said, or in the darkness of destructive selfishness. Tragically, the Republican-controlled Congress seems increasingly likely to walk in the darkness of destructive selfishness by repealing the ACA without a viable replacement. The GOP budget also selfishly continues a tide of corporate giveaways and sweetheart tax deals for the wealthiest 1 percent while cutting Medicare and Social Security, all at the expense of middle- and working-class Americans. Donald Trump ran for president on a promise to protect Medicare and Social Security, as well as keeping the most popular provisions of the ACA, including the pre-existing conditions rule and coverage for young people on their parents plans until age 26. He and many other Republicans promised to ensure access to affordable prescription drugs. So, how do they plan to keep these popular provisions without the individual mandate that keeps healthier people in the insurance pool to offset the cost of sicker patients? The answer is simple: You cant. Repealing the ACA would throw the health care industry into chaos, bankrupt millions of Americans and issue a death sentence for those who depend on the ACA for life-saving care. Were now at a tragic tipping point where extremist partisan ideologues are putting profits before people while bowing down to the Big Pharma lobby and billion-dollar corporate special interests. What does walking in the darkness of destructive selfishness look like? Were now likely to have the wealthiest White House cabinet ever, and Congress continues to get wealthier so is it any coincidence that millionaires are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries of repealing the ACA? A recent analysis found that 53 percent of the tax cuts from the ACA repeal would go to millionaires more than double their share from the Bush tax cuts. The report also concluded that the repeal would significantly raise taxes on nearly 7 million middle- and lower-income families. In North Carolina, destructive selfishness looks like the failure to expand Medicaid, cruelly denying health care to 500,000 North Carolinians while sending $4.9 million in our taxpayer dollars every single day to cover indigent care in other states. Its watching rural hospitals close their doors, inevitably costing people their lives from acute conditions like heart attacks and strokes that need immediate care. Its denying mental health care to 144,000 people as we continue to be at the epicenter of an opioid crisis. Its costing our state 20,000-40,000 non-outsourceable jobs and billions in investment in order to score political points opposing Obama. So, now that youve celebrated MLK Day, join millions who are rallying in the light of creative altruism by fighting to save the ACA and to protect health care access for 30 million Americans. Fight the efforts to balance budgets on the backs of seniors, the disabled, children, the poor and the sick. Fight to save the dream. Referring to the cartoon in Jan. 16s paper with a congressman holding a NO TERM LIMIT sign, I cannot imagine the cost to this country if every four years the congressmen left office with the golden parachutes they now get. If President Donald J. Trump would remove these gigantic perks from our employees, then I would wholeheartedly agree to term limits. I personally know that people who own businesses cannot give themselves any perk that they do not offer their employees as well, such as their hospitalization insurance and their retirement benefits. Our senators and congressmen have insurance coverage and retirement benefits that we all wish we had. GREENWICH Despite an unsuccessful candidacy for state legislature in November, Greenwich resident Dita Bhargava is moving up to a leadership position within the Connecticut Democratic Party. Bhargava has been named vice chairman of the Connecticut Democratic State Central Committee. The position, she said Friday, will allow her to do more grass roots organizing and recruiting Democrats to run for offices throughout the state. Im very dedicated to working towards a better environment for the state, Bhargava said. Im excited and thankful for the party trusting me with this opportunity and responsibility. Its a critical time in our state and nation and theres a lot of concern about our future because of the new presidents extreme agenda and the nominations for his cabinet. The new president has been heavily criticized for his actions during the campaign, including notorious remarks caught on tape about assaulting women. Many of the picks for his cabinet have been criticized for a lack of background, conflicts of interest or statements dismissive to the agencies they now seek to head. Bharagava cited Trumps conduct as a reason she was more involved in politics after her unsuccessful run against State Rep. Fred Camillo (R-151st). Her new position within the party comes at a difficult time for Connecticut Democrats who have seen their once super majority status shrink considerably inside the legislature. State Senate Democrats and Republicans are now tied at 17 seats apiece, with Democratic Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman holding a tie breaking vote; the state legislature Democrats have a 78 to 72 majority. Special elections will be held for seats in both the state house and senate in February as three sitting members take up state jobs. Bhargava said the party is looking to regain Democratic legislative seats during the 2018 election and hold onto state offices, all of which are held by Democrats. She said the divisiveness of the Trump presidential campaign and his appointments to office will be an issue in coming elections. I want to be part of strategizing our plan to hold Connecticut Republicans who are supporting the Trump administrations extreme agenda responsible, Bhargava said. The goal will be to move forward on our principles and fight the people who want to reverse the clock, Bhargava said. A political newcomer in Greenwich last year, the former day trader and hedge fund manager is also a co-founder of The Parity Partnership, a Greenwich-based organization supporting gender equality. Her unsuccessful race against Camillo was her first run for office. She said she enjoyed knocking on thousands of doors in town and talking with voters as part of her campaign. Bhargava pledged to move Democratic principles forward while remembering the lessons she learned during her campaign. Talking to the people in Greenwich made me more passionate to do this, Bhargava said. Im very proud of living in Connecticut but there is work to be done in our state. I talked to a lot of people about the challenges they face. She said the challenges included educational access and student resources, making sure the elderly get help they need, ensuring access to good health care, standing up against gun violence and dealing with the growing epidemic of opioid addiction. Jeff Ramer, chairman of the Greenwich Democratic Town Committee, praised Bharagava and said it was an honor for the town to have a resident in senior leadership in the party. Having a Greenwich resident involved in state political circles mean leadership would be cognizant of the issues and needs of the communities in lower Fairfield County, which he said are not well understood in state government. Dita Bhargava is an extremely hard working and dedicated public servant, Ramer said. She is smart, and skilled in finance. She brings to the state Democratic Party a skill set that will make her an effective and dynamic vice chair. Bharagava also got an endorsement from U.S. Rep. Jim Himes (D-4th), a Cos Cob resident. Dita Bhargava is an excellent choice to serve as state party vice chairwoman, Himes said. I have gotten to know her as a community leader in Greenwich, and I can tell you from experience that she has the leadership skills to be highly effective in her new role kborsuk@scni.com There is no potpie in Peruvian cooking, but there is aji de gallina shredded chicken stewed in a lip-smacking sauce made from garlic, cream, onions, walnuts, Parmesan, bread, and the medium-heat aji amarillo (yellow chile) native to Peru. When you think about that dish and also potpie, as Llama Inns Erik Ramirez has been doing, a lightbulb goes off in your head informing your taste buds that were you to substitute aji de gallina for regular chicken-potpie filling, youd really have something. Ramirez takes it a step further, swapping out chicken for rabbit, and garnishing the dish with an amuse-bouche of chard-wrapped rabbit sausage, and what you might call a rabbit-liver-mousse sandwich cookie. Mouse over or tap the image to read more. On the menu at Llama Inn; $24; 50 Withers St., nr. Lorimer St., Williamsburg;718-387-3434 *This article appears in the January 23, 2017, issue of New York Magazine. These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales. Week 3 in review: Nokia 6 sold out, more pieces of the Galaxy S8 With the Galaxy S8 announcement drawing ever closer it is no wonder that we are seeing an influx of leaks and rumors, regarding the flagship. Among these is a pretty detailed blueprint of the handsets we got a few days ago. Besides and almost bezel-less front panels, fans can also look forward to an improved selfie camera, with autofocus and an impressively clever new AI assistant, titled Bixby. However, the Galaxy S8 won't come cheap and will likely set you back a whopping EUR 850. If that is way too steep for your liking and you would rather stick to a current Samsung phone, there is probably a Nougat update to look forward to in the near future. After hitting a few snags with the S7 Galaxy OTA, the Korean giant made sure to convey its dedication to delivering the update and has already issues a Nougat waiting list for impatient fans. It is also worth noting that HTC is having troubles with Android 7 as well, so it is not an isolated occurrence. Xiaomi has been keeping pretty busy as well. The Mi 6 is already on the horizon and so is a refreshed and even more capable Mix Evo variant. Withing the cheaper Redmi line, the Note 4 is now official and potentially quite a good offer, thanks to its power-efficient Snapdragon 625 SoC. We also can't help but mention Nokia's formidable success with the Nokia 6, as a potential sign of a bright future for the legendary brand. Exclusive: Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus dimensions show compact phones with huge screens The Galaxy S8 should be about the size of the current S7 but with a screen bigger than the S7 edge. Nokia 6 reaches 1M registrations two days before release Just 2 days before the device starts shipping across China pre-order requests reached the 1-million milestone Sony G3221 passes through AnTuTu, will have 23MP + 16MP cameras User agent profiles showed that Sonys upcoming G3221 will sport a Helio P20 chipset and now an AnTuTu screenshot offers some additional details. Samsung halts Galaxy S7 Nougat update rollout The roll out has reportedly been halted in China due to bugs. Samsung Galaxy S8 front-camera to have AF and iris recognition Sources say that the Galaxy S8 front camera will be 8MP with AF. Xiaomi launches Snapdragon 625-powered Redmi Note 4 Prices go between $146 for 3GB RAM and 32GB storage and $190 for 4GB/64GB. These are the glass panels for the Galaxy S8, allegedly Photos of the what looks to be the glass panel for the Galaxy S8 appear on Twitter. New photos of the successor to the Sony Xperia XA surface A few photos of an alleged successor to the Xperia XA have surfaced. New leak reveals borderless display for Oppo Find 9 The leak also reveals some of the key specifications of the handset. Samsung Galaxy J2 Ace unveiled with 4G VoLTE The entry level handset comes with a 5" qHD screen and a MediaTek chipset. Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus model numbers leaked The Galaxy S8 will go under SM-G9500/SM-G950X while Galaxy S8 Plus will be SM-G9550/SM-G955X. Xiaomi trims the bezels on Redmi 4 According to a report from China Xiaomi is quietly releasing a new batch of Redmi 4 units with reduced screen bezels. Samsung Galaxy S8's Bixby virtual assistant will recognize products and text Using the camera, you would be able to point Bixby at stuff and have it buy them for you - a personal shopping assistant. Qualcomm: no, this isn't the Nokia 8 The chipset company sent an email stating the phones seen at their CES booth are reference devices. Haiti - FLASH : New wave of deaths at the national penitentiary Thursday, at the initiative of Government Commissioner Jean Danton Leger, the funeral of 20 inmates of the national penitentiary was celebrated at the Sainte-Anne church in Port-au-Prince, in the presence of families, relatives and friends the victims. Prison overcrowding (over 5,000 prisoners, less than 0.5 m2 per prisoner https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16234-haiti-social-hell-in-the-national-penitentiary.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-1112-haiti-prisons-national-penitentiary-05-m2-per-inmate.html ), the lack of hygiene, food and health care, are the main causes of these deaths, deplores Port-au-Prince Government Commissioner Jean Danton Leger who criticizes the passivity of the prison authorities and that of Jocelerme Privert which seems to ignore the country's detainees. Father Jean Robert Louis, celebrant of funeral underlined this gesture of laudable respect of the Commissioner of the Government and reiterated the will of the Pastoral Commission of its parish, to support the Procuratorate of Port-au-Prince in this type of initiative. It should be remembered that formerly the deceased prisoners were thrown into the mass grave without very often the families is informed. It is not the first wave of detainees that Commissioner Leger has buried. On September 22, it was the burial at the Port-au-Prince cemetery of 6 prisoners who died among other things of contagious diseases due to the insalubrity of the cells, lack of food or sleep https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-18727-icihaiti-justice-the-national-penitentiary-of-death.html . From July to December 2016 18 prisoners died in the National Penitentiary because of poor conditions of detention. Moreover, these deaths of detainees do not seem to end, Jean Danton Leger said that a dozen other bodies were already waiting at the morgue to be buried next week. One can only deplore the laxity of the Government and the silence of the Human Rights Organizations, who seem more concerned with the respect of citizens' voting rights as their right to life... SL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Guadeloupe : Study trip on labor inspection As part of the Capacity Building project of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MAST), a delegation of about 10 labor inspectors and 2 Directors of the Ministry's Labor Administration will take part in a Study trip to Guadeloupe, from January 23 to 27, 2017. The delegation will be led by three ILO officials, including Ms. Patrice Laventure, Project Coordinator, Ms. Laetitia Dumas, Program and Operations Coordinator, and Frederic Laine, Labor Inspection Specialist, both from LABADMIN/OSH-Geneva. This study trip will provide a forum for exchanges and sharing of experiences between Haitian inspectors and their French counterparts, enabling them to understand the French labor inspection system and acquire good practices in business control. On their return, Haitian inspectors will be called upon to make the rational application of the tools and methodology learned as part of the continuation of their business control activities in Haiti. Learn more about the Project ILO-MAST : The MAST Capacity Building (BIT-MAS) Project is a project implemented in Haiti by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and financed by the US Department of Labor under the HOPE Act. Its main objective is to strengthen the capacity of labor administration in Haiti and the Inspection Service and to improve the compliance of textile companies with standards and the Labor Code. HL/ HaitiLibre Funding Nonexistent People by Tom Yamachika, President Tax Foundation Hawaii At the end of October 2015, it was revealed that our state government paid half a million dollars in pension payments to people who were already dead. Well, then, what do you think of budgeting many times that amount for people who dont even exist? Take a bow, Hawaii Department of Agriculture! As recently reported by the Star-Advertiser, that department put in a budget request this year for 360 positions, but 122 of those positions are vacant. Most have been vacant for several years. As far as vacancies, this is the fifth year I have been chair of this committee and this is the fifth year that we talked about the vacancies, House Finance Chair Sylvia Luke is quoted as saying during a recent budget briefing. The Department of Agriculture tried to congratulate itself on hiring a record-setting 55 people this past year, although 52 other employees left, many due to retirement, giving the Department a net gain of three (3). In the state budgeting process, money is set aside for personnel positions whether vacant or filled. Thus, if the department hires a person to fill a vacancy, then money is available to pay that person. But what happens when the vacancy exists for the whole year or most of it? Then there is a little pot of money in the budget that perhaps could be used for something else! (The sound of evil laughter echoes in the background.) And when there are lots of vacancies, then the pot of money is not so little. Many departments had been using the money from vacancies to pay accrued vacation pay to an employee who is retiring or leaving. Suppose, for example, that Mr. Abe retires at the end of the year, and in doing so wants to cash out two months of vacation pay. Mr. Abe has been paid for the entire year, so there is no money left under his position. His department would typically use the money saved from position vacancies to pay him the accrued vacation that he is cashing out. A Honolulu Advertiser article dating back to 2002 describes the practice. Apparently, it continues today. Certainly, some vacancies are a fact of life. Some folks retire. Some get ill. Some move on to other opportunities. But the agency lives on, and there needs to be money to pay a replacement worker so the job of the agency can get done. But relying on vacancies to cover vacation pay, or some other unspecified costs? Wait a minute. If we need to do this, then our budgeting system is less than completely honest. And what do we do about a department which has 360 positions, a third of which are vacant and have been so for many years? First, as Rep. Luke mentioned in the budget hearing, we need to figure out if the department really needs all those positions. Apparently, most of the positions arent really needed; otherwise, how could the department possibly function now? The positions that arent needed should be cut so the money can be deployed elsewhere and not used as a slush fund. If the positions are needed, then we either need to hire the bodies or, if we cant, decide how best to use that money to get the work done. Second, we need to realize that those vacancies equated to quite a wad of money. What happened to that money? Did it just sit in a bank account somewhere, or did it get spent? And what did it get spent on? Once we get that answer, we should be able to determine what the agencys real budget should be. That sounds better than setting aside taxpayer money every year for people who dont exist. Obamas Final Gift to HawaiiThree Gun-Toting Meth Dealers Obama Commutes 330 Drug SentencesIncluding three in Hawaii Star-Adv Jan 20, 2017: According to the White House, the three convicts from Hawaii are: >> Thaddeas Kulani Thomas Hall of Waipahu, who is serving 180 months in prison for a 2008 conviction of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. Halls sentence was commuted to expire on Jan. 19, 2019, conditioned upon enrollment in residential drug treatment. >> Alfred William Kemfort of Maui, who was convicted of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine; in 2006 and sentenced to 240 months in prison. His sentence was commuted to expire on Jan. 19, 2019, conditioned upon enrollment in residential drug treatment. >> Allan Aquino Lafuente of Kapolei, who was convicted in 2009 of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, distribution of five or more grams of methamphetamine, distribution of 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. Lafuentes prison sentence was commuted to 180 months.) For Obama, it was the last time he exercised his presidential powers in any significant way. read Obama Finally Finds Somebody he Deems Worthy of Gun Rights! * * * * * Maui: Meth Dealer Freed by Obama has long rap sheet Maui News Jan 21, 2017: Alfred Kemfort, 49, had been sentenced in March 2006 in U.S. District Court in Honolulu after he pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. According to court records, Maui police obtained search warrants after a confidential informant bought methamphetamine from Kemfort in a purchase monitored by police. The informant subsequently observed a large quantity of methamphetamine in Kemforts residence, according to a court document. The indictment charging Kemfort was filed in June 2004. According to the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center, Kemfort was convicted of two counts each of third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and possessing drug paraphernalia, as well as second- and third-degree promotion of a detrimental drug in 2nd Circuit Court cases stemming from his arrests in 1996. In January 1998, he was sentenced to a five-year prison term for those convictions. His parole was revoked and he was resentenced in January 2000. read Thanks, Obama STATE ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL RELEASES ANNUAL REPORT ON HAWAIIS SUSTAINABILITY News Release from Department of Health, Jan 20, 2017 HONOLULU The State Environmental Council has released its annual report for 2015-2016 on Hawaiis environment. The report identifies environmental priorities for the State and makes important recommendations on measuring sustainability. The Environmental Council is tasked with submitting to the governor and legislature a report on the state of the environment. This years report, which covers 2015 and 2016, discusses the status of Hawaiis progress towards a more sustainable future. The report uses the State Environmental Policy (Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 344) to look at the common elements of Gov. David Iges Sustainable Hawaii Initiative, the Aloha+ Challenge, and the Malama Honua Promise to PaeAina. These initiatives are then placed in a global context through a review of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the World Conservation Congress Hawaii Commitments. The Environmental Council identifies the common elements of these sustainability approaches as: Ocean, Ohia, and Ohana. We are delighted to receive this report on the States environmental progress, said OEQC Director Scott Glenn. We greatly appreciate Environmental Council members working on this. They are all volunteers active in their careers and communities. This report helps make sense of the great sustainability efforts underway in Hawaii and how they connect with worldwide sustainability. The report also continues the Environmental Councils focus on the Genuine Progress Indicator for Hawaii. The work of Dr. Regina Ostergaard-Klem of Hawaii Pacific University and Dr. Kirsten L.L. Oleson of the University of Hawaii is highlighted as a means of measuring our sustainability. The Genuine Progress Indicator complements Gross Domestic Product in monitoring our wellbeing in terms of economy, environment, and society. Moreover, there is an opportunity to integrate the Genuine Progress Indicator with the performance indicators in the Aloha+ Challenge to synthesize the various goals into a comprehensive metric that can be compared to Gross Domestic Product. The development of quantitative metrics, such as the Genuine Progress Indicator and the Aloha+ Challenge Dashboard, for measuring the States environmental performance, will help guide public policy throughout the State of Hawaii, said Chair Joseph Shacat. When fully implemented, these tools will provide additional context for the wise use of limited taxpayer dollars. The Environmental Council has several critical functions that affect the environment and development across Hawaii. The Council is a liaison between the Director of the Office of Environmental Quality Control (OEQC) and the general public. The OEQCs Director Scott Glenn regularly advises Gov. Ige on environmental matters. The Council also monitors the progress of the state in meeting its environmental goals through the publication of its annual report on the state of Hawaiis environment. It creates the administrative rules for Hawaiis environmental impact statement (EIS) process and vets state and county agency lists for actions that can be considered exempt from having to prepare EISs or environmental assessments (EAs). The full report is available at: http://health.hawaii.gov/oeqc/. Additional information about the Environmental Council is available at http://health.hawaii.gov/oeqc/environmental-council/. The Council normally holds its meetings on the second Tuesday of every month. # # # Reality: Crichton: Environmentalism is a religion 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 The debate was based on BJP leader PS Sreedharan Pillai's work, 'Punnapra-Vayalar Samarathinte Kaanappurangal' (The Unseen Dimensions of the Punnapra Vayalar Agitation). 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No one under 18 can enter our giveaways. No purchase is necessary. All winners have one week to claim their prize. USA shipping only. Offer void where prohibited. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants. In a show of solidarity, more than 500 people turned out to downtown Morganton on Saturday morning to participate in a Womens March as a call for equality for all. Organized by the Burke County Democratic Party, the event was held in conjunction with the Womens March on Washington and marches held in cities across the world that drew millions of people together in support of issues such as womens rights, civil rights, climate change, LGBT rights, free press and more. Women and men of many ages and races marched throughout the streets of downtown as they chanted Love not hate, We are one, and Human rights, to name a few. Most carried signs with slogans such as Womens rights are human rights, I march for our future, and Love not hate makes America great. After making its way up Sterling Street down Union Street and back, the group of protesters gathered around the statue of Sen. Sam Ervin at the historic courthouse where many people took the opportunity to tell others why they were supporting the march. Im here for my own rights, the rights of my daughter, the rights of my children and the rights of my students, said a woman who identified herself as a school teacher. It took one person to start it. One to say, No, Im not going to take it anymore. Im going to take back what is rightfully mine. So today, I stand here to take back what is rightfully mine and what is rightfully ours together. We are one. Weve just started. Another speaker of Hispanic descent told the crowd why she participated in the march. Im not usually a public speaker, but I am an American citizen, she said. I came (for) this country, I was born in another country, but I chose this to be my country. My children carry my blood, my grandchildren carry my blood and they look like me and theyre citizens of this nation. Her speech was followed by rousing applause and a chant of Equal rights by the crowd. Speaker after speaker shared personal stories that have them concerned for the future of America. One man spoke next to Ervins statue, saying that people should remember how Ervin fought for democracy and how he was a reminder of what the country could be. Another participant reminded those in attendance that their mission didnt end with the days events. Everyone, we have a job to do here, the demonstrator said. Everyone here today has a job today to take with them every day after. It doesnt stop now. This is the beginning. As the march concluded, Mark Vitrone, co-organizer of the event, thanked the crowd for turning out to support the cause. Look around you, Vitrone said. You are more than 400 strong. Signed in are 453 people right now. Many folks didnt sign in, so that means we got a lot more than that. Thanks for coming out. NEWTON The Catawba County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday night to endorse the updates to the 2016 Childrens Agenda. In 2009, the Board of Commissioners decided there was a need for an Ad Hoc committee to address the needs of children in Catawba County, Kim Holden said, who is the co-chair of the Catawba County Childrens Agenda Committee. The board wanted an answer to a question that encompassed all children in the area. What would make Catawba County a great place for kids and families, Holden said. The board left the committee to their own devices with a goal in mind, and after two years, the Childrens Agenda was ready for publication. Ultimately, we went through lots of surveys and focus groups and then we complied all of that information. It took two years; it was a pretty serious project, Holden said. In 2011, the committee published the agenda and it has served as a guide for several organizations throughout the county including, social services, educators, public health and other child serving agencies. Based on the information provided by members of the community the committee built the framework of the agenda on what they call the five protective factors. These factors include, building parental resilience, fostering social and emotional competence of children, building parental knowledge of child development and parenting skills, building concrete support for families and fostering social connections for parents. In 2016, members of the community and the committee reviewed the agenda to ensure the previous measures reflected the current needs of the community, Holden said. We wanted to see if it was still relevant, are there issues on there that we have addressed and we can move on, or are there things that have changed in Catawba County that need to be added, she said. Professionals who work in the field including members of public health, emergency services, district court and the library came together to review the document. While the updated plan does include changes, Holden and the rest of the committee did not see a need to try to create a brand new document. A lot of things stayed the same, for example we want to protect children from the effects of poverty. We want to make sure families have access to childcare that need never goes away, that is something we need to stay on top of, Holden said. The committee updated their goals, reflecting the highest priority needs for children in Catawba County written as goal statements to reflect the intended outcomes and the overall vision for children and families in Catawba County, according to documents provided to the Board of Commissioners. The updated consist of five broad topics of, education, health, social and emotional wellbeing, safe environment, and social support and community connectedness, followed by topic specific goals. Several educational campaigns over the last few years such as the Darkness to Light program were not in existence during the original phase of the Childrens Agenda, and members of the committee felt the need to utilize them in the updated plan, Holden said. One issue that has come up has been the issue of toxic stress. A lot of research has been done that has emerged over the past three years, which was not included in the original agenda, Holden said. Children living in extreme poverty or domestic violence situations have a higher amount of stress than average children do, and that stress can lead to things like behavior problems and other issues, previously left untreated. The committee has agreed to meet twice a year to review the agenda and ensure the needs of the children in the county are met. The committee also will release an annual Catawba County Child Data Snapshot, analyzing demographics and other important pieces of information. As Donald Trump takes over the reins of power in Washington today promising to make America great again, its worth noting where things actually stand with the economy as President Obama leaves office. William Spriggs, Chief Economist at the AFL-CIO in Washington, was in Raleigh this week to talk about the economy and the bar that Obama has set for Trump. Here are a few highlights. The nation is enjoying the longest run of consecutive months of job growth in recorded history, adding jobs for 75 months in a row from October 2010 until December 2016. The overwhelming majority of the jobs created have been full-time jobs, not part time positions as some have claimed. Wages are rising too and much faster than during the last five economic recoveries dating back to the 1970s. Participation in the overall labor market has returned to pre-recession levels including discouraged workers and folks who were forced to work part-time because they couldnt find a full time job. The unemployment rate is also back to where it was before the recession began for all racial and ethnic groups. That has led to broad income growth, especially for families who earn at or below the median income level. There are still problems of course, primarily the vast inequality that can be traced back to the 1970s when wages stopped increasing at the same rate as productivity. People are working harder but not being rewarded for their increased productivity. Obama didnt fix that 50 year old problem in his eight years in office but he did lead the nation out of the worst economic crisis in 75 years and helped millions of people get back to work. America can always be greater but Obama certainly made the economy work again for many people. Now its up to President Trump to improve on that record and he takes office with the lowest approval rating for a new president in recent history. A Fox News Poll released Friday found that just 37 percent of Americans approve of Trump as begins his administration while 54 percent do not. Eighty percent of Americans approved of President Obama in 2009 as he prepared to be sworn in. Voters in NC like Cooper, want Medicaid expanded and oppose HB2 Speaking of polls, the latest survey from the folks at Public Policy Polling has some good news for Governor Roy Cooper with 45 percent of the people approving of the job he is doing with 34 percent disapproving. A few other notes from the PPP poll. HB2 remains unpopular, with 50 percent of voters opposing it while 32 percent support it. And all the efforts by legislative leaders to somehow blame Cooper or the City of Charlotte for the failure of lawmakers to repeal HB2 in last months special session arent working. Seventy-three percent of voters blame the General Assembly for not repealing the law. And finally, voters support Coopers proposal to expand Medicaid in North Carolina by a margin of 63 percent to 25. And its not just PPP finding strong support for Medicaid. The latest results of a poll on the right-wing Civitas Institutes website shows people support Medicaid expansion 98 percent to two percent who are opposed. That cant be going over very well in the Civitas halls. Virginia Republicans reject their own HB2 And speaking of HB2, Republican lawmakers in Virginia seemed to have learned from North Carolinas troubles thanks to the passage of the anti-LGBT law. A similar bill introduced in the Virginia House was voted down by Republicans in a committee this week with only one dissenting vote after the states business community spoke out against it. Its a reminder not only that HB2 is bad legislation but that our states business community needs to play a much bigger role in getting it repealed. Virginias lawmakers were smart enough not to demonize a group of people and damage their states economy. North Carolina lawmakers are still allowing both things happen here. Chris Fitzsimon is the founder and executive director of N.C. Policy Watch, writes the Fitzsimon. HICKORY Several Hickory residents and others in the Hickory area expressed their thoughts about Donald Trumps inauguration and the future of the country Friday afternoon. I am very, very excited about it, Morganton resident Anna Stuntz said, who was watching the inauguration coverage Friday afternoon at Olde Hickory Tap Room. Stuntz said she had been watching inauguration coverage since Thursday night and found herself tearing up during the concert. Im very optimistic about the next four years, Stuntz said. In particular, Stuntz said she was looking forward to the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, re-evaluation of illegal immigration and the removal of business regulations. Another tap room patron spoke of the meaningfulness of the event to all Americans. You know, this is an exciting time regardless of whether your candidate was elected or not, Tracy Sain said, who lives in Iredell County and was at Olde Hickory Tap Room on Friday. I think it is our duty to get behind and support that person because its a tough job, you know, the toughest job. Steve Shull, who was also at the downtown restaurant, said the event made him think of both Jesse Ventura's surprise victory as Minnesota governor and the panic surrounding Y2K. I think peoples anticipation is always worse than...so I dont know, Shull said. Cant screw it up any worse than anyone else has. Others, while not giving a strong opinion on the president-elect did say people should wait to see what Trump does before passing judgment on him. I believe, just give the guy a chance and judge later, Todd Hayes said. I just get tired of people just automatically bashing the guy before he even takes office. Very good column today, I couldnt agree more. Being a Libertarian, I am not partial to either Republicans or Democrats and constantly see the discussion of the ideas replaced by rants and attacks. I have an aunt and nephew that no longer talk after trading Facebook posts back and forth a few years ago. I find myself being the referee in these discussions inserting both calm discussion and facts which agree and disagree with both sides. I am not sure how to change the social media war that you talk about but can suggest the more the media takes the time to just list the facts about a current issue and then discuss rather the issue even matters before getting into the story the more people will at least the facts to start with. My recent letter to the editor that you published is a good example of what I mean. Social and regular media have wasted weeks of news coverage on rather the Russians hacked the DNC and influenced our election or not. This time could have been spent discussing various proposals that are out there for issues that matter and are likely to be acted on soon. There are several proposals from various Republicans, Democrats, Greens, Libertarians and various think tanks on how to replace the ACA yet I have not heard or read about most of those proposals. There are many proposals for tax reforms yet I have seen little discussion about the various taxing systems rather known the details of any one specific reform. An example of a discussion of tax reforms would be to discuss how our system came about along with the pros and cons of it in todays global economy. Most of our tax system was created long ago when high shipping costs kept global competition away. We should be discussing the various points made by economists about the optimal tax system for todays global economy. If we did we would see several Nobel Prize winning economists have stated that taxing at the point of sale is preferable to taxing at the point of production and prior. We should be discussing how much of our tax system is at the point of production and how much is at the point of sale. Sales taxes are at the point of sale, property taxes are mostly at the point of production and prior while some are at the point of sale as are income, Social Security and Medicare taxes. Corporate taxes are typically after the point of sale. Discussing the best approach before discussing the specifics of how to implement the approach would be a good way to start the discussion. We should mostly agree on the where to collect taxes and save the arguing for the specifics after we decide on the big picture first. Mark Byrne Conover Replacement needed before repeal of ACA Surely something is better than nothing...right? So surely the new congress isn't going to destroy something so that the American people can have nothing? Obamacare isn't perfect but more than 20,000,000 people have health care and the new congress doesn't have a plan to replace it. So, when they take the action to kill the current health care plan, all those people including those in Hickory who depend on it, will have nothing. So I ask you why? If they don't have a better plan and they never have why are they so hell bent on destroying something that is working for millions of Americans? Is the answer, just because they can? Or, is it payback for passing a plan they didn't put together? I suspect that Republicans represent the insurance cartel and they don't think they are making enough money. So, if you have a health condition, you won't be covered anymore...and get ready to pay a whole lot more in premium...if you qualify. Dennis Knapp Hickory For all you Trump supporters concerning repeal and replace, you say it is time to run our government like a business. In a successful business, when a system is to be replaced, a set of requirements are defined; there is a search based on these requirements. Then the set of requirements are verified as the workable new solution. Say for example, the company wants to replace the payroll system. The company does not stop paying people while the company is searching for the new system. Nor does the company keep the new solution a secret from its employees. But this is not what our government is doing with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Republicans must define what the replacement is and the Congress determines if the new solution will meet our requirements. I do agree that the ACA needs improved. When Medicare was implemented, it was not a perfect system; it was improved over the years. We need to enhance the ACA, not a yank it out and replace it later. Trump needs to stand up to the Republicans and fulfill his promise of repeal and replace at the same time. Victoria Williamson Morganton Warning for Trump My latest to President-elect Trump is to be careful of choosing his enemies. Using Twitter for all people is a waste. At some point, people will stop taking him seriously. Dennis DeBalso Conover Energy and climate debate Over the last couple of years I have had numerous and extended conversations with Catawba County elected officials including the City Council, Board of Commissioners, and General Assembly members. All of whom I like and found to be good people; however, our thoughts on energy and the climate differ. Judge the conversations yourself. Talking with one politician after a year of conversations, I asked if he believed that CO2 was warming the planet. He fumbled with the answer to which I said remember 98 percent of climatologists believe so. He said, I don't trust those climatology academicians. Do you trust your cardiologist or oncologist if they said you needed immediate medical attention? Of course I would. I replied, aren't they academicians just like climatologists except in different field? Dead silence from my friend. To another politician, I mentioned that the representatives of 195 nations agreed in December 2015 that CO2 was warming the earth. My friend's answer was they were just the representatives. In another conversation President Obama was called a socialist for bailing out the auto industry. I asked if he considered President Reagan a socialist for bailing out Chrysler? No response. These conversations with elected officials are emotional responses rather than rational, reasoned thoughts based upon critical thinking skills. Emotional responses whipped up by politicians based upon faulty facts and a desire to strike back against an imaginary enemy, which led to the Iraq War with its unintended consequences. Unless we get our facts straight now about changes in our climate and not get hoodwinked by the very people who benefit most from our apathy, lack of skill in determining good sources and even an unwillingness to search out the truth with an open mind, we will experience unintended consequences. A one sentence feel-good sound bite is what many may want to rely upon to determine their thought process. In so doing, however, the likelihood of a reckless policy is more possible than if one understands the intricacies and nuances of an issue which requires some work. I've received push back from politicians for my letter before the election. I merely stated their positions on issues. Are they unwilling to own their expressed thoughts? With so much at stake, perhaps they should spend some time reading from the official websites of NASA and NOAA. Lee Brinson Hickory The emoluments clause was added to our constitution by the founding fathers to prevent foreign nations from influencing our government. The framers knew all too well how European royalty enriched themselves and their heirs with this practice. They did not want the same thing to happen in the new nation that was founded, America. Read constitutioncenter.org and The Brookings Institution. Both of these are reliable, non-partisan, truth- and fact-based outlets. Donald Trump is already in violation of this clause before he has been sworn in. He is not divesting himself of his business interests and not placing them in a true blind trust, as numerous ethics experts, lawyers, and the Office of Ethics has advised him. He and his high priced lawyers think that having his children run his affairs and not tell him anything about it is good enough. Do you really think a man who is a pathological liar is not going to talk to his children about his businesses? In 2015, Politifact said Trump only told the truth 9 percent of the time. I don't think it has changed much since then. Don't let Trump fool you with his statements about, The people knew I was rich and had all these businesses when I was running and they elected me anyway. The fact is that he decided to run for president. If he is such a smart man as he claims to be, he knew the emoluments clause was there, and he knew he would have to divest himself of his business holdings. But like all the other failed business scams he has run, he is dealing the American people another scam. Mr. Trump has already completed an impeachable offense. However, the Republican-controlled government will not impeach him now because it would be so embarrassing to them. They will go along with him for a while. But being the narcissist and liar that he is, Mr. Trump's scam will soon have its day in court. When, if ever, his tax returns are released or leaked to the press and everyone sees what he is hiding, maybe some truth about his business ties with foreign governments will come out. As a side note, don't be fooled about that wall. You and I and our great-grandchildren will be paying for it for years and years, not Mexico. Jan McCoy Hickory Trump will be impeached Donald Trump is a legend in his own mind. In his twisted mind, he knows more about ISIS than the generals. He knows more about Agent Orange intelligence than the CIA and FBI. He knows more about climate change than the scientists. Is he also an expert on personality disorder, or just a prime example of that? One of Trumps slogans during the campaign was Drain the Swamp. Instead, hes filling up the cesspool with his advisers and Cabinet nominees. Adviser Stephen Bannon is a white nationalist. Adviser Michael Flynn traffics in conspiracy theories, and like Trump, is a Putin fan. AG nominee Jeff Beauregard Sessions has a questionable past regarding racism and civil rights. Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson has a close relationship with Putin and a bad environmental record with Exxon. EPA administrator nominee Scott Pruitt hates the EPA. Many billionaires and Wall Streeters will be there to ensure a government of the rich, by the rich, for the rich. Another of Trumps recent slogans was Buy American, Hire American. What a hypocrite. He does neither. Trump products are made all over the world. He hired workers with temporary visas to work at his Florida resort. Whats up with Trump and Putin? Trump has bad mouthed our allies in NATO while he praised Putin. He even solicited Russias help in his campaign, asking them to find the missing 30,000 emails. Out of our adversaries, how did he pick Russia to be his friend, as opposed to China, North Korea, Iran, etc.? Its not logical and doesnt pass the smell test. I believe the truth will eventually come out. Until then, Trump will continue to be Putins puppet. Without James Comey and the Russians, Trump would not be president. Republicans can say it didnt change the election because they didnt hack the voting machines. That is theory and cant be proved. My theory also cannot be proved. However, Clintons large lead in the polls dropped immediately after Comeys statement about the re-investigation. Comey never made any public statement about the investigation into Russias involvement and support of Trump. The Russian Wikileaks continued to dribble in. Less than 100,000 votes spread over three states would have turned the election around. After the truth comes out about Trumps connection with Russia, Comrade Trump will be impeached. Gary Garmon Connelly Springs Everyone needs a little help sometimes, and for young students in Catawba County, one place to go is the county library. There are Homework Help programs at the Catawba County Main library in Newton, at the St. Stephens branch, the Southwest branch and the Sherrills Ford-Terrell branch. The program uses local high school students to help tutor children in grades kindergarten through sixth. We recognized that students and parents in our area were consistently turning to the library for tutoring or help with their studies, Main Library Circulation/Branch Manager Brandy Burnette said. Specifically we saw a need within the Spanish speaking community and help with reading. The results and success stories have been fantastic. Were now serving 15-20 school age students a month. Discovery High students are required to have community service hours and juniors William Buff, Gehrig Foster and Matthew A. Byrd thought the Homework Help program would be a great way to earn those hours. They work at the Catawba County main library in Newton. Discovery High is an academic magnet school. The tutors help with a range of subjects from reading to math, basing each session on each students need. Most of the kids I read with are between third and fifth grade. One of the children I read with brings homework every other weekpages on figuring out what words go where, basic reading skills for comprehension, Buff said. The group also works with several English as a Second Language (ESL) students. Librarian Soraya Place helped prep the tutors. They can speak Spanish with their parents and they can speak English but as far as their reading, they kind of struggle with that, Foster said. A lot of it is helping them breaking everything down to simplify it and helping them learn the grammar. For Byrd, the tutoring time is a good window into what it would be like to be a teacher, something hes thought about doing at some point in the future. I just like the idea of getting the experience before even going to college and learning about education, Byrd said. This is the first year the St. Stephens branch has participated in the Homework Help program, and its tutors juniors Liz Ross and Tay Richardson come from Challenger Early College High School. It helps them gain some background experience working with children but also a really helpful thing for the parents who often cant afford to pay for the tutoring, St. Stephens branch manager Debbie Hosford said. The students received recommendations from their teachers to work in the tutoring program. Liz Ross doesnt plan on being a teacher but has always enjoyed working with children and the tutoring program seemed like the perfect way for her to earn her community service hours. The kids I tutored, once we got to know each other, they were so comfortable asking me questions they wouldnt feel comfortable asking their teacher so they learn a lot, especially the kids who are really shy, Ross said. Her classmate, Tay Richardson originally thought she wanted to be a veterinarian, but a couple of weeks into the Homework Help program she decided becoming an educator was the career path for her. I had this one student who struggled a lot with math through our first semester before the Christmas break, she said. The best moment Ive experienced was when I realized he finally had it. He understood it. After weeks of doing it, working hard, he finally understood the long division and was flying through the problems. Kim Wetmore also gets tutors for the Southwest branch from Challenger High. I worked with the Fred T. Foard Beta club program last year, Wetmore said in an email. My niece was crucial to getting tutor participation from that group. The program is still in the growth stage here, and I have had more questions about the program. For more information about Homework Help, contact one of the participating Catawba County Library branches: Main library in Newton, 828-465-8664; Sherrills Ford-Terrell branch, 828-466-6827; Southwest branch, 828-466-6818 and the St. Stephens branch, 828-466-6821. HICKORY Hickory Police arrested a man early Wednesday morning after they responded to a report of an armed robbery at a Circle K station in the 2800 block of North Center Street, according to a HPD press release. The stores clerk told officers a man entered the business, displayed a knife and demanded money. According to the release, the perpetrator took an undisclosed amount of money from a cash register, and then fled the scene. Officers found a suspect near the Belle Hollow shopping area on North Center Street. Christopher Bennit Robinson, 40, of Hickory, was charged with one felony count of robbery with a dangerous weapon. According to an incident report, officers seized cash and a crack pipe during the investigation. The report also lists a 2004 Toyota Corolla as impounded. Officers issued outstanding warrants against Robinson for a Dec. 14 robbery at a Holiday Inn Express in the 2200 block of U.S. Highway 70 SE. The Hickory Daily Record previously reported on the Dec. 14 robbery that the perpetrator told a clerk he had a knife and took money from the cash register before fleeing in a passenger vehicle. Robinson was charged with an additional felony count of robbery with a dangerous weapon and one misdemeanor count of parole violation. Robinson is held under a $300,000 secured bond. RALEIGH N.C. State Sen. Andy Wells will chair two committees in the new legislative session, according to a release from Wells office. Sen. Wells, who represents Catawba and Alexander counties, was appointed chairman of the Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources Committee and the Appropriations on Pensions, Compensation and Benefits Committee. I am looking forward to serving the people of District 42 and North Carolina in my new capacity, Wells said via the release. Sen. Wells encouraged those in his district to help him by giving feedback on the committees he will be chairing and the work that they do. Sen. Wells also will be a member of the finance, health care and judiciary committees. HICKORY Carolyn Thompson became the 22nd recipient of the Spirit of King award Sunday, during the annual community celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. hosted by the Greater Hickory Ministerial Alliance and Hickory Area Ministers. The award is given to individuals who exemplify the ideals of King in making the community a better place to live for all people. Every year the two organizations along with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People work together to observe individuals and find who would best personify the beliefs of King. This is a person who is advocating for justice and righteousness for all of the people, pastor of Morning Star First Baptist Church, Rev. David E. Roberts II said. He also is a member of the nomination committee for the award. This is a person who realizes any type of inequality is inequality for everybody and a person who is willing to go that extra degree to make sure the future is going to be a place where as the creed of the United States of America saysall men, all men are created equal, Roberts said. We look for that person who is color blind, educationally blind, economically blind, they just go out and help everybody. Roberts said Thompson has a long list of connections to the community that help her fit this definition of the Spirit of King. She is a registered nurse at Catawba Valley Medical, where she also is a Parish Nurse. Thompson also is co-owner and apprentice at Dirk M. Thompson Mortuary, works with Catawba Regional Hospice and Catawba Community Health Partners. She is a member of Hartzell Memorial United Methodist Church. When she first heard her name called for the award, Thompson said she didnt feel worthy. All that Dr. King enduredhe paved the path, he made the way so it was a little bit easier for some of us and we have to remember that, Thompson said. I was elated to be mentioned in the same breath as you would mention him and personally I feel this was an award for the community, not just for myself. Thompson wanted to emphasize the overall reach of Kings message. A lot of people think it was just about Black people but he stood for equality for all, so this award hasnt only been given to African-Americans, its been given to a vast number of ethnicities, Thompson said. As a parish nurse, she works with 10 churches, but she sees herself reaching out to the entire Hickory area. Thompson feels it's this role that allows her to have such a key impact in local communities. You have to be associated with a faith community to be a Parish nurse, Thompson said. You provide learning opportunities, health education, preventing illness, exercise programs. Shes been working as a parish nurse for 16 years in Hickory. The program began in the 1980s and was founded by Granger Westberg in Chicago. Faith community nurses are licensed, registered nurses who practice holistic health for self, individuals and the community using nursing knowledge combined with spiritual care, according to parishnurses.org. Im very connected to this community, very vested in this community. We live in the community, Thompson said. Shes originally from Georgia and moved to Catawba County 20 years ago. The Congress on Sunday claimed that the Aam Aadmi Party was receiving funds from abroad in the run-up to the Punjab Assembly polls and asked party supremo Arvind Kejriwal to explain the source of such funds. It also accused one of the AAP MLAs of sharing stage with separatists and terror elements in London. The AAP does not have any dearth of money. They are being funded from abroad. Who are these people who are supporting them, asked senior Congress leader and former Union minister Anand Sharma while addressing the media in Chandigarh. Kejriwal should explain to the people of Punjab about the foreign funds his party is receiving for the upcoming Assembly polls, he said. Without naming anyone, Sharma alleged that an AAP MLA had gone to London where he shared stage with terror elements. One of Kejriwals MLAs addressed a gathering in London while separatists and terror elements were seen standing on the dais. Kejriwal should take action against him but he is silent, he said. What he (the AAP MLA) said outside India, you (media) should find out. He met those separatists and terror elements who have ruined Punjab. Who did he meet in London and Canada? Whose money is flowing into Punjab...there should be an inquiry into it because such a huge amount usually does not come, chartered planes (with NRIs) do not come, Sharma added. A few days back, Punjab deputy chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal had also claimed that AAP was being funded by foreign-based terrorist organisations. Sharma further alleged that both the ruling allies in Punjab, the SAD and the BJP, were using the maximum amount of black money for the upcoming election. Lambasting the Delhi mhief minister for his failure to honour the promises made to the people, he said, The people of Delhi are demanding answers for those promises. The AAP government is the most corrupt government Delhi has ever had. One-third of his (Kejriwals) people are in Jail. His government is being run from Tihar jail. Alleging that AAP had failed to fulfil even a single promise made to the people of Delhi, Sharma said the fact that Kejriwal was bringing people from outside to manage his partys poll campaign in Punjab clearly showed that he did not trust the people of the state. Regarding the AAP leaders letter to the Punjab Chief Electoral Officer seeking withdrawal of his security, Sharma took a swipe at Kejriwal by asking him why did he take the security cover in Delhi and alleged that he was trying to befool the people of Punjab. Goa will become the first state in the country to opt for electronic transmission of postal ballot to service voters in the upcoming assembly polls, chief election commissioner (CEC) Syed Nasim Zaidi said on Sunday. The returning officers will transfer the postal ballots to service voters by electronic means so that the service voters can download it, fill it and send it via e-mail to returning officer, Zaidi told reporters here after reviewing preparedness for the February 4 polls. He said sending ballot papers through electronic means will cut down the time in transmission of postal ballot to the service voters. We hope that a large number of service voters will be able to utilise this facility. This would be the first in the region and around the globe. That is a matter of great pride for all of us, he said. Goa has 822 service voters who are either in the defence, para-military forces or on diplomatic missions. He said Goa would also be the first state where all assembly constituencies will be covered by (VVPAT) Voter- Verified Paper Audit Trail machines. This will be used all over the state to ensure transparency of the process to the voter. It will assure the voter that his vote has gone to the right candidate, he said. The CEC also said the commission has initiated few IT-based initiatives. There is one scheme called Samadhan to address to complaints. It has been working well and political parties have expressed their satisfaction, he said. With regard to permission clearance system Suvidha, we have already directed to improve the working of permission system. We assure that political parties that their permission applications would receive attention, Zaidi added. Meanwhile, in order to ensure that the polling takes place in a free and fair manner, a slew of measures have been taken up by the ECI like strict vigil on casinos, state borders and the airport. There was a fear that casinos can be misused with respect to cash withdrawal and distribution. This morning itself we have reviewed with the state administration and Director General of Police and in particular we have roped in senior officials from Karnataka and Goa, Zaidi said. Director General of Investigations was here who along with his team in Goa and Karnataka and with co-operation from state administration, he is working on a strategy, entry and exit from casinos, movement of loose cash, setting up of static surveillance team, flying squads and certain action by Income Tax department, he said. Zaidi said Air Intelligence unit has been set up at the Dabolim international airport to check movement of money or any undesirable elements through air. I-T department is keeping special eye on clandestine currency exchanges and the movement of money through banking channels. We have directed returning officers that affidavits filed by candidates must be uploaded so that officials can carry out real time scrutiny of these affidavits under I-T laws, he added. On law and order arrangements, Zaidi said adequate number of para military personnel will be deployed in the state by January 25 to maintain the law and order. Special surveillance would be mounted on cross border movement of liquor, money and gifts. The DGP has been asked to take effective action against anti-social elements, proclaimed offenders and any other criminal person who can be used by the party or candidate to intimidate them, he said. Zaidi, who had discussion with various representatives of political parties, said that some of them have drawn attention that certain government schemes are being used to neither threatened or convince voters. The commission has taken a serious note of these suggestion and issues, he said. In order to check misuse of liquor, excise department has to launch a special drive to control use of liquor to influence voters, he said. Zaidi said ECI is determined that there should be strict control on use of money, liquor and gifts during the election process, and therefore, it has reviewed with many enforcement agencies including Income Tax authorities, banks, Narcotics department, customs, excise department and commercial tax authority and police. A total of 80 flying squads and 21 static surveillance teams are working round the clock, he said, adding that the vehicles engaged in poll works are fitted with GPS device. Standard operating procedure would be activated towards the end of polling process. Central para military forces would be deployed to assist our surveillance teams, added Zaidi. The Congress and Samajwadi Party have reached an electoral understanding to contest 2017 assembly elections together in Uttar Pradesh. Although an official announcement is yet to be made, sources said the Congress would contest 105 seats while the SP would fight in 298 seats in the state. Yes, the Congress has reached an understanding with the SP. the Congress will contest 105 while the SP will contest 298. Its a deal with the Congress without the RLD, said a functionary. A formal announcement will be made soon, said functionary. The Congress and the SP reached the deal after several rounds of discussion in the past few weeks. While the Congress wanted to take smaller allies like the RLD on board, the SP wanted alliance only with the Congress. Talks between the Congress and the SP appeared to collapse on Saturday over seat-sharing, forcing Congress President Sonia Gandhi to intervene and speak to Akhilesh on the phone. While the SP had offered 99 seats the Congress continued to bargain for more. When a Muslim royal fights an election on the ticket of a Dalit-led party and woos Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs of the area against a new Muslim political dynasty, Indian democracys contradictions and possibilities come alive. It may not be legal nomenclature anymore but Kazim Ali Khan, or Navaid Miyan, is still popularly referred to as the Nawab, the ruler, of Rampur. After shuffling through various parties he was last elected as the Congress MLA in 2012 Khan is the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate from the Swar constituency of Rampur. He is one of the 97 Muslim candidates Mayawati has given tickets to in the hope of winning over the votes of minorities in this election. Khans candidature and campaign shows the BSP strategy of getting the local arithmetic right at work on the ground. It is contingent on a powerful Muslim candidate bringing in his own community vote, to be buttressed by the plus vote of BSPs core constituency, Dalits. The political contest here can also make or break the emergence of a new Muslim political dynasty in UP, for the former royals challenger is Samajwadi Party (SP) strongman Azam Khans son, Abdullah Azam Khan. Read| UP elections: Is there a Muslim vote factor in Uttar Pradesh? Building a local coalition As we drive out in his car from the citys Noor Mahal to the constituency, Kazim Ali Khan points out the constituency demographics 52% Muslims, 48% Hindus. The overall electorate strength is about 300,000. I won 44,000 votes from the assembly segment as a Congress candidate in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections - this is my core vote. Besides this, he hopes to tap into close to 40,000 Dalits, the majority of which would be loyal to BSP. He stops in the Surajpur village to pay his condolences at the home of a supporter, who has just lost his wife. Prem Das, the BSP district secretary, joins in at the village square as a crowd of Muslims gather. Will the Muslim-Dalit coalition work given the contradictions between the two communities? Das replies, This is not new. Kanshi Ram ji (BSP founder) had always spoken of Muslims as a part of Bahujan samaj. BSP in past elections too has given 85 tickets to Muslims. It will work. And are the Dalits now with the party, given their shift to (Narendra) Modi in 2014? Modiji made false promises, people got carried away, but those illusions are all shattered. Look at how notebandi (demonetisation) has affected the poor. Read| UP elections: Akhilesh back in the race with bicycle but potholes remain Kazim Ali Khan is hoping his moderate image will appeal to even the Hindu voters of the area. The BJP candidate will win votes only from Hindus; the SP candidate will win votes only from Muslims. I hope to win the support of both communities. Among the Hindus are OBC communities such as the Chauhans, Sainis and Mauryas in the constituency and BSP hopes that the caste group which does not get the BJP ticket will move to them. He also relies on his past. Look, the coronation of the Nawab of Rampur - my ancestors - was done by a Brahman. The last Raj Purohit of the state was the father in law of Murli Manohar Joshi (senior BJP leader). My family built the largest temple here. By contrast, he argues that Azam Khans politics can only succeed in areas with complete Muslim majority. Rampur district has 48% Muslims; the city has 85% Muslims his politics of division only works in the city. Swar-Tanda also, unusually, has 12,000 Sikh votes. Khan explains that soon after Partition, his grandfather - the then ruler - decided that Rampur would become the first state to accede to India. He however sent those Muslims who wished to go to Pakistan in two trains, with full security. On their way back, these trains brought Sikhs of the Punjab. The ruler then gave them land. At a corner meeting in the Sikh-dominated Rajpur village, bordering Uttarakhand, Khan reminds his voters of this nugget. The challenger Back in Rampur city, at the SP office, a large crowd roars as Azam Khan ends his speech. SP strongman Azam Khan (right) with his son, Abdullah, who is making his political debut against Kazim Khan, in Rampur. (HT Photo) But the real focus is on his son. Abdullah Azam Khan finished his civil engineering in a Noida college, and claims the people of Swar wanted him to stand. You have to understand the Nawabs history. Their family supported the British during the 1857 rebellion. He has been in all parties; his father and mother have been MPs here, yet no development has taken place. He and his father deny, in separate interviews with HT, that their politics is communal and extreme. Rampurs battle is intriguing for it challenges general conceptions of the powerful and the subaltern. Is a Muslim royal hoping to win with Dalit support and a moderate, inclusive image the true representative of people, or is a new leader from a dynast who may come from humbler roots but now is the epitome of Muslim political power in the state the man of the people? March 11 will tell. Read| Uttar Pradesh is the game changer in the politics of age SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Hes brought the Dhaka of 60s to life in his book, The Shadow Lines. He raised questions about the concept of nationhood with The Glass Palace. He has even written the powerful medical thriller, The Calcutta Chromosome. Amitav Ghosh, who was in the Capital for the Outlook Traveller Responsible Tourism Conclave 2017, always chooses themes and ideas that affect him deeply. In recent years, Ghosh has voiced his opinions on the pressing issue of climate change, a topic he discusses subtly in his novel, The Hungry Tide, which is part of his famous Ibis trilogy. It is one of the few fiction novels to take up the issue, and he hopes there will be more. I dont know why we elude this topic when writing fiction. I was writing The Hungry Tide, and thats when the urgency of the situation hit me. Its as if we are running towards the edge of a cliff, with a blindfold, he says. It was when Amitav Ghosh started writing The Hungry Tide that the idea to address climate change hit him. In his last book, The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable (2016), hes written a series of powerful essays on the subject. Why did he use the term deranged to describe humanity? He answers, I can give you a million examples. We are getting so many signals, but we are just ignoring them. Right after Chennai floods, I was told that a grand luxury building was going to be builtclose to the sea. Look at Fukushima, Japan for instance. The Aneyoshi tablets or Tsunami stones near the coastline, have straightforward warnings telling people to seek higher ground and not to build below this line. And what did people do? They built a nuclear reactor there. Isnt this deranged? he says emphatically. Author Amitav Ghosh says we get so many signals from the environment but we keep ignoring them. (Emilio Madrid-Kuser) Amitav adds, Its ironic that despite the progress of science and technology, we are still not taking care of the environment. Scientists are shouting their heads off in places such as the US and Australia. Theyre now being suppressed by the governments. However in India, our climate research community is at least making an effort. Speaking about the conclave, eco-tourism, Ghosh says, doesnt mean responsible tourism. He laughs, I dont know what it is, or how it lessens the impact on the environment. Tourism is in itself a huge industry which contributes to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Look at it this way, you go on a plane, travel a million miles, just to be near nature. The plane itself contributes to problems in the environment. So, you want to be near nature - but how to get to it? So yeah, I dont believe in it. We can all save the environment in our own little ways, and that can make a difference. It is a testimony to his popularity that lyricist Prasoon Joshi had a hard time entering the rather small Samvad venue at Diggi Palace for his session Ideate: Freedom to Dream. When all seats were taken, people stood in the aisles and the area around the open venue to watch the hour-long session where the advertising icon talked about the enduring power of ideas with activist Puneeta Roy. The adoring crowds were duly rewarded with the Padma Shri-awardee reciting some of his verses and singing his popular songs. Explaining why he chose to pursue a Masters in Business Administration despite being interested in poetry and having published his first book of poems at 17, Joshi said, I realised early on that my poetry would not be able to support me and for that for some time, Id have to support it. Communication was a field where I could get paid for my writing. Advertising, he said, involves giving an emotional connect to something physical. Thats how brand building works. My ads come from understanding the pulse of the people, he said while discussing his award-winning Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola campaign. Ads are hyperbolic and people understand that, he said, but there must be certain filters in place when choosing clients. I would draw a line at ads that disrespect women or a countrys culture. Prasoon Joshis first album was Silk Routes Boondein, after which he wrote for Shubha Mudgals Ab Ke Sawan. (Saumya Khandelwal/HT Photo) His forays into films began by writing songs for music albums. My first album was Silk Routes Boondein, after which I wrote for Shubha Mudgals Ab Ke Sawan, he said humming a few lines from the track Seekho Na. When actor Amitabh Bachchan heard Joshis lyrics for the album Mann Ke Manjheere, he recommended the lyricist to Rajkumar Santoshi and thats how Joshi got his first break in the film Lajja. Joshi, who has written the lyrics for many popular films like Taare Zameen Par, Dilli 6 and Hum Tum, advised the young to carefully pick their role models. Let stars work hard to become your idols, he said. I am ashamed by the kind of songs that are written today, he said, but what shocks me further is when at birthday parties and family events, women dance to these numbers. It is the audience who must reject bad work so that good work emerges, he said. Reading out his poem Sharam Aa Rahi Hai Na, which he wrote after the spectacular performance of Indian women athletes at the Rio Olympics last year, Joshi said the time for change had come. It is the women whose career gets affected but the men also equally desire being a parent. Men should get paternity leave and share responsibilities of childcare, he said. Click here for our full coverage of the Jaipur Literature Festival 2017 Follow @htlifeandstyle for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON After swallowing 57 heroin-filled capsules worth Rs2 crore, this Afghan national fell unconscious at Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport and fought death for 27 days. The police waited patiently for his health to get better to arrest him. Ghulam Rabani, 43, had come to India on medical visa but did not go to any hospital. Initially, police had thought that he was smuggling out drugs. But investigations revealed that he had brought it from Afghanistan and since he was unable to sell them here, he was on his way back to Herat. During medical examination, it was revealed that he had drugs capsules lodged in his abdomen. Read more: Tibetan refugee held at Delhi airport for trying to help Nepali man travel on his ticket, ID On November 3, Rabani was going to Afghanistan by Kam Air when he was offloaded by the airline as he was not well. The condition of the passenger was such that it raised suspicion. He had arrived in India on a medical visa in October 2016, but had not visited any hospital for treatment. He was sent to AIIMS Hospital and the doctors were consulted. During treatment, it was established that the passenger had swallowed a large number of capsules. He was operated upon by the doctors who took out 57 big capsules from his stomach and rectum, DCP (airport) Sanjay Bhatia said. After his arrest, police is now scanning other Afghan nationals who come to India for medical treatment. Read more: Cheeky gold smuggler caught at Delhi airport The capsules ingested by him were made of polythene. The total weight of the contraband was 525 grams. But it was just a tip of iceberg as we were waiting for him to get fit. Upon interrogation, he disclosed the name of one more person, who was involved with him. He had brought this heroin from Afghanistan and part delivery of the drug was given to a local man. A person called Qadir Ahmad, who was arrested in December, arranged for his stay in Bhogal. He got a SIM card on forged documents, Bhatia added. Read more: Cargo boy arrested for stealing $400 from a passengers bag at Delhi airport The police is still looking for others involved in the racket. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The national capital will have 10 more pollution monitoring stations before next winter to help area-wise micro handling of its air quality which, according to a WHO assessment, is the worst among worlds top cities. Subsequently, another 10 stations will be set up as part of a plan to have at least three such monitoring points in each of the Delhi districts, government sources said on Friday. The new stations will be located in areas such as Greater Kailash, Defence Colony, Vasant Kunj, Qutub Institutional Area, Okhla, Najafgarh, and Paschim Vihar, among others. The air pollution data in the capital is currently taken from 28 monitoring stations . (HT Graphics) The air pollution data in the capital is currently taken from 28 monitoring stations four run by Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), eight operated by the MeT department and the rest by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). To check pollution levels in your city, click here The decision to install more stations comes after the Supreme Court approved the CPCBs graded response action plan, notified last week and enforced partially on Friday. The plan outlines measures based on air quality moderate to poor, very poor, severe, and severe-plus or emergency. A separate set of action plan has been suggested for each category. The top court in December last year had asked authorities to install real-time and manual pollution monitoring stations in Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to check air quality for the graded response. According to the SC-approved graded action plan, the entire national capital region (NCR) will be treated as one. Authorities and experts have warned that the landlocked citys air quality cannot improve unless adequate measures are taken in the whole of NCR, which involves territories governed by neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan. A Delhi government official said the process to have 20 more fixed monitoring stations in place has started, and the tendering procedure is expected to start in February. A bid manager has already been appointed for the tendering process. These monitoring stations will help us get a comprehensive picture of air pollution in Delhi, especially during winter, when the citys air quality worsens. We want to ensure that each Delhi district has at least three stations, the official told Hindustan Times. The city of about 20 million people has been struggling to clean up its air that contains a toxic cocktail of dust, smoke and gases from vehicle and factory exhausts. The condition worsens every autumn and winter as the city, buffeted by farmers burning crop stalks in neighbouring states and atmospheric changes, records higher levels of air pollution. In a big city like Delhi, the air quality is not the same at various points. For example, Anand Vihar with high volume of vehicular traffic is one of the most polluted corners of the city while at Jor Bagh in the heart of the city the pollution levels are well under control, an environment department official told Hindustan Times, underlining the need for an area-wise micro monitoring of the air quality. More monitoring stations will help us in a thorough understanding of the nature of pollution in various parts of the city, he said. In a meeting called by Environment Pollution Control and Prevention Authority (EPCA) on Friday, it was stated that Haryana will get 34 stations, Uttar Pradesh 16, while Rajasthan is eyeing 11 monitoring spots in the next nine months. A fixed-automatic station where air pollutants like Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), PM2.5 and PM10 are being monitored regularly, costs Rs 1.2 crore with 10% yearly operation and maintenance cost, a CPCB official said. Also read | Air pollution: Piecemeal solutions wont end a problem thats hurting Indias economy SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Delhi governments proposal to reduce bus fares and offer free rides to students, widows and the elderly is unlikely to take shape as questions have been raised about its financial viability. The plan appears to be in cold storage a week after Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) Anil Baijal returned the file seeking clarifications on the financial implication for Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC). Read | To boost public transport, Delhi govt offers 75% discount on bus travel In just four years, DTCs operational losses have increased by 72% which is a cause of concern. The file has been at the CMs office for a week now, but there has been no discussion with the departments concerned on the proposal ever since transport minister Satyendar Jain met the L-G, an official involved in the project said. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Jain are not in Delhi, and are busy with Punjab and Goa Assembly election campaigns. According to the plan, From January, Delhiites were to get a flat fare of Rs 5 in non-AC DTC and cluster buses and Rs 10 for AC buses. The months almost over now. It is unlikely that the proposal will be taken forward as apart from the L-G, even the finance department has raised valid questions. This means that the proposal to give a permanent discount of 75% on travel passes to women and those belonging to the economically weaker section is also likely to be shelved, said another official. At present, a ride in a non-AC bus can cost between Rs 5 and Rs 15. The AC buses charge between Rs 10 and Rs 25. BUS FARE REDUCTION IMPRACTICAL: EXPERTS While the government believes the decision would have encouraged people to use public transport, experts say fare reduction is a wrong way to achieve it. We are totally against the idea of reducing bus fares to get people to use them more. DTC fares are already the lowest among five metro cities. Yet, in the last two years, DTCs ridership has only decreased by 10 lakhs. This has happened under the incumbent government, said Sunita Narain of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). She added the move is not viable and that the government should instead focus on increasing the bus fleet and frequency. Sources said the L-G, too, had questioned if low fares would translate into more commuters. Besides, it would have also meant huge losses for the already debt-ridden DTC. In 2012-13 DTC incurred an operational loss of Rs 723.98 crore, which in 2015-16 climbed to Rs 1250.14 crore. Its bus fleet is ageing, scores of routes are only on paper and no buses are being added to the fleet. The government must improve these aspects first, said transport expert Nalin Sinha. DTC operates 4,020 buses in the Capital. Rajkumari Misra, 42, passed away in November last year after waiting for almost 11 months to get radiation therapy and surgery for her uterine cancer at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). In the time she waited for a radiation therapy date at AIIMS, Misras cancer metastasized and spread to other organs in her body. The doctors said she would need both radiation and chemotherapy, only after which they would operate on her. But, there was a long waiting period. After waiting for around 11 months, we went to a private hospital but it was too late by then, said Ramji Misra, her husband. Read | Woman battling brain tumour, AIIMS says surgery only in 2020 Misra is just one of the hundreds of patients who wait for months or years at an end to get a surgery at AIIMS, the countrys premiere hospital. Doctors say that huge patient loads, coupled with patients being referred from hospitals across the country lead to the unusually long waiting periods. Almost 10,000 people come for treatment at the hospitals out-patient department every day and around 2,000 patients are admitted at AIIMS at any given point. A patient coming to the hospital may have to wait for anything between a few hours to a few years for a surgery depending on their condition and severity of the disease they are suffering from. In cases where even a minute delay may result in the loss of a life, surgery is performed within a few hours. But, in routine cases, dates are given according to what disease they have and how long can a patient live without intervention, said S Kale, professor of the department of neurosurgery at AIIMS. Patients with brain problems get preference over patients with spine problems because brain problems may result in death, but problems of the spine can result in loss of mobility, he added. The maximum waiting period in any department at AIIMS at present is three to four years, according to the medical superintendant of the hospital. The waiting period can range from just a few days to three or four years. We prioritise cases where the patients need immediate surgery and in specialised cases where we know that patients will not be able to get treatment elsewhere, said Dr DK Sharma. The maximum waiting period in the hospital is in the paediatric surgery, neurosurgery and cardiac surgery departments. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Delaying project clearances by repeatedly asking for different studies has not gone down well with the minister for environment and forests, Anil Madhav Dave. The minister has set out the following priorities zero corruption, fast project clearance, no compromise on the ease of doing business, work as a team or resign and a wariness of NGOs funded by vested foreign interests. Significantly, the NDA government has not been holding back on clearing projects, it has pushed through 2,000 projects involving investment worth 10 lakh crore since taking over. The project approval time has been reduced to 190 days from 600 during the UPAs tenure. Read: No exemption from environment clearance until further orders: NGT The ministers desire to push development is unexceptional. But some of his statements suggest that in his haste to do so, he may be compromising genuine environmental concerns. According to an expert present at the meeting, the minister wondered whether we should be bothered about cutting trees when jawans were dying at the border. He also saw no merit in putting speed breakers on highways to save animals when the CRPF jawans are getting hurt in blasts in Chhattisgarh. Clearly, the minister is mixing patriotism with environmentalism though such a link is a real stretch. There have been some disturbing changes brought about by this government in the field of environment. One is the removal of consent from the gram sabhas while prospecting for minerals in forests. The other has been to reconfigure the national board of wildlife, something which is now under scrutiny by the Supreme Court. The ministry has also allowed coal mines with a capacity of less than 16 million tonnes per year to expand without a public hearing. Another has been to ease forest norms and allow industries to come closer to national parks. These are all clearly aimed at hastening development. Read: NGT seeks explanation on green exemption for construction projects But the impact of environmental damage due to lax laws can hurt business and development in the long run. In some cases, unlike what the minister suggests, it is necessary to have several studies before it can be ascertained whether a project is viable or not. In the case of mining, projects have got held up in the past at huge cost and loss of investor confidence because the proper environmental procedures were not followed. Time and again the courts have had to step in to protect the environment and act against damaging practices. Many of Indias fragile ecosystems and signficant parts of its coastal flora and fauna have been compromised already. Development and environmental protection can easily go together but perhaps not at the pace that the government wants to set. We have already seen the ill effects of unchecked industrialisation and construction across India. It would be better to begin new projects with built-in environmental safeguards rather than make haste only to repent in leisure. More students can now hope to get into the countrys top business school, with Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, planning to add 800 seats under an expansion plan suggested by the government. IIM-A would increase from 860 to at least 1,200 the seats in its coveted two-year MBA course, the post-graduate programme (PGP) in management, according to a proposal submitted to the government. Another 400 seats would be added to the post-graduate programme for executives (PGPEX), fellow programmes and other similar courses, sources said on Sunday. Some of these seats could also go to PGP but the number has not been decided. But, the expansion would take five years after being cleared by the government, sources said. At present, IIM-A has 1,100 students. The proposal is in response to the human resource development ministry asking IIMs to take in more students. IIMs are willing to expand and have submitted their proposals to the ministry last year. It is much more practical to strengthen the existing IIMs that are already a brand name rather than concentrating on constructing new ones, a ministry official said. In the first phase, spread over three years, IIM-A would add seats to PGP. In the next two years, PGPEX and other courses would do the same. India has 20 IIMs which are autonomous but depend on government aid. Some of the IIMs that came up in recent years such as the ones in Amritsar and Ranchi are struggling to get faculty. Hostel and other infrastructure are also proving difficult. In September, human resource development Prakash Javadekar had announced that IIMs would double the number of students, as he also talked about improving hostel facilities, hiring new faculty, and more research. The ministry asked top six IIMs Ahmedabad, Kozhikode, Bangalore, Lucknow, Indore and Calcutta for plans for review. So far, Ahemdabad and Kozhikode have responded. Details were not available for the Kozhikode submission. If the ministry provides funds, these would be used for building hostels, laboratories, classrooms and hiring faculty among others. IIMs have been saying that fee would only cover the operating costs and expansion would require capital investment. Sources said in case the ministry cant bankroll the expansion, IIMs would be asked to raise money through higher education financing authority, a non-banking corporation that offers affordable loans to educational institutions for infrastructure and research. In its push for higher education, Javadekar-led IIT council recommended increasing the seats in the premier engineering institutes to 100,000 by 2020. Read| HRD likely to table IIM Bill in Budget session of Parliament SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON District unit of Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) on Sunday declared that the party will win with more margins as compared to performance in Municipal Corporation Faridabad. Gearing up its cadres for the upcoming polls of Municipal Corporation Gurugram (MCG), senior party leaders directed the party cadres on Sunday to form a five-member committee in each ward and hold booth level meetings for strengthening the party cadres. BJP had won 29 out of 40 seats in civic polls at Faridabad early this month. MCG has 35 wards and the party leaders aim to bag more than 30 seats. We have assured senior leaders of better performance as compared to Faridabad polls. Ticket contenders have been asked to work for the party. A ticket will be allocated to a single person and others have to support the party candidate, said Bhupender Chauhan, district BJP president. The decisions were taken in district executive meeting held at a club in South City-2 on Sunday, said Manoj Sharma, district general secretary. State BJP president Subhash Barala said categorically that indiscipline would not be tolerated. He said disciplinary action would be initiated against persons who deviate from the party line and oppose party candidates in MCG polls. He cited example of Faridabad, where the party initiated disciplinary action against rebel candidates. Barala directed the party workers to make efforts for the partys huge victory in the polls. The Punjab and Haryana high court had on December 8 ordered the state government to hold MCG elections within three months. The tenure of MCGs elected representatives ended on June 21 and polls were to be held in May, but the process was delayed due to delimitation of wards being carried out. Party national secretary Sudha Yadav tried to justify positive impact of demonetisation by citing partys victory in Chandigarh and Faridabad civic polls. Suresh Bhatt state general secretary (organisation), PWD minister Rao Narbir Singh, MLAs Tejpal Tanwar and Umesh Aggarwal, and district council president Kalyan Chauhan addressed the party cadres. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Bracing for the possibility of a fresh Jat quota stir on January 29, the Gurgaon police conducted a mock drill on Sunday. The drill comes two days after the Haryana police cancelled leaves of all police personnel (barring emergency exceptions) across the state. According to Gurgaon police officers, the drill featured preparation for putting barricades at all entry points to the city, special arrangements for screening passengers at the railway station and local bus station, preparations for ensuring law and order in times when prohibitory orders, forbidding the assembly of five or more persons in an area, is in force and the mobilisation of arms. The police preparedness came on a day some Jat leaders threatened to renew the agitation, which paralysed the state for days, if their quota demand was not met. Apart from the police, all-women Rapid Action Force (RAF), Quick Response Team (QRT) were also summoned for the mock drill. Strategic deployment of police and other forces, setting up check points near key installations across the city to keep a close watch on possible trouble makers and keep them at bay. We took all necessary preparations to deal with an agitation, the official spokesperson of Gurgaon police said. The officers said they will hold meetings with Government Railway Police and Railway Protection Force in the coming days. During the prolonged Jat stir last year, the Indian Railways faced the brunt of the protests as services across North India were hit. Thousands of Jat protesters assembled on railway tracks not letting trains pass through. However, Gurgaon remained largely unfazed and unaffected by the Jat agitation last year. In February, protesters blocked major intersections and several roads in the outskirts of the city . However, none of these protests witnessed any violence and were resolved within hours. Members of IMT Manesar Industrial Association have threatened to stage a big protest if Kherki Daula toll is not removed immediately. In a letter, the members asked the Haryana government to take up the issue with National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to find solution to chronic traffic issues at Kherki Daul due to the presence of toll booths run by a private operator. Manoj Tyagi, general secretary of the association, said that Haryana government has assured to deal with the matter on a priority basis and in a time-bound manner. Two toll booths were set up, at a distance of 17 kilometre from each other, on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway that became operational in 2008. Nearly two lakh people ply on the expressway that was developed on the public-private-partnership model. However, on February 2014, the Punjab and Haryana high court ordered removal of toll booth in Sarhaul following massive protests from residents, backed by NHAI. But, Kherki Daula toll was retained, and is currently being operated by a private company named Skylark Highways Solutions Limited. We have sent mails to Haryana government warning of protest. If no action is taken even after that, we will think of shifting to other cities. We have told the government how we are losing the trust of international representatives visiting Manesar with business deals. For them, the traffic menace at the toll is a big deterrent. Many of our valuable clients have missed flights, assignments and meeting time and this keeps happening, said Tyagi. Meanwhile, the residents of Gurgaon, under the banner of Toll Sangharsh Samiti, held a meeting on Sunday and decided to work together with Manesar Industrial Association to remove the toll. Toll costs Rs 60-Rs 290 for each crossing. This causes much stress on employees working in industries. Moreover, the traffic mess at the toll booth has become a major cause for jams on the NH-8 in Gurgaon. Like Sarhaul toll, we want NHAI and Haryana government to take a decision in the larger interest of the people of Gurgaon, said RS Rathee, vice chairman of Sangharsh Samiti, which led several protests at Sarhaul earlier. When tried to contact, Skylark CMD TC Rao remained unavailable for comment. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Sewage backflow has been haunting residents of Sector 15 for the past three days. The residents said that officials of Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) have failed to fix the problem, which has been frequently occurring for past several years. The sewer water backflow started on Friday morning at a corner of the two-acre park in Sector-15, along the NH-8. Some residents on morning walk noticed the sewage water spread across the park with a foul smell, and informed MCG officials. My house is close to the park full of sewage water. The stink has spread over the entire area and it is such a nuisance. We have stopped taking morning walk in the park, said Rakesh Yadav, a resident. A sewer chamber is located on one corner of the park. Three sewer lines from three different directions, one from Sohna Road side, one along the NH-8 and one from the sector, are joined here and lead towards Dhanvapur Sewage Treatment Plant through a master sewer pipeline. Irregular cleaning of the chamber has been frequently causing sewage overflow here. The outlet towards the master sewer line is fully choked which is why it overflows. MCG should clean these three lines every year, but it never happens and we suffer, said Ramesh Vashishtha, another resident. Meanwhile, MCG officials said that men have been assigned to clean the sewer lines with super suction machines. The problem would be resolved very soon. I have directed the concerned officials to inspect the park and resolve the issue urgently, said MR Sharma, superintending engineer, MCG. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Suspected militants attacked an Assam Rifles vehicle escorting tourists, killing two personnel and injuring several others near the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border on Sunday. Militants lobbed several grenades targeting the vehicle at Jagun 12th Mile Barabasti on NH-53 bordering Assams Tinsukia district in the run up to Republic Day, a defence spokesman told PTI. The security personnel retaliated and an encounter followed with sporadic firing still continuing. The Assam Rifles vehicle and three vehicles of tourists returning from the Pangsau festival have been damaged in grenade explosions, the spokesman said. The entire area has been cordoned off with combing operations stepped up in the area and tourists are stranded along the highway. The Pangsau Festival is held along the Indo-Myanmar border in the area Expelled Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Amar Singh on Sunday expressed anguish over being blamed for the feud in the party. He said the party had shown the door to Mulayam Singh Yadav, Shivpal Yadav and him. Therefore, they were in exile, he said. Singh was in Varanasi to attend a bhandara (religious ceremony) and condolence meeting organised at Garhwa Ashram a few days after the death of spiritual leader Baba Harigyananand. I was blamed for the feud in the Samajwadi Pariwar. The chief minister (Akhilesh Yadav) removed (Samajwadi Party) national president and father (Mulayam Singh Yadav) and took over as the national party chief himself. I want to ask the people of UP, where am I in the battle between father and son? Singh said. Reciting a verse from the Ramcharitmanas, he added, Lord Ram remained in exile for 14 years on his fathers order. But see, what is happening these days. Asked about the possibility of his return to the party, he refused to comment on the matter. He also refrained from saying much about Akhilesh, and added he still cared for the chief minister. The Rajya Sabha MP also clarified that this statement didnt mean that he was seeking the cancellation of his expulsion from the party. Instead, he hinted at joining a new party. Singh alleged that he was the target of SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav, to the extent that he had received Z class security from the government. Three members of a central government-appointed committee were arrested in Aurangabad by Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths while allegedly accepting a Rs 1.70 lakh bribe for a positive feedback on the citys Swachh Bharat Abhiyan works. The ACB team was in the city since Friday to inspect works related to sanitation carried out by Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) under the Centres flagship programme and file a report to Quality Council of India, Superintendent of Police, ACB, Shrikant Paropkari said on Sunday. The team was supposed to give marks out of 2,000. After conducting inspection for two days, they demanded a bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh from AMC officer Jayashree Kulkarni to file a positive report, the SP said. After negotiations, Kulkarni, who is co-ordinator of Swach Maharashtra Abhiyaan, locked the deal at Rs 1.70 lakh as she was threatened with a negative rating by the accused that AMC. She later brought the matter to the notice of AMC commissioner and also filed a complaint with the ACB sleuths against the trio. A trap was laid at a city hotel on Saturday and the three people were held as soon as they accepted the bribe, the senior officer said. The accused were identified as Shailesh Purushottam Bajania, Vijay Joshi and Govind Ghimare, all residents of Gujarat, he said, adding that a case had been registered with Cidco Police station in this regard. Results of the class 12 final examinations of the Jammu and Kashmir state education board were declared on Sunday, registering a 75% pass percentage. The results show that girls outperformed boys. Of the 28,800 boys, 21,586 passed the examinations, securing a pass percentage of 74.95%. However, of the total 24,359 girls, 18,533 qualified for the next level, with a pass percentage of 76.08%, the official said. He said 13,155 students 6,849 boys and 6,306 girls secured distinction i.e. above 75% marks. Around 50,000 students chose to sit for the examinations held in November, studying for only half of the syllabus. Schools in Kashmir were closed for over five months due to the unrest following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani in July last year. Following political debates over when to conduct the Class 10 and 12 exams, the state government, in an unprecedented move, gave students the option to appear either in November, preparing for only 50% of the syllabus, or in March with the full syllabus. In the first phase, the exams were conducted in mid-November amidst tight security in which over 94% students appeared. The remaining students, about 1,700, are scheduled to write their exams in March. The state board official said names of the toppers will be declared after the March exams, comparing results of all the students. The pass percentage, similarly, could change after all results are declared. Students appearing for the November exams had told HT that they opted for the first session because of the shortened syllabus and also because it would give them more time for competitive entrance exams. (With PTI inputs) Indias first indigenous, long-range artillery gun Dhanush, aka Desi Bofors, will be showcased for the first time at the Republic Day parade in New Delhi. Manufactured by Jabalpur-based Gun Carriage Factory (GCF), the 155-mm gun cost about Rs 14.50 crore a piece. Dhanush will be displayed to showcase defence power at the Republic Day function in New Delhi, GCFs Joint General Manager and PRO Sanjay Shrivastava told PTI. Dhanush is comparable to the latest weapon systems used by different countries, another official said. Besides features like electronic gun-laying and sighting systems, the indigenous gun has a strike range of 38 km, which is 11 km more than the imported Bofors guns. The Dhanush project has received support and active cooperation from other ordinance factories and PSUs such as SAIL, BEL, and many private sector companies. Their support has made the project a huge success, the official said. The gun, a towed howitzer, has been developed by Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), Kolkata, after going through the design and documents running into over 12,000 pages which were given to India under the first phase of Transfer of Technology (ToT) as part of the Bofors gun deal in the late 1980s. The Swedish Bofors company (now owned by Britains BAE System) could not complete the ToT for the 155-mm howitzer with 39 calibre to India as the deal got embroiled in a major political row over alleged kickbacks. Subsequently, OFB struggled for long to produce the howitzer indigenously despite the fact that it has manufactured and supplied several components or spare parts to keep the Bofors howitzers operational in India, especially during the Kargil War. The army had been desperately looking for 155-mm howitzers for more than a decade now. It had roped in an Israeli company, Soltam, to upgrade the imported, Russian-made 130-mm gun to 155-mm at GCF. But the project, after the upgraded guns trial, ran into hot water, the official claimed. Five years ago, the Defence Acquisition Council had decided to look for artillery guns within the country and asked OFB to start manufacturing howitzers. Towards that end, former Defence Minister A K Antony flagged off a 155-mm gun manufacturing facility at GCF on September 22, 2012. The over a century-old GCF has already delivered six Dhanush guns to the Army which has been extensively trying these in snowy, desert and hostile areas in the country, he said. The army had been looking for a total of 114 Dhanush guns from GCF to augment its firepower. According to the official, the army needs a huge number of howitzers of different types, and Indian firms, some with the help of foreign manufacturers, are in the race to fulfill the demand with the guns variants. Expanding scrutiny of suspicious transactions post demonetisation, the government has begun analysing deposits in new accounts and loan repayments as well as transfers to e-wallets and advance remittance for imports during the last 10 days of deadline to turn in junked notes. After analysing cash deposits made in bank and post office accounts during the 50-day window provided to get rid of the junked 500 and 1,000 rupee notes, authorities are now examining term deposit and loan accounts that were opened after November 8 demonetisation decision. Income Tax Department is already taking actions in cases where cash deposits above Rs 50,000 have been made without quoting of PAN. The Income Tax Department is using tools and its sources to identify each of these persons and is confident that there would be a big expansion in the tax base and a quantum jump in direct tax collection, a senior government official said. A close watch has been kept on the persons making cash deposits in the last 10 days of the demonetisation scheme, e-wallets, advance remittance for imports etc, and continues to work on collecting and analysing more data regarding cash deposits, he said. The focus is also on non-cash deposits in various bank accounts by way of RTGS and other means, and would continue to share its findings with the concerned law enforcement agencies. Analysis of the deposits made, by way of cash and non-cash, in various kinds of new accounts including term deposit accounts and loan accounts that have been opened during the period of demonetisation is being done, he said. Income tax department and other agencies like ED are taking action based on the analysis. Besides, regular reporting by the banks through Suspicious Transaction Reports has seen more than four-fold increase in this period and the same are being analysed for dissemination. On analysis, details of more than 60 lakh accounts which have cash deposits of Rs 2 lakh and above have been disseminated and the total amount deposited in these accounts is more than Rs 7.34 lakh crore. Also, details of cash deposits totalling more than Rs 10,700 crore in different accounts in the North-Eastern states have also been disseminated. The official said Income-Tax department and ED have been provided with the details of cash deposits of more than Rs 16,000 crore in different accounts of various kinds of cooperative banks as well as more than Rs 13,000 crore deposits made in Regional Rural Banks. The Income Tax Department has undertaken numerous actions, both intrusive and non-intrusive, based on the intelligence and in turn referred a number of cases for parallel investigation by ED and CBI. The actions have unearthed non-filers, huge amounts of unaccounted income and shell companies, he said. The Income Tax department is also undertaking data analysis and comprehensive matching of the huge intelligence inputs with government databases to have a more effective and focused non-intrusive action against tax evaders in the coming days. Indias foreign policy establishment is cautiously optimistic after Donald Trump took over as the US President and delivered an inaugural speech which cryptically summarised his core campaign issues. Indian officials admit they arelike their counterparts in almost all the capitals around the world-- -yet to figure out what direction the policies of the new President will take. But they said the strong foundations and bipartisan support of the relationship will sail through the possible policy realignments the new regime in Washington might usher in. In other words, like other countries, India is also girding up for a bigly world order to use Donald Trumps trademark adjective for huge. The overriding view of Trump is uncertainty: he has said little of substance on foreign policy. What he said in his inaugural address that reeks of protectionism and outsourcing is no great news for India. As he sounded isolationist, experts say US under Trump will no longer get embroiled in geopolitical hotspots around the world in a big way. The rejuvenation of US economy was a key theme in his speech. That meant he needs to mobilize resources from around the world, so he would be keeping good ties with China in economic ties even as he would rework terms of engagement with Beijing, said M K Bhadrakumar, former diplomat and commentator. For New Delhi one worry is US withdrawing from global affairs considerably - there was no mention of Asia, China or even Europe in his speech - could make China more aggressive on issues of territorial disputes such as the South China Sea. The US President has generally spoken positively about India. But he has also consistently denounced job outsourcing to India, even making fun of the accents of Indian call centre workers. If there was one leitmotif of Trumps campaign, it was his constant barrage against immigrants. It has been pointed out Trump wants a freeze on new green cards and a restructuring of the H-1B visa programme to make it harder for US firms to hire skilled workers from abroad. Indians are the primary recipients of H-1B visa. The free movement of people is something which is taken for granted in the free world of free trade. So lets see how it goes, said an Indian official as New Delhi plans to engage more for with the Trump administration. Foreign secretary S Jaishankar had extensively interacted with the transition team. Nirupama Rao, a former Indian envoy to Washington, said, India should not waste time in reaching out to Trump and his team in order to establish a durable understanding that will take the relationship forwards in all sectors of relevance. But India will be relieved if Trumps admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin softens US diplomacy. Indian officials often complain that the Wests economic sanctions drove Russia into the arms of China. Strategic affairs experts like Brahma Chellany believe that Trump will be more firm on Pakistan. But some other experts see this wouldnt actually happen in a manner, India would like it to. Another area of concern is climate change, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi sees as an almost existential threat to India. Trump denies such a problem even exists. India developed a large number of collaborations with the US in climate change, especially in clean energy. Modis idea is to use these platforms to channel US private investment and technology to help India reach its ambitious climate targets, says Arunabha Ghosh, head of the Council for Environment, Energy and Water. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In the darkened offices of a tech start-up, a handful of computer engineers sifts through a mountain of intelligence data that would normally be the work of a small army of Indian security agents. We use artificial intelligence (AI) to look for patterns in the past to predict future behaviour, says Tarun Wig as he explains why he hopes his company Innefu can do more business with Indias government. Cyber warfare isnt a movie, its happening right now.... We lost out on the industrial revolution, we lost out on the defence revolution -- lets not lose out in the cyber revolution. While other countries have long relied on AI to gather intelligence, India -- sometimes seemingly addicted to paperwork -- has continued to use agents to eyeball reams of data gathered over the years. Its a process that sucks up time and can often miss crucial information. India has been in three wars with its neighbours since independence and the target of numerous cross-border attacks, including in 2008 when Pakistan-based extremists killed more than 160 people in Mumbai. Now the threat from cyber attacks is growing and its vulnerability has been exposed. Some 22,000 pages of data related to submarines that a French government-owned company was building for the Indian navy were leaked to the media last year. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhis Twitter account was hacked in November while the elite National Security Guards website was reportedly defaced with profanity-laden messages for Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month. Our idea starting out was that if the next war is fought on cyber, we need our own weapons, said Wig as he talks through software developed for Indias needs. - Octopus tentacles - Innefu got a foot in the lucrative business of government contracts after resolving a thorny test case for a law enforcement agency that wanted to determine the background to an incident along one of Indias borders. The agency handed over two CDs with about 1,500 intelligence documents, including social media snippets, such as posts on planned protests. Innefu had to train the machine to read the agencys language, including abbreviations, and then began extracting information on what happened, who were the main players and how they interacted with each other. Its newest offering Prophecy is modelled on products made by Palantir Technologies, a private security firm whose founders include Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel and whose clientele includes the CIA and the FBI. Prophecy is like an octopus with multiple tentacles that pulls data from multiple places, said Wigs co-founder Abhishek Sharma. While the use of AI is commonplace elsewhere in Asia, it is still in its infancy in India. About 75 percent of respondents to a recent survey by consulting firm EY India said cybersecurity deployed in their organisations does not meet their needs, pointing to big opportunities for companies such as Innefu. Although Innefu is the only Indian company known to specialise in national security, other Indian companies such as Arya.ai and Haptik are also tapping what should be a lucrative market. Banks have started to use AI to target products to customers and doctors are using it in a couple of experiments to map a patients medical history in order to devise new lines of treatment. Work is also underway to create a system that can act as a backbone for all electronic warfare programmes for the Indian army. But most of this is still at the laboratory stage, experts say. - AI laggards - Its expensive and our society is not used to automated decision-making, Jiten Jain, chief of Indian Infosec Consortium, an industry body, told AFP. Were still used to manual and human decision-making. Subimal Bhattacharjee, a cyber security expert, said India had been caught off guard by the need to upscale its use of AI. We are definitely laggards in comparison to China and South Korea and the US, he said. Innefu operates from the eighth floor of a nondescript Delhi commercial complex that houses chartered accountants and eateries. Its windows are darkened with thick black paper, while clusters of wires sprout from walls adorned with photos of goddess Lakshmi, the purveyor of wealth. But despite its humble surroundings, it is confident an ongoing trial of Prophecy will lead to more business with Indias security services -- whom Wig expects to be naturally inclined to go local. You cant really trust such sensitive data with foreign companies, said Wig. The ongoing protest may have spelled curtains for the state-sponsored Jallikattu event at Alanganallur in Madurai, but that did not prevent people from holding the event in other parts of Tamil Nadu on Sunday. Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam, who was expected to inaugurate the Madurai event, decided to return to Chennai after protesters prevented him from entering the venue. According to sources, residents of Alanganallur have blocked all the four roads leading to their village with logs and lorries. Nevertheless, Jallikattu was conducted on schedule at various places across the state including Rapoosal in Pudukottai and Manapparai in Tiruchirapalli. Live updates on Jallikattu on Sunday The event at Manapparai was witnessed by a crowd of thousands, with several youngsters competing with each other to tame the rampaging bulls. Prize money was awarded to the winners, both human and bovine. Manjuvirattu, a different version of the bull-taming event, was reported from a few villages in Dharmapuri district. However, the celebrations were disrupted in certain areas such as Codissia Grounds in Coimbatore, where a rekla (bull-racing) event held by the ruling AIADMK was brought a halt by agitators. Meanwhile, protests continued at several locations in the state, including Marina Beach in Chennai, even after the Alanganallur event was cancelled. Though the government was mulling over the feasibility of shifting the event to a suitable spot at Kovilpatti in Dindigul district, they gave up after protests broke out there too. Read | Not just Jallikattu: When culture clashes with the law The protesters expressed dissatisfaction with the ordinance promulgated by the government, dubbing it as a stop-gap arrangement thats vulnerable to legal scrutiny. They demanded a more permanent solution to ensure that Jallikattu was held without any hassles year after year. Government representatives tried to assuage the protesters by promising to replace the ordinance with a more tenable legislation. A bill will be adopted in the state assembly soon, they added. BJP state president Tamilisai Soundararajan was expected to meet Panneerselvam soon to discuss the issue. The Supreme Court had banned the bull-taming event on grounds of animal cruelty in May 2014. (With PTI inputs) Bihars human chain for de-addiction on Saturday might have set a record of sorts, but not without a cost. At least two children reportedly died and over 70 others fainted or suffered injuries during the course of chain formation in different parts of Bihar. One of the deceased, Divya, a Class 9 student at Jandaha in Vaishali, was crushed to death in a road mishap on Hajipur-Jandaha road, while going to participate in the human chain. Another death was reported at Panisadra village in Baisi police station area of Purnia district when Salman, 10, died. His father Md Sabir claimed that the boy was participating in the human chain when he collapsed. Sub-divisional officer, Baisi, Sunil Kumar , however, said the child was ill and his death had nothing to do with his participation in the event. In Nalanda, 13 students fell unconscious at Brijpur village of Noorsarai, 15 in Bhagalpur and 27 in Bettiah. Students of the Nirpur high school alleged that they had to walk 10 km to reach their designated spot at Brijpur village. One of the two girls who fainted in Darbhanga during the human chain programme. (HT Photo) In Darbhanga, two girls of Gyan Bharti School fainted during the event. In Motihari, five students fainted on national highway (NH) 28, while eight students fell unconscious in Bhabhua, as they were made to wait for long hours before the show began at 12.15pm. There were also reports of four students falling ill in Ara, seven in Mairwa of Siwan, two in Muzaffarpur and three in Biharsharif. Reports from Muzaffarpur said that eight persons, including five students were injured when an auto collided with a pickup van at Kuawahi chowk under Aurai police station. All the injured were returning home after participating in the human chain. They were sent to the Sri Krishna Medical College Hospital. At Raxaul, three women, including Sapna, Phuleshwari Devi and Amlawati Devi were injured while returning from Laxmipur, while a dozen were injured at Dadhi village under Beldaur police station when an auto overturned. At Goh in Aurangabad, four persons, including a school student, Guriya, were injured while going to participate in the human chain. Guriya, a Class 10 student, suffered fracture in her leg and was referred to the Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College Hospital, Gaya. Chief minister Nitish Kumar said, Nobody could have ruled out such episodes since they were organised on such a huge scale, with our logistics stretched. They happen even on the Independence Day when 5-6 trained policemen faint every year. At least I have seen this since 2006, he said. Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said there was poor arrangement of ambulances to ferry the victims to health facilities. He alleged that the Patna high court directive had not been followed properly. In response to a Patna high court query, seeking to know the reason behind the involvement of children in the human chain, the government had said that participation was voluntary and that all arrangements had been made so that no one was put to any hardship because of the event. However, contrary to government claims, there was no ambulance to ferry those who fainted or were injured in it. Instead, most were taken to health facilities by their relatives or well-wishers on pushcart or cycle rickshaws. (With inputs from Ajay Kumar, Prasant Ranjan, Prasun Kumar Mishra, Rajesh K Thakur and Sagar Suraj) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON With railways suspecting sabotage in derailment of Hirakhand Express in Andhra Pradesh, the home ministry may ask the NIA to include the incident in its ongoing probe into possible role of Pakistan spy agency ISI in Indore-Patna Express mishap last year. The home ministry may ask the NIA to see if the derailment in Andhra Pradesh today was a subversive act. The NIA can expand the scope of their ongoing probe, official sources said. The National Investigation Agency is looking into the claims of three arrested persons that the derailment of Indore-Patna express on November 20, 2016 in which at least 150 people were killed, was carried out at the behest of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The trio -- Moti Paswan, Uma Shankar and Mukesh Yadav -- were arrested last week from East Champaran district of Bihar. They had claimed to have got Rs 3 lakh to plant improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at Ghorasahan railway station under the district on October 1 last year. Bihar Police has reportedly recovered the IEDs. A team of NIA officials has already gone to Bihar to probe the accused and verify their claim. The three arrested persons have reportedly confessed about the ISIs possible role in the last years derailment. They also claimed to be working for the ISI, the sources said. At least 39 people died due to the derailment of Hirakhand Express at Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh Saturday night. Railway spokesperson Anil Saxena said there are indications of foul play as a goods train passed the same track just two hours before the mishap, which occurred in the Naxal-prone zone just ahead of the Republic Day. However, Odisha Police ruled out involvement of Naxals in the mishap. Odisha DGP K B Singh said there is no indication of Maoist hand behind the derailment According to railways, prima facie there was rail fracture which caused the derailment. But it has to be ascertained through whether the fracture was due to sabotage or because of negligence and lack of maintenance. The real cause will be known only after inquiry by the Commissioner Railway Safety, Saxena said. There are indications of foul play as goods train passed the same track just two hours before the mishap. The inspection by the patrol team also found the track okay yesterday, he said The driver applied emergency brake after feeling a big jerk and heard a loud sound. The area is Naxal prone and the incident happened just ahead of Republic Day, Saxena said. Railway Protection Force director general S K Bhagat said, Nothing can be ruled out right now. But the actual cause will be ascertained only after the inquiry. Railways minister Suresh Prabhu said all angles will be probed and stringent action will be taken against those found responsible for it. Those responsible for the derailment will not be spared ... Stringent action will be taken against those who played with the lives of so many people, he said. The mishap comes at a time when Railway Protection Force is on extra vigil in view of Republic Day as there is always apprehension of terror attacks around this period. Besides, railways has strengthened the safety preparedness after two consecutive train derailments near Kanpur recently, including the one in November. Pakistans film industry has welcomed the Indian governments move to issue visas to Pakistani actors Adnan Siddiqui and Sajal Ali on Saturday. The two actors will shoot for Sridevi-starrer Mom. Siddiqui is likely to play Sridevis husband, while Sajal Ali will play her daughter. Hopefully this will improve the relation between the two countries, film producer Mehmood Mandviwala told the reporters in Pakistan. Exhibitors are also hopeful that the move would give the ground to the Pakistan cinema owners lift the self-imposed ban on Indian movies. Ever since Indo-Pakistan relations deteriorated following cross-border firing, Pakistani artists have been forced to leave India. In retaliation, the Pakistan cinema exhibitors stopped exhibiting Indian movies in the country in solidarity with the actors. The decision, however, proved costly. Film critic Hasan Zaidi recently told a Pakistan daily that the bulk of revenue for local cinema came from Indian movies. Other than that the collections from Pakistan and Western movies is negligible. In a rare gesture, President Pranab Mukherjee has set aside Union home ministrys recommendation and commuted the death sentence of four persons convicted of killing of 34 upper caste people at Bihars Bara village, near Gaya, in 1992. The President gave a new lease of life on the New Year day to Krishna Mochi, Nanhe Lal Mochi, Bir Kuer Paswan and Dharmendra Singh alias Dharu Singh, by commuting their death sentence to life imprisonment. The four were awarded death sentence on April 8, 2001 by a sessions court at Gaya in connection with the Bara massacre. On April 15, 2002, the Supreme Court confirmed their death sentence in a majority judgment of 2:1, with justice MB Shah dissenting against such an award. Members of erstwhile Maoist Communist Centre had allegedly killed 34 Bhumihars (a landed upper caste) at Bara village on February 13, 1992. The Union home ministry, based on the recommendations of the Bihar government, had recommended on August 8, 2016 that the mercy petition of all the four be rejected. However, the President took into consideration various facts relating to the case, including the delay in handing over the mercy petitions of the four accused by the state government and the observations made by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The NHRC, in its order last year, had said after an analysis of the facts and materials placed before the Commission, it emerges that the four convicts in question had submitted their mercy petitions prior to July 7,2004. This is clear from the admission of the inspector general (prisons and correctional services), government of Bihar that the mercy petitions of the four convicts were forwarded to the secretariat of Honble President of India through the home department, government of Bihar vide letter dated July 7, 2004. However, the mercy petitions neither reached the home ministry, nor the Presidents secretariat. It was only after the intervention of the NHRC that these were processed after 12 years. Police in Meghalaya have arrested seven minors, aged between 11 and 16 years, on charges of raping a 10-year-old girl. The accused reportedly raped the victim twiceonce before Christmas and again on January 13---in Mawten, a remote village located in South West Khasi Hills district. All the accused and the victim belong to the same village. They were arrested after the girl told her family about the rapes recently and her father lodged an FIR on Saturday, Herbert G Lyngdoh, SP, SWGH told Hindustan Times. According to the police, all the accused have admitted their involvement in the crime. They have been sent to a juvenile home in Shillong. A case of rape under provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has been registered and further investigation is underday, said Lyngdoh. The victim, who is reported to be stable, has been sent for medical examination and counselling. Meghalaya, which is known for its matrilineal society, has been witnessing a number of crimes against women and children in recent months. This month alone five such cases have been lodged across the state. Earlier this month, Independent MLA Julius Kitbok Dorphang was arrested for raping a 14-year-old twice. Over a dozen accused have been arrested in the case till date on charges of rape and trafficking of the minor. Six persons were arrested this month for raping a 17-year old in East Khasi Hills district. Three others were arrested from SWKH district for raping a 13-year-old. Both incidents took place on January 1. Police records show that number of registered rape cases have increased from 26 in 2001 to a high of 183 in 2013. Last year 84 cases of rape were reported from across the state. Cases of molestation and sexual harassment have also increased from 25 in 2001 to 128 in 2014. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Anticipating challenge to its ordinance allowing bull-taming sport Jallikattu in the state, Tamil Nadu government has filed a caveat in the Supreme Court. Tamil Nadu governments standing counsel Yogesh Kanna confirmed the development and said the state has urged the apex court that it should be heard if anyone challenges the newly promulgated ordinance. We have filed the caveat in the Supreme Court yesterday asking for the state government to be heard in case anyone challenges the ordinance allowing Jallikattu, he said. Read | LIVE: Madurai Jallikattu called off after protests, CM Panneerselvam to return to Chennai Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao had yesterday approved the jallikattu ordinance, with Chief Minister O Panneerselvam announcing that the bull taming sport will be held at Alaganallur in Madurai and other parts of the state tomorrow. The Supreme Court had on Friday agreed not to pass a judgement for a week on the Jallikattu issue after taking into account the Centres submission that they were in talks with Tamil Nadu to find a way out in the matter. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had then mentioned the matter before a bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and R Banumati that people of Tamil Nadu were passionate about Jallikattu and the Centre and the state were trying to resolve the issue. The Centre and the state are in talks to find a way out in the matter and our request is that the court should not deliver the judgement for at least a week, Rohatgi told the bench. On hearing the AGs brief submission, the bench said Okay. Read more | Jallikattu: A sport, a way of life, a symbol of Tamil unity and pride The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday disclosed the details of the ordinance it has brought in to allow Jallikattu in the state, insisting that it is indeed the permanent solution that protesters have been asking for. An extract of the ordinance, which establishes the circumstances in which the bull-taming sport should be held, states that the government has decided to exempt the conduct of Jallikattu from the provisions of the said Central Act 59 (Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). According to officials, this goes to show that the ordinance is not the temporary solution made out to be by detractors, but a state amendment made to the 1960 Act. The document also lists out the rules and regulations that must be implemented during Jallikattu events. The state government, which intended to bask in the glory of its achievement of obtaining the ordinance from the Centre, was unpleasantly surprised when protesters refused to end their demonstrations unless a permanent solution was found. Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam even had to abruptly abandon his plans of inaugurating the main Jallikattu bout at Alanganallur in Madurai district, after angry protesters blocked the entrance to the venue. Attempts to shift the event to Kovilpatti in Dindigul also went in vain. No Jallikattu will be held until the government assures us that it will not be banned again, said Senthil Kumar, a protester at Chennais Marina beach. The chief minister assured protesters that the ordinance was indeed a permanent legal remedy. There is no need for these apprehensions, he announced, even as several Jallikattu bouts were cancelled after opposition from protesters. He said a bill will be passed in the legislative assembly on Monday to ensure that the event was not banned again. The new rules and regulations listed in the ordinance include the participation of government officials and observers to ensure that the animals are not drugged or abused during the event, besides the presence of a team of veterinarians from the animal husbandry department to constantly monitor their wellbeing. It also said district collectors would document occurrences at the event, among other measures. Despite Jallikattu receiving lacklustre response in Madurai district, several bouts were held in Pudukottai, Udumalai and Thirupur on Sunday. Two people lost their lives at the Pudukottai event. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Three persons died on Sunday as defiant protesters demanded a permanent solution on Jallikattu, dismissing the ordinance promulgated by the state government a day earlier, and forcing cancellation of the bull-taming sport in several parts of Tamil Nadu, including one to be inaugurated by chief minister O Panneerselvam. No Jallikattu will be held until the government assures us that it will not be banned again, said Senthil Kumar, a protester at Chennais Marina beach. The Tamil Nadu government insisted that the ordinance was indeed the permanent solution that the protesters have been demanding, and assured that a bill will be passed in the assembly on Monday to ensure that the event was not banned again. There is no need for these apprehensions, Panneerselvam said, as he was forced to abandon his plans of inaugurating the main Jallikattu bout at Alanganallur in Madurai district, after angry protesters blocked the entrance to the venue. Attempts to shift the event to Kovilpatti in Dindigul also went in vain. The new rules and regulations listed in the ordinance include the participation of government officials and observers to ensure that the animals are not drugged or abused during the event, besides the presence of a team of veterinarians from the animal husbandry department to constantly monitor their wellbeing. It also said district collectors would document occurrences at the event, among other measures. Despite receiving lacklustre response in Madurai district, several bouts were held in Pudukottai, Udumalai, Tirupur and even Puducherry. Rampaging bulls in Rapoosal village in Pudukottai gored several people, leaving two dead and at least 90 injured. Chandra Mohan suffered injuries to his lower hip while Raja sustained wounds in his chest. Both were rushed to a local hospital at Pudukottai where they were declared dead. In Madurai, 48-year-old Chandramohan died due to dehydration while taking part in protests. The AIADMK governmentand BJP MP and Union minister Pon Radhakrishan who professed Prime Minister Narendra Modis love for Tamil traditions and culturewhich was keen to appropriate credit for winning the Jallikattu battle through the ordinance suffered a setback. Protesters expressed dissatisfaction with the ordinance, dubbing it as a stop-gap arrangement thats vulnerable to legal scrutiny. They demanded a more permanent solution to ensure that Jallikattu was held without any hassles year after year. At least 19 trains were cancelled in Tamil Nadu affecting movement of 40,000 passengers as protesters staged demonstrations on railway tracks. Following unrelenting protests, DMK and other Opposition parties urged the Centre to take steps for conducting the sport annually without any hindrance. Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government has filed a caveat in the Supreme anticipating challenge to its ordinance allowing jallikattu in the state. At Coimbatore, state minister S P Velumani inaugurated rekala racesinvolving bovinesonly to be surrounded by protesters who prevented the bullock carts from crossing the start line. Violence was prevented only by the presence of a strong police posse at the spot. For the government, which had initially thought that the worst was over with the issuance of the ordinance, breaking the agitation is proving to be a tough task. A senior AIADMK leader said the government has nobody to negotiate with, considering that the agitation seems completely leaderless at the outset. Groups of protesters had congregated at Marina beach alone, and they were all blaring different demands on their loudspeakers. While some could be heard asking the Centre to explain the step-motherly treatment meted out to Tamil Nadu, others wanted to know why Hindi was being forced on Tamilians. Meanwhile, MDMK chief Vaiko in a letter to the Prime Pinister said only the Centre has the right to amend the Prevention of Cruelty Act, and remove bulls from the list of animals prohibited from being trained or exhibited. (With inputs from agencies) India-US relationship is headed for the best days ahead under new President Donald Trump, his Indian American supporters believe. This is the beginning of a new era, new dawn of new (India-US) relationship, Indian-American Digvijay Singh Danny Gaekwad from Florida told PTI. Having closely worked with Trump and his campaign during the grilling election campaign last year, Gaekwad, who is a hotelier and a first general successful entrepreneur, said. With Trump becoming the president, a new India-US relationship will begin. This is one President in my life time, who has come on a national television and said I love India, I love Indians, I want to help India, I want to fight terrorism. If that is not enough then what is enough, said Gaekwad. No president has ever said this on a national television at the election time. He is not afraid. He is the new breath in the time, he said adding that during the election campaign he had a chance to interact with Trump. He understands India very well. I have not met a presidential candidate in my life time who knows about India, who has been to India and who understands India and who ever dared to say in the middle of a heated political debate that I love India and I love Hindus, said Gaekwad, who hails from the illustrious Gaekwad family of Baroda. He has been living in Florida for 29 years. Concurred Harry Walia, a member of the Trumps Asian American and Pacific Islanders Advisory Committee. The relationship is going to be fantastic, because we are natural allies. Trump has already made a statement that we are going to be best friends, he told PTI referring to the October Edison speech of the 45th president of the United States. With Trump inside the White House, Walia said is expects a very open dialogue between India and the US. And it would be fruitful on defence side and economic side. Trump recognises US relationship with India is very different than the rest of the countries that he has been mentioning. Because we bring talent, we are economic engines in America. We are peaceful community. We are activist in mainstream and we do not talk trash to anyone. We contribute a lot to the American society, he said. Under Trump, the US India relationship would be far better than it has been under any other American president, said California-based KV Kumar. He is a businessman. He is going to establish a good business relationship with India. And India will greatly benefit from his administration, Kumar said. A large number of Indian Americans from across the country have gathered in Washington to participate in Trumps inauguration. Two Assam Rifles jawans were killed in an encounter with suspected NSCN(K) and ULFA (I) cadres at Jagun in Tinsukia district of Assam, close to the border with Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday. Two jawans have been murdered in the incident. In a swift counter-attack, several militants have also been neutralized. Details are awaited as the encounter is still on, Assam Police DGP Mukesh Sahay told Hindustan Times. Unconfirmed reports stated that two cadres each of National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang and United Liberation Front of Assam-Independent have been killed in the counter-attack taking the total death toll to six. The India-Myanmar border has been sealed temporarily and a massive counter operation is underway. In a statement issued to media houses, the United Liberation from of Assam-Independent claimed responsibility for the attack and claimed three Assam Rifles jawans have been killed and arms seized. Sundays encounter started following a grenade attack on the Jagun-Jairampur stretch of NH 153 on a private vehicle carrying tourists to the Pangsau Pass winter festival, which began at Nampong in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday. A group of insurgents blasted a grenade which hit a vehicle around 8:00 am. Two vehicles were damaged, but no one sustained injuries, Tinsukia SP Mugdhajyoti Dev Mahanta told HT. Following the incident, Assam Rifles personnel reached the spot and engaged in an encounter with the militants. The incident left thousands of tourists, including foreigners, who were on their way to the annual festival and also the nearby Lake of No Return, stranded on the highway. There were more than 500 vehicles on their way to the festival. Many of them have come back for safety reasons as the encounter is still on, Mahanta said. In November, three Indian Army jawans were killed and three others injured in an ambush jointly carried out by ULFA (I) and NSCN (K) inside Burhi Dihing reserve forest in Tinsukia district. Every year, insurgent outfits in north-east issue calls to boycott Republic Day and Independence Day celebrations. Sometimes they carry out attacks on security forces and civilians. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A local village panchayat in Rajasthans Bharatpur has decided to ban sale and consuming of liquor, narcotic substances and gambling and impose stiff fine for those flouting the stricture. Members of the Surota village panchayat in Bharatpurs Kumher sub division at meeting on Sunday, decided to impose the ban within the panchayats jurisdiction from January 23, said Shakti Singh, a member of the local self governing body. The panchayat has decided to impose a fine of Rs 11,000 on people selling and consuming alcohol, selling or abusing narcotic substances or gambling in the village, he said, adding that villagers who provide information about such activities will be given a reward of Rs 500. Strict steps will taken against any candidate or voter during elections if they are found selling or using intoxicating substances, he said. Inspired by neighbouring Awaar village panchayat, where a ban on selling and consuming alcohol was imposed earlier on January 1, we decided to launch a 20-day awareness campaign in the village about the ills of consuming alcohol, abusing drugs and gambling. Village youngsters have been spread awareness among people to give up liquor. The panchayat has constituted two committees of 25 members each with a mixture of village elders and youngsters. The village has 400 households with a population of more than 2,400, out whom 1,310 are registered voters. Though Surota does not have a liquor vend, there is one at Kumher, about 5km away from the village. West Bengal is all set to lose the opportunity to become the second Indian state after Tamil Nadu to introduce sex reassignment surgery (SRS) in leading state- run hospitals in the state. According to sources from the states Transgender Development Board, under the state social welfare department, acute fund crunch has forced the state government to shelve the plan for the time being. Till the time the announcement was made in July 2015, there has not been any progress in initiating the process of setting up facilities in the state- run hospitals in West Bengal. On inquiry, we came to know that the project is on hold for the time being because of acute fund crunch, said an associate of the board. Repeated attempts by HT to contact the state social welfare minister, Dr Sashi Panja failed as she refused to take calls. Even an SMS message to her mobile enquiring about the development failed to evoke any response. This means, said the associate of the board, individuals in the state willing to go for SRS, be it male to female or female to male, will continue to have to either depend on high cost- bearing private institutes or on the mercy of the Tamil Nadu government, which is expected to give preference to their own people. In fact, in July 2015, while making the announcement, Panja clearly said that the initiative of the state government is prompted by the two factors, the first being that SRS involves a lot of cost if done in private and the second being that the surgery might lead to massive health hazards if not done with adequate precaution. So we have decided to introduce the facility in government hospitals, where individuals willing to go for SRS can great proper guidance and clinical assistance, by a panel of expert doctors that are associated with government hospitals and also the board, said Panja during the announcement. She also said initially the facility will be available in all the medical colleges & hospitals in the state and subsequently extended to other state run hospitals. The transgender activists in the state are, however, is not quite surprised over the development. Lots of promises are often made about the development of the community but in reality very few fructify. So there is nothing to get surprised on this issue, said Calcutta High Court criminal lawyer and LGBT rights activist, Kaushik Gupta. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Three people, including a physically challenged man, were arrested by officers from Vasai GRP for raping a 17-year-old at Dadar. The accused were identified as Anil kumar alias Tony, 26, a Dadar resident, Ajay Sharma, 21, and Luvkush Sharma, 40. All three were booked under sections 376 (rape), 366A (procuration of minor girl) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. As the crime had taken place in the area falling under Mumbai Central jurisdiction, the case was transferred to the local officers,said a Vasai GRP officer. The incident Inspector Mahesh Bagwe from Vasai GRP said the girl hails from Bihar and had run away from home in anger after she was taunted for not supporting her the family financially. She lives with her mother, her elder brother and his wife in Bhagalpur. The girl had left home in the wee hours of January 15 and reached Mumbai on January 18 via Punjab Mail. She first went to Delhi from Naugchia station in Bihar and from there she came to Mumbai. After alighting at Dadar, the girl lost her way as this was the first time she had visited Mumbai. This is where the accused spotted her and offered to send her back home the next day. They then took her to a rented apartment on the pretext of giving her shelter for the night. On January 19, all three took turns to rape her. They then kicked her out of the apartment in the evening. Not knowing where to go, the girl boarded a Virar local. It was an alert commuter who found something amiss with the girl and called the control room to inform the railway police about her. The cops swung into cation and took the girl in their custody. After recording her statement, we nabbed the accused within 12 hours and brought them to Vasai, where they confessed to the crime during interrogation. Medical report has confirmed rape. The girl has been reunited with her family, said an officer from Vasai GRP. Caption The three accused after they were arrested by officers from Vasai GRP. Babloo Gupta Maharashtras school education department is modifying its uniform age criteria for nursery, kindergarten (KG) and Class 1 admissions to the upcoming academic year, 2017-18. The cut-off date to reach the minimum age which ranges from above three to five years, depending on the class will be raised to September 30, 2017 from July 31, 2017, said education officials. The changes were suggested by educators and parents. Under the new rules, a child will have to be above three years for nursery, above four years for junior KG, and five-years-and-four-months for Class 1 by September 30 of that academic year. This will be applicable for all schools irrespective of their managements or education boards. This means that schools will be able to take in more students than earlier. We had lost out on some children because the earlier cut-off was July 31. We will call them back for admission as soon as the rules are introduced, said Savita Venkat, principal, Bombay Cambridge Schools, SSC and CIE, Andheri. Maharashtra has been following a uniform minimum age limit for school admissions from 2016-17. The idea is to ensure that schools admit only children who are six years and above by the academic year, 2019-20. The age-limit was set in a government resolution (GR) dated January 21, 2015, which mentioned that July 3, will be the cut-off to meet the required age. The new rules are expected to release in the next two to three days, said officials. But some schools were apprised of the changes in a meeting on Friday, as the latest January, 10, 2017, GR on revamping the admission process to fill the 25% reserved seats under the Right to Education (RTE) act states that September 10 should be considered as the cut-off. Since the January 10 GR is limited to RTE admissions, the department must change the January 21 GR to extend the new date to all other admissions.Officials confirmed the process for doing this has already begun. We have submitted the file to modify the date mentioned in the GR to September 30 from July 31 for approval, said Nanda Kumar, principal secretary. The GR will be approved by education minister Vinod Tawde. Happy with the new rules, most schools said accommodating more children wont be a problem. We keep a buffer of 20% for last-minute admissions, said Father Francis Swamy, principal, St Marys School (ICSE) Mazgaon and joint-secretary of the Archdiocesan Board of Education, which runs 150-odd schools in Mumbai. Some schools such as Bombay Scottish School, Powai, are yet to begin admissions and so will be able to alter their criteria easily. Luckily for us, our admission process starts in February. So by that time the new GR will be released, making things clearer, said Sunita Geoge, principal of the school. What is uniform age-limit? Since last year, all Maharashtra schools have to follow a common minimum age-limit for admissions to nursery, KG and Class 1. The goal is to ensure that students are not enrolled in schools before they are three years old. What is the new rule? Children should meet the required minimum age by September 30. Earlier this cut-off was July 31. How it will be implemented: Phase-wise Implementation for Class 1: From 2016-17- Five years-----31 July, 2011 (OLD CUT-OFF DATE) From 2017-18- Five years and four months ----September 30, 2017 (new cut-off date) From 2018-19-Five years and eight months ----September 30, 2018 From 2019-20-Six years and above----------------September 30, 2019 How the new rule came about: The suggestion to change the cut-off date came up in the feedback gathered from experts and parents to improve the RTE admissions. Why the change was required: Experts said that since U-DISE (Unified District Information System of Education) is counted on September 30, the students have to be of the required age by then. Otherwise, schools will have problems in getting grants and RTE reimbursements from the government. Read: New birthday cut-offs likely to make school admissions in Maharashtra chaotic Mumbai schools cannot cross-verify documents of RTE students: BMC SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Bandra police, after investigating the accidental death of a 21-month-old boy, came to the conclusion that neither the owner nor the tenant of the 14th floor Bandra apartment were responsible for his death on Saturday. The parents of the child should have been more careful, the police added. Around 9am on Saturday, the deceased, Soham Chanabasawa Balate, was playing in the hall of an apartment on the 14th floor of Sea Bird building in Bandstand, Bandra (west). Balates grandmother was offering Pooja in the hall. The boy climbed up to the sliding glass window, which had no grill. He then lost his balance and fell down, dying on the spot due to multiple injuries. Soham had come to the apartment with his parents to visit his ailing cancer-stricken 60-year-old grandfather, Ganpati Morge. His grandfather is from Nanded, and Sohams family is from Karnataka. The family left for Karnataka the same day with the body. Senior police inspector, Pandit Thakare, of Bandra police station said, No case is made out. The parents of the child should have been more careful. However, disagreeing with Thakare, IPS turned lawyer, YP Singh told HT, The parents or the person who was looking after the child can be booked for causing death due to negligence, under section 304 A of the Indian Penal Code. Singh added there is no law which mandates putting up safety grills to avoid such incidents. BMC PRO Vijay Khabale and Chief of Fire department Prabhat Rahangdale said they have not come across incidents where action was taken because safety grills of buildings are not in place. Rahangdale said, Its a matter of common sense that people should take such safety measures. Khabale said, It is the responsibility of the buildings society to put grills on windows. The talks for a tie-up between the saffron allies for the upcoming Mumbai civic polls remained suspended on Sunday as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) remains irked with the Shiv Senas offer of just 60 seats after the former asked for 114 seats, half of the total seats in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Neither of the parties took talks further, but both seemed reluctant to call it a day, at least publicly. At the same time, the allies continued to trade jibes and complaints against the other, indicating that a tie-up was difficult. However, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray did indicate the party may go solo in the polls. Now fight in such a way that we wont need to go to anyone. We will install our mayor on our own strength, Thackeray said. Party leaders published the statement on the Sena chiefs unofficial Twitter handle that is used to broadcast his speeches, statements and share his views. It is expected in both camps that Thackeray may clarify his partys stance on the alliance on Monday, on the occasion of his father and Sena founder Bal Thackerays birth anniversary. He will address party workers on Monday evening. During the day, the BJP went into a huddle with its 21-member election committee members, legislators and Members of Parliament meeting chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. By making an offer of 60 seats, the Sena has insulted us. All party functionaries expressed their anger about such an offer to the CM. The BJP is still open to an alliance, but now the decision to take these talks forward has been left with the CM and state president Raosaheb Danve, said Ashish Shelar, BJP city unit chief. Sources told HT Fadnavis was also miffed with the Senas proposal of 60 seats. At the meeting, the CM reviewed the partys manifesto, which is now expected to clearly spell out its agenda on transparency in the BMC administration. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray held a press conference to announce more freebies, this time, for Thane and Ulhasnagar residents their civic corporations also go to polls next month. He refused to comment on the alliance in Mumbai and only said he had neither received any proposal from the BJP nor had he been contacted by anyone about it. But by taking the surprise press conference to unofficially release the partial manifesto for Thane, he indicated his party was preparing to contest polls solo. Sena MP Sanjay Raut, a bitter critic of the BJP, took the opportunity to slam the ally. He said, Sixty seats for the BJP is a more than a good offer. There are many within the party who feel 50-55 seats are enough going by the BJPs ground strength in Mumbai. If Thackeray does not take a call on Monday, it is likely the decision on whether to have an alliance or not will get dragged out to next week, a day or two before the candidates for the polls are finalised through nominations before the state election commission. It is learnt Fadnavis wants to avoid bitterness between the allies as much as possible ahead of the BMC polls and with this in mind may drag out the final decision. He was keen on an alliance if the Sena would have agreed to part with 105 to 110 seats. By offering 60 seats, the Sena seems to have indicated it is not keen on talks, said BJP leaders. We asked for 114 seats on Day 1. They asked us to list out the Warsaw, which we did seriously. After that, they sprung this ridiculous number of 60 seats to us. It shows they are not interested or want to waste time. Our cadre is now preparing to go solo, said a BJP legislator. Fadnavis also reviewed the party manifesto with the leaders, which will clearly spell out how the party plans to take its agenda of transparency forward. Read Shiv Sena taunts BJP: Inducting criminals worse than stashing black money The Vile Parle police have arrested a 23-year-old former employee of a supply and logistics firm for allegedly stealing a bag containing 43 products valued at Rs2.5lakh and a Pulsar bike. The incident occurred on January 17, when the accused, Vinay Kumar Virendra Prashad, stole the bag carried by the complainant, Nitin Lad, 29, who works as a delivery boy in the company, the police said. Lads office gave him 45 products for delivery which were bought through online shopping by customers. Prashad was following Lad and waiting for an opportunity to commit crime. While the latter went to deliver a parcel to a customers house in the Agarbatti building near Prarthana Samaj, the accused immediately picked up the bag with smartphones, including iPhones, and the bike, and fled from the spot, said Vikas Patil, sub-inspector of Vile Parle police station. The victim then informed his office about the incident and a complaint was registered with the Vile Parle police. In the CCTV camera footage, the accused was seen fleeing with the bag. We showed his picture to all delivery boys. Several employees identified Prashad as he had worked with the company, said Patil. The accused was arrested from his house at Kurla (west) on Friday. He confessed to having stolen the bag and the bike, said Patil. The police have recovered the booty and the bike. READ 25-year-old held for stealing phones in Mumbai, selling them in Bangkok In an unusual case, the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of the Mumbai customs intercepted a passenger and a receiver on Saturday night smuggling 2.2kg gold worth Rs61 lakh in a portable car washing machine. According to the AIU, they intercepted Ahamed Thameez from Kasaragod district in Kerala on suspicion, after which his checked-in baggage was subjected to a thorough search. The passenger had ingeniously concealed the said solid crude gold, cylindrical in shape, in the specially made hollow cylindrical iron shaft. It was covered from both the ends, which formed the central part of the motor of the portable car washing machine, said Pradnyasheel Jumle, deputy commissioner of customs, AIU. The authorities got suspicious after Thameez was found carrying two iPhones worth Rs1.20 lakh, following which they decided to check his luggage. The AIU had to use an electric cutter to remove the concealed gold. Throughout this time, Thameez was constantly getting calls from his handler in Dubai, and the receiver who was waiting for him at the international airport. A trap was laid by the AIU, and they caught the receiver, Irshad MP, from Kozhikode district in Kerala. Investigations revealed that Irshad was put up in a south Mumbai hotel since the past fortnight. Following his detention, the AIU searched his hotel room. They suspect that the accused were involved in previous instances of smuggling as well and are investigating the case. Both the accused have been arrested, while the pfficials are trying to nab the main suspects. AIU sources stated that smugglers are adopting new methods to dodge the authorities. They continue to hire new persons as carriers and receivers by promising them commission. Read: AIU arrests passenger with gold worth Rs30 lakh at Mumbai SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Ahead of elections to the local bodies in urban and rural Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena has initiated protests against the ban on bullock cart races, a popular sport in the state. It has asked chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for an ordinance on the issue, along the lines of Tamil Nadus ordinance on Jallikattu. The Shiv Sena, accompanied by local farmers, staged protests in Chakan near Pune on Saturday, blocking several roads. The partys agitation comes at a time when its seat-sharing talks with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have failed to achieve a breakthrough, leading to a deadlock ahead of the elections to 10 municipal corporations, 26 zilla prishads and 283 panchayat samitis in February. Despite the Supreme Courts ban on Jallikattu, the bull-taming sport has been made legal in Tamil Nadu, after the state government enacted an ordinance, which governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao approved of . Rao is the governor of both Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Fadnavis must follow Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvams lead. He must talk to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and introduce an ordinance to circumvent the 2014 ban on bullock cart racing, said Shiv Sena MP Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil. The apex court banned bullock cart racing after animal activists sough a prohibition on the sport, terming it cruel. The Shiv Sena leaders said they plan to protest in each part of the state to pressure Fadnavis. I have been fighting against the ban since 2014. I have fought in parliament and on the streets. If the government does not pay heed, we will agitate through morchas and public meetings, said Patil. Pune-based animal activist Manoj Oswal who was the observer on behalf of the Supreme Court when it heard the petition against the sport in 2014 said he will move the apex court once more, challenging the Tamil Nadu governments decision. Read Madurai readies for traditional bull-taming sport Jallikattu As it happened: Jallikattu protests continue, two die in bull-taming event SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A logistics company at Govandi recently lost $16,000, or Rs10.89 lakh, to an unidentified attacker who hacked its official email account to seek an early payment from its client in Italy. Such frauds are, in cyber lingo, termed man-in-the-middle attack involving hacking an official e-mail account of a company and finding out about its upcoming transactions with other companies. According to a First Information Report registered (FIR) with the Govandi police station on January 17, the company used to regularly deal with the Italian company. It used to deliver goods received from the foreign client to various addresses in the country. The representatives of both companies would communicate through e-mails. The unidentified attack somehow managed to hack the Gmail account of the complainants company and sent an email to the Italian companys representative asking for an early payment. In the message, he also provided the bank account number in which the money was to be deposited. The transaction of $16,000 was made in September last year. The company, however, learnt about the fraud when it did not receive money and contacted the client. They approached the Govandi police station and filed a case. The investigation revealed that the money has been sent to a bank account in a foreign country. The police are trying to trace to which country this money has been sent. Long legal process hampers polices efforts to detect cases as The number of man-in-middle attack cases rose by 37% to 26 in 2016 from 19 in 2015. While in 2016, victims lost Rs14.54 crore, the amount stood at Rs4. 33 crore in 2015. All man-in-the-middle cases in 2015 remained undetected. The police attribute it to the cumbersome legal process of a particular country from where the crime was committed and non-cooperation from social networking sites and Internet service providers for personal information and location of overseas servers. These are just the cases which are registered with the police. There are cases where private firms do not come forward to avoid disrepute, said cyber expert Ritesh Bhatia. All bank accounts, where money has been deposited, are in foreign countries. When contacted by the cyber police, these banks authorities take a month to reply and eventually deny giving any information. They ask the police to approach them through legal channel (letters rogatory), which is a lengthy process. For the legal remedy, the state home department co-ordinates with the central home department. After getting the governments approval, the police are allowed to write to a foreign countrys court, which give a go-ahead to probe the case. The legal tangle is, however, not the only stumbling block. When contacted, internet service providers and social networking sites too take weeks to reply and later ask the police to move court before divulging information about a hacker. Passengers on a Delhi-bound IndiGo Airlines flight from Mumbai had a scare on Saturday evening after the pilot aborted take-off at the last minute. While the airline said take-off was cancelled owing to a technical snag, some passengers said they saw sparks coming from the engine. The captain of flight 6E-248 observed a technical snag during takeoff. Hence, the plane was brought back to the bay as a precautionary measure. Some passengers said they observed a flash of light, but the crew did not report a fire, said an IndiGo spokesperson, who added that all passengers and staff were safe. The aircraft was grounded for a technical inspection. The IndiGo flight safety department is conducting a preliminary investigation. The matter has been brought to the notice of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), added the spokesperson. Airfield sources said they noticed sparks from the engine exhaust. There was a loud thud from one of the engines soon after takeoff. Initial inspection revealed that the engines turbine blades had sustained damage. According to DGCA rules, airline crew must conduct an evacuation if there is a fire. We will probe whether the crew followed the fire drill if the allegations prove to be true, said a senior DGCA official requesting anonymity. Air safety experts pointed out that false alarms have led to panic and hurt fliers in the past. In August 2010, 25 passengers on-board a Jet Airways flight suffered injuries, including four fractures, while sliding off emergency chutes following a fire-induced evacuation, according to the aviation safety regulators probe. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Amid the fund-raising efforts for the treatment of an Egyptian woman who weighs around 500 kg, a city-based doctor who will treat her here visited her home country recently. Noted laproscopy surgeon Muffazal Lakdawala flew to Alexandria last week to meet Eman Ahmed, probably the heaviest person in the world, and discussed her medical conditions. Emans treatment is getting delayed, mainly due to factors such as transportation and steep medical cost supposed to be incurred by her family. I met Eman in Alexandria and assured her that we are making every effort to get her the best possible medical help.A team of specialists is on standby and each will do his or her bit to address the multiple medical problems that Eman is dealing with, Lakdawala said in a statement. In October, 2016, Emans sister Shaimaa Ahmed had contacted Lakdawala, who gave his consent to treat Eman. The 36-year-old has been suffering from multiple medical conditions and her treatment will be a long process which is expected to stretch over a couple of years. Besides a team of experts set up by Lakdawala, citys Saifee Hospital has offered to form a specialised facility to host Eman. READ Search on for flight that can bring 500-kg Egyptian woman to Mumbai Even as other political parties are eyeing control over the richest civic body in the country, Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has a different goal finding some space in the cosmopolitan city. Going solo for the polls, the party is not keen on contesting all 227 seats of the corporation, as it doesnt have the base to compete with others. While NCP leaders are not confident about the partys performance in the polls, political analysts believe the party will lose its current strength in the BMC. HT looks at where the party stands: Weak base Despite ruling the state for 15 years (1999-2014), senior NCP leaders have failed to strengthen the party in the city. In the last BMC elections, the NCP got 13 seats with 3,02,134 votes, 6.56% of the votes polled. The situation was no better in the Assembly elections held two years later. Of the 36 seats in Mumbai, the party could not win a single seat, a drop compared to the three seats in the 2009 Assembly elections. To make it worse, NCP candidates didnt win a thousand votes on 5 of the Assembly seats, while on 15 seats they polled between 1,000 and 5,000 votes. This means the party is very weak on 120 BMC seats, as each assembly seat, on an average, comprises six BMC seats. The party got more than 10,000 votes on seven Assembly seats, which means the party can count on 42 BMC seats, which is its focus for now, said a party insider. The party has declared its first list of 45 candidates. Mumbai NCP president Sachin Ahir admitted they are concentrating on seats where either the party has a strong base or where the party candidate is strong enough to win. We will not contest all 227 seats, as we are aware of our strength, Ahir told HT. The Mumbai chief is hoping to surprise those who feel the NCP is weak in Mumbai. Our party will act as a deciding factor after the polls, he said. Ahir, a former MLA from Worli Assembly constituency, feels senior party leaders did not concentrate on Mumbai. Ajit Pawar, too, had admitted that Mumbai was ignored by them. We have decided not to repeat the same mistake, he said. Credibility crisis The NCP is dealing with credibility issues as its frontline leaders are facing serious charges of corruption. Former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, who is seen as political heir of his uncle and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, suffered a serious setback with allegations of his involvement in a multi-crore irrigation scam. Other senior leaders like Sunil Tatkare and Chhagan Bhujbal are facing serious allegations of corruption and money laundering, respectively. Of them, Bhujbal is in jail. The fight within The party is also facing infighting among senior leaders in the city. This came to the fore when supporters of Nawab Malik, party spokesperson, and Sanjay Dina Patil, former MP, had a violent scuffle at a party meet organized at Deonar in November. The party high command had to intervene to sort out the differences. Rural connect Prakash Bal, political analyst, said the NCP has no prospect in the BMC elections as it has no base in Mumbai and feels the party may even lose its current strength of 13 seats. It is a party with a rural base and has limited its connect to western Maharashtra. I dont think Mumbai voters are interested in NCP, barring a few local leaders, Bal said. What next? The party is making efforts to make its presence felt. It has set up an election war room to reach out to every individual by adopting strategies followed by effective use of social media. The party has roped in MP Supriya Sule, a young leader with a clean leader, as its face for the poll campaign. The party will focus on the development works done by three municipal corporations Navi Mumbai, Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad that are dominated by its leaders, assuring the same kind of development will be replicated in Mumbai if given a chance. Sources said it is looking to win 25 seats and is likely to contest 125 seats, a target which the party has never achieved . NCPs manifesto will have big promises such as medical insurance scheme for Rs101 and slashing BEST bus tariff to Rs10 at the higher end and many others to appease voters. It may go for tactical alliance with the Congress by not contesting seats having strong presence of each other, to benefit both. Read NCP war room goes digital to approach voters in Mumbai National Congress Party, the tamest political animal SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) will face the crucial February polls amid low morale, large-scale defections and paucity of funds. For its founder and chief Raj Thackeray, this could be a watershed election, which could prove to be a deciding factor for his and his partys future. Faced by a string of defeats from 2014, Raj, however, is confident his party will do well, notwithstanding the criticism that has come his way. I am not bothered by what the media says. People are clever to judge and see the good performance by MNS in various civic bodies, said Raj. While the party is facing a shortage of funds, which Raj admits, MNS workers are confused about the strategy to be adopted in the election. Issues like injustice to the son-of-the-soil and bashing the North Indians, which dominated five years ago, are no longer relevant today. Insiders say the MNS wants to exploit the split between the Shiv Sena and BJP. The BJP will help us in many seats where the Sena is strong, as their focus is to damage the Sena. Any division of Maharashtrian votes will help the BJP, said an MNS leader. The MNS has started back-channel talks with the BJP. Both the Sena and MNS share the same vote bank and any aggression by the MNS will affect the Senas prospects, he said. Raj recently called the BJP his main rival, but many say it was to show the Maharashtrian voters that he is ready to take on the BJP. He wants to cash in on the discontent among voters who are angry with the BJP and call Senas bluff as they are partners, said a party insider. Raj plans to sell the Nashik model of governance, where he claims the MNS, which was in power, was successful in creating the best infrastructure in the city. However, even here the partys strength has been reduced to less than half from the 40 at the start of the term. In Mumbai, five corporators have left the party, along with scores of their supporters. Top MNS leaders such as Pravin Darekar, Ram Kadam, Ramesh Patil and Vasant Gite, all former legislators, left to join the BJP. Political analysts say Raj will not be able to repeat the 2012 success on his own. They blame Raj for this impasse, saying he did not make good use of the mandate given by people. People look at Raj as an entertainer, than a politician, said Prakash Bal, a political commentator. They appreciate his speeches, but it does not translate into votes. Raj is no longer as strong as he used to be. In the past few years, Raj has been known for his nuisance value than his constructive work. His recent opposition against Pakistani artistes working in India got him publicity, but the party didnt benefit much. Raj, who was groomed by his uncle and founder of the Shiv Sena, the late Bal Thackeray, was the top leader of the outfit. Following the rise of his cousin Uddhav, in 2005, he finally quit the party and formed his own outfit the next year. His debut election in the 2007 BMC polls was a disaster as he won just seven seats. However, he gained strength in 2008, when he aggressively pursued the sons-of-the-soil agenda, as his party men targeted north Indians and blamed them for the woes of Maharashtrians in the city. The following year was almost Rajs year, as he did exceptionally well in both the parliamentary and Assembly polls. Although he drew a blank in Lok Sabha, his candidates ensured the defeat of the Sena-BJP and helped the Congress indirectly. This was repeated in the Assembly polls, where the party won 13 seats and ensured the Sena-BJP remained in the Opposition benches. The MNS was able to win 28 seats in the 2012 civic polls. In the 2014 parliamentary and Assembly polls, the MNS was swept away by the Modi wave and got only one Assembly seat. Read Now showing: BJP-MNS-Sena drama Can smaller parties sway major players voters? SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Delhi high courts decision to allow an 18-year girl from Patna, with severe form of tuberculosis (TB), to access the new drug Bedaquiline could open door for many patients with extreme drug-resistant forms of the infection, said doctors. The girls father was forced to approach the court as his daughter was refused Bedaquline at the Lala Ram Sarup TB Hospital on the grounds that she was not a resident of Delhi. On Friday, the court said the girl will be administered Bedaquiline at Mumbais Hinduja Hospital, under supervision of chest physician Dr Zarir Udwadias.The patient had consulted Dr Udwadia previously and wanted to receive treatment under him. She will soon come to Mumbai and resume treatment. The girls father, Kishore Tripathi, who works as a Class III government employee told HT that she has been undergoing treatment since 2014. She was in Class X when she the treatment started, and hasnt attended school since then. Doctors in Delhi told us that no drugs will work for her and advised me to meet Dr Udwadia in Mumbai. He recommended the Bedaquline drug, but the hospital in Delhi refused to give administer it. The court also said the domicile or the residence of the patient is not a criterion for eligibility of Bedaquiline under the governments conditional access programme. I am very happy with the courts hearing. The domicile rule no longer stands, said advocate Anand Grover from Lawyers Collective, the group which fought the girls case. At present, access to Bedaquline in India is strictly regulated, with only six government centres, two in Delhi and one each in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Guwahati and Chennai, providing the drug to local patients. The medicine is given to patients as a part of the governments drug trial that started in March 2016. The court said Dr Udwadia will apply to the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), seeking permissions to avail Bedaquiline from Belgian manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceuticals on compassionate use-basis. Once they send its approval, Hinduja Hospital can get the medicines from KEM Hospital. The court added that the DCGI will clear the application in 24 hours. The drugs sale is highly regulated so that its use is monitored. This is necessary to prevent patients from developing resistance to the medicine. Once the doctor receive the drugs from Janssen, which takes about two months, he will return the drugs back to KEM Hospital. The lawyer said that this peculiar mechanisms of procuring the drug would ensure early access to her. Doctors said that the court order will help other patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis which is caused by bacteria that are resistant to treatment with at least two of the most powerful anti-TB medications isoniazid and rifampin. Drug resistant cases are very difficult to treat and result in increased numbers of deaths. Just like this girl, there are so many other patients who dont access to Bedaquiline because they are not domiciles of the areas where the government is rolling out Bedaquiline. The hearing will give hope to these patients, he added. The court has made a good decision. At our centre, the patients who are on Bedaquiline are tolerating the drug very well and it should be made accessible to all TB patients who are eligible for this drug, said a senior doctor from the Group Of T B Hospital, Sewri, Mumbai, one of the six government run centres in India to provide the drug. The doctor said that out of the 56 patients who are on Bedaquiline in Mumbai, only two patients had to be put off the treatment due to the side effects. The electrocardiogram reports of these patients were not normal so we stopped the treatment for them, but the others are doing well and we are confident of using the drug, he added. However, Dr Vikas Oswal, a city-based TB specialist said that the mechanisms to follow up the patients will have to be strengthened, to minimise drug resistance. Also read: India will witness 152% rise in TB cases in next 20 years: Study In order to do their bit to help increase voter turnout in the city, the Consortium of societies of Ghaziabad (CSG) has partnered with the Ghaziabad development authority (GDA) to carry out voter awareness drives in various localities and encourage residents to vote. On Sunday, posters and hoardings were put up in a number of societies in Indirapuram such as Rajhans Premier Apartments, Aditya Mega City, Lotus Pond apartments, Amrapali Greens and GC Grand apartments. Posters and hoardings with slogans encouraging residents to vote will be put up in various societies and localities in Indirapuram, Vaishali, Vasundhara and other parts of the city. While posters have already been put up in Indirapuram, we will put them up in societies in other areas in the coming week, said Sharad Jha, president, CSG. The organisation is an association of presidents of residential societies in various parts of the city. With various slogans in Hindi and English such as Your vote is your voice, Dont forget 11 February, 2017, date of poll, I will Vote and Vote for better India, members of CSG hope residents will be motivated enough for the voter turnout in the city to be better than last time. Our aim is to make the posters visible to as many people as possible. This is why we have chosen societies that have commercial complexes and are frequented by a large number of residents from all over Indirapuram, said Jha. In the next phase, CSG members will also get 18-feet-tall helium balloons put up with similar slogans on them. Eight such helium balloons will be put up across the trans-Hindon area. They will not only catch peoples eye, but will also generate awareness. We also plan to hold a candlelight march across the city next weekend to increase awareness, said Rajesh Jha, another CSG member. He added that a week before voting starts they will hold an event in which residents will form a human chain across Indirapuram. According to CSG members, people should not criticise the government if they do not cast their vote. It has been seen several times that it is the educated class that is the most lax in voting. I know many people who have planned a mini-holiday instead of going out to vote as February 11 is a holiday for voting and February 12 is a Sunday. We aim to change this mindset with awareness drives, said Ratan Deep Singh, another CSG member. GDA has partnered with CSG to encourage citizens to vote. One of the large helium balloons that will be placed across the city has also been placed at the GDA office for the same purpose, said Chakresh Jain, executive engineer, GDA. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate (DM) praised the fire department on Sunday and rewarded eight personnel with Rs 500 each for rescuing at least 250 people from a mishap in a factory recently. The DM also awarded the six men of the Phase-1 fire station fire safety official Sushil Kumar Yadav, lead fireman Sheeshpal Singh, fire brigade driver Mukesh Babu Gupta and firemen Jitendra Kumar, Ajeet Singh and Devendra Singh letters of appreciation. On the afternoon of January 19, a fire was reported in the basement of a two-storey factory in Block A of Noida Sector-4. Around 250 workers were in the building at the time. All of them were rescued by creating a bridge between two buildings using ladders. Read more: Ours a thankless job prone to abuse, yet we are proud of it, say Noida firemen On Saturday, HT published reports highlighting the issues and the work done by firefighters. The DM said the men deserve accolades as their swift action managed to save hundreds of lives. We are very proud of each member of the team which carried out the rescue operation and doused the fire in Sector 4. By making a bridge between two buildings and using hydraulic platforms, the officials not only displayed bravery, but also wit and intelligence, said Gautam Buddh Nagar DM NP Singh. Singh commended the team for reaching the spot within five minutes. In such incidents, the time of action plays a pivotal role which has been very well understood by our fire fighters, he said. The fire personnel also acknowledged the praise and reward given by the DM. At the time of the incident, we only went ahead with our calculations and experience, and only thought of saving all the lives trapped inside the building. It feels good to be appreciated by the DM, though this is our daily duty and we have been trained to serve the people, said fire safety officer at Noida Phase-1 station Sushil Kumar Yadav. At least three firemen, including the fire station officer Sushil Kumar Yadav, suffered uneasiness and infection due to the heavy smoke. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON With elections round the corner and the model code of conduct in place, officials of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation have decided to fine tune the previous Smart City plan and go ahead with an area-based development plan for the trans-Hindon region. Recently, the officials had planned to revamp the old city area, from where the city spreads out. The area has a heritage value but officials have decided not to renovate it. The Smart City proposal is to be submitted to the Centre by March 31. Cities from across the country compete for the Smart City status. Selected ones will get funds from the Central government under the scheme for development works. Since the election process is on and the model code of conduct in place, holding public meetings and getting online suggestions will not be possible. Also, the activity is time-consuming. In a meeting held in Lucknow on Saturday, it was decided that the area development as per the previous plan should be fine tuned and submitted in the latest proposal, Sanjay Chauhan, executive engineer of the municipal corporation, said. Elections are scheduled in the state from February 11 to March 8, in seven phases, for which deployment of the majority of the official machinery is required. In the previous plan, areas around both Kaushambi and Vaishali metro stations were proposed for development. This time, barring Kaushambi, officials have decided to include other areas near Vasundhara as well. Vasundhara is also on the proposed metro extension route, from Sector 62 in Noida to Indirapuram, which is further to be extended up to Mohan Nagar. The areas around the Vaishali Metro station and the proposed metro extensions near Vasundhara will be included in the proposal. The areas near Kaushambi Metro station will not be included. In all, we are planning to include nearly 1,500 acres and a plan will be prepared, including the proposed metro stations, he said. In the first round of the Smart City race in January 2016, the city failed to make it to the list of 20 cities. In the last round in September 2016, Ghaziabad was ranked 53 of the total 63 cities to compete. From Uttar Pradesh, Agra, Kanpur and Varanasi made it to the list of 27 cities selected for funding under the plan in September. The list was released by the ministry of urban development. In the meeting at Lucknow, it was also decided that the consultant, used last time, will be retained to prepare the proposal. In September 2016, the officials had roped in a new consultant and a Smart City plan of nearly 1,897.7 crore was prepared. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) declared its second list of 155 candidates for the upcoming UP assembly elections on Sunday evening. Of those named on the day, were the much-awaited candidates for the Noida and Sahibabad seats. These two seats hadnt been part of the BJPs first list announced on January 16, as the party was still undecided on the candidates. After much deliberations, the BJP handed the coveted Noida ticket to Pankaj Singh, son of party veteran and Union home minister Rajnath Singh. Pankaj currently holds the post of the partys UP general secretary. The state polls, which are to begin on February 11, will mark his foray in an electoral contest. Read: UP Polls: BJP announces Ghaziabad candidates Since the announcement of the poll dates for UP, Pankaj had been in the reckoning for the Sahibabad seat. His father was elected to the Parliament from the Ghaziabad seat in 2009. Sources said, though being initially considered for the Sahibabad seat, Pankajs name was ticked off the probables list as pressure grew from within the party to field a Brahmin face instead. The party eventually zeroed in on former MLA Sunil Sharma. The party leadership took the final call on the allotment of tickets. Were all set to take the battle to the opposition now. The alliance between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party is proof that they are scared of the BJP and have joined hands in a last-ditch attempt to garner votes, Ajay Sharma, city president, BJP, said. Read: Against dynastic politics, BJP faces ticket for kin dilemma The naming of Rajnaths son also came as a blow to the BJPs sitting Noida MLA Vimla Batham. She was elected MLA in a bypoll held after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. A former MLA, Sharma won the Ghaziabad seat in 2007 trouncing the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) opponent. In the 2012 state polls, he contested the Sahibabad seat but came up short against then sitting BSP MLA Amarpal Sharma. Amarpal recently joined the Congress after being expelled by the BSP. With the announcement on Sunday, the BJP named its candidates for all five assembly seats in the district Loni, Murad Nagar, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad and Modi Nagar. With the naming of Pankaj as the Noida candidate, the BJP now has nominees from all three seats in Gautam Budh Nagar. The other two nominees are Tejpal Nagar from Dadri and Dhirendra Singh from Jewar assembly segments. Read: UP elections: BJP announces Gautam Budh Nagar candidates With the release of its second list on Sunday, the BJP declared nominees from 304 of the 403 assembly seats in UP. The announcement came on a day the Congress and Samajwadi Party sealed the alliance that had seemed uncertain even till Saturday. The parties made the tie-up official at a press conference in Lucknow on Sunday. The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which had been tipped to join forces with the Congress and SP, decided to fight the polls on its own steam. The RLD on Sunday put out its third list naming Shamsad Chaudhary as one of its nominees. A resident of Pasonda and a first-timer, Chaudhary will contest the Sahibabad seat. However, the party still hasnt declared its Ghaziabad nominee. With the announcement on Sunday, the Ajit Singh-led party has named candidates for four of the five Ghaziabad seats. Read: UP seat sharing: Congress hopeful of securing four tickets in Ghaziabad SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Following the announcement of an alliance with Samajwadi Party (SP), the district Congress functionaries are hopeful of being allotted at least four of the five assembly seats in Ghaziabad. However, the SP had declared five candidates of its own for the district, in its third list, declared a couple of days ago. The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress decided on the alliance to contest the upcoming assembly elections on Sunday evening. The SP will contest 298 constituencies while Congress will contest 105. The UP legislative assembly has a total of 403 assembly seats. We are hoping to field our candidates from Murad Nagar, Ghaziabad, Sahibabad and Loni. We feel our candidates are strong here and the alliance with SP can help us win. But the SP has already declared its candidates for these three seats as well. After the announcement of the alliance, some of these candidates may need to withdraw. However, a decision is awaited, Harendra Kasana, district Congress president, said. He added that the Congress may name former MP Surendra Prakash Goel from Murad Nagar, former MLA KK Sharma from Ghaziabad, sitting MLA Amarpal Sharma from Sahibabad and Sher Nabi Chaman from Loni, but the final list is still awaited. From Murad Nagar, Ghaziabad and Sahibabad, the SP had declared former MLA Surendra Kumar Munni, Sagar Sharma and Virender Yadav, respectively, as its candidates. Agarwals name was finalised after previous SP candidate Ram Asre Sharma was replaced. Sharma is now said to be disgruntled and may contest as an independent candidate. My name was removed from the latest list. Still, I am undecided about contesting. I have called a meeting of the area residents and public on January 24, after which I will decide, Sharma said. Other contentious seats for the alliance are Sahibabad, where SP has already named Virender Yadav as its candidate. The other major contender, from Congress, is sitting MLA Amarpal Sharma, who was expelled from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) after which he had joined the Congress. Sharma expressed confidence that he will get a ticket to contest from Sahibabad and said he will file his nomination on January 23. However, SP candidate Virender Yadav said that he has been given the ticket and also the party symbol to contest the elections from Sahibabad. The (ticket for the) seat will stay with me. I also got the party symbol and have already started my campaign. I will file my nomination soon, Yadav said. In the 2012 elections, both the parties had fared poorly in the district. Neither won a seat from any of the five segments in Ghaziabad. BSP had won four seats and the Rashtriya Lok Dal, one. Barring the Murad Nagar seat, where the SP candidate came in second, other SP candidates came in third and fourth in four other constituencies in 2012. The Congress candidates came in fourth in Murad Nagar and third in Sahibabad and Ghaziabad. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Pathankot police seized 2,119 cartons of liquor during a raid at a liquor shop in Govindsar village, about 30 km from the district headquarters, late on Saturday night. Following a tip-off, Pathankot senior superintendent of police (SSP) Nilambari Vijay Jagdaley formed a special team led by assistant superintendent of police (ASP, rural) Deepak Parikh to raid a liquor shop, falling under the Kanwan police station. During the raid, Kanwan station house officer (SHO) Sudesh Sharma saw some freshly laid bricks in a wall of the shop. On suspicion, the cops removed the bricks, revealing a secret passage leading to a hall, which was being used to store both Indian-made foreign liquor and country-made liquor illegally. The SSP, who reached the spot soon after, informed the election observer, who asked her to seize the liquor cartons. It is a violation of Punjab Liquor License Rules, 1956, said the SSP, adding that a case has been registered against the shop owners and further investigations are on. The excise department has also been informed, she said. Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday criticised deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal for offering sops to farmers and BPL families seeing imminent and humiliating defeat of SAD-BJP government which ruthlessly looted people of Punjab for 10 years. Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi, AAP state convener, said that ironically Sukhbir has no remorse for his past sins and blatant misuse of powers by him, plundering the resources of state and promoting family business. He alleged Sukhbir didnt even spare Sikh book holy Guru Granth Sahib for promoting his evil political designs. Holding Sukhbir and his father chief minister Parkash Singh Badal responsible for suicides of over 30,000 farmers in Punjab during 10 years of SAD-BJP rule, he said it is meaningless to waive the loans of farmers and enhance welfare pensions. He said that spate of suicides by debt ridden farmers had not moved Badals, rather Akali Dal leaders took an opportunity to grab the land holdings of grieving small farmers. The Badal government, instead of giving a healing touch to under debt farmers fudged the figures of suicides to deny compensation to victims and suppressed their protests with the help of police. Out of 200 farmers who committed suicide in last two years in Sangrur district alone, only 27 were paid compensation, he said. He said that Badal family was fully responsible for pushing the farmers, poor sections and Dalits to the margin. He said that SAD-BJP government had paid Rs 250 per month as welfare pension to aged persons, widows and handicapped for nine years and enhanced to Rs 500 per month in the tenth year of their rule. The welfare pension paid by Badal government was lowest among all states in India, he claimed. Now making promise to enhance the pension to Rs 2,000 was another bluff of Sukhbir, he alleged. He said that Sukhbir had made similar false promise with the youth to pay them Rs 1,000 unemployment allowance in the 2012 assembly elections. He said Dalits had faced unprecedented atrocities in the rule of Badal family. Referring to Shiv Lal Doda, accused in the murder of Dalit youth Bhim Tank in Abohar, he said that Sukhbir had supported the perpetrator of atrocities on Dalits and even partnered with him in the liquor business. He said that by offering sops to deprived sections of society, Sukhbir was rubbing salt on the wounds of people. By shutting down schools and hospitals in villages of Punjab, Sukhbir had tried to keep people uneducated and unhealthy so that coming generations remain dependent on the ruling familys welfare schemes, he said In a stern warning to the rebel candidates who failed to withdraw their nominations in time, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh on Sunday asked them to retire from the race by Tuesday evening or face permanent expulsion from the party. Urging the rebels to opt out in favour of the Congress nominees and put up a united front to defeat the anti-people SAD and AAP, Amarinder said the interests of Punjab and its people were supreme and could not be allowed to be compromised for personal gains. Hitting out at the rebels who refused to heed the party leaderships request for withdrawal of nomination, despite the promise that they would be accommodated once the Congress forms government in the state, he said it amounted to violation of the partys disciplinary ethics, which could not be permitted at any cost. Amarinder, however, said the presence of rebel candidates in the fray would not have a serious impact on the poll prospects of the Punjab Congress. The party, he asserted, had selected winnable candidates to contest the Assembly elections and they would help the Congress sweep the polls with two-thirds majority to ensure restoration of Punjabs lost glory. Also Read | Of 30 rebels in the fray, 10 likely to spoil Congress party Adamant on his tough stance against the rebel candidates, the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president said he had asked party national president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi to show no laxity in dealing with the dissidents. He has urged the Congress high command to expel such rebels for life and close all doors for their re-entry, giving them a last chance to toe the party line by announcing their retirement by Tuesday evening. He also thanked those who had heeded the party leaderships request to withdraw their papers before the last day of filing nominations, saying it was now the partys responsibility to take care of their interests. He said he would personally ensure that they are not let down on this count and are accommodated in key positions to take the Congress agenda of governance and development forward after the formation of its government in the state. A day after officials claimed that they have fixed the source of contamination of water in Sector 18 after outbreak of diarrhoea, 150 new diarrhoea cases and 33 cases of abdominal cramps/fever were reported at the mobile health van on Saturday. Health officials said a total of 254 diarrhoea cases have been examined by the doctors at the mobile health van in Sector 18. Of these 150 cases were reported on Saturday and 104 on Friday. They said the infection is mild to moderate and no one has been admitted to the hospital. People are approaching the doctors with symptoms such as abdominal pains, nausea and loose motions. HEALTH TIPS (As advised by Dr Rakesh Kashyap, director health services) Drink boiling water Wash hands before eating Consume clean and hygienic food Dont practice self-medication Use ORS in case of infection Confirming the new cases, director health services Dr Rakesh Kashyap, We started receiving diarrhoea cases on Thursday evening and the health department on Friday morning stationed a mobile health van in Sector 18 C from where a large number of cases were reported. Municipal corporation (MC) officials have admitted that the infection was caused due to water contamination and the source was found to be a water pipe in the rear of Shiv Misthan Bhandar where sewage had entered into the pipeline. However, they said the pipeline has been fixed and normal supply has been resumed to the area. Health officials visited various houses in the sector for case detection and spreading awareness about the infection. My all family members, including my three-year-old child, fell sick. They were not keeping well for more than a week. I noticed stench in the drinking water and raised the issue with the ward president. On Friday night, we visited more than 40 houses and found people sick in every household. On Saturday, we took up the issue with the UT mayor, said Amit Kapoor, a resident of Sector 18 C. The stench is still there in the tap water, he added. Sanjay Puri, ward president, Sector 18, said, Ideally, the outbreak should not have happened, but it was well managed by the officials from the health department and the municipal corporation. WATER SAMPLES TAKEN MC chief engineer NP Sharma said samples of water were collected to check the presence of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) gas and chlorine content in the water. He said the problem was detected on Friday and was fixed. To ensure that the problem does not recur, the drinking water pipelines were being flushed at different locations. The chlorination content was also fine, showing no mixing of sewer water in drinking water, he said. MC officials had claimed on Friday the fault was detected at the dead end of a water supply line behind Shiv Misthan Bhandar, Sector 18-C. There was some leakage in the pipline. As a result, foreign particles entered the line and got mixed with the drinking water. The fault was repaired on Friday and there was no more problem with the water. Mayor Asha Jaswal had also marked a probe into the matter. Instead of going in for huge hoardings to seek votes, the Punjab Democratic Party (PDP) are making daily wagers hold the campaign material at busy light points in SAS Nagar. The party has engaged around half a dozen such workers, who stand throughout the day at light points wearing its banners and mask of its candidate, Gurkirpal Singh Mann. We are paid Rs 500 to Rs 700 a day to stand at the light point, said one of daily wagers, who did not wished to be named. The workers said after demonetisation they were not finding any work, so when they were offered money to stand at the light points to seek votes, readily agreed. Kaam mil nahi raha tha to yeh kya bura hai, sham to paisa to milta hai (I was finding no work elsewhere; here at least I get paid in the evening, said a daily wager. We are the real common mans party. Instead of spending on huge banners, we are providing livelihood to these people. They will be campaigning for us till February 2, said Mann, who is also the party president. Mann, who is son of a former Punjab deputy inspector general of police, in his door-to-door campaigning is also giving a signed affidavit to the voters. The affidavit gives the residents right to recall. In case I fail to fulfil the promises made to the residents, they can be seek my resignation, he said. The party has fielded candidates from four constituencies: SAS Nagar, Kharar, Anandpur Sahib and Chamkaur Sahib. AAP VOLUNTEERS ALSO STAND AT LIGHT POINTS The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is also making its volunteers stand at traffic light points in SAS Nagar. Wearing the AAP cap and holding a placard, they seek votes for the party stand at busy light points and seek vote. The AAP is also using three-wheelers equipped with loud speakers, and so is the Congress. Playing jingles, these auto-rickshaws move around the city seeking votes. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday said SAD-BJP government will make 20-lakh youth employable by giving them skill training at over 2,500 centres across the state once it returned to power. He also announced to provide five-lakh houses to the homeless. These promises came in the run up to the SADs poll manifesto expected to be released on Tuesday. Very soon, everyone will live in pucca house and we will ensure this on forming the next government in March, he said at Kartarpur during a rally for the February 4 polls. On Saturday, he had announced providing sugar and ghee to the beneficiaries of the Atta-Dal scheme. He had also offered Rs 100 bonus over the minimum support price for food grains produced by the farmers and interest-free crop loan up to Rs 2-lakh for them. Also Read | AAP slams Punjab deputy CM Sukhbir Badal for offering sops to farmers Explaining the scheme of making youth employable, Sukhbir said the government will provide six-month free training to the youth in various trades at the skill development centres and those wishing to start their own enterprise will be given Rs 10-lakh interest-free loan, which could be returned over a period of 10 years. If elected, the alliance government will provide five-lakh houses to the homeless. It is my commitment to you that in my Punjab, no one will live in a kutcha house. We will provide a pucca house to each and every person, he said. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court, Haryana, on Saturday allowed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh to go abroad to promote his next film, MSG Online Gurukul, which is based on Hindu Vedas. He also wanted to shoot for his fourth film abroad. Ram Rahim has made two films MSG: The Messenger and MSG-2 The Messenger. Ram Rahim had submitted that his new film, MSG Online Gurukul, will give a message to the world about the Vedas and Hindu culture. He also told the court that he needed to shoot a patriotic film, Hind Ka Napak Ko Jawab MSG Lion Heart-2, during his trip abroad too. Ram Rahim has been facing trial in a rape and two murder cases at the CBI court. The court has asked him to give a surety of Rs 10 lakh each in all the three cases. It is important to mention here that earlier too, Ram Rahim had sought permission to go abroad for promoting his films, which was allowed twice. This time he was to go abroad from February 1 to 28. The petitioner has to visit Dubai, Indonesia, Macau, Maldives, Malaysia, Japan, Australia and New Zealand for film promotion. There is a trend in the film industry that the cast of the film goes abroad for promoting the film, before and after its release. Earlier too, permission was granted, said SK Garg Narwana, counsel for Ram Rahim. We have opposed the application. These all are delaying tactics, said HPS Verma, counsel for the CBI. THREE PENDING CASES In the rape case filed against Ram Rahim, there are two victims. The case is at the stage of final arguments though the high court had put a stay on pronouncement of final judgment as one of the applications is pending before it. In 2002, anonymous letters stating that sadhvis (female follower) at the Dera Sacha Sauda were facing sexual exploitation were circulated following which the CBI registered a case on the orders of the high court. The Ranjit Singh murder case, too, is in the final stages. Ranjit Singh was allegedly murdered on July 10, 2002, by dera followers in Kurukshetra. CBI alleges that Singh was killed as Ram Rahim suspected him to be behind an anonymous letter of a sadhvi levelling allegations of sexual exploitation. In the Ram Chander Chattrapati murder case also is in the final stages. Chhatrapati was shot on October 24, 2002, for writing against illegal activities inside Dera, as per the CBI case. The CBI alleges he was killed on Ram Rahims orders. After winning Dance India Dance Lil Masters, Teriya Magar once again did the happy dance when she was announced the winner of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 9. The 14-year-old Nepali girl, who now wants to try her luck in Bollywood, says sharing screen space with actress Sonakshi Sinha is her dream. Teriya was named as the winner of the dancing reality show on Saturday night. She took home a trophy and Rs 30 lakh as prize money after fighting it out with Salman Yusuff Khan and Shantanu Maheshwari. Salman became the first runner-up and Shantanu second. I dont know what will I do after this. But I would like to join Bollywood. I have grown up watching Bollywood on TV. If I get an opportunity, I will definitely give it a try, Teriya said. Her inspiration from Bollywood? Sonakshi Sinhas expressions inspire me a lot. She is very beautiful. I want to work with her, she added. For now, she will be preparing for her exams. It's a moment of grand celebration and jubilation for the fearless challenger #TeriyaMagar who got declared the winner at the #JDJ9Finale! pic.twitter.com/r4wnUuZQK9 Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa (@JhalakOnColors) January 21, 2017 Teriyas journey in the Colors show was very interesting. She joined the show as a wild card entry, got evicted after some episodes, but then came back to win the show. The judges - Karan Johar, Jacqueline Fernandez, Farah Khan and Ganesh Hedge - also lauded Teriyas attempt to ace her dance performances week after week. She is yet to believe that she won the show. It was not expected because I was competing with Salman and Shantanu bhaiya. They are amazing dancers and very senior. Just standing there and competing with them was a big deal for me and an achievement for me... Winning was a very proud moment, said Teriya, who emerged as the youngest winner of the show. Yyyy Finely winning #jdj9 Congratulations @teriya_phounja_magar You are best #proud of you #Teriya #colorstv #wining #trophy #jhalakdikhlajaa A video posted by Dreamer (@thenikunjchauhan7) on Jan 21, 2017 at 7:59pm PST She says she will donate some percentage of her prize money to her foundation named Teriya Foundation - which supports children. My parents will decide what to do with the rest, she said. Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan joined the judges for the finale as a part of promotional activity for his movie Kaabil. Follow @htshowbiz for more Several leaders and members of the UK unit of the Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday sought blessings at the Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara in Southall before undertaking a mile-long walk, hours before boarding a flight to Amritsar to campaign for the party on Monday. Sunday shoppers and worshippers at the gurdwara looked on as the AAP procession wound its way to the beating of drums and slogans along Broadway to Hayes, where the last event of the partys Flame of Hope campaign concluded. The flame will be carried to Punjab and handed over to AAP leader and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on February 1. More than 100 party supporters will leave for Punjab on Monday, AAP sources told Hindustan Times. The procession included convenor of AAPs UK unit Harpreet Singh, councillor Manjit Singh Bhuttar (Hounslow council) and party leaders from west London, which has a large concentration of people of Punjab origin. A customised van has been traversing Britain to raise funds and awareness about the partys stand in the forthcoming elections in Punjab and Goa. The torch campaign was first launched before the Delhi elections in 2015. The van has, so far, travelled from Leamington Spa and Warwick to East London, Nottingham, Wolverhampton and Birmingham, among other cities. The partys supporters have organised various election-related events, including among the large Goan community in Swindon. The partys target was to raise the equivalent of Rs 50 lakh from Britain and contribute to the partys expenses in Punjab and Goa. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Anna could have stayed back in New York and joined the Womens March there, but she was angry and bothered enough to get up early and catch a 5 am bus to DC to let the target of her ire President Donald Trump know how she felt from as possible. She declined to give her last name and it soon became clear why she really had some harsh words for Trump, a fellow New Yorker. Anna said she had to be in DC. This is a historic protest against a historic in a negative way election. Her eyes flashing with anger, she vented, suggesting Trump has psychological problems (there is no proof of that, whatsoever), he is a bully (which he has been called before), and that he is a weak man who gets angry when called weak. Hundreds of thousands of women, men and children marched in protest against Trump in the capital and more than 600 locations around the country to tell him they are not intimidated by him, they will be visible and vigilant, and they will stop him. The marchers, who were mostly white and mostly Democratic, said Trump had no respect for women, people of colour, members of the LGBT community and they feared his policies would divide their country and isolate it internationally. Without directly mention the march, Trump responded, writing in Tweet Sunday morning, Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I dont always agree, I recognise the rights of people to express their views. Thats acknowledgement he heard the marchers who had so surpassed expectations about the turnout that the organisers had wanted to cancel saying it had become too big to handle. But they went ahead with it, given the enthusiasm. We are the popular vote, they chanted, referring to the final tally in which Hillary Clinton beat Trump by 2.9 million votes; and some carried placards that said P. is not for grabbing, a reference to Trumps Hollywood Access tape rant. Central DC was awash in pink, as marchers in pink pussyhats designed specially for the event first gathered near Capitol Hill to listen to celebrity speakers such as filmmaker Micheal Moore, feminist icon Gloria Steinem, actress Ashely Judd and others. Female genitalia aint for grabbing, said Judd referring to Trumps rant. They are for birthing new generations of filthy, vulgar, nasty, proud, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, you name it, for new generations of nasty women. A lot of signs and chants picked up theme from Trumps remarks over the last few months nasty woman came from one of the presidential debates in which he had used that phrase to disparage Clinton in retaliation for a swipe she had taken at him. Robin Cooper, from neighboring Maryland, was appalled by everything Trump. He is really a despicable human and I find him very scary, she said, adding, We cannot just stand by as we all have a responsibility to do something. Resist, said a lot of the signs. Get organized, others urged. Make sure you introduce yourselves to each other and decide what were going to do tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow, and were never turning back! said Steinem. Stopping Trump or denying him a second term, marchers acknowledged was easier said than done. But that was no reason to no try said, Robert Deak and David Suckoski, a Washington gay couple still in shock that it had come to this that Trump won. We will have to be vigilant, visible and demonstrate that we believe that something is not right and that will not be intimidated, we will not be quiet, Deak said and pointing to other marchers he added, This is what we are doing today. The Jerusalem municipality said on Sunday it is pushing forward with 566 new housing units for Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem, swiftly moving into action as the seemingly favourable President Donald Trump takes office. The building plans were put on hold in the final months of President Barack Obamas administration and were announced shortly following Trumps inauguration. Building is planned in the neighbourhoods of Ramot, Pisgat Zeev and Ramat Shlomo. Its not clear whether the project needs further approvals or when construction would begin, but the government will likely have to sign off before anything gets underway. Israel clashed frequently with Obama over construction in areas it conquered in the 1967 Mideast war but Israels hardline government has high expectations for Trump, who has signalled he will take a far kinder approach to them. Read | US allows UN to condemn Israeli settlements, Netanyahu furious Trumps appointed ambassador to Israel has close ties to Jewish West Bank settlements as does the foundation run by the family of Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Tax records show Trump himself also donated money to a Jewish seminary in a settlement. The international community largely regards settlements as illegal or illegitimate and a key obstacle to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unlike other West Bank settlements, Israel annexed east Jerusalem and considers its neighbourhoods inseparable parts of its capital. But the Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as their future capital and consider Jewish neighbourhoods there just like any other settlements. Israel says Jews have been in those areas for centuries, and that their presence there does not undermine prospects for peace. It also blames failed peace efforts on Arab denials of Jews historical connections to the land. Weve been through eight tough years with Obama pressuring to freeze construction. Although the Jerusalem municipality has not frozen plans, many times we did not get government approval because of American pressure, said Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat. I hope that era is over and we now we can build and develop Jerusalem for the welfare of its residents, Jews and Arabs alike. Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the building plans and called on the United Nations to take action, particularly given a recent Security Council resolution that criticized the settlements. It is time to stop dealing with Israel as a state above the law, he said. Read | Israel protests UN vote condemning settlements, halts $6 million payment US administrations have traditionally condemned all Israeli settlement plans as counterproductive. The Israeli government is still contemplating how best to move forward in the early days of the Trump administration, with some calling for immediate action given Trumps perceived acquiescence and others calling for patience in order to work out a joint plan with the administration. Israeli hardliners have been emboldened by the election of Trump. The pro-settler Jewish Home party, a key member of the coalition, is pushing the government to support legislation that would annex Maaleh Adumim, a large settlement located just outside of Jerusalem. A Jewish Home official said Sunday that Netanyahu was pushing the party to put the legislation on hold, citing pressure from Trump not to do anything hastily. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the party was sceptical that Trump was really intervening and would push for a ministerial vote on the measure later in the day. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss internal coalition deliberations with the media. Pope Francis on Saturday warned against populism, saying it could lead to the election of saviours like Hitler. In an hour-long interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais conducted as Donald Trump was being sworn in as US president, the pontiff also condemned the idea of using walls and barbed wire to keep out foreigners. Of course crises provoke fears and worries, he said but added that for him the example of populism in the European sense of the word is Germany in 1933. Read | Trump rates higher than Hitler on psychopath scale, says Oxford study Germany... was looking for a leader, someone who would give her back her identity and there was a little man named Adolf Hitler who said I can do it. Hitler did not steal power, the pope said. He was elected by his people and then he destroyed his people. The Germans at that time also wanted to protect themselves with walls and barbed wire so that others cannot take away their identity, he said. Read | Thats how Mussolini, Hitler arrived: What Trumps critics said before he won The case of Germany is classic, he said, adding that Hitler gave them a deformed identity and we know what it produced. Pope Francis however underscored that it was too early to pass judgement on Trump. Lets see. Lets see what he does and then we will evaluate, he said. As they emerged from one of those typically cavernous rooms that look specially designed for international meetings, one Indian diplomat recalled later telling a colleague, It was difficult to tell Indians from Americans. Nisha Biswal, a senior official in the American delegation was of India descent, as was Atul Keshap, her deputy at the time. And, the Indian official, who did not want to be identified, said, stretching the story, there might have been a few more. He could have been exaggerating a bit, of course, but only a bit. Former President Barack Obama hired more Indian Americans than any other president before him. Though the number had been rising incrementally over the years, he opened the floodgates. According to one estimate, there were 75-80 Indian Americans in his administration at one point, and that is the highest ever cited for the tiny ethnic minority of about 3 million, which has made some call Obama the first Indian-American president. Just the way Bill Clinton was once called the first black president, said Shekar Narasimhan, a top Democratic strategist. Obama qualifies many times over to be called the first Indian American president for everything he did. Obama appointed the first Indian American as US ambassador to India, Rich Verma; the first Indian American judge on circuit court, Sri Srinivasan; first Indian American as surgeon general, Vivek Murthy; and the first US aid agency chief Raj Shah. And Vanita Gupta was named head of the civil rights division at the department of justice, enforcing the federal laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, colour, gender, an issue that was of enormous importance for Obama. The former president also toyed with the possibility of sending Srinivasan to the Supreme Court, which would have been truly history not only for Indian Americans but the larger cohort of Asian Americans, who have yet to get a berth in the top court. According to some in the community who were counting, there were 18 Indian Americans working in the White House in senior and junior positions at one point, and many others in federal agencies such as commerce, defence, treasury and others. Nishith Acharya, who served as senior adviser to the secretary of commerce and considered it a tremendous honour to work for Obama, said, I dont think its surprising that President Obama had so many senior Indian Americans. There are just more Indian Americans, according to him, working on issues of public policy around the country, and so many of us strive to serve our country. There is just a lot more Indian Americans available now than before. President Obama has never spoken publicly about why he appointed so many Indian Americans and, just to be clear, he may not even have chosen them for their ethnicity alone, although diversity was important for him. Vikrum Dave Aiyer, who started in the Obama White House and ended as chief of staff in the department of commerce, said diversity was important to Obama just look at the number of South Asians, members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community and the disabled appointed by him. There was a definitive push from the Obama administration to get as diverse as possible, and Indian Americans were up there willing to be considered, be counted and be selected. And, what probably helped their case was that they are good. Shailesh Kumar, who worked on Wall Street before joining the US treasury department where he went on to head the India desk, agreed. More young Indian Americans are willing to do public service now than before and are seeking out jobs in the government, he said, adding, and there is pull factor from both parties who are looking to cultivate the community. Though small in numbers, Indian Americans are the countrys wealthiest as an ethnic group. The median income of households headed by an Indian was $103,000 in 2013, compared to $48,000 for other immigrants and $53,000 for households of native-born Americans. They tend to also be more educated. In 2013, 76% of Indian immigrants (aged 25 and over) had a bachelors degree or higher, compared to 28% of all immigrants over 25, and 30% of native-born adults. Politics and public service have been a relatively new career path for them, starting, noticeably, in the Clinton administration and increasingly ever so incrementally under President George W Bush Neel Kashkari, a US treasury official, among them. Kashkari played a leading role with then US treasury Hank Paulson in the first efforts to battle the 2008 recession by rescuing financial institutions and automobile companies with government-funded bailout programmes. Ashley Tellis, as senior adviser to the secretary of state in the Bush administration, and Anish Goel, who was part of the White House, had worked closely and significantly in the signing of the civil nuclear deal that ended Indias nuclear isolation. And then came Obama, who opened the floodgates. Neera Tanden was named a senior advisor in department of health to help pass the presidents signature health care legislation, Vivek Kundra was the chief information technology officer and Aneesh Chopra chief technology officer. Why Indian Americans? It could have started with him having an Indian roommate in college, said M R Rangaswami, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who runs Indiaspora, an initiative to build the Indian American community. He was referring to Vinai Thummalapally, who went to Occidental College in Los Angeles, as did Obama, and the two spent a summer as roommates. The former president appointed Thummalapally as ambassador to Belize in 2009. Ruling out the much-talked about US-China trade war under the Trump presidency, founder of Chinas e-commerce giant Alibaba Jack Ma said the poor plight of American economy was due to the costly wars waged by Washington and has nothing to do with trade ties with Beijing. China and the US will not start a trade war as President Donald Trump is an open-minded person who needs more time, Ma said. Ma, who has met Trump promising to create a million jobs in the US and market a million American products, said it is wrong to ascribe Americas economic problems to China. It is the US that is responsible for its sluggish economy, given that $14 trillion was wasted on waging war over the past 30 years rather than investing in infrastructure. China did not steal American jobs, Ma said, adding that the loss of jobs is a strategic mistake on the part of the US, state-run Peoples Daily reported today. The US adopted a strategy to control intellectual property rights and select brands three decades ago, leaving lower-level works to the rest of the world, Ma said. Besides, multi-national American enterprises like Microsoft and IBM have created hundreds of millions in profits through globalisation. This large sum could have been invested in infrastructure and employment, but was instead put towards 13 wars, he said. The US simply failed to allot the funds reasonably, Ma said adding his meeting with Trump was much more productive than expected the discussions mainly focused on the issues of SOEs and China-US trade, especially American enterprises selling in Asia through Alibabas platform, which will provide about one million jobs for Americans in various ways. It is easy to wage a trade war, but hard to end the war - perhaps even impossible. If trade stops, the war will start, Ma predicted noting that trade enables people to exchange both culture and business ideas, while also acting as a deterrent for war. Sino-US trade volume grew from $2.5 billion in 1979 to $519.6 billion dollars in 2016, surging by 211 times within 38 years. The trade balance however tilted heavily in favour of China as it exports over $400 billion worth of goods to US. Amid talks of trade war between the top two economies of the world, China questioned the US ruling to levy heavy duties on several Chinese products days before Trump took over. Relatives of victims onboard missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 said on Sunday they plan to deliver personal letters to Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai while he visits Australia, urging him to resume the search for the missing jet. Liow held informal talks with Australian Transport Minister Darren Chester in the Western Australian capital of Perth on Sunday, Chesters office said, five days after the two ministers and their Chinese counterpart suspended a three-year hunt for the plane. The Boeing 777 jet disappeared in March 2014 en route to Beijing from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, with 239 people on board, sparking one of the worlds great aviation mysteries. Voice370, a group representing families of the crew and passengers, said a representative would deliver the letters to Liow on either Sunday or Monday. We want them to resume the search. They cant let this go, Danica Weeks, an Australia-based spokeswoman for Voice370, said. Chester and Liow will welcome the search vessel, Fugro Equator, back to Fremantle on Monday, putting an end to a recovery operation that has scoured a 120,000-sq-km (46,000-sq-mile) area of the Indian Ocean sea floor. Malaysia, Australia and China agreed in July to suspend the $145 million search if the plane was not found, or if new evidence that might offer a clue as to its whereabouts was not uncovered, once that area had been checked. The tripartite decision to suspend the search in the absence of any credible new evidence leading to the specific location of the aircraft was not taken lightly, Chester said in a statement to Reuters. Australia has not ruled out a future underwater search for plane and Malaysia said this week it would pay a reward if the fuselage was found by a credible private company. Malaysia holds ultimate responsibility for the search given Malaysia Airlines is registered there. The aircraft is thought to have crashed west of Australia, placing it in its maritime zone of responsibility. Twelve of the 239 on board were crew. According to the flight manifest, 152 passengers were Chinese, 50 Malaysian, seven Indonesian, six Australian, five Indian, four French and three were American. Australia, Malaysia and China on Tuesday suspended the deep sea hunt in the southern Indian Ocean almost three years after the Boeing 777 disappeared on March 8, 2014 with 239 people on board. The MH370 next-of-kin implore the government of Malaysia to use this opportunity to urgently consult and reconsider the decision to suspend the search for MH370, campaign group Voice370 said in a statement. Personal letters appealing for a continuation of search from many family members are to be delivered personally to the Malaysia Minister of Transport during his visit to Perth. No trace of the plane has been found in the 120,000 square-kilometre (46,000 square miles) designated search zone. But three fragments recovered on western Indian Ocean shorelines have been confirmed as coming from MH370. I understand the disappointment and frustration felt by the families, Australias Transport Minister Darren Chester said in a statement. The tripartite decision to suspend the search in the absence of any credible new evidence leading to the specific location of the aircraft was not taken lightly, he added. The meeting with his Malaysian counterpart Liow Tiong Lai was informal, according to the statement. Both ministers are set to meet the crew of Fugro Equator -- the last ship to leave the search area off Australias west coast -- in Perth on Monday. Chester has left the door open for future operations, saying Wednesday the search could be revived if there is credible new evidence pinpointing MH370s location. The relative groups statement pointed out that the Aus $200 million (US$150 million) price tag of the underwater hunt was still less than the cost of the Boeing 777-200. President Donald Trump signed his first official documents as the 45th president of the United States after being sworn in on Friday, and his unique signature immediately became a hot topic of discussions. President Trump may own the most powerful signature in the world, but it resembles more a wildly fluctuating seismograph reading from a powerful earthquake. This is quite an autograph! Handwriting analysts have already put the presidential signature under the microscope. Americas Politico Magazine interviewed an expert who detected in Trumps writing evidence of bigheadedness, anger, and fear. The writer lacks empathy and craves power, prestige, and admiration, the expert said, before observing that Trumps oversize Pas in, uh, presidentmight be compensating for something. At 70, it is unlikely Trump would be able to change his handwriting. His jagged signature has already given Twitterati a handful of reasons to poke fun at the worlds most powerful man. I see Trump's signature is just the sound wave of demons screaming. pic.twitter.com/kKeN9poCct Jean Grae (@JeanGreasy) January 20, 2017 Trump's signature looks like a Sanger seq readout of contaminated DNA. pic.twitter.com/hHIz1XIpBi Jedidiah Carlson (@JedMSP) January 19, 2017 Is it merely coincidence that Donald Trump's signature closely resembles The Black Gate of Mordor? pic.twitter.com/1QD1ogOoIM MY FAVORITE (@michaelgracejr) January 21, 2017 dad: what does donald trump's signature looks like me: *shows picture* dad: it looks like an annoying sound frequency u right pic.twitter.com/iB3ai3oFWW vivian. (@vivianrwu) January 21, 2017 Play our new game "Trump Signature or Richter Scale Reading". pic.twitter.com/zABmnhKG1k Hardly Serious (@SeriousHardly) November 8, 2016 Authors twitter bio is @rizviuzair SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON #NCT 127 K-pop group NCT 127's concert in Jakarta ends early for safety reasons A concert by K-pop boy group NCT 127 in Jakarta ended early on Friday after some excited fans caused chaos to get closer to the stage, a local event agency said. "An unexpected ... President Donald Trump will welcome British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday in his first meeting with a foreign leader, the White House said on Saturday. White House press secretary Sean Spicer made the announcement at a briefing. May is overseeing Britains departure from the European Union, or Brexit, which was approved in a swell of anti-establishment fervor that has been likened to that which propelled Trump to the US presidency. May congratulated Trump after he was sworn in on Friday. She said she thinks Trump recognizes the importance of Nato even though days ago he called the military alliance obsolete. Former US president George HW Bush is recovering well from pneumonia but will remain in the intensive care unit at the Texas hospital where he has spent the last week, a spokesman said in a statement. Barbara Bush, his wife, was also taken to the Houston Methodist Hospital this week with bronchitis but may be well enough to be discharged on Sunday, the statement said. Following another good nights rest, President and Mrs Bush have both continued to improve over the past 24 hours, Jim McGrath, the spokesman, said in his statement. President Bush is breathing well without any mechanical assistance, his spirits are high, and he is looking forward to getting back to a regular schedule. Bush, 92 is the nations oldest living ex-president, was invited to attend Fridays inauguration of his fellow Republican Donald Trump as president. He ended up watching the proceedings from his hospital room and sent Trump, whom he did not endorse as a candidate, a letter of support, McGrath said. He was the only living former president who did not attend the inauguration in Washington. His son George W Bush, another former president, attended the ceremony. Another one of his sons, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, ran unsuccessfully against Trump last year for the Republican Partys presidential nomination. The elder Bushes marked their 72nd wedding anniversary on January 6. In a global exclamation of defiance and solidarity, more than 1 million people rallied at womens marches in the nations capital and cities around the world Saturday to send President Donald Trump an emphatic message on his first full day in office that they wont let his agenda go unchallenged. Plenty of men joined in, too, contributing to surprising numbers everywhere from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles to Mexico City, Paris, Berlin, London, Prague and Sydney. The Washington rally alone attracted over 500,000 people according to city officials apparently more than Trumps inauguration drew on Friday. It was easily one of the biggest demonstrations in the citys history, and as night fell, not a single arrest was reported. A closer look at some of the marches around the world: Los Angeles Los Angeles police said well over 100,000 people packed several closed blocks. Several trains were added to the citys jammed metro line in order to accommodate the large crowds. People march in the rain to protest the inauguration of President Donald Trump on January 20 in Los Angeles, California. (AFP Photo) Chicago Scores of protesters spilled into the streets after organizers canceled the citys march for safety reasons because of a larger-than-expected turnout. The overflow crowd reached an estimated 250,000 people. People flooded nearby streets, chanting and waving signs protesting Trump, after a rally concluded at Grant Park. Protesters display banners reading anti-Trump slogans in Downtown Chicago on January 20, a few hours after the inauguration ceremony for Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States. (AFP Photo) London Tens of thousands of protesters squeezed into Londons Trafalgar Square. Police described the event as peaceful with no arrests. Demonstrators take part in the Women's March in Trafalgar Square, central London. The march is being held in solidarity with the Women's March in Washington. (AP Photo) Utah In Park City, Utah, it was Charlize Theron leading demonstrators in a chant of Love, not hate, makes America great. Actresses Chelsea Handler and Charlize Theron participate in the "Women's March On Main" during the 2017 Sundance Film Festival on Saturday, Jan 21 , in Park City, Utah. (Arthur Mola/Invision/AP) Washington Pop diva Madonna, wearing a black pussyhat, made an impromptu appearance on the protests main stage near Washingtons National Mall. Filmmaker Michael Moore, feminist icon Gloria Steinem, musician Alicia Keys and other speakers emotionally attacked Trump for his views on immigration, Muslims and women. Other stars who participated in the march included Michael Moore, Emma Watson, Janelle Monae, Scarlett Johansson, Debra Messing, Ashley Judd and among others. Madonna performs at the Women's March in Washington, January 21, 2017. (REUTERS) Scarlett Johansson attends the Women's March on Washington on January 21. (AFP Photo) Singer Alicia Keys performs on the National Mall in Washington, DC, for the Women's March on January 21. (AFP Photo) Emma Watson attends the Women's March on Washington on January 21 in Washington, DC. (AFP Photo) New York Demonstrators crammed the streets outside Trumps Manhattan home, saying the new leader might be from there, but hes no New Yorker. Trump was born and raised in New York City, but the majority of the city and state voted for Hillary Clinton. Tens of thousands of protesters carrying signs that read: Womens rights are human rights and A womans place is in the resistance funneled past Trump Tower to thunderous cheers on tony Fifth Avenue, where he conducted nearly all of his postelection business. Its also where first lady Melania Trump and the couples young son, Barron, will live. People participate in a Women's March to protest against U.S. President Donald Trump in New York City, US January 21. (REUTERS) Paris In Paris, thousands rallied in the Eiffel Tower neighbourhood in a joyful atmosphere, singing and carrying posters. Protesters take part in the Women's March in Paris, France, January 21. (REUTERS) Prague Hundreds gathered in Pragues Wenceslas Square in freezing weather, mockingly waving portraits of Trump and Russias Vladimir Putin. People take part in a rally in solidarity with supporters of the Women's March taking place in Washington and many other cities on January 21, in Prague, Czech Republic. (AFP Photo) Sydney In Sydney, thousands of Australians gathered in solidarity in Hyde Park. Women protestors march in a rally against US President Donald Trump following his inauguration, in Sydney on January 21. (AFP Photo) Mexico City Several hundred demonstrators shut down four lanes of traffic on a central boulevard outside the US embassy in Mexico City. People hold signs during a Women's March protest in front of the US embassy in Mexico City, Saturday, Jan 21. (AP Photo) British Prime Minister Theresa May faces a landmark court ruling on Tuesday that could put a dent in her Brexit plans by handing control of the process to restive lawmakers. The Supreme Court will decide whether she can use her executive power to begin formal talks on leaving the EU, or whether she must seek prior approval from parliament. The 11 judges are widely expected to back an earlier High Court ruling that the magnitude of Brexit means the process to instigate it can only be introduced through formal legislation. May has promised to trigger Article 50 of the EUs Lisbon treaty, beginning two years of divorce talks, by the end of March. In the event they lose the case, ministers are preparing to rush emergency legislation through the Houses of Commons and Lords. Opponents would almost certainly table amendments to try to tie the governments hand in negotiations, for example on the rights of EU citizens already in Britain. But the vote on Article 50 should pass, because although May has only a slim majority, the main opposition Labour party has agreed not to block it. The Supreme Court ruling may yet create further complications, including whether the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland must approve Mays plans. And this week May promised parliament a vote on the final Brexit deal -- raising the prospect, however remote, that MPs could reject it. A proper process The original High Court decision in November drew outrage from Brexit supporters, who accused the claimants of trying to undo the result of last Junes EU referendum. One tabloid newspaper condemned the judges as Enemies of the People -- and tensions are still running high. But Jo Murkens, associate law professor at the London School of Economics, said the case was about the limits of the governments royal prerogative powers. It would be much easier if the prime minister could just do as she pleased using prerogative power. The problem is that the courts have not allowed that since the 17th century, he told AFP. He said a ruling against the government would be unlikely to bind its hands, but would clarify there is a proper process and its (through) parliament. If youve got a majority then youre in the clear -- but if you dont have a majority youve got a political problem, he told AFP. The majority of MPs campaigned against Brexit, but most now accept it will happen -- and that the process will begin within weeks. Mays announcement this week that she would pull Britain out of Europes single market has galvanised some of her critics, however. Dozens of Labour MPs may defy their leader Jeremy Corbyn and vote against the government. The Scottish National Party (SNP), which has 54 MPs in the 650-seat House of Commons, is also firmly against Brexit. But Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, said opposition among Mays own MPs had all but disappeared in recent weeks. Its quite difficult to see her running into too much trouble now, he told AFP. Her biggest problem is not the people behind her or in front of her in the Commons. Her biggest problem is the 27 heads of government who she has to negotiate with. No mans land The SNP could cause more trouble if the court rules that the devolved nations must agree to start Brexit talks, as the party controls the government in Edinburgh. The situation may also change if the economic outlook worsens, and public opinion turns against the government by the time MPs vote on a final deal. Losing such a vote would likely force a general election, but if the EU refuses to agree to more negotiations, it could also see Britain leaving with no deal at all. Some have argued that in such an eventuality, Britain could revoke its Article 50 notification, thereby cancelling Brexit. If parliament votes it down, then were in no mans land, said Murkens. Ministers refused to speculate on the future vote but Brexit minister David Davis said that Britain would be leaving the EU regardless. The vote will not change that, he said. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and US President Donald Trump will meet at the end of this month to discuss trade, immigration and security issues, as the Latin American leader faces increased populist pressure at home. Trumps spokesman Sean Spicer told a news conference on Saturday that the two leaders will meet on January 31, the week after senior officials of both administrations hold bilateral talks in Washington. Trump is committed to renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) and would move to withdraw if no fair deal is forthcoming, according to the White House website. Meanwhile, Mexican 2018 presidential frontrunner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced plans to tour major US cities in February, raising the pressure on Mexicos government to assert itself with the Trump administration. Enough of being passive, Lopez Obrador of the leftist Morena party said in a statement. We should put a national emergency plan in place to face the damage and reverse the protectionist policies of Donald Trump. The populist Lopez Obrador is leading in most early polls ahead of Mexicos 2018 presidential elections. Morena, which he founded after breaking with Mexicos main leftist party, has vowed to fight corruption, disrupt a sweeping reform of the key energy sector and promote a more nationalist vision for the country. Many in Mexico are worried about another Trump promise, that he will make Mexico pay for a border wall, possibly by blocking wire transfers out of the United States from Mexican nationals. We shouldnt pay for the wall, said Christina Validez, waiting to pick up a wire transfer from her husband in the United States at a bank in Ixmiquilpan. Its the other way around, all United States presidents should be grateful that all the migrants have helped the economy. The area around Ixmiquilpan, in the central state of Hidalgo and home to some 94,000 people, received about $100 million in foreign remittances in 2015, according to data from Mexicos central bank, more than 10 times the municipal governments annual budget. Stores in the town owned by Wal-Mart and retailer Femsa were recently forced to close by angry protesters. Two weeks later, the shops are still shuttered. Violence following a double-digit hike in gasoline prices this month highlighted Pena Nietos deepening unpopularity and rising sentiment against multinational companies. On Friday, people gathered outside a Ford Motor Co showroom in the capital to protest the companys cancellation of a $1.6 billion investment in an auto plant in Mexico after months of pressure from Trump. On his U.S. tour, Lopez Obrador - a former Mexico City mayor who finished second to Pena Nieto in the 2012 presidential vote - will meet people of Mexican origin living in major cities, starting February 12 in Los Angeles, then to Chicago, Phoenix and others. Pena Nieto said earlier on Saturday that he highlighted the importance of the U.S.-Mexico relationship on a call with Trump. We dont know if the government is defending us, if its with us or not, said Margarita Escamilla, a legal resident in the United States from Ixmiquilpan visiting family. Lopez Obrador is like all of them, saying hes going to defend migrants but who knows ... they promise and promise and it stays the same, she said. Pope Francis on Sunday said he would not make an opinion of Donald Trump until he first had a chance to see specific policies the new US president would implement. On Friday, as Trump was taking office, Francis had urged him to be guided by ethical values, saying he must take care of the poor and the outcast during his time in office. I think that we must wait and see. I dont like to get ahead of myself nor judge people prematurely, the Pope told Spanish newspaper El Pais in an interview. We will see how he acts, what he does, and then I will have an opinion. But being afraid or rejoicing beforehand because of something that might happen is, in my view, quite unwise. It would be like prophets predicting calamities, he said. Francis also warned the Europeans against populism, saying they should not repeat the same mistakes as in the 1930s when they turned to saviours to resolve the economic and political crisis only to end up at war. Crises provoke fear, alarm. In my opinion, the most obvious example of European populism is Germany in 1933... A people that was immersed in a crisis, that looked for its identity until this charismatic leader came and promised to give their identity back, and he gave them a distorted identity, and we all know what happened, the Pope said. In times of crisis, we lack judgment, and that is a constant reference for me... That is why I always try to say: talk among yourselves, talk to one another, he added. Also read | From India-Pak ties to trade: A look at how Trump may shake things up in Asia The Taliban has warned President Donald Trump to reverse US policy on Afghanistan or face a historically shameful defeat, a US-based monitoring group reported Sunday. An article, which the SITE Intelligence Group said appeared on the Talibans website and social media, described the freshly inaugurated leader of the free world as an enigma both to the Americans and the billions of people around the world. The article said that Afghans hoped Trump and his cabinet would not follow in the footsteps of previous White House administrations. Afghanistan, which the US invaded on October 7, 2001 in a bid to topple al Qaeda hosts the Taliban, has become Washingtons longest military intervention since Vietnam. It has also been the most costly, with more than $100 billion (93 billion euros) spent. But the country remains wracked by insecurity as the resurgent Taliban dealt Afghan forces serious blows in 2015, the first year they led security operations in Afghanistan, taking over from NATO. Even though America has never waged a war so long and passionately intense in its entire history but if she insists on continuing her failed arrogant policies, one can foresee that she will ruin herself beyond repair due to a historically shameful defeat, the article said. Trump has yet to make an official pronouncement about US policy in Afghanistan, but the Taliban threat forced his predecessor Barack Obama to slow plans for a drawdown in US troop numbers. Some 8,400 will remain in the war-torn country this year, compared with 5,500 initially planned. Describing journalists as the most dishonest human beings on Earth, US President Donald Trump has said he has been running a war with the media and warned them of consequences for falsely reporting that less number of people attended his inauguration. We had a massive field of people. You saw them. Packed. I get up this morning, I turn on one of the networks, and they show an empty field, Trump said. I say, wait a minute, I made a speech. I looked out, it looked like a million, million and a half people. They showed a field where there were practically nobody standing there. They (media) said, Donald Trump did not draw well. I said, it was almost raining, the rain should have scared them away, but God looked down and he said, were not going to let it rain on your speech, he said. Then I walked off and it poured right after I left. It poured. But, we have something thats amazing because, it looked like a million and a half people. Whatever it was, it was. But it went all the way back to the Washington Monument. And I turn on -- and by mistake I get this network, and it showed an empty field. And it said we drew 250,000 people, he said. Now, thats not bad, but its a lie. We had 250,000 people literally around in the little bowl that we constructed. That was 250,000 people. The rest of the 20-block area, all the way back to the Washington Monument, was packed. So we caught them, and we caught them in a beauty. I think theyre going to pay a big price, Trump warned. Trump was speaking at the CIA headquarters. He told his top spy agency that this is the reason for him visiting the CIA headquarters as the media has portrayed that he has differences with the intelligence community. Read| We have no choice but to get rid of radical Islamic terrorism: Trump to CIA The reason youre my first stop is that, as you know, I have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on Earth, Trump said amidst applause and laughter from the CIA officials attending his maiden address to them. They sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community. And I just want to let you know, the reason youre the number-one stop is exactly the opposite. They understand that, too, he said and then said that the crown strength of his inauguration was being accurately being written by the media. Then Trump listed out another incident. So a reporter wrote that Trump took down the bust, of Martin Luther King. It was right there. But there was a cameraman that was in front of it. So a reporter writes a story about I took down. I would never do that because I have great respect for Martin Luther King. But this is how dishonest the media is, Trump alleged. I only like to say that because I love honesty. I like honest reporting. I will tell you, final time -- when you let in your thousands of other people that have been trying to come in -- because I am coming back -- were going to have to get you a larger room, Trump said indicating that he would have a bigger room for the White House press corps. President Donald Trump can hire his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as a senior White House adviser without breaking federal anti-nepotism laws, the US department of justice said. In a letter dated January 20 posted on its website, the departments office of legal counsel said the president has special hiring authority that exempts White House positions from laws barring the president from naming a relative to lead a federal agency. The New York Times first reported the decision, saying it was posted to the departments site on Saturday. Questions about Kushners role emerged as voters and lawmakers questioned potential conflicts of interest for Trump, given his wide-ranging business interests, history of employing family members, and the influence of his daughter Ivanka Trump, who is married to Kushner. The office of White House counsel had asked the Justice Department for a definitive opinion on Kushners role. The justice department said that if Trump chooses to officially hire Kushner and give him security clearance usually granted for White House staff, then conflict-of-interest laws would apply and Kushner would have to abide by their restrictions. Congress has not blocked, and most likely could not block, the president from seeking advice from family members in their personal capacities, the department wrote in its 14-page opinion. Consequently, even if the anti-nepotism statute prevented the president from employing relatives in the White House as advisors, he would remain free to consult those relatives as private citizens, it said. The British government was accused on Sunday of covering up a failed test of its nuclear weapons deterrent last year, just weeks before lawmakers voted to renew the system. Prime Minister Theresa May refused to say whether she knew about the reported malfunction of an unarmed missile when she urged MPs to support updating the Trident nuclear system. The Sunday Times newspaper, citing a senior naval source, claimed that the Trident II D5 missile failed after being launched from a British submarine off the coast of Florida in June. The cause of the failure is top secret but the source suggested the missile may have veered off in the wrong direction towards the United States. There was a major panic at the highest level of government and the military after the first test of our nuclear deterrent in four years ended in disastrous failure, the source told the paper. Ultimately Downing Street decided to cover up the failed test. If the information was made public, they knew how damaging it would be to the credibility of our nuclear deterrent. The malfunction came just weeks before the House of Commons was asked on July 18 to approve the replacement of the ageing submarines that carry Britains nuclear arsenal. May was not prime minister at the time of the test, but she took office shortly before the vote and successfully appealed to lawmakers to approve the 41 billion (47 billion euro, $50.7 billion) project. In a BBC interview on Sunday, she sidestepped questions about whether she knew about the malfunction when she made her statement to MPs. What we were talking about is whether or not we should renew Trident, she said. I have absolute faith in our Trident missiles, she continued, adding that tests take place regularly. Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, a longstanding opponent of nuclear weapons, said it was a pretty catastrophic error for a missile to go in the wrong direction. A government spokesman confirmed the Royal Navy conducted a routine test launch of an unarmed missile last June from HMS Vengeance, one of Britains four nuclear-armed submarines. It was part of an operation which is designed to certify the submarine and its crew, he said. Vengeance and her crew were successfully tested and certified, allowing Vengeance to return into service. We have absolute confidence in our independent nuclear deterrent, he said. Britain is one of only three nuclear-armed NATO nations, along with the United States and France. ar/pdw Prime Minister Theresa May will be the first world leader to meet US President Donald Trump, but after a day of worldwide protests by women against his comments on women, she declared on Sunday that she wont be afraid to challenge him on issues. Britain and the United States have a special relationship, but leading lights of Britains political establishment have been derisive of Trump during the presidential campaign. Trump has large business interests in Scotland. Speaking to BBC, May who is due to meet him in the White House on Friday said: I have already said that some of the comments he has made in relation to women are unacceptable, and for some of those he himself apologised for. When I sit down with him for talks,I think the biggest statement that will be made about the role of women is that I will be there as a female prime minister, talking to him directly. I have a track record of defending the interests of women, on modern slavery, domestic violence and so forth. The special relationship also enables us to say when we do find some things unacceptable. Whenever there is something that I find unacceptable, I wont be afraid to say that to Donald Trump. Top of the agenda for talks will be a post-Brexit free trade deal with the US. While former president Barack Obama said during the EU referendum campaign that Britain would be atthe back of the queue if it voted for Brexit, Trump has differed views. Asked in an interview last weekwhether he would press ahead with a trade deal with Britain after Brexit, Trump said: Absolutely, very quickly. Im a big fan of the UK. Were gonna work very hard to get it done quickly and done properly. Good for both sides. A large number of women gathered in London and elsewhere on Saturday to join worldwide protests by women against Trumps comments about women. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON President Donald Trump said his phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday was very nice. Trump, who took office on Friday, spoke with Netanyahu on Sunday afternoon. Trump was asked about the call by reporters after delivering remarks at a ceremony swearing in his top advisors at the White House. Hours before the call, Israel approved hundreds of new settler homes in east Jerusalem. But a potentially explosive plan to annex a large West Bank Jewish settlement unilaterally was shelved until after Netanyahu and Trump meet face-to-face. Read | As Trump takes office in US, Israel pushes ahead with settlements Trump has pledged strong support for Israel and vowed during his campaign to recognise Jerusalem as the countrys capital despite the citys contested status. Israeli right-wing politicians have welcomed his election, with hardliners who oppose a Palestinian state hoping it will allow them to move forward with their long-held goal of annexing most of the West Bank. But the White House on Sunday appeared to play down suggestions that relocating the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was imminent. Israel captured Arab east Jerusalem during the 1967 war and later annexed it -- in a move not recognised by the international community -- declaring all of the city its unified capital. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. The United States is Israels most important ally, providing it with more than $3 billion per year in defence aid, but former president Barack Obama grew frustrated with Israeli settlement building. The United States has no choice but to get rid of ISIS and radical Islamic terrorism, the new US President Donald Trump has said. Weve been fighting these wars for longer than any wars weve ever fought. We have not used the real abilities that we have. Weve been restrained. We have to get rid of ISIS. Have to get rid of ISIS. We have no choice. Radical Islamic terrorism, Trump told members of the CIA community at its headquarters in Langley. Reiterating his remarks on the inauguration day, Trump said, it has to be eradicated just off the face of the Earth. This is evil. This is evil, he said in his maiden address to the CIA officials. I can understand the other side. We can all understand the other side. There can be wars between countries, there can be wars. You can understand what happened. This is something nobody can even understand. This is a level of evil that we havent seen. Youre going to go to it, and youre going to do a phenomenal job, he said. But were going to end it. Its time. Its time right now to end it, he added. Trumps nominee for CIA Director Mike Pompeo has not been confirmed by the Senate yet. Referring to CIA, Trump said he believes that this group is going to be one of the most important groups in this country towards making the country safe, towards making it winners again, toward ending all of the problems. We have so many problems that are interrelated that we dont even think of, but interrelated to the kind of havoc and fear that this sick group of people has caused. So I can only say that I am with you 1,000 percent, he added. The White House vowed on Sunday to fight the news media tooth and nail over what officials see as unfair attacks on President Donald Trump, setting a tone that could ratchet up a traditionally adversarial relationship to a new level of rancor. A day after the Republican president used his first visit to CIA headquarters on Saturday to accuse the media of underestimating the crowds at his inauguration, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus expressed indignation at the reports and referred to them as attacks. The point is not the crowd size. The point is the attacks and the attempt to delegitimize this president in one day. And were not going to sit around and take it, Priebus said on Fox News Sunday. Priebus complained about a press pool report that said the bust of Martin Luther King Jr had been removed from the Oval Office. The report on Friday night was quickly corrected but Trump called out the reporter by name at the Central Intelligence Agency on Saturday, as did spokesman Sean Spicer later in the day. Were going to fight back tooth and nail every day and twice on Sunday, Priebus said. The chief of staff also repeated Spicers accusations that the media manipulated photographs of the National Mall to show smaller crowds at Fridays inauguration. Aerial photographs showed the crowds for Trumps inauguration were smaller than in 2009, when Barack Obama, the nations first black president, was sworn in. The unexpectedly high turnout for Saturdays Womans March on Washington outpaced the inauguration turnout. The Washington subway system reported 275,000 rides of as of 11 a.m. (1600 GMT) on Saturday. The subway system said 193,000 users had entered the system by 11 a.m. on Friday, compared with 513,000 at that time during Obamas 2009 inauguration. President Donald Trump took to Twitter early on Sunday to needle the estimated two million people who marched in women-led mass protests against him a day earlier, including celebrities who took part. Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didnt these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly, Trump tweeted. A second, more formally worded, missive followed an hour later in which the Republican leader stressed that he respected the right to demonstrate. Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don't always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2017 There was no official crowd count for the largest march, in Washington, but organizers told AFP they were confident it drew one million people, protesting any rollback of the rights of women, immigrants and minorities under Trumps presidency. At least a million people marched in other US cities, according to a tally of official counts for 15 major demonstrations compiled by CNN. That figure did not include the many smaller sister marches held across the country and worldwide, which organisers numbered at over 600. The scale of the mass protests highlights the depth of resistance to the former reality TV star, two days after he was sworn in as president with an approval rating of just 37%. Pop diva Madonna made an unannounced appearance on Saturday in Washington, joining hundreds of thousands of protesters who rallied for womens rights in defiance of Trump. Other celebrities at the massive demonstration included actresses Scarlett Johansson, Ashley Judd and America Ferrera, filmmaker Michael Moore and the feminist icon Gloria Steinem. Also read | White House says media delegitimizing President Donald Trump, wont take it It will take just 100 days for zombies to take over the world and reduce human survivors to a population of less than 300, a new study says. According to the study at University of Leicester in the UK, the students assumed that if a zombie can find one person daily, with a 90% chance of infecting victims with the zombie infection, then by day 100, there would be just 273 human survivors remaining, outnumbered a million to one by zombies. The team, which presented the findings in the student-run Journal of Physics Special Topics, investigated the spread of a hypothetical zombie virus using the SIR model - an epidemiological model that describes the spread of a disease throughout a population. The model splits the population into three categories - those susceptible to the infection, those that are infected and those that have either died or recovered.The SIR model then considers the rates at which infections spread and die off as individuals in the population come into contact with each other. As part of the formula, the students looked at S (the susceptible population), Z (the zombie population) and D (the dead population), suggesting that the average life-cycle of a zombie would be S to Z to D. Read | Can India survive a zombie invasion, asks RTI inquiry They also examined the time frame over which individuals in the population encounter one another. The initial study did not factor in natural birth and death rates, since the hypothetical epidemic took place over 100 days, resulting in natural births and deaths being negligible compared to the impact of the zombie virus over a short time frame. Without the ability for humankind to fight back against the undead hordes, the students calculations suggest that if global populations were equally distributed in less than a year the human race might be wiped out. However, in a more hopeful follow-up study, the students investigated the SIR model applied to a zombie epidemic and introduced new parameters, such as the rate in which zombies might be killed and people having children within the nightmare scenario. This made human survival more feasible. The team factored in how over time survivors may also be less likely to become infected after having experience of avoiding or fending off zombies. They found that it would be possible for the worlds human population to survive the zombie epidemic under these conditions and that eventually the zombie population would be wiped out and the human population would recover. Also Watch | Zombies take to the streets in Mexico City Every year we ask students to write short papers for the Journal of Physics Special Topics. It lets the students show off their creative side and apply some of physics they know to the weird, the wonderful, or the everyday, said Mervyn Roy, a lecturer at Leicesters department of physics and astronomy, said. Washington was the center of Saturdays Womens March, and it hosted some powerful performances from the likes of Alicia Keys, Janelle Monae, and Maxwell. Both Keys and Monae, on top of performing, also shared some words for the crowd. Keys introduced Girl On Fire by speaking out against oppression and speaking up for the marginalized voices of America. We will not allow our bodies to be owned and controlled by men in government, or men anywhere for that matter, she said. We will not allow our compassionate souls to get stepped on. We want the best for all Americans. No hate, no bigotry, no Muslim registry. We value education, health care and equality. Monae was joined by the mothers of Eric Garner, Mohamed Bah, Dontre Hamilton, Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis, all young black men who were unjustly killed, three of which at the hand of police officers. She later performed her song Hell You Talmbout. Within the performance, she called out the names of Janisha Fonville and Sandra Bland, to which the crowd responded Say her name! Maxwell delivered a tender cover of Kate Bushs This Womans Work. Janelle Monae This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Cameras rolling, Lil' Bit shied from the vet's needle like a kid at the doctor's office. The 7-month old foal jumped and flinched as Dr. Aubrey Ross and his assistant drew blood to determine whether the animal was healthy enough for its first trail ride to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in March. Animal Planet crews captured it all, a small spark of drama in the long process of preparing hundreds of horses and mules to journey from the hinterlands to NRG Park. "It was just his first time," Ross said as the tiny horse huffed and shook it off. "It'll be easier once he get used to getting handled." Ross, a co-owner of Cy-Fair Animal Hospital in Cypress and a star in Animal Planet's "The Vet Life," manned a free clinic Saturday to help trail riders ready their animals before the show. He steadied the horses while his assistant, Ebony Price, filled syringes to test whether the animals had a contagious disease called equine infectious anemia that could spread quickly through a herd. Anthony Bruno, the trail boss for the Northeastern Trail Riders Association, hosted the clinic at his property on the city's northeast side. Amusement flashed in his eyes as other riders brought their animals in for check-ups in front of the eager film crew, a new twist on an old routine for a lifelong horseman like himself. "It's like second nature to me," he said. Bruno's group is one of 13 that travels from across the state in the weeks before the rodeo. Each wends its way into the city with mule-drawn wagons and horseback riders, sometimes covering hundreds of miles. The Northeastern riders start their journey in Cheek, southwest of Beaumont, and trek 109 miles to NRG. This year's show will be their 27th. 'It's a passion' For Bruno, the process of readying riders and animals takes the better part of a year. As soon as one ride is finished, he starts making camping arrangements for the following year's show and conditions the animals in the three months beforehand. The ride, Bruno said, is a tribute to the frontiersmen who settled in the region after long treks in search of new opportunities. His own family left rural Louisiana for Texas, where he has been caring for horses most of his life. "It's a passion," he said. "I do it to maintain our history, our heritage." Lloyd Simon, who has a ranch in Brookshire, rolled up with two mules. Muddy and wide-eyed, they got checked for their 123-mile trip with the Southwest Trail Riders Association. Like Bruno, Simon has spent his life around animals. His enthusiasm for the annual ride hasn't waned since his first one in 1976. "Inside, I get the jitters," he said. "It's like the first time all over again." 'Big family reunion' James Cornish, who brought Lil' Bit and four other horses from his ranch in south Houston, calmed them as Ross and his team completed their checks. Cornish said he expects to prepare as many as 30 horses for the trek, which he makes every year with the Southwest group. "I love the happy atmosphere," he said. "It's like a big family reunion." Charity Carter, owner and artistic director of the Fort Bend Academy of Arts and Dance, won the 2016 Greater Houston Black Chamber of Commerce's Pinnacle Award for her studio's financial success and community impact. While Carter's journey has been rough, having opened her studio during a recession, she succeeded with creative strategies including opening her space to karate, vocal and piano classes. In 2013, she started the Edison Arts Foundation nonprofit to offer financial aid for her programs and, after 10 years of running her business, has plans to soon expand with the construction of the Edison Performing Arts Center in Fort Bend. There she will build upon the dance programs she offers children ages 3 and up including after-school programs and opportunities to meet with professionals such as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Misty Copeland. Q: What inspired you to start the Fort Bend Academy of Arts and Dance? A: I love dancing. I'm a product of HISD. I started dancing in elementary school and my first dance teacher was Ms. Body. She was a beautiful brown lady with a voluptuous body. She was not your stereotypical dance teacher and I feel in love with that. My senior year (of high school) I got pregnant and became a young mother. I wanted to go to Columbia University in New York, but my plans got halted. I knew I always wanted to dance, so I chose to go to Sam Houston State University under the wonderful direction of Dana Nicolay. I took my daughter with me, so I was a single mother trying to pursue dance. Now I also knew that I loved education, so I minored in education and business. Q: What interested you in business? A: My father was an entrepreneur. He was in the business world for over 35 years. My grandparents owned stores across the country, so entrepreneurship ran in my blood, in my family. My interests shifted. I was no longer as interested in performing as much as I was interested in raising my daughter, being a mother and providing a roof over her head. I was able to work in dance and teach. And doors kept opening. I put in the time to learn, and the importance of education grew with me and I knew that whatever I did, it had to involve education. I long-term subbed, using free time to write out business plans and research on small-business startups. Long story short, I'm here today because I knew I loved dance, I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, and I knew I wanted to be a dance studio owner. Q: What's the importance of offering artistic opportunities to younger generations? A: We want all our kids to feel empowered. We want them to know that they can do anything, and dance is our avenue to let them know that. Some of them are here just because their parents want them to dance. Some of them are here for the short term just because they want to dance. And some are here long term because they want careers in dance. Our job is to help them find themselves. We want them to be viable. We want them to be productive citizens. We want them to be dancing lawyers. We want them to be dancing accountants. We want them to do whatever they want to do and know that we don't have to worry about them not being successful. Q: How do business and the arts intersect, and how do you teach this to your students? A: You have to look at the arts as a business. You can't just be a starving artist out there. You have to have a plan. And many businesses support the arts. They give to the philanthropic projects of the arts and arts organizations. The arts is one of the most viable industries. We have the Theater District. We have Jones Hall, we have the Hobby Center, and we have the Alley Theatre, just to name a few. Culture and community and the arts go together. That's business. There is money to be made. Q: What are challenges in running a business like the academy, and how do you overcome them? A: Fluctuating income. Because we operate on disposable dollars, the first thing parents get rid of when the economy is tough is extracurricular activities. If they have to choose between dance and bread, it'll be bread. But that's where partnerships and sourcing of outside activities add revenues. My personal challenges, and many studio owners can attest to this, is juggling being a teacher to operator to business manager to all the different job titles you have to operate as a small-business owner. But parents are your number one source of volunteers. Q: How does it feel to have received the Pinnacle Award? A: To be a Pinnacle Award winner is an extraordinary opportunity. There are many applicants, and they could have chosen any. To be recognized as an arts small business with a big heart is a great opportunity. The experience has been wonderful. To know that our peers value the arts and value what we're doing, the impact that we're having in the community, is wonderful. Izzy Poole is nervous as she listens to Dr. Preston Grind, a thirty-something psychologist in New Balance running shoes, explain his new project. He's looking for 10 families to take part in a 10-year study "to see if we can improve the way in which we raise children," and he wants her to join. Izzy is 19 and pregnant, and Dr. Grind's project - which would group Izzy and her child with nine other families, who would all live together - "sounds like some kind of commune" to her. But she signs the paperwork. She's in. She doesn't know what else to do. Thus begins the adventure of Kevin Wilson's "Perfect Little World." It's the second novel from Wilson, who gave us a comically dysfunctional family of performance artists in his first novel, "The Family Fang," in 2011. Here, Wilson deals with issues of family again - but instead of people who are bound together by blood and making the best of it, "Perfect Little World" features a group of strangers who agree to become family, for better or worse. The story begins and ends with Isabel, known as Izzy. Young, single and pregnant with her high school art teacher's baby, she doesn't have a lot of options. With her minimum-wage job and no family help, she doesn't know how she'll make it. More Information 'Perfect Little World' By Kevin Wilson Ecco, 352 pp., $26.99 See More Collapse Psychologist Preston Grind has spent years working on the theory that, as the traditional nuclear family becomes less standard, young children benefit from having a "village" of support from a whole network of caring adults. His colleagues think his work borders on "a kind of new-age therapy," but he gets unexpected support from the widow of a man who turned a handful of discount stores into the largest retailer in the world. Brenda Acklen's worth $19 billion, and she likes Dr. Grind's ideas. She offers to fund a study called the Infinite Family Project. Ten families will live together as one, raising their children as a group. Brenda Acklen pays to build a state-of-the-art compound on 450 acres outside Nashville, and Dr. Grind agrees to create a place where family is far more than the nuclear unit, "a place where everyone is connected and everyone cares for each other equally." "If two parents is the traditional ideal, then why not four parents?" he says. "What could you gain if there were now four people heavily invested in that child's future? Why not six? Why not a situation where every child feels an attachment to all the adults in their lives?" Like Izzy, many of the other parents in the Infinite Family Project are selected because they don't have a support network already. They need money, education, child care. They need the project as much as the project needs them. And so they move into the compound, 19 parents and their children, and become one family. The babies live in a single nursery, where parents care for them in scheduled shifts. Meals are a group event. And as the children grow, they become one big, rambunctious group of brothers and sisters. Until they turn 5, they don't even know which adults are their biological parents. "It was a crazy idea to be included in something so obviously flawed and yet so idealistic and beautiful," Izzy decides. For such a crazy idea, it's odd that once the families all move into the compound, the story becomes a bit predictable. But that doesn't mean the reader won't enjoy the ride. Living in the compound feels like living under a microscope. The rest of the world is curious about this strange cultlike group in rural Tennessee. And conflicts, doubts and desires are all magnified in this small, insular place. "I just wonder," one of the parents says on a rough night, "if we went into this in order to avoid all the problems that were waiting for us, and we ended up just creating other problems, problems that no other parents outside the complex could even understand." Wilson is bold to write a book about parenthood with a female protagonist; through Izzy, he explores the pain of childbirth and the nearly overwhelming tugs of a maternal bond with a child who is considered the son of everyone in the group. At dinner one night, Izzy watches as another mother feeds cooked carrots to her son, who gazes up at the other woman's face. "There was the sharpest, smallest pain in Izzy's heart," watching her own son bonding with another mother, and Izzy tries to turn her attention back to Marnie, the baby she's assigned to feed. "She kissed Marnie on the cheek and the baby squinted and smiled, her hands reaching for Izzy, who pulled her close, the muck of the baby's dinner rubbing into Izzy's own clothes. Good enough, she told herself. Almost as good." The story at times feels weighed down with so many characters hovering on the periphery. The members of the Infinite Family blend together, and the reader may end up flipping frequently to the front of the book, where a family tree matches up the couples and their biological children. But the core group of characters is strong and memorable. Izzy, the group's youngest, is a smart and endearing survivor. And Preston Grind has a complicated history, but he cares about the Infinite Family far beyond their research value. He may need a family more than anyone he's studying. And "Perfect Little World" speaks to a system that isn't working - parents who struggle to find child care and a good job, who try to get through a demanding world without a support network. It's a world we recognize, where a single mom working full time at a restaurant can't earn enough to support a child. Brenda Acklen, the billionaire, addresses the problem directly: "(I)t seems there are a large percentage of children who are unwanted and uncared for, drifting through this world, and I wish there was something in place for those children that's better than what we have now," she says. "There are safety nets, but so many children slip right through them or they never even reach them. It seems to me that there must be a wider net, to make sure that every child is loved and cared for." The Infinite Family Project is just one attempt to create that wider net. To the last page, "Perfect Little World" is a rumination on families - what they can look like, why we need them and how they should be defined. Family is far more than a biological bond; that's not a groundbreaking idea. But Wilson has found a lovely new way of telling readers something they know by heart. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Shi Yan Feng closes his eyes and breathes deeply with ancient form. His palms rise face up on the inhale, then fall slowly, face down, on opposite sides of his torso then stretch straight upwards, summoning an energy that will make his body hard. He finishes, picks up two iron planks, clanks them together to prove they are real. He focuses silently for 30 seconds, leaps into the air and smashes the metal on his forehead. The planks crack and pieces go flying. His head is unmarked. It's a skill the 29-year-old has mastered over almost his entire life, beginning at age four when he was sent off to become a warrior monk at the Shaolin temple outside the ancient Chinese city of Dengfeng where he grew up, and ending here at a park in Sugar Land where he now teaches kung fu. The discipline has taken him from the ancient Chinese temple through the capitals of Europe and finally to the United states and the swampy suburb of Sugar Land where he found love, and then prosperity with two Shaolin kung fu schools and a community of students he calls his "kung fu family." It has become a powerful ally, powering most of his accomplishments. What is Shaolin kung fu? "Kung fu" translates roughly to "achievement through meticulous effort," and is the name given informally to virtually any Chinese style of martial arts. Shaolin kung fu is the most famous, and arguably the most complex, of countless styles of Chinese martial arts. The Shaolin Monastery began in Central China in the Fifth Century CE, founded by an Indian missionary helping spread Buddhist philosophy. Decades later, another Indian missionary found the Shaolin monks in poor health from their lifestyle of sedentary meditation, so he meditated for nine years in a nearby cave then conceived a series of enlightened exercises. Monks soon blended the exercises with local styles of self-defense, then dedicated their lives to perfecting Shaolin kung fu. Generations of monks refined and expanded the system, creating an enormous virtual library of complex styles and mystical techniques. Shaolin kung fu attained international fame in the late 20th Century, largely through proliferation of kung fu cinema, and today tourism has severely degraded peace and serenity at the monastery. See More Collapse "It is a way of life," said Feng, 29, with a placid smile. "This is something I think the world needs." He wasn't always known as Shi Yan Feng. He was called Yuan Xiao Feng when, at four years old, he stood on the concrete of Dengfeng's public square and exhibited his kung fu forms for an audience of hundreds at a citywide tournament in 1992. He came from a kung fu family. His grandfather and great-grandfather were Shaolin masters, and his uncle began to teach him kung fu stretches when Feng was three years old. He won first place in his section of the tournament. When the supervising masters discovered Feng's family connection, they invited him to the temple. With his parents' permission, he traveled 30 minutes out of Dengfeng, a city known for its array of ancient spiritual monuments, to the Shaolin temple near the base of the sacred Mount Song. There he became the youngest of the Shaolin warrior monks, an age-old order of temple defenders who spend days in martial meditation then sleep on hard cots in stone quarters without electricity. A representative of the temple confirmed Feng's identity by email. Jeremy Horner, Getty Images He awoke at 5 a.m. to run five to ten miles up and down surrounding mountains, sometimes crawling down on hands and knees. Then there was mediation, stretching, kicking and breathing, then breakfast. The monks farm their own food. Feng practiced hours of repetitive motion, or performed forms while balancing atop tall wooden posts. He hardened his head, neck, abdomen and more by beating them until they grew strong enough to repel metal. He ran sprints down a narrow winding brick ridge, threw sewing needles through glass and pondered Buddhist philosophy. The regimens were prescribed by Feng's master, Shi Wan Heng, who also taught kung fu movie star Jet Li. Because of Feng's age, he parted with the older monks come nightfall; while they practiced deeper meditation, he studied history, math and Chinese language with his master. Watch Feng perform with his master at age 6: xxx In 1995, the Shaolin temple celebrated its 1,500th anniversary. Dengfeng officials decided Shaolin kung fu should be exhibited outside of China for the first time as a ploy to boost local tourism. They tapped Austrian tour producer Herbert Fechter to make it happen. When he made the trip from Vienna to the monastery later that year, Fechter said the revelation hit him "like a stroke." "This is something that the Western world is striving for, to get outer strength from inner peace," Fechter, now 70, recalled thinking. "The Western world is longing for answers to questions which these Chinese monks have already solved for themselves." Fecther assembled a program that would tell the story of Shaolin kung fu, interspersed with demonstrations. Feng, then seven, was the youngest monk on the tour roster, and he got his own page in the tour catalog. One photo shows Feng looking deadly serious, dressed in orange robes and sitting on a stone bench beside his master, then 78. Houston Chronicle With the tour, Feng left the mountainous cradle of Chinese civilization and saw the cities of the world. He performed in Vienna, New York, London, Johannesburg, Tokyo, Moscow, Rome, Seoul and more. The monks toured the U.S. by bus for one month. Feng sometimes took four flights a day, traveling Europe to appear in TV promotions. The bright lights dazzled, and Feng imagined leaving his home at the temple, but he was always glad to return. He spent several months of each year on tour. During that time, Fechter said Feng "became a real, real friend" who would play with his own young son George, even though they shared no common language. "The comparison to a child in the Western culture was unbelievable. He had so much discipline. He had so much concentration. He had so much fun and pride to present what he did," Fechter said. "What a level of inner peace he had already reached at his young age." Meanwhile, Feng's training continued. To master Shaolin kung fu, disciples must teach it. That is what they do for the steady stream of martial arts enthusiasts who travel from all over the world to train for one week at the Shaolin temple. Feng instructed the kung fu pilgrims, and by age 11 he had certifiably mastered Shaolin Kung Fu. So he became Shi Yan Feng, or Master Feng. xxx Shaolin masters commonly go abroad to staff kung fu schools, the temple said. In 2002, a request came in for a teacher in Houston, and the temple handed it to Feng. With his parents' permission, he traveled to Texas to teach at the Houston Shaolin Temple school in Bellaire as the third Shaolin master in Houston. Word that a real Shaolin warrior monk was coming to Houston spread, reaching San Antonio, where 21-year-old Natasha Castillo practiced a mixture of martial arts with a small group. They made the trip to Feng's welcome party, and saw him perform. He was 15, masquerading as 17 for credibility's sake. "He was just mesmerizing. You'd sit there and watch him and go into a trance," she said. Castillo decided she'd keep coming back to Houston to train, once or twice a month, whenever she could. Initially, Feng would "just yell at us in Chinese," she said. But the lessons made sense without talking. Meanwhile, Feng was building vocabulary and learning to speak English from the youngest children he taught. Castillo lost touch with Feng around 2006 her boyfriend in San Antonio didn't like her traveling to see the young monk so much. Rumor among her friends was that Feng liked her. Feng, for his part, found life stifling with no car and basically no friends. He missed running up mountains. He was also having visa problems. When it came time to renew his R1 religious visa, an attorney informed him that the kung fu school wouldn't meet the criteria for religious sponsorship. He wouldn't be able to legally work there anymore. He had no money, spoke little English, and didn't really understand what was happening. When Feng left the school, his students bemoaned the loss of their instructor. So Feng continued lessons in Sugar Land's Eldridge Park with about 30 students. That, he said, was more authentic anyway. Real Shaolin kung fu is practiced outdoors because "you must feel the Earth." He eventually got a position teaching kung fu at a local Vietnamese Buddhist temple, which would sponsor his visa, but his attorney Helene Dang, had another idea. After interviewing Feng in 2008, she said, "we were like, 'whoa, you're quite unique.' So we proposed the option for him." The option was a rare EB-1 visa for "aliens with extraordinary abilities." "In order to qualify for extraordinary ability you have to be acclaimed internationally as top in your field," said Dang, a partner at Foster Global. "It's higher than exceptional. It's higher than outstanding. It's pretty much the hardest (visa) to get." They compiled letters of reference from martial arts masters inside and outside the U.S., then gathered record of Feng's awards and the acclaim for the performances he'd given. The papers were filed, and Feng became a permanent resident, then several years later a U.S. citizen. Dang said that because EB-1 visas are "given the highest preference" in the immigration system, there is "essentially no wait time." xxx In San Antonio, Castillo's accounting job fell to the Great Recession in 2009. Freshly single, unemployed and stressed, she figured it was time to resume training. After a few phone calls to fellow martial arts enthusiasts, she got Feng's number. She told him she wanted to train again. He asked if she had a boyfriend. She said no. He told her he was going to China later that year, would she like to come for a backstage view of the temple? Castillo had dreamed of China ever since meeting Feng. She said maybe. He invited her to stop by for training, and the next day she drove to Houston. "But he didn't want to train me," she said. "He just wanted to take me out to dinner." Within a month, Castillo found an accounting job in Houston and rented an apartment. She went with Feng to China later that year, saw the temple and met his family. By 2010 they were talking about marriage, and Castillo had to explain the American traditions of engagement rings and proposals. Natasha Yuan They got married in Dengfeng in 2011. Castillo, who would soon make Chinese her fourth language, became Natasha Yuan, taking Feng's pre-master name, and the local news station came by to cover the warrior monk and his American bride. Yuan's parents had initially protested, she said. Her father wanted her to "stay within her race," but he gave in once the marriage seemed inevitable. The couple held an American wedding in San Antonio in 2012, and Yuan's parent's warmed to Feng. "They no longer saw him as the warrior monk, they got to know him as a person," she said. At the same time, his school, American Shaolin Kung Fu, was growing. It had started in 2008, when Feng, then 21, wanted a place to practice with the students he was training in Eldridge Park. So just down the road he rented a unit in a small strip center, across the parking lot from a Vietnamese noodle house. He never advertised, he said, but word spread and students asked to sign up. One hundred had enrolled by 2009. By 2011, the school needed another instructor. Feng sent for his younger brother, then an 18-year-old master in the Shaolin temple. He took over a second school in Bellaire in 2014. By that time, Feng and Yuan had a baby boy, Henry. Then a girl, Alina, came in 2015, and that year Feng's parents made a months-long visit to see the life he'd made with kung fu in America. They were very proud, he said. xxx On a recent Tuesday night, Feng led a class in his Sugar Land school. At his command, about 20 students in the advanced children's class lined up and performed fast-paced techniques across the length of the gym, then performed a series of 30-second long sequences of motion. A few times, Feng used his hands to adjust a student's posture or guide their arms through motion. Otherwise, he barked "stronger," "try harder" and other motivators. Jamaal Ellis j.vince photography/For the Chronicle He reminded the students that rank testing was Saturday and they'd be breaking wooden boards, then he called an adult forward to hold out a board. "Breaking boards is easy," he said, casually tossing a fist through the plank. "But we are testing your skill. How do you control your powers?" The helper held a board anew, and Feng snapped his knuckles to its surface and split the wood without passing through. "Show that it is an art," he said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Faced with a denomination suffering steep membership declines and roiled over same-sex issues, United Methodist Bishop Scott Jones will host a two-hour web conference in February to encourage the faithful to embrace civility in the contentious debate. Jones, who became bishop of the denomination's sprawling Houston-based Texas Annual Conference in September, said the Feb. 25 Internet session will feature presentations by liberal and conservative clergy and solicit emailed questions from at-home listeners. "My pastors are telling me that most of our churches have a diversity of human sexuality within their congregations," Jones said. "We will consider how does a congregation process this and how to do this in a way to model respect, love and the unity of the body of Christ. These are values we hold dear, and sometimes they seem to be in short supply in American culture." With more than 7 million members - down more than 3 million since 1970 - the United Methodist Church is the nation's second-largest Protestant denomination. It is among the last American Protestant groups that bar ordination of openly homosexual clergy and the performing of same-sex marriages. Conservative congregations' perception that the national church has failed to enforce its own regulations has spawned discontent that threatens to split the denomination. While U.S. membership has dropped, leading some church experts to fear for the denomination's future, membership has burgeoned in Africa, Asia and Europe. Many of those approximately 4 million foreign members are socially conservative. Many believed the denomination would resolve the contentious issue at its May 2016 general assembly, but no action was taken. Instead, delegates authorized a special assembly to take up the church's stance on homosexuality in early 2019. A church commission appointed to explore the topic will report at that time. Jones, who had been bishop of the Kansas Area from 2004 to 2012 and of the expanded Great Plains Annual Conference, including Nebraska, from 2012 to 2014, said the February webinar will be part of a series to discuss religious topics with East Texas Methodists. "I lead around 700 congregations with 270,000 lay people and 750 pastors, stretching from Texarkana to Galveston, Matagorda to College Station," he said. "Reaching that kind of audience when we have something to talk about is difficult. Doing it with webinars as a way of communicating our message and receiving email questions and input is not as perfect a way to 'process' as face to face, but it works pretty well." Jones, 62, a Nashville, Tenn., native, held pastoral posts at a series of East Texas churches prior to joining the faculty of Southern Methodist University's Perkins School of Theology in 1997. During his 17 years at the Dallas school, he taught courses in evangelism and the history of Christianity, the Methodist church and denomination founders John and Charles Wesley. His planned webinars, he said, are a manifestation of his willingness to embrace new media to reach the faithful. "During all those years teaching at SMU, speaking around the world as a Wesley scholar, I was looking for ways to strengthen the Methodist church," Jones said. "I began experimenting with DVDs in the early '90s, creating them as a teaching vehicle to give away or sell. As the internet became more widely accessed, live presentations became more possible. ... As a preacher and a teacher, I have to adapt to what my audience is expecting." Jones said webinars effectively were used in 2009 to address reasons behind a reduction in the number of area bishops. "The audience was small - not many people cared," he said. "But it was a way of disseminating good information about what was going to happen without people having to travel." Jones encouraged East Texas Methodists to view the February webinar in small groups with their clergy. "Ideally, there will be eight or 10 gathering in church with their pastors to process the issues through conversation," he said. "At the same time, we're aware there will be single individuals watching in their pajamas." Jones did not express his views regarding the denomination's policies regarding homosexuality. While acknowledging that American views toward sexuality have grown more liberal, he observed that Methodist clergy are held to a "higher standard." Prior to May's general assembly, Jones made headlines in Methodist circles as he worked with a rural Kansas pastor after she told her congregation that she was a lesbian. Both Jones and the pastor, the Rev. Cynthia Meyer, formerly assistant dean of students at Emory University's Candler School of Theology, desired a way to spare the clergywoman a church trial for her admission. After the general assembly deferred a review of its policies regarding homosexuality, Jones suggested Meyer either leave the pulpit or that her congregation withdraw from the denomination. In August, Meyer took involuntary leave. "We are not of a mind as a denomination," Jones said at the time, "and yet how we treat each other in resolving these differences is vitally important." "During all those years teaching at SMU, speaking around the world as a Wesley scholar, I was looking for ways to strengthen the Methodist church." Methodist Bishop Scott Jones Thousands of women, men and children wound through the trails and sidewalks near Memorial Drive and Allen Parkway Saturday as they made their way to Hermann Square for the Houston version of the Women's March playing out all over the nation that day. Hundreds carried signs conveying disapproval for newly-inaugurated President Trump, some pushed baby strollers or held children on their hips as they picked up momentum and turned onto Sabine Street for the main push toward City Hall. An estimated 20,000 people, mostly dressed in black as a show of unity, gathered in front of the building on Bagby Street to hear Houston City Council Members, Mayor Sylvester Turner, State Representatives and other speakers address issues that affect the rights of women, immigrants, LGBT people, the disabled and African Americans. The march was put together roughly 10 days ago said one organizer, but still drew what Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo called the largest public gathering of people in Houston's history. Many who joined the march that started about 11 a.m. talked about how President Trump made disrespectful comments about each of these groups during his campaign, and has intimated he will try to infringe on abortion rights. Mayor Turner was met with raucous applause throughout his speech. "No other city is more diverse than the city of Houston, I wouldn't have it any other way," said Turner. "Many have sacrificed to make this city what it is and we are not going back. We have to demand that love will triumph over hate." City Council Member Ellen Cohen, District C, took the podium for an impassioned speech and advocated for more women in government and elected positions. "How in the hell are we here again?" said Cohen. "It's been 100 years since my grandmother was here fighting for her right to vote and be seen as equal in the eyes of the government. How can we stop this cycle of insanity?" When she affirmed, "Let's make sure we're here to finally shatter the glass ceiling!," thousands broke into cheers. Acevedo followed her in plain clothes and was met with similar applause when he called for more cooperation between the public and law enforcement. He asked Houstonians to "lift up the good cops." But protestations of Trump didn't stop at his comments about minority groups, some in the crowd carried signs in support of more environmental regulations and showing support for abortion rights. Supriva, a 30-year-old pediatric gastroenterologist said that she is not willing to stand for the things President Trump has said. "All the comments in the trailer about women" she said of the tapes that surfaced during the campaign where Trump is heard making lewd comments about a woman. "When people bring it up, he tries to normalizes it." Supriva and her friends have never participated in a demonstration before, she said they always told each other it would take a lot for them to do something like that. "It's 2017, we're not going backwards. If we appreciate our freedom, we should use our voice to speak," she said. Kiesha Jones said she had special reason to be concerned about the President's public comments, she attended the rally with friends and brought her grade-school age daughter with her. "She's heard all that stuff about Trump grabbing things," said the 39-year-old mother. "I have to show her you have to be respected." Phyllis Randolph Frye, the country's first openly transgender Judge from Houston spoke about Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick's Senate Bill 6, the "bathroom bill", urging constituents to oppose the bill and asking the crowd, "Who is going to hold Texas accountable?", to which the throng responded in unison: "We will, we will!" Afterwards, State Rep. Gene Wu, District 137 recalled defeated Senate Bill 5 in 2013 that would have placed further restrictions on abortion in the state. Senator Wendy Davis garnered national fame for her 11-hour filbustering until the clock ran out on the vote. There were massive protests in Austin at the time in support of Davis. People say demonstrations don't matter, that protests don't matter bull****," said Wu. "That day we saw the power of women." After the speakers closed the podium, around 1 p.m., a DJ played music and people were invited to stay and dance in Hermann Square. Hundreds of community members packed the Dayton Community Center to celebrate the accomplishments and service of the Dayton community at the annual Dayton Chamber of Commerce banquet last Friday evening. Members throughout the community and from various organizations and businesses were commended for their loyalty and sacrifice to make the community better. Josephine Perry, joined periodically by Alan Conner, directed the program and introduced the honorees for the evening. Award winners are: Service Business of the Year: Sterling Funeral Home. The funeral home opened in 1962 and in October of 2015, Kimberley Mulkey used her 15 years of experience in caring for families to make the business one of the best in the community Retail Business of the Year: Marsala's Italian Grill. Opened in June of 2015, General Manager Isaac Rodriguez and Chef Teresa Guzman took their 20-year friendship and work and made Marsala's a favorite choice for diners in Dayton. Ambassador of the Year: Sarah Fletcher. Only a member of the chamber just over a year, Fletcher has distinguished herself as an ambassador with her participation and Senior Volunteer of the Year: James Garyce. Garyce was honored for his tireless work with senior citizens at the Senior Center for the last six years and is a life-long resident of Dayton. Dayton Volunteer Firefighter of the Year: Austin Whisman. Whisman, a 2011 graduate of Liberty High School, he joined the fire department in 2014, has held the position of station sergeant and was recently elected as a captain by his peers. He holds the highest percentage rate for call responses at the station. He is expecting his first child in April. Dayton Police Officer of the Year: Corporal Eric Ibarra. An employee since 2007, he has been promoted from patrol, to narcotics investigator and now as corporal. He also serves the department as one of the Field Training Officers training new recruits. He has been named Officer of the Year by the 100 Club for his role in preventing a prisoner from committing suicide. He also has the highest arrest numbers department wide and is respected by his colleagues. Liberty County EMS Employee of the Year: Jack Terry. Terry has been in the emergency services field since 1996. His journey in his career brought him to Liberty County EMS in 2015. His dedicated service and hard work earned him a promotion to shift supervisor and ultimately the inventory control manager. As manager, he's responsible for all medical inventory at LCEMS. Lion of the Year: Joan Jones. With a history of volunteerism, Jones has distinguished herself with her many talents. In 2005, she volunteered for the food pantry in Dayton. Soon she became assistant director and then director. She has also volunteered with the Dayton ISD in various capacities for 12 years. Six years ago, she joined the Dayton Noon Lions Club and is the treasurer. She also volunteers at the Houston food Bank as an Apple Corp volunteer. Rotarian of the Year: Dr. Jessica Johnson. As the head of Dayton's schools, Johnson has guided the district through a bond project and growth. But that's her day job. She is also the president of the Dayton Rotary Club and has used her leadership skills to guide the club to record growth, almost doubling the size and footprint of the club in the community. Volunteer of the Year: Caroline Wadzeck. Laboring for years for the good of the Dayton community, Wadzeck has directed her talents and love toward securing the history of Dayton through her service as the co-curator and secretary of the Dayton Historical Society, chairman of the Dayton Enhancement committee and serves on the Dayton Police and Fire Museum committee. She has used her skills as a life-long educator to draw young and old into the formative history of the community with passion and zeal. Hall of Fame: The Chamber in previous years had pondered the idea of a Dayton Hall of Fame to mark the accomplishments of those who spent their lives making the community what it is today. This year, and only this year, they inducted five and in subsequent years, will induct one into the Dayton Hall of Fame at their annual banquet. The 2017 inductees included Gene Touchstone (awarded posthumously), former State Representative John Otto, Bob Edwards, John Simmons (posthumously) and Boyd Arnold. Arnold tragically passed away over the weekend not long after being honored by the chamber. U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee will host a prayer vigil Sunday in northwest Houston. "We need to pray for our nation and our Commander-in-Chief to heal the wounds of division and to bring Americans together for a common purpose," the Houston Democrat said in a prepared statement. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate To some, patriotism is a flag pin, a vow of country first, a dutiful acceptance of a fairly elected leader. To the tens of thousands who marched in Houston Saturday - the women, white, brown and black, in ball caps and hijabs, grandmas on motor scooters, moms pulling Radio Flyer wagons, and the men, husbands in solidarity with wives, bearded dads donning baby carriers - patriotism was dissent. It was the act of registering everything from fear to utter incredulity in the first days of a Trump administration. "Hatred's greatest weapon is complacency," read a sign penned by Claudia Zapata LaBry, a 50-year-old from La Porte who swayed and waved an American flag as she sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" with the muggy mass of humanity gathered in tight around City Hall. "I'm accepting the fact that he was elected. It is what it is. Peaceful transition, I'm all for it," said LaBry, who says she emigrated with her Mexican parents at age 9. "But I'm not going to stand by and let him destroy this amazing country. I'm a legal immigrant to this country. I love the United States of America. My heart, as I watch this, this is what America is all about. And to have that man and his cronies destroy our country? It's appalling. "Yesterday," she said, referring to Trump's inauguration, "was one of the longest days of my life." LaBry said she'd stayed up until 2:30 a.m. to finish decorating signs and to sew pink fleece hats and white suffrage-style sashes, complete with the date of the march, for the nieces and sister-in-law who accompanied her. "I was thinking we should do this every week," she said. "But not just march, act. Vote, send letters, talk to the representatives, the senators, everyone. I'm all in." I asked her what she did for a living. "I knew you were going to ask me," she laughed. "I'm a pharmaceutical rep. Go figure." Peaceful crowd They called it the women's march, and there were plenty of clever signs declaring women's rights were not "up for grabs," that "we are not ovary acting" and depicting uteruses with the popular warning: "don't tread on me." Despite the fierceness of the messages, it was a peaceful crowd that occasionally shouted thank yous to police officers monitoring on horseback. Other signs, T-shirts and hats registered concern about everything from climate change to gay rights. "Too many yuuge issues for one sign," read one. "Too worried to be funny," read another. "Are you a journalist?" one woman called out to me from the procession. "We're doctors, and we support health care." "And science," her fellow doctor added, as though it needed to be said. And maybe, today, in 2017, it still does. 'I fear Trump' Missy Van Winkle's sign on brown cardboard was simple: "I fear Trump." The 56-year-old property manager told me she was a sexual assault survivor and relies on Obamacare for health insurance. But Trump wasn't the only subject of her protest. "It's not just the lies that he said, but the people who heard it and said, 'I'm still going to vote for him,' " she said. I told her about a Trump supporter I met a day earlier who had dismissed Trump's foul rhetoric the way she had her grandfather's. Van Winkle acknowledged she'd once had an uncle who said offensive things. "My uncle was not asking to be the leader of America by manipulation, by bombast and by lies," she added. "Sometimes, you have to be willing to not put up with that." The marchers sometimes chanted as they walked down Memorial, buoyed by honking passersby. Lindsay Rachuneck used one hand to maneuver a stroller and the other to hoist a sign referring to her 2-year-old son: "Bad hombre being raised by nasty woman." The 33-year-old legal assistant said the turnout - which Police Chief Art Acevedo suggested was the biggest Houston had ever seen - made her proud. "It makes me feel less alone," she said. From rhetoric to real Wendy Covey-Scott drew me in with a sign that said "Now you've pissed off Grandma." The 53-year-old later came clean that she wasn't actually a grandma yet, only hoping that her two daughters and one son would soon make it so. Covey-Scott, a health and safety manager, said she feels like everything progressives have fought for over the past eight years is being reversed. She fears Trump's rhetoric is becoming real now that he has appointed cabinet members "who don't believe in government." Her opposition of Trump has strained her relationship with her elderly parents, who support him. "I can't have a real conversation with them," she said. "It breaks my heart." After Barack Obama was elected, she said her parents, who are "smart people" but have fallen under the spell of Fox News, were so afraid, they bought a bunker. I asked her if she ever compares that overreaction with the fear she's feeling now. She nodded. "I do. I try to balance that," she told me. "But it's like, OK, that was just a black man. That's all that was. This guy has admitted to sexually assaulting people and admitted that 'greed is my credo.' It's just not the same damn thing." Uncharted territory She's right. If Obama had said or done half the things Trump has gotten away with, he wouldn't have made it through the primary. No, this is different. It's uncharted territory. And it's clearly unsettling. There's a line somewhere, a place at which Americans would be justified in rejecting the results of a democratic election. Where is that line? Many Americans believe Trump has already crossed it, not just with his rhetoric, but with his actions since November: Maligning everybody from the national intelligence community to a revered civil rights leader. Nominating as attorney general, the nation's chief defender of justice, a man who has called the 1965 Voting Rights Act "intrusive legislation." Even little things send a big message: his first day on the job, the civil rights page was deleted from the White House website. The concerns of the marchers are real, they're valid and they deserve to be heard. The American flag still flies over the courthouse, and I hope it still means what Bruce Springsteen so eloquently sang: That certain things are set in stone Who we are, what we'll do and what we won't For the multitudes who marched across the nation Saturday, and for all of us, it's gonna be a long walk home. The magic of books has returned to Jack Yates High School. The school's once-depleted library shelves are filled with novels, nonfiction, games and gadgets. Students gather to answer questions about books they've read as part of a campus quiz show they invented. It's enough to bring tears to the eyes of Houston school Trustee Jolanda Jones. "Libraries are what kept me sane when I was little," Jones said at the Yates media center rededication last week, her voice cracking with emotion. "I couldn't afford to travel and I couldn't go any place. And I just want for kids to appreciate books like I appreciate books." Thousands of new volumes and learning resources were unveiled Wednesday at three southside schools in some of Houston's poorest neighborhoods, following an uproar from parents last fall about woefully inadequate library collections at Yates, as well as Attucks and Cullen middle schools. The rededications are the beginning of an initiative to rebuild libraries across the Houston Independent School District that were closed or abandoned, many without librarians. At Cullen, rows of the library's dark wood shelves stood bare. Libraries at Attucks and Yates were left with few resources. HISD officials now concede that efforts to cut costs and use "classroom libraries" to increase literacy left many schools without proper resources. "We made a mistake; we forgot some of our schools," said Grenita Lathan, who was promoted to chief academic officer in September under new Superintendent Richard Carranza. "We had many schools that did not have existing libraries or the libraries were shuttered due to budgetary reasons," Lathan said, "so we've made an investment not only into these three schools because we're going to start looking at some of those other schools where the libraries are closed or they don't have librarians." During the rededications last week at the three campuses in her district, Jones recounted the financial struggles of her childhood and how she spent hours as a young girl in the basement of Texas Southern University's library while her mother was in college. The District IV trustee said she traveled to far-away lands through books. Today's students can now access tales of adventure and also expand their skills with science, technology, engineering and math - known as STEM - in library "maker spaces" with circuitry sets and other learning devices. The Yates media center now provides color and 3D printers. But gaps remain. About 32 schools still do not have libraries, according to HISD. The district has 243 "functioning libraries," and 80 schools have certified librarians. Retirees hired At Cullen and Attucks, formerly retired certified librarians have been hired to work part-time. "Principals and campus leaders make many difficult decisions on a daily basis and many factors are considered before making those decisions," an HISD statement said. "Financial challenges have unfortunately entered into the equation requiring the difficult choice between classroom teachers and support staff." The smell of the Cullen library and the sharp edges of the books convey the newness of that collection. Volumes ranging from biographies to comics about black leaders in STEM were donated by the NAACP Houston Chapter and Follett School Solutions, an educational resources vendor. Cullen Librarian Janice Shaw said she'd like more science and math books - and additional shelves for "growth." At Yates, Jones credited Carranza for responding to her outcry about barren school media center shelves. "This district has not been equitable in how it gives out resources," said Jones, who was elected in 2015. "It never occurred to me as a trustee to ask: 'Do you have a library?' because everybody is supposed to have a library." Reward program set Both Jones and Lathan credit activist Gerry Monroe for pressing the district to make library upgrades. "Strategically, we worked together to try and make sure that these libraries were outfitted in a manner that would be sufficient to educating our children," said Monroe, who is executive director of the United Urban Alumni Association and a member of the One Houston, One Hood initiative. "No school should be without a school library. They also got a lot of new technology." Students can benefit in other ways, as well. Jones announced that she would reward the Yates student who reads the most books in the new collection with $500. Monroe and three other community leaders stepped up to match her commitment - collectively providing financial incentives to the five students who engage most extensively with their enhanced library. The trustee also offered monetary awards of $250 each to the top readers at Attucks and Cullen. Yates senior Juan Tumax, one of several dozen students who attended the rededication on his campus, said he had been using the school's online resources because there weren't a lot of offerings in the library. "Every time I would come in here, you could see almost empty book shelves," the 17-year-old said. "Now that there's more books, there's a high probability that more people would want to come here." 'Looks filled with life' Arianna Jenkins, 16, said her favorite books are in the Harry Potter series. She plans to read the entire fiction section. "You could barely find any of the real books you wanted - like the really nice ones," the junior said. "But now we have all of these and it's just really overwhelming. The library used to look so empty - it used to look so barren - but now it looks filled with life." Velda Hunter, the certified librarian at Yates, said she'd like to have more print periodicals, though students have access to magazines and other similar materials online. "When students pick up a book, they're more likely to read in depth than they are when they read online," said Janice Newsum, HISD's manager of library services since December. "We support reading in all formats. We want to encourage students who struggle with reading to read print books so that we can work more deeply with their comprehension." Yates Principal Kenneth Davis emphasized the importance of having books "that you can actually touch and feel" in the age of digital resources. "When you have a power outage and you can't get that iPhone or that iPad to work, the books still work," he said. "Books aren't part of our past they're actually part of our future." After two months on the job, Houston's new police chief had his first meeting with the department's youth advisory council Saturday, part of his effort to meet Houstonians, build trust and advance community-oriented policing. The 50 or so high school students on the youth council - whose 1997 founding makes it the first in the nation, according to the Houston Police Department - discussed sexting, dating violence and human trafficking with Chief Art Acevedo and panelists from the Houston Area Women's Center and United Against Human Trafficking. Acevedo was sworn in on Nov. 30 as Houston's police chief after nearly a decade at the helm of Austin's force. He's started his tenure with a flurry of community meetings, media interviews and public appearances. He also enrolled in HPD's upcoming citizens' police academy. In the social-media-friendly spirit of the new chief - who operates his own Twitter and Instagram accounts - the department broadcast the discussion on Facebook Live. 'Plant seeds of trust' Wearing a casual uniform without a gun on his belt, Acevedo greeted teens as they arrived for the meeting 9 a.m. Saturday, asking their school and grade. He made sure to also inquire about their college plans. Though a native Californian, he was quick to encourage aspiring University of Texas and Texas A&M students to "Hook 'em'" or "Gig 'em," respectively. The council members come from across the city and apply to join the group, motivated by different combinations of civic-mindedness, interest in policing and the need to rack up school-mandated volunteer hours. One student said she joined because she wants to be an FBI agent in the future, but also to fulfill her school's volunteer requirements. During interviews in English and Spanish, the bilingual Acevedo told reporters he hoped to "plant seeds of trust" in young people who can serve as ambassadors for the police in their communities. Perhaps most important, he said, was to gather adults, police officers and experts to "tell them we care." About 20 teens sat around a square of folding tables to discuss sexting and relationship violence. They said sending nude photos has become a social norm at their schools, and many teens, especially girls, are distraught after their pictures get shared. One high school girl said she regularly ignores pictures that male classmates send of their genitals. "Actions have consequences," Acevedo told the teens and the Facebook Live audience. Once you click send, you lose control of images, which can live on forever." Acevedo emphasized that the only people likely to love you forever are family members. He elicited a chuckle around the room when he asked whether high-school relationships were likely to last a lifetime. Girlfriend slapped him One young woman said she imagined adults also did things like sexting when they were younger, but some adults pointed out that cell phone cameras weren't around back then. "We had to draw," Acevedo joked, drawing more laughs. He used humor to smooth over the awkwardness of teenagers talking with adults about anything related to sex. When a student's response showed an in-depth knowledge of laws about sexting, he asked, "Are you a cop?" The teens, chief and experts also talked about legal consequences for minors who take or distribute nude or semi-nude pictures, technically producing child pornography. Acevedo said he thinks lawmakers in recent decades have made overly harsh punishments for youthful indiscretions. "We've kind of criminalized childhood," he said, adding that some Texas legislators like Sen. John Whitmire, a Houston-area Democrat, have sought to address the penalties for infractions by minors. Acevedo shared a story from his own teenage years to illustrate the point that males can also become victims. He said when he was 15, his girlfriend slapped him. He said she had grown up in an abusive household and learned that behavior, but he told her he would end the relationship if she ever hit him again. About six months after the first incident, she raised her hand again. He left. "You don't wait," Acevedo told the teens. "Walk away." With charter-school and private-school-voucher advocate Betsy DeVos set to be confirmed as the new U.S. Education secretary, leaders from at least 25 Houston-area school districts strategized this week on how to better market public schools in the area. The inaugural meeting on Wednesday of Go Public Gulf Coast, an offshoot of an organization formed in San Antonio in 2013 after a privately funded $30-million push to bring in new charter schools, revealed both some shared goals and divides among public school champions. "I don't want to see public schools losing attendance. I don't want to see schools with less money and without enough money to educate their students," said Bob Covey, a Cypress-Fairbanks ISD board member who is leading the Houston-area Go Public effort. "I'd like to see more people out there being very proud of public school education." Fighting the negative At the root of Wednesday's meeting was a question Texas public schools have wrestled with for decades: Should traditional school districts work with charter schools to advance their mutual goals, or should traditional campuses fight against an onslaught of negative publicity themselves? While conservative lawmakers largely have lauded charter schools, complaints about their traditional counterparts have reached a fever pitch in recent years. DeVos, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Department of Education, is among traditional public education's chief critics. The billionaire philanthropist has spent much of her life advocating for the expansion of tax-payer funded vouchers that offest the cost of private school tuition for students from lower-income backgrounds. During a 2015 speech she gave at Austin's SXSW education convention, she said the traditional American public school system, as it exists now, is a "dead end." Focus on the positive Houston-area school district leaders agreed Wednesday that their messages should focus on the positive contributions of public schools, and they debated what role, if any, charter schools should play in their branding. Charter schools are public, tuition-free campuses that are allowed to operate with greater flexibility. Aldine ISD Superintendent Wanda Bamberg, who has pioneered partnerships with YES Prep Charter Schools, asked if charters ought to be included in Go Public Gulf Coast. Cy-Fair ISD Superintendent Mark Henry said that would be a "no-go" for him. "I view this as a universal traditional public school organization," Henry said. "I'm not against public charter school cooperation, but for-profit and even nonprofit charters, I don't think they do anything positive for our school districts." Houston ISD trustee Rhonda Skillern-Jones agreed. She said traditional public schools need to band together and rally their allies as legislators work to dismantle public education funding and confidence in the system. "They are eagle-eye focused in one direction, and that is annihilating public education," Skillern-Jones said. "If we want to make a difference, we need to get our allies together and get moving. Our narrative needs to be written by us and not them." Christine Isett, director of communications for the Texas Charter Schools Association, said charters are public schools and are forced to operate with $1,400 less in funding per student than traditional public schools. "Anything that increases quality of public school options for students, whether traditional or charter, we're for that. If charters create competition and increase performance of school districts, who wins? The kids," Isett said. "This us-vs.-them dialogue is not helpful." But charters do not struggle with the same attacks as traditional public schools, said Losasso Jackson, executive director of Go Public San Antonio. When she joined the organization in August, the most common gripe about public schools she heard was that they are failing kids. "And that is absolutely not the truth," she said. "Public education is not failing our kids, and it's important to highlight all the successes that are happening." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON - A sea of pink descended on the National Mall on Saturday, swamping the inaugural weekend in a drama of dueling crowds that became the focus of President Donald Trump's first day in office. A crowd estimated by District of Columbia officials at a half-million - significantly larger than Trump's inaugural celebration - flooded the nation's capital as a rebuke to an incoming administration few thought would ever come to power. With streets around the White House clogged with protesters drawn to a march billed as the Women's March on Washington, Trump spokesman Sean Spicer called reporters to a briefing room to berate the media for reports of massive protest crowds that he said "minimize the enormous support" Trump received at his inauguration the day before. In fact, side-by-side images showed a significantly smaller crowd on the National Mall on Friday for Trump's ceremony than for the 2009 inauguration of President Barack Obama, which drew an estimated 1.8 million people. Crowd shots of Saturday's protest also showed much larger crowds, compared to the empty ground and thin crowds at Trump's inauguration. Some protesters compared the massive outpouring on the National Mall to a bygone protest movement, moribund in recent times, but one that Trump's surprise election victory might be bringing back to life. It also could be a sign of stiffening resistance to Trump's "Make America Great Again" agenda, which many see as code for weakening the rights of women and minorities. "I am a child of the '70s, and I'm getting a little old for this," said Marcella Alexander Jones, an African-American woman with family roots in Alabama. "Our people suffered tremendously, and now things are going backwards. It's time for young people to get involved." One of those young people was Emily Dame, a college student from Worchester, Mass., who stood on a monument pedestal holding up a sign reading "Freedom cannot rest." "It's not that the left wasn't awake," Dame said of Trump's victory on Nov. 8. "We just underestimated the amount of bigotry in this country." Among the chants heard on the mall: "Hands too small - can't build a wall" seemed to take hold as a feminist anthem designed to poke at the new president's Rat Pack masculine swagger. With downtown streets clogged, police blocked traffic on Pennsylvania Avenue, which had served for the much more lightly attended inaugural parade the day before. Looking at the swarms of demonstrators, Serap Rada, an administrator at the University of Maryland, couldn't help but wonder if many other Trump skeptics didn't vote in November. Rada, holding up a sign that said "Decency," looked around and said, "I have a feeling all these people voted." New protesters, celebrities In a festive display, dense crowds were speckled in pink hats with pointy ears - a stark contrast to Trump's red "Make America Great Again" ball caps. Dubbed "pussycat" hats, the headgear was intended as a pointed reminder of one of the more notorious pronouncements Trump has made about women in the past. The D.C. protest, repeated in cities around the nation, included JoAnn Boone, 61, of San Antonio, who said she never had been in a march before and did not consider herself an activist. "It is absolutely amazing that this is going on around the nation and worldwide. There are several messages we're sending, and one is that the lack of respect toward us is just intolerable," Boone said. The march, originally forecast to be an affair of 200,000, quickly rivaled some of the largest protest marches in the nation's capital. Subways were packed to capacity, with thousand of participants left to walk over Potomac River bridges to reach the city. From the actresses Scarlett Johansson and Ashley Judd to musical performers Madonna and Alicia Keys, it was a celebrity-studded event. The crowds were so thick, organizers had to rethink plans for a formal procession to the White House. "We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war," actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd. "Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack, and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. ... We are America, and we are here to stay." In his inaugural speech Friday, Trump attempted to speak to minority groups, many of whom opposed his candidacy. "Whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots," Trump said. But those words did little to quiet the anger felt by many around the country, who converged on cities including New York, Chicago and Boston. After a long bus trip from Nashville, Tenn., Ron Powers and his 15-year-old daughter, Eden, finally arrived on the Mall Saturday morning. They had heard about the march on Facebook but were surprised by the size of the rapidly growing crowd. "It's amazing for me to see people come together for a common goal," Eden said. "They are passionate and will hopefully put pressure on." The Mall turned into a showcase for signs of all shapes and colors - filled with provocative slogans taking personal aim at Trump. From "We shall over-comb" and "Nasty Woman" to "Free Melania," protesters were not shy. By late afternoon in Washington, the streets around the Mall were still filled with people. The Trump International Hotel on nearby Pennsylvania Avenue erected barricades manned by security guards. Walking up an incline toward the Mall, pushing his walker, was Rich Arenschieldt, a 56-year-old retired writer from Houston. As a gay man who suffers from cerebral palsy, he explained excitedly how he thought it important he was there not "to protest" but to raise awareness. Standing on the street, he recalled the horror he felt during the campaign as Trump mocked a New York Times reporter who is also disabled. "That was the thing that resonated most with me, of all the political rhetoric," he said. There were appearances by famous politicians as well. Speaking at the Boston protest, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Trump's swearing-in was, "burned in my eyes forever." "We will not forget. We do not want to forget. We will use that vision to make sure we fight harder and tougher and more passionately than ever," she said. 'Keep this movement going' For some, the day was especially personal. During the campaign, numerous women came forward reporting they had been sexually harassed and groped by the real estate billionaire - allegations Trump denied. In October, a 2005 videotape surfaced with Trump bragging to television personality Billy Bush about grabbing and forcefully kissing women, saying "when you're a star, they let you do it." For Nia Ledesma, a military veteran from Phoenix who said she had been a victim of rape, Trump's election was particularly disturbing. "As women, we are powerful together," Ledesma said. "We need to keep this movement going." As the afternoon wore on, it became apparent to organizers their protest might be a little too successful. Independence Avenue was so jammed, people were standing shoulder to shoulder, hardly able to move. Getting to the White House to end the march, as originally planed, became impossible for many. Organizers announced a new route they hoped would ease congestion. There was no sign of the riots that erupted in downtown Washington Friday, as black-masked protesters pelted rocks at police with riot gear and set a limousine on fire - all as the inaugural parade made its way up nearby Pennsylvania Avenue. Among the crowds gathered on the Mall Saturday walked families with strollers and the elderly and young alike. As the sun set over Washington, crowds walked off the Mall and through the downtown to return to their hotels and friends' couches. Emmalyn Kayser, 28, of Minneapolis, and her friend sat on a bench, warming themselves under a blanket made special for the protest. "It's not about on a national level whether we sent some sort of message," she said. "We rallied together today for ourselves, to get a springboard of hope." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Rain was pouring down in the pre-dawn darkness, and the wind was picking up as Darryl McMorris ran for his daughters' bedroom. The windows started blowing out as he dove on top of his girls, grabbing one under each arm as he tried to protect them. "As soon as I did that it seemed like we were flying in the air," he said Saturday. Walls collapsed and the house blew apart as his daughters screamed. But he held on tight. When the tornado finished ripping its way through their Hattiesburg home he and the two girls were under a wall. Their house appears to be a total loss, bedding tossed 50 feet into a tree and their oldest daughter asking, "Is God mad at us?" But they're alive. "I don't see how we survived this," his fiancee, Shanise, said. Across the tornado's devastating path, families were taking stock of the damage, hugging friends and neighbors, grieving over the remains of their homes and in many cases mourning those killed. Authorities said four people died when the twister touched down around 3:35 a.m. Saturday. Shannon Hefferan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, says damage reports indicate it touched down in Lamar County before ripping into Forrest County and skirting just south of downtown Hattiesburg - the state's fourth-largest city. The tornado continued across the Leaf River into neighboring Petal. Emergency management officials said the severe weather also damaged Perry and Jones counties. Teams are assessing the damage. They know the tornado was accompanied by a deluge of rain - 3.42 inches over a six- to seven-hour period Saturday morning - Hefferan said. And the bad weather isn't over. The weather service anticipated another round Saturday night. A tornado watch was in effect until 9 p.m. in parts of southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi, warning that hail, gusting winds and tornadoes were possible. Forrest County Coroner Butch Benedict on Saturday afternoon released the names of the dead: Earnest Perkins, 58; Cleveland Madison, 20; David Wayne McCoy, 47 and Simona Cox, 72. Monica McCarty lost her father - Perkins - who died in the same trailer park where she and her boyfriend live and her son - Madison - who was apparently crushed to death while in bed at her mother's house where he lived. Standing amid the tornado's carnage, McCarty wept as her boyfriend, Tackeem Molley, comforted her. "They couldn't get him out of the house. They said he was lying in the bed," McCarty said of her son. The chanting and cheering could be heard Saturday from the White House lawn. And, if one craned their neck over a shrub or two, the protest signs, in pink and yellow and white, could be seen barely a block away from the West Wing driveway - bobbing along with a slow-moving mass of human bodies, encircling 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as close as they could get. But inside the "bubble," as reporters refer to secure perimeter around the president of the United States, the massive women's march on Washington might as well have been in another Zip code. Neither President Donald Trump nor his staff gave any indication they had seen anything. Instead, the president and his aides went about their first full day by getting to know their new workplace and the responsibilities that come with it. Staff members began slowly staking claims to offices. Technicians helped activate phones and computers. Press secretary Sean Spicer huddled with staff behind closed doors that less than two days before had belonged to his predecessor, Josh Earnest. Trump's aides did not appear to venture out for a look at the marchers beyond the gates. The president, meanwhile, busied himself with a mix of tradition - a post-inaugural morning prayer service at Washington National Cathedral - and with business. Trump traveled by motorcade to Langley, Virginia, to meet with CIA leaders and deliver remarks to 400 employees, hoping to ease tensions over Trump's dismissal of the agency's intelligence reports on Russian hacking. Trump also spoke to the leaders of Canada and Mexico, Spicer later told reporters, and agreed to meet with them. Aides also put the finishing touches on Trump's first bilateral summit with British Prime Minister Theresa May at the White House. But Trump and his press team offered no public reaction to the dramatic outpouring of emotion, most of it in protest of the new administration, from the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in Washington's streets and many more across the country. "A fantastic day and evening in Washington D.C.," Trump wrote on Twitter on Saturday morning, referring to his inauguration and the balls that followed on the previous day. "Thank you to @FoxNews and so many other news outlets for the GREAT reviews of the speech!" The first days of any administration are a mix of trying to get up to speed and to hit the ground running in what must be a surreal new environment - thrust into the epicenter of political power, but confined at an artificial remove from the public that you represent. Rarely, however, has an opening day produced this kind of jarring juxtaposition. "Family bowling session at The White House," Donald Trump Jr., who does not have an official role in the administration, tweeted in the morning. He added a video of his wife, Vanessa, knocking down eight out of 10 pins in the White House bowling alley. The video footage appeared to have been shot Friday. But the lighthearted tweet of the Trump family getting comfortable in their new digs was posted as tens of thousands of women in pink p---yhats streamed past the White House toward the Mall for the largest demonstration in Washington in years. Inside the White House grounds, the driveway outside the West Wing was quiet. There was no sign of the Marine sentry who stands at the entrance when the president is working in the Oval Office. Unlike the previous day, when Trump aides Stephen Bannon and Kellyanne Conway toured the press corps workroom, there were no surprise visits from senior officials. A junior aide sat behind a desk just off the press briefing room, giving out White House email domain addresses for communications staff to reporters. Yet beyond the gates, the protest was in full swing, demonstrators moving slowly north on 17th Street NW, then turning east on H Street, before doubling back down 15th - encircling the complex. They could get no closer; Lafayette Square park, across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, remained closed to the public as workers dismantled the massive viewing stand for the inaugural parade. A handful of workers, on their lunch break, watched the protesters stream by as Secret Service members made sure the crowds did not attempt to breach the barriers. The protesters held signs reading, "Keep your small hands off!" and "You messed with the wrong p---y," aimed at Trump's lewd comments about women revealed during the campaign. The new president left the White House complex twice in his motorcade, passing directly by the protesters, some of whom held up their middle fingers toward the caravan. As the day wore on, and reports of the larger-than-expected crowds dominated the news, expectations grew in the White House press briefing room over how the media-obsessed Trump team would react. The White House issued a bulletin announcing that Spicer would make a statement at 4:30 p.m. Reporters gathered - though many of the 49 seats remained empty on a Saturday afternoon. The appointed time came and went. An hour later, reporters were still waiting. Finally, Spicer emerged. But if reporters expected a reaction to the news of the day, they didn't get it. Instead, the White House spokesman opened by attacking the media for "deliberately false reporting" over a mistaken report the day before that Trump had removed a bust of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. from the Oval Office. He moved it to a different part of the room. Spicer also upbraided reporters for their coverage of Trump's inauguration, claiming, as Trump did during his CIA visit, that the media deliberately underestimated the size of the crowd. He accused the media of pursuing "false narratives" about the new president. When he was done, Spicer gave a summary of Trump's day, then turned and left. He did not respond to shouted questions about the marchers still massed on the streets of the nation's capital. (c) 2017, The Washington Post Simply excited Regarding "Trump's time" (Page A14, Friday), Donald J. Trump will turn this country around and make America great again, and he will become the best president we have had in over 75 years. We have needed him for over 12 years, and I for one am excited and ready to see us strong in all areas and wash away the horrible years of Obama. Jerry Hill, Austin Specific roles Regarding "Pomp and protest" (Page A1, Friday), the behavior of 60-some members of Congress refusing to attend the inauguration of the president of the United States reminds me of high schoolers. Or better yet, three-year-old children. President Trump was not my choice, but he will be our president. We must pull together as a country and hope and pray he can "Make the United States Great Again!" Let's hope that the members of Congress begin to understand their roles as representatives of all of us. Carole Wakefield, Houston Business goals Regarding "Top ethics official rips Trump's plan for his businesses" (Page A8, Jan. 12), I find it interesting that there is such strong insistence by many that Donald Trump should sell off all his assets and place the proceeds in a blind trust overseen by an independent manager while serving as president. I don't recall such an outcry and requests for similar action by Michael Bloomberg when he was elected and served three terms as the mayor of New Your City. Bloomberg, with an estimated $40 billion in assets, is one of the world's wealthiest individuals and retained his business interests while serving. The offices of the president of the United States and mayor of New York City are clearly not equivalent positions. However, there are many similarities between the scope and power of the positions which could be viewed as potentially creating a conflict of interest. Michael Bloomberg stepped into public service without having to sell everything. Donald Trump is due equal consideration. Jim Robertson, Houston Just a chance Let's give Trump a chance to be a great president. He has only started to make changes. Wait to see if the changes are good before we criticize. I did not vote for Obama but once he was our president I gave him my support because I love the USA. I wish Hillary Clinton's voters could give Trump a chance. We might have a happy surprise. Patricia Matthews,Sugar Land America-centric I was not a Trump or Clinton fan for the office of president, but Donald Trump is now our president. It is time for all of our citizens to pray for his success as president and commander in chief. It is time for the politicians of all parties to start caring more about our nation than they do about their party affiliation and personal ambitions. If they cannot accomplish this, time for them to step down. It is time for the media of all types to get behind President Trump and try to help him succeed. Every other president has understood the burdens of the office and has helped the incoming president as much as possible and so should all Americans. Ed Bersin, Sugar Land A great country The 45th President of the United States was sworn in Friday and it was dignified, historic and celebratory. I'm proud we showed the rest of the world that peaceful transitions of power have happened in our country for more than 200 years. It was just a patriotic feeling to see this day is bigger than anyone person. Seeing all the past presidents at the event reminds us of how great our country is. Tommye Torian, Houston This week we watched as our new governor delivered his first State of the State address and learned the priorities we have ahead of us this legislative session. One priority of the governor, as well as myself and many in the General Assembly, is making Missouri a Right to Work state. Currently Missouri is 47th in the nation in job growth, development and attracting a workforce. Passage of workers choice legislation would allow businesses the opportunity to create better jobs with growing incomes leading to stronger economic growth. For the past several years, the previous governor vetoed our economic development ideas and legislation, and with the new administration I am optimistic we have the opportunity to make Missouri a pro-worker, pro-business environment. This week Senate Bill 19 was heard in the Senate General Laws Committee. The bill would prohibit employers from requiring their employees or barring their employees from becoming a member of a labor organization or union as a condition of employment. Any person that wants to work in Missouri should not be required to join a union in order to keep or get a job. Several states have passed Right to Work legislation and seen an increase in jobs, union membership and increased wages including Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana. All of the states immediately surrounding Missouri, with the exception of Illinois, have passed Right to Work laws. The 22 states that passed Right to Work laws before 2012 have some of the largest economic growth. Right to Work states had more than 17 percent average growth between 2004 and 2014. During the same time period, states without Right to Work only experienced 11.5 percent growth. Research has shown that the top states for new manufacturing jobs, the states with lower unemployment rates and more private sector job growth are Right to Work states. I believe it is imperative that we pass this legislation. Our state has to become more competitive with the states that surround us. We are losing far too many jobs to other states and we must work to correct this. By becoming a Right to Work state, Missouri will be a better environment for business and for Missourians looking to raise a family and thrive in the Show Me State. I will be voting in favor of this legislation and remain hopeful that we send it to the governors desk during this session. Mike Cunningham is a Republican member of the Missouri State Senate, representing District 33. Contact him at 573-751-1882 or www.senate.mo.gov/cunningham Two residents from Licking were arrested over the weekend on drug charges, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said. James P. Mitchell, 67, is charged with felony possession of a controlled substance except 35 grams or less marijuana methamphetamine, felony possession of a controlled substance except 35 grams or less of marijuana opiates, felony unlawful use of drug paraphernalia and having no license plate lamp. He is held at the Texas County Jail after his arrest Saturday night. Christina M. Banderman, 29, of Licking, felony Dent county warrant on larceny charges and felony possession of a controlled substance except 35 grams or less marijuana methamphetamine. She was arrested Sunday and taken to the Texas County Jail, where is held without bond. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. There were some seriously amazing signs displayed at women's marches in the U.S., Canada and around the world. But leave it to legendary actor Ian McKellen to take the cake. McKellen attended a march in London, carrying a sign that needed no words: Advertisement Yes, that's an image of his BFF Patrick Stewartfacepalming as Captain Jean-Luc Picard from "Star Trek." The image continues to serve as the basis for countless memes that convey complete disbelief with the ridiculousness of someone or something. In note posted to Twitter, McKellen described participants in the march as expressing their reaction to the new U.S. president, "whose name in schoolyard English means to 'break wind' appropriately." The British actor criticized the "charade" and "schtick" by Donald Trump and his billionaire friends: "No doubt his believers will be soon disillusioned. The rest of us cannot let him reign unchallenged. The marches worldwide were a good beginning." The Womens March in London was the longest I have been on. See the rest of my message attached. pic.twitter.com/q7QC4Jvg0S Ian McKellen (@IanMcKellen) January 22, 2017 Advertisement McKellen said that he actually found the facepalm sign in Trafalgar Square at the end of the march. McKellan has played major Shakespearean roles and is better known to contemporary audiences as Gandalf in "Lord of the Rings" and Magneto in "X-Men" franchises. Also on HuffPost Aziz Ansari knew his historic appearance on "Saturday Night Live" would bring a lot of attention including a likely viewer in the new U.S. president. Donald Trump has made a Sunday Twitter ritual out of skewering the show's portrayal of him, which means he must catch at least some segments. Advertisement "Pretty cool to know though he's probably at home watching a brown guy make fun of him, right?" began the comedian, who is the first South Asian to host "SNL." He went on to denounce the new "lowercase kkk movement," highlighting how racist groups have been normalizing hate and discrimination during Trump's rise to power. "I think Trump should make a speech. A real speech denouncing the lower-case kkk," Ansari said. President Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon, used to lead Breitbart News, which he touted as the platform for a new white supremacist movement, the so-called "alt-right." The site refers to transgender people as "trannies," claims that Planned Parenthood has Nazi roots, and says that women shouldn't use the Internet if they don't want to be threatened and harassed. Advertisement Ansari used his time in the spotlight to appeal directly to Trump: "Dont tweet about me being lame or the show. Write a speech. A real speech. Because these people are out there, and its pissing a lot of people off. And I think it could make a difference. Because other presidents have done things like this, and it has helped. Hate crimes and stuff that went down." Ansari used George W. Bush's speech after 9/11 as an example of addresses that could diffuse tense reactions and hate crimes. "Yesterday, Trump was inaugurated. Today, an entire gender protested against him. Wow," Ansari said, referring to the Women's March in Washington, D.C. Estimates suggest that more people attended Saturday's event in the capitol than Trump's inauguration on Friday. "So, look. Were divided," said Ansari. "Its OK ... As long as we treat each other with respect and remember that ultimately were all Americans, well be fine." Advertisement The star of "Master of None" and "Parks and Rec" concluded: "If you're excited about Trump, great. He's president, let's hope he does a great job," Ansari concluded with. "If you're scared about Trump and you're very worried, you're going to be OK, too. Because, if you look at our country's history, change doesn't come from presidents. Change comes from large groups of angry people. And if day one is any indication, you are part of the largest group of angry people I have ever seen. Good luck to you." Also on HuffPost Forest Woodward via Getty Images WaterAid believes women are crucial to driving change across the world and is proud to invest in women's leadership - in the community-based groups where it works and in its offices around the world. Barbara Frost has been WaterAid UK's Chief Executive for 11 years. Today, WaterAid's CEOs in America, Australia, Sweden and Canada, are all female. Here, Barbara gives advice for women and girls to reach their goals. Advertisement During my time with WaterAid, I have been struck by the true grit and determination of women who are leading their communities to a better future through access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene. Women and girls are more likely to be responsible for fetching water and caring for those made sick by poor sanitation and dirty water. They are also made more vulnerable by not having a toilet in or close to their homes. They know only too well that having access to these basic services would ease their domestic burdens, but would also mean a brighter future for their families. I've learnt so much from the women and girls in the many communities across Africa and Asia I've visited during my career - and they provide great inspiration to strive for a better world full of possibilities for everyone, not just a privileged few. With the current feeling of uncertainty about our world, I'd urge the young women and girls of today to keep sight of what they can personally achieve and to have a big vision of what is possible. Staying positive isn't easy, but the key is to have that vision, believe in yourself, trust your instincts and be courageous - weigh up the opportunities and then take some risks. I took a significant risk in my 30s, which proved a pivotal moment for the rest of my working life. I was working in Australia with a comfortable life and a great job, when a friend suggested I apply for the post of Country Director for Oxfam in war torn Mozambique. I applied and was offered the role. Those around me thought I was taking as rather big risk, particularly as I didn't even speak Portuguese. However I wouldn't be where I am today if I had not taken what turned out to be an amazing opportunity. Advertisement For young women setting off in your career, I'd say go with where your heart takes you as you will be far more successful if you love what you are doing. Trust your gut instinct, consider your options, take risks but don't be rash, and above all believe in yourself and be yourself. Don't conform to what you think a leader should be - there is no set style, so lead in your own way. As long as you're confident and working hard, doing the best you possibly can in a job you enjoy, listening to people and being open to ideas, then you will do a great job. Persistent passion for your goals will keep you fired up and focused. It's vital to keep hold of that big vision, optimism and ambition for the world to be a better place, even when times are tough. There are always going to be challenges ahead. The delivery of WaterAid's vision of water and sanitation for all is a staggering task, requiring a huge amount of political will, determination, commitment, and investment. However, during the last decade and my time at WaterAid, huge progress has been made globally. Now, nine out of 10 people have basic access to water and six out of 10 to a toilet. This could not have been achieved without some extraordinarily strong leadership and the work of committed women determined to improve the lives of their countries and communities. The journey to bring change to their community has meant young women all over the world have needed to tackle taboos and traditions with courage. I recently met some amazing adolescent school girls in Pakistan breaking down taboos and helping their peers to manage their periods through ensuring the school had safe private toilets and a supply of sanitary products. In many parts of the world, menstruation is surrounded by myths and taboos, and so talking about the subject, even though it affects half the world's population, takes real courage. Advertisement What inspires me most about these young women is their leadership, and their courage and determination to make change happen, not just for themselves, but for their communities. Freeing women up from the daily grind of fetching heavy loads of water, and dealing with the illness that frequently follows due to it being contaminated, does a huge amount towards gender equality. Lack of a decent toilet can lead to girls dropping out of school and limiting their opportunities to gain a good education and then employment. For those of us living in the developed world, it's important to try and use our influence to help drive change on a bigger scale. We're encouraging governments to make clean water and decent toilets for all a priority i.e. delivering Global Goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals; working with companies as they embed the Sustainable Development Goals in their businesses; partnering with other sectors and not-for-profit organisations to make water, hygiene and toilets a central issue for health, gender equality and livelihoods; and empowering communities with the skills and confidence to manage their facilities and call for their rights. johavel via Getty Images For all the positivity in the aftermath of Saturday's Women's March on London, there was always going to be some negativity. As is to be expected, there have been those who have questioned why an estimated 100,000 people took to the streets of London yesterday to protest the presidency of Donald J Trump. Of all the questions, the one that seems to keep coming up is along the lines of simply 'why bother?' I was one of those 100,000, and here is why I marched: 1.I marched to show solidarity with the people of America who now have a president they didn't vote for, but feel threatened by. Everyone has the right to feel safe; to have access to the healthcare they need; to not be discriminated against. The Women's March on Washington organisers estimated that 3,477,000 marchers in 673 sister marches took to the streets yesterday to show their support. That's 3,477,000 people who showed their support for those who feel threatened by the Trump presidency. Advertisement 2.I marched to show solidarity with women all over the world. To ask why we aren't marching in the Middle East is disingenuous at best and downright ignorant at worst. Of course the struggle of being a woman in the Middle East is incomparable to our experiences and no our western cause is not more important. By complete contrast, yesterday's march was to demonstrate there are no separate causes. Collectively, we will not be free until that luxury is extended to all of us. Just because it isn't happening to us does not mean our work is done. 3.I marched to show consequence. I don't have to and I don't want to give air time to all the horrific things the new president has done; we are all aware of what he has been and is capable of. Over three million people took to the streets to show that this isn't okay; that yes, Mr Trump, you may have won the presidency, but there is no way that you can successfully normalise the rampant sexism, racism and hatred that you so willingly own up to. 4.I marched because the best way to attack a narcissist is to laugh. Yesterday's march on London was a truly British exercise. The marchers and their placards were witty and whilst there are times when it is necessary to be serious, I'm glad yesterday's march wasn't one of them. Whilst placards and signs might seem like preaching to the choir, wit and resilience can often do a job that screaming and shouting just can't. 5.I marched in the hope that we might start going forwards again. The Washington protestors on the Presidential inauguration day have illustrated the difference between helpful and unhelpful protesting. In news broadcasts of the anti-Trump protest a stark contrast quickly became noticeable between the two different types of protestors: those who conveyed their dissatisfaction peacefully, and those who displayed a violent and aggressive form of activism. The aggressive protestors' method, involving vandalising public property and brandishing banners with anger-inducing slogans such as "make racists afraid again", drew attention to the unthought-out nature of their demonstration. These protestors instinctively acted in anger without properly evaluating how their anger could be converted into something more productive. The tone of the slogans that they displayed on their banners could only ultimately hinder their cause. Statements such as those that reduced all Trump voters to the one-worded assumption of "racist" will only serve to finalise the isolation of the unempathetic with the anti-Trump cause, preventing them from attempting to understand the anti-Trump perspective. Furthermore, it has made anti-Trump protestors appear as angry and filled with hostility as the person that they're protesting against - ultimately detracting from the anti-hate-inspired purpose that they were trying to stand for. Violent protestors have also supplied Trump with a plausible reason to denounce the anti-Trump cause in general, he can now label all protestors as criminals with the intent to create havoc and inhibit progress in American governance. Advertisement Examples of helpful protestors, in fact the majority of protestors in Washington, were also given a decent amount of screen-time on the news, although they were unfortunately overshadowed by the more violent practices of the few disruptive demonstrators. A large group of people, protesting in solidarity, demonstrated the power in numbers. They did not vandalise or engage in any aggressive activities, yet they still made their frustration well-known, as it was impossible for news broadcasters to ignore such a substantial crowd at the door of the inauguration. They did not sink down to the level of some hate-spewing individuals who have attended Trump's rallies in the past. Rather, they gained credibility by controlling their anger and channelling it in a healthy way, with the intent of raising awareness of the disapproval that many Americans feel in regard to their new prejudice-inspiring President. They presented banners with messages that, rather than simply unhelpfully promoting resentment towards Trump-supporters, highlighted the injustices that Trump has actively advocated. Examples of slogans that served to this effect included "Americans against xenophobia, hate, sexism" and, simply yet poignantly, "Love Trumps Hate". One of these protestors calmly explained her reasons for her activism in a relatable way to Sky News, voicing her displeasure by the prospect of being governed by a man who has demeaned women in so many ways. She additionally denounced the protestors who were engaging in violent acts, emphasising that they did not represent the vast majority of peaceful demonstrators. The peaceful protestors, although not fighting for the same cause or having experienced the same oppressions, walked in the footsteps of the South Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) when it was led by Martin Luther King, Jr. The SCLC's legacy, illustrating the power of peaceful protesting, could be seen as people united in solidarity against racial, religious and gendered discrimination. The fact that Trump has been allowed to become President, despite spurring prejudice and actively promising to make America a more intolerant nation with the production of literal barriers dividing people from each other, has encouraged a generalised idea of the American people - that they might be as intolerant as the person who they elected. However, the facts show that he was not elected but instead was able to claim the Presidency through a strange system that has overlooked the vote of the majority. The peaceful protestors who voted against Trump exhibited the values that they really stand for during the inauguration, holding up banners stressing what they actively do not support - racism; sexism, homophobia, etc. In this way, they followed the path paved for them by peaceful protestors in the past, whose non-violent activism has genuinely brought about change and has helped to combat injustices against the American people. Advertisement Photo by Gaz De Vere. All Rights Reserved On Saturday, I watched the live stream of the Women's March on Washington. It moved me to tears. Particularly Ashley Judd's rousing reading of a poem written by Nina Donovan, a 19-year-old woman from Tennessee. She was literally making truth great again. I found the solidarity, bravery and the uprising of love overwhelming, mainly because I was brought up by a loving and uncompromising feminist lesbian mother - Polly Perkins - a woman who fought for equality at the forefront of this movement in the 60s and 70s. Advertisement I was born and raised feminist by default. I thought that was the norm. I never knew any different. But I won't take my background for granted. My mother and her generation believed in effecting change in the world through protest and conscientious objection to injustice and inequality. We live in an age where mobile phones can pick you up, take you to a restaurant, buy you dinner and play your favourite music, and yet, online misogyny is a 'thing'. A thing that runs into hundreds of thousands of aggressive messages sent to women every day across social media all over the world. The march also moved me deeply because, as I looked into the crowd of fearless women, every so often you could see a man - a husband, a father, a son... Every so often. As with any valuable cause, it is perception that carries the key to change. Yesterday, millions of women were changing the perception of those who might think it is not important enough to warrant three million people marching across the world. Advertisement This perception must be changed. It has to be changed. Once and for all. And to change it, MORE MEN need to speak out in support of the women who are leading the fight. Gay rights are taken more seriously when straight people support those rights. And so it shall be if men start to speak up and out for women's rights. This is not just a women's issue, it's a human rights issue.. and half of the humans on this planet are still being treated as second class citizens in many corners of the earth. Some men can sometimes feel intimidated by groups of women coming together and expressing themselves perfectly to the rest of the world with total independence. This male insecurity has to be addressed and stopped. It is counter productive. Men and women must support one another. What we share is more powerful than what divides us. I've seen a lot of posts from women yesterday about the marches. But not a lot of posts or comments from men. Advertisement Sorry if this has offended anyone but I wouldn't be my mother's son if I kept my mouth shut about this. This is obviously not directed to those men who have shown solidarity. The idea that a woman needs to be 'liberated' is archaic by today's standards, and yet my mother's album cover from 1973 is as poignant now as it was then. And as she did then, we all must promote awareness about the issue. The politics of fear that has been thrust upon so many people in the world at this time means our silence can only be a crime against our own humanity, our own progress, our own evolution. And given the continuing struggle for women's equality, it is time that more men become both vocal and pro-active. Perhaps then, this century may start to look different to the last century. For all the right reasons. Let us all be agents of change in whatever way we can. This is the time. I am He For She. Join us. Four Disturbing clues that we now have a Russian patsy in the White House and one scary conclusion. by Dimitri Ehrlich 1. As my 86 year-old mother pointed out, why did Trump--an incurious bastard with little to zero knowledge or interest in global affairs--suddenly start saying last spring that we should get rid of NATO? That would obviously be at the top of Putin's wishlist. 2. On the campaign trail, Trump said if he were president Russia would not invade the Crimea. When told that that had already happened, and America had put sanctions in place, Trump floated the idea (back in July 2016) that we should lift those sanctions. Again, obviously the lifting of sanctions would be one of Putin's priorities as the sanctions are hurting his economy. 3. The third clue comes not from Trump's actions but Putin's glaringly mysterious inaction: after Obama kicked out dozens of Russian ambassadors in December, everyone expected Putin to respond in kind. Oddly, he didn't. That's not like him. Could it be because he knew that he would soon have a man he could control in the White House? Putin is a former KGB officer. Blackmail is a classic KGB method to control political opponents. In Soviet times, they had an entire department whose aim was to gather compromising material. Advertisement 4. Why did Trump choose Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State? Tillerson is a good friend of Putin and as head of Exxon Mobil, a key player in Putin's strategic agenda to gain control of natural resources--money from which shores up his political power. Let's assume for a moment that Trump has extensive business dealings and debt in Russia. We don't know yet since he hasn't released his taxes. We can also reasonably speculate that the Russians have security footage of Trump in at least one Moscow hotel room with prostitutes. He was traveling to Russia long before he considered running for office and clearly doesn't think very far ahead. He has bragged about cheating on his wives and it's easy to imagine he could have been set up with a gift of sex workers or strippers being sent to his room. The problem is this: clearly, Trump is willing to do anything to avoid public humiliation. But what if John McCain, Lindsey Graham and other traditional staunchly anti Russian senators in the GOP stymie Trump in his efforts to do Putin's bidding? If he is unable to keep up his end of the agreement with Putin, could Trump be forced into a situation where war and even a nuclear option becomes his only way to avoid being exposed? Would this narcissistic buffoon rather kill us all than be publicly shamed and impeached? Advertisement Insurance is a complicated business; it sells protection so one could hedge against potential losses in the future. Insurance companies don't deny reality. They base their product on detailed programs and actuarial tables in order to assess the risks of future activities. Donald Trump's inaugural address was also based on protection but unlike the insurance industry, Trump was telling the American people that he could protect them from the future itself. By repudiating globalization in his speech and then in eliminating the White House postings on global warming, Trump was more in tuned to the counter reformation of 15th and 16th century Europe than America in 2017; denying what is clearly evident. In its worldview his speech was not so dissimilar to view of the court that in 1663 found the Astronomer Galileo guilty for saying the earth turns around the sun. At his conviction, Galileo was reported to say, "But it still turns," and so it is with globalization, technology and global warming. Politics is the art of perception. Ed Koch, the late mayor of New York, once recalled, while campaigning on the Coney Island Boardwalk in Brooklyn, an elderly woman who approached him and implored that he "make it like it was." America today is richer than it has ever been and is in the healthiest condition of any major global economy, yet many Americans don't see it that way. Like Ed Koch's elderly constituent, they want it to be like it used to be. And globalization gets caught up in that "used to be." Global economic growth is counterintuitive--people view global economics as a zero-sum game. If another country has grown wealthier, then it stands to reason that your country is now poorer. Advertisement The facts, however, tell another story. China has become significantly wealthier over the past forty years, as we all know, but so has the United States. In 1980, the United States had a gross domestic product of $2.8 trillion, while China's was only $302 billion. By 2014 the US economy had grown to $17.348 trillion, and the Chinese economy grew to $10.430 trillion. The US economy, as we can see, more than doubled during that period. Of course, China's rate of growth during the same time was much higher, but they had much more room to grow. China needed to build steel mills and highways, and to electrify their rural areas. The United States did all that a long time ago. The point is that the United States did not get poorer as China grew--quite the opposite. Compounding the illusion that global growth is a zero-sum game is the reality that some people have lost their jobs to globalization. But the operative word here is some. In the political game of perception, Donald Trump has managed, with his attacks on China, Japan, and Mexico, to make globalization the simplistic scapegoat for most of the job losses in American manufacturing. However, as reported by Bloomberg two years ago, this was not the case then, nor is it the case now. "The U.S. had become the second-most-competitive manufacturing location among the 25 largest manufacturing exporters worldwide. While that news is welcome, most of the lost U.S. manufacturing jobs in recent decades aren't coming back. In 1970, more than a quarter of U.S. employees worked in manufacturing. By 2010, only one in 10 did. "The growth in imports from China had a role in that decline -- contributing, perhaps to as much as one-quarter of the employment drop-off from 1991 to 2007, according to an analysis by David Autor and his colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But the U.S. jobs slide began well before China's rise as a manufacturing power. And manufacturing employment is falling almost everywhere, including in China. The phenomenon is driven by technology." Advertisement Take for example all the people that used to make cameras and film in upstate New York; does anyone buy a Brownie camera or film anymore? Or look at companies that used to print newspapers and books that are now facing severe competition from e-readers. And then there is the US automobile industry. In 2015 the United States manufactured 12,000,000 vehicles, double the quantity of the early 1950s, when there were no imports. Yet those 2015 production numbers were achieved with the same number of workers as in 1953, approximately 900,000. A key difference appears to be automation. In 2014, 58 percent of all industrial robots ordered in North America went to the automobile industry. Rapidly declining employment in the coal industry is another example where technological change is the main factor, while climate change and now even China are being blamed. In a masterful but irrational readjustment of facts, Donald Trump once tweeted, "The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive." The decline in employment in the coal industry is partly due to climate change, but the main culprit is innovation in energy production. Due to innovations in fracking, natural gas is not only now much more competitive for use as an energy source in manufacturing, it is also cleaner. Coal, like Kodak's old Brownie camera, is being innovated out of business. In 1960, Harvard professor Theodore Levitt wrote an essay in Harvard Business Review titled "Marketing Myopia." In the essay, Levitt refers to the destruction of buggy whip industries due to the advent of the automobile. This analogy has now entered the economic lexicon. Although Professor Levitt's point was that if the buggy whip industry was attuned to their market they would have understood and re-adjusted to change, in terms of the employees there was a benefit in that change that does not exist today. The buggy whip employees found better jobs relatively easily in the rapidly growing automobile industry. The same could be said throughout that period in American history, when millions left the farm for the cities because they were able to find better jobs in various forms of manufacturing with relative ease. Change was not frightening then, because new industrial jobs replaced the old occupations. The difference today isn't globalization alone; it is that change for many people looks frightening and not positive. In the age of human capital, industrialized economies--whether it's in the United States, Germany, Japan, or China--will rely less and less on manufacturing. The agility needed to go from factory work to the gig economy, or tech, or entrepreneurialism, or services, is much greater than it was to go from the buggy whip factory to the automobile factory. And instead of leading by proposing realistic ideas on how the government can help with that change, Trump is selling false protection, insurance against the fear of change. "I'm sorry but that mail box is full." That's what you get when you call the Washington DC line of U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO), even though a recorded voice, apparently Gardner's, tells you, "Please leave a message." Gardner's voicemail box has been full for days as citizens have focused on stopping the lawmaker from voting to repeal Obamacare. Citizens have also been trying to find out what his replacement plan is, if any. Advertisement The line of U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Aurora) has also been full, sending callers to a recording stating, "Honorable Coffman main line is not available. This mailbox is full." U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet's (D-CO) office was accepting messages from citizens today, as was U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette's (D-CO) line. Protesters, concerned about health care, rallied at the Women's March in Denver yesterday and at a Jan. 10 rally in front of Gardner's office on 17th Avenue in downtown Denver. In an age of rising populism, fear and xenophobia, what better time to read a rich enlightening book on love, multiculturalism, inspiration and beauty chronicling the life and work of a man who transcends borders and generations. I believe you can say to the founders of this great nation. "Here I am. A youth. A young tree. Whose roots were plucked from the hills of Lebanon. Yet I am deeply rooted here. And I would be fruitful. Gibran's message to young Americans of Syrian origin (Abu-Fadil) Those timeless words are part of a message penned by Kahlil Gibran (a/k/a Gibran Khalil Gibran) to young Americans of Syrian origin in the inaugural issue of the publication The Syrian World in 1926 and couldn't ring truer almost a century later. Advertisement He was a Renaissance man who straddled cultures, lived on several continents, expressed himself in writing (in Arabic and English), illustrated his feelings in art, and became an international celebrity, but whose heart and soul belonged to his Lebanese mountain perch of Bsharri. Sketchbook self-portrait of Kahlil Gibran herding sheep in Lebanon, late 1890s (Courtesy Museo Soumaya, Fundacion Carlos Slim, Mexico City) Kahlil Gibran: Beyond Borders is a must-read for anyone who delighted in The Prophet, contemplated The Madman, was transported by The Broken Wings, haunted by Jesus, The Son of Man, and mesmerized by a copious portfolio of art. Pages from Kahlil's notebook for "The Prophet" around 1920 (Courtesy Museo Soumaya) "Dear Blanche...I was born...on the sixth day of January in the year 1883...birth, like death is a myth. Yet we are strangely held by myths, even as we are held by words and symbols," he told editor Blanche Knopf of the publishing house by that name. Advertisement The 21-chapter, 524-page tome published by Interlink Books is an amazing meal of mezze (nibbling dishes), main courses and desserts served with a generous dose of requisite arak (the anise and grape drink of his native land) to wash down all the delectable ingredients. Beyond Borders Cover (Courtesy Museo Soumaya) The authors Kahlil G. Gibran, Gibran's late cousin, and wife Jean, provide readers with a wealth of information, archival photos, drawings, sketches, paintings, newspaper clippings, copies of publications, notes, references to heritage and immigration, and a fulsome bibliography that would please researchers, scholars, and just plain fans who know of the man's words from books, quotations, and greeting cards. Bsharri's Cedars of Lebanon (Abu-Fadil) From a village atop the Qadisha Valley where Gibran was born, to his father's arrest on embezzlement charges when he was eight, to his mother's decision to pack up her children and head for America, to the evolution of his talents and renown, it's a story worthy of an epic Hollywood movie. Although Gibran received no formal education as a child, he was tutored in Bsharri, a Maronite Christian village. In the new world he learned English, his second literary language, that eventually opened up vistas in Boston and New York, and acquired some French as he managed in Paris and interacted in a borderless world. Advertisement Yet unless the exchange be in love and kindly justice, it will lead some to greed and others to hunger. It was a struggle adapting to a different culture from his "Oriental" background in today's Lebanon, which was part of greater Syria and under the Ottoman Empire. His inner turbulence and inquisitive mind also put him at odds with religious leaders who questioned his faith. The last portrait of the Gibran family together before their departure to America in the spring of 1895 (Courtesy Museo Soumaya) Gibran's work and travels put him in contact with French artist Auguste Rodin, the father of artistic photography Fred Holland Day, Lebanese-American writers Mikhail Naimy and Amin Rihani, and psychologist Carl Jung, to name a few. His books, articles and musings were published in the immigrant press of the United States as well as by American publishers, and, in the Arab world, including by "Dar Al Hilal" in Egypt, founded by another famous Lebanese writer Jurji Zaidan. Advertisement Gibran's "Rebellious Spirits" published by Dar Al Hilal in Egypt in 1922 (Abu-Fadil) The women in his life - mother Kamila, sisters Sultana and Marianna, friends Mary Haskell, Josephine Peabody, Emilie Michel, Gertrude Barrie, author May Ziade and others - left an indelible mark, as did male mentors and colleagues who channeled his talents and became part of a rich artistic and literary circle. Ages of Women, oil on canvas 1910 (Courtesy Museo Soumaya) Gibran's correspondence is another treasure trove recorded in the book and sheds light on his struggles, triumphs, setbacks, and determination to produce. ...Last night I dreamt of Him who gave the Kingdom of heaven to man...if I could only tell you of the sad joy in His Eyes...I sat near Him and talked to Him as if I had always lived with Him. The hunger of my heart today is greater and deeper than all days...My soul is thirsty for that which is...beautiful. And yet I cannot write nor draw nor read. I can only sit alone in silence... Mar Sarkis Monastery is home to the Gibran Museum and is his resting place (Abu-Fadil) In an unprecedented move, a 23 member bi-partisan group of senior former US officials signed a critical letter and delivered it to President Donald Trump. The letter suggested new policy options regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran and the need for the US to open up a meaningful channel of communication with the Iranian opposition, namely the coalition, National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). This is something that has never been done under any other administration. The letter is signed by senior former US officials including Rudy Giuliani, Joseph Lieberman, Patrick Kennedy, General Hugh Shelton (a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Bill Clinton) to name a few. It explains that revised policies toward Iran are needed because Iran has used every opportunity since its establishment to scuttle US foreign policy objectives and damage US national, geopolitical, economic and strategic interests with the assistance of its proxies. More importantly, the officials urge Trump to cooperate with Iran's opposition, as other countries are doing the same "Bush publicly credited the resistance [NCRI]. It is time to end the fundamentalist regime's undue influence over US policy and establish a channel of dialogue with the NCRI, as many other governments have done, consistent with the longstanding US diplomatic practice of dialogue with political opposition groups worldwide." For Iranian leaders, the NCRI is a serious threat to their hold on power. They fear foreign governments' cooperation with the NCRI because it would put significant pressure on the ruling clerics and tip the balance of power against them. Iranian leaders fear that Iranian opposition might inspire the disaffected youth in Iran to protest against the government. Khamenei has repeatedly shown that his main concern is such infiltrations. Advertisement Iranian leaders fear the soft power of oppositional groups more than the military and hard power of foreign governments. More fundamentally, an Iran without the current ruling clerics in power would be a powerful US ally, rather than being an enemy sworn to consistently strive to damage US security and national interests. An Iran without the ruling clerics in power would fundamentally shift the regional and global balance of power in favor of the US. _____________________ For more details and nuances, you can read full version on Here. You can sign up for Dr. Rafizadeh's newsletter for the latest news and analyses on Here. Harvard-educated, Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is an American political scientist, president of the International American Council on the Middle East, business advisor, and best-selling author. He serves on the advisory board of Harvard International Review. Dr. Rafizadeh is frequently invited to brief governmental and non-governmental organizations as well as speak, as a featured speaker, at security, business, diplomatic, and social events. He has been recipient of several fellowships and scholarships including from Oxford University, Annenberg, University of California Santa Barbara, Fulbright program, to name few He is regularly quoted and invited to speak on national and international outlets including CNN, BBC World TV and Radio, ABC, Aljazeera English, Fox News, CTV, RT, CCTV America, Skynews, CTV, and France 24 International, to name a few. . He analyses have appeared on academic and non-academic publications including New York Times International, Los Angeles Times, CNN, Farred zakaria GPS, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, The Nation, The National. Aljazeera, The Daily Beast, The Nation, Jerusalem Post, The Economic Times, USA Today Yale Journal of International Affairs, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, and Harvard International Review. He is a board member of several significant and influential international and governmental institutions, and he is native speaker of couple of languages including Persian, English, and Arabic. He also speaks Dari, and can converse in French, Hebrew. More at Harvard. Advertisement You can also order his books on HERE. You can learn more about Dr. Rafizadeh on HERE. Many were stunned when Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Editor-in-Chief Gerard Baker said his newspaper would not refer to false statements from the Trump administration as "lies," because doing so would ascribe a "moral intent" to the statements. Baker appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" (January 1, 2017) where he described some of President-elect Donald Trump's falsehoods as "questionable" and "challengeable." He went on to say "reporters should state the facts, but leave classifying them to readers, citing the example of Trump's claim that thousands of Muslims in New Jersey were celebrating on 9/11" (which is false). "I think it's then up to the reader to make up their own mind to say, 'This is what Donald Trump says. This is what a reliable, trustworthy news organization reports. And you know what? I don't think that's true." Now Trump Senior Advisor and master obfuscator, Kellyanne Conway, has given Baker a term to use for Trump's lies. The WSJ can now refer to Trump lies as "alternative facts". Advertisement Today on "Meet the Press," Todd questioned Conway about "why the White House new Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, in his first press briefing doubled down on Trump's earlier claim that the audience for the Trump inauguration "was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period." After ducking and weaving in a manner that would have done Mohammed Ali proud, Conway finally responded to Todd, "You're saying it's a falsehood. Sean Spicer, our press secretary gave alternative facts." After seeing the video of Conway talking about alternative facts Washington Post reporter Aaron Blake wrote "If there is one video clip that describes the new reality for the political media -- and for the truth -- during the President Trump era, it is this one." Americans and the rest of the world will have to learn to deal with this if we are to truly understand and work to stop the negative things we anticipate from the Trump Administration. Saturday's Women's March on Washington and the sister marches around the United States and the world are a beginning. But marching is only step one. Everyone must take the energy created by these marches home to their communities and put it to work. We need to act beginning today. Call your congressman and let them know your thoughts on Trump's cabinet nominees. Make a daily call to your legislators national, state and local, and tell them what you want them to do; they work for you. Support candidates or run yourself for everything from school board, to city council, to state legislature, to Congress. Your voice can and must be heard. I am a Democrat and my activism will be with the Democratic Party. If we join together we will be successful and rebuild the Democratic Party at the national level and in each state. We will build a cadre of volunteers in each precinct and District and make sure we communicate with the people living there every day, not just around elections. Advertisement The Democratic Party is a big tent and we don't need to tear it down to succeed; we need to make it stronger. Let's not forget 66 million people voted for our Party. Our goal must be to expand on the policies those voters supported and ensure everyone understands our aim is both equality and economic opportunity for all. We need to effectively communicate with each and every person and listen to them. If a policy needs tweaking, or if we need to look at something new, we need to be willing to do that. The ideas will come from the ground up not the top down. Our goal should be by the 2018 mid-term elections we will have added ten million more people to those already voting with us. Trump may help if he tries to eliminate health insurance for millions or privatizes programs like Medicare and social security. But we can't count on that. We have to talk about our own programs and share them with people in language they understand explaining how they impact them and their families in a positive way. We can do that. For leadership of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) I support Tom Perez, former Secretary of Labor, for Chair, and Adam Parkhomenko for Vice-chair. I do so because they have the skills and experience which will best help us do what we need; that isn't building a massive new national structure but rather building a strong Democratic Party in every state and territory. They understand the technology we need and how to share it with each state and local district. They understand how to recruit and motivate the army of volunteers we will need around the country to take our government back. There is a clear divergence in the attitudes of the nominees to key posts in Trump's administration over Russia, especially in Syria. For his part, the presumed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has refused to blame Russia for war crimes in Syria. By contrast, the nominee for the post of US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, has proclaimed that Russia's actions in Syria, such as the bombing of hospitals, are war crimes, saying the United States cannot trust Russia. But they have both stated that reducing sanctions on Moscow must be linked to proving its good intentions in its bilateral and international engagements. Russia, in other words, is not sailing smoothly to the heart of the new administration. Many storms await it on its journey, despite the fact that it may have become the new favorite partner for the US under the new president, Donald Trump. The first stop of confusion for Russia looms from Astana, to which it has taken its field understandings with Turkey to develop alternative political solutions to the ones drafted by the UN in the Geneva Communique and subsequent resolutions, and a transitional political process in Syria that would keep the fate of Bashar al-Assad in the negotiations' schedule. Moscow's strength could turn out to be its weakness, exactly like Turkey's emerging strength could prove to be a thorn in its side. The weakest party in the equation today are Europe and the Gulf countries. Both had delegated to the 'guarantor duo' the task of succeeding - or failing - in Astana. Iran, too, is not in a reassuring position like the one it had become accustomed to under Barack Obama. Nor is it in full strategic agreement with Russia, because of differing priorities in Syria. Tehran is increasingly restless because members of the Trump administration seem bent on putting its nuclear and regional activities under a microscope. Iran is also aware of Europe's - particularly Britain's - bid to hold it accountable for violations in Syria and Yemen, and challenge its policy of spawning militias and paramilitaries to rival regular armies in the Arab countries, in line with the Revolutionary Guards model in Iran itself. All this places a stick in the Russian-Iranian-Turkish wheel at this stage. Moscow has decided to convene the Syria talks in Astana, Kazakhstan on a date that falls only three days after Trump is inaugurated and his cabinet nominees are confirmed by Congress, together with Turkey. The move aims to take the Syrian issue out of the Security Council and the UN as a whole. European diplomacy has decided to give Moscow the chance - to succeed or fail - and defined success as being the revival of negotiations on the basis of the Geneva Communique and the return to the UN. The Europeans consider anything to come out of Astana, in terms of taking the Syrian issue out of the UN, a failure. However, they have not yet pursued a strategy to thwart the Russian-Turkish bid and have not developed an alternative strategy. Like the Gulf countries, the European powers have decided to just wait and see. Advertisement What is interesting in the European attitudes, however, is that they are prepared to have a presence and a role in Astana via Turkey, the NATO member state. According to one Western diplomat, "we are closely engaged through Turkey in Astana, to define what should be and what should not be the outcome as well as redlines. We and Turkey are very close allies." In this diplomat's view, leading the Astana process is a right earned by Russia and Turkey, as a result of their involvement on the ground in Syria. They have the right to shape the future in Syria, because they invested "more than we have invested" in Syria, he added. This structural weakness in European attitudes on Syria has also led to a decline in the process of accountability led by Britain and France at the Security Council through a draft resolution on the use of chemical weapons by the regime in Syria. The two countries worked on having a resolution passed late last year, then decided to put their efforts on hold under various justifications, including: the new membership of the Security Council this year; the new administration in Washington D.C.; and fears of a Russian veto. However, according to claims from European diplomats, the issue remains crucial and they will not abandon it given that it is related to the use of prohibited weapons. But in reality, the issue is one way to influence or confront Russia, as it hijacks the Syrian issue out of the Security Council for its own purposes. Advertisement The European countries at the Security Council have only just awoken to Iran's role in Syria and its regional ambitions. But like Washington, they had turned a blind eye to all this, and ignored the regional repercussions of their nuclear deal and detente with Iran. Indeed, the Western powers were fully aware of what it meant to not only separate Iran's regional dominance projects from its nuclear ambitions, but also to agree to suspend UN Security Council resolutions that had banned Tehran from exporting weapons and spawning militias, and intervene militarily abroad, to make happen the nuclear deal. Thus, the Western powers allowed Iran to intervene militarily in Syria before and after the nuclear deal, in preservation thereof. Today, Western diplomats are protesting the same Iranian actions they had consented to silently if not legitimized in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and Lebanon. Some claim they have done what they can but the Russian influence on Iran is stronger than Europe's, and that the divergence in Russian-Iranian stances on withdrawing all foreign forces from Syria places Russia in a position of much-needed influence to pressure Iran to withdraw its militias from Syria. The British ambassador to the UN, Mathew Rycroft, said during a Security Council session on Iranian violations of UN resolutions: ""Away from the nuclear file, Iran continues to play a destabilizing role in the region. This is most clearly seen in Syria ... Iran continues to provide substantial military and financial support to Hezbollah and the Syrian regime." Other European diplomats reiterated this, and spoke about Iran's violations and continued attempts to send weapons to Hezbollah and Yemen. According to a high-level European diplomat, the Trump administration will be very interesting in deepening the contradictions between Russia and Iran, especially with regard to the Syrian crisis. He added that the nuclear deal binds Iran, in an unwritten manner, to act as a responsible state in the region. This, he continued, must be reflected in Iran's actions in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon, "which we have not yet seen materialize on the ground." The diplomat stressed his country's stance was very serious in terms of pressuring Iran to abide by its regional commitments. The European countries are today in a position of weakness and confusion. They have drawn some boldness from the new US administration, to stand up to Iran, albeit timidly. They have delegated to a weakened Turkey the task of representing them in Astana with Russia. Their positions resemble those of the Gulf states, in terms of the absence of a preemptive strategy. Other shared traits include relying on Turkey, despite all the reservations on its about-faces and negotiating tactics, as well as their wait-and-see attitude vis-a-vis the incoming US administration despite the divergences of the attitudes of President Trump, his cabinet nominees, and his UN envoy nominee. Advertisement The new Washington under Trump remains a mystery. The world is trying to demystify what is happening. Meanwhile, the project for American-Russian detente is subject to the political realism and the requirements of the competition between the two powers' interests. This week will be a week of celebrations and practical transition, from a president-elect known for his one-upmanship and combativeness and nominees waiting for Congressional confirmation, to an actual president and cabinet members in their posts. Syria will not be at the top of the new president's priorities, except from the Russian gateway. Repealing the nuclear deal with Iran will not be among the measures expected against Tehran, but Iran will come under a nuclear and regional microscope, and this is new for sure. This much has been confirmed by British officials, who are close to Washington. However, this is also subject to what will be agreed between the US and Russia, especially in terms of Iran's regional entanglements. Not long ago, Washington sacrificed the regional dimension of Tehran's schemes for the sake of the nuclear deal. Today, Iran's infiltration of the Arab countries is being closely monitored. This could become the focus of a new political confrontation, but unlikely to become grounds for a military one. Indeed, no one has mentioned using any sharp instruments against Iran to force it to roll back its project. What is being touted instead is a bid to reign in Iran, without fearing repercussions for the nuclear deal. What is new here is that former President Barack Obama has taken with him his fixation with safeguarding the deal and detente with Iran, while the new president is unpacking new baggage that is untainted by this fixation. The European diplomats are talking again about an issue that Trump had suggested he had no interest in, namely, the fate of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. The divergence between what many had deemed to be a platitude in terms of the upcoming close relationship between Trump and Putin, and signs of a firmer US attitude on Iran especially in Syria, has reignited talk about the fate of Assad, replacing the default position held by some that Assad will remain in power with international consent for an indefinite period of time. One of those diplomats suggested the war is not over yet, and that Assad cannot be part of Syria's future. He said that currently, talk revolves around how and when Assad must leave, whether in a way that would render him a figurehead or whether he would be replaced through elections, in accordance with the international position regarding transition in Syria. The Western diplomat stressed that Assad is taking part in the conversation about his own fate, but not in the negotiations yet. Advertisement This may well be European wishful thinking or an attempt to head off a deal between Trump and Putin that would discard Geneva's principles and the transitional political process agreed earlier for Syria. Either way, the fate of Assad is back as part of the equation when not long ago, some had deemed the issue over and done with. All assumptions and speculations about US policies under Trump should be subjected to the calculations of political realism, geopolitics, and US interests decided by the US establishment rather than the administration. Of course, every US president has the ability to influence the course of the US and the world. But the US remains a superpower that no one individual, no matter how much attention he has captured or how unique he or she is, can control alone. It is a democratic state of institutions, accountability, and transparency, when needed. The honeymoon will not last long. This week, Donald Trump begins a difficult journey with America, which expects its president to show wisdom and shrewdness. Otherwise, he will not be above being held to account. Now that millions have flooded streets across the world to send a message to Mr. Trump, it's time to act on that message. To do so, here's a quick course in "Stop Trump Civics" . . . Lesson #1: "The 'Magic Numbers' of Democracy" "Democracy" is a mathematical concept and everything in it is nothing more than a number. And the numbers to make a difference are shockingly small and surprisingly achievable. So, here are some super simple numbers for those who dream of making a difference. 285The "Magic Number" to "Repeal and Replace" Donald Trump. It takes 218 Members of The House of Representatives to impeach Donald Trump and 67 Members of The United States Senate to convict. Reach 285 and Donald Trump is no longer President. 43The "Magic Number" of Republicans to vote to impeach and convict Donald Trump if all 242 Democrats vote to do so. Advertisement There are 194 Democrats in The House. If 24 Republicans join with them, Donald Trump will be impeached.There are 48 Democrats in The Senate. If 19 Republican Senators join with them, Donald Trump is convicted and instantly removed from office. 41 The "Magic Number" to Stop Almost Any Piece of Legislation Donald Trump (or Mike Pence) May Propose. If Democrats filibuster any piece of legislation in The Senate (even if it passes The House) and 41 of the 48 Democrats (or any combination of 41 Democratic and Republican Senators) vote to continue the filibuster by voting against something called "cloture", then the bill does not get voted on and dies immediately. 41 The "Magic Number" to Stop Any Supreme Court Nominee Donald Trump (or Mike Pence) May Choose. If Democrats filibuster any Supreme Court nominee in The Senate and 41 of the 48 Democrats (or any combination of 41 Democratic and Republican Senators) vote to continue the filibuster by voting against something called "cloture", then the nominee does not get voted on and his nomination dies immediately. Advertisement 24The "Magic Number" of additional Democrats to take control of The United States House of Representatives in the November 6, 2018 Election There are 194 Democrats in The House of Representatives. If 24 more are elected then Democrats would have a 218 vote majority and would take control of The House, would appoint a Speaker of The House and would control all committees and sub-committees. 3The "Magic Number" of additional Democrats to take control of The United States Senate in the November 6, 2018 Election There are 48 Democrats in The Senate. If 3 more are elected then Democrats would have a 51 -49 vote majority and would take control of The Senate, would appoint a Majority Leader and would control all committees and sub-committees. Further, Democrats would have virtually total control over whether and when to bring Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominees and any pieces of legislation up for a vote. 9The "Magic Number" to Invoke The 25th Amendment and Temporarily Remove Donald Trump from The Presidency Advertisement If The Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet (8 of the 15) declare that Donald Trump is "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office" he will immediately be relieved of his duties and The Vice-President shall serve as "Acting President". 357The "Magic Number" to Invoke The 25th Amendment and Permanently Remove Donald Trump from The Presidency If Donald Trump objects to the temporary removal it then takes a 2/3 majority of both houses of Congress to remove him permanently - 290 in The House and 67 in The Senate. Democracy is just numbers. Crowdsource these numbers and you change America, even (and especially) in "The Age of Trump"! Richard Greene is a former Fellow at The Constitutional Rights Foundation, attorney, political talk show host, Founder of the civic engagement campaign, www.279forChange.us and a political communication strategist who advises political leaders around the world. It's the last day of principal photography on Transformers 2. We're in Al-Salt, a hilly area about half an hour outside of Amman. Formerly the capital of Jordan, Al-Salt has streets lined with shops of all kinds, from which rise winding roads reaching into hills dense with apartments weathered by time, with character and teeming with life. As I walk up the sidewalk from our basecamp, groups of beautiful children, some barefoot, tag along, shouting greetings and questions in a language I cannot understand. But they understand my camera and I make some photos, letting a few of them use my camera to make photos as well. Later, up the hill, we're filming in a small courtyard surrounded by old apartments. A young child next to her father peers out their window at the filming. I raise my camera for a photo with the father's assent, but the child shies away into the shadows. A young woman onlooker, who seems not of the neighborhood yet very at home in the courtyard, speaks in Arabic to the young girl, convincing her to stay by her Dad for the picture. I thank the young woman who, speaking fluent English tells me she loves photography. "Are you an artist?" I ask. "No, but I do love art and music" she replies. We talk a bit aid she tells me there is so much so see in Jordan and that I should stay around to photograph it. It dawns on me that she is stunning. "May I make a photo with you?" I ask. "OK, but I just had my wisdom teeth out and my face feels puffy." I can't tell, and click two frames. "If you have an email, I'll send this to you." She writes her email in my book with a smiley face note "Come back!" That night, on instinct, I do a Google search on her name and find out that Nejla is a Princess of Jordan, a member of the Royal Family. I have since stayed in touch with this lovely, very down-to-earth young lady and we are discussing a photographic collaboration involving her family and the people of Jordan. I am enchanted of having met a princess, grateful for a new friend, and more convinced than ever of the power of "hello." The last fortnight has yielded three spectacles reflecting the demise of the left, the rise of a new reactionary right and a novel political era more generally. President-elect Donald Trump's truly surreal press conference, in contrast, was emblematic of the now tectonic rise of populism around the globe. This was made significantly possible by the elite extension of market-oriented policy from Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher on, by both parties of capital and - allegedly - labour. Advertisement Finally, we had the general secretary of the Communist Party of China giving a pro-free-trade keynote speech at the World Economic Forum, emphasising categorically that the world's woes were not a result of globalisation. The tale of how we got here is important in order to avoid misdiagnosis and, indeed, incorrect treatment. And while analyses abound, what seems to escape many commentators is that the present crisis of politics has a lot to do with a monster that elites - often liberal - have spent decades breeding: neoliberal globalisation. The rise of neoliberalism Neoliberalism is itself an animal with many heads, operating both at the national and supranational levels as the script of world market capitalism in the form of free trade agreements and pro-market policy sets. At the micro-dimension, it works as the disciplining tune resonating through our private lives, which are increasingly vulnerable to the individualised risks stemming from the marketisation of everything and the sanctity of competitiveness. Ruben Sprich/Reuters Advertisement Their votes have either vanished in the cynicism engendered by a post-truth reality in which political promises have long been mismatched with outcomes, gravitated towards eccentric and dangerous characters such as Trump, or - all too rarely - created an opening for progressive politics within and beyond mainstream parties. Importantly, neoliberal globalisation demanded the death of national development that followed the so-called golden age of capitalism (1945-1973). The 20th century, which British Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm famously described as an age of extremes, was also very much a century of development. It was a century in which great, albeit uneven, progress was made in material conditions and productive capacity. It was also an era in which grand battles were waged over how the world was to be understood and how it was to be changed. The post-second world war period in particular, saw the consolidation of the century of development. Nation-states - including many new entrants - became the key containers of development. They were home to new class-based outcomes that manifested in projects to forge national economies. And working classes enjoyed leverage and influence over states that shielded society and the economy from Darwinian competition. Advertisement But two grand shifts arising out of the contradictions and tendencies of capitalism were to tear these arrangements asunder. The first was the rise of neoliberal policy sets, initially under Thatcher and Reagan, that attempted to recraft state and society along market lines. The second was the reorganisation of global production on the back of both neoliberalism (the software of globalisation) and advances in areas such as information and communications technology and logistics. Unending history Both these shifts liberated capital from its territorial confines and diminished the power and influence of labour. If labour was to use the same strategies as before - strikes, protests and calls for revolution - competitive fractions of capital could now, on the back of policies facilitating the free movement of capital, goods and services, decry the impact on "growth and jobs" and threaten to up and leave. Phil Noble/Reuters And when the Iron Curtain fell (1989-1990) and China's vast workforce joined the global economy, the pressure on workers and their ability to collectively organise and safeguard their interests was all but demolished. For elites within the extreme centre, these transformations signalled the passing of ideology, or as American political scientist Francis Fukuyama trumpeted, the end of history. Importantly, the software of globalisation was regularly promoted as much by traditional parties of the working class as by those of capital. This point is crucial to comprehend the deep cynicism that traditional working-class supporters now feel for mainstream politics. In the United Kingdom, where many are dismayed by Brexit, New Labour under Tony Blair would do much to extend the marketisation project started by Thatcher and further shift responsibility and risk from state and businesses to the individual. Advertisement In the United States, where liberals still seem intent on looking for explanations everywhere but themselves, the North America Free Trade Agreement developed under Republican president George Bush senior (1989-1993), which had a deleterious impact on American jobs, would be signed into existence without modification by Democrat Bill Clinton (1993-2001). Clinton also presided over reforms that further facilitated the meteoric rise and experimentation of the finance industry and exposed American workers to new sources of vulnerability. Crucially, these parties, aided and abetted by the reality that their populations would see negative impacts offset by cheap goods from China and easier access to credit, were ushering in policies that would undo their traditional constituencies of support. A terrifying juncture Chip East/Reuters Instead, it constituted "socialism for the rich": redistribution from the many to the few and the resuscitation of moribund banks and corporations that now had little incentive to reinvest their wealth nationally. Their burgeoning profits could flee to tax havens or be channelled to economies where exploitation offered more lucrative prospects (and the potential for more crises). Advertisement And while elites breathed a sigh of relief when economic indicators turned modestly positive again, it was no doubt a stretch for the unemployed, the precariat, the vulnerable and the socially immobile to trust they were enjoying the "rising tide lifts all boats" promise of globalisation. All of this has brought us to an interesting if somewhat terrifying juncture - one that may only engender further cynicism. While we observe the rise of a new pack of alpha males (and possibly a new alpha female in France), who spout selective illiberal rhetoric along with anti-immigrant positions, it is hard to ignore the awkward juggling acts that have to be undertaken. Trump, for one, seems to be harking back to an aggressive mercantilist position but will inevitably have to confront the massive economic interests in the US, and indeed close to the Republican Party, that have been key forces behind the promotion of free trade, globalisation and tolerance of undocumented workers. His pro-business domestic agenda will likely do little substantively to offset the structural drivers of dissatisfaction and social malaise. What is truly worrisome about current trends is not just the prospect of yet another round of pillage at the hands of corporate greed under the leadership of an unpredictable egomaniac. The main problem lies in the fact that neoliberal globalisation has rendered nationally based policy-making in the interests of working classes all but impossible. In times of great social crisis it's only normal that people seek to regroup, to find support in one another, and wrest politics back from elites and their spin. Unfortunately, while this impulse may at times translate into progressive class-based action, it may also awaken the ghosts of nationalism and reactionary forms of populism (as we witness today). What we need now is unblinkered analysis and coordinated progressive political action beyond the extreme centre at both the national and international levels. Advertisement Toby Carroll, Associate Professor, City University of Hong Kong and Ruben Gonzalez-Vicente, University Lecturer, Leiden University Women's march on Sydney, January 20, 2017. Australia VioletaAyala I march because I choose to believe in humanity. I march because as an indigenous woman of color. I will fight to protect the few hard won rights that I have today. I march because my 90 year-old grandmother had the courage to take it to the streets and fight, she was imprisoned, she was fearless and kept fighting, for me to have the opportunity to dream. She didn't even finished primary school, yet she made sure all of her children and grandchildren got an education, regardless of their sex. She fought hard her entire life so today I have the right to choose. Me and my daughter Suri Blue marching in Sydney, January 20, 2017. Sydney, Australia. Dan Fallshaw When I was 17, I had an abortion in a country where it was and still is illegal, my grandmother was next to me, holding my hand, it wasn't easy for any of us, but she made sure I had the right to choose the time of my motherhood. She made sure that a mistake wouldn't define my life. That day I understood that it was my body and my choice, a fundamental human right, denied to most women in the world, the right to have an abortion. Advertisement I march because as a filmmaker of colour and an immigrant, I have to keep proving myself everyday in a hypocritical racist western society, either in Australia, France or the USA, yet I know I'm more free in those countries than in my own home country. Women's March, January 20, 2017. Sydney, Australia. Dan Fallshaw In Bolivia women are killed in the hundreds every year by violent men, most of those crimes go unpunished, in Bolivia thirteen women die a day because of an abortion that goes wrong, yet the macho government fail to legalize abortion. Most of the women who die are poor, young, indigenous and vulnerable. I march because in every wrinkle of my grandmother's indigenous face, I see pride, because when she holds my hand, I feel my own power, the power of womanhood. My daughter, Suri Blue and my grandmother Herminia Soto. July 2016. Cochabamba, Bolivia. Violeta Ayala. Advertisement I march because its my duty to fight for the right for my daughter to dream, to choose the time of her motherhood, to choose her sexuality, not to be judged by the color of her dark skin or the shape of her indigenous eyes. The video will auto-play soon 8 Cancel We have more newsletters Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up to the Hull Live newsletter for daily updates and breaking news An adult website has revealed the top dogging hotspots across for Hull and East Yorkshire. The site, Swinging Heaven, says Yorkshire has more dogging sites than any other county in the UK, with 271. It's also revealed a number of the popular sites across our region. They include a car park behind Beverley Road Baths and two lay-bys on the A165 between Coniston and Skirlaugh which are described as having "good action". Another user describes an area of Southorpe Road, near Hornsea, as a "quiet and secluded country lane, known locally as lover's lane" which is "very popular with young lovers, occasional dog walkers and doggers". A picnic area at Fimber is described as "tranquil and quiet" and an "awesome place for outdoor fun". One website user posted about a location between Welton and Melton, saying: "Only a small site, very secluded. Go past the duck pond and up the big hill right up to the top and park under the trees. Room for two cars, maybe more." Writing about a location in Goole , another said: "Past waterways museum, up track park to the right near railway bridge and canal. Good place with plenty of space. Boaters do it best." Locations in Market Weighton, Spurn Point, North Beach at Bridlington , Bainton, Skidby and Hessle Foreshore are also mentioned. In 2015, residents spoke of their anger about people persistently having sex in cars parked at Hessle Foreshore, saying the problem was getting "worse and worse". Is dogging illegal? Dogging is a slang term for having sex in public while other people watch. It usually occurs in car parks or woodland in quiet areas. Although it is not banned by one particular law, participants could be committing several offences. These include anything from indecent exposure, public lewdness and gross indecency. People caught may also be prosecuted under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 or for outraging public decency. Bill Self, Kurtis Townsend won't be on sidelines for KU's first four games Hawk Zone A broader range of activities online has been made easier with 100 government services added to the National Information Network, says a deputy at the Information Technology Organization, Reza Bagheri Asl. The National Information Network was launched in August 2016 as an alternative independent network with content compatible with Islamic values. It facilitates access to indigenously produced content, cuts costs and improves the quality of services offered to Iranian Internet users. Bagheri Asl said that a total of 1700 government services need to be digitized, Mehr News Agency reported. Currently only 4% of transactions related to government services are conducted online, he said, adding that that the number is planned to reach 20% by the end of the current fiscal year in March. In terms of e-governing, Iran currently ranks 106 globally. The ranking can improve by nearly 20 points if government bodies make some minor improvements, he was quoted as saying. "These include offering responsive and unified online services and transactions. However, government organizations do not have a clear understanding of (advantages) of such procedures." Government and state organizations which will be going online in the near future include the Organization for Civil Registration, State Organization for Registration of Deeds and Properties, the Law Enforcement Forces and the Tax Organization. Electronic signature used in Azerbaijan will be recognized in the EU countries, Christian Rupp, spokesman of the Digital Austria platform in Austria, told the reporters in Baku. At the initiative of the Ministry of Communications and High Technologies (MCHT), Special Representative of the Platform Digital Austria Christian Roop arrived in Azerbaijan to analyze the current situation in the fields of e-government, e-services and e-commerce and to make proposals for their improvement. According to Christian Roop, a working group was established within the EU Eastern Partnership program to deal with the issue of mutual recognition of electronic signatures. Rupp said the main purpose of his visit to Baku is to present the projects and solutions on the introduction of e-signature, e-services, cyber security, and to explain how these technologies can be used in Azerbaijan. During his stay in Azerbaijan, Christian Roop familiarized himself with the situation in the field of e-government. In particular, meetings were held at the Data Processing Centre and other structures of MCHT, which is the operator of the E-government portal. The Austrian expert praised the work carried out in Azerbaijan in the sphere of e-government and e-services. During the seminar, held at the Data Processing Centre, Christian Roop made a presentation on e-government and e-services in Austria. Source: http://azertag.az/en/xeber/E_signature_used_in_Azerbaijan_to_be_recognized_in_EU_countries-1026796 This is the sentiment shared by analysts, who say although there is room for improvement, the South African government's use of ICT to deliver basic services to its citizens shows progress. Unlike its counterparts in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), there is evidence of growing progress in the implementation of SA's e-government strategy. Realising the key role of ICT in enabling modernised government services and benefits for service delivery, the government developed its own e-government policy framework. SA's e-government policy framework proposes the use of ICT to improve government's efficiency and effectiveness, and make it convenient for citizens to access government services. To date, some notable e-government services the administration has introduced include National Treasury's e-Tender Publication portal, a central supplier database, e-HomeAffairs and the SA Revenue Services' eFiling system. Local government departments have also introduced specifically catered initiatives such as Gauteng's e-invoicing service, the City of Ekurhuleni's online system for paying rates, and the City of Cape Town has digitised government information to enable easy access for its citizens. ICT research analyst at Frost & Sullivan Africa, Mauritz Venter, says SA fares relatively well when compared to its counterparts in SSA. "Major e-government goals include reducing costs whilst enhancing service delivery, expanding the national broadband rollout, particularly to rural marginalised communities, and improving national computer literacy and ICT skills. "Metropolitans like Cape Town, Johannesburg and Tshwane have implemented local government e-strategies and in doing so have allowed their constituents unparalleled access and connectivity to the Internet economy and its inherent benefits." Richard Hurst, director of enterprise research at Africa Analysis, says there are some high points as well as low points in the overall progress of the e-government strategy, but overall there has been some good progress. According to Gavin Holme, country manager for Africa at Wipro, the first step on the journey to true e-government services is to replace all legacy infrastructure. "Latest-generation enterprise technologies have the potential to improve financial and operational management within public sector entities, and enhance service delivery to citizens. "By simplifying and standardising on certain technology sets, government is able to create operational efficiencies and more easily fulfil its various mandates." Gauteng shows the way Gauteng is taking the lead in being one of SA's most modernised provinces and achieving major e-government objectives. In 2015, the Gauteng provincial government established the Department of e-Government, which is part of a restructuring process to ensure departments in the province are able to talk to each other seamlessly. Last year, Gauteng premier David Makhura said his administration will continue to invest in ICT infrastructure as the province positions itself as a driver of SA's digital economy, a hub of research and innovation in SSA. Together with the local municipalities, the Gauteng provincial government plays a key role in the deployment and use of ICT to deliver education, healthcare, as well as other government services, he said. "Our goal remains that of being a smart province and we will continue to invest significantly in the ICT infrastructure and be a leader in e-government services. "High-speed Internet connectivity is a critical foundational infrastructure requirement for success of our government's modernisation agenda." No skills, high costs While there is growing evidence that SA is making strides in its e-government strategy, pundits note there are factors that are hindering e-government. According to Hurst, the development of e-government in SA is facing the same challenges seen by the private sector, such as lack of an adequate skills pool to develop e-government services and solutions, as well as a dearth of skills within organisations. In addition, there is the challenge of infrastructure and access to services, with one of the main barriers being the cost of access to these services, he says. Laura Caetano, ICT research analyst at Frost & Sullivan Africa, notes some of the primary factors hindering the efficient rollout of e-government plans in SA are in part due to an inconsistent implementation and view of technology development across municipal governments and departments. She explains: "Different government departments, and levels of government, pursue individual strategies which results in an incompatibility of systems on a national scale, potentially limiting growth in the future at a time when convergence and alignment will be necessary. "Cost is another hindrance, as the national budget does not allow for the expensive technologies required to reach e-government objectives. A larger portion of the budget needs to be allocated to ICT spend, as there are significant socio-economic benefits that can be derived." However, it's not all doom and gloom, as there are areas for improvement in ensuring government effectively implements the e-government strategy. Fadzai Deda, an ICT research analyst at Frost & Sullivan Africa, says strategic partnerships are critical in ensuring government can adequately deliver on its e-government strategy. "Essentially, creating an enabling environment through consistent policy development and implementation, education of constituents to promote uptake and ensuring adequate access to capital where necessary." Hurst concludes that government has taken some bold steps but perhaps there is a need to develop e-government champions within the public sector who can take projects and nurture them, while increasing stakeholder participation or buy-in. Source: http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=158754 The 150-year-old First Congregational Church was one of three applications hotly debated by the Community Preservation Committee. The committee voted 6-2 to recommend funds toward the repair of the church's foundation Williamstown Community Preservation Panel OKs 8 Applicants CAPTION HERE From Feeding Sandwiches to Making His Bed, Woman Taking Care of Old Dog is Pure Love Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} James Cameron lives for movie quotes in headlines. Presumably, that is the explanation behind why he's decided to return to the Terminator franchise to godfather a new adaptation so everyone can use the phrase, "he'll be back", to report on it. It might also be because Cameron will regain certain rights to the property in 2019 due to a copyright reversion and is determined to end things the right way, with Deadline reporting he's in talks with Deadpool's Tim Miller to direct both a reboot and a conclusion to the film series. David Ellison's Skydance, who still holds many Terminator rights, is bankrolling what looks to be quite an ambitious project and a full-frontal assault on rectifying the disappointments of Terminator Salvation (2009) and Terminator Genisys (2015); looking to high profile science fiction authors to "find the movie creatively". The Terminator franchise has had a strange, rocky history in Hollywood ever since Cameron originally sold the rights to his scripted project to producer Gale Ann Hurd for $1, on the stipulation he couldn't be fired as director, resulting in the 1984 original (and classic). Terminator: Genisys - Trailer After directing Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Cameron then walked away entirely, with the rights eventually ending up in the hands of famed producer Megan Ellison, who bought them in 2011 at Cannes for $20 million. There's no word on exactly how the new film would work and exactly how much creative involvement Cameron will have, with Miller directing and considering he's also busy shooting back-to-back sequels for Avatar. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The day after Donald Trump won the presidential election, my five-year-old daughter was identified by a classmate as having black skin. Trump doesnt like black people, the little girl told her, so you lose. My daughter said the girl went around pointing out the other black children they were Asian twins. In the eyes of a kindergartner in predominantly white Menlo Park, California, though, they all appeared black, which must mean they are different, which is true. They and we are minorities. I wish I had white skin, Mommy, my daughter told me when I asked her how the exchange made her feel. I was angry, scared and worried she would experience worse marginalisation soon. She is the daughter of an immigrant, she is interracial, she has brown skin, she is a Muslim, she is a girl. A perfect ball of yarn spun with fibres that a bigoted campaign targeted. My immediate thought: What if they wont feel welcome in their country of birth? I know this is possible, because it happened to me. Recommended How Muslim Americans plan to resist Trump administration I was born in Turkey and lived there until I was 17 as a Kurd. My parents told me to be proud of my ethnicity but not to disclose it to anyone. Turkey had a Kurdish problem. Kurds wanted basic human rights like identifying as Kurds and getting educated in Kurdish. It sounds simple, but in the eighties and the nineties, people argued that Kurds were Mountain Turks. If anyone challenged Turkeys unity under one language and one nation, they could be discriminated against at best and imprisoned at worst. In the 1970s, when my father was in law school, he was imprisoned for two years because he was associated with a Kurdish student organisation. In the late eighties, my uncle was imprisoned for three years for celebrating Kurdish Newroz. My mother would have me write letters to him on Eid. Dear Uncle, I would begin, I pray this letter finds you in good health. Later I learned his body had been suspended from the ceiling while blindfolded as he was sprayed with a pressure hose or, sometimes, electrocuted. I wondered if this was happening at the same time I was writing my letters. In the 1990s, the government forcefully dislocated its Kurdish citizens from their villages. Kurdish political parties got shut down on the basis of being terrorist organisations. Leyla Zana, a parliamentary member, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for taking the last sentence of her oath in Kurdish. Musa Anter, a Kurdish writer and activist, was assassinated. Meanwhile we lived in a nice house and there was no trace of an accent in my Turkish, which was typical for other Kurdish kids. I blended in at school in such a way that people didnt suspect anything. I remember a girl on the school bus making fun of Kurdish kids as having lice and snot running down their noses. I didnt speak up, partly because I was shy and partly because my mothers words rang in my ears: If anyone asks you if you are Kurdish, tell them you are not in school to speak about politics. You are there to learn. Also I wanted to fit in and be the same as everyone else. So I didnt acknowledge being a Kurd, which I realise now is worse than admitting the truth, because I was ashamed of who I was, which then made me ashamed to be ashamed. Recommended Americans wearing safety pins to show solidarity with minorities Eventually, my parents won a green card from the American Dream lottery, and we moved to the US. Suddenly I could tell people who I was, and they had no clue what Kurd meant. This was liberating. People coexisted in the US. There were translations available in minority languages on legal documents, an unthinkable practice in Turkey. I began to fully embrace being a Kurd. And then 9/11 happened and Muslims became stigmatised. Although I wasnt religious and didnt think about Islam as a large part of my identity, people saw me as a Muslim because I was from Turkey. Around then, in an effort to keep her children faithful to her culture, my mother began wearing a head scarf. I went to Arabic grocery shops in Dearborn, Michigan, and was surprised to feel kinship to the people there. The stores smelled of feta cheese and spices, which were the smells of bakkals in Turkey, and the memories of similarly dressed women came to my mind. I realised I was undeniably a Muslim if not religiously, then culturally. I can be both, I decided: a Kurd first and a Muslim second. Today I am a mother to three interracial children my husbands parents are Pakistani immigrants. When my son was called chocolate face, I realised there was more to my identity. I will never forget the way his small body shrank as he muttered, Im dark because of the sun, right, Mommy? Right I said hesitantly. Your friend is blonde like his parents and you are dark like your parents, and thats okay. And then I did what any parent in Silicon Valley would do when their child is confronted with their race. I bought a bunch of parenting books. From Nurtureshock I learned that kids form biases early, that they are not colour blind, we just think they are. The earlier kids have conversations about race, the more likely they will be accepting of others. This makes sense to me because my parents did something similar when they asked me to not tell people that I was a Kurd: They told me I was different. My children cant un-see their colour, but I understand. Were all different, and thats okay, I tell them. I want to instil in them a good moral compass and I think this is possible by having empathy. In fact, I think that will come a bit naturally to them because the marginalised minority experience can give one empathy. Activists protest Donald Trump's proposed Muslim ban Show all 11 1 /11 Activists protest Donald Trump's proposed Muslim ban Activists protest Donald Trump's proposed Muslim ban People listen to speakers at a demonstration against racism and conservative presidential candidate Donald Trump's recent remarks concerning Muslims on December 10, 2015 in New York City. Dozens or demonstrators and activists converged at Columbus Circle to denounce the politics of Trump and the treatment of Muslim refugees both in America and Europe. Spencer Platt/Getty Activists protest Donald Trump's proposed Muslim ban People listen to speakers at a demonstration against racism and conservative presidential candidate Donald Trump's recent remarks concerning Muslims on December 10, 2015 in New York City. Dozens or demonstrators and activists converged at Columbus Circle to denounce the politics of Trump and the treatment of Muslim refugees both in America and Europe. Spencer Platt/Getty Activists protest Donald Trump's proposed Muslim ban People listen to speakers at a demonstration against racism and conservative presidential candidate Donald Trump's recent remarks concerning Muslims on December 10, 2015 in New York City. Dozens or demonstrators and activists converged at Columbus Circle to denounce the politics of Trump and the treatment of Muslim refugees both in America and Europe. Spencer Platt/Getty Activists protest Donald Trump's proposed Muslim ban People listen to speakers at a demonstration against racism and conservative presidential candidate Donald Trump's recent remarks concerning Muslims on December 10, 2015 in New York City. Dozens or demonstrators and activists converged at Columbus Circle to denounce the politics of Trump and the treatment of Muslim refugees both in America and Europe. Spencer Platt/Getty Activists protest Donald Trump's proposed Muslim ban People listen to speakers at a demonstration against racism and conservative presidential candidate Donald Trump's recent remarks concerning Muslims on December 10, 2015 in New York City. Dozens or demonstrators and activists converged at Columbus Circle to denounce the politics of Trump and the treatment of Muslim refugees both in America and Europe. Spencer Platt/Getty Activists protest Donald Trump's proposed Muslim ban People listen to speakers at a demonstration against racism and conservative presidential candidate Donald Trump's recent remarks concerning Muslims on December 10, 2015 in New York City. Dozens or demonstrators and activists converged at Columbus Circle to denounce the politics of Trump and the treatment of Muslim refugees both in America and Europe. Getty Activists protest Donald Trump's proposed Muslim ban People listen to speakers at a demonstration against racism and conservative presidential candidate Donald Trump's recent remarks concerning Muslims on December 10, 2015 in New York City. Dozens or demonstrators and activists converged at Columbus Circle to denounce the politics of Trump and the treatment of Muslim refugees both in America and Europe. Spencer Platt/Getty Activists protest Donald Trump's proposed Muslim ban People listen to speakers at a demonstration against racism and conservative presidential candidate Donald Trump's recent remarks concerning Muslims on December 10, 2015 in New York City. Dozens or demonstrators and activists converged at Columbus Circle to denounce the politics of Trump and the treatment of Muslim refugees both in America and Europe. Spencer Platt/Getty Activists protest Donald Trump's proposed Muslim ban People listen to speakers at a demonstration against racism and conservative presidential candidate Donald Trump's recent remarks concerning Muslims on December 10, 2015 in New York City. Dozens or demonstrators and activists converged at Columbus Circle to denounce the politics of Trump and the treatment of Muslim refugees both in America and Europe. Spencer Platt/Getty Activists protest Donald Trump's proposed Muslim ban People listen to speakers at a demonstration against racism and conservative presidential candidate Donald Trump's recent remarks concerning Muslims on December 10, 2015 in New York City. Dozens or demonstrators and activists converged at Columbus Circle to denounce the politics of Trump and the treatment of Muslim refugees both in America and Europe. Spencer Platt/Getty Activists protest Donald Trump's proposed Muslim ban People listen to speakers at a demonstration against racism and conservative presidential candidate Donald Trump's recent remarks concerning Muslims on December 10, 2015 in New York City. Dozens or demonstrators and activists converged at Columbus Circle to denounce the politics of Trump and the treatment of Muslim refugees both in America and Europe. Spencer Platt/Getty In both the US and in Turkey, I am marginalised. I realise now the idea of other will exist no matter where I go. I dont want my children to be ashamed of being brown-coloured Muslims. I want them to be empowered by their heritage and feel that they are fully Americans in ways I never felt Turkish in Turkey. I know this is possible because, despite everything, I feel that the US is my home. I went to Michigan for Thanksgiving. I thought I would feel resentment there, or that my mother would get unwelcome stares. Instead, people were pleasant in their usual Midwestern ways. And although my mother felt the need to replace her hijab with a hat when we went to Lowell, a small town, there was no tension. You are all so beautiful, a woman told us as we entered her shop, all of you. It probably helped that my mother has a charming smile and we walked in with a cute baby. We were exotic as non-blonde people, yes, but we were not hated. I choose to remain hopeful about the future of the US. The burgeoning message of hate hasnt stolen the goodness out of all the people who voted for Trump and I saw that in Michigan. Since the election, I have called my representatives. I have donated money to Muslim Advocates and to the America Civil Liberties Union. I resist the hate rhetoric. I will keep an open mind even though its hard when everything I read online paints a gloomy reality for minorities. Thats because I have no other choice: I must move forward not just for me, but the sake of my children. Washington Post For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A 36-year-old man has been arrested after a policeman was shot in a "terrorist attack" in Belfast, police said. The attack occurred at a petrol station on Crumlin Road and it is understood the officer was shot twice in the arm as he emerged from a petrol station. The Police Federation which represents rank and file officers said it was a terrorist shooting and added that their thoughts were with the officer and his family. Democratic Unionist MP Nigel Dodds said it was a despicable act and it was important to stand against such actions. "This is a deeply disturbing incident which echoes back to the kind of terrorism we used to face on a daily basis, Mr Dodds said. "My thoughts are with the officer who has been injured and I pray that the injuries sustained are not life-threatening and they can make a full recovery. "These are scenes that we should all want to move away from in Northern Ireland. We must be mindful how a threat to the future of the political institutions can create a vacuum, which terrorists such as these will seek to fill. "We must all stand against those who wish to use threats, intimidation and violence to further their political ends. "It is vital we all stand against such activity and work to move Northern Ireland forward." UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA Nationalist SDLP assembly member Nichola Mallon said the community had rejected violence before and would do it again. "Those responsible for this attack, not only on the individual involved, but on the progress that north Belfast has made must be brought to justice. "This community has rejected the men of violence before and it will do so again. There will be no cover given to those who seek to destabilise our progress and bring mayhem back to our streets." The policeman has undergone surgery and his injuries are not life-threatening. Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire said he was "shocked and appalled" at the "cowardly shooting". "To attack officers who are going about their daily duty protecting the entire community is sickening," he said. Press Association contributed to this report Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Women whose third child is born following a sexual assault will be forced to provide evidence of the rape or face losing tax credits, under controversial plans quietly rolled out by the Government on the day Donald Trump was inaugurated. The reforms, first announced by George Osborne, mean women will have to prove they became pregnant after suffering non-consensual sex if they want to receive tax credits for a third or subsequent child. MPs and womens rights groups have reacted angrily to the plan, saying the so-called rape clause shows the Government has a lack of understanding about sexual and domestic abuse. In the summer Budget of 2015, the then Chancellor announced that families with more than two children would no longer be able to claim child tax credit on third and subsequent children. Those changes come into force in April. The Government said some women should be exempt from the proposals, including those who have suffered rape, and ran a consultation on the measures. Responding to the findings, the Government said on Friday it was pressing ahead with the most controversial element of the plan the requirement that women report their ordeal to a third party, such as a GP or social worker, before their tax credit claim is processed. The proposal states: Evidence from this professional third party, demonstrating that the claimants circumstances are consistent with those of a person who has had intercourse without consenting to it (at a time when the conception of her third or subsequent child might have resulted), will normally be used to determine eligibility for the exception. Thus women are not placed in the position of having to give details about the rape to DWP [Department for Work and Pensions] or HMRC [HM Revenue and Customs] officials and eligibility can be met without a conviction or any judicial finding. MP speaks out in Parliament about being raped as a teenager There will be no time limit on when the report must be made and third or subsequent children conceived in controlling and coercive relationships will also be exempt, but not if the woman is still living with a partner who could financially benefit from the abuse. The Government insisted the data would be treated as "extremely sensitive" and any documentation sent to claimants will not include the reason for the additional payments. But it comes after the DWP was accused of revealing a domestic violence victims identity to her abuser. Recommended Man convicted of rape for taking off condom during sex Rachel Krys, co-director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: We are profoundly disappointed to see the publication of these new rules which make entitlement to child tax credit dependent on proving rape. The obvious difficulty of requiring women to identify a child as a product of rape, and then having a third party verify this claim, should have been enough to force a complete rethink of the whole policy proposal. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA Its well-known that women are reluctant to disclose rape to anyone, for many reasons including fear and self-protection, guilt, shame and concern for the impact of the knowledge on other family members. Requiring disclosure to officialdom, in order to receive support for children, is asking women to trust and depend on someone they may prefer not to. The assurances of confidentiality and sensitivity have a hollow ring in a week the DWP was shown to have committed a serious data breach, putting the life of a domestic violence survivor at risk. The so-called rape clause will be delivered in a compasionate way (Alamy) SNP MP Alison Thewliss said the rape clause was fundamentally wicked and said the Government was trying to bury the information when the media was focusing on Mr Trump. She said: The UK Government clearly tried to sneak out this news just hours before Trumps inauguration in the hope it would be buried amongst other anti-women headlines in America. Recommended HMRC wanted new contract with controversial tax credits firm That they wanted this callous policy to be buried speaks volumes in itself. Women across the world have been marching this weekend in solidarity with America whilst here in the UK, the Westminster Government ploughs ahead to undermine womens rights. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The mother of murdered soldier Lee Rigby said she was threatened with arrest unless she attended the appeal hearing of an internet troll who taunted her over his death. Lyn Rigby said her treatment by authorities was absurd and shocking after she was summoned to a court hearing where a graphic image from her sons murder featured as evidence. Mrs Rigby said she was left trembling from head to foot when a photo of Islamic extremist Michael Adebolajo, covered in her sons blood and brandishing a meat cleaver, was shown to the court. This has been one of the worst weeks since Lee died and it brought all the terrible emotions flooding back to me as if my son had been murdered all over again, she told the Sunday People. I believe in our justice system because it put Lees killers behind bars but I dont believe we should have been forced to court for this man. And to threaten us with prosecution if we didnt attend was just absurd and shocking as well as deeply upsetting. It suggests that my grieving family has somehow done something wrong. Conspiracy theorist Christopher Spivey, a grandfather from Rochford, Essex, was convicted of harassing the Rigby family and sending grossly offensive messages over social media in 2015. He had posted a series of comments on social media about the May 2013 killing in Woolwich, south-east London, including claims that the soldier had never existed and that the story of his murder was a conspiracy. The troll also published the familys home addresses and private photographs online and contacted the soldier's sister, Sarah McClure, claiming her husband, Rob, also a soldier, and Fusilier Rigby were the same person. Spivey was eventually found guilty but escaped being sent to jail when a judge suspended his sentence. After maintaining his innocence he launched an appeal, which was reportedly dismissed after a four-day hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court last week. Mrs Rigby questioned why she and her daughter were made to attend the hearing via videolink from Bury Magistrates Court after they submitted witness statements. Its horrific enough losing my son in such a violent way, but to listen to this man's twisted drivel was just heaping more misery on me, she said. Dave Hines, founder of the National Victims Association, criticised her treatment and ministers for failing those affected by crime. I feel for Mrs Rigby and the horrendous ordeal she has had to go through. Its beyond comprehension, its completely outrageous and the public will be shocked. Families like this are let down by the system," he said. A spokesman for the judiciary said: Judges are acutely aware of the need to reduce as much as possible the painful ordeal witnesses have to go through in cases such as this one, and the option of video links means at least they don't have to attend court. But courts do have to balance that consideration with the need to ensure that justice is done. The legislation for an appeal from a magistrates court to the Crown Court, as this one was, requires that there is a re-hearing. This means that the prosecution has to call the evidence on which it relies at the Crown Court in order to prove the case against the accused, unless he is prepared to make admissions of fact. That is the only way that the witnesses whose account is an essential part of the case can be spared from giving their evidence a second time. He added: Judges cannot comment out of court on cases they or colleagues have heard. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Britains first pollution-related speed limits of 60mph during the rush hour could be imposed on the M1. Highways England is considering imposing the restrictions near Sheffield, where the M1 runs close to homes and schools, The Sunday Times reports. The limits would come into effect from March, when the Department for Transport plans to open a smart motorway by converting the hard shoulder into a fourth lane, adding 5,000 to 10,000 vehicles to the 130,000 already using the road each day. Highways England reports warned the increase will expose nearby residents to even worse pollution, potentially making the scheme illegal. Lorry driver causes M1 pile-up while on mobile phone A report by engineering company Mouchel said the best way to prevent an increase in illegal pollution would be a speed limit of 60mph during the rush hour. Nick Harris, Highways Englands operations director, wrote to local MPs last month to say: The published air quality mitigation for this scheme envisages 60mph speed limits in the weekday morning (7 9am) and evening (3 7pm) between junctions 28 35a. We are looking into initiatives that might avoid or reduce the need for these speed limits. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA A spokesman for the Department for Transport told The Sunday Times: The Government will update...plans for 2017 to improve air quality. They did not provide any further details. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The husband of a British-Iranian woman imprisoned in Iran has criticised the UK Government for failing to publicly call for her release, saying the way the Foreign Office has behaved in relation to his case has been deeply secretive and deeply cryptic. Iranian authorities announced on Sunday that Nazanin must serve five years in prison after she was sentenced in September last year for allegedly plotting to topple the Iranian government. The exact details of the charges have not been made public. The 37-year-old London-based charity worker was seized by Iranian Revolutionary Guards on 3 April as she was travelling back to Britain with her two-year-old daughter Gabriella after visiting family. Supporters hold a photo of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe during a vigil (Getty) Irans Deputy Head of the Judiciary said at a weekly news conference that the appeal court had upheld her sentence of five years for national security related crimes. Speaking to the Independent, Richard Ratcliffe said his wifes detention was politically motivated and repeated claims she was being held as a bargaining chip in an outstanding arms debt stretching back 40 years that Britain is refusing to pay. The 42-year-old accountant said the British Foreign Office officials he had worked with on trying to secure his wifes release were decent people and perfectly sincere. But he questioned why the family had not been offered a meeting with the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to put further pressure on Tehran. And he criticised the Government for failing to publicly condemn the imprisonment of his wife, who went on hunger strike late last year after feeling suicidal. "They have been deeply secretive and deeply cryptic," he said. It is clear there are other agendas in the relationship the Foreign Office has with Iran. We are not irrelevant but there are other considerations. They have never expressed any criticism, and they have never called for her release publicly. The family hope she will be pardoned by Irans Supreme Leader but Mr Ratcliffe said this was unlikely to happen before the presidential election scheduled for 19 May. He added: "When we get to Ramadan in June that is when the realistic chances of release might happen, so I need to be campaigning pretty hard by then as they are not backing down." Iran does not recognise dual nationalities, meaning those detained cannot receive consular assistance. In most cases, dual nationals have faced secret charges in closed-door hearings before Iran's Revolutionary Court, which handles cases involving alleged attempts to overthrow the government. Prime Minister Theresa May raised concerns about Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case during a phone call with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani last August. But she remains in an Iranian jail, having served 10 months behind bars so far, two months of which, Mr Ratcliffe said, have been in solitary confinement. Their baby daughter is also in the country and being looked after by family. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with husband Richard and daughter Gabriella (Change.org) A Foreign Office spokesman said: We are concerned by reports Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffes sentence has been confirmed. The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have raised her case with their counterparts in Iran and will continue to do so. We have been supporting her family since we were first made aware of her arrest and the Minister for the Middle East, Tobias Ellwood, has met the family to reassure them that we will continue to do all we can. While we continue to press the Iranians for consular access and for due process to be followed, we also stand ready to help get her daughter back safely to the UK if requested. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Coffee became the latest consumer good to wake up and smell the price of Brexit as a 100g pack of Nescafe Original has risen by 14 per cent on at least one supermarket shelf. The Nestle brand now costs 3.15 at Sainsburys, up from 2.75, after the corporation asked shops to pay more for its products. A 500ml bottle of Pure Life water, which is also made by the multinational food conglomerate, has also risen by 22 per cent, from 2.29 to 2.80, according to The Sunday Times. It follows Marmite, fish fingers and Walkers crisps, all of which have seen price rises blamed on Brexit. Nestle had warned some months ago it was considering price hikes after a fall in the value of the pound following the Brexit vote. The Swiss food giant, which makes KitKats, Shredded Wheat and dozens of other famous brands, also said it would consider its investments in the UK in the light of Britains vote to leave the European Union. But the company said it would wait to see what kind of Brexit deal the UK secures before deciding whether to scale back or not. Microsoft has also admitted it will raise prices, as have car manufacturers. Apple is pushing up the price of apps by 25 per cent to make up for the plunging value of the pound. The prices are now the same as they are in dollars. Apps that were once 79p the cheapest that developers can offer apps forwill now cost 99p, for instance. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA A Sainsbury's spokesman said: The cost of individual products is determined by a number of factors and prices can fluctuate, both up and down. We remain committed to providing our customers with great quality food and value. A Nestle spokesperson added that the company was used to dealing with all of the variables that could affect our cost pricing, including fluctuations in currency. They said: We constantly review those costs and we will continue to manage all of these factors with a view to making cost price increases only when absolutely necessary. Retail pricing is at the sole discretion of the retailer and the final price the consumer pays for our products is set by individual retailers and we cannot comment on any changes they choose to make to increase or decrease their prices or when they choose to do so. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Theresa May refused to say whether she would challenge Donald Trump about his treatment of women when the pair meet in the US next week. Appearing on the BBCs Andrew Marr Show today, the Prime Minister was asked about the worldwide women's marches around the world yesterday. You are one of the now one of the most prominent women political leaders in the world, the presenter said. Two million women marched against what Mr Trump said about women all around the world. Now you must be torn between somebody who wants to get a good deal from Donald Trump and somebody who is going to talk to truth to this particular version of power. Which is it going to be? Will you raise the issue of his treatment of women when you talk to him?" Ms May replied that she had already said some of Mr Trumps comments were unacceptable and some of those, he himself has apologised for. When I sit down, I think the biggest statement about the role of women is that fact that I will be there as a female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, talking to him, directly talking to him about the interests that we share. When it was put to her that she would not raise his treatment with him directly, she replied: Ive got a track record i you look at everything Ive done in terms of defending the interests of women, in terms of the work Ive done on modern slavery, on domestic violence. Im proud to be only the second female Prime Minister that the United Kingdom has had, both of us Conservatives. She added: I will be talking to Donald Trump about the issues that we share, about how we can build on the special relationship. Its the special relationship that also enables us to say when we do find things unacceptable. Whenever I find thing unacceptable I will be able to say it to Donald Trump. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA Ms May also praised Mr Trumps inauguration speech, saying that it had a clear message about putting America first. But she was challenged by Mr Marr, who said: Your own policy chief George Freeman said that the speech was deliberately divisive and confrontational and showed the politics of hate and a lot of people agreed with him. Ms May said she thought it was important that she talked to Mr Trump about building on the special relationship between the US and the UK. Hes already said to me that he wants to see a very strong relationship between the UK and the US going into the future, she said. There are issues that we want to work on together in the future, the importance of Nato for example, defeating terrorism. These are issues where we share the challenges, where we see the threats and we have worked together in the past and will in the future. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Labour will not back a vital piece of Theresa Mays Brexit legislation if it contains sweeping powers allowing ministers to scrap vital workers rights, human rights and environmental provisions. Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer vowed his party would fight Ms May all the way if she tried to use Brexit as an opportunity to adopt the so-called Henry VIII powers. The expected move by the Government would render Parliament almost powerless to stop Tory ministers in post-Brexit Britain from dumping rights previously enshrined in EU law. In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Sir Keir also revealed how his party would try force the Government to give Parliament more control over Ms Mays Brexit negotiations. He went on to admit that Labour is still debating just how to respond to the underlying issues raised by the shock vote to quit the EU, and the full implications it has for immigration policy. The Government has announced a Great Repeal Bill, scrapping the 1972 European Communities Act and incorporating all EU law into British statute, with ministers then able to choose which parts to keep and which to ditch. But because the terms of Theresa Mays Brexit deal will not be known when the legislation is to be passed this summer, the bill is likely to include a Henry VIII clause named after the all-powerful king allowing ministers to ditch bits of EU law they do not like with little parliamentary scrutiny. Sir Keir gave Ms May credit for saying that workplace rights would be protected as the UK takes on existing EU law. But he went on: Its not just workplace rights. There are human rights provisions. There are environmental provisions, there are all sorts of provisions that are really important, that will become part of the debate for the Great Repeal Bill. Brexit Concerns Show all 26 1 /26 Brexit Concerns Brexit Concerns Brexit will put British patients at 'back of the queue' for new drugs Brexit will put British patients at the back of the queue for vital new drugs, the Government has been warned forcing them to wait up to two years longer A medicines regulator has raised the alarm over a likely decision to pull out of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as the EU itself. ealth Secretary Jeremy Hunt dropped the bombshell , when he said he expected the UK would quit the EMA because it is subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice. Getty Images Brexit Concerns London to lose status as 'gateway to Europe' for banks One of Germanys top banking regulators has warned that London could lose its status as gateway to Europe for the banking sector after Britain quits the European trading bloc. Andreas Dombret, who is an executive board member for the BundesbankGermanys central banktold a private meeting of German businesses and banks earlier this week in Frankfurt that even if banking rules were equivalent between the UK and the rest of the EU, that was still miles away from [Britain having] access to the single market, the BBC reports. Jason Hawkes Brexit Concerns Exodus The number of financial sector professionals in Britain and continental Europe looking for jobs in Ireland rocketed in the months after the UK voted to leave the European Union Shutterstock Brexit Concerns Brexit is making FTSE 100 executives richer Pay packages of many FTSE 100 chief executive officers are partly tied to how well share prices are doing rather than the CEOs performance -- and some stocks are soaring. ritish equities got a boost since the June vote because the likes of Rio Tinto, Smiths Group and WPP generate most sales abroad and earn a fortune when they convert these revenues back into the weakened pound. Sterlings fall also made UK stocks more affordable for overseas investors. Rex Brexit Concerns Theresa May: UK to leave single market Theresa May has said the UK "cannot possibly" remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean "not leaving the EU at all". Getty Brexit Concerns Lead campaigner Gina Miller and her team outside the High Court Getty Brexit Concerns Raymond McCord holds up his newly issued Irish passport alongside his British passport outside the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns SDLP leader Colum Eastwood leaving the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns Migrants with luggage walk past a graffiti on a wall as they leave the 'Jungle' migrant camp, as part of a major three-day operation planned to clear the camp in Calais Getty Brexit Concerns Migrants leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Brexit Concerns The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra) which distributes approximately 700 meals daily in the northern Paris camp states that it is noticing a spike in new migrant arrivals this week, potentially linked the the Calais 'jungle' camp closure - with around 1000 meals distributed today EPA Brexit Concerns Migrant workers pick apples at Stocks Farm in Suckley, Britain Reuters Brexit Concerns Many farmers across the country are voicing concerns that Brexit could be a dangerous step into the unknown for the farming industry Getty Brexit Concerns Bank of England governor Mark Carney who said the long-term outlook for the UK economy is positive, but growth was slowing in the wake of the Brexit vote PA Brexit Concerns The Dow Jones industrial average closed down over 600 points on the news with markets around the globe pluninging Getty Brexit Concerns Immigration officers deal with each member of the public seeking entry into the United Kingdom but on average, 10 a day are refused entry at this London airport and between 2008 and 2009, 33,100 people were detained at the airport for mainly passport irregularities Getty Brexit Concerns A number of global investment giants have threatened to move their European operations out of London if Brexit proves to have a negative impact on their businesses Getty Brexit Concerns Following the possibility of a Brexit the UK would be released from its renewable energy targets under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and from EU state aid restrictions, potentially giving the government more freedom both in the design and phasing out of renewable energy support regimes Getty Brexit Concerns A woman looking at a chart showing the drop in the pound (Sterling) against the US Dollar in London after Britain voted to leave the EU Getty Brexit Concerns Young protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, to protest against the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU following the referendum Getty Brexit Concerns Applications from Northern Ireland citizens for Irish Passports has soared to a record high after the UK Voted in favour of Leaving the EU Getty Brexit Concerns NFU Vice President Minette Batters with Secretary of State, Andrea Leadsome at the National Farmers Union (NFU) took machinery, produce, farmers and staff to Westminster to encourage Members of Parliament to back British farming, post Brexit Getty Brexit Concerns The latest reports released by the UK Cabinet Office warn that expats would lose a range of specific rights to live, to work and to access pensions, healthcare and public services. The same reports added that UK citizens abroad would not be able to assume that these rights will be guaranteed in the future Getty Brexit Concerns A British resident living in Spain asks questions during an informative Brexit talk by the "Brexpats in Spain" group, about Spanish legal issues to become Spanish citizens, at the town hall in Benalmadena, Spain Reuters Brexit Concerns The collapse of Great Britain appears to have been greatly exaggerated given the late summer crowds visiting city museums, hotels, and other important tourist attractions Getty Brexit Concerns The U.K. should maintain European Union regulations covering everything from working hours to chemicals until after the government sets out its plans for Brexit, said British manufacturers anxious to avoid a policy vacuum and safeguard access to their biggest export market Getty Sir Keir said all law taken on by the UK from the EU must be put into primary legislation, so that it required full parliamentary approval to change or abolish. He added: It would be wrong for these rights to go into our law and then be capable of being amended or removed by statutory instrument [without full parliamentary approval]. British Labour Party Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (Brexit), Keir Starmer (Getty Images) I think thats a really important principle that we must fire to the beginning of any discussion on the Great Repeal Bill. Asked if Labour would vote against the Bill if it contained Henry VIII powers, he said: We will fight the Government all the way on this. In the House of Commons the Government has a slim majority and may still be able to push through their preferred legislation without Labour support, but in the Lords the Tories are in a minority setting the stage for a Brexit showdown. Theresa May says Parliament will have a vote on the Brexit deal Sir Kier was speaking just days after Ms May had given her historic speech setting out 12 negotiating priorities for Brexit talks. It included a plan to leave the single market and the customs union as it stands, while introducing a new immigration regime. The Labour frontbencher, tipped as a future leader, faced some disapproval from his own side after saying in the Commons that Ms Mays plan would fall short of hard Brexit. Clarifying his comments, he said it would only fall short of hard Brexit if she achieved her aims, which he described as a huge if. He explained that Ms Mays full package, including her threat to have this tax haven economy if EU leaders do not give her what she wants would definitely constitute hard Brexit. The focus is now moving to the Supreme Court judgement on Tuesday, which is expected to rule that the Government must give Parliament a vote on triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, sparking the Brexit process. Theresa May calls Brexit a 'great moment of national change' The vote is likely to be in March and is contentious for Labour, which has an official line that it will not block Article 50, because to do so would be politically damaging in pro-Brexit northern heartlands, making the party vulnerable to a challenge by Ukip. But Labour MPs in more pro-Remain seats further south, such as shadow ministers Clive Lewis and Tulip Siddiq, have signalled they may break party line and vote against the triggering of Article 50. One thing that may prevent the split is if Sir Keir can win concessions from the Government in how Parliament scrutinises Ms Mays Brexit plans. He said Labour was likely to seek to attach amendments to whatever piece of legislation to trigger Article 50 ministers bring forward. One amendment would see Labour demand the Government publish the plan, laid out in Ms Mays speech, in a document that can be scrutinised and debated by Parliament, something Downing Street has signalled it does not intend to do. Sir Keir said: A formal document like a White Paper would be good, because it would be something against which everything that happens in the next few years can be measured and judged. He added: Setting them out in a speech is not the same as a plan that is put before Parliament. This is really important if there is going to be accountability throughout the two-year period. The Prime Minister has been very reluctant to answer questions directly. One of the consequences of not doing her speech in Parliament, of course, is that she was not asked directly what she meant by various things in there. Sir Kier said neither he nor other frontbenchers were in discussions with sympathetic Tories to force the issue also raised in the Commons by ex-Conservative ministers Ken Clarke and Anna Soubry but he accepted that it is obvious that discussions are going on involving some MPs in his and Ms Mays party. Another potential Labour amendment would seek to set the terms of the vote promised to Parliament on the Prime Ministers eventual deal. Jeremy Corbyn calls Theresa May the 'Irony Lady' at PMQs No 10 has said Britain would still leave the EU, albeit without any deal, if Parliament rejected the agreement Ms May reaches with European leaders. But Sir Keir said the vote in the Commons and Lords was still important because it meant the Prime Minister would have to consider that she needed to win MPs backing when hammering out the deal. Asked if his party would oppose a Brexit deal they did not like in the vote, he said only: It has to be a meaningful vote. I dont want to speculate. What I genuinely hope is that the Prime Minister negotiates in accordance with her objectives and achieves the best deal and is able to put it before Parliament. That is what I hope will happen. The main issue threatening to complicate Labours own response to Brexit is immigration, with Sir Keir on one hand talking up the need to reform rules and a Labour leader on the other who finds dealing with the issue more awkward. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn (Getty) Earlier this month it was briefed that Mr Corbyn would give a speech saying Labour is not wedded to free movement of people, only for the speech to be altered when given the next day to include the line, ...but I dont want that to be misinterpreted, nor do we rule it out. It was claimed in some news stories that the speech was changed after an intervention by shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott, who in some reports Sir Keir has been pitched against in a struggle over Labours immigration policy. Asked to shed light on why the speech was changed, Sir Keir said: I wasnt with Jeremy that day, so Im not in a position to say. I have consistently said that the way freedom of movement operates will have to be part of negotiation and will have to change. Thats what I said in my Bloomberg speech and that speech was agreed within the party, and I have been very clear about that. Was it changed after an intervention from Ms Abbott? I dont know, he said. Diane Abbott: 'Labour won't block Brexit' He pointed out that both Mr Corbyn and Ms Abbott have said that any deal must be based upon fair immigration rules and the reasonable management of migration. Sir Keir did not mention immigration in his Commons statement relating to Ms Mays Brexit speech. He said this was because he had already been clear that rules had to change on occasions that are too many to note. He did tell The Independent, however: Of course there is a debate going on about all of these things, including immigration, and you wouldnt accept it from me if I said otherwise. But there is genuine consensus that understanding the referendum is as important as accepting it. Tese debates are going on in the party and they need to pulled together as a future-looking project that will enable the Labour Party to challenge effectively at the next election. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Two countries have already told the UK that it must relax immigration rules if it wants a free trade deal after Brexit. Australia's high commissioner to the UK, Alexander Downer, has echoed Indias calls for Theresa May to relax rules on visa restrictions on its citizens if she wants to form a lasting trading partnership outside the EU. Mr Downer told BBC Radio 4 that Canberra would seek "greater access" for Australian businesspeople before it agreed a deal with London. Informal ministerial talks between the two countries had already taken place to explore the scope of an agreement, he said. Theresa May: UK left the EU to embrace the world We would want to see greater access for Australian businesspeople working in the UK and thats often been a part of free-trade negotiations it hasnt always been by the way, but its often been part of our free-trade negotiations," he added. For example, an Australian company that invests in the UK might want to bring some of its executives to the UK. That can be done now with what are called tier two visas, but maybe that could be made a little bit easier. The Governments attempts to woo India also hit a snag earlier this week. Mobility issues are of importance to us; we cannot separate free movement of people from the free flow of goods, services and investments, a senior Indian official said. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson addresses the 2nd Raisina Dialogue event in New Delhi, India. He flew to the country to bring talks for a free trade deal (EPA) Ms May has made India - one of the fastest growing economies in the world - the centrepiece of her post-Brexit trade plans. It was the first country she visited after becoming Prime Minister. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also flew to Delhi last week. He met members of the government and business leaders in order to turbocharge the relationship between the two countries. His visit came shortly after Ms May announced there will be a Hard Brexit meaning an end to freedom of movement as anxieties over high levels of immigration played a major role in the EU referendum. Recommended Theresa May warned free trade Brexit deal without cutting immigration But many communities and industries which rely on non-EU workers have indicated they feel betrayed following promises from the Leave side that there would be more room for their skilled workers once immigration from the EU was restricted. Britains 4bn curry industry, which campaigned for the UK to leave the EU, has already said it felt betrayed by Ms Mays post-Brexit immigration crackdown. 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 It said they were already struggling to hire chefs, who usually come from Bangladesh, because they do not earn the 30,000 per year required for a visa. A survey published at the end of last year found the number of licensed curry restaurants had declined by 13 per cent in 18 months. The president of the Bangladesh Caterers Association which urged its members to vote for Brexit in the hopes of better visa rules recently said he was very disappointed the Governments refusal to introduce a points-based immigration system. Pasha Khandaker said: My organisation supported Brexit for several reasons but the main reason was to bring people from abroad to help our industry to survive. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Theresa May is under pressure to admit what she knew about the misfiring of an unarmed Trident missile, three weeks before a parliamentary vote on whether to renew Britains flagship nuclear deterrent system. The backlash gathered momentum after a disastrous TV interview, on the BBCs Andrew Marr Show, in which the Prime Minister was asked four times whether she was aware of the incident but refused to confirm or deny. Reports in The Sunday Times claim that the launch of an unarmed Trident II D5 missile from a British submarine off the coast of Florida in June malfunctioned. A source told the paper that the missile could have veered off in the wrong direction after being launched and started heading towards America. Mrs May did not mention this test in a speech to MPs before the Commons vote, in which she urged them to back renewal, leading to allegations the malfunction has been covered up Jeremy Corbyn responded to Ms Mays evasiveness by describing the alleged incident, which took place in July, as a pretty catastrophic error. We understand the Prime Minister chose not to inform Parliament, and instead it came out through the media," he told Sky News. Its a pretty catastrophic error when a missile goes in the wrong direction and while it wasnt armed, goodness knows what the consequences of that could have been. The Labour leader repeated his longstanding belief that the country should commit to nuclear disarmament. Scotlands First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: This is a hugely serious issue. There should be full disclosure of what happened, who knew what when, and why House of Commons wasnt told. MPs urged Defence Secretary Michael Fallon to make a statement to the Commons on the incident on Monday. Nia Griffith, Labours Shadow Defence Secretary, said: This report of a Trident missile veering off course during a test is clearly a very serious matter indeed, and we need to know exactly what happened. It is completely unacceptable that today the Prime Minister chose to sidestep questions on the test and would not even tell us when she knew about the incident. I am demanding the Prime Minister come to Parliament tomorrow to give a full explanation to MPs. Labour peer and former senior Royal Navy officer Admiral Lord West added it was bizarre and stupid to not tell anyone about the test. On The Andrew Marr Show, the Prime Minister refused to answer four separate questions on whether she knew about the incident prior to the parliamentary vote. She said: I have absolute faith in our Trident missiles. It was about whether or not we should renew Trident, whether we should look to the future and have a replacement Trident. I think we should defend our country, I think we should play our role in NATO with an independent nuclear deterrent. Jeremy Corbyn thinks differently. Julian Lewis, who is chair of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee, told Sky News that Theresa May couldnt be blamed for any sort of cover up over the issue. These sort of things are observed by very many people, he said. It is surprising really that it has taken this long for this story to come out. I dont think one can blame Theresa May, [if there was a cover up] it will have been in place for a month before she became prime minister. Mr Lewis added that the Cameron administration had a bad record of playing politics with the nuclear deterrent. The vote was put off as a love gift for the Liberal Democrats, who are against it, and then it was put off again in February in order to embarrass the Labour Party. When Cameron knew he was leaving it was brought forward, then the leadership context came to an end quickly, so it ended up being the first thing Theresa May did not the last thing Cameron did. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} British Prime Minister Theresa May says she will discuss free trade and the importance of the NATO military alliance when she meets President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday. Ms May is set to become the first foreign leader to meet with the new president. She said Sunday she looks forward to expanding the "special relationship" between the U.S. and Britain. It is likely that Mrs May's trip to the US will be followed by a state visit by Mr Trump to Britain, which would include an audience with the Queen and the pomp and pageantry of which the president seems so fond. She told the BBC's Andrew Marr programme that the Trump administration is interested in a good trade deal with Britain despite its stated "America first" policy. Ms May says Trump values NATO even though he has spoken critically of the alliance. The prime minister did not directly answer questions about whether she would challenge Mr Trump on some of the comments he has made about women. She earlier criticised him for derogatory comments. On Saturday, massive "pink pussy hat" marches in Washington DC and London highlighted Mr Trump's highly controversial past statements about women. In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Show all 32 1 /32 In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London An image of President Donald Trump is seen on a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A view of the skywriting word reading 'Trump' as thousands rally in support of equal rights in Sydney, New South Wales EPA In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome People shout and hold signs during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A protester holds a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille A placard ready 'Pussy grabs back' is attached to the handle bar of a bike during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A young Thai girl holds a "women's rights are human rights" sign at Roadhouse BBQ restaurant where many of the Bangkok Womens March participants gathered in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A Thai woman takes a photo of a "hate is not great" sign at the women's solidarity gathering in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok American expats and travellers gather with the international community in Bangkok at the Roadhouse BBQ restaurant to stand in solidarity in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protetesters gather outside The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Women's March at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Protestors hold placards reading 'My body my choice, my vote my voice' during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome A person holds a sign during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activist Sarah Annay Williamson holds a placard and shouts slogan during the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activists participate in the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A Women's March placards are rested on a bench outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A women carries her placard ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila Women protesters shout slogans while displaying placards during a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President Donald Trump, in suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Protesters take part in the Melbourne rally to protest against the Trump Inauguration in Melbourne, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters take part in the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Womens march on Melbourne protestors marching during a rally where rights groups marched in solidarity with Americans to speak out against misogyny, bigotry and hatred Rex In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau, Macau. The Women's March originated in Washington DC but soon spread to be a global march calling on all concerned citizens to stand up for equality, diversity and inclusion and for women's rights to be recognised around the world as human rights Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila A mother carries her son as they join a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States in suburban Quezon city northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney An infant is held up at a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman attends a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman expresses her Anti-Trump views in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydeney Protesters demonstrate against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia. The marches in Australia were organised to show solidarity with those marching on Washington DC and around the world in defense of women's rights and human rights Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters march from The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square towards Trafalgar Square during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters carrying banners take part in the Women's March on London, as they stand in Trafalgar Square, in central London Reuters At least 500,000 people gathered for a rally outside the US Capitol building while organisers said an estimated 100,000 people descended on central London, as similar events were staged in Edinburgh, Bristol and cities across the US. Ms May has promised to be "very frank" during talks, making clear she has found some of the president's comments "unacceptable", including his suggestion that his fame allowed him to "do anything" to women, such as "grabbing them by the pussy". And she has distanced herself from suggestions the pair could rekindle the Reagan-Thatcher bond of the 1980s, saying she does not want to emulate models from the past. The premier is "confident" of striking a trade agreement with Mr Trump despite his "America first" strategy sparking concerns in the UK about his willingness to to a deal. But Ms May has suggested the UK and US could reduce barriers to trade before being able to sign a formal agreement after Brexit, with a new passporting system to govern transatlantic bank trade reportedly being considered. Ms May is likely to emphasise the importance of Nato and the EU for collective security and defence after Mr Trump again worried some observers about his commitment to both organisations. The Telegraph reported that the pair could agree a statement emphasising their commitment to spending at least 2% of GDP on defence and urging other Nato countries to do so, as well as promising action against Isis terrorists. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Women across the UK are joining in a global protest against Donald Trump as he is sworn in as the new US President. With major protests in London, Edinburgh and Cardiff thousands of women in the UKs cities are expected to join the call to demonstrate against the former reality stars anti-women policies. But in the small West Yorkshire town of Shipley, near Bradford, a contingent of self-described Feminist Zealots are marching in solidarity with their American sisters past the constituency office of their local MP the Trump supporting, feminist bete noir Philip Davies. Around 400 people initially said they would be attending on Facebook but over 1,000 people reportedly turned out for the march when it began at 12pm, according to the local organisers Shipley Feminist Zealots. One of the group which is connected to other groups organising protests around the world under the umbrella of Sister Marches Jenny Wilson told The Independent it feels like our little march in Shipley was part of a much bigger movement. She said: There will be tens of thousands in London but there will only be hundreds in Shipley and [people will ask] does that matter? Well it does matter because it is part of a global movement of people saying that equality, unity, peace and standing up for people who dont have the opportunity to stand up for themselves matters. I feel that is terribly important. Women gathered in the small town centre to march on the route that went past Tory MP Philip Davies' office (Hawarun Hussain) She dismissed claims from people who say protesters should shut up and respect the election result saying that is not how democracy works. Nor is the march just for women on the left. Referring to an open letter to the group from Mr Davies which accused them of using feminism to disguise their socialism, Ms Wilson said the march was not partisan and claims that they were pushing a party political agenda were ridiculous. She said: He accuses us of hiding our socialism behind our feminism when I know that we are not all socialists. Im not party political at all personally, and it is the rights of women that we are marching for. Its not about party politics. Its not about Philip Davies even hes just given us a reason to march in Shipley. She said Conservative supporters were more than welcome at the event and suggested that the party should be concerned about some of the positions Mr Davies took. On the Facebook event for the march, participants were asked to wear traditional UK suffragettes colours green, white and purple to mark the sacrifices which modern day campaigners believe are under threat. Though Ms Wilson said it would be crazy to think womens right to vote itself is under threat, other freedoms like the right to have an abortion or for help to leave an abusive relationship which face new restrictions. In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President-elect Donald Trump acknowledges guests as he arrives on the platform at the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump looks on during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington AP In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President Donald Trump shakes hands with Justice John Roberts after taking the oath at inauguration ceremonies swearing in Trump as the 45th president of the United States Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President Donald Trump raises his fists after his inauguration on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol Getty In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. President-elect Donald Trump greets outgoing President Barack Obama before Trump is inaugurated during ceremonies on the Capitol in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump resident-elect Donald Trump arrives on the platform of the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Attendees partake in the inauguration ceremonies to swear in Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States at the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump US President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address during ceremonies at the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. President Donald Trump waves with wife Melania during the Inaugural Parade in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters registered their rage against the new president Friday in a chaotic confrontation with police who used pepper spray and stun grenades in a melee just blocks from Donald Trump's inaugural parade route. Scores were arrested for trashing property and attacking officers AP In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators protest against US President Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A woman holds a sign before the start of the Presidential Inauguration of Donald Trump at Freedom Plaza in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Anti-Trump protesters prepare banners for a protest against the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, in Berlin REUTERS In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators shout slogans against US President-elect Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators march, block foot traffic and clash with U.S. Capitol Police at the entry checkpoints for the Inauguration of Donald Trump Alamy Live News In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators display a banner as people arrive for US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A man displays a placard as people lineup to get into the National Mall for the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump raise their hands as they are surrounded by police on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A demonstrator wearing a mask depicting Donald Trump protests outside the US Embassy in London Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators hold placards as they protest outside the US Embassy in London Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Former US President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush arrive for the Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden share an umbrella as President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address at the inauguration in Washington DC Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton arrive on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. Vice President Mike Pence takes the oath of office on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Advisors to President-elect Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon depart from services at St. John's Church during the Presidential Inauguration in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump take cover as they are hit by pepper spray by police on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump An activist demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump is helped after being hit by pepper spray on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A police officer tries to tackle a protester demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump Reuters/Adrees Latif In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Police arrest and detain a protester in the street in Washington DC Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A police officer falls to the ground as another shoots pepper spray at protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters The group was formed last summer in response to comments made by Mr Davies at the conference of the mens rights party Justice for Men and Boys where he suggested feminist zealots wanted to have their cake and eat it. He said the justice system was skewed towards women at the expense of men and believed that there was no issue between men and women arguing that gender inequality against women had been stirred up by militant feminists. The Tory later became one of the only MPs to endorse Mr Trump for President, saying he would vote for the former reality star in a heartbeat. In the week he was appointed to the House of Commons Women and Equalities Select Committee he also tried to filibuster a bill which would ratify the Istanbul convention on tackling and preventing violence against women saying laws should protect men and women equally. Conservative MP Philip Davies endorsed Mr Trump and has spoken against measures to help women in the past But Ms Wilson stressed the group was committed to gender equality the money it raised from cake sales was donated equally to Bradford Womens Aid and mens mental health charity Calm. Aisha Ali-Khan, another member of the Feminist Zealots group from neighbouring Keighley, told The Independent that she felt it was particularly important for her to protest as a Pakistani Muslim woman. She said: "I have been concerned about his rhetoric around us for a long long time. Even before he said they should ban Muslims from entering the US. I know that if I was ever to go to America this would affect me, having him in the White House. I can understand why people initially said oh hes a maverick, oh hes sticking it to the establishment but do we really want that at the cost of world peace? She said all the rights modern women took for granted were now under threat and this was the start of a global movement to secure them. A banner advertising the march organised by Shipley Feminist Zealots in the town centre (Siobhan Clibbens) There is a momentum growing. We have to stand up now, we are losing the privileges that so many women before us have fought so hard to get, she explained We are moving backwards. If weve got people like this in the White House giving legitimacy to these kinds of views and youve got people all over the world looking to America to set the example. According to Sister Marches, more than two million people are expected to turn out to protests in more than 30 different countries, in everywhere from Iceland to Antarctica. The group stressed it was not just about opposing Mr Trumps inauguration it was more about being proactive about womens rights. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Paul Nuttall, the leader of Ukip, has criticised Donald Trump, calling previous comments by the US President way above and beyond the pale. The condemnation marks a clear break with the position of Mr Nuttalls predecessor, Nigel Farage, who travelled to the US to campaign for Mr Trump and was the first British politician to meet with the Republican following his election. During the presidential campaign, footage emerged showing Mr Trump boasting that being rich made it easy for him to sexually assault women. Mr Farage dismissed the comments at the time as alpha male boasting and the kind of thing men do. Despite his criticism of the new Presidents comments, Mr Nuttall said he believed Mr Trump would be good for Britain. Hes clearly an Anglophile. The bust of Winston Churchill is back in the Oval Office and he has said Britain will be at the front of the queue for a trade deal, he said. In another shift in position, and a possible rebuke to Mr Farage, he also signalled that Ukip under his leadership would no longer involve itself in other countrys elections, including the French presidential election in which far-right Marine Le Pen has emerged as a front runner. This leader of Ukip is not interested in foreign elections, he said. I will not be going out to campaign for anyoneand none of my MEP colleagues will be doing out to campaign for Marine Le Pen." The Ukip leader is standing as his partys candidate in the upcoming Stoke-on-Trent by-election. In the interview with ITVs Peston on Sunday programme, he refused to say whether he believed Ukip would take the seat. We are going to come very close, he said, promising Ukips most professional and well-resourced campaign yet. The by-election is seen as a tight race between Ukip and Labour, with the outgoing MP, Labours Tristram Hunt, having had a majority of just over 5,000. Key Faces of UKIP Show all 11 1 /11 Key Faces of UKIP Key Faces of UKIP Nigel Farage Getty Key Faces of UKIP United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) Migration spokesman Steven Woolfe addresses supporters and media personnel in central London Getty Key Faces of UKIP Robert Kilroy-Silk, former television presenter and newly elected member of the European Parliament for the UK Independence Party (UKIP), shows a placard against the European Constitution in front of the Houses of Parliament Getty Key Faces of UKIP Mark Reckless, Director of Policy Development addresses party members during the UK Independence Party annual conference at Doncaster Racecourse Getty Key Faces of UKIP Gerard Batten MEP poses with protesters outside parliament Creative Commons Key Faces of UKIP Diane James gives an address at the UKIP Autumn Conference in Bournemouth Getty Key Faces of UKIP Douglas Carswell MP speaks to party members and supporters during the UK Independence Party annual conference Getty Key Faces of UKIP Suzanne Evans, Deputy Party Chairman of UK Independence Party (UKIP) speaks during the launch of UKIP's election manifesto Getty Key Faces of UKIP Peter Whittle, the UK Independence Party Member of the London Assembly, is interviewed in central London Getty Key Faces of UKIP MEP Mike Hookem during a visit to Concept Metal Products & Co Ltd Getty Key Faces of UKIP Paul Nuttall, Deputy Leader of the UK Independence Party speaks at a Say NO, Believe in Britain debate at Carn Brea Leisure Centre in Pool near Redruthon Getty Mr Nuttall also launched a withering attack on Theresa May, claiming she has a record of not delivering on her promises. Shes always been very good at talking the talk but when it comes to walking the walk, it always fails, he said. Whether thats tackling radical Islam as Home Secretary or indeed getting immigration figures down to the tens of thousands both of which she promised to do and did absolutely nothing. The Ukip MEP was equally dismissive of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn, accusing it of being obsessed with issues such as Israel-Palestine and fair trade that he claimed are important only to people at the Islington dinner party table and not to working people. Mr Nuttall confirmed he had a stronger relationship with his partys only MP, Douglas Carswell, than his predecessor did. Mr Carswell and Mr Farage had a tempestuous relationship that included a number of public fallings-out. I have a better relationship with Douglas Carswell than my predecessor did, which isnt hard, by the way, he said. He also reaffirmed his partys commitment to cut the UKs foreign aid spending. Im not in favour of the status quo, I want to see more money put into the NHS. We have a foreign aid budget which at the moment is costing the British people 30m every single day. We believe that should be slashed and that money should be put into the NHS. Describing current aid spending as an absolute outrage, he added: I want to see British taxpayers money spent here in our country, on our own people. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Theresa May was as evasive as ever during her latest interview, appearing to dodge questions on six subjects in just a matter of minutes. It is a tactic Ms May has often employed, meandering away from the original query when asked about child mental health funding earlier this month, declining to say why she sacked ex-Chancellor George Osborne last year and giving a tangential response to a Jeremy Corbyn question about Boris Johnson's use of racial slurs. In a wide-ranging interview on the Andrew Marr Show, the PM was grilled on her upcoming meeting with US President Donald Trump, her plan for Brexit and the alleged hushing-up of a failed Trident nuclear weapons test. Here they are in full: Trump's speech Asked what she thought of Mr Trump's inauguration speech, which her own policy chief described as "deliberately divisive and confrontational", Ms May said: "I think his inauguration speech was, had a very clear message to it, which is the message that he gave during his campaign, about putting America first. In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Show all 32 1 /32 In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London An image of President Donald Trump is seen on a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A view of the skywriting word reading 'Trump' as thousands rally in support of equal rights in Sydney, New South Wales EPA In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome People shout and hold signs during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A protester holds a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille A placard ready 'Pussy grabs back' is attached to the handle bar of a bike during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A young Thai girl holds a "women's rights are human rights" sign at Roadhouse BBQ restaurant where many of the Bangkok Womens March participants gathered in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A Thai woman takes a photo of a "hate is not great" sign at the women's solidarity gathering in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok American expats and travellers gather with the international community in Bangkok at the Roadhouse BBQ restaurant to stand in solidarity in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protetesters gather outside The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Women's March at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Protestors hold placards reading 'My body my choice, my vote my voice' during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome A person holds a sign during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activist Sarah Annay Williamson holds a placard and shouts slogan during the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activists participate in the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A Women's March placards are rested on a bench outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A women carries her placard ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila Women protesters shout slogans while displaying placards during a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President Donald Trump, in suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Protesters take part in the Melbourne rally to protest against the Trump Inauguration in Melbourne, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters take part in the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Womens march on Melbourne protestors marching during a rally where rights groups marched in solidarity with Americans to speak out against misogyny, bigotry and hatred Rex In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau, Macau. The Women's March originated in Washington DC but soon spread to be a global march calling on all concerned citizens to stand up for equality, diversity and inclusion and for women's rights to be recognised around the world as human rights Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila A mother carries her son as they join a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States in suburban Quezon city northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney An infant is held up at a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman attends a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman expresses her Anti-Trump views in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydeney Protesters demonstrate against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia. The marches in Australia were organised to show solidarity with those marching on Washington DC and around the world in defense of women's rights and human rights Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters march from The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square towards Trafalgar Square during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters carrying banners take part in the Women's March on London, as they stand in Trafalgar Square, in central London Reuters "But if you think about it, any leader, and government, as we do here in the United Kingdom when we look at any issue, we ensure that we're putting UK's interests and the interests of British people first." She hoped to "build on the special relationship", she added. Trump and women Mr Marr asked if the Prime Minister would raise with Mr Trump his treatment of women. During the campaign Mr Trump attacked Fox News host Megyn Kelly and a recording was released of him boasting that famous men could grab women "by the pussy". Protest marches took place around the world on Saturday with women carrying signs that read, "Pussy grabs back". Ms May replied that she had already said some of Mr Trumps comments were "unacceptable" and "some of those, he himself has apologised for." She added: "When I sit down, I think the biggest statement about the role of women is that fact that I will be there as a female prime minister of the United Kingdom, talking to him, directly talking to him about the interests that we share." Pressed directly on whether she would broach the subject, she said: "Whenever there is something that I find unacceptable I will not be afraid to say that to Donald Trump." Nato Mr Trump, it was then pointed out to the Prime Minister, had previously called Nato "obsolete". She said: "No, he has shown, also I've spoken to him about Nato. Nato is an important, very important, Nato has been the bulwark of our security here in Europe and we work together in Nato. We've both made the point before about contributions being made by countries. The United Kingdom is spending 2 per cent of its GDP on defence, I believe that's important." Mr Marr interjected: "Do you agree with what he said about other Nato countries not paying their way? Ms May said: "Well, there are other Nato countries that are also paying 2 per cent of their GDP on defence and others that are working towards doing that. What is important is that we recognise the value of Nato, which he does." Brexit Asked later about her plans for Brexit and her plans for new policies to make Britain attractive to investors in the event of a "bad deal", she said: "I have every expectation that we will be able to achieve a very good trade deal with the European Union. I think that not just because it's going to be good for the UK but also it's going to be good for the European Union too. "So I want a trade deal with the EU which ensures that our companies have the best possible access to and opportunity to operate within the European single market in goods and services. But I'm very clear that on behalf of the British people I don't want to sign up to a bad deal for the UK. So it is right that we say we look at the alternatives." Asked what those alternatives might be, Ms May said: "Well the alternative, whatever the circumstances, whatever the deal we sign up to, I want to maintain the competitiveness of the British economy, which is why I want to maintain those options." Mr Marr asked whether that meant turning the UK into a tax haven. Ms May said: "We will be looking at the competitiveness of the British economy. If we have to walk away, I don't expect we will, I have every confidence, because of the interests of the European Union, as well, that we will be able to get that good deal. I know you're trying to ask me to go into details." The host replied: "If I may say so, Prime Minister, you're elegantly moving away from what I'm trying to ask you about." Following a reiteration of his question, Ms May declined again to go into detail. Asked whether the UK's intelligence assistance would be a chip on the table during negotiations, she did say: "It's not the time to cooperate less, it's the time to cooperate more," in the face of threats to Europe. Trident 'cover-up' The Prime Minister was next asked about a botched Trident nuclear weapons test that reportedly occurred in June last yearthe month before the House of Commons voted to renew the UK's nuclear deterrent. Asked four times to say whether she knew of the accident before she addressed the Commons in July, Ms May refused to confirm or deny it. Mr Marr conceded: "I'm not going to get an answer." Social care Lastly he asked Ms May whether she supported Surrey County Council leader David Hodge's decision to push for a 15 per cent rise in council tax to pay for social care, and whether she would vote for it if she lived in the county. The Prime Minister said: "We recognise that there are pressures on social care. That is precisely why we have put extra money into social care, we've allowed local authorities to raise extra money for social care through the social care precept. "But what local authorities do in relation to their council tax is a matter for them and between them and their electorates. What we have done is put extra money in, we have enabled them to have that ability to raise money through the social care precept, but this isn't just about the amount of money that is available. "We need to ensure that best practice is spread around the country. There are some councils where there are virtually no delayed discharges from hospitals into social care, there are others, there are 24 councils, that account for 50 per cent of the delayed discharges. Let's look at what is happening in the system. "And then, crucially, this is an issue that has been ducked by governments for too long. That is why I have set up work to say we need to find a solution." Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Downing Street has been accused of covering up a Trident missile malfunction weeks before a crucial Commons vote on the future of the submarine-based missile system. The Sunday Times reports that a Trident II D5 missile test ended in failure after it was launched from the British submarine HMS Vengeance off the coast of Florida in June last year. The newspaper reports that the cause of the failure remains top secret, but quotes a senior naval source saying the missile, which was unarmed for the test, suffered an in-flight malfunction after launch. It was reportedly intended to be fired 5,600 miles to a sea target off the west coast of Africa but may have veered off towards America instead. What is Trident? The source told the newspaper: There was a major panic at the highest level of government and the military after the first test of our nuclear deterrent in four years ended in disastrous failure. Ultimately Downing Street decided to cover up the failed test. If the information was made public, they knew how damaging it would be to the credibility of our nuclear deterrent. The upcoming Trident vote made it all the more sensitive. In July, MPs voted by 472 to 117 to back the renewal of Britain's Trident nuclear deterrence. The overwhelming vote supported the Government's plans to spend up to 40 billion on four new Successor-class submarines. Which countries have nuclear weapons? Show all 14 1 /14 Which countries have nuclear weapons? Which countries have nuclear weapons? USA Have nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? Russia Have nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? UK Have nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? France Have nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? China Have nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? India Say they have nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? Pakistan Say they have nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? North Korea Say they have nuclear weapons EPA/Rodong Sinmun Which countries have nuclear weapons? Israel Believed to have nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? Belgium Nations hosting nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? Germany Nations hosting nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? Italy Nations hosting nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? Netherlands Nations hosting nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? Turkey Nations hosting nuclear weapons Getty Labour former defence minister Kevan Jones has demanded an inquiry into the failed test. The UKs independent nuclear deterrent is a vital cornerstone for the nations defence, he told the newspaper. If there are problems, they should not have been covered up in this ham-fisted way. Ministers should come clean if there are problems and there should be an urgent inquiry into what happened. A Government spokesman said: "The capability and effectiveness of the Trident missile, should we ever need to employ it, is unquestionable. "In June the Royal Navy conducted a routine unarmed Trident missile test launch from HMS Vengeance, as part of an operation which is designed to certify the submarine and its crew. "Vengeance and her crew were successfully tested and certified, allowing Vengeance to return into service. We have absolute confidence in our independent nuclear deterrent. "We do not provide further details on submarine operations for obvious national security reasons." Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The British Government has said Gerry Adamss claims Brexit will destroy the Good Friday Agreement are unfounded. The Sinn Fein president said fundamental human rights enshrined in the 1998 accord to end violence could be undermined. But the top legal adviser to Stormont ministers has said not one word in the Agreement would be affected. A statement from the Government said none of the institutions and provisions set out in the Belfast Agreement, including those relating to human rights, were in any way undermined by the decision of the UK to leave the EU. It added: "These comments are totally without any basis in fact." The Sinn Fein leader said Northern Ireland should enjoy special status within the union of 27 states after Brexit, and claimed that would not affect the constitutional settlement which secures its status as part of the UK. The Government said: The UK Government is fully behind the implementation of the Belfast Agreement and its successors, including Stormont House and Fresh Start. There will be no return to the borders of the past. We are also working intensively to ensure that following the forthcoming election strong and stable devolved government that works for everyone is re-established in Northern Ireland. Mr Adams, a Dail TD (member of the Irish parliament), addressed a conference on achieving a united Ireland in Dublin on Saturday. He said: The British Government's intention to take the North out of the EU, despite the wish of the people there to remain, is a hostile action. Not just because of the implications of a hard border on this island, but also because of its negative impact on the Good Friday Agreement. "The British Prime Minister repeated her intention to bring an end to the jurisdiction of the European Court. Along with her commitment to remove Britain from the European Convention on Human Rights, this stand threatens to undermine the fundamental human rights elements of the Good Friday Agreement." For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Gambias former leader Yahya Jammeh has flown out of the capital Banjul and into political exile, ending his 22-year-reign. Mr Jammeh arrived at the airport with Alpha Conde, the president of Guinea, who served as a mediator during the crisis. The pair are thought to be heading to Guinea and from there the former leader will move to an unknown country. As Mr Jammeh climbed the stairs to the plane, he turned to the crowd, kissed his Quran and waved to his supporters, including soldiers who cried at his departure. Al Hadji Yahya Jammeh at Banjul airport (Reuters) The authoritarian leader took power in a 1994 coup and has stepped down after facing pressure from West African armies that entered Gambia to force him to recognise that he lost an election to President Adama Barrow. Mr Barrow said he would launch a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate all possible crimes Mr Jammeh may have committed. 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 "We aren't talking about prosecution here, we are talking about getting a truth and reconciliation commission," Mr Barrow told the Associated Press. "Before you can act, you have to get the truth, to get the facts together." Human rights activists had demanded Mr Jammeh be held responsible for allegedly torturing and detaining opponents. All flights to the UK from Gambia have been suspended amid the crisis and the Foreign Office has issued an alert. In a statement on its website, Thomas Cook said it had activated contingency plans and was laying on extra flights to remove 985 package tour customers from the nation. It was also trying to contact a further 2,500 flight only tourists in Gambia to arrange for their departure on the earliest available flight. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Washington DC neighbourhood of Kalorama is used to some rather high-profile residents. Not only is it home to the embassies of nations such as China, Oman and Serbia, but it is also where the ambassadors of France and Mexico have their private residences. During the administration of George W Bush, his defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld lived here. Now the exclusive area is getting ready for some more famous residents the Obamas, and Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner. The former first couple, and the current first daughter and son-in-law, are going to live just a few hundred yards from each other. Ms Trump and Mr Kushner paid a reported $5.5m for this home (Andrew Buncombe ) (Andrew Buncombe) I dont think its any surprise that Ivanka is moving in here. Its full of ambassadors and politicians, said Bheeshm Chaudhary, who was walking in the Sunday afternoon rain with friends, as drizzle dripped from the trees. Mr Obama is the ex-president of the United States. He can live anywhere he wants. Earlier this month, it was confirmed that Ms Trump and her husband had bought a large home on the corner of Tracy Place for $5.5m (4.5m). Last year, it was reported that the Obamas had bought a 8,000-square-foot house for $6.35m (5.12m) on nearby Belmont Road. Donald Trump arrives at the White House A steady stream of people, many of them who said they were in the city for the Womens March on Washington, made their way to the end of Belmont Road, hoping for a glimpse of the Obama house. As it was, Secret Service vehicles were blocking off both ends of the street. No, sorry you cant go down, said one young officer. Outside Ms Trumps new home, a security guard sitting in a parked car was asking people to walk on the other side of the street. The two high-profile couples have different reasons for needing to be in Washington. Mr Kushner has been sworn in as advisor to the President and will work out of the White House. It was initially believed that Mr Trumps daughter would also take a White House job, but she decided not to. But both of them are relocating from New York. Meanwhile, the Obamas have decided to remain in Washington, unlike most ex-presidents, to enable their daughter, Sasha, to finish high school here. In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Show all 32 1 /32 In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London An image of President Donald Trump is seen on a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A view of the skywriting word reading 'Trump' as thousands rally in support of equal rights in Sydney, New South Wales EPA In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome People shout and hold signs during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A protester holds a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille A placard ready 'Pussy grabs back' is attached to the handle bar of a bike during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A young Thai girl holds a "women's rights are human rights" sign at Roadhouse BBQ restaurant where many of the Bangkok Womens March participants gathered in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A Thai woman takes a photo of a "hate is not great" sign at the women's solidarity gathering in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok American expats and travellers gather with the international community in Bangkok at the Roadhouse BBQ restaurant to stand in solidarity in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protetesters gather outside The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Women's March at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Protestors hold placards reading 'My body my choice, my vote my voice' during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome A person holds a sign during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activist Sarah Annay Williamson holds a placard and shouts slogan during the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activists participate in the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A Women's March placards are rested on a bench outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A women carries her placard ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila Women protesters shout slogans while displaying placards during a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President Donald Trump, in suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Protesters take part in the Melbourne rally to protest against the Trump Inauguration in Melbourne, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters take part in the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Womens march on Melbourne protestors marching during a rally where rights groups marched in solidarity with Americans to speak out against misogyny, bigotry and hatred Rex In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau, Macau. The Women's March originated in Washington DC but soon spread to be a global march calling on all concerned citizens to stand up for equality, diversity and inclusion and for women's rights to be recognised around the world as human rights Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila A mother carries her son as they join a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States in suburban Quezon city northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney An infant is held up at a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman attends a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman expresses her Anti-Trump views in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydeney Protesters demonstrate against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia. The marches in Australia were organised to show solidarity with those marching on Washington DC and around the world in defense of women's rights and human rights Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters march from The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square towards Trafalgar Square during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters carrying banners take part in the Women's March on London, as they stand in Trafalgar Square, in central London Reuters It is unclear whether the couples will bump into each other much. There is no local restaurant and no neighbourhood coffee store within the immediate vicinity. The leafy streets are popular with joggers, so it is conceivable they could run past each other. Other than that, the neighbourhood is overwhelmingly quiet, rich and white. A couple who live opposite Ms Trumps new house were climbing into their car. How would they best describe the area? They were clearly reluctant to say the wrong thing, or indeed, say anything at all. Well located, said the man, before the woman glared at him. (Hurry up Richard.) The road where the Obamas are to live was closed off by the Secret Service (Andrew Buncombe ) (Andrew Buncombe) The neighbourhood is also home to the Islamic Centre of Washington, a mosque that has stood close to a bridge over Rock Creek since 1957. A week after the attacks of September 11, 2001, Mr Bush visited there and delivered a televised address in which he said the overwhelming majority of Muslims were peaceful. While diplomats from countries with large Muslim populations worked to establish the centre, it is ordinary citizens, many of them taxi drivers, who attend the mosque, which has a friendly, welcoming reputation. The taxi drivers frequently park in the streets close to where the Obamas and Ms Trump will be living. I dont think the extra security is going to be a problem for us, said one man who asked not to give his name, who had just left afternoon prayers. Some people have suggested that the arrival of the new celebrity residents will push up local property prices. I think that if Ivanka moves here, it will put up property prices, and may force some locals to move out, said Tressa Munoz, who lives in the citys Columbia Heights neighbourhood, which she said was the most diverse in the city. Asked if she thought, Mr Trumps daughter should move to that more diverse area, she said: I think she should stay in New York. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The most senior Democrat in the Senate has condemned supporters of Donald Trump who booed at his inauguration speech in which he called for an inclusive America. Chuck Schumer was among those who spoke during Fridays inauguration ceremony, and his slot was scheduled just minutes before Donald Trump took the oath of office. We Americans have always been a forward-looking, problem-solving, optimistic, patriotic and decent people, said Mr Schumer, the only Democrat to address the crowds. Mr Trump preparing his address to the nation (Twitter) Whatever our race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity; whether we are immigrant or native-born, whether we live with disabilities or do not, in wealth or in poverty; we are all exceptional in our commonly held yet fierce devotion to our country, and in our willingness to sacrifice our time, energy, and even our lives to making it a more perfect union. His remarks highlighted concerns about opponents of Mr Trump, that the man who campaigned using frequently harsh and divisive rhetoric, would not work to assuage peoples concerns and govern for all Americans. People are especially concerned about protecting reproductive rights, and the threat to minorities. White House press secretary condemns reporting of Donald Trump's inauguration A number of those in the crowd, said to number up to 250,000, booed Mr Schumers comments. In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Show all 32 1 /32 In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London An image of President Donald Trump is seen on a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A view of the skywriting word reading 'Trump' as thousands rally in support of equal rights in Sydney, New South Wales EPA In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome People shout and hold signs during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A protester holds a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille A placard ready 'Pussy grabs back' is attached to the handle bar of a bike during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A young Thai girl holds a "women's rights are human rights" sign at Roadhouse BBQ restaurant where many of the Bangkok Womens March participants gathered in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A Thai woman takes a photo of a "hate is not great" sign at the women's solidarity gathering in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok American expats and travellers gather with the international community in Bangkok at the Roadhouse BBQ restaurant to stand in solidarity in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protetesters gather outside The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Women's March at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Protestors hold placards reading 'My body my choice, my vote my voice' during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome A person holds a sign during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activist Sarah Annay Williamson holds a placard and shouts slogan during the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activists participate in the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A Women's March placards are rested on a bench outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A women carries her placard ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila Women protesters shout slogans while displaying placards during a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President Donald Trump, in suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Protesters take part in the Melbourne rally to protest against the Trump Inauguration in Melbourne, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters take part in the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Womens march on Melbourne protestors marching during a rally where rights groups marched in solidarity with Americans to speak out against misogyny, bigotry and hatred Rex In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau, Macau. The Women's March originated in Washington DC but soon spread to be a global march calling on all concerned citizens to stand up for equality, diversity and inclusion and for women's rights to be recognised around the world as human rights Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila A mother carries her son as they join a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States in suburban Quezon city northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney An infant is held up at a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman attends a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman expresses her Anti-Trump views in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydeney Protesters demonstrate against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia. The marches in Australia were organised to show solidarity with those marching on Washington DC and around the world in defense of women's rights and human rights Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters march from The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square towards Trafalgar Square during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters carrying banners take part in the Women's March on London, as they stand in Trafalgar Square, in central London Reuters On Sunday, Mr Schumer strongly condemned those who had jeered him as he spoke. The fact that saying these things which are usually accepted by every American met the displeasure of the crowd doesnt speak too kindly of that crowd, Mr Schumer, from New York, told CNN. Just the people who booed. Im sure it wasn't most of them. He added: That speech, given with any other president, with any other audience, would have been cheered. It's not controversial language to say we're all Americans. It's not controversial language to reach out to others who might not be exactly like you. And so, the fact that people didn't like it speaks poorly of them, not of what I said in the speech. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The lawyer who fought and won her case in Roe v Wade at the age of just 26 has said that President Donald Trump posed the biggest threat yet to abortion rights. Sarah Weddington, now 71, did not have much legal experience when she ended up in front of the Supreme Court in 1973, arguing that her client had the right to terminate her pregnancy. The decision by the nations highest court in her favour was a massive turning point for womens reproductive rights. Yet more than four decades later, that victory has moved into more fragile territory. There are far fewer outspoken pro-choice Republicans today, said Ms Weddington, as abortion is increasingly seen as a partisan issue. There were a lot of Republicans for choice, a number of Republican members of the state legislatures and Congress who were pro-choice. [Republican] President Ford and Mrs Ford were both pro-choice. You had a considerable number of Republicans who were pro-choice. I can't name those Republicans today, Ms Weddington told NBC News. I think everyone who cares about the Roe v Wade issue and other reproductive rights is very concerned about what will happen, she added. As President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence settle into the White House, new fears have arisen over womens rights. In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Show all 32 1 /32 In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London An image of President Donald Trump is seen on a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A view of the skywriting word reading 'Trump' as thousands rally in support of equal rights in Sydney, New South Wales EPA In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome People shout and hold signs during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A protester holds a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille A placard ready 'Pussy grabs back' is attached to the handle bar of a bike during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A young Thai girl holds a "women's rights are human rights" sign at Roadhouse BBQ restaurant where many of the Bangkok Womens March participants gathered in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A Thai woman takes a photo of a "hate is not great" sign at the women's solidarity gathering in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok American expats and travellers gather with the international community in Bangkok at the Roadhouse BBQ restaurant to stand in solidarity in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protetesters gather outside The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Women's March at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Protestors hold placards reading 'My body my choice, my vote my voice' during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome A person holds a sign during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activist Sarah Annay Williamson holds a placard and shouts slogan during the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activists participate in the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A Women's March placards are rested on a bench outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A women carries her placard ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila Women protesters shout slogans while displaying placards during a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President Donald Trump, in suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Protesters take part in the Melbourne rally to protest against the Trump Inauguration in Melbourne, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters take part in the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Womens march on Melbourne protestors marching during a rally where rights groups marched in solidarity with Americans to speak out against misogyny, bigotry and hatred Rex In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau, Macau. The Women's March originated in Washington DC but soon spread to be a global march calling on all concerned citizens to stand up for equality, diversity and inclusion and for women's rights to be recognised around the world as human rights Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila A mother carries her son as they join a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States in suburban Quezon city northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney An infant is held up at a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman attends a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman expresses her Anti-Trump views in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydeney Protesters demonstrate against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia. The marches in Australia were organised to show solidarity with those marching on Washington DC and around the world in defense of women's rights and human rights Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters march from The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square towards Trafalgar Square during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters carrying banners take part in the Women's March on London, as they stand in Trafalgar Square, in central London Reuters Mr Trump will soon appoint a Supreme Court justice to fill the gap left by the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Even though another conservative pick will not necessarily overturn the 1973 law, a second or third pick in the future could turn the majority of justices towards a pro-life stance. Roe v Wade has faced threats since it was made into law, including the 1992 Southeastern Pa v Casey. The Supreme Court affirmed the findings of Roe v Wade in this case, but it was a turning point for individual states who found they had more power to control abortion restrictions at the moment of conception. There have been 238 restrictions imposed at state level since 2010, the American Civil Liberties Union found, and 50 last year alone. Shortly after the November election, Ms Weddington wrote on Facebook that she was watching and supporting action by Planned Parenthood and other organisations. There will be different stories from state to state; different concerns and different focuses, she wrote. A lot of people have invested time and resources to ensure all women have access to all their reproductive choices. These people must keep working. And they must reach out to younger people who have the energy and passion to continue this fight. A January survey from the Pew Research Centre found 70 per cent of Americans did not want to overturn Roe v Wade. Yet activists have been concerned by creeping state legislation, which saw the likes of states banning abortions as soon as a babys heartbeat could be heard and forcing women to undergo an ultrasound and hear a doctors description of the fetus, even if she does not want to hear the details. In June 2016, the Supreme Court struck down Texass unconstitutional attempts to shut down abortion clinics by lumping extremely strict restrictions on them. Despite the decision, 16 states have banned abortion at 20 weeks. Even if Roe v Wade is not overturned, many state laws potentially violate the federal law. The ACLU and Planned Parenthood filed the first wave of lawsuits against three states last year and warned they would fight the government every step of the way. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} President Trump used his first full day in office to wage war on the media, accusing news organisations of lying about the size of his inauguration crowd as Saturdays huge protests served notice that a vocal and resolute opposition would be a hallmark of his presidency. With Americans taking to the streets in red and blue states alike to emphatically decry a president they consider reprehensible and, even, illegitimate, Trump visited the Central Intelligence Agency for a stream-of-consciousness airing of grievances including against journalists, whom he called the most dishonest human beings on Earth. Shortly thereafter, press secretary Sean Spicer addressed the media for the first time from the White House, where he yelled at the assembled press corps and charged it with sowing division with deliberately false reporting of Trumps inauguration crowd. Claim #1 Trump claimed that the crowd for his swearing-in stretched down the Mall to the Washington Monument. It did not. Trump accused television networks of showing an empty field and reporting that he drew just 250,000 people to witness Fridays ceremony. It looked like a million, a million and a half people, Trump said. Its a lie. We caught [the media]. We caught them in a beauty. During his 2009 inaugural address, President Obamas crowd extended that far, and a side-by-side comparison of aerial photos from both inaugurations clearly shows that Obamas crowd was much larger than Trumps. This pair of photos shows a view of the crowd on the National Mall at the inaugurations of President Barack Obama, above, on January 20, 2009, and President Donald Trump, below, on January 20, 2017. The photo above and the screengrab from video below were both shot shortly before noon from the top of the Washington Monument (Reuters) Spicer echoed his bosss assertion about the inauguration, insisting from behind the podium at the White House press briefing room that more than 700,000 people stretched down the Mall to the Washington Monument. This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period both in person and around the globe, Spicer said, less than a minute after declaring that no one had numbers because the National Park Service, which controls the Mall, does not release crowd estimates. Claim #2 One verifiable number that Spicer offered was that ridership on Washingtons subway system on Friday was higher than for Obamas inauguration four years ago. Spicer said that 420,000 people rode Metro on Friday, while only 317,000 did so for Obama in 2013. Both of these numbers are inaccurate. Nearly 571,000 people rode on Friday, and 782,000 rode on Inauguration Day four years ago, according to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Spicer warned journalists that they are in for more sparring with the new administration. Theres been a lot of talk in the media about the responsibility to hold Donald Trump accountable, and Im here to tell you that it goes two ways, he said. Were going to hold the press accountable as well. In a highly unusual move, Spicer left the briefing room without answering questions from reporters, including one shouted at him about Saturdays Womens March on Washington. Trump and Spicer also lambasted a member of the White House press pool who reported Friday that Trump had removed a bust of civil rights icon the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. from the Oval Office. The bust remains in the Oval Office, but pool reporter Zeke Miller of Time magazine did not see it during a brief visit to witness Trump signing an executive order on health care. Miller corrected his pool report and tweet Friday evening and publicly apologized for the mistake. In response, Spicer tweeted, Apology accepted. Nonetheless, Trump called the episode an example of how dishonest the media is. Trump visited the CIAs headquarters in Langley, Va., to express his gratitude for the intelligence community, which he had repeatedly railed against during the transition period and recently likened to Nazis. What the newly inaugurated president delivered before some 400 career intelligence officers in one of the governments most hallowed settings the wall of carved stars memorializing officers who died in the line of duty was a disjointed, campaign-style monologue. He complained about the Senate delaying confirmation of his nominees; critics questioning whether he is smart and vigorous; and journalists reporting on the size of his inauguration crowd. I have a running war with the media, Trump declared. They are among the most dishonest human beings on Earth, right? Many in the crowd which was composed of agency employees who had signed up to see him speak as well as some of Trumps White House aides applauded. At one point, Trump claimed that most of the people in the room had voted for him. John Brennan, who resigned Friday as CIA director at the conclusion of Obamas presidency, said through a spokesman that he was angry about Trumps speech. Former CIA Director Brennan is deeply saddened and angered at Donald Trumps despicable display of self-aggrandizement in front of CIAs Memorial Wall of Agency heroes, Nick Shapiro, a former deputy chief of staff to Brennan, said in a statement. Brennan says that Trump should be ashamed of himself. The presidents performance was jarring to some current intelligence officials as well. That was one of the more disconcerting speeches Ive seen, said one senior U.S. intelligence official who was not present for the speech but watched it on video. He could have kept it very simple and said, Im here to build some bridges. But he spent 10 seconds on that, and the rest was on the crowd size. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke only on the condition of anonymity, said Trumps use of the CIA memorial wall as a backdrop was offensive. In his visit the first of what aides said would be many to federal departments and agencies Trump tried to express solidarity with the CIA and blamed the media for creating distrust. They sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community, he said. I just want to let you know, the reason youre the number one stop is it is exactly the opposite. He added, I know maybe sometimes you havent gotten the backing that youve wanted, and youre going to get so much backing. Maybe youre going to say, Please, dont give us so much backing. Mr. President, please, we dont need so much backing. In fact, Trump repeatedly vilified the intelligence community throughout much of his transition in an attempt to push back against what he saw as politically charged conclusions by the CIA and other agencies about Russias hacking of Democratic Party emails to interfere with the 2016 election. At a January 11 news conference, Trump accused U.S. intelligence officials of being behind a Nazi-like smear campaign against him. He has put quotation marks around the word intelligence in referring to such officials. And last weekend, he attacked Brennan in a pair of tweets, suggesting he was the leaker of Fake News. In his remarks at Langley, Trump vowed to lead the fight against the Islamic State: We have not used the real abilities that we have. He added, Radical Islamic terrorism and I said it yesterday has to be eradicated, just off the face of the Earth. This is evil. Trump also delved into the Iraq War, repeating his oft-stated belief that the United States bungled its exit from the country by not taking Iraqs oil, which he said was how the Islamic State made its money. The old expression, to the victor belong the spoils, he said, adding: We shouldve kept the oil. But, okay, maybe well have another chance. At the White House, where the chants of a huge crowd on the Mall for the Womens March on Washington could be heard for much of the day, Trumps advisers grappled with this difficult reality: There will be no honeymoon for the 45th president. The 44th president, Barack Obama, had urged Americans to give his successor a chance. But the activists who stirred the masses on Saturday vowed to obstruct Trumps agenda on such issues as health care, climate change, criminal justice, gay rights and access to abortion and birth control. As the images from coast to coast were being broadcast on cable news, Trump spent the morning at an interfaith prayer service choreographed to promote national unity. The service at Washington National Cathedral featured a diverse array of religious readings and patriotic hymns, including a Muslim call to prayer from Imam Mohamed Magid of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center in Sterling, Va. But the prayer service appeared to do little to quiet the resistance. This is likely to be a feature of the entire presidency, said Steve Schmidt, a veteran Republican strategist who criticized Trumps candidacy. If you look back to the rise of the tea party over 2009 and 2010 the revolt that took place at the town hall meetings, the protests thats starting with this president at an earlier hour and in numbers that are by orders of magnitude greater. David Axelrod, one of Obamas closest advisers and an architect of his campaign strategies, said it is incumbent upon Trumps opponents to do more than march. This is an impressive display today. But if it isnt channeled into organizing in a focused way, then it is cathartic but not in the long run meaningful, he said. Thats the challenge for the progressive community. Copyright: Washington Post Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} President Donald Trump will not release his tax returns despite the majority of Americans demanding fiscal transparency. More than 209,000 people have signed a petition demanding that the President immediately release his full tax returns, "with all information needed to verify emoluments clause compliance". If a petition on the website reaches more than 100,000 names, the White House should respond. However, on Sunday, the President's strategist, Kellyanne Conway, sparked widespread anger - including from Wikileaks, after saying the returns would be kept hidden from public view. "The White House response is that hes not going to release the tax returns," she told ABC News. "We litigated this all through the election, people didnt care, they voted for him. He made this very clear. Most Americans are very focused on what their tax returns will look like while President Trump is in office, not what his look like. "And you know full well that President Trump and his family are complying with all the ethical rules: everything they need to do, to step away from his businesses and be a full-time President." A Washington Post/ABC News poll in January found that 74 per cent of Americans - including 49 per cent of Mr Trumps own supporters - wanted him to release his returns. Yet Mr Trump told reporters at his first press conference of six months, shortly before the Inauguration, that Americans did not care about his returns - only reporters cared - because he won. He said he would not release the returns while they were under audit, yet Ms Conways comments on Sunday morning television seem to suggest that the returns will never be released. In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Show all 32 1 /32 In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London An image of President Donald Trump is seen on a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A view of the skywriting word reading 'Trump' as thousands rally in support of equal rights in Sydney, New South Wales EPA In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome People shout and hold signs during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A protester holds a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille A placard ready 'Pussy grabs back' is attached to the handle bar of a bike during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A young Thai girl holds a "women's rights are human rights" sign at Roadhouse BBQ restaurant where many of the Bangkok Womens March participants gathered in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A Thai woman takes a photo of a "hate is not great" sign at the women's solidarity gathering in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok American expats and travellers gather with the international community in Bangkok at the Roadhouse BBQ restaurant to stand in solidarity in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protetesters gather outside The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Women's March at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Protestors hold placards reading 'My body my choice, my vote my voice' during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome A person holds a sign during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activist Sarah Annay Williamson holds a placard and shouts slogan during the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activists participate in the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A Women's March placards are rested on a bench outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A women carries her placard ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila Women protesters shout slogans while displaying placards during a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President Donald Trump, in suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Protesters take part in the Melbourne rally to protest against the Trump Inauguration in Melbourne, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters take part in the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Womens march on Melbourne protestors marching during a rally where rights groups marched in solidarity with Americans to speak out against misogyny, bigotry and hatred Rex In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau, Macau. The Women's March originated in Washington DC but soon spread to be a global march calling on all concerned citizens to stand up for equality, diversity and inclusion and for women's rights to be recognised around the world as human rights Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila A mother carries her son as they join a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States in suburban Quezon city northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney An infant is held up at a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman attends a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman expresses her Anti-Trump views in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydeney Protesters demonstrate against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia. The marches in Australia were organised to show solidarity with those marching on Washington DC and around the world in defense of women's rights and human rights Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters march from The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square towards Trafalgar Square during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters carrying banners take part in the Women's March on London, as they stand in Trafalgar Square, in central London Reuters There is no law that demands the President release his returns. Mr Trump is the first President in American history to be so opaque regarding his taxes. He has repeatedly said that "people learn very little" from the document, yet his critics say the returns would show any potential deals with Russia, as well as how much tax he has actually paid. Hacking group Wikileaks, which posted a slew of damaging email exchanges involving Hillary Clinton during the presidential campaign, has responded, urging whistleblowers to send it copies of Mr Trump's tax records. Mr Trump was called a genius by his advisers for avoiding paying federal income tax for two decades due to a loss of almost $1 billion in 1995. Donald Trump points to business papers that appear to be blank The Foreign Leaders Emoluments clause in the Constitution, as mentioned in the above survey, mandates that the President should not accept gifts from foreign leaders. Mr Trump was critcised for potentially breaching this clause via his hotel business, where foreign leaders can pay thousands of dollars per night for a room, hoping for the "added value" of building a relationship with the new President. Before the election, his newest hotel in Washington DC opposite the White House hosted a group of foreign leaders who were given a tour of the most expensive suites. Mr Trump, rather than liquidate his commercial investments and put the assets in a blind trust, said he would instead step back from his businesses and hand them to his two older sons, Don Jr and Eric Trump. His critics have cast doubt on these plans, saying discussing business with his sons would be hard to avoid. The stack of paper folders that Mr Trump pointed to during his press conference before the Inauguration, which were supposed to be evidence of his stepping back from his businesses, were found to be blank. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Most of the 230 protesters arrested during Donald Trumps inauguration on Friday will face charges of felony rioting, a crime which carries a maximum sentence of a decade in prison in Washington DC. The 217 alleged rioters who could also be hit with $250,000 (200,000) fines appeared before Washingtons Superior Court throughout Sunday. The arrests were made around the time Donald Trump was being sworn in as president, as police used tear gas, stun grenades, water cannon and pepper spray on demonstrators. Many of the protesters were dressed in anti-fascist black bloc garb, including hoods and masks. They smashed windows, broke up bricks from the road to throw at police and vandalised a limousine parked in a downtown street. One organiser tweeted a crowd of 2,500 the overwhelming majority communists were at the unauthorised demonstration, which targeted Starbucks, McDonalds and Bank of America. Six police officers were lightly injured as riot police and green military people-carriers arrived on K Street, affluent home of Washingtons political lobbying industry, to secure the area. The protesters, many of whom came to Washington in association with the umbrella protest group DisruptJ20, were kettled by riot police before a number were arrested. Under Washington DC law, felony rioting requires five or more people to cause serious bodily harm or more than $5,000 of damage to property, by tumultuous and violent conduct and the threat thereof." At least one defendant told the judge they were a journalist for the online news site Vocativ.com, and should not have been arrested, according to a Buzzfeed report from the courtroom. Some lawyers argued the Department of Justice, which President Trump has ultimate command over, should not be suing people who participated in anti-Trump protests, while others noted the prosecutors had not demonstrated their clients personal involvement in the alleged riot. These are questions that will be settled at trials throughout spring. The protesters have nearly all been released without bail, the US Attorneys Office announced, but must not get arrested again in the District before trials in February and March. As the defendants left the police station, they were greeted by a smaller crowd of supporters chanting anti-capitalista. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump's press secretary, Sean Spicer, used his first White House press briefing to attack the "irresponsible and reckless" press over what he called "deliberately false reporting" around the inauguration. Contradicting all available evidence, he insisted the President's swearing-in was watched by the "largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period," and suggested reporters "intentionally framed" their photographs of the event to make it look poorly-attended. White House spokesman Sean Spicer lays into media for 'false' inauguration reporting He also falsely claimed that white floor coverings were being used at the inauguration for the first time (thus making gaps in the crowd more visible but they were also present in 2013), incorrectly stated the crowd was thinned out by bomb detectors (which weren't present on the Mall), and cited a since-corrected story about a bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. being removed from the Oval Office as proof of media bias. Mr Spicer, who is also a commander in the US Navy Reserve and President Trump's Communications Director, went on to discuss President Trump's recent visit to the CIA office. "That's what you guys should be writing and covering, instead of sowing division about tweets and false narratives," he said. Concluding, he incorrectly referred to Mexican President Pena Nieto as a Prime Minister, and said President Trump's first meeting with a foreign leader would be with British Prime Minister Theresa May. In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Show all 32 1 /32 In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London An image of President Donald Trump is seen on a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A view of the skywriting word reading 'Trump' as thousands rally in support of equal rights in Sydney, New South Wales EPA In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome People shout and hold signs during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A protester holds a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille A placard ready 'Pussy grabs back' is attached to the handle bar of a bike during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A young Thai girl holds a "women's rights are human rights" sign at Roadhouse BBQ restaurant where many of the Bangkok Womens March participants gathered in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A Thai woman takes a photo of a "hate is not great" sign at the women's solidarity gathering in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok American expats and travellers gather with the international community in Bangkok at the Roadhouse BBQ restaurant to stand in solidarity in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protetesters gather outside The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Women's March at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Protestors hold placards reading 'My body my choice, my vote my voice' during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome A person holds a sign during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activist Sarah Annay Williamson holds a placard and shouts slogan during the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activists participate in the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A Women's March placards are rested on a bench outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A women carries her placard ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila Women protesters shout slogans while displaying placards during a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President Donald Trump, in suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Protesters take part in the Melbourne rally to protest against the Trump Inauguration in Melbourne, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters take part in the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Womens march on Melbourne protestors marching during a rally where rights groups marched in solidarity with Americans to speak out against misogyny, bigotry and hatred Rex In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau, Macau. The Women's March originated in Washington DC but soon spread to be a global march calling on all concerned citizens to stand up for equality, diversity and inclusion and for women's rights to be recognised around the world as human rights Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila A mother carries her son as they join a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States in suburban Quezon city northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney An infant is held up at a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman attends a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman expresses her Anti-Trump views in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydeney Protesters demonstrate against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia. The marches in Australia were organised to show solidarity with those marching on Washington DC and around the world in defense of women's rights and human rights Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters march from The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square towards Trafalgar Square during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters carrying banners take part in the Women's March on London, as they stand in Trafalgar Square, in central London Reuters Mr Spicer then left the podium, ignoring shouted questions from journalists. Correspondents attempted to challenge his claims over the size of the crowd and ask the Press Secretary about the Women's March on Washington, but received no response. Here's the full transcript of his speech: "Good evening. Thank you guys for coming. I know our first official press briefing is going to be on Monday, but I wanted to give you a few updates on the President's activities. But before I get to the news of the day, I think I'd like to discuss a little bit of the coverage of the last 24 hours. Yesterday, at a time when our nation and the world was watching the peaceful transition of power and, as the President said, the transition and the balance of power from Washington to the citizens of the United States, some members of the media were engaged in deliberately false reporting. For all the talk about the proper use of Twitter, two instances yesterday stand out. One was a particular egregious example in which a reporter falsely tweeted out that the bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. had been removed from the Oval Office. After it was pointed out that this was just plain wrong, the reporter casually reported and tweeted out and tried to claim that a Secret Service agent must have just been standing in front of it. This was irresponsible and reckless. Secondly, photographs of the inaugural proceedings were intentionally framed in a way, in one particular tweet, to minimize the enormous support that had gathered on the National Mall. This was the first time in our nation's history that floor coverings have been used to protect the grass on the Mall. That had the effect of highlighting any areas where people were not standing, while in years past the grass eliminated this visual. This was also the first time that fencing and magnetometers went as far back on the Mall, preventing hundreds of thousands of people from being able to access the Mall as quickly as they had in inaugurations past. Inaccurate numbers involving crowd size were also tweeted. No one had numbers, because the National Park Service, which controls the National Mall, does not put any out. By the way, this applies to any attempts to try to count the number of protestors today in the same fashion. We do know a few things, so let's go through the facts. We know that from the platform where the President was sworn in, to Fourth Street holds about 250,000 people. From 4th Street to the media tent is about another 220,000. And from the media tent to the Washington Monument, another, another 250,000 people. All of this space was full when the President took the Oath of Office. We know that 420,000 people used the D.C. Metro public transit yesterday, which actually compares to 317,000 that used it for President Obama's last inaugural. This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe. Even the New York Times printed a photograph showing a misrepresentation of the crowd in the original Tweet in their paper, which showed the full extent of the support, depth in crowd, and intensity that existed. These attempts to lessen the enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong. The President was also at the as you know, the President was also at the Central Intelligence Agency and greeted by a raucous overflow crowd of some 400-plus CIA employees. There were over 1,000 requests to attend, prompting the President to note that he'll have to come back to greet the rest. The employees were ecstatic that he's the new Commander-in-Chief, and he delivered them a powerful and important message. He told them he has their back, and they were grateful for that. They gave him a five-minute standing ovation at the end in a display of their patriotism and their enthusiasm for his presidency. I'd also note that it's a shame that the CIA didnt have a CIA Director to be with him today when he visited, because the Democrats have chosen Senate Democrats are stalling the nomination of Mike Pompeo and playing politics with national security. That's what you guys should be writing and covering, instead of sowing division about tweets and false narratives. The President is committed to unifying our country, and that was the focus of his inaugural address. This kind of dishonesty in the media, the challenging that bringing about our nation together is making it more difficult. There's been a lot of talk in the media about the responsibility to hold Donald Trump accountable. And I'm here to tell you that it goes two ways. We're going to hold the press accountable, as well. The American people deserve better. And as long as he serves as the messenger for this incredible movement, he will take his message directly to the American people where his focus will always be. And with that, a few other updates from the day. The President had a constructive conversation with Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada about strengthening the relationship between our two nations. They also discussed setting up additional meetings in the days to come, which we will follow up on. He also spoke to Prime Minister Pena Nieto of Mexico, and talked about a visit on trade, immigration and security that will occur on the 31st. The President will welcome his first foreign leader this Thursday when the United Kingdom's Theresa May will come to Washington on Friday. And tomorrow, the President will oversee his assistants to the President being sworn in. The staff will then have an ethics briefing, and be a briefing on the proper use and handling of classified information. Further updates as far as what he will do? Oh, and then in the evening, he will have a reception for law enforcement and first responders that helped support the inauguration. Thank you guys for being here tonight. I will see you on Monday." Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The former director of the CIA has said Donald Trump "should be ashamed of himself" for "despicable" and "self-aggrandising" comments he made during a visit to the agency's headquarters. Mr Trump used part of his speech, standing in front of a memorial wall to agents killed on duty, to criticise journalists as the most "dishonest human beings" and to inflate the number of people who attended his inauguration1.5 million, he said, rather than 250,000. He also told officials: "There is nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community and the CIA than Donald Trump. I am so behind you. You're going to get so much backing." In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Show all 32 1 /32 In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London An image of President Donald Trump is seen on a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A view of the skywriting word reading 'Trump' as thousands rally in support of equal rights in Sydney, New South Wales EPA In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome People shout and hold signs during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A protester holds a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille A placard ready 'Pussy grabs back' is attached to the handle bar of a bike during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A young Thai girl holds a "women's rights are human rights" sign at Roadhouse BBQ restaurant where many of the Bangkok Womens March participants gathered in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A Thai woman takes a photo of a "hate is not great" sign at the women's solidarity gathering in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok American expats and travellers gather with the international community in Bangkok at the Roadhouse BBQ restaurant to stand in solidarity in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protetesters gather outside The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Women's March at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Protestors hold placards reading 'My body my choice, my vote my voice' during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome A person holds a sign during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activist Sarah Annay Williamson holds a placard and shouts slogan during the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activists participate in the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A Women's March placards are rested on a bench outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A women carries her placard ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila Women protesters shout slogans while displaying placards during a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President Donald Trump, in suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Protesters take part in the Melbourne rally to protest against the Trump Inauguration in Melbourne, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters take part in the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Womens march on Melbourne protestors marching during a rally where rights groups marched in solidarity with Americans to speak out against misogyny, bigotry and hatred Rex In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau, Macau. The Women's March originated in Washington DC but soon spread to be a global march calling on all concerned citizens to stand up for equality, diversity and inclusion and for women's rights to be recognised around the world as human rights Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila A mother carries her son as they join a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States in suburban Quezon city northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney An infant is held up at a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman attends a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman expresses her Anti-Trump views in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydeney Protesters demonstrate against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia. The marches in Australia were organised to show solidarity with those marching on Washington DC and around the world in defense of women's rights and human rights Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters march from The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square towards Trafalgar Square during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters carrying banners take part in the Women's March on London, as they stand in Trafalgar Square, in central London Reuters In recent weeks Mr Trump likened the leak of unverified intelligence material to living in Nazi Germany and has repeatedly dismissed the assessments of the FBI and CIA that Russia meddled in November's election. John Brennan, a former counter-terrorism adviser to President Barack Obama, said he was "deeply saddened and angered at Donald Trump's despicable display of self-aggrandisement in front of CIA's memorial wall of agency heroes". "Trump should be ashamed of himself," he added. During his 15-minute speech, Mr Trump said: "The wall behind me is very, very special. These are really special, amazing people. Very few people can do the job you people do." His press secretary Sean Spicer later told reporters: "He has been very, very clear that while he may have differences sometimes with the leadership of the intelligence community, that the work of the individualsmen and women who tirelessly support the analysis and readings of the intelligence communityis something that he will continue to show his support for and his thanks." "That was one of the more disconcerting speeches Ive seen," one senior US intelligence official told the Washington Post. "He could have kept it very simple and said, Im here to build some bridges. But he spent 10 seconds on that, and the rest was on the crowd size." Recommended Changes Donald Trump has already made since he became President The visit to Langley, Virginia, was one of several the new President will make to federal agencies. Mr Spicer also used his first press conference in his new role to complain of "deliberate false reporting" of the size of the inauguration crowd as well as an erroneous report, which had been corrected prior to his speech, that a bust of Martin Luther King Jnr had been removed from the Oval Office. "Photographs of the inauguration process were intentionally framed in a way ... to minimise the enormous support that had gathered on the National Mall," he said. He added that the Trump administration was "going to hold the press accountable," partly by reaching the public through social networking sites. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump has sworn in 30 senior White House staff, including his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and the founder of a fascist website, Steve Bannon. Speaking in the White House's iconic East Room, President Trump told his staff they should be "extremely proud". He added that Americans would be relying on them, including "the veterans, the unemployed, men and women serving in harm's way overseas, victims of crime and young Americans looking to fulfil their dreams." Recommended Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon wanted to limit vote to homeowners The formality was conducted by Vice President Mike Pence. As he recited the oath, the staffers raised their right hands and repeated it after him. Mr Kushner, who is married to Mr Trumps daughter and has long been speculated to become part of the government team, will be senior adviser, despite concerns of nepotism. Mr Kushner became a senior aide during the campaign and was widely suspected to be the driving force behind the expulsion of New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who prosecuted his real estate developer father. Mr Kushner, of orthodox Jewish background, is expected to be a bridge to Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu. According to an article by New York Magazine, Mr Kushner was willing to abandon friendships and professional relationships to ditch his Democrat background and fall in line behind the Trump patriarch, and has now been rewarded for his loyalty. He set up meetings, such as with the tech executives at Trump Tower, and has met with foreign leader such as Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. He was also reportedly building a database of all Trump supporters, which might have been used to build out Trump TV if he had not won the election. Steve Bannon calls liberal women 'a bunch of dykes' Mr Bannon was one of the first appointees to the government team last year. He founded Breitbart, an extreme right-wing outlet that has discriminated against women and minorities. He described his website in July as a "platform for the alt-right", which means white supremacy. When Mr Bannon was announced as the Presidents chief strategist a few months ago, it spawned a massive backlash, including from the Southern Poverty Law Centre. More than 400,000 people signed a MoveOn.org petition to stop Mr Bannons appointment, and more than 300,000 people signed a Change.org petition of the same vein. Around 15,000 lawyers also urged the President to choose another strategist. Also at the White House ceremony on Sunday were staffers such as senior adviser Kellyanne Conway, press secretary Sean Spicer and chief of staff Reince Priebus. They have all attacked the media over the weekend for accurately reporting the relatively small crowd size at the inauguration ceremony compared to previous inaugurations. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} President Trump could be in breach of an Act of Congress when he deletes tweets and edits typos without archiving them. On day one of his rein in the White House, President Trump deleted a tweet that misspelled the word honored from his personal account, which he has built up over eight years. The tweet was corrected with the right spelling and tweeted again from his new Presidential Twitter account. I am honored to serve you, the great American People, as your 45th President of the United States! Although the Republican has long deleted tweets and corrected them for spelling, this tweet was the first as President. This action could violate the Presidential Records Act, which stipulates that all presidential and vice presidential records must be preserved. There is no mention of Twitter in the 1978 Act of Congress, but President Obamas staff archived every tweet. We eventually set up auto-archiving for official platforms, so errors could be corrected while preserving the original, Ezra Mechaber, a former President Obama staffer, tweeted Saturday. If its not being archived theyre really starting to blur some records laws, Mr Mechaber tweeted, referring to the @realDonaldTrump handle from his personal account. When President Obama was in office, he only sent out tweets from his official account with the Potus handle. That handle was transferred to President Trump as soon as he was sworn into office, but the Republican continues to use his personal account. It is also unclear whether tweets from Mr Trumps personal account will be archived. The Presidential Records Act also does not explicitly cover the President rather it applies to his staff but his staff are most likely involved in the management of his Twitter accounts. The White House instruction on Twitter from the official site (https://www.whitehouse.gov/privacy) On the new White House website, it says that only tweets and direct messages from official White House Twitter accounts are archived. The potential violation is also important as Mr Trump has already hinted he would bypass the media to communicate with the people, and his social media has become a key mouthpiece for the White House. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} He may have become the leader of the free world but moving to the White House does not seem to have helped Donald Trumps spelling. Shortly after his inauguration, the US President tweeted saying he was honered to have been sworn in as the 45th US leader. While the British and US spellings of the word honoured are different, neither are spelt in the way used by Mr Trump. The former property tycoon wrote: I am honered to serve you, the great American People, as your 45th President of the United States! The tweet was quickly deleted and re-posted with the correct spelling, but not before a number of people had replied querying the Presidents spelling. Good grief. Four more years of this, wrote one. Another accused the Republican of being the most illiterate president ever. In contrast, Mr Trumps wife, Melania, appears to have mastered the spelling of the word. She tweeted a picture of her husband taking the oath of office along with the caption I am deeply honored to serve this wonderful country as First Lady! Some commentators have suggested the deleting of Mr Trumps tweet, which was made from the official President of the United States (POTUS) account, could have been illegal. Under the terms of the Presidential Records Act, all records and documents relating to the US President must be preserved. Former presidents have interpreted this to include social media posts. Barack Obamas team sometimes deleted tweets but archived them to ensure they were not breaching record retention rules. Ezra Mechaber, a former aide to Mr Obama, said on Twitter: We eventually set up auto-archiving for official platforms, so errors could be corrected while preserving the original. It is unclear whether Mr Trumps team archived his deleted tweet. It is not the first time the Republican has misspelled words on Twitter. In December, again on Twitter, he said that Chinas seizure of a US Navy research drone was an unpresidented act. The correct spelling is unprecedented. Mr Trump has insisted he will continue to use his personal Twitter account as well as the POTUS channel. Speaking at a post-inauguration ball, he asked his audience: "Should I keep the Twitter going or not? Keep it going? I think so. I think so." Using the social media website was "a way of bypassing dishonest media", he added. Over the 40-day period of Spring Festival travel rush, Chinese authorities expect the country to make about 3 billion trips, equaling 40 percent of world's population, in a phenomenon called "chunyun", the largest human migration on the planet. Millions of passengers cram into trains, planes and buses as they head for destination called home. The journey is filled with smiles and cheers as well as tiredness and tears. Let's go on a journey together by sharing our favorite bitter and sweet moments. 1. Crowd Taking the strain is China's high-speed railway network -- the most affordable and practical mode of transport for long-distance travel. A total of 356 million train trips will be made during this year's travel rush. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump has suggested up to five million protesters who took part in Womens Marches across the US didnt vote in the presidential election. The new President, using his @realDonaldTrump Twitter account, also appeared to call into question the democratic legitimacy of mass public demonstrations. "Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election!," he wrote on Sunday morning. "Why didn't these people vote?" In a tweet two hours later, Mr Trump appeared more upbeat about the role of protest in democracy. He wrote: "Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don't always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views." Organisers of the protests, which were held in dozens of American towns and cities, said nearly five million people took part. Demonstrators were seeking to raise awareness for womens and minority rights amid fears over Mr Trumps comments on a wide range of groups, including Mexican immigrants, Muslims and the disabled. The planned Women's March on Washington appeared to draw larger crowds than turned out for Mr Trump's inauguration ceremony. A number of celebrities, including actors Charlize Theron, Drew Barrymore and Lena Dunham, attended the demonstration. Round-up: Women's March Protests 2017 Madonna used her appearance at the march in Washington DC to warn of a new age of tyranny under a Trump presidency. But the property tycoon responded by saying celebrities on the march had hurt [the] cause badly. Turnout at polling stations on 8 November was 58 per cent and Mr Trump ended up losing the popular vote by 2.86 million ballots to his opponent Hillary Clinton. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Protesters against Donald Trump on the Women's March on Washington have been leaving their anti-Trump signs piled outside his D.C. hotel. The turnout for the march was believed to be around half a million, far outstripping original estimates. It was one of almost 700 taking place worldwide across 30 countries, from London to Antarctica, with perhaps 3 million demonstrators taking to the streets worldwide. Francis Clark, 50, was one woman who made the trip to Washington to protest on the day of Donald Trump's inauguration. She told the Independent: Peoples voices are not rising, those in power are not listening. The first thing that Mr Trump did was to end the mortgage premium cuts, making it harder for someone to own a home. Its betrayal from day one. As they made their way home, protesters like Ms Clark left their placards outside Mr. Trump's eye-wateringly expensive new property in the heart of Washington. One placard left outside the property reads 'women's rights are human rights', while another has the slogan 'we shall overcomb' alongside a picture of Mr. Trump's idiosyncratic coiffure. A third is emblazoned with the legend 'boy bye', over a drawing of a hand making an obscene gesture. The 263-room luxury hotel opened in November 2016, in a century-old post office building which is part of the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site. The minimum nightly rate is $735, while one top-end suite was reportedly available for $500,000 during inauguration week. There were protests when Trump won the lease, given his track record of bankruptcies and his lack of experience in preserving or caring for historic buildings. Renovation works cost around $2m, and the Trump Organization is believed to pay around $3m a year in rent. The hotel was the location of inauguration events such as a prayer breakfast at the hotel, and is currently hosting various members of Mr Trump's new cabinet, along with donors and foreign officials hoping to win the favour of the new President. Since being sworn in as president, Mr Trump may now be in violation of a provision that no federal official may rent the building, theoretically opening him to litigation. He is certainly making money from the foreign diplomats currently staying in the hotel, in a further economic conflict of interest. Michelin-starred Spanish-American chef and philanthropist Jose Andres was supposed to be providing catering for the hotel, but pulled out after Mr. Trump disparaged Mexicans and immigrants during his electoral campaign, implying they were criminals, rapists and killers. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump has hit out at reports that considerably fewer people turned out to watch him take the oath of office than at Barack Obama's first inauguration and warned a "big price" will be paid by reporters who allegedly lied about the size of the crowds at his inauguration ceremony. Pictures shared on social media appeared to show acres of empty space on Washington DC's National Mall where an estimated 1.8 million people stood to see his predecessor in 2009. However, the new president insisted that his was "the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration - period" and slammed the reports as "shameful". This pair of photos shows a view of the crowd on the National Mall at the inaugurations of President Barack Obama, above, on January 20, 2009, and President Donald Trump, below, on January 20, 2017. The photo above and the screengrab from video below were both shot shortly before noon from the top of the Washington Monument (Reuters) Speaking at the CIA headquarters in Virginia on his first full day in office, Mr Trump said the reports did not reflect the scene from his vantage point on Capitol Hill. He also attacked reporters as being among the "the most dishonest human beings on Earth." "We had a massive field of people, you saw them - packed. I get up this morning, I turn on one of the networks and they show an empty field," Mr Trump said. "I said 'wait a minute, I made a speech', I looked out the field was, it looked like a million, a million and a half people, they showed a field where there were practically nobody standing. "Honestly it looked like a million and a half people, whatever it was, it was. But it went all the way back to the Washington monument." The new White House press secretary Sean Spicer also chided the news media for what he called "deliberate false reporting" regarding the attendance at figures at the inauguration. Talking at his first press briefing, Mr Spicer spoke for about 10 minutes, before walking out without taking any questions. "Yesterday, at a time when our nation and the world was watching the peaceful transition of power ... some members of the media were engaged in deliberate and false reporting," he said. Recommended Donald Trump tells CIA they have his full support Launching into a lengthy explanation over photos on which appeared to show swathes of empty space at the ceremony on social media, he insisted: "This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration - period. Both in person and around the globe." He said: "Photographs of the inauguration process were intentionally framed in a way ... to minimise the enormous support that had gathered on the National Mall," he said. The area between the Capitol building and the Washington Monument, just over halfway down the National Mall, held approximately 720,000 people, he added. "All of this space was full when the president took the oath of office," he said. "He added:"This was the first time in our nation's history that floor coverings had been used to protect the grass on the Mall that had the effect highlighting any areas where people were not standing, while in years past, the grass eliminated this visual. This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period both in person and remote." However, similar coverings were used on the Mall during Mr Obama's inauguration in 2013. In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President-elect Donald Trump acknowledges guests as he arrives on the platform at the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump looks on during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington AP In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President Donald Trump shakes hands with Justice John Roberts after taking the oath at inauguration ceremonies swearing in Trump as the 45th president of the United States Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President Donald Trump raises his fists after his inauguration on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol Getty In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. President-elect Donald Trump greets outgoing President Barack Obama before Trump is inaugurated during ceremonies on the Capitol in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump resident-elect Donald Trump arrives on the platform of the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Attendees partake in the inauguration ceremonies to swear in Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States at the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump US President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address during ceremonies at the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. President Donald Trump waves with wife Melania during the Inaugural Parade in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters registered their rage against the new president Friday in a chaotic confrontation with police who used pepper spray and stun grenades in a melee just blocks from Donald Trump's inaugural parade route. Scores were arrested for trashing property and attacking officers AP In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators protest against US President Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A woman holds a sign before the start of the Presidential Inauguration of Donald Trump at Freedom Plaza in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Anti-Trump protesters prepare banners for a protest against the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, in Berlin REUTERS In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators shout slogans against US President-elect Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators march, block foot traffic and clash with U.S. Capitol Police at the entry checkpoints for the Inauguration of Donald Trump Alamy Live News In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators display a banner as people arrive for US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A man displays a placard as people lineup to get into the National Mall for the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump raise their hands as they are surrounded by police on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A demonstrator wearing a mask depicting Donald Trump protests outside the US Embassy in London Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators hold placards as they protest outside the US Embassy in London Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Former US President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush arrive for the Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden share an umbrella as President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address at the inauguration in Washington DC Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton arrive on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. Vice President Mike Pence takes the oath of office on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Advisors to President-elect Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon depart from services at St. John's Church during the Presidential Inauguration in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump take cover as they are hit by pepper spray by police on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump An activist demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump is helped after being hit by pepper spray on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A police officer tries to tackle a protester demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump Reuters/Adrees Latif In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Police arrest and detain a protester in the street in Washington DC Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A police officer falls to the ground as another shoots pepper spray at protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters Estimates place attendance of Mr Trump's inauguration at around 250,000, although there are no official figures. No one had numbers because the National Park Service, which controls the National Mall, does not put those out,"Mr Spicer said. He added that 420,000 people used the DC Metro Transit on Friday, compared to 317,000 who used it for President Obama's last inauguration in 2013. He did not say how many used the system in 2009. Nielsen estimates that 31 million viewers watched TV coverage of President Trump's inauguration. That is better than Mr Obama's second inauguration but well short of his first. The most-watched inauguration since 1969 was President Ronald Reagan's first oath-taking in 1981, which was seen by 41.8 million people. The audience total measures continuous coverage by 12 broadcast and cable networks. In 2013, 20.6 million viewed Mr Obama's second inauguration. His first inauguration, in 2009, was seen by 37.8 million people. Around 1.8 million people also attended the live event in Washington DC. Thousands attend Women's March on London protest against Trump Mr Spicer also said that the Trump administration were going to hold the press accountable, partly by reaching the public through social networking sites. Meanwhile, more than 500,000 demonstrators marched on the nation's capital the day after the presidential inauguration and hundreds of thousands and possibly millions more took to the streets in all 50 states and around the globe. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} President Trumps Chief of Staff said that the media was attempting to delegitimise the President and the government would fight back tooth and nail. Speaking to Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, Reince Priebus, the former Republican National Committee chairman, said the media showing photographs of the crowd size at Mr Trumps inauguration ceremony compared with that of President Obamas was an attempt to discredit the new President. There is an obsession by the media to delegitimise this President and we are not going to sit around and let it happen, said Mr Priebus. We are going to fight back tooth and nail every day and twice on Sunday, he added. Asked by Mr Wallace why he and his government were still talking about crowd size on day three of Mr Trumps Presidency, Mr Priebus replied: The point is not the crowd size. The point is the attacks and the attempt to delegitimise the President. The interview follows a bitter, five-minute press briefing from Sean Spicer, Mr Trumps communications director, on Saturday, attacking the media for being dishonest in its reporting of crowd size at the ceremony and misreporting that the bust of Martin Luther King Jr was removed from the Oval Office. While the reporter at Time magazine apologised for the misreporting of the Dr King story, aerial footage clearly showed that the number of people attending Mr Trumps ceremony around 800,000 was significantly less than in 2009 and 2013. White House spokesman Sean Spicer threatens media, vowing to 'hold to account' 'dishonest' reporting Mr Trump appeared to be irked by the comparisons, as he talked about it in front of the memorial wall during his first stop as President to visit 400 CIA employees. We had a massive field of people. You saw that. Packed. I get up this morning and I turn on one of the networks and they show an empty field, he insisted. He also referred to how he felt younger than his 70 years between 30 and 39, he said and said that God changed the weather on his big day. The rain should have kept them away but God looked down and said, Were not going to let it rain on your speech, he said. Journalists penned an open letter to Mr Trump just before the inauguration, promising to not let the incoming President bully or ignore them without being challenged. When you shout down or ignore a reporter at a press conference who has said something you dont like, youre going to face a unified front, the letter said. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} President Donald Trump promised a lot would happen on day one during his election campaign although he later clarified he meant on his first Monday in office, rather than today. Apparently keen to get down to business, the billionaire tycoon went to the Oval Office immediately after yesterdays swearing-in ceremony but before the inauguration ball. The first order he signed related to Obamacare which he has pledged to repeal. The President signed an order to federal departments to minimise the economic impact of the Affordable Care Act, which grants health insurance to all Americans. He then signed a stack of executive orders relating to his Cabinet appointments and other procedural matters. One was a law to allow former Marine James Mattis to take the office of Defence Secretary, waiving the requirement that the appointee be a civilian for the past seven years. In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President-elect Donald Trump acknowledges guests as he arrives on the platform at the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump looks on during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington AP In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President Donald Trump shakes hands with Justice John Roberts after taking the oath at inauguration ceremonies swearing in Trump as the 45th president of the United States Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President Donald Trump raises his fists after his inauguration on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol Getty In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. President-elect Donald Trump greets outgoing President Barack Obama before Trump is inaugurated during ceremonies on the Capitol in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump resident-elect Donald Trump arrives on the platform of the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Attendees partake in the inauguration ceremonies to swear in Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States at the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump US President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address during ceremonies at the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. President Donald Trump waves with wife Melania during the Inaugural Parade in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters registered their rage against the new president Friday in a chaotic confrontation with police who used pepper spray and stun grenades in a melee just blocks from Donald Trump's inaugural parade route. Scores were arrested for trashing property and attacking officers AP In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators protest against US President Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A woman holds a sign before the start of the Presidential Inauguration of Donald Trump at Freedom Plaza in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Anti-Trump protesters prepare banners for a protest against the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, in Berlin REUTERS In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators shout slogans against US President-elect Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators march, block foot traffic and clash with U.S. Capitol Police at the entry checkpoints for the Inauguration of Donald Trump Alamy Live News In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators display a banner as people arrive for US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A man displays a placard as people lineup to get into the National Mall for the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump raise their hands as they are surrounded by police on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A demonstrator wearing a mask depicting Donald Trump protests outside the US Embassy in London Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators hold placards as they protest outside the US Embassy in London Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Former US President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush arrive for the Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden share an umbrella as President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address at the inauguration in Washington DC Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton arrive on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. Vice President Mike Pence takes the oath of office on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Advisors to President-elect Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon depart from services at St. John's Church during the Presidential Inauguration in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump take cover as they are hit by pepper spray by police on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump An activist demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump is helped after being hit by pepper spray on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A police officer tries to tackle a protester demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump Reuters/Adrees Latif In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Police arrest and detain a protester in the street in Washington DC Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A police officer falls to the ground as another shoots pepper spray at protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters President Trump made further nominations for his Cabinet, including Scott Pruitt for head of the Environmental Protection Agency and John Kelly for the Department of Homeland Security. Mr Trump also signed a proclamation creating a National Day of Patriotism, although it has not been announced on what day this will fall. The new President returned a bust of Winston Churchill to the Oval Office apparently to acknowledge the famous special relationship between the UK and the US. The bust of the wartime leader could be seen as the new President signed his first orders having reportedly been kept at The British Embassy during the Obama years, when it was replaced by one of civil rights leader Martin Luther King. Shortly after President Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, all foreign ambassadors were fired and with no concrete replacement ambassadors lined up. While he was President-elect, Mr Trump insisted that every ambassador appointed by former President Barack Obama would have to leave their office by midday on 20 January with no grace period. It is common policy that political appointed ambassadors resign at the beginning of a new administration but unusual to have no replacements confirmed at this stage. Thousands attend Women's March on London protest against Trump The official White House website has been given a make-over and President Trumps agenda has replaced that of Barack Obama. The new administration lists just six issues on the website - energy, foreign policy, jobs and growth, military, law enforcement and trade deals. Critics have pointed to the fact there is no longer any mention of civil rights, LGBT rights, healthcare or climate change. Recommended Donald Trump tells CIA they have his full support The previous references to climate change have been replaced by a new energy plan that makes no mention of global warming and commits only to helping Americans reduce the cost of their energy. As well as moving into the White House with the new first family, President Trump took ownership of the official @POTUS (President of the United States) Twitter handle from Barack Obama. Yesterday, tweets began appearing on the official @POTUS account, although these will be monitored by official advisers. But this morning, the prolific tweeter sent his customary early morning tweet to his 21.1 million followers from his personal Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump, indicating that he will use both accounts simultaneously. A fantastic day and evening in Washing ton DC. Thanks to @FoxNews and so many other news outlets for the GREAT reviews of the speech! he said on Twitter. But the US Interior Department has reportedly been ordered to cease use of its official Twitter accounts after the National Park Service shared two tweets implicitly critical of President Trump during his inauguration. An email sent to Park Service employees, obtained by Gizmodo, stated that all Department of the Interior bureaus must immediately cease use of Government Twitter accounts until further notice. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Chinese communities around the globe are preparing to launch their new year celebrations, the most important holiday in the Chinese calendar. Starting from 28 January, the colourful celebrations to welcome in the year of the rooster will continue for around two weeks, ending on 2 February. Here's everything you need to know about the 2017 Chinese New Year: What is Chinese New Year? Chinese New Year in London Chinese New Year is the longest national holiday in China and New Year's day is the most important date in the Chinese calendar. Although China has used the Gregorian calendar since 1912, Chinese New Year is based on the ancient Chinese lunar calendar, falling on the second new moon after winter solstice meaning it changes each year. It is pronounced Gong Xi Fa Cai in Mandarin and Gong Hey Fat Choy in Cantonese, although both are written the same way. Roughly a sixth of the world will observe Chinese New Year, with celebrations in Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia, along with other countries with significant Chinese populations. London and San Francisco both claim to host the largest celebrations outside of Asia. How is it celebrated? In pictures: Chinese New Year 2015 - Year of the Sheep/Goat celebrations Show all 15 1 /15 In pictures: Chinese New Year 2015 - Year of the Sheep/Goat celebrations In pictures: Chinese New Year 2015 - Year of the Sheep/Goat celebrations Chinese New Year 2015 A family uses a selfie stick, in front of a tree decorated with paper lanterns at the Temple Fair, which is part of Chinese New Year celebrations at Ditan Park, also known as the Temple of Earth, in Beijing In pictures: Chinese New Year 2015 - Year of the Sheep/Goat celebrations Chinese New Year 2015 Chinese-Thai nationals walk past under Lunar New Year banners on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year in Chinatown, Bangkok, Thailand In pictures: Chinese New Year 2015 - Year of the Sheep/Goat celebrations Chinese New Year 2015 Men perform a lion dance to celebrate Chinese New Year in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia In pictures: Chinese New Year 2015 - Year of the Sheep/Goat celebrations Chinese New Year 2015 An Indonesian Chinese woman prays during the preparations for the Chinese New Year celebrations at a temple in China town in Jakarta, Indonesia In pictures: Chinese New Year 2015 - Year of the Sheep/Goat celebrations Chinese New Year 2015 A child runs past a multi coloured sheep installation displayed in a shopping mall for the Chinese New Year celebrations in Hong Kong In pictures: Chinese New Year 2015 - Year of the Sheep/Goat celebrations Chinese New Year 2015 Paper money, called spirit money, is burnt in a bucket by an ethnic-Chinese Thai family in a traditional Chinese New Year ritual, believing that they will be passed onto their ancestors, at the front entrance of their shop-house home in Bangkok, Thailand In pictures: Chinese New Year 2015 - Year of the Sheep/Goat celebrations Chinese New Year 2015 Chinese New Year lanterns are pictured at the Thean Hou temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia In pictures: Chinese New Year 2015 - Year of the Sheep/Goat celebrations Chinese New Year 2015 Two shop clerks wrap up Shou Tao, or Longevity Peaches, with callophane in a bakery in Taipei, Taiwan. Shou Tao is a steamed bun painted pink or red with red bean paste inside. Chinese give away Shou Tao as gifts or display them on the table at home during the Chinese Near Year holidays In pictures: Chinese New Year 2015 - Year of the Sheep/Goat celebrations Chinese New Year 2015 Fireworks explode at the River Hongbao Lunar New Year Celebrations along Marina Bay in Singapore. The Chinese Lunar New Year on February 19 will welcome the Year of the Sheep (also known as the Year of the Goat or Ram) In pictures: Chinese New Year 2015 - Year of the Sheep/Goat celebrations Chinese New Year 2015 Traditional dancers perform at the Temple Fair, part of Chinese New Year celebrations at Ditan Park, also known as the Temple of Earth, in Beijing In pictures: Chinese New Year 2015 - Year of the Sheep/Goat celebrations Chinese New Year 2015 A performer takes part in the opening of the Temple Fair, part of Chinese New Year celebrations at Ditan Park, also known as the Temple of Earth, in Beijing In pictures: Chinese New Year 2015 - Year of the Sheep/Goat celebrations Chinese New Year 2015 Filipino dancers perform a Dragon Dance on the eve of the Chinese New Year In pictures: Chinese New Year 2015 - Year of the Sheep/Goat celebrations Chinese New Year 2015 A woman stands under paper lanterns, celebrating the Chinese New Year at Ditan Park in Beijing In pictures: Chinese New Year 2015 - Year of the Sheep/Goat celebrations Chinese New Year 2015 Goat dolls are on display at a gift shop for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year at a market in Bangkok's Chinatown In pictures: Chinese New Year 2015 - Year of the Sheep/Goat celebrations Chinese New Year 2015 People watch fireworks illuminating the sky during the River Hongbao festival in Singapore. Chinese around the world celebrate the Chinese New Year also called Spring Festival which this year falls on 19 February the first day of the Year of the Goat Many celebrations take place, including parades, dragon dances, reunions and elaborate dinners. Red clothing is considered essential, as it is said to scare off the mythical monster Nian. Children are traditionally given red envelopes with money inside which they sleep with under their pillows, which is said to bring them good fortune and happiness. Cleaning the house on the twentieth day of the second lunar month before the New Year, and subsequent house decorating, are both major rituals in the run up to New Year. Each day has its own celebration: while on Day 2 it is traditional to visit friends and relatives, on Day 3 people tend to stay at home as it is not seen as auspicious to socialise. The final day, Day 15, sees the Lantern Festival, where red Chinese lanterns are released into the sky. What does the year of the rooster mean? 2017 is the year of the tenth Chinese zodiac, the rooster. The year's of the rooster include 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993 and 2005. However, this is the year of the fire rooster. Festival decorations are taking shape as the China prepares to welcome the Lunar Year of the Rooster (Getty Images) Those born in 1957 or 2017 are fire roosters, and are considered trustworthy, with a strong sense of timekeeping and responsibility at work. They are also thought to be talkative, popular in a crowd and loyal. Their lucky numbers are thought to be five, seven and eight, and their lucky colours gold, brown and yellow. Fire roosters are recommended to avoid the colour red and their unlucky numbers: one, three and nine. The rooster will be followed by the dog in 2018 and the pig in 2019. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A 7.9 magnitude earthquake has struck off the east coast of Papua New Guinea near the Solomon Islands. The quake struck the Papua New Guinean island of Bougainville on the border with the Solomon Islands at around 4:30am local time at a depth of 131 miles. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially warned that waves of up to a metre above tide level could strike several coasts along the islands but it said the threat has now passed. An additional warning was issued to Australia, Samoa, New Zealand, Indonesia, Tonga, New Caledonia and several smaller surrounding islands for smaller waves of up to 0.3 metres above tide level. The size of the quake was also downgraded to 7.9 magnitude following initially reports of 8.0 and there were no reports of injury or damage. The greatest tsunami threat had been to Bougainville and that threat had passed without any report of a tsunami, Chris McKee, the assistant director of the Papua New Guinea Geophysical Observatory, said. "I suspect that because of the great depth of the earthquake, there was probably no significant tsunami," Mr McKee said. He added that the area in which the earthquake struck was sparsely populated. Solomons government official George Herming said he was not aware of any major tremors being felt in his country or any tsunami. The countries are located in the Pacific's geologically active "Ring of Fire" where large amounts of seismic activity occurs due to friction between tectonic plates. Loti Yates, the director of the Solomon Islands National Disaster Management Office, said people had been told to move to higher ground in Choiseul and Western Province. 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 "That isn't the only fear we have," Yates told Reuters by phone from the capital of Honiara, adding that his office was trying to contact communities closest to the quake's epicentre. "We are also worried about damage from the earthquake." Chris McKee, assistant director at PNG's Geophysical Observatory Office in Port Moresby, said there were no initial reports of damage from near the epicentre of the quake, which is sparsely populated. "Because of the great depth of the earthquake it is unlikely that there will be any significant tsunami activity," McKee told Reuters. Australia and New Zealand both said they had assessed the threat and there was no danger to their coastlines. Bougainville Island is one of the islands that make up the Autonomous Region of Bougainville within Papua New Guinea(PNG) which is home to around 300,000 people. Additional reporting by agencies Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Germanys finance minister has urged the UK to look to Switzerland when it comes to its post-Brexit relationship with the EU. Wolfgang Schauble suggested the UK should negotiate access to the European single market through a series of bilateral deals in exchange for freedom of movement but with a proviso to make sure local people are give preferential treatment when applying for jobs. He told the Swiss newspaper Neue Zurcher Zeitung (NZZ) that he had advised the UK to find a wise political solution to Brexit. Britons should take as an example how cleverly Switzerland has linked national sovereignty and close cooperation with the European Union, he said. Switzerland is not a member of the European Union but has signed a series of bilateral trade deals which mean it has to accept free movement of people and certain trading rules, as well as contributing to the EUs budget. In 2014, the Swiss narrowly voted to impose quotas on the number of people immigrating from the rest of Europe in violation of a trade deal. The motion was tabled by the right-wing anti-immigration party UDC (Democratic Union of Centre) and condemned by the federal parliament, the President and the government at the time. Despite this, the referendum was legally binding so the government was obliged to create a halfway house policy where employers are forced to consider Swiss citizens for jobs first. Earlier this week Theresa May laid out her plans for a hard Brexit where the UK both leaves the single market and ends freedom of movement. 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 She said she did not want the country to remain half in, half out and she was not seeking to hold on to bits of membership. Mr Schaubles comments came as his colleague, foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, wrote a comment piece for German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, saying the old world order was over following the election of Donald Trump in the US. Mr Steinmeier, who has emerged as one of Mr Trumps most strident German critics, said the world was heading for turbulent times but he hoped that Washington would remain attentive listeners who know that even large countries need partners in the world. He said issues like free trade and an open world, unity against extremism and terrorism, and close and trustworthy transatlantic cooperation based on common values remained at the top of the German governments agenda. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Pope Francis has warned against the rise of populist leaders like Adolf Hitler. He made the comments to Spanish newspaper El Pais as Donald Trump was being sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. During the interview, the pontiff condemned the use of walls and barbed wire to keep out foreigners, but said it was too early to judge Mr Trump, saying: I think we must wait and see. Trump calls critics 'enemies' at inauguration ball as he vows to keep his Twitter account running When asked if he worries about the rise of populism in the United States and Europe, he said people should not repeat the same mistakes as in the 1930s, when they turned to saviours to resolve economic and political crises only to end up at war. Crises provoke fear, alarm. In my opinion, the most obvious example of European populism is Germany in 1933, the Pope said. A people that was immersed in a crisis, that looked for its identity until this charismatic leader came and promised to give their identity back, and he gave them a distorted identity, and we all know what happened. In times of crisis, we lack judgement, and that is a constant reference for me... That is why I always try to say: talk among yourselves, talk to one another, he added. In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Show all 32 1 /32 In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London An image of President Donald Trump is seen on a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A view of the skywriting word reading 'Trump' as thousands rally in support of equal rights in Sydney, New South Wales EPA In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome People shout and hold signs during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A protester holds a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille A placard ready 'Pussy grabs back' is attached to the handle bar of a bike during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A young Thai girl holds a "women's rights are human rights" sign at Roadhouse BBQ restaurant where many of the Bangkok Womens March participants gathered in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A Thai woman takes a photo of a "hate is not great" sign at the women's solidarity gathering in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok American expats and travellers gather with the international community in Bangkok at the Roadhouse BBQ restaurant to stand in solidarity in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protetesters gather outside The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Women's March at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Protestors hold placards reading 'My body my choice, my vote my voice' during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome A person holds a sign during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activist Sarah Annay Williamson holds a placard and shouts slogan during the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activists participate in the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A Women's March placards are rested on a bench outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A women carries her placard ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila Women protesters shout slogans while displaying placards during a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President Donald Trump, in suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Protesters take part in the Melbourne rally to protest against the Trump Inauguration in Melbourne, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters take part in the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Womens march on Melbourne protestors marching during a rally where rights groups marched in solidarity with Americans to speak out against misogyny, bigotry and hatred Rex In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau, Macau. The Women's March originated in Washington DC but soon spread to be a global march calling on all concerned citizens to stand up for equality, diversity and inclusion and for women's rights to be recognised around the world as human rights Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila A mother carries her son as they join a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States in suburban Quezon city northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney An infant is held up at a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman attends a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman expresses her Anti-Trump views in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydeney Protesters demonstrate against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia. The marches in Australia were organised to show solidarity with those marching on Washington DC and around the world in defense of women's rights and human rights Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters march from The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square towards Trafalgar Square during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters carrying banners take part in the Women's March on London, as they stand in Trafalgar Square, in central London Reuters Discussing Mr Trump, however, he said: I think that we must wait and see. I dont like to get ahead of myself nor judge people prematurely. We will see how he acts, what he does, and then I will have an opinion. He added: But being afraid or rejoicing beforehand because of something that might happen is, in my view, quite unwise. It would be like prophets predicting calamities. During Mr Trumps presidential campaign, the Pope described Mr Trump as not Christian for wanting to build a wall on the Mexican border. In response, Mr Trump called the pontiff's remarks disgraceful. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves after delivering her keynote speech on Brexit at Lancaster House in London, January 17, 2017.[Photo/Agencies] WASHINGTON - Newly-inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with visiting British Prime Minister Theresa May next week, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Saturday. May will be the first foreign leader to meet with Trump after he was sworn in as the new U.S. President on Friday. It is expected that the two leaders will discuss plans for a trade deal between the allies after Britain's planned withdrawal from the European Union. In a recent interview, Trump said Britain's exit from the European Union will turn out to be "a great thing." Trump pledged to offer Britain a quick and fair trade deal with the U.S. within weeks of taking office, saying that "we're gonna work very hard to get it done quickly and done properly. Good for both sides." On Saturday, Spicer said Trump has also scheduled a meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Jan. 31. Trump has said he wanted to build a wall along the border between the U.S. and Mexico, to keep out illegal migrants. He also threatened to levy heavy taxes on companies that operate plants in Mexico but export to north of the border. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Russias defence ministry has said it is developing laser, electromagnetic and plasma weapons that can be fired at hypersonic speeds. Russian deputy defence minister Yuri Borisov said the Kremlin was funding research into weapons that used new materials. Work carried out jointly by the Russian Academy of Sciences and the defence ministry was likely to herald a serious breakthrough in the field of laser issues [and] electromagnetic weapons", Mr Borisov said. "Coming next are hypersonic weapons, which require the use of principally new materials and control systems that operate in a completely different medium, in plasma, Russian news agency Tass quoted him as saying. Hypersonic speeds are those which exceed five times the speed of sound, equivalent to around 3,800mph. The average speed of a conventional bullet is closer to 1,700mph. The announcement came as the new American President revealed the basic outline of his defence policy, which includes a pledge not to allow other nations to surpass our military capability. Military engineers have developed their own versions of alternative weapons for the US army. The US Navy is already using a 30-kilowatt laser weapon that can shoot drones out of the sky. Laser gun: US Navy unveils new weapon It was tested on USS Ponce in the Gulf in 2014 and was used to target weapons systems mounted onto fast moving boats. Britain is also stepping up efforts to develop next-generation weaponry. Earlier this month the Ministry of Defence announced it was spending 30 million on a prototype laser weapon. Defence minister Harriet Baldwin described the project as truly ground-breaking. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A gang rape that was reportedly live-streamed on Facebook has led to the arrest of three people. The trio was detained after the alleged attack in an apartment in Uppsala, Sweden, on Saturday night. The crime was broadcast on a closed Facebook group, according to Swedish tabloid, Aftonbladet. 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 Regional police have begun an investigation and did not release further information, but one person who allegedly saw the stream told the paper: "I first thought it was a poorly orchestrated joke." Police began their investigation after they were tipped off early shortly after the attack, news website, The Local, reported. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The White House has confirmed that Donald Trump's team is in the "beginning stages" of discussing a plan to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Mr Trump said repeatedly during the election campaign that he intended to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem, despite warnings the move would violate international law and destroy the peace process. His press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters on Sunday: "We are at the very beginning stages of even discussing this subject." Recommended Israel approves more than 500 new settler homes in East Jerusalem An Israeli news outlet earlier reported an anonymous source as saying the announcement on America's embassy moving from Tel Aviv would be made on Monday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Mr Trump by telephone on Sunday evening. The White House statement, released after the call, made no mention of the US embassy, however. The statement said that the two leaders talked about strengthening the US-Israel relationship, stability in the Middle East and they agreed to "monitor the threats posed by Iran". "The President emphasised that peace between Israel and the Palestinians can only be negotiated directly between the two parties, and that the United States will work closely with Israel to make progress towards that goal." (Getty (Getty) The statement also revealed that Mr Trump invited Mr Netanyahu to visit the White House in February. On NBCs 'Meet the Press', Trump administration adviser Kellyanne Conway said the newly-inaugurated President would be speaking about issues in the Middle East and specifically on Iran during his phone call with the Israeli leader. The Palestinians have said that an embassy move would kill any prospect for peace. Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, imam of the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, has previously warned that relocating the embassy would be as good as a declaration of war. Israel views Jerusalem as is its capital, but most of the world considers its final status a matter for peace negotiations. Mr Trumps new US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, is also a controversial choice as he is considered a supporter of Israeli settlements. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The White House will on Monday announce that the US embassy in Israel is to move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, according to an unconfirmed report by an Israeli news outlet. UPDATE: The White House has now confirmed it is in the early stages of talks regarding the embassy's move Channel 2 cited an anonymous source as saying a member of the Trump administration would announce the highly controversial move on the Presidents first full working day in office. The news channel said it had received no confirmation of the claim and there has been no public statement on the move since Friday's inauguration of the new US President. (Getty) Relocating the US embassy to Jerusalem would represent a major break with US policy. Donald Trump has said repeatedly that he intends to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem, despite warnings the move would violate international law and destroy the peace process. Earlier in January, US officials and Israeli Foreign Ministry sources said the incoming US ambassador to Israel could be based in Jerusalem, while the official embassy building remains in Tel Aviv. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to move the US Embassy building in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv to Jerusalem (Getty) (JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images) Relocating the embassy to Jerusalem would be seen as a provocative move by Mr Trump's critics as the city is claimed by both the Israelis and Palestinians as their capital. In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President-elect Donald Trump acknowledges guests as he arrives on the platform at the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump looks on during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington AP In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President Donald Trump shakes hands with Justice John Roberts after taking the oath at inauguration ceremonies swearing in Trump as the 45th president of the United States Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President Donald Trump raises his fists after his inauguration on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol Getty In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. President-elect Donald Trump greets outgoing President Barack Obama before Trump is inaugurated during ceremonies on the Capitol in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump resident-elect Donald Trump arrives on the platform of the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Attendees partake in the inauguration ceremonies to swear in Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States at the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump US President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address during ceremonies at the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. President Donald Trump waves with wife Melania during the Inaugural Parade in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters registered their rage against the new president Friday in a chaotic confrontation with police who used pepper spray and stun grenades in a melee just blocks from Donald Trump's inaugural parade route. Scores were arrested for trashing property and attacking officers AP In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators protest against US President Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A woman holds a sign before the start of the Presidential Inauguration of Donald Trump at Freedom Plaza in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Anti-Trump protesters prepare banners for a protest against the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, in Berlin REUTERS In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators shout slogans against US President-elect Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators march, block foot traffic and clash with U.S. Capitol Police at the entry checkpoints for the Inauguration of Donald Trump Alamy Live News In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators display a banner as people arrive for US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A man displays a placard as people lineup to get into the National Mall for the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump raise their hands as they are surrounded by police on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A demonstrator wearing a mask depicting Donald Trump protests outside the US Embassy in London Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators hold placards as they protest outside the US Embassy in London Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Former US President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush arrive for the Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden share an umbrella as President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address at the inauguration in Washington DC Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton arrive on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. Vice President Mike Pence takes the oath of office on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Advisors to President-elect Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon depart from services at St. John's Church during the Presidential Inauguration in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump take cover as they are hit by pepper spray by police on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump An activist demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump is helped after being hit by pepper spray on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A police officer tries to tackle a protester demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump Reuters/Adrees Latif In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Police arrest and detain a protester in the street in Washington DC Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A police officer falls to the ground as another shoots pepper spray at protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters Israel annexed east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War. The move has not been recognised by the international community. Mr Trump has also appointed a new US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, who is considered a supporter of settlements. Meanwhile, Israel has approved building permits for hundreds of homes in three East Jerusalem settlements. Israel expects Mr Trump to end the US governments criticism of building projects on disputed land. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to speak with Mr Trump by telephone on Sunday. White House press secretary condemns reporting of Donald Trump's inauguration "We strongly condemn the Israeli decision to approve the construction," Nabil Abu Rdainah, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told Reuters. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A London mothers five-year prison sentence has reportedly been upheld by a Iranian court. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has dual British-Iranian citizenship, was sentenced on national security charges in September last year, although the precise reasons for her arrest have not been made public. A news outlet affiliated with the countrys judiciary reported on Sunday that her original sentence has been upheld by an appeals court in the countrys capital, Tehran. Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe is being held at Tehrans notorious Evin prison, where many political prisoners have reported being subject to torture and other cruel and degrading treatment. In November her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, said that his wife was at breaking point and on a hunger strike to protest her incarceration. Her mental health had deteriorated to the point where she had considered suicide after being kept in both solitary confinement and cramped quarters for months at a time. Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was first detained in April 2016 at Tehrans airport when leaving back to the UK after a family visit with her then 22-month-old daughter, Gabriella. Gabriellas passport was also seized, and the toddler remains with her maternal grandparents in Iran. Irans legal system does not recognise dual nationality and those detained cannot receive consular assistance. Women arrested for riding motorbikes in Iran Before her arrest the London-based 37-year-old worked as a project manager for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the news agency. Rights group Amnesty International, which has petitioned the UK Government to ensure the safe return of Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her child, believes that her detainment may be related to the fact she used to work for the BBC. The Iranian authorities loathe the BBCs Persian-language news service, which millions of Iranians watch illegally. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Israel has approved the construction of 566 settler homes in East Jerusalem, officials have said. The expansion of three different settlements was confirmed on Sunday by the Jerusalem Municipality just two days after US President Donald Trump, who has vowed support of the state, took office. The planned permits had been previously held up until the end of former President Barack Obamas tenure, Meir Turgeman, chair of the city halls Planning and Building committee, told Israel Radio. Mr Obamas administration has been highly critical of settlement expansion over the 1967 Green Line. In December, the 15-member UN Security Council voted 14 0 to condemn Israeli settlements as a flagrant violation of international law for the first time in decades, after US ambassador Samantha Power raised her hand as the lone abstention a symbolic break with US policy in the past, which had been to use its veto power to shield Israel from international reproval on the issue. However, the incoming Trump administration has struck a much more sympathetic tone towards its ally, appointing a pro-settlement ambassador, David Friedman, and inviting pro-settlement groups to attend Mr Trumps inauguration this week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet with Mr Trump next week, in one of the new US Presidents first meetings with a world leader. Israel annexed East Jerusalem during the Six Day War, in a move which has never been formally recognised by the international community. The city is claimed by both Palestinians and Israelis as their capital. Barack Obama uses final interview as President to slam Israeli policy on settlements A campaign trail promise to move the US embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has also angered Palestinians, with Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas warning that such a decision would derail the already protracted peace process. Since the 1970s successive Israeli governments have encouraged large numbers of Jews to move onto the occupied land. The total settler population in the West Bank is now thought to be 550,000 strong. Settlement building, which has increased year-on-year under current right-wing Prime Minister Netanyahu, is viewed as one of the major stumbling blocks to a lasting peace deal in the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mr Netanyahu says the Palestinian failure to recognise Israel as a Jewish state is the biggest obstacle to peace, rather than settlements. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A school just outside the Yemeni capital of Sanaa has been hit by a Saudi-led coalition air strike, the rebel news agency has said. Saba, the news service run by the dominant Houthi movement since it seized control of Sanaa in 2015 said that four missiles had hit the Guards School building north of the capital. The strike took place on Sunday, which is a working day in most of the Muslim world. No casualties have yet been reported. At least two civilians have died in the last 24 hours thanks to more than 45 strikes across the country, Saba said, citing Houthi officials. Agence France-Presse reported that 70 people had been killed in fresh fighting, according to medics. The raids and deaths have not yet been fully verified by monitors. More than 10,000 people have died since the conflict in Yemen descended into full-scale civil war almost two years ago, the UN says. The fighting has also exacerbated hunger and disease in the Middle Easts poorest country. A Saudi-led coalition has intervened on behalf of Yemens exiled government since March 2015 against the Iran-allied Houthi movement in what Riyadh says is aimed at curbing creeping Iranian influence in the region. The campaign has been widely criticised for hitting civilian infrastructure, including the bombing of a Sanaa funeral that killed 140 people in October last year. Why Yemen's future threatens to destroy its past Show all 4 1 /4 Why Yemen's future threatens to destroy its past Why Yemen's future threatens to destroy its past Hugh McLeod Why Yemen's future threatens to destroy its past Hugh McLeod Why Yemen's future threatens to destroy its past Hugh McLeod Why Yemen's future threatens to destroy its past Hugh McLeod Several Western governments including the UK have also been rebuked for selling arms to Saudi Arabia, which rights groups say are destined for use in the conflict. All previous attempts to broke a peace deal between the Yemeni government and rebels have so far failed. Elsewhere in the country, two suspected members of al-Qaedas Yemen branch were killed in what local officials said was a US drone strike over the weekend. If confirmed, the strike is the first such attack to have taken place since US President Donald Trump took office on Friday. The Trump administration has not yet laid out a clear policy on drone strikes. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} As night-time approaches in Sanliurfa, southeastern Turkey, most of the alleyways of the citys old bazaar are emptying out, except for one. The bustle of daytime trading has died down, but on this little street, a stream of men carry cardboard boxes filled with pigeons to a cluster of three teahouses. Here, they sell the birds at Sanliurfas famed auctions to a dedicated band of pigeon keepers and breeders, a pastime that has been thriving for hundreds of years across the region and over the nearby border into war-torn Syria. In a country where the minimum wage is about 1,400 liras (298) a month, enthusiasts regularly easily spend hundreds of dollars for one bird. I once sold a pair of pigeons for 35,000 Turkish lira, says auctioneer Mam Dildas. This is a passion, a hobby you cannot quit. Ive been known to sell the fridge and my wifes gold bracelets to pay for pigeons. Sanliurfa sits just 50km from Syria, in a southeastern region rocked by its own clashes between government troops and Kurdish insurgents. But the trade has taken the turmoil in its stride and carried on. In the early days of the conflict next door, there was a glut of birds on the market as enthusiasts from northern Syria fled into Turkey with their pigeons. Prices fell due to oversupply but as the conflict escalated and there were no more pigeons coming from Syria, prices rose again, says 23-year-old breeder Smail Ozbek. He keeps about 200 pigeons together worth about 50,000 lira in lofts fitted with alarms and closed circuit TV cameras. At the auction, men sip tea and smoke cigarettes as Dildas picks up a bird and shows it to the crowd. He gives a starting bid price and buyers shout out their offers. Pigeon breeding in Sanliurfa Show all 17 1 /17 Pigeon breeding in Sanliurfa Pigeon breeding in Sanliurfa A man shows a pigeon to his friends as they look for a pigeon to buy from a shop in Sanliurfa, Turkey Reuters Pigeon breeding in Sanliurfa A pigeon, known as Kara Alaca Kirk Telli, with an approximate market value of 500 Turkish Lira ($132), bred by 23-year-old Ismail Ozbek, is pictured in Sanliurfa, Turkey Reuters Pigeon breeding in Sanliurfa Ismail Ozbek, 23, poses for a photograph with one of his pigeons in Sanliurfa, Turkey Reuters Pigeon breeding in Sanliurfa Auctioneer Kadir Sakizci (L), 28, conducts a sale at a pigeon auction in Sanliurfa, Turkey Reuters Pigeon breeding in Sanliurfa A poster announcing the "National Most Beautiful Pigeon Contest" hangs on a wall in a tea house where pigeon auctions take place in Sanliurfa, Turkey Reuters Pigeon breeding in Sanliurfa A pigeon, known as Sari Aynali, with an approximate market value of 500 Turkish Lira ($132), bred by 23-year-old Ismail Ozbek, is pictured in Sanliurfa, Turkey Reuters Pigeon breeding in Sanliurfa Auctioneer Imam Dildas, 40, conducts a sale at a pigeon auction in Sanliurfa, Reuters Pigeon breeding in Sanliurfa A man holds a pigeon during a pigeon auction in Sanliurfa, Turkey Reuters Pigeon breeding in Sanliurfa A pigeon, known as Siyah Kinifirli, with an approximate market value of 1000 Turkish Lira ($263), bred by 23-year-old Ismail Ozbek, is pictured in Sanliurfa, Turkey Reuters Pigeon breeding in Sanliurfa Pigeons are seen in a cage before the start of a pigeon auction in Sanliurfa, Turkey Reuters Pigeon breeding in Sanliurfa Vitamins and antibiotics for pigeons are seen on a stand for sale in a tea house where pigeon auctions take place in Sanliurfa, Turkey Reuters Pigeon breeding in Sanliurfa Pigeons are seen in a coop in Sanliurfa, Turkey Reuters Pigeon breeding in Sanliurfa Pigeons fly in the sky in Sanliurfa, Turkey Reuters Pigeon breeding in Sanliurfa A pigeon, known as Sari Alaca, with an approximate market value of 2500 Turkish Lira ($659), bred by 23-year-old Ismail Ozbek, is pictured in Sanliurfa, Turkey Reuters Pigeon breeding in Sanliurfa Pigeons for sale are seen in a box during a pigeon auction in Sanliurfa Reuters Pigeon breeding in Sanliurfa Pigeons roost on a wall on top of a building in Sanliurfa, Turkey Reuters Pigeon breeding in Sanliurfa A pigeon, known as Ispir, with an approximate market value of 1500 Turkish Lira ($395), bred by 23-year-old Ismail Ozbek, is pictured in Sanliurfa, Turkey Reuters Prices vary from 30 to 3,500 Lira. Some birds wear silver adornments on their feathers or feet to boost their value. At the end of the night, Dildas has sold about 13,000 lira worth of birds. His commission is 10 per cent. When they are not trading, most of the citys pigeon fanciers head to the rooftops at sunset and let their birds stretch their wings. Hundreds fill the sky a familiar sight in the city before following their training and heading home. The birds are my friends. They give me peace, says 55-year-old enthusiast Resit Guzel. He gives his 70 birds quality feed and regular vitamins. Upkeep ... costs 5 lira a day, which is not much. Even if it cost me more, I wouldnt mind, he says. They have been my hobby for the last 40 years ... You can only understand if you keep pigeons. Reuters For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump has decided not to send a US delegation to planned talks on Syrias civil war, which begin in the Kazakh capital next week. The US was belatedly given a formal invitation to attend the talks in Astana by the Russian and Turkish organisers, but would only be represented by the countrys ambassador to Kazakhstan, the US State Department said on Saturday. The United States is committed to a political resolution to the Syrian crisis through a Syrian-owned process, which can bring about a more representative, peaceful, and united Syria, a State Department release said. Given our presidential inauguration and the immediate demands of the transition, a delegation from Washington will not be attending the Astana conference. Mr Trumps exact policy position on the almost six-year-long Syrian civil war is unclear. Previously, the US has backed a broad coalition of Sunni rebels fighting against the Syrian regime, and maintained that President Bashar al-Assad must be removed from power. On the campaign trail Mr Trump said that as president he would like to focus on wiping out jihadi terror organisations such as Isis, indicating that he could be willing to work with Mr Assads government to achieve their shared objective. President Trump has previously stated that while he did not like [Mr Assad] at all, shoring up his regime is the best way to stem the extremism that has flourished in the chaos of the civil war and threatens the US. In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Show all 30 1 /30 In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian family arrives at a checkpoint, manned by pro-government forces, at the al-Hawoz street roundabout, after leaving Aleppo's eastern neighbourhoods Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian woman, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, reacts as she stands with her children in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood, after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian pro-regime fighters, gesture as they drive past resident fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood , after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian pro-regime fighters, gesture as they drive past residents fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood, after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian pro-regime fighter speaks with a child, as residents flee violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood. Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops AFP/Getty Images In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Smoke rises as seen from a governement-held area of Aleppo, Syria Reuters In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian soldiers targeting rebels-held areas in the eastern neighborhoods in Aleppo, Syria. According to media reports, the army is now holding on 99 percent of Aleppois eastern neighborhoods EPA In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian pro-government forces patrol Aleppo's eastern al-Salihin neighbourhood after troops retook the area from rebel fighters Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian soldiers rest following the battle at al-Sheik Saeed neighborhood in Aleppo, Syria EPA In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian pro-government fighter walking past closed shops in the Bab al-Nasr district of Aleppo's Old City. Once renowned for its bustling souks, grand citadel and historic gates, Aleppo's Old City has been rendered virtually unrecognisable by some of the worst violence of Syria's war Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria The crucial battle for Aleppo entered its 'final phase' after Syrian rebels retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances. The retreat leaves opposition fighters confined to just a handful of neighbourhoods in southeast Aleppo, the largest of them Sukkari and Mashhad Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian civilans arrive at a checkpoint, manned by pro-government forces, at the al-Hawoz street roundabout, after leaving Aleppo's eastern neighbourhoods. Syria's government has retaken at least 85 percent of east Aleppo, which fell to rebels in 2012, since beginning its operation Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian civilians flee the Sukkari neighbourhood towards safer rebel-held areas in southeastern Aleppo Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrians celebrate in the government-held Mogambo neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, after rebel fighters retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrians celebrate in the government-held Mogambo neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, after rebel fighters retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances. The fall of Aleppo would be the worst rebel defeat since Syria's conflict began in 2011, and leave the government in control of the country's five major cities Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian refugee Aliya inside the tent where she lives with her husband and ten children in a camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian refugee women and children outside the entrance to their tents in the refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA Wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA Wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian refugee woman outside the entrance to the tent where her family live, in the refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A vehicle drives past a mosque at night in Idlib, Syria. Picture taken with a long exposure Reuters In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Damaged buildings stand in the rebel-controlled town of Binnish in Idlib province, Syria Reuters In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria The night sky is seen through damaged windows in the rebel-controlled town of Binnish in Idlib province, Syria Reuters In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Damaged buildings stand in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province, Syria Reuters He has also been emphatic about mending ties with Russia, Syrias long-standing ally and military backer in the conflict. Russia is now totally aligned with Syria, and now you have Iran, which is becoming powerful, because of us, is aligned with Syria Now were backing rebels against Syria, and we have no idea who those people are, he said in December, referring to the hardline Sunni Islamist elements present in rebel ranks. If the US attacks Mr Assad, We end up fighting Russia, he added. Mr Trumps election has been welcomed by Moscow, Tehran, and Damascus. Trump calls critics 'enemies' at inauguration ball as he vows to keep his Twitter account running The Kremlin has expressed hope that the new US president will be more cooperative on initiatives to end the Syrian war than his predecessor. It is obvious that without the United States it is impossible to resolve the Syrian issue, Russian President Vladimir Putins spokesperson Dimitry Peskov told the BBC on Sunday. Russia and US and Syrian rebel ally Turkey purposefully excluded former Secretary of State John Kerry from negotiations on the Syrian conflict in December 2016 as the two countries sought to overshadow the involvement of former US President Barack Obamas administration in the peace process. Several rounds of UN and US brokered talks have so far failed to bring any lasting respite in Syrias war, which the UN estimates has displaced half the population from their homes and killed more than 400,000 people. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Muslim man was greeted with heartwarming note from one of his neighbours on the day of Donald Trumps inauguration. Left outside the door of his home Cincinnati, Ohio, it told him he was welcome in the neighbourhood. Today begins a new stage for our country," it read. No matter what happens, please know there are still a lot of people who will fight for your right to practice your religion, to continue to live your lives without discrimination. You are welcome in our neighbourhood and if you need anything please knock on our door. The mans niece Hend Army, who described herself on Twitter as an East and West citizen and refugee, tweeted the picture of the note sent to her uncle. This is the America that took us in as political refugees,the America that gave us a new home, and the America that keeps my hope alive today, she said. More than 150,000 people have now shared the picture of the message on Twitter. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Most of Donald Trumps inauguration speech was not written by him - as he suggested in a tweet - but by two of his top advisors. Two days before his inauguration, Mr Trump tweeted a picture of him seemingly writing his speech three weeks before at the Winter White House in Mar-a-Lago. But a White House official said much of the speech was actually written by Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon, according to the Wall Street Journal. During Mr Trump's campaign trail, Mr Miller prepared most of his speeches and last month, Politico reported that as senior advisor for policy, he would be in charge of writing the inauguration address. I dont think weve had a speech like that since Andrew Jackson came to the White House, Mr Trumps chief strategist and senior counsellor Mr Bannon, told the Wall Street Journal. Its got a deep, deep root of patriotism.It was an unvarnished declaration of the basic principles of his populist and nationalist movement. It was given in a very powerful way, he added. The internet was also quick to draw similarities between Mr Trumps speech and the lines of dialogue spoken by Bane (Tom Hardy) in the Batman film The Dark Knight Rises by Christopher Nolan. The speech is also reported to be the shortest since Jimmy Carters in 1977 and half the length of recent inaugurals. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The day before Donald Trump won the election over Hillary Clinton, the Swedish ad agency Round & Round put out an invitation to all Americans: Escape Trump. Come work in Sweden. Mostly a joke, the invitation came with a catch: All applications would be opened only if Trump pulled out a win. Two months later, the nearly 900 applications the agency has received now seem bittersweet. "A lot has happened since November," Round & Round's head of content, Nahir Aslan, told the Swedish edition of the Local news site on Friday, the day Trump became the 45th US president. "We've had a whopping 857 applicants for one job, which is both fantastic for us, and regrettable for the world. It's remarkable how the campaign has played out." On November 7, Round and Round, one of the leading agencies for major Swedish brands, told visitors on a newly listed website, "The Great Trump Escape," that, "You are looking for a new country, we are looking for new talent!" In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Show all 32 1 /32 In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London An image of President Donald Trump is seen on a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A view of the skywriting word reading 'Trump' as thousands rally in support of equal rights in Sydney, New South Wales EPA In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome People shout and hold signs during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A protester holds a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille A placard ready 'Pussy grabs back' is attached to the handle bar of a bike during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A young Thai girl holds a "women's rights are human rights" sign at Roadhouse BBQ restaurant where many of the Bangkok Womens March participants gathered in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A Thai woman takes a photo of a "hate is not great" sign at the women's solidarity gathering in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok American expats and travellers gather with the international community in Bangkok at the Roadhouse BBQ restaurant to stand in solidarity in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protetesters gather outside The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Women's March at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Protestors hold placards reading 'My body my choice, my vote my voice' during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome A person holds a sign during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activist Sarah Annay Williamson holds a placard and shouts slogan during the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activists participate in the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A Women's March placards are rested on a bench outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A women carries her placard ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila Women protesters shout slogans while displaying placards during a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President Donald Trump, in suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Protesters take part in the Melbourne rally to protest against the Trump Inauguration in Melbourne, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters take part in the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Womens march on Melbourne protestors marching during a rally where rights groups marched in solidarity with Americans to speak out against misogyny, bigotry and hatred Rex In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau, Macau. The Women's March originated in Washington DC but soon spread to be a global march calling on all concerned citizens to stand up for equality, diversity and inclusion and for women's rights to be recognised around the world as human rights Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila A mother carries her son as they join a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States in suburban Quezon city northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney An infant is held up at a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman attends a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman expresses her Anti-Trump views in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydeney Protesters demonstrate against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia. The marches in Australia were organised to show solidarity with those marching on Washington DC and around the world in defense of women's rights and human rights Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters march from The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square towards Trafalgar Square during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters carrying banners take part in the Women's March on London, as they stand in Trafalgar Square, in central London Reuters It cited a poll in which one in four Americans said they would look to leave the US if Trump won as the main reason for the launch. Andreas Ullenius, Round and Round's executive creative director and cofounder, told Business Insider after the launch that he wished he weren't moving forward with the campaign. "Unfortunately, I wish we would have Hillary for president and no applications," he said. According to The Local, hundreds of people applied in earnest, but many applied out of the very kind of hopelessness the initiative half-jokingly served. "It's definitely mixed emotions," Aslan said. "We definitely didn't hope for this when we were trying to tap into the discussion. Then it played out as it did." Sweden's residency process is actually much simpler than that of Canada, perhaps the most popular future home cited by disenchanted Americans. It is relatively easy even to become a Swedish citizen. Though learning the local tongue definitely helps, prospective Swedish citizens don't technically need to learn Swedish. They must only spend five years in the country, avoid committing any crimes, and as competitive as it may be, postelection find a job. Read more: 10 under-the-radar destinations to visit, according to the youngest person to travel to every country in the world 11 books Barack Obama thinks everyone should read Meet the 28-year-old London banker who is the youngest person to travel to all 196 countries Read the original article on Business Insider UK. 2016. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} This week the new American administration will start work on a trade deal with the UK, to be implemented when Britain leaves the European Union. It is a welcome move, for any trade deal should increase the wealth and welfare of both partners, just as any trade restriction is likely to cut them. The US is already Britains largest trading partner, larger than Germany, although overall trade with the EU is obviously much larger still. It is true too that trade with the US is in broad balance, while trade with the rest of the EU is in large deficit. This deal will be part of a wider realignment of UK relations. We will catch more of a feeling for that after the visit of Theresa May to Washington later this week. Trade will be only one aspect of her discussions with the new President, but it is an important aspect and, whatever view one takes of Donald Trump, a close relationship with the US is helpful to the world. The UK will always remain a junior partner, but at the margin will have some influence on US policy, not just towards Europe but more generally towards the world beyond. However, in going into these negotiations the UK team should remember three things. The first is that America will put America first. The harsh message from the President does at least have the virtue of clarity. We know where we stand. There will be a deal, and that will benefit both sides. But it would be naive not to accept which side has the stronger hand. The second is that there is no easy transformation of economic relations in store. Distance matters less than it used to, but it is not dead. The trucks and trains will still be bringing stuff across the Channel. European supply chains are so integrated that, while as a proportion of the total our trade with the EU has been falling for more than a decade, Europe will remain our largest overall trading partner for some years to come. Trade deals with the US and the rest of the world are welcome, but do not replace trade with Europe. We need a deal there too. And the third point is the UK is useful to the US in part because of our relationship with Europe. The greater the rift with Europe, the less use Britain is to America. That is not just an issue about trade, although in financial services in particular, London has been the base for many American banks to enter the EU market. It is the wider issue, the extent to which Britain has been able to nudge Europe in a direction that broadly supports our mutual interests. Under many different US administrations and many different UK governments there have been common objectives for the European continent as a whole. But outside the EU it will be harder for the UK to achieve those. We will have less leverage, maybe much less. There will inevitably be a huge amount of attention paid to the choreography of the meeting between Donald Trump and Theresa May, just as there has over the handover of power in the US over the past three days. But we should be neither dismayed nor seduced by the details. What matters is that this quite new Prime Minister and this very new President have a businesslike working relationship. These are not going to be an easy few years, for obvious reasons. But a solid relationship between the UK and the US is in the interests of everyone, including the continent of Europe. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Imagine. Someone who has never hitherto stood for elected office is running strongly to be the next President of France. This is Emmanuel Macron, who is currently third in the polls with 20 per cent, not far behind Marine Le Pen with 26 per cent and Francois Fillon with 25 per cent. Voting takes place in April. We can imagine, of course, because Donald Trump has just shown how it is done. But at least Trump had TV fame when he announced his decision to run. He had been the host of the popular American show The Apprentice for 14 seasons. But when Macron raised his standard, he must have been unknown to 90 per cent of French voters. Nevertheless, a characteristic Macron shares with Trump is an ability to attract huge crowds to his meetings. When he announced he was running last November, some 15,000 people came to hear him speak at the Porte de Versailles in Paris. In the gritty, left-leaning city of Lille, 4,000 turned up. Earlier this month, 2,000 Macron supporters filled a hall in Clermont-Ferrand with 500 turned away. Three days later, one of the Socialist Party contenders, Manuel Valls, the former Prime Minister, found himself addressing 300 supporters in a half-empty gym in the same city. Recommended Theresa May could learn from Blair when she meets with Donald Trump Which party does Macron represent? He doesnt. He has created his own party, En Marche!. Where does it fit into the political spectrum? It doesnt. Its founder states that it is neither on the right or on the left. This lack of traditional positioning may even be one of its appeals. Nor was Trump very different in this regard. Before running he had given money to both the Republicans and the Democrats. He was officially the Republican candidate, but that seems to have been only a matter of convenience, like having a passport for a country where you have hardly ever lived. There is another striking characteristic of Macrons candidature. He presents himself as the anti-system candidate, yet in terms of education and career he is a perfect example of the French elites. He resembles a duke criticising the aristocracy. Thus he attended the highly regarded Lycee Henri-IV school in Paris. He did a degree in public affairs at Sciences Po in the same city, whose nearest British equivalent is the London School of Economics. Finally he took a course at the Ecole nationale dadministration, which is a finishing school for Frances ruling class. Among its graduates it counts three presidents, Giscard dEstaing, Jacques Chirac and Francois Hollande, and six Prime Ministers. Naturally after this preparation, he went straight into the Ministry for the Economy and Finance. He left to work at the Rothschild Bank and then joined President Hollandes staff at the Elysee. Finally he was appointed minister of economy, industry and digital data in August 2014. And then resigned in August 2016 to found his own party and run for the presidency. Recommended May just damaged democracy on The Andrew Marr Show This background could scarcely be more different from Trumps and yet there is a similarity. The American President was also a member of an elite. He is a billionaire businessman. The front door to his offices in New York is a gold and diamond affair. If that is not elite, what is? It is just as distancing from everyday folk as Macrons prestigious education. However, the difference in policy positions between the two men is very great. Where Trumps inauguration speech focused on putting up walls America first, protectionism, keeping people out Macrons policies are largely directed to removing barriers. He calls for a democratic revolution and promises to unblock France. Thus Macron would scrap Frances 35-hour working week for younger workers while at the same time making it easier for businesses to lay workers off. But he would balance that reform with establishing broader unemployment benefits. He believes that older workers should be able work for fewer hours. He also wants to increase state spending on schools in areas where there are large numbers of migrants. In sum, he is determined to change Frances post-war model, which, as he told the centre-left weekly magazine LObs, has created deep inequalities by favouring mostly insiders, those with a permanent job contract and stable employment ... everyone else has been left aside. We seem, therefore, to have entered the age of political insurgency. Trump has succeeded; Macron is next to try. Who will follow? Is there a British candidate for this role or is Theresa May trying to play the part? Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} France is the only country in Europe with a totally independent nuclear deterrent. The UK is planning to pay 30bn to upgrade Trident. The UK will not own the missiles but will lease them under licence controls from the US. UK Submarines will have to report to King George Bay in the state of Georgia in order to be regularly inspected and serviced and armed with the leased missiles. In its latest test, the Trident missile misfired. We now have Trump on one flank, a President who not only considers Nato to be obsolete but will also have total control of the nuclear armaments and facilities in the US; and we have Putin on the other flank, a President of Russia with apparent and activated plans to expand into Eastern Europe. France is blessed with four triumphant nuclear submarines now armed with new M51 ballistic missiles. Many people believe this combination to be infinitely better and more proven than Trident. France also has new air launched nuclear missiles, the ASM-A, that are launched from the Mirage 2000N. It is believed that France has a modified battlefield version of this weapon that could be deployed against any battlefield use of nuclear weapons by an aggressor. France has suggested that the UK and France should join forces in the funding, expansion and deployment of these armaments as a truly European nuclear deterrent. The cost to the UK would probably be less than one-fifth of the cost of our leased and US-dependant Trident. Moreover, these costs could, and should, be spread across the 28 members of the European Union. It is time for Europe to defend itself and it would be good if we could unify and cooperate to build that defence. But of course this cooperation is now unlikely as we have decided to walk away from the EU. Martin Deighton Wickham Market Trident The real question is have there been any subsequent tests and how did they go? Robert Davies Address supplied Up in smoke The joy with which news of President Trumps offer to do a trade deal with Britain has been received by Brexiteers, Tory newspapers and the Foreign Secretary could be short-lived when one considers that no such deal can be envisaged until Britain is outside the EU. At that point, having relinquished all its special trading rights with Europe, Britain will hardly be in the most favourable position to deal with a President who has promised his compatriots to do beautiful trade deals. One can picture him in the Oval Office, striking a match on the bust of Winston Churchill, lighting a cigar and leaning back in the presidential chair and anticipation. Edwin Apps France The extinction of the Davos protestor There were no anti-globalisation protesters at Davos. Has President Trump made them redundant? John Doherty Vienna The myth of commercial patriotism In 1930 the United States passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. It was not the cause of the Great Depression, but served to deepen and prolong the recession, provoking foreign retaliation and a general contraction in world trade. In 1968 the UK became briefly involved in the Im backing Britain campaign. But, as if to prove the futility of urging people to show patriotism in their purchasing, we were about to enter in the 1970s one of the worst decades of British industrial decline in modern history. We buy the products we want for various reasons, but rarely just because they are made in our own country. Populist politicians such as Trump woo voters with simplistic and unachievable panaceas, but being seduced by their own rhetoric they ignore the lessons of history. Protectionism and commercial patriotism are not going to revive American industries that have been swept away by new technology and Far Eastern competition. Gavin Turner Norfolk Back to the Eighties I think John Hudson has hit on something in his letter regarding the NHS 30 years ago. Instead of going on strike or taking other industrial action, why don't those of us who work in the NHS have a back to the Eighties week across the board. Then perhaps there will be a better understanding from Government, press and patients how far the NHS has come, and where it needs to go. Andy Mellor Address supplied Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} There are idiots, look around. That was the famously tactless response, in the 1980s, from the veteran economist Larry Summers to the efficient markets hypothesis the assumption of many financial models that people always make decisions guided by rationality and with perfect information. Tactless Summers may have been but was he wrong? Irrational crazes are as old as human history. Charles Mackay wrote a book called Extraordinary and Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds as far back as 1841. And we have plenty of modern quantitative evidence that bears out the thesis of mass misconception and confusion. A poll by the Royal Statistical Society in 2013 found that the British public think 24 in every 100 of benefits is claimed fraudulently. The true figure is 70p. Around 30 per cent of the population are perceived to be recent immigrants. The true figure is 13 per cent. Violence is on the rise, 50 per cent believe, when in fact it has been falling for 20 years. A quarter of people think foreign aid is one of the top three largest items of Government spending when in fact it is less than 3 per cent of the total. And its not just Britain where serious misconceptions about the world hold sway. According to Ipsos Mori, in France the average person believes 31 per cent of the population is Muslim. The reality is 7.5 per cent. And those are arguably mistakes. Even scarier are the popular conspiracy theories. A quarter of Americans say they think the US government helped to plan the 9/11 attacks. Around 45 per cent think millions of illegal votes were cast in Novembers presidential election. The picture of the ivory tower academic economist who assumes perfect rationality and perfect information is something of a caricature, as Summers well-known quip itself demonstrates. Yet there has been a tendency among some economists to continue to assume sometimes for the sake of convenient modelling, sometimes owing to ideology that people are well-informed about the world around them. And Robert Shiller, the Nobel laureate, delivered an important lecture to the American Economic Association earlier this month urging fellow economists to start taking popular delusions much more seriously. Shiller stressed the economic relevance of powerful narratives" plausible but frequently false stories which can suddenly take a hold of the imagination of a large part of the public (and more easily and rapidly than ever in this digital age of ubiquitous social media). Shiller entertained the idea these narratives can drive behaviour, rather than merely being shaped by it, even perhaps causing economic slumps. We have to consider the possibility that sometimes the dominant reason why a recession is severe is related to the prevalence and vividness of certain stories, he suggested. Shiller feels economists should engage in major quantitative studies of developing popular narratives through textual analysis of internet searches, online mentions, Twitter trends and by mining other sources of big data. Shillers challenge is an unsettling one for many economists. This research agenda will doubtless give some (though certainly not all) a feeling of being unmoored from their cherished rules of thumb about the rationality of the so-called representative agent. And as Shiller himself acknowledges it is fiendishly hard to disentangle cause and effect when analysing narratives. Is a popular narrative driving economic fundamentals? Or are the economic fundamentals driving the popular narrative? Did people vote for Brexit because of the power of Vote Leaves take back control narrative and because they became convinced Turkey was about to join the European Union? Did Americans vote for Trump because of the force of the Make America Great Again slogan and conspiracy theories about Hillary Clintons emails? Or was it because they were economically and socially left behind? Narrative economics will never conclusively prove something like this. And its hard to see mathematically elegant microfounded models emerging from it. Yet such research may well be able to hint at the right answer. And in this era of online Islamist brainwashing, Trumpian lies and propaganda, the capture of the Labour party by hard-left Corbynites, mindless health scares, fake news, Fox News, the Daily Mail, Twitter bubbles in this digital epoch of popular delusions and the madness of crowds the sense that something serious is going on is hard to shake. Shillers challenge to economists feels like a timely one. Sean O'Sullivan is managing director of Seabrook, a manufacturing software business that works primarily with manufacturers in life sciences. After the June referendum his concerns were about protectionist policies making life difficult for Seabrook in the British market, about a potential decline in investment by manufacturers due to uncertainty, and about a hit to the Irish economy. "There were very few clear actions that we could take because it wasn't really until this past week that the vote was solidified with the announcement by the Prime Minister," O'Sullivan told the Sunday Independent. "But we took specific actions to increase our sales activity in the United Kingdom, not decrease it. "That meant that we were taking our products and our services to various locations, carrying out workshops and seminars to make sure that when there was a change, we were recognised as having a large presence in the United Kingdom." O'Sullivan was pleased to hear Toyota chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada express the view that British manufacturers would have to improve their competitiveness - O'Sullivan sees that as a potential boon for his business. He was also cheered by the results of the last British manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which put manufacturing growth at a 30-month high. One of the publishers of the PMI said a "fizz in new orders signals good news for UK manufacturers which have previously been hit by uncertainties following the EU referendum, and the sector looks set to reach a more robust growth path at the start of 2017". "We all expected that the threat of Brexit would have an impact. The opposite actually happened - output increased significantly," O'Sullivan said. "We're going to up our sales calls and our seminars and so forth. That's the only way that Irish companies can react to this. "It seems as if the world is going to fall apart but the reality is you can't just lift up manufacturing companies and carry them across in a boat, because of their size. You can't shut down a manufacturing company and hope to have it open in China in six months time. Manufacturing will continue in the UK and my belief, and certainly my hope, is that manufacturing will expand in the UK because they will need to make more products internally in the UK, particularly if there are increased tariffs in Europe. "That's good news for Irish people who serve the manufacturing market. When you look at it first you think it's going to be a disaster, but if you're smart enough and you have the right people, we believe that you'll survive. "We may have a little down time but we're 28 years old and I'd be a liar if I said we didn't have a down time before. I'd be optimistic having established the facts to date." The first guiding principle of British Prime Minister Theresa May's speech last Tuesday was to bring greater certainty to the UK's position on Brexit. Given the level of volatility faced by Irish exporters to the UK since the vote last June, the more certainty they have, the better they can plan for the future. There is a long way to go before implementation of Brexit in whatever form it may take. In the meantime, we are likely to see further volatility - particularly on currency markets. My advice, therefore, to Irish exporters is to prepare for a hard Brexit. At Enterprise Ireland we recently set out our new 2017-2020 strategy - 'Building Scale, Expand Reach, Deliver Global Ambition' - in which we set out ambitious plans to grow exports by 5bn per annum to 26bn by 2020. We also plan to reduce reliance on the UK to 33 per cent of total client exports by 2020. The UK is the number one export market for Enterprise Ireland clients, worth over 7.5bn in 2015. So our plan is twofold: we must help clients consolidate exports in the UK and help them diversify into new markets. Read More The challenges facing Irish exporters during this period cannot be underestimated. But I am confident that having experienced significant change over the years, we can respond to the challenges and opportunities that arise from what is likely to be a period of structural change. As I have seen first-hand, there are thousands of Irish companies succeeding across the world by being innovative, scaling up and diversifying into new export markets. Companies such as Voxpro, are an example. I was delighted to visit their new offices recently to announce Enterprise Ireland's results for 2016, which showed client company employment exceeded 200,000 for the first time with over 19,000 new jobs created. Read More The fact that almost two-thirds of the jobs were regionally based was particularly welcome. Companies such as Core HR in Cork and Vistamed in Co Leitrim, are examples of thriving Irish enterprises who employ significant numbers and are embedded in local economies. And the importance of our clients' spend domestically - more than 24bn in 2015 - cannot be underestimated. So as we look ahead in the context of Brexit, my advice to Irish enterprise is to take inspiration from these firms by focusing on: Innovation Investing in innovation to develop new products and services is a key strategy in differentiating a business. Enterprise Ireland offers a range of innovation and R&D supports and we aim to increase client investment in R&D by 50 per cent to 1.25bn annually by 2020. Competitiveness Focusing on improving operational efficiencies is particularly important for companies exporting to the UK. Enterprise Ireland is expanding its competitiveness and Lean programmes as well as introducing new capital and skills funding. Leadership and management Development Putting in place development support for senior managers particularly in relation to prudent financial and currency management is recommended to drive profitability through currency swings. We are introducing new programmes to support executives in this regard. Market diversification Having a diversified market plan should be a key element of any growth strategy, particularly as a response to the Brexit vote. Our overseas network of 32 international offices can support companies in identifying and securing business opportunities. Despite the uncertainty, Enterprise Ireland's new strategy is ambitious. By 2020, we aim to create 60,000 new jobs; increase annual exports by 5bn to 26bn; and increase annual domestic spend by 4bn to 27bn. These are challenging but achievable aims that can deliver a significant shift in the scale of Irish enterprise. I believe this strategy will help create a stronger indigenous business sector, with an expanded global footprint, making an even stronger contribution to jobs and economic growth nationwide. Enterprise Ireland will continue to partner with Irish companies to help them achieve this, whatever form of Brexit is implemented. Julie Sinnamon is CEO of Enterprise Ireland The UK Prime Minister's speech this week brought clarity to her country's stance on Brexit. She has prioritised immigration control over membership of the single market and the customs union. Overall, the latest comments lead to the inevitable conclusion that the UK and the EU will have a more distant form of relationship. Given the UK's acceptance that membership of the single market is not a possibility, it is important that Irish businesses plan against the scenario of most change and are prepared for substantial changes to trading conditions and access to talent from the UK. So what should business do? Establish a Brexit taskforce If you have not already done so, activate a 'Brexit taskforce' - identify the key personnel who will be involved in responding to Brexit developments; Identify specific areas that may be materially affected and require further investigation; Communicate an initial message to all stakeholders - shareholders will want to see a plan, customers will want guarantees and employees will want reassurance; Prepare and take action where key opportunities are clear or immediate risks need mitigation; and Plan and monitor for triggers in the unfolding situation, and execute if appropriate. Foreign exchange rates One of the most immediate impacts of Brexit was a dramatic fall in the value of Sterling. Many Irish businesses did not have currency hedging in place. Irish businesses should review their currency-hedging strategies and identify what level of exchange rate could put their business at risk. This will drive the need for remedial action. Businesses should consider whether they need an even more radical approach which may include acquiring a UK business or diversifying into new markets to reduce their exposure to the UK. Customs duties and tariffs Irish businesses should assess the potential impact of customs tariffs applicable to trading with the UK. Scenarios can be run and tested by reference to other international trade agreements. Vat The Vat impact on trade with the UK following its departure from the EU should be assessed, particularly where that trade involves the movement of goods. Movement of people and restrictions to market access Employers should review current contractual documents and practices for both their domestic and internationally mobile workforce to assess potential contractual issues including data protection and immigration quotas. Review regulations Significant barriers may arise in highly regulated sectors. Businesses operating in such sectors will need to monitor any proposed changes as negotiating positions emerge. Many commentators picked up from the Prime Minister's speech that the UK may look to reduce corporation tax in order to become more competitive. Once free from the jurisdiction of the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice, there is the prospect that the UK could soften the regulatory environment for the same reasons. In summary, business should proactively engage in scenario planning to assess the possible impact of Brexit. Action plans should be drawn up for the short and medium term. The time to take such action is now. David Carson is a partner and Brexit lead at Deloitte The Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) has launched a marketing offensive in the UK to encourage British companies to establish listings in Dublin on foot of Brexit. The ISE sees Brexit as a chance to promote Dublin as a way for companies to retain access to European capital. The Sunday Independent understands a number of enquiries have already been made to the exchange, with the ISE programme aimed at securing firmer approaches in the wake of UK Prime Minister Theresa May's landmark speech outlining Britain's plan to exit the single market. The ISE is also believed to be in discussions with corporate advisers in the United States about potential areas of cooperation around promoting its Atlantic Securities Market - set up by the ISE to facilitate dual US/European listings for companies - which could benefit from any diminution of London's status as a capital markets hub. In its promotional material, the ISE dubs Ireland as 'European gateway for global issuers'. It highlights that the ISE is uniquely positioned as the only English-speaking member of the EU, is part of the eurozone and can provide issuers with an ability to market their securities, such as funds, bonds, shares, to EU investors. May's speech has also sparked expectations that some of the UK's most prestigious law firms could set up operations here. Law Society director general Ken Murphy said the move towards a harder style of Brexit may encourage London firms to have a base in Ireland, allowing them direct access to the EU legal framework. New figures show 806 solicitors from England and Wales were added to the Irish roll of solicitors last year, as lawyers scramble to ensure professional 'right of audience' in European courts. Only those based in a EU member country can appear at the European Courts of Justice. A further 27 solicitors from Northern Ireland were also added to the roll in 2016. Prior to Brexit, the Law Society typically would admit 50 to 100 solicitors from the UK in an average year. Many are signing up with the Law Society here as a "precautionary measure" and as protection from any future difficulties resulting from Brexit. Murphy said the chances of British-based firms establishing here will increase if there is a large transfer of new clients from the London financial services centre into Dublin. Dubai-headquartered Emirates airline is considering deploying the world's biggest airliner - Airbus's A380 - on the Dublin-Dubai route. This comes as the airline is faced with increased competition from Qatar Airways, which joins Emirates and local rival Etihad on the route this summer. Enda Corneille, Ireland country manager for Emirates said: "The A380 is probably our most formidable tool worldwide, We've 89 A380s and a further 50 coming in the next three years," he said. "If you look at our trajectory in the Irish market, it is a natural progression as we grow capacity. What you really want is your largest aircraft on any route. "We have a lot of aircraft coming down the track and if Dublin continues to perform as well as it's performing it's going to be one of the candidates for deployment of the A380." While the Dublin runway is not an issue in negotiations, the double-deck plane would require capital investment at Dublin Airport to accommodate two storeys of access bridges. A spokesperson for the DAA confirmed that the airport has already looked at the issue of A380 facilities as part of its future-proofing planning. Corneille also joined calls to protect Ireland's 'soft' border with the North, which is now a key source of business for international airlines operating at Dublin airport. He said the airline "hasn't seen any material impact from Brexit", a significant amount of his passengers travel from Northern Ireland to use Dublin Airport. The latest Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) figures show that 1.2 million people from Northern Ireland used the airport in 2015. This represents a 37pc rise and it is continuing to grow. In addition, one million inbound passengers used Dublin as a gateway to Northern Ireland. Emirates took control of the Northern Ireland business from its UK arm in 2015, and employs staff actively selling full-time in that market. "Our business in Northern Ireland is growing at a rate of 51pc year-on-year," Corneille said. "For us in Ireland, ensuring that border doesn't become a hard border would enable our customers in Ireland to travel up and down." With Britain's Brexit strategy still evolving, he said "we're hopefully optimistic that isn't going to become an issue for us". Barry Lenihan is up to his eyes at the moment, what with running the suckler enterprise on the home farm in Adare, Co Limerick and working with South West Forestry as a financial adviser to clients interested in investing in forestry. He carries some 40 suckler cows on his holding near the picturesque village and sells them at local marts such as Sixmilebridge, Kilmallock and Listowel - and when not on the farm, he is at his desk assessing land parcels throughout the country for SWS. The 44-year-old splits his time between the two jobs, with forestry taking up most of his time and providing for his family of five. "There is no way you would make a living on the returns from cattle farming at the moment, so the forestry work is essential. "I try and keep my farming activities to my spare time. That's the way it is," Barry explains. Up to 2009 he worked with Ulster Bank and then transferred to SWS Forestry to cover financial and legal matters at the firm. Over the past few years, he has noticed some interesting trends emerging on farmers' attitudes to forestry - not least the fact that intensive beef farmers and - to a lesser extent - dairy farmers are coming back into the market for parcels of lands suitable for afforestation. The trend is similar to what was happening in the 1980s when dairy farmers used to buy blocks of marginal land to create a new income stream in forestry and increase their Single Farm Payment. "There is a view out there that forestry might be the type of insurance policy needed for intensive farming enterprises at the moment, as a hedge against any environmental restrictions which the European Commission maybe considering on the air emission problems being caused by cattle," he suggests. "With overall agricultural emissions now under serious scrutiny in Brussels, the fear is that the EU will move on these emissions sooner rather than later - and possibly introduce a polluter pays policy on these emissions," Barry explains. And this may come in the form of balancing the air emissions associated with the dairy/beef sector by insisting that farmers take equivalent anti- air pollution measures on their farms-along the lines of a "trees for emissions" regime, he points out. "It a long way from the days when a farmer wanting to take life a little easier might plant land, rather than rent it, and retained the basic payments on the planted land," he says. It is just a trend at the moment, Barry emphasises, but trends have a habit of becoming the routine It a busy life for Barry, who is married to Mairead, a local government official with Limerick City Council. They have five young children - Maurice (11), Patrick (10), Joseph (8), Finbarr (7) and Kathryn (one-and-a-half), with very little spare time for other pursuits, though he still takes an active interest in his local GAA clubs, Croagh Kilfinny and Adare. Down on the farm, weaning is the main job at the moment and caring for the Limousin X suckler herd that will be next calving in June and July. Sorting the housing facilities to accommodate the cows and calves is the immediate concern. On the summer breeding cycle, he says: "More often than not, the cows calve unassisted and both the cows and calves are good and strong before housing in late October "Hopefully the market will improve come the springtime to make the investment worthwhile, and then we will start all over again" he adds with fingers crossed. The month of December has been very mild. Weather records now show that 2016 was the hottest year on record. Climate change is a reality that the dairy industry here and globally will have to address in its future development. Methane production is our primary concern. There are 1.5 billion cattle and 1 billion sheep globally. Cows produce approximately 200 litres of methane daily, and almost 33pc of Irish greenhouse gases come from agriculture. Some gases are more effective than others at making the planet warmer. Methane gas is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 25 year period. In California, the Air Resources Board has set a 40pc reduction in methane emissions by 2030 based on 2013 levels. They have targeted the 'belching' and 'flatulence' of California's 5.5m dairy cows. In recognition of the fact that methane is damaging to the environment but also a valuable energy resource, scientists in Argentina developed a novel idea to capture the methane produced by 'belching' cows. A tube was placed into the digestive tract of the cows. This tube links to an inflatable "balloon" strapped to the cows back. In excess of 200 litres of methane is separated from the various gases collected on a daily basis. Can you imagine these stored gases being used to power a car! There are concerns that the cows have to be anaesthetised to insert the tube for collecting the gases. Having a backpack strapped to the cow's back is another concern. In my opinion, the improved environment and facility to harvest energy from methane 'belching' cows has to be welcomed. Indeed, school backpacks have in recent years got heavier, but still not considered a welfare issue for our children. Antimicrobial resistance is a technology that farmers will have to address in their food production systems in the near future. We have to face the reality that there has been excessive and unwarranted use of antibiotics on our farms. The challenges are not going to abate as herd sizes increase with greater stocking densities in a confined area. Preventative health management programmes (PHMP) will have to be the norm in food production systems in the future. Technology has a place in monitoring the wellbeing of animals under our care. However, it will not replace the need for good facilities and stockmen to manage our cattle. We have to create an environment for our livestock at all stages of their production cycle which optimises their immunocompetence. In practice, this means optimisation of competition for food quantity and quality, comfort zones for feeding, resting and walking. The need for antibiotics will be minimised and survivability of cattle in our food production systems will be optimised if PHMP is implemented. We have to move away from an approach of "how cheap can we produce our food within the farm gate" to creating a brand centred on PHMP and ultimately a more productive cow. Water quantity and quality will be the new 'super levy' preventing expansion of dairy herd size in the future. However, curtailing levels of nitrates and phosphates in ground water could be problematic. The challenge facing us is how concentrates of nitrogen and phosphorus can be maintained at optimal levels in our ground water leachate. In Holland, cow numbers have to be reduced by 200,000 to meet water quality regulations. In Saudi Arabia in the near future, it will not be possible to grow forage using existing scarce water resources. Plans are afoot to import forage requirements from South America. How sustainable is this from a carbon footprint perspective? Dr Dan Ryan is a bovine reproductive physiologist and can be contacted at www.reprodoc.ie They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. That has never stopped me making New Year resolutions, however, even if many of my aspirations fail to reach fruition. I have two targets for 2017. The first is to try to move more and eat less. This is the simplest and cheapest way to stay fit without wasting money by joining a gym or reading any of the numerous articles and books on the subject. Secondly, I intend to plant more holly. The reason for the inclusion of holly is simple. Not only is it a lovely shrub for around the farm, but I found it hard to meet the demand for it this year and had to turn away business when I could have sold far more. Bunches of berried holly are a must-have item during Christmas time and the public are now returning to the concept of having natural materials in decorations and wreaths rather than the rather tacky plastic imitation stuff. Planting more holly is undoubtedly the easier of my two resolutions as it is no hardship to load up the quad trailer with pots and with spade in hand, spend a few hours each week during the coming months popping in some more, wherever there is space. There are always gaps in hedgerows that need filling and also along the woodland edges as well as within the woods among broadleaves. Best of all are the areas that have been left unplanted under ESB lines which are ideal for establishing small holly "farms". While it has the ability to photosynthesise in semi shade and will establish itself readily within deciduous woodland, holly will grow faster in full sunlight. I already have hundreds of bushes popping up all over the farm where livestock cannot reach them and I can thank the many birds that eat the berries for this as they fly around the woods and hedgerows, dropping seeds in a ready made package of fertiliser. There is, of course, the drawback of the same birds raiding the bushes during a cold snap in early December, but that's a risk worth taking. There is usually enough for everyone and I don't grudge a hungry blackbird or thrush a feed during a hard cold spell. Given the huge demand each Christmas, it is astonishing that more farmers don't grow holly commercially by planting the varieties that are sought after by florists. Once established, it requires little aftercare and the annual harvesting of berried stems is sufficient to keep it in shape. It doesn't need spraying or any of the other endless tasks associated with growing fruit crops or cereals and the only drawback is that you need to give it up to 10 years head start before commencing serious harvesting. From there on though it couldn't be simpler, and each year you can turn your initial investment in to hard cash. Apparently much of the holly harvested in Ireland annually is removed illegally with whole trees being cut from hedgerows around the countryside and then packed in containers and exported to Britain and Germany. Theft has always been a problem when growing Christmas trees so the same precautions must apply and the site of a holly "farm" should be away from the roadside and in a position which is relatively inaccessible to the public or where it is easy to monitor. There is little point in going to the trouble and expense of planting and caring for holly if you choose a location that requires an armed guard in the weeks leading up to Christmas. According to the medieval Brehon laws in Ireland, if anyone were caught stealing a holly tree, they were obliged to owe the landowner the hefty fee of two milking cows. Now there is a thought. Maybe our Department of Justice and equality could restore that one when next reviewing our judicial system. I have found it difficult to source female plants of the common species Ilex aqifolium. Obviously, the males will not produce the essential berries, without which, holly is virtually unsaleable. Some male bushes are of course essential for fertilisation but only a few are needed. The care of holly bushes, once they are established is easy. On good soil, fertiliser is not necessary but does help on poorer sites. Water the plants when necessary for the first year and after that, normal vegetation control will ensure they keep growing happily. One of the seven Nobles of the Woods In times past, hedgerows often had the holly left uncut, one reason given was that it stopped witches running across the top. There were commercial reasons of course, for holly leaves as well as ivy were an important winter fodder in parts of Ireland as recently as the 1950s. The use of holly and ivy as Christmas decorations dates back to very ancient times when we celebrated the solstice and decorated our dwellings with greenery to shelter the woodland spirits during the winter. It is nice that this custom has survived but I doubt that many still realise its older significance. Holly was also one of the seven Nobles of the Woods which also include oak, hazel, yew, ash, pine and apple. What made holly so valuable was its tough, heavy wood which was favoured for making spears and chariot axles. Nowadays, apart from its lovely foliage, it is popular for woodturning because of its attractive, smooth, dense, ivory-white timber. When ordering your plants, be sure to include some of the cultivars such as Ilex JC Van Tol, Ilex Alaska and Ilex Golden King which are self-fertilising and once fully established, will produce great crops of valuable red-berried stems. It was fascinating when I recently talked to a number of female mart managers. One thing I didn't realise is the long hours involved. One spoke of working 70 hour weeks at certain times while, one recent Sunday morning another was lying in bed talking to a farmer on the phone about the price of lambs. They also reaffirmed just how important marts are - not just to farmers - but the broader rural social landscape. While handling livestock is central to the business, the handling of people is perhaps a bigger part. This is something that women tend to be good at. Selling and, to a lesser extent, buying, stock is an anxious time so skilful handling of those concerned is often required. Inevitably, the question of whether it is harder for a woman to work in such a male dominated world had to be asked. Along the road, they have all been tested. Once they were not found wanting, it seems they were "just let get on with it" and all used some version of this phrase. In my twenties, there was a time when I couldn't get a job so was doing a bit of farming at home. One of my tasks was to sell lambs in the mart. We had a single axle single horsebox, which is not easy to reverse. The first few times I went to back up the unloading bay, a bit of an audience gathered. But, once they saw I could do it, they just let me get on with it. That is often how things work in the world. Once the opportunity arises, women are well capable of doing the job. But that "once" is a big word. Reaching that point can be hard. In reality, most women who succeed will have worked harder and are probably more capable than a man who attains the same success. At the same time, it's often said that women knock or hold back other women faster than men do. I agree this happens. But it's important to understand why it happens, which out of insecurity or fear, rather than nastiness. In the past, a daughter who wanted to farm would often face more opposition from her mother than her father. I've no doubt that this was done with the best of intentions, a fear that she would be ground down by the physical demands of the job or struggle to succeed. I believe this is now slowly abating. Machinery has alleviated some of the physical demands as management and paperwork have become relatively more important. Even on the physical front, there are areas where a woman can match a man pound for pound any day, such as milking cows. As for raising calves and animal welfare, we are often better. There are times that I feel jealous of other women's success. It's not something I am proud of. I will tell myself that it must somehow be easier for them. Maybe they are younger? Or older? They have had some other sort of opportunity that I don't. Yet, at the same time, I recognise that I am the one who holds myself back, my fear of failure or of rejection. It is easier to sit back and knock those who do take chances. When we are feeling good about ourselves and our careers, we want the whole world to be happy and successful. When we don't feel good about how things are going, we don't feel the same generosity of spirit. Some people do, of course, face real discrimination. But, in many instances, the biggest barriers are within. I have no doubt that this, in turn, is partly down to history, to the experience of all the generations of women that have gone before. However, we now have more opportunity than ever. When my spirits are flagging, the one thing I tell myself is, "you regret most in life the chances you didn't take". The Government has been accused of introducing contradictory policies that will fail to address the housing crisis. In letters to Housing Minister Simon Coveney, two of the country's biggest residential landlords warned him off introducing rent caps, saying more consideration needed to be given to increasing availability in the private rental sector. IRES Reit and Kennedy Wilson said rent controls, introduced by the minister last month, which are due to be expanded, will not work. They urged Mr Coveney to focus on lowering construction costs and encouraging the development of new apartment rental schemes. Both companies were critical of proposals to introduce rent controls, citing international examples of why they did not work. Mr Coveney introduced a new rental strategy last month designating areas in Dublin and Cork as rent pressure zones. Landlords can increase rent by only 4pc a year for the next three years in these designated areas. However, the minister has since faced a clamour for other parts of the country to be included. Now, the scheme will be extended to include a further 20 towns in the coming weeks. Most of the new towns are in Galway, Cork and along Dublin's commuter belt. Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show the minister was lobbied by IRES Reit and Kennedy Wilson to row back on introducing the scheme before Christmas. Both said reducing the cost of building homes would be more productive, something builders have long lobbied for. "The cost to build apartments for rent in Ireland is too high relative to current rents," says a document sent to the minister by Kennedy Wilson. "Rent controls don't work as they will dis-incentivise private rental sector companies from building new products and maintaining existing portfolios. "Government should resist the temptation, even temporarily, to introduce rent controls such as capping or indexing. There is strong evidence that it limits the quantity of new units and quality existing units." The company also cited research comparing the cost of building in Dublin to construction costs in Manchester. It found Dublin prices were 20pc higher. Local authority levies paid by builders are lower in the UK where residential construction also incurs no VAT. "New supply will not be delivered in any meaningful numbers unless Government tackle the Government-generated costs associated with building new apartment rental schemes. "At the moment we have high design standards, high building regulatory costs, high council levies and high VAT. "These contradictory policies must be addressed." IRES Reit claimed the Residential Tenancy Board (RTB) needed further resources to adequately handle complaints and enforce orders on tenants and was critical of rent control measures. "It would be self-defeating for the Government to announce any form of rent control until further supply is created. It is critical not to drive the needed capital away. "Rental increases will begin to slow and continue that trend because of affordability in a natural free market way." I'm a single man in my 40s. I have no interest in getting married or having children. My private health insurance policy includes maternity, psychiatric and other benefits which I have no use for. Can I ask my insurer to remove those benefits and reduce my premium accordingly? Tadhg, Tarbert, Co Kerry Unfortunately not. A certain minimum level of cover must be included by law in all health insurance plans to comply with the 'minimum benefit' criteria set out in the health insurance legislation. For example, all plans must provide at least 100 days psychiatric cover and must include certain minimum benefits for hospital treatment, convalescence and even maternity. The reason for setting out these minimum benefits is to ensure that every plan introduced to the market provides a certain standard of cover - otherwise, insurers might be tempted to only include benefits of value to younger members and exclude high-cost covers. For example, consider a member who is availing of treatment for an underlying psychiatric problem. The 100 days of minimum psychiatric cover could be worth between 50,000 and 75,000 each year to that member. All plans must also provide up to 91 days' cover every five years for the treatment of certain addiction problems, which is a valuable benefit too. In other jurisdictions that don't have this minimum benefit criteria, we see insurers offering very little cover for some of these high-cost medical expenses. Therefore, if you see benefits on your plan that are of no relevance, please ignore them. Even if they were removed or hidden, it would have little or no impact on the cost of your cover. I am thinking of switching my private health insurance to a different company. I have had back trouble for the last few years, however. If I go to switch, will my cover for back complaints be restricted by the new insurer? John, Carrigaline, Co Cork Yes - but only to the level covered by your previous plan. Whenever you are changing cover, you need to be aware of the upgrade rule. This rule applies equally across all health insurers. Under the upgrade rule, if you change your cover to one which gives you enhanced hospital benefits, all insurers will restrict your cover for any pre-existing medical conditions to that of your previous plan. This restriction will apply for two years from the date of your new plan. For any new medical conditions arising after the effective date of the plan change, the new benefits will apply immediately - assuming all other waiting periods have been served. For example, take a case where a member is insured on a plan that provides cover for a semi-private room in a private hospital and he is considering changing to a new plan that covers a private room in the same private hospital. If he has already been insured for five years or more and is in good health, then the private room cover will commence immediately on joining the plan - irrespective of whether he is paying a reduced premium or not. However, if he has an existing condition such as a back complaint, then he will only be fully covered for semi-private accommodation for this condition for the next two years (as per the benefits of the previous plan). For out-patient benefits or day-to-day refunds, some insurers apply a short waiting period of six months if you switch to a plan that gives better refunds than a previous plan - or to a plan that has a lower or zero excess (the first part of a claim you must pay yourself). My private health insurance is coming up for renewal. I'll struggle to afford it this year. I'm thinking of moving to a cheaper plan where I take on a small excess. Is this a good idea? Valerie, Lucan, Co Dublin Yes, this is probably the most effective way of reducing your overall costs. Excesses, which are the first part of a claim you must pay yourself, only apply to private hospital admissions and in most cases are per stay or per claim - but not per night. So if you have an excess of 125 per claim, this is your maximum liability - irrespective of whether you're admitted for one night or a month. Considerable savings can be made by taking on an excess. For example, a member on the VHI Health Plus Access (Plan B) can reduce their costs from 2,046 to 1,646 per adult by opting for the VHI Health Access scheme - which has an excess of 125 per claim. Most of the excellent value corporate plans on the market all include small excesses. These include VHI's PMI 3513 - where the excess is 100 per claim; Laya's Connect Choice, which has an excess of 125 per claim; Irish Life Health's Best Smart plan, which has a 100 excess per claim; and GloHealth's Better Smart Cash plan which has an excess of 100 per claim. You need to consider the worst-case scenario when thinking of taking on an excess. For example, if you are faced with multiple private hospital admissions, can you afford to cover the excess each time? The savings you could make by switching to a plan with an excess need to be substantial enough to ensure those savings are not wiped out by frequent admissions. For procedures such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, most insurers will usually deduct one excess only per course of treatments - or in some cases, deduct no excess. I am still paying private health insurance for my 26-year-old - who is a student and still living at home with us. If I delete him from the policy, am I correct in assuming that he can be treated in the public system free-of-charge? Robert, Maynooth, Co Kildare Unfortunately not. While every citizen is entitled to access treatment via the public health system, it is not free unless you have a medical card. Otherwise, a charge of 100 applies if you use the accident and emergency (A&E) services - and if you are admitted for an overnight stay, you are liable for a charge of 75 a night or up to 750 in any one year. This charge applies irrespective of whether you're a child or an adult. This charge should be weighed up against the cost of maintaining private medical cover. Most insurers have good value plans costing approximately 880 per adult. These plans cover most public and private hospitals, which is the standard you need to achieve if you want cover that will work for you in the event of ill-health. Apart from the cost of using our public health system, you also need to be aware of the waiting lists for treatment. At the start of this month, there were over 440,000 people waiting to see a consultant on the public health system - with a further 80,000 waiting for surgery. Depending on the treatment required, the wait time can be anything from a few months to over a year - or even longer in some cases. If you want to ensure you have access to medical treatment when you need it, you either need to have a healthy bank balance or have good quality medical insurance in place. In this case, the advice would be to maintain cover for your son if at all possible - and perhaps have him pay for his own cover in his own name. Email your questions to lmcbride@independent.ie or write to 'Your Questions, The Sunday Independent Business Section, 27-32 Talbot Street, Dublin 1'. While we will endeavour to place your questions with the most appropriate expert to answer your query, this column is a reader service and is not intended to replace professional advice. Health cover analyst with totalhealthcover.ie Are we about to see a new spurt of tech IPOs? If so, will any Irish companies partake? For those who missed it, the last two years have seen the fewest stock market flotations in the tech industry in a decade. Tech firms have shunned the public markets, partly because of lukewarm public sentiment and partly because of the bazillions in alternative cheap finance floating around in private equity markets. In 2016 there were just 21 tech IPOs in the US (raising under 3bn), compared to 26 in 2015 (raising 6.5bn). Both years were well down on 2014 (56 tech IPOs in the US raising 28bn). The figures are slightly puzzling given that 2016 was a record year for US stock markets. But this year might see the IPO party start again. Snapchat (inset) is expected to lead the charge in March. Uber is also tipped to finally go public toward the end of the year. In between, other firms such as data firm Qualtrics (which has an office in Dublin) could also take the plunge. All of these firms will be buoyed by data that shows tech firms were the best performing IPO stocks last year, up an average of 40pc on their debut listing price. But investors may still need some convincing. High-profile tech companies have had a very mixed report on public markets since their initial flotation. For every Facebook (up 250pc), LinkedIn (up 200pc) and VMWare (up 95pc), there's a Twitter (down 50pc), Zynga (down 65pc) and Groupon (down 85pc). In all, one out of three publicly floated tech companies now has a price below its first listing level, according to research firm Geckoboard. What about Irish tech interests? Last week, it was reported that Dylan Collins, the Dubliner with a solid record of building and selling tech companies, is considering an IPO in London for SuperAwesome, his latest company that gives advertisers a platform to legally advertise to kids. "It's entirely possible that a public listing could be on our timeline at some point," he said in a subsequent email. "SuperAwesome is currently private but we're evaluating a wide range of options to support our growth." There will be mounting interest, too, in the future intentions of rapid-growth tech firms run by Irish entrepreneurs, such as Intercom or Stripe. (Neither have signalled any intention to seek an imminent IPO, although Intercom has spoken of it as a possibility in the future.) But some bosses of fast-growing Irish tech companies may yet hold off. Voxpro co-founder Dan Kiely used to say that he would float the company when the tech outsourcing company made 100m in annual revenue, a target that is now in sight. "I've revised my thinking on all of that," he told me recently. "We're going to hit the 100m mark sooner rather than later. In my view, we need to be a much bigger company before we consider the IPO route now. It is still something that we aspire to but at much bigger revenues than 100m." (Instead, Kiely says that he may look to the private markets for "tens of millions" in funding to help pay for its next big push into Asia.) Talk to tech founders for a while and many will admit that they do not relish the prospect of an IPO. Despite providing capital and beefed-up incentives for staff, being a public company lets millions of people poke their noses into the company's business. It can be a huge distraction. "I wouldn't be looking forward to it," Phil Libin told me some time ago when he was chief executive of Evernote and considering an IPO for the company. "Why would I? For one thing, it's a lot of administrative hassle. For another, I think it'll be harder to run a company with a long-term strategy when you have people openly betting for you and against you. When you're private, you can have enemies. But there generally isn't anyone who has an active stake in driving down the company." Evernote still hasn't floated and now looks unlikely to do so. Another company that has ruled out an IPO this year is Slack, which offers a messaging service that is replacing email for millions of company workers. "Definitely not this year," Slack chief executive Stewart Butterfield told me last week at the official opening of the company's swanky new Dublin office. "We don't have a timeline. In our case, we're growing a little too quickly so we're not predictable enough yet. Some investors prefer predictability." Butterfield said that an IPO "wouldn't make sense for the purpose of raising money" as Slack has already raised $540m, the most recent $200m of which was only nine months ago. "It would really be more to provide liquidity for equity for employees". Ultimately, there probably isn't much escape for Slack, Intercom, Stripe or any of the others. Most venture investors prefer flotations or acquisitions to long-term company building. And there is now a build-up of dozens, if not hundreds, of successful tech companies in the US, Europe and around the world. Besides, Phil Libin said, it's "the moral thing to do". "If we're asking the world to trust us, part of the that trust is allowing people to be owners," he says. "There's something elegant and beautiful in that. People should be able to go and buy some shares." It's odd to find yourself tittering during a film about the Holocaust, but watching Denial there were times when one wanted to laugh out loud. That's partly because Mike Jackson's undeniably entertaining drama, which is released here next week, has soap-opera tendencies which overwhelm it during hammy court scenes that become unintentionally comic. But perhaps Denial is funny mainly because its central figure is inherently ridiculous. The film is based around the true story of American historian Deborah Lipstadt's legal battle with British historian and Third Reich enthusiast David Irving, played here with many a histrionic flourish by Timothy Spall. Rachel Weisz is Lipstadt, who's delivering an impassioned lecture in an Atlanta University in 1996 when Irving sneaks into the auditorium and starts shouting her down and challenging her to prove that the Holocaust happened. "I won't debate fact," she counters, but their spat is far from over. Irving's beef with Lipstadt stems from a recent book in which she labelled him a Holocaust denier, and following their lecture-hall encounter, the professor finds herself being sued for libel. She travels to London for the trial, which hinges on whether or not Irving intentionally falsified facts to argue that the gas chambers at Auschwitz never actually existed. Irving lost his libel case, was subsequently entirely discredited as a historian, and in 2005 was arrested in Austria, where Holocaust denial is a crime, and spent a year in prison. Though largely self-taught, he'd once been taken seriously as an academic: his 1967 book on the bombing of Dresden was widely admired, and by the mid-1970s he was considered one of the leading authorities on the Nazi era. But his enthusiasm for Adolf Hitler was unsettling: in a 1977 biography of the dictator, the Holocaust was mentioned just four times, and Irving would later argue that Hitler had never approved or even been aware of the mass extermination of Jews. He later began denying the Holocaust altogether, and even claimed the Allies had arranged the killings. In advance of Denial's release, Irving has been making headlines once more, claiming in a British newspaper last weekend that he has found a new generation of admirers. "Interest in my work has risen exponentially in the last two or three years. And it's mostly young people," he told the Observer. "I'm 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 they've stayed up all night watching them." Irving is an absurd popinjay, but he's not the only Holocaust denier going the roads. Marine Le Pen's father Jean-Marie, the founder of the Front National in France, has frequently cast doubt on the reality of the death camps, and the notion that the Holocaust is a myth is depressingly common across the Arab world. But inconveniently for Irving and his ilk, we do have proof, and much of it is contained in a string of brilliant documentaries that have been made about the death camps over the years. There have been lots of feature films as well of course, some of them very impressive, from Schindler's List to Son of Saul, but the true horror of the concentration camps seems too vast to be effectively captured by actors and a storyteller: it needs witnesses, and archive footage, and the best Holocaust documentaries have unflinchingly demonstrated the depths to which humanity can stoop. What's most intriguing for modern observers is the way the Holocaust was swept under the carpet by politicians, journalists and film-makers in the years immediately after World War Two. It was too big, and too recent a horror to be tackled, perhaps, or maybe a shell-shocked world preferred to pretend it hadn't happened at all. As a consequence, dramas on the subject were few and far between, Hollywood avoiding the subject like the plague for over two decades, and two key documentaries that might have been released in the late 1940s were suppressed. In 2014, it emerged that Alfred Hitchcock had helped his friend Sidney Bernstein edit a documentary from footage shot by British and Soviet army film units during the liberation of Bergen-Belsen. The film was intended to inform the German people about the unspeakable atrocities that had been committed in their name. Video of the Day Hitch had completed his work by September of 1945, but the finished film was shelved by the British authorities: Germany was under reconstruction, and the Allied military government there now felt that rubbing the German people's noses in the Holocaust wasn't going to get anyone anywhere. A restored version of Memory was released in 2015, and a documentary on the making of the film, Night Will Fall, followed. It was shocking, upsetting, distressing in the extreme. And God love those cameramen: at one point during Night Will Fall, one of them, George Leonard, apologised for breaking down during his interview and says simply, "too painful". None of that footage saw the light of day at the time, however, and as the death camps receded into history, the world started to forget. But from the mid-1950s on, a group of tenacious French film-makers began addressing the subject head on. In 1956, Alain Resnais released a film called Night and Fog. It was short, just 32 minutes long, but utterly devastating: as Resnais' camera wandered the abandoned and overgrown camps at Auschwitz and Majdanek, a poignant voice-over described exactly what had gone on there - the torture, the experiments, starvations and mass killings. Gaullist censors were angry about footage of Jews being rounded up that included a French police officer, and the German authorities wanted it suppressed altogether. But it was shown at Cannes, and critically acclaimed. The French had plenty of reasons to feel uneasy about the death camps and the Vichy regime's enthusiastic involvement, and in 1969 Marcel Ophuls delved further into a sordid past the Fifth Republic was trying very hard to forget. Sorrow and the Pity was a gruelling, four-hour investigation of how the people of Clermont-Ferrand had fared under Nazi occupation. Former resistance fighters described their campaigns against the Germans, but Ophuls' film also dealt with the Vichy collaborators who had taken part in the 'rafle', or rounding up of Jews. Sorrow and the Pity made for uncomfortable viewing, but was in the park next to Claude Lanzmann's 1985 epic Shoah, an exhaustive documentary that burrowed its way to the heart of the Holocaust. Lanzmann, a French-Jewish journalist and film-maker, spent 11 years making his nine-and-a-half-hour documentary, and faced danger, death threats and bankruptcy along the way. Shoah used no archive footage of the camps and relied entirely on the emotional testimonies of guards and victims. And when former Nazis wouldn't talk, Lanzmann resorted to hidden cameras and Bond-like subterfuge. It's an exhausting, grim and overwhelming film, but also a kind of masterpiece. Lanzmann had embarked on his epic project to counter deniers like David Irving, and other fine documentaries have joined the fight. In Cheri Pugh and Bob Hercules' 2006 film Forgiving Dr Mengele, Eva Mozes Kor described her experiences in Auschwitz-Birkenau, where she was experimented on by Josef Mengele, starved and injected with various diseases. Paragraph 175 (2000) used the testaments of eye witnesses and survivors to tell the forgotten story of how homosexuals were murdered in their thousands by Hitler's regime. All of this visual evidence is most inconvenient for far-right revisionists like Irving who, is still peddling his pro-Nazi sentiments at a hale and hearty 78. According to the Daily Mail, he recently embarked on a regional lecture tour in the UK, and before Christmas addressed a crowd of well-wishers in Gateshead that amounted to four people - including the newspaper's reporter. 'Certainly, stormy weather may wreak havoc on land - but it is especially lethal at sea, turning waves into weapons of destruction' Photo: REUTERS/Mike Blake We are three weeks and one day into the new year - and hence well ensconced in winter. But some folk go further than lighting a candle instead of cursing the darkness. Like Canice Hogan, who has lit up a tree outside his magnificent old mill on this country town's waterfront, so it glows like a ghost ship at night. Certainly, stormy weather may wreak havoc on land - but it is especially lethal at sea, turning waves into weapons of destruction. My tales last week about shipwrecks off the tiny but treacherous Keeragh Islands pale in comparison to the worst disasters that happen at sea. Though tragedy was matched by heroism in one case I have in mind, which remains one of the greatest rescue operations ever undertaken off the Irish coast. It happened on February 20, 1914, when the Norwegian schooner Mexico was driven into Bannow Bay in a bad south-south-west gale and lost her bearings. Captain Eriksen described "mountain-high waves" as they were approaching the South Keeragh Islands. Her plight was spotted in Fethard, where the lifeboat Helen Blake set out to help. It was just a few hundred yards from the infamous islands when Garrett Handrick recalled three "terrible waves". The first filled the boat; the second struck her with terrible force; while the third toppled the crew from the vessel. Fellow crew member John McNamara was swirled about in the breakers before being caught by a tremendous wave and dashed towards an alcove in the cliff. Here, he managed to grab Handrick by a hook on his lifebelt. "Handrick shouted out to me to let him go and save myself if I could," McNamara remembered. "I answered: 'I suppose they are all gone now but the two of us - and we will go or come together'." Indeed, only five of the 14 crew members made it ashore. Yet those brave men then set about rescuing the crew of the Mexico and soon had all nine safely off the schooner and on the island. But they were still in deep water. From Friday until Monday the 14 survivors huddled on the gale-swept isle as attempts to rescue them failed. One of the Mexico's crew died from exposure on Sunday and his body was covered with canvas and sods. The remaining 13 knew they faced certain death unless rescuers came soon. They had nothing to eat except two small tins of preserved meat and raw limpets. Their only drink was a little brandy and half a pint of wine, plus rainwater pooling in the alcoves. On Monday morning, the Dunmore East lifeboat managed to rescue two men. Then the Rosslare lifeboat got close enough for James Wickham and William Duggan to drag two more aboard their punt - before it was flung against rocks and holed. They hastily plugged the gap with a loaf of bread inside some packing and made four more hazardous trips to rescue the remaining men. Thereby saving the day by defying the darkness. Given this week's Americo-centric theme with Donald Trump's inauguration, it's time for a quick return to one of my favourite things to get irrationally infuriated by: stupid, put-on American accents. Currently, our fine radio stations are running adverts (various stations, any bloody time) for two colleges - WIT and UL - and a shopping centre in Galway, and all feature people talking in that annoying twang. The college ones are bad enough - loads of Irish kids nowadays try to sound like they've just stepped off the plane from California - but the Galway SC one is incomprehensible. Who exactly is this commercial aimed at? What sort of local person is more likely to shop there because the woman in their advert is putting on that daft accent? God damn, radio, just stop it. It all makes me want to phone up The Donald and ask for the keys to the nukes cabinet, so I can thermonuclearly obliterate both campuses and that shopping centre. (Surprised they don't call it "the mall" in that ad, actually.) If he's not taking calls, I could always try Vladimir Putin, subject of Talking Point (Newstalk, Sat 9am). Sarah Carey opened by saying, "2016 wasn't a great year - unless you're Vladimir Putin". Her expert guests were Ivor Crotty, social-media manager with Moscow-based news channel RT.com; journalist Seamus Martin; and political science academics Dr John O'Brennan of Maynooth and American Dr Erin Baumann, currently at UCD. We heard how Putin had a background that was fairly average for a Russian of his age. But since becoming President in 2000, he has ruled that giant nation with the definitive iron fist. As Crotty phrased it, the "hugely popular" Putin's philosophy is - to echo Louis the Sun-King of France - "l'etat, c'est moi". O'Brennan argued that, while the strongman "is not psychologically nostalgic for Soviet Russia", he is concerned with "Russian loss of power and status he thinks like a 19th-century ruler in a sense". Politics normally makes me want to stick my head in the microwave, but this was interesting, informative and nicely (as well as refreshingly) high-brow. Carey's a good host, she allows contributors and subject matter some space to breathe and time to unfold. And she doesn't do that thick-headed, annoying thing you find on many current affairs shows, where it's all about argument and opposition and goading people into taking sides. This nonsense reduces complex matters to a notch slightly above cockfighting. Talking Point is better than that. Arena (Radio 1, Mon-Fri 7pm) was trading in a bit of nostalgia itself with a look at T2, the sequel to the cult movie Trainspotting. Sean Rocks and Mary McGill looked back on Danny Boyle's 1996 drama about junkies, losers and one rather terrifying psychopath in Edinburgh. It was, she said, the time of Cool Britannia. Mid-90s UK where the culture was shaking off US influences and finding new confidence in their own music, fashion, art and movies. Tracy Emin, Alexander McQueen, Britpop: remember them? It was a fun and exciting time in British culture, although the whole Cool Britannia thing - and, to be honest, Trainspotting itself - was entertaining but weirdly forgettable. None of it has lasted too well (except for Suede, obviously). Video of the Day Still, I enjoyed Trainspotting, but I'm sort of dreading this sequel. Come on, Danny Boyle, you're too talented a director to be rehashing an old dish. Haul: Armed gardai protect an estimated 40m worth of marijuana which was seized by Customs and gardai at Dublin Port A consortium of Irish drug gangs have lost their 4m- 5m investment due to the Garda and Customs' massive seizure of marijuana in Dublin Port, senior sources have said. It is believed the gangs chipped in together to buy the near-two-tonne haul, which has an estimated street value of nearly 40m. Ireland's marijuana prices are among the highest in the world, which gardai have attributed to large seizures but also to the monopoly control of the supply by the big Irish cartels based in Spain and Holland. Gardai and Customs sources were tight-lipped about the suspected source and network involved in shipping the 1.87 tonnes of marijuana buds packed in vacuum packs and sealed in metal boxes hidden inside wooden crates. The consignment was found in a container landed in Dublin Port but no details have been given about how it was shipped to Ireland or the country of origin. Revenue Commissioner Liam Irwin pointed out yesterday that 10,000 containers transit Dublin docks daily and finding the marijuana was like a "needle in a haystack". He added that the single haul was larger than the combined seizures of drugs by Customs for 2015 and 2016. Read More Garda Assistant Commissioner John O'Driscoll described the seizure as a "huge achievement", and added, "organised criminals will be impacted". Sources told the Sunday Independent the seizure will have the biggest impact on the consortium of small gangs who put together the money to buy the shipment. They are at a major loss and, inevitably in these situations, a hunt will be on for an informant or someone who slipped up allowing the shipment to be intercepted. A government report on the illicit drug market in Ireland by the National Advisory Council on Drugs and Alcohol in 2015 highlighted how garda drugs seizures are one of the main causes of serious violence in the criminal drugs industry over debts. Ireland has probably the toughest drug laws in the EU, with a mandatory 10-year jail term for possessing 13,000 of the drug, which at current prices is just over half a kilo. A Gaelscoil in Co Kildare will be unable to provide school places for almost 80 children next September, due to huge numbers enrolling at the school. Scoil Ui Riada in Kilcock, Co Kildare, has approximately 56 places for next September; however, 52 of those places have already been reserved by siblings of current pupils. This leaves just four places for new families in the school, as the waiting list hits 130 children. The school has been oversubscribed since 2013, with parents fighting each year for extra places. In previous years, the school has been granted extra places to accommodate as many children as possible. However, this year the Department of Education and the school's patron, the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, are insisting that there should only be two streams rather than three. There are four other schools in the area for families to choose from, but parents are adamant that they should have the right to educate their children through the Irish language. Brendan Shalvey has had his daughter on the waiting list to attend Scoil Ui Riada since she was nine months old but fears that she will not get a place in September. "It turns out that there are people who have been there from about three months old. "We want Irish to survive, we want Irish to thrive and we want it to be a living language." Parents' Committee member Eimear de Faoite says the fight for extra places at the school is lasting from spring to September each year. "At this stage, there is a precedent that parents here wish for their children to be educated through Gaeilge," she added. Seamus O Muirithe, principal of Scoil Ui Riada, told the Sunday Independent that he supported the parents. "Unfortunately, at the moment, we are bound by other decisions made by the Department of Education. ''These decisions do not allow us to give parents what they would like in relation to education through the medium of Irish." The school's patron, Bishop Denis Nulty, declined to comment. Last week, Minister for Education Richard Bruton revealed that he intends to tackle school admission policies that give preference to Catholic children. The changes will prevent Catholic schools from exclusively selecting children who have been baptised for admission. Meanwhile, the Education (Admissions to School) Bill is currently making its way through the Oireachtas. The bill will mean that waiting lists for schools will be banned, which is intended to alleviate pressure on parents with children attending oversubscribed schools. Charity: Gregory Grene (left) and Timothy Perutz (right), are presented with the prestigious William Jefferson Clinton Goodwill for Haiti Award by Leslie and Carmel Buckley (centre) Photo: Fergal Phillips The charity Haven hosted its sixth annual Haiti Ball last night. The event at the InterContinental Hotel, Dublin, celebrated Haiti Week and raised vital funds following the devastation caused in the Caribbean country by Hurricane Matthew. At the event the prestigious William Jefferson Clinton Goodwill for Haiti Award was presented to Gregory Grene and Timothy Perutz, founders of the Andrew Grene Foundation (AGF). The AGF was established in memory of Andrew Grene, a political affairs officer with the United Nations, who was the sole Irish fatality in the 2010 earthquake. Gregory, Andrew's twin brother, and Timothy, his lifelong friend, set-up the AGF in 2010 to empower the people of Haiti through education, loans and building projects. The charity has opened the Andrew Grene High School in Cite Soleil, which offers free education and scholarships to hundreds of students in one of the most disadvantaged areas of Port au Prince, the capital of Haiti. Its microfinance programme in Aquin, south Haiti, equips local women with micro-loans to pave their way out of poverty, with more than 1,600 enrolled in its education project. Leslie Buckley, founder and chairman of Haven, said: "It is a great honour to present this prestigious award to the founders of the AGF. "Gregory and Timothy are continuing the legacy of their cherished brother and friend, Andrew, who was incredibly passionate about the people of Haiti. "By opening access to education for young people and supporting women to build their own livelihoods, they are transforming thousands of lives in Haiti." 'Ruddy said doctors were leaving the country because of issues over their pay and conditions in search of better paid positions abroad' (stock photo) Hospital doctors are to defer a planned ballot on strike action after they were invited to new talks with the Government over a dispute about allowances. The row centres on a 3,000 accommodation allowance for non-consultant hospital doctors. The IMO confirmed yesterday that it has agreed to defer the ballot pending the outcome of talks with the Department of Health. However, it said it holds some reservations on the Government's willingness to engage fully with the talks. It will also proceed with its legal action against the HSE in regard to the accommodation allowance, known as the living out allowance, which is due before the High Court in February. IMO president John Duddy said the ballot will be reactivated if talks prove unsuccessful. "The prime concern of doctors is the care of patients and no doctor wants to take industrial action. "Given the persistent attitude of Government and the HSE, who show a blatant disregard for non-consultant hospital doctors, we have had no choice but to consider industrial action," he said. The living out allowance was scrapped unilaterally by the Government in 2012. Duddy said doctors were leaving the country because of issues over their pay and conditions in search of better paid positions abroad. "While we are prepared to enter discussions, and we hope those discussions will yield a positive result, there are many issues that need to be addressed to stop the trend of doctors leaving Ireland to work abroad. "The reasons why doctors leave Ireland are multi-faceted and are not just about pay, but also around training, working conditions and career progression. Government must recognise this," he said. Gardai have arrested a 44-year-old man in connection to a robbery in Balrothery, Balbriggan, Co Dublin on Saturday night. According to gardai, a lone male entered a shop and demanded cash from a female staff member, who was assaulted during the incident. The man (44) who was wearing a balaclava left the premises on foot with a sum of cash at approximately 9:20pm. The female employee who was assaulted did not require any medical attention. Gardai later searched a house in Balbriggan and arrested a man. He is currently being detained at Balbriggan Garda station under the provisions of section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 as amended. Local Gardai were assisted by members of the Armed Support Unit (ASU). Investigations are on going. Redemptorist priest, Fr Tony Flannery, who defied a Vatican ban imposed on him in 2012 by celebrating his first public mass in five years on Sunday, has said he is "not worried about excommunication" by the Catholic Church. Speaking to Independent.ie, the priest explained his reason for publicly challenging the Vatican. He said it was linked to two momentous personal events; his seventieth birthday last week and his forty years of priesthood. The stricture imposed on him as part of his censure, forbade him to minister publicly over his liberal views on women priests, the Eucharist and the Churchs sexual teachings. He regarded excommunication as a 16th century concept and said it "wouldnt influence me or my life or my faith in any way". Fr Flannery, who is a co-founder of the Association of Catholic Priests, said he didnt anticipate any excommunication under Pope Francis and "even less so in the context of Pope Francis visit to Ireland next year". Over 1,000 people gathered at a community centre in Fr Flannerys home village of Killimordaly Co Galway on Sunday afternoon. Referring to the "volume of support and encouragement from people", the priest said that for Church authorities to do anything to him now would be "shooting themselves in the foot". Ahead of the Mass, which had a marquee outside the community hall to facilitate the large crowd of over 1,000 people who turned up in solidarity with the cleric, Fr Flannery said a resolution of the impasse between the Vatican and himself remained a long way off. The Redemptorist said his problem was not with the Church exercising authority. Every institution needs an authority structure. But authority must be exercised in a way that is just, and that respects the dignity of the person, he stressed. "In my experience, and in the experience of many others whom I have come to know in these past years, Church authority is exercised in a way that is unjust and abusive." The co-founder of the Association of Catholic Priests expressed the hope that his action would highlight the urgent need for change in the way the Vatican deals with people who express opinions that are considered to be at odds with official Church teaching. No member of the bishops or church authorities in Ireland or Rome made any contact with the priest over the Mass. He told the Irish Independent that "it was very much a one-off event" and that he wasnt planning to hold another such Mass. When the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, met Pope Francis in November, he was carrying a 400-word summary for the Pope of Fr Flannerys plight and that of four other censured Irish priests. Denying he was "fearful" of a Vatican backlash over his disobedience, Fr Flannery said the liturgy had been "wonderful" and it was a day he would "remember forever". A Polish family, left homeless following a fire at their Irish home, have thanked the public for their support and donations. Police received a report at around 4am on Sunday morning that an oil tank at a house on the Ballycastle Road, Coleraine was on fire. It then spread to the house causing substantial damage requiring the occupants and neighbours to be evacuated. The family of three - including a small child and a pregnant mother who is due to give birth next month - were taken to hospital following the fire for treatment for smoke inhalation. A family friend has set up a fundraising page for the family who have lost many of their belongings including clothes and passports. Martyna and Marcin Obuchowicz told the Causeway Coast Community how much they appreciated the support. "We are really thankful for all help we have received from the local community. "We have received numerous bags of clothes and now need to check all sizes etc. All clothes that will not be used will be donated to Community Rescue Service Shop in Coleraine. "We dont have a house at the minute to keep all the stuff we have been offered so we will be in touch with the people ASAP. "Thank you so much for all the help we have got from the local people. You really have good hearts, Really appreciate it . Fire fire appliances were sent to the scene and the Ballycastle Road was closed for some time while emergency services dealt with the incident but has since re-opened. District Commander John Bacon said the family were "incredibly fortunate" and that several surrounding homes were also affected. He said: "The house has been substantially damaged by fire and it's certainly uninhabitable. "They are extremely fortunate that their neighbours noticed the fire at the time of night. "They noticed the fire and raised the alarm. Most of the affected houses had been evacuated. " Chief Inspector Mark McClarence said: The cause of the fire has yet to be established, however, I would appeal to anyone who was in the Ballycastle Road area at around 4am this morning and who may have information which could assist with police enquiries, to contact officers in Coleraine on 101. A row over 300,000 in public funds raised for Irish Autism Action but withheld because of concerns over its finances has been settled after legal mediation. Early Childhood Ireland, a state funded childrens advocacy organisation which raised the 300k, will announce this week that it will release some but not all of the money to the autism charity. The agreement was trashed out in legal mediation and Early Childhood Ireland is expected to release a statement confirming it following its board meeting on Monday night. The deal brings to an end a fractious dispute over the funds. The money was raised for Irish Autism Action by Early Childhood Irelands National Pyjama Day event last March. The organisation decided not to hand the money over after it emerged that Irish Autism Action had cut its services to families to concentrate on advocacy and information campaigns. The moved angered parents of children with autism who questioned the charitys financial viability, and complained to the Charities Regulator. It emerged that the number of families receiving outreach services from Irish Autism Action was cut from 400 families to two, and parents complained that their calls to the charity were going unanswered. The charity is mostly funded by public donations and sponsorship. It has raised huge sums in public donations, most recently, 969,320 in 2014 and 1.3m the previous year. However, it has been struggling financially - it ran up a deficit of 74,133 in 2014 - which prompted a structural review of the charity's activities. The board of IAA agreed that the charity should focus on national advocacy rather than providing services. Early Childhood Ireland said it will be making a statement on the National Pyjama Day funds on Tuesday. Brian Murnane, chief executive of Irish Autism Action, this weekend said the charity was pleased with the outcome and wishes Early Childhood Ireland all the best in the future. He said the charity was unable to file its accounts for 2015 until the issue of the 300,000 was resolved. He said he is now working on finalising the charitys accounts. Tributes have poured in for a young boy whose bravery touched the hearts of many friends, neighbours and even the odd celebrity. Seven-year-old Oran Nibbs passed away on January 20 after a heroic battle with Mitochondrial disease. The youngster had been inspirational to all who met him in his native Trentagh, Donegal and beyond. Back in 2015, Colin Farrell said he was moved to tears when he met Oran and his mother Ashling at an event for children suffering from the rare disease. Orans condition was very challenging one and included severe muscle weakness, seizures and choking fits. There is no cure for Mitochondrial disease. Since Oran passed away Facebook and Twitter lit up with tributes honouring his spirit and courage. A group called Our Childrens Voice, which is run by parents of children with life-limiting conditions, posted that Oran was a "brave warrior". Donegal has lost a brave warrior today who always had a smile on his face, as he fought the battle with Mitochondrial Disease. Its with great sadness we say farewell to this gorgeous boy. Oran took his angel wings today with his family around him. Our thoughts are with his family and all who love Oran. On Twitter, Extra Special Kids Ireland posted: One of our extra special kids grew his wings on Friday. So sad xxx. Orans community rallied around him in life too as they raised funds to make sure he had the chance in life by sending him to the USA and Britain for treatment. Orans remains will stay at his home in Trentagh today and be removed for the funeral on Monday, January 23 to the Church of the Irish Martyrs, Letterkenny for Mass at 11am. His burial will be held at Carrigans Cemetry, Maugherow, Co. Sligo, the native home of his mother Ashling. When a restaurant opens after a whole lot of hype, expectations weigh heavy. I'd been hearing about Hang Dai for almost a year before it opened, first from restaurateur, John Farrell (he's the man behind 777, Dilllinger's, The Butcher Grill, Super Miss Sue, and Luna), who has been involved in the concept and interior design (the space is kitted out as a subway carriage), and latterly from co-owners, Will Dempsey and chef Karl Whelan. The idea was "to shake up authentic-contemporary Chinese cuisine to create an iconic institution in Dublin's restaurant landscape; where food meets art, design and fun", according to an early press release. There was to be a particular focus on Beijing duck. Whelan has most recently headed up the kitchen at Luna, and also has stints at Chapter One and Fade St Social on his resume, all of which augured well for the food. Of course, the idea of shaking up a cuisine and giving it a modern twist is nothing new. Farrell has done it at 777, where the contemporary Mexican food is accompanied by a bewildering selection of premium tequilas and thumping music. 777 (say 'triple seven' rather than 'seven, seven, seven' if you want to give the impression of being in the know) is about as far away from an old-school Mexican restaurant, with its endless permutations on the theme of guacamole, refried beans and enchilada/burrito, as it's possible to get. Expand Close Hang Dai on Camden Street / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Hang Dai on Camden Street The successful Mission Chinese ("serving Americanised oriental food" according to its website), which started in San Francisco and now also has a branch in New York, is clearly the inspiration behind Hang Dai, and if you want to eat there next time you visit the US, be prepared either to book a long time in advance, or to be grateful when you're offered a table at midnight. Before Mission Chinese there was the Formosa in LA, established by prize fighter Jimmy Bernstein in the 1920s, and for many years a movie industry hangout thanks to its West Hollywood location, close to the Warner Brothers lot. Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner were regulars, and Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart, and Lauren Bacall all ate there. The Formosa cemented its legendary status when it featured in LA Confidential. I was beguiled by its Susie Wong-style decor and alluring combination of cocktails and Kung Pao chicken. Sadly, the Formosa did not survive a modernisation of its interior design and closed last month, which should be a salutary lesson to restaurateurs everywhere: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Anyway, Hang Dai eventually opened towards the end of last year. I went along in the first week of the new year, traditionally the deadest of dead weeks for restaurants, and the only booking that I could get, aside from a very early one, was at 9.30pm on Thursday evening. I'd heard that the music was loud, so I brought along my 20-something daughter so she could assure me that it wasn't and tell me not to be curmudgeonly. When you book online, you're told that parties of two will be seated at the bar, and that tables are reserved for parties of four or more; we were shown to a pair of stools at the far corner of the bar, which turned out to be both an excellent vantage point and a good position from which to be able to chat to the bartender and have her talk us through the cocktail options. Although there is an efficient and moderately priced wine list, I'd recommend drinking either beer or cocktails. We particularly enjoyed the Hang Dai Sour and Rum and Plum. As Hang Dai is all about the duck, we pre-ordered a half duck (40) when prompted during the booking process. The Skeaghanore duck comes as three courses: a broth with Chinese pickles, the leg roast on the bone, "drenched in Cantonese-style soy sauce and duck juice", and "Beijing-style thinly sliced duck with crisp skin, served with pancakes, cucumber and cherry hoi sin". Of the three, the third was by far the best, the tender, flavoursome duck presented fine-dining style and pink, rather than in the shredded, long-cooked style customarily associated with the dish. The skin could have been crisper though. We found the leg tough, and the soy sauce far too salty; the broth was fine. I'd have preferred not to have had half a duck's head on the plate. Where the food really shone for us was with the other dishes. Fried prawn toast with yuzu mayo should really not feature on any sensible January eating plan, but what the hell? It's too good to pass by. Oysters topped with chilli, soy, lime, coriander and prickly oil, whatever that is, are briny and vibrant, and pork dumplings with sweet soy, just perfect. Dry fried green beans with chilli and minced pork are spicy and sensational, and may just have been our favourite dish of the night. We vowed to return for the Typhoon Shelter soft shell crab which had sold out, and a half-dozen other dishes that are still winking at me from the online menu. Hang Dai does not offer dessert. Our bill for two, including two cocktails each, came to 110 before service. Our waitress offered to take the uneaten duck leg off the bill, and comped us two additional cocktails when we said that was unnecessary. THE RATING 8/10 food 9/10 ambience 8/10 value for money 25/30 ON A BUDGET The unmissable prawn toast is just 6, and those green beans are a tenner. If you just want to see what Hang Dai is like, share four small plates and two cocktails and it'll cost 50 for two. ON A BLOW OUT Typhoon Shelter crab to start, followed by main courses of steamed sea bass and beef hot pot, with a couple of sides, would come to around 100 for two before drinks. THE HIGH POINT Lip-smacking Chinese food presented in an exciting space that's something new for Dublin and lots of fun. THE LOW POINT The duck leg element of the three-course duck menu. The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS It mightn't be the White House, but the Obamas new home is something to behold. The former US President and First Lady are moving into their new digs in the plush Kalorama neighbourhood of Washington DC in a home worth $6.4m. The Obamas will remain the US capital while their youngest daughter Sasha finishes her high school education. The neighbourhood is home to some of the most influential people in Washington, including First Daughter Ivanka Trump, who lives just a few doors down with husband Jared Kushner and their three children. The 8,200 square foot, nine bedroom home also boasts eight and a half bathrooms One of the living rooms Expand Close The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS The hallway Expand Close The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS One of the nine bedrooms Expand Close The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS A dining room Expand Close The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS The walk-in wardrobe Expand Close The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS The kitchen Expand Close The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Obamas' new home in Washington DC. Picture: MRIS One of the eight and a half bathrooms Premium Gene Kerrigan Opinion This time, we did the right thing The people act in solidarity. Children donate their pocket money and adults offer the use of a spare room. Refugee fundraising goes on in all the usual places, with the Late Late Show leading the way. When the Ukrainians needed help, we did the right thing. Premium Mary Kenny Opinion If men want to yammer on about sport, then let them it helps them connect emotionally I was travelling on a train from Dublin to Cork, and near me sat two Dublin men. Throughout the entire journey they managed to keep up a fluent dialogue about English football teams. From Aston Villa to Sheffield Wednesday, from Crystal Palace to Manchester City the conversation flowed eloquently. I was in awe at the minutiae of their knowledge and expertise. And if the topic of their discourse lacked a certain variety, it was nonetheless better than sitting in sullen silence, or glued to their phones. January is three weeks in and most people will have already reneged on their New Year promises. The gyms around Dublin have begun to empty out again as many of us revert to comfort eating our way through the long dark nights, all the while steeped in self-loathing for not having more self-discipline. Now, right on cue, a new film aims to tackle the myth of the perfect body and the pervasiveness of the celebrity culture that drives it. Embrace, a startling documentary about self image, follows Australian photographer Taryn Brumfitt as she parlays the fame that came with a nude viral photo growing into a social movement in her home country. She speaks to talk show host and actress Ricki Lake about being "the fat girl" in John Waters's remake of Hairspray; to former tabloid starlet Amanda de Cadenet about what it was like living with media scrutiny at the age of 18 ("The message I took from it was that if you were thinner you were better these days I'd say if you want to eat the biscuit, eat the f**king biscuit"); and to Harnaam Kaur, a British Sikh woman who celebrates the beard caused by polycystic ovary syndrome rather than break her religious beliefs. Brumfitt also meets ordinary women who have undergone mastectomies and a burns victim who tells us that she had to start her life again from scratch. The unlikely starting point for the film was a couple of 'before and after' photos which Brumfitt posted on social media during 2013 in an attempt to cheer up some girlfriends who had been complaining about their weight. The 'before' photo showed her competing in a bodybuilding competition, wearing a bikini and heels, looking lean and tanned. The 'after' picture showed her a few years and a couple of children later, a smile still on her face and a layer of fat covering her midriff (she says her stomach looked like the creature from the horror movie The Blob). The hook was supposed to be that she's more contented and happy in the after shot and boy, did the internet bite. The pictures and Brumfitt's journey from her svelte twenties to her more comfortable motherhood years made news from New York to Moscow. After a week, 700,000 people had liked the post. Within two weeks, it had gone viral with more than 3.6 million views. She was featured on Good Morning America and the likes of Rosie O'Donnell and Zooey Deschanel tweeted about her. This gave her the confidence to fund Embrace through the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. It all seems like an incredibly slick response to an apparently unplanned post. Had she hoped that it would go viral? "Not at all, posting a nude photo for all the world to see - that wasn't me at all. I posted it to help some girlfriends I'd been speaking to earlier that day. It was for them really. The reaction shocked me." Of course some of the commentary came from trolls. Brumfitt was told she was "disgusting" and, most hurtfully, a poor role model for her children. Brumfitt grew up in Adelaide and is something of an unlikely activist. In her teens and twenties she had a "relatively positive body image" but she was still always on diets, never wanted to be fat and eventually even went to the extreme of taking part in a bodybuilding competition. She never felt truly comfortable in her own skin though. "We have really poor role models for young women. Young women are the target of a huge industry. Women being insecure is a very profitable space and companies spend a lot of money to make sure we remain insecure. That was certainly the case with me." Despite being happily married, and successfully juggling motherhood with running a thriving photography business, Brumfitt privately wrestled with crippling body image issues. Close to resorting to plastic surgery to 'fix' her post-childbirth body, she decided that what she really needed to change was not, in fact, her body but her attitude toward it. It's an uplifting message to be sure, but there will be those who say that since she was happily married by the time she posted the photos and made the film she had the luxury of not caring what people thought of her body. "I'd ask those people: 'Is the obsession to live up to someone else's standards of attractive really making you happy?' I've been there, I've done that, I get it. But I know from the thousands of conversations I've had with young women that it's not working." She adds: "And if we're really going to get into it, is that what you're looking for in a guy? Just someone hot that you have great sex with? It's probably not the best basis for a partnership." Debatable. Self-acceptance and chilling out about body image sound like healthy goals but what about all of the Instagram stars and models who present an obsession with looks as a focus on health? "We come in all shapes and sizes and to try to be someone else's version of healthy is not going to work," Brumfitt responds. But isn't it inherently unhealthy to be overweight, for instance? "Not necessarily. You have to look at the whole person. We are obsessed with physical health but what about emotional health? In the film there is a woman who suffered from sexual abuse and she said to me: 'I know that I'm larger and that I'm comfort eating. But I'm doing the best that I can right now.' And I applaud her. I also don't think that there is any lifelong meaningful change that has come from shame or guilt." Although the film is primarily aimed at women, Brumfitt says self-loathing over body image is not confined to her sex and cites studies which say it is on the rise in young men, who are also "fed idealised images of what they should look like. It's difficult for parents to stop these messages reaching their children," she acknowledges. The message of the film, she says, is that we need to "detox from negative body images and stop spending our short lives in this war with our bodies. "You can either keep fighting that war or you can accept yourself." Embrace premieres in cinemas today. For information see https://ie.demand.film/embrace/ Is Obama the worst American president of our lifetime? I suppose Jimmy Carter runs him close, if you're old enough to actually remember his time in charge. But even then, the Georgia peanut farmer only had one term, whereas his spiritual successor, Obama, has had the full eight-year, two-term opportunity to make his country a better place than when he took office. That he apparently believes he has done just that is an indication he is just as deluded and blinkered as the celebrities he enjoys spending so much time with. In fact, it's no surprise that some reporters on the presidential beat had taken to calling him the "Bubble President", due to the painfully narrow echo chamber in which he existed, where any criticism was seen as the racist response of the "haters" - as he called them - and thus, sanctified like a secular modern Messiah, him and his team of expert attack dogs were able to dismiss all criticism, whether it be constructive, justified or otherwise. Eight years ago, everything seemed different. America, and the world in general, was tired of the Bush administration and his nominated successor, John McCain, was comprehensively trashed in both the general vote and the electoral college. Even when reviewing the last eight years, which seemed to become increasingly disastrous, the vote for Obama made sense - it's not healthy for either party to have more than a decade of uninterrupted power and let's be honest, the vision Obama was selling was a remarkably appealing one: an end to racial divisions at home, a new chapter in his country's relationship with the Muslim world and, something that is often seriously overlooked when it comes to modern politics, there was the basic human factor, he came across as an essentially decent and likeable man. There was a simple sense that there was a new sheriff in town and he was more reasonable than his predecessor. There was also the fact that so much of the criticism thrown his direction was undeniably racist, while the whole 'birther' saga over whether he was even an American certainly nudged people towards even greater support for him. Also, let's not forget, Sarah Palin was running as McCain's vice presidential candidate and even moderate Republicans were quaking at the idea of that renowned dingbat being anywhere near the levers of power. And, from an Irish perspective, his visit here in May 2011 came at an opportune moment - the country was on its knees and he brought some star power, reassuring words and even introduced 'Is Feidir Linn' into the national vocabulary. But five years on from that visit, and another three more since he took the presidential oath, and you only have to look at the state of the States to see that it's a more fractured and racially divided country than ever before - it's widely mocked around the world as a soft touch and has lost much of its global heft. The world needs a strong America and the world needs an American president who global despots and terrorist groups are afraid of - and that's simply not the case. In fact, Obama seemed to spend much of his last term not so much as a lame duck, but as an apologetic one - his seemingly non-stop apology tour, which saw him publicly embarrassed in such lovely places as China, Saudi Arabia and Cuba, remains one of the most humiliating courses of action any American leader has ever undertaken. Disastrous presidents, for whatever reason, are the price you occasionally pay in a democracy, but the cult-like zeal which grew around him was both polarising and dishonest. He was a man who was only ever interested in playing to his own gallery and the one word which stands out from the last few years is 'peevish' - he seemed to grow increasingly patrician and aloof, and even his actions of the last few weeks have been little more than a righteous two fingers to all those who displeased him during his time in charge. Commuting Bradley Manning's sentence was astonishing, yet not surprising. Lest we forget, Obama launched his own campaign with the help of Bill Ayres, a convicted domestic terrorist who was head of The Weather Underground, a group of far-Left nutters who had a habit of bombing police stations and government buildings in the early 70s. It has been argued that Manning caused more damage to his country with his massive data dump - over 700,000 sensitive individual files - than Ayres and his bombs ever did. But there has always been the sense that Obama liked a bit of revolutionary chic. There is also the sense that he doesn't particularly like America. In fact, there is a real sense that he feels disappointed in his own country, as if the people had personally let him down by refusing to gladly accept every initiative and diktat he threw at them. Yet he has somehow managed to operate an eight-year-long three-card trick on people. He won the Nobel Peace Prize, yet is the first president to spend every day of his reign at war. He is the darling of the Latinos, yet he deported more of them than any other president. He's loved by gay people, but used to oppose gay marriage. He used the accusations that he was a secret Muslim to distract from the fact that he went to a church where his pastor, the Reverend White, routinely shouted "God damn America". Let's be honest, if America was a rental car, Obama would now be expected to pay for the damage he caused. Buried in Thameside mud and only unearthed more than 160 years later, the Victoria Cross found by a treasure hunter had an incredible story to tell. Tobias Neto stumbled on the VC in December while examining the foreshore with his metal detector. With the help of the Museum of London, Mr Neto discovered the medal he had found was one of 16 awarded for gallantry to British forces at the Battle of Inkerman on November 5, 1854. The story that has emerged from his chance discovery is one of both tragedy and heroism, culminating in the shooting of a young work colleague by a decorated veteran of the Crimean War who then turned the gun on himself. With the whereabouts of only two of the Inkerman VCs unaccounted for, the one found by Mr Neto in all likelihood belonged to a private called John Byrne - a man who appears to have been so tormented by what he had witnessed in battle he suffered a catastrophic breakdown. Byrne, from County Kilkenny, was awarded the VC for returning to the front line to rescue a wounded comrade under heavy fire. But following his return from Crimea, his life appears to have spiralled out of control, as a result of suffering what would now be diagnosed as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. While working as part of an Ordnance Survey team, Byrne became convinced his work colleague John Watts was taunting him. In a fury, the former soldier pulled out a revolver and shot the terrified 18-year-old, wounding him on the arm. Hours later, surrounded by a large crowd and several police officers, Byrne turned his gun on himself and pulled the trigger. The inquest into Byrne's death, following his suicide in the Crown Inn, Newport, South Wales in 1879, heard he had probably imagined the insult. Watts denied making the insult and told the coroner he had simply advised Byrne to put out his pipe while on parade, as the men had been instructed by their commanding officer. But Byrne clearly interpreted this as a grave slight. His landlady, Eliza Morgan, told the inquest how, on returning to her lodging house, he slammed the table in fury, saying: "I served my Queen and country for 21 years and I'll never be insulted by a curr puppy." She said Byrne then stormed out, declaring that Watts "isn't fit to black my boots". A few hours later Byrne - having shot Watts - found himself holed up at the Crown Inn, where he told the landlord, Salter Davy, that he had shot the youth "by accident". Mr Davy tried to persuade Byrne to give himself up, but - confronted by a local sergeant - the soldier, his back to the fireplace, shot himself. Byrne's troubled state of mind may explain how the VC came to end up in the Thames mud. A report of the inquest quoted a Lt Barklie, who gave evidence that Byrne arrived in Bristol the previous October in a state of destitution and looking for work, having spent time in a lunatic asylum in the Straits Settlements - what is now Malaysia and Singapore - before returning to Britain. It appears that by the time Byrne arrived in the South West he may have lost or sold his medal. Mr Neto, who lives near the Thames at Putney, is convinced that Byrne threw the medal in the Thames "in a fit of regret and despair". Byrne was buried beneath a simple gravestone in the Saint Woolos Cemetery, in Newport - his story forgotten until now. Kate Sumnall, the finds liaison officer at the Museum of London, suggests the lost medal could also have belonged to a Scottish soldier called John McDermond, the other recipient of a VC from Inkerman which has not been accounted for. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] Victor Lownes, who has died aged 88, was the original business partner of the American Playboy supremo Hugh Hefner, and ran its lucrative British enterprises from the mid 1960s until 1981. A fast-living swashbuckler from Chicago, Lownes was famous for being the highest paid executive in Britain, and for the lothario lifestyle he enjoyed at Stocks, a 42-room Georgian pile in Hertfordshire, where he ran a "training school" for Playboy bunnies, threw swinging parties by night and rode furiously to hounds by day. Lownes set out to equip Stocks to reflect the lifestyle promoted by Playboy and had the place fitted out with erotic Mogul miniatures, a private disco, games room, swimming pool and (reputedly) the largest Jacuzzi in the world. Throughout the 1970s, the antics of Lownes's bunnies and the Merc'n'Porsche brigade kept the nation agog. Regular guests included Kenny Lynch, Peter Cook, Dai Llewellyn and the famously bibulous ITN newsreader Reggie Bosanquet, who would strut round in a fez and calf-length boots. At other times the curious might catch a glimpse of Mick Jagger, Warren Beatty, Roman Polanski, Keith Moon, or Ringo Starr cavorting with nameless models and beauty queens. Lownes's most celebrated thrash went on for 25 hours non-stop, during which 2,000 guests polished off 8,000 bottles of champagne. The printed RSVP slips for this occasion read: "We are arriving by hot-air balloon or helicopter, please send us landing instructions." Despite the presence of a battalion of journalists, no stories appeared in the press until three days later, when the few hacks who could remember anything returned to full consciousness. Not everyone went along with the fantasy. "Someone is going to have to speak to that aspiring British country gent Victor (Playboy) Lownes about how we celebrate our ancient festivals - like Hogmanay," one killjoy remarked in 1977. "At 3am on the first, the swimming pool was alive to the cries of naked ladies. And they were not singing Auld Lang Syne." The strict "no dating" rule which forbade contact between bunnies and clients or employees at Playboy clubs did not apply to Lownes. "I was a reasonably attractive young guy," he recalled later on. "I was rich and I was also their boss. Power is an aphrodisiac. In the bunnies' world, I was No 1. It was a feather in their cap to go out with me." This was no mere braggadocio. Despite an increasing tendency to flab, it seems that most of the girls regarded Lownes's priapic accomplishments as admirable, because he never asked for anything that women were not eager to give. "Let's face it, we all went to bed with Victor," admitted one former bunny. "He used to have five girls a day, sometimes two at a time," recalled another, "Angie", who was 19 when she went to be trained at Stocks. "I did think I'd make him a very good wife, but when I was asked to move up to the attic, I knew it had gone pear-shaped." Lownes flaunted his conquests; he would be photographed with "official" girlfriends while his "spares" waited harem-like in the background. He brushed criticism aside: "A promiscuous person," he declared, "is someone who is getting more sex than you are." The story, naturally, ended in disaster - although not for Lownes so much as for Playboy. By the early 1980s, the London casinos were propping up the entire Playboy corporation, and when their practices came under investigation by the Gaming Board, the organisation's bosses in America panicked. It was largely Lownes's hubris that attracted the unwelcome attention of the authorities. Two years previously he had been instrumental in helping to deprive his rival Cyril Stein, boss of Ladbrokes, of his gaming licences. Stein vowed revenge and Ladbrokes paid a couple of former Playboy staff to snoop on their old employer. When the police raided the Playboy Club in Park Lane and the Clermont in Berkeley Square early in 1981, Lownes professed to be unconcerned. "They won't find anything wrong and we shall be cleared," he said. He had to conduct his defence from a hospital bed having cracked his skull in a hunting accident. Although Playboy had committed no criminal offence, a variety of "technical offences" was uncovered, such as irregularities in cashing cheques. It also transpired that the Liberal MP Clement Freud, a non-executive director of Playboy, had been gambling on company premises against gaming regulations. Fearing the worst, the parent company in Chicago sacked Lownes and replaced him with a retired British admiral, Sir John Treacher. As a result, however, the Gaming Board drew the conclusion that Playboy's casinos were really being run from abroad and their licences were withdrawn. Playing his part to the end, Lownes was photographed leaving for a holiday with a couple of lady friends. Victor Aubrey Lownes was born on April 17, 1928 into a wealthy family in Buffalo, New York State, but they later moved to Florida. He received an early education in the facts of life from a teenage nanny who gave her young charge detailed accounts of her sexual liaisons along with his bedtime story. His father might well have had cause to worry about young Victor when, aged 12, he was given a cigar to smoke as aversion therapy and promptly demanded another one. A few months later he shot and killed his best friend in an accident, a tragedy which led to his forced enrolment at the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell. From there he went on to the University of Chicago where he obtained an MBA and met his first wife, Judy Downs. He was married at 18 in 1946 and had a son and daughter. After several dead-end jobs he found employment at an industrial firm in Illinois. "I was promoted to manager within a few months," he recalled, "due solely to hard work, conscientiousness and the fact that my grandfather owned the company." But after seven years of marriage Lownes decided that he had had enough of respectability, ditched the job and the family and moved to Chicago where he set himself up in a huge studio apartment with a discreetly curtained boudoir, and embarked enthusiastically on the lifestyle for which he would become notorious. In 1954 he met Hugh Hefner, a man whose almost identical interests had led him to found Playboy magazine. Lownes was asked to write a couple of articles and in November 1955 was offered a full-time job as promotions director. He set about drumming up advertising and it was he who suggested to Hefner that they diversify by opening a club. The first Playboy Club opened its doors in Chicago in 1960. It was an immediate success and more followed. But by the early 1960s, London had emerged as the centre of all that was young and swinging and in 1963 Lownes asked Hefner to be sent there to open a British Playboy Club. He moved into a house in Montpelier Square and began looking for premises. Gambling had recently been legalised in Britain and Lownes realised there was an opportunity to make serious money if the club had the added attraction of a casino. A Playboy Club was opened at 45 Park Lane in July 1966 and was an immediate success. In 1972 Lownes bought the Clermont Club in Berkeley Square and 1973 saw the addition of the Manchester and Portsmouth Casino Clubs. Of the money which streamed out of the West and into the pockets of the oil sheikhs, a fair portion flowed back across the tables of Playboy's casinos - 660m (760m) between 1975 and 1981. "I've always thought," Lownes joked, "that if the Israelis really wanted to get the Arabs to the peace table, it would be best to cover it in green baize". Lownes found himself the toast of the racier side of Swinging London. He later moved to 1, Connaught Square, which became the venue for wild parties when he was not in residence at Stocks. In addition to a leather-upholstered cocktail bar and fur-covered walls, the house boasted a grandfather clock painted by Timothy Leary. Lownes would hold court in his bedroom wearing little more than a gold chain nestling in his hairy chest while a non-house-trained bush baby sat on the picture rail above him. Back in America, however, Playboy's fortunes were beginning to fade and in 1975 Hefner asked Lownes to return to Chicago on a part-time basis, giving him unlimited powers to trim the fat. Among other casualties of the Lownes cull was his own son, Val. In 1969 Lownes had been partying in London with Roman Polanski when Polanski's wife Sharon Tate was murdered by the Manson Family. After his return to America, Lownes persuaded Hefner to finance Polanski's blood-soaked version of Macbeth through Playboy when no one else would touch it. Polanski went $600,000 (560,000) over budget and then proceeded to mock Playboy's generosity. Lownes was so furious that he gave back the life-size gold penis that Polanski had modelled for in happier days. "I'm sure you'll have no difficulty finding some friend you can shove it up," Lownes told him. By 1981 Lownes was senior vice-president in charge of the Playboy casinos worldwide. With the gaming licence approval for the Victoria Sporting Club in February 1981, Playboy Enterprises became one of the most profitable gaming operators in Britain. Lownes's sacking later that year dented his pride, but little else. He had accumulated a fortune during his years at Playboy which would enable him to live in comfort for the rest of his life. He had, after all, had vague hankerings after respectability. He rode to hounds with the Quorn, and when not cavorting in the Jacuzzi, affected the style of a local squire. In 1984 he got married, for the second time, to Marilyn Cole, with whom he had had a tempestuous five-year affair some years previously. Miss Cole had become famous as the first full-frontal Playboy Playmate of the Month, in January 1972, became Playmate of the Year in 1973. The wedding, held at a church near Stocks, was traditional in nearly every respect. The bride was tastefully and discreetly attired in white and the groom wore a morning suit, though he had omitted the customary stag party: "Why would I want one? I've been having one for the last 40 years." He tried to run Stocks as a hotel and country club, but the running costs proved prohibitive and the house was sold in 1986. Latterly he enjoyed watching Countdown and continued to collect modern and erotic art. After philandering and hunting, his other passion was backgammon. He published a frank autobiography, Playboy Extraordinary, in 1982. Lownes, who died on January 11, is survived by his wife and by the two children of his first marriage. Telegraph Madonna at the Women's March in Washington (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) A crowd is seen on the National Mall with the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial in the background during the Women's March on Washington (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) People wear pink hats while protesting against President Donald Trump during the Women's March in Las Vegas (AP Photo/John Locher) More than a million people joined rallies around the world to protest against Donald Trump on his first day as US president. In a global exclamation of defiance and solidarity, they sent him an emphatic message that they will not let his agenda go unchallenged. Marchers in Washington DC chanted: "Welcome to your first day, we will not go away!" Many of the women came wearing pink, pointy-eared "pussyhats" to mock the new president. Plenty of men joined in, too, contributing to surprising numbers everywhere from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles to Mexico City, Paris, Berlin, London, Prague and Sydney. The Washington rally alone attracted over 500,000 people according to city officials - apparently more than Mr Trump's inauguration drew on Friday. It was easily one of the biggest demonstrations in the city's history, and as night fell, not a single arrest was reported. The international outpouring served to underscore the degree to which Mr Trump has unsettled people in both hemispheres. "We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war," actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd. "Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack, and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. We are America, and we are here to stay." Turnout in the capital was so heavy that the designated march route alongside the National Mall was impassable. White House press secretary Sean Spicer had no comment on the march except to note there were no firm numbers for turnout because the National Park Service no longer provides crowd estimates. Around the world, women brandished signs with slogans such as "Women won't back down" and "Less fear more love" They decried Mr Trump's stand on such issues as abortion, health care, diversity and climate change, and they branded him a sexist, a bully, a bigot and more. "We want a leader, not a creepy tweeter," some marchers chanted in Washington. In Chicago, organisers cancelled the march portion of their event for safety reasons because of an overflow crowd that reached an estimated 250,000. People made their way through the streets on their own anyway. In New York, well over 100,000 marched past Mr Trump's home at glittering Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. More than 100,000 also gathered on Boston Common, and a similar number demonstrated in Los Angeles. In Miami, estate agent Regina Vasquez, 51, brought a sign saying "Repeal and Replace Trump". She said: "I believe that strength is in the numbers, and that we should all come out and not make Trump the new normal." All told, more than 600 "sister marches" were planned worldwide. Crowd estimates from police and organisers around the globe added up to well over a million. The Women's March on Washington appeared to accomplish the historic feat of drawing more people to protest against the inauguration than the ceremony itself attracted. It far surpassed the 60,000 people who protested against the Vietnam War at Richard Nixon's second inauguration in 1973. Before Saturday, that was thought to be the largest such demonstration in inaugural history. Christopher Geldart, Washington's homeland security director, said the crowd exceeded the 500,000 that organisers told city officials to expect. The Washington rally was a peaceful counterpoint to the window-smashing unrest that unfolded on Friday when self-described anarchists tried to disrupt the inauguration. Police used pepper spray and stun grenades against the demonstrators. More than 200 people were arrested. Hillary Clinton, who lost to Mr Trump, thanked Saturday's participants for "standing, speaking and marching for our values". The hand-knit "pussyhats" worn by many women served as a message of female empowerment, inspired by Mr Trump's crude boast about grabbing women's genitals. They "ain't for grabbing," actress Ashley Judd told the Washington crowd. The marches were a magnet for A-list celebrities, unlike Mr Trump's inauguration, which had lacked top performers. Alicia Keys sang Girl On Fire for the Washington crowd, Madonna gave a passionate address to the gathering and Cher said Mr Trump's rise has people "more frightened maybe than they've ever been". Julia Roberts, Scarlett Johansson, Katy Perry, Emma Watson, Amy Schumer, Jake Gyllenhaal and feminist leader Gloria Steinem also among the A-list celebrities in attendance. In Park City, Utah, it was Charlize Theron leading demonstrators in a chant of "Love, not hate, makes America great". Actresses Helen Mirren and Cynthia Nixon and Whoopi Goldberg joined the crowd of protesters in New York. AP Gene Cernan, the US astronaut, who died last Monday aged 82, became famous as the last man to leave his footprints on the moon on December 13, 1972, when he climbed the ladder of the lunar module of Apollo 17, having previously made a vital contribution to the space programme on the Gemini 9 and Apollo 10 missions. Cernan made his debut aboard Gemini 9 in 1966, when he became the third person (and second American) to walk in space, a mission which very nearly put him into permanent earth orbit. Cernan was attached to the spacecraft with a long "umbilical cord". But the cord kept getting in the way of his manoeuvres and his spacesuit did not appear to be cooled. Cernan spent two hours and seven minutes outside Gemini 9 and was supposed to make his way from the front of the capsule to the rear. But as he got hotter, his heart rate increased dangerously and his helmet fogged up. As a result he was unable to complete his walk and did not have a chance to test a new jetpack. But the lessons learnt brought improvements which have made spacewalks from the International Space Station almost routine. Cernan's first Apollo flight was as pilot of Apollo 10, commanded by Tom Stafford, in May 1969 - a dress rehearsal for Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's Apollo 11 moon landing two months later. During the flight Cernan and Stafford tested new procedures for the rendezvous between the lunar module Snoopy and the command service module piloted by John Young. They tested the landing radar and photographed the proposed inaugural landing site in the Sea of Tranquility, travelling to within 50,000ft of the lunar surface. Nasa legend has it that Snoopy carried half the fuel that would have been required for a landing in case the two astronauts were tempted to cheat the Apollo 11 team of the headlines. Among other things Apollo 10 broke the record for the highest speed attained by a manned vehicle after the command module reached 24,791mph during re-entry. By 1972, when Cernan finally got the opportunity to walk on the moon, public interest had waned. Nasa was turning its attention to Skylab and the space shuttle and showed every sign of wanting to get Apollo 17 over with. As commander of the mission, however, Cernan was determined to make the most of it. Cernan, Jack Schmitt and Ronald Evans left earth on December 7, 1972. Four days later, as Evans orbited the moon in the command module, Cernan and Schmitt descended to Taurus-Littrow, a rugged mountain valley, aboard the lunar lander. During daily moonwalks over the next three days, the two astronauts gathered soil and rock samples and conducted seismic experiments. As the outing drew to a close, Schmitt clambered into the lander while Cernan parked the rover a mile from the spacecraft so that a video camera could record their liftoff on December 14. "As I take these last steps from the surface for some time to come," he said as he mounted the steps to the lander, "I'd just like to record that America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow." He had intended to convey his belief that America should not turn away from what it had started with Apollo, but as the lander blasted off, President Richard Nixon sounded the death knell for the programme: "This may be the last time in this century that men will walk on the moon.'' Cernan reflected: "We went to the moon and somehow forgot to keep going." Eugene Andrew Cernan was born on March 14, 1934 into a working class family in Chicago. From Proviso Township High School in Maywood, Illinois, he took a degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University, Indiana, in 1956, after which he joined the US Navy and trained as a pilot. After taking a degree in aeronautical engineering in 1963 from the Naval Postgraduate School, he was one of 14 astronauts selected by Nasa to take part in the Gemini and Apollo space programmes. As well as his space missions, Cernan was a backup crew member for the Gemini 12 and Apollo 7 and 14 missions. In 1976 Cernan retired from Nasa and from the military, at 42 the youngest captain in the US Navy. He had been offered a job at the Pentagon, but the prospect of a desk job did not appeal. Instead he became a petroleum company executive and founded his own aerospace technology and marketing consulting firm. He also bought a ranch in Texas and later became a campaigner for space exploration. In a memoir, The Last Man on the Moon (1999), he admitted struggling to adjust to normal life after his time in space, putting a strain on his first marriage, which was dissolved in 1981. His memoir inspired Mark Craig's 2014 documentary of the same name, a nostalgic look at the era of space exploration in which footage showing the glamorous lifestyle of America's space heroes of the 1960s and 1970s was juxtaposed with shots of Cernan walking around a rusting launch site. "A half century ago Americans were walking on the moon," Cernan said. "Today we've been told it's going to take a trampoline to get us back to our own space station. That hurts, quite frankly." Cernan is survived by his second wife, Jan, by the daughter of his first marriage and by two stepdaughters. Telegraph Sitting behind the Resolute desk in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump wasted no time setting out to demolish Barack Obama's legacy. With a deliberate swipe of his black and gold pen, the new president fired the first shot in his assault on his predecessor's signature healthcare policy. Putting his pen away afterwards, Mr Trump said firmly; "OK, that's it!" The Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, gave health insurance to 20 million extra Americans, barred insurers from refusing to cover people with existing conditions, and was regarded by Mr Obama as his biggest domestic achievement. But its launch was plagued by administrative problems, and for Republicans became a symbol of costly government overreach. The law itself can only be repealed by Congress, but Mr Trump's executive order was the start of what will be a long death by a thousand cuts. It ordered government agencies to stop issuing regulations that would expand Obamacare and to delay anything that would increase costs. It won't just be Obamacare. From climate change and energy production, to how America trades with its partners and treats it allies, Mr Trump signalled there would be a clean breach with the Obama years. On questions of how to deal with Russia, whether to close Guantanamo Bay, policing and community relations, he indicated America would be making a 180-degree turn in the coming months. Trump supporters spoke of "erasing" Mr Obama's imprint on the country from the history books. Larry Levitt of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health think tank, said of the Obamacare repeal: "It's a sign that the Trump administration is looking to unwind the law in every way it can administratively. This will set the gears of the bureaucracy moving in a very different direction. "Many of the changes envisioned in this order will take time to implement but it signals a clear direction." Tom Price, an orthopaedic surgeon, Republican congressman and fierce Obamacare critic, is Mr Trump's nominee for health secretary. He faces a Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday and will spearhead attempts to overhaul the system. Leslie Dach, director of Protect Our Care Coalition said: "While President Trump may have promised a smooth transition the executive order does the opposite, threatening disruption for health providers and patients." Mr Trump has said he is creating what he called a "terrific" plan to replace Obamacare, dubbed "Trumpcare". It was the first of many areas in which Mr Trump will seek to gut or reverse Mr Obama's policies. Moments after the president took office, nearly all mentions of climate change were deleted from the White House website, apart from a statement vowing to end Mr Obama's plan to cut carbon emissions. A page devoted to LGBT issues was also deleted. In a series of policy announcements Mr Trump gave clear signals about the direction of his administration, promising that over the coming months he will beef up the military and America's preparedness for cyber warfare. Mr Trump has set clear goals that "other nations will not be allowed to surpass our military capability" and that America will "pursue the highest level of military readiness". He and his generals regard cyber warfare as an emerging battlefield and, according to officials, will launch a drive to recruit the best of America's young computer experts to work at US Cyber Command. Defence officials will also be told to prioritise a defence system against nuclear strikes by rogue states such as North Korea and Iran. Beefing up police and their capabilities for countering large-scale riots will also be a focus in the wake of racially charged clashes in cities across America over the last few years. Mr Trump, who called himself the "law and order" candidate during the campaign, has told officials that violent crime must be reduced and he wants to see results. Work will also begin immediately on the logistics of building a wall along the Mexico border, and how to deport illegal immigrants convicted of violent crimes, the White House said. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] The Solomon Islands are located in the Pacific's geologically active "Ring of Fire" A powerful magnitude 8 earthquake hit the Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, but no tsunami was reported hours after the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued an alert for nearby islands. The quake struck on Sunday at a depth of 103 miles under Papua New Guinea's most eastern province of Bougainville. It was where the two South Pacific countries meet in a continuous archipelago, said Chris McKee, assistant director of Papua New Guinea Geophysical Observatory in Port Moresby. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The greatest tsunami threat had been to Bougainville and that threat had passed without any report of a tsunami, Mr McKee said. "I suspect that because of the great depth of the earthquake, there was probably no significant tsunami," he said. Solomons government official George Herming said he was not aware of any major tremors being felt in his country or any tsunami. The countries are located in the Pacific's geologically active "Ring of Fire". AP Partial results suggest that Manuel Valls will confront stalwart Socialist Benoit Hamon in the France's left-wing presidential primary run-off. Organisers of Sunday's first round of primary voting said Mr Hamon, a former government minister, was leading with 35.2% followed by Mr Valls - , a centre-leaning former prime minister who rallied France together after extremist attacks - with 31.6%, based on more than one-third of the vote count. Whoever wins the January 29 primary run-off will face the April-May presidential election battling more popular candidates from the far right to the far left riding frustration with immigration and economic stagnation. Mr Hamon would tax robots, legalise cannabis and give all citizens 750 euro a month. Mr Valls paints himself as a bastion against populism and would continue pro-business reforms. Mr Valls jumped in the presidential race in December, a few days after Socialist President Francois Hollande declined to seek re-election -acknowledging his personal unpopularity would lead his Socialist party to defeat in the presidential battle. The 54-year-old has faced fierce attacks from harder-left rivals who associate him with Mr Hollande's unpopular moves to relax labour protections to encourage hiring. He argues that he has the experience that France's next leader will need as the country is facing the threat of extremist attacks, and to revitalise a lagging economy. The Spanish-born politician became a naturalised French at the age of 20, and is promising to decrease taxes for modest and middle-class households and to boost police and defence. Mr Hamon, 49, is a lower-profile politician yet he gained popularity by leading a group of rebel Socialist politicians who opposed Mr Valls. A former junior minister and education minister, he left the government in 2014 after he expressed disagreement with Mr Valls's pro-business policies. He is pledging to push for the introduction of a 750 euro (650) "universal income" living allowance for all adults in the country. The competition promises to be tough for the Socialist nominee in the race for the two-round presidential election on April 23 and May 7. Polls show more support for conservative candidate Francois Fillon and National Front leader Marie Le Pen. The left also faces a growing challenge from centrist Emmanuel Macron, 39, a former investment banker who led Mr Hollande's reforms as economy minister, but refused to take part in the Socialist primary. Far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon is drawing voters away from the establishment Socialists, too. Overshadowing the Socialist voting is the nationalist sentiment that helped fuel Donald Trump's successful campaign for the US presidency and in several countries around Europe. Ms Le Pen and other European far-right leaders came together on Saturday in Germany in a show of strength before multiple European elections this year. AP As Donald Trump sworn in as 45th President of United States of America, a huge number of women gathered to display the opposition towards the new Prez. Not only in US, the march also took place in other parts of the world to extend support to the citizens of the United States. Even Bollywood celebrities took to their respective twitter handles to strengthen the movement. Here's what they tweeted: Featured Video P.S: A lot of Hollywood actresses came down on streets to join the protest. 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 Lupin receives USFDA tentative approval for Drospirenone Tablets Global pharma major Lupin Limited (Lupin) has announced that it has received tentative approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug ... November 04, 2022 | 04-11-2022 1:26 pm Bloomberg Report: Pegatron Corp starts production of iPhone 14 in India Pegatron Corp., a Taiwanese contract manufacturer for Apple Inc., has begun producing the most recent iPhone 14 model in India. Pegatron is now the second Apple supplier to manufacture th... November 04, 2022 | 04-11-2022 12:48 pm JMC Projects India allots NCDs for Rs100 crore; Stock rallies over 3.5% The Management Committee of the Board of Directors of JMC Projects (India) Limited at its meeting held on November 04, 2022 has allotted 1000 Repo Rate, Unsecured, Rated, Listed, Rede... November 04, 2022 | 04-11-2022 12:34 pm 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 In 1895, the colonial government of German New Guinea recruited a family member as a personal servant for one of its administration officers and the young man arrived in Rabaul to be soon followed by two younger brothers. Sir Henry, a member of the fourth generation in PNG, was born in Rabaul in 1933 and educated in Rabaul and Australia, After World War II he served an apprenticeship and trained as a boat designer and builder in Australia. SAD news has reached me of the death of Sir Henry Chow, 83, the patriarch of the Chow family - a long-established and respected line whose roots in Papua New Guinea go back to the latter part of the nineteenth century. Over time, the family became part of the history and development of East New Britain and New Ireland and now has its sixth generation in PNG. Members of each generation have been active in community affairs and contributed much to the development and advancement of the areas where they lived. Sir Henry married in Australia and returned to Rabaul in 1958, establishing the Toboi Shipbuilding Company. The business grew quickly, expanded and prospered. Starting with eight local employees in 1958 over the next 14 years it built 170 vessels and increased its workforce to 120. During that period, Sir Henry formed a joint venture with the Kambara Kisen (Shipping) Company to build steel ships for the coastal trade in PNG and the South Pacific. But after building six vessels, the venture collapsed in 1971 due to lack of orders for steel ships. In 1972 the shipbuilding side of the business was phased out but the Toboi Shipbuilding Company is still active in providing services to the coastal shipping industry and the fishing industry. These days Sir Henrys family owns, operates and manages a number of successful businesses in the major centres of PNG including shipping, engineering and machining, biscuit manufacture, smallgoods, fast food restaurants, real estate and plantations, fishing, and logging and sawmilling. The business group employs 1,200 people. Sir Henry was one of the most generous philanthropists in PNG, his companies contributing to 26 sporting clubs, many churches and giving generously to charitable organisations that assist people in need. From a young age, he showed a keen interest in politics. In 1962, aged 29, he was elected vice-president of Rabaul Chamber of Commerce. In 1964 he became a member of Rabaul Town Council, being elected Chairman in 1970, he served four years in the position. From 1970-75 he was national secretary of the PNG Local Government Association. At the same time, Sir Henry was beginning to make waves in national politics, although he never sought elected office. He was a senior executive officer of the Peoples Progress Party (PPP) for 17 years from 1967-84 and was its national coordinator in three elections - 1972, 1977 and 1984. Three of Sir Henrys sons manage his many business enterprises. Adrian Bernard Chow, Fabian Clement Chow and Ian Andrew Chow are all hands-on managers with many years of experience between them. For his long service to the people of PNG, Sir Henry was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) on Independence Day 1975 and on 1 January in the millennium year, 2000, he was promoted to Knight Bachelor. Just two years ago, in an address to the PNG Association of Australia, Sir Henry said, "the people of Papua New Guinea are looking forward to the day when they will have good government leaders who will manage their wealth wisely and deliver the services they so desperately need to improve the life for themselves and their children." It would be Sir Henry's outstanding legacy if these words could be honoured by the political leaders of PNG. The indiatimes.com privacy policy has been updated to align with the new data regulations in European Union. Please review and accept these changes below to continue using the website. We use cookies to ensure the best experience for you on our website. A lavish wedding is everyone's dream wedding. However, there are exceptions who believe spending money on guests who only come for food and expensive lehengas that won't be worn again are a colossal waste of money. Instead, they try to make use of their wedding funds for the betterment of society. Here are five such couples who said 'I give', instead of 'I do'. 1. Abhay Deware and Preeti Kumbhare spent their wedding expenditure on farmer suicide families Abhay Deware and Preeti Kumbhare set an example by planning a wedding ceremony that wont be forgotten anytime soon. The couple from Amravati donated Rs.20,000 each to 10 farmers families. Instead of decorating the venue with flowers and festoons, they made a conscious effort to cover the walls of the venue with motivational posters. 2. Samantha Jackson and Farzin Yousefian cancelled their wedding and donated the wedding funds to Syrian refugees Image Credit: abcnews A photograph of a crying boy named Omran Daqneesh changed the lives of a couple, who then decided to cancel their lavish wedding and ask their guests to donate money to Syrian refugees, rather than getting them gifts. Samantha and Farzin managed to raise $17,500 for the project to date, a feat that should set an example. 3. Indias youngest single dad invited homeless people, stray animals and orphans to his wedding Image Credit: stylewhack Aditya Tiwari made news by becoming the countrys first single dad who adopted a child with special needs. He tied the knot last year and his wedding made news as he invited 10,000 homeless people and children from orphanages, alongside more than 1,000 stray and zoo animals! Imagine, inviting animals to ones wedding! He also distributed books and medicines to his guests. Now thats one great way to replace an expensive buffet dinner with something useful. 4. A Turkish couple spent their wedding day feeding 4,000 Syrian refugees Image Credit: thedailybeast Fethullah Uzumcuoglu and Esra Polat were the reason behind the smiles of 4,000 Syrian refugees. On their wedding day, the gracious couple called a food truck and distributed food to around 4,000 Syrian refugees. They were happy to receive thousands of blessings on their auspicious day. 5. A couple in Madhya Pradesh decided to go for a green wedding Image Credit: focusmanui A bride from Madhya Pradesh very bravely asked her in-laws to plant 10,000 saplings. Priyanka Bhadoria married Ravi Chauhan in a wedding ceremony where mango saplings were planted and also distributed to guests. They say that there are seven people in the world who look exactly like you. Looks like, one of Ranveer Singhs seven doppelgangers has been found in Pakistan! We kid you not. Hammad Shoaib FB After Saif Ali Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, we have found a lookalike of our very own Bajirao and the resemblance is uncanny. Look at his pictures for yourself: Hammad Shoaib FB Hammad Shoaib FB Hammad Shoaib FB Hammad Shoaib FB Hammad Shoaib, a resident of Pakistans Lahore has made it to the headlines, all thanks to his striking resemblance to the actor. A popular blogger from Pakistan wrote about him and shared his pictures and it managed to grab the attention of many websites and channels. The internet went into a frenzy and his pictures started circulating across all the social networking sites. Hammad Shoaib FB His sudden popularity has made him receive a lot of film offers! However, the lad is yet to sign films. Hammad Shoaib FB But he does dream of making it big in the film world. According to a report carried out by Hindustan Times, the 20-year-old is honing his dancing and acting skills. Well, good luck to you, Mr. Shoaib! As for Ranveer, this must be his reaction right now: grubhouse Shah Rukh Khan and his Raees team are leaving no stone unturned to promote their film in the best possible manner. From a super-grand Bigg Boss 10 episode with Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan to a grander event in Dubai, their promotions strategy is top-notch. Youtube Now, according to several reports that have been doing the rounds, SRK will be first Khan to travel from Mumbai to Delhi in a train to promote his film Raees! Yes, you read that right. SRK will be ditching a flight for a train ride. The team is in the process of packing their luggage and assuring that the trip is going to be an ideal combination of work and play, revealed a source. youtube According to the source, the entire team including the director Rahul Dholakia and producer Ritesh Sidhwani will be accompanying the Dear Zindagi actor. The train is an August Kranti which will leave from Bombay Central at evening 5 p.m. and reach Hazrat Nizamuddin at 10.55 a.m. in the morning. The train has several stopovers like Andheri, Borivili, Wapi, Walsad, Surat, Baruch, Baroda, Ratlam, Kota, Savai Modhopur and Mathura, added the source. #BreakingNews: @iamsrk to travel by TRAIN from Mumbai to Delhi with Team #Raees on Monday. taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) January 21, 2017 Based on the prohibition of alcohol In Gurjarat, Raaes is about the crumbling of the liquor industry in the state and all the illegal activities that followed after the ban, King Khan plays the bootlegger. The trailer has received rave reviews, all thanks to high-octane action sequences and impressive actors. The film also marks the debut of Pakistani actress Mahira Khan in Bollywood. twitter Raees also stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui in a pivotal role. The movie is all set to hit the silver screens on Jan 25th. The arrest of American linguistics expert James Kirk Jones last week for possessing and sharing nearly 30,000 files of child pornography had jolted Hyderabad. ' Recent government data shows the rot runs deeper: Alongside metros, many of India's tier-II cities are among the worst lot on surfing and sharing of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Amritsar, Lucknow, Alappuzha and Thrissur were among the 10 worst cities where CSAM was shared on multiple occasions in the past six months. Amritsar took top place with more than 4.3 lakh "files of interest" code for child porn shared between July 1, 2016 and January 15, 2017. Delhi was second, followed by Lucknow. Reuters/Representational Image "There are cities like Agra, Kanpur, Barrackpore and Dimapur where we had not seen any surfing for CSAM (child sexual abuse material) until six months ago. Here too there is significant growth," said a government source. The data is limited to IP addresses originating in the country, but there are several instances of surfers using TOR (The Onion Router) to mask or reroute their IP address, making it appear as if they are based in another country, to avoid being tracked. Online child porn is directly linked to offline child abuse. "For every child porn video, there is a child abuse victim+ somewhere," said Vidya Reddy from Tulir Centre for the Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse. "The accessibility of technology has ensured that CSAM is more easily available than ever before," she added. In fact, Jones was also using a peer-to-peer, filesharing network Giga-Tribe, to stay in contact with 490 'like-minded' friends. Reuters/Representational Image Despite the large volume of child porn being shared through private social media groups, reporting remains abysmally low. The National Crime Records Bureau has registered just about 1,540 cases of online child sexual abuse in 2015-16. If not for an Interpol alert, Jones too would have flown under the radar. In fact, according to cyber crime law expert Prashant Mali, few people even realise that watching or downloading child porn is a crime. "Under the present laws, watching or sharing such material is a non-bailable offence attracting up to 7 years imprisonment and a Rs 10 lakh penalty," says Mali. A major hurdle in the detection of online CSAM is the international nature of the crime. "A person could ostensibly view porn in India, which may have its server in Russia, its pay-site in Scotland and be hosted in Austria," says Reddy of Tulir. "We need a transnational police force with state-ofthe-art forensic laboratories and a cohesive policy ." A step in the right direction was taken this week by Union minister Maneka Gandhi, who announced the establishment of a national alliance that would coordinate with law enforcement agencies, ministries, information technology experts, Interpol, and NGOs to curb the proliferation of CSAM online. The alliance will achieve its objective by blocking websites that host CSAM, setting up a hotline for complaints and placing restrictions on the travel of known sex offenders into the country. The minister has already written to the MEA asking for such visa restrictions be put in place. The Dalai Lama said he hopes that President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will work together for global peace. The exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists said the world needed leaders with compassion. He made the remarks Saturday at a program in New Delhi organized by the women's chapter of an industry group, according to the press statement. AFP He said the world is moving toward peace and non-violence, and he hopes Trump and Putin will come closer and work toward creating global peace. The Dalai Lama had said in Mongolia in November that he had "no worries'' about Trump's election as US president and looked forward to meeting him after he took office. Trump was inaugurated Friday. Reuters The Dalai Lama has met former U.S. presidents, including four meetings with Barack Obama. Such meetings anger Beijing, which accuses the Tibetan leader of trying to split Tibet from China. The Dalai Lama says he simply wants a higher degree of autonomy under Chinese rule. AFP The Dalai Lama has been based in India's northern hill town of Dharmsala since fleeing Tibet during an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. 12 of the 52 arrested in the country over the past two years for links with the terror group are from the state. Maharashtra seems to be emerging as the breeding ground for terrorists, with 12 out of the 52 arrested for links to Islamic State or Daesh coming from this state. Mumbaimirror The terror organisation has become a major concern for security agencies as out of the 64 suspected terrorists arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in all terror-related cases in the past two years, 52 of them have been arrested for their role in Daesh. Out of these, 12 were arrested in Maharashtra, followed closely by Kerala (11) and Telangana (10). Till date, 12 modules of Daesh have been busted by NIA, in which 52 have been arrested while 35 are still absconding, said NIA. Another worrying statistic is that 80 per cent of the accused have received formal education, and only 20 per cent have attended madrassas. Daeshs rapid rise in India in the past two years is a major cause of worry for security agencies. Until 2014, Indian agencies were focussed on Pakistan-based or supported groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizbul Mujahideen and Indian Mujahideen. But Kalyan engineering student Areeb Majeeds arrest in 2014 prompted authorities to seriously consider the threat from Daesh. Majeed was radicalised online and travelled to Iraq to join the group. He later returned to India. Majeeds arrest was our first success. The Internet, especially social media, provides the extremists a convenient platform to recruit youngsters. In all the 12 cases we detected, the suspects got acquainted with the Daesh handlers on social media. Its a challenge for all countries to monitor such activities. But we have had some success in this area and we continue to keep a close watch on the online chatter, said an NIA officer. BCCL Officials refused to comment on the number of Indian youth who have been radicalised by Daesh, but according to one estimate, the figure is in the range of 7,000 to 8,000. A few hundred of them are prepared to travel to Iraq and Syria. Around 50 people are suspected to have left the country. Security agencies fear that they may carry out lone-wolf attacks in the country upon their return. There is a high possibility of lone-wolf terror activity in the country. Recently, we arrested a Daesh operative from Kolkata, Abu Musa, who had planned to travel to Srinagar and stab foreign tourists, said a source. Contrary to common belief that Daeshs activities in India were restricted to recruiting youngsters to its fold, the NIA has recovered arms and explosives in at least three cases. We recovered weapons from a suspect arrested in Hyderabad and explosives were found during our investigation into the Haridwar module, said the officer. The Parbhani cell busted by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad had also planned to carry out attacks in the country. Indian Express NIAs biggest success has been what some officers call the mother Daesh case in which 18 suspects were arrested from different parts of the country, including Mumbai. According to NIA, Shafi Armar is the man who manages Daeshs activities in the country while sitting in Syria. Malwani man Ayaz Sultan, who recently left the country, is suspected to be assisting him. Shafi, who is in his late 20s, is a native of Bhatkal, Karnataka. Shafi also supervises the Maharashtra operations. In what appears to be a case of extreme negligence that could have turned fatal, three boys, aged 15, 12, and eight, were rescued from a ragged room in Bhiwandi around 8 pm Thursday. The condition of the three siblings suggested they hadnt ventured out of the room for years: clad in rags, they were unable to walk, and one of the boys had a broken foot due to calcium deficiency. mumbaimirror The neighbours alleged the boys father, an autorickshaw driver named Shafeek Mohammad, had confined them to the room for the last six years even as the siblings denied such torture. The boys said that they had very little contact with the world outside their shanty as they had dropped out of the school after their mother left the family in 2010. Eldest sibling Raiyan, who suffered a broken leg, and second-born Aayan, have been admitted to a local hospital for severe malnourishment while the youngest, Mohammad, has been sheltered by activists. The boys were given food and a new set of clothes. The police said there was no case against Shafeek, 55, because the boys have consistently denied he had tortured them physically or mentally. Shafeek told the police that he was indeed a negligent father and blamed it on the disappearance of his wife, whom he called a bad woman. mumbaimirror Activists who alerted the police and helped rescue the boys said they had received several complaints from neighbours of the boys being confined to their room, off main road in Bhiwandis Quarter Gate area. The 10ft x 10ft shanty was falling apart when this correspondent visited it to see the condition the family was living in, the floor was covered in muck, and neighbours told us the boys were forced to urinate and defecate inside the house which had no proper toilet, and the excreta would be collected in polyethene bags to be disposed of. A TV set in a corner stood out like a sore thumb among heaps of clothes and dirtcovered plates. Community leader Mohammed Shakeel Raza, who helped rescue the kids after tearing down the shantys door with the help of neighbours, said the boys lived in such fear of their father that they were not willing to reveal the truth. mumbaimirror Raiyan initially told us he had slipped and broken his leg. It was only when he was admitted to hospital that it emerged that he had a major calcium deficiency that has rendered his bones brittle. Even Aayan was found to be severely malnourished, Raza said. When Shafeek was asked by the police about the boys condition, he blamed it on lack of money. I am a poor man who struggles to feed the kids, and I dont want to fall into debt trap. That is the only reason I havent been able to take them to a doctor, he said. Aghast at the police not filing a case against Shafeek, the activists have demanded that he be kept away from his children. Ruksana Qureshi, a former corporator, said she will try to convince the cops to book the father. We will meet with the DCP to get a probe under way. The boys shouldnt be made to live with their father as such a situation could endanger their lives. Imagine one of them surviving with a fractured leg for such a long time, Qureshi said. mumbaimirror Senior Inspector Bhal Singh from Nizampura police station, in whose jurisdiction the family lives, expressed helplessness. We spoke to the boys who repeatedly said their father didnt torture them. There cannot be a case without a complaint, he said. Mirror spoke with Raiyan, who only said his parents would fight a lot and one day, his mother disappeared. Our father says our mother is in Malegaon, he said, adding that more than a year ago, he and his brothers tried to run away because their father wanted to send them away to a madrassa. He brought us back home, he said. When asked what they did the entire day, the siblings had exactly the same answer to give. We watch Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah and Doraemon on TV, make paper boats, and eat tea and biscuits, they said. mumbaimirror Ironically, Shafeeks brother and his family stay a stones throw away from his shanty. We dont speak with Shafeek and havent seen his children in years, said his elder brother Anees. The tied were severed several years ago as he is an aggressive person who would fight with us at the slightest pretext. We never saw his kids even when we passed by his house, Anees said. Shafeek said the boys themselves stopped going to school after their mother left the shanty. I didnt look after my children but there is nothing more to it. I have never raised a hand on them, never scolded them. If they dont want to venture out of the house, I cant force them to, he said. A six-year-old student of city-based Gyanoday Vidyamandir has been left scarred for life after her class teacher brutally assaulted her by yanking her hair off the head as punishment for non-payment of fees amounting to Rs. 4,000 on Monday. TOI The class II student, who has been left with a fist-sized bald spot, narrated the shocking incident about how her teacher Rekha Nair grabbed her hair, shook and screamed at her in front of the class for not paying her fees, only when her father coaxed her into telling him why she didn't want to go to school the next day. Furious about the incident, her father Akhilesh Gupta (29), immediately approached the school and informed them about the incident, demanding strict action against the teacher. "My daughter, Prachi, was crying at the mention of the idea of going to school. I was shocked when she told me what happened. I have a small photo studio in Indira Nagar area and my wife is a housewife. I immediately gathered whatever savings I had, paid the fees and reported the incident to the principal. I could see my daughter shaking with fear when the teacher, Rekha Nair, entered the principal's cabin. My daughter still cannot get over the incident and has not gone to school until today," Gupta told TOI on Friday. TOI "Even though the teacher has been suspended, there is no serious action taken against her or the management. I have been pursuing the matter and will not rest till my daughter is given justice," he added. The school authorities, however, asserted that they have been taking the incident seriously and will follow it through. "We have always told our teachers not to hit the students as punishment, and about how corporal punishment is against the law. The teacher has been suspended for a week. We have asked her for her response to the incident in written. If this response is not acceptable, we will terminate her position at the school," said RN Tiwari, the secretary of the school. Gupta's attempt to lodge a police complaint in the local police station, too, was in vain as the officials refused to register it stating that the issue was resolved internally with the school. "I was going to register a FIR at the Vartak Nagar police station but two police officials there refused to file the complaint saying that the matter should be resolved internally between the school and me. I want to pursue this case and ensure that the teacher, as well as the management, gets their due for assaulting my six-year-old daughter," Gupta said. TOI When contacted by the TOI, the Vartak Nagar police negated receiving any such complaint. Educational activists here assert that the management, which puts pressure on the teacher to collect these fees, should also be held responsible for the incident, in addition to the teacher. "Collecting fees is not the responsibility of the teacher. While what the teacher did, in this case, was brutal and unacceptable, the management and the principal should also be questioned and charged for pressuring the teacher to an extent where she had to use force to get the class II student to ask her parents to pay her fees. This is a criminal act and police action is a must," said Jayant Jain, a Mumbai-based education activist. After only one day in office, and Donald Trump has managed to get tens of thousands of people from all walks of life on a cold Saturday morning. That's the joke that's doing the rounds online, as women protesters across the globe have united in massive rallies in a stand against Donald Trump. Trump Protests Denver, CO (1/21/17) Photography by Milo Lee pic.twitter.com/wn0HHeJCpA M I L O L E E (@Milolee11) January 21, 2017 Legions of women are marching in Sydney, Paris, Philadelphia, and surprisingly even Antarctica. Over 600 "sister marches" were planned across America, in support of the Women's March on Washington, which has seen hundreds of thousands to the nation's capital a day after Trump became president of the United States. What a coincidence indeed to have anti-Trump feminists and "Ukrainian nationalists" with a "Putin, f*ck off" sign. H/T @nikolay_chern pic.twitter.com/97HXetcVJp Nina Byzantina (@NinaByzantina) January 21, 2017 A Gallup poll found that a majority of Americans have an unfavourable view of him. Anti-Trump protests happening now in Rome. (11:25 am, Jan. 21, 2017) pic.twitter.com/aLyI6AkxxC Once A Great Nation (@lightheart1) January 21, 2017 Here's a look at some of the other rallies around the world: Paris Several thousand people, including many American workers and students living in France, gathered in Paris for the Women's March. Protesters marched in the Eiffel Tower neighborhood in a joyful atmosphere, singing and carrying posters reading: "We have our eyes on you Mr. Trump," "With our sisters in Washington", "Women's rights are human rights". New York "New York is a community in itself, and people care about each other, and it's diverse," said Ashia Badi, 44, who brought her two daughters to Midtown Manhattan to march in protest of Trump. "He doesn't feel like he has those New York values I see." New York City and state overwhelmingly voted for Hillary Clinton. Los Angeles So-called Sister March organisers estimated 750,000 demonstrators swarmed the streets of Los Angeles, one of the largest of Saturday's gatherings. Police said the turnout there was as big or bigger than a 2006 pro-immigration march that drew 500,000. Sydney Demonstrators flooded a popular central Sydney park carrying placards with slogans including "Women of the world resist," ''Feminism is my trump card" and "Fight like a girl." New Jersey Holding a handmade sign that read "Girls just want to have fundamental rights," Mary Morrisey, 35, of Trenton, said she attended the march in her hometown to show support for America and its people. Yangon, Myanmar Dozens attended a "solidarity picnic" in Yangon organized by Alyssa Paylor of Colorado and other U.S. expats. "We're not able to have a march in this climate, so we wanted to just gather together in solidarity with our sisters and brothers marching in Washington and all across the world because of what we believe in," said Paylor, 26. She is in Myanmar working for an organization called Mote Oo Education for Curriculum Development. Prague Hundreds gathered in freezing weather in a busy city square in the Czech capital, waving portraits of Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin and holding banners that read "This is just the beginning," "Kindness" and "Love." Washington Protest organisers claimed to have drawn nearly 5 million protesters. DC right now. Protesters throw rocks at police. Police fire tear gas. pic.twitter.com/QHl8RB33MB AJ+ (@ajplus) January 20, 2017 Even as Trump was heading to his inaugural ball, protesters were clashing with riot police in Washington's K street. "Who do you protect? Who do you serve?" Protesters clash with police in Washington, D.C. before the inaugural parade. pic.twitter.com/KiekxxD9Na AJ+ (@ajplus) January 20, 2017 Protesters set fire to at least one car, smashed windows, an faced off tear gas. 200 were arrested, and six police officers were hurt. On Day 1 of his presidency, black-clad anti-establishment activists smashing windows, setting vehicles on fire and fighting with riot-gear-clad police who responded with stun grenades. Limo ablaze here in DC. pic.twitter.com/FOiew1Zgzb James Cook (@BBCJamesCook) January 20, 2017 Many wore knitted pink cat-eared "pussy hats," an appropriated reference to Trump's boast in a 2005 video made public weeks before the election about grabbing women's genitals. Pakistan's two parliamentary committees in a joint resolution asked India to immediately suspend the ongoing construction of the Kishanganga and Ratle hydro power projects in Jammu and Kashmir, Dawn reported. The two projects are being constructed on the Jhelum and Chenab rivers. A resolution adopted by the National Assembly's foreign affairs and water and power committees also asked the World Bank to set up a Court of Arbitration to mediate the dispute over the Indus Waters Treaty between the two countries. It said that under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), it is the responsibility of the World Bank to play its role without further delay. Read more here 1. After Drug Menace In Punjab, Now Amritsar Becomes India's Leader In Sharing Child Porn Reuters/Representational Image The arrest of American linguistics expert James Kirk Jones last week for possessing and sharing nearly 30,000 files of child pornography had jolted Hyderabad. ' Recent government data shows the rot runs deeper: Alongside metros, many of India's tier-II cities are among the worst lot on surfing and sharing of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Amritsar, Lucknow, Alappuzha and Thrissur were among the 10 worst cities where CSAM was shared on multiple occasions in the past six months. Amritsar took top place with more than 4.3 lakh "files of interest" code for child porn shared between July 1, 2016 and January 15, 2017. Delhi was second, followed by Lucknow. Read more 2. Amid Jallikattu Demands In TN, Protests Begin In Karnataka For Lifting Ban On 'Kambala' BCCL With the decks seem to be getting cleared for the bull taming festival of Jallikattu in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, there is a growing chorus for organising Kambala, a traditional annual buffalo race in marshy fields, held in the coastal districts of Karnataka. Spurred by the Jallikattu agitation in Tamil Nadu, Kambala committees have decided to meet in Mangaluru on Sunday to strategise their agitation. Read more here 3. On Day 2, Millions Take To The Streets Across The World To Protest The #TrumpPresidency After only one day in office, and Donald Trump has managed to get tens of thousands of people from all walks of life on a cold Saturday morning. That's the joke that's doing the rounds online, as women protesters across the globe have united in massive rallies in a stand against Donald Trump. Legions of women are marching in Sydney, Paris, Philadelphia, and surprisingly even Antarctica. Over 600 "sister marches" were planned across America, in support of the Women's March on Washington, which has seen hundreds of thousands to the nation's capital a day after Trump became president of the United States. Here's a look at some of the other rallies around the world. 4. Maharashtra Turning Into Breeding Ground Of Terrorism, Most Indian Youths Joining ISIS Are From There BCCL 12 of the 52 arrested in the country over the past two years for links with the terror group are from the state. Maharashtra seems to be emerging as the breeding ground for terrorists, with 12 out of the 52 arrested for links to Islamic State or Daesh coming from this state. The terror organisation has become a major concern for security agencies as out of the 64 suspected terrorists arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in all terror-related cases in the past two years, 52 of them have been arrested for their role in Daesh. Out of these, 12 were arrested in Maharashtra, followed closely by Kerala (11) and Telangana (10). Read more. 5. In Gujarat, A Government Peon Has 3 Flats, 3 Land Plots, 1 Office Space And Two Cars! DesiTVBox/Representational Image In Gujarat's capital, Gandhinagar, a peon with the Gujarat Water Resources Development Corporation (GWRDC) Ltd. has been found to be owning seven properties three flats, an office space and three land plots and two cars. These assets are valued at Rs 1.18 crore on paper, while their market value is pegged at multiple crores. Gujarat Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Friday and Saturday registered five cases of disproportionate assets (DA) in Gandhinagar, Rajkot and Sabarkantha, for a total value of Rs 14.17 crore. One of the cases, worth Rs 11.56 crore, forms the lions share of the sum. Read more. President Donald Trump will hold his first face-to-face meeting with a foreign leader on Friday when he hosts British Prime Minister Theresa May. According to White House reports, the President also placed his first calls to the leaders of Canada and Mexico. White House Press Secretary, Sean Spicer told reporters on Saturday that Trump spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. Trump had said earlier Saturday while visiting the Central Intelligence Agency that the meeting with May would happen very shortly. Spicer also announced that Pena Nieto would visit the White House on Jan. 31. The operatives of the Lagos State Task Force had arrested a man Soji Gboye who impersonated to be a journalist with a media outfit (TVC Continental). Disclosing this to newsmen on weekend, Chairman of the Agency SP Olayinka Egbeyemi said the suspect who lives on No 5, Adesoye Street, Mende, Maryland, Lagos, was arrested while obstructing the personnel of the Agency from performing their legitimate duty around the area. Soji was arrested alongside 67 miscreants and hoodlums during an enforcement exercise carried out in Maryland area of the state. The Chairman also said traders selling or displaying wares/goods at unauthorised places were dislodged during the exercise. According to him, the 36 years old from Ilaje, Ondo State who claimed he was a correspondent with the media outfit could not properly identify himself when interrogated by the Chairman of the Agency. SP Egbeyemi who was one time Deputy Police Public Relations Officer (DPPRO) immediately Investigated further with the management of the media outfit but it was discovered that he was not a staff but an impersonator. It was gathered that upon interrogation, it was discovered that he was not a journalist and he had never worked with a media outfit. He said he only impersonated himself to be a journalist just to regain his freedom and that any time he had issues with any uniformed men he always impersonated to be a journalist and he had never been doubted for once. Mr Gboye who said the Agency should have mercy on him however acknowledged the braveness of the Chairman of the Lagos State Task Force SP Olayinka Egbeyemi as an intelligent Nigeria Police Officer. Meanwhile the Lagos State Commissioner of Police Mr. Garuba Umar has directed that all the 67 suspects be charged to court while the fake journalist be transferred immediately to State CID, Panti Street, Yaba, Lagos. SP Egbeyemi who said the Agency and other security outfits would not relent at getting rid of criminals and hoodlums however enjoined members of the public to always furnish security outfits with useful information on criminal activities across the State. Source: Vanguard A crew of Chinese firefighters were filmed sawing through a utility pole to free a man who somehow became trapped inside the pole. The video shows firefighters in Qingyang, Gansu Province, carefully placing the pole horizontally on the ground Saturday and sawing through it. The firefighters are able to remove enough from the pole to extract a man trapped inside. It was unclear how or why the man ended up inside the pole. Nigerian newspaper headlines January 22, 2017. Guardian President Muhammadu Buhari is well and alive, the presidency said late on Saturday after a news website published a story that the Nigerian leader has passed away in London. Thisday Contrary to the casualty figures in the public domain following Tuesdays mistaken bombing of an internally displaced persons camp in Borno State, the chairman of Kala Balge Local Government Area, where the accident occurred, Babagana Malarima, has said that his people buried 234 persons killed in the airstrike. The Nation Embattled former Petroleum Minister, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, is not taking allegations of massive corruption leveled against her by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) lightly. Vanguard As forex crisis lingers to 2017 amid economic recession, experts in the financial sector are calling on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to harmonise exchange rate, to enhance stability in the foreign exchange market. Punch President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, must have had a busy week last week, though not at the Senate but at the Code of Conduct Tribunal where he is standing trial for alleged false and anticipatory declaration of assets when he was Governor of Kwara State. Leadership Heipang in Barkin Ladi L.G.C. near Jos, the Plateau State Capital was agog during the foundation laying ceremony of Jos Dry Port Project in 2006. The Sun Gambias former President Yahya Jammeh has left the country in the wake of elections that ousted him after 22 years in power. The Kaduna State Police Command on Sunday confirmed that gunmen attacked Zankan village, a Fulani settlement in Kaura Local Government of the state. The State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Aliyu Usman, told reporters that the incident occurred at about 8.30 p.m. on Saturday. He said that one person was killed and five others injured in the attack. The dead and the injured persons have been taken to the nearest medical centre in Ganawuri town, Plateau State, Usman said. He, however, said that investigation into the incident had commenced. We are trailing the suspects behind the attack, but so far, no arrest has been made. We are, however, optimistic that the additional police operatives deployed in the area will fish out the culprits very soon, he said. The spokesman reiterated the commitment of the command to secure citizens and property in the state, saying we will not allow lawlessness to thrive. He appealed to the public to always assist security agencies in the state with useful information to enable them to take proactive measures. Governor Nasiru El-Rufai of Kaduna State had warned that all those found culpable in the killing of innocent people in the recent crisis in Southern Kaduna will be prosecuted. He described violent incidents as unfortunate and condemnable. He said the biggest assignment was for the citizens to unite and should do their best to see that they have peace and unity, which is prerequisite for progress and development. Besides security challenges, we are faced with poor infrastructure, poor social amenities, poor schools, bad roads, lack of power and potable water and that is what this government is working to provide for the people. We have cut down the gains and monetary profits people get in government just to be able to provide democratic dividends to the people. In your domains, you can see on-going projects at various stages of completion. We are also committed to demonstrating fairness and equity in the way we execute projects all over the state. I and my deputy and all those who work under this administration, have taken oaths with either the Quran or the Bible that we will be fair and just in our affairs. I am giving you my promise that we will be guided by this oath in all our dealings. He said the government had adopted measures to tackle the persistent crises in the area. The Umaru Musa YarAdua University, formerly known as the Katsina State University has announced a decision banning all but one religious association. The decision, contained in an internal memo stated that The Muslim Students Society is the only religious association allowed to operate in the university. University authorities did not give any reason for the curious ban but the memo as well as criticism of the decision is now gaining ground on social media. Thousands of women filled the streets of several major U.S. cities on Saturday in an unprecedented wave of mass protests against President Donald Trump the day after his inauguration. Women activists, galvanised by Trump campaign rhetoric and behaviour they found to be strongly prejudiced against women, spearheaded scores of U.S. marches and sympathy rallies around the world that organisers said drew nearly 5 million protesters in all. The demonstrations, far surpassing crowd expectations, highlighted strong discontent over Trumps comments and policy positions toward a wide range of groups, including Mexican immigrants, Muslims, the disabled and environmentalists. The planned centerpiece of the protests, a Womens March on Washington, appeared to draw larger crowds than turned out a day earlier to witness Trumps swearing-in on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. No official estimates of the turnout were available, but it clearly exceeded the 200,000 marchers projected in advance by organisers, filling long stretches of downtown around the White House and the National Mall. Many wore knitted pink cat-eared pussy hats, an appropriated reference to Trumps boast in a 2005 video made public weeks before the election about grabbing womens genitals. Hundreds of thousands more women filled New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver and Boston, adding to a public outpouring of mass dissent against Trump unmatched in modern U.S. politics for a new presidents first full day in office. So-called Sister March organisers estimated 750,000 demonstrators swarmed the streets of Los Angeles, one of the largest of Saturdays gatherings. Police said the turnout there was as big or bigger than a 2006 pro-immigration march that drew 500,000. Some 400,000 marchers assembled in New York City, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio, though organisers put the number there at 600,000. The Chicago event grew so large that organisers staged a rally rather than trying to parade through the city. Police said more than 125,000 people attended there; sponsors estimated the crowd at 200,000. The protests, mostly peaceful, illustrated the depth of division in the country, still reeling from the bitterly fought 2016 election campaign. Trump stunned the world by defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton, a former secretary of state and first lady who made history as the first woman nominated for president by a major U.S. political party. Pam Foyster, a resident of Ridgway, Colorado, said the atmosphere in reminded her of mass protests during the 1960s and 70s against the Vietnam War and in favor of civil rights and womens rights. Im 58 years old, and I cant believe we are having to do this again, Foyster said. Although Republicans now control the White House and both houses of Congress, Trump faces entrenched opposition from wide segments of the public, in contrast with the honeymoon period new presidents typically experience when first taking office. A recent ABC News/ Post poll found Trump had the lowest favorability rating of any incoming U.S. president since the 1970s. Ex-President of The Gambia, Yahya Jammeh has left the country after 22 years in power as part of a deal in which he agreed to hand over power to President-elect, Adama Barrow. Jammeh had lost a Presidential election to Barrow on December 1, 2016 but rejected the outcome of the election one week later. ECOWAS leaders as well as the U.N negotiated with Jammeh to get him to step down ahead of the transition on January 19 but he only accepted a deal on Thursday night. The negotiations were handled by the government of Guinea where he will now spend time in exile before leaving for yet another country. The details of the agreement reached with Jammeh have not been made public. By Emily Washcovick A consumer-review study released last year by online-marketing firm BrightLocal found that 92 percent of consumers read online reviews to determine if a local business is a good one. People overwhelmingly use Yelp as their review site of choice. As a self-storage provider, you have the power to claim your free Yelp for Business Owners account and update some of your information. You can also engage with your listing in a way that draws more attention and helps generate more natural review content for your business. Consumers dont conduct self-storage searches on Yelp just for fun. A potential tenant whos using Yelp to search for a self-storage provider is generally new to the area, has never had a need for a storage unit, or was unhappy with a previous storage experience. Yelp provides an opportunity for you to get your business in front of consumers and highlight why they should hire you for their storage needs. Every self-storage owner has the ability to claim his free account and start attracting new tenants. Between taking care of your facilities, managing your staff and building your brand, theres not a lot of time left! Here are five tips on how to make the most of free Yelp tools to attract new customers. 1. Complete Your Listing After you claim your Yelp for Business Owners account at biz.yelp.com, youll be able to walk through the steps to verify your hours, website, street address and phone number. From there, youll want to add a specialties section and include descriptive text about what sets you apart from competitors. Youll also outline the services you offer. Its important to understand that all Yelp users search differently. Some may search storage unit while others search for self storage. Include details about your services and special offerings so youll come up in searches more frequently. If you also provide moving services, add that to your profile to give you an edge. Visuals are also a great selling point for businesses. You can upload an unlimited number of photos, so start taking pictures of your property and upload them to your page to show off your facility. Photos of the business, staff and happy customers are always great. 2. Set Up Check-In Offers or Yelp Deals You can set up a Check-In Offer or Yelp Deal through your business account in a few quick clicks. Check-In Offers engage mobile users who are searching on-the-go and tend to take quick action, such as calling your business or mapping directions from the Yelp App. Offers can be anything from a free item, percentage off the rental or some other incentive. The best thing about Check-In Offers is consumers are prompted to leave you a review the next time they log in to Yelp after checking in at your business. This helps grow your brand across social platforms like Facebook and Twitter and engages customers beyond just leaving a review or visiting your facility. Setting up Yelp Deals is another great way to grab a customer for the first time. You select the value of your deal through your account, and you can turn it on or off whenever you choose. 3. Respond to Reviews You can respond to reviews publicly or privately through your business account. Remember, when responding to reviews, its important to remain professional, thank the reviewer for his feedback, and share any updates that have been made to your business as a result. Consumers see responses to negative reviews as the business valuing the customers experience and showing a desire to engage with clients on a personal level. Sending a short, private message to a positive review also shows those happy tenants you appreciate their business. 4. Download the Mobile App The first step to keeping all of Yelps tools right in your pocket is to visit the iTunes or Google Play store and download the free Yelp for Business Owners App. Remember, its blue, not red! Once you log in to your account, youll stay logged in on your device. This is great for faster access. Youll notice multiple features available to you, including the ability to check your activity, respond to reviews and upload photos. 5. Spread the Word When you have a great review, you want people to see it. You can log in to Yelp for Business Owners and share your reviews on other platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and e-mail. Some businesses even print their reviews and frame them on their walls! Beyond telling your patrons they can find your business on Yelp, you can also make the fact visible in your offices or on your website. Visit Yelp.com/brand to see all of the approved stickers, signage and hyperlinks you can include in your e-mail signature or on your website. You can even request a Find Us on Yelp sticker for your door or window. Business owners all around the world are growing their businesses through Yelp. For self-storage operators, it can be an excellent tool for engaging with current and future customers. Emily Washcovick is a manager of local business outreach for Yelp. She hosts informational sessions across North America, educating business owners on best practices for navigating the world of online reviews and working with local companies interested in leveraging Yelp to grow their business. She also hosts a series of webinars on subjects relevant to business owners and regularly contributes content to Yelp's "Blog for Business Owners." For more information, visit biz.yelp.com. E arrivata lufficialita, dopo una giornata di voci rincorrenti: per il triennio 2018-2021 sara lemittente Sky a godere dei diritti televisivi per trasmettere, in esclusiva assoluta, le partite non solo delle prossime edizioni dellEuropa League ma anche quelle della massima competizione continentale, la Champions. Un pacchetto da favola per il quale la tv satellitare di Rupert Murdoch avrebbe messo sul piatto unofferta giudicata piu congrua di quella presentata dalla concorrente Mediaset. A dare lannuncio dellaffare concluso e stata la stessa Sky che, in un comunicato, ha spiegato che il nuovo format sviluppato dalla UEFA ci consentira di portare ai nostri abbonati un prodotto rivoluzionario per il calcio europeo in Italia. Per la prima volta la UEFA Champions League e la UEFA Europa League saranno insieme in unesclusiva offerta integrata, che permettera agli appassionati di seguire fino a 7 squadre italiane, mai cosi tante prima dora, impegnate nelle sfide con i migliori club europei. Sky: Rafforzata leadership Anche il livello tecnico dellofferta sara altissimo ed e ancora lemittente a rivelare i dettagli: Continueremo a fare innovazione, trasmettendo le partite piu importanti anche in 4K HDR. Questofferta senza precedenti rafforza la posizione di Sky come leader della programmazione sportiva in Italia ed e anche un altro passo importante di sostegno al calcio italiano. Insomma, per i prossimi tre anni, sara unegemonia totale quella della satellitare sul calcio europeo, avendo mantenuto il pacchetto Europa League (gia sua esclusiva) e affiancandola a quello ancor piu appetibile della Champions League ad appannaggio Mediaset dal 2015 al 2018. Sfida Serie A Ora la sfida fra i due colossi delle trasmissioni sportive si spostera sui diritti televisivi della prossima Serie A, per la quale si e ancora in attesa di un nuovo bando che, come annunciato dal commissario della Lega, Carlo Tavecchio, avra le stesse caratteristiche del precedente, andato pero a vuoto: solo una delle offerte presentate per i cinque pacchetti, infatti, superava la soglia minima richiesta dalla base dasta. Niente di fatto, quindi, anche in virtu della stessa Mediaset che, in sostanza, ha disertato il bando (giudicato inaccettabile) non presentando alcuna offerta. La battaglia, anche in questo caso, sara sulle esclusive: del resto, dopo essersi vista scivolare via una componente importante come la Champions, sulla Serie A Mediaset dara sicuramente battaglia. actress ashley judd women's march on washington Actress and political activist Ashley Judd brought the house down at the Women's March on Washington, a rally that drew an estimated 500,000 demonstrators in protest of President Donald Trump. Crowds went berserk for the big-screen actress as she waxed poetic in R-rated language on women's rights and the perceived threat the new administration poses to those liberties. Judd read a poem from 19-year-old spoken word poet, Nina Donovan. The actress shared a video of Donovan to her Facebook page late last year. "I am a nasty woman. Not as nasty as a man who looks like he bathes in Cheetoh dust," she began, eliciting cheers from the main stage area on Independence Avenue. You can watch the speech below. Judd took the main stage while filmmaker Michael Moore still stood at the podium. "My name is Ashley Judd, and I am a feminist," she said, as Moore watched on smiling. Women's March on Washington organizers insisted leading up to event which is expected to draw nearly a quarter of a million people that the demonstration was more pro-women than anti-Trump. But as Judd recited Donovan's words, it became clear she would not pass on the opportunity to take angled digs at the new administration. Much of the poem played on the theme of what it means to be a nasty woman, in reference to a remark Trump made against Hillary Clinton during the last presidential debate. "I'm not nasty, like the combo of Trump and Pence being served up to me in my voting booth. I'm nasty like the battles my grandmothers fought to get me into that voting booth," she said. Another line called out Trump's unsettling record of comments about the attractiveness of his daughter Ivanka: "I'm not as nasty as your daughter being your favorite sex symbol." Story continues The poem hit on why tampons are taxed but Rogaine and Viagra aren't, the pay gap in Hollywood, and sexual harassment. "We are not here to be debunked, we are here to be respected," she said. "We are here to be nasty. I'm nasty, like the blood stains on my bed sheets." People took to social media to express their admiration for Judd. If @AshleyJudd ever runs for anything, she's got my vote. #WomensMarch Laurie Crosswell (@lauriecrosswell) January 21, 2017 #WomensMarch @AshleyJudd "is a nasty woman" poem so powerful! Brought me to tears. I felt each word. THANK YOU! kari baker (@kphizzl) January 21, 2017 "I am nasty like Susan, Elizabeth, Eleanore, Amelia, Rose, Gloria, Condoleezza, Sonya, Malala, Michelle, Hillary," Judd said as her speech came to an end. "And our p-----s ain't for grabbing." NOW WATCH: Watch protesters and Trump supporters get into a fiery argument on the National Mall right after the new president was sworn in More From Business Insider James Bond couldnt stay away from the place; the latest Dan Brown film is shot there; some Indiana Jones and Harry Potter scenes take place there; and it doubles as Iran in Argo. And though it had a dire plot, one of the few things Taken 2 had going for it was the Turkish backdrop. Just a glance at Istanbuls Grand Bazaar or around the Sultan Ahmet Mosque (known to many as the Blue Mosque) and you can see why a director would gleefully shout action! in Turkey. The guidebooks go on about gateways between east and west, but what that means for tourists is a superbly exotic city four-and-a-half hours from Ireland via Turkish Airlines an exotic city with wifi and modern hotels as your base. The marina harbour in Antalya. The elegant five-star Sura Hagia Sophia Hotel & Spa is only 400m away from some of the main attractions such as Topkapi Palace, the Hippodrome, Archaeology Museum and the Blue Mosque, so its a good bet. I spotted off-season prices for basic rooms starting from 56 a night right up to deluxe packages. The breakfast alone is worth making time for think of a vast brunch and youre more on the right track. A luxurious bed and a power shower are also fab, but not why were here. We want to feel like were away so its gotta be the old city in Istanbul. First off, get a local guide youll get your moneys worth if you pepper him with questions veering from 1,500-year-old architectural mysteries, to who owns the tagged dogs lolling around the square, and some (probably daft) queries about general mosque rules. Yes, women are asked to cover their head and everyone takes off their shoes going into the Blue Mosque. There are free plastic bags at the entrance so you can bring them with you. Women can also borrow a blue elasticated-waist skirt to pop over their clothes if needs be you just drop it in a box by the door on the way out. A purple sky accents Istanbul's Blue Mosque Next door, the Hagia Sophia has been a Greek Orthodox Christian basilica, an imperial mosque, and is now a museum. The massive domed buildings architecture and religious history are equally complex and definitely worth checking out. Even if youre aiming to travel light youve got to get to the Grand Bazaar. Its a sprawling maze of 4,000 shops spread across 61 covered streets. Pearls, gold, handbags, jewels, lanterns, tea and clothing are some of the main goods on sale and many shops look similar so its wise to make a note of what number gate you entered by. If I return Im going to have to learn the Turkish phrase for I apologise for treading on your toes as I trampled a fair few while stepping back for a better look at shops. Many shop-owners sit outside and invite passers-by in, but theres no hard cajoling or pressure. And even when you go inside its no hassle opting not to buy after all. I could have spent days exploring Istanbul, but we had committed to a trip to the south. Its about an hours flight from Istanbul to Antalya Airport, but its a whole other style of living. The jazzy, frenetic scene of Istanbul switches to a more chilled, chic atmosphere. Though there are cute boutique hotels here, many are extremely plush. Istanbuls new Mosque. You could spend your whole holiday without leaving the resort of the Gloria Hotels. Indoor and outdoor pools, a waterpark, kids club, numerous restaurants, several golf courses, a Turkish bath, concert arena and cinema, as well as a sandy beach, might help while away the time. Guests can get the courtesy buses between the Gloria Serenity, Verde or Golf Resort and can visit any of the bars and spas. Even the standard rooms are classy and luxurious, so prepare to be blown away by the villa which comes with its own jacuzzi and private butler definitely a lotto win one. Do visit the the sea resort city of Antalya the old quarter is so clean and beautiful I was convinced we had wandered onto a film set. The modern section is worth a look and, if youre a bride-to-be, check out the entire street of wedding dress shops. Konyaalti and Lara beach near the town are bordered by a glorious mountain range. And theres another resort in the mountains complete with revolving restaurant and a cable-car to the top. A short drive away is the ruined city of Perge which was visited by St Paul. Again, a good guide would bring this alive. Osman Ozbuldu was a mine of information on the local history as well as modern social issues and customs. A typical streetscape in Antalya. Everywhere seems to dish up great food superbly fresh veg, meat galore, chocolate and sticky, sweet desserts I saw locals sipping a rich purplish drink called Salgam which I just had to try. If the salty, vinegary juice surrounding jars of beetroot is your thing then go for it otherwise, ditch the fermented turnip and red carrot beverage for tasty local wines or juices. For more information, go to turkishairlines.com, surahagiasophiahotel.com, gloria.com.tr/en, maxxroyal.com, agnetours.com and facebook.com/osmanozbuldu Turkish Airlines and airport safety Turkish Airlines fly to more than 280 destinations worldwide. The fleet is ultra modern but harks back to a more glamorous era of air travel: the food overall is is actually restaurant quality and business class customers enjoy the services of the 'flying chef'. The personal TVs come with a range of blockbuster movies and games. Flights are from Dublin for now but fingers crossed for Cork - and hopefully direct to Antalya too. Airport security has been taken pretty seriously in Turkey. Cars entering the airport at Antalya are scanned at the entrance and all visitors go through a double security check starting with one right at the front door. I had a chat with the impressive Ilker AYCI, chairman of Turkish Airlines about the challenges they have faced with international security issues as well as domestic incidents and he outlined the massive changes they have implemented since the attempted presidential coup in July last. Modern scanning equipment and K9 teams are just some of the measures in place. While the United States of America was eyeing on President-Elect Donald Trumps inauguration, the United Launch Alliance on the other hand was all eyes on the Atlas V Rocket as it was launched on Friday. The rocket blasted off at night on a mission to upgrade the satellite system for sending early warnings in cases of ballistic missile launch. The launch was ULAs first this 2017 and the fourth will be blasted off in November. The Atlas V reportedly lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station located in Florida at exactly 7:42 p.m. on Friday. The rocket was holding the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) Geo Flight 3 satellite of the Air Force. The device was designed to help detect missile launches from any part of the world especially those that are possibly carrying a nuclear warhead. The Atlas V Rocket of the United Launch Alliance and its payload reportedly costs $1.2 billion to complete the upgrade mission. According to Spaceflight Insider, the 19-storey rocket was powered by the Russian main engine RD-180 which generate 860,000 pounds of thrust for four minutes. The SBIRS then was dropped off in orbit 44 minutes after launch and has been on its way to a surveillance post which is reportedly over 22,000 miles above the equator. From the said height, the infrared sensors installed on the Lockheed Martin-built satellites will be able to scan sections of the Earth while simultaneously being able to monitor the smaller areas of interest. As revealed by the USA Today, these sensors works to pick up heat from potential missile launches regardless of the size. The gathered information will then alarm officials about where the missile might have launched from and where it is possibly going. Furthermore, the warning satellites will also be used to track space launches. Hundreds of launchers and missiles are currently in range of our deployed forces, Col. Dennis Bythewood, director of the Remote Sensing Systems Directorate in the Los Angeles Air Force Base said in a statement. The first of these new warning satellites was launched in 2011 to replace an older spacecraft launched by the Defense Support Program in the early 1970s. The racket sent off on Friday represents the third out of six missions of the SBIRS system. The fourth will be launched on Nov. 9 while the other two are slated for delivery in 2020 and 2021. These SBIRS missions have been used in the past to track Scud missiles that Iraq fired at Israel and to track the North Korean missiles and rockets. They can see space launches, helping to track new satellites. The launch on Friday is the first of the 11 rockets of the United Launch Alliance scheduled in 2017 and the Atlas Vs 69th mission. Tim Cook AP Apple is suing Qualcomm, Bloomberg reported on Friday. Apple buys wireless chips from Qualcomm and also pays it licenses to use its wireless patents. Apple is accusing Qualcomm of withholding $1 billion in rebates under a deal they had struck to keep Qualcomm modems in Apple products, including the iPhone and iPad. Earlier this week, the FTC accused Qualcomm of monopolistic practices, and directly cited its relationship with Apple. Apple said that Qualcomm charges Apple at least five times more in royalty payments than all of Apples other patent licensors combined in a statement provided to CNBC: For many years Qualcomm has unfairly insisted on charging royalties for technologies they have nothing to do with. The more Apple innovates with unique features such as TouchID, advanced displays, and cameras, to name just a few, the more money Qualcomm collects for no reason and the more expensive it becomes for Apple to fund these innovations. Qualcomm built its business on older, legacy, standards but reinforces its dominance through exclusionary tactics and excessive royalties. Despite being just one of over a dozen companies who contributed to basic cellular standards, Qualcomm insists on charging Apple at least five times more in payments than all the other cellular patent licensors we have agreements with combined. To protect this business scheme Qualcomm has taken increasingly radical steps, most recently withholding nearly $1B in payments from Apple as retaliation for responding truthfully to law enforcement agencies investigating them. Apple believes deeply in innovation and we have always been willing to pay fair and reasonable rates for patents we use. We are extremely disappointed in the way Qualcomm is conducting its business with us and unfortunately after years of disagreement over what constitutes a fair and reasonable royalty we have no choice left but to turn to the courts. Developing The post Apple is suing one of its most important suppliers appeared first on Business Insider. Get unlimited access to all content and features at ivpressonline.com with our Full Online Access Subscription. Read our E-Edition, the digital replica of the print newspaper online, access content in exclusive sections including Family, Teen, Business, Databases, Farm and more. This option does not include daily home delivery of the Imperial Valley Press newspaper. For home delivery service, please select Premium or Premium Plus. NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - January 19, 2017) - Avaya Inc. (together with certain of its domestic subsidiaries, collectively, the "Company") today announced that it has commenced a formal proceeding to restructure its balance sheet to better position itself for the future. To facilitate this restructuring, the Company filed voluntary petitions under chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the "Court"). The Company's foreign affiliates are not included in the filing and will continue normal operations. The Company has obtained a committed $725 million debtor-in-possession ("DIP") financing facility underwritten by Citibank. Subject to Court approval, this DIP financing, combined with the Company's cash from operations, is expected to provide sufficient liquidity during the chapter 11 cases to support its continuing business operations and minimize disruption. "We have conducted an extensive review of alternatives to address Avaya's capital structure, and we believe pursuing a restructuring through chapter 11 is the best path forward at this time," said Kevin Kennedy, Chief Executive Officer of Avaya. "Reducing the Company's current debt through the chapter 11 process will best position all of Avaya's businesses for future success." As part of Avaya's comprehensive assessment of options to address its capital structure, the Company evaluated expressions of interest in various Avaya assets, including its Contact Center business. After extensive evaluation in consultation with its financial and legal advisors, the Avaya Board of Directors has determined that focusing on the Company's debt structure is paramount and a sale of the Contact Center business at this time would not maximize value for Avaya's customers and all of its stakeholders. Avaya remains in ongoing negotiations to monetize certain other assets, as appropriate, to maximize value for all stakeholders. "This is a critical step in our ongoing transformation to a successful software and services business. Avaya's current capital structure is over 10 years old and was put in place to support our business model as a hardware-focused company, which has evolved significantly since that time. Now, as a result of the terms of Avaya's debt obligations and the upcoming debt maturities, we need to recapitalize the Company," continued Mr. Kennedy. "Our business is performing well, and we are confident that we can emerge from this process stronger than ever, as this path is a reflection of our debt structure, not the strength of our operations or business model. Pursuing restructuring through chapter 11 will enable us to reduce Avaya's debt and interest expense, while providing increased financial flexibility to further invest in innovation and growth to enhance our market-leading competitive position. Most importantly, we are keenly focused on minimizing disruption to our customers, partners, and employees and do not expect to experience any material disruptions during the chapter 11 cases." Contemporaneously with the filing of the voluntary petitions, the Company filed a number of "first-day" motions with the Court to facilitate a smooth transition into chapter 11 and minimize business disruption. Among other things, the motions request authorization to continue certain customer and partner programs, and to honor certain employee compensation and benefit obligations. For more information about the chapter 11 case, including access to Court documents, please visit: https://cases.primeclerk.com/avaya. Centerview Partners and Zolfo Cooper are the Company's financial and restructuring advisors, Goldman Sachs is the Company's M&A investment banker and Kirkland & Ellis LLP is the Company's restructuring counsel. About Avaya Avaya enables the mission critical, real-time communication applications of the world's most important operations. As the global leader in delivering superior communications experiences, Avaya provides the most complete portfolio of software and services for contact center and unified communications with integrated, secure networking -- offered on premises, in the cloud, or a hybrid. Today's digital world requires some form of communications enablement, and no other company is better positioned to do this than Avaya. For more information, please visit www.avaya.com. Cautionary Note Regarding the Chapter 11 Case The Company's security holders are cautioned that trading in securities of the Company during the pendency of these Chapter 11 cases will be highly speculative and will pose substantial risks. It is possible some or all of the Company's currently outstanding securities may be cancelled and extinguished upon confirmation of a restructuring plan by the Bankruptcy Court. In such an event, the Company's security holders would not be entitled to receive or retain any cash, securities or other property on account of their cancelled securities. Trading prices for the Company's securities may bear little or no relation to actual recovery, if any, by holders thereof in the Company's Chapter 11 cases. Accordingly, the Company urges extreme caution with respect to existing and future investments in its securities. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This document contains certain forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "our vision," "plan," "potential," "preliminary," "predict," "should," "will," or "would" or the negative thereof or other variations thereof or other comparable terminology and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's expected motions to be filed in the Chapter 11 proceeding and the dispositions of such motions, continued operations and customer and supplier programs while in a Chapter 11 proceeding, cash needed to support our operations while in a Chapter 11 proceeding, ability to lower debt and interest payments, ability to operate while in a Chapter 11 proceeding, ability to pay our creditors, credit rating and ability to manage its pension obligations. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. While we believe these expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections are reasonable, such forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, including, but not limited to: the actions and decisions of our creditors and other third parties with interests in the Chapter 11 cases; our ability to maintain liquidity to fund our operations during the Chapter 11 cases; our ability to obtain Bankruptcy Court approvals in connection with the Chapter 11 cases; our ability to consummate any transactions once approved by the Bankruptcy Court and the time to consummation of such transactions; adjustments in the calculation of financial results for the quarter or year end, or the application of accounting principles; discovery of new information that alters expectations about financial results or impacts valuation methodologies underlying financial results; accounting changes required by United States generally accepted accounting principles; and other factors affecting the Company detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the SEC that are available at www.sec.gov. These and other important factors may cause our actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. For a list and description of such risks and uncertainties, please refer to Avaya's filings with the SEC that are available at www.sec.gov and in particular, our 2015 Form 10-K filed with the SEC on November 23, 2015. We caution you that the list of important factors included in our SEC filings may not contain all of the material factors that are important to you. In addition, in light of these risks and uncertainties, the matters referred to in the forward-looking statements contained in this document may not in fact occur. Avaya disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law. Follow Avaya on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and the Avaya Connected Blog. A THICK plume of black smoke hung over Calbourne this morning (Sunday) after fire broke out at an industrial unit at New Barn Farm. The IW Fire and Rescue Service said it received a 999 call at 8.15am to Sun Hill at Calbourne. There are several units at the farm and fire broke out in one used to store vehicles and as a workshop. &a mp;lt;div> The fire service sent a water carrier and drained a pond and cesspit to fight the blaze. They were hampered by low mains water pressure after running a hose 200 yards from the road. They also had to contend with exploding gas cylinders and flammable materials in the unit. When Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District Assistant Superintendent Steve King takes over the reigns from departing COCSD Superintendent Barbara URen on July 1, he will inherit management of six schools five brick-and-mortar facilities and one online educational program. King admitted that filling URens shoes will be a sizable task. Barb URen is one of the most amazing people Ive ever met, he said, adding that URen has worked diligently to foster a collaborative culture where the ability of teachers and staff to have a positive impact on childrens lives is maximized. With the district since 2015, King spent the majority of his 23 years in public schools as a principal in Camp Verde. Prior to that, he taught, working mostly with at-risk students. I just like working in schools, King said. I spend very little time in his office, in fact. - Advertisement - This truth became apparent as King walked the grounds of Cottonwood Elementary School, adjacent to the district office: Most, if not all, recognized the assistant superintendent, giving him high fives and joking about their days. They come to school with challenges we couldnt even imagine, King said, adding that he is excited about expanding research into social and emotional learning at COCSD. Is it our responsibility to address their emotional well-being? I cant see how it couldnt be. A strong academic program with a strong social and emotional learning component in parallel is the wave of the future at COCSD. King explained that the effort to address student happiness and achievement at the same time began with implementing the Capturing Kids Hearts program, which helps to establish social contracts between students and teachers, allowing teachers to discipline without major disruption. To continue the forward momentum, however, King said that establishing consistency throughout a childs education and fostering a community that prioritizes education is fundamental. The latter goal, King added, requires substantial collaboration. I do think the biggest challenge is building a community that values education, that values kids and that values the future, King said. And thats everyone: Its an all-hands-on-deck approach. To underscore his point, King talked up CES Principal Jessica Voccas presentation to the Yavapai College Osher Lifelong Learning Institute leadership at Yavapai College Verde Valley Campus Friday, Jan. 13. Vocca and four students implored seniors to volunteer at COCSD schools. If we dont connect with that community, shame on us, King said. Theres something special between children and seniors . And its a huge pool of talent. Were just looking at what seniors in our community have to offer, Vocca added. We need more support in schools . Its an exciting opportunity for students and for seniors. According to King, much of his effort is directed toward equalizing the opportunities for students of different socioeconomic statuses, making education uniformly excellent for children regardless of their ZIP codes. King said that he is encouraged by the opportunities provided through collaboration with Yavapai College, some of which the public remains largely unaware. The STEM lab at Oak Creek School, for instance, would not exist but for a donation of computers from the college. We cant afford not to collaborate, King said. Ive found the people at Yavapai College to be very open. King praised last summers College for Kids program at the college, which helped COCSD take off their blinders when it came to post-secondary education opportunities. Going off-campus to college . Thats going to stick with them. A leaf from the past A leaf from the past Determining the right number of branches amid rising consumer demand for online services has become a major challenge of banks large and small. Natural attrition tends to come from the market overlap of banks involved in acquisitions, particularly when branches are close by a busy highway or thoroughfare. Recent examples are BB&T Corp. shedding 25 branches in Pennsylvania as part of its entrance into that market and BNC Bancorp closing three High Point Bank branches in the Triad. First Bancorp is likely to close a Winston-Salem branch of Carolina Bank when that deal is completed. However, BB&Ts top executive, Kelly King, said last week that he is factoring into the banks acquisition strategy how many branches a potential acquisition target has. I am doing a lot of thinking just in terms of the proper value of buying institutions that have a lot of branches, King told analysts Thursday. I mean, there is a chance that we are facing a near-term tipping point with regard to the value of branches as the digital technologies really accelerate and reduce the interactions in the branches, he said. King stressed that the size of a banks branch network would not be a deal-breaker, but it changes economics in terms of evaluating an offer for the buyer and seller. BB&T has eliminated 53 branches since June 30, but its still had 2,196 in its 15-state territory as of Dec. 31. In order to gain economies of scale in Texas, BB&T spent $158 million to acquire 62 Citigroup branches as Citigroup left that market. When Jennifer Demba, an analyst with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, called the shift in branch strategy a pretty big statement, King responded by saying BB&T is balancing clearly a steady decline in branch activity with the fact that most of its client base still values the branches. Its probable that branches will be somewhat less attractive going forward than they are today, he said. Branch overlap considered more of a plus At first blush, Kings reasoning seems counter-intuitive that an out-of-market purchase may become less attractive because there is less branch overlap. While that sounds good from a branch employees perspective, every bank deal is designed to squeeze cost savings out of the integration, primarily in back-office jobs but also at the branch level. The most difficult, frankly, today would be to acquire a large branch distribution operation out of market because there are no cost synergies in terms of overlaps, and so you have to get all of our cost improvement out of the backroom, King said. BB&T experienced that challenge with its purchases of Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. and National Penn Bancshares Inc. . On the other hand, King said, if you do an in-market deal, you get the pretty easily achievable backroom savings, which are very predictable, and you get substantial overlap of branches. So in-markets would still make a lot more attractive proposition today economically, he said. Chris Marinac, managing principal with FIG Partners of Atlanta, said, The reality is that branch closings are really tough work since there is a negative vibe to the company for doing these. It is quite possible that BB&T does not want to do the heavy lifting since it hurts their image, Marinac said. I certainly appreciate this. The selling bank needs to do their own housecleaning before listing their property. Closing branches costly in money, image Tony Plath, a finance professor at UNC Charlotte, said King is not the only bank executive re-evaluating the cost-benefit analysis on branches. Old-fashioned banks with large networks of traditional branch offices arent as attractive in takeover transactions as they used to be, especially if the acquisition price of the bank is high, Plath said. From a buyers perspective, you have to figure out how to realign and re-purpose the branch network, identify which offices to retrofit and improve to suit the new merchandising model of the franchise, and which ones to close and how to dispose of the old commercial real estate you no longer need, he said. All this stuff takes significant time, effort and money on the part of the acquiring banks management team, Plath said. In many cases, its just not worth the effort if the target bank is overvalued in the first place. David Spencer, the chief financial officer of BNC Bancorp, said the High Point bank conducts a similar overview as BB&T when it comes to balancing bank acquisitions with higher regulatory costs and demand for online products and services. Since 2009, BNC has bought or acquired banks in the Triad, Charlotte, Durham, Asheville and Chapel Hill, plus adding two Triangle branches from the Bank of Hampton Roads. It also made acquisitions in Charleston, Greenville, and Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Roanoke, Va. As online infrastructure costs increase, it is imperative that over time we, as an industry, offset these costs from our branch infrastructure, Spencer said. We have to adapt our resources to how the public desires to maximize their banking experience. Thats one of the reasons we have only 76 offices serving $7.5 billion in assets, he said. We have a very efficient combination of branches and our suite of online product and service options. Big Four banks lead branch-closing trend Wells Fargo & Co. announced on Jan. 13 that it was following the path of its three national bank peers in reducing its branch network as part of a cost-cutting strategy. The bank said that as part of a $2 billion cost-reduction plan, it will close 200 branches in 2017 and more than 200 in 2018. It closed 84 in 2016, including its West End branch in Winston-Salem. At the end of the branch closings, Wells Fargo would have about 8,200 branches. JP Morgan Chase & Co. has eliminated more than 300 branches since the end of 2014 for a current total of 5,200. Citigroup has left Boston, Philadelphia and Texas from a branch perspective and has fewer than 800 U.S. branches. Bank of America Corp. has either closed or sold more than 700 branches since the end of 2014, including its branch in Advance and in many rural Southeast communities, for a total of 4,629. Officials with Bank of America and Citigroup have said part of their branch strategy is cutting back on non-core markets to reduce costs. King said BB&T will remain in a pruning mode in terms of closing branches as much as 2 percent a year or by 44 even from those that are profitable, if their traffic flow continues to decline. But we are not going to do anything radical, close 20 percent of branches, or anything like that scenario, he said. Truliant doing the reverse Running counter to the bank branch-closing trend has been Truliant Federal Credit Union of Winston-Salem, which now has more branches in the Charlotte area (14) than in the Triad (13, including six in Forsyth County). Truliant has become North Carolinas third largest credit union, trailing just State Employees of Chapel Hill and Coastal of Raleigh. By reaching a larger scale, we are able to include more households and communities as we provide the technology, locations and, most importantly, the thoughtful guidance that keeps our members best interest at heart and enables us to make a real difference in their lives, said Marcus Schaefer, Truliants president and chief executive. Most of the Charlotte-area branches are smaller in size than a traditional Truliant branch. We were able to gain some attractive locations at attractive prices, in part because of the economic downturns impact on commercial real estate, Schaefer said. Having a neighborhood branch, whether in Charlotte or the Triad, is important for convenience sake, because members want to sit down with someone when they want to close on an auto loan or a mortgage. Branches have to become more personal Steve DeLaCastro, Cognizants head of digital banking, banking and financial services, said banks that have attempted a branchless approach or reduced their footprint too quickly have experienced brand erosion and undermined the ability for customers to complete complex interactions and transactions. Digital beats branches when it comes to depositing, transferring or withdrawing common denominations of money, DeLaCastro said. Branches are incredibly useful for new account openings, point-of-sale services and hard advertising, he said. And theyre the only game in town when it comes to in-person support needed to resolve claims or provide advice on complex, high-value transactions, such as loans, mortgages and retirement investments. Plath said bank branches are not unlike other brick-and-mortar retail outlets in terms of being overshadowed by online shopping options. He cited the examples of store closings with American Apparel, The Limited, Macys and Sears. Transactionally focused branches are dying because theyve been made obsolete by changes in technology, he said. The expansion of the fintech firms into banking, such as mortgages, is accelerating the pace. Plath said that for branches to survive, they must evolve from a pipeline-based business model toward a process-based business model over the course of the next decade or so. The potential $49.4 billion sale of Reynolds American Inc. to a global tobacco giant has stirred a mixed bag of emotions from descendants of the R.J. Reynolds and Bowman Gray families now that the sale appears likely to happen. Noah Reynolds, a great-grandson of company founder R.J. Reynolds, has high hopes that BAT will respect Reynolds role in the local community, particularly in how the company, under Susan Camerons guidance as top executive, reconnected relationships over the past 13 years that were torn from the Ross Johnson era and leveraged buyout that followed. Bowman Gray IV, believes a sale to British American Tobacco Plc was destined to happen, given the shrinking U.S. tobacco marketplace and pressures to maintain a high dividend to stockholders. Bowman Gray IV is a local independent stockbroker. Grays great-grandfather, Bowman Gray Sr., was the first person to be named as Reynolds president and chairman who was not a Reynolds family member. Bowman Gray Jr. served as chairman of Reynolds during its heyday as the worlds top tobacco manufacturer. Patrick Reynolds, a grandson of R.J. Reynolds who has become a national anti-tobacco advocate, fears BAT ownership of Reynolds will make his efforts that much harder domestically and globally. R.J. Reynolds died in 1918, five years after his Camels cigarettes took America by storm in one of the most successful product launches in the history of corporate America. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., founded in Forsyth County in 1875 as a chewing tobacco manufacturer, served as the lead corporate patriarch for the local community for decades. However, the companys prowess began to shrink from the combination of lowering U.S. demand for cigarettes since the mid-1980s and the crushing debt weight from a $25.4 billion leveraged buyout in November 1988. As Reynolds reduced its local workforce from 15,500 in the mid-1980s to about 2,000 currently, it no longer had the need for several downtown Winston-Salem buildings, some of which were donated to Wake Forest University and recycled into life sciences facilities. When Ross Johnson moved the headquarters of RJR Nabisco to Atlanta in 1987, he abruptly ripped the fabric of a community that had been woven together slowly for over a century, Noah Reynolds said. When Susan Cameron moved to Winston-Salem in 2004 to lead the new Reynolds American, she began a process of not only consolidating and innovating the operations of the company, but also mending and preserving its legacy through supporting the economic re-development of our historic factories and renewing its philanthropic engagement with our charitable institutions. Cameron resigned from her second stint as chief executive of Reynolds on Jan. 1. She is now executive chairwoman, and will transition into the position of nonexecutive chair on May 1. Noah Reynolds said that Camerons experience will likely persuade BAT to establish a top civic role in Winston-Salem. Cameron also previously served as top executive of former BAT subsidiary Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. Leadership matters, and corporations are citizens in the places within which they reside, Noah Reynolds said. I can only hope that if the merger is accepted by Reynolds shareholders, British American Tobacco and its board of directors in London will continue to place a high value on the companys relationship with and support of our local community. Bowman Gray IV said he is encouraged that BAT as a current 42.2 percent owner in Reynolds since July 2004 has recognized and valued Reynolds current manufacturing strengths and future innovation prowess. I am surprised it took this long to happen, Gray said. I do not think there should be any concern over job loss. This acquisition by BAT was not so much about cost savings or consolidation, as it is about buying the Reynolds manufacturing capacity, product line and, in particular, the vapor business. Farmaceuticals are attractive assets Another likely attraction to BAT, Gray said, is below-radar subsidiaries such as Kentucky Bioprocessing LLC, which is working on an Ebola vaccination. Those are potential growth drivers, as tobacco companies push further into the farmaceutical business. Gray said. Gray said he believes the potential sale of Reynolds to BAT will be positive overall. It is unfortunate that corporate leadership will not be local, but we have been through that before, except this time it will not be because someone is trying to strip the company, but grow it, Gray said. We should not lose sight of the fact that it was R.J. Reynolds himself who allowed Buck Duke to buy the company the first time. When he ultimately got his company back after the dissolution of American Tobacco in 1911 and flush with new money, he began to build a world-class company. Gray said acquisitions have been a part of Reynolds history, including attempts to diversify its product mix and revenue through buying Chun King, Maersk Sealand and Nabisco, or expand its tobacco industry reach in recent years through buying Conwood Co. and Lorillard Inc. There are stories that linger from the 1960s about possible mergers with Coca-Cola and a large pharmaceutical company, Gray said. I think there is always a tendency to lament what used to be, but a company that does not change or adapt ultimately dies. I think this buyout sets the stage for the next 100 years of Reynolds, and I look forward to seeing what is to come. Patrick Reynolds, who lives in California, wrote in 1989 The Gilded Leaf: Triumph, Tragedy and Tobacco, one part personal insight into the Reynolds family, and one part explanation for his anti-tobacco advocacy. When asked about the potential BAT ownership, Patrick Reynolds said that a big monster has been devoured by a bigger monster. BATs takeover of Reynolds does not bode well for the Third World, where Big Tobacco has been peddling their addictive, deadly products for decades, and selling them to the young, poor and uneducated, perhaps the only opportunities for growth that they have left. This merger is scary. Isnt causing one billion deaths in this century enough? Thats what Big Tobacco will do, if present trends continue, according to the World Health Organization in Geneva. BOCA RATON, FL--(Marketwired - January 20, 2017) - Campus Management Corp. is continuing to invest in and drive its cloud strategy with the appointment of Emiliano Diez as the Vice President of Cloud Operations and Services. Mr. Diez has been hired to lead the higher education, market-leading cloud platform, CampusNexus Cloud, which has more than 135 higher education clients deployed worldwide. In this role, Mr. Diez will ensure Campus Management is prepared to meet the growing demand for its agile, cost-effective cloud solutions, specifically designed to meet the unique needs of colleges and universities. "Emiliano has a wealth of higher education, IT implementation and operational experience that spans across the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America," said Jim Milton, CEO at Campus Management. "As Campus Management provides increasingly robust administrative solutions for the higher education sector, our cloud platform continues to gain momentum and will benefit from the industry experience that he brings to our organization." Prior to joining Campus Management, Mr. Diez served as Vice President of Operations, University of Miami Partnership at Laureate Education, where he helped the institution launch eight online master's programs across five schools in less than two years. With a talent for international collaboration, Mr. Diez developed regional partnerships for the University of Miami. Mr. Diez began his career implementing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions in Latin America for WorldCom. For the past 20 years, he has continued to collaborate and develop partnerships globally to execute ERP and CRM solutions and elevate the way institutions meet their technology needs. "I'm excited to bring my experience in higher education and cloud-based ERP and CRM solutions to Campus Management," said Diez. "CampusNexus Cloud is already serving customers all over the world, and I'm looking forward to helping further expand the reach of its capabilities." About Campus Management Corp. Campus Management is a leading provider of technology solutions and services that transform higher education institutions. Its next-generation suite, CampusNexus, includes enterprise-wide Student, CRM, and Finance, HR & Payroll solutions. Today, more than 2,000 campuses in 19 countries partner with Campus Management to transform academic delivery, student success and operational efficiency. Nestor Avila, the Appalachian State graduate who once ran opponents down as a high school wrestler, expressed fears recently that hed never fully regain the use of his right foot severely injured in a road-rage assault while he was in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Turns out, Avilas fears were not exaggerated. The bone in his right foot is infected, according to his mother, Rosa Parra, and immigration lawyer Nardine Guirguis. He is on antibiotics. Hell get them four times a day for six weeks. If the antibiotics dont kill the infection, then surgeons may have to carve out the infected section of bone, Parra, who was a nurse when she lived in Mexico, said Saturday. How could it have taken them five months to treat my son? Parra asked in Spanish. If the bacteria has been there for five months I dont think theyll cure him within six weeks. He could lose his foot. Avila has been at the Stewart Detention Center in Georgia since August, the Winston-Salem Journal has reported. While there, he has told detention officials that his foot has not healed. It turns purple, sometimes goes numb, and it always too painful to walk on, he said in a phone interview. ICE officials have declined to discuss his condition, citing privacy laws. Antibiotics can cure the problem. But bone infections can be complicated. If the diagnosis does not come quickly enough, surgery may enter as another treatment, according to medical journals on bone infections in feet. Before the diagnosis, Avila said, he was given over-the-counter pain relievers for his injury. It certainly appears that the medical issues that he continues to face are ones that are not properly being tended to at Stewart Detention Center, Guirguis said. It seems as if they either cannot or will not render proper medical treatment to him, she said. The reason why he faces these very serious medical issues in the first place is because he is a victim of a very serious assault. Accordingly, he should be released to obtain proper medical treatment and care at the expense of the perpetrator, Guirguis said. Life in the U.S. Avila lives in the United States without authorization. He mother brought him to the U.S. from Mexico when he was 8 years old to create a better life for him, she said. He attended Lead Mine Elementary School, Dillard Drive Middle School and graduated from Apex High School, where he was a standout wrestler. In 2013, he graduated from Appalachian State University with an undergraduate degree in criminal justice. Soon after, he qualified for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, implemented by then-President Barack Obama to temporarily shield from deportation certain younger people such as Avila who do not have serious criminal records. In August, ICE officials detained Avila after he had been charged a second time with driving while impaired. Avila has not been convicted of either charge. Brad Polk, a former Durham County assistant district attorney, said that Avila can probably win both cases but ICE and immigration courts have not allowed his release, a necessary step for him to face either charge. So Avila has been housed, in legal limbo, for five months. Road rage In August, Avila was riding in a van driven used by two ICE officials to transport him and five others to the detention center. On Interstate 40, the driver of a red Dodge Ram pickup intentionally struck the ICE van, causing a violent collision that sent Avila to the hospital with several injuries, including the severely injured right foot, according to the Durham Police Department. The pickups driver, Ethan Reynolds, 25, of Cedar Hill, Tenn., has been charged with six counts of assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of felony assault on law enforcement officials. Reynolds apparently admitted what he had done when speaking with Durham police after the collision. Yes, I hit him on the side, and yes, I hit him in the back, he said in the police report. Nobody is just going to bully me and think they are going to get away with it. Yes, this was road rage. Ive trained to defend myself and not be bullied. Evie is the worlds best listener. She also has four legs and a fluffy tail. As a therapy dog, the 109-pound black and brown ball of fur is trained to provide affection and comfort to those in need. At home, well dress Evie up in tutus and tiaras, but when the vest goes on, she knows its all business, time to work, said owner Maurice Minns, who has three therapy dogs and one in training. She knows how to spot the person in the room who needs her the most. Sprawled on the floor at UNC School of the Arts, Evie, and fellow therapy dog, Nanook, were magnets for attention Wednesday afternoon. Students melted at the sight of her, stopping to give the pups high-fives and hugs. I miss my dog so much. Hes a pug, said Amanda Grad, a first-year student from Brooklyn, N.Y. This is such a great surprise. Drama student Christian Jimenez echoed her excitement. Growing up, he got a taste of having a dog as a pet when his parents, both detectives in New York, brought home a K-9 unit dog for a couple of weeks, he said. I love these cute little dogs, Jimenez said, giving Nanook a hug. Life gets really hectic, so this is a good escape and it definitely brought my happiness level up 100 percent. Nanook and Evie are part of the 15 teams of therapy dogs in Winston-Salem-based Fostering Friendship. The organization was established in May 2016, through the Elite Canine training center on Reynolda Road. While therapy dogs traditionally visit hospitals and nursing homes, Fostering Friendship does that and more, founder Geralyn Kelly said. We visit hospitals, colleges, businesses, whoever needs us, Kelly said. Our main goal is, if someone calls, to never say no. In the past year, the dogs have visited a variety of places, she said, including the Kate B. Reynolds Hospice Home, Arbor Acres United Methodist Retirement Community and local elementary schools for their reading buddy program. The therapy dogs also visit different memory care units, which is amazing to behold, Kelly said. One older man in particular has a memory impairment, but every time he sees therapy dog Layla, he begins singing lyrics from Layla, the classic rock song by Eric Clapton. You see them flashing back, talking about their own dogs from the past. Its very powerful, Kelly said. It makes people happy, and we just want to give back to the community, plain and simple. The dog therapy teams are made up of all different breeds, including border collies, German shepherds and even pit bulls, which Kelly said, despite the stigma, are some of the sweetest ones. And, who says you cant teach an old dog new tricks? In three weeks, 9-year-old Story, a German Wirehaired pointer rescue, will join the ranks of local therapy dogs along with seven other human-dog pairs. The teams are all volunteer-based, but must be certified beforehand. Prospective therapy dogs have to undergo a minimum of 30 weeks of training and pass a final test, which includes basic commands and distraction exercises before they are certified, Kelly said. For Kelly who is a dog trainer by trade and offers classes at her training center the therapy dog program is priceless. While Fostering Friendship has been around for a short time, it has already brought untold happiness rooted in the magic of a dogs unconditional love, Kelly said. Dogs are such amazing creatures, they really do know when someone needs them, she said. They dont care what you look like or how much money you make. Theyre there because they love you. Women may not have found their place in the White House yet, but they certainly found it in the protest movement against its current occupant Saturday. Its being estimated that more than half a million people the vast majority of them women flooded the National Mall and surrounding streets Saturday for the Womens March on Washington. The event came on the heels of President Donald Trumps inauguration Friday and appears to have attracted a larger crowd. Among them were three generations of Linda Mooths family. Mooth, 69, came to the march with her daughter, Kathy Newsome, and granddaughter, Lucy Newsome all of Greensboro. I thought we should all come, Kathy Newsome said. I have so many friends whove said, I wish I could come with my mom. And Ive had so many friends who said theyd like to have come with their daughters, Mooth said. The march was one of the largest of several hundred that took place around the globe Saturday, as much to protest the new president as to stand for womens rights. Trumps comments on women and immigrants during the election and his recent cabinet picks seem to have built a large, broad coalition of Americans opposed to his policies, positions and rhetoric. As several small groups of counter-protesters pointed out, though, that coalition wasnt large enough, or united enough, to defeat Trump in November. Marchers, many of them in pink knit pussy hats, held signs with slogans like This is what a feminist looks like and Love trumps hate. While womens equality was front and center, the crowd also decried Trumps stance on abortion, immigration, LGBT rights, climate change, health care and more. Maura Kern, of Greensboro, held a sign that read support women and change the world. Kern said she was awed by the size of the crowd. This feels so hopeful, she said. The massive crowd covered the National Mall for the 3-hour long rally featuring organizers, activists and celebrities. We are linked, said Gloria Steinem, famed womens rights activist and one of the events honorary co-chairs. We are not ranked. And this is a day that will change us forever because we are together. Each of us individually and collectively will never be the same again. When we elect a possible president, we too often go home. Weve elected an impossible president, were never going home. By the time the actual march was set to start, the entire route had been engulfed in participants. Instead, organizers encouraged marchers to use alternate routes to reach the Ellipse. That directive sent marchers streaming down Pennsylvania Avenue, toward the White House, but downtown streets were so choked with marchers that, at times, they came to a standstill. Welcome to your first day, we will not go away, marchers chanted. Despite hectic conditions, the crowd seemed to keep high spirits throughout the day and often broke out into random cheers and chants everything from my body, my choice to America needs a leader, not a racist Tweeter. A group of Wake Forest University women posted themselves along Pennsylvania Avenue to watch the crowds wash by and join in on some of the cheering and jeering. Among the students was 20-year-old Ashley Davis, a Wake Forest junior. Davis said she went into the march worried about the representation women of color, trans women and queer women would have at the march a concern shared by others in early days of the march planning. A group of diverse women of color was brought on to help plan the event and ensure it was inclusive and represented a broad group of women and their issues. Davis said that though the event was dominated by white women, she was heartened to see so many people come out and stand out for issues like LGBT rights, the Black Lives Matter movement and more. I thought it was important to come and lift my voice, since I was granted the privilege to do this, she said. The Wake Forest University Womens Center chartered a bus to bring 40 students to the march. Paige Meltzer, director of the center, said the center arranged the trip after hearing about students trying to find a way. The bus filled within 2 1/2 hours of tickets being made available and a wait list of about 40 additional students also filled, Meltzer said. Its really once-in-a-lifetime to be here and come together with women from across the country to say womens rights are human rights, Meltzer said. To give students the chance to see that, we couldnt pass it up. Another group of Wake Forest students, participants in the universitys Wake the Vote program that ran throughout the past years political season, was also in the nations capital over the weekend. They attended both inaugural events Friday and the march on Saturday. The largely peaceful day turned tense late in the afternoon as demonstrators surrounded a pro-Trump float on F Street, just blocks from the White House. The float with about 20 Trump supporters got blocked in by hundreds, if not thousands, of marchers. Heated words were exchanged for about 30 minutes, while the float was stuck. Police had to clear a path for the float to exit, but they too had trouble getting through the crowds. Some demonstrators made a brief show of trying to hold a line blocking the police cars, but were ultimately moved out of the way. There were no arrests or escalations of violence during the incident as police eventually cleared a path and the float drove on. A smaller skirmish broke out earlier in the day between Trump supporters at a small Bikers for Trump event set up along Pennsylvania Avenue and marchers who wandered over. Robert Nunnery, a Trump supporter from Fayetteville, N.C., said he was glad marchers were having their say Saturday. Nunnery, who attended the inauguration Friday, said he wanted to see all sides of American democracy in action. This weekend shows what America is about, he said. We had a peaceful transfer of power and today people are out, sharing their viewpoint. Im glad this can happen. Thousands of marchers attended the event by way of charter bus, many leaving in the early hours of Saturday morning and returning about 24 hours later. Carol Lawless organized a caravan of three buses that left Greensboro several of the dozens of buses that carried North Carolina women to the march. My friend said lets get a group together and go, Lawless said. So she signed up on the website Rally Bus, a group that crowdfunds charter buses to big events. The first bus filled up quickly, Lawless said. And then the second, and then the third. We probably could have done another one, but three was all I could handle. Holly Woodward, of High Point, was among the 150 who rode up with Lawless group. Woodward said she went up the march without knowing anyone. Six hours later, she stepped out into D.C.s northwest quarter with a group of fast friends. I thought, I cant not participate, Woodward said. Its about time we start talking about equality. RALEIGH A military court will weigh the real-world consequences of President Donald Trumps fiery rhetoric as Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl argues he cant get a fair trial under his new commander in chief. Minutes into the Republican presidents term, lawyers for Bergdahl cited Trumps scathing criticism in a request to dismiss charges that Bergdahl endangered comrades by walking off his post in Afghanistan. The motion filed Friday argues Trump violated his due process rights by repeatedly calling him a traitor and suggesting ways he could be punished. The motion noted more than 40 instances of Trumps criticism at public appearances and in interviews through August 2016. Remember the old days? A deserter, what happened? Trump said while campaigning in July before pantomiming pulling a trigger and adding: Bang. Trumps negative comments take on new importance now that he is commander in chief. Legal scholar Rachel VanLandingham said she thinks it will be hard for potential jurors and others involved in the case to ignore what Trump has said because of the sheer repetition. Ingrained in military culture is the desire to serve and follow commanders orders, and that what commanders say is right, said VanLandingham, a former Air Force lawyer who teaches at Southwestern Law School in California. And so that applies to the ultimate commander in chief. ... They were made time after time after time, and I do think they are seared into the military psyche. Bergdahls trial is scheduled for April at Fort Bragg on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. The latter carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. Bergdahl, who is from Idaho, has said he walked off his post in 2009 to cause an alarm and draw attention to what he saw as problems with his unit. He was held captive by the Taliban and its allies for five years. The Obama administrations in May 2014 exchanged Bergdahl for five Taliban prisoners. During his campaign, Trump made criticism of Bergdahl a staple of his campaign speeches, suggesting such outlandish punishments as returning him to the Middle East by throwing the soldier out of a plane without a parachute. If you have an education, no one can stand in your way. This was true no matter the color of your skin or your gender. This mantra passed down to me defines the premise of the new film Hidden Figures, about women scientists who broke barriers at NASA. The film reminds me of a similar story that combines war, medicine and the American dream. This is the story of my family: Like the women in this film, Charles T. Kimbrough defied the odds by graduating from medical school at Syracuse University in 1925. He was born in 1894 during the post-reconstruction era. I cannot imagine the courage it took for an African American to pursue medicine during this time. My distant cousin also bravely served his country in World War I and World War II. This pioneer went on to practice internal medicine in Harlem. He unfortunately did not have a will to pass down the millions of dollars he earned; and the state of New York claimed his property, wealth and family pictures after his death. Alex Haley, although incredibly accomplished, needed a primary physician; that was my great uncle Leo. Leo Kimbrough started his path at A&T in Greensboro and later attended Columbia University. He then joined the U.S. Army and was stationed at Fort Bragg, a site that still rings of American patriotism. He came home after World War II and decided to embark on a ship from New York to Belgium. He unlikely did not want to leave home, but due to restricting racism, it was difficult to go to medical school in the United States. Despite this, he had a good practice in San Francisco and a beautiful family who still live in California. Virginia Newell, my grandmother, was raised in Davie County. Only she and Jesus know her age, so I will keep it that way. She was named after Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the British Colonies in the New World. Because of segregation, she had to live with her aunt in Winston-Salem to attend school, but nothing was going to impede her consumption of polynomials. She pursued an extended education starting at Talladega College and later earned her doctorate of education. During this time, she met Katherine Johnson (the heroine of Hidden Figures) at Alpha Kappa Alpha conventions and they, not surprisingly, discussed math. After school, her interests exploded. She taught calculus and started a math and science academy for children in impoverished neighborhoods. She was influential in starting the computer science department at Winston-Salem State University. She was active in the civil rights struggle in North Carolina, was on the board of alderman and later worked in real estate. She brokered the deal for the late great Maya Angelous home. Her daughter, Virginia, integrated her high school in Winston-Salem. She endured criticism and overt discrimination. She did so well in class, however, that her classmates had no choice but to ask for her help. She went on to medical school at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Ohio. It was the wild and free 1970s. She and her classmates played Marvin Gaye records as they studied. They were unapologetically African American scientists. She currently works as an infectious disease specialist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Glenda Newell-Harris is a name known to African American women of the Links, Inc. She is the president of this national organization that aims to serve the community. She started her path at Miss Porters, an all-female boarding school in Connecticut. She integrated her school as well and became class president. She currently practices internal medicine in California. I stand on the shoulders of giants. I was born in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up in Youngstown, Ohio. Every summer, I came to Winston-Salem to visit my grandmother. My educational foundation started at a prep school called Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Conn. My grandmother was so moved by John F. Kennedys contributions to America that it was her dream for me to attend the high school he attended. I continued the family tradition of science, education and advocacy through my career. After attending Smith College in Massachusetts and CWRU for medical school, I went on to conduct research at Massachusetts General Hospital. Im currently a resident at the University of North Carolina pursuing cardiology. I applaud Hidden Figures for revealing a history that goes beyond a dream deferred. The women at NASA and my family are no longer hidden figures, but a revealed part of American history. Other notable family members include George F. Newell. He was a profound science teacher at Atkins High School and Virginia Newells husband. He was a part of Alpha Phi Alpha and the Boule. He graduated from Johnson C. Smith High School and was part of the debate team. Hubert Eaton is his first cousin. He was a notable physician and civil-rights advocate in Wilmington. He also attended Johnson C. Smith and the University of Michigan Medical School in 1942. He served as a mentor for Althea Gibson. His father was a physician, as well as his son. We Southerners should know better than anyone the danger of just making things up. The Confederate States of America reversed the longstanding, worldwide trend of the victors getting to write the history. The CSA lost, but many of its leaders and those who followed still wrote the history, teaching generations to come that slavery was not the main cause of the Civil War. Instead, they taught that the war was waged over economics and states rights, a sick and slick euphemism for slave labor and the right to own those slaves. Just a few long generations later, we remain mired in fake news. The CSAs big lie and all the lies Jim Crow perpetuated were but a deadly bedrock for our current era nationwide, as a new book by my friend Tim Tyson, who teaches at Duke University, makes clear. This is a story for our times. The book coming out from Simon & Schuster on Jan. 31 is The Blood of Emmett Till. Its a scathing re-examination of the slaying of Emmett, a 14-year-old Chicago boy visiting relatives in Mississippi who was killed by white terrorists for allegedly committing the heinous crime of flirting with a white woman while black. The world has long known the story: Emmetts mother insisting that his coffin be open at his Illinois funeral to show the world her sons bludgeoned face, and how those images flashed worldwide helped start in earnest the civil rights movement. Tims book makes it all new and relevant. He makes clear that the open coffin was an astounding and courageous act for a black woman, and how the act mobilized the formidable Chicago black power structure, and, then, the rest of America. And he repeatedly emphasizes the lies upon which the Jim Crow South was built, ultimately making us confront how much those lies still figure in the killings of young black men nationwide. Tim is an academic, but hes also a good investigator, and yes, even an instigator. But first, the investigative part. He leads off with an exclusive interview with the woman Emmett was killed for talking to, Carolyn Bryant Donham. She serves Tim pound cake and tells him, Nothing that boy did could ever justify what happened to him. Boom. Tim moves on, unraveling the lies as easily as a journeyman cook peels an onion, forcing us to look at all the ugly bruises, in this case lies, along the way, including how from the very beginning the white power structure joked about Emmetts death. His badly beaten body was tossed in a river, sunk with a fan from a cotton gin. Tim writes, A quiet joke went around: Isnt that just like a nigger to try and swim the Tallahatchie River with a gin fan around his neck? Tim puts it all in the broad historical context of much other abuse, making clear that the losers who killed Emmett were but the latest in a long line of pawns used by rich whites who winked at the violence from which they removed themselves, just as many rich whites had done in the Civil War. And always, the lies, most notoriously, that whites are superior and blacks are inferior, too ignorant to be trusted with voting rights no matter how smartly and bravely they fought for them. Tim celebrates courage, most notably, that of the Rev. Moses Wright, the black man from whose house Emmett was kidnapped by his killers. With amazing guts for his place and time, Wright testified against the killers in a Mississippi courtroom. The defendants were, of course, acquitted. But the story resonates to this day. Tim writes: The ancient lie remains lethal. It shoots first and dodges questions later. White supremacy leaves almost half of all African-American children growing up in poverty in a de-industrialized urban wasteland. It abandons the moral and practical truth embodied in Brown v. Board of Education and accepts school resegregation even though it is poisonous to the poor. Internalized white supremacy in the minds of black youth guns down other black youth, who learn from the media images of themselves that their lives are worth little enough to pour out in battles over street corners. White supremacy also guides the hands of white law enforcement officers and vigilantes who seem unable to distinguish between genuine danger and centuries-old phantoms. I dont agree with all of Tims thoughts above. There are bad cops. But I know plenty of good white cops and good black cops. I do take from his book one big lesson, that of using facts to confront and kill the lies that still smother us and threaten our democracy, just like Rev. Wright did in that Mississippi courtroom all those years ago. About 200 bags of diapers, hygiene essentials and other related products will be available free-of-charge to expecting moms, who register for the "Shower for Life" event being held on Nov. 5, from 1-3 p.m., at St. Paul's Anglican Church, located at 316 W. Carolina Ave in Summerville. Read more'Shower for Life' calls all expecting mothers Reddit Email 59 Shares TeleSur | Changes aim to hit protestors with criminal records and beefed up fines and impunity for police who accidentally kill them. Donald Trump was officially sworn in Friday as one of the most unpopular U.S. presidents in recent history, sparking off widespread protests around the world. Resistance through protest and mass organization in the U.S. is likely to become more difficult and increasingly regarded as a criminal act. Trump has voiced his intolerance for peaceful protest and a number of Republican-backed state laws have been proposed to crack down on peaceful demonstrations. As Trump ushered in a new era of populist and belligerent politics, poised to Make America Great Again, the official White House official website was overhauled with his administrations new agenda. While all content related to civil rights, climate change, immigration, healthcare and LGBT issues were swiftly removed, one section that was added could be an ominous warning to resistance and protests movements under Trumps rule: The Trump Administration will be a law and order administration. President Trump will honor our men and women in uniform and will support their mission of protecting the public Our job is not to make life more comfortable for the rioter, the looter or the violent disrupter, read the new section, Standing Up For Our Law Enforcement Community. While the passage paints protesters as out of control, if the crackdown on protesters in the capital during his inauguration were anything to go by, it could be more of the same from law enforcement. State Republicans are also cracking down on protesters through a number of bills that have so far attracted little attention amid the media circus surrounding the changeover in presidential powers. Indeed the new changes could have significant consequences not only for anti-Trump demonstrators, but for wider social movements. Already in North Dakota, a Republican bill squarely aimed at anti-pipeline protesters plans to exempt drivers who unintentionally hit or kill pedestrians who are obstructing traffic on public roads. Republican state lawmaker Keith Kempenich is spearheading the initiative along with other GOP members, influenced in part by his 72-year-old mother-in-law, who was blocked by a group of protests on a roadway. He admits the law specifically targets protesters. In Minnesota, Republicans introduced a bill to make protesting on freeways a gross misdemeanor with fines of up to US$3,000 and one year jail time. It comes as BlackLivesMatter protests have shut down major roads, most notably after the police killing of Philando Castile. In another separately proposed Minnesota bill, the nonviolent obstruction of authorities would attract at least a year jail time and fines of up to US$10,000. In Iowa, a similar bill to attach criminal penalties to protesters blocking roads in being planned by Republican lawmaker Bobby Kaufmann. The bill also targets state universities with public funding that hold sit-ins and additional grief counseling services for services related to Trumps presidency. In Washington state, Republicans have pushed a change that would create the new crime of economic terrorism for protests which harm a persons ability to make a living, said Senator Doug Ericksen, who was deputy director of Trumps campaign in Seattle, to Kiro 7. In Michigan, a number of Democrats are fearful that Republicans will attempt to reintroduce anti-picketing legislation that was previously dropped. The law aimed to fine picketers US$1,000 per day and hit organizing union with a daily fine of US$10,000. Social movements and civil liberties groups have been highly critical of the proposed criminal changes, with many seeing it as the criminalization of a dearly held civil right for citizens to publicly demonstrate. Via TeleSur Reddit Email 0 Shares Maan News Agency | ARARA (Maan) Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets Saturday in the town of Arara in northern Israel, in the wake of a demolition campaign in the Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran on Wednesday, when Israeli police shot local math teacher Yacoub Abu al-Qian to death under widely-contested circumstances. Protesters caused traffic jams and briefly blocked Highway 65 in the Wadi Ara region, with Israeli police suppressing the crowds with stun grenades and other protest dispersal means, according to reports. Ayman Odeh, the head of the Joint List coalition that represents parties led by Palestinian citizens of Israel in the Israeli Knesset told reporters in Arara that the rally was held to show loyalty to the martyr Abu al-Qian, and to voice condemnation of racism and the killing Palestinian citizens. While Israeli police have claimed Abu al-Qian was carrying out a vehicle attack when he was killed, numerous eyewitnesses testimonies and investigations from Israeli media and NGOs have said that police opened fire on the man while he was driving normally near the clashes posing no threat to anyone, which caused him to accelerate and lose control of the vehicle, resulting in the death of an Israeli policeman and the injury of several others. Hours later, Israeli authorities carried out the demolition of more than dozen structures belonging to Bedouin Palestinian citizens of Israel, including a number of structures that were owned by Abu al-Qian. The demolition campaign came a week after at least 10 Palestinian homes were razed to the ground in the city of Qalansawe in central Israel. Odeh called for an investigation to be opened into Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, and Israeli police for their decision to stop negotiations with the people of Umm al-Hiran and for all the events that occurred at the evacuation, The Jerusalem Post quoted him as saying. He said he held police responsible for the killing and demanded that Abi al-Qians body be returned to the family immediately, as numerous preconditions have been set by Israeli authorities for the bodys release. Minister Gilad Erdan, who did not miss one chance to stand before a microphone and lie on Wednesday, while inciting and igniting the flames, should resign immediately, Odeh reportedly said. Odeh, who had traveled to Umm al-Hiran Wednesday along with a number of other members of the Joint List to protest the demolitions, was shot in the head by police with a sponge-tipped bullet amid the clashes. He also released a video on his Facebook page Saturday ahead of the rally in Arara, where he is shown with bandage on his forehead covering the gunshot wound. We know that there are 50,000 houses without licenses as a result of Israels planning policies, he said in the video. This means demolitions will not stop, but will rather reach more houses in Israeli villages and cities. For that reason this demonstration, attended by thousands, should be understood as a resonant cry of a people who want to live in their homeland in dignity. Palestinian Knesset member Ahmad Tibi told reporters during the rally that the thousands of demonstrators were sending a clear message to the Israeli government that Palestinian citizens of Israel would not yield to the systematic policy of home demolitions and incitement imposed by the Netanyahu government against them. Ayman Odehs spokeswoman Reut Mor confirmed to Maan via telephone that Israeli police were firing stun grenades at crowds in Arara, and said that some unconfirmed reports emerged of sponge-tipped bullets being fired at protesters. While the official demonstration had ended, she said that thousands of demonstrators remained in the area, and that many people were on their way to join the crowds as of early Saturday evening. Israeli police spokeswoman Luba al-Samri said in a statement that police had allowed the demonstration in Arara, on the condition that demonstrators did not obstruct traffic on Route 65, and on the condition that they did not breach the law. However, a group of demonstrators blocked the main road ignoring police orders prompting police officers to remove them without detentions. The demonstration is going on under police control, she added. Via Maan News Agency [JURIST] Technology giant Apple [corporate website] filed suit [complaint, PDF] against Qualcomm [corporate website] on Friday seeking $1 billion in damages, alleging that the chip manufacturer demanded unfair terms for use of its technology. In a statement [Forbes report], Apple alleged that Qualcomm, despite being only one of many manufacturers involved in the production of Apples iPhone, insisted on onerous and allegedly illegal prices for technology. Apples complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of California [official website], also alleges that Qualcomm took punitive measures against it when Apple cooperated in a South Korean investigation, stating to protect this business scheme Qualcomm has taken increasingly radical steps, most recently withholding nearly $1B in payments from Apple as retaliation for responding truthfully to law enforcement agencies investigating them. The Apple lawsuit also follows closely behind a suit [press release] filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), based on Qualcomms status as the main supplier of modem chips that enable phones to connect to cellular networks. As such, the company has collected licensing fees on nearly every cell phone utilized worldwide, which the FTC alleges is the perpetuation of an illegal monopoly. Qualcomm responded to Apples complaint, stating that it is quite clear Apples claims are baseless, and responded [press releases] to the FTC complaint, stating that it is based on bad law and significant misconceptions. In particular, the FTC alleges [JURIST report] that Qualcomm, a leading supplier of baseband processors, imposed onerous conditions and licensing terms on cellphone manufacturers. According to the FTC, Qualcomm requires cellphone manufacturers to agree to license terms which would require paying higher royalty fees to Qualcomm if the manufacturer uses a competitors device and that the company refuses to provide licenses for competitors. The company has faced several other anti-trust lawsuits over the last decade. In December 2008 the US Court of Appeals affirmed a 2007 ruling in part, and vacated in part, against Qualcomm, finding its patents unenforceable [JURIST report]. The court found that by not disclosing relevant intellectual property rights, Qualcomm was engaging in what is known as patent hold-up in an effort to prevent competitors from implementing the technology. Broadcom sued Qualcomm in federal court in 2008 asking the court to declare several Qualcomm patents exhausted and unenforceable. That suit was dismissed [JURIST report] in federal court the following year. Also in 2009, a district court dismissed [JURIST report] a consumer class action lawsuit against Qualcomm which claimed that it used patent licensing to adversely affect competition in the CDMA market. The Turkish Parliament [official website] on Saturday approved a plan which, if approved by vote later this year, would increase presidential power within the country and would allow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to stay in office until 2029. The referendum acquired 339 votes, nine more than required, to go to a public vote. Among the new powers [Reuters report] granted to the president would be the power to issue decrees, declare emergency, appoint top state officials and ministers, and the power to dissolve parliament. In addition, Erdogan, who was previously the minster of the ruling AK Party, could once again become a leader within that party. Also, the referendum states that a president would be allowed to serve two terms of five years. While Erdogan proclaims this increase in power would allow for stability in a time of turmoil, his opponents worry such powers may lead to authoritarian control of the nation. Since the failed coup in Turkey in July, where Turkish military forces tried to overthrow the government, the Turkish government has taken several controversial steps to strengthen its power. In November Turkey significantly restricted the activities of NGOs [JURIST report] like human rights organizations and childrens groups and arrested opposition party leaders [JURIST report] alleging they were connected to terror organizations. In October Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] warned [JURIST report] that the emergency decrees put in place after the failed coup, had resulted in serious human rights violations. In July Amnesty International [advocacy website] condemned [JURIST report] Turkey for attacking the freedom of the press by issuing arrest warrants for 42 journalists. According to a US prosecutor, the US asked South Korea to arrest Ban Ki-sang, brother of former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon [UN Profile], for his involvement in a bribery scheme [Reuters report] to sell a Vietnamese building complex. Specifically, Ban Ki-sang was allegedly involved in bribing a Middle East nation official in a scheme to facilitate the sale of a Vietnamese skyscraper from Keangnam Enterprises Co. Ltd. to the sovereign wealth fund of the Middle Eastern nation. To this point, US prosecutors have said Ban Ki-sang, a member of the South Korean construction firm Keangnam Enterprises., has yet to be arrested. Despite the US prosecutors request, the South Korean government said it has yet to receive a formal request. Ban Ki-moon, whom some believe may be a candidate in the upcoming South Korean presidential election, made a public apology for his brother, saying he has absolutely no knowledge of this case. In addition to his brothers involvement, Ban Ki-sangs son, Joo Hyun Bahn, along with one other individual, have already been charged and plead not guilty in the case. Though he has not been implicated in the scandal, the reports will likely serve as an embarrassment for Ban Ki-moon. Though he has been evasive [NYT report] about his intentions, Ban Ki-moon, whose second term as Secretary-General ended in December, is widely expected [BBC report] to run for president in his native South Korea. The presidency is expected to become vacant following the impeachment [JURIST report] of current president Park Guen-hye in December. Philadelphia, PA, USA, 01/21/2017 /SubmitPressRelease123/ The New Jersey State Police have bad news for 2016 and a mixed bag of information about 2015s fatal crashes in the state. The number of traffic fatalities for 2016 increased from 2015 but there were fewer accidents involving distracted drivers in 2015 compared to 2014. Distracted driving was the leading cause of fatal accidents in New Jersey in 2015. New Jersey Car Accident Lawyer Rand Spear warns that distracted driving for only a moment can cause a serious accident. The preliminary numbers for New Jersey vehicle accidents in 2016 are grim, reports NJ.com1. The State Police released the following preliminary statistics2, In 2016, 607 people died in vehicle accidents in the state, an 8% increase from 2015 (562). Last years fatalities were the highest since 2011. 2013 saw a 20 year low of traffic fatalities at 542. As bad as 2016 was, the number of deaths on New Jerseys roads twenty years ago, in 1996, were far worse at 809. For 2016, Of the 607 people killed last year, more than half (333) were drivers, 167 were pedestrians, 89 were passengers and 18 were bicyclists. Burlington County saw the most fatal crashes, with 50 deaths, followed by Middlesex and Monmouth counties which each had 49 fatalities. Other statistics released by the state police3, according to NJ.com4, show that, There was a total of 522 fatal crashes killing 562 people in 2015. Thats one less fatal accident than in 2014 when 556 people were killed. The number of accidents involving a distracted driver went down from 190 crashes in 2014 to 168 collisions in 2015. For the sixth straight year distracted driving lead to more fatal crashes than alcohol. Driving under the influence was involved in 118 accidents killing 132 people. An American Automobile Association (AAA) survey of 655 New Jersey motorists last year showed: 94% stated they believe other drivers are very or somewhat distracted when they use a hand-held phone or a hands-free device to talk or text 28% admitted to using a hand-held phone while driving, which is illegal in New Jersey, and 50% stated they used a hands-free device to make a call. Though there was mixed news when it came to distracted driving, there was some good news when it comes to accidents caused by drinking and driving. There was an 18% percent decrease in the number of alcohol related accidents in 2015 compared to 2014. One factor may be the increased use of ride sharing services like Uber and Lyft by those who may have planned ahead to use them and understand they shouldnt drink and drive. If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in a New Jersey vehicle accident, contact an experienced motor vehicle accident lawyer right away. Your lawyer can answer your questions and help you determine the next steps in your case. Call Rand Spear New Jersey Car Accident Lawyer today at 888-373-4LAW today to discuss your case with a knowledgeable vehicle accident attorney. Footnotes: 1 NJ.com www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2017/01/nj_traffic_fatalities_soared_in_2016.html 2 Preliminary statistics http://www.njsp.org/info/fatalacc/pdf/swfcs2_16.pdf 3 Statistics released by the state police www.njsp.org/info/fatalacc/2015_fatal_crash.pdf 4 NJ.com www.nj.com/traffic/index.ssf/2017/01/distracted_driving_is_top_fatal_crash_factor_in_20.html#incart_river_home source: http://randspear.com/2017/01/12/distracted-driving-1-nj-killer-says-philadelphia-car-accident-lawyer-rand-spear/ Newsroom powered by Online Press Release Distribution SubmitMyPressRelease.com Like Us on Facebook It's only fair to share... Pinterest Linkedin email Print Through these excerpts we can smell the village fires, be astonished at the intuitiveness of these women and gasp at the ease with which they can flit between western ideology and village traditions, comfortable in both societies - yet we can also feel their patriotism and need to be valued. Given an excerpt of 80 pages to review, accounting for 14 of the more than 80 pieces in the book, I am impressed. MY Walk to Equality, a first ever collection of womens writing from Papua New Guinea edited by Rashmii Amoah Bell, is outstanding. It is inspiring, engaging, groundbreaking and important. My Walk to Equality , edited by Rashmii Amoah Bell, Pukpuk Publications, 278 pages. Paperback $US10.53 or Kindle $US1.00. ISBN-10: 1542429242. ISBN-13: 978-1542429245. Available here from Amazon through Pukpuk Publications This journey is explored through four key themes - relationships, self- awareness, challenging gender roles and legacy. The courageous women who collaborated to share these diverse personal accounts open their hearts, painting vivid pictures. The content is sensitive, constructive and offers more than the title suggests. Their stories reflect an era of change whilst retaining their cultural identity. Emma Wakpi writes with passion about her family and her country, taking the reader on powerful journeys from traditional cultural life to contemporary Papua New Guinea. Drum beat by Vanessa Gordon pulses through the reader- the crescendo of drumbeat echoing the explosion of voices wanting, collaborating, to be heard and acknowledged. Leila Parina's A Paradigm Shift reflects an extraordinarily mature outlook. It is a contemporary and profound take on conciliation, traversing custom and modernity. PNG, a country of 800 languages, speaks with a common voice and a clear message. Traditional excuses for violence against women can no longer be tolerated and the tenuous thread which persists needs cutting - its place now in literary history. As Elvina Ogil writes in her foreword: The path to equality isn't an isolated, single issue journey but one which traverses how we behave in our villages, our homes, in our work place and even in our larger institutions. It begins with 'a conscious effort to raise our daughters with an unwavering belief that they can do anything. Change happens everywhere, all of the time. Papua New Guineans cultural beliefs and tradition are longstanding, important to PNG society and, in the main, deserving of our respect. All countries, Australia included, still have trailing intergenerational differences where daughters can remain unheard. Blending old with new in a fast paced world is challenging but small changes in our views can sometimes make great differences, ensuring a more hopeful and progressive future. PNG women need to feel safe, with boys and girls being encouraged to grow up respecting each other. With enormous scope for collaboration the spin- offs are endless. Engaging male champions on this issue is a priority. Congratulations to Australians with a PNG heart - Phil Fitzpatrick and Keith Jackson who have walked with these women. The issue is now to find more Papua New Guineans, both men and women, to share and support these endeavours, both individual and national. This book is a significant contribution to PNG progress and history. Tanya Zeriga-Alone writes in her foreword: Our children will not have an understanding of their culture like we do. And the generations thereafter will eventually lose that knowledge. The book includes the occasional un-interpreted saying in Tok Pisin, something that we, who grew up in PNG, are want to do, but which may raise an occasional eyebrow from those not familiar with the language. My Walk to Equality is refreshing in its candour and written by women with informed judgement who want to make positive contributions to society based on respect and equality. It is an easy, enjoyable read. If the rest of the book is of this calibre, it is a masterpiece. Editor Rashmii Bell and every person who has contributed to this collection deserve congratulations. Andrea Williams is president of the Papua New Guinea Association of Australia. Andrea and her family have a long association with PNG (Repeats story from Friday with no changes) * Miners keen to produce coal while prices near recent peaks * Survey finds miners slashing leave over Lunar New Year * Miners expect Beijing will reintroduce output restrictions * But expect more flexible caps after price lurches in 2016 By Meng Meng and Josephine Mason BEIJING, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Chinese coal miners are so determined to cash in on a window of high prices that many are slashing holiday leave for workers and raising pay through the Lunar New Year celebrations before government introduces limits on output again. Prices in China, the world's biggest coal user, have slipped back 16 percent from their two-year peak of 610 yuan ($88.83) per tonne two months ago, but they are still profitably high after a couple of barren years for miners. "At current price levels, we would love to have 73 hours in a day, so that we can produce as much as possible," a private coal mine owner based in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia, told Reuters. That urgency reflects a broad expectation among analysts and mining executives that Beijing will order them to reduce output after the festivities, once winter heating demand has peaked. In April 2016, with many miners failing to turn a profit, government ordered mines to limit the number of days they operate each year to 276 days from 330 as part of its effort to cut inefficient surplus capacity. By November, however, it was forced to ditch that policy to avert a winter energy crisis after a double-digit percentage drop in output triggered a sharp rally in prices. Now miners are determined not to be caught on the hop, and are racing to get their coal to market, aware that Beijing still aims to slash 500 million tonnes of output by 2020, just over 16 percent of current levels. Major producers including Shanxi Kaijia Energy Group, ChinaCoal and Shandong Yulong Group in Shandong, Hebei, Shanxi and Shaanxi, are allowing workers an average of seven days' leave for the festival this year, according to China Sublime Information Group, which surveyed 30 companies. Story continues That is well down on the last two years, when prices were below break-even for many miners, who in response typically gave workers a generous 45-60 days off for the occasion, mining executives and analysts said. "In 2015 and 2016, most of the coal mines we visited were shut down starting Jan. 1. This year, they are postponing the holiday to as late as January 27," said Zhang Min, coal analyst at Sublime. GLOBAL IMPACT Reuters spoke to five coal mines in Inner Mongolia, China's largest producing region, and they, too, said they had cut leave to around 10-20 days for the festivities, which officially begin on Jan. 27 and last for a week, down from about 30 days in 2016. Two of them said they were raising wages by 30 and 50 percent through the period, too. The consequences for such price fluctuations are felt globally, as the fundamentals of China's coal market determine world prices. Last year international miners boosted shipments to China by a quarter as Beijing's output restraints drained supply. "Price fluctuations in the domestic Chinese market as policymakers adjust output and prices to their desired levels will likely be a key driver of the international markets over the months ahead," said Adrian Lunt, commodities research head at Singapore Exchange, in a note. But this year, though analysts and mining executives expect government to announce restraints again before March, they think policymakers will take a more flexible approach, chastened by the wild price lurches in 2016. Lunt said Beijing may be prepared to tweak the limits if prices breach certain thresholds around 535 yuan per tonne, which was the basis price for annual supply contracts that miners signed with utilities. In the meantime, workers in the industry are in two minds about their employers' big push. "I cannot make the reunion with my family until the Lunar New Year eve. That's unusually late for me," said Li Zhuang, a coal worker in Inner Mongolia, who will travel about 1,000 kilometres (625 miles) back to his family home in Shandong province. "The good thing is each of us get around 6,000-9,000 yuan in extra bonus this year," he added. ($1 = 6.8672 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Josephine Mason and Meng Meng; Editing by Will Waterman) (Adds yield on outstanding debt, country rating, context) BAGHDAD, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Iraq announced the sale of $1 billion in bonds guaranteed by the United States, paying an interest of 2.1 percent, far below the 9 percent yield on the country's non-guaranteed debt. The U.S.-guaranteed five-year bonds were issued on Wednesday, the finance ministry said in a statement on Sunday. The Iraqi government, which relies almost exclusively on oil income, has struggled to pay its bills since crude prices dropped in 2014, the same year that Islamic State militants seized a third of the country's territory. The Iraqi government in November said it plans to issue $2 billion worth of bonds on international markets to help narrow its budget deficit in 2017. The bonds will be sold in two equal tranches of one billion dollars each, one of them with a U.S. guarantee that would reduce its cost of borrowing, it said. Iraq has a speculative rating of B/B- from both S&P and Fitch. It has a $2.7 billion in international bonds due in 2028 with a coupon of 5.8 percent, currently yielding about 9 percent IQ024029557=. (Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Mark Potter and Elaine Hardcastle) By Linda Sieg TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is moving to adopt a law allowing its octogenarian Emperor Akihito to abdicate but many touchy topics, such as his title and duties, remain to be settled before the monarch can retire in a step unprecedented for two centuries. Japanese law does not currently allow an emperor to give up the throne, but Akihito, 83, who has had heart surgery and prostate cancer treatment, said in rare public remarks last August he feared age might make it hard to fulfill his duties. A panel of experts is expected on Monday to indicate a preference for a special law to allow Emperor Akihito to retire, most probably by the end of 2018. Officials are looking at ancient precedents, since the last time an emperor abdicated was in 1817. "Japan is in uncharted territory except for historians," said Colin Jones, a professor at Doshisha University Law School. Emperor Akihito may also look to examples of foreign monarchs of his generation, such as Dutch Queen Beatrix and Belgian King Albert II, or even Pope Benedict. All three retired in 2013. Beatrix resumed her former title of princess and remained active, while Albert retained his title, though mostly staying out of public view. Benedict, as "pope emeritus", moved to a monastery inside the Vatican walls. "The emperor himself was friends with Queen Beatrix and King Albert since his days as crown prince," said Naotaka Kimizuka, an expert in European monarchies at Kanto Gakuin University. "I think he will probably consider them as reference points." Besides the emperor's title, duties and residence after he retires, the government also has to fix the name and date for the commencement of the new "imperial era" that will be ushered in by his successor, under Japan's unique calendar. Once considered divine, Japan's emperor, or "tenno", is defined in the post-war constitution as a "symbol of the state and of the unity of the people". He has no political power. Nonetheless, the title he is to be accorded after abdication is a touchy matter. History suggests Akihito should get the title "joko", meaning "retired emperor". But some experts say the term echoes ancient episodes when the former emperor retained power and clashed with his successor. They prefer terms such as "zen tenno" or "moto tenno", meaning former, or previous, emperor respectively. Emperor Akihito's duties include Shinto religious ceremonies and constitutionally-defined tasks, such as the opening of parliament. These will be taken on by his successor, Crown Prince Naruhito. The hallmark of the popular monarch's reign has been travels with Empress Michiko, such as visits to domestic disaster sites to cheer survivors, and overseas, to soothe the wounds of a war fought in the name of his father, Emperor Hirohito. Given Emperor Akihito's belief that his public activities are central to his symbolic role, he may well let Crown Prince Naruhito take center stage. [http://tmsnrt.rs/2b7dWHn] "There is concern over splitting the message, splitting the symbol," if Emperor Akihito stays too active, Doshisha's Jones said. The emperor's younger son, Prince Akishino, has suggested his parents would enjoy activities such as music and the marine biology research in which Akihito specializes. A pay cut does seem in store for the imperial couple, who do not have a large personal fortune, unlike the British royals. If they retreat to the shadows, they will probably get an annual allowance roughly equivalent to the $400,000 received by Emperor Akihito's younger brother and his wife - or about a fifth what they get now, Kimizuka said. Residence options for the couple include the Togu Palace, now home to the crown prince, and the Fukiage Omiya Palace, where Emperor Hirohito once lived, both within the spacious palace grounds in Tokyo. The ancient imperial capital of Kyoto also cannot be ruled out, some experts said. Once Emperor Akihito steps down, a new "imperial era" will begin, replacing the current "Heisei", meaning "achieving peace", which began on Jan. 8, 1989, the day he took the throne. Although Japan uses the Western-style Gregorian calendar, it has also kept its ancient imperial-era system - "nengo" or "gengo" - in which a new emperor ushers in a new era. The government might break with precedent and announce the name of the new era months before Emperor Akihito retires, to allow time for the switch to be made in official forms, calendars and computer programs, media have said. (Editing by Clarence Fernandez) We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Early today, Beverly Osu shared a suggestive video of her kissing a friend in South Africa. Well, actor, Uche Maduagwu who went viral for blasting Tonto Dikehs husband has condemned the act. Read his thoughts below: Shame! Shame!! Shame!!! The kind of pikins born now a days are a complete mistake. They are generations of wastefulness. I understand that some of our celebrities were molested at tender ages, I feel so sad about that because I am against child molestation. In fact, I believe anyone who molest a child should be locked up in a maximum prison for at least 200 Years with hard labor. But let us face the fact, just because your Uncle sexually molested you when you were a little child doesnt mean you should turn yourself into something else. I understand the trauma and pains, the agony of being abused. I understand the physical, psychological and emotional pains that a young girl goes through, but becoming a lesbian in broad day light is not something a good woman should indulge in. I know most of our female celebs struggle with lesbianism, its like a secret habit many of them have been trying to come out of but cant. We are Africans, let us behave like one and not behave like imbeciles, the funny thing is that even the lower animals dont practice this devilish act, a female dog will always mate with a male dog, same goes for Pigs, goats just to mention but a few But its crazy that grown up female adults stoop so low as to sleeping and mating with each other. Please if you have no shame, remember you have so many kids looking up to you as their role models. Practice your lesbianism indoors, and stop advertising your foolishness in public. Anyways, i will be having series of prayer sessions for your soul, because you are a beautiful woman with so much potentials, but if you allow the devil to steal away your grace, you will be miserable for a very long time. DUBAI, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Weak fourth-quarter earnings at several major Saudi Arabian companies dragged down that market on Sunday, while most other Gulf bourses were firm. Tax fears continued to weigh on Egypt. The Saudi index dropped 0.4 percent as food maker Savola plunged 6.2 percent. It swung to net loss of 964.3 million riyals ($257.2 million) in the quarter from a profit of 515.3 million riyals a year ago, and said it did not plan to pay quarterly dividends in 2017. Analysts polled by Reuters had on average forecast Savola would make a quarterly profit of 53.6 million riyals. Banks were also weak after several posted fourth-quarter earnings below estimates. Alawwal Bank fell 5.6 percent after swinging to a net loss of 249.3 million riyals from a profit of 451.3 million; Alistithmar Capital and EFG Hermes had forecast profit of 330.5 million and 438.0 million. Saudi British Bank dropped 3.2 percent after posting a 35 percent fall in fourth-quarter net profit; Banque Saudi Fransi slipped 2.6 percent after reporting a 61 percent profit decline; and Samba Financial Group lost 3.5 percent after posting a 12 percent profit fall. Shares rose in many other sectors, however. Real estate developer Dar Al Arkan climbed 2.6 percent to 5.90 riyals after Deutsche Bank raised its price target for the stock to 6 riyals from 5.90 riyals. Builder Khodari jumped 9.1 percent; it has been buoyed since November by signs the construction sector is picking up as the government makes delayed payments on its debts to companies in the industry. Saudi Basic Industries Corp rose 0.3 percent after saying it had agreed to acquire the 50 percent it does not already own in its petrochemical venture with Shell Arabia, a unit of Royal Dutch Shell , for $820 million. Dubai's index gained 0.3 percent as the most heavily traded stock, builder Drake & Scull , which also has exposure to Saudi Arabia, climbed 4.4 percent. Property developer Deyaar rose 2.0 percent after state news agency WAM reported it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Dubai South, the master developer of the area around Dubai's Al Maktoum International Airport, for a multi-purpose development. Strong banking shares pushed Qatar's index up 0.1 percent, with Qatar National Bank gaining 2.0 percent, and Kuwait's index continued a bull run which began early this month. It added a further 2.9 percent in large volumes with all of the 10 most heavily traded stocks rising sharply as local funds and retail investors piled into the market in the hope of more near-term gains. Egypt's index sank 1.2 percent. It had tumbled 3.7 percent on Thursday after Reuters reported that authorities were considering temporarily reintroducing a stamp duty on stock market transactions. Alexandria Mineral Oils surged 3.5 percent, however, after saying first-half net profit rose to 545.8 million Egyptian pounds ($29.3 million) from 157 million pounds a year earlier. (Reporting by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Mark Potter) Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Snow may mix in late. Low 32F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Snow may mix in late. Low 32F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. (Repeats story from Friday) * IS seeks to shore up territory it holds in Syria * Fears for tens of thousands under siege in Deir al-Zor city * Final battle against IS will seen as being in Syria * IS strength in Syria seen as a challenge for Trump By Tom Perry and Laila Bassam BEIRUT, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Islamic State is fighting hard to reinforce its presence in Syria as it loses ground in Iraq, deploying fighters to seize full control of a government-held city in the east while at the same time battling enemies on three other fronts. It underlines the residual strength of Islamic State even after its loss of a cluster of cities in Iraq and half of Mosul, and points up the challenges facing U.S. President Donald Trump in the war he has vowed to wage against the group. The jihadists have opened their most ferocious assault yet to capture the last Syrian government-controlled area in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor, a pocket of Deir al-Zor city that is surrounded by Islamic State territory. The assault has raised fears for tens of thousands of people living under government authority in the city. Their only supply route has been cut off since Islamic State severed the road to the nearby air base earlier this week. A military commander in the alliance of forces fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad said Islamic State was seeking to turn Deir al-Zor city into a base of operations. "They want to take it by force - and right now," said the commander, a non-Syrian who declined to be identified because he is not an official spokesman for the alliance that includes a range of Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias, Lebanon's Hezbollah, and the Russian air force. "The situation in Deir al-Zor is very difficult." Islamic State appears focused on strengthening its hold over a triangle of Syrian territory connecting its main base of operations - Raqqa city - with Palmyra to the southwest and Deir al-Zor to the southeast. The group seized Palmyra from government forces for a second time last month, a reversal for Assad just eight months after he had retaken control of the city and its world heritage site with the help of the Russian air force. Story continues Islamic State fighters are also putting up stiff resistance against separate campaigns being waged against them in northern Syria, one by U.S.-backed militias including Kurdish groups, and another by Turkish-backed Syrian rebel groups. "They are able to fight on four fronts, if they were in a state of great weakness, they would not be able to do this," said Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based organisation reporting on the war. A senior commander in the pro-Assad alliance, also a non-Syrian, said: "The strength of Daesh is that it is a cancerous tumour, and when you remove it from one place, it goes to another." The commander urged the U.S.-led alliance and "every air force" to attack Islamic State to stop it moving its convoys in the Deir al-Zor area, an apparent sign of dissatisfaction with the current level of support from the Russian air force there. "FINAL BATTLE" Though Islamic State has faced military pressure in Deir al-Zor province, including raids by U.S special forces, the attacks against it there have been less intense than in other parts of its self-declared caliphate. Deir al-Zor has so far been a secondary priority for the Syrian army and its allies, which are most concerned with their battle against rebel forces in western Syria. The U.S.-backed campaign led by Syrian Kurdish groups has meanwhile focused on encircling and taking Raqqa city. Islamic State has been asserting itself in Syria with trademark brutality, this week killing civilians execution-style in Palmyra's Roman Theatre, the Observatory reported. IS has also generated headlines by blowing up more of Palmyra's ancient ruins, with satellite imagery emerging on Friday showing the destruction of one of its most famous monuments. Russia seized on the capture of Palmyra from Islamic State last year as evidence of its efforts against the group in Syria, after critics accused it of mostly targeting moderate rebels. As yet there has been no sign of a major effort to take back Palmyra a second time, though the Syrian army and its allies are currently battling Islamic State to the west of the city. If Trump follows through on suggestions that he may cooperate with Russia in the fight against Islamic State, eastern Syria would be an obvious target. This would however mark a major shift in U.S. policy because it would help Assad. U.S. policy under President Barack Obama was built on the idea that Assad had lost legitimacy. Obama rejected any cooperation with Assad in the fight against IS, describing his rule as part of the problem. A Syrian official said the U.S.-led coalition was doing nothing to prevent Islamic State from moving its forces into Syria. "This is what's helping Daesh," the official said. "After losing Mosul, Daesh will think of reinforcing its capacity in Raqqa and Deir al-Zor because at the end of the day, they don't have any sanctuary. The final battle will certainly be there." (Writing by Tom Perry; editing by Giles Elgood) 'Seoul should focus on harmony with Beijing' By Kim Jae-kyoung James Rooney Korea should take a low-key diplomatic approach in order to restore its relations with China, while not jeopardizing its alliance with the United States, according to James Rooney, vice chairman of the Seoul Financial Forum. He said that in the long term, it is most important for Seoul to maintain a harmonious relationship with Beijing not only for security but also for economic benefits. His advice came amid an escalating row between China and the U.S. as New York billionaire businessman Donald Trump has vowed an "America first" policy. Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of America on Friday. "Korea should not try to be a big player in the politics of the world or in the politics of the region. Instead, Korea should focus on achieving harmony with its important neighbor China," Rooney told The Korea Times. "Korea should be careful to recognize that the U.S. and other distant players do not always recognize correctly some of the subtleties of the region, and that Japan has long been an antagonist in the region as well as a historically dangerous neighbor." He pointed out that Korea should not get drawn into issues that the U.S. and China may get embroiled in, while seeking to carefully understand and respect issues like the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system that China may be correctly sensitive to. "Korea should help the U.S. to understand that its interests in the region and even in the world are best served by having a respectful and harmonious relationship with China, while avoiding the fostering of a new source of potential conflict by blindly encouraging the remilitarization of Japan," he said. In Rooney's view, the U.S. presence in Korea is vital, so Seoul needs to keep Washington engaged but not at the expense of antagonizing Beijing through inappropriate access to China's proximity for either the U.S. or Japan through initiatives like THAAD. "All the focus tends to be on North Korea and this drives dangerous compromises like the introduction of THAAD which China is rightly concerned about because it potentially gives both the U.S. and Japan new ways to look into a local neighborhood," he said. Rooney, who is an international finance professor at Sogang University and founder of Apogee Partners, a global investment company, said that President Trump and his aggressive policies won't change the tectonic shift of global gravity toward China. "If you believe that Trump may release American businesses from some of the shackles of unnecessary regulations and an overreaching tax environment, then maybe we will see a renaissance of American industry and products in the world," he said. "But either way, the U.S. is ultimately destined to play second fiddle in the world economy of the future, just like Britain was transformed during the last century," he added. According to him, China is no longer the low-cost labor factory for the world but increasingly becoming its largest consumer market with an economic potential four times greater than the U.S. today. "In my view, all of these things and many more make China an interesting and increasingly valuable player in the world economy," he said. Rooney also said that Korea should be most concerned about Japan because there is a high possibility of its remilitarization. "All parties should wish to avoid the remilitarization of Japan but it is happening," he said. "We should remember that Japan has been the military antagonist in the region for over 500 years and in my view the fundamentals behind that have not changed." In order to survive in this rapidly changing environment, Rooney said that the most urgent thing for Korea is a strong leadership. "South Korea will be a small sideshow in the context of this larger tectonic shift, and with the current lack of political and economic leadership in Korea the consequences are more likely to be self-inflicted rather than caused by deliberate actions on the part of anybody else," he said. By Rachel Lee The U.S. government has asked the Ministry of Justice to arrest former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's brother on bribery charges another serious blow to Ban who is seeking the Korean presidency. His younger brother Ban Ki-sang and his nephew Bahn Joo-hyun are accused of attempting to give a $500,000 bribe to a high-ranking government official in Qatar in return for business favors. But the money did not reach the Qatari government official as they intended because Malcolm Harris, a broker who worked with them, pocketed the money for himself, according to the U.S. government. While the ministry is in talks with the U.S. regarding the two suspects, who were indicted in New York in October, lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties are calling for clarification of the situation from Ban Ki-moon. The ruling Saenuri Party's spokesman Jeong Yong-ki said the U.S. government's request to arrest Ban Ki-moon's brother was a "national disgrace." "Ban Ki-moon could feel wrongly accused because it's a family matter, but at least he should try explaining the situation to give the people of the country a better understanding instead of just saying he knows nothing," Jeong said. Kim Hyo-eun, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) deputy spokeswoman, criticized the former U.N. Secretary-General for raising suspicions before starting to present his vision as one of the country's leading president hopefuls, calling for his explanation for scandals surrounding his family as well as himself. "It would still be a problem even if he honestly knew nothing about the case, but if he knew and neglected it, there is no more hope for him as a candidate for presidency." Lawmakers are also demanding an explanation from the former U.N. Secretary-General on his private meeting with the late Korean construction firm Keangnam Enterprises Chairman Sung Woan-jong at the Lotte Hotel Seoul in August, 2013, at the time when Bahn and Ban Ki-sang were committing the alleged offence. The day before the private meeting, the two also met again at the Chungcheong Forum a network of politicians, public officials and journalists from the Chungcheong region founded by Sung in 2000. Sung, a former lawmaker used the forum as a tool to cultivate ties with influential figures to advance his business and political interests. Ban Ki-sang joined the Korean construction firm Keangnam Enterprises in 2008, reportedly using Ban Ki-moon's close ties with the late company chairman. Ban Ki-sang then arranged for the company to hire his son as a broker in 2013 to sell the company's building complex, Landmark 72, in Hanoi, Vietnam. Ban Ki-moon himself is facing allegations that he received bribes worth $230,000 (280 million won) from Park Yeon-cha, an entrepreneur who was at the center of a bribery scandal involving former President Roh Moo-hyun and his aides. Ban, who served as Korea's foreign minister between 2004 and 2006, strongly denied the allegations. Georgian Ambassador to Korea Nikoloz Apkhazava, left, poses with Professor Cho Ju-kwan at an award ceremony at the embassy in Seoul on Jan. 19. Cho, a professor of Russian language and literature at Yonsei University, translated the Georgian epic "The Knight in the Tiger's Skin" over 10 years and received the "Order of Honor" from Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili. / Courtesy of the Embassy of Georgia By Rachel Lee Georgia, known as the "cradle of wine," has introduced its UNESCO World Heritage literature masterpiece that had influenced many Russian writers. Shota Rustaveli's epic work "The Knight in the Tiger's Skin" from the 12th century is yet widely known in Korea, but once reading it, Koreans would find the storyline familiar, as in the television series "Descendants of the Sun," Professor Cho Ju-kwan told The Korea Times. "The Knight in the Tiger's Skin," with fictional settings of India and Arabia, is about two heroes' friendship and love. Cho translated the Georgian epic over 10 years and received the "Order of Honor" from the President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili. Cho is a professor of Russian language and literature at Yonsei University. At an award ceremony at the Georgian Embassy in Seoul on Jan. 19, Ambassador Nikoloz Apkhazava expressed gratitude to Cho for his 10 years spent translating the epic. The ambassador said he hoped more Georgian literature would be introduced in Korea. The professor began his translation work 10 years ago when he was attending an international symposium hosted by the Gorki World Literature Research Institute in Russia. Some researchers recommended that Cho should translate the Georgian masterpiece, and to produce the 600-page work, he used the Russian version of the epic "Shota Rustaveli. Vitaz'v Tigrovoi Shkure." "I think Shota Rustaveli's epic is one of the best in the world," the professor said. "His epic is sometimes compared to Homer's work." He said one of the strong characteristics in Georgian literature was religious freedom. "The story is about India and Arabia, which have different religious backgrounds," he said. "Having the two as protagonists, it reveals that Georgia has no religious bias." "I think Russian writers had a special yearning for Georgia. Those in 19th century such as Pushkin and Lermontov set their pieces in Georgia." Cho has translated 30 Russian literary works. Cho said he hoped more Koreans would get a better understanding about Georgia through the book. "Most Korean readers are quite ignorant about Georgia and its literature," the professor said. He added that he was "satisfied" and eager to promote Georgian literature here. Georgia, with a history of more than 8,000 years, has gained huge popularity with its fine wine products around the world including in Korea, one of the country's targeted markets, along with China, Israel and Canada. During the first 10 months of last year, Georgian winemakers experienced a 37 percent increase in exports to Korea compared with the same time in 2015. More than half a million people turned out Saturday morning in downtown L.A. for the Womens March Los Angeles, which drew celebrity speakers including Miley Cyrus, Jane Fonda, Barbra Streisand and Natalie Portman. The Los Angeles Times said that by afternoon it appeared to be as large as the 2006 immigration rights march that was one of L.A.s biggest demonstrations ever. The Womens March organizers put the crowd at a massive 750,000 marchers. Public transportation became overwhelmed as many people waited hours to get on Metro trains and buses, and restaurants were jam-packed. The Womens Marches held in Washington, D.C., New York, Park City and around the world totaled several million people. Speakers and performers at stages in Pershing Square and at City Hall also included mayor Eric Garcetti, Laverne Cox, Kerry Washington, Juliette Lewis, and Lily Tomlin, with Rufus Wainwright singing Hallelujah. Kesha, Mandy Moore, Jessica Biel, Vanessa Hudgens, Marcia Gay Harden, Jodie Sweetin, and Helen Hunt were also there to show their support. Today we speak out, but tomorrow we act out, mayor Garcetti told the crowd. Actress Alexandra Paul said she preferred to be in the street with the marchers rather than sequestered in the VIP area. Im here to support the progressive agenda, she said. Instagram Photo On Friday, just after Donald Trumps inauguration, a smaller demonstration took place near L.A. Live, but the pleasant weather and Saturday timing gave a much bigger boost to the Womens March. Most marchers were far away from the stages and many werent able to follow the designated route, instead branching out onto side streets and turning surrounding areas such as Grand Park into a giant block party. Many participants got creative with signs festooned with clever ripostes, knitted pink pussy hats, and costumes, such as a group of Game of Thrones themed protesters. The Writers Guild of America, West was among organizations handing out customizable Womens March signs. Despite the massive size, the march appeared to be peaceful with no incidents reported. Story continues Related stories Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton to Present Lily Tomlin With SAG Life Achievement Award Natalie Portman Reveals Male Co-Star Was Paid Three Times More Than Her Watch Exclusive Featurette for Natalie Portman's 'Jackie' Vietnamese Ambassador to Korea Pham Huu Chi, left, speaks at a conference, which was organized by the Woongjin Foundation to mark the ninth anniversary of the multicultural foundation's radio station, on Dec. 21, 2016. /Courtesy of the the Woongjin Foundation By Rachel Lee The Woongjin Foundation recently held a conference with four ambassadors to Seoul to mark the ninth anniversary of the multicultural foundation's radio station. Thailand Ambassador Sarun Charoensuwan, Mongolian Ambassador Baasanjav Ganbold, Vietnamese Ambassador Pham Huu Chi and Philippines Ambassador Raul Hernandez talked about the lives of residents from each country. The meeting was organized to help multicultural families, laborers and migrant women to settle well in Korea. "There are lots of multicultural families, migrant wives and laborers who are adjusting to life in Korea," said Sohn Wie-soo, senior adviser to the Woongjin Foundation. "Our music broadcast serves these people as they deal with loneliness and other challenges. "Using two channels, we air traditional and modern music from eight countries every four hours." There are also Korean language classes, and programs offering community and embassy information. "In particular, the music broadcast aims to nurture the children of multicultural families to become versatile in Korean and the language of their mothers or fathers, so that they become next-generation multilingual leaders," Sohn said. The four envoys said the lives of immigrants in Korea had been not easy. During the conference, Charoensuwan said he was impressed by Koreans' honesty when he lost his wallet on the day he arrived a year ago, the wallet was delivered to his office the same day. "I believe Koreans' diligence and patience are the driving forces behind the country's development that people around the world wish to have," he said. The Vietnamese ambassador pointed out that many Vietnamese residents in Korea found it difficult to live here as immigrant wives and felt lonely. Ganbold said, "This music program, broadcast in Mongolian, makes Mongolian residents feel at home." By Rachel Lee Korea and Indonesia discussed ways to develop a "smart" city during a three-day workshop in Jakarta organized by the ASEAN-Korea Centre. The "Seminar for Investment Promotion on Smart City," co-hosted by the Indonesia Investment Promotion Center (BKPM), invited Korean experts to Indonesia to explore investment opportunities in smart city-related projects and share their expertise, on Jan. 16-18. "The fastest-growing cities in Indonesia are feeling the strain of rapid population growth, which had led to traffic congestion, pollution and other urban issues," ASEAN-Korea Centre Secretary General Kim Young-sun said. "In particular, there is a growing need in the fastest-growing middleweight' cities of the nation for urban development in a more effective and sustainable way." BKPM Deputy Chairperson for Investment Climate Development Farah Ratnadewi Indriani and Korean Ambassador to Indonesia Cho Tai-young attended the meeting. Officials from the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement and the provincial governments of East Java, Surabaya, and Malang discussed smart city-related projects, followed by one-on-one business meetings with government officials and private partners from the infrastructure and ICT sectors. During the trip, the Korean delegation had a change to look around Bandung, Indonesia's third-largest city with a population of 2.5 million. "The city government has put special emphasis on smart-city development, and the government delegation of the city visited Sejong City of Korea for a benchmark of U-CITY, or Ubiquitous City, in 2015," an organization spokesperson said. "I hope this mission program will offer a platform for Korean private sectors not only to take part in the smart city-related projects in Indonesia, but also to contribute towards sustainable development of Indonesia by sharing good practices and experience on smart-city development." According to the organization, the ASEAN region's population is expected to increase by at least 16 percent by 2025. "As the population trend demonstrates the need for smart-city development to address urban issues and accelerate growth in a sustainable way, the ASEAN-Korea Centre carries out programs aiming to share expertise and experience of Korea, thus to contribute towards sustainable development of the region," the spokesperson said. The ASEAN-Korea Centre is an intergovernmental organization established in 2009 to promote exchanges between Korea and the 10 ASEAN member states. By Chung Hyun-chae Controversy has risen over educating students about homosexuality at schools, following the education ministry's refusal to include the topic in new guidelines for sex education. According to Yonhap News Agency, the Ministry of Education's new guidelines and a teacher's manual for sex education to be distributed in March will have no mention of homosexuality. The educator's reasoning is this: Social consensus is necessary to include homosexuality because there are opposing opinions lingering on this issue. Also, "We view it's too early to teach children younger than 20 about homosexuality," according to a ministry official. This is not the first time. The same thing happened in 2015, drawing a huge backlash from civic groups. "Adolescents, who are most impressionable, need to receive comprehensive sex education including homosexuality to accept gender identity naturally," the secretary general of the Solidarity for LGBT Human Rights of Korea, said during an interview with Yonhap News Agency. The secretary general also said the group plans to launch a campaign to scrap the education ministry's sex education guidelines. The group condemned the decision for violating basic human rights. Meanwhile, parent groups welcomed the ministry's decision. One group called Next Generation said Saturday, "It is quite natural that the education ministry decided not to provide education promoting homosexuality for the future of our sons and daughter." The education ministry explained that even though the guidelines did not include homosexuality, teachers can answer related questions from students and have discussions on it during classes. "The schools have already been providing education on the understanding of gay rights in social studies," the ministry official said. The educator's move runs counter to a slowly growing awareness about homosexuality in Korea. Homosexuals are still suffering hard from discrimination as homosexuality is a strong taboo here; however, more people are coming forward seeking social acceptance, as the annual "Queer Festival" demonstrates. Former presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon, left, and former Culture Minister Cho Yoon-sun are taken into the special prosecutor's office in southern Seoul, Sunday, with their hands cuffed. / Yonhap Two of Park's close aides grilled again By Jung Min-ho Special investigators are building a new case against President Park Geun-hye, who is suspected of being the mastermind behind blacklisting thousands of artists deemed unfriendly to her administration. Two of her close aides former presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon and former Culture Minister Cho Yoon-sun were questioned again, Sunday, over their alleged roles in drawing up the blacklist of nearly 10,000 artists in 2014. This move came a day after the two were arrested over the allegation. The investigation, led by special prosecutor Park Young-soo, is obviously moving toward the President the only person who could give them such orders. After looking more into Kim and Cho, who played key roles in her government, investigators will prepare for face-to-face questioning of President Park in early February. Investigators are reportedly planning to request a search warrant for Cheong Wa Dae, which has repeatedly refused to cooperate with the investigation into the major influence-peddling scandal involving the President and her confidant Choi Soon-sil. The daily Joongang Ilbo reported Saturday that President Park ordered Kim to create the list in May 2014, citing sources from the investigation team. Cho, who started to work with him at Cheong Wa Dae the following month as a senior presidential secretary for political affairs, played a leading role in managing it, according to the paper. Park's lawyers, however, denied the report, threatening to take legal action against the newspaper. Kim and Cho, who were taken into the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, after a Seoul court issued arrest warrants for them Sunday, appeared at the investigation team's office in Seoul at around 2:20 p.m. Neither of them responded to the barrage of questions from reporters. Investigators are looking into whether the two made the decision over the list or just carried out the President's orders to make it. Investigators are also looking into Cho and Kim's alleged abuse of power, as they are suspected of having forced out three government officials who were against drawing up the list. The list was allegedly used to screen out artists for government subsidies, and is believed to include novelist Han Kang, the winner of the Man Booker International Prize last year for an English translation of her novel; and movie director Park Chan-wook, who won the grand prize at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Seven media outlets are also known to be included. Many people have criticized the list as a breach of the Constitution that guarantees freedom of speech. Kim and Cho also face charges of perjury after they claimed that they were not involved in making or managing the list during parliamentary hearings. Cho, 50, who served key government posts under the Park administration, became the first sitting minister ever to be arrested. She immediately offered to resign, and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn accepted it within a few hours. Three high-ranking government officials former Culture Minister Kim Jong-deok, former Vice Culture Minister Chung Kwan-joo and Shin Dong-cheol who worked closely with Cho at Cheong Wa Dae have been arrested because of their part in creating the blacklist. Seongnam mayor will also join race today By Choi Ha-young An Hee-jung South Chungcheong Province Governor An Hee-jung announced his bid for the presidency Sunday, saying he will participate in the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) primary. Following An, Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung, also a member of the DPK, plans to declare his bid today at a factory where he worked in his teens. "What we need is young leadership," An said at a theater in Hyehwa-dong, northern Seoul, with the slogan, "Time for change." He put forward a balance of power, pledging to give the majority party the right to nominate the prime minister, if elected. An said Korea needs a new governance system in which the president should lead foreign affairs while the prime minister takes the initiative in domestic affairs. He also pledged to reinvigorate inter-Korean talks based on close cooperation with China and Japan. An had a question-and-answer session with around 200 citizens who attended the event. He was mainly questioned about his stance on a U.S. anti-missile system deployment and the court's refusal of an arrest warrant for Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong. He said, "It's difficult to overturn the previous administration's decision through negotiations." While other opposition hopefuls including leading candidate Moon Jae-in criticized the court, An said he respects its decision. In response to An's declaration, Moon, who also worked for ex-President Roh Moo-hyun, said, "I am looking forward to a great primary in the party." Today, Mayor Lee will emphasize his hard life as a factory worker before becoming a lawyer, at his official declaration at a watch factory in Seongnam. "Lee's message will touch on an equal economic system that respects labor and equality without injustice," one of his aides told reporters. Recently, he has been visiting various parts of the country, emphasizing the importance of a self-governing system, his core achievement in Seongnam. Despite their active moves, the two candidates' support rates have been stagnant. An stood at 4 percent according to a poll by Realmeter released Thursday. Lee stood at 9 percent, a decrease of 2.7 percentage points compared to a week ago. Moon extended his lead, followed by former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. This week, conservative candidates are scheduled to declare their presidential bids. Gyeonggi Governor Nam Kyung-pil of the Bareun Party will join the race Wednesday; while Rep. Yoo Seong-min, also from the Bareun Party, will do so the following day. By Choi Ha-young The ruling Saenuri Party is considering changing its name in an effort to reshape its image tainted with a corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye, party officials said Sunday. New party colors and logo will also be adopted if the name is changed. The party adopted its name five years ago. It was previously the Grand National Party. After In Myung-jin joined the party as an interim leader, he has tried to oust loyalists of impeached President Park, to regain public trust. Opposition parties criticized any plan to rename the party. "It will never deceive citizens by changing its name and color," the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea said in a statement, Friday. "Rather than changing its name, the party should disband," said Rep. Chang Je-won, spokesman for the breakaway Bareun Party. The Saenuri Party's ethics committee suspended membership of two leading pro-Park lawmakers Suh Chung-won and Choi Kyung-hwan for three years each, Friday, citing their responsibility for the party's division. Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun's membership was suspended for a year. However, the three politicians said they would file a lawsuit. The party withheld punishment for President Park, who is at the center of the influence-peddling scandal involving her confidant Choi Soon-sil. EXO's fan meeting at Hanyang University's gymnasium in Seoul, Saturday. / Courtesy of Nature Republic By Park Si-soo K-pop icon EXO members have revealed how they keep their faces unblemished amid grueling schedules. "The two most important things are soothing and moisturizing," said Baekhyun at a fan meeting in Seoul on Saturday. "No matter how busy I am, I never miss doing these two things after removing makeup." Chanyeol echoed the view and underscored the importance of cleansing. "The two are important for sure," said the boy band member. "But the very first thing to do is washing off the makeup. "If you do the three properly, you will be able to keep your face clean and unblemished." / Courtesy of Nature Republic The fan meeting named "Green Nature 2017 EXO Fan Festival" was held at Hanyang University's gymnasium in Seoul, which was packed with 6,000 EXO fans, mostly young women. South Korean cosmetics brand Nature Republic hosted the event, which was streamed live on the company's Chinese website. An estimated 120,000 people watched the event on the website, reflecting the band's popularity in China. EXO has been the cosmetics brand's commercial model since 2013. The two-hour event started with the band's hit song "Monster." The band excited the crowd with six songs and synchronized dance moves, as did entertaining events hosted by popular comedian Yang Se-hyung. "I believe the event helped bolster intimacy with local customers and promote the brand to overseas people interested in K-beauty," said Seo Jin-kyeong, Nature Republic's public relations manager. A computer graphic image of POSCO Daewoo's rice processing complex in Myanmar / Courtesy of POSCO Daewoo By Jhoo Dong-chan POSCO Daewoo is launching an agribusiness venture in Myanmar as the company's future growth engine. According to a POSCO Daewoo official, Sunday, Korea's largest trading affiliate under POSCO group has secured construction and investment approval from the Myanmar government to build a rice processing complex (RPC) in Twante, the most accessible delta town from Yangon to reach the Irrawaddy growing region. The RPC is expected to be an all-in-one facility to dry, store, polish and test rice after harvesting. Acquiring the government's approval, POSCO Daewoo is expected to build the facility with annual rice processing capacity of 10,000 tons. A POSCO Daewoo official said it will complete construction of the facilities by 2018, aiming to become not only a rice producer but also a trader to export it to the Middle East, Africa, China and Russia. "Myanmar's investment and construction approval for the RPC facilities will allow POSCO Daewoo to secure not only infrastructure for rice production but also a global distribution network for our future operations," he said. "It will be a milestone in achieving the company's future goal to become a global grain trader with annual trading size of 10 million ton." As a part of the company's efforts to secure infrastructure for a global distribution network, POSCO Daewoo established a palm plantation in Indonesia in 2011 to launch palm oil production and export it by the end of this year while securing storage and shipping infrastructure at major ports around the world. Having put its utmost efforts into diversifying its business portfolio amid sluggish overseas trade and low commodity prices, POSCO Daewoo was selected as a preferred bidder for a natural gas-fired power plant in Myanmar in July. Since 2013, the company has also been producing natural gas in waters off the northwestern coast of the country, most of which is sold to China. By Myint Zan The 9th Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Gutteres began his first term, effective 1, January, 2017. All the eight U.N. Secretaries-Generals who have been chief administrative officers of the United Nations served at most no more than two terms (exactly ten years) in that post. The late U Thant of Burma as it was then called was the partial exception in that he was "acting" secretary-general from November, 3, 1961, to 30, November, 1962, and from then until December, 31, 1971, as secretary-general (a total of 10 years and seven weeks). The third Secretary-General U Thant had announced on 23, January, 1971, that "under no circumstances whatever" would he serve a third term. In September 1971 at a news conference U Thant was asked whether he would serve for a few more months beyond December, 31, 1971, if no suitable candidate is found. U Thant, in effect, said 'No'. On Dec. 21, 1971 ten days before U Thant's tenure was scheduled to end the late Kurt Waldheim of Austria was elected as secretary-general on his 53rd birthday. In a farewell to the United Nations General Assembly U Thant stated that he felt a sense of great relief bordering on liberation in laying down the burdens of office. The New York Times in its December, 29, 1971, editorial under the title "The Liberation of U Thant" praised him and the last sentence was "The wise counsel of this dedicated man of peace would still be needed after his retirement." Now, the eighth U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has ended his two terms on December, 31, 2016. Ban, like all secretaries-general who retire (or resign from office in the case of the first UN Secretary-General Trygve Lie), received a standing ovation after his farewell address at a meeting with the UN General Assembly. But former Nazi Kurt Waldheim who had lied about his Nazi past and who in stark contrast to his predecessor "unashamedly" campaigned for the top U.N. post for a third term, wrote in his memoirs that he got a standing ovation when he was (also) forced to retire as U.N. Secretary-General. Boutros-Ghali (the only U.N. leader not to be elected for a second term) also mentioned his standing ovation. One more comparison between the third and fourth U.N. Secretaries-General can be made. The People's Republic of China vetoed Waldheim's candidacy 16 times in 1981 before he was forced to withdraw. I recall reading an article in Time magazine that ten years earlier in about October 1971 the year the U.N. General Assembly expelled Taiwan and admitted the People's Republic of China into the United Nations the credentials of the new Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations had to be presented to U Thant at a hospital in New York where the U Thant categorically and consistently declined to serve a third-term. Unlike Waldheim in 1981 and Boutros-Ghali in 1996, all the veto-wielding major powers were willing to approve U Thant for a third term as U.N. Secretary-General. In his memoir "Pilgrimage for Peace: A Secretary-General's Memoir" the now 96-year-old fifth U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez De Cuellar of Peru was perhaps the only other candidate who was asked to but declined to serve a third term. U Thant wrote in his memoirs about his "liberation" when ten days before his tenure ended the U.N. found its successor and I quote from memory "I closed my eyes and meditated. I prayed for the success of Mr. Waldheim and the United Nations." Ban and those interested in U.N. affairs would also wish the ninth UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres well and pray for his success and that of the United Nations. Myint Zan has taught in law schools and Faculties in Malaysia, Australia, and the South Pacific and until recently as a professor in the Faculty of Law, Multimedia University, Malacca, Malaysia. He currently resides in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma). Write to myintzan@yahoo.com.au. By Andrei Lankov The election of Donald Trump who, in spite of his hard-living tendencies, has been talking about meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for hamburgers, led to an increase in talks about a deal between Pyongyang and Washington. Nonetheless, as somebody who has dealt with North Korea for some 30 years, I have a rather pessimistic, if realistic, answer to the perennial question: "What could bring about a solution to the North Korean nuclear problem?" My answer is simple: If by solution' one means complete denuclearization of North Korea,' nothing short of a military strike or a revolution in Pyongyang. Decades of experience has demonstrated neither sanctions nor negotiations will work. Both have been tried, and both failed, in rather spectacular fashion. North Korean decision makers see nuclear weapons as their only security guarantee, an absolute deterrent, an infallible defense against would-be attackers. It means not only insulation from a foreign attack, but also increases the chances of surviving a major domestic crisis. The assumption is that nuclear weapons afford the Kim family and their supporters the opportunity to deal with a local rebellion, should it happen, in a harsh way, without bothering with nonsense such as no-fly-zones' and the like. Recent events have demonstrated to Pyongyang that nuclear weapons are, indeed, the only guarantee of regime security. Muammar Gaddafi was the only strongman in recent history who agreed to swap his country's nuclear weapons program for promises of economic advantages and got killed because he was too credulous. North Korea believes Western powers would have been less likely to support the local anti-Gaddafi forces had he maintained his arsenal. Without foreign assistance it's less clear if the rebels would have been victorious. Thus, the North Korean leadership believes nuclear deterrence is the only thing that might keep them in power and alive. They are not going to do what Gaddafi did, partially because they do not believe Western promises anyway, and partially because the economic growth and well-being of the population is much lower on their agenda than regime survival. But is it possible, as many argue today, to use sanctions to create discontent among the elite or general population, thus forcing denuclearization of Kim Jong-un's regime? Unfortunately, this is an unrealistic expectation that does not reflect the realities on the ground. Firstly, there is no chance that economic difficulties, present or future, will spark elite discontent. It is true that most dictators have to buy the loyalty of their henchmen and thus need capital. However, North Korea is different. The North Korean generals and apparatchiks, no doubt, appreciate a Mercedes and a good bottle of cognac, but, unlike their peers in other dictatorships, they also know they are cornered. It is the presence of a very rich South Korea that makes the difference. If stability is threatened in North Korea and the country goes down in flames, it is likely to mean the absorption of the North by the South. For the North Korean elite this means the loss of all power and, perhaps, freedom. Only excruciating sanctions, strong enough to bring down the economy, have some chance to succeed. However, China will not allow it to happen, since Beijing is more afraid of North Korea's collapse and Korean unification than of North Korea's nuclear ambitions. Sanctions without Chinese acquiescence become mostly impotent. Further, even in the event of crisis, the North Korean elites will stubbornly cling to their nuclear program on the assumption that denuclearization will merely postpone a revolution for a few years, while a nuclear arsenal will give them an opportunity to survive the challenge. We are left with a pessimistic conclusion: nothing will work, at least in the short term. Of course, in a democratic country every new administration will have to repeat the same song and dance: sanctions on one end, negotiations on the other, and various moves in between. History leaves little doubt, though, that these attempts will end in failure. Partial and imperfect solutions are possible like, say, a negotiated freeze of North Korea's nuclear program. However, North Korea will remain nuclear as long as the Kim family stays in power, which might mean a few more years, or a few more decades. Andrei Lankov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and teaches at Kookmin University in Seoul. Reach him at anlankov@yahoo.com. Samsung Electronics is set to announce the results of its investigation this week into what caused the Galaxy Note 7 smartphones to overheat and catch fire, company officials said Sunday. Details of the results due Monday were not known. However, a failure in the inspection and measurement of the batteries used in the Note 7 is believed to have caused the problem, despite the Note 7's ambitious design with advanced features, such as an iris scanner and curved display. Samsung decided to discontinue the Note 7 in October last year after recalling millions of the devices worldwide over safety concerns. Koh Dong-jin, head of Samsung's smartphone business division, will announce the results of its probe into the Note 7, a company official said. Samsung Electronics suffered a 30 percent plunge in its third-quarter operating profit, mainly hit by the discontinuation of the Galaxy Note 7. Its operating profit for the July-September quarter stood at 5.2 trillion won ($4.6 billion), compared with a profit of 7.3 trillion won a year ago. Compared with a quarter earlier, Samsung's operating profit plunged 36.1 percent. But its fourth-quarter bottom line is expected to have improved sharply on higher chip prices. Samsung Electronics earlier estimated that its fourth-quarter operating profit last year may have jumped about 50 percent on-year, beating market expectations as strong sales of chips and displays appeared to help offset losses from the production halt of the phablet. Operating profit is estimated at 9.2 trillion won in the October-December period last year, up 49.84 percent from the same quarter of 2015. Samsung Electronics is set to report its finalized tally of the fourth-quarter earnings Tuesday. (Yonhap) By Lee Min-hyung Samsung Electronics has filed a compensation suit against three Japanese liquid crystal diode (LCD) panel manufacturers, in response to their decision to halt supplies to the company, according to Japanese media and industry sources here, Sunday. The companies include Sharp and Kuroda Electric. Following their decision, the Seoul-based technology giant last week filed an arbitration request with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in New York to seek $429 million (504.5 billion won) in damages, according to multiple reports from Japan. Last September, Sharp signed a contract with Samsung to supply 6 million LCD TV panels to the Seoul-based company this year. The compensation suit comes a month after Sharp, which was acquired by Taiwan-based electronics supplier Hon Hai, decided to stop supplying LCD panels to Samsung, in an apparent move to revive Sharp's sagging TV business and take advantage of increasing demand for the panels. This may not cause significant damage to Samsung because Sharp's panels make up less than 10 percent of Samsung's TV products. But the unexpected contract withdrawal may leave Samsung in a dilemma, with Hon Hai expressing confidence in expanding its TV business in Southeast Asia including China. "Nothing official can be confirmed over the issue," said a Samsung Electronics official, declining to comment further. For the time being, Samsung is expected to fill the void from LG Display. The two Seoul-based firms are reportedly in advanced talks to finalize a contract, but both parties refused to confirm the move, citing the terms of the deal. Sharp's latest move comes amid soaring demand for LCD TV panels. Due to the strong panel demand, Samsung Electronics is not seen as a core profit booster for Sharp. In addition, with Hon Hai showing signs of launching a new TV brand soon, the relationship between Samsung and Sharp has not been on good terms in recent months. In September, Samsung Electronics sold its 0.7 percent stake, or 358 million shares, in Sharp. At that time, Samsung dispelled rumors that the move came amid an uncertain business partnership, and said the decision had nothing to do with LCD supplies from the panel manufacturer. But the latest lawsuit appears to show otherwise. The Taiwan-based firm, also known as Apple's core customer for its iPhone series, purchased a 66 percent share in Sharp last year to become the largest shareholder in the struggling Japanese technology firm, in a bid to develop its own TV brand backed by the latter's expertise as a decades-long TV manufacturer. Sharp previously unveiled a plan to double its LCD TV sales to 10 million in 2018. A joint venture between Hon Hai and Sharp is also considering building an LCD panel facility in China with an investment of about $8.8 billion. By Lee Hyo-sik Hyundai Motor Group vice chairman Chung Eui-sun met government officials, politicians and business leaders from around the world at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, company officials said Friday. The heir to Korea's largest automaker exchanged opinions with CEOs of other global carmakers about self-driving vehicles and other key issues in the automobile industry. Chung attended the annual forum on Jan. 17-20 for the first time in three years. Among other issues, the vice chairman showed keen interest in a session dealing with autonomous mobility, a company official said, adding that the global self-driving car market would expand rapidly over the next decade. On Jan. 5, Chung gave a media presentation about Hyundai Motor's Ioniq autonomous sedan at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. He also rode in the car with his hands off the steering wheel in downtown Las Vegas, drinking coffee and reading. "In Davos, Chung was busy meeting with business leaders and attending various seminars covering the future of the car industry," the official said. "The vice chairman will be better informed of the latest industry trends. Attending the WEF will definitely help him draw up a blueprint for the company." Chung is one of a few top Korean business leaders taking part in the annual economic forum. Many skipped it due to the accelerating corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and some large business groups, including Samsung, SK and Lotte. LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian police detained a former government official accused of taking bribes from Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht in exchange for a contract to build the Lima metro, prosecutors said on Saturday. Edwin Luyo, who led a committee to auction off the Metro in 2009 when Alan Garcia was President, was identified thanks to information obtained from Odebrecht as part of a preliminary leniency deal, Peru's prosecutors' office said on Twitter. The detention, the first involving Odebrecht in Peru, occurred on Friday night after a police operation that also raided the home of Garcia's former vice minister of communications Jorge Cuba, who was not found, the prosecutors' office said. A spokeswoman said the detention was preliminary and Luyo would be released on Saturday night unless prosecutors requested and received more time from a judge. Odebrecht, the largest construction firm in Latin America, admitted to paying bribes in 12 countries, including $29 million in Peru over the course of three presidencies, as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice last month. While it is under investigation in other countries, the case is more advanced in Peru than anywhere outside of Brazil. Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczysnki has said Odebrecht should pay at least 90 million soles (22 million) to settle in Peru. Odebrecht paid $7 million (5.6 million) to win a contract for Line 1 of Lima's Metro, which started operating in 2011, according to Hamilton Castro, the lead Peruvian prosecutor on the case. The Brazilian Supreme Course Justice presiding over the case that has seen dozens of high-profile executives and politicians arrested in Brazil, died in a plane crash on Thursday, just weeks before he was due to unveil explosive testimony from Odebrecht executives. (Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Caroline Stauffer, Editing by Franklin Paul) Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner wants reform, and it doesn't stop with closing a controversial campaign finance loophole, more state contracting oversight and modernizing New York's electoral system. Miner, a Democrat, traveled to Syracuse last week to help Common Cause New York, a good government group, roll out its 2017 reform agenda. She was joined by Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, and former congressional and 2014 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Zephyr Teachout. The first item on the agenda closing the LLC loophole isn't a new issue for Miner. In late 2015, she announced her campaign would no longer accept donations from LLCs. The voluntary action garnered attention, mainly due to the state's failure to close the loophole and limit LLC contributions. Miner believes the LLC loophole has a harmful effect on the electoral process. "I think what you have with LLCs is you deliberately hide the entity giving from the public so that you can't connect the public policy that they're advocating with the donor, and that's just wrong," she said. Closing the LLC loophole, Miner said, will provide much-needed transparency. She added that the public will "in turn feel like that they can follow the money." Miner saved her strongest critiques for the state's economic development programs. When asked about the need for state contracting reforms, Miner first addressed New York's economic development initiatives, which she said aren't working for upstate New York. "The data shows that jobs are not being created and they're not having the kind of impact that was promised to the public by state leadership," she said. "Secondarily related to that, we're seeing that millions of taxpayer dollars are going into the pockets of a few wealthy developers who make campaign contributions." A high-profile corruption case being prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara focuses on among other figures alleged bid rigging and bribery by two executives at Cor Development, a Syracuse-area company. Cor has been awarded several state contracts in the past The company's executives accused of wrongdoing, Steven Aiello and Joseph Gerardi, have donated thousands to Cuomo since the governor's first successful gubernatorial campaign in 2010. (Aiello and Gerardi also donated to Miner's campaign in the past.) For Miner, the corruption cases involving state projects show that checks and balances are needed to ensure taxpayer dollars aren't misappropriated. "Adding more transparency, adding the ability to make sure that the contract awards can stand the light of day will make sure that we get better public policy and that our very precious taxpayer dollars will be spent appropriately on good public policy that will benefit the citizens of our state," she said. Miner also took a swipe at one of Cuomo's signature initiatives the regional economic development councils. The governor established the councils in 2011 his first year in office to boost economic growth in 10 regions of the state. The program, Miner said, is not working. "We've had promises of huge job creation very glitzy press releases and press events," she said. "But what we haven't seen is actual jobs being created, actual economic development happening. In many ways, it seems like the REDC announcements are for developers who give campaign contributions and for politicians who are seeking campaign contributions." Instead of the regional councils, Miner reiterated her support for investments in infrastructure. She said investments in infrastructure, including rebuilding bridges and roads and providing broadband access, would boost the economy. On the last plank of the Common Cause agenda modernizing elections Miner said the reforms could help boost New York's lagging voter turnout figures. Common Cause supports allowing early voting, same-day voter registration and electronic voter registration, among other proposals. Most states have some form of early voting. New York does not. "In our modern economy, people need more time and flexibility to vote and limiting it to a certain number of hours on one Tuesday in November just doesn't make sense," Miner said. Miner is in her final year as mayor of Syracuse. She is unable to run for re-election due to term limits. That's led to questions about her future. She's been mum on her future plans. Infrastructure issues are a passion, but how she would parlay that into a new career remains to be seen. A run for higher office has been rumored. Her name was floated for the 24th Congressional District seat in 2016, but she passed on the race. And in previous interviews with other media outlets, she hasn't ruled out running for governor. The extraordinarily nationalistic tone of President Donald Trumps inaugural address on Friday surprised many Americans who are used to hearing presidents use that particular moment to deliver hopeful remarks about a kind of national greatness that extends beyond simple self-interest. However, the bluntness of Trumps America First vision of the countrys relationship with the rest of the world and his call for total allegiance to the country -- presumably the country as he believes it should be -- probably didnt come as much of a shock to people who had been paying close attention to the stump speeches of candidate Trump, or even his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in July. Related: Trump Outlines an America First Agenda in a Dark Inaugural Address The inaugural address would also have sounded quite familiar to other listeners, particularly some on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Trumps vision of a United States turned inward is, in many ways, an echo of calls for more nationalism that can be heard right now from the anti-immigrant hard-right National Front in France. It was on display last year, as advocates of the United Kingdoms exit from the European Union, particularly the UK Independence Party, pressed their case. From the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been relentlessly pressing a renewed Russian nationalism. Indeed, appeals to the preservation of national identities have been heard across Europe for years now, particularly in countries that have seen large inflows of migrants, and they often come with a side order of racism and religious bigotry. So it was no real surprise when, on Saturday, the White House dispensed with the fiction that the president wrote Fridays speech himself, and admitted that the words had been heavily influenced, if not outright written, by a pair of his closest aides. One of them is Trumps chief strategist and senior White House counselor, Steve Bannon, a self-professed economic nationalist. Story continues Related: America First: Full Text of President Trumps Inaugural Address A former Goldman Sachs banker who went on to make a small fortune in movie and television production, Bannon took over the right-wing Breitbart News in 2012. The site became an unabashed supporter of Trumps campaign, which Bannon eventually joined himself last August. (Bannon rejects the accusations that Breitbart has become a forum for not just nationalists, but for white nationalists.) Bannons comments in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter late last year, in which he claimed the economic nationalist mantle, could have been the rough draft of part of Trumps inaugural address. The globalists gutted the American working class and created a middle class in Asia, he told reporter Michael Wolff. The issue now is about Americans looking to not get fed over. If we deliver, we'll get 60 percent of the white vote, and 40 percent of the black and Hispanic vote and we'll govern for 50 years. That's what the Democrats missed. They were talking to these people with companies with a $9 billion market cap employing nine people. It's not reality. They lost sight of what the world is about." Its a vision that Bannon has had consistently for some time. In a lengthy question and answer session delivered to a conference at the Vatican in 2014, Bannon laid out his vision of how the world is being realigned by a new political reality in which national identity plays a central role. Related: 8 Steps Trump Could Take on Day One to Remake the Country Look, we believe strongly that there is a global tea party movement, he said, according to the audio of the event obtained by Buzzfeed. Weve seen that. We were the first group to get in and start reporting on things like UKIP and Front National and other center-right. With all the baggage that those groups bring and trust me, a lot of them bring a lot of baggage, both ethnically and racially but we think that will all be worked through with time. Those remarks bear a striking similarity to Trumps inaugural address in their contempt for a globalist worldview and their call for a return to traditionalism and nationalism. They also help explain the deference that the Trump campaign has shown to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who Bannon referred to as a kleptocrat, even as he acknowledged his success in rallying the Russian people behind him. I think that people, particularly in certain countries, want to see the sovereignty of their country, they want to see nationalism for their country. They dont believe in this kind of pan-European Union, or they dont believe in the centralized government in the United States. Theyd rather see more of a States-based entity that the founders originally set up where freedoms were controlled at the local level. However, we the Judeo-Christian West have to look at what [Putin is] talking about as far as traditionalism goes particularly the sense of where it supports the underpinnings of nationalism and I happen to think that the individual sovereignty of a country is a good thing and a strong thing. I think strong countries and strong nationalist movements in countries make strong neighbors, and that is really the building blocks that built Western Europe and the United States, and I think its what can see us forward. Related: Trumps Blunders on NATO and Russia Make Our European Allies Cringe The fact that the only specific issue of global concern that Trump mentioned in his inaugural address was the fight against the terror group ISIS can be chalked up to Bannon as well. Trump pledged to unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate from the face of the earth. In Bannons worldview, the fight against militant Islam is the single biggest threat -- a war of immense proportions -- that takes precedence over things like Russian aggression. [A]t the end of the day, I think that Putin and his cronies are really a kleptocracy, that are really an imperialist power that wants to expand, he said to the audience in Rome. However, I really believe that in this current environment, where youre facing a potential new caliphate that is very aggressive that is really a situation Im not saying we can put it on a back burner but I think we have to deal with first things first. That tracks very closely with Trumps repeated insistence that the US should look away from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and evidence of massive war crimes in Syria, and focus instead on convincing Putin to assist the US in fighting ISIS. At the earliest stages of the Trump presidency, its impossible to know where the former reality television star who now sits in the Oval Office will take the country. But Fridays inaugural address made it pretty clear who will be giving him the directions. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: The Chairman of Kala Balge Local Government Area of Borno State, Babagana Malarima, has said 236 were killed in the Air Forces accidental bombing of an internally displaced peoples camp in the states northern town of Rann. Malarima, who demanded compensation from the Federal Government, stated that the volume of destruction of lives and property calls for intervention by means of compensation for the survivors. The LGA chairman, during a condolence visit by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, on Friday, described the death as massive. He asked the Federal Government to build roads that would link the community to other parts of the state, saying access to Cameroon was easier than Gamboru Ngala, another Borno town 30 km away. Malarima said, Our problem since this local government was created about 20 years now (is that) we need a road to link this headquarters to other parts of the state. Many people have lost their loved ones and most of them are the breadwinners. About 234 is not a small number. We need to compensate these people; 234 buried by the community. And its even more than this. The report I received from Maiduguri this morning is that two who are in the hospital have also died, therefore we need to be compensated seriously. It was a market day yesterday (Thursday), but it was not like the normal market day. This is a place where our activities are skeletal, but it was at the lowest ebb yesterday. Buratai pleaded with the people, saying he had been meeting with commanding officers to ensure that there was no repeat of the tragic incident. According to the army chief, two days after the tragedy, a group of Boko Haram members launched an attack on Rann, targeting the traumatised civilians and the troops. He said the insurgents were successfully repelled with 15 (Boko Haram) fighters killed and one captured alive with arms and ammunition. Buratai, while displaying the assailants corpses and weapons, added, The intelligence information we got from our partners was that Boko Haram terrorists were moving into this place and the information was that they were already in this place. Its not unconnected because you (Rann residents) saw them coming to attack here. It must be the information that was passed to the air components (pilots) for them to take necessary action, and unfortunately, a mistake happened. It has happened before in other places and we pray it doesnt happen again. Punch Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates President Donald Trump got something of a late start on Friday after an inaugural parade ran late and left marchers trudging past empty bleachers in the rain and dark. But on his way to a trio of inaugural balls, Trump took the time to authorize a flurry of actions signaling his new administrations intention to shake up Washington. From a blanket instruction that all federal agencies should immediately suspend any pending rules or regulations to a vaguely worded executive order instructing those same agencies to relieve the burden imposed on citizens and businesses by the Affordable Care Act, Trumps early moves reflected the breadth and depth of his plan to remake the country in a new image. Related: Trump Outlines an America First Agenda in a Dark Inaugural Address The White House website was completely overhauled, virtually erasing the legacy of Trumps predecessor, former president Barack Obama. Gone were plans to protect the environment and provide assistance to undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children, replaced by promises of increased fossil fuel extraction and border walls. In what many viewed as a rather odd choice, the first clearly stated change in policy from the new administration was the shelving of a plan to lower insurance premiums for low-income homeowners who hold Federal Housing Administration-backed mortgages. The insurance premiums were increased during the housing crisis to reflect the increased risk of borrowers defaulting on mortgage loans, which cost taxpayers $1.7 billion during the Great Recession. With improvements in the economy and a strengthening housing market, the Obama administration had determined that it was time to lower premiums again -- a move that would have saved borrowers roughly $500 per year. The plan was opposed by Republicans, who warned that it could put taxpayers on the hook for a bailout in the event of another housing market crash. On Friday, the Trump administration announced that the premium reduction, set to take effect later this month, had been suspended indefinitely. Story continues Also Friday, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus issued a memo to all federal agencies placing a freeze on new regulatory actions to ensure that the President's appointees or designees have the opportunity to review any new or pending regulations. Related: Trump Again Calls for Rebuilding US Infrastructure in Inaugural Address The move, a common practice for incoming administrations of both parties, instructs agencies to refrain from publishing new rules, and in the case of regulatory actions that have been announced but have not yet taken effect, it instructs agencies to delay their implementation where possible. The memo makes exceptions for emergency measures and rules that have to be completed by statutory deadlines. But it was Trumps executive order on Obamacare that garnered the most attention Friday night, primarily because it was unclear exactly what its impact would be. The order stated that it is the policy of the new administration to seek repeal of the law, but said that in the interim it would look to minimize the unwarranted economic and regulatory burdens associated with it. To that end, Trump ordered all federal agencies to exercise all authority and discretion available to them to waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of any provision or requirement of the Act that would impose a fiscal burden on any State or a cost, fee, tax, penalty, or regulatory burden on individuals, families, healthcare providers, health insurers, patients, recipients of healthcare services, purchasers of health insurance, or makers of medical devices, products, or medications. The broad language of the order suggested that Trump might require federal agencies charged with enforcing elements of the ACA, like the individual mandate requiring every US resident to have a health insurance policy, to stop enforcing them. If that were to happen, experts warned, it could have dire and almost immediate effects on the market for individual health insurance policies, with younger, healthier patients abandoning their coverage, and health insurers reconsidering whether or not to offer policies to a population that has suddenly become older, sicker, and more expensive to cover. Related: America First: Full Text of President Trumps Inaugural Address While Trump did not issue a large number of orders Friday night, there were clear signals that much more is coming. Almost within minutes of Trump taking the oath of office, the official White House website was wiped clean of any trace of former President Obamas policies and populated with many of Trumps key policy objectives. The new 45th president believes the United States has incredible potential and will go on to exceed anything that it has achieved in the past, the website declared. His campaign slogan was Make America Great Again, and that is exactly what he intends to do. The new Trump White House site outlined a series of hardline stands on law enforcement, defense, foreign policy, and trade; renewed Trumps promises to grow the economy through corporate and individual tax cuts and unleash energy production and clean coal technology. Trump pledged to create 25 million new jobs in the coming decade. Related: GOP Governors Voice Alarm About Losing Expanded Medicaid The new administration vowed to rescind Obamas Climate Action Plan aimed at combating global warming while pulling the plug on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement and renegotiate the NAFTA agreement with Canada and Mexico. The Trump White House reiterated its pledge to greatly build up the military, wipe out ISIS and other terrorist groups, increase cyber-security capabilities, build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, develop a state of the art missile defense system against possible attacks by North Korea and Iran, and deport undocumented immigrants who have committed violent crimes. "He is dedicated to enforcing our border laws, ending sanctuary cities, and stemming the tide of lawlessness associated with illegal immigration," the White House website declared. Related: 8 Steps Trump Could Take on Day One to Remake the Country And in further describing Trumps foreign policy ambition, the site reads that "In pursuing a foreign policy based on American interests, we will embrace diplomacy. The world must know that we do not go abroad in search of enemies, that we are always happy when old enemies become friends, and when old friends become allies." Oddly, though, the website is silent about the health care law and Trumps pledge to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Eviscerating President Obamas signature health insurance program was a central issue in Trumps campaign, and he and GOP congressional leaders currently are brainstorming ways to simultaneously repeal key portions of Obamacare and replace them with a more market-oriented system. At the same time, Trump aides yanked a climate change section off the website and declined to replace it except for a fleeting mention of Obamas Climate Action Plan, a series of efforts to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Trump has yet to provide any definitive word on whether the U.S. will continue to abide by the international global warming agreement reached in Paris a year ago. Nor has he disavowed previous assertions that climate change was a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese, although several of his cabinet nominees have acknowledged that climate change is partially man-made and a threat to the globe. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: A former executive at the AFTRA Retirement Fund has been arrested, along with a business vendor, and charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with an alleged false invoicing scheme that cost the health and retirement fund millions of dollars. Enrico Rubano worked as the co-head of information technology for the AFTRA Retirement Fund, which is based in New York. The fund provides retirement benefits to actors and broadcasters and is a separate legal entity from the SAG-AFTRA union. Rubano was arrested on Thursday along with Shivanand Maharaj, whom the fund described as an outside vendor, without elaborating. Advertisement Both individuals are alleged to have devised a scheme in which companies they owned or controlled submitted invoices to the AFTRA Retirement Fund for millions of dollars in information technology services that they did not perform, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice. In some cases, those services had been performed by employees of the fund or by other vendors. A lawyer representing Rubano said he was released on bail. The Department of Justice said Rubano and Maharaj reaped about $3.4 million from the scheme over a period of six years from 2009 to 2015. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement that Rubano allegedly had the fund make payments based on hundreds of fake invoices to [Maharajs] company, not for IT work actually done by that company, but really in exchange for alleged kickback payments to Rubano. The AFTRA Retirement Fund said it found evidence of the crime during one of its periodic internal reviews, and immediately undertook a careful review of the evidence and promptly notified federal law enforcement authorities. The fund said that it has notified its insurance carrier of this situation and is pursuing recovery of any losses ultimately determined to have been incurred. A separate scandal hit the Screen Actors Guilds Producers Pension and Health Plans in 2015. Nader Karimi, a former chief information officer of the organization, pleaded guilty to one felony count of filing a false tax return. Karimi had failed to report income he received from contractors to upgrade the unions computer system. SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris said in a statement: While the discovery of potential wrongdoing is unsettling, it is reassuring that the AFTRA Retirement Fund Trustees took action to alert the authorities. Their response helped root out the wrongdoing and culminated in the arrest of the suspects who will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I appreciate the assurance that participants crucial benefits are protected and safe, and commend the current Trustees for their responsiveness and uncompromising position that wrongdoing will not be tolerated. david.ng@latimes.com @DavidNgLAT The company behind Snapchat has two offerings that beloved, 5-year-old app for messaging and video streaming, and Spectacles, a months-old, $130 pair of sunglasses that double as a camcorder. The Los Angeles company has promised more gadgets will follow. But even with a significant increase, hardware sales in the near term probably would bring in 100 times less revenue than selling ads displayed on Snapchat. Its that potentially massive, multibillion-dollar ad business that has investors most excited about Snap Inc., which is expected to open its stock to public trading in the coming weeks in one of the tech industrys highest-anticipated initial public offerings in years. Advertisement So why is Snap insisting its actually a camera company? The label introduced last year raised questions about Snaps hardware ambitions. But more than signaling that Snap is the next Apple Inc. a firm that makes software and hardware but derives about two-thirds of its revenue from iPhone sales the distinction could be an attempt to help investors see the nuance between the goals of Snapchat and those of its most potent rival, Facebook. Unlike Facebook, Snaps not out to connect everyone on the planet. Rather, its goal is to tinker with both the physical make of cameras and the code behind them, giving people new ways to chat with friends, have fun together and educate themselves about the world. Both companies rely on advertising revenue, but Snap, which declined to comment, appears to be suggesting its approach will be more focused. They need to show they are not just Facebook for teens, said Gene Munster, who studied Apples finances for years and now co-manages investment firm Loup Ventures. Tech companies that enjoy the most sustained success have visions beyond whats visible to most today, and Snap is arranging itself to join that group. Twenty years from now, the way we engage with the world will probably not be a phone, Munster said. Hardware changes are going to be happening, and this mission gives them a foothold and foundation to be prepared for this transition. Though the camera, both in apps and in gadgets, will be central to that aim, investors and the financial analysts who advise them ascribe minimal value to Spectacles and other hardware. They insist Snaps real value is in the advertising business. If Snap wishes otherwise, it will have a long way to go before changing perceptions. I would be hard-pressed to imagine them as a hardware company unless its possible to see a long-term commitment to that business, said Brian Wieser, who follows companies such as Facebook for Pivotal Research. So for now, its an ad tech company. Still, Snap joins financial technology company Square Inc. as one of the first Internet companies with revenue coming from both hardware and software at the time of an initial public stock offering. That split helps diversify its business, but it means Snap also will have to justify to investors any hardware-related expenses. Snap has shared limited financial data with potential investors and met only with a select group of analysts. More could become clear when it publicly shares its stock prospectus, which could be as early as this week. Experimentation doesnt necessarily hurt share prices, said Scott Kessler, a financial analyst at CFRA. Amazon.com, Facebook and Google parent company Alphabet Inc. have gotten away with unrealized product goals as their core businesses continue to surge. People want to see these companies innovating and trying new things, Kessler said. But troubles can arise. For one, hardware can reduce earnings. Software is the way to go because thats a more profitable business, Kessler said. Manufacturing things, thats obviously more challenging from supply chain, cost perspective. Its a lot different than someone going somewhere and downloading software. Still, companies often try to show investors before they go public that they are more than one-trick businesses. Ride-hailing service Uber Technologies Inc. has ventured into self-driving delivery trucks. Short-term rental booking giant Airbnb is trying to help consumers with more aspects of travel planning. Both could go public this year or next. But companies new to public markets must live up to those promises or risk seeing their value fall. The faltering shares of GoPro, which closed a much-heralded video-distribution business two years after an IPO, and Twitter, which couldnt maintain user growth, reflects what happens when reality doesnt meet expectations. For Squares part, hardware has grown slightly as a portion of its revenue mix. If anything, fear that many tech start-ups such as Snap are overvalued has led to more skepticism about second acts in the last year. Chinese phone maker and social media app developer Meitu has seen its shares barely budge from their initial price since going public a month ago. About 95% of Meitus revenue comes from phone sales, and analysts question how fast the software business can grow. Snap has used a vending machine to distribute its $130 video-camera sunglasses. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times ) In Snaps favor is that its second revenue line already has inklings of success. Spectacles have received positive reviews. Investors point to the long lines that Snap generated by selling the sunglasses through roving vending machines. Its a wacky experience that has energized the industry. And because of Snaps generally small release of thousands of pairs, investors simply are discounting the idea for now. It seems like a noble experiment akin to Google Glass, but not yet a central part of the Snap value proposition, said Chris Rust, a founder at Clear Ventures who held a board observer role at GoPro. Instead, Snaps biggest challenge could be convincing investors to notice the distinctions with Facebook and showing them that profit is within sight. Alexander Stimpson, co-chief investment officer at Newport Beach money manager Corient Capital Partners, said hes worried that companies going public before demonstrating recurring profitability have turned investors into speculators. It forces them to invest based on instincts rather than formulas. And despite the great risks, they stand to gain a much smaller return than the venture capitalists who held shares prior to the IPO. If a company is unprofitable, the rewards should be substantial because youre taking substantial risk, he said. Because Snap isnt yet profitable, Stimpson doesnt mind coming late to the party when it may be a safer bet. When theres no earnings there, it forces investors to behave in a way thats against their best interests to be successful long term, he said. Investors are successful when they are disciplined about valuations, when profits matter, when metrics matter, when they buy low and sell high. Still, many analysts expect the excitement to be so great that Snap gets whatever price it wants. Hitting the stock market could bring Snaps value upward of $25 billion. Any time you have a brand-name company, youre going to have a lot of interest, said Ivan Feinseth, director of research at Tigress Financial Partners. They are very strong in the teen, preteen and the millennial market. Theyre a key player. paresh.dave@latimes.com / PGP Twitter: @peard33 ALSO Mark Zuckerberg is acting like he might run for president Refugees get jobs and a taste of American culture at Berkeley coffee shop Apple sues Qualcomm for $1 billion, depicting it as a shady monopolist Any big political march is both a test of a citys spatial limitations and an exercise in seeing and using that city in a new way. This is especially true in Los Angeles, a city still trying to shake off an outdated reputation as a place without a significant pedestrian culture or vibrant public realm. The Los Angeles edition of Saturdays womens march was in that sense another sign of the citys continuing effort to redefine, or at least recalibrate, its public-ness. The Los Angeles Police Department called it the largest gathering downtown since the giant immigration rights protest of 2006. What I found most striking as I watched the march descend on Pershing Square and make its way to City Hall was how certain spaces and corridors strained to absorb the unusual mass of humanity while others did so with relative ease. (All morning, the marchers I saw were jovial and relaxed, even when they seemed hopelessly stuck.) In several places, bottlenecks suggested overtaxed infrastructure (and imperfect planning for the march itself). In others the crowd flowed smoothly from one block to the next. Advertisement My short-form report card reads this way: low to middling marks for Metro and Pershing Square, high ones for Grand Park. A massive crowd makes its way from Pershing Square during Saturdays Womens March Los Angeles. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times ) My experience trying to get on a train Saturday morning at several Gold Line stations matched reports I heard from others or read on social media that the lines to purchase TAP fare cards or simply to reach Metro platforms were long and snaking, often with no end in sight. Outside two stations I saw families on the sidewalk waiting for surge-priced Uber rides, having given up on the train. Some of these delays were surely caused by neophyte or inexperienced Metro users, unsure how to load a TAP card. But in my admittedly incomplete survey, I didnt see any Metro officials directing traffic or giving people at the end of the line a sense of how long theyd be there. Once downtown, I ended up walking along Grand Avenue, down the hill from Disney Hall and the Broad museum and toward Pershing Square. When I reached the corner of Grand Avenue and Fifth Street, a steep intersection at the base of Bunker Hill, the way to the square was blocked by a mass of people. Traffic cops were still trying to let cars across, even as it became clear that the intersection would soon be overwhelmed by the crowd. This was a sign, perhaps, that the size of the march had caught city officials by surprise; otherwise this intersection might have been closed to cars far earlier. FULL COVERAGE: Dispatches from womens marches around the world I eventually made it to the edge of Pershing Square along Olive Street, joining a solid block of people outside the Biltmore Hotel. The crowd seemed anxious to start walking but was hemmed in on all sides, with nowhere to go. The march might have marked a return to form for Pershing Square, for many decades L.A.s most important political space. Instead it revealed the limitations of the squares unpopular 1994 makeover by the late Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta. Instead of being able to see from Olive into the center of Pershing Square, our view was blocked by the purple and yellow walls Legorreta added along its edges. Downtown Los Angeles Pershing Square, seen in May 2016. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times ) It wasnt difficult, as I stood there, to understand the appeal of a Pershing Square made over in the name of radical flatness. That two-word phrase was the guiding slogan for the winning entry, by the French landscape firm Agence Ter, of a 2016 design competition to dramatically reinvent Pershing Square. By radical flatness the firm means a square with all those walls removed a square that is directly open to the streets and sidewalks on all sides, the way it looked for most of the 20th century. Only in Los Angeles, perhaps, would that basic notion of connectivity seem radical. Still, a square redesigned in that way would have allowed Saturdays crowd on surrounding streets to see and feel some solidarity with the larger group of protesters. The part of the march I was in broke from the planned route along Spring Street and stayed on Olive instead, moving slowly past the Omni Hotel and the so-called Erector Set parking structure on Bunker Hill before turning down First Street in the direction of Grand Park and City Hall. It was possibly a measure of the crowds size that even this splinter group felt large enough to qualify as the main march, the big mass. Dozens of people had climbed atop the Erector Set; they danced or waved to the marchers below. Though I didnt walk directly past the new federal courthouse on First Street, others who did told me it handled the crowd well. Photographs suggested the same. The building, designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill to allow the public realm to flow beneath its suspended glass-wrapped cube, apparently worked just as planned. When I reached Grand Park (not part of the official route, apparently), I found a space or series of spaces, since the park is broken up by Hill Street and Broadway as they cut across its midsection that seemed much better equipped to handle a crowd of this size. The parks steep grade, as it moves from the top of Bunker Hill to the bottom, can often make it seem an awkward gathering place. But on Saturday the grade was an advantage. Marchers could see all the way down the hill toward City Hall and watch large crowds funneling in from other directions. Their vision wasnt blocked the way it was around Pershing Square. There was also more room to maneuver; there were benches and shady corners, places to get away from the throng or rest for a minute or two. At the base of the park along Spring Street, at the foot of City Hall, the crowd was thick. But there were pockets of space for kids to run around and jump in the mud. But it was really the view down the hill that made the difference. This was even better than radical flatness. This was a way to be in the march and above it at the same time. A crowd doesnt feel whole unless it can get a glimpse and a measure of itself. At the Los Angeles metro station this morning on the way to the Pershing Square march pic.twitter.com/cgPFiA4KBk Estrella Tamez (@estrellatamez) January 21, 2017 March so huge in Los Angeles that we can't even board the packed metro trains. Cars full of people cheering on their way to City Hall. Quality of Life (@positivevolushn) January 21, 2017 There's a two hour wait to get on the NoHo metro to get to the Los Angeles march. Lyft it is! Garrett Stiger (@Gar_Stiger) January 21, 2017 christopher.hawthorne@latimes.com Twitter: @hawthornelat ALSO With every drop of blood and every tear: The artists who took to the streets for the L.A. womens march Building Type: Long road to the Arts Districts first park What does building George Lucas museum at Exposition Park say about L.A.? Architectures top 10 for 2016 Building Type: Introducing a weekly column on architecture In simpler times, anxious parents worried about what might happen to their children at the park or on the walk home from school. These days, parents fret about the dangers that might lurk behind a closed door in their own home. Beware the Slenderman, airing Monday on HBO, will do little to quell fears over screen time, social media and the influence of technology on young people. The story it tells is at the risk of sounding like a local news promo every parents worst nightmare. The documentary, directed by Irene Taylor Brodsky, examines the disturbing case of Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, two 12-year-old Wisconsin girls who in 2014 lured another friend into the woods and stabbed her 19 times (she survived). The motive for their crime? Pleasing Slender Man, or Slenderman, a fictional boogeyman popularized through Internet forums, blogs and social media that the girls believed was real. Advertisement Beware the Slenderman joins a growing list of documentaries that fall under the true-crime banner, but offer something more than lurid sensationalism The Jinx, Making a Murderer, O.J. Made in America. In this case, its a deeply unsettling look at childhood mental illness, the blurred line between the virtual and real, and the potency of internet memes. See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Beware the Slenderman uses some of the usual source materials interviews with family members, home movies, police interrogation footage, local news reports to establish the basic details of the crime itself. Though Geyser was allegedly the one who stabbed the victim Payton Bella Leutner, her best friend since fourth grade it was Weier who egged her on. Go ballistic, go crazy, she reportedly said. As with other young, violent duos Leopold and Loeb, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris Geyser and Weier complement each other in terrible ways. Weier is socially isolated and bullied, spending seemingly most of her free time online. In one of the documentarys more affecting sequences, Brodsky recreates one of Weiers browsing sessions, clicking through ephemera like an Are you a psychopath? quiz and a YouTube clip of a woman feeding a mouse to wild cats. Geyser initially seems the more dominant and calculating of the two, but, we gradually learn, shes a bright young woman with a strong affinity for fictional worlds. We see snapshots of her dressed as a Vulcan and hear about how she believed in Santa Claus until she was 11. Both girls have mental health issues that slowly come to light but were not necessarily obvious to their family members, and find refuge in their shared interests. Like millions of other tweens, they love scary stories, and spend hours reading and sharing horror tales on the popular website Creepypasta. They both become particularly fixated with Slender Man, an unusually tall and thin, faceless man who, according to lore, abducts children. In order to save their families from his wrath, they commit to to becoming one of his proxies. Weiers and Geysers parents, who appear at length in the film, are not the neglectful people its easy (or maybe just comforting) to assume they are. Weiers father worries about the influence of technology on his daughter, and is seen trying, unsuccessfully, to pry his son away from the iPad. Geysers mother recalls worrying that her daughter never got upset watching films like Bambi: If something bad happened to the main character, she wouldnt have empathy for them. What really sets Beware the Slenderman apart is its attempt to place this gruesome crime in a broader cultural context. Brodsky spends a considerable amount of the films running time interviewing via Skype, which seems apt experts in memes, digital folklore and the Brothers Grimm. They argue that, similar to the Pied Piper or other menacing fictional characters, the Slender Man myth reflects the particular anxieties of its time. Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins even weighs in, describing a meme, even something innocuous like the Ice Bucket Challenge, as a virus of the mind spread by being listened to or seen. Fittingly, Brodsky incorporates (surprisingly non-cheesy) dramatizations of Slender Man into the usual documentary blend of interviews, police interrogations, home movies and local news reports. The final third or so of Beware the Slenderman also raises critical questions about childhood mental illness and the justice system, where high-profile crimes such as this one are often handled with an eye towards retribution rather than rehabilitation. Sadly, despite the very strange and particular circumstances of this case, its just like many others. Beware the Slenderman Where: HBO When: 10 p.m. Monday meredith.blake@latimes.com Follow me @MeredithBlake UNDERRATED In Order of Disappearance (2014): While we wait for the next season of Fargo coming this spring, this recent arrival on Netflix offers a rewarding mix of snowbound violence and deadpan humor that will feel familiar to fans of the Coen Brothers. Starring Stellan Skarsgard as a quiet snowplow driver out to avenge his sons death with a war against a health-conscious crime boss (played with an unhinged glee by Pal Sverre Hagen), this Norwegian imports dry dialogue and sweeping views of frozen desolation offer a funhouse reflection of the Scandinavian DNA that ran through the Coens Midwestern crime drama with engrossing results. Brian Enos Reflection: With the arrival of a new year that at best feels a bit fraught and out of control on multiple fronts, Brian Eno has delivered what could only be described as an aural comfort with his latest in a long, innovative history of ambient releases. A soft-edged, slowly evolving single track of electronic chimes and gentle drones that stretch and sustain toward infinite distances literally, in this case, as Eno has also released a companion app for the album that goes on forever Reflection is the sort ot discreet music that invites its namesake, the sort of thing that we could use a lot more of regardless of what the future might hold. Advertisement OVERRATED The Flaming Lips: Remember when this band delivered a one-two punch of albums that explored humanity and mortality with The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots? That was back around the turn of the century, and since then Wayne Coyne and Co. have regressed into colorful but increasingly exhausting efforts to top their past on releases that were always heavy with adventurous misspellings, gimmicky packaging and glittery collaborations but far shorter on memorable songs. Full of references to colorful unicorns and fairy hunts, the synthesizer-heavy new album, Oczy Mlody, continues a trend for a band that just doesnt burn nearly as bright. See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Season 4 of Sherlock: In a parallel universe, this co-production of PBS and the BBC quietly spanned a few seasons of stylish homages to Arthur Conan Doyle with a rapid-fire dialogue, a quirkily sharp lead and self-aware humor. Unfortunately, the shows profile rose with its star Benedict Cumberbatch, and the series simply went to the well one too many times, culminating with a just-completed fourth season that felt more obligatory than essential. Full of near-death cliffhangers that grew to ring hollow and a beyond-the-grave cameo from Andrew Scotts wonderfully mad Moriarty, the latest Sherlock seemed strangely out of ideas an unforgivable sin around Baker Street. chris.barton@latimes.com Follow me over here @chrisbarton. ALSO: Daniel Handler, Barry Sonnenfeld and Neil Patrick Harris on the perfect storm that led to Lemony Snicket on Netflix Fresh from his feud with Trump, Rep. John Lewis gets his closeup in new PBS documentary Year in review 2016: After a year of hot takes and backlashes, what are we doing here? The three main cable news networks may have been equal in their wall-to-wall coverage of Fridays inauguration and its festivities, but during Saturdays coverage of the Womens March on Washington, the historical divide between Fox News and its compatriots had been firmly reinstated. CNN, MSNBC and Fox News were all dinged by many viewers for choosing to open their Saturday morning coverage with footage of newly minted President Trump at the National Prayer Service rather than the estimated 500,000 marchers. But whereas by midmorning CNN and MSNBC had turned their multi-screened attention to the throngs of protesters, Fox, which had drawn a tweet of praise from the president for its coverage of the inauguration, continued to do just that. Advertisement Showing shots of the White House, Fox recapped the previous days events, discussed the swearing-in of the secretary of Defense and reported on the Trump familys bowling in their new Pennsylvania Avenue home. As the day wore on and millions marched and rallied around the country, commentators at MSNBC and CNN repeatedly expressed surprise at the number of people involved and invited a wide range of conversation about what such an event could mean for the country. For hours, cameras swooped from on high to capture the sprawling crowds in Washington and other cities while coverage of high-profile speakers including Gloria Steinem, Michael Moore and Sen. Elizabeth Warren was interspersed with conversations about issues of inclusion the marchs stated platform in favor of abortion rights left many women feeling uninvited the apathy of voters in the recent election, and whether it was fair to demonstrate against a president who had just taken office. Not so much on Fox. Jennifer Griffin reported from the scene and did lead with live coverage a few times in the afternoon playing big Madonnas use of profanity from the stage and her statement that she had thought about blowing up the White House but it was a far cry from minute-by-minute analysis of a huge news event. Focusing exclusively on Washington, Fox cameras did occasionally pull back to show the crowd, but there were inevitably the signature touches Shannon Bream questioned whether the crowd estimates were accurate, and Bill Hemmer wondered whether it meant that liberals refuse to accept reality. Even when, later in the afternoon, Geraldo Rivera acknowledged the tsunami of protesters, his colleague Greg Gutfeld had his talking points at the ready. The reason you get big marches in cities is thats where the left lives, he said. Overlooked was that thousands had traveled to Washington to participate in the march, just as thousands of others had come to see Trump sworn in. Meredith Blake and Stephen Battaglio contributed to this report. mary.mcnamara@latimes.com ALSO Yesterday was their day; today is ours: Millions march in cities around the world Massive womens march in downtown L.A. said to be largest in over a decade A history of political protest: A look at some of the nations notable demonstrations On just his second day in office, President Trump has already scored a major achievement. The nations physical fitness improved greatly Saturday as hundreds of thousands of demonstrators poured onto the National Mall to march in defiance of the newly installed Tweeter of the Free World. Crowds swelled in Los Angeles and other cities, too, and around the world, on what became an international day of cardiovascular health. Trump, for his part, was in a cranky mood, which may have had something to do with the fact that far more people turned out to denounce him than to celebrate his inauguration a day earlier. He slapped around the dishonest media for crowd estimates, and also accused the press of manufacturing a feud between him and the CIA. Advertisement This, after Trump lambasted intelligence agencies and compared CIA officials to Nazis for reports that Russia interfered in the presidential election. Well, were certainly off to a colorful start, arent we? On his way to the White House, Trump insulted and degraded women, in the minds of many, with both his words and actions. At one point, an old tape surfaced in which Trump said he grabbed women by their privates and could get away with it because he was a reality TV star. Then there were the pig, dog, slob and bimbo comments, which didnt help his cause. Women, and more than a few men, came to Washington to let him know they hadnt forgotten about any of that, or about what they took to be inflammatory comments about Latinos, Muslims and other groups. Were not going to be silent, said Gayle Greco, a Los Angeles attorney who marched with daughters Melissa and Alanna, and felt uplifted by the huge turnout. This isnt just a one-and-done, Greco said. Shes already organizing to defend against promised attacks on the Affordable Care Act and womens rights. Saturday was gray (the weather) and pink (the hats), and I couldnt get anywhere near the stage and the speakers because the crowd was so thick. You couldnt even tell where the front of the parade might be, so people just began walking on their own, an estimated half million of them, chanting, at times, This is what democracy looks like. I wish I could tell you about all the clever turns of phrase on the word Trump used to explain where he likes to grab women. But I cant. The following, however, are printable: We Shall Overcomb Make America Think Again Think Outside My Box IKEA Has Better Cabinets Did You Remember To Set Your Clocks Back 60 Years Last Night? Tweet All People Kindly Demonstrators I spoke to had a lot on their minds. Theyre worried that environmental protections could get plowed under, that race relations will be further set back, and that Trumps ego and quick-trigger defensiveness could be disastrous. 1 / 34 Demonstrators line the steps of City Hall while chanting slogans and dancing after the womens march in downtown Los Angeles. (Stuart Palley / For The Times) 2 / 34 A group dances during the womens march. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 34 Demonstrators line the steps of City Hall while chanting slogans and dancing after the womens march in downtown Los Angeles. (Stuart Palley / For The Times) 4 / 34 Particpants in the womens march gather near City Hall. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 34 March participants walk north on Hill Street. (Stuart Palley / For The Times) 6 / 34 Demonstrators line the steps of City Hall after the womens march in downtown Los Angeles. (Stuart Palley / For The Times) 7 / 34 Eric Hoff, center, takes a photo of demonstrators gathering for the womens march near Pershing Square. (Stuart Palley / For The Times) 8 / 34 Gina Corpus, and her daughter Camila Corpus, 2, of Los Angeles watch the womens march. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 34 Participants in the womens march gather in front of City Hall. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 34 Many people walked with their children during the womens March . (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 34 Gina Corpus, and her daughter Camila Corpus, 2, of Los Angeles watch the womens march (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 34 Cara Rosenbloom, 45, of Brooklyn participates in the womens march. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 34 Paricipants in the womens march gather at City Hall. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 34 Children were well-represented at the womens march in Los Angeles. This 3-year-old girl carried her own sign. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 34 The view looking north along Hill Street from a vantage point near Third Street shows thousands of womens march participants. (Stuart Palley / For The Times) 16 / 34 Womens march participants gather in Pershing Square. (Stuart Palley / For The Times) 17 / 34 Womens march participants walk north on Hill Street. (Stuart Palley / For The Times) 18 / 34 An orange suit and high heels worn by Ryan Tymensky peek out from under a handmade sign before the start of the womens march. (Stuart Palley / For The Times) 19 / 34 Womens march participants walk near Pershing Square. (Stuart Palley / For The Times) 20 / 34 Womens march participants walk north on Hill Street. (Stuart Palley / For The Times) 21 / 34 Ja-Shin Tsang, 38, of Los Angeles, made her own ear rings for the womens march. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 34 Womens march participants in Los Angeles fill the intersection of 5th and Olive streets. (Stuart Palley / For The Times) 23 / 34 Zoe Yu, left, Jessica Alberi, center, and Jordan Hinkle, right, work on writing their signs for the womens march. (Stuart Palley / For The Times) 24 / 34 The view looking north along Hill Street from a vantage point near Third Street shows thousands of womens march participants. (Stuart Palley / For The Times) 25 / 34 A costumed participant in the womens march in Los Angeles. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 26 / 34 Stacie B. London with East Side Babes marches in L.A. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 34 Thousands march near City Hall. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 34 Marchers in Los Angeles near 5th and Olive streets. (Stuart Palley / For The Times) 29 / 34 From left, Asha Isse, 19 Bilqis Kulungu, 19, and Safiya Hussein , 20, all of Los Angeles, arrive downtown to participate in the womens march. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 34 Thousands march near City Hall. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 34 Thousands march near City Hall during the womens march. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 34 Thousands march near City Hall. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 34 People gather near Pershing Square at the start of the womens march. (Stuart Palley / For The Times) 34 / 34 Sandra Santiago, 34, of Lennox traveled downtown to participate in the womens march. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) I spent 10 years of my life in the Cold War, fighting the Russians on a NATO/U.S. Air Force program, said Michael Mullaley of Massachusetts, who drove 10 hours to the march with his wife, Meg, stopping in Philadelphia for cheesesteaks. Im really concerned about Trumps effect on NATO and his relationship with Russia. Bob and Mary Helen Harris took a breather on a bench and snapped a selfie with the sign they brought: Been Marching Since 1963. Trump has been frankly frightening, with his demagoguery and misogyny, said Bob, a retired Presbyterian minister. Given the direction Washingtons going in, they said, and their worries about peace and justice, they figure theyve got more marching to do. But this was the Womens March, and womens issues were a dominant theme. We have two daughters, and protecting womens rights is one of the main things for us, said Meg Mullaley. Theres the repealing of Obamacare and the possibility of taking contraceptive health away from women, making it a moral rather than a health issue. Vivian Cannon, a TV producer in Los Angeles, said shes just as concerned about Congress as she is about Trump. They want to defund Planned Parenthood, and thats not OK, Cannon said. So many women get their healthcare from Planned Parenthood and we need to fight back and say its unacceptable. She said that as a Californian, she doesnt have to lobby her congressional representatives. So she called House Speaker Paul Ryan, to let him know how she felt. He didnt come to the phone. I left a voicemail, said Cannon. Claudia Orlando, of Colfax in Northern California, said she traveled to D.C. because Trump has led a dumbing down of how women are treated, and because she fears there will be attempts to reverse Roe vs. Wade and take away a womans right to choose. At first I thought I would leave the country, she said. Then she reminded herself she lives in California, where legislative leaders and congressional representatives have vowed to resist any federal attempts to roll back rights. Grab him by the midterms, said one sign at the rally, a call to try to win congressional seats in 2018 and repeal Republican domination of federal policy. I met Greco on my plane from Los Angeles to Washington. She said shes working with a group called flippable.org to try to wrest control of legislatures in tossup states by targeting and backing progressive candidates. In D.C., she said she was inspired by new California U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris call for women to buckle in for the fight ahead. Late Saturday afternoon, Greco and daughter Melissa splintered onto Pennsylvania Avenue at the end of the march, to cheers from those whod already finished. Just ahead, as darkness fell, was the White House, whose new resident has awakened a giant. Get more of Steve Lopezs work and follow him on Twitter @LATstevelopez ALSO Protesters gather by the thousands at Orange County womens marches Shaded pink, womens protest fills the streets of downtown L.A. Hundreds of thousands of marchers trek through Washington in a passionate display for womens rights They came in cars, trains and buses. Others biked or hitchhiked. A day after Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th president, several hundred thousand people gathered in Los Angeles to protest in a historic womens march. It was a peaceful and massive counter-inauguration movement, the first act of resistance to a conservative administration. Beneath sunny skies, a group of women on motorcycles kicked off the march. Many protesters wore a symbol of feminism in the age of Trump: a bright pink, knitted pussyhat. Some carried their babies on their chests and pushed their grandmothers in wheelchairs. They chanted, waved signs and held hands; a few braved the cold and went shirtless. Advertisement Im not going to sit back and in 20 years have my grandchildren say, why didnt I do something? said Anna Vastano, 57. The retired social worker expects a revival of the 60s to unfold these next four years and she and her daughter, an aspiring lawyer, plan to be part of it. Who started the march? One woman The protest, organized after the election, went global, with demonstrations in more than 50 countries, from Germany to Norway: it even reached the Isle of Eigg, a tiny island off the coast of Scotland, population 88. In the nations capital, the numbers at the Womens March on Washington appeared to overshadow those at Trumps inauguration. In Los Angeles, families and friends flooded downtown streets, from Pershing Square to City Hall including men supporting their daughters, wives, mothers and sisters. Officials estimated this to be the largest protest in more than a decade. Theres a sea of humanity everywhere, said Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Andrew Neiman, Hopeful and anxious, demonstrators felt uplifted by the gathering of so many like-minded people. Dean Heezen, 26, of Canada, was in town for work and decided to join the march in a pair of heels. Its womens rights, he said. How could you not march for that? As he held a sign that read, Walk a mile in her shoes one woman told him: Power to you for walking in heels. Power to you for wearing them, he answered. The roster of speakers included big names such as Barbra Streisand, Natalie Portman and Miley Cyrus. At a stage near Grand Park, city leaders, including Mayor Eric Garcetti, took turns motivating the crowd. It doesnt matter who is at the top, he told onlookers. It matters what we do at the bottom. The exact size of the protest was difficult to measure. Organizers put the number at 750,000. The Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement that well past 100,000 people attended but did not provide a more precise number. Officials said it appeared to be the largest demonstration since a massive 2006 immigration march downtown. The LAPD estimated that march drew 500,000. No arrests or major injuries were reported during the march, officials said. Some people went to great lengths to get to the protest. Trains were jammed and wait times at some stations exceeded two hours. Heather Huntington takes her 3-year-old son Ethan to the Los Angeles womens march. The Grashaw family, consisting of three cousins and a mother, gave up waiting for the North Hollywood Red Line. They tried hailing an Uber, but the app kept canceling on them. So Ashley Grashaw, 32, stuck out her thumb on the side of the road until a stranger pulled over. They paid him $75 to drive them downtown. I told him, Run the yellow lights if you have to! Grashaw said. The Westlake Village resident said shes felt angry and helpless since the election. She hopes Trump is affected by the aerial shots of the huge marches nationwide. This is our voice, Grashaw said. Its our way of telling him, Please pay attention to us. Please listen to us. Some demonstrators had not taken part in a protest in decades. That included 70-year-old Judy Lamb of Mission Viejo. She said Trumps win reignited her political side. She showed up at the protest in a T-shirt reading NMP (Not My President) with a blond swoop over the P representing the presidents signature mane. Im here to support womens rights and immigrants rights and to tell him were not going to be silent, said Lamb, who came with two sisters to the event. Like the crowd, the messages displayed during the protest were vast and diverse. Handmade signs went from somber (I didnt flee my war-torn country for this) to funny (So bad. Even introverts are here.) to fed up (UGH). People used the moment to fight for women, to defend the environment, to lobby for immigrants, Muslims, gays and the disabled all believed to be vulnerable under the new president. For many, it was a day filled with highs and uncertainty. Like many, Robin Shephard was worried about the future. The Cheviot Hills homemaker considers Making America Great Again code for taking the country back to a more racially segregated past. Were not going to go back to that, she said. This is the last gasp of people who arent ready to move forward. Some protesters were already thinking of ways to take action beyond the march. That included donating to groups such as Planned Parenthood, writing to political leaders and volunteering time at civil rights organizations. Gabriela Macias said her four-year plan included lots of coffee and lots of resistance. Hopefully, not forever, she said with a laugh. She plans to network with people fighting different causes and to occasionally talk to Trump supporters to better understand their views. Macias worries that some of her friends who lack legal status could lose their jobs, so shes begun to look for a bigger home to potentially offer them housing. Among the protesters was roughly 100 alumnae of the Seven Sisters, a group of historic womens colleges on the East Coast, including Bryn Mawr, Smith and Wellesley. They marched in unison to promote womens rights, said Annie Wright, 52. The Vietnamese refugee came to this country in 1975 and now lives in Orange County. Wright and many of the women saw the march as a continuation of the solidarity they experienced during their college days. This was a new starting point. Nothing will be accomplished, she said, if we dont continue. cindy.chang@latimes.com ruben.vives@latimes.com dakota.smith@latimes.com esmeralda.bermudez@latimes.com Times staff writers Richard Winton and Christine Zhang contributed to this story. ALSO Protesters gather by the thousands at Orange County womens marches While Donald Trump danced, Shepard Fairey debuted his American Civics Lopez: Massive turnout in D.C. for anti-Trump womens march, and new president doesnt seem happy about it Storm waves destroy famed cement ship in Northern California Storm-fueled waves in the Monterey Bay this weekend smashed the remains of the Palo Alto, a famed World War I-era vessel dubbed the Cement Ship, which is moored in the town of Aptos, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. According to the National Weather Service, monster surf on Saturday set a new wave height record for Monterey Bay: 34.12 feet. The previous record was 32.8 feet, set in 2008. The Palo Alto, whose stern was connected to a pier at Seacliff State Beach, was no match for the oceans might. The waves snapped the stern section of the ship and flipped it over. Last February, El Nino waves severely fractured the ship, which has been crumbling for years and was already split into several pieces before the massive waves this weekend accelerated its demise. Weve seen very large surf, with very little break in between, and its that repeated beating down by the ocean that seems to be having the biggest effect on the ship this year, Bill Wolcott, a California State Parks public safety superintendent, told ABC 7 News. The Palo Alto was built in 1919 for use as a tanker in World War I, but was not completed in time, according to the Aptos History Museum. It was stripped, then rebuilt to include a ballroom that hosted musicians including Benny Goodman, Paul Whiteman and Tommy Dorsey. The ship has been moored at Seacliff Beach since 1930 and has remained a popular tourist attraction for the town. Everybody is running down to check it out, because its a significant change in the way the ship looks after this weekends storm, Aptos History Museum curator John Hibble told ABC 7. Through five years of severe drought, El Capitan Canyon above the Pacific Ocean near Goleta endured bone-dry conditions that at times seemed like they would never end. Then, on Friday, the skies opened up. Nearly 2 inches of rain dropped in a single hour in the Santa Ynez Mountains. So a creek that had once disappeared came roaring alive, full of mud, brush and broken trees pouring from the burned slopes of the Sherpa fire in the summer. Advertisement Five cabins were lifted off their foundations and swept down the creek. The muddy torrent claimed 22 vehicles. One of the cabins remains were found south of the 101 Freeway. Nearly two dozen people had to be rescued, including one trapped in a car, said Santa Barbara County fire Capt. Dave Zaniboni. The remains of five smashed vehicles floated all the way down to the beach. What happened in a matter of minutes at the campground is emblematic of the drought-to-deluge cycle that has always been at the heart of Californias climate. All it can take is an intense amount of rain in a short amount of time to create damaging flows of mud and debris that can kill people and destroy buildings. The flows are part of nature. But the situation has become more dangerous as humans came to inhabit these paths of destruction. Theres a competition between the growth of the mountains and the erosion from the rainstorms, U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist Jason Kean said. Theyre in this constant battle. Californias dramatic shift in the last few months from extreme dryness to some of the strongest storms in a decade has brought mudslides that have closed roads, damaged vehicles and homes and left residents on edge. On Friday night, Highway 17 the key route between Silicon Valley and Santa Cruz was closed for hours after sliding mud and a fallen tree blocked all southbound lanes, causing a commuter nightmare. One Sierra highway alone has endured nearly 20 major slides. And a rare warm winter storm two weeks ago sent rains that deposited 10,000 cubic yards of decomposed granite that shut down all westbound lanes of Interstate 80 west of Lake Tahoe for more than 12 hours. Its truly a battle, Caltrans spokeswoman Liza Whitmore said. The situation is expected to get worse in Southern California on Sunday, when a storm which could be the most powerful to strike the region since 2010 moves in. Officials have warned of mudslides and mudflows. Why do landslides happen during a storm? In a burned area, a wildfire can make the soils repellent to water, creating a floodlike flow on the ground that picks up rock and debris, Kean said. In an area that has not burned, soil can become saturated. Pressure builds up underground, and soil starts moving and begins picking up mud and debris as it starts flowing downhill. Water rushing down with only mud is called a mud flow. If the flow picks up rocks, branches and sometimes massive boulders, thats called a debris flow. Mud and debris flows are types of shallow landslides, generally defined as less than 15 feet deep. Another type of shallow landslide involves a saturated hillside that collapses but does not move very far, such as one that buries a roadway with dirt and rocks from a neighboring slope. They can happen up to an hour after a burst of intense rain. There were widespread shallow landslides as recently as 2005 in Southern California, Kean said. Whats the easiest type of landslide to predict? Landslides that strike in recently burned areas are the easiest to predict, as wildfires have burned away roots of trees and vegetation that had kept soils in place. Sometimes, authorities have accurately predicted when debris flows will occur, based on forecast rainfall rates, and have called for evacuations of homes before the rivers of mud and debris begin flowing. Can debris flow still catch people off guard? Yes. In 2010, the winter after the worst fire in L.A. County history, a debris flow which one resident described like a Niagara Falls flowed down La Canada Flintridges northernmost neighborhood when a 10-ton boulder clogged a critical basin, plugging up the drain like a giant stopper. More than 40 homes were damaged. It came as a surprise because the storm was supposed to be fast moving, but unexpectedly stalled and dumped rain at an alarming rate. The forecast that authorities had relied on in the days leading up to the three-day storm had called for a light to moderate rains. No evacuations had been ordered. A debris flow hit La Canada Flintridge in 2010. Mud and debris came rushing through an entire house on Manistee Drive. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times ) How much rainfall is needed to trigger mud or debris flow? In Southern Californias unburned areas, 10 inches of rainfall during the winter is needed to nearly saturate the ground. After that point, a burst of rain of just one-quarter of an inch an hour can trigger widespread shallow landslides, including debris flow, Kean said. Since July 1, downtown Los Angeles has received 11.33 inches of rain as of Friday, which is 178% of average at this point of the winter. Santa Barbara has received 12.03 inches, which is 149% of average. But for burned areas, mud and debris flows can strike with only intense rainfall, even if the ground is not saturated. Whats the least predictable type of landslide? The kind that can strike on a dry day. In areas where the bedrock is very deep, rainwater can seep deep underground during multiple rainstorms. During a series of repeated heavy storms, water can eventually start to accumulate and build up pressure, Kean said. The pressure can destabilize an entire chunk of land, causing it to collapse downhill. The landslide can happen slowly, and show warning signs like cracking or subtle movements, allowing people time to escape. But they can also strike rapidly with no warning, even on a rainless day months after the end of winter. This is called a deep-seated landslide, involving landslides greater than 15 feet deep. Often, deep-seated landslides strike in areas with a history of such events. The USGS has warned that such landslides can become active many months after a very wet winter. A deep-seated landslide struck Bluebird Canyon of Laguna Beach in 2005. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times ) Whats an example of a deep-seated landslide? An example of where a deep-seated landslide has occurred is Bluebird Canyon of Laguna Beach. One occurred on a foggy morning in June 2005 after heavy rains fell between the previous December through February. No rainfall occurred during or just before the landslide. Seventeen homes were destroyed and 11 seriously damaged. There has been a history of devastating landslides in Bluebird Canyon. The neighborhood suffered a slide in October 1978 that destroyed more than 20 homes. The California Division of Mines and Geology said the heavy rains between December 1977 through April 1978 are believed to have played a role, along with a history of landslides and erosion at the site, and weakness in the rock. What about the coastal hamlet of La Conchita in Ventura County? Did landslides there come as surprises? The first landslide, in March 1995, came as no surprise, Ventura County geologist Jim OTousa said. The summer before, officials had observed ground cracks and other signs of a pending landslide. A sheriffs official was assigned to patrol the area, and town meetings were held to prepare the community for what was coming. Then about 24 inches of rain hit the region in January way above the average of about 4 inches for that month. The slide hit March 2. The slopes started sliding at a pace so slow that residents could outrun it. The patrol officer was still knocking on doors as the ground was moving and got everyone down the hill in time, OTousa recalled. The groundwater finally built up to a high enough level to destabilize the slope, OTousa said. A deep-seated landslide buried 10 people, killing them, in 2005 in La Conchita. (Stephen Osman / Los Angeles Times ) The second landslide in 2005 occurred at the end of an intense 15-day rainy period that saw heavy precipitation throughout Southern California. This slide came with no warning, and buried 10 people, killing them. The 2005 landslide was actually a remobilization of part of the 1995 slide, OTousa said. The 1995 landslide had fractured and was sitting in the bottom of the canyon, he explained. Then in 2005, when enough water saturated the bottom of the canyon, the material came flushing out of the canyon a speed of 20 mph and flowed into the neighborhood where the fatalities occurred. What about cliffs that fall into the sea? Last winter, California saw cliffs erode into the sea in Pacifica, about a 15-mile drive south of San Francisco. There, apartment units have been ordered vacated because of the crumbling coastline. Pacifica has some of the weakest soils along the California coast composed of cliffs, USGS research civil engineer Brian Collins said. The cliffs are being attacked from both the bottom and on top from water. At its base, the ocean is eroding the cliffs. When heavy rains come from above, water seeps into the soils, and eventually exits when it reaches less permeable layers. The nature of this seepage weakens the bonds in the soil that keep the soil particles bonded together, so it collapses, Collins said. The coast in this region has been eroding for thousands of years. As sea levels have risen, the ocean has eroded the cliffs. And the San Andreas fault has been lifting the cliffs up, only for them to be taken down by the seas and the rain. ron.lin@latimes.com | @ronlin rosanna.xia@latimes.com | @RosannaXia raoul.ranoa@latimes.com | @ranoa ALSO Heavy rain prevents Obama from landing in Palm Springs; causes mudslides, flooding across region Evacuations ordered as biggest storm in years moves into Southern California Death toll from Californias winter storms continues to rise A spate of violent, fast-moving tornadoes continued to wreak havoc across the Deep South on Sunday, killing at least 14 people in south Georgia and raising the weekends severe-weather death toll to 18. Some of the most extensive damage came Sunday afternoon, when a large twister with winds of 60 mph tore across Albany, Ga., killing at least three people and mangling homes across suburban neighborhoods. There are no words to tell you how bad this is, Ron Rowe, Dougherty County Emergency Management Agency director, said at a news conference in Albany, a city of just more than 75,000 people about 170 miles south of Atlanta. Its just tornadoes and pure destruction. Advertisement As Rowe hunkered in a safe room of an emergency operations center with Albanys police chief and other emergency officials, they heard trees ripped apart and hurled into buildings. After 15 minutes, when the storm passed, they made their way out and found neighborhoods that had been destroyed. We saw mattresses, we saw couches, Rowe said. You name it. It was all out there in a pile strewn across acres of land. An elementary school, an airport and the sprawling Marine Corps Logistics Base were hit, Rowe said. So much debris blocked roads that fire crews had to navigate communities on foot. It ripped through here bad, Chris Cohilas, chairman of the Dougherty County Commission, said on a Facebook live feed Sunday afternoon as he walked along a two-lane road past fallen trees and upturned cars. Weve got people that are hurt . It looks like a nuclear bomb went off. In the distance, a woman screamed. What happened? Cohilas asked a passerby. Shes missing one of her kids, the man responded. Earlier Sunday, just before 3 a.m., a single long-track tornado, or a couple of smaller tornadoes, struck the Georgia-Florida line, hurtling northeast for about 80 miles, said Mark Wool, the warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Services Tallahassee, Fla., office. Seven were killed in Cook County, Ga., where a tornado ripped through the Sunshine Acres mobile home park, destroying many of its structures and leaving a muddy grass field strewn with metal siding and smashed cars. Pink fiberglass insulation clung to downed power lines. Blankets dangled high in pine trees. Two more fatalities were confirmed in Berrien County, according to the Georgia Emergency Management Agency. And in Brooks County, a husband and wife were killed after a tornado picked up their mobile home. Authorities in Brooks County, Ga., block Highway 122 on Sunday as power line workers repair a downed pole. (Phil Sears / Associated Press ) They were at home by themselves, said Mike Miller, the coroner for Brooks County. The tornado totally destroyed the mobile home, picked it up and put it in the middle of Highway 122. Throughout the day, the National Weather Service warned residents across north Florida and a large swath of Georgia to prepare for a significant tornado outbreak with strong wind gusts of up to 70 mph and quarter-sized hail. Even as far north as Atlanta, several metropolitan counties were under tornado watches until 8 p.m. Take cover, the National Weather Service office in Tallahassee advised on Twitter in a flurry of public tornado and storm warning alerts. This is a Tornado Emergency! At the White House, President Trump said he had spoken with Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal to express his condolences. Tornadoes were vicious and powerful and strong, and they suffered greatly, so well be helping out the state of Georgia, Trump told reporters at an official swearing-in ceremony. Deal, who declared a state of emergency for seven Georgia counties, warned residents to take precaution as more thunderstorms swept across the state. These storms have devastated communities and homes in south-central Georgia, Deal said. I urge all Georgians to exercise caution and vigilance in order to remain safe and prevent further loss of life or injuries. The Georgia storms came after four people were killed and more than 50 others injured early Saturday when a tornado slashed through southern Mississippi, ripping the roofs off homes, uprooting trees, and tossing cars and trucks into creeks. Hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed, said Greg Flynn, public information officer with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. Inside her small home just south of Hattiesburg, Miss., Mishayna Rollin grabbed her 2-year-old son, she told the Hattiesburg American. They huddled in the bathtub as the roof of their home was ripped off, the doors blew open and glass smashed everywhere. The roof landed on her father and his girlfriend, who survived. We pretty much freaked, she said later, cradling her dog as she surveyed the devastation from her yard. Tornado activity is rare in the Southeast in January, although not unheard of. In 1999, a major tornado outbreak swept through Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi over several days in mid- to late January, killing 18 people. However, the regions peak tornado season is typically in the later spring months, said Wool of the National Weather Service. This is unusual, but its been unusually warm throughout the entire winter, he said. Were getting spring-like weather, regardless of what the calendar says. Jarvie is a special correspondent. ALSO Evacuations ordered as biggest storm in years moves into Southern California Mexican drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman has a new home: The Guantanamo of New York I reported on Obama longer than anyone else. Heres what I learned UPDATES: 6:50 p.m.: Reorganizes to raise reference to Albany destruction. 5:40 p.m.: Updates with deaths reported in Albany, Ga., officials scaling back death toll in Cook County from eight to seven. 3:30 p.m.: This article was updated with information on a tornado hitting Albany, Ga., and other details. 2:20 p.m.: This article was updated with the new death toll and description of the scene. The article was originally posted at 10:55 a.m. President Trumps unorthodox quest for the White House was fueled by his disregard for convention and the nagging sense that he and ultimately his supporters were underestimated and disrespected. Now sworn in to office as the 45th president, Trump and his team are determined to deliver quickly on promises on the economy, healthcare, tax reform and immigration that critics told him he could not possibly fulfill. During his campaign, Trump embraced the notion of a first-100-day flurry in which he would quickly put his stamp on Washington. In a major speech in Gettysburg a few weeks before the election, he articulated three broad priorities: ending corruption and special-interest collusion in Washington, protecting American workers and restoring security and constitutional rule of law. Advertisement On his first day in office, he said he would take more than a dozen specific actions to advance priorities: introducing a constitutional amendment to impose congressional term limits, starting to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and canceling federal money going to so-called sanctuary cities, among others. Other legislative priorities would require congressional support: simplification of the tax code, a major infrastructure bill and tax credits for child and elderly care. If we follow these steps, we will once more have a government of, by, and for the people, he said. Trumps transition team developed what it calls a Day 1, Day 100 and Day 200 action plan for campaign promises, devised by 14 implementation teams that Trump aides say devoted 135,000 hours to the task. Building a border wall with Mexico one of the new presidents signature campaign pledges alone required multiple agency action plans because of the complexity of the endeavor. The transition made priorities of four other broad areas: Buy America, women and children, intellectual property and currency manipulation. Separately, the new administration has been coordinating with Republican leaders on how to take advantage of the congressional calendar to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court, start the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and later push tax and entitlement overhauls and ramp up immigration enforcement through the appropriations process ahead of a late-April deadline. Thats a first 100 days that Im not sure any other conservative president has hit those kind of major milestones, said James Wallner, vice president of research for the Heritage Foundation, which has consulted closely with the Trump team. Trump takes office in a far different environment than President Obama encountered eight years ago. Then, an economy still in free fall required an urgent response on multiple fronts preparing an economic stimulus package, debating a rescue of the auto industry and devising a response to the housing crisis, among other domestic priorities. Trump inherits a relatively stable and growing economy and no crises demanding his immediate attention, giving him and his team more freedom to roll out an agenda on their own terms. If hes not moving his agenda forward, its not standing still, its drifting away. Terry Sullivan, executive director, White House Transition Project But many conservatives view the task of reversing Obamas agenda as urgent on its own. Republican lawmakers are primed to send scores of bills to Trumps desk as he also considers executive actions to speed a rightward turn in government. His White House is eager to leverage his reputation as a take-charge, decisive executive like his campaign did. But like many of his predecessors discovered, the playbook that delivered him to the White House is not easily adapted to an office that has confounded even the most prepared and popular occupants. And meeting the expectations he built and even raised over the course of his transition has added to the complexity of the job. Its not learning how to hit a 98-mile-an-hour fastball coming from a Triple-A ball club. Its learning how to hit a 1,200-mile-an-hour fastball, said Terry Sullivan, executive director of the White House Transition Project, who has closely studied presidents first 100 days. The round-numbered benchmark for a presidents early days harks back to Franklin D. Roosevelts first term, when Congress helped usher in his New Deal to combat the Great Depression. Since then, its become an almost inevitable measure of a presidents early success. Conservatives have been pushing Trumps aides to get as much as possible done during that time. The Heritage Foundations Wallner wrote a memo last week outlining other 100-day priorities for the Trump administration, which included withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, reversing regulations on fracking, reviewing all federal funding for nonprofit organizations and formulating a new approach to countering Islamic State. The conservative think tank had already issued a more comprehensive series of recommendations that have formed the basis for many of the administrations plans. Its not just a fluke that we happened to have a good relationship with the candidate or his team. And its not a fluke that the campaign happened to be focused on the issues we have been working on, Wallner said. New presidents typically enjoy an early honeymoon period in which to advance the priorities articulated in their campaigns. But even though Trump enjoys Republican majorities in Congress eager to work with him on his key issues, he also assumes the office as the least popular new president in decades. Still, presidencies that have stumbled most in the early days owed their misfortune not to any deficit in public support, but to their own decisions, Sullivan said. Most often, problems arise when a new president succumbs to temptation to react to events, squandering the most precious resource a president has: time. There are an enormous number of things clamoring for the presidents attention, and none of them are unimportant, he said. If hes not moving his agenda forward, its not standing still, its drifting away. The kind of instant response to criticism Trump prides himself on often asymmetric attacks to the ones launched against him are another classic trap presidents can fall into, Sullivan said. If all youre doing is reacting, then youre not leading, he said. Trump used his only public remarks Saturday, during a visit to the CIAs headquarters in Virginia, to complain about media coverage of his first day. Later, his press secretary delivered a statement accusing reporters of engaging in deliberately false reporting. Maintaining good relations with Republicans whom Trump has not been reluctant to target when they have questioned his policies or statements will be essential to success. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, speaking at the Heritage Foundation this week, predicted that there would be fits and starts in the relationship between Trump and conservatives. He advised them to keep those disagreements in perspective. Every time Trump does something youre not quite comfortable with, close your eyes and think two words: President Clinton, he said. michael.memoli@latimes.com Twitter: @mikememoli ALSO As soon as hes inaugurated, Trump will move to clamp down on immigration How a liberal Santa Monica high school produced a top Trump advisor and speechwriter Trump has vowed to slash regulations. Where he might start and the hurdles he faces Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos divisive speaking tour, provoking shouting matches and fistfights among college-age fans and foes, has now degenerated to the level of gunfire. A man was in critical condition Saturday after being shot outside a University of Washington hall prior to the controversial far-right commentators speech there Friday night. The 32-year-old victim was rushed to a hospital for emergency surgery after being shot in the stomach, police said. A person of interest in the shooting turned himself in to University of Washington police, and was held for questioning. For the record: This article has been corrected to delete a reference to Yiannopoulos as a white nationalist, and to more completely describe the Twitter campaign that resulted in his removal from the social media site. A police official told the Seattle Times late Saturday that the man who fired the gun said he had fired in self-defense and that the man he shot was some type of white supremacist. The suspect was released without charges pending further investigation. Advertisement On Friday, black-hooded protesters were shown in videos sparking assaults outside Kane Hall on campus. Police had blocked the entrance after scuffles broke out over the Breitbart editors sold-out appearance. When a group of protesters arrived after a downtown rally where police had seized wooden dowels, homemade shields, flares, hammers and other items from masked people in the crowd tensions increased. Protesters began throwing bricks and paint toward police and others in the crowd, police said in a statement. Seattle has a long, proud tradition of speaking up and speaking out, but we will not tolerate violence of any kind, said Seattle Mayor Ed Murray. In a similar statement, Gov. Jay Inslee said, I condemn in the strongest possible terms any act of violence, no matter in what name its being waged. The Democrat added that the freedom of speech applies equally to all of us even to the people whose ideas we find abhorrent. Yiannopoulos, after hearing of the shooting, chose to go on with his speech. He told the Seattle audience he didnt know if the victim died or not, but, Breitbart quoted him saying, if I stopped my event now, we are sending a clear message that they can stop our events by killing people. I am not prepared to do that. The speech took place hours after President Trump took the oath of office in Washington. Stephen K. Bannon, former chairman of Breitbart News, is a senior advisor to the president. A Thursday night appearance at Washington State University in Pullman was canceled due to weather. Protests led to cancellation last week of another planned appearance, at UC Davis. In a Facebook post Saturday, the British-born writer and public speaker wrote, I dont know why Ana Mari Cauce, president of the University of Washington, is covering up the crimes of left-wing protesters. But she claims that other than the shooting, last nights protests were peaceful. A ludicrous, easily disproven lie. Why bother? Yiannopoulos was banned by Twitter last January after he sent disparaging tweets about Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones, one of them referring to her as a black dude. The African American actress became the target of a flood of harassing tweets, some of them racist, and Twitter concluded that Yiannopoulos had violated its rules prohibiting participating in or inciting targeted abuse of individuals. Yiannopoulos uses a derogatory term for gays in the title of his speaking tour, and his speeches intentionally push the envelope. The thing I most hate about the left, he said at one appearance, is that they want to stop us laughing to prescribe which jokes are OK and which are not OK to make in public and to draw artificial lines around certain subjects. I find all sorts of inappropriate things funny. Islam, tyrannies, AIDS. These are all innately hilarious things. Now and again I even enjoy a good rape joke especially if Im the butt of it. Anderson is a special correspondent. ALSO Heres what Trumps executive order really means for Obamacare Ex-House Speaker Dennis Hastert paid sex-abuse accuser $1.7 million to stay quiet. Now he wants the money back Hundreds of thousands of marchers trek through Washington in a passionate display for womens rights UPDATES: 10:25 p.m.: This article was updated to report that the gunman claimed he fired in self-defense. This article was originally published at 4:05 p.m. Neil Gorsuch could fall somewhere between his hero, Justice Scalia, and former boss, centrist Justice Kennedy By David Savage Judge Neil M. Gorsuch was resting midway down a Colorado ski slope last year when his cellphone rang with the news that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had died. I immediately lost what breath I had left, Gorsuch recalled in an April speech, and I am not embarrassed to admit that I couldnt see the rest of the way down the mountain for the tears. Now, as President Trumps pick to replace Scalia on the high court, Gorsuch is seen by many on the right as a fitting replacement for the iconic jurist that Gorsuch considered a lion of the law. Like Scalia, Gorsuch, 49, who serves on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, is a well-respected conservative who believes judges should decide cases based on the law as it was understood when passed, not on how they think it should be. Hes a clear, impassioned writer, albeit without Scalias flare for biting sarcasm. But Gorsuch also evokes the qualities of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, for whom Gorsuch worked as a law clerk. (If confirmed, Gorsuch would join three justices who previously clerked on the high court, but he would be the first ever to serve alongside the justice he or she worked for.) Like Kennedy, 80, Gorsuch is a Westerner with a polite, congenial manner who at times has won praise from liberals. He may be more conservative than Kennedy when it comes to expanding individual rights, but he seems to lack Scalias fervor for overturning liberal precedents from decades past. Which way Gorsuch skews could be pivotal for the future of the court. Conservatives clearly hope hell be more like Scalia than Kennedy, a centrist swing vote who has often joined liberals on issues such as gay marriage and abortion. Some conservatives have even expressed hope that Gorsuchs personal history with Kennedy might enable him to draw the Reagan-appointee back toward the right. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump chooses Neil Gorsuch, a conservative seen as likely to be confirmed, for Supreme Court By Michael A. Memoli President Trump nominated federal Judge Neil M. Gorsuch on Tuesday to the Supreme Court to fill the seat of the late Antonin Scalia, choosing from his short list an appeals court judge from Denver seen as most likely to win Senate confirmation. Because Scalia was a stalwart conservative, Trumps choice is not likely to change the balance of the court. But it does set the stage for a bruising partisan fight over a man who could help determine law on gun rights, immigration, police use of force and transgender rights. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump administration is radicalizing Democratic voters, creating a challenge for the party, Rep. Adam Schiff says By Sarah D. Wire (Mark Wilson / Getty Images) As protests spread over policy announcements from the Trump administration, Democrats must work to encourage participation in politics, but face a danger of the party becoming too radicalized, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) said Tuesday. The radical nature of this government is radicalizing Democrats, and thats going to pose a real challenge to the Democratic Party, which is to draw on the energy and the activism and the passion that is out there, but not let it turn us into what we despised about the tea party, Schiff said. During a meeting with reporters and editors in the Los Angeles Times Washington bureau, Schiff also discussed his role as the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Select Intelligence Committee under a Trump administration and how Democrats will manage in the minority. Ever since the election, party leaders have been debating: Did we lose because we were too far to the left and we had too small a tent, or did we lose because we are too mainstream and didnt energize the base? Schiff asked. We are obviously having that debate, but theres a whole new element, which is the reaction to the Trump administration that makes this different in kind, certainly different in intensity, than I think weve ever seen after an election, he said. The more radical the administration is, the more radicalized our base becomes, which just feeds the Breitbart crowd, and who knows where that ends. Democratic leaders have to channel public reaction to Trumps actions into progress, rather than deadlock, Schiff said. Reaction to Democrats seen as working with the Trump administration has been strong. Monday night, for example, protesters marched on Sen. Dianne Feinsteins home and office voicing fears she would back Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general. The senator from California announced Tuesday that she would oppose Sessions. Several groups calling themselves indivisible have popped up in cities across the country as focal points for efforts to organize. We have two of the most capable strategists as the head of our House and Senate Democrats, Schiff added, referring to House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and Senate Democratic leader Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York. If anybody can grapple with this, they can, but its going to be a challenging and moving target day to day. I just hope that we can channel that energy in a way where we can provide a check on this administration because Ive never been more worried about the countrys future than I am right now, he said. Schiff said part of his role as the ranking Democrat on the House Select Intelligence Committee will be pushing back when the Trump administration puts out inaccurate information about the intelligence community and its findings. Trump has repeatedly dismissed or sought to minimize the intelligence communitys findings that Russia sought to intervene in the 2016 election to benefit him. Schiff said hes concerned about what else the administration might be willing to dismiss. I think that will be kind of a new frontier, he said. How do we contradict a president making representations about what the intelligence community has to say when the information is classified? Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump administration signals that some temporary bans on entry into the U.S. could become permanent By Brian Bennett Trumps orders put a greater emphasis on deporting those convicted of crimes and those in the country illegally who were charged with crimes not yet adjudicated The Trump administration doubled down Tuesday on its commitment to transforming the nations border law enforcement, signaling that some of the temporary bans on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries are likely to be made permanent and elevating a deportations official to run the top immigration enforcement agency. Administration officials, led by newly sworn-in Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, moved to allay the havoc that marked the roll-out of the ban and another on refugees. They briefed reporters and planned to head to Capitol Hill later today in an apparent effort to smooth relations after reports that lawmakers and other stakeholders were left out of the crafting of the executive order on toughened vetting at border entry points. In a news conference, Kelly and other top Homeland Security officials conceded some problems, including poor communication. But they insisted that all court orders were followed over the weekend, rebutted reports that some legal residents were denied access to attorneys at airports and said they everyone detained by border agents was treated with dignity and respect. The vast majority of the 1.7 billion Muslims that live on this planet, the vast majority of them have, all other things being equal, have access to the United States, Kelly told reporters. And a relatively small number right now are being held up for a period of time until we can take a look at what their procedures are, he said, seeming to acknowledge that mostly Muslims have been affected by the ban. The moves signaled that the White House remained committed to remaking border law enforcement even in the face of widespread confusion and condemnation of President Trumps order. Kelly said for the first time that the some of the restrictions that caused confusion and sparked protests over the weekend could be extended well into the future. Some of those countries that are currently on the list may not be taken off the list anytime soon, he said. Trump also named a longtime deportation officer, Thomas D. Homan, as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homan, who will oversee the execution of Trumps immigration enforcement order, was most recently in charge of the agencys 5,000 deportation officers, a force Trump said he would triple to 15,000. Trumps orders put a greater emphasis on deporting not only those convicted of crimes, but also people in the country illegally who were charged with crimes not yet adjudicated, those who receive an improper welfare benefit and even those who have not been charged but are believed to have committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print White House tries to ban the word ban, hours after president uses it himself By Noah Bierman This is not a ban, spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters in a fiery news briefing. (Alex Wong / Getty Images) President Trump used the word ban in a tweet as recently as Monday to describe his new executive order suspending travel from seven Muslim-majority countries and halting the refugee program for several months. But facing backlash from many directions, the White House adamantly insisted Tuesday that the word is verboten. This is not a ban, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters in a fiery news briefing. When we use words like travel ban, he said later, that misrepresents what it is. Its seven countries previously identified by the Obama administration, where, frankly, we dont get the information that we need for people coming into this country. In fact, people from the seven banned countries Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Libya cannot enter the United States under the order. Spicer appeared to be making a renewed effort to distinguish the order from the all-out ban on Muslims entering the country that Trump proposed during the campaign. Many around the world see the newest policy as an outgrowth of that proposal. Trump himself conceded a religious connection when he said in an interview on Friday that he wanted to make it easier for Syrian Christians to enter the country. And former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani told Fox News that the order sprang from a group he formed at Trumps request to create a legal framework that would accomplish the campaign goal of a Muslim ban. But amid confusion and worldwide criticism in recent days, the Trump administration has tried to temper some of the more incendiary rhetoric around the proposal. Even the words extreme vetting, a favorite Trump slogan, were called into question by Spicer on Tuesday. Calling for tougher vetting [of] individual travelers from seven nations is not extreme, he said. It is reasonable and necessary to protect our country. But changing the ban branding around the program at this point will be difficult. Heres Trumps tweet from Monday: If the ban were announced with a one week notice, the "bad" would rush into our country during that week. A lot of bad "dudes" out there! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017 And Spicer himself used the term ban as recently as Sunday: Sean Spiceer today: This is not a Muslim ban. It is not a travel ban. Sean Spicer in White House press release, Jan. 29: pic.twitter.com/axTM1m66nM Dominic Holden (@dominicholden) January 31, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Senate confirms Elaine Chao as secretary of Transportation By Associated Press Elaine Chao testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on Jan. 11, 2017. (Zach Gibson / AP) The Senate has confirmed Elaine Chao to serve as Transportation secretary in the Trump administration. The vote was 93 to 6 on Tuesday. Chao is an experienced Washington hand. She was Labor secretary under President George W. Bush and is the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Chao would be a lead actor in pursuing Trumps promise to invest $1 trillion to improve highways, rail service and other infrastructure projects. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Speaker Paul Ryan defends Trumps immigrant and refugee ban, as Congress grumbles about being left out By Lisa Mascaro "What is happening is something we support... we need to make sure that the vetting standards are up to snuff," Paul Ryan says of travel ban pic.twitter.com/iX6YkOLkLl CBS News (@CBSNews) January 31, 2017 House Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Tuesday stood by President Trumps temporary ban on refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority nations and indicated that he was confident the administration could fix the confusing rollout without action from Congress. What is happening is something we support, said Ryan, whose office was the target of a sit-in by protesters opposed to Trumps order. We need to pause and we need to make sure that the vetting standards are up to snuff so we can guarantee the safety and security of our country. Congress was blindsided by Trumps executive action -- Ryan learned about it as the public did when the White House announced it Friday afternoon. Many GOP lawmakers have raised concerns. During a private meeting in the Capitol basement Tuesday, Republican lawmakers were counseled on how to handle protesters and office sit-ins happening across the country. Its regrettable that there was some confusion on the rollout of this, Ryan said. No one wanted to see people with green cards or special immigrant visas, like translators, get caught up in all of this. Ryan also said he was concerned the ban could be used as propaganda by terrorist groups. The rhetoric surrounding this could be used as a recruiting tool, and I think thats dangerous, he said. Still, Republicans leaders as well as rank-and-file GOP lawmakers largely agreed with the presidents move to halt refugee admissions for 120 days, and to temporarily ban citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries, unless they are Christians or other religious minorities. The president was well within his right to issue an executive order, said Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), chairman of the House Rules Committee. Do I feel let out? I feel like everybody was left out, he said. I wish they communicated it. I wish they had gotten more information to people. I wish they had measured three times and sawed once. Lawmakers have shown little appetite for Congress to get involved, and suggested the chaos that erupted at airports over the weekend was just part of a learning curve at the White House. I support the thrust of the executive order, said Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.), who nevertheless said the administration should have been better prepared and will need to get your act together. Last year, Ryan had strongly condemned Trumps campaign-trail call for a Muslim ban. In recent days, Ryan, like other congressional leaders, was forced to dial up the administration with his questions and concerns about the order, conferring Monday with Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly. I am very pleased and confident that he is, on a going-forward basis, going to make sure that things are done correctly, Ryan said. Pressed on whether Congress would have a role, Ryan did not indicate any immediate legislative action. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democrats boycott Senate committee votes on Price, Mnuchin By Jim Puzzanghera Senate Democrats speak with reporters after boycotting Finance Committee confirmation votes. (JIM WATSON / AFP/Getty Images) Senate Democrats on Tuesday boycotted a committee vote on two of President Trumps top Cabinet nominees -- Tom Price to lead Health and Human Services and Steve Mnuchin to be Treasury secretary. Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) blasted the Democratic move as he sat in a hearing room with only Republicans on the dais. They ought to be embarrassed. Its the most pathetic treatment Ive seen in my 40 years in the United States Senate, Hatch said. I think they should stop posturing and acting like idiots, he said. At least one Democrat needs to be present for the committee to vote on the nominations, Hatch said. He recessed the hearing until further notice, saying he hoped a vote could take place later Tuesday. But asked mid-afternoon if he thought the committee would be able to meet Tuesday, Hatch said it doesnt look like it. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the committees top Democrat, said Price and Mnuchin have misled the public and held back important information about their backgrounds. Until questions are answered, Democrats believe the committee should not move forward with either nomination, Wyden said. This is about getting answers to questions, plain and simple, he said. Ethics laws are not optional, and nominees do not have a right to treat disclosure like a shell game. Today @SenateFinance Democrats refused to move forward with nominations of Mnuchin & Price. Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) January 31, 2017 The litany of ethics revelations regarding @RepTomPrice are strong evidence that he cannot be allowed to have control of #Medicare. Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) January 31, 2017 Mr. Mnuchin continued to fail to come clean on shady foreclosure practices that hurt Americans. Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) January 31, 2017 Liberal groups cheered the boycott while Senate Republican leaders decried it as Democratic obstructionism. They are manufacturing issues on a daily basis to drag this process out, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kent.) said of the confirmations of Trumps nominees. I dont see how they can explain to the American people how it is appropriate to prevent the administration from getting up and getting started, he said. Democrats have said Mnuchin, a wealthy Wall Street executive, misled the committee in his response to a written question about foreclosures at Pasadenas OneWest Bank while he ran it from 2009-15. Democrats pointed to a report Sunday by the Columbus Dispatch that Mnuchin denied that OneWest engaged in so-called robo-signing of mortgage documents. The paper said its analysis of nearly four dozen foreclosure cases in Ohios Franklin County in 2010 showed that the bank frequently used robo-signers. The Columbus Dispatch cited a foreclosure involving a mortgage signed by Erica Johnson-Seck, a OneWest vice president who said in a deposition in a 2009 Florida case that she signed an average of 750 documents a week. Barney Keller, a spokesman for Mnuchin, said Monday that several courts had dismissed cases involving allegations of robo-signing by Johnson-Seck. The media is picking on a hardworking bank employee whose reputation has been maligned but whose work has been upheld by numerous courts all around the country in the face of scurrilous and false allegations, Keller said. Democrats also have problems with Price, a six-term congressman and former orthopedic surgeon who has distinguished himself in conservative circles for his staunch opposition to the Affordable Care Act and his plans to slash federal healthcare spending. His nomination has become among Trumps most controversial, in part because of his hostility to government safety net programs, including Medicaid and Medicare. Democrats have also been increasingly critical of Prices extensive trading in healthcare stocks while he has been in Congress, and in some cases while he has pushed legislation that would benefit his portfolio. Price has denied any wrongdoing. Also drawing criticism is Prices purchase of discounted shares in an Australian biotech firm, Innate Immunotherapeutics, which he was offered through a private deal not available to general shareholders. Price also denied that this was improper, and Senate Republicans have rallied to his side, saying he did not violate any ethics rules. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said he and the other Democrats on the committee want Mnuchin and Price to explain their lies either in person before the committee or in new written answers. I want them to disclose this information that they seem not to want to disclose, Brown said. 12:10 p.m.: This post was updated with additional comments from Hatch as well as from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Sherrod Brown. 8:00 a.m.: This post has been updated with additional information and background. 8:07 a.m.: This post has been updated with additional information. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print White House aides who wrote Trumps travel ban see it as just the start By Brian Bennett (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press) Even as confusion, internal dissent and widespread condemnation greeted President Trumps travel ban and crackdown on refugees this weekend, senior White House aides say they are only getting started. Trump and his aides justified Fridays executive order, which blocked travel from seven majority-Muslim countries for 90 days and halted refugees from around the world for 120, on security grounds an issue that they say they take seriously. But their ultimate goal is far broader. Trumps top advisors on immigration, including chief strategist Steve Bannon and senior advisor Stephen Miller, see themselves as launching a radical experiment to fundamentally transform how the U.S. decides who is allowed into the country and to block a generation of people who, in their view, wont assimilate into American society. That project may live or die in the next three months, as the Trump administration reviews whether and how to expand the visa ban and alter vetting procedures. White House aides are considering new, onerous security checks that could effectively limit travel into the U.S. by people from majority-Muslim countries to a trickle. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Why corporations cant risk keeping silent about Trumps immigration ban By David Pierson Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz said the Seattle coffee company is developing plans to hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years. (Richard Drew / Associated Press) Corporate America generally prefers to stay quiet about partisan politics. Pick one side of a hot-button issue, the thinking goes, and youll risk losing customers on the other side. But like so many norms before it, President Trump has turned this one on its head. A growing number of companies are deciding its a bigger risk to their investors and bottom line to stay quiet than it is to protest Trumps ban on refugees and travel from seven Muslim-majority nations, betting vocal opposition to the executive order scores them a moral and fiscal victory. While it was possible for companies to take a wait-and-see approach leading up to Trumps inauguration, many firms can no longer ignore the White Houses policy given the effect the order is already having on employees either stranded or fearful of traveling. Only a week ago it seemed foolish to speak out against a president who has admonished individual companies on social media such as Carrier, Boeing and General Motors. Now the pendulum has swung the other way. Companies, mostly in technology but increasingly in other sectors, have decided that its not enough just to speak out against the immigration order. They believe that they must also take headline-grabbing action. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Op-Ed: Trump is taking the Bannon Way, and it will end in disaster By Jonah Goldberg Bannon has said hes a Leninist' but hes really more of a Trotskyist because he fancies himself the leader of an international populist-nationalist right wing movement, exporting anti-'globalist' revolution. In that role, his status as an enabler of Trumps instinct to shoot or tweet from the hip seems especially ominous. The Bannon way might work on the campaign trail, but it doesnt translate into good governance. Its possible and one must hope that Trump can learn this fact on the job. But what if he doesnt? He could put the country in serious peril. Jonah Goldberg Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump will leave LGBTQ protections in place By Associated Press (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) The White House says President Trump will leave intact a 2014 executive order that protects federal workers from anti-LGBTQ discrimination. In a statement released early Tuesday, the White House said Trump is determined to protect the rights of all Americans, including the LGBTQ community and that he continues to be respectful and supportive of LGBTQ rights, just as he was throughout the election. The Trump administration has vowed to roll back much of President Obamas work from the last eight years and had been scrutinizing the 2014 order. The directive protects people from LGBTQ discrimination while working for federal contractors. The recent statement says the protections will remain intact at the direction of Trump. Here is the text of Obamas executive order, signed on July 21, 2014: By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including 40 U.S.C. 121, and in order to provide for a uniform policy for the Federal Government to prohibit discrimination and take further steps to promote economy and efficiency in Federal Government procurement by prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Amending Executive Order 11478 . The first sentence of section 1 of Executive Order 11478 of August 8, 1969, as amended, is revised by substituting sexual orientation, gender identity for sexual orientation. Sec. 2. Amending Executive Order 11246 . Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965, as amended, is hereby further amended as follows: (a) The first sentence of numbered paragraph (1) of section 202 is revised by substituting sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin for sex, or national origin. (b) The second sentence of numbered paragraph (1) of section 202 is revised by substituting sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin for sex or national origin. (c) Numbered paragraph (2) of section 202 is revised by substituting sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin for sex or national origin. (d) Paragraph (d) of section 203 is revised by substituting sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin for sex or national origin. Sec. 3. Regulations . Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Labor shall prepare regulations to implement the requirements of section 2 of this order. Sec. 4. General Provisions . (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an agency or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. Sec. 5. Effective Date . This order shall become effective immediately, and section 2 of this order shall apply to contracts entered into on or after the effective date of the rules promulgated by the Department of Labor under section 3 of this order. Update 6:45 a.m.: This article was updated with the text of the 2014 executive order. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump fires Justice Departments top official after she refuses to defend his refugee ban By David Lauter Sally Yates. (J. David Ake / Associated Press) President Trump fired acting Atty. Gen. Sally Yates on Monday, just hours after she announced that the department would not defend his controversial executive order banning refugees and travelers from certain countries. Yates has betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States, the White House said in a statement. It is time to get serious about protecting our country. The move came after Yates sent a letter to Justice Department lawyers saying that she questioned the lawfulness of Trumps executive order. My responsibility is to ensure that the position of the Department of Justice is not only legally defensible, but is informed by our best view of what the law is after consideration of all the facts, Yates wrote. At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities, nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful, she wrote. Consequently, for as long as I am the acting attorney general, the Department of Justice will not present arguments in defense of the executive order unless and until I become convinced that it is appropriate to do so. Yates was a holdover from the Obama administration. But because Trumps nominee for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions, has not been confirmed and no other senior Justice Department officials have been appointed, firing her was expected to cause significant problems within the department. Among other issues, Yates is the only person in the department currently authorized to sign warrants for wiretapping in foreign espionage cases involving the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Trump replaced Yates with Dana J. Boente, a three-decade veteran of the Justice Department who was appointed in 2015 by former President Obama as U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Virginia. 6:37 p.m.: The story was updated with Trumps decision to fire Yates. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print U.S. service member killed in Yemen identified as Navy SEAL from Illinois By Jeanette Steele The Pentagon on Sunday confirmed the death of a U.S. servicemember in a raid in Yemen targeting al-Qaeda, marking the first American combat death under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. A Navy SEAL from the Virginia-based elite unit known as SEAL Team 6 was killed Sunday during an unusual nighttime raid that put U.S. troops on the ground against Al Qaeda leaders in the middle of war-torn Yemen. The fallen sailor was identified Monday as Chief Special Warfare Operator William Ryan Owens, 36, of Peoria, Ill.. Three other Americans were wounded in the raid and an MV-22 Osprey had to be destroyed after the aircraft suffered a hard landing and couldnt fly. Another U.S. service member was injured in that crash. The raid marked the first known counter-terrorism operation and first confirmed combat fatality under President Trump. Steele writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Protests against Trumps ban on certain immigrants continue across the country By Ann M. Simmons Protesters rally at Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 29, demonstrating against the immigration ban imposed by President Trump. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) After a weekend of turmoil at many of the nations airports following President Trumps executive order to suspend the U.S. refugee program and temporarily prohibit entry to citizens of seven predominantly Muslim nations, federal officials said all people being detained on arrival to the U.S. had been released. But that hasnt put a stop to demands to lift the travel ban. Protests continued to be held and organized throughout the country incluidng in New York, New Orleans, Colorado and Connecticut. According to Ground Game, an online platform for organizing, at least a dozen demonstrations were planned for this week in what the group described as a fight against Islamophobia and Fascism. Calls to rally, demonstrate and protest swept social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook. In Louisville, Ky., a rally was planned for Monday evening at the Muhammad Ali Center, in what organizers said would be a gathering for American values and to voice support for our nation and our city, which was founded and is strengthened by immigrants. In Hattiesburg, Miss., there was call to join a peaceful vigil in solidarity with refugees, immigrants, and Muslims on the University of Southern Mississippi campus on Monday evening. Declaring that Jersey City stands with our Muslim and immigrant community, organizers in that New Jersey city called on people to come to a pedestrian mall on Monday to stand in solidarity and peace as we show our strength in diversity as one of the most diverse cities in the nation. Other demonstrations were planned for later in the week in cities nationwide, including Tuesday in Tuscon, where organizers encouraged people to stand in solidarity with Senator (John) McCains strong public statement opposing the executive order banning refugees and Legal Permanent Residents from Muslim countries! Similar actions were planned on Tuesday at the South Carolina State House in Columbia and at the Worchester City Hall and Common in Massachusetts, while organizers in San Francisco, under the banner #NoBanNoWallSF, urged residents to join the resistance against Donald Trumps racist and exclusionary Executive Orders on Saturday. We will not allow our country to be divided by hate and religious persecution, read a statement from #NoBanNoWallSF posted on Facebook. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Obama carefully weighs in on refugee ban, says he is heartened by public response By Michael A. Memoli (Jim Watson / AFP/Getty Images) Former President Obama has offered his first public comment on the conduct of his successor, saying through a spokesman that he is heartened by public demonstrations against the Trump administrations controversial move to temporarily ban refugees and block all admissions from seven countries. President Obama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country, Kevin Lewis, a spokesperson for the former president, said in a statement emailed to reporters Monday. In his final official speech as President, he spoke about the important role of citizen and how all Americans have a responsibility to be the guardians of our democracy--not just during an election but every day. Citizens exercising their constitutional right to assemble, organize and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake. Lewis also said in the statement that Obama fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion. Trump aides deny that his executive order, released Friday, involves religious discrimination. The order temporarily blocked travel to the U.S. by residents of seven predominantly Muslim nations, but left many of the Islamic worlds largest population centers unaffected, they note. The order also included an exception for believers of minority religions in those countries, a provision that Trump explicitly said would help Christians. Obamas statement is notable less for its content than for the fact that it was issued at all. It reflected the delicate balance he feels he must strike between showing a degree of deference to the new president and speaking out on issues he sees as critically important. The statement tiptoed around the content of the order, focusing more on the former presidents interest in citizen engagement. Obama said before leaving office that he expected to choose carefully when to comment on the actions of his successor and would focus less on normal functioning of politics and more on certain issues or certain moments where I think our core values may be at stake, as he put it in his final news conference. Mondays statement did point, though, to comments Obama made at a news conference in November 2015, when he called the idea of a religious test for immigration policy shameful and not American. We dont have religious tests to our compassion, he said at the time. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement GOP-led Congress worries about its role in the Trump era By Lisa Mascaro Its what congressional Republicans had long dreamed about: a majority in both chambers to advance conservative policies and a president from the same party to sign them into law. But the Trump White House isnt turning out exactly the way they envisioned. The GOP establishment is experiencing whiplash after a week of President Trump bulldozing through the norms of policy and protocol dashing off executive orders without warning, escalating a diplomatic crisis with the countrys closest southern neighbor, triggering global confusion with a new refugee policy and generally hijacking party leaders agenda and replacing it with his own. Rather than the hoped-for collaborative new relationship between the White House and Congress, GOP officials complain that Trump is brushing aside their advice, failing to fully engage on drafting tough legislative packages like tax reform and Obamacare, and bypassing Congress by relying on executive actions, something they frequently complained about under President Obama. At the same time, Trumps unilateral moves continue to blindside Republicans and direct the national focus toward topics many in the party would rather avoid, whether thats how to pay for building the border wall with Mexico, warming ties with Russia, investigating false claims about voter fraud or, most recently, implementing sweeping new policies on refugees and visas. In the name of party unity, many Republicans so far have refrained from publicly attacking the new president. But for some, the new refugee policy crossed the line, signaling the first major rift in their already fraught partnership. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Washington state sues Trump over immigration order By Mark Z. Barabak President Trump signed an executive order Friday that suspends all immigration for citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) Opening a new legal front, lawyers for the state of Washington filed suit Monday seeking to block President Trumps executive order temporarily banning foreign refugees from entering the United States. No one is above the law, not even the president, Atty. Gen. Bob Ferguson said in announcing the federal lawsuit. And in the courtroom, it is not the loudest voice that prevails. Its the Constitution. Over the weekend, a federal judge in Brooklyn issued an order curtailing portions of Trumps executive order, issued Friday, which temporary halts migration from seven predominantly Muslim countries for at least 90 days and also closed the nation to refugees for at least the next four months. Other challenges are pending. The lawsuit filed in federal court in Seattle was the first taken by a state attorney general, and its provenance was no surprise. Washington state and others along the West Coast voted overwhelmingly for Democrat Hillary Clinton in November and have emerged as a hotbed of anti-Trump sentiment. We will not yield, said Democratic Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who joined Ferguson at a Seattle news conference. We will not be leveraged. We will not be threatened. We will not be intimidated. We will not be bullied by this. Trumps order, which has sparked demonstrations across the country, brought an outpouring of objection from Insleys Democratic colleagues around the country. President Trumps recent executive orders that divide and discriminate do not reflect the values enshrined in the U.S. Constitution or the principles we stand for as Oregonians, said Gov. Kate Brown. A single executive order does not define who we are as a country, said Connecticut Gov. Daniel P. Malloy. We are a nation of immigrants and must continue to fight for the tired, the poor, and the huddled masses yearning to breath free. In Massachusetts, another state that voted overwhelmingly for Clinton, Republican Gov. Charlie Baker joined the chorus of Democratic criticism, saying the travel ban would undermine the international relations forged by the states business, academic and healthcare communities. The confusion for families is real. The unexpected disruption for law-abiding people is real, Baker said. Thankfully, the federal courts will have an opportunity to straighten this out and it is my hope they do so, and do so quickly. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print How a top conservative radio host took on Trump, lost his audience and faith, but gained a new perspective By Mark Z. Barabak Charlie Sykes, right, interviews Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) before Wisconsins 2016 primary (Morry Gash/Associated Press) For nearly 25 years, Charlie Sykes was one of the most powerful and influential voices in Wisconsin. He cheer-led policies that turned this historically progressive state into a model of conservative governance. He made and destroyed political careers, using his perch on Milwaukee talk radio to help vault figures such as House Speaker Paul Ryan and Gov. Scott Walker to national prominence. But for the moment Sykes was speechless. He sank into the brown leather banquette of a suburban steakhouse. He stammered. He sighed. When youve devoted your whole life to certain beliefs and you think now they have been undermined and that you might have been deluded about things, he began. So. So. Um... In 2016 Sykes emerged as one of Donald Trumps most prominent critics, a stance that outraged listeners, strained longstanding friendships and left him questioning much of what he once held true. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Pentagon compiling a list of Iraqis who aided the U.S. military and wants them shielded from Trumps travel ban By W.J. Hennigan The Pentagon is compiling a list of Iraqi citizens who have worked with the U.S. military and is recommending that they be exempt from President Trumps temporary ban on entry to the U.S. by people from Iraq and six other predominantly Muslim countries, according to the U.S. military. The move could potentially shield tens of thousands of Iraqi interpreters, advisors, and others who have assisted the American military from the presidents controversial executive action that blocked visitors from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen. Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters Monday that the list will include names of individuals who have demonstrated their commitment to helping the United States. Even people that are doing seemingly benign things in support of us whether as a linguist, a driver, anything else they often do that at great personal risk, he said. So people who take these risks are really making a tangible signal of support to the United States, and thats something that will, and should be, recognized. The list would not require any changes to the presidents order, but rather serve as guidance to the Department of Homeland Security and the White House in implementing the new policy. White House spokesman Sean Spicer later pushed back against blanket exemptions. We recognize that people have served this country, we should make sure that in those cases theyre helped out, he said. But that doesnt mean that we just give them a pass. Trump, who signed the order at the Pentagon on Friday, did not consult Defense Secretary James N. Mattis or Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the temporary suspensions of entry to visitors from the seven nations, according to U.S. officials. The executive action put the U.S. military in a difficult position because it works closely with the Iraqi government on a range of issues, including the fight against Islamic State, which necessitates travel between the two countries. For instance, Iraqi military pilots train to fly F-16 fighter jets at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. Its not clear those pilots, who are active in the fight against Islamic State, could arrive in the U.S. for the training. 1:10 p.m.: This post was updated with White House response. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump signs order on rulemaking: For every regulation added, agencies have to cut 2 others By Noah Bierman (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) President Trump signed an executive order Monday designed to fulfill his campaign pledge reduce red tape for businesses. The two-page order requires that when a federal agency proposes new regulations, it shall identify at least two existing regulations to be repealed. We want to make the life easier for small businesses and big business, Trump said Monday from the Roosevelt Room of the White House, where he met with nine representatives of the small-business sector. Trump said he hoped to see up to 75% of federal regulations eliminated during his presidency. Regulation has been horrible for big business, but its been worse for small business, Trump said. He also reiterated his promise to gut the Dodd-Frank Act, the financial regulatory overhaul that was passed after the financial crisis. Dodd-Frank is a disaster, he said. Were going to be doing a big number on Dodd-Frank. Consumer advocates who backed the law say that eliminating it would help Wall Street and other players in the financial sector at the expense of consumers. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print U.S. diplomats to protest Trumps travel ban order By Tracy Wilkinson Protesters of President Trumps immigration order block traffic at LAX. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) A number of U.S. diplomats are condemning President Trumps ban on some Muslim immigrants and visitors, saying the abrupt order does not make the U.S. safer and will only stoke anti-American fervor overseas. The complaint, being made through the State Departments so-called dissent channel, echoes criticism coming from human rights attorneys, legal experts and lawmakers from both political parties, as well as world leaders. It is significant because it represents the viewpoint of the men and women who must carry out Trumps unconventional and often provocative foreign policy. A policy which closes our doors to over 200-million legitimate travelers in the hopes of preventing a small number of travelers who intend to harm Americans ... will not achieve its aim of making our country safer, said a draft version of the memo that was circulating Monday and was reviewed by the Los Angeles Times. It was first reported by ABC News. Moreover, such a policy runs counter to core American values of non-discrimination, fair play and extending a warm welcome to foreign visitors and immigrants. The White House was quickly dismissive of the dissent and seemed to suggest the diplomats should quit if they disagree with a policy. Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said the diplomats raising of opposition does call into question whether or not they should continue to work in the State Department. It was not clear how many officials would sign the memo. Dissent channel memos are in theory not made public. The mechanism is designed to allow diplomats to offer an alternative policy without fear of retaliation. Acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner confirmed the existence of the memo but declined to comment on its contents. The dissent channel is a longstanding official vehicle for State Department employees to convey alternative views and perspectives on policy issues, he said. "... It allows State employees to express divergent policy views candidly and privately to senior leadership. The agency is still waiting for a boss. Trumps pick for secretary of State, former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, is expected to be confirmed by the Senate this week. The last time a dissent-channel memo was reported publicly was last year, when about 50 diplomats protested Obama administration policy in Syria, which they described as inaction. 12:20 p.m.: This story was updated with White House comment. 8:40 a.m.: This story was updated with comment from a State Department spokesman. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump to announce his Supreme Court choice Tuesday -- in prime time By Michael A. Memoli (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump will announce his first Supreme Court nomination in prime time on Tuesday, he tweeted this morning. I have made my decision on who I will nominate for The United States Supreme Court. It will be announced live on Tuesday at 8:00 P.M. (W.H.) Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017 The announcement was moved up two days amid the continued fallout from the executive action Trump signed temporarily banning refugee admissions from some countries. Trump had tweeted last week that he would announce his high-court decision Thursday. In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network on Friday, Trump said his administration was doing some final vetting of his choice to replace the late Antonin Scalia, and that the pick would be from among the list of 20 names he issued during the election campaign. I think the person I pick will be big, big, he said. I think people are going to love it. I think evangelicals, Christians will love my pick. And will be represented very fairly. Times Supreme Court reporter David Savage profiled each of the leading contenders: Judge Thomas Hardiman of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Neil M. Gorsuch of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, and Judge William H. Pryor Jr. from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The move could prompt a major clash with Senate Democrats, who have warned the president against a choice outside what they consider the mainstream. Some are threatening to block any choice in retaliation for Senate Republicans refusal to even hold hearings on President Obamas choice to replace Scalia, Merrick Garland. Democrats 2013 change to Senate rules that allowed most nominations to advance with a simple majority vote exempted Supreme Court nominations, meaning that Democrats could potentially filibuster the choice. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) appeared to rule out any further rule change in an interview last week, though Trump urged him to consider doing so. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print As Hollywood gathered at the SAG Awards, some entertainers joined LAX protest Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Advertisement This New York doctor went to visit family in Sudan, and now hes stuck By Molly Hennessy-Fiske Dr. Kamal Fadlalla (Dr. Kamal Fadlalla / For The Times) Dr. Kamal Fadlalla, a hospital resident who has been working in New York for the last 20 months, was stuck in Sudan on Sunday, having gone there to see his family earlier this month. He had left Jan. 13, was due to return Feb. 4 but tried to return on Friday after hearing about President Trumps executive order on immigration, which suspended entry for people from seven countries, including Sudan. He made it past passport control, all the way to the gate at the airport in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital. One hour before departure they called my name, he said, and summoned him to the ticket counter, along with other New York-bound Sudanese passengers. When I got to the counter, they said there was a notice from Customs and Border Protection that ... they had to offload us from the flight. I was shocked. Fadlalla, 33, hoped for a reprieve as other passengers gathered, all stuck. One family, they came back from Dubai, she was a mother of three or four kids. She was waiting overnight at the Dubai airport. There were also two passengers turned back from New York, he said. It was a very tough night on me, He stayed for several hours, then returned to his mothers home in Madani, two hours south. Fadlalla is a second-year resident in internal medicine at Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn. He is hoping to specialize in hematology and oncology. The Committee for Interns and Residents found an attorney to represent him, he said, but he had not received any news about how a New York federal judges ruling late Saturday, which halted the deportations of people who had arrived in the U.S. with valid visas, could affect him. I dont know what Im going to do. My vacation is going to end and I have to join the hospital next week. Its going to be tough on me, Fadlalla said. I dont know for how long Im going to stay here. I dont know what Im going to do. My visa is valid for three months. Im really stuck. I have my house there, my utilities, my work, my patients, my colleagues. It was my life for the past 20 months. And Im stuck here. Fadlalla is from northern Sudan, and describes himself as a moderate Muslim. He said the executive order wont make the U.S. safer by barring valid visa holders like him because, Ive been through the whole process of visa interviews. He had planned to take board exams next year, and if he misses them, his schooling will be delayed. He had wanted to stay and work in New York, too. All my life is there. Now Im stuck here. I dont know what to do, he said. Its going to really affect my life, my patients, my colleagues and their work schedule. He said the executive order has shocked others in Sudan, too. Theyre talking about human rights. Everybody knows the United States is about freedom, he said. Everybody knows America is a free country, a country of chances for everybody. Still, people have hope in those protesting at airports all over the United States and attorneys who have volunteered to help immigrants and refugees, he said. He said the order is especially worrying for aspiring Sudanese medical residents who have been preparing to match with a hospital in March to study in the United States. A lot of my colleagues who are preparing for exams are really, really worried about this, Fadlalla said. Im really worried about the future of these young people. They study a lot and spend a lot of money, a lot of effort to enter the United States. Im concerned about my future and my colleagues future. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Californias congressional Republicans hold their fire on Trumps refugee order By Sarah D. Wire Only a few of the states 14 Republican representatives have publicly commented on an executive order signed by President Trump on Friday that barred refugees and green card holders from seven countries from entering the country. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) released a statement Sunday night saying that some tweaks are needed, but that his background as chairman of the House Select Intelligence Committee leads him to support the executive order. In light of attempts by jihadist groups to infiltrate fighters into refugee flows to the West, along with Europes tragic experience coping with this problem, the Trump administrations executive order on refugees is a common-sense security measure to prevent terror attacks on the homeland, Nunes said. While accommodations should be made for green card holders and those whove assisted the U.S. armed forces, this is a useful temporary measure on seven nations of concern until we can verify who is entering the United States. Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) told the Washington Post that the executive order is the right call to keep America safe, but he hopes the cases of people traveling on visas who were prevented from reentering the country are resolved quickly. Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) said Sunday on Twitter that the rollout has created confusion, and that executive orders arent the way to fix the countrys long-term problems. View Twitter post View Twitter post Several of Californias 38 Democratic congressional representatives and the states two senators were out in force over the weekend demanding the release of refugees and green card holders as well as an end to the executive order. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) announced she would file two pieces of legislation in response. One would immediately rescind the presidents order. The second would limit executive authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act to prevent a president from unilaterally banning groups of immigrants. Its clear that the president gave little consideration to the chaos and heartbreak that would result from this order, she said in a statement. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) joined protesters outside the White House on Sunday afternoon. We will fight against racism. We will fight against anti-Muslim rhetoric. We will fight against those who will marginalize who we are. pic.twitter.com/R54f3MDhvo Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 29, 2017 In Los Angeles, Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) and Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) joined protesters at Los Angeles International Airport. On Saturday, Reps. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), Nanette Barragan (D-San Pedro) and Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) joined the initial protests at the airport, and worked to get some of those being held released. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) accompanied protesters at San Francisco International Airport on Sunday. Congresswoman @MaxineWaters is here at LAX protest leading the crowd in the chant "no ban, no wall, you build it up we'll tear it down" pic.twitter.com/iNEmkVVkmW Javier Panzar (@jpanzar) January 29, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Legal moves come too late for Iranian man who arrived at LAX after Trumps order By Matt Hamilton Ali Vayeghan arrived at 7:15 p.m. Friday from Tehran. He was going to stay with relatives, then go to Indiana, to join his wife, who arrived in the U.S. four months ahead of him, and his son. But he never emerged from customs. His niece said he was put on a plane to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, at 3:15 p.m. Saturday. The ACLU was trying to prevent his deportation but arrived with paperwork 45 minutes too late. The family spoke to him by phone after he landed in Dubai, where he was waiting to be put on a flight to Tehran. Hes literally crying in the airport in Dubai, Ali Vayeghans niece, Marjan Vayghan, said. On Sunday afternoon, a federal judge in Los Angeles ordered authorities to transport Vayeghan back to the U.S. and admit him under the terms of his visa, which is set to expire Feb. 14. U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee said in her order that Vayeghan had demonstrated a strong likelihood of success in establishing that removal violates the Establishment Clause, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and his rights to Equal Protection guaranteed by the United States Constitution. But by the time the order came down, Vayeghan was on a plane bound for Tehran. Federal judge in LA has issued order allowing Iranian man deported from LAX yesterday to be admitted to US pic.twitter.com/yPth0xEQpv Matt Hamilton (@MattHjourno) January 29, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print The political climate is a hot topic at the Screen Actors Guild awards The Actor statue watches over the red carpet at the Shrine Auditorium. (Matt Sayles / Invision / Associated Press) Stars on the red carpet and at the winners podium tonight in Los Angeles are not keeping their mouths shut on current affairs. The 23rd Screen Actors Guild awards are being held at the Shrine Auditorium. Heres what they have had to say so far: I want you all to know that I am the daughter of an immigrant. My father fled religious persecution in Nazi-occupied France, and Im an American patriot, and I love this country, and because I love this country, I am horrified by its blemishes and this immigrant ban is a blemish and it is un-American. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, accepting her award for her role in Veep We need to vote. Had we all voted, we wouldnt be here. You dont like it, you dont have nothing to say if you didnt vote. Get a clipboard, get organized and get in it. Dont sit back on the sidelines. Get in it. This is a fight for the country right now. Its worth fighting for. Courtney B. Vance, nominated for his performance in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story For the first time ever in my lifetime, Ive been concerned about where its going to go. It doesnt seem to be that its going to go in a very positive direction. Claire Foy, nominated for her role as Queen Elizabeth in the Netflix series The Crown Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Green card holders will not be blocked by Trumps order, Homeland Security says By David Lauter (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times) The Trump administration backed away from one of the most controversial parts of its new executive order on immigration Sunday evening, saying that permanent U.S. residents in most cases will not be affected by the new rules. Since the president issued the order Friday, confusion has been rampant over the effects on permanent residents, noncitizens who hold so-called green cards that allow them to live and work legally in the U.S. Many were stopped and detained at airports for many hours on Friday and Saturday and, in some cases, reported that they had been threatened with being returned to their home countries. An undetermined number of other green card holders were stopped from boarding U.S.-bound planes. Late Sunday, however, the secretary of Homeland Security, retired Gen. John Kelly, issued a statement changing the policy. Statement By Secretary John Kelly On The Entry Of Lawful Permanent Residents Into The United States https://t.co/Es1qivoR3J pic.twitter.com/hffMK2MOQC Homeland Security (@DHSgov) January 29, 2017 I hereby deem the entry of lawful permanent residents to be in the national interest, Kelly wrote. Green card holders from one of the seven countries covered by the 90-day ban will still need to request a waiver to gain reentry to the U.S. if they have traveled abroad. But unless officials have significant derogatory information about a green card holder that indicates a serious threat to public safety and welfare, lawful permanent resident status will be a dispositive factor in deciding the case, Kellys statement said. A White House official, briefing reporters about the change in policy, said that about 170 people have applied for a waiver to the ban so far, and all 170 have received a waiver and have been allowed to enter the U.S. The seven countries affected by the ban are Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Uber fights immigration order -- and #DeleteUber hashtag -- with $3-million legal fund for drivers By Tracey Lien Hours after Lyfts co-founders announced a $1-million donation to the American Civil Liberties Union to defend the Constitution, Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick pulled out his pocket book as well. Kalanick promised in a Facebook post that the company would create a $3-million legal defense fund to help drivers affected by the Trump administrations move to restrict immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries. The fund will help drivers with immigration and translation services. Kalanick also said the San Francisco ride-hailing company will provide 24/7 legal support to drivers stuck outside the country and compensate them for lost earnings. Drivers eligible for assistance were directed to contact the company via an online form. Although the announcement was greeted with some support on Facebook and Twitter, many saw it as too little too late. The company had come under fire a day earlier for advertising on Twitter that it was operating at New Yorks Kennedy International Airport during a taxi strike protesting the executive order. That gaffe, coupled with Kalanicks involvement in a panel advising President Trump on economic issues, helped spawn the Twitter hashtag #DeleteUber, which encouraged customers to delete the app from their phones in protest. You are 20 hours too late, one person wrote in response to Kalanicks Facebook post. Still deleted my account today, wrote another. Though Kalanick issued a statement on Saturday opposing the executive order, it didnt stop thousands of Twitter users from adopting the trending the #DeleteUber hashtag to decry Ubers actions. They accused the company of attempting to profit from the strike and prioritizing business interests over a moral imperative. Celebrities also jumped on the bandwagon, with actor and activist George Takei on Sunday tweeting to his 2.9 million followers: Lyft donates $1mil to ACLU while Uber doubles down on its support for Trump. #DeleteUber. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print 75-year-old grandmother from Iran tells the story of her detention at LAX By Alene Tchekmedyian Siavosh Naji-Talakar of Phoenix hugs his grandmother Marzieh Moosavizadeh after she was released from detention at LAX early Sunday morning. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) Marzieh Moosavizadeh and her grandson follow a routine when she visits almost every year from Iran. The 75-year-old, who travels in a wheelchair and speaks little English, struggles to find direct flights to Phoenix, where he and his family live. So they meet in Los Angeles and he escorts her on the last leg of her trip. This time was different. Moosavizadeh landed at Los Angeles International Airport a day after President Trump signed an executive order banning citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries, including Iran, from entering the United States. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement GOP senators call executive order a self-inflicted wound. Trump calls them wrong and weak By Matt Ballinger McCain and Graham in 2013. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John McCain of Arizona released a statement Sunday saying that confusion at U.S. airports shows that President Trumps executive order on immigration was not properly vetted. Such a hasty process risks harmful results, the Republicans statement read. We should not stop green-card holders from returning to the country they call home. We should not stop those who have served as interpreters for our military and diplomats from seeking refuge in the country they risked their lives to help. And we should not turn our backs on those refugees who have been shown through extensive vetting to pose no demonstrable threat to our nation. It went on: Ultimately, we fear this executive order will become a self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism. The president responded on Twitter: The joint statement of former presidential candidates John McCain & Lindsey Graham is wrong - they are sadly weak on immigration. The two... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2017 ...Senators should focus their energies on ISIS, illegal immigration and border security instead of always looking to start World War III. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print At least 600 people wait to greet Syrians arriving in Phoenix By Nigel Duara Elijah Chavez and Brandi Hernandez protest in Phoenix (Nigel Duara/Los Angeles Times) A Phoenix-bound British Airways flight was scheduled to arrive from London at Sunday evening carrying several Syrians. A protest of about 600 people was waiting at a Phoenix international airport terminal for the flight to arrive. The outcome when these people arrive is uncertain at best, said Tanveer Shah, an Arizona attorney in private practice who volunteers with the ACLU. Shah said Syrians on board the flight would, in the best case, walk off the plane without a problem. But given the outcomes in other cities on Saturday and Sunday, Shah said it was incumbent on civil liberties attorneys to be there when the plane arrives. We have staff attorneys here ... who are prepared to file emergency pleadings, Shah said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print When Muslims got blocked at American airports, U.S. veterans rushed to help By Matt Pearce (G. Morty Ortega / Getty Images) Jeffrey Buchalter was reflooring his foyer in Chesapeake Beach, Md., and listening to MSNBC over the weekend when he heard the news: An Iraqi who had worked with American forces as an interpreter had been stopped from entering the U.S. under a new executive order on immigration from President Trump. The story stopped him cold. Buchalter, an Army veteran who works as a law-enforcement instructor at the Department of Homeland Security, had served multiple tours of duty as a military policeman in Iraq, service that cost him dearly. He was decorated for injuries sustained from gunfire and improvised explosive devices. Exams revealed hed suffered herniated discs, traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, and he spent 2 years at Walter Reed Army Medical Center trying to get right. But he was still alive, and now the married father of two children. And he believes thats thanks in part to the work of Iraqi interpreters who acted as guides during his work in their country. So he told his younger daughter and son they were going to take a trip: a two-hour drive to Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., where, for the first time in his life, Buchalter would join a protest. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Demonstrators against Trumps immigration limits and a few who like them surge through LAX By Javier Panzar The crowd at LAX is getting bigger and bigger. pic.twitter.com/dJ281TETXj Javier Panzar (@jpanzar) January 29, 2017 Thousands of people filled the international terminal at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday afternoon to call for the release of an unknown number of people being detained by immigration authorities. Filling the arrivals section of the terminal and spilling into the street outside, the throng chanted, Let them in, and Love, not hate, makes America great. Jacob Kemper, a 35-year-old Army veteran who fought two tours in Iraq, said he was infuriated to think soldiers he fought alongside might be denied entry to the country. I really dont care about religion, but I really hate oppression, he said, holding a sign that read, I Fought Next To Muslims. Shay Soltani, a network engineer, fled the Iranian revolution 40 years ago and still has family members in Iran. She doesnt know if she will be able to see them again. As she and hundreds of others marched through the airport, she said she was horrified by Trumps order. I am so hurt by this, she said. He is against freedom of speech and the constitution and everything I believe in as an American. Meanwhile, about a dozen counter-protesters popped up on the other side of the street, holding signs that said X-treme vetting and Keep Refugees Out. They said they were tired of immigrants entering the U.S. illegally, which they said jeopardizes the safety of American citizens. Chanell Temple, 63, of Los Angeles said she was sick of watching immigrants here illegally steal benefits and services from American citizens, specifically veterans and homeless people who need aid. I worked out here for 40 years and they are coming here and taking everything away, said Temple, a former bookkeeper who said she lost her job and healthcare after she was fired for an inability to speak Spanish. Raul Rodriguez Jr., coordinator of a group called America First Latinos, said he was concerned about what he considers a surge in crimes committed against Americans by those who are in the country illegally. They are lawbreakers. They have violated federal law and they need to be deported, he said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Silicon Valley execs speak out against immigration ban By Tracey Lien Technology executives are speaking out against President Trumps executive order on immigration, highlighting how the ban hurts their businesses. Leaders of companies that include Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, Dropbox and Twitter denounced it over the weekend. Apple would not exist without immigration, let alone thrive and innovate the way we do, said Apple chief executive Tim Cook in a memo to employees. In my conversations with officials here in Washington this week, Ive made it clear that Apple believes deeply in the importance of immigration both to our company and to our nations future. General Electric Co. chief executive Jeff Immelt said Sunday that businesses with global operations must balance working with the new administration while also supporting their workers and partners. We have many employees from the named countries and we do business all over the region, Immelt said in a statement. These employees and customers are critical to our success and they are our friends and partners. We stand with them and will work with the U.S. administration to strive to find the balance between the need for security and the movement of law abiding people. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print LAX protest grows as families wait Meg Heatherly, 27, of Los Angeles holds a Shame sign during a protest at the Tom Bradley International Terminal. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement L.A. city attorney barred from seeing detainees at LAX By James Queally Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer said he was repeatedly denied access to federal detainees or an attorney who could discuss the situation with him at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday night and Sunday morning. Federal officials have declined to discuss the LAX detentions or respond to Feuers criticisms. While he was at the airport, Feuer said he was approached by a woman who claimed her father, suffering from Parkinsons disease, was among the detainees. It is those kind of real stories that are at stake because of this outrageous action by the feds. It is time not only for officials in my position, but all Americans, should find this a breathtaking violation of rights. Mike Feuer Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democratic attorneys general from 15 states condemn Trump immigration order By Ann M. Simmons California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) More than a dozen Democratic attorneys general from states across the country have condemned the Trump administrations executive order suspending acceptance of refugees and have vowed to oppose it to ensure that as few people as possible suffer from the chaotic situation that it has created. In a communique Sunday, the group said: As the chief legal officers for over 130 million Americans and foreign residents of our states, we condemn President Trumps unconstitutional, un-American and unlawful Executive Order and will work together to ensure the federal government obeys the Constitution, respects our history as a nation of immigrants, and does not unlawfully target anyone because of their national origin or faith. The executive order places an indefinite ban on refugees from Syria and prohibits citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering as refugees for four months. It also places a suspension on admissions of other citizens of those countries. The legal officials represent 15 states. They include California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra and his contemporaries in Washington, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, as well as the District of Columbia. Religious liberty has been, and always will be, a bedrock principle of our country, and no president can change that truth, the attorneys general said in the statement. They praised the decision of multiple federal courts to order a stay on some aspects of the order. We are confident that the Executive Order will ultimately be struck down by the courts, the statement said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print 13 people who had been detained at LAX have been released, source says By James Queally Protesters at LAX on Sunday. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) Thirteen people who were detained Saturday night at Los Angeles International Airports Terminal 2 were eventually released, a law enforcement source told The Times. Each of them held green cards, which grant permanent residency in the U.S. The source, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the situation at the airport, could not provide detention figures for the Tom Bradley International Terminal, which has been the center of protest activity. Thats where protesters were gathering Sunday. Nurse Jamie Shoemaker, 51, of Los Angeles held an American flag in one hand and carried a sign that read, Muslims are welcome here, racists and fascists are not. She called Trumps order un-American. This is not the country I want, she said. This is not the country I grew up in. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democrats in Congress drafting legislation to repeal Trumps refugee ban, pressuring GOP for support By Lisa Mascaro Sen. Chuck Schumer becomes emotional speaking against Pres. Trump's immigration order, calling it "mean-spirited and un-American." pic.twitter.com/NkhUdpaNyV ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 29, 2017 Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Democrats will introduce legislation as soon as Monday to stop President Trumps actions temporarily banning refugees and arrivals from certain Muslim countries. House Democrats are taking similar legislative action, and lawmakers from both chambers will rally Monday evening at the Supreme Court to protest Trumps orders. This executive order was mean-spirited and un-American, said Schumer, the New York Democrat, choking up as he stood with immigrants and refugees at a press conference Sunday. It must be reversed immediately. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said House Democrats are exploring legal options, including an amicus brief in support of the ACLU lawsuit against the actions. The chances of passing a bill through the Republican-controlled Congress are slim, as most GOP leaders and lawmakers have not objected to Trumps ban. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Sunday that while he was personally opposed to a religious test on admissions, it was best left to the courts to resolve the issue. Its hopefully going to be decided in the courts as to whether or not this has gone too far, McConnell said on ABCs This Week. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) expressed his support Friday for Trumps action. A handful of Republicans, though, are uneasy with Trumps orders, and have spoken against them. Schumer noted that just few more Republicans would be needed to reach the 60-vote threshold for advancing Senate legislation. Maybe we can pass something in Congress, Schumer said. Its up to Republicans. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Emotional reunion at JFK airport after release of elderly Sudanese man from immigration detention By Barbara Demick Tears and hugs at JFK's international arrivals as a detainee is released, reuniting father with son. More families wait, cheering. pic.twitter.com/WrVpoocWjY Jack Smith IV (@JackSmithIV) January 29, 2017 For those immigrants temporarily detained under a new Trump administration executive order at New Yorks John F. Kennedy International Airport, attorneys have put a priority on getting some of the older detainees released to their families. One small victory for the lawyers was the case of Yassin Abdelrhman, a 76-year-old green card holder from Sudan who had been detained after a trip home to visit family. He was released about noon on Sunday after being detained for 30 hours. Soon, he was reunited with his sons. He is a strong individual, but he has some health challenges, said U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who had been working on their case. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Iranian director Asghar Farhadi will not attend Oscars Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi after winning an Oscar in 2012. ((Allen J. Schaben/ Los Angeles Times) ) In a statement to the New York Times today, Oscar-winning Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi said he no longer planned to attend this years ceremony. Farhadis film The Salesman is nominated in the foreign language film category. Farhadi had initially hoped to attend despite the prohibition on visitors from Iran. But he said he had decided the possibility of this presence is being accompanied by ifs and buts which are in no way acceptable to me even if exceptions were to be made for my trip. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print How an Iranian Fulbright scholar got into the U.S.: We found a lawyer who found a lawyer who found a lawyer By Barbara Demick Iranian students in front of a makeshift law office in JFKs Terminal 4. (Barbara Demick / Los Angeles Times) Perhaps nothing encapsulates the chaos emanating from President Trumps executive order better than what happened with Ukrainian Airlines Flight 232. The regularly scheduled flight to Kiev had to turn around on the tarmac at John F. Kennedy Airport early Sunday after a federal judge issued a stay of a deportation order of dozens of foreigners, including a 32-year-old Iranian linguist who is a doctoral candidate and former Fulbright scholar. With just minutes to spare, Vahideh Rasekhi -- helped by volunteer lawyers and her smart phone managed to prevent the flight from taking off. She had arrived Saturday afternoon, but was blocked from entering the United States by the executive order barring arrivals of citizens of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia and Libya. Around midnight, she was put on the Ukrainian Air flight to return to Tehran, via Kiev. We found a lawyer who found a lawyer who found a lawyer, said Mehdi Namazi, 29, a friend who has been waiting for her at the airport. The lawyers were showing officials a copy of the order issued a few hours earlier by U.S. District Court Judge Ann Donnelly in Brooklyn. It was all very confusing. They were arguing as the plane was taxiing, Namazi said. According to one lawyer, Melissa Trent, Rasekhi herself was walking up and down the aisles arguing for the plane not to take off. She knew that if the plane left she would never get back to the United States again, Trent said. Rasekhi spent most of Sunday in detention with other Iranians, but was released into the United States at around 3 p.m.. A dozen Iranian friends had been waiting inside the airports Terminal 4 amid a clutter of discarded coffee cups and half-eaten donuts in front of a diner that had been turned into a makeshift law office. Another Iranian student was waiting for her parents, who were taken into detention after arriving on another flight I havent seen them in 3-1/2 years. They dont speak English. But Im hopeful, said the student, who gave her name as Sahar. The students were both furious at the way their country had been targeted by Trumps order and touched by the outpouring of support from the volunteer lawyers. We see two different Americas here. There is this order banning us, and than there are all these people here who came to the airport. If it werent for these volunteers, she would have been deported, said Namazi. Im very depressed. We feel betrayed by this country that we invested so much energy and hope into. We are all graduate students, professors, PhDs, engineers. To say this is for national security, it doesnt add up, said Tahmineh Tabrizian, 33, another friend of Rasekhis. She said her own parents had planned to come to the United States and had spent $14,000 on tickets and visas and would now have to cancel their trip. Rasekhi, who has lived in the United States for a decade, was a Fulbright scholar at UC Santa Barbara and received a masters degree at Fresno State University, according to a resume supplied by one of her friends. She had been studying for a PhD at Stony Brook University on Long Island. She had gone to Tehran over the Christmas break to visit her parents and was on her way back to resume her studies when she was detained. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Protests begin again at LAX on Sunday morning By Genaro Molina Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Protesters in Tel Aviv compare Trump immigration order to Israeli refugee policies By Joshua Mitnick Demonstrators in Tel Aviv protest U.S. President Trumps new immigration order. (Joshua Mitnick / Los Angeles Times) Holding signs reading Refugees Welcome and chanting No Ban, No Wall, Sanctuary for All, several dozen demonstrators gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv on Sunday to join protests in the U.S. against President Trumps new immigration policy. Mia Zur Szpiro, a 36-year-old filmmaker, said she felt compelled to demonstrate because her parents survived the Holocaust. We are a country of immigrants, and to me it was astounding that this [order] was passed on Holocaust Memorial Day, she said. Its wrong to stereotype, and its wrong to send people who are in need back into the face of danger and the risk of death. Elliot Vaisbrub Glassenberg, a protest organizer and migrant rights activist, compared the new U.S. policy to Israeli policies toward tens of thousands of Eritrean and Sudanese migrants who crossed into the country illegally from Egypts Sinai desert. The policies that Trump has enacted are no worse than the policies that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has enacted for years here such as not allowing any non-Jews to be given refugee status in Israel, except for a select few. Togod Omar, a native of Sudan who was at the protest, said he applied for political asylum in Israel three years ago, and is still waiting. He said Sudanese friends hoping to be resettled in the U.S. were upset by the new executive order. Trump doesnt understand whats going on in Sudan, Omar said. You cant punish the Sudanese people for what the Islamic government is doing. You cant banish someone because of their religion. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print President Trump hits majority disapproval in record time, Gallup finds By David Lauter Days until achieving MAJORITY disapproval from @Gallup Reagan: 727 Bush I: 1336 Clinton: 573 Bush II: 1205 Obama: 936 Trump: 8. days. pic.twitter.com/kv2fy0Qsbp Will Jordan (@williamjordann) January 29, 2017 President Trumps actions during his first week in office have appeared to be aimed at the voters who already supported him, not at reaching out to the rest, and thats taken a rapid toll on his support, which was already historically low. Gallup, which has measured job approval for presidents for decades, shows Trumps approval so far at 45%, with 48% disapproving. Thats an average of several days polling. The daily trend lines are not kind to the new administration. As of Saturday, 51% of Americans disapproved of Trumps performance. Thats a record for the speed of getting to majority disapproval. By comparison, President George W. Bush hit majority disapproval six months into his second term, in June 2005, and remained in negative territory for the rest of his tenure. President Obama did not hit 51% disapproval until August of 2011, during the crisis over the federal debt ceiling that summer. His approval rebounded later that year, but he had a second period of majority disapproval during late 2013 and much of 2014. He ended his term with widespread approval and 37% of Americans disapproving. Trump Job Approval: Approve 45% (-1); Disapprove 48% (+3). Get the full trend https://t.co/BjTUhf0NAM. GallupNews (@GallupNews) January 27, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Hundreds of travelers were caught in limbo over rushed visa ban By Brian Bennett (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) Hundreds of travelers were blocked from entering the U.S. or prevented from boarding flights in the hours after President Trump signed his order banning arrivals from seven predominantly Muslim countries, according to the Department of Homeland Security. In the order, Trump temporarily suspended refugee admissions and banned travelers from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Scores of people from those countries were aboard airplanes flying toward the U.S. when Trump signed his executive order on Friday afternoon, setting off waves of confusion among border officials and the traveling public. Upon landing at U.S. airports, 109 people from the listed countries were detained by immigration officials and prevented from entering the U.S., officials said. The department had approved 81 waivers to the new travel ban by Saturday afternoon, the official said, but at least some of the people detained on arrival were sent back to their countries of origin. Court orders issued Saturday evening required U.S. border officials to stop returning people who had already arrived with valid visas. It is unclear how many people were deported before the orders were issued. It is also unclear if the Trump administration has fully complied with those orders. In addition to the people who arrived in the U.S. and were detained, as of 3 p.m. on Saturday, an additional 173 travelers from the listed countries had been stopped from boarding flights to the U.S., a Homeland Security official said in a statement. The department did not make an official available to describe the actions and the agencys response. As many as 3,250 travelers may have been inconvenienced by the new visa restrictions, officials for the department said in a statement Sunday. Yesterday, less than 1% of the more than 325,000 international air travelers who arrive every day were inconvenienced while enhanced security measures were implemented, the statement read. The department will comply with court orders, the statement said. But no evidence was given to confirm this. Lawyers seeking to meet with detainees at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington and at San Francisco have said that they were blocked by officials on Sunday. The Department of Homeland Security will comply with judicial orders, faithfully enforce our immigration laws, and implement President Trumps executive orders to ensure that those entering the United States do not pose a threat to our country or the American people, according to the departments statement. All of the visa holders and travelers from the listed countries blocked from entering the U.S. since Friday already had gone through multiple steps of security screening that checked their biographical information and travel history against U.S. terrorism databases. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print White House seems to back down on part of new vetting policy By Christi Parsons The White House on Sunday appeared to back down on a key part of President Trumps tough new immigration order, signaling that travelers trying to enter the country from seven banned countries will be allowed in if they hold green cards. White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said that these legal permanent residents are exempt from the travel ban moving forward, even though over the weekend other administration officials said the rule did apply to them. The apparent reversal came amid a national controversy over the new Trump order that temporarily halts the entry of all refugees to the U.S. and any traveler from seven majority Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Federal judges across the country have blocked parts of the presidents executive actions since they came down on Friday, mostly preventing the deportation of some travelers who ran into the first wave of implementation over the weekend. The back-and-forth over the green-card holders reflected a generalized confusion about the new order, which also bars Syrian refugees from entering the United States indefinitely. Lawyers for some of the affected immigrants said border agents seemed uncertain about the new rules and were disagreeing with one another about which travelers were affected and which were not. Further complicating the picture was a statement from the Department of Homeland Security asserting that its agents would enforce all of Trumps orders while also complying with judicial orders. As some of the orders block deportation, that left individual officers to try to figure out which priorities to honor. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Op-Ed: Trumps cruel, illegal refugee executive order By Erwin Chemerinsky Protesters demonstrate at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City on Saturday. (Stephanie Keith / Getty Images) Barring individuals fleeing persecution from entering the United States is simply inhumane. Adding irony to injury, Trumps executive order was issued on Holocaust Remembrance Day, which should have been an occasion to atone for turning away refugees during the 1930ssome of whom then died in concentration camps. For example, in 1939, the United States turned away the St. Louis, a boat filled with refugees, many of them German Jews. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 254 passengers from the St. Louis died in the Holocaust. Erwin Chemerinsky Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Lyft pledges to donate $1 million to ACLU following Trumps immigration order By Tracey Lien (Richard Vogel / Associated Press) Tech executives had been mostly quiet for the first week of Donald Trumps presidency but that changed after his controversial executive order restricting refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries. Executive after executive spent Saturday tweeting and posting messages to Facebook decrying the administrations actions. Lyft co-founders John Zimmer and Logan Green went a step further: On Sunday, they announced they would donate $1 million to the American Civil Liberties Union over the next four years. Banning people of a particular faith or creed, race or identity, sexuality or ethnicity, from entering the U.S. is antithetical to both Lyft and our nations core values, the co-founders wrote in an email to Lyft customers. We stand firmly against the actions, and will no With President Trump in the Oval Office, California officials are bracing for the possibility that the new administration will undermine the states landmark policies on climate change. But the more immediate threat isnt coming from Washington; it lies in a lawsuit that has been slowly winding its way through state courts. The 4-year-old legal challenge pursued by the California Chamber of Commerce and a collection of business interests argues that the cap-and-trade program represents an unconstitutional tax. The system, intended to create a financial incentive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, requires companies to purchase permits to pollute. For Gov. Jerry Brown and the environmental community, the lawsuit has been a ticking time bomb that could eliminate a key source of revenue and undermine a program touted as an international model for fighting global warming. Advertisement State lawyers have the chance to defuse the situation Tuesday in an appeals court hearing in Sacramento. A decision could be released within the next three months, but it likely wont be the final word the losing party can still appeal to the California Supreme Court. Either way, the result will ripple outside the states borders as politicians around the world consider the best way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. California is trying to expand its programs reach by partnering with other jurisdictions, teaming up with Quebec two years ago and Ontario a year from now. Chinese officials have studied the states system as they plan their own policies. And with climate action unlikely in Washington under Trumps administration, environmentalists are rallying around Californias cap-and-trade program because the state is among the few places in the country pursuing an ambitious agenda. Californias leadership, along with the northeastern states and the other West Coast states, is more important now than ever, said David Doniger, director of the climate and clean air program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. The legal dispute surrounding the cap-and-trade program stems from its origin. In 2006, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers approved legislation requiring the state to reduce its emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, then tasked the California Air Resources Board to devise a plan to reach the goal. The result was cap and trade, which auctioned off its first permits in 2012. Revenue from the auctions, which has ranged from hundreds of millions of dollars to nearly $2 billion a year, is then spent by lawmakers on initiatives intended to further reduce emissions. One of those projects is the $68-billion bullet train from Los Angeles to San Francisco. All of this activity, state officials argue, falls within the governments authority to regulate industry. Gov. Jerry Brown speaks at a 2015 groundbreaking ceremony for the bullet train in Fresno. The project counts on cap-and-trade funding. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times ) Opponents disagree, noting that the state is collecting revenue through a program that wasnt created with a two-thirds vote in both houses of the Legislature, the threshold needed to approve taxes. What theyre doing is simply outside the law, said Loren Kaye, president of the California Foundation for Commerce and Education, a think tank affiliated with the Chamber of Commerce. In addition to the chambers original lawsuit, the Pacific Legal Foundation, a conservative group, joined the fight on behalf of several businesses, including a tomato processing company and a trucking association. Even if the state wins the case, the cap-and-trade program wouldnt be completely out of the woods. Because regulators created the program under legislation that set a target for reducing emissions by 2020, there are questions about whether cap and trade would expire once the date is reached. The big question is what comes after 2020, said Michael Wara, a Stanford law professor who focuses on energy and the environment. To erase that concern, Brown has asked for lawmakers to pass a new measure extending the program with a two-thirds vote, safeguarding cap and trade for the future. One piece of legislation has already been introduced, but negotiations are likely to be complex. Its one of the largest programs impacting the California economy, said Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable, which represents the states largest corporations. The stakes are huge. To read the article in Spanish, click here chris.megerian@latimes.com Twitter: @chrismegerian ALSO: Californias cap-and-trade program faces daunting hurdles to avoid collapse Californias cap-and-trade program is key to Gov. Jerry Browns agenda Updates on California politics Updates from the campaign trail On a rainy Inauguration Day morning, dozens of students, archivists, librarians, professors and other concerned citizens gathered in a UCLA classroom, poring over the Department of Energy website. They sifted through pages covering a broad spectrum of topics, from energy-efficient buildings and solar power to transportation and bioenergy. The goal of Fridays workshop, which ran more than six hours: To protect publicly available climate data on government websites data that some feared could be deleted or otherwise degraded by a new administration that has indicated its aversion to climate science. Climate change data is specifically under attack, said Joan Donovan, a researcher with UCLAs Institute for Society and Genetics who spoke on a panel at the event. There are real stakes to doing the work were doing today. Advertisement Without good data, researchers said, you cant make good policy. Scientific data, carefully taken over many decades, are essential for crafting a long-term strategy to deal with climate change. I am not post-truth and neither should you be, Donovan told the attendees. Today we are fighting a war of information. President Trump has called climate change a hoax; his pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency, Oklahoma Atty. Gen. Scott Pruitt, has repeatedly sued the EPA and in a confirmation hearing said he did not accept the overwhelming scientific consensus that Earth is warming at a catastrophic rate and that human activity is to blame. The workshop, planned by UCLA information studies graduate students Jennifer Pierre, Brittany Paris, Irene Pasquetto and Morgan Currie in a matter of weeks, was inspired by a hackathon hosted by the University of Toronto in December to preserve U.S. environmental data. For Michelle Murphy, one of the organizers of the hackathon and director of the University of Torontos Technoscience Research Unit, the fear that a new administration might wage a war on climate science was rooted in experience during the years that Conservative Stephen Harper served as Canadas prime minister, from 2006 to 2015. Up here in Canada, under the Harper administration, we saw scientists being fired, scientists being muzzled, data lost, archives destroyed, regulations changed and there was a big movement here around evidence and evidenced-based governance, said Murphy, a founding member of the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative. Since the University of Toronto hackathon, similar efforts have sprung up across the United States, including in Philadelphia, Chicago and Indianapolis. Data are being uploaded to the Internet Archive, a nonprofit digital library, as well as through DataRefuge, an initiative out of the University of Pennsylvania. Some volunteers worked to nominate pages whose data might not have been captured by automatic webcrawlers used by the Internet Archive; others with more technical skills were building scripts that could pull the inaccessible information off those less accessible sites. Among their priorities: making sure that the metadata and other key contextual information is preserved along with the information itself. Its also not enough to blindly copy the data, Donovan pointed out. Such information, like a fossil dug haphazardly out of the ground, isnt all that useful without knowing its original context. Thats why its essential to draw on the wisdom of archivists, who know how to properly preserve that information for use by future generations. Some students and professionals said they attended the event to participate in an activity that, on Inauguration Day, felt both proactive and productive; others said they came simply to learn about and discuss broader issues in data science. Im just glad to learn these things so that I can know how to do this later, too, said Sara Bond, a UCLA graduate student in information science. Fellow graduate student Ellen Colvin, sitting next to her, agreed. Guaranteed, more informations just going to go away, she said. And its going to be our job to try and stop it to stem the flow. Sibyl Schaefer, a digital preservation analyst with the UC San Diego Library, noted that information doesnt need to be deleted to be damaged. I think the bigger threat is the actual funding of the collection of the data, she said. Some of that longitudinal data, if you stop collecting it, you have a gap in the record which is scary. The urgency of the event was driven home earlier that morning, when Jonathan Furner, chairman of UCLAs information studies department, stood up in the middle of a discussion to make a breaking-news announcement. The headline that Im looking at right now is Donald Trump just replaced the White House climate website with nothing, he said. All data about climate change has been deleted from the White House website. A pall spread over the room, but soon broke. The archive got it, someone said. The important thing was not the White Houses information page, which changes with every administration, but the EPAs databases, the researchers said. And much of that data had already been protected. Still, they added, there are plenty of climate science data in the constellation of government-funded sites still waiting to be saved. And the removal of climate change from the White House site sent a clear signal to groups trying to salvage that information which is why the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative is calling for funds to help finish the work as soon as possible. If we cannot raise sufficient funds by the time the presidents full team is in place, data under the EPA and other organizations is at dire risk, Ted Bordelon of the nonprofit 314 Action, which has partnered with EDGI on the archiving effort, said in a statement. amina.khan@latimes.com Follow @aminawrite on Twitter for more science news and like Los Angeles Times Science & Health on Facebook. MORE IN SCIENCE On Trumps White House website, no more mention of climate change The last time the oceans got this warm, sea levels were 20 to 30 feet higher than they are today Earth sets heat record in 2016 for the third year in a row (Adds details, link to website) By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Donald Trump's administration is committed to eliminating Barack Obama's Climate Action Plan and other environmental initiatives to help boost the oil and gas industry, according to a statement posted on the White House website on Friday. The announcement echoed pledges Trump frequently made during his campaign to become U.S. president, but their appearance on the White House website makes them his official policy. (http://bit.ly/2iK2JQp) "President Trump is committed to eliminating harmful and unnecessary policies such as the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the U.S. rule. Lifting these restrictions will greatly help American workers, increasing wages by more than $30 billion over the next 7 years," the website said. All references to climate change appeared to have been removed from the White House website, a word search showed. Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States on Friday. Former President Obama's climate plan proposed cuts to U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, in part by preserving forests and encouraging increased use of cleaner renewable fuels. Trump has expressed skepticism about whether human activity drives climate change, and he has railed against Obama's efforts to combat it by targeting carbon dioxide emissions. Trump has also suggested he could pull the United States out of a climate pact agreed by nearly 200 nations. The statement on the White House website said that Trump's efforts to boost the U.S. oil and gas sector would help increase government revenues to "rebuild our roads, schools, bridges and public infrastructure," and lower the price of energy. The statement said Trump's administration would free the nation from dependence on foreign oil, and was "committed to clean coal technology, and to reviving America's coal industry, which has been hurting for too long." An overwhelming majority of scientists say the burning of coal, oil and gas is a driver of global climate change, causing sea level rise and more frequent violent storms. (Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Richard Valdmanis, Jeffrey Benkoe and Daniel Wallis) The fate of a Balboa Island restaurants request to build an outdoor patio on the public sidewalk is coming to the Newport Beach City Council on Tuesday. In November, the Planning Commission approved the Village Inns application to a build a permanent, 200-square-foot patio on a section of the Marine Avenue sidewalk near Park Avenue. The sidewalk contains bike racks, and to make up for their loss, the Village Inn was required to pay $12,000 to rebuild them on another section of Marines sidewalk. The commission granted the project with some exemptions, including the patio being 9 inches above the sidewalk. City code says it must be even. The panel also allowed the Village Inn, established in 1933, to install a decorative wrought-iron barrier affixed to the concrete; city code says any barriers must be temporary in nature and easily removable. The patio was restricted to having up to seven tables and 16 seats, open only from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. About two weeks after the commissions approval, Balboa Island resident Mike Sullivan, who lives two doors down from the Village Inn, appealed the commissions decision, which moved it forward to the council. The residents of the 100 block of Marine Ave. unanimously opposed the commissions Nov. 3 approval, Sullivan wrote in his appeal. Too close to homes. No other outdoor dining in city directly adjacent to homes in a residential zone. Sullivan also alleged that the Village Inn has too many code enforcement violations against it. In response to Sullivans allegation, city staff said the restaurant receives random bar checks and no violations warranting issuances of a citation have been identified to date. City officials noted that Tuesdays hearing will be de novo, meaning that that Planning Commissions earlier decision has no force or effect on the councils. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 100 Civic Center Drive. bradley.zint@latimes.com Twitter: @BradleyZint LEBANON Presentation Robert Martin will show slides from his recent journey to Lebanon as well as a short visit to Jerusalem. When, where: 7:30 p.m. Monday at Distant Lands, 20 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. Admission, info: Free. RSVP to (626) 449-3220. SAFETY Workshop Learn where and why avalanches occur, how to manage risk and simple ways to avoid avalanche hazards. Advertisement When, where: 7 p.m. Wednesday at the REI store in Tustin, 2962 El Camino Real. Admission, info: Free. (714) 505-0205 ; MT. WHITNEY Workshop Whitney expert and mountain guide Kurt Wedberg will discuss gear, trip planning and popular routes to the summit. When, where: 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Adventure 16 store in Tarzana, 5425 Reseda Blvd., and Friday at the Los Angeles store,11161 W. Pico Blvd. Admission, info: Free. (818) 345-4266 for Tarzana; (310) 473-4574 for Los Angeles. Please email announcements at least three weeks before the event to travel@latimes.com. I enjoyed reading Katie Quirks article about beautiful Guatemala (Speak It by Living It, Jan. 15). Its a land of gorgeous scenery, lovely indigenous warm-hearted people, great food and fascinating ruins and culture. My husband and I visited Guatemala two years ago at the urging of our daughter, Anna, who spent two months there studying Spanish and volunteering at Integral Hearts Foundation. This nonprofit organization provides social and educational services to the impoverished residents in the colonias surrounding Antigua. Through this program, we began monthly financial assistance for a family of seven living on $2 daily. When we visited Guatemala, we also visited our familia, which was heartwarming and heartbreaking. With our help, the oldest children remain in school, and they receive a monthly food basket. They have a vented stove, mattresses and clothing. Traveling to a country such as Guatemala is so much fun, but the poverty is overwhelming, and it is nice to be able to help out. Advertisement Melissa Klaskin Levy Los Angeles Ridgecrest is worth the drive What a pleasant surprise to read about Ridgecrest in the Travel sections Jan. 15 Weekend Escape (Art on the Rocks, by Sara Lessley). Having been a Ridgecrest resident since 1960, I appreciated her kind words and carefully crafted article about our area. Knowledgeable military brass consider the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake mentioned in the article (this is where I worked my entire career straight out of college) a jewel in the desert. It also is the home of the famous Sidewinder, the air-to-air missile. What was missed was the U.S. Naval Museum of Armament and Technology on the base. (Editors note: The website says, Because the museum is located on a highly classified U.S. Navy base, it can, unfortunately, currently take up to two hours to get clearance for access but it is well worth the wait. Please go to the Visitor Center at the entrance of the base. You will need a drivers license and proof of car insurance to gain access to the base. Info: [760] 939-3530.) I guarantee you that if you care about that sort of thing, it will be worth the time seeing the history of naval weapons development. I agree that the Trona Pinnacles, where some movies were filmed in part, are worth that drive also. By the way, that short drive could start you through Trona on the way to Death Valley, which should be spectacular this spring with wild flowers. Gale Poppen Ridgecrest It suited them to a tea I enjoyed Rosemary McClures article extolling some of the worlds swankiest afternoon teas (Take Tea in High Style, Jan. 8). My husband and I recently enjoyed the Champagne tea in the exquisite Salon Proust at the Ritz Paris. Upon leaving, our server presented us with a small, beautifully boxed canister of Ritz special blend tea. It was a charming memento to bring home, especially since our next stop, the hotels Bar Hemingway, was full and could not seat us. Janice Johnson Barnum San Gabriel travel@latimes.com @latimestravel Until recently, the conventional wisdom in Berlin held that a major terrorist attack attributed to one of the more than 1 million refugees and migrants allowed into Germany since mid-2015 would spell doom for Chancellor Angela Merkel, who faces a reelection bid in September. Then, on Dec. 19, just such an attack occurred. A man plowed a stolen truck into a crowded outdoor Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people. Police sought a suspect who, they said, was a Tunisian refugee who had sought asylum in Germany. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. And then an odd thing happened. Merkels popularity did not fall off a cliff. In fact, it has remained high in the month since the attack, and her reelection chances now seem brighter than ever. Although President Trump said she had made a catastrophic mistake by letting in so many refugees, there is little such rhetoric in Germany. Only the far-right German fringe has said Merkel had blood on her hands for the attack. Advertisement People stand next to flowers and candles on Jan. 6, in memory of the victims of a truck attack in Berlin. (Markus Schreiber / Associated Press ) Germans have remained remarkably stoic and without any signs of panic or lust for revenge in the face of the worst terrorist attack to hit the country since a Palestinian group massacred 12 Israelis and a West German police officer at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Although much could change between now and September, opinion polls point to a fourth election win for Merkel, and pollsters say most Germans seem confident that her government is doing all it can to protect them. A solemn and stunned Merkel made repeated visits to the site of the truck attack in the heart of west Berlin, often accompanied by her interior minister, justice minister and the mayor of Berlin. Even before it was clear that a refugee was suspected, she directly addressed the question of such a perfidious attack by a refugee Germany was trying to help. Its hard for us to understand that the person who did this came to Germany in search of protection and asylum, if thats confirmed, Merkel said when the responsibility was still unclear on the day after the attack. That would be especially sickening for all of those in Germany helping refugees and for those who came here to be protected and integrate themselves. It was also somehow reassuring to Germans to later learn that authorities had the suspect, Anis Amri, on their radar. That helped tranquilize fears in a country that cherishes order more than almost anything else. Many had been aghast when Merkel suspended all border controls for a few tumultuous months in late 2015 to allow in a million refugees with at most cursory background checks. Merkel and her allies have managed to convince the public that the terror attack in Berlin and the million refugees coming in are two completely separate and unrelated issues, said Gero Neugebauer, political scientist at Berlins Free University. Germans can be extremely rational and they generally accepted that narrative. They yearn for calming leadership and theyve got faith that shell find the appropriate answers to prevent it from happening again. After several smaller and partially bungled attacks in mid-2016 by Syrian and Afghan asylum-seekers in which only the assailants lost their lives, the December attack in Berlin shocked the country out of its complacency. Germany had for the most part been largely oblivious to the threat and fears that had plagued neighboring countries such as France and Belgium. Polls showed fear of terrorist attacks in Germany was far lower than in those neighboring countries, and Germans did not change their habits in response to attacks. Amri, the 24-year-old suspect, had failed to obtain asylum in Germany after arriving in June 2015 from Italy and was on a list to be deported to Tunisia. But because he did not have a Tunisian passport and Tunisia at first denied he was a citizen, Amri was allowed to stay even though police kept him on a watchlist and under surveillance for months after he was linked to radical Islamists. Amri was ultimately killed in a shootout with police in Milan, Italy. But the emergence of the disturbing details about police handling of his case, and his ability to slip between the cracks of competing state jurisdictions, has also helped Merkel, analysts believe, because few blame her for such ineptitude. The responsibility for the attack was spread around on a lot of different shoulders and so it didnt all end up on Merkel, said Thomas Jaeger, a political scientist at Cologne University. She also succeeded in turning the postmortem into technical questions, rather than political questions, such as why wasnt he arrested before if he was under surveillance? And why wasnt he deported to Tunisia? Indeed, many argue that Germanys built-in security safeguards, designed to filter out a threat to the state, as Amri was labeled, are largely working. German authorities have identified some 500 such threats to the state, about half of whom are living in Germany; the other half are fighting for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Many of those in Germany have been placed under surveillance and others are in jail. State and federal authorities share their intelligence across Germany and throughout Europe one of the important lessons learned in the wake of the 2016 attacks in Brussels, where a breakdown in information-sharing played a key role. Theres a large majority in Germany of people who say, No, Merkel cant be blamed for the terror attack, said Peter Matuschek, head of political research at the Forsa polling institute. The respected Forsa poll has found that Merkels popularity has risen slightly since December, as has support for her conservative party. Only 28% of German voters see a connection between the refugees and the terrorist threat, and 68% believe there is no link, according to Forsa. Its quite clear that Germans have been calm and collected despite the attack, Matuschek said. Theres been no shift in support to the far-right parties. No shift away from Merkel. Hardly anyone has changed the way they do things, hardly anyone is doing anything any differently and there seems to be a prevailing sense of: Lets not let this change our way of life. Kirschbaum is a special correspondent. ALSO Fear, concern but also Champagne the world reacts to Donald Trumps inauguration Two countries, one economy: A Mexican town whose chief earners are in the U.S. worries what happens if theyre sent home This Berlin boulevard bustles with the sights, sounds and scents of the Middle East The city of Jerusalem, emboldened by anticipated support from the Trump administration, on Sunday authorized the construction of some 560 new homes in areas of the city claimed by the Palestinians as a capital of their future state. The announcement came as members of Israels right-wing government clamored for Israeli expansion in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held what was described as a very warm phone conversation with President Trump. A new era has begun, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, the leader of the pro-settlement Jewish Home party, told Israeli reporters, calling on government ministers to support a decision to extend Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank. Advertisement Such moves would likely prompt Palestinian and international accusations about Israel torpedoing prospects to create a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, and pose a test of the fledgling Trump administrations policy on the peace process. For the last eight years, the Obama administration has consistently called out Israel on settlement activity and pressured Israel into a building freeze. Settlements were a source of bitterness in relations between the governments. Trump has consistently promised warmer relations with Israel, and his nominee as ambassador, David Friedman, is a patron of one of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, suggesting a reversal of longstanding U.S. policy. Moreover, Trump has promised to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, marking a break with decades of U.S. policy that the status of Jerusalem should be determined in peace talks. Members of Netanyahus coalition are pushing for a parliamentary bill to annex Maale Adumim, a sprawling settlement east of Jerusalem with a population of tens of thousands. Annexing it would nearly sever the West Bank between north and south. There is a giant change in the policy of the U.S., and we have to take that change into account for our own benefit, said Ofir Akunis, a lawmaker from Netanyahus Likud party, who said he would support annexation. The political pressure has left Netanyahu in the awkward position of the party pooper. As if to tamp down calls for immediate moves on the settlements hours before his phone conversation with Trump on Sunday, Netanyahu told cabinet ministers that discussing a joint policy with the U.S. on Iran is currently his top priority. The prime ministers office released a statement after the phone call calling it very warm, and saying that Netanyahu expressed his desire to work closely with President Trump to forge a common vision to advance peace and security in the region, with no daylight between the United States and Israel. The statement added that the two leaders discussed the nuclear deal with Iran, the peace process with the Palestinians and other issues. Trump invited Netanyahu to meet in Washington in February. The White House issued a statement that also mentioned the Iran discussion and the invitation to Netanyahu. It added that Trump affirmed his unprecedented commitment to Israels security and stressed that countering ISIL and other radical Islamic terrorist groups will be a priority for his administration, using an acronym for Islamic State. The statement continued: The president emphasized that peace between Israel and the Palestinians can only be negotiated directly between the two parties, and that the United States will work closely with Israel to make progress towards that goal. The Jerusalem planning board decision dealt with building approvals for houses in the neighborhoods of Ramat Shlomo, Ramot and Pisgat Zeev, all of which are located in northern areas of the city captured by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War. Most of the international community considers the neighborhoods to be settlements that violate international law. In December, the U.N. Security Council condemned building activity there as illegal and an impediment to a peace deal. The Palestinian Authority condemned the building announcement and called on the Security Council for urgent action. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas, said that it reflects the extremist policy of the Israeli government which is destroying the two state solution. Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Meir Turjeman wrote on his Facebook page that that the new building approved on Sunday was timed to herald the change in administration and that it was just the starting gun. In an interview with Israel Radio, Turjeman promised that after years of pressure from the Obama administration to limit building by Israel in East Jerusalem, the municipality would embark on a new path to build thousands of houses. Trump is the one who declared that after he is elected president that there would be no disputes with Israel on building in Jerusalem, Turjeman said in the interview. Im simply implementing his philosophy. Mitnick is a special correspondent ALSO A terrorist attack in Germany could have hurt Angela Merkel politically. So far, it hasnt Its a bird! Its a plane! Therein lies the problem at Lebanons international airport Attempt by Israel to bulldoze homes in Bedouin village leads to violence, two deaths The bird hunters stepped nonchalantly over plastic bottles, wrappers and other detritus, unconcerned by the noise they made as they patrolled this shabby-looking section of Lebanons coastline. But, save for the occasional passenger jet lumbering out of Beiruts international airport a mere 500 feet away, the sky above the Costa Brava landfill was empty. Not a bird not a single one, boasted one hunter. His words marked the end of the third workday for Lebanons state-appointed bird repellers -- the governments answer to a months-long trash crisis in this capital by the sea. Advertisement The problem came to a head this month when local media outlet LBC reported a passenger plane from Lebanons national carrier, Middle East Airlines, had almost slammed into a flock of seagulls seconds after it landed on Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airports west runway. Today we face an emergency, there is a danger posed to civil aviation movement by the birds, Lebanon Transport Minister Yousef Fenianos said in a press briefing. Thank God, up until now, the flights have not encountered any real danger. The birds have been gathering in steadily increasing numbers since March, when authorities opened a controversial landfill in the Costa Brava, despite warnings by civil society groups, environmentalists and the local pilots union of the dangers of establishing such a site so close to the airport. A number of international civil aviation organizations stipulate dumps should be placed more than five miles away from runways. A general view shows a flock of birds (foreground) near the runway as a Middle-East airlines plane taxis at Beirut International airport in the Lebanese capital on Jan. 12, 2017. (Joseph Eid / AFP/Getty Images) The city has experienced garbage woes tied to the mid-2015 closure of Beiruts main dump following 17 years of operation. Mountains of rubbish appear on the street. A processing facility that was expected for Costa Brava within months of its opening remains nowhere in sight. The trash has piled up 30 feet high at times, presenting an irresistible feeding area for birds. The smell also provides a pungent welcome for new arrivals to the country. One blogger likened the stench to that of a million rotten eggs. The birds were like a cloud over here a few days ago. Hundreds of them. More like thousands, a soldier patrolling the area said recently. He declined to give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The government this month sought to enact a series of measures to improve safety for flights. Among the measures that got underway was the installation of devices that emit the sounds of birds of prey and are supposed to keep away seagulls. Another tactic, the bird hunters, were brought in to obtain more immediate results. Men equipped with shotguns and a seemingly endless supply of Rio, Prima and Foxy 12-gauge birdshot shells began to show up at Costa Brava, engaging in a culling which environmentalists condemned as a massacre and a violation of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds, which the government signed in 2002. Many people took to social media to upload jarring images of dead birds collected in a bloody heap on the sand, or of hunters marveling at the wing span of a seagull they had shot down. This time of the year, its not just the local seabirds and seagulls that congregate, but also migratory birds that come from Europe and Asia to the Mediterranean and especially to Lebanon, said Asaad Serhal, director of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon, which runs a campaign to save seagulls in the country. In pictures weve seen ... the shooters have killed Dalmatian pelicans, comorants, terns and sandpipers, said Serhal, who called it unacceptable for authorities and others to sanction the killing of birds. Theyre asking people to break the law and start shooting. And theyre sitting near the airport and a highway, shooting at every bird that flies. On social media, some people have taken a more lighthearted approach to the problem, uploading images of runways with scarecrows. One person suggested broadcasting Lebanese politicians speeches via loudspeakers, which, he said, would scare the birds to emigrate from Lebanon and never return. Middle East Airlines Chairman Mohammad Hout asked people to choose between seagulls and the birds of MEA, according to local media outlets, while touting the companys environmental bona fides and insisting that passenger safety comes first. Meanwhile, the countrys environment minister, Tarek Khatib, challenged the public to come up with a more appropriate solution and scientific alternative. Many activists and observers said a shooting spree against the countrys avian population was a bad idea. We cant call the improvisatory measures by the government to be solutions, because solutions have clear guidelines according to airport safety parameters, said Bassam Kantar, managing editor of Green Area, an environmental media organization. Unfortunately, the government was satisfied with sending unlicensed hunters to shoot seagulls without a preset plan to specify what theyre shooting and why. Elie Fares, creator of the State of Mind 13 blog, wrote that killing birds was unlikely to help solve the problem. To put it bluntly, how ridiculous, shortsighted and utterly silly is our government to think that killing the birds is a fix to the problem? he wrote. The thing about those birds is that they will keep coming, no matter how many of them you kill, because of that landfill whose existence youre trying to ignore. Bulos is a special correspondent. ALSO Meet the culinary zealot fighting to preserve Syrian cuisine despite years of war Whos tracking casualties in Iraq? A California high school teacher Fear, concern but also Champagne the world reacts to Donald Trumps inauguration (Corrects to clarify in third paragraph that McCain and Graham are not members of Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but veteran foreign policy experts) WASHINGTON, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Two senior Republican lawmakers on Sunday said they would vote to approve President Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, despite their concerns over the former ExxonMobil chief's relationship with Russia's president. "After careful consideration, and much discussion with Mr. Tillerson, we have decided to support his nomination to be secretary of state," Senators John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said in a statement. "Though we still have concerns about his past dealings with the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin, we believe that Mr. Tillerson can be an effective advocate for U.S. interests," the two senators, who are both regarded as veteran foreign policy experts in the Senate, said in their statement. (Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Paul Simao) Jan 22, 2017, 8:30am ET New British brand aims at Morgan with modern classics Eadon Green will show its first car at the Geneva Auto Show. Most startup automakers are founded to build futuristic, tech-packed cars capable of disrupting the major players in the automotive industry. A new British automaker named Eadon Green aims to do just the opposite: its mission is to compete against Morgan Motors with a lineup of modern classics. Based in London, England, the company will introduce a car named Black Cuillin during the upcoming Geneva Auto Show. A teaser sketch unmistakably depicts a coupe with a 1930s-esque silhouette defined by a long hood, a fast-sloping roof line, and pronounced fenders. It's not too far-fetched to say the Black Cuillin resembles the Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, though we'll reserve our judgement until we see the final product. Eadon Green promises to release more details about its first car in the weeks leading up to the Geneva Auto Show, so we'll have to be patient to find out what's next. However, British magazine Autocar accurately points out the company's logo incorporates checkered flags, which hints performance will be one of the automaker's main focus. The annual Geneva Auto Show opens its doors to the press and the public in early March. Leftlane will be live in Switzerland to comprehensively cover of all the debuts and announcements, including Eadon Green's retro-flavored machine. Jan 22, 2017, 5:01pm ET Australia launches women-only ride-sharing service SheSafe caters to women and children and will have only female drivers. A new competitor to Lyft and Uber has cropped up in Australia, but as its name implies, SheSafe is for women only. SheSafe is a ride-sharing service in which all drivers are women, and all passengers are either women or children. On the company website founder Emma Buchanan says she got the idea "back in January of 2016 when I was in a cafe and overheard two Mums chatting about how unhappy they felt about their daughters getting into taxis and other ride sharing cars with male drivers, especially late at night." Now, a year later, the service is about to launch in Melbourne, with expansion planned in Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth. According to Motoring.com.au, hundreds of drivers have signed up already. Companies like Uber have received criticism for not conducting thorough enough safety checks on drivers, and a number of sexual assaults by drivers have been reported, and last November Uber settled a court case in which two of their drivers were accused of sexual assault. "Women and young girls shouldn't have to feel worried or apprehensive about getting into a car with a male driver," says Buchanan, "But sadly many of them do." For its part, says Motoring, Uber has issued a statement welcoming the competition. harrisburg capitol building The state Capitol Building in Harrisburg. (AP File Photo) By Brian Fake These past few days we've seen a lot of media coverage that paint the Property Tax Independence Act in a negative light. The conspiracy theorist in me wonders if this is, perhaps, a coordinated effort to control the narrative before any action is taken by the Pennsylvania Legislature. Make no mistake, the elimination of school property taxes is a huge paradigm shift, which seeks to change a form of taxation that has been around in one form or another since the 17th century. Changing the method of funding education via school property taxes requires a thorough vetting process, debate and discussion. This act would replace the school property tax with personal income and sales taxes, and increasing the number of products and services subject to the sales tax. Recent articles have taken a heavy slant against eliminating the school property tax. Journalistic objectivity appears to have taken a back seat to forces seeking to control the narrative. These forces -- well-funded, well-oiled machines behind the legislative curtain -- are a cause for concern. They wield a lot of control over some (but not all) legislators, making them deaf to the cries of constituents and blind to what is happening in the communities they represent. This control is evident in many of the solutions presented by legislators, designed to assuage homeowners by doling out tax relief. But relief is only temporary if the underlying condition isn't fixed. Many homeowners will gladly accept some form of school property tax relief. In so doing, legislators get a pat on the back from constituents, and the well-funded machines maintain control over legislators and "the locals" for a period of time -- until the level of school property taxes start to rise and eventually exceed any relief. School administrators and board members are subjected to control in the form of binders full of rules and regulations emanating from the state Department of Education. Well-seasoned or newly elected, school administrators and boards across the state quickly realize they have little to no control over these regulations. On top of that, Harrisburg continues to shirk it's responsibility, handing down unfunded mandates to local school officials. A prime example is exploding pension and healthcare costs which have quickly risen to the top of school budgets. During a March 2016 budget hearing, Sen. Bob Mensch, R-Montgomery, pointed out that only 19 cents of every dollar spent on education in Pennsylvania makes it into the classroom. Local election of school officials perpetuate an illusion that taxpayers have some control over decisions made in their districts. It's a good set-up for legislators because they stay relatively insulated from "the locals." State legislators can point their fingers at local school officials when school taxes rise again and again. In turn, local taxpayers turn their ire towards local school officials. This turns the idea of local school control into a myth. Do the locals have control or are the locals being controlled? The sudden uptick in negative media coverage leads me to conclude the well-funded, well-oiled machines behind the legislative curtain are working overtime. They want nothing other than to maintain control -- from Harrisburg to local school boards, media outlets and most of all taxpayers. The state Constitution begins with three words: "We the people." I believe passage of the Property Tax Independence Act would go a long way towards restoring power and control back to the people. Brian Fake, of Upper Mount Bethel Township, is a member of the Pennsylvania Taxpayers Cyber Coalition. www.ptcc.us The driver of a pickup truck Saturday afternoon lost control of the vehicle, crashed through a utility pole and into a wall in Phillipsburg, according to a witness. The driver of the Toyota Tacoma at 1:30 p.m. was at Morris Street at the off-ramp from Route 22 west when the crash occurred. The utility pole broke into three sections before the truck crashed into a retaining wall, the witness reported. The cause of the crash remains unclear. A Phillipsburg police lieutenant Sunday afternoon said the accident remains under investigation and more information would be available Monday. The driver and a female occupant both were taken to area hospitals with undisclosed injuries. Crews arrived shortly after to repair down wires. Police then closed off Morris Street between Summit and Joseph streets. The ramp from Route 22 west to Morris St also was closed. Also responding to crash was the Phillipsburg Police Dept., Phillipsburg Rescue Squad, Phillipsburg Fire Dept. and paramedics from Hunterdon Medical Center in Raritan Township. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks on the third day of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) LONDON (AP) British Prime Minister Theresa May said Sunday she plans to discuss free trade and the importance of the NATO military alliance when she becomes the first foreign leader to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington. The White House's invitation for May to meet with Trump on Friday was seen in Britain as affirmation that Trump values the vaunted "special relationship" between the United States and its longtime ally across the Atlantic. She told BBC's Andrew Marr that the Trump team is interested in discussing a new trade arrangement with Britain despite the "America first" theme of Trump's inaugural address and his vow to evaluate every trade deal for its possible benefits to the United States. Any national leader would do the same when deciding whether to sign a trade pact, May said. Britain sees a future trade agreement with the United States as vital as the country prepares to leave the European Union. However, Britain's desire for increased trade could clash with Trump's protectionist stance. May said she would also raise the value of the NATO military alliance during the meeting. She called it the "bulwark" of Europe's defense system. Trump has rattled European allies by suggesting NATO is "obsolete" and that the United States might not come to the aid of countries that don't meet targets for their own defense spending. May maintained that Trump understands NATO's vital role. European leaders worry about a watering down of the NATO role given the increasingly aggressive actions by Russia in recent years. The prime minister didn't directly answer questions about whether she will use Friday's meeting to challenge Trump over derogatory comments he has made about women. May criticized crude remarks of his that surfaced during the presidential campaign. But she said she would speak out if she finds his future behavior or comments "unacceptable." May said she has a long track record promoting equal rights for women, adding that she is proud to be Britain's second female prime minister. "When I sit down, I think the biggest statement that will be made about the role of women is the fact that I will be there as a female prime minister, prime minister of the United Kingdom, directly taking to him about the interests that we share," she said. British officials say May will also speak to Republican senators and representatives at a retreat in Philadelphia. Enterprise Ireland, the Government agency responsible for developing Irish business globally, reported that Enterprise Ireland client companies based in Laois created 165 jobs in 2016, bringing total employment by Enterprise Ireland clients to 1,385. A total of 19,244 new jobs (full and part-time) in Enterprise Ireland supported businesses were created across the country in 2016. This brings the total number of people employed by Enterprise Ireland supported companies to 201,108 breaking the 200,000 milestone of people employed in Enterprise Ireland supported companies for the first time ever. Digital Technology, Construction and Fintech were the key performing sectors. Mick Brougham, Enterprise Irelands Regional Director Eastern and Midlands, said: Despite global economic challenges in 2016, job creation by Irish companies in Laois remained strong. As these results show, Irish companies have the capacity to create jobs in towns and cities across the country, with almost two-thirds of the new jobs created outside Dublin. We aim to build on this success to ensure that Irish companies in every region in Ireland are well positioned to continue to succeed globally, particularly in the context of Brexit. Enterprise Ireland also published its 2017-2020 Strategy Build Scale, Expand Reach. The strategy builds on the success of recent years and sets new, ambitious targets for jobs and export growth: Exports - Grow exports by 5bn to 26bn per annum Spend in economy - Increase spend in the Irish economy by 4bn to 27bn per annum Jobs - Create 60,000 new jobs and sustain existing level of jobs The key priorities for Enterprise Ireland will be: - Driving innovation in Irish enterprise to unprecedented levels through new supports to reach the target of 1.25bn in R&D expenditure per annum by 2020. - Improving the competitiveness of Irish companies through our Competitiveness and Lean programmes and new client engagement model, which will provide targeted supports. - Increasing the reach of client company exports into new markets, with two-thirds of exports going beyond the UK. - Major focus on the Eurozone, targeting a 50 per cent increase in exports. Naughton scholar Evan Bracken from Portlaoise has continued to win awards for his top Leaving cert grades. The Mary's CBS graduate, now an engineering student at UCD, recently accepted the Irish Maths Teachers Association / Accenture Analytics Excellence Award, given to only three Irish students for the most meritorious result in LC honours maths. He also received the award from the Irish Applied Maths TA for the highest result in Ireland for Applied maths. Evan, from Grenville in Portlaoise, is delighted with the further awards for his top results, on top of the 20,000 Naughton Scholarship. "Maths was always my favourite subject at school and it was nice to know I did well in it and hopefully they will help in the future. I'm getting on well in college, it's all really interesting, he said. 'Each of these students have bright futures ahead. The Leaving Cert honours maths exam is very demanding, requiring a high degree of accuracy and a proven ability to problem solve. We are delighted to give recognition to their talents, said Brendan O'Sullivan, chairperson, IMTA. Several of Irelands most dynamic companies will visit IT Sligo on Wednesday, February 1st, to showcase their graduate employment opportunities at the Institutes Careers Fair 2017. The event, which will run from 11am to 3pm, will span a range of industry sectors including Engineering, Computing, Digital Technology, Accounting and Science. The 53 confirmed exhibitors include international companies such as Abbott Diabetes Care, AbbVie, Aurivo, Allergan and Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. Recruitment specialists Collins McNicholas and Siteman Recruitment UK will also be there to lend their expertise on the day. The event will also have an online dimension. Jobseekers who are unable to attend in person can visit the IT Sligo Online Careers Fair which goes live from January 23rd at www.itsligo.ie. Graduates and jobseekers can log on and see in advance the range of job opportunities which our exhibiting companies are offering, explains Adette Reing, Careers Officer at IT Sligo. They can then talk through those opportunities with the company representatives at our Careers Day. Free one-to-one CV clinics will also be available at the IT Sligo Careers Fair. Human Resource experts from the visiting companies will offer clear, no-nonsense advice on how your CV can stand out from the crowd. So, bring a copy along. Therell be also company presentations and talks on the various graduate job opportunities. Postgraduate study options will also be a focus on the day with several Irish and UK universities attending. These include Queens University Belfast and Trinity College. This is a free event. Ahead of European Cervical Cancer Week this week (22 - 28 January), the Irish Cancer Society has urged women to ensure that they are up to date with their cervical cancer screening. The Society has said that Irish women need to understand that they can reduce their risk of developing cervical cancer if they attend their free screening appointment. Speaking about the campaign, Naomi Fitzgibbon, Cancer Nurseline Manager with the Irish Cancer Society said, In Ireland, an average of 300 women every year are diagnosed with cervical cancer and it is the second most common female cancer in Europe. While these numbers are reducing, it is still absolutely vital that women take part in their screening and keep up to date with their free smear tests. Cervical cancer takes a long time to develop and often has no symptoms, which is why regular screening is crucial. All women between the ages of 25 and 60 are entitled to free tests through the States CervicalCheck screening programme and can arrange the test with their own local GP or family planning clinic. In terms of the screening itself, it is quite a straightforward procedure where a sample of cells is taken from the cervix or the neck of the womb. It can be a little uncomfortable at times but is not at all painful and should only take about 15 minutes. Those 15 minutes could be really crucial if they are reducing your risk of cervical cancer. It is impossible to talk about cervical cancer without mentioning the HPV vaccine. One of biggest risk factors for developing cervical cancer is a HPV infection, which is a virus passed on during sex. The HPV vaccination schools based programme for girls in first year in secondary school was rolled out by the National Immunisation Office in September 2010. The combination of a HPV vaccination programme along with an effective screening programme has the potential to reduce the incidence of cervical cancers by up to 90%. Each year, the Irish Cancer Society supports the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) and its Pearl of Wisdom campaign. The Pearl of Wisdom is the international emblem of cervical cancer prevention and to raise awareness about the disease and the IFPA distributes Pearls of Wisdom and information leaflets to women around the country, including to our network of 13 Daffodil Centres. We would urge all women to wear the pin and support the campaign, Fitzgibbon concluded. The Irish Cancer Society added that all women should be aware of the signs and symptoms of cervical cancer. These include: Abnormal vaginal bleeding. For example, bleeding in between your periods, after sex or after the menopause. Blood-stained vaginal discharge that may have a foul smell. Discomfort or pain in your pelvis If anyone experiences any of the above symptoms, it is really important that they get them checked out a doctor. These kinds of symptoms can occur in other conditions as well but it is always much safer to get checked. If you would like to get some more information on your next smear, please call CervicalCheck on 1800 45 45 55 or check out their website on www.cervicalcheck.ie, to find out when your next appointment is due. Anyone who has any symptoms that could be caused by cervical cancer should get them checked out by their doctor without delay. To speak to a cancer nurse on any aspect of cervical cancer contact our Cancer Nurseline on Freephone 1800 200 700, email cancernurseline@irishcancer.ie or drop into one of our 13 Daffodil Centre in hospitals nationwide. For information on Daffodil Centre locations and opening times email daffodilcentreinfo@ irishcancer.ie. Visit www.cancer.ie for cancer information and support services. Gerry Foley's newest book 'The Benbulben Barytes Miners' tells the forgotten stories of local people who worked hard in the industrial mines on the Sligo Leitrim border. The mines gave employment to large numbers of people in North Leitrim and water from Glencar was used as a washing plant for the industry. Barytes mining was an important part of the local economy in Sligo, North Leitrim and South Donegal from 1858 to 1979. Barytes is a non metallic ore which, from the start of the Industrial Revolution has been used as a filler in a wide variety of industries including paint, rubber, plastic, pottery, concrete and more. The book contains stories from some of the men including Leitrim men Folliott Barton who originallylived briefly in Tullaghan, Dominic Branley who lived in Glencar and Desmond Kiernan from Glencar. These men describe their walk to work, their working day and their social lives. According to the men the mines paid 10s more than the County Council. The closure in 1961 was described as fairly sudden and it was a devastating blow to the whole place. One of the interesting stories in the book is the accidental death of 30 year old Jack Clancy from near Manorhamilton who was killed in the mines. He was a foreman who was hit from above with a boulder on April 20, 1947. A verdict of accidental death was returned by a coroner in Glencar. The foreman was employed by Benbulben Barytes Ltd and was found to be crushed to death under a huge boulder. The book is self published by Gerry Foley from Sligo and is on sale at Bredins, Manorhamilton, Spar in Kinlough and Glenfarne Post Office. The paperback book contains lists of miners names, is well illustrated and sells for 12. It is a great read for those who live close or knew someone who worked in the mines. Bye bye President Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jammeh: il n'est plus en Gambie Redige par leral.net le Samedi 21 Janvier 2017 a 23:56 | | 0 commentaire(s)| C'est officiel le president Yahya Jammeh vient de quitter officiellement son pays natal la Gambie a destination de la Guinee. Ces sympathisants etaient presents pour lui rendre un hommage pour avoir passe 22 ans a la tete du pays. Son cortege est arrive a laeroport vers 20H 37mn. Yahya Jammeh a embarque dans lavion dAlpha Conde a laeroport de Banjul en Gambie. Le jet prive d'Alpha Conde A decolle vers 21heures 16MN. Yaya Jammeh part apres plusieurs tentatives pour le faire changer d'avis, les presidents guineen Alpha Conde et mauritanien Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz se sont rendus vendredi a Banjul pour une derniere mediation. Ils avaient obtenu l'accord de principe de Yahya Jammeh de quitter la Gambie. JOINT DECLARATION BY THE ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES, THE AFRICAN UNION AND THE UNITED NATIONS ON THE POLITICAL SITUATION OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA ON JANUARY 21, 2017 1 Following the Decision of the Summit of the ECOWAS Authority taken on 17th December 2016 in Abuja, Nigeria, Mediation efforts, including visits to Banjul, were undertaken by the Chair of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, HE President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Mediator, HE President Muhammadu Buhari and Co-Mediator on The Gambia, HE former President John Dramani Mahama, along with HE President Ernest Bai Koroma to mediate on the political impasse with Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya A. J. J. Jammeh, 2. Following further mediation efforts by HE President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and HE President Alpha Conde of the Republic of Guinea Conakry with HE Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya A. J. J. Jammeh, the former President of the Republic of The Gambia, and in consultation with the Chairperson of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, the Chairperson of the AU Authority of Heads of State and Government and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, this declaration is made with the purpose of reaching a peaceful resolution to the political situation in The Gambia. 3. ECOWAS, the AU and the UN commend the goodwill and statesmanship of His Excellency former President Jammeh, who with the greater interest of the Gambian people in mind, and in order to preserve the peace, stability and security of The Gambia and maintain its sovereignty, territorial integrity and the dignity of the Gambian people, has decided to facilitate an immediate peaceful and orderly transition process and transfer of power to President Adama Barrow in accordance with the Gambian constitution. 4. In furtherance of this, ECOWAS, the AU and the UN commit to work with the Government of The Gambia to ensure that it assures and ensures the dignity, respect, security and rights of HE former President Jammeh, as a citizen, a party leader and a former Head of State as provided for and guaranteed by the 1997 Gambian Constitution and other Laws of The Gambia. 5. Further, ECOWAS, the AU and the UN commit to work with the Government of The Gambia to ensure that it fully guarantees, assures and ensures the dignity, security, safety and rights of former President Jammehs immediate family, cabinet members, government officials, Security Officials and party supporters and loyalists. 6. ECOWAS, the AU and the UN commit to work with the Government of The Gambia to ensure that no legislative measures are taken by it that would be inconsistent with the previous two paragraphs. 7. ECOWAS, the AU and the UN urge the Government of The Gambia to take all necessary measures to assure and ensure that there is no intimidation, harassment and/or witch-hunting of former regime members and supporters, in conformity with the Constitution and other laws of The Gambia. 8. ECOWAS, the AU and the UN commit to work with the Government of The Gambia to prevent the seizure of assets and properties lawfully belonging to former President Jammeh or his family and those of his Cabinet members, government officials and Party supporters, as guaranteed under the Constitution and other Laws of The Gambia. 9. In order to avoid any recriminations, ECOWAS, the AU and the UN commit to work with the Government of The Gambia on national reconciliation to cement social, cultural and national cohesion. 10. ECOWAS, the AU and the UN underscore strongly the important role of the Gambian Defence and Security Forces in the maintenance of peace and stability of The Gambia and commit to work with the Government of The Gambia to ensure that it takes all appropriate measures to support the maintenance of the integrity of the [Defence and] Security Forces and guard against all measures that can create division and a breakdown of order. 11. ECOWAS, the AU and the UN will work to ensure that host countries that offer African hospitality to former President Jammeh and his family do not become undue targets of harassment, intimidation and all other pressures and sanctions. 12. In order to assist a peaceful and orderly transition and transfer of power and the establishment of a new government, HE former President Jammeh will temporarily leave The Gambia on 21 January 2017, without any prejudice to his rights as a citizen, a former President and a Political Party Leader. 13. ECOWAS, the AU and the UN will work with the Government of The Gambia to ensure that former President Jammeh is at liberty to return to The Gambia at any time of his choosing in accordance with international human rights law and his rights as a citizen of the Gambia and a former head of state. 14. Pursuant to this declaration, ECOWAS will halt any military operations in The Gambia and will continue to pursue peaceful and political resolution of the crisis. Done this 21thday of January, 2017 in Banjul, The Gambia. la redaction Accueil Envoyer a un ami Partager sur facebook What should the Liberal Democrats be saying to the Left Behind? Weve claimed a strong position as the voice of the 48%; but there are many among the 52% who are not illiberal at heart, and others who voted Sod off! in the Referendum to London as much as to Brussels in their disillusion with politics and the distant elite. People who live on partly-sold off Council estates, or in places built to house workers in factories that closed 30 to 40 years ago, where local services have been steadily cut back and jobs are hard to get to, low paid and insecure, have some justifiable reasons to feel resentful . Theresa May has spoken about the left behind at the Davos World Economic Forum, but said little about what an active state (yes, she has used that term) should do to help them. Donald Trump in his inauguration speech promised the forgotten people from globalisation that they will now be remembered, but didnt say what he would do to help them beyond putting up barriers to imports. The right-wing media in Britain have portrayed their problems as mostly down to fecklessness and immigrants taking their jobs and the social housing they want to claim, weighing down the NHS. Labour is wavering over whether to give in to that narrative, or address more underlying problems. But what do we want to say, consistent with our values, and without pandering to the blame the East Europeans narrative? Liberal Democrat peers have set up a working group to address this, to feed into party campaigning in left behind areas. The London-based media portrays the political choices for such voters as between Labour and UKIP (having forgotten the Lib Dem record in cities like Sheffield, Liverpool, Newcastle, Hull and elsewhere). We know that Labour has already lost their trust, and that local campaigning has created new pockets of Liberal Democrat support, with encouraging local by-election results in recent months. Our group includes peers with local government experience in northern cities and neglected rural areas; and we are drawing on a number of reports on the social and economic conditions of Englands pockets of depression and deprivation. We will be holding a consultation session at the Spring conference in York, on the Friday evening from 2015; do come and join us and contribute to our work. Were struck by how far the disruptive impact of industrial decline on what were cohesive working class communities is blamed by many who live there on the influx of immigrants, when shortage of social housing, poor-quality education and inadequate training for skills which qualify for better jobs are more direct causes. So we are looking for supporting evidence from different areas about what is happening in terms of social housing, local training skills, ease (or difficulty) of travelling to work in other places when buses have been privatised, and the impact of cuts on local services, from Sure Start to policing and FE colleges. We invite contributions to the parallel discussion on the Members Forum, to offer examples and evidence and we look forward to conversations at the conference in York. What has been the impact of social housing being sold off, through subsequent transactions, to private landlords? Are schools in these areas suffering from difficulties in recruiting and retaining teachers, and what should we do about that? How damaging to such communities are the continuing cuts in local authority spending? And what positive examples can you offer of local initiatives that are overcoming some of the obstacles they face? Do companies in your area recruit workers direct from Eastern Europe? If so, what is their justification for doing so? Building companies say that they cannot find skilled workers in the UK, trucking companies that they cannot find HGV drivers: but are there enough openings in local training schemes to supply local skilled workers, and are local companies prepared to train their own? Is your local LEP helping to pull together training initiatives and economic regeneration, or has it so far achieved little? Above all, what do you think should be priorities in turning around communities that have lost faith in government and lost hope in economic recovery? Do contribute to the Members Forum, and come and join us to talk further in York. * William Wallace has fought five parliamentary elections in Manchester and West Yorkshire. He is a former president of the Yorkshire regional Liberal Democrats. A leading Optel Vision executive says staff will work with a range of third level institutions in Limerick to fill the new jobs the firm announced this week. Recruitment boss Timmy Hayes confirmed the company, headquartered in Quebec, Canada, will work hand-in-hand with the Limerick Institute of Technology, Griffith College and the University of Limerick to fill the 100 new roles it announced this week. The Canadian firm, which has its European headquarters in Raheen, is more than doubling its current workforce of 72. The company exists to provide track-and-trace solutions for manufacturing industries across the globe. Hundreds more jobs could be created at its base in the former ONSemiconductor factory, as company bosses plan to make Limerick a hub of its global activity. We are investing a lot of money here. A lot of good people are going to be here, well-trained with a lot of experience, explained Etienne Pellerin, the hardware design and configuration director with the firm. He also said Limerick can boast a strong pool of talent, and this is why company bosses in Quebec decided to expand here. The skillset of the people in Limerick is in line with what we are going for in terms of the company. This centre is key to our future. The roles on offer at Optel Vision in Limerick include jobs for process engineers, process assembly technicians, field service engineers, and technical support specialists. To fill these, an open day will be held at its offices between 4pm and 8pm on Thursday, February 2. Mr Hayes added that Optel Visions parent company, Optel Group, is expanding into other areas, including the fields of pharmaceutical, medical devices and technology, taking advantage of the citys strong community of companies in these fields. The company has identified Limerick as a potential hub from the medical devices point of view," he explained. On top of this, company bosses have opened a centre of excellence for process engineering and customer training. Asked about the operation of the factory, Mr Hayes said: We have a portfolio of products. We have some products which can track and inspect liquids. We have products which inspect cartons and labels. Optel Vision initially opened its European headquarters in Limerick back in 2014, and has 72 people on its books in Raheen at present. The city plant was its first base outside Ireland. Globally, it employs some 720 people across four sites. LIMERICK City and County Council has estimated that it will spend 475,000 on horse control in 2017, a 14% reduction on last years figure. This means that by year end of 2017, the council will have spent 1.625m on horse control since 2015. In 2015, the local authority spent 600,000, and 550,000 last year. The information was requested by Sinn Fein councillor Seighin OCeallaigh, ahead of the metropolitan district council meeting, held at Limerick City Gallery of Art in Pery Square, this Monday. Council executive Kieran Lehane, who is responsible for the metropolitan district, said that 80% of horses seized were in the city. It is important to note that this is a demand-led service where the council responds to representations from members, the public and the gardai to the incidences of straying horses. As a result of this, it is difficult to accurately forecast the likely demands for this service. It should be noted that the council and the members will explore possibilities in 2017 that could mitigate the number of stray horses and costs associated with same, Mr Lehane said. Cllr OCeallaigh said that he acknowledges the significant drop in spending, but the problem hasnt gone away. The spend on the seizure of horses is still coming from the taxpayers pocket, and could go to much better use. The Horse Control Committee is currently up and running, following my long battle to have it re-established, and I hope some real progress can be made this year with visits to up and running horses projects, as well as consultation with other local authorities. He said that the Department of Agriculture needs to step in and start pulling their weight, as well. Responsible horse owners are having their reputations tarnished, by people who seem to have little or no regard for law and order, or animal welfare. There are many horse owners throughout the county who look after their animals, and are responsible owners, said the councillor. If animal owners, whether it be horses or cattle or poultry, step a toe out of line, then the Department would be all over them, so why is the same not happening with horses being kept in the city? Tackling this issue is a constant drain on the Councils resources, and the Department needs to step in and play their part as well. A JUDGE has expressed concern that a man who was evicted from his home in County Limerick last week may not be allowed to enter the premises to retrieve his personal belongings. Damien Elmsmore, aged 50, who has an address at Knockatanna, Caherconlish appeared before Limerick District Court after he was charged with damaging the front window of a house belonging to Bank of Ireland on January 12, last. It alleged that around 100 worth of damage was caused by the defendant a number of hours after the property was repossessed. Solicitor Ted McCarthy said his client, who has no previous convictions of any kind, had been evicted from the house earlier in the day and that all of the locks had been immediately changed by the bank. He said told the court his client, who has made contact with Limerick City and County Council in relation to securing emergency accommodation, had not been able to retrieve any of his personal belongings from the house. Locals in Caherconlish reacted with shock and surprise this week when they learned of what happened saying Mr Elmsmore is a quiet man who keeps to himself. During last Fridays court hearing, Judge Marian OLeary was told there was no objection to bail but that gardai were requesting a condition requiring the defendant to stay away from the property and to provide them with an alternative address. However, noting the earlier comments of Mr McCarthy, Judge Marian OLeary said she was anxious that Mr Elmsmore be allowed to return to the house to retrieve his property. He needs to be able to get his property. Some arrangement has to be made, she said. Following a short recess Sergeant Donal Cronin said he was seeking a lengthy remand of the matter as further directions are to be sought. He said the case was more complex then it appears and that he was not seeking any bail conditions. Mr Elmsmore was granted bail and is due to appear in court again in May. No evidence was heard relating to the circumstances which led to the house being repossessed. PROMINENT solicitor Ted McCarthy has expressed concern that the criminal courts are being used by some people to influence family law proceedings. He made his comments during the case of a man who was accused of breaching the terms of a safety order which had been granted to his former partner. During a contested hearing at Limerick District Court, Judge Marian OLeary was told the defendant and the woman have two children together and that access proceedings are ongoing in the family law courts. In her evidence the woman said the defendant threatened to get her and told her youre dead around an hour after he dropped their daughter off at her home on the northside of the city on August 9, last. The woman said she contacted gardai a short time later as she feared for her safety and was afraid her former partner would return. The man was arrested a short time later and was detained in custody overnight pending a court appearance the following morning. In his evidence, he denied making the threats and said he not speak to the woman claiming she would not come to the door. While the agreed arrangement was that the children would be handed over at a nearby fast food restaurant, the defendant said he called to his former partners home as she was uncontactable on the day of the alleged offence. He said he called to a local garda station earlier in the day to seek advice as he was concerned his former partner would pull something like this. Cross examining the complainant, Mr McCarthy put it to her that she fabricated the allegations to gain advantage in the family law courts as she was not happy that his client had been awarded access. You are using the criminal law to blacken his name, he said adding: You saw an opportunity to make a complaint in relation to some made up threats you say you received. The woman denied this insisting the man had threatened her on the date in question. After considering legal sumbissions, Judge OLeary dismissed the charge saying she was not satisifed the State had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Before delivering her ruling, the judge rejected Mr McCarthys earliers assertion that the criminal courts are being used to influence the family law courts. I dont think you can make such sweeping statements, she said insisting that each case is decided on its own merits. Is there a last word on the Arterial road? Probably not. Its too soon to say! One thing is for sure: The Arterial road exists. If it were built over, the original problem would be restored: It would take too long, be too tedious, to travel across Auburn, especially on the west side. Another thing is for sure: The Arterial road was not built "for the convenience of the automobile." Automobiles do not have volition yet. The Arterial was built for the convenience of motorists (drivers) or, in other words, people you and I who want to get to where were going quickly. People, in their guise as motorists, brought about the Arterial. As Pogo said well, you know what Pogo said. From Fingerlakes Crossing, using the Arterial, I can get to Seymour Library in a few minutes, which would not have been possible in the old days. And police, fire and ambulance can get where they have to go more quickly, and (probably) save more lives. Among the buildings sacrificed for the Arterial was the State Street Armory. Built in the early 1870s, this stone, towered building served for decades as a site for balls, assemblies, speeches and concerts, as well as sporting events. Secretary of State Robert Lansing spoke in the Armory in 1918 as part of the Auburn Theological Seminarys centennial. It was a veritable civic center, as much a candidate for the heart of the city as any other. It could have stood for a thousand years, and were it to come on the market today, would be made into condominiums. Also a victim of the roads building was the synagogue located on Seminary Avenue, a short distance down from the seminary. It was a handsome, substantial building, dating from the 1920s, able to accommodate some 250 worshippers. Another casualty of the Arterial may have been the first Presbyterian church (where the OTB now stands). Its tower collapsed in April 1973, possibly because of tremors caused by road construction. Land is limited in Auburn; it is not the South Bronx, where the Cross Bronx Expressway might have been shifted a little to spare some neighborhoods. Once the decision to build the Arterial was made, these structures like Central High School would have been too close to the road for comfort. At least the flatiron building was replaced by a park, not a parking lot. As for the Loop Road, it was very destructive. But it does allow the motorists like me to go home without going through the main business district. And as Connie Reilley has pointed out, the Loop Road does provide a route around the business district while it's closed for special events. Be careful about fiddling with it! Through urban renewal, Auburn lost a sense of urban density. In the old crowded commercial streets, with their shadows and clanging trolley cars, one had more sense of being in a city. (How do I know? I can imagine it!) With the new breweries, maybe a sense of this is slowly coming back? As for the high schools, maybe consolidation would have come anyway. The old system was parochial, tribal and expensive. This way, everybody knows everybody else. There are fewer others. The future of the Arterial road is in front of it. The parkway effect of wide grassy medians and shoulders should be continued east as far as possible as the old residential stock on Grant Avenue gradually wears out. This may take decades, but Auburn may end up with a central greenway yet. The U.S. has a science problem. Around half of the country's citizens reject the facts of evolution; fewer than a third agree there is a scientific consensus on human-caused climate change, and the number who accept the importance of vaccines is ticking downward. Those numbers, all gleaned from recent Pew and Gallup research polls, might suggest that Americans are an anti-science bunch. But yet, Americans love science. Even as many in the U.S. reject certain scientific conclusions, National Science Foundation surveys have found that public support of science is high, with more than 75 percent of Americans saying they are in favor of taxpayer-funded basic research. "The whole discussion around scientific denial has become very, very simplified," said Troy Campbell, a psychologist at the University of Oregon. [6 Politicians Who Got the Science Wrong] Campbell and other psychologists are presenting findings from polls and other research that they say reveal Americans' complex relationship with science. The presentations are occurring today (Jan. 21) at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) in San Antonio. Science denial whether it comes in the form of dismissing fact-based evidence as being untrue or in accepting notions that are not factual as being true is not typically rooted in blanket anti-science attitudes, the research showed. But the facts aren't always paramount, either. Often, people's denial of scientific evidence is based on motivations other than finding truth, such as protecting their social identity, the research said. Why deny? One key thing to understand about people who engage in science denial is that very few people deny science as a whole, according to research by Yale University psychologist Dan Kahan, also presenting at SPSP on Saturday. For example, the more liberal a person is, the more likely he or she is to agree that humans are causing global warming; a conservative is far more likely to blame natural climate variation or say scientists are making the whole thing up. [Wishful Thinking: 6 'Magic Bullet' Cures That Don't Exist] But that same conservative may be just fine with the evidence for the efficacy of vaccines, and there is virtually no partisan split on issues like the safety of nanotechnology, the use of artificial sweeteners in drinks or the health impacts of living near high-voltage power lines, Kahan wrote in a book chapter soon to be published in the "Oxford Handbook on the Science of Science Communication." Kahan's research has also shown that the more science-literate people are, the more strongly they hold to their beliefs even if those beliefs are totally wrong. In other words, it's not about hating science or misunderstanding the facts. It's about motivation. "Beliefs are difficult to budge, because people don't act like scientists, weighing up evidence in an even-handed way," Matthew Hornsey, a psychologist at the University of Queensland, wrote in an email to Live Science. "When someone wants to believe something, then they act more like lawyers trying to prosecute what they already want to be true. And they cherry-pick the evidence to be able to do that." The real question, Hornsey said, is why people want to believe something that flies in the face of scientific evidence. In some cases, the reason can be political: Solving the problems created by climate change would mean standing in the way of the free market, something conservatives tend to oppose. In other cases, people might have some other vested interest in their beliefs, Hornsey said. A smoker may not want to believe her or his habit is really going to cause lung cancer, because that would mean the person would have to quit. Social identity can also be an important driver of beliefs, Hornsey said. Studies of teens in Midwestern towns have found that these individuals typically go along with the crowd, he said, believing in evolution if the majority of their friends do and believing in creationism if that's what the people around them believe. "For someone living in a 'creationist community,' to express belief in evolution might be seen as a distancing act, as a signal that one was defiantly assuming an outsider status," Hornsey said. Changing minds When someone's self-image or social acceptance is at stake, badgering them with facts isn't likely to change their minds, research has shown. In fact, a 2010 studyfound that when people were shown incorrect information alongside a correction, the update failed to reverse their initial belief in the misinformation. Even worse, partisans who were motivated to believe the original incorrect information became even more firm in their belief in that information after reading a correction, the researchers found. For example, conservatives who were told that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction before the Iraq war believed that claim more firmly after reading a correction. So researchers are suggesting more-subtle ways to change people's attitudes toward accepting scientific facts. Hornsey said he and his colleagues call this "psychological jiujitsu," in reference to the martial art that teaches people to use their opponent's own weight against them. [Best Supporting Role: 8 Celebs Who Promote Science] In this approach, people who accept scientific facts might try to get at the root of the disbeliefs held by those who don't, and then address that basis, rather than addressing the surface denial. Campbell and his colleagues have found, for example, that if free-market solutions to climate change are presented as an option, self-identified Republicans become less likely to deny climate science. Using this jiujitsu approach is challenging, Hornsey and his colleagues wrote in an article soon to be published in the journal American Psychologist, because people's underlying motivations are not always clear. Sometimes, the people themselves may not know why they think the way they do. And no single message will fit all possible reasons for disbelief, the researchers warned. [Evolution vs. Creationism: 6 Big Battles] "A two-tiered strategy would be optimal: messages about evidence and scientific consensus that should be sufficient for the majority, and a jiujitsu approach for the unconvinced minority," the authors wrote. There's another trap to watch out for, though, Campbell warned: smugness. If a message from a science-accepting person comes across to a denier as being holier-than-thou, or as judgmental of a person's whole character, it's likely to backfire, he said. "I like to say, 'Tell people they already are the people you want them to be,'" Campbell said. For example, "don't go to somebody and say, 'You don't care about the environment enough.' Point out all the ways they do care about the environment." From there, Campbell said, there is common ground to work from. Successful persuasion, he said, finds common values without triggering people's self-protective instincts. "The general thing I think is important to say is 'I like and care about you,'" Campbell said. Once respect is established, he said, "any criticism is very much tapered, and is not a holistic admonishment of who you are." Original article on Live Science. 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 Nature & Weather, Local News, Seasonal & Current Events By Brian Re Published: January 22 2017 Significant rainfall, high winds, and coastal flooding are expected to create hazardous conditions on Long Island throughout Monday. Update - January 23rd, 2017 - The High Wind Warning for Long Island and surrounding areas remains in effect through 6:00 AM Tuesday, with the strongest winds most likely Monday night. The Coastal Flood Advisory has been upgraded to a Coastal Flood Warning, with widespread minor to moderate coastal flooding this evening, and localized major coastal flooding possible along the south shore bays. Minor to moderate coastal flooding is also likely Tuesday morning. The Coastal Flood Warning will remain in effect from 7pm to 11pm tonight. Below is the original story. A coastal storm that is expected to arrive later tonight will likely have a significant impact on the Long Island area. Nassau County, Suffolk County, and New York City will be under a High Wind Warning beginning tonight due to sustained winds of 30-40 mph and gusts that may reach 70 mph. Additionally, the waters surrounding Long Island will be under a Hurricane Wind Warning, with seas expected to build to 16-22 feet on the ocean and 6-12 feet on the Long Island Sound. Heavy rains of 1-3 inches are expected, but forecasts indicate that 3-4 inches are a possibility. Rainfall totals are expected to be highest on the western end of Long Island, but the eastern end should still prepare for around 2 inches. Rain will be heaviest during the day on Monday and will last until the early evening. Due to the rainfall, the Long Island coastline will be under a Coastal Flood Advisory with minor to moderate flooding and numerous road closures a possibility. The storm is expected to lead to downed trees and power outages, creating dangerous driving conditions throughout the day on Monday. For the most up to date weather information, head over to the LongIsland.com Weather Center, where you can find the latest weather forecasts, advisories and more. To get the latest traffic & road conditions before traveling, visit the LongIsland.com Traffic Center, and be sure to check out the live traffic feeds on our Traffic Cam Page. Please visit our Long Island School Closures Page for regular updates of school closings in your district. [Source: NWS] Who says that travelling has to cost a fortune? These days air fares are getting increasingly competitive, which means that quick weekend getaways are no longer a pipe dream. Want to pop over to Tokyo for a quick shopping trip and some good food? Go ahead and indulge yourself then; read on for a guide on how to maximise a weekend trip with the one you love. Saturday 11:40 am A good romantic getaway should be leisurely, relaxing, and most importantly, revitalising. Kick off your vacation on a good start by checking-in early and beating long queues at security checkpoints. Couldnt decide on what outfits to bring along on your trip? We hear you, and weve been there. With 20kg worth of baggage allowance for savvy Premium Flex flyers (more if you manage to commandeer your partners luggage!), theres no risk of going over weight limits. Now that youve made it with plenty of time to spare, why not unwind at the AirAsia Premium Red Lounge? Its an exclusive treat for smart cookies who know that they can get more for their money with Premium Flex and Premium Flatbed. 2:40 pm Its time to embark on your adventure to Tokyo! Drift off to sleep next to your partner while thinking of all the sumptuous sushi waiting for you in 7 hours time theres no risk of being apart if youve picked out adjacent seats courtesy of the complimentary Pick a Seat service when you book a Premium Flex fare on Airasia.com 10:30 pm After a smooth flight and speedy custom clearance, its time to explore the city. Check in at your hotel and get a breather before heading out to Shinjuku for a late night meal after all, its known as a city that doesnt sleep, and 24-hr joints are aplenty in this ward. Sunday 12:30 am As the night deepens and silence descends, make your way back to your hotel and get some rest for a full day of activities ahead. 6:30 am Rise and shine, for todays the day to explore the city. No trip to Tokyo is complete without a visit to the renowned Tsukiji Fish Market. Grab the freshest sushi youll ever taste in your life and wash it down with cold mugs of beer while watching stall traders bid on freshly-caught tuna. Well, its 5pm somewhere else in the world. Get your partner to snap a few Instagram-worthy shots to secure bragging rights amongst your friends! 12:00 pm How can you visit Tokyo without checking out Shibuya, home to the infamous Shibuya scramble crossing? Its also the sartorial heart of Japan, so seize the chance and shop till you drop! After all, youll want to make full use of your 20kg baggage allowance! Dont forget to check out the iconic Hachiko statue in front of Shibuya Station before you leave. 7:00 pm No self-respecting foodie will leave Tokyo without some ramen in their stomach. Visit one of those hole-in-the-wall ramen joints peppered along the streets of Tokyo instead of chain outlets for an authentic experience. 8:00 pm Make your way to Lupin, a bar beloved by the literary and creative crowd of the Showa era (1926 1989). Bask in the knowledge that youre in good company, both past and present, and enjoy a tipple or two. 10:30 pm Your whirlwind getaway may be coming to an end, but that doesnt mean youll have to return to reality immediately. Take advantage of priority check-in, boarding and the luxurious seats onboard, then drift off to sleep next to the one you love. This post was brought to you by AirAsia. Cryobanking Could Solve The Transplant Organ Shortage BY PATRICK COX : Whats the one medical condition most likely to kill you? If you follow statistics, you'd probably say heart disease. Each year, more than a million Americans have a heart attack. And about one in four deaths in the US is due to the condition. Though heart disease tops most "causes of death" lists, far more Americans die due to the transplant organ shortage. And heart transplants could prevent most cardiac arrest deaths. The problems with transplants More than 25 million people in the US are diagnosed with heart disease. But the waiting list for donor hearts is huge. Only about one tenth of 1% get transplants. That means a half million Americans who could be saved by heart transplants die each year. The same kind of shortage exists for livers, kidneys, lungs, and other organs. An estimated 900,000 deaths per year could be prevented or delayed by organ or engineered tissue transplants. This represents about 35% of all US deaths. It also makes the lack of transplant tissues Americas leading cause of death. The standard response to this statistic is to call for more donors. But thats not the answer. Far more organs are donated than used. In fact, even if someone has checked the organ donor box on the back of their drivers license, their organs are almost never used. But why? The need for organ banking Even the best preservation technologies cant stop organs from deteriorating within hours after removal. And the whole transplant process takes time. First, tests are run to make sure that organs are immune compatible with potential recipients. Often, the donors family must give consent for the extraction. This takes more time. Then there are the logistical problems and costs of transport. These are immense and involve dozens of medical professionals. Total costs for organ transplantation can run to a million dollars or more. Few people can afford a heart transplant or even an insurance policy that provides full coverage. And our healthcare system is already stumbling under the increase in costs associated with the aging demographic. No serious analyst thinks that spending another trillion on transplantation is feasible. Im not telling you that you shouldnt become an organ donor. What Im saying is that there may already be enough organs donated to save the lives of all those who need them. We just need to figure out a cost-efficient way to do it. We need to develop biotechnologies that allow organ banking. In theory, organ banking could be done by freezing and then restoring organs as needed. Immune-matched organs could be supplied in a timely manner to patients at a reasonable cost. Natural solutions for organ banking Nature has shown us the way. Several types of fish that are native to polar waters produce antifreeze proteins (AFPs). AFPs protect cell structures and prevent harmful ice formation. This allows fish like the longhorn sculpin and the Antarctic eelpout to live in subzero temperatures. Molecules similar to AFPs could be used to preserve organs. But extraction of AFPs from these fish wont work. It takes a ton of these rare fish to produce just a few grams of antifreeze protein. That means the species would be extinct if we had to rely on them. Happily, we live in a time of rapid biotechnological progress. In December 2014, the US Department of Defense launched a program called Organ Cryobanking for Transplants. This was the first high-profile and well-funded effort to encourage this type of research. The move was applauded by scientists and other groups searching for viable organ banking. Then in 2015, the first Organ Banking Summit took place at Stanford University, NASA Research Park, and Lawrence Berkeley National Labs. The proceedings were published in the journal Cryobiology. (Im irritated that the paper is not publicly available as tax monies were involved in its production.) This growing consensus on the need for cryobanking is having a positive impact. Perhaps most important, it gives private biotechs that have been working on the problem more credibility. Yes, the Department of Defense grants are useful, but it will take private investment to make cryobanking a reality. The involvement of major governmental and research organizations will help attract the attention of institutional investors. After speaking with scientists working on this problem, Im impressed by the extremely rapid progress in this emergent biotechnology. That progress will benefit investors as well as the millions of patients in the world who need transplants each year. Stay in the Loop on Life-Extending Research with Patrick Cox's Tech Digest This weekly newsletter by biotech expert Patrick Cox highlights research that is much more advanced than most people know, and the profit potential for investors is vast. Read about the latest breakthroughsfrom new, non-invasive cancer treatments to age-reversing nutraceuticals and vaccines that kill any virusas well as the innovative companies that work on them. Get Tech Digest free in your inbox every Monday. John Mauldin Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. These Are the 3 Main Issues for Europe in 2017 BY GEORGE FRIEDMAN AND JACOB L. SHAPIRO : What will the year ahead look like for Europe? 2017 will be another chapter in the European Union's slow unraveling a process that has been underway for over a decade. The EU is a union in name only. The transfer of sovereignty to Brussels was never total, and member states are independent countries each with their own interests at stake. Here are the major forces at work. The Italian Crisis Italy's banking crisis has played a key role in the destabilization of its domestic politics. The main problem is the Italian banking sectors high rate of non-performing loans (NPLs). Approximately 17% of all loans from Italian banks are NPLs, according to the European Banking Authority. The bank currently making headlines, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, had 45 billion euros ($47.4 billion) worth of NPLs and other doubtful loans when its problems came to light in 2016. But the issue here is not simply money. The balance sheets of Italian banks dont exist in a vacuum. If the European Central Bank were to bail out Italy, it would mean, in effect, that all of Europe would be paying for the bailout. Greece, which had austerity forced upon it, would cry foul. The German public would object, and Chancellor Angela Merkels position would be severely weakened. Declining German Exports The major economic issue we expect to see in 2017 is a decline in German exports. The latest World Bank data shows that Germanys exports-to-GDP ratio is 46.8%. Neither China nor Russia will be increasing demand for German goods due to their own economic woes. And while Germany has managed to survive thus far by increasing exports to the UK and the US, this is not sustainable. This affects not just Germany, but all of Europe. The EU is built around a massive exporter: Germany. That makes the EU vulnerable to drops in demand for German exports. It also creates a particular kind of political relationship between Germany and the rest of the EU. This is especially true for countries that are markets for German goods and those that are in the German supply chain. This dependency and economic architecture has worked in the past. But now, it faces two key challenges. The first is how to increase demand for the products in question (which is not in any single countrys control). The second is that many of Europes economies are still struggling due to the 2008 financial crisis. The EUs growing socio-economic problems, in turn, are leading to increased nationalism. We saw this manifest in Brexit in 2016. In 2017, this dynamic already is affecting elections in France and Germany. The conversation has shifted from an internationalist position to a nationalist oneeven for those who historically have been most committed to the EU (like Merkel). The Security Question Security will be an issue for the EU and here, too, member states interests diverge. Some countries are more concerned with refugees than others, and Brussels is still unable to present a universally accepted plan for dealing with the refugee crisis. There is also the question of Eastern Europe. It wants its security prioritized as it faces an increasingly aggressive Russia. Western Europe is less concerned with Russia on a daily basis and more concerned about Islamic terrorism. Meanwhile, a Trump presidency is about to shine a very bright light on the future of NATO. This will mean hard choices for many European countries. The security issues are not as serious as the economic and political issues for Europe right now. But they loom in the background and feed the strain on the EU rather than unite member states in common cause. The Weakening of the EU When we look at Europe today, we see less of a move toward EU dissolution than the gradual ignoring of EU directives. At the beginning of last year, George wrote the following, and it remains the general frame through which we view events in Europe: The EU will survive, and one day you will be able to visit a dusty office in Brussels, much like the European Free Trade Associations offices in Switzerland, where it still exists. [The EFTA was a British-led alternative to the European Community in the late 1950s and 60s that is irrelevant today despite the continued existence of its offices.] I am sure the staff will be doing something, writing directives that no one will follow, or even care to object to. I once expected Gotterdammerung, the Twilight of the Gods, to move the EU. Today I became convinced, not that the EU couldnt continue this way, but that it really isnt continuing in any significant way. Italian banks, German exports, nationalism affecting domestic elections, and divergences on security issues will be the main issues in 2017. But these are really just small parts of a much larger forecast that is slowly hulking toward fruition. Grab This Free Report to See What Lies Ahead in 2017 Now, for a limited time, you can download this free report from Mauldin Economics detailing the rocky roads that lie ahead for three globally important countries in 2017and how the economic fallout from their coming crises could affect you. Top 3 Economic Surprises for 2017 is required reading for investors and concerned citizens alike. Get your free copy now. John Mauldin Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. Gold Futures Prices Looking Bullish Gold has rebounded sharply higher in the past month, taking the early lead as 2017s best-performing asset class. Normally such a big gold surge would require heavy gold-futures buying by speculators. But theyve been missing in action, barely moving any capital into gold yet. Their collective bets on this metal remain very bearish. Since they are such a strong contrarian indicator, thats a very-bullish omen for gold. The sole mission of speculation and investment, and thus all the endless research that feeds into it, is to multiply wealth. Traders cant effectively buy low and sell high unless they understand what drives the prices of their trades. For years now, gold has had two overwhelmingly-dominant drivers. Their capital flows fully explain the vast majority of all golds price action, and thus are exceedingly important to study. The first is the world-leading GLD SPDR Gold Shares gold ETF. This acts as a conduit for the vast pools of American stock-market capital to slosh into and out of physical gold bullion. Differential supply and demand for GLD shares relative to the underlying gold supply and demand is directly shunted into gold itself. GLDs physical-gold-bar purchases and sales as its holdings grow and shrink greatly impact gold prices. Nothing has been more important for gold over the past year than the American stock-market capital that flowed into then out of it via GLD. Speculators and investors cant understand where gold has been or where its likely heading without studying and closely watching GLDs gold-bullion holdings. Last week I wrote a comprehensive essay digging into this crucial GLD-and-gold relationship in depth, check it out. But American speculators gold-futures trading often overpowers American investors GLD-share trading in bulling the gold price around over the short term. Futures speculators enjoy an outsized impact on gold prices wildly disproportionate to the capital they wield for a couple key reasons. First, the American gold-futures price is golds de-facto world reference price. It is the most-widely-followed and quoted gold read. So when these traders buy or sell aggressively and thus rapidly force gold materially higher or lower, it has a big psychological impact on everyone else in the gold world. Gold futures are the speculation tail wagging the far-larger investment dog in gold. Investors controlling vastly more capital than gold-futures speculators get bullish or bearish, and change their trading behavior accordingly, based on gold-futures action. Second, gold-futures traders enjoy a radically-inordinate influence on gold thanks to the extreme leverage inherent in gold futures. While investors buy gold outright or with at most 2x leverage through GLD shares, gold-futures speculators often trade gold with incredible 20x to 25x leverage! That means every dollar of capital bet on gold futures can have 20x to 25x the price impact of another dollar invested normally. So futures speculators collective buying and selling can really distort gold prices over the short term, even though gold investment demand will always ultimately prevail as golds primary driver. Theres a critical interplay between GLD capital flows and gold-futures action. Parallel buying or selling on both of these fronts always drives gold higher or lower. Opposing buying and selling tends to offset and cancel out. Unlike GLD-holdings data which is available daily, speculators collective gold-futures trading activity is only published at a fuzzier weekly resolution. Late every Friday afternoon the CFTC releases its famous Commitments of Traders reports. These reveal what both hedgers and speculators have been doing in gold futures current to the preceding Tuesday. Watching them is essential to gaming gold price action. This first chart looks at the aggregate gold-futures long and short positions held by both large and small speculators, in contracts. Each gold-futures contract controls 100 troy ounces of this metal. Total longs or upside bets on gold are rendered in green, while total shorts or downside bets are shown in red. The yellow line shows the deviation of both these bets from normal years average levels between 2009 to 2012. Speculators gold-futures data may look complex, but its not difficult to understand. Golds price over the past couple years or so is superimposed in blue. Gold is strongly positively correlated to speculators total gold-futures longs. Every significant gold rally in recent years was partially driven by big gold-futures buying as evidenced by spec longs surging. Until this past months rally, which we will get to. Speculators collective upside bets on gold are also a powerful contrarian indicator. Spec longs were high every time gold peaked in the last couple years, including this past summer. As I warned back in mid-July just after gold hit $1365, it faced a record gold-futures selling overhang due to specs excessive longs. These hyper-leveraged traders were far too bullish, all-in on gold, implying they would soon have to sell. The higher spec longs, the more bullish on gold these traders are. But that means they have already deployed most of their available capital, with limited firepower to push gold still higher once theyre all crowded in. So gold rallies often peter out and then reverse once spec longs get excessive. The worst time to get excited about gold is when futures speculators are, since they are the most bullish when gold is topping. Conversely low spec longs show when these traders are bearish. They dont expect much upside from gold so theyve liquidated large fractions of their leveraged long bets. That signals most of the gold-futures selling has already happened, so gold is actually bottoming. Spec longs were really low back in December 2015 when gold was carving a major 6.1-year secular low. That birthed last years strong new bull! So the smart way to game golds probable near-term price action is to do the opposite of what the futures speculators as a herd are doing. If they are betting big on higher gold prices as shown by excessive longs, expect an imminent correction. If they are convinced gold is heading lower as seen in low longs, expect a major rally to soon erupt. Fading the futures-speculator mob is the surest way to win in gold trading! Speculators collective gold-futures short positions work similarly, but in the other direction of course. In futures, traders can sell even if they dont own any contracts to sell. They effectively borrow them from someone else, and then sell them. These debts must soon be repaid, so speculators hope they can buy back the futures contracts at lower prices to return them. They then pocket any difference as profits. In terms of gold-price impact, there is zero difference between a speculator selling long contracts they already own or short selling ones they dont. A sale is a sale, they are functionally identical. But since speculators collectively hold fewer gold-futures shorts than longs, shorting has a proportionally-smaller effect on prevailing gold prices. But once again speculators bet wrong as a herd when gold is ready to reverse. Golds major secular lows in 2015 were accompanied by record-high spec short positions! Right when gold was bottoming ahead of major rallies, these guys were holding the largest downside bets. Then as gold subsequently topped, spec shorts had been bought and covered back down to low levels. So gold is most bullish over the near term when speculators are the most bearish as evidenced by excessive shorts. Futures speculators are always wrong at extremes, when gold has either rallied or corrected too far for too long. High spec longs and low spec shorts are a key warning sign of a major selloff looming, just as I warned last summer. But low spec longs and high spec shorts signal the opposite, that gold is on the verge of embarking on a major new rally. This latter very-bullish situation is exactly what gold is seeing today! This chart zooms in to the past year or so, but lets start on Election Day. That night as Trump pulled into a surprise lead in the biggest battleground state of Florida, gold futures rocketed 4.8% higher to $1337! A Trump win was universally assumed to be bad for stock markets and thus good for gold, which is the anti-stock trade since it tends to move counter to stock markets. As stocks rebounded, gold was sold hard. This heavy post-election gold selling was universal, coming from both investors jettisoning GLD shares and speculators dumping gold futures. With capital rushing out of golds two primary drivers, it was just hammered. In the 5 weeks between Election Day and the day after the Feds second rate hike in 10.5 years in mid-December, gold plunged 11.5%! That was part of a larger 17.3% major correction since early Julys peak. Golds two biggest plunges in its miserable Q416, one of its worst quarters ever, were fueled by heavy gold-futures selling by speculators. Since such extreme leverage exists in this market, traders have to set tight stop losses. If they are running 20x leverage, a mere 5% adverse move in gold against their bets would wipe out 100% of their capital risked! So even minor 1%ish gold moves are major for futures traders. In early October as gold drifted towards $1300, it triggered a big mass of futures stop losses set near that key psychological support. The resulting mass stopping quickly cascaded, as the more gold futures fell the more stops were tripped unleashing even more selling. Another mass stopping happened just two days after the election when another key gold support zone at its 200-day moving average failed to hold. These extreme early-October and mid-November episodes of gold-futures selling perfectly illustrate how disproportionate its impact can be. Speculators dumped 43.4k and 45.6k contracts respectively in those two key CoT weeks, unleashing the equivalents of 134.8 and 141.9 metric tons of gold. That is far too much selling for the gold market to absorb in such short spans of time, which cratered the gold price. For perspective, consider the latest global gold fundamental data available from the World Gold Council current to Q316. That 9-month year-to-date span saw massive gold-investment demand, huge by recent years standards. Yet it still only averaged 35.6t per week. So whenever gold-futures speculators get spooked or forced into dumping 100t+ in single-week spans, gold is certainly going to get kicked in the teeth. The resulting sharp drops really crush gold psychology, leaving investors and speculators alike much more bearish and pessimistic. They start to extrapolate that trend, expecting gold to keep falling farther. So they buy less or sell more, and golds futures-driven selloff soon becomes self-feeding. It is amazing how much gold futures impact overall gold sentiment, these speculators influence is wildly disproportional. That extreme post-election selling initiated by speculators gold-futures stops being run finally ran its course by the day after the Fed hiked rates again last month. Futures speculators have long feared Fed rate hikes impact on gold, which is supremely irrational. During the exact spans of all 11 previous Fed-rate-hike cycles since 1971, gold rallied an average of 26.9% higher! They have proven very bullish for gold. By the time gold finally bottomed last month, its correction had ballooned to 17.3%. That is huge, but still shy of 20%+ new bear territory. In addition to heavy differential GLD-share selling, the other primary driver was heavy gold-futures selling by the speculators. Over that entire correction span since early July, they had liquidated an astounding 174.0k long contracts while adding 32.2k short ones, serious selling. That equates to 641.3 tonnes of gold, or nearly half of the 1389.2t of global gold investment demand in the first 9 months of 2016! Speculators had unwound fully 69.8% of all the long positions they had added to help drive golds new 29.9% bull market between mid-December 2015 and early July. All this extreme selling along with GLDs blasted gold so low that it erased a staggering 75.4% of its bulls progress. With speculators fleeing gold futures at a magnitude that defies belief, they had to be exhausting their selling as I wrote in mid-December. These traders only have so many contracts they can sell, so the more theyve sold the less selling is still to come. And soon after golds 10.6-month low in mid-December, these gold-futures spec long positions had collapsed back down to 255.7k contracts. That was a 10.4-month low. American speculators hadnt held fewer gold-futures longs since way back in mid-February before gold had even entered new-bull-market territory yet at a 20%+ gain. So with the great majority of the entire young bull markets gold-futures long buying already unwound, spec longs are very low today. That is a super-bullish omen just like it was at past major gold lows. These traders have vast firepower to buy back in! A week after that recent longs low, spec shorts surged to 138.6k contracts. That was also the highest level seen since early February, and way above last years 95k-contract support line. While there was some modest covering in the latest CoT report available before this essay was published, shorts are still relatively high. That means speculators have to buy lots of gold futures to cover and offset their shorts. With speculators very bearish on gold today as evidenced by low longs and high shorts, you couldnt ask for a more-bullish gold setup. Just as in the past, gold tends to bottom right as these influential traders are reaching selling exhaustion. That leaves nothing but buyers, so gold soon starts rallying in major new uplegs. Indeed one has already begun, despite futures speculators not doing any significant buying yet. Major gold uplegs are usually born when speculators buy gold futures to cover their short positions. As they are legally obligated to pay back those borrowed contracts, and have to buy to protect their capital when gold rallies, short covering is involuntary. Speculators do it regardless of how they feel about the gold outlook. But that very short covering drives gold higher and starts to erode bearish bottoming psychology. So the much-larger contingent of gold-futures speculators on the long side soon start buying as golds short-covering-fueled rally convinces them it is reversing higher. That starts to turn sentiment bullish again, with buying begetting buying. Eventually that long-side buying drives gold high enough for long enough to get investors, with their vastly-larger pools of capital, interested in starting to buy gold again. While we saw modest spec short covering of 6.4k contracts as of January 10th, the last CoT data before this essay was published, there has been no material long buying yet. Since that 255.7k-contract trough of spec longs a couple CoT weeks ago, speculators have only added 2.4k contracts. Thats practically a rounding error. Seeing gold blast 7.7% higher in just a month with no real gold-futures buying is remarkable! And there hasnt been any differential GLD-share buying either. Golds initial rebound out of its deep post-election lows apparently came from Asia. There have been plenty of days in recent weeks where gold rallied significantly overnight when American traders were sleeping. That global gold demand that is pushing up prices without any help from golds dominant couple drivers is going to ignite big buying. Sooner or later gold will have rallied enough to convince both American gold-ETF investors and gold-futures speculators to return. And with specs longs so low and shorts so high, they are going to buy with a vengeance to mean revert their excessively-bearish bets back up to more-normal levels. In addition to higher gold prices, there are a couple more key catalysts that will soon spark big gold-futures buying. Gold-futures traders are highly sensitive to the US dollar, since gold is ultimately the universal world currency. So as todays wildly-overcrowded long-US-dollar trade inevitably reverses, speculators are going to flood back into gold futures. They will also aggressively buy when the overvalued US stock markets sell off and roll over into their long-overdue bear market, which will lower perceived Fed-rate-hike odds. With speculators way too bearish today as their low longs and high shorts prove, theres heavy gold-futures buying coming. It will catapult gold sharply higher in the coming months, as always happens soon after these guys as a herd get too pessimistic. Some combination of higher gold prices, a lower US dollar and/or stock markets, and less-hawkish Fedspeak is going to soon kindle serious gold-futures capital inflows. This coming major new upleg in this young gold bull can certainly be played with GLD or call options on it. But the gains in the gold miners stocks will dwarf the gains in gold, since their profits growth greatly leverages golds upside. As I discussed in depth a couple weeks ago, were already seeing that. Over that recent single-month span where gold rallied 7.7%, the leading gold-stock index already surged 25.3% higher! At Zeal we aggressively bought and recommended great gold stocks and silver stocks to our newsletter subscribers back in December when everyone remained hyper-bearish. Our unrealized gains on these brand-new trades are already running as high as +52% this week! If you too want to thrive in these markets, it is essential to stay informed all the time. Wealth is multiplied by first buying low when few others will. Weve been in the contrarian-research business helping investors and speculators thrive for over 17 years now. Since 2001 weve recommended and realized 906 stock trades in real-time to our newsletter subscribers. Their average annualized realized gains including all losers are now running way up at +22.0%! You can put our expertise to work for you through our popular weekly and monthly newsletters. They draw on our vast experience, knowledge, wisdom, and ongoing research to explain whats going on in the markets, why, and how to trade them with specific stocks. Subscribe today for just $10 per issue! The bottom line is the gold-futures setup today is exceptionally bullish. Speculators grew excessively bearish in the wake of the election, dumping a colossal amount of long contracts while adding plenty of shorts. This huge liquidation left their longs low and shorts high, a strong contrarian indicator that has always signaled major reversals higher in gold. These elite traders as a herd are always wrong at extremes. So big spec gold-futures buying is coming soon, which will help catapult gold sharply higher again just like it did a year ago. It is already starting with initial short covering, but will soon expand into far-larger long buying as gold continues powering higher. After selling their longs to such low levels, these influential traders will need to buy big for months on end to restore normal positions. Thats great news for gold! Adam Hamilton, CPA So how can you profit from this information? We publish an acclaimed monthly newsletter, Zeal Intelligence , that details exactly what we are doing in terms of actual stock and options trading based on all the lessons we have learned in our market research. Please consider joining us each month for tactical trading details and more in our premium Zeal Intelligence service at www.zealllc.com/subscribe.htm Questions for Adam? I would be more than happy to address them through my private consulting business. Please visit www.zealllc.com/adam.htm for more information. Thoughts, comments, or flames? Fire away at zelotes@zealllc.com . Due to my staggering and perpetually increasing e-mail load, I regret that I am not able to respond to comments personally. I will read all messages though and really appreciate your feedback! Copyright 2000 - 2016 Zeal Research ( www.ZealLLC.com ) 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. The Epidemic of Bad Ideas Dear Parader, This weeks missive tackles a big topic. One of the biggest. Thats because it touches virtually every corner of society: politics, the economy, investments, social order, innovation. People live or die because of it. The topic is education. Our education begins within a few minutes of arriving on planet Earth. Thats when we begin to learn that crying and carrying on is rewarded with coddling and nourishment. That particular lesson stays with us throughout our lives, more so with some people than others. I especially love watching red-faced yuppies trying to argue canceled airline flights back into service. We also are educated by the physical world. Running barefoot and stepping on a tack/bee/piece of glass/thorn/etc. teaches us the importance of protective garments. As does our first time staying out too long shirtless in the sun. Of course, our family members and friends also play an important role, teaching us the difference between wrong and right. Of course, as often as not, those concepts are subjective. Is it really wrong to question your elders? Or right to fall to your knees in prayer to an invisible superhuman at bedtime? Maybe, maybe not. But not being privy to the hard data proving either point in our formative years, we are expected to take these various ideas on board without questioning. And, for the most part, we do. It is also clear that having a poor role model can have long-term deleterious results. A single mother on welfare who is addicted to crack is unlikely to instill in Junior a strong moral compass or the work ethic needed to get ahead in a competitive world. Regardless, while still in the proverbial short pants, we are one day bundled up and sent off to begin our formal education. This is where things get interesting. Moving along, it seems appropriate to drop the virtual needle on Pink Floyds classic, Another Brick in the Wall. And while Im at it, I would like to mention that one of the ways to get ahead financially is to subscribe to our value investing advisory, Compelling Investments Quantified. One of our portfolio stocks, a deeply undervalued consumer staple company, has already gained 29% since we recommended it last September. You have a full six months to try itif its not for you, simply cancel within that time for a prompt and courteous refund. Click here for the details. Bricks in the Wall Once our parents hand the keys to our brains to professional teachers, any number of factors come to play in our education. For starters, every graduating class of future teachers contains those who sit in the front and those who hide at the back. If youre lucky, your formative years wont be shaped by a guy with Dopey as a college nickname. And thats not the worst roll of the dice. In my early schooling, I had a perennially pissed-off teacher by the name of Mr. Hirata. That I still remember his name is the direct result of his pulling a handful of my hair out by the roots in front of the class. My crime? Tossing a small glob of rice at another student during lunch break. Likewise, in the education of my own children, there was an intensely passive-aggressive female teacher (at least I think she was female) who clearly disliked boys. Not the best setting for my son, and another brick in the wall that ultimately led my wife and me to homeschool the kids. But stupidity, an excess of emotions, or gender bias are not the worst traits an educator might possess. While those may affect a subset of the student body, leaving them with a poor opinion of their educational experience, the real threat comes from bad ideas accepted by academics as good ideas. I subscribe to the theory that ideas are like living viruses: a strong idea, once released into the ether, will take hold and gain currency. The stronger the idea, the more likely it is to spread. Unfortunately, even terrible ideas can spread virulently. The classic of the genre being Karl Marxs From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs. That particular idea has literally cost millions of lives. Incredibly, despite having been proven false time and again since its first utterance, it continues to spread. Violence as Policy and Other Insanities Throughout history, bad ideas such as those espoused by Marx have taken hold in the public arena and become institutionalized. This despite the inherent violence required by a system where individuals are forced to be subservient to the state. The iconic socialist revolutionary, Che Guevara, made the case that in a true socialist revolution, large swaths of the population had to die. Is it possible or not, given the present conditions in [the Americas] to achieve socialist power by peaceful means? We emphatically answer that, in the great majority of cases, this is not possible. The most that could be achieved would be the formal takeover of the bourgeois superstructure of power and the transition to socialism of that government that, under the established bourgeois legal system, having achieved formal power will still have to wage a very violent struggle against all who attempt, in one way or another, to check its progress toward new social structures. Che Guevara, Tactics and Strategy of the Latin American Revolution, 1962 You may recognize that doctrine being applied eight years after it was written in Pol Pots regime . More than 20% of the population died horribly in the reeducation camps where they were sent to learn how to think correctly. Or die. Actually, mainly die. If mass murder as policy isnt about as bad an idea as ever stalked the land, I dont know what is. Yet, there is still a large demand among the clamoring masses for T-shirts and posters emblazoned with Ches beret-bedecked cabeza. You know, because hes sooo cool. But I drift. The point I am laboring toward is that once bad ideas infest the educational system, they invariably jump the intellectual barriers and end up in the political system. It is thus that the low-information processors have so tightly embraced the Chicken Little idea that the sky is falling due to the degradation of the environment, and that the governments of the world have responded by spending hundreds of billions of dollars fighting a fiction. This despite all the flashing fluorescent signs that the idea holds no water. If it did, why the pivot from global warming to the catch-all broader notion of climate change? And why is there a steadfast refusal by leading climate alarmists to publicly debate scientists who dispute the theory? But that is just one small example of a long list of bad ideas that have crossed the blood-brain barrier. Heres another. Not all that long ago, some bright light decided that voluntarism should be injected into the schools. For example, making it a class project to read to old folks or play with stray dogs down at the local animal shelter. Harmless enough activities designed to teach the young to be more civic-minded. Well, that idea has morphed from a one-off activity to being mandatory for graduation. And rather than providing the simple lesson that people can do a bit of good in their local community by volunteering, it has become indoctrination to advance Marxs mantra. We know a nice enough family back in the States that can never just go on vacation. Rather, they feel compelled to head off to some backwater to do good works, paying for their holidays with donations dunned from friends and family members. The Epidemic of Bad Ideas Slapping together an abbreviated list of the bad ideas now sweeping aside intelligent thought across the landboth in the US and in most countries where people have too much time on their hands, we come up with: Mother Earth Is Dying. What a dismal and stupid perspective. And doubly stupid because the same morose idea has infested the human imagination time and time again over the millennia. In the past, Gaias purported assassins have taken the form of overpopulation, a new ice age, air pollution, swine flu, holes in ozone layers, dying bees, or whatever the hell. Speaking as someone who has visited all points of the compass on planet Earth, if theres a problem humanity faces, it is underpopulation. Case in point, my partner Olivier Garrets sainted mother lives in the countryside about 20 minutes from Paris. Despite the area being populated since men and apes were dating, there are rolling green hills and forests as far as the eye can see. Dear readers in England might get a kick out of this illustrative quote from Paul Ehrlich, the dimwitted father of modern doomsday predictions: By the year 2000 the United Kingdom will be simply a small group of impoverished islands, inhabited by some 70 million hungry people ... If I were a gambler, I would take even money that England will not exist in the year 2000. Speech at British Institute for Biology, September 1971 Proving how hard it is to kill off bad ideas, to this day Ehrlich remains the president of Stanford Universitys Center for Conservation Biology. All Cultures Are Good. You have to be naive in the extreme to accept this notion as true. Is an Islamic theocracy on par with living in a secular democracy where, for example, women have basic rights? Is African tribalism as an organizing system as valuable as one based on the rights of the individual to pursue life, liberty, and happiness? Is the Indian caste system really okay? In my opinion, the idea that individual cultures should be preserved like museum pieces is one of the most dangerous ideas afflicting modern man. That which separates us does not make us stronger. Capitalism Is Bad. Wake up and smell the Starbucks! Or some other brand determined to unseat Starbucks by offering better coffee at a better price. Though far from perfectand, sorry to break it to you, but like Santa Claus, there is no such thing as a perfect economic systemminimizing government interference in the free exchange of goods and services works best at elevating the quality of life for the greatest number of people. Conversely, despite Marxs quip, the systems that work worst are invariably based on some group of elites using the cover of public good to pull the levers on a command economy. Political Correctness. Talk about a slippery slope. Today, virtually any action or word can be seen to micro-aggress against some sensitive soul. In response, universities and governments feel compelled to take active measures to protect those same souls. The end result has to be a Gordian knot of soul-draining policies, regulations, and other complexities. Oh wait, why should it be a Gordian knot? Why not Gordiana or some other gender-neutral name? Sexist bastards! White People Are Bad and a Dying Breed. And that goes double for white men, eeeww! Sorry toots, but in the US 75% of the population is Caucasian, and just under half of that number are men. And its not just in the US that whites make up the demographic majority, by a wide margin. That is also the case in Canada, Australia, the UK, Europe, Russia, and many other countries. It may surprise you to learn that here in Argentina, the number is closer to 90%, and its even higher than that in Costa Rica, among many others. The idea that white people will effectively fade away anytime soon crashes and burns in the face of demographic facts. Regardless, focusing on the color of a persons skin in making policy is, per my comments above, looking for ways to separate us humans, and so I am 100% against it. As far as the notion that white people are somehow bad, thats just naked racism. I could go on. However, as the sun is high in the sky, it is time to move on to other tasks. As I slide toward the exit, I will sum up by expressing my concern that parts of the world, in particular the United States, are now cartwheeling down the slippery slope toward disaster. A disaster caused by the epidemic of bad ideas that have germinated in the educational system and subsequently taken root in the halls of political power. Of course, not everyone has been equally infected. Individuals with common sense and an inclination toward facts and the scientific method are largely immune and can only view with alarm the zombie-like madness caused by bad ideas. With the body politic so deeply divided, I really dont see how a serious sociopolitical crisis can be avoided. Trumps inauguration, happening today, very well may serve as a starter pistol in unleashing the physical manifestation of the extraordinary conflict in the ideas held by approximately equal contingents of the population. I will watch this particular parade closely and with deep concern, but very definitely from afar, here in the warm and pacific climes of the Argentine outback. Dont forget to duck. (For those of you who want to read a scholarly dissertation about the takeover of the US educational system by socialists and progressivestwo sides of the same cointhe National Association of Scholars recently released a comprehensive study entitled, Making CitizensHow American Universities Teach Civics. Its long, but worth a scan.) Here Come the Clowns Mother, May I? Our clowny entry this week provides additional support for the contention that an epidemic of bad ideas has spread across the land. In the United Kingdom where the bureaucrats have, at least until recently, seemed keen to pattern their regulatory regime to achieve a society that rhymes with Orwells 1984, a woman was called to the bench and made to pay a fine of 80 (US$98) for the offense of pouring a cup of coffee down the drain. One can only hope that, with Brexit, the dogma-blinded cretins in the bureaucracy there will be chased back into the shadows. With that, and thanking you for showing up at the Parade for yet another installment, I will bid you a warm farewell. That goes double for ex-President Obama. Its been fun, but dont let the door hit you on the way out. David Galland Managing Editor, The Passing Parade http://www.garretgalland.com Garret/Galland Research provides private investors and financial service professionals with original research on compelling investments uncovered by our team. Sign up for one or both of our free weekly e-letters. The Passing Parade offers fast-paced, entertaining, and always interesting observations on the global economy, markets, and more. Sign up now its free! 2016 David Galland - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors. 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. STUART-An Ararat man changed his story as he was set to be sentenced Friday, withdrawing his guilty plea. Sammy Wayne Smith was accused and pleaded guilty in October to charges in an incident in which he allegedly led Patrick County Sheriff Dan Smith on a high-speed chase while the suspects longtime girlfriend and twin 13-year-old sons were in the car he was driving. Judge G. Carter Greer gave Smith the opportunity Friday to withdraw his guilty plea and to ask for a trial after Smith testified Friday that he did not flee from Dan Smith. Sammy Smith pleaded guilty in Patrick County Circuit Court in October 2016 to two counts of felonious child endangerment and one count each of felonious eluding law enforcement, misdemeanor reckless driving and misdemeanor drive on suspended license second offense. On March 29, 2016, at about 2:10 p.m., Dan Smith, while discharging his duties as sheriff in Patrick County, observed a white Toyota Celica traveling on Ararat Highway in excess of the speed limit. Upon activating his radar (which was checked before and after and found to be true and accurate), Dan Smith found the suspect (later identified as Sammy Smith) allegedly driving the car more than 81 mph. Sheriff Smith activated his blue lights and siren to initiate a traffic stop and Sammy Smith allegedly sped off. Dan Smith allegedly pursued Sammy Smith on public highways in excess of 90 mph on 55 mph zone roads. At times, Sammy Smith allegedly would cross into the oncoming traffic lane while maneuvering through curves. After a pursuit of several minutes, the sheriff was able to bring Sammys car to a stop. Sammy allegedly would not exit his vehicle at Dan Smiths request, so the sheriff had to break the glass of the drivers door and assist Sammy out of the car. Sammy allegedly was found to be operating the vehicle without liability insurance, without valid registration and while his license was suspended indefinitely. He had a previous conviction for driving while suspended on April 1, 2011, in Patrick County General District Court. During the sentencing hearing Friday, Sammy Smith gave a different version of what happened. He testified that he drove 85-90 mph testing out the Toyota Celica. However, Sammy Smith said, I was not eluding him (the sheriff). Sammy Smith said he met the sheriffs vehicle at some point. Sammy Smith said it was only when he was about to turn into his driveway sometime later that one of his sons told him the sheriffs car was behind him. Sammy Smith indicated that he didnt know it until then. Sammy Smith said he put up both his hands as the sheriff approached Sammy Smiths stopped vehicle. Sammy Smith said the sheriff broke a car window at that point. I was not eluding him, Sammy Smith said. He also said, I had no reason to run. However, Sammy Smith admitted that he told a probation officer that he had gotten scared and didnt have a drivers license. Jennifer Arnder, Sammy Smiths longtime girlfriend, testified that she was in the car at the time of the offense. I was scared, she said. She added that she told Sammy Smith to stop. She also testified that if Sammy Smith, who is employed, goes to prison it will be a financial hardship on their household and children. Sammy Smiths father also testified on his behalf. The father has health problems and Sammy Smith and Arnder help take care of him, the father said. Public defender Ashi Mehrotra said he thinks at some point during the incident Sammy Smith knew he should not have been driving, and made a poor decision based on being nervous or scared about the repercussions. Judge Greer scheduled a trial for March 10. Patrick County Circuit Court In another case Friday in Patrick County Circuit Court, Alvis McCray Foley Jr. of Stuart pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of hydrocodone/acetaminophen; one count of distribution of oxycodone and/or morphine first offense; and one count of distribution of oxycodone and/or morphine second or subsequent offense. Judge Greer sentenced Foley to a total of 25 years in prison, with three years active and 22 years suspended; fines totaling $5,000; and other conditions. Specifically, on the charge of distribution of hydrocodone/acetaminophen, Judge Greer sentenced Foley to five years in prison, all suspended. On the charge of distribution of oxycodone and/or morphine first offense, Judge Greer sentenced Foley to 10 years in prison, all suspended, and a $2,500 fine. On the charge of distribution of oxycodone and/or morphine second or subsequent offense, Judge Greer sentenced Foley to 10 years in prison, with three years active (the mandatory minimum sentence) and seven years suspended on conditions including five years of supervised probation and 30 years of good behavior. Greer also fined Foley $2,500 on that charge. According to Patrick County Commonwealths Attorney Stephanie Vipperman, Foley allegedly sold a confidential informant in an undercover drug operation four hydrocodone/acetaminophen pills for a total of $20 on April 7, 2014; and sold a total of eight morphine pills and a total of 20 oxycodone pills for a total of $210 on April 25, 2014, and May 7, 2014. Judge Greer said, This is not Mr. Foleys first foray into the world of drug distribution. Greer said Foley had previous drug and firearm convictions in federal court. Paul Collins reports for the Martinsville Bulletin and can be reached at . MARTINSVILLEThe next court hearing for Brian Keith Bowles will be in March. Bowles faces two counts of assault on a law enforcement or Department of Corrections official. After setting the hearing date for March 31, Judge Marcus Brinks also appointed a public defender to represent Bowles, who is accused of assaulting both a Henry County sheriffs deputy and a Henry County sheriffs sergeant. Bowles allegedly assaulted Deputy C.L. Hairston and Sgt. T. Farmer on Jan. 14, according to arrest warrants and a criminal complaint. On that date, Deputy Hairston stated he was at 320 Hospital Drive to transport Bowles, who was already serving time in the Henry County Jail, from the hospital back to his cell. While waiting with Farmer in the main entrance, Bowles fell onto the floor. Hairston asked Bowles to get up because there was nothing wrong with him, the complaint alleged. It added that Bowles wouldnt listen to the command, so Hairston picked him up and placed him into a nearby chair. According to Hairston, Bowles then claimed he was the victim of police brutality and threatened the deputy. Mr. Bowles then got up and charged at me in attempts to knock me off my feet, Hairstons complaint stated. I told Mr. Bowles several times that he needed to calm down and while doing this, Mr. Bowles began reach for my collar which I felt as if he was trying to choke me. The complaint further added that after striking Mr. Bowles twice, he then released my collar and I was able to get up. When Sgt. Farmer tried to speak to Mr. Bowles at the hospital. Mr. Bowles then grabbed Sgt. Farmers leg twice in attempts to knock him off balance, Hairstons complaint alleged. It added, Mr. Bowles was then sprayed with my O.C. OC spray is more commonly known as pepper spray, according to online information. Bowles is in jail awaiting trial on multiple other charges in Henry County, including two counts of forgery and three counts of obtaining money by false pretense. In another case recently in Martinsville General District Court, Judge Brinks appointed a public defender to represent Cynthia Holmes Roknich of Martinsville, who is charged with two counts of selling, giving or distributing a controlled substance. Brinks set the next court hearing for March 3. A criminal complaint alleged that on Jan. 6, 2017, during an undercover drug operation by the Martinsville Police Department, oxycodone pills, acetaminophen/hydrocodone pills and a bag of purported mushrooms were purchased from Roknich for $345. The transaction allegedly took place at Roknichs home in Martinsville. MARTINSVILLE-The Ice Age is back, and this Saturday, the Virginia Museum of Natural History will introduce visitors to some of the amazing creatures that thrived during the era. On Jan. 28 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the museum will host its inaugural Ice Age Festival. According to a VMNH release, the event will feature presenters from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, the Science Museum of Western Virginia, the Schiele Museum, Appalachian State University, the North Carolina Fossil Club, and the Virginia Master Naturalists. Researchers and curators from VMNH will also have special displays of Ice Age specimens from the museum's collection vaults. Additionally, a wide-range of games, crafts and special activities for children, such as balloon animals, will take place throughout the festival. The release adds that the festivals headline presenter is Dr. Katy Smith, associate professor of geology at Georgia Southern University and one of the world's most renowned experts on North American mastodons and mammoths. Give me a home where the mastodons roam: Exploring the lives and deaths of a uniquely North American beast will focus on mastodons from three different regions of the United States and how studying the fossils of these animals can help scientists understand how they lived, while shedding light on why they went extinct. According to VMNH Research Technician Ray Vodden, the event will feature casts of some of the larger species that became extinct as the Ice Age ended, including a complete stegodon, a complete wooly rhino, and the skull of a juvenile mastodon. Stegodon, Vodden said, was the largest elephant that ever lived. I saw a picture of the leg, and just the leg goes all the way to the ceiling, Vodden said. Stegodon was probably 13 or 14 feet tall and 25 feet long, and its got the longest tusks of any of the elephants. The wooly rhinoceros, Vodden said, is just what it sounds like: A furry rhino once common throughout Europe and Asia which went extinct around the end of the Ice Age, which lasted from about 2.4 million years ago to about 11,500 years ago. Mastodons also went extinct at the end of the Ice Age and were distant relatives of elephants. Vodden himself cast the baby mastodon skull that will go on display at the Ice Age Festival. The original baby mastodon skull came from a site called Carter Bog in Darke County, Ohio, Vodden said. In the early 1970s, he said, the farmer who owned the property was digging with a track hoe when he began pulling up bones from a wide variety of Ice Age animals, including not only the mastodon, but also a giant ground sloth and even a human. At the end of the Ice Age, Vodden said, North America lost more species than some of the other continents, such as Europe and Asia. All told, he said, North America lost at least 33 different species of megafauna, which are animals weighing more than 12 pounds, such as mastodons, mammoths, sabre-tooth cats, the American cheetah and the American lion. Carter Bog also has stone tools in it, Vodden said. That begs the question: Weve lost 33 species, so what happened? Why did we lose them? While there is direct evidence that humans were hunting many of these species, he said projectile points have even been found still lodged in bones he believes that the extinctions occurred due to a combination of human activity and climate change. As the ice sheets receded at the end of the Ice Age, Vodden said, it changed the habitat that many Ice Age species had become accustomed to and they could not adapt quickly enough to survive. While it wont be ready until later this year, Vodden said, the museum will soon be adding the skeleton of another intimidating Ice Age mammal: The giant short-faced bear. Its an enormous bear, Vodden said. Its six feet tall at the withers. When it stands up, its about 11 feet tall. Its thought that this animal was most likely a runner. It had very elongated, gracile limbs and a short torso. They think it could have easily chased down some quicker things. In addition to the short-faced bear, plenty of other Ice Age creatures will be popping up at the museum over time, he said. Were going to be adding more and more Ice Age stuff to the permanent exhibits, because we dont have any dinosaurs from Virginia; however, weve got a lot of Ice Age animals, Vodden said. Theyre coming out of caves all along the Blue Ridge Mountains. Weve got probably 75 different animals that are found in Ice Age deposits all along that area. The Ice Age Festival begins Saturday, Jan. 28 at 9 a.m. Tickets are free to VMNH members and children under 3; $5 for ages 3-18 and 60-plus; and $7 for ages 19-59. The Ice Age festival is sponsored by Bassett Furniture, Memorial Hospital of Martinsville and Henry County, and Martinsville-Henry County Tourism Division. For more information, visit vmnh.net. MARTINSVILLE Twenty-six year veteran police officer Coretha Gravely knows how important being calm and respectful is in preventing a tense situation from getting out of control. Years ago, she recalled, she confronted a man who she had stopped a man much larger than she is and was using harsh language. Instead of getting angry, she remained calm and asked the man why he was behaving that way. The man paused, apparently startled by her reaction, and then took on a more rational demeanor. If youre hollering and theyre hollering, things are going to escalate, said Gravely, who oversees the Martinsville Police Departments community-oriented policing division. When stopping people, she said, a police officer should be polite, introduce himself or herself, immediately tell them why they were stopped and give them a reasonable amount of time to comply with the officers commands. If they resist, dont immediately react harshly, but instead tell them, for instance, that the sooner they comply, the sooner they can get on their way, she added. You want to treat people the way you would want to be treated, Gravely said. Youve got to give respect to get respect. He or she who angers you owns you, retired Raleigh, N.C., police chief Harry Dolan, who now is a consultant to public safety agencies, told police officers from across the state during a verbal de-escalation training seminar at the New College Institute on Friday. Dolan has more than 30 years of experience in law-enforcement, including 25 as an administrator. He told the officers that if necessary, in dealing with people they stop or come into contact with during calls for assistance, they also should give the people a logical reason for complying with officers requests. If that doesnt work, he said, they can emotionally appeal to people to do the right thing before considering getting terse with them. A trend toward higher call volumes amid increased scrutiny on police have led to a greater need for officers to learn and master verbal conflict management skills, said Martinsville police Capt. Robert Fincher. Noting police-involved situations nationwide that got out of control and received criticism following publicity, Fincher said there was little evidence that officers used verbal de-escalation techniques. In some cases, he said, it became clear that officers choice of words and communication methods heightened the tensions. Dolan encouraged officers to listen to comments made by people who they stop or may be up to mischief. Listening isnt waiting for your turn to talk, he said. Listening is gathering intelligence so officers can make appropriate decisions on how to respond to situations. Dolan also encouraged officers to be aware of their body language when talking to people. For example, an officer with his arms folded against his chest may be perceived as being reluctant or unwilling to hear a persons viewpoint, which could raise tensions, whereas an officer who stands open may be seen as more friendly and make a person feel more comfortable talking to him. Often, people who react extremely harsh when encountered by police are not bad people they just get stressed as they deal with a situation to which they are unaccustomed or a negative situation in their lives, Dolan said. Part of this job (police work) is meeting people at their worst times, he told the officers, adding that their goal should be making peoples situations a little bit better. Most people respect police, Dolan said, noting that seems to be why many people today are seeking careers in law enforcement. Officers report theyve never had more people thank them for their service than they do nowadays, he said. Yet people dont fear police, as was more common in the past, Dolan said, and occasionally officers encounter a person who is hostile. When that happens, we need to deflect the verbal abuse before the tension potentially becomes violent, he added. Costs for the verbal de-escalation training were covered by federal funds awarded to the state from the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program. The training stemmed from listening sessions that state Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Brian Moran held with public safety officials across Virginia. Martinsville Police Chief Sean Dunn said all of his officers are being required to undergo the training. Half of them participated in Fridays session and the other half will take part in a similar session planned in February. Mickey Powell reports for the Martinsville Bulletin. He can be reached at mickey.powell@martinsvillebulletin.com. TODAY'S WORD is obstreperous (ub-strep-uh-rus). Example: The protesters acted obstreperously throughout the day, ignoring police, smashing windows and burning vehicles. FRIDAY'S WORD was longanimity (long-guh-nim-uh-tee). It means patience or longsuffering. Example: The Orioles fans showed longanimity by coming back year after year to cheer on the team, even if they didnt make the playoffs. Ho-Down coming The Woolwine Volunteer Fire Department will stage a Ho-Down on Feb. 11, from 3 to 7 p.m. The department is over at 9912 Woolwine Highway and will have music by the Over the Hill Gang and others. Hot dogs and desserts will be available and it doesn't cost a dime to come. Robins year-round The recent discussion on cardinals in the Stroller's backyard prompted a local man to stop by and explain that cardinals aren't the only ones around at this time of year. In fact, robins stay in Henry County all year. The only difference is their behavior. During fall and winter, we may not see the robins, but that's because they've become hermits, roosting in groups. The Stroller also checked with some of our local bird experts, who went into more detail. The robins can be seen on sunny days in January and February, on south-facing hillsides. With the temperatures rising as they have in the last few days, it wouldn't be a surprise to see a flock of robins going from one yard to the next through different neighborhoods. Leaping ahead This year, we only have 28 days in February, basically a normal year. But there are some years where an extra day gets added to the month. The next one of these Leap Years is in 2020. But why do we need a leap year? The Gregorian calendar, which now serves as the standard calendar for use throughout the world, has both common years and leap years. A common year has 365 days and a leap year 366 days, with the extra day designated as Feb. 29. A leap year occurs every four years to help synchronize the calendar year with the solar year, or the length of time it takes the earth to complete its orbit around the sun, which is about 365 days. The length of the solar year, however, is slightly less than 365 daysby about 11 minutes. To compensate for this discrepancy, the leap year is omitted three times every four hundred years. In other words, a century year cannot be a leap year unless it is divisible by 400. Thus 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not leap years, but 1600, 2000, and 2400 are leap years. So, what are your chances of being born on a Leap Day? About 1 in 1,500. TRIVIA QUESTION: On Friday, President Trump signed an executive order declaring a national day of patriotism. That doesn't mean a new holiday was created, however. How many new holidays have been created in the U.S. in the last 100 years? The answer will be in Monday's Stroller. TRIVIA ANSWER: Things were a bit different at the nations beginning, when it comes to presidential inaugurations. When was the first inaugural parade and the first inaugural ball? George Washington started the tradition of a parade, as he traveled from his home at Mount Vernon to New York City to be sworn in. Local militias joined in as he passed through different towns. Additions came with each new inauguration. At Thomas Jefferson's 1805 procession, the Marine Band performed for the first time. In 1814, William Henry Harrison had floats and military companies from different states joining in. As for the inaugural ball, for that we look to James and Dolly Madison, who staged the first one in 1809. Tickets were $4 each. There was a big carbon dioxide is the problem sign held high on Friday, as the march went on in Richmond. It was followed up by one demanding that we Free Palestine and End Brexit Now. I dont want to say these were anti-Trump rallies, because if they were, the protesters might want to learn what the presidents powers actually are. To the best of my knowledge, we cant control what happens in England. And yet, while the signs might have been weird, both they and the march were perfectly legal. The roles were reversed on Saturday. At this point, it was the pro-Trump crowd marching and critics of the new president holding up signs on the sidelines. The point is that the chants of the marchers, as well as those of the protesters, were all an example of the same freedom being expressed. Pro or con, they all used their freedom of speech to get their point across, as well as their right to assemble. Were all willing to support those concepts when its a topic were in favor of. When we agree with a political platform or even a spiritual one, we talk about how people should be allowed to speak their mind. We cheer when marches or rallies are organized for our church, for our school or some cause we support. But then its often a different story when the opposition pops up. At that point, we start shouting for microphones to be turned off, for Facebook or Twitter to suspend accounts or for march permits to be denied. And yet if it was us, if it was our cause the march supported or our candidate speaking, wed be fighting hard to make sure our rights were protected. Thats why we need to do just as much for the opposition. Protecting opposing views is the entire point of the First Amendment. After all, we wouldnt need a Constitutional amendment ordering us to let people speak or assemble about subjects we agree on. When a friend of mine posted video from his trip to Fridays inauguration, someone tried to get Facebook to block it as a case of hate speech. Even once he was able to post it, he was called a racist and a war monger. Another friend of mine marched in Washington on Saturday. After one picture was posted on Instagram, she got a notification saying that some of her followers had flagged the content as questionable and demanded it be removed. The only people following her on Instagram are friends and family members, people shes known all her life. And yet, some of them wanted to remove her opinion from view, because it was different. Look, I get it. No matter what side of the political coin you fall on, at some point there was a situation in Washington to irritate you this weekend. For those opposing the president, it was the simple fact of the inauguration. For those supporting him, it was the fact these people were marching in protest. Yes, it's annoying to hear people talk about why your side is wrong. But trying to remove any opposition isn't the answer. That's not a free society. That's from the playbook of a third world country. Were just not always going to agree. Sadly, there are some people who fail to understand my dislike for the New York Yankees. I also know people who for some reason love oyster stew, but this mountain boy just never developed a taste for it. Those are trivial things, I know, but the same goes for the big ticket stuff. Does trickle-down economics work? Are tax breaks a way to generate job growth? Does it matter how much national debt we accumulate? To each of those questions, there will be someone with an opposing viewpoint. Even if they annoy us, even if we find their position completely stupid, its still their right to stand up and say how they feel. Its their right to march, to hold up signs and protest, if thats what they feel like. Its our responsibility in these times, especially when we dont agree, to defend those rights. Now lets be clear, having the right to free speech or the freedom to assemble doesnt mean you can do whatever you want. For those who felt vandalizing stores this weekend was their right, theyll have at least a few days in jail to think about it and some criminal charges to follow. Thats the other part of the First Amendment, as in what it doesnt say. It doesnt give us the right to physically attack someone because of the color of their skin, the religion they practice or the political party they support. No, you cant vandalize someone elses property because youre mad at a political result. When it's peaceful protests or any type of disagreement, we need to protect the right to those conversations, not shut them down. Why? Because at some point, the shoe may be on the other foot. PLYMOUTH One man was killed and two others seriously injured when the truck they were riding in left the road and rolled over. None of the men were seatbelted and all three were thrown from the vehicle. The Massachusetts State Police said Timothy Feeley, 47, of North Reading was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. Two other men, the 30-year-old driver and a 24-year-old passenger were transported to Tobey Hospital in Wareham with serious injuries. Investigators said the three were riding in a 2006 Freightliner truck westbound on Route 25 in Plymouth just after noon Saturday when for some reason the truck drove off the left side of the divided highway onto the median. When the truck hit the unpaved area, it began to roll over and continued several times. All three passengers were ejected from the cab. The Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and reconstruction Section, Crime Scene Services and the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Section responded to investigate the crash. Firefighters from the Plymouth, Wareham and Bourne fire departments assisted at the scene. Police have arrested a 42-year-old man on charges he tried to blow up a Boston Police cruiser Friday morning. Boston Police Commissioner William Evans announced Sunday that police arrested Asim Kieta on arson, assault with intent to murder and other charges Saturday night in Charlestown. Police said Kieta is homeless but is from the Dorchester area. Investigators are now working on a possible motive. "We're not clear on the motive," Evans said. "He has a lengthy criminal past. He's been in and out of jail. The commissioner said police are trying to determine "whether there is a hatred for police because of his past behavior or whether this is some nexus to what is going on in the world as far as terrorism." An officer was driving by the Boston Police substation on West Broadway in South Boston and saw a fire near a police cruiser Friday around 8:15 a.m., police said. Police moved the cruiser and a device exploded. The device appeared to be a propane tank, but authorities are still working to determine the specific type of device used, Evans said. There was some type of firework or explosive device on the tank, the commissioner said. There were two explosions. Evans said there were minor injuries, but no serious injuries. Evans said investigators worked with the FBI and Daniel Bennett, the state Secretary of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, in order to find Kieta. Through surveillance images and witness accounts, police were able to place a car at the scene. Police said Kieta was seen leaving the car with a grocery bag and then heading back to the car. Investigators then began searching for the vehicle. They found Kieta in his car in Charlestown. "I'm glad we got this dangerous guy off the streets," Evans said. Police said the booking photograph of Kieta was not released because of the ongoing investigation. Kieta was charge with possession of an explosive device, assault with intent to murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a police officer and arson of personal property." * Longtime leader Yahya Jammeh flees country * Prolonged negotiations fuel speculation over exit terms * Regional operation securing country for new president (Adds street celebrations, allegations of stolen money, Jammeh quote) By Tim Cocks and Diadie Ba BANJUL/DAKAR, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Gambians celebrated in the streets on Sunday after a West African regional military force entered the capital city of Banjul and took control of the presidential palace, the symbolic seat of ex-ruler Yahya Jammeh's 22-year authoritarian regime. Jammeh, who refused to accept defeat to opposition challenger Adama Barrow in a December election, flew out of Banjul late on Saturday en route to Equatorial Guinea as the regional force was poised to remove him. Hundreds of Banjul residents assembled outside State House as darkness fell after soldiers, who deployed on Sunday to secure the country, moved in to secure the compound. Cheering and singing, some revellers sought to capture the moment for posterity, posing for photos with the Senegalese troops. "We are free," said food seller Isatou Toure, 35. "Everyone is so happy that man is gone. We are happy to see (the soldiers). They protected us from Jammeh." Senegalese army officials said the force, which also includes troops from Nigeria, Ghana and Mali, met no resistance as they advanced on Sunday. But even amid the celebrations, troubling details of Jammeh's departure began to emerge. Speaking to radio station RFM in Senegal, where he is waiting to return to Gambia, Barrow said that, upon initial inspection, it appeared Jammeh had looted state resources. "According to information we received, there is no money in the coffers," he said. "It's what we have been told, but the day we actually take office, we will clarify all of it." In a news conference later in the day, Barrow advisor Mai Ahmad Fatty said 500 million dalasis ($11.45 million) had been withdrawn by Jammeh in the past two weeks. The regional military operation was first launched late on Thursday after Barrow was sworn in as president at Gambia's embassy in neighbouring Senegal, but it was halted hours later to give Jammeh one last chance to leave peacefully. Story continues His departure followed two days of negotiations led by Guinea President Alpha Conde and Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania, prompting speculation over what, if any, terms were agreed upon to convince him to step down. "He wanted to stay in Gambia," Barrow said. "We said we couldn't guarantee his security and said that he should leave." Barrow denied that Jammeh had been offered immunity from prosecution in exchange for leaving the country. "EVERYONE IS FREE" Earlier in the day, the African Union and United Nations published a document on behalf of these two organisations and regional bloc ECOWAS. In it, they pledged, among other things, to protect Jammeh's rights "as a citizen, a party leader and a former Head of State," to prevent the seizure of property belonging to him and his allies, and to ensure he can eventually return to Gambia. Barrow said the document had not been signed and did not constitute a binding agreement. He also said he planned to return to Gambia soon but did not say when. Jammeh's loss in the Dec. 1 poll and his initial acceptance of the result were celebrated across the tiny nation by Gambians grown weary of his increasingly authoritarian rule. He reversed his position a week later. In a video clip posted on social media that a United Nations official confirmed was filmed shortly before his departure from Gambia, Jammeh thanked Conde, seen standing beside him, as a "true friend." "Allah has decided that this is the end my time," he said. "When you are inflicted by something that you are not happy with, don't move away from Allah, but thank Allah because he is testing you." Rights groups accuse Jammeh of jailing, torturing and killing his political opponents while acquiring a vast fortune, including luxury cars and an estate in the United States, as most of his people remained impoverished. Thousands of Gambians sought asylum abroad over the years. An additional 45,000 people fled to Senegal amid growing fears of unrest in the wake of last month's election, according to the United Nations. Hundreds of Gambians carrying sacks, suitcases and cooking pots began returning by ferry from Senegal's Casamance region on Sunday. Hawa Jagne, 22, a cloth trader, hugged her sister Fama as she stepped off the boat. "I'm so relieved to see her," Jagne said. "Everyone is free. You can do whatever you want, because this is a democratic country. You can express yourself. No one can kill you." ($1 = 43.6600 Gambian dalasis) (Additional reporting by Emma Farge in Dakar; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Keith Weir, Jane Merriman and Lisa Von Ahn) HOLYOKE -- Fire Chief John A. Pond said the state's failure to remove stacks of wooden railroad ties from its property behind the C-Town Supermarket on Cabot Street, where a fire occurred in 2015, is "a significant hazard" to the city. "The railroad ties pose a significant hazard not only from a fire load perspective, but also carcinogens and environmental conditions. It appears some of the railroad ties have been removed since (August) but the process must be expedited," Pond said Friday. The hazard involves not only fire itself, but carcinogens drifting through the air from a blaze because of the chemicals used to treat the wooden rail ties, Fire Department Capt. Anthony Cerruti said. A common chemical wood preservative applied to railroad ties is creosote, the burning of which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said should be avoided because of the "possible inhalation of toxic chemicals in the smoke and ash." In August, spokeswoman Jacquelyn Goddard of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (DOT) said after Cerruti gave The Republican a tour of the piles of rail ties that their removal would be done by the end of calendar year 2016. That followed the state pledging and missing other removal deadlines. On Friday, DOT spokeswoman Judith Riley emailed a statement to The Republican: "We have looked into your inquiry regarding the removal of wooden scrap railroad ties on property along Cabot Street in Holyoke. "While the vast majority of the scrap railroad ties have been removed, MassDOT and the Railroad are working diligently to remove the small portion of scrap ties that still remain on site. The removal process has been slightly delayed due to inclement weather and the weather's impact on the specific way in which these materials need to be safely disposed. Please note that MassDOT is continuing to closely monitor this situation to ensure that the respective area is cleared of the scrap ties as soon as possible." Riley didn't respond to a follow up question about when the rest of the rail ties would be hauled away. Pond said that despite what has been removed, the piles of ties that remain are substantial and pose a danger. Besides the heaps of rail ties, the area includes piles rubber vehicle tires and other debris. A fire that began just after midnight on Nov. 24, 2015 in one of the piles of rail ties behind the C-Town store at 13 Cabot St. kept firefighters busy for more than five hours and required two responses later that day to extinguish flare ups, Cerruti said. The cause of that fire was undetermined but might have been related to a homeless person sleeping near the stack of ties, he said. "This is all a hazard for our guys ... and for the community," Cerruti said. Since the state acquired the railroad property from Pan Am Railway in May 2015, the DOT has been working to dispose of ties that were replaced with over 80,000 new ones. That has taken place along the so-called Knowledge Corridor Project between Springfield and the Vermont border, Goddard said in August. A Nov. 29, 2015 story published by the Daily Hampshire Gazette in the wake of the fire noted the state had pledged and missed other deadlines for the removal of the rail ties. Because of the presence of chemicals used to treat the railroad ties, they must be disposed of carefully and are taken to a plant in Maine that chops and burns them, MassDOT spokesman Tim Doherty told The Republican in August. Cerruti said the 2015 fire left many of the ties with "alligator skin" surfaces -- raised, sectioned-off chunks that could break off easily in another fire or become airborne and cause respiratory problems because of the chemicals that treated the wooden beams, he said. "When it burns, it's a carcinogen. That's why you get the big black smoke. It's an acrid smell," Cerruti said. SPRINGFIELD -- Hundreds of people filled the gymnasium at Springfield's YMCA on Saturday afternoon to honor the four Springfield youth who were killed in a violent car crash on Union Street earlier this week. Dubbed a "Celebration of Life," Springfield residents came out in droves to honor 17-year-old Cassidy Spence, 20-year-old Andrew Savage, and Katrina Maisonet Jones and Adrianna Hernandez, both 18, all of whom passed away earlier this week. In addition to being a day of remembrance, the ceremony was also an opportunity for community members to come together around the victims' families. Donations, a raffle, and various other fundraising events were a key part of the afternoon as a means of raising proceeds to go towards the victims' burial expenses. The event was organized by many people who knew the victims of the terrible crash, but also by many who did not. Ayanna Crawford, a teacher at a local middle school, said she didn't know any of the girls personally but, being a mother, felt a strong deal of empathy for the women and families who had lost their loves ones. Crawford helped with marketing for the event, which featured numerous performances from local artists, as well as speeches, spoken word poems, and sermons from local religious leaders. Everything had to be organized in roughly a day, Crawford said. In Crawford's view, all of it has been worthwhile because it's been a means of helping those who have lost their children. "We're going to represent all the families today," Crawford said. "We're one community, we're one village, one city. We're coming together," she said. Also present at the event was Springfield City Councilor Adam Gomez, who was the uncle of Adrianna Hernandez. Gomez, flanked by a multitude of Adrianna's family members, spoke briefly about his niece. "She was a very special, special child in our family," Gomez said, speaking to the audience with tears in his eyes. "She enlisted in the military a week ago because she wanted to see the world," he said. "She wanted to do the right thing and be part of something bigger than herself." The theme of community was a common refrain throughout the afternoon, and Gomez further reflected on the resonance of having so many city residents come out to honor the lives of the four youth. "This event just shows the true spirit of what Springfield is and how much we love this place and love each other," he said. "When things like this arise we come together as a community." The afternoon was flush with examples of the kind of generosity Gomez spoke of. One particularly memorable one was the Central High School cheer team's performance in honor of Katrina and Adrianna, both of whom had been cheerleaders at the school. Poignantly, the girls' dance was choreographed to Puff Daddy's "I'll Be Missing You"--a song originally meant as eulogy to lost loved ones. Moments after the cheer ended several of the girls could be seen breaking into tears and embracing. The crowd cheered them on as they hugged and quickly left the room. Later, at the end of the ceremony, a similar moment occurred. Gathering the families of the victims into the center of the room, one of the preachers present encouraged everybody to hug the family members and each other. With everybody embracing, the day ended with the community coming together as one. Methuen fatal crash Jan. 22, 2017 (Methuen Police) One woman was killed and three other people were injured after a car crashed into a telephone pole in Methuen Sunday morning. Police were called to Milk Street around 3:05 a.m. for a report of a single-car crash. The driver, Jacleyn Leclerc of Peabody, was driving north on Milk Street when the vehicle went off of the road and into a telephone pole, police said. Investigators believe alcohol was a factor in the crash. Jennifer Montanez, 23, of Waterbury, Connecticut was taken to an area hospital where she was pronounced dead. She was sitting in the back of the car. The front seat passenger in the car, 28-year-old Jessenia Ramos of Peabody, was flown by helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston with life-threatening injuries. Leclerc and a third woman riding in the car, 29-year-old Jessenia Montanez of Methuen, were taken to Lawrence General Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The accident remains under investigation by Methuen Police and the Massachusetts State Police. More than one million protesters joined Women's Marches across the world as they rallied against President Donald J. Trump and vowed to protect human rights. Boston, New York, Chicago and Washington D.C. were among the cities in the United States that had the women's marches, but cities across the world joined in the protests. There were rallies in Paris, Rome, Madrid and London as people protested against Trump's policies. The protests drew crowds much higher than many of the venues expected Saturday. The rally in Boston saw roughly 175,000 people flood Boston Common. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren told the Boston crowd that it is time for people to fight back. "We can whimper. We can whine. Or we can fight back. Me, I'm here to fight back," Warren said during the rally. "We come together here today to stand shoulder-to-shoulder to make clear: We are here. We will not be silent. We will not play dead. We will fight for what we believe in." to all our marchers. @bostonpolice says NOT A SINGLE incident! Thank you! #BosWomensMarch March Forward MA (@MarchForwardMA) January 22, 2017 Organizers of the Women's March on Washington told The Washington Post they originally sought a permit for 200,000 people, but discovered roughly a half a million people took part in the Washington D.C. protest. "Today, millions of people gathered in cities and towns across the world, to stand together for human rights," the Women's March on Washington wrote on Facebook. "This is more than just a single day of action, this is the beginning of a movement to protect, defend and advance human rights, even in the face of adversity." Celebrities joined many of the demonstrators across the country. Madonna performed in Washington D.C. while Julia Roberts, Scarlett Johansson, Katy Perry and Amy Schumer also joined the crowd. Posted by Women's March on Saturday, January 21, 2017 Whoopi Goldberg was in New York as protesters headed to Trump Tower. Chelsea Handler was in Utah with Charlize Theron and Kristen Stewart, according to the Associated Press. Organizers in Chicago expected 75,000 people but the number of marchers tripled in size forcing coordinators to cancel the march portion of the event, according to NBC Chicago. "The incoming administration and president have promised an assault on women's rights, we are prepared to fight back," organizer Ann Scholhamer told NBC Chicago. There were over 600 sister marches held worldwide. The rally in Paris drew thousands to the Eiffel Tower. People there chanted that they have their eyes on Trump. pa'lante.jpg (IMAGE FROM FACEBOOK PAGE) HOLYOKE -- Peace instead of violence will be the theme of activities that Holyoke High School students have organized for the week of Jan. 23 to 27. "Their goal is to encourage youth to think about and challenge the way that violence is glorified and sometimes promoted," said a Holyoke School Department press release Friday. Students who belong to Pa'lante ("to move forward, move ahead"), the "restorative justice program" at Holyoke High School, have organized the events that will include assemblies, art-making parties about peace and unity, students signing a peace pledge to commit to resolving conflict using peer-led mediation and a social media campaign, said the press release from Judy Taylor, Holyoke public schools director of communications. Restorative justice emphasizes rehabilitation and reconciliation. In a letter to the editor in The Republican in 2015, Marjorie Morgan of Longmeadow summed it up this way: "Restorative justice is a way of seeing crime as more than breaking the law...but bringing people together to discuss the harms and find some resolution." At Holyoke High School, students want to raise awareness about the effects of hate and violence, the press release said. "They also seek to spark community dialogue around the increased incidents of violence and hate speech that have occurred nationally," the press release said. Jerica Coffey is director of youth organizing and student support for the Pa'Lante Restorative Justice Program, the press release said. GREENFIELD -- An estimated crowd of 3,000 people -- many wearing pink cat hats and holding hand-painted signs -- filled Court Square Saturday to rally for human rights and to defy the values of racism, misogyny, and intolerance. "This isn't a protest," said local organizer Mary McClintock "It's a rally of unity and solidarity." Republican President Donald J. Trump, who disparaged women and other groups during his campaign, was sworn in as the nation's 45th president only the day before. The Franklin County rally was a "sister event" to the Women's March on Washington. Concurrent events were held across the country and around the world. The Washington march drew around a half-million people. A string of local speakers said it's time to protect the most vulnerable in society, and to take direct action in support of egalitarian values. "We don't have time to cozy up to fear," said Nancy Rothenberg, who teaches self-defense classes for women. At 1 p.m., participants observed a full minute of silence in support of equality for all. Signs said "I will not go quietly back to the 1950s;" "Scrub Trump;" and "Respect Existence or Expect Resistance." Poet and martial artist Janet Aalfs read from the works of African-American poet Gwendolyn Brooks: "We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond." People said they attended the local event to meet with those of like mind, and to try to figure out what to do next. "I'm just trying to overcome the numbness and shock," said Mark Hathaway of Northfield. As for Trump's cabinet choices and avowed actions, "you don't have to throw everything away to make change," he said. "People are pretty upset about the election," said another woman. "It felt it was important to come out here today. We can't let hatred and intolerance win. And there's no way we're going to turn back the clock on women's rights." As the rally wound down, a Jeep displaying a large, pole-mounted Confederate flag made its way down Main Street. Stopped in traffic, the young male driver spoke with The Republican. "It's just a flag," he said. "It has no meaning. I've had it for a while. I had no idea this march was going on today." The rally was followed by an evening of live music at the nearby Arts Block. The "Rock Your Rights" event raised funds for Tapestry Health and Planned Parenthood. vermont state police.JPG MONTPELIER - A 33-year-old man was shot to death in the parking lot of his apartment early Sunday morning. The victim is identified as Markus Austin. He was shot at least once at about 4:35 a.m. outside 191 Barre St., Vermont State Police officials said. Montpelier Police initially responded to a call of a shooting in the parking lot. When they arrived they found a man dead near a car. Witnesses said another man fled the scene in a motor vehicle, police said. The Vermont State Police Major Crime Unit with Montpelier Police and the Washington County State's Attorney's Office is investigating the homicide. Police continue to process the crime scene and will then transport the victim to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to determine cause and manner of death, police said. Detectives are asking anyone who witnessed the shooting or who may have information about the crime to contact the Vermont State Police at 802-229-9191 or the Montpelier Police Department at 802-223-3445. Women's Marches held Saturday to promote social justice and human rights and protest President Donald J. Trump's regressive policy proposals attracted millions of people across the country and the world. Women marched in Boston, New York, Washington D.C., Chicago and Paris, Rome, Madrid and London. Locally rallies were held in Springfield, Northampton, Greenfield and one farther north in Montpelier, Vermont drew so many people it caused traffic jams on Interstate 89 because the volume of people trying to get to the small city on Exit 8. Women rallied for many issues but focused most on basic human rights. Many talked about boosting the political clout of woman by having more females run for office, women protested any plan to turn back the clock on reproductive rights and many held signs calling for basic human rights. The Greenfield protest went smoothly, according to police. Officers thanked volunteers who assisted. "It's is an honor to be a party to the Constitutional Rights of the people to peacefully assemble as they practice their free speech. We thank the volunteers who assisted to make this a successful day," Police posted on the department Facebook page. Northampton Police said they expected crowds of no more than 200 and that grew over the day to an estimated 2,500 people. Still there were no problems, officers said on Facebook. Here are some of the things people were Tweeting and posting on Facebook about the Women's Marches. Paying everyone a small amount each month no matter what could make a big difference for freelancers and entrepreneurs. "Studies have shown one of the top reasons more people dont become entrepreneurs is because they dont have the capital to both support themselves and start a business at the same time." Michael Grothaus Full Story: https://www.fastcompany.com/3067089/the-future-of-work/how-universal-basic-income-could-rescue-the-freelance-economy Cooper Martin of the National League of Cities Sustainable Cities Institute discusses trends in transportation and technologys role. Specifically, and especially with regard to technology, I think that there are almost too many moving parts to make strong, predictive statements. Report: City of the Future: Technology & Mobility http://www.nlc.org/find-city-solutions/city-solutions-and-applied-research/city-of-the-future/technology-and-mobility by Bob Graves Full Story: http://www.govtech.com/fs/transportation/How-Cities-Can-Move-Seamlessly-into-the-Future-of-Mobility.html A bill that could give state officials control of Montanas gavel-to-gavel legislative television coverage passed the Senate on Friday with almost no opposition. When the Legislative Council Subcommittee on TVMT held their first meeting, there were no minutes, audio or video from the meeting. "Its like it never happened," Maly said. "Its clear they want to take over." ERIN LORANGER [email protected] Full Story: http://mtstandard.com/news/government-and-politics/senate-passes-bill-allowing-state-control-of-legislative-coverage/article_8d26ed67-7617-5db8-b0ed-a0756e3f96e0.html Ten lawmakers are sponsoring a bill that offers early retirement to state and University of Wyoming employees as state leaders look to save money in the face of a large budget shortfall. Nearly 2,000 employees would qualify for early retirement under Senate File 95. Workers would qualify based on a formula that considers their age and years of service, said Sen. Curt Meier, R-LaGrange, the legislations primary sponsor. There are just under 8,000 employees who work for the state of Wyoming. At the University of Wyoming, there are 3,000 employees. Laura Hancock 307-266-0581, [email protected] Full Story: http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/lawmakers-push-for-early-retirement-program-to-address-budget-shortfall/article_d38c6571-2d24-58db-8e07-5558106535ef.html Montana-based engineering firm Morrison Maierle http://m-m.net/ is officially a 100 percent employee-owned company. Family and employee ownership has been part of the Morrison Maierle mission since its inception, Jona Parriman, financial manager and granddaughter of founder Joe Maierle, said. The employee stock ownership plan is expected to foster company growth and reward employees for working hard and staying at Morrison Maierle. ERIN LORANGER [email protected] Full Story: http://helenair.com/business/morrison-maierle-transitions-to-percent-employee-owned-model/article_893b555f-21ad-5772-89a8-ac515fe4a063.html *** Montana Career Opportunities Mid-Level Mechanical Engineers, IT Desktop Support, Senior Level Electrical Engineer, Senior Network Technician and many more Morrison-Maierle http://www.matr.net/article-75289.html A dance school in Marion is raising money to attend the biggest national parade of the year. Since New Years Day in 2016, Miss Jacies School of Dance in Marion has attempted to raise $25,000 for their dancers to participate in the Macys Thanksgiving Parade in New York City. And with half of the proceeds behind them, theyve started a Go-Fund-Me page to raise the remaining $14.9K. Aimee Matson Gibbs, a mother to one of the dancers and president of the fundraiser, spoke about the opportunity for the group to attend the parade. Every three to four years, Miss Jacie applies for dancers to be able to participate in the Macys Parade, and this may be the last year as the prices keep going up, said Gibbs. My daughter, Mackenzie, has been dancing at Jacies since she was three, and has always wanted to visit NYC. To be able to do that while having the opportunity to dance in the biggest parade of the country is amazing. For the past 43 years, Miss Jacies School of Dance has specialized in teaching children to love dance and to embrace its disciplines with what the organization deems, a well-rounded curriculum and qualified, loving instructors. The school aims to instruct its dancers on self-esteem, individuality, strength, co-ordination and an appreciation for the arts, whether the student is preparing for a future in dance or is learning higher character traits. Its with these principles of the school that have helped Gibbs and the dancers along their year-long goal, originally raising the money through community outreach. We started on New Years 2016 on Main Street, with a booth selling items like pizza, food, etc., said Gibbs. We have had car washes, sold pizza raffles, coupon books, had a 5k last year, and recently had a Fatz pancake breakfast. On those efforts alone, the school has raised $10,144 of their $25,000 goal. However, Gibbs admitted that raising funds has been a very gradual process. We have until September to finish raising the funds, and we have a deposit due next month, around $4,000, said Gibbs. Also, there are some parents going as well, but we are having to pay our own way. None of what we raise goes towards our (the parents) costs. With that in mind, the school decided to move towards an online platform to coincide with their efforts, launching a Go-Fund-Me page on Jan. 13. Social media is everything these days. You can reach a broader audience of people, reach family and friends in other states and, if youre lucky, go viral and exceed your target goal, said Gibbs, who confirmed that excess funds would be given to a suitable donation. Should Miss Jacies School reach their goal, they would be among dancers from studios across the country between the ages of 14 and 18. Additionally, they would be given opportunities to tour New York City and experience attractions like the Statue of Liberty cruise, the 9/11 museum, watch the Rockettes perform at Radio City Music Hall, as well as rehearse in the Grand Ballroom of the New York Plaza. Dancing in the parade would be a wonderful opportunity for all of these girls, and we want to thank our family, friends and the community. Without them, we wouldnt have gotten this far, said Gibbs. To donate, please send to Eckenrod Studio on East Court Street or Miss Jacies School of Dance. Online donations can be sent to https://www.gofundme.com/10-young-dancers-to-new-york. After a stagnant 2016, the Cayuga County Arts Council has taken steps early in 2017 to reinvigorate its long-running restoration of the Auburn Schine Theater. The seven-member council board completed a work session Jan. 7 with former Auburn Mayor Melina Carnicelli, according to a recent news release. The board emerged from the three-hour session, held at Beardsley Architects & Engineers in Auburn, with new mission and vision statements. The former declares the council's commitment to restoring the 1938 art deco theater "by engaging community partners"; the latter describes the council as "a sustainable downtown business located in the historic Schines Theatre that promotes, educates and supports the expression of talent." The council, the release continues, will reach out to community members this year to fill various committee positions. In a Friday phone interview, council Vice Chair Dia Carabajal said the areas in which it could most use that community assistance are fundraising and communications, as well as the council's already existing building committee. That committee's chair of almost two years, Tim Kerstetter, left the council at the end of his term in December because he could no longer make the time commitment the project requires, he said Friday. The council board now consists of Chair/Treasurer Jim Loperfido, Vice Chair Dia Carabajal, Secretary Vera Carabajal, new building committee Chair Charles Taylor, Beardsley Project Manager Ed Onori, and new members Michelle Prego-Milewski and Ken Tanner. More than anything, Carabajal said, the new members bring "fresh energy" to the council's almost 20-year mission to restore the Schine, a John Eberson-designed movie theater that screened its last film in 1978. "It's a daunting task," she said of the Schine project. "We suffer from a little burnout." Further, Carabajal said, the council gains organizational and social media skills by adding Prego-Milewski, an administrative specialist for Cayuga Centers. In Tanner, a Beardsley employee and engineering technician for the city of Auburn, the council gains building know-how and grant-writing experience, she said. However, Loperfido's continuation as board chair and Carabajal's change from member at large to vice chair seemingly contrast earlier statements he made to The Citizen that the council would elect new officers in spring 2016. Loperfido, the chair since 2010, is now serving a third three-year term. He was also a member of the council in the mid-90s as it circled buying the Schine, which had been optioned for purchase and, probably, demolition by Wegmans. Carabajal, meanwhile, has been on the board since the early 2000s, serving as its chair from 2004 to 2010. Friday, Carabajal said she and Loperfido have retained their leadership roles because no one else on the board has expressed an interest in assuming them. She added that since the council no longer has a membership which it suspended years ago as the Schine increasingly consumed its attention it is "absolutely kosher" for Loperfido to remain chair, and her to become vice chair. "It's such a big, complex project that the longevity Jim and I have adds to that understanding," she said. "Jim and I are not opposed to anyone else wanting to step up and take that role." Carabajal also rejected the notion that her role as vice chair creates a conflict of interest given her position as an Auburn city councilor. The role entails no more responsibility than being a member at large, she said. Auburn corporation counsel OK'd her holding both positions since she filed a disclosure with the city after her January 2016 swearing-in, she continued, and she abstains from city council votes directly related to the Schine. She also had no input into the theater project's inclusion in the city's application to the 2016 Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant program, she said. Since Oswego was instead selected to receive that program's $10 million prize, the Cayuga County Arts Council returned to square one in 2016 when it comes to fundraising. Carabajal said it applied for a Technical Assistance Grant of $3,500 to advance repair of the Schine's marquee deteriorated from years of South Street 18-wheelers grazing it but was denied. Otherwise, she continued, no new money came into the project in 2016 aside from the parking revenue the council earns from renting the area behind the building off Lincoln Street. Though the marquee is the most public component of the Schine project, Carabajal said, it's not the most urgent. That would be the theater's asbestos. The carcinogenic mineral must be removed from the building before any interior restoration work can proceed, and is therefore the primary focus of the arts council's fundraising. As of early 2016, the council's estimated price tag for asbestos remediation was $625,000. Council board member Onori said that phase of restoration may itself need to be broken into phases due to the extent of remediation required. As a Brownfields site, the project was eligible for a 2014 Environmental Protection Agency grant of $200,000, but denied because the proper site study wasn't conducted at the time of the Schine's purchase in 1998. That hurdle, Onori said, has since been resolved, and the council will apply in May for more grants to fund the remediation. Another hurdle to the council's fundraising efforts, Carabajal said, has been criticism of the Cayuga County Arts Council's handling of the Schine project. Many grant applications ask for letters of community support, she continued, and such criticism leaves would-be writers reluctant to give that support to the council. "We've suffered from half-truths, misinformation, conspiracy theories, perhaps even urban legends," Carabajal said. "In a lot of ways, we haven't done a good job as the Cayuga County Arts Council of countering some of that negative echo chamber that seems to happen around this project." Todd Gaglianese, a former arts council member active at the time of the Schine's purchase, and later its building manager, said community outreach is but one step the current council must take to restore public faith in the project. He said Carabajal whom he's accused of hijacking the arts council in the mid-2000s and Loperfido should hand the building over to a new entity altogether. "The same people are still driving the bus," Gaglianese said. "It has to be all new faces and people competent about doing this." Carabajal doesn't accept the premise that public faith in the Schine project needs to be restored. She acknowledged that people are frustrated about the project, which the council has previously projected could be completed by 2012 and, most recently, 2017. But cause for optimism is literally all around the theater, Carabajal said: The incoming regional tourism center and Harriet Tubman National Historical Park down South Street, as well as the Nolan Block and ABC Cayuga Play Space on Genesee. Those and other projects fuel downtown Auburn's revitalization, Carabajal said, and the community and the arts council are feeling the spark. The council vice chair placed less stock in the Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival's recent disclosure that, after almost 10 years, it will no longer pursue its plan to build a downtown theater. Since the plan's announcement, it has coexisted with the Schine project somewhat uneasily. The council and Schine supporters courted the festival in 2010 to use the theater as its downtown seat, but the festival claimed the former movie theater did not meet its production needs. Last year, a proposal interpretable as a downtown performing arts center joined the Schine proposal on the city's Downtown Revitalization Initiative application. Losing that putative rival, however, is a small part of the Schine's renewed promise on the downtown Auburn landscape, Carabajal said. Those forces without, she said, will be matched by the Cayuga County Arts Council's efforts to further the Schine's restoration from within. "We're taking a good, hard look at what our needs are," she said. "There's still work to do." by Joe Mandese @mp_joemandese, January 21, 2017 In his first full day as President, Donald Trump escalated his war with the media over their coverage of -- of all things -- his audience estimates. The day began with Trump using his first official stop -- an address to the intelligence community at CIA headquarters -- to rip news media coverage of the less-than-huge turnout of his inaugural parade and address. That was followed by Press Secretary Sean Spicer summoning the White House press corps for a statement that turned into a warning about their coverage of the inaugural turnout. "We had a massive field of people. You saw that," Trump said spontaneously, while addressing the intelligence community. "Packed. I get up this morning and I turn on one of the networks and they show an empty field. I said, wait a minute, I made a speech, I looked out -- the field looked like a million, a million-and-a-half people. They showed a field where there were practically no one standing there. And they said, 'Donald Trump did not draw well'." advertisement advertisement Trump then groused about a network that reported only 250,000 people attending his inauguration, which he said was a lie. So we caught them. And we caught them in a beauty. And I think they are going to pay a big price, he warned. Trump then said, it was almost raining. The rain should have scared them away, but God looked down and he said, Were not going to let it rain on your speech. Turning his attention to some print media exposure, he cited an incident with a Time magazine reporter whom he said falsely reported he had a bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. removed from the Oval Office. Inexplicably, he then began gushing about the number of times hes been on the magazines cover. I have been on their cover like 14 or 15 times. I think we have the all-time record in the history of Time magazine, he said. If Tom Brady is on the cover its one time because he won the Super Bowl or something. Ive been on the cover 15 times this year. I dont think thats a record that can ever be broken. According to a story in Time magazine, President Richard Nixon was on its cover 55 times. Later on Saturday, Spicer held an impromptu press briefing, warning members of the press corps he said were engaged deliberately in false reporting. "For all the talk about the proper use of Twitter, two instances yesterday stand out," he said, citing the Time magazine reporters tweet about the removal of the bust of Martin Luther King Jr. from the Oval Office, which Spicer called irresponsible and reckless. "Secondly, photographs of the inaugural proceedings were intentionally framed in a way, in one particular tweet, to minimize the enormous support that had gathered on the National Mall, he said, explaining the photographic images distorted the size of the crowd. It was the first time a U.S. inauguration used floor coverings to protect the grass on the mall and it "had the effect of highlighting any areas where people were not standing, while in years past the grass eliminated this visual." Spicer then charged inaccurate numbers involving crowd size were also tweeted, adding: No one had numbers, because the National Parks Service, which controls the National Mall, does not put any out. The National Parks Service had its Twitter account suspended and then reactivated, with an apology for retweeting a tweet from a New York Times reporter showing side-by-side photos of Obamas and Trumps inaugural audiences. This was the largest audience to witness an inauguration -- period, Spicer asserted. Both in person and around the globe. According to estimates released Saturday by Nielsen, it was far from the largest audience watching it on U.S. TV. Trumps inauguration ranked as the fifth-most-viewed inauguration, after Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon. Spicer asserted these attempts to lessen the enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong and said the media should actually be covering the fact that some media are sowing division with tweets and false narratives. Theres been a lot of talk in the media about the responsibility of holding Donald Trump accountable, he concluded, warning, And Im here to tell you that it goes two ways. Were going to hold the press accountable as well. Please complete this form and we'll send you a personalised information that is requested 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. Gujarat, this morning, saw 3.5 lakh Indians gathering in the Rajkot district to sing the national anthem. Lets just say, it was a spectacle! Twitter All of them dressed in white, these 3.5 lakh Indians united to set a new world record of the maximum number of people singing the national anthem together. BCCL Back in 2014, Bangladesh set a world record by gathering more than 2.5 lakh people to sing their national anthem. With much pride, India beat Bangladesh and set the bar way too high with 3.5 lakh Indians singing the national anthem! BCCL The crowd gathered on the occasion of the installation of the an idol at the new Khodal Dham temple. "Over 3.5 lakh people sang the anthem together at the idol installation ritual in the presence of observers from Guinness World Records," said Hansraj Gajera, a member of Khodal Dham temple trust. Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain. Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred. For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here. JOURNALIST: Mr. Minister, what will the possibility of having a solution to the Cyprus issue in the coming time depend upon? N. KOTZIAS: It will depend on whether a common denominator is found that gives the maximum possible rights to the Turkish Cypriots and the maximum possible security to the Greek Cypriots. Regarding the latter, this necessitates the end of the occupation of Cyprus, the elimination of the system of guarantees, which is colonial in nature, and the withdrawal of foreign forces from Cyprus. That is, no one can have rights of intervention with regard to Cyprus. Turkey has to realise that, in the modern world, a third country cannot control an EU member state. JOURNALIST: How far can Athens back down on the issue of guarantees, and mainly the continued presence of the Turkish army on the island, Mr. Minister? N. KOTZIAS: Cyprus must evolve into a bizonal, bicommunal federation with full sovereignty as a member of the EU and the UN. The geopolitical interests of a third country cannot be a criterion for a solution to the Cyprus issue. Anyone who has a different opinion -- and of course they have a right to that -- has to tell us how they define 'the Cyprus problem." Is it a problem, in their opinion, that doesn't have to do with the issue of Sovereignty and the Occupation? Or do they perhaps want a solution of "a little sovereignty and a little occupation"? In any case, it will be more useful for them to state their opinion outright, rather than committing hubris, as they have been doing so far. JOURNALIST: If the Turkish army remains on the island, Mr. Minister, will the Greek army remain too? And likewise, if a Turkish base in created, will a Greek one be created as well? N. KOTZIAS: In contrast with the other sides, Greece, like the Republic of Cyprus, has submitted a number of proposals. Among these is a "Temporary Stationing Agreement" of the Foreign armed forces on the island. Something similar to (though not exactly the same as) what was agreed between Germany under unification and the Soviet Union. This agreement determined the legal status of the withdrawal of the Soviet military forces and the manner in which the flow of their withdrawal was to be monitored. For the same period of time, the same will hold for the Greek army as well. I note, of course, that the Hellenic Force in Cyprus (ELDYK) is legal on the island, while the many-times-larger occupation army is illegal. JOURNALIST: Do you think the rotating Presidency raises concerns? N. KOTZIAS: Whatever concerns the internal aspect of the Cyprus issue is exclusively a matter of negotiation for the Republic of Cyprus and the two communities. In contrast with others, we did not express an opinion on this aspect throughout the time of the nearly two-year negotiation. And we were right in that. It was a conscious choice on my part for us to talk only about the external aspect, regarding which, according to the international agreements, we (still) have responsibilities, obligations and competency. That is why we agree and are participating in the trilateral meeting of the guarantor powers under the UN, which, moreover, a) had been agreed to by President Anastasiades on 1 December 2016, b) had been agreed to from the start in the written agenda drawn up before we went to Geneva, and c) had been announced by the UN Secretary General. Correspondingly, there were three UN texts, by the evening of the 12th, determining that on 13 January 2017 the discussion would take place on the level of politicians. JOURNALIST: Do you have assurances from Europe that it cannot accept a solution in which Ankara will essentially be a guardian of the leadership of the Republic of Cyprus? N. KOTZIAS: The EU cannot accept rights of intervention or, therefore, guarantees on its territory. There are already expert legal opinions on this. But what's more, no one in the modern world can accept something like this for a member state of the UN. Let those who are railing against our policy explain to us, at long last, why they have another opinion and what they base it on. JOURNALIST: Do you think that Erdogan can take decisions on compromise solutions before the referendum on his powers is carried out? N. KOTZIAS: I think Erdogan is an intelligent, experienced, important leader of Turkey. He knows that problems are resolved through compromises. Creative compromises, not shoddy ones. It is up to him to make his choices regarding the Cyprus issue, and he will be judged just as we are all judged. How we are judged, of course, has to concern facts and not metaphysical questions. JOURNALIST: Apart from Turkey, are there other forces in the negotiations who don't want a solution to the Cyprus problem? Or who want one in the way Turkey does? N. KOTZIAS: There are forces who believed it would be easy to convince Greece to back down. Today, these forces appear to be very irritated, and they have passed their irritation on to a number of mouthpieces who specialize in slander. You see, they discovered that our fundamental national interests, Cyprus, the European acquis and international law cannot be a field of policy without principles. We are compromising and will compromise for there to be a solution, and we need to do that. But we will not back down on the solution of the core of the problem. JOURNALIST: What will the Greece-Turkey-Cyprus Friendship Agreement include, Mr. Minister? What will its basic principles be? N. KOTZIAS: We have proposed the elimination of the treaties of guarantees and that of the alliance. We proposed a friendship agreement based on the global historical experience that we studied carefully. Through this agreement, the three countries will cooperate against common current threats, including ecological threats, terrorism and organized crime. There will be a joint mechanism for cooperation and promotion of a positive agenda. What will be ruled out is the right of a country to intervene against or internally in another country. Some international players want to take the idea of this Agreement and "utilize" it against its spirit, as a new treaty of guarantees. We will not let this happen. JOURNALIST: If the Cyprus problem isn't resolved, are you concerned about moves Ankara might make? There are those who are talking about 'Taiwan-ization' or even annexation of occupied Cyprus, as well as about provocations in the Aegean. N. KOTZIAS: Greece and Turkey have agreed that the Cyprus issue is not linked to our bilateral relations. That is, they are not linked during the negotiation or due to any result of the negotiation. Regarding the scaremongering, I note that it is being used in an attempt to subdue the will of the Cypriot people. JOURNALIST: In the event a solution isn't achieved, can Ankara, in cooperation with occupied Cyprus, proceed to exploitation of the hydrocarbons? N. KOTZIAS: The other side's problem is that the hydrocarbons aren't located on the north side of Cyprus, but on the south. That international law supports the positions of the Republic of Cyprus. "God in his wisdom" arranged this. I hope -- and I am working for this -- that the Cyprus issue will be resolved and, by extension, that such problems or threats will not arise. JOURNALIST: With your hand on your heart: Who doesn't want Nikos Kotzias to be the Foreign Minister at the Cyprus negotiations? Are they inside the country, or abroad? N. KOTZIAS: During our two years in government, we have followed a proactive multidimensional foreign policy. We built alliances and helped the country raise its head above the surface of the water. Others had got used to something else, and they didn't like the change. They'll get used to it. Anyone who doesn't think about how Greece will win a negotiation, but learned to seek the path of surrendering to various pressures, certainly doesn't regard me as the "minister of his heart." JOURNALIST: Relations with Alexis Tsipras and N. Anastasiades? N. KOTZIAS: Comradely and patriotic. JOURNALIST: Can N. Kotzias remain the Foreign Minister in the event of a solution that includes the continued presence of Turkish forces, beyond the transitional limit? N. KOTZIAS: The solution we agree on -- and we want there to be a solution -- will be good and, consequently, render your question moot. If there isn't a solution, it won't be our fault. So the answer is the same. In any case, we will not become the agents of shoddy "solutions". JOURNALIST: Might the solution or non-solution of the Cyprus problem positively or negatively impact the negotiation on the review? N. KOTZIAS: I don't think that today -- I underscore today -- there is anyone who wants to link or can link these issues. JOURNALIST: Donald Trump inaugurated as President of the United States. Will the balance of power change in the region, and what will happen in Washington's relations with Europe? N. KOTZIAS: I believe the Trump administration will make two major shifts: first, it will strengthen the geoeconomic aspect of U.S. foreign policy and, by extension, strengthen it against "pure" geopolitics. Second, it will attempt a reversal of the policy of Nixon, 45 years ago. At that time, the U.S. endeavoured to drive a wedge between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union, and to collaborate with the former against the latter. Now they will attempt a change to the triangle. The "opposing peak" being China, and probably Russia with the U.S. The EU is seen as being on a course of weakness and identity crisis. There are many in Washington who wonder where the EU is going and exactly what it wants. I believe that it would be a mistake for the EU not to identify and analyse the real problems. Questions to which Trump tried to provide his own answers. JOURNALIST: And the EU? N. KOTZIAS: Europe has a problem. It isn't just that it can't overcome one or another individual problem, like the Brexit, the refugee crisis or the economic crisis. It's that it is having a crisis of crisis management. It doesn't have a vision for the 21st century. The memoranda and sanctions displaced it values, and there is a trend towards its identity being limited to such measures and tools. That is why we need an extensive and sincere debate regarding the EU we want for the 21st century and how we can implement any plan we develop. We value your privacy. Focus Taiwan (CNA) uses tracking technologies to provide better reading experiences, but it also respects readers' privacy. Click here to find out more about Focus Taiwan's privacy policy. When you close this window, it means you agree with this policy. 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... ALLEN PARK -- Detroit Lions linebacker DeAndre Levy was among the hundreds of thousands of people who flocked to the nation's capital on Saturday for the Women's March on Washington. The Associated Press reports more than 500,000 people participated in the march, which was held in protest of the inauguration of President Donald Trump and as a show of solidarity against sexism, racism and hatred. Levy, who has become increasingly outspoken in recent years, posted the following picture from the event to Instagram: Lions defensive back and special teams ace Johnson Bademosi also attended the protest: The protest spread throughout the country and globe, including to Michigan cities such as Ann Arbor and Lansing. Check out this story for more on the event. you are here: PHILADELPHIA Among the many soft skills that have made Rob Thomson the right manager for the Phillies in 2022 is a knack for understatement. So Thursday, in assessing his teams 3-2 loss in Game 5 of the World Series,... Rabbis installation at Keneseth Israel will get a boost of student creativity Editors note: This is the fourth in a series of stories about what U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway of Midland foresees for the nation, issues it faces and solutions that could be implemented. --- Oil and gas companies criticized the Obama administration for its installation of numerous regulations that the industry says hinders a very necessary business. U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway of Midland spoke with the Reporter-Telegram on Jan. 16 about what he would like to see to happen in Washington, D.C., under the Donald Trump administration as it pertains to oil and gas. First things first was increasing production on federal lands. We have extensive public lands with oil and gas potential, and we need to begin to responsibly drill, exploit and produce, he said. I dont know the exact numbers, but I believe oil and gas production on federal lands has decreased under Obama. The run-up in oil production has been on private property. Conaway also wants to see drilling opportunities in Alaska restored so that the Trans-Alaska Pipeline has enough oil going through it to stay viable. Obama late last year put about 40,000 square miles of Arctic coast off-limits to development. The lawmaker cited reforms to leasing and permitting processes that make them more common-sense. For example, if you have to lay a plastic line through federal property, you have to go through the (National Environmental Policy Act) process and others. If you want to move it one way or the other, you have to redo a bunch of stuff. That doesnt make sense, he said. The undoing of several environmental regulations is among the top wishes of oil and gas companies as Trump takes office. We all want to drink clean water, we all want to breathe clean air no doubt about that. But we can have a regulatory scheme that starts with voluntary compliance, and if you dont, theres hammer behind that with the weight of the federal government, Conaway said. The Obama administration (led) with that hammer, they (led) with that subpoena or badge to try to intimidate citizens into bowing down to the federal regulatory scheme. Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Christi Craddick said recently at an event in Midland that she is personally looking at 141 federal regulations that could affect oil and gas operators in the Permian Basin. Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt will take the reigns as Environmental Protection Agency chief, and Conaway said Pruitt will tackle these issues head-on, particularly rules concerning methane emissions and tank batteries. Theres an immediate low-hanging piece of fruit there where the EPA, without rulemaking but through fiat, has demanded every oil and gas operator provide them with extensive data with respect to every tank battery that they operate within a short period of time, and (operators) just cant do it, the lawmaker said. Theres a $90,000-plus per day fine if they dont do it. Thats just not the way to try and do what the EPA wants to get done. Theyre trying to figure out methane emissions from tank batteries, and I think the idea was to create that database to do to tank batteries what they did with the coal industry: put out of business all of those small operators, stripper wells and everything else, that arent really part of the problem. The EPA can use that database to try to drive an agenda that puts the oil and gas business out of business. Trump has said he would allow the hotly debated Keystone XL pipeline project to go forward. Keystone XL will transport heavy crude from the tar sands in Alberta, Canada, across the U.S. to the Gulf coast, where many refineries specialize in handling the highly viscous grade. One issue with the Keystone XL is that heavy crude is not recognized as a petroleum product by the IRS and, thus, isnt taxed like other crude products transported by pipeline. The tax goes into a fund to address pipeline spills. Conaway wasnt sure if any action had been taken to address this issue since Obama rejected the Keystone XL project in 2015. However, heavy crude needs to be treated like crude oil because its going to be refined as if it were crude oil, he said. Like Trevor on Facebook and follow him on Twitter at @HowdyHawes. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate While a tattoo machine buzzed in his shop, Ed Alvarado hovered over a tablet to design body art for a client. Though some artists sketch by hand, Alvarado said using the device speeds up symmetrical designs. Technology has changed few aspects of tattooing in Midland, according to local tattoo artists. Instead, they say a growing acceptance of body art has influenced the work they do. Its still quite taboo, said Alvarado, a tattoo artist of 15 years and owner of The Body Gallery. There was riffraff back then not respectable people like now. Its crazy to think about how much it has changed. Even as Midlanders from various demographic groups choose to get inked, local certified laser technicians have noticed a steady number of requests for removal services. Creating designs Growing up, Alvarado always enjoyed drawing. He translated the hobby into work as a sign painter and graphic designer. But he found his passion when he made body art in Midland and New Orleans. I came back after Hurricane Katrina, Alvarado said. My wife didnt want me to tattoo anymore. The oil jobs are kind of hit and miss. After he returned to West Texas, Alvarado worked as a crane operator for an oil company. But when the economy slumped, he decided tattooing was a more stable and rewarding career. I just really enjoy doing this work, Alvarado said. I wanted to open something so people wouldnt have to go to Dallas to get this kind of work. There are a lot of good artists in this town. Midland tattoo shops cater to an expanding pool of clients. Luis Guerrero, tattoo artist at The Body Gallery, said adults in various professions seek his services. People are more open now, Guerrero said. Everybodys starting to get more. Ive tattooed police officers in Midland. Its coming along, especially since its more conservative here. Nearly 40 percent of millennials have tattoos, according to a Pew Research Center study from 2010. But body art has become appealing for people of all generations, Alvarado said. In the past, Midlanders sought inspiration from sample designs at tattoo shops. Now, they come to artists with ideas they find online, according to tattoo artist Juan Rodriguez. With popular shows on TV and with everything on the internet, now they show you a picture, said Rodriguez, who works at Holy Grail Tattoo. Most of the time they say, This is what I want. They give us the freedom to make some changes. Rodriguez and others said Midlanders often choose designs that reflect regional culture, including depictions of the Lone Star state, oil industry and religious beliefs. But the most common are memorial tattoos for commemorating loved ones. James Hieb, tattoo artist at The Body Gallery, said theres room for people to expand their attitudes toward designs. Tattoo culture in Midland is still behind the times, Hieb said. In a bigger city, there are more styles conveyed. No matter the design, Alvarado said many local clients put their complete trust in tattoo artists. In turn, artists often learn the significance behind the art. They have stories about getting their tattoos, Alvarado said. Its neat to be a part of that memorial tattoo. Now theres a semicolon [design] for suicide awareness. Making decisions Nearly two decades ago, Wink resident Shelley Leopard lost her eyebrows in a fire. After drawing arcs on her face for years, Leopard turned to a form of tattooing called permanent makeup. Im more self-confident, Leopard said. I dont feel like when I walk in the room, everyone sees my awkwardly drawn eyebrows or [none] when I dont have time to wake up in the mornings. Leopard was emotional as she described her longtime struggle, which started when she was 12 years old. As a sixth-grade girl, I was horrified, Leopard said. I went through school drawing eyebrows when it was not popular to do so. Theres a stigma of being a bad girl. Leopard eventually opted for microblading, a technique that makes tattooed eyebrows mimic the texture of hair. She goes to sessions locally at Healthy Hides, formerly Lasting Impressions by Kayla. Permanent makeup is becoming more popular, according to owner Kayla Shipp. She said some clients make appointments when they lose hair, but most come to avoid applying makeup daily. Its a dry climate, and dust blows, Shipp said. I find people have eye- watering issues. When you put on makeup, eyes water and it runs. This way, you dont have that. Before starting procedures around the eyes and lips, Shipp talks to clients. She tells them to wear makeup for days to ensure they like the positioning and coloring on their faces. Consultations are also standard for tattoo artists who apply ink to other parts of the body. Rodriguez said he always ensures clients are comfortable with body art especially for face, neck and hand tattoos. Once it goes on the body, its the first impression individuals see on people for the rest of their lives, Rodriguez said. If its crazy, people think youre crazy. If its in remembrance of loved ones, its going to be more acceptable. Still, Rodriguez who has tattoos on his hands and neck has noticed an increase in the number of clients requesting visible body art. He said some take employment into consideration, but many are tired of fitting societal norms. I think people are kind of not conforming to the image of what people should look like, Rodriguez said. Theyre tired of being judged by people. Around Midland, Rodriguez said having visible tattoos sparks conversations with others who are interested in body art. But some in the community arent as receptive of his appearance. I do get extremely weird looks when I go out in public, and I dont mind it, Rodriguez said. Its part of the shock value. Once you get a tattoo, you get attention. Hieb, a native Midlander, has also garnered attention for his visible tattoos. He hopes local acceptance of tattooing will continue to grow. I hope it flips over on itself so its a more taboo thing not to have tattoos, Hieb said. It has gotten better. We may get weird looks, but for the most part, people understand it. I think people understand and think a person is not a criminal. Removing art Though some Midlanders seek new tattoos, others are eager to eliminate their body art. Its a trend Dr. Steven Sykes, a chiropractor, noticed when he took control of laser tattoo removal services from his late business partner. Twenty percent of people with tattoos want them off, whether its because of lifestyle changes, regret, relationship changes or a bad tattoo, said Sykes, who performs procedures at Tattoo Removal Midland. For a majority of patients, something has changed in life. They regret what they did when they were younger. Though decisions to remove tattoos are personal, certified laser technician Lori Gonzalez said people often cite employment as a reason for pursuing tattoo removal. The main thing people come in with is jobs, said Gonzalez, who works at Body Focus Laser and Longevity Center. They want to look more professional. In certain spots, they dont want people to judge them. Sometimes theyre in a location, and they cant wear elbow-length shirts. In a 2015 CareerBuilder survey of human resource managers, the presence of visible tattoos was tied as the fourth-leading appearance-related factor hurting workers chances for promotion. Locally, Dr. Steve Ahmed of Body Focus Spa said a steady number of people have requested tattoo removal services over the years. Ive seen the demand stay about the same in this area, Ahmed said. I have practices in Dallas, Big Spring, Texas, and the Midland area. It varies region to region. ... In the Permian Basin, there is not as much demand as the big cities. In the area, another factor that hasnt changed is the technology used to remove tattoos. Medical professionals place lasers on the skin to break down ink into smaller particles that the body absorbs. But the success of the procedure depends on several factors, including the age of the tattoo, placement on the body and color of pigment used. The service isnt covered by insurance, and removal can take months. People think its going to be removed in one treatment thats not going to happen, Gonzalez said. Its a process. Its a misconception they have about the treatment. You have to let the body dispose of [the ink] naturally. With the prospect of lengthy tattoo-removal procedures, Rodriguez said its important for Midlanders interested in body art to consider their reasoning. Its a representation of them, Rodriguez said. They need to back it up with an explanation. Everybody has to work, but not everyone is a tattoo artist or a rock star or a musician where they can wear them comfortably. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Roughly 30,000 people flooded the grounds of the Texas capitol for the Women's March on Austin Saturday, spilling out onto the city's main artery, Congress Avenue, for one of the largest demonstrations in the capital city in recent memory. Many carried signs as they marched to a drumbeat of the crowd, mainly women, cheering and chanting, "This is what democracy looks like." NATIONAL PROTESTS: Women descend on Washington, D.C. for demonstrations "There comes a time when silence is betrayal," read one sign. "Come and take it!" read another next to a drawing of a uterus. The march comes as hundreds of thousands of people across the country, including Washington and Houston, march to voice their frustration following the inauguration of President Donald Trump, turning his comments degrading women during his election campaign and turning them into slogans for women's empowerment. Three generations of women showed up to make their voices heard at Austin's women's march. Teresa Bryant, 68, drove from Houston to meet her daughter and granddaughter. "I'm upset at the current administration's view on women's rights," Bryant said. "I want my granddaughter to understand women have to stand up for our power." This was the family's first time participating in an advocacy march or protest. Bryant's granddaughter Ruby, 7, held a pink sign that read "Women are strong." Ruby said the march meant "that Hillary Clinton should have won." Other families marched from the state Capitol. Donna Enderas, her daughter Shannon Zaninovich and granddaughter Georgia Zaninovich held signs that read "A woman's place is in the resistance." "I marched for civil rights and I marched to end the war," Enderas said. "Now my granddaughter is marching for gay rights and women's rights." Georgia, 12, brought her two best friends from Austin and Georgetown. Her friend, Arwen Frederiksen, 11, is marching for her two mothers. "You can love who you want to. Other people can love who they want to and you can't control that," the girl said. >>>Click through the above gallery to see scenes from the protests in Houston, Austin and Washington, D.C. Midland Moments: H-E-B's Feast of Sharing H-E-Bs Feast of Sharing regularly serves more than 340,000 meals annually in 34 cities... KMB TreeKeepers, Diamondback, city plants 65 trees in NW Midland The planting of various types of drought tolerant trees that grow well in the regions climate... Crude prices surge past $92 on continued tight supplies Energy commodities rallied on the prospect that China will loosen its pandemic rules, possibly... US, Texas drilling inches up as Permian remains flat Enverus: Pioneer Natural Resources is the most active driller in Permian with 23 rigs,... Gov. Abbott makes appeal to Midlanders right before Election Day Abbott to Midlanders: "There are people in here who will lose a job if (Beto O'Rourke) gets... Midland Moments: Gov. Greg Abbott holds rally in Midland Gov. Greg Abbott made an appearance in Midland on Friday ahead of the Nov. 8 general election. "After I left the last treatment center, I knew what made me happy," Selena explains, "and it was a connection." But on the advice of her doctor, Selena's planned philanthropic visit to Kenya to see the schools she was helping to raise New members inducted into Institute of ... Three deputies pulled a wheelchair-bound woman and one of her dogs to safety after a Merritt Island home caught fire early Friday. Fire breaks out at Merritt Island home Deputies pull unconscious woman, dog to safety A 2nd dog escaped on its own Brevard County deputies Jesse Doucette, Ben Fischer and Robert Bennett were dispatched to the home on Lynne Drive after a call about a fire. According to the Sheriff's Office, Doucette was the first to arrive, and as he got out of his patrol car, bystanders yelled, Shes still in there!" Spotting a woman inside slumped over in a wheelchair, he crawled through heat and smoke, making his way to the unconscious woman. He then dragged her to safety. Fisher administered first aid until fire rescue personnel arrived, and the woman was then taken to a hospital. Meanwhile, Bennett arrived and found a dog lying unconscious inside the home. He crawled to the dog, dragged it to safety and used an oxygen tank revive it. A second dog got out of the home on its own, apparently unharmed. Brevard Animal Control responded to the scene and treated the pets for smoke inhalation. Officials think the fire was likely caused by a faulty space heater in one of the bedrooms. New manager named to Midland Park Mall Simon has named Rick Van Every manager of Midland Park Mall. In this role, Van Every will manage all day-to-day operations, maintenance, budgeting and tenant and community relations while creating a world-class shopping experience for guests. Additionally, he will be responsible for overseeing the security and marketing efforts of the center. A newcomer to the Simon family, Van Every has over 30 years of management experience and a strong background in Human Resources, sales, merchandising and operations. He has held various management positions at several retailers, including Toys R Us, Lack's Furniture, and most recently, Wal-Mart Inc., where he served as district manager. --- AimBank acquires branches in Muleshoe and Farwell AimBank has acquired the Muleshoe State Bank with locations in Muleshoe and Farwell. The addition of these two thriving markets will complement AimBanks existing footprint in West Texas. AimBank currently maintains 16 full-service banks in the Panhandle, South Plains, Permian Basin and Big Country regions of Texas. The new banking locations combined with an ATM network with more than 600 Stripes Convenience Store locations in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma will provide previous Muleshoe State Bank customers with new added conveniences and services. AimBank was originally chartered on September 19, 1925 as the First National Bank of Littlefield. In 2003, the bank was converted to a state-chartered bank and ownership is now vested in AimBank employees and local investors. AimBank has continually grown and expanded our presence into several markets over the years, including Abilene, Amarillo, Farwell, Levelland, Littlefield, Lubbock, Miami, Midland, Muleshoe, Odessa, Pampa, Plains, Shamrock, Snyder, and Wolfforth with over $950 million in assets. --- Midlander, Odessan appointed to state board Gov. Greg Abbott has named Midland and Odessa residents to the Texas Medical Board. Their terms are set to expire April 13, 2021. LuAnn Morgan of Midland is sales director for Cavallo Energy. Jayaram Naidu, M.D. of Odessa is a physician and president of Naidu Clinic and an assistant clinical professor for Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Sherif Zaafran, M.D. of Houston, an anesthesiologist and president of US Anesthesia Partners Southwest Division, was named president of the board. Named to the board alongside Morgan and Naidu were Michael Cokinos of Houston, founder and president of Cokinos Energy Corporation; Kandace Farmer, D.O. of Highland Village, a radiologist and breast imaging specialist in diagnostic radiology at Rose Imaging Specialists; and Jeffrey Luna, M.D. of Livingston, a physician in private practice. ALBANY A resident of Third Street was sent to the hospital for smoke inhalation Sunday after a fire broke out in a downstairs apartment. Flames were coming out of the windows of 181 Third St. when firefighters arrived at 10:46 a.m., said Albany Battalion Chief Daniel Coleman. All occupants got out before firefighters arrived, Coleman said. Here in Austin, the Legislature has ended our second week of session. We are off the starting block and continue to pick up the pace for the long race ahead. During this time, as more bills are filed and the members have a chance to meet with each other, many of the issues which will define the course of the coming months begin to appear. Here are five things happening at your Capitol this week: 1. Committee Assignments On Wednesday, Lieutenant Governor Patrick announced the committee assignments for the 85th Legislative Session. I am pleased to continue to serve as the Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, as well as serving on the Senate Finance, Business and Commerce and Administration Committees. Over the next weeks, committees will begin to meet and vote on bills to be sent to the Senate floor. 2. Helping High School Students During the 84th Legislative Session, Senate Bill 149 was passed and established 'individual graduation committees' to help students graduate if they have failed to pass the required state exams. These students must meet the requirements laid out for them by the individual graduation committee, which is made up of teachers, principals and counselors. The students attendance records, past credits, performance in classes and other tests as well as class projects are all looked at to determine if a student should be allowed to graduate through a committee. This legislation had a clause in it, stating that it must expire in September 2017. I have co-authored, with Senator Kel Seliger, Senate Bill 463 which will remove that clause and make the individual graduation committees permanent. After meeting with all of the Superintendents in Senate District 3 last fall and hearing the success of these committees, I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this bill and ensure all students have the opportunity to succeed. 3. Protecting Our Police In the last few years, we have seen many of our police force injured and sadly killed due to violence. While some law enforcement agencies across the state have funding to purchase protective gear for their officers, not all do. Senate Bill 12 has been filed, which I have co-authored, and if passed would help local, county and state law enforcement agencies to buy high-quality protective vests for field officers. The grant program will be housed under the Governor's Criminal Justice Division. These vests, which are capable of stopping a high powered rifle, will go a long way in ensuring those who protect our state, our protected themselves. 4. Filing Budgets The primary purpose, and only constitutionally required task, of the legislative session is to prepare a balanced conservative state budget for the following two fiscal years. The House and Senate have filed their version of the base budget, which will serve as the basis for budget negotiations. The Senate's budget, which contains $103.6 billion in state general revenue, is less than what Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced was available last week. It contains an additional $2.65 billion to cover public school enrollment growth, maintains the $800 million for border security, adds an increase of $260 million for Child Protective Services and additional funding for prekindergarten. Over the next few months the Senate and House will not only reconcile the differences between the two budgets, but will also continue to make new changes and alterations. My priorities this session will include, reducing property and business taxes, increasing funding for education as well finding solutions for transportation funding. 5. Reimbursement For Border Security Recently, a group of Texas Republican lawmakers shared a $2.8 billion 'invoice' which is being sent to the federal government to ask for reimbursement for the states cost related to securing the border. The cost includes money spent by the Texas Department of Public Safety to monitor the border, money spent by state and county jails to house unauthorized immigrants and healthcare provided for unauthorized immigrants at medical facilities in the state. The amount of money the state spends on border security has surged in the past few years. I believe it is necessary to use the states funding to ensure our border is secure, however, it is ultimately the responsibility of the Federal government, not the taxpayers of Texas. I support this request for reimbursement. District Attorney Brett Ligon announced on Friday that four additional prosecutors in his office became Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Mike Holley, Andrew James, Bill Delmore, and Jason Larman with the District Attorney's office were natified last week that they had obtained board certification from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in their respective fields: Holley, criminal law; James, criminal law; Delmore, criminal appellate law; and Larman, criminal appellate law. Holley and James join six other attorneys board certified in general criminal law. "I believe that it is my job to hire and train up the best and the brightest attorneys to represent the citizens of Montgomery County," Ligon stated in a release. "These gentlemen have proven, both through their hard work at the office and their hard work to obtain their board certification, that the citizens of this county are well represented." The Board recognizes attorneys that have demonstrated a commitment to a particular specialty area in their practice. Attorneys must also pass a comprehensive examination that covers all facets of their specialty. Within the legal community, a Board Certification means an attorney has "substantial, relevant experience in a select field of law as well as demonstrated, and tested, special competence in that area of law," according to the Board's website. Only 7,450 attorneys out of the more than 100,000 licensed to practice in the state of Texas are Board Certified. Board Certification means those who earn it have the right to represent themselves publicly as a specialist in a select area of the law, according to the Board's website. They are the only attorneys allowed by the State Bar to do so, setting them apart as being with the highest, public commitment to excellence in their area of law. The process is voluntary and possible only after an attorney has been in practice for five years with a minimum of three years' experience in the specialty area. Board Certification also requires an ongoing involvement in that area periodically substantiated with references from peers in the field and an annual professional refreshment through Board-approved continuing legal education coursework to keep with current trends in law. Holley, the newly appointed First Assistant District Attorney, started his career in the United States Army as a military police officer in the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood. The Army sent Holley to law school where he subsequently became a military prosecutor. Holley graduated Summa Cum Laude from Abilene Christian University and the Texas Tech School of Law, and has a Masters of Law from the Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School in Charlottesville, Virginia. James, the newly assigned Vehicular Crimes Chief, graduated from Baylor University with a Bachelor of Arts in history as well as his law degree in 2007. James was admitted to the bar in November 2007 and immediately began working at the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office as an Assistant District Attorney. He has served in a number of positions in the office, including Misdemeanor Division Chief and as the Chief Prosecutor in multiple District Courts. Delmore, Chief of the Legal Services Bureau, is a graduate of the University of Texas and the University of Houston Law Center. He clerked for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals before joining the Harris County DA's office as a misdemeanor trial prosecutor. Before retiring from Harris County in September 2008, he served as general counsel to the district attorney, John B. Holmes, Jr.; as the chief of the appellate division; and as the chief of the Legal Services Bureau. In January 2009, Delmore ended his brief retirement to join the staff of his former Harris County intern, Brett Ligon. He supervises prosecutors in the appellate and intake divisions of the district attorney's office, and serves as special counsel to the district attorney. Larman graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in economics and obtained his law degree from Southern Methodist University in 2010. He was admitted to the bar in November 2010 and began working with the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office as an assistant district attorney assigned to the appellate division in January 2011. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A man accused of pointing a gun at sheriff's deputies outside a northern Harris County bar is now facing a felony charge, according to authorities. Around midnight, the suspect - who deputies have not named - got into a spat with another person inside the Ostioneria Michoacan restaurant and bar in the 15100 block of Northwest Freeway. Afterward, he headed out to the parking lot and snatched a gun from his pickup truck before he started firing into the air. When two off-duty Harris County Sheriff's Office deputies working security for the restaurant went outside to check on the disturbance, the suspect allegedly pointed his weapon at them and fired off a single shot. PARTY SHOOTING: 1 killed after gunfire at Greater Inwood gathering One of the deputies returned fire as the suspect took off down the feeder road in his pickup. No one was shot or injured in the exchange. "Evidently the bullets had hit the truck, but not the suspect," HCSO spokesman Thomas Gilliland told reporters at the scene. Deputies later collared the man less than a mile away at the intersection of Rankin. He was taken into custody and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. A passenger in the vehicle who was not involved in the shootout was released afterward. Both deputies will be placed on routine administrative leave. >>>Click through the gallery to see some of Houston's headline grabbing crime from 2015. Courtesy/NWS The National Weather Service issued a fire weather watch for San Antonio on Saturday evening, with dry weather and high winds expected to cause dangerous conditions for the area through Sunday. According to NWS estimates, residents could encounter wind gusts up to 40 mph Saturday night, with some gusts on Sunday reaching speeds of 45 mph. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate UPDATE: San Antonio Police Spokesman Douglas Greene said late Sunday that Converse Police had arrested a 34-year-old man believed to be the suspect who had escaped after a fatal attempted robbery of Kay Jewelers at Rolling Oaks Mall earlier in the day. The man, Jason Matthew Prieto, faces a charge of capital murder and two counts of aggravated robbery. He is being held on a $1.7 million bond. In a news conference just after midnight, Greene said Converse police were called to the intersection of Loop 1604 and Coppergate at about 3:45 p.m. to check out a report of a wreck. When officers arrived, they found a stolen silver vehicle had crashed. There was no one with the vehicle. RELATED: Panicked shoppers, employees take to social media during fatal Rolling Oaks Mall shooting In searching the area nearby, Greene said, Converse officers found the 35-year-old man they believe was driving the vehicle, later identified as Prieto. He was arrested without incident; police said he had two guns on his person. Converse police had been assisting SAPD in searching for the escaped robber, and Prieto was turned over to San Antonio police. Greene said he was interviewed by homicide and robbery detectives, who determined he was the suspect that had escaped. The second suspected robber, who was in critical condition late Sunday at San Antonio Military Medical Center, is believed to have fired the fatal shot that killed a bystander at the jewelry store, Greene said, but added that both men were believed to have fired their weapons at the mall. He said investigators are checking the two guns that the 35-year-old suspect had in his possession to determine whether those were the guns used in the robbery. RELATED: 'Good Samaritan' killed during mall shooting went to get wedding rings cleaned with wife Kay Jewelers has released a statement in response to the robbery. "We are shocked and saddened by the tragic events at the Rolling Oaks Mall in San Antonio, TX. We extend our deepest sympathies to everyone affected. Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and Team Members and their ability to shop and work in a safe environment." "We are taking all necessary steps in cooperating with local law enforcement. We will continue to do everything possible to support those impacted by this tragic situation." Original story continues: One person is dead and three others injured from gunshot wounds following an attempted jewelry store robbery Sunday afternoon at Rolling Oaks Mall. One other people was also transported to an area hospital with non-gun related injuries, and another treated at the scene, police say. San Antonio Police Chief William McManus called it "a robbery gone really, really bad." McManus said two men attempted to rob Kay Jewelers at the mall and at some point they encountered two citizens who tried to intervene. "There was a fatality," McManus said. "One of the citizens who tried to intervene and stop the robbery, the robbers from escaping, was shot by one of the suspects." RELATED: Area teen recounts tale of fear during fatal shooting at Northeast Side mall "We don't know the order, but there was an exchange of gunfire," police spokesman Sgt. Jesse Salame said. McManus and Salame confirmed that one of the suspects was shot by one of the citizens who had a concealed carry license. McManus said he did not know if the two citizens who intervened were there together, or if they just happened to be there at the same time. He later called those two individuals "good Samaritans." The man killed by the suspects has been identified as Jonathan Murphy, 42, who was with his wife Aimee Murphy at the store having their wedding rings cleaned. Police have not released the identity of the other citizen who intervened. Aimee Murphy said on Monday that her husband Jonathan was not the one in possession of the firearm. After the exchange of gunfire the second suspect then ran away through the mall, shooting as he went, McManus said. Salame said two other people were shot as the suspect fled. Police initially reported that six other people in addition to the suspect and the citizens who intervened had been shot during the incident. RELATED: SAPD: 3 armed men dressed in black rob diamond store at South Park Mall The San Antonio Fire Department said it transported four total people who had been shot to area hospitals. A fifth person who was having chest pains because of the incident was also taken to a hospital, spokesman Woody Woodward said. The sixth was a pregnant woman treated at the scene. Police reported that all those shot were taken to San Antonio Military Medical Center. Of those shot, one was dead on arrival and another had serious injuries, Woodward said. Two others wounded in the shooting had less serious injuries, he said. The suspected robber was in critical condition, police said. The mall was locked down just after the attempted robbery but by 6:40 p.m., police started releasing groups of people from the mall. As of late Sunday, several store managers had been allowed back in the mall to check their stores, Greene said. The mall was expected to be open at its usual hour Monday although some individual stores might open later. "We are looking at the possibility that these are the same suspects in a smash-and-grab robbery that occurred Friday at South Park Mall," Salame said. "They are very similar incidents, the way the store was targeted, and two Hispanic males with the same clothing description." Earlier in the day, Greene had noted that the robbery at Rolling Oaks had been unsuccessful. "He didn't get away with anything," Greene said of the escaped suspect."It was an unsuccessful, attempted robbery." The San Antonio Fire Department active incidents page reported at least 28 units responded to the mall's address at 3:30 p.m. "We were in the mall, we heard the shots and just started running. It was chaos," said Benjamin Arsate, who was near the food court when he heard the shots. "I mean where do you go to have fun now? This is insane. It's like nowhere's safe anymore," he said. Maggie Hernandez was with her daughter Tera, 18, at the mall when they heard of the shooting. "It was scary," said Tera, who had been crying as they escaped the mall. "We started running out, too. You don't want to be caught inside," said Maggie Hernandez. They the huddled with a group of Dillard's employees behind a car outside, terrified. "It's a learning experience right?" said Maggie. "If you have this experience, then either hide or find a nearest exit." Mayor Ivy Taylor later arrived at the scene, along with District 10 Councilman Mike Gallagher, and lauded the quick and efficient coordination between law enforcement units. But also lamented violent nature of big cities. "I know here in San Antonio we often feel insulated because we have such a great community, but we've seen an uptick in crime in big cities across the country and unfortunately we're not immune to that," she said. Gallagher said this incident shouldn't be grouped with the active shooting incidences in public places that have made headlines across the country in recent years. "I just urge everyone to remain calm and continue their routines as usual, and to have confidence that law enforcement officials are certainly working diligently to ensure their safety," Taylor said. This report will be updated as more information becomes available. Staff writers Jeremy Gerlach, Jim Kiest, Alia Malik and Tyler White contributed to this report Texas top criminal justice lawmakers are considering sending community leaders into public schools to teach ninth-graders how to interact with police. They tout the proposal as a way to increase public safety, but critics question whether such instruction would be effective. Last year, Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, introduced legislation that would teach ninth-graders about the rights, responsibilities and proper behavior of civilians and law enforcement when the two interact. You should not escalate things. If you have a disagreement with the officer, go to Internal Affairs. How many people know how to do that? said Whitmire, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee. If people understand where the other parties are coming from I think that students ought to learn that officers are scared, too The legislation follows years of deadly encounters between law enforcement and civilians nationwide including Sandra Bland, an Illinois woman arrested in Waller County after a traffic stop whose videotaped argument with an officer became national news after she was found hanged to death in her jail cell three days later. This kind of instruction is not the states business, said Margaret Haule, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Austin chapter. The State Board of Education needs to focus on education, not police encounters, she said. Thats already covered in drivers ed. Whitmire is working with Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, who will carry the bill in the Texas House, and Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, who said he wants students to attend the lessons as a condition of graduating and to include similar material in the state drivers exam. Coleman wants any lessons to contain some American history, including how some police were used to enforce Jim Crow laws after slavery was abolished. It has to be a higher level than teaching students to say yes, sir and yes, maam, he said. Parents still have the ultimate responsibility to educate their children about the world. It belongs to the parents. I think that the concern is that parents arent doing that anymore. Brandelyn Flunder, a recent transplant to Manor, said she wants her 14-year-old son, who is not a small kid, to have safe interactions with police officers but she doesnt think he should be required to learn that in school. My black son interacting with police would be different than another person, a typical white person, she said, adding that she also wants to see a bill requiring police officers to confront their implicit racial biases. Im skeptical about what he can do to make the interaction better when hes not likely to be the one escalating the situation, she said. Flunder said she and the teens father havent had frank conversations with him about interacting with police, but they dont let their son go many places alone. They are struggling with the tension between not wanting their son to live in fear and wanting him to know his race could change the way officers respond to him, Flunder said. Whitmire said he wants to see fewer police-citizen encounters end with violence. If that job is transferred to schools, teachers can weave lessons into their social studies and English curricula showing students the need to respect police officers and engage with them positively, Haule said. But requiring ninth-graders to take the class would be logistically difficult and take the place of high-level classes required for graduation and college, she said. High school lessons might not make a dent in a fundamental misunderstanding between officers and drivers about the rights they have, said Kathy Mitchell, a policy advocate with the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition. Theres a moment when all a driver has done is failure to signal a lane change and then an officer asks them to get out of their car, they dont really believe thats possible, she said. Officers can ask you to get out of your car and they can in fact detain and arrest you for failure to signal a lane change. Things like that need to be spelled out for Texas drivers to hopefully create an atmosphere or politeness and respect, Mitchell said. The Texas Driver Handbook offers a few directions: Move to the side of the road; turn off the car; stay inside; follow the officers instructions; tell passengers not to exit unless told to do so; and safely and properly get back onto the road when cleared by the officer. West said he wants future drivers to also understand what rights they have and how to go about filing complaints. If we put it in the drivers license manual and make sure a part of the test covers that content, we hope we can better inform citizens of what they should and shouldnt do during traffic stops, and what their rights are and how to make certain they avail themselves of their rights, he said. Schools in some parts of the country already teach students about police interactions. In New York City, the Civil Liberties Union teaches students to remain silent, not to consent to searches and how to file a complaint. In Chicago, public schools use a graphic poster book featuring celebrities that explains what to do during a traffic stop, while Illinois recently required all drivers education courses to teach about police interactions. Youre just not going to win the argument on the street with law enforcement, West said. So we need to prepare ahead of time how were going to exercise our rights. Stephanie Stoebe, a teacher at Teravista Elementary in Round Rock ISD, said students should be learning how to have respectful interactions with police from their parents at home. The parent is the first teacher. Parents need to start sending their child to school with the attitude, In our families, we respect police officers, she said. To the editor: After watching the presidential inauguration process and the vast numbers of people who wanted a front-row seat of history taking place, I, being an ex-military man and Vietnam veteran, was proud of the process. Then the next day, I watched another movement. Tens of thousands of women marching together to protest their lack of legal rights and privileges. After thinking about it, I realized that all of these rights they have been denied didn't occur during Trump's presidency. Was it Trump, in just two hours, or Obama for the last eight years, who is to blame for this situation? Or maybe it is because their candidate for president who lost, in record-setting victory, to President Trump, defeated herself, which was a crushing blow to their egos. I agree many jobs and positions should be opened up to women. Right now, our military is at the lowest number since the Bush era. A large portion of our young men are too busy smoking pot and robbing ATM machines instead of working. I would like to see the government renew the military draft system. And I would stand side by side, with all of the 18-year-old girls who want equal rights, to be involved in the draft process. Believe me, in just a few months, these young men turn into men; and these girls would either turn into women or become wimpy deserters. Think about it before you stand up and protest. It would help you a lot to quit listening to the Crybaby News Network (CNN) and get a true and balanced newscast from another network. A disgusted vet. J.W. Waddle Sr. Willis American traditions: Fake news, bashing the president To the editor: There is much being made today of fake news. Even Mark Hayter discussed it in his weekly column in The Courier. However, he implied that it is some recent phenomenon, when in reality it has always existed. Probably the most famous fake news story was Orson Wells' radio report of Martians landing and attacking New Jersey. The nation was in chaos for days following its release. During the Civil War, Gen. William T. Sherman once said, and I paraphrase, reporters are the enemy, they come to camp and tell lies. I believe even if I killed them all, they would report fake news from hell by morning. During the 1828 election, a fake news story reported that sitting President John Quincy Adams, our most puritan president, when he was the American ambassador to Russia had pimped for the Czar. To his peril, he thought the story was so outrageous that he ignored it; but to his chagrin, it caught on and he lost the election. Even today, if you Google search JQ Adams and pimp, 190-year-old fake news stories will pop up. One of my favorite recent fake news items that has legs is that Sarah Palin said she could see Russia from her house in Alaska. When in reality, Tina Faye said it on SNL. But it is now so ingrained in the fabric of our society that it will forever be believed by tens of millions of people that Palin said it. To this day, a fair percentage of Americans still believe Obama was born in Kenya. Fake news has always been and will always be consequent of free speech. And it is extremely difficult to figure out which lies will have legs and which lies will die a peaceful death. A hundred years from now, some fake news stories from our lifetime will be to some degree part of history. Sometimes, what is considered fake news ends up being true. For almost 200 years, historians had considered the story of Thomas Jefferson siring children with his slave Sally Hemmings to be fake news. Most speculated his nephew was the culprit. Now we know through DNA testing that it was the president. An aide once asked Abraham Lincoln if all the vile criticism from the media bothered him and he just said they say worse things about Jefferson Davis. Once you accept that fake news and free speech are symbiotic, then it is easy to understand that one of the key roles of the president of the United States is to be the national pinata. Now that it is 2017, it is time for the opposition to put on their blinders, grab their plastic bats and whack Donald Trump until the stuffing falls out on to the ground. It is a fate all 44 presidents before him had to endure. We expect and should expect that the president will take a licking and still do a good job of improving our country. That is what we elect them to do. Tim Doherty Conroe Despite the remarkable growth of shale oil and gas from the Eagle Ford formation, the city of Corpus Christi and its Portland and Gregory neighbors frequently watched from the sidelines. With the shale boom seemingly stabilizing, its time for Corpus and its neighbors to seek out the next opportunity in South Texas, and this time, play a more critical role. San Patricio County and the cities of Gregory and Portland have such an opportunity in the Gulf Coast Growth Ventures (GCGV) project, a petrochemical plant. Our cities have long been a hub for transportation of our states abundant oil and gas resources under our feet and off our coastlines. Crude, fuel, diesel, and gasoline are the largest commodities traded out of the Port of Corpus Christi, and it only makes sense that these products be processed here to generate useful goods that can diversify our economy, create jobs, and spur new investment in our region. This multi-billion dollar investment will generate 11,000 jobs and $22 billion in state revenue during construction alone. Once complete, the project will generate an estimated $50 billion in additional revenue for the state and create 600 permanent positions with good benefits and an average annual salary of $90,000. Combined with vocational training partnerships, this investment is an enormous opportunity for our community. To supply this projects operation, a site with existing energy infrastructure was selected. Currently more than 65 pipeline owners and operators currently service San Patricio County according to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the Texas Railroad Commission. These include major names such as: Tennessee Gas Pipeline, Transco, NGPL, KM Texas, Cross Tex, Valero, Gulf South, Texas Eastern, Koch, Magellan Midstream Partners, Citgo Products, Equistar Chemicals, Exxon Mobile, NuStar Logistics and HPL. These companies support thousands of South Texas families and are drivers of our regional economy. Most importantly, GCGV is designed to operate under stringent regulatory and safety standards. Environmental and occupational safety is paramount at this state-of-the-art facility, designed to incorporate technologies that would minimize the impact on the surrounding communities, while also operating in an environmentally safe and sustainable manner. The engineering design plans will meet environmental and health requirements established by federal and state regulatory authorities, including the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the federal Environmental Protection Agency. For all of these benefits, our region should take the time to carefully study this project, and not rush to a decision that will negatively impact our future. A project of this size should receive a thorough and fair review, including an opportunity for the public to examine the facts for themselves. The project has broad local support in the Gregory-Portland area. All voices must be heard during the ongoing debate. Local businesses recognize what an economic opportunity GCGV represents and community members are excited about the prospect of high-skilled job opportunities. The Gregory-Portland Independent School District itself would benefit immensely as one of many recipients of increased tax revenues. When planning for our economic future, we should remain open to possibilities and consider both sides of every argument. We are confident this facility represents a great opportunity, and provided the public has the opportunity to review all of the facts, we are confident they will feel the same. Gabe Guerra is Chairman of the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corp. and of United for Growth, a task force of the Corpus Christi United Chamber of Commerce. This blog is written solely by John Ray, who has a Ph.D. degree in psychology and 200+ papers published in the academic journals of the social sciences. It does occasionally comment on issues in psychology but is mainly aimed at giving a conservative psychologist's view on a broad range of topics. There are very few conservative psychologists.The blog originated in Australia and many (but not most) posts discuss Australian matters. Australians have an unusually good awareness of events outside their own country. Australian newspapers feature news from Britain and the USA not as an afterthought but as a major part of their coverage. So Australians do tend to have a truly Western heart, which is the reason behind the old name for this blog. So events in Australia, Britain and the USA all feature frequently here, plus occasional coverage of other places, particularly Israel.SCOTUS is the Supreme Court of the United States, the highest court in the landThe "GOP" stands for "Grand Old Party" and refers to the Republican party. The GOP is at present center/Right, while the Democrats have been undergoing a steady drift Leftwards and now have policies similar to mainstream European Leftist parties.The ideological identity of both parties has however been very fluid -- almost reversing itself over time. In the mid 19th century, the GOP was the party of big government and concern for minorities while the Democrats advertised themselves as "The party of the white man" -- an orientation that lasted into the mid 20th century in the South. The Democrats are still obsessed with race but have now flipped into support for discrimination AGAINST whites.Was Pope Urban VIII the first Warmist? Below we see him refusing to look through Galileo's telescope. People tend to refuse to consider evidence if what they might discover contradicts what they believe.Climate scientist Lennart Bengtsson said. The warming we have had the last 100 years is so small that if we didnt have meteorologists and climatologists to measure it we wouldnt have noticed it at all.The term "Fascism" is mostly used by the Left as a brainless term of abuse. But when they do make a serious attempt to define it, they produce very complex and elaborate definitions -- e.g. here and here . In fact, Fascism is simply extreme socialism plus nationalism. But great gyrations are needed to avoid mentioning the first part of that recipe, of course.Beatrice Webb, a founder of the London School of Economics and the Fabian Society, and married to a Labour MP, mused in 1922 on whether when English children were "dying from lack of milk", one should extend "the charitable impulse" to Russian and Chinese children who, if saved this year, might anyway die next. Besides, she continued, there was "the larger question of whether those races are desirable inhabitants" and "obviously" one wouldn't "spend one's available income" on "a Central African negro".Hugh Dalton, offered the Colonial Office during Attlee's 1945-51 Labour government, turned it down because "I had a horrid vision of pullulating, poverty stricken, diseased nigger communities, for whom one can do nothing in the short run and who, the more one tries to help them, are querulous and ungrateful."The book,, authored by T.W. Adorno et al. in 1950, has been massively popular among psychologists. It claims that a set of ideas that were popular in the "Progressive"-dominated America of the prewar era were "authoritarian". Leftist regimes always are authoritarian so that claim was not a big problem. What was quite amazing however is that Adorno et al. identified such ideas as "conservative". They were in fact simply popular ideas of the day but ones that had been most heavily promoted by the Left right up until the then-recent WWII. See here for details of prewar "Progressive" thinking.R.I.P. Augusto Pinochet. Pinochet deposed a law-defying Marxist President at the express and desperate invitation of the Chilean parliament. He pioneered the free-market reforms which Reagan and Thatcher later unleashed to world-changing effect. That he used far-Leftist methods to suppress far-Leftist violence is reasonable if not ideal. The Leftist view that they should have a monopoly of violence and that others should follow the law is a total absurdity which shows only that their hate overcomes their reasonFranklin Delano Roosevelt was a war criminal. Both British and American codebreakers had cracked the Japanese naval code so FDR knew what was coming at Pearl Harbor. But for his own political reasons he warned no-one there. So responsibility for the civilian and military deaths at Pearl Harbor lies with FDR as well as with the Japanese. The huge firepower available at Pearl Harbor, both aboard ship and on land, could have largely neutered the attack. Can you imagine 8 battleships and various lesser craft firing all their AA batteries as the Japanese came in? The Japanese naval airforce would have been annihilated and the war would have been over before it began. FDR prolonged the Depression . He certainly didn't cure it. WWII did NOT end the Great Depression . It just concealed it. It in fact made living standards worse Joe McCarthy was eventually proved right after the fall of the Soviet Union. To accuse anyone of McCarthyism is to accuse them of accuracy! The KKK was intimately associated with the Democratic party . They ATTACKED Republicans!People who mention differences in black vs. white IQ are these days almost universally howled down and subjected to the most extreme abuse. I am a psychometrician, however, so I feel obliged to defend the scientific truth of the matter:The average African adult has about the same IQ as an average white 11-year-old and African Americans (who are partly white in ancestry) average out at a mental age of 14. The American Psychological Association is generally Left-leaning but it is the world's most prestigious body of academic psychologists. And even they have had to concede that sort of gap (one SD) in black vs. white average IQ. 11-year olds can do a lot of things but they also have their limits and there are times when such limits need to be allowed for. America's uncivil war was caused by trade protectionism . The slavery issue was just camouflage, as Abraham Lincoln himself admitted . See also here Leftist psychologists have an amusingly simplistic conception of military organizations and military men. They seem to base it on occasions they have seen troops marching together on parade rather than any real knowledge of military men and the military life. They think that military men are "rigid" -- automatons who are unable to adjust to new challenges or think for themselves. What is incomprehensible to them is that being(to use the extreme Prussian term for following orders) actually requires great flexibility -- enough flexibility to put your own ideas and wishes aside and do something very difficult. Ask any soldier if all commands are easy to obey. It certainly is essential that we acknowledge the initial birth year of our city as 1718, when several Spanish families from south of the Rio Bravo came with the military personnel that established the Presidio de Bexar, and created a tiny settlement to offer first-line protection to citizens of Nueva Espana. It is also imperative that we understand that the San Antonio we know today became a world civil political entity in 1731, when 16 Canary Islands families sent by King Felipe elevated the settlement in stature as a township they named San Fernando. (In 1836 it was renamed San Antonio.) All this was done to thwart persistent Indian raids from the open areas west and north of Bejar, and to prevent the French from crossing the Sabine and claiming this unsettled area away from New Spain. This is important history now because there are three major movements underway that affect the promotion of the citys legacy. First is the 300th anniversary celebration. The planners must take into account the civic contributions made as a result of the latter inhabitation, which were of significant importance to the Crown and responsible for the evolution of the villa. These involved creating a civil government (the city council), a justice center, and a Catholic parish and church. Also the Islenos established the towns civic infrastructure, to include the erecting of public buildings, the laying-out of the plaza and burial grounds, and the construction of principal streets. They also initiated, with Crown support, the villas social foundation by designating the sites for the settlers family home lots and farming plots. Second is the refurbishing of el Arroyo San Pedro. The original site of the presidio and settlement on May 5, 1718 were at the headwaters of the creek in todays San Pedro Park area, as was the mission San Antonio de Valero. Years later they were moved south to the area where the mission now stands. There they integrated into San Fernando. Also, as prescribed by the founding directives and carried out with the help of the presidio captain, the aforementioned land allocations were made specifically using the river and the creek as the east and west boundaries of the villa. And when acequias were constructed to irrigate the farmlands, they drew water from both waterways. Third is the reimagining of the Alamo. According to oral discourses with the late John Ogden Leal, who served as Bexar County archivist for more than 10 years, the mission served as the official pro-temp parish church for the Isleno pilgrims until the cathedral was finished in 1749, and it was a social gathering ground for the community. Moreover, they gave it the moniker Alamo (Spanish for cottonwood tree), consequent to normal vernacular usage. So the mission and its grounds are very much a big part of our citys social legacy. And it is so very much in our interest that the current building be conserved as a chapel that served as a defense structure, rather than as a combat fort. Today San Pedro may not play as prominent a role to us as it did to colonial San Fernando, la Mision San Antonio de Valero may be identified worldwide as the Alamo because of the sacrosanct 1836 battle, and the Canary Islanders contributions may be largely left unknown or misrepresented, but it remains compulsively pertinent that we locals and the project members on these three projects integrate the data recounted above to render our city the best of gifts. Rudy F. Casanova is a San Antonio native. He is a former Army officer who retired from a 25-year federal government civil service career and from 25 years as a high school educator. The St. Marys alumnus served as president of the Canary Islands Descendants Association for three years and is the author of San Antonio, City for a King. First, the U.S. House attempted to hamstring its own independent ethics operation. Now, it and the White House Chief of Staff, before even assuming office began threatening the head of the Office of Government Ethics. For being aggressive on ethics. In a speech, Walter Shaub Jr., who heads the independent ethics agency that has served Republican and Democratic presidents, said, The plan the president-elect has announced doesnt meet the standards that the best of his nominees are meeting and that every president in the past four decades has met. By refusing to divest himself of his business interests, now-President Donald Trump is indeed falling far short of what has been an ethics gold standard, necessary so that presidents and their nominees can conduct the peoples business not their own, awash with conflicts of interest. Trump has said he will let his two sons run his businesses and that profits from his foreign hotels will be donated. But, while true that the usual conflicts of interest rules do not apply to presidents, the constitutional prohibition against emoluments essentially any money from foreign governments does. The Trump empire has more interests than just hotels in foreign countries. And why is Trump just mentioning profits. Emoluments cover any personal source of revenue from foreign governments. For speaking the truth, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the Utah Republican who chairs the House Oversight Committee, initially called in Shaub for a transcribed interview to help the committee understand how you perceive OGEs role, among other things. And to make the threat and pre-judgment clearer, Chaffetz wrote, Your agencys mission is to provide clear ethics guidance, not engage in public relations. After a backlash, the meeting has been downgraded. It will be private with Chaffetz, Shaub and Rep. Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the committee. Shaubs crime apparently was to say publicly both what many other ethicists have been saying and what the Constitution, in fact, says. Then, now-White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus chimed in. He said Shaub should be careful about criticizing Trumps potential business conflicts. He accused Shaub of becoming extremely political. Neither Chaffetz nor Preibus actions are in the public interest. Its clear that whatever advice Trump has been getting public and private about his potential conflicts of interest have not been heeded. Instead of threatening Shaub, Chaffetzs committee or some other in the House and the Senate should undertake careful examination of whether the presidents plan to avoid conflicts of interest will do the job. Welcome to the misinformation age. In these days of such advanced ways to gather information, it is extremely troubling that many people chose to believe outrageous lies rather than fact-check the information. It makes a rational political discourse next to impossible. It seems so ironic that a move to willful ignorance could happen in this day and time. Vicki Seifert, Fredericksburg Disgraceful GOP Re: Obamacare repeal game is really a disgrace, Froma Harrop, Other Views, Jan. 14: Ms. Harrop makes a valid point regarding how Republicans have made a game of repealing the Affordable Care Act. She called it a disgrace, but this is part of a long list of disgraceful actions they continue to embrace. Their attack on voting rights, using the guise of voter ID by offering fewer polling places, fewer early voting days and eliminating weekend voting, etc., makes it harder to vote and is, thus, a disgrace. Electing a president who has no compunction about throwing verbal f-bombs from a podium is a disgrace; who will praise a tyrant like Vladimir Putin and disparage a civil rights icon such as U.S. Rep. John Lewis is a disgrace. I wonder how many times Trump had his head bashed in with police batons or how many dog bites he sustained because he peaceably asked for his civil rights. To deny thousands of workers their pay for helping build his business empire is a disgrace. To leave lenders holding the bag for billions of dollars, some of which may be foreign banks, is a disgrace. I could go on, but whats the use. The Republicans rule, and its going to be a heck of a ride. But it is becoming more clear that disgrace will be the overriding theme of a once venerable party. Jerry Kempe, New Braunfels Trumpcare? If Obamacare is such a disaster, why are people still enrolling? More than 6 million people have signed up so far in 2017, bringing the total enrollment to 30 million. Has anyone bothered to interview these folks and ask if they want Obamacare repealed? Maybe its just the Republican politicians who are the ones who want it repealed. The easy fix to keep it would be to change the name to Trumpcare! Lloyd Mathews, Rockport Bathroom police With all the talk about SB 6, the Bathroom Bill, I hear nothing about how the measure would be enforced. Would there be gender checkers to check the genders of everyone going into one of the protected bathrooms, or only those who look suspicious? Would they be state employees with salaries, benefits and pensions? What training would they receive and by whom? Where would they be stationed outside the bathroom, inside the bathroom? How would they check gender? What enforcement authority would they have issue a ticket, detain or arrest? This bill would improve nothing and result in much greater cost and irritation to taxpayers. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick should follow House Speaker Joe Straus lead and focus time, attention and effort on those things that really matter to the vast majority of Texans. Mike Kelne Reap what you sow Re: Trump transition: From democracy to kleptocracy, Robert Brischetto, Opinion, Jan. 15: The column states the obvious truth that Trump is a law unto to himself, With the present Congress, there will be no accountability for any of his actions or behavior. I hope all you Trumpets want what we are getting. The Rev. Bert Clayton, retired United Methodist Pastor Bathroom solution Re: In GOP, pushback expected at state and federal level on civil rights issues., Nation & World, Jan. 9: Why is it so hard to build a bathroom with a door that closes and is marked male/female, in an area beyond the other stall bathrooms? This could easily be done in all these new schools being built. Surely, there arent that many transgenders waiting to use the bathroom per school, or anywhere else, for that matter! Some places are already doing this. Carol Lucas The big picture Over the years, I have had out-of-state friends visit San Antonio and tour the Alamo. Their response: Whats the big deal? The Alamo tour lacks context? Why is the Alamo so important? My suggestion is that the Alamo needs a strategy to give it context. I have attended other sites where a short movie or filmed presentation is available to give the visitor a background on the accompanying site. Put together a video with a Texas speaker to provide: 1) Background on the Texas-Mexico relationship. 2) History of the war prior to the Alamo. 3) History of the battle of the Alamo. 4) Conclusion on how the war with Mexico ended. My suggestions for the narrator are Matthew McConaughey or Tommy Lee Jones. I promise you this would be a big hit. Ed Bercot, Boerne You call this news? Re: Holliday wont sing at inaugural concert, People, Jan. 22: What is news? What is not news? These are important questions, but I certainly do not get any help in answering them from the editors of the Express News. Witness the recent story about the Broadway star who declined an invitation to sing at the Trump inauguration, saying she did not realize her appearance would be interpreted as support for the new president. Apparently, some entertainer I have never heard of was criticized by her LGBT fans for agreeing to perform at the inauguration, and she succumbed to their pressure. It is my editorial judgment that this is not news because, in truth, who cares what she does? Steve Weakley Businessman and musician Energy Mutodis application for refusal of further remand was granted last Friday after the prosecution failed to justify its stance to keep him on remand without a trial date. Mutodi was on remand on charges of communicating false statements after allegedly implicating some politicians in the poisoning of President Mnangagwa last year. He was facing two other charges undermining the authority of former President Robert Mugabe and causing disaffection among the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF). Harare magistrate Ms Rumbidzayi Mugwagwa granted the application. Prosecutor Mr Sebastian Mutizirwa did not oppose the defence application. The charges emanated from an article written by Mutodi last year in August titled Why choosing a successor is a difficult job? In the article, Mutodi warned former President Robert Mugabe that he would face a military coup if he failed to choose his successor wisely. An online publication had interpreted the article wrongly after it posted news on its website insinuating that Mutodi had said Mugabe would go the Gaddafi way. The State alleged that the article caused disaffection among the defence forces and also undermined Mugabes authority. On August 12, there was a Presidential Youth Interface Rally in Gwanda and by that time Mutodi was in prison when the then Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa was allegedly poisoned. Two weeks later, on August 25, after being released from prison on bail on the first two charges, Mutodi immediately posted on his Facebook wall that the then VP Mnangagwa had allegedly been poisoned in a helicopter he used to travel to Gwanda by two ministers whom he named. Mutodi, who posted several articles in support of President Mnangagwa at the height of the succession battle, was arrested on charges of publishing falsehoods prejudicial to the State. Ms Mugwagwa refused further remand on all the three cases and Mutodi is now a freeman. Muzokuthula Mbuyisa of Mtetwa and Nyambirai represented Mutodi. Herald Breaking News via Email Carnival Corporation announced that Michael Thamm, CEO of Costa Group, is appointed CEO of Carnival Asia, and will oversee operations in China and the region as part of his expanded role. The appointment demonstrates the importance Carnival Corporation attaches to the China market as an upcoming strong pillar of its global business. With a career spanning more than three decades in the cruise and shipping industry, Michael Thamm has served as CEO of Costa Group since Jul. 1, 2012. He will continue leading Costa Group's global business and drive its success, in addition to his Asia role. On Oct. 21, 2015, Carnival Corporation partnered with China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) and CIC Capital Corporation to form a joint venture in China. It intends to launch the first world-class, multi-ship domestic-owned cruise brand using ships that are purchased from Carnival Corporation's existing fleet and homeported in China. The joint venture would then add new China-built cruise ships to further accelerate growth in the Chinese cruise market, which is expected to eventually become the largest cruise market in the world. (Natural News) Things are finally turning around for the better in India after more than a decade of progressive crop failures, bankruptcies, and even suicides resulting from the countrys unfortunate adoption of biotechnology. Going against the grain of mainstream thought, many Indian farmers are deciding to ditch the GMOs and chemicals and go completely organic and the results thus far have not only been astounding, but entirely contradictory to industry claims that GMOs are somehow necessary to feed the world. Some news outlets are calling it Indias rice revolution a unique method of growing this long-prized grain that involves using variant planting methods and less water. Farmers like Sumant Kumar, who was recently featured in a piece published by the The Guardian, have been utilizing this novel technique to grow rice in relatively small land plots without pesticides, herbicides, or other synthetic additives and you wouldnt believe how much theyre producing. Kumar, who cultivates rice in Indias poorest state, Bihar, is reportedly able to produce an astonishing 22.4 tons of rice per season on just one hectare (about 2.5 acres) of land, using only manure that he gathers from his farmyard. This exceptionally high volume is a world record, topping even the most advanced growing methods touted by international international humanitarian organizations as producing the highest yields. (RELATED: Learn more about how to grow your own food at home naturally.) It beat not just the 19.4 tonnes achieved by the father of rice, the Chinese agricultural scientist Yuan Longping, but the World Bank-funded scientists at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, and anything achieved by the biggest European and American seed and GM companies, wrote John Vidal for The Guardian. Growing crops naturally is the best way to produce the highest yields of healthy food Fortunately for India, Kumar isnt alone in his endeavors. Many of his friends, neighbors, and even rivals in nearby states are adopting the natural growing methods that he uses after observing their success, which is unmatched by anything else in modern agriculture. Numerous other farmers have reported yields topping 17 tons of rice per hectare, which in some cases is more than double what they were producing using other methods such as biotechnology. Kumars successes have been so great that hes on occasion been accused of cheating. Even the states head of agriculture, a rice farmer himself, had his doubts he actually came out to Kumars village to personally verify that he had, indeed, produced the 22.4 tons of rice on one hectare that hed claimed. The process Kumar and his friends are using to grow rice with this high level of success is known as the System of Rice (or root) Intensification, or SRI. It is being used to grow not only rice, but also wheat, potatoes, sugar cane, yams, tomatoes, garlic, aubergine, and a host of other crops at yields far higher than anything biotechnology or so-called Golden Rice has to offer. Instead of planting three-week-old rice seedlings in clumps of three or four in waterlogged fields, as rice farmers around the world traditionally do, the Darveshpura farmers carefully nurture only half as many seeds, and then transplant the young plants into fields, one by one, when much younger, The Guardian explains about how it works. Additionally, they space them at 25cm intervals in a grid pattern, keep the soil much drier and carefully weed around the plants to allow air to their roots. The premise that less is more was taught by Rajiv Kumar, a young Bihar state government extension worker who had been trained in turn by Anil Verma of a small Indian NGO called Pran (Preservation and Proliferation of Rural Resources and Nature), which has introduced the SRI method to hundreds of villages in the past three years. Sources: WakingTimesMedia.com TheGuardian.com The Redwood City Police Department Saturday morning is mourning the death of an officer who died of natural causes Friday while he was on duty. Officer Gerardo Silva, 57, an 18-year veteran of the police department was working on patrol Friday when he received a call for service at the police station, according to the police department. When Officer Silva failed to come back in service after handling the call, police personnel started searching the building, and Silva was located inside the police facility unconscious and not breathing, police said. Officers immediately stared CPR and used an in-house defibrillator until the Redwood City Fire Department and EMS personnel arrived, police said. Silva was transported to the hospital, where he died of natural causes, police said. The new White House press secretary used his first press briefing to launch a furious tirade against media coverage of President Donald Trump's inauguration, calling it "shameful and wrong" for focusing on the fact that it was noticeably smaller than Barack Obama's in 2009. Sean Spicer harangued the media for not taking the administration's point of view on how to cover Trump's inauguration, and claimed that the National Mall was full during the president's oath of office when photographs from multiple vantage points showed that it wasn't. "This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe," Spicer said. "These attempts to lessen the enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong." There is no evidence to suggest it was the largest ever, by Spicer's own admission that "no one had numbers" for official crowd size estimates, and Nielsen released data Saturday saying about 7 million fewer people watched Trumps inauguration than Obamas first in 2009. Ronald Reagan's 1981 inauguration remains the most-watched in American history, with 41.8 million viewers. Spicer took no questions at the briefing, which came hours after Trump told CIA officials at Langley that the media was inventing a feud between him and the intelligence community, despite suggesting the intel community leaked information to the press and comparing it to something that would be done in Nazi Germany. Trump also said the crowd "looked like a million, million and a half people" to him. It's the latest bump in a rocky relationship between the Trump team and the national press corps, but the first to take place in the White House press briefing room. And it came as hundreds of thousands of demonstrators filled the streets in Washington and many cities both in America and abroad, all aimed at showing Trump that they will not be silent during his time in office. Spicer did not comment on the Women's March on Washington and it's "sister marches" other than to stipulate there are no official estimates about crowd sizes at the rallies. Trump had promised an "unbelievable, perhaps record-setting turnout" for his inauguration, but various planning groups predicted between 700,000 and 900,000 people would attend the swearing-in and parade. Obama drew an estimated 1.8 million people to the National Mall in 2009, though The Washington Post later questioned whether it was too high. Spicer claimed that spaces on the national mall with a total capacity of 720,000 were full. He also said that images were distorted by protective plastic lawn coverings, and incorrectly claimed they had never been used before they were used during the 2013 inauguration as well. The turf covering Spicer referred to has been used in multiple events on the Mall, a National Park Service representative confirmed in a statement. It was not in use in 2009, before restoration began in 2011. Spicer did not provide any pictorial evidence backing up his claim that the inaugural crowd was the largest ever, though ahead of the briefing, TV screens on either side of the podium showed pictures from behind the president. There were large crowds in the foreground, while the Washington Monument, where crowds appeared to be sparse in other shots, was far in the distance. D.C. Metro released ridership numbers for 11 a.m. on the most recent inauguration days showing a marked drop in rides between Obama's 2009 inaugural (513,000) and Trump's (193,000). Crowd sizes are notoriously hard to estimate, and the National Park Service has not offered official estimates since it was threatened with a defamation lawsuit by organizers of the Million Man March in 1995. Spicer also singled out a reporter's tweet that said a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. was missing from the Oval Office. It was incorrect the bust is still in the office and the reporter corrected the report and apologized. Spicer called that tweet "irresponsible and reckless." But less than 24 hours before, Spicer tweeted that he accepted the reporter's apology. Hillary Clinton's former campaign spokesman, Brian Fallon, tweeted that Spicer was "a failure in this job on his first full day" for not refusing to lie to the press. Ari Fleischer, the press secretarty for George W. Bush, noted on Twitter that it was the kind of statement "you're told to make by the President," who you know is watching. "So, while press is stunned & can't believe it, Sean is getting praised by his boss & co-workers now. MSM is from Venus. WH is from Mars," he said. This week, Moscow hosted a summit of divided Palestinian factions that yielded a fresh unity agreement. And on Sunday, Russian diplomats will again unite prominent Syrian rebel groups and regime negotiators in Kazakhstan for a peace summit. Promoting Russia's status as a major global power is part of Putin's push to compensate for domestic failures, Alexey Malashenko, a Russia analyst with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Moscow Center, told NBC News. Russia's ambitions may get another boost following Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday. "I think the common thread is [Putin] positioning in view of a deal with Trump," said said Mattia Toaldo, a Middle East analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations. "The interesting thing is that in most cases, Russia is in the driving seat and Trump will simply react." As an estimated 250,000 people gathered for the Womens March on Chicago Saturday, some Chicagoans chose to join the crowd more than twice that size in the nations capital. "I want to express our concerns about the future, we don't want to go backward, said Sue Ann Rosen, who traveled from suburban Skokie to join the Womens March on Washington. Three generations of the Haworth family traveled from Chicago to DC via an overnight bus ride, with 13-year-old Cora leading the charge. [[411429795, C]] "Even though theyre still young, they can still come out and they can still march, said Cora, who was chosen as one of the 30 national teen ambassadors for the event. Theres still going to be many other rallies for many other things in the future, she added. "I think that 50 years from now, these grandchildren of mine will be talking about doing the march, her grandmother Debbie Haworth said. We can make a difference if we stick together." The National Mall turned into a sea of half a million people double organizers expectations waving homemade signs, and many wearing pink hats and hoping the Trump administration hears their voices. [[411409145, C]] "We need to come together and focus on solving the issues peacefully like we are now, said Liam Gallagher, who drove with his family from Munster, Indiana, to be a part of the gathering closest to the White House. Also in attendance was former Wheaton College professor Larycia Hawkins, who parted ways with the Christian school in Feb. 2016. "It doesn't make a difference to the Trump administration, it makes a difference to all of us to be here in solidarity, what I call embodied solidarity, with one another," said Hawkins, who now teaches at the University of Virginia. The Womens March on Washington was the largest event of its kind across the country, and one of more than 600 marches around the world. After millions of people participated in Women's Marches around the world, some Chicagoans who joined the demonstration in the nation's capital returned home after a whirlwind trip. March to Action, a group founded by six Chicago women, raised $25,000 to fund more than 100 participants' trips to DC, an experience that many said they would never forget. "It was overwhelming, incredible, probably one of the best experiences of my life with regards to organizing of that magnitude," said Judith Rocha after returning to Chicago on Sunday. [[411409145, C]] The group departed from Chicago on Friday evening in three buses headed for the Women's March on Washington. That demonstration drew approximately half a million people to the National Mall more than double organizers' expectations. "We're going to harness the energy of what happened yesterday at this movement, the movement in Chicago, to fuel us moving forward as active citizens, active participants," said March to Action co-founder Karen Citow, adding that the group would be "supporting candidates that feel the same way that we do and also holding [Trump] and his administration accountable for what they're doing." [[411418295, C]] Several other Chicago area residents traveled to DC for the march, including 13-year-old Cora Haworth, who was chosen as one of 30 national teen ambassadors for the event. "I think that 50 years from now, these grandchildren of mine will be talking about doing the march," her grandmother Debbie Haworth said. "We can make a difference if we stick together." An estimated 250,000 people joined the Womens March on Chicago, about half the attendance of the Washington event, which was the largest across the country and one of more than 600 marches around the world. A north suburban man checked an old lottery ticket at a gas station to discover he won $50,000 in November. Cesar Pineda of Park City matched four numbers plus the Powerball in the Nov. 19 drawing, according to a statement from the Illinois Lottery. The winning numbers were 16 24 28 43 61 and the Powerball number was 21. "I was recently paying for gas when I noticed the ticket in my wallet," Pineda said. "I checked it right away and found out that I won!" He said he plans to put his winnings toward the purchase of a house. The BP gas station at 31667 N. U.S. Highway 12 in Volo received a bonus of $500, or 1 percent of the prize amount, for selling the winning ticket. Philadelphia Police have arrested a 25-year old homeless man accused of attacking a transgender woman while yelling anti-gay slurs in an assault captured on Facebook Live. Ryannah Quigley, 23, of Seattle, Washington, told NBC10 she was attending the Creating Change conference in Philadelphia. Quigley said she was walking along the 1300 block of Filbert Street in Center City at 4:40 p.m. Friday with two of her friends when an unidentified man began staring at her. She greeted the man, but he continued to stare at her. "I said, 'Is there a reason why you're staring at me up and down?' And he stopped and turned and looked and he said, 'Whatever bro.' So that's when I said, 'Please don't call me bro,'" Quigley said. Quigley said the man then started shouting at her and yelling anti-gay slurs. "He just kept telling me, 'You're a f-----,' and 'You're going to hell.' Then he kept saying, 'You'll never be a real woman,'" Quigley said. Quigley told NBC10 she then took out her phone and began recording the encounter on Facebook Live. Thats when she says the man threw a bag of food at her and then punched her in the face before running away. She reported the incident to Philadelphia Police. On Sunday morning, officers saw a man standing in the Frankford Terminal, wearing the same clothes that the suspect in the Facebook Live attack had on. He was arrested and will be charged for the assault, police said. Quigley said she suffered cuts and a bruise but is doing okay. Quigley told NBC10 shes been the victim of violence before. She was attacked by a group of people a few years ago. "Often times we are not believed," Quigley said. "We are often looked at as the problem. Because as trans women people assume that, 'Oh, you must have been hitting on him.'" Quigley's friend Keyonna Fowler witnessed the incident and said the suspects comments were "horrible." "Just because a trans woman speaks to you does not mean that she wants you," Fowler said. Quigley said the video of the attack was later taken down by Facebook administrators who claimed it violated their terms of service. Quigley also claimed she was blocked from accessing her Facebook account. Her friends and supporters have posted updates on her recovery to her page for her. "Transgender individuals, they are people," Quigley said. "They are living and they will continue to be here." Police are searching for a man who they say attacked a transgender woman while yelling homophobic slurs in Center City Friday. Hundreds of thousands gathered on the National Mall for the Women's March on Washington to say women will not be silent during President Donald Trump's presidency. The mission statement of the Women's March on Washington says event participants are "hurting and scared" as Trump takes office and they want a greater voice for women in political life. Dozens of activists, political leaders, film stars and musical artists took the stage in protest of the new president. [NATL-DC] PHOTOS: Women's March on Washington Takes Over DC Trump Can't Miss Marchers on Trip Home From CIA On his way back from the CIA, President Donald Trump has gotten a first-hand look at the Women's March on Washington. As the president's motorcade wound through downtown Washington, he passed by hundreds of demonstrators lining the streets. Many were holding bright pink signs, and they screamed and chanted as he drove past them in the impossible-to-miss presidential limo. Thousands gathered on the Ellipse are also visible from the White House lawn. Their roar was also clearly audible to passengers stepping out of the presidential motorcade and back into the White House. [NATL-DC] PHOTOS: Signs Spotted at the Women's March on Washington Demonstrators Block Traffic on Way to Ellipse Seas of demonstrators blocked traffic as they walked from the National Mall to the Ellipse in front of the White House. On one street, a police car trying to move got stuck in the crowd. Marchers surrounded a float that had several supporters of President Trump on board and chanted, "shame." Other marchers shouted "black lives matter" and "my body, my choice" as they moved along Pennsylvania Avenue toward the White House. On the other side of the Mall, rally-goers are headed home. The line to get on the escalator at the Judiciary Square Metro station is half a city block long. Madonna: 'I've Thought a Lot About Blowing Up the White House' [[411417755, C]] Yes, I have thought a lot about blowing up the White House but I choose love, pop superstar Madonna said in an F-bomb-laden speech. She took to the stage just as demonstrators were starting to head toward the Ellipse despite the formal march being called off due to the massive crowd. It took "this horrific moment" of Donald Trump's inauguration as president to wake up the United States, she said. Saturday's march means "that we are far from the end" and it is the start of a revolution to fight for the right to be free and equal, she said. Like-minded Americans need to join together to make it "through this darkness" and show "we are not afraid, that we are not alone." She followed her comments with a performance of "Express Yourself" and "Human Nature." [NATL] From Antarctica to Europe: Women's Marches Around the World Formal March Called Off; Demonstrators Still Encouraged to Head to Ellipse Though the formal march toward the White House was canceled due to the massive turnout, organizers encouraged demonstrators to march on their own to the Ellipse in front of the White House. The entire planned route filled with hundreds of thousands of demonstrators, said a D.C. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official isn't authorized to speak for the march. People ended up marching in smaller groups and in all directions on many streets, News4's Julie Carey reported. Alicia Keys Samples Maya Angelou [[411416345, C]] Before singing her own hit Girl on Fire, Alicia Keys read from Maya Angelous poem Still I Rise. Out of the huts of historys shame/I rise, she read. Up from a past thats rooted in pain/I rise./I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide/welling and swelling, I bear in the tide./Leaving behind nights of terror and fear/I rise./Into a daybreak thats wondrously clear/I rise./Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,/I am the dream and the hope of the slave./I rise. She continued with Angelous theme, weaving the message of the march into her own rhymes. Scarlett Johansson Touts Planned Parenthood [[411415025, C]] Actress Scarlett Johansson shared a personal story about Planned Parenthood. At 15, when she told her mother she noticed a change in her body, she asked if shed been to a gynecologist yet. She had. Living in New York City, she had visited a Planned Parenthood there. Her clinician there offered her safe place and guidance without judgment, Johansson said. Im sure there isnt one person here who has not been helped by Planned Parenthood directly or otherwise. Planned Parenthood President: Reproductive Rights Are Human Rights [[411412715, C]] Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards addressed Trump's platform to cut off funding to the organization, saying, For the majority of people in this country, Planned Parenthood is not the problem, were the solution. "Reproductive rights are human rights, Richards said. You need to know that starting this week Congress is going to be moving quickly to try to pass restrictions of reproductive access and we cannot let them. You need to call your member of Congress, call your Senator, and say we will not go back." She called the march a time to link arms for women's rights. "One of us can be dismissed, two of us can be ignored, but together we are a movement and we are unstoppable," she said. Trumps Motorcade Passes Demonstrators President Donald Trump got a view of the demonstrators in town for the Women's March on Washington from the window of his limo as his motorcade passed several prominent groups of demonstrators as he returned to the White House from a prayer service. As he crossed one intersection, cars honked loudly. Some of the demonstrators held up signs that likened women's rights to human rights -- a nod to a famous speech that former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton gave in China as first lady. Ashley Judd Recites Poem: I Am a Nasty Woman [[411411785, C]] Actress Ashley Judd excited the crowd reading a poem written by a 19-year-old Tennessee woman, in which she describes how she is and isnt nasty. "I'm not nasty like the combo of Trump and Pence being served up to me in my voting booth, she read. I'm nasty like the battles my grandmothers fought to get me into that voting booth. I'm nasty like the fight for wage equality." More Take Metro to March Than Inauguration [[411402705, C]] As of 11 a.m., about 275,000 people had taken Metrorail, compared with 193,000 trips taken by the same time on Inauguration Day, when the system opened an hour earlier at 4 a.m., the transit agency said. Saturday's ridership figures were more than eight times a normal Saturday and busier than most weekdays. Before the inauguration Friday morning, Metro subway officials said only two of its parking garages and lots were at more than 60 percent capacity. Many garages and lots at the ends of subway lines are at or near capacity Saturday. In addition, some 1,800 buses were registered to park in the city. Greyhound reported adding more buses from New York. And a commuter rail system in Washington added five times its normal capacity to help deal with the crowds. Michael Moore Vows to End Trump Carnage, Joins Planned Parenthood [[411411795, C]] Filmmaker Michael Moore said he's at the Women's March on Washington to vow to end the Trump carnage. Moore riffed on a phrase from Trump's inaugural address, in which he said he would stop the American carnage. Moore urged attendees to call their members of Congress every day to protest Trump's policies. We have to get busy, he said. Those concerned about Trump should join organizations like Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union and environmental groups, Moore said. He said he joined Planned Parenthood on Saturday morning. Bowser to Trump: Leave Us Alone [[411411735, C]] The best thing the federal government led by Trump can do is leave us alone, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said. She said she's speaking at the Women's March on Washington on behalf of all female elected officials. Women are more harshly and unfairly criticized at every level of government, she said. Bowser appeared at the rally wearing a pointy-eared pussyhat. We need every woman and every man to speak up for us, she said. In the era of President Trump, Americans must stand up for immigration rights and LGBT rights, Bowser said. They also must fight for climate protection and public education. Gloria Steinem: Saturdays Worldwide Mobilization Is the Upside [[411410355, C]] Feminist leader Gloria Steinem described Saturdays worldwide mobilization as the upside of the downside: This is an outpouring of energy and democracy like I have never seen in my very long life. Sometimes we must put our bodies where our beliefs are, she told the crowd, labeling Trump an impossible president. PHOTOS: 'United u0026 Empowered:' Here's What Women's March Participants Had to Say America Ferrera: We Are Under Attack From Trump Every single one of us is under attack by President Donald Trump, actress America Ferrera said at the start of the rally. She said people are gathered in the capital and across the country to say to Trump, We refuse. The Emmy Award winner and star of NBCs prime-time sitcom Superstore said the marchers refuse to give up their right to safe and legal abortions and reject demonizing of Muslims. The U.S. won't ask LGBT Americans to go backward and won't go from a nation of immigrants to a nation of ignorance. Charlie Brotman Welcomes Women's March to Washington [[411424045, C]] Legendary announcer Charlie Brotman called all the women at the march "Charlie's angels" as the rally began Saturday morning. A day after he didn't announce the inauguration for the first time since 1957, the 89-year-old welcomed the organizers of the Women's March to Washington. Hillary Clinton Tweets Praise for Demonstrators Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton tweeted praise for the demonstrators, thanking attendees for standing, speaking and marching for our values. It's as important as ever, she said. Clinton also revived her campaign slogan, tweeting she believes we're always Stronger Together. Clinton attended the inauguration Friday. As an estimated half a million people participated in the Women's March in Washington, D.C., thousands in Fort Worth and Denton County demonstrated in solidarity on Saturday. Organizers at the Women's March in Fort Worth said they were marching for "peace and unity." In more than 50 countries, people marched and demonstrated for "women's rights, social justice and equality for all communities." The demonstrations were planned for the day after Donald J. Trump was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States of America. Organizers in Denton County said they were hoping that hundreds would turn out but were surprised when thousands took over the Downtown Square. "It says that people care and that, while everyone has their own reasons for being here, we are still all united. And I think that's the most important thing," said Brooke Scoggins, who attended the march in Denton County. In Dallas, thousands of people gathered on the west side of Dallas City Hall and marched toward Deep Ellum. President Donald Trump has promised to get rid of many of Barack Obama's policies, issuing an executive order within hours of being sworn in that seeks to minimize the economic impact of the Affordable Care Act. But a star-spangled cake Trump cut with Vice President Mike Pence at one of his inaugural balls appeared to be a direct copy a cake at one of Obama's something its baker has confirmed on Instagram. The apparent copy was noticed by Food Network personality Duff Goldman, of the show "Ace of Cakes." He said Trump's cake at the Salute To Our Armed Services Inaugural Ball looked exactly like one he made for former President Barack Obama back in 2013. Goldman posted side-by-side photos of the two cakes. Both six-level confections feature the presidential seal under bunting, stars shooting out of the top on sticks and a similar color scheme and patterns. "The cake on the left is the one I made for President Obama's inauguration 4 years ago. The one on the right is Trumps. I didn't make it," he wrote on Twitter early Saturday. The cake on the left is the one I made for President Obama's inauguration 4 years ago. The one on the right is Trumps. I didn't make it. pic.twitter.com/qJXpCfPhii Duff Goldman (@duffgoldman) January 21, 2017 Soon, Washington bakery Buttercream Bake Shop took to the internet to say this year's inauguration committee commissioned them to re-create it. "While we most love creating original designs, when we are asked to replicate someone else's work we are thrilled when it is a masterpiece like this one," the bakeshop posted on Instagram later Saturday. "Best part is all the profits are being donated to [LGBT advocacy group Human Rights Campaign], one of our favorite charities who we have loved working with over the years. Because basic human rights are something every man, woman and child~ straight, gay or the rainbow in between~ deserve!," the post continued. Most of the cake, except a three-inch slice at the bottom, was reportedly inedible. "Its just a Styrofoam cake. Its not for eating," Tiffany MacIsaac, owner of Buttercream Bakeshop, told The Washington Post. "I wasnt expecting it to be seen on TV." The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. The commitee and Donald Trump's press team didn't respond to the Post's request for comment. Best Moments of the Presidential Inaugural Balls Below, a look back at some of the most devastating winter storms on record in California. Some changed the way the state plans for severe weather and altered landscapes, many left behind destruction and grieving communities. Great Flood of 1862 It remains the worst flood in California's recorded history. Steady rain and snow that began falling across the West Coast in December 1861 served as the buildup to the Great Flood. Record rain in early January proved to be too much for rivers and streams from Oregon to San Diego. Adding to the destruction -- a warm storm that melted snowpack, causing it to run off into already flooded areas. Researchers widely agree that the storms were powered by an atmospheric river, a stream of tropical moisture that can create a conveyor belt of storms. The Great California Flood of 1861-1862 was a series of four floods from Dec. 9 and 23-28, 1861, and Jan. 9-12 and 15-17, 1862. The winter rains started early in November and continued nearly un-interrupted for four months. Marysville and Sacramento suffered the worst damage in the Northern California valley. This scene shows the floodwaters along K Street looking west from 4th Street in Sacramento. Photo taken January 1862. Stay informed about local news and weather in Southern California. Get the NBC LA app for iOS or Android and pick your alerts. March 1907, December 1909 Floods The flooding of all major rivers in the Sacramento Valley led to a change in the way engineers looked at Californias flood control system, which had been based on a Midwestern strategy of confining floodwaters between levees. The idea of using bypasses and overflow weirs, dam-like structures designed to change a rivers flow, had previously been rejected. 1938 Los Angeles Flood A storm that arrived Feb. 28, 1938 brought rainfall that intensified before finally moving out of Southern California five days later. It left behind a catastrophe in LA, Orange and Riverside counties and other parts of the region. Bridges, homes, businesses and roads were washed away as rivers overflowed their banks due to consecutive whopping storms. More than 100 people were killed. September 1939 Tropical Storm A tropical storm lost its hurricane status just before moving onshore, but still packed enough power to cause significant destruction. The storm brought sustained wind gusts of 50 mph and more than 5.6 inches of rain to Los Angeles in a 24-hour period. The storm illustrated the states vulnerability to tropical storms. Forty-five deaths were reported. December 1955 Flooding More than 70 deaths were attributed to the devastating floods in central and northern California, deluged by rain in the days before Christmas. A statewide disaster was declared as rivers overflowed their banks, resulting in an estimated $200 million in economic losses. 1969 Winter Storms Forty California counties were declared disaster areas during the series of storms that contributed to nearly 50 deaths and $300 million in economic losses. The storms caused significant flooding in the Central Valley and the reformation of the Tulare River in the San Joaquin Valley. December 1977 Wind/Dust Storm Excessive rainfall isnt the only problem Californians have faced from winter storms. Wind gusts reached nearly 200 mph in the Kern County community of Arvin, lifting soil from the ground. Sand and dirt piled up on highways, buried cars and blew out vehicles windows. The winds turned once fertile grazing and agricultural lands into a vast swath of sandy soil. Three deaths were attributed to the storm. 1982-1983 El Nino Storms The weather phenomenon that influences Californias weather ushered in rain and snow for several days throughout the state. Coastal areas were hit hard by wind and rain, but the storms also caused flooding in valley areas and mountain landslides. Although the storms brought record rainfall to the Sierras, much of that snowpack melted and poured into overwhelmed rivers. The storms heightened Californians awareness of El Nino-influenced weather, leading to a strategy of reservoir releases during the 1997-1998 El Nino. Thirty-six deaths were reported and more than 6,600 homes were destroyed. 1995 Winter Storms Relentless rainstorms cut off parts of the Monterey Peninsula along the central California coast from areas to the east. The Salinas River topped its previous record height by four feet. Downpours pushed other rivers in central and northern California to new records and bloated there regions streams. The storms caused an estimated $1.8 billion in economic losses and led to 28 deaths, according to the Western Regional Climate Center. 1997 New Years Flood The holiday storms delivered rain and snow in central and northern California from Dec. 26, 1996 to Jan. 3, 1997 with the worst conditions arriving on New Years Day. The Yosemite Valley flooded for the first time in more than a century, and the problems didnt stop after the storms rivers continued to overflow their banks and loosed soil led to landslides in the following weeks, blocking roads and leading to disaster declaration for most of northern California. Eight deaths were reported. Editor's Note: The information above was compiled using resources from the Western Regional Climate Center, NOAA and USGS. 2017 Winter Storms After a nearly six-year dry spell, the weather pendulum turned the other direction during January and February of 2017. The unrelenting fire hose of rain produced by waves of moisture flowing from the tropics to the West Coast unleashing a series of storms. Some of the worst flooding occurred in Northern California. In San Jose, Coyote Creek overflowed its banks and inundated neighborhoods with water, forcing about 14,000 people to evacuate. January 2018 Winter Storm Overnight downpours led to a powerful mudslide that killed at least 21 people and destroyed homes in Montecito. Just weeks after the December Thomas fire burned hillsides in the area and other locations in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, authorities had warned of the possibility of damaging slides during the storms. Firefighters and search dogs worked through challenging conditions, slogging through mud in search of victims and using helicopters to hoist people to safety in areas blocked by the mudslide. Photos: Scenes From Before and After the Mudflow Cleanup in Montecito Officials are urging some Southern California residents to evacuate their homes during the major storm. The notices were issued in advance of a storm which that brought heavy rainfall and increased risk of mudslides. Santa Clarita Mandatory evacuation orders remained in place Sunday night for residents in the Sand Canyon impacted by the Sand Fire and other burn areas, officials said. The National Weather Service has advised that the Santa Clarita Valley is under a flash flood watch through Sunday night. Several roads leading into the Val Verde area are washed out. Residents in the area are being urged to shelter in place. The area includes Placerita Canyon Road to the south, Sand Canyon Road to the west boundary, and Iron Canyon Road on the northern boundary. The evacuation center is at Canyon High School located at 19300 Nadal Street in Santa Clarita. Animals may be taken to the Castaic Animal Shelter at 31044 Charlie Canyon Road in Castaic. Livestock may be taken to Pierce College at 6201 Winnetka Ave., Woodland Hills. Duarte All homes in the Fish Fire impact area in Duarte will be under mandatory evacuation orders starting Sunday. The Duarte Community Center (1600 Huntington Dr.) will serve as an evacuation site beginning Sunday at 7 a.m. The evacuation site and mobile animal shelter were expected to remain open overnight. Animals are not allowed at the shelter and residents are encouraged to make arrangements for them. Camarillo Springs Similarly, residents in Camarillo Springs have received voluntary evacuation orders which will begin Sunday at 6 a.m. The Red Cross Emergency Shelter in Camarillo opens Sunday at 6 a.m. It is located in the Leisure Village Recreation building at 1200 Leisure Village Drive in Camarillo. Glendora Voluntary evacuation orders are in effect for the Colby Fire Impact Area in Glendora, according to the Glendora Police Department. This area encompasses about 1,000 homes north of Sierra Madre Avenue between the western city boundaries of Azusa/Glendora to the eastern boundary of properties on the western side of Little Dalton Wash. The evacuation center is located at the Crowther Teen and Family Center at 241 West Dawson Ave. in Glendora. Silverado Canyon Voluntary evacuations have also been ordered for the Silverado Canyon burn area beginning 9 a.m. Sunday. The evacuation advisory is for homes east of 30311 Silverado Canyon Rd., according to the Orange County Fire Authority. Silverado Canyon residents with large animals should make personal arrangements to move their animals before the rainfall Sunday morning, fire officials said. Sandbags or rice bales are available at OC Fire Authority's Station 14, at 29402 Silverado Canyon Road. More information: 714-628-7085. If you need to move small pets here is the info, and fees are waived for either location: The Orange County Animal Care Shelter 561 The City Dr S, Orange, CA 92868 (714) 935-6848 Open until 5 p.m. VCA Arroyo Animal Hospital 1 South Pointe Dr. Lake Forest, CA 92630 949-770-1808 Open until 5 p.m. The Silverado Canyon evacuations were lifted around 9:30 p.m. Sunday. Hundreds of people heading to downtown Los Angeles for Saturday's Women's March stood stranded on Metro and Metrolink platforms unable to squeeze onto packed trains. Spokeswoman Kim Upton said Metro had already added trains, increased their frequency and beefed up security in anticipation of heavy crowds, but trains remained jammed, particularly at the North Hollywood and Universal City Red Line stations and on the Westside, with some people waiting hours to purchase TAP cards and board the trains. Upton suggested that one reason for the long lines might be a lot of people purchasing TAP cards for the first time, but said Metro was doing everything possible to accommodate the high number of travelers. "The trains are running smoothly and the people on the trains are happy," she said. Riders carrying signs reading "bridges not walls" and wearing pink "pussy hats" crowded the Culver City Expo Line platform with their daughter and sons, including at least one toddler, in tow. "I was born for this, people," said a woman named Liberty in response to others hoisting a sign picturing the Statue of Liberty. The volunteer at Mark Twain Middle School was headed to the march with her daughter, Saoirse, which is Irish for liberty. Many would-be marchers ultimately crowded onto a westbound train to ride it to the end of the line and then back downtown. As those waiting at stations farther west brainstormed alternate ways to get downtown, Uber was quoting prices in excess of $99 to deliver riders to Pershing Square. Trains on the Metrolink's San Bernardino and Antelope Valley lines were at capacity Saturday morning and could not pick up additional passengers as they traveled to Union Station, said Scott Johnson a spokesman for Metrolink. The San Bernardino Line was carrying about 1,000 people, and the Antelope Valley line out of Lancaster was carrying about 600. Amtrack 763, traveling through Orange County, was also at capacity but Johnson could not confirm whether or not it was picking up additional passengers. But despite the difficulties, Metro riders remained upbeat. "I think this is all positive," said clinical psychologist Marilyn Ruman. "It's not a protest, it's about doing something." President Donald Trump moved to repair his tumultuous relationship with America's spy agencies on his first full day in office, but his bridge-building visit to CIA headquarters Saturday quickly morphed into a platform for the new commander in chief to complain about media coverage of his inauguration, misstating the size of his crowd. Standing in front of a memorial for fallen CIA agents, Trump assured intelligence officials, "I am so behind you." He made no mention of his repeated criticism of the intelligence agencies following the election, including his public challenges of their high-confidence assessment that Russia meddled in the White House race to help him win. "There is nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community and CIA than Donald Trump," he said, blaming any suggestion of a "feud" on the media. Trump's decision to travel to CIA headquarters so quickly after taking office was seen as an attempt at a fresh start with the intelligence agencies he will now rely on for guidance as he makes weighty national security decisions. Following his private meeting with top CIA leaders, Trump said the U.S. had been "restrained" in its efforts to combat terrorism, calling the threat "a level of evil we haven't seen." Trump's visit to the CIA took place as throngs of women, many of them wearing bright pink, pointy-eared hats, descended on the nation's capital and other cities around the world for marches organized to push back against the new president. Hundreds of protesters lined the motorcade route as Trump sped back to the White House, many screaming and chanting at the president. The president appeared to be focused on settling scores with the media. He defensively touted the crowd size for his swearing-in ceremony, inaccurately claiming that the throngs on the National Mall stretched "all the way back to the Washington Monument." Photos and video clearly showed the crowd stopping well short of the landmark. His press secretary, Sean Spicer, continued the attack on the press at his first press briefing later Saturday. Trump is a voracious consumer of news and highly sensitive to criticism. As a candidate, he repeatedly disparaged the media and individual journalists to the delight of his supporters, and his appearance at the CIA underscored that he would continue to do so as president. He slammed a Time magazine reporter for incorrectly reporting Friday that Trump had moved a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. out of the Oval Office. But Trump followed with a misstatement of his own, saying the reporter had not corrected the mistake. In fact, the item was quickly retracted. High-level CIA brass stood largely silent during Trump's remarks, though some of the roughly 400 other officers in attendance cheered on the president during his remarks. California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, slammed Trump for using his CIA visit to squabble over media coverage. "He will need to do more than use the agency memorial as a backdrop if he wants to earn the respect of the men and women who provide the best intelligence in the world,' Schiff said. Former CIA Director John Brennan was "deeply saddened and angered" over the remarks, which Trump should be ashamed of, a representative told NBC News, calling it a "despicable display of self-aggrandizement in front of CIA's Memorial Wall of Agency heroes." The inaugural celebrations have been shadowed by reports that the CIA and other federal agencies are investigating Russian interference in the presidential election on behalf of Trump. McClatchy reported that the investigation included whether money from the Kremlin covertly aided Trump. The New York Times said agencies were examining intercepted communications and financial transactions between Russian officials and Trump's associates. FBI Director James Comey has declined to confirm or describe the nature of the government's investigation, both during a congressional hearing and in closed-door meetings with members of Congress. Officials said the crowd for the women's march in Washington could be more than half a million people, more than double expectations. The event appeared to have attracted more people than Trump's inauguration, based on figures from transportation officials. During his remarks at the CIA, the president claimed the inaugural crowds topped 1 million people. Saturday marked the end of three days of inaugural celebrations, with Trump and his family attending a national prayer service traditionally held for the new president. The president and his wife, Melania, and Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, sat in a front pew at Washington National Cathedral for the morning service. The interfaith service is a tradition for new presidents and is hosted by the Episcopal parish. But the decision to hold a prayer session for Trump sparked debate among Episcopalians opposed to his policies. Bishop Mariann Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington wrote in a blog post that while she shared "a sense of outrage at some of the president-elect's words and actions," she felt an obligation to welcome all people without qualification, especially those who disagree and need to find a way to work together. Trump arrived at the cathedral mid-morning. The service included readings and prayers from Protestant, Jewish, Sikh, Mormon, Buddhist, Roman Catholic, Baha'i, Episcopal, Hindu and Native American leaders. But the program was remarkable for the large number of evangelicals participating, including two former presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention, the country's largest evangelical denomination. Several speakers had served as Trump advisers and supporters who spoke at the Republican National Convention. The president's family joined him at the White House for his first weekend in office. His daughter Ivanka and her husband, senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, were seen snapping photos Saturday on the Truman balcony with a young girl who appeared to be their daughter. The Justice Department released a memo concluding the president's "special hiring authority" allows the New York real estate mogul to appoint Kushner to the administration and the move does not contravene federal anti-nepotism laws. AP Religion writer Rachel Zoll and Associated Press writers Jonathan Lemire and Darlene Superville contributed to this report. A woman who was arrested Friday for slashing a Trump sign on Big Pine Key told deputies she did it because the sign "ruined her chill," authorities said. Monroe County Sheriff's deputies responded to R & T Vinyl Signs at 5 p.m. on Friday, where the owners of the business told them a woman had slashed their vinyl "Trump" sign. The owners said she also threatened them while holding a knife in her hand. One of the men was able to take a picture of her vehicle as she was leaving. The woman was later pulled over and identified as 30-year-old Elizabeth McSurdy of Oakland, California, officials said. Officials say initially McSurdy denied slashing the signs and threatening the men, but after she was confronted with the photo and the victim identified her as the suspect, she admitted to doing the damage to the sign. McSurdy allegedly denied threatening the men but admitted to holding the knife during the confrontation. She's been charged with criminal mischief and aggravated assault and she was booked into jail. Jail records and attorney information weren't immediately available Monday. What to Know People who wish to donate items for Haiti relief can drop them off at the Flatbush-YMCA at 1401 Flatbush; The Haitian Family Resource Center at 1783 Flatbush Ave; the Multicultural Bridge Project at 1894 Flatbush Ave.; Quiescere Resource Center (516-205-9035) is also accepting donations, as is the Fernande Valme Ministries (718-284-1809) More than 200 people in Haiti have died as Hurricane Matthew swept across the island, and Haitians in New York City are mobilizing to set up relief for the devastated country. The category-4 hurricane dumped more than a foot of rain on parts of the island, bringing violent winds and rushing floodwaters that left behind miles of damage. "With everything going on, we won't know until the dust settles you know what they need," said Vicki Sylvain, founder of the Quiescere Resource Center. "There's no clean water, there's nothing, what are they going to do." Dr. Mathieu Eugene of Brooklyn, the first Haitian-born official elected to the City Council, said the city is working to get immediate assistance to the island. "After a natural disaster, we have to provide emergency assistance. Now we got to deal with disease, we have to deal with shelter for people, we have to deal with clean water for the people who need. Not only that, we have senior citizens," he said. The longer term goal, he said, is to ensure Haiti is prepared for future disasters. "It's like a flashback of 2010, not knowing, not sleeping, just keeping tabs on Facebook to see what's going on," said Sylvain, referring to the earthquake there. Since that natural disaster, many in Haiti have been living in tents, which are not strong enough to hold out the rains and winds the hurricane is bringing. People who wish to donate items for Haiti relief can drop them off at the Flatbush-YMCA at 1401 Flatbush; the Multicultural Bridge Project at 1894 Flatbush Ave.; and the Haitian Family Resource Center at 1783 Flatbush Ave. Quiescere Resource Center (516-205-9035) is also accepting donations, as is the Fernande Valme Ministries (718-284-1809). Those with family and friends in Haiti can let them know a hurricane relief and evacuation center has opened at HAC-Haiti's community center in Croix de Bouquets (64 Rue Double Harvest). What to Know A worker was about to drop off a load of trash when he saw the remains at a garbage transfer station, police said. Investigators looked at surveillance footage of at the transfer station, followed the route of the truck, then checked cellphone records. The victim hasn't been identified. A woman's body parts, including her torso, leg and arms, were discovered in a trash transfer station and investigators followed the evidence back to a Brooklyn man who was arrested Sunday, police said. Somorie Moses, 40, was charged with concealment of a human corpse and tampering of evidence, police said. Authorities say charges could be upgraded pending autopsy results. Investigators looked at surveillance footage of at the transfer station, followed the route of the truck, then checked cellphone records before nabbing Moses, NYPD spokesman Lt. Thomas Antonetti said. He added that during a search warrant, investigators found multiple pieces of corroborating evidence at Moses' home, including forensic evidence. Law enforcement sources tell NBC 4 they found a head, hands and feet in Moses' freezer. Moses has been arrested eight times in the past, and was previously convicted of attempting to promote prostitution in the second degree and profit from prostitution of a child in a 2006 arrest in New York City, according to state records. He was sentenced to six months in a local jail and five years of probation in the case, and was on the state's sex offender registry. Neighbors of Moses were stunned to hear of his arrest in the disturbing case. "I felt sick to my stomach, scared," said Marva Adams, recalling how the man who lives on the second floor would open the door for her and offer to help when she was juggling groceries. "Last night I didn't sleep at all, I was so nervous." "He don't come out unless he goes out, and he goes out to the garbage to throw garbage in the bin," said Tony Clousen, the building's janitor. "He don't smile. He don't smile, he just serious," he said. "He stayed to himself, he was real quiet, but you know how you get a feeling about somebody," said neighbor Veronica Carr. "He didn't set off too good with me, so I stayed away but the whole to find out somebody like that lived in this building -- my grandkids play in this hallways and that upsets me." Clousen, who has been inside Moses' apartment several times, said Moses lived there with a woman. Law enforcement sources have not identified the dismembered woman or how she died. Workers first found the torso and leg of the woman in the trash at the Metropolitan Transfer Station on Halleck Street in Hunts Point shortly before 5 a.m. Tuesday. A worker at the Metropolitan Transfer Station said he was about to drop off a load of trash when he saw the remains. "I only went in as far as where the pit is," Elias Rodriguez said. "I didn't want to disturb what is now a crime scene. And I saw the body, the body parts laying there. A torso and a leg without a foot." Rodriguez said he spent three years working as a paramedic and has seen gruesome sights before, but his co-workers are traumatized by what they witnessed. Garbage had been dropped off at the facility around midnight and then separated into five separate containers that police secured: three in the Bronx and two in Kearny, New Jersey, according to the NYPD. Officials searched through the containers to try finding the woman's other body parts. By evening, they found a right arm and a left arm, both without hands, according to police sources. K9s helped sift for additional remains at first, and then 30 private carting trucks helped tip out loads of trash for sifting. That's how the arms were found, sources said. A 34-year-old man has pleaded guilty to charges that he traveled to South Carolina to pick up 15 kilograms of cocaine. The Post and Courier reports that Lamar Gayle of New York pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Virginia to a cocaine conspiracy charge. He's scheduled for sentencing in April, and his punishment range is from 10 years to life in prison. Authorities say Gayle came from Brooklyn to Charleston in February 2016 to pick up the drugs as part of an international operation. Court documents say that Gayle was arrested with the drugs on a bus in Virginia as he headed toward New York. Each kilogram of cocaine can be worth tens of thousands of dollars. A defense attorney didn't immediately respond to an email Sunday seeking comment. A New Jersey man who avoided paying tolls nearly 900 times and owes more than $56,000 in unpaid tolls and fees has been arrested, police said Saturday. An officer stopped Alesandel Rodriguez's car Friday morning after it failed to post a payment in an EZ-Pass lane on the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police said. The car was missing front and rear license plates, and a temporary New York tag inside the vehicle had expired, authorities said. Further investigation found the Teaneck man's EZ-Pass accounts were revoked, showing 888 violations and about $56,240 in outstanding fees. Authorities also learned there was a warrant for his arrest. Rodriguez was charged with theft of service. It wasn't known Saturday if he has retained an attorney. The wife and brother-in-law of a New Jersey man who went missing earlier this month were arrested and charged after detectives found her husband's remains in six plastic bins, officials from the Bergen County Prosecutor's office said. Police arrested Adrienne Smith, 43, of Bergenfield, Friday at a relative's home in New Jersey. Her brother, Orville Cousins, 40, of the Bronx, was arrested last Sunday. Officials said the relatives were charged with desecration of the human remains of Adrienne's husband, Randolph Smith. Smith allegedly contacted police to report her husband missing on Jan. 2, police said. Officers notified the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office that they were investigating a missing person and needed the help of the Major Crimes Unit. During the investigation, detectives determined Randolph Smith was last seen at his home on or around Christmas evening. Police said Smith told police her husband left their home and she hadn't heard from him since. His remains were discovered in six plastic containers in Burlington City, authorities said. The remains were later identified as Smith's, which prompted detectives from the Bergen and Burlington County Prosecutor's office to further probe his disappearance and murder. Officials determined that Cousins and Smith purchased materials used in connection with the desecration of Randolph's remains, some of which were removed from the Smiths' residence, police said. Authorities said Cousins is being held at a New York jail pending extradition to New Jersey. Smith is being held at the Bergen county Jail. She is scheduled to be arraigned Saturday. The investigation is ongoing. It was a long time coming, but notorious Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin El Chapo Guzman finally walked into an American courtroom Friday to face charges that he was the murderous architect of a three-decade-long web of violence, corruption and drug addiction in the United States. As he was taken before a federal judge, prosecutors announced they were seeking a $14 billion forfeiture from Guzman, who arrived overnight after the sudden decision by Mexican authorities to grant his extradition to the United States. Photos Give Inside Look at 'El Chapo' Extradition "Today marks a milestone in our pursuit of Chapo Guzman,'' said Robert Capers, the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn. "He's a man known for a life of crime, violence, death and destruction, and now he'll have to answer for that.'' As boss of the Sinaloa drug cartel, Guzman presided over a syndicate that shipped tons of heroin and cocaine to the U.S., using tanker trucks, planes with secret landing strips, container ships, speedboats and even submarines, prosecutors said. Perhaps most famously, Guzman's cartel built elaborate tunnels under the U.S. border to transport drugs, according to Wifredo Ferrer, the U.S. attorney in Miami. The cartel made billions of dollars in profits -- hence prosecutors' bid for a $14 billion forfeiture -- and employed hit men who carried out murders, kidnappings and acts of torture, according to prosecutors. The Sinaloa smugglers also helped fuel an epidemic of drug abuse in the U.S. in the 1980s and '90s, the prosecutors said. Guzman was recaptured a year ago in Mexico after escaping from a maximum-security prison for a second time. The episode was highly embarrassing for President Enrique Pena Nieto's government, and Mexican officials were seen as eager to hand him off to the U.S. By finally bringing their case in the Eastern District of New York, prosecutors chose that city over Chicago and other jurisdictions that have long hoped to put Guzman on trial. After the tunneling into a maximum security prison which had to have the involvement of government officials, that was a huge embarrassment for the government of Mexico, said Thomas Shakeshaft, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago. There was still a chance that he was running the cartel behind bars, but this is a symbolic victory both for the government of Mexico, and the United States. The Chicago case did carry a big plus, or perhaps more accurately, two of them. Two brothers, Pedro and Margarito Flores, who had been the prime distributors for Guzmans Sinoloa cartel in Chicago, had agreed to cooperate with authorities and would have been the chief witnesses in a Chicago trial. It isnt clear if the two will still be called in the New York case. It took ten years to get Osama bin Laden, notes Shakeshaft, who spent years developing the Chicago prosecution. It took more than that to get to Chapo, but ultimately we did! The Drug Enforcement Administration flew Guzman to New York from the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez on Thursday, hours before the inauguration of President Donald Trump, who has criticized Mexico for sending the U.S. "criminals and rapists'' and vowed to build a wall at the Mexican border. When Guzman got off the plane, "as you looked into his eyes, you could see the surprise, you could see the shock, and to a certain extent, you could see the fear, as the realization kicked in that he's about to face American justice,'' said Angel Melendez, who leads U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's homeland security investigations in New York. The U.S. has been trying to obtain custody of Guzman since he was first indicted in California in the early 1990s. Now in his late 50s, he faces the possibility of life in a U.S. prison. Prosecutors had to agree to not seek the death penalty as a condition of the extradition. While he faces federal charges in several U.S. states, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn won the jockeying to get the case. The U.S. attorney's office there has substantial experience prosecuting international drug cartel cases and was once led by outgoing U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch. After breaking out of prison the first time in 2001, Guzman spent more than a decade at large, becoming something of a folk legend among some Mexicans for his defiance of authorities. He was immortalized in ballads known as "narco-corridos." Captured in 2014, Guzman then made an even more audacious escape, coolly stepping into a hole in the floor of his prison cell shower and whizzing to freedom on a motorcycle modified to run on tracks laid the length of the tunnel. While on the run, he secretly met with actors Sean Penn and Kate del Castillo in a fall 2015 encounter that Penn later chronicled in Rolling Stone magazine. In Penn's article, Guzman was unapologetic about his criminal activities, saying he had turned to drug trafficking at age 15 because it was "the only way to have money to buy food, to survive.'' The piece was published shortly after Mexican marines rearrested Guzman in a January 2016 shootout that killed five of his associates and wounded one marine. If neighborhoods long-besieged by tragedy and crime fueled by the expansive heroin and opioid epidemic are going to improve, residents need to be on the front lines pushing to make it happen. Thats the message local and federal leaders had for those who live and work in Philadelphias Fairhill and Kensington neighborhoods at a community summit, El Barrio Es Nuestro (The Neighborhood Is Ours), about the drug crisis on Saturday morning. In return, officials promised to make physical investments in the neighborhoods and provide more services to reduce crime, reverse poverty and treat those suffering from addiction. This disease is of, for and by the people. The solution needs to be of, for and by the people, Roland Lamb, head of the citys Office of Addiction Services, told the crowd of 238 people packed into The Salvation Armys Tabernacle Corps Center at Mascher Street and Allegheny Avenue in Fairhill. The event fused an ongoing city initiative, the Gurney Street Project, with a new Drug Enforcement Administration program, the 360 Strategy, where officials provided a snapshot of the problem before attendees brainstormed potential ways residents could attack them. Vince Lattanzio Kensington and Fairhill are at the epicenter of the citys illegal drug trade. The citys heroin supply is some of the purest and cheapest in the country. The addicted typically turn to the white powdery drug after becoming dependent on prescription painkillers. Despite heavy local, state and federal policing, dealers come to the neighborhoods to sling opioids because the sections have long been known as places to score drugs. Most of the dealers and users dont live in the communities, police say. People are trapped, Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez said. The neighborhoods are smack in the middle of her district, the 7th. It shouldnt matter what your zip code is to have a quality of life. To reduce demand, officials say they need residents help. The DEAs 360 Strategy will put a major focus on building anti-drug coalitions in the neighborhoods. Residents really have to take an active role in fighting back, said Gary Tuggle, Special Agent in Charge of the DEAs Philadelphia Field Office. Tuggle oversees DEA operations in Pennsylvania and Delaware. I realize in instances theres fear, theres frustration. Sometimes people have given up, he added. The 360 Strategy, which was first deployed in Pittsburgh in November 2015 and was examined by NBC10 in the special report Generation Addicted, expands the federal agencys focus from solely hunting drug traffickers to undertaking community education and better scrutinizing of the medical community. The DEA regulates doctors and pharmacists prescribing practices. NBC10 reporters Vince Lattanzio, Morgan Zalot and Denise Nakano explore the tragic world of heroin and opioid addiction in the Philadelphia area and beyond. This special long-form presentation is just one of a series of stories as part of our investigation. Dive into our in-depth coverage and many more stories here. In Pittsburgh, the DEA has gone into schools educating students about how taking painkillers like OxyContin or Vicodin, for recreation or legitimate reasons, could quickly grow into an addiction. Agents have also had frank conversations with doctors and pharmacists about showing restraint when prescribing opioids. Phillys program will have those elements as well, the DEA says, but much attention will be paid to empowering community members to fight back against drug dealers and undertake prevention programs. The DEA is partnering with the nonprofit Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) to form the coalitions. The groups, made up of leaders, youth, parents and others, will decide on programs and CADCA will provide training and help with grant writing to get them funded and deployed. Were not going to tell them how to do things. Were going to train them and guide them in how they should function, Tuggle said. Carlton Hall, CADCAs acting Vice President, said the efforts are a key weapon that will complement ongoing law enforcement efforts. What we really have to do is really prevent folks from falling into the river in the first place, he said. The DEA hopes to eventually have coalitions in every city neighborhood. Vince Lattanzio As a sign of its commitment to the neighborhoods, the city vowed to reduce blight: Street lights will be fixed; trash will be removed; abandoned homes will be boarded up or knocked down. Mayor Jim Kenney brought out a number of cabinet members including Health Commissioner Thomas Farley, L&I Commissioner David Perri, Fire Commissioner Adam Theil and Managing Director Mike DiBerardinis, whose office is heading up the citys program named for the street at the epicenter of drug use and dealing. You live here and its heartbreaking to see what the heroin and opioid crisis is doing, Kenney said adding that problems circle back to poverty. He ended on a conciliatory note, apologizing for how long its taken the city to respond to the epidemic. The city launched a task force to address the crisis earlier this month. DiBerardinis received applause from the crowd after mentioning a plan to close off access to a Conrail freight train trench running alongside Gurney Street, nicknamed The Tracks by the addicted. A three-quarter of a mile stretch filled with trash and homeless encampments, the trench is used as a place to shoot up heroin. Its also notoriously dangerous with assaults and robberies happening often. In the heart of Philadelphias open drug market, theres an artery carrying drug addicted people to their high. A story from our award-winning 2016 special report on the heroin epidemic: Generation Addicted: The New War on Addiction. The managing director also pledged a $250,000 investment in homeless and addiction services specifically for the area. Officials expect to have the coalitions formed and working within six months. Some of the physical improvements are already underway with L&I inspectors targeting abandoned homes along Gurney Street. Some in attendance were heartened by the efforts, but others said theyve heard similar promises before. One longtime advocate who works with those suffering from drug addiction quipped, Well see. New Jersey state police say a handcuffed Georgia man who escaped from custody while he was being taken to jail has been captured. Daniel Newman had been arrested Saturday night at an Atlantic City casino for what authorities say were theft-related crimes within the city's casino district. The 22-year-old Lawrenceville man was being taken to the Atlantic County jail when he escaped early Sunday and ran off into a wooded area. But state police say he was found several hours later, though further details on his capture were not immediately disclosed. It wasn't immediately clear if Newman will face additional charges related to the escape. A man stabbed his grandmother to death early Saturday evening in the Eastwick section of Philadelphia, according to investigators. Police say the 29-year-old man stabbed his maternal grandmother several times inside a home on the 7900 block of Caesar Place at 5:38 p.m. The 70-year-old woman was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m. Sources close to the investigation told NBC10 the man was also accused of previously assaulting his paternal grandmother. The suspect was last seen leaving the home wearing a black skull cap, blue hooded sweatshirt with dark sleeves and blue jeans. Police have not released a detailed description of him but say he is short with a stocky build. If you have any information on the incident, please call Philadelphia Police. Former President George H.W. Bush's health continues to improve and his wife, who is also recovering from illness, has chosen to remain hospitalized one more night to be "closer to her husband," a family spokesman said Sunday. The 92-year-old former president and his wife Barbara remained at Houston Methodist Hospital. He has been receiving treatment for breathing difficulties from pneumonia while she is recovering from bronchitis. The 41st president's vital signs are normal and doctors hope he can be moved out of intensive care in the next day or two, said Bush family spokesman Jim McGrath. Bush has been in the Houston hospital now for a week. Doctors on Wednesday inserted a breathing tube, and a ventilator was employed to assist his breathing. The tube was removed Friday. Physicians are scheduled to provide an update on the Bushes' conditions from Houston Methodist Hospital at 10 a.m. Monday. The update will be streamed live atop this story. Barbara Bush, 91, entered the hospital Wednesday after feeling run down and coughing for the past few weeks. Doctors determined she had bronchitis. Her health has improved since receiving treatment. "Mrs. Bush was given the option of being discharged today, but has elected to remain at Houston Methodist Hospital one more evening to continue her recovery and to be closer to her husband," McGrath said. McGrath added the Bushes wanted to make sure "they thank their well-wishers for their kindness, and especially their prayers." In a tweet on Saturday, McGrath said the couple's spirits were up, they were very interested "in inauguration doings" and were "very happy" that President Donald Trump went to see the men and women of the CIA. On Saturday, Trump traveled to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, and spoke to a group of about 400 people in attendance. Bush served as CIA director from 1976 to 1977. The couple's 72-year marriage is the longest of any presidential couple in American history. One week after a San Diego Man pleaded guilty to murdering three young San Diego residents by shooting them to death in the parking lot of Mission Valley mall on Christmas Eve 2013, NBC 7 has obtained records detailing, for the first time, the evidence prosecutors planned to present to a jury, had the case gone to trial. On Jan. 12, Carlo Mercado, 31, pleaded guilty to three counts of murder for the December 2013 killings of brothers Gianni and Salvatore Belvedere and Gianni's fiancee, Ilona Flint. Originally, Mercado pleaded not-guilty and was scheduled to face trial in June. At one point, Mercados attorneys told the court Mercado was incompetent to stand trial, a claim later determined to be inaccurate and the decision overruled by the judge in the case. The mysterious murders shook San Diego to its core and left most residents, including family members of the victims and suspect, asking one question: why? To read a timeline of the events behind the triple homicide, click here. On Friday, NBC 7 obtained the Statement of Facts Deputy District Attorney Brian Erickson submitted to the court on the day of the plea change. While the documents do not provide major updates to information previously released, the documents did detail a clear timeline of what investigators believed led up to and followed the triple homicide along with new information about Mercados history leading up to the crimes. To read the records in full, click here. In the documents, Erickson said investigators confirmed through cell phone tower records neither Mercado, nor all three victims phones were ever in the same place at the same time in the year prior to the murders taking place. There was absolutely no connection found between the victims alleged drug use and their deaths, Erickson said, adding that investigators found no evidence anyone had any reason to want to kill the victims or their families. In the Statement of Facts, Erickson also details evidence, found by investigators, that suggests Mercado had a history of motorcycle accidents and attempting to fleece money from other drivers involved. One incident was in August 2012. According to court records, Mercado crashed his motorcycle into the back of a mans truck and later that day sent the driver an aggressive email where a list of motorcycle parts were listed with prices for each repair. In that situation, according to the court records, Mercado told the driver the total cost for repairs came out to over $2,000 but Mercado said he would be willing to settle for half of the amount. The records state a San Diego District Attorney Investigator contacted the driver of that vehicle who explained Mercado had crashed his motorcycle into the back of the drivers truck while at a stop light and the driver assisted Mercado with his bike and called police. When the driver received the aggressive email from Mercado, the records show the driver verified with his father and insurance company he would not be responsible for the costs Mercado was asking for and ignored Mercados email and text messages. The Statement of Facts presented evidence Mercado filed a false insurance claim on his motorcycle days after the triple-homicide took place. Mercados motorcycle played a role in the investigation as according to prosecutors, Mercado, after killing Gianni and fleeing the scene in Giannis car, returned to the parking lot of Westfield Mission Valley mall to remove his motorcycle he had left behind. It was then, according to prosecutors, Mercado came into contact with Flint and Salvatore, murdering them both, fearing they would report seeing Mercado driving Giannis car. According to the records, Mercado fled the scene that night, leaving his motorcycle behind, and returned the next day with a rented U-Haul truck and trailer to remove the motorcycle from the crime scene after San Diego Police Department investigators were no longer at the scene. Two days later, prosecutors said Mercado, fearing his motorcycle could tie him to the crime scene, staged a fake motorcycle accident and filed a claim with his insurance provider. The Geico Insurance Adjuster that handled Mercados claim told investigators that he doubted the story Mercado told about the fake accident, but processed the claim anyway for a total of $2,539. At the change of plea hearing for Mercado, Erickson credited Border Patrol officers who pulled over and inspected Mercados vehicle less than a month after the homicides as providing the critical evidence that led to Mercados arrest. On Jan. 18, 2014, a day after Giannis car and body were discovered in the city of Riverside, which prosecutors believe Mercado planted, agents at the Border Patrol Checkpoint on the I-5 near San Clemente pulled Mercado over for a routine stop. While searching Mercados vehicle at that checkpoint stop, Border Patrol agents found an AR-15 assault rifle, a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun and a .22 caliber handgun with a modified silencer. Agents eventually released Mercado from that stop, unaware of his connection to the murders, but held Mercados weapons for further investigation. It was that move by Border Patrol Agents that Erickson credits as a major turning point in the investigation, as the DNA on those firearms was uploaded to Californias DNA database system CODIS and was linked to DNA that was discovered at the Mission Valley and Riverside crime scenes. Three days after the DNA match was determined, Mercado was arrested on June 21, 2014 for the murders of Gianni and Salvatore Belvedere and Ilona Flint. In the court records, Erickson said investigators found gun manuals and instructions for making a homemade silencer for the .22 handgun on Mercados computer. The court records also detail new information about Mercados mental health and suicide attempt following his arrest. When one door closes, another one opens. This week, in news from our local food and drink scene, Eater San Diego shares details of a popular Bay Area coffee companys debut in San Diego, and the impending shuttering of an Ocean Beach restaurant. Philz Coffee Set to Open in Encinitas Next Month Philz Coffee, a popular Bay Area company, will launch the first of at least two planned locations in San Diego on Feb. 4, when its debut outpost in Encinitas opens to the public. Philz, which specializes in pour overs of signature coffee blends, is also headed to La Jolla Village. Breakfast Republic & Coin Haus Replacing OB Warehouse After two years, the Cohn Restaurant Group will shutter OB Warehouse on Valentine's Day. It will be replaced by the hospitality group's arcade bar, Coin Haus, on the bottom level and another location of daytime eatery Breakfast Republic on the upper level. New Mexican Restaurant Headed for Liberty Station Rise and Shine Restaurant Group (Breakfast Republic, Fig Tree Cafe) announced that it will be opening El Jardin in Liberty Station next year. The Mexican concept's kitchen will be run by the former chef de cuisine of Little Italy's Bracero. Late Night Ramen Shop Planned for North County A pop-up is graduating to a brick-and-mortar location later this year, when Rooster Ramen moves into a space in the Encinitas/Leucadia area. The Japanese-inspired menu with include traditional and chef-driven ramen plus yakitori, small plates and sake. Chinese Hot Pot Spots Coming to Mira Mesa & Kearny Mesa Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot is soon opening a second location in the Scripps Ranch/Mira Mesa area while Taiwanese hot pot chain Tasty Pot debuts in San Diego with an upcoming eatery on Convoy Street. Candice Woo is the founding editor of Eater San Diego, a leading source for news about San Diegos restaurant and bar scene. Keep up with the latest Eater San Diego content via Facebook or Twitter, and sign up for Eater San Diegos newsletter here. Southbound traffic has reopened at the San Ysidro port of entry after being closed for several hours due to protests across the border. For the third weekend in a row, protests along the U.S.-Mexico border have shut down the border crossing. In Tijuana, Mexico, protesters continue to voice their objections to a sudden hike in gas prices in Mexico: 20 percent in one day. For the past two weekends, the San Ysidro port of entry has closed briefly in the southbound direction due to protesters. Despite Fridays powerful storm, the show will go on at Petco Parks Monster Jam event Saturday, even if it gets a little dirty. Twenty-six million pounds of dirt has been packed into Petco Park in downtown San Diego for Monster Jam, the live motorsport event. That dirt has been sitting in the ballpark since Jan. 10, when Monster Energys Supercross came into town. Rain won't stop the trucks! They're ready and waiting for tomorrow Don't miss your chance to see @MonsterJam https://t.co/5jVZym6PqH pic.twitter.com/bDBewjRtjl Petco Park (@PetcoPark) January 21, 2017 Now, almost two weeks later, 14 monster-sized trucks will compete on the course. Rain leading up to the event forced crews to use tarps to protect the track. Saturday morning crews cleaned up small pockets of water and brought in new dirt, according to Monster Jam Event Manager Scott Olinski. Olinksi confirmed to NBC 7 that the 7 p.m. event will go on rain or shine. There is a Pit Party scheduled for 2:30 p.m. prior to the competition. There, attendees will get to meet some of their favorite drivers up-close. Tickets are still available. This is the third year Monster Jam has visited Petco Park. A woman rescued after a long search in the rough water off Sunset Cliffs has died, San Diego Lifeguards told NBC 7 San Diego Sunday. The two women were swept off the rocks at Santa Cruz Avenue and Bacon Street - near San Diego's iconic Sunset Cliffs - Saturday evening just after 5 p.m. A witness - who later saved one of the women - said the women were taking photos of the view along Ambrosioni. In a matter of seconds, he said, "they went out right over there, right off the edge." A man, who lifeguards are calling a hero, jumped in and saved one woman. When he tried to go back and save the second, the woman had been taken by the current. I ran back and forth and when she got close enough and I went out and I picked her up," he said. The man wanted only to be identified as Struble. One woman was taken to hospital, but the second woman continued to get lost in the foam. I tried to go back for the second one, but I couldnt get there in time because the waves just got too big and she got too far out, the Good Samaritan said. Lifeguards searched through thick ocean foam for nearly 40 minutes looking for the woman who was swept off shore. Lieutenant Rick Romero explained it was difficult to spot the second woman caught in the current. We did see her, but in the amount of the time, the surge was coming in and out shed appear and then disappear in the foam, said Lt. Romero. Lifeguards said the water was 58 degrees with waves up to 15 feet high. On top, the ocean water had two feet of foam. The woman, who has only been identified as a 23-year-old woman, was pulled out of the water unconscious Saturday evening. She was taken to the hospital and later succumbed to her injuries, lifeguards said. During the incident, two lifeguards were also taken to a hospital, as a precautionary measure. One day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, two San Diego politicians held a service at Chicano Park to pray for the country in light of the new leadership in the White House. Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher and Congressman Juan Vargas joined hands with San Diegans in prayer. The Democratic leaders read passages from the Bible and shared their concerns for how Trumps presidency might affect their communities. Juan Vargas organized a pray for @realDonaldTrump vigil. Never heard a prayer filled with so many personal/political jabs #NBC7 pic.twitter.com/1MqIuUhPkm Steven Luke (@stevenlukenbc) January 21, 2017 Were going to continue to pray to make this country a better country that includes everybody, Gonzalez Fletcher said. When we talk about our community and our country, its inclusive its everybody and thats what its been about, hoping we can change the hearts of elected leaders who dont feel that way and bring them around too. [G 2017] Locals Unite for San Diego Women's March Vargas stayed in San Diego instead of going to Trumps inauguration Friday in Washington, D.C. Today was a prayer service for our country, especially all those people that feel, unfortunately, are targeted and have been targeted by the new administration and we can to pray for the new president and change his heart, he told NBC 7 on Saturday. What weve heard and what weve seen from him is anything but love and compassion its the opposite. So, we came to pray for him. After the service, Gonzalez Fletcher joined Senator Toni Atkins to take part in the San Diego Womens March in downtown San Diego. Police in Washington say they've arrested a man who threw a rock at officers on Inauguration Day. Police said in a statement Sunday that 30-year-old Dane Powell of Largo, Florida, was charged with assault on a police officer while armed. A total of 230 people were arrested on Inauguration Day and charged with felony rioting after some in a group of self-described anarchists broke the windows of downtown businesses and set a limousine on fire. That incident began around 10:30 a.m. Friday near 12th and L streets, northwest. Powell threw a rock at officers around 3 p.m. but wasn't caught on Friday, police said. Police said they learned Powell's identity in an investigation and that he was located Saturday and arrested. Online court records don't show an attorney for Powell. Alicia Keys spoke on stage at the Womens March in Washington, DC, on Jan. 21, thanking the crowd. Our potential is unlimited, she said. We will not allow our bodies to be owned and controlled by men in government, or men anywhere. A Trump administration official responded to the women's marches yesterday after Press Secretary Sean Spicer ignored shouted questions about the matter on Saturday, NBC News reported. The comment from the Trump administration official said it was a "shame" that the March for Life next Friday "will not get anywhere near the same amount of coverage that this march gotand those pro-life members were NOT welcome at the Womens March." "The organizers noted that their platform is pro-choice and they revoked partnership status from pro-life groups," the comment continued. The comment also called out Madonna, one of many celebrities to speak at marches across the country, for telling crowds that she had "thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House." Speaking at the Womens March in Washington, DC, actress Scarlett Johansson shared a personal anecdote about Planned Parenthood, on Jan. 21. The administration official's comment does not include the rest of Madonna's comment, which continued: "But I know that this won't change anything. We cannot fall into despair." Instead, Madonna called for a "revolution of love." "Comments like [Madonna's] are absolutely unacceptable and had they been said about President Obama, the mainstream media would be in an uproar," the official continued. "The Trump administration welcomes a robust discussion regarding the critical issues facing Americas women and families." Hundreds of thousands of women and men poured into the nation's capital Saturday for a march aimed at showing Donald Trump they won't be silent over the next four years. The Washington, D.C., event was the largest of more than 600 "sister marches" planned across the country and around the world. Organizers estimated 3 million people would march worldwide, and city centers across the U.S. were flooded with people in rallies that lasted for hours. President Trump responded to the march on Twitter Sunday morning, accusing the marchers of not voting and adding more criticism to the celebrities who attended. "Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn't these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly," Trump wrote. Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn't these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2017 About an hour and a half later, Trump responded with another tweet, writing, "Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don't always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views." Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don't always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2017 The marchers brandished signs with messages such as "Women won't back down" and "Less fear more love" and decried Trump's stand on such issues as abortion, health care, diversity and climate change. The rallies were a peaceful counterpoint to the window-smashing unrest that unfolded on Friday when self-described anarchists tried to disrupt the inauguration. Police used pepper spray and stun grenades against demonstrators. More than 200 people were arrested. Michael Moore spoke at the Womens March in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21, with a dual message of the accomplishment at the number of people who were in attendance hundreds of thousands across the city and of resistance towards the Trump presidency. But the Women's March on Washington didn't yield a single arrest, according to D.C. Homeland Security Director Christopher Geldart. While the march organizers' "mission and vision" statement never mentions Trump and stresses broad themes, including the message that "women's rights are human rights," the unifying factor among those turning out appeared to be a loathing for the new president and dismay that so much of the country voted for him. The administration official's full reaction is below: It's a shame that the March for Life, which estimates the same number of marchers in DC (650,000 in 2013) and will be happening next Friday, will not get anywhere near the same amount of coverage that this march got and those pro-life members were NOT welcome at the Womens March. The organizers noted that their platform is pro-choice and they revoked partnership status from pro-life groups. Madonna, who was one of the celebrities headlining the march, was quoted saying Yes, I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House comments like these are absolutely unacceptable and had they been said about President Obama, the mainstream media would be in an uproar. The Trump administration welcomes a robust discussion regarding the critical issues facing Americas women and families. New Hampshire police are searching for the man wanted in connection with the armed robbery of a store in Belmont on Saturday night. Police received a 911 call from a clerk at the Penguin Market on Laconia Road at about 11 p.m. saying a man had entered the store, flashed a gun and demanded cash. The suspect can be seen on surveillance video fleeing from the store on foot with an undetermined amount of cash. Police said the store was about to close and no customers were inside. The clerk was not hurt in the incident. The robber was described as being between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet tall, and between 180-200 pounds. His face was hidden and he was wearing gloves and all black at the time of the incident. Police searched the neighborhood with a K9 crew but could not find the suspect. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Belmont Police department at 603-267-8350. Police in Mansfield, Massachusetts, have safely located an elderly man who had been missing since Saturday morning. James Mayall, 77, known by his friends as Doug, was last seen Saturday at 9:30 a.m. picking up a prescription at the CVS on Pleasant Street in Attleboro. Police said Mayall was located early Sunday morning and taken to an area hospital for a medical evaluation. Police in Vermont are searching for a suspect in a fatal shooting in Montpelier. Officers responded to the shooting at an apartment complex on Barre Street at 4:34 a.m. Saturday, where they found the victim outside of a vehicle in the parking lot. Authorities said the victim, 33-year-old Markus Austin, was suffering from at least one gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police believe the male suspect fled the scene in a vehicle. No arrests have been made. The shooting is not believed to be random and police think the victim and suspect knew each other. There also could be more than one suspect at large, according to police. Anyone who witnessed the shooting or who may have information is asked to contact the Vermont State Police in Middlesex at 802-229-9191 or the Montpelier Police Department at 802-223-3445. Massachusetts State Police and local police are investigating after a man was found fatally shot in Brockton on Saturday night. According to the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office, officers responded to a 911 call at 11:30 p.m. for a report of a shooting victim located in the street in front of 58 Sawtell Ave. The victim was said to be suffering from several gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. The district attorney's office identified the victim as Jermaine Smith, 37, of Brockton. No arrests have been made. State Police Detectives assigned to the Plymouth County District Attorneys Office and State Police Crime Scene Services are investigating. Anyone with information on the shooting is urged to contact Brockton Detectives at 508-941-0234 or State Police at 508-923-4014. Tens of thousands of demonstrators packed the nation's capital Saturday to take part in the Women's March in Washington D.C., and many of them are from Massachusetts. When asked why she made the trek to Washington D.C. all the way from Massachusetts, Reading native Ann Marie Bourque simply responded, Because we cant go backwards. Lauren Baugher from Waltham agreed saying, If we want things to change, we have to be willing to do something to make it happen. And it wasnt just women in attendance; men gathered as well and showed their support. I hope our president hears us, said Rich Dougherty from Bedford. I hope he reads a few newspapers. I hope he pays attention to world economists and I hope he can finally understand who we are. The event was particularly important for Katen Mannion, whose grandmother was Beacon Hill native and Suffolk University professor Fran Burke. My grandmother had basically dedicated her life to promoting women's rights and getting progressive female candidates elected. She unfortunately passed away in August and is unable to be here right now, so I am marching in her honor, Mannion explained. The marchers hope they are able to show the new Trump administration that they will not be silenced. Boston Police announced Sunday they made an arrest in the vandalism of a cruiser in South Boston on Friday. Officers responded to West Broadway at 8:22 a.m. for a cruiser on fire. Police Commissioner William Evans said an officer driving by noticed the fire between the cruiser and a bridge and immediately got out to move the vehicle. A propane tank was found underneath the cruiser and exploded right after. Two officers suffered only minor injuries. On Sunday, Evans announced at a news conference that Asim Kieta, 42, a homeless man, originally from Dorchester, had been arrested in connection with an 'incendiary device'. Evans said thanks to joint efforts between Boston Police detectives, the Boston Police Special Investigations Unit, the Boston Office of the FBI and members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, authorities were able to track Kieta down after releasing surveillance video of his vehicle. They caught up with him Saturday night in Charlestown where he was taken into custody. Authorities do not know the motive behind Friday's incident but did say Kieta has a history of run-ins with police. Among the charges Kieta faces are possession of an explosive device, assault with intent to murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a police officer, and arson of personal property. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday in South Boston District Court. If you live outside the U.S. and run an anonymous, Tor-friendly email servicesuch as one used by 4chan and 8chansadly, its a pretty decent bet you will experience some drama when entering the U.S. At least that was the case for Vincent Canfield as he was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and had all of his electronics seized by the agency. He is originally from the U.S., but he currently resides in Romania. Canfield, the admin of the cock.li e-mail hosting service, came to vacation in the U.S. after attending the 33rd Chaos Communication Congress held in Germany in December. He claims CBP detained him for over three hours, asking lots of strange and some offensive questions about his personal life. He refused to comply and instead gave them his attorneys contact information. Agents allegedly demanded he decrypt his phone so they could make sure there isn't any bad stuff on there. Again, he refused, so CPB seized the 14 electronic devices Canfield had with him. Although the devices are supposed to be returned, Canfield said it hasnt happened yet; some people wait more than six months to a year. He published the list of seized devices, noting that CBP took more than storage devices. Agents also took his headphones, a microphone and even the micro USB cable because it can technically plug into my Kindle, which can plug into my laptop which can plug into my phone. All of his devices are encrypted, and he is not worried about law enforcement successfully cracking the encryption. Who is Vincent Canfield? Even if you arent familiar with his email hosting service, Canfields name might ring a bell; he was in the news quite a bit back near the end of 2015 and start of 2016 due to hoax terrorist email threats sent to U.S. schools via his service. Last summer, at DefCon 24, Canfield gave a Skytalk about lessons learned from hosting public email for 4chan. He has been hosting anonymous, Tor-friendly email since 2013. The description of the talk added, In 2015, a malicious user sent an anonymous E-mail through my service threatening violence against schools in Los Angeles and New York. As a result, all schools in Los Angeles were closed, 610,000 students stayed home, and 1,500 schools were combed through by SWAT teams for bombs that werent there. Because I was the only public figure involved, I faced an incredible amount of heat from the media, governments, and the public. If you want more details, you can go straight to the source, as he publishes transparency reports that include subpoenas and emails received from law enforcement even though they are marked as no report or segment therefore may be released to any media sources. He also recorded a call to police, an officer with the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force, regarding a subpoena for a subscriber's information. On the way out of the U.S., Canfield alleged he was stopped again by two CBP officers who refused to identify themselves. This time, he handed over his phonean unlocked burner phone that had anime porn from 4chan open in the browser. He said that seemed to quench their thirst and clear him for his flight. Canfield noted that this experience soured him enough that he wont be coming to the U.S. for DefCon this year. Running numerous domains with offensive/vulgar names that cant be published here, but which have more than 60,000 registered accounts across those domains, and attending hacker conferences, shouldnt mean you will be targeted, detained and harassed at the U.S. border, before having all your electronic and peripheral devices seized. Nevertheless, it happens all the time to all sorts of people. Welcome to America, the land of the free, home of the brave facing an increasing surveillance state. Cheque presented to the Rosemary Appeal A THATCHAM church has contributed to a 4.5m scheme to build a state-of-the-art cancer care and renal dialysis unit in West Berkshire. Thatcham United Reformed Church chooses a local and an international charity each year to receive money from donations collected over Christmas. For its local charity, the church has donated 250 to the Newbury and Thatcham Hospital Building Trust, which is raising funds to build the two units at the West Berkshire Community Hospital. Minister at Thatcham URC the Rev John Lee, said the trust was chosen as the Thatcham community cared greatly about the hospital and jumped at the chance to support the appeal. Its very much in the hearts and minds of everyone, so clearly it came top of the list and we were happy to make an offering to them, he said. Trust secretary Rob Tayton said: Every penny is very much appreciated we have a lot of money to raise. We are very grateful to the United Reformed Church. I went to a service there, which was lovely, and they were very appreciative about what the appeal does and is about to do. Dr Tayton said that the trust was hopeful that work would start in the coming weeks. The Greenham Common Trust has agreed to match-fund the donation, taking the total amount donated by the church to 500. The church chose Open Doors, which supports persecuted Christians across the world, as its international charity. SV Krishna Chaitanya By Express News Service CHENNAI: As rain eluded Chennai and sun beating down, a group of students have taken upon themselves to quench the thirst of hundreds of fellow protestors at Marina. Their experiment of digging a small pit to extract clean drinking water on the shore had struck gold. Coming as surprise to many, less than three-foot-deep and hardly 150 metres away from sea waters, the students were able to extract portable drinking water and supply it to hundreds of protestors who queued up to refill their empty bottles. Though initially people were skeptical about the quality of water, soon it became a rage and people were seen saying the water was better than packaged drinking water. From toodlers to adults, all consumed it to beat the heat. It all started with two friends Ashok Kumar and Madhavan, engineering students and sooner others too picked it up and four wonder wells came up on the sea front opposite Vivekananda Illam, the epicentre of the ongoing agitation. Madhavan told the Express that it took about an hour to make the well work. We dug a 30-cm circular well with 3 ft depth and kept on draining the initial dirty water until we got the clear and clean water. We used cardboard boxes to protect the walls. In less than one hour, we were able to extract about 150 litres of water, he said. Another student Ajit, who is doing his charatered accountancy, said though water packets were being supplied it was not enough since the crowd swelled to record number. So, we are trying our bit to meet the drinking water demand, he said. CHENNAI: As rain eluded Chennai and sun beating down, a group of students have taken upon themselves to quench the thirst of hundreds of fellow protestors at Marina. Their experiment of digging a small pit to extract clean drinking water on the shore had struck gold. Coming as surprise to many, less than three-foot-deep and hardly 150 metres away from sea waters, the students were able to extract portable drinking water and supply it to hundreds of protestors who queued up to refill their empty bottles. Though initially people were skeptical about the quality of water, soon it became a rage and people were seen saying the water was better than packaged drinking water. From toodlers to adults, all consumed it to beat the heat. It all started with two friends Ashok Kumar and Madhavan, engineering students and sooner others too picked it up and four wonder wells came up on the sea front opposite Vivekananda Illam, the epicentre of the ongoing agitation. Madhavan told the Express that it took about an hour to make the well work. We dug a 30-cm circular well with 3 ft depth and kept on draining the initial dirty water until we got the clear and clean water. We used cardboard boxes to protect the walls. In less than one hour, we were able to extract about 150 litres of water, he said. Another student Ajit, who is doing his charatered accountancy, said though water packets were being supplied it was not enough since the crowd swelled to record number. So, we are trying our bit to meet the drinking water demand, he said. By Express News Service CHENNAI: Wherever we protest, we have been taking care to designate a person by turn to clean the place before we leave. Here, with this kind of crowd, its still difficult although its saddening to see the state of the beach, said Nandhini A, a second year law student. The protesters were put to inconvenience also due to lack of adequate toilets. The corporation toilets were so crowded yesterday and some people had to wait as they had no other option, said Hari (name changed), a student of the College of Engineering, who was at the protest. Although mobile toilets were brought in, many were put to use exceeding their capacity resulting in leakage. However, volunteers said they would do everything in their capacity to ensure they leave the area clean when the protests are over. It is our protest. We are coordinating it, we help clear the traffic, make sure women and children are safe. Whats the point in fighting for a big cause such as this if we are dirtying our hometown, said S Snegalatha, an IT professional. Usually, at the end of the day, corporation workers clean up the place. But since the protests have been going on night and day for five days now, they are finding it difficult to clean the area, said a corporation source. The protesters started thronging the Marina five days ago, heeding call of activists made on social networking sites. The culmination of their unrelenting protests came in the form of an ordinance passed by the State government. CHENNAI: Wherever we protest, we have been taking care to designate a person by turn to clean the place before we leave. Here, with this kind of crowd, its still difficult although its saddening to see the state of the beach, said Nandhini A, a second year law student. The protesters were put to inconvenience also due to lack of adequate toilets. The corporation toilets were so crowded yesterday and some people had to wait as they had no other option, said Hari (name changed), a student of the College of Engineering, who was at the protest. Although mobile toilets were brought in, many were put to use exceeding their capacity resulting in leakage. However, volunteers said they would do everything in their capacity to ensure they leave the area clean when the protests are over. It is our protest. We are coordinating it, we help clear the traffic, make sure women and children are safe. Whats the point in fighting for a big cause such as this if we are dirtying our hometown, said S Snegalatha, an IT professional. Usually, at the end of the day, corporation workers clean up the place. But since the protests have been going on night and day for five days now, they are finding it difficult to clean the area, said a corporation source. The protesters started thronging the Marina five days ago, heeding call of activists made on social networking sites. The culmination of their unrelenting protests came in the form of an ordinance passed by the State government. Dia Rekhi By Express News Service CHENNAI: She sat with a dupatta covering her head in the afternoon on Saturday close to Gandhi statue on Marina beach. She winced every time the sun hurt her eyes as she spoke to the people coming up to where she sat beaming with friends by three large white sheets taped to the ground and every inch covered with palm prints of all sizes. This was G Sruthys version of a signature campaign. Sruthy has been a regular at the protests since the third day. She said she was amazed by the crowd and drawn by stories of people who had left their jobs or exams and college, just to be a part of the agitation. These people had so much more to lose and they were all here so how could I not come? she asked. I had nothing to lose and it is my duty to stand up for what is right. That is why I am here and will continue to come till this protest ends, added the 22-year-old B.Tech student. However, she is excited at getting new friends here. It is amazing to see so many wonderful people in one place, she said. The environment is so friendly here. Generally one is uncomfortable speaking to strangers but here everyone is talking to everyone for the smallest of things like asking for water or getting some food. According to her, the reason people are standing up for the cause is larger, the preservation of the native breeds. The issue is about the milk more than anything else, she explained. Jallikattu is a way to find out which is the best breed to get better milk. The bull isnt killed like in Spain. I want to have the milk of the native breed. I dont want to be fooled with a low quality product, she said. The young woman among the many disappointed by the Jallikattu ordinance, terming it as temporary solution. The Chief Minister has to speak up, she said adding When we can do it, why cant he? Isnt his job as a Chief Minister, to represent us and not sit quiet in front of the Prime Minister? She brings nothing from home, apart from her markers, paints and other stationery. I dont feel the need to bring anything. Everything is provided here, she said. There is a constant supply of water, food and snacks. I dont know who is providing all this food but it reaches me with no trouble, she said and pointed towards two biscuit packs. Sruthys schedule has been packed for the last couple of days. She visits Marina every morning and stays till about 8 pm, after which she rushes home. I go home exhausted but it is all worth it when youre helping to make history, she said. CHENNAI: She sat with a dupatta covering her head in the afternoon on Saturday close to Gandhi statue on Marina beach. She winced every time the sun hurt her eyes as she spoke to the people coming up to where she sat beaming with friends by three large white sheets taped to the ground and every inch covered with palm prints of all sizes. This was G Sruthys version of a signature campaign. Sruthy has been a regular at the protests since the third day. She said she was amazed by the crowd and drawn by stories of people who had left their jobs or exams and college, just to be a part of the agitation. These people had so much more to lose and they were all here so how could I not come? she asked. I had nothing to lose and it is my duty to stand up for what is right. That is why I am here and will continue to come till this protest ends, added the 22-year-old B.Tech student. However, she is excited at getting new friends here. It is amazing to see so many wonderful people in one place, she said. The environment is so friendly here. Generally one is uncomfortable speaking to strangers but here everyone is talking to everyone for the smallest of things like asking for water or getting some food. According to her, the reason people are standing up for the cause is larger, the preservation of the native breeds. The issue is about the milk more than anything else, she explained. Jallikattu is a way to find out which is the best breed to get better milk. The bull isnt killed like in Spain. I want to have the milk of the native breed. I dont want to be fooled with a low quality product, she said. The young woman among the many disappointed by the Jallikattu ordinance, terming it as temporary solution. The Chief Minister has to speak up, she said adding When we can do it, why cant he? Isnt his job as a Chief Minister, to represent us and not sit quiet in front of the Prime Minister? She brings nothing from home, apart from her markers, paints and other stationery. I dont feel the need to bring anything. Everything is provided here, she said. There is a constant supply of water, food and snacks. I dont know who is providing all this food but it reaches me with no trouble, she said and pointed towards two biscuit packs. Sruthys schedule has been packed for the last couple of days. She visits Marina every morning and stays till about 8 pm, after which she rushes home. I go home exhausted but it is all worth it when youre helping to make history, she said. By PTI NEW DELHI: The National Zoological Park is returning to normalcy after a brief hiatus post the bird flu scare, with a spurt in the birth-rate of several animals including endangered and exotic deer species. "Various deer species including Thailand deer, chital, nilgai, sangai, swamp deer, hog deer, chinkara, sambar, brow-antlered deer and a lion-tailed macaque, hippo and gaur gave birth recently," zoo curator Riyaz Khan said. He said the zoo recorded births of 11 Thailand deer, 4 chital, 10 sangai, 2 swamp deer, 5 hog deer, 5 sambar and one each of chinakra, gaur and brow-antlered deer this month. A hippopotamus and a lion-tailed macaque were also new additions to the zoo, the official said. The Delhi zoo, a popular spot among children and adults,recently reopened after a three-month shutdown following the death of 13 free ranging birds like painted storks, ducks and rosy pelicans due to the H5N8 Avian influenza commonly known as bird flu. The zoo had, following its shutdown on October 18 last year been declared a no quarantine zone, and was strictly off limits following the death of several birds. The park has come under scrutiny for a number of animal deaths in the past few years, also blamed on lack of a mate and loneliness. The zoo had reported the death of 46 spotted deer last year and caged birds like munia, grey partridge and ringneck parrots. A baby gibbon, the first inbred of its kind, also died at the zoo last month. Delhi zoo director Amitabh Agnihotri, in a release, said the zoo was working in close coordination with the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to eliminate all traces of bird flu. "We have stopped doing post-mortems of birds at the zoo. We are sending the samples to CZA. Samples of water, soil, fecal matter, cloacal and tracheal swabs from birds are collected by the Rapid Response Team (RRT) on a weekly basis and sent to National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD)," he said. The curator also said the zoo continued to be a favourite spot for people on being asked whether the temporary break has affected the crowd. "We have received more than 25,000 visitors since the zoo was reopened on January 11. More than 20,000 people, including foreigners, visited the park last weekend," Khan said. NEW DELHI: The National Zoological Park is returning to normalcy after a brief hiatus post the bird flu scare, with a spurt in the birth-rate of several animals including endangered and exotic deer species. "Various deer species including Thailand deer, chital, nilgai, sangai, swamp deer, hog deer, chinkara, sambar, brow-antlered deer and a lion-tailed macaque, hippo and gaur gave birth recently," zoo curator Riyaz Khan said. He said the zoo recorded births of 11 Thailand deer, 4 chital, 10 sangai, 2 swamp deer, 5 hog deer, 5 sambar and one each of chinakra, gaur and brow-antlered deer this month. A hippopotamus and a lion-tailed macaque were also new additions to the zoo, the official said. The Delhi zoo, a popular spot among children and adults,recently reopened after a three-month shutdown following the death of 13 free ranging birds like painted storks, ducks and rosy pelicans due to the H5N8 Avian influenza commonly known as bird flu. The zoo had, following its shutdown on October 18 last year been declared a no quarantine zone, and was strictly off limits following the death of several birds. The park has come under scrutiny for a number of animal deaths in the past few years, also blamed on lack of a mate and loneliness. The zoo had reported the death of 46 spotted deer last year and caged birds like munia, grey partridge and ringneck parrots. A baby gibbon, the first inbred of its kind, also died at the zoo last month. Delhi zoo director Amitabh Agnihotri, in a release, said the zoo was working in close coordination with the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to eliminate all traces of bird flu. "We have stopped doing post-mortems of birds at the zoo. We are sending the samples to CZA. Samples of water, soil, fecal matter, cloacal and tracheal swabs from birds are collected by the Rapid Response Team (RRT) on a weekly basis and sent to National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD)," he said. The curator also said the zoo continued to be a favourite spot for people on being asked whether the temporary break has affected the crowd. "We have received more than 25,000 visitors since the zoo was reopened on January 11. More than 20,000 people, including foreigners, visited the park last weekend," Khan said. Toby Antony By Express News Service KOCHI: Uthup Varghese, owner of Al Zarafa Travels and Manpower Consultants, told Express that he was unaware of the lookout notice issued against him by the Interpol in connection with the recruitment scam. Uthup, against whom the CBI has filed chargesheet, also confirmed that he was staying in Abu Dhabi. I am in Abu Dhabi. I dont know details of the chargesheet. I dont even know who is the complainant in the case, he stated in a text message. Last month, Uthup had told Express he was falsely implicated in the case. Claiming that Al Zarafa was operating legally through more than 7,000 licensed agencies across the country, he said he had been residing abroad for 19 years. According to Uthup, he responded to two notices sent by the CBI, and is not able to leave Kuwait due to regulations introduced by the Central Government last year. Meanwhile, the CBI said Uthup did not respond to notices sent in 2015 for appearing before the agency. The Interpol has issued a red-corner notice, following our request. Uthup has not been cooperating with the investigation, said a CBI officer. KOCHI: Uthup Varghese, owner of Al Zarafa Travels and Manpower Consultants, told Express that he was unaware of the lookout notice issued against him by the Interpol in connection with the recruitment scam. Uthup, against whom the CBI has filed chargesheet, also confirmed that he was staying in Abu Dhabi. I am in Abu Dhabi. I dont know details of the chargesheet. I dont even know who is the complainant in the case, he stated in a text message. Last month, Uthup had told Express he was falsely implicated in the case. Claiming that Al Zarafa was operating legally through more than 7,000 licensed agencies across the country, he said he had been residing abroad for 19 years. According to Uthup, he responded to two notices sent by the CBI, and is not able to leave Kuwait due to regulations introduced by the Central Government last year. Meanwhile, the CBI said Uthup did not respond to notices sent in 2015 for appearing before the agency. The Interpol has issued a red-corner notice, following our request. Uthup has not been cooperating with the investigation, said a CBI officer. Prasanta Mazumdar By Express News Service GUWAHATI: Two Assam Rifles personnel were killed in an ambush laid jointly by militants of the SS Khaplang faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) and the Paresh Baruah faction of United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) along Assam-Arunachal border on Sunday morning. Sources in the Assam Rifles told Express the attack was perpetrated at a place between Jagun and Jairampur of the inter-state border. Tourists vehicles stranded near Assam-Arunachal border. (EPS) Two of our personnel lost their lives in the incident. The attack was carried out jointly by ULFA and NSCN-K), the sources said. They added that the victims were members of a road opening party (ROP). As the encounter was on, dozens of vehicles, carrying both domestic and foreign tourists and heading to Pangsau Pass on the India-Myanmar border, were stranded. This is the fourth ambush by militants on security forces in the Northeast in recent months. On December 4, a JCO was among two Assam Rifles personnel killed in an ambush by the NSCN-K in Arunachal. November 19, a combined team of NSCN-K and ULFA had carried out an ambush on Army personnel in Assam, killing three and injuring four others. This was followed by another ambush on a group of 21 Para commandos in Manipur on November 26. Five Army personnel were injured in that attack. Insurgent outfits of the Northeast have their bases in Myanmar. A number of them have come under one umbrella after the formation of United National Liberation Front of Western South East Asia. Ever since its formation, they started carrying out the attacks jointly. GUWAHATI: Two Assam Rifles personnel were killed in an ambush laid jointly by militants of the SS Khaplang faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) and the Paresh Baruah faction of United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) along Assam-Arunachal border on Sunday morning. Sources in the Assam Rifles told Express the attack was perpetrated at a place between Jagun and Jairampur of the inter-state border. Tourists vehicles stranded near Assam-Arunachal border. (EPS)Two of our personnel lost their lives in the incident. The attack was carried out jointly by ULFA and NSCN-K), the sources said. They added that the victims were members of a road opening party (ROP). As the encounter was on, dozens of vehicles, carrying both domestic and foreign tourists and heading to Pangsau Pass on the India-Myanmar border, were stranded. This is the fourth ambush by militants on security forces in the Northeast in recent months. On December 4, a JCO was among two Assam Rifles personnel killed in an ambush by the NSCN-K in Arunachal. November 19, a combined team of NSCN-K and ULFA had carried out an ambush on Army personnel in Assam, killing three and injuring four others. This was followed by another ambush on a group of 21 Para commandos in Manipur on November 26. Five Army personnel were injured in that attack. Insurgent outfits of the Northeast have their bases in Myanmar. A number of them have come under one umbrella after the formation of United National Liberation Front of Western South East Asia. Ever since its formation, they started carrying out the attacks jointly. If you cant say something nice. Sometimes, its hard to say nothing at all. There are times when you need to speak out, to confront, share your opinion, rant or vent. And then there are times, as in the new book, Audacity, by Jonathan Chait, where you must praise. For perhaps the last few months of Barack Obamas presidency, media outlets have debated about something that definitely matters: was he one of the best presidents, or one of the worst? Its the former, says Chait, even though he admits there are times when it looks like the latter. Obama, he says, however, absolutely succeeded at what he set out to do, and this book follows that argument. Though the Civil Rights movement was 40-some years prior to the day a black man moved into the White House, racial issues keenly split the country over the last eight years, not along lines of race, but on political lines. White America often denied it, but Obama forced a harder soul-search on racism. He reportedly had a large agenda upon taking office in 2009, but it quickly became clear that his work would be to avoid, rather than fix, another Great Depression. He succeeded, but no president gets kudos for things like that. Instead, says Chait, there was and still is criticism about his actions, economically. Health care legislation insured millions of Americans who otherwise would have no coverage, thanks to Obama and a surprising number of ideas that first came from the Republicans. As a new president, Obama boosted the economy by spending money on green energy, with an eye toward global climate concerns. He helped restore Americas world-wide standing; and foresightfully recognized China and India as budding superpowers. So why is anyone questioning his audacity, or the legacy he leaves behind? The answer to that lies in the recent past, and in the history of Twentieth-Century American politics. Understanding both, and what happens from here, is enhanced by learning whats inside Audacity. Just know first that theres a lot to absorb. Because author Jonathan Chait is also a political columnist, the goings-on behind-the-scenes in Washington are presented in great detail in this book. That can be both a good thing and a bad thing: good, because Chait is clear in reasoning and thorough in fact-finding, in favor of arguments for a stellar Obama legacy; bad, because this thoroughness becomes quite heavy at times. That could turn away readers with a lesser palate for politics, although one wouldnt have to look hard to see why persevering is important: Chait explains how Obamas tenure as President ultimately turned out as it did, and why many voters are still, perhaps wrongly, disappointed in his work. Chait then goes on to clearly illuminate what happened at the last election, and why. Give yourself time for a careful read of this book, especially if you might disagree with its author. Theres argument in here that may or may not change minds; either way, Audacity might at least give you something nice to say. Prasanta Mazumdar By Express News Service GUWAHATI: The security forces hit back at the militants on Sunday, gunning down two of them, hours after they had killed two Assam Rifles personnel in an ambush along Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border. The police said the militants had triggered IED and grenade blasts and fired indiscriminately from sophisticated weapons while laying the ambush on a road opening party (ROP) of the Assam Rifles. Two personnel, who were critically injured, succumbed to their injuries later. Assams Director General of Police, Mukesh Sahay, told Express that the Coordination Committee (CorCom), which is an umbrella body of Manipuri insurgent groups, had carried out the attack with the backing of the SS Khaplang faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) and the Paresh Baruah faction of United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). A team of Assam Rifles personnel was on an ROP duty when it came under attack from the rebels. Two personnel were killed in the incident. Later, the security forces neutralized two extremists, Sahay said. When reports last came in, the security forces were conducting combing operations against the militants. Defence sources said the operations would continue till Sunday midnight or Monday morning. After the ambush, hundreds of tourists, most of who were headed to Pangsau festival near India-Myanmar border in Arunachal, were stuck up on National Highway 153 between Nampong in Changlang district of Arunachal and Jagun in Assam. Sahay said the road would be opened soon following sanitization. The tourists were stranded there for hours together without food, water and toilet facilities. Meanwhile, claiming responsibility of the ambush, the CorCom and the Paresh Baruah faction of ULFA in a joint statement expressed gratitude to the joint team for their brave action against the Indian security forces, to the commander of joint tactical operations centre for this successful operation and to fraternal organisations and the locals for their help. This was the fourth ambush by militants on security forces in the Northeast in recent months. On December 4, a JCO was among two Assam Rifles personnel killed in an ambush by the NSCN-K in Arunachal. On November 19, a combined team of NSCN-K and ULFA had carried out an ambush on Army personnel in Assam, killing three and injuring four others. This was followed by another ambush on a group of 21 Para commandos in Manipur on November 26. Five Army personnel were injured in that attack. Many insurgent outfits of the Northeast have their bases in Myanmar. A number of them have come under one umbrella after the formation of United National Liberation Front of Western South East Asia. Ever since its formation, they started carrying out the attacks jointly. GUWAHATI: The security forces hit back at the militants on Sunday, gunning down two of them, hours after they had killed two Assam Rifles personnel in an ambush along Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border. The police said the militants had triggered IED and grenade blasts and fired indiscriminately from sophisticated weapons while laying the ambush on a road opening party (ROP) of the Assam Rifles. Two personnel, who were critically injured, succumbed to their injuries later. Assams Director General of Police, Mukesh Sahay, told Express that the Coordination Committee (CorCom), which is an umbrella body of Manipuri insurgent groups, had carried out the attack with the backing of the SS Khaplang faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) and the Paresh Baruah faction of United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). A team of Assam Rifles personnel was on an ROP duty when it came under attack from the rebels. Two personnel were killed in the incident. Later, the security forces neutralized two extremists, Sahay said. When reports last came in, the security forces were conducting combing operations against the militants. Defence sources said the operations would continue till Sunday midnight or Monday morning. After the ambush, hundreds of tourists, most of who were headed to Pangsau festival near India-Myanmar border in Arunachal, were stuck up on National Highway 153 between Nampong in Changlang district of Arunachal and Jagun in Assam. Sahay said the road would be opened soon following sanitization. The tourists were stranded there for hours together without food, water and toilet facilities. Meanwhile, claiming responsibility of the ambush, the CorCom and the Paresh Baruah faction of ULFA in a joint statement expressed gratitude to the joint team for their brave action against the Indian security forces, to the commander of joint tactical operations centre for this successful operation and to fraternal organisations and the locals for their help. This was the fourth ambush by militants on security forces in the Northeast in recent months. On December 4, a JCO was among two Assam Rifles personnel killed in an ambush by the NSCN-K in Arunachal. On November 19, a combined team of NSCN-K and ULFA had carried out an ambush on Army personnel in Assam, killing three and injuring four others. This was followed by another ambush on a group of 21 Para commandos in Manipur on November 26. Five Army personnel were injured in that attack. Many insurgent outfits of the Northeast have their bases in Myanmar. A number of them have come under one umbrella after the formation of United National Liberation Front of Western South East Asia. Ever since its formation, they started carrying out the attacks jointly. Ritu Sharma By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The government has approved 16 residential schools for Muslim students, which will be modelled on the traditional gurukuls; and the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are taking a lead in this. The newest Indian state of Telangana is taking proactive measures to avail benefit of the Centres scheme. The scheme is estimated to cost about `262 crore. The scheme is part of the Centres plan to modernise the education for Muslims in the country. Sources in the Ministry of Minority Affairs said: Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have been very receptive of the scheme and have even identified the land for the gurukuls. In fact the states want more than one gurukuls to be set up. In Telangana, Muslims form 12.68 percent of the total population and in Andhra Pradesh they form 8.52 percent of the total population. Apart from this the government has also announced to establish 5 Universities of international standards to provide better traditional and modern education to students belonging to minority community. A high level committee, comprising of Vice Chancellor of Jamia Milia Islamia Talad Ahmad and Aligarh Muslim Universitys Vice Chancellor Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah, has been constituted to look into the road map for the institutions, expected to be functional by 2018. So far four states have expressed interest and they include Haryana, Punjab, Telangana and Maharashtra. The states have to provide 100 acres of land for the institute. And the committee will be deciding if the institutions will be deemed minority institutions, what percentage of students will be from minority communities among other things, sources added. The government has proposed to have 40 percent seats in these institutions reserved for girls. Education continues to remain a sore point for Muslim population in the country with high dropouts. According to the 2006 Sachar Committee Report, One-fourth of Muslim children aged between 6-14 have either never attended school or are dropouts. NEW DELHI: The government has approved 16 residential schools for Muslim students, which will be modelled on the traditional gurukuls; and the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are taking a lead in this. The newest Indian state of Telangana is taking proactive measures to avail benefit of the Centres scheme. The scheme is estimated to cost about `262 crore. The scheme is part of the Centres plan to modernise the education for Muslims in the country. Sources in the Ministry of Minority Affairs said: Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have been very receptive of the scheme and have even identified the land for the gurukuls. In fact the states want more than one gurukuls to be set up. In Telangana, Muslims form 12.68 percent of the total population and in Andhra Pradesh they form 8.52 percent of the total population. Apart from this the government has also announced to establish 5 Universities of international standards to provide better traditional and modern education to students belonging to minority community. A high level committee, comprising of Vice Chancellor of Jamia Milia Islamia Talad Ahmad and Aligarh Muslim Universitys Vice Chancellor Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah, has been constituted to look into the road map for the institutions, expected to be functional by 2018. So far four states have expressed interest and they include Haryana, Punjab, Telangana and Maharashtra. The states have to provide 100 acres of land for the institute. And the committee will be deciding if the institutions will be deemed minority institutions, what percentage of students will be from minority communities among other things, sources added. The government has proposed to have 40 percent seats in these institutions reserved for girls. Education continues to remain a sore point for Muslim population in the country with high dropouts. According to the 2006 Sachar Committee Report, One-fourth of Muslim children aged between 6-14 have either never attended school or are dropouts. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: In a yet another measure to curb the air pollution levels in Delhi, environment minister Imran Hussain has written to the Central government on Saturday requesting establishment of green crematoriums to curb biomass emissions. In a letter written by Khan, he speaks of constituting a technical committee for drafting a policy for creating design of such prospects. There is an urgent need to convert existing wood-based into green crematoria. The measure comes at a time when the national capital is covered in a thick blanket of smog with harmful levels of air pollution touching new heights. The minister has also asked the Central government to direct the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and various state governments to take concrete steps to control air pollution. As per many reports the neighbouring states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh are adding to the toxic levels of PM 2.5 in the air of Delhi. The eco-friendly suggestion by the minister has been implemented near the iconic Taj Mahal last year after the direction from the Supreme Court with regard to the structure turning yellowish. There are around 400 cremation grounds in the national capital. The car rationing odd-even has been implemented twice in the national capital when the air pollution levels were dangerously high. NEW DELHI: In a yet another measure to curb the air pollution levels in Delhi, environment minister Imran Hussain has written to the Central government on Saturday requesting establishment of green crematoriums to curb biomass emissions. In a letter written by Khan, he speaks of constituting a technical committee for drafting a policy for creating design of such prospects. There is an urgent need to convert existing wood-based into green crematoria. The measure comes at a time when the national capital is covered in a thick blanket of smog with harmful levels of air pollution touching new heights. The minister has also asked the Central government to direct the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and various state governments to take concrete steps to control air pollution. As per many reports the neighbouring states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh are adding to the toxic levels of PM 2.5 in the air of Delhi. The eco-friendly suggestion by the minister has been implemented near the iconic Taj Mahal last year after the direction from the Supreme Court with regard to the structure turning yellowish. There are around 400 cremation grounds in the national capital. The car rationing odd-even has been implemented twice in the national capital when the air pollution levels were dangerously high. Harpreet Bajwa By Express News Service CHANDIGARH: With the AAP, Congress and Akali Dal-BJP set to face each other in the much anticipated State Assembly polls scheduled for February 4, parties are in for a virtual war on the social media in a bid to attract the young voters. An illustration strip that is being widely shared on social media networks shows Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh throwing AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal out of the wrestling ring. While in another illustration, AAP MP Bhagwant Mann lifts deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on his shoulders in the ring. With 53 per cent voters in the age group of 18 to 39 years in Punjab and a high rate of mobile phone usage in the state, for the first time, the campaigning by the political parties and candidates on the ground is surpassed by a full-fledged social media war being fought which has AAP in the lead followed by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Congress. Talking with Express, 22-year-old Pulkit Sharma who is handling the AAP social media campaign in Punjab says, The party has Facebook page Aam Aadmi Party - Punjab which has 8.50 lakh likes and besides this there are other Facebook pages Aam Aadmi-Jalandhar and Aam Aadmi-Ludhiana which have 3.50 lakh likes each. Besides that all the eleven zones have their respective Facebook pages which have their followers. Not just Facebook, the party also has 32,000 followers on its main handle on twitter and besides that, every candidate (117 constituencies) has a twitter handle with an average 1000 followers and all the 11 zones have their handles with average 5,000 to 10,000 followers besides 400 whatsapp groups, he said. The aggressive social media team of AAP posts updates pertaining to election or political stand of the over numerous issues, posters etc apart from cartoons and illustrations Dangal with Badals. Every day we post fifty illustrations/cartoons, which on an estimate, reach about two to three lakh people, claims Sharma. AAPs social media campaigning is handled by a dedicated team of ten volunteers that include Dola Baru Singh, a housewife from Phagwara town of the state who handles the partys twitter handle besides Harmeet Singh who works from Hyderabad. Volunteers from abroad also help the team to run these social media campaigns successfully. The party also facilitates the voters with an opportunity to compare the profiles of the candidates for the people to judge wisely. It is estimated that Punjab has about 49 lakh Facebook users and AAP claims that all the users in the state have seen its campaign on Facebook. AAP is followed by the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal as it has 5.35 lakh likes on its Facebook page and 68, 700 Twitter followers and the Congress has 2.90 lakh likes on its Punjab page and 11,2 00 followers on Twitter and 1000 Whatsapp groups to spread the information. The partys social media exercise is being handled by a team in Prashant Kishors Indian Political Action Committee. The SADs junior coalition partner BJP is also running a social media cell for the last three months CHANDIGARH: With the AAP, Congress and Akali Dal-BJP set to face each other in the much anticipated State Assembly polls scheduled for February 4, parties are in for a virtual war on the social media in a bid to attract the young voters. An illustration strip that is being widely shared on social media networks shows Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh throwing AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal out of the wrestling ring. While in another illustration, AAP MP Bhagwant Mann lifts deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on his shoulders in the ring. With 53 per cent voters in the age group of 18 to 39 years in Punjab and a high rate of mobile phone usage in the state, for the first time, the campaigning by the political parties and candidates on the ground is surpassed by a full-fledged social media war being fought which has AAP in the lead followed by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Congress. Talking with Express, 22-year-old Pulkit Sharma who is handling the AAP social media campaign in Punjab says, The party has Facebook page Aam Aadmi Party - Punjab which has 8.50 lakh likes and besides this there are other Facebook pages Aam Aadmi-Jalandhar and Aam Aadmi-Ludhiana which have 3.50 lakh likes each. Besides that all the eleven zones have their respective Facebook pages which have their followers. Not just Facebook, the party also has 32,000 followers on its main handle on twitter and besides that, every candidate (117 constituencies) has a twitter handle with an average 1000 followers and all the 11 zones have their handles with average 5,000 to 10,000 followers besides 400 whatsapp groups, he said. The aggressive social media team of AAP posts updates pertaining to election or political stand of the over numerous issues, posters etc apart from cartoons and illustrations Dangal with Badals. Every day we post fifty illustrations/cartoons, which on an estimate, reach about two to three lakh people, claims Sharma. AAPs social media campaigning is handled by a dedicated team of ten volunteers that include Dola Baru Singh, a housewife from Phagwara town of the state who handles the partys twitter handle besides Harmeet Singh who works from Hyderabad. Volunteers from abroad also help the team to run these social media campaigns successfully. The party also facilitates the voters with an opportunity to compare the profiles of the candidates for the people to judge wisely. It is estimated that Punjab has about 49 lakh Facebook users and AAP claims that all the users in the state have seen its campaign on Facebook. AAP is followed by the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal as it has 5.35 lakh likes on its Facebook page and 68, 700 Twitter followers and the Congress has 2.90 lakh likes on its Punjab page and 11,2 00 followers on Twitter and 1000 Whatsapp groups to spread the information. The partys social media exercise is being handled by a team in Prashant Kishors Indian Political Action Committee. The SADs junior coalition partner BJP is also running a social media cell for the last three months Namita bajpai By Express News Service LUCKNOW: Just three weeks before UP votes in the first phase, Samajwadi Party and Congress -- overcoming an extended period of hiccups -- signed their UP pact on Sunday to contest the forthcoming state elections together. As per the deal, while SP will contest on 298 seats, Congress 105. Akhilesh Yadav would be the CM face of the combine. Making a formal announcement to this effect at a joint press conference here on Sunday, Samajwadi Party state president Naresh Uttam and Congress state chief Raj Babbar said that the alliance was forged against communal and caste forces raising their head in the state and that it would introduce a new revolutionary era in the state politics. Calling it a historical alliance, Babbar sought the support of the people of the state more so a chance to work for people's welfare. "This tie-up will contribute to the growth and development of the nation as well," he added. The two parties are upbeat at the prospect of consolidation of their respective vote share. In 2012, the combinbed vote share of SP and Congress was 40%, which is much higher than the average vote share garnered by winning parties in UP. Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party released another list of its 79 candidates after the declaration of alliance with Congress on Sunday, taking the total to 289 of its total share of 298. It is yet to announce the tickets for five seats of state captial Lucknow, where Mulayam's younger daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav is also one of the claimants. In the latest list of 79, the ruling party declared three of five candidates for assembly constituencies in Rae Bareli, and two of five candidates for assembly seats in Amethi district leaving the rest two in Rae Bareli and three in Amethi for the Congress. Both the parties will now contest those seats on which they already have their sitting MLAs in the two districts, however, the Congress party is yet to come out with its first list. Earlier, the alliance had hit a roadblock over seat-sharing on Friday when the ruling SP declared the names of 210 its 403 candidates - mainly from west UP and nine of these seats were the ones where Congress had won in 2012. As per the initial seat-sharing understanding, the two parties had agreed to the broader formula under which SP was supposed to leave those seats for Congress where the latter had sitting MALs and also those where it (Congress) remained runner up in the previous election. It is believed that Amethi and Rae Bareli were also one of the areas of disagreement between the two prospective alliance partners. While SP was not supposedly ready to leave any of the seats in Amethi and was adamant at contesting on all but one in Rae Bareli, Congress too hardened it stand seeking at least two seats in Amethi, its bastion and a prestige issue, as Amethi and Rae Bareli are represented by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, respectively, in Lok Sabha. Now, SP has left two seats in Rae Bareli and three seats in Amethi for Congress. Just when it appeared that the chances of a pact were almost over, in a new twist, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's close aide Ahmad Patel pitched in reviving the tie-up talks on late Saturday night. The suspense over the alliance still prevailed with the Congress hardening its stand and finalising candidates on 140 seats for the first two phases at its Central Election Committee (CEC). But keeping the hopes for alliance alive, the party did not declare the candidates with senior leaders saying that pact talks were still on. LUCKNOW: Just three weeks before UP votes in the first phase, Samajwadi Party and Congress -- overcoming an extended period of hiccups -- signed their UP pact on Sunday to contest the forthcoming state elections together. As per the deal, while SP will contest on 298 seats, Congress 105. Akhilesh Yadav would be the CM face of the combine. Making a formal announcement to this effect at a joint press conference here on Sunday, Samajwadi Party state president Naresh Uttam and Congress state chief Raj Babbar said that the alliance was forged against communal and caste forces raising their head in the state and that it would introduce a new revolutionary era in the state politics. Calling it a historical alliance, Babbar sought the support of the people of the state more so a chance to work for people's welfare. "This tie-up will contribute to the growth and development of the nation as well," he added. The two parties are upbeat at the prospect of consolidation of their respective vote share. In 2012, the combinbed vote share of SP and Congress was 40%, which is much higher than the average vote share garnered by winning parties in UP. Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party released another list of its 79 candidates after the declaration of alliance with Congress on Sunday, taking the total to 289 of its total share of 298. It is yet to announce the tickets for five seats of state captial Lucknow, where Mulayam's younger daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav is also one of the claimants. In the latest list of 79, the ruling party declared three of five candidates for assembly constituencies in Rae Bareli, and two of five candidates for assembly seats in Amethi district leaving the rest two in Rae Bareli and three in Amethi for the Congress. Both the parties will now contest those seats on which they already have their sitting MLAs in the two districts, however, the Congress party is yet to come out with its first list. Earlier, the alliance had hit a roadblock over seat-sharing on Friday when the ruling SP declared the names of 210 its 403 candidates - mainly from west UP and nine of these seats were the ones where Congress had won in 2012. As per the initial seat-sharing understanding, the two parties had agreed to the broader formula under which SP was supposed to leave those seats for Congress where the latter had sitting MALs and also those where it (Congress) remained runner up in the previous election. It is believed that Amethi and Rae Bareli were also one of the areas of disagreement between the two prospective alliance partners. While SP was not supposedly ready to leave any of the seats in Amethi and was adamant at contesting on all but one in Rae Bareli, Congress too hardened it stand seeking at least two seats in Amethi, its bastion and a prestige issue, as Amethi and Rae Bareli are represented by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, respectively, in Lok Sabha. Now, SP has left two seats in Rae Bareli and three seats in Amethi for Congress. Just when it appeared that the chances of a pact were almost over, in a new twist, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's close aide Ahmad Patel pitched in reviving the tie-up talks on late Saturday night. The suspense over the alliance still prevailed with the Congress hardening its stand and finalising candidates on 140 seats for the first two phases at its Central Election Committee (CEC). But keeping the hopes for alliance alive, the party did not declare the candidates with senior leaders saying that pact talks were still on. By Online Desk NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court dismissed a plea challenging the appointment of Justice J S Khehar as the Chief Justice of India, saying the judgement in the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) case cannot be used as "a ruse to interdict" the assumption of office by Khehar. A bench of Justices R K Agrawal and D Y Chandrachud gave a reasoned judgement while dismissing the plea filed by the National Lawyers' Campaign for Judicial Transparency and Reforms challenging Justice Khehar's appointment contending that since he had presided over the five-judge Constitution Bench which revived the collegium after striking down the NJAC in October 2015, he was a beneficiary of his own verdict. In the detailed judgement uploaded recently, the apex court said the petition seeking to challenge the appointment of Justice Khehar as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI) has no constitutional foundation or basis. With regard to the eligibility of Justice Khehar which was challenged by the lawyer's body on the ground that the judgment in the NJAC case was delivered by him and therefore he had usurped to himself the power of appointment of the Judges, Justice Agrawal said the judgement was delivered individually by all five judges and decided by four judges. The constitution bench headed by Justice Khehar had held that the Constitutional (99th Amendment) Act, 2014 and the NJAC Act, 2014 were unconstitutional. "So far as the allegation that he (Justice Khehar) has usurped the power of appointment of Judges to himself is concerned, it is sufficient to mention here that the Collegium not only consists of the Chief Justice of India but four other senior judges as well and it cannot be said that the Chief Justice of India can usurp the power of appointing the Judges for himself," it said. "The petitioners have themselves admitted the qualities of Justice J S Khehar in paragraph 6, 20 and Ground No. C of the petition, and there is no question of his being considered as ineligible or disqualified for being appointed as the Chief Justice of India," the bench said. The apex court further said the petitioners have the remedy to file a review and curative petition as far as the correctness of the decision in the NJAC case is concerned. "Justice Khehar was duly appointed by the President of India as a Judge of the Supreme Court under Article 124(2) on 13 September 2011. Being the senior most Judge of the Supreme Court of India, his appointment as Chief Justice of India follows a recognised constitutional convention (duly acknowledged and reiterated in the Memorandum of Procedure) of the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court being appointed to the office of Chief Justice of India. "It is preposterous to urge that the senior most puisne Judge of the Supreme Court is disqualified for appointment as Chief Justice of India on the basis of a perception formed by a litigant of a judgment delivered by the Judge. "The issue as to whether Justice Khehar should recuse himself from participating in the hearing of the NJAC case was considered and the plea for recusal was specifically negatived," Justice Chandrachud said. "We do not find any merit in the petition and the same is dismissed," the bench had said on December 30, while rejecting the plea filed by National Lawyers' Campaign for Judicial Transparency and Reforms. On December 23, the apex court had termed as "virtually infructuous" the petition filed by the lawyers' body opposing elevation of Justice Khehar as the next CJI observing that the President has already issued a notification in this regard. The bench had noted in its order that the notification appointing Justice Khehar as the next CJI has been issued on December 19. On December 19, President Pranab Mukherjee had cleared the name of Justice Khehar as the next CJI. His predecessor, Justice T S Thakur, demitted office on January 3. (With PTI inputs) NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court dismissed a plea challenging the appointment of Justice J S Khehar as the Chief Justice of India, saying the judgement in the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) case cannot be used as "a ruse to interdict" the assumption of office by Khehar. A bench of Justices R K Agrawal and D Y Chandrachud gave a reasoned judgement while dismissing the plea filed by the National Lawyers' Campaign for Judicial Transparency and Reforms challenging Justice Khehar's appointment contending that since he had presided over the five-judge Constitution Bench which revived the collegium after striking down the NJAC in October 2015, he was a beneficiary of his own verdict. In the detailed judgement uploaded recently, the apex court said the petition seeking to challenge the appointment of Justice Khehar as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI) has no constitutional foundation or basis. With regard to the eligibility of Justice Khehar which was challenged by the lawyer's body on the ground that the judgment in the NJAC case was delivered by him and therefore he had usurped to himself the power of appointment of the Judges, Justice Agrawal said the judgement was delivered individually by all five judges and decided by four judges. The constitution bench headed by Justice Khehar had held that the Constitutional (99th Amendment) Act, 2014 and the NJAC Act, 2014 were unconstitutional. "So far as the allegation that he (Justice Khehar) has usurped the power of appointment of Judges to himself is concerned, it is sufficient to mention here that the Collegium not only consists of the Chief Justice of India but four other senior judges as well and it cannot be said that the Chief Justice of India can usurp the power of appointing the Judges for himself," it said. "The petitioners have themselves admitted the qualities of Justice J S Khehar in paragraph 6, 20 and Ground No. C of the petition, and there is no question of his being considered as ineligible or disqualified for being appointed as the Chief Justice of India," the bench said. The apex court further said the petitioners have the remedy to file a review and curative petition as far as the correctness of the decision in the NJAC case is concerned. "Justice Khehar was duly appointed by the President of India as a Judge of the Supreme Court under Article 124(2) on 13 September 2011. Being the senior most Judge of the Supreme Court of India, his appointment as Chief Justice of India follows a recognised constitutional convention (duly acknowledged and reiterated in the Memorandum of Procedure) of the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court being appointed to the office of Chief Justice of India. "It is preposterous to urge that the senior most puisne Judge of the Supreme Court is disqualified for appointment as Chief Justice of India on the basis of a perception formed by a litigant of a judgment delivered by the Judge. "The issue as to whether Justice Khehar should recuse himself from participating in the hearing of the NJAC case was considered and the plea for recusal was specifically negatived," Justice Chandrachud said. "We do not find any merit in the petition and the same is dismissed," the bench had said on December 30, while rejecting the plea filed by National Lawyers' Campaign for Judicial Transparency and Reforms. On December 23, the apex court had termed as "virtually infructuous" the petition filed by the lawyers' body opposing elevation of Justice Khehar as the next CJI observing that the President has already issued a notification in this regard. The bench had noted in its order that the notification appointing Justice Khehar as the next CJI has been issued on December 19. On December 19, President Pranab Mukherjee had cleared the name of Justice Khehar as the next CJI. His predecessor, Justice T S Thakur, demitted office on January 3. (With PTI inputs) Aishik Chanda By Express News Service KOLKATA: Ten years after being caught while trying to sneak into India from Bangladesh for a planned terrorist attack on a military base in Jammu and Kashmir, three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives two Pakistani nationals and one Jammu and Kashmir resident -- were awarded the noose by Barasat subdivisional court on Saturday. The Pakistan nationals Abdullah and Mohammad Younus -- residents of Karachi and Haripur respectively -- and Muzaffar Ahmed Rather of Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir were found guilty under Section 121 (waging war against the Government of India) of Indian Penal Code and were awarded death sentence by Judge Vinay Kumar Pathak of Fast Track Court-1 of Barasat subdivisional court. The accused have also been found guilty under Sections 121 A (conspiracy to commit offences punishable by Section 121), 122 (collecting arms with intention of waging war against the Government of India) and 120 B (Party to a criminal conspiracy to commit a crime punishable by death) of IPC. Along with the three Lashkar operatives awarded the noose, one more operative Sheikh Abdul Naeem alias Sameer, an engineer from Maharashtra and a prime accused in Mumbai trains blasts that claimed 209 lives in 2006, was also nabbed by the Border Security Force (BSF) while trying to sneak into India through Petrapol border on April 4, 2007. However, Sameer, also a mastermind in the planned military camp terror attack, slipped from a train in Chhattisgarh while he was being taken to Mumbai for investigation in 2014. He is still at large. Public prosecutor Sameer Das told the media that the four operatives were trained in Pakistan by LeT on operating automatic rifles and lob grenades, and on manufacturing powerful bombs. The operatives had secured a tourist visa for Bangladesh and had planned a prolonged stay at a safehouse in Kolkata before proceeding with their plan in Kashmir and then sneaking back into Pakistan. For their plan to stay in Kolkata, the accused, with the help of mastermind Sameer, had procured Indian voter cards, driving licences and bank pass books using Kolkata-based address proofs. According to sources, nitroglycerin, used for making bombs was recovered from their safehouse in Kolkata. Polygraph test, narco-analysis and brain mapping of the accused were also conducted. Accused Pakistani national Abdullah is an English and computer teacher. He is also an expert in Indian law. On the other hand, defence attorney Subrata Basu told media that no such evidence has been found against the accused which may lead them to be found guilty under Section 121. Hence, a higher court will be appealed against the ruling. KOLKATA: Ten years after being caught while trying to sneak into India from Bangladesh for a planned terrorist attack on a military base in Jammu and Kashmir, three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives two Pakistani nationals and one Jammu and Kashmir resident -- were awarded the noose by Barasat subdivisional court on Saturday. The Pakistan nationals Abdullah and Mohammad Younus -- residents of Karachi and Haripur respectively -- and Muzaffar Ahmed Rather of Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir were found guilty under Section 121 (waging war against the Government of India) of Indian Penal Code and were awarded death sentence by Judge Vinay Kumar Pathak of Fast Track Court-1 of Barasat subdivisional court. The accused have also been found guilty under Sections 121 A (conspiracy to commit offences punishable by Section 121), 122 (collecting arms with intention of waging war against the Government of India) and 120 B (Party to a criminal conspiracy to commit a crime punishable by death) of IPC. Along with the three Lashkar operatives awarded the noose, one more operative Sheikh Abdul Naeem alias Sameer, an engineer from Maharashtra and a prime accused in Mumbai trains blasts that claimed 209 lives in 2006, was also nabbed by the Border Security Force (BSF) while trying to sneak into India through Petrapol border on April 4, 2007. However, Sameer, also a mastermind in the planned military camp terror attack, slipped from a train in Chhattisgarh while he was being taken to Mumbai for investigation in 2014. He is still at large. Public prosecutor Sameer Das told the media that the four operatives were trained in Pakistan by LeT on operating automatic rifles and lob grenades, and on manufacturing powerful bombs. The operatives had secured a tourist visa for Bangladesh and had planned a prolonged stay at a safehouse in Kolkata before proceeding with their plan in Kashmir and then sneaking back into Pakistan. For their plan to stay in Kolkata, the accused, with the help of mastermind Sameer, had procured Indian voter cards, driving licences and bank pass books using Kolkata-based address proofs. According to sources, nitroglycerin, used for making bombs was recovered from their safehouse in Kolkata. Polygraph test, narco-analysis and brain mapping of the accused were also conducted. Accused Pakistani national Abdullah is an English and computer teacher. He is also an expert in Indian law. On the other hand, defence attorney Subrata Basu told media that no such evidence has been found against the accused which may lead them to be found guilty under Section 121. Hence, a higher court will be appealed against the ruling. Manish Anand By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The politically supercharged Sunday saw the BJP finally unveiling its second list of candidates consisting of 155 names for poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, with the saffron outfit showing the benign face to the rise of family members of senior party leaders, besides feting turncoats. Family members of senior BJP leaders, which included Union Minister for Home Affairs Rajnath Singh, Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh, former MP from Lucknow Lalji Tandon, Lok Sabha MP from Kairana Hukum Singh, Lok Sabha MP Braj Bhushan Singh, bagged nominations to contest the Assembly elections in UP. Grandson of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri Siddharth Nath Singh too bagged the saffron nomination to contest from the family pocket borough in Allahabad (West). Pankaj Singh, son of Rajnath Singh, was fielded by the BJP from Noida constituency. Incidentally, the BJP dropped the sitting MLA Anita Batham to accommodate the son of Union Minister for Home Affairs. Sources said, Rajnath Singh managed to get tickets for at least two dozen of his supporters in the list of 304 seats released by the BJP so far. The BJP is yet to announce names of candidates for the sixth and the seventh phase of elections in the state. In a sign of the BJP feting the turncoats ahead of the elections, the party fielded former state Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi from Lucknow (West). The BJP also nominated the former Brahmin face of the BSP Brajesh Pathak from the Lucknow (Central) constituency. The BJP also nominated former Samajwadi Party legislators Nand Kumar Nandi and Sunil Singh. While the BJP had fielded a large number of non-Yadav OBCs in its first list, the second list saw the saffron outfit attempting caste balance, as those from Brahmins, Thakurs, Vaishyas and extremely backward castes prominently bagged nominations. Sources said that the BJP would leave six seats for the Anupriya Patel headed Apna Dal faction, while sparing seven constituencies for the Bhartiya Samaj Party. Announcing the names of candidates, the BJP national general secretary Arun Singh said that the sitting MLAs have been denied nominations in a bid to accommodate winnable candidates. While listing the achievements of the Narendra Modi government for UP, Singh said that the report card of the Akhilesh Yadav is just fail. Meanwhile, the Congress released its first list of 41 candidates for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, that include former Union minister Jitin Prasad and controversial leader Imran Masood. NEW DELHI: The politically supercharged Sunday saw the BJP finally unveiling its second list of candidates consisting of 155 names for poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, with the saffron outfit showing the benign face to the rise of family members of senior party leaders, besides feting turncoats. Family members of senior BJP leaders, which included Union Minister for Home Affairs Rajnath Singh, Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh, former MP from Lucknow Lalji Tandon, Lok Sabha MP from Kairana Hukum Singh, Lok Sabha MP Braj Bhushan Singh, bagged nominations to contest the Assembly elections in UP. Grandson of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri Siddharth Nath Singh too bagged the saffron nomination to contest from the family pocket borough in Allahabad (West). Pankaj Singh, son of Rajnath Singh, was fielded by the BJP from Noida constituency. Incidentally, the BJP dropped the sitting MLA Anita Batham to accommodate the son of Union Minister for Home Affairs. Sources said, Rajnath Singh managed to get tickets for at least two dozen of his supporters in the list of 304 seats released by the BJP so far. The BJP is yet to announce names of candidates for the sixth and the seventh phase of elections in the state. In a sign of the BJP feting the turncoats ahead of the elections, the party fielded former state Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi from Lucknow (West). The BJP also nominated the former Brahmin face of the BSP Brajesh Pathak from the Lucknow (Central) constituency. The BJP also nominated former Samajwadi Party legislators Nand Kumar Nandi and Sunil Singh. While the BJP had fielded a large number of non-Yadav OBCs in its first list, the second list saw the saffron outfit attempting caste balance, as those from Brahmins, Thakurs, Vaishyas and extremely backward castes prominently bagged nominations. Sources said that the BJP would leave six seats for the Anupriya Patel headed Apna Dal faction, while sparing seven constituencies for the Bhartiya Samaj Party. Announcing the names of candidates, the BJP national general secretary Arun Singh said that the sitting MLAs have been denied nominations in a bid to accommodate winnable candidates. While listing the achievements of the Narendra Modi government for UP, Singh said that the report card of the Akhilesh Yadav is just fail. Meanwhile, the Congress released its first list of 41 candidates for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, that include former Union minister Jitin Prasad and controversial leader Imran Masood. T J S George By If sloganeering characterised President Donald Trumps inaugural address, sagacity marked Barack Obamas farewell address a week earlier. Undoubtedly, it is the Obama pitch that will reverberate in the chambers of history. Uncannily, Obamas words seemed directed at India though they were meant for the United States. His theme was rather platitudinousthe responsibilities of democracy. But isnt wisdom ultimately a pack of well-minted platitudes? Like, do unto others as youd have others do unto you. Like, the government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. Abraham Lincoln is said to have composed the Gettysburg Address while travelling by train to the venue. The speech was so short that it took barely three minutes to deliver, but it has remained the unalterable motto of a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men were created equal. On par with Lincolns quotability was John Kennedys inaugural address: Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country. Kennedy lived in an age when the President had teams of speech writers at his disposal. Even so, he worked on that speech for two whole months. We have no way of knowing how long it took Jawaharlal Nehru to write his Tryst With Destiny speech delivered at midnight on August 14, 1947. He certainly had no ghosts to help him. Yet the wondrous ring of those phrases still works its magic as we read, A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. Obama is in a different class, more intellectual and naturally more pre-occupied with the entangled challenges of our timesthe rise of old-fashioned orthodoxies, the populist rejection of a globalised world, the emergence of nationalism as an emotive force. Hence his repeated references to the dangers of taking democracy for granted. Democracy requires perpetual participation, he said. Indifference to democracy is betrayal of democracy. Citizenship must be continuously reinvented in a functioning democracy. He was of course referring to the shadows cast upon democracy by Donald Trumps philosophy of protecting the white middleclass American from immigrants. But we can see the parallelism between that philosophy and the narrow nationalism that has gained ground elsewhere in the world, too, including India. When Obama cautions his audience to be wary of forces that weaken the sacred ties that make us one, he is giving expression to truisms that are as important for India as for any other nation. When he says that the countrys potential will be realised only if our politics reflects the decency of our people, we know he might just as well be referring to India. He elevated the whole issue to a lofty level where minds are challenged to go into overdrive. Politics, he said, is a battle of ideas but, he hastened to add, ideas that explore differences on the basis of reason. We should be reasonable enough to concede that the opponent may have a valid point. He was saying in effect that the foundation upon which democracy rested was debate. To what extent is debate practisedor indeed allowedin todays India? How far do we explore differences on the basis of reason? The way intolerance has become a term of everyday currency contains the answers to such questions. The BJPs enthronement in power has emboldened the partys riffraff to pose as protectors of the nation, with a monopoly of the right to talk about its civilisational status. Dissension is not acceptable. Even criticism of a government policy such as demonetisation is enough to tar responsible citizens with the anti-national brush. Like all extremists in history, the Hindutva extremists will have their fifteen minutes of glory and then collapse. They will be cast aside by their own ludicrous positions. A case in point was the recent denunciation of Yashwant Sinha, a distinguished BJP leader, just because a committee he headed recommended talks with Kashmiri separatists. The Hindutva forces are open to no suggestions outside the communal calendar they follow, a familiar problem of closed minds. Obama no doubt had such self-defeating partisans in mind when he said, we have become so secure in our bubbles that we accept only information, whether true or not, that fits our opinion. Fortunately bubbles burst. Unfortunately some bubbles swallow up a generation before they burst. But burst they will. If sloganeering characterised President Donald Trumps inaugural address, sagacity marked Barack Obamas farewell address a week earlier. Undoubtedly, it is the Obama pitch that will reverberate in the chambers of history. Uncannily, Obamas words seemed directed at India though they were meant for the United States. His theme was rather platitudinousthe responsibilities of democracy. But isnt wisdom ultimately a pack of well-minted platitudes? Like, do unto others as youd have others do unto you. Like, the government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. Abraham Lincoln is said to have composed the Gettysburg Address while travelling by train to the venue. The speech was so short that it took barely three minutes to deliver, but it has remained the unalterable motto of a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men were created equal. On par with Lincolns quotability was John Kennedys inaugural address: Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country. Kennedy lived in an age when the President had teams of speech writers at his disposal. Even so, he worked on that speech for two whole months. We have no way of knowing how long it took Jawaharlal Nehru to write his Tryst With Destiny speech delivered at midnight on August 14, 1947. He certainly had no ghosts to help him. Yet the wondrous ring of those phrases still works its magic as we read, A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. Obama is in a different class, more intellectual and naturally more pre-occupied with the entangled challenges of our timesthe rise of old-fashioned orthodoxies, the populist rejection of a globalised world, the emergence of nationalism as an emotive force. Hence his repeated references to the dangers of taking democracy for granted. Democracy requires perpetual participation, he said. Indifference to democracy is betrayal of democracy. Citizenship must be continuously reinvented in a functioning democracy. He was of course referring to the shadows cast upon democracy by Donald Trumps philosophy of protecting the white middleclass American from immigrants. But we can see the parallelism between that philosophy and the narrow nationalism that has gained ground elsewhere in the world, too, including India. When Obama cautions his audience to be wary of forces that weaken the sacred ties that make us one, he is giving expression to truisms that are as important for India as for any other nation. When he says that the countrys potential will be realised only if our politics reflects the decency of our people, we know he might just as well be referring to India. He elevated the whole issue to a lofty level where minds are challenged to go into overdrive. Politics, he said, is a battle of ideas but, he hastened to add, ideas that explore differences on the basis of reason. We should be reasonable enough to concede that the opponent may have a valid point. He was saying in effect that the foundation upon which democracy rested was debate. To what extent is debate practisedor indeed allowedin todays India? How far do we explore differences on the basis of reason? The way intolerance has become a term of everyday currency contains the answers to such questions. The BJPs enthronement in power has emboldened the partys riffraff to pose as protectors of the nation, with a monopoly of the right to talk about its civilisational status. Dissension is not acceptable. Even criticism of a government policy such as demonetisation is enough to tar responsible citizens with the anti-national brush. Like all extremists in history, the Hindutva extremists will have their fifteen minutes of glory and then collapse. They will be cast aside by their own ludicrous positions. A case in point was the recent denunciation of Yashwant Sinha, a distinguished BJP leader, just because a committee he headed recommended talks with Kashmiri separatists. The Hindutva forces are open to no suggestions outside the communal calendar they follow, a familiar problem of closed minds. Obama no doubt had such self-defeating partisans in mind when he said, we have become so secure in our bubbles that we accept only information, whether true or not, that fits our opinion. Fortunately bubbles burst. Unfortunately some bubbles swallow up a generation before they burst. But burst they will. Sri Lankan Regional Development Minister Field Marshal Sarath Fonsekas comments that talks are on with India for developing the Trincomalee harbour, has ruffled feathers in the island nation in the context of a growing opposition to Colombos policy of appeasing India by offering it big ticket projects to compensate for those offered to China. Lankan nationalists fear that their country, recovering from a 30-year-war, might become an arena of power politics, putting its hard-won peace and sovereignty in jeopardy. But they are not aware that India is not interested in any harbour in Lanka except the Third Container Terminal in the Colombo port, which, unlike the harbours in Hambantota and Trincomalee, makes business sense. Colombo is an established Indian transshipment hub with huge potential. This is why two Indian firms bid for the Third Terminal. Though the Trincomalee port is one of the best natural harbours in the world with ten times the water and land area available in Colombo, it is neither on the main Indian Ocean shipping route nor does it have a hinterland. Prospects of it earning money are dim. India does not want to be saddled with a non-performing asset if cash-strapped Sri Lanka defaults on loan repayment. Sri Lanka had to give 80 per cent stake in the Hambantota port to China for 99 years because it couldnt repay the $ 1.4 billion loan. While China can afford to keep a non-performing asset indefinitely, India cannot. However, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has plans for the Trincomalee port and its hinterland as it connects the Bay of Bengal with the Indian Ocean, linking ports in Eastern India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indonesia and the Far East. He has got Surbana Jurong of Singapore to do a feasibility study and is to call for a consortium. While the Indian state may be indifferent, the Indian private sector could smell opportunities at least in hinterland development. Sri Lankan Regional Development Minister Field Marshal Sarath Fonsekas comments that talks are on with India for developing the Trincomalee harbour, has ruffled feathers in the island nation in the context of a growing opposition to Colombos policy of appeasing India by offering it big ticket projects to compensate for those offered to China. Lankan nationalists fear that their country, recovering from a 30-year-war, might become an arena of power politics, putting its hard-won peace and sovereignty in jeopardy. But they are not aware that India is not interested in any harbour in Lanka except the Third Container Terminal in the Colombo port, which, unlike the harbours in Hambantota and Trincomalee, makes business sense. Colombo is an established Indian transshipment hub with huge potential. This is why two Indian firms bid for the Third Terminal. Though the Trincomalee port is one of the best natural harbours in the world with ten times the water and land area available in Colombo, it is neither on the main Indian Ocean shipping route nor does it have a hinterland. Prospects of it earning money are dim. India does not want to be saddled with a non-performing asset if cash-strapped Sri Lanka defaults on loan repayment. Sri Lanka had to give 80 per cent stake in the Hambantota port to China for 99 years because it couldnt repay the $ 1.4 billion loan. While China can afford to keep a non-performing asset indefinitely, India cannot. However, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has plans for the Trincomalee port and its hinterland as it connects the Bay of Bengal with the Indian Ocean, linking ports in Eastern India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indonesia and the Far East. He has got Surbana Jurong of Singapore to do a feasibility study and is to call for a consortium. While the Indian state may be indifferent, the Indian private sector could smell opportunities at least in hinterland development. OSAGE -- A hunter education classroom course will be Feb. 14 in Osage. Classroom courses are offered by knowledgeable and certified volunteer instructors and Iowa Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officers. Classroom courses are typically 12-15 hours in length and are held over two to three days. In order to receive certification, a student must attend all sessions and pass the final exam. Iowa law requires that anyone born after Jan. 1, 1972, must be certified in hunter education before they are eligible to purchase an Iowa hunting license. For more information go to www.iowadnr.gov/huntered. Prabhu Chawla By Dynasty stared into the abyss and the abyss stared back at the Congress party. The Nietzschean nightmare of Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is the GenNext vacuum of a credibly-nurtured state leadership, which can do battle under his standard in all the five states going to the polls from February to March. The hand has rocked no other family cradle to produce a young leader in Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Uttrakhand, Punjab and Goa, capable of keeping the Congress flag flying for the next decade or more. If the party performs well in a few states, the credit goes to the anti-incumbency factor or carefully crafted coalition calculus compatibility rather than the charisma of a local leader. Ever since Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991, the ranks of regional satraps in the Congress have thinned, either due to divine intervention or poaching by regional parties. Tragically, its High Command has failed to create an alternative local leadership. Evidently, the Congress couldnt field a leader formidable enough to strike a deal for seats with the 43-year-old Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh. In the next two years, over a dozen states will go to the polls, where the narrative is the same. Though the ruling BJP lacks effective local commanders in many parts of the country, it always has Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fill the space. A look at the status of the Congress party as of now: North: The Congress is but a marginal player. It rules only tiny Himachal Pradesh; that too, captained by a 82-year-old CM Virbhadra Singh. In Bihar, UP, Haryana, J&K, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the party has been in exile for more than a decade due to the absence of a strong organisation and leadership. It made a marginal comeback in Bihar after striking an alliance with Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav. In both Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, the Congress is yet to discover a challenger to the popular CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who looks set to win a fourth term in the Assembly. The Congress could have projected Jyotiraditya Scindia as a future CM by giving him the full freedom to strategise for future battles. But Rahul is unable to neutralise the influence of the older generation over the decision-making process. Even in Haryana, he is finding it difficult to contain cabals and let popular leaders, such as former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, to take on the ruling BJP. It is only in Rajasthan where the Congress appears to be in a better position with former CM Ashok Gehlot and state party president Sachin Pilot working in tandem to revive the party from scratch. For the first time, it has reposed faith in the 39-year-old Pilot to challenge the mighty maharani, Vasundhara Raje. However, Rahul hasnt paid much attention to UP, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand, which send over 125 MPs to the Lok Sabha. The stellar phalanx of cowbelt titans like V P Singh, Narayan Dutt Tiwari, Kamalapati Tripathi, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna, Satyendra Narayan Singh, Abdul Ghafoor, Bhagwat Jha Azad, Jagannath Mishra and Jagjivan Ram in the Congress has been reduced to mere gold dust. Rahul is wanting in dismantling the control of entrenched satraps over state organisations and replacing them with fresh new faces. South: Barring Karnataka, the Congress is conspicuous by its absence in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Kerala. From its ranks had risen a President, a Prime Minister and even party heads. Even when the rest of India decisively rejected the party in the face of the 1977 Janata Wave, the south saved the Congress from complete decimation. Indira Gandhis political rebirth was from Chikmagalur. Today, in Kerala, former CM Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala, former state Congress president, have the political potency to confront the Left Front. The Congress owes its ruling status in Karnataka to the popularity of CM Siddaramaiah, who joined it a few years ago and not to its homegrown leadership acumen. In spite of the legacy of giants like Moopanar, the party has been out of power in Tamil Nadu for almost four decades and is unlikely to stage a comeback in the near future. In Andhra Pradesh, its morale is yet to recover from the shock of YSRs passing. His son Jaganmohan Reddy has more acceptability than any Congress leader in the state. In Telangana, which owes its formation mainly to the Congress, the party is the main opposition; it is hardly seen as an alternative to the ruling TRS because none of its leaders have the stature to withstand CM K Chandrashekar Rao. East: Till recently, like the sun, the fortunes of the Congress rose in the East. For many decades, it controlled five of the nine states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha and West Bengal. Now, barring Manipur, it has almost vanished from the rest. In Arunachal, the entire Congress legislature party turned saffron because the High Command refused to delegate full powers to the local leadership. Though there are dedicated party workers in most of the states, the Grand Old Party doesnt have a leader with enough charm and chutzpah to mobilise them to battle the ruling parties. The GOP has lost West Bengal and Odisha to regional parties forever. With the deaths of monolithic leaders like Siddhartha Shankar Ray, ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury, Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, Janaki Ballabh Patnaik, Nandini Satpathy and more, the party has been orphaned in the East. Even Mamata Banerjee floated her own gig, the Trinamool Congress, and became the nemesis of her political parent. Even then, no state Congress leader has been groomed to pose even a marginal threat to her. West: The Congress sun is about to set here. It is gasping for survival in Goa. Maharashtra and Gujarat have said adieu. The Congress was a powerful organisation in Maharashtra till a decade ago with credible state leaders at the helm. Now, the party lacks a young, upcoming commander who can rescue it from the muddy trenches. For example, the BJP has been ruling in Gujarat for over two decades. Narendra Modi made the Congress almost disappear with his aggressive development agenda and strong leadership. But the Congress top brass never envisaged creating a youthful leadership to fight a Modi-less state government. It has many young political inheritors but none of them have been projected as the partys chief minister in 2017. Even in Maharashtra, while the BJP and NCP have been able to define their leaders and order of succession, the Congress is busy dousing the bushfires of factional feuds. The Congress is still a party with a pan-Indian footprints. But during the past two decades, its acceptability and desirability have taken a massive beating because of absence of clean and promising faces. As Gandhi name got blunted as brand, many leaders with name and fame jumped what they thought was a sinking ship. Nevertheless, the Congress is still an idea, but it is collapsing as an ideologically-led institution. Unless Rahul Gandhi gets a team of political masons who can restore the rusted Congress edifice, the Congress will soon become an idea whose time has ended. prabhu chawla prabhuchawla@ newindianexpress.com Follow him on Twitter @PrabhuChawla Dynasty stared into the abyss and the abyss stared back at the Congress party. The Nietzschean nightmare of Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is the GenNext vacuum of a credibly-nurtured state leadership, which can do battle under his standard in all the five states going to the polls from February to March. The hand has rocked no other family cradle to produce a young leader in Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Uttrakhand, Punjab and Goa, capable of keeping the Congress flag flying for the next decade or more. If the party performs well in a few states, the credit goes to the anti-incumbency factor or carefully crafted coalition calculus compatibility rather than the charisma of a local leader. Ever since Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991, the ranks of regional satraps in the Congress have thinned, either due to divine intervention or poaching by regional parties. Tragically, its High Command has failed to create an alternative local leadership. Evidently, the Congress couldnt field a leader formidable enough to strike a deal for seats with the 43-year-old Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh. In the next two years, over a dozen states will go to the polls, where the narrative is the same. Though the ruling BJP lacks effective local commanders in many parts of the country, it always has Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fill the space. A look at the status of the Congress party as of now: North: The Congress is but a marginal player. It rules only tiny Himachal Pradesh; that too, captained by a 82-year-old CM Virbhadra Singh. In Bihar, UP, Haryana, J&K, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the party has been in exile for more than a decade due to the absence of a strong organisation and leadership. It made a marginal comeback in Bihar after striking an alliance with Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav. In both Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, the Congress is yet to discover a challenger to the popular CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who looks set to win a fourth term in the Assembly. The Congress could have projected Jyotiraditya Scindia as a future CM by giving him the full freedom to strategise for future battles. But Rahul is unable to neutralise the influence of the older generation over the decision-making process. Even in Haryana, he is finding it difficult to contain cabals and let popular leaders, such as former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, to take on the ruling BJP. It is only in Rajasthan where the Congress appears to be in a better position with former CM Ashok Gehlot and state party president Sachin Pilot working in tandem to revive the party from scratch. For the first time, it has reposed faith in the 39-year-old Pilot to challenge the mighty maharani, Vasundhara Raje. However, Rahul hasnt paid much attention to UP, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand, which send over 125 MPs to the Lok Sabha. The stellar phalanx of cowbelt titans like V P Singh, Narayan Dutt Tiwari, Kamalapati Tripathi, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna, Satyendra Narayan Singh, Abdul Ghafoor, Bhagwat Jha Azad, Jagannath Mishra and Jagjivan Ram in the Congress has been reduced to mere gold dust. Rahul is wanting in dismantling the control of entrenched satraps over state organisations and replacing them with fresh new faces. South: Barring Karnataka, the Congress is conspicuous by its absence in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Kerala. From its ranks had risen a President, a Prime Minister and even party heads. Even when the rest of India decisively rejected the party in the face of the 1977 Janata Wave, the south saved the Congress from complete decimation. Indira Gandhis political rebirth was from Chikmagalur. Today, in Kerala, former CM Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala, former state Congress president, have the political potency to confront the Left Front. The Congress owes its ruling status in Karnataka to the popularity of CM Siddaramaiah, who joined it a few years ago and not to its homegrown leadership acumen. In spite of the legacy of giants like Moopanar, the party has been out of power in Tamil Nadu for almost four decades and is unlikely to stage a comeback in the near future. In Andhra Pradesh, its morale is yet to recover from the shock of YSRs passing. His son Jaganmohan Reddy has more acceptability than any Congress leader in the state. In Telangana, which owes its formation mainly to the Congress, the party is the main opposition; it is hardly seen as an alternative to the ruling TRS because none of its leaders have the stature to withstand CM K Chandrashekar Rao. East: Till recently, like the sun, the fortunes of the Congress rose in the East. For many decades, it controlled five of the nine states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha and West Bengal. Now, barring Manipur, it has almost vanished from the rest. In Arunachal, the entire Congress legislature party turned saffron because the High Command refused to delegate full powers to the local leadership. Though there are dedicated party workers in most of the states, the Grand Old Party doesnt have a leader with enough charm and chutzpah to mobilise them to battle the ruling parties. The GOP has lost West Bengal and Odisha to regional parties forever. With the deaths of monolithic leaders like Siddhartha Shankar Ray, ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury, Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, Janaki Ballabh Patnaik, Nandini Satpathy and more, the party has been orphaned in the East. Even Mamata Banerjee floated her own gig, the Trinamool Congress, and became the nemesis of her political parent. Even then, no state Congress leader has been groomed to pose even a marginal threat to her. West: The Congress sun is about to set here. It is gasping for survival in Goa. Maharashtra and Gujarat have said adieu. The Congress was a powerful organisation in Maharashtra till a decade ago with credible state leaders at the helm. Now, the party lacks a young, upcoming commander who can rescue it from the muddy trenches. For example, the BJP has been ruling in Gujarat for over two decades. Narendra Modi made the Congress almost disappear with his aggressive development agenda and strong leadership. But the Congress top brass never envisaged creating a youthful leadership to fight a Modi-less state government. It has many young political inheritors but none of them have been projected as the partys chief minister in 2017. Even in Maharashtra, while the BJP and NCP have been able to define their leaders and order of succession, the Congress is busy dousing the bushfires of factional feuds. The Congress is still a party with a pan-Indian footprints. But during the past two decades, its acceptability and desirability have taken a massive beating because of absence of clean and promising faces. As Gandhi name got blunted as brand, many leaders with name and fame jumped what they thought was a sinking ship. Nevertheless, the Congress is still an idea, but it is collapsing as an ideologically-led institution. Unless Rahul Gandhi gets a team of political masons who can restore the rusted Congress edifice, the Congress will soon become an idea whose time has ended. prabhu chawla prabhuchawla@ newindianexpress.com Follow him on Twitter @PrabhuChawla By Express News Service VIJAYAWADA: APTransco has bagged prestigious Golden Peacock HR Excellence Award -2017 for its management of human resources. APTransco chairman and managing director K Vijayanand received the award from Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at the 11th international conference on corporate social responsibility at Bengaluru on Saturday. The awards jury was headed by former Supreme Court Chief Justice M N Venkatachalaih. Reacting to the selection of APTransco for the award, Vijayanand said that the corporation has maintained the highest transmission availability of 99.95 per cent and lowest transmission losses of 2.97 per cent in the country with the support from the State government and commitment of employees. For the first time, the State has achieved surplus power status and can export power of about 500 MW to 1,000 MW to other States. We are in a comfortable position, he said. In a PowerPoint presentation at the conference, APTransco joint managing director Dinesh Paruchuri explained how the State government had adopted a special plan to bail out Discoms from financial stress under UDAY. VIJAYAWADA: APTransco has bagged prestigious Golden Peacock HR Excellence Award -2017 for its management of human resources. APTransco chairman and managing director K Vijayanand received the award from Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at the 11th international conference on corporate social responsibility at Bengaluru on Saturday. The awards jury was headed by former Supreme Court Chief Justice M N Venkatachalaih. Reacting to the selection of APTransco for the award, Vijayanand said that the corporation has maintained the highest transmission availability of 99.95 per cent and lowest transmission losses of 2.97 per cent in the country with the support from the State government and commitment of employees. For the first time, the State has achieved surplus power status and can export power of about 500 MW to 1,000 MW to other States. We are in a comfortable position, he said. In a PowerPoint presentation at the conference, APTransco joint managing director Dinesh Paruchuri explained how the State government had adopted a special plan to bail out Discoms from financial stress under UDAY. By Express News Service SRIKAKULAM: The oustees of Vamsadhara project vent out their anger over non-payment of compensation and delay in implementation of the relief and rehabilitation package near here on Sunday. More than 5,000 villagers belonging to 29 villages took it upon themselves when they obstructed the project work, ransacked office furniture and set four vehicles belonging to the construction company afire, as the deployed police remained mere bystanders. The oustees have been protesting for the last a few days. The district administration held talks with the villagers on Saturday, but could not convince the evacuees. To avoid untoward incident, the authorities deployed a posse of 500 police personnel too. On Saturday, residents of Pedda Sankili, Chinna Sankili, Garlapadu, Tulagam, Dugupuram, Padali, Barripeta, Gadhapeta and others in Hiramandalam including Irapadu of Kotturu mandal gathered and besieged the authorities including the employees of Soma Company, which has bagged the contract of the works, near Garlapadu village. Demanding that the government implement the R&R package prior to taking up the earth works of the project in the affected villages, the oustees obstructed the construction works at Moduvalasa in LN Peta mandal. With the cops trying to prevent them, the residents were divided into three groups. One group set afire four vehicles of the Soma Company and tents and other material at the camps site at the spillway of the reservoir. Another group barged into the office of Patel Company, a sub-contracting agency to Soma Company, and ransacked the office furniture. The third group marched to the Tehsildar office and mandal development office at Hiramandalam and vented out their ire on the office furniture. The police had no option, but to wait until the villagers vented out their ire. The construction company immediately stopped the earth works even as the police picketing continued. The government started the project works in 2005 and has not paid the R&R package and other benefits promised to the oustees. In 2007, the govt, which issued pattas to the evacuees for accommodation, is yet to show the layout. All are vexed as the government has reneged on its promise, said R Papa Rao, an evacuee from Hiramandalam. On Saturday, authorities started excavating the pathway at Chinna Kollivasa as part of the project works in the presence of police. With the oustees protesting the move, the officials had stopped the earth works. SP J Brahma Reddy held a parley with village heads at Hiramandalam police station. The village heads had ascertained that government must stop the earth works until the full and final settlement of the R&R package. The protesters said that the authorities and local MLAs and ministers had promised that compensation amounts would be paid to evacuees by November last year. They did not pay us and delayed the deadline for payments till January 15. This time too they failed again. Without making settlement, they started the works at Chinnakollivasala which made us angry, said Someswara Rao, another evacuee from Tulagam, adding that police provoked the village heads with his arrogant words. However, the SP said the villagers took law and order in their hands. I appeal the residents to stay calm and explore a solution in a peaceful way, he said. SRIKAKULAM: The oustees of Vamsadhara project vent out their anger over non-payment of compensation and delay in implementation of the relief and rehabilitation package near here on Sunday. More than 5,000 villagers belonging to 29 villages took it upon themselves when they obstructed the project work, ransacked office furniture and set four vehicles belonging to the construction company afire, as the deployed police remained mere bystanders. The oustees have been protesting for the last a few days. The district administration held talks with the villagers on Saturday, but could not convince the evacuees. To avoid untoward incident, the authorities deployed a posse of 500 police personnel too. On Saturday, residents of Pedda Sankili, Chinna Sankili, Garlapadu, Tulagam, Dugupuram, Padali, Barripeta, Gadhapeta and others in Hiramandalam including Irapadu of Kotturu mandal gathered and besieged the authorities including the employees of Soma Company, which has bagged the contract of the works, near Garlapadu village. Demanding that the government implement the R&R package prior to taking up the earth works of the project in the affected villages, the oustees obstructed the construction works at Moduvalasa in LN Peta mandal. With the cops trying to prevent them, the residents were divided into three groups. One group set afire four vehicles of the Soma Company and tents and other material at the camps site at the spillway of the reservoir. Another group barged into the office of Patel Company, a sub-contracting agency to Soma Company, and ransacked the office furniture. The third group marched to the Tehsildar office and mandal development office at Hiramandalam and vented out their ire on the office furniture. The police had no option, but to wait until the villagers vented out their ire. The construction company immediately stopped the earth works even as the police picketing continued. The government started the project works in 2005 and has not paid the R&R package and other benefits promised to the oustees. In 2007, the govt, which issued pattas to the evacuees for accommodation, is yet to show the layout. All are vexed as the government has reneged on its promise, said R Papa Rao, an evacuee from Hiramandalam. On Saturday, authorities started excavating the pathway at Chinna Kollivasa as part of the project works in the presence of police. With the oustees protesting the move, the officials had stopped the earth works. SP J Brahma Reddy held a parley with village heads at Hiramandalam police station. The village heads had ascertained that government must stop the earth works until the full and final settlement of the R&R package. The protesters said that the authorities and local MLAs and ministers had promised that compensation amounts would be paid to evacuees by November last year. They did not pay us and delayed the deadline for payments till January 15. This time too they failed again. Without making settlement, they started the works at Chinnakollivasala which made us angry, said Someswara Rao, another evacuee from Tulagam, adding that police provoked the village heads with his arrogant words. However, the SP said the villagers took law and order in their hands. I appeal the residents to stay calm and explore a solution in a peaceful way, he said. By Express News Service KANNUR/ TPURAM: The killing fields of Kannur have landed the ruling CPM in trouble, yet again. While the police in Kannur arrested six CPM activists in connection with the brutal murder of BJP worker Santhosh at Dharmadam, the constituency of the chief minister, party state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan maintained that the party didnt have any role in it. The arrested persons are no longer members of the CPM or its feeder organisations. We are not protecting any criminals. In fact, its not a political murder, he claimed. Earlier, the CPM had termed the murder as an outcome of personal enmity, with veteran leader M V Jayarajan stating that it was the fallout of a property dispute. The police insisted that the killing was the latest instance of the decades-old string of political murders involving CPM cadre and BJP workers in the politically sensitive district. Though the six persons were detained in less than two hours after the incident, the arrest was recorded Saturday after thorough investigation, police said. A team led by DySP, Prince Abraham, Panoor CI Shaji and Thalassery CI Pradeepan Kannipoyil arrested Rohin, 31, Shamil M K, 26, Rijesh K, 27, Midhun K, 22, all residents of Andaloor, P Ajesh,25, and P Prajul,25, both residents of Palayad in connection with the murder. Police are yet to record the arrest of two others, Vaishnav and Neethul. According to the police, there was tension between the SFI and ABVP following the attempt to disrupt Vivekananda Day celebrations. There were clashes between activists affiliated to the two organisations at the Brennen College. A group of RSS workers had attacked a group of students and tour operators, leaving three persons grievously injured. Police said the murder was in retaliation to this attack. Santhosh was hacked by a gang that barged into his house at 11.30 pm Wednesday. Though he was rushed to the hospital, Santhosh later succumbed to injuries. The BJP had called a hartal on Thursday, and the denial of permission by police to take out a procession, with the body of the party worker, led to clashes. KANNUR/ TPURAM: The killing fields of Kannur have landed the ruling CPM in trouble, yet again. While the police in Kannur arrested six CPM activists in connection with the brutal murder of BJP worker Santhosh at Dharmadam, the constituency of the chief minister, party state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan maintained that the party didnt have any role in it. The arrested persons are no longer members of the CPM or its feeder organisations. We are not protecting any criminals. In fact, its not a political murder, he claimed. Earlier, the CPM had termed the murder as an outcome of personal enmity, with veteran leader M V Jayarajan stating that it was the fallout of a property dispute. The police insisted that the killing was the latest instance of the decades-old string of political murders involving CPM cadre and BJP workers in the politically sensitive district. Though the six persons were detained in less than two hours after the incident, the arrest was recorded Saturday after thorough investigation, police said. A team led by DySP, Prince Abraham, Panoor CI Shaji and Thalassery CI Pradeepan Kannipoyil arrested Rohin, 31, Shamil M K, 26, Rijesh K, 27, Midhun K, 22, all residents of Andaloor, P Ajesh,25, and P Prajul,25, both residents of Palayad in connection with the murder. Police are yet to record the arrest of two others, Vaishnav and Neethul. According to the police, there was tension between the SFI and ABVP following the attempt to disrupt Vivekananda Day celebrations. There were clashes between activists affiliated to the two organisations at the Brennen College. A group of RSS workers had attacked a group of students and tour operators, leaving three persons grievously injured. Police said the murder was in retaliation to this attack. Santhosh was hacked by a gang that barged into his house at 11.30 pm Wednesday. Though he was rushed to the hospital, Santhosh later succumbed to injuries. The BJP had called a hartal on Thursday, and the denial of permission by police to take out a procession, with the body of the party worker, led to clashes. Nirupama Viswanathan By Express News Service CHENNAI: It was Ramus third day at the protest against jallikattu ban. He has been coming from Thiruvanmaiyur to the Marina on his bike twice a day, at 6 in the morning and after 10 every night. Being a four-legged animal himself, Ramu would not have liked to sit out on the protests to preserve his larger counterparts-the bulls, his parents believe. Kumaresan S, Ramus owner, said, We treat our dog Ramu like our son. So, we can understand how it feels when they accuse owners of the bull of ill-treating them. Like Ramu, other dogs also appear every once a while in the protests against jallikattu ban on the Marina. Sowbarnikas cocker spaniel was nothing short of a star in the protest, with people stopping to click selfies with the two-year-old dog. Tabby is also here in protest, said Sowbarnika, a 12- year-old, who was at the protest with her family. The scene at the Marina has been as it always has these past four days, the protesters managing to keep up their energy levels. However, it has certainly taken a toll on their packets, say some. MS Ashok, who had just finished making the sand sculpture of a bull at the Marina that took him around three hours, said, I have not gone home in the last four days. Our group of friends buy at least 100 packets of food every day. So far, Ive spent around Rs 10000. Though the ordinance was promulgated on Saturday, some said that they might still come every night just for fun. CHENNAI: It was Ramus third day at the protest against jallikattu ban. He has been coming from Thiruvanmaiyur to the Marina on his bike twice a day, at 6 in the morning and after 10 every night. Being a four-legged animal himself, Ramu would not have liked to sit out on the protests to preserve his larger counterparts-the bulls, his parents believe. Kumaresan S, Ramus owner, said, We treat our dog Ramu like our son. So, we can understand how it feels when they accuse owners of the bull of ill-treating them. Like Ramu, other dogs also appear every once a while in the protests against jallikattu ban on the Marina. Sowbarnikas cocker spaniel was nothing short of a star in the protest, with people stopping to click selfies with the two-year-old dog. Tabby is also here in protest, said Sowbarnika, a 12- year-old, who was at the protest with her family. The scene at the Marina has been as it always has these past four days, the protesters managing to keep up their energy levels. However, it has certainly taken a toll on their packets, say some. MS Ashok, who had just finished making the sand sculpture of a bull at the Marina that took him around three hours, said, I have not gone home in the last four days. Our group of friends buy at least 100 packets of food every day. So far, Ive spent around Rs 10000. Though the ordinance was promulgated on Saturday, some said that they might still come every night just for fun. Rakesh k singh By NEW DELHI: With preliminary probe pointing to the role of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in funding its agents to hit Indian railway infrastructure, Indian intelligence agencies have now mounted a massive surveillance on the Pakistans covert agencys assets operating out of Nepal. The probe has revealed that a number of Kashmiri businessmen based in Kathmandu and Pokhara could be laundering money at the behest of ISI for funding the latest terror plot to target Indian railways. Joint teams of National Investigation Agency (NIA), Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) have questioned three criminals arrested by Bihar Police and interrogation revealed that the ISI has put in place an elaborate network of terror funding for its agents in Nepal through Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and Dhaka, sources said. Sources added that the ISI has also set up training-cum-recruitment centres at Nepalganj (Nepal) facing Bahraich district (UP) Krishnanagar (Nepal) opposite Siddarthnagar (UP), Parsa Birganj (Nepal) opposite West Champaran (Bihar), Rautahaat (Nepal) opposite East Champaran and Sunsari in front of Purnia (Bihar). The agencies are seeking to expose the ISI network in India and Nepal. The probe has also revealed that the ISI has adopted a new strategy of getting passports for radicalised Muslim youths from Nepal with Hindu names to send them to Pakistan for terror training. Kashmiris are operating over 500 shops in Thamel area of Kathmandu and the ISI is suspected to be tapping them for furthering the terror agenda on the Indian soil. A sizeable section of the Kashmiris based in Nepal are engaged in hawala activities and they launder money at the behest of ISI by overinflating invoices of exports to the Himalayan country. Officials also said the ISI is suspected to be funding hotels based in Kathmandu. NEW DELHI: With preliminary probe pointing to the role of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in funding its agents to hit Indian railway infrastructure, Indian intelligence agencies have now mounted a massive surveillance on the Pakistans covert agencys assets operating out of Nepal. The probe has revealed that a number of Kashmiri businessmen based in Kathmandu and Pokhara could be laundering money at the behest of ISI for funding the latest terror plot to target Indian railways. Joint teams of National Investigation Agency (NIA), Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) have questioned three criminals arrested by Bihar Police and interrogation revealed that the ISI has put in place an elaborate network of terror funding for its agents in Nepal through Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and Dhaka, sources said. Sources added that the ISI has also set up training-cum-recruitment centres at Nepalganj (Nepal) facing Bahraich district (UP) Krishnanagar (Nepal) opposite Siddarthnagar (UP), Parsa Birganj (Nepal) opposite West Champaran (Bihar), Rautahaat (Nepal) opposite East Champaran and Sunsari in front of Purnia (Bihar). The agencies are seeking to expose the ISI network in India and Nepal. The probe has also revealed that the ISI has adopted a new strategy of getting passports for radicalised Muslim youths from Nepal with Hindu names to send them to Pakistan for terror training. Kashmiris are operating over 500 shops in Thamel area of Kathmandu and the ISI is suspected to be tapping them for furthering the terror agenda on the Indian soil. A sizeable section of the Kashmiris based in Nepal are engaged in hawala activities and they launder money at the behest of ISI by overinflating invoices of exports to the Himalayan country. Officials also said the ISI is suspected to be funding hotels based in Kathmandu. Harpreet Bajwa By CHANDIGARH: Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) have joined the poll bandwagon in Punjab this time. Hundreds have flown in from USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Norway, Thailand and other countries to campaign. Voting is slated for February 4. While most of them are campaigning for AAP, some are batting for the Congress too. The ruling SAD-BJP combine has been left to fend for themselves. AAP is planning a mega NRI rally on February 2 at Majitha. The Congress is doing some road shows with NRI support. Businessman Harjeet Singh said: People want a change in the state. They are fed-up with SAD-BJP rule. We dont feel safe. Singh is supporting the AAP candidate from Mohali, Narinder Singh Shergill. Im landing on Sunday along with a few more NRIs and will campaign till the elections, Harjit Singh Chahal from Germany said. NRI Canada Kuljinder Singh from Canada says: We want a change in Punjab. AAP is the best option. Kuldeep Singh Padda from Sweden is highlighting the states failures through videos and sending them back to the NRI community. Naripjit Singh, who runs a bar and an eating joint in Canada, says he supports AAP. More than 400 NRIs from the United Kingdom and Canada have come out in support of the Congress in Punjab and are preparing to join the party election campaign, with a jatha likely to be flagged off by party vice-president Rahul Gandhi from New Delhi. Around 250 NRIs under the aegis of the Indian Overseas Congress, UK, are arriving over the next two days. Daljit Singh Sahota, the Indian Overseas Congress (UK) president Amarpreet Aulakh, President, Indian Overseas Congress (Canada), has already reached India to campaign for the party. The ruling SAD have also launched an NRI campaign, Aao Punjab Chaliye. But its hardly getting any response. CHANDIGARH: Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) have joined the poll bandwagon in Punjab this time. Hundreds have flown in from USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Norway, Thailand and other countries to campaign. Voting is slated for February 4. While most of them are campaigning for AAP, some are batting for the Congress too. The ruling SAD-BJP combine has been left to fend for themselves. AAP is planning a mega NRI rally on February 2 at Majitha. The Congress is doing some road shows with NRI support. Businessman Harjeet Singh said: People want a change in the state. They are fed-up with SAD-BJP rule. We dont feel safe. Singh is supporting the AAP candidate from Mohali, Narinder Singh Shergill. Im landing on Sunday along with a few more NRIs and will campaign till the elections, Harjit Singh Chahal from Germany said. NRI Canada Kuljinder Singh from Canada says: We want a change in Punjab. AAP is the best option. Kuldeep Singh Padda from Sweden is highlighting the states failures through videos and sending them back to the NRI community. Naripjit Singh, who runs a bar and an eating joint in Canada, says he supports AAP. More than 400 NRIs from the United Kingdom and Canada have come out in support of the Congress in Punjab and are preparing to join the party election campaign, with a jatha likely to be flagged off by party vice-president Rahul Gandhi from New Delhi. Around 250 NRIs under the aegis of the Indian Overseas Congress, UK, are arriving over the next two days. Daljit Singh Sahota, the Indian Overseas Congress (UK) president Amarpreet Aulakh, President, Indian Overseas Congress (Canada), has already reached India to campaign for the party. The ruling SAD have also launched an NRI campaign, Aao Punjab Chaliye. But its hardly getting any response. YATISH YADAV By NEW DELHI: A terror strike involving a large vehicle driven by a lone jihadisimilar to the truck attacks in France and Germany that killed hundreds last yearis being feared by law enforcement officials. Counter-terrorism officials told The Sunday Standard that jihadists may use large trucks to inflict mass-casualties on crowds by ramming them into unsuspecting holiday makers or shoppers. This was revealed during the interrogation of suspected IS modules. During the interrogation, IS recruits disclosed how they were inspired by the terror outfits Nice truck rampage and were planning to use vehicles as weapons for similar operations in India. On January 8, IS terrorists used a truck to kill four Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem. In December, a truck attack happened in Berlin. Palestinian militants in the past have used such tactics, the official said. We are not ruling out this high level, low capability method of attack and are making all necessary security arrangements to thwart any such attempts, he said. Traffic police have also been put on high alert. New Delhi: Counter-terrorism officials said that agencies are stepping up security across the country, especially in major cities, and putting up several enforcement mechanisms in place. A latest intelligence input based on the arrested IS module reviewed by this newspaper revealed that radicalised youths were planning to target security officials and other personnel. Although, IS has not been able to gain much traction in India, the security agencies have arrested over 70 self-radicalised recruits in the last 2 years. The officials in the security establishments said there is higher level of operational planning that is required for such attack but could be executed by a small cell with the lone operator as it was evident in Nice and Israel attacks. The radicalised IS recruits are inspired by Al Qaeda modus operandi, which had published an article The Ultimate Mowing Machine in 2010 calling upon lone wolfs to use a pickup truck as a mowing machine, not to mow grass, but to mow down the enemies of Allah. Al Qaeda article, which has been analysed by the security and counter-terror officials, further exhorted the attackers to pick location and timing carefully and they must go for the most crowed locations, narrower spots are also better because it gives less chance for the people to run away. Al Qaeda in its terror tutorials has told the cadres this method would cause chaos and trauma among the public -a simple operation with great result. After Nice attack IS had claimed that terrorist Mohamed Lahoualej Bouhlel was one its foot solders. Bouhlel was driving a 19-ton Renault truck that plowed into a large crowd, killing 84 and injuring hundred others. There is no doubt that Nice-type attack has uniqueness. A truck or any other vehicle is not designed to be a weapon so the challenge is much higher to secure against such threat. Is it impossible to stop similar type of attack? In some cases yes it is tough to harden open venues but we have done it in the past and confident to do it whenever there is an alert. It is evident that many self-radicalised youth kept under close monitoring have grown disillusioned with the extremist ideology even IS is losing strongholds in Iraq and Syria. There are inputs that Pakistan-based outfits may also coordinate lone-wolf attacks ahead of republic day, the official added. Battled-hardened jihadis from LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed may have stolen Afghan identities, the input has warned. Disguised as Afghan refugee, infiltration is being planned into India through legitimate route and thus avoiding no-fly lists. Top sources confirmed that some terrorists have fraudently acquired Afghan Passports using credible ID recently but refused to divulge the specifics whether they have been able to blend in the large number of Afghan refugee community living in the country. The input has been passed on to the concerned agencies for vetting process as part of anti-terror operations that will look into the identity credentials of recently arrived Afghan refugees. Credible ID theft is potent weapon for the terrorists like it happened in 9/11. This provides them freedom of movement and access to target locations while avoiding intelligence radar. We have mechanism in place to spot a fake ID and have increased level of security checks at the airports. We are confident to disrupt any suspicious module operating in the country, sources said. NEW DELHI: A terror strike involving a large vehicle driven by a lone jihadisimilar to the truck attacks in France and Germany that killed hundreds last yearis being feared by law enforcement officials. Counter-terrorism officials told The Sunday Standard that jihadists may use large trucks to inflict mass-casualties on crowds by ramming them into unsuspecting holiday makers or shoppers. This was revealed during the interrogation of suspected IS modules. During the interrogation, IS recruits disclosed how they were inspired by the terror outfits Nice truck rampage and were planning to use vehicles as weapons for similar operations in India. On January 8, IS terrorists used a truck to kill four Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem. In December, a truck attack happened in Berlin. Palestinian militants in the past have used such tactics, the official said. We are not ruling out this high level, low capability method of attack and are making all necessary security arrangements to thwart any such attempts, he said. Traffic police have also been put on high alert. New Delhi: Counter-terrorism officials said that agencies are stepping up security across the country, especially in major cities, and putting up several enforcement mechanisms in place. A latest intelligence input based on the arrested IS module reviewed by this newspaper revealed that radicalised youths were planning to target security officials and other personnel. Although, IS has not been able to gain much traction in India, the security agencies have arrested over 70 self-radicalised recruits in the last 2 years. The officials in the security establishments said there is higher level of operational planning that is required for such attack but could be executed by a small cell with the lone operator as it was evident in Nice and Israel attacks. The radicalised IS recruits are inspired by Al Qaeda modus operandi, which had published an article The Ultimate Mowing Machine in 2010 calling upon lone wolfs to use a pickup truck as a mowing machine, not to mow grass, but to mow down the enemies of Allah. Al Qaeda article, which has been analysed by the security and counter-terror officials, further exhorted the attackers to pick location and timing carefully and they must go for the most crowed locations, narrower spots are also better because it gives less chance for the people to run away. Al Qaeda in its terror tutorials has told the cadres this method would cause chaos and trauma among the public -a simple operation with great result. After Nice attack IS had claimed that terrorist Mohamed Lahoualej Bouhlel was one its foot solders. Bouhlel was driving a 19-ton Renault truck that plowed into a large crowd, killing 84 and injuring hundred others. There is no doubt that Nice-type attack has uniqueness. A truck or any other vehicle is not designed to be a weapon so the challenge is much higher to secure against such threat. Is it impossible to stop similar type of attack? In some cases yes it is tough to harden open venues but we have done it in the past and confident to do it whenever there is an alert. It is evident that many self-radicalised youth kept under close monitoring have grown disillusioned with the extremist ideology even IS is losing strongholds in Iraq and Syria. There are inputs that Pakistan-based outfits may also coordinate lone-wolf attacks ahead of republic day, the official added. Battled-hardened jihadis from LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed may have stolen Afghan identities, the input has warned. Disguised as Afghan refugee, infiltration is being planned into India through legitimate route and thus avoiding no-fly lists. Top sources confirmed that some terrorists have fraudently acquired Afghan Passports using credible ID recently but refused to divulge the specifics whether they have been able to blend in the large number of Afghan refugee community living in the country. The input has been passed on to the concerned agencies for vetting process as part of anti-terror operations that will look into the identity credentials of recently arrived Afghan refugees. Credible ID theft is potent weapon for the terrorists like it happened in 9/11. This provides them freedom of movement and access to target locations while avoiding intelligence radar. We have mechanism in place to spot a fake ID and have increased level of security checks at the airports. We are confident to disrupt any suspicious module operating in the country, sources said. Richa Sharma By NEW DELHI: Indian Railways is coming up with a concept selling policy whereby companies can market their products in 13,000 trains. The policy will allow executives to sell products such as insurance policies and investment plans to passengers in trains. The cash-strapped Railways has been banking on the non-fare revenue (NFR) sector for revenue. Some zonal railways briefly allowed companies to market sample products such as toothpaste, handwash, biscuits and shampoos in trains. We are planning a comprehensive policy on a revenue sharing model whereby a company will have to give a fixed amount to the Railways annually for brand selling in trains. Company executives will be allowed to talk to passengers during a journey and sell their products, said a senior railway ministry official. The NFR policy was launched earlier this month, and is expected to bring an additional revenue of `2,000 crore annually. The policy involves advertising in trains, bridges and other assets, ATMs at railway platforms and digital content for passengers, among others. Railways can offer a big platform to firms for marketing as we carry over 2.3 crore passengers daily, who are of different esclass and economic and social backgrounds, the official added. In 2016, Northern Railways had allowed companies such as Sensodyne, Lifebuoy and Titan distribute product samples in trains. Some trials were carried out to assess the response of passengers in the northern zone. The new policy will also help passengers to utilise their journey time and discuss financial queries with company certified executives while they are travelling, said a Northern Railway official. The Railways is assessing the revenue sharing model that can be rolled out before companies. NEW DELHI: Indian Railways is coming up with a concept selling policy whereby companies can market their products in 13,000 trains. The policy will allow executives to sell products such as insurance policies and investment plans to passengers in trains. The cash-strapped Railways has been banking on the non-fare revenue (NFR) sector for revenue. Some zonal railways briefly allowed companies to market sample products such as toothpaste, handwash, biscuits and shampoos in trains. We are planning a comprehensive policy on a revenue sharing model whereby a company will have to give a fixed amount to the Railways annually for brand selling in trains. Company executives will be allowed to talk to passengers during a journey and sell their products, said a senior railway ministry official. The NFR policy was launched earlier this month, and is expected to bring an additional revenue of `2,000 crore annually. The policy involves advertising in trains, bridges and other assets, ATMs at railway platforms and digital content for passengers, among others. Railways can offer a big platform to firms for marketing as we carry over 2.3 crore passengers daily, who are of different esclass and economic and social backgrounds, the official added. In 2016, Northern Railways had allowed companies such as Sensodyne, Lifebuoy and Titan distribute product samples in trains. Some trials were carried out to assess the response of passengers in the northern zone. The new policy will also help passengers to utilise their journey time and discuss financial queries with company certified executives while they are travelling, said a Northern Railway official. The Railways is assessing the revenue sharing model that can be rolled out before companies. By AFP BAMAKO: A pro-government militia in Mali said that it had lost 14 fighters in an attack blamed on former rebels Saturday, three days after a suicide car bomber left more than 70 dead. Some 77 people were killed and 120 wounded in the suicide blast Wednesday which targeted a camp in northern Gao housing former rebels and pro-government militia -- who are signatories to a 2015 peace accord struck with the government. Hundreds of people gathered in the capital Bamako Saturday to pay their respects to victims of the attack on the last of three days of national mourning called by President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. The attack, Mali's worst in years, was claimed by the group of Algerian jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar, allied to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The attack occurred as former rebels from the Tuareg-led CMA movement prepared to go on a joint patrol with pro-government militia members under the terms of the peace deal. Despite hopes of unity in the wake of the blast, fresh clashes broke out Saturday between groups that have signed up to the agreement, according to the pro-government group GATIA (the Imghad and Allies Tuareg Self-Defence Group). A post near Tin-Assako in the northeastern Kidal region was attacked Saturday, GATIA secretary general Fahad Ag Almahoud said, accusing "elements of the CMA" -- referring to ex-rebels from the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA). "The toll was high -- there were 14 victims," he told AFP. The information was confirmed by a Kidal resident reached by telephone, but the CMA did not immediately respond to the allegations. Mali's north fell under the control of Tuareg-led rebels and jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012. The Islamists sidelined the rebels to take sole control. Although they were largely ousted by a French-led military operation in January 2013, implementation of the peace accord has been piecemeal with insurgents still active across large parts of the region. The joint patrols, which also include regular Malian army troops, are supposed to help prepare for the reorganisation of the army. The United Nations has deployed 13,000 troops in Mali while France, the former colonial power, has an additional 4,000 soldiers stationed there. The UN Security Council agreed last week to consider setting up a sanctions regime for Mali to punish those who are hindering efforts to implement the 2015 peace accord. BAMAKO: A pro-government militia in Mali said that it had lost 14 fighters in an attack blamed on former rebels Saturday, three days after a suicide car bomber left more than 70 dead. Some 77 people were killed and 120 wounded in the suicide blast Wednesday which targeted a camp in northern Gao housing former rebels and pro-government militia -- who are signatories to a 2015 peace accord struck with the government. Hundreds of people gathered in the capital Bamako Saturday to pay their respects to victims of the attack on the last of three days of national mourning called by President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. The attack, Mali's worst in years, was claimed by the group of Algerian jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar, allied to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The attack occurred as former rebels from the Tuareg-led CMA movement prepared to go on a joint patrol with pro-government militia members under the terms of the peace deal. Despite hopes of unity in the wake of the blast, fresh clashes broke out Saturday between groups that have signed up to the agreement, according to the pro-government group GATIA (the Imghad and Allies Tuareg Self-Defence Group). A post near Tin-Assako in the northeastern Kidal region was attacked Saturday, GATIA secretary general Fahad Ag Almahoud said, accusing "elements of the CMA" -- referring to ex-rebels from the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA). "The toll was high -- there were 14 victims," he told AFP. The information was confirmed by a Kidal resident reached by telephone, but the CMA did not immediately respond to the allegations. Mali's north fell under the control of Tuareg-led rebels and jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012. The Islamists sidelined the rebels to take sole control. Although they were largely ousted by a French-led military operation in January 2013, implementation of the peace accord has been piecemeal with insurgents still active across large parts of the region. The joint patrols, which also include regular Malian army troops, are supposed to help prepare for the reorganisation of the army. The United Nations has deployed 13,000 troops in Mali while France, the former colonial power, has an additional 4,000 soldiers stationed there. The UN Security Council agreed last week to consider setting up a sanctions regime for Mali to punish those who are hindering efforts to implement the 2015 peace accord. DES MOINES -- The public is invited to a Trumpeter Swan Soiree, celebrating North Americas largest waterfowl species, from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27, at the Blank Park Zoo, and from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, at Walnut Woods State Park. Saturday programs will be given both indoors and outdoors at the Walnut Woods State Park lodge with concurrent outdoor viewing and interpretive presentations of trumpeter swans and bald eagles given by Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Polk and Dallas County Conservation naturalist. Spotting scopes and binoculars will be provided. An estimated 220 trumpeter swans are wintering at the Dale Maffitt Reservoir and surrounding area southwest of Des Moines, providing a rare opportunity to view good numbers of free-flying trumpeter swans. Hot chocolate, hot cider, cookies, grilled hotdogs and other snacks will be provided free of charge. Donations will be accepted with proceeds going towards Iowa trumpeter swan restoration. For more information, contact David Hoffman, trumpeter swan restoration coordinator, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, at 641-425-0737 or 641-357-3517.. By Associated Press WASHINGTON: In a global exclamation of defiance and solidarity, more than one million people rallied at women's marches in the nation's capital and cities around the world Saturday to send President Donald Trump an emphatic message on his first full day in office that they won't let his agenda go unchallenged. "Welcome to your first day, we will not go away!" marchers in Washington chanted. Many of the women came wearing pink, pointy-eared "pussyhats" to mock the new president. Plenty of men joined in, too, contributing to surprising numbers everywhere from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles to Mexico City, Paris, Berlin, London, Prague and Sydney. The Washington rally alone attracted over 500,000 people according to city officials apparently more than Trump's inauguration drew on Friday. It was easily one of the biggest demonstrations in the city's history, and as night fell, not a single arrest was reported. The international outpouring served to underscore the degree to which Trump has unsettled people in both hemispheres. "We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war," actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd. "Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack, and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. ... We are America, and we are here to stay." Turnout in the capital was so heavy that the designated march route alongside the National Mall was impassable. Protesters were told to make their way to the Ellipse near the White House by way of other streets, triggering a chaotic scene that snarled downtown Washington. Long after the program had ended, groups of demonstrators were still marching and chanting in different parts of the city. White House press secretary Sean Spicer had no comment on the march except to note that there were no firm numbers for turnout because the National Park Service no longer provides crowd estimates. Around the world, women brandished signs with slogans such as "Women won't back down" and "Less fear more love." They decried Trump's stand on such issues as abortion, health care, diversity and climate change. And they branded him a sexist, a bully, a bigot and more. "We want a leader, not a creepy tweeter," some marchers chanted in Washington. Others: "Welcome to your first day, we will not go away!" In Chicago, organizers canceled the march portion of their event for safety reasons because of an overflow crowd that reached an estimated 250,000. People made their way through the streets on their own anyway. In New York, well over 100,000 marched past Trump's home at glittering Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. More than 100,000 also gathered on Boston Common, and a similar number demonstrated in Los Angeles. In Miami, real estate agent Regina Vasquez, 51, brought a sign saying "Repeal and Replace Trump." "I believe that strength is in the numbers, and that we should all come out and not make Trump the new normal," she said. All told, more than 600 "sister marches" were planned worldwide. Crowd estimates from police and organizers around the globe added up to more than a million. "I feel very optimistic even though it's a miserable moment," said Madeline Schwartzman of New York City, who brought her twin 13-year-old daughters to the Washington rally. "I feel power." Retired teacher Linda Lastella, 69, who came to Washington from Metuchen, New Jersey, said she had never marched before but felt the need to speak out when "many nations are experiencing this same kind of pullback and hateful, hateful attitudes." "It just seemed like we needed to make a very firm stand of where we were," she said. As the demonstrators rallied alongside the National Mall, Trump opened his first full day as president by attending a prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, a tradition for the day after inauguration, and later visited the CIA. As he traveled around town, his motorcade passed large groups of protesters that would have been hard to miss. The Women's March on Washington appeared to accomplish the historic feat of drawing more people to protest the inauguration than the ceremony itself attracted. It far surpassed the 60,000 people who protested the Vietnam War at Richard Nixon's inauguration in 1973. Before Saturday, that was thought to be the largest such demonstration in inaugural history. Christopher Geldart, Washington's homeland security director, said the crowd exceeded the 500,000 that organizers told city officials to expect. The largest-ever demonstration in Washington, according to National Park Service crowd estimates, was an anti-Vietnam protest in 1969 that drew 600,000. The Million Man March in 1995 drew 400,000, according to the park service, which no longer estimates crowd sizes, in part because the organizers of that event accused the agency of lowballing the number and threatened to sue. The Washington rally was a peaceful counterpoint to the window-smashing unrest that unfolded on Friday when self-described anarchists tried to disrupt the inauguration. Police used pepper spray and stun grenades against the demonstrators. More than 200 people were arrested. Marlita Gogan, who came to Washington from Houston for the inauguration, said police advised her family not to wear their "Make America Great Again Hats" as they walked through crowds of protesters while playing tourist on Saturday. "I think it's very oppressive," she said of the march atmosphere. "They can have their day, but I don't get it." Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump, took to Twitter to thank the participants for "standing, speaking and marching for our values." The marches displayed a level of enthusiasm that Clinton herself was largely unable to generate during her campaign against Trump, when she won the popular vote but he outdistanced her in the electoral vote. The hand-knit "pussyhats" worn by many women served as a message of female empowerment, inspired by Trump's crude boast about grabbing women's genitals. They "ain't for grabbing," actress Ashley Judd told the Washington crowd. The marches were a magnet for A-list celebrities, unlike Trump's inauguration, which had a deficit of top performers. Alicia Keys sang "Girl on Fire" for the Washington crowd. Madonna gave a fiery, profanity-laced address to the gathering. Cher, also in the nation's capital, said Trump's ascendance has people "more frightened maybe than they're ever been." In Park City, Utah, it was Charlize Theron leading demonstrators in a chant of "Love, not hate, makes America great." Actresses Helen Mirren and Cynthia Nixon and Whoopi Goldberg joined the crowd of protesters in New York. Tens of thousands of protesters squeezed into London's Trafalgar Square. In Paris, thousands rallied in the Eiffel Tower neighborhood in a joyful atmosphere, singing and carrying posters reading "We have our eyes on you Mr. Trump" and "With our sisters in Washington." Hundreds gathered in Prague's Wenceslas Square in freezing weather, mockingly waving portraits of Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin. In Sydney, thousands of Australians gathered in solidarity in Hyde Park. One organizer said hatred, bigotry and racism are not only America's problems. WASHINGTON: In a global exclamation of defiance and solidarity, more than one million people rallied at women's marches in the nation's capital and cities around the world Saturday to send President Donald Trump an emphatic message on his first full day in office that they won't let his agenda go unchallenged. "Welcome to your first day, we will not go away!" marchers in Washington chanted. Many of the women came wearing pink, pointy-eared "pussyhats" to mock the new president. Plenty of men joined in, too, contributing to surprising numbers everywhere from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles to Mexico City, Paris, Berlin, London, Prague and Sydney. The Washington rally alone attracted over 500,000 people according to city officials apparently more than Trump's inauguration drew on Friday. It was easily one of the biggest demonstrations in the city's history, and as night fell, not a single arrest was reported. The international outpouring served to underscore the degree to which Trump has unsettled people in both hemispheres. "We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war," actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd. "Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack, and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. ... We are America, and we are here to stay." Turnout in the capital was so heavy that the designated march route alongside the National Mall was impassable. Protesters were told to make their way to the Ellipse near the White House by way of other streets, triggering a chaotic scene that snarled downtown Washington. Long after the program had ended, groups of demonstrators were still marching and chanting in different parts of the city. White House press secretary Sean Spicer had no comment on the march except to note that there were no firm numbers for turnout because the National Park Service no longer provides crowd estimates. Around the world, women brandished signs with slogans such as "Women won't back down" and "Less fear more love." They decried Trump's stand on such issues as abortion, health care, diversity and climate change. And they branded him a sexist, a bully, a bigot and more. "We want a leader, not a creepy tweeter," some marchers chanted in Washington. Others: "Welcome to your first day, we will not go away!" In Chicago, organizers canceled the march portion of their event for safety reasons because of an overflow crowd that reached an estimated 250,000. People made their way through the streets on their own anyway. In New York, well over 100,000 marched past Trump's home at glittering Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. More than 100,000 also gathered on Boston Common, and a similar number demonstrated in Los Angeles. In Miami, real estate agent Regina Vasquez, 51, brought a sign saying "Repeal and Replace Trump." "I believe that strength is in the numbers, and that we should all come out and not make Trump the new normal," she said. All told, more than 600 "sister marches" were planned worldwide. Crowd estimates from police and organizers around the globe added up to more than a million. "I feel very optimistic even though it's a miserable moment," said Madeline Schwartzman of New York City, who brought her twin 13-year-old daughters to the Washington rally. "I feel power." Retired teacher Linda Lastella, 69, who came to Washington from Metuchen, New Jersey, said she had never marched before but felt the need to speak out when "many nations are experiencing this same kind of pullback and hateful, hateful attitudes." "It just seemed like we needed to make a very firm stand of where we were," she said. As the demonstrators rallied alongside the National Mall, Trump opened his first full day as president by attending a prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, a tradition for the day after inauguration, and later visited the CIA. As he traveled around town, his motorcade passed large groups of protesters that would have been hard to miss. The Women's March on Washington appeared to accomplish the historic feat of drawing more people to protest the inauguration than the ceremony itself attracted. It far surpassed the 60,000 people who protested the Vietnam War at Richard Nixon's inauguration in 1973. Before Saturday, that was thought to be the largest such demonstration in inaugural history. Christopher Geldart, Washington's homeland security director, said the crowd exceeded the 500,000 that organizers told city officials to expect. The largest-ever demonstration in Washington, according to National Park Service crowd estimates, was an anti-Vietnam protest in 1969 that drew 600,000. The Million Man March in 1995 drew 400,000, according to the park service, which no longer estimates crowd sizes, in part because the organizers of that event accused the agency of lowballing the number and threatened to sue. The Washington rally was a peaceful counterpoint to the window-smashing unrest that unfolded on Friday when self-described anarchists tried to disrupt the inauguration. Police used pepper spray and stun grenades against the demonstrators. More than 200 people were arrested. Marlita Gogan, who came to Washington from Houston for the inauguration, said police advised her family not to wear their "Make America Great Again Hats" as they walked through crowds of protesters while playing tourist on Saturday. "I think it's very oppressive," she said of the march atmosphere. "They can have their day, but I don't get it." Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump, took to Twitter to thank the participants for "standing, speaking and marching for our values." The marches displayed a level of enthusiasm that Clinton herself was largely unable to generate during her campaign against Trump, when she won the popular vote but he outdistanced her in the electoral vote. The hand-knit "pussyhats" worn by many women served as a message of female empowerment, inspired by Trump's crude boast about grabbing women's genitals. They "ain't for grabbing," actress Ashley Judd told the Washington crowd. The marches were a magnet for A-list celebrities, unlike Trump's inauguration, which had a deficit of top performers. Alicia Keys sang "Girl on Fire" for the Washington crowd. Madonna gave a fiery, profanity-laced address to the gathering. Cher, also in the nation's capital, said Trump's ascendance has people "more frightened maybe than they're ever been." In Park City, Utah, it was Charlize Theron leading demonstrators in a chant of "Love, not hate, makes America great." Actresses Helen Mirren and Cynthia Nixon and Whoopi Goldberg joined the crowd of protesters in New York. Tens of thousands of protesters squeezed into London's Trafalgar Square. In Paris, thousands rallied in the Eiffel Tower neighborhood in a joyful atmosphere, singing and carrying posters reading "We have our eyes on you Mr. Trump" and "With our sisters in Washington." Hundreds gathered in Prague's Wenceslas Square in freezing weather, mockingly waving portraits of Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin. In Sydney, thousands of Australians gathered in solidarity in Hyde Park. One organizer said hatred, bigotry and racism are not only America's problems. By Associated Press MOSCOW: In Russia, giving one's spouse a slap is nothing extraordinary for many people. This week, the Russian parliament is expected to take a step closer toward decriminalizing it altogether. Battery is a criminal offense in Russia, but nearly 20 percent of Russians openly say they think it is sometimes OK to hit a spouse or a child. In a bid to accommodate conservative voters, deputies in the lower house of parliament have given initial approval to a bill eliminating criminal liability for domestic violence that stops short of serious bodily harm or rape. If the measure passes its second reading in the Duma on Wednesday, when the draft can be changed, approval in the third and final reading would be a foregone conclusion. From the Duma, it would proceed to the upper house, largely a rubber-stamp body, and then to President Vladimir Putin's desk. Data on domestic violence in Russia are obscure, but Interior Ministry statistics show that 40 percent of all violent crimes in Russia are committed in family surroundings. In 2013, more than 9,000 women were reported to have been killed in incidents of domestic violence. The bill stems from a Supreme Court ruling last summer to decriminalize battery that doesn't inflict bodily harm, but to retain criminal charges for those accused of battery against family members. Conservative activists objected, saying the ruling meant a parent spanking a child could be punished more harshly than a non-relative striking the child. Ultra-conservative lawmaker Yelena Mizulina, who also authored Russia's "gay propaganda" ban, then introduced the bill to decriminalize domestic violence. It initially was shelved after a disapproving review from the government. Tables turned at the end of the year when a journalist from a conservative publication pressed Putin about it at his annual news conference. "If the father spanks his child for a good reason as a means of education, a traditional Russian one, he will be sentenced to two years in prison and if a neighbor does this, he will get away with a fine!" the journalist told Putin. Putin replied that "it's better not to spank children and refer to some traditions," but then said, "We should not go overboard with it (punishment for battery). It's not good, it harms families." The bill would make battery on a family member punishable by a fine of less than 30,000 rubles ($500) or a 15-day arrest. The Moscow-based Anna Center foundation, which runs Russia's only domestic violence hotline, received more than 5,000 calls last year. The foundation says many more calls that go unanswered since the line operates only between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. The Duma bill "is not going to improve the situation to say the least," said Irina Matvienko, who runs the hotline. "Domestic violence is a system which makes it difficult for a woman to seek help," she said. "It's not a traditional value. It's a crime. " Calls to the Anna Center hotline show that a lot of Russian women initially don't even realize that domestic violence is an offense, Matvienko says. A survey this month by state-run pollster VTsIOM showed that 19 percent of Russians say "it can be acceptable" to hit one's wife, husband or child "in certain circumstances." The nationwide poll by phone of 1,800 people was held Jan. 13-15. The survey had a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points. Russian police are notoriously reluctant to react to domestic violence calls, which many regard as meddling in family affairs. Prosecutors in November began investigating a police officer who took a call from a woman complaining about her boyfriend's aggressive behavior. Instead of offering help, the officer reportedly told the woman that the police would only come if she got killed. Shortly thereafter, the man beat the woman to death, prosecutors say. Activist Alyona Popova, whose online petition against the bill has attracted more than 180,000 signatures, sees the efforts to decriminalize domestic violence as a continuation of the Kremlin's increasingly aggressive policies after several repressive laws targeting various groups, from foreign-funded NGOs to gay people. "I think it's part of an overall ideology: aggression and violence are on the rise in society in general since war is everywhere and we're surrounded by enemies," Popova said, referring to the state media narrative that portrays Russia as a besieged fortress. Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland earlier this week sent a letter to the speakers of both houses of Russia's parliament, expressing deep concern at the legislation. Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin dismissed the letter as an "unacceptable" attempt to influence parliament. Olga Batalina, one of the bill's co-authors, said in the Duma last week that the penalty for battery should be lenient for acts of violence "committed in an emotional conflict, without malice, without grave consequences." "Battery doesn't even involve grave bodily harm. We're only talking about bruises, scratches, which is bad, too, of course," Batalina said. The comment rattled some lawmakers. "Has anyone tried going around with a bruise for a week?" deputy Oleg Nilov asked Batalina at the hearing. "Does anyone think it's OK?" There haven't been any significant protests against the bill so far. Activist Popova is not surprised: discussing domestic violence still is taboo in Russia. "Society is judgmental," she said. "It goes like this: you're a bad woman if you allow this to happen to you, or you're airing dirty laundry and you're to blame, or it's he beats you it means he loves you. And a lot of people don't want to go public about it." MOSCOW: In Russia, giving one's spouse a slap is nothing extraordinary for many people. This week, the Russian parliament is expected to take a step closer toward decriminalizing it altogether. Battery is a criminal offense in Russia, but nearly 20 percent of Russians openly say they think it is sometimes OK to hit a spouse or a child. In a bid to accommodate conservative voters, deputies in the lower house of parliament have given initial approval to a bill eliminating criminal liability for domestic violence that stops short of serious bodily harm or rape. If the measure passes its second reading in the Duma on Wednesday, when the draft can be changed, approval in the third and final reading would be a foregone conclusion. From the Duma, it would proceed to the upper house, largely a rubber-stamp body, and then to President Vladimir Putin's desk. Data on domestic violence in Russia are obscure, but Interior Ministry statistics show that 40 percent of all violent crimes in Russia are committed in family surroundings. In 2013, more than 9,000 women were reported to have been killed in incidents of domestic violence. The bill stems from a Supreme Court ruling last summer to decriminalize battery that doesn't inflict bodily harm, but to retain criminal charges for those accused of battery against family members. Conservative activists objected, saying the ruling meant a parent spanking a child could be punished more harshly than a non-relative striking the child. Ultra-conservative lawmaker Yelena Mizulina, who also authored Russia's "gay propaganda" ban, then introduced the bill to decriminalize domestic violence. It initially was shelved after a disapproving review from the government. Tables turned at the end of the year when a journalist from a conservative publication pressed Putin about it at his annual news conference. "If the father spanks his child for a good reason as a means of education, a traditional Russian one, he will be sentenced to two years in prison and if a neighbor does this, he will get away with a fine!" the journalist told Putin. Putin replied that "it's better not to spank children and refer to some traditions," but then said, "We should not go overboard with it (punishment for battery). It's not good, it harms families." The bill would make battery on a family member punishable by a fine of less than 30,000 rubles ($500) or a 15-day arrest. The Moscow-based Anna Center foundation, which runs Russia's only domestic violence hotline, received more than 5,000 calls last year. The foundation says many more calls that go unanswered since the line operates only between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. The Duma bill "is not going to improve the situation to say the least," said Irina Matvienko, who runs the hotline. "Domestic violence is a system which makes it difficult for a woman to seek help," she said. "It's not a traditional value. It's a crime. " Calls to the Anna Center hotline show that a lot of Russian women initially don't even realize that domestic violence is an offense, Matvienko says. A survey this month by state-run pollster VTsIOM showed that 19 percent of Russians say "it can be acceptable" to hit one's wife, husband or child "in certain circumstances." The nationwide poll by phone of 1,800 people was held Jan. 13-15. The survey had a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points. Russian police are notoriously reluctant to react to domestic violence calls, which many regard as meddling in family affairs. Prosecutors in November began investigating a police officer who took a call from a woman complaining about her boyfriend's aggressive behavior. Instead of offering help, the officer reportedly told the woman that the police would only come if she got killed. Shortly thereafter, the man beat the woman to death, prosecutors say. Activist Alyona Popova, whose online petition against the bill has attracted more than 180,000 signatures, sees the efforts to decriminalize domestic violence as a continuation of the Kremlin's increasingly aggressive policies after several repressive laws targeting various groups, from foreign-funded NGOs to gay people. "I think it's part of an overall ideology: aggression and violence are on the rise in society in general since war is everywhere and we're surrounded by enemies," Popova said, referring to the state media narrative that portrays Russia as a besieged fortress. Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland earlier this week sent a letter to the speakers of both houses of Russia's parliament, expressing deep concern at the legislation. Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin dismissed the letter as an "unacceptable" attempt to influence parliament. Olga Batalina, one of the bill's co-authors, said in the Duma last week that the penalty for battery should be lenient for acts of violence "committed in an emotional conflict, without malice, without grave consequences." "Battery doesn't even involve grave bodily harm. We're only talking about bruises, scratches, which is bad, too, of course," Batalina said. The comment rattled some lawmakers. "Has anyone tried going around with a bruise for a week?" deputy Oleg Nilov asked Batalina at the hearing. "Does anyone think it's OK?" There haven't been any significant protests against the bill so far. Activist Popova is not surprised: discussing domestic violence still is taboo in Russia. "Society is judgmental," she said. "It goes like this: you're a bad woman if you allow this to happen to you, or you're airing dirty laundry and you're to blame, or it's he beats you it means he loves you. And a lot of people don't want to go public about it." By Associated Press PARIS, FRANCE: Supporters of France's fractured Socialists voted Sunday to choose a presidential candidate with the party in danger of being reduced to also-rans as Europe shifts to the right. The two-round primary is viewed as a crucial test of the Socialists' ability to re-invent themselves, with their outgoing flagbearer President Francois Hollande deeply unpopular after five years in office. The presidential election in April and May is shaping up as a three-way battle between conservative ex-premier Francois Fillon, far-right leader Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron, the 39-year-old former economy minister who is stealing the headlines from his former Socialist government colleagues. Most opinion polls currently show a Fillon-Le Pen runoff as the most likely scenario, with Macron possibly finishing ahead of the Socialist candidate in the first round but both being eliminated. A poll published on Thursday gave Macron between 17 and 21 percent of the first-round vote. Hollande's former prime minister Manuel Valls, who quit the cabinet in December, was the favourite to win the Socialist nomination when the seven candidates began campaigning. But many observers believe he has run a lacklustre campaign and two contenders from the party's left flank -- protectionist maverick Arnaud Montebourg and former education minister Benoit Hamon -- will push him hard to reach next Sunday's runoff. - Eclipsed by Macron - Hamon has performed strongly in the three TV debates of a short campaign, attracting attention with his proposal to pay the poor and 18 to 25-year-olds a "universal income" rising from 600 euros to 750 euros ($640 to $800) a month -- an idea dismissed as ruinously expensive by Montebourg. "I voted for Benoit Hamon because to me he is the one best placed to revive the Socialist party," said Jean Claude, who cast his ballot in Millau, southwestern France. Dominique, a man in his 40s who voted in eastern Paris, said he was backing Valls. "My main concern is that the left reaches the second round (of the presidential election). Valls is the most credible option against Macron," he said. Macron, a relative newcomer to politics who resigned from the government in August to set up his own centrist movement, has drawn large crowds to his campaign events in recent weeks. Turnout in the Socialist primary was around half of that in the centre-right Republicans primary in November. Between 1.7 million and 1.9 million voted, according to an estimate by the Elabe polling group as polling stations closed, compared to four million who took part in the first round of the rightwing primary. The first indication of the results is expected by 2000 GMT. - Tactical voting? - Some Socialist heavyweights have hinted they could support Macron over their party's nominee if he looks to have a better chance of reaching the second round of the presidential election against Le Pen. Le Pen, who leads the anti-immigration National Front (FN), told a meeting of rightwing populist parties in Germany on Saturday that Europe was about to "wake up" following the victory of Donald Trump in the US election and the British vote to leave the European Union. Geert Wilders' far-right party is forecast to perform strongly in March's Dutch general election. Macron himself has ruled out a pact with the Socialists, announcing Thursday that his En Marche movement would field hundreds of candidates in parliamentary elections in June. Communist-backed firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon, who like Macron is polling in double digits in his campaign as an independent, also risks splitting the leftwing vote. Valls, who was slapped this week by a protester, set out to modernise the party but has struggled to unite his camp, with his rivals accusing him of betraying leftist ideals by forcing through labour market reforms. The four other candidates running in the primary are former education minister Vincent Peillon, ecologist Francois de Rugy, ex-MEP Jean-Luc Bennahmias and radical left candidate Sylvia Pinel. PARIS, FRANCE: Supporters of France's fractured Socialists voted Sunday to choose a presidential candidate with the party in danger of being reduced to also-rans as Europe shifts to the right. The two-round primary is viewed as a crucial test of the Socialists' ability to re-invent themselves, with their outgoing flagbearer President Francois Hollande deeply unpopular after five years in office. The presidential election in April and May is shaping up as a three-way battle between conservative ex-premier Francois Fillon, far-right leader Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron, the 39-year-old former economy minister who is stealing the headlines from his former Socialist government colleagues. Most opinion polls currently show a Fillon-Le Pen runoff as the most likely scenario, with Macron possibly finishing ahead of the Socialist candidate in the first round but both being eliminated. A poll published on Thursday gave Macron between 17 and 21 percent of the first-round vote. Hollande's former prime minister Manuel Valls, who quit the cabinet in December, was the favourite to win the Socialist nomination when the seven candidates began campaigning. But many observers believe he has run a lacklustre campaign and two contenders from the party's left flank -- protectionist maverick Arnaud Montebourg and former education minister Benoit Hamon -- will push him hard to reach next Sunday's runoff. - Eclipsed by Macron - Hamon has performed strongly in the three TV debates of a short campaign, attracting attention with his proposal to pay the poor and 18 to 25-year-olds a "universal income" rising from 600 euros to 750 euros ($640 to $800) a month -- an idea dismissed as ruinously expensive by Montebourg. "I voted for Benoit Hamon because to me he is the one best placed to revive the Socialist party," said Jean Claude, who cast his ballot in Millau, southwestern France. Dominique, a man in his 40s who voted in eastern Paris, said he was backing Valls. "My main concern is that the left reaches the second round (of the presidential election). Valls is the most credible option against Macron," he said. Macron, a relative newcomer to politics who resigned from the government in August to set up his own centrist movement, has drawn large crowds to his campaign events in recent weeks. Turnout in the Socialist primary was around half of that in the centre-right Republicans primary in November. Between 1.7 million and 1.9 million voted, according to an estimate by the Elabe polling group as polling stations closed, compared to four million who took part in the first round of the rightwing primary. The first indication of the results is expected by 2000 GMT. - Tactical voting? - Some Socialist heavyweights have hinted they could support Macron over their party's nominee if he looks to have a better chance of reaching the second round of the presidential election against Le Pen. Le Pen, who leads the anti-immigration National Front (FN), told a meeting of rightwing populist parties in Germany on Saturday that Europe was about to "wake up" following the victory of Donald Trump in the US election and the British vote to leave the European Union. Geert Wilders' far-right party is forecast to perform strongly in March's Dutch general election. Macron himself has ruled out a pact with the Socialists, announcing Thursday that his En Marche movement would field hundreds of candidates in parliamentary elections in June. Communist-backed firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon, who like Macron is polling in double digits in his campaign as an independent, also risks splitting the leftwing vote. Valls, who was slapped this week by a protester, set out to modernise the party but has struggled to unite his camp, with his rivals accusing him of betraying leftist ideals by forcing through labour market reforms. The four other candidates running in the primary are former education minister Vincent Peillon, ecologist Francois de Rugy, ex-MEP Jean-Luc Bennahmias and radical left candidate Sylvia Pinel. Sorry, that page not found! Please visit our Home Page for latest updates Nick Lawrence is trying to bridge the gap between fine art and the art of the tattoo at Tat-Fu Tattoos new location. The tattoo shop moved in next to Hidden Light/The Framing Department, one block north of the Northern Arizona University campus, about three weeks ago. The new shop looks more like an art studio than the stereotypical tattoo parlor. The new location, which took the place of the Tom Alexander photo studio, has an open floor plan. The walls are painted a bright white and paintings done by Lawrence and his business partner, Landis Bahe, hang on nearly every wall. Some of the art has a surreal, dreamy quality to it. Other pieces feature Native American and more spiritual work. I wanted it to be more open, to look more like an art studio to help people open up and relax, he said. He also wanted a place to showcase his and Bahes art. Lawrence is a self-taught painter. The art on the walls challenges peoples perceptions of what a tattoo parlor should look like and tries to bridge the gap between body art and painting. You have to bare a part of your inner self, as well as your body, to the tattoo artist -- a complete stranger -- when you get a tattoo, Lawrence said. There is a more sheltered area of the studio for more intimate tattoo work. Tat-Fu opened in a tiny space next to the Monte Vista Hotel in 2001. Lawrence, an NAU student at the time, learned how to do piercing and eventually worked in the shop for several years before leaving for Phoenix, where he learned how to tattoo. He came back to Flagstaff in 2003 and bought the shop from its owner and moved it to Route 66 in 2007. Last year, the owner of the building sold it and Lawrence found himself looking for a new, smaller space and found it at the corner of South San Francisco Street and East Ellery Avenue. A SAFER PROCESS New bandages, needles, inks and machines make it easier and safer to tattoo and reduce the risk of infection or a medical reaction in clients, he said. Lawrence said he regularly gets emails and phone calls from potential clients who are price shopping. He recommends against picking a tattoo artist based on price only. He encourages new clients to talk with and get to know several tattoo artists before settling on one person to do their body art. You want to be comfortable with the person doing the tattoo, he said, and you want to know they can do that kind of work. You need to talk to them, look at their portfolio, and describe what kind of tattoo you want and where. Most good tattoo artists will tell you what they can and cant do and will help shape your ideas into a tattoo that you like. One frequent request that Lawrence sees with a lot of people seeking their first tattoo is that they want to throw everything, including the kitchen sink, into it. A good tattoo artist will tell you that theres too much going on and the tattoo will need to be bigger to accommodate everything or youll need to simplify things in order to keep the size of the tattoo small. That same artist can help you figure out what you want to focus on in that tattoo. Many people also dont realize how involved and painful getting a tattoo can be, Lawrence said. Depending on the size and intricacy of the tattoo, it can take several hours or several sessions over several days to do a tattoo. This is because the pain can wear on a client and the tattooing process beats up the skin in an area. He also suggests that you save up the money you need for the tattoo you want. Lawrence has finished more than a few tattoos several years after a client started the process because the client ran out of funds before the art was finished. The process is also painful, no matter where you get a tattoo, he said, although some areas are more difficult to tattoo and more painful than others. Areas that have the most nerve endings, such as the inside of the arms and legs, hands and feet, are usually the most painful areas to tattoo. Hands and feet are also difficult because they get a lot of use and after a few years the ink starts to look worn. Lawrences favorite spot for a tattoo is the upper thigh, which is flat, wide and gets the most protection from the sun. One of his least favorite spots is the center of the chest because he has to stand over the client for hours. A tattoo will last much longer with a good design in the right location. Good tattoo artists will also have certain standards for themselves that they will very rarely bend, he said. For example, Lawrence will advise against getting a tattoo and wont do one on the hands, neck or face if a person doesnt already have several tattoos and expects to work at a job that would allow them to have multiple tattoos visible. Although tattoos stain the skin, they do fade over time. A good sunscreen and covering a tattoo to avoid sun exposure helps a great deal, he said. But age will relax the skin and inks break down over time, leading to softer lines and colors. It's just one more thing to take into consideration before walking in the door. DAVENPORT | Proposed budget cuts, education and collective bargaining took center stage Saturday as the public got its first chance since the start of the Iowa legislative session to grill Quad City lawmakers. More than 200 people, a larger-than-usual crowd, turned out at St. Ambrose University for the first legislative forum of the session. And while Republicans now hold control of both the House and the Senate, they found there were occasions Saturday where they fell under critical questioning from an audience that included a number of educators and union members. Some in the audience called on the legislators to say whether they would back changes to the state's collective bargaining law. Gov. Terry Branstad has proposed changes to how the state provides health care to public employees, saying too much money is spent. The three Democrats on the panel Reps. Phyllis Thede, D-Bettendorf, and Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport, and Sen. Jim Lykam, D-Davenport promised to oppose changes, which won wide applause from the crowd. Republicans initially shied away from engaging on the issue, but eventually Rep. Ross Paustian, R-Walcott, said collective bargaining would not be eliminated, but that changes will be made. "I think employees should have a seat at the table. I also think taxpayers should have a seat at the table, he said. Paustian did get some pushback from the audience, too, when he blamed Winckler for trying to get you all stirred up. The governors proposal to cut $110 million from the remaining five months of the 2017 budget also drew concerns. The chief judge of the state's 7th judicial district, Marlita Greve, warned lawmakers Saturday if they went through with the reductions, the $7.7 million cut to the court system proposed by Branstad would significantly hobble its ability to function. We're basically going to be a part-time court system, and the citizens of Iowa will not get the services they need," Greve said. She added the court system's funding problems raise the possibility of furloughs and closings at courthouses and clerk's offices, as well as harm to specialty courts, like drug and mental health courts, which she said avert longer term costs. Paustian and Gary Mohr, R-Bettendorf, said they were told Friday the governor and Republican leaders in the House and Senate have reached agreement on the cuts. Paustian said the courts and community colleges should see smaller cuts than Branstad initially proposed. However, he said full details wont likely be released until early this week. A Branstad spokesman declined to comment Saturday when asked to confirm whether he and legislative leaders had reached an agreement. Some in the audience Saturday also urged local lawmakers to make progress on closing the inequity in per pupil funding, which has been a major issue Davenport Schools. Health Ministry to launch population based prevention, screening and control programme for five non-communicable diseases New Delhi, Jan 21 : Non-Communicable diseases (NCDs) which are Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) such as heart attacks and stroke, Diabetes, Chronic Respiratory Diseases (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases and Asthma) and Cancer inter alia account for over 60pc of all mortality in India. Of these, nearly 55pc are premature mortality. (Posted on 22 January 2017, 1667618454 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/india-news.php (Posted on 22 January 2017, 1667618454 173O212O198O32) This imposes a financial and social cost on families and the country. According to the World Economic Forum, India stands to lose $ 4.58 trillion (Rs 311.94 trillion between 2012 and 2030 due to non-communicable diseases.Since these conditions do not exhibit symptoms until complications set in, it is essential to detect them early. Early detection of NCDs not only enables onset of treatment but prevents high financial costs and suffering.For some cancers, survival rates are good when they are detected and treated in the early stages. Screening for these conditions, which can be undertaken at the level of the sub centre or Primary health Centres helps early detection and also serves to raise health awareness among people to lead healthy lifestyles. Given that primary health care, including prevention and health promotion can lead to improved health and developmental outcomes at much lower cost, the Ministry is now expanding access to prevention and primary care services,read a government statement.As part of the National Health Mission, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is launching population based prevention, screening and control programme for five common non-communicable diseases, namely Hypertension, Diabetes, and Cancers of oral cavity, breast and cervix. On February 4th coinciding with World Cancer Day, Union Health and Family Welfare Minster is expected to launch the programme. The training of frontline workers- the ASHA and ANM which will be initiated and in some sub-centres, population based screening will also start. Detailed protocols for treatment, referrals and follow-up on these disease conditions will be provided.In the first phase, the population based screening component will be rolled out in 100 districts in 32 states and UTs with about 1000 sub-centres undertaking screening before March 31st of this year.ASHAs will also be capturing information on major risk factors so that persons at risk could be counselled on leading healthy lifestyles to prevent onset of NCDs. In subsequent phases, Chronic Obstructive Respiratory diseases will be included and the programme will be scaled up to cover other districts. Support to states will also be provided for community health promotion and prevention efforts, and referral and treatment. Shefali Shah to do a special cameo in 'Commando 2' New Delhi , Jan. 22 : Last seen in 'Dil Dhadakne Do' and 'Brothers' in strong supporting roles, the National award winner Shefali Shah will now be seen doing a cameo in the Vidyut Jammwal-starrer, 'Commando 2'. (Posted on 22 January 2017, 1667618456 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/bollywood-news.php (Posted on 22 January 2017, 1667618456 173O212O198O32) Shefali will be seen playing the role of a Home minister in the action adventure.Her husband, Vipul Amrutlal Shah, who is also the producer of the flick shares, "Shefali is the best actress in the country and I would love to work with her more but I would not dare to offer her something ordinary.""In this film she has agreed to do the cameo as she really found it worth her while. I am very happy that she has done this part," he added.The actress, known for being selective, agreed to do this role as it was a solid cameo.After the success of 'Commando: A One Man Army,' the audience is eagerly awaiting another action-packed, thrilling experience in 'Commando 2.'Vidyut Jammwal's martial arts stunts and adrenaline pumping sequences in the prequel have led to much eagerness for the sequel which is supposed to be bigger and even more action-packed, where the man is on a mission to eradicate black money.Directed by Deven Bhojani, the movie is all set to release on March 3. Trump visits CIA headquarters, extends support to intelligence officials Virginia [United States], Jan. 22 : President Donald Trump has extended his support to the Central Intelligence Agency during his visit to the headquarters of the CIA in Langley, Virginia. (Posted on 22 January 2017, 1667618457 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/world-news.php (Posted on 22 January 2017, 1667618457 173O212O198O32) "There is nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community and the CIA than Donald Trump. There is nobody," The Washington Post quoted Trump as saying."I am so behind you. I know maybe sometimes you haven't gotten the backing that you've wanted and you're going to get so much backing. Maybe you're going to say, 'Please, don't give us so much backing. Mr. President, please, we don't need so much backing," he added.Reiterating to lead the fight against the Islamic State, Trump said that the country has not used its real potential and asserted to get rid of the ISIS.Citing his statement on Radical Islamic terrorism yesterday, the President said that it has to be eradicated from the face of the earth as it is an evil.Trump praised his nominee for CIA director, Mike Pompeo saying that he is a gem.He told the intelligence officials that they will get a total star in Pompeo.The Senate is yet to confirm his role as the CIA director.Trump also asked the officials to applaud his national security adviser, former lieutenant general Michael Flynn.Trump had repeatedly on many occasions earlier criticised the U.S. intelligence agencies, after their assessment that Russia used cyber attacks to try to interfere in the election to favor his candidacy. CHARLES CITY | About 30 people marched across the suspension bridge in Charles City Saturday to honor civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. The march was originally slated to be held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day but was postponed due to an ice storm. It was organized by Be the Bridge, a racial reconciliation group in Charles City. Organizers intended the act of walking over the suspension bridge to be symbolic of the 54-mile march Martin Luther King, Jr., led from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965. Attendees in Charles City carried a banner emblazoned with words of hope and peace as they walked. Saturday's march, as well as a program held afterward, was also designed to further Be the Bridge's mission of helping people get to know each other, or bridge the gap. -- Molly Montag 'We march for moral core, against which Trump is waging war,' says America Ferrera Los Angeles [US], Jan. 22 : Thousands of women and men, including numerous Hollywood celebrities, took to streets in Washington D.C., just a day after Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States. (Posted on 22 January 2017, 1667618457 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/hollywood-news.php (Posted on 22 January 2017, 1667618457 173O212O198O32) Latina activist and actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd: "It's been a heart-wrenching time to be a woman and an immigrant in this country ? a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday.""We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war.""Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. ... We are America and we are here to stay," she said, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.Ferrera was the first of a host of keynote speakers at the march, including Gloria Steinem, Scarlett Johansson, LGBTQ activist Janet Mock, Michael Moore and civil rights activist Angela Davis.Scarlett Johansson addressed President Donald Trump directly from the podium, saying, "I didn't vote for you but I respect the fact that you are the president. But before I support you, I ask you to support me."She asked him to ensure that her daughter gets to grow up with the same ones his daughters enjoy.The Women's March on Washington is a grassroots response to Trump's unexpected electoral victory over Hillary Clinton, who was the first major party female candidate in US history. India support the proposal of strengthening of AMIS: Singh New Delhi, Jan 22 : Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Sunday addressed the G-20 Agriculture Ministers' Meeting at Berlin, Germany. In his addressed the Minister said that India will continue to extend their support in early implementation of past commitments made at the G20 Agriculture Ministers Meetings particularly on Research and Development, collaboration and knowledge transfer, action to combat food loss and waste, and information and communication technologies (ICT). (Posted on 22 January 2017, 1667618460 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/india-news.php (Posted on 22 January 2017, 1667618460 173O212O198O32) Singh also supports the proposal of strengthening of AMIS and underscores the importance of assessment of stocks and suggests sharing of best practices in this regard.The Minister added that in India, ICT has proved to be an effective and powerful medium to disseminate information on agronomic practices, prices, fertilizer and pesticide use and weather and pest related advisories. Many new initiatives have been taken in order to develop an integrated approach for communication process in the agricultural sector.These include: launch of agricultural web portals, mobile apps and a dedicated broadcasting channel. Moreover, with the objective to reform the agriculture marketing system in the country, a National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) portal has been launched which provides a pan-India electronic trading.This e-marketing platform is expected to help farmers in facilitating better price discovery through efficient, transparent and competitive marketing platform; better marketing of agricultural produce; reducing wastages; and getting market related information and with access to large number of buyers from within and outside the State through transparent auction processes.Singh said that in order to promote efficient irrigation practices in the country, a major irrigation programme was launched by the government in 2015 with emphasis on improving water-use efficiency through, water conservation/ rainwater harvesting and use of micro-irrigation.The programme aims at providing end-to-end solutions in irrigation supply chain, viz., water sources, distribution network and farm level applications and extension services on new technologies and information. The programme is being implemented in a mission mode with aim of completing 99 major and medium irrigation projects with the capacity of 76.03 lakh hectare in a phased manner by December, 2019.Singh said that the role of G20 economies in achieving the sustainable global food security assumes significant importance and there is a growing consensus that the challenges of maintaining food and nutritional security need innovative solutions through collaborative and coordinated polices among the member as well as non-member countries.Union Agriculture Farmers Welfare Minister said that the world economy has made strides in increasing the global food production, but the emerging challenges of increasing climate complexities, stress on natural resources, degrading soil heath and fragmentation of land holdings pose serious risks in sustaining this growth momentum.Other major issues particularly faced by the developing and under developed economies include poor marketing infrastructure, food losses and wastage, low coverage of institutional agricultural credit, and insuring farmers produce from frequent climatic variations.Singh said the discussions on agriculture sector under the G20 German Presidency has been rightly focused on the increasing stress on natural Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Obituaries Newsletter Sign up to get the most recent local obituaries delivered to your inbox. Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy Priyanka Chopra comes out in support of anti-Trump Women's March New Delhi, Jan 22 : 'Desi girl' Priyanka Chopra has come out in the support of Women's March, organised in Washington D.C., a day after Donald Trump sworn in as the 45th president of the United States of America. (Posted on 22 January 2017, 1667618462 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/bollywood-news.php (Posted on 22 January 2017, 1667618462 173O212O198O32) To show her support PeeCee took to her Twitter and tweeted, "So proud of all my sisters and the men that are at the #WomensMarch I'm so upset I couldn't go. #girllove #womensrightsarehumanrights."Many celebs including, Nargis Fakhri and Salman Khan's 'Tubelight' co-star Zhu Zhu too supported the march via social media.Scores of people participated in this 'Women's March' in an attempt to unify masses against issues concerning women's rights.The mass event was held in Washington D.C aimed to send a message 'Women's rights are human rights.'Many Hollywood celebrities and activists including, America Ferrera, Gloria Steinem, Michael Moore and Madonna, spoke to the crowds in the US capital. Sheila Dikshit withdraws as UP CM candidate, says time for younger generation to take over New Delhi , Jan. 22 : Hours after the Congress and Samajwadi Party joined hands for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, Sheila Dikshit on Sunday withdrew herself as the state chief ministerial candidate, saying it is time for the younger generation to take over. (Posted on 22 January 2017, 1667618462 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/india-news.php (Posted on 22 January 2017, 1667618462 173O212O198O32) Dikshit said there cannot be two chief ministerial faces in an alliance in the politically crucial state."We have got a major relief as discussion on this was going on for a very long time. Now both the parties have come together. Their pledge of defeating the communal forces is in itself very much appreciable. I will take up whatever role is given to me. When this discussion started 10-15 days ago, I had said at that time only that there cannot be face of two chief ministers if alliance takes place. So, I withdraw myself as Uttar Pradesh chief ministerial candidate...the younger generation should come forward," Dikshit told ANI.The Congress veteran stated that the main reason for the Congress to come to power is development for the nation."Rahul ji has said the same thing. It should be left on the people to decide whom they want," she added.Dikshit, however, refused to comment anything on the Samajwadi Party dispute."That's their family matter...I do not want to comment on that," Dikshit said when asked about Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh and brother Shivpal Yadav's absence during the release of party's election manifesto.Firming up an alliance for next month's high-voltage Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, the Samajwadi Party and Congress today vowed to make Akhilesh Yadav the Chief Minister of the politically crucial state yet again, while promising to free the state from communal forces.As part of the alliance, the Samajwadi Party will contest on 298 seats while the Congress will field its candidates in 105 seats.Hailing the alliance as 'historic', Samajwadi Party's Uttar Pradesh chief Naresh Uttam said both parties will initiate a historic era by halting the BSP and BJP.Congress' Uttar Pradesh unit president Raj Babbar on his part said the alliance will make a concerted effort towards strengthening secularism and goodwill in the society.The formal announcement of SP-Congress alliance has come after huge discussions by the two sides over few days before they agreed to 298-105 formula.The negotiation was said to have hit a roadblock yesterday, when the Congress rejected the SP's offer.The poll process in Uttar Pradesh begins on February 11.73 constituencies in western Uttar Pradesh will go polls in this phase. The filing of nominations for these constituencies will end on January 24.Uttar Pradesh is set to have a seven-phase polling between February 11 and March 8. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Windy with thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low 59F. Winds SSE at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Windy with thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low 59F. Winds SSE at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Higher wind gusts possible. New Delhi: Industry body CII on Saturday said Indian companies are very much part of the fabric of America and stand ready to work with US President Donald Trump going forward. In a statement, Director General of CII Chandrajit Banerjee said in the last two decades, the US-India partnership has grown exponentially in a wide array of areas. Cooperation has produced valuable initiatives in areas like space, science and technology, homeland security, defence, cyber security, healthcare and prevention of infectious diseases, advanced manufacturing and so forth. Banerjee said that business has always been at the forefront of the bilateral relationship and has helped strengthen the strategic imperative. "As President Trump begins to implement his America First vision, we hope that the enormous mutual complementaries between our two economies are fully leveraged. "Indian companies are very much a part of the fabric of America and they stand ready to work with President Trump going forward," he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday said he looked forward to working with the new US President to further deepen the bilateral ties. Trump yesterday took over as the 45th President of the US. The cake on the left is the one I made for President Obama's inauguration 4 years ago. The one on the right is Trumps. I didn't make it. pic.twitter.com/qJXpCfPhii Duff Goldman (@Duff_Goldman) January 21, 2017 Excited to share the cake we got to make for one of last night's inaugural balls. While we most love creating original designs, when we are asked to replicate someone else's work we are thrilled when it is a masterpiece like this one. @duff_goldman originally created this for Obama's inauguration 4 years ago and this years committee commissioned us to re-create it. Best part is all the profits are being donated to @humanrightscampaign, one of our favorite charities who we have loved working with over the years. Because basic human rights are something every man, woman and child~ straight, gay or the rainbow in between~ deserve! A photo posted by Buttercream Bakeshop (@bttrcrmbakeshop) on Jan 21, 2017 at 7:35am PST A photo posted by Buttercream Bakeshop (@bttrcrmbakeshop) on Remembering a fantastic cake I made is awesome and the chef that re-created it for @POTUS Trump did a fantastic job. Group hug, y'all. Duff Goldman (@Duff_Goldman) January 21, 2017 Thanks for the chat @Duff_Goldman. You are a class act! Buttercream Bakeshop (@BttrcrmBakeshop) January 22, 2017 Anytime, @BttrcrmBakeshop! You guys made a beautiful cake! Come by @Charm_CityCakes if you're ever in Baltimore! https://t.co/ou8hR1I3og Duff Goldman (@Duff_Goldman) January 22, 2017 The cake at President Donald Trump's third inaugral ball at the "Salute to our Armed Services" event, mirrored one at Barack Obama's in 2013 suggests Pastry chef Duff Goldman's tweet of side-by-side images of identical cakes.One of the cakes was made by Goldman of Food Network cake-baking fame and his Baltimore-based Charm City Cakes for Barack Obama's inaugural ball in 2013, and the other was of the one cut by Trump at his inaugural ball, re-created by Buttercream Bakeshop.Buttercream Bakeshop, led by owner and pastry chef Tiffany MacIsaac, posted a picture of the re-created cake on Instagram with an extensively elucidative caption that read "Excited to share the cake we got to make for one of last night's inaugural balls. While we most love creating original designs, when we are asked to replicate someone else's work we are thrilled when it is a masterpiece like this one. @duff_goldman originally created this for Obama's inauguration 4 years ago and this years committee commissioned us to re-create it,".That the profits from the cake will be donated to the Human Rights Campaign, "Because basic human rights are something every man, woman and child~ straight, gay or the rainbow in between~ deserve!" could possibly be a rather humanitarian and altruistic move to ward off any controversy that could have been triggered by the replicated work.Trump cut the cake at his third and final inaugural ball, at the "Salute to our Armed Services" event and was joined by First Lady Melania Trump, as well as Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence.Appreciating and applauding the chef and the recreation, Goldman tweeted:What followed thereafter, was a healthy exchange of tweets between the pastry chefs. New Delhi: An 85-year-old Pakistan national, stuck at a detention centre here for more than eight months after having served a 12-year-jail term for conspiring to smuggle heroin, has moved the Delhi High Court to send him back home. The Lahore resident's plea for deportation came up for hearing before Justice A K Pathak who sought response of the Centre and the Delhi government before February 2. Mohd Hanif has contended that he was being "unnecessarily kept at the detention centre" at Lampur in Narela here since April 6 last year after having served his sentence. He has also claimed that the Pakistan High Commission has cleared his name for deportation. "Issue show cause notice to the respondents. The central government standing counsel accepts the notice for the respondent no.1 (the Ministry of Home Affairs) and the additional standing counsel accepts notice for the respondent no.2 (the Delhi government) and seek time to file status report. "Let it be filed within three weeks. List the matter on February 2, 2017," the court said. Hanif was first arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence in 1996 in a drug smuggling case and was later acquitted by both the trial court in October 2001 and later by the high court in March 2016 after the agency moved an appeal. Meanwhile, he was arrested in another drug smuggling case in September 2003 and was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment by the trial court in April 2011. However, on his appeal, the high court had reduced the jail term to 12 years, as per his petition for deportation. In this May 31, 2009 photo, Kashmiri Pandits perform prayers during an annual festival at a shrine in Khirbhawani, 30 km east of Srinagar (REUTERS/Danish Ismail) Chennai: A Tamil musician associated with the raging pro-Jallikattu protests today announced backing out of the agitation citing the presence of "anti-national" elements, but vowed to back the bull-taming sport. Known as 'Hip-Hop Tamizha', Adhi, who has composed a Tamil track in support of Jallikattu, claimed that the movement was "losing steam and veering off its desired path". He claimed that during the protests at Coimbatore, he had come across an incident involving an "insult" to the national flag even as some tried to give a communal colour to it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the target of "abusive" language by a section of the protesters, Adhi, a prominent name among the pro-Jallikattu protesters, alleged. "I will not aid such anti-India activities," the composer of the Takaru Takaru song said in a video message, adding that some protesters even raised separate Tamil Nadu slogans. Adhi said he was "hurt" by such incidents and insisted that a good initiative was "losing direction". "The problems of Tamils should be addressed, but at the cost of what?" he asked and added that giving a completely different colour to the protest was "not acceptable" to him. "I do not know what happened but I am backing off," he said. Adhi said he himself was the owner of a bull and had been affected by the ban on Jallikattu, adding that he continued to support the bull-taming sport. His comments come at a time when some on the social media have started questioning the rationale behind the protesters' insistence on continuing with their agitation (in its sixth day on Sunday) despite Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam's assurance that his government's ordinance for conducting the sport will pave the way for a permanent solution. Former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju has also said that the apprehensions of sections of protesters seeking a "permanent solution" were unfounded as the ordinance will be replaced by an Act of the Tamil Nadu legislature which will be "permanent". 100 personnel of the National Disaster Response Force have reached the Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Express derailment site in Andhra Pradesh to assist in rescue and relief operations.Official sources said NDRF personnel will help railway authorities and the local administration in the rescue and relief operations."NDRD team has already reached the spot to carry out rescue and relief operations," Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said.Singh said the train accident in Andhra Pradesh is extremely distressing."Deeply pained over the loss of precious lives. My condolences to the bereaved families," he saidAt least 32 people lost their lives in the derailment at Andhra Pradesh's Vizianagaram district on Saturday last night. Two people were killed and at least 50 injured in Pudukottai during Jallikattu, which was conducted in various parts of Tamil Nadu on Sunday. However, protests at Alanganallur in Madurai, where people demanded a permanent solution, forced Chief Minister O Panneerselvam to leave for Chennai without inaugurating the bull-taming sport. Panneerselvam later said the event in Alanganallur, considered the epicentre of Jallikattu, will be held at a date of the locals choosing. He also promised to bring in a permanent change in law in upcoming Assembly session to replace the Ordinance promulgated by the Governor on Saturday. In Chennais Marina Beach, too, protesters have refused to end demonstrations, demanding a permanent solution to the issue. The government has, meanwhile, filed a caveat in the Supreme Court, urging it not to pass any order on the Ordinance without hearing its arguments first. As it happened. Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here. ST. ANSGAR The St. Ansgar Economic Development Corp. has been released from its offer for the old elementary school building. The EDC had submitted a proposal to purchase the property once the building was demolished, allowing construction of affordable housing. But the city of St. Ansgar agreed at its Jan. 9 City Council meeting to enter into an agreement with the school and the St. Ansgar Historic School Project, Inc. to turn the school into a community center and summer theater. The Historic School Project has proposed to purchase the school as-is for $100, taking possession on March 1. As part of the agreement, the project cannot have liens or mortgages on the property while a sharing agreement is in effect with the city and school district. St. Ansgar Council enters agreement over elementary school property ST. ANSGAR The St. Ansgar City Council has entered into a three-way agreement with St. Ans Though contracts are still being drawn up, the Historic School Projects proposal has been accepted by the School Board. This action leaves the St. Ansgar EDC without a project at that location. In response, the School Board voted earlier this month to release the EDC from its proposal. That is contingent upon school purchase contracts and sharing agreements being signed. In other School Board business, the district is potentially collaborating with neighboring districts to offer elective classes like language. Incoming ninth-graders indicated on a survey 20.4 percent want to take German, while 32 percent want to take Spanish. While the district has talked with Osage about potentially sharing a Spanish 4 class, Superintendent Jody Gray said there have been no offers to share German. While St. Ansgar has been in talks with Osage about potentially sharing a Spanish 4 class, there have been no offers for anyone to share German, according to St. Ansgar Superintendent Jody Gray. The School Board says it has looked into online options to continue offering classes like German, while hoping to partner with other schools and generate student interest. Chrystal Berche is a correspondent for the Mitchell County Press-News, another Lee Enterprises newspaper. Kolkata: Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen said she had hoped that the situation in West Bengal would improve for her to return after Mamata Banerjee took over as the chief minister in 2011 but she found the Trinamool Congress supremo "harsher" than the Left Front government in this regard. "I had expected that the situation in West Bengal will change after Mamata came to power. But I was wrong. I found her harsher than the earlier Left Front government," she told PTI over phone from her undisclosed residence in New Delhi. Noting that she was a "victim of votebank politics", Nasreen said that politicians irrespective of their party affiliation have the same outlook about her. "Politicians are all on the same platform when it comes down to me. I think it's because they think that if they can satisfy the Muslim fundamentalists they will get votes. I believe I am a victim of votebank politics. This also shows that how weak the democracy is and politicians ask votes by banning a writer," she said. And that is exactly what is happening in West Bengal, she said and described the opposition to her return by the state government as a "dangerous opposition". "Even though I am not staying there, she (Banerjee) has not allowed my book 'Nirbasan' to be published. Also, she has stopped the broadcast of a TV serial scripted by me after Muslim fundamentalists objected to it. She is not allowing me to enter the state... This is a dangerous opposition," Nasreen said. The Bangladeshi writer has been living in exile since 1994 in the wake of death threats by Muslim fundamentalists. After staying in Europe, Nasreen took refuge in India in 2004 and stayed in Kolkata. But in 2007, she was expelled from West Bengal following violent protests by Muslims against her writings. She had moved to Sweden, after initial staying at an undisclosed location in New Delhi. She later returned to India and now lives in New Delhi. Asked whether she would like to contact Banerjee and seek help for her return to the city, Nasreen said that she had written to the chief minister but there was no response. "I wrote to Mamata Banerjee. But there was no response to that... To be honest, I had written an article for a popular Bengali daily hoping that she will notice it and help my cause... Though it was a very positive article on Mamata but nothing changed," she said. On whether she would write to Banerjee again, the 52-year-old writer said, "No I am not going to write to her again. I do not think she will consider my request. I feel very hopeless because I expected something positive. I think when it comes down to me, she has similar vision like that of the Left leaders." Asked why she was choosing to stay in India, preferably Kolkata, despite the hindrances here, Nasreen said, "I do not consider India as a foreign country. The history of this country is my history. It's the country of my forefathers. I love this country and in Kolkata, I feel at home because I can relate that place to my homeland." Asked whether she was scared of staying in India because of the life threats she gets from time to time, she said, "Sometimes I think the way they are killing people using suicide bombers who can get into any place and can kill anybody. Police protection, security arrangements are also becoming irrelevant these days. Yes, at times I am scared. "But I must say that I am not frightened by these death threats. Getting them I am not locking myself inside my room. I am going out everyday. But I am a bit more alert and leading a very cautious lifestyle." "I have sacrificed my freedom and have been sacrificing for a big cause... All these (problems) are because of my writings. I could have stopped writing against fundamentalists and possibly the bans would have been removed and I had got back my freedom and allowed to enter my motherland again. But I will never do that. I have spoken of humanism and equal rights for women and secularism stating that religion and nation should be treated separately. One should not get confused with nation and religion. Rules should be made based on equality, and not on religion," she said. Nasreen said she does not write "to get awards". "I know that only by writing I will not be able to change an entire society. The laws need to be changed. Equal rights cannot be established in a short time, it requires a long time and huge efforts," she said. Talking about her writings, the 'Lajja' author said she was still waiting to pen down her best. "Though I have written 43 books out of which many are best sellers and many have earned me awards, I still think I am yet to write the best one. I have got many awards but the best is when people come forward and tell me that my writings have help them change their vision," she said. Asked whether life would have been different if she was born in a European country, Nasreen said, "I do not think I would have been treated in the same manner if I was born there (Europe). I am a writer, not an activist. I do not participate in rallies. I write with a pen and if you have any problem why do not you pick up a pen to protest. The surprising thing in this part of the world is that they have picked up arms against me because I have expressed my views. I have never enforced my thoughts on anybody ever, then why they are trying to kill me. I am not a supporter of violence." New Delhi: Press clubs are usually champions of freedom of speech. And the Indian Womens Press Corps (IWPC), housed on Windsor Road, a prime location in the national capital, is no exception. The IWPC has held a number of seminars on issues such as attacks on Dalits, women and journalists, and has condemned such incidents in the past. IWPC is run by women journalists, and among many things, is known for its excellent home-made food and is a popular hangout for journalists, bureaucrats and even politicians. In fact, it periodically organises talk shows with politicians and ministers. But now, many members of the IWPC are left wondering how they can fight for their freedom of speech and expression. There is a small rebellion brewing and not many are openly speaking out yet. But a signature campaign has begun now. What triggered this anger is a recent notice regarding bookings for press conferences and seminars. The form which needs to be filled up for booking the venue, says: Nothing will be said which will be anti-national, question the integrity of the country, amount to sedition or cause harm to the reputation of the club. This has stunned its liberal members and no one from the managing committee is coming forward to claim ownership. It has been almost a month, and since the notice has not been withdrawn, several members have started a signature campaign. Understandably, not many are willing to speak openly, but the resentment is palpable. A very senior member who was part of the previous managing committee says: Never ever have we got involved in politics of the system. We hold such conferences as they give us revenue and the only check is that the crowd should be organised. This is an attack on our freedom and I suspect an attempt to woo the current discourse in the country on patriotism." In October last year, the nearby Press Club of India, too, faced a similar issue. Jammu and Kashmir MLA Engineer Rasheed was attacked at the premises of the club by alleged volunteers of the Hindu Sena. Ink was thrown on his face for allegedly holding a beef party back in his state. Since then, the Press Club, too, has been very careful about who they call for seminars. Ironically, the IWPC had condemned the incident then. Attempts to speak to the committee members and office staff got no response. But as a member of the IWPC and someone who has signed the petition, this reporter wonders whether journalists should become judges. Chennai/Madurai: Jallikattu was conducted in various parts of Tamil Nadu on Sunday even as protests continued at Alanganallur in Madurai where people refused to hold the famous sport seeking a "permanent solution", forcing chief Minister O Panneerselvam to leave for Chennai without inaugurating it. Panneerselvam had on said he would inaugurate the bull taming sport at Alanganallur, famous for holding Jallikattu events, at 10 am. Groups of protesters continued to stay put at several locations in the state, including the Marina Beach at Chennai, epicentre of the stir for the last six days. The protesters are seeking a permanent solution for holding the sport, besides a ban on animal rights group PETA. As protesters demanded a permanent solution for holding the sport and raised slogans that ordinance was only a temporary measure, Panneerselvam said: the "State's jallikattu ordinance route is permanent, robust and sustainable, will be made into a law in the coming Assembly session." He reiterated that there was no ban following the promulgation of the ordinance. The Chief Minister said the ordinance will be replaced by a law after bringing in a bill in the Assembly session, beginning at Chennai on Monday. Speaking to reporters at Madurai before leaving for Chennai, Panneerselvam said, "The ban on Jallikattu has been removed completely, the sport will be held at Alanganallur, on a date decided by local people." He said jallikattu was held in all parts of Tamil Nadu with the local administration and police taking all stipulated measures to hold the sport. Continuing blockades and agitations here at Alanganallur and Tamukkam grounds, besides neighbouring Natham Kovilpatti in Dindigul, put a question mark over Panneerselvam inaugurating Jallikattu. Panneerselvam, who had announced that he would inaugurate Jallikattu at Alanganallur, had to stay back in a hotel here following the stir there by protesters who demanded a permanent measure to be in place. Following that, Panneerselvam was expected to inaugurate Jallikattu at Natham Kovilpatti in Dindigul. However, protests erupted there too placing the same demand for a "permanent solution. Lucknow: Ruling Samajwadi Party on Sunday released its manifesto for Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections promising a bunch of schemes for all round development of the state at a function which SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav and his brother Shivpal gave a miss. With an eye on development, Akhilesh riding on the crest of "kaam bolta hai" (work speaks) slogan, announced schemes which prioritise development of the state. The manifesto announced distribution of laptops, Kanya Vidya Dhan, Samajwadi Pension, laying of Purvanchal Expressway, and establishing Janeshwar Mishra model villages besides improving helplines for police and women. He said the model villages in the name of Janeshwar Mishra would be a tribute to the Samajwadi leader on his death anniversary on January 22. The Chief Minister, in his new role as the Samajwadi Party national president, directed all candidates to prepare a road map for development of their respective Assembly constituencies. A highlight of the manifesto was Samajwadi Kisan Kosh for farmers to purchase seeds and fertilisers, perhaps to match the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Bima Yojana. As Mulayam and Shivpal, the warring uncle of Akhilesh, were conspicuous by their absence, senior SP leader Azam Khan rushed to the SP patriarch's bungalow to bring him to the event. But even then Mulayam did not grace the occasion where senior party leaders and Dimple Yadav, MP and wife of the chief minister were present. In an impassioned appeal to the electorate to vote SP back to power, Akhilesh said, "We got support on 2012 manifesto, we also fulfilled promises made in it." "The manifesto is a 'sankalp' (promise) to form future government. It's clear that we all want to form Samajwadi Party government. If you work for 5 years, you will get government of five years," he said. The chief minister asked party workers to go to the masses and make them aware of the schemes implemented by his government during the past five years. "A lot of work has been done in a big way. We have to work more in future. I tried for the past five years not to leave path of socialism and also ensure balanced development to improve rural economics," he said. Akhilesh also ridiculed his political opponents, saying, "Some parties are there who have nothing to do." He slammed BJP for its Lok Sabha poll promises and asked what happed to its 'Sab ka saath, sab ka vikas' slogan. "People are desperately looking for those who had promised acche din," he said. In a veiled attack on Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi, he said BJP has nothing to speak on development. "They sometimes give you 'jhadu' (broom) or ask you to perform yoga," he said. He also took on BSP, claiming that the 'Patthar Wali Sarkar' has done nothing for UP except erecting stone statues of elephants, its poll symbol. "If BSP comes to power, its government will install bigger elephant statues," he alleged. The 32-page SP manifesto promises 24 hour power supply to villages and effective dial 100 so that police reaches within 10-15 minutes. "In days to come, the government will move one step forward and ensure better connect with people. Samajwadi smartphone scheme is one effort," Akhilesh said, adding that already 1.40 crore registrations have been made for the same. He said Samajawdi Party pension will benefit one crore people and Rs 1000 pension would be given to each one of them. With an eye on the rural areas, he announced welfare schemes for labourers and added that poor women will be given pressure cookers. The manifesto promised setting up of hostels for working women, mid-day meal for farm workers, free medical treatment to the poor and an end to 'inspector raj'. It promised expansion of metro rail in Kanpur, Agra and Meerut. It also promised air ambulance at Lucknow, ambulance for animals, free treatment to those with Rs 1.5 lakh annual income and one litre ghee a month to improve the health of malnourished children. Akhilesh exuded confidence that his party will sweep 300 of the 403 seats, up from 224 it had won in 2017. Referring to his dream project, Lucknow-Agra expressway he said it has reduced the travel time considerably. "Those who have travelled know it the best. If given chance, it (expressway) will reach Ghazipur and Ballia," he said. The SP manifesto also promised setting up of 'mandi' (market) and skill development centres in rural areas to give a boost to the state's economy. Chandigarh: The Congress on Sunday claimed that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was receiving funds from abroad in the run-up to the Punjab Assembly polls and asked party supremo Arvind Kejriwal to explain the source of such funds. It also accused one of the AAP MLAs of sharing stage with "separatists and terror elements" in London. "The AAP does not have any dearth of money. They are being funded from abroad. Who are these people who are supporting them," asked senior Congress leader and former Union minister Anand Sharma while addressing the media in Chandigarh. "Kejriwal should explain to the people of Punjab about the foreign funds his party is receiving for the upcoming Assembly polls," he said. Without naming anyone, Sharma alleged that an AAP MLA had gone to London where he shared stage with "terror elements". "One of Kejriwal's MLAs addressed a gathering in London while separatists and terror elements were seen standing on the dais. Kejriwal should take action against him but he is silent," he said. "What he (the AAP MLA) said outside India, you (media) should find out. He met those separatists and terror elements who have ruined Punjab. Who did he meet in London and Canada? Whose money is flowing into Punjab...there should be an inquiry into it because such a huge amount usually does not come, chartered planes (with NRIs) do not come," Sharma added. A few days back, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal had also claimed that AAP was being funded by "foreign-based terrorist organisations". Sharma further alleged that both the ruling allies in Punjab, the SAD and the BJP, were "using the maximum amount of black money" for the upcoming election. Lambasting the Delhi Chief Minister for his "failure to honour the promises made to the people", he said, "The people of Delhi are demanding answers for those promises. The AAP government is the most corrupt government Delhi has ever had. One-third of his (Kejriwal's) people are in Jail. His government is being run from Tihar jail." Alleging that AAP had failed to fulfil "even a single promise" made to the people of Delhi, Sharma said the fact that Kejriwal was bringing people from outside to manage his party's poll campaign in Punjab clearly showed that he did not trust the people of the state. Regarding the AAP leader's letter to the Punjab Chief Electoral Officer seeking withdrawal of his security, Sharma took a swipe at Kejriwal by asking him why did he take the security cover in Delhi and alleged that he was trying to "befool" the people of Punjab. New Delhi: Over Rs 83 crore cash, 7 lakh litres of liquor worth Rs 12.65 crore and narcotics valued at Rs 10.30 crore have been seized, maximum from Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, by EC-appointed surveillance and expenditure monitoring teams in the five poll-bound states. As per official data compiled since the announcement of polls early this year till yesterday, UP has witnessed the maximum seizure of Rs 79.13 crore (Rs 31.65 lakh in old notes) followed by Rs 4.05 crore from Punjab, Rs 33.27 lakh in Uttarakhand and Rs 6.95 lakh in Manipur. In other illegal inducements suspected to be used to lure voters in these states, a whopping 7.36 lakh litres of liquor and over 500 bottles of canned beer worth Rs 12.65 crore has been seized by Election Commission appointed police and state excise teams in these states. In UP, these seizures were recorded at 3.95 lakh litres worth Rs 10.7 crore followed by 3,09,351 litres spirits worth Rs 1.14 crore seized in Punjab, over 25,907 litres worth Rs 72.91 lakh in Uttarakhand, 4,605 litres worth Rs 7.5 lakh in Manipur and beer and other hard spirits worth Rs 1.35 lakh in Goa. Drug seizures by the anti-narcotics agencies and police teams was seen maximum in Punjab as the total haul was recorded at 1,485 kg valued at Rs 10.30 crore, with Punjab accounting for 1,134 kgs worth Rs 9.06 crore followed by Rs 286.65 kg worth Rs 83.58 lakh seized in UP, Rs 17.22 lakh in Goa, Rs 15.36 lakh in Uttarakhand and Rs 7.62 lakh in Manipur. Officials said a total of "Rs 83.58 crore in cash, about 7.36 lakh litres of liquor along with 525 bottles of beer worth Rs 12.65 crore and an estimated Rs 10.30 crore worth narcotics have been seized in the five poll-bound states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur, till data recorded upto January 18." The EC has appointed about 200 election expenditure observers apart from other central observers to keep a check on black money and illegal inducements used to bribe voters at the hustings in these states. The Assembly elections in these five states will be held between February 4 and March 8. Counting of votes for all states will take place on March 11. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday released the Samajwadi Partys much-awaited election manifesto, a short while after sealing an alliance with the Congress. The 32-page manifesto carried the photographs of Akhilesh, his father and SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav, but no snap of Shivpal Yadav. Following are the highlights: - Children from the economically weaker sections in primary schools will be given 1 litre ghee and milk powder every month - Free medical services to those earning less than Rs 1.5 lakh a year - Establishment of Kishan Kosh or farmers' fund - Free smartphones under Samajwadi smart phone scheme - Rs 1,000 per month to 1 crore people under expansion of Samajwadi pension scheme - Free cycle to girls studying in class 9 to 12 - Nutritious diet to pregnant women at their place - Construction of Purvanchal expressway and Bundelkhand-Terai Expressway - River front development in prominent cities - Rs 10 lakh to lawyers, less than 60 years age, on untimely deaths - Samajwadi sports school for sports promotion - Old age homes for the elderly and 50% subsidy in bus fares for women - Electrification of every village in the state - Free wheat and rice to the poor, pressure cookers for poor women. Free laptops for students - A kisan kosh (treasury) to be initiated for the farmers - Strengthening the states Metro network. Akhilesh says the next state budget may be presented from inside a Metro train Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday released the Samajwadi Partys much-awaited election manifesto, a short while after sealing an alliance with the Congress, which was formally announced in the evening. His father and SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle Shivpal Yadav did not attend the event. The 32-page manifesto carries the photographs of Akhilesh and Mulayam, but not Shivpal. Key promises include subsidised ration and travel for women, free smartphones and laptops for students and expansion of the pension scheme and Metro network. The BJP, meanwhile, released its second list of candidates for UP election. Among notable names in the last are Union Home Minister Rajnath Singhs son Pankaj Singh who will contest from Noida and former Congress leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi who will contest from Lucknow Cantonment. Controversial Kairana MP Hukum Singhs daughter Mriganka will contest from the Kairana assembly seat. As it happened: Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here. MASON CITY Two North Iowans who allegedly led police on a high-speed chase down gravel roads in Cerro Gordo County face criminal charges, officials say. According to a report from Sheriff Kevin Pals, a deputy attempted to stop a pickup near Partridge and Owl avenues for a traffic violation at 8:58 p.m. Saturday. The driver refused to stop and a pursuit went on for several miles on gravel roads. Officials say the chase topped 80 mph. Cerro Gordo County Sheriff Kevin Pals said the chased ended when the driver, Danny Lee Belcher, drove into a farm field. A sheriff's deputy then stopped Belcher's car by hitting it, a move called a pit maneuver. No one was hurt. The pickup and patrol car were both damaged. Belcher, 45, Rockwell, was charged with felony eluding and felony possession of a controlled substance. The passenger, Vanessa Rose Belcher, 42, Rockwell, was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, felony failure to affix a tax stamp, misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia and misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance. Both were being held at the Cerro Gordo County Jail. Bond for Vanessa Belcher was set at $25,000 while bond for Danny Belcher was set at $10,000. SP will have 298 candidates and Congress will have 105 in #UPElection2017 : Naresh Uttam, SP pic.twitter.com/ckNjXr8C5D ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 22, 2017 Wrong to suggest lightweights were dealing on behalf of Congress party.Discussion was at highest level- b/w CM (UP),GS I/C & Priyanka Gandhi Ahmed Patel (@ahmedpatel) January 22, 2017 Sure that this alliance (SP and Cong) will set an example; will strive hard for upliftment of poor & development of state: Raj Babbar, Cong pic.twitter.com/a4fBNhDXCq ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 22, 2017 After days of hard bargaining, the Congress sealed a pre-poll alliance with the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, pitchforking the combo as a hot favourite in the state Assembly elections slated to begin next month.According to the deal stitched together in Lucknow, the SP has given Congress 105 seats to contest there were reports earlier that SP had ruled out giving more than 85 seats to Congress.Sources said the deal was clinched after Congress chief Sonia Gandhi personally intervened and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, riding high after his success in capturing the SP, agreed to allot more seats to the party.Akhilesh confirmed the deal at a function to release the SP manifesto for the assembly polls in Lucknow on Sunday. Curiously, SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and his brother Shivpal Yadav stayed away from the function. Reports from Lucknow indicate that Akhilesh had sent veteran leader Azam Khan to meet Mulayam, but he refused to attend.The manifesto promised more expressways besides a new Samajwadi Pension of Rs 1,000 per month to 1 crore people that will be credited to their accounts. He also promised free pressure cooker for poor women besides 50% subsidised travel for women in state roadways buses.Addressing party workers, Akhilesh took a dig at BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There are parties with no promises. There are parties who came to power with the promise of achche din (good days). It has been three years, but in the name of development, they made us hold the broom, do yoga. Yes, they might announce something in the Budget, he said.Hitting out at BSP supremo Mayawati, he said she is only interested in erecting statues. If some journalist reminds her of the massive Shivaji statue that Maharashtra is building, she will build a bigger statue in UP, he quipped.The talks of SP-Congress alliance have been doing the rounds for a few months now and Mulayam had categorically denied having any truck with Congress while Akhilesh had indicated he was in favour of a grand coalition to take on communal forces.According to a pre-poll survey done by Lokniti, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in July-August, 30% of the respondents said they will vote for SP, as against 27% who preferred BJP. Only 5% said they will vote for Congress, but analysts believe the party could punch above their weight in an alliance with SP, mopping up Muslim votes (18% of the states voters).In the 2012 Assembly elections, Samajwadi Party had scored 29% votes in seats contested winning 224 out of the 401 seats it contested. BJP won 15% votes to get 47 seats while Congress managed to win 28 seats with 13% votes. BSP had notched up 25% votes, but won only 80 of the 403 seats it contested.Ground reports indicate Akhileshs popularity is at an all-time high after he conclusively won a bitter faction war that saw him ejecting father Mulayam as the partys national president last week.Sources close to Congress had alleged that a resurgent Akhilesh was negotiating tough and had demanded that Congress will have to give a share of its own seats to Ajit Singhs RLD, one reason why the talks dragged on. The now on-now off talks had also posed serious questions over the negotiation skills of both Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi as well as the ambitions of Akhilesh Yadav.Sources said SP was miffed as Congress chose bureaucrats like Dhiraj Srivastava, a Rajasthan cadre officer and in-charge of grievance cell of Rae Bareli and Amethi, to carry on the negotiations instead of deputing senior leaders who understand the nuances of political deal-making. A shocked Congress watched as SP released seats for five phases, including in the Gandhi family pocket boroughs of Amethi and Rae Bareli.However, a breakthrough was achieved when Sonia Gandhi personally chose to intervene in the talks on Saturday evening, convincing Akhilesh to allocate 100-plus seats to the Grand Old Party.SP and Congress hope that the Grand Alliance will mop up the core OBC votes of Samajwadi besides the 18% Muslim votes. Akhileshs image as Indias youngest chief minister will make him a natural choice for youth across caste and class divisions, claim the architects of the alliance. The Moto X Force. (Image: Moto India) The Lenovo Vibe K4 Note. (Image: Lenovo India) The third and final day of Amazon Great Indian Sale features attractive deals on Bose QuietComfort 25 headphones, Moto X Force, Micromax Canvas Lapbook and Samsung LED TVs among others. E-commerce giant Amazon India had announced its 'Great Indian Sale starting from January 20, Friday. 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After Hollande ruled himself out of the race, Valls quit his cabinet and was the favourite to win the nomination when the seven candidates began campaigning. But his bid has been viewed by some observers as lacklustre and two contenders from the party's left flank - protectionist maverick Arnaud Montebourg and Benoit Hamon - will push him hard to reach next Sunday's runoff. The odds will be stacked against the victor, with many opinion polls showing the Socialist candidate will be eliminated in the first round of the presidential election on April 23. The election appears to be shaping up as a three-way battle between conservative ex-premier Francois Fillon, far-right leader Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron, a 39-year-old ex-economy minister who is outpacing his former Socialist government colleagues. With voters across Europe moving to the right, most polls currently show a Fillon-Le Pen runoff is the most likely scenario in May. National Front leader Le Pen told a meeting of rightwing populist parties in Germany on Saturday that Europe was about to "wake up" following the victory of Donald Trump in the US election and the British vote to leave the European Union. One voter in southwest France said he had voted for Hamon, who has proposed to pay the poor and 18 to 25-year-olds a "universal income" of 600 euros (USD 640) a month. "I voted for Benoit Hamon because to me he is the one best placed to redress the Socialist party," said Jean Claude, speaking in the small town of Millau. Dominique, a voter in his 40s who cast his ballot in eastern Paris, said he had opted for Valls. "My main concern is that the left reaches the second round (of the presidential election). Valls is the most credible option against Macron," he said. Bedford County fire officials said they have completed the examination of the scene of a fatal Jan. 17 Bedford County house fire and that one of those rescued, Michael Brooks, was released from the hospital Friday morning. Michael and Tahlia Brooks, and six children were living at 708 Grove Street when a fire broke out on Jan. 17. According to a news release last week the Bedford Fire Department was dispatched to the house at about 4:53 a.m. and arrived four minutes later. Several occupants had left the house safely but two unconscious victims had to be taken outside. Firefighters were extinguishing the last of the fire around the back side of the house at about 9 a.m. and crews left the scene by about 9:30 a.m. Brooks and a 6-year-old girl were initially taken to Bedford Memorial Hospital, while an 11-year-old girl was taken directly to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Brooks later was flown to Wake Forest Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and the 6-year-old transported to Carilion Roanoke. According to the news release issued Friday, fire officials are conducting additional interviews and gathering information needed to complete the investigation. This week officials expect to discuss the results of the investigation. RICHMOND The town of Appomattox and Nelson County are among the Virginia communities saying the Virginia Broadband Deployment Act" not only will fail to live up to its name, but will prevent service from reaching people who need it. Del. Kathy Byron, R-Bedford County, says HB 2108 would focus high-speed internet infrastructure buildout on unserved or last-mile areas, which often are rural. Opponents, though, say the legislation would freeze local governments trying to provide the integral utility to areas with low speeds, limited options or high prices while forcing them to subsidize businesses. The bill could impede an Appomattox project planned to offer high-speed internet to town residents, according to Appomattox County Schools Technology Director Brette Arbogast. The school system is currently using federal money designated for improving high-speed internet access for education to develop a town-wide wireless network. The internet access purchased from Shente l would be free to students and, in the long-term, town residents, he said. The problem is not the kids dont have access. They cant afford it, Arbogast said. Bottom line is I have kids who need internet outside of school. About 49 percent of Appomattox County students are on free and reduced lunch, a state marker for poverty levels in localities. Embroiled in a skirmish against the Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority, Byron defended her bill in a news conference Thursday. Backed by a team of telecommunications and business representatives, she couched HB2108 as adding transparency in how local governments use tax dollars. Governments come before us every year stressed for money, begging for money for teachers and for fire and public safety and all those things, and were ensuring now that we have a return on our investment, Byron said, referencing failure at Bristol Virginia Utilities. We cant be making investments and not have certain things in place to protect the taxpayers from losing millions of dollars. A federal investigation into corruption at the utilities provider led to convictions of several BVU officials on fraud-related charges, the Bristol Herald Courier has reported. The bill has two parts. One removes public disclosure exemptions regarding proprietary information for localities providing telecommunications services. The other adds a state review process for localities that want to offer the service to their constituents. Existing authorities would be grandfathered in and would not require review unless they try to expand, Virginia Cable Telecommunications Association President Ray LaMura said. While Byron and telecommunications reps said their companies will provide internet service best, Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, said they want monopoly power without the regulation that generally comes with it. If HB 2108 passes both the House of Delegates Committee on Commerce and Labor and the full House, it would head to the Senate Commerce and Labor committee, which Wagner chairs. Its an unregulated utility to this point, and I doubt they want to be regulated, OK, therefore, its open to competition. And they shouldnt do anything to stifle competition even if that competition comes from a government entity, said Wagner, who is running for governor. The legislation would require a locality that wants to form a broadband authority or expand an existing public telecommunications service to pay for a needs assessment, either by the states Center for Innovative Technology or a private consultant. The locality would then publically publish and advertise their high-need areas and broadband goals to existing providers. If they want to build where an incumbent already offers internet with a download speed of 10 mbps or more, they would apply to the Broadband Advisory Council, which would make a recommendation to the General Assembly for a vote, LaMura said. Byron chairs the council and LaMura is a member. The Federal Communications Commission defines broadband speed as no less than 25 Megabits per second (mbps). Government should only be competing in the private sector where its impossible or economically infeasible for the private sector to do so and economic risk to the government is thoroughly vetted to the taxpayer, said Mike Forehand, Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce vice president of government relations. The last mile represents the point at which population density is too low for a telecom company to recoup their investment, the companies say. Byron, the Center for Innovative Technology, and telecommunications companies encourage public-private partnerships in which the locality and likely the state subsidize an incumbent provider building infrastructure where it would not otherwise be feasible. That type of partnership and cross-subsidization, it happens all the time, Byron said. It still keeps it market-based. It does not have you in the businesses of owning and operating it. It leaves the expertise and that up to them. Requiring localities to offer dibs to the private sector would force localities to finance businesses, according to Robert J. Catron, who represents Roanokes broadband authority. This bill provides a way for the cable companies to shake down localities for money to build out networks, Catron said. The Roanoke authority, though, provides service only to businesses, governments and nonprofits, not residences. To reach residences, another provider could contract to branch off the authoritys main line. Concerned about what would happen to a countywide internet network built using millions in local, state and federal dollars over nine years, Nelson County sent a letter to Del. Matt Fariss, R-Campbell County, and Del. Richard P. Dickie Bell, R-Staunton, urging them to oppose the bill. While Nelson, which is trying to attract residential customers, owns the infrastructure, three companies provide the service. No matter how HB 2108 is presented as something positive for broadband services, such suggestions are nothing more than false propaganda, Nelson County Administrator Steve Carter said in an interview. This legislation is a complete deterrent to the progress local governments have and are making to provide their communities with broadband services. Fariss said Friday he did not know enough about the bill to comment. But, Fariss said, hes very proud of Nelson Countys work building broadband service and hopes the Commerce and Labor committee he isnt a member will make it easier for more counties in my district to follow Nelson Countys lead. In the town of Appomattox, construction crews are close to completing the installation of the last couple hundred feet of the main fiber optic cable line down Court Street to complete a dream in production for years. For two-and-a-half years, were trying to find funding for this. Now I got it all through federal funding, not state and taxpayer money, and the state wants to boycott it, Arbogast. Thats nuts. Ashlie Walter and Emily Brown contributed. After months of meetings and planning, the town of Appomattox will reveal a draft of its downtown revitalization plan next week. The Region 2000 Local Government Council and the town will host a public community meeting to release the draft at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Appomattox Visitor Information Center on Main Street in Appomattox. The revitalization plan is focused on the towns Central Business District along Main Street up to Court Street, Highland Avenue and back down Church Street. The plan was paid for with a $35,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. It will be used to apply for a community development construction grant for beautification, building facade improvements and marketing from VDHCD to be submitted by the end of March. We looked at marketing, what are opportunities that are not met by other areas, niche markets to be developed and a beautification plan, said Kelly Hitchcock, senior planner with Region 2000 LGC and the lead organizer of the grant application. The plan includes a detailed marketing and branding document, a streetscape improvement plan, a downtown building facade improvement plan and a beautification plan. Hitchcock said the plan was based on findings from a local market analysis, business and resident surveys, and goals and strategies to enhance the economic vitality of the towns business district. The business owners survey revealed many owners thought the attractiveness of the downtown buildings, the condition of those buildings, and identity or branding of the town needs to be addressed. We think [if] we can improve the look of downtown, it will bring more people downtown, Mayor Paul Harvey said Friday. He added it will certainly help the businesses if the town is able to improve the look of downtown. Many of the buildings in the district area are fairly old and need a fresh look, he said. A beautification plan includes improving and adding street lights, benches and more plantings into the business district area. The intent of the building facade improvements is to improve the front of some buildings so there is some architectural uniformity but without looking cookie cutter, he said. Town council has not been shown the draft plans as of yet, he said. Region 2000 Local Government Council was hired by the town to organize and submit the grant applications. The revitalization ties into another ongoing project to bring the towns train depot, which houses the Appomattox Visitors' Center downtown, back to its original state. Harvey said the town currently is pursuing grant funding for the project. At Thursdays meeting, attendees also will be given an opportunity to view and comment on proposed streetscape and public space improvements, according to a news release from Region 2000. Paige Drinkard owns The Little Things in Life, a childrens consignment store on Main Street. She co-owns the store with her sister-in-law Millie Drinkard. They decided to locate their store downtown because of the higher traffic flow compared to other parts of town. There are a lot of small businesses down here that offer a variety, Paige Drinkard said. She was aware of the towns downtown revitalization project and said it has potential future benefit for her business. As far as Main Street, there needs to be more advertisement directing people to this part of town, she said. Drinkard added improvements to parking also are needed. Her store shares a small parking lot with the Appomattox Visitors Center. The draft was developed by Community Planning Partners, a Richmond-based firm, hired by the town in 2015. The city of Danville commissioned the same group to create a plan to revitalize its Monument-Berry rental district in 2014. WIRTZ Sixteen-year-old Malia Smith did not realize how much men and women judge each other or how they share similar fears until she attended a retreat this week offered to Lynchburg high school students. Smith was one of nearly 50 Heritage and E.C. Glass high school students and teachers to attend the four-day Project Inclusion program that brought students from across the spectrum of race, gender, socioeconomic status, and religion together to discuss how to combat bullying and misunderstandings. The program was led by the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities and held at the Skelton 4-H Educational Conference Center in Wirtz. Smith, a Heritage High School student, said she decided to attend the program after teachers encouraged students to participate. What surprised me was how males and females judge each other, Smith said, referring to how both genders dont like unwanted touching. One part of the program has students identify problems at their school then create plans to address them in small groups. Smith identified prejudice and stereotyping. Ive noticed it from talking to other kids from my school with the power of this programs influence, we can talk about it more, she said. Her group chose to create an awareness public relations campaign to combat prejudice and stereotyping. Other action plans included creating new clubs, and assemblies. E.C. Glass student Alyssa Underwood, 16, said she was surprised that many of the fears women have, men also have. She said one exercise during the program had girls and boys stand on opposite sides of a room while teachers made statements. The students were to sit down if they agreed with a statement. I realized how much judgment there is in the world, Underwood said. Underwood said she was nominated by a teacher to attend the program and its something about changing the world, and who doesnt want to do that? She added she was amazed at how quickly all the students came together. We are here to help students build awareness, sense of community so they can go back and address bullying, stereotypes and make schools more respectful, said Jonathan Zur, president and chief executive officer of the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities. His center has had a working relationship with Lynchburg City Schools since 2005. The retreat is offered to other schools systems across the commonwealth. Funding support for this weeks program was provided by the Greater Lynchburg Community Trust, the Lynchburg City Schools Education Foundation, and the E.C. Glass Foundation. The statewide nonprofit organization, founded in Lynchburg, has been addressing all forms of prejudice for more than 80 years in order to improve academic achievement, increase workplace productivity, and enhance local trust. For the program, the center asks schools to send students that represent a cross section of the school. A yearbook editor might sit next to someone who is not in any clubs, Zur said. The exposure to a variety of students reveals prejudices and can reduce destructive behavior, he said. On the first day of the program, students were taught the cycle of prejudice and participated in small workshops on race, gender, and body image. From there, they identified topics to discuss like peer pressure. Zur said one of the major topics they wanted to discuss was name-calling. Saturday, the last day of the program, a group of E.C. Glass students selected tracking as a way to combat name-calling. Students could write down on a notebook what names are used and where in the building and then find the reason why it happens. You might find theres a lot of names called in [a certain hallway] because theres no teachers there, but there is none in [another hallway] because there are four teachers there, Zur told the students. Dennis Coan, a social studies teacher at Heritage High School, said the program does a wonderful job of drawing out the human thread we all share. I believe every single person intentionally or unintentionally, is conditioned to have some bias, he said. He was surprised at the willingness on the students part to trust and be vulnerable. Personally, I learned about my own unintentional bias. I have renewed faith that little steps can make a big difference, Coan said. On Saturday Ray Carter, Jr., 67, of Williamsburg, remembered his brother Robert Carter, 65, as a man who was kind to everything, especially his Jack Russell dog named Daisy. Robert Carter died in a fire early Saturday morning at his home on 1277 Adventure Mountain Road in the Hillview Estates subdivision, according to a news release. His dog Daisy also died in the fire. We had to find her today, not far from where he died, Ray Carter said by phone Saturday afternoon. He said Robert Carter was a welder with Virginia Truck Center in Hollins. Ray Carter was the oldest of five siblings. Of the five, only Ray and his baby sister Cathy Taylor remain. Firefighters responded to the residential structure fire in Montvale at about 5 a.m. Saturday. They reported heavy fire at the double-wide mobile home and the possibility of someone inside. A crew from Blue Ridge Volunteer Fire Department located Robert Carter, the only resident, in a spare bedroom. Firefighters pulled him out but he was already dead, according to the release. Crews later located Carters dog that had also died in the fire. Clarence Sweeney, Robert Carters next door neighbor, said he was asked to identify Robert Carters body. The two had been neighbors for almost 10 years. He used to ride motorcycles with my wife and I and his sister and brother-in-law he was a real good person, Sweeney said. As he sat with Ray Carter Saturday afternoon, Sweeney said Robert Carter will be missed. Robert Carters sister Becky Miller, who rode motorcycles with them, died about four years ago from cancer. Carters body was taken to the medical examiners office in Roanoke where an autopsy will be performed. Two Bedford County Fire Marshals Office investigators spent eight hours at the scene Saturday seeking the origin and cause of the fire. They determined the fire started in Carters bedroom, probably on the bed, and then spread to the rest of the house which was substantially destroyed. The significant damage to the structure prevented them from determining the exact cause of the fire. No working smoke detectors were located in the residence, according to a second news release. Saturdays fire is the second fatal fire in Bedford County this week. A 4-year-old girl died in a house fire on Grove Street in Bedford early Tuesday morning. WASHINGTON (AP) Wearing pink, pointy-eared pussyhats to mock the new president, hundreds of thousands of women took to the streets in the nation's capital and cities around the world Saturday to send Donald Trump an emphatic message that they won't let his agenda go unchallenged over the next four years. We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war, actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd, which included plenty of men, too. Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack, and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. ... We are America, and we are here to stay. The message reverberated through a remarkable collection of outsized demonstrations around the globe from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles to Paris, Berlin, London, Prague, Sydney and beyond. It all served to underscore the degree to which Trump has unsettled people in every hemisphere. The worldwide outpouring of support left Bedfords Reagan Flaherty breathless Saturday evening as she tried to describe how empowering the rally and march at the nations capital had been. Flaherty helped coordinate transportation from Virginia to the march. It was insane but an amazing insane, Flaherty said. So much positive energy. Participants from Virginia gathered early between 8 and 8:30 a.m. and were greeted by state representatives who spoke to the crowd gathered near the carousel near the Smithsonian, Flaherty said. It was such a great way for us to start our day, said Flaherty who then moved with the masses to the main staging area where speakers were cued up to inspire the crowd. She said Ashley Judd was amazing and there was a little girl who spoke and she was phenomenal. A lot of people started crying when she spoke. She said the girl spoke in both English and Spanish. The night before, Flaherty said she and about 200 to 250 others gathered at the Womans National Democratic Club. While there she said she met the Standing Rock Sioux Chiefs and took photos with the Rev. Jesse Jackson. The controversial filmmaker Michael Moore;Bob Bland, Women's March organizer; and Royce Gay, spiritual adviser to the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe were among those who spoke at the club event. After Saturday, Flaherty said she now has hope. Jessie Jackson said last night nobody can take away our hope and its true., she said. Theres hope and things we can move forward with. Turnout in Washington was so big that the original march route alongside the National Mall was impassable. Instead of trekking en masse to the Ellipse near the White House as planned, protesters were told to head there by way of other streets. And with that, throngs surged in the direction of the White House in a chaotic scene that snarled downtown Washington. Hey, hey, ho, ho, Donald trump has got to go, some marchers chanted. Women brandished signs with slogans such as Women won't back down and Less fear more love and decried Trump's stand on such issues as abortion, health care, gay rights, diversity and climate change. In a five-hour-plus program, speaker after speaker branded Trump a sexist, a bully, a bigot and more. It was literally body-to-body and you could not sit down, Flaherty said. At some point, Flaherty said the crowd, by then in the tens of thousands by her estimate, began marching, not knowing that their permits to do so had been rescinded. It was just people as far as you can see, she said adding that at one point they ended up passing Trumps hotel. In Chicago, organizers canceled the march portion of their event for safety reasons after the overflow crowd reached an estimated 150,000. In New York, tens of thousands converged on Trump's home at the glittering Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. I feel very optimistic even though it's a miserable moment, said Madeline Schwartzman of New York City, who brought her twin 13-year-old daughters to the Washington rally. I feel power. Officials said the crowd in Washington could be more than half a million people, more than double expectations. The event appeared to have attracted more people than Trump's inauguration on Friday, based on figures from transportation officials. More than 600 sister marches were planned around the world. Organizers estimated 3 million people would march worldwide. Seventy-one-year-old Allan Parachini, who traveled from Hawaii to the Washington march, called it the most impressive crowd I've seen since Woodstock. Retired teacher Linda Lastella, 69, who came to Washington from Metuchen, New Jersey, said she had never marched before but felt the need to speak out when many nations are experiencing this same kind of pullback and hateful, hateful attitudes. It just seemed like we needed to make a very firm stand of where we were, she said. As the demonstrators rallied alongside the National Mall, Trump opened his first full day as president by attending a prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, a tradition for the day after inauguration, and later visited the CIA. As he traveled around town, his motorcade passed large groups of protesters that would have been hard to miss. The rallies were a peaceful counterpoint to the window-smashing unrest that unfolded on Friday when self-described anarchists tried to disrupt the inauguration. Police used pepper spray and stun grenades against the demonstrators. More than 200 people were arrested. Marlita Gogan, who came to Washington from Houston for the inauguration, said police advised her family not to wear their Make America Great Again Hats as they walked through crowds of protesters while playing tourist on Saturday. I think it's very oppressive, she said of the march atmosphere. They can have their day, but I don't get it. On the streets, feminist leader Gloria Steinem described the worldwide mobilization as the upside of the downside: This is an outpouring of energy and democracy like I have never seen in my very long life. Sometimes we must put our bodies where our beliefs are, she told the crowd, labeling Trump an impossible president. Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump, took to Twitter to thank the participants for standing, speaking and marching for our values. The marches displayed a level of enthusiasm that Clinton herself was largely unable to generate during her campaign against Trump, when she won the popular vote but he outdistanced her in the electoral vote. At rallies around the world, many participants wore hand-knit pussyhats a message of female empowerment aimed squarely at Trump's crude boast about grabbing women's genitals. They ain't for grabbing, actress Ashley Judd told the Washington crowd. The marches were a magnet for A-list celebrities, unlike Trump's inauguration, which had a deficit of top performers. Alicia Keys sang Girl on Fire for the Washington crowd. Madonna gave a fiery, profanity-laced address to the gathering. Cher, also in the nation's capital, said Trump's ascendance has people more frightened maybe than they're ever been. In Park City, Utah, it was Charlize Theron leading demonstrators in a chant of Love, not hate, makes America great. Actresses Helen Mirren and Cynthia Nixon and Whoopi Goldberg joined the crowd of protesters in New York. Tens of thousands of protesters squeezed into London's Trafalgar Square. In Paris, thousands rallied in the Eiffel Tower neighborhood in a joyful atmosphere, singing and carrying posters reading We have our eyes on you Mr. Trump and With our sisters in Washington. Hundreds gathered in Prague's Wenceslas Square in freezing weather, mockingly waving portraits of Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin. We are worried about the way some politicians talk, especially during the American elections, said organizer Johanna Nejedlova. In Sydney, thousands of Australians gathered in solidarity in Hyde Park. One organizer said hatred, bigotry and racism are not only America's problems. ___ Associated Press Writers Alanna Durkin Richer, Tami Abdollah, Juliet Linderman, Brian Witte, Matthew Barakat, and David Dishneau in Washington contributed to this report. ___ Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/nbenac Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy Frances Heath Hutcherson, 80, of Forest, Virginia, passed away on Thursday, January 19, 2017, at Runk & Pratt Assisted Living at Liberty Ridge. Her family wishes to express their gratitude for the care and compassion Frances received from the staff on the second floor. Frances was born on May 23, 1936, to the late Francis and Gladys Heath. Frances lived her life caring for others. In addition to being the linchpin of a large and loving family, Frances, aka "Hutch", worked twenty-three years at the Central Virginia Training Center and four years at the Laurel School providing infinitely loving and compassionate care to adults and children with disabilities. She was also a tireless caretaker for numerous friends and family members throughout her life. Frances was the beloved wife and best friend of Jack G. Hutcherson for 62 years. She was also a loving and devoted mother to Burt Hutcherson, Tracey Hutcherson Davis, Alex Hutcherson, and Barbara Hutcherson as well as a special force in the lives of their spouses, Donna Hutcherson, Tommy Davis, Rosemary Hutcherson and Pam McAlwee. Frances was a proud "Gega" to Kristen McDaniel, Tyler Hutcherson, Megan Wolf, Devin Wolf, Miles Hutcherson, Cole Hutcherson and Cate Hutcherson as well as to two great-grandchildren, Morgan McDaniel and Fenton Hutcherson. A Celebration of Frances' life will be held at Tharp Funeral Home, Lynchburg on Sunday, January 22, 2017, at 2 p.m. The family will receive friends one hour prior. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions be made to the Alzheimer's Association or Timberlake Christian Church. Tharp Funeral Home & Crematory, Lynchburg, is assisting the family. To send condolences please visit tharpfuneralhome.com. In the lull before the inaugural storm, I walked around the Capitol and admired the refurbished dome gleaming in the sun. School kids snapped selfies, guards chatted amiably among themselves and groundskeepers shoveled mulch. Except for cell phones and increased security, not much has changed on Capitol Hill since my first presidential inauguration five presidents ago. Then as now, many in the nations capital were apprehensive about an incoming Republican president with show business ties. The avuncular Ronald Reagan, though, had served two terms as governor of California. Avoiding school groups winding around the Supreme Court building, I ducked into the Library of Congress to visit Americas treasures. Thomas Jeffersons library? Check. The Gutenberg Bible? Check. The Herblock Gallerys selection of 10 political cartoons reminds visitors that political and social conflict are not new. For more than five decades, Herbert L. Block, a politically independent editorial cartoonist, lacerated the powerful and championed the ordinary citizen. Block, who won three Pulitzer Prizes, died in 2001. The Herblock exhibit changes every six months. The current exhibit, through March 11, shows cartoons from1966, during the Vietnam War. Some of the issues still resonate: gun control, electronic surveillance, the struggle between factions of the Republican Party and campaign finance. A brilliant cartoon titled Backlash represents President Lyndon Johnson unintentionally killing the Great Society by pursuing the expensive war. Herblock shows LBJ, wielding a large sword, labeled War Costs inadvertently lopping off the head of a man labeled Great Society Hopes standing behind him. I was thinking of Herblocks sharply drawn cartoons when President Barack Obama in his last presidential news conference told reporters: Youre not supposed to be sycophants; youre supposed to be skeptics. Perspective is often keen in retrospect. Obamas relationship with the White House press corps over the years was civil but strained. He promised transparency, but his administration had an abominable record with Freedom of Information Act requests. The administration stiffed one of every six FOIA requests, setting a record for the number of times an administration claimed it could not find documents requested, an Associated Press investigation revealed last year. Obama preferred one-on-one TV interviews and speeches to news conferences. When he did have news conferences, he called only on reporters on a list. His long answers meant fewer questions could be asked. Now comes billionaire businessman President Donald J. Trump, whose combative style toward the news media is legendary. No president likes negative stories, of course, but most have the self control to keep their anger under wraps. Trump has been openly hostile calling out reporters and yanking their credentials during the campaign, dismissing reports as fake news and refusing to answer questions from news outlets he deems unfair. Trumps team is considering whether to evict reporters from the West Wing, where theyve been working since the William McKinley administration. Also under consideration: dropping live TV coverage of daily press briefings, started during the Clinton administration. Critics say the format encourages grandstanding and posturing by reporters. Imagine that. Most Americans probably have little sympathy for reporters being ousted from the briefing room, but Obama endorsed having reporters onsite and not across the street. Offering indirect advice to his successor, Obama told reporters: Having you in this building has made this place work better. It keeps us honest; it makes us work harder. Its not as though reporters wandered around the White House at will, dropping into Cabinet meetings. They are on a very short leash, limited to the press staff area. Obama recognized belatedly that part of the job as president is shaping public opinion. There were big stretches, while governing, where even though we were doing the right thing, we werent able to mobilize public opinion firmly behind us to weaken the resolve of the Republicans to stop opposing us or to cooperate with us, he said in a recent interview with CBS. Obama said he will be glad to be a consumer of news rather than its constant subject. Trump has a knack for shaping opinion, although he succeeded in the election in gathering more people against him than for him. And, though he complains he has received the worst media treatment in American history, Trump only now starts living in the media glare and intense scrutiny of the presidency. As Ronald Reagan would say, stay tuned. Mercer writes from Washington. Email her at marsha.mercer@yahoo.com. Marsha Mercer 2017. All rights reserved. Virginia needs its own Electoral College Weve just had our second divisive U.S. presidential election in the last 16 years, and, expectedly, many are now calling for abolishment of the Electoral College. But, before that happens, we all need to understand why the Founding Fathers implemented the Electoral College in the first place. For numerous reasons, the Founders didnt want a pure democracy, so they opted for a representative republic. They also realized the danger of allowing regions with high population densities to dictate matters for lower-populated regions, and the Electoral College system was one way they came up with to thwart that. And the system does sometimes work. As examples, in the 2000 and 2016 presidential elections, largely populated states like New York and California werent able to impose their choices on states like Oklahoma and Wyoming, which would have happened if the president had been elected strictly by popular vote. However, the situation that the Founders were able to fairly successfully prevent at the federal level actually does exist here in Virginia, as shown by the Virginia electoral maps for the last three presidential elections, the last two elections for U.S. senator from Virginia and two of the last three races for governors. In every one of those elections, an overwhelming number of precincts in Virginia voted Republican; however, nearly all of the larger population centers (the Washington suburban areas, Tidewater, Charlottesville, Roanoke and Richmond), which voted Democrat, were able to decide those elections. Barring something drastic, such as a large population shift, this situation is likely to continue, and Virginia will be a permanently blue state. Rather than abolishing the Electoral College, maybe we should think about implementing a similar system here in our state. GUY ANDERSON Lynchburg Non-voters are to blame The recent Virginia Senate election has shed some light on a serious problem in America today. The Lynchburg registrars office is being chastised for not having enough ballots available at the polls. Even the state registrars office is coming down on the local office. The way I see it, this is not their fault! I put the blame on the voters, or more appropriately, the lack of voters. Everybody wants to complain about our elected officials, but lack the intestinal fortitude to get out and vote. The ballots are ordered in anticipation of turnout. Turnout is determined by past poll turnout. Since these special elections generally garner only a 5 percent turnout, that is what the office prepares for. Period! Since the generally apathetic public decided at the last minute to vote is not the registrars problem. If people would get out and vote in all elections, we wouldnt be having this issue. Anyone who doesnt vote should be ashamed of themselves. Voting is a right and a privilege that we should all embrace. So dont blame the registrars office for doing its job, blame yourselves for being too lazy to vote! JOHN CHAPMAN Madison Heights Trump: 'I'll Very, Very, Very Probably Do It Again' The pick of Roman Polanski to lead the jury for the annual CesarsFrance's version of the Oscarswas met with outrage this week, AFP reports. France's minister for women's rights calls it "surprising and shocking" and the "banalization of rape." Polanksi pleaded guilty to raping a 13-year-old girl in the US decades ago before fleeing to Europe. Women's groups are calling for a boycott of the Feb. 24 awards, while a petition to remove Polanski from the ceremony has tens of thousands of signatures. However, the French Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques issued a statement stating it has "admiration and enchantment" for Polanski, calling the director of Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby an "insatiable aesthete," according to the BBC. (Read more Roman Polanski stories.) Both President Trump and Alec Baldwin took the night off from sparring over the latter's impersonation of the former on Saturday Night Live, but America's brand new leader didn't exactly go unscathed, reports NPR. Though Baldwin was absent, Beck Bennett as shirtless Vladimir Putin kicked things off, adds Vanity Fair, attempting to console Americans who "are worried that your country is in the hands of this unpredictable man. But don't worry, it's not." He continues: "Many Russians were skeptical of me at first, too, but today, no one seems to hear from any of them. It's like they're gone." Meanwhile, host Aziz Ansari wasted little time in noting that it's "pretty cool to know (Trump's) probably at home watching a brown guy make fun of him," before coining the term "lowercase kkk" to describe a segment of supporters he says no longer feel they have to hide "casual" racism. Both sketches in the gallery. (Read more Saturday Night Live stories.) Eleven people were killed and 23 were injured after severe weather struck southern Georgia, officials said Sunday. Catherine Howden of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency said the deaths occurred in Cook, Brooks, and Berrien counties in southern Georgia near the Georgia-Florida line. She said the deaths were related to severe weather but could not specify whether tornadoes were the cause, reports the AP. Tornado warnings had been issued for parts of Georgia overnight; the BBC reports that tornadoes were indeed at play. Local officials are still assessing the area. No other information was immediately available. The southeastern United States has been pounded by storms, high winds, and unstable weather over the weekend. Four people died after a tornado with winds above 136mph tore a 25-mile path across southern Mississippi before dawn Saturday. The National Weather Service in Jacksonville, Fla., has issued a tornado warning for Echols, Clinch, and Ware counties in southeastern Georgia. A severe thunderstorm warning was in effect for the Florida panhandle. (Read more severe weather stories.) A day after taking issue with media reports on the size of crowds at his inauguration, President Trump addressed the size of the Women's March protests that dotted the nation Saturday. "Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn't these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly," he tweeted from his @RealDonaldTrump account (the president appears to be tweeting from both his personal account and @POTUS since taking office) Sunday morning. He later added: "Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don't always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views." A look around the landscape the day after the marches: There were in fact three times as many marchers in the Women's March as people attending Trump's inauguration, crowd-counting experts tell the New York Times. They put the numbers at 470,000 in the vicinity of the National Mall at 2pm on Saturday to 160,000 people in the hour before Trump was sworn in. USA Today estimates that 2.5 million marched worldwide; the breakdown by city is here. Those marchers were at more than 670 events, reports the Washington Post. "This is actually my first protest," one DC protester says. CNN takes a look at a whole new generation of people who came out for the first time. The DC protest was a joyful event, reports the Atlantic in what it calls "the counter inauguration." More on the marches here . (Read more Women's March stories.) Amid Kellyanne Conway's busy morning of sparring with Chuck Todd over "alternative facts," came this new tidbit about President Trump's much-discussed tax returns: "The White House response is that hes not going to release his tax returns," she told ABC News' This Week, per Politico. "We litigated this all through the election. People didnt care," Conway continued. "They voted for him, and let me make this very clear: Most Americans ... are very focused on what their tax returns will look like while President Trump is in office, not what his look like." A petition demanding the release of the president's tax returns has passed the 100,000 signatures necessary for his review, Politico notes. Meanwhile, Conway's statement immediately attracted the ire of WikiLeaks, which tweeted that "Trump's breach of promise over the release of his tax returns is even more gratuitous than Clinton concealing her Goldman Sachs transcripts." Julian Assange's brainchild went further, reports Politico, urging anyone in possession of them to "Send them to: https://wikileaks.org/#submit so we can" release them. (Read more Kellyanne Conway stories.) The US apparently has to worry not only about enemies abroad, but old allies as well. The Times of London reports that a British nuclear submarine test-fired a missile off the Florida coast last June that malfunctioned and "may have veered" toward the American mainland. Two good things prevented catastrophe: The Trident missile was unarmed, and it didn't actually hit the US. But this is now big news in Britain because the report alleges that David Cameron's government covered up the misfire, given that it came mere weeks ahead of a vote on beefing up the Trident system. Theresa May soon took over as prime minister and did not mention the misfire in July when she successfully persuaded parliament to spend about $50 billion on new Trident submarines. So did May actually know about the malfunction? A BBC interviewer asked her that question Sunday morning four different times, and she dodged it every time, reports the Guardian. "I have absolute faith in our Trident missiles," May said instead. "When I made that speech in the House of Commons, what we were talking about was whether or not we should renew our Trident, whether or not we should have Trident missiles." It's not clear what caused the malfunction, but the Times reports that the missile was supposed to hit a target off the coast of Africa. Instead, it reportedly went the wrong way, setting off "major panic" on Downing Street, a source tells the paper. "It's a pretty catastrophic error when a missile goes in the wrong direction," says Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. "I think we need a serious discussion about that." (Read more Britain stories.) Sorry! This content is not available in your region The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Guwahati : Militants on Sunday ambushed an Assam Rifles vehicle, killing two security personnel and injuring three others, while two of the ultras were also killed in the ensuing encounter in Tinsukia district of Assam, days ahead of the Republic Day. A defence spokesman told that militants threw several grenades at an Assam Rifles vehicle at Jagun 12th Mile Barabasti on NH-53 killing two security personnel on the spot and injuring three others. The security personnel retaliated and two militants were killed in the operation which is still underway in the area, the defence spokesman said, adding that the area borders Arunachal Pradesh. Following the encounter, the nearby Indo-Myanmar border has been sealed and helicopters have been pressed into service to spot militants hiding in the nearby thick jungles. The entire area has been cordoned off and combing operations stepped up in the area, the spokesman said, adding tourists returning from the three-day Pangsau Pass festival, which concluded today, were stranded along the highway. The Pangsau Festival is held along the Indo-Myanmar border in the area and the historic Stillwell Road which was a major theater of the Second World War. Banned ULFA(I) in a statement claimed that it had carried out the attack along with four other organisations and had killed three security personnel. A joint statement issued by ULFA(I) Commander Paresh Asom (Baruah) and Coordination Committee Chairman M M Ngouba claimed that the joint attack also injured two or more security personnel and were able to recover two AK and one INSAS rifles. A joint Coordination Committee (CorCom) of Peoples Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak, Peoples Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (Progressive), Revolutionary Peoples Front and United National Liberation Front and United Liberation Front Of Asom [ULFA-Independent] had undertaken the operation, it claimed. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. ADOT reports no closures of major highways in the region due to heavy snow or accidents, although both I-40 and I-17 are ice-covered. Many neighborhood streets in Flagstaff and outlying areas remain undeliverable for Daily Sun carriers. If a newspaper does not arrive this morning, it will be delivered Sunday. Skies will clear in Flagstaff today, although winds of 22 mph with gusts to 33 mph will create dangerous wind chills. At 8 a.m., the temperature in Flagstaff stood at 24 degrees with a wind chill of minus 4 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. The Weather Service reports 22 inches of snow have fallen at Flagstaff Pulliam Airport since Thursday night, 29 inches in Forest Lakes. Following is the detailed forecast for Flagstaff through Monday night, when up to another foot of snow is predicted: Today Snow, mainly before 11am. High near 30. West southwest wind around 21 mph, with gusts as high as 33 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible. Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 16. West wind 8 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Sunday A 50 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 34. West southwest wind 8 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible. Sunday Night Snow showers. Low around 28. Breezy, with a south southwest wind 14 to 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible. Monday Snow showers. High near 32. Breezy, with a west southwest wind around 26 mph, with gusts as high as 43 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible. Monday Night Snow showers likely, mainly before 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 14. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible. Tuesday A 20 percent chance of snow showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 27. Tuesday Night A slight chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 7. Wednesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 27. Wednesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 5. Thursday Mostly sunny, with a high near 28. Thursday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 10. Friday Sunny, with a high near 29. 6:45 a.m. update: 22 inches of snow on the ground, a foot more due on Monday Flagstaff Pulliam Airport had 22 inches of snow on the ground early Saturday morning, with another 3 to 4 inches due by midday, according to the National Weather Service. A weather spotter south of Williams reported 24 inches, while the Weather Service office in Bellemont recorded 17.9 inches since the flakes started falling Thursday night. Forest Lakes and other communities along the eastern Mogollon Rim could see up to 8 inches of additional snow before the storm front moves out of northern Arizona by Saturday night. With heavy snow overnight, Daily Sun deliveries may be delayed through the morning. In the event your carrier cannot make a delivery, the newspaper will be delivered the following day. This applies to the delivery of the Arizona Republic and other Gannett products as well. Winds today in Flagstaff will blow at 22 mph, with gusts to 33 mph. Sunday will see a break in the stormy weather before a third system moves in Sunday night through Monday night, with the forecast calling for between 8 and 14 inches of snow in Flagstaff. Skies will finally clear Tuesday, bringing overnight lows in the single digits at midweek as the snow cover sheds daytime heat at night. Highs in Flagstaff will not climb above freezing all week. Friday 6 p.m.: Second storm to bring 12 to 18 more inches of snow to Flagstaff overnight CORINA VANEK Sun Staff Reporter Heavy snow accumulations will bring hazardous driving conditions to northern Arizona throughout the weekend. By Friday afternoon, about eight inches of snow had accumulated in the Flagstaff area, with Williams topping out at 13.5 inches. According to the National Weather Service, a second winter storm was scheduled to hit Flagstaff Friday afternoon, bringing with it between 12 and 18 inches of snow between 11 a.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday. A third front could bring another foot by the end of Monday. Wind gusts between 20 and 30 mph will also bring blowing snow. This is a dangerous storm only travel if absolutely necessary, the Weather Service said on its website. The National Weather Service also issued a winter storm warning for elevations above 5,500 feet, which will expire in Flagstaff at noon on Saturday. The National Weather Service warned snow could fall between one and two inches per hour Friday night and Saturday morning. According to the Weather Service website, precipitation is expected to taper off Saturday afternoon, and dry weather is expected Saturday evening before a third storm is scheduled to hit late Sunday and into Monday. As of Friday afternoon, the Weather Service reported it had lowered the chance of precipitation slightly for Sunday, but expected heavy rain and snow to come with the third storm, most likely Monday. Snow totals for Flagstaff from this storm could amount to another 9 to 12 inches. The Flagstaff Unified School District, along with most area charter schools, canceled classes Friday, and NAU and CCC sent students and employees home by mid-afternoon. The Arizona Department of Public Safety responded to 18 slide-offs, seven non-injury collisions and two collisions with minor injuries Thursday night. By Friday afternoon DPS spokesman Bart Graves said the department had responded to four slide-offs. The Flagstaff Police Department reported it had responded to 49 crashes between Thursday morning and Friday afternoon, mostly due to drivers driving faster than appropriate for the road conditions. FPD posted a reminder to Facebook stating the posted speed limit is appropriate for ideal weather and lighting conditions, and said drivers should expect to drive more slowly than the posted speed limit in hazardous weather. New Delhi: In a rare gesture, President Pranab Mukherjee has set aside Union Home Ministrys recommendation and commuted the death sentence of four persons convicted of killing of 34 upper caste people in Bihar in 1992. The President gave a new lease of life on the New Year day to Krishna Mochi, Nanhe Lal Mochi, Bir Kuer Paswan and Dharmendra Singh alias Dharu Singh, by commuting their death sentence to life imprisonment. The Home Ministry, based on the recommendations of the Bihar Government, had recommended on August 8, 2016 that the mercy petition of all the four be rejected. However, the President took into consideration various facts relating to the case, including the delay in handing over the mercy petitions of the four accused by the state government and the observations made by the National Human Rights Commission. The NHRC, in its order last year, had said that after an analysis of the facts and materials placed before the Commission, it emerges that the four convicts in question had submitted their mercy petitions prior to 07.07.2004. This is clear from the admission of the Inspector General (Prisons and Correctional Services), Government of Bihar that the mercy petitions of the four convicts were forwarded to the Secretariat of Honble President of India through the Home Department, Government of Bihar vide letter dated 07.07.2004. However, the mercy petitions neither reached the Home Ministry, nor to the Presidents Secretariat. It was only after the intervention of the NHRC that these were processed after 12 years. The four were awarded death sentence in 2001 by a sessions court in connection with the massacre of 35 Bhumihars (a landed upper caste) by the Maoist Communist Centre. On April 15, 2002, the Supreme Court confirmed their death sentence with a majority judgement of 2:1, with Justice M B Shah dissenting against such an award. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: People of Delhi and those who will be travelling to the National Capital you may have to crawl as traffic restrictions have been made ahead of Republic Day rehearsal. Proper arrangements have been made. According to the advisory that was released by the Delhi Traffic Police said that Vijay Chowk, Janpath, and Man Singh Road will remain closed for the movement of traffic from 9am to 12pm on Saturday. Jams will continue on Monday and Wednesday for the dress rehearsal. The roads around the parade venue will also be closed in parts as per the movement of the parade and the traffic situation, Senior traffic officials said. Also Read: Republic Day Parade 2017: Movement of traffic on certain roads will be restricted It is advisable to cross the stretch before 8.45 am as the barricades will be in place after that. Planning journeys accordingly will help commuters avoid any inconvenience and hassles, said Garima Bhatnagar, joint commissioner of police (traffic). Roads which are likely to get affected by the parade are Kasturba Gandhi Marg, Barakhamba Road, South Avenue, Teen Murti Marg, Akbar Road, Rajaji Marg, Shahjahan Road, India Gate C-Hexagon, Purana Quila Road, Sher Shah Road, Copernicus Marg, and Tilak Marg. Though the timing for the parade is until 12 pm, the jams are expected to stretch till at least 1 pm. Traffic will be diverted as per the rush in the areas, a senior traffic official said. Also, heavy vehicles except those carrying milk, fruits, vegetables and other essential items, will not be allowed to enter Delhi through district Gurugram. While stating this, a spokesman of Haryana Police said the restriction on plying of heavy vehicles would remain enforced from 8.30 PM Sunday to 12.30 PM on January 23 and from 8.30 PM on January 25 to 12.30 PM on January 26. He said a written communication to this effect has been sent to Superintendents of Police of Rewari, Nuh and Jhajjar, and Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Faridabad. They have been directed not to allow heavy vehicles to enter district Gurugram and divert traffic through other routes or get vehicles parked by identifying a proper place. He said the Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Gurugram held a meeting with transporters and urged them to cooperate following these directions. (With PTI input) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A massive attack was launched on army in upper Assam by UNLFW militants. UNLFW is the umbrella organization of all armed outfits of Northeast and they threw a grenade on the army convoy at Jharabasti area of Jagun. Firing is still going on amongst the army and the militants.. Further, ULFA-I and NSCN-K are the main constituents of UNLFW. Three army jawans have been injured in the brutal attack.A Moreover, many tourists who were on their way to Pangsau Pass Festival have been stranded on National highway 53. CORCOM and ULFA (Independent) has claimed responsibility and given a joint statement after the attacks. A Joint statement of #CORCOM and #ULFA (Independent) has come after attack on armed forceshttps://t.co/XxyXmqEmmI pic.twitter.com/b4olcD8Gzl a News Nation (@NewsNationTV) January 22, 2017 For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Samajwadi Party and Congress have reportedly sealed their alliance for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections after intensive negotiations. As per sources, Congress has agreed on 105 seats whereas SP will fight elections on 298 seats. Until Saturday, an alliance between the two parties seemed difficult as the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP was ready to offer only 99 seats to Rahul Gandhis party, which was unacceptable to Congress. Samajwadi Party has already announced a list of 191 candidates for the UP polls, which included nominations for some of the traditional congress bastions, stirring up the conflict between the two parties. Also read: UP Elections 2017: Akhilesh Yadav launches Samajwadi Party election manifesto | Key highlights For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Samajwadi Party and Congress alliance for Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections sealed on Sunday. Both Samajwadi Party and Congress jointly addressed press conference in Lucknow. As per the sources, Congress has agreed on 105 seats whereas SP will fight elections on 298 seats. For unity and intergrity of India and following secular ideology, we will continue our fight under SP National president Akhilesh Yadav, state Samajwadi Party chief Naresh Uttam told a press conference addressed jointly with UP PCC president Raj Babbar. The countrys secular fabric will become stronger when Akhilesh Yadav becomes the chief minister again, Uttam said. He said the idea was to uproot communal BJP and make UP a leading state by removing both BJP and Mayawatis BSP. The PCC chief said Congress has accepted SPs offer of 105 seats keeping in mind the prevailing situation in the country and also the atmosophere in the state. Keeping these factors in mind, Congress leadership agreed to strike an alliance to thwart BJPs divisive politics and at the same time to boost secularism and promote communal and social harmony. Our ideologies are not different. We share many common ideologies, he said, adding both the parties believed in social justice and development, peace and good atmosphere. He said the alliance between the two youth leaders Akhilesh and Rahul Gandhiwill ensure that politcs transcends narrow boundaries of caste and religion. He also said BJP had created hardships for the people with its note ban decision. Now people have an opportunity to teach BJP a lesson, he said. When asked to comment on Congress slogan 27 saal, UP behaal Raj Babbar said, Now UP will embark on the rapid path of progress and there will be no badhali (in a bad state). Until Saturday, an alliance between the two parties seemed difficult as the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP was ready to offer only 99 seats to Rahul Gandhis party, which was unacceptable to Congress. Here are the live updates from the press conference: # Sure that this alliance (SP and Cong) will set an example; will strive hard for upliftment of poor and development of state # The alliance is based on the good works of Akhilesh Yadav: Raj Babbar # We have agreed to alliance in UP, says Raj Babbar # We will contest election together and Akhilesh Yadav will again become Chief Minister, says Naresh Uttam # SP and Congress will jointly contest election in Uttar Pradesh, says Naresh Uttam # Congress is going to contest election from 105 seats # Samajwadi Party is going to contest from 298 seats For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Dehradun : Supporters of disappointed ticket-seekers of the Uttarakhand Congress on Sunday vandalised the party office in Dehradun and raised slogans against Chief Minister Harish Rawat after the candidates list was announced for the Assembly elections. Shortly after the party declared its candidates for 63 seats in the poll-bound state, disgruntled workers supporting Congress leaders Ayendra Sharma and Navin Bhisht tore posters of Rawat and state chief Kishore Upadhyay at the Rajpur Road-based office. The Congress announced Upadhyay as its candidate for the Sahaspur Assembly seat instead of Sharma and Suryakant Dhamsana was given ticket from Cantt seat instead of Bhisht. Downplaying the incident, the Uttarakhand Congress chief said, It happened at the heat of the moment and no action will be taken against the workers. Candidates were decided at a meeting of the partys Central Election Committee chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi last night. Assembly elections in 70-member Uttarakhand Assembly is scheduled to take place on February 15. The party high command will announce candidates for the remaining seven seats soon, Upadhyay said. Prominently Rawat will contest from two seats - Kichha and Haridwar Rural, Indira Hridyesh from Haldwani, Surendra Singh Negi from Kotdwar and Dinesh Aggarwal from Dharampur. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Los Angeles: Scientists have developed a molecule that can inhibit the gene expression - believed to have originated in India - that makes bacteria resistant to antibiotics. Scientists, including those from the Oregon State University in the US showed that the molecules ability to inhibit expression of an enzyme that makes bacteria resistant to a wide range of penicillins. The molecule is a peptide-conjugated phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer (PPMO). The enzyme it combats is known as New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM-1), first identified in a Swedish national who fell ill with an antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection that he acquired in India. We are targeting a resistance mechanism that is shared by a whole bunch of pathogens, said Bruce Geller, professor at OSU. It is the same gene in different types of bacteria, so you only have to have one PPMO that is effective for all of them, which is different than other PPMOs that are genus specific, said Geller. The study showed that in vitro the new PPMO restored the ability of an antibiotic - in this case meropenem, an ultra-broad-spectrum drug of the carbapenem class - to fight three different genera of bacteria that express NDM-1. The research also demonstrated that a combination of the PPMO and meropenem was effective in treating mice infected with a pathogenic strain of E coli that is NDM-1 positive. Geller said the PPMO will likely be ready for testing in humans in about three years. We have lost the ability to use many of our mainstream antibiotics, said Geller. Everything is resistant to them now. That is left us to try to develop new drugs to stay one step ahead of the bacteria, but the more we look the more we dont find anything new, Geller added. So thats left us with making modifications to existing antibiotics, but as soon as you make a chemical change, the bugs mutate and now they are resistant to the new, chemically modified antibiotic, he said. That progression made the carbapenems, the most advanced penicillin-type antibiotic, the last line of defense against bacterial infection. The significance of NDM-1 is that it is destroys carbapenems, so doctors have had to pull out an antibiotic, colistin, that had not been used in decades because it is toxic to the kidneys, Geller said. That is literally the last antibiotic that can be used on an NDM-1-expressing organism and we now have bacteria that are completely resistant to all known antibiotics, he said. However, a PPMO can restore susceptibility to antibiotics that have already been approved, so we can get a PPMO approved and then go back and use these antibiotics that had become useless, Geller added. The study was published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that he planned to discuss soon with US President Donald Trump how to counter the threat from Iran. I plan to speak soon with President Trump about how to counter the threat of Iranian regime which calls for Israels destruction, Netanyahu said in a video message posted on his Facebook page. Before his inauguration on Friday, Trump had repeatedly denounced the nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, including the United States, which Israel has also staunchly criticised. On January 16, Trump said in an interview with the Times of London and Bild newspaper of Germany: Im not happy with the Iran deal, I think its one of the worst deals ever made. I think its one of the dumbest deals Ive ever seen, one of the dumbest. But he declined to say whether he intended to renegotiate the deal, as he asserted regularly during the presidential campaign. Netanyahu has been an ardent opponent of the 2015 pact signed by Iran, the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany. The deal placed curbs on Tehrans nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions. In December, Netanyahu said there were many ways of undoing the Iran nuclear deal and that he would discuss that with Trump. I have about five things in mind, he said. But before he left office, former president Barack Obama warned against rowing back the pact, emphasising its significant and concrete results. EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini has also said that the bloc would stand by the accordwhich she helped negotiatebecause it showed that diplomacy worked and served Europes security needs. And on Monday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that the nuclear deal was approved by the UN Security Council and therefore is not a bilateral deal with the US that Trump can renegotiate. In the video message posted online, Netanyahu also addressed the Iranian people saying we are your friend, not your enemy. Meanwhile, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, whose role is largely ceremonial, said in a statement that he had invited Trump to visit Israel. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. London: British Premier Theresa May on Sunday said she will discuss free trade and terrorism with Donald Trump during the US Presidents first meeting with a foreign leader even as she made it clear that she wont be afraid to tell him if he says or does anything unacceptable. May will be the first world leader to hold bilateral talks with the new US President when she meets him in Washington DC on Friday, White House has said. The two leaders will hold talks on issues such as trade, and security but the British PM on Sunday also stressed that she would not shy away from addressing difficult issues. I will be talking to Donald Trump about the issues we share and how we can build on the special relationship. It is the special relationship that allows us to say when something is unacceptable. Whenever there is something I find unacceptable, I wont be afraid to say that to Donald Trump, she told the BBC. Asked whether she would raise some of the comments that Trump had made about women during the presidential campaign, she said: I have already said that some of the comments Trump has made in relation to women were unacceptable. Some of those he himself has apologised for. When I sit down, I think the biggest statement that will be made about the role of women is the fact that I will be there as a female prime minister, Prime Minister of the UK, directly taking to him about the interests that we share. Asked about her views on some of Trumps protectionist rhetoric on trade in his inauguration speech earlier this week, May highlighted that he had also spoken about the importance of a trade agreement with the UK and that is something the US wants to begin working on at an early stage. She said the Trump team is interested in discussing a new trade arrangement with Britain despite the America first theme of Trumps inaugural address and his vow to evaluate every trade deal for its possible benefits to the United States. She said the US and UK had a deep and broad-based relationship, spanning a range of shared interests and values. She noted: There are issues that we will work on together in the future the importance of NATO and defeating terrorism. These are issues where we share the challenges and see the threats, where we have worked together in the past and will do so in the future. The British PM is set to fly out to Washington DC later in the week for what is expected to be a two-day visit to the US. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. DAPL coincidence? New bill in North Dakota could make it legal to run over protesters In a frightening leap towards tyranny, North Dakota Republicans have introduced a series of bills that observers say are directly aimed at impinging upon the First Amendment rights of protestors, including those that have been congregating for months at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation where the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is set to be built. According to reports, one of the bills would prevent protestors from covering their faces at protests, which would make them easier to identify and possibly target. The other, introduced by Representative Keith Kempenich, a Republican, would make it legal to run over protestors with a vehicle, so long as the driver claims that he or she didnt actually mean to do so. Read for yourself what House Bill 1203 states in its own words: Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a driver of a motor vehicle who unintentionally causes injury or death to an individual obstructing vehicular traffic on a public road, street, or highway, is not guilty of an offense. You read that right: the party of small government conservatives, or at least a few select members of it, want to remove key portions from the Bill of Rights that get in the way of their agenda to build an oil pipeline. Its the type of thing from which dictatorships are made, and if the people of North Dakota dont intervene to stop it, such oppression could become the law of the land. (RELATED: Learn more news about opposing government tyranny at Resist.news) North Dakota Republicans connected to oil industry defend killing protestors In defense of the more egregious of the two bills the legal running over of protestors Senator Kelly Armstrong, North Dakotas GOP Chairman, told ABC News that it wasnt the state legislature that came up with the idea. Instead, she says, the bill was birthed out of residents frustration with the ongoing protestors, which at one point in the summer saw thousands of them encamped in opposition. When people are having their lives disrupted, youre going to see things move up here, Armstrong, an oil company executive and former defense attorney, admitted to the media. Perhaps not surprisingly, Rep. Kempenich is also connected to the oil industry, and stands to benefit greatly from the $3.8 billion pipeline project, assuming it can ever be completed. Hes quoted as using his mothers apparent annoyance with the protestors as a justifiable reason for H.B. 1203. Tragedy might occur, he actually had the gall to say, if [drivers] have punched the accelerator rather than the brakes. Its apparently not enough for law enforcement to simply spray protestors with hoses and otherwise intimidate or provoke them with violence, which is also an infringement of their First Amendment rights. Republicans eager to get that oil pipeline installed as quickly as possible are hoping to advance the agenda even further. North Dakota has already squandered some $22 million in taxpayer money to fund ramped-up law enforcement presence at oil company facilities, for which it is now demanding repayment. Now the state wants to authoritatively obstruct free speech, and in the most egregious way. Clearly, these small-government conservatives are desperate for payback and vengeance, The Free Thought Project is reporting, referring to another already-withdrawn piece of legislation that would have allowed the state of North Dakota to claim land and mineral rights in the pipelines path under the Missouri River in order to recuperate the money the state believes it deserves as reimbursement for money spent on added law enforcement. The unabashed desire to wield state power against the most fundamental right of American citizens is truly a frightening prelude. Stay informed about protecting individual liberty and the right to protest at Liberty.news. Sources for this article include: TheFreeThoughtProject.com ABCNews.Go.com Submit a correction >> Female Trump supporters to womens march organizers: Whats the point? A day after Left-wing anarchists failed to do much of anything to #DisruptJ20 President Donald Trumps inauguration, women from around the country streamed into the nations capital to march forsomething. To women who voted for the president and spent Friday night attending and enjoying various inaugural balls around Washington, D.C., the march on Saturday was not a little baffling to them, McClatchy Papers reported. I think its great, do your thing, but I just dont know what theyre doing it for. Theyre talking about rights, womens rights, but what rights are being taken away from any women? asked Susan Clarke, 50, who came to the capital from Charlotte, North Carolina, and wore a blue, bedazzled Tar Heel Deplorable shirt. I dont understand what the point is. Trump-supporting women were also a little indignant that one group would presume to speak for all women. The protest, billed as the Womens March on Washington, was expected to draw around 200,000 people on Saturday, who planned to march along the same route that Trumps inaugural procession took on Friday. Similar marches were planned in hundreds of cities around the country and the world. (RELATED: Whats the new president prioritizing? Find out at Trump.news) But at least 15 women McClatchy Papers interviewed said they werent keen on the title of the march. They can protest, its their right, but dont call it the Womens March, 23-year-old Ellie Todd, who drove to the inauguration with a couple friends from Spartanburg, South Carolina, said. That makes it sound like its a big unified thing, when really theyre picking very divisive issues and protesting against Trumpwho by the way is now our presidentinstead of for something that would bring us all together. Its not all women. Organizers have claimed that the march isnt anti-Trump, but instead a rallying cry for womens issues and a host of Left-wing causes that they insist are going to be threatened under Trumps administration. According to the events policy platform, issues include racial profiling (by police), climate change, abortion and LGBTQ rights. The official web site lists 177 partners that include the Human Rights Campaign, NAACP Voto Latino and Planned Parenthood. And while the platform statement includes language stating that anyone is welcome, no matter their beliefs or political affiliation, that was demonstrated to be a blatant liejust like the its not about Trump excuse. Sheree Marre, 59, drove to the inauguration from Huntersville, North Carolina; she said she had friends who wanted to participate in the march but were told they couldnt. They were pro-life, and apparently they werent allowing pro-life women to be part of the march, she told McClatchy Papers. She added that the protest, by its very nature, implies that if youre female, you cant be a Trump supporter. (RELATED: Stay current with the Trump administration policy at Whitehouse.news) Marre noted that she felt she was under some pressure to defend her support for Trump to other women after audio from 2005 of him talking about women in a crude manner surfaced during the campaign. Were a forgiving country, and everybody makes mistakes, she said. I mean look at Nixon. Trump is human. But this day one, lets give him a chance. The Left, however, is not in a forgiving mood, as is evidenced by the perpetual protesting that has taken place since Trump won the Nov. 8 election. In fact, as reported by The National Sentinel, perpetual protesting and criticism of Trump is going to be the Lefts modus operandi for at least the next four years. Others interviewed by McClatchy said the womens march was misguided and makes an assumption about Trump that does not ring true. I want to tell them, Ladies what are you doing? said Donna Lutz, 71, who traveled to the inauguration from Gainesville, Florida. Look at his beautiful daughters. Look at the woman he put in charge of his campaign, a woman that has done an extraordinary job, she said, notiubg out that women who had worked with Trump for several years spoke well of him at the Republican National Convention. They said he was a great boss; we got paid the same, she said. J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for Natural News and News Target, as well as editor of The National Sentinel. Sources: McClatchyDC.com TheNationalSentinel.com Submit a correction >> This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A Connecticut woman last known to be seen in November may have been spotted in southeast Texas on Jan. 6. Emily Carrie Kutz, 22, of Canton, Conn., may have been spotted on South Padre Island on Jan. 6, but no one is sure. There's been no sighting of her since. Police on the Island said Kutz may have been seen at the visitor's center on the Island on Jan. 6 at about 3:15 p.m. But, officers said, no positive identification was made. Kutzs hair is naturally brown but it was a sandy blond last time she was seen, and it is quite long, to the middle of her back. Kutz has two small tattoos, one on the inside of each wrist. One is the symbol for yin and yang, the other looks like the shape of a jelly bean. Both were done by her. Nobody has actually located her so we are still seeking her whereabouts, Lawrence Terra, a Canton police captain, told The Valley Morning Star. She is not here in Connecticut, thats for sure. Kutz is listed in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons database. What Kutz may have been doing on South Padre Island and whether she is still there remain a mystery. Its a home stretch that might take a year to travel. But sometime maybe this year, maybe in early 2018 the northern stretch of the Housatonic River could win federal designation as a Wild and Scenic River. On one hand, the designation wont change anything no property will change hands, no local zoning laws will change. On the other, it would give the 41 miles of river from the Massachusetts-Connecticut border to Boardmans Bridge in New Milford an extra layer of protection against untoward development. And it would give that stretch a status that sticks in peoples minds. The words wild and scenic mean something, said Tim Abbott, regional conservation and Greenprint director for the Housatonic Valley Association. Because the Housatonic River Commission has worked slowly, surely and thoughtfully to win support for the proposal, most people agree that even the change in administrations in Washington, D.C., where final approval lies, will not gum up the works. I dont think it will be a problem, said Philip Hart of Cornwall, the commissions vice president. I believe there will not be a political issue here, said Margaret Miner, executive director of the Rivers Alliance of Connecticut. Its a question a lot of people have, said Jamie Fosburgh, New England team leader for the Wild and Scenic program, which is part of the National Parks Service. Thats understandable, given the skepticism many in the nascent Trump administration have expressed about environmental issues. But Fosburgh said federal staff will be involved early on as his team reviews the application, letting them understand the issues involved. The review could take about a year to complete, he said. Fosburgh said that because the proposal has won support from the commission, from local selectmen, from legislators and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, there are no easily foreseeable objections to it. He also said that because the rivers hydroelectric plants on the Housatonic have established permits from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, no one can accuse proponents of the designation of using it to stop any turbine from turning. Its not an anti-energy project, he said. Wild river designation is an idea introduced almost 40 years ago, dropped, then reintroduced this decade. In 1979, the National Parks Service completed a plan for the Housatonic River that would have included it in the national Wild and Scenic Rivers program. That program, created by the U.S. Congress in 1968, now protects about 208 rivers 12,700 miles of waters in 40 states and Puerto Rico. While that sounds impressive, its only about one-quarter of 1 percent of the nations rivers, according to the programs website at www.rivers.gov Two rivers in the state the West Branch of the Farmington River in Litchfield and Hartford counties and the Eightmile River in Middlesex County now have Wild & Scenic status. Hart said that in 1979, however, the seven Litchfield County towns involved in the study Canaan, Cornwall, Kent, New Milford, North Canaan, Salisbury and Sharon decided against the plan. It had to do with federal control of the river, Hart said. Its a concern that still exists, he said. In the intervening years, the Housatonic River Commission wrote its own management and recreational plans for the river. Then, about four years ago, Hart said, concerns about new proposals for development along the river revived interest in seeking Wild and Scenic status for the Housatonic. One route to winning that designation is to win it through an act of Congress. Instead, the commission took a slower approach. Commission members spoke in the seven towns, explaining what the designation could do protect the river and what it would not do install federal control over it. The commission then sought approval in the General Assembly. In 2016, legislators passed a bill to approve the status. In turn, Malloy signed on. The final step National Parks Service review will begin this year. Winning Wild & Scenic status has benefits beyond federal protection. Miner of the Rivers Alliance said shes seen how the designation has sparked public interest about the Farmington. People have really come together to work on the river and enjoy it, she said. Hart said theres one way Fosburghs team can best understand what the status could mean to the Housatonic. I would hope they would listen to people who live along the river, he said. Contact Robert Miller at earthmattersrgm@gmail.com MONTREAL, Jan. 22, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Projet Montreal is honoured to have the support of Jeannette Holman-Price in its quest to have Vision Zero principles applied to snow removal operations in Montreal. "During a snow removal operation in Westmount in 2005, Jessica Holman-Price died while saving her brother's life from an approaching truck. Since then, her mother, Jeannette Holman-Price, has been fighting relentlessly to ensure that no one ever dies again because a heavy vehicle isn't equipped with safety devices. Her support for our motion is valuable in confirming the importance of this fight", said Valerie Plante, leader of the Official Opposition. In a motion to be tabled at tomorrow's session of City Council, Projet Montreal is asking that the City of Montreal demand that its contractors and its snow removal teams use only vehicles equipped with safety equipment such as convex mirrors, cameras, and side bars. This request is in line with The Jessica Campaign, whose mission is to ensure side-bars are installed on all trucks in the country. "Never again should someone die under the wheels of a truck because of the lack of lateral protection. Jessica's death must not be in vain. Things have to change. That is why I am very happy to see that Projet Montreal is carrying this fight to City Council. After the experiences of the past 11 years, I can see no reason for any of Montreal's city councillors to deny this motion. Montrealers and visitors should demand the city adopt these proven life saving measures. We know they work", said Jeannette Holman-Price. "It is unacceptable that in 2017, we just sit by and watch while people get killed when we know these deaths can be prevented. Jeannette Holman-Price has been leading an inspiring fight over the last ten years, and this fight must lead to changes. We need to act now so that no more deaths or serious injuries occur during snow removal operations in Montreal", added Valerie Plante. In his report published in 2010, Mr. Luc Malouin, of the Bureau du coroner, recommended that the City include, in its requirements for snow removal contractors, the contractual obligation to install safety devices, such as convex mirrors, cameras and side-bars. These recommendations have been implemented successfully by the City of Westmount for over eight years. But in Montreal, nothing has been added to the contract specifications, and contractors and subcontractors continue to use vehicles that have none of these safety devices. "We hope that Council will support us so that the situation can be corrected at last", concluded the leader of Projet Montreal. The motion for a Vision Zero in snow removal operations can be read here: http://bit.ly/vision-zero-snow-removal. SOURCE Ville de Montreal - Opposition officielle a l'Hotel de Ville de Montreal For further information: Marie-Eve Gagnon, Chief of staff, City of Montreal - Official Opposition, 514 872-0247 / 514 516-3120, [email protected] Related Links ville.montreal.qc.ca SF State astronomer Stephen Kane is searching for signs of life in one of the extrasolar systems closest to Earth. As one of the worlds leading planet hunters, Kane focuses on finding habitable zones, areas where water could exist in a liquid state on a planets surface if theres sufficient atmospheric pressure. Kane and his team, including former undergraduate student Miranda Waters, examined the habitable zone on a planetary system 14 light years away. Their findings will appear in the next issue of Astrophysical Journal in a paper titled Characterization of the Wolf 1061 Planetary System. The Wolf 1061 system is important because it is so close and that gives other opportunities to do follow-up studies to see if it does indeed have life, Kane said. But its not just Wolf 1061s proximity to Earth that made it an attractive subject for Kane and his team. One of the three known planets in the system, a rocky planet called Wolf 1061c, is entirely within the habitable zone. With assistance from collaborators at Tennessee State University and in Geneva, Switzerland, they were able to measure the star around which the planet orbits to gain a clearer picture of whether life could exist there. When scientists search for planets that could sustain life, they are basically looking for a planet with nearly identical properties to Earth, Kane said. Like Earth, the planet would have to exist in a sweet spot often referred to as the Goldilocks zone where conditions are just right for life. Simply put, the planet cant be too close or too far from its parent star. A planet thats too close would be too hot. If its too far, it may be too cold and any water would freeze, which is what happens on Mars, Kane added. Conversely, when planets warm, a runaway greenhouse effect can occur where heat gets trapped in the atmosphere. Scientists believe this is what happened on Earths twin, Venus. Scientists believe Venus once had oceans, but because of its proximity to the sun the planet became so hot that all the water evaporated, according to NASA. Since water vapor is extremely effective in trapping in heat, it made the surface of the planet even hotter. The surface temperature on Venus now reaches a scalding 880 degrees Fahrenheit. Arxiv Characterization of the wolf 1061 Planetary System Since Wolf 1061c is close to the inner edge of the habitable zone, meaning closer to the star, it could be that the planet has an atmosphere thats more similar to Venus. Its close enough to the star where its looking suspiciously like a runaway greenhouse, Kane said. Kane and his team also observed that unlike Earth, which experiences climatic changes such as an ice age because of slow variations in its orbit around the sun, Wolf 1061cs orbit changes at a much faster rate, which could mean the climate there could be quite chaotic. It could cause the frequency of the planet freezing over or heating up to be quite severe, Kane said. These findings all beg the question: Is life possible on Wolf 1061c? One possibility is that the short time scales over which Wolf 1061cs orbit changes could be enough that it could actually cool the planet off, Kane said. But fully understanding whats happening on the planets surface will take more research. In the coming years, there will be a launch of new telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, Kane said, and it will be able to detect atmospheric components of the exoplanets and show whats happening on the surface. Abstract A critical component of exoplanetary studies is an exhaustive characterization of the host star, from which the planetary properties are frequently derived. Of particular value are the radius, temperature, and luminosity, which are key stellar parameters for studies of transit and habitability science. Here we present the results of new observations of Wolf 1061, known to host three super-Earths. Our observations from the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) interferometric array provide a direct stellar radius measurement of 0.32070.0088 R, from which we calculate the effective temperature and luminosity using spectral energy distribution models. We obtained seven years of precise, automated photometry that reveals the correct stellar rotation period of 89.31.8 days, finds no evidence of photometric transits, and confirms that the radial velocity signals are not due to stellar activity. Finally, our stellar properties are used to calculate the extent of the Habitable Zone for the Wolf 1061 system, for which the optimistic boundaries are 0.090.23 AU. Our simulations of the planetary orbital dynamics show that the eccentricity of the Habitable Zone planet oscillates to values as high as 0.15 as it exchanges angular momentum with the other planets in the system. F-35s, F-22s and other fighter jets will soon use improved artificial intelligence to control nearby drone wingmen able to carry weapons, test enemy air defenses or perform intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance missions in high risk areas, senior Air Force officials said. Air Force Chief Scientist Gregory Zacharias said that technology was progressing quickly at the Air Force Research Lab to the point where much higher degrees of autonomy and manned-unmanned teaming is expected to emerge in the near future. An F-35 computer system, Autonomic Logistics Information System, involves early applications of artificial intelligence wherein computers make assessments, go through checklists, organize information and make some decisions by themselves without needing human intervention. The more autonomy and intelligence you can put on these vehicles, the more useful they will become, Zacharias said. This development could greatly enhance mission scope, flexibility and effectiveness by enabling a fighter jet to conduct a mission with more weapons, sensors, targeting technology and cargo, Zacharias explained. For instance, real-time video feeds from the electro-optical/infrared sensors on board an Air Force Predator, Reaper or Global Hawk drone could go directly into an F-35 cockpit, without needing to go to a ground control station. This could speed up targeting and tactical input from drones on reconnaisance missions in the vicinity of where a fighter pilot might want to attack. In fast-moving combat circumstances involving both air-to-air and air-to-ground threats, increased speed could make a large difference. Drones could be programmed to fly into heavily defended or high-risk areas ahead of manned-fighter jets in order to assess enemy air defenses and reduce risk to pilots. SOURCES -Scout Warrior 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. 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 ... President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated the Chinese community in Nigeria and worldwide on the Chinese Lunar New Year which begins on January 28.The Presidents Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, on Sunday, said the President Buhari had sent the congratulatory message before he proceeded on a short vacation on Thursday.In the message, Buhari noted that China has made a series of social and economic achievements during the past few decades.He said China has made simultaneous progress in economic, political, cultural, social and bioenvironmental areas, and has achieved average yearly economic growth far above the worlds average.He also noted that the country has taken the second place in the worlds Gross Domestic Product ranking.Buhari said Chinese people still highly emphasise the concept of family and the opportunity of reunion, much as Nigerians do, describing it as our shared value.He added, After 46 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations, Nigeria and China have become close economic, political and cultural partners.During the state visit to China last April, we reached consensus that the two countries should give full play to corresponding development strategies, strong economic complementarity and enormous cooperative potential.I am confident that our strategic partnership will remain extremely successful in the Year of Rooster.May the relations between Nigeria and China have another profitable and affluent year. Happy New Year! Sultan of Sokoto Mohamed Saad Abubakar III Femi Fani-Kayode, one of the leaders of thought in Nigeria, writes on the political structure of Nigeria and the domination and Islamisation quest of the Fulani tribe. This is the last of a 2-part article. You may read the first part HERE Clearly something has gone horribly wrong and this reinforces my belief that the amalgamation of the northern and southern regions of Nigeria in 1914 was not just a mistake but a demonically-inspired, craftily- contrived and premeditated satanic conspiracy by the British to destroy the greatness and enormous human potentials of the people of the south and the Middle Belt of Nigeria. I do not believe in and neither do I respect a man-made, artificial, hybrid, mongrel-state like Nigeria which has forcefully lumped my people together with those that are inherently fascistic and racist, that are culturally and historically inferior, that are intellectually defective and that are nothing more than genocidal maniacs, ethnic vagabonds, wandering herdsmen, cow-loving jihadists and islamic fundamentalists. We have nothing in common with them physically, spiritually, culturally, historically and genetically. We are indigenous black Africans but they are not. They come from Berber, Taurag and Futan Jalon stock. They are not and were never from here and neither were they ever part of us. And neither was there ever one Nigeria in the true sense of the word. That erroneous misconception and misguided notion is nothing but a monumental fraud. I am an Ife before being a Nigerian. I am a Yoruba before being a Nigerian. I am a southerner before being a Nigerian. I am a Christian before being a Nigerian. And unlike others I am not prepared to sacrifice my ethnic identity and nationality or my religious faith on the alter of a servile, cowering and slavish puppet-state called Nigeria. I consider those in the international community that seek to compel me and my people, the good people of the south and the Middle Belt, to stay in a united Nigeria where we are nothing but canon-fodder for Islamist terrorists, sport for Janjaweed herdsmen and food for Haramite dogs as nothing but globalist slime. I consider those from outside our shores that expect us to remain in this debilitating and traumatising zoo and madhouse called Nigeria where we have been systematically reduced to grovelling quislings and shivering slaves as nothing but closet-islamists and neo-imperialist scum. They have an Obama mindset. They believe in espousing and accommodating evil and in sleeping with the enemy. They believe in light and darkness merging together as one and in darkness contaminating and overwhelming the light. They believe in the spreading of death, disease, destruction, suffering, persecution, poverty, barrenness, corruption, evil, heartlessness, decay and terror. I am very different. I have a Trump mindest . I believe in helping my friends and fighting my enemies. I believe in calling a spade a spade. I believe that the essence and purpose of light is not to cohabit with darkness but to identify it, expose it, drive it out and destroy it. I believe in life, goodness, mercy, justice, charity, love, kindness, courage, faith and a Living God that protects His own and showers His children with peace, blessings, joy, prosperity and abundance. I believe that radical Islam and those that seek to conquer and subjugate my people by assimilation and the acquisition of political power in the name of ethnic superiority should not be pampered and espoused but rather should be confronted, resisted and destroyed. Nigeria needs to be restructured or broken. And it is left to us, the real leaders that are prepared to stand up and speak truth to power and that are ready to offer ourselves as the voice of the voiceless, to do it. We must be bold. We must be strong. We must be brave. We must take our destiny into our own hands. We must resist the devil and the evil and set ourselves free. The Yoruba deserve better. The Igbo deserve better. The Niger Deltans deserve better. The Mid-Westerners deserve better. The Middle Belters deserve better. The Christians of the north deserve better. We ALL deserve better. Better we deserve and, whether our collective oppressors and adversaries accept it or not, one way or the other, better we shall get. The bottom line is this: our country cannot be described as the Federal Republic of Nigeria but rather the Fulani Republic of Nigeria. And as long as this remains the case she must either be quickly restructured and given a new name or she must be broken up and carved into two or more pieces. No-one was born to be a slave and no-one was born to rule. May God help and deliver us. In response to Part 1 of this contribution, Mr. Abraham Ogbodo, a well respected columnist with the Guardian newspaper and one of the most respected and insightful journalists in Nigeria, said the following: Sir, I share your pains. But this endless lamentations shall take us nowhere. The Israelis understand so well the Islamic mindset which seeks what it does not or cannot give. The Arabs want always to thrive on thier own terms in the West and elsewhere yet in their enclave a man cannot do as little as renounce Islam for Christianity. Butchering of humans is not an exclusive occupation of one group against another group. If nothing including government intervention is able to stop the butchering of Southerners and Christians in Nigeria by the Fulanis, and since self preservation is not negotiable, I suggest those being butchered should adopt counter-butchering as a defence policy until reason prevails. It is a well known fact that Islam does not spread by persuasion but by conquest and that is not going to change in this generation. From its tiny location in Medina, Islam conquered Saudi Arabia, the Middle East, North Africa and substantial part of Asia. The Jihadist entered Europe and in fact occupied Spain for centuries before they were dislodged. But it wasnt so in Turkey where Christianity was obliterated and Islam established. Modern day Turkey was part of the Eastern Roman Empire with headquarters in Constantinople (Istanbul). It was founded by Emperor Constantine who marked the turning point in the history of Christianity. Today Turkey from where most of the acts of Apostle Paul were derived is all Islam. The Armenians were butchered by the Ottoman army in a brutal quest to obliterate centuries of Christian tradition in Turkey. I even hear that the special cannon equivalent of todays large-impact bomb with which the Sultan sacked Constantinople was produced by a Bulgarian. As it is, Europe, the Americas and Asia as they are today are not open to further Islamic conquest. The only open and soft field remain Christian nations or enclaves in Africa. The earlier we understand this and prepare for ceaseless jihads the better for us. Issues in the Islamic doctrine are hardly determined by engagement; everything is settled with the sword. When the terror is balanced, perhaps there may be peace. It calls for eternal vigilance not only in the sense of endless advocacy but more in terms of specific action plans to put up a formidable military resistance against the sustained carnage. Just my thoughts sir. I wholeheartedly concur with Ogbodos observations. Not only has he spoken the truth and hit the nail on the head but he has also spoken the minds of millions. It is time for those that enjoy to butcher others at the drop of a hat to be reminded of the fact that they do not have a monopoly of violence. Yet despite all the horror that is being inflicted upon our people by the jihadists and ethnic supremacists in our midst all is not lost. Comforting were the words of President Donald J. Trump, the new leader of the free world, at his inauguration on 20th January . He said, We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones and UNITE the civilized world against RADICAL ISLAMIC TERRORISM which we will ERADICATE from THE FACE OF THE EARTH These words bring hope and give strength. They are deeply encouraging. We needed to hear them and the lifeline and inspiration that they offer now more than ever before. This is especially so in view of the fact that no less than 14 young pro-Biafran IPOB members were shot dead in the streets of Port Harcourt on January 20th by the Fulani President of the Fulani Republic of Nigerias security forces simply because they dared to take part in a solidarity rally and peaceful celebration of President Trumps inauguration. They were murdered simply because they supported Trump. Their blood, together with the blood of the 808 Christians that were butchered by the government-sponsored and protected radical islamist Janjaweed Fulani militias in the sanctity of their homes in Southern Kafanchan on Christmas eve and Christmas day, will not be shed in vain. It will cry to God in Heaven for vengeance and it will speak death and destruction into the ranks and lives of our collective oppressors and those that seek to enslave us and keep us in bondage forever. Thus sayest the Spirit of the Lord and that is the counsel and decree of the Ancient of Days. Permit me to conclude this contribution with an aside. I write the most painful and bitter truths that few dare to write because I do not know tomorrow. I write what others dare not to write because when my maker calls me home what will I say to Him if I fail to impart the profound knowledge and deep insight that He gave me. What will I do or say when He asks me what I did with the deep secrets and hidden and mystical truths that he asked me to share with my fellow men when I was in the land of the living. That is why I write: that God will not judge me or decree and declare me a worthless coward before the Hosts of Heaven when my time comes. I write every essay as if it were my last knowing that those who despise and deny truth and who hate me with a perfect hatred wish me dead or silenced. Yet even if and when I fall my words will linger and continue to speak powerfully into history and eternity. Posterity will judge between me and my traducers and I will be vindicated and proved right in the end. For these are not my words but the words of the Holy Spirit that resides in me and that guides me. Today, as with every other day, I shall be the servant of truth and the voice of the voiceless, minding not who I offend because I am emboldened and empowered by the knowledge that the Lord is with me and that His word says to die is Christ and to live is gain. (CONCLUDED). Femi Fani-Kayode is a lawyer, a Nigerian politician, an evangelical christian, an essayist, a poet and he was the Special Assistant (Public Affairs) to President Olusegun Obasanjo from July 2003 until June 2006. He was the minister of culture and tourism of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from June 22nd to Nov 7th 2006 and as the minister of Aviation from Nov 7th 2006 to May 29th 2007. He tweets from @realFFK The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. There should be NO FEAR. We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement. And most importantly, we will be PROTECTED BY GOD. Gambias President, Adama Barrow, on Saturday disclosed that he would launch a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate possible crimes committed by the former leader of 22 years.Barrow, however, urged caution after an online petition called for Yahya Jammeh to be arrested, and not be granted asylum.We arent talking about prosecution here, we are talking about getting a truth and reconciliation commission, Barrow told the Associated Press.Barrow, who took the presidential oath of office Thursday at Gambias embassy in Dakar, with the backing of the international community, added that Before you can act, you have to get the truth, to get the facts together.Isolated in his official residence in Banjul, Jammeh had been abandoned by his security forces and several cabinet members.Since losing the election to Barrow, Jammeh had for weeks refused to hand over power.He finally declared on Friday that he would step down and leave, saying I have decided in good conscience to relinquish the mantle of leadership of this great nation.Human rights activists demanded that Jammeh be held accountable for alleged abuses, including torture and detention of opponents.It is believee that concerns about prosecution led Jammeh to challenge the December election results.At least 46,000 people have fled Gambia for Senegal since the start of the crisis fearing unrest, the UNs refugee agency UNHCR said, citing Senegalese government figures. Umaru Musa Yar' Adua University, Katsina Another evidence of religious intolerance by state-run institutions in Nigeria has shown its ugliness with the banning of all Christian student fellowships and associations by the authorities of the Umaru Musa Yar Adua University in Katsina State. An internal memo dated January 17, 2017 from the university, obtained by The Trent, indicates that the institution has placed a blanket ban on all Christian student associations and fellowships and those that are non-Muslim. The circular, signed by the acting dean of student affairs, Dr. Sulaiman Sani Kankara, says that the only religious association allowed to operate in the university is Muslim Students Society of Nigeria, MSSN. This order excludes all the Christian fellowships and associations for students that operate in Nigerian universities. This action by the university is unconstitutional because it tramples on the religious freedom of some of the students. It is one more manifestation of the Islamisation plot which has been intensified by way of religious intolerance since President Muhammadu Buhari, a sworn jihadist, came to office in May 2015. The order also violates the fundamental human rights of ethnic groups and other political groups to meet and associate. The memo, which is addressed to all students clubs and associations, is titled Re: Registration of Students Clubs/Associations. Below is the text of the unconstitutional letter. Reference to the memo sent to you on the above subject matter intimating you on Managements resolutions at its 59th meeting held on 10th January, 2017, I wish to make the following clarifications: i. Participation in clubs/associations is strictly optional, as such no student should be compelled to pay any dues. ii. Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN) is the only religious association allowed to operate in the University. iii.. Duly registered Departmental Associations should be allowed to operate but they should observe item (i) above. iv. All tribal and local government associations are prohibited by the University. Thank you. Signed Dr. Sulaimon Sani Kankara Twinkas, another Ponzi scheme similar to the troubled MMM, has started trending with memberships in different categories. According ... According to the scheme, www.twinkas.com Twinkas said it was created to promote the greatest good, with a particular emphasis on helping man and the environment.It said that it had successfully revised all technical and logistical issues about the front-end and has provided mobile numbers to help facilitate the money exchange process.We are gradually restoring our CRM Modules (Live Chat, Ticket, Mobile Calls) to enable us get in touch with you regularly.We have switched to STRICT MODE. Meaning zero tolerance. Hence, we will not entertain any form of uncanny behaviour from sponsors/downlines.Twinkas has rolled out some conditions, including the warning that prospective investors must keep their mobile phones open most of the times and be online in order to succeed.If a sponsors mobile is switched off or not answering calls for about 6 Hours, Twinkas will have that account blocked.If a sponsor fails to activate his/her referral after receiving payment, Twinkas will have that account and subsequent accounts connected to your bank and mobile number blocked.You are advised to have an online banking Application on your mobile phone to help facilitate the process.Mobile numbers will be displayed on your dashboard. Please save them and do not receive any call from other lines claiming to have emanated from Twinkas.It warned investors against pestering any of the numbers for trivial Issues.These numbers should be called only in the cases of emergency, hacked accounts or other serious Twinkas related issues.Use the Live Support and the Ticketing System (Still in View) for only serious Twinkas Issues also. We know those working hard for Twinkas, your reward will be a surprise!.According to the website, Twinkas Classic now has 198,985 members, Professional with 117,290; Twinkas Premium has 117,147 members; the Ultimate with 170,322 members; has zero members under the Veteran category.Any amount invested in each of the categories would attract double the amount after one month maturity.Concerned citizens and financial institutions had warned against participation in these Ponzi schemes because they are fraudulent.Many Nigerians were warned against investing in MMM few months before it became distressed and had yet to fully pick up.Nigerians have been warned by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) not to deposit money in any institution that is not insured by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).The bank through its acting Director of Corporate Communications, Mr. Isaac Okoroafor, warned especially on the trending MMM Nigeria community.Okoroafor said: At times like this when the economy has suffered some decline, Nigerians should be very careful with those they deal with.Any institution that is not licensed by the CBN to accept deposits should not be given money to keep under any guise.We can vouch for the banking system. The deposit money banks are the only licensed institutions to take deposits.If you need to deposit money in any form, go to any of the deposit money banks and put your money, you can buy fixed income instruments or invest in stocks.These people always come with very interesting propositions. These are fraudsters who are just out there to collect peoples money and run away as soon as they hit their target.There is no insurance because the NDIC does not even protect them against such risks when they occur.'s investigation revealed that Twinkas is already the 47th most visited website in Nigeria. The Police didnt kill anybody during last Fridays protest of Nnamdi Kanu-led Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its sister organisa... The Police didnt kill anybody during last Fridays protest of Nnamdi Kanu-led Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its sister organisation, Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign States of Biafra (MASSOB) in Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State Command said yesterday.Rivers Commissioner of Police, Francis Odesanya, said the command instead arrested 65 protesters for staging what he called unlawful protest, which he claimed amounts to treasonable offence.Odesanya said this in a statement by the Deputy Commissioner of Police Operations, Ahmed Magaji.The police chief said his men neither shot nor killed any of his protesters, saying they were only dispersed.The CP noted the protesters did not seek permission before embarking on the rally but insisted the police operatives applied minimum force in dispersing them.Odesanya said: Suspected members of the Indigenous People of Biafra took laws into their hands yesterday, organised and staged an unlawful protest in the Port Harcourt metropolis, thereby disturbing the peace of the state, disrupting free flow of traffic.About 65 of them were arrested at different points within the metropolis, being suspected members of Indigenous People of Biafra.Our men used minimum force in containing the protesters. No casualty was recorded, no death recorded.He further stressed that the command will ensure that the continued peace in the state is sustained.The agitators organised a solidarity rally in support of the victory and swearing-in of American President, Donald Trump in the major cities they claim to be their territories.The rally, which was relatively peaceful in parts of the metropolis, almost turned bloody at a point.The protesters were intercepted by police and military operatives at different parts of the city.Those from the neighbouring Umuahia and Aba in Abia state, who entered Rivers through the Obigbo, Oil mill axis of Port Harcourt headed towards the Diobu area where majority of their supporters in the state reside and engage in business.They were however stopped by the military at the Bori camp where gun shots were heard to disperse them.But the unrelenting agitators scampered for safety and reconvened, heading through another route.They were however intercepted again at the waterlines and St. Johns junctions all in Port Harcourt/Aba Express by heavily armed soldiers with trucks.The protest practically shut down Port Harcourt.Human and vehicular movements in the city were grounded, leading to unprecedented traffic lockdown.Some media reports said no fewer than 11 persons were killed in the showdown with the police.But MASSOB Director of Information, Rivers State Command, Anthony Anukem countered the police denial.He told our correspondent that two of the three protesters allegedly shot by security operatives died yesterday in an undisclosed hospital in Port-Harcourt. US President Donald Trump just blasted the media for massively understating the size of his inaugural crowds. A view of the National Mall during Barack Obamas first inauguration in 2009 and for Donald Trumps inauguration in 2017. Photos by Reuters and Pool Camera. I turn on one of the networks, and they show an empty field, Trump said at a speech Saturday afternoon at the CIA. I'm like, wait a minute. I made a speech. I looked out, the field was, it looked like a million, million and a half people.The unnamed television network, he noted, estimated a turnout of 250,000 people a figure he argued was way too low.Now, that's not bad. But it's a lie, he said. We had 250,000 people literally around in the little ball we constructed. In other words, 250,000 people had been given tickets to the swearing-in ceremony, which is what the Joint Congressional Committee for Inaugural Ceremonies told CNN.The rest of the 20-block area, all the way back to the Washington monument was packed, Trump claimed.The National Park Service no longer provides official inauguration crowd estimates, and the mayor's office and other agencies have not released an official estimate, as they did two days after President Obamas inauguration in 2009. So we dont yet know how many people were there yesterday.The Washington-area transit authority, WMATA, reported that only 193,000 people rode Metro on Friday as of 11 am, significantly fewer than the past two inaugurations and slightly fewer than President George W. Bushs inauguration in 2005.It seems clear that Trump drew significantly fewer people than Obama did eight years ago, and it's a bit sad that the US president is more concerned about inauguration numbers on his first day in office. Less than three weeks have passed since the Second Avenue Subway line made its long-awaited debut, yet conflict is already brewing between the station's buskers and the NYPD. On Thursday afternoon, around a dozen subway performers gathered in the mezzanine of the 72nd Street station to protest what they view as illegal harassment by police seeking to keep the newly opened stations busker-free. The rally was organized by BuskNY, a group that advocates on behalf of subway performers, in response to multiple altercations with the police in the three new Upper East Side stations. While the MTA's rules of conduct explicitly allow for artistic performances within stations, many officers and station managers seem to remain ignorant of the three-decade-old rule. "There may be some sort of fear of unregulated artistic expression," said Marc Orleans, a mandolin player who said he had been removed by police from the 72nd Street platform on Wednesday. "The MTA has to tolerate it, but they also are trying in a not upfront way to regulate this. This is an ongoing situation that everyone who plays in the subway a lot has encountered." The underground artists said that while they're accustomed to disputes with the NYPD, officers are taking a particularly hardline along on the new Second Avenue line. "There's pressure from station management to make sure these stations are clean," said Orleans. "Millions of dollars have been put into this." This assertion was echoed by David Everitt-Carlson, the 60-year-old creator of #iThinkOutsideMyBox, a public painting project that invites strangers to paint their own cardboard square, who said he received a ticket for obstructing pedestrian traffic on the mezzanine of the 72nd Street station last week. Everitt-Carlson caught part of his interaction with police on video, before he was escorted out of the station under threat of criminal trespassing. He told Gothamist that he hadn't faced such issues in his previous five years of creating public art. "It seemed the officers were told to shoo me away," he said. (Jake Offenhartz/Gothamist) "Our officers work to protect the rights of everyone who lawfully uses the transit system - artistic performers and commuters alike," said an NYPD spokesman. "This often means a balance between protecting the uniquely New York experience performers provide, while at the same time ensuring safe passage for subway riders" A third encounter with police was caught on video on Saturday by BuskNY co-founder and subway violinist Matthew Christian. In the video, a police officer can be seen approaching Christian on the platform of the 86th Street station and telling him that "it's unlawful to play music on the platform," before threatening to arrest the violinist if he didn't leave. As both parties filmed each other, Christian read a section of MTA rules that spell out the legal right to play on the subway, sans permit. It's around this time that a second officer appears and asks Christian if he "has a permit from the MTA." (Christian was not ultimately arrested.) Christian said the interaction demonstrated a widespread misconception stemming from the MTA's Music Under New York program. While members of the MTA program are afforded priority scheduling in high-traffic areas, many police officers and transit workers incorrectly assume that only those with MUNY banners are permitted to play in the subways. In truth, there's no such thing as a subway performance permit, and no legal distinction between MUNY members and so-called "freelance performers." For years, subway freelancers have lobbied the MTA to include a disclaimer on MUNY banners indicating this, to no avail. "It's ironic for an office that takes public money and promotes public art, when they receive a report that they're endangering people who make art in public, they don't respond to that," said Christian. "It's a tragedy that MUNY endangers the other 90 percent of performers out there." Nearly all of the gathered buskersnone of whom seemed to be MUNY membersexpressed a similar sentiment. "The MTA needs to be responsible for educating the police about their own regulations," said Orleans. "I think that's where the problem lies." Kevin Ortiz, a spokesman for the MTA, declined to address whether the MUNY program would consider updating its banners. "The MTA is proud to support and promote the arts and musical performances," he wrote in an email to Gothamist. "Any musician is welcome to perform in the New York City subway system as long as they follow the Transit Rules of Conduct." Toward the end of the rally, an orange-vested man paced around the outskirts of the dwindling crowd, training his iPhone on a harmonica-playing protester. When asked if something was wrong, the man, who identified himself as a 72nd Street station supervisor, motioned toward the harmonica player. "Not permitted," he said. "Unauthorized musicians are not allowed." Some of the protesters sighed audibly and continued their conversations, while others packed their things and began to leave. The harmonica player finished his song, but did not play another one. The Senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Prince Buruji Kashamu has faulted the choice of Ekiti St... The Senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Prince Buruji Kashamu has faulted the choice of Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose as the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors Forum . Kashamu who stated this in a statement he issued in Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State on Sunday said, It was a misnormer that the governors of an opposition party that is in need of rebranding and repositioning could chose a liability, a loud mouth and an immature politician like Fayose as the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum.It is not that his emergence as the Chairman of the Forum means anything to me. But as a committed and loyal party man, it gives me great concern that instead of taking steps that will foster peace and unity, we are doing things that will widen the gap and cause more unity. Those who chose him should have a rethink in the interest of the party that is striving hard to return to power. His brother-governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, whose tenure he purportedly continued as Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, is a cool-headed and balanced character. Even then, some of us pointed out that Governor Mimiko was slippery and sly, and a traitor who could not be relied upon. What happened at the end of the day? The party broke on his head when he overreached himself in the South West as the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum at the behest of Governor Fayose. Instead of being a strong leader who would be fair to all, and do good to all manner of people, without fear or favour, he became more of a weather-beaten fowl, sullen and uninspiring. But, we thank God that we held our grounds and fought for our rights.Fayose had always wanted to be the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum. That was why he had some resentment towards Mimiko upon his emergence as the Chairman of the Forum in 2015. While I concede to our Governors the right to choose whoever they want to lead them, my point is that they should have settled for a balanced, more experienced and mature person to lead the Forum, not a cantankerous, divisive and unstable character like Governor Fayose who snaps at the slightest provocation. I know that the Forum boasts of Governors who are true leaders, not pretenders.There are those who are better educated, well-cultured and better exposed who are not working against the interest of their people and country. We have Governors who have held public offices since the return to democracy in 1999 but who are untainted. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) does not have any case against them. Those are the kind of people that could have been chosen to lead the Forum, not one with a goodwill deficit whose hands have been found in the public till. Kashamu said the choice of Fayose as the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum will further polarise the party and destroy it.His words, How many of the notable leaders of the party in Ekiti State and the South West are ready to work with Governor Fayose? He had the opportunity to fight for the interest of the good people of Ekiti State and Yoruba land but he flunked it, preferring to promote impunity and side with a tiny clique who will always do his bidding. How can our respected leaders stay aloof and allow this to happen when they are aware of the genesis of the crisis in the party Fayoses and Mimikos unbridled ambition to impose their will on the party and ride roughshod over all other stakeholders of the party in the South West. The other day, he lured our father, Chief Olabode George to Port Harcourt and sought to disgrace him at the rescheduled National Convention in August, 2016. The Senator recalled that Governor Fayose brought Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and sold his candidature to other stakeholders. But when he saw that Senator Sheriff would not be pliable in his inordinate ambition to arbitrarily hand him the critical structures of the party from the South West zone to the national level, he cooked up a lot of lies and sold them to Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and others in order to discredit Sheriff. Even now, his utterances about the lingering national leadership are a pointer to the fact that he will exacerbate the crisis. Anyone who thinks that Sheriff is not needed in the efforts to restore peace to the party must be joking.I wager that Fayoses conduct and utterances will widen the division in the party and more people will use it as an alibi to continue to defect to other parties. I am aware that more PDP Senators and members of the House of Representatives, including the three Senators from Ekiti State are consulting among themselves with a view to dumping the PDP very soon, all because of Fayoses deception, divisive tendencies and arrogance.We must reject Governor Fayose now or strictly restrict him to running the affairs of the Governors Forum while well-meaning leaders and elders of the party who are not part of the crisis bedeviling the party are allowed to take charge of the affairs of the party and run it properly and legitimately, he said. The lawmaker went on, Fayose keeps boasting that he is the oldest Governor in Nigeria and that he is the only one who has defeated two incumbents. The fact is: he did not do it alone. Some people pulled resources together to help him achieve those feats. But, the question is: where are they today? Most of them have left him when he showed them his true character. Even in Ekiti State, he cannot put members and leaders of the party together. He sees himself as the Alpha and Omega of the party in the state, shutting out any voice of dissent.It is important to remind Fayose that the true measure of success is not how far but how well. The Governors Forum is made up of seasoned, experienced and respected political leaders who have been consistent with the PDP since its foundation in 1998 unlike Fayose who could not manage his first term, went to exile and later abandoned the PDP for the Labour Party (LP), only to return in 2014 or thereabout. Now, we are aware he is in talks with the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and those who want to float the so-called Mega Party.He has not been able to organise the party in Ekiti State, let alone the South West zone and the national level. In fact, he is on record as saying he does not know if the 2018 Governorship and House of Assembly election in Ekiti State would be contested on the platform of PDP. Therefore, if he has failed to bring the much-need leadership skills to bear on the party in Ekiti State, which superior and respectable South West zonal leader and elder will listen to him? Of course, I am not the leader of the party in the zone. But, I am one of the foot-soldiers and voices of the party in the zone. I interact with our leaders, elders and stakeholders across the zone. I know their feelings and views.If Fayose thinks that his emergence has conferred on him some advantage that he wants to use to perpetrate the illegalities that led the party to where it is today, some of us will continue to resist him vigorously. For, as they say, it is not over until it is over. Fayose had better restrict himself to brain-washing his colleagues in the Governors Forum.If he seeks to lord his wishes over the constitutionally recognized organs and structures of the party, trying to impose the minority over the majority, then peace will continue to elude party. Kashamu said Fayose has about 12 months before he will use his usual turban and attempt to escape through Benin Republic to Ghana because of all the messy things he has done with Ekiti State resources and ONSA funds and for which he would be held accountable. He said it would be a long shot if anyone told Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and his team as well as Senator Ahmed Makarfi and his team that the reserved judgment of the Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt would resolve the national leadership crisis of the party, adding that, it is pure deceit, self-delusion and a mere wishful thinking.He therefore urged the superior leaders and elders of the party in the Board of Trustees (BoT), the Governors Forum and the leadership of the PDP in the National Assembly as represented by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu; Senate and Reps Minority Leaders, Senator Godswill Akpabio and Hon. Leo Ogor, to prevail on Senators Sheriff and Makarfi to step down for the party to move forward. The various blocs could then constitute a committee that would organise an all-embracing National Convention within 30 to 45 days, he added.The lawmaker suggested that on the day such a meeting would be called, the National Executive Committee (NEC) should meet to ratify the decisions reached at the meeting. He said any of the two leaders who refused to accept such a proposition would then be seen as the one who does not have the interest of the party at heart. If that is what they have to do for the party to survive, then they must do it if there is no hidden agenda. I love and cherish the two leaders but the party is bigger than any and all of us, Kashamu said.He noted that the problem with the PDP is that, we talk too much, but without a strategy. No (financial) commitment, no action, no implementation and no finishing. How then does anyone expect the party to move forward or succeed? We envy the others but are not ready to pay the price of perseverance, selflessness and dedication that they paid to get them to where they are today.If we must get things right, we need to wake up from our slumber and be organized and proactive. You cannot give what you dont have. A disorganized and tactless person cannot successfully lead a respected body like the PDP Governors Forum, let alone the party. If care is not taken, his so-called leadership of the Forum could sound the death knell on the party. Hundreds of thousands of women yesterday descended on Washington D.C and London as part of the estimated 2.5million worldwide expected t... Hundreds of thousands of women yesterday descended on Washington D.C and London as part of the estimated 2.5million worldwide expected to march against the new US President Donald Trump.Their grouse with Trump was what they perceived as his anti-women utterances and actions underlined by his fat-shaming a former beauty queen, sex assault allegations and a controversial stance on abortion.The women marchers wanted a united proactive international stance on womens equality worldwide.Some 673 sister marches were planned worldwide, according to Womens March on Washington website.The marches spanned all 50 U.S. states, several U.S. territories and at least 60 countries across all seven continents.It was clear from week one this was going to be a global movement, said Evvie Harmon, co-founder and global coordinator of the Womens March on Washington.Its like the women of the world were sitting on a powder keg and Donald Trump lit the match.As women in pink pussyhats flooded into metro stations overflowed as trains packed to bursting moved cheering, clapping marchers into the city for a record-breaking inauguration-related protest.I want to protect our rights, declared 72-year-old Trisha Norman, who came all the way from North Carolina to show that when people are standing together, they will be strong.Women made up the overwhelming majority of the people who emerged whooping and cheering from Washingtons Union Station, arriving on jam-packed trains and buses.Many carried homemade signs. Keep your tiny hands off me, said one. Rise, Love, Resist, read another.The incoming tide of women in knitted pink hats flushed through a city that the day before had welcomed throngs of Trump supporters in red Make America Great Again! caps for the Republicans swearing-in to a four year term.Heavy traffic was also reported coming from Northern Virginia and Maryland into Washington D.C. and multiple parking garages began to fill up as people arrived from surrounding states for the march.The march, which began as a movement on Facebook, quickly spawned more than 600 sister marches in major U.S. cities outside of Washington D.C. and international marches in Sydney, Hong Kong, London, Rome and Paris.More than 25,000 people gathered in London carrying signs and donning pink pussy hats to advocate rights for women, migrants and the LGBTQ community and protest the nationalist ideas touted by Trump during his campaign.Nearly 200 protesters gathered outside of the U.S. embassy in Manila a burned a U.S. flag with Trumps face and shouted Dump Trump.This protest is in solidarity with the American people, because their incoming president is a fascist and a racist who is against immigrants, Renato Reyes Jr. of militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said.Trump will uphold the interests of the businessmen, not the people.The London march began at the American Embassy at midday and ended at the famous Trafalgar Square.Several thousand people across all ages and genders descended on Grosvenor Square in London before the rally at 2pm,holding a rainbow of placards with slogans such as dump Trump, reject hate, reclaim politics and no to racism, no to Trump.Mr Trumps presidential campaign was plunged into crisis after a 2005 tape recording came to light of him bragging to TV host Billy Bush about groping women and that he can grab them by the p***y because of his celebrity status.Holding a sign saying my p****y is not up for grabs, Kim McInally said she had travelled from Brighton for the demonstration.The 32-year-old said: Yesterday was seen as the official start of fascism coming back. She claimed human rights and human equality is getting pushed further and further down the list. The National Association of Nigerian Students has issued a one week ultimatum within which the Governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi, sh... The National Association of Nigerian Students has issued a one week ultimatum within which the Governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi, should reopen Ladoke Akintola University of Technology in Ogbomosho or face a mass protest.The association also gave the Vice Chancellor of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Prof. Francis Otunta, seven days ultimatum to resign from office for alleged gross incompetence and maladministration.The President of NANS, Chinonso Obasi, who issued the threats during a press briefing on the state of the nation held in Abuja on Friday, said NANS would relocate its Headquarters to Government House in Ibadan and Umudike.He decried the nonchalant attitude of governor Ajimobi towards the closure of LAUTECH for the past eight months, without considering its effects on the students.He said, NANS chides the Governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi over the neglect of LAUTECH, Ogbomosho which has been under lock and key for almost eight months. We see his recent utterances that went viral on the social media during the students peaceful protest to Agodi Government House as shameful, uncivil and belittling the status of an Executive Governor. The governor is hereby issued with a seven-day ultimatum to reopen LAUTECH or face mass protest.Similarly, NANS calls on the Vice Chancellor of the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike to resign within seven days for gross incompetence and maladministration. Failure to heed this patriotic call would be met with serious resistance as we shall not hesitate to occupy and chase him out of the university. In this city, restaurants come and go faster than you can say "ethically sourced ramen burger." And even though there are great new additions to the culinary landscape popping up every week, you've gotta give kudos to anyone who can stick it out for over a year. With that in mind, we bring you Still Got It, our tribute to establishments that continue to serve mouthwatering meals and drinks long after the buzz has fadedor where the lingering hype is still justified. Uncle Boons was a big hit when it debuted on Spring Street in 2013. Four years later, the funky little Nolita Thai spot, manned by former Per Se cooks Matt Danzer and Ann Redding, is still going strong. Your best bet here is to go with a group so you can try a little bit of everything, though you'll have to wait a bit for a tablepost up at the bar or have a drink at Sweet & Vicious or Mother's Ruin nearby if that's packed, too. Once it's time to feast, though, Uncle Boon's has delectable shared dishes in spades. It's hard to recommend just one or two dishes, since everything here shines, but small plates of note include yam mamoung, a spicy green mango salad with avocado, dried squid, crushed peanuts and chile and lime ($14); the super-spicy yum kau hua pli, a rotisserie chicken and banana blossom salad ($15); and muu tod kapi, pork riblets dusted with shrimp paste and served with a fish sauce caramel ($12). If you've got room in your stomach (and a big group), there are some standout large plates, too. The Gaeng som is a particular favorite of mine, comprised of black cod and trumpet royale mushrooms simmering in a piquant tumeric broth ($29). The kao pat puu, a crab fried rice dish ($26), is also delicious, though quite filling. And the Massamun neuh ($25)boneless beef ribs with curry and potato, should not be missed. Make sure to get side orders of sticky rice and roti to help wipe up all the sauce. As for beverages, Uncle Boons is particularly famous for its beer slushies, which run $8-a-pop. These babies are basically just bottles of half-frozen Chang beer, but they helpfully come with a metal mug to catch foaming chunks of ice. If beer's not your thing, there's a whole slew of punches, sours, and other cocktailswhich you can order by the pitcherbeers and ciders, and a full wine list. You can try your luck with $5 "Ya Dong" shots, which are traditional Thai street side tonics and include the bourbon-heavy "Water Buffalo Spirit," Thai basil-infused vodka "Peacock Tears," and the "Golden Tiger," made with tequila. Take a shot and close out your meal with their famed milk toast, a sweet piece of bread soaked in coconut milk. Don't expect to eat again for at least a week. Uncle Boons is located at 7 Spring Street between the Bowery and Elizabeth Street in Nolita (646-370-6650, uncleboons.com). WASHINGTON (AP) The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has issued a subpoena to Donald Trump. The nine-member panel sent a letter to the former president's lawyers on Friday, demanding his testimony under oath by mid-November and outlining a series of corresponding documents. The decision by lawmakers to exercise their subpoena power comes a week after the committee made its final case against the former president, who they say is the "central cause" of the multi-part effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. It remains unclear how Trump and his legal team will respond to the subpoena, if at all. Welcome to non league daily news now - your number one spot for all things relating to the National League System. Our dedicated reporters have come straight from the sidelines to bring you news fresh from the dugout - but not before theyve stopped off at the burger van first! We know that non league football fans are full of heart, passion, and belief. You trust the manager, you believe in the team, and, for some strange reason, you trust those rickety stands, too! Here at Non League Daily, we hope we can become your trusted non league news resource - a platform thats just as passionate about non league daily news now as you. Come rain or shine, well be out reporting on the latest non league fixtures. Well also be scouring the news, refreshing social media, and sourcing information from team websites in the hopes of finding the latest breaking non league daily news for our readers. As youll soon see, weve got exclusive match reports on the Vanarama National League, weve got transfer speculation thatll affect the National League South, weve found great stories thatll spice up the National League North, and weve even got news on the latest giant killers of the FA Cup. We may not be able to agree on who is going up this year, but we can all agree that any news on the NLS worth knowing will be published here, at Non League Daily. Welcome to nonleaguedaily.coms news provision, your go-to source for all non league updates, rumours, interviews, and much more besides. Founded by a team with a genuine passion for the world of non league football, nonleaguedaily.com understands exactly what supporters of the so-called lower leagues are looking for. You want the high-quality reporting, in-depth analysis, and match reporting that matches that is more commonly found in the journalism for the top flights, but with the focus firmly fixed on the national leagues. We understand that your passion, interest, and dedication is constant, and we believe you need a news service that matches that commitment with its own dedication and thoroughness so thats what you can expect from our site. The latest non league news, as and when it happens Conventionally, non league news has always travelled fairly slowly, especially when compared to the instantaneous, constant breaking news cycles found in the upper leagues. Tales are told on terraces, rumours passed between pub patrons and circled between supporters at the latest game, often forced to remain somewhat local initially before word eventually spreads to other locales. For us, this slow spread may be fairly organic in nature, but it simply isnt compatible with the modern football environment. Its also not conducive to the current fast-paced, always-available media landscape, nor the way that people tend to consume news nowadays. Thats why we have put together a non league news source that fans can turn to for the latest updates, as and when they happen, and as and when you want to read them. Non-league news now is the only acceptable speed at Betting.co.uk. We update our non-league football news coverage constantly, bringing you all the latest developments and seeking to spread the word as quickly and accurately as possible. So if youre wondering whats happening both with your local team and with the lower leagues as a whole, you can visit us for non league news now, and be confident the stories you find are completely up to date. News reported by passionate fans Our efforts to bring you the very best non league football news are undeniably a professional concern, and one that we take seriously. We are if youll excuse the uncharacteristic tooting of our own horns good at what we do, and we know that the efforts we make in this regard are one of the reasons our site has enjoyed such success thus far. However, everyone who writes for us also shares our readers enthusiasm for non league football. Were not just churning out content in the hopes of cashing in on a professional dream; were here because we want to be, and will always be dedicated and committed to non league football as an entity and thriving in the experience of being able to talk about our favourite subject whenever we can. We create non-league news now that is written by genuine fans and enthusiasts, for fans. We know what you want to know and what matters most to an ardent non league supporter, and we always ensure that focusing on these elements is our guiding principle as we seek to solidify our status as an online non league paper fans can always rely on. When compiling non league news, we think with the mind of a fan first and foremost. We cover the angles and stories that we find compelling and that we know our fellow non league enthusiasts also care about. News doesnt have to be dry and formulaic, in our opinion. When its written by people who are genuinely as fascinated by the stories they are reporting on as their readership will be, we believe news can be interesting, compelling, and even have a sense of personality and humour. News content written with passion and expertise We believe that thanks to our dedication, insightfulness, and commitment to our subject matter of non league today, we are offering the best of both worlds to those searching for an online non league paper. We give you the professional approach we feel is appropriate for news about one of the most intriguing aspects of UK football; an aspect that we genuinely feel does not receive the interest and plaudits that it should be generating. Nevertheless, we dont let that professionalism take over everything we do: we remain committed fans, nurturing our own personal interest in non league football and ensuring every word we compose is infused with a sense of passion and dedication that enhances the posts we create. Its therefore obvious that our non-league content today isnt ever going to be dry, basic, or put together by a tired staff writer who has never heard of any team below the Championship before they rush off to the pub for the evening. Our writers are genuine experts: were covering non league football because we want to, because we believe in it, and because its where our strengths lie. The result is informed content that capitalises on our deep knowledge of the history, as well as the present-day realities, of non league football in the UK. Beyond news: the nonleaguedaily.com interview series One of our goals with nonleaguedaily.com is to not just dryly report the news from an outsiders perspective, effectively regurgitating press releases that are devoid of genuinely illuminating information. We also go right to the source of the stories: the managers and club insiders who have direct experience, and often influence, on the sport and how it is managed. We regularly conduct interviews as part of our news provision, asking the questions that are on everyones lips and providing the best possible view into the non league world. We have reporters pitchside at matches, microphone to hand and plentiful questions ready to be asked. The end result for you, the reader, is the kind of information and close-up looks into the non league world that just cant be found anywhere else. As our commitment to providing interesting interviews amply demonstrates, we want to be involved in breaking the stories that everyone then talks about, rather than following along and focusing solely on what everyone already knows. If youre looking for leading content that you cant find anywhere else, and that goes right to the centre of the non league world, then you can turn to nonleaguedaily.com for all the benefits of a conventional non league paper, but in electronic, easily-accessed form. A host of other content to enjoy alongside the non league today Our focus on providing non league news will always be maintained: we consider this aspect the most important of what we do, and it will always be the recipient of our time, dedication, and interest. Well be here, a consistent and trustworthy news portal, for as long as non league football news exists. With that said, when you have read up on the latest goings-on, were here with further content for you to enjoy. Naturally, given our partnership with leading brand Betting.co.uk, we provide guidelines for those interested in the world of sports betting. Well help you find the best UK bookmaker with our plentiful coverage of existing brands; ideal if youre looking to put your newfound knowledge, courtesy of us, about non league to use and place a few bets. Furthermore, we also provide highlights of all the latest UK betting offers, so you can ensure youre achieving the best value with all the latest betting deals whenever youre betting on the latest non league matches. Youll find all of this coverage is as consistent and reliable as our non league news provision, Non league features and deep dives Returning to the world of non league football, we also provide a range of feature content that goes deeper and further into the non league world than ever before. Less instantaneously topical but still hugely relevant to the modern game, our features are the dream deep dives that we feel non league fans deserve. Were always striving to do better, offer more, and ensure that non league fans can enjoy the same wealth of content as followers of the top tiers, so you can expect top-flight content with the same commitment and dedication as found throughout the upper echelons of the sport. So whether youre looking to find the most recent non league football news, seeking a new bookmaker for your non league bets, or hoping to delve deep into a niche non league-related topic, nonleaguedaily.com is always going to be worth a visit. Return to nonleaguedaily.com for all your non league news needs Weve told you what you can expect from nonleaguedaily.coms news; now we need to put our confidence where our promises are, make sure we deliver on those promises, and establish trust as an online non league paper you can trust. We look forward to welcoming you back to our news section and showcasing the best we have to offer, from exciting new non league interviews to cutting-edge news to transfer speculation. If you want to truly have your finger on the non league pulse, then nonleaguedaily.com is always going to be here for you. Larry and Marilyn Larsen, longtime residents of Underwood, Iowa, are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. They will be gathering with family and friends to reminisce and rejoice. The Open house will be held on Saturday, January 28, 2017 from 1:30-4:00 p.m., at the UMBA Hall in Underwood. Light refreshments will be served. No gifts, please. Just ask any legislator or business owner: Iowa needs tax reform. But, it may be easier said than done this year for the Republican majorities in both houses of the Iowa Legislature and GOP governor. Thats because the lawmakers must address a $110 million shortfall for the current budget year before they even begin the budgeting process for the next two years. Rep. Charles McConkey, a Democrat who represents Carter Lake and western Council Bluffs, agreed with the idea of pursuing tax reform, but he was hesitant. I think we should look at it every year, he said. We should review all tax credits and exemptions. If its not working, we should review it. [But] its going to be a tough year. I dont expect too much of that to come up this year. McConkey doesnt like some of the solutions for this years shortfall, either. The biggest cuts are going to be in education, and that is where we should be investing the money, he said. Rep. Mary Ann Hanusa, R-Council Bluffs, had similar thoughts, saying there may be some tax reform effort, but the tight budget will probably stall it. We have to make adjustments to the current budget to meet the shortfall, she said. We dont have the financial luxury for cutting taxes, for example. It will be difficult to do. However, many lawmakers and businesses are optimistic for some kind of tax reform, even if its revenue-neutral for the states general fund. Nationwide, Iowa doesnt rank very well, said Sharon Presnall, senior vice president of government relations and compliance for the Iowa Bankers Association. Its a very complex tax structure. Overall, we rank 40th in the nation and 49th in corporate taxes. We hope the Legislature will look at tax reform to make it simpler, fairer. To just cut taxes as a way of tax reform might be difficult in such a tight budget year, Presnall said, but there are other tax-related issues to consider. We could look at eliminating the federal deductibility on state income taxes, she said. That would raise more revenue or it could be used to reduce the tax rate. And, we keep adding tax credits. When you take revenue off the table, you have to raise the tax rate to make up the difference. Tom Whitson, a local banker, also agreed that fixing this years shortfall could stall efforts for tax reform. However, in seeking such reform, Whitson believes, like Presnall, that lawmakers might need to look at other sources of revenue. That could be a driver for tax reform, he said. Im sure there are tax exemptions that need to be examined and tax credit that need to be examined so that its fair to everybody. Every session of the Iowa Legislature is marked marred might be the better term by the introduction of well-meaning but ill-conceived legislation. The current session, though only two weeks old, is not immune. Introduced by state Sen. Mark Chelgren, R-Ottumwa, lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow a woman who gets an abortion to sue the doctor who performed the procedure if she experiences emotional distress later. The proposal, which was endorsed Tuesday by a GOP-led three-member panel of lawmakers, would permit the woman to file a lawsuit at any point in her life, something that goes against typical statute of limitation rules. It could also make the state vulnerable to costly court challenges. What were asking for is that individuals, doctors and clinics that make money off of women by giving them abortions, are simply held accountable, Chelgren told the Associated Press. Thats all this does. It protects women from people who would normally be trying to sell them something in a time when they are under the most stress that is kind of imaginable. We think Chelgren is overstating the effort to sell abortions in Iowa. Mark Kende of the Constitutional Law Center at Drake University, a private school in Des Moines, said the measure could be challenged immediately on the grounds that it violates the Constitution. Opponents could argue it would create an undue burden on women by reducing opportunities for them to access a legal medical procedure if doctors avoid offering abortions because of the constant threat of legal action. When you look at it more carefully, its a threat to the woman because it creates deterrents for doctors to do this, Kende said. Daniel Zeno, a legislative liaison for the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, said the measure unfairly singles out abortion among many medical procedures. The bills intent is clear: To demonize abortion providers, set up an adversarial relationship between provider and patient, shame women and block access to reproductive health care, he said in a statement. If approved, Chelgrens proposal would be the first such law in the country, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. The Guttmacher Institute did note a handful of states have laws on legal action related to abortion, but they vary and many are specific to counseling provisions. Requiring counseling makes sense. Passing a law that would allow a woman to sue for emotional distress at any point in her life would be a legal nightmare. We dont consider Chelgrens proposal the sort of first Iowa wants to be known for. Late in his 16-minute inaugural address, the 45th president of the United States, Donald John Trump, took a shot at the Washington establishment he criticized during his campaign. We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action constantly complaining but never doing anything about it. From there, he turned the onus onto himself. The time for empty talk is over, Trump continued. Now arrives the hour of action. Indeed it has. No longer will an angry tweet fired off overnight be sufficient, nor will a grandstanding campaign-style speech big on promises but light on ways to achieve those goals. Anybody who hopes Trump fails at being president has their priorities wrong. His successes and failures will be reflected upon the entirety of America. Because, on many topics, as he goes, for better or worse, the country goes as well. We, like many of you, must hope he backs off the spiteful rhetoric that dominated his campaign, with derogatory comments against veterans, women, Latinos, Muslims, journalists and others. Meanwhile, we also hope he succeeds in bringing jobs and growing the American economy. This dichotomy although more pronounced under Trump is the same that follows any election in our two-party system. The nation will win some perhaps even like never before, as he promised in his usual grandiose tones and the nation will lose some. Thats how politics work. Unsurprisingly, the speech was heavy on the populist strains that dominated Trumps campaigns, with America first repeated frequently. For someone whose mantra make America great again has permeated everyday life around the world, Trump again focused heavily on the failings of his predecessor, Barack Obama. In Trumps frequently stated opinions, Americas inner cities, trade, foreign policy jobs, etc., all weakened the country. Despite the uncertainty surrounding those claims, Trump, his appointees and a Congress controlled by his party will now act upon those opinions. During the speech, Trump also provided the following prescient line: Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for many, many years to come. That you will, Mr. President. Now, the ball is in your court and a nation is watching. Nearly two feet of snow on the ground and a biting winter wind didnt stop more than 1,000 people from overflowing Heritage Square in Flagstaff Saturday for A March for Love. The crowd blew past initial guesses that the event would draw only about 200 marchers. It also sent city staff scrambling to close Aspen Avenue and funnel protesters onto the street from Heritage Square to avoid exceeding the squares 1,100-person weight limit, required due to the parking garage below. Lt. Lance Roberts with the Flagstaff Police Department estimated 1,200 people attended the march, though it could have been 2,000, he said. The gathering was organized in solidarity with dozens of other marches held worldwide to support equal rights and reject what local march organizers called a message of hate and divisiveness from President Donald Trump. Marchers started at Flagstaff City Hall, where they spilled onto sidewalks along Humphreys Street and Route 66. Then they walked to Heritage Square where speakers included former Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, Flagstaff Mayor Coral Evans, Native American activist Jeneda Benally and Kathryn Jim of the Northern Arizona Pride Association. I think we shattered that glass ceiling here in Flagstaff today, Jim told a chilly but cheering audience. Were not going to be silent and were not going to be erased. Flashes of pink showed up throughout the crowd, from bubblegum-colored T-shirts to bright magenta leggings as well as, most notably, hand-knit pussyhats that have been a theme at marches worldwide. Led by organizers with megaphones, marchers chanted This is what democracy looks like, Build bridges not walls and Womens rights are human rights. Signs displayed everything from sassy wit to emphatic activism. One read, No snow is too deep to stand against intolerance, another This 78-year-old pussy aint done yet, and another Girls just wanna have fundamental rights. In interviews, marchers said they attended Saturdays march to advocate compassion and inclusivity, stand up against resource exploitation, give a voice to indigenous people, press for equality for all people and underscore an unwavering defense of womens rights, among many other causes. Marcher Addie Tennant said she was there to support the movement for equality across gender, religion, race and sexuality. We are all part of humanity, Tennant said. The crowd included many mothers marching with their daughters. Adeline Able and Grace Ells, both 14, stood with their mothers as they held a sign Proud 2B a nasty (woman). Even though Im young I still want to have an understanding of whats going on, I want to show that young people like me can support acceptance and equality, Able said. For Sarah Ells, Graces mother, the march was a way to model the ideals she wants to preserve. I want our daughters and future generations to know that were not going to take steps backward. Not on our watch, Ells said. I wanted my daughter and her peers to see this here so they have hope for the future that everybody has a space in this country and were going to protect peoples rights and were not going to stand down. While some anti-Trump language drifted among marchers, the tone was overwhelmingly positive. All of us banding together will absolutely make a difference and Im really hopeful for the future that we can rise up the way that were doing today, said Kiersten Hathcock, who brought her 14-year-old daughter and her friend to the march. While women were certainly in the majority, men had a presence in the crowd as well. Dillon Metcalfe held a sign that read Straight white male in support of civil rights. Metcalfe said Trumps election has spurred him to get engaged in politics on a new level that he never felt was necessary under Barack Obama. Larry Marek, who attended with his sister, said his goal was to be a voice for others. Im using what I know how to do to represent those who cant represent themselves, especially indigenous women around the world, Marek said. How the march came to be Shelli Dea, one of the organizers of Flagstaff's A March for Love, said the idea came together after she heard about the Womens March in Washington D.C. The day after the election I felt like a stranger in a strange land, Dea said. She compared the feeling of sorrow to the way she felt after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Dea decided to host a brunch with Flagstaff community members in an attempt to bring about a feeling of post-election unity and the group started talking about the march planned for the nations capital. Dea started thinking that someone in Flagstaff should organize a similar march and then realized there is no somebody else, its us. Meanwhile, Lori Poloni-Staudinger attended Deas brunch and, at around the same time the local march was being organized, started the group Together We Will Northern Arizona. The group has been instrumental in getting the word out about the march via social media and, spurred by Trumps election, has a long-term mission of advocating for equality and against sexism, racism, xenophobia and bigotry. Dea said she wanted the March for Love to be a visual display of unity to say OK, Im not alone. As people poured into downtown, marchers themselves were impressed at the numbers that turned out. For a town the size of Flagstaff to have this many people, it means there is hope for change, said Maggie Huntington. Maybe people will start paying attention and make things happen. This article has been changed from its original version. With President Donald J. Trump a reality in the darkest timeline possible, Saturday Night Live opted to address the new era with a cold open about arguably the most powerful man in the world now: Vladimir Putin. Beck Bennett, as the Russian leader, simpered to American viewers on RT, "Yesterday, we all made Donald Trump the 45th president of the United States. Hooray, we did it! And today many of you are scared, and marching in the streets. You are worried your country is in the hands of this unpredictable man. But don't worry -- it's not. Relax, I've got this -- Puti, is going to make everything OK. I promise that we will take of America, it's the most expensive thing we've ever bought." "Putin" had a typical Russian woman vouch for how wonderful Russia is, and Olya, played by Kate McKinnon, "Each day I wake up with big smile on my face like this" and twisted her face into a look of horror. She added, "I sleep in bed, not in carcass of dog." The issue of inauguration crowd size came up as well. Showing video of packed streets, "Putin" said, "Oh, wait, that's the women's march," and then showed the photograph of the emptier National Mall. Noting how Trump went to C.I.A. headquarters to claim his inauguration attracted a million people, "Putin" suggested, "If you're going to lie, don't make it so obvious. Say you're friends with LeBron Jamesnot that you are LeBron James." And don't worrythe allegedly compromising materials on Trump were discussed. The monologue was also a preview of how the show might work around Alec Baldwin's ability to play Trump (Baldwin was in last week's episode, in a vicious send-up of Trump's press conference). We rely on your support to make local news available to all Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022. Donate today Winter weather adds to severe blood shortage Following several rounds of severe winter weather in many parts of the country, the American Red Cross urges eligible blood and platelet donors to help restock its shelves to overcome a shortage. Since Dec. 1, about 300 blood drives across 27 states have been forced to cancel due to inclement winter weather, resulting in more than 10,500 blood and platelet donations going uncollected. This week, icy roads forced blood drives to cancel across Nebraska. Despite the weather, hospital patients still rely on transfusions. Blood donor Jim Taylor knows how it feels to have a loved one waiting for a transfusion. His son Aaron was born with a rare liver condition. In the short two months of his life, he received 115 blood products. Taylor said each transfusion gave his family more time with Aaron, so he encourages others to give. When the Red Cross says there is a shortage, they are not exaggerating, said Taylor. I now know from experience that what they are saying is somewhere there is a father waiting on the donation that will save his sons life. When the Red Cross asks for help, what that means is a new dad is praying for a miracle. To make an appointment to give blood, download the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 800-RED-CROSS (800-733-2767). Donors are encouraged to make appointments and complete the RapidPass online health history questionnaire at redcrossblood.org/rapidpass to save time when donating. Upcoming blood donation opportunities: Chase County-Imperial: Jan. 23, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Chase County High School, 520 E. Ninth St.; Frontier County-Eustis: Jan. 30, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Legion Hall, 108 N. Main St.; Frontier County-Maywood: Feb. 8, noon to 6 p.m., Community Hall, 202 N. Commercial St.; Furnas County-Cambridge: Jan. 26, noon to 6 p.m., Cambridge High School, 1003 Nelson St.; Keith County-Paxton: Feb. 3, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Community Building, 205 N. Oak St.; Lincoln County-North Platte: Jan. 26, 1-7 p.m., Berean Church, 202 W. Eighth, Jan. 27, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., St. Pats Parish Hall, 415 N. Chestnut, Jan. 31, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., North Platte Community College Tech Campus, 1101 Halligan Dr., Feb. 2, 1-6 p.m., Valley Christian Church, 2001 W. State Farm Road, Feb. 15, 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., North Platte High School, 1220 W. Second St., Jan. 26, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Jan. 27, 8 a.m. to noon, Feb. 2, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Feb. 4, 7-11:30 a.m., Feb. 9, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Feb. 10, 8 a.m. to noon, North Platte Blood Donation Center, 1111 S. Cottonwood; Lincoln County-Sutherland: Jan. 30: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sutherland Public Schools, 401 Walnut; Perkins County-Elsie: Feb. 10, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Methodist Church, 404 Madrid St.; Red Willow County-Indianola: Feb. 9, noon to 6 p.m., Indianola VFW Community Hall, 408 F Street All blood types are needed to ensure a reliable supply for patients. A blood donor card or drivers license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age in most states (16 with parental consent where allowed by state law), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements. 1. Fill in your name or an alias. Do not leave blank or use the name 'guest' or 'anonymous'. 2. No Nivul Peh. Profanity will be deleted. A tumultuous situation at the Nebraska Legislature over school aid in 2013 provides an important lesson for the states lawmakers now. Urban and rural public school groups and senators who support them couldnt agree four years ago on how to carve up the state-aid pie. The various interests locked themselves into rigid positions. A prolonged stalemate resulted, generating uncertainty for overall state budget preparation. School-aid allocation was finally decided only after months of heated disagreement, with the then-speaker of the Legislature pressing hard for the parties to agree. Strong jostling among Nebraska school districts over state aid allocation is likely this legislative session. Senators, urban as well as rural, can serve the state best by guiding the process toward a balanced, fair-minded resolution. Stresses on the agricultural economy involve all of Nebraska. Residents and their elected representatives have a shared interest in the success of all the states communities and regions. After the Legislature struggled in 2011 in deciding how to redraw rural legislative district boundaries, given negative population trends, we observed the need for the Legislature to make sure that all interests are appreciated: Although it is understandable that urban lawmakers will be oriented toward the interests of their districts, it will be of growing importance for members of the Legislature to be mindful to show proper respect for rural interests. Regardless of the shifts in population and political boundaries, responsible policy-making in Nebraska will require a sensible balancing of urban and rural interests. State senators have complex, difficult work ahead this session as they study and debate how to adjust tax policy and distribute school aid. The best approach is a balanced one that respects all interests, urban and rural. The Omaha World-Herald In the world of economics and finance weve just had a very significant week. The events of the past few days have involved some of the most elite economic players on the planet, and they happened to be pulling in opposite directions. In one corner, we of course had the inauguration of our 45th President Donald Trump and all he represents. Love him or hate him, and there seems to be very little space in between, President Trump ran on a very specific economic message. Trump said its time to take care of America first, and many of his cabinet picks, and tweets for that matter, have continued this theme forward. The rhetoric is clear, open borders are bad, America often gets the short end of the stick in international trade, and U.S. companies makings things in other countries and selling them here are scoundrels. In an environment of sub 5 percent unemployment but stagnant wage growth this message resonates, and I believe the U.S. is about to take a serious turn inwards. In the other corner, across the pond in Switzerland, this week we had the World Economic Forum, hosted in and known simply as Davos. In Davos, the worlds political and financial elite come together for seminars and invite-only private meetings to discuss matters of global focus. While I wasnt invited to attend Davos, Im fairly confident restricting border travel and reducing international trade is not high on the agenda. Based on review of previous World Economic Forum schedules the elites at Davos have an agenda to increase global integration of finance, trade and political structures. This dichotomy of agendas may be forcing the unstoppable force, represented by the populist rise of Trump and the Brexit, to collide with the unmovable object represented by the deeply entrenched global institutions of finance and business. These types of impacts typically result in some sort of boom, but in this case, we should all be hoping for more of a global redirect. The notion of globalization as a distinctly engineered agenda reaches back about 100 years. The concept is noble and stipulates by eliminating restrictions on trade, exchange of money, people and production the world would grow more unified, improving ties between nations leading to more peace, less conflict. In the process, as commerce and production was shifted from more developed economies to less developed economies the inflow of wealth would create new consumers, which would create new demand for all goods and services and prosperity in general would be improved. As I said, the concept is noble, the execution however has proved less idyllic. Production shifts from developed economies have created job loss and stagnant wages. The hoped for new consumers in emerging economies in many cases continue to be mired in poverty, with the new demand for goods and services never materializing. The larger a system grows the more complex it becomes, and my opinion is globalization is too complex to manage (even for the elites in Davos), and it creates too many losers and at the same time huge winners to be palatable to the masses (i.e. us). Regardless of where any of us come in on the debate, I do believe it will impossible for these opposing forces to avoid each other. As investors, itll be important to remain aware of the rhetoric and changes that emerge out of this debate. An Indiana University Northwest has written a book about how community activists, government entities and corporations have worked together to turn around the once vastly polluted lands and waters of Northwest Indiana. Its nothing short of miraculous, says Kenneth Schoon, author of the recently released "Shifting Sands: The Restoration of the Calumet Region" and professor of science education at IUN. Schoon, winner of the 2016 Dorothy Riker Hoosier Historian Award, was asked by Lee Botts, founder of the Great Lakes Alliance, to write the companion piece to the 2016 Chicago/Midwest Regional Emmy Award-nominated documentary "Shifting Sands on the Path to Sustainability." Botts, along with Tom Desch, Rana Segal and Pat Wisniewski produced the film for which they were nominated as finalists for the Society of Innovators. One of the things Lee discovered when she was working on the documentary was that a lot of people in this area who live here still think of this as still dirty as it was in the 1960s, says Schoon, whose other books about the Region include "Dreams of Duneland: A Pictorial History of the Indiana Dunes Region," "Calumet Beginnings: Ancient Shorelines and Settlements at the South End of Lake Michigan" and "City Trees." She knows that I use the standards of the academic but I write it for the general public and we thought this was an important story to get out. Schoon, who grew up in Gary and taught in the East Chicago Public Schools for more than 20 years before earning his doctorate and teaching at IUN, put aside his other projects, including a book on the Swedish settlements in Northwest Indiana, to begin his intensive research. At one time the Grand Calumet was the dirtiest river in the country, he says. The book shows how Northwest Indiana contributed to global clean-up. This was in part due to astronaut Frank Borman. But when Gary annexed Tolleston about the same time they annexed Miller Beach, they changed the names of the streets, which were named after early settlers to numbers, he says. But years later, they named the expressway after Bormans grandson. Borman was the Commander of Apollo 8, the first manned voyage to orbit the moon, and both he and his crew took photos of the earth as seen from space. The photograph helped people appreciate how just self-contained our planet is, and its publication has been described, perhaps overenthusiastically, as the beginning of the environmental movement, Schoon writes. Another important person from Northwest Indiana was Lynton Keith Caldwell, who was a schoolteacher in Hammond and then got an advanced degree and became a professor at Indiana University East Chicago and then Bloomington, Schoon says. Hes often called the father of the environment impact statement the National Environmental Policy Act, which was passed by Congress in 1969 and required research before doing a project. The earth was so dirty back then, people realized a change needed to be made and fast, Schoon says. And businesses once seen as adversarial to environmental became partners in cleaning up our section of the planet. Corporations like U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal, NIPSCO and BP work with environmentalist now, they all have environmentalists on their staff, Schoon says. The business environment has changed so much in this regard over the last 30 and 35 years. Business executives support the parks the Indiana Dunes National Lake Shore and the Indiana Dunes State Park. They want clean air for their children and great places to live. Theres still more work to be done such as the lead cleanup in East Chicago. According to Schoon, a huge amount of restoration is going on today in Northwest Indiana, not just by the government, but by nonprofits like Save the Dunes, the Izaak Walton League and the Shirley Heinz Land Trust. There is reason to celebrate, he says. GARY The Merrillville man shot by police Wednesday in an exchange of gunfire died from a gunshot wound to the torso, according to a Saturday news release from the Cook County medical examiner's office. Marquis Thomas, 19, was pronounced dead at 5:14 p.m. Thursday at Loyola University Medical Center, according to the medical examiner's office. Thomas was shot and killed by a Lake County sheriffs officer following a traffic stop in Gary. The officer's K-9 partner was wounded in the gunfire exchange. Thomas was a passenger in a car stopped by the sheriff's officer about 3 p.m. Wednesday in the 700 block of East 42nd Avenue in Gary, police said. Police have not yet released the reason for the traffic stop. Indiana State Police are investigating. State police say Thomas ran from the car, later identified as a 2007 Toyota Avalon, and the driver fled west on 42nd Avenue, police said. On Thursday, state police said the driver had been located, gave a statement and was not "considered a threat to this case." The officer and his K-9 chased Thomas, who ran down an alley toward railroad tracks north of the traffic stop site, police said. At some point near the tracks, Thomas shot at the officer and the K-9 was wounded, police said. The officer returned fire, striking Thomas one time, according to a state police news release. Another county officer arrived and disarmed Thomas, police said. The K-9, Blade, was in stable condition after being taken by police car to Purdue University Veterinary Hospital in West Lafayette, police said. The sheriff's department was not releasing the identity of the officer, who was not injured, because the nature of his work and concerns for his privacy and safety, officials have said. The officer and Blade work with the department's gang unit, officials said. The officer will not return to patrol for an undetermined amount of time per department policy, police said. The gang unit has patrolled areas in Lake County where there is gang activity, including Gary's Glen Park section, in cooperation with local police for about five years, police said. "This case is complex and the investigation is continuing," state police said earlier in the week. Montana-based engineering firm Morrison Maierle is officially a 100 percent employee-owned company. Family and employee ownership has been part of the Morrison Maierle mission since its inception, Jona Parriman, financial manager and granddaughter of founder Joe Maierle, said. The employee stock ownership plan is expected to foster company growth and reward employees for working hard and staying at Morrison Maierle. Weve always been an employee-owned company, Parriman said. If you own something, you do your best to take care of it and make it better. John Morrison and Joe Maierle started the firm in 1945 out of Morrisons home. They now work on a broad range of projects including sustainable construction, development, mining, natural resources and transportation. The company employs almost 300 engineers, surveyors, planners and scientists in six offices in Montana, four in Wyoming and one office in both Washington and Arizona. Over the years they allowed other people to come in as individuals to become owners. Then in 1994, thats when the two of them began to retire, President Scott Murphy said. They chose a stock ownership model to implement at that time. At the end of the recession, the companys leadership created strategic goals they wanted to achieve by 2020. Full employee ownership was one of those goals. We wanted everyone to be on equal footing and everyone here who walks in the door to feel like theyre an owner as much as anyone else, he said. Theres a different attitude when you come to work and you know Im an owner. The company founders and other outside owners sold their stake back to the company. Now the stocks are allocated to employees each year based on their annual income. An employee is eligible to acquire stock a year after working at the firm and will have full ownership of their shares after six years. Once they leave or retire, they are paid for 100 percent of their shares. If an employee leaves before six years, they are paid a portion of their shares. Murphy said the model is beneficial to both the firm and its employers. Since employees have an investment in protecting the business and continuing growth, they will likely perform better. In turn, the company sees growth and has employees dedicated to satisfying clients. According to the National Center for Employee Ownership, a company grows 2 to 3 percent faster once it becomes employee owned. Employees who own stock in their company are likely to retire with three times the assets of comparable employees. Employees took full ownership on Jan. 1, shortly after the firm announced President Bob Morrison would step down and Murphy would take over. Murphy is the new president and CEO of Morrison Maierle, but hes worked at the firm since 1998. He started working as a civil engineer specializing in waste water treatment projects, and was a vice president before taking over as CEO. In addition to becoming 100 percent employee owned, Morrison Maierle altered their board of directors by bringing on two outside people for fresh ideas. We decided we would do a better job and be more accountable if we brought in a couple of outside people to be part of the decision making process, Murphy said. After recently acquiring three firms, Morrison Maierle is planning to hire 10 structural, mechanic and electrical engineers in the next year. HEBRON The Town Council will hold a public hearing on a grant that, if received, would help battle stormwater issues. The town is applying for a $500,000 State Community Development Block Grant, funded by the Federal Housing and Community Development Act. If the town receives the grant, Clerk-Treasurer Fred Siminski said, the funds will be used toward several stormwater projects aimed at alleviating drainage issues throughout the town. Those projects include construction in the Park Place subdivision of 1,400 feet of new linear conveyance pipe, 400 feet of new storm sewer outfall and enhancements to increase storage volume in the existing detention basin. In the Oak Court area, it will include construction of 700 feet of 12-inch storm sewer. The funds would also be used to remove a non-functioning existing culvert and replace it with a new culvert on the abandoned railroad at Cobb Creek. "There has always been an issue in the back part of Park Place. This will help divert the stormwater on the west side of Park Place," Siminski said. Even if the town receives the grant, said Siminski, it will have to raise another $942,000, possibly through a bond. "We have talked to a bond counsel. We are hoping to get the grant. We are just taking it one step at a time," he said. The public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Hebron Community Center, 611 N. Main St. It will follow a 6 p.m. workshop with Town Council members, stormwater management members, the town's grant righter, engineers and others to update on grants and pending stormwater and water projects. CROWN POINT Republicans are supporting legislation that could wipe hundreds of Lake County Democrat party leaders off the map. House Bill 1147 would require election officials to redraw the boundaries of Lake's precinct system, eliminating any of the 523 political geographic units containing fewer than 600 active voters, by combining them with their neighboring precincts. A Times survey of the county's voter rolls indicates 291 precincts, primarily in Democratic party strongholds of Gary, Hammond and East Chicago, could be considered too small to remain in existence. Pat Gabrione, the ranking Republican for the Lake County elections board staff who would be involved in the consolidation, cautions not all of the undersized precincts will be lost. Voters cannot be shifted out of their current legislative and school board district, so precincts along those boundaries might be retained. Gabrione estimates more than 140 still could be eliminated. Republicans are cheering the cost savings such a merger would generate since the county spends $700 per precinct per election on poll workers. Democrats say the bill disenfranchises voters since fewer polling locations would be spread farther apart, making it harder for elderly and disabled voters. Republicans counter that the addition of early voting centers and the use of GIS technology to keep the new consolidated polling places equidistant would mitigate these concerns. The move would fall hardest on Democratic committee members who would lose their party offices and influence over local government if their precincts vanish. Although committee members volunteer their services to the party, a 2014 Times investigation showed 4 out of 10 are on the payroll of some local governments and received a combined $5 million a year in salaries. The impact will be keenly felt in Gary, which has lost 100,000 residents since the 1960 census. Some 87 of it's 105 precincts are under the threshold of 600 active voters. And 55 of Hammond's 79 precincts are defined as too small under the proposed legislation, as are 24 in East Chicago, 16 in Merrillville, 14 in Hobart and 12 in Lake Station. "Basically, its voter suppression to me," according to Gary City Councilman Herb Smith, who has been a Democratic committeeman for 10 years. County records shows Smith's Gary 1-5 precinct would be on the chopping block. It has 523 residents registered to vote, though only 380 are classed as active voters. If they consolidate, the precincts will be so large that committeemen will have difficulty spreading themselves around, Smith said. "This hurts the people." Democrats are crying foul because the law is worded to only apply to Lake County. James Wieser, Lake County elections board attorney and a prominent Democrat, complained last Tuesday the legislature isn't going after other parts of the state, like Madison County, northeast of Indianapolis where half its 72 precincts are below the 600 line. "They allege this saves money. Then, let's save money in Madison, Jasper and counties all over the state," Wieser said. State Rep. Hal Slager, R-Schererville, who is sponsoring the bill, said Friday, the other counties where small precincts exist "are very rural. There are no other comparable counties with Lake's population that have that many small precincts." Wieser further questions, "I don't know where the 600 threshold figure came from. It was never explained." Slager said, "If you consolidate two 600-voter precincts, you would be at the sweet spot. I have used Marion County (Indianapolis) as the comparative, and they have had an average of 1,200 in the past." Democrats made these same arguments in a 2014 lawsuit aimed at stopping a Slager bill that would have combined precincts under 500 active voters. The Indiana Supreme Court ruled that legislation was constitutional since Lake has so many small precincts, that special legislation was justified, although that bill expired before it could be implemented. Slager added, "Why are the Democrats fighting this? We are looking at saving an awful lot of money." He estimates the savings at $200,000 every election year, even if only half of Lake's smallest precincts are combined. Jesse Gomez, who has been a East Chicago Democratic committeeman for 30 years, isn't fighting. "I'm a believer is smaller government, as long as its effective and efficient. If that means a combination of precincts, I think that is a good thing for the county. When I started as a committeeman, East Chicago started with 55 precincts and we are down to 31. As long as residents aren't impacted by it." He said East Chicago's New Addition neighborhood was recently combined with another precinct. "Its part of my area, and I've not heard any complaints from those people," Gomez said, "who literally have to go over the Columbus Drive bridge to vote in person." HIGHLAND The 200 seats in Lincoln Center's banquet room are expected to be filled Monday night when details of the proposed Town Theatre renovation project are unveiled. "We are right at the end," said Dawn Diamatopoulos, president of the Theater board of directors. The presentation, which actually is a Town Council study session, is at 7 p.m. at the center, 2450 Lincoln St. The four people scheduled to speak during the first hour include: Town Council President Dan Vassar, D-3rd; John Morris of Morris Architects and Planners of Chicago; and arts management expert Steven Libman of The Libman Group. Highland Clerk-Treasurer Michael Griffin, the fourth speaker, will discuss the proposed project's funding aspects. It originally was estimated to cost between $1.9 million and $2.5 million. Afterward, residents and town officials will be allowed one minute apiece to ask questions. That same time limit will apply to the Town Council, Redevelopment Commission and the theater board. The commission, which is heading the project, will have a study session two days later, on Wednesday, to discuss the eight contractor bids that were received earlier this week. The bid amounts ranged from $2.9 million to $6.4 million, with the latter being significantly higher than the other seven. "We're still 30 days out" from learning whether the project will happen, Director Michael Maloney noted. The commission cannot pick a winning bidder on Wednesday because it is only a study session. Its next business meeting is Feb. 8, when a vote could be taken. The council which has the final say could vote on the related bond issue at its Feb. 13 business meeting. Directors also said the commission could call a special meeting to choose a winning bid sooner instead of waiting. They also acknowledged that money will be the biggest hurdle for the project to clear before springing off the drawing board. "If that all goes, we could break ground as soon as the weather breaks," Redevelopment Director Cecile Petro said. VALPARAISO For Hobart resident Linda Benka, the Women's March on Saturday in downtown Valparaiso was all about supporting women's rights. That list for her includes reproductive, health care and educational rights. "I don't want any of our rights taken away. I'm fighting for my 13-year-old granddaughter," Benka said. Benka, 66, and two of her friends held high homemade matching bright pink signs while standing on the north side of the Porter County Courthouse. Their signs read: "Women's Rights. We can never go backwards." Those passing by in cars honked their horns, waved or yelled out their support. A Hillary Clinton supporter in the 2016 election, Benka and her friends, Nancy Klaja, 63, of Hobart, and Cathy Rodriguez, 65, of Chesterton, blame newly sworn-in President Donald Trump for the protests in Valparaiso and in other parts of the country, including Chicago and Washington, D.C. "He set us back," Benka said. Charlotte Friedlund, 65, of Valparaiso, said she was the individual who came up with the idea for the local march after learning about ones being held in other cities. "I thought why not here?" Friedlund said. Friedlund said she placed notices on social media and anticipated some 260 people coming to the event. "I think we have way north of 260 here today," Friedlund said. The message Friedlund read to supporters was a simple one: "We gather today to be seen and heard by the new administration. We bear witness with our sisters across the nation and world for all the people who will suffer from the new administration's agenda." During the two-hour march, Friedlund encouraged those gathered to walk with or without signs around the courthouse square and to wear pink. "I told them no hate posters, no hate, period. We're here to raise each other up," Friedlund said. Paul Kysel, a Pines Township resident, stood on the curbside with Benka and her friends while hoisting his sign, which on one side said: "I did not vote for Vladimir Trump." Kysel, who wore a bright pink sweatshirt, said because Trump hasn't divested his holdings, everyone in the country could be terrorist targets. "If one lives in or works in a building with his name, does he bear responsibility?" Kysel said. Patricia Larsen, 62, of Crown Point, walked around the square while carrying a sign bearing a likeness of the Statue of Liberty with the words: I'm With Her. Larsen said she was in a similar women's protest in 1973 in Washington, D.C. after then-President Richard Nixon was sworn in to office. "I was a Nixon protester 44 years ago," Larsen said. Larsen said she came to the event to be in solidarity with other sister marchers. "We want a show of force that we will exercise our lawful right to protest," Larsen said. Robyn Rutar, 29, of Valparaiso, came to the protest with her husband, Andy Koehler, 41, and two sons, Drew, 13, and Caleb, 11. "It's important for the boys to understand and promote equality and to accept everyone," Rutar said. Prior to the start of the Women's March, a group of Porter County Right to Life members held their own regularly scheduled monthly event just north of the courthouse. Porter County Right to Life spokesman Richard Stith said he knew that the national Women's March organization was opposed to right to life members taking part in the protests because of different ideology including support for Planned Parenthood and abortions. Stith said he spoke to members of the local group and said: "We don't have to agree on the method but all want to help women." Friedlund said she had posted on Facebook that she "respected their rights and understood where they are coming from." Porter County Right to Life member Debbie Revor said she deeply regrets an abortion she was encouraged to have by staff at Planned Parenthood nearly 38 years ago. Revor said there's a lot more choices for women these days than abortion, including adoption. "If you are truly pro-choice then you'd be pro-choice for all options," Revor said. WASHINGTON After a combative start to his presidency, Donald Trump delivered a more unifying message Sunday and sought to reassure Americans he was up to the daunting task ahead, as he turned to the business of government. Speaking in the White House East Room during a swearing-in ceremony for top aides, the president warned his staff of future challenges but declared he believed they were ready. "But with the faith in each other and the faith in God, we will get the job done," the president said. "We will prove worthy of this moment in history. And I think it may very well be a great moment in history." Trump's reassurance came after a day marked by global protests against his presidency and his own complaints about media coverage of his inauguration. He said his staff was in the White House not to "help ourselves" but to "devote ourselves to the national good." Trump held up the letter left to him by his predecessor, Barack Obama a White House tradition. "It was really very nice of him to do that," Trump said. "We will cherish that." He said the contents will remain private. Earlier Sunday, Trump offered a scattershot response to the sweeping post-inauguration protests a day earlier, sarcastically denigrating the public opposition and then defending demonstrators' rights a short time later. "Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn't these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly," Trump tweeted early Sunday morning. Ninety-five minutes later, he struck a more conciliatory tone. "Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don't always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views," the president tweeted, still using his personal account. The dueling tweets marked his administration's first response to the more than 1 million people who rallied at women's marches in Washington and cities across the world. Hundreds of protesters lined the street as Trump's motorcade drove past on Saturday afternoon, with many screaming and chanting. The Washington rally appeared to attract more people than attended Trump's inauguration on Friday, but there were no completely comparable numbers. Regional transportation officials tweeted on Sunday that 1,001,616 trips were taken on the rail system on Saturday. Metro spokesman Dan Stessel had said that on Friday, the day of Donald Trump's inauguration, just over 570,000 trips were taken on the rail system. Even suggestions of weak enthusiasm for his inauguration clearly irked the new president, and appeared to knock the White House off its footing as it took its earliest steps. On Sunday, Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who accepted an invitation to visit the White House in early February. The prime minister is hoping to forge a "common vision" with the newly inaugurated U.S. president that could include expanded settlement construction and a tougher policy toward Iran. Trump also announced that he's set up meetings with the prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. "We're going to start some negotiations having to do with NAFTA," he said of his meeting with Mexico, along with immigration and security at the border. Trump has promised to build a wall along the length of the southern border and insisted that Mexico will pay for it. Trump had no plans to sign any executive orders on Sunday. But his chief of staff, Reince Priebus, said on "Fox News Sunday" the president would spend his first full week in office undoing some of his predecessor's agenda and planned to sign executive orders on immigration and trade. Trump has pledged to scuttle trade deals such as a pending Asia-Pacific agreement and overturn Obama's executive order deferring deportations for 700,000 people who were brought into the country illegally as minors. Trump plans to meet Monday with a bipartisan group congressional leaders to discuss his agenda. Later in the week, he'll address congressional Republicans at their retreat in Philadelphia and meet with British Prime Minister Theresa May. In talk show interviews Sunday, Trump's advisers defended his criticism of journalists for correctly reporting that his inauguration drew a smaller crowd President Barack Obama did eight years ago, saying the Trump administration was supplying "alternative facts." "There's no way to really quantify crowds. We all know that. You can laugh at me all you want," Kellyanne Conway told NBC's "Meet The Press." She added: "I think it's actually symbolic of the way we're treated by the press." Aides also made clear that Trump will not release his tax returns now that he's taken office, breaking with a decades-long tradition of transparency. Every president since 1976 has released the information, but Trump has said he doesn't believe Americans care whether he follows suit. Throughout the campaign, Trump refused to make his filings public, saying they're under audit by the Internal Revenue Service and he'd release them only once that review is complete. Tax experts and IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said such audits don't bar taxpayers from releasing returns. "He's not going to release his tax returns. We litigated this all through the election. People didn't care," Conway said on ABC's "This Week." Trump, whose 12th wedding anniversary was Sunday, also attended a reception for law enforcement officers and first responders who helped with his inauguration. He singled out the work of FBI Director James Comey, whom he offered a handshake and hug. ___ Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed to this report. Shortly after joining The Times, health writer Giles Bruce learned several of the top zip codes for infant mortality a statewide problem were in Northwest Indiana. He wanted to examine this in a reporting project but gained the opportunity to broaden it in scope after receiving a 2016 National Fellowship from the University of Southern Californias Center for Health Journalism. Last July, Bruce attended a five-day training program in Los Angeles on community health issues and the lifelong impact of childhood health experiences. When he returned he began work on this series of stories youll read starting today. Indiana consistently ranks near the bottom of all states for infant deaths, and state and local health officials have been stymied for years on how to stem the problem. Ever since I started here Ive been talking to people concerned about infant mortality in Indiana, Bruce said last week. Through the fellowship, Bruce traveled around the state to visit different cities and learn about programs in place to make a difference. During the next two weeks, youll read about some of these efforts in Northwest Indiana, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Daviess County and Muncie. This series, "Special Report: Whats killing Indianas infants," will continue for the next two Sundays and three Wednesdays. Among the takeaways for Bruce is that infant mortality caused by a mix of factors that include poverty, lack of public health funding, obesity, smoking and drug use is a bigger issue that impacts us all. I have learned that our medical community is doing a great job, but we are lacking in social supports, Bruce said. Infant mortality is an indicator of the health of any given state or population. Youll learn, through these reports, that state leaders have made infant mortality more of a priority in recent years. The question is how effective programs will be over time. Bruce plans to follow these reports with updates. These stories, published through Feb. 8, will be offered to other Indiana newspapers through the Hoosier State Press Association. Its our hope readers throughout the state gain understanding and awareness of this issue through this comprehensive series. Thanks for reading us. Please contact me with any questions about The Times or our many publications. Many region homeowners have faced this problem when scattered toys, laundry piles, stacks of mail and other clutter is strewn about our residences. At some point, we have to get organized, consolidate and compartmentalize like items so we're not tripping on or being engulfed by the clutter. In many ways, that's the state in which Lake County voting precincts exist today, and it's time to clean house and consolidate. A bill in the Indiana House proposed by Rep. Hal Slager, R-Schererville, would compel the county to identify and come up with a plan for consolidating an estimated 140 or so "small" voting precincts to save money and make the voting process more efficient. Small, by the bill's standards, includes precincts with fewer than 600 active voters. In drafting the bill, Slager correctly concluded that too many Lake County precincts include too few voters, meaning the county pays to staff polling places on election days at which poll workers "sit on their hands" without much activity. Lake County Democrats are voicing opposition to the bill, arguing that consolidating some of the precincts could disenfranchise some voters. Elderly folks may have to travel further to vote, for instance. The argument holds no water. State law allows for early voting at multiple locations and absentee voting by mail. And with the correct planning, based on population data, newly consolidated precincts actually could be located closer to the people who wish to exercise their rights on Election Day. Slager estimates his bill could save the county up to $200,000 every election year. That in and of itself makes the bill worthy of support in the Indiana Capitol. Lake County elections Director Michelle Fajman has made one valid argument in opposing Slager's bill. She notes the legislation specifically targets Lake County, not many other counties in the state the also may contain small voting precincts. The General Assembly should be considering consolidation measures in other counties as well. But we can't think of a better place to start than right here. In the wake of President Trump's inauguration, a Queens Latino Nightclub holds an event in the name of unity. La Boom Hispanic Night Club in Woodside, hosted the event "Latino's Por Haiti" on Sunday. Proceeds from the fundraiser will go to the organization "Reviving Haiti," to help in Hurricane Matthew relief. Organizers say they scheduled the event during Mr.Trump's first weekend in office to send a message of unity. "A lot of immigrants in this country don't even know what is going to happen to them," said Joseph Dorismond, President of "Reviving Haiti." "So it is important for all of us to have one voice, one strong voice," he added. "We need each other and we have so many things in common, with immigration, with so many different things so we want to be able to work together because both communities can identify with the same issues," said Astrid Fidelia, executive director of "Reviving Haiti." The all day event featured Latino music and bands, as well as traditional food. For more information about the organization visit www.revivinghaiti.org. Though the Montana Constitution states public records must be provided to anyone who asks for them, the state is giving our public servants an easy way out. State policy does not require employees or elected leaders to use their government email accounts for government business, which means officials are allowed to create and store public documents where nobody can find them. Not even Montanas official record-keepers can access these public records without permission, making it impossible for them to comply with open records requests even if they wanted to. Gov. Steve Bullocks chief legal counsel and former Secretary of State Linda McCulloch both said it is unclear whether state law requires the public disclosure of any emails stored in personal accounts. But as Montana Freedom of Information Hotline attorney Mike Meloy has pointed out, a public document is a public document regardless of the medium. We have seen evidence of public officials intentionally using private email accounts to keep their conversations out of government databases. In one string of emails we obtained through a public records request, one high-ranking state official asked another for her personal email address, and the rest of their conversation is unknown. Other public servants might not even realize they are concealing public documents in their private accounts. And some probably just dont know how to sync their public accounts with their various digital devices, which public officials commonly use to communicate with each other and their constituents. The growing prevalence of electronic communication has complicated the issue of public records retention, and there is no easy way to ensure that all of them are handled appropriately. Text messages and instant messages are additional examples of electronic public documents that our forefathers could not have prepared for. However, that doesnt mean this issue should be ignored. And requiring government officials to use their official government email accounts for official public business is an easy first step the state can take right now as part of an ongoing effort to get this problem under control. Percer Preston (Pete) Mitchell October 26, 1934 - January 20, 2017 Percer Preston (Pete) Mitchell of Opelika, AL, passed away on January 20, 2017 in Opelika, AL. He was born on October 26, 1934 to Quillis and Louise (Cadenhead) Mitchell in the Beauregard Community of Opelika, AL. During high school, Pete was the recipient of both the national (United States) and state (AL) awards from Future Farmers of America for his scholarship and service to agricultural science and scientific research. After graduation from Beau- regard High School in 1953, Pete worked full-time at Pepperell Manufacturing Company while attending Alabama Polytechnic Institute, known now as Auburn University. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture in 1957 and Master of Science in Entomology in 1959 from Alabama Polytechnic Institute (Auburn Uni- versity). He began work in 1959 for Mitchell Farm Supply in Phenix City, AL as an officer of the company and agribusiness manager for eight years. He began a distinguish- ed career in 1967 with Kaiser Agricultural Chemicals in Savannah, GA, a division of Kaiser Aluminum and Chemicals Corp. which later became Vigoro Ind- ustries with corporate headquarters in Chicago. During his 37-year career with these companies, he progressed through leadership positions as Division Manager of Fluid Fertilizer, Division Manager of Pesticides (South Carolina District), Southeast Regional Mana- ger, Division Manager of European Import/Export with offices in London, Division Vice President of Marketing, and Vice President of Operations and Industrial Products. Pete retired in 1996 returning home to Beauregard to manage full-time his beloved Triple DDD Farm certified as a National Treasure Forest. During retirement, he continued consulting for IMC Global in agricultural chemicals in China. Pete is survived by his wife of 59 years, Barbara Jane Wood, who he married in 1957 in Columbus, GA. Pete was an active member and faithful servant of Trinity United Methodist Church in Opelika, AL. Pete enjoyed tree farming, hunting, fishing, woodworking, time with family, and domestic and international travel. Throughout his career, he traveled extensively around the globe in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. He is preceded in death by his father, Quillis Mitchell, his mother, Louise Mitchell, and his brother, Walter William (Billy) Mitchell. Pete is survived by his spouse, Barbara, of Opelika, AL; his daughter, Dena (Gregory) Jones of Atlanta, GA; his daughter, Donna (Robert) Wooster of Easton, MA; his daughter, Debbie (Frank) Auditore of Easton, MA; and, his grandchildren, Hannah Jones, Landon Jones, Bobby Wooster, Timothy Wooster, Kelsey Wooster, Michael Auditore, Krista Auditore, and Mark Auditore. Visitation will be held at Jeffcoat-Trant Funeral Home in Opelika, AL on Wednesday, January 25 from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. A funeral service will be held at Trinity United Methodist Church in Opelika, AL on Thursday, January 26 at 11:00 a.m.(A second visitation will be held one hour before the service at Trinity United Methodist Church beginning at 10:00 a.m.) In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to either: Trinity United Methodist Church, 800 Second Avenue, Opelika, AL, 36901; or, Beauregard Volunteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 4013, Opelika, AL 36803. Jeffcoat-Trant Funeral Home directing. www.jeffcoattrant.com The U.S. Attorneys Office of Montana has hired a prosecutor to focus solely on civil rights cases, both civil and criminal. Weve always done them, but weve not had a dedicated position, so weve had to partner with main Justice and the Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., said U.S. Attorney Mike Cotter. With this particular position, well have a greater capacity to handle these cases. The hire, one of several similar appointments around the country, was part of a last-ditch effort by outgoing Attorney General Loretta Lynch to protect the Justice Department's ability to prosecute civil rights cases in the Trump Administration. Decentralizing the civil-rights effort is seen by some as a way to keep boots on the ground even if the Washington office of the Civil Rights Division is greatly reduced. The Montana announcement is in stark contrast to initial media reports that President Donald Trump may be planning to scale back the Civil Rights Division. Critics have cast Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions as a potential barrier to civil rights prosecutions, which he has denied. American civil rights laws are far-reaching and broad, covering hate crimes; discrimination, including for jobs, housing or loans; and violations of rights, such as voting or for members of the military. In some cases, federal law includes more protected groups than the state. For instance, Montana law does not cover discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana, Montana Human Rights Network, tribal leaders and others applauded the sharpened focus the new position will bring to civil rights issues in Montana. Montana might not be the most diverse state, but we have all of the same issues others face in threats to civil rights. Its good for people to know they have another place they can go to with complaints, ACLU of Montana Executive Director Caitlin Borgmann said. Some Republicans have for years questioned the mission and political leanings of the Civil Rights Division, which contributed to the departure of almost half of the staff from that division during George Bushs presidency. The federal offices profile grew under President Barack Obama and the departments first two black leaders, Eric Holder and Lynch. In recent years, Lynch and Principal Deputy Attorney General Vanita Gupta aggressively investigated and prosecuted cases of racial discrimination, excessive force and racial profiling by police, housing discrimination, banks overcharging interest on loans held by military members during deployment, and the mishandling of sexual assaults on some college campuses, as well as other civil rights matters. In 2012, the Civil Rights Division launched a first-of-its-kind investigation into three justice agencies in a single community Missoulas police department, the University of Montana police, and the Missoula County Attorneys Office following allegations theyd mishandled sexual assaults. Montana Human Rights Director Rachel Carroll Rivas said she remains hopeful for continued civil rights work under President Trump. It is very difficult to change institutions. Its a slow process, she said. But this position in Montana allows us to do important work here. Cotter declined to speculate how the new administration might affect the work of federal prosecutors. He did say the new civil rights position in his office was among the final moves made by top brass at the department. This was a decision made by the Attorney General Loretta Lynch in consultation with Vanita Gupta to enhance the ability of the U.S. attorney offices to do civil rights cases, he said, noting some other regions have had civil rights teams for years. In Montana, the new person tasked with that job is Brendan McCarthy. He has worked as an assistant U.S. attorney out of the Billings office for the last four years. McCarthy notes he is the fourth generation of his family to live in Montana, although I wasnt born here. One important figure in my life certainly was my grandfather, McCarthy said. The son of Irish immigrants, George McCarthy grew up in Depression Era Butte and studied engineering at the Montana School of Mines, but became a confidant to leading Montana politicians and ultimately worked for three U.S. presidents. He served as assistant director of the Poverty Program and his skills as a legislative strategist are credited by historians as critical to the passage of President Lyndon Johnsons landmark anti-poverty program. He worked in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations around the time the Civil Rights Act was passed, McCarthy said. I grew up learning about that time period. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame Law School, McCarthy worked in criminal prosecution and at Wilson Elser, a Top 50 private law firm, before joining the U.S. Attorney Office of Montana. He said civil rights cases will be a new challenge for him. To be able to represent Montanans in any position, especially a position where youre looking to make sure all Montanans are treated fairly, I just thought this would be a unique opportunity in my career to give back to the state that has done so much for me and my family, he said. McCarthy said he will kick-start the office by meeting with leaders from the states existing network of government organizations, law enforcement agencies, tribes and non-profits working on civil rights issues. Cotter noted there has been an uptick in hate crimes and hate rhetoric over the last couple of years that his staff, including McCarthy, have been monitoring with the assistance of federal agents and local law enforcement. FBI statistics show 30 Montana hate crimes in 2014 and 45 in 2015. The majority of those cases involved racial hate, but the largest growth was in crimes targeting someone because of their religion. Other crimes were committed against people because of their sexual orientation, disability or gender identity. And just recently, Cotter said, events have occurred in Billings. A swastika was put on one of the rims across from the MSU-B campus." He also cited the recent circulation of anti-Semitic literature in Missoula, where hate speech was also reported in the schools; and "what is occurring up in Whitefish." Rivas said one advantage of Montanas federal prosecutor is that cases and investigations can more easily cross state lines. She noted that some of the recent hate messages sent to Jewish families in Whitefish likely originated out-of-state and were spurred by a post to a national white supremacist website. Cotter said: If there is a meritorious case presented to the office, it will be prosecuted. McCarthy said he will join Cotter and members of the offices Indian Country outreach team to meet with tribal leaders and learn more about the specific forms of discrimination Native Americans face in the state. In August, a hearing by the U.S. Civil Rights Commission in Billings focused on border town discrimination against Native Americans. For several hours, area tribal members shared stories about enduring hate speech at work, being denied housing or steered to certain neighborhoods by realtors, being victims of violent crimes at higher rates, being incarcerated at disproportionately higher rates, and trailed by clerks while shopping, among other stories. Those stories are all too familiar to John Robinson, a trial judge for the Northern Cheyenne Court, who has, at times, lived in Billings. It happens all the time, he said. Somebody mentioned it really quite succinctly that every town in Montana is a border town. Its reality. Robinson suggested McCarthy reach out to tribal leaders and organizations to identify reoccurring issues so they can be acted on in a systemic way rather than single, isolated cases. People are really tired of coming up and reiterating the same issues then seeing nothing done, he said, warning that the announcement of the new office could spark a flood of complaints that, if not addressed promptly, could only deepen the sense of distrust. Robinson said not all of the work would have to reach a courtroom to be effective. As an example, he said McCarthy could help organize fair housing training for landlords who might not realize how their policies are a racist instrument. Or, he said, McCarthy could build trust with law enforcement as a gateway to conversations about racial profiling or discrimination in policing. McCarthy said he sees his job being as much about legal solutions as it will be about seeking indictments. He hopes to establish a civil rights hotline for Montanans to call with complaints or questions. For now, he said the public should contact one of the existing nonprofit partners or the nearest U.S. Attorneys Office. In 1984, I immigrated to Los Angeles from Honduras. Next month, I will pay off my home in Santa Clarita. The American Dream is not dead. My first job upon arrival was working at the salad bar at Carls Jr. I spoke no English and earned $3.35 an hour. Little did I know at the time, Id spend the next 28 years of my life with that company, moving through the ranks of crew person, assistant manager, general manager, district manager and finally director of operations for the Los Angeles market. I finally left to take a senior management position at Blaze Pizza in 2014. My success would not have been possible without Andy Puzder, the CEO of CKE Restaurants (Carls Jr.s parent company) and U.S. labor secretary nominee. He saved Carls Jr. from looming bankruptcy and instituted an employee-first workplace culture that allowed it to thrive. As labor secretary, he would replicate this success across the country. Like me, numerous CEOs and leaders of our nation, including President Barack Obama, used entry-level restaurant jobs to enter the workforce. Restaurant jobs are one of the few employment opportunities available for those with few to no skills but a willingness to work. And restaurant employees arent without skills for long. They quickly learn customer service, cooking, custodial and accounting skills, among many others. Dont take my word for it. According to a recent national survey by polling firm CorCom Inc., 90 percent of CKE employees agree they learn valuable, marketable skills on the job. Research shows that roughly two-thirds of such employees earn a raise within their first year on the job. More important than technical skills are the soft skills restaurant employees learn. These include teamwork, customer service and confidence. Research by economists at the University of Virginia and Middle Tennessee State University finds that those who pick up these skills early in their careers have lifetime earnings that far exceed their counterparts. These skills not only improve professional lives, but also personal lives. When I started my career, I was so shy I couldnt make eye contact. Now Im able to stare down anyone. As my skills grew, so did my job title. Yet, my success contrasted with the failure of the company. In 2000, after a series of corporate mistakes, CKE Restaurants value had dropped to roughly $200 million. It was saddled with $700 million in debt and was on the verge of bankruptcy. It was at this point that Andy was named CEO. His reforms rapidly increased the value of the company, so that when it was bought in 2010, the sale price was about $1 billion. Its value has only grown since then. How did he do it? By investing in his people and constantly working to improve the companys human capital. His philosophy was that if you take care of your employees and franchisees, they will take care of the customer, which will take care of the bottom line. Its a refreshing approach that is in short supply in todays corporate world. In practice, this meant various scholarship programs, college funds, management training programs and business development seminars promoted by Andy. Many of my colleagues and I took advantage of all of them. My management degree, which has allowed me to succeed at the highest levels of corporate America, was paid for by CKE. Andys approach also meant a focus on growth, meaning new products, locations and marketing. Though growth is often derided as a strategy that doesnt help regular workers, it created thousands of new opportunities for employees like me. Such an employee-centered growth model with an appreciation for the broader value of entry-level jobs is exactly what the country needs on a grander scale. Roughly half of 30-year-old Americans now earn less than their parents, suggesting that my success is becoming the exception, not the rule. I went from living in the housing projects to living in one of the most desirable places in the country. I have God, Carls Jr., Andy Puzder and my own hard work to thank. Flor Palacios worked for CKE Restaurants for 28 years and is currently in a senior management position at Blaze Pizza. The three violent men worked on their escape for months, from late 2015 through early 2016, cutting through half-inch steel bars that let them into the plumbing tunnel of the Orange County Jail. They even used a smuggled cellphone to record video of their work, an effort to leave no visual clues as they burrowed. Finally, one year ago today, they emerged dropping from the jails roof and catching a cab to wild, highly publicized, road-tripping freedom. RELATED: Anatomy of a jailbreak: How three inmates carried out their escape from Orange County Central jail Officially, their escape lasted eight days, when two of the men were captured two days after the third had turned himself in. But in many, less official ways, the most spectacular jailbreak in county history remains an active event. For some, the escape brought rewards of sorts. The sheriffs lieutenant who spent a week in front of TV cameras, urging the world to look for the three escapees, today has a new, high-powered job in the department. The homeless man who spotted two of the escapees in San Francisco eventually got a cash reward he couldnt have imagined. The sheriffs captain who took over the jail, post-escape, is credited with overseeing significant changes to prevent future breakouts. For others, the escape brought frustration and more. The captain in charge of the jail on the day of the escape was transferred, and today is retired. The taxi driver who says he was kidnapped for days by the escapees has seen his version of the story questioned and has filed a lawsuit against the county for his pain and suffering. And the Sheriffs Department itself remains under fire for not following procedures. Im pretty upset daily inspections of the (plumbing) tunnels werent happening, said county Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who as recently as last week hurled a barrage of jail security questions at a sheriffs staffer. Sheriffs officials point to new procedures (and newly followed procedures) theyre using to try to prevent future escapes. They also have plans for a new tracking system that uses radio technology to monitor the exact location of the 1,100-plus inmates at all times. Still, the escape has yet to be investigated by any outside agency. And an internal investigation by the Sheriffs Department has gone cold, with several key questions still unanswered: Where did the cutting tools come from? How did the inmates know the escape route behind the walls? Did the men escape on a night when the number of guards was reduced? And, if they did, how did that happen? Escapees Hossein Nayeri, Bac Tien Duong and Jonathan Tieu face kidnapping and other charges related to the breakout, in addition to the original charges that ranged from murder and torture to attempted murder. Theyre awaiting their trials in custody in separate parts of the jail system. Captured on camera The fugitives first were captured on a cellphone camera smuggled in to Nayeri. His alleged crimes are so vicious including ordering that a victims penis be severed that Nayeri has been compared by prosecutors to the fictitious villan Hannibal Lecter. But one viewer of the cellphone video predicts that if released to the public, the images will go viral and make Nayeri a star. That video also might offer details about how the escape played out. According to interviews and documents, the videos show the three men sawing for months through half-inch steel bars to get to the plumbing tunnels behind the walls. The phone video was used to meticulously replace the bars so the work would go unnoticed. It turned out the inmates didnt have to worry. Deputies at the Central Mens Jail were not inspecting the tunnels daily as required by policy. Besides the phone, Nayeri had acquired cutting tools lots of them. A year after the escape, sheriffs investigators still have not found the tools or determined where they came from. The trio apparently did not record the actual escape on camera, but sheriffs officials determined they went through a metal grid at dawn and then through some metal bars to get to the plumbing tunnels. They then climbed rungs inside the tunnel to the roof and used a rope made of bedsheets to rappel five stories down the side of the building. An accomplice picked them up at 10th and Olive streets. Loc Ba Nguyen of Costa Mesa was arrested and accused of being that accomplice. Deputies apparently didnt do a hard body count that day until 15 hours after the men got out. That count was the first time deputies realized the men were gone. The 15-hour gap also angered and frustrated Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, who spent much of the next week in the public eye pleading for help to capture the escapees and explaining that her agency would figure out what happened. Today, inmate counts are more frequent and consistently involve physically accounting for each person. Soon it will include a photo-bearing identification card that can be tracked by radio frequencies. A year ago, the technology was already in use at the Theo Lacy Facility in Orange, but it is now being picked up in some parts of the Central Mens Jail. Other changes are aimed at preventing future escapes. The jail now houses cellphone-sniffing dogs to track cellular contraband. The bars in the wall have been strengthened and wrapped in a cover that spins when you try to cut through it, said sheriffs spokesman Lt. Mark Stichter. Motion-detecting cameras and extra lights have been installed in the plumbing tunnels. And more lighting has been installed outside the jail, illuminating once-hidden areas, Stichter said. The department also keeps track of every tool brought into the jail by contractors, making sure that every tool is taken out by those contractors. In all, Stichter said, the department has spent nearly $570,000 to harden the jail. But the agency still needs money to enclose the rooftop recreational area and increase security cameras there. After the escape, the sheriffs union complained that deputies had been warning for months that more so-called hard body counts were needed but were told by their supervisors to stand down. The union also has claimed the escape happened after guards were reduced on the roof area. A year ago, sheriffs Capt. Chris Wilson, who was at the helm of the jail the day of the escape, was said to be on vacation. After the escape, he was reassigned to the coroners office. He retired from the department Jan. 11. Bill Baker, then a lieutenant, was promoted to captain and assigned to the beleaguered jail. Within months and with the jail regaining its footing sheriffs leadership promoted Baker to commander in charge of investigations, a coveted assignment. Capt. Cindi Coppock is now in charge of the jail a post that union officials describe as a revolving door. On the run Nayeri used the phone camera to record the trios travels. They called a freelance cab driver, Long Ma, and had him drive them around Southern California. After several hours, Duong stuck a gun in Mas ribs and told him he was no longer driving a cab but a getaway car. The group eventually ended up in a San Jose motel, where it drank beer and Jack Daniels. According to Ma, the escapees later also argued, in English, about killing Ma, who speaks only Vietnamese. Duong, who had taken a liking to the taxi driver, fought for Mas life. Ma, through an interpreter, later said he was marched to the end of the Santa Cruz Wharf during the ordeal, rope in hand, and forced to pose for cellphone photos. Ma believed they were going to throw him off the pier; they didnt. Ma and Duong eventually escaped in his taxi and drove down to Santa Ana, where Duong turned himself in. The next day, Matthew Hay-Chapman, a homeless San Francisco man with a fondness for newscasts, spotted a white van in San Francisco that looked like the one television reporters said was being used by the fugitives. The van was parked alongside a Whole Foods market across from Golden Gate Park. Hay-Chapman flagged down a nearby patrol officer. After a brief foot chase, Nayeri was in custody and police soon found Tieu hiding in the van. After eight long days, the escapees were back in custody. The aftermath The escape generated reward money. Hay-Chapman was awarded $100,000 for calling the cops. He did not respond to email requests to learn what he has done with the money. An additional $50,000 in rewards went to others who had alerted the police during the ordeal. But Ma, the cabbie, wasnt among them. Mas attorney argued he deserved part of the cash, but county supervisors said the law didnt allow it. So Ma sued the county, claiming that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. His lawsuit against the county is pending. Others fared better after the escape. During the eight-day manhunt, Capt. Jeff Hallock and Hutchens served as the faces of the department. They appeared at news conferences, keeping the fugitives in the public eye, turning the story from one about blame and incompetence to one about community involvement. Hallock later was declared PR News 2016 spokesperson of the year. But the jailbreak ordeal didnt end without some collateral damage. Nooshafarin Ravaghi, a Saddleback College English teacher who worked part time at the jail, was arrested on charges that shed given Google maps of the jails rooftop to Nayeri. The teacher was held for a few days until prosecutors announced they would not press charges. District Attorney Tony Rackauckas even said it was unfortunate that she had been cast as an accomplice. But the extremely private woman was for days the subject of extreme media coverage, mostly stories examining her possible relationship with Nayeri. As for the cellphone camera? Its expected to become evidence against the escapees. The three men are scheduled for a preliminary hearing Feb. 10. Conservatives love to mock liberal college students who clamor for safe spaces, where they can hide from ideas that run contrary to their politically correct sensibilities. Yes, these kids need to grow up and learn how to make a counterargument, rather than call on the authorities to censor views they dont like, even though most of them are 19 or 20 years old and probably have never been taught any better. Yet a brouhaha in Washington, D.C., shows that some of the nations most fragile snowflakes are Republican congressmen, including Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of Huntington Beach and Rep. Duncan Hunter of the San Diego area. These grown men, and some others, were so offended by a Missouri students painting that they recently pulled it off the wall in a U.S. Capitol tunnel, where various works are displayed, and demanded the architect of the Capitol permanently ban the offensive object. The artwork depicts civil unrest in Ferguson, Mo., following the shooting death of Michael Brown by a police officer in 2014. A cop with a boars head aims a gun at a protester with a wolfs head. Police unions demanded the painting be removed, claiming that showing an officer as a pig undermines respect for law enforcement and endangers police lives. The painting does seem offensive and stupid, but its clear these Republicans believe they can just take down anything in a public place that offends them. Rohrabacher is hardly afraid of offensive words, given his occasionally tart rhetoric and support for the ever-offensive Donald Trump, but he cant bear to be on the receiving end of the offense. There are certain restrictions that apply, he said, according to a video quoted by Huffington Post. If someone wants to do this in a private gallery they have every right with their freedom of speech, we support freedom of speech. But you dont put something attacking policemen, treating them like pigs, here in the Capitol. Fortunately, for Rohrabachers sake, he can now safely walk between his office and the Capitol without having his sensibilities assaulted. The Republicans argued the painting violated House rules that nothing sensationalistic or reflective of current political controversies could be displayed there. Those rules are fair, and the Capitols architect Stephen Ayers agreed to have the painting removed after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. This resolution seems reasonable, but Rohrabacher, who called the painting an insult to all police, didnt wait until the process played out. He removed the painting from the wall before a determination was made because he and others were offended. Im not sure if the painting offends all police any more than it offends all African Americans (the protester was depicted as a black wolf), but the congressmens actions suggest its OK for people to remove anything from a public space that hurts their feelings. When, say, lefties deface statues of Ronald Reagan because of some things the former president did that upset them, what will Rohrabacher say? Or when angry people tear down paintings of the nations slaveholding founding fathers, or the list goes on. Theres no end to the offenses that people of all political stripes take these days, so Rohrabacher and his allies have given them their congressional imprimatur to take matters into their own hands. Granted, this was a publicity stunt. For Duncan Hunter, it took attention away from his recent embarrassing news about the use of campaign funds to pay the airfare for his familys pet bunny. (His office said the fare was mistakenly billed to a campaign credit card.) Im not sure what Rohrabacher gained. But Id be less annoyed at what he did had he shown the same level of outrage about what the Justice Department revealed in its post-Ferguson report. The feds found that the local police department routinely used and abused the citys residents, viewing them as cash cows to be fined and harassed, rather than as citizens who deserved protection from crime. By the way, one of the police unions officially protesting the painting represents officers in Oakland. The department in Oakland, for those who missed it, has been ground zero in what CNN refers to as a sexual misconduct scandal of epic proportions. To me, such behavior denigrates respect for police far more than any overwrought artwork. Clearly, Rohrabacher and his colleagues arent interested in doing what the painting sought to do, however clumsily and unfairly: spark a debate about modern police tactics. Far better for Rohrabacher to retreat to his safe space, knowing he wont have to endure the indignity of seeing an image that upsets him. But lets at least dispense with the notion that snowflakery is solely a problem for sensitive young college girls. Steven Greenhut is Western region director for the R Street Institute. He is based in Sacramento. For most presidents of the United States, the first 100 days of their presidency is critical. Oftentimes, it defines them and signals to Congress, the nation and the world what type of president they will be and what they will prioritize. It sets the tone for the following four years. Below, each member of our Editorial Board with varying political points of view offers their prescription for what ought to be done as Donald Trump assumes the Oval Office. For me, President Trump must attempt to do something President Obama was never able to achieve: unite the country. It seems like too tall an order for Mr. Trump, whose rhetoric has oftentimes alienated ideological foes and would-be allies alike. Its doubtful that his words will ever unite the nation, given his track record, but perhaps his actions as president could. Remember, above all else, a strong economy unites the country and strengthens Americas position in the world more than most anything else. In his first 100 days, the Trump administration and Congress ought to focus on economic and fiscal policy because a strong economy helps ensure peace and prosperity at home and abroad. Brian Calle, Opinion Editor, Southern California News Group Be quiet and listen Donald Trump has a golden opportunity to bring Americans together if he would do just one thing: Be quiet and listen. That may be impossible for him to do, but its worth a try. I became a grandfather for the third time last week. I hope by the time my three young granddaughters are old enough to vote, they wont be dealing with the same nasty divisiveness we are seeing today. On election night, Trump promised to bind the wounds of division in the country and said he wanted to be president for all the people. But that promise didnt last long as he went on the offensive against criticism from civil rights icon John Lewis and actress Meryl Streep. Being presidential doesnt mean being weak. To be sure, there will be battles ahead on many issues, over immigration reform and health care and how to fight terrorists. Trump can help find solutions to these problems by listening before speaking and tweeting. Rich Archbold, Southern California News Group editorial board Make it all about jobs, infrastructure President Donald Trump should get a strong start on exactly two of his campaign promises: adding new and better jobs to the U.S. employment picture, and rebuilding Americas crumbling infrastructure.. If Trump shows good progress on those two fronts in his first 100 days, his populist support would only grow. Many independents and Democrats would sign on to those efforts. Dare we say it: The divided country could be brought just a bit closer together. Trump must drop divisive campaign nonsense like instituting a Muslim registry or using torture on captured enemies. He should demonstrate respect for the freedom of the press. And the U.S. Constitution, for that matter. He should not undo protections for wild and scenic areas. Our amazing public lands are part of what makes America great. Trump needs to grow up on the job, and quickly. Our leader cannot respond in kind or worse to every slight he receives or perceives. The president must have thick skin, and worry much more about his country and its people than about his ego. Mike Brossart, Southern California News Group editorial board Fill Supreme Court vacancy While Donald Trumps ascension to the White House has been one of the most if not the most unique in our nations history, he is the president. In his first 100 days, it will be important for both he and his opponents to come to realize that and get down to business. There is much to do and perhaps nothing more important than filling the vacancy on the Supreme Court. Important cases hang in the balance. Here are two: Peruta v. California: Peruta could potentially be a landmark case for California gun rights. Edward Peruta sued the San Diego Sheriffs Department over its overly restrictive policy on concealed carry weapons permits. If the new court sticks to the logic that brought about other recent Second Amendment wins, Peruta could prove monumental to a Californians right to self defense. Janus v. AFSCME: The spiritual successor to Friedrichs v. CTA largely revolves around the same issues as the previous case. Before Justice Antonin Scalias untimely passing, the court looked ready to rule in Friedrichs favor. Hopefully, the reconstituted court will view Janus v. AFSCME through the same lens. Scott Kaufman, Southern California News Group editorial board Other voices must fill leadership void The best thing that can come out of the first 100 days of Donald Trumps presidency wouldnt come from Donald Trump. It would be, certainly will be, the emergence of other voices voices of reason, principle, conscience, perspective, expertise and limits. Big opportunities lie dead ahead for Democrats and Republicans alike to do right by the nation by demanding the best of Trump where possible, and rallying opposition when necessary. Here in the Los Angeles area, weve seen Congressman Ted Lieu take on Trumps evasions about Russia in a witty, no-holds-barred Twitter feed. Weve seen Congressman Adam Schiff become an oft-quoted critic of Trumps acceptance of Russian interference in the election. Were seeing California legislators scramble, clumsily, to line the state with anti-Trump barricades. But Trumps constructive critics can come from anywhere in and outside elective politics. The new presidents unique lack of consistent principles and forethought leave him open to being influenced and defined by others. Kevin Modesti, Southern California News Group editorial board Forceful pivot in several areas The U.S. needs to pivot forcefully to remake its critical infrastructure, its space policy, its regulatory environment and its grand strategy. Trump should rebalance the political economy away from big speculation on virtual goods like the price of money or trendy apps, toward concrete technological advances around transportation, production and defense. Trump must also refocus our approach to federal aid. Many Americans now see expanding government as the last-ditch way to contract the influence of the vast managerial class of elite technocrats that has allowed America to lose its way and imperil its character. On health care, more citizens would prefer bigger big government thats more direct and comprehensible than smaller big government that keeps them in a condition of anxiety while profiting an established ruling class. These changes may be wrenching. In some cases, the goal will be choosing among least bad options. But Trump should begin by urgently unleashing a political economy where technology serves fully human ends. James Poulos, Southern California News Group editorial board Focus on the basics Donald Trump assumes the presidency at a time when the federal government has arguably the greatest reach into the lives of the American people and a demonstrable commitment to policing the world. Granting such power to anyone, especially a character as bombastic as Trump, is understandably concerning. To minimize harm and maximize the public good, Trump should use his first 100 days to focus on the basics. He should nominate a U.S. Supreme Court justice and jump-start discussions on infrastructure investment, tax reform and returning greater control over education to the states. He should steer clear of issues better handled by the states, including expansive federal crackdowns on marijuana and obscenity laws. He should refrain from seeking to build a legacy by alienating and scapegoating immigrant and Muslim communities. Ending any talk of mass deportation and a Muslim registry would be welcomed. Trump should generally seek unity over common goals, not the inflaming of political tensions. We have had enough of that. Sal Rodriguez, Southern California News Group editorial board Prioritize tax and health care reform Donald Trump is the un-Carter. One month into Jimmy Carters presidency, the Washington newcomer announced the cancellation of 19 pork barrel water projects that key members of the House and Senate had worked to get authorized and funded. Carters first accomplishment was to unite the Congress. Against him. President Trump begins his first 100 days by dangling the prospect of major infrastructure and defense spending, projects that each of the 535 members of Congress would like to bring home. Trump has shrewdly given himself leverage to get the votes he needs on everything else. Reform of the tax code and the health care law are the two essential priorities if Trump is going to be the greatest jobs president God ever created. In the first 100 days, we can expect to see tax reform that lowers marginal corporate tax rates and eases the repatriation of money that U.S. firms are holding overseas, plus reform of individual tax rates, along with sweeping reform of regulations. Opponents may shriek, but the crucial votes will be there. Susan Shelley, Southern California News Group editorial board Repeal numerous executive orders President Trumps repeal of numerous Obama executive orders used to expand government power will be a welcome development. Lets hope Trump has the wisdom and restraint not to abuse the expansion of presidential power his predecessors instituted. His pledge to fill the Supreme Court vacancy with someone in the mold of Scalia is promising, particularly for the protection of Second Amendment rights, property rights and free enterprise. His support for a long-overdue audit of the Federal Reserve is also encouraging. Promised cuts in regulations and agency budgets are great, but will likely fall short of truly draining the swamp. Wholesale elimination of abusive and unnecessary departments like Commerce, Education, Energy, Homeland Security, HUD and Labor would still be just a drop in the bucket. Trumps economic nationalism and hard-line immigration stands remain cause for concern, as free trade leads to the greatest innovations and consumer choice, the lowest prices and the highest standard of living for people on both sides of our borders. Adam Summers, Southern California News Group editorial board Trump must become presidential If you value the very real virtue of symbolism in our political leaders, then what you want from his first 100 days is for Donald Trump to get over himself and become presidential. Its a job requirement, and hes not fulfilling it. Its not just me who sees the problem he has lost many of his voters already, and hes won over none. Trumps approval rating is 40 percent. Thats a failing grade. This Twitter-pated, thin-skinned, dictator-hugging, press-bashing persona wont do. Trump should crack a book those leather-bound things in the Mar-a-Lago library and through reading about the way our real presidents carry themselves and carry out their duties representing our nation, mirror the qualities of the greats. If we are facing the kind of crisis Trump claims we are, then greatness is required. Trump so far is only bravado, which is actual braverys dumb kid brother. His peripatetic inability to stay cool is a real danger in the most powerful person in the world. Over the next three months, for our sake, Trump must learn to chill. Larry Wilson, Southern California News Group editorial board The consequences of Californias unprecedented minimum wage experiment are playing out in real time, as the states papers cover the stories of affected businesses who are cutting staff or closing their doors as a result of the rising wage floor. Houman Salem, who owns a small apparel design and manufacturing business in San Fernando, is one of those business owners. He recently learned the hard way that Californians sunny disposition does not extend to residents who voice their concerns about the states labor laws. On January 2, Salem announced in an opinion column in the Los Angeles Times that labor cost increases had forced him to leave California for Las Vegas. It quickly became the most popular opinion piece on LATimes.com, generating over 600 comments and more than a dozen follow-up articles in local and national publications. Unfortunately, the reaction on social media was one of rage rather than reflection. Good riddance, said one of the top comments on Facebook. If you cant pay your employees a living wage, you dont have my sympathy, said another. Other comments accused Salem of being a bad businessman, of keeping too much money for himself and of exploiting his employees. Some readers even left negative reviews of his business online even though theyd never met him or done business with him. I reached out to Salem to hear his reaction to the backlash, which was one of resignation and despair. Its an unfortunate and uninformed attitude, he told me over the phone recently. It reflects a misunderstanding of how a business operates, where a massive increase in your cost of labor triggers a number of other costs and expenses. Salem told me that his biggest fear is that the outraged reaction online will discourage other affected businesses (of whom there are hundreds) from speaking out and telling their own story. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti was quoted in response to Salems op-ed in a New York Times article, and argued that one of the reasons the city is thriving is its minimum wage law. Salem laughs at this idea: $15 has barely begun to phase in, and already Im contacted on an almost daily basis by other L.A.-based companies in my industry who are scared about the future. They are looking to me for leadership, and want to talk about my decision to leave the state. He added that the mayor doesnt seem to understand the realities of the regions economy at the micro level: When politicians talk about an economy working for everyone let me tell you, its not working for the small business owner. Salem chafed at critics who suggested hes taking advantage of his employees. He pointed out that, until California moved the goalposts, hed always paid above minimum wage. His company would happily pay even more, were it not for customers price sensitivity not to mention other expenses that drive up the cost of doing business. I want to pay my people as much as I can, as often as I can, but there are lots of costs associated with that. He ticked off a few, such as taxes and workers compensation, that make California a particularly difficult state in which to do business, and then offered a proposal of his own: If California legislators are genuinely concerned about residents struggling to get by, why not reduce or eliminate their payroll taxes and other taxes? Theres also the impact of Californias wage mandate on employees morale. A $15 minimum wage doesnt just affect the people who make less than that, Salem told me. It also affects skilled workers, like the artisans who work for me. Sewing the kind of technical garments that Salems company produces is a highly-skilled trade, and employees whove perfected the trade wont be happy if theyre earning the same wage as someone whos 17 years old working their first job. This problem isnt unique to the apparel industry. Last year, the Wall Street Journal reported that, after recent wage hikes, some veteran employees are unhappy about earning same wage as less experienced hires. Despite the challenges of doing business in California, Salem (unlike some of his competitors) is still committed to making his products domestically. Im an American I want this country to do well, to succeed, and I want to do everything in my power to further that goal by creating good-paying jobs. As we concluded our conversation, he told me hes not opposed to raising wages but that the entire burden cant rest on small business owners. I need the government to meet me halfway. In California, unfortunately, that kind of compromise doesnt exist. Michael Saltsman is research director at the Employment Policies Institute. Southern Californias housing market greets the new president with some upward momentum on its side. As President Donald Trumps team gets used to its new office space, I thought a stroll down memory lane would give some foundation for the debates about economic policy, and its ramifications for local real estate, that well get to slog through in the coming months. I tossed into my trusty spreadsheet regional homebuying data from CoreLogic for the past three presidencies: Bill Clinton, 1993-2001; George W. Bush, 2001-2009; and Barack Obama, 2009-2017. National economic policy doesnt always filter down to the local housing market. Presidents often get too much blame (or credit) for any changes in the business climate. Plus, real estate stats for presidential terms arent always the best scorecard for the White Houses housing impact. Still, financial history often repeats itself, especially the boom-to-bust-to-boom nature of the often-volatile local property game. And even when real estates performance is outside the norm, valuable lessons can be learned. Looking over almost a quarter-century of Southern California housings ups and downs, several notable trends are apparent: National and local economic cycles dont always mesh, and that can be a challenge for real estate. The last time we got a new president with housing on the rise, it ended badly. If you keep a long-term perspective, you see the regions housing is getting pricier, despite serious dips in the past decade. Sales activity continues to cool as supply is limited and owners stay in place longer. Please, never forget 2008s financial meltdown, which helped create the ensuing Great Recession. When the bubble built in the George W. Bush era burst, Southern Californias median selling price dropped 51 percent in 21 months in 2007-09. Heres some history on how local housing fared under the past three White House administrations: Clinton: Crawls up The late 1980s real estate boom in Southern California ended harshly amid the early 1990s nationwide recession that got Clinton elected in 1992. Early in the Clinton presidency, the local housing market was weakened by a regional economy hard-hit by things not directly tied to the nationwide downturn: Huge cuts in defense spending slammed local military contractors and their workforces. Southern Californias slack homebuying pace picked up in Clintons second term as the regional economy emerged from an early-decade malaise, creating a 52 percent jump in annual regional purchases from 1992 to 2000. Prices eventually rebounded. They fell during Clintons first four years in office but rose sharply after re-election to add up to a 17 percent gain over his eight-year term. Bush: Busting boom The Clinton-Bush transition seems a bit like todays scenario, Southern California housing-wise. In 2001, the national and local economies were relatively strong. Real estate markets were fundamentally solid, too, with pricing and selling well off the mid-1990s bottom. Yet some questions persisted about the rebounds durability. Local real estate initially enjoyed a continuation of the Clinton-era success after Bush took office. The mild, brief national recession after the terror attacks in 2001 may have actually helped distort local property values. Cheap money and easy loan terms used to revive the national economy were gravy to Southern Californias reactivated homebuyers. Home prices nearly doubled in 2000-2004 as transaction volumes returned to near late-1980s boom levels. But the buying binge ended ugly. The real estate bubble burst. Early in Bushs second term, the same mortgages that boosted the market began to haunt it. Folks lost homes to foreclosures and loans dried up. Local prices dropped 10 percent in Bushs second term the beginning of that 51 percent recessionary nosedive as the market collapsed and the homebuying pace was cut in half. Obama: Mild rebound Obama entered the White House in January 2009 amid a total real estate meltdown. For example, the local homebuying pace had been slashed in half in the previous four years. Foreclosures skyrocketed. The Obama years saw both the healing period from the Great Recession as well as a decent recovery off an ugly bottom. But scars remain. Its not like folks are flocking to local housing. Southern California homebuying rose 17 percent in Obamas first term but just 4 percent in the last four years as house hunters remain skittish, owners wont move, lending standards remain strict and affordability concerns have risen. Few sellers, little construction of new homes and a regional economy producing jobs as fast as they have since the Clinton days created a sellers market. Southern California prices that fell 14 percent in 2008-12 rose 53 percent in Obamas second term. Still, the Southern California median price remain 8 percent below the all-time high. So how did the past 12 years play out for housing at the six-county level? Heres a summary, using CoreLogic data Orange County The regions priciest market saw prices triple since Clinton took office the biggest 12-year gain among the six counties. That included local owners who enjoyed a 39 percent price rebound from the recession in the Obama era the largest jump in Southern California in the past eight years. Orange County is the only Southern California market to top the record high price set before the bubble burst. Buying remained slow in Orange County in the past eight years, with affordability and limited supply acting as key deterrents. Sales activity is off 25 percent during Obamas term vs. Bushs, when sales ran 2 percent faster than Clintons days. Los Angeles County The regions largest market saw the easy money of the Bush bubble days help to boost prices by 104 percent, the largest gain in that era. That came only after L.A. prices rose just 7 percent in Clinton years, the smallest Southern California gain in those times. A key culprit: the deep 1990s loss of manufacturing jobs in the county. L.A. prices did gain 30 percent with Obama, but it was nerve-wracking: between Bushs peak and Obamas bottom, prices did fall 47 percent. The L.A. homebuying pace ran like others across much of the region, with continued slippage as purchasing in the past eight years was 30 percent slower than the Bush days. Riverside County Riverside is the only Southern California market with more homebuying in the Obama days than in Clintons years. Significant homebuilding efforts make this fast-growth market act a bit differently The Riverside sales pace in the Bush years was up 77 percent vs. Clinton days. But the oversupply of new housing hurt, and sales fell 28 percent under Obama. Riverside prices moved higher, despite a 58 percent plunge in the boom-to-bust fall of the previous decade. Prices rose 20 percent in Clinton terms, 70 percent during the Bush years and 23 percent in the Obama era. San Bernardino County Home prices are up 125 percent since 1992, but thats the smallest gain in the region. Its been a rocky road. Prices fell 3 percent in Clintons years as the region suffered various economic setbacks. Easy-money loans overheated this low-cost market as prices soared 94 percent into the bubble. A bust, then recovery put San Bernardino prices up 20 percent under Obama. San Bernardinos sales count rose 40 percent in the easy-money Bush years and fell back 30 percent in the next eight years as bankers regained their sanity. San Diego County Sales counts dipped 23 percent during Obamas term vs. the go-go days of Bush, the smallest drop among the six counties. A 46 percent top-to-bottom fall, after the bubble burst, didnt build buyer confidence. Prices rose 40 percent under Clinton, the best in the region, then jumped 56 percent in the Bush years and 34 percent in the Obama era leaving its median a few dollars short of its all-time high. Ventura County The regions smallest county, homes-wise, had the biggest drop in sales activity 35 percent in the past eight years vs. the Bush days. Price gains, when taking this longer eight-year lens, look somewhat stable (if you ignore the 47 percent dip from 2007 to 2009!) After rising 25 percent in Clintons years, Ventura home values added 63 percent during the Bush years and 27 percent under Obama. Contact the writer: jlansner@scng.com San Clemente residents joined throngs of demonstrators across the country marching in the streets with a message of peace, love, diversity and equality on the day after Donald Trump took office as president of the United States. Several hundred people one organizer said he counted 652 answered an online call to action, parading up and down the sidewalks of San Clementes Avenida Del Mar on Saturday. Thats in addition to five busloads of women nearly 300 participants from south Orange County who departed earlier in the day from the Outlets at San Clemente to attend a mass rally in Santa Ana. These were offshoots of a Womens March on Washington. Sister marches were organized in cities across the country. Corey Bauman, president of the Democratic Women of South Orange County and organizer of the bus trip from San Clemente, described it as a peaceful protest for womens and human rights. This administration has said some shocking things against women, disabled, immigrants, etc., Bauman said via e-mail. We are delivering a message that its not okay. In the downtown San Clemente event, marchers carried signs or wore shirts with slogans like Nasty Woman, alluding to a Trump remark about Hillary Clinton at a fall campaign debate. Some other signs: Make America Kind Again. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun-damental Rights. All Lives Matter. A Little Kindness Goes a Long Way. Tais Hoffman, a local resident, organized the rally after discovering that not everyone interested in marching would be able to get to the Santa Ana rally and San Clemente itself was not having a march. I said, then Ill do one, she said. She began calling friends. Susan Brewer promptly posted the march on Facebook and it grew wings. Suddenly Hoffman found herself part of a long line of sign-carrying marchers snaking up one side of San Clementes main downtown shopping street and down the other. My purpose was to have fun and to just voice our positive opinions whether its healthcare, womens rights, whatever, Hoffman said. I would like to see oneness in the world. This is a start. This is to show what can be. Everybody was wonderful. Participant Lisa Spinelli called it a gathering of great-thinking women and good ideas and creativity and the power of all humans, not just women. Danny Mendez, San Clemente resident, was among the many men who turned out for what had been dubbed The Sister March Mendez saying he was there to send the new president a message for womens rights. Mendezs wife Anna is founder of the National Association of People Against Bullying. Their son Daniel, 16, took his own life in 2009 after absorbing years of bullying in school. Anna Mendez said she was pleasantly surprised to see signs in the San Clemente march appealing for an end to bullying. This is extremely personal to us, she said. Great turnout. Im so glad San Clemente was well represented. Fran Lantieri, who turned 94 on Inauguration Day, said her message for the march was, Get ready for change. Contact the writer: fswegles@scng.com or 949-492-5127 John and JoAnn Belczak vacation in Hawaii every year. Thats in addition to trips the Yorba Linda couple have taken to Tahoe, Boston and the Carolinas. Theyve strolled the scenic beaches of Aruba and St. Kitts and been on a cruise to Alaska. Every three years, they spend a week in a 2,000-square-foot penthouse in Nuevo Vallarta on Mexicos west coast. Timeshares make all that travel possible for the peripatetic Belczaks and their three now-grown children. After buying their first timeshare in Kauai 10 years ago, they upped their points a few years later, then bought a second timeshare in Mexico. Never regretted it, said JoAnn Belczak, 59. Its not cheap. We know that. But so long as you know how to work the system and you use it, its great. William Dorman has a different take on the Las Vegas timeshare he got talked into buying at a sales presentation 15 years ago. Yes, he has exchanged his parcel for trips to places like Palm Springs and Arizona, but nothing exotic. Those were always booked. He had to pay out of pocket for accommodations in New York because the timeshare there also was booked. Now he wants to get rid of it. Nothings available, and you have to book two years ahead of time, said Dorman, 56, of Dana Point. People are giving them away or theyre listed for $5 or $100 because people want to get out of them. Some people are happy with their timeshares, saying they give them a chance to see the world in homey, spacious accommodations that cost less than an equivalent hotel. Others deeply regret them, saying maintenance fees keep rising, they can never book the times they want and theyre stuck paying for something they cant use. Regardless of whether timeshares are good or bad, the industry is booming. Sales revenue by timeshare developers and operators rose 32 percent to $8.6 billion a year in the five years ending in 2015, according to the most recent estimate by the American Resort Development Association, or ARDA. Association figures show there were 411,880 transactions in 2015, with prices averaging $22,240, up 21 percent in five years. But secondary market sales by private owners have been flat and represent a tiny fraction of the timeshare market, said Bob Schmidt, data officer for Sharket.com, a timeshare resale data firm. The resale market averages 25,000 to 26,000 transactions per year, with an average price of $5,000, a fourth the value of a typical retail unit. There certainly are a lot of people who are interested in selling their timeshares, Schmidt said. Sexier vacations The timeshare concept, which dates to the 1960s, allows multiple owners to share one property or to gain access to resorts around the world by cashing in points theyve accumulated or through an exchange system. People who love their timeshares say they are motivated to take regular vacations, and they get better accommodations for less money, with kitchens and, in most cases, two or more bedrooms. An ARDA survey found timeshare owners are more likely to take annual vacations. And because timeshares have more rooms, and thus more privacy, owners have more sex, the industry trade group claims (yes, they actually asked vacationers about this). More than two-thirds of timeshare owners say they have more sex on vacation, while less than a third of nonowners have more sex. ARDA President and CEO Howard Nusbaum said that over a 10-year span, the typical timeshare saves a family almost $14,000 compared with renting two hotel rooms for a week each year. You save money, plus you get all the comforts of home, Nusbaum said. Its a better way to vacation. But its not for everyone, he concedes. People who are happy sharing a hotel room with the kids or who dont mind sleeping on Grandmas sofa dont buy timeshares. But for those who want to stay in a nice hotel and take a vacation each year, he said, it works out. Booking issues Discipline and advance planning are a must in the timeshare world, owners say. Jeff Weir, owner of three timeshares and chief correspondent for Redweek.com, a leading timeshare resale site, said bookings can get competitive. For example, he has to call a year in advance to reserve a week at the Marriott Newport Coast Villas, where hes an owner. Wait two days later, those weeks are gone, he said. There are some practice issues for owning a timeshare that people have to deal with. Most of the unhappy owners are people who own a timeshare in a legacy resort, or an older, single-site property not affiliated with a large club, ARDAs Nusbaum said. Those are the owners who have more pent-up demand to sell, he said. A glut of resales Almost half of the 614 timeshares selling on eBay the weekend of Jan. 14-15 had starting bids of $1 or less, with 37 of them going for a penny. Theres a glut, said Mitchell Reed Sussman of Corona del Mar, an attorney specializing in getting people out of their timeshare contracts. Hard-sell tactics are a key reason owners end up buying a timeshare they cant use over the long run, Sussman said. Buyers are lured into sales presentations by free dinners, theater tickets or discounts on hotel bills. The presentations last hours, lubricated by free food and drinks. Then, the buyers are presented a stack of papers to sign. They are zombies when they sign the contract, Sussman said. I have judges, I have clerks, I have doctors. They all come to me. Im getting people out of these contracts that are burdensome and oppressive because at the time they signed them they really werent in their right mind. Sussman recently filed a series of lawsuits accusing Las Vegas-based Diamond Resorts International sales people of falsely telling buyers their timeshares appreciate in value and are easily sold and the property could be used by their heirs when they die. A retired Oceanside couple with no income paid $150,000 for timeshare contracts with Diamond, a recent Orange County lawsuit said. Youre told its an investment. Its not, Sussman said. Its a liability because of the maintenance fees you have to pay every year if you go on vacation every year or not. The lawsuit is without merit, a company statement issued last week said. In December, Diamond agreed to pay Arizona $800,000 and take back timeshares after the state alleged it had received hundreds of complaints of false statements and misrepresentations made during sales presentations, the state Attorney Generals Office said. A Diamond statement said the firm will launch nationwide reforms this month, dubbed Diamond Clarity, to enhance the overall customer experience during sales presentations. Rising fees Virginia Pelton of Laguna Hills sold timeshares in the early 1990s and ended up buying four of them in Las Vegas, Palm Springs, Dana Point and Cabo San Lucas. I used them several times a year, said Pelton, 88, a former model. A lot of people say, If I want to go somewhere, Ill get a hotel. But they dont travel that much. If you have a timeshare, you use it. I did. But then maintenance fees started going up. Her total bill is $6,000 a year, and shes taking steps to shed her timeshares. I was really into it until (the maintenance fees) went out of sight, she said. I cant afford it anymore. Anaheim bakery owner Asem Abusir, 55, tried going to court to get rid of the Las Vegas timeshare he bought for $12,000 in 2008. He said he hasnt been able to get a reservation since he refused to upgrade to a $35,000 plan. His annual maintenance fees are $1,400. They said, Eventually you have to upgrade, so think about it, Abusir said. Its like I have no option. Eventually, he was able to shed his obligation by paying a $2,500 fee. I didnt want to pay for something forever that I wasnt using, he said. They said, Even if you die, your kids will have to pay. Contact the writer: 714-796-7734 or JeffCollins@scng.com Pastor Greg Laurie of Riversides Harvest Christian Fellowship prayed on behalf of the nations public servants in front of President Donald Trump and his family Saturday, Jan. 21 at a national prayer service in Washington. Almighty God our heavenly father, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of the armed forces at home and abroad, he said, according to a video of the service posted to YouTube. Laurie was among representatives from many faiths who participated in the event traditionally held for the new president the day after inauguration. Harvest spokeswoman Laura McGowan confirmed his attendance. Laurie, pastor and founder of the Riverside church is known for the Harvest Crusade, a Southern California evangelical Christian institution that has drawn more than 5 million people to arenas around the world. It comes each summer to Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Saturday marked the end of three days of inaugural celebrations. The president and his wife, Melania, and Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, sat in a front pew at Washington National Cathedral for the morning service.The interfaith service is a tradition for new presidents and is hosted by the Episcopal parish. But the decision to hold a prayer session for Trump sparked debate among Episcopalians opposed to his policies. Bishop Mariann Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington wrote in a blog post that while she shared a sense of outrage at some of the president-elects words and actions, she felt an obligation to welcome all people without qualification, especially those who disagree and need to find a way to work together. The service took place as throngs of women, many of them wearing bright pink, pointy-eared hats, descended on the nations capital and other cities around the world Saturday for marches organized to push back against the new president. The presidential motorcade sped past the protesters. Officials said the crowd in Washington for the womens march could be more than half a million people, more than double expectations. The event appeared to have attracted more people than Trumps inauguration, based on figures from transportation officials. Trump arrived at the cathedral mid-morning. The service included readings and prayers from Protestant, Jewish, Sikh, Mormon, Buddhist, Roman Catholic, Bahai, Episcopal, Hindu and Native American leaders. But the program was remarkable for the large number of evangelicals participating, including two former presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention, the countrys largest evangelical denomination. Several speakers had served as Trump advisers and supporters who spoke at the Republican National Convention. Trump, a Presbyterian, is not a regular churchgoer. He does not attend weekly services in New York, but worships every Christmas at a church near his estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump courted evangelical voters during the presidential campaign and infused his inaugural address with references to God and quoted from the Bibles book of Psalms during a call for national unity. Staff writer John M. Blodgett and The Associated Press contributed to this report. DECATUR When Army Spc. Logan Myers first arrived in Iraq a year ago, his morale quickly plummeted. In the first couple of months, living conditions weren't that great, he said. Not only did he and his fellow soldiers have to overcome the anxieties and fears of living in a war zone, they also had to endure hot, humid weather and military rations. There were also bouts of homesickness for his home in Moweaqua. As the holidays approached, the young soldier began to receive gifts from his family. Myers, 22, appreciated the packages, but found the most heart-warming mail he received was from strangers. I was originally surprised and delighted when I first started getting them, he said. Myers' name was submitted to a military support group, Treat The Troops, by a family member living near Peoria. The only items the group sends are cookies and other sweet treats. The organization has volunteer groups, called Crumbs, located around the country. Around Thanksgiving, Myers received a large package from Lynne Luttgen of Pennsylvania -- one of Crumbs volunteers. Luttgen had sent Myers a box of 10 dozen cookies, packed in a special way so the cookies arrive intact. "There is hardly any shaking or breaking," she said. "But they may get good tasting small pieces, too." Luttgen and her other volunteers prepared the cookies and packages to send along with hand-written notes. The soldiers, in turn, may send thank-you cards and pictures to the Crumb volunteers. "They often say they are thankful for the cookies, but they are just happy someone remembered they're still there," she said. "It's sad to think they think they are forgotten." Myers, for one, said he was impressed that someone other than his family cared enough to send holiday treats. Getting mail from strangers back in America was nice, he said. You knew that you weren't forgotten. You knew that people cared. Ann Irwin has also receives letters and cards from soldiers serving overseas. Irwin is the director of Decatur's Operation Enduring Support. Her group of approximately 10 volunteers meet every week to prepare special monthly requests. A larger group of 25 meets to prepare holiday packages for Christmas and Easter. The volunteers meet at Grace United Methodist Church to pack, label, stack and send the packages. During the past Christmas season, 128 packages were sent to deployed soldiers. The boxes contain a variety of items, including current magazines, writing pads and pens, socks and hygiene products, such as liquid body wash, Q-tips and deodorant. Food items include Girl Scout cookies, cereal bars, cheese and crackers and Slim Jims. The boxes containing seasonal items include hand warmers and gloves in the winter and hand lotion and aloe gel in the summer. The soldiers also have special requests others at home may not think of. For example, Irwin and her group often send Beanie Baby toys along with the other items. They give them away to the local children, she said. The volunteers also pack coloring books and pencils along with the toys. These items, however, are sent for the soldiers' enjoyment. They ask for them, Irwin said. They say they are great stress relievers. Volunteers also add special touches to their boxes. Soldiers receive handmade stockings during the Christmas season and each box will have a hand-written card from the group. The soldier is also given blank greeting cards allowing them to send messages back home. Operation Enduring Support obtains the soldiers' names and contact information through requests from families, churches and military branches. Each box costs $16.90 to send, which is part of the organization's donation. The soldiers receive enough goodies in their boxes that they are able to spread the cheer with their comrades. Having extra food and drink mixes to share with your fellow soldiers really helped with moral, Myers said. His mother was also appreciative of the box her son received from a stranger. Living in Moweaqua with limited communication with her son, Lori Gruen knew her son was in harms way. To find someone else was worried about his well-being made the gift even more special. It was touching for her to send my son, whom she never met, this stuff, she said. This takes time and money, too. Its official: President Trump Its going to take some getting used to the fact that President-elect Trump is now President Trump. Whether or not he follows through with all that political rhetoric he promised us while campaigning remains to be seen in the next four years. But, whatever happens, whatever new or old issues he resolves, and if he, indeed, will rebuild our country as promised, he will have left something that he hadnt counted on which cannot be taken from him. Thanks to Dr. Vazrick Nazari, an evolutionary biologist, a newly discovered moth with white and yellow scales on the insects head that are reminiscent of Trumps blond hairdo, will have as its moniker, Neopala donaldtrumpi. I know of no other new president who started out with such an auspicious beginning, so let us sit back and observe if the new president heads for success like a proverbial moth to flame. Bill Spitalnick, Newport Beach A time for national healing Watching the transfer of power from former President Barack Obama to incoming President Donald J. Trump was an exercise in humility and pride for the nation. It exemplified the zenith to which this country has always aspired. This is part and parcel of what democracy is all about. Seeing the array of past presidents and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton standing within feet of the new president, Donald Trump, was an emotional experience for all to behold. The campaign between them has ended and a new beginning for the nation has begun. President Trumps speech was one that encompassed all of the pledges to the people he has given before. There is going to be a change in government. He spoke to those in the inner cities, the blue-collar workers, the middle class and those disenfranchised that have been excluded from the promises of Washington for far too long. He has guaranteed he will make good on his change for the country, and those changes begin Monday. Those Democrats who denied the newly elected president the pomp and circumstance of his inauguration by declining to appear have cast a shadow over the smooth transition of power. They have thumbed their noses at the office of president, and in the stubbornness of their conviction have cast a pall on their own validity. President Donald Trumps speech will not go down in history as one of eloquence, but what are words when action is not forthcoming? He spoke to the common man in language all could understand. The average Joe considers him one of their own. The time for the nation to heal from the ruptured remarks from both sides of the political arena must cease to exist for the country to move forward. Unity, patriotism, fraternity and the belief in a better life for all Americans are concepts that we all believe in, and are what make this country great. For the first time in eight years, the words radical Islamic terrorists have been spoken. This is to acknowledge the deaths from these extremist groups that have bastardized Islam to suit their own warped sense of perversion. To the relatives, friends and families of those that lost their loved ones in the World Trade Center, and in other inhumane acts against the people of our nation, notice is given that a new dawn is coming, and the beginning of their end is in sight. We are all united. As the phrase e pluribus unum states, out of many, one. So exclaim in unity the words God Bless America. Barry Wasserman, Huntington Beach Obamas is a legacy of bombs Now that Trump is president, it is official. Obama, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, is the only president who, during his eight year tenure, has had the U.S. at war every single day. Mark Cameron, Santa Ana Grading the speech My take on Trumps speech: some nice phraseology but overall a very harsh exposition loaded with contradictions. He talks about recovering jobs when his party leads the charge for over-outsourcing crucial jobs. He talks about income equality while he promotes more tax relief for the top 1 percent. He talks about patriotism and then makes a negative reference to civil rights icon John Lewis. The speech has no spirit of lets work together, but lets work against the establishment. With no realization the establishment is the people, too. And no recognition that the establishment now is his own party. In the benediction, I heard a lot of Jesus in the name of Mike Pence and the religious right. Phil Silverman, Laguna Woods Speech was vintage Trump During Donald J. Trumps inaugural address, he spoke about America and the American people scores of times, while only mentioning himself about three times. What a breath of fresh air this was, in contrast to the speeches of his predecessor, who used the word I constantly. Next, Trumps speech was short and to the point, at about 15 minutes. He didnt drone on and on with flights of fancy, but maintained a sober, practical approach. He communicated like ordinary folks do on the critical domestic and foreign policy challenges that require solutions. Third, Trump struck a bipartisan tone toward solving the urgent economic and social problems that America faces. He noted that nothing can stop America if we all work together to make America exceptional again. This was vintage Trump laying out his vision in simple terms, as he did on the campaign trail. Now comes the hard part of actually making good on the goals that the 45th president has set out to implement. Its unlikely Trump will get much of a honeymoon period as he begins his term. Indeed, he appears impatient with all the pomp and ceremony and is eager to get started with a broad agenda. Americans ought to keep his feet to the fire as he assumes the burdens of office and forges ahead. Christian Milord, Fullerton Take notice Unfortunately, Democrats not just any Democrats, but those who were elected to represent the people in their districts chose to boycott President Trumps inauguration. What an embarrassment this is to their constituents and to our country, as the world witnesses their tantrum. Hopefully, those in their districts will realize this is not how real leaders handle disappointments. Effective leaders understand the need to find ways to build bridges, not burn them. Bonnie ONeil, Newport Beach Media should be kind to Trump Im so excited about our new president, President Donald J. Trump! Ill was glued to the TV to watch the inauguration. I hope that the Register will give him all the good publicity he deserves. Please dont insult all the people that voted for him in the majority of the states. Dont tell us about the dissenters, liberals, leftists and communists who wanted the other candidate. She lost. We won. Let us enjoy our victory. Lets make America great again! Dorothy Sheldon, Tustin Obama wasnt scandal-free Re: History will look favorably on Obama [Opinion, Jan. 19]: Erwin Chemerinsky may be a fine legal scholar, but hes not an objective historian, at least based on his assessment of the Obama administration as scandal free. Chemerinsky refers to the absence of personal scandals like those which marred the Nixon and Clinton administrations, among others. Of course, that, in itself, is no great accomplishment, as the Eisenhower, Carter, Reagan and both Bush administrations had no salacious personal scandals, either. However, he conveniently omits the many government/political scandals on the Obama watch. Those include the IRS scandal, Fast & Furious, the Clinton emails, the ransom paid to Iran and the resultant lies, Benghazi, spying on Fox reporter James Rosen, Solyndra and many more. As far as we know now, the Obama administration had no personal corruption, but it repeatedly perverted the government and the peoples will for political gain. Personally, Id much prefer a perverted and corrupt president to a debased and dishonest government, so I respectfully suggest that if Dean Chemerinsky wishes to weigh in on historical matters, he should fully research all aspects of his topic. Johnny Knox, San Juan Capistrano posted by , , Yesterday (Friday), I landed in Lekki Peninsula Resort for the Data Science Nigeria 3 days bootcamp. And it has been awesome so far. Couldn't even find time to make my daily post easily. I have been learning an awesome lot from industry experts. It has also been a great opportunity to meet amazing people. People who just plain blow my mind away. We've had insightful classes on R and Python for Data Science. Had experts video skype to teach us from Canada, Australia, UK and South Africa. Had practitioners in Nigeria come physically train us, from renowned professors to the president of Python Nigeria. I also had the privilege to take two sessions on Microsoft Excel for Data Analysis. It has been a value packed two days for me, and already expectant for tomorrow (Sunday), I got to find out what the community is like in Nigeria both from the hobbyist side and the professional side. I made very useful contacts and got huge encouragement on pursuing my data science adventures. I also managed to get myself and my company noticed. Hoping some of the connections I made turn into some business down the road, Omahan marches for her parents: German Jewish refugees WASHINGTON Dorris Heaston was among dozens of Omahans on her plane to Washington, D.C. The 69-year-old accountant is a mother, grandmother and registered independent who is sick of both political parties. But she marched Saturday for her German Jewish refugee parents, who emigrated to the United States before and during World War II. Her father became naturalized and fought for the United States in World War II. Her mothers grandfather perished in the Holocaust. What I heard growing up was Oh, that would never happen here. Never, she said. But she said she had to come to Washington Saturday because she wanted to protest the rhetoric she likens to Hitlers Germany. When it gets really ugly, she said, its too late. UNL staff member hopes for more frank talks about race WASHINGTON Karen Kassebaum marched here on Saturday but believes the real work requires frank in-person discussions. After Trumps election, Kassebaum, who is black, said she looked at all her white friends differently and wondered: Are they racist? She asked that question point-blank to her drum teacher, who is white and voted for Trump. We talked it out, she said, and she came to a better understanding of his views. I need to have that conversation with all my friends. Thats the question people want to ask but dont. Kassebaum is director of staff diversity and inclusion at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is also married to a white man and has biracial children. Her mother and uncle marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s. Gov. Pete Ricketts has proclaimed Black Elk Speaks by John G. Neihardt the 2017 pick for One Book One Nebraska, a reading program that encourages readers across the state to read and discuss one book. Black Elk Speaks is the story of the Oglala Lakota visionary and healer Nicholas Black Elk and his people. It is also one of the 150 books chosen to highlight the celebration of Nebraskas 150 years of statehood. The One Book One Nebraska program, now entering its 13th year, is sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book, Nebraska Library Commission, John G. Neihardt Foundation, Nebraska State Historical Society, University of Nebraska Press, Humanities Nebraska and Nebraska libraries and regional library systems. The program will host various activities surrounding the book. Updates and activity listings will be posted on onebook.nebraska.gov and facebook.com/onebookonenebraska. Seven Doctors Project to host an evening of readings The Seven Doctors Project, a Nebraska Writers Collective program that offers writing workshops to professionals in other fields, will host an evening of readings from participants in the programs 14th session this week. The readings will begin at 7 p.m. Monday at Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St. Doors open at 6. Donations will be accepted for the Seven Doctors Project. The band Ripleys Not Dead will play during an intermission. Founded by Steve Langan in 2008, the Seven Doctors Project initially offered a variety of creative writing and poetry workshops to health care professionals. The project partnered with the Nebraska Writers Collective in 2013 to combine resources and extend the program to professionals in other fields who rarely have opportunities to participate in the arts. Named after the seven physicians who participated in its inaugural session, the Seven Doctors Project brings together small groups to receive feedback on their work from their peers and writers in the community. Sessions run for six to eight weeks. Learn more about the program at newriters.org/services/seven-doctors-project. Calendar Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. Writers group: Genealogy Writers Group, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. today, Meeting Room 1, Main Library, 215 S. 15th St. No registration required. Book group: Alternative Book Club, 2 p.m. today, Panera Bread, 17730 West Center Road. Book group: The World War II Book Group will discuss To Hell and Back: Europe 1914-1949 by Ian Kershaw, 2 p.m. Monday, The Bookworm, 90th Street and West Center Road. Book group: The Books To Die For Pop-up Group will discuss Have His Carcase: A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery by Harriet Vane, 6:30 p.m. Monday, The Bookworm, Book group: The Crime Through Time Book Group will discuss The Yard by Alex Grecian, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, The Bookworm. Workshop: Legend Writers Group, 9 a.m. Wednesday, Legend Comics & Coffee, 5207 Leavenworth St. Workshop: Nebraska Writers Workshop. Teen mentoring at 5:30 p.m., adults from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Baright Public Library, 5555 S. 77th St., Ralston. Book group: The Mysterious Readers Book Group will discuss A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny, 6 p.m. Wednesday, The Bookworm. Book sale: Friends of the Omaha Public Library, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Swanson Library, 90th Street and West Dodge Road. Writers group: Wordsowers Christian Writers Group, 6 p.m. Thursday, Swanson Library. Writers group: Nebraska Novelists critique group, 7 p.m. Friday, Do Space, 72nd and Dodge Streets. Book group: The American History Book Club will discuss Founders Son: A Life of Abraham Lincoln by Richard Brookhiser, 10 a.m. Saturday, The Bookworm. Author appearance: Brandon Bauer, author of In Heroes of Light: The Hidden Myth, 11 a.m. Saturday, The Bookworm. Author appearance: Steven Joseph, author of The Soul of My Song: A Grieving Fathers Journey from Skeptic to Psychic Medium, 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, The Bookworm. Author appearance: Andrew Hilleman, author World, Chase Me Down, 1 p.m. Jan. 29, The Bookworm. Information for this column and other book page items should be sent to micah.mertes@owh.com. The shows you shouldnt miss this week, by Chuck Barney. SUNDAY Mercy Street 7 p.m., PBS Season 2 of the compelling Civil War drama picks up immediately after the dramatic events at the end of the first season finale. The series continues to explore life at the chaotic Mansion House Hospital in Alexandria, Virginia. Secrets of the Six Wives 9 p.m., PBS Historian Lucy Worsley explores the lives of Henry VIIIs many spouses. First up: Catherine of Aragon, whose failure to give him a son led him to turn his eyes toward Anne Boleyn. MONDAY Supergirl 7 p.m., The CW The superhero show returns to action tonight with an episode that finds Kara (Melissa Benoist) drawn to the story of a missing woman. Unfortunately, her quest results in her being thrust through a portal to another planet where the downtrodden are sold as slaves. TUESDAY The New Edition Story 8 p.m., BET This three-part miniseries follows the iconic 1980s boy band from its humble beginnings in Boston to megastardom without skimping on all the bickering and backstabbing that came with it. Bryshere Y. Gray (Empire) and Elijah Kelley (The Wiz Live!) are among the cast. Outsiders 8 p.m., WGN America As Season 2 gets underway, the battle between the Farrell clan and the town of Blackburg escalates, leaving the Farrells more isolated in the rugged hills of Appalachia than ever before. WEDNESDAY The Magicians 8 p.m., Syfy The enchanting and scary adventures continue as the show returns for Season 2. In the wake of their horrific battle with The Beast, Quentin and his friends scramble for a new plan of defense and seek the thrones of Fillory. Suits 9 p.m., USA The lively legal series returns for its midseason premiere. Now that Jessica has departed, managing partners Harvey and Louis are forced to put aside their considerable differences in an effort to keep the struggling firm afloat. THURSDAY Riverdale 8 p.m., The CW This one could either be really fun or a complete disaster. Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and the whole comic book gang show up in this subversive live-action drama. But you may not recognize them. Its a radically different take on the wholesome town, which turns out to be rife with danger and dark secrets. One of those secrets involves our beloved redhead (KJ Apa) having an affair with his teacher, Miss Grundy. Yikes. Scandal 8 p.m., ABC The wait is finally over. As the crazed drama returns, the election results for the presidential race between Mellie Grant and Francisco Vargas are announced and the results are shocking. Sound familiar? FRIDAY Rosewood 7 p.m., Fox Dont you hate it when this happens? On tonights episode, a victim is presumed dead, then comes to life just as the autopsy begins. SATURDAY Detroit Steel 9 p.m., History This new unscripted series celebrates the Motor Citys automotive legacy. It follows the members of a car customization shop who give old, ailing vehicles a supercharged rebirth. Editor's note: For more on this story, see this Q&A from health reporter Justin Conn. DECATUR A move by both Decatur hospitals to sever ties with a Medicaid provider is putting Macon County's Medicaid patients in limbo. Cathy Harvey, president of Molina Healthcare of Illinois, said Decatur Memorial Hospital is terminating its contract with Molina. But DMH officials, at this point, won't say why. There are 32,627 Macon County residents on Medicaid, according to the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. Harvey said, (DMH) has recently made the decision to terminate its contract with Molina Healthcare of Illinois without cause. We have worked in good faith in an attempt to ensure that our members could have access to DMHs services. However, ultimately, we could not come to a resolution. DMH officials had no comment, citing terms of its contract with Molina. According to Molina, a publicly traded company based in Long Beach, Calif., the contract will be officially terminated March 23. Hospital Sisters Health System, the parent company of St. Marys Hospital, ended its contract with Molina on Dec. 31. HSHS began posting notices on Jan. 1 that it no longer accepted Molina. It recently entered into a contract with Meridian Medicaid Managed Care. The termination (with Molina) is due to ongoing and unresolved issues around medical management, claim payments and credentialing of physicians, St. Marys spokesman Andrew Dilbeck said. Health care providers and managed Medicaid insurance providers across the state have experienced falling reimbursement rates from the Illinois government because of its budget woes, with many still owed millions of dollars. Health Alliance Insurance in Urbana, which is owned by Carle Foundation Hospital, backed out of the Medicaid business at the end of 2016. That will leave DMH patients with no managed Medicaid provider as of March 23, and HSHS patients with just one choice in Meridian. Medicaid is a system run by each of the states in which the federal government provides funds to serve those whose income and resources are insufficient to pay for health care. In 2011, Illinois passed a law requiring 50 percent of the states Medicaid population be enrolled in a managed care plan by the start of 2015. That meant private insurance companies would administer the plans on behalf of the state, and the state would pay a fixed amount for each patient instead of reimbursing providers for each individual charge. By 2015, 2.2 million of Illinois' 3.1 million Medicaid patients had switched to a managed care plan. For a long time, states managed their own Medicaid patients. They were processing the claims and doing all the administrative work in respect to patients, just like an insurance company, said Katie Anderson, DMHs vice president of legal affairs and corporate compliance. That took a lot of state resources, and it probably wasnt the most efficient system, as is the case with anything involving governments in general. The idea was you bring in these outside companies who are in the business of managing outside insurance claims and take the burden away from the state. The state supplies the money, and the outside companies are in charge of running the business. But because of the states lack of a budget and companies not receiving reimbursement from the state, many have dropped out. Health Alliance, which entered the Medicaid managed care market following enactment of the Affordable Care Act, terminated its contract with the state on Dec. 31. A source close to the Herald & Review said the state owed Health Alliance more than $600 million. Financial losses from the Medicaid managed care business line are not sustainable, and we expect no significant change in the situation coming from government or our efforts, Health Alliance CEO James C. Leonard said. We made this difficult decision after extensive review and analysis of available resources, the states confirmation of further rate reductions, and our ability to deliver the level of care management this population requires. Even as the state has tried to shift administration of Medicaid to private insurance companies, it has kept a master database of all Medicaid patients. Health Alliance assured patients they would be moved to standard Medicaid fee-for-service until they have a new plan. But Medicaid fee-for-service plans come with their own complications. Primary care physicians who accepted a Medicaid managed care plan may not accept a fee-for-service plan. DMH patients with Molina will be covered until March 23. HSHS patients who were Molina or Health Alliance patients should call (877) 912-8880 if they wish to change providers. LINCOLN Former Deuel County lawman Mike Hutchinson has deputized himself to rally support for legislation important to Nebraskas law enforcement community. Hutchinson is the former deputy sheriff who lost health insurance coverage for him and his wife while recovering from wounds suffered in an ambush in Big Springs, Nebraska, more than a year ago. Im ecstatic! said Hutchinson, 53. Im more than happy to give them a hand. State Sen. Lynne Walzs Legislative Bill 444 was a big dose of good news for Hutchinson, who impatiently continues to heal, body and mind, after being shot four times while attempting to serve an arrest warrant in December 2015. The bill would prohibit cities and counties from canceling health insurance coverage for injured law enforcement officers who suffer serious bodily injury from an assault. The bill limits its scope to injured on-duty officers who fall below the minimum number of working hours needed to maintain their regular individual or family health insurance. The bill allows a city or county to cancel the health insurance if the law enforcement officer does not return to employment within 12 months after the injury. Walz said she read about Hutchinsons injuries and followed his homecoming and recovery in The World-Herald. She thought it wasnt right for him to lose his family health insurance. The deputy was doing his job when he was injured in the line of duty, the Fremont senator said. It was unfair to our law enforcement officers. All of Hutchinsons medical bills related to the ambush have been paid by the countys workers compensation insurance carrier. In May, however, he and his wife, Karyl, fell off Deuel Countys group health insurance plan after the county switched to a third-party provider and it was noted that he wasnt working at least 30 hours a week. They had no insurance coverage if, for example, they were injured in a car accident when driving to Ogallala for a doctors appointment. Hutchinsons wife took a leave from her job to care for her husband at home and had no health insurance. Hutchinson, who lives near Chappell, suffered severe internal injuries from close-range gunshot wounds and hasnt been cleared by doctors to return to any type of work. The county eventually gave him a one-time $1,500 stipend to pay for insurance purchased through the Affordable Care Act. Taxes and other deductions reduced the total to about $1,140, Hutchinson said. The stipend paid for insurance through this month. It will cover some of Februarys payment and the Hutchinsons will pay the remainder. They will personally pay all future premiums. Walz said she has heard from others about expanding the bill to include other first responders, such as firefighters and emergency medical technicians. There also have been questions about specifying assault injuries covered by the bill. Well keep working on that, she said. Hutchinson said he would support expanding the health-insurance protection to all first responders. Firefighters and EMTs are taking gunfire in some places, he said. This isnt just a Nebraska thing. Its bigger than us. Walz said the Nebraska Fraternal Order of Police brought the bill to her for introduction. The organization represents more than 3,000 officers across the state. Jim Maguire, president of the state Fraternal Order of Police and a Douglas County deputy, said the bill would affect mostly smaller law enforcement agencies currently without the ability to continue health insurance to law enforcement officers recovering from assault injuries. The majority of Omaha metro-area law enforcement agencies such as police departments in Omaha, Lincoln, Bellevue and La Vista, and sheriffs offices in Douglas and Sarpy Counties have policies covering those injured on duty. Walzs bill would not affect these agencies. Papillion police officers, however, would benefit from the bill, Maguire said. Maguire said he supports the bills strict limits on continued health insurance coverage to officers suffering severe bodily injury from assaults, and its one-year time limit. This isnt for a sprained ankle suffered in chasing after a drunk, he said. Youd have to be stabbed, shot or run over. County or city workers compensation policies cover an officers health care bills for on-the-job injuries, just as they do for Hutchinson. But an officer or the family should never be without health insurance because the officer cant return to work immediately, Maguire said. You hope that you never have to use it, but if you do, then you have a whole lot more breathing room, he said. Deputy Hutchinson is trying like heck to get back to work. The last thing he needs to worry about is health insurance for his family. This bill says cities or counties cant use hours worked as a disqualifier. Hutchinson lost two of his three layers of stomach muscle during multiple surgeries this past year. He continues a weekly regimen of two days of physical therapy and one day of occupational therapy. Hutchinson said doctors tell him that it will take two years for his wounded body to find a new normal. His assailant, a 66-year-old electrician out of jail on an attempted first-degree murder charge in Colorado, was shot and killed by the Deuel County sheriff moments after Hutchinson was ambushed. Hutchinson served in a variety of law enforcement jobs across Nebraska before taking a job as a Deuel County sheriffs deputy in 2014 to be closer to a daughter and her family in Grant. Walzs bill been referred to the Judiciary Committee. Theres no big shiny sign that says so, but hidden away in a multiuse office building across from a Kmart on L Street, Yolanda Diaz is building one of Omahas rarest small businesses. Diaz, 56, heads one of the citys only independent manufacturers of childrens clothing, most of which are her own designs. As you read this, Diaz is producing more than half of the clothes for Omaha Fashion Weeks new Kids Rule Fashion Show, set to hit the runway in February. Diaz has shown in Omaha Fashion Week shows since its early years, but instead of designing clothes this time, she has been called on for her production expertise. The clothing sewn in Diazs little factory will set the stylistic tone for the new childrens fashion show, which was created to give kids a catwalk to model on after years of high supply but low demand for child models at Fashion Week shows. Brook Hudson, producer of Fashion Week and co-designer of the Kids Rule line, said she chose Diaz to manufacture the line because shes fast, experienced, nearby and trustworthy. Hudson said Diaz should be looked at as a role model for what shes building in Omaha. Shes such a great success story for Omahas designers, she said. I dont know that designers understand the production quantity shes doing. The turnaround time that she meets is just incredible. Diazs operation is confined to a 900-square-foot room behind a plain door marked with the company name, Little Miss Fashion. Inside, the walls are lined with dresses and skirts, some bagged in plastic, most in bright, youthful colors. A few workers operate sewing machines at tables in the free space. Every few weeks, in this closet of a factory, Little Miss Fashion produces 1,500 pieces to sell at online retailers such as Zulily or Sofia Style. Most days Diaz is here for 14, maybe 16 hours to pull it off. What Im doing is not just a piece of material, Diaz said. Im doing something, and Im putting in my heart, all my knowledge, all my passion in doing it, just trying to give my best on every piece that I make. Last year the Small Business Administration named Diaz its Nebraska Small Business Person of the Year, and Mayor Jean Stothert proclaimed May 3, 2016, as Yolanda Diaz Day. The exposure has helped her grow her business, which later this year will move into Las Americas Global Market, a shared commercial space being developed at 5025 S. 33rd St. There she will be able to expand her production by as many as 10 employees from its current half-dozen, and also open a retail store. In Mexico, Diaz used to manufacture clothing with her family. There, she felt like the businesses never got the support they needed. Not like they get in Omaha. Not like she is getting right now. I was in Mexico for 15 years doing the same thing. I never got any support from anybody there, she said. Here, its totally opposite. You can find support from many people just before the start. Diaz moved to Omaha from Monterrey, Mexico, more than 20 years ago, joining her brother here. She earned her U.S. citizenship in 2007 after marrying her current husband, who is now retired from the Nebraska National Guard and Nebraska Medicine. One night she saw a flier in Spanish for a microbusiness class from Catholic Charities. And she kept searching for new opportunities to learn from there. Diaz took English classes, participated in mentoring programs and designed for Omaha Fashion Week and Atlanta International Fashion Week. She launched her business, initially under the name La Princesita, in 2003. About four years ago she moved the production of her designs from Mexico to her space at 50th and L Streets. Her husband and adult son help her do anything that requires a computer, and a few employees at a time sew her creations. The rest, thats her. Her designs start with fabric, which she almost always finds at craft stores in town. The fabric inspires what she chooses to design. Diaz describes her designs as fun, comfortable and fashion-forward. As time has passed she has gotten more comfortable with her brand and what customers expect. Her use of muslin a lightweight cotton cloth she ships in from Maryland with black lace accents was a hit, drawing orders as far away as India. I think I have developed a style for people to recognize my brand, little by little, Diaz said. It makes me feel a lot of satisfaction doing it, and every day, more ideas come in because I know exactly what they expect. Her big break with her leading retailer, Zulily, came when somebody from the company saw a collection she showed at Omaha Fashion Week and asked if she could produce a collection for the online retailer. To grow her business, Diaz has taken out micro loans and has built her business into one that earns between $10,000 and $25,000 in sales during events on Zulily every two weeks. When a hand was extended to help her, she grabbed it, and now shes offering a hand back. The passion that she has for the business, the perseverance she never gave up, said Mabel Alarcon-Craven, Catholic Charities microbusiness training and development program director. I really admire her very much. Shes a hard worker, and she tries to help the community also. Alarcon-Craven said Diaz willingly shares with other businesses, particularly when it comes to explaining the import process, which was crucial in expanding her business, which ships clothing worldwide. Recently Diaz joined the board of directors for the Midlands Latino Community Development Corp., and hopes to help other inspired people chase their dreams, as she did. When it comes to fashion, she tries to share her expertise too, helping designers improve their production processes. Yolanda has definitely helped some of our other designers when its crunch time, Hudson said. I would love to see her become a great resource for the design community when a designer is ready to do a big production run. But Diazs eyes really light up when she mentions 11-year-old Artemis Gerlt. Artemis was a model for Diaz during Novembers Gala Fashion Events show at the Holland Center. Artemis mom mentioned that her daughter wanted to be a designer, like Diaz, and Diaz invited her back to the shop to serve as her apprentice on weekends. Its so awesome, Artemis said. I hope that someday she can teach me how to make dresses. I always wanted to make my own line of dresses and see my friends walk down the runway. After years of building, business is good for Diaz, and its getting better. Shes not sure what that ceiling looks like, but no matter what lies ahead, shes happy at how far shes come. The best thing that could happen to me is to just be able to do what I want to do, be successful in what Im doing and get the support of the people who buy my stuff, who believe in me, she said. The organizations who help small businesses in Nebraska, they have been the best things that have happened to me. Thats the key, why Omaha is a good city, a vibrant city and a progressive city is because of people in this community. Kids Rule Fashion Show What: a new kids fashion show by Omaha Fashion Week and Junior League of Omaha When: Feb. 17 and 18; shows at 6 p.m. both nights and 2 p.m. on Feb. 18 Where: Omaha Design Center, 1502 Cuming St. Tickets: start at $40; half of events profits go to Junior League of Omaha Registration: $80 per model, including a garment to take home Deadline to register: Jan. 31, online at kidsruleomaha.com Designers: Kids Rule (by Omaha Fashion Week staff), Aubrey Sookram and Wes and Willy Turns out that Warren Buffett spoke out in IBMs favor, sort of, 37 years ago when the government accused Big Blue of illegal anti-competitive practices. Buffetts more recent backing of IBM, having Berkshire Hathaway Inc. buy more than 8 percent of the company, raised eyebrows in 2011 because of his general view that its too hard to predict long-term winners in the fast-evolving world of technology. But Buffett was one of 87 witnesses who testified on behalf of the International Business Machines Corp. during the federal governments antitrust trial. According to a March 27, 1980, article in Computerworld magazine, it was through the Washington Post that Buffett talked with lawyers George Gillespie and Joseph Sahid about testifying in the case. Berkshire was a part-owner of the Post at the time. In his testimony, Buffett said he asked the Price, Waterhouse accounting firm to calculate the debt levels of 104 other computer-oriented companies that, according to federal prosecutors, were harmed by IBMs low prices and other alleged anti-competitive actions. Buffett said his hypothesis was that the competing companies had trouble raising money to finance their growth because they had too much debt. The accounting analysis, Buffett said in court, bore that hypothesis out in a very conclusive manner. So why didnt he buy IBM stock in 1980? Because, he told the court, with high-tech companies its particularly difficult to have a clear view of a long-term future. ... High-technology companies are ones where both the product and the customers use of it are (areas in which) I dont feel I have a full understanding. The government filed the antitrust charges in 1969, and the trial had started in 1975. In 1982, government prosecutors dropped the case, deciding IBMs success was not due to predatory pricing and other practices, according to an account by economist Richard Thomas DeLamarter. Cash buildup backed Susan Decker, a member of Berkshires board of directors since 2007 and former president of Yahoo, is OK with the way Berkshire handles its cash. (Next month Berkshires 2016 annual report will list a cash balance likely approaching $85 billion.) In an interview with Caroline Hyde of Bloomberg, Decker said she sees no pressure for the next several years to return Berkshires cash to shareholders. Decker described Berkshires business model of taking cash earned by its businesses and using it for capital investments, such as railroad improvements, and keeping substantial cash on hand. A major acquisition could come up, and its good to have the resources on the balance sheet to be ready for that kind of acquisition coming up, Decker said. As long as the core capital allocation proposition is working for investors, taking capital thats not productive and putting it into highly productive uses at a value-creating way, she said, I think investors will be tolerant of short periods of time where cash builds up before the next big deal. Race for electric cars BYD Inc., the Chinese company that is 10 percent owned by Berkshire, plans to sell electric passenger cars in the United States in two or three years, according to a manager. Li Yunfei, deputy general manager for branding and public relations, told Reuters that theres a race to become the first Chinese company to sell autos to American consumers. BYD has sold some electric and hybrid buses and fleet cars in this country and has an office in Los Angeles. Specialty Insurance expands Berkshire Specialty Insurance Co., the commercial insurer launched in 2013, now has a license to provide non-life insurance in Malaysia and has an office in Kuala Lumpur, in addition to Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau, according to Reuters. The group also has offices in Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Houston; New York; Irvine, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Ramon in California; Seattle; Stevens Point, Wisconsin; Auckland, New Zealand; Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney in Australia; Dusseldorf, Germany; and Toronto. New head of Lubrizol When Berkshire purchased Lubrizol Corp. in 2011, Buffett asked James Hambrick to remain as chairman and CEO for at least five years. Times up. The new top executive, starting this month, is Eric Schnur, who has been president and designated successor since June 1. Hambrick had been with the industrial chemical company for 38 years and Schnur for 27 years, starting as a development engineer in the research division. During Hambricks 14 years in charge, Lubrizol boosted annual sales from $2 billion to $7 billion, broadened its products from lubricant additives to a wide range of specialty chemicals through acquisitions, and built its workforce up to 9,000 people. Lubrizol said being purchased by Berkshire was further validation of the companys strength and financial performance. Wise use of wealth The headlines last week were startling: Eight men, including Warren Buffett, hold as much wealth as half the worlds population. Once you grasp that idea evidence of the worlds income disparity the question is what, if anything, to do about it? Theoretically, the eight men could divide up their $426.2 billion and send $57 to each of the worlds 7.5 billion people. But that one-time disbursement would scarcely solve anything. Another alternative would be to use the money in ways that will give the worlds people a long-lasting boost. Things like eliminating diseases, improving agriculture, increasing educational opportunity, advocating for fair treatment of women, providing clean water and helping people improve their job prospects or start their own businesses. That list sounds a lot like whats being done by some of the billionaires charities, including those tied to Buffett and Bill Gates, his friend and business associate. True, some billionaires build multiple huge houses and spend money in other ways that some would label as squandering. At the same time, though, Buffett and others among the top eight are trying to use large portions of their vast wealth for the betterment of humanity. Magicians magical gig It was a magic night for Steve Cohen. Sure, he has done magic tricks for magicians David Copperfield, Raymond Joseph Teller and David Blaine. Hes performed for Stephen Sondheim and Barry Diller. But a magic show in Omaha got special mention in a Parade magazine article. Cohen learned magic tricks at age 6, earned $25 for a birthday party show at age 10 and attended magic camp as a youngster, then began doing private shows after graduating from college. He eventually set up shop in a private suite in the Waldorf Towers in New York City, doing salon magic for small audiences. Then Buffett paid to cancel all of Cohens shows one weekend and flew him to Omaha to do a private performance for Walter Scotts birthday party, the story said. Scott, past chairman of Kiewit Corp., is a close friend of Buffetts and a member of Berkshires board of directors. It was one of the greatest shows of my life, Cohen said. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. owns the Omaha World-Herald WASHINGTON (AP) If President Donald Trump is going to meet his pledge to energize the U.S. economy, theres a simple yet tough way to do so: Put more men to work. The number of men in their prime working years who either have jobs or are looking for jobs has been dropping for decades and limiting economic growth in the process. The full brunt of the 60-year decline burst into view during the 2016 election. Trump triumphed in part by vowing to restore jobs at steel mills, auto plants and coal mines the types of work that had once employed legions of men who lacked college educations. Bringing more non-college-educated men into the workforce is a Herculean challenge that has long bedeviled economists. Among the root causes: Automation. Factory robots and computer software have wiped out an array of jobs that once provided a middle class lifestyle. Global competition. U.S. workers have been competing for jobs with cheaper foreign workers, a trend thats led to some offshoring of jobs and curbed pay in some industries. Criminal records. Stricter criminal laws have left more than 20 million Americans with felony convictions and prison records a fourfold increase from 30 years earlier. Drug use. Nearly half of jobless men who are no longer looking for work are on prescription pain medication, research has found. Still, Trump appears to endorse a straightforward fix: Bump up economic growth, and workers will land good jobs at decent wages. To chart the problem, his team has pointed to an obscure gauge called the labor force participation rate. This is the proportion of people who are either working or looking for work. It excludes anyone who has stopped searching for a job. Its a number that draws secondary billing after the unemployment rate and job creation. But beneath the sunny 4.6 percent jobless rate is the troubling shadow cast by the millions of men ages 25 to 54 who have dropped out of the workforce. For this group, labor force participation has sunk to 88.5 percent from a 1954 peak of 97.9 percent. Most of that loss has occurred among men who have high school diplomas or less, according to a report by the Obama administration. (Womens participation rate has declined less dramatically.) The Trump team argues that it can lift the overall participation rate by reducing taxes and regulations, which it says would speed economic growth. But economists say increasing mens participation is difficult. The underlying causes are long-standing and go beyond the tax, trade and regulatory policies that Trump has attacked as the main hindrances. For one thing, there has been a disappearance of routine manual jobs that required little education or high-tech skills, from machine operators to assembly line workers. These occupations have been displaced by automation and, to a lesser extent, outsourcing to lower-wage countries. The number of factory jobs has dropped 37 percent from the 1979 high to 12.3 million. Routine manual jobs accounted for 23 percent of work in 1979, a share that fell to 15 percent by 2014, according to research. Faster economic growth might not raise the participation rate, said Henry Siu, an economics professor at the University of British Columbia. If growth is fueled by greater use of technology, it could lead to even fewer routine jobs and further depress labor force participation, he said. On the other hand, if stronger economic growth came from improved worker skills and higher college graduation rates, labor force participation might rise. One obstacle is that many men are unwilling to accept service sector jobs that are viewed as lower-paying womens work, from cooks to home health aides, said Betsey Stevenson, an economist at the University of Michigan who worked in the Obama administration. Stevenson said that avoiding a recession would at least help stabilize the participation rate. Many workers 50 or older who lost jobs during or after the Great Recession couldnt find another and eventually stopped looking. Their exodus from the labor force lowered the participation rate. Other social forces, from mass incarceration to poor health, have contributed to the declining participation rate. Nicholas Eberstadt, an economist at the American Enterprise Institute, noted that roughly 23 million Americans have felony convictions. Having a prison record makes an American man three times as likely to drop out of the labor force compared with a man with no arrests, Eberstadt said. Health problems and the opioid epidemic may also be a major barrier to work, according to research by Alan Krueger, a Princeton University economist and former Obama adviser. All of which means the Trump administration might have to embrace a broader effort to increase labor force participation, one that addresses public health problems, the many Americans with criminal records and the displacement caused by increased use of technology. But in terms of genuinely helping things, said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office and now president of the American Action Forum, this is the place you really want to go. Canvas and Cabernet in Aksarben Village recently donated more than 100 painted canvases and wood door hangers to the Open Door Mission. These items are provided as gifts to their guests and program graduates. Other fundraisers, donations, other charitable efforts in the Midlands: Chili dinner: The Keystone Community Task Force will hold a chili dinner fundraiser from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 12 at VFW Post No. 2503, 8904 Military Ave. The event will feature chili, hot dogs, relishes, desserts and beverages. Raffles also will be held. Proceeds from the event go toward the Keystone Community Task Force scholarship program. Admission is $6 for adults and $3 for children ages 12 and younger. STEM grant: Google recently awarded Kaneko a grant for $20,000 through the Google Inc. Charitable Giving Fund of the Tides Foundation. The money will help expand the STEM-based educational summer camps in four areas, including architecture design, video game design and 3D prototyping and design in multiple STEM areas. The grant will help Kaneko reach more students in the metro area with additional technology resources like laptops, tablets, storage carts, printers and more. The annual Kaneko summer camps are designed for students aged 12-15 years old. Philanthropy contest: The Philanthropy Council of Northeast Nebraska is taking submissions for its Youth Philanthropy Contest in which they design projects to better their communities.Ten contest winners will receive up to $1,000 to complete their projects. Students in kindergarten through the age of 25 are eligible. Individuals, small groups, clubs and classrooms can all participate. Applications are due at 10 a.m. Feb. 4. Applications and guidelines are now available online at philanthropycouncilne.org. Blood drives: The American Red Cross needs donors with all blood types for blood donations. Blood drive locations this week include: Omaha Monday: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., CHI Service Center - Mercy, 7261 Mercy Road; noon to 6 p.m., Heartland Chapter, 2912 S. 80th Ave. Tuesday: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Signature Performance, 10330 Regency Parkway Drive; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Brookestone Village, 4330 South 144th, (at Brookestone Village); 12:30 to 6 p.m., Lewis and Clark Middle School, 6901 Burt St. Wednesday: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., First National Bank Business Park, 14010 First National Parkway Thursday: 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., North Park 3, 2121 N. 117th Ave.; 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Douglas Co. Civic Center, 1819 Farnam St.; 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Zorinsky Building, 1616 Capitol Ave.; 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Nebraska Methodist College, 720 N. 87th St. Friday: 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., The Nebraska Medical Center, 4350 Dewey Ave.; 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., Omaha Public Schools Teacher Administrative Center, 3215 Cuming St.; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Hy-Vee, 1000 S. 178th St. Saturday: 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Holy Cross Church, 4837 Woolworth Elkhorn Wednesday: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Metropolitan Community College, 829 N. 204th St. Gretna Wednesday: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Gretna High School, 11335 S. 204th St. Papillion Saturday: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Lowes, 8707 S. 71st Plaza For more information about how to donate, go online to redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-733-2767 to make an appointment or for more information. NEOLA, Iowa A trio of crosses tower above Interstate 80 near Neola, Iowa. The town Lions Club chapter erected the crosses in June, inspired by a national organization. And now theyre working to illuminate them for nighttime drivers. Its a unique thing. Its not dedicated to anyone or a big donor, said Fred Rodenburg, president of the Neola Lions Club. We just wanted to do it. The crosses stand 36 feet high and abut a fence on farmland just off Exit 23 off Interstate 80 on County Road L55. When you come around the big curve on I-80 going east headed west, you can see them well, Rodenburg said. The club was inspired when it learned about Crosses Across America, a nonprofit organization that has helped erected more than 2,000 clusters of crosses across the country. The organization was founded in 1984 by the Rev. Bernard Coffindaffer, a businessman-turned-preacher who put his first set of crosses up in Flatwoods, West Virginia, according to the Crosses Across America website. Coffindaffer spent nearly $3 million erecting crosses in 29 states, Washington D.C., Zambia and the Philippines before his death in 1993. Today the effort is refurbishing existing crosses and working to raise crosses at 50-mile intervals along more than 48,000 miles of the federal interstate highway system. Their Giant Crosses project started with 110-foot high crosses in Florence, Mississippi. The cross is a popular symbol in Christianity, with the trio representing the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and two criminals. Rodenburg said after he learned about the Crosses Across America effort he presented the idea of the Neola crosses at a Lions Club meeting. We voted to do this project, and, from there, it went on, he said. Its worked out well. Local farmer Les Clark told the club it was OK to use his land, which overlooks the interstate. Over the course of a few hours on June 8, a group of volunteers teamed with Zimmerman Sales and Service to raise the crosses. The Neola business donated the use of equipment for the project. Without Kevin (Zimmerman), wed still be digging the holes, Lions Club member Jerry Farley said while looking over the crosses on Wednesday afternoon. The effort cost about $1,000, Rodenburg said, taken from the Lions Club coffers. It was an all-volunteer effort, he said. The stretch of Interstate 80 near Exit 23 and County Road L55 sees about 20,300 vehicles pass by daily on average, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation. We thought it would be a good place to present a message, said Lions Club member Bill Ambrose. Added Rodenburg: All the cars per day, times 365 days, plus however many are in the car thats a lot of people. And they want the crosses to be more visible to even more drivers. The group is currently raising funds to light the crosses at night. Thatll cost another $1,000 or so, Rodenburg said, with the club looking at the options of solar lights or working with Mid-American Energy to get power to the crosses. The club will host a fundraiser at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 5, at the Phoenix Theater in Neola. The Ultimate Tailgate Party event will feature a variety of food, drinks and games. A free-will donation will be accepted. Asked why they did it, Rodenburg said there was no overarching, grand theme. Thats the uniqueness of this thing: Why not put up crosses? he said. We just wanted to do it and thought itd be a good thing for the community. And we had a perfect spot for it. Its a cool thing to do. IOWA CITY (AP) An Iowa institution for residents with intellectual disabilities, already reeling from allegations of abuse, has been ordered to reinstate a high-ranking official who was fired for alleged safety lapses two years ago. The firing of Glenwood Resource Center administrator Douglas Wise wasn't justified and he must be returned to a similar job with full back pay, the Public Employment Relations Board ruled last month. A settlement, expected to be finalized soon, will likely cost taxpayers around $200,000. Wise's reinstatement will come as Glenwood faces a separate scandal involving incidents of verbal and physical abuse against 20 of its 230 residents. Wise's attorney, Charles Gribble, said his client's pleased with the ruling and is looking forward to returning to his field, "notwithstanding the problems at Glenwood." "He believes he can be of help and assistance as a supervisor," Gribble said. A state lawyer argued last month that Wise's shortcomings "resulted in a serious health, safety and welfare risk" to Glenwood residents and that his reinstatement was unwise. But the Department of Human Services, which operates the institution, said it would honor the ruling, which faulted the agency for failing to give Wise the chance to improve his performance after a 27-year, discipline-free career. The department says 17 Glenwood employees have been fired, disciplined or resigned amid allegations that they struck residents with spoons and butter knives, called them names and taunted them with sexual conversations. A regulatory agency last week fined the center $40,000 and threatened to take away its license if problems aren't solved. Wise, who was responsible for overseeing 100 residents in 7 of Glenwood's 19 homes, wasn't accused of abuse. Instead, he was faulted for failing to carry out directives from Glenwood superintendent Gary Anders to remove batteries from one of the homes after three incidents in 2014 in which two young men swallowed batteries and needed surgery to remove them. After the third incident, Wise was assured by home managers that they had searched and removed all batteries. But employees discovered 160 batteries during a search several weeks later. Wise was fired Oct. 31, 2014, after an investigation faulted him for failing to take personal action to ensure their removal or confirm his subordinates' claims. Wise, who was honored by the governor in 2003 with a "Leader of the Year" award, filed a grievance appealing his firing. He noted that residents had routinely swallowed items before and after his employment a medical condition called pica and argued he'd done his best to follow the no-battery directive. Administrative Law Judge Jan Berry in October ordered Wise's reinstatement, saying the firing "flies in the face" of the state employment's system of progressive discipline. He said Wise hadn't committed misconduct that merited termination but rather had "a perceived performance deficiency" that could be addressed. The state appealed, saying the ruling failed to consider the accountability required for high-level supervisors and what Wise's "continued employment would mean for clients based upon his proven inability to ensure a safe environment." The three-member Public Employment Relations Board rejected that argument. DHS spokeswoman Amy McCoy said the agency "believes it took the appropriate action in this case" but would reinstate Wise. The two sides are calculating how much pay Wise is owed for lost wages and retirement and health benefits. If they cannot reach agreement, the board will hold a hearing next week. NEOLA, Iowa Three crosses tower above Interstate 80 near Neola. The towns Lions Club chapter erected the crosses in June, inspired by a national organization. And now the group is working to illuminate them for nighttime drivers. Its a unique thing, said Fred Rodenburg, president of the Neola Lions Club. We just wanted to do it and thought itd be a good thing for the community. And we had a perfect spot for it. Its a cool thing to do. The crosses stand 36 feet high and abut a fence on farmland at Exit 23 off Interstate 80 on County Road L55. When you come around the big curve on I-80 near Neola, you can see them well, Rodenburg said. The club was inspired when it learned about Crosses Across America, a nonprofit organization that has helped erect more than 2,000 clusters of crosses across the country. Rodenburg said after he learned about the project he presented the idea of the Neola crosses at a Lions Club meeting. Local farmer Les Clark told the club it was OK to use his land, which overlooks the Interstate. Zimmerman Sales and Service donated the use of equipment for the project. The effort cost about $1,000, Rodenburg said, taken from the Lions Club coffers. It was an all-volunteer effort, he said. The stretch of Interstate 80 sees about 20,300 vehicles pass by daily on average, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation. We thought it would be a good place to present a message, said Lions Club member Bill Ambrose. And the club wants the crosses to be more visible to even more drivers. The group is raising funds to light the crosses at night. Thatll cost another $1,000 or so, Rodenburg said, with the club looking at the options of solar lights or working with Mid-American Energy to get power to the crosses. The club will host a fundraiser at 3 p.m. Feb. 5 at the Phoenix Theater in Neola. The Ultimate Tailgate Party event on Super Bowl Sunday will feature a variety of food, drinks and games. A freewill donation will be accepted. UPDATE, 6:30 p.m. CST: Emergency officials are reporting three additional deaths in southern Georgia from violent storms, bringing the overall toll to at least 18 people killed over the weekend by a severe weather system sweeping the Southeast. Catherine Howden, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, said Sunday evening that three additional deaths have been confirmed in Georgia's Dougherty County. Local officials say search and rescue operations are underway after a reported tornado caused widespread destruction in the county Sunday evening. Before the three latest deaths were confirmed, Georgia officials had reported 12 deaths statewide. Howden said one of those was reported in error. Four died Saturday in Mississippi. * * * * * UPDATE, 4:55 p.m.: An emergency official says more people have been killed as violent storms tear across southern Georgia on Sunday afternoon. Sebon Burns, chief deputy emergency management director for Georgia's Dougherty County, said "fatalities and a lot of injuries" have been reported since an apparent tornado cut a path through the county Sunday afternoon. Burns said he could not give even an estimate for how many people died. Earlier Sunday, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency reported 12 total deaths had been confirmed in three other Georgia counties after storms hit before dawn Sunday. A wide area of Georgia and parts of South Carolina and Florida remained under tornado watches Sunday evening. * * * * * ADEL, Georgia (AP) Powerful storms kicked up apparent tornadoes and pushed the weekend death toll to 16 people killed and dozens injured as a fast-moving storm system punched through the Southeast for a second day on Sunday, authorities said. An apparent tornado blew through a mobile home park early Sunday in southern Georgia's rural Cook County, sheering off siding, upending homes and killing seven people, local authorities said. An eighth death was reported in Cook County by state officials, although it was unclear whether that victim lived in the park. Coroner Tim Purvis said that the tornado "leveled" the park before dawn Sunday and that emergency responders searched for survivors for hours after the twister struck. Purvis said the park had about 40 mobile homes, and roughly half were destroyed. The area was cordoned off by police. Not far from the mobile home park, 19-year-old Jenny Bullard wore a sling on her injured arm as she combed through the rubble of her family's brick house. All that remained standing Sunday afternoon was the master bedroom and parts of the kitchen. "It's a horrible tragedy," Bullard said. "But all this stuff can be replaced. We can't replace each other. We're extremely lucky." Bullard said she awoke before dawn Sunday to the sound of hail pounding the roof. When she went outside her bedroom door, she was knocked down by a collapsing wall in the hallway. She managed to get up and found her father calling for her, trapped under debris. She pulled him free, and they found her mother in the master bedroom. They escaped by climbing over piles of furniture and debris where the wall to their home office once stood. President Donald Trump said Sunday he had spoken with Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and "expressed our sincere condolences for the lives taken." "Tornadoes were vicious and powerful and strong, and they suffered greatly," Trump said during a White House ceremony where he was swearing in aides. "So we'll be helping out the state of Georgia." Several homes appeared to be destroyed along on a road within about 2 miles of the mobile home park, with cinderblocks scattered on the ground, and pine trees uprooted and snapped in half. The tops of broken utility poles lay alongside the road. The South Georgia Motorsports Park in Cecil was heavily damaged; a grandstand was ripped apart. Barrels, signs, insulation and garbage were strewn over the speedway and parking lot. Georgia's governor declared a state of emergency in seven southern Georgia counties, freeing up state resources to assist with recovery efforts. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Georgians suffering from the storm's impact," Deal said in a statement. In addition to eight deaths in Cook County, four people were killed in adjoining counties Sunday. Another four people were killed in Mississippi by a tornado on Saturday, bringing the weekend death toll to 16. The National Weather Service said southern Georgia, northern Florida and the corner of southeastern Alabama all faced severe weather threats Sunday. Forecasteers said that included the possibility of long-track tornadoes, somewhat rare and capable of staying on the ground for 20 or more miles, were possible. Two of Sunday's deaths occurred when a mobile home was struck by an apparent tornado in Brooks County, which moved the home roughly 100 yards. "A tornado hit a mobile home, picked it up and put it in the middle of Highway 122," Brooks County Coroner Michael Miller said. "I don't know if it rolled or was lifted, but it blocked the entire highway." He said the storm struck about 4 a.m. Sunday. Catherine Howden of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency said earlier Sunday that the deaths occurred in Cook, Brooks and Berrien Counties in southern Georgia near the Georgia-Florida line. She said another 23 people were injured. The Sheriff's Office and coroner in Berrien County could not immediately be reached for comment Sunday. Calls to their phones were met with busy signals for several hours. While the central part of the U.S. has a fairly defined tornado season in the spring, the risk of tornadoes "never really goes to zero" for most of the year in the southeast, said Patrick Marsh of the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. January tornado outbreaks are rare but not unprecedented, particularly in the South. Data from the Storm Prediction Center shows that, over the past decade, the nation has seen an average 38 tornadoes in January, ranging from a high of 84 in 2008 to just four in 2014. The last time the prediction center issued a high-risk weather outlook where forecasters are very confident of a tornado outbreak was in 2014. Sunday marked only the third time since 2000 that any part of Florida had been at a high-risk for severe weather, Marsh said. "This is a pretty rare event in this location," Marsh said. If the storm fatalities reported so far this year four each in Alabama and Mississippi and the 11 in Georgia are all attributed to twisters, this January's death toll would be worse than 1999. That year, 18 people died in series of storms in Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee. Copyright 2017 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. Nebraska Lt. Gov. Mike Foley was on hand Saturday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony and dedication at Scottsbluff High School. Scottsbluff Public Schools officials invited students, parents, staff members and the public to take a look at the new phase I facility. The high schools renovation was made possible because of a $30 million bond issue passed in 2014. Sixty percent of the project is complete, with the rest to be finished in phase II. So many of you here today played such a critical role in bringing this project to completion, Foley said. Phase I is just fabulous. Looking forward to phase II in just a few months. Foley spoke about the need for skilled workers throughout the state of Nebraska. On Monday morning, 100,000 Nebraskans will go to work at high-tech manufacturing companies sprinkled all across our state, contributing billions of dollars to our state economy, he said. We want to sell more, we want to do more, we want to build more and we need more skilled workers, and that is what this project is really all about. Foley said schools like Scottsbluff High School are the future in Nebraska. Wall-to-wall career academies like this one have the potential to open up a whole gateway of new opportunities for students in western Nebraska, Foley said. Students are here today and they have access to these opportunities, and the possibilities are endless. He recognized the commitment it took of everyone involved to make the project a reality. Foley also spoke about the advances made to technologies that are housed in Nebraska schools and said they allow children to be introduced to new and exciting jobs, exposing them to possible career paths. As a father of six children, I can relate to so many parents that are here today, Foley said. I want my kids to seek out career choices and allow them to build their lives at home, here in Nebraska. DECATUR -- Fairview Park bustled with activity on sunny Saturday afternoon, from dog walkers to bike riders and even a picnic or two. It is a pretty common scene whenever the weather is nice; what made Saturday unique was that it was all happening in the middle of January. Central Illinois saw record-highs in several locations, with temperatures reaching as high as 63 degrees in Decatur, according to the National Weather Service in Lincoln. The high in Decatur did not break the 1906 record of 69 degrees, but Saturdays 63 degrees was 28 degrees higher than the typical high in January. Springfield and Lincoln did reach record highs. Saturdays temperature was more in line with early April in Central Illinois, according to a statement from the National Weather Service. And locals took full advantage of the springlike weather. As he walked his Jack Russell Terrier, Chase, around Fairview Park, Adam Hunt said he almost had to check his calendar to make sure it was really January. Id expect this kind of day in spring, but Im certainly not going to complain, Hunt said. Outside the leafless trees and dull color grass, spring was almost in the air with the number of people who were out and about. There were even people who wore shorts, breaking out attire few would be brave enough to wear outdoors during usual winter weather. This is so wonderful, its nice to take advantage of it, said Mike Henderson as he sat on a park bench in Fairview Park. A 1906 story from the Herald & Review archives noted the record with the headline: "LIKE GOOD OLD SUMMER TIME." The record warmth was followed by rapidly falling temperatures and sleet in Decatur and across the Midwest. The current forecast is more moderate. Temperatures in Central Illinois will soon dip back closer to January norms, but any precipitation will be in rain form. Sunday should see temperatures in the mid-50s, with a 40 percent chance for rain. Early next week should see temperatures in the mid-40s. As her and her friends left Fairview Park after hula hooping, Jennifer Sanders stressed how much she loved the warm weather. They began to leave the park, Sanders said she was in love with the warm winter day. I could get used to this, she said. Im really not looking forward to it getting cold again. LYONS, Neb. When a Utah firm abruptly announced plans to close a nursing home here 21 months ago, Rodney Wiese and several other employees kept on working, even though they no longer received paychecks. For about a month Wiese and others carried on, without pay, until the 32 elderly residents of the home could find new places to live. What do you do? Do you walk out on them? he asked. You cant just do that. Today, there are signs of new life at the long-shuttered Logan Valley Manor. Bathrooms and the kitchen have been refurbished, the roof replaced and new paint applied. And Wiese, after working at another care center, is back, again as the maintenance director of the newly renamed Lyons Living Center. The 65-bed facility is expected to greet its first residents in the next couple of weeks, en route to regaining full accreditation by March. The community is ready for it to be open, Wiese said. Lyons, population 851, was one of four rural communities across the state that lost their nursing homes when Deseret Health Group, facing bankruptcy, decided in May 2015 to close them. The decision dug deep into the fabric of Lyons, as well as Ainsworth, Exeter and Edgar. Nursing homes are major employers in rural communities, and losing those jobs and having elderly residents forced to move farther away from their homes prompted anger and dismay. Officials from those towns said that in the final days the former operator had stopped making repairs to the structures and had issued paychecks that bounced. That presents a challenge in reopening such facilities. Would past employees come back? Would families place loved ones there, even with new owners? This is a small town, and they got burned, said David McCray, administrator of the new Lyons facility. You have to go above and beyond to regain that trust. Townspeople in Lyons, in northeast Nebraska, and Ainsworth, on the edge of the Sand Hills, are taking on that challenge. In Ainsworth, population 1,700, the city and Brown County pledged $340,000 each to obtain and reopen its former Deseret-owned facility. The 46-bed Sandhills Care Center, which opened its doors in November, now has 12 residents and is expected to soon get approval to accept residents on Medicare and Medicaid. About half of the residents who had previously lived in the Ainsworth facility have moved back, and about half of the 28 employees who used to work there have returned, said Stephanie Rucker, the care centers manager. They were very anxious to get back and bring the residents back home and make this a community again, she said. The city-county group that owns the care center is already doing a feasibility study to build a new, replacement facility, said Kent Taylor, the chairman of the city-county management board. Were in this for the long run, Taylor said. We feel theres a need. When the Ainsworth facility closed, Taylor had to move his grandmother to another care center in Atkinson, 47 miles away. The move cut back on visits from family members, he said. The new center in Ainsworth will not only help families more easily keep in touch with loved ones, Taylor said, but also should be more viable, because it wont need to turn a profit. In Lyons, the new facility is owned by the Lyons Community Foundation, which obtained the care center as a donation from its California-based owners; Deseret didnt own the building; it was simply the management firm. The foundation is working with Domer Sodusta, who owns an Omaha-based firm that provides physical therapy and hospice services, Physmed Home Health Care. His firm spent thousands of dollars to rehab the care center in Lyons, and will manage the facility. After four years, the company could then buy the facility for a nominal amount, according to Dan Smith, a Lyons attorney and member of the local foundation. While the deal was being worked out, volunteers in Lyons kept the lawn mowed, and the city kept the heat on at the care center so the facility would not deteriorate. Everyone in the community is certainly doing everything they can to support this, Smith said. In these small towns, any viable business helps. A state inspection of the new Lyons facility, a step to obtain a state license, is scheduled later this week. In Edgar and Exeter, two communities south of Interstate 80 and west of Lincoln, hopes are waning for resurrecting those former Deseret care centers. A nurse from Grand Island, Audrey Perez, formed a nonprofit corporation that purchased the two facilities a year ago. She has not applied for a state operating license. Phone messages left with Perez on Friday were not returned. Little progress has been made toward repairing and reopening the two facilities, according to officials in the two communities. A hail storm had severely damaged the Exeter facility prior to its closing, and many repairs were left undone by Deseret, said Exeter Village Clerk Becky Erdkamp. Tarps remain stretched across portions of the roof, she said. Edgar City Clerk Chris Shuck said Perez responded this summer to a request to mow the overgrown lawn at the former Rose Brook Nursing Home. Water service was turned back on at the facility in December, she said, but theres some exterior damage that hasnt been repaired. I hope it opens, Shuck said of the Edgar facility. Downtown Omaha echoed with loud chants of Love trumps hate! on Saturday as thousands of marchers filled the streets in one of the biggest protest rallies in the citys recent memory. Police estimated between 12,000 and 14,000 women, men and children participated in the Omaha womens march a crowd size that far exceeded organizers expectations of 2,000 to 4,000 participants. Ive been in traffic seven years and this is easily without a doubt the biggest rally weve ever worked, said Sgt. Jerry Martinez of the Omaha Police Department. It was peaceful. No problem. Organizers were beyond thrilled. We started with a room for 500 and exponentially grew from there on Facebook. This is beyond our wildest dreams, said Alex Garrison, one of the (female) organizers of the Womens March on Omaha. The march was part of a national and international movement, as womens marches were held across the U.S. and in international cities in the wake of President Donald Trumps inauguration Friday. Lincoln police estimated between 2,000 and 3,000 took part in that citys march, although volunteers estimated far more than that participated. Ive never seen anything like this in Lincoln before, said Sue Ellen Wall, a Lincoln resident. Many protesters in Omaha readily acknowledged that Trump won the election, but several said they came to send a message to their congressional representatives that they expected them to hold Trump accountable. Several also said they wanted to send a message to Trump that he represents all Americans now, whether or not they voted for him in November. He needs to know our voices count too, said Stephanie Brown, 36, a business analyst from Omaha who voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton. Mary Bircher, a harpist with the Omaha Symphony, echoed Browns comments. Donald Trump is our president too, and we need to be represented, she said. The crowd included young and old, women and men. In fact, it appeared at times during the pre-rally speeches that nearly 30 percent to 40 percent of the participants were men. Former U.S. Rep. Brad Ashford and State Sen. Tony Vargas both attended. Joy Becker, 23, said she worries that Trumps style, which she characterized as authoritarian, poses a threat to this nations democracy. Specifically, the Lincoln woman cited Trumps frequent attacks on the news media and his friendly relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin as grounds for her worries. This is different than another Republican president. I wouldnt be here if another Republican had been elected, Becker said. Im fearful for our democratic country. In Lincoln, one woman said Trumps views on immigration could have far-reaching consequences for her life. Claudia Pech identified herself as a Dreamer, or a child brought to this country as a young girl by parents who did not follow this nations immigration laws. Trump has vowed to end a program started by then-President Barack Obama that allowed people such as Pech to remain in this country without fear of deportation. The program is being threatened by Trump, so I wanted to let people know we are here, she said. Were part of what makes America great again. The march in Omaha began about 6 p.m. It was so large that at times it stretched for 14 blocks, from the CenturyLink Center to the Old Market. It was also loud, with protesters jubilantly hollering chants and spontaneously erupting in cheers. Police blocked off traffic for the marchers, forcing some motorists to wait for more than 30 minutes. Bill Laird couldnt have been happier about being stopped in traffic at 13th and Douglas. This is Omaha, Nebraska, right? he asked incredulously as the marchers filed past. Laird got trapped as he attempted to pick up his wife from the rally. This is amazing, Laird said. This is totally impressive. World-Herald staff writer Marcella Mercer contributed to this report. WASHINGTON (AP) In a global exclamation of defiance and solidarity, more than 1 million people rallied at women's marches in the nation's capital and cities around the world Saturday to send President Donald Trump an emphatic message on his first full day in office that they won't let his agenda go unchallenged. Many of the women came wearing pink, pointy-eared "pussyhats" to mock the new president. Plenty of men joined in, too, contributing to surprising numbers everywhere from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles to Mexico City, Paris, Berlin, London, Prague and Sydney. The outpouring served to underscore the degree to which Trump has unsettled people in both hemispheres. "We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war," actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd. "Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack, and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. ... We are America, and we are here to stay." The Washington rally attracted over 500,000 people by the unofficial estimate of city officials apparently more than Trump's inauguration drew on Friday. Turnout in the capital was so heavy that the designated march route alongside the National Mall was impassable. Protesters were told to make their way to the Ellipse near the White House by way of other streets, triggering a chaotic scene that snarled downtown Washington. "We want a leader, not a creepy tweeter," some marchers chanted. Others: "Welcome to your first day, we will not go away!" "I didn't have a sign I I had a Washington Post." pic.twitter.com/Xq6rwHdNyq Erin Grace (@ErinGraceOWH) January 21, 2017 Around the world, women brandished signs with slogans such as "Women won't back down" and "Less fear more love." They decried Trump's stand on such issues as abortion, health care, diversity and climate change. And they branded him a sexist, a bully, a bigot and more. In Chicago, organizers canceled the march portion of their event for safety reasons after the overflow crowd reached an estimated 150,000. People made their way through the streets on their own anyway. In New York, well over 100,000 marched past Trump's home at glittering Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. More than 100,000 also gathered on Boston Common, and a similar number demonstrated in Los Angeles. In Miami, real estate agent Regina Vasquez, 51, brought a sign saying "Repeal and Replace Trump." "I believe that strength is in the numbers, and that we should all come out and not make Trump the new normal," she said. All told, more than 600 "sister marches" were planned worldwide. Crowd estimates from police and organizers around the globe added up to more than a million. "I feel very optimistic even though it's a miserable moment," said Madeline Schwartzman of New York City, who brought her twin 13-year-old daughters to the Washington rally. "I feel power." Retired teacher Linda Lastella, 69, who came to Washington from Metuchen, New Jersey, said she had never marched before but felt the need to speak out when "many nations are experiencing this same kind of pullback and hateful, hateful attitudes." "It just seemed like we needed to make a very firm stand of where we were," she said. People walking by are saying, Nebraska! In somewhat surprise. pic.twitter.com/VcIqY97k3c Erin Grace (@ErinGraceOWH) January 21, 2017 As the demonstrators rallied alongside the National Mall, Trump opened his first full day as president by attending a prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, a tradition for the day after inauguration, and later visited the CIA. As he traveled around town, his motorcade passed large groups of protesters that would have been hard to miss. The rallies were a peaceful counterpoint to the window-smashing unrest that unfolded on Friday when self-described anarchists tried to disrupt the inauguration. Police used pepper spray and stun grenades against the demonstrators. More than 200 people were arrested. Marlita Gogan, who came to Washington from Houston for the inauguration, said police advised her family not to wear their "Make America Great Again Hats" as they walked through crowds of protesters while playing tourist on Saturday. "I think it's very oppressive," she said of the march atmosphere. "They can have their day, but I don't get it." Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump, took to Twitter to thank the participants for "standing, speaking and marching for our values." The marches displayed a level of enthusiasm that Clinton herself was largely unable to generate during her campaign against Trump, when she won the popular vote but he outdistanced her in the electoral vote. The hand-knit "pussyhats" worn by many women served as a message of female empowerment, inspired by Trump's crude boast about grabbing women's genitals. They "ain't for grabbing," actress Ashley Judd told the Washington crowd. Connie my seat mate. pic.twitter.com/3xhpPyNygM Erin Grace (@ErinGraceOWH) January 21, 2017 The marches were a magnet for A-list celebrities, unlike Trump's inauguration, which had a deficit of top performers. Alicia Keys sang "Girl on Fire" for the Washington crowd. Madonna gave a fiery, profanity-laced address to the gathering. Cher, also in the nation's capital, said Trump's ascendance has people "more frightened maybe than they're ever been." In Park City, Utah, it was Charlize Theron leading demonstrators in a chant of "Love, not hate, makes America great." Actresses Helen Mirren and Cynthia Nixon and Whoopi Goldberg joined the crowd of protesters in New York. Tens of thousands of protesters squeezed into London's Trafalgar Square. In Paris, thousands rallied in the Eiffel Tower neighborhood in a joyful atmosphere, singing and carrying posters reading "We have our eyes on you Mr. Trump" and "With our sisters in Washington." Hundreds gathered in Prague's Wenceslas Square in freezing weather, mockingly waving portraits of Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin. In Sydney, thousands of Australians gathered in solidarity in Hyde Park. One organizer said hatred, bigotry and racism are not only America's problems. WASHINGTON The U.S.-Mexico border has been secured by a big, beautiful wall financed by Mexico. Illegal immigration has declined. So have terrorist attacks. The economy has picked up steam, which means lots of new jobs. More products are made in America. Government assistance programs have been trimmed. Thats the hoped-for future that emerged from conversations with Nebraskans and Iowans celebrating Donald Trumps presidential inauguration last week. Creating jobs, getting people back to work, maybe cutting down on the free lunches, said Jerry Adamson, a rancher from Cody, Nebraska. As Trump starts his administration, his political opponents have painted a picture of a future with eroded environmental protections, growing income inequality and a shredded social safety net. His supporters, however, see a long-overdue rejection of political correctness, a commitment to scale back the reach of government and a willingness to tackle problems head-on and speak up for parts of the country that feel left out. Dressed in cowboy boots and a suit, Adamson enjoyed a coffee-and-cookies reception at Sen. Deb Fischers office on the eve of the inauguration. He said that he and Fischer qualify as neighbors even if their spreads are 30 miles apart. Hes proud his familys cow-calf operation is on its fifth generation. And he feels like this election was special for those in middle America. We feel like the last few years weve been overlooked in our cattle industry and our way of life, he said. Trump might as well have been speaking directly to that sentiment in his inaugural address when he cited the shared dreams of the countrys children, whether born in Detroits urban sprawl or Nebraskas windswept plains. So to all Americans, in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, and from ocean to ocean, hear these words: You will never be ignored again, Trump said. Midlanders who support Trump regularly cite their desire to roll back regulations that they say burden businesses and individuals. They also complain about the rise of dependency on government programs, which they contrast with the examples of forebears who, with pioneer spirit, scratched an existence from the land. Omaha software developer Chuck Walden said he hopes Trump will reset the countrys attitude back to self-reliance a hope echoed in Trumps speech. We will get our people off of welfare and back to work rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor, Trump said. We will follow two simple rules: Buy American and hire American. Walden also criticized what he characterized as lax immigration policies, saying they have hurt minority communities in particular. Even in his area of software development, he said, there is frustration about the influx of workers from overseas. I would hope we could find enough talent in the United States, he said. The United States is the United States. Its not the United World. During his address, Trump repeatedly hit the note of America first. Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American families, Trump said. We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength. Yvonne and Jimmie Wilson of Omaha were in Washington for the inauguration with Yvonnes aunt, Alice Bartlett of Grand Island. Jimmie said hes a Democrat who backed Trump because he owns a computer network consulting business and thinks taxes on small businesses are way too high. Lowering those taxes will help the economy, he said. He also said he supports border security. They want to secure the border and get rid of the criminal element, and we can all agree that thats something that needs to get done, he said of Republicans. Yvonne works as a religion teacher at Boys Town. She said Boys Town has been very generous with benefits, but she blames the Affordable Care Act for restrictions on her choices of health plans. We had many choices eight years ago, and now Im down to one choice, she said. When the old doesnt work, you have to move on. Bartlett said shes against abortion, so one priority for her is to see conservative justices appointed to the Supreme Court and the defunding of Planned Parenthood. But she also said she wants to see the country maintain funding for those with developmental disabilities. Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said his hopes for Trump are as basic as rolling back regulations and tapping the power of free markets. I think were finally going to concentrate on what matters most, and that is unleashing the economic and entrepreneurial spirit of this country, Kaufmann said. If we do that, Donald Trump will have delivered. Calla Janke, 18, from Waterloo, Nebraska, is a student at Hillsdale College in Michigan. She volunteered early on to help Trumps campaign. Four years from now, as Trumps first term comes to a close, shell be graduating from college. By that time, she said, she hopes the country is on a better track, from the economy to its immigration situation. She noted that people are scared to travel internationally because of the threat of terrorism, and she hopes Trump will address that. I dont know how hes going to actually put a stop to it, she said. But, I mean, he says that he will. Indeed, thats a core promise of the new president. We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones and unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the earth, Trump said in his address. Janke has faith that hell deliver. Just look at how many people doubted him in the campaign, she said. Yet he won. I just believe that hes going to set his heart to it and actually pursue it with everything he can, Janke said. Medical personnel and lay professionals from Nebraska have traveled overseas for years to help developing countries address health care needs. Research scientists at Nebraska universities have contributed knowledge to vaccines and disease treatment. A new report from the Brookings Institution explains that medical outreach from our country and other wealthy nations has helped produce major progress. The worlds poorest countries have seen substantial overall advances on the health care front in recent decades, Brookings concluded. Since 1990, mortality rates for young children worldwide have fallen by more than two-thirds. Ten of the 12 developing countries that have reduced child mortality rates by at least two-thirds since 1990 are in Africa. Well-organized vaccination efforts have reduced the global incidence of diseases such as polio, measles, diphtheria, tetanus and hepatitis B. Consider the work of three Creighton University alumni. Jillian Husman, with the Stomp Out Malaria initiative in Africa, helped mobilize 3,000 Peace Corps volunteers on malaria prevention. Sheila Nix has served as executive director of ONE, a global nonprofit whose work includes child health and vaccination projects in Africa. Dr. Chris Elias, who focuses on global medical issues for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will be among the speakers at a Global Health Conference that Creighton will host in February. Recent gains by no means indicate all health care problems are solved in poor nations. But the progress has been considerable. That should give encouragement to Midlanders and others who are commendably working to lend a helping hand. The writer, who teaches English and honors humanities at Omaha North High School, is a fellow of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and a member of the Nebraska Holocaust Education Consortium. The Holocaust is unique, and it provides an opportunity to examine aspects of humanity that are unlikely to appear elsewhere in the curriculum. Next month, a summit will be held in Lincoln, the primary order of business being to begin strategic planning regarding the revision of Nebraskas state social studies standards. As usual, among other things, the Holocaust will be a topic of conversation. Some will undoubtedly speak to the immense significance of the event and what we can learn from it, while others will advocate for its removal from the standards completely. As a public school teacher, Id like to briefly share my views on the importance of Holocaust education to our students and our future. Why do so many of us teach about the Holocaust? Why, as some have noted, does the Shoah, or Holocaust, seem even to assume a position of prominence in some classrooms, disciplines or schools? Is it not essentially just another episode in history, no more or less worthy of our time and attention than the Napoleonic Wars, the Industrial Revolution or the Great Depression? No. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum refers to the Holocaust as a watershed event, a turning point in history after which the world could never be the same. The Holocaust is unique, and it provides an opportunity to examine aspects of humanity that are unlikely to appear elsewhere in the curriculum. States the museum, The history of the Holocaust shows that targeting an entire group has far-reaching consequences. It leads to an increase in xenophobia, racism, and extremism throughout society, with potentially devastating consequences for individuals, communities, and nations. When we teach and learn about the Holocaust, we plant saplings with the faith that from our efforts a forest may grow. If such planting never occurs, however, and if instead we succeed only in educating the mind at the neglect of the whole person, the Holocaust itself demonstrates that the results may be catastrophic. At the Wannsee Conference in 1942, 15 high-ranking, highly educated men, ranging from diplomats to generals, met to discuss and ultimately approve the Final Solution of the Jewish Question, a thinly veiled euphemism for the wholesale annihilation of European Jewry. At Nuremberg, during the Trial of the Major War Criminals, 24 different men stood trial. Their IQs were far higher than average, yet they were responsible in large part for the collective crimes of the Third Reich. In both cases one finds evidence that intelligence, education and intellect are in no way a safeguard against evil, nor a pathway toward morality. The late Harry Reicher, a leading human rights scholar, once said, No one died illegally in Auschwitz, a statement of stunning consequence when one considers how very many people, approximately 1.1 million, were in fact murdered in the camps collectively referred to as Auschwitz. In that vein, Bryan Clark, senior pastor at Lincoln Berean Church, has suggested, Legality is a very low bar for morality. It is with these points in mind that I approach my students on a daily basis, for our future lawyers, judges, ministers, doctors, government officials, teachers and most of all citizens must be made cognizant of the role that people like us played by choice in Nazi Germany, and of the capacity and necessity for all of us to make different and far better choices. Both as an academic and as a classroom practitioner, I appreciate the great need for strengthened literacy and numeracy skills and for mastery of all the academic curricula offered in our schools. Yet I would suggest that these studies alone serve, at best, to create a society of dangerously disengaged citizens and, at worst, a society of xenophobic, potentially violent and well-equipped criminals who are a threat to one another and to the world at large. And it is here, I believe, that the memory and legacy of the Holocaust, addressed professionally and thoughtfully by teachers and their students, stands to do the greatest good. Removing it from the curriculum would amount to nothing less than an attack on future generations. A 47-year-old Lexington woman and her 12-year-old daughter were identified Monday as the two people who died Saturday in a crash near the Wood River exit of Interstate 80. Witnesses told investigators that a 2005 Dodge Caravan was westbound before 4 p.m. when it began to swerve, went into the north ditch and rolled several times. The driver, Catarina Nolasco, died at the scene, the Hall County Sheriffs Office said. She was wearing a seat belt. Her son, Gaspariny Denny Nolasco, 17, and daughter, 12-year-old Maria Nolasco, were passengers in the minivan. The two, who were not wearing seat belts, were ejected in the crash, the Sheriffs Office said. Denny Nolasco was taken to St. Francis Medical Center in Grand Island with injuries that werent considered life-threatening. The hospital no longer listed him as a patient Monday afternoon. Denny Nolasco is a senior at Lexington High School. Maria Nolasco was a sixth-grader at Lexington Middle School. The Nebraska State Patrol and the Wood River Fire Department assisted the Hall County Sheriffs Office at the crash site. LINCOLN Thousands turned out for the Womens March on Lincoln on Saturday afternoon. Lincoln police estimated that 2,000 to 3,000 protesters took part in that citys march, although volunteers estimated far more than that participated. Ive never seen anything like this in Lincoln before, said Sue Ellen Wall, a Lincoln woman. One woman said she was participating because President Donald Trumps views on immigration could have far-reaching consequences for her life. Claudia Pech identified herself as a dreamer, or a child brought to this country as a young girl by parents who did not follow this nations immigration laws. Attorney Dave Brown said he joined the march because he is worried about how Trumps presidency could impact his family. He has two daughters and a son with special needs. Women, men and children overflowed from the steps of the State Capitol into K Street with signs supporting women and minority groups. Some arguing erupted over issues such as protesters blocking traffic, but no significant problems were reported. The actual procession from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln City Campus to the State Capitol lasted around 45 minutes and finished with speakers. DECATUR Members of the community came together Friday afternoon at St. Patrick School to honor the schools and contributors of the 15th Annual WSOY Community Food Drive. During the event, the top five schools that collected the most food during the drive were awarded monetary prizes. The school collecting the most for this year's food drive was St. Patrick School. The school received a check for $2,500. Other winning schools were Mount Zion High School, second place; Our Lady of Lourdes, third place; Warrensburg-Latham High School, fourth place; and Eisenhower High School, fifth place. This is shaping you as an individual, to give back and to serve others, said Kevin Breheny, J.L. Hubbard Insurance and Bonds. Instead of just talking about it, you just did it. All of us adults honor you and are proud of you. Monetary donations collected during the food drive were distributed to community agencies, including Catholic Charities for $150,000, Salvation Army for $150,000, Northeast Community fund for $80,000, Good Samaritan Inn for $80,000, Reasonable Service for $50,000, and the Judy Mason Thanksgiving Basket Project for $20,000. Micro grants of $2,500 were also given to the Mound Free Methodist Food Pantry and the Blue Mound Food Pantry. The annual food drive was held Oct. 7 in the Airport Plaza Kroger parking lot. Members of the community drove through the designated area delivering canned and boxed food as well as cash donations. Volunteers, businesses and organizations who contributed to the food drive's success were also honored during the ceremony. This year the drive collected more than 1.4 million pounds of food which is the equivalent of filling 18 semitrucks. Kyle Karsten, Salvation Army's director of development and community relations, is amazed each year by the success of event. That just keeps on showing what our community is all about, he said. Our community comes together to bless others in the community. Breheny, Neuhoff Media's Brian Byers and John Skeffington of Skeff Distributing began the food drive 15 years ago. As the years passed, the trio has relied on the community to help the event grow and break its goal each year. This year, they again honored the organizations and businesses for their contributions to the food drive. It is the generosity of the sponsors that provides us all the money and to get the word out, Byers said. Businesses and organizations honored during the ceremony included Team Soy (Soy Capital Bank and J.L. Hubbard); Kroger; First Christian Church; Dale's Southlake Pharmacy and Colee's Corner Drugs; The United Way; Ticket 'n' Trips; Jones & Thomas/JTnet; Decatur Back and Neck Center; WAND-TV; Herald & Review; Skeff Distributing; ADM; Dyna Graphics Wood Printing; and the Community Foundation. Byers distributed other awards to businesses and volunteers for their help in propelling the food drive to another successful year. The awards include the Geoffrey Neuhoff Spirit Award, given to Jeff Daly, for his work as a volunteer, and the Good Neighbor Awards given to Refreshment Services Pepsi, United Way and Kroger. Although the monetary donations were distributed during the ceremony, much of the food was sent to the agencies during the day of the October food drive. Salvation Army Maj. Wesley Dalberg said the effects of the food drive are still being felt. This is the most giving community that I have ever been involved with, he said. This is a great place to be from. Despite Jallikattu ordinance, protests continue in Bengaluru too Bengaluru oi-Anusha Bengaluru, Jan 22: Despite the Tamil Nadu government promulgating an ordinance allowing Jallikattu across the state, protests are continuing across the country. Dozens of youngsters in Bengaluru protested in support of Jallikattu outside the Tamil Sangam in Ulsoor locality. They believe that the ordinance is a temporary pacification tool and not a permanent solution to the issue at hand. Despite not getting permission to protest, youngsters gathered in silent protest on the footpath outside the Tamil Sangam on Sunday with posters, placards demanding permanent solution to Jallikattu. "What is the point of this ordinance that can be challenged. It's weak and vulnerable and yet again will be challenged in court. We do not want this but demand a permanent solution," said one protester. "I am from Madurai, from a place very close to Chief minister O Panneerselvam's native and I know what Jallikattu means to us. We thanks everyone who has been protesting for the cause of Jallikattu and we want a permanent solutions to this," said another OneIndia News Congress accuses AAP leaders of sharing stage with 'terror elements' India oi-PTI Chandigarh, Jan 22: The Congress on Sunday claimed that the Aam Aadmi Party was receiving funds from abroad in the run-up to the Punjab Assembly polls and asked party supremo Arvind Kejriwal to explain the source of such funds. It also accused one of the AAP MLAs of sharing stage with "separatists and terror elements" in London. "The AAP does not have any dearth of money. They are being funded from abroad. Who are these people who are supporting them," asked senior Congress leader and former union minister Anand Sharma while addressing the media. "Kejriwal should explain to the people of Punjab about the foreign funds his party is receiving for the upcoming Assembly polls," he added. Without naming anyone, Sharma alleged that an AAP MLA had gone to London where he shared stage with "terror elements". "One of Kejriwal's MLAs addressed a gathering in London while separatists and terror elements were seen standing on the dais. Kejriwal should take action against him but he is silent," he said. "What he (the AAP MLA) said outside India, you (media) should find out. He met those separatists and terror elements who have ruined Punjab. Who did he meet in London and Canada? Whose money is flowing into Punjab...there should be an inquiry into it because such a huge amount usually does not come, chartered planes (with NRIs) do not come," Sharma added. A few days back, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal had also claimed that AAP was being funded by "foreign-based terrorist organisations". Sharma further alleged that both the ruling allies in Punjab, the SAD and the BJP, were "using the maximum amount of black money" for the upcoming election. Lambasting the Delhi Chief Minister for his "failure to honour the promises made to the people", he said, "The people of Delhi are demanding answers for those promises. The AAP government is the most corrupt government Delhi has ever had. One-third of his (Kejriwal's) people are in Jail. His government is being run from Tihar jail." Alleging that AAP had failed to fulfil "even a single promise" made to the people of Delhi, Sharma said the fact that Kejriwal was bringing people from outside to manage his party's poll campaign in Punjab clearly showed that he did not trust the people of the state. Regarding the AAP leader's letter to the Punjab Chief Electoral Officer seeking withdrawal of his security, Sharma took a swipe at Kejriwal by asking him why did he take the security cover in Delhi and alleged that he was trying to "befool" the people of Punjab. PTI Delhi: Notorious robbery gang leader nabbed India oi-PTI New Delhi, Jan 22: Leader of an inter-state robbery gang carrying a reward of Rs one lakh on his head, has been arrested for his involvement in over dozen cases of dacoity and murder in his native place Azamgarh,UP, and the national capital. Chandram Prasad, 33, who led a gang in northwest Delhi area, was arrested from Gole Chakkar on Shah Alam Bandh Road in Jehangirpuri, by a crime branch team on January 19, said Ravindra Yadav, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime). He is previously involved in 18 cases of robbery, dacoity, theft, Arms Act and Gangster Act out of which 13 cases were registered in UP and 5 cases in Delhi. Also, he is a history sheeter of Rani Ki Sarai police station in Azamgarh. Chandram along with his associates had committed several robberies, including murder in Delhi, and was wanted by local police. Six months ago, a crime branch team visiting Azamgarh for another case, got clues about Chandrama. It was also noticed that a reward of Rs one lakh was announced on his arrest by Delhi Police, said the officer. Chandram along with his associates Rampher Yadav and Sagar had tried to rob a cloth merchant and killed him in Majlis Park, the officer said. On a specific input Crime Branch laid a trap near Gole Chakkar in Jehangirpuri on Thursday, when he was intercepted by the raiding party, he tried to escape using a country made pistol but was overpowered before he could shoot head constables Sohan Lal and Praveen, the officer added. In past one year his gang had committed half-a-dozen robberies in northwest Delhi. Earlier, Chandrama was arrested by Delhi Police in 2007 and 2008. PTI Ghazwa-e-Hind in Assam: NIA roped in as Islamists plan destruction of India Two soldiers killed as Assam Rifles convoy ambushed in Assam India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Dispur, Jan 22: Two Assam Rifles jawans were killed in an encounter between the Assam Rifles regiment of the Army and NSCN-K terrorists near Jairampur in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh. An Assam Rifles vehicle was attacked by grenades and loud explosions were heard at Barabasti 12th Mile on NH-53 bordering Assam's Tinsukia district, a defence spokesman said. Earlier, on Jan 16, Two soldiers were killed and eight others injured as militants ambushed a convoy of the Assam Rifles along the India-Myanmar border in Arunachal Pradesh. OneIndia News (with inputs from agencies) Watch: 1st-time cockpit view from fighter jets at Republic Day flypast will give you goosebumps Manipur: UNC to boycott Republic Day celebrations India oi-IANS By Ians English Imphal, Jan 22: The United Naga Council, which has imposed an indefinite blockade along Manipur's highways, has called a boycott of the upcoming Republic Day celebrations. A UNC statement said the "communal government led by Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh" created seven new districts without consulting the people concerned. "Any Naga participating in the functions shall be doing it at his own risk," the statement warned. Most of the outlawed organisations in the north east have also called for a boycott. Police have launched combing operations at several places to ensure an incident-free Republic Day in Manipur. Meanwhile, four activists of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim-Isak-Muivah were arrested on Saturday in Noney district along with some explosives. Police said their plan was to attack with the explosives trucks which are bringing essential commodities along NH 37. The Manipur government is waiting for a response from the UNC to hold talks on the blockade. The letter sent by state chief secretary O. Nabakishore on January 17 said the tripartite meeting will be held at the secretariat in Imphal. However, the UNC has been saying that the meeting should be held either in Delhi or the Senapati district headquarters in Manipur. While ordering a 15-day judicial detention of Gaidon Kamei and Stephen Lamkang, President and Information Secretary of the UNC on Saturday, a local court said that both of them can attend the proposed meeting. IANS Ordinance clears way for Jallikattu but protesters sceptical India oi-Anusha Chennai, Jan 22: The fight for Jallikattu resulted in a sweet victory for the people of Tamil Nadu with an ordinance being passed on Saturday allowing the sport to take place. However, this is not the end, say the protesters putting across fresh demands to the government. Unhappy with the secrecy around the ordinance, protesters want to know the contents of the ordinance. Not just those gathered at Chennai's Marina Beach but the thousands protesting at various districts in Tamil Nadu continue to be sceptical about the ordinance. "Why isn't the government making the ordinance public? We want to know what the contents in it are. What are the terms and conditions under which Jallikattu is being allowed? How can the people blindly trust a government that practically didn't do anything before this movement forced them to?"asked a protester at Marina Beach. Bull owners as well as villagers in and around Madurai where the Chief Minister announced he would inaugurate the event, are unwilling to give up the protest. They demand amendment to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. They are clear about one thing, they do not want to break the law. Many are unwilling to allow Jallikattu to take place as a mark of their protest. While the Tamil Nadu government declared that a bill to replace the ordinance on Jallikattu will be tabled on the first day of the first assembly session of this year, this assurance is clearly not convincing the protesters to withdraw their agitation. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, January 22, 2017, 9:35 [IST] President commutes death sentence of four convicts India oi-PTI New Delhi, Jan 22: In a rare gesture, President Pranab Mukherjee has set aside Union Home Ministry's recommendation and commuted the death sentence of four persons convicted of killing of 34 upper caste people in Bihar in 1992. The President gave a new lease of life on the New Year day to Krishna Mochi, Nanhe Lal Mochi, Bir Kuer Paswan and Dharmendra Singh alias Dharu Singh, by commuting their death sentence to life imprisonment. The Home Ministry, based on the recommendations of the Bihar Government, had recommended on August 8, 2016 that the mercy petition of all the four be rejected. However, the President took into consideration various facts relating to the case, including the delay in handing over the mercy petitions of the four accused by the state government and the observations made by the National Human Rights Commission. The NHRC, in its order last year, had said that after an "analysis of the facts and materials placed before the Commission, it emerges that the four convicts in question had submitted their mercy petitions prior to 07.07.2004. "This is clear from the admission of the Inspector General (Prisons and Correctional Services), Government of Bihar that the mercy petitions of the four convicts were forwarded to the Secretariat of Hon'ble President of India through the Home Department, Government of Bihar vide letter dated 07.07.2004." However, the mercy petitions neither reached the Home Ministry, nor to the President's Secretariat. It was only after the intervention of the NHRC that these were processed after 12 years. The four were awarded death sentence in 2001 by a sessions court in connection with the massacre of 35 Bhumihars (a landed upper caste) by the Maoist Communist Centre. On April 15, 2002, the Supreme Court confirmed their death sentence with a majority judgement of 2:1, with Justice M B Shah dissenting against such an award. PTI UP elections 2017: Congress-SP alliance back on; Akhilesh concedes 105 seats India oi-Vicky By Vicky The alliance between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections 2017 has finally been sealed. As per the agreement, the Congress would fight on 105 seats. The talks had run into troubled waters on Saturday and both sides had almost called the alliance off. However, after the intervention of Congress president Sonia Gandhi both sides came to an agreement. On Saturday both sides remained adamant about the seat sharing agreement. The SP was ready to offer only 99 seats to the Congress. The Congress on the other hand was demanding 120 seats. The SP was in a hurry to close the issue as the nomination process had already begun and the top brass did not want to waste any time. Akhilesh also held back channel talks with the Congress. The SP's Naresh Agarwal on Saturday said that the alliance would not go through as his party needed to contest at least on 300 seats. Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress, however, sounded more optimistic and said that a clear picture would emerge soon.\ Oneindia News 14 members of pro-govt militia killed in Mali attack International oi-PTI Bamako, Jan 22: A pro-government militia in Mali said that it had lost 14 fighters in an attack blamed on former rebels, three days after a suicide car bomber left more than 70 dead. Some 77 people were killed and 120 wounded in the suicide blast on Wednesday which targeted a camp in northern Gao housing former rebels and pro-government militia -- who are signatories to a 2015 peace accord struck with the government. Hundreds of people gathered in the capital Bamako Saturday to pay their respects to victims of the attack on the last of three days of national mourning called by President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. The attack, Mali's worst in years, was claimed by the group of Algerian jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar, allied to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The attack occurred as former rebels from the Tuareg-led CMA movement prepared to go on a joint patrol with pro-government militia members under the terms of the peace deal. Despite hopes of unity in the wake of the blast, fresh clashes broke out Saturday between groups that have signed up to the agreement, according to the pro-government group GATIA (the Imghad and Allies Tuareg Self-Defence Group). A post near Tin-Assako in the northeastern Kidal region was attacked Saturday, GATIA secretary general Fahad Ag Almahoud said, accusing "elements of the CMA" -- referring to ex-rebels from the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA). "The toll was high -- there were 14 victims," he told AFP. The information was confirmed by a Kidal resident reached by telephone, but the CMA did not immediately respond to the allegations. Mali's north fell under the control of Tuareg-led rebels and jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012. The Islamists sidelined the rebels to take sole control. Although they were largely ousted by a French-led military operation in January 2013, implementation of the peace accord has been piecemeal with insurgents still active across large parts of the region. The joint patrols, which also include regular Malian army troops, are supposed to help prepare for the reorganisation of the army. The United Nations has deployed 13,000 troops in Mali while France, the former colonial power, has an additional 4,000 soldiers stationed there. The UN Security Council agreed last week to consider setting up a sanctions regime for Mali to punish those who are hindering efforts to implement the 2015 peace accord. PTI Barack Obama's first tweet post-presidency- 'Is this thing still on?' International oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Washington, Jan 22: After bidding goodbye to the people of US as the outgoing president, Barack Obama took little time to tweet from his personal account. After Barack Obama handed the official US President Twitter account @POTUS to Donald Trump, he tweeted from his private account: "Is this thing still on?" Obama, who may have been worried whether his private account was roking or not, tweeted after Trump inauguration: "Hi everybody! Back to the original handle. Is this thing still on? Michelle and I are off on a quick vacation, then we'll get back to work." He, however, asked people that he wanted to hear what they were thinking about the road ahead and asked them to share their ideas with him. Hi everybody! Back to the original handle. Is this thing still on? Michelle and I are off on a quick vacation, then well get back to work. Barack Obama (@BarackObama) January 20, 2017 In the meantime, I want to hear what you're thinking about the road ahead. So share your ideas with me here: https://t.co/GYkEOK8EuT Barack Obama (@BarackObama) January 20, 2017 Meanwhile, Michelle Obama too handed over the official @FLOTUS account to Melania Trump and tweeted from her private account @MichelleObama and said: "After an extraordinary 8 years, I'll be taking a little break. Will be back before you know it to work with you on the issues we care about." After an extraordinary 8 years, I'll be taking a little break. Will be back before you know it to work with you on the issues we care about. pic.twitter.com/o0ECJitXnw Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) January 20, 2017 Barack and Michelle Obama were off to Palm Springs in California for a vacation along with their daughters, Sasha and Malia. OneIndia News Its been a busy month even for Bob Thorpe. The Republican state representative from Flagstaff has introduced nearly a dozen bills, been vilified by the left and right on a national scale and even had one bill killed by the House speaker before it could receive a hearing. So how does a lawmaker with very few legislative accomplishments maintain such a high profile year after year, when many of his colleagues can barely garner a mention in the local shopping guide? Mainly, its because Thorpe is a movement conservative he is more interested in pushing the boundaries of libertarian political thought and conduct than in traditional Republican issues like low taxes and economic growth. As such, hes ready to forswear meddling in things like school curriculum if the meddling advances his view of history and politics. And hes all for local control by the Republican legislature against the feds but not when the locals are Democrats running city councils who dont agree with him. ANTIQUATED VISION In other words, Thorpes politics are only as consistent as what he personally believes in, which appears to be an agrarian and antiquated -- vision of self-sufficient ranchers and small businessmen (mostly white and male) whose view of rights revolves mainly around private property. The world, however, has changed dramatically since Thorpe was growing up in the 1950s and '60s. The ideal free market and its belief in a color-blind meritocracy based on character and hard work have been shown to be cover stories by the economic winners. Those left behind are finally breaking through the facade to show the playing field was never really level and still isnt. Movements for social justice that all people should be treated equally and have equal opportunity to succeed mean first coming to terms with past injustices and how they affect the present and can be corrected. To libertarians like Bob Thorpe, social justice can be threatening instead of individual responsibility, it requires collective accountability for a shared past that didnt always uphold values of inclusion and equal opportunity. Thorpe and others contend the sins of their fathers and grandfathers should not burden current social relations it only causes resentment. But if that is case, why, for example, are black men today incarcerated at six times the rate of white men and blacks are sent to prison 10 times as often for the same drug crimes as whites? UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTHS Thats just one example, but they are the kinds of questions that students deserve to have answered. If they wind up causing resentment by one race or class toward another, thats only a byproduct of uncomfortable truths that wed hope would inspire students to take concrete steps toward a more just and equitable society whether in school or after they graduate. Instead, one Thorpe bill would forbid state university professors from addressing those kinds of questions about the roots and impacts of discrimination and bias, and not just about race, but also gender, religion, political affiliation and social class. And Thorpe wants a ban on not just classes but any events or activities that "negatively target specific nationalities or countries.'' Even conservatives have pointed out that censoring classroom teachers and campus events is an affront to free speech and the hands-off approach to government meddling that is their mantra. When conservatives dont like the way public education is teaching history or politics, they form their own private colleges and schools while battling political correctness in the academy, the better to preserve academic freedom for conservatives as well as liberals. STATE CONTROL IF CONSERVATIVE The opposite of freedom is control, and here Thorpes impulse to standardize wages and gun rights statewide is only as strong as the ultra-conservative Republican legislative majority. If the Legislature were in liberal Democratic hands and the cities were the ones balking at higher minimum wages or gun controls, we doubt Thorpe would be calling for more state control. So when Thorpe says he doesnt want cities to set minimum wages because it would be too confusing for employers with businesses in multiple locations, it has to be taken in context. Would he be opposed if cities were setting wages lower than the state minimum? In Thorpes perfect free market, minimum wages shouldnt have to be set at all. But even conservative economists no longer argue against a floor for wages, so Thorpe must fall back on a state legislature that wants to keep them as low as possible local conditions notwithstanding. But since Thorpe lives in Flagstaff, its time he debated the $10 minimum wage head on rather than hide behind the statewide consistency dodge. STUDENTS WHO DISAGREE Then there is the bill to bar college students from using dormitories as their voting addresses. Thorpe says its because students have stronger ties to the homes of their parents, many of whom are still paying the bills. But could it really be because students are taking courses in subjects like social justice that expose them to broader political agendas than the ones Thorpe is pushing and who at NAU vote for his opponent by a 10 to 1 margin? Most Republicans and Democrats alike are looking to recruit more students by engaging them in their communities and its issues, and that is best done in the places where they live, study and work: a college campus. What better time to begin the habits of good citizenship than in a learning environment supported by your peers? Thorpes student voting bill, then, is more about Thorpe than anything else conservatives with a libertarian streak by definition dont build coalitions and movements as much as they build cults of personality (think Newt Gingrich and Pat Buchanan). Thorpe no doubt believes in his own take on liberty and how to preserve it. But when his bills seek to break down the hard-won and largely bipartisan consensus behind free speech, academic freedom, and voting rights, it calls into question just who he is representing. The same question is being asked of Donald Trump -- time will tell whether Bob Thorpe might be onto something that most of Arizona to date simply isn't buying. WASHINGTON (AP) More than 1 million people rallied at women's marches in the nation's capital and cities around the world Saturday to send President Donald Trump an emphatic message on his first full day in office that they won't let his agenda go unchallenged. Many of the women came wearing pink, pointy-eared "pussyhats" to mock the new president. Plenty of men joined in, too, contributing to surprising numbers everywhere from New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to Mexico City, Paris and Sydney. Though no march was held in Decatur, events in Springfield and Champaign drew more than one thousand people each. Abi McIntosh drove from Decatur to Champaign to promote a future generation of equality for her two daughters. "I felt it was an important time show solidarity with fellow women and men to march for our rights," she said. "It was just a great event, and just a very warm, very fun crowd." In addition, McIntosh said as a small-business owner that she worries about possibly losing health care coverage if plans to eliminate the Affordable Care Act go through in Washington. Lindsay Tipsword knows much about protests through her work as a high school history teacher. So as the Decatur resident joined the estimated 150,000 people in the Chicago event, she knew that she was taking part in a historic moment. "(The rally) is not against the country, but to protect the country and protect our rights," she said. As a self-described millennial, Tipsword said it is increasingly important for her generation to stand up and take action. Aside from her disagreement with Trump's policies and ideology, Tipsword said a major driving force for her to take part in the rally was to show support for the Affordable Care Act, which has allowed her access to services such as preventive care. "It helped me as a woman with certain health measures that we should have available to us that once were prohibitive because of the costs," she said. The international outpouring underscored the degree to which Trump has unsettled people in many nations. "We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war," actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd. "Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack, and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. ... We are America, and we are here to stay." The Washington rally attracted more than 500,000 people by the unofficial estimate of city officials apparently more than Trump's inauguration drew on Friday. Turnout in the capital was so heavy that the designated march route alongside the National Mall was impassable. Protesters were told to make their way to the Ellipse near the White House by way of other streets, triggering a chaotic scene that snarled downtown Washington. "We want a leader, not a creepy tweeter," some marchers chanted. Others: "Welcome to your first day, we will not go away!" Around the world, women decried Trump's stand on such issues as abortion, health care, diversity and climate change. And they branded him a sexist, a bully, a bigot and more. In Chicago, organizers canceled the march portion of their event for safety reasons after the overflow crowd reached an estimated 150,000. People made their way through the streets on their own anyway. Dorothy DeCarlo burned her bra during college 50 years ago to fight for women's rights. As she stood among a sea of people gathered in downtown Chicago, she carried a sign that stated: "I can't believe I still have to protest this (expletive)." In New York, many more than 100,000 marched past Trump's home at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. More than 100,000 also gathered on Boston Common, and a similar number demonstrated in Los Angeles. In Miami, real estate agent Regina Vasquez, 51, brought a sign saying "Repeal and Replace Trump." "I believe that strength is in the numbers, and that we should all come out and not make Trump the new normal," she said. All told, more than 600 "sister marches" were planned worldwide. "I feel very optimistic, even though it's a miserable moment," said Madeline Schwartzman of New York City, who brought her twin 13-year-old daughters to the Washington rally. "I feel power." The rallies were a peaceful counterpoint to the window-smashing unrest that unfolded on Friday when self-described anarchists tried to disrupt the inauguration. Police used pepper spray and stun grenades against the demonstrators. More than 200 people were arrested. Marlita Gogan, who came to Washington from Houston for the inauguration, said police advised her family not to wear their "Make America Great Again Hats" as they walked through crowds of protesters while playing tourist on Saturday. "I think it's very oppressive," she said of the march atmosphere. "They can have their day, but I don't get it." Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump, took to Twitter to thank the participants for "standing, speaking and marching for our values." The marches displayed a level of enthusiasm that Clinton herself was largely unable to generate during her campaign against Trump. The hand-knit "pussyhats" worn by many women served as a message of female empowerment, inspired by Trump's crude boast about grabbing women's genitals. They "ain't for grabbing," actress Ashley Judd told the Washington crowd. The marches were a magnet for A-list celebrities, unlike Trump's inauguration, which had a deficit of top performers. Alicia Keys sang "Girl on Fire" for the Washington crowd. Madonna gave a fiery, profanity-laced address to the gathering. Cher, also in the nation's capital, said Trump's ascendance has people "more frightened maybe than they're ever been." In Park City, Utah, it was Charlize Theron leading demonstrators in a chant of "Love, not hate, makes America great." Actresses Helen Mirren and Cynthia Nixon and Whoopi Goldberg joined the crowd of protesters in New York. Tens of thousands of protesters squeezed into London's Trafalgar Square. In Paris, thousands rallied in the Eiffel Tower neighborhood in a joyful atmosphere, singing and carrying posters reading "We have our eyes on you Mr. Trump" and "With our sisters in Washington." In Sydney, thousands of Australians gathered in solidarity in Hyde Park. One organizer said hatred, bigotry and racism are not only America's problems. In Rockford, more than 1,000 men, women and children marched downtown. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin helped rally a crowd outside the Old State Capitol in Springfield, urging them to get involved. Hundreds of people also were turning out for a march in Carbondale. In Chicago, the more than 300-acre Grant Park filled to capacity, with so many people spilling onto surrounding blocks for a pre-march rally that organizers canceled the march for safety reasons. But people flooded the streets after the rally concluded anyway, some unaware the march had been called off. They moved slowly through the streets, voicing support for women's and immigrant rights, Black Lives Matter, education and other causes. Donna Martin, a pastry chef and consultant from Chicago, said she went downtown out because "I wanted to showthere are more of us than there are of them." Martin, 42, said the large number of people at the event sent a clear message. "It means we are powerful," Martin said. "Everything's going to be OK." Herald & Review Staff Writer Ryan Voyles contributed to this story. Donald Trump to meet British PM Theresa May on Friday International oi-IANS By Ians English Washington, Jan 22: US President Donald Trump will meet with visiting British Prime Minister Theresa May next week, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said on Saturday. May will be the first foreign leader to meet with Trump after he was sworn-in as the new US President on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported. It is expected that the two leaders will discuss plans for a trade deal between the allies after Britain's planned withdrawal from the European Union. In a recent interview, Trump said Britain's exit from the European Union will turn out to be "a great thing". Trump pledged to offer Britain a quick and fair trade deal with the US within weeks of taking office, saying that "we're going to work very hard to get it done quickly and done properly. Good for both sides". On Saturday, Spicer said Trump has also scheduled a meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on January 31. Trump has said he wanted to build a wall along the border between the US and Mexico, to keep out illegal migrants. He also threatened to levy heavy taxes on companies that operate plants in Mexico but export to north of the border. IANS US President Donald Trump extends support to CIA International oi-IANS By Ians English Washington, Jan 22: US President Donald Trump told CIA employees on Saturday at their headquarters in Langley, Virginia, "I am so behind you." "I am with you 1,000 per cent," CNN quoted Trump as saying after he received intelligence briefings from top officials. "There is nobody that feels stronger about the Intelligence Community and the CIA than Donald Trump," Trump said to applause. "I am so behind you," Trump said, adding, "You're going to get so much backing." Trump made his remarks in the headquarters lobby, in front of a memorial that features 117 stars that honour CIA officers who have been killed in the line of duty. "The wall behind me is very very special," Trump said. Trump's visit -- he was greeted with enthusiastic applause by employees -- is seen as part of a bid to mend fences after he strained relations with intelligence officials by repeatedly casting doubt on their assessment that Russia carried out cyber-attacks during the US presidential election campaign. Trump would eventually go on to say that Russia was "probably" behind the cyber intrusions. He also suggested that the Intelligence Community was leaking information about the investigation to the press, taking to twitter to slam the agency's former Director, John Brennan. At the CIA, Trump blamed the media for the perceived rift. "CIA's relationship with the President has been essential to our nation's strength and security," CNN quoted acting Director Meroe Park said prior to introducing Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. "I can assure you this new President and our entire team recognises and appreciates the sacrifices of all of the men and women of the intelligence community of the United States of America," Pence told the assembled group. The visit comes amid questions regarding the status of Trump's choice to run the agency, Rep. Mike Pompeo. The CIA is currently being led by acting Director Meroe Park, lacking a permanent chief, as the Senate has delayed Pompeo's confirmation vote until Monday, with Democrats citing concerns about his positions on surveillance and other issues. Pompeo has encountered some controversy after he submitted responses to a Senate questionnaire where he said he would consider bringing back waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation measures under certain circumstances. IANS Ukraine grain deal: UN says shipments are still going out Medvedev calls lifting of sanctions on Russia an 'illusion' International oi-PTI Moscow, Jan 22: Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday said the west's sanctions on Russia are likely to remain in place "for a long time" despite expectations that Donald Trump's inauguration as US president will lead to warmer relations between Washington and Moscow. Medvedev told members of the ruling United Russia party on Sunday that Russian leaders "can't place hope on foreign elections", adding, "It's time to dispense with the illusion that sanctions against our country will be lifted." Trump's pledge to bring a fresh eye to Russia has produced some excitement in Russia. But senior Russian officials are warning that differences between Moscow and Washington will not disappear overnight. The US and European Union imposed sanctions on Russia in 2014 over Moscow's annexation of Crimea and support for rebels in eastern Ukraine. PTI No choice but to get rid of radical Islamic terrorism: Donald Trump International oi-PTI Washington, Jan 22: The United States has no choice but to get rid of ISIS and 'radical Islamic terrorism', the new US President Donald Trump has said. "We've been fighting these wars for longer than any wars we've ever fought. We have not used the real abilities that we have. We've been restrained. We have to get rid of ISIS. Have to get rid of ISIS. We have no choice. Radical Islamic terrorism," Trump told members of the CIA community at its headquarters in Langley. Reiterating his remarks on the inauguration day, Trump said, "it has to be eradicated" just off the face of the Earth. "This is evil. This is evil," he said in his maiden address to the CIA officials. "I can understand the other side. We can all understand the other side. There can be wars between countries, there can be wars. You can understand what happened. This is something nobody can even understand. This is a level of evil that we haven't seen. You're going to go to it, and you're going to do a phenomenal job," he said. "But we're going to end it. It's time. It's time right now to end it," he added. Trump's nominee for CIA Director Mike Pompeo has not been confirmed by the Senate yet. Referring to CIA, Trump said he believes that "this group is going to be one of the most important groups in this country towards making the country safe, towards making it winners again, toward ending all of the problems." "We have so many problems that are interrelated that we don't even think of, but interrelated to the kind of havoc and fear that this sick group of people has caused. So I can only say that I am with you 1,000 percent," he added. PTI Pakistan congratulates Trump, expresses to work closely with his admin International oi-PTI Islamabad, Jan 22: Congratulating Donald Trump on assuming the office of the US President, Pakistan on Saturday expressed its "keenness" to work closely with the new administration to face emerging security challenges and maintain "peace and stability" in the region. "Pakistan welcomes the successful transition in the United States and felicitates Trump on assuming the office as the 45th President of the US," Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz said in a statement. Calling on the new Trump administration for its continued engagement in the region, Aziz said that the "imperatives of peace, stability and security" in the wider region demand continued close cooperation between Pakistan and the US. "Continued close cooperation between Pakistan and the US is important to successfully deal with the challenges facing the region and beyond," he said without specifying the challenges. Aziz also recalled the warm exchange Sharif had with Trump following his victory in November and said that Pakistan and the US have a long history of cooperation in various fields including counter-terrorism and security. US-Pakistan cooperation is also vital for realising the economic opportunities this resource-rich region offers, he said. "Pakistan looks forward to maintaining the momentum in the high-level exchanges and building on the convergences to take the relationship to a new and higher level," he added. PTI In a case of bad karma Taliban outs Pakistan on what India had always said on Azhar Taliban asks Donald Trump to review Afghanistan policy International oi-IANS By Ians English Kabul, Jan 22: The Taliban has asked US President Donald Trump to review America's policy in Afghanistan and withdraw all foreign forces from the insurgency-plagued country, a media report said on Sunday. In a statement released on Saturday following Trump's inauguration on Friday, the group said violence in Afghanistan will continue if the new administration continued to follow the approaches of the previous governments led by former Presidents Barack Obama and George.W. Bush, Khaama Press said in the report. The Taliban also claimed that the US-led invasion supported by the coalition forces resulted in destruction, loss of lives, and billions of financial loss in the past 16 years. It also resulted in to increasing hatred towards Afghanistan. Afghanistan's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah has welcomed Trump's commitment to the US forces in Afghanistan and the fight against terrorism. The war in Afghanistan began with the invasion of the US-led coalition forces against the Taliban regime, accused of harbouring the then Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of September 11, 2001, attacks in America. IANS 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. SPRINGFIELD A Republican state senator from Southern Illinois has introduced a bill that would make it easier for independent and third-party candidates to get on the ballot. The proposal from state Sen. Kyle McCarter, a conservative from Lebanon, comes after progressive Bloomington physician David Gill was removed from the November ballot for failing to collect enough signatures on his nominating petitions to earn a spot as an independent candidate in the 13th Congressional District. Gill, who had run unsuccessfully four previous times as a Democrat, gathered fewer than 8,500 of the 10,754 valid petition signatures he needed. But his would-be opponents, U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, and Democratic challenger Mark Wicklund of Decatur, each had to gather fewer than 740 signatures. McCarter, who unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Rep. John Shimkus of Collinsville in the March Republican primary in the 18th District, said he wasnt inspired by Gills case, instead calling it common sense to have the same requirements for all candidates. McCarter said he believes its unfair for independent candidates to have to collect more signatures than candidates from the established parties. He added that some voters have a hard time identifying with the traditional political parties and should have other options. The number of signatures required to be on the ballot varies by office and district and is based on the number of people who cast ballots in the previous election. For example, in races for Congress, independent or third-party candidates in Illinois have to gather signatures from at least 5 percent but not more than 8 percent of the number of people who voted in the previous general election for that seat. Congressional candidates from the two major parties, meanwhile, only have to gather signatures from 0.5 percent of the number of people in their party who voted in the preceding primary in the district. As a result, Gill was required to collect nearly 15 times as many signatures as Davis and Wicklund. Spokesmen for the state Democratic and Republican parties did not respond Friday to requests for comment on McCarters bill. During a hearing on Gills lawsuit in federal court in August, lawyers representing the Illinois State Board of Elections argued that the state sets signature requirements because it has an interest in preventing voter confusion and ballot overcrowding. Gills legal challenge didnt succeed in getting him on the November ballot, but his lawsuit challenging the current state law is still pending before the U.S. District Court in Springfield. This isnt the first time lawmakers have proposed lowering the signature requirement for independent and third-party candidates. For example, state Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, and state Rep. Mike Fortner, R-West Chicago, introduced bills in 2013, but neither made it to the Senate or House floor for a vote. One of two buses headed for the Womens March on ATX prepares to depart from the Kohls parking lot on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017. Business Insider 04 Nov 2022 White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday that Griner is "doing as well as can be expected under.. Around 2 p.m. on the Day the American Republic For Sure Fell, I was stuck in traffic a few blocks from the White House on K Street, trying to get to another of many protest sites. "BOOMMM!!!" cracked a sound that I could clearly hear despite my car windows being rolled up tightly and the radio blaring on some alternative/pop rock station my teenagers had set and I never bothered to change because I don't much care what's playing these days since I just want noise to keep myself from thinking too much about our current predicament. Screams filled the air. A wave of people carrying anti-Trump signs suddenly appeared and rushed down K Street past me. Some people grabbed their cell phones or cameras and started filming down the closest side street to me. Then another loud boom, which turned out to be "flash-bang" grenades that police reportedly threw into a crowd of defiant protesters dominated by the havoc-wreaking black bloc, shook the nearby buildings. I saw flashes of light and more people running. I saw riot police and troops in fatigues running to the scene. I was stuck there heading into this apocalyptic nightmare, seemingly with no way out. I was glad my kids hadn't come with me to protest Donald Trump. I was wondering if one of those flash grenades or something else would soon be hurled onto my windshield. Welcome to Day One, Trump's America. Welcome to the End of the World as We Know It. Black bloc members and others run after some say police threw a 'flash-bang' grenade into the crowd near K and 13th streets on Jan. 20, 2017, during the inauguration of Donald Trump. (Image by Jack Thor) Details DMCA Thanks to Trump and the black bloc, a group of professed anarchists who do their thing so well you almost have to grudgingly admire it even if they ruin it for most of the rest of us, Washington, D.C., largely resembled Belfast during the worst of The Troubles on inauguration day. The bloc developed in the early 1980s in Europe during protests against nuclear power, the Cold War, and other issues. I attended a few demonstrations in the mid-1980s in Europe that featured the black-clad force who wore scarves, ski masks, helmets, and other protective gear. I remember most in the anti-nuclear/peace movement decrying them, believing that they were paid by opponents and even the government to make their cause look bad in the eyes of John Q. Public. Some supported them, saying they took on the increasingly draconian crackdown tactics of police and politicians in a way most didn't have the guts to do. They became a sort of folklore, Jesse Jamesesque, Robin Hood-like figures. As violent protests raged throughout the 1980s in Europe and officials responded by banning all public demonstrations, they gained more support. Then Reagan and Gorbachev signed some treaties. Pro-freedom demonstrations broke out across Eastern Europe, including some really violent ones in Romania. The Berlin Wall fell, and the Soviet Union dismantled. The black bloc lost its influence for while. But they returned in World Trade Organization demonstrations in Seattle and other cities starting in the late 1990s. While they appeared in a few demonstrations in this country starting at the Pentagon in 1988, they seemed to have taken a footing again since Nov. 8, 2016. Right after the Republicans stole the White House through the Electoral College, Russian hacking, James Comey, and voter suppression programs such as Crosscheck, protesters hit the street. Black-clad youth smashed windows and upended metal newspaper boxes, particularly in Portland, Ore. Pete Simpson, a spokesman for the Portland police, told The Washington Post that the black bloc anarchists's "tactic is go out and destroy property." Peaceful anti-Trump demonstrators tried to stop them during protests there, but they were "not having any luck," he said. Ditto in D.C. on January 20, 2017. Some of us tried to stop these people from smashing car windows, hurling rocks at police, and punching and throwing chairs at Trump supporters. But there were too many of them, and many seemed as well-trained as ninjas. They were on a mission, whether it was heart-felt or just as provocateur-for-hire. Biker for Trump member Robert Hrifko got caught in the middle after he said he tackled a black bloc member upon watching him hurl an aluminum chair at a motorcycle officer. Another black bloc guy hit Hrifko with a rock. "These are not snowflakes," Hrifko told The Post. "These are anarchists set to destroy our government as we know it." Some say Trump and aides like Bannon want to destroy the government as well. I didn't see who threw the first flash grenade but heard four or five go off. The Post says "numerous reporters saw officers use such grenades," while others saw black bloc members hurling some. Was it a coincidence that the black bloc on Friday chose just outside The Washington Post offices to attack police, leading to the grenades and at least one fire? The bloc's goal appears to be headlines, to help paint protesters as violent. In many unthinking minds, including Trump's, they succeeded. Police such as Simpson recognize that most demonstrators don't support the tactics of the bloc. So does Kory Flowers, a police detective in Greensboro, N.C., who wrote a good article on the bloc and what police should watch for during a demonstration. Those of us in the know don't blame police for their tactics such as flash grenades; we ultimately blame leaders like Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan for not doing more to address the problems that give rise to movements like the black bloc. Police are just carrying out higher orders like most of the rest of us. Bloc members themselves point to deep problems in economic systems that keep most people barely surviving as a key factor for their actions. It would be wrong to dismiss the bloc as anarchist kids out for a joy ride. A 2014 Occupy article noted that one protester who joined the bloc wrote that most members she met had jobs such as teachers, labor organizers, and nonprofit employees. An author on the bloc wrote that many were involved in the social sciences, and their actions were "grounded in serious political thinking." Some reports even say there are undercover police officers involved, with the government's goal to have a good excuse to impose Martial Law-like crackdowns. Some on the right say the bloc receives funds from liberal sources, while those on the left counter that money comes from conservative sources, such as financiers close to Trump. No one has figured out where the bloc gets much of its funds since it is not the kind of group that files financial reports or even has a general spokesperson. But let's just say this kind of violence does provide Trump a convenient reason to cite if he wants to, say, make all public demonstrations in D.C. illegal. Many might scoff at that scenario, but remember, many scoffed a year ago that Trump had a shot to become president. After taking some photos from my trapped vantage point, I exited the black bloc scene by doing an illegal u-turn when it was clear there was no way to move forward. I ended up back at McPherson Square, the home base of Disrupt J20. That group organized civil disobedience actions that blocked several access gates and other areas. Speakers blasted Trump and other conservatives, though one on Standing Rock noted that the Obama Administration did not support that cause as well. There were as many as 10,000 peaceful protesters, although a few did things that were criticized such as throw water on inaugural ball attendees. The relatively few really destructive ones attracted the big headlines. So, what do we do to keep future protests from being infiltrated by those who want to wreak some havoc and get us all blamed? I'm not sure there is much you can do about keeping black bloc members out. They don't exactly tell organizers if they will show up. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). As the Women's March on Washington bloomed in DC, millions of people participated in Sister Marches in the US and in over 80 countries around the globe. Photos of the Washington Mall showed many more people there today than at the inauguration, yesterday. Most of today's photos have a decidedly pinkish tint to them, from the pink p*ssy hats. One gal knit hers, and told me that when she went back to get more yarn, all the local stores were sold out of pink! Anna Bruffy of Sea Side Fiber Arts wearing one of the pussy caps she makes (Image by Meryl Ann Butler) Details DMCA From the Women's March on Washington website: Mission & Vision We stand together in solidarity with our partners and children for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families - recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country. OUR MISSION The rhetoric of the past election cycle has insulted, demonized, and threatened many of us - immigrants of all statuses, Muslims and those of diverse religious faiths, people who identify as LGBTQIA, Native people, Black and Brown people, people with disabilities, survivors of sexual assault - and our communities are hurting and scared. We are confronted with the question of how to move forward in the face of national and international concern and fear. In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore. The Women's March on Washington will send a bold message to our new government on their first day in office, and to the world that women's rights are human rights. We stand together, recognizing that defending the most marginalized among us is defending all of us. We support the advocacy and resistance movements that reflect our multiple and intersecting identities. We call on all defenders of human rights to join us. This march is the first step towards unifying our communities, grounded in new relationships, to create change from the grassroots level up. We will not rest until women have parity and equity at all levels of leadership in society. We work peacefully while recognizing there is no true peace without justice and equity for all. HEAR OUR VOICE. Their pdf of Unity Principles is here. www.womensmarch.com/principles/ The Sister March in Norfolk, Virginia had an estimated 2,000 participants. Norfolk is on the Chesapeake Bay and is home to the largest Naval base in the world. One of Virginia's oldest cities, it has a population of just under a quarter million. The Norfolk Sister March grew so large that the original site was abandoned in favor of a larger venue at the Chrysler Museum of Art. The volunteers who put it together did an extraordinary job because everything ran smoothly. The event was a powerful, peaceful, respectful expression of solidarity, hope and commitment to a better world. There were a very small number of "anti-" signs; almost all the signage seemed to point toward positive change. My photo album follows. I asked for permission to post their photo here on OpEdNews before each photo was taken. (I don't post photos of minors however, even though some of them wanted to be posted online! So those are cropped.) Feelin' the love... Lots of babies, kids and strollers ... Little girl at the Sister march, Norfolk VA. 01.21.17 (Image by Meryl Ann Butler) Details DMCA and a few wheelchairs... significant others... and Wonderdog. Support from the second story: Signs from a second story window at the Sister march, Norfolk VA. 01.21.17 (Image by Meryl Ann Butler) Details DMCA Sister march, Norfolk VA. 01.21.17 (Image by Meryl Ann Butler) Details DMCA After the speakers, the marchers left on a 3/4 mile march... Plenty of people were carrying posters in favor of gun control, so it was ironic that the march ended up at Bob's: See original here By Timothy Johnson Trump versus the US Constitution (Image by ramonasvoices.com) Details DMCA According to experts, President Donald Trump's continued ownership interest in the Trump Organization means that he is in violation of the U.S. Constitution's Emoluments Clause, which prohibits the president from personally benefiting from actions taken by foreign governments and their agents. Will media hold Trump accountable for this impeachable offense or will they normalize his flagrant violation of the supreme law of the land? U.S. Constitution Prohibits The President From Accepting Emoluments From Foreign States Without The Consent Of Congress. The U.S. Constitution's Article I, Section 9 contains a broad provision to prevent foreign governments from corrupting U.S. government by giving benefits to federal officeholders: No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state. [U.S. Constitution via Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute, accessed 1/19/17] Merriam Webster Definition Of Emolument: "The Returns Arising From Office Or Employment Usually In The Form Of Compensation Or Perquisites." [Merriam Webster, accessed 1/19/17] Legal Ethics Experts: "The Best Reading Of The Clause Covers Even Ordinary, Fair Market Value Transactions That Result In Any Economic Profit Or Benefit To The Federal Officeholder." The clause does not just cover "sweetheart deal[s]" because "emoluments are properly defined as including 'profit' from any employment, as well as 'salary,'" meaning "it is clear that even remuneration fairly earned in commerce can qualify," according to an analysis published by the Brookings Institute. It was authored by legal ethics experts Norman Eisen, a former Obama administration ethics attorney and current chair of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington; Richard Painter, a former Bush administration ethics attorney and current vice chair of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington; and Laurence Tribe, a leading expert on constitutional law and professor at Harvard University Law School. [Brookings Institute, 12/16/16] Violating The Emoluments Clause Is An Impeachable Offense. During the 1788 Virginia Ratifying Convention, Virginia Gov. Edmund Jennings Randolph, who later served as the United States' first attorney general, said of a president who violates the clause, "If discovered he may be impeached": "Virginia Governor Edmund Jennings Randolph addressed the issue directly during a Constitutional debate in June 1788, noting that a violation of the provision by the President would be grounds for impeachment. (Randolph was also a delegate to the Constitutional Convention.) "There is another provision against the danger mentioned by the honorable member, of the president receiving emoluments from foreign powers. If discovered he may be impeached. If he be not impeached he may be displaced at the end of the four years. By the ninth section, of the first article, 'No person holding an office of profit or trust, shall accept of any present or emolument whatever, from any foreign power, without the consent of the representatives of the people...' I consider, therefore, that he is restrained from receiving any present or emoluments whatever. It is impossible to guard better against corruption." [ThinkProgress, 11/25/16] The Framers Even Considered A Constitutional Amendment Mandating Loss Of Citizenship For Violators Of The Clause. Eisen, Painter, and Tribe explained in their Brookings report that "the Clause was seen as so important that the Eleventh Congress considered, as a proposed Thirteenth Amendment, a provision stating that a person would lose his or her citizenship by accepting an office or emolument from a foreign power" (citations removed): Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). From Smirking Chimp President-elect Donald Trump is selecting nominees to run his government. It's no secret that I have deep reservations about the policy views of many of these nominees. I will vote against some of them. But before we can debate and vote on whether these nominees' policy positions make them suitable to run important parts of our government, it is critical that each nominee follows basic ethics rules to ensure that they will act for the benefit of all the American people and not simply to boost their bank accounts. The Republican-led Congress wants to brush off these ethics requirements as a mere inconvenience. Failing that, they are willing to intimidate the public servants charged with implementing the rules. If they succeed, the Republican-led Congress will erode public confidence in our democracy and set the new administration up for scandal and failure. It is illegal for any Cabinet member to participate in a government matter that will "affect his own financial interest" or those of his or her family members, or any organization with whom he or she is affiliated. The reason this law exists is obvious: Without it, federal officials might be tempted to pursue their own interests rather than those of the American people, throwing into question the motives behind every move they make. That is why Republicans and Democrats have embraced these restrictions. The procedures and precedents to enforce them have been followed by generations of American presidents and their Cabinets. Background checks ensure that nominees are free of criminal problems or debilitating foreign connections. Tax returns and financial disclosures reveal potentially damaging information that may undermine fitness to serve. Ethics agreements provide each Cabinet member a detailed, binding and personalized plan for disentangling from any personal and financial conflicts that could create even the appearance of self-dealing while in office. But Republicans have ignored these safeguards. Betsy DeVos, the billionaire nominated to run the Department of Education despite having virtually no education experience, has not completed her financial disclosures or her ethics agreement. Despite Democrats' numerous attempts to postpone proceedings until these essential documents are provided, Republicans went ahead with DeVos's hearing Tuesday. Without the necessary information, we were unable to fully question the nominee about her many potential conflicts of interest. We were unable to say with confidence that DeVos will put the American people first. And after depriving the American public of even the most basic information on the nominee, Republicans further undercut a thoughtful examination by cutting the hearing short despite several senators pressing to ask additional questions. When President Obama's nominees were presented to Congress, then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) demanded that nominees meet these safeguards -- and they did, no matter who they were or what they had done in the past. These requirements are even more important today, when Trump's nominees have complex financial histories, deep business ties and billions of dollars invested in the industries they will soon oversee. Complete compliance with the law might require weeks of hard work to identify and root out the many financial conflicts of a Cabinet whose members are collectively worth more than a third of all Americans combined. Difficult, yes -- but that is no excuse to ignore them. The problem starts at the top. The president-elect has thrown out decades of precedent by refusing to release his tax returns or disentangle himself from his business connections. Now his Republican allies in Congress seem content to permit Cabinet nominees to do the same. Republicans have threatened to jam through confirmation hearings despite incomplete FBI background checks, missing financial disclosures, refusals to produce tax returns and incomplete ethics agreements. When the head of the nonpartisan Office of Government Ethics said his office was under "pressure to cut corners and ignore conflicts of interest" to meet these rushed timelines and criticized the adequacy of the president-elect's plans for his own businesses, House Republicans finally decided to launch an inquiry into -- wait for it -- the Office of Government Ethics. Evidently Republicans don't like an "aggressive stance" on ethics issues. Intimidating and bullying ethics officials into ignoring their legal responsibilities corrodes our democracy. It also leads to shoddy ethics agreements, which could leave Cabinet members with unresolved conflicts of interest that might affect their official actions. Casting aside the nominees' ethical obligations puts everyone at risk -- even the nominees. Ethics agreements provide a clear line for executive branch employees between what is illegal and what is not. Conflicts can arise for even the most innocent of government officials. Respecting the process protects nominees from investigation and prosecution. This problem is not theoretical. Lester Crawford, Food and Drug Administration administrator under President George W. Bush, resigned after only two months on the job and pleaded guilty to conflict of interest charges after failing to report ownership of stock in food and drug companies regulated by the agency. President Reagan's attorney general, Edwin Meese, was plagued by conflicts of interest, resigning in 1988 after years of investigations into one scandal after another that distracted the nation's top law enforcement officer. Over the years, many government officials have been caught up in such scandals. These rules exist to prevent such incidents. Congress must take these ethical requirements seriously. No Cabinet member should receive a hearing before his or her background checks, financial disclosures and ethics agreements are finished and senators have had time to review them. Nominees should be forthcoming and transparent. If those hearings have occurred, nominees who have not completed their ethics reviews should return for another round of questions after that information is made available. Senators should be thorough in their assessment and questioning of nominees. And financial conflicts with official duties must be eliminated. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Tulsi Gabbard makes unannounced trip to Syria. This is Congresswoman and decorated war veteran Major Tulsi ... (Image by reddit.com) Details DMCA Russia and Turkey have set up the January 23 Astana talks and has invited the US to participate as the first real shot at ending the Syrian Civil War. Gabbard's office, citing security, says a lot of the details of the trip are not going to be revealed until she has returned to the United States, and they declined to say if she had met directly with President Bashar al-Assad, though they did confirm she'd met with several government leaders while in Damascus. Tulsi Gabbard Democrat from Hawaii, member of the Armed Services Committee, Iraq War Veteran and Major in the Hawaii National Guard is known for speaking truth to power. Gabbard has called for the Obama administration to abandon all assistance to armed groups and stop seeking Assad's overthrow, saying that the effort undermines the fight against the Islamic State there. These views coincide with those of President-elect Donald Trump, who has said the fight against the militants should take priority and has called for cooperation with Russia, Assad's principal foreign backer. Gabbard's trip to Syria was first reported by Foreign Policy. Tulsi Gabbard according to the Washington Post and other sources has made an unannounced trip to Syria and is meetings in Damascus as well. Long opposed to US attempts to impose regime change in Syria, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D -- HI) has made a trip to Syria this week, an unannounced visit which saw Gabbard spending considerable time in the capital city of Damascus "to promote and work for peace." With the top jobs in the State Department still vacant in the new administration and the appointment of Rex Tillerson still not confirmed it appears that Tulsi who visited Trump in New York after the election will fill in. They had a "frank and positive conversation in which we discussed a variety of foreign policy issues in depth," she told CNN. She said Trump had requested the meeting to talk about Syria and counter terrorism. With considerable foreign policy similarities between the two, Gabbard has met with President-elect Donald Trump since the election, and was rumored to be under consideration for important cabinet positions. It is entirely possible then that she made the visit as a de facto Trump Administration negotiator. That they specifically declined to say if Rep. Gabbard met with Assad is tantamount to an admission that she did, and indeed it's hard to imagine she would visit Damascus with an eye toward talking peace without meeting with the Syrian president. It's more likely that the denial is intended to prevent any specific official debate around the visit until Friday's inauguration, and that this represents an attempt by the Trump Administration to covertly get out in front of the upcoming Syrian peace talks, which begin Monday in Astana, Kazakhstan. Trump has already been very public in faulting the existing US policy in Syria, and has talked about scrapping efforts to arm the various rebel factions. Gabbard has long criticized the CIA arms smuggling venture, and could easily be laying the groundwork for a quick policy shift in the days to come. In no uncertain terms, she has pointed out fatal flaws in Obama's and Hilary's Syrian plans and US involvement as a repeat of the disaster in Libya 101 and to repeat the massacring of Christians and other minority groups. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). (Image by Rob Kall) Details DMCA I participated in and covered the Women's March in Philadelphia yesterday. It was extraordinary, with crowds estimated at 50,000, 150% bigger than predicted. It was an amazing experience, participating in what I believe was one of biggest activist marches in Philadelphia history, and what is being described nationally, as the biggest collection of marchers in the history of the US. I'm thanking Trump because it was clear that his frightening presidency, so evocative of the story Sinclair Lewis described in his novel, It Can't Happen Here, inspired millions of new activists to participate in their first protest activist march. It is notable that this march was not billed as anti-Trump nor as a protest march. It was framed as a march for Women's rights and justice. What struck me more than anything else was how many of the march's attendees were multi-generational-- mothers bringing their daughters. Grandmothers bringing their grandchildren and daughters. Fathers bringing their children. This gives me great hope-- All these parents and children had a great experience at a peaceful march, which I believe will inspire them to engage in more activism. So we have Donald Trump to thank for bringing out hundreds of thousands of new activists. Let's hope they view their participation in this march as the beginning of a new era in their lives, one which includes commitment to activism and making change happen. Here's the link to an album of over 160 photos and videos I took at the conference. And here are some samples: (Image by Rob Kall) Details DMCA (Image by Rob Kall) Details DMCA (Image by Rob Kall) Details DMCA (Image by Rob Kall) Details DMCA Three generations (Image by Rob Kall) Details DMCA (Image by Rob Kall) Details DMCA Art by Ashley Woodruff (Image by Rob Kall) Details DMCA rob kall, the author (Image by Rob Kall) Details DMCA (Image by Rob Kall) Details DMCA Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121 "Just as The Tipping Point provides an explanation for big changes, Rob Kall offers a unified explanation for the magic behind the success of the biggest tech companies, the Arab Spring, Occupy and the social media revolution An important, big picture, visionary approach weaving together technology, economics, evolution, science and personal relationships -- even happiness -- to describe a wave of change as significant as the invention of the printing press that is well under way -- a wave that could rescue the planet from the top-down system that afflicts the planet." Thom Hartmann, host of nationally syndicated radio show, The Thom Hartmann Program, since 2003 and a nightly television show, The Big Picture, since 2008 Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121 To remove advertising from OpEd News, please become a premium member "Rob Kall's must-read book offers a VIP look at todays many "connection revolutions," plus key suggestions for bottom-up leadership in each one." Susan Strong, author of Move Our Message: How to Get America's Ear Quicklink Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their quicklinks after publishing them. To see if the quicklink was renamed or re-published, please click here. Progressive Content Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their progressive content after publishing. To see if the progressive content was renamed or re-published, please click here. Donald Trump is a graduate of an Ivy League university. He gained national fame as the co-author, or at least the main character, of a best-selling book, The Art of the Deal . Yet Donald Trump did not write one word of that book. Moreover, it is likely that he cannot read books. Neither could Nelson Rockefeller. Like Rockefeller, Trump was born into such a rich family that he could get by without learning to read and write. Nelson Rockefeller was the grandson of plutocrat John D. Rockefeller. Nelson and three of his brothers went to the Lincoln School, which was an experimental primary school run by Columbia Teachers College. The four Rockefellers who went to the Lincoln school had lifelong difficulties with reading. Nelson could not use a teleprompter. Yet he was graduated from an Ivy League college with honors. He was Governor of New York from 1959 to 1973 and Vice President of the United States from 1974 to 1977. Nelson's brother Winthrop, who was also functionally illiterate, was the governor of Arkansas from 1967 to 1971. Why did the four Rockefellers who went to the Lincoln School fail to learn to read? As I explain in my book Not Trivial: How Studying the Traditional Liberal Arts Can Set You Free, their problem was not genetic. This problem did not show up in earlier generations of their family. Nor did the brother and sister who were educated elsewhere have trouble with reading. Their teachers simply never them to read. A similar thing probably happened to Donald Trump. The Lincoln school was under the influence of John Dewey, who did not think that reading was important. Dewey argued that the focus on teaching reading in primary school was "a fetich" and that the emphasis on literature in education was a perversion. Dewey also promoted a bad method of teaching reading. Instead of teaching children how to sound words out letter by letter, teachers were supposed to have children memorize whole words as graphic designs, without sounding the words out. Thanks to Dewey's influence, this method was taught in teacher's colleges all over the country. It was even built into the reading textbooks. This "sight word" method is a recipe for dyslexia and functional illiteracy. However, it is still heavily used today, which is of course why we still have epidemics of dyslexia and functional illiteracy. Tragically, Donald Trump is probably one of the victims. Much of the education profession in the United States is still in denial about the cause of our dyslexia epidemic. They insist that dyslexia is genetic and a brain disease. Yet dyslexia runs in families for a nongenetic reason. Parents who cannot read cannot teach their children how to read. Lately, researchers have even been using brain imaging to try to prove that dyslexia is a brain disease. Yet those images merely show that you have different patterns of brain activity if you know how to read than if you do not. Donald Trump shows many of the telltale signs of functional illiteracy. The most obvious is his refusal to use a teleprompter. Another is his small vocabulary and the simplicity of his sentences. An analysis by the Boston Globe found that Trump speaks at a fourth-grade level, two grade-levels below his Republican primary opponents. In contrast, Hillary Clinton spoke at an eighth-grade level and Bernie Sanders at above a 10 th --grade level. In a pre-election episode of her late-night comedy show Full Frontal, comedian Samantha Bee said, "The signs that Trump can't read have been in front of us all along. In some cases, the signs have literally been right there in front of us." (She then showed a photo of a protester holding up a sign that says "Trump Can't Read.") Bee showed some footage of a legal deposition, in which Trump refused to read a section of a lease, complaining that he did not have his glasses. Bee also showed a clip of an interview with Pete Davidson, a cast member of Saturday Night Live, who noted that Trump cannot follow a script because "he doesn't really know how to read." The interviewer said, "For real?" Davidson answered, "Yeah." How could Trump graduate from an Ivy League university and become a best-selling author if he cannot read and write? How can he tweet at all hours if he cannot write? The answer is simple. He is rich, and he is cunning. He is rich enough that he could get special privileges. And he is cunning enough to know how to use them. Trump would simply have to pick courses in which the grade is based on papers, rather than on written examinations. Trump could afford to hire tutors to help him with his readings, and then he could dictate his papers to a stenographer. Occasionally, Trump may memorize a short and simple piece of text, which he could then pretend to read. Tony Schwartz had written a harshly critical article about Trump. Thus, Schwartz was surprised when Trump hired him to ghostwrite The Art of the Deal . Although Trump "loved" Schwartz's article, Trump might not have actually read it. Schwartz admitted writing every word of The Art of the Deal . Schwartz assumed that Trump read the manuscript because someone made marks on the manuscript. Yet those marks, like Trump's tweets, could easily have been made by Trump's clerical staff. The Constitution requires that the President must be a natural-born citizen over 35 years of age who has lived in the United States for at least 14 years. There is no literacy requirement. Yet how could an illiterate serve as President? An illiterate President would not be able to read the bills that he signs into law. He would not be able to read the text of the executive orders he issues. He would not be able to read intelligence briefings or the reports from federal agencies. (Nor does Trump have the attention span to allow others to read to him.) So it is time for journalists to demand to know, can Donald Trump read? Book Review of: Bagdasarian, Adam, FORGOTTEN FIRE, New York: Dell-Laurel Leaf, 2000, pp. 282. by Kevin Stoda I admit to not having lived in the states over the past 15 years. So, it now comes as a suprise to me the kinds of books that are being read back in the public schools in the land where I grew up. They include fiction that deal with rape, genocide and hopelessness. On a recent visit there in September, I picked up FORGOTTEN FIRE by Adam Bagdasarian . This fictional account is based on the life story of Adam's uncle, Vahan Kenderian, as a victim of the Armenian Holocaust in the collapsing Ottoman Empire and Turkey of the 1910s. This first novel by Bagdasarian was voted Best Young Adult Book in 2001 by the American Library Association. Within the first few pages, the reader quickly one moves in Vahan's world from a position of priviledge in a family of priviledge to a life of terror in Western Turkey on the scale of Jerzy Kosinski's (1965) THE PAINTED BIRD (set in Poland of the late 1930s and 1940s under Nazi occupation and during the Jewish-Gypsy Holocaust). By the way, Kosinski's book is considered one of the best reads ever on the Holocaust in Eastern Europe. TIMES magazine calls it one of the top 100 books ever written in the English language. Bagsdasarian's book tells of many similar woahs but comes out more optimistic as a whole, i.e. in contrast to the world portrayed by the main protagonist in Kozinsky's work. Vahan Kenderian's world is set in the period of a systematized genocide carried out under the control of both Ottoman and Turkish Nationalists who oversaw the disappearance of 1.5 million Armenians--with millions more sent into exiles. First, the 12-year-old Vahan sees his father disappeared by the police. Then his older brothers are shot in the head by soldiers in his own back yard. Soon the rest of the family is marched to a hotel where hundreds of Armenians are stuffed into suffocating room. Meanwhile, women are taken from these rooms one-by-one, raped and then killed. A week or so later, the rest of the remaining still-living (but now zombie-like) women and children are forced on a long march and some are shot and murdered on the way. They watch their grand mother is killed in front of their eyes at a stream and they know inwardly that by this junction their father has been murdered in the same way. Finally, young Vahan and his still younger brother are told by their mother and remaining sister to flee into the night while the prisoners and their guards are sleeping. Like in the tale of THE PAINTED BIRD, where "[t]he surreal carnival of violent depravity is made all the more horrifying" as "when seen from the point of view of a boy", the boy Vahan in FORGOTTEN FIRE travels from village to village trying to survive or make simply make do. He finds people to help him along the way, but many more thousands-and-thousands of Turks around him are just impending and constant threats to his life. Even some of the people who appear nice are really villains. Vahan has more than a fair-share of close calls and at one point needs to climb through a toilet to escape his guards. At another time, he finds a young Armenian girl to be a sort of substitute little sister only to watch her being raped to death by guards whom he was workign with at that time. Other times, only through begging as a dumb mute and by pretending he is who he is not can the young Vahan survive. Once he even dresses as a girl. Yet, as prescribed in Viktor Frankl's classic logotherepeutic autobiography of MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING, Vahan is slowly able to recover or find feelings of peace and joy in both (1) his memories of loved ones, like his sister or mom, in his past and (2) in his occasional hopes and dreams of a real future with some sort of new family. In summary, as in Kozinsky's THE PAINTED BIRD where the young gypsy (or Jewish boy) flees from place to place in Nazi-occupied Poland, Bagdasarian's protagonist remains often "wide-eyed like a camera with its shutter stuck open, [whereby] he witnesses atrocities and degradation, sexual and otherwise, that beggar the imagination." Nonetheless, "Vahan loses his home and family, and is forced to live a life he would never have dreamed of in order to survive. Somehow Vahan's incredible strength and spirit help him endure, even knowing that each day could be his last." It is in this optimism and continued understanding that Vahan sense again that he is a human being. It is in this manner that Bagdasarian differs greatly in his story telling from his forerunner Kozinsky. Bagdasarian is also quite the bard with words. For example, the words of Ara Sarkisian, who is a copper worker whom Vahan stays with a week: Sarkisian shares: "'Time takes everything, Vahan. But, your hear, your heart, your character, your faith, do not belong to time. So build your home here,' he said touching his chest. 'And make that home strong, make that home beautiful. Then you will always be safe, and you will never be alone.'"[p.188] For Vahan, who is held together only by memories of his family at this point, a new hope of a future family can be built on a heart that renews his strength to move on when times get worse. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). #OccupyJ20 protesters (Image by Photo by Julia Kann) Details DMCA During the campaign, Trump played footsie with white supremacists, called for a ban on Muslims and described Latinos as criminals and rapists. Since Trump's upset victory in November -- in which he received nearly 3 million fewer votes than his opponent, Hillary Clinton -- he's tweeted and attacked, but done little to bring the country together. Trump recently went after John Lewis, a civil rights leader and congressman who questioned the legitimacy of his presidency. Lewis, along with around 60 other congress members -- all Democrats, many African American and Latino -- boycotted the inauguration. Under the banner #DisruptJ20 (for January 20, the date of the inauguration), activists dedicated to different issues took their message to specific viewing entrances, many attempting to slow or stop supporters from getting inside. While morning blockades were mostly peaceful, later in the day there were instances of property damage and clashes with police and security personnel, who numbered nearly 30,000. Labor Blockade "This is not a normal president, so it shouldn't be a normal inauguration," said Denise Romano, a member of Communications Workers of America. She spoke as union activists linked arms, facing down a line of shield-wielding police at another entrance. Labor has reason for concern since Trump "stacked his administration with folks who are not shy about privatization," said labor activist Anna Woodbury. Nowhere is that more clear than with billionaire Betsy DeVos, the nominee for education secretary. DeVos and her family have spent millions of dollars over several decades to steer public money away from public schools and into charter and religious schools. "She bought her way to this position," Washington Teachers' Union president Liz Davis said after a rally Thursday. "She represents privatization, school choice, for-profit schools." For labor secretary, Trump tapped Andrew Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants, which owns the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's fast food chains. "He's terrible," said Romano. "He doesn't believe in any sort of minimum wage so why the heck is he the labor secretary?" Black Lives Matter Blockade After a short rally in front of the D.C. police department, Black Lives Matter activists made their way to the line into the inauguration. "Hey, hey, ho, ho, white supremacy's got to go," chanted activists, as some pulled out chains, quickly locking themselves across the entrance. They held the space for hours. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Prime minister, Theresa May sounded self-assured on January 17 th telling the world how she will go about implementing the June 23 rd decision, but was she really? The referendum was a colossal blunder. Its unexpected result threatens the unity of the Kingdom. Theresa May spent a fair amount of time reassuring the Scotts that while foreign policy is a central government's prerogative their voices will be heard and taken into account. Translation: no need for a new referendum on Scotland's independence. How will government officials and civil servants on both sides reconcile the two points of view remains an open question. Speaking as if the blunder was an opportunity, Theresa May presented Brexit as a chance to become "a great, global trading nation that is respected around the world, strong, confident and united at home". Thus, the country should "emerge from this period of change stronger, fairer, more united and more outward-looking than ever before". To do this, Theresa May will take several initiatives. Britain will sign a "comprehensive Free Trade Agreement" with the European Union while retaining its freedom to establish its "own tariff schedules at the World Trade Organisation" -- a somewhat contradictory proposition. Recognizing that Britain is a multicultural society but aware that the country has experienced "record levels of net migration", she will curb immigration which "puts pressure on public services" and "downward pressure on wages", in response to one of the electors' demands. At the same time, she will attract the best and the brightest, and guarantee "the rights of EU citizens who are already living in Britain" in the hope that the European Union will reciprocate. Speaking this way, Theresa May is in her role as prime minister. It is her duty to sound optimistic and rally people around her. But, her comments on the European Union will raise eyebrows across the Channel. She sounds disingenuous when she claims she does not want Brexit to "herald the beginning of a greater unravelling of the EU". Nothing would please many Britons more than a collapse of the Union. As if this was not enough, in a veiled criticism of the European Union's sometimes rough manners, she stated that "crushing into tiny pieces the very things you want to protect" is not the best way to deal with differences of opinions and interests. Finally and incredibly, she threatens the Union with "competitive tax rates" and the adoption of "policies that would attract the world's best companies and biggest investors" if Britain "were excluded from accessing the Single Market". This is tantamount to turning the United Kingdom into a huge tax haven. Not the best way to enter into a delicate and complex negotiation. Britain is in a dire situation. Scotts may recover their freedom amputating the country of a large portion of its territory. Britain has a chronic trade deficit. Becoming a "global trading nation" does not make sense unless its economy becomes more competitive. One of the country's strengths resides in its banking sector which accounts for 10% of its gross domestic product. The City will lose easy access to the European market once Brexit is in place. The truth of the matter is that Britain runs the risk of being isolated which is why Theresa May is so intent in signing a Free Trade Agreement with the European Union to the point of uttering threats. Siding with the United States, as Donald Trump is encouraging her to do, would turn Britain into a vassal of the American Empire, akin to Canada or Mexico -- not an appealing alternative. No one knows how Britain will weather the June 23 rd decision. The pound sterling took a beating but the 10 year government bond rate is holding up and the FTSE is doing very well. But the period of uncertainty the country is entering is fraught with perils. It must be ended as soon as possible. Winston Churchill once said: "If Britain must choose between Europe and the open sea, she must always choose the open sea." That was true in the glorious days of the Empire. They are gone. The time has come to choose Europe. Rejoining will be no easy task. Meshing British individualism with continental Europe's uniformity will be a tall order. Theresa May has put on a good show on January 17 th but not everyone was fooled. She was grasping for air. This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source. TurkeyMan (Image by WA POST) Details DMCA Deep in the woods of Alaska, I realized the jig was up. Thorne Bay was a logging camp, an island off the mainland, and remote enough that one can hide out as a part-time Indian terrorist, which is what I did. Cannibalized by coniferous rain forest, eroded by Inside Passage, accessible only by boat and float plane--it is the perfect anonymous archipelago. "Wounded Knee? Hell, yeah!" I told the FBI Agent--"I ran into a stump!" Parts of your life will always come back to haunt you. Certain atrocities never go away. Was it you?--a little voice whispered--Did you break into the Smithsonian Zoo?--Like an egg-sucking weasel?--During the Wounded Knee Siege--And filch the most hallowed of American fowls? Kidnap the national turkey in the name of the American Indian? Like a two-bit terrorist! "Absolutely not!" I said. "Why would I do that? Besides, it wasn't the Smithsonian--It was called the Washington National Zoo, back then." "So you are familiar ?"--I heard the accusatory trip wire--"with the turkey case of 1973? Walter Cronkite has been wondering." "S h*t"--I might as well admit it--it sounds bad--like I know stuff--incriminating stuff--that only an Indian should know." Obviously, the FBI had their antennae up. "Little known facts pop into your mind, huh , TurkeyMan? All these years later? That's quite a coincidence. You're a regular walking encyclopedia. Regarding turkeys, that is." TurkeyMan? My eye twitched. Sure, it sounds like I am guilty as sin--I probably did it--Look at the evidence. What else would anybody think? Luckily, guilty but insane is a legal defense--or is it?--I don't know, anymore. But on a dark Sunday night--April 17, 1973, to be exact--when a terrorist kidnapped the National Zoo's only caged turkey--practically pilfered the Pilgrim's Holy Supper--under the nose of our nation's capital--and held it for ransom in the name of the American Indian--I have to admit--Somehow, I know about that. Every detail. Like I channeled it or something. How is that possible? "He knows something"--I could hear a whisper--"it did happen at night." "C'mon, man!" I implored. "What kind of idiot would do that, anyway?" "Oh, I don't know. Something an Indian might do; you know, turkey feathers, a symbolic statement? Maybe a gobbler goblin?--the voice said with spittle-spewed sarcasm--When we catch him, there might even be a cage waiting at the zoo. Next to Nixon's pandas." I knew Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing were not officially Nixon's pandas. True, the pair were presented to the zoo after Tricky Dick's visit to China, and delivered on April 16, 1972, almost a year exactly, curiously enough, before the day, or night, rather, that the turkey was" "You say something, Turkey-Man?" Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Exclusive to OpEd News: OpEdNews Op Eds 1/22/2017 at 12:41 AM EST H3'ed 1/22/17 Overhead Shots Show Massive Women's March Crowds in Cities Across America by Forrest Wickman click here Quite an interesting series of overviews. This one of Los Angeles is amazing: click here Another one with the marchers near the Los Angeles City Hall: click here Another in downtown Los Angeles: click here >>>>>>>>>> The President tweeted twice about the Marches, the first at 5:47 AM the day after the Marches: "Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn't these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly." Later, at 7:23 AM, a more dignified almost egalitarian tweet: ""Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy," he said. "Even if I don't always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views." A spokeswoman for Soros's Open Society Foundations, said in a statement, There have been many false reports about George Soros and the Open Society Foundations funding protests in the wake of the U.S. presidential elections. There is no truth to these reports. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). 21808279-mmmain.jpg (The Oregonian/OregonLive file ph) UPDATE: Police ID man killed in Vancouver shooting A man was killed and another was detained early Sunday morning after a shooting in Vancouver, police said. Vancouver police say they found an adult male dead after responding at 4 a.m. to a reported shooting at a home in the 14900 block of Northeast 5th Street. Detectives took another adult male, TJ Patrick Ferres, into custody. Ferres was charged with second-degree murder and booked into Clark County Jail, police said. Public records show he lived at the block where the shooting occurred. Police said the two knew each other. The victim's name will be released after notifying his next of kin, police said. -- Rob Davis and Elliot Njus Updated at 7:51 p.m. with the identity of the man taken into custody. HOMELESS DEATH.JPG Police found a homeless woman with a newborn boy in Southeast Portland near Southeast 91st Avenue and Powell Boulevard on Jan. 9. (Beth Nakamura/Staff) It will be some time before it is known, if ever it is known, what possessed the apparently homeless mother of a newborn to carry her child, apparently dead, to a bus stop in the cold. But it's already clear the incident, which occurred in the early morning hours, is this winter's most desperate. Who might this baby have been? And what of the mother who might have viewed a spot along Southeast Powell Boulevard as a gateway: to where? Editorial Agenda 2017 Boost student success Get Oregon's financial house in order Help our homeless Honor our diverse values Make Portland a city that works Expand access to public records ________________________ Read more about the editorial board's priorities for Oregon. The mother is reported to be homeless and sufficiently hobbled by mental illness as not to be capable of explaining things. Mental illness is not uncommon among the homeless. Social service outreach workers have found it difficult to extend a helping hand to street folks whose view on the world can be phobic, suspicious and isolating. It's rare, however, a newborn - alive or dead - is involved. The wretchedness of the circumstance demands more outreach to the homeless and an even deeper resolve citywide that the condition of homelessness never be normalized. Too much is at stake, including the dignity of everyone sleeping inside at night. The fact of the dead baby demands it. Two new developments without link to the baby are encouraging, however. Kaiser Permanente Northwest, the managed health care organization, last Monday announced it would make grants totaling $2.27 million to seven Oregon nonprofit agencies to expand their efforts of outreach workers in helping folks with mental illness to find housing. That's bold and generous but difficult. The task in some instances means finding the needy client and building trust over time to ensure a path to safety can be blazed. Winter, especially, can get in the way. Catholic Charities of Oregon, one of the nonprofits to receive Kaiser Permanente's grant money, will use it to pay an outreach worker to build trust with people, Aimee Green of The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. A representative of Catholic Charities cited to Green the example of a homeless woman who camps with three or four others in Portland but is wary of shelters as unsafe even in frigid conditions. The woman questions whether coffee brought to her by outreach workers is free of poison and safe to drink. But steady contact has worked. The woman now appears ready to engage with workers from Catholic Charities, whose outreach efforts will be significantly bolstered by Kaiser Permanente. The decision by Kaiser Permanente, meanwhile, shows a deepening stake in the broader community in which it conducts business. But it's especially wise in its recognition that homelessness can have collusive influences, among them addiction and mental illness - conditions that make it difficult or impossible for sufferers to find and secure housing. It's a stretch to connect the plight of the woman and baby near the bus stop with barriers to housing. But it is not unreasonable to openly ask whether the woman's fate, and that of her son, might have been different with a level of outreach that would have made her sidewalk excursion unnecessary. Oregonian editorials Editorials reflect the collective opinion of The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom. Members of the editorial board are Laura Gunderson, John Maher, Helen Jung, Mark Katches and Len Reed. To respond to this editorial: Post your comment below, submit , or . If you have questions about the opinion section, contact Laura Gunderson, editorial and commentary editor, at 503-221-8378 or lgunderson@oregonian.com. First-time Portland Commissioner Chloe Eudaly, meanwhile, takes oversight of the city's Office of Neighborhood Involvement, designated last year by the city council to distribute $350,000 to neighborhood associations and nonprofits to better understand homelessness. This would be a terrible waste of taxpayer money - a Portland conceit of high-minded social engagement as homeless people bed down in snow. Eudaly ran for office on a rent-control platform but has broad duties at City Hall. Yet she will wisely derail this assignment, her deputy chief of staff, Dave Austin, told The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board last week. While Austin said Eudaly will explore other options for the money's best use, its return to city coffers altogether should not go unconsidered. The best investments in combatting homelessness are strategic and targeted, just as they are in Kaiser Permanente's case. Four homeless adults have died in the cold this month alone. It shouldn't take the death of a baby, discovered in the cold but declared by a medical examiner to be stillborn, to remind all of Portland that homelessness is a cruel fate begging for robust outreach and lasting remedies. -The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board 1jobs.JPG The state projects strong demand for more waiters, waitresses, cashiers and other positions. But some argue that their low wages and irregular scheduling practices call for new labor legislation. (Stephanie Yao Long/Staff) By Mary C. King The four occupations projected to add the most jobs in Oregon are not only low wage, as recently reported by The Oregonian/OregonLive's Mike Rogoway ("Oregon's most in-demand jobs are at low end of the wage scale," Dec. 29), but also subject to new, irregular scheduling practices that make it impossible for employees to arrange regular childcare, attend school, obtain a second job, plan family activities or even get enough sleep. Retail sales, waiters and waitresses, cashiers and fast food jobs are forecasted to add more jobs in Oregon by 2024 than any other occupations, according to the Oregon Employment Department. Just as these jobs employ more and more Oregonians, they are being scheduled for wildly varying shifts from day to day and week to week, with very little notice. Employers are demanding that people have "open availability," and be "on-call" for entire shifts, or for additional hours both earlier and later than scheduled. New software is facilitating continual, last minute changes to work schedules in response to perceptions of fluctuating customer demand. However, research has shown that less sophisticated versions of the software work poorly; individual employees' schedules now vary far more than hourly sales volumes. Growing use of "just-in-time" scheduling makes these occupations poverty traps. Employers fail to provide their mostly part-time work-force a reliable minimum number of hours, while making it impossible to pursue further education or a second job. As part of a larger investigation of the impacts of irregular scheduling coordinated by the University of Oregon Labor Education and Research Center, I have analyzed data from nearly 750 in-person interviews conducted in 2016. High proportions of survey respondents working in food services, retail and hospitality occupations reported experiencing severe stress on family lives and relationships, challenges for childcare and parenting, financial difficulties and negative health impacts. They also described having to give up educational plans, and being unable to schedule family and social activities or even medical care. American Community Survey data, collected by the U.S. Census, show that Oregonians working in jobs particularly hard hit by irregular scheduling are the working poor. Poverty rates are high, and health insurance coverage rates are low. Taxpayers are subsidizing the growth of these occupations and the spread of irregular scheduling, because affected employees are much more likely than average to need food stamps and other public benefits. Share your opinion Submit your essay of 500 words or less to commentary@oregonlive.com. Please include your email and phone number for verification. New legislation is on tap for the Oregon 2017 legislative session, similar to policies being implemented elsewhere, to require all employers to pay workers up to four hours' wages if their shifts are cancelled or shortened with less than 24 hours notice. All Oregonians would be granted the right to request their preferred schedule, free from retaliation or discrimination. Bigger retail, hotel and food service businesses would be required to provide a good faith estimate of minimum weekly hours upon hiring, 14-day notice of work schedules, the option to decline work hours not included in the schedule, and compensation for schedule changes made after the schedule is posted - unless changes are the result of employee requests, or a mass communication elicits volunteers for unscheduled hours. Our labor laws were created with the assumption that schedules would be regular. Flawed scheduling automation means we need new laws. Mary C. King is a labor economist and professor of economics, emerita at Portland State University. For Dominic DiMarco and Tim Nott, they look back at the death of their five-year venture as a learning opportunity. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Jo Brownlie is in the business of helping others cross items off their bucket lists. It is a source of pride for the founding director of Saginaw Valley State Universitys Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, or OLLI. Brownlie will retire from SVSU in February after 31 years at the university and 16 years overseeing OLLI, a program that offers educational opportunities and trips for its 50-years-and-older members. It has been a pleasure to see so many members cross things off their bucket lists on our trips, Brownlie said. This has included zip-lining and white water rafting in Costa Rica, enjoying the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, marveling over the Colosseum in Rome, touring the Acropolis in Athens, traveling on the Napa Valley wine train and gazing down on the Grand Canyon from the North Rim. The travel adventures are a small component of the larger OLLI experience, which Brownlie helped found in 2001 when the university recognized and answered a community call for enrichment opportunities that include those approaching retirement or already retired. Prior to receiving an endowment from the Bernard Osher Foundation in 2005, SVSUs program originally was known as the Institute for Learning and Retirement. Education for that age group was an unmet need at that time, Brownlie said. That population really does enjoy learning new things, and no one in our region was filling the need at that time despite the fact the number of retirees was really starting to grow. So we helped fill the gap. About 250 people signed up during the inaugural year. Membership has grown to nearly 2,000. At first, the institute offered courses on a variety of topics that appealed to the demographic. As membership grew, the institute also offered educational trips both in the United States and abroad. The first trip in 2005 sent members to Spain. In the years since, Costa Rica and Ireland have proven to be popular destinations, as have domestic cities such as New Orleans and Santa Fe, New Mexico. OLLI has had such a positive impact on many of our members lives, Brownlie said. We have actually been told that our program has saved lives. After leaving a full-time job, or after the death of a spouse, OLLI classes and trips can add structure to a members day. They also have the opportunity to meet new friends who share their love of learning, fitness, a hobby or travel. The experience has proven inspiring for the programs instructors too. Katherine Ellison, Ph.D., an adjunct instructor of history at SVSU, began teaching history-based classes for OLLI two years ago. Its been an amazing experience, said Ellison, who also serves as school board president for the Hemlock Public School District in Saginaw County. A lot of our members have lived through some of the history Im teaching. Theyve taught me things things I never would have known from just reading books. When teaching a class on former U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower, for example, one of the OLLI members presented Ellison a photograph. It was a picture of him, shaking hands with Richard Nixon (former president as well as vice president to Eisenhower) when Nixon came to Saginaw to campaign for Eisenhower, Ellison said. Her experience with OLLI was so inspirational that Ellison applied for the job as Brownlies successor. Ellison has begun her work this month, providing some time for a smooth transition. I gave my students in my most recent OLLI course a brief survey and asked them what comes to mind when they first think of OLLI, Ellison said. Many of them commented friends. Not only does OLLI allow seniors to be lifelong learners, but it also allows me an opportunity to be a lifelong learner as well by being a part of the organization. While Brownlie will step down as director on Feb. 1, she wont be leaving OLLI. She signed up for three classes in 2017, a year in which she hopes to check off a few more items on her personal bucket list. What a weekend this nation has experienced. First, on Friday, Donald Trump became the 45th president of the United States, promising that going forward under his leadership, America will always be put first. This American carnage stops right here, Trump declared in his 16-minute address after being sworn in as president. From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this moment on, its going to be America first. He also had words of encouragement for the people he says Washington has ignored over the years. What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people, he said. To all Americans in every city near and far, small and large from mountain to mountain, from ocean to ocean, hear these words: You will never be ignored again. The snippets from his speech reported by the national media no doubt sounded good to the millions of Americans who put Trump in office, but they made leaders of foreign countries nervous and they were of no comfort to the more than a million people mostly women but many men too who participated in anti-Trump protest marches across the nation and the world on Saturday, the day after the presidents inauguration festivities. An estimated half million convened in Washington, D.C.. We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war, actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd. Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack, and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. ... We are America, and we are here to stay. Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump, also shared her thoughts on the marches, thanking participants on Twitter for standing, speaking and marching for our values. The marches across America were peaceful, a strong contrast to the violent protests Friday that resulted in 200 arrests and six police officers being injured. But the women marches and the Friday protests together help demonstrate how divided and uncertain we are as a nation. Unifying leadership is what our country needs right now. The question is, will President Trump deliver? Trumps past record of combative tweets and speeches makes that seem unlikely. We hope Trump proves us wrong and provides the leadership that helps this nation begin to heal. Earlier this week the Michigan House of Representatives began its 99th session. The first bill introduced deals with an important issue rolling back Michigans income tax. The second bill introduced by Rep. Rob Verheulen, R-Walker, is a replica of the bill introduced in the last two sessions by former Rep. Amanda Price, R-Clark Township, that would remove all public notices from newspapers. The members of the Michigan Press Association find it disconcerting that subverting citizens rights to access information about what their government is doing is one of the first issues introduced for this legislature. In this era of unscrupulous hacking by foreign entities it seems that depositing all the information about government activity including things like zoning, millage increases and government takeover of personal property to the websites of the government themselves is risky at best and possibly unethical at worst. Our Founding Fathers were so concerned and distrustful of government power that they took extraordinary measures to ensure transparency and accountability. The checks and balances provided for in the Constitution that we learned about in civics class are one such measure. A second and equally important measure is the three-legged stool of governmental accountability, the first leg of which is the proper notice of upcoming government meetings and actions. The second leg is the requirement that governments hold open meetings so that officials can be held accountable for their actions. The third leg is the Freedom of Information Act so that all people have access to government records. These three legs of transparency and accountability are critical to the health of an informed democracy, and the first leg is under attack by some misguided government officials. Good public notice must be provided in a forum independent of the agency required to give the public notice. If not, unscrupulous officials can hide or confuse actions from the public. These notices need to be accessible to all members of the community regardless of financial status or technical abilities. And they must also be archived in a permanent format to prevent revisions to the historical record. Notices placed on a government website fail all of these requirements. Does the entire community have the access and skills to know how and where to find this information on the internet? No, its highly unlikely even in the most affluent communities. Would placing these notices on a government website save money? Very unlikely if all aspects are accounted for because the process requires staff to upload and maintain the records; websites require regular maintenance; and security is questionable at best. These failings are further compounded by a lack of independent oversight. The internet can be a valuable adjunct in helping keep the public informed. That is why many newspapers now post notices on their websites at no additional charge. However, government notices must be handled like the permanent legal documents they are. Newspapers have done this for hundreds of years at minimal cost. Hiding these notices on an obscure government website fails the public and contributes to the erosion of trust in government. Our Founding Fathers would strongly disapprove. We urge you to contact your state representative and let them know you do too. Doug Caldwell is president of the Michigan Press Association. So, I finally got my emotions stabilized enough to chat with my Trump voter friend lets call him Forrest. Forrest, what I cant understand is, the first thing Trump is going to do is cancel Obamacare. What are you going to do about health insurance? Oh, I never signed up for that Muslim Socialist Obamacare, Im with the Affordable Care Act thats much better insurance that the Republicans passed! I explained that the Affordable Care Act was Obamacare, but Forrest demurred, No, I saw Trump the other day, he said they were going to make our health insurance even better. In fact, huge. And tremendous! I cant wait to get rid of all the death panels, the FEMA camps, and for the government to stop intruding in my life! So, youre ready to have your Medicare reduced to a voucher? And the age of eligibility raised? Oh, Mr. Trump would never do that. He wants to make America Great Again. But its in the Republican platform! He switched course. Heres what Im mad about, people that say Mr. Trump is illegitimate even before hes sworn in! he said. Peeling my jaw off the counter, I blurted, But, Donald Trump built his political career claiming Mr. Obama was not an American, and therefore ineligible to be president! Oh, Im sure Mr. Trump was just saying that to win an election, he doesnt really believe it. But, says I, You told me that yourself! In fact, as recently as August, 41 percent of Republicans didnt believe Obama was born in the U.S. and another 31 percent werent sure. Its an astonishing disconnect from reality! Well, he doesnt believe it any more. But then, how do you know what he does believe? I do know. He wants to make America Great Again. OK, so, talk me down on this. All of our intelligence agencies say that Russia intervened in our election by spreading fake news and manipulating media, and released information that overwhelmingly favored Donald Trump. A new U.S. intelligence document suggests that Mr. Trumps associates might have met with Russian sources and discussed arrangements Russian help in the elections, for Trumps help in lifting sanctions, applied since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Forrest frowned. Im suspicious of any kind of intelligence. But what about the Republicans War on Science? They dont believe in the proven science of climate change, which we can see right in front of us almost every week! Weve had three years in a row of new global temperature records! 97 percent of climate scientists agree were in trouble! I told you, Im suspicious of any kind of intelligence! I circled around. But how can Mr. Trump believe the former head of the KGB, someone who murders his opponents and journalists, targets schools and hospitals with his military? Someone who has conducted false-flag terror bombings against his own people? Someone who is supporting far-right Neo-Nazi groups across Europe, and right here in America? Well, maybe we should jail some journalists! That would make them more careful about what they write! Except Fox. I love Fox. Im sure youre joking, I said. Right now, Mr. Putin is meddling in elections in Germany and France. A pro-Putin French candidate visited the White House last week. Mr. Trump has called NATO, the most successful treaty organization in history that has kept the peace in Europe for 70 years, obsolete. NATO is the only thing keeping Mr. Putin from absorbing Eastern Europe into what he thinks is Greater Russia. Meanwhile, the first leader that Mr. Trump is going to meet with after hes sworn in will be Vladimir Putin. What do you think they are going to talk about? Forrest thought a moment, How to Make America Great Again? Peter Sinclair of Midland is a videographer specializing in climate change and sustainable solutions. His video series This is Not Cool appears on the blog Yale Climate Connections. Sinclair is media director of The Dark Snow Project, an international, crowd funded science and communication initiative, at darksnow.org KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The lights of the oncoming car drew closer, swerving across the Warrensburg, Mo., roadway and into their lane. "What is this guy doing?" an alarmed Air Force Staff Sgt. Jevon McBride said. The lights bore down. All that Jevon and his pregnant wife, Julie, had wanted to do that night, just after 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 7, was get a bite to eat at Wendy's. Stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Jevon, 32, had just finished working out at the gym. Julie had just finished a shift at the base day care. At age 30, she was six months pregnant, and she and Jevon were going through one of the happiest periods of their lives. Shock, happiness and overwhelmed, she wrote on the day she found out she was pregnant. It had taken 10 years for the couple to have a pregnancy that took. Along the way: three miscarriages, hormone shots, disappointment, a thousand tears. Then, on Mother's Day, just as they were about to give up, maybe look at adoption or other options, she tested one last time. He (Jevon) was so happy, her journal read. ... He hugged me, we kissed and did a baby dance. He was also nervous, hoping the baby would stick. No matter what happened, they agreed to chronicle everything. No matter how it turned out, this might be their last time. But now this. The lights were upon them. "Oh my God, baby, hold on!" Jevon shouted. Metal twisted. Glass and airbags exploded. Jevon's right femur and ankle shattered as the car's front end crumpled. Julie could feel warm liquid pooling around her. She feared it was blood. "Our father, who art in heaven," she prayed. " ... Save my baby. I don't care if anything happens to me. Save my baby and Jevon." A gift Human nature searches for certainty, raising hope or easing fear in anticipation of what lies ahead. But as 2017 has dawned, three months after Julie and Jevon's hopes and fears collided, they already have learned that sometimes the best you can do is to have faith, be positive and hold each other tight. Because no matter how you think a story will unfold, rarely does it go that way. Knocked dizzy by the airbag, Jevon regained consciousness. Pain seared his right leg. "Baby, you OK?" he called to Julie in the passenger's seat. "Keep breathing. Stay calm." Back at home, Julie's weekly journal was already full of the couple's hopes as prospective parents. Week 7: We're still shocked. We're so in love. Hubby and I keep watching our first ultrasound over and over ... Glow, baby, glow. When you're done glowing, glow some more. Week 9: Nausea hit me out of nowhere. It's tough and draining, but I'm SO happy to be pregnant and wouldn't trade it for the world. Then a scare arose -- cramping, raising fears of a fourth miscarriage -- that became a relief: a benign cyst. Week 11: I'm still getting sick, but I don't care. I love this baby so much. She wrote about her upcoming gender-revealing party. The McBrides had been sure they were having a boy, but the baby was a girl. Friends made them a cake with a pink center to celebrate. They took pictures of the baby's room and, on Labor Day, were spotted by a Kansas City Star photographer standing amid acres of blooming sunflowers where they had come to take pictures of themselves with their ultrasound image. The Star photographer snapped their picture and stayed in touch, learning later about the wreck. "We were so happy in that field," Julie recalled last week. They met at an Air Force base in Guam when Jevon was a 19-year-old airman, the only son of parents from Colorado. She was 17, one of four kids of two career Air Force parents -- Jeffrey Day, now a lieutenant colonel, and Allison Day, a senior master sergeant. They went on a date. Jevon, smitten, returned to the barracks and told his buddies, "She's going to be my wife." They married two years later, in August 2005, eloping to the shock and initial dismay of their parents, who didn't find out until it was over. "My mom called me -- she was going crazy on the phone," Jevon said. "Man, her mom was livid." Both had long dreamed of having a family and quickly began trying. It took 10 years, through tours in Italy and back in the States, to finally get their little "bean." Week 24, days before the accident: We're so in love with each other and bean. Sometimes I call out to Jevon around the house and say, "Guess what?!?" He says, "What" and I say, "We're having a baby." Then, at 25 weeks and four days: the crash. A teenager had taken his eyes of the road, perhaps falling asleep at the wheel, Warrensburg police said. No charges were filed. Two ambulances sped the McBrides to St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City. Jevon's right femur had cracked in two places. His ankle was in shards. Julie had a concussion. The fluid she'd felt was not blood; her water had broken. The baby still had a heartbeat, an ultrasound showed. But their story had forever changed: The baby, with a due date of Jan. 16, needed to come out by emergency cesarean section. Her new birthday: Oct. 8. That morning, the McBrides handed a nurse a camera to take their picture. Within days, Julie would post a powerful photograph on her Instagram page. It shows Julie and Jevon lying side by side on separate hospital beds just before they go off to surgery -- him for his leg, her for the C-section. In the moment, they are holding hands, praying for their baby's life and health, and deciding on her name. Juliana Charlotte Madison McBride. Juliana after Julie's grandmother. Charlotte for Jevon's grandmother. And Madison, because, Julie told Jevon, it loosely meant "gift from God." "That was right before we let go of our hands," Jevon recalled. "And after that, it was kind of calming. Gift from God: No matter what, this is our gift from God. We are going to work it out." Two weeks ago, the couple held Juliana, now weighing more than 5 pounds, at the neonatal intensive care unit at Children's Mercy Hospital. Born at 1 pound, 11 ounces, tiny enough for Jevon to cup her entire body in his hands, she is thriving and should go home in a week or so. "We can't wait," Julie said. To be sure, there are issues. Juliana spent most of her first 10 weeks in the NICU at St. Luke's Hospital, with the McBrides living in the Ronald McDonald House. Tiny Juliana was seen nationwide before Christmas when the March of Dimes sent a photo of her, sleeping in her incubator and wrapped all in red like a present with a white bow and a tag reading "BELIEVE," to the "Good Morning America" show as part of a piece on premature babies at St. Luke's as precious "gifts." But on Dec. 12, Juliana was transferred to Children's Mercy Hospital when it was determined that she needed neurosurgery. Doctors placed a shunt to relieve blood that was pooling on the left side of her brain. Children's Mercy physician Brian Carter, a professor of pediatric neonatology, said Juliana definitely suffered loss of oxygen and damage to her brain from the bleed. But the infant brain is quite resilient, with a remarkable ability in some cases to bypass damage and build new connections. Juliana could be impaired in some of her movements and coordination. She could have speech or hearing problems, on top of some sight problems, that are common among premature infants. NORMAL The assault of a disabled man by four people broadcast live on Facebook earlier this month was met with predictable anger and repulsion by viewers, but the story behind the beating has yet to be fully explored, says Illinois State University professor Paula Crowley, author of a recent book on prevention of abuse of disabled children. "We have to think more deeply about what's going on here. You wonder what's the bigger story," said Crowley, author of "Preventing Abuse and Neglect in the Lives of Children with Disabilities." What is known is that disabled children are abused three to four times more frequently than their non-disabled peers, said Crowley. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 518,278 children were abused or neglected in 2013. Illinois reported 29,719 abuse cases, with 2,172 involving children with a disability. In the Chicago case, the 18-year-old victim was a classmate of one the attackers who took him to a location where three others joined in an hours-long assault that was shared on Facebook. Police think the man was targeted because of his mental disabilities, schizophrenia and attention deficit disorder. The backgrounds of the assailants could shed light on what other factors may have been involved, said Crowley. Crowley, whose work at ISU involves training students who plan to become special education teachers, said society's lack of understanding of mental health conditions is a contributing factor to the stigma that sometimes leads to violence against disabled children. "We've accepted physical disabilities more readily than emotional and psychological conditions," she said. For many people, the brain is viewed differently independent and mysterious and set apart from other parts of the body. The assumption that a broken limb or a chronic health condition like diabetes requires ongoing care does not apply equally to mental health conditions, said Crowley. According to McLean County Public Defender Carla Barnes, the cycle of abuse often is part of a multi-generational pattern that plays out in the criminal justice system on a daily basis. The details of what helped lead a defendant to commit a crime are offered, not as an excuse but as an explanation during the sentencing phase where a judge can consider a person's background in deciding the appropriate punishment. "Many of our clients who victimize grew up in an environment where physical abuse was a part of their everyday life. They have no other choice but to live in it it's in their home and right outside their door. The abusive atmosphere becomes normal," said Barnes. Barnes said services can help victims alter their path. "If these behaviors are never brought to light, addressed and treated, the outcome for some is to perpetuate the violent behavior," she said. An adult who intervenes to stop abuse against a child may spare not only the child, but future victims as well, said Crowley. "Traumatic experiences in childhood matter. Men and woman who have childhood histories of abuse and neglect are at particular risk for psychiatric diagnoses in adulthood," Crowley writes in her examination of those who are at risk to become perpetrators. With tight budgets and limited staff at agencies that monitor child abuse and neglect, there is a risk that efforts to prevent such tragedies will be reduced or ignored, said Crowley. BLOOMINGTON If the Affordable Care Act is repealed, key provisions should be retained in any replacement law, say Central Illinois health care and benefits' planning leaders. In separate interviews last week, health care and benefits planning professionals agreed that the following ACA provisions should be kept: Requiring insurers to offer health insurance to people with pre-existing medical conditions. Allowing parents to keep adult children on their health insurance until age 26. Allowing low-income people to afford health insurance through lower, subsidized rates. But the best way to pay for the third provision remains a subject of debate. And there is less common ground on what other aspects of Obamacare should remain. For example, there is disagreement over whether insurance coverage should be mandated and whether insurers should be required to include coverage of certain screenings and treatments. "No one is saying the Affordable Care Act is perfect," said Walt Howe, director of the McLean County Health Department. "But I would like to see the positive aspects maintained." "OSF HealthCare recognizes that, since its implementation, the Affordable Care Act contains a number of flaws, but has provided greater access to those who could least afford insurance," said OSF Chief Operating Officer Bob Sehring. "We always knew that the Affordable Care Act would be a work in progress," added Colleen Kannaday, president of Advocate BroMenn Medical Center, Normal. As President Donald Trump and Republican majorities in Congress deliver on their promise to repeal Obamacare, health care and benefits planners agreed that ACA shouldn't be repealed without an immediate replacement. "We should have a replacement plan in place when the repeal happens or people will lose confidence in the process," said Jeff Gilmore, president of Benefit Planning Associates, Bloomington. "The replacement needs to be figured out before the repeal happens or else people would be in limbo," agreed Kannaday. "It becomes a time of great uncertainty and no one wants that." "If the whole thing is scrapped, we're in a worse position than prior to anything passing," said Angie McLaughlin, executive director of the Community Health Care Clinic, Normal, that serves about 1,000 low-income residents who are uninsured or under-insured. "You would get people in a world of unknown and that's never a good thing." "Repeal without an appropriate replacement or proper funding mechanism in place would be disruptive to the nation's health care system," Sehring said. The Affordable Care Act expanded health insurance to 20 to 30 million people, but also required people to obtain health insurance or face a penalty, required many employers to provide insurance and has resulted in premium increases for policyholders who are helping to cover those receiving subsidized premiums. "We need to continue to provide financial support to people who got insurance the last few years through tax credits or Medicaid expansion otherwise there would be a vacuum," Gilmore said. "If they (Congress and Trump) don't address that, there will be major disruptions in the insurance market." According to McLean County's 2016 Community Health Survey, 21 percent of survey respondents were without health insurance in 2013 and 8 percent were without health insurance in 2015. People bought private insurance or qualified for the expanded Medicaid program. "The expansion of Medicaid and the availability of insurance through the exchange have permitted many hundreds of people to access medical and behavioral health services just at Chestnut Health Systems," said Chief Operating Officer Alan Sender. At Immanuel Health Center in Bloomington, since the ACA took effect, the percentage of patients on Medicaid has increased, while the percentage of self-pay patients has declined and the percentages of Medicare and private insurance patients have remained steady, said medical director Dr. Trina Scott. "The ACA has been good for our patients because, before the expansion of Medicaid, a lot of them weren't getting preventive care such as mammographies, colonoscopies and diabetes screening and they weren't getting help with chronic conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and mental illness," Scott said. "For the individuals, their quality of life is much better, which means the community is healthier and safer," Scott said. If they lose coverage, they wouldn't get coordinated, preventive care and would return to episodic, expensive hospital-based care where they would rely on hospital charity care programs, Scott said. "If preventive services continue, eventually we'll see a pay off," Howe said. "As we take care of ourselves and our community, the cost of health care goes down. It's important that we maintain a requirement that individuals be insured." But if requiring people to get insurance or face a penalty remains, "they'll have to figure out a way to pay for it," Gilmore said. Now, subsidized coverage is covered through higher premiums paid by small businesses and individuals not receiving subsidies, he said. "We are concerned about the increases in insurance premiums, deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs which has impacted the ability for some, particularly those who receive a limited or no subsidy, to have access to affordable health care," Sehring said. While Medicaid expansion and insurance offered through the exchanges has encouraged people to seek care sooner, "affordability of both Medicaid and benefit plans offered through the public exchanges must be addressed," Sehring said. Gilmore would like to see an end to many ACA business regulations, including requiring employers of 50 or more employees to provide coverage to employees who work 30 hours or more a week. He'd also like to see a relaxing of coverage requirements. "If you don't want maternity coverage, you shouldn't have to buy it," he said. "That adds to cost." "Insurance companies should cover pre-existing conditions, but I'd also like to see some underwriting process where, if individuals make the right lifestyle choices, they get better premiums," Gilmore said. The ACA is transitioning health care providers to being reimbursed for value rather than volume of care. It's succeeding in improving care and saving money, Kannaday said. "Obviously, this is a complex issue that's not going to be fixed the day it (the ACA) is repealed," Gilmore said. "It'll take time and tweaking." "No matter what happens, we can't expect federal legislation to solve every single health care problem in the U.S.," McLaughlin said. "There are a lot of patients who are concerned about what will happen," Scott said. "I tell them 'Ultimately, God is in control and we will figure it out together. If you lose your insurance, you can still come here.'" Chris Jarvis for The Daily New Egypt Restoring economic stability is not easy, as Egypts President Sisi has said many times. The country faces three interlinked problems: an urgent balance of payments problemwhich means more foreign currency has been going out the door than coming inrising public debt, as well as low growth and high unemployment. With help from the IMF, Egypt has designed a reform plan to address these problems, which affect Egyptians every day, especially the most vulnerable in society. The goal is to help people through the difficult economic transition and give people a shared stake in Egypts future. How social protection helps economic reforms All of the economic problems that Egypt faces can be solved, and the reforms the government has made in recent months introducing the value added tax (VAT), floating the pound, and cutting fuel subsidies will In the long term help all Egyptians. The reforms will help the middle class as well as the vulnerable by raising growth and creating jobs. But there are also short-term costs. In daily life, imports cost more in pounds because it takes more pounds to buy a dollar. Some people will pay more taxes. Fuel costs more as subsidies are cut. So the government and the IMF are determined that as little as possible of the costs should fall on those least able to afford them. For this reason, the government has committed to spend a minimum of an additional 33 billion pounds, about 1 percentage point of GDP, to increase social spending. Social protection measures There are different programs put in place and in the phase of implementation that are mainly targeted to help the most vulnerable groups. These programs include increased food subsidies, and reforms to the social pension budget. Here are some details: Increased food subsidies by raising the value of the subsidy offered through food smart cards from 15 to 21 Egyptian pounds per person. Expanded Takaful and Karama to reach 1.7 million households and 7.3 million beneficiaries. Expanded social pension budget to reach another 1.7 million households, and the general pension will be increased. There are smaller programs targeted to specific vulnerable groups, such as more free school meals, and new gas connections for poor districts. The government will increase subsidies for infant milk and childrens medicines, and will preserve or increase vocational training for young people. Social structural reforms include efforts to raise the participation of women in the workforce. This will have important social effects, as well as contribute to economic growth. About 250 million Egyptian pounds more will be spent on public nurseries, and the government will study how to make public transportation safer and more accessible for women. More growth means more jobs The program also addresses economic and structural constraints. With sound implementation of planned policies, Egypts growth could rise to 6 percent over the medium term, which would be comparable to the period from 2005 to 2010 when annual growth averaged 5.9 percent. The medium-term objective for the program is to bring the Egyptian economy to its full potential and achieve high growth rates. This will help create jobs to absorb Egypts young population entering the job market. The IMF projects that unemployment will fall to 10 percent by the final year of the program, compared to 12.7 percent last year, and will fall further into single digits after this. The economic reform program is in its early stages and throughout the process both the government and the IMF are committed to supporting social protection. Both the structural reforms and social protection measures are critical to achieve the programs goals and will be used as markers to measure progress. The authorities are committed to implement them by end of June 2017. The plan was developed by the Egyptian government for the Egyptian people. The economic reform program draws on the growth experiences of many countries that have successfully sustained social and economic progress. It takes careful account of Egypts specific and unique characteristics to ensure that it creates the best chance of success for the Egyptian people. Implementation will at times be difficult, but Egypt can move forward with confidence knowing that economic reform is not just about growing national income, but also protecting and improving the prospects of its poorest and most vulnerable citizens. Chris Jarvis is the mission chief for Egypt and an Advisor at the International Monetary Funds Middle East and Central Asia Department. He was previously in the IMFs European Department where he led missions to Belarus and then Ukraine; and before that he was a speechwriter for Rodrigo de Rato and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former Managing Directors at the IMF. Mr. Jarvis has over twenty years experience as an IMF economist, working mostly on emerging economies. He is a U.K. national and before joining the IMF, he was at the U.K. Treasury. Mr. Jarvis was educated at Keble College, Oxford, Nuffield College, Oxford, and Yale University. Antalis Acquires Ireland Paper Merchant, Swan Paper From left to right: Brian McArdle, COO, Swan Paper; Eoin Heagney, Managing Director of Antalis Ireland; and Tony Swan, CEO of Swan Paper. Jan. 21, 2017 Antalis announced on Jan. 14 that it acquired the assets of Swan Paper, Ireland's largest independent paper merchant. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Antalis said the acquisition will further strengthen its presence in Ireland where it already has an annual turnover in excess of EUR 40 million and employs 32 people from its Dublin head office. Antalis will retain the Swan brand, creating a new Swan Paper division which will be headed up by Swan's Brian McArdle. He will report into Eoin Heagney, managing director of Antalis Ireland. The business will continue to operate from its base in Baldoyle, Dublin and all 13 current employees will transfer over to Antalis. I am incredibly proud to have built the business into the company it is today, but feel it is now time to take a step back from day-to-day operations, said Tony Swan, CEO of Swan Paper. The next chapter in the Swan story is incredibly important to me and I believe that Antalis is the right business partner to take the company forward. Antalis' approach to its people, product offering and customers are all very similar to our own. Our success has, in no small measure, been down to the 'Swan Team' approach and I am delighted that all of our talented and knowledgeable colleagues will transfer over to Antalis. Eoin Heagney added, "This is an incredibly exciting development for Antalis which will see us significantly increase the size of our business in Ireland. The team at Swan has in-depth expertise, and a genuine entrepreneurial culture. Everyone involved is looking forward to bringing together our two businesses to offer an unrivalled product range and service to our customers." Antalis, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sequana, is a leading European distributor of paper, packing and visual communication materials. SOURCE: Antalis Cannabis use in the state of Washington has been legalized for years but amendments are currently being reviewed. One of these is for allowing medical marijuana in Washington schools and families are lobbying to get it signed. Some 50 children are registered in the state's database that allows them to use medical marijuana to treat various conditions. The problem, however, is that they cannot take their medication in school. Dad John Barclay's daughter, River, uses medical marijuana to control her seizures. She developed her condition at the age of 4-years-old and none of the pharmaceutical drugs worked to ease it. The family discovered that CBD oil, which is derived from marijuana but has low THC levels, can treat her symptoms faster and more efficiently without the common effects of being high. Barclay would usually fetch River in school in the middle of the day so that she can have her cookies with CBD oil at home. But the whole routine ends up disrupting River's school activities, thus she sometimes misses classes, according to KBKW. Allowing medical marijuana in schools could help save time and families won't have to worry about their children's seizure episodes since they can bring CBD oil regularly. "This would allow me to be with her in a private office without any of the staff being there," Barclay said, King 5 reports. "I would just give her a cookie, and say 'have a good day." Rep. Brian Blake is sponsoring HB 1060 in Congress while SB 5290 is also under review in the Senate. If approved, these bills would override federal laws that prohibit medical marijuana in schools. Currently, Colorado and New Jersey have similar laws in place. Reports say that politicians from both parties are sympathetic to these bills. Lobbyists are optimistic that lawmakers will approve medical marijuana in Washington schools. On Friday Patently Apple posted a report titled "Apple Sues Qualcomm for $1 Billion Claiming Unfair Exclusionary Tactics and Charging Excessive Royalties." Today's report covers Apple's full formal complaint against Qualcomm with all its details filed with the Southern U.S. District Court in San Diego with the Presiding Judge being noted as Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel. Under Apple's factual allegations segment they cover such matters as Qualcomm's Secret Manufacturer License Agreements, Qualcomm Preventing Apple from bringing its concerns to law enforcement and Qualcomm Retaliates By Withholding Nearly $1 Billion From Apple. Our report covers the Nature of the Action, The Factual Allegations of the case and a full copy of the format complaint for the curious, legal students and professionals to review. Nature of the Action Apple's formal complaint before the U.S. District Court in San Diego begins with the 'Nature of the Action.' The following is the full section with yellow highlights being added by Patently Apple for emphasis only. "Law-enforcement agencies around the globe are actively investigating Qualcomm's illegal business practices; in the past two years alone, Qualcomm has been declared a monopolist by three separate governments. Qualcomm pursues its illegal practices through a secret web of agreements designed to obfuscate its conduct. In at least one such agreement, Qualcomm inserted a gag order that prevented an aggrieved party from seeking relief that could curb Qualcomm's illegal conduct, in an effort to keep courts and regulators in the dark and its coerced customers quiet. Qualcomm was one among many companies that contributed to the development of standards related to how cellular phones connect to voice and data networks. As a contributor, Qualcomm is entitled to a fair royalty based on the value of its particular contribution. Qualcomm is not entitled to collect royalties based on the contribution of others to the standard, or unrelated innovation by companies that utilize the standardbut this is precisely the business model that Qualcomm has established and that it protects through monopoly power and unlawful licenses. In order to purchase Qualcomm chips or obtain access to patents pledged to a cellular standard, Qualcomm demands that third parties pay Qualcomm a royalty much greater than the value of Qualcomm's contribution to the standarda value based on the entire price of the innovative products that only incidentally incorporate the standard. What this means in the case of the iPhone is that when Apple engineers create a revolutionary new security feature such as touch ID, which enables breakthrough technologies like Apple Pay, Qualcomm insists on royalties for these and other innovations it had nothing to do with and royalty payments go up. When Apple spends billions redefining the concept of a smartphone camera, Qualcomm's royalty payments go up. Even when Apple sells an iPhone with added memory256GB instead of 128GBQualcomm collects a larger royalty just because of that added memory. Apple products are among the most innovative in the world, yet because of its monopoly power, its suppression of the disclosure of information to government agencies investigating Qualcomm, and an abusive licensing model, Qualcomm believes it is entitled to collect its "tribute" on every such improvement. Apple, which has been overcharged billions of dollars on Qualcomm's illegal scheme, brings this action to recover its damages, enjoin Qualcomm from further violations of the law, and request declaratory relief. Among Apple's damages are nearly $1 billion that Qualcomm owes to Apple under an agreement between the two companies. Qualcomm claims that Apple has forfeited those amounts by responding to requests in the course of an investigation by the Korea Fair Trade Commission ("KFTC"), which recently levied the largest fine in its history against Qualcomm. Qualcomm has withheld the required contractual payments from Apple even though the agreement clearly permits Apple to respond to the KFTC's lawful investigation and requests for information. If that were not enough, Qualcomm then attempted to extort Apple into changing its responses and providing false information to the KFTC in exchange for Qualcomm's release of those payments to Apple. Apple refused. Apple also seeks redress for Qualcomm's abuse of its monopoly power in the technologies used to connect to cellular networks. Constant connectivity over cellular networks has become part of our everyday lives. The iPhone was not the first cellular phone or even the first smartphone, but it revolutionized the industry and is the gold standard by which all other smartphones are judged. To be a cellular phone at all, an iPhone must be able to connect to the wide variety of cellular networks in use around the world. Having a common set of standards for these cellular networks is beneficial to consumers because it encourages investment in infrastructure and technology. Common standards allow cellular phones to work together and then permit companies like Apple the opportunity to innovate in building great products. Standardization can be beneficial, but only if those holding intellectual property that is part of the standard make that intellectual property widely available on terms that fairly compensate the holder of the intellectual property while recognizing the monopoly power obtained through standardization. That is why, for patents that companies have declared "essential" to cellular standards, patent law is reinforced by contractual obligations to license such patents on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory ("FRAND" or "RAND") terms. FRAND commitments are the heart of the standard setting process. Qualcomm broke its promise and has breached its FRAND commitments. Qualcomm illegally double-dips by selling chipsets that allow mobile telephones to connect to cellular networks and then separately licensing (but never to competitors) the purportedly necessary intellectual property. By tying together the markets for chipsets and licenses to technology in cellular standards, Qualcomm illegally enhances and strengthens its monopoly in each market and eliminates competition. Then, Qualcomm leverages its market power to extract exorbitant royalties, later agreeing to reduce those somewhat only in exchange for additional anticompetitive advantages and restrictions on challenging Qualcomm's power, further solidifying its stranglehold on the industry. All of this has been forced on Apple because the iPhone and the iPad have required Qualcomm chips. Qualcomm's abusive practices have particularly harmed Apple, the prime innovator in the mobile device industry. In recent licensing discussions with Apple, Qualcomm has asserted that it has a 'good faith belief' that Apple's productswhich now use both Qualcomm and Intel chipsets to connect to cellular networksinfringe many Qualcomm patents simply because Qualcomm "holds a great many patents that are essential to cellular standards implemented by Apple products," including the 3G/UMTS and/or 4G/LTE standards. Qualcomm has recently demonstrated that it will file lawsuits following threats to assert its patents. The asserted patents in this case include patents that are U.S. counterparts of Chinese patents that Qualcomm has asserted in litigation against Meizu Technology Co., Ltd. ("Meizu") and that Qualcomm has declared as essential to the 3G/UMTS and/or 4G/LTE standard. These patents are not, in fact, essential to 3G/UMTS or 4G/LTE and are not infringed by Apple. Moreover, if any of these patents were essential, Qualcomm's licensing demands violate patent law and its FRAND obligations. For years, Qualcomm has abused its business relationships with Apple and blocked competitors from selling chipsets. Qualcomm's recent effort to cover its tracksby punishing Apple for providing truthful testimony at the request of government regulatorsunderscores the lengths to which Qualcomm will go to protect its extortion scheme. Accordingly, Apple seeks this Court's intervention, bringing breach of contract claims, patent claims, and antitrust claims, as the basis for declaratory relief, injunctive relief, and damages. Factual Allegations: Apple's Revolutionary Products Apple's formal complaint before the Court presents a segment that is formally titled: 'Factual Allegations Apple's Revolutionary Products.' The Complaint in-part reads as follows: "When Apple unveiled the iPhone in 2007, it revolutionized the telecommunications industry and completely redefined what users can do on their mobile phones. The iPhone combined three productsa revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod music player, and a breakthrough computer/Internet communications deviceinto one small and lightweight handheld device with a large, color multi-touch display; a distinctive user interface; and a sophisticated computing platform for mobile apps. Apple patented many of these innovations. In 2010, Apple created and defined an entirely new category of devices with the revolutionary iPad. The iPad connects users with their apps and content in a much more intimate, intuitive, and fun way. The iPad is an elegantly designed computer tablet with a color multi-touch screen, a user interface akin to the iPhone, and robust functionality that spans both mobile computing and media storage and playback. As a result of its innovative technology and distinctive design, the iPad achieved instant success and continues to hold a considerable share of the U.S. tablet market. Apple's iPhone and iPad products are the result of Apple's own creative achievement, technical innovation, differentiated technology, and astute business judgment. Among many other functions, both the iPhone and certain models of the iPad can send and receive, over cellular networks, telephone calls and/or other voice and video communications, text messages, and Internet data. Except when connected to a Wi-Fi network, a mobile wireless device like an iPhone or iPad cannot be used for communication without a baseband processor chipset, a component that, among other functions, acts as a small wireless radio and "plugs in" to a standardized telecommunications network. Such networks are created and maintained by carrier companies, including, for example, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile. The baseband processor chipset is just one component out of thousands of components and technologies contained in the Apple iPhone and iPad. Apple, sometimes through third-parties, purchases components and technologies from third-parties, such as Qualcomm. This segment continues in Apple's full complaint that is provided for our readers further below. The complaint continues to cover subject matters as follows: Standards and Their Economic Effects The FRAND Bargain ETSI and Qualcomm's Contractual FRAND Obligations Qualcomm's Dominant Market Position and Cellular Standards Qualcomm's Secret Manufacturer License Agreements Qualcomm Gouges Apple Apple and Qualcomm's Licensing Discussions Qualcomm's SEP Licensing Practices Are Not FRAND and Foreclose Competition Competition Agencies Around the World Investigate and Take Action Against Qualcomm Apple Responds to Agency Requests Preventing Apple from bringing its concerns to law enforcement Qualcomm Retaliates By Withholding Nearly $1 Billion From Apple On page 19 of the complaint under the segment titled "Qualcomm's Secret Manufacturer License Agreements," Apple provides the graphic as shown below which according to Apple, illustrates the "complex web of contracts, some of them secret contracts that underlie Qualcomm's scheme of relentless extortion and govern the two companies' business relationship." 1. Apple v. Qualcomm Lawsuit - Patently Apple by Jack Purcher on Scribd Qualcomm's Formal Response Qualcomm's initial response was issued in a press release on Friday as follows: "While we are still in the process of reviewing the complaint in detail, it is quite clear that Apple's claims are baseless. Apple has intentionally mischaracterized our agreements and negotiations, as well as the enormity and value of the technology we have invented, contributed and shared with all mobile device makers through our licensing program. Apple has been actively encouraging regulatory attacks on Qualcomm's business in various jurisdictions around the world, as reflected in the recent KFTC decision and FTC complaint, by misrepresenting facts and withholding information. We welcome the opportunity to have these meritless claims heard in court where we will be entitled to full discovery of Apple's practices and a robust examination of the merits," said Don Rosenberg, executive vice president and general counsel, Qualcomm Incorporated. About Comments: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit comments. Those using abusive language or behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus. He Later Denied the Real Presence Himself Portrait of Philipp Melanchthon (1564), by the Workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger (1515-1586) [public domain / [public domain / Wikimedia Commons *** (5-23-06) *** Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560) was a compatriot of Martin Luther, author of the Augsburg Confession, and Luthers successor. He was, then, one of the major Protestant so-called reformers. Preserved Smith: The Social Background of the Reformation, New York: Collier Books, 1962 (2nd part of authors The Age of the Reformation, New York: 1920). Smith (died: 1941) was a professor of history, who taught at Cornell and Harvard. He was an expert on the 16th century, and wrote other books like The Life and Letters of Martin Luther (1911), and Erasmus: A Study of His Life, Ideas and Place in History. A regular inquisition was set up in Saxony [in the 1530s], with Melanchthon on the bench, and under it many persons were punished, some with death, some with life imprisonment, and some with exile. . . . Melanchthon was far more active in the pursuit of heretics than was his older friend [Luther]. He reckoned the denial of infant baptism, or of original sin, and the opinion that the eucharistic bread did not contain the real body and blood of Christ, as blasphemy properly punishable by death. He blamed Brenz for his tolerance, asking why we should pity heretics more than does God, who sends them to eternal torment? Brenz was convinced by this argument and became a persecutor himself. (p. 177; my italics) We know (from various historians) that Melanchthon, with Luthers approval and sanction, held that heretics who denied infant baptism, original sin, and the Real Presence in the Eucharist should be put to death. This is a matter of historical record. This is not in dispute at all. One can only quibble endlessly about what real presence means. Did Melanchthon later change his mind on the Eucharist and deny that the Body and Blood of Jesus were truly, substantially present in it, even in the Lutheran sense of consubstantiation? Yes, and this is also rather easily established. It is quite arguably sufficient, in fact, to consult just one work: well-known Melanchthon biographer Clyde L. Manschrecks translation and edition of the reformers systematic theology: Loci communes theologici (1555 edition: Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1965; my paperback edition dates from 1982 and is called Melanchthon on Christian Doctrine). I also have the earlier 1521 edition of Loci communes theologici (edited by Wilhelm Pauck, Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1969), but the later edition is important because it can illustrate Melanchthons ever-evolving doctrine of the Eucharist. Furthermore, the Preface by Manschreck himself (author of Melanchthon: The Quiet Reformer, New York: Abingdon Press, 1958), tells us just about all we need to know on the matter, right from perhaps the leading authority on Melanchthon in recent times. I shall cite the Preface below. Remember, Melanchthon advocated the death penalty in 1530 and 1536 for the denial of the Real Presence, then later denied it himself in terms of what I would argue was the clear historical meaning of that term, held even by Luther (though in a way different from transubstantiation). While he didnt later adopt a purely symbolic view, on the other hand, he had forsaken the doctrine of a physical, substantive presence of the Body and Blood of Christ in the consecrated bread and wine. [Note: CR = Corpus Reformatorum, which collects Melanchthons works and is the primary source for his materials. It was edited by C. G. Bretschneider and H.E. Bindsell from 1834-1860] Both humanism and an attempt to draw closer to Calvinism have also been blamed for Melanchthons altered views on the Lords Supper. This was particularly noticeable in the 1540 changes which Melanchthon introduced into the Augsburg Confession. . . . Article X of the Augsburg Confession, 1530, read, Of the Supper of the Lord, they teach that the Body and Blood of Christ are truly present and are distributed to those who eat in the Supper of the Lord; and they disapprove of those who teach otherwise. In the Variata of 1540 Article X read: Of the Supper of the Lord, they teach that with the bread and the wine the Body and Blood of Christ are truly tendered to those who eat in the Lords Supper. Tendered replaced distributed, and the note on disapproval was omitted. At this time the German evangelicals were making overtures to John Calvin, and this change reflects a desire to allow a Calvinistic interpretation of the Lords Supper, for Melanchthon himself had come to believe in a real, spiritual presence, which was a drift from the physical, distributable, this-is-my-body presence held by Luther. As early as 1519 Melanchthon had completely rejected transubstantiation, and by 1544 had eliminated the elevation of the Host in Wittenberg (50). Rationalistic humanism figured in the change; he had been searching the documents of early Christianity. In 1544 Melanchthon was ready to depart from Wittenberg if necessary; he had struggled with the problem for more than ten years (51). Nevertheless, the tension did not result in a break (52). At the Marburg Colloquy in 1529 Melanchthon was paired with Zwingli and Luther with Oecolampadius in a discussion of the Lords Supper, on which the participants agreed to disagree (53). Afterward, Melanchthons thoughts on the Eucharist gradually changed, due largely to a dialogue with Oecolampadius in 1530; it shook his confidence in the physical presence, (54), for Oecolampadius demonstrated that the early Church subscribed to both mystic and symbolic views of the Eucharist four centuries before the physical theories became the vogue. After the death of Zwingli and Oecolampadius in 1531 Bucer made overtures for union of the Zwinglians and Lutherans; though they were premature, (55) Melanchthon nurtured strong doubts about the physical presence in which he thought Luther believed. (56) To Melanchthon the presence had become a mystery, analogous to faith. (57) In 1533 Bucer sent Melanchthon a booklet, In Preparation for Union, that held some ecumenical promise, but Melanchthon was not optimistic (58) because he felt bound to present to Bucer (at Cassel in 1534) Luthers view that the body of Christ is really eaten in the Supper, that the body is actually torn with the teeth and eaten. (59) Nevertheless, Bucer and Melanchthon agreed that the body of Christ is given and received at the same time as the elements, that they are sacramentally joined without any natural mixing of their substances. (60) Luther agreed for the sake of peace, but Melanchthon had become convinced that his original views were contrary to those of the early Church fathers. (61) In the 1535 Loci he expressed an inward, spiritual communion with Christ as the essential aspect of the Eucharist. (62) . . . Melanchthon doubted that the agreement on words would last; rumors circulated that he was a Sacramentarian. (65) In 1538 Melanchthon insisted that the sacramental presence was in the use, that Christ was truly present and effective then, the sacramental union being like the union of fire and iron. (66) By 1543 Melanchthon held that the sacramental union lasts only until the Communion is finished; then the elements are again simply bread and wine and mnay be treated as such. (67) When Luther wrote A Short Confession on the Holy Sacrament, Against the Fanatics in the tense year of 1544, Melanchthon expected to be attacked. (68) Instead Luther said, I have absolutely no suspicion in regard to Philip, (69) but the Elector nevertheless took the precaution of forbidding Luther to attack Melanchthon. (70) Despite the tension in 1544, Luthers commendation of ther Loci of 1544-45, which embodied Melanchthons views on the Supper, were unstinted. (71) After Luthers death, February 18, 1546, Melanchthon branded the physical view of the Supper as bread idolatry. (72) Footnotes: 50 ZKG, XXXII, 292 f.; CR 7:877-89. 51 CR 3:537. 52 CR 5:474. 53 CR 1:1048, 1065, 1098; 23:727. 54 CR 2:217, 822, 824. 55 CR 2:470, 498, 787. 56 Cf. C. Schmidt, Melanchthon (Elberfeld, 1861), 318 f. 57 CR 2:620, letter to Rothmann at Munster, Dec. 24, 1532. 58 CR 2:675, 776; Schmidt, Melanchthon, 318 f. 59 James W. Richard, Melanchthon, the Protestant Preceptor of Germany (New York: 1898), 251; Schmidt, Melanchthon, 319; Martin Luthers Briefe, 4:569. 60 CR 2:807 f. 61 CR 2:824. 62 Cf. Schmidt, Melanchthon, 371. 65 CR 2:837; 3:81, 180; Camerarius, De Vita Melanchthonis, 163. 66 CR 3:514. 67 ZKG, XXXII (1911), 292 f.; CR 7:877-88. 68 CR 5:474; Luthers Werke, 32:39 f. 69 Martin Luthers Briefe, 5:645, 697. 70 CR 5:746. 71 Lutheran Quarterly, XXXVI (April, 1916), 68. 72 For views in the 1555 Loci, see Articles XIX, XXII, XXIII. A. A. Hodge: Outlines of Theology: Pelagianism, Semi-Pelagianism & Augustinianism (italics added): Luther, a monk of the order of Augustine, and an earnest disciple of that father, taught a system of faith agreeing in spirit and in all essential points with that afterwards more systematically developed by Calvin. The only important point in which he differed from the common consensus of the Calvinistic Churches related to the literal physical presence of the entire person of Christ in, with, and under the elements in the Eucharist. With these opinions of Luther Melanchthon appears to have agreed at the time he published the first edition of his Loci Communes. His opinions, however, as to the freedom of man and the sovereignty of divine grace were subsequently gradually modified. After the death of Luther, at the Leipsic Conference in 1548, he explicitly declared his agreement with the synergists, who maintain that in the regenerating act the human will cooperates with divine grace. Melanchthon, on the other hand, held a view of the relation of the sign to the grace signified thereby in the Sacraments, much more nearly conforming to opinions of the disciples of Zwingli and Calvin than generally prevailed in his own Church. His position on both these points gave great offense to the Old Lutherans, and occasioned protracted and bitter controversies. Finally, the Old or Strict Lutheran party prevailed over their antagonists, and their views received a complete scientific statement in the Formula Concordiae published 1580. Although this remarkable document never attained a position by the side of the Augsburg Confession and Apology as the universally recognized Confession of the Lutheran Churches, it may justly be taken as the best available witness as to what strictly Lutheran theology when developed into a complete system really is. . . . The grand distinction of Lutheranism however relates to their doctrine of the EUCHARIST. They hold to the real physical presence of the Lord in the Eucharist, in, with, and under the elements, and that the grace signified and conveyed by the sacraments is necessary to salvation, and conveyed ordinarily by no other means. Hence the theology and church life of the strict Lutherans center in the sacraments. They differ from the high sacramental party in the Episcopal church chiefly in the fact that they ignore the dogma of apostolic succession, and the traditions of the early church. Philip Schaff: History of the Christian Church, Volume VIII: Modern Christianity: 133. Calvin and the Augsburg Confession. Melanchthons Position in the Second Eucharistic Controversy. (italics added): Yes they were eloquent and delivered with conviction, but the three invocations (opening prayers) and three benedictions (closing prayers) offered at the presidential inauguration were egregiously Christian. Sure, we had our token female minister, Paula White-Cain of Floridas New Destiny Christian Center, and Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center but come on! Five Christian clergy, most of whom asserted the supreme lordship of Jesus? How inclusive and ecumenically sensitive was that? The Agenda? Lets see . . with three publicly anti-LGBT clergy namely Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Rev. Dr. Samuel Rodriguez, and Rev. Franklin Graham (Billys son) and a preacher of the prosperity gospel (White-Cain), one could judiciously speculate a Supremacist Christian right/wealthy elite agenda. But lets not politicize the nice prayers and clergy choices for the presidential inauguration. Oh sorry, I just did. The Missing Ministers? Hmmm . . . If Im not mistaken I think there are a few mosques and Buddhist temples scattered around the U.S. And where were their clergy representatives? Most likely meditating and praying for the healing and enlightenment of our splintered nation. Think Ill grab my yoga mat and join them. Are you coming? Cover Photo: YouTube Still Image Insert: Pixabay.com Netanyahu Plans To Discuss 'Cruel' Iran With Trump 'Soon' 01/22/17 Source: RFE/RL Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he plans to meet with newly installed U.S. President Donald Trump soon to discuss what he sees as the dangers from Iran and its "cruel" government. By Iranian cartoonist Hadi Heidari In a message posted on his Facebook page on January 21, Netanyahu said, "I plan to speak soon with President Trump about how to counter the threat of the Iranian regime which calls for Israel's destruction." Trump has often assailed the nuclear agreement reached between Iran and the United States and other world powers during the Obama administration, calling it "one of the worst deals ever made." Israel, and Netanyahu in particular, also denounced the deal, which allowed for the lifting of sanctions against Iran in return for curbs on Tehran's nuclear program. The loneliness of Netanyahu (by Jamal Rahmati) Netanyahu, in his Facebook post, also said he was trying to reach the Iranian people, saying, "We are your friend, not your enemy." "So I hope this message reaches every Iranian-- young and old, religious and secular, man and woman," he said. "By calling daily for Israel's destruction, the regime hopes to instill hostility between us," he said. "This is wrong. We are your friend, not your enemy. We've always distinguished between the Iranian people and the Iranian regime," he added. He also said that the "regime is cruel -- the people are not; the regime is aggressive -- the people are warm." cartoon by Nate Beeler Netanyahu regularly criticized the policies of former U.S. President Barrack Obama. A day after the United States abstained from a UN Security Council resolution calling on Israel to stop building settlements in the West Bank, the Israeli prime minister called the move a "shameful anti-Israel ambush." The World Facing Trump: Public Sees ISIS, Cyberattacks, North Korea as Top Threats (Source: PEW Research Center) On January 21, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said on his Twitter account that he had sent a letter of congratulations to Trump upon his inauguration, calling him a "longstanding friend," and invited him to Jerusalem. LANGLEY, Va. (AP) President Donald Trump moved to repair his tumultuous relationship with Americas spy agencies on his first full day in office, but his bridge-building visit to CIA headquarters Saturday quickly morphed into a platform for the new commander in chief to complain about media coverage of his inauguration, misstating the size of his crowd. Standing in front of a memorial for fallen CIA agents, Trump assured intelligence officials, I am so behind you. He made no mention of his repeated criticism of the intelligence agencies following the election, including his public challenges of their high-confidence assessment that Russia meddled in the White House race to help him win. Related: What President Trump did on his first full day on the job There is nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community and CIA than Donald Trump, he said, blaming any suggestion of a feud on the media. Trumps decision to travel to CIA headquarters so quickly after taking office was seen as an attempt at a fresh start with the intelligence agencies he will now rely on for guidance as he makes weighty national security decisions. Following his private meeting with top CIA leaders, Trump said the U.S. had been restrained in its efforts to combat terrorism, calling the threat a level of evil we havent seen. Trumps visit to the CIA took place as throngs of women, many of them wearing bright pink, pointy-eared hats, descended on the nations capital and other cities around the world for marches organized to push back against the new president. Hundreds of protesters lined the motorcade route as Trump sped back to the White House, many screaming and chanting at the president. The president appeared to be focused on settling scores with the media. Related: President Trump plans daily action to make good on campaign promises He defensively touted the crowd size for his swearing-in ceremony, inaccurately claiming that the throngs on the National Mall stretched all the way back to the Washington Monument. Photos and video clearly showed the crowd stopping well short of the landmark. Trump is a voracious consumer of news and highly sensitive to criticism. As a candidate, he repeatedly disparaged the media and individual journalists to the delight of his supporters, and his appearance at the CIA underscored that he would continue to do so as president. He slammed a Time magazine reporter for incorrectly reporting Friday that Trump had moved a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. out of the Oval Office. But Trump followed with a misstatement of his own, saying the reporter had not corrected the mistake. In fact, the item was quickly retracted. Photos: President Donald Trumps inauguration balls High-level CIA brass stood largely silent during Trumps remarks, though some of the roughly 400 other officers in attendance cheered on the president during his remarks. California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, slammed Trump for using his CIA visit to squabble over media coverage. He will need to do more than use the agency memorial as a backdrop if he wants to earn the respect of the men and women who provide the best intelligence in the world, Schiff said. The inaugural celebrations have been shadowed by reports that the CIA and other federal agencies are investigating Russian interference in the presidential election on behalf of Trump. McClatchy reported that the investigation included whether money from the Kremlin covertly aided Trump. The New York Times said agencies were examining intercepted communications and financial transactions between Russian officials and Trumps associates. FBI Director James Comey has declined to confirm or describe the nature of the governments investigation, both during a congressional hearing and in closed-door meetings with members of Congress. Officials said the crowd for the womens march in Washington could be more than half a million people, more than double expectations. The event appeared to have attracted more people than Trumps inauguration, based on figures from transportation officials. During his remarks at the CIA, the president claimed the inaugural crowds topped 1 million people. Saturday marked the end of three days of inaugural celebrations, with Trump and his family attending a national prayer service traditionally held for the new president. The president and his wife, Melania, and Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, sat in a front pew at Washington National Cathedral for the morning service. The interfaith service is a tradition for new presidents and is hosted by the Episcopal parish. But the decision to hold a prayer session for Trump sparked debate among Episcopalians opposed to his policies. Bishop Mariann Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington wrote in a blog post that while she shared a sense of outrage at some of the president-elects words and actions, she felt an obligation to welcome all people without qualification, especially those who disagree and need to find a way to work together. Trump arrived at the cathedral mid-morning. The service included readings and prayers from Protestant, Jewish, Sikh, Mormon, Buddhist, Roman Catholic, Bahai, Episcopal, Hindu and Native American leaders. But the program was remarkable for the large number of evangelicals participating, including two former presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention, the countrys largest evangelical denomination. Several speakers had served as Trump advisers and supporters who spoke at the Republican National Convention. The presidents family joined him at the White House for his first weekend in office. His daughter Ivanka and her husband, senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, were seen snapping photos Saturday on the Truman balcony with a young girl who appeared to be their daughter. The Justice Department released a memo concluding the presidents special hiring authority allows the New York real estate mogul to appoint Kushner to the administration and the move does not contravene federal anti-nepotism laws. AP Religion Writer Rachel Zoll in New York and Associated Press writers Jonathan Lemire and Darlene Superville contributed to this report. Pastor Greg Laurie of Riversides Harvest Christian Fellowship prayed on behalf of the nations public servants in front of President Donald Trump and his family Saturday, Jan. 21, at the national prayer service a traditional event in Washington, D.C., held for the new president the day after inauguration. Almighty God, our heavenly father, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of the armed forces at home and abroad, he said in a video of the service posted to YouTube. Laurie was among representatives from many faiths who participated in the event. I view this honor as a sacred responsibility, Laurie said in a prepared statement. Laurie, pastor and founder of the Riverside church, is known for the Harvest Crusade, a Southern California evangelical Christian institution that has drawn more than 5 million people to arenas around the world. It comes each summer to Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Saturday marked the end of three days of inaugural celebrations. The president and his wife, Melania, and Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, sat in a front pew at Washington National Cathedral for the morning service. Photos from 2016 SoCal Harvest The interfaith service is a tradition for new presidents and is hosted by the Episcopal parish. But the decision to hold a prayer session for Trump sparked debate among Episcopalians opposed to his policies. Bishop Mariann Budde, of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, wrote in a blog post that while she shared a sense of outrage at some of (Trumps) words and actions, she felt an obligation to welcome all people without qualification, especially those who disagree and need to find a way to work together. As it turns out, Budde spoke during the service. Related: What is the Harvest Crusade? As we mark this moment of political transition, let us all draw strength and courage from the sacred texts and songs from the many traditions of our land, said Budde as she opened the service in that churchs national home. The service took place as throngs of women descended on the nations capital and other cities around the world including several in Southern California Saturday for marches organized to push back against the new president. The presidential motorcade sped past the protesters. Trump arrived at the cathedral mid-morning. The service included readings and prayers from Protestant, Jewish, Sikh, Mormon, Buddhist, Roman Catholic, Bahai, Episcopal, Hindu and Native American leaders. But the program was remarkable for the large number of evangelicals participating, including two former presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention, the countrys largest evangelical denomination. Several speakers had served as Trump advisers and supporters who spoke at the Republican National Convention. Trump, a Presbyterian, is not a regular churchgoer. He does not attend weekly services in New York, but worships every Christmas at a church near his estate in Palm Beach, Fla. Trump courted evangelical voters during the presidential campaign and infused his inaugural address with references to God and quoted from the Bibles book of Psalms during a call for national unity. Staff writer John M. Blodgett and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Related stories on President Trump: What President Trump did on his first full day on the job Riverside pastor Greg Laurie prays at prayer service for President Trump Riverside pastor Greg Laurie prays at prayer service for President Trump President Trump plans daily action to make good on campaign promises Trump praises the CIA, bristles over inaugural crowd counts How the Inland area cheered, protested Trumps inauguration President Donald Trumps inauguration balls It all began as a hamburger stand in San Bernardino and evolved into McDonalds, the worldwide fast-food industry leader. Now a feature film, The Founder, portrays how milkshake maker salesman Ray Kroc partnered with Dick and Mac McDonald and transformed the lone hamburger stand into a franchising giant. Its coming to the silver screen, bringing San Bernardino back into the spotlight. This brings the city to the forefront of something positive, McDonalds Museum owner and operator Albert Okura said. We see so much negative news about San Bernardino, and this film just brings me joy. It tells a story of greatness from our city. Growing up in Los Angeles, Okura didnt know the McDonald brothers were San Bernardino natives. As a kid, I only knew about Ray Kroc, he said. Most people didnt know anything about the McDonalds brothers unless you were from San Bernardino. The movie was filmed primarily in an area of Georgia that resembled what San Bernardino looked like in the 1950s. In 2015, the restaurant chain celebrated its 75th anniversary, but the original walk-up hamburger stand at 14th and E streets is no longer around. A museum filled with memorabilia from days past sits on the site. During the summertime, we get about 50 to 100 visitors a day, tour guide Marvin Hernandez said. Many of our visitors are from other countries, but some of the local visitors come in and talk about their memories of McDonalds from their youth. Since the films teaser trailer was released in December, the museum has seen a rise in wintertime visitors. Weve seen an unusual amount of visitors for this time of year, Hernandez said. We usually get most of our guests coming through in the summertime, and were glad to see anyone whod like come in and learn the history of this great worldwide chain of restaurants. Okura said the McDonald brothers were pioneers in the industry before selling their business to Kroc for $2.7 million in 1962. He created the McDonalds corporation. The McDonald brothers were the Henry Fords of the restaurant industry and passed the savings on to the customers, Okura said. McDonalds is one of the greatest things to ever come out of San Bernardino. Contact the writer: dsaunders@scng.comTwitter: @crimeshutterbug Inland construction experts are taking this winters often heavy and sometimes daily rainfall in stride. Randall Lewis, executive vice president of the Lewis Group of Companies, was prepared for much worse last year when El Nino conditions were expected to do some damage. This January, though wet, isnt so bad. Itll slow stuff down, but not dramatically. It will increase some costs, but on the whole, the rain is good. The Lewis Group does residential and commercial developments. Much of the work isnt hampered by weather. In a housing project, once the roof is up and the walls are up, the cabinet guys can keep working, he said Friday after delivering his annual State of the Inland Empire forecast in Rancho Cucamonga. Its the front end, where youre digging trenches, that kind of work, that really slows down. The quality of the soil matters, said Matt Pim of Riverside Construction Co., which does infrastrucure projects such as roads and bridges for government agencies. His crews can go back to work faster where there is rock and sand. But one of his current projects is in Murrieta, which which has clay. He is working with the city to help implement the entrance to CarMax, which will be one of the Virginia-based companys largest dealerships when it opens. Rain isnt hurting them as far as what they need to do, but it is us, Pim said. A few miles away, Pechanga Resort & Casino is in late stages of a $285 million enlargement project. The completion of a new parking structure has been delayed until early February. But Patrick Murphy, president of the Pechanga Development Co., said that overall progress hasnt been slowed. Rainfall can shut down some projects for two or three days, according to Pim. Planning ahead only goes so far. Pim said four-day forecasts are fairly accurate these days, but the earliest he could plan to shut down is two or three days in advance. With the market the way it is for our work, if you build in any significant contingencies, youll be priced right out of the market. Contact the writer: fbuck@scng.com or 951-368-9551. Theres more space for sweatshirts touting Madison, the Green Bay Packers and Wisconsin Badgers. Shelves at Madison Xchange hold coffee cups adorned with whitetail deer, there are racks of electronics accessories and magnets in the shape of Wisconsin. Cheese is a big deal, with two coolers in the 2,500 square-foot store dedicated to curds from Bucky Badger, goat cheese from Nordic Creamery in Westby and garlic cheddar from Jims Cheese Pantry in Waterloo. Next door, at the 600-square-foot Metcalfes Local To Go, coolers are filled with fresh salads, wire bins are stocked with apples and bananas, and the shelves include an array of locally produced food items like Potters Crackers, chocolates from Infusion and Gail Ambrosius and hand-cut gourmet potato chips from Slide. Shopping and dining at the Dane County Regional Airport has received a $3 million upgrade over the past six months and if passenger counts continue to rise, more improvements could be coming. Officials held a series of ribbon cuttings last week to show off the latest improvements to the airport where passenger traffic was expected to rise by double digits in 2016 compared to 2015. The projects, all located beyond the TSA checkpoint, include a more than $1 million revamp, expansion and renaming of what is now Madison Xchange, a revamp of the smaller Madison Xpress store, moving and doubling the size of Metcalfes and improvements to dining. Those restaurant projects included an upgrade to Ancora Artisan Coffee & Tea and the addition of Mad Town Gastro Pub and Vinoteca Wine & Tapas Bar. We think this is among the finest in the nation, especially for this size of airport, said Bradley Livingston, the airports director since 2003 and deputy director from 1986 to 1996. The market is growing. It was a very small offering (13 years ago) with a very finite product line. Its really changed and you really cant compare it. Livingston said there were about 1.8 million arrivals and departures in 2016, a 10 percent increase over 2015 and the airport has the highest growth rate in the state and one of the highest in the country for an airport its size. In October, the airport marked its best single month in history as 91,151 passengers departed, a 13 percent improvement over October 2015. If growth continues at its current pace, Livingston believes more improvements could come in the next two to five years near gates 1 and 2 on the north end of the terminal. SSP America was awarded a 10-year lease for food and beverage operations in May and partners with local companies to provide restaurant, cafe and bar service at the airport. Gross sales, according to Livingston are conservatively estimated to be $48 million over the term of the contract and generate $8 million for the county. A 10-year contract with Atlanta-based Paradies Lagardere for the operation of the Madison Xpress and Madison Xchange shops is expected to generate $33 million in gross revenues and return $4.6 million to the county. Madison has changed significantly between Epic (Systems Corp.) and all the companies you have here and the state Capitol and we want to make sure the store reflects everything that makes Madison great, said Gregg Paradies, president and CEO of Paradies Lagardere, which has 850 stores and restaurants in 98 North American airports. We love more traffic because that helps us do more traffic as well. The Madison Xchange store sells magazines, beverages, snacks and sundries. Julie Brown, the stores general manager, said the new layout includes more prominent locations for Badgers and Packers gear but still provides day-to-day travel items like magazines, candy and other items. Most of the electronic accessories are aimed at Epic workers who account for a staggering 15 to 20 percent of the airports traffic. Making sure the store is adequately stocked with local products is also key, Brown said. Theres a lot of (local) things out there but you only have limited space on where you can go with it, Brown said. So you try it, and maybe its not the right thing so you get rid of that and get something new. Its kind of trial and error and keeping it fresh for the consumer, too. Metcalfes, which traces its roots to 1917, has two grocery stores in Madison and another in Wauwatosa and partnered with SSP in 2013 to open a 300-square-foot store at the airport. The larger space goes beyond grab-and-go items that were a staple at the smaller location. The new spot offers fresh-baked goods, sandwiches, more choices of food, including 35 products from Wisconsin vendors, and gift items. The store even sells 12-packs, at $26.99, and six-packs ($19) of Spotted Cow, a beer from New Glarus Brewing sold only in Wisconsin. Kevin Metcalfe, who co-owns the Metcalfes company with his brother, Tim, said the arrangement with SSP has exceeded his companys expectations and offers room to grow with more natural and organic items. It allows us to provide the local vendors who otherwise wouldnt have the opportunity to come into a shop like this, Metcalfe said. There are things that we feel that fit the character of the airport store as well as the customers that are coming in here that want to take something back, maybe take a little bit of Wisconsin, take a little bit of Madison with them. Hilldale work begins The next phase of the redevelopment of the Hilldale Shopping Center is underway. The project began Jan. 5 and will create more open space and a streetscape shopping experience on the south side of the 675,000-square-foot shopping center between Macys and Sundance Cinemas. Officials with WS Development, owners of the mall, say the redesign will introduce new businesses to the shopping center that opened in 1962 and has received extensive upgrades over the last 10 years. In June 2015, WS completed a $15 million redevelopment of the shopping centers north side that eliminated the indoor mall between Macys and Metcalfes and added an outdoor corridor and several new businesses. New businesses for the south side redevelopment have not yet been announced but University Book Store will shift to a central location directly in front of the green space. We joined Hilldale over 30 years ago, and there is still no better location to serve the Madison community, said Patrick McGowen, the bookstores president. The University Book Stores long history at Hilldale looks even brighter as we see the changes from the redevelopment coming. Upgrade planned for Odana Road McDonalds The upgrades to national chains around West Towne Mall will continue this summer. The Starbucks on Gammon Place was remodeled last summer and a drive-thru added while Culvers last year opened a restaurant at 7206 Mineral Point Road. Now, the McDonalds at 6910 Odana Road, will take its turn. Carrie Bennett-Barndt, who owns the restaurant and other five other McDonalds franchises in Madison, Middleton and Waunakee, has announced plans to raze the Odana Road building and construct a new restaurant on the same site. Anne Christensen, a spokeswoman at the McDonalds regional office in Bloomington, Minnesota, said the work is expected to be completed by this fall. The Madison Plan Commission is scheduled to review the project on Monday. There will be a familiar feel to Ramona when the play stages its 94th anniversary season in the spring. Almost all of the lead roles will be filled by returning actors. Topping the cast will be Kayla Contreras, portraying Ramona for the second consecutive year, and Joseph Valdez, in his third stint as Alessandro. Were of the mindset if you have a Ramona whos right for the part, or an Alessandro, you give them a second year, artistic director Dennis Anderson said. The second year, you can build their role. The formal announcement was set to happen during the Ramona Presidents Gala yesterday. Ramona tells the story of star-crossed lovers Ramona and Alessandro and the mistreatment of American Indians in 1800s California. Performances will take place on weekends from April 22 to May 7. The play first was performed in 1923 at the Ramona Bowl in Hemet. It is the oldest continuing outdoor drama in the United States and Californias official outdoor play. Anderson said Contreras, a graduate of Hemets Tahquitz High School, is everything we would want in a Ramona. The 21-year-old Contreras, a theater major at Cal State Fullerton, is looking forward to reprising her role. I feel this season will be different because of the character, she said. Last season, everything was very new and I was naturally very nervous. A certain weight is lifted when you are able to be in the show again. Though much of the cast is the same, Contreras said each season is unique. I believe each cast brings a new flavor to the show, she said. I really cannot wait to get started on this show again. It has not only allowed me to grow as a performer, but it has helped me grow as a person. Longtime play veterans returning in lead roles include Kathi Anderson as Senora Moreno, Daniel Martinez as Juan Canito, Robert Leibovich as Padre Salvedierra and Dan Ferguson as the villain Jim Farrar. Its the third year the play will be performed with a script rewritten by Stephen Savage. After some major revisions between year one and two, Anderson said there are only a few, slight modifications for the coming season. There again will be three former Ramonas in the cast: Kathi Anderson, Monica Reichl (as Aunt Ri) and Cesaria Hernandez (as Marda). And it will be a family affair for Hernandez, as two of her children will have speaking roles. Emilia Skye Hernandez-Minard will play Dolores and Rafael Wave Hernandez-Minard portrays Joe. Contact the writer: 951-368-9086 or cshultz@scng.com Funeral services have been scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 25, for an Army soldier from Hemet who died Jan. 12 in Kuwait. The Patriot Guard Riders will provide an escort for the hearse carrying John Phillips Rodriguez into Hemet on Monday, Jan. 23, ending at the Miller-Jones Mortuary in San Jacinto at 165 W. Seventh St., with arrival estimated at 3:30 p.m., according to a post on the Patriot Guard organization website. The escort will come into Hemet on Highway 74 and turn north on San Jacinto Street to the mortuary. Services for Rodriguez will be at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at Valle Vista Assembly of God followed by graveside services at 2:30 p.m. at Riverside National Cemetery, according to a notice posted online by the mortuary handling arrangements, Miller-Jones Mortuary in Hemet. Rodriguez, 23, was deployed from Fort Bliss in Texas to Kuwait and died Jan. 12 in a non-combat related incident that is under investigation, the U.S. Department of Defense reported last week. The military gave his rank as specialist, while the obituary on the mortuary site says he was a sergeant. Rodriguez was assigned to the 2nd Engineer Battalion, 3d Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss. Friends may call at the Valle Vista church, 45252 Highway 74, east of Hemet, from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 24. The non-profit Patriot Guard provides motorcycle escorts for memorial services in honor of military, veterans and first responders. Rodriguez was a combat engineer. He was born in Hemet, participated in Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps program at West Valley High School in Hemet and graduated from the high school, according to the obituary posted on the mortuary website. He enlisted in the Army in 2013. Gov. Jerry Brown and First Lady Anne Gust Brown in a statement issued Friday, Jan. 20, extended their condolences to Rodriguezs family and friends and ordered flags to be flown at half-staff over the state Capitol. Survivors include his wife, Jazmin; father, John Rodriguez; mother, Janell Rodriguez, and two sisters, Julia Shaw and Cheyenne Blue. Gambia's former President Yahya Jammeh has left the country in the wake of elections that ousted him after 22 years in power. He boarded a plane to Guinea and from there will travel on to exile in Equatorial Guinea, regional group Ecowas says. Mr Jammeh was defeated in December's election by Adama Barrow but went on to challenge the results. Mr Barrow has been in Senegal but says he will return to The Gambia soon. In an interview with the BBC, Mr Barrow said he wanted to create a truth and reconciliation committee to investigate allegations of human rights abuses during Mr Jammeh's time in office. Marcel de Souza, president of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), said the military operation that had sent West African troops into The Gambia in support of Mr Barrow, was now ended, although some would remain to ensure security. Yahya Jammeh arrived at the airport amid a large convoy of vehicles and throngs of cheering supporters. He stood on a small platform to hear ceremonial music performed by a military band and then walked down a long red carpet surrounded by dignitaries. He climbed the steps to the plane, turned and kissed and waved a Koran at those assembled. After 22 years in power, he left bound for Guinea where it's believed he will stay before going on to another country. Soldiers, supporters and dignitaries were emotional as he left - many of them crying. Many others in The Gambia are glad to see the end of what they considered a dictatorship, where there was little respect for human rights or freedom of speech The details of the arrangements made - or promises offered to persuade Mr Jammeh to give up power peacefully are not yet known, but there was the real threat of military action from regional states. He's the first president to peacefully hand over power in The Gambia since independence from Britain in 1965. 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. Featured Video The government of Ghana led by Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo has been called to as a matter of urgency pass the needed legislative instrument to see through the implementation of the disability law Act 715. This according to the management of the Begoro community rehabilitation centre would go a long way to address the challenges of persons' with disabilities. The Begoro Salvation Army community rehabilitation centre in the Eastern region is set to receive a remodel therapy centre of excellence after thirty-five years of existence. Funded by the Australia's Direct Aid Program, the sixty thousand dollars project is expected to serve over ten thousand disability persons within Fanteakwa district and its environs. The Australia high commissioner to Ghana flanked by some officials of the Salvation Army broke the ground for the commencement of the project which seeks to address the problem of access and affordability. At a ceremony to officially break the ground for the commencement of the project, the centre administrator, Raymond Badu express gratitude to the Australian government for the support. He bemoaned the negligence of the Ghanaian government towards the facility over the past thirty-five years. Zinabu Nasiru, a beneficiary of the facility in a speech outlined the challenges they face as a result of their disability. She mentioned discrimination and stigma as some of the barriers that prevents them from participating in social activities. While thanking the Australia government for the support, Zinabu Nasiru appealed to the Ghana government to also support in that direction. Addressing the gathering, the Australia high commissioner to Ghana, Andrew Barnes stated that supporting persons with disability is one important focus of the Direct Aid Program. According to him, the program is supporting twenty-two projects in Ghana and throughout West Africa this year. He noted that the project when completed would significantly improve access to and the quality of rehabilitation services at the centre for the benefit of many disabled children. The Begoro community based rehabilitation centre operates as both institutional and community based social service for disabled children and young adult in the rural areas. It has 35-bed inpatient unit, which treats children and young adults with disabilities. It also provides community outpatient services to disability persons such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy, bone disorders, hearing lost, paralysis among others. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Reverend Dr Cyril Fayose, the President of the Evangelical Presbyterian University College (EPUC), has reiterated the call for the amendment of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) law to support infrastructure development in private tertiary institutions. He appealed to the Government to extend research fund and grants to lecturers at private tertiary institutions and increase students loan to enhance quality tertiary education. Dr Fayose, who made the call at the Eighth Graduation and 10th Matriculation of EPUC in Ho, commended government for giving buses to private tertiary institutions through GETFund but said more needed to be done. He said all students in Ghana were paying tax and must not be discriminated against because of their choice of academic institution. Dr Fayose said a second look also ought to be given to affiliation roles given to academic institutions adding that situations where mentor-institutions established campuses close to mentee-institutions were unfair. He said campuses of mentee-institutions must be campuses for the mentor-institutions and called for redefinition of the roles. Dr Fayose welcomed the 204 fresh students and congratulated the 336 gradaunds for having fulfilled all righteous tests. He said the university had approval from the National Accreditation Board to introduce two new programmes - B.Sc. ICT, and B.Sc. Animal Science and Fisheries and that it was also working on starting MBA programmes with campuses at Accra, Hohoe and Bimbila. Reverend Dr Setri Nyomi, the EPUC Council Chairman, asked the graduands to be agents of change and worthy ambassadors of the university. He urged them to be creative entrepreneurs and use the knowledge acquired to make the world comfortable for people around them. Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante, the Immediate Past Chairperson of Akuapem Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, urged the government to invest in Science and Mathematics education in tertiary institutions. He said the country had only a few professors in Mathematics and Science and called for the institution of a scholarship scheme to attract students. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Interior Minister Designate, Mr Ambrose Dery, has cautioned that he would use existing laws in handling all internal national security issues. He gave the assurance that issues ranging from hooliganism of post- election vandals, through extortion of monies from road users and harassment by some security agents were all stopped to ensure the general internal national security. I would be doing the work purely by the rule of law and as long as they are doing the wrong thing, those acts would be stopped," he said. Appearing before the Appointments Committee of Parliament for vetting, the incoming Interior Minister demanded professionalism from the security agencies and cautioned those who put impediments in the way of businesses that the law would not spare any miscreant security official. The Minister Designate, described as a devout Catholic, and Member of Parliament (MP) for the Nandom Constituency in the Upper West Region, was reacting to issues on vandalism of state properties after elections and reported cases of unacceptable behaviour by some security agents. Mr Mahama Ayariga, MP for Bawku Central, and a member of the Committee, made reference to complaints by his constituents who import onion, yam, and livestock to Accra about frustrations they face on their journey as policemen extort money and mount road blocks. Mr Ayariga told the Committee of reports of experiences about how some of their products rot away as well as some livestock die because they refuse to pay the security agencies those monies. He said: They said I should ask the Interior Minister whether he would stop the practice of police officers erecting barriers indiscriminately from Bawku up to Accra, stopping haulage trucks and extorting monies from them. Mr Dery gave the assurance that the Nana Akufo-Addo Administration would create the enabling environment for the private sector actors. He said vigilante groups must be delinked from partisan considerations and individuals must take responsibility for their actions. For me., I must be convinced that those groups are responsible for these activities. I have also said there is no vicarious liability for criminal offences. I am not aware that it is political party vigilantes that are doing so, he said. Mr Dery insisted that the reported incidents of vigilante action must be handled on an individual basis as against an outright disbandment. All must be condemned and not be countenanced, however, handling of each complaint must be professionally pursued in that, if you are a suspect, investigations conducted, rights are respected and people who deserve to be prosecuted will be prosecuted, he said. Mr Derry said: Article 41 of the Constitution gives citizens the obligation to co-operate with security agencies and it also gives citizens the duties to protect public property and what have you. Indeed, when it comes to the misuse of funds it even uses combat. On the engagement of private security, Mr Dery said the Government would follow existing laws preserved in the 1992 Constitution. He said much as the nation would use private security when necessary, it would not abdicate the role to provide that cover to the police and other security agencies which also provide an opportunity to raise funds. He said: For example, we have the Formed Police Unit in South Sudan in the Police. Ghana has sent one team and the United Nations were impressed about it and they want two more teams. Should we get two more teams there, we will earn some hard currency that will not only support the economy but help finance the various institutions. He assured the security agencies that improvement in accommodation for the services would be one of his priorities, adding that the introduction of the National Barracks Regeneration Programme would help in the housing programme of the agencies. We have stated in our manifesto that there will be a National Barracks Regeneration Programme and a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement is one of the options. The investment could come through the PPP arrangements but we will do that with the consciousness of value for money and ensure that the country gets the best deal when it comes to this, he said. We have public-private agreements and engagements in the prisons for instance. There are engagements between the Prisons Service and some private sector actorsand so I believe that there will be some internally generated funds that will come in and I have confidence that this government will get the resources to make good the promises that we made to Ghanaians, Mr Dery said. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video In some ways, it feels like the campaign isn't over. Two sides with stark differences are still fighting for what they think is right, but only one took the oath of office Friday. President Donald Trump in his inaugural address repeated many of the same points he made to cheering crowds at Pennsylvania rallies, vowing to put America first and make it great. As he was sworn in at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., protesters jammed city streets a few blocks away, holding signs that declared he was not their president. Anti-Trump inauguration protesters denounce Trump as 'a fraud, a cheat' The resistance grew even louder Saturday when millions of people organized in historic women's marches across Pennsylvania, the country and around the world to rebuke his first term - with the largest reaching at least 500,000 in the nation's capital. "This is the opposition. This is what they do," said Jeffrey Lord, a CNN political analyst and Trump supporter. "These protesters are just restating the case that lost them the election." Though many analysts and D.C. officials are describing the women's march there as one of the largest rallies in years, Lord said it's not unprecedented. He pointed to a march of millions in June 1983 that supported a nuclear freeze, which was anti-Reagan in tone, and anti-war protests during the Nixon administration. "These are not uncommon," Lord said. "These are people who disagree with the president of the moment, and we've always had that." Watch: Pittsburgh women's march in 45 seconds But political scientist and Elizabethtown College professor Kyle Kopko said there is something different about the historic marches Saturday, including those in Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Lancaster and Philadelphia. "The precedent is different," Kopko said. "With Nixon it was about Vietnam, and with Regan it was nuclear armament. Today's protest movement was about the president, not policy. It's about what (Trump) has said and done over the course of the election cycle." Trump is entering his presidency with a 32 percent approval rating - the lowest in the history of CBS News polling. He lost even more points Saturday for ignoring the protests and defending his crowd size during the inauguration. Numerous media outlets on Friday showed side-by-side comparison of the inaugural crowd in 2009 and 2017. The 2017 crowd was considerably smaller than the one for Barack Obama's first inauguration, which was historically large. Then, on Saturday, the National Park Service shared side-by-side comparisons of Trump's inaugural crowd and the women's march. Again, Trump's crowd was smaller. Hundreds of thousands of women turn Washington into a sea of pink hats and protest The Interior Department was ordered by Trump staffers to stop sharing those photos, and press secretary Sean Spicer held a press conference to slam the media for showing crowd size. "Yesterday at a time when our nation and the world watched the peaceful transition of power...some members of the media were engaged in deliberately false reporting," Spicer said. Despite aerial photographs and evidence from Washington's transit authority, Spicer claimed Trump's crowd was "the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe." Metro, the city's transit authority, said ridership was the lowest it's been since at least 2005. Trump, in a speech in front of a CIA memorial wall, also defended his numbers Saturday while slamming the media. The crowd "went all the way back to the Washington monument," Trump said. Photos and videos showed the crowd wasn't full even halfway to the landmark. The president's words drew ire, including from some in his own party and intelligence officials. Former CIA director John Brennan, who started working in National Counterterrorism under George W. Bush, said in a statement that he was "deeply saddened and angered" by Trump's "despicable display of self-aggrandizement in front of the CIA's Memorial Wall of Agency heroes." Trump's actions during his first day in office were in line with his campaign, Kopko said. "It's protect the brand, do anything to undercut criticism," he said. "There are other ways to explain away the smaller crowd, such as rainy weather. This didn't need to be his focus on Saturday." Republican Rick Santorum, a CNN analyst and former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, also thought Trump should've started his presidency with a different approach. "I'm a big fan of what Donald Trump campaigned on," Santorum said. "He's most effective when he sticks to the script of his inaugural address of 'I'm here fighting for you.' When he talks about things that affect him, he's not as strong...Over time, I believe he will be chastened a little bit." Others, especially those who marched with signs calling him a bully and liar, weren't convinced President Trump will be different than candidate Trump. "I feel like we really don't know what is going to happen next, but I have the feeling it's not going to be good," Harrisburg marcher Charlotte Miros said. Harrisburg version of women's march draws more than 1,100 But Kopko and Lord said it's a moot point. "I think it all underscores how divided the electorate still is over his presidency," Kopko said. "He has a tough job unifying the country, with many skeptical of him and his policies. But I honestly don't know if his goal is unifying. He may just appease the people who elected him and let the chips fall where they may." Lord said it's all history in motion. "The election's over," he said. "Welcome to the opposition party. The last two days have been a tremendous testament to American democracy. For now, it's the president's turn to get down to work." The passion that prompted hundreds of thousands of men, women and children to travel to Washington, D.C. for the Women's March on Washington emanated from a group of participants who left from Lancaster on yellow school buses early Saturday morning. Estimates say as many as half a million people attended the central rally in D.C. Jan. 21, with more than a million in total protesting worldwide. State organizers estimated before the event that at least 1,000 people would travel to the march from Lancaster on more than 20 buses, with more leaving in their own private vehicles and through carpools. From Bus 4 captained by volunteer Wynter Bledsoe, the sound of chatter filled the air as riders circulated check-in forms and emergency contact paperwork, distributed a small amount of pink hats to wear in solidarity during the march, and engaged in discussion about what to expect during the event. Most seemed pensively optimistic in their thoughts about potential impact of the day on the currently divided political climate. One Lancaster marcher shared pictures with bus neighbors showing her sister attending a protest in The Hague, Netherlands, as the group of locals made its way to D.C. Riders became quieter as bus trip progressed, some opting to take a short nap after the 6:30 a.m. departure and a long day ahead. Pausing at a rest stop in Maryland to use the bathroom, riders from the Lancaster buses made an interesting compromise to speed up the process of relieving themselves. A line of women flowed out of the men's restroom, waiting to use the stalls while the males used the urinals. Many questioned whether the stalls, their short doors, and limited privacy were the norm for men's restrooms; only to be assured by male attendees that the restroom's conditions were abnormal. Other travelers who weren't a part of the march were visibly confused and in disbelief of the marchers' bathroom use. Arriving at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium to a sea of buses, the Lancaster riders unloaded and made their respective ways to the site of the rally. Along the way heading down East Capitol Street, the marchers saw black and white signs posted by residents with messages of unity, justice and equality for all. Street venders peddling shirts, hats, calendars and other memorabilia cascaded the route to the National Mall. "We have all colors and sizes like you all," one T-shirt vendor yelled jokingly in an attempt to sell his wares. The march was the first time some said they had gotten involved in the protest, for others it was a return to protesting issues as usual -- with many at the central march carrying or wearing signs lamenting the fact that people must protest the same issues they did in years past. Chants such as "We are the popular vote," "Build our schools, not more walls," and "My body, my choice" were heard around D.C. streets as the marchers circulated through the city. Some sported Rosie the Riveter and Lady Liberty costumes while others donned American flags and other patriotic symbols. Many protesters cheered and applauded local police and military personnel stationed along the route as they marched from the National Mall to Pennsylvania Avenue and near the White House, welcoming President Donald Trump to his new office. Though the march was explicitly nonpartisan, many marchers openly denounced the new president and the policies he supports that many have deemed divisive. A sea of unity Bledsoe attended the event at the request of her politically minded 16-year-old daughter, Lola. Bledsoe knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience but was surprised by the "incredible and amazing" march with so many positive people representing so many demographics. "If you were out there today, this wasn't a divide," Bledsoe said, pointing to the variety of ages, races, genders, sexual-orientations, political beliefs, and any other measure by which people can be categorized. Bledsoe, an English teacher at a Baltimore public school, said there is a need for more conversation between people of different backgrounds. She pointed to her own students and their incredulity when Trump was elected president because in their community there was no way he could win. With that in mind and from her experience at the march, Bledsoe said she will continue to teach her students the importance of critical thinking and learning beyond their own environment. "I teach them that they can't take everything people say at face value, not even what I say," Bledsoe said wittily. Speaking with pride about her daughter's participation, Bledsoe added that she wants her own daughter to think critically and independently to continue the fight for women's rights and equality. Lola said that she was scared about the future following the presidential election, but left with a positive outlook after seeing so many people participating in the march Saturday. 'Today we turned a corner' Sarah Popdan and Eric Li attended the event with their 10-year-old daughter, Calla. Initially, it was Sarah who wanted to come with her daughter, but Calla complained that she wouldn't attend without her father. Eric, a Taiwanese immigrant, ultimately attended the event because it was important him and his "modern" family. That family is comprised of him, his white wife and their biracial children. Li expanded on the idea of a modern family in their ideologies and experiences, noting that his family has lived abroad and in U.S. cities outside of Lancaster, so their perspective is different than people who live in the same communities for the majority of their lives. Li specifically referred to his business trips to China where he has encountered people who have fewer rights that U.S. citizens, but fear the possibility that Li and other Americans might be have their rights repressed under a Trump administration. Li said he was optimistic after the march and seeing so many people who believed in equality. He said Trump's vision for America wants to go backward, but he believes democracy and the people will not let that happen. "Today we turned a corner," Li said. "Everybody was here. It was not just a small group of people, it was everyone. Even Trump supporters were here." Popdan said she was using the event to draw strength on the fact that the majority of people don't support what Trump and Congress is pushing to do regarding rights. She noted that the march was about women's issues, but also brought out people with general concerns about the direction the U.S. will go under Trump. Calla said she enjoyed her first time protesting, but had one thing to say when asked if she would do something like that again. "If I had to walk that much again, I wouldn't," she said. Different reasons to march Traveling with three generations of her family, Dorothy Byrne, embarked from Harrisburg to D.C. with a sign reading "All for one and one for all." Byrne explained the intergenerational trip to PennLive Sunday morning, describing her awe for crowd of that magnitude before. "It was a phenomenon, it really was," Byrne said, noting that it was the largest protest she's ever seen. "The next step is a big one. It could be flash in the pan or it could be big step forward." Alongside her daughter-in-law, Bobbi Whipple; her daughter, Mattie Isaac, who flew to the midstate from Chicago; and her granddaughter Alissa Shafer; Byrne said the women marched in unison under the umbrella of women's issues but with different voices. She pointed her own reasons for marching in solidarity with women's issues as well as to continue pushing up against the glass ceiling, comparing that to her biracial granddaughter, who marched to be involved as a young woman and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Mattie Isaac, Dorthy Byrne, Alissa Shafer and Bobbi Whipple travel from Harrisburg to Washington, D.C. via bus. "I was just so proud of them, everybody," Byrne said, noting that she was pleased with the diverse turnout and the peaceful interactions. Byrne noted that there were a lot of supporters across the U.S. and world who worked in solidarity with the central march; something she experienced personally with people knitting her hats and giving her family food because they could not attend. She referenced her sister in Erie marching, as well as her brother-in-law and niece marching in London in stating the power and scope of the movement. Byrne said she plans to get more active and continue the fight for equality for all. She referenced her own experience of fighting inequality at the Duquesne Club in Pittsburgh, but added that she had became so concerned with her own rise and fall that she didn't stay active in fighting for equality and embracing the different issues that are important across demographics. Byrne said she hopes people will continue the dialogue that was addressed at the march as well as getting involved with writing legislators, attending meetings and doing the things she plans to do going forward. While being hopeful for meaningful change, Byrne said she knows its incremental and sees the march as a beginning. Whipple, Shafer and Isaac pose for photo amid Women's March. Exhausting, but worth it Though she had only lived in Pennsylvania for a day, Kristi Hutchings made a two-hour drive from Bethlehem for the Lancaster bus ride, which came after an almost cross-country drive from her previous home in Logan, Utah. Hutchings said she was going to go to the march "no matter what" and was fortunate to find a ticket at the last minute that could get her to the central march. "It was exhausting, but worth it," Hutchings said, adding that she ended up at the Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument for an event with panel discussions on representation, policy and equality, in addition to the march. Hutchings began the day marching with her seatmate on the bus, Sheena Good, but the women were separated in the large crowds of people who descended on the U.S. Capitol. Good said she was amazed by the turnout and the ability for everyone to come together in a large march. "We came for different causes, but the same causes," Good said. Hutchings pointed to the conservative environment she came from in Utah when referencing her new sense of comradery and kinship with the people she met at the march. Like other marchers, Hutchings said she was filled with hope by the day's events. "There is work to do, but it's possible to make a change," Hutchings said. Good agreed with Hutchings, expressing her own increased hopefulness that came after she and Hutching were separated in the massive crowd. Good ran into a woman she knew from her children's school and marched with that Lancaster resident in lieu of finding one of her friends. She said and the woman bonded over common issues she had no idea they shared and thinks the relationship will build going forward. Good said that she, like many others who have been inspired to act, plans to get involved in her community and with local politics to make an impact. "As much as Trump has torn us apart, he is bringing us together," Good said, pointing to the popular vote and the larger turnout for the march than the inauguration. "I mean, how else would 500,000 people come together?" Kevin Nagle.jpg Kevin Nagle, 42, of McSherrystown, was charged with having sexual contact with a student at a school and corruption of a minor in December. (File) A second student has come forward to report that a York County School of Technology teacher sexually assaulted him. Kevin Nagle, 42, of McSherrystown, was charged with having sexual contact with a student at a school and corruption of a minor in December. The York Dispatch reports that Nagle has now been charged with institutional sexual assault, indecent assault and corruption of minors after a second accuser came forward. A second student told police that Nagle had seen that his pants weren't fitting him correctly and talked to him about it. Nagle then allegedly pulled the student's pants down below his knees, and touched the teen's genital area with his hand while measuring him, The York Dispatch reports. The incident allegedly happened on Nov. 14, according to police. Nagle was arraigned on the newest charges at District Judge Scott Laird's office on Friday, according to . Bail was set at $50,000. Trump Inauguration President Donald Trump waves as he walks with first lady Melania Trump and their son Barron during the inauguration parade on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, Friday, Jan. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool) (Evan Vucci) By Charlie Gerow Like most candidacy announcements when Donald Trump rode the escalator down Trump Tower last June to tell us he was seeking the presidency, he didn't provide a lot of specifics about the policies he'd pursue if he won. Republican strategist Charlie Gerow (PennLive file) One thing he was pretty clear about was immigration, especially illegal immigration and most especially illegal immigration from south of the border. He famously promised to build a wall across the U.S.-Mexico border and to get the Mexicans to pay for it. He charged that Mexico was sending us a bunch of drug-dealers, violent criminals and rapists in addition to some, he assumed, that were good people. That message struck a chord with many working Americans worried about the security of their jobs and their families' economic futures. Candidate Trump didn't stop there. Throughout the campaign he revved up campaign rallies with fiery blasts against illegal immigration, telling the nation that "anyone entering illegally is subject to deportation." He spoke of "deportation squads" that would round up the 12 to 20 million illegals immigrants already here. The immigration issue goes far beyond the sound bites of a political campaign. It's cliche to say that we are a nation of immigrants. Today, more than a quarter of all Americans, 80 million strong, are either immigrants or first generation Americans. Now-President Donald Trump's mother was an immigrant. He married one - twice. The impact of immigrants on America's economy and culture can't be overstated. If you have any doubt, ask local farmers or fruit growers in Adams County. Agriculture, the biggest sector of Pennsylvania's economy, isn't the only part that depends on a steady stream of immigrant workers. There are many highly-skilled professions that do as well, depending on H-1B Visas to attract very highly-skilled workers. With the campaign trail an increasingly distant memory, Trump now sits in the Oval Office and many are wondering how fast and how far he will go to make his campaign rhetoric on immigration a reality. There were never a lot of specifics attached to Trump's campaign speeches on the subject and several of his pronouncements were modified and amended during the campaign. Shortly after the November election, Trump told Time Magazine that he was "going to work something out" to deal with the "Dreamers," children who were brought to America illegally, remained for more than 5 years, received an education and stayed out of trouble. Similarly Republican leaders in Congress have shied away from any talk about deportation forces. U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., bluntly stated, "I'm here to tell you that in Congress it's not happening." Gen. John F. Kelly, the new President's pick to head Homeland Security also offered some insight when he recently told reporters that undocumented immigrants were, "...probably not at the top of the list" of his concerns. So what's Trump's immigration policy likely to look like? Securing our borders will be a paramount concern. It probably won't mean building a wall across the entire southern border, at least not right away. It won't likely be paid for by Mexico, either, at least not directly. But there will be increased physical barriers and enhanced surveillance and a serious effort to crack down on illegal crossing. American policy on refugees is likely to be much more restrictive. That's one area where the president can act unilaterally under his Constitutional authority, and Trump has made it clear that he's concerned over the vetting process, or lack of certainty in it, by which refugees are accepted into the U.S. With more than 110,000 scheduled to enter the country in fiscal 2017, it's pretty certain that the flow will be slowed considerably, especially from places like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, so that all the proper questions can be answered. The H-1B Visa program will be re-shaped, but not eliminated. As a candidate, President Trump both praised and panned the program which is designed to attract and accept top-level highly skilled workers. He'll now work to reform it so that it isn't used as part of outsourcing efforts which he decries. The fears of the "Dreamers," especially the three quarters of a million who turned over personal information to gain status under Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals order, are into going to be realized. Many Republicans are very sympathetic to their situation. They were properly outraged, however, by Barack Obama's overreach and ignoring of their constitutional responsibility. President Trump's promise to "work something out" will not likely mean their deportation. There aren't going to be any deportation squads or mass deportations of illegal immigrants. There can--and should--be deportations, especially of those with recent criminal records and most especially violent criminals. That will be the new administration's initial focus. The next four years promise to be exciting times. With a thriving and fast-growing economy the demand for immigration will increase. Trump has an ambitious agenda from undoing the excesses of Obama regulation to repealing and replacing Obamacare to getting a new Supreme Court Justice confirmed. How far and how fast he moves on immigration remains unclear. Millions are watching, especially those seeking a legal home in the greatest nation in the world. If I sound sympathetic to the cause of legal immigrants, I am. After all, I am one. MADISON Just catching up on some recent topics Following a Dec. 29 column on the pros and cons of toll roads, an attentive reader noted that tolls need not apply to all lanes on a stretch of freeway. In Colorado, for example, express lanes in parts of the Interstate Highway system help manage congestion and speed up travel for motorists. Drivers who choose to pay the toll can use express lanes in the Denver area that are otherwise reserved for buses and carpools. Toll-optional express lanes might help pay for expansion of I-39 north from Illinois through Madison, I-94 north from Illinois to Milwaukee and other heavily used roads. Want to stick in the regular lanes and drive toll-free? No problem. Only the express lane would come with a user fee. The Wisconsin Legislatures debate over how to best pay for keeping up state highways will begin in earnest soon. A couple of recent columns described how two major Midwest cities, Detroit and Cincinnati, have established funds of funds with the help of major corporations think along the lines of Ford and Proctor & Gamble to invest in emerging companies through experienced venture capital firms. The managing director of the Michigan-based Renaissance Venture Fund, which was established nine years ago, will speak on that funds experience at the March 27 Wisconsin Tech Summit. Chris Rizik of Renaissance also played an advisory role in setting up Cintrifuse in Cincinnati a few years later. The Tech Summit, which is essentially a speed-dating event for major companies and emerging firms, is an ideal platform for the Milwaukee areas BigCos to hear how making money and backing young firms can go hand-in-hand. In a Nov. 18 column, I described the experience of American Family Insurance since the launch of AmFam Ventures in 2013. One of the first corporate venture funds to be created within the U.S. insurance industry, AmFam Ventures launched in 2013 as a $50 million fund to invest in early stage companies and now has board authorization to grow to $250 million. It primarily invests in big data, insurance innovation and parts of the Internet of Things, such as connected homes and cars. Now comes Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., a Milwaukee icon, with plans to establish a $50 million venture fund to invest in startups that create financial service technologies and other innovative products the company could offer its clients. Investments for the new Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures Fund will range from $500,000 to $3 million and will focus on four main areas: consumers changing preferences, reimagining the client experience, the digital health revolution and transformational analytics and technologies. I wrote Nov. 22 about the efforts of community leaders in Vilas County to improve broadband coverage by bringing together the countys major telecommunications provider, schools, businesses and state government. The elements of a staged plan to provide broadband to about 5,000 new Vilas County locations over four years is in the works. The breakthrough is largely a result of the second Connect America Fund, which tasked the Federal Communications Commission to work directly with major providers who promised to deliver high-quality service in underserved mostly rural areas. Only California will receive more CAF2 dollars than Wisconsin. Gov. Scott Walker has since proposed adding about $36 million to the states broadband efforts, in part to accelerate the CAF2 rollout. People can hear more about the Vilas County experience and Wisconsins prospects for better broadband coverage Jan. 24 at the Tech Council Innovation Network luncheon in Madison. A couple of 2016 columns discussed a rise in Wisconsin solar energy installations. The final numbers are in and theyre shining: Projects totaling 30 megawatts started construction during the year. Once completed, those solar projects will be capable of powering the equivalent of 5,000 homes. Thats nearly five times as much solar development as took place in 2015, according to a report issued by Renew Wisconsin. Most recently, I wrote about the Jan. 31 deadline to enter the Wisconsin Governors Business Plan Contest. Want to learn more? Join me and veteran judge Jonathan Fritz for an informal information session 6 p.m. Jan. 25 at Madisons Brocach Irish Pub. By Dahleen Glanton Someday, Donald John Trump's portrait will hang in the White House gallery. He will be in the company of some of America's most admired presidents _ George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt. But what will history have to say about Trump? The story of his presidency began Friday today. How it unfolds is up to him. Many Americans are unimpressed by the preface. A presidential campaign tainted with bigotry, misogyny and hatred is not the kind of storyline that intrigues and holds us spellbound. It is the kind of introduction that makes us wary. So today, multitudes of Americans of every race, ethnic group and religion did not travel from the tiniest corners of the nation to see Trump sworn in the way we did for Barack Obama eight years ago. Instead, we will march in solidarity in Washington and cities all over America to demand more from our new president than he has promised to give. On this day in 2009, we stood shoulder to shoulder by the thousands _ young and old, rich and poor _ in the blistering cold, gleaning each other's strength and radiating the optimism that the election of the first African-American president ignited in us. We were proud to have accomplished such a milestone in our nation's history. It was a symbol of progressiveness, tolerance and of our faith in democracy. Now we fear that this Inauguration Day marks a roadblock in our journey, one that forces us to turn around and retrace our steps. So on Friday _ perhaps the brightest one in Trump's life _ our television sets will go dark and our radios, silent. We will not cheer the arrival of this America that Trump has championed. And no way will we idly sit back and allow it to form. None of us wants to see our great nation fail. Though skeptical of our new leader, there is nothing we'd like more than to stand proudly behind him and lend our support. But how can we believe in someone we cannot respect? As of Friday, President Trump is the most powerful man in the free world. But that does not make him the most respected. Respect isn't something that comes automatically with the presidential title. Respect is bestowed only when it is earned. It doesn't mean that we have to agree with every decision the president makes. But we have to believe that whatever he does is for the good of our country. Right now, some of us aren't sure that Trump will do right by every American. In spite of what he says, we question whether he has the nation's best interest at heart. An inaugural address full of promises about uniting the country does nothing to bring Americans closer. We have heard too many meaningless words already. Photos with rapper Kanye West, comedian Steve Harvey or Martin Luther King III in the lobby of Trump Tower won't convince African-Americans that Trump is sincere about fixing urban neighborhoods. If Trump really wants blacks to believe that he cares about crime and is a champion for justice, he should appoint an attorney general who believes in equality. Not Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, who allegedly has referred to the NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, founded by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as "un-American" and joked about the Ku Klux Klan being "OK." If Trump believed that children are the backbone of America's future, he would appoint an education secretary who will fight to make public education a pathway out of poverty and despair. Not someone like Betsy DeVos, who is clueless about public schools and thinks that enforcement of the federal Individuals With Disabilities Education Act should be left up to the states. If Trump believed in America, he would fight for the rights of young people brought here without legal documents, so they can remain in the only country they know as home. He would understand that from the moment immigrants landed in the New World, "Dreamers" have been the seeds of the American family. If Trump truly wanted to make America great, he would swallow his pride and acknowledge his mistakes. He would forget about asking Congress to fund a wall along the Mexico border. He would demand economic parity and pay equity for women. He would fight to uphold the civil rights of lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender Americans. He would embark on a mission to ensure that Muslims, Christians, Jews and every other religious group could practice their faith without fear of reprisal. Until Trump earns the respect of the majority of American people, he will continue to be our most popular meme. We will poke fun at his tweets and laugh out loud when Alec Baldwin portrays him as a bumbling idiot on "Saturday Night Live." But it will be a nervous laughter, an attempt to conceal the fear that Trump ignites in us. Many of us are convinced that Trump will never have what it takes to make America great. But deep inside we're hoping he'll take hold of his narrative and allow history to someday prove us wrong. Dahleen Glanton is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune. Readers may email her at dglanton@chicagotribune.com. ellen granahan Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane's twin sister, Ellen Granahan Goffer, walks into the courtroom on the opening day of trial at the Montgomery County Courthouse Monday, August 8, 2016 in Norristown. (Bill Fraser, Bucks County Courier Times/AP) Kathleen Kane isn't the only one in her family who no longer works for the Attoney General's office. Ellen Granahan, Kane's twin sister, was asked to resign Friday by Attorney General Josh Shapiro, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer story. Granahan ran the office's child predator unit. Granahan received a 19 percent salary raise and a cash payout from the Attorney General's Office to settle a federal labor complaint last summer, giving her a pay bump to $105,000. The Inquirer also reported in its story that Shapiro, who was sworn in last week, also asked for the resignations of four other staffers who at one time were considering part of Kane's inner circle: Renee Martin, Kane's onetime spokeswoman; Chad Ellis, who headed the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility; Louis DeTitto, a former member of Kane's security detail; and Angela Beaverson, the executive secretary in charge of the grand jury. Joe Grace, Shapiro's communications director, said he wouldn't talk about individual personnel decisions when the Inquirer contacted him Saturday. President Donald Trump is joined by the Congressional leadership and his family before formally signing his cabinet nominations into law, Friday, Jan. 20, 2107, in the President's Room of the Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington. From left are, Vice President Mike Pence, the president's wife Melania Trump, their son Barron Trump, and House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ AP/J. Scott Applewhite, Pool Wen Wanchang, whose son was on board the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, cries as he waits for a meeting with Malaysia Airlines officials in Beijing Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017. Some relatives of Flight 370's passengers expressed anger, disappointment and a resolve to press authorities to resume their efforts and find out exactly what happened. Others said they understood that the search Ai the most expensive of its kind in aviation history Ai had to come to an end. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) FILE - In this Oct. 29, 2008, file photo, wind turbines dot the landscape east of Wasco, Ore. California, Hawaii, Oregon, New York and many other Democratic-leaning states have ambitious goals to wean themselves off fossil fuels, but doing so requires an investment in renewable energy that could be in jeopardy now that Donald Trump has assumed the presidency. (Jamie Francis/The Oregonian via AP, File) A woman poses in front of ECOWAS Senegalese troops near to the state house in the Gambian capital Banjul Sunday Jan. 22, 2017, one day after Gambia's defeated leader Yahya Jammeh went into exile. ECOWAS troops are moving in to prepare for the return of newly installed President Adama Barrow. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay) Canadian Court rejects, blocked enforcement of Ecuador judgment on Chevron The Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled Chevron Canada Ltd is a separate entity from Chevron Corp, and is thus not a debtor to the Ecuadorian judgment. CALGARY Petroleumworld.com 01 23 2017 A Toronto court has rejected a bid by Ecuadorian villagers to enforce a judgment in their home country against Chevron Canada Ltd, ruling the subsidiary is not liable for parent Chevron Corp, the U.S. oil major said on Friday. A Canadian lawyer for the villagers in the environment-damage lawsuit said the ruling is "not a modern-day view," and that an appeal will be filed. Residents of Ecuador's Lago Agrio region have been trying to force Chevron to pay for water and soil contamination caused from 1964 to 1992 by Texaco, which Chevron acquired in 2001. The villagers obtained a $9 billion judgment against Chevron in Ecuador in 2011. But the company has no assets in Ecuador, and the villagers have been suing it in the United States, Canada, Brazil and Argentina to enforce the decision. While not disputing that pollution occurred, Chevron has alleged the villagers' lawyer, Steven Donziger, and his associates went too far, including arranging for the ghost-writing of a key environmental report and bribing the presiding judge in Ecuador. A U.S. federal appeals court, which blocked enforcement of the judgment last year, agreed with the company. On Friday, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled Chevron Canada Ltd is a separate entity from Chevron Corp, and is thus not a debtor to the Ecuadorian judgment, according to a copy of the decision provided by the California-based Chevron. But Justice Glenn Hainey also ruled partly in favor of the villagers. Chevron had argued the Ecuadorian judgment is unenforceable in Canada because of what it says is the corrupt manner in which it was obtained. The villagers had asked for that argument to be struck out entirely. Hainey ruled some parts of Chevron's argument should be struck, while some should be tested through trial. Karen Hinton, U.S. spokeswoman for the Amazon Defense Coalition that represents the villagers, called the decision a "resounding victory," even if the Chevron Canada subsidiary, which is worth billions, is not up for grabs. "The part of the decision that knocks out Chevron's subsidiary from the enforcement action still allows the villagers to proceed against Chevron itself," she said. "The part of the decision to limit Chevron's liability is a temporary setback that will be corrected quickly on appeal." Gunshots were heard Downtown early Sunday morning, while no injuries have been reported, the Madison Police Department said. Around 2:55 a.m., witnesses observed a large disturbance on the 400 block of West Gilman Street followed by hearing several gunshots, police said. Police found about five gun casings after searching the location. No one has been reported injured, and no property damage associated with the disturbance has been found, police said. The first person I met at the Trump inaugural party at Chickie's & Pete's in South Philadelphia was Santa Claus. Not really Santa, but real close: Mark Murdy, who with his perfect paunch, rose-colored cheeks, and full white beard plays Saint Nick every year at his local American Legion. To mark the swearing-in of our 45th president, Murdy, who is 62 and from Hainesport, Burlington County, wore his Make Christmas Great Again hat. His wife, Deanna (Mrs. Claus), wore her Make Christmas Great Again sweatshirt. They were jolly with joy. At the crowded bar sat Jane Keenan, who lives in Michigan but was visiting family in Bristol. Back home, she and her husband run a company that makes, what else, American flags. And flagpoles to fly them. "Heart to God," Jane said, sipping her Bloody Mary. Over at her high-top, Mary from South Jersey, proudly talked of raising three daughters all wise enough to vote for Donald Trump, but requested her last name not be printed. Why? Because I'd just take her words and twist them. "You voted for Hillary," she had said when I broke that news. "I feel sorry for you." I wanted nothing more than to look away Friday. To bury my head. But there is no looking away anymore. Our country, our presidency, this man. If we look away, we abide. We cannot abide. There's no good in shouting from the bleachers. So I went to Chickie's & Pete's, where a few hundred Trump supporters could tell me how much of an idiot I am. Crabby fries at the end of the world. Democracy was falling, but the bar was full. The event was sponsored by the radio station 1210 WPHT. Chickie's sits in the 26th Ward. Trump won it in November, one of only three wards he took in the city. All three had gone for Barack Obama in 2012. But the crowd came from all over. People like Joe Adomitis and his wife, Debi. They drove in from Mantua, Gloucester County, and nabbed seats at the bar. Joe works manufacturing, a tool-and-die man. He's lost three jobs in recent years, he said, as companies moved away. "The landing spots are getting harder and harder to find," Joe said, while Debi lustily booed Chuck Schumer. Joe was confident Trump will bring those jobs back. That was how it was in Chickie's: lots of faith. Trump will put America first, they said. With jobs. (He's a businessman.) With immigrants. (He just doesn't like the illegal ones.) With ISIS. (Radical Islamic terrorism, thank you very much.) Those frightening appointees? (Give them time.) They are tired of being labeled as racists. And don't even bother asking Mike DeLuca, a chef instructor from Northeast Philly, about the Russians. "Please, no proof," Mike said, wiping off his tracksuit jacket, throwing in a "lock her up" for good measure. Even Santa. When he's not dressing up for the holidays, Murdy works with disabled kids. Wait. Trump mocks the disabled. "You need to see the other side of it," Murdy said, explaining that Trump always speaks with his hands and was only taken out of context when he famously mocked a disabled New York Times reporter. Oh, Santa. Everyone was polite enough. No one called me an idiot - at least not to my face - except Mary from South Jersey. "He's for us," she said. Exactly, Mary. But what about all the rest of "us"? All the immigrants, minorities, LGBT, disabled people, and everyone else who do not have a place in a Trump America. "Oh, that's B.S.," she said. The party wore on. When it was time for Trump to place his hand on the Lincoln Bible, I did not look away. None of us should. Not for the next four years. Not until this nightmare is over. mnewall@phillynews.com 215-854-2759 Two intruders were chased from a Near East Side home with a shovel on Saturday after fighting with people in the residence, the Madison Police Department said. Justice S. Green, 43, and Robin E. Roth, 40, were arrested on tentative charges of burglary, substantial battery and battery after police were called to the 400 block of North Ingersoll Street around 4:45 p.m., police said. The incident is a continuation of a disturbance at the same residence from the night before, police said. Caleb Roth, 21, the pair's adult son, fought with the same victims the previous night and was arrested at the same location, police said. President Donald Trumps America First mantra at his inaugural address Friday sounded a lot like Me first. We agree that America must look out for its own interests. And it has for generations. But our country also aspires to lead and engage far beyond its borders to create a better world, to spread freedom and democracy, to promote peace and prosperity. President Trump on Friday sounded like he wants the United States to go it alone. We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital, and in every hall of power, Trump declared. From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, its going to be only America first, America first. He even urged other nations to do the same. And you can be sure authoritarian regimes in Russia and elsewhere will. Yes, America can lead by example. But it also must be a participant in the world to be successful. Global problems are complex and will forever require collaborative measures, responses and outcomes. Thats especially true when it comes to national defense. America must not abandon its allies and alliances that promote liberty over oppression. Trump also touted a protectionist vision on trade, suggesting our economy runs best on its own. Thats absurd. More than 90 percent of potential customers live outside our nations border. We need to sell our products and innovations to them, just as they should be allowed to sell their best goods and services here. A trade war or worse, a real war should be avoided if at all possible. That requires diplomacy and economic policies of mutual benefit. Me first isnt the answer. Trumps uninspired and often selfish message at Fridays inauguration was fitting. He stayed true to what hes been saying throughout his campaign. His promises were sweeping. His specifics were thin. America will be great again, he tells us even though our nation already is great, with an economy thats back on track. America is not awash in carnage. Our schools do not deprive their students of all knowledge. Other nations are not rich because we are poor. The presidents hyperbole is ridiculous and divisive. Yet he is the duly elected commander in chief. He is the most powerful person in the greatest country on earth that was smart enough to build in checks and balances. The time for empty talk is over, he said. Now arrives the hour of action. That much is true. And if Trump can deliver on even half his elaborate promises, well happily acknowledge we were wrong. The All New DMR SLED The SLED will be available in two colourways, Metallic Black or InfraRed but with varying decal kits. DMR have worked long and hard on the SLED and look to have produced a well thought out and capable machine. A closer look at the bottom linkage. DMR have left things chunky and robust in the search of stiffness and durability. A key aspect the DMR designers strove for is stiffness. To that end, the SLED features integrally-welded front and rear triangles, 'Collet Style' pivot hardware and a 'Boost' rear end with the Syntace axle system. Being a British brand, durability and serviceability were also at the forefront of their mind, which is why the bike features plenty of tire clearance, internal routing, all ball-bearing pivot points and nice features such as the 'Ride Saver Mount' (pictured right), which is as good at carrying inner tubes as it is toy chickens... There's space for a bottle on the downtube and the Praxis Chain Guide is designed exclusively for the SLED's suspension arc, meaning dropping a chain is even less likely. There's plenty of clearance for tyres up to 2.4", which means charging through the slop won't be a problem. The Virtual Pivot 'Orbit Link' suspension platform should offer up good compliance on both the ups and the downs. In a big departure from their previous designs, DMR has launched a fresh from the ground up, all-mountain machine. The bike looks to pack a punch, with 160mm travel, 27.5 wheels, and a slack, long and low geometry. The DMR SLED is an exciting addition to the British brand's lineup. The SLED features an aluminum frame based around DMR's own virtual pivot 'Orbit Link' suspension design, which the company say offers the rider excellent climbing and descending capabilities, virtually no pedal feedback and unrestricted suspension activity when under braking.The numbers point to a potent ride with a slack 65.5 head angle, roomy reach, and stubby 430mm chainstays to keep things snappy. With riders like Olly Wilkins heavily involved in the development you'd expect the SLED to not only be a characterful ride, but also be able to take most hucks and hits you throw at it.The bike will be available in sizes ranging from Small through to Extra Large, with the frame including shock and Praxis chain guide retailing at 1599 RRP. The InfraRed SLED pictured at the top is the stock build-kit bike and it carries a price tag around the 3,500 mark. Pricing (particularly in US and Canadian dollars) has yet to be determined. The very first production frames will be available beginning on the 1st of February, with full builds expected in April. Lawmakers are beginning a new session at the state Capitol in Madison wondering if more can be done about drunken driving. Its going to be an issue of whats our priority for the session, said Rep. Andre Jacque, R-De Pere. Its always frustrating to see how difficult it can be to get new OWI laws passed. Hes right. Jacque wants to require wider use of devices that prevent the vehicles of OWI offenders from starting unless the driver is sober. Other good ideas include making a first offense for operating while intoxicated a misdemeanor crime, with a requirement to spent a night in jail and show up in court. And to help pay for more prevention, including treatment for alcohol abuse, the Legislature should increase Wisconsins teensy tax on beer, wine and other alcohol. Wisconsin had 24,000 convictions for drunken driving offenses in 2015, while alcohol-related crashes killed 190 people and injured nearly 2,900. If thats not enough evidence for further action by the Legislature, here are 10 more reasons from just the last month: 1. Brysen D. Wills, 33, of Waunakee, was charged Dec. 30 for driving the wrong way on Interstate 94 in Dane County at 93 mph with an alcohol level of more than twice the legal limit. He crashed into two vehicles, killing four people, according to a criminal complaint. 2. Steven Johnson, 52, of Fond du Lac, was charged with his 11th drunken driving offense on New Years Day in Appleton. Despite 10 previous convictions, his license was reinstated in July. 3. Ross C. Cotter-Brown, 31, of Edgerton, pleaded guilty Jan. 6 to driving while intoxicated in Middleton, where he ran a red light and hit and injured two girls, 12 and 13, who were in the crosswalk. He is already serving time for a fourth drunken-driving conviction. 4. Shane Hendrix, 40, of Madison, was arrested Jan. 8 on the East Side for his alleged fifth drunken driving offense. Police say they found him slumped over his steering wheel. 5. Clarence F. Gage, 73, of Sauk County, was sentenced Jan. 10 for his ninth drunken driving offense. 6. Anthony Stiklestad, 38, of Janesville, was arrested for his fourth alleged drunken driving offense last Sunday after nearly colliding with a state trooper on the interstate near McFarland. 7. Jon Lund, 51, of Oregon, was arrested for his alleged fifth drunken driving offense last Sunday after driving his van into oncoming traffic and hitting a car along West Washington Avenue in Madison, police said. 8. Marcus Freeman, 32, of Madison, was accused of drunken driving after he crossed into oncoming traffic Tuesday night on Highway 30 in Madison, striking a vehicle head on and causing injuries, police said. 9. Jeffrey Loresch, 35, of Madison, was stopped Wednesday in the town of Blooming Grove for his alleged fourth OWI offense. 10. Matthew Roberts and Amanda Trainor, both of Madison, were accused of driving different cars while drunk on the East Side Friday. Roberts vehicle struck a light pole, police said. He then got in a vehicle driven by Trainor, who was stopped for being intoxicated. On and on it goes, with state leaders far too slow to respond. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print What is the best way to decimate a community? Deny its people access to healthcare. What is the best way to decimate a community? Shut down its largest employer. These questions were asked and answered by Tim Egan, CEO of Chicagos Roseland Community Hospital, last Sunday, January 15, as he opened his comments at a rally to defend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) against the GOPs ongoing efforts to repeal it. Hosted by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) at its Chicago headquarters, the rally included such heavy-hitting speakers as Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, and SEIU President Mary Kay Henry, among others who shared their personal testimonies of how the ACA has literally saved their lives and how its repeal would certainly put their lives in danger. Egans speech was particularly compelling because it highlighted the GOPs hypocrisy when it comes to both improving the lives of average citizens and fostering fertile conditions for business. The Republicans like to represent themselves as the party with policies that help people by serving the interests of business, believing that policies that facilitate businesses by cutting taxes and eliminating regulations will improve the economy overall and create jobs, thus helping Americas working-class majority, regardless of how low-wage the jobs might be. Speaking as a corporate CEO, though, and not one of the American masses Republicans typically ignore, Egan made plain and clear that from the corporate perspective repealing the ACA would be devastating for business as well as people, threatening the very existence of his hospital, a primary employer in the Roseland community, not to mention millions of lives. In her comments, Schakowsky emphatically reiterated this reality that GOP policies are neither pro-business nor pro-people, pointing out that if Republicans repeal the ACA, Illinois is projected to lose 117,000 jobs in 2019 and 33 billion dollars in federal funding between 2019 and 2022, a devastating blow to an already faltering Illinois economy Rauner has done nothing positive to improve. Highlighting GOP hypocrisy, Schakowsky called out Illinois Republican Governor for his silence on the issue of the potential ACA repeal and his refusal to speak out against it in defense of the Illinois economy and its citizenry. So what is the point of Republican policy that seems both economically and humanly destructive? As I have argued previously on the pages of PoliticusUsa regarding the Republicans and Rauner in particular, we need to understand Republican scorched earth policies such as we have seen Rauners Illinois, Bobby Jindhals Louisiana, Sam Brownbacks Kansas, and Scott Walkers Wisconsin as not pro-business but pro-wealthy. This distinction is of vital importance if we are to understand the GOP agenda. The Republican project, as Ive argued, is to re-distribute wealth to the top, acceleratingly so, not to help business and by extension, perhaps, the working-class majority. Egans comments make this agenda clear. Indeed, even the pro-business CNBC website has featured reports underscoring the far-reaching economic devastation and job-loss repealing the ACA would entail. Dan Mangan, for example, reports that according to a study from Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, the repeal of key provisions of the ACA would trigger massive job loss to the tune of potentially three million jobs in healthcare and other sectors as well as a 1.5 trillion reduction in gross state product from 2019 to 2023, triggering also a damaging slump in consumer spending. As Mangan puts it, Spending less by getting rid of Obamacare could end up costing a whole lot more. So whats the end game for Republicans? Well, according to Tony Nitti in a piece he contributed to Forbes (no left-wing rag), repealing Obamacare would result in an average tax savings of $33,000 for the wealthiest one percent of Americans, while those making between $10,000 and $75,000 would actually see their taxes increaseand millions would lose health insurance or have to pay astronomically more for it, effectively an additional tax increase. The end game is simply to give more to the wealthy, which is not the same thing as helping businesses or improving the health of the economy. (That the House GOP voted to conceal the costs of repealing the ACA from the public arguably underscores the repeal is not economically salubrious for the taxpayers and the nation.) And the economic and human costs go together. At the Chicago rally, Tracy Trovato told the story of how her husband Carlo was diagnosed with leukemia in 2014. He has been cured after hundreds of thousands of dollars in treatment. Should the cancer return, however, and Obamacare were to be repealed, allowing insurance companies to re-instate lifetime caps on coverage, it is likely Carlo would not be able to afford treatment to save his life, or the Trovato family would endure absolute economic ruin. Trovatos story makes clear the human and economic costs of repealing the ACA. Her familys story is not singular but representative, and having widespread bankruptcy is not good for the health of our economy, not to mention our humanity. We need to see that Obamacare is not a hand-out, but simply sound economic policy that serves both the American people as a whole and American business. We also need to see that Republicans serve neither but simply want to accelerate the distribution of wealth to a speed that will break all of our necks, those of our working and middle classes and those of the business world. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print The Womens March has caught the attention of the media and no doubt of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The passion behind it seems to have caught the elite off guard, unawares almost, as if they were unaware that you existed and you cared about these issues. Attendance has already drowned the Tea Partys total attendance from April of 2009. Heres a glimpse around the country of your brothers and sisters, marching for justice this list is by no means comprehensive, but it shows that people are awake, impassioned, and engaged around the country. There is no way of knowing the total numbers right now and the West hasnt even started some of their events yet. So yes, this is HUGE, but huge for real, not Donald Trump huge. D.C.: Media reported that formal march was canceled because the crowds were TOO LARGE, however the organizers are moving the march to Constitution Avenue: CONFIRMED: Formal march portion of D.C.'s @womensmarch is canceled because crowds are too large. https://t.co/XLJg4zgJdV Perry Stein (@PerryStein) January 21, 2017 BREAKING: AP sources say crowd packs entire route of Women's March, preventing organizers from leading formal march toward White House AP Politics (@AP_Politics) January 21, 2017 Dr. Jim Lawrences D.C. footage: Only our South Entrance is open. We're working on access for people in need of rest, water, but see photo: Yikes! #WomensMarchOnWashington pic.twitter.com/qA9eKCuIPq AmericanIndianMuseum (@SmithsonianNMAI) January 21, 2017 Some solid protest signs at the #WomensMarch pic.twitter.com/pcKKzI42cO john r stanton (@dcbigjohn) January 21, 2017 Spotted John Kerry walking his cute pup down Pennsylvania avenue during DC's Women's March pic.twitter.com/AGp80Zgyj2 Taylor Hatmaker (@tayhatmaker) January 21, 2017 Philly: St Paul, MN: Detroit: Wayne State, Detroit Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan: The crowds in Ann Arbor are unbelievable. THOUSANDS deep for the Ann Arbor solidarity march along with the @womensmarch. pic.twitter.com/1fpuVB9rzm Matthew Smith (@MattSmithWXYZ) January 21, 2017 Charles Gaba in line for the bus to Lansing, Michigan: Hours later, in Lansing: Hell of a crowd here at #marchonlansing pic.twitter.com/UukFIJ267Z Charles Gaba (@charles_gaba) January 21, 2017 Chicago: An aerial view of the Chicago #WomensMarch right now (+150k people). pic.twitter.com/0OufEmSWU2 Zach Stafford (@ZachStafford) January 21, 2017 Chicago police report crowd so big the march has been changed to a rally pic.twitter.com/siaN1aWlb4 Chris Jansing (@ChrisJansing) January 21, 2017 Boston: "This is what love trumping hate looks like." #BosWomensMarch pic.twitter.com/Bj84bl833f Maura Healey (@maura_healey) January 21, 2017 Aerial footage shows crowds gathered for Women's March in Boston, MA https://t.co/MIVYbJqJrQ pic.twitter.com/OZhbIgLSoY ABC News (@ABC) January 21, 2017 Nashville: Texas: Las Vegas: Lots of cars and people filing into downtown Las Vegas for the #WomensMarch, which begins at 11. Jackie Valley (@JackieValley) January 21, 2017 #womensmarchlv full of people, young and old and of all races, and lots of signs. pic.twitter.com/uPJuAJ1vre Jackie Valley (@JackieValley) January 21, 2017 Iowa: .@derek_eadon: "Right now as we speak we have 10,000 women marching at the Iowa Capitol. I have optimism." pic.twitter.com/q0pO56zgln Iowa Starting Line (@IAStartingLine) January 21, 2017 Denver: Spotted in Denver: Guy with NATO flag headed to #womensmarch pic.twitter.com/iLGMObjyf8 Mark Leon Goldberg (@MarkLGoldberg) January 21, 2017 West Virginia: Empowered by all the diversity represented here today. #WomensMarch #wewontgoback pic.twitter.com/mXMQioPOhW PP South Atlantic WV (@PPSATWV) January 21, 2017 OK: Thank you to everyone at #WomensMarchOK who are showing that they #standwithpp. Together we are a movement. #WomensMarch pic.twitter.com/B12HBhE544 PP Great Plains OK (@PPGreatPlainsOK) January 21, 2017 Idaho: Los Angeles: At Trump Tower, which is off limits to the Womens March: San Fran: Women's march in San Francisco is absolutely massive. pic.twitter.com/oQbkF6WxkO Michael Farrell (@mikefarrell) January 22, 2017 Chants: Chants at #WomensMarch: "We miss #Obama." "We need a leader/ Not a creepy Tweeter." EJ Dionne (@EJDionne) January 21, 2017 I can see Russia from here: A few great signs from the #WomensMarch: "I Can See Russia from Here." pic.twitter.com/WuLzIjKliB EJ Dionne (@EJDionne) January 21, 2017 Great signs: The most powerful sign of the #WomensMarch. pic.twitter.com/IFHea1vykN Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) January 21, 2017 What you are witnessing here is the American spirit, fighting for American values of equality and opportunity for all. This is not a radical movement, these values are mainstream but they are being destroyed by a select few who dont value democracy. So the people march. They chant. They use their collective voice to say NOT IN MY COUNTRY. If you felt alone after the election, take heart. You are far from alone. The resistance is real. Update: Irish Eyes reminded me, this is actually happening around the world, there are 600 sister marches plus planned around the world: Update 2: The description (but not the body of the post) has been updated to clarify that the comparison for the Tea Party was to their rallies in April of 2009. Image: Twitter, American Indian Museum Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print If you want to know how truly appalling Donald Trumps inauguration address was, here is something to judge it by: Alex Jones said the message we heard in this speech has been my message for over a decade. Yes, it was that bad. Jones exclaimed, The spirit of America, can you feel it rising? Trump feels it, he knows it, he loves it. He wants to serve the people and empower the people and have America be incredibly wealthy again and empower the globe. A hilarious sentiment to express of the richest cabinet in American history, rich white men all, pretending to spread a populist message in which the only thing that will trickle down are empty promises Trump has already begun to break. Watch courtesy of Media Matters for America: According to Jones: Let me just take a deep breath here and break down what just happened today. Undoubtedly, this was providence, this was American destiny being invoked, this was Trump declaring the birthright of this republic that George Washington talked about and that providence started back in 1776. He invoked it, it was so historical, and I knew they were going to invoke it, it just came into my mind and I knew even though he hasnt given the speech and I havent talked to Trump about this, I knew what was about to happen and I said Ive got to tweet that theyre going to re-invoke the birthright. I could feel it, just actually what this is. And the media was asking me even the New York Times had seen the tweet and said, did you talk to Trump? How did you know what was in the speech? Nobody else did. And I said, no, this is Americana, you understand, were reading the same book, its the same spirit. So I will tell them when I talk about it with Trump: The spirit of America, can you feel it rising? Trump feels it, he knows it, he loves it. He wants to serve the people and empower the people and have America be incredibly wealthy again and empower the globe. Back when we had 50 percent of the worlds wealth, just thirty years ago we were sending more money to other countries than we are now and more industry. Now all we send is [unintelligible] corporate [unintelligible] and monopoly men that do not want us to be prosperous. So, the message we heard in this speech has been my message for over a decade. I mean, longer than that, but this is Americanism versus globalism. So, Trump isnt reading from my sheet of music, its the sheet of music thats reality. And thats why its so similar to what I say on the show to what you hear Trump say later. Okay, and yes, Trump does obviously does listen to the show. He told me. It wasnt just Jones, unfortunately, who drank this particular batch of Kool-Aid. CNNs Jake Tapper claimed Trumps address was purely populist, and one of the most radical inauguration speeches weve ever heard, and David Axelrod was just as off-base when he claimed Trumps words were a full-throated populist manifesto. Which doesnt say much for the wit or veracity of either man and explains that the mainstream media has learned nothing from the election they so deplorably skewed in Trumps favor. Obviously, anyone agreeing with Alex Jones isnt on the right track or even the same planet. If you want an example of populism you have to look at the demonstration outside Trump Tower on Thursday, the protesters on Inauguration Day, or the Womens March today. Thats populism. Trumps Inauguration was a carefully staged theater performance complete with paid actors. Sadly, the American media is falling over itself to praise Trump, with, for example, as Media Matters Matthew Gertz tweeting, NBC News being extremely excited to normalize Trump this morning. The truth, as the Guardians David Smith described it, is that the Inauguration was the most brazen embrace of big money since the 1980s era of Ronald Reagan, Tom Wolfes Masters of the Universe and Oliver Stones Gordon Gekko. And only the deluded, or the equally self-interested, would say otherwise. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Paul Krugman reacted to Trumps CIA speech today by saying what many of us are no doubt thinking, that This guy is seriously delusional incapable of accepting anything that hurts his ego. And he controls nukes. Reading a statement today, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, whose greatest contribution to the Trump administration so far has been to complain about people being disrespectful of his boss, complained that people are being disrespectful of Trump. Spicer railed against dishonesty in the media and said were going to hold the press accountablethe American people deserve better, threatening to exclude the media by stating ominously that Trump will take his message directly to the American people if the media will not obediently and uncritically pass along his lies. And in doing it, he sounded no less delusional than POTUS. The New York Times Maggie Haberman opined that, Spicer is reading from a sheet. Because this actually is not a statement that would come at all naturally to him, since he is a vet at this. Which means this statement came directly from Donald Trump, and represents the state of his mind at this moment, which is not encouraging. And this, says The Plum Lines Greg Sargent, was deliberately designed to obliterate shared reality. NBC News Ali Vitali reported that, Getting tweets Spicer statement meant to steal #WomensMarch focus. Maybe, but crowds were also big preoccupation of Trump during campaign. Ali Vitali (@alivitali) January 21, 2017 There is no doubt, as she says, that Trump is sensitive about the small size of his inauguration crowd and probably even more the enormous size of the Womens March, which dwarfs even his fantasy inauguration numbers. The New York Times Sopan Debs reaction to Spicers tirade showed that the press is not fooled by Trumps reactionary response to crowd size: I'd love to say that I am surprised that Sean Spicer led off his first press briefing in the Trump WH to discuss crowd sizes. I'm not. Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) January 21, 2017 Greg Sargent went on to say, To call Spicer a joke/clown is to miss the pointWhat Spicer just did is part of a concerted strategy that goes well beyond crowd sizes. it all starts to smack of an effort to stamp out the very possibility of shared agreement on the legitimate institutional role of the news media or even on reality itself. Its easy to imagine that, if and when a news organization uncovers potential conflicts, Trump will simply deny the reality of whats been uncovered (fake news) and begin threatening consequences towards that organization. Spicers agitated state revealed more than his words. As did Spicers silence on those demonstrations, as NBC News Katy Tur pointed out: Remarkable for the WH not to acknowledge the hundreds of thousands of Americans demonstrating around the US including in the WH backyard. Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) January 21, 2017 It is probably not so much remarkable as predictable. Donald Trump cannot admit that any demonstration is sizeable given his claim to have won by a landslide. Such numbers cannot possibly exist. As Writer/comedian Justin Shanes tweeted, Spicer statement proves 3 things: 1) Trump knows protest crowds were enormous, 2) hes wildly insecure about it, 3) we need to keep this up. There is absolutely no doubt that Tur is right on the money when she observes that, Apparently the most important thing going on in the WH right now is Trumps inaugural crowd size. It is difficult to see how Trump hopes to govern when he lets himself be so easily distracted by his insecurities while there are so many more important things to worry about, first by using an important speech to the CIA to pursue his vendetta against the press and then to order a press conference to excoriate the press for telling the truth about the embarrassingly small turnout for his inauguration. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Millions of Americans have taken to the streets from New York to Los Angeles and everywhere in between as the Womens Marches on Washington is estimated to be the biggest one-day protest in US history. UConn professor Jeremy Pressman is keeping a running total of crowd estimates across the United States in a Google document. An estimated 60,000 people marched in Atlanta. 250,000 are marching in Chicago. There are estimates of 250,000 people in Boston, and 200,000 more in Denver. In New York, the estimate ranges from 200,000-500,000. City officials estimate that 500,000 people participated in the main march in Washington, DC. In Los Angeles, the estimate is anywhere from 200,000-750,000. Watch video of the Womens March courtesy of Jim Lawrence: There were also protests of 60,000 in Oakland, CA, 50,000 in Philadelphia, 100,000 in Madison, WI, 20,000 in Pittsburgh, 20,000 in Nashville, TN, and 60,000 in St. Paul, MN. Politicus Podcast: Womens March Brings A Pink Apocalypse Upon Trump Listen to Women's March Brings A Pink Apocalypse Upon Trump on Spreaker. In the history of the United States, there has never been a one-day protest that was this large. 1982s anti-nuclear march in New York City drew an estimated crowd of 1 million. The 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington drew 250,000. 1969 anti-Vietnam war march in Washington was attended by an estimated 500,000-600,000. 1995s Million Man March was attended by 400,000-1.1 million. In 1993, the LGBT March for equal rights had a crowd of 800,00-1 million. There has never been anything in US history like the Womens March. It is nationwide, and proof that the American people are not going accept the agenda of the Trump administration without a serious fight. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Senate Democrats are calling on President Donald Trump to strengthen, not roll back, sanctions on Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin didnt spend all of that effort interfering in our election to get nothing out of it. He helped President Trump get elected, and now its time for a little quid pro quo. A pressing issue for Putin is no doubt the sanctions that have crippled the Russian economy. Last month, President Obama put harsher sanctions on Russia in response to their interfering in our election. USA Today reported at the time: Responding to evidence that Russia hacked Democratic Party officials during this years presidential election, the Obama administration Thursday sanctioned Russian intelligence officials, expelled 35 Russian diplomats suspected of being spies and shut down two Russian facilities in the United States. So Senate Democrats, anticipating Donald Trump lifting those sanctions, are working to hold Trump to the same rule as Republicans held Obama to regarding sanctions on Iran. Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Ranking Member Ben Cardin announced legislation on Sunday that they say mirrors legislation passed in 2015, which was first introduced by Republicans, that subjected any proposed change to sanctions on Iran to a Congressional vote. Just like every member of the Senate voted to subject any changes to our Iran sanctions regime in 2015, I hope and urge President Trump and Republicans in Congress to both support this bill and increased sanctions on Russia, and oppose any attempts to roll back existing sanctions, Senator Schumer said. In 2015, President Obama conceded to bipartisan efforts giving Congress a say in the sanctions on Iran. At the time, then Speaker John Boehner said, Congress absolutely should have the opportunity to review this deal. We shouldnt just count on the administration, who appears to want a deal at any cost. Lest Republicans cry partisan, Democrats were a large part of the push to give Congress more say regarding an agreement with Iran and the Presidents possible decision to lift sanctions in 2015. The 2015 bi-partisan legislation requiring congressional review of an agreement and prohibiting the administration from suspending congressional sanctions for 60 days was introduced by Senators Bob Corker (R-TN), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Tim Kaine (D-VA). President Trump must understand that sanctions against Russia demonstrate our will to hold them accountable for their aggression against the United States and other nations around the world, said Senator Cardin. Russia has made its intentions clear and the Congress must act. Republicans are being put on notice to put their countrys national security ahead of Russias interests and Putins demands. The fate of this legislation will show which, if any, Congressional Republicans have the courage to stand by their principles and stand up for this country. Charleston, SC (29403) Today Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 68F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 68F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. The massive amount is unusual for a local school board race and thousands more than any of the other 31 candidates have managed to raise. Read moreA CCSD board candidate has raised almost $100K in campaign funds Adam Parker has covered many beats and topics for The Post and Courier, including race and history, religion, and the arts. He is the author of "Outside Agitator: The Civil Rights Struggle of Cleveland Sellers Jr.," published by Hub City Press. Gene Sapakoff column: There's a gap between Aliyah Boston and the defending national champs and everyone else, but beware of these teams from here to March Madness. Read moreSapakoff: Antonelli on how to upset the Gamecocks, and teams capable Mary Katherine, who also goes by MK, covers health care for The Post and Courier. She is also pursuing a master's degree in data science. She grew up in upstate New York and enjoys playing cards, kayaking and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Berkeley County, dating back to 1682, just 12 years after English settlers landed at nearby Charles Towne, is drenched in history, with Revolutionary War battles, a secret weapon developed during the Civil War, a man-made canal connecting two rivers and a lake built during the Great Depression. With much of the county protected in the Francis Marion National Forest, outdoor activites include hikes along the Palmetto Trail, boating and fishing on Lake Moultrie and numerous attractions such as the nature preserve Cypress Gardens, where numerous Hollywood films have been made. The county is now tapping into its assets to boost its tourism industry. Read moreBerkeley taps into battlefields, boating and butterflies to boost budding tourism business Just south of the North Carolina state line is one of Horry Countys last undeveloped stretches of oceanfront property, and everyone should celebrate now that a decades-long effort to keep it that way has finally paid off. And everyone should encourage South Carolinas political leaders and Read moreEditorial: Waties Island deal a win not only for SC environment but also for taxpayers The Soviet Union orchestrated protests all over Europe and the United States when Ronald Reagan set out to deploy intermediate range nuclear weapons in Europe. The deployment was to take place as part of Reagans effort to beat the Soviet Union into submission through the buildup of our defenses. The Soviet Union cranked up its active measures and counted on its many friends on the left to assemble under the auspices of one or another of its peace offensives. Reagans efforts to rebuild American and European defenses induced a now familiar kind of mass hysteria. ABC brought us The Day After, the documentary-style film portraying a fictional nuclear war between NATO forces and the Warsaw Pact that rapidly escalated into a full-scale exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union. The film graphically displayed the effects of the war on Lawrence, Kansas. Nuclear war was a bitch, of course, and the film served as a timely warning against the nightmare toward which Reagans policies would deliver us. In Useful Idiots Mona Charen also recalled that public television brought us Testament (1983), a moving film about a family in Washington State slowly dying of radiation poisoning after a nuclear war. Not to be outdone, Charen added, NBC broadcast its own scaremongering documentary called Facing Up To the Bomb (1982). (The title of Charens book comes from a phrase attributed to Lenin describing Western left-liberals and Social Democrats.) In 1983 protesters formed a 14-mile anti-nuclear human chain in Berkshire, England. When Reagan visited London for an economic summit the following year, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament turned out somewhere between 80,000 (police count) and 200,000 (CND count) protesters marching from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square to greet him. Reagan modestly allowed that he didnt take credit for all of the demonstrators being there for me Donald Trump has provoked a similar reaction on the left without lifting a finger or grabbing a pussy. His offense has been limited to defeating Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, but that is quite enough. The Mirror takes a look at the action around the United Kingdom here. Fortune has posted 37 photos from womens marches around the world. Byron York tops them all with a collection derived from the doings in Washington, D.C. Calling out around the world, theyre ready for the same old beat. Theyre dancing in London and Paris and Berlin and Amsterdam. Theyre dancing in the streets, all right, but no guy will grab a girl in this particular world. What next? For the foreseeable future the people who organize these things will be working on what the Communists called Permanent Revolution. The left will bring on much more of the same, and worse, culminating in a campaign for Trumps impeachment. That, of course, would bring us President Pence, but Im not sure the protesting women and their variously gendered comrades have thought this thing through. Actually, Im not sure they have thought any of it through. The liberal media certainly thought so. Anti-Trump protests dominated CNN and other news channels, while the Associated Press was giddy with delight at the number of people who turned out to demonstrate against President Trump: In a global exclamation of defiance and solidarity, more than 1 million people rallied at womens marches in the nations capital and cities around the world Saturday to send President Donald Trump an emphatic message on his first full day in office that they wont let his agenda go unchallenged. *** The Washington rally alone attracted over 500,000 people according to city officials apparently more than Trumps inauguration drew on Friday. It was easily one of the biggest demonstrations in the citys history. Well, 500,000 people is a lot. But its funny how the number of people who turn out to demonstrate doesnt necessarily determine whether its a major news story. Take, for example, the 650,000 who participated in the March For Life in D.C. in 2013. Was the AP breathless over that massive display of displeasure with liberal policies? Just kidding. Actually, the AP didnt even report it. Instead, the AP reported, and tweeted, a vastly smaller pro-gun control demonstration, which caused the liberal news agency to be called out on Twitter. The point is that what makes a demonstration newsworthy in the eyes of the liberal press is not the number of people who participate, but the agenda that the demonstration serves. Thats quantity. How about quality? The AP tells us in a separate story that A-list celebs [were] out in force for anti-Trump womens marches. I dont know, these days, who is considered an A-list celebrity, but seriously: Madonna? Madonna, who peaked 30 years ago, was the star of the D.C. spectacle. The AP gives us a highly sanitized version of her remarks: In the capital, a sea of pink, pointy-eared pussyhats mocking the new president stretched far and wide as Madonna took to the stage and, to no ones surprise, held little back. Yes, I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House, she said. But I know that this wont change anything. We cannot fall into despair. Instead, she called for a revolution of love. Here is what Madonna actually said. See whether you can spot a lot of love. Warning: not safe for work, for children, or for those with an IQ in triple digits. It is almost unbelievably stupid: For some reason, the AP doesnt mention one of the other featured speakers at the Washington rally, Ashley Judd. Her speech was more obscene than Madonnas, and at least as dumb: The liberal media dont want us to have a clear idea of what was said at todays womens demonstrations. I understand that. But this is what I dont get. The pretext for todays outpouring of anti-Trump feminism is that years ago, Trump made crude comments in a private conversation, a tape of which was leaked by NBC in an effort to help Hillary Clinton win the election. Trump did indeed come across as vulgar in that conversation, although hardly misogynistic. (The idea that the former owner of the Miss Universe pageant hates women is ludicrous.) But not too many years ago, President Bill Clinton was credibly accused of rape by one woman, and of sexual harassment by several others. These werent just crude comments, they were illegal actions. Clinton was disbarred and paid a fine of something like $60,000 for committing perjury in a sexual harassment case. Where were these women then? Looking at the photos, I would say that a large majority of them were around in the 1990s. Certainly Madonna and Ashley Judd were. Did they march on Washington to show their disapproval of an accused rapist and a president whonot a decade earlier, but while in officecommitted perjury in a sexual harassment case? No, they did not. So I find it hard to take their newfound outrage seriously. As for todays most important news story, it may have been Trumps visit to the CIA. It may turn out to have been actions taken by Trump that we dont know about yet. But I am pretty sure it wasnt anti-Trump demonstrations by a bunch of hypocritical feminists. WASHINGTON In a global exclamation of defiance and solidarity, more than 1 million people including some locals from South Jersey rallied at womens marches in the nations capital and cities around the world Saturday to send President Donald Trump an emphatic message on his first full day in office that they wont let his agenda go unchallenged. Welcome to your first day, we will not go away! marchers in Washington chanted. Many of the women came wearing pink, pointy-eared pussyhats to mock the new president. Plenty of men joined in, too, contributing to surprising numbers everywhere from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles to Mexico City, Paris, Berlin, London, Prague and Sydney. The Washington rally alone attracted more than 500,000 people, according to city officials apparently more than Trumps inauguration drew Friday. It was easily one of the biggest demonstrations in the citys history, and as night fell, not a single arrest was reported. The international outpouring served to underscore the degree to which Trump has unsettled people in both hemispheres. We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war, actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd. Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack, and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. ... We are America, and we are here to stay. Yomaris Acosta, a Stockton University student from Mays Landing, said Saturday afternoon she attended the march for the women who came before me, for the strong women who have inspired me in my growth and my journey in life, and for myself. Acosta passed up a chance to join other Stockton people at Fridays inauguration ceremony and went Saturday instead with a friend from Hofstra University. We went 2 miles. We started in front of the Capitol, went to the Lincoln Memorial and turned around, she said. This place is packed. Acosta added she didnt run into any friends or Stockton classmates in Washington, but I heard Madonna was here. Stephenine Dixon, of Galloway Township, was one of the leaders of a busload of 56 women from the South Jersey Democratic Womens Forum who left Pleasantville at 6 a.m. to get to the march. I wanted to go because of health care, and I was working as an organizer for Hillary (Clinton) in New Jersey, and then in Virginia, said Dixon, a former city councilwoman in Atlantic City who said the best volunteers for the Clinton campaign were women. Now, I dont have health insurance, so I have to keep fighting, she said, adding her reason for organizing the trip really wasnt about Trump, it was about women. They always count on us, but they never count us in. Janis Quiggle, of Cape May, said she had a very long day and a very long march. But both were good experiences. We left at quarter of 5 (a.m.) and never got here until 10:30, she said from Washington. And we had to put at least 10 miles on. The Metro was so jammed that we had to get off early and walk to the start of the march. But everyone was there for a common cause, and everyone was so nice, she added. It went really well. Turnout in the capital was so heavy that the designated march route alongside the National Mall was impassable. Protesters were told to make their way to the Ellipse near the White House by way of other streets, triggering a chaotic scene that snarled downtown Washington. Long after the program had ended, groups of demonstrators were still marching and chanting in different parts of the city. White House press secretary Sean Spicer had no comment on the march except to note that there were no firm numbers for turnout because the National Park Service no longer provides crowd estimates. Around the world, women brandished signs with slogans such as Women wont back down and Less fear more love. They decried Trumps stand on such issues as abortion, health care, diversity and climate change. And they branded him a sexist, a bully, a bigot and more. We want a leader, not a creepy tweeter, some marchers chanted in Washington. Others: Welcome to your first day, we will not go away! In Chicago, organizers canceled the march portion of their event for safety reasons because of an overflow crowd that reached an estimated 250,000. People made their way through the streets on their own anyway. In New York, well over 100,000 marched past Trumps home at glittering Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. More than 100,000 also gathered on Boston Common, and a similar number demonstrated in Los Angeles. In Miami, real estate agent Regina Vasquez, 51, brought a sign saying Repeal and Replace Trump. I believe that strength is in the numbers, and that we should all come out and not make Trump the new normal, she said. All told, more than 600 sister marches were planned worldwide. Crowd estimates from police and organizers around the globe added up to more than a million. I feel very optimistic even though its a miserable moment, said Madeline Schwartzman of New York City, who brought her twin 13-year-old daughters to the Washington rally. I feel power. Retired teacher Linda Lastella, 69, who came to Washington from Metuchen, New Jersey, said she had never marched before but felt the need to speak out when many nations are experiencing this same kind of pullback and hateful, hateful attitudes. It just seemed like we needed to make a very firm stand of where we were, she said. As the demonstrators rallied alongside the National Mall, Trump opened his first full day as president by attending a prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, a tradition for the day after inauguration, and later visited the CIA. As he traveled around town, his motorcade passed large groups of protesters that would have been hard to miss. The Womens March on Washington appeared to accomplish the historic feat of drawing more people to protest the inauguration than the ceremony itself attracted. It far surpassed the 60,000 people who protested the Vietnam War at Richard Nixons inauguration in 1973. Before Saturday, that was thought to be the largest such demonstration in inaugural history. Christopher Geldart, Washingtons homeland security director, said the crowd exceeded the 500,000 that organizers told city officials to expect. The largest-ever demonstration in Washington, according to National Park Service crowd estimates, was an anti-Vietnam protest in 1969 that drew 600,000. The Million Man March in 1995 drew 400,000, according to the park service, which no longer estimates crowd sizes, in part because the organizers of that event accused the agency of lowballing the number and threatened to sue. The Washington rally was a peaceful counterpoint to the window-smashing unrest that unfolded on Friday when self-described anarchists tried to disrupt the inauguration. Police used pepper spray and stun grenades against the demonstrators. More than 200 people were arrested. Marlita Gogan, who came to Washington from Houston for the inauguration, said police advised her family not to wear their Make America Great Again Hats as they walked through crowds of protesters while playing tourist on Saturday. I think its very oppressive, she said of the march atmosphere. They can have their day, but I dont get it. Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump, took to Twitter to thank the participants for standing, speaking and marching for our values. The marches displayed a level of enthusiasm that Clinton herself was largely unable to generate during her campaign against Trump, when she won the popular vote but he outdistanced her in the electoral vote. The hand-knit pussyhats worn by many women served as a message of female empowerment, inspired by Trumps crude boast about grabbing womens genitals. They aint for grabbing, actress Ashley Judd told the Washington crowd. The marches were a magnet for A-list celebrities, unlike Trumps inauguration, which had a deficit of top performers. Alicia Keys sang Girl on Fire for the Washington crowd. Madonna gave a fiery, profanity-laced address to the gathering. Cher, also in the nations capital, said Trumps ascendance has people more frightened maybe than theyre ever been. In Park City, Utah, it was Charlize Theron leading demonstrators in a chant of Love, not hate, makes America great. Actresses Helen Mirren and Cynthia Nixon and Whoopi Goldberg joined the crowd of protesters in New York. Tens of thousands of protesters squeezed into Londons Trafalgar Square. In Paris, thousands rallied in the Eiffel Tower neighborhood in a joyful atmosphere, singing and carrying posters reading We have our eyes on you Mr. Trump and With our sisters in Washington. Hundreds gathered in Pragues Wenceslas Square in freezing weather, mockingly waving portraits of Trump and Russias Vladimir Putin. In Sydney, thousands of Australians gathered in solidarity in Hyde Park. One organizer said hatred, bigotry and racism are not only Americas problems. EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP The 76 apartments in The Michaels Organizations new complex on Fire Road run from one bedroom to three. Theyre spread out into four buildings and range in size from 650 to 1,200 square feet. And the rents run from about $650 to $950, said Jonathan Lubonski, lead developer for The Michaels Organization, who then noted that despite all those differences, every apartment has one thing in common: Each unit has a balcony or porch, he says, and thats not standard in affordable housing. The project got some of its financing for the apartments from New Jerseys Hurricane Sandy relief funds, which trace back to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Construction started last January on the complex that the company calls 2720 Fire Road. Lubonski expects the first 12 tenants to start moving in by Feb. 1. The companys schedule calls for a dozen more families to move in every month as work wraps up on each building. He said the owners have gotten intense interest from potential renters, but under affordable housing rules, all have to be income-qualified before they can move in. Income limits range from about $28,000 to $47,000 depending on family size. The Michaels Organization, which started in Atlantic City but is now based in Marlton, Burlington County, claims to be the nations biggest developer of affordable housing, with more than 53,000 units built from New Jersey to Hawaii. The company started building in Atlantic City in the 1970s and still manages property there, Lubonski said, leading a tour of some of the mainly finished units on Fire Road. The Fire Road apartments are just one of many around South Jersey to offer affordable housing with money designed to help the region recover from Sandy. The funds, administered through the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, have helped finance multi-family complexes in Absecon, Atlantic City, Egg Harbor City and Pleasantville in Atlantic County, along with those on Fire Road. In Cape May County, an early round of funding sent money to two Middle Township projects, according to NJHMFA records. In Ocean County, the agency has funded projects in Tuckerton and the townships of Barnegat, Lacey, Little Egg Harbor, Ocean and Stafford. All of the first phase is complete. Thats about 2,000 units although not all in South Jersey, said Anthony Marchetta, the NJHMFAs executive director. He added that some of the second phase is also finished, and the agency is now into a third round of funding. Its a long process. We probably wont be done building all the Sandy units for another 18 months, he said. The agency found lots of interest by local governments in getting in on the funding, but many wanted to build only senior housing, Marchetta said. So NJHMFA opened a round of financing strictly for family projects, and it was money from that round that helped build the Fire Road complex, the agencys records show. Lubonski said the 76 units are going on about 6 acres the company owns. But Michaels has agreed to preserve 12 undeveloped acres surrounding the new apartments, and that open space is visible from some of the balconies. The company also has approvals for another complex of 60 senior apartments on Fire Road, Lubonski added, but is still working on the funding for that project. If Michaels can build them, the company will preserve 2 acres for every acre it develops, he said. In the family project, the bulk of the apartments have two or three bedrooms. Just seven have one bedroom. Families documented as having been directly affected by Hurricane Sandy were given priority in renting units. But only 75 of the apartments are for rent, Lubonski added. The other, a two-bedroom unit, is reserved for a live-in superintendent. That apartment is in a headquarters building that also offers a community room right next to the complexs playground, he said. ATLANTIC CITY With little fanfare, Chris Howard took over leadership of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority as it reassesses its mission. Howard, 32, oversaw his first meeting as new head of the state agency Tuesday. Howard was appointed in December to oversee the agency replacing John Palmieri, who left the agency with a $225,000 contractually-mandated payout. Board chairman Robert Mulcahy said that Howard has hit the ground running in his two weeks in the position. Chris has been working overtime, Mulcahy said. Im pleased with how he has dug in with all that work that is ahead. Howards tenure comes as the agency will no longer receive casino investment alternative taxes, all but eliminating its role in funding future development. The change has left the state agency reassessing its mission. That money, derived from a 1.25 percent tax on gross gaming revenue and a 2.5 percent tax on internet gaming revenue, will now go to the city to help pay off its more than $500 million in debt as part of a state rescue plan. Howard is an attorney who has previously worked for the states Authority Unit. The unit oversees New Jerseys independent state and bi-state authorities and commissions such as the CRDA. Before becoming part of the states authority commission, Howard was hired by the law firm of Parker McCay as an associate in the Foreclosure and Bankruptcy Department in 2013. The firm is owned by Philip Norcross. During his tenure, Palmieri focused the board's efforts and funding on redevelopment of the city's Inlet section. William Cheatham, an 87-year-old resident of the city, said he hopes Howard works to bring more people into the city. There are things on the drawing board but we have to get them up and running, said Cheatham, who has been attending authority meetings for the last two decades. Once that happens it will get better. South Jersey hospitals in Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Ocean counties contributed more than $1.2 billion to the state economy in 2015, a new report shows. This years New Jersey Hospital Association Economic Impact Report showed the hospital industry in New Jersey is growing, with economic contributions increasing from the previous year. Officials say hospitals are just one piece of a health-care system that makes up an important part of the states infrastructure. The shift to population health and care in the right setting might mean that the physical hospital might not be the economic centerpiece, but the health-care ecosystem associated with a hospital will continue to create value for their hometowns, said Betsy Ryan, NJHA CEO and president.(tncms-asset)7de4d170-e015-11e6-b6a8-00163ec2aa77(/tncms-asset) AtlantiCares two hospitals, Cape Regional Medical Center, Inspira Medical Center Vineland, Shore Medical Center and Southern Ocean Medical Center all are part of that growing economic health care engine. The hospitals spent money on employee payroll, purchased services, state income taxes and payments, pharmaceutical drugs, building supplies, charity care and other operating costs in 2015. Ryan said there was an overall economic increase of $1.1 billion among all state hospitals between 2014 and 2015. The largest expenditure increases were in employee payroll, contracted labor and pharmaceutical drugs. Taxes and fees paid by hospitals, a majority nonprofit, also increased from $145 million to $153 million, according to the report. AtlantiCare, which has hospitals in Atlantic City and Galloway Township, served as one of the largest employers in Atlantic County with a combined 3,306 full-time jobs at the hospitals alone, not including employees who work at outpatient sites, urgent-care centers and other remote services.(tncms-asset)e6cc2860-e028-11e6-b212-00163ec2aa77(/tncms-asset) Walter Greiner, chief financial officer of AtlantiCare, said expenses in 2015 included renovation and expansion of the 40-year-old hospital in Galloway, health care programs for the homeless and uninsured, and community outreach programs. Most of our providers and staff live in the Atlantic County region, contributing to the economy, Greiner said. In addition to expenses and payroll, hospitals treat uninsured patients and get charity-care subsidies from the state to cover expenses. But charity-care funding was slashed in 2015, leaving many hospitals to make up the difference. Inspira Medical Center Vineland treated uninsured patients 23,328 times in 2015 at a cost of more than $14.8 million. The hospitals charity-care reimbursement that year was only $2.4 million. Thomas Baldosaro, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Inspira Health Network, said low reimbursement rates have made it challenging to care for these patients in Cumberland County, but the hospitals do so. Coming changes to the Affordable Care Act may result in more costs.(tncms-asset)2fe638c6-e00e-11e6-8b13-00163ec2aa77(/tncms-asset) Clare Sapienza-Eck, vice president of Business Development, Planning and Physician Recruitment at Inspira Health Network, said the network will look to expand emergency services in Vineland and Bridgeton and assess adding more inpatient beds at the hospital in Vineland. Cape Regional Medical Center serves as the primary emergency services and health procedures site for residents in Cape May County. The hospital contributed $115 million into the economy in 2015, which was about $5 million more than the previous year. Mark Gill, chief financial officer of Cape Regional Health System, said additional expenses came from new programs and services, such as the Concussion Care Center, an inpatient peritoneal dialysis unit and a Center for Wound Healing with two hyperbaric oxygen units, among other expansions.(tncms-asset)44918d6c-df5e-11e6-8147-00163ec2aa77(/tncms-asset) The hospital also saw a 2.5 percent growth in staff, Gill said, and purchased more than $2.5 million in goods and services from vendors in Cape May County. Ryan said the largest concern among health experts and officials is the fate of the Affordable Care Act. Since it was enacted, New Jersey sustained $1.5 billion in cuts to funding in exchange for more than 700,000 newly insured patients. Hospitals would likely be impacted should people lose any newfound health insurance they got through the ACA, she said. We are watching closely to see if Congress and the administration will pass a simultaneous replacement plan if the ACA is repealed, Ryan said. Barring that, we hope these deep funding cuts are returned to providers to allow them to care for the people who face the loss of newfound coverage. PLEASE BE ADVISED: Soon we will no longer integrate with Facebook for story comments. The commenting option is not going away, however, readers will need to register for a FREE site account to continue sharing their thoughts and feedback on stories. If you already have an account (i.e. current subscribers, posting in obituary guestbooks, for submitting community events), you may use that login, otherwise, you will be prompted to create a new account. WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP An Egg Harbor City bait-and-tackle shop owner is trying to convince this township to reopen fishing on the Lower Bank Bridge on a temporary basis. The bridge connects Egg Harbor City in Atlantic County and the Lower Bank section of the Burlington County township and has been a popular spot to fish for decades. Last year, the township began chasing fishermen away after years of not enforcing a no-fishing ordinance. Officials said someone was bound to get hit by a car if fishing off the bridge continued. Fishermen disagreed, saying they were careful and traffic was light. Howard Sefton, of Capt. Howards Bait and Tackle in Egg Harbor City, is asking the township to allow fishing during the prime time of March through the second week in June and in the fall for six weeks. I dont think thats too much to ask, Sefton said of the request. He said its a popular time to fish because the white perch are most plentiful. I just got his letter, township Mayor Dudley Lewis said. I have not responded to it yet. He said he will discuss it with Township Committee, but he doesnt think it will work. Temporary or permanent, the problem is just the same, said Lewis, listing public safety for drivers and fishermen as paramount, with parking and trash problems in the mix. He said Sefton offered to police the trash situation, but that wont help the safety problem. He said fishermen have set up chairs and umbrellas that crossed the line into travel lanes, and residents have complained about it for a long time. There have been minor accidents, he said, such as damaged windshields. I understand when (Burlington County) put the bridge in, it was supposed to have a fishing pier, like the one on the Wading River Bridge, Lewis said. But it never happened, and the fishing got completely out of control. The bridge was last replaced by Burlington County about 25 years ago. Lewis has said anglers have parked on private property, prompting complaints from residents. The number of complaints increased after a property owner rebuilt a property on the Egg Harbor City side right next to the bridge. It had been empty for decades, and people previously parked there. DAVOS, Switzerland and ABU DHABI, Saudi Arabia, January 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Healthcare leaders from the US and UAE discuss the 'Hospital of the Future' at the World Economic Forum "The management and delivery of healthcare in the hospital of the future will be driven by big data and powered by artificial intelligence and this trend is going to get bigger and better," according to the panel of experts that discussed the 'Hospital of the Future' at the concluding day of the 47th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum at the Congress Centre in Davos. (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/459820/VPS_Healthcare_Logo.jpg ) (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/459819/Dr_Shamsheer_Vayalil.jpg ) The panelists in the discussion included Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil, Founder & Managing Director of VPS Healthcare; Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO of Omada Health; Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, President of Brigham and Women's Healthcare; Thomas DeRosa, CEO of Welltower USA; Sarah Doherty, Co-founder & Chief Technology Officer of TeleHealthRobotics and Dr. David B. Agus, Professor of Medicine & Engineering at the University of Southern California. Noting significant transformations affecting the world and the advances made in healthcare, the panel was tasked to find answers about the emerging technologies that would impact the way of healthcare delivery in the future. Dr. Shamsheer said, "As almost every expert agrees, data is the new oil, the new currency and healthcare industry is already using this and moving towards sustainable, accessible and affordable delivery model." With the advancements in technology, it is imperative that digital health records be standardized and the interoperability of data is going to play a major role in the future of healthcare delivery. "We would like to take healthcare delivery systems as much in to the homes and in to the communities as possible because we believe we can deliver better care at lower costs. If you believe in value-based healthcare, the definition being patient measured outcomes defined by cost. We believe that outcomes will be better delivered in the homes and communities rather than hospitals," said Dr. Elizabeth Nabel. Healthcare industry has been a bit slower to embrace the digital revolution as compared to others. There is a lack of uniformity across technology systems and these self-created silos are creating confusion, errors, redundancy, missed opportunities, and waste. "The healthcare industry is very risk averse because of the issues of quality and safety. There has to be some disruption in the industry but I believe the disruption in healthcare will come from outside the industry because we still tend to think very conventionally. We need to come up with new ideas, new technologies that will lead to disruptions else we won't see a hospital of the future. We need a change across the globe, a change which can make things work," added Dr. Shamsheer. Digitization continues to be at the heart of change in healthcare delivery and has led to the introduction of complex technical systems across the globe. "Privacy is going to be a big issue because of cyber security. We need to encrypt data. As we know, a single stolen EHR is valued at 100 times that of a stolen credit card, so we need to be careful about online security," said Dr. Shamsheer. On the curative side, hospitals & clinics are becoming increasingly aware of the pivotal role of hospitality & service culture in the patient experience and the impact on the bottom-line. On the preventive & recovery side, hotels & resorts are increasingly improving their health & wellness services for their guests. "It is an exciting time to be in healthcare. Medicine is becoming more democratized and patients are already pushing health systems to innovate and to collaborate with them," said Sean Duffy. "The hospital of the future will only be used for catastrophic care with individuals using the quantified self with sophisticated artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to create the best possible scenarios for their health. I for one, am excited to be a part of this brave new world and believe that a broad based revolution in healthcare is just on the horizon," added Dr. Shamsheer. SOURCE VPS Healthcare DUBAI, UAE, January 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- At the BAU trade fair 2017, GEZE will be presenting new, innovative products and system solutions that turn buildings into Smart Buildings. GEZE will be introducing complete door and window systems as 'smart solutions'. They improve the comfort, security and energy efficiency of our work and home environments. The highlights of the trade fair presentation include an innovative building automation system for 'smart' technology and new interface modules to integrate GEZE system components into the building network. GEZE uses BACnet and KNX - the globally renowned communication standards in home and building system technology. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160209/331044LOGO ) (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/459818/GEZE_Cockpit.jpg ) Professional Solutions: smart, secure and efficient control of building technology The GEZE Cockpit building automation system will be showcased for the first time. With this innovative control unit, automated system components from the fields of door, window and safety technology from GEZE and other manufacturers can be networked, monitored centrally and controlled - even via smartphone or tablet. Via the IO 420 interface module, GEZE products can be integrated into network solutions with BACnet, and be networked with each other via BACnet MS/TP. A unique complete solution is a multifunctional, centrally controlled swing door system with an automated and a manual door leaf. With the 'robust', award-winning Powerturn drive and tried-and-trusted GEZE door closer technology, the door system combines accessible door control, emergency exit protection, fire protection, increased burglar resistance, complete protection when passing the door and remote monitoring. The universal drive design across both door leaves is a visual highlight. Automated, networked windows create facades that adapt to the climate. For controlled, natural ventilation, GEZE will be presenting facade windows with IQ windowdrives. Via the IQ box KNX interface module, windows can be connected as direct bus users in a KNX building system and be monitored and managed 'smartly'. Living Solutions: new solutions for the Smart Home Thanks to the GEZE front door pack, small buildings or single- and multi-family homes become 'smart'. Completely in accordance with the individual wishes, the modular plug & play complete system turns a simple front door into an automated access solution that can be integrated into an existing Smart Home system. The GEZE ActiveStop door damper integrated into the door provides greater convenience and a completely new 'door experience'. GEZE will also be presenting an additional variant that can be fitted to the door frame as optimum retrofit option. GEZE focuses on the integrated support of the building technology in a project and supports architects, planners and installation engineers at every stage of a project. At GEZE, we cannot imagine working without Building Information Modeling (BIM) - a method for the optimised planning and design of buildings in a virtual building model. GEZE BIM objects are unique and highly efficient solutions for the uniform and comprehensive layout of doors in all service phases. For the first time, architects, planners and specialists can design doors together. Discover for yourself at the stand how you can simply and securely design customised door solutions using just five multifunctional doors. "We welcome the new vision developed through intensive research by our engineering team that has been launched in Munich at the BAU Fair and coined 'Smart Facades'," commented Charles Constantin, Managing Director of GEZE Middle East. "We are certain that this system along with the strategic perspective of 'GEZE Cockpit' will seamlessly merge innovative engineering and post installation operations to optimize the functionality of today's smart building structures," he concluded. ABOUT GEZE The GEZE brand stands for innovation and premium quality products, processes and services. GEZE is one of the leaders on the market and is a reliable partner worldwide for door, window and safety technology products and systems. No matter what the requirements of the building are - GEZE realises optimum solutions and combines functionality and security with comfort and design. GEZE door closers open up numerous technical and visual options. Every day millions of people go through doors equipped with the overhead door closers from the TS 5000 series and enjoy the barrier-free convenience of automatic door systems, e.g. the Slimdrive and Powerturn lines. The integrated all-glass design systems are pure aesthetics. GEZE also has a wide product range for window and ventilation technology. Complete "intelligent" smoke and heat exhaust solutions (RWA) and a comprehensive selection of door systems for RWA air supply solutions are also available for preventative fire protection. GEZE's safety technology includes escape and rescue route solutions, lock technology and access control systems. With system expertise, GEZE creates coordinated system solutions that combine individual functions and security requirements in one intelligent system. The latest innovations are a new building automation system and interface modules for integrating GEZE products into networking solutions which turn buildings into Smart Buildings. GEZE product solutions have received numerous awards and can be found in renowned structures all over the world. The company is represented by 31 subsidiaries, 27 of which are abroad, a flexible and highly efficient distribution and service network and almost 2,800 employees worldwide and generated revenues of over 394 million Euros in the 2015/2016 business year. http://www.geze.com SOURCE GEZE PARIS, Jan. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A roadshow meeting of the 2017 Fortune Global Forum was held on January 20 in Paris. The 2017 Fortune Global Forum will take place in Guangzhou on December 6 to 8 with the theme of Openness and Innovation: Shaping the Global Economy, announced by the Executive Committee of 2017 Fortune Global Forum on Tuesday. The meeting marked the beginning of Guangzhou's international road show of the 2017 FGF. For Video and Hi-Res Images, please visit the Multimedia News Release: http://news.medianet.com.au/xinhua/guangzhou-starts-roadshow-1 Before the meeting, Cai Chaolin, Vice Mayor of the People's Government of Guangzhou Municipality, met with John Needham, Manager Director of Fortune Global Forum and Ms. Gao Yuanyuan, Economic and Commercial Minister-Counsellor of Chinese Embassy in France. He expressed his wishes to hold the forum successfully as well as deepening and widening the economic cooperation between China and France. Cai briefly introduced Guangzhou and explained why Guangzhou was chosen as the host city for the Forum - it is a city of history, business, innovation, inclusiveness, food and leisure. As a starting point of the Maritime Silk Road, Guangzhou has been exporting goods and culture to the Western world. Besides, with a dynamic and robust economy based on a convenient transportation network, the city ranks the third in China after Beijing and Shanghai, and on par with Hong Kong and Singapore. Food lovers may also find that Guangzhou is the counterpart of the Gourmet Capital in the Eastern world. More importantly, it is the innovation and inclusiveness of the city that enable it to achieve a prosperous economy and a diversity of culture, according to Cai. In the end, he invited the audience that mainly consisted of top managers of the Fortune Global 500 companies to visit Guangzhou during the Forum. Many Chinese companies that strive and thrive through the three decades become the Fortune Global 500 companies, thanks to the Reform and Open. Meanwhile, French companies have technical strengths in energy, engineering, chemistry industry, finance and other fields. Top companies from both countries and other partners may discuss the trend of the international trade in the forum, emphasized Ms. Gao Yuanyuan in her speech. According to Adam Lashinsky, Assistant Managing Editor of Fortune, Guangzhou is the ideal city for hosting the 2017 FGF. The city of business, with its convenient infrastructure and economy, has attracted a great number of transnational corporations. Therefore, he believes that it is high time that FGF should be held in China, and Guangzhou will make the best host city. He hopes that French companies will take an active part in the 2017 FGF. According to the Executive Committee of 2017 FGF, Guangzhou will continue promoting for the Forum in Hongkong, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington D.C., Tokyo, Seoul, Frankfurt, London, Barcelona, Amsterdam and twelve other cities around the globe. SOURCE Executive Committee of 2017 Fortune Global Forum PARIS, Jan. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A roadshow meeting of the 2017 Fortune Global Forum was held on January 20 in Paris. The 2017 Fortune Global Forum will take place in Guangzhou on December 6 to 8 with the theme of Openness and Innovation: Shaping the Global Economy, announced by the Executive Committee of 2017 Fortune Global Forum on Tuesday. The meeting marked the beginning of Guangzhou's international road show of the 2017 FGF. For Video and Hi-Res Images, please visit the Multimedia News Release: http://news.medianet.com.au/xinhua/guangzhou-starts-roadshow-1 Before the meeting, Cai Chaolin, Vice Mayor of the People's Government of Guangzhou Municipality, met with John Needham, Manager Director of Fortune Global Forum and Ms. Gao Yuanyuan, Economic and Commercial Minister-Counsellor of Chinese Embassy in France. He expressed his wishes to hold the forum successfully as well as deepening and widening the economic cooperation between China and France. Cai briefly introduced Guangzhou and explained why Guangzhou was chosen as the host city for the Forum - it is a city of history, business, innovation, inclusiveness, food and leisure. As a starting point of the Maritime Silk Road, Guangzhou has been exporting goods and culture to the Western world. Besides, with a dynamic and robust economy based on a convenient transportation network, the city ranks the third in China after Beijing and Shanghai, and on par with Hong Kong and Singapore. Food lovers may also find that Guangzhou is the counterpart of the Gourmet Capital in the Eastern world. More importantly, it is the innovation and inclusiveness of the city that enable it to achieve a prosperous economy and a diversity of culture, according to Cai. In the end, he invited the audience that mainly consisted of top managers of the Fortune Global 500 companies to visit Guangzhou during the Forum. Many Chinese companies that strive and thrive through the three decades become the Fortune Global 500 companies, thanks to the Reform and Open. Meanwhile, French companies have technical strengths in energy, engineering, chemistry industry, finance and other fields. Top companies from both countries and other partners may discuss the trend of the international trade in the forum, emphasized Ms. Gao Yuanyuan in her speech. According to Adam Lashinsky, Assistant Managing Editor of Fortune, Guangzhou is the ideal city for hosting the 2017 FGF. The city of business, with its convenient infrastructure and economy, has attracted a great number of transnational corporations. Therefore, he believes that it is high time that FGF should be held in China, and Guangzhou will make the best host city. He hopes that French companies will take an active part in the 2017 FGF. According to the Executive Committee of 2017 FGF, Guangzhou will continue promoting for the Forum in Hongkong, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington D.C., Tokyo, Seoul, Frankfurt, London, Barcelona, Amsterdam and twelve other cities around the globe. SOURCE Executive Committee of 2017 Fortune Global Forum The Not My President Bar is a creamy Milk Chocolate bar. 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A video broadcast showed Valls exiting from the Lamballe city hall on Tuesday and shaking hands with a group of people while a youth among them caught him a light slap in the face before being seized by security guards, Xinhua news agency reported. The 19-year-old man was arrested and placed into custody on charges of "violence against a person having public authority". Speaking to reporters shortly after the incident, Valls said: "I have never been afraid of having contact with French people whatever their opinions. Democracy can never mean violence." Valls has been the polls' favourite to win the left ticket and challenge conservative candidate Francois Fillon and Marine Le Pen, head of far-right National Front party. However, he was losing momentum after two televised debates that offered a boost to former Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg, days ahead the competition's first round. Hyderabad, Jan 20 : A woman succumbed to swine flu at the government-run Gandhi Hospital here on Friday, taking the death toll due to the dreaded disease in Telangana to 10 since August 2016, a health official said. The 46-year-old woman from Bahadurpura locality here was undergoing treatment since January 16. It is the fourth death due to swine flu at the hospital since January 1. All victims were women. Gandhi Hospital Superintendent Venkateshwar Reddy said a special ward was opened for patients suspected of suffering from swine flu. Health officials attributed the rise in swine flu cases to cold weather and advised people to take all precautions. According to health officials, a total of 3,033 samples were tested from August 1, 2016, to January 18, 2017. Of these, 152 samples were found positive. On Wednesday alone, six of the 43 cases tested were found positive. The health department has advised people to approach hospitals at the onset of the first symptoms of swine flu like high fever, sneezing, cough and body ache. It asked hospitals to isolate persons suspected to be suffering from swine flu and send their samples to the Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM) here. Officials said sufficient medicines were stocked at all teaching, district and area hospitals. New Delhi, Jan 20 : The central government has invited 40 tribals from various parts of the country as special guests for this year's Republic Day celebrations, government sources said. Apart from watching the Republic Day Parade and the Beating Retreat ceremony, these tribal guests would be taken around the city for sightseeing. The tribals, along with tableaux artists, would also get a chance to meet the President, Vice President, Prime Minister and the Tribal Affairs Minister in the Capital, sources said. Besides, this year 21 children will be conferred the National Bravery Awards. Four groups of children will be part of the parade, of which three groups are from Delhi and one from Nagpur in Maharashtra. Each group of children will give a performance of about two minutes in front of the Presidential dais at Rajpath. The best performance would get the first prize while the second best performance would get a consolation prize. The school children would also be presented gifts and certificates. This year, 23 tableaux from various states, Union Territories (UTs) and central government departments will be part of the parade. Some of the tableaux will also showcase folk dance performances. The states/UTs taking part in the parade include Delhi, Goa, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, West Bengal, Manipur, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh and Lakshadweep. The participating tableaux will be judged for first, second and third prizes. The duration of the parade will be 95 minutes. New Delhi, Jan 22 : Award-winning journalist Josy Joseph here on Saturday said that the BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a centralised "bully system" and that it is "hostile towards intelligent and informed thinking". "The way this government goes after journalists, is something, I have never seen in the past. This government has a very centralised bully system. It is extremely hostile towards intelligent and informed thinking. It targets any progressive thought," Joseph said during a discussion on 'Non-fiction in the age of fear', held here by the Caravan magazine and the Press Club of India. Jet Airways and its Founder-Chairman Naresh Goyal have filed a civil defamation suit against Josy Joseph, after he wrote about the alleged links between gangster Dawood Ibrahim and the airline in his book "A Feast of Vultures", published in 2016. "Naresh Goyal successfully managed every minister, every secretary in the town. If you look at the files it is very clear that the agencies knew that he was linked with Dawood. There were questions about his source of funding," Joseph said. "I took it up as an example as I thought it was a fascinating story," he said, adding: "Except for few, every business house is like that. We have had murder cases and money laundering being charged against biggest corporate houses and their owners...cases are filed but are never closed." He also said that massive amount of money is required to sustain Indian political system and it is funded by the corporates. "The BJP has built a very expensive business model. Naresh goyal and people like him successfully managed the parties because Indian political parties require black money and financial support. Billions are required to sustain the political system... that is provided by the corporate," he explained. When asked if something can be done about the middlemen, Joseph said, "Modi cannot do anything about the middlemen. He will worsen the situation." "A Feast of Vultures", which deals with corruption at all levels of Indian society, didn't get to become a part of the Jaipur Literature Fest this year. So was the case with senior journalist Akshaya Mukul's "Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India" that places the institution from Gorakhpur within the larger context of the growth of Hindu nationalism. Reacting to the whole controversy, Joseph said, "There is a problem with literature fests because they are not confident of pulling the audience. Though, it is not true that they cannot pull the audience with non-fiction texts. I think it's a passing phase. India will go beyond this." "What we need for writers today is independent publishing houses." Mukul, who was also participated in the discussion, said, "Such minute monitoring of media, I haven't seen ever before. You cannot ask questions. No cross questioning is allowed. Ministers get very angry if you ask what is new in their scheme, or that they've taken forward the previous government's step with a new name." "Negative things don't get sufficient coverage. None of the protest about demonetisation got reported." He further added, "Modi has been very apprehensive of media since 2002 when the entire Gujarat thing happened. We know what happened to NDTV recently. Then (Union Minister) Kiran Rijuju was once heard saying: 'don't ask questions'." Mukul had boycotted the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards ceremony instituted by the Indian Express as Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over it. He said, "The award is prestigious enough, you don't need Modi or any Prime Minister...it won't make it more prestigious." Dakar, Jan 22 : The former President of The Gambia left the country on a flight bound for Guinea on Saturday, a day after agreeing to accept the results of last month's election and peacefully cede power, local media reported. Yahya Jammeh ruled The Gambia for 22 years, EFE news reported. The plane that transported Jammeh had been chartered by Guinean President Alpha Conde and left the Banjul International Airport shortly after 9.00 p.m. local time, Senegal's Sud radio reported. Jammeh agreed on Friday -- a day after his term in office expired -- to hand over power to Adama Barrow, who was elected on December 1, 2016 and sworn in on Thursday at the Gambian Embassy in neighbouring Senegal. The ex-President agreed to step down amid diplomatic pressure and the threat of military intervention by an Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) force. The United Nations Security Council had approved a resolution backing the new head of state and supporting the efforts of ECOWAS in getting Jammeh to hand over power. After initially accepting his defeat on December 2, Jammeh backtracked and contested the result, alleging failures in the vote recount. Since then, the African Union, the United Nations and the international community have urged Jammeh, who took power in a 1994 coup, to accept the will of the people. Damascus, Jan 22 : At least 11 persons were killed on Saturday when an explosion rocked a camp for displaced Syrians near the Syria-Jordan border, a monitor group reported. The blast rocked the Rukban camp near the Jordanian border when a car bomb went off at the outskirts of the camp, Xinhua news agency cited the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The UK-based watchdog group said a father, mother and their two kids were among those killed, adding that the death toll could likely rise due to the high number of critically wounded people. Meanwhile, Jordan's state-run Petra news agency said a total of 14 Syrians who were injured in a blast were allowed to enter into Jordan. Around 85,000 Syrians, who are stuck on the border between Syria and Jordan, live in that camp. It wasn't clear who carried out the explosion, but it bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State (IS) group. Last June, IS carried out a suicide bombing near the camp, killing seven people and injuring 13 others. London, Jan 22 : British Prime Minister Theresa May called on Saturday for an early meeting with the new President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani to discuss Britain's exit from the European Union. Xinhua news agency quoted an official Downing Street spokesperson for May as saying that the Prime Minister spoke by telephone to Tajani to congratulate him on his election to the presidency of the European Parliament. During the conversation May said she was keen to arrange a meeting in London as soon as practicable to discuss various issues, including Britain's exit from the European Union. "She referenced her speech this week in which she set out the UK's priorities in the forthcoming Brexit negotiations, and reiterated that we would continue to play a full part in and meet our obligations to the EU while we remain a member," May's spokeswoman said. "They agreed to work together to ensure continued good relations between the UK and EU, while the Brexit process is ongoing and thereafter." Washington, Jan 22 : US President Donald Trump will meet with visiting British Prime Minister Theresa May next week, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said on Saturday. May will be the first foreign leader to meet with Trump after he was sworn in as the new US President on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported. It is expected that the two leaders will discuss plans for a trade deal between the allies after Britain's planned withdrawal from the European Union. In a recent interview, Trump said Britain's exit from the European Union will turn out to be "a great thing". Trump pledged to offer Britain a quick and fair trade deal with the US within weeks of taking office, saying that "we're going to work very hard to get it done quickly and done properly. Good for both sides". On Saturday, Spicer said Trump has also scheduled a meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on January 31. Trump has said he wanted to build a wall along the border between the US and Mexico, to keep out illegal migrants. He also threatened to levy heavy taxes on companies that operate plants in Mexico but export to north of the border. Los Angeles, Jan 22 : Actor James Marsden is reportedly being eyed by DC Comics to star in "Green Lantern Corps". An insider said that Marsden is included in the shortlist of actors being considered to play Hal Jordan, one out of two Green Lanterns, in the upcoming movie, reports aceshowbiz.com. "I've heard one more name, too," the insider said about Marsden's potential casting. "Ever since 'Westworld', Marsden has been pretty hot around here. They've discussed him for Hal as well," the insider added. Previously, there were reports about possible shortlist of actors who may play Hal Jordan. The list included names such as Tom Cruise, Jake Gyllenhaal, Armie Hammer, Bradley Cooper, Joel McHale and Ryan Reynolds -- who had played the character in the 2011 film "Green Lantern". While the company is busy trying to find the perfect actor to play the part, the other Green Lantern, John Stewart, will be played by Sterling K. Brown. Unlike the previous adaptation "Green Lantern" which focused more on Hal Jordan, the upcoming movie is expected to focus on the Corps, the intergalactic police force formed to protect different sectors of the universe. "Green Lantern Corps" is scheduled for a July 24, 2020 release in the US. Washington, Jan 22 : US President Donald Trump is slated meet UK Prime Minister Theresa May and his Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto, his first brush with foreign leaders since he assumed office on Friday, a White House spokesman announced. The President will meet May on January 27 and Pena Nieto on January 31, spokesman Sean Spicer said on Saturday. After Trump's inauguration as the 45th President of the US, the British Prime Minister expressed statement her wish to maintain close ties between Washington and London, Efe news reported. "From our conversations to date, I know we are both committed to advancing the special relationship between our two countries and working together for the prosperity and security of people on both sides of the Atlantic," she said on Saturday. It is expected that the two leaders will discuss plans for a trade deal between the allies after Britain's planned withdrawal from the European Union. Initial reports earlier this month had said that May was meeting Trump sometime this year in Washington but did not disclose details regarding the date. According to Spicer, Trump and Pena Nieto will discuss "trade, immigration and security" during their meet. The Mexican Presidency said in a statement that on Pena Nieto spoke on the phone with Trump on Saturday and expressed a willingness to work for the benefit of both countries "with a focus on respect for the sovereignty of both nations and shared responsibility". Spicer said that Trump also spoke on the phone with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, with whom he had a "constructive" conversation in which both agreed to schedule a meeting in the coming days. Washington, Jan 22 : On his first full day in office, US President Donald Trump visited the Central Intelligence Agencys (CIA) headquarters to express his gratitude for the community which he had repeatedly railed against during his campaigns. On Saturday, Trump spoke before 300 to 400 agency employees at Langley, Virgina, who signed up to see the new commander in chief, The Washington Post reported. "This is my first stop officially, there is nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community and the CIA than Donald Trump, there is nobody," he said. "I am so behind you and I know that maybe sometimes you haven't got the backing that you wanted." "I am with you 1,000 per cent," CNN quoted Trump as saying. Trump made his remarks in the headquarters lobby, in front of a memorial that features 117 stars that honour CIA officers who have been killed in the line of duty. "The wall behind me is very very special," Trump said. The gesture of the visit was an important moment for Trump, who raised doubts about his relationship with US intelligence agencies by initially casting doubt on their assessment that Russia intervened in the election by hacking Democratic email accounts. During his speech, he also took a dig at the media for not covering his inaugural ceremony and accused of lying about the size of his inauguration crowd of only 250,000 people, The Washington Post said. "I have a running war with the media, they are among the most dishonest human beings on Earth -- they sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community. The reason you are the number one stop is exactly the opposite," he said. The White House appeared irked by cameras that showed large gaps in Trump's still large crowd on Friday compared to the one that showed historic numbers of spectators to see former President Barack Obama sworn in for his first term in 2009. "It looked like a million, a million and a half people," Trump said. "It's a lie...We caught (the media). We caught them in a beauty." The chairman of Trump's inaugural committee, Tom Barrack, told CNN that Trump was disappointed at what he saw as deceptive photos of the crowd that appeared on Twitter. White House press secretary Sean Spicer later on Saturday appeared in the White House briefing room to warn the administration was going to hold the press "accountable" and argued that the Trump crowd was the largest inaugural crowd ever. He said any suggestion otherwise was "shameful and wrong". The CIA audience was separated into two sections: a main area of all agency staff and a separate section directly in front of the stage that consisted of senior agency leadership, including agents. During Trump's address, the senior leadership stood the entire time. When Trump began drifting into political topics, the main crowd broke into cheers and applause at points. The senior leadership remained stoic, and did not applaud the political lines. The visit comes amid questions regarding the status of Trump's choice to run the agency, Representative Mike Pompeo. The CIA is currently being led by acting Director Meroe Park, lacking a permanent chief, as the Senate has delayed Pompeo's confirmation vote until Monday, with Democrats citing concerns about his positions on surveillance and other issues. Pompeo has encountered some controversy after he submitted responses to a Senate questionnaire where he said he would consider bringing back waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation measures under certain circumstances. Chennai, Jan 22 : Jallikattu, Tamil Nadu's bull taming sport, will not be held in Alanganallur in Madurai district on Sunday despite a government nod as no preparation has been done, the organisers said. "The Supreme Court had laid the guidelines for holding Jallikattu. But there was no time to carry out the work (to hold it)," an official of one of the groups fighting for Jallikattu told IANS. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Saturday said he would inaugurate the sport in the town. His announcement came after the state government issued an ordinance amending the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act to hold Jallikatttu, which was banned by the Supreme Court in May 2014. "The government should have consulted the local community on the readiness to hold the sport. This is a community sport like any temple festival, not a government or political function," the official said. "The people are protesting for a permanent solution... We have to mobilise the local community to hold Jallikattu." The Supreme Court had banned Jallikattu, saying that bulls cannot be used as performing animals including in bullock cart races. Meanwhile, the massive youth protest in Chennai's Marina Beach entered its seventh day on Sunday. The protest that started with a handful of a people on January 17 morning is now attracting lakhs to the beach daily. The number is expected to increase on Sunday. New Delhi, Jan 22 : With Indian travellers shifting gear and taking shorter and frequent breaks during the year, travel agencies are witnessing a hike in bookings for the next weekend -- the first extended one of the year. Travellers are now taking short breaks through the year and not limiting themselves one or two big holidays as in the past, which experts believe will help the travel and tourism industry as it ensures that demand is well spread out. "With this trend on the rise, and 11 long weekends coming up in 2017, we are expecting a great year ahead for the industry," Sharat Dhall, Chief Operating Officer (Business-to-Consumer), Yatra.com, told IANS. Manmeet Ahluwalia, Marketing Head, Expedia in India, said: "With Republic Day (on Thursday and taking a day off on Friday) heralding the first extended weekend of the year, it is getting travel enthusiasts to make the most of it. The number of bookings has risen by about 37 per cent year-on-year." "Indians have been utilising long weekends for short breaks and exploring new local as well as international destinations, and in the past year we have seen a shift in the booking and research pattern, with consumers booking well in advance," he said. According to a forecast by The World Travel and Tourism Council, the Indian tourism sector will grow at an annual average growth rate of seven per cent over the next 10 years. While some domestic travellers are choosing short trips to destinations like the Rann of Kutch (for Rann Utsav), Mount Abu, Coorg, Vizag, Araku valley, Lonavala and Mahabaleshwar, a chunk of travellers have picked Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau and Thailand for short-haul overseas vacations, industry stakeholders said. Popular hill stations in Darjeeling and the northeastern states, Nainital, Dalhousie, Dharamshala and Manali are also among the sought-after destinations. Wildlife enthusiasts are opting for Kaziranga National Park and Ranthambore as well. "The main reason why people are travelling extensively for this weekend is that travelling is much cheaper than the peak seasons, such as New Year or summer. Hotels and airline bookings are available at cheaper rates, making their travel more economical," Karan Anand, Head, Relationships, Cox and Kings, told IANS. "People make their long weekend travel plans way in advance. This has also been fuelled by airlines in India offering discounted air fares throughout the year," he added. Despite the economy going through a tough period following demonetisation in November last year, experts pointed out that its impact was short-lived and the travel industry continued to grow with healthy momentum. "There was a dip in traffic in the first couple of days post the demonetisation announcement, but things were back to normal after that," Dhall said. "Moreover, domestic passenger traffic numbers in November and December showed continued growth momentum with over 23 per cent year-on-year growth. Clearly, there has been little or no impact of demonetisation on travel," he added. (Porisma P. Gogoi can be contacted at porisma.g@ians.in) Kolkata, Jan 22 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday expressed grief over the train accident in Andhra Pradesh and accused the government of neglecting the railways. "The railways is neglected and being given less priority. The budget is being curtailed. Passenger safety and security are being compromised," Banerjee said. "Sadly, even today many people lost their lives. My condolences to their loved ones," she said. A former railway minister, the Trinamool Congress supremo urged the central government to address the incidents of lapses in the railways urgently. "We don't blame the minister; he is earnest in his efforts," she added. New Delhi, Jan 22 : Frequent train accidents in the past few months have once again brought to fore issues of maintenance, infrastructure up-gradation and safety in the Indian Railways. The issue of rail safety, however, took an unexpected turn, with Uttar Pradesh Police hinting at possible role of Pakistani spy agency -- ISI -- in the Kanpur derailment incident, that took place late last year. Experts said the possibility of sabotage in the recent accidents cannot be ruled out, but "poor infrastructure" is a "crucial factor" behind the frequent accidents. At least 39 persons were killed and over 50 others injured when the Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express derailed on Saturday night near Kuneru station in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh. Initially, the railway officials gave out sabotage as the reason, since the area is a Maoist stronghold. But later, the Odisha government ruled out the possibility. Dr P.C. Sehgal, a former railway officer, told IANS that there is a need to improve the infrastructure to contain equipment error. "From 2001-06, the government had pumped in Rs 25,000 crore into up-gradation of rail infrastructure, such as rolling stocks and tracks, among others. There is a need to carry out similar exercise now to prevent accidents due to equipment error. "And if there is fear of sabotage, the government should take a preventive action," Sehgal said, who is a former Managing Director of the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation. Vivek Sahai, a former Chairman of the Railway Board, said comments cannot be made on technical aspects until the terror angle is ruled out by the government. A former senior railway official, speaking on condition of anonymity, called the possibility of sabotage in Hirakhand Express tragedy "unconvincing", as the derailment occurred in the station yard where railway staff are always deputed. "The reports of ISI role have changed the outlook toward accidents. However, we should not forget that the rail infrastructure has degenerated in the last two years. "The core issue of transportation -- which includes maintenance of sleepers, rolling stocks and tracks -- has been ignored and emphasis has been given on public interface," said the official. Subodh Jain, a former General Manager of the Central Railway, said that the government should adopt a new strategy and prepare an action plan accordingly in the wake of possible terror attacks on the rail network. The Railway Ministry, meanwhile, said that an inquiry by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) has been ordered into the Hirakhand accident. "The inquiry by the CRS will look into all possibilities -- if someone tampered with the tracks, sabotage, or a mistake by the driver," Anil Kumar Saxena, Additional Director General (Public Relations) of the Indian Railways, told IANS. (Saurabh Katkurwar can be contacted at saurabh.k@ians.in) Shimla, Jan 22 : Moderate to heavy snowfall may hit Himachal Pradesh from Tuesday. Locals and tourists are advised not to venture to the state's higher reaches as transportation links may snap after snowfall. An active western disturbance is likely to affect the western Himalayan region from Monday. An induced upper air cyclonic circulation is most likely to develop over central Pakistan and adjoining west Rajasthan on the same day, meteorological office director Manmohan Singh told IANS. He said under the combined influence of these systems, fairly widespread to widespread rain and snowfall activity was most likely to occur over the state from January 24 to 27. "Isolated heavy to very heavy rain and snowfall is likely to occur over the state on January 24 and 25 and scattered heavy on January 26," Singh said in a statement. The picturesque tourist spots of Shimla, Kufri, Narkanda, Dalhousie and Manali may experience more spells of snow during this period. Shimla on Sunday recorded a low temperature of four degrees Celsius while it was 6.7 degrees below freezing point in Keylong, minus 2.6 degrees in Kalpa, 2.9 degrees in Manali and 7.8 degrees in Dharamsala. Kalpa recorded 3.6 cm of snowfall in the past 24 hours, while Nahan had 3.7 mm of rain. Dehradun/New Delhi, Jan 22 : The Congress on Sunday released its first list of 63 candidates for the Uttarakhand assembly polls, triggering anger among some activists who vandalised the party office in Dehradun. According to the list issued by All India Congress Committee, Chief Minister Harish Rawat will contest from two seats: Hardwar Rural and Kichha. Most outgoing MLAs have been repeated by the Congress and a few defectors from other parties have also been given ticket. Suryakant Dhasmana, who was acquitted by the CBI court in 2012 in connection with killing one person and injuring two persons during the Uttarakhand movement, has been fielded from Dehradun Cantt. State Congress chief Kishore Upadhyay will contest from Sahaspur. A section of Congress workers, unhappy over the ticket distribution, vandalised the party office in Dehradun. The workers threw chairs, broke furniture, tore off posters and raised slogans against Upadhyaya and Chief Minister Rawat. Rawat tried to play down the controversy, saying some hopefuls were unhappy they had not been fielded but "everyone who keeps working for the party" will get a chance in future. A 70-member Uttarakhand assembly will be elected on February 15. Mumbai, Jan 22 : Gujarat took a mammoth 359-run lead posting 227-8 in their second innings against Rest of India on the third day of their Irani Cup match at the Brabourne Stadium here on Sunday. Chirag Gandhi (55 not out) and Hardik Patel (0) were at the crease when the stumps were drawn for the day. Earlier, the Ranji champions bowled out for 226 the Rest of India who managed to add only 20 runs to their overnight score. Gujarat batsmen started the innings on a poor note losing two wickets for only 42 runs before Priyank Panchal (73) and skipper Parthiv Patel (32) added a crucial 85 runs for the third wicket. Just when things seemed good for the batsmen in the middle, Panchal was sent packing by medium pacer Sidharth Kaul in the 43rd over. His 135-ball knock included four boundaries. After five overs, Patel was also sent back to the pavilion by spinner Shahbaz Nadeem. The Gujarat skipper spent 115 minutes at the crease and slammed three boundaries. Incoming batsman Manprit Juneja (12), who was timing the ball well, failed to utilise the start and was caught by wicketkeeper Wridhiman Saha in the 51st over off medium pacer Mohammed Shiraj. The Gujarat lower-middle order also contributed to the cause as Gandhi, Karan Patel (15) and Mohit Thadani (11) shared 81 runs between them. For Rest of India, Nadeem scalped four wickets for 53 runs while Shiraj took two for 39 runs. Earlier, resuming at 206-9, overnight batsmen Shiraj and Pankaj Singh added 20 runs for the 10th wicket before Shiraj was bowled by right arm medium pacer Chintan Gaja in the 75th over. Brief scores: Gujarat 358 first innings and 227 for 8 (Priyank Panchal 73, Chirag Gandhi 55 not out, Shahbaz Nadeem 4-53) vs Rest of India 226 (Cheteshwar Pujara 86, Akhil Herwadkar 48, Chintan Gaja 4/60, Hardik Patel 3/79) on day three. Panaji, Jan 22 : Claiming that the Centre's recent ordinance, which cleared the decks for staging of the controversial sport Jallikattu, was out of concern for "cultural sentiments" of the people of Tamil Nadu, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting M. Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday was non-committal on backing a similar ordinance for legalising the traditional sport of 'Dhirio' or bull-fighting in Goa. Asked if the central government would consider an ordinance to legalise bull-fighting in Goa on the lines of the one promulgated in favour of Jallikattu, Naidu said: "We have shown concern to the cultural sentiments of the people of the state and we have co-operated with the state government's wish. The ordinance is also issued by the state. If such a situation comes in any state, the government will act appropriately." Naidu, who is campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the February 4 Goa assembly poll, was addressing a press conference here. Although a banned sport, 'Dhirio' or traditional bullfighting is an "open secret" in Goa, with several such fights organised in the coastal open areas and paddy fields. Jallikattu, which involves chasing of bulls, has evoked protests stretching over several days in Tamil Nadu, which has resulted in the Central government promulgating an ordinance to bypass the ban on it. Kathmandu, Jan 22 : Two Indian nationals were arrested by Nepal Police here on the charge of ATM fraud. Iqtedar Khan, 23, from Chandigarh, and Niranjan Mehta, 33, from Delhi, stole money from at least 12 ATM machines here. Police started investigation after several people complained of their money being stolen from their bank accounts. They were held with cash and 20 ATM cards of various banks. The two withdrew about NRs 600,000. The arrest came after police examined CCTV footage from multiple ATM booths. If convicted, the duo would face a jail sentence up to five years and a fine equal to the amount they defrauded. Paris, Jan 22 : The first round of France's Left primary kicked off on Sunday morning with the competition to be a three-horse race among former Prime Minister Manuel Valls and his main rivals Arnaund Montebourg and Benoit Hamon, both former ministers in his government in 2014. About two million voters are expected to cast their ballots in 7,530 poll stations across the country from 9.00 to 19.00 (local time) to pick a presidential nominee, Xinhua news agency reported. Valls, a centrist politician, who is seeking to attract middle ground voters, has been the polls' favourite to snatch the left ticket. However, the race is tightening in its final days. Montebourg and Hamon who quit the government to protest their pro-liberal policy, are gaining momentum days before the vote. The three leading candidates are almost neck-and-neck with the result remaining unpredictable. A recent poll showed Valls coming the first in the first round with 32 per cent of the vote against Hamon's 27 per cent and Montebourg's 26 per cent. Two of the seven contenders who will garner the highest vote in the first round will meet in a head-to-head context next Sunday. Casting his ballot in Every, southeastern Paris, Valls called on the French people to massively turn to poll stations. "It is the French who must decide." Montebourg, a former economy minister, said before casting his ballot that he asked for a "strong mandate to be able to bring the Left together". Hamon, who's gaining momentum unexpectedly, also called for a high turnout of voters, saying "if the turnout is high, it will give legitimacy to the one who will be elected". The Socialists and the broader Left, which has dominated France's political landscape for decades, was weakened due to high unemployment and rising security concerns in the five years in power. Lucknow, Jan 22 : The Samajwadi Party and the Congress will jointly contest the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections on 298 and 105 seats, respectively, the two parties announced at a joint press conference here on Sunday. Samajwadi Party state President Naresh Uttam told the media that his party will contest the state elections in alliance with the Congress to "keep the communal forces at bay". "We are committed to democratic values... it is not distribution of seats... it's an alliance formed for the beginning of a new dawn, which will herald politics of development in the state," Uttam said. The two parties also intended to make Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav the Chief Minister again, he said. Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar, who was also present, said the alliance will be led by Akhilesh Yadav and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi. The alliance will be "above politics of caste and religion", he said. The announcement came after days of haggling over seat-sharing between the two parties. The talks at one point hit a roadblock as the ruling Samajwadi Party was willing to concede only around 90 seats to the Congress. As the SP refused to budge and the Congress not ready for anything below 120 seats, leaders in both the camps threw up their hands over the prospects of the electoral tie-up. It was only after the intervention of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who spoke to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on the phone on Saturday, that the alliance was finally sealed. The seven-phase elections in the state will commence on February 11 and conclude on March 8. The votes will be counted on March 11. New Delhi, Jan 22 : At least 51 specially abled and financially challenged couples got married at a mass marriage ceremony organised here on Sunday. Narayan Seva Sansthan -- a charitable organisation -- organised the mass wedding ceremony for the specially abled and poor couples "as a sign of solidarity towards the community". Vinay Thakur, Deputy Superintendant, Tihar jail, was present at the ceremony held at Janmashtami Park in Punjabi Bagh of the national capital. "Families of the brides and grooms were treated with warmth as the marriages were performed with pomp and gaiety. Necessary household items were also distributed among the predestined brides and bridegrooms at the time of 'kanyadaan'," the organisation said in a release. "The mass wedding ceremony is an endeavour from our side to elevate these individuals to become fully-functioning members of the society," it said, adding: "Disability shouldn't inhibit one in any aspect, be it professional or personal sphere." Jaipur, Jan 22 : Napoleon's life and career disapproves the Leftist challenge to the "Great Man" theory of history, for he not only influenced the course of European history but also of faraway India, where it was his talk of alliance with Tipu Sultan, that ensured a virtual death sentence for the Mysore ruler from the British colonial rulers, says a leading British historian. 'It was his letters to Tipu Sultan proposing an alliance that got Tipu into trouble.. were a veritable death sentence for him," Andrew Roberts said at a session titled "Napoleon the Great" at the.penultimate day of the Jaipur Literature Festival 2017 on Sunday "This was despite no way that Napoleon, who was then in Egypt, could have marched on to India. He didn't have the requisite military strength, there were two major deserts on the way, and the British were too powerful. Nevertheless, it meant the end of Tipu and he was finally eliminated after the Battle of Seringapatnam in 1798," said Roberts, who has written an exhaustive biography of the French Emperor. Noting it is a rare historical figure whose legacy prevails despite his defeat and banishment from his homeland and his subsequent vilification by the victors, he said the influence on Napoleon still survives not only in France but the countries he conquered. "In France itself, the laws (Code Napoleon), the central bank, the education system, Paris itself, the Legion of Honour, the concept of meritocracy are among his enduring legacies," said Roberts, terming Napoleon "a liberal imperialist" and an "Enlightener on Horseback" for how most of his achievements came by force of arms following his military successes. In the biography, Roberts said he also sought to debunk many myths about Napoleon, including that he was a war-monger, the sobriquet "Little Corporal" that has stuck to him, and consequently the theory of "Napoleon complex" implying overly-aggressive behaviour among short-statured people as a sort of a compensation for the drawbacks of their physical aspect. "Napoleon only initiated two wars - the Peninsular War (in Spain and Portugal) 1808-14 and the attack on Russia (1812), though both proved disastrous for him," he said, adding all the rest of the wars he fought were in response to attacks by other European powers who detested him for his revolutionary and liberal ideas and want to oust him. "It is fascinating that after winning his wars, it was Napoleon who sought to make peace with his enemies," he observed. And about Napoleon's height, he said the French Emperor was not short, which is a perception encouraged by British caricaturists of the time, but was stood five foot, six inches - the average height for a Frenchman of that period. "I know this because once filming a documentary on St Helena (a lonely island in the South Atlantic where Napoleon was exiled after his defeat at Waterloo and spent his last six years), I, after the cameras had stopped rolling, lay down on his deathbed. I am five-six and it was a perfect fit." (Vikas Datta can be contacted at vikas.d@Ians.in) Hyderabad, Jan 22 : Prakash Ambedkar on Sunday dared the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government to do away with the reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The grandson of architect of the Indian Constitution B.R. Ambedkar alleged that the BJP-led NDA government is trying to create division in the society. Addressing a public meeting on the rights of Dalits, he was reacting to the remarks made by a senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader calling for a review of the reservation policy. "They are in power and have majority in Parliament. They can do away with the reservations. I challenge them to do it," said Prakash Ambedkar, who heads Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM). He said by making statements calling for removing reservations, those in power want to create rift in the society. RSS publicity chief Manmohan Vaidya had on Friday said that even B.R. Ambedkar was not in favour of perpetual continuance of reservations, and called for a review of the reservation policy. Prakash Ambedkar alleged that demonetisation was aimed at targeting the poor, Dalits, tribals, minorities and other oppressed sections of the society, as they alone can fight "Manuwad". He pointed out that the move affected only the poor. He said the government looted the poor to fill the coffers of the rich. While the poor and other oppressed sections of the society may be bankrupt and hungry, they have the biggest asset of freedom, equal rights and brotherhood given by B.R. Ambedkar, he added. CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechuri voiced concern over increasing atrocities on Dalits in the country. He alleged that the BJP-led government was officially patronising caste oppression. Stating that the BJP is a political arm of the RSS, he said the RSS leader made the statement on reservations to unite upper castes in Uttar Pradesh and garner their votes. He pointed out that the RSS had made similar statements before the Bihar assembly elections. CPI General Secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy said the attacks on Dalits had increased after the BJP came to power at the Centre. He said the government was suppressing the facts about the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula of the Hyderabad Central University. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Selects Ex Libris Alma Resource Management Service Ex Libris, a ProQuest company, is pleased to announce the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has selected the Alma library management service. CHICAGO, IL, January 22, 2017 Ex Libris, a ProQuest company, is pleased to announce that the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) has selected the Ex Libris Alma library management service to streamline both complex and basic workflows. The selection of Alma was based on the universitys need for an intuitive platform that will be fully integrated with library workflows and will provide better management of the e-resource life cycle. In addition, UTC anticipates leveraging Alma analytics to gather data throughout the library system and produce meaningful reports that will drive collection development decisions and strategic planning. The university also intends to participate in the Ex Libris Community Zone, taking full advantage of the expertise of Alma customers worldwide. Theresa Liedtka, Dean, UTC Library, explained, We are impressed by Alma as a service and Ex Libris as a company. The knowledgeable, dedicated customer support teams, the active Alma user group, and the Companys continuous investment in the development and improvement of the system all contribute to our confidence in partnering with Ex Libris. We are looking forward to getting underway and introducing our campus colleagues to Alma. The possibility of connecting with other Alma libraries in Tennessee for resource sharing is truly exciting. We are pleased to see another Tennessee university join the Alma community, commented Eric Hines, president of Ex Libris North America. UT Chattanooga is a trailblazer in library services, and now the entire Alma community will be able to benefit from the enhanced possibilities of sharing resources and knowledge with UTC. About the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is a public university that was founded in 1886 and later became part of the University of Tennessee system. UTC, considered a national model for metropolitan universities, offers over 140 undergraduate majors and concentrations and nearly 100 graduate programs, including nationally ranked business engineering and nursing programs. The new UTC Library, completed just two years ago, offers a rich collection of research materials and scholarly support materials, including the Fellowship of Southern Writers archives. Visit the UT-Chattanooga website at http://www.utc.edu/. About Ex Libris Ex Libris, a ProQuest company, is a leading global provider of cloud-based solutions for higher education. Offering SaaS solutions for the management and discovery of the full spectrum of library and scholarly materials, as well as mobile campus solutions driving student engagement and success, Ex Libris serves thousands of customers in 90 countries. For more information about Ex Libris, see our website, and join us on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter. About ProQuest (http://www.proquest.com) ProQuest connects people with vetted, reliable information. Key to serious research, the companys products are a gateway to the worlds knowledge including dissertations, governmental and cultural archives, news, historical collections and ebooks. ProQuest technologies serve users across the critical points in research, helping them discover, access, share, create and manage information. The companys cloud-based technologies offer flexible solutions for librarians, students and researchers through the ProQuest, Bowker, Coutts information services, Dialog, ebrary, EBL, and SIPX businesses and notable research tools such as the Summon discovery service, the RefWorks citation and reference management platform, MyiLibrary ebook platform, the Pivot research development tool and Intota. The company is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with offices around the world. We continue to innovate with the goal of improving outcomes by delivering the best therapy Earlier this month, Mayor Wood and President of the St. Joseph County Chamber of Commerce, Jeff Rhea, joined Lighthouse Autism Center for a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate an exciting new change in ownership for the center. Founders of Lighthouse Autism Center, Gregg and Sandy Maggioli, revealed a new employee stock ownership program where Lighthouse employees will now own a stake in the company they work for. Executive Director, Gregg Maggioli, believes this is a pivotal moment for the organization, and one that will positively impact the employees as well as the families that are served by Lighthouse. We continue to innovate with the goal of improving outcomes by delivering the best therapy. The number one factor in achieving best outcomes for the children we serve is recruiting the best staff. We believe that making every Lighthouse staff member an owner is a game changer by allowing us to hire the very best. While nothing has changed regarding day-to-day operations, there is a fundamental shift in the structure and culture of this organization. Employees will not only share in profits, but will be given ownership of the company they work for at absolutely no cost to them. Gregg and Sandy believe Lighthouse employees are the most important asset of the company and they hope that through this change in ownership, Lighthouse employees will feel that way too. Longtime employee, Senior Program Manager Katie Meyer, began her career as a therapist when Lighthouse opened in 2012. She was promoted to a Senior Therapist and decided to return to school to obtain a Masters Degree in ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) Therapy. She is now a Senior Program Manager who oversees the Plymouth and Warsaw locations and is excited for the change in ownership. I have always felt like the staff and senior leadership of Lighthouse have had my back, and the decision to offer an ESOP confirms that. Investment in the staff shows who Lighthouse places as one of its top priorities: its people. With great people comes great therapy, and at the end of the day, thats why we are here. It is a program that will apply to those like Katie who have been there many years, as well as to people like Hannah DeMara who was celebrated as Lighthouse Autism Centers 100th employee! About Lighthouse Autism Center Lighthouse Autism Center opened in 2012 when Gregg and Sandy Maggioli, parents of a child with autism, sought to bring quality ABA Therapy to children with autism. In just four years, they have opened in four locations, with centers in Plymouth, Warsaw and two centers in Mishawaka. Lighthouse serves over 65 families in the area and continues to seek opportunities to bring its mission of quality ABA therapy to communities in Northern Indiana. To learn more, visit http://www.lighthouseautismcenter.com or call 574-387-4313. Established as an organic, artisan-quality maple syrup brand, Crown Maple is pushing the boundaries of the pure maple syrup categories, unveiling three new flavor infused products at the 2017 Winter Fancy Food Show. From January 22-24 at San Franciscos Moscone Center, Booth #511, the brand will showcase a line of small-batch, limited edition syrups -- available in Vanilla, Cinnamon, and Smoked flavors -- created from Crown Maples popular Dark Color Syrup. Each new product offers a distinctive, delicious flavor profile and high-quality craftsmanship to naturally sweeten dishes far beyond the pancake platter, including baked goods, grilling marinades, and even cocktails. The Vanilla Syrup (SRP$ 19.95) is infused with Madagascan Vanilla Beans for a rich, dark, and creamy syrup with a perfectly sweet, buttery aroma. Crown Maple suggests adding a splash in coffee, tea, oatmeal, and baked goods to give everyday food a surprisingly sweet hint of vanilla. The cinnamon sticks used to infuse the Cinnamon Syrup (SRP$ 19.95) are made from long pieces of bark that are rolled, pressed, and dried to create an intriguing and comforting flavor, while elevating everyday foods such as yogurt, ciders, and ice cream. Crown Maples Smoked Syrup (SRP$ 19.95) is slowly smoked at low temperatures over 100 percent natural apple wood, creating a delicate and sweet smoky flavor. This enticing infused syrup is suggested for grilling marinades, sauces, ciders, and mixology. Im thrilled to unveil Crown Maples flavor infused syrups, said Mike Cobb, CEO of Crown Maple. The processes and flavor innovation happening at Crown Maple allows consumers to enjoy maple syrup in newer and more innovative ways than ever before, and our team is committed to creating a product that inspires you in the kitchen and excites your tastebuds. We believe this new line builds on that promise and offers maple lovers and newbies alike the opportunity to explore the culinary and beverage possibilities of maple. Crown Maples line of small-batch, limited release flavor infused syrups is currently available at the retail shop at the Crown Maple Estate in Dover Plains, NY, and will be available for purchase at additional retail outlets and online in Fall 2017. To learn more about Crown Maple, stop by Booth #511 at the Winter Fancy Food Show or visit http://www.CrownMaple.com. About Crown Maple Crown Maple is Quite Possibly the Purest Maple Syrup on Earth and sets a new standard of excellence for maple. Founded by Robb & Lydia Turner in 2010, Crown Maple has been carefully crafted from the ground up to become the preeminent maple syrup brand. By pairing the best nature has to offer with artisan craftsmanship and breakthrough proprietary production technology, Crown Maple creates an extraordinary maple experience. Crown Maple products are estate-produced, certified-organic and provide a superior and distinctive taste and performance that elevates Crown Maple beyond a sweetener and into a defining ingredient. The Crown Maple estate is based in New Yorks Hudson Valley at Madava Farms, the Turner familys farm, and has quickly become New Yorks largest maple syrup producer. With availability from coast-to-coast, Crown Maple is the syrup of choice served at top restaurants, resorts, and culinary institutions and is available for purchase at national grocery stores, natural retailers, specialty stores, and foodservice distributors. Crown Maple products can also be purchased online at http://www.CrownMaple.com. Having a private tutor as a permanent member of a super-yacht crew could become an essential selling point for those looking to charter a vessel for extended periods. Recent coverage in The Times [1] and the Mail Online [2] describes how an increasing number of wealthy families are turning to the specialist private tutoring company to add an educational angle to family yachting trips, and how a private tutor could potentially become an essential role in any yacht crew. Adam Caller, founder of Sea Tutors, commented: "This surge in interest is no surprise, now that more families realise that they can take extended travelling breaks with their children with the blessing of headteachers. The tutors we recruit for our clients work closely with the child's school, and are often at sea for entire semesters, meaning that such long periods of family travel no longer run the risk of being detrimental to a child's academic progress, and can actually enhance their learning experience. In many cases, time away at sea with an experienced one to one tutor can be just the ticket to refresh and inspire a child's interest in academia by allowing them to experience new environments and explore the world." Having a private tutor as a permanent member of a super-yacht crew could become an essential selling point for those looking to charter a vessel for extended periods. Mr Caller added: "Just as some yachts boast a world-class chef, or an on-board cinema room, having a private tutor as a permanent member of a charter yacht crew should be seen as a huge bonus for families, adding educational enrichment and a unique learning opportunity to the mix." Sea Tutors is a sister company of Tutors International, which has built a global reputation on their thorough approach to matching private tutors with families in a variety of situations and circumstances. In addition to this already rigorous due diligence process, Sea Tutors also seeks to source tutors who have first-hand experience with life at sea, and the ability integrate seamlessly with both family and crew. For more information and advice about private tutoring at sea, wherever you are in the world, visit seatutors.com. END References [1] Tutors go to sea for big money and adventure (but it's not all plain sailing) http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tutors-go-to-sea-for-big-money-and-adventure-but-it-s-not-plain-sailing-2t8fhjz5d Nicola Woolcock. The Times. 19 December 2016 [2] Teachers turn their backs on the blackboard jungle for life on the ocean wave, tutoring children of the super-rich on megayachts http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4047814/Teachers-turn-backs-blackboard-jungle-life-ocean-wave-tutoring-children-super-rich-megayachts.html Alexander Robertson. Mail Online. 19 December 2016 About Tutors International Tutors International is a worldwide organization providing experienced private tutors to work with children of all ages and nationalities. Tutors are available for full-time tutoring positions, for major support and tutoring outside school hours, or for home-schooling. Tutors International provide a bespoke service to find the right tutor that suits the child's needs and aspirations, and if a live-in tutor is required, it is essential that the assigned tutor is the right match for the family and fits in the environment. Tutors International was founded by Adam Caller who has tutored students of all ages. He has received specialist training in dyslexia and Attention Deficit Disorder and is very sensitive to children's educational difficulties. He has now turned this expertise to recruiting, training and placing other tutors to help families. Sera-Brynn, LLC, a top-ranked cybersecurity firm, stated today there is a rapid increase in requests for cybersecurity services from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) contractor community. Increased demand for cybersecurity services drove Sera-Brynns 91 percent compound annual growth rate in 2016. Sera-Brynn attributes the spike in demand to two things the widely-recognized increase in the volume of cyber-attacks against Defense-related organizations and businesses, and the mandatory security requirements imposed on contractors by the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS). We see firsthand many alarming instances of DoD contractors experiencing debilitating network breaches, stated Patrick McLaughlin, Director of Business Development for Sera-Brynn. And this has led to loss of government and personally identifiable information, in addition to having to pay ransoms to regain business continuity, he added. Governmentimposed mandatory compliance deadlines also played a role in Sera-Brynns growth rate. The DFARS cybersecurity clause 252.204-7012, which imposes security and reporting requirements on DoD contractors and subcontractors, must be fully implemented by December 31, 2017. Failure to do so may result in administrative, contractual, civil, and criminal remedies. The DFARS clause also mandates that cyber-attacks involving covered defense information (known as CDI), information that often resides on contractor networks, must be reported to the DoD within 72 hour of discovery. DFARS regulatory compliance is coming like a freight train, stated Rob Hegedus, co-founder and CEO of Sera-Brynn. DFARS compliance is unavoidable. About Sera-Brynn: Sera-Brynn is a leading cybersecurity audit and advisory firm. The Virginia-based company offers threat management, compliance and risk assessment, risk control, and incident response services that enable clients to secure their computing environments and meet applicable and mandatory cybersecurity regulatory standards. This technical expertise is the backbone of their DFARS compliance services. Founded in 2011 by former members of the U.S. intelligence community, Sera-Brynn is ranked #10 worldwide on the Cybersecurity 500 list. http://www.sera-brynn.com. CAMBRIDGE At least 100 residents of the Cambridge school district attended a presentation at the high school Saturday to learn more about the April 4 vote on consolidation with AlWood. Presenter and teacher Dawn Lewis explained the district is down to a skeleton crew and looking at a referendum on higher taxes anyway without improved education in just a few years. Consolidation could bring the possibility of 27 new core subject classes and 16 new vocational classes for the combined district. Concerns were expressed about busing. Ms. Lewis said it shouldn't be an obstacle. I do not foresee any child riding a bus for more than an hour. For better opportunities I'm willing to put my kid on a bus, she said. It was asked how the new district would be able to provide so many new courses considering they have thinned the ranks of teachers; Ms. Lewis noted the staffs would essentially be doubled. Teacher Charlie Brown noted the consolidation between Alpha and Woodhull was successful despite the fact the two schools had been bitter rivals. It was noted today's districts had already done the difficult part by combining sports. One man asked whether another need for consolidation would surface in five to seven years. It was stated the Alpha-Woodhull merger has lasted for decades and they don't foresee another consolidation. It was also noted if it did happen that another consolidation was necessary, the combined district, being larger, would be in a better position to merge and possibly retain schools. Board member Chad Humphrey answered a question whether it had been considered to simply have an education referendum within Cambridge. Yes, he said, but it won't increase the opportunities for our students. School taxes could rise as much as $266.66 on a home with a market value of $100,000 following consolidation with AlWood, but they aren't likely to do so. Instead, if the districts vote to combine, Superintendent Tom Akers projects a likely total tax rate increase in Cambridge from $5.19 to $5.29, making taxes on a home with a market value of $100,000 rise by $33.34. Ms. Lewis talked about a $30 to $50 increase per year. You're adding curriculum in education for your child or for the community, she said. I think it's worth it. If this doesn't pass, three to five years down the road in my eyes Cambridge residents are going to have a tax referendum, and you don't have the added curriculum, she added. The consolidation petition calls for a maximum tax rate in the education fund of $3.80 per $100 assessed valuation. Cambridge's current ed fund rate is $3.00, while AlWood's is $3.45. It would be up to the newly elected school board next December where to set the total tax levy and thus the tax rate for 2017 taxes payable in 2018. Mr. Akers said it's unlikely the new board would go high because levying the maximum would give the new district nowhere to go in the event of future need and also put an unnecessary burden on taxpayers. Candidates for the combined board are, from Cambridge, Lance Edmund, Chad Humphrey, Kim Moriarity, Blake Reed, Dianne Jeffries, Candy Snook and Angela Casteel; and, from AlWood, David Althaus, Melissa Brown, Mary Link, Kelli Hand and Scott Francis. If approved, consolidation would go into effect for the 2018-19 school year. When Barack Obama was elected president of the United States, I was wary of his associations, economic notions, views on foreign policy and disarmament. At the same time, I was enthusiastic that a black American who had come from a home without a father, who had lived in Indonesia, and who had experimented with marijuana and cocaine, could overcome those disadvantages. I was enthusiastic because Barack Obama had succeeded at Harvard, gotten his law license, gotten himself elected to the Illinois state Legislature, then to the U.S. Senate and ultimately to the highest position of trust and confidence in the land -- the U.S. presidency. Someone may have helped him along the way. But he still earned his own success. I felt the most important message of the 2008 election was that "the doors were open" to any person in the United States -- regardless of religion, color or humble beginnings -- to become president. His success proved that work paid off. If Obama, a minority, who had formerly messed with illegal drugs could become president, then any child from a broken home messing with drugs in Chicago or LA, could do the same thing -- if he set his mind to it! Mr. Obama's election dispelled the myth that most of white America still wanted to keep black America down. (In 2010, 72.4 percent of Americans were white; 12.6 percent were black.) Without a great many white votes, Mr. Obama could not have been elected president. Mr. Obama's election strongly suggested to me that Martin Luther King's dream of an America living up to the promises of the Declaration of Independence was inexorably coming true: "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'" Former President Obama's election and MLK's speech inspired me to write a play, which I called "Mornings After the Dream." The heroine is "Ethel," a black mother whose husband had been shot to death while perpetrating a liquor store robbery. Ethel was inspired by one of my favorite bailiffs down at the courthouse. All "facts" of my play came from my imagination -- except those pertaining to Ethel's character. My Ethel is a woman widely respected in her church and her community. She is raising Terry, a surly, disrespectful teenage son, a school dropout, who has gone into the "businesses" of theft and dealing cannabis. Terry blames the police for his father's death. Ethel doesn't. "It was all caught on a security camera. Your dad came out of the liquor store. ... [He] saw the officer, shot at him twice, and missed. ... The police officer returned fire. The camera showed it all. I must have watched it 20 times. ... You watched it, too, but you sees things that arent there, and which arent ever going to be there." My Ethel, however, is a realist: "I realize there are still racists out there. But I also know millions of white Americans put race behind them and voted for President Obama ... Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream, President Obama had a dream. Why can't you share in their dream? ... If the white folk didn't work together to stop Barack Obama from getting to the White House, why should they waste their time messing with your?" If President Obama has moved us closer to Rev. King's dream, then despite any other shortcomings, he will go down as a successful president. A leading politician set out some interesting views on trade last week. No, it was not U.S. President Donald Trump. Rather, it was United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May. In two speeches, May began to lay out how the U.K. would go about extracting itself from the European Union given the Brexit vote this past June. The most interesting aspects of Mays comments, though, had to do with her vision for a global U.K. That is, the opportunity that Brexit gives Great Britain to advance free trade. Mays take is rather delightfully counterintuitive to the assumptions or assertions being batted around over the past seven months about what Brexit means. The prime minister offered a straightforward take on what drove the Brexit vote: It was simply a vote to restore, as we see it, our parliamentary democracy and national self-determination. A vote to take control and make decisions for ourselves. And crucially to become even more global and internationalist in action and in spirit too. She made clear that expanding free trade is very much central to British decision-making and self-determination. May not only wants to establish a free trade agreement with the E.U., but also accords with assorted other nations. And unshackled from the E.U., she can make that happen. As May put it, So at the heart of the plan I set out earlier this week, is a determination to pursue a bold and ambitious Free Trade Agreement between the UK and the European Union. But, more than that, we seek the freedom to strike new trade deals with old friends and new allies right around the world as well. She went on to name names: I am pleased that we have already started discussions on future trade ties with countries like Australia, New Zealand and India. While countries including China, Brazil, and the Gulf States have already expressed their interest in striking trade deals with us. May also prominently mentioned a free trade agreement with the United States. Interestingly, President Trump, who has been hostile to most trade matters, apparently has responded favorably to this overture. Breaking away from the E.U. also should serve U.K. global competitiveness well by being cut loose from assorted regulatory costs imposed via the European Commission. This ties in with other positives for Britain in international markets, including a recent reduction in the top corporate income tax rate from 28 percent to 20 percent. Also, as noted in the Heritage Foundations 2016 Index of Economic Freedom, the U.K. provides strong foundations in key areas that are critical for international trade and investment. For example, its reported: The rule of law is well established within an independent legal framework. Private property rights and contracts are very secure, and the court system is efficient. Protection of intellectual property rights is effective. Also: The efficient and transparent regulatory framework encourages entrepreneurship. With no minimum capital required, it takes less than a week to establish a business. The labor market is relatively flexible. In fact, the U.K. ranks number 10 among 178 nations in terms of economic freedom by the way, coming in one slot ahead of the U.S. Of course, at the same time, work is needed to reduce government spending government grabbed 43.2 percent of GDP in 2015 and cutting personal income tax, with a top rate of 50 percent. If Mays government can make significant headway on these fronts, along with a few others, there will be considerable benefits to be reaped in terms of faster domestic economic growth and enhanced international competitiveness. May noted the benefits of free trade, while also pointing out that they are currently at risk: The forces of liberalism, free-trade and globalization that have had and continue to have such an overwhelmingly positive impact on our world, that have harnessed unprecedented levels of wealth and opportunity, that have lifted millions out of poverty around the world, that have brought nations closer together, broken down barriers and improved standards of living and consumer choice, forces that underpin the rules-based international system that is key to our global prosperity and security, are somehow at risk of being undermined. In the United States, the benefits of free trade were placed at risk during much of President Barack Obamas eight years, as he bowed to anti-trade pressures from labor unions and environmentalists. Now, free trade is in serious question due to President Trumps misguided populist proclamations. So, perhaps we are returning to a time when the small island nation of the United Kingdom once again must lead the global economy in defending and advancing free trade. If the U.K. truly picks up the mantle of trade leadership, it will reap great rewards. News Story not available This story has been published on: 2022-11-05. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. This story is no longer available on our site. In the week after his inauguration, President Trump will have an unusual opportunity to put his new diplomatic designs to the test in, of all places, Astana, the remote capital of Kazakhstan. If this sounds like a Borat joke, it isn't. Astana is where Russia is convening a deadly serious new round of Syrian peace talks, to which it ostentatiously invited the incoming administration. The Trump team has not yet publicly responded to this invitation, but it should seize the chance to work with Russia and others on the intractable Syria problem, in a way that long eluded the Obama team. If the Astana conference is too soon for serious input from Washington, a follow-up, UN-sponsored February 8 meeting in Geneva will provide a perfect second chance. There is nothing new, or necessarily bad, about trying to work with Russia on Syria. President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry tried that for the past four years. They failed, with the limited exception of the 2013 deal to rid the Assad regime of most (though not all) of its chemical weapons. For President Trump to renew this effort would make eminent good sense -- provided that this time it offers a realistic prospect of achieving positive American objectives, rather than simply buying time for the negative Russian one of keeping Assad in power at any price (see "Trump and the Middle East: Between Hope and Apprehension," Fikra Forum). That prospect exists if new realties on the ground, and new diplomatic approaches, are properly exploited. There is reason to believe that Trump intends to do exactly that, based on a careful reading of his enigmatic January 16 interview in the Times of London and Germany's Bild newspaper. There, he proposed a deal on Russia sanctions in which "a lot of people are gonna benefit." He mentioned that nuclear arms reductions would be "a part of it," but also referred to the "terrible humanitarian situation" in Syria. Alleviating this humanitarian catastrophe should be the first objective of a new U.S. approach. And that means going to Astana with three clear, urgent priorities: shoring up the promising but still shaky Syrian ceasefire; ensuring better, more impartial delivery of emergency humanitarian relief; and insisting on protection for the remaining areas held by the relatively moderate opposition, primarily in the northern province of Idlib and the southern province of Deraa. This would prevent those areas from becoming, in the words of one senior Western humanitarian aid official, "the great new killing fields of the region" -- and precipitating a new, uncontrollable flood of desperate refugees into Jordan, Turkey, Europe, and perhaps beyond. The second U.S. objective should be to coordinate a faster but more precise offensive against Islamic State and al-Qaeda terrorists inside Syria. This could mean much more than just an isolated Russian airstrike. Rather, it could include an agreement to deconflict all forces arrayed against these designated terrorist groups: not just Americans and Russians, but also regime and Free Syrian Army rebel units, Turkish and Kurdish forces, and more. That, in turn, could facilitate two major U.S. objectives: liberating the Islamic State's self-declared capital in Raqqa sooner rather than later, and preempting direct clashes between Washington's Kurdish and Turkish friends, at least on Syrian soil. A third, longer-term objective in Astana should be to at least begin the process of distinguishing legitimate actors and interests in Syria from Iranian, Hezbollah, and other foreign sectarian militias there (see "Preventing the Radicalization of Syria," Fikra Forum). The United States should urge conference participants to demand the eventual withdrawal of the latter actors, perhaps keeping open an option for international peacekeepers by common consent. Even if such a declaration has no immediate practical effect, it would help reassure American friends inside Syria and beyond, and possibly set the stage for future steps to separate Russian and regime interests from those of Iran and its dangerous proxies. Why would Russia accept any of this? For one thing, Trump is prepared to offer the sweetener of selective sanctions relief. Crucially, though, he wouldn't need to offer very much, because Russia has additional reasons to compromise. First, this deal would defer action against the Assad regime -- which is too weak to retake control of the whole country without outside military support anyway. Second, Russia really does want to rid Syria of terrorists, which it sees as a threat to its own security. And third, a realistic compromise on Syria would serve Moscow's ability to balance among rival regional players: Sunnis and Shiites, Turks and Kurds, even Arabs and Israelis. Notably, some Arab players on opposite sides of the war are newly aware of this last important point. On January 9, the pro-regime Syrian daily al-Watan published on op-ed with the sensational headline "Are Iran and Russia Really Selling Syria to Turkey?" -- before concluding with the sensible observation that Moscow "knows it must have a relationship not only with its allies but also with its adversaries." Four days later, the independent Jordanian daily al-Ghad put the case more bluntly: Russia, it opined, now wants "to change its image as the superpower that stood against the Sunnis." Coming full circle, the Astana venue and participants symbolize this new combination of Russian confidence and potential concessions. Kazakhstan is a pro-Russian but Turkic-majority country, and a predominantly Muslim one that nevertheless just hosted an official visit by none other than Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu. And the conference will include Iranians, Arabs, Turks, and even a few Kurds, who all continue to voice disparate views on Syria, plus the Assad regime and much of the mainstream opposition, which just rescinded a boycott warning. And this time, unlike the earlier, equally diverse Geneva conferences on Syria, the United States may come with a realistic proposal that could bring Russia on board. If the Trump administration manages to eke out greater success in this key arena, it should be applauded by all Americans, regardless of political affiliation. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale Buy real estate. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale in US and Canada. Search Real Estate , We're sorry, this article is not currently available For every craft beer sipped on during the melodious performance by local artist Jake Decker at Southern Brewing Company last night, Athens will see a step toward greater social justice change. Inauguration Day marks the first day of Donald Trump's presidency. While the official ceremony begins at 12 p.m. in Washington D.C., events in Athens will take place well into the night. Here is a look into a few of the events. The Indigo Child, a new boutique on Clayton Street, sells a mixture of home goods as well as a variety of clothing options for both men and women. At the event, Mulayam Singh Yadav also ridiculed his political opponents, saying, Some parties are there who have nothing to do. Ruling Samajwadi Party on Sunday released its manifesto for Uttar Pradesh assembly elections promising a bunch of schemes for all round development of the state at a function which SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav and his brother Shivpal gave a miss. With an eye on development, Akhilesh riding on the crest of kaam bolta hai (work speaks) slogan, announced schemes which prioritise development of the state. The manifesto announced distribution of laptops, Kanya Vidya Dhan, Samajwadi Pension, laying of Purvanchal Expressway, and establishing Janeshwar Mishra model villages besides improving helplines for police and women. He said the model villages in the name of Janeshwar Mishra would be a tribute to the Samajwadi leader on his death anniversary on Sunday. The chief minister, in his new role as the Samajwadi Party national president, directed all candidates to prepare a road map for development of their respective assembly constituencies. A highlight of the manifesto was Samajwadi Kisan Kosh for farmers to purchase seeds and fertilisers, perhaps to match the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Bima Yojana. As Mulayam and Shivpal, the warring uncle of Akhilesh, were conspicuous by their absence, senior SP leader Azam Khan rushed to the SP patriarchs bungalow to bring him to the event. But even then Mulayam did not grace the occasion where senior party leaders and Dimple Yadav, MP and wife of the chief minister were present. In an impassioned appeal to the electorate to vote SP back to power, Akhilesh said, We got support on 2012 manifesto, we also fulfilled promises made in it. The manifesto is a sankalp (promise) to form future government. Its clear that we all want to form Samajwadi Party government. If you work for 5 years, you will get government of five years, he said. The chief minister asked party workers to go to the masses and make them aware of the schemes implemented by his government during the past five years. A lot of work has been done in a big way. We have to work more in future. I tried for the past five years not to leave path of socialism and also ensure balanced development to improve rural economics, he said. Akhilesh also ridiculed his political opponents, saying, Some parties are there who have nothing to do. He slammed BJP for its Lok Sabha poll promises and asked what happed to its sab ka saath, sab ka vikas slogan. People are desperately looking for those who had promised achche din, he said. In a veiled attack on Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi, he said the Bharatiya Janata Party has nothing to speak on development. They sometimes give you jhadu (broom) or ask you to perform yoga, he said. Taking on the Bahujan Samaj Party, he claimed that the Patthar Wali Sarkar has done nothing for UP except erecting stone statues of elephants, its poll symbol. If BSP comes to power, its government will install bigger elephant statues, he alleged. The 32-page SP manifesto promises 24 hour power supply to villages and effective dial 100 so that police reaches within 10-15 minutes. In days to come, the government will move one step forward and ensure better connect with people. Samajwadi smartphone scheme is one effort, Akhilesh said, adding that already 1.40 crore registrations have been made for the same. He said Samajawdi Party pension will benefit one crore people and Rs 1000 pension would be given to each one of them. With an eye on the rural areas, he announced welfare schemes for labourers and added that poor women will be given pressure cookers. The manifesto promised setting up of hostels for working women, mid-day meal for farm workers, free medical treatment to the poor and an end to inspector raj. It promised expansion of metro rail in Kanpur, Agra and Meerut. It also promised air ambulance at Lucknow, ambulance for animals, free treatment to those with Rs 1.5 lakh annual income and one litre ghee a month to improve the health of malnourished children. Akhilesh exuded confidence that his party will sweep 300 of the 403 seats, up from 224 it had won in 2017. Referring to his dream project, Lucknow-Agra expressway, he said it has reduced the travel time considerably. Those who have travelled know it the best, he said. If given chance, it (expressway) will reach Ghazipur and Ballia, he said. The SP manifesto also promised setting up of mandi (market) and skill development centres in rural areas to give a boost to the states economy. He said while SP was anxious for the state's development, BSP was preoccupied with bigger statues of elephants to surpass the huge statue of Janeshwar Mishra here or Shivaji statue in Maharashtra. In an apparent reference to the ups and downs in the state politics, he turned philosophical and said, "Hame jaise jaise din dekhe the dekh liye, bahut kam samay mein...acche bure kharab sab dekh liye... "Please tell me what is achche din...what is your definition of achche din...many times attempts were made to vitiate the atmosphere in the state...trust me again and let us form government. Balanced development will be carried forward...," he said. Party vice president Kironmay Nanda said this assembly election is crucial and SP will form government for the second time. "There is no alternative to SP. In 2012, the state was backward and election was fought on the face of 'netaji' (Mulayam). We implemented all the schemes promised by us. UP will become Uttam Pradesh in our next regime," Nanda said. New slogans like "Jiska UP, Uska Desh; Bachcha Bachcha Akhilesh" (Country belongs to that party which rules UP, it is Akhilesh all over). Akhilesh's wife Dimple attended the manifesto release function for the first time and posed with him donning the bright red SP cap. Image: Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple Yadav at the release of the partys manifesto for the upcoming assembly polls at the partys headquarters in Lucknow. Photograph: Pawan Kumar/Reuters Two persons were killed and scores injured during Jallikattu held on Sunday in the shadow of widespread protests as an ordinance failed to end the six-day-long agitation with Chief Minister O Panneerselvam forced to make a retreat without inaugurating the main event at Alanganallur following demand for a permanent resolution. A protester, 48-year-old Chandramohan from Jaihindpuram, also died due to dehydration in Madurai city when he was taking part in a demonstration along with students and youths. IMAGE: Protesters protesters declined to hold the sport by blocking the entry and exit points of the sprawling sporting arena at Alanganallur. Photograph: R Senthil Kumar/PTI Photo The traditional sport, which was banned by the Supreme Court, was organised in several parts of the state, including Rapoosal in Pudukottai district following promulgation of the ordinance on Saturday. Police said two persons were killed and 28 injured when they were gored by a bull during Jallikattu at Rapoosal in which several bulls were used and many sportsmen participated. Protesters at Alanganallur in Madurai, however, refused to conduct the sport, steadfast in their demand for a permanent solution to ensure unhindered annual conduct of the sport. Panneerselvam, who had announced that he would inaugurate Jallikattu at Alanganallur, had to stay back in a hotel in Madurai following the stir. Later, he was expected to inaugurate Jallikattu at Natham Kovilpatti in Dindigul. However, there were protests there too, raising the same demand. Groups of agitators continued their protests at several locations also in the state, raising the same demand. At Marina beach, epicentre of the stir for the last six days, protesters continued to stay put demanding a permanent solution for holding the sport besides a ban on animal rights group PeTA. Speaking to reporters at Madurai before leaving for Chennai, Panneerselvam said, The ban on Jallikattu has been removed completely, the sport will be held at Alanganallur, on a date decided by local people. He said Jallikattu was held in all parts of Tamil Nadu with the local administration and police taking all stipulated measures. IMAGE: Demonstrators hold signs during a protest to demand a permanent solution to the Jallikattu row. Photograph: Shailesh Andrade/Reuters With protesters demanding a permanent solution for holding the sport and raising slogans that ordinance was only a temporary measure, Panneerselvam said, The states Jallikattu ordinance route is permanent, robust and sustainable, will be made into a law in the coming assembly session. Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government has filed a caveat in the Supreme anticipating challenge to its ordinance allowing Jallikattu in the state. Following unrelenting protests, Dravida Munnetra Kazagham and other Opposition parties urged the Centre to take steps for conducting the sport annually without any hindrance. DMK working president M K Stalin urged the chief minister to hold talks with protesters and stop insisting that the ordinance route will yield permanent results. Despite its safeguards, an ordinance that does not enjoy the confidence of people will not yield any practical results. Therefore, the chief minister should stop insisting that the ordinance route is permanent and talk to the protesting youths and explain to them the state governments efforts for a permanent solution to the matter and pacify them, he said. Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan urged the protesters to withdraw their agitation across the state, including on the Marina Beach. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had explained the legal situation in this regard but fully backed the states efforts to hold the bull taming sport. IMAGE: Protesters also demanded a ban on PeTA at Kamarajar Salai, Marina Beach in Chennai. Photograph: R Senthil Kumar/PTI Photo Meanwhile, animal rights group PeTA faced more flak over its opposition to Jallikattu. After top Tamil film actors Suriya and Vijay, veteran star Kamal Haasan on Sunday slammed the NGO. PeTA go ban bull riding rodeos in Mr Trumps US. Youre not qualified to tackle our bulls, he said in a tweet. Haasan, who had on Saturday heaped encomiums on students for the ongoing protests, also said that people at long last are getting a taste of true democracy. People at long last are getting a taste of true democracy. Gone are the days of leaders. We need humble pathfinders & social reformers, he said without elaborating. Suriya and Vijay have supported the protest by the students and lashed out at PeTA for opposing the bull taming sport. As pro-Jallikattu protests continued, many inter and intra-state trains were cancelled fully or partially as has been the case for the past three days. At Thanjavur, students held placards and staged protests between the railway station and old bus-stand area. Some students continued their protest for the sixth day in front of the Thanjavur head post office. Some 500 youths reportedly picketed a passenger train from Mayiladuthurai to Tirunelvelli at Kumbakonam as part of the protest. Manjuvirattu (a variety of jallikattu) was held at Sevoor and Iruveli in Ramanathapuram and people participated on a large-scale. Capping days of feverish parleys, Congress and Samajwadi Party on Sunday forged an alliance to contest the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls together. At a joint press conference, leaders of the two parties said SP will contest 298 of the 403 seats and Congress the remaining 105. SP and Congress have forged an alliance and will contest UP assembly polls together, SP state president Naresh Uttam told the hurriedly convened media briefing. UP chief Raj Babbar hoped the SP-Congress alliance will reap a bumper electoral harvest in the state and fulfil aspirations of all sections of the society. He said a Common Minimum Programme will be drafted within a week. Talks between top Congress and SP leaders had been going on for the last several days for but an announcement got delayed as the two parties refused to scale down their demand for the number of seats each would contest. Sources said the alliance materialised after Congress president Sonia Gandhi intervened. They said top leaders of both the parties finalised the seat sharing arrangement around wee hours on Sunday. Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel had earlier tweeted: Discussion was at highest level- CM (UP), GS I/C & Priyanka Gandhi. Prospects of forming of an alliance between Samajwadi Party and Congress for the Uttar Pradesh polls had run into rough weather, with both parties hardening their stance over the number of seats. At one stage senior SP leader Naresh Agarwal had said the possibility of an alliance was almost over and blamed the stubborn attitude of Congress for the deadlock. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had initially offered 100 seats to Congress but they demanded 120. Samajwadi Party then argued that it had 234 sitting legislators and there were some others who would also contest. Thus, the ruling party needed at least 300 of the 403 seats. But, Congress leaders had informed the SP that in such a scenario, there cannot be an alliance. On the other hand, Congresss Central Election Committee met in Delhi and went ahead with finalising candidates for 140 seats which will go to polls in the first two phases. The party, however, did not declare its candidates for these seats, leaving a window for a possible alliance for which talks were held till wee hours of Sunday. We had a meeting of CEC for the first and second phase, Congress general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad had told reporters in Delhi on Saturday, adding the partys candidates for 140 seats were finalised. However, a confident UP Congress chief Raj Babbar had maintained, There are no roadblocks in the talks. Congress was also learnt to have been demanding that its candidates should be fielded in Amethi and Rae Bareli segments of the Lok Sabha constituencies represented by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. It was not immediately known to what extent the SP had accommodated Congresss demand. Congress was also keen to include Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal in the alliance, which the Samajwadi Party did not want. SP had maintained it will have no truck with RLD and, if Congress wanted, it could give its share of seats to Ajit Singhs party. SP vice president Kironmoy Nanda said after the alliance with Congress, We will get an absolute majority in the state and Akhilesh will become chief minister again. In the 2012 assembly polls, SP had won 224 seats with a vote share of 29.3 per cent, while Congress had bagged 28 seats with an 11.7 per cent vote share. A party or alliance which garners 40 per cent of the votes will sweep the polls. Earlier, Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad today tweeted that he was in talks with the Congress and Samajwadi Party for forging an alliance between the two parties in Uttar Pradesh. I have been consistently in talks with Samajwadi Party and Congresss top leadership for stitching an alliance between the two parties in Uttar Pradesh, he said in a tweet. Hoping and doing my best to stitch the Bihar-like alliance, Prasad tweeted. Prasad, who has family ties with Mulayam, had tried in vain to intervene in the battle for partys leadership between the SP patriarch and his Chief Minister son Akhilesh Yadav in the power game in the ruling party. Once Akhilesh finally wrested the SP chiefs post from his father and got its bicycle symbol from the Election Commission, the Prasad family pitched its support to him and promised to campaign for the faction led by the chief minister. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters A look back on all of our reporting of the Delphi murders since 2017 Abdulkafi Alhamdo lived through the months-long siege of rebel-held eastern Aleppo with his wife and baby daughter, Lamar, now 11 months old. An English teacher by profession, the 31-year-old Alhamdo was among a number of civilian activists who used social media to inform the world as his neighborhood was increasingly cut off by the Syrian government offensive, backed by Russian bombing, that finally retook the city in mid-December. He spoke with Mark Krutov from RFE/RL's Russian Service about his flight from eastern Aleppo after surviving an experience he calls worse than "living in hell itself." RFE/RL: The Syrian and Russian governments declared their offensive to retake rebel-held eastern Aleppo complete on December 13. As part of an agreement with the rebel forces, the international humanitarian Red Cross and Red Crescent evacuated hundreds of fighters and civilians who wanted to leave the city and go to other rebel-held areas of the country. You were on one of the buses. What was that like? Abdulkafi Alhamdo: I left Aleppo on the last day of the evacuation, exactly on December 18, but it was one of the most horrible evacuations I could imagine. Just imagine that for 20 hours we were on the buses without water, without food, without going to the toilet. My baby daughter was about to die in the bus, but when I asked the members of the Red Cross and Red Crescent for some water for her, they said it was prohibited. I told them what kind of ridiculous thing is that when all the cluster bombs and phosphorous bombs [that had fallen] upon our heads [during the siege] were not prohibited but water for my daughter is. RFE/RL: What was the reason for the delays? Alhamdo: It was a kind of humiliation by the [President Bashar al-] Assad regime and the Russian forces. When we left the rebel-held neighborhoods of Aleppo and were heading toward the countryside, which is under rebel control, we were stopped in the regime areas for 20 hours on the side of the road without any reason. When we asked members of the Red Cross and Red Crescent why, they told us not to ask any questions if we wanted to save our lives. It's almost as if death is chasing after the people of Aleppo, wherever they are. Some fighters preferred to go with their families in the civilian evacuation [instead of on special buses], and they were treated badly and some of them were killed during the evacuation. All the civilians were evacuated through the western suburbs of Aleppo; some went to Idlib province [under the control of the rebels], some of them went to Turkey. But going to Turkey is a dangerous and expensive [journey], so most people went to the countryside west of Aleppo [under rebel control], and that is where I went, too. RFE/RL: How are things where you are now? Alhamdo: Nothing can be worse than the situation was in Aleppo. When we lived in Aleppo, life was much worse than in hell itself. So when we were evacuated here and lived for two weeks without any bombing, it was something very unusual for us to live like normal people again. But now, the bombing has started [where we are], the heavy shelling, the rockets from Russian and Assad's planes come again and again and people here are afraid. It's almost as if death is chasing after the people of Aleppo, wherever they are. With regard to the humanitarian situation, there is food and water. There is no electricity, but at least I can get some food for myself and my family. RFE/RL: Will you leave Syria? Alhamdo: I've never even thought about it. I want to stay in Syria. I don't want to leave Syria just because of Russia or Assad or Iran [whose professional and volunteer forces are fighting in support of Assad's forces]. This is a kind of occupation. Believe me, what happened in Syria is not a civil war at all, as the media says. This is a war against Syrians, an occupation. Bombing and shells were falling on us like rain. I know that Assad and Russia want us to leave for Europe, to Turkey, or to any other place on Earth, but not to live here. When we were living in Aleppo, they gave us only two choices: death or displacement. Now that we are in the countryside, they are giving us these two choices again: death or displacement. RFE/RL: During the time you spent in Aleppo, what were some of the things that you will remember for the rest of your life? Alhamdo: You cannot imagine the suffering that I experienced in besieged Aleppo. There was no water, no food, no medicine. I remember one day when my baby daughter was sick [and] I couldn't find any doctor for her. There were some doctors in besieged Aleppo, but those doctors were occupied with amputating limbs or with life-threatening injuries, so there were no doctors to help my daughter. She had a very high fever, pain in the abdomen. I was struggling to get at least some medication for her but could not. My wife soon also fell ill and could no longer breastfeed. The only thing I could feed to my daughter was mashed dates and I also mixed crushed rice with water and salt. She was crying all the time and asking to eat. There are lots of unforgettable moments, but the last week in Aleppo was the most horrible of all. There was a time when I just cried for two days, not for myself but for my family. We were besieged in a very small area, about two square kilometers, 50,000 people, and bombing and shells were falling on us like rain. People were lying on the ground injured and killed, and no one could help them. The building next door collapsed, and I could hear some people crying for help but nobody could lift that roof off them to help them. They were left there until they died. I hope the things that happened in Aleppo will not be repeated now in the countryside. I hope that our voice is heard around the world, that the UN Security Council, the international community, will hear: Please help us, help the children, help all the people who are now in the countryside west of Aleppo, help as soon as possible. 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. With east Mosul mainly cleared of Islamic State (IS) fighters, Iraqi officers are preparing for the next phase of the battle for Iraq's second-largest city. Western Mosul, the last stronghold of IS fighters in the key city, is lined with narrow streets and alleyways that make it nearly impossible for tanks and large armored vehicles to pass through, taking away much of the advantage of the Iraqi army. Nevertheless, officers say they are prepared to take the next step. "We expect to enter the west in the next few days," Lieutenant General Abdul-Wahab al-Saad told the Reuters news agency. Some 100,000 Iraqi troops, members of the Kurdish security forces and Shi'ite militiamen are taking part in the battle for Mosul, helped by U.S.-led coalition air strikes. The UN estimates that 750,000 people are still in the city's west. With the narrow streets, Iraqi troops won't be able to fight from inside their vehicles like they did in the east. "We don't have a strategy yet for these areas," Major-General Sami al-Arithi said. "For now, our approach will be to just surround them and wait." U.S. Army Major General Joseph Martin told the Associated Press that "west Mosul will be as tough as east Mosul, and from our view even tougher." The U.S. military said on January 21 that coalition warplanes this week hit a flotilla of about 90 Islamic State boats and barges being used by the militants to escape east Mosul across the Tigris River, Based on reporting by AP and Reuters George Krimsky, a journalist and author who covered dissident activity in the Soviet Union and co-founded a center for international journalists, has died at the age of 75. Krimsky, who lived in Washington, died on January 20 after a battle with cancer, his family said. He worked for the Associated Press (AP) in New York and in 1974 was posted to the Soviet Union. His Russian-language skills allowed him to make contact with dissident leaders, including nuclear physicist Andrei Sakharov. Krimsky held secret meetings with Josef Stalin's grandson Josef Alliluyev, who sought Krimsky's help to get him to the United States to see his mother after she defected to the West. Alliluyev never defected, and Krimsky was eventually expelled from the Soviet Union, a victim of false espionage charges. "He reported bravely and truthfully from Moscow, seeking out dissidents and ordinary Russians at a time when Western reporters were under constant surveillance," said John Daniszewski, AP vice president for standards. Based on reporting by AP OPEC and Russian oil ministers say they are going faster and doing better than expected in their efforts to cut oil production and boost prices. The ministers held an informal dinner in Vienna on January 21, a few hours before their planned meeting at OPEC headquarters the following day. "We are ahead of schedule and we will continue," the Bloomberg news agency quoted Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak as saying. "We are doing our best to maximize participation in the fulfillment of the agreement." Ministers said Russia has been able to reduce supply faster than expected, while Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and Kuwait have already made deeper cuts than required in a deal signed on December 10. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said producers have already eliminated 1.5 million barrels a day from the market. The TASS news agency quoted Novak as saying that Russia had cut production by about 100,000 barrels a day. Russian energy sources say the country's output is about 11.1 million barrels a day. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Algeria, and Venezuela along with non-OPEC nations Russia and Oman are meeting in the Austrian capital to set out ways of verifying that the 24 nations which signed the December accord are meeting their pledges of production cuts. The producers are looking to cut a total of 1.8 million barrels a day from the market for six months in hopes of reducing the oversupply and raise prices. International oil prices rose to an 18-month high of more than $58 a barrel after OPEC and several nonmember countries agreed to make the cuts. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Falih, the Saudi minister, cited the possibility of another production cut from OPEC countries this year if prices should begin to fall again. Based on reporting by Bloomberg, Reuters, AP, and TASS Officials in Pakistan have raised the death toll from a January 21 market bombing in Parchinar to 24, as three of the injured died during the night. Naseerullah Khan, a regional official in the Kurram tribal district in Pakistan's mainly Shi'ite northwestern tribal belt, told journalists that 90 people had been wounded. Twenty-five of the injured have been transferred to a military hospital in Peshawar. The blast was caused by an improvised explosive device hidden in a box of vegetables. The Hakimullah Mehsud faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) extremist group claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack was carried out "to teach a lesson to Shi'ites for their support for [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad," a spokesman for the group was quoted as telling the AFP news agency. Based on reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters A top Sunni cleric in Iran has called for an immediate referendum with the presence of international observers to "change policies based on the wishes of the people." In his Friday Prayers sermon on November 4 in the southeastern Iranian city of Zahedan, Molavi Abdulhamid Ismaeelzah asked the Qom seminary and the country's authorities to listen to the voices of the people who have been protesting for the past 50 days. The cleric, who is known across the country as Molavi Abdolhamid, has previously called on the countrys rulers to respond to the demands of the protesters. There has been no comment from the Iranian government on his call for a referendum. The cleric, regarded as a spiritual leader for Irans Sunni Muslim population, is the director of main Sunni seminary in Iran. He is a vocal critic of the Iranian government and has been under pressure for his comments against the Islamic republic. Earlier this month in his Friday Prayers sermon, he said senior officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were "responsible" for the killings in Zahedan on September 30. At the same time, people in different cities of Sistan and Baluchistan Province demonstrated in the streets for the fifth consecutive week after the September 30 massacre in Zahedan. According to the videos published on social media on November 4, the security forces shot directly at protesters in the city of Khash, near Zahedan. Reports also indicate clashes and shooting at protesters in some other cities of Sistan and Baluchistan Province, including Saravan, Zahedan, and Iranshahr. It was not possible to independently verify the social media posts and the reports of violence at protests across Iran. Gatherings took place on November 3 in the cities of Tehran, Tabriz, Shiraz, Rasht, and many other cities of Kurdistan Province in western Iran. According to the videos published on social media, in the central Iranian city of Arak hundreds of mourners gathered at the grave of Mehrshad Shahidinejad, a 19-year-old aspiring chef who reportedly was killed after being arrested during a protest. Reports also indicate that on November 3 in the city of Isfahan state security forces fired tear gas as mourners gathered at the grave of Mahsa Mougoei, an 18-year-old woman who was killed on September 22 during the nationwide protests against the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. At least one woman was shot in Isfahan on November 3, a video published on Twitter indicates. The woman is shown on the ground with blood on her face, apparently shot in the head. The video also shows people trying to revive her. Theres no report about her condition. In the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, security agents prevented the memorial of late RFE/RL journalist Reza Haghighatnejad. People who had gone to the location of the ceremony protested the security agents' move, chanting slogans in memory of Haghighatnejad and in protest of the government. Iranian authorities secretly buried Haghighatnejad on October 30 at a location near Shiraz after seizing his body upon repatriation to Iran, angering his family. Meanwhile, domestic and international reactions to the suppression of protesters in Iran continue. Iranian wrestling legend and Olympic gold medalist Rasoul Khadem addressed President Ebrahim Raisi on his Instagram account and criticized him for suppressing the protests. Also, more than 100 professors at Tehran University protested the October 29 attack on the university in a statement describing the attack of the security forces on the students as "barbaric." The statement says the continuation of security approaches and actions such as the "terrible attack" of the plainclothes security forces on the university is disastrous. The signatories said that all detained students should be released unconditionally. The antigovernment protests have been met by a harsh crackdown that the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights says has killed at least 277 people, including 40 children. The Iranian government has not taken responsibility for the killing of protesters and in most cases has attributed their deaths to reasons such as suicide, illness, and accidents. Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. The first day of talks aimed at solidifying the cease-fire in Syrias civil war have ended in the Kazakh capital, Astana, with no breakthroughs reported. Delegations from both the Syrian government and the opposition participated in the sessions on January 23 but did not address one another directly. Yahya al-Aridi, the spokesman for the Syrian opposition at the talks, said his group met with the Russian and Turkish delegations in the presence of UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura to discuss details of a nationwide cease-fire. Aleksandr Lavrentyev, the special representative of the Russian president at the talks, said the "intensity of emotions was rather high" but that the government representatives and the opposition delegation "refrained from any abrasive actions toward each other," Interfax reported. "We think that the first day was rather successful," he added. In their opening statements, the two sides differed markedly in their interpretation of the purpose of the current cease-fire. Government delegation head Bashar al-Jaafari said it was needed to separate those opposition groups interested in "the political process" from those affiliated with Islamic State or Al-Qaeda. Opposition spokesman Muhammad Allush said the cease-fire should be the first step toward a political settlement "involving the departure of President Bashar al-Assad and the ruling gang." Allush also called for Iranian forces and Iran-backed militias to leave Syria. Allush called for putting foreign militias fighting alongside Assad's army on the list of terrorist organizations. He said such groups include Lebanon's Hizballah. He added that Syrian civilians were facing two forms of terror: "the terrorism of Bashar Assad" and the "terrorism of [Islamic State]," AP reported. The talks are being facilitated by Russia, Iran, and Turkey, and are being monitored by the U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan and the UN special envoy on Syria, Staffan de Mistura. Syrian National Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar told AP that although Turkey was one of the sponsors of the talks, Ankara "still has a long way to prove its intentions," as it is still supporting Syrian opposition groups. De Mistura told Interfax that he was optimistic the cease-fire can be secured throughout Syria if the parties can agree to a monitoring mechanism. He called for both sides to renounce the use of military means. In an opening statement read out by Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev expressed hope the Astana meeting "will create the necessary conditions for all concerned parties to find a suitable solution to the Syrian crisis." Russian news agency Interfax quoted an unnamed source as saying the Syrian government delegation was sitting with the Iranian representatives, while the opposition delegation was with their Turkish counterparts for the opening statements. The talks are primarily aimed at bolstering a cease-fire agreement reached in December and at advancing the conflict-resolution process that has been proceeding in Geneva under UN auspices. The next session of the Geneva talks is set for February 8. Russia and Turkey have backed opposing sides, with Moscow supporting Assad and Turkey backing rebels seeking his ouster. Moscow has given crucial diplomatic and military support to Assad throughout the six-year civil war and helped avert his government's possible defeat by launching a campaign of air strikes in September 2015. Russia and Turkey remain at odds over whether Assad should remain in power or step down, though Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Mehmet Simsek said on January 20 that it was no longer realistic for Turkey to "insist on a settlement without Assad." The talks come at a time when the Syrian government is a strong position, having recaptured the eastern part of the city of Aleppo from rebels in December in an offensive backed by Russia. Syrian opposition leaders say that consolidating the current cease-fire will be their main goal during talks, not Assads future. "At this stage, we have one goal, which has been agreed upon by all the parties included," Osama Abu Zaid, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army, told Al Jazeera. "That is to consolidate the cease-fire. That is why we came here." The Russia, Iranian, and Turkish representatives met on January 22 to draft a potential agreement for signing. More than 300,000 people have been killed in Syrias civil war, which followed a deadly government crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 2011, and about half of the countrys population has been displaced. With reporting by TASS, Interfax, dpa, and RIA Novosti One of the last major figures of Tajikistan's civil war era has just been removed from a key post he held for 20 years. Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloev might not be a name well known outside Tajikistan, but he has most certainly been someone well known to Tajikistan's people throughout its 25-year history as an independent country. Ubaidulloev is part of Tajikistan's history. On January 12, many news outlets reported that Rustam Emomali, the 29-year-old son of Tajikistan's president, had been appointed mayor of the Tajik capital, Dushanbe. Passing mention was made of the fact that the Tajik president's son replaced Ubaidulloev, who had been Dushanbe's mayor since 1996. Ubaidulloev was once considered by many to be one of the most powerful people in Tajikistan, possibly the most powerful for a time.He was occasionally perceived as an enemy of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, and though he was often not loved by the people of Dushanbe, or Tajikistan in general, the fact that he could resist, and even confront Rahmon raised hopes that it could be possible one day to replace the long-time Tajik president. Ubaidulloev is from Kulob, the same region as President Emomali Rahmon. When Tajikistan became independent in late 1991, Ubaidulloev was the deputy chairman of the Kulob region's executive committee. After independence, Ubaidulloev quickly rose through the ranks of government. By 1992 he was deputy chairman of the cabinet of ministers, tasked with overseeing the energy ministries. Tajikistan's civil war had started that same year and at the end of 1992, Rahmon, a little known figure until that time, was named speaker of parliament, which since there was no office of president at the time, made him effectively the head of the government. In 1994, Rahmon was elected to the reinstated post of president and Ubaidulloev became first deputy prime minister. From 1994 to 1997, Ubaidulloev was part of Tajik government delegations that met at the negotiating table with the United Tajik Opposition (UTO), the government's opponents in the civil war, to try to reach a peace agreement. Bizarre Incident Rahmon was barely clinging to power during the civil war years. He was pulled and manipulated by outside powers, first and foremost Russia, which was propping up Rahmon's government during the civil war, but also by Iran and certainly by neighbor Uzbekistan. In fact, Rahmon's weak hold on power led to Ubaidulloev becoming Dushanbe's mayor. In February 1996, in one of the more bizarre incidents of the civil war, the commander of one of the government's best-equipped and best-trained units suddenly advanced on Dushanbe making demands for changes in the government. Colonel Mahmud Khudaiberdiev threatened to attack the capital unless Rahmon sacked several top officials, Ubaidulloev among them. (The others were Prime Minister Jamshed Karimov, presidential chief of staff Izatullo Khayayev, and the head of the Khatlon region, Abduljalil Salimov.) Rahmon acquiesced, but quickly gave Ubaidulloev the post of chairman, later mayor, of Dushanbe, where he remained until January 12, 2017. It was during the last years of the 1990s that many felt it was actually Ubaidulloev who was running Tajikistan. He would interrupt when Rahmon was speaking in government sessions or parliament, and in meetings with other government officials he openly criticized Rahmon for being "too soft," or for nepotism and corruption. The Tajik Peace Accord signed on June 27, 1997, ended open hostilities between the government and the UTO but it did not end the violence.Tajikistan was a dangerous place for several years after the official end of the war. On February 16, 2000, a car bomb was placed in a vehicle in which Ubaidulloev was traveling. Ubaidulloev survived but the person in the seat in front of him, Deputy Security Minister Shamsullo Jabirov, was killed. Two months later, on April 17, 2000, the upper house of Tajikistan's parliament, the Majlisi Milli, held its first session and Ubaidulloev was selected Senate chairman, the second highest post in Tajikistan. He still holds that post, for now. Mixed Legacy Ubaidulloev is known for being a tough person. His legacy as Dushanbe mayor will probably be mixed for residents of the Tajik capital. Ubaidulloev expended great efforts on trying to modernize a city that really had not been anything more than a town where there was a bazaar every Monday, until the Soviet Union made Dushanbe into a regional center and later republic capital, though from 1929 to 1961 it was called Stalinabad. Many buildings and flats were razed make room for modern structures. Often those losing their homes were poorly compensated. Ubaidulloev also ordered an end to people keeping farm animals in the capital. He came out against women wearing the hijab or other, in his view, foreign Muslim attire. And he led the campaign against playing "loud," usually Western, music in Dushanbe, once branding rap music as "alien to national and universal human values." With the exception of President Rahmon, Ubaidulloev was the last person from the civil war era to hold a top post in government. Ubaidulloev will turn 65 on February 1. He is certainly eligible to retire. But when state television showed footage of Rustam Emomali being officially named Dushanbe's mayor, the look on Ubaidolloev's face spoke volumes about what he was feeling.* Ubaidulloev is a political survivor and has been for many years. We probably have not heard the last of him even if he is no longer mayor of Tajikistan's capital. *You can see Ubaidulloev's reaction in this video, from 00:26 to 00:45 seconds. (Ubaidulloev is sitting in the center with Rustam Emomali to his left.) Iskander Aliev from RFE/RL's Tajik Service, and Salimjon Aioub from RFE/RL's Russian-language Central Asia News service contributed to this report The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he "recognizes the rights" of the hundreds of thousands of people around the world who protested in support of a "Women's March" in Washington against him. "Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don't always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views," tweeted Trump early on January 22. The tone of the tweet differed from a sarcastic one he sent a few hours earlier: "Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn't these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly." The tweets were the Trump administration's first comments about more than 1 million people who are estimated to have demonstrated at marches in Washington and other cities in the United States and around the world on January 21, one day after Trump was inaugurated as the country's 45th president. PHOTO GALLERY: Women Of The World March Against Trump The Washington women's rally reportedly attracted more people than were in attendance at the inauguration held at the Capitol building. Reports that more people had attended the first inauguration of President Barack Obama led to a sharp reaction by White House spokesman Sean Spicer, who insisted the media had falsely reported crowd numbers and that Trump's inauguration had the largest audience in history "both in person and around the globe." White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus called the inauguration reports "attacks." "The point is not the crowd size. The point is the attacks and the attempt to delegitimize this president in one day. And we're not going to sit around and take it," said Priebus on Fox News. Priebus was also upset about a media pool report that Trump had removed a bust of civil rights icon Martin Luther King from the Oval Office in favor of one of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, reversing a move by Obama. The King bust had, in fact, not been taken from the Oval Office, and the report was later corrected. Priebus said the Trump administration is "going to fight back tooth and nail every day and twice on Sunday" against what he calls "attacks" by the media. Meanwhile, senior Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway said on January 22 that Spicer was not putting out a falsehood but rather offering "alternative facts." Aerial photographs appeared to show that crowds for Trump's inauguration were smaller than in 2009, when Barack Obama, the nation's first black president, was sworn in. Conway later added that Trump will not release his tax returns, breaking a long tradition of presidents making their returns public. With reporting by AP, Reuters, and Twitter My fellow authors, Doug and Polly White, recently wrote an article on the topic of sick leave policies and why organizations should move to PTO policies. I couldnt agree more. Id like to build on their recommendations by providing some advice on how to write an effective PTO policy and how to manage the leave. First, recognize that no Virginia private employer is required by law to give paid time off while an employee is sick. An employer may be required under the FMLA or ADA to provide time off, but the time off can be unpaid. Under workers compensation, the payment is made through insurance, not directly from the employer. The employer is not required to provide long- or short-term disability benefits, either. There is also no requirement to provide paid time off for vacations. As a result, any payment by the employer for the workers time is purely voluntary and based on policy, not law. However, most employers choose to offer some form of paid time off so as to be an employer of choice. With respect to PTO policies, employers should eliminate all other forms of paid time off -- no additional sick leave, personal leave, birthdays off, or other time off unless there is a short-term or long-term disability program. When writing your PTO policy, realize that, unlike sick leave, employees will see PTO as the equivalent to vacation and will, most of the time, take 100 percent of the time off during the year. Employers need to consider: Carryover: Should employees have a right to carryover some unused PTO and if so, how much? If your employees are not permitted to carry the time into the next year, then you have to consider leave as a use it or lose it proposition. I am mixed on whether to require that the PTO be used in a single year. The problem with forcing employees to use it or lose it in the year is that time off is usually compressed into the latter two weeks of the year. However, the carryover creates bookkeeping/accounting issues, tracking problems and the potential that the employee will take too much time off at one time. Earned Time: Should employees have to earn the PTO before taking it? I usually allow employees to take time off immediately at the start of the year. I write into the policy that they can take it before earning it, but if they leave the organization before the time off was earned, the time has to be paid back. In other words, while the employee can take off a week the first week of February, if the employee leaves in March before earning all the time, the employee will owe back the appropriate percentage taken but not earned. Short-term and Long-term Disability: Employers may wonder what happens to an employee who has a legitimate long-term illness, or who is having a baby and wants to take leave thereafter? I recommend that employers accompany their PTO policies with a short-term disability policy. The biggest complaints I get about sick time revolve around sporadic and intermittent time off. Short-term disability policies have waiting periods, usually about three to seven days, resulting in employees with intermittent time off rarely qualifying for this benefit. So if an employee needs heart surgery, and the STD policy has a five day waiting period, the employee uses five of the PTO days during the first five days of the illness, and then the remainder of the leave can be paid for under the STD policy. These policies usually last between 90 and 180 days. I do not think it is necessary for employers to offer long-term disability policies, but if you do, realize that any paid time off encourages time off. Its amazing to me how quickly employees return to work when the pay stops. Unused PTO at Termination: Do employees have a right to be paid for unused PTO at termination? The answer is no, assuming you write your policy correctly, advising employees that they will not be compensated for unused PTO upon termination. The policy should clearly state that PTO has no cash value, and merely provides paid time off. Virginias law in this area is not entirely clear, but writing this into the policy will help your position. The more clear that you can be, the better! Attendance Policies: What about attendance policies? Your PTO policy should state that advanced notice is expected before the employee takes time off, and all PTO must be approved. The PTO policy should clearly state that regular, reliable attendance is required, and employees will be disciplined for continuous intermittent or sporadic time off without approval, unless covered by the law (ie: FMLA). Be sure to articulate your policy in writing, communicate the expectations and make no exceptions. NORFOLK Nearly 6,000 sailors attached to the George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group have deployed to the Middle East and Mediterranean. Friends and family waved goodbye Saturday to those onboard, many of whom lined the rails. The strike group includes the USS George H.W. Bush, Carrier Air Wing 8, Destroyer Squadron 22 along with guided-missile destroyers USS Laboon and USS Truxtun. It also includes Mayport, Fla.-based guided-missile cruisers USS Philippine Sea and USS Hue City. Planned Parenthood has been in the news a lot recently. First there were the infamous Live Action videos, one of which was shot in Richmond. Then there was the Pence Amendment passed by the House of Representatives, which would ban Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funds. And then it really came home. Last month, the Virginia Senate passed Bill 924. One of the effects of the bill will be to require all clinics that perform at least five first trimester abortions per month to be regulated along the same lines as hospitals. Planned Parenthood was immediately linked to this bill, because as any controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood has made clear, it is a clinic that offers low-cost, first trimester abortions. There is one Planned Parenthood in Richmond, a new brick building tucked away on Hamilton Street. There are seven in the state. But beyond those simple numbers, the politics, and the controversy, what is Planned Parenthood? What does it do? How does it operate, and most important, what does it offer to the Richmond community? To find out in as balanced a way as possible, I decided to speak with someone I knew would defend Planned Parenthood and someone who I knew would criticize it. First, I spoke with Courtney Jones, the manager of Grassroots Organization for the Virginia League of Planned Parenthood. I asked her to define, in her own words, what Planned Parenthood is and what it provides. "Planned Parenthood is a reproductive healthcare provider," said Jones, over coffee. "90 percent of our services are prevention oriented, [such as] birth control, education, STD and HIV testing and treatment. We do cancer screenings and referrals for cervical cancer. We can do treatment in office. We also provide family planning services. We have two pre-natal programs and adoption services, as well as advocacy and lobbying components. About 10 percent of our services are first trimester abortion services." Throughout our conversation, she stressed that Planned Parenthoods main focus is prevention. Yet that didnt answer why Richmond needs Planned Parenthood, if all of its services could also be given by a doctors office or a free clinic. In her words, the need for Planned Parenthood is in its capacity to "fill a gap." When I asked her to elaborate she responded, "Were not a free clinic like the Health Department or Fan Free or something of that nature. And were not a private doctors office. So for underinsured and uninsured women and teens and men and families, were able to fill that gap by providing low-cost, high-quality health care services." According to Jones, that gap is found in the services that are not offered by a free clinic and are too expensive at a doctors office for someone who is under or uninsured. One example of this is a colposcopy, a cervical biopsy done after a pap smear comes back positive for cancer cells. Free clinics dont offer it. At a doctors office, the average cost is $1,200. Planned Parenthood offers it for $85. Most people in Richmond would see the need for Planned Parenthood in the 90 percent of its services that are prevention oriented. Yet the controversy and criticism lies in the other 10 percent. To get a balanced view of the issue, I talked to Victoria Cobb, president of the Family Foundation, and supporter of the recent legislation that will, in Jones estimation, "cause 17 out of 21 [Virginia] clinics to close." I first asked her if she sees the value in Planned Parenthoods prevention services. "Absolutely not," she replied via email. "There are a host of other facilities, including free clinics, that help people in need and do not make abortion politics front and center. " "I dont accept that prevention is the focus of Planned Parenthood," she continued. "It is an organization whose primary mission is abortion and the politics of abortion. If they are so concerned about "prevention," why do they make ending abstinence education, the absolutely most effective way to ensure prevention of "unwanted" pregnancy, one of their primary missions? Planned Parenthood benefits financially from every risky sexual behavior." After speaking with both Jones and Cobb, it became apparent that two people on different sides of an issue may never agree. Many people in Virginia are firmly on one side. Both women cited overwhelming support for their separate positions. Said Jones, "What weve seen is an unprecedented level of support, from our local community and nationwide. And its so inspiring. And for peoplewho have never had to imagine a world without birth control because its always been there or to imagine a world without condom access or education, this is new ground. It motivates people. It makes them mad and they want to do something." Cobb also pointed to an "overwhelmingly positive" level of support for the legislation. She contributed this to her view that "Virginians are very supportive of reasonable, common sense abortion laws." Yet its hard not to wonder about the people who havent taken a side, the people in the middle ground, far away from headlines or politics or controversy, that make up so much of our state. For these people, the best course of action may simply be education. Find two people on opposing sides and talk to them honestly about the situation without judgment or agenda. Visit a Planned Parenthood. Write to a Virginia politician. As the White House changes hands, the unknowns far outnumber the knowns in discussions about federal health policy and the planned repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Recently, I spoke to the Health Committee of the Council of State Governments at their national meeting in Williamsburg. There were several state legislators in the room, and they expressed their concern that more costs will be shifted their way in the coming months and years. But even as repeal is discussed, a better way forward for U.S. healthcare is contained in the ACA. Ironically, the opportunity is most obvious in the states predominantly Republican-controlled that didnt take direct advantage of the subsidies offered through the law but instead took advantage of the 1115 Waiver Program. Through the waiver, states can have tailored Medicaid expansion on local terms. There are 50 approved waiver programs across a variety of states, including arguably the most impactful program, known as the Montana Health Economic Livelihood Partnership (HELP). The program features coverage for low-income pregnant women, as well as coverage for all low-income women ages 19-44. We didnt want to implement a plan that was another entitlement that just had a bunch of people signing up to get free or cheap or subsidized health care, Montana state Sen. Ed Buttrey, a Republican, told Montana Public Radio in December. We wanted a plan that said, Were going to get you on. Were going to get you healthy. Were going to identify your barriers to employment or better employment, and then were going to move you off the plan. *** I believe that Buttrey is onto something, though I dont entirely agree with his theory. Pregnancy, much like wellness, isnt a disease you can cure. Achieving a stable level of health and wellness is always challenging, and even tougher for people living in poverty. While Buttrey suggests that this entitlement program may be too generous and encourage citizens to rely on their neighbors for support, I would argue that no one wants to be a Medicaid enrollee. Having Medicaid means you have to choose between health insurance and food, clothes, and other fundamentals that most Americans take for granted. However, I do agree with Buttrey on this point: To best address the health needs of millions of low-income Americans, we do need to pivot as Montana and other states have to focus on more than health insurance. Having stable employment is only one crucial component of the story. Affordable access to healthy food choices, safe drinking water, green spaces for exercise, and supportive social connections are vital as well. All of these items are part of what is called the social determinants of health. All the insurance in the world matters less than not living life in a pressure cooker, which so many folks living at or near poverty do. While we spend disproportionately on health care, other countries (with better health outcomes) spend more in areas that directly affect the social determinants of health (see the chart above). *** I lose sleep when I think about how the ongoing federal discussions about the future of U.S. healthcare are still focused on insurance and the size of the federal role in providing insurance. If we dont pivot our attention and resources to affecting the social factors that have much more to do with wellness than insurance, we will continue to spend too much money without improving our nations health and remain a nation that wastes time on discussions about whos paying for it and not what were paying for. Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine should strongly consider voting for their Alabama colleague, Sen. Jeff Sessions, to be the next attorney general of the United States. Eight years ago, Sessions cast a yea vote for President Barack Obamas attorney general nominee, Eric Holder. Given the philosophical divide between Holder and Sessions is far wider than between Warner or Kaine and Sessions, they should give him the same chance he afforded Holder. Theres a certain kinship state attorneys general have with one another, and those of us fortunate enough to have served our states in that position understand how the experience can prepare one to serve as the nations highest ranking law enforcement official. Because of Sessions past experience as attorney general, he has a keen understanding of the role of states in our federal system. Again, this is a perspective that some prior U.S. attorneys general have lacked. As the Electoral College demonstrates, the United States is not a direct democracy but a federal republic. States rights cannot trump federal rights; by the same token, the national government cannot exercise authority reserved to the states. In the past, that principle has been ignored all too frequently by both Congress and the administration. A good start for an Attorney General Sessions would be for the Justice Department to confess error in pending litigation over EPAs Waters of the U.S. Rule (WOTUS), whereby that agency attempts to insert itself into purely local land-use management. Sessions has proven himself to be a leader in advancing bipartisan reform in the administration of criminal justice. Several examples include: In 2003, with the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, he introduced the Prison Rape Elimination Act, which helped reduce and prevent sexual assaults in prisons; In 2010 he worked with Sen. Dick Durbin to pass the Fair Sentencing Act, which reduced penalties for crack cocaine, felt by many to target African-Americans unfairly, and brought these penalties more in line with those for powder cocaine possession; and In 2011 he joined with Sen. Richard Blumenthal to pass the Finding Fugitive Sex Offenders Act. In our era of acute political polarization he has a track record of reaching across the aisle to get legislation enacted. Warner and Kaine should take note. One aspect of that agenda, particularly in light of Sessions background as U.S. attorney and state attorney general, would be the taking of effective steps to strengthen DOJs relationships with state and local law enforcement. In the past several years these ties have become severely frayed. In every profession there are occasional bad actors, whether they are lawyers, doctors or police officers. As he testified, Sessions understands that no one is above the law and that rogue officers must be called out. He also knows that for law enforcement to be effective, the cooperative functioning of the entire justice system is critical. The past year has seen a terrible spike in the number of police killed. The number of homicides in many American cities has increased by significant percentages. This is what happens when respect for law is eroded by inaccurate claims from community activists and an all-too-compliant media. Sessions would constitute a strong voice in support of officers doing their job, as they must, in difficult circumstances. Kaine, as a former mayor of Richmond, should acutely understand how important this is. I became acquainted with Mr. Sessions through my attendance at meetings of the National Association of Attorneys General while he was attorney general of Alabama. I found him to be both articulate in his expression of views on policy and personally most courteous; he likewise displayed both attributes at his hearing. I believe Sessions to be a straight arrow who would never lie to the American people. Im sure Warner and Kaine have found him to be the same. If Jeff Sessions could vote for Eric Holder, then Virginias senators should vote for Jeff Sessions. VAN METRE Steven Donald January 30, 1959 January 18, 2017 Steven Donald Van Metre, 57, of Roanoke died unexpectedly at home from natural causes Wednesday, January 18, 2017. He was born January 30, 1959 to Rosemary Brown Van Metre and the late Thomas Marshall Van Metre in Brookline, Massachusetts. Steve grew up in Lancaster, Pa. A champion wrestler in high school, he later attended Parsons School of Design in New York City, where he met Mary Stuart Barbour. They married in 1987. While in New York, he worked as a chef in Greenwich Village and as a set builder for music videos and television commercials. After moving to Roanoke in 1991, he found his niche as owner and chef at the ever popular Angler's Cafe, creating gustatory memories for so many for 12 years. This was followed by work at Designed Concrete Surfaces, Orvis, and Steve was currently employed at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine working as a standardized patient.. Because of the Roanoke area's mountains, rivers, and streams, Steve relished the constant experience of fishing and observing all the wildlife night and day. He is best described as a family man, good-natured, a lover of nature, and a friend to many. His sons were his pride and joy and he cherished their accomplishments and guided them through Boy Scout experiences. He was a legendary fly-fisherman, reeling in the most and largest fish, the fruits of keeping a log, tying flies, watching the water and the fish and patterning their behavior, and devoting hundreds of nocturnal hours to the science of the catch. He was also a volunteer instructor for the Roanoke Youth Fishing Academy program at Jackson middle school assisting students with fly tying, and nurturing fish eggs to the point of their release into the Roanoke River. He was preceded in death by his sister, Karen Van Metre. Left to cherish his memory are his mother, Rosemary Van Metre; his wife, Mary Stuart Barbour Van Metre; and his sons, Stuart and William; brother, Jim Van Metre (Jackie) and their children, Rachel and Ethan, of Swarthmore, Pa; sister, Amy Siddal (Steve) and their children, Lauren and Derek, of Romansville, Pa; his sister-in-law, Elizabeth Barbour and brother-in-law, Charlie Defelice, their daughter, Alex Defelice, and sister-in-law, Catherine Prescott (Matt) and their sons, Samuel and Bradley; and his mother-in-law, Nancy O'dell Barbour. A memorial service will be Friday, January 27, 2017 at 11 a.m. at Second Presbyterian Church, 214 Mountain Ave SW, Roanoke VA 24016, followed by a reception at the church. In lieu of flowers please make a donation to The Roanoke Youth Fishing Academy payable to program instructor Paul Germain mailed to Stonewall Jackson Middle School, 1004 Montrose Ave SE Roanoke VA 24013 for a fishing academy in Steve's honor this spring. Mr. Van Metre is entrusted to Valley Funeral Home and Cremation Service. Apple Inc. (AAPL) has filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) on Friday, accusing the chipmaker of charging royalties for technologies it has nothing to do with and for not paying about $1 billion in promised rebates. According to Apple, the maker of iPhones, as it innovates with unique features such as TouchID, advanced displays and cameras, Qualcomm collects royalties for no reason and thus, it becomes more expensive for Apple to fund these innovations. Apple accused Qualcomm of charging it at least five times in payments than all the other cellular patent licensors that Apple has agreements with combined. Qualcomm is a key supplier of modem chips to both Apple and Samsung Electronics Co. (SMSN.L,SSNNF.OB,SSNLF.OB). "To protect this scheme Qualcomm has taken increasingly radical steps, most recently withholding nearly $1B in payments from Apple as retaliation for responding truthfully to law enforcement agencies investigating them," Apple said in a statement. "We are extremely disappointed in the way Qualcomm is conducting its business with us and unfortunately after years of disagreement over what constitutes a fair and reasonable royalty we have no choice left but to turn to the courts," Apple added. Qualcomm responded on Saturday by saying that Apple's claims are "baseless". Don Rosenberg, executive vice president and general counsel of Qualcomm said, "Apple has been actively encouraging regulatory attacks on Qualcomm's business in various jurisdictions around the world, as reflected in the recent KFTC decision and FTC complaint, by misrepresenting facts and withholding information." "We welcome the opportunity to have these meritless claims heard in court where we will be entitled to full discovery of Apple's practices and a robust examination of the merits," Rosenberg added. Apple's lawsuit comes after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission or FTC said earlier this week that it filed a lawsuit, charging Qualcomm with using anticompetitive tactics to maintain its monopoly in the supply of a key semiconductor device used in cell phones and other consumer products. In December 2016, the Korea Fair Trade Commission or KFTC fined Qualcomm about 1.03 trillion South Korean won or about $865 million, saying it found certain of Qualcomm's business practices in violation of Korean competition law. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News 45 Saudi aggression airstrikes hit Yemen provinces over past 24 hours SANA'A, Jan. 22 (Saba) -Two citizens were killed and many others injured in 45 air strikes by the US-Saudi aggression warplanes that hit several Yemeni provinces over the past 24 hour, officials told Saba on Sunday. In Taiz, a woman was killed and others were wounded in two air raids that targeted their home in Mocha district and a citizen was killed in an airstrike targeted Mageber area in Moza district, which also caused loss to a number of livestock. In Sana'a governorate, three residents, including a women were injured in a cluster bomb dropped by the Saudi aggression warplane on Nehm district. Further air strikes hit the house of a citizen in AL Majawaha area of Nehm. Two air raids hit Attan area in the capital Sanaa. In Hodeida city port, the aggression launched five airstrikes on AL Jabana and Ras aesa areas in AL Saleef district, and waged two airstrikes on the Naval base, as well as two other raids targeted the airport and Moshej area in AL khokha district. In Lahaj governorate, one airstrike hit Kahbob district. In Mareb province, Saudi barbaric warplanes launched three airstrikes on AL Shabwan area in Abeida Valley, and eight air raids on Serwah district . In Sa'ada governorate, Saudi airstrikes targeted Telecommunication network in AL khmes area in Sakeen district and two others strikes hit AL Maghrm area in Baqem district. In Hajja province, two airstrikes hit Mthalth Ahem and three raids struck AL Mazrak area in Harath district. In Dhamar province, four airstrikes hit the Police School. In Jawf province, airstrikes hit AL Matoon district and other raids struck AL Raboah area neasr the border. SK-ZaK Saba Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter Whatsapp Whatsapp Telegram Telegram Email Email Print Print [22/January/2017] By SA Commercial Prop News Natalie Berg: Retail Analyst at Planet Retail UK Walmarts entry to South African market presents a huge benefit and will change the face of retail in the country, and local consumers will be the ultimate winners. So explains Natalie Berg of Planet Retail, the worlds leading retail analyst firm which covers 9,000 retailers in 211 markets and counts 15 of the worlds top 20 retailers as clients. Berg is co-author of Wal-Mart - Key Insights and Practical Lessons from the Worlds Largest Retailer, due for release in April 2012. Berg addressed members of the South African Council of Shopping Centres (SACSC) in Joburg, Durban and Cape Town, to provide insight into what Wal-Marts entry to SA will mean for local retail markets. Wal-Mart will make retailing more efficient in South Africa which is great news for consumers, says Berg. Berg warns that for retailers, Wal-Marts entry leaves no room for complacency. However, they should not make the mistake of trying to beat Wal-Mart at its own game. Wal-Mart is the worlds largest company. It became the biggest international retailer by ruthless cost savings and back-end efficiency which allows it to offer the lowest possible prices and a wide assortment of brands. It has also been brave, pioneering unchartered territories and formats. Its goal is to serve the underserved, points out Berg. SA is unchartered territory for the multinational retailers. With its purchase of a 51% stake in local discount retailer Massmart, Wal-Mart has gained first-mover status. Berg says the SA market is an appealing prospect for multinational retailers. Buying power is increasing. Consumer spending per capita is set to grow by 7.3% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in the next five years and by 2.3% in real terms. Overall consumer spending will grow by 9.1% CAGR and by 3.7% in real terms, explains Berg. Sub-Saharan Africa is the third-fastest growing region in the world and an increase in foreign direct investment will lead to further economic development. Importantly, Wal-Mart can have a positive impact on retail in SA for consumers. This is an opportunity for Wal-Mart to drive efficiencies in SAs high-cost retail environment, helping emerging consumers save money and live better, says Berg. The change Wal-Mart will bring to the SA retail market is potentially colossal but, as Berg advised SACSC members, it wont take place overnight. Wal-Mart is spending the first year understanding the local consumer, the market and competition before making any major changes. In the long-term, it will embark on supply chain efficiencies to invest in price, says Berg. Wal-Marts famous everyday low prices wont happen overnight, although support from Massmart is likely to speed up the process. This learning period gives local suppliers and retailers a chance to adjust, adapt and prepare for Wal-Marts formidable retail model to kick-in. Wal-Marts first step into Sub-Saharan Africa, while exciting, has been greeted with some uncertainly from the retail community, says Amanda Stops, GM of SACSC. Wal-Mart is one of worlds most well-studied companies. This gave SACSC the chance to create a platform to learn as much as possible about the impact it could have on SA retail from an independent source, to drive creative and competitive retail strategies locally. Berg explains that fundamental to the Wal-Mart model is its everyday low prices (EDLP), achieved through everyday low costs (EDLC) and global sourcing. EDLP means that, when Wal-Marts model is fully in place, it will offer shoppers a lowest price guarantee beating out other retailers normal, and even, promotional prices. Driving down prices for the consumer, Wal-Mart is in a unique position to leverage its global scale in both general merchandise and food sourcing. This global sourcing is key to EDLP. On the other hand, SA shoppers are most familiar with the promotional high-low price model, where consumers can sometimes get products at lower prices during promotions. Berg notes they are not alone. In the UK, promotions make up to 40% of retail sales. EDLP will take a big adjustment in SA consumer thinking, says Berg. EDLP at Wal-Mart is achieved through EDLC cutting costs, without compromising quality. Right along the distribution chain from warehouse to store, Wal-Mart will find more efficient ways of retailing in a bid to offer lower prices in store. Of course, financial sustainability and environmental sustainability go hand-in-hand. Wal-Mart has three goals: to be supplied 100% by renewable energy, to create zero waste and to sell products that sustain people and the environment. Berg explains that suppliers will be expected to help Wal-Mart achieve these goals and drive efficiencies through initiatives such as shelf-ready packaging. SA suppliers should also be prepared for a sustainability assessment, for energy cost reduction, material efficiency, responsible and transparent sourcing and ethical production, says Berg. EDLC needs to be in place to achieve EDLP, and Berg notes that this may take some time for Wal-Mart to achieve, with thousands of suppliers and contracts to tie-up first. Berg told SACSC members to expect investment in Game Foodco format. This is Wal-Marts bread-and-butter and will likely be a major growth opportunity for suppliers that meet Wal-Marts cost and sustainability requirements. For local suppliers, theres the opportunity for low-risk international export by getting their goods on Wal-Mart shelves around the world. Berg suggests suppliers seeking a spot on Wal-Marts shelves should focus on their power brands and review the sustainability of their business to identify ways of going greener and reducing costs. Berg believes that Wal-Marts entry to the local retail landscape strengthens the market position of retailers attracting different customers, such as Woolworths. But others will find themselves making fundamental changes to face the new competition. She says there are many ways retailers can complete with Wal-Mart - but price isnt one. Berg stresses completing with Wal-Mart by taking advantage of its weaknesses, rather than trying to fight on its strength - price. As a warning sign, she notes that in the last 20 years 30 food retailing supermarket groups in the US closed bankrupt. Retailers with a high non-food share are most at risk. Wal-Mart is likely drive frequent trips through a supercentre FoodCo format and offer cut-throat prices in non-food thanks to global sourcing. She proposes delivering a retail experience that is about more than just price. Invest in loyalty schemes to reward and retain your most profitable shoppers. Store remodels, ancillary services and private label quality investment will help you to differentiate, while making higher margins for reinvestment in price. She also proposes working with suppliers to create exclusive ranges, pack sizes and variants. Pick n Pays Smart Shopper initiative and its Finest premium private label are two excellent examples of this, according to Berg. Build strengths in areas where Wal-Mart has traditionally struggled, such as perishables and counter service. Establish credibility in food ranges now. Theres also opportunity to beat Wal-Mart in the digital chase, where it has lagged, says Berg. All this means we are likely to see a shake-up in the SA retail market, and more good news for the consumer. Yes, Wal-Mart will be a major competitive force but it will also ignite positive change, leading to a more efficient industry, concludes Berg. By SA Commercial Prop News The Green Building Council of South Africa CEO, Brian Wilkinson calls for greater energy efficiency as 2015 Budget proposes further hikes in electricity costs. Green Building Council of South Africa says its high time the business sector and ordinary South Africans pick up the pace of greater energy efficiency, as further electricity hikes which have been proposed in the 2015 Budget. In his Budget speech, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene last week not only announced an increase in the electricity levy, but more importantly indicated that, in order to stabilise its financial position, ESKOM will apply to NERSA for adjustments towards cost-reflective tariffs, says Brian Wilkinson, Chief Executive of the GBCSA. We all know that with the increased dependency on the peaking plants to handle the pressures on the grid, ESKOMs cost of generation has skyrocketed. The ministers indication is, we believe, a clear sign that we will shortly see a very significant increase in the cost of electricity. This is really bad news for both business and ordinary South Africans, he warns. However, Wilkinson says the electricity crisis is an opportunity, as it illustrates now more than ever before of the crucial need for going green and greater energy efficiency. By doing so both business and consumers will cut down on electricity costs, which will help mitigate the impact of the electricity crisis. It is also an opportunity to do good. One of the coolest things about the whole Green Building Movement is the aspect of doing well, by doing good, adds Wilkinson. Given the inevitability of significantly increased electricity costs, this argument becomes even more applicable. The average green office building saves 34% in electricity consumption compared to a standard building. In other words, in buildings that have not yet invested in going green and energy efficiency, tenants in these buildings could effectively be paying 34% more for their electricity, he explained. Wilkinson suggests that there has never been a better time for property owners, and tenants, to seriously evaluate how energy efficient their properties are. Its such an opportune time investment in off-grid or co-generation is really starting to take hold as such projects increase their commercial value in the face of the electricity crisis. The GBCSA itself is a tenant in a building that supplies 60% of its energy needs through photo-voltaic panels on the buildings roof. The owners had expected a four year payback (about 25% ROI), but with a steeply rising electricity tariff the payback period will probably reduce substantially, he adds. While the GBCSA has warned about the electricity hikes set to come as a result of proposals in the 2015 Budget, it has welcomed other tax measures announced to promote energy efficiency. These include the increase in the energy efficiency savings incentive, consideration for accelerated depreciation for photovoltaic solar renewable energy, and the extension of incentives to cogeneration projects. Seana Nkhahle, Chairman of the GBCSA, believes these tax measures to promote energy efficiency in South Africa is good news. The proposal to more than double the current energy efficiency savings incentive, from 45c/kWh to 95c/kWh is an excellent move. We are sure this will help spur both industry and other sectors to embrace more energy savings innovations and benefit from the incentive. Nkhahle adds: The proposal to extend this incentive to cogeneration projects as well as the National Treasurys plan to give consideration to enhancing the accelerated depreciation for solar photovoltaic renewable energy, are also moves in the right direction. However, we keenly await more details on these proposed tax incentives to promote energy efficiency. Schmidt ad says Democrats helping Pyle "trying to steal" governor's race Attorney General Derek Schmidt's campaign has hit out with a radio ad saying "national Democrats are trying to steal the Kansas governor's race." Hundreds of family members and relatives of the Suafa Toalepaialii, Suli of Salesa Toalepaialii family gathered at their traditional home at Vaiauau Satapuala, recently to mark the 100th anniversary of their annual commemorative Lotu. The gathering is normally held in May each year but this time, the event was held during the end-of-year holiday period to allow as many people as possible to attend, especially from abroad. The two-day programme held on the 29-30 December 2016, brought together generations of the family to meet-many for the first time- and to reconnect and reflect on shared values and concerns. According to a family spokesperson, the Lotu was founded by Salesa Toalepaialii F.S and his wife Siolo Selepa Vaeafe. While serving as the foundation L.M.S. pastor of Toamua from 1880, Salesa seemed to have been increasingly drawn to a personal desire to sort out and to settle the affairs of his ancestral family at Satapuala, left in disarray following the Samoan wars and the impact of the loss of much of Satapuala and neighbouringAana land to European-owned plantations, in the latter half of the 19th Century. He resigned his service with the Church in 1897 and embarked upon a mission to reclaim his family and land. It took Salesa nineteen years before his efforts were rewarded. He marked it with a thanksgiving prayer service (Lotu) on Christmas Day in 1916, and left a much-revered Mavaega challenging his children to make it an annual celebration and honour his wishes in the Mavaega. His descendants and their families were now gathered in one big family reunion, one hundred years later to honour his legacy. Those present at the reunion included the only two surviving 2nd generation descendants, sisters Lagilagia Tofaeono Nonu of Auckland, NZ and Lagilelei Taatiaivaiauau Filemoni of Satapuala, daughters of the youngest son Lua Salesa Toalepaialii. A family publication of 65 pages Salesa Toalepaialii ma lonaAiga prepared especially for the occasion by a committee of family members of MuagutiaAkeripa, Mulitalo Esekia Solofa and Toeolesulusulu Damon Salesa who, edited and typeset after input from members of the family. The book shows the family tree extending to seven generations after Salela and Silioolo Selepa Toalepaialii. Some prominent members of the family included Reverend PeluTuai (3rd generation) and his wife Funaki who recently retired after 34years of service as Minister of the Ranui Pacific Presbyterian Church Parish, in Waitakere, Auckland (Rev. PeluTuai was named among the awardees of the Queens Service Medal in the NZ New Year Honours 2017). Also present is well-known former Manu Samoa captain and player, Lilomaiava Taufusi Salesa (3rd generation), former Vice Chancellor of the University of the South Pacific, Mulitalo Aliimuamua Esekia Solofa (3rd generation), and Member of Parliament in the last parliamentary term Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster (4th generation), and among several familiar names in the religious ministry, educational fields, and sport fields and administration. More than 520 people attended, many have travelled from overseas. A part of the programme was the opening (Faapaiaina) of the chiefly house- Le Maotai Vaiauau- and the unveiling of the family insignia on the first day, which added significantly to the sense of the occasion. The new iron and concrete building is the third maota on the present site since Satapuala village was displaced from its original home, and replaced the second icon and concrete maota built in 1972. The builder, agaiotupu le fetalaigaiaTauvalaauTinei of Satapuala and his crew of six took 44 days to complete the project and renovate the building. As it often at family reunions, the cultural ceremony (saofai) to bestow chiefly (matai) titles was the final part of the programme, rounding up the activities of the second day. Thirty eight, mostly young men and women, many from overseas were bestowed matai titles of the Toalepaialii family including Afiogatutasi, Aiono, Lilomaiava, Muagututia, Toeolesulusulu, Tuifaasisina, Tiumalumatua, Tusanilefaiaao, Aigafaalagilagi, Iliolemale, Fata, Tapuala and Tiumalu. Fine mats and much money changed hands between the family and the village leaders amidst the banter and counter of opposing orators while the newly bestowed matai watched in ernest, probably wondering if thats all that was in store for them.The family will reunite again in the next five years. Samoa is set to host the next World Apostolic Congress on Mercy (W.A.C.O.M). The gathering is an international meeting of thousands of Divine Mercy devotees. This was announced by W.A.C.O.M secretary general Fr. Patrice Chocholski on the last day of the fourth W.A.C.O.M held at the Las Casas Filipinas de Azucar in Bagac. It has been decided that the next W.A.C.O.M will take place in 2020 in Apia, Samoa, said Chocholski on Friday afternoon. The Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia was established in 1850 and counts around 42,000 Catholics in its flock. As the host of the fifth W.A.C.O.M, it will begin preparations for the religious meeting held every three years and aimed at furthering the devotion to Jesus as the Divine Mercy in the Catholic Church. This year, the international meeting was held for five days in various places, mostly religious venues in Manila, Batangas and Bulacan. Chocholski lauded the Philippines hosting of the event as very successful and the largest gathering so far. This was because the fourth W.A.C.O.M held in the Philippines brought together almost 6,000 Divine Mercy devotees to listen and share stories on how their devotion touched their lives. Past W.A.C.O.Ms in Colombia, Poland and Rome only gathered around 2,000 delegates for each meeting. This was the biggest W.A.C.O.M, and it was very successful. We congratulate the Philippines for a very successful W.A.C.O.M, Chocholski said. Lyon, France archbishop Philippe Cardinal Barbarin, who represented Pope Francis as the papal legate, ended the series of talks on Friday afternoon. In his final address, he recalled his visits to the street kids in Manila who are now being taken care of in shelters run by a French priest in Manila. Look at those who are sick, who are despair, dependents of alcohol Take care of them, said Barbarin in French, speaking through Chocholski as an interpreter. Barbarin even prayed the Lords Prayer in its Filipino version, the Ama Namin, to the delight of the delegates and the audience. I was touched deeply in my heart by the will of the Holy Father to have sent me here as his special envoy, he added. Dear Editor After almost six years living in Samoa, I have at one time or another been a victim of theft and have had many accounts relayed to me from friends regarding their experiences first hand with theft, more times than I care to remember! I have had clothing, money, food, personal items (including 3 mobile phones) stolen from out of my car, our home and in numerous public places. Coming home to find your front door busted open and then to discover your wifes jewellery, clothing and personal appliances missing is something Id never wish on anyone, but it has happened here and not only to my wife and I, but also to many friends and acquaintances we have met here. There are many of us out there who have an opinion on the subject of theft in Samoa and I am sure there have been numerous attempts to rationalize and decipher what causes this problem to persist and why people do it. I know theft is prevalent everywhere in the world and its not just confined to Samoa. Is it just an unrealistic sense of entitlement that drives theft in this country? Is it a symptom of the strong sense of obligation/influence to the Church? Is it in line with the countless reports of corruption and public service theft that happen within the confines of our government offices? Its more than likely a combination of all of these and more if were to be honest with ourselves. The thing that puzzles me here in Samoa, is how it has become so commonplace that most people just accept that its part of everyday life? Whether its theft in the workplace, in someones home, at school, within the family setting and even during church services! Samoa has always proudly claimed that it is a nation founded on God and its no big secret that the majority of Samoans all practice regular attendance to one of the various denominations offered by the many churches of this land. I have been led to believe one of the most common and accepted principles of the Lords teachings comes in the form of a commandment stating something along the lines of Thou shall not steal. Yeah I know, theyre only words printed in a book but most people I know who are regular churchgoers vehemently claim this to be high up in their priorities of personal integrity. Well, Im not a qualified statistician and dont claim to have any comprehensive data and records on the matter but I reckon that there are roughly only half the number or churchgoers that are attending church who actually understand and abide by above-mentioned Thou shall not steal line. Either that or they actually do understand it but dont give damn about it one bit. Maybe the God-fearing Christian folk who supposedly follow the doctrine of not stealing, actually do have a feeling of entitlement when it comes to borrowing or sharing somebody elses property or belongings?? Ive often heard someone joke that everythings ok for the one doing the stealing because all they have to do in return is to ask for forgiveness on Sunday and everything will be justified? Joking or not, this appears to be the reality! Why am I voicing such a strong opinion here you may ask? To be honest I have wanted to publicly voice this for some time but sadly believed it would just fall on deaf ears. Well I am writing this now because its just happened again and I for one, have just about had enough of this going on. I have lost a lot of faith in the faith of others, which is so disappointing and sad. Just two days ago I had another mobile phone stolen at one of the local supermarkets - Frankie Hyperstore in Vaitele, and although the phone is now all but gone for good, I fortunately managed to witness and verify this theft by watching close circuit security footage from the supermarkets management office a couple of hours after it was stolen. A big thank you to the management and staff of Frankie Hyperstore for your quick and efficient help in identifying the crime. What the supermarket supervisor and I witnesses was a blatant act of dishonesty and deliberate theft. There is no other way to look at it. The person who stole my mobile phone performed the theft swiftly and with purposeful intent. At no stage did they look at the phone and contemplate that is was someone elses property, it was probably important to that someone and that the right thing to do (Christian or not), was to simply pick it up and hand it to one of the staff? The whole incident could well have been avoided if I had not inadvertently left the phone on the counter after paying for my goods and I kick myself for being so lax to have let that happen. But thats not the point, I did not leave it there deliberately and leaving it there unaware does not entitle someone else to help themselves to property which is not theirs, surely? The young woman who stole the mobile phone had a young infant girl with her who could have been either her daughter or niece. After I had left the supermarket, the security camera clearly shows the woman with the young girl accompanying her step up to the counter. The young girl notices the phone first and then motions to the woman it is there. The woman proceeds to pay for her goods and then places one of her shopping bags over the mobile phone, clasps the phone in her hand with the bag and walks off with the young infant girl. That phone was mine. I owned it. I paid for it with money I saved and earned through work. It can always be replaced but it was my phone and it had a whole lot of personal data on it that I use for my work and dates that I hold personal to me. You! Im talking to you, the woman who has no morals or integrity, who stole my phone; you are a thief, you are a bad person. You are dishonest and you are most certainly a very bad influence on the young infant girl who was with you when you blatantly chose to disregard any religious teachings about what is right or wrong. You do not deserve any forgiveness at all. I still cannot for the life of me totally understand what drives a large number of citizens of Samoa to accept theft as a normal part of life here? I will no doubt have people telling me that I am generalizing here and I should not do this. I totally agree. It is not my intention to make sweeping generalisations about the people of Samoa. I am half Samoan. I am a citizen of Samoa. I have many wonderful Samoan family members and friends who I know to be upstanding, honest and trustworthy. I love Samoa and love living here. But there is no escaping and denying that there is a serious problem in this land regarding theft and the sooner we openly talk and discuss this issue at all levels (family, church, schools, workplace and government), the sooner we can address, remedy and reduce greatly this unfortunate and damaging behavior in our society. I would love to hear others thoughts on this - for or against whatever I have scribed. Manuia le aso Tony Dear Editor Re: Government urged to stay in their lane I hope so. He is doing nothing to move his country ahead. I like to compare Fiji and Samoa because they have similar colonial pasts, yet Fiji is exporting raw sugar and refined petroleum and has a decent trade balance despite still being dependant on aid. Samoa has nothing to show for 30 years of H.R.P.P. except some small exports in wire and beer and a huge imbalance. Pedro, aka Samoas Kelly-Ann Conway, aka PS Jeffrey likes to harp on and on about Bainimarama being a dictator while failing to address the reality that with rigged elections, remnants of colonial rule within the Samoan constitution, and no accountability, that Samoa is run by a dictator too. At least the one in Fiji is moving the economy forward at least 50 places ahead of Samoa in half the time. Wendy in wonder Dear Editor Re: Wasted millions on bad roads F for Failure If you think of successful leadership as an equation because you obtain a positive result, then poor leadership is like an equation with a negative result. The logical outcome of good leadership is that most citizens are happy and content with their lives and that a society is productive. If the leaders are happy and wealthy, while the majority of citizens are suffering poverty, poor education and public services then clearly those leaders are not serving the community. Some say that the Human Rights Protection Party has achieved great things for Samoa and for that reason we should trust them and allow them to rule without asking questions. My reply is always the same. Without transparency, without us seeing the true amount of $ that has been used by the HRPP for all purposes then we cannot say that they have done a good job. If the books were opened and we find that they have spent 90% of all income since coming into power on themselves and only 10% on the people of Samoa, then we could say that they have been terrible leaders and nothing more than thieves. Analysts have calculated that a country which runs a tax haven doubles its GDP due to that very fact alone. Yet SIFA, Samoas tax haven, although a government agency, pays no tax to the people of Samoa, so that its profits are hidden and disappear. Samoas jetsetting celebrity lifestyle politicians have never had it so good. They persuade our people that politics is mysterious, about foreign policy and meeting with the big boys overseas; that meeting the Pope somehow makes them holy. Yet the drainage and sewage, the roads and electricity, the health and education sectors fail all the time. Unless there is a change of leadership so that the HRPPs books are forced open, then the same result will be achieved every year. The HRPP receive an F on their report card for leadership because they are in power to plunder not serve the people of Samoa. `Exploitation for profit is certainly one way that the empowered in a society can show their scorn for those they feel are insignificant, contemptible, subhuman or otherwise inferior to themselves. ..this attitude can quickly become a piece of circular logic: the self-serving belief that those we oppress ...must be deserving of such treatment...its very easy to hate those we harm P. 152 An End to Murder, A Criminologists View of Violence throughout History by Colin Wilson and Damon Wilson Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63220-238-3 In so many villages in Samoa there are small children who rely on an ancient promise. This promise is so deeply felt that it is hard to imagine a future without this assurance. This land of Samoa is a gift to all of us. It is our cultural heritage. It strengthens us all whether we are near or far. Within this land lie the bones of our ancestors. This security, this comfort, this fortress is threatened by the actions of Samoas current leaders. In International Law the highest form of land ownership is ancestral title. The Human Rights Protection Party is acting to transfer the ownership of our ancestral land away from us and into their hands as controllers of the government. This theft of our sovereignty by the Land Titles Registration Act 2008 is happening right now and I stand against it and I ask you to join me as a fellow Samoan and as a guardian of the FaaSamoa to fight for the survival of our children. Have you noticed PM Tuilaepa rushes around the World shaking hands begging for $ while Samoas social problems are utterly out of control. So he is large on the World stage but missing to solve the peoples problems. There is no poverty at his house. Dr. Iati Iati, If done properly, the auditing of government accounts reveals the extent to which the government legally and effectively uses public finances The Auditor General works in conjunction with the Legislative Assembly in the pursuit of political accountability. There are forty nine seats in the Assembly, and forty seven are reserved for Members who hold matai titles. The other two are open to non-matai. Article 99, Section 2 of the Constitution states, The Controller and Chief Auditor shall report at least once annually [every year] to the Legislative Assembly on the performance of his functions under this Article and shall in his report draw attention to any irregularities in the accounts audited Tuilaepas bag man, Fuimaono Camillo Afele, his son in law, the Auditor General, also gets an F for failing to audit every year as required by the Constitution. Maua Faleauto A puzzled and angry father from the village of Tuanaimato, has turned to the Samoa Observer to voice his disbelief at policies followed in the Maternity Ward at the Motootua Hospital. Mr Haine Sanft is questioning why mothers who just gave birth, should sleep on couches and the floor in a small Recreation Room when there are beds available. The Recreation Room does not have beds and despite more than 10 unused beds in other rooms of the Ward, the staff are adamant they cannot to be used. Mr. Sanfts daughter, who is a new mother, was discharged on Saturday afternoon. However her newborn son is still under medical care at the hospital so she was asked to move her things to the Recreation Room in the Maternity Ward floor to wait for her sons discharge. And that was what angered Mr. Sanft. You see, when they asked my daughter to move, we thought she was going to another room where there are beds, said Mr. Sanft, bearing in mind, my daughter is a new mother, and she just gave birth. So she went to the Recreation Room and there were two other mothers already using the room. One of them has her baby with her so when my daughter moved in, three mothers and caregivers were then using that small room. You see the thing is, in this room, there are no beds. There are only two couches, and the two mothers who were already there, were using the couches to sleep on. But my daughter, she is sleeping on the floor. I came and saw this and I just couldnt believe it. And it got worse. According to Mr. Sanft, when he saw what the situation was, he went to see if there were beds available in other rooms. Weve counted the beds that are available in the other rooms. There are about fifteen beds available and yet these three mothers are sharing one room with their caregivers in one small room where there are no beds. So I asked the nurse if we could use the available beds and she said no. She said its their policy. This is a ridiculous policy! Thats the bad part, there are available beds and these mothers who just gave birth are sleeping on the couches and my daughter is sleeping on the floor. Mr. Sanft went on to say that he the offer of money had no effect at all. I offered some money so my daughter and the other mothers could sleep on proper beds, but they refused. You know this could happen to someone else as well and this is very bad. I mean whats the use of having available beds when these poor mothers are forced to sleep and fit in one room altogether with no beds with their relatives who are taking care of them? They said they are following their policy and I think this policy is very stupid. I thought to myself, why would they let a mother who just gave birth sleep on the floor when are beds available? And the thing is the people who are here to look after the mothers and their babies also clean up the room. There are no cleaners to clean this particular room. This is a very small room and there are six people here and one baby. I question the policy because my daughter and the other mothers who are sharing this room are being taken care of by these people. Mr. Sanft said they havent been notified as to when his grandson will be discharged and that is why he is worried. We will probably be here for another two days. And I dont want my daughter to continue sleeping on the floor and also for the other two mothers to continue on with this. It is a bad policy. Art press time, we were unable to get a comment from the hospital about this policy. Meet James Faasuaga of the village of Pata Falelatai. When Village Voice caught up with him, his wife and three young children, he was trying to put a roof over their small faleoo by using laupola. When asked about how life is in the village Mr. Faasuaga said its hard but in life we all start from the bottom making our way up. As you can see we are working on our house because we have just moved here, he told the Village Voice. We used to stay on the mainland (aai) at my wifes family but it was too crowded so we decided to move here inland to start afresh. Its not fancy but its a start and like everyone else, were at the bottom making our way up. Life is hard we all know that but we have to work in order for our families to develop. Mr. Faasuaga said some people complain about the struggles they are facing but they dont work which is worse. You cant say you are poor and yet you just sit at home and do nothing and expect money to fall from the sky, he said. No we have to work for it as it says in the bible while our wives bear children. But nowadays both the husband and the wife stay home and keep having children and yet they dont have the resources to feed them. Both my wife and I dont have jobs but theres a difference. I have a plantation and that is how I look after my family. I use the fruits of my plantation to get money to put my children through school and we are okay. My children have never missed a school day and there is never a day that we dont have food because I work. I know that if I dont work, then my family will suffer. The father of three went on to say that even with the high cost of living, Samoan people are used to it. If the cost of living doesnt go up our country would never have any flash buildings like the ones in Apia and our people will still be living the old life, he said. We are Samoans and we are used to it. Yes some things might be too expensive but its life and we have to live according to what we have at the moment. We cannot complain because it wont change a thing but we just have to live according to the standard of living that we have nowadays. So to me Im okay, my kids and wife are okay as long as we are able to wake up the next day we are okay through the love of God. Police are looking for the owner of the taxi who allowed three young kids to be seated in the boot of a moving vehicle. The photo was taken by a concerned member of the public, Jack Seumanutafa on Sunday evening in front of theFrankie Supermarket at Matautu. Police Spokesperson Sua Muliaga Tiumalu told the media on Friday during a weekly press conference that the police are currently looking for the owner of the taxi. The fact of the matter is that these kids should never be allowed to sit in the boot in the first place, said Sua. The boot of a car is for shopping and other heavy loads but not for the kids or anyone to be seated inside. The owner of this vehicle is most likely to be charged with permitting dangerous riding. Sua said what if the taxi was moving and the boot closed accidently? These children would have been in a very dangerous situation, he said. What this person did was that he/she put the lives of these children at risk and so we are currently looking for the person who is responsible for this. In an interview with Mr. Seumanutafa he said the reason why he took the photo was because he was surprised a person could do something like this. I was in my car waiting for a family member who went inside Frankie Supermarket to get some bread on Sunday evening, he told the Sunday Samoan. The driver of this taxi was a female. She came out with all these kids and told them to get in the car and when the car was full she then told these three young kids to get in the boot. I wanted to take a photo of the driver butI reached for my phone late and the kids were the only ones that I was able to take their photo. Mr. Seumanutafa went on to say that he was gobsmacked of how this lady could do something like this. It was new to my eyes and Im sure anyone who wouldve seen this would do the same thing, he said. This is why accidents happen because adults are not being careful making decisions and besides who would be to blame if these kids fell out of the boot of this car? I just wonder what was doing through this ladys mind to come up with such a stupid idea? She was the adult and of course the kids will listen to her so it was so surprise to me and I was thinking only in Samoa that someone will come up with such an idea. Lastly Mr. Seumanutafa advised the public to be very cautious with children. I am not a parent but I would never do such thing, he said. Our decisions will backfireon us if we dont think wisely. Accidents happen and most of the time its the drivers who we blame but we ought to know that adults and parents of these children are also to blame. It is their carelessness that puts the lives of the young ones at risk. It was a day of enjoyment and recognition for S.S.A.Bs employees children when the owner Fiti Leung Wai decided to host a prizegiving for those who received school prizes last year. Held at Moamoa, nine children of employees received cash prices as well as trophies for the first ever S.S.A.B. prizegiving. The strong belief of S.S.A.B. is education and we have helped so many children of Samoa by supporting the schools at prizegivings and with a lot of donations, she told the Sunday Samoan. However, God put in my heart that its about time that I looked at my own employees children because they are the people who are working so hard for the betterment of this company. This is the first year that S.S.A.B. has had a prize giving and a fun day. It is also my way to thank my staff for all their hard work because at the end of the day, we all work for our families but our children are usually the ones that we want to be successful because they are the future of our country and our families. As parents, we spend more time at work than with them and so God has put this in my heart to thank my employees children and their parents for being loyal to me and this company. Mrs. Leung Wai said she is also encouraging the employees children to aim higher. We now have a library to encourage them and let them feel incentivised because of all the children receiving prizes this year, she said. If they didnt receive prices then hopefully this will encourage them to do well in school in 2017 for next years SSAB prize giving. This is another way to encourage my employees themselves to encourage their children to do well in school. Its usually the children that are sacrificed while the parents are at work. God gave me the gift of giving and wanting people especially Samoan people, not only in our country, but all Samoans around the world, to grow and succeed in life, she said. So today is all about enjoyment and encouragement. To me owning a business is not just to earn money, she said. But it is also to give back to the people, the community and especially to the employees because at the end of the day, the employees are the ones that are working very hard to get money for the business. I myself cannot go and lift all these boxes and serve all these customers by myself it is my employees who are doing the hard work. Criteria for the prizegiving was that students who came 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in their level were rewarded. RESULTS: Lupe Malele Vaivase Pre-School - $100 Aryana Malele Ah Mu Academy - $150 Rayana Folau Vaitele Uta Primary School - $50 Roy Westerlund Ah Mu Academy - $100 Zariah Warren Manumalo Primary School - $50 Chris Faafete Palauli Primary School - $300&Trophy Kose Moto Apia Primary School - $100 Elrod Leung Wai Marist Brothers School - $300&Trophy Etevise Faafete Palauli College - $300&Trophy Joshua Leung Wai RLSS - $300&Trophy Glorester Fuimaono CCWS - $150 Many people still dream of buying a house that includes a few bedrooms, a yard to play in and a porch to watch the comings and goings of the neighborhood. Yet making that dream a reality is becoming increasingly more difficult in San Diego County. Local planners and communities have largely cut back on approving new housing developments, instead opting for condos and apartments. Advertisement In the first nine months of 2016 in San Diego County, 1,848 single-family home permits were issued while 5,564 multifamily permits were approved, said the Construction Industry Research Board. There are roughly 1,545 new houses opening in San Diego County this year, about the same as last year. At the same time, the region is expected to add 3,000 new apartments, said MarketPointe Realty Advisors. Back during the housing boom, 9,555 single-family permits were issued in 2004. But after the bubble burst, that number dropped to 1,786 in 2009. From 2011 to 2015, builders averaged 2,470 single-family permits a year and 4,815 for multifamily. Some housing advocates say San Diego County, a region with more than 3 million people, should have more single family homes. But the county is running out of places to build and developers run into community opposition to large housing developments. Without more supply, the homes that are coming onto the market are increasingly scarce and expensive. Most of the new homes coming out this year sell for $1 million or above, outpacing Novembers median home price for a new house, $651,500. They are also fairly large an average 3,147-square-feet 17 percent bigger than the average size of an American home built in 2015, said the U.S. Census. Great room in The Estates San Elijo Hills (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) When smaller isnt a bad thing Daniel and Justine Altenburg, both 32, had considered buying a condo after getting married but they both grew up in single-family homes and wanted a house. What it came down to was my wife didnt want to have a kid in an apartment, Daniel Altenburg said. Daniel Altenburg, co-founder of software developer Zipdev, said they made two offers and the one they really wanted, a 1,232-square-foot home in Mission Heights, was accepted. The home cost $566,000. That price is worth it, the couple said, because they get more space and more land compared to a condo. Some developments seem to be taking advantage of the willingness to buy smaller. Last year, Pardee Homes opened Parkview in Otay Mesa with 1,800 to 2,200-square-feet single family homes, starting at $400,000. It was their best selling project in 2016. Jimmy Ayala, division president for Pardee in San Diego, said they were selling about 1.5 homes a week at the 73-home development, prompting them to explore the idea of more in the future. It was a unique play for us, Ayala said. It was a small home. But, people said, Thats detached? Im in. New developments Most of the new projects coming to market in San Diego County are luxury homes though. Last week before the rain started, dozens of workers were pounding away on homes at The Estates at San Elijo Hills, more than 1,200 feet above sea level in San Marcos. The hilltop development features views of the ocean, surrounding mountains and as far as Tijuana on a clear day. Ive never had a project with views like this, said Bill Davidson, president of the company developing the Estates, Davidson Communities. The Estates will release 58 homes over the next 18 months, with pricing starting around $1 million and up. The company said most interested buyers are 40 to 50 years old. The project is the most-recent residential development in San Elijo Hills and features many high-end elements: Pools, three to four-car garages, guest rooms, large bathtubs, unique rooms (sleeping porch and morning room) and courtyards. Davidson said the homes follow a modern trend of more communal living children who live at home longer, grandparents who move back in by using open floor plans to allow for changing uses. Homes at the Estates are massive, from 4,581 to 6,322 square feet. Davidson said the lot sizes were set when HomeFed, the publicly traded company that manages San Elijo Hills, got approval for the master-planned community. He said changing the lot sizes now would be too difficult. Trends among 2017 developments involve more amenities to make up for the high cost, open floor plans for multiple uses, and an emphasis on using Southern California weather for open air rooms. Front entrance of a home at The Estates San Elijo Hills (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) Homes at Brookfield Residentials Terracina at Rancho Tesoro in San Marcos, boast bonus rooms that can be used for different purposes and a second master bedroom on the first floor, something convenient for an elderly parent. CalAtlantic Homes Tavara Ridge development in Clairemont, will include California rooms that allow for open air to flow through, unlikely to work in Florida with mosquitoes. An option at Pardee Homes Casabella at Pacific Highlands Ranch is for a guest suite called a gen-smart suite that creates a private quarters within the home that has its own bedroom and bathroom. Developers said most of their buyers of new homes are people selling their current home to move into something nicer, such as Jodi and Rodney Squires in North County. The Squires were happy in their Carlsbad home of 12 years and had not planned on moving. That changed a little more than a year ago when they first saw the drawings and early models of the Vistas at Robertson Ranch from Toll Brothers. We fell in love with these homes so much, Jodi Squires said. The design is super modern and different. It really makes use of their space. The Squires, in their 40s with two elementary school-aged children, decided to sell their Calavera Hills 2,700-square-foot home (it sold in seven days) and rent until their brand-new 3,000-square-foot home opened in November. Homes at the Vistas start around $890,295. A homebuyer in San Diego County tends to be someone who plans to live here full time, as opposed to an investor, said Bradley Hare, Toll Brothers senior division vice president. When people buy in San Diego, they invest a lot into options and customizing their homes because they envision staying for a long time, he said. Thats one of the unique, very cool things about selling in San Diego. Toll Brothers is building four developments in Carlsbad set to open in spring, with homes starting at $800,000 and some that approach $1.5 million. The communities at Robertson Ranch are called Vistas, Bluffs, Terraces and Estates. Do buyers still want homes? Nationwide, the typical age of a repeat homebuyer in 2016 was 52 years old and a first-time buyer was 32 years, said the National Association of Realtors. While a common belief is that older buyers will sell their large homes for smaller condos or houses as children move out, it isnt always true. Andy Warren, director of real estate research at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said last week at a meeting of the Urban Land Institutes San Diego-Tijuana branch, that where the younger generation buys may depend on whatever baby boomers decide to do. He said boomers are working longer, have changing views on what retirement means and, in general, have stumped real estate experts on if they will move or stay. We still havent been able to nail that down even though people have been talking about it for 10 years, Warren said. A July report from San Diego real estate consultants The London Group argued the region was too focused on multifamily housing and removing the opportunity for younger generations to move into single-family homes when they start families. Yet, the chief economist for the San Diego Association of Governments said Thursday at an economic conference at the University of San Diego that his view of millennials was different. Millennials have a different attitude of what they want out of life. They are much more geared toward experiences versus toward consumer goods, said economist Ray Major at the annual San Diego County Economic Roundtable. Owning a single-family house with a yard doesnt seem to be as much of a priority to them as having a good life. Alan Gin, economist at USD, said it is also of note that many millennials saw their parents lose their homes in the recession, and are more mobile than previous generations. There might be less of a desire to purchase homes among the younger population, he said. There are still some that (want to buy), but I think its less than the historic pattern. phillip.molnar@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1891 Twitter: @phillipmolnar ALSO 2017: Whats next in housing San Diego getting more apartments in 17 Millennials arent settling in San Diego. Heres why. Qualcomm has been called the research and development shop for the wireless industry, investing billions to create technologies to push mobile communications forward. Now, the way it gets paid for those inventions is under full-fledged assault. Not only government regulators but also top customers are pushing back in court against Qualcomms patent licensing practices. Advertisement On Friday, Apple filed a lawsuit in a San Diego federal court alleging that Qualcomm is charging too much for standard essential patents and is withholding nearly $1 billion in royalty cap rebates in retaliation for Apples cooperation with anti-trust investigators in the U.S., South Korea and elsewhere. Despite being just one of over a dozen companies who contributed to basic cellular standards, Qualcomm insists on charging Apple at least five times more in payments than all the other cellular patent licensors we have agreements with combined, Apple said in a statement. The Apple lawsuit comes on the heels of the Korea Fair Trade Commission fining Qualcomm $865 million last month and demanding changes in its patent licensing business. Then last week, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission joined in filing a lawsuit objecting to Qualcomms patent licensing. The FTC complaint, which doesnt seek specific damages, contains many of the same allegations that Apple puts forward in its lawsuit. The disputes could create headwinds for one of San Diegos largest private-sector employers, which along with Sempra Energy are the only two Fortune 500 companies in town. While patent licensing accounted for only one-third of Qualcomms $23.6 billion in annual revenue last year, it made up the bulk of its annual profit before taxes and other items. Qualcomm posted net income of $5.7 billion last year. Qualcomm vehemently denies the claims and vows to fight. It has experience including tough legal battles over the years with Nokia, Broadcom and others. Don Rosenberg, Qualcomms general counsel, joined the company in 2007 after serving as Apples top lawyer for about 10 months. Apple has been actively encouraging regulatory attacks on Qualcomms business in various jurisdictions around the world, as reflected in the recent Korea Fair Trade Commission decision and FTC complaint, by misrepresenting facts and withholding information, said Rosenberg in a statement. The barrage of lawsuits follow a 2015 settlement between the company and Chinas anti-monopoly regulator that appears to have spilled over into other nations. In the China settlement, Qualcomm paid a $975 million fine and reduced royalty rates on certain phones sold only in China. Despite the fine, the deal was considered good for Qualcomm. It affirmed the companys right to collect royalties in China on its patents which some Wall Street analysts doubted would happen. In the wake of the China settlement, however, other government regulators have ratcheted up their scrutiny of Qualcomms licensing business. In addition to the U.S. and South Korean actions, investigations are under way in Europe, Taiwan and Japan. In 2015, Qualcomm considered splitting its patent licensing arm from its chip making business creating two separate companies. Activist investor Jana Partners agitated for the split, which could moot key anti-trust allegations against Qualcomm that it uses its dominance in cellular chips to extract higher-than-deserved royalties from customers. The company says it has never withheld or threatened to withhold chip supply in order to obtain unfair or unreasonable licensing terms. Qualcomms board of directors voted against the split. The legal maneuvers come amid a slowdown in smartphone sales, which are growing at about 1 percent after several years of double digit annual growth, according to industry research firm International Data Corp. That has smartphone makers looking for ways to cut costs. In 2015, Qualcomm slashed its global workforce by 15 percent because of the slowing market. Most of the layoffs came from its semiconductor division. Qualcomm now employs 30,000 worldwide. Analysts say its too early to know what Apples entry into the fray means. It doesnt, however, bode well for customer relations between Qualcomm, which supplies chips used in some iPhones, and one of the worlds best known brands, said Stacy Rasgon of Bernstein Research. Its not just governments now. Its one of their large customers, said Rasgon. They cant catch a break. Rasgon and other Wall Street analysts speculated that the FTC might withdraw the complaint relatively soon with the transition to the Trump administration, which is expected to appoint a Republican majority to the FTC, given current vacancies and pending departures. The lone sitting Republican on the commission, Maureen Ohlhausen, wrote a scathing dissent to the FTCs decision to sue, saying its based on a flawed legal theory and flimsy evidence. Apples lawsuit, however, could make commissioners think twice about withdrawing, since it supports the agencys lawsuit. Apple paints a picture of Qualcomm taking various steps to gouge Apple and other smartphone makers for licensing standard essential cellular patents. These patents cover key technologies to making cellular communications work. Patent holders agree to share them at reasonable rates during an industry standard setting process. Whats reasonable isnt defined. But Apple alleges Qualcomm overcharged it billions of dollars with its illegal scheme. Qualcomm doesnt disclose royalty rates. Analysts believe they are roughly 5 percent of the wholesale price of the handset with offsets under certain circumstances. Apple sees that as unfair. When Apple spends billions redefining the concept of a smartphone camera,Qualcomms royalty payments go up, the company said in the lawsuit. Even when Apple sells an iPhone with added memory256 gigabits instead of 128 gigabits Qualcomm collects a larger royalty just because of that added memory. Qualcomm argues that the wireless industry has based royalties on the price of compliant devices for more than two decades. The 3G and 4G LTE cellular technologies that Qualcomm created enable smartphones users to stream video, get emails and make reliable calls from nearly anywhere thus contributing significantly to what makes smartphones valuable to consumers. The lawsuit also alleges that Qualcomm owes nearly $1 billion to Apple under a rebate agreement between the two companies. According to the awsuit, Qualcomm stopped payments in retaliation for Apple cooperating with South Korean anti-trust investigators. Qualcomm denies that claim. We welcome the opportunity to have these meritless claims heard in court where we will be entitled to full discovery of Apples practices and a robust examination of the merits, Rosenberg said in a statement. Analysts believe it could take years to resolve the legal disputes. Meanwhile, Qualcomm is investing in next generation 5G mobile technologies. And its buying NXP Semiconductors for $47 billion, including assumption of debt, to diversify its business beyond smartphones and into automotive, the Internet of Things and other markets. Analysts dont believe the legal disputes will impact the NXP deal, which is slated to be completed late this year. Qualcomm reports fiscal first quarter earnings on Wednesday, where it may shed further light on the lawsuits. Business mike.freeman@sduniontribune.com; Twitter:@TechDiego 760-529-4973 ALSO: Apples lawsuit against Qualcomm signals escalating war on business model Under Trump administration, FTC lawsuit against Qualcomm could disappear Qualcomm faces FTC lawsuit over patent licensing Qualcomm slapped with $865 million fine from S. Korea regulator Qualcomm to pay $975 million in China probe Author Sheila Kohler grew up in South Africas privileged upper class, in the time of apartheid, with a sister she loved deeply and lost tragically in a car crash she never believed was an accident. Over and over in her fiction shes returned to that loss, and now its at the heart of a new memoir, Once We Were Sisters. Kohler, who lives in New York City and teaches at Princeton, will be at Warwicks Monday at 7:30 p.m. Q: Why did you write this memoir, and why now? Advertisement A: Ever since my sisters death occurred, which was 35 years ago, Ive been writing about it. It was such a traumatic event. I was in a rage with my brother-in-law because there had been this history of battering and I felt, I suppose, guilty because I hadnt been able to protect my sister. In the beginning, I felt that fiction was the better way for me to go. Plus, there were other considerations. My brother-in-law was still alive, and there were six children to think about. My mother wanted to basically forget the whole matter and treat it as an accident. But at this point, the children are very much grown, they have children of their own, and my brother-in-law is no longer with us, nor is my mother. I felt like I could perhaps now with some fairness write the story and get as close as possible to the truth, or at least the truth I knew. Q: In the early days, was fiction better because it enabled you to approach the story from a safer distance? A: Exactly. What is it that Emily Dickinson said? Tell all the truth, but tell it slant. I needed the slant at that point. Q: As you mentioned, youve returned to your sisters death in your writing many times. What keeps bringing you back? A: It was just such a terrible event. A young woman, she was 39, she had all these children, she was beautiful and brilliant and full of all these projects and plans. And I think she really did mean at that time to leave him. But its very hard when you are confronted by a bully and someone who will use force. And there may have been other emotional reasons. In fact, that answers your question: I kept asking myself, how did this happen? How could this happen? How could evil exist in the world if you believe in a benevolent God? I was taking to the page to find the answers. Q: Do you think you would have become a writer if your sister hadnt died the way she did? A: I think I would. I always wanted to write from when I was a very little girl. When I was 5 or 6, I can remember sitting on the toilet of all places and starting to write a novel. I dont know what it was about. So it was something I always wanted to do. I was the girl in the dormitory at boarding school who told stories. They were always running through my mind. But I got married very young, had three children, and my middle daughter was born deaf. I was really fixated on trying to help her to talk. I kept writing, diaries and whatever, but its true that my sisters death was something that really sent me scurrying to the page. I had a real agenda there, which is difficult with fiction. Thats probably why the first time I tried I couldnt do it. Q: You mentioned earlier feelings of guilt. What role did that play in your writing? A: It played a huge role. I was always telling myself, If Id done this, if Id had hired a bodyguard, if Id stayed by her side then it couldnt have happened. And in fact, the first book I ever managed to write, which was based on a murder of a young girl, the narrator herself is the guilty one. What do you call that, survivors guilt? Whatever it is, that feeling in those circumstances is that you should have saved them. Q: In some of your fiction, youve kind of rewritten the ending of your sisters story, havent you? A: Yes, I did. In Crossways I had the sister run down (with her car) the brother-in-law. Revenge is sweet, on the page anyway. Not in life. Q: Has all this wrestling with these issues made you come to any conclusion about whether its possible to find closure? A: I dont think so. I hate to say that. For me, it fuels my writing. It fuels my work. Even when Im writing something thats very different Ive done historical novels, written about the Brontes, and Im currently writing a book about Sonia, who is the prostitute in Crime and Punishment these are all women who never got to tell their stories. So in a way Im still writing my sisters story. She would tell me, as women do tell me things as if they were happening to someone else. Then I would realize it was her story. I would say, This happened to you? And she would say, I promised not to tell. And so I would say, You didnt tell. She was frightened for her husbands career, frightened for her own life. Q: You mention in several places in the memoir that writing became a way for you to understand the mysteries and secrets of the people around you. What have you learned about yourself from your writing? A: Things appear on the page that you didnt know. Probably I started out with my initial attempt to write this with the sister being perfect. I as the narrator was perfect. I was the victim. How could this happen to me? Then you discover that you, too, have had aggressive feelings and youre not perfect either. Its a good way to discover yourself, on the page. Thats for sure. The dark side of human nature appears. Thats actually an exercise I give students sometimes: to write from the point of view of someone you are in conflict with. Somebody who does not have the same political views, for example. Write from their point of view and see what happens. Q: This is a very personal book but what are the universal messages you hope readers might get from reading it? A: First of all, you hope that somebody can be distracted from their own world, from whatever it is in their own mundane existences. For a moment, they are taken out of themselves. Then at the same time, it might give them some insight into whatever is happening in their own lives. You hope to do both things. We are, after all, a community of souls. So you hope to feel some kind of connection with each person who reads your book. Once We Were Sisters, by Sheila Kohler, Penguin Books, 256 pages john.wilkens@sduniontribune.com; (619) 293-2236 In classical music, theres only one James Gaffigan: the internationally in-demand conductor who leads the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and is guest-conducting the San Diego Symphony this weekend. But in the wider world, theres also comedian-actor James Gaffigan. In 2001, when conductor Gaffigan was studying at Rice University in Houston, he bought a laptop and soon heard his phone ring. The irritated caller was the comedian. It turns out that we both bought a MacBook the same day under the name Jim Gaffigan and he was billed twice, recalled the conductor, with a laugh. He was freaking out, thinking his identity was stolen. Advertisement A friendly conversation ensued, and now they follow each other on Twitter. Recently he tweeted something like it was unfair to be mixed up with this guy who is more talented and more handsome than him, Gaffigan said. Not true, I tweeted back. And Im sick of people expecting me to be funny. Expectations should be high for this weekends program, which is part of the symphonys Our American Music series. On Friday and Sunday, the symphony will perform the works of six outstanding U.S. composers Henry Cowell, Steven Stucky, Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, Morton Gould and Duke Ellington. Goulds Tap Dance Concerto features dancer Cartier Williams. Its safe to say the program is a study in American music, Gaffigan said. The symphony chose two masterpieces, the Barber symphony and Ellingtons Harlem, two difficult works by genius composers. The symphony is at an extremely high level. Its a very challenging program and Im excited to do it. The second half is simply a party, emphasizing rhythm. Bernsteins Prelude, Fugue and Riffs is one of his most exciting pieces completely wild. And theres the tap dance concerto. When they first told me about it, I started laughing; I hadnt heard of such a thing. But I listened and its just great. Its really fun and entertaining. Gaffigan started playing music by ear on piano and guitar when he was a public school student on Staten Island. His father suggested trying the bassoon or oboe because hed be more likely to qualify for scholarships. Despite acknowledging that the bassoon was a funny instrument, Gaffigan became fascinated by it. Playing the bassoon was how I fell in love with classical music, he said. I then went to LaGuardia (Academy for Arts & Technology). Very quickly it became clear how fascinated I was with the score and how a piece came together. So, by the age of 18, I knew I wanted to become a conductor. Both my mother and father were very supportive. They had no money to buy an instrument; they had to take out a loan. Heres their lower-middle-class son who wants to become a musician. They saw my love for it they didnt have professions they loved so much. Even when my career was beginning, when other family members worried about me not making money as a conductor, my parents were supportive. Now people realize you can have a nice career and make a good living waving a stick around. Gaffigan attended the Juilliard Pre-College Division and later attended several prestigious programs, including the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival and School (when he was 19), the New England Conservatory of Music, and Rice University. He was a conducting fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center and associate conductor of the San Francisco Symphony, under Michael Tilson Thomas. Earlier, Gaffigan served as assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra from 2003 to 2006. While there, Gaffigan had frequent interactions with Jahja Ling, who is wrapping up his 13-year tenure as music director of the San Diego Symphony this season. Ling has had a continuous relationship with the Cleveland Orchestra for 30-plus years. During the San Diego Symphonys 2013-2014 season, Gaffigan conducted Poulencs Concerto for Two Pianos, featuring Ling and Lings wife, Jessie Chang, as piano soloists. On Saturday, Gaffigan will be waving his stick around to lead the symphony in a Beyond the Score (BTS) concert, this one exploring the music and life of American composer Charles Ives. He conducted a BTS with the Chicago Symphony, where the concept was developed. The biggest problem with classical music is that it has become stodgy and museumlike, said Gaffigan, one of several guest conductors being considered to replace Ling as the symphonys music director. BTS is put together in a professional way and shows composers in a different light as humans. BTS is beyond an educational experience. Its a successful way of communicating the music and personalities of the composers. As a foodie and avid cook, Gaffigan hopes to have time to explore the lively San Diego restaurant scene. He credits concertmaster and violinist Jeff Thayer for introducing the conductor to unreal food and wine on his last visit here. But above all, Gaffigan is looking forward to playing with the symphony. There are these little gems among the orchestras in the U.S., and the San Diego Symphony is one of them, he said. This is their time. Some organizations have been in the spotlight too long and need to make room for upcoming orchestras like this one. With (CEO) Martha Gilmer at the helm, it will continue to shine. Wood is a freelance writer. San Diego Symphony presents Our American Music: American Riffs and Rhapsodies Who: James Gaffigan, conductor; Cartier Williams, dancer When: 8 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. next Sunday Where: Jacobs Music Center at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., downtown Tickets: $20 to $96 Phone: (619) 235-0804 Online: sandiegosymphony.org San Diego Symphony presents Our American Music: Beyond The Score: Things Our Fathers Loved Who: James Gaffigan, conductor When: 8 p.m. Saturday Where: Jacobs Music Center at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., downtown Tickets: $20 to $96 Phone: (619) 235-0804 Online: sandiegosymphony.org It had been a decade since the man who wreaked havoc on Shirley Wallaces family and killed three members of his own was sent to a state mental hospital, and she was fairly confident he would remain locked away for the rest of his life. But that confidence was shattered in November, when Wallaces mother showed her an article in The San Diego Union-Tribune. Thats how she learned that Michael Monroe Brown, her former brother-in-law, had asked the Superior Court to consider releasing him from the hospital so he could continue treatment for his mental health issues in an outpatient program. Advertisement Wallace, an East County resident, said her initial reaction to the news was absolute shock. He could have waltzed through this whole thing without any of us ever knowing, she said. Thats because Wallace and her family, including a younger sister who was married to Brown at the time of the murders, are not considered victims of the 2005 killing spree during which Brown fatally bludgeoned his mother, stepfather and brother in their Mira Mesa home. Brown, then a 48-year-old house painter, also killed two dogs. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and a judge concluded he was legally insane when he committed the killings. He was sent to Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino County. Because state law doesnt recognize Wallace and her relatives as victims of Browns crimes, at least not directly, the District Attorneys Office was not required to contact them when he asked to be considered for conditional release from the hospital. Even at a time when several states have laws codifying the rights of crime victims, Wallace who said she and many other family members feel like Browns collateral damage falls through the cracks. Marsys Law, passed by California voters in 2008, requires that victims receive, upon request, reasonable notice of all public proceedings at which the defendant and the prosecutor are entitled to be present and of all post-conviction release proceedings, including parole hearings. The law defines a victim as a person who suffers direct or threatened physical, psychological, or financial harm as a result of the commission or attempted commission of a crime. The term can also include the persons spouse, parents, children, siblings, or guardian. Its a much broader definition than the one that existed before Marsys Law, but it still leaves out Wallace, who has said she was not surprised that Brown murdered someone, only that he killed members of his own family rather than hers. The definition also leaves out Wallaces sister, now Browns ex-wife, who was being treated for health problems at a local hospital in March 2005, when Brown clubbed her dog with an aluminum bat at their rented home in Grantville, then drove to Mira Mesa. At his trial, a deputy public defender argued that Brown suffered from schizophrenia and was experiencing a psychotic delusion at the time of the killings. Wallace remains unconvinced. Im not saying there is no insanity, there is insanity, she said last week. I just dont happen to believe its Michael. Earlier this month, Wallace was preparing to attend the hearing on Browns petition for release and possibly testify (she said the deputy district attorney handling the case has been sympathetic to the familys situation), but Brown abruptly withdrew his request a day before the hearing was scheduled to begin. Its not clear what changed his mind, but Wallace said she hoped the letters she and other family members submitted to the court had some influence. Part of hers reads as follows: Because Michael failed to kill all of us that day, my entire extended family that now number 19 members are not considered victims of Michaels killing spree that day, Wallace wrote. This is a major source of concern for all of us. We are not entitled to be given any notice of any legal or court proceedings, (his) transfer to different facilities and possible release back into the streets of San Diego. This situation leaves me feeling vulnerable and totally helpless, the letter continues. I am at a complete loss as to how I am to protect myself and my family from the latter possibility. Once again, he is holding all the cards. He has all the rights and we have none. dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @danalittlefield Sheriffs homicide detectives showed up at the house first. Next came the drone. As detectives began investigating the fatal shooting of a Pala woman early Monday, two deputies flew the drone over the outdoor homicide scene, taking aerial photos and videos that would become evidence. The remote-controlled aircraft is one of four the Sheriffs Department is using to document crime scenes, search for missing people, aid SWAT teams during their operations and for other reasons in dangerous or unfavorable scenarios. Two other drones are used for training. Advertisement Its an extremely valuable tool, and potentially life-saving, Sheriffs Lt. Jason Vickery said. We can save a missing person or we can keep a deputy out of harms way. Thats invaluable. The first law enforcement agency in the county to own drones, the Sheriffs Department used one for the first time in October. Since then, the off-the-shelf models have been deployed nine times, Vickery said. Roll out of the yearlong pilot program did not fly with the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties. Christie Hill, senior policy strategist, criticized the Sheriffs Department for not holding public meetings before purchasing or using the drones, ignoring her organizations advice last spring. We expressed then that the public, and their elected leaders, deserve transparency about this program and should have the final say about whether this drone purchase goes forward, Hill said in a statement. Civil liberties advocates have long expressed concern that misusing drones could lead to unwarranted surveillance or violation of privacy rights. Law enforcement agencies throughout the state have faced public opposition to the use of drones. On Tuesday, five days after the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department announced it acquired a drone, a small group of protesters turned out in downtown Los Angeles to object. Can they be misused? Yes, but so can so many other tools at the Sheriffs Department, Vickery said. If we dont follow the rules for using them, there will ultimately be repercussions. He said the departments policy prohibits using drones for mass or random surveillance, as well as attaching weapons to the devices a worry among some people. Footage captured by the devices that is not evidence is deleted, unless it is to going to used for training purposes, Vickery said. A lot of what we do come up with turns out to be evidence, he said. So far, four deputies are trained and certified to fly the drones, with another five undergoing training. To become licensed, deputies must pass an FAA-administered test. Before putting a drone in the sky, the Sheriffs Department is required to notify the FAA and provide information about where it will be airborne. Under federal regulations, deputies cannot fly a drone above 400 feet and must keep visual contact with the device while its in the sky. Two deputies are paired together when a drone is deployed one of them keeps the aircraft in sight; the other controls the device while watching a small monitor showing footage being recorded. A large monitor can be set up to broadcast the video so other personnel can see, allowing them to have the same view as the pilot. An iPhone app also allows others to stream the aerial footage. Drones have an advantage over a Sheriffs helicopter, Vickery said, because they can maneuver in small, tight spaces and provide eye-level vantage points. That can be crucial for deputies when dealing with a suspicious package or a person holed up in a home. The devices can be used in most weather conditions, but not rain, so the Sheriffs Department is considering a water-proof model. Two of the departments drones can be fitted with infrared cameras and strobe lights. The latter help keep the aircraft in view when its far and at night. Sheriffs officials must get special permission from the FAA to fly after dark. The Sheriffs Department budget allocated $125,000 for the program, with training representing the bulk of the costs, Vickery said. The drones cost from $500 to $2,000. At the end of August, sheriffs officials will decide whether to continue the program. Police departments in Oceanside, Carlsbad, Escondido and Chula Vista said they are interested in the technology. This is going to be something that is going to be mainstream in a relatively short amount of time among law enforcement, Vickery said. Breaking News Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez Pay for elected officials is in the headlines this month, after increases proposed by and for city council members in north and south San Diego County. The suggested pay hikes for mayors and city council members in National City and Encinitas a 10 percent and 45 percent raise, respectively still require a final vote. Advertisement National City leaders on Tuesday voted down a much larger proposed 32 percent pay bump for three-term Mayor Ron Morrison. Rejection of the move came two years after Morrison the fourth highest-paid mayor in San Diego County received a 5 percent council-approved pay raise and roughly two years before he is barred by term limits from seeking the mayors seat for a fourth time. Data from the California Controllers Office shows compensation packages paid to mayors and council members in San Diego countys 18 cities grew by an average of 6 percent between 2013 and 2015. All but four cities Encinitas, Oceanside, San Marcos and Vista paid their mayor more than the council. Three cities San Diego, Chula Vista and Vista accounted for nearly half of all spending on such positions. They were also the only three in the county that paid their elected leaders more, on average, than other city employees. Those leaders made an average of nearly $88,000, more than twice as much as their counterparts in other cities, according to the state database. That data includes city-reported totals for wages as well as retirement and health benefits. Its not clear if it includes other forms of compensation, such as expense allowances and per diems for interagency board meetings. The Cleveland National Forest Foundation (CNFF) and Save Our Forest and Ranchlands have filed a lawsuit against San Diego County, arguing that the Board of Supervisors adopted an amendment to the Forest Conservation Initiative based on a faulty environmental analysis and failed to identify opportunities to minimize impacts of the new plan. The lawsuit was filed Jan. 13 in San Diego Superior Court. The Forest Conservation Initiative (FCI) was approved by more than two-thirds of San Diego County voters in 1993 to protect the Cleveland National Forest from piecemeal development, said a statement from the plaintiffs. Because breaking up the forest into small lots threatens the plants and wildlife that depend on the forest for survival, the FCI set minimum lot sizes of 40 acres throughout the forest and created clear boundaries for existing country towns within the forest to encourage compact development, noted the announcement of the lawsuit. The Forest Conservation Initiative is one of San Diego Countys most important planning success stories, said Duncan McFetridge of the Cleveland National Forest Foundation. The Board of Supervisors should do everything it can to protect and strengthen the FCI. Instead, its doing just the opposite. The FCI included a clause requiring voter approval of any zoning changes within the area protected by the initiative until Dec.31, 2010, after which the Board of Supervisors could make such changes through an amendment to the General Plan. The conservation groups say the county seized on the opportunity to allow further development in the forest by passing the FCI amendment Dec. 14, 2016. According to the plaintiffs, the amendment would allow much smaller parcels within the forest than was allowed under the voter-approved measure and smaller parcels encourage development outside existing town boundaries within the forest. San Diego County has already zoned sufficient land to support the development of tens of thousands of homes in the unincorporated parts of the county, they said, and its General Plan calls for consolidating development around existing country towns to reduce vehicle travel and minimize greenhouse gas emissions. San Diego County continues to underestimate the threat of climate change by encouraging development in far-flung areas, said attorney Catherine Engberg of Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger, who represents CNFF in the case, along with Marco Gonzalez of Coast Law Group. Its unfortunate that yet another lawsuit had to be filed to force the county to comply with state mandates to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to concerns about climate change and disrupting forest habitat, the lawsuit alleges flaws in the environmental analysis for the FCI amendment with regard to threats to water supplies, increased fire risk, and harm to wildlife in the forest. Under the California Environmental Quality Act, the county is required to consider alternatives that minimize environmental harm when it adopts a zoning change like the one included in the FCI amendment. The lawsuit argues that the environmental impact report used to justify the amendment was based on flawed assumptions that led to a faulty analysis. The lawsuit also argues that the FCI amendment is inconsistent with county General Plan policies aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions and flouts current court orders requiring the adoption of a robust and binding Climate Action Plan and related policies. The county is currently defending separate lawsuits brought by the Sierra Club and the Golden Door Spa challenging its failure to adopt and implement a legally adequate Climate Action Plan. We have a forest plan that is working for San Diego County and for the natural areas it was designed to protect, said CNFF board member Jana Clark. The FCI amendment seems like another developer give-away aimed at making it easier to build up rural areas instead of promoting vibrant cities and villages throughout the county. Its certainly not what the voters intended when they passed the FCI. By Press Trust of India: Panaji, Jan 22 (PTI) A total 250 candidates are in fray for the upcoming Goa Assembly elections, following the scrutiny and withdrawal of nominations. Of the 250 candidates to contest the February 4 polls for the states 40 constituencies, 131 are from South Goa and 119 from North Goa, as per the data available with Chief Electoral Officer. advertisement The 2012 state polls were contested by 202 candidates. There are no straight fights in any of the constituencies. The Calangute seat is expected to witness a three-corner contest among BJP, Congress and AAP. The BJP has fielded its candidates on 36 seats and is also supporting Independent nominees in two constituencies. The Congress is contesting on 37 seats, NCP on 16 and the MGP-GSM-Shiv Sena alliance has fielded 26 candidates. There are two candidates from United Goans party, three from Goa Suraj Party and four from Goa Vikas party. The Aam Aadmi Party has fielded the maximum candidates - in 39 constituencies. The Velim seat in South Goa has maximum 12 candidates in fray, followed by 10 each in Cortalim and St Andre. There are nine candidates each in fray from St Cruz and Dabolim, and eight each in Pernem, Siolim, Mayem, Sanguem and Vasco seats. Besides, Mandrem, Mapusa, Panjim, Sankhlim, Benaulim, Navelim and Cuncolim constituencies have seven candidates each. A total of 11.08 lakh voters are expected to exercise their franchise at 1,649 polling stations. The EVMs along with Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT)would be used to cast votes. PTI RPS GK GK BAS --- ENDS --- January in Belize is absolutely stunning. The temperature highs plummet to the low 80s and sometimes the mid to high 70s. The air is a bit crisper. All the migrating birds are here. My view out the window this morning at Cayo Frances Farm & Fly also known as the camp. I know what you are all thinkingif only it was January all the time. This osprey is probably thinking the same thing. I was headed down to Central Park for a rally against Offshore Drilling in Belize. The government okayed seismic testing in October 2016 without consulting the public. The people of Ambergris Caye turned out in droves to SAY NO and the testing was shut down. Public consultations were then scheduled for January 18th and 25th in Belize City and those too were cancelled. On our caye, everyone, directly or indirectly, make our livings from our environment. Citizens turned out to say No to Oil off our coast. Exploration and drilling. We need to make it law. Yesterday was a morning march No matter what your beliefs yesterday was a remarkable day for peaceful marches around the world. And this beautiful picture was taken by Jose Luis Zapata with his drone. I was very unsure of our formation on the ground but it turned out great. As I was headed north, I stopped for a moment to see The Reef Angels spearheaded by MJ and his PassionKite crew, collecting bottles. His growing team freedives and gathers trash from the ocean floor. GO REEF ANGELS. For information on how you can join them OR learn kite boarding in some of Belizes most beautiful waters, check out PassionKite. As well as my blog post visiting their floating shop. And then it was up to the Farmers Market at the Truck Stop were I bought some gorgeous bread and GOOD LORD THIS IS DELICIOUS smoked fish from Ian Andersons Farm House Deli. Thick bread, arugula, tomato, cream cheese and smoked barracuda and, Im telling you, you are in heaven. Sun dried tomato boule by Sue. Smoked barracuda by Farm House Deli. Fresh picked arugula by Cayo Frances Farm & Fly. And then off to the camp. Elsie has turned into an intrepid boat dog. We went back through the shallow lagoons of Ambergris Caye. And what a gorgeous evening. Elsie watching as Jeff comes into the camp. The sun was setting And, man, what a beautiful January sunset. By Press Trust of India: Samastipur, Jan 22 (PTI) The Police today seized 47 cartons of Indian-Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) from a vehicle and arrested two persons in this connection from Shankar Chowk within the limits of Ujiarpur police station in Bihars Samastipur district, a police officer said. The police intercepted a goods carrier on NH-28 and seized 802 bottles of IMFL contained in 47 cartons and arrested two occupants of the vehicle, identified as Santosh Jha and Raju Das, a trainee IPS Officer-cum-the Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Santosh Kumar said. advertisement The duo were being questioned about ownership of the liquor, he said. PTI CORR KDK DKB --- ENDS --- FLORENCE, S.C. As our holiday celebrations centered largely on food have recently drawn to a close, it is difficult to imagine that many children did not have the food they needed over the winter break. What we know, however, is that more than 1 million children in the United States regularly do not have access to the food they need. School feeding programs are helpful, but nearly one in five children are regularly hungry in America, and that is amplified over weekends and holiday periods when school is not in session. Sadly, almost half of all food stamp recipients are children. It is easy to think this does not affect us locally that hungry children are only living in some distant country but we have many hungry children right here. In fact, 18.9 percent of Florence Countys total population are food insecure, and many of those are children 22.8 percent or one in four! (Wonder about other locations and countries? Explore all S.C. counties and other states at feedingamerica.org.) American children do not present as the stereotypical emaciated ones we see in television campaigns. Hunger experienced in the United States generally presents in less obvious ways. Families may have empty pantries at the end of the week or month, or they might be forced to decide whether to pay a bill or buy food. Many children and families live in food deserts areas in which there is no easy access to grocery stores. When transportation is an issue, convenience or dollar stores often become a sole source of food where healthy choices are far less available and far more expensive. Food insecurity is a social issue, but it is an educational issue, as well. Hungry children are generally not productive learners. When basic needs are not met, those needs naturally become our primary focus, and those of us who have occasionally experienced mild hunger pains know that it is difficult to accomplish much until that need is met. The humorous new term hangry (hungry + angry) is no laughing matter for children and schools. There is a strong correlation between hunger and behavior and social problems at school, and add to that a range of health problems that are associated with poor nutrition, including depression, anxiety, inability to focus, stomachaches, and headaches. What is the educational outcome? Learners who live with food insecurity are more likely to be absent and earn lower grades. They are twice as likely to repeat a grade in elementary school and more likely to drop out of high school before graduation. All together, these issues prevent children from learning and from reaching their potential. This should matter to every citizen. So what can we do? We must advocate for food for hungry children who are virtually powerless to change their circumstances. We must participate in programs that offer support for children, both in school settings and in their communities. Many programs need our help. BackPack food programs help children over weekends, and Kids Cafe after school feeding programs assist with evening meals. School-based pantry projects and summer feeding programs are essential and need community support. Florence Countys own Help 4 Kids is feeding almost 2,000 elementary and Head Start children each week. We must spread awareness. The more our entire community understands the magnitude and scope of this problem, the more likely we will lock arms on behalf of this vulnerable population. Together we all policymakers, community members, business leaders, food banks and others can leverage our resources and fully engage in this important fight against childhood hunger. Tammy Pawloski is the director of the Center of Excellence to Prepare Teachers of Children of Poverty and a professor of education at Francis Marion University. This letter is in support of nurse practitioners and nurse practitioner practice in South Carolina. Around the state of South Carolina, nurse practitioners are providing care to thousands of patients. They are providing quality, evidence-based care and saving thousands of lives. When it comes to providing quality care for patients, they have been shown to work well with patients and work well with the entire health care team. First in a series FLORENCE, S.C. Help 4 Kids President Diane Welsh has had firsthand experience battling childhood hunger as a first-grade teacher at Delmae Elementary School. During her time in the classroom, Welsh witnessed childhood hunger regularly and saw what her young students were doing to find some sort of nourishment. She had a food pantry in her class to provide snacks for her students in need, but Welsh felt as though she wasnt doing enough. I would have children that would steal ketchup packs to mix with water for the weekend, and that was all they had to eat, Welsh said. I just started thinking, You need to feed these children. You need to figure out a way to get these children fed. With the help of a few members of her church, Welsh brainstormed ideas and came across a nonprofit organization at Myrtle Beach called Help 4 Kids, which feeds hungry children through the school system. In 2013, Welsh brought the idea back to Florence County. They were able to feed 193 kids that school year. Now, every week during a school year, Help 4 Kids Florence feeds nearly 2,000 children in need in elementary schools in each of the five Florence County school districts. To further their efforts, the Help 4 Kids organization, in cooperation with the Morning News, has created a Childhood Hunger Awareness Week, during which articles will be published about the hunger problem in local schools. Welsh said she hopes these articles will help others realize that hunger is a local concern and one that can cause major problems as hungry children grow into adulthood. We want people to be aware of the issue and the long-term effects of childhood hunger into adult lives, Welsh said. It can be life-lasting. Many times a child who is hungry is going to be a nonfunctioning adult. The children in need are identified by administrators in the schools, and parents are asked to sign a permission slip in order to participate in the program. Once the permission slip is signed, the children will be able to receive a bag of food each Friday during the school year. Children receive nine items in the bag, including three packs of grits or oatmeal, two meat products, two packs of Ramen noodles, a fruit item and a pop tart or fruit bar. Welsh said it costs approximately $5,400 every week to provide the food for the nearly 2,000 students in the program. As a nonprofit organization, Help 4 Kids relies on both food and monetary donations from businesses, churches and individuals. Help 4 Kids also hosts food drives at both the Irby Street and Beltline Drive Walmarts the second Saturday of every month. If people know how important it is that we feed these children, theyll come and help us, Welsh said. One in four children in Florence County are hungry. Were going to reduce that number, one child at a time. A special team of micro observers has been deputed to places like Bisada, Bhatta and Parsaul and other parts of western Uttar Pradesh which were on boil in recent past and may be used by politicians to woo voters from a particular religion or community. By Mail Today Bureau: District administration and police are keeping a close watch on "critical" booths, which in the past have witnessed violence as political parties have started planning to play their communal cards ahead of the Uttar Pradesh polls. A special team of micro observers has been deputed to places like Bisada, Bhatta and Parsaul and other parts of western Uttar Pradesh which were on boil in recent past and may be used by politicians to woo voters from a particular religion or community. advertisement Police in Greater Noida booked over 50 people, and Tejpal Nagar - a BJP candidate from Dadri constituency - for organising a panchayat in the temple of the communally sensitive Bisada village without taking adequate permissions, which is in violation of Model Code of Conduct. Also read | UP Assembly election: BJP releases list of star campaigners, LK Advani doesn't make the cut Officials claimed that the public meeting was held at the same temple, which was centre of the controversy as from here the announcement was made following which a mob had lynched 55-year-old Mohammad Ikhlaq over suspicion of cow slaughter and consumption of its meat. His son Danish was also badly injured in the attack. Nagar, however, replied that all he was doing was door-to-door campaigning for which no permission was required. Similarly, BJP MLA Sangeet Som was booked for violating the poll code after one of his campaign vehicles was allegedly broadcasting a "documentary" that contained clippings from the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots and his speech related to the Dadri lynching case. Som is one of the accused in the riots case and is said to have incited people to violence at the time. Som has been booked for violating the MCC under section 188 of the IPC (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and section 125 of the Representation of the People Act. Also read | UP Assembly polls: Akhilesh declares first list, baffles Congress' dreams of alliance The video showed clippings from the clashes in the Kawal village in Muzaffarnagar, where the riots started, and included speeches that Som had delivered and were seen as communal in nature. The documentary purportedly showed Som's role in the Bisada and Kanth incidents, and his arrest from Salawa village after the Muzaffarnagar riots, thereby projecting him as the saviour of Hindus. However, Som, who is contesting from Sardhana seat, said there was nothing controversial in the CD and that parts of the video had already been aired on TV news channels. advertisement Polls duty officials claimed that they are closely monitoring political parties campaigning and any kind of provocation and seeking votes on the basis of caste or religion will not be allowed. "No political party is allowed to organise a large gathering without permission from the election commission. If anyone does that, it will be a violation of section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. FIR against BJP's Tejpal Nagar was registered because he did not obtain permission before holding panchayat in the temple of Bisada," said sub-divisional magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagar. Also read | UP election: Drinking water crisis could make or break political equations in Firozabad The Supreme Court had on January 3 said it is illegal to seek votes in the name of religion, caste, race, community or language. Nagar, however, said he did not violate any law. In Gautam Budh Nagar, the district administration has identified 36 'critical' polling booths in Noida, Jewar and Dadri seats. --- ENDS --- Airlift, starring Akshay Kumar, released on this date, exactly a year ago. Based on the true story of the biggest civilian evacuation in history, Airlift is a film every Indian will be proud of for ages. By India Today Web Desk: On exactly this day, a year ago, released Airlift which has, perhaps, Akshay Kumar's finest performance as an actor. Based on the true story of 1,70,000 Indians getting evacuated from a volatile Kuwait, then attacked by Iraq, Airlift highlights the true spirit of an Indian and how far he he is willing to go to stand by his countrymen. advertisement MOVIE REVIEW: Airlift ALSO READ: I don't know how to thank you all for love and support, says Akshay Kumar ALSO WATCH: Stop politics over surgical strikes, says Akshay Kumar On August 2, 1990, Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait and then went on it occupy it for seven months till USA intervened leading to the Gulf war. As (bad) luck would have it, Kuwait was then home to a large number of people with Indian citizenship and/or ancestry. When a full-scale war broke out, these Indians got trapped with no way of returning to their motherland. WATCH AIRLIFT TRAILER HERE However, thanks to the efforts of Indians like Mathunny Mathews, then a popular businessman associated with the Toyota agency in Kuwait, 1,70,000 Indians were evacuated from Kuwait, making it the world's largest civilian evacuation till date. Akshay Kumar's character Ranjit Katyal, based on Mathews, starts off as a self-centered, rich businessman in Kuwait with disdain for all things Indian. However, when Ranjit sees that not just his family but the families of hundred others are stuck in peril, he realises his duty towards humanity and his country. Soon enough, he struggles hard and arranges for the safe airlift evacuation of over a lakh Indians. WATCH REAL STORIES FROM THE 1990 AIRLIFT Airlift shows us what an Indian can do when faced with impossible odds and that too in a foreign country. The film made on a modest budget of Rs 30 crore went on to gross Rs 231.6 crore worldwide. Airlift's story touched the hearts of each and every Indian and for good reason. After all, Ranjit Katyal was played by Akshay Kumar, a man who himself is the son of an ex-military officer. Here's hoping that Indians like Mathunny Mathews continue to make our country proud while the film industry continues to make classic like Airlift, Dangal and Rustom. Jai Hind! --- ENDS --- Releasing Samajwadi Party's manifesto in Lucknow, Akhilesh Yadav hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for only paying lip service to the people of the state and country in the name of development. By India Today Web Desk: Claiming that his government has done more than the Samajwadi Party had promised in its manifesto in 2012, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said that he was confident that if his party workers went to the masses showcasing the achievements in the last five years, "people will vote us back". Speaking on the occasion of the release of Samajwadi Party's manifesto in Lucknow, Akhilesh Yadav hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for only paying lip service to the people of the state and country. advertisement "They promised to bring 'achchhe din', but three years have passed since and the people of the state and the country are still searching for those 'achchhe din'. They have made us do yoga in place of 'achchhe din' and sometimes gave us 'jhaadu'(broom) to hold while we waited for 'achchhe din'," Akhilesh Yadav said. Akhilesh further said, "The union budget may have some announcements for Uttar Pradesh as elections are here." Akhilesh Yadav claimed that even his opponents acknowledge the good work done by his government. "Those, who don't vote for us, will love to ride 'Cycle', if they hit the Lucknow Expressway." SAMAJWADI MANIFESTO: THINGS TO KNOW Samajwadi Pension Scheme: A pension of Rs 1,000 to about one crore people. Pressure cooker for women from poor families. Samajwadi Smartphone Scheme: Apart from laptops, the SP government will distribute smartphones. Samajwadi Farmer's Fun will be created to ensure that the farmers get seeds and fertilisers according to their requirements. Kanya Vidyadhan scheme will be launched to increase the level of literacy among girls. Lohia Awas Samajwadi Pension scheme will be implemented with increased vigour. Helpline services at number 108, 109 and 100 will be made more efficient. Special focus will be on the skill development of minorities in accordance with their share in population of the state. Old age homes will be built for the senior citizens in Uttar Pradesh. The government will build hostels for working women, who will also have 50 per cent concession in bus fares in UP transport corporation's buses. Greenfield Expressway will be built in Bundelkhand region. 108-Ambulance service will be launched for animals. Akhilesh Yadav promised to give one litre ghee to all school going children. SP's new slogan: Jiska UP Uska Desh, Bachcha-Bachcha Akhilesh (Who controls UP controls nation, every child is Akhilesh). --- ENDS --- Press Release January 21, 2017 DOH, DepEd told: After condoms, focus attention on 5M kids in water-less schools The DepEd and the DOH should be as aggressive in putting an end to "waterless schools" as they are in pushing for the distribution of condoms in public schools, Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto said today. "We would like to see the same determined collaboration in installing water facilities, in building more toilets, in providing other health services in the country's 46,739 public elementary schools," Recto said. "If we're going to give away condoms, then let us also provide clean drinking water to millions of schoolchildren. Let's erase the backlog in water and sanitation facilities," Recto said. Handwashing, he said, is a "preventive measure that staves off sickness that leads to class absences." Recto said "zero-water" schools number 3,628 out of 46,739 nationwide, according to a presentation by the Department of Education last March. However, 8,109 schools rely primarily on rainwater catchment, "which renders them basically waterless," Recto said. "This brings up the real total of water-less schools to 11,737. So about one in four walang tubig. Ilang bata ang apektado? Easily 5 million students," he said. Only 18,393 schools nationwide have piped-in water. The next biggest source are deep wells, which 17,757 schools have, Recto said. "With lack of water comes the problem of sanitation facilities," Recto said. "There is a toilet shortage in all schools and you don't need statistics to back that claim." While the previous government had started building more toilets, including classrooms with one, the toilet-to-room gap remains wide, as only a fraction of the 493,669 classrooms nationwide have lavatories, Recto said. "I think we should start treating water as a basic and important education resource," Recto said. Recto said the availability of water impacts not just on the health of students--one survey said 60 percent of gradeschoolers have intestinal worms--but also school-based nutrition programs. "Paano ka magluluto kung wala kang tubig? Basic yan. Ngayon pa naman na malawak na ang ating schoolfeeding program," Recto said, referring to DepEd's program to serve one free meal a day for 120 days to 1.9 million underweight Kindergarten to Grade 6 pupils. Recto also called on DepEd and DOH to join hands in placing more dentists in schools. There are roughly 300 dentists serving a combined student-teacher population of 22.7 million. "There's only 1 dentist for every 75,000 public school students and teachers," Recto lamented. Citing a government survey, Recto said 1 in 7 absent from work or school at least once a month and 1 in 10 fail to go to school or work at least twice a year due to aching tooth or gums. "Another disturbing finding of the survey is that 9 in 10 urban children have decayed tooth," Recto said. "Isama natin ang oral health sa mga programang pangkalusugan sa mga paaralan," Recto said. Press Release January 22, 2017 Villar prioritizes passage of 3 bills before Holy Week break Sen. Cynthia Villar will be focusing on the passage of three legislative proposals before Senate adjourns for the Holy Week. The three bills, namely the Local Government Agriculture Development Act; Philippine Native Animal Development Act; and the bill expanding coverage of the National Integrated and Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act were identified as priority bills following the agreement to prioritize passage of senators' pet bills from January 16 to March 17. "These bills were among the bills I filed to advance my legislative agenda in instituting reforms in the agriculture and environment sectors," Villar said. Senate Bill 318 or the Local Government Agriculture Development Act is the proposal to allocate 10 percent of local government units' annual development fund for the implementation of programs for agriculture and fisheries advancement. "This bill aims to make programs for the benefit of farmers and fisherfolks a priority among local government units, as well as continuity of agricultural programs," Villar, vice chair of the Committee on Agriculture and Food, said. With the growing consumption of meat among Filipinos from 15 kilos per capita to 35 kilos per capita, Villar is pushing for the breeding of native animals, which are cheaper to raise and more adaptable to the country's changing climate. "We should turn to native animals to help us feed the growing population. We have seen problems raising imported cows; our climate is changing and these animals cannot adapt," Villar said. Villar filed Senate Bill No. 144 which aims to promote the scientific propagation, processing, utilization and development of Philippine native animals. The bill recommends the creation of the Philippine Native Animal Development Center (PNADC). The proposed PNADC in coordination with DA, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, native animal growers' cooperatives and organizations, LGUs and the private sector shall formulate a 20-year Framework for Development to be validated and updated annually. The framework will serve as a guide in implementing programs, plans and projects. It will also provide for investment promotion and facilitation, production support and extension, R&D, market promotion and development, quality assurance, infrastructure development among others. To bring the development of the industry closer to the stakeholders, the bill also seeks to create one native animal center in every region of the country that will be called Native Animal Regional Center. The active participation of farmers is also encouraged under the bill. Farmers' associations and cooperatives will serve as the focal point for government assistance in the propagation and dispersal of Philippine native animals and dissemination of technology on native animals. "If agriculture can grow at 3 to 4%, the average for the world, poverty in the country would substantially be reduced. The growth in the Philippine agricultural sector was only 1.7% yearly for the last five years. At the moment, there is slow and inefficient delivery of government support to the agriculture sector, and very limited impact of such support.," Villar stressed. In the environmental front, Villar is batting for the expansion of the coverage of the NIPAS law to include around 97 protected areas. Villar, chair of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, said she intends to improve the law and truly secure the existence and survival of native plants and animals for the Filipino people of present and future generations. Republic Act No. 7586 otherwise known as the NIPAS Act of 1992 is considered one of the landmark Philippine legislations. The objective of NIPAS was to protect and conserve biodiversity for the social and economic benefits it provides. Akshay Kumar, Huma Qureshi and Annu Kapoor-starrer Jolly LLB 2 finds himself in legal trouble. An advocate has filed a petition at the Bombay High Court demanding that the word LLB should be removed from the film's title. By India Today Web Desk: Congratulations to Akshay Kumar's Jolly LLB 2 for joining the list of films to have offended people in this country. Advocate Ajaykumar S Waghmare has filed a petition at the Bombay High Court, asking that the word 'LLB' should be deleted from the Jolly LLB 2, the title of Akshay Kumar's upcoming film. According to a report in The Hindu, advocate Waghmare has stated in his petition that using the word LLB is a "deliberate attempt to malign the reputation of the Indian legal profession." advertisement ALSO READ: Akshay Kumar's fan cycles 1.6 km from Haridwar to meet his idol ALSO READ: Airlift turns a year old. Here's why the film speaks to the Indian in all of us ALSO WATCH: Jolly LLB 2 trailer review Waghmare's petition says that the characters in the film's trailer are shown to be playing cards and dancing in court premises which suggests that Akshay's film has no respect for the judicial profession, discipline and ethics. Waghmare has also asked the court to stop Jolly LLB 2's trailer from being played on social media and TV channels. Jolly LLB 2 revolves around the story of lawyer Jagdish Mishra (Akshay Kumar) who locks horns with a rival lawyer played by National Award-winning actor Annu Kapoor in a high-profile case. Much of Jolly LLB 2 is set within the premises of a court as is justified by the film's subject. WATCH JOLLY LLB 2 TRAILER HERE Waghmare's petition is likely to be heard at the Bombay High Court on January 24. The film is scheduled to release on February 10. Jolly LLB 2 is the second Akshay film from 2017 after Toilet: Ek Prem Katha which has offended somebody. In November last year, a group of saints in Mathura objected to the shooting of Toilet: Ek Prem Katha as the film's content was allegedly hurting the sentiments of the people of two villages Nandgaon and Barsana, where the film was being shot. A religious leader among the offended saints reportedly declared a reward of Rs 1 crore meant for anyone who could bring to him the tongue of the film's director Shree Narayan Singh. Another leader Mahamandleshwar Nawal Giri Maharaj suggested that the film's title 'Toilet - Ek Prem Katha' should be changed by the film's makers to 'Toilet - A Swachhta Abhiyan' to send the right message to the society. "We are shooting scenes in Nandgaon and Barsana but every doubt would be cleared with release of movie as nowhere the name of Nandgaon has been used in it. The movie is on women's empowerment and 'Swachhta' and Barsana is chosen for communicating this message through 'lath-maar' Holi since Mughal period," Toilet - Ek Prem Katha director Narayan Singh was later quoted as saying. --- ENDS --- advertisement This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Just six days into Donald Trumps presidency, hundreds of volunteers and officials will fan out across San Francisco to take a count of the citys homeless population, hoping to get the most accurate tally possible and qualify the city for the most federal money possible. The key word here is possible. When it comes to the count, done every two years, accuracy is far from a given. And its hard to know how much any degree of accuracy is going to matter with the new administration and Congress. As a candidate, Trump promised to slash discretionary social service spending. Republican budget proposals take that goal even further, and the man nominated by the new president to head the federal housing and homeless funding agency is viewed with skepticism by many antipoverty activists. Retired neurosurgeon and former GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson, tapped by Trump to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, has no experience in government and has been quoted as saying that poverty is really more of a choice than anything else. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, called Carson disturbingly unqualified for the post. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle During his confirmation hearing this month, Carson struck a moderate tone, reminding senators that he had grown up close to being homeless. He said that although he intended to evaluate HUD programs with an eye toward making reductions, he thought some were effective, particularly housing vouchers for homeless veterans. Although homelessness is down, even among veterans, we must continue to tackle this problem by continuing to build strong partnerships with counties and cities across America, Carson told the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. I want to build on this progress. The statements did little to reassure many advocates for homeless people. The Trump administration is going to be a disaster, said Paul Boden, organizing director of the Western Regional Advocacy Project in San Francisco, which works on behalf of poor people. He said the federal government has never fully restored the money cut from antipoverty and housing-aid programs under President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. In current dollars, funding levels are less than half what they were 35 years ago, according to studies by Bodens organization and others, including Georgetown University. Boden, whose activism dates to Reagans time, sees no improvement in sight. A guy whos a brain surgeon ... will now be in charge of housing, Boden said. That pretty much tells you everything you need to know. Its all going to get worse. Former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos, who served as Western regional head of HUD from 1993 to 2001, said that, despite Carsons statements to the Senate committee, the nominee is ignorant and uninformed about homeless and housing issues ... and, quite frankly, in the HUD bureaucracy there is no strong inclination toward dealing with homelessness, either. If anything, services will diminish. At best they will stay the same. The advocacy for homeless funding always came from political appointees to HUD, Agnos said. I hope as Carson gets informed, he will understand that people sometimes need a hand. But if he sticks to his ideology that everyone has to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, then were not going to get much help. A rare cautious-but-optimistic note came from Sherilyn Adams, director of Larkin Street Youth Services, which helps homeless young people who made up 21 percent of San Franciscos street population in the 2015 homeless census. She is on the executive committee of A Way Home America, a national consortium of advocates and agencies that is crafting a transition plan for the new president to end youth homelessness by 2020. There are obviously concerns about the placement of Trumps Cabinet members, but we cant let that define our work or what we need, Adams said. It only informs how we have to advocate for the systems change and resources. I am a born optimist. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle San Francisco spends $265 million a year on homeless services and supportive housing for formerly homeless people, and as much as half of that is supplied by the federal government. The funding from Washington includes the McKinney-Vento homeless grant, disbursed annually by HUD to cities throughout the nation. This month, San Francisco learned its allocation for the coming year is $32 million, up from $27 million in 2015 when the last homeless count was taken. Millions of additional dollars arrive through Medicaid, housing vouchers, disability payments and dozens of other federal programs for the poor. With Trump promising on the campaign trail to cut 1 percent of all discretionary nondefense spending every year for a decade, and congressional Republicans floating plans to cut up to $3 trillion from low- and moderate-income programs during the same period, the ripple effect could turn into a tsunami. The private market just wont provide housing for poor people without government subsidies, and there is real risk here that those subsidies could take some cuts, said Sarah Edleman, director of housing policy at the Center for American Progress, which studies poverty. In the previous session of Congress, Republicans tried to gut this kind of funding, but HUD had a strong leader who stood up to them. Now there is real risk. Whether the funding goes up or down, San Francisco gets none of that core McKinney grant without its biennial street count. And although the citys federal funding is partly dependent on the one-night census the more people, the better the chances of more money officials concede that the count far underestimates the true number of homeless people. For more than a decade, cities and counties have been estimating the number of homeless people the same way by sending volunteers and government officials out for one night to streets, shelters and anywhere else not considered a permanent home to do a visual count. However, they dont stop to interview anyone, and there are plenty of places where sleeping people cant be seen. The count always takes place during January, because the government assumes more people will be in shelters during the middle of winter and thus available for head counts. San Francisco will do its count Thursday night. The citys assessment in 2015 came up with 6,686 homeless people, an increase of 3.8 percent from two years earlier. The San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness estimates a more realistic count would be 13,000 if those who were hiding, sleeping on a friends couch or otherwise not readily visible were tallied. The city Department of Public Health recorded 9,975 homeless people who used its services in fiscal 2014-15. These asinine counts are completely inaccurate, and its time we focused on more dollars for housing instead, Boden said. Jeff Kositsky, whom Mayor Ed Lee named last year to head the new city Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, said that as flawed as it is, the count is still important because it provides us an apple-to-apple comparison to other counties and locally over the years. Kositsky anticipates San Franciscos numbers could go up a bit again not so much because significantly more people are on the streets, but because they are being pushed into more visible spots as developers bulldoze their hiding places. He also anticipates an uptick in counts all along the West Coast, because this is where the national economy is and poor people go where the opportunity is. In 2015, homeless counts elsewhere along the West Coast rose more than in San Francisco. King County in Washington, where Seattle is, saw an increase of 10 percent. Los Angeles Countys street count went up 12 percent. HUD also reported that from 2010 to 2016, the January counts found that the number of chronically homeless people in San Francisco went down 44 percent, better than the 27 percent drop nationwide. Kositsky declined to predict what to expect from the new administration when it comes to funding, saying hes concentrating on putting a system in place that will help his city department track its contacts with homeless people. That system will be coming online regardless of how much aid Washington provides, he said. Having a real-time database, Kositsky said, will allow him to target services by determining exactly how many homeless people need drug rehabilitation, subsidized housing or specialized health care. No matter who is running Washington, that will make spending more efficient, he said. A simple point-in-time count is not that useful as a planning tool, Kositsky said. What Im really looking forward to is getting our new data system up and running. Kevin Fagan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kfagan@sfchronicle.com S.F. homeless count Officially called the S.F. Point In Time Homeless Count, the census is conducted once every two years, in January. The next one will take place Thursday from 8 p.m. to midnight. A record 600-plus volunteers have signed up to help, and registration is now closed. Volunteers and officials conduct the count in every district of the city. Results are expected to be released in the spring. President Trumps swearing-in was more of a White Lives Matter rally than an inauguration. There were no lofty words or new thoughts, just a polished and toned-down collection of his catchphrases. What was amazing was that he condemned every lawmaker surrounding him, Republican and Democrat alike. It wasnt so much populism as nationalism. His three-point program of put America first, buy American and hire American was delivered without a single smile. And he was wearing the longest tie Ive ever seen. I got a real kick out of all the Democrats boycotting the inauguration. Truth be told, there were probably just as many Republicans who ducked out on the two inaugurations of former President Barack Obama. They just didnt brag about it. I know, because back then I used my contacts to score inaugural tickets from absent Republicans for my Democratic friends who were dying to go. I was the StubHub for Democrats nationwide. The groundbreaking for the new Golden State Warriors arena was like a cross between Barnum & Bailey and the Fourth of July. Big video, big fireworks, acrobats and even synchronized backhoes. All that was missing were the dancing elephants. The true highlight, however, was the announcement that the state Supreme Court had declined to hear any further legal objections to the arena from the Mission Bay Alliance. I bet the Warriors lawyers got a nice bonus for delivering that verdict on cue. It seemed like every elected city official and state officeholder from San Francisco was on hand for the event, something you rarely see outside of City Hall these days. But then everyone likes a winner and tickets to the winners games. Jeff Chiu/Associated Press Afterward I went over to Original Joes with Supervisor Aaron Peskin. He did his best to persuade me he has no plans to run for mayor in 2019. I dont know if I buy it, and I doubt many other people will, either. Still, it was a highly entertaining conversation, and I learned a few things about Peskin. Like, when he was 20 years old, he and two friends rode here from Washington, D.C., on bicycles. It took them 53 days. Peskin also told me that his father, a psychologist, and KQED Forum host Michael Krasny taught classes at the same time at San Francisco State University. And get this: Peskin was also a classmate of our new U.S. senator, Kamala Harris, back in elementary school in Berkeley. Aaron and Kamala playing in the sandbox. Now, that would be a photo. Our new police chief, William Scott, is a real cop, but not much of a politician. That was the impression I got from our hourlong meeting the other day. He doesnt seem the type to tolerate nonsense from anybody. The Alabama-born Scott is confident and quite comfortable with himself, but not in an arrogant way. And he does not appear to be a climber. He didnt ask me who the players are in the various neighborhoods. The subject of whom he should get to know didnt come up. Hes not political at all. Gov. Jerry Brown made history the other evening when he attended the Lunar New Year kickoff ceremony at the Chinese Consulate on Laguna Street. By my recollection, it was the first time a governor had appeared at the event. Brown played it straight and pretty much followed form, promising continued cooperation between California and China. What was significant was the timing, just before the ascendancy of Donald Trump, with all the uncertainty on trade and foreign relations that he brings to the table. The other interesting aspect was the mere fact of Browns presence. Why would he come all the way down from Sacramento for this? The only answer that comes to mind: Hes going to run for something after hes not the governor. Movie time: Sleepless. This shoot-em-up starring Jamie Foxx is your basic cop-in-big-trouble story with lots of twists and turns, most of them so far-fetched theyre almost funny. Its like a low-budget version of Denzel Washingtons Training Day. But if bullets and bad guys are your thing, this is the perfect matinee. Valerie Miles-Tribble stole the show at this years Martin Luther King Jr. Day festivities when she told the crowd: I dont want one of you to tell me again about the problem you have with Donald Trump. The goal is not to be having a problem with Trump. The goal is for Trump to be having a problem with you. Want to sound off? Email: wbrown@sfchronicle.com Two Mercedes-Benz cars sit side by side in a garage at Quanergy Systems Sunnyvale headquarters. One, a black sedan, has a scaffold-like structure on its roof holding two canister-shaped sensors. The other, a cherry-red SUV with a stylized Q on the hood, also has two sensors but they are hidden behind a panel on the front bumper. The car with the awkward canisters is the before, while the SUV that has small, hidden sensors is Quanergys after version of lidar, a laser form of radar that helps self-driving cars perceive whats around them. Quanergy says its lidar sensors are smaller, cheaper and more reliable than those of rivals. It says it is the first company to produce a solid-state lidar that doesnt need to rotate, meaning its less likely to break down. Our sensors are higher performance in range, accuracy and resolution, said Quanergy CEO and co-founder Louay Eldada, 50, who has a doctorate in optical engineering and founded the company, his fourth startup, in 2012. Lidar bounces laser pulses off objects and measures how long it takes for them to return, sending out hundreds of thousands of beams per second. Since the system knows the speed of light, the reflection time lets it calculate how far away objects are, creating a detailed 3-D map of surroundings within a 650-foot radius. Quanergys devices are sensitive enough to tell the difference between a tumbleweed and an armadillo, or between a floating plastic bag and a rock. We can see not only the shape of an object, but how it behaves from frame to frame, Eldada said. We can tell whether someone intends to cross the street, for instance. To aid in that, in August Quanergy acquired Raytheons Otus People Tracker, software that uses human perception algorithms to figure out intention. Its used in battlefields to tell friend from foe by analyzing their behavior, Eldada said. Two Quanergy sensors in the companys reception area capture peoples movements, which are displayed in colorful scribbles on an overhead monitor via Otus. Lidar, which is either short for light detection and ranging or just a mashup of light and radar, depending on which sensor geek you ask, is poised to be a massive industry as carmakers and tech companies work feverishly to make self-driving cars a mass-market reality. Thats why Quanergy, which has raised $150 million, has a private market valuation of $1.59 billion. Lidar is an active sensing technology which makes it a useful complement to cameras, said Nidhi Kalra, senior information scientist at nonpartisan think tank Rand Corp. and director of Rand San Francisco. Cameras are passive, because they just receive light coming in through their aperture. They cannot always distinguish between an object and a picture of an object, for instance. But every sensor has a weakness. For lidar, rain and fog are problematic. If the laser hits a raindrop or puddle, it can bounce in the wrong direction, Kalra said. Thats why most autonomous vehicle makers are taking a belt and suspenders approach of multiple sensors lidar, radar and cameras being the big three. But unlike cameras, lidar isnt limited at night. The light that lidar senses is the light it sends, so we see very well in pitch darkness, Eldada said. Until recently, a lidar system carried a $75,000 price tag, making it impractical for widespread use. Its most commonly seen as spinning bucket-like objects mounted on the roof of a self-driving car, giving them a distinctive if ungainly appearance. Quanergys S3 lidar for transportation, the size of two decks of cards stacked atop each other, will initially sell for $250, and eventually even less, Eldada said. It will be integrated seamlessly into cars, as in the test Mercedes at Quanergy headquarters. Sensata, a former Texas Instruments subsidiary, will start producing them in Massachusetts this year, although large-scale production wont happen until 2018. Quanergy also makes a smaller, $100 lidar called the S3-Qi for use in drones, security devices and robots. It will be manufactured by Singapores Flex Ltd. (formerly Flextronics) in a Milpitas facility and will be in full-scale production this year. Since it does not spin, Quanergys S3 device only sees a 120-degree view, which means a car would need at least three of them, and possibly four for overlap to get full, 360-degree visibility. Quanergy is mum about just who its customers are, although it says it works closely with virtually every automaker. Partners Eldada said he can mention are Renault-Nissan, Hyundai and Koito as well as auto parts giant Delphi Automotive and Mercedes, which are both investors. Morgan Hills Velodyne LiDar Inc. is a major rival. Ford Motor Co. and Chinas Baidu recently invested $150 million in the 220-person company. (Prior investment rounds were not disclosed.) Last week Velodyne announced a San Jose Megafactory that it said will manufacture a million lidar sensors a year by 2018. Velodynes lidar sensors now cost about $8,000, but it said the price will be hundreds of dollars once the factory ramps up production. Waymo, the self-driving company spun out of Google, now a part of Alphabet, originally used Velodynes lidar but now plans to build its own. Waymo CEO John Krafcik said in a keynote at the Detroit Auto Show this month that Waymo had brought its lidar systems cost down to about $7,500. As we look to scale, we will do even better, with the goal of making this technology accessible to millions of people, he said. Theres one notable exception to lidars fan club among makers of autonomous vehicles. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has rejected lidar as too expensive. Good thing about radar is that unlike lidar ... it can see through rain, snow, fog and dust, he tweeted in July. Cameras certainly are cheaper, but its a gamble to say that all the (autonomous) driving tasks can be accomplished with radar and cameras, said Rands Kalra. The fatal crash of a Tesla driving on Autopilot in Florida last year likely could have been prevented if that vehicle had had lidar. A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration probe of that incident recently closed without issuing a recall or fine. Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Like many other businesses, retailers have been clamoring for Washington to reform the leaky corporate income tax system. Be careful what you wish for. Under a plan supported by top House Republicans, including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, the federal government would drop the corporate tax rate from 35 to 20 percent and eliminate most deductions. Controversially, a border adjustment provision will no longer allow companies to deduct the cost of goods made overseas. Conversely, companies will not pay taxes on exports. If passed, this plan could fundamentally alter the business models of major retailers, perhaps even pushing some companies to insolvency. Thats because retailers, especially apparel chains like Gap and Levi Strauss in San Francisco, make most of their merchandise abroad. That could spell disaster for an industry already facing weak sales in the United States and whose thin profits increasingly depend on selling merchandise made in countries with lower-cost labor and materials. Retailers need to follow this, said Keith Jelinek, managing director of Berkeley Research Group consulting firm. It definitely is important. They cant wait until the tax plan happens and then react. Gap spokeswoman Jennifer Poppers declined to specifically comment on the proposal except to say the company supports comprehensive and equitable corporate tax reform that benefits American consumers and strengthens the U.S. retail industry. A spokeswoman for Levi Strauss declined to comment. Corporate tax reform has been an elusive goal for both Democrats and Republicans. The United States boasts one of the highest corporate tax rates in the developed world, but companies manage to avoid paying the full 35 percent through a myriad of deductions, tax breaks and accounting schemes. However, now that the Republican Party controls both the White House and Congress, hopes are high that something will get passed. The House Republican plan, officially called destination-based cash flow tax with border adjustment is a radical rewrite of the U.S. tax code in the sense that the scheme is essentially a consumption tax versus an income tax. Instead of taxing profit, the feds would tax sales. With one important caveat: What matters the most is not where consumers purchase the item, but rather where it is made. Heres how the provision works: A retailer purchases a sweater made overseas for $12 and then sells it for $60 in the United States. Under the current system, the retailer can deduct the $12 from its income tax bill as costs of goods sold. However, the proposed plan means the retailer can no longer write off that $12. By contrast, a company that made the sweater in the United States for $30 and sold it to someone in China for $60 does not have to pay a tax on the sale. The plan essentially strikes at a source of profit for U.S. apparel chains. Faced with increasing competition from big retailers like Amazon, Walmart and Target and fast-fashion merchandisers like H&M and Uniqlo, these companies have been struggling to grow sales in the United States. The companies rely on making goods more cheaply through less-expensive materials and lower-cost workers in countries like Bangladesh and Thailand. Lets take a look at Gaps financial statements. In its 2014 fiscal year, the company generated $16.4 billion in sales while reporting $10.1 billion in cost of goods sold (the clothes) and occupancy expenses (store costs). So Gap made a profit of $6.3 billion on a gross margin of 38 percent. It paid $751 million in taxes. But in 2015, Gaps sales fell to $15.8 billion while its costs remained essentially flat. As a result, Gaps gross profit dropped to $5.7 billion on a gross margin of 36 percent, resulting in a tax bill of $551 million. Gaps declining sales already make it harder for the company to turn a profit; its tax bill is a small chunk of its total revenue. Were a retailer like Gap taxed on the far larger amount it spends to import goods, its profit could vanish. The options for such retailers are not good, Jelinek said. Either they must figure out a way to further drive down costs or raise prices, which consumers will not like, he said. Theres a third option: boost sales by making clothes consumers want to buy. However, judging by the sluggish sales put up by U.S. apparel brands, thats a lot easier said than done. The House plan does offer potential benefits to all companies, including retailers. The overall tax rate drops to 20 percent, and businesses can immediately write off capital purchases, instead of spreading out the costs over several years. The feds would also no longer even pretend to tax profit generated in foreign markets a change that would likely help global Silicon Valley companies like Apple and Alphabet more than primarily domestic retailers. Some economists argue that the tax plan would not really hurt companies that import merchandise because of currency adjustments. Giving favorable tax treatment to exports means the value of the U.S. dollar would rise, making the exports more expensive. By contrast, a strong U.S. dollar makes imports cheaper, which would help retailers like the Gap, even if their tax bills rise a bit. That would defeat the purpose of a tax reform meant to boost U.S. manufacturing, of course. There are a lot of unknowns because the plan heavily relies on theory, said Kimberly Burham, managing director of the legislation and special projects for the Penn Wharton Budget Model at the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School. We dont really have a real-world model to test it on, Burham said. No one has done it before. Even President Trump has concerns. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump called the border-adjustment proposal too complicated and said he feared the U.S. would get adjusted into a bad deal. If the goal is to simplify taxes, this proposal might have things backward. Thomas Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: tlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByTomLee Three years ago, Google said it was working on a privacy option to allow its more than 1 billion Gmail users to send messages that the Mountain View company couldnt read on its servers. The feature seemed close to reaching a mass audience, with both Google and Yahoo, operators of the nations most popular free email services, telling users to expect it by the end of 2015. But the companies have yet to roll it out. Known as end-to-end encryption, the feature would allow users to send emails that would only be visible to the sender and recipient of the message. Currently, when users send emails through Google and Yahoo, the companies also collect the contents of those messages, which are stored on their servers. That makes it possible for the government to subpoena the contents of the emails, and also centralizes information that hackers could raid. It protects from unlawful spying, said Chris Vickery, a lead security researcher at MacKeeper. It protects rogue nations from infiltrating the system and learning intel. But launching end-to-end encryption for a wide swath of users is challenging. One problem is that certain features, including spam filtering and searching by keywords, can become less accessible when certain messages get encrypted, security researchers said. You are creating an environment where messages can get lost and become unrecoverable things, said Clifford Neuman, director of the University of Southern Californias Center for Computer Systems Security. The vast majority of users they are more concerned with the reliability of the service than these kinds of issues. Security researchers say the encryption could better protect medical documents sent through email or messages sent by whistle-blowers or political dissidents. We recognize that this sort of encryption will probably only be used for very sensitive messages or by those who need added protection, wrote Stephan Somogyi, a product manager at Google, in a June 2014 in a blog post. But we hope that the end-to-end extension will make it quicker and easier for people to get that extra layer of security should they need it. Both Google and Yahoo say they are still working on the changes. Google proposed offering an extension to make this possible through its Chrome browser. When asked about the features progress, a Google spokesman pointed to a statement the company gave to tech news site Motherboard in March: It remains a work in progress. It is unclear when a final version will launch or what characteristics it will have, though analysts say it would likely be optional. Beginning in 2015, we set out to deliver a reliable, user-friendly end-to-end encryption key for our Yahoo Mail users, Yahoo said. That effort continues with resources dedicated to meaningful innovation and progress on this new frontier. One of the challenges surrounding end-to-end encryption in email is the management of keys. Users generate a key that has two parts a public part that encrypts the message and can be used to direct them to a recipient and the private part that decodes the encrypted messages received by users. Managing this process and making it easy for everyday people can be tough. You always have this contradiction of usability and security, and you have to provide both, said Thomas Oberndorfer, founder of Mailvelope, which builds software that allows for end-to-end encryption of email on browsers like Chrome and Firefox. If you go too much in the direction of security and your system is not usable, nobody will use it. Today, some services like Mailvelope can work with Web browsers and allow users to send encrypted emails through Gmail and Yahoo Mail, but they can be complex. Mailvelope is used by roughly 500,000 users worldwide in Chrome and Firefox and has integrated with Germanys popular mail servers GMX and WEB.DE. But it isnt fully integrated with Gmail and Yahoo. In many cases involving encrypted messages, users must know their friends public key ahead of time before sending the message and remember the password to their private key in order to view any encrypted messages received, researchers said. Forget the password and you wont be able to read your own messages. Both the sender and the recipient of the message must have public and private keys in order for the encryption process to work. Gmail has more than 1 billion users, while Yahoo Mail has about 225 million. That can make it hard for the companies to drastically change how mail is delivered, especially when many of those users prize simplicity. The tools are far too sophisticated and difficult for the average person to use, said Jeremiah Grossman, chief of security strategy at SentinelOne, in an email. Even security pros find them tedious. Its rare to see email encryption used almost anywhere these days. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Plus, Google and Yahoo make money by targeting advertising to users. Being unable to search through encrypted messages could impact that business, some security researchers said. A major issue involving end-to-end encryption services is if users forget the password to their private key. A solution to this would be to place the private key on a server, but that could lead the server to become a target for attacks. There could also be issues with how users will find each others public keys and how to verify whether those public keys are tied to the people you want to send the encrypted messages to. Google said it is working on making this easier. Today, most email services have rolled out two-factor or two-step authentication, allowing a user to enter a password plus a code sent to a separate device, usually a cell phone, in order to access an account in unfamiliar places. Yahoo has been under much scrutiny regarding its security following its disclosures last year of a 2014 data breach impacting at least 500 million accounts and a 2013 breach that affected more than 1 billion accounts. Most security experts do not believe end-to-end encryption in Yahoo Mail would have prevented those attacks, which focused on user account information rather than the content of emails, but they are still advocating for Yahoo and Google to provide it nonetheless. Googles new messaging service, Allo, offers an end-to-end encryption option in its messages, but the company has not launched its own version of this for Gmail users. As a security practitioner, you really should using encryption more often than not, Neuman said. Wendy Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: wlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thewendylee This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Twice on Saturdays and twice on Sundays, Judy Adams walks from her Menlo Park home to the Guild Theatre on El Camino Real and back. Shes there when customers go into the old-time picture show and shes there when they come out, but she doesnt stay for the movie. Adams job, self-appointed and singularly motivated, is to get signatures for a petition to save the Guild, a single-screen cinema opened in 1926. Its a heroic gesture considering that there is no indication the Guild is closing. But Landmark Theatres, which operates the Guild, is on a month-to-month lease, and the building may be for sale. Adams knows how this story ends, so she is taking preemptive action, she says, while standing in the cold of a January day last week before the 5 p.m. screening of Manchester by the Sea. The goal is to get the city, Landmark Theatres and the owner talking about a way to keep a neighborhood theater and get it upgraded while keeping the charm of a small art house, Adams says. If the Guild goes, so goes a long tradition of stand-alone movie theaters along the El Camino, the main commercial strip that connects all of the commuter towns that rose up alongside the tracks of the Southern Pacific line. Driving south from the county line, you could mark the cities by their movie theater marquees. There was the El Camino in San Bruno, the Millbrae, the Hillsdale in San Mateo, the Belmont, and the Park and the Guild in Menlo Park. Branching off El Camino were the Fox in Burlingame; the San Mateo, the Manor and the Palm, all in San Mateo; the Carlos, the Tivoli and the Laurel, all in San Carlos; and the Fox in Redwood City. Now the giant Millbrae marquee proudly guards a vacant video store, with Comerica Bank at one end. The Fox in Burlingame is Fox Mall. The Hillsdale is a furniture store. The Belmont, which still has a blade so tall you can see it from San Mateo, has been repurposed as a Planet Granite with a climbing wall replacing the big screen. The Laurel is a condo complex with a real estate sales office on the ground floor. The Carlos, once the anchor of San Carlos Avenue, has been replaced by a government building housing SamTrans. The Fox marquee still shines over a live performance venue in downtown Redwood City. The Park, which once announced your entry to Menlo Park headed south, is now a vacant lot with grass growing on it and a cyclone fence around it. The Park was scrapped and sold by Howard Crittenden of Atherton, who also owns the Guild. A year ago, the Almanac, a mid-Peninsula weekly, reported that Crittenden had listed the building for sale or redevelopment on a long-term lease. Reached by telephone, Crittenden had no comment on whether the Guild is for sale. He is aware of Adams petition. I think it is great, he says. I think we should save the theater. Crittenden also says the month-to-month lease at the Guild is at Landmarks request and that he would love a long-term lease. Laine Kaplowitz, director of publicity for Landmark Theatres in Los Angeles, would not comment on the Guilds lease situation and says it is business as usual. We have no intention of closing the theater. The only indication that the Guild is at risk is Adams, 71, standing there in a magenta-colored jacket to blend in with the facade, and a black apron with pockets for her flyers. Retired after selling a software company, she is polite and unobtrusive. She always tells the clerk at the ticket window that she is there, and approaches people after, never before, they have bought their movie tickets. I lurk, she says, and once she has their attention, she talks up the history of the Guild, a cozy 300-seat box. According to the Menlo Park Historical Association, the Guild was first called the Menlo and was the first movie theater on the Peninsula. It once had a spacious lobby, but 30 feet were reclaimed to widen the roadway. This leaves about five steps from the sidewalk to the seating. The Guild could use some refurbishing, but its devotees love it. Its a beautiful design with the Art Deco, and it would be sad to see it go, says signee Jean Kazezski. She cant immediately recall the first movie she saw at the Guild, but she remembers seeing Ingrid Bergman and Tyrone Power in movies here. Its important to save these movie theaters, says Will Toms of San Carlos. Its a great experience to watch a movie this way. Adams has her spiel down, and her success rate hovers around 100 percent. On this day she gathers 43 names, which puts her above 2,000, the number that compelled her to go into high gear, she says. Sure enough, the next day she fired off a letter to one of her first signees, Menlo Park Councilman and former Mayor Ray Mueller. There is precedent because a similar petition helped stave off closure of the CineArts at Palo Alto Square, a two-screen art house in a commercial building set back from the El Camino. CineArts was set to fold in 2015, but customer support earned it a two-year reprieve. Adams is thinking longer term than that. Housing developments are coming to all the vacant Menlo Park car dealerships that can be seen from the Guild, and Adams is sure that will bring enough moviegoers to support a single screen. She has mailed a personal entreaty to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerbergs home address in Palo Alto, inviting him to become the Guilds angel investor. Zuckerberg has not, as of yet, gotten back to her, so Adams is out there with her clipboard every weekend, in the rain, in the wind and in the traffic. She got through two hip replacements by walking two blocks from her home to the Guild for movies, and she still sees every film as soon as it opens. The Guild is in a spot that has had a movie theater for 90 years, she says. We want to keep our theater in our neighborhood. Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Instagram: @sfchronicle_art Video online Judy Adams makes her pitch to save the Guild Theatre: http://bit.ly/2iKCtjY What has felt like an especially wet January in California isnt an effect of people becoming accustomed to the past half decade of drought. It really has been an exceptionally soaking month. San Francisco is experiencing the seventh-wettest January on record to date, according to the National Weather Service, and its nipping at the heels of January 1982, when a historic El Nino caused major flooding in California. The storms have been one after the other, said Anna Schneider, a meteorologist with the weather services Monterey office. Weve gotten lot of rainfall. Most of our sites are at over 100 percent of normal. The last week of intense weather has brought 8.77 inches of rain to San Francisco for this point in January. During the same period in 1982, 8.85 inches of rain had come down in the city, forecasters said. At the height of the drought two years ago, San Francisco recorded no measurable precipitation for all of January. Any chance of a record-breaking month, though, is effectively impossible. The rainiest January on record was in 1862, when 24.36 inches fell. Whats more, the latest round of rain will be the last significant precipitation for the month, forecasters said. The wet month has been vital in digging California out of drought, and as of Thursday, more than 43 percent of the state is drought-free, according to the federal governments Drought Monitor. The months rain totals have been helped along by the latest streak of water-packed storms that drenched the Bay Area before thunderstorms moved in Sunday evening. Residents in hard-hit areas were left scrambling as rivers surged, roadways flooded and earth gave way in mudslides that closed several roads and prompted flood warnings around the region. Niles Canyon Road in the hills above Fremont, which was shut down because of slides, became the site of a search-and-rescue effort that had to be aborted because of weather. An 18-year-old motorist from Tracy crashed Saturday into Alameda Creek, where high waters prevented authorities from looking for the submerged vehicle over the weekend. The areas left scorched over the summer by the Soberanes Fire in Monterey County and the Loma Fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains were under flash flood warnings for much of the day Sunday. The weather service called the conditions in the Santa Cruz Mountains life-threatening, as debris flows posed extreme dangers to drivers. Weve been really busy, said Deputy Chief Jake Hess, with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protections San Mateo-Santa Cruz division. Santa Cruz County is a plate of spaghetti of small arterial roads. Those roads can became closed off, and a lot of these little communities have one way in and one way out. The San Lorenzo River surged over its banks Sunday, flooding residents in the Santa Cruz County communities of Paradise Park and Felton Grove. South of Los Gatos, mud and trees spilled onto Highway 17, closing lanes for part of the day. In the North Bay, the California Highway Patrol closed Highway 37 in both directions between Highway 101 and Atherton Avenue in Novato due to heavy flooding. The stretch could remain closed for much of the week, authorities said. Out on the coast, winds whipped up to 60 mph, prompting the weather service to issue a gale warning and an advisory for mariners to seek safe harbor. Breakers close to 30 feet slammed the shoreline, making for sneaker waves and strong rip currents. The weather service issued a high surf advisory that will last until Tuesday morning. Damaging conditions are expected to continue into Monday, with some rivers expected to flood as showers linger. In Guerneville, flood-weary residents were again bracing for the Russian River to spill over its banks. The river was forecast to crest over its flood stage of 32 feet Monday morning. Some parts of the state are approaching rainfall totals 200 percent of normal for the rain season that began on Oct. 1, said Jan Null, a meteorologist with Golden Gate Weather Services. However, much of the rain cant be stored many of Californias reservoirs are already filling up and releasing water. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. The storms, though, are good news for the Sierra snowpack, which accounts for about 30 percent of the states overall water supply. The storm was dumping an estimated 4 feet of snow in the Tahoe basin and up to 6 feet above 7,000 feet. The heavy dump prompted Caltrans to close Interstate 80 near the Nevada state line. Travelers were told to stay home, and residents in the mountains were cautioned to brace for more road closures, blackouts and falling trees. Several Tahoe ski resorts were affected by the snowstorm. Alpine Meadows was completely closed Sunday, and residents in the valley east of the resort were under a voluntary evacuation order. Placer County Emergency Services closed several roads in the area due to high avalanche danger. Avalanches could impact other roadways around the Sierra as intense winds blast the mountains. The weather service recorded a wind gust of an astonishing 154 mph on a peak above Squaw Valley on Sunday. The wet weather system was also causing havoc in still-drought-ravaged Southern California, where some areas were seeing the most significant storm in years. Residents near the burn area left by the 41,000-acre Sand Fire in Santa Clarita (Los Angeles County) were ordered to evacuate over the weekend due to possible debris flows. The early week stormy conditions were expected to calm to light showers Monday, then dry out for the rest of this wet January. Chronicle staff writer Kurtis Alexander contributed to this report. Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky The first step was taken Saturday in opposition of the new president, and it was sure-footed. An estimated 100,000 people attended the Womens March in Oakland. The molasses-slow mass stretched for dozens of blocks. Couples held hands and friends locked arms. Women and men wore pink hats, toted poignant homemade signs and sang songs of solidarity. We are family. Indeed it was a family affair as children, unaware of the mess adults have stepped into, played carelessly in the streets. It was a sight so beautiful that I stood on Broadway for more than an hour awed by the crowd and the festive atmosphere. With the combined millions who marched in cities across the world, including in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, its clear that fear and unflappable hope can be used as crazy glue to get people to stick together. Now for the other shoe to drop. Protesting only the president right now is a fools errand, because hes just the latest symptom of what has stricken this country since its birth. Oppression is a disease that courses through Americas nervous system, and skipping brunch for a walking tour of downtown Oakland isnt going to cure what ails us. Because what we have is a pre-existing condition. There are Americans whove long been mistreated because of their race, gender and sexual orientation. Sure, the Clown Prince of New Yorks words are what grab you, but its the actions of fellow Republicans in his case, their inaction that normalizes his misogynistic, racist, Islamophobic and xenophobic monologues. And its the actions of those in his administration who will play his cards against humanity under the aegis of making America great again. Folks, make sure you tie your shoes tight, because the road to recovery is four years long, treacherous and dark. And it cant be ignored that the road is at least 240 years old. But for one day, streaks of sunlight broke through the darkness. Look at the bright side: Without a clumsy clown tripping over his own words, would there have been a march of unity led by women? The nastiness of the election was conspicuously absent from the march, as were the agitators who have spoiled past protests in Oakland. There was a rhythmic energy and sound. Some danced, and many more sang. There were no arrests. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. If you didnt know the marchs roots, you might think the participants were there to celebrate something because the mood was joyous. And it was good for business, as lines at downtown restaurants, like at BART stations before the march, were laughably long. Maybe some of the marchers, who usually dont hang out in Oakland, will return. From Madison Park, the route curved along Lake Merritt on Lakeside Drive and past the Cathedral of Christ the Light on Harrison Street. After a left onto Grand Avenue, the path turned left onto Broadway for the homestretch. Sometime after the head of the march flowed into Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in front of City Hall, the body split like the letter Y as thousands began cutting left onto Thomas L. Berkley Way from Lakeside Drive. The tide of people was astonishing and powerful. But if not harnessed, the power will wilt, and the march will be remembered more as a social media post and a website slideshow of cool signs than the start of a united opposition movement. Standing up to oppression isnt a weekend hobby or a part-time position. The first step isnt the hardest. Its the next steps that will make a real, lasting difference. So what are the next steps? Paying attention to whats behind the hateful rhetoric and acknowledging that the path against oppression in this country was paved by stepped-over souls. And continuing to fight like a girl. March on. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Otis R. Taylor Jr. appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Email: otaylor@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @otisrtaylorjr Militants lobbed several grenades targeting the vehicle at Jagun 12th Mile Barabasti on NH-53 bordering Assam's Tinsukia district in the run-up to Republic Day. By Press Trust of India: Suspected militants attacked an Assam Rifles vehicle escorting tourists, killing two personnel and injuring several others near the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border on Sunday. Militants lobbed several grenades targeting the vehicle at Jagun 12th Mile Barabasti on NH-53 bordering Assam's Tinsukia district in the run-up to Republic Day, a defence spokesman told PTI. The security personnel retaliated and an encounter followed with sporadic firing still continuing. advertisement ASSAM RIFLES VEHICLE RETURNING FROM PANGSAU FESTIVAL The Assam Rifles vehicle and three vehicles of tourists returning from the Pangsau festival have been damaged in grenade explosions, the spokesman said. Also read | Encounter between Assam Rifles, NSCN(K) militants at Indo-Myanmar border The entire area has been cordoned off with combing operations stepped up in the area and tourists are stranded along the highway. The Pangsau Festival is held along the Indo-Myanmar border in the area. --- ENDS --- Tyrants dont allow open questioning, and they hate the free press. They want total control. Thats why, according to three senior officials on the transition team, the Trump administration is considering evicting the White House press corps from the pressroom inside the White House and moving them and news conferences to a conference center or to the old Executive Office Building. This may sound like a small logistical matter. Its not. The White House pressroom contains workstations and broadcast booths, and the briefing area for presidential news conferences. Reporters have had work space at the White House since Teddy Roosevelt was president, in 1902. But were in a new era, the reign of King Trump. Sean Spicer, President Trumps press secretary, acknowledges there has been some discussion about how to move the press out of the White House. Spicer says its because the new administration would like a larger room to allow more members of the press to attend news conferences. Rubbish. Its because a larger room would allow the administration to fill seats with alt-right fringe journalists, right-wing social media, Trump supporters and paid staffers. Theyd be there to ask the questions Trump wants to answer, and to jeer at reporters who ask critical questions, and to applaud Trumps answers. The move would allow Trump to play the crowd. Thats exactly what happened at Trumps so-called news conference on Jan. 11 the first hes held in six months. It wasnt really a news conference at all, and shouldnt have been characterized as one. It was a fake news conference that took place in a large auditorium. In the audience were paid staffers who jeered and snickered when reporters asked critical questions, and cheered every time Trump delivered one of his campaign zingers. It could easily have been one of his rallies. In this carnival atmosphere it was easy for Trump to refuse to answer questions from reporters who have run stories he doesnt like, and from news outlets that have criticized him. He slammed CNN for dispensing fake news, called BuzzFeed a pile of garbage, and sarcastically called the BBC another beauty. The audience loved it. Just as he did in his rallies, Trump continued calling the press dishonest part of his ongoing effort to discredit the press and to reduce public confidence in it. And he repeatedly lied. But the media in attendance werent allowed to follow up or to question him on his lies. For example, Trump wrongly stated that the Democratic National Committee was totally open to be hacked. They did a very poor job. ... And they tried to hack the Republican National Committee, and they were unable to break through. Baloney. FBI Director James Comey said there was evidence that Republican National Committee computers were also targeted. The critical difference, according to Comey, was that none of the information obtained from the RNC was leaked. Also, according to Comey, the Russians got far deeper and wider into the DNC than the RNC, noting that similar techniques were used in both cases. Trump further asserted at his fake news conference that I have no deals that could happen in Russia, because weve stayed away. And I have no loans with Russia. Wrong again. Trump repeatedly sought deals in Russia. In a 2008 speech, Donald Trump Jr. said, Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets, and we see a lot of money pouring in from Russia. Trumps statements at his fake news conference were, and are, big lies. They influence public understanding and opinion about two critically important issues: Did the Russians help Trump win the election, and, if so, why might they have done so? At the very least, they should have been followed up with questions from the White House press corps. That would have happened at a real news conference in the White House pressroom, holding 45 correspondents from major media outlets who are assigned full time to report on the president. Which is the danger of evicting the press from the White House and putting press conferences into a large auditorium: Trump wont be called on his lies, and the White House press corps will lose the leverage they have by being together in one rather small room. And thats precisely why Trump wants to evict the press from the White House. A senior official admitted the move was a reaction to hostile press coverage. The view at the highest reaches of the incoming administration is that the press is the enemy. They are the opposition party, said the senior official. I want em out of the building. We are taking back the pressroom. The incoming Trump administration is intent on neutering the White House press corps. If it happens, it will be another step toward neutering our democracy. 2017 Robert Reich Robert Reich, a former U.S. secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at UC Berkeley. His daily blog is at www.facebook.com/rbreich. To comment, submit your letter to the editor at http://bit.ly/SFChronicleletters. VERONA, Italy A bus carrying Hungarian students home from a school ski trip to France slammed into a highway barrier in northern Italy and burst into flames, killing at least 16 people, police said Saturday. Thirty-nine others survived, but some were seriously injured. The impact of the crash just before midnight was so violent that the overpass support column penetrated the bus, officials said. The ensuing fireball burned some of the 16 dead beyond recognition and torched the bus, leaving just a skeleton of twisted steel. A teacher managed to save some of the kids, suffering serious burns to his back as he did so, said Judit Timaffy of Hungarys consulate, who was at the scene of the crash. The kids told me that the fire started and they escaped from the fire, breaking the windows of the bus, she said. Some of them managed to escape, but many were left inside. No other vehicles were involved in the crash on the highway near Verona, and the cause wasnt known, said a tearful police commander Girolamo Lacquaniti. Of the 39 survivors, 26 were injured, some seriously, he said. One passenger is currently in an induced coma and in life-threatening condition, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in Budapest. According to Szijjarto, the bus driver lost control of the vehicle, which hit a guardrail before the overpass support and then exploded. Investigators found no brake marks at the scene, he said. Timaffy said investigators were looking into the possibility the driver fell asleep at the wheel. RAI state radio said a Slovenian truck driver traveling behind the bus had noticed a problem with one of its wheels and tried to alert the driver. But the driver didnt react quickly enough, RAI said. The Slovenian truck driver stayed at the scene until investigators arrived. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. In Budapest, a black flag flew from a flagpole above the door of the Szinyei Merse Pal Gimnazium. About 60 students gathered for a vigil outside the school, lighting small candles and laying flowers in memory of the victims. Student Tamas Mezo placed candles at the schools door. He said the school organized a ski trip each year, involving 50 to 60 students and a few teachers. I was very much planning on going this year but in the end it didnt work out, he said. There were three or four teachers on the bus, and unfortunately one of them did not survive. Our hearts our hurting because we loved him. He was really nice. Nicole Winfield, Pablo Gorondi and Charlene Pele are Associated Press writers. PESHAWAR, Pakistan A bomb exploded Saturday in a market in a northwest tribal region bordering Afghanistan, killing 22 people and wounding at least 50 others, officials said. Shahid Khan, an assistant administrator in Pakistans Kurram tribal area, said the explosion took place when the market was crowded with retailers selling fruits and vegetables. He said the attack was under investigation. Lashker-e-Jhangvi, a banned sectarian militant group that has attacked minority Shiites Muslims in the past, claimed responsibility for the attack. The bombing took place in a predominantly Shiite area of Kurram, which has experienced attacks by Sunni militants. Kurram has been the scene of increased militant activities in recent years and the Army carried out a huge operation against extremists in the region. But the militants still have the capacity to strike. Khan said some of the wounded were airlifted to hospitals in Peshawar, the capital of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Hospitals in tribal regions and rural areas of Pakistan typically are not equipped to handle such emergencies. Ashiq Hussain, who was lightly wounded, said he was among the shoppers when the explosion took place. There was a big bang and I saw a dark cloud of smoke and dust before passing out, he said. Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, the provincial governor, told local Geo television that the remnants of militant groups targeted by security forces were trying to show their existence by such attacks. Riaz Khan is an Associated Press writer. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Click through the slideshow above to see what you have to look forward to health-wise after you turn 30 years old A recent brush with some health issues lead this writer to reevaluate the way hes treated his 33-year-old body. It was the first time that a doctor had to finally lay down the law and remind him that his 20s had passed him by and his job from now on was to maintain an aging body. "You live on barbed wire and bug juice until you're 28, and there's no price to pay. After a certain point, you pay for everything," actor Jack Nicholson is quoted as saying at one point in an interview. For many people, turning 30 years old is a grim milestone, but it doesnt have to be. True, your metabolism begins to take a nose dive and you cant drink to excess the way you could just a few years before. FIX THE TICKER: Local physicians offer heart healthy tips But if you instead take the milestone as a challenge to get fit and improve yourself for the next several decades to come, its no big deal. Dr. Parag Sevak, a cancer specialist resident with the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, said that for many people, 30 years old is a demarcation line. When youre in your 20s many people are in college and staying active, mentally stimulated, and venturing out and meeting new people, but the 30s presents new challenges, Sevak said. You have people that are trying to advance their career working longer hours and neglecting self-care. Your flexibility declines and cholesterol begins to rise. HIP-STER PROBLEMS: Millennials ock to high-intensity workouts - and hip pain follows Couple this with modern technology offering up everything from the comfort of a couch after work, Sevak added, the potential for underlying health issues that may have been present in your 20s are starting to manifest. And thats if you havent yet brought a new life into the world. Some people have kids and with that comes the stresses of parenting, Sevak said. Young couples family planning and fighting the dreaded biological clock only adds to the fun of being over 30. Some 30-somethings also report being bested by the things that we used to be able to bounce back from. You get drunk quicker because you dont drink as much as they did in college, and you cant eat a whole basket of cheese fries and Chinese food, Sevak said. FOOD COMA: 17 tips for debloating after overeating 10 p.m. now seems like a good bedtime since the amount of sleep that you require after 30 years old changes. I think the best way to make your 30s better is to acknowledge that youre no longer in your 20s, Sevak said. And be glad that youre not 40. Setting goals and making a reasonable plan to achieve them is a great way to stay on top of your health. That means finding a primary care physician to help you tackle the issues that come along. With most health problems, the earlier you can prevent or address the issues the better the outcome. Dont expect changes overnight and remember that a lasting lifestyle change can set you up for less problems down the road," Sevak said. By Jugal R Purohit: The Army has launched search operations in Aurnachal Pradeh's Changlang district, and has been successful in neutralizing two terrorists from a group that had earlier attacked Army troops near Jairampur in Changlang, Two jawans from the Assam Rifles lost their lives in the attack, which took place in the morning. It is suspected that the primary aim of the terrorists was to the Pangsau Pass Festival, which is on its last day today. The festival is organized once every four years and today morning, the terrorists engaged with Army troops deployed to provide security to the event. advertisement Search operarations for the reamining militants are ongoing and more details are awaited. --- ENDS --- HATTIESBURG, Miss. Four people were killed, roofs were ripped from homes and churches, and trees were torn from the ground early Saturday when a tornado hitting in the dark of night churned through southern Mississippi, officials said. Four people died after the twister blew through Hattiesburg and the surrounding area, said Forrest County Coroner Butch Benedict. The twister was part of a wall of stormy weather traveling across the region, bringing with it rain and unstable conditions. Authorities did not immediately release the names of the four people who died. But one family shared their tragic news. Monica McCarty said her father died in the same trailer park where she and her boyfriend live, and her son was apparently crushed to death while in bed. Standing amid the carnage the tornado had wrought, McCarty wept as her boyfriend, Tackeem Molley, comforted her. They couldnt get him out of the house. They said he was laying in the bed, McCarty said of her son. Molley said he and McCarty were in a trailer when the storm hit. Molley, whose foot was bandaged, said he climbed out through a hole in what had either been the trailers roof or wall. I had a little hole I could squeeze out of, he said. In the surrounding neighborhood, power company trucks ran up and down the streets, while a city backhoe plowed debris from the road. Dozens of homes were damaged. Sheet metal was strewn everywhere. Trees turned into spindly sticks were lying across power lines, and the roar of chain saws could be heard in the background. At least three churches sustained damage. Mayor Johnny DuPree signed an emergency declaration for the city, which reported significant injuries and structural damage. More than 40 firefighters from across Mississippi had gathered outside Hattiesburg police headquarters to assist with search operations. Equipped with dogs and all-terrain vehicles, they were planning on doing a grid search from police headquarters to nearby William Carey University in one of the most heavily damaged areas. On Bernice Avenue south of downtown Hattiesburg, Edna Smith surveyed what was left of the tan brick house shed lived in since 2005. Her parrots were spared but the tornado ripped off most of her roof, dumping it in the backyard and alley behind her house. Her neighbors porch roof blew into her carport, slamming her car. It woke me up and half the roof was gone, said Smith, who is already the survivor of one natural disaster. She moved to Hattiesburg after 2005s Hurricane Katrina displaced her from her suburban New Orleans home. Rain cascaded down onto the roofless house turning wallboard into mud and soaking upholstered furniture. I dont know what Im going to do now. Im going to try to get some help, she said. Jeff Amy and Rebecca Santana are Associated Press writers. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate LANGLEY, Va. President Trump moved to repair his tumultuous relationship with Americas spy agencies on his first full day in office, but his bridge-building visit to CIA headquarters Saturday quickly morphed into a platform for the new commander in chief to complain about media coverage of his inauguration, misstating the size of his crowd. Standing in front of a memorial for fallen CIA agents, Trump assured intelligence officials, I am so behind you. He made no mention of his repeated criticism of the intelligence agencies after the election, including his public challenges of their high-confidence assessment that Russia meddled in the White House race to help him win. There is nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community and CIA than Donald Trump, he said, blaming any suggestion of a feud on the media. Trumps visit to the CIA took place as throngs of women, many of them wearing bright pink, pointy-eared hats, descended on the nations capital and other cities around the world for marches organized to push back against the new president. Hundreds of protesters lined the motorcade route as Trump sped back to the White House, many screaming and chanting at the president. But the president appeared to be focused on settling scores with the media. He defensively touted the crowd size for his swearing-in ceremony, inaccurately saying that the throngs on the National Mall stretched all the way back to the Washington Monument. Photos and video clearly showed the crowd stopping well short of the landmark. Trump is a voracious consumer of news and highly sensitive to criticism. As a candidate, he repeatedly disparaged the media and individual journalists to the delight of his supporters, and his appearance at the CIA underscored that he would continue to do so as president. He slammed a Time magazine reporter for incorrectly reporting Friday that Trump had moved a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. out of the Oval Office. But Trump followed with a misstatement of his own, saying the reporter had not corrected the mistake. In fact, the item was quickly retracted. High-level CIA brass stood largely silent during Trumps remarks, though some of the roughly 400 other officers in attendance cheered on the president during his remarks. Rep. Adam Schiff of Burbank, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, slammed Trump for using his CIA visit to squabble over media coverage. He will need to do more than use the agency memorial as a backdrop if he wants to earn the respect of the men and women who provide the best intelligence in the world, Schiff said. The inaugural celebrations have been shadowed by reports that the CIA and other federal agencies are investigating Russian interference in the presidential election on behalf of Trump. McClatchy reported that the investigation included whether money from the Kremlin covertly aided Trump. The New York Times said agencies were examining intercepted communications and financial transactions between Russian officials and Trumps associates. FBI Director James Comey has declined to confirm or describe the nature of the governments investigation, both during a congressional hearing and in closed-door meetings with members of Congress. Officials said the crowd for the Womens March in Washington could be more than half a million people, more than double expectations. The event appeared to have attracted more people than Trumps inauguration, based on figures from transportation officials. During his remarks at the CIA, the president claimed the inaugural crowds topped 1 million people. Saturday marked the end of three days of inaugural celebrations, with Trump and his family attending a national prayer service traditionally held for the new president. The president and his wife, Melania, and Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, sat in a front pew at Washington National Cathedral for the morning service. The interfaith service is a tradition for new presidents and is hosted by the Episcopal parish. But the decision to hold a prayer session for Trump sparked debate among Episcopalians opposed to his policies. Bishop Mariann Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington wrote in a blog post that while she shared a sense of outrage at some of the president-elects words and actions, she felt an obligation to welcome all people without qualification, especially those who disagree and need to find a way to work together. Trump arrived at the cathedral mid-morning. The service included readings and prayers from Protestant, Jewish, Sikh, Mormon, Buddhist, Roman Catholic, Bahai, Episcopal, Hindu and Native American leaders. But the program was remarkable for the large number of evangelicals participating, including two former presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention, the countrys largest evangelical denomination. Several speakers had served as Trump advisers and supporters who spoke at the Republican National Convention. The presidents family joined him at the White House for his first weekend in office. His daughter Ivanka and her husband, senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, were seen snapping photos Saturday on the Truman balcony. The Justice Department released a memo concluding the presidents special hiring authority allows the New York real estate mogul to appoint Kushner to the administration and the move does not contravene federal antinepotism laws. Julie Pace and Jill Colvin are Associated Press writers. NEW ORLEANS The man authorities say shot and killed a woman hed been romantically involved with and a police officer who had tried to help her has died, hours after shooting himself in the chest during a standoff with authorities on a New Orleans bridge. Col. John Fortunato, spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office, said Sylvester Holt, 32, was pronounced dead late Friday at University Hospital. Authorities said Holt shot himself in the chest Friday evening after threatening for hours to jump off a bridge spanning the Mississippi River. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand said during talks with authorities on the bridge Holt admitted shooting Westwego Police Officer Michael Louviere, 26, and Simone Veal, 32, the woman Holt had been romantically involved with. Normand said Holt had recently found out she was pregnant with by new boyfriend. The incident began Friday morning when Holt went to Veals house; an altercation ensued during which he shot her several times. Holt then looked for Veals boyfriend as the woman fled in a car with Holt eventually catching up to her. Witnesses said Sylvester Holt was ramming his truck into Simones car and firing shots into the car before the vehicles stopped at the intersection where Louviere found them, Normand said. The officer had just gotten off duty and was on his way home when he pulled over to help. Veals car was significantly damaged and she was on the ground, Normand said. Holt then shot Louviere in the head as well, Normand said. He was doing the right thing for the right reasons, Normand said. Holt fled, and a manhunt ensued. Authorities later spotted Holt on the bridge spanning New Orleans east and west banks. Louisiana State Police spokeswoman Melissa Matey said authorities spent hours negotiating with him. All those attempts failed. At approximately 5:30, Holt shot himself in the chest, she said. Louviere is survived by his wife, and their daughter, 4, and son, 1. Kevin McGill and Chevel Johnson are Associated Press writers. 1 Bush health: Former President George H.W. Bush and wife Barbara continued to improve Saturday as they recover from illnesses at Houston Methodist Hospital, a family spokesman said. The former president, 92, entered the hospital a week ago after experiencing breathing difficulties that doctors determined were related to pneumonia. Physicians inserted a breathing tube Wednesday, and a ventilator was employed to assist his breathing. The tube was removed Friday. The former first lady, 91, entered the hospital Wednesday after feeling run down and coughing for the past few weeks. Doctors determined she had bronchitis. 2 Measles outbreak: Six months after Californias strict vaccine law took effect, a measles outbreak has infected 20 people, most of them in Los Angeles County, prompting a search for others who may have been exposed to the highly contagious virus. Most of the patients live in western areas of the county, including L.A.s Westside, the Santa Monica Mountains and the San Fernando Valley. At least 15 of the 18 Los Angeles County patients either knew each other or had clear social connections, said Dr. Jeffrey Gunzenhauser of the county Department of Public Health. California is now one of three states that forbid children from opting out of vaccines because of religious or personal beliefs. The soldiers died following an ambush by insurgent groups. The tight security and combing operations following the attack have left tourists stranded on a highway. Tourists have been stranded following an attack by insurgents in Assam (Photo: Manoj Dutta) By Manogya Loiwal : Two jawans of the Assam Rifles lost their lives have lost their lives following a joint ambush by insurgents from NSCN(K) and ULFA(I) in Jairampur of Assam's Tinsukia district. The soldiers were killed on the spot after insurgents threw a grenade and fired a rocket launcher. Assam Rifles personnel responded to the attack. Soon after the first attack, another group of insurgents started firing from a different direction, forcing the Assam Rifles to retaliate again. Another firing was reported soon after form Jagun district's Kamorbosti region as well. advertisement Helicopters were used to carry out anti-insurgent operations, which are ongoing. Tinsukia Superintendent of Police Mukdha Jyotii Mahanta said that the operations are going on in neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh as well. Mahanta added that according to witness, there were around 15-16 attackers. TOURISTS AFFECTED Following the attack, which coincided with the last day of the Pangsau Pass Festival, the Indo-Myanmar border was sealed and various roads were blocked for security reasons. The road blockade has resulted in thousands of toursists who attended the Pangsau Pass Festival getting stranded on the national highway. The travellers are also facing several inconveniences - a bottle of water, for example, that costs Rs 10 is being sold for Rs 50. "It is more than five hours now and we are facing a lot of problems. The women especially are facing a lot of sanitation problem. Scarcity of food is another trouble," one stranded tourist said. The situation remains tense and combing operations are expected to expand to other areas. Also read: Assam: Terror outfit linkmen apprehended with seven rifles --- ENDS --- What has felt like an especially wet January in California isnt an effect of people becoming accustomed to the past half decade of drought. It really has been an exceptionally soaking month. San Francisco is experiencing the seventh-wettest January on record to date, according to the National Weather Service, and its nipping at the heels of January 1982, when a historic El Nino caused major flooding in California. The storms have been one after the other, said Anna Schneider, a meteorologist with the weather services Monterey office. Weve gotten lot of rainfall. Most of our sites are at over 100 percent of normal. The last week of intense weather has brought 8.77 inches of rain to San Francisco for this point in January. During the same period in 1982, 8.85 inches of rain had come down in the city, forecasters said. At the height of the drought two years ago, San Francisco recorded no measurable precipitation for all of January. Any chance of a record-breaking month, though, is effectively impossible. The rainiest January on record was in 1862, when 24.36 inches fell. Whats more, the latest round of rain will be the last significant precipitation for the month, forecasters said. The wet month has been vital in digging California out of drought, and as of Thursday, more than 43 percent of the state is drought-free, according to the federal governments Drought Monitor. The months rain totals have been helped along by the latest streak of water-packed storms that drenched the Bay Area before thunderstorms moved in Sunday evening. Residents in hard-hit areas were left scrambling as rivers surged, roadways flooded and earth gave way in mudslides that closed several roads and prompted flood warnings around the region. Niles Canyon Road in the hills above Fremont, which was shut down because of slides, became the site of a search-and-rescue effort that had to be aborted because of weather. An 18-year-old motorist from Tracy crashed Saturday into Alameda Creek, where high waters prevented authorities from looking for the submerged vehicle over the weekend. The areas left scorched over the summer by the Soberanes Fire in Monterey County and the Loma Fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains were under flash flood warnings for much of the day Sunday. The weather service called the conditions in the Santa Cruz Mountains life-threatening, as debris flows posed extreme dangers to drivers. Weve been really busy, said Deputy Chief Jake Hess, with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protections San Mateo-Santa Cruz division. Santa Cruz County is a plate of spaghetti of small arterial roads. Those roads can became closed off, and a lot of these little communities have one way in and one way out. The San Lorenzo River surged over its banks Sunday, flooding residents in the Santa Cruz County communities of Paradise Park and Felton Grove. South of Los Gatos, mud and trees spilled onto Highway 17, closing lanes for part of the day. In the North Bay, the California Highway Patrol closed Highway 37 in both directions between Highway 101 and Atherton Avenue in Novato due to heavy flooding. The stretch could remain closed for much of the week, authorities said. Out on the coast, winds whipped up to 60 mph, prompting the weather service to issue a gale warning and an advisory for mariners to seek safe harbor. Breakers close to 30 feet slammed the shoreline, making for sneaker waves and strong rip currents. The weather service issued a high surf advisory that will last until Tuesday morning. Damaging conditions are expected to continue into Monday, with some rivers expected to flood as showers linger. In Guerneville, flood-weary residents were again bracing for the Russian River to spill over its banks. The river was forecast to crest over its flood stage of 32 feet Monday morning. Some parts of the state are approaching rainfall totals 200 percent of normal for the rain season that began on Oct. 1, said Jan Null, a meteorologist with Golden Gate Weather Services. However, much of the rain cant be stored many of Californias reservoirs are already filling up and releasing water. The storms, though, are good news for the Sierra snowpack, which accounts for about 30 percent of the states overall water supply. The storm was dumping an estimated 4 feet of snow in the Tahoe basin and up to 6 feet above 7,000 feet. The heavy dump prompted Caltrans to close Interstate 80 near the Nevada state line. Travelers were told to stay home, and residents in the mountains were cautioned to brace for more road closures, blackouts and falling trees. Several Tahoe ski resorts were affected by the snowstorm. Alpine Meadows was completely closed Sunday, and residents in the valley east of the resort were under a voluntary evacuation order. Placer County Emergency Services closed several roads in the area due to high avalanche danger. Avalanches could impact other roadways around the Sierra as intense winds blast the mountains. The weather service recorded a wind gust of an astonishing 154 mph on a peak above Squaw Valley on Sunday. The wet weather system was also causing havoc in still-drought-ravaged Southern California, where some areas were seeing the most significant storm in years. Residents near the burn area left by the 41,000-acre Sand Fire in Santa Clarita (Los Angeles County) were ordered to evacuate over the weekend due to possible debris flows. The early week stormy conditions were expected to calm to light showers Monday, then dry out for the rest of this wet January. Chronicle staff writer Kurtis Alexander contributed to this report. Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, Jan 22 (PTI) Bajaj Auto that markets and manufactures the premium bike brand KTM, is making a second attempt to enter Indonesia, this time pillion-riding on the number one European bike brand. Bajaj owns 49 per cent stake in the Vienna Stock Exchange-listed KTM since 2013. The Pune-based company had started investing in the Austrian bikemaker since 2007 when it was struggling with cash flow issues and since then has been manufacturing the KTM bikes at its Chakan, Pune plant and also meeting all its export demand except for the European markets. advertisement "Our team has just returned from Indonesia after successfully launching the KTM bikes there. And the response has positively surprised us. Its more surprising as our first attempt there with the Pulsar was nothing to write home about. "With the kind of initial response we have received, we are pretty sure that can notch up sales of anything between 5,000 and 10,000 units per annum there," Bajaj Auto managing director Rajiv Bajaj has said. It can be noted that the countrys most profitable bikemaker had entered Indonesia around 2005 with its popular Pulsar but had burned its fingers as the one of the largest twowheeler market in Southeast did not respond positively. When asked about this, Bajaj said, each market is different and their failure was more to with the brand image of Bajaj there than with the product per se. "Indonesia by and large is a Japanese outpost when it comes to automobiles and especially for bikes and the market there is more acceptable to Japanese brands and other foreign brands, he said, adding "we thought we could make it but we could not. But the response we have received for the KTM bikes has simply surprised us on the upside." When asked whether Bajaj will increase its stake in KTM further -- in 2013 they were in talks to take a controlling stake, Bajaj ruled out any such plans, saying "who manages the company on a daily basis is not important. "We are perfectly happy with our investments in KTM and not interested in managing the company but further building on this association. And the launch in Indonesia is an example of this growing relationship. I am happy being a financial investor and not interested in managing the firm." Bajaj said since the association with KTM, which is completing a decade this month, Bajaj has sold over 1 lakh KTM bikes in the domestic market. In 2016 alone, it sold over 37,000 KTM bikes, the sales of which have been clipping at 46 per cent CAGR, since then. (More) PTI BEN NRB BAS --- ENDS --- advertisement If you were at one of many worldwide Womens Marches on Saturday, your protest sign could be archived at a museum. The American History Museum took to Twitter on Sunday to announce they had been collecting signs on Friday and Saturdays events. Kerala man challenges the laws in the state prohibiting alcoholic drinks as it conflicts with his fundamental right. Judge dismissed the appeal but said 'he still may have hope' and quoted Bob Dylan saying 'times are changing'. By India Today Web Desk: Kerala High Court explores art quoting the famous Bob Dylan who won Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016. Read: Bob Dylan, legendary singer, wins 2016 Nobel prize for Literature After a man in Kerala challenged the laws in the state which prohibit alcoholic drinks, and the decision to close down bar hotels, Kerala court had its own way of dismissing the appeal. advertisement Kerala High Court remarks that 'right to drink' is not a not a fundamental right the same way 'right to choose', 'right to be left alone', 'right to privacy', or 'right to life' are, under Article 21 of the Constitution. Anoop who thinks that it his right to be let alone, to privacy, and it his right to life, filed a petition challenging the prohibition of alcohol in Kerala. Kerala High Court but dismissed his appeal and quoted Bob Dylan's famous song 'The Times They Are a-Changin' which was released in 1964. "And don't speak too soonFor the wheel's still in spinAnd there's no tellin' whoThat it's namin'For the loser nowWill be later to winFor the times they are a-changin'." Here is the judgement: Twitter: @FarziVakee Twitter: @FarziVakee --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jan 20 (PTI) A day after regulator CCI imposed penalty on seven cement firms for rigging tender, companies such as JK Lakshmi Cement, Ambuja, Shree Cement, Ultra Tech and ACC today said they would challenge the order at the Competition Appellate Tribunal. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) had yesterday imposed Rs 206-crore penalty on seven cement companies for violating competition norms with regard to a tender floated by a Haryana agency back in 2012. advertisement The seven companies are: Shree Cement, UltraTech Cement, Jaiprakash Associates, J K Cement, Ambuja Cements, ACC and J K Lakshmi Cement. "We deny the allegations against us and intend to file an appeal against the CCI order before the Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT)," J K Lakshmi Cement in a statement. While Gujarat-based Ambuja Cement said it has a comprehensive fair competition compliance programme and had delivered all the information and clarifications requested by the authorities. "Ambuja Cement has taken note of the order by the CCI and is disappointed with the outcome. The company intends to file an appeal to defend our position before the Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT)," the company said. CCI has imposed a penalty of Rs 6.25 crore on J K Lakshmi Cement and Rs 29.84 crore on Ambuja Cement. According to Shree Cement, on which CCI has imposed a penalty of Rs 18.44 crore: "Based on companys own assessment and advice given by its legal counsel, the company believes that it has a good case for succeeding in appeal and will accordingly file its appeal against the order before the COMPAT." However, Aditya Birla group firm Ultra Tech, on which CCI has imposed the highest penalty of Rs 68.3 crore, said it is still examining the order. "It would take appropriate action after examining the order fully," the company said in a stock exchange filing. ACC, which also faces Rs 35.32 crore penalty, also believes that it has a very strong case against CCI. "We feel aggrieved by the conclusion of the order and believe that the company has strong case on merits to challenge it. We will therefore file an appeal to defend our position before the COMPAT," ACC said in a BSE filing. PTI KRH MKJ --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jan 20 (PTI) Government today told Delhi High Court that it will provide a new TB medicine to a Mumbai-based doctor who will be responsible to administer it to an 18-year -old girl suffering from a drug resistant form of the disease. The decision was arrived at with the consent of the patients father, following which an order was passed by Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva disposing of the plea to provide the new TB drug to the girl, on the basis of the terms and conditions arrived at between the two sides. advertisement The new TB drug is one of the two optional medicines for her and is not openly available in the country. The court also said the order has been passed under the peculiar circumstances of the case and should not be treated as a precedent. As per the terms of the consent order which were taken on record by the court, the government said the patients doctor will have to move an application before the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for permission to get the medicine, Bedaquiline, under "compassionate use basis" and the authority would process the same within 24 hours, if all requisite conditions are fulfilled. Once the permission is received from DCGI, the doctor has to forward an application to the manufacturer, Janssen - a subsidiary of pharma major Johnson and Johnson - for importing Bedaquiline urgently on "compassionate use basis", it said. Thereafter, the doctor would have to furnish a copy of DCGIs permission and the application to Janssen, to the DDG of Central TB Division "who shall make the full course of Bedaquiline available through KEM Hospital, Mumbai, to the doctor within two days thereof", the terms of the consent order stated. The terms also state that as and when Bedaquiline is made available to the doctor by Janssen, on the basis of his application, it shall be handed over to KEM Hospital as and by way of replenishment of the stocks of the medicine. Meanwhile, Lala Ram Swarup (LRS) Hospital clarified in the consent order that domicile or residence of the patient was not a criteria to determine eligibility for administering the drug under the conditional access programme. During arguments, senior advocate Anand Grover told the court that the patients doctor was determining a protocol for administering Bedaquiline with other drugs, after carrying out a fresh drug sensitivity test, as a doctor of LRS told them there have been cases of deaths, which went unreported, after Bedaquiline was given without a proper protocol. (More) PTI HMP PPS ARC --- ENDS --- Chandu Chavan's family members today felicitated Dr Bhamre for his untiring efforts in the release of Sepoy Chandu Chavan of 37 Rashtriya Rifles. By Pankaj P. Khelkar: The tiny Borvir village in Dhule district is rejoicing the return of Chandu Chavan since yesterday afternoon. Even amidst the celebrations they did not forget to thank the Indian Army, government and Minister of State (Defence), Dr Subhash Bhamre, who hails from Dhule. Chandu Chavan's family members today felicitated Dr Bhamre for his untiring efforts in the release of Sepoy Chandu Chavan of 37 Rashtriya Rifles. advertisement Chandu had inadvertently strayed across the LoC on September 29, the day Indian Army carried out surgical strikes on 8 terrorist camps. Dr Bhamre in his statement said, "Since the time the Indian soldier Chandu Chavan had inadvertently strayed across the border, his family members are in continuous touch with me. Many a times Chandu's brother use to get demoralised but with continuous assurance from the government, he didn't lose hope." It was last wek that Indian Army DGMO informed Bhamre of Chandu's interrogation by Pakistan Army being completed. He was then hand over to India yesterday. Chavan, at present, is going through a series of inquiry, but will soon join his family. Chandu's elder brother Bhushan Chavan told India Today, "Have full faith in Indian Army and the government, will wait till the official inquiry is over. We are now waiting for his return so that last rites of his grandmother can be completed." --- ENDS --- By Chef Tejas Sovani: I believe the world has a whole new understanding of Indian food where individual regions are claiming the spotlight today. At Amaranta we continue to explore small town markets in search of key seasonal ingredients and authentic regional recipes that are coupled with constant experimentation for our menu. Chefs today have refined recipes, created new dishes, paid more keen attention to the quality of ingredients and redefined presentation. One must know that no matter how successful you are in adapting your cuisine to suit foreign palates, all revolutions have to be indigenous. Indian chefs are inspired to curate menus primarily keeping Indian guests in mind and look beyond the usual dishes to create a revolution. advertisement My culinary style features a menu where stories are told via food that is rooted in the familiar. The recipes that I showcase involve using techniques like dehydration, sous-vide, fermentation, dehydration and flavoured oils. The inspiration for my recipes are diverse - from the Havelis in Lucknow and traditional 'gams' in Saurashtra to the rarified classics of the Jain Paryushan and the 'deras' of Punjab. My style of cooking where 'less is more' allows each ingredient to be the star and ensures that the flavours are intact and still recognisable. This January, I had the opportunity to work with Chef Vivek Singh of The Cinnamon Collection fame in London. Chef Vivek Singh draws his inspiration from tradition yet is driven by constant evolution, new techniques and cultural influences. Also read: SodaBottleOpenerWala's chef manager says we have to fight to pave a way for female chefs My three month stint at Noma in Denmark has let me bring the finer nuances of foraging, sustainability, detailing and ageing. We must be committed to personalising each interaction with our guests and spend time explaining the menu and the finer nuances of the ingredients, method of preparation and the cuisine philosophy with it. I enjoy bringing together unusual elements that pair beautifully. Amrood Ki Sabzi? Not typically expected. Butthe sweet flavours of the fruit marry well with the spice of the 'masala'. I get bored with repetition and love experimenting; this brings constant change to my menu. The recipes involve using techniques like dehydration, sous-vide and fermentation while ensuring the flavours are easily recognisable. My essential style is a 'play-ted menu' blending authentic regional recipes and unusual flavour pairings to curate a truly contemporary modern Indian dining experience. On the other hand, Chef Vivek combines Indian culinary heritage with quality British produce, creating modern versions of regional originals that have earned him many accolades. The use of key seasonal ingredients and reinvented recipes resulting from constant experimentation form the base of this first-ofits-kind culinary celebration. - Chef Tejas Sovani is the master chef at Amaranta-The Oberoi, Gurgaon and Chef Vivek Singh is the chef at The Cinnamon Collection, London advertisement 63 poached egg Ingredients for the poached egg: 6 Golden eggs 10 gms sea salt 100 ml white wine vinegar 1 litre water - Soak chickpeas overnight and boil them till they are soft. - Heat water and stir in white wine vinegar and sea salt. - Bring the water to a simmer. Approximate temperature to be between 86 degrees and 92 degrees. - Stir the water, and break in the egg and poach for four minutes ensuring the water is never boiling. - Remove and keep aside in ice water. For the kurma paste: 50 gms fresh coconut, grated 30 gms cashewnuts ,soaked in warm water 20 gms red chilli powder 5 gms turmeric powder 5 gms fennel seeds - Combine the above ingredients in a blender and keep aside. For the kurma gravy: 100 ml sunflower oil 3 gms bay leaf 2 gms cloves 2 gms black peppercorn 2 gms green cardamom 2 gms cinnamon stick 5 gms fennel seeds 100 gms sliced onions 80 gms sliced tomatoes 3 nos slit green chilies 20 gms ginger garlic paste 5 gms mint leaves, chopped - Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan, add the garam masala mix and allow it to crackle. advertisement - Add sliced onions and saute till golden brown. Now add the ginger garlic paste and saute till the paste to stick to the base of the pan. - Add sliced tomatoes and cook till they all come together, then add the kurma paste and cook till it starts to leave the oil. - Strain the gravy and keep aside. - Adjust seasoning and add chopped mint. For the goan pork churris: - Crumble pork Churris in a pan and cook till it leaves oil. - Add in sliced onion and cook for less than a minute for the onion to be crunchy. - Add in chopped coriander leaves. The final dish: - In a deep dish, add in a spoonful of Kurma gravy. Top it up with goan pork Churris. - Reheat poached egg in salted water. Remove and place on top on the Churris. - Add in some toasted croutons to add contrasting texture to the dish. - Garnish with pea shoots, fennel sprigs, nasturtium leaves for play-ting. Also read: From Mumbai to Dubai: Chef Farrokh Khambata is cooking up an Indian food fantasy advertisement Salmon carpaccio with caramel jhal muri, green pea relish Ingredients: 4 fillets salmon Zest of 2 oranges 4 limes and 4 lemons,finely chopped 2 tsp cumin seeds, dry roasted 2 tsp mustard seeds, dry roasted 500 g fresh green coriander 100 g red chilli powder 1400 mg granulated sugar 1800 mg sea salt For the caramel jhal muri: 50g puffed rice 75g sugar 2 tbsp water 1/2 tsp black onion seeds 1 boiled potato, peeled and cut into 1 cm dices 1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped 1 green chilli, finely chopped (optional) 1 tbsp chopped green coriander 1/2 tsp sea salt 1/2 tsp sugar Juice of 1 lime 1-2 tbsp mustard oil to drizzle For the green pea relish: 2 cups green peas (shelled or frozen) 1 inch ginger 3 garlic cloves peeled 3 green chillies 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 tsp sugar 1 1/2 tbsp mustard oil Juice from half a lime Method: - Arrange the fillets skin side down on a tray. Sprinkle the finely chopped zest of lemon, lime and orange and the mix together cumin and mustard seeds and apply on fillets, cover and fillets and leave for 2 hours. - After two hours, evenly spread chopped fresh green coriander on the fillets and press lightly. Mix together the salt, sugar and red chilli powder and spread some mix in a layer on the tray. Place the fillets on the salt mix and completely cover the fillets with this mix. Cover and leave in a refrigerator for eight hours. - After eight hours turn the fillets and leave for another eight hours. Do this once again and then after 24 hours remove the excess spice and salt from the fillets. The fillets should feel quite firm to touch. Dry using kitchen paper and apply evenly the mix for topping. Cover and store in refrigerator. - To prepare the topping, dry roast the cumin, mustard and coriander seeds and pound them coarsely. Mix with the dill and chilli powder and apply on top of the salmon fillets. Wrap the fillets with cling film and refrigerate. - To make the caramel jhal muri, first of all heat the sugar in a sauce pan until it caramelizes. Reduce heat, add the water carefully and mix well. Now add the puffed rice, mix thoroughly, remove from pan and spread it evenly on a greaseproof paper to cool. When totally cold, break it into small chunks and keep aside. - For the green pea relish, mix all the ingredients together and blend to a smooth puree using a blender. Refrigerate until use. - Mix together all the other ingredients and leave for about five minutes. Slice the salmon thinly and serve with the puffed rice, potato salad and green pea relish on top. --- ENDS --- WASHINGTON On his second day in office, President Trump met the vanguard of his opposition: A mile-long army of women who marched to his new home, vowing to resist anything he might do that would harm them and their allies. As one sign read at Saturdays Womens March on Washington: Women are the wall. And Trump will pay. The streets of Washington were much more crowded Saturday than during Fridays presidential inauguration, as hundreds of thousands of women along with some of their male partners and supporters thronged the nations capital for a five-hour rally and march. Aerial photos compiled by Vox show a bigger crowd on the National Mall during the march than during the inauguration, to which 250,000 tickets were distributed, officials said. There was star power onstage Saturday Madonna, Alicia Keys and Janelle Monae performed and spoke. A few politicians joined them California Sen. Kamala Harris had a speaking spot, and Oakland Rep. Barbara Lee appeared onstage. And filmmaker Michael Moore encouraged people to call their representatives every day and said, We have to take back the Democratic Party. They shared the stage with speakers representing Black Lives Matter, Mothers of the Movement the seven women who appeared at the Democratic National Convention last year who each had a child who died as a result of police actions and advocates for transgender and immigrant rights, all constituencies who feel threatened under the new presidency. Several speakers said women should lead with love, not the hate they saw during the campaign. Yes, I have thought about blowing up the White House, Madonna told the crowd. But I choose love. But Saturday belonged to the marchers, not the speakers. They traveled to the capital with their daughters and grandmothers and girlfriends. Almost all carried a sign that told a story. About their rage at Trump: If you cut off our reproductive rights can we cut off yours? Their fears: I will not go quietly back to the 1950s. And their promises: Hell hath no fury. From the stage to the streets, one theme was consistent: This march the largest of more than 600 sister marches around the world shouldnt be a one-off but a beginning. Even though the march was started by people talking on Facebook the day after the election, several warned that clicktivism online activism wont be sufficient to resist the new administration. Sometimes we must put our bodies where our beliefs are, pioneering feminist Gloria Steinem said. Sometimes pressing send is not enough. Many women, like Mary McLaughlin of San Francisco, described coming to Washington as a pilgrimage, a time to salve the wounds of an election campaign that included discussion of Trumps history of making derogatory, misogynistic remarks. McLaughlin met three friends in Washington, even though there was a march in San Francisco, too. Being with friends helped her heal, and it was important to come to Washington to show Trump that were going to come right to where he lives to hold him accountable. McLaughlin said she felt a little guilty about not doing more to support Hillary Clinton last fall after backing her primary rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. After she returns to the Bay Area, she plans to invest a lot of time and energy in resisting Trump. I feel lighter already after being here, she said, as marchers danced by her as Madonna sang Express Yourself. So did Kenzie Hines, who took a few days off from college in Vermont to come to the march with her mother, Dovi Hines and grandmother, Sally Sare, who live nearby in Virginia and were at their first-ever demonstration. This was our way of saying to President Trump, We see you. And were watching you, Kenzie Hines said. Other women made the journey for those who couldnt. Katherine Hunter came from Boulder, Colo., with her 11-year-old daughter, Sarah, and wore a pink shirt that read, X 126. On the back were the names of 126 people she was representing in the capital. I feel powerful being here, and being here makes me feel powerful, Hunter said. Jessica Wallin, 38, came from Ketchikan, Alaska, because after the election, I had this feeling like, What the hell can I do? But being here with all these people makes me want to go home and do something. I think Im going to have (Alaska) Sen. (Lisa) Murkowskis number memorized. Trump inspired the days dominant word, as it was a response to the release during the campaign of a decade-old Access Hollywood video in which he boasts of using his celebrity to force himself upon women. Grab them by the pussy, Trump said in the recording. You can do anything. The word that once wasnt said aloud was everywhere Saturday on signs, on shirts, bellowed from the stage. They aint for grabbing, actress Ashley Judd said. They are for birthing new generations of filthy, vulgar, nasty, proud, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh you name it for new generations of nasty women. The Pussyhat Project women knitted pink, cat-eared hats to wear to the march was a huge success, as the vast majority of women, and a few men, wore them. After the rally, many of the marchers walked by the newly opened Trump International Hotel. Thousands dumped their signs in front of the barricades lining the hotel. Many more stopped by the hotel to boo and chant, We need a leader, not a creepy tweeter. Some posed before the hotels Trump marquee, extended a middle finger and took a photo. Standing with her sister, daughter and a friend, Baltimore resident Rebecca Gray left the paper Statue of Liberty torch she carried around all day in front of Trumps hotel. That, she said, seems like an appropriate way to end this day. Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli BUDAPEST, Hungary It could take days to officially identify the 16 people killed when a bus carrying Hungarian students returning from a ski trip burst into a fireball after crashing in Italy, Hungarys foreign minister said Sunday. There were 54 passengers and two Hungarian drivers on the bus that crashed on an Italian highway near Verona just before midnight Friday, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said. Two adults hospitalized in critical condition also have yet to be identified. Szijjarto, visibly shaken, said the days ahead will remain emotionally challenging. A day has passed since the tragedy, and it is clear that the pain is even sharper, he said. As the shock fades, the losses become even more excruciating. The long and more painful process, like the identification of the bodies, is about to begin. Most of the passengers were students from a Budapest school returning from a ski trip in France. Candles burned Sunday outside Szinyei Merse Pal high school. Four passengers remained hospitalized with serious injuries. Szijjarto said one of the unidentified adults in critical condition suffered third-degree burns on over 60 percent of his body, while the other person had undergone surgery for a serious head injury. Szijjarto said the causes of the crash have yet to be determined. Italian officials said the bus burst into flames after hitting a highway barrier and then ramming into an overpass support column. Judit Timaffy, the Hungarian consul in Milan, said a hero professor identified as physical education teacher Gyorgy Vigh dashed repeatedly into the bus pulling students to safety. Vigh lost two of his own children in the crash. He didnt succeed in saving the son and daughter, the consul said, according to the ANSA news agency. The teachers wife was aboard and she saw her daughter die. She didnt see her son at all, but unfortunately he was among the deceased. Pablo Gorondi is an Associated Press writer. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate FARINDOLA, Italy Some of the lucky ones were sipping hot tea near the fireplace in their mountain resort hotel, waiting for snowplows to arrive so they could finally go home after a winter holiday made nerve-racking by a day of ground-shaking earthquakes and heavy snowfall. Suddenly, Vincenzo Forti and girlfriend Giorgia Galassi were knocked violently off a wicker sofa. A few other guests nearby tumbled off their chairs in the elegant reception hall. An avalanche of snow and not a tremendously powerful earthquake as survivors first imagined had just barreled down the mountainside Wednesday evening, smashing into the Hotel Rigopiano and trapping more than 30 holiday-makers, including four children, and workers inside. On Sunday evening, rescuers spotted a mans body in the wreckage, raising to six the number of confirmed dead. Twenty-three others remained missing. While the nine people who were eventually rescued, including all the children, remained hospitalized Sunday, some details of their harrowing survival accounts began emerging, through family, friends and rescuers. Among the details: the seemingly endless isolation, because the snow absorbed any sound from the outside world. There were four of us, in front of the fireplace, drinking tea, Galassi recalled. Suddenly, everything collapsed on top of us, and I didnt understand anything anymore, Galassi, a 22-year-old university student, told Radio Giulianova. Cut off from the outside world, the couple heard no sound. But we were convinced that someone would come, because it was impossible they wouldnt be aware of us, Galassi said. We banged until I couldnt anymore. Another survivor was near the couple. Francesca Bronzi was trying to find where her boyfriend, Stefano Feniello, ended up. Bronzis parents, Vanessa and Gaetano Bronzi, said that the chairs high backrest saved her, protecting her from a beam that could have crushed her. Bronzi continues to ask about her boyfriend, who remains among the missing. They have made life plans, said Gaetano Bronzi. Paolo Santalucia, Pietro Decristofaro, Colleen Barry and Frances DEmilio are Associated Press writers. 1 Syria bombing: A large explosion rocked a camp for displaced Syrians along the Syrian-Jordanian border Saturday, killing six and wounding at least a dozen others, opposition activists and a witness said. Badr Abu Sultan, a resident of the Rukban camp, said the explosion inside Syrian territory was caused by a suspected car bomb in a market. Jordan has been on edge since a car bomb attack last year launched from Rukban killed seven Jordanian border guards. Jordan then sealed the border, cutting off vital aid to 75,000 Syrians stranded in the area. 2 Negotiator dies: Pir Sayed Ahmed Gailani, chief of Afghanistans High Peace Council, tasked with negotiating an end to the countrys protracted conflict, has died at age 84. Mohammed Karim Khalili, deputy head of the council, said Gailani died in Kabul on Friday. The cause of death was not immediately reported but he had been ill. Gailani rose to prominence during the 1980s Soviet invasion of Afghanistan as a resistance leader. He had been a strong proponent of peace talks with the Taliban. By Press Trust of India: Chandigarh, Jan 22 (PTI) The Congress today claimed that the Aam Aadmi Party was receiving funds from abroad in the run-up to the Punjab Assembly polls and asked party supremo Arvind Kejriwal to explain the source of such funds. It also accused one of the AAP MLAs of sharing stage with "separatists and terror elements" in London. advertisement "The AAP does not have any dearth of money. They are being funded from abroad. Who are these people who are supporting them," asked senior Congress leader and former Union minister Anand Sharma while addressing the media here. "Kejriwal should explain to the people of Punjab about the foreign funds his party is receiving for the upcoming Assembly polls," he said. Without naming anyone, Sharma alleged that an AAP MLA had gone to London where he shared stage with "terror elements". "One of Kejriwals MLAs addressed a gathering in London while separatists and terror elements were seen standing on the dais. Kejriwal should take action against him but he is silent," he said. "What he (the AAP MLA) said outside India, you (media) should find out. He met those separatists and terror elements who have ruined Punjab. Who did he meet in London and Canada? Whose money is flowing into Punjab...there should be an inquiry into it because such a huge amount usually does not come, chartered planes (with NRIs) do not come," Sharma added. A few days back, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal had also claimed that AAP was being funded by "foreign-based terrorist organisations". Sharma further alleged that both the ruling allies in Punjab, the SAD and the BJP, were "using the maximum amount of black money" for the upcoming election. Lambasting the Delhi Chief Minister for his "failure to honour the promises made to the people", he said, "The people of Delhi are demanding answers for those promises. The AAP government is the most corrupt government Delhi has ever had. One-third of his (Kejriwals) people are in Jail. His government is being run from Tihar jail." Alleging that AAP had failed to fulfil "even a single promise" made to the people of Delhi, Sharma said the fact that Kejriwal was bringing people from outside to manage his partys poll campaign in Punjab clearly showed that he did not trust the people of the state. Regarding the AAP leaders letter to the Punjab Chief Electoral Officer seeking withdrawal of his security, Sharma took a swipe at Kejriwal by asking him why did he take the security cover in Delhi and alleged that he was trying to "befool" the people of Punjab. (MORE) PTI CHS VJ RC --- ENDS --- advertisement By Anuj Mishra: Delhi Police Crime Branch has arrested an inter-state dacoit and murderer. The accused, identified as Chandrama Prashad, was the leader of the Chandrama gang. Police had announced a cash award of Rs 1,00,000 on his arrest. Prashad has been previously involved in more than 18 cases of dacoity under the Arms Act. He is also a history-sheeter from Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh. advertisement Also read | Delhi Police busts gang of robbers, Rs 4.20 lakh recovered from accused He, along with his accomplices, was wanted in a murder and in some robberies in Delhi. On a visit to Azamgarh in another case, police learnt about the movement of hardcore criminal Chandrama Prashad to Delhi to commit a robbery. The informers were deployed to tip off on the whereabouts of the accused. By Press Trust of India: By Lemuel Lall Bhopal, Jan 22 (PTI) Indias first indigenous, long-range artillery gun Dhanush, aka Desi Bofors, will be showcased for the first time at the Republic Day parade in New Delhi. Manufactured by Jabalpur-based Gun Carriage Factory (GCF), the 155-mm gun cost about Rs 14.50 crore a piece. "Dhanush will be displayed to showcase defence power at the Republic Day function in New Delhi," GCFs Joint General Manager and PRO Sanjay Shrivastava told PTI. advertisement Dhanush is comparable to the latest weapon systems used by different countries, another official said. Besides features like electronic gun-laying and sighting systems, the indigenous gun has a strike range of 38 km, which is 11 km more than the imported Bofors guns. "The Dhanush project has received support and active cooperation from other ordinance factories and PSUs such as SAIL, BEL, and many private sector companies. Their support has made the project a huge success," the official said. The gun, a towed howitzer, has been developed by Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), Kolkata, after going through the design and documents running into over 12,000 pages which were given to India under the first phase of Transfer of Technology (ToT) as part of the Bofors gun deal in the late 1980s. The Swedish Bofors company (now owned by Britains BAE System) could not complete the ToT for the 155-mm howitzer with 39 calibre to India as the deal got embroiled in a major political row over alleged kickbacks. Subsequently, OFB struggled for long to produce the howitzer indigenously despite the fact that it has manufactured and supplied several components or spare parts to keep the Bofors howitzers operational in India, especially during the Kargil War. The army had been desperately looking for 155-mm howitzers for more than a decade now. It had roped in an Israeli company, Soltam, to upgrade the imported, Russian-made 130-mm gun to 155-mm at GCF. But the project, after the upgraded guns trial, ran into hot water, the official claimed. Five years ago, the Defence Acquisition Council had decided to look for artillery guns within the country and asked OFB to start manufacturing howitzers. Towards that end, former Defence Minister A K Antony flagged off a 155-mm gun manufacturing facility at GCF on September 22, 2012. The over a century-old GCF has already delivered six Dhanush guns to the Army which has been extensively trying these in snowy, desert and hostile areas in the country, he said. advertisement The army had been looking for a total of 114 Dhanush guns from GCF to augment its firepower. According to the official, the army needs a huge number of howitzers of different types, and Indian firms, some with the help of foreign manufacturers, are in the race to fulfill the demand with the guns variants. PTI LAL MAS SAP SMN RCJ --- ENDS --- President Donald Trump his tryst with controversies has continued unabated and has, in fact, seen two major controversies in just two days after his inaugural speech on January 20, 2017. By Santosh Chaubey: The controversial businessman and President-elect Donald Trump is US President now with the White House as his official and residential address for at least the next four years, a distinction that makes him unarguably the most powerful person on Earth. But true to his past, his tryst with controversies has continued unabated and has, in fact, seen two major controversies in just two days after his inaugural speech on January 20, 2017. advertisement Donald Trump has a reputation when it comes to women, thanks to his gaudy, bitter in taste sexist remarks and the cases of sexual assault filed against him. It was natural then that millions of women protested against him, not just in Washington but in many parts of the world. According to an ABC news report, 'more than than 600 rallies in 60 countries around the world' were held. Also Read: Pope Francis to 'wait and see' before forming opinion about Donald Trump But Donald Trump, in his trademark style, a hangover from his past, chose to berate women again. Tweeting from his personal Twitter handle (@realDonaldTrump), Trump mocked protesters, "Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn't these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly." Though he later tweeted to say that even if didn't agree, "He recognised the rights of people to express their views." After the inauguration ceremony, Trump's Press Secretary Sean Spicer claimed that it was the most watched inauguration ever, a false claim that fell flat with contradictory figures. Also Read: This boy just left a cheeky message about Donald Trump on camera According to Nielsen data, Trump's inauguration with 30.6 eyeballs ranked behind Ronald Reagan (1981-41.8 million), Barack Obama (2009-37.7 million), Jimmy Carter (1977-34.1 million) and Richard Nixon (1973-33 million). But Trump, in his familiar style, tried to belittle his predecessor Barack Obama again tweeting "Wow, television ratings just out: 31 million people watched the Inauguration, 11 million more than the very good ratings from 4 years ago!". Both Trump and his Press Secretary have slammed the media for being preferential and biased for showing truth behind the numbers. Trump thinks media is dishonest when it says that Barack Obama's inaugural in 2009 had more people in attendance. Going a step further, his Press Secretary Spicer threatened to 'hold the press accountable' blaming that 'some members of the media were engaged in deliberately false reporting'. --- ENDS --- advertisement Given that US market accounts for 60 per cent of India's IT exports, the industry and the government will spare no efforts in their outreach programme over the next few weeks to showcase the role of Indian technology sector in making the US economy more competitive and highlight its contribution in terms of billions of dollars paid in taxes and creation of local jobs. By Press Trust of India: New US President Donald Trump's 'Buy American-hire American' rallying cry has put the USD 150-billion Indian IT industry on edge, which is in wait-and-watch mode to see how the new administration evolves policies around outsourcing and movement of skilled workers. India hopes to have a meaningful engagement with the US, Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said. advertisement Given that US market accounts for 60 per cent of India's IT exports, the industry and the government will spare no efforts in their outreach programme over the next few weeks to showcase the role of Indian technology sector in making the US economy more competitive and highlight its contribution in terms of billions of dollars paid in taxes and creation of local jobs. "Indian IT companies are in 200 cities across 80 countries. They have added big value to the US, and given jobs to lakhs of people including American people there. I am given to understand that they have paid billions of dollars in tax... So they have added value to America in terms of money, by way of tax and also employment," Prasad told PTI in an interview just hours before Trump was sworn in as the 45th US President. Stating that India wishes to have a meaningful engagement with the Trump government, Prasad said: "We will await unfolding of his views about Indian IT companies' outreach. We have already conveyed our views to them and we will continue (to do so)." TRUMP NEEDS TO WEIGH RESTRICTIONS CAREFULLY Nasscom President R Chandrashekhar said Trump has been pro-India and understands business realities being a businessman himself. The adverse impact on job creation within the US on account of any restriction put has to be weighed very carefully (by the new administration), he cautioned. Communication and outreach will, therefore, be more critical, he said, adding that Nasscom is planning a visit to Washington in February to meet senior representatives of the US administration and the Congress. Trump's 'America First' pledge, which formed the essence of his inaugural speech last Friday, has reinforced worries of protectionist posturing and unnerved the Indian IT industry which, as it is, has been battling headwinds of a slowing growth. Trump has vowed to rebuild the country using "American hands" and his inaugural was punctuated with lines like Buy American and Hire American. "We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength," Trump said. . advertisement PROTECTIONISM AND ANTI-IMMIGRATION Trump's hardline stance on protectionism and anti-immigration is no surprise to the Indian industry. While companies have tried putting on a brave face, concerns run deep about tightening of visa norms that will push up the cost of doing business. Earlier this month, a Bill targeting H-1B visas was reintroduced in the US Congress by two lawmakers who said it will help crack down on the work visa abuse. Any restriction placed by the US on outsourcing or movement of skilled workers will have far-reaching consequences for Indian firms like TCS, Infosys and Wipro. Already, companies have been preparing to mitigate the impact and have ramped up local hiring even if it means eating into their margins. CHANGES TO BUSINESS MODELS Hoping for a "business-friendly administration", Infosys chief Vishal Sikka said Trump himself is an entrepreneur and a business leader and therefore, he expects that this will be the case of business and innovation-friendly regime. "In the near term, we do expect there will be changes to the visa and H1-B visa policies. As policies take effect, we will consider, analyse and understand their impact," he said. advertisement The larger rival, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), has also said it is proactively addressing these concerns by making changes to its business model. Greyhound Research Chief Analyst and CEO Sanchit Gogia said better skilled jobs, including coding and maintenance, are likely to remain unaffected, given their scarce availability and exclusivity. Also, its critical to remember that most US-based companies -- including many Fortune 500s -- are deeply invested (and dependent) on Indian IT service providers and neither they nor the Trump administration is in a position to make drastic changes, he pointed out. Also Read: Buy American, hire American, make America great again, says US President Donald Trump 'Will give power back to people': Full transcript of President Trump's inaugural speech --- ENDS --- The meeting will be an opportunity for May, who initially struggled to build relations with Trump's transition team, to discuss what has long been termed the "special relationship" between the two nations, a central pillar of Britain's foreign policy. By Reuters: US President Donald Trump is arranging to meet soon with British Prime Minister Theresa May and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, two long-standing US allies concerned about how his presidency will affect their relationships with Washington. Trump will meet on Friday with May in Washington, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Saturday. The meeting will be an opportunity for May, who initially struggled to build relations with Trump's transition team, to discuss what has long been termed the "special relationship" between the two nations, a central pillar of Britain's foreign policy. advertisement Trump, who endorsed the British vote to leave the European Union and is friends with May critic Nigel Farage, has said he wants to arrange a swift bilateral trade deal with the United Kingdom. May's office declined comment. Also read: Not just Washington, women around the globe protest against President Trump TRADE TO BE PART OF AGENDA FOR TRUMP'S MEETING Trade will also be part of the agenda for Trump's meeting with Pena Nieto along with immigration and security, Spicer told reporters. The leaders spoke by phone on Saturday and discussed meeting on January 31, he said. Trump has said he wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, signed in 1994 with Canada and Mexico, in order to improve terms for US workers. Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also spoke by phone on Saturday and discussed setting up "additional meetings in the days to come," Spicer said. Also read: All about Obamacare as Donald Trump orders to cut its roots Watch the video --- ENDS --- By clicking Agree, you consent to Slates Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and the use of technologies such as cookies by Slate and our partners to deliver relevant advertising on our iOS app to personalize content and perform site analytics. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about our use of data, your rights, and how to withdraw consent. Agree The joint statement did not include promises of amnesty but said the world and regional bodies "commit to work with the government of the Gambia to prevent the seizure of assets and properties lawfully belonging to former President Jammeh or his family and those of his Cabinet members, government officials and party supporters." Canberra Cemeteries have defended sending surveys to hundreds of grieving families last year asking them to rate the cemetery on its customer service, weeks after they buried their loved ones. Almost 400 families were sent the opt-out survey in the year to July 2016, the Territory and Municipal Services Directorate's annual report showed. Canberra Cemeteries have spent tens of thousands of dollars in the past decade sending surveys out to bereaved families. Credit:Michele Mossop The five-question survey asked the recently bereaved to rank their satisfaction about the cemeteries' staff, services and presentation from one to five, then mail their responses - postage paid - to Central Coast community research firm Micromax. Perhaps unsurprisingly, only about 4 per cent of surveys were returned. Despite conceding that the use of silencers by government kangaroo shooters was illegal each year since 2009, authorities are taking no action against the shooters or the officials who issued the permits. The government conceded last year that the use of silencers in the annual kangaroo cull was "probably not in accordance with the law", which bans noise suppressors. Kangaroos at the Pinnacle nature reserve in Canberra. Credit:Melissa Adams The illegal possession or use of silencers attracts a fine of $30,000 and up to two years in jail. But a Justice Directorate spokesperson said the shooters had not acted recklessly because they were acting under a permit issued by the registrar of firearms. The President of Guinea has disputed public statements made by Rio Tinto about the firing of a senior executive for a $US10.5 million payment made to the president's friend Francois de Combret. President Alpha Conde said the firing of Alan Davies, who headed Rio's $US20 billion Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, was the result of an internal feud. Rio has said it was because of improper payments to de Combret in 2011 for assisting the company's negotiations with Conde on the mine. President of Guinea, Alpa Conde. Credit:Gian Ehrenzeller Davies had been seen as a challenger to Jean Sebastien Jacques prior to the Frenchman becoming chief executive officer in July. "In reality, it was a settling of scores because the new CEO wanted to get rid of Alan Davies," Conde said in an interview in Davos, Switzerland. If there is one word that encapsulated the mood at Davos this year, it is uncertainty. At one event, when asked to describe how his fellow executives were feeling, a glum senior City figure simply replied "despondent". According to Meg Whitman, boss of Hewlett Packard, there had never been anything like the current climate before. "The chickens have come home to roost," she said. Another talked about "a shock to the system". Everywhere you went, from the various halls of the main congress centre to the cocktail bars, hotels, and evening parties, the biggest names in business fretted about what lies ahead. Suddenly unsure of their place in the world and the prospects for their companies, many, it seemed, had come to Switzerland seeking reassurance from only those that could provide it - the current crop of world leaders. Perhaps most striking was an almost universal acknowledgement that the system of the last few decades - democracy and globalisation - had failed millions of people around the world. OPEC and Russia say they are ahead of schedule implementing their historic agreement to curb oil output and boost prices. Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Kuwait have already made deeper cuts than required, while Russia has reduced supply faster than expected, ministers said as they arrived in Vienna. Producers have already removed 1.5 million barrels a day from the market, according to Saudi Minister of Energy and Industry Khalid Al-Falih. The sun sets beyond oil pumping units, also known as nodding donkeys or pump jacks, at an oil plant in the Czech Republic. Credit:Bloomberg "We are ahead of schedule and we will continue," Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said. . "We are doing our best to maximise participation in the fulfilment of the agreement." Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Algeria and Venezuela are meeting non-OPEC nations Russia and Oman to figure out ways to verify that the 24 signatories to the December 10 accord are following through on their pledge to remove a combined 1.8 million barrels a day from the market for six months. By AP: A magnitude 8 earthquake has hit the Solomon Islands and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says it could generate tsunami waves on nearby islands. The US Geological Survey says the quake hit near Arawa in Papua New Guinea at a depth of 167 kilometers. There are no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The Solomon Islands are located in the Pacific's geologically active "Ring of Fire." --- ENDS --- advertisement Supermarket giant Woolworths is seeking to soothe suppliers anxious over a recent court ruling that it did not act unconscionably in demanding as much as $60 million from suppliers to plug a profit shortfall. Martin Smith, the boss of Woolworths' liquor division, and several of its wine buyers will soon visit South Australia's Coonawarra region to meet with winemakers and industry leaders. Woolworths and Coles are estimated to account for three-quarters of Australia's alcohol sales. A Woolworths spokeswoman said the visit was "part of our regular ongoing commitment to support and partner with the Australian wine sector", and not connected to the December ruling on its treatment of suppliers. Swiss prosecutors will question Beny Steinmetz in Geneva amid an inquiry into allegations of bribery involving a $US20 billion mining project in the Simandou hills in the west African country of Guinea. The interviews with Steinmetz, a 60-year-old billionaire who made his fortune in the diamond trade, will take place towards the end of January and should last a couple of days, Geneva prosecutor Claudio Mascotto said. He said he couldn't comment in greater detail because the case is active. Israeli police arrested Beny Steinmetz last month on suspicions that he paid bribes to help his company win a stake in the Simandou project. Switzerland has been investigating Steinmetz since at least 2013 and Swiss prosecutors have questioned him before. Israeli police arrested Steinmetz last month on suspicions that he paid bribes to help his company win a stake in the Simandou project. Steinmetz hasn't been charged by Israeli prosecutors but his Israeli and French passports were confiscated. Steinmetz's company won the rights to some of the Simandou project, in 2008, other major mining companies interested in the project included Rio Tinto. These events sparked a US Department of Justice investigation. This tragedy has united Melburnians in grief and compassion. The deadly rampage up Bourke Street on Friday has shaken us all. That maroon sedan, allegedly stolen from an elderly man, was driven right through the city's literal heart, the road that defines the city. Not all sorrow is equal. We must not conflate our own sadness with the pain felt by those families mourning loved ones, including two children, killed with what appears to be callous intention. Our condolences go to the friends and family of those who have died, and our thoughts to those waiting by the bedsides of the injured, some of whom still fight for life. Sidney Hook, the prominent liberal anti-communist philosopher, once formulated a rule for debate: "Before impugning an opponent's motives, even when they may legitimately be impugned, answer his arguments." Illustration: Jim Pavlidis Unfortunately, Donald Trump's critics have not respected that rule. Indeed, one of the things that strikes me most about the debate over the new President's Russia policy is its vicious nature, especially on the part of those who claim the moral high ground. Words like "stooge", "puppet," and "Manchurian" are tossed about freely and with little in the way of supporting argument. The charges seem perfectly circular. "Why does Trump support detente with Russia?" Because he is Putin's puppet. How do you know he is a puppet? Because he wants detente with the Russians." These groups can do excellent work for individuals who are suddenly diagnosed with a rare illness, offering reassurance, support, background information, help to deal with medical institutions, news about new treatments, and referrals for people who are understandably anxious and might otherwise be overwhelmed by an unexpected situation. As we reported last week , the issues are rarely as simple as they are made to seem. Behind the one publicised individual battling a rare condition is most likely a patient support group a collection of former and current sufferers, medical professionals, researchers and perhaps drug company representatives. They tug at the heartstrings, with pictures of photogenic sufferers and an emotional plea for assistance for some individual in need. The issues seem so simple. Why won't the government help? How can it be so cruel? Everyone with an email address has received them messages publicising a petition that seeks government recognition in some form for a medical condition; recognition of the condition itself, or for a particular treatment, or a Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme subsidy for a new drug. More generally they can recommend ways the health system might improve the treatment of sufferers of their particular condition, or support the training of specialist staff. In all this, though, the role of large pharmaceutical companies is a complicating factor. Pharmaceutical companies support advocacy groups with money and advice but their support is far from disinterested. Pharmaceutical companies, let it be said, also do a great deal of valuable work: the new drugs they regularly invent offer hope for sufferers where no hope existed before. Almost daily there appear new cures as a result of their research, or new ways to relieve painful or disabling symptoms. Nonetheless, they are private businesses and the motivation for the good work they do is to maximise the profit they can make by doing it. Drugs, like any other product, sell better if they are well marketed. And marketing is something at which drug companies are very good indeed. Their marketing campaigns go far beyond simple advertising as far as influencing at times the research published on the effects of drugs they make. Another aspect of this remarkably thorough marketing is support for patient advocacy groups. The scale of their support is difficult to quantify exactly, because no figures are published, but as the researchers quoted in our report found, two-thirds of the 439 patient advocacy groups they examined reported receiving funds in some form from industry sources, and one in 10 reported gaining more than half their funds that way. Once again, though all this funding can be expected to further the drug companies' interests, that is not necessarily a bad thing: new treatments and improved drugs may be publicised this way. However once the advocacy groups gain support in this form, it is only natural that they will be more reluctant to criticise the drug companies or their products, and more enthusiastic in their support. The Turnbull government's proposed version of marriage equality would further entrench discrimination by allowing civil celebrants and service providers to refuse to undertake gay weddings, the peak law body says. The Law Council of Australia will on Monday tell a parliamentary inquiry the proposed laws would allow discrimination against same-sex couples on "no proper basis" and undermine fundamental principles of the law. "The current bill that they're looking at doesn't strike the right balance," council president Fiona McLeod, SC, said. It went "too far" in appeasing religious groups and was "inconsistent with the current federal law", she said. Despite the same-sex marriage plebiscite being blocked in Parliament, the government has released an exposure draft of its legislation to legalise gay marriage if a plebiscite were to take place and be successful. The Turnbull government appears to be moving toward establishing a government backed-bond vehicle for affordable housing as Treasurer Scott Morrison heads to Britain to seek guidance on Australia's housing affordability crisis and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull prioritises the issue. Similar to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, which the former Abbott government wanted to abolish, a housing bond aggregator would give affordable housing providers access to cheaper and longer tenor debt for the construction of new homes. Housing affodability had become a drag on Britain's productivity, Philip Hammond said. Credit:Bloomberg It was the leading recommendation of bureaucrats in a report handed to state and federal treasurers in December, who agreed to establish a taskforce to design the model by mid-2017. The report made an exemplar of Britain's Housing Finance Corporation, which in 2014-15 issued more than 4 billion ($6.55 billion) in loans to housing agencies. Mr Morrison is scheduled to meet with a slew of British officials this week including Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond, who in a landmark speech in November announced the doubling of capital expenditure on housing, including a 2.3 billion housing infrastructure fund. Beyonce and Jay Z endorsed Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Credit:Getty Hillary Clinton had a litany of pop culture royalty endorsements but she still didn't win. Madonna performs during the Women's March in Washington. Credit:AP/Jose Luis Magana In fact, it's probable the celebrity endorsements/launcing-f-bombs-at-a-rally actually aids Trump's anti-establishment crusade. (A good recap on PBS on how the "several million" Democrats who voted for Obama but failed to turn out in 2016 cost Hillary Clinton the election. [Michael D. Regan] The 2016 result also highlighted some of the structural issues the Democrats are facing, which were masked by having such a media savvy and sellable couple in the Obamas in the White House. This is something Obama acknowledged in one of his final interviews and said he took "some responsibility" for. [Business Insider]) But back to Trump. Even if there's a glimmer of a shift in tone from Trump, his key people are maintaining their dogged styles. Kellyanne Conway, senior adviser to US President Donald Trump. Credit:Andrew Harrer Kellyanne Conway has been on Meet The Press saying the dispute between the President and reporters over crowd size (is it just me or does it always seem to come back to size with The Donald...?) at his inauguration versus Obama's was not a case of the White House telling porkies but providing "alternative facts." [NBC News] I'm sure I've read this in a George Orwell novel somewhere before... Conway also said signatories of a petition calling for Trump to release his tax records can forget it because "people don't care." [Full transcript] Conway underlines what many left-leaning supporters seem to be struggling with since the election and the inauguration: Trump has rewritten the rule book. We are in a Brave New World indeed. The test for Trump's opponents is whether or not they can adapt, effectively. 2. Israel: 'Now we can finally build' Israel has responded to Trump's election by flexing its muscle in approving hundreds of new settlement homes in occupied East Jerusalem. [Reuters] Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Meir Turgeman is quoted as saying: "Now we can finally build." [BBC] Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump are scheduled to speak by phone Sunday night local time. Israeli media is reporting Trump will announce as soon as Monday local time that the US embassy will be moved to Jerusalem. [Tom Batchelor/The Independent] 3. May first to meet Trump UK Prime Minister Theresa May. Credit:Bloomberg But it's Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May who looks set to become the first world leader to travel to Washington DC to meet the newly sworn-in President. Theresa May will travel to the US on Friday. Appearing on the Andrew Marr Show on BBC on Sunday morning local time, May was diplomatic when asked what she thought of Trump's inauguration speech hardly surprising, that a leader would want to put their own country first, she said. May said she would not be afraid to stand up for women with the President, who in the past has boasted about grabbing women by the you-know-where. One of four Royal Navy submarines armed with Trident missiles. Credit:PA Domestically, May is under pressure over a cover-up of a reported misfire of the UK's nuclear weapons system known as Trident. [Fairfax] In a cracking scoop from The Sunday Times, an unarmed missile veered off course just weeks before MPs debated the issue in the Commons. Parliament was not told of this crucial detail. May repeatedly refused to answer questions about whether she knew about the misfire at the time of the debate. [The Guardian] Before you jump on a plane, it pats to check out your international roaming options. Credit:Getty Images Fairly major. Forget the passport. Australia is set to begin biometrics-based screening at airports by the end of the year. This means the government will collect not just fingerprints but possibly also scans of eye irises. [Alexandra Beech/ABC] In other news, Scott Morrison is looking at adopting a government-backed bond vehicle to fund construction of more affordable housing. The Treasurer is visiting London for a week-long trip. [Michael Koziol/Fairfax] Quite the story from Aaron Patrick, who reports the vice-president of the Fair Work Commission, the workplace tribunal established by the former Labor government, has quit claiming the organisation is "partisan, dysfunctional and divided." Expect the strident Employment Minister Michaelia Cash to jump on this, and expect Labor to point out that Graeme Watson represented Patrick stevedores in the 1998 Waterfront dispute. [The Financial Review] Senator Pauline Hanson and her increasingly powerful chief of staff James Ashby. Credit:Andrew Meares Pay careful attention to James Ashby, the brains behind Pauline Hanson's political resurrection, in The Guardian today. Ashby says One Nation is "reinvigorating the regions" in Queensland. With Ashby, a staffer, now dropping the pretence of providing his comments through his spokeswoman, Hanson, it's now clear who is in control of One Nation and how dangerous its appeal in the country is for the Liberals and Nationals. [Joshua Robertson] 5. French left-wing primary A campaign brochure for former French prime minister and left-wing candidate Manuel Valls. Credit:AP Former prime minister Manuel Valls is the leading contender in the first round of the French socialist primary. The left in France is struggling because of President Francois Hollande's business reforms, and the backlash against immigration. Hollande is not standing again for president. [AP] 6. Yotam for Masterchef Israeli-born chef, cookery writer and restaurant owner Yotam Ottolenghi. Credit:Chris Floyd This is huge! Yotam Ottolenghi, the man who changed the way we consider, cook and taste our vegetables, is appearing on Australia's Masterchef for season nine. [Holly Byrnes/Daily Telegraph] I've long been a signed up Yotam devotee, (his restaurant NOPI in Soho is one of my favourite haunts) and saw him in conversation in Melbourne a few years ago. Warm, charismatic, very down-to-earth and very funny, Yotam is going to be an even bigger hit in Australia after this season airs. And that's it from me today you can follow me on Facebook for more. I'm always on the prowl for tools that create a touch of glamour with minimal eff ort. GHD Curve Classic Wave Wand fi ts the bill, making big bouncy curls and soft waves with little fuss. My inspiration? Gigi Hadid and her sexy, '70s, loose-wave hair at the American Music Awards. GHD Curve Classic Wave Wand, $230, ghdhair.com/au Road Test This week I try ... a thermal facial GHD Curve Classic Wave Wand, $230 Credit:Jennifer Soo The lowdown I have arrived in magical Wolgan Valley at Emirates One & Only resort in the Blue Mountains in NSW after a three-hour drive from inner Sydney. I'm here for a Sodashi Th ermal Infusing Facial and can't wait for my therapist Marnia to begin. I am already well and truly in the zen zone, having spent a night at the resort soaking up the mystical atmosphere that permeates the valley, oh, and the amazing food. Marnia has tailored the treatment to restore radiance. My face is cleansed and exfoliated and I have a coma-inducing facial massage. The process peaks with an infusion of vitamins and minerals sealed in with the thermal mask. The heat in the mask builds very slowly and is incredibly comforting. When the mask comes off , the treatment ends with a spritz of a calming mist that brings me back to earth. On January 21, more than 2.5 million people across all seven continents marched in protest for equality, in response to a Donald Trump presidency. But, while protesters filled the streets, listening to speeches on stages from San Francisco to Strasbourg, one cannot help but wonder: what did the protests on the earth's seventh continent look like? Luckily, the Women's March on Antarctica was well documented on Twitter by Linda Zunas, a data analytics professional from California, who organised the event. Zunas told the Independent a group of 30 "eco-minded" visitors to the continent travelling on the same boat would be taking part in the march. By Press Trust of India: Jaipur, Jan 18 (PTI) The clamps imposed upon the freedom to think and speak, formed the focal point of a session today at the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival here, with voices from North Korea, Bangladesh and Nepal documenting stories of their struggles. The session saw participation by Kanak Mani Dixit, editor of Nepal-based Himal Southasian, who was incarcerated in April last year, Hyeonseo Lee, an escapee from North Korea, and Bangladeshi poet and activist Sadaf Saaz, along with historian Timothy Garton Ash. advertisement Lee offered a window into the notoriously secretive North Korea and the frightening ways in which the state would ruthlessly "disappear" anyone raising as much as the slightest doubt over the regime. "I have seen my neighbours disappearing overnight without a trace. My friends father disappeared because he simply remarked this is unjust to someone he knew," she said. Lee went on to recount how the North Korean people were "brainwashed" into thinking that theirs was the best nation in the world, that the Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un were "divine" figures. "We used to get only one TV channel that showed nothing but propaganda. I used to somehow watch Chinese shows secretly by covering the windows. That transformed my mind." Lee would then go on to make her escape from the repressive country, covering countries like Laos and Thailand before eventually landing up in South Korea. "When I got out it seemed like a utopia," she said. Dixit stressed on the need for solidarity between journalists and free speech advocates across all South Asian countries, including those from Pakistan. He also said it was the Indian medias responsibility to make sure that the "elbow room" for free speech is maintained for the rest of South Asia to emulate. " We look up to India as the fount of democracy in this region. If the Indian media lets go of the rein they have on freedom of expression, I can tell you that the rest of South Asia will follow very quickly. "Therefore, it is a great burden, for journalists not only from Delhi but also the rest of the regional media to make sure that the elbow room is kept open," he said. Saaz highlighted the volatile situation in Bangladesh which witnessed a spate of murders of atheist bloggers and minorities. "Ours is a democracy which is a work in progress and one in which we struggle for secular democratic principles everyday. There is the danger of death if you write freely and especially if you touch upon religion. "The spaces for speaking your mind are shrinking and the government will arrest you for hurting religious sentiments. From three years ago until the present day, 46 free thinkers, bloggers and minorities, gay rights activists have been murdered," she said. PTI BSA TRS TRS --- ENDS --- advertisement Australian parents have access to a "unique window of opportunity" to influence their children's behaviours that can not only bring short-term health benefits, but also affect health for the rest of their lives. The boosts aren't just to be had on a personal level either, with new research suggesting a change in approach could have a significant positive impact on the costs passed on to the taxpayer through the public health system. One in five Australian children are overweight or obese by the time they start school. One in five Australian children are overweight or obese by the time they start school, with about 5 per cent of children aged between two and four years classified as obese. New research published on Monday in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health estimates the direct public health burden attributed to early childhood obesity to be worth as much as $17 million annually. Vicki Brown, a researcher at the Centre for Research Excellence in Obesity Policy at Deakin University, suggests that if parents knew how much of an impact can be made during this time, so much benefit could be gained. "One in five Australian children are obese before they start school that number just speaks for itself, that we're not doing enough," she said. "The research suggests there is an immediate benefit in trying to reduce this rate of obesity in young children, but we also know there are many long-term health benefits of reducing risk of conditions like diabetes, heart conditions, stroke and all those other conditions that we know can happen later in life it's really twofold, the benefit there." Ms Brown highlights the "unique window of opportunity" afforded to parents during early childhood, and how much of an impact is on offer. "I think its a really important time it's one when children are first experiencing their tastes of food, first experiencing their attitude toward physical activity they're learning so much during this time that I think it does present this unique opportunity," she said. Good morning We're in for a warm day with a top of 31 degrees in the city and 34 at Parramatta. Tuesday will be boiling with a top of 38 in the city and 42 at Penrith. The good news is we will have a minimum of 20 after storms cool things down on Tuesday night. Checkout chick to premier Gladys Berejiklian at her office. On Sunday. Credit:James Alcock The big day has arrived in Macquarie Street with the Liberal party room to meet to elect a new leader following Premier Mike Baird's shock retirement announcement last Thursday. Gladys Berejiklian will most likely be elected leader unopposed and be sworn in as premier this afternoon. Ms Berejiklian has risen from the ranks of checkout chick to the top job in the state. You can read James Robertson's portrait of a premier here. Assyrian gang associates entangled in a turf war in Sydney may have been behind a fatal bikie shooting after the gun used in the shooting was found at one of their homes. Ex-Nomads bikie gang member Adrian Buxton was shot several times outside his home in Colyton in the city's north-west on May 19 last year. Adrian Buxton was gunned down outside his home in Colyton. Credit:Nick Moir Two men ambushed Mr Buxton as he took his wheelie bins out to the curb, peppering him with bullets. Before his death, Mr Buxton had completed a stint behind bars for drug supply and parted ways with the bikie fraternity when he got out of jail. Berejiklian with Catherine Cusack (right) and Ron Phillips (centre), former opposition spokesman for health. Credit:Andrew Meares "People may know that NSW is number one again," one senior NSW Liberal says. "But there's a bit of a sense that not everyone is sharing [the proceeds]. She's the perfect person to tell that story." In more than one way Ms Berejiklian is the photo-negative of Premier Mike Baird, the Kings-educated son of a former Liberal Minister. Gladys Berejiklian as a toddler with her father, Krikor. She was the daughter of a welder and nurse who came to Australia from Jerusalem and Syria in the 1960s. She spoke English only occasionally before the age of five. Her mother encouraged her to speak up in class whenever possible to practise the language. Friends say her Armenian heritage influenced her progressive brand of Liberalism. But she counts a sit-in demonstration in the principal's office of her public high school as lighting the fuse on a career in politics that has often seen her stake out tough positions. (The school closure was reversed.) "She was Young Liberal president when Pauline Hanson was first on the scene," says North Sydney federal Liberal MP and friend of two decades Trent Zimmerman. "She was adamant that the party had to take a stand against racism. She took the view the best way to counter extremism is to speak out." (The Left-faction stalwart has also broken with other party members, including Mr Baird, to vote for same-sex adoption and stem-cell research.) Friends describe a woman of incredible discipline and who starts her days reading ministerial briefings over breakfast and who is often caught checking emails under the dinner table. But she never misses Sunday visits with family and is extremely close to her two sisters and six godchildren. She made her name as transport minister, once thought to be the cursed portfolio of NSW politics. "She really is the most determined, hard-working person I know," says Liberal MLC and President of the NSW Upper House, Don Harwin. "And yet I struggle to think of anyone who doesn't like her." But even former premier Barry O'Farrell, perhaps her biggest backer in politics, conceded she didn't put herself forward enough. Opponents sense a weakness. Even before she's been sworn in, attacks from shock jock Alan Jones and Labor, which is counting her understated style as a weakness, have already zeroed in on the question of whether she's ready for the top job. But her colleagues, who coalesced around her in little more than a day, say they have little doubt. "Once she's made up her mind, she doesn't waver," Mr Zimmerman says. How Monday's events will unfold The Liberal party room will convene for a meeting at 10am on Monday. Premier Mike Baird will make his farewell address as Premier to MPs and declare the party's leadership positions vacant and call for contenders to self-nominate. The idea may seem off the cliff but a Brisbane-based lifestyle and adventure company is prepared to rock the industry by offering to match any type of expired gift voucher dollar for dollar. Riverlife general manager Tahlia Roberts questioned why a gift should go to waste because of an expiry date. Riverlife general manager Tahlia Roberts has a steep climb ahead, offering to match any type of expired gift cards dollar for dollar. Credit:Tammy Law "Millions of dollars are spent on gift vouchers each year, and a large percentage of those will never be used," she said. "We want to reach out to consumers who have unused expired gift vouchers and redeem them for an unforgettable adventure experience." A man and a woman will front court on Monday over a chase that saw two police officers attacked at Ipswich, west of Brisbane. Police tried to stop a stolen car at Goodna about 10pm on Sunday but it sped off. A man has been charged after allegedly attacking police south-west of Brisbane. Credit:Glenn Hunt The police chopper tracked the vehicle onto the Centenary Motorway at Springfield, where it crossed onto the wrong side of the road. Officers followed it to a KFC restaurant at Springfield Lakes, where a man and a woman who'd been in the vehicle allegedly tried to steal a second car and assaulted its owner. Thalia Hakin should have been enjoying the rest of the summer with her friends. Instead, the 10-year-old's classmates were leading a community prayer service in her memory - the first for the victims of the Bourke Street attacks. The Beth Rivkah Ladies College schoolgirl was among the five people killed when a speeding car charged through pedestrians in Melbourne's CBD just after lunchtime on Friday. Members of her Jewish community came together on Sunday evening for a memorial service to honour all victims, but for many of the attendees, memories of Thalia came top of mind. "This case, and so many other cases, they, I think, should leave none of us in any doubt that we have to have a close look at these arrangements," he said. Departing Police Association secretary Ron Iddles has backed a trial of safe injecting rooms for heroin users. Credit:Simon Schluter Victoria is the only state that uses a voluntary bail justice system. In 2014 the role of bail justices was outlined and protected by legislation introduced by the Napthine government. Part of Bourke Street Mall has become a shrine to victims of Friday's tragedy. Credit:Arsineh Houspian Police Association secretary Ron Iddles called for the voluntary system to be scrapped and for police to be given the power to remand suspects until they can face a magistrate. "For too long we've done justice on the cheap whilst [bail justices have] filled the void or the gap. We have modern technology now, we should have magistrates doing all remands," Senior Sergeant Iddles said. He said magistrates were already available after-hours to make decisions on search warrant applications from police. Magistrates could either be on-call to do a videolink into a police station, or a senior officer should have the power to remand a suspect until they can face the next available magistrate, Senior Sergeant Iddles said. In NSW, police have had this power for years, enabling custody sergeants to remand or bail an alleged offender to face the next available magistrate. Police Federation of Australia president Mark Burgess, a NSW police officer, said the system had worked well there. "Police are very well placed to make those decisions and people who think that's giving too much authority to police, all those decisions are reviewable," Mr Burgess, whose organisation represents police unions Australia-wide, said. "People aren't going to have to wait six months to a year in custody; they'll face a magistrate 24 to 48 hours later." Bail justices are volunteers who are called in after-hours, normally to police stations, to conduct hearings on applications for bail or remand in the immediate hours after suspects are arrested and charged. To become a bail justice, an application is lodged with the Justice Department. There is a recruitment information session and then the person has to complete a police check, an interview, a probity check by the Honorary Justice Office and a training course before the Attorney-General recommends an appointment to the Governor in Council. Senior Sergeant Iddles said "a lot" don't understand the Bail Act, which stipulates when an accused in custody is entitled to bail. He called for the act and court system overall to be reviewed. Senior Sergeant Iddles said he knew of suspects who were on several sets of bail, meaning they had been arrested after allegedly committing crimes while on bail. He said there was one man in the eastern suburbs who had been bailed eight times. "How many times should they get bail?" he said. "This review has got to look at the Bail Act, but also the court system overall. How many times can you have an adjournment but also, Legal Aid, we are charging more people, yet Legal Aid hasn't increased its staffing for several years. "Sadly it takes a tragedy look what happened with Masa Vukotic and not a lot has changed." Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said police members had expressed frustration over bail. "But they're not just police members. I think everyone that works in the system has issues with it from time to time" Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said the bail system must be fixed immediately, with Parliament to be recalled early if reform could be made soon. "This is a period where we now must ask tough questions about some of the operations of the bail system in this state,' Mr Guy said. "It is time that we accept and acknowledge that the bail system in this state is broken and it needs to be fundamentally reformed." "At the moment the system is failing Victorians." He said all aspects of the system must be reviewed including the role of bail justices and what types of offences bail was made available for. Donations for the immediate families of those killed in Bourke Street can be made via the website www.vic.gov.au/bourkestreet.html London: A test firing of an unarmed British nuclear Trident missile from a submarine malfunctioned last June, the Sunday Times has reported, prompting questions about why Prime Minister Theresa May did not tell parliament ahead of a vote on renewing the submarines. The paper quoted a senior naval source as saying the missile may have veered off in the wrong direction towards the American mainland when it was fired off the coast of Florida. One of four Royal Navy submarines armed with Trident missiles. Credit:PA It was the only test firing of a British nuclear missile in four years and came shortly before Mrs May became prime minister, the paper said. The revelations are untimely for Mrs May, who also confirmed on the weekend that she would meet new US President Donald Trump later this week. Tripoli, Libya: A car bomb exploded late on Saturday close to the recently reopened Italian embassy in the Libyan capital, a security official said. It was not clear who was responsible for the blast. Two charred bodies were recovered from the car, according to a statement on a social media page run by a local branch of the Red Crescent, but the identity of the occupants was unknown. Security officers supervise as a forklift moves a car that exploded near the Italian embassy in Tripoli on Saturday. Credit:AP Some vehicles parked nearby were also hit, but damage from the blast, which could be heard at least a kilometre away, was limited. The security official, who did not want to be named, said it appeared that explosives had been planted in the car. Ahead of the assembly election in the state, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said he paid less attention to cracking the whip on criminals. By Indo-Asian News Service: In a first admission about the BJP-led coalition government's inability to crack down on corruption, Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar admitted that he did not take "personal interest" in acting against corruption and criminals in the state. "Over the last two years, when I became the Chief Minister, if there was one thing which I might have paid less attention to, it is cracking the whip on such people," Parsekar told a select group of journalists following him during the election campaign in Porvorim assembly constituency. advertisement LET IT GO BY NATURAL COURSE "(When) I took grip of affairs, development was our priority. What was neglected and I should have taken personal interest in was dealing with thieves and dacoits, those being probed by the SIT (Special Investigation Team) or other probes. I did not pay special attention to it. I let it go by natural course," he said. ALSO READ: Bribery remark: Election Commission censures Kejriwal, AAP to move court Parsekar, who is contesting from the Mandrem constituency, said during his campaign people had been asking him about why adequate action was not taken against law breakers. In 2012, one of the key poll promises of the Bharatiya Janata Party was "zero tolerance to corruption". The opposition has accused the BJP government of not living up to that promise. ALSO READ: Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar confident BJP will win majority in assembly election NOT IN MY NATURE TO HARASS PEOPLE "I accept that. There was need to be more active but I wasn't able to do that. I am confident that the people will give clear majority and more seats than the last time to the BJP in Goa and the things where we lapsed, we will do it in the future," he said. "People expected it from us. In the last two years, I focused on employment generation, but the cracking of the proverbial whip did not happen," the chief minister said. "It is my nature, that I do not harass others, but if people want that those who have committed crimes should be severely dealt with, we should have done it. I fell short vis--vis that," he said. ALSO READ: Poll dates out: MGP says will withdraw support to Goa govt AAP promises creation of 50,000 jobs if voted to power in Goa ALSO WATCH --- ENDS --- Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski offered this after the election, comparing Trump with a guy at the bar and saying, "You're going to say things, and sometimes you don't have all the facts to back it up." This, of course, isn't the first time the Trump team and its supporters have responded to journalists calling out their falsehoods by claiming the truth isn't so black and white or that it's not a big deal. "Wait a minute. Alternative facts? Alternative facts? Four of the five facts he uttered ... were just not true. Alternative facts are not facts; they're falsehoods." That week, pro-Trump CNN pundit Scottie Nell Hughes offered this on Diane Rehm's radio show: "One thing that's been interesting this campaign season to watch is that people that say facts are facts - they're not really facts. Everybody has a way - it's kind of like looking at ratings or looking at a glass of half-full water. Everybody has a way of interpreting them to be the truth or not true. There's no such thing, unfortunately any more, of facts." Hughes is not an official spokesman for the Trump team, but that last comment is basically what Conway was arguing on Sunday - that there are so many shades of grey that clear facts just don't really exist. This, of course, is a hugely cynical world view. But it's about the only way the Trump team can fight back, given how questionable the new President's purported facts have been throughout his time as a politician. Whether you like Trump or not, it's demonstrably true that he says things that are easily proved false, over and over again. The question the media has regularly confronted is not whether Trump's facts are correct but whether to say he's deliberately lying or not. Trump himself has been using his own brand of the truth, which is often false, for months. And there was really no way that his administration wasn't going to have to deal with that same tendency during his presidency. Banjul: Gambia's former leader Yahya Jammeh on Saturday flew into exile in Equatorial Guinea after stepping down under pressure from West African nations to accept that he lost a December election to rival Adama Barrow, mediators said. His exit ends rising tension as thousands of troops from Senegal and Nigeria who entered the tiny country on Thursday were poised to swoop on the capital Banjul. It also paves the way for the return home of Barrow, who was sworn in as president at the Gambian embassy in Senegal on Thursday. Yahya Jammeh (in white) heads for exile at Banjul airport. Credit:AP Jammeh took power in a coup in 1994, and his government is accused of torturing and killing perceived opponents. There were few celebrations in Banjul as news of his departure spread, but some people said they felt relief after years of fear. "The rule of fear has been banished from Gambia for good," Barrow told a crowd at a hotel in the Senegalese capital Dakar on Friday, once it became clear a deal had been struck for Jammeh to relinquish power. Israel approved building permits on Sunday for hundreds of homes in three East Jerusalem settlements, two days after US President Donald Trump took office. The housing projects, on land that the Palestinians seek as part of a future state, had been taken off the Jerusalem municipality's agenda in December at the last minute at the request of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in order to avoid further censure from the administration of Barack Obama. However Mr Netanyahu, who was scheduled to speak by phone with Mr Trump on Sunday, expects the new US President to row back on the last administration's criticism of such projects. Israel's right-wing expects Mr Trump's attitude towards settlements built in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in a 1967 war, to be far more supportive than that of his predecessor. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators march in support of the Women's March on Washington on Saturday. Credit:AP/Ross D. Franklin Trump claims that as many as 1.5 million attended the inauguration. Other estimates put the attendance as low as 250,000. Trump accused unspecified outlets of using pictures of "an empty field" and to the extent that the National Mall, stretching from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, is a field and that huge swathes that were crowded for Obama's inauguration were indeed empty for the Trump event, Trump was correct. Women of all ages and walks of life took part in the Sydney march. Credit:Fiona Morris And while press spokesmen are not supposed to imbibe on the job, clearly Trump flak Sean Spicer had been bingeing overnight - how else to explain him fronting in the West Wing briefing room to berate the media with unfounded accusations of reports on the crowd size being manipulated to denigrate Trump? And how amazing that on their first day running the country and the world, this was a subject that preoccupied them, to the point of someone having been ordered to fetch blow-up pictures of Friday's crowd as a backdrop for Spicer's rant? Back at the CIA, Trump assured the spooks that he is no one's dummy - "I'm, like, a smart person" before offering evidence to the contrary, by seeming to suggest it would be a good thing to invade Iraq again. Getting back to his campaign riff that "we should have kept the oil", he added: "Maybe we'll have another chance." Demonstrators make their way through the streets holding posters during the Women's March in Barcelona. Credit:David Ramos Meanwhile, in the real world British Prime Minister Theresa May said that in her upcoming visit to Washington, she'd explain to Trump the importance of NATO and the European Union, both of which have been the target of his dismissive anger, for European and global stability. Officially Beijing opted to say nothing, save for a bland observation by a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman: "China-US relations should push forward from this new starting point to make greater progress." Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto tweeted congratulations and then a counterpunch: "Sovereignty, national interest and the protection of Mexicans will guide our relationship with the new government of the United States." As one strongman to another, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte took Trump's undertaking not to "seek to impose our way of life on anyone", as a licence to get on with the mass execution of suspected drug dealers. His spokesman said Trump "promises a more placid and mutually beneficial relationship, especially with longstanding allies like us." Americans are still grappling with Trump's Duterte-like political reduction of their nation to "us" and "them" the "them" being immigrants and Muslims, corporate and political elites and the media. They saw it in the primaries and in the election campaign but as President, many expected Trump to pivot towards something more inclusive. Trump wanted to make his "us" angry and fearful. That required a massive denial of his country's history and any sense that his election is a stop on an imperfect journey governed by an imperfect process for all its inequity, the most powerful country with the most powerful military was a wasteland populated only with victims which had sold out to a world which, as he is wont to say, had "raped" it. But his conflation and misrepresentation of the facts of America were astounding. Sure, jobs have gone offshore and he knows because much of his merchandise is made overseas. But automation has been even more brutal in shrinking manufacturing jobs how else to explain an 86 per cent increase in manufacturing output since 1987, even as five million jobs were lost? Any level of crime is bad. But the Trump account ignores that despite year-on-year fluctuations, most crime statistics are now lower than 10 and 20 years ago and they might even be lower if people like him supported sensible gun control. Similarly his twaddle about Washington throwing money into an international drain as its military is reduced to a boy-scout outfit was just that twaddle. These days, it spends more than the next seven countries combined and more than it did pre-September 11, 2001. Seventy per cent of the $US10 billion a year that the US spends on foreign military bases is soaked up by its operations in Germany, South Korea and Japan. But in a defence budget of $US500 billion, the foreign base spending is petty cash. Most of its $US6 billion a year in foreign aid goes to Israel and Egypt. While he might contemplate halting the feed to Cairo, he's unlikely to cut off the Israelis and never mind that most of the aid grants are conditional on them being spent on US equipment, which means they create jobs in the US. There are divisions in the US, but Trump seems bent on exacerbating them as he spouts an ideology that is more a reflection of his alt-right, nationalist White House counsellor Stephen Bannon than of Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, either of the George Bushes or Barack Obama. As Saturday's huge demonstrations in Washington and other US cities demonstrated that there is passionate opposition to Trump's policies as much as his style and Trump and the Republicans, to the extent that they are at one with him, no longer have Obama as a whipping boy. All he could do on Saturday was ignore the protests and what the huge turnout said about his presidency. But campaign slogans and press-conference pantomime don't always mesh with reality. One of Trump's most explicit campaign promises, at a rally in Phoenix in August 2016, was to immediately start deporting undocumented immigrants with criminal records: "We will begin moving them out, Day One. My first hour in office, those people are gone." Didn't happen. Instead Trump contented himself with issuing an executive order to slash Obamacare before he took himself off to an inauguration ball. Astana: A Syrian rebel group called on Russia to withstand pressure from Iran and the Syrian government to help ensure that a ceasefire agreed last month holds, the head of a delegation at peace talks told Reuters on Sunday. Mohammad Alloush said a failure by Moscow to end what the opposition says are widespread violations of a Turkish-Russian brokered ceasefire would be a blow to its influence in Syria. "It's a real test of the power of Russia and its influence over the regime and Iran as a guarantor of the deal, so if it fails in this role there will follow bigger failures," Mr Alloush said in the Kazakh capital, where talks are due to begin on Monday. The Syrian opposition says the government and Iranian-backed militias were continuing military offensives in several areas in Syria, including in Wadi Barada near the capital, regardless of the ceasefire. By Press Trust of India: Jaipur, Jan 22 (PTI) Noting that India is among the worst countries in the world in child nutrition, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor today charged the government with not being serious about welfare schemes like ICDS as he laid stress on efforts to address the issue of health and nourishment of girl child. "Our government is, at present, not particularly interested in welfare schemes and measures and on giving money for programmes like children health. We have to strengthen ICDS and the government should give more funds to it," Tharoor said at a session in Jaipur Literature Festival here. advertisement He said that the Centre has cut budget even for Anganwadi workers, which is unfair. "The ministry dose not have adequate money for Aangawadi workers. The government should focus on this issue and that means cutting across the agencies. If we leave this issue to the marginalised Ministry of Women and Child Development, this will not happen," he said. Noting that India is among the worst countries in the world despite the fact that nutrition standards have increased since Independence, he said that the country has no policy to address nutritional means. "We have not been giving proper thought to agriculture policy. We do not have a policy which looks at the nutritional means of the country," he said, while suggesting that nutritious food should be supplied through PDS. Child rights activist Nandana Sen highlighted the unfair treatment a girl child receives, and stressed on addressing the issue of their education as well. "Girl child face unfair kind of treatment when it comes to food, nutrition and health care. When a boy gets sick, he is quickly rushed to the hospital but the same access is not given to girls," she said. Sen said, besides malnutrition, the issue of education must also be addressed. "We still have not learned to prioritise education for girl child. We need to not only connect them to school, but also on ensuring that they do not drop out, they attend regularly and for this, we need to improve our infrastructure including toilets in schools," she said. The activist also suggested that the role of adolescent girls should be recognised and they should be encouraged to work as a partners in the programmes. Writer and journalist Madhu Trehan said that education, malnutrition are interlinked issues that need to be addressed together. "Girls who suffer choicelessness, human traffickers take their advantage and push them to prostitution. We have a grim situation at hands," she said, adding that programmes to deal with such issues are underfunded and the government should focus on this. PTI SDA SMN --- ENDS --- advertisement What you need to know about Powerball's $1.6 billion lottery jackpot By Press Trust of India: Chinsurah (WB), Jan 22 (PTI) Seeking to popularise shared built heritage and local history in this former Dutch colony in West Bengal, the Netherlands and state authorities have joined hands to put up special plaques at 20 landmarks, including a few private houses endowed with unique architecture. The plaques, containing informative text in English and Bengali, and a small picture of the landmark, were unveiled yesterday by Dutch Ambassador Alphonsus Stoelinga in the presence of local authorities. advertisement "This is in continuation with our efforts to document and popularise the Dutch and local Bengali history of this historical town that is filled with iconic buildings. "The Dutch came here 400 years ago, and the past four centuries encompass a multi-layered history, and the idea is to celebrate not just the European link but also local history," Honorary Consul of the Netherlands in Kolkata, Namit Shah told PTI. As part of the Dutch-West Bengal collaboration, a volume on historical Dutch buildings was earlier published. A booklet Dutch in Chinsurah with an accompanying website was also brought out. "The 20 buildings include Court House, Commissioners Bungalow, Dutch Cemetery, Hooghly Mohsin College, Imambara, Susanna Anna Marias Tomb, Circuit House, Dutch Barracks and Police Lines. Besides, plaques have also been placed at three old private houses (baris), which have Dutch-influenced or other unique architecture," Shah said. Apart from these plaques, two big plaques have been erected, which contain the map of Chinsurah and these 20 spots, forming sort of a heritage trail, he said. A senior Dutch Embassy official said the idea also is to "promote homestay and bicycle heritage tour and link heritage with economic development". Shah said the list initially included 12 spots, but it was later expanded to include other historical building too, besides those linked to the Dutch legacy. "People come to Chinsurah and go back. We wanted to leave a favourable trail in their consciousness, and so this project was undertaken. The state and municipal authorities supported a lot to execute this," Shah said. "Kerala is another integral part of shared Dutch legacy in India, and Alleppey (Alappuzha) with its canals is like Amsterdam. We want to first engage in cleaning of the canal and then using the area for boosting heritage tourism," the Embassy official said. Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) or the Dutch East India Company, which was originally established as a chartered company in 1602, is said to be one of the first multi-national companies, which also had its own logo. The Commissioners Bungalow here has the Dutch marker, reading "VOC 1687" on its inside wall. advertisement Among other iconic landmark of Chinsurah include Ghorir More, a colonial-era Gothic tower, imported by the British in memory of King Edward VI. PTI KND SMN RCJ --- ENDS --- Welcome to SwanseaOnline - your home for the best news, sports and what's on coverage of the city. Never miss a Swansea story with our daily newsletter Sign up to comment on our stories here Follow us on Facebook and Twitter | Swansea City news | Ospreys news | InYourArea The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi's statement after Bengaluru mass molestation case added fuel to the already existing anger across India, giving rise to I Will Go Out movement which coalesced into a social media protest yesterday evening. By Shraddha Jandial: "In these modern times, the more skin women show, the more they are considered fashionable. If my sister or daughter stays out beyond sunset celebrating December 31 with a man who isn't their husband or brother, that's not right," said Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi when questioned about mass molestation in Bengaluru on New Year's Eve. This statement by Abu Azmi added fuel to the already existing anger across India. Women shared messages of solidarity across social media platforms, giving rise to I Will Go Out movement which coalesced into a social media protest yesterday evening. Hundreds of women, from across 30 cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Ranchi and Thrissur walked the streets to claim equal right to public places. advertisement With no organisational funds to back them, but just the anger against the patriarchal mindset that dates back to thousand years, women took to roads with posters saying "I Will Go Out" "Members of LGBT, Queer, Asexual and Intersex community also participated in the march," said Bhani Rachel Bali, co-ordinator of I Will Go Out moved, who is based out of Delhi. "Freedom, Freedom, Freedom!" chanted the marchers and held banners saying "Take back the night. Break the silence. End the violence" and "Nobody asks what my molester was wearing." What an amazing march it was. Thank you to everyone who came. Gratitude! #IWillGoOut is trending :) pic.twitter.com/2TrntjRDCx Japleen Pasricha (@japna_p) January 21, 2017 While such protests are a common site in bigger cities like Delhi and Mumbai, what makes this movement different is the response it got from smaller districts. Shruti Moon, along with the other three organisers--Raunaq Badjatia, Kritisha Jain and Shreyash Jain--from Nagpur said that although the response wasn't very empathetic, the movement did get the attention from right people. Nagpur tried a very different approach to reach the masses. Women dressed in varied attires like a saree, or a corporate dress, stood at varied prime locations with posters saying, "My clothes didn't ask for it" and "Is it my fault" "What was surprising," said Shruti "was that not many women paid attention to us. However, we had auto-wallahs coming up to ask what were we doing." "They knew about Bengaluru mass molestation and accepted that the way men look at women is wrong. Many of them gave me their numbers saying I could call them if I am ever in trouble and they would come to help," she added. Cases of harassment are common in India, where over 34, 000 rapes were reported in 2015, as recorded by National Crime Record Bureau. While the government has brought in tougher legislation on sexual assault, activists say more could have been done. "We need to make people understand that by telling women to change their dressing style or returning home at a specific time, we are protecting the oppressor and his patriarchal mentality," said Delhi co-ordinator Bhani Rachel Bali. advertisement So how do we bring the change in mindset? "Education is definitely the only way to do it. But it is also the type of education that plays a role. The kind of half attempted sex-ed and moral education classes that we have aren't enough.," Bhani said. The organisers are now putting up a plan and set of demands, like introducing gender sensitisation in school, that they will send to President Pranab Mukherjee. " We need to have regular interventions because gender equality will take time. After all we need to unlearn thousands of years of patriarchy," said Bhani. --- ENDS --- Protest marches against the newly-appointed US President Donald Trump were held across several states. By Press Trust of India: All the five Indian-Americans elected to the US Congress have joined the women's march to protest against new US President Donald Trump's alleged anti-women policies. Kamala Harris, the first Indian-American Senator, was among the several Democratic Senators to address a massive crowd in Washington. "We all know the truth: If you are a woman trying to raise a family, you know that a good-paying job is a women's issue," she said. advertisement "We know that it is right for this nation to prioritise women's issues," she added. A protest march in Washington. Photo: Reuters ALSO READ: Trump era begins: World will closely watch how he handles these five issues AN EXTRAORDINARY DAY In her home state of California, protest marches were held in several cities including Los Angeles. "They can take the House, the Senate, and the White House, but they cannot take away our power. What an extraordinary day," Harris said. "Let's make today a beginning. Let's buckle in, because its going to be a bumpy ride," Harris said adding that the Women's March made her believe in the possibilities of the country, with people of all backgrounds united for justice. ALSO READ: Not just Washington, women around the globe protest against President Trump PROUD TO BE AN IMMIGRANT Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said this is what a movement looks like. "Can't see the end of the crowds from stage," she said. "I am so proud to be an immigrant woman, in solidarity with all women and men today," Jayapal added. Participants at Women's March. Photo: Reuters Jayapal had boycotted Trump's inauguration on Friday. ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE Congressman Ami Bera said any discussion on women's rights must include access to safe and affordable health care, including reproductive care. "We must continue the struggle for women's equality at home and abroad. Gender should never be a barrier to success," Bera said. ALSO READ: Trump vows to end 'American carnage', says Americans won't be ignored again "In America, respect for the rights of all women and girls must always be one of our core national values," Bera said. Scarlett Johansson at the Women's March in Washington. Photo: Reuters FOR HUMAN RIGHTS In Chicago, Raja Krishnamoorthi addressed a strong crowd of 1,50,000. "Today's march was about people from every walk of life coming together to declare their support for the rights of women and all Americans. Women's rights are human rights," he said. advertisement ALSO READ: Donald Trump at work: Begins overhaul of 'Obama' rule, redesigns Oval Office Russians celebrate Trump's presidency while other countries express caution ALSO WATCH --- ENDS --- London, January 22, 2017 (SPS) - The British organization for human rights defence in Western Sahara, Adala UK, denounced the "arbitrary expulsion" by the Moroccan occupation authorities of international observers from Western Sahara. The non-governmental organization said that "at least 85 people, including foreign observers, human rights activists, journalists and other supporters of the Sahrawi cause," adding that those repressive actions aim at "silencing human rights activists in the occupied Sahrawi territories." On Saturday, "the Moroccan authorities expelled four young Norwegians from the occupied city of Smara, as they were about to meet activists of the Sahrawi civil society and NGOs," Adala UK said in a statement. The NGO said that "the young Norwegians have had their passports confiscated and were interrogated by the Moroccan police, and then driven to the city of Agadir in Morocco." Adala UK added that the decision to expel human rights activists from the Sahrawi occupied authorities show Morocco's intentions and attempts to prevent a legitimate investigation on human rights abuses and to impose a news blackout on the situation of Sahrawi people in the occupied territories."SPS 125/090/700 Making a strong defence of jallikattu once again, actor Kamal Hassan told PETA activists to quit India and not to interfere with nation's culture. By India Today Web Desk: On a day when jallikattu saw violence and death of two bull vaulters in Tamil Nadu, filmstar Kamal Hassan took on the PETA activists for opposing the traditional sport and getting it banned. In a tweet, Kamal Haasan said, "PETA go ban bull riding rodeos in Mr. Trump's U.S. You're not qualified to tackle our bulls. Empires have been made to quit India." advertisement Earlier, Kamal Haasan had made a strong defence of jallikattu during India Today Conclave South. He had then said that those opposing jallikattu branding it being cruel to animals should stop eating biryani. "If you want a ban on jallikattu, let's also ban biryani," Haasan told Managing Editor Rahul Kanwal at the India Today South Conclave in Chennai, adding, "I'm a big fan of jallikattu." "I'm probably one of few actors, who've played jallikattu. I am a proud Tamilian. This is our culture," Kamal Haasan said. Also read: Kamal Haasan at India Today Conclave: If you want to ban jallikattu, ban biryani too This is not the first time when Kamal Hassan has been vocal in his support for jallikattu, saying that people should not confuse it with the bull-fight of Spain. The 62-year-old actor had said that people hurt the animal in Spain and it would die, but in Tamil Nadu bulls are treated like "gods, as part of the family". Kamal Haasan says that jallikattu is a sport. "It is about taming the bull and not creating physical harm by breaking its horns or other parts," he had said. Hearing a petition by animal rights activists, the Supreme Court banned jallikattu holding that it amounted to cruelty to the bulls. The apex court is presently hearing a review petition in the matter. Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government promulgated an Ordinance paving way for holding jallikattu in the state amid huge protests by the common people seeking a permanent solution to the legal battle. Also read: Jallikattu: May take legal route if Centre brings ordinance to conduct the sport, says PETA --- ENDS --- By Pramod Madhav: As protest against ban on Jallikattu and PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) intensifies in Tamil Nadu, protesters now want cold drinks manufactured by multi-national companies to be banned as well. While protesting against the Jallikattu ban, many said farmers' welfare is next on their agenda and MNCs such as Coca Cola and Pepsi should be banned as the latter are robbing the farmers of their water sources to feed their factories. advertisement ALSO READ: Jallikattu: Madras HC refuses to interfere, says Chennai's Marina Beach not a place to protest In Coimbatore, youth smashed bottles of cold drinks to protest against the MNCs. Some food joints and hotel chains have also joined the protest by refusing to serve Coke and Pepsi. The RHR Hotel, for instance, has put up a notice at its main counter that said: "We stopped serving Pepsi and Coke products at all our branches". The notice at a hotel in Coimbatore. Some protesters sought a ban on these cold drinks on the ground that they are hazardous to health. If it is not possible for the state government to ban them then at least their sale should be regulated in Tamil Nadu, protesters said. ALSO READ: Jallikattu ordinance: Don't 'ignore' Tamil aspirations, AIADMK tells Centre The Madras High Court had recently directed the Tamil Nadu Government to file an affidavit regarding steps taken by it to prevent suicides of farmers in the state. Several farmers had committed suicide in the last few months following which a team of officials had visited Thiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts and held discussions with the affected families and the fellow villagers. ALSO READ: Jallikattu takes a bloody turn: 2 dead, 8 injured in Tamil Nadu's Pudukkottai ALSO READ: SC can quash Jallikattu Ordinance: Manish Tewari warns against promulgation in hurry ALSO WATCH --- ENDS --- T he mother of murdered soldier Lee Rigby has said she was threatened with arrest unless she attended a court hearing for an internet troll who taunted her over his death. Lyn Rigby, 49, said her treatment by authorities was "absurd and shocking" after she was summoned to a court hearing where a graphic image from her son's murder featured as evidence. Mrs Rigby said she was left "trembling from head to foot" when a photo of Islamic extremist Michael Adebolajo, covered in her son's blood and brandishing a meat cleaver, was shown to the court. "This has been one of the worst weeks since Lee died and it brought all the terrible emotions flooding back to me as if my son had been murdered all over again," she told the Sunday People. Killed: Fusilier Lee Rigby was murdered outside Woolwich Barracks in 2013 (Picture: PA) "I believe in our justice system because it put Lee's killers behind bars but I don't believe we should have been forced to court for this man. "And to threaten us with prosecution if we didn't attend was just absurd and shocking as well as deeply upsetting. It suggests that my grieving family has somehow done something wrong." Conspiracy theorist Christopher Spivey, a grandfather from Rochford, Essex, was convicted of harassing the Rigby family and sending grossly offensive messages over social media in 2015. He had posted a series of comments on social media about the May 2013 killing in Woolwich, south-east London - including claiming the soldier had never existed and that the story of his murder was a conspiracy. The troll also published the family's home addresses and private photographs online and contacted the soldier's sister, Sarah McClure claiming her husband, Rob, also a soldier, and Fusilier Rigby were the same person. Spivey was eventually found guilty but escaped being sent to jail when a judge suspended his sentence. After maintaining his innocence he launched an appeal which was reportedly dismissed after a four-day hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court last week. Mrs Rigby questioned why she and her daughter were made to attend the hearing via videolink from Bury magistrates' court after they submitted witness statements. "It's horrific enough losing my son in such a violent way but to listen to this man's twisted drivel was just heaping more misery on me," she said. Dave Hines, founder of the National Victims' Association, criticised her treatment and ministers for failing those affected by crime. "I feel for Mrs Rigby and the horrendous ordeal she has had to go through. It's beyond comprehension, it's completely outrageous and the public will be shocked. "Families like this are let down by the system," he said. A spokesman for the judiciary said: "Judges are acutely aware of the need to reduce as much as possible the painful ordeal witnesses have to go through in cases such as this one, and the option of video links means at least they don't have to attend court. "But courts do have to balance that consideration with the need to ensure that justice is done. The legislation for an appeal from a magistrates' court to the Crown Court (as this one was) requires that there is a re-hearing. "This means that the prosecution has to call the evidence on which it relies - at the Crown Court - in order to prove the case against the accused, unless he is prepared to make admissions of fact. "That is the only way that the witnesses whose account is an essential part of the case can be spared from giving their evidence a second time." He added: "Judges cannot comment out of court on cases they or colleagues have heard." Additional reporting by Press Association. F our Londoners who rowed the Atlantic in memory of a tragic former Harrow school boy have raised half a million pounds for charity. Harry Wentworth-Stanley, Sam Greenly, Toby Fenwicke-Clennell and Rory Buchanan battled gruelling physical and mental conditions to complete the 3,000-mile Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge in 39 days, four hours and 14 minutes. The four were raising the money for mental health charity Jamess Place set up in memory of Mr Wentworth-Stanley's brother, James. James killed himself 10 years ago at the age of 21 after a short bout of depression. Mr Wentworth-Stanley, 26, a 6ft 6in property agent, is rumoured to be back with on-off girlfriend Cressida Bonas, an ex of Prince Harry. James Wentworth-Stanley, a former Harrow schoolboy, killed himself 10 years ago The Row For James team were greeted in Antigua's English Harbour on Sunday by emotional family, friends and celebrity backers, including theatre producer Cameron Mackintosh, former BBC royal reporter Jennie Bond as well as Miss Bonas. The quartet's trans-Atlantic exploits resulted in donations exceeding 550,000 - a race record - which will fund James' Place, a series of non-clinical crisis centres designed to offer support for those with depression. The Atlantic Rowing Challenge is one of the most gruelling in sport / PA Mr Wentworth-Stanley, who grew up with his brother in Battersea, said: "When we set out on this challenge, aim number one was to raise as much money as possible for this charity and we are completely flabbergasted by how much we raised. "To see the money ratcheting up has really spurred us on and secured the future of a much-needed facility, James' Place." The team left La Gomera in the Canary Islands on December 14. Additional reporting from Press Association A London mother sentenced to five years in an Iranian prison has reportedly had her conviction upheld in an appeals court. Charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from Hampstead, was jailed last September after she was arrested for allegedly plotting to topple the government in Tehran. Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, says the 38-year-olds trial was carried out in secret, and the Iranian authorities have provided no information about the nature of the charges. Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has dual British and Iranian citizenship, has lost her final appeal against the ruling, according to Iranian media. Held in Iran: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was seized with her baby daughter Gabriella A report by Mizanonline.ir, affiliated with the countrys judiciary, on Sunday quoted Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi as saying the sentence has been finalised. Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the news agencys charitable arm, was detained in April last year while trying to leave the country with her two-year-old daughter, Gabriella. Gabriella had her British passport confiscated and has been left stranded in Iran with her grandparents. Candlelit vigil: Richard Ratcliffe at the Iranian embassy in Iran / AP On Monday Mr Ratcliffe, 42, delivered a letter addressed to President Hassan Rouhani to the Iranian embassy in Hyde Park, during a candlelit vigil organised by Amnesty International. The human rights charity said the mother has suffered a serious decline in her physical and mental health since being detained. T heresa May has come under fire after accusations surfaced that she intentionally did not inform MPs about a failed Trident test before a debate on whether to keep the nuclear deterrent. The Prime Minister refused to deny suggestions that she knew about the test before a crucial Commons vote on the future of the submarine-launched missile system. She repeatedly failed to answer direct questions on her knowledge of the test, which reportedly took place weeks before MPs approved the 40 billion Trident renewal programme in July. Reports in The Sunday Times claim that the launch of an unarmed Trident missile from a British submarine off the coast of Florida in June malfunctioned. Gender equality: Theresa May speaks on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show / REUTERS But Mrs May did not mention this test in her speech, in which she urged MPs to back renewal, leading to allegations the malfunction has been covered up. When asked about her knowledge of the test on BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show, Mrs May said: "I have absolute faith in our Trident missiles. "When I made that speech in the House of Commons, what we were talking about was whether or not we should renew our Trident, whether or not we should have Trident missiles, an independent nuclear deterrent in the future. Theresa May confirms she will meet US president Donald Trump on Friday "I think we should defend our country, I think we should play our role in Nato with an independent nuclear deterrent. "Jeremy Corbyn thinks differently, Jeremy Corbyn thinks we shouldn't defend our country." Asked again, Mrs May replied: "The issue we were talking about in the House of Commons was a very serious issue. "It was about whether or not we should renew Trident, whether we should look to the future and have a replacement Trident. "That's what we were talking about in the House of Commons, that's what the House of Commons voted for." When host Andrew Marr asked about her knowledge of the test for a final time, Mrs May said: "There were tests that take place all the time for our, regularly, for our nuclear deterrents. Theresa May on Andrew Marr talks about meeting Trump "What we were talking about in that debate that took place was about the future." The newspaper said the cause of the failure remained top secret but questions could be asked over the Government's failure to publicise the failed test as previous ones have been publicised. Labour MP and former defence minister Kevan Jones told the newspaper: "If there are problems, they should not have been covered up in this ham-fisted way. Nicola Sturgeon: The SNP leader said it was a 'serious issue' / PA "Ministers should come clean if there are problems and there should be an urgent inquiry into what happened." Mrs Sturgeon tweeted: "This is a hugely serious issue. There should be full disclosure of what happened, who knew what/when and why House of Commons wasn't told." And Kate Hudson, general secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, said the failed test "would have impacted on the debate in Parliament on Trident replacement". "So the Government's motivation for holding back this vital information is clear," she added. "This is shocking behaviour on the part of our Government and it is profoundly to be hoped that Parliamentary opposition forces will hold Government to account for withholding information that is crucial to our national security." Jeremy Corbyn: The Labour leader said the reports were 'catastrophic' / Sky news Mr Corbyn told Sky: "I think this failure is something that ought to pause everyone for a moment and just think what happened. "We understand the Prime Minister chose not to inform Parliament about this and it's come out through the media some months later. "It's a pretty catastrophic error when a missile goes in the wrong direction and, whilst it wasn't armed, goodness knows what the consequence of that could have been." A Government spokesman said: "In June the Royal Navy conducted a routine unarmed Trident missile test launch from HMS Vengeance, as part of an operation which is designed to certify the submarine and its crew. "Vengeance and her crew were successfully tested and certified, allowing Vengeance to return into service. We have absolute confidence in our independent nuclear deterrent." A man has died after the car he was driving crashed into a tree in east London in the early hours of the morning. Emergency services had to remove the roof of the car as they desperately tried to rescue the man and his two passengers shortly after 1.30am in Ilford, as photographs showing the crumpled up wreckage emerged. The Met Police, London Ambulance Service, London Fire Brigade and London's Air Ambulance all attended the scene in Green Lane. The driver and two passengers, both men in their late teens, were taken to east London hospitals. The driver, believed to be aged in his early 20s, was treated at hospital but died later. Photos show the crumpled wreckage of the blue car / @LAS_HART/Twitter The two passengers are in a stable condition and their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. A Met Police spokesman said: Police are in the process of informing next of kin. A post mortem examination will be arranged in due course. Enquiries continue and there have been no arrests. D onald Trump marked his first full day in office by attacking the media over its coverage of his inauguration. The new US president took a swipe at the media over reports about the size of the crowds for his swearing-in ceremony on Friday. Speaking during a visit to the CIA headquarters, he said his inauguration crowd looked like a million people but offered no evidence. His press secretary Sean Spicer later gave journalists a five-minute tongue lashing over their coverage of Mr Trump during his first 30 hours of presidency. Donald Trump speaks at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virgina / EPA Mr Spicer also insisted that no official numbers for the inauguration attendance were available despite news outlets reporting that the total audience was approximately 250,000. Donald Trump performs U-turn by praising the CIA During his visit to the CIA headquarters, Mr Trump wrongly claimed that the inaugural throngs on the National Mall stretched "all the way back to the Washington Monument". White House press secretary Sean Spicer delivers his first statement to the press / EPA Photos and video clearly showed the crowd stopping well short of the landmark. Mr Trump told CIA workers: "We had a massive field of people. You saw that. Packed. "I get up this morning, I turn on one of the networks, and they show an empty field. I said, 'Wait a minute. I made a speech. I looked out. The field was it looked like a million, a million and a half people! "It looked honestly it looked like a million and a half people. Whatever it was, it was. But it went all the way back to the Washington Monument.' "And I turn on the thing, and by mistake I get this network, and it showed an empty field. And it said we drew 250,000 people. "Now, that's not bad,' Mr Trump continued, 'but it's a lie." Mr Trump's visit to Langley, Virginia, took place as women, many of them wearing bright pink, pointy-eared hats, descended on the nation's capital and other cities around the world for marches organised against the new president. People pack the National Mall for the Women's March in Washington / REUTERS It is thought the attendance at the Womens March far exceeded the numbers at his inauguration. Hundreds of protesters lined the motorcade route as Mr Trump sped back to the White House, many screaming and chanting at the president. The Washington rally alone attracted more than 500,000 people by the unofficial estimate of city officials. It appeared to be more people than attended Mr Trump's inauguration on Friday, but there were no comparable numbers. Donald Trump Inauguration Day - In pictures 1 /44 Donald Trump Inauguration Day - In pictures Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States AP US President Barack Obama (right) and First Lady Michelle Obama (left) welcome Preisdent-elect Donald Trump (second right) and his wife Melania to the White House in Washington Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images President Barack Obama stands at right as first lady Michelle Obama hugs President-elect Donald Trump at the White House in Washington Evan Vucci/AP The presidential motorcade drives down Pennsylvania Ave towards the U.S. Capitol in Washington Joe Raedle/Getty Images Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton waves as she arrives with her husband former President Bill Clinton Rick Wilking/Reuters People gather on the National Mall prior to the inauguration Patrick Smith/Getty Images Donald Trump's children Ivanka Trump (L), Tiffany Trump, Donald Trump Jr, and Eric Trump arrive on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington lex Wong/Getty Images US President Barack Obama (right) and First Lady Michelle Obama (second left) welcome Preisdent-elect Donald Trump (left) and his wife Melania (second right) to the White House in Washington Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images Members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in the seats on the West Front of the US Capitol several hours before Donald J. Trump is sworn in as the 45th President of the United States in Washington Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA Tiffany Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., Ivanka Trump, Vanessa Trump and Jared Kushner arrive on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol Drew Angerer/Getty Images Protesters chain themselves to an entry point prior at the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump Bryan Woolston/Reuters People begin to gfill in the National Mall a short time before Donald J. Trump is sworn in as the 45th President of the United States in Washington Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA Supporters and protesters turn out for the Inauguration of President-Elect Donald Trump in Washington Theo Wargo/Getty Images A man walks a dog in a Donald Trump costume carrying a doll depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin holding an US flag as they head to join a demonstration at the US embassy in central London Hayoung Jeon/EPA President Elect Donald Trump's children Barron Trump (L), Tiffany Trump and Eric Trump arrive on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington Joe Raedle/Getty Images President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama greet President-elect Donald Trump at the White House in Washington Evan Vucci/AP Former US President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter arrive for the Presidential Inauguration of Donald Trump at the US Capitol in Washington Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Demonstrators march on the street near a security checkpoint inaugural entrance Jose Luis Magana/AP Former US Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne arrive at the US Capitol in Washington Saul Loeb/EPA Demonstrators chant near a security checkpoint entrance to the inauguration, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017 in Washington, ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration Jose Luis Magana/AP US Senator Ted Cruz arrives for the Presidential Inauguration of Donald Trump at the US Capitol in Washington Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Former US President George W. Bush and wife Laura Bush arrive John Angelillo/EPA The statue of Civil War General and former US President Ulysses S. Grant faces the Washington Monument and the crowd gathering for the inauguration ceremonies to swear in Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States at the U.S. Capitol in Washington Carlos Barria/Reuters A military helicopter lands at the US Capitol Rob Carr/AFP/Getty Images Protesters attack a man trying to pass at an entry point prior at the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in Washington Bryan Woolston/Reuters President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania arrives for a church service at St. John's Episcopal Church across from the White House in Washington Alex Brandon/AP Protesters chain themselves to an entry point prior at the inauguration of Donald Trump in Washington Bryan Woolston/Reuters Vice President-elect Mike Pence and his wife Karen, arrives for a church service at St. John's Episcopal Church across from the White House in Washington Alex Brandon/AP The sun begins to rise behind the Capitol dome several hours before Donald J. Trump takes the oath of office as the 45th President of the United States in Washington Andrew GombartAFP/Getty Images Protesters move toward an entry point prior at the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump Bryan Woolston/Reuters The early morning sun lights up the Washington Monument as people gather on the National Mall prior to the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in Washington Kevin Lamarque/Reuters Protesters chain themselves to an entry point Bryan Woolston/Reuters US Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden leave the White House for the final time as the nation prepares for the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump in Washington Kevin Dietsch/EPA The city did not release an estimate for the inauguration and the National Park Service does not provide crowd counts. Shortly after his remarks, he sent his press secretary, Mr Spicer, to the White House briefing room to aggressively reinforce the message. "There's been a lot of talk in the media about holding Donald Trump accountable. And I'm here to tell you that it goes two ways. We're going to hold the press accountable as well," Mr Spicer said in his first on-camera appearance at the White House. He said: "These attempts to less then enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong." D onald Trump moved to repair his tumultuous relationship with Americas spy agencies during his first full day in office. But his visit to the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia on Saturday quickly morphed into an attack on the media over coverage of his inauguration. He also blamed any suggestion of a feud between himself and the intelligence agencies on the press. Standing in front of a memorial for fallen CIA agents, Mr Trump assured intelligence officials: "I am so behind you." Donald Trump speaks at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virgina / EPA He made no mention of his repeated criticism of the intelligence agencies following the election, including his public challenges to their high-confidence assessment that Russia meddled in the White House race to help him win. "There is nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community and CIA than Donald Trump," he said. The decision to travel to CIA headquarters so quickly after taking office was seen as an attempt at a fresh start with the intelligence agencies he will now rely on for guidance as he makes tough national security decisions. High-level CIA brass stood largely silent during Mr Trump's remarks, though some of the roughly 400 other officers in attendance cheered on the president as he spoke. The inaugural celebrations have been marred by reports that the CIA and other agencies are investigating Russian interference in the presidential election on behalf of Mr Trump. But Mr Trump then appeared to turn the bridge-building visit to the CIA on Saturday into an attack on the media as he criticised reports about the crowd size on Inauguration Day. He berated journalists over the shameful coverage of his inauguration and wrongly claimed that the crowd was much bigger than the media reported. Former CIA Director John Brennan later said Mr Trump "should be ashamed of himself" for his behaviour at CIA headquarters. In a statement he said he was "deeply saddened and angered at Mr Trump's despicable display of self-aggrandisement in front of CIA's Memorial Wall of Agency heroes. I f Call the Midwife isnt your kind of thing, the BBC have another Sunday night drama that might pique your interest. Apple Tree Yard is a dark and gripping psychological thriller thats likely to win over fans of Doctor Foster. Here are five things you need to know about the show. 1) Its based on Louise Doughtys novel British author Louise Doughtys Apple Tree Yard was published in 2013, when it became a bestseller thanks to its gripping plot and central mystery: what did respected geneticist Dr Yvonne Carmichael do to find herself in the docks? 2) Its about an affair that spirals out of control Apple Tree Yard is primarily a courtroom drama, telling the events behind Carmichaels appearance in court. It charts her affair with a stranger she meets in the Houses of Parliament as her actions ripple outwards and lead to an act of violence. Were very familiar with procedural stories or thrillers, or kind of very dark romantic stories, but were very unused to seeing those stories told from the point of a 50 year old woman, says screenwriter Amanda Coe. That in itself is quite radical. BBC's Apple Tree Yard - Trailer 3) It stars Emily Watson The renowned British actress has worked with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton, Lars von Trier, and Charlie Kaufman, and she takes the lead role here as Dr Carmichael. Its casting that author Doughty certainly approved of. Yvonne is a character who has to have so many elements to her: you have to believe she's a convincing research scientist, so she has to have real intellectual heft and gravitas, while at the same time believing she would do something utterly reckless and passionate and out of character, she said. It's a very complex part and Emily Watson pulls it off magnificently. Also starring are Ben Chaplin, Mark Bonnar, Adeel Akhtar, and more. Ben Chaplin in Apple Tree Yard / BBC/Kudos/Nick Briggs 4) It was filmed around London and Buckinghamshire The story is specifically set in London, which was used for much of the shooting, as well as nearby Buckinghamshire. However, the series was notably not able to film inside the House of Commons something that Watson attributes to the sexual politics of the piece. If Yvonne was a man, I think we would definitely have been allowed to film in the Houses of Parliament, she said, which I think says a lot about gender politics. The biggest and best TV shows of 2017 1 /13 The biggest and best TV shows of 2017 Doctor Who The classic sci-fi show got a new lease of life with new companion Bill Potts BBC Line of Duty The BBC's acclaimed crime drama moved up to BBC One with more twists than ever before World Productions / BBC / Aidan Monaghan Broadchurch Chris Chibnall's mystery drama came to a close with a compelling final series ITV The Moorside Sheridan Smith puts in a stellar performance as she returns to TV in the BBC's Shannon Matthews drama Stuart Wood/ITV/BBC Apple Tree Yard Emily Watson starred in the BBC's gripping psychological thriller BBC/Kudos/Nick Briggs Fortitude, Series 2 Sky Atlantic's original Nordic noir-inspired chiller is back for more bloody mysteries Sky Atlantic Sherlock, Series 4 Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman return as Holmes and Watson in the BBC's mega hit PA Taboo Tom Hardy's dark thriller is unlike any period drama you've seen before FX Networks No Offence, Series 2 Paul Abbott's comedy-drama continues to walk a tonal tightrope with total ease Channel 4/Ian Derry The Voice A move to ITV has given singing contest The Voice a new lease of life ITV 5) It deals with themes of sexuality This probably isnt one to watch with your parents / children [delete as appropriate]. Yvonnes sexually charged affair isnt shied away from, and is a key theme of the story. The heart of the story is a woman who finds herself at a crossroads in her life, which is quite common in mid-life, and essentially ends up having her sexuality put on trial, says Coe. Although in the story [Yvonnes] sexuality becomes problematic because of what happens, her own relationship with her sexuality isnt a problem, its not like shes questioning in any kind of agonised way initially that shes a sexual being. I really like that about the book and I think a lot of readers responded to that. BBC One, Sunday, 9pm A fter a sunny Christmas special set in the plains of South Africa, Call the Midwife is back for business as usual. The Nonnatus House nuns are reunited back in Blighty for eight new episodes. Here are five things you need to know. 1) The Sixties are swinging Last series saw Call the Midwife move into a new era, as the Fifties gave way to the Sixties a whole new world for the Nonnatus House crew to explore. That continues this time around, with Series 6 kicking off in 1962. According to the writers, this year will feature plots involving the Pill, female independence, and notorious London gangsters the Kray twins. 2) Theres a new antagonist and shes a nun Following the death of the beloved Sister Evangelina, theres a new nun in town. Dame Harriet Walter has joined the case as Sister Ursula, whos set to bring new challenges to Nonnatus House. 3) It will feature a story around FGM After Series 5 featured heart-breaking storylines around the Thalidomide scandal, Series 6 is tackling a different topic the birth complications surrounding female genital mutilation (FGM). It causes terrible complications in pregnancy as well as carrying huge and very complex cultural weight, creator Heidi Thomas told the Radio Times. However, it had to go on ice because in the Fifties, there werent appropriate cultural communities in the East End. The biggest and best TV shows of 2017 1 /13 The biggest and best TV shows of 2017 Doctor Who The classic sci-fi show got a new lease of life with new companion Bill Potts BBC Line of Duty The BBC's acclaimed crime drama moved up to BBC One with more twists than ever before World Productions / BBC / Aidan Monaghan Broadchurch Chris Chibnall's mystery drama came to a close with a compelling final series ITV The Moorside Sheridan Smith puts in a stellar performance as she returns to TV in the BBC's Shannon Matthews drama Stuart Wood/ITV/BBC Apple Tree Yard Emily Watson starred in the BBC's gripping psychological thriller BBC/Kudos/Nick Briggs Fortitude, Series 2 Sky Atlantic's original Nordic noir-inspired chiller is back for more bloody mysteries Sky Atlantic Sherlock, Series 4 Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman return as Holmes and Watson in the BBC's mega hit PA Taboo Tom Hardy's dark thriller is unlike any period drama you've seen before FX Networks No Offence, Series 2 Paul Abbott's comedy-drama continues to walk a tonal tightrope with total ease Channel 4/Ian Derry The Voice A move to ITV has given singing contest The Voice a new lease of life ITV 4) Chummy wont be back All the cast are returning but theres one notable absence. After initially reporting her return, Miranda Hart wont be back after all as Chummy. Truly sad not to be playing Chummy this year, she said, but fans are in for a treat with Dame Harriet Walter as a new cast member and more besides. 5) Theres plenty more to come Cant get enough of the show? Good news after Series 6 ends, there are three more confirmed series to come which will chronicle the Nonnatus House crew as the Sixties progress. BBC One, 8pm, Sunday Around 40,000 passengers were inconvenienced after Indian Railways cancelled 19 trains inside and outside of Tamil Nadu in the wake of the ongoing jallikattu protests in the state. Several trains have been canelled due to pro-jallikattu protests in Tamil Nadu (ANI photo) By Indo-Asian News Service: Thousands of passengers have been facing inconvenience due to cancellation of trains and termination ahead of destination owing to protests on rail tracks in support of Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of days, a senior railway official said. On Sunday, the railways cancelled 19 trains running on intra- and inter-state routes. '40,000 PASSENGERS AFFECTED'"Around 40,000 passengers are affected daily due to disruption in train services. Many passengers may be travelling to attend interviews, join duty or even for health reasons," the senior Southern Railway official said preferring anonymity. advertisement Also read: Jallikattu: 2 bull vaulters die, 83 injured as Tamil Nadu celebrates the sport Ever since the protests began, Southern Railway has been cancelling several trains in full as well as terminating several others before their journeys. Three trains were cancelled on Monday -- Palakkad-Tiruchchirappalli Passenger, Karaikudi-Tiruchchirappalli Passenger and Vanchi Maniyachchi-Tuticorin Passenger -- as protestors blocked tracks at different places. The official said incidents of protests on tracks have gone up after the opposition DMK held similar protests in support of the bull-taming sport. Get live updates on jallikattu protests here --- ENDS --- Jhanvi Kapoor and rumoured boyfriend Shikhar Pahariya were spotted on a lunch date outside a restaurant in Bandra, Mumbai. By India Today Web Desk: 19-year-old Jhanvi Kapoor, the elder daughter of Sridevi, might be making her Bollywood debut very soon but that does not mean that she cannot find time for love... SEE PICS: Sridevi's daughter Jhanvi is killing it in her latest photoshoot SEE PICS: Sridevi and daughters Jhanvi-Khushi enjoy their family getaway The young starlet was recently spotted walking out of a Mumbai restaurant where she had gone to have lunch with her rumoured boyfriend Shikhar Pahariya. Photo: Yogen Shah Photo: Yogen Shah Photo: Yogen Shah advertisement While Jhanvi was seen wearing sporty clothes, Shikhar looked cute waiting inside the car for Jhanvi to arrive. Jhanvi will soon be making her Bollywood debut in a Karan Johar project, as confirmed by papa Boney Kapoor. Here's wishing young Jhanvi best of luck with her personal and professional life. WATCH: Shah Rukh on the making of Raees and playing negative characters --- ENDS --- Beef feedlot managers, owners, employees and supporting personnel will learn the latest in feedlot nutrition, health and marketing at the 2017 Beef Feedlot Roundtable Tuesday, Feb. 7, in Scottsbluff. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Roundtables will be offered at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center. Other Nebraska locations include Feb. 8 at the Dawson County Extension office by the fairgrounds in Lexington, and Feb. 9 at the Nielsen Community Center in West Point. Registration begins at 12:30 p.m. with introduction and welcome at 1 p.m. University and industry representatives will address nutrition and management, marketing options, environmental topics, industry updates, and other timely topics for feedlot operators. Topics and presenters include: Effects of Environment on Bovine Respiratory Disease. (Brian Vander Ley, Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center) Marketing fat cattle options and what the fed cattle exchange entails. (Steve Sunderman, Producer and Nebraska Cattlemen Marketing Committee Co-chair) Livestock and Climate Change- Facts and Fiction. (Frank Mitloehner, University of California-Davis) UNL Feedlot Research Update (Galen Erickson and Matt Luebbe, Nebraska Extension) Beef Quality Assurance- Feedlot Assessments (Rob Eirich, Nebraska Extension BQA Director) Beef Industry Update (Doug Straight, Nebraska Beef Council) Optional BQA Training, 5 p.m. (Rob Eirich, UNL Extension, Nebraska BQA Director) The Nebraska Beef Council will give an update on new beef products. Preregistration is available by phone, fax, e-mail or mail, and requested by Wednesday, Feb. 1. Cost is $20 for those who pre-register, and will be accepted at the door. Cost for those who have not pre-registered will be $30. For more information or a registration form contact Matt Luebbe at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center, 4502 Ave. I, Scottsbluff, NE 69361, phone 308-632-1260, fax 308-632-1365 or e-mail mluebbe2@unl.edu. A brochure with registration form can be downloaded from the Panhandle research and Extension Centers website, http://panhandle.unl.edu. Look for the link to Beef Feedlot Roundtables. The Beef Feedlot Roundtable is sponsored by Nebraska Extension and the Nebraska Beef Council and ISU Extension. Twilight actor Kristen Stewart recently spoke about the time when US President Donald Trump was making comments about her personal life on Twitter. By India Today Web Desk: Back in 2012, when businessman and TV host Donald Trump was not the US President, he was tweeting about Twilight actor Kristen Stewart's personal life. Trump made a series of tweets where he spoke his mind on Stewart's relationship with Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson, an act which Stewart recently called "f**king crazy" in an interview to Variety. advertisement "He (Trump) was mad at me a couple years ago, really obsessed with me a couple years ago, which is f**ing crazy," Stewart said. ALSO READ: Did US President Trump copy his inauguration speech from not 1 BUT 3 films? ALSO READ: 5 Bollywood films Donald Trump needs to watch to be a better lover ALSO WATCH: Reality TV show contestant sues Donald Trump for sexual assault To put things in context, around October 2012, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart were going through a rough patch in their relationship. Trump immediately tweeted and among other things, advised Pattinson to dump Stewart and guaranteed that Stweart will cheat on Pattison again. Everyone knows I am right that Robert Pattinson should dump Kristen Stewart. In a couple of years, he will thank me. Be smart, Robert. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012 Lots of response to my Pattinson/Kristen Stewart reunion. She will cheat again--100 certain--am I ever wrong? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2012 Robert Pattinson should not take back Kristen Stewart. She cheated on him like a dog & will do it again--just watch. He can do much better! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 17, 2012 Robert Pattinson is putting on a good face for the release of Twilight. He took my advice on Kristen Stewart...I hope! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 9, 2012 When asked, how she felt about Donald Trump's tweets then, Stewart said, "At that point, he was just, like, a reality star. I had no reference. It wasn't like really a thing. But in retrospect, somebody reminded me of that and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, you're right!" Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States of America. However, Trump lost the popular vote by 2.9 million votes - the largest number of votes by which a candidate winning the presidency has lost the popular vote. Stewart, on being told that many women who look up to her are scared by Trump's presidency, replied, "As they should be." --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: Colombo, Jan 21 (PTI) Sri Lankan Minister and former Army Chief Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka has been questioned by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in connection with the murder of a journalist. Fonseka, Minister of Regional Development gave statement yesterday to the CID over five hours over the murder of Lasantha Wickrematunga, a former editor of the Sunday Leader. advertisement "I was able to use that opportunity to clear my name. The former ruler was trying to blame me for the assassination," Fonseka told reporters. He said the CID quizzed him on the militarys role in Colombo during the war with the LTTE between 2006 and 2009. He led the Army when the government troops crushed the LTTEs 30-year-old separatist campaign in the north and east of the island. He was the handpicked Army Commander of the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who is credited for his action to end the LTTEs campaign of violence. Rajapaksa and Fonseka later fell foul of each other and the former Army Commander challenged the former President in the 2010 presidential election. He was later jailed by Rajapaksa for treason. In the last presidential election, Fonseka backed the incumbent Maithripala Sirisena against Rajapaksa. Wickrematunga, a fierce critic of the Rajapaksa regime was way laid and murdered while he was driving to work in January 2009. The blame fell on the government. The current government has re-opened the investigation. PTI CORR AJR DK --- ENDS --- Backers of right-to-work legislation promise that it will make Missouri more competitive on the jobs front, perhaps even luring big new factories. Dont hold your breath. When Area Development, a magazine for corporate planners and site selection consultants, asked executives what they consider when locating a new facility, right to work wasnt among the top 10 answers. Availability of skilled workers was No. 1, followed by highways and quality of life. Taxes, occupancy costs and environmental rules also ranked ahead of avoiding unions. Missouris leaders have many things to fix, especially on the education and infrastructure fronts, before the state shoots to the top of companies expansion lists. Plenty of corporate decision-makers do dislike unions, which are weakened by laws that forbid compulsory dues payments. Republicans, who now control both the Legislature and the executive branch, have pledged to make Missouri the 28th state to pass such a law. Will that make a difference in job growth? Numerous studies have attempted to answer that question, and the results are inconclusive. Some researchers find a modest boost in job creation. Others find no effect. Some studies find that wages fall, while others find that total incomes rise perhaps because business owners earn higher profits. Its difficult to single out the effects of a single law. Southern states have grown rapidly over the last 50 years, but is that due to right to work or to population movement caused by the spread of air conditioning? Its also hard to know which period to study. In the 1970s and 80s, manufacturing jobs clearly moved from strong-union Northern states to weak-union Southern ones. Is that still relevant in the last 15 years when the same sorts of jobs have been moving overseas? Ken Troske, an economics professor at the University of Kentucky, has watched the debate in his state, which passed a right-to-work law this month. You continually hear from business leaders that it (the lack of such a law) was a big deterrent to locating here, he said. But its hard to make strong, definitive statements about the impact of right to work based on empirical evidence. Part of researchers problem is a lack of changes to study. Idaho, Texas and Oklahoma were the only states to adopt right to work between 1964 and 2011. Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Kentucky have joined them in the past five years. Perhaps data from those states and Missouri will eventually change the argument. For now, legislators are basing their decisions mostly on political calculus. Unions backed their Democratic opponents, so theyll weaken the unions. If you asked me what would you do to improve the states economy, right to work would not be the first thing on the list, Troske said. I would work on improving schools and the quality of the workforce, but those things are expensive and right to work is not. The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute contends that right to work is, in fact, expensive for workers. One of its studies shows that the anti-union laws reduce wages by about 3 percent. Ross Eisenbrey, an institute vice president, says claims of job gains amount to smoke and mirrors. Really what it is about is weakening unions. Thats hard to argue with. Lets hope that after rewarding their backers with a right-to-work law, Missouri Republicans dont sit around and wait for jobs to magically appear. Theyll need to tackle some much tougher issues if they really want to improve the states economy. Crop damage from the last growing season is done, but Missouri and Arkansas lawmakers are taking steps that aim to prevent future devastation from dicamba, the herbicide widely blamed for a rash of illegal spraying that sowed financial pain and discord in farming communities across the region. Arkansas set a bold example last week, when the states Plant Board passed restrictions that would only permit the use of certain types of dicamba and would only allow one variety to be applied from April 15 through Sept. 15 when warm temperatures make the herbicide more susceptible to forming vapor and drifting to nearby fields, where it can damage any crops that arent genetically modified to tolerate it. Interestingly, the variety approved for use throughout the growing season in Arkansas is Engenia, from chemical company BASF, and not Xtendimax, the new herbicide from Creve Coeur-based Monsanto. Xtendimax, which Monsanto has touted as being less volatile , was not approved for use by the Environmental Protection Agency until late 2016 even though the company started selling crop varieties resistant to the herbicide in 2015. Despite its absence for two full growing seasons, many growers with dicamba-tolerant seed are suspected of spraying illegal alternatives not authorized for use. Drift from those off-label forms of dicamba is the presumed culprit behind scores of crop damage complaints in southeast Missouri, and is even believed to have incited deadly violence, with a Missouri man facing murder charges in the October shooting death of an Arkansas farmer just across the state line. Under Arkansas new policy, Engenia will even be eligible for use on Monsantos dicamba-tolerant cotton and soybean varieties. Monsanto responded to Arkansas new dicamba restrictions with disappointment. It is unfortunate that to this point, the state of Arkansas has not enabled farmer choice by fully approving all of the formulated products the EPA and 25 other states so far have permitted for in-crop use, Monsanto said in a statement. Growers in Arkansas and across the United States need new tools and technologies to control weeds, and XtendiMax herbicide with VaporGrip Technology is an important new option. The company said state approvals generally remain on-schedule, and indicated that some states may implement training measures for the product. Wed like to see those programs implemented in conjunction with grower access to this technology for 2017, the company said. In Missouri, meanwhile, state Rep. Don Rone, R-Portageville, has introduced three bills aiming to avoid a repeat of the scenario that unfolded on farms across his Bootheel district last summer. Rone last week introduced two bills that would amend the approval process for herbicides and herbicide-resistant seed in Missouri. One of them, House Bill 605, would require the Missouri Department of Agriculture to determine whether herbicides sold in the state are inherently volatile and develop usage restrictions for those meeting certain criteria. The other, HB 606, would prohibit the sale of herbicide-resistant seed if the corresponding herbicide has not also garnered approval. But Rone described the legislation introduced Thursday as the biggest of the three. He said that bill, HB 662, would raise existing fines for illegal herbicide use from $1,000 per field to $1,000 per acre. The farmers down there have asked me to build something with teeth in it, he said. Thats what Ive done. Farmers have criticized existing fines for being woefully insufficient to deter wrongdoers. Rone said he did not want to pursue restrictions like those implemented in Arkansas, arguing that growers need access to new herbicides. We tried our best not to stifle industry, Rone said. If we can keep the bad players from being bad players, we can use this compound. But we need things in place to show them we mean business. Rone is hopeful that toughened-up penalties on illegal herbicide use will come to pass, but recognizes that time is of the essence to help protect growers this year. NEW YORK Investors are starting to sour on the idea of reimbursing hedge funds for multimillion-dollar trader bonuses, lavish marketing dinners and trophy office space. Powerful firms such as Citadel LLC and Millennium Management LLC charge clients for such costs through so-called pass-through fees, which can include everything from a new hires deferred compensation to travel to high-end technology. It all adds up: Investors often end up paying more than double the industrys standard fees of 2 percent of assets and 20 percent of investment gains, which many already consider too high. Investors have for years tolerated pass-through charges because of high net returns, but weak performance lately is testing their patience. Clients of losing funds last year, including those managed by Blackstone Group LPs Senfina Advisors LLC, Folger Hill Asset Management LP and Balyasny Asset Management LP, likely still paid fees far higher than 2 percent of assets. Clients of shops that made money, including Paloma Partners and Hutchin Hill Capital LP, were left with returns of less than 5 percent partly because of a draining combination of pass-through and performance fees. Millennium, the $34 billion New York firm led by billionaire Israel Englander, charged clients its usual fees of 5 or 6 percent of assets and 20 percent of gains in 2016, according to a person familiar with the situation. The charges left investors in Millenniums flagship fund with a net return of just 3.3 percent. Citadel, the $26 billion Chicago firm led by billionaire Kenneth Griffin, charged pass-through fees that added up to about 5.3 percent in 2015 and 6.3 percent in 2014, according to another person familiar with the situation. Charges for 2016 were not finalized, but the costs typically add up to between 5 and 10 percent of assets, separate from the 20 percent performance fee Citadel typically charges. Citadels flagship fund returned 5 percent in 2016, far below its 19.5 percent annual average since 1990, according to the source who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because the information is private. All firms mentioned declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment. In 2014, consulting firm Cambridge Associates studied fees charged by multi-manager funds, which deploy various investment strategies using small teams and often include pass-throughs. Their clients lose 33 percent of profits to fees, on average, Cambridge found. The report by research consultant Tomas Kmetko noted such funds would need to generate gross returns of roughly 19 percent to deliver a 10 percent net profit to clients. Stunning to me Defenders of pass-throughs said the fees were necessary to keep elite talent and provide traders with top technology. They said that firm executives were often among the largest investors in their funds and pay the same fees as clients. But frustration is starting to show. A 2016 survey by consulting firm EY found that 95 percent of investors prefer no pass-through expense. The report also said fewer investors support various types of pass-through fees than in the past. Its stunning to me to think you would pay more than 2 percent, said Marc Levine, chairman of the Illinois State Board of Investment, which has reduced its use of hedge funds. That creates a huge hurdle to have the right alignment of interests. Investors pulled $11.5 billion from multi-strategy funds in 2016 after three consecutive years of net additions, according to data tracker eVestment. Redemptions for firms that use pass-through fees were not available. Even with pass-through fees, firms like Citadel, Millennium and Paloma have produced double-digit net returns over the long-term. The Cambridge study also found that multi-manager funds generally performed better and with lower volatility than a global stock index. High fees and expenses are hard to stomach, particularly in a low-return environment, but its all about the net, said Michael Hennessy, co-founder of hedge fund investment firm Morgan Creek Capital Management. Intellectual property Citadel has used pass-through fees for an unusual purpose: developing intellectual property. The firm relied partly on client fees to build an internal administration business starting in 2007. But only Citadels owners, including Griffin, benefited from the 2011 sale of the unit, Omnium LLC, to Northern Trust Corp. for $100 million, plus $60 million or so in subsequent profit-sharing, two people familiar with the situation said. Citadel noted in a 2016 Securities and Exchange Commission filing that some pass-through expenses are still used to develop intellectual property, the extent of which was unclear. Besides hedge funds, Citadels other business lines include Citadel Securities LLC, the powerful market-maker, and Citadel Technology LLC, a small portfolio management software provider. Some Citadel hedge fund investors and advisers to them told Reuters they were unhappy about the firm charging clients to build technology whose profits Citadel alone will enjoy. Its really against the spirit of a partnership, said one. A spokesman for Citadel declined to comment. A person familiar with the situation noted that Citadel put tens of millions of dollars into the businesses and disclosed to clients that only Citadel would benefit from related revenues. The person also noted Citadels high marks from an investor survey by industry publication Alpha for alignment of interests and independent oversight. Gordon Barnes, global head of due diligence at Cambridge, said few hedge fund managers charge their investors for services provided by affiliates because of various problems it can cause. Even with the right legal disclosures, it rarely passes a basic fairness test, Barnes said, declining to comment on any individual firm. These arrangements tend to favor the managers interests. It took almost a year for Kevin Kulage to get James Summers to show up in court, but on Thursday it happened. Side by side the two men stood in Iron County Circuit Court in front of Judge Robin Edward Fulton. They were there as part of a case Kulage filed in March 2016 to try to get Summers to stop blocking Kulage and his wife, Robyn, from the 40 acres they own in Iron County. The Kulages live in Cedar Hill. Until Summers bought out a previous owner and started blocking them from the property they had owned for 13 years, they would make the drive south to Iron County nearly every weekend, spending tranquil days in their camper, hiking, fishing, clearing brush. The peace and quiet came to a crashing halt last year when Summers put a new lock on the gate that goes to the property and told the Kulages they were trespassing. The Kulages asked the sheriff to intervene. That worked for one weekend. Then on a later visit, Summers allegedly rammed the Kulages pickup with his tractor as they tried to leave through the gate. The Kulages filed an assault report. Sheriff Roger Medley said his department investigated and sent a report to a special prosecutor in Reynolds County. No charges have been filed. Eventually, the Kulages ended up in civil court, seeking an injunction to protect access to their land. In December, I wrote about their case right before a court date. It led to yet another delay. The Court, on its own motion, does recuse due to the appearance of possible impropriety by virtue of a recent article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch. The clerk is directed to request the Presiding Judge to request the Supreme Court to appoint an out-of-circuit Judge, wrote Iron County Circuit Court Judge Randy Paul Schuller. The judge who replaced him, Fulton, is an associate circuit judge from Madison County. At the hearing over which Fulton presided Thursday, Summers caused another delay. His attorney, Eric Harris, had filed a motion to withdraw a couple of days earlier. Now Summers needs a new lawyer. Another delay in justice for us, Kulage said. This guy really knows how to work the system. Fulton isnt going to give him much more time. By Feb. 7, he wants to set a trial date so the matter can be resolved. Resolution wont come easy. Last week, Robyn Kulage emailed me a photo of the gate that leads to their land. Somebody presumably Summers has dumped a several-feet high pile of dirt in front of the gate. For the Kulages, who both grew up in north St. Louis County before moving to Jefferson County, the delays are frustrating, but they feel like they are making progress. After my column about their case ran, they received calls from Iron County with folks offering advice on how to navigate the tight-knit political quagmire of the rural county. Plenty of people were sympathetic with their plight, in part because they know how badly such disputes can turn out if they arent resolved amicably. About six years before Summers started blocking the Kulages from their land, a similar dispute over property ended up with two men dead. For years, Thomas Hennessey Jr. and Carl Jones had been involved in a battle over an easement to a 1,200-acre Reynolds County property with a lake that Hennessey had bought. Hennessey lived in Maine; Jones in Iron County. The dispute turned to gunfire in June 2010 after a dispute at a grocery store. Hennessey shot Jones and then was killed himself by an Ironton police officer. The land at the center of that dispute was eventually bought by the state of Missouri. In one of his last acts as governor, the administration of Jay Nixon turned it into a state park and named it Jay Nixon Park. The Jones family is upset with the name. Some land disputes, it seems, go on forever. The Kulages hope theirs has a better ending. Gold in solid crude form weighing 2.249 kg valued at Rs 60.9 lakh and two i-phones valued at Rs 1,20,000 were recovered from a passenger at the Mumbai international airport. By Virendrasingh Ghunawat: The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Customs seized gold in solid crude form weighing 2.249 kg valued at Rs 60.9 lakh from a passenger on his arrival from Dubai at the Mumbai International Airport. The passenger and the intended recipient of the gold were arrested from the airport. The passenger, identified as Ahamed Thameez, had concealed gold in cylindrical shape in a specially-made hollow cylindrical iron shaft covered from both the ends which formed the central part of the motor of the portable car washing machine. It was seized under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962. advertisement Also read | Hyderabad: Flyer detained for trying to smuggle gold worth Rs 34 lakh Two i-phones valued at Rs 1,20,000 were also recovered from his hand baggage, that were supposedly being smuggled into India and were, hence, liable to confiscation under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962. GOODS WORTH OVER RS 62 LAKH SEIZED According to a source within the AIU, "2,249 grams of gold and two i-phones collectively valued at Rs 62,11,912 were recovered from the passenger." The passenger in his statement recorded u/s 108 of the Customs Act, 1962 has admitted knowledge, ownership, possession, carriage, concealment and recovery of the said gold and i-phone which were bring smuggled into India without payment of proper customs duty and in contravention of the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962. Also read | Mumbai: Gold worth Rs 30 lakh recovered from passenger flying from Riyadh to Mangalore The passenger has further admitted that the above said goods belonged to some other person and was supposed to hand them over to one Irshad in Mumbai and that he carried the same into India to make a big profit. The receiver Irshad MP was also arrested from outside the airport. --- ENDS --- The New York City area will play a key role in National School Choice Week, the largest celebration of educational opportunity in US history. NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- National School Choice Week begins today in New York and across the country. There are 1,041 events planned in the greater New York City area to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 22,392 events nationwide. The events in New York City area, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has issued an official proclamation recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as School Choice Week. School Choice Week provides families in the New York City area with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR NEW YORK CITY AREA FAMILIES Families in New York can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Empire State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. Families in New Jersey can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Garden State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com or follow the discussion on Twitter using #schoolchoice. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005167/en/ Shelby Doyle, 202-480-2927 ext. 820 Director of Communications and External Relations [email protected] Source: National School Choice Week The Sunflower State plays key role in National School Choice Week, the largest celebration of educational opportunity in US history. TOPEKA, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- National School Choice Week begins today in Kansas and across the country. There are 165 events planned in the Sunflower State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Kansas, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large rally for school choice January 25 at noon at the State House. The counties of Chautauqua, Cloud, Johnson, and Ellis and cities of Baxter Springs, Chanute, Chetopa, and Nickerson have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as School Choice Week. National School Choice Week provides families in Kansas with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR KANSAS FAMILIES According to National School Choice Weeks organizers, families in Kansas can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Sunflower State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. The state also has a program allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005061/en/ National School Choice Week Shelby Doyle, 202-480-2927 ext. 820 Director of Communications and External Relations [email protected] Source: National School Choice Week The Magnolia State plays key role in National School Choice Week, Gov. Bryant issues proclamation. JACKSON, Miss.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- National School Choice Week begins today in Mississippi and across the country. There are 133 events planned in the Magnolia State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Mississippi, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large rally January 24 at 9:30 a.m. at the state capitol rotunda. The county of Quitman; cities of Gautier, Long Beach, Pass Christian, and Purvis; and Governor Bryant have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as School Choice Week. National School Choice Week provides families in Mississippi with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. Every child in Mississippi deserves access to a high quality education, Grant Callen, president of Empower Mississippi said. Unfortunately, many Mississippi parents know their children are not in the best educational setting, but because they can't afford to move or to pay for private school tuition they feel trapped. During National School Choice Week, we will celebrate the school choice options available in Mississippi and draw attention to the critical need for even more opportunities for Mississippi families. Over the last 10 years, educational opportunities for children and families in Mississippi have grown significantly, said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. This is something to celebrate, and National School Choice Week will provide an unprecedented opportunity to celebrate the hard work and cooperation that made these choices a reality. With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR MISSISSIPPI FAMILIES According to National School Choice Weeks organizers, families in Mississippi can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Magnolia State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. The state also has a program allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005081/en/ National School Choice Week For more information, contact: Shelby Doyle, 202-480-2927 ext. 820 Director of Communications and External Relations [email protected] Source: National School Choice Week By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jan 22 (PTI) The judgement in the NJAC case cannot be used as "a ruse to interdict" the assumption of office by Chief Justice of India J S Khehar, the Supreme Court has said while dismissing a plea challenging his appointment. A bench of Justices R K Agrawal and D Y Chandrachud gave a reasoned judgement while dismissing the plea filed by a lawyers body on December 30. advertisement The National Lawyers Campaign for Judicial Transparency and Reforms had challenged Justice Khehars appointment contending that since he had presided over the five-judge Constitution Bench which revived the collegium after striking down the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) in October 2015, he was a beneficiary of his own verdict. In the detailed judgement uploaded recently, the apex court said the petition seeking to challenge the appointment of Justice Khehar as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI) has no constitutional foundation or basis. "If the petitioners have any reservations about the judgment in the NJAC case, this is clearly not the forum to espouse that grievance. Nor can this be utilised as a ruse to interdict the assumption of office by the CJI .... "The judgment in the NJAC case binds this Bench. We do not find it appropriate or proper to entertain a petition under Article 32 of the Constitution questioning its legitimacy by seeking a declaration that it is void," the bench said. Justice Khehar took oath as CJI on January 4. Justice Agrawal, who headed the bench, said all citizens have full confidence and faith in the judiciary which has made a mark in doing justice to all, as for it, there is nobody above the law and all are equal. With regard to the eligibility of Justice Khehar which was challenged by the lawyers body on the ground that the judgment in the NJAC case was delivered by him and therefore he had usurped to himself the power of appointment of the Judges, Justice Agrawal said the judgement was delivered individually by all five judges and decided by four judges. The constitution bench headed by Justice Khehar had held that the Constitutional (99th Amendment) Act, 2014 and the NJAC Act, 2014 were unconstitutional. "So far as the allegation that he (Justice Khehar) has has usurped the power of appointment of Judges to himself is concerned, it is sufficient to mention here that the Collegium not only consists of the Chief Justice of India but four other senior judges as well and it cannot be said that the Chief Justice of India can usurp the power of appointing the Judges for himself," it said. (More) PTI MNL SJK ARC --- ENDS --- advertisement The Land of Enchantment plays key role in National School Choice Week, Gov. Martinez issues proclamation. SANTA FE, N.M.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- National School Choice Week begins today in New Mexico and across the country. There are 190 events planned in the Land of Enchantment to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in New Mexico, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large school choice celebration January 23 at noon at the New Mexico State House. The county of Eddy, city of Loving, and Governor Martinez have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as School Choice Week. National School Choice Week provides families in New Mexico with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. We look forward to gathering together with a diverse coalition from across the state to highlight the difference that a great education can make in a students life, said Greta Roskom of the New Mexico Coalition for Charter Schools. We look forward to the National School Choice Week annually as a platform to share our success stories. "By working together, parents, students, teachers, and community leaders will raise important awareness about educational opportunity in New Mexico during National School Choice Week," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "The goal of this Week is to celebrate school choice where it exists, and provide a platform for people to demand even greater opportunities in education." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR NEW MEXICO FAMILIES According to National School Choice Weeks organizers, families in New Mexico can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Land of Enchantment can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005099/en/ National School Choice Week Shelby Doyle, (202) 480-2927 ext. 820 Director of Communications and External Relations [email protected] Source: National School Choice Week A Brazilian Army soldier patrols the border with Colombia during a training to show efforts to step up security along borders, in Vila Bittencourt, Amazon State, Brazil, January 18, 2017. Picture taken on January 18, 2017. REUTERS/Adriano Machado By Alonso Soto VILA BITTENCOURT, Brazil (Reuters) - In an isolated army outpost deep in the Amazon jungle, Felipe Castro leads 70 soldiers on the frontline of Brazils fight against its biggest security threat: the drug trade. Castro's platoon patrols a 250 km (155 miles) stretch of the border with the worlds top cocaine producer Colombia in a bid to stem the flow of illegal drugs and arms that is fuelling a war between criminal gangs in Brazil. Its a difficult job but not impossible, said the gaunt 29-year-old, his face covered in green and black camouflage. Watching from the bank of the murky Japura river, Castro directs his men as they use a metal speedboat to practise intercepting drug shipments on its fast-moving waters. The river marks only part of Brazil's porous border that stretches for nearly 10,000 kms, three times the U.S.-Mexico frontier. After years of fragile truce, Brazil's drug gangs have launched a battle for control of lucrative cross-border smuggling routes that has spilled into the country's gang-controlled jails, sparking the bloodiest prison riots in decades. More than 130 inmates have been killed so far this year. In the vast state of Amazonas, the North Family gang has for years dominated the smuggling of cocaine that is shipped to Europe or sold in Brazils inner cities in a business believed to be worth $4.5 billion a year. Brazil is the worlds biggest consumer of cocaine after the United States, according to United Nations data. Machete-wielding North Family gangs decapitated dozens of inmates of the rival First Capital Command (PCC) in a New Years prison massacre that has sparked revenge killings across penitentiaries in northern Brazil. President Michel Temer's government is worried the prison violence could spill onto the streets of major cities such as economic hub Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, a major tourist destination. Temer has vowed to improve military surveillance along the border, but senior commanders acknowledge drugs and arms will continue to flow in. Not even the United States has been able to stop drug trafficking along its border with Mexico, said General Altair Polsin, head of the armys ground operations command. You have to tackle consumption to put an end to this. The military plans to increase its patrols on the Solimoes River, one of the main smuggling routes, and share intelligence with officials in neighboring Colombia and Peru. Officers are putting their hopes in a technology upgrade to use infrared sensors and drones for border surveillance. For this year, Brazil plans to nearly double its budget to about half a billion reais to finance a border technology program known as SISFRON, according to Defense Minister Raul Jungmann. Updated technology is crucial for the 1,500 soldiers in the 24 garrisons posted along the Amazon border who divide their time searching for drugs with raids on illegal miners, loggers and hunters. Other Brazilian security agencies fighting drugs and arms trafficking in this isolated swath of the jungle are also stretched. Amazonas needs an extra 7,000 civil and military police to keep up with the increase in drug activity, according an internal report by the state security secretary. We are 30 officers overseeing an area the size of France, said Marcos Vinicius Menezes, the federal police chief in Tabatinga, a city washed by the Solimoes that borders Colombia and Peru. If fighting the drug trade wasnt enough, we also have to look after the worlds biggest tropical forest. (Editing by Daniel Flynn) French President Francois Hollande makes declarations to the media after a meeting with Chile's President Michelle Bachelet at Chile's government house in Santiago during Hollande's official visit to the country, January 21, 2017. REUTERS/Rodrigo Garrido SANTIAGO (Reuters) - France's President Francois Hollande on Saturday criticized protectionism and with his Chilean counterpart said that Europe would look to strengthen ties with Latin America, speaking a day after U.S. President Donald Trump took office. Hollande said international relations should be guided by multilateralism with a role for the United Nations, contrasting with Trump's calls for tighter borders and an "America First" approach during his first speech as president on Friday. "Protectionism is the worst response. It is the answer that ultimately impedes trade, hinders growth and even affects employment, including in countries that advocate for and implement it," Hollande said. On Monday, Hollande responded to Trump's criticism of the European Union by saying the bloc did not need to be told what to do by outsiders. With Chile's President Michelle Bachelet, Hollande said both countries wanted climate change agreements to be respected and that Chile and the European Union would update their free trade agreement. "There are ongoing discussions between Europe and Latin America, and we will also look to establish a special relationship with the Pacific Alliance," he said referring to the bloc made up of Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico. The Mercosur trade bloc that includes Brazil and Argentina is also seeking a free trade agreement with the European Union. (Reporting by Felipe Iturrieta; Writing by Caroline Stauffer; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects a sub-unit under KPA Unit 233, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang January 19, 2017. KCNA/via Reuters By James Pearson and Phil Stewart SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has seen indications that North Korea may be preparing for a new missile test-launch in the coming days or weeks, U.S. officials said on Thursday, in what could be an early test of President-elect Donald Trump's administration. South Korean media, citing intelligence agencies, said Pyongyang may be readying a test of a new, upgraded prototype of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) as early as Friday, the day Trump is inaugurated. U.S. officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, cautioned however that they did not have such precise information about the range or potential timing of Pyongyang's missile test, should it happen. One official suggested Pyongyang could be largely seeking to provoke the Trump administration. "If they do something, it would more likely be a test of Trump than a test of a delivery system," said a U.S. intelligence officer who monitors North Korean activities. "They probably want to see how he reacts to a provocation, even a minor one, and if they really want to poke him, they'll do it right away." In his New Year's speech, leader Kim Jong Un said North Korea was close to test launching an ICBM, and state media has said a launch could come at any time. Experts on the isolated and nuclear capable country's missile program believe the claims to be credible. Trump on Jan. 2 tweeted, "It won't happen!" about North Korea's pursuit of a nuclear-tipped ICBM, although his precise meaning was unclear. The Pentagon has said it would not necessarily strike a test-launched ICBM if it did not pose a threat. The Pentagon declined comment on its intelligence about the North Korea threat, but spokesman Peter Cook assured reporters that Washington's readiness would be not be diminished during the U.S. presidential transition, due to take place on Friday. "I can't get into intelligence matters. I can't confirm what's been reported there," Cook told a news briefing. "We would once again encourage North Korea not to engage in provocative actions that do nothing but destabilize the region." NEW TYPE OF MISSILE? South Korean intelligence agencies reported on Wednesday that they had recently spotted missile parts being transported, believed to be the lower-half of an ICBM, raising fears that a test-launch may be imminent, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper said, citing unidentified military sources. "It was different from a conventional Musudan missile in its length and shape," the source told the Chosun Ilbo, referring to the Musudan intermediate-range missile tested by North Korea last year. "It is possible they were moving it somewhere for assembly," the source said. A spokesman for South Korea's Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Roh Jae-cheon, told a regular news briefing that while the reports could not be confirmed, the military was monitoring North Korea's ICBM development. North Korea has in the past paraded mockups of a road-mobile missile believed to be an ICBM design dubbed the KN-08 by outside observers. It is also believed to have an upgraded version, the KN-14. A road-mobile ICBM, which could be kept hidden or moving until fired, would make tracking and stopping a North Korean missile launch significantly more difficult. The suspected ICBM is made up of two parts under 15 meters (49 feet) long and is shorter than the KN-08 and KN-14, the Yonhap News Agency said, citing unidentified military sources. "I don't recognize the missiles from this description," said Joshua Pollack, editor of the U.S.-based Nonproliferation Review. "But as we saw in 2016, there's certainly a variety of active missile programs under way in North Korea". "It's also possible that they are simply conducting field exercises with no plans to launch, or the option to launch if decided," said Pollack. Last year, North Korea conducted a test of an ICBM engine made up of a cluster of smaller rockets, indicating it was working on an ICBM design. Separately, the Washington-based think tank 38 North said on Thursday that operations at North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear facility may have restarted. North Korea is believed to be able to reprocess plutonium at Yongbyon used in its nuclear warheads. (Additional reporting by Jeong Eun Lee in Seoul and Idrees Ali, John Walcott and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Michael Perry and Cynthia Osterman) SANAA (Reuters) - Three suspected members of al Qaeda's Yemen branch were killed on Sunday by what local officials said they believed were two separate U.S. drone strikes. If confirmed, they would be the first such attacks since U.S. President Donald Trump assumed office on Friday. In the first strike two men were killed when a missile hit the vehicle in which they were travelling in the al-Soumaa district of southern al-Bayda province, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The second strike, also on a car in al-Soumaa, killed another man suspected of membership in al Qaeda, according to one official and local tribal leaders. The United States conducted dozens of drone strikes throughout Barack Obama's presidency to combat al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, regarded as one of the global militant group's most dangerous branches. The Obama administration also regularly used drones to attack Islamic State, al Qaeda and other militant groups in Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other countries, with the controversial tactic criticised by human rights groups over reports of civilian casualties. The Trump administration has not yet laid out a clear policy on drone strikes, but Trump has said that he would support an escalation of the fight against Islamist militant groups. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has exploited Yemen's civil war to carve out a foothold in the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country. Several leaders of the group have been killed by drone strikes in recent years, most recently in December. (Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari; Writing by Katie Paul; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle, Greg Mahlich) Awami Muslim League (AML) leader Sheikh Rasheed has on Sunday said that Naya Pakistan is impossible unless Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif is removed from his seat. He said that he wouldnt sit idle unless the fake government is removed. Addressing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) public meeting in Kasur, Sheikh Rasheed said that PM must be removed in order to make a New Pakistan. Workers must get ready. Elections will be held this very year, said Sheikh Rasheed. Sheikh Rasheed said that justice was everyones right. He claimed once against that the elections will be held in 2017. By Press Trust of India: Amaravati, Jan 21 (PTI) The "success" of Jallikattu agitation by people of Tamil Nadu, that forced Centre to clear an Ordinance permitting the bull sport, seems to have inspired Opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh who have now raised their voice for special category status (SCS) that has been "deprived" to the state, post bifurcation. The Congress wanted Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to lead a movement for securing SCS to AP, while Jana Sena Party chief and film star Pawan Kalyan asked the political class of the state to show the same kind of solidarity (as shown by people of TN) to get special status. advertisement AP Congress president N Raghuveera Reddy said they were ready to join hands with any party for securing the promised SCS to the state. Congress member of Rajya Sabha K V P Ramachandra Rao wrote a letter to the Chief Minister asking the latter to lead a movement for SCS. "If a movement is launched under your leadership, all political parties, media, industry, film industry and other sectors and intellectuals besides students and youth will follow you. "As the Budget session of Parliament will begin towards the end of this month, you should announce an action plan to exert pressure on the Centre and secure our legitimate rights," the Rajya Sabha member said in the letter. In a series of tweets for the second consecutive day today, the Jana Sena chief hailed the "Jallikattu movement" saying it was an "inspiration for AP". "Jana Sena Party welcomes Union Government?s nod to pass Ordinance for Jallikattu. The fighting spirit of Tamils is commendable. The solidarity shown by people of all religions and political parties for the sake of their cultural identity is appreciable," said Kalyan. "I admire the restraint shown by lakhs of people gathered at Marina Beach, which easily could have created chaotic situation on the ground," he said. "Tamils? fondness towards Dravidian culture and the manner in which they protect is laudable," he added. "Will Andhras ever learn? If the political class of AP had shown this kind of solidarity, AP would have got its promised special category status long back. "But I strongly believe that it?s only politicians who have compromised and not the general public. Jana Sena is with them (people)," Kalyan said. Main Opposition YSR Congress leader Botsa Satyanarayana, CPI state secretary K Ramakrishna and leader of AP Intellectuals Forum Chalasani Srinivas also echoed similar feelings. PTI DBV RMT SDM DK --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: From Aditi Khanna London, Jan 22 (PTI) Oxford University has been directed to face trial after an Indian-origin student sued the varsity for "hopelessly bad" and "boring" teaching which allegedly resulted in him getting a second class degree and in turn led to loss of earnings in his career as a lawyer. The world-famous university had applied to the High Court in London to dismiss the claim by Faiz Siddiqui but in an 18-page judgement by Justice Kerr last week the court ruled that Oxford does have a case to answer, The Sunday Times reported. advertisement Siddiqui, who studied modern history at Brasenose College at the university, accuses its staff of "negligent" teaching of his specialist subject course on Indian imperial history, which led to him getting a 2:1 back in 2000. The 38-year-olds barristerRoger Mallalieu had told the court that the problem came down to four of the seven staff teaching Asian history being on sabbatical leave at the same time during the 1999-2000 academic year. Siddiquibelieves he could have had a high-flying career as an international commercial lawyer if he had not got lower grades and decided to take the legal route, which came to light last month. His legal team had singled out the "boring" standard of tuition thatSiddiquihad received from David Washbrook, an expert on the history of southern India between the 18th and 20th centuries. Mallalieu claimed that the eminent historian?s teaching had suffered from the "intolerable" pressure of the staff shortages on the course. "There is no personal criticism of Dr Washbrook. Our target is on the university?s back for allowing this to happen," Mallalieu told the court. Siddiqui, who trained as a solicitor after college, suffers from depression and insomnia, which he links to his "disappointing examination results". Oxford University had argued that the claim was baseless and should be struck out because of the over 16 years that had passed sinceSiddiquigraduated. Professor Alan Smithers, an education expert at Buckingham University, told the newspaper: "This is a test case and in future universities will have to ensure that what they do stands up to critical inspection in the courts. In the past, universities have been quite cavalier about the quality of their teaching. "If Mr Siddiqui wins, this will open the door to a flood of other students who do not think they got the degree they deserved because of issues about the teaching they received." Oxford University has declined to comment on the latest judgement so far. PTI AK PMS --- ENDS --- The prize of a return trip to London, Paris, New York or Rome has enticed hundreds of budding and professional photographers to enter the Bays inaugural large scale photographic exhibition. Competition entries for the TrustPower Photographic Exhibition closed on Friday, with the winning photos to be displayed in a large outdoor photo exhibition on The Strand, Downtown Tauranga, from January 27-April 9. The competition invited amateur and professional photographers to submit photos that showcase people and places in Western Bay of Plenty. There are four categories: Our People, Land and Sea, Our Heritage, and Emotion. Downtown Tauranga project manager Sally Cooke says theyve received hundreds of entries for the exhibition. Sally puts the flood of entries down to the lure of the supreme prize and more than $10,000 in rewards to giveaway. The supreme winner will win, among other things, a return trip to London, Paris, New York or Rome, five nights accommodation and the opportunity to have some of their photos, taken on their trip, featured in an UNO Magazine travel feature. Its certainly an exciting prize for a budding or established photographer and is helping to attract strong interest in the competition aspect of the exhibition. Additionally, the competition offers cash prizes for the four categories of $1000 for first and $500 for second place getters and two creative internships for student and young photographers. The winners of the Students section and the Young Photographers section will both get a one week creative media internship at UNO Magazine, The Weekend Sun and More FM. The TrustPower Photographic Exhibition is about showcasing the Bay and nurturing and empowering our emerging and established photographers, says Sally. Prizes will be awarded for first and second in the four categories, plus judges will award prizes for a Young Photographers section (18 and under), a Student section (for full-time or part-time students) and a digital section. And the calibre of entries is outstanding, says Sally. We have been absolutely blown away by the photos that have been coming through. We have some incredibly talented photographers here and many of the photos are absolutely breath-taking. I dont envy the judges; they have their work cut out for them in selecting the winning entries. Once entries have been judged, the TrustPower Photographic Exhibition opens on The Strand, Downtown Tauranga, on January 27until April 9. The free exhibition will also include a Peoples Choice section asking the public to vote for their favourite photo. For full details on the TrustPower Photographic Exhibition visit: www.downtowntauranga.co.nz Pet rabbit owners are petitioning the government against importing any more rabbit calcivirus or rabbit haemorrhagic viruses to knock down feral rabbit numbers. The Ministry of Primary Industries has budgeted $240,000 to be spent during the current financial year on a new high virulence RHDV strain (called K5) that partially overcomes resistance to RHDV and is expected to increase rabbit kills by 20-30 per cent. The MPI website states approval to release RHDV K5 in Australia is been applied for and should be granted within the next 12 months. Rabbit stakeholder groups in New Zealand are planning to seek approval for the release of RHDV K5 into New Zealand. The proposed project will provide New Zealand stakeholders and landowners with new information and guidelines that will ensure the timing and method of release adopted for the improved RHDV strain achieves the best possible outcomes and maximises future long term benefits for farmers. For people who live with house rabbits its life threatening for their rabbits. Most people what have rabbits class them as family and we are trying to stop this, says petition organiser Kathleen Brinsdon. There must be other ways they can get rid of wild rabbits instead of the virus as they are just going to become immune to this new virus like the last one, and then they will try bring out another virus. Most people who have rabbits cherish them like family members. Our rabbits are not pests like wild rabbits but their RCD deaths are the same. The new virus must not be introduced to New Zealand, especially when the vaccine is currently unavailable outside of Europe. The current vaccine is only 80 per cent effective against the current virus says Kathleen. Wild rabbits are becoming immune to the current virus and introducing a new virus puts all pet rabbits at risk. There are about 116,000 rabbit house pets in New Zealand. Intelligent, like dogs, and trainable with a clicker, says Tauranga house rabbit owner Holly Johnson. You are supposed to get them fixed, says Holly. The females can die of uterine cancer by their fifth birthday, a 95 per cent chance or something - so its important you get them fixed. The live almost as long as a cat and they are easier to litter train than cats. Previously known as the rabbit calcivirus illegally imported in 1997 to deal with a feral rabbit problem in South Canterbury, the RHDV1 virus is now joined by more up to date strains from which there is no protection for any rabbit. Rabbit owners are petitioning the government to prevent further use of rabbit haemorrhagic viruses to control feral rabbits due to the indiscriminate danger the viruses represent to the lives of the 116,000 pet rabbits currently contentedly munching on computer cables, speaker cables and low level book spines in households across the country. Rabbit owners are petitioning the government to initiate and facilitate the development of vaccines or a trivalent vaccine for Rabbit Haemorrhagic viruses present and planned to be present in both New Zealand and Australia. And to stop the planned release of the RHDV1a-K5 virus in New Zealand at least until a scientifically, independently peer-reviewed proven vaccine is available. Its a resilient virus and it can be easiy, easily transferred, says Holly. If you go anywhere near an infected rabbit or walk through a field where the virus has been laid and you walk into someones home that has a rabbit - thats the virus transferred, and I think it can survive freezing temperatures for up to three months. Matapihi based Ngai Tukairangi Trust has paid $40.2 million for a Hawkes Bay kiwifruit orchard in what is believed to be a record price for any horticultural land. We are fielding quite a bit of interest, says Trustee Neil Te Kani. Its a strategic decision, we signaled it at last years AGM we said we need to get bigger in terms of our footprint in the industry. We see that footprint having an impact on returns back to growers so its an exciting industry and we wanted to continue the legacy of our grandparents who started with this. How the trust intends to run the orchards is not decided. Thats a decision thats going to be made by the board looking at that particular question on February 1, says Neil. They arent planning to buy any more orchards just yet. A purchase of this size will require us to sit back and see how its going to perform. So there is going to be a period of review around what this looks like. It may be that we look at increasing our footprint in other areas as well, but again those are decisions that will be made by the board. We shall see how this one here rolls out. NZ Farmer reports the trust bought five orchards comprising the 66.47 hectare Fernhill properties, marketed by Stan and Chris Robb at PGG Wrightson Real Estate, Tauranga. It is one of the largest sales, by value, of any New Zealand rural property says PGG Wrightson Real Estate general manager, Peter Newbold. "Many observers will be gratified that this transaction took place between two New Zealand-based entities. Even for sales of this magnitude, locals have the capacity to purchase New Zealand rural property, despite competition from overseas interests," says Peter. The orchards are in their third year of producing SunGold, and are yet to reach maturity. "At present about 5-600,000 trays are being harvested, but there is potential to reach up to 1 million trays," says Stan Robb. Located 12 kilometres north-west of Hastings, the orchards were developed over 20 years ago. They have artificial shelter, frost protection and irrigation. At just over $700,000 per canopy hectare, the 66.47-ha Hawkes Bay sale is slightly cheaper that an earlier purchase of a Te Puke kiwifruit orchard, which went for more than $800,000 per canopy ha. Prices for gold kiwifruit orchards have soared in the past two years, from $450,000 per ha in 2015 and leaping to $600,000 per ha last year. In response to global demand for the SunGold variety, Zespri has been steadily releasing more licences to grow it. Kiwifruit growers have paid out a median price of up to $200,000 per ha each for licences to the sought-after variety. Zespri forecast that the release of 400 ha of SunGold licences in 2017 and successive releases could boost kiwifruit exports by $500m by 2020. Total green and gold earnings for 2016 are set to hit almost the $1 billion mark. Zespris chief operating officer Simon Limmer say the co-operative interpreted the sales in light of the reception SunGold had enjoyed with customers and consumers around the world. "Were forecasting SunGold volumes to double over the next five years to 90 million trays to meet this strong demand, backed by up investment in marketing and in-market development. Orchard sales reflect the confidence of the New Zealand industry in this great new product," says Simon. An ISI handler ordered the killings to two men over a botched plan to plant explosives along railway tracks in Bihar. An audio recording of the murder was made and sent to the handler. By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: Intelligence sources have revealed to India Today that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency was behind the killings of two Indians hired by a man named Brajkishore Giri to sabotage Indian Railways tracks. Giri allegedly killed the two men, Arun and Deepak Ram, at the behest of Shamshul Hoda, Giri's ISI handler. Arun and Deepak were murdered in cold-blood in Nepal after they backed out of a plan to explosives on railway tracks near Ghorasahan in Bihar's East Champaran district. advertisement The plan itself failed after police recovered the explosives planted by others in Arun and Deepak's team. This enraged Hoda, and the duo was then killed. An audio clip of the murder was recorded as proof and was sent to Hoda sources say. PLANS TO TARGET INDIAN RAILWAYS The sources also revealed that the ISI had made plans to cause large-scale damage to railways infrastructure in India with the aim of killing hundreds. Central agencies are already ivestigating claims that the ISI was behind the derailment of the Indore-Patna Express in which over 150 people lost their lives. Also read: Pakistan's link unearthed in Kanpur train accident that killed more than 140 passengers, 3 arrested THE GHORASAHAN PLOT The ISI link to the drailment, which took place near Kanpur, in fact emerged during the murder investigation inrto Arun and Deepak's deaths. Three men arrested by Bihar police in connection with the murders, told police officers that the trio along with Deepak and Arun was supposed to have planted IED explosives alongside railways tracks in Ghorasahan, which near the Nepal border.Also read: Kanpur derailment: How the suspected ISI link emerged from a murder investigation The plan went into effect on October 1, but Arun and Deepak backed out at the last moment. Bihar police detected and defused the powerful explosives, averting a major accident. Following this, Arun and Deepak were taken to Nepal where they were allegedly brutally killed in a jungle. Also read: NIA to probe Ghorasahan "ISI" terror plot Also watch: Indore-Patna express accident: India Today's ground report --- ENDS --- On Friday, as Trump was taking office, Francis had urged him to be guided by ethical values, saying he must take care of the poor and the outcast during his time in office. By Reuters: Pope Francis on Sunday said he would not make an opinion of Donald Trump until he first had a chance to see specific policies the new US president would implement. On Friday, as Trump was taking office, Francis had urged him to be guided by ethical values, saying he must take care of the poor and the outcast during his time in office. advertisement "I think that we must wait and see. I don't like to get ahead of myself nor judge people prematurely," the Pope told Spanish newspaper El Pais in an interview. "We will see how he acts, what he does, and then I will have an opinion. But being afraid or rejoicing beforehand because of something that might happen is, in my view, quite unwise. It would be like prophets predicting calamities," he said. Francis also warned the Europeans against populism, saying they should not repeat the same mistakes as in the 1930s when they turned to "saviours" to resolve the economic and political crisis only to end up at war. "Crises provoke fear, alarm. In my opinion, the most obvious example of European populism is Germany in 1933... A people that was immersed in a crisis, that looked for its identity until this charismatic leader came and promised to give their identity back, and he gave them a distorted identity, and we all know what happened," the Pope said. "In times of crisis, we lack judgment, and that is a constant reference for me... That is why I always try to say: talk among yourselves, talk to one another," he added. --- ENDS --- A Wolfson College student was in for a rude shock earlier this month when she was flashed by a stranger, turning what had been a normal afternoon into a distressing one. Following the complaint she subsequently made, Cambridgeshire Police is on the lookout for a big white man in his early 50s, wearing a black scarf, a dark waterproof coat, blue jeans, and a dark woolly hat. This is the latest addition to a spate of incidents of street sexual harassment reported by Cambridge students. Street harassment includes crimes such as stalking and unwanted sexual remarks and actions. In response to a query posed by The Cambridge Student under the Freedom of Information Act, data provided by Cambridgeshire Police revealed that there has been a gradual increase in the number of reported cases of street harassment since 2006. Between January 2006 and November 2016, 3,386 cases of street sexual harassment were reported to Cambridgeshire Police. According to the data, 413 incidents were reported to the police in 2015 alone, up from 174 in 2012. In 2016, 385 cases had been reported before December. Speaking in response to the findings, a Cambridgeshire Police spokesperson said that the rise in reports of sexual offences was by no means a local issue". There has been a rise in reports of sexual offences across the country in recent years, he said. This is believed to be the result of victims being more confident in reporting crimes, knowing they will be treated seriously. It may also have been influenced by high profile sexual abuse cases in the media. In Michaelmas 2016, CUSU representatives met with Cambridgeshire Police and submitted suggestions to bring about greater safety. Our suggestions included allowing students to anonymously report instances of harassment to the police. This would provide them with data that could justify a full investigation of the matter, said Audrey Sebatindira, CUSUs Womens Officer. The onus shouldnt be on students to constantly monitor and condition their behaviour, she added. University authorities are taking these complaints very seriously in order to ensure students safety. We are aware that violent crime and sexual assault in particular, is an issue for higher education establishments globally, a University spokesperson said. They added that the University is in the process of establishing a new procedure and code of conduct to deal with student complaints of student harassment and sexual misconduct. While it had originally been intended to implement this at the beginning of 2017, some late amendments to the detail of the procedure has led to a short delay and we now hope to implement it later in the academic year. Amazon Echo's ability to hear and potentially record everything you say is not exactly a good thing. While smart home automation has greatly improved because of Alexa and other Internet of Things-enabled devices, privacy has also been an issue. Voice-assistant devices such as Alexa and Google Home can listen to everything that is within their range, record conversations, and upload these recordings in cloud servers. Privacy Issues While Using Alexa Many people have voiced their concerns about the amount of personal data that is collected and uploaded to Amazon's servers when using Alexa. And since Alexa is now being placed in a number of products, the data collected may be shared with Amazon's third parties to create a customized and more seamless experience for the user. Some fear that the data recorded can be used against them and be made available to law enforcers. In fact, Arkansas police recently issued a warrant to Amazon asking for the release of the audio recordings of an Echo device that was present at the scene of a murder. How To Shut Off Alexa As a way to address growing privacy concerns, Shawn Hymel has created a method for shutting down Alexa using a voice command. Hymel, a SparkFun Electronics engineer, created an innovative kill switch using a circuit board that was attached to an Echo device using a USB port. The Echo kill switch, however, isn't something you can buy off the shelf. It is a DIY home brew project that will require hardware assembly and code writing. If you want to build one for your home and you're comfortable working with circuit boards, here's how to go about it. The assembly will cost you about $100, and some of the things you need to buy are a Particle Photon mini-board, some wires, and a breadboard that has a USB port. You will also need to use an IFTTT applet that will serve as the connection between the Particle Photon board and Alexa. Other Ways To Protect Your Privacy There are other ways of making your home private even with Alexa around. You always have the option of walking over to your device and muting it when it is not in use. You can also delete recordings from your Amazon account. You can delete individual recordings or wipe out your entire history; however, the company discourages you from doing this because it will result in a less personalized experience and poorly tailored responses from Alexa. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A Gmail phishing scam is targeting and fooling even the most tech-savvy email users. According to the Wordfence, a security plugin WordPress developer, "there is a highly effective phishing technique stealing login credentials that is having a wide impact, even on experienced technical users." How Tech-Savvy Users Were Fooled By Gmail Phishing Our earlier report lays out the details on how the Gmail phishing works. The hacker sends an email to your Gmail account using a familiar address, which unbeknownst to you has already been compromised using the same technique. The email comes with a subject line and a thumbnail image of an attachment that the victim has previously sent. Once you click on what you thought was an attachment, you won't be given a preview. Instead, a new tab opens up and you will be prompted to sign in to Google again. This is the closest I've ever come to falling for a Gmail phishing attack. If it hadn't been for my high-DPI screen making the image fuzzy pic.twitter.com/MizEWYksBh Tom Scott (@tomscott) December 23, 2016 Here's where things can get tricky. The sign-in page looks eerily identical to the normal Gmail login page, and if you glance at the address bar you will see the words 'accounts.google.com,' which may prompt you to think that the page is legit. The only indication that something is not right are the words 'data:/text/html' in the address bar before the words 'accounts.google.com.' If you're not paying close attention, you may assume that the URL is safe. Once you input your Gmail username and password, this information goes straight to the attacker, who logs in to your Gmail account right away and collects your contacts' email addresses. These contacts will then become the new targets. Aside from your contacts list, the attacker will also have full access to the emails you have sent and received, which can then be used to defraud others. The hacker can also use your Gmail account to gain access to SaaS services linked to your email, simply by using the password reset mechanism. How You Can Protect Your Gmail Account From Phishing Scam Satnam Narang, Senior Security Response Manager at Norton by Symantec, provided some tips on how to protect Gmail users from this cyber attack. "The best way to identify this attack is to look at the address bar. In this case, look for the words 'data:/text/html' at the beginning of the URL," says Narang. "If you see this, close the browser tab and alert your friend that their account has been compromised." Narang also suggested using Google's two-step verification in Gmail to improve your email's protection and security. Also look for the green lock icon and the "Secure" label next to the address bar when accessing your email. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A newly discovered moth species that makes its home in Southern California and the United States-Mexico border has been both appropriately and ironically named after President Donald Trump. The Neopalpa donaldtrumpi is so named for the white-yellowish scales on top of its head resembling Trump's signature hairstyle. Ironically, its habitat along the U.S.-Mexico border recalls the very basis of Trump's presidential campaign: building a huge wall to further mark the division between the two countries. While the discovery of the moth is amusing to some, naming the moth as such goes beyond paying homage to the newly elected president, for it is nothing short of an urgent call for wildlife conservation. Trump Administration's Stand On Environment The health of the environment is beginning to look dire, even as the Trump administration completes its lineup of cabinet members. It is important to point out that many of these top choices either deny climate change or show no support for the most pressing environmental concerns of the United States and the world. Ryan Zinke Ryan Zinke, for instance, is a possible shoo-in as Trump's interior secretary. If approved, Zinke will oversee America's forests and wildlife parks, and have an important part in wildlife conservation including, but not limited to, combatting illegal wildlife trade in the country and abroad. As interior secretary, Zinke will be responsible for wildlife conservation, which worries environmental groups. Zinke, who claims to be a conservationist, blames volcanoes for climate change and believes that climate change is not yet proven. Zinke is just one possible member of the cabinet that may have a huge impact on the environment. Scott Pruitt Scott Pruitt, Trump's pick for no less than the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), isn't just a climate change denier; he has also sued the EPA in the past so as to stop environmental protection programs. Pruitt has since been involved in an issue concerning environmental lead poisoning. Rex Tillerson Rex Tillerson, the prospective secretary of state, throws his support for the Paris climate agreement yet runs the world's biggest oil and gas extraction company. Rick Perry Rick Perry, former Texas governor and a prospective energy secretary, does not believe in the science of climate change. Zinke, Pruitt, Tillerson, and Perry are just a few of the controversial cabinet picks of the Trump administration, even after Trump's own meeting with former Vice-President Al Gore, who is known for his advocacy against the climate crisis. With these cabinet choices, it is not surprising that even scientists are going to such lengths as to name animals after the president just to call for his attention on wildlife conservation. "By naming this species after the 45th president of the United States, I hope to bring some public attention to, and interest in, the importance of alpha-taxonomy in better understanding the neglected micro-fauna component of the North American biodiversity," said Vazrick Nazari, the evolutionary biologist who named the new moth species after Trump. Obama's Last Measures For Environmental Protection It is not unknown that Donald Trump is unsure about his stand on climate change to say the least, as he has stated his belief that it is nothing but a conspiracy made by the Chinese. Former President Barack Obama has already taken steps to ensure the continuous support of the U.S. for wildlife conservation and the Paris Agreement, with the allotment of $500 million to the Green Climate Fund. Many of Obama's wildlife advocacies, such as the U.S. Wildlife Trafficking Alliance, a task force created in an effort to stop international illegal wildlife trade, will stay in place even after he steps down. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. We all know that Sir Ian McKellen is committed to the causes he cares about and, though equal rights for homosexuals are on top of his list, so are equal rights for everyone. That is why it was no surprise that the English actor showed up at the Women's March in London on Jan. 21 and expressed his displeasure at the Trump Presidency in a way only he can: with wit and creativity. That Classic Facepalm Meme Sir Ian McKellen was seen by one of the protesters carrying a sign showcasing the exasperated face of his dear friend, Sir Patrick Stewart, in his notable Star Trek role as Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Yes, it is indeed the Captain Picard facepalm meme, showing how, just like the women he stood and marched with, McKellen is also fed up with the new U.S. president's antics and less than knowledgeable remarks. The X-Men and Lord of the Rings actor was seen by one of the protesters as he held up the sign. She posted the photo on her Twitter account. The post was quickly picked up and shared in the Twitterverse and, of course, soon made its way around the web. President Breaking Wind Later that same day, McKellen wrote a message of solidarity and tweeted it along with the photo. In the message, he clarified that he was not the one who made the sign but that he found the Captain Picard meme sign in Trafalgar Square, along with many other creative ones. It is no wonder that McKellen participated in the Women's March. After all, some of President Trump's first actions attacked issues he cared deeply about such as the LGBTQ+ community, gender equality, and education for all. "President Breaking Wind has impacted us all; and personally. Some like him, think they can identify with him, believe him because they've seen him on television perhaps and think the billionaire and his billionaire team are truly their friends. The rest of us, including the majority of voters in the USA, see through the charade," he said in his statement. For those who believe President Trump should be given a chance, McKellen reminded everyone that the president had already removed "LGBTQ people, climate change and state funding of the arts." You can read the full statement from the Tweet below. The Womens March in London was the longest I have been on. See the rest of my message attached. pic.twitter.com/q7QC4Jvg0S Ian McKellen (@IanMcKellen) January 22, 2017 Still, it is no wonder he chose to hold up the meme since he is very good friends with Stewart who not only plays Professor Charles Xavier to McKellen's Magneto in X-Men, but who also shares his sentiment with regard to gender equality. I pledge to do everything I can to end violence against women and girls. Join me & donate to @UNTrustFundEVAW https://t.co/bsxXfePdme #UNTF pic.twitter.com/yBLMVPj5Y8 Patrick Stewart (@SirPatStew) November 17, 2016 To mark#16 Days of Activism against gender violence, @Refuge Charity's #16Women campaign shows how it's services save & change lives. Patrick Stewart (@SirPatStew) November 26, 2016 Not to mention Stewart also seems appalled at the new U.S. president's ideas and way of handling things. I found this morning's press conference profoundly disturbing. https://t.co/SfFg6bNb4P Patrick Stewart (@SirPatStew) January 11, 2017 We're pretty sure Stewart is happy about McKellen's perfect use of the Jean-Luc Picard facepalm meme. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. "Let alone China, India cannot even win a war against Pakistan" is the stark warning delivered in the very first few pages of Dragon on Our Doorstep. It sets the tone of what is to follow in the subsequent 400-odd pages: an exhaustive overview of the growing military challenge India confronts from its two troublesome neighbours, and a clear prescription of what needs to be done. There is certainly no shortage of books on India's China threat (or, alas, of those determined to unimaginatively insert 'dragon' or 'elephant' into their titles, seemingly at all costs). The title notwithstanding, this new book by Pravin Sawhney and Ghazala Wahab is a welcome intervention in this genre, eschewing trite comparisons between the neighbours to provide a hard-nosed reality check on the challenge India faces from across the Himalayas. advertisement Sawhney, who retired early from the Indian Army, is an accomplished defence journalist and author of books on India's defence reforms and Operation Parakram. His co-author Wahab is a journalist who edits, along with Sawhney, a magazine on national security and defence issues. The authors argue that India's China policy is fundamentally flawed because it has consistently ignored the military dimension. "India is perhaps the only country in the world," they write, "where foreign policy with nations having disputed borders-China and Pakistan-is made with disregard to military advice." A lack of "appreciation of military power", they argue, has been a major shortcoming in India's decision-making, which the authors highlight via a detailed review of India's military history with Pakistan and China. Their prescription is for the military leadership "to become an integral part of diplomacy" through far-reaching reforms, including bringing in the chiefs of the three services into decision-making constitutionally and giving them a greater say in foreign policy as, say, in the United States. Somewhat provocatively, the authors call for an end to the external affairs ministry being "the sole custodian" of India's China policy. While there is certainly little argument against enabling greater military inputs in India's foreign policy decision-making, they are perhaps unnecessarily derisive of India's diplomats. They suggest that every border pact with China, starting with the 1993 Border Peace and Tranquility Agreement which they describe as "ill-considered", has been detrimental to India's military interests. Former National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon, who discusses the 1993 pact in detail in his new book Choices, perhaps makes a more compelling case for how the agreements have helped, rather than hurt, national interest. The book's strongest section is the review of China's military reforms and its grand strategy. That it takes more than a hundred pages for the authors to get to the China question is a pity. (At 418 pages, the book could have done with tighter editing that would have better presented its well-argued thesis, as well as with simpler organisation, rather than the leaps in chapters from China to Pakistan to India's options, before returning to Kashmir and Tibet and another discussion on India's military reforms.) As India grapples with the challenge of a deepening China-Pakistan nexus, the book is a welcome intervention in the debate of how to confront India's biggest foreign policy challenge. It delivers a sharp reality check and stark warnings at a time the government has begun speaking of India's ambitions to take on a more prominent global role as a "leading power". "The world listens to President Xi Jinping not because of his skill as an orator," the authors remind Delhi, "but because China's national power is extraordinarily potent." Which, in the final analysis, is all that matters. advertisement --- ENDS --- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday that the outbreak of Seoul virus infection in Illinois and Wisconsin, which has so far affected eight individuals, was caused by pet rats. First Known Seoul Virus Outbreak In U.S Linked To Pet Rats Previous outbreaks of the disease in the United States occurred in wild rats but the newly identified cases are the first known in the country that have been linked to pet rats. Veterinarian Jennifer McQuiston of CDC's Division Of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, however, said that a similar outbreak related to pet rats has also been reported previously in Europe so this is not the first to be associated with pets worldwide. McQuiston said that people who have purchased rats in affected areas and observed symptoms of the virus need to contact their healthcare provider. The first identified patient in the current outbreak visited a hospital suffering from flu-like symptoms. Because the patient, a resident of Wisconsin, was a home-based rodent breeder, the doctor decided to test for hantavirus, which is often carried by rodents. Following the result in late December which revealed the patient was positive of hantavirus, health officials in Wisconsin sent CDC a sample from the patient along with another sample from the patient's family member who also worked with rodents. Symptoms Of Seoul Virus Infection On Jan. 11, CDC confirmed that both patients were infected with Seoul virus, a rodent-borne hantavirus characterized by fever, chills, nausea, abdominal pain, and pink eye-type infection. The symptoms of Seoul virus, which is carried by wild Norway rats worldwide, typically develop one to two weeks after contact but may take as long as eight weeks to emerge. Most people who get infected with the virus recover but in rare cases, a simple infection can lead to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which starts off with fever, fatigue and severe aches but may turn fatal. Eight Individuals Positive For Seoul Virus Both of the patients in Wisconsin recovered but the discovery of their illness prompted follow-up investigations at several rat suppliers leading to the identification of six other cases among those working at two breeding facilities in Illinois. Of the six who tested positive, only one experienced illness. The five other did not show symptoms of the virus, which cannot be transmitted among people regardless if there are symptoms or none. People typically get infected when they come in contact with infected blood, urine, and saliva of infected rats or get bitten by them. The infected rats often do not appear sick. More Cases Expected To Be Identified As Investigation Continues Public health authorities expect to identify more ratteries and more infected individuals as the investigation progresses. "CDC has deployed two epidemiologists to work with local and state health authorities to determine if any customers who bought rats have become ill," CDC said in a statement. "Human and animal health officials are working together to make sure infected rats are not distributed further." 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Priyanka Chopra tweeted her support to the hundreds of thousands of women who gathered in Washington today in a bid to send a strong message to the Donald Trump government. By India Today Web Desk: Priyanka Chopra, now a formidable public voice among female entertainers in the US, tweeted her support to the hundreds of thousands of women who marched together in Washington on Sunday. The women's march saw more than 5,00,000 participants coming together in Washington to become a part of the first major act of organised protest against US President Donald Trump since he got sworn in as the 45th President of the United States of America. So proud of all my sisters and the men that are at the #WomensMarch I'm so upset I couldn't go. #girllove #womensrightsarehumanrights PRIYANKA (@priyankachopra) January 22, 2017 advertisement Priyanka Chopra earlier today tweeted that she was proud of all the women and men who had joined the 'women's march'. She also added that she was upset that she couldn't join. The official website of Women's March on Washington wrote in its mission statement that the march "will send a bold message to our (America's) new government on their first day in office, and to the world that women's rights are human rights." ALSO READ: Donald Trump was obsessed with me, says Twilight actor Kristen Stewart ALSO READ: Did US President Trump copy his inauguration speech from not 1 BUT 3 films? ALSO READ: 5 Bollywood films Donald Trump needs to watch to be a better lover ALSO WATCH: Reality TV show contestant sues Donald Trump for sexual assault The participants in the march were seen carrying signs saying "Minority president", "Women roar" and "I'm afraid", among other messages. The total turnout was far more than the number of people who had turned up to witness Donald Trump getting inaugurated on Friday. Priyanka Chopra, although never direct about her opinions on Donald Trump, had earlier spoken against one of Trump's many diatribes against Muslims. Responding to then-Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump's rallying cry to ban Muslims from the United States of America, Priyanka said at the TIME 100 gala last year, "I just think you can't put a ban on anyone. Generalising a type of people is really primitive." --- ENDS --- The Venezuelan government will increase cooperation with Colombia's military and police forces to face transnational crimes caused by drug trafficking, announced Friday by the Minister of... | Read More The Intelligence Bureau has revealed that at least 700 CCTVs out of the 5,000 installed in different parts of Delhi are non-functional. By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: With Republic Day less than a week away and the ever-looming threat of a terror attack at such times, non-operational CCTV cameras in the national capital have only heightened the risk that our lives face. A security audit carried out by the intelligence agencies have shown a deep lacuna in the security system. The intelligence bureau (IB) has revealed that at least 700 CCTVs out of the 5,000 installed in different parts of Delhi are non-functional. While the city is on a high alert to prevent any such incident, Delhi police needs to take corrective measures promptly and tighten security arrangements by seeing to it, as a first step, that all cameras and metal detectors are operational again, among other facilities. advertisement Also read | DCW sends notice to Delhi Police over CCTV camera installations WHAT THE SCREENING TEAMS FOUND Documents accessed by India Today show that at least 25 screening teams, each comprising three members -- including IB, a local beat constable and a Special Cell worker -- were constituted for screening hotels, guesthouses and lodges, taxi stands, parking places Multiplex and cinema halls. These teams found that CCTVs were not functioning in crucial and sensitive points. They also found that in the Old Delhi Railway Station, all 136 CCTV cameras were non-functional while at the New Delhi railway station, no metal detectors were found at entry points. The IB also suspected that guest houses and lodges in Delhi were functioning without proper "licences" as documents taken from any of these guest house do not maintain proper records of visitors' identities. Also read | Security beefed up at Delhi churches on Christmas, CCTVs installed As a precautionary measure, the IB has identified at least 50 spots for maintaining a constant vigil during the Republic Day parade. --- ENDS --- When it looked that the SP-Congress alliance was over, Priyanka Gandhi dialed Dimple Yadav- the wife of UP Chief Minister, and also spoke to Akhilesh Yadav himself late last night to set the ball rolling. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and poll strategist Prashant Kishor ensured that the deal was sealed. Dimple Yadav and Priyanka Gandhi on a poster put up in Allahabad by SP and Congress local leaders. (Photo: @ANI_news) By Javed M. Ansari : It took some hectic late night activity involving Congress president Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Gandhi, Samajwadi Party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav, SP president Akhilesh Yadav and poll strategist Prashant Kishor that finally paved the way for the alliance. Around 8 pm last evening as the alliance tottered on the brink Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Congress' UP in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad held a quick strategy session and decided to push all the buttons they could to salvage the alliance. advertisement READ| Uttar Pradesh election: Samajwadi Party seals deal with Congress; keeps 298 seats, gives away 105 GHULAM NABI MADE THE FIRST MOVE The first move was made by Ghulam Nabi Azad, leveraging his rapport with his Rajya Sabha colleague Ram Gopal Yadav he called on him at his Lodhi Road residence around 10 pm in New Delhi. Ram Gopal Yadav wields a considerable amount of influence on Akhilesh Yadav and Azad urged him to counsel the young Chief Minister. Ghulam Nabi Azad also got Priyanka Gandhi to have a word with Ram Gopal Yadav. Rajiv Shukla was used to soften up Naresh Agarwal, another Samajwadi Party parliamentarian. READ| Why Akhilesh took a jibe at Rahul Gandhi just after SP-Congress alliance PRIYANKA GANDHI DIALS DIMPLE YADAV Later in the night, Priyanka Gandhi called Dimple Yadav- the Chief Minister's wife, and also spoke to Akhilesh Yadav himself. This phone call set the ball rolling in favour of an alliance for UP assembly polls. Minutes later Prashant Kishor, who had been diverted to Lucknow from Uttarakhand, was once again pressed into action. He had met the Chief Minister earlier in the evening, but late night Prashant Kishor got in touch with the SP interlocutors. Prashant Kishor urged the Chief Minister to look at the larger picture and not to allow the alliance to be jeopardised on account of a few seats. WATCH: FINALLY, AKHILESH AGREES Akhilesh promised Prashant Kishor to get back to him. He consulted some of his senior leaders, and early today, Akhilesh Yadav conveyed his decision to leave five more seats for the Congress party. The two sides had, prior to the allotment of poll symbol to Akhilesh Yadav faction of the Samajwadi Party, agreed on 142 seats for the Congress. But, a week later that number came down to 123 and two days ago, Akhilesh Yadav told the Congress interlocutors that he was not in a position to offer more than 100 seats as there was no split in the party and he had to accommodate some of the supporters of former president Mulayam Singh Yadav. advertisement The new offer sent the Congress into a tizzy. At one point it seemed that the alliance was over. But, what followed were some hectic last minute high level contacts, which eventually paved the way for the alliance. --- ENDS --- The Samajwadi Party and Congress held a joint press conference this evening to formally announce their alliance for Uttar Pradesh assembly polls and seat-sharing arrangement. By India Today Web Desk: After sealing the seat-sharing deal for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, the Samajwadi Party and Congress today addressed a joint press conference in Lucknow. Samajwadi Party state President Naresh Uttam told the media at a hotel here that his party was entering into an alliance with Congress to fight "communal forces". The two parties also intended to make Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav the Chief Minister again, he said. advertisement Uttar Pradesh Congress leader Raj Babbar, a Bollywood actor who was once in the Samajwadi Party, said the alliance will be led by Akhilesh Yadav and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi. The alliance will be "above caste and politics of religion", he said. HERE ARE THE KEY DEVELOPMENTS Mamata Banerjee tweeted in support of the alliance, assures full support from Trinamool Congress. We stand for secularism, for development and social justice: Raj Babbar Samajwadi gives 105 seats to Congress for UP polls. Samajwadi Party will battle for 298 seats in UP. Samajwadi Party, Congress make it official, to contest in Uttar Pradesh polls together Congress's Raj Babbar along with Kiranmoy Nanda and Naresh Uttam of Samajwadi party; to address joint press conference Congress, SP joint press conference venue changed to Taj in Lucknow. Sources said that Congress leader Raj Babbar had reservations coming to SP office. READ| How Priyanka Gandhi's phone call to Dimple Yadav sealed the deal HOW THEY SEALED THE DEAL The formal announcement of SP-Congress alliance took place after hectic parleys and tough bargain by the two sides over past several days before they agreed to 298-105 formula with the grand old party as the junior partner in the pre-poll arrangement. The deal was sealed after Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav agreed to give 105 seats to the Congress, which was looking for an honourable escape from its earlier position of contesting alone on all seats in UP. The negotiation seemed to have hit a stalemate yesterday, when the Congress rejected the SP's offer to contest on around 100 seats. WATCH: THE FINAL SETTLEMENT At one point, Akhilesh Yadav reportedly offered even less than 80 seats to the Congress saying that he had to accommodate the supporters of his father Mulayam Singh Yadav, with whom the UP CM was engaged in a bitter fight for the control over the Samajwadi Party. However, timely intervention by Congress president Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Gandhi and some acute political acumen shown by party's UP in-charge Gulam Nabi Azad saved the alliance. Finally, Akhilesh agreed to give five more seats to the Congress giving a respectable 105 assembly seats to contest. The Congress happily accepted the offer. advertisement ALSO READ| Why Akhilesh took a jibe at Rahul Gandhi just after SP-Congress alliance --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: Jalandhar, Jan 22 (PTI) Citing law and order problem, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh today asked the Election Commission to send back AAP volunteers from outside the state. He said he had written to EC to take cognisance of the fact that AAP had inducted more than 27,000 Punjabi-origin people settled elsewhere, including foreign nationals, and 40,000 volunteers from other states to campaign for their candidates during February 4 Assembly polls. advertisement Apprehending serious trouble, including a "Punjab versus Outsiders" divide, Singh alleged they were going door-to-door with "all kinds of falsehood and misleading propaganda" and holding rallies against the Election Commissions norms. As per the ECI guidelines, outsiders cannot stay in Punjab for elections on the appointed dates and are supposed to leave the state 48 hours before the polling, he said in his letter. Singh further claimed that there was resentment among the local youths who were likely to confront these outsiders, which may lead to violent clashes before and during the polls. He alleged these people were active in Majha, Doaba and Malwa regions of the state under AAP three leaders - Durgesh Pathak, Sanjay Singh, and Jarnail Singh respectively. Some of these foreign nationals were assuring the youth to take them abroad for jobs, he claimed. In ensure peaceful elections, Singh urged the EC that these outsiders be identified and moved out immediately, or "it will create a law and order situation". Attacking Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, Singh said he had shown that he had neither time nor interest in looking after the people of Punjab and their welfare. Claiming that AAP had absolutely no connect with this state, he said the party was only trying to exploit the poll opportunity to promote its vested interests. Meanwhile, attacking the Badal family for the corrupt and anti-people policies, he alleged they had looted the people through multitude of mafias, including liquor, transport, sand, cable etc. Sand, for instance, was a Rs 6000-crore business while the state was earning a meagre revenue of Rs 35 crore, it clearly indicates a nexus between the sand mafia and the ruling Akalis, he alleged. He also slammed Badals for allegedly failing to protect the water rights of Punjab, bringing the state, particularly the southern region of Malwa, to the brink of aridity. Singh also hit out at SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal for allegedly copying Congress promise of farm debt waiver, saying what he had been doing for the past 10 years and why the Akali government had not taken care of farmers interest? PTI VJ SMJ --- ENDS --- advertisement Kristen Stewart has spoken about Donald Trump, recalling when he took an interest in her with a series of tweets in which he voiced his opinion about the actress' personal life. "He was mad at me a couple years ago, really obsessed with me a couple years ago, which is f---ing crazy," Stewart said at the Variety studio in Park City, Utah, referencing tweets that attacked her personal relationships in October 2012. "I can't even understand it. I literally cannot even understand it. It's such far-out concept that I don't want to believe that actually is happening. It's insane." In a series of tweets sent over four years ago, Trump, then best known for his role on The Apprentice, had voiced that Stewart's boyfriend at the time, Robert Pattinson, should end his relationship with her. Social media sensation Natasha Oakley, 26, grew up in Sydney's eastern beachside suburb of Bronte, her active lifestyle and toned physique marking her as the quintessential Aussie beach babe. In 2011, she moved to Los Angeles to start a production company, shooting campaigns for swimwear labels. Soon after, Oakley and her best friend, Devin Brugman with whom she shares a passion for swimwear, travel and photography started the social media hit A Bikini a Day, roaming the world and sharing swimwear gems on Instagram and their website. They now have more than four million followers across all their platforms. They also have their own swimwear label, Monday Swimwear, and activewear label, Monday Active. Describe your personal style. Oakley has become the quintessential Aussie beach babe. Credit:Trevor King Simple and chic with a hint of the beach. Favourite fashion designers? If previous female leaders are anything to go by, Gladys Berejiklian will be unlikely to escape sexism. Credit:Andrew Meares If they're not married and have no children, they're pilloried for being unwomanly. If they do have husbands and children, they're constantly asked the question no men ever get: "Who is looking after your children?" Men have wives to look after their children; women have husbands and children they're supposed to be looking after. Or, if they don't, they become an object of suspicion. It's a classic case of damned of you do, damned if you don't. As Tanya Plibersek told Annabel Crabb for the latter's book The Wife Drought, "So many of the criticisms of Julia Gillard were about the fact that she was unmarried and childless. But on the flip side, if she'd been exactly who she was, only married and a working mother, the criticisms about neglecting her children would have been just as strong possibly, they would have come from the same people." Plibersek's point about the source of gendered criticisms is an interesting one. Will the fact that Berejiklian is from the Liberal party make a difference? Alan Jones, whose terror of women in positions of power "destroying the joint" is well documented, has not (yet) advocated her disposal in a chaff bag. He did, however, call 2GB from his hospital bed to express his considered opinion that although "Gladys Berejiklian is a nice person, she is not across these issues in a million light-years". Perhaps it was her two postgraduate qualifications, 14 years in parliament, 12 years in portfolio positions, three years as deputy leader of the NSW Liberal party, and nearly two years as NSW treasurer that led him to this conclusion. Jones, however, is not the only source of gendered commentary. Before she even took the leadership, there was discussion of whether Berejiklian "is too nice and too understated to carry the party to an election victory". Niceness, in its excess or lack, is not something commonly examined in male politicians, but the double standard rolls ever onwards, and it's a frequent indication of female failing. "Nice" women are not ambitious, tough, hard-hitting, determined or assertive. These are solely the province of successful male leaders. Women are shrill or ruthless, too masculine to be likeable or too feminine to be effective leaders. And of course, there is the inevitable focus on appearance. Women's clothes, hair, make-up, figures, shoes and earlobes are the source of endless critique. Andrew P Street, a regular Fairfax columnist, says that while he gets an enormous amount of negative feedback, his weight and the number of sexual partners he's had are mentioned "very, very rarely and absolutely never, respectively". I couldn't find a female columnist who isn't regularly called a fat slut in comments, tweets, Facebook threads and emails. Such comments are the norm for any woman in public life. Some of this commentary about Berejiklian started before she became premier. Last week The Australian ran a comment from "someone who knows her well" who was quoted as saying "Mr Right hasn't come along yet. She's a powerful woman." Another bizarre article from 2011, just after she was sworn in as transport minister, had this to say about her: "There is something of the Jane Austen heroine about her: not so much the flirty Elizabeth Bennet as the cautious but passionate heroine of Sense and Sensibility, Elinor Dashwood". The article also noted that "she seems to have a comfort in her skin unusual in female politicians, who so often can come across as brittle, flirty or motherly". In a rare coincidence, two girls starting prep at a Brisbane primary school share the same name and that's just the first similarity between the pair. The two unrelated Olivia Chens, among 225 other students starting prep at Sunnybank Hills State School on Monday, were also born on the same day and in the same hospital. Olivia Chen and Olivia Chen, both aged five, start prep at Sunnybank Hills State School on Monday. Credit:Tammy Law A father of one of the girls, Wayne Chen, said the families only discovered the coincidence at the prep orientation day when they went to meet the teacher. "The teacher said 'Olivia Chen is here already', we thought it was some kind of mistake," he said. Victoria Police are still waiting for the go-ahead to interview Dimitrious "Jimmy" Gargasoulas over the Bourke Street Mall car attack. Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton says Gargasoulas had surgery on Saturday afternoon after he was shot in the arm on Friday during the incident. He says police want to interview him as soon as possible, but are waiting for doctors to allow Gargasoulas to be interviewed, and have been told it might not be on Sunday afternoon. "We are constantly inspired by your love for everyone around you and the lengths you will go to for the people you love," her family said in the letter. A funeral is planned for Thalia Hakin, 10, on Wednesday morning. "You are strong, beautiful, determined, always work hard to get what you want and never shy away from a challenge." The two families are grieving along with the families of a 25-year-old man and the baby boy thrown from a pram, who have not been publicly identified at this time. The family of 10-year-old Thalia Hakin also held a memorial service for her on Sunday night. Her nine-year-old sister, Maggie, and mother, Nathalie, were also caught up in the horrific crush of pedestrians and are still in hospital. Nathalie remains in intensive care. The Age understands it was the family's wish not to run a picture of Thalia until Sabbath had ended. That period has now passed. Many more were injured in Friday's rampage. Countless others were left traumatised. More than 20 remain in hospital, and six of those are listed in a critical condition. "They are critical. They're in a very, very serious condition," said Premier Daniel Andrews. "The fear is, of course, that the death toll from this evil act will rise." The alleged driver, Dimitrious 'Jimmy' Gargasoulas, was arrested at the scene after police shot him in the arm. The 26-year-old underwent surgery for the gunshot wound on Saturday, but police had still not been given the go-ahead from doctors to interview him as of Sunday evening. Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said the man will face murder charges as soon as detectives get a chance to speak with him. "Yeah, absolutely, multiple counts," he said. The scale of the senseless tragedy has led to an outpouring of grief, with hundreds laying flowers at a growing makeshift memorial at the corner of Elizabeth Street and Bourke Street Mall. Political leaders, including Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, and Mr Andrews visited the floral tribute on the steps of the former General Post Office on Sunday, joining mourners who have been leaving flowers and tributes. Mr Turnbull said he admired the heroism of first responders and anyone who tried to help those that had been injured in Friday's rampage. "All Australians are with you, the people of Melbourne, the people of Victoria, in your grief," he said. "We are with you in solidarity, we are grieving with you, we are mourning those whose lives have been lost." Mr Andrews announced there will be a public vigil held at 5.30pm on Monday at Federation Square. The state government has also contributed $100,000 to launch a community fund to raise money for the relatives of the dead. Anyone wishing to donate can do so from Monday morning at any Westpac bank or online at www.vic.gov.au/bourkestreet. The memorial fund and planned vigil come as the deaths prompted calls for changes to the state's bail laws and police pursuit policies. Mr Andrews said changes would be made to bail laws where necessary. "Resources will not be an issue, expense will not be an issue. If reform and change are needed to be made, be in no doubt, it will be made," he told reporters. Police were trailing Mr Gargasoulas for at least two hours before the Bourke Street tragedy. Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said on Saturday he was "rock solid" behind the decisions police made while trying to apprehend the driver. But a high-ranking police officer told Fairfax Media there was deep concerns and widespread confusion among members about when they should engage or abandon potentially dangerous car chases. The injured in hospital: - Royal Children Hospital: a two-year-old is in a serious condition and a nine-year-old is in a stable condition. - Royal Melbourne Hospital: of the 11 patients they had, three are in critical condition, one is serious and five are stable. Two patients have been discharged. - St Vincent's Hospital: received six patients, one with chest pain and anxiety after witnessing the event. - A St Vincent's Hospital spokeswoman said of the five patients who had been brought in with physical injuries, one had been discharged. She said the other four were in a stable condition. "We have two women, 37 and 33-year-old and two men, a 31-year-old from Sydney and a 47-year-old. - The Alfred: of the seven patients they received, three are critical and four are in a stable condition. - With AAP, Cameron Houston, Tammy Mills, Neelima Choahan, Richard Willingham, Broede Carmody Donations for the immediate families of those killed can be made via the website www.vic.gov.au/bourkestreet.html. The state government has launched a fundraiser to assist the families of those killed during Friday's rampage in Bourke Street. Five people have died, including a three-month-old baby and a 10-year-old girl. The Andrews government has kicked off donations by pledging $100,000 towards the Bourke Street Fund. "Acute mental health services in this state have been decimated and these types of things will happen more and more," said psychiatrist Dr Helen Schultz. Several prominent psychiatrists have warned that inadequate funding combined with a surge in the number of young people presenting with drug-induced psychosis has placed enormous strain on the system, with many falling through the cracks. Victoria's beleaguered mental health system will face scrutiny from a coronial inquiry into the deadly rampage in Melbourne's CBD last week, amid claims the tragedy could have been avoided if Dimitrious Gargasoulas' apparent mental health issues had been treated earlier. "This guy should have been treated way before it got to this. It's our duty as a society to get these people and help them before they become a risk to themselves or others," she said. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull lays flowers in Bourke Street. Credit:Joe Armao Dr Schultz said changes to Victoria's mental health laws had made it increasingly difficult to involuntarily commit those afflicted with serious mental health disorders, who are incapable of recognising their illnesses or providing consent for treatment. "Someone like him (Mr Gargasoulas) will never present for help. He probably doesn't think he has a problem, he probably thinks the world has a problem. We need a more assertive model of care to help those who are unable to give consent, if we are to keep the community safe," she said. Australia's most prominent mental health advocate Patrick McGorry said the state's mental health system was under siege following a 50 per cent increase in those seeking treatment without any significant funding increase. By Press Trust of India: tableaux New Delhi, Jan 22 (PTI) A tribute to Lokmanya Tilak on his 160th birth anniversary, art and lifestyle of Kutch, model government schools of Delhi, Skill India and Beti bachao beti padhao are among the themes for the Republic Day tableaux this year. A total of 23 tableaux would be on display at the ceremonial parade with 17 of them belonging to various states and Union Territories. advertisement Six tableaux from Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Ministry of Skill Development, Central Board of Excise and Customs, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and Central Public Works Department (CPWD) will find their place at the 68th Republic Day on Rajpath. States registering their presence this year include Goa, Odisha, Delhi, Tripura, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Gujarat, Lakshadweep, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir and Assam. According to the Defence Ministry officials, the tableau by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship is based on the theme of Transforming India through Skill development, while that of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises will be based on Khadi and Village Industries Commission. Arunachals Yak dance, Karnatakas folk dances, Tamil Nadus dance Karakattam and Tripuras tribal dance Hojagiri will be represented in the tableau of the respective states, while Punjab will showcase "Jago Aiya". "Centuries ago, there were no wedding invitations. Jago is a festive dance which would take place the night before a Punjabi wedding. "A pot decorated with oil lamps is carried on the head while dancing and singing Jago songs. Relatives of the bride or groom would go around the village and ask people to wake up and join in the festivities," an official said. Delhis tableau, which will be part of the parade after three years, has been set up as a model government school to portray the transformation in state-run schools and the recent initiatives taken by the government in the education sector. (MORE) PTI GJS SRY --- ENDS --- Stephanie is busy networking at Newcomb Secondary College. She is whizzing around the library at the Geelong school as part of an ice-breaker exercise, marking the start of an initiative at the school called Pathways in Technology Early College (P-TECH). The year 9 student is securing meet-and-greet appointments with visiting representatives of local businesses in banking, health and IT the industries dominating the region's post-manufacturing era. Bendigo Bank manager and mentor Cathie Kerr-Neilson with year 9 student Stephanie at Newcomb Secondary College. Credit:Jason South Stephanie's school, and Ballarat's Federation College, are the guinea pigs for a federally funded six-year program, first announced by then prime minister Tony Abbott after a 2014 visit to a P-TECH school in New York. The program, aimed at disadvantaged students, spans four years of high school and two years of tertiary education in science, technology and engineering fields pegged for job growth. One in five witnesses are expected to develop a mental health condition, such as post traumatic stress disorder, depression, an anxiety disorder or substance abuse problems, Professor Forbes warned. Friday's attack involved three factors that would contribute to a witness' trauma: "One part is seeing someone else being harmed and killed. Another part is fearing for your own life and those around you at the time that it's happening. And the third part is feeling that the world you live in is no longer a safe and predictable place, and events like these can happen at any time." Professor Forbes said those distressed by the incident should avoid resorting to alcohol or other substances to anaesthetise the pain, and to steer away from excessive media replays or reports of the event. He advised speaking to family and friends and resuming a normal routine. A general practitioner should be sought if symptoms did not improve, he said. Professor Jayashri Kulkarni, an expert on trauma, said some people may have delayed reactions, and symptoms can manifest more then six weeks after the event. "I immediately thought 'This guy is going to kill someone today'. I really did." Police lock down Bourke Street mall on Friday. Credit:Eddie Jim He said there was a police van at the intersection, which pedestrians began waving at to get their attention, but four unmarked police cars were already following about 10-15 seconds behind. "I really feel that more can be done. I'm a bit confused as to why this went for two hours," he said. More than 35 people were hospitalised following Friday's tragic event. Credit:Leigh Henningham "It's a disturbing timeline." Police tried to pull him over on the Bolte Bridge 15 minutes later, according to the ABC, but the pursuit was called off. The Commodore was doing doughnuts at the Flinders and Swanston street intersections. He was also pursued at Yarraville, in Melbourne's west, put police pulled back again because of the erratic and dangerous driving. Fairfax Media also understands he had been spotted near Chapel Street in Prahran about 10am and he had been on police's radar since he allegedly stabbed his brother in Windsor at 2am. Jess Mudie, 22. A high-ranking police officer told Fairfax Media there were deep concerns and widespread confusion among members about when they should engage or abandon potentially dangerous car chases. "A lot of them feel they are being asked to do their job with one arm tied behind their back. It's easy to be an expert in hindsight, but there's a lot of cops who think more could have been done to stop him getting into the city," the senior officer said. Dimitrious "Jimmy" Gargasoulas is facing six charges of murder and 28 counts of attempted murder and is due to appear before Melbourne Magistrates Court on August 1. Credit:Facebook Mr Gargasoulas was stopped when Operation Response Unit police in a Ford Territory rammed him just past William Street. It's understood they rammed the Holden Commodore at low speed, front-on after driving up from Spencer Street. But most of the damage to the front of the crumpled Commodore was caused when he allegedly hit pedestrians, Fairfax Media was told. The Police Association called for command to again review the policy - pointing to recommendations made 11 months ago - but union secretary Ron Iddles cautioned it was a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario for police on Friday. "Under the current pursuit policy, you have a car driving down Clarendon Street in South Melbourne at 100 kilometres an hour - and erratically - there's not too many police that would say 'keep pursuing'," he said. "There are people that will say, this was because of the pursuit policy, but his mother said he was a problem child from day one and he's got mental health issues. The pursuit policy didn't cause that." Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said on Saturday he was "rock solid" behind the decisions police made while trying to apprehend the driver. "I am satisfied from my perspective - I emphasise my perspective - all decisions that our officers made were in the interests of trying to provide community safety. I am confident in that," he said. The pursuit policy was tightened in July 2015 following the deaths of 14 people in pursuits within five years. But the rules came under fire from police, with widespread knowledge of the policy leading to more dangerous driving because offenders knew they weren't going to be pursued, police said. Police believe that Mr Gargasoulas' was trying to bait them into a pursuit when he begun doing doughnuts on Flinders Street just before he drove down Bourke. Force command reviewed the policy again last year, but the revised version was kept secret in order to not educate criminals and members said little actually changed. The coroner had already begun investigating the revised policy before Friday's rampage. Donations for the immediate families of those killed can be made via the website www.vic.gov.au/bourkestreet.html For urgent support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14. Loading Matthew Si, 33. The small subgroup of people with psychotic illness who commit murder is more likely to be young and male (the peak group for the onset of all offending) who are also likely to be abusing substances, have a history of other offences, and to have evidence of personality dysfunction stemming from social adversity. The good news is that these homicides are by no means inevitable. Sixty per cent of homicides committed by psychotic patients occurred before they were ever diagnosed and treated, and the remainder by poorly treated patients. Jess Mudie, 22. Treatment is very effective in a first episode of psychosis, and effective treatment restores the level of risk to normal, provided it is maintained. The public safety benefits from specialised early detection and intervention programs for young people with emerging psychosis, along with reduced suicide rates and better employment outcomes, are one of the key reasons why these programs have been scaled up around the world, based on the Victorian EPPIC (Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre) model (an approach still not available to all Victorians). Across the lifespan, early intervention and rapid access to care for relapsing patients would reduce the risk to the community. Homicide cannot be accurately predicted, so easy access to care for all with serious mental illness is the only safe approach. In the 1990s, with many more seriously mentally ill now in the community, real risks to discharged patients as well as the community led to a joint venture between Victoria Police and the mental health system known as "Project Beacon". This involved CATT teams and police attending crises in the community together. This proved to be very effective and should be revived and expanded. We have been involved in training Victoria Police to respond safely to young offenders with mental illness, and in general they do a remarkable job. But they are placed in untenable situations and need expert help at the scene, not armchair advice. The fundamental problem is that the capacity of the Victorian public clinical mental health system has been declining for well over a decade and is overwhelmed. The mainstreaming of mental health care in the 1990s, with a major reduction of beds, depended totally on a dynamic, and expanding system of expert multidisciplinary community mental health care being built to reduce extreme and desperate acute presentations to hospital. This began well but has been largely abandoned. Victoria has been characterised as the Argentina of mental health care in this country, having once invested more per capita in mental health care than any other state, it now languishes at the bottom. Public mental health services particularly in the growth corridors have retreated from community care, overwhelmed by acute demand. Safety is core business for a state government. Whether or not Friday's disaster turns out to be linked to failure to detect and treat or not, these tragedies are happening writ smaller every year now. In the northwest of Melbourne we have seen population growth of 50 per cent in the past decade and yet no more resources for mental health. Previously in our services suicides were rare. Now they are a regular occurrence. And for the first time we have seen a spate of homicides committed by patients who could not get timely access to sufficient expert care. All these are highly preventable deaths and represent a barometer of public safety. The Andrews government, to its credit took office promising to deal with this serious decline and has not swept the issue under the carpet. The 2016 government report by Stephen Duckett into hospital safety revealed the sheer scale of under-investment in clinical mental health care, and again to the government's credit this was welcomed by Ministers Foley and Hennessy, who have promised to really fix it this time. Window-dressing and Band-aids will not work this time. Major redesign and investment and integration with primary care and third sector programs is urgent and essential. The solutions are clear - a complete redesign and rebuild of the whole public clinical mental health system especially the mobile outreach elements which must be in proportion to the population growth. The creation of a world class Youth Forensic Mental Health model of care. Young people under 25 have the highest risk of offending behaviour and of mental illness and there is substantial overlap. There is enormous potential for prevention and improvements in public safety in addressing the needs of this group. Victoria has never had a specialised forensic mental health unit for young offenders. Some of the recent crisis in the Youth Justice is partly a consequence of this policy failure. We may never reduce the risks of homicides from this source to zero, however if we do not address the yawning gaps that are now fully acknowledged by government, then more people will die unnecessarily in the coming years through preventable deaths. Professor Patrick McGorry AO Professor of Youth Mental Health University of Melbourne Executive Director Orygen, the National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health Associate Professor Rosemary Purcell A WA Lotto player should shout his mates and family drinks this Australia Day after snaffling a cool $2 million - the state's latest division one winner. The lucky winner was one of two tickets sold nationally which had the winning numbers 14, 17, 30, 37, 41 and 43. The WA Lotto player and another east coast punter each pocketed $2,025,245.12. Another seven WA players picked up a very handy $12,499.80 for having five of the winning numbers plus one of the supplementary numbers, 5 and 38. Washington: One topic has dominated conversations among elected Republicans since US President Donald Trump's stunning victory: Will he actually pursue his campaign agenda of big-government nationalism, all but obliterating the liberal-conservative distinctions that have defined the United States' political parties for a century? While some of his advisers suggested that he would slip back into a more conventional Republican approach, Trump dropped hints in interviews, Twitter posts and other public comments that he intended to push his party away from its free-market, internationalist dogma on trade, foreign alliances, immigration, infrastructure spending and prescription drug access. The hints are over. An inaugural speech delivered with the same blunt force that propelled Trump's insurgent campaign has dashed Republican hopes for a more traditional agenda. With his "new decree", he declared himself modern America's first populist president - and all but dared his own party to resist his Republican reformation. Toyota Mirai FCV demonstration tests to start in the UAE beginning May 2017 Toyota to Participate in Collaborative Research for the Creation of a Hydrogen-Based Society in the United Arab Emirates Mirai FCV demonstration tests to start in the UAE beginning May 2017 DUBAI, UAE, Jan, 17 2017 - Toyota Motor Corporation has agreed to collaborate with Masdar, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Air Liquide, and Toyota distributor Al-Futtaim Motors in a joint research program to explore the potential of hydrogen energy use in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the creation of a sustainable, low-carbon society. As part of the program, Toyota will begin driving and refueling demonstration tests of the Mirai fuel cell vehicle (FCV) in the UAE from May 2017. The agreement was announced January 16 at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW), which was held at the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi. The program partners will jointly research on key issues involving the establishment of a hydrogen-based society, including hydrogen production, logistics, scalability, and business feasibility. The research is expected to take place in part at Masdar Institute, an Abu Dhabi-based independent graduate research university, which has been part of the discussions on the scope of hydrogen research. Utilizing a hydrogen station that is to be built in May 2017, Toyota will conduct a complete range of driving and refueling tests under extreme heat, dust, and other conditions unique to the local environment. Toyota will also provide short-term leases to the UAE government institutions and opinion leaders so as to promote better understanding of FCVs and hydrogen-based societies. "The UAE has vast potential for the expansion of hydrogen production. The country has excess capacity at hydrogen production facilities located at oil refineries, and the ability to produce hydrogen as a byproduct at caustic soda and other factories, not to mention the production potential from mega solar power stations," said Mr. Takeshi Uchiyamada, Chairman of the Toyota Motor Corporation Board of Directors, who gave a speech at the Abu Dhabi Global Action Day at ADSW. "As the government continues to promote new initiatives and pursues the creation of a hydrogen-based society, the UAE is able to emerge as the world leader of next-generation clean energies," Mr Uchiyamada added. As a major oil-producing nation, the UAE has been dependent on oil as its primary industry. The government is currently promoting a new national agenda called the UAE Vision 2021, which prioritizes air quality improvement, expansion of the use of clean energies, and to make the nation a world leader in infrastructure quality. This collaborative research program will explore the potential for hydrogen usage in Masdar City-a low carbon neighbourhood in Abu Dhabi, which is built on the principles of sustainable design and stands as a commercially-viable "green print" for future urban development across the Middle Eastern region. Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar, said: "Toyota is among the most innovative companies in the world, with an outstanding track record of pioneering commercially-viable clean technologies for the automotive industry. Masdar is thrilled to be part of this exciting and important initiative with Toyota, ADNOC, Air Liquide, Masdar Institute and Al-Futtaim Motors, which aims to unlock the enormous potential of hydrogen energy use in the UAE. Hydrogen can make an important contribution towards the UAE's target for a 50% low carbon energy mix by 2050." Toyota has also announced the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050 in 2015, to help to contribute to the realization of sustainable societies. The company is taking various initiatives to accomplish the various outlined challenges, which include reducing CO2 emissions from new cars by 90% (compared with 2010 levels) among others. Toyota is currently selling the hydrogen-fuelled zero emissions Mirai FCV that only emits water in Japan, the United States and Europe. Held on the official opening day of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, the Abu Dhabi Global Action Day is a 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 the government and businesses. About Toyota Supported by people around the world, Toyota Motor Corporation , has endeavored since its establishment in 1937 to serve society by creating better products. As of the end of December 2013, Toyota conducts its business worldwide with 52 overseas manufacturing companies in 27 countries and regions. Toyota's vehicles are sold in more than 170 countries and regions. For more information, please visit www.toyota-global.com. In Case You Missed It - Nutson's Weekly Automotive News Digest - Jan 16-22, 2017; 2018 Mustang, Ignition Switch GM, Takata, Tesla, Dakar, Who Lives Who Dies AUTO CENTRAL CHICAGO, January 22, 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 2,005,112 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 22, 2017 * Ford took the wraps off the 2018 Mustang this week. Refreshed with new front and rear end designs, a 12-inch all-digital customizable instrument cluster, engine upgrades and a new 10-speed automatic plus available MagneRide suspension for optimum handling and optional active valve exhaust for complete noise control are some of what's new. Of note is that Ford showed the Mustang coupe at events in Detroit, LA and NYC locations and just one week after media previews at the NAIAS in Detroit. The Detroit auto show was currently still open to the public and Ford slipped the new Mustang coupe into their display. Three days later the 2018 Mustang convertible made its debut to the public at auto shows in South Carolina and Kentucky, before traveling to more than 50 other regional auto shows across the country. It is not on display for the North American International Auto Show. * Despite President Trumps tariff threats and twitter shaming U.S., German and Asian automakers are expected to continue producing products in Mexico in ever increasing numbers according to a forecast from LMC Automotive. The report notes that production in Mexico will increase at least through 2020 while production in the U.S. and Canada will decline. Mexican production will increase from 19% of North American production today to 26% by 2020, the report predicts. * Gasoline prices drop. For the first time since November the national average has seen a weekly drop, falling 3.2 cents to $2.339 per gallon, according to GasBuddy. The fall comes as crude oil prices take a breather and gasoline inventories surge, putting downward pressure on pump prices. A total of 36 states saw gasoline prices fall in the last week. The downward trend is evident in over two-thirds of states but may take additional time to materialize in others, yet is a familiar pattern for late winter. However don't hold your breath. Crude oil prices are expected to rise significantly in 2017. * GM will pay a civil penalty of $1 million as part of the ignition switch scandal. GM announced that it has resolved a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation arising from the companys 2014 ignition switch recalls by consenting to an administrative SEC Cease and Desist Order, without admitting or denying any wrongdoing. The SEC settlement does not call into question any of GMs current or prior financial statements or its disclosures. Since the ignition switch recall, GM has been resolving ignition switch issues with customers and regulators at both the state and federal level. * There are more vehicles being added to the Takata air bag recall. Another 652,000 vehicles made by fourteen different auto makers issued recalls for front passenger inflators. Over 5.7 million vehicles in total are affected by the Takata matter. * According to an Autolist.com survey, young adults may be driving less, but when they do drive, they prefer cars that are new and green. Millennials are 6.2 percent more likely than Gen X buyers to want a car and 5.1 percent more likely to be concerned about the car's environmental impact. * An MIT worldwide study on the moral dilemma of "who lives, who dies?" for driverless cars has found that people prefer a self-driving car to act for the greater good and sacrifice the occupant passenger if it can save a crowd of pedestrians. However, no one wants to be the passenger in a driverless car, potentially stifling the acceptance of driverless cars. * Ever wonder if self-driving cars will ever have a place in the kind of congested and chaotic traffic found in many developing and underdeveloped countries? Most automakers havent even begun to think about those conditions. Tata Elxsi (Tata Motors, by the way, owns the Jaguar and Land Rover brands), however, is more than thinking about it, they are petitioning the Indian government for permission to begin testing vehicles equipped with Lidar, radar, cameras and ultrasonic sensors managed with artificial intelligence. They are already testing these on a limited scale. * Apple was sued this week on behalf of a driver injured when rear-ended by a distracted driver using his iPhone. The suit claims Apple should have added a lock-out device to the the phone citing government data that 312 lives are lost per year in California that could have been saved by such a device. A similar suit by a Texas family blames Apple for not warning people that use of FaceTime while driving is dangerous. Advocates claim that eight people per day die from distracted driving accidents. * The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration cleared Teslas Autopilot system of any safety defect this week. An investigation began after a fatal accident last May where the system apparently mistook a large, white semi trailer that turned in front of the car for bright sky. Tesla insisted the system was not at fault saying it was never designed for, nor promoted as, being used as fully autonomous without driver monitoring and in this case the driver was entirely disengaged from driving. * Its been 45 days since Nico Rosberg dropped the bombshell of his immediate retirement from Formula One. Mercedes signed Valtteri Bottas, a 27-year-old native of Nastola, Finland who has completed four seasons in Formula One with Williams, making 77 starts and scoring 9 career podiums so far. Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas will race for the Silver Arrows in 2017. Bottas becomes the 11th driver to compete in Formula One with the Silver Arrows. * Stephane Peterhansel retained his crown to take his 13th Dakar Rally title, his second for Team Peugeot Total and his seventh in a car. Peugeot scored a one-two-three finish with their 3008 DKR rally car. Sam Sunderland made history by becoming the first British rider to win the bikes category. Team Kamaz Master took the truck win. At the wheel of the new and spectacular Kamaz Kapotnik, Eduard Nikolaev regained the trophy for the Dakar's most dominant team. The 2017 Dakar Rally saw two stages cancelled and three more shortened due to torrential rain, thunder and lightning that brought about floods and landslides during he grueling 5,600-mile trek through Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina. * And this. A zero-emissions vehicle has crossed the finish line at the Dakar Rally for the first time ever. The drivers of the all-electric Acciona 4x4 had no range anxiety. Backed by Spanish renewable energy company Acciona, the EcoPowered 4x4 is powered by a 340-horsepower electric motor and six ultra-fast charging lithium battery modules. The EV successfully completed all 12 stages, some sections spanning more than 300 miles. * Arizonas classic and collector car auction week begins with Ford auctioning a one-off 2017 F-150 Raptor, the last VIN produced, at the famous Barrett-Jackson sale in Scottsdale. Proceeds will benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Ford Motor Company CEO, Mark Fields will be there on stage with Raptor team members. The auction winner will even get to choose the trucks color. Ford claims the Raptor is the most off-road-competent truck in the market and Raptor buyers will all get the opportunity to attend a Ford Off-Road Racing School program to learn to use all that capability. By Srijani Ganguly/Mail Today: The world was a few years into its second war, when Subhas Chandra Bose took a drastic decision. He aligned himself with the Axis powers, and established the Indian National Army (INA) in 1942 with the intention of using military might to drive the British away from India. A year later, he announced another bold plan - the formation of an all-women regiment called the Rani of Jhansi Regiment (RJR) within the INA. advertisement For Vera Hildebrand, who chanced upon the RJR's history during a Google search, the aforementioned facts astonished her to her very core. "The creation of a female Indian infantry unit during World War II was a complete surprise to me. I wanted to know more about these women warriors, and it occurred to me that some of them might still be alive," says Hildebrand, who first came to India when her husband was appointed as the US ambassador to India. That one Google search led her to buy Dr Lakshmi Sahgal's book A Revolutionary Life, meet the famous member of RJR at her Kanpur home and "talk about her life, especially during the war, the Ranis, and about Subhas Chandra Bose." Also read: This author's new book delves inside Mahatma Gandhi's private life Sahgal was over ninety years old at that time but she was as impressive as ever, says Hildebrand, adding, "I asked Dr Sahgal for the names and information of other Ranis so I could locate them. I shared my enthusiasm with many people and most of them, even Indians, said 'How fascinating. I did not know Indian women were soldiers in the WWII.' As I talked to more and more Ranis, I became convinced that their stories deserved to be known everywhere." Hildebrand did her part in dispersing the stories (through her latest book, Women at War) but it was a long and tedious process. It began with the interviews of 22 Ranis across India, Malaysia, Singapore and the USA in 2008. She also talked to two men - one was an Indian who was part of the INA and another was a Japanese who had served as a translator for the Ranis. She was contemplating going all the way to Japan to interview the latter but squashed that route when it appeared that "he was not interested in expanding beyond the topic of how attractive the Ranis were", over a telephonic interview. Subhash Chandra Bose. Photo: Mail Today Subhash Chandra Bose. Photo: Mail Today Once Hildebrand was armed with the interviews, and the archival documents, she chalked out the entire story of the Rani of Jhansi Regiment - from its inception to its disbandment. advertisement The Ranis' individual lives, after living as a unit for two years (from October 1943 to May 1945), was very different. While many of the Ranis became medical doctors, nurses and teachers, two of them continued their patriotic activism throughout their lives. Despite their post-RJR accomplishments, though, there was also a sense of disillusionment. Hildebrand adds, "Several Ranis repeatedly returned to their disappointment that their service had made no difference - nothing had changed, women were still discriminated against and were still being made to feel powerless." Women at war: Subhash Chandra Bose and the Rani of Jhansi Regiment by Vera Hildebrand, HarperCollins; Rs.499. Of those who married, a number of them divorced or left their husbands. "They said that after their time in the RJR they had become less willing to put up with unreasonable behaviour of their spouse and felt that they would be better off raising their children on their own," says Hildebrand. The progeny of these Ranis, most of them at least, were extremely proud of their mother or grandmother. "In Kuala Lumpur," says the author, "three of Rani Muniammah's children repeatedly told her and me how proud they were of her service during the war." advertisement While some Ranis regretted their role in the army and some recalled it with fondness, a majority of them were still in awe of one man. "By their judgement," says Hildebrand, "Bose was a perfect statesman, general and human being - he could not and had not made any mistakes. The Ranis still grieved that he did not live long enough to bring freedom to India and rule as the first prime minister." --- ENDS --- Monday 05 September, 2016 Reliable information reaching Biafra writers desk has it that the life of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indi... The Big Sick is an indie romantic comedy. Its a Pakistani-American comedy, a coma comedy, a race relations comedy, and has a scene in which Holly Hunter gets into a bar fight. With a little something for everyoneespecially for Holly Hunter fansits no wonder that the film, directed by Michael Showalter (of Wet Hot American Summer fame and, lately, acclaim for helming Hello, My Name Is Doris and co-writing Search Party) and written by Silicon Valley's Kumail Nanjiani and his wife, Emily Gordon, is the 2017 Sundance Film Festival's first big hit. After a bidding war that went into Saturday night, the film sold to Amazon Studios for $12 million, making it one of the biggest deals in Sundance history. The film, albeit in that fictionalized Hollywood way, chronicles the beginnings of Nanjiani and Gordons real-life romance, which thanks to the couples (now-defunct) podcast and the fact that Nanjiani was mentored by producer Judd Apatow on the project, arrived in Park City with loud advance buzz. Nanjiani plays a movie version of himselfa struggling stand-up comic in Chicago polishing his act, both in terms of his comedy and the farce he participates in to appease his Pakistani family. They sacrificed so that he could grow up in America, and all they want in return is for him to be a good Muslim man, become a lawyer, and marry a nice Pakistani woman. Instead, he hits on a spunky blonde girl he meets after one of his stand-up shows, Emily (played by Zoe Kazan). They fall for each other, in the kind of enchanted stupor that would have you rolling your eyes at how she embodies every manic pixie dream girl trope were she not based on a real person, and brought to crackling, nuanced life by a phenomenal performance from Kazan. Its all so lovely and triumphant, with Nanjianis wry humor and delivery charming the pants off everyone, Emily included. The film feels very Apatow-ian, but benefits immensely from Nanjianis point of view. Born in Pakistan himself, its an entirely new voice for the Apatow brand, one that stems from racial identity instead of stoned white privilege. That, and the movie may contain the best 9/11 joke that has been committed to film. Meanwhile Kumails Pakistani family steals every last dinner scene, his mother constantly inviting over eligible women to meet and hopefully marry her son. When it comes to light that Kumail hasnt told his parents about Emily because they would disown him, the couple has one of those deathly blowups that destroys their relationship. Days later, Emily is in a hospital bed in a medically induced coma, fighting off a mysterious disease and at risk of dying. Kumail? Full of regret. Its then that Holly Hunter and Ray Romano enter as Emilys parents, at first pissed at Kumail for breaking their daughters heart right before her body breaks, too, but then ultimately won over by his sincere devotion to her while she lay in a coma. Hunter is a spitfire here playing the wounded mom, angry at the injustice of the world and brittle at the thought of losing her daughterbaking soda emotions to her vinegar, steely personality that cause her every feeling to bubble out of her uncontrollably. Its a mess, and a riveting one. Ray Romano is a revelation here, too, in the way that Ray Romano has been a revelation in essentially every acting gig hes had since his CBS sitcom (Men of a Certain Age, Parenthood, Vinyl) ended. Its when they arrive, too, that the film becomes about something entirely different. Suddenly you realize that this is a story about parents: how we relate to them or rebel against them, and how they define us as much as we reshape them. Emilys parents fall in love with Kumail, which is awkward for Emily, who is in a coma through his redemption arc and, for all intents and purposes, still furious at him. And Kumail, realizing that his fear of disappointing his parents may have cost him true love, must confront his mother and father about how the tension between growing up American while trying to appease their desire for Pakistani traditions wasnt just difficultit may have destroyed him. And, because all of this is happening while sweet Zoe Kazan lies in a hospital bed pale from a coma, you cry. A lot. And thus you forgive the abrupt maudlin shift in tone and Nanjianis struggle to nail or find real subtlety in the big dramatic scenes. In many ways, the film is insufferably Sundance-y, and can feel like a chore because of it. Its a romcom featuring an unlikely couple who overcome the odds and their respective quirky cuteness to fall in love. But in Nanjiani and Gordons extremely personal voice, it stands out as incredibly unique in the genre, bathed in the authentic hilarity and struggle of a Pakistani immigrant family that lights up the screen, as well as the emotion of a love not tested by the prospect of death, but sparked because of it. Its first two Sundance screenings played to deafening laughter, drowning out subsequent lines in the movie, and audible sobs from the packed audiencemaking it the first, Have you seen.? film of the 2017 festival. But then again, as seems to always be the case, the claustrophobic pack mentality of film festivals tends to generate outsized hype and lavish praise for films that, when finally seen by the public, will play 20 percent less raucously than it did at festival premieres. That happens out of Park City, especially. Maybe its the altitude that makes you laugh louder and cry harder, explaining why there are far more stories about films selling for astronomical amounts of money and eventually flopping before audiences lately than there are those legendary Sundance success stories. This is a film that is very much a product of the three men who had a part in creating it: Nanjiani, Showalter, and Apatow. Nanjianis wry voice and culturally specific observations about the world infiltrate the entire film, as does Showalters fine-tuned ability to depict connection and intimacy in a crowd-pleasing manner. Speaking of crowd-pleasing, Apatows Midas touch has a hand in that, but also in so many other elements of its filmsspecifically the fact that it, like most Apatow productions, runs about 30-40 minutes longer than it needs to and has a maddening number of false endings. Is it a film that will live up to the rampant enthusiasm that festivals like these tend to generate? Were almost positive it wont. But the honesty, the humor, and the heart that explodes so earnestly from each sceneeven if it drags onmake the film irresistible. Given how cravenly we need that now, its no wonder The Big Sick healed a little bit of Sundance. As president of New Wave Feminists, a pro-life group based in Texas, Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa didnt know what to expect when she arrived at the site of the Womens March on Washington at 7:30 AM on Saturday--but she was prepared for the worst. She anticipated a verbal altercation, or maybe even a fist in her face. New Wave Feminists had been accepted as official partners by the Marchs organizers on Friday, January 13, then were removed from the list and website a few days later: there had been a backlash in response to an article in The Atlantic reporting their involvement. Many prospective attendees and affiliates didnt think anti-choice advocates deserved a seat at the table. After all, one of the Marchs unity principles was open access to safe, legal, affordable abortion and birth control for all people. Still, the purpose of the march was to affirm support for a variety of issues and minority groups that had been targeted during Trumps campaign: the Affordable Care Act, Black Lives Matter, Muslims, the LGBTQ community, and illegal immigrants, among others. The marchs overarching message was that womens rights are human rights, and organizers vowed that no group would be excluded. So it seemed hypocritical to some pro-lifers when organizers disassociated with New Wave Feminists and, in a statement, insisted that the Womens March platform is pro-choice and that has been our stance from day one. Many pro-life groups, including New Wave Feminists, remained determined to attend the march, hoping to stand in solidarity with hundreds of thousands of women on issues where they had common ground, like paid maternity leave, the wage gap, womens access to healthcare, violence against women, and rape culture. Abby Johnson, who worked at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas for eight years before she converted to the pro-life movement, was anxious about attending. Planned Parenthood was the marchs biggest sponsor, and Johnson had not left the organization on terrific terms. Shed claimed at the time--and stands by her claim to this day--that shed had a moral crisis when she witnessed the termination of a 13-week fetus. Shortly after she left in 2009, she went to one of Planned Parenthoods biggest foes, the Coalition For Life, seeking help finding a new job. Planned Parenthood responded by seeking an injunction in court to prevent Johnson from exposing confidential information about the organization. When Johnson called out on Twitter the organizers hypocrisy in excluding groups like pro-lifers after vowing to be inclusive of everyone, she said one user threatened her. She replied, Dont come to the Womens March. The Womens March wants you dead, Johnson, 36, told The Daily Beast in a phone interview on Friday night. Johnson runs a charity designed to help abortion clinic workers find other jobs, and also works for Obria Medical Clinics and The Guiding Star Project, which provide women with healthcare options like treatment for STDs, prenatal care, and family planning--everything but birth control options and abortion services. There are certainly a lot more issues beyond abortion that are concerning to me as a woman, Johnson said, citing pay inequality, domestic violence, the sex-trafficking industry, the stigma against breastfeeding in public, and postpartum depression. There are probably issues of commonality among all of the groups there, so for the organizers to be divisive and exclusionary based on one issue is frustrating. Marchers on Saturday had mixed feelings about whether or not pro-lifers should be there. Many thought that they had a right to participate, but understood why the organizers decided not to officially partner with them. I think that we all need to talk to each other, but theres a big difference between sponsoring the march and participating in it, said Nancy Rosenbloom, Director of Legal Advocacy for National Advocates for Pregnant Women, an organization that represents and defends the rights of pregnant women, whether they decide to end their pregnancies or carry them to term. All I care about is that people arent going to deny me my human rights, said Rosenbloom, who had come with a dozen or so other women from her organization. It was around 3:00 PM, and marchers were finally on the move after being trapped in a crush of people. Up until that point, it had been more of a claustrophobic stand-in than a march, with throngs of people stretching the length of the Mall and clogging the surrounding streets, either immobile or inching along in no particular direction. Hundreds of thousands of women carried colorful signs alluding to reproductive rights. My body my choice, one read. Our pussies are not up for grabs, neither are our rights! went another. My little pussy, not yours! You wouldnt try to regulate my vagina if it fired bullets! If abortions are murder than blowjobs are cannibalism! A coat hanger spattered with blood was painted on a large white sheet. Not going back, we stand with PP! it read. Caitlin Bargmann from New Jersey held up one end of the 6-foot long sheet, with her sister stretching it taut and leading them through the crowd up ahead. Bargmann, 36, said she was taken aback when she saw someone holding a New Wave Feminists For Life sign, though she was quick to add that she didnt want anyone there to feel like they shouldnt have a voice. Were all pro-life here, and they should be allowed to march--but I dont think they should be involved in an official capacity, she said. The tension between pro-life and pro-choice feminists exposes one of many rifts and ideological nuances in the movement today. Some would argue that youre not a true feminist if you dont believe in a womans right to choose. But on the day of the march, political disagreements mattered less to participants. At one point, a gay man in a jean jacket embroidered with the blue and yellow Human Rights Campaign flag approached a bible thumper from the Gospel of Ministries. I just want to say that while I disagree with you, I respect your right exercise your religious beliefs. His name was Sloan Wiesen, and hed driven from nearby Reston, Virginia to march with his husband. He worked for the Human Rights Campaign from 1993 to 1999, and had taken part in the Million Womens March in 1997. We felt it was important to come out today to support women and men, our Muslim brothers and sisters, each and every American, said Wiesen, 47. We cant just pop out when our narrow interests are at stake anymore. Earlier that day, on a bitch bus ferrying New Yorkers from Brooklyn to D.C., people were open-minded about the idea of pro-life women marching alongside them. The election had spurred 33-year-old Cora Foxx to take action: as soon as she learned that a Womens March on Washington was being planned, she chartered a bus. The election also made her want to get outside her ideological comfort zone. Theres a need for dialogue between people who have different opinions, largely because were in these bubbles, said Fox, a graphic designer from Bushwick, who wore a vintage, oversized blue sweatshirt with a fluffy, white feline head on the front. I want to be able to communicate with people I disagree with rather than just being reaffirmed by my Facebook friends. And maybe well never agree with each other, but at least we can treat each other like humans. Herndon-De La Rosa, Johnson, and others had come to the March with low expectations about civility, knowing their feminists for life signs would give them away. For Johnson, the lowest point was a hostile encounter with two people when she and a few friends briefly met up with Students For Life on a sidewalk off the marching path. She was pushed and called a few names, she said, but for the most part people were either quiet or supportive--not of our cause but that we were there. And I was thankful that we were there because we had so many good conversations, she said of her and a few pro-life friends, speaking from her hotel afterwards. Asked if pro-lifers belonged there, Erica Sackin, Director of Political Communications at Planned Parenthood, echoed the marchs unity principles in an email to The Daily Beast: The Womens March platform clearly states support for access to abortion as a core principle. Everyone who supports that entire platform was welcome to march here today. Herndon-De La Rosa didn't fall into that category, but she was still giddy about the experience hours after it ended. It was honestly the most beautiful day, she said. It was so cool to realize that while all of these forces try to divide us, whether its politics or the media or whatever, women can still unite and stand up for a common cause. Other marchers voiced their disagreement with what she stood for, but also thanked her for cheering alongside them about other issues. Pro-life isnt a dirty word to me, but I understand why it is to other people, she said. They associate it with pictures of bloody fetuses and pro-life assholes out there, and there are a lot of them. Yes, Herndon-De La Rosa believes abortion is a "human rights violation," she said. But shes not trying to make it illegal on a state or federal level. I think if we overturned Roe v. Wade today, we would be making criminals out of thousands of women, she said. She just doesnt want women to feel like they dont have any choice but to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. To pro-choice women, though, her aspirations aren't as anodyne as she makes them sound when she puts it like that. Maybe it was just the spirit of the day that made people overlook their differences, with activists and apostates using the same language to describe the march: it was amazing, powerful, inspiring. Inevitably, theyll go back to feuding on Twitter and rolling their eyes at each others beliefs. They may ultimately disagree about how the patriarchy manifests in society, how it empowers and disempowers women. But on Saturday, they only cared about toppling it. Donald Trump is president, and Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer are ready for the world to end. Rather their Broad City counterparts are, in a short released minutes before last weeks swearing-in ceremony titled Inauguration Uncensored. People are just gonna be grabbin shit! Were gonna have to wear cups now! People are just gonna be peeing on other people now, Jacobson says in the clip. Im foaming at the mouth now. Since Broad City premiered in 2014, Abbi Jacobson, along with her partner-in-crime Ilana Glazer, found themselves, through their show and comedy, becoming celebrity icons of female empowerment for a generation of young millennials desperate for permission to belt out, Yas, kween! The Comedy Central series portrayal both of female friendship and the simultaneously aimless, ambitious, and frustrating struggle of twentysomethings was catharsis by comedy: two flawed, hilarious women whose self-confidence and worth wasnt manifested in Manohlos, cosmos, and couldnt help but wonder-ing in a fancy New York Post column, but instead by normalizing the sometimes sad, sometimes silly experience of just figuring it all out. In its three seasons, the show has matter-of-factly discussed sexual power, identity, womens rights, entitlement, agency, harassment, success, selfishness, friendship, fighting the patriarchy, and feminism, all through a voice that finally seemed relatable to a certain usalbeit much funnier than we could ever hope to be. Its fitting then that Jacobson and I are speaking on the eve of the Womens March on Washington, as she preps to premiere her first film in a starring role, Person to Person, at the Sundance Film Festival. How does that make her feel about her work, I ask her? Broad City is a raucous Comedy Central series. But it is also so vital. I definitely feel its very important as a person to continue to make things with my own point of view, and reflect the things that I believe in that the new president clearly does not, she says. Im so happy were on TV right now. What a luxury it is to have a voice to get to talk about the things we want to talk about on that scale, in a time when they need to be talked about, she continues. And through comedy. What more could you ask for? Its so important. It wasnt that long ago that Hillary Clinton made a splashy appearance on the show, a booking that, depending on who you spoke to, represented the then-presidential candidates desire to appeal to millennials, a distracting political sideshow, or a major turning point in terms of the level of credence given to Broad Citys larger statements beneath the jokes. When Clinton was first announced to appear on the show, Jacobson and Glazer were quick to say that it was not a political endorsement. But later in the campaign she clarified that it absolutely was a statement of support. It was such a special day for us, and still is, Jacobson says. Im so happy that was part of our show, even if this [the election results] happened. It was a turning point for the show to be talking about things we care about on a different level. It was on weekends from shooting the show that she filmed her role in Person to Person. Person to Person is one of those teeny-tiny, quiet, and lovely indie films that actually seem like indie films, evoking a DIY spirit and feeling of time and place, produced on a shoestring budget, unlike the direction the industry has been heading (Silver Linings Playbook, for example, was considered an indie film). Its an urban ensemble film set in New York City, shot in a way in which you can sense the dusty air. Jacobson, along with Michael Cera and Tavi Gevinson, lead the cast, a sprawling group of characters each engaged in their own intimate vignettes that are only loosely connected to each other. Theres one scene, for example, that begins with a couple arguing as they cross the street. As the camera follows them, character actor Philip Baker Hall then comes into the frame. He turns and the camera then follows, tricking anyone who assumed it was the couple whose story wed be following. Jacobsons interactions are largely with Cera and Hall. Cera is an editor at one of those New York tabloids, chasing the next scandal. Jacobson plays the new reporter he just hired, who is sent to stalk a recent widow who may have killed her husband, but is haplessly uncomfortable with intruding in the womans life in any way. Throughout the entire trying experience, her character struggles through a self-reckoning: mustering up the ambition to execute this, a real job, but also being spiritually at odds with every element of it, debating whether to quit. Its certainly something that Jacobson could relate to. Before we got Broad City, I was working these shitty jobs and justnot even shitty, just jobs I didnt care about, she says. I was an assistant to this guy, and its just hard to fake that. If you cant find something to latch onto in a job its just really tough. Then there was the job that forced her to make cold calls. It was terrifying, she says. I hated it. And in this, shes going and asking people these questions, intruding in someones life that theres no way for her to be comfortable. Person to Person is Jacobsons first major film role, following a cameo in the recent Neighbors sequel. Earlier this year, she released a book that she illustrated herself called Carry This Book, in which she imagined what would be in the bags of famous people like Hillary Clinton, Oprah, Beyonce...and Donald Trump. Glazer, too, has used her time off from Broad City to pursue her own projects, like the Netflix miniseries Time-Traveling Bong and Seth Rogens Christmas comedy The Night Before. Weve sort of created a joint voice together and we each have our own voices, Jacobson says, a distinction thats shes relished the opportunity to delineate in recent years. Weve always had our singular bodies of work and then our joint body of work, she goes on. Obviously Broad City is what people know both of us from the most. So that partnership only makes anything else we do together or separate better. The ex-Miss Universe posted on social media that she'll be on the panel for the pageant's 65th edition on January 30. Sushmita Sen has confirmed that she'll be on the Miss Universe judging panel. Picture courtesy: Instagram/sushmitasen47 By Indo-Asian News Service: Former Miss Universe and Bollywood actress Sushmita Sen will be on the judges panel of the upcoming 65th edition of Miss Universe pageant, which will take place here on January 30. It's special for her as she had won her crown in Manila itself in 1994. "Getting ready with a dancing heart! I am so excited, emotional and looking forward to returning home to the Philippines after 23 years," Sushmita tweeted alongside a photograph of herself from the make-up room. advertisement Also read: Looking for fitness inspiration in the new year? Let Sushmita Sen show you how it's done She added: "It's where it all began Manila 1994, Miss Universe 1994. Life comes a full circle, from winning Miss Universe, to having owned its Indian franchise to now. Returning back to Manila this time as a judge at the 65th Miss Universe pageant! Sushmita won the coveted crown in 1994. Picture courtesy: Instagram/sushmitasen47 "To all my Filipino friends who have been graciously asking. I can now confirm... Yes, I am coming!" The event will take place at the Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines. Roshmitha Harimurthy will represent India at the contest. --- ENDS --- In 2022, approximately five years from now, a new star will appear in the night sky. Scientifically speaking, the appearance of this nova is the product of the collision of two other astral bodies. And for six months this new star willto the naked eyebe the brightest in the heavens. Given that this is the first time that people will be able to witness a moment like this without technology, its a significant event in human history, but it may be much more than that. According to one rabbi, this new star is a sign of the coming of the Messiah. Rabbi Yosef Berger, a rabbi of King Davids Tomb on Mount Zion, has proposed that the star is a fulfillment of a Biblical prophecy from the book of Numbers, in which a star precedes the arrival of an important military leader: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the borderlands of Moab, and the territory of all the Sethites (NRSV Num 24:17) The prophecy itself is significant because the speaker is not Moses, the Bibles quintessential prophet, but Balaam, a historically attested outsider and foreigner. Jacqueline Vayntrub, a biblical studies professor at Brandeis University, told me, The inclusion of a foreign prophet, Balaam, in a narrative history of Israel is puzzling. But when you realize that the story is about an important, well known foreign prophet who is blessing Israel, it makes a whole lot more sense. Moses, as Israels insider, of course wants the best for Israel; but even a famous foreign prophet blessing Israel, now thats interesting. Senior Trump administration officials pushed back on Sunday against the media amid incorrect claims about crowd sizes at Fridays presidential inauguration that were made by President Donald Trump and his spokesman. There is an obsession by the media to delegitimize this president, and we are not going to sit around and let it happen, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said on Fox News Sunday. We are going to fight back tooth and nail every day, and twice on Sunday. On Saturday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer set off a firestorm of criticism when he made a statement to reporters that was widely panned as angry and flat-out false, in which he berated journalists for how they were reporting on Trumps crowd size at the inauguration. All available evidence shows that it was significantly smaller than the audience Barack Obama drew on the National Mall at his first inauguration in 2009. This was the largest audience to ever witness an inaugurationperiodboth in person and around the globe, Spicer said, despite Nielsen ratings released earlier in the day that proved otherwise. These attempts to lessen the enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong. According to crowd experts, Trumps inauguration ceremony on the National Mall drew far fewer people than Obamas first inauguration in 2009 as well as an estimated one-third the number of people who showed up for the womens march in Washington on Saturday. Experts determined that 160,000 people were on the National Mall just before Trumps inaugural address. Additionally, according to Nielsen TV ratings, 31 million people watched Trumps inaugurationfewer than Obamas audience of 37.8 million for his first swearing-in. As CNNs Brian Stelter pointed out, 41.8 million people tuned into Ronald Reagans first inauguration. After speaking at the lectern in the briefing room, Spicer left without taking questions from reporters. Chuck Todd, the moderator of NBCs Meet the Press, was shocked at Spicers statement, tweeting afterward: Ive run out of adjectives. Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, who served in the George W. Bush administration, suggested that Trump himself asked Spicer to make the statement given its similarity to the rhetoric typically employed by Trump. Spicer accused the press of sowing division about tweets and false narratives, and said journalists dishonesty is making it more difficult for Trump to unify the country. Its really not about crowd size. What its about is honesty in the media, Priebus said on Sunday. The media, from day one, has been talking about delegitimizing the election, talking about the Russians, talking about everything you can imagine except for the fact that we need to move this country forward. When confronted on Meet the Press about Spicers false claims, Kellyanne Conway accused Todd of being overly dramatic about Spicers briefing. Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts to that, Conway, a counselor to Trump, said before Todd interjected: Look, alternative facts are not facts. Theyre falsehoods. Conway added that there isnt a way to quantify the size of the crowd. She ultimately did not specify why Spicer made the statement to the press about crowd sizes. Earlier Saturday, Trump spoke at the CIAs headquarters in Langley, Virginia, and said it looked like a million, a million and a half people on the National Mall with crowds going all the way back to the Washington Monument. Available images and videos from the inauguration contradict both of those claims. Trump signaled on Saturday that he will not depart from his strategy employed during the campaign and transition of vehemently criticizing the press. I have a running war with the media, the president said. They are among the most dishonest human beings on Earth. Trump made the statement to CIA employees in front of the agencys Memorial Wall, which commemorates CIA operatives who died in the line of duty. Former CIA Director John Brennan called it a despicable display of self-aggrandizement, and said Trump should be ashamed of himself. On ABCs This Week, Conway said the deeply disappointing remarks made Brennan sound like a partisan political hack. Its possible that President Trump doesnt look at it this way, but it seems to the writers of this column that, as taxpayers, the various members of the media hes blacklisted or threatened to blacklist are the ones paying for the White House pressroom and have as much right to be there as he does. If this strikes the President as infringement on the powers of his office, maybe its because he is new to all thislike paying taxesand doesnt know the rules. There are a lot of new rules to learn. Apparently starting with housebreaking. On the other hand, we may be flying a little close to the sun here, and in the name of civility, let us return to last weeks dust-up between the (then) President-elect and CNNs Jim Acosta. As you may know, CNN published a story about the existence of an unverified security report, written back when the idea of a Trump run at the presidency was still funny. The report alleged that he had engaged in some potentially compromising behavior on a business trip to Russia. This was apparently a story that had been kicking around Washington, D.C. for a while but nobody had been able to verify it, and nobody took it public. Up stepped CNN, who earlier this month put out the news that an unverified report of the incident exists, and that the intelligence community had briefed Trump about it as a potential security risk. CNN offered nothing further regarding the reports particulars. Next, Buzzfeed posted the report itself35 pages put together by a former British intelligence officer named Christopher Steele. Whats in it has never been verified but still paints a picture of the President-elect that lingers, however unfairly, in the mind. In any case, at Donald Trumps final press conference as president electhis first in six monthshe was asked about the report and in two seconds he wrapped Buzzfeed and CNN in the same burlap bag and threw them both into the river. Buzzfeed is a failing pile of garbage that suffer the consequences and , as far as CNN goes, theyre going out of their way to build it up. Hearing that, CNNs Jim Acosta stood up to ask a question. He felt entitled because Trump was attacking his network. Trump did not give him a question but instead pronounced your organization is terrible and you are fake news. To his credit Acosta did not back away, and also to his credit he was annoying enough that at the end of the press conference, Sean SpicerTrumps choice as White House press secretary goes to Acosta and threatens to have him removed if that happens again. Our bet, incidentally, is that Sean Spicer will be the first person Trump fires. Meantime, Spicer and Trump are taking on more than they can handle. President Trumpwhy is it so hard to write those two words together?can brag that he labeled the New York Times as "failing", and deny credentials to reporters from the Washington Post, Politico, Univision, the Des Moines Register, CNN, the Huffington Post, and who knows who else. (Note: who else includes The Daily Beast.) But Trump seems to have forgottenor has never knownthat written news is the lifeblood of journalism in this country. Yes, more people watch television, but who does the real reporting? Forget the Pentagon Papers or Vietnam or Watergate, what so-so story has cable news ever broken? Direct us to the Fox News hall of fame. Still, undeniably, newspapers have been fading. The trueness of that fact is a national tragedy. It has cheapened the landscape, cheapened what we read, how we think, what we are worth. And the proof sits in the White House this weekend explaining himself in 140-character blurbs, and his admirers cant get enough. Speaking on behalf of Fox Newswhich, on the subject of media declines, lost maybe 80 percent of its appeal this month with the departure of Megyn Kelly for NBCtalking-points-only anchor Sean Hannity called the altercation between Jim Acosta and President-elect Trump the single greatest beat down of the abusively biased media in the history of the country, and advised the new President to ignore these people in the press. An hour later Bill OReilly, who I promise you is still thinking he should have run for president himself, said: Media organizations have ordered their employees to destroy Trump. What? Who? OReilly says, I cant say who they are right now because I dont have it nailed down. But I am 100 percent convinced. This is OReilly, whoback when he was younger and more funused to read something in a newspaper he didnt like and foam at the mouth, calling whatever paper it was the worst newspaper in the country. OReillywho will not speak to the print mediahas apparently not considered the possibility yet that the worst paper in the country wouldnt print that media organizations have ordered their employees to destroy Trump, but cant name names because he doesnt "have it nailed down. It has not come to OReilly yet, nor his audience, that grown-up reporters nail it down before they make the claim. Finally, Limbaugh. We dont know what to say about Rush. The elder author of this column knew him a little bit back before he was famousthis big, sort of clumsy, insecure guy who made you laugh out loud once in a while, one of those few guys who could get famous and rich and you'd never hold it against him. And then of course he got caught taking pain killers he wasnt supposed to have, and it came to me, watching the national celebration of kind-hearted liberals enjoying his ruination, that, politics aside, Limbaugh may have faults like anybody else, but hes not small and mean. In any case, it didnt happen. I think it might have ruined somebody with less sandhe had enough money by then to retire, probably to buy his own island to retire onbut he wanted what he had back, and went back and got it. So, admittedly, one of us still likes him, which does not mean anyone should always believe him. And when he says, for instance, The fake news is the everyday news, they just make it up, we hope that he is only being playful. He is smarter than OReilly and Hannity put together, but he knowsmaybe he knowsthat together, he and Trump and Hannity and OReilly, the four powerful enemies of journalism as we know it, could not on their best day cover a picnic unless somebody was there to cover it first and tell them what it was about. Much less take down a president, although we think that Trump will take care of that himself. For years, prominent medical centers have been dancing with the devil. Recently, one got burned. On January 6, 2017, Dr. Daniel Neides posted his thoughts on cleveland.com. Neides claimed that within 12 hours of receiving a preservative-free influenza vaccine, I was in bed feeling miserable and missed two days of work with a terrible cough and body aches. What I did not realize is that the preservative-free vaccine contains formaldehyde. How can you call it preservative-free when it still contains a preservative? Actually, formaldehyde isnt a preservative. Its an inactivating agent used to kill influenza virus. Now the vaccine virus cant reproduce itself and cause symptoms (like those suffered by Neides) but it can induce a protective immune response. Although Dr. Neides was right to notice that trace quantities of formaldehyde remain in the vaccine, he neglected to mention that formaldehyde is also produced by the body naturallya necessary component in the formation of vital nucleic acids and proteins. Indeed, the quantity of formaldehyde in human blood is about 100 times greater than that contained in vaccines. Neides later stated that vaccines, while beneficial, might be responsible for neurological diseases like autism and ADHD, [which are] increasing at alarming rates.1 More than 20 studies have shown that vaccines dont cause autism or other developmental disabilities. What was unique about Daniel Neides wasnt what he said (anti-vaccine activists have sounded similar themes for decades), or that a doctor had said it (a handful of private practitioners have also taken up the cause of the anti-vaccine movement). What was unique was the attribution at the end of the article: Dr. Daniel Neides is the Medical Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute.1 The Cleveland Clinic is nationally recognized as one of the top medical centers in the world. Indeed, U.S. News & World Report rates the Cleveland Clinic as the nations #1 hospital for Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery; the Clinic is also among the nations top hospitals in many other categories. Neidess comments touched off a firestorm on social media. Why would a top-ranked hospital support a doctor who damned vaccines? The hospital was quick to respond: The Cleveland Clinic is fully committed to evidence-based medicine. Harmful myths and untruths about vaccinations have been scientifically debunked in rigorous waysOur physician published his statement without authorization from the Cleveland Clinic. His views do not reflect the position of the Cleveland Clinic and appropriate disciplinary action will be taken. What happened to the Cleveland Clinic could have happened to any one of a number of prominent medical centers. Hospitals affiliated with Harvard, Yale, Penn, and many others have for years employed clinicians in centers variously labeled integrative, holistic, wellness, complementary, and alternative. Because alternative medicine is popular, and because healthcare is a marketplace, even the best medical centers have tried to cash in on what has become a multi-billion-dollar-a-year industry. But its a tricky business. Alternative therapies include acupuncture, homeopathy, naturopathy, reiki, and therapeutic touch, among others. The good news is that some of these therapies offer certain benefits; the bad news is that their origins are built on sand. Take acupuncture, for example. Acupuncture is the product of 2nd century B.C. China, a culture that didnt believe in dissection. As a consequence, the ancient Chinese didnt know anything about human anatomy. Chinese acupuncturists believed that healing occurred by balancing yin and yang, allowing the bodys vital energy, Qi, to flow. To achieve this balance, thin needles were inserted 0.5 to 4 inches under the skin along 12 longitudinal arcs called meridians. The Chinese picked 12 meridians because there are 12 great rivers in China. The Chinese also believed that the body was divided into about 360 different parts because there are about 360 days in the year. Because the human nervous system isnt based on rivers in China or days in the year, one can assume that the placement of needles was entirely arbitrary. Nonetheless, acupuncture can work to relieve pain. Researchers have found that acupuncture causes some people to release endorphins: pain-relieving opiate-like neuropeptides made by the pituitary gland. (Endorphin is a contraction of endogenous, meaning produced in the body, and morphine.) In other words, acupuncture has a physiological basis. And acupuncture is far safer than taking opioids or cox-2 inhibitors (like Vioxx) or non-steroidal anti-inflammatories. To their credit, several alternative healers have looked further into why acupuncture works. Theyve asked, Does it matter where you put the needles. The answer was no; needles could be inserted along prescribed meridians or randomly; both worked. Theyve asked, Do needles need to puncture the skin? This question was answered by a brilliant physician named Edzard Ernst, a professor of complementary medicine at the University of Exeter in England. Ernst developed a retractable needle; patients could now feel the needle but didnt know whether it had been inserted under the skin. Ernst found that acupuncture still worked. In other words, acupressure works just as well as acupuncture. Edzard Ernst and other alternative healers did what they should have done. They argued that if a therapy like acupuncture works, it is incumbent upon clinicians to figure out why it works. In so doing, they can determine the least painful, least burdensome, least expensive, and safest way to induce an endorphin response. In a better world, acupressure would now replace acupuncture. Although acupuncture is safe, it isnt absolutely safe. Acupuncture needles have occasionally broken off and lodged in livers, lungs, and hearts. Also, inadequately sterilized acupuncture needles have been contaminated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or hepatitis B virus. The problem with acupuncture is that many practitioners actually believe in yin and yang and Qi. Instead of trying to understand the physiological or biological basis for why their therapy might work, they promote themselves as something separate from modern sciencesomething more ethereal, magical, other-worldly, Eastern. And in that rejection of science, these same physicians might then turn around and do exactly what Dr. Daniel Niedes didreject other aspects of modern science, like the science of vaccines. In the end, there is no such thing as alternative medicine; if an alternative medicine works, then its medicine; and if it doesnt work, then its not an alternative. In any case, its all subject to scientific study. We no longer have to shrug our shoulders and look to the gods for an explanation. ***** Paul A. Offit, MD is a professor of pediatrics and the director of the Vaccine Education Center at The Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. He is the author of Pandora s Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong (National Geographic Press, April 2017). Can this marriage be saved? It doesnt look good, and marriage is probably the last way one would describe the dysfunctional relationship between the brand-new president and the White House press corps. Scorpions in a bottle is more like it. Slightly more than a day into his presidency, Donald Trump and his minions declared full-scale hostilities on the people whose job it is to follow him around, define his presidential character and portray his actions and policies to the citizenry. The presidents mugging of the Fourth Estate at the CIA on Saturday was followed a couple of hours later by an angry yet mendacious scolding in the James S. Brady briefing room administered by Sean Spicer, the brand new White House press secretary and communications director. Yesterday, at a time when our nation and the world was watching the peaceful transition of power, Spicer began his tirade, some members of the media were engaged in deliberately false reportingnamely a mistaken tweet and pool report, almost immediately corrected, that the bust of Martin Luther King Jr. (which former president Obama had installed in the Oval Office) had been removed, and that news reports maliciously minimized the crowd size for Trumps inauguration in a dastardly attempt to make him look bad. This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration. Period. Both in person and around the globe, Spicer claimednever mind estimates, backed up by aerial photographs, that around 250,000 people physically attended Trumps inauguration (compared to nearly two million who showed up for Obamas in 2009), while Nielsen numbers indicated that there was also a falloff in television viewers. It turns out that Spicers tantrum was rife with what CNN politely called misstatementsand referred to by others, less politely, as outright lies. I knew Sean Spicer when he was a decent, honest press secretary, veteran Associated Press White House correspondent Ron Fournier told The Daily Beast, referring to the 45-year-old Spicers long career as a spokesman for House Republicans and the Republican National Committee. Now he looked like he was in a hostage video. They [the president and senior aides] wound him up and sent him out to go to war against the press and tell blatant untruths. Fournier guessed that Spicerwho had earlier publicly accepted the sincere apology of Time magazine correspondent Zeke Miller for the pool report containing the error about the MLK Jr. bustwas following President Trumps direct order to slime the media from briefing room podium. (This was irresponsible and reckless, Spicer pronounced on Millers honest mistake.) Stepping out of his spokesman role to act as editor, Spicer instructed the assembled reporters that they should have instead spotlighted how Senate Democrats were "playing politics with national security" in their unwillingness to immediately confirm CIA director-designate Mike Pompeo. Thats what you guys should be writing and covering, instead of sowing division about tweets and false narratives, Spicer declared. Were going to hold the press accountable as well, he added. Then he stormed out of the briefing room without taking questions. Fourniers condemnation of Spicers performancewhich included counterfactual exaggerations about the size of the inauguration crowd and television audience, as well as an embarrassing mispronunciation of the name of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, whom Spicer erroneously called prime minister and Pena Natoechoed near-universal denunciations from members of the press corps and political establishment of both parties. "Jaw meet floor," New York Times reporter Glenn Thrush tweeted, according to a roundup of reactions assembled by CNN media correspondent Brian Stelter. "I've run out of adjectives," offered longtime NBC White House correspondent Chuck Todd, the moderator of Meet the Press. Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, who served President George W. Bush, tweeted: "This is called a statement you're told to make by the President. And you know the President is watching." Hillary Clintons campaign spokesman, Brian Fallon, wrote: "Sean Spicer lacks the guts or integrity to refuse orders to go out and lie. He is a failure in this job on his first full day." And neoconservative pundit Bill Kristol, a former top White House aide for Bush 41 as Vice President Dan Quayles chief of staff, remarked that "it is embarrassing, as an American, to watch this briefing by Sean Spicer from the podium at the White House. Not the RNC. The White House." The 45th presidentwho spent the campaign insulting the reporters covering him as scum, dishonest, and the lowest form of lifeis clearly not changing his stripes now that hes the most powerful human on the planet. And Spicer, apparently goaded by his bosses, is proving himself equally capable of misplaced rage and indignation. During a visit with CIA employees at the agencys Langley, Virginia, headquarters Saturday afternoon, the president went on an extended rant concerning what he called his running war with the media, whom he described as among the most dishonest human beings on Earth. And they sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community, Trump complainedas though none of the hundreds of CIA employees in the room would remember that barely a week ago, he bitterly blamed the intelligence community for the leak of a scandalous unverified dossier alleging his misbehavior during a trip to Moscow, or that he repeatedly compared the intelligence community to Nazi Germany. Astonishingly, while standing in front of a memorial wall honoring 117 CIA officers who gave their lives for their country, the president also and singled out Times Zeke Miller for special attention. Noting that he had been featured on Times cover like, 14 or 15 timesI think we have the all-time record in the history of Time magazine, the commander in chief went on, according to the official White House transcript: They saidit was very interestingthat Donald Trump took down the bust, the statue, of Dr. Martin Luther King. And it was right there. But there was a cameraman that was in front of itSo ZekeZeke from Time Magazine writes a story about I took down. I would never do that because I have great respect for Dr. Martin Luther King. But this is how dishonest the media is. Afterward, a spokesman for Obamas just-departed CIA director John Brennan issued a furious blast at the president: "Former CIA Director Brennan is deeply saddened and angered at Donald Trump's despicable display of self-aggrandizement in front of CIA's Memorial Wall of Agency heroes. Brennan says that Trump should be ashamed of himself." Fournier, for his part, said Spicers defilement of the truth, and that of his boss, has broken new ground in modern presidential communications. We are in uncharted territory, said Fournier, who covered presidents from Bill Clinton to Barack Obama. I was there and saw a president lie about his affairs. I saw another president wage war over a patently false pretense. I saw another president stretch the truth about his health care policy. And now, on the first full day of his presidency, Donald Trump and Sean Spicer are going to war about the size of a crowd? Stop it. This is about as odd as it gets. In Greek mythology, Prometheus taught man how to farm. But when he gave man fire, the gods felt he had gone too far. And so as punishment, Zeus chained Prometheus to a rock where every day an eagle would come and eat his liver, which would regrow because he was immortal. Prometheuss story is about mankinds dominion over its world and how much power is too much. But counterintuitively it is Zeus, not Prometheus, who many artists and writers in the last thousand years have sided with. The story is relevant today because humanity is at a turning point, and two opposing forces are locked in a war that is just beginning to come into being. On one side are our innovations and the power that comes with them, and on the other side is the fact that when it comes to us ourselves, there seems to be no innovation. For tens of thousands of years, technology has been directed outwardon the world at large. Now, for the first time in human history, technology has reached a point where it can be directed inwardback on its creators. Technology has found something new it would like to change: Us. In 2010, researchers at the University of Colorado performed what they thought would be an unremarkable experiment on lab mice. They injured the mices limbs and injected them with stem cells to heal the damage. Then something strange happened. The muscles in those little limbs nearly doubled in size and strength. Not only that, the muscles stayed that way for the life of each mouse, defying even the aging process itself. Essentially the researchers had accidentally created a race of super-mice. Another experiment in 2001 involved injecting human stem cells, of all things, into the brains of aging mice. Soon after, the mice began to perform better on the Morris water maze test. In other words, the stem cells had made them smarter. When people think of stem cells, they usually think of a potential cure for diseases like Parkinsons. But there is another, potentially far darker, use for stem cells, and that is on people who are perfectly healthy. It is this application, fundamentally changing the human body, that gave me the idea to write my novel, The Prometheus Man. Weve all heard stories about a mother whos able to lift a car off her child as her body mainlines adrenalin. Imagine using stem cells to triple the size of a persons adrenal gland. Youd produce something on par with one of those people who are so zombified on PCP that they get shot three times and still manage to beat up six cops. The military uses for such a technology, the parts of the human body that could be improved, pass through your mind like something from a sideshow in a bad dream. And we havent even gotten to the most lethal part of the human anatomy: the brain. Theres a fixed amount of space in our skulls. Theoretically by growing the parts of the brain you want enhanced, like the part that controls reflexes and coordination, you could also shrink the parts of the brain you want diminished, like, say, the part that contributes to a persons remorse. Bear in mind things need not actually play out this way in the real world. As I attempted to capture in my book, it is often the attempt itself that is the true source of horror. The 20th century saw the innovation of weapons of mass destruction. It also saw innovations in ideology that cheered the destruction of 200 million people, roughly 8 percent of the worlds population, in wars and oppression. But the technologies in their infancy today take things in the opposite direction. By augmenting our bodies, they increase our ability to commit more intimateand thus more covertviolence. They take us back to our roots. And they do it at a time when wars arent fought by equals on a battlefield. Theyre often quick attacksover before most people know about themwhere the goal is to inflict maximum despair not on the target but on the people viewing at home. But it doesnt end there. Technology can weaponize the human body, but with the internet, governments and other actors have the ability to go after the mind. The internet is the greatest source of data on the human spirit in history, and its about to go even deeper with virtual-reality. Peoples hopes and dreams, their fears, their hatreds, its all right there. And over the last decade, we have witnessed the rise of something perfectly designed to make use of it: algorithms. Algorithms regularly outperform human analysts on Wall Street. They also make more accurate diagnoses of mental illness than psychiatrists. The algorithms are so much more effective than the doctors that the doctors underperform even when theyre given the results of the algorithm. Algorithms are getting so good at predicting human behavior that they have the power to identify not just undesirable urges and interests but the activities that predict those undesirable urges and interests. Serial killers, terrorists, dissidentsits highly likely that their online habits cohere around some common patterns of behavior. Theoretically we could understand the direction of their lives better than they understand it themselves. And once you understand something enough to predict what it will do, you can control it. Yet intervention isnt the real goal. The real goal is to go much further. It is to alter something fundamental to who we are: our experience of reality. Research is uncovering patterns in our most primal needs that can be exploited. If that sounds paranoid, consider Robert Cialdini, PhD. Dr. Cialdini wrote a bestseller, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, about the ways others play on our programming to create impressions that arent true and compel behavior that isnt in our interests. The stated goal of his book was to free us from this manipulation, but this ideal didnt stop Dr. Cialdini from becoming an adviser to the Obama campaign. Obama objective merits were evidently insufficient on their own. The good doctor felt the candidates presidency was so thoroughly in your best interests that he had no qualms about using the dark arts to place his thumb on the scales of your mind. Theres a conclusion here. People start out simply wanting to understand reality, but in truth they always hunger to change it. But Dr. Cialdini was targeting something voluntary: voting. Consider, by contrast, the Reid technique, a nine-step algorithm of sorts that the FBI uses to pressure suspects during an interrogation. The Reid technique has been tested and refined on tens of thousands of suspects, but it has a bug. It produces false confessions. In other words, the technique is so effective it causes innocent people to sign away their freedom, just to make it stop. The Reid technique, at the height of its powers, creates a false reality in the suspects mind more powerful than the fact-based reality outside it. Forget changing someones body. The Reid technique achieves the most fundamental change of all. And it is an innovation of perhaps the most frightening kind of violence, the kind that gets us to hang ourselves. Manipulating our bodies, manipulating our mindsthese are pretty scary things. In response, there are those who believe the ethical issues raised by these new technologies can be resolved through debate. But when have we ever done that before? Nuclear weapons could destroy the human race, and yet they still came into existence. Strike that. It was rational for some countries to bring them into existence. That says something pretty stark about us. That says that the larger truth may be the scariest thing of all: were not really in charge. It is usour morality, our virtuethat lags technology, not the other way around. Maybe there was a reason that Zeus didnt hash things out with Prometheus, but simply put a stop to him altogether. I love to read things that were written long agocenturies ago, even thousands of years ago. Ill tell you what got the hook in my mouth. I realized that many of these writers were just like me. And I felt this connection. Because it meant the things that frustrated me and fascinated me werent unique. They were a part of what it means to be alive. But theres a corollary to this. If someone who lived hundreds or thousands of years ago is just like meand also you, assuming youre as retrograde as I amthen that means to a large degree we have stayed the same. Yet in the meantime, aided by technology, our power grows. Think about what that means. Technology doesnt just shrink the world to our convenience. It is magnifying whats inside us. And in freeing us from a hard-scrabble existence where we have to work 12-hour days to survive, it is giving us room to express our deepest selves. Our deepest selves, though, are deeply problematic. For the last 50 years, the developed world has experienced unprecedented peace, prosperity and technological comfort. And this is the result. In the U.S., one in four women is taking a prescription drug for mental health. According to the Centers for Disease Control, life expectancy isnt increasing. Its just dropped. Data from the Census and the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows 25 percent of men age 25 to 64 dont work full-time, and most of them are no longer looking for a job. You would expect people to have become less violent. Instead, starting in the 70s, there was an explosion of violent crime, which was eventually brought under control only by incarcerating the highest percentage of our citizens of any country in the world. Meanwhile, according to the General Social Survey, from 1972 to 2006, women rated themselves less and less happy each year, as by almost every objective measure their lives improved. Because we are more free from hardship than anyone before us, you would expect us to be healthier, wealthier, and wiser. But in significant ways, we have become the opposite. Why? Because were flawed. Because our deepest selves want things they perhaps were never meant to have. And for many of us, prosperity has simply given us room to go to pieces. The world, it turns out, isnt infinitely progressive. Its mean-reverting, and not due to the impersonal factors of randomness or scarcity, but because of the most personal factor of all: us. There are those who believe that people are so flawed that society must step in and control them with vast amounts of regulation, i.e., with force. But theres a limit to this, and we can see it by looking at Europe. Europe, with its giant welfare/regulatory states, has higher unemployment than the U.S., lower GDP growth, far less technological innovation, and fertility rates that can only be described as self-repeal. Every problem the U.S. has, Europe has it 20 percent worse. And the funny thing about all that regulation? In Europe, the informal economy, i.e., the part that doesnt pay taxes or obey the law, is bigger than it is in the U.S., much bigger. So instead of making people more moral, the attempt to control them has only driven them underground. At a certain point, idealism breaks itself on the reality it is attempting to bend. The Europeans have attempted to take the risk out of life. Instead theyve taken the life out of themselves. What emerges from all this, and whats so amazing about the world, is that life is something we just cant win. It seems there will never be a war to end all wars, enough wealth to end all poverty, or a perfect order to end all disorder. And there will never be a formula for the human spirit. Experts cant solve us. We cant solve us. That thing technology is magnifying, the gravity holding it all together, is the thing we control least of all. Joe Kennedy once described his children as hostages to fortune. I think of my own hostages to fortune, a tough little two-year-old boy and the girl currently incubating in my wife. The world may have its problems, but it really is a wonderful time to be alive. One thing, though, is certain. As technology and prosperity begin to enhance not just our stuff but us ourselves, the future will increasingly be one of our own creation. The problem is that we seem to be the biggest variable of all. And that variability is something we never have been able to suppress or engineer away. That variability, in fact, seems to be a large part of what it means to be alive. As for Prometheus, Hercules eventually came and broke his chains. Mankind, it seems, will always find a way to set him free. Scott Reardon is a graduate of Georgetown University and Northwestern Law. He currently works at an investment management firm in Los Angeles. The Prometheus Man is his first novel. Nike Cuts Ties With Kyrie Irving Over Hate Speech JUST DID IT The brand has suspended its relationship with Irving and will no longer release the Kyrie 8. By Press Trust of India: From Lalit K Jha Washington, Jan 20 (PTI) Donald Trump, the 45th President of the US, today announced to end cut in military budget implemented by the previous Obama administration and said it would develop a state-of-the-art missile system, rebuild the military, and develop offensive cyber capabilities. "President Trump will end the defence sequester and submit a new budget to Congress outlining a plan to rebuild our military. We will provide our military leaders with the means to plan for our future defence needs," the White House said moments after Trump was sworn in as the new President of the United States. advertisement "We will also develop a state-of-the-art missile defence system to protect against missile-based attacks from states like Iran and North Korea," it said. Observing that cyberwarfare is an emerging battlefield, the White House said the US must take every measure to safeguard its national security secrets and systems. "We will make it a priority to develop defencive and offensive cyber capabilities at our US Cyber Command, and recruit the best and brightest Americans to serve in this crucial area," it said. Declaring that energy is an essential part of American life and a staple of the world economy, the White House said the Trump Administration is committed to energy policies that lower costs for hardworking Americans and maximise the use of American resources, freeing US from dependence on foreign oil. "President Trump is committed to eliminating harmful and unnecessary policies such as the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the US rule. Lifting these restrictions will greatly help American workers, increasing wages by more than USD30 billion over the next seven years," it said. The White House said the Trump administration will embrace the shale oil and gas revolution to bring jobs and prosperity to millions of Americans. "We must take advantage of the estimated USD 50 trillion in untapped shale, oil, and natural gas reserves, especially those on federal lands that the American people own," it said. Souding a warning to NAFTA, the White House said if partners refuse a renegotiation that gives American workers a fair deal, then the President will give notice of the United States intent to withdraw from NAFTA. According to the White House, to get the economy back on track, Trump has outlined a bold plan to create 25 million new American jobs in the next decade and return to four percent annual economic growth. The plan starts with pro-growth tax reform to help American workers and businesses keep more of their hard-earned dollars, it said. Trumps plan will lower rates for Americans in every tax bracket, simplify the tax code, and reduce the US corporate tax rate, which is one of the highest in the world, it said. advertisement "Fixing a tax code that is outdated, overly complex, and too onerous will unleash Americas economy, creating millions of new jobs and boosting economic growth," it said. Trump has proposed a moratorium on new federal regulations and is ordering the heads of federal agencies and departments to identify job-killing regulations that should be repealed, the White House said. PTI LKJ SUA SUA --- ENDS --- It has been a year and a half and more since the Supreme Court ruled that homosexual couples have the same right to marry as heterosexual couples. In that time, perhaps thousands of same-sex couples have been wed. And the nation hasn't collapsed, the world hasn't ended. In that time, an estimated 3 million heterosexual couples have been married and their marriages are as valid as are those of couples married prior to June 26, 2015. By a 5-4 vote, in the case of Obergefell vs. Hodges -- a combination of several other cases -- the high court was doing exactly what it is supposed to do: uphold the Constitution. It also recognized the evolving definition of equality in America. An evolution it has been. When our nation was founded, the stirring term "all men are created equal" really didn't mean all people. It didn't even mean all men. Since that time, the United States has extended that phrase to include people of color, women, immigrants, the physically and mentally challenged, the elderly and the very young and, now, LGBTQ Americans. As rights have been extended to more and more Americans, it is important to note that in doing so, not one constitutional right has been taken from any American. Those good people -- especially those who have enjoyed full rights and benefits from the very beginning -- who think extending a right to others somehow reduces or eliminates their rights simply are wrong. Millions of Americans were unhappy with the Supreme Court ruling, and many probably still are. But really, why? No minister has been forced to conduct, no church or synagogue has been required to host a same-sex marriage. No one has been forced to attend. No heterosexual marriage has been revoked because of the ruling. Yet, some Americans still fight to diminish the force of the ruling, to change its clear intent. Among them are our own Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton, all of whom apparently think they represent only straight Texans. Last September, the nine members of the Texas Supreme Court -- all conservative Republicans -- decided not to hear a case trying to overturn the Houston City Council's decision to extend spousal benefits to same-sex employees -- the same benefits earned by heterosexual employees. In October, however, the state's top three elected officials filed a brief asking the state's top civil court to reconsider, saying they wanted to use the Houston case to limit the effects of Obergefell v. Hodges in Texas. They noted that voters had approved a state constitutional amendment limiting marriage to one man and one woman. In their brief, Abbott, Patrick and Paxton argued, "This case is one of many cases that will require state courts to examine the scope of the right to same-sex marriage announced by the Supreme Court." Speaking to the Texas Supreme Court, the three said, "Principles of comity, federalism, and the rule of law should make state courts particularly wary of using the federal constitution to expand upon newly created substantive due process rights that have the effect of undoing the work of state lawmakers. ... This court has the opportunity to diminish federal tyranny and re-establish Texas sovereignty," On Friday, Texas Supreme Court justices reversed themselves and agreed to hear the Houston case, setting arguments for March. It's disappointing that our governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general believe that American rights can be granted piecemeal, that they apply only to the majority, that this country belongs only to them and their allies. Surely they should understand that human rights cannot be determined by popular vote. If that were the case, then only white male property owners would have a say in our country. Let's hope the Texas Supreme Court justices follow their original instincts and reject this legal assault on many of our fellow Texans. By Press Trust of India: Washington, Jan 22 (PTI) US Justice Department has said that President Donald Trumps decision to hire his son-in-law as a senior White House adviser does not violate federal anti-nepotism laws. The Office of Legal Counsel issued a 14-page memo, saying that the president is not barred from appointing Jared Kushner because federal law grants the president special hiring authority that exempts him and his hires from anti-nepotism laws. advertisement Anti-nepotism laws prevent appointment of family members to government positions. The statute, from 1967, reads: "A public official may not appoint, employ, promote, advance, or advocate for appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement, in or to a civilian position in the agency in which he is serving or over which he exercises jurisdiction or control any individual who is a relative of the public official." The law specifically identifies the president as one of the "public officials" the law applies to and a "son-in-law" as a prohibited relative. But federal law also authorizes the president "to appoint and fix the pay of employees in the White House Office without regard to any other provision of law regulating the employment or compensation of persons in the Government service", CBS News reported. "The most natural and straightforward reading of the President may appoint relatives as employees in the White House Office without regard to the anti-nepotism statute," the OLC concluded. The OLC said the federal law is intended to give the president "broad discretion" in hiring White House employees. Kushner, 35, is married to Trumps daughter Ivanka Trump and has served as a close adviser throughout the campaign and the transition. When Trump signed his first executive order from the Oval Office Friday night, for example, Kushner was in the room. The memo also found a second legal path to permit Kushners hire, citing precedent that anti-nepotism rules do not apply to the White House because it is not an "Executive agency". There have been previous instances where the OLC has been asked to grapple with this question. In 1977, the office advised that President Carter would not be able to appoint first lady Rosalynn Carter to serve as chair of the President?s Commission on Mental Health as it was independent from the White House. Another example was in 1983 when it was asked to decide whether the president could appoint a relative to the Presidential Advisory Committee on Private Sector Initiatives. advertisement "In choosing his personal staff, the President enjoys and unusual degree of freedom, which Congress found suitable to the demands of his office," the memo concludes. The memo was written by Deputy Assistant Attorney General Daniel Koffsky. He has been at the Justice Department for decades, and former Attorney General Eric Holder referred to him as a "living repository of OLC?s precedents and practices". PTI UZM --- ENDS --- The Obama Presidency will be remembered as one of the most competent and by far the greenest presidency in American history. His list of achievements will ensure that his climate legacy will be remembered, even if some do not yet fully appreciate the gift he has given to future generations. We who fight for the Earth and its inhabitants owe President Obama an eternal debt of gratitude. Obama may be remembered for reversing the economic free-fall he inherited or saving the US auto industry. Under his leadership, the number of jobs steadily increased and he left office with one of the lowest unemployment rates in US history. When he took the oath of office in 2009 unemployment was just below 10 percent by the time he left it was halved to under 5 percent. However, the legacy that he leaves for future generations is his record of climate action. In all likelihood, Trump will be remembered for his denial that condemned future generations to a climate catastrophe. For these and other reasons, people came together in Washington D.C. on January 19th, to thank the president for his service. They also came to protest Trump. Millions are committed to preserving Obamas stellar legacy. They have pledged to resist the dystopia of the Trump administration. If there is a silver lining to the Trump presidency it is that it has brought a divided Democratic party together. It has also encouraged concerned citizens to get more involved in the political process. The arc of the Obama presidency A GQ article early last year said that Obama will go down as one of the greatest presidents of all time. In Trumps alternate universe he is justified to villainize Obama. In his inauguration speech, Trump said he will end the carnage. What carnage? At the end of his presidency, a total of 57 percent of Americans said that economic conditions are good, compared with 13 percent in January 2009 when Obama took office. Obamas favorability rating stands at 63 percent, among the best for recent presidents. According to a CNN poll, almost two-thirds (65 percent) of Americans said that the Obama presidency was a success. Meanwhile, Trump has one of the lowest approval ratings at just over 40 percent (Obamas approval rating when he took office was 85 percent). The only carnage is the one that the Trump administration augurs. As Obama said in his State of the Union Address, after years of record corporate profits, working families wont get more opportunity or bigger paychecks by letting big banks or big oil or hedge funds make their own rules at the expense of everyone else. In the final months of his term, Obama described climate change as terrifying and the greatest threat we face and he added that no other country is better equipped to lead the world on this issue than the United States. He also said that he sees his climate efforts as the key legacy issue of his presidency. In July Obama introduced the Clean Energy for All initiative to ensure that every American household has access to clean and affordable energy. The goal is to bring 1 gigawatt (GW) of solar to low- and moderate-income families by 2020. Obama also protected dozens of places both on water and on land, this included one in Hawaii that is now the largest protected place in the world. On December 28, the President protected an additional 1.5 million acres of land for a total of more than 550 million acres (click here to access the full list). His efforts to protect and preserve our oceans (he has protected more waters than any of his predecessors)) drove the Atlantic to describe Obama as, The Ocean President. Before leaving office Obama threw a second $500 million into the Green Climate Fund. However there is still $2 billion remaining and Trump has promised to do what he does best, namely stiff those that he owes money to. Trump will undermine Obamas legacy Obama will be remembered as a climate leader and derivatives of his policies will return in earnest once sensible leadership returns to the white house, however, in the interim tremendous damage will be done to Obamas legacy and the planet. We can expect Trump to lift restrictions and allow fossil fuel extraction to take place on public lands. However, this will be countered by ongoing litigation and protest. Market realities may also impede Trumps push to expand extraction. Obama has tried to erect roadblocks to limit Trumps fossil fuel expansion plans. He has all but shut down offshore drilling for the next few years. Although Trump could rewrite the plan this would take some time. Once again such an expansion would be curtailed by market forces. Other Obama policies are much more vulnerable. For example, Trump could roll back Obamas rules on methane in the oil and gas industry. Obamas signature legacy action is the Clean Power Plan and Trump will likely be able to kill it. Optimism from the architects Former Vice President Joe Biden has a more optimistic take on Obama (and his) legacy. Biden was quoted in The Independent as saying Trump will not be able to undo Obamas environmental progress. Biden reassured people by suggesting that the Obama administrations green policies will survive President Trump. There is no way of turning back the tide that has begun to roll, Mr Biden said at a Canadian environmental summit. He explained that when it comes to things like renewable energy businesses are investing because it saves them money. Biden indicated that he is absolutely confident the United States will continue making progress on this path to a low-carbon future because they are market driven and not dependent on government initiatives. One of the things the President and I are proudest of accomplishing over the last eight years, Biden said, is debunking the myth that America cant grow our economy and bring down emissions at the same time. The contrast between Potus 44 and 45 is obvious. They are opposites in almost every way imaginable. Just days before Trump took the oath of office, he was tweeting insults while Obama was publishing an article about clean energy in a scientific journal. In this piece the president said there are four reasons why the trend toward clean energy is irreversible: 1. Economic growth and cutting carbon emissions go hand in hand. Any economic strategy that doesnt take climate change into account will result in fewer jobs and less economic growth in the long term. 2. Businesses know that reducing emissions can boost bottom lines and make shareholders happy. And efficiency boosts employment too: About 2.2 million Americans now have jobs related to energy efficiency, compared to about 1.1 million with fossil fuel jobs. 3. The market is already moving toward cleaner electricity. Natural gas is replacing coal, and renewable energy costs are falling dramatically trends that will continue (even with a coal-loving president). 4. Theres global momentum for climate action. In 2015 in Paris, nearly 200 nations agreed to bring down carbon emissions. The End of an Era With the end of the Obama administration and the dawn of the Trump administration, we are marking a radical shift that represents the end of an era. Some think of it as the death of neoliberalism. Others like Peter Leyden, founder & CEO of media company Reinvent, think the big change in strategic direction is a function of moving too fast. He quoted John Maynard Keynes, who in a book titled Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren (1930) spoke of, growing-pains of over-rapid changes, from the painfulness of readjustment between one economic period and another Rather than look at Brexit and Trump as being indicative of a new global dystopia, he believes we are headed towards a new 21st-century civilization. Trump Begins The End. Leyden explained. Brexit and Trump, are not driving the change, they are reacting to the change. They are not showing the way forward, they are making desperate attempts to cling to the past, a past that is gone forever. The 21st-century civilization Leyden envisages is rather optimistic in that it is defined by three characteristics, smart interconnectivity through digital technologies, globalized and sustainable. Speaking about the 1930s Leyden said, that eras right wing took those fears and drove a good chunk of the world into fascism and a world war. Today Trump is heading down that path but he wont get far. I think Trump ultimately is going to do America and the world a service by becoming the vehicle that will finally take down right-wing conservative politics for a generation or two. Leyden sees leadership coming from California and he thinks that innovation will go into hyper-drive. He also has a message for those who supported Obama, stay hopeful. I truly believe that the politics and policies that President Obama helped usher in will prevail in the end. In the big-picture view of history, the brief Trump reign will be seen as a difficult but necessary step in the massive transition between one economic period to another. Obamas decade of work will be seen, in the decades to come, as the truly enduring foundation. He laid the groundwork for what will certainly become the all-digital, fully global, sustainable civilization of the 21st century. Obama also had a hopeful message in his farewell speech. He told the Times that he fully intends to be an active supporter of climate action. He even offered the lofty hope that he may be able to get through to science-resistant Republicans. "The reason you are my first stop is that, as you know, I have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on Earth," Trump said amidst applause and laughter from the CIA officials attending his maiden address to them. By Press Trust of India: Describing journalists as the most dishonest human beings on Earth, US President Donald Trump has said he has been "running a war" with the media and warned them of consequences for falsely reporting that less number of people attended his inauguration. "We had a massive field of people. You saw them. Packed. I get up this morning, I turn on one of the networks, and they show an empty field," Trump said. advertisement "I say, wait a minute, I made a speech. I looked out, it looked like a million, million and a half people. They showed a field where there were practically nobody standing there. READ| Donald Trump's mental stability questioned by top US psychiatrists They (media) said, Donald Trump did not draw well. I said, it was almost raining, the rain should have scared them away, but God looked down and he said, we're not going to let it rain on your speech," he said. "Then I walked off and it poured right after I left. It poured. But, we have something that's amazing because, it looked like a million and a half people. Whatever it was, it was. But it went all the way back to the Washington Monument. WATCH: And I turn on -- and by mistake I get this network, and it showed an empty field. And it said we drew 250,000 people," he said. "Now, that's not bad, but it's a lie. We had 250,000 people literally around in the little bowl that we constructed. That was 250,000 people. The rest of the 20-block area, all the way back to the Washington Monument, was packed. So we caught them, and we caught them in a beauty. I think they're going to pay a big price," Trump warned. Trump was speaking at the CIA headquarters. He told his top spy agency that this is the reason for him visiting the CIA headquarters as the media has portrayed that he has differences with the intelligence community. READ| This boy just left a cheeky message about Donald Trump on camera "The reason you're my first stop is that, as you know, I have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on Earth," Trump said amidst applause and laughter from the CIA officials attending his maiden address to them. "They sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community. And I just want to let you know, the reason you're the number-one stop is exactly the opposite. advertisement They understand that, too," he said and then said that the crown strength of his inauguration was being accurately being written by the media. READ| Twilight actor Kristen Stewart: Donald Trump was really obsessed with me Then Trump listed out another incident. So a reporter wrote that Trump took down the bust, of Martin Luther King. "It was right there. But there was a cameraman that was in front of it. So a reporter writes a story about I took down. I would never do that because I have great respect for Martin Luther King. But this is how dishonest the media is," Trump alleged. "I only like to say that because I love honesty. I like honest reporting. I will tell you, final time -- when you let in your thousands of other people that have been trying to come in -- because I am coming back -- we're going to have to get you a larger room," Trump said indicating that he would have a bigger room for the White House press corps. ALSO READ| Did US President Trump copy his inauguration speech from not 1 BUT 3 films!? --- ENDS --- advertisement How to watch, stream and listen to Iowa football's game against Purdue By Press Trust of India: Kathmandu, Jan 22 (PTI) Two Indian nationals have been arrested by Nepal police here on charges of stealing money from bank accounts of many people, after forging debit cards and hacking their ATM pin. Police arrested Iqtedar Khan (23) from Chandigarh and Niranjan Mehta (33) from Delhi from the capitals tourist hub, Thamel, on January 12, after examining CCTV footage from multiple ATM booths in the Kathmandu Valley. advertisement The Nepal Polices Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) had swung into action after receiving numerous complaints from the public that they lost balance from their bank accounts though they did not withdrawn any money, the Himalayan Times reported. According to the police, the duo had withdrawn around Nepali rupees 600,000 from around 20 ATMs in the past one month. Police also seized mobile phones, Rs 8,000 cash, a forged ATM card among other materials from their possession. If convicted, the suspects would face a jail sentence up to five years and a fine equal to the amount they defrauded, police informed. PTI SUA SUA --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: From Aditi Khanna London, Jan 22 (PTI) As part of a post-Brexit plan, the UK government is set to announce a 170-million-pound project to set up special maths and technology institutes as credible alternatives to the academic route for people who choose not to go to university. Prime Minister Theresa May will use her first regional Cabinet meeting tomorrow to launch the "Modern Industrial Strategy" as part of the post-Brexit plan. advertisement The Institutes of Technology will be aimed at enabling students to develop the skills they need to do the high-paid, high-skilled jobs of the future, Downing Street said. "As we leave the EU it will help us grasp the bigger prize: the chance to build that stronger, fairer Britain that stands tall in the world and is set up to succeed in the long-term. And it is a vital step towards building a country where prosperity is shared and there is genuine opportunity for all," May said in a pre-announcement statement. "Our action will help ensure young people develop the skills they need to do the high-paid, high-skilled jobs of the future. That means boosting technical education and ensuring we extend the same opportunity and respect we give university graduates to those people who pursue technical routes," she said. The government wants to expand the provision of specialist maths education across the country under the proposals to be outlined in a government "green paper", with the public and institutions across the UK providing feedback before a final policy is drafted. UK Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy secretary Greg Clark said: "We are building a modern and comprehensive Industrial Strategy for the long term, which we are doing in partnership with businesses and workers across the country. We want to build on the UKs significant strengths and excellence to shape our future economy. "The UK has some of the best universities in the world and our schools are improving, yet for too long technical education for school leavers has been neglected - with large differences in skill levels between regions. We must improve skills and opportunities so we can close the gap between the best people, places and businesses and the rest. "It is about making our country one of the most competitive places in the world to start and grow a business. We are inviting people throughout the UK to contribute to this work to create a high-skilled economy that works for everyone." As part of the new system of technical education, the UK government is also exploring a new centralised "UCAS-style" way of searching and applying for courses in technical education, to give those considering the technical route clearer information and better support throughout the application process and create genuine parity of aspiration. PTI AK ABH --- ENDS --- advertisement This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NORWALK When former FBI agent and federal prosecutor Quentin Williams released his provocatively-titled book, A Survival Guide: How Not to Get Killed by the Police-Part One, his colleagues in the law enforcement community were stunned. Some of my best friends were judging my book by its cover and what I am trying to do is to get people not to judge people so quickly either, to encourage them to always dig deeper, Williams said. Williams explained that his book, drawn on his years in law enforcement as well as his personal experiences with police, was actually a guidebook for both police and citizens to promote compliance, safety, and mutual respect during police interactions. The idea for writing the book came to me years ago. I would drive between Charlotte, North Carolina and New York and once or twice a year I would get pulled over on I-95 on drug interdictions. As an FBI agent I understood interdictions, Williams said. During one stop a trooper came over to the car and within two minutes the stop was completed and we were on our way. My wife looked at me and said, you should write a book about what you just did. Citing a mindset of compliance and respect by all parties during traffic stops, he released his 31-page guidebook, which outlines tips on surviving police interactions and is geared to both the public and law enforcement. The book was originally written for my son. This was right about the time that Treyvon Martin and Eric Garner were in the news so I decided to release the book to the public, Williams said. As an attorney whos represented athletes and entertainers for the past 20 years, Ive gotten calls where my clients have said to me Ive gotten pulled over and I dont want to get killed. In response to the positive feedback to his book, Williams founded a program, Choose2Live, with its stated mission to: To serve as an information resource for law enforcement, educational institutions and social change organizations by providing strategies and information that build and strengthen internal and external relationships. Choose2Live offers educational and interactive presentations to engage middle school through college students, law enforcement, and community groups in candid discussions to encourage positive, healthy and rational life choices. Williams now travels across the country speaking to school groups and police departments. On Thursday, Jan. 26, Williams will be making presentations to 11th- and- 12th-grade students at Norwalk High School and Brien McMahon High School, where he will share his personal experiences along with best practices when being stopped by police. Artie Kassimis, a Norwalk Board of Education member, pastor and Norwalk Police Department chaplain, set up a partnership between the Board of Education and the police department to bring the Choose2Live program to the schools. The total cost for the program is expected to come in at roughly $20,000, for both the program itself and to pay for a book for each student. About $12,000 of that will come from the schools, with the police department picking up the rest of the tab. That $12,000 will come from the school districts textbook fund, through a budget transfer that was approved by the Board of Education at last Tuesdays meeting. As part of his story, Williams tells of one time when he was stopped by police officers, and although he identified himself as an FBI agent, he was detained for hours by police. The officer didnt believe I was an FBI agent. I had to put a smile on my face and comply to ensure that I wasnt placed into the system, Williams said. He called an engagement or battle with police officers on the street a losing recipe. The goal of any interaction with police is to bring all parties I dont say sides closer to the middle. There are battles you need to pick in life. If you feel that the officer is in the wrong, the street is not the place to fight that battle, he said. You comply and if you feel theres a problem, you can complain later. Williams offered the following menu of actions to take when you are the subject of a traffic stop: Turn on your hazard lights. Move slowly to the side of the road. Put the car in park and roll down the windows. Keep hands on steering wheel or outside of window. Take key out of ignition. Police feel that one of the greatest risks to their safety is to get into a chase, Williams said. When police ask you for documentation, ask permission before you reach for it and tell them what youre doing. Williams said that there is one comment he hears at nearly every school presentation. Someone will stand up and say, Thank you for telling us how not to get killed, now can you tell them how not to kill us? Williams also provides education to law enforcement. We go to police academies and in-service trainings and talk about how to be a better public servant in the 21st century, he said. I tell them to make sure you know the people youre serving. We are sorely missing educating law enforcement about diversity and cultural difference and lot of dysfunction comes from misunderstanding. llake@hearstmediact.com Congress today announced its list for 41 candidates for the phase 1 and phase 2 of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. By India Today Web Desk: Hours after formally announcing an alliance with Samajwadi Party for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, the Congress party today released the list of its 41 candidates for the first and second phase of the elections. While Jitin Prasad will contest from Tilhar, Pradeep Mathur will contest from Mathura and Imran Masood from Nakur. Earlier today, the Congress on Sunday released its first list of 63 candidates for the Uttarakhand assembly polls, triggering anger among some activists who vandalised the party office in Dehradun. advertisement According to the list issued by All India Congress Committee, Chief Minister Harish Rawat will contest from two seats: Hardwar Rural and Kichha. Congress list of candidates Congress list of candidates for phase 1 and phase 2 of UP polls. In a joint press conference Congress and Samajwadi Party announced that they will contest elections on 298 and 105 seats respectively in the upcoming elections. The two parties also intended to make Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav the Chief Minister again, he said. CONGRESS, SAMAJWADI ALLIANCE The announcement came after days of haggling over seat-sharing between the two parties. The talks at one point hit a roadblock as the ruling Samajwadi Party was willing to concede only around 90 seats to the Congress. As the SP refused to budge and the Congress not ready for anything below 120 seats, leaders in both the camps threw up their hands over the prospects of the electoral tie-up. It was only after the intervention of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who spoke to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on the phone on Saturday, that the alliance was finally sealed. The seven-phase elections in the state will commence on February 11 and conclude on March 8. The votes will be counted on March 11. Also read: Samajwadi Party, Congress make it official, to contest Uttar Pradesh polls together SP-Congress alliance: How Priyanka Gandhi's phone call to Dimple Yadav sealed the deal Uttar Pradesh election: Samajwadi Party seals deal with Congress; keeps 298 seats, concedes 105 Why Akhilesh took a jibe at Rahul Gandhi just after SP-Congress alliance --- ENDS --- The Samajwadi Party and Congress will contest Uttar Pradesh assembly polls together. The deal was sealed after SP president Akhilesh Yadav agreed to give 105 seats to the Congress in elections for the 403-member UP assembly. By Kumar Vikrant Singh: After days of talks and tough bargain, the Samajwadi Party and Congress finally arrived at a mutually agreeable seat-sharing formula for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. The deal was sealed after Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav agreed to give 105 seats to the Congress, which was bargaining hard to have an honourable escape from its earlier position of contesting the assembly polls alone and naming its chief ministerial candidate in Sheila Dikshit. advertisement The talks had hit rough weather after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, fresh from the victory achieved after bitter infighting in the party, refused to give Congress a three-figure number to field its candidates in the state. As late as yesterday, the parleys were as good as over with leaders from both parties blaming each other for the failed talks. But, Congress' UP in-charge Gulam Nabi Azad still had hopes, when he said, "You will come to know about the status of alliance by Sunday morning." Today, the result was there for all to see: the SP and Congress will contest the UP polls together. Akhilesh Yadav conceded a bit and Congress accepted new offer. Uttar Pradesh goes to the polls in seven phases on February 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, March 4 and 8. The counting of votes will take place on March 11. Wrong to suggest lightweights were dealing on behalf of Congress party.Discussion was at highest level- b/w CM (UP),GS I/C & Priyanka Gandhi Ahmed Patel (@ahmedpatel) January 22, 2017 Also read: Uttar Pradesh Grand Alliance: Sticking points between Samajwadi Party, Congress over seat sharing Watch video --- ENDS --- Retired Major Roy Monty Cary, Jr., 71, of Grand Island, previously of Las Vegas, Nev., and Hershey, Pa., went to be with the Lord on Sunday, Dec. 25, 2016, at CHI Health St. Francis Skilled Care Facility. A Celebration Of Life service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, at Livingston-Sondermann Funeral Home Chapel, 601 N. Webb Rd, Grand Island, NE 68803, with the Rev. Cathryn Love officiating. There will be full military rites performed at the funeral home. Born in Montgomery, W.V., on May 25, 1945, to Roy M. and Elizabeth Cary, he graduated from Gauley Bridge High School in 1964. Drafted during the Vietnam War, he spent four years in the Air Force in Albuquerque N.M., came home and attended Alderson Broaddus University in Philippi, W.V., where he graduated in 1975. He married Kathryn (Erskine) Cary of South Charleston, W.V., on April 25, 1975, in Clarksburg, W.V. Re-enlisting in the military, he joined the 193rd Special Operations out of Middletown, Pa., where he continued his education at Penn State University College of Medicine in Hershey, Pa. He would go on to be an active member of the Air Force tactical medical/surgical group. Retiring in 1994, Monty began working for the Federal Government in Las Vegas, Nev., for the next 10 years. He had a passion for teaching and became very active with the local colleges and universities as adjunct faculty for medical education classes. He and Kathy had recently moved to Nebraska to be with their daughter, Jennifer, and their two grandchildren. He had been in remission with cancer for nearly five years before he was diagnosed terminal at the University of Southern California in August. Monty was described by his patients, surgical colleagues and everyone who knew him as a kind and caring soul who would help anyone. He enjoyed talking to his son-in-law about farming and ranching and was looking forward to taking trips to pastures to check cows in the spring, and ride in his Clauss Chopper and John Deere Combine in the coming fall. Those left to cherish his memory are his wife, Kathy, of Grand Island; a daughter, Jennifer (Matthew) Turek, and grandchildren, Katelyn and Stetson, of Wood River; a brother, James (Betty) Cary of West Memphis, Ark.; a nephew, Dustin (Kim) Cary and daughters, Jessi and Brandi, of Jacksonville, Fla.; sisters-in-Law, Lydia Johnson of St. Albans, W.V., and Nancy Fox of South Charleston W.V.; many nieces, nephews and their children in the Charleston, W.V., area; and two best friends, Kevin and Ruth Hinds of Grand Island. He was preceded in death by his parents, Roy and Elizabeth Cary, and nephew, James Jimmy Thomas Cary Jr. The family would also like to thank all of the nurses at the St. Francis Skilled Care Facility. For the last four months of Montys life, you became around-the-clock best friends by the bedside, the calming voice, and a familiar face full of compassion. If you would like to make a monetary donation in memory of Monty, please remember the GRACE (Grand Island Area Cancer Endowment) Foundation, 3310 W. Capital Ave, Grand Island, NE 68803 or The American Cancer Society in a city/town near you. WASHINGTON Barack Obama did not go out quietly. His unquiet final acts were, in part, overshadowed by a successor who refused to come in quietly and, in part, by Obamas own endless, sentimental farewell tour. But there was nothing nostalgic or sentimental about Obamas last acts. Two of them were simply shocking. Perhaps we should have known. At the 2015 White House correspondents dinner, he joked about whether he had a bucket list: Well, I have something that rhymes with bucket list. Turns out, he wasnt kidding. Commuting the sentence of Chelsea Manning, one of the great traitors of our time, is finger-in-the-eye willfulness. Obama took 28 years off the sentence of a soldier who stole and then released through WikiLeaks almost half a million military reports plus another quarter-million State Department documents. The cables were embarrassing; the military secrets were almost certainly deadly. They jeopardized the lives not just of American soldiers on two active fronts Iraq and Afghanistan but of locals who were, at great peril, secretly aiding and abetting us. After Mannings documents release, the Taliban went on a killing spree (according to intelligence sources quoted by Fox News) of those who fit the description of individuals working with the United States. Moreover, we will be involved in many shadowy conflicts throughout the world. Locals will have to choose between us or our enemies. Would you choose a side that is so forgiving of a leaker who betrays her country and you? Even the word leaker is misleading. Leak makes it sound like a piece of information a whistleblower gives Woodward and Bernstein to expose misdeeds in high office. This was nothing of the sort. It was the indiscriminate dumping of a mountain of national security secrets certain to bring harm to American troops, allies and interests. Obama considered Mannings 35-year sentence excessive. On the contrary. It was lenient. Manning could have been and in previous ages, might well have been hanged for such treason. Now she walks after seven years. What makes this commutation so spectacularly in-your-face is its hypocrisy. Here is a president who spent weeks banging the drums over the harm inflicted by WikiLeaks with its release of stolen materials and emails during the election campaign. He demanded a report immediately. He imposed sanctions on Russia. He preened about the sanctity of the American political process. Over what? What exactly was released? A campaign chairmans private emails and Democratic National Committee chatter, i.e. campaign gossip, backbiting, indiscretions and cynicism. The usual stuff, embarrassing but not dangerous. No national security secrets, no classified material, no exposure of anyone to harm, just to ridicule and opprobrium. The other last-minute Obama bombshell occurred four weeks earlier when, for the first time in nearly a half-century, the United States abandoned Israel on a crucial Security Council resolution, allowing the passage of a condemnation that will plague both Israel and its citizens for years to come. After eight years of reassurance, Obama seized the chance free of political accountability for himself and his potential Democratic successor to do permanent damage to Israel. (The U.S. has no power to reverse the Security Council resolution.) Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. who went on to be a great Democratic senator, once argued passionately that in the anti-American, anti-democratic swamp of the U.N., America should act unwaveringly in opposition and never give in to the jackals. Obama joined the jackals. Why? To curry favor with the international left? After all, Obama leaves office as a relatively young man of 55. His next chapter could very well be as a leader on the international stage, perhaps at the U.N. (secretary-general?) or some transnational (ostensibly) human rights organization. What better demonstration of bona fides than a gratuitous attack on Israel? Or the about-face on Manning and WikiLeaks? Or the freeing of a still unrepentant Puerto Rican terrorist, Oscar Lopez Rivera, also pulled off with three days remaining in his presidency. A more likely explanation, however, is that these are acts not of calculation but of authenticity. This is Obama being Obama. He leaves office as he came in: a man of the left, but possessing the intelligence and discipline to suppress his more radical instincts. As of Nov. 9, 2016, suppression was no longer necessary. Weve just gotten a glimpse of his real self. From now on, we shall see much more of it. Donald Trump is a legitimate president. Sure, there are many questions about the way the election was conducted last fall, and he did lose the popular vote. But he clearly won under the Electoral College system, and the office if not the man deserves respect. There is a more important question hanging over Trumps inauguration, however: Does he have the judgment, temperament and self-discipline necessary to be an effective leader? If legitimacy is a settled issue, ability is not. And so far, the evidence has not been encouraging. Since the election, Trump has plunged into various battles with actress Meryl Streep, the casts of Hamilton and Saturday Night Live (again!), Rep. John Lewis, CIA director John Brennan, the entire intelligence community, many European leaders, and news outlets CNN and Buzzfeed. His behavior is so self-absorbed, so thin-skinned, so lacking in a sense of proportion that only one explanation makes any sense: He cannot help himself. He has to respond to every slight, every criticism, with the rhetorical equivalent of a cruise missile. That hypersensitivity is the last quality we need in a president. He will be bombarded by critics every single day for the next four years. And he should heed the advice of Barack Obama, who was asked on 60 Minutes what skills are required to be a good president. Thick skin helps, answered Obama immediately, and he should know. After all, he was subjected to years of painful accusations that he was not a legitimate president by none other than Donald Trump. The issue here is not just, well, skin-deep. The most important quality in a president is the ability to make sound decisions in the middle of a crisis. To keep his cool and his calm. To be a source of confidence, encouragement and yes, hope. In the wonderful documentary by Ken Burns about the Roosevelts, columnist George Will says that when FDR took office in the middle of the Great Depression, his most effective weapon was his smile: jaunty, magnetic, optimistic. Trumps face is marked by a scowl, not a smile. He seems consumed by grievances, and his campaign was animated by the settling of scores and exploiting the grievances of others. The slogan Lock her up was as popular as Make America Great Again. Qualms about Trumps personal qualities are not new, and the election did not erase them. Look at these astounding exit poll results: 61 percent of voters said Trump was unqualified to be president, yet 17 percent of those skeptics voted for him anyway. Sixty-three percent said he lacked the temperament to be president, but 19 percent of those chose him over Hillary Clinton. In the latest ABC/Washington Post poll, only 4 in 10 Americans view him favorably or express confidence in his decision-making. As a candidate, Trump survived those widespread fears about his flaws and failings. But as he takes office, those flaws become far more consequential. Start with Russia. Trump repeatedly attacked the intelligence agencies for reporting that Moscow had tried to tilt the election in his favor. Finally, grudgingly, he had to admit the charges were accurate. Then he assailed the intelligence community again, suggesting they had leaked potentially damaging information about him, and made a totally unhinged comparison: Are we living in Nazi Germany? CIA director Brennan firmly rebuked Trump on Fox News for his wild accusations. There are many dangers to such undisciplined behavior, said Brennan. Spontaneity is not something that protects national security interests. And so, therefore, when he speaks, when he reacts ... the implications and the impact on the United States could be profound. Its more than just about Trump ... Its about the United States of America. With our new president, however, everything is about Trump. Listen to professor Fred Greenstein of Princeton, a leading scholar of the presidency, who evaluated the impact of six qualities on the performance of 12 presidents, from Franklin Roosevelt through George W. Bush. His conclusion: The single most important characteristic in a successful president is emotional intelligence the ability to remain fundamentally free of distracting emotional perturbations. Of the 12 leaders he studied, four were clearly emotionally handicapped: Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. All were crippled by these emotional disabilities. Greenstein concludes: Beware the presidential contender who lacks emotional intelligence. In its absence, all else may turn to ashes. For the good of the nation, we have to hope that Trumps distressing display of distracting emotional perturbations does not ruin his presidency. Sons and daughters of several Uttar Pradesh politicians made the cut in the BJP's second list of candidates for the UP polls. Newly-inducted leaders also received tickets. By Brijesh Pandey: At the recently concluded BJP National Executive held in the national capital, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a direct appeal to his office bearers and executive members asking them not to distribute tickets to their sons and daughters. However, on Sunday, when the BJP released its second list of 155 candidates for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly election, the prime minster's appeal had no bearing on it. Sons and daughter of several leaders made the cut. advertisement The prominent example is Pankaj Singh, son of Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who will contest from Noida in place of sitting BJP MLA Vimla Batham. The Central Election Committee of the BJP met on 15th January but surprisingly did not release the list for one who week. Also read: Uttar Pradesh polls: BJP releases 2nd list, fields Pankaj Singh from Noida, Rita Bahuguna from Lucknow Cantt A FAMILY AFFAIR? Pankaj Singh was not the only one lucky. Mrigankika Singh, daughter of Hukum Singh, the MP from Kairana, also made the cut. Apart from her, Gopal Tandon, son of veteran Uttar Pradesh politician Lalji Tandon, is contesting from Lucknow east while Prateek Sharan Singh, son of Brij Bhusan Sharan Singh, got the ticket to contest from Gonda. Nilima Katiyar, the daughter of Prem lata Katiyar from Kalyanpur and Sunil Dutt Dwiedi, the son of Brahm Dutt Dwiedi from Farrukhabad, also figured in the exalted list. NEWLY INDUCTED LEADERS MAKE THE CUT To the chagrin of local BJP leaders, several leaders from other parties who recently joined the BJP received tickets. Rita Bahuguna Joshi, the former president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee, got the go-ahead to contest from Lucknow Cantt while Brajesh Pathak, former confidant of BSP supremo Mayawati, got the ticket for Lucknow Central. Other newly-inducted leaders who got tickets include Abhijit Sanga, Kuldip Sengar, Rajesh Singh and Nand Gopal Nandi. Also read: UP Assembly election: BJP releases list of star campaigners, LK Advani doesn't make the cut The Uttar Pradesh list is not the only list that has seen leaders from other parties get rewarded. The Uttarakhand list also had such candidates making the cut, including Yashpal Arya and Vijay Bahuguna, among others. This has led to a lot of heartburn among BJP cadre and leaders who have been nursing these constituencies. They sat that by not rewarding their loyalty the party is leaving them no chance but to be passive during the election cycle. Getting these cadre and leaders to work aggressively for the party is likely going to be one of the biggest challenge for the BJP in this election. Also read: BJP grappling with insider versus outsider battle ahead of UP polls advertisement Also watch: India Today-Axis Opinion Poll: BJP will conquer Uttar Pradesh --- ENDS --- Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Laurence Delina (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, January 22, 2017 10:47 2112 9b519824cb3263083aedb70a0bc315bf 3 Opinion renewable-energy,clean-energy,community Free Harvesting Southeast Asias renewable energy potential needs disruptions in ways energy is generated, distributed and sold. This means allowing and incorporating more independent, household-based, or community-owned renewable energy systems in the energy landscape. In Southeast Asia, this entails the fracturing of the traditional means of energy generation strongly held by large, utility-scale energy corporations. Such processes of disruptions could economically benefit many, especially ordinary families, who could invest individually or collectively in these new businesses. At the same time, these disruptions could facilitate the rapid transition to renewable energy systems, which benefit the global climate. Disruptions through widespread support of small-scale enterprises made other countrys transition to sustainable energy possible and quick. Germanys Energiewende (energy transformation) is an oft-cited case and its experience can teach Southeast Asian countries some valuable lessons. Progressive environmental policies are key to set the stage for transitioning to renewable energy. The Germans did it through building efficiency standards, financing for building retrofits, solar roofs and the first feed-in tariff program, an eco-tax on gasoline and fossil-based electricity. Collectively, these policy actions established Germanys leadership in the global sustainable energy economy. The biggest driver of Germanys energy transition, however, has been its Renewable Energy Act of 2000. The law updated the existing feed-in tariff that time to guarantee full-cost compensation to cover the actual cost of specific renewable energy investments. The law also requires utilities to purchase renewable energy first, while offering rates guaranteed for 20 years. Altogether, these law provisions provided investment security for investors. Every year, the rates drop for newly installed systems to put price pressure on manufacturers to lower costs as the market increases for renewable energy. Germanys feed-in tariffs have helped produce community ownership, which simultaneously increased acceptance levels for renewable installations in local areas. Indeed, as energy generation was opened up for more democratic engagement, citizen-organized and managed energy co-ops to generate renewable energy have mushroomed in Germany. From 66 in 2001, their numbers rose to 700 in 2012. Local government leadership is also essential in the German transition. Throughout Germany, many local governments have set ambitious climate-reduction goals showing that leading the transition to renewable energy is not only possible but also profitable. If Germanys experience is considered, the energy generation landscape in Southeast Asia strongly held by energy oligopolies now can be disrupted in at least three ways: guaranteed policy and pricing mechanisms, democratizing energy and local government leadership. Unfortunately, however, many Southeast Asian governments remain shortsighted in making and producing the necessary change in policy to ramp up the transition to a sustainable energy economy. Policies to support small-scale renewable energy are either fragmented, or not clearly communicated. In comparison, conventional utilities and large-scale generators enjoy the strongest policy support. Incentives still favor utilities, leaving small-scale investments with less to zero support that is mostly hard to access. Since renewable energy is locally harvestable, local governments are expected to be the first port of call for renewable energy investors. Institutional arrangements to shore up renewable energy investors, however, are conspicuously absent among many Southeast Asian governments, especially at the local level. This confluence of ill-conceived support challenges many community-oriented renewable energy installations. As a result, much-needed financing is hard to come by. From being boutique, niche investments, small-scale renewables in Southeast Asia have to be scaled. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Mark Malloch Brown (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, January 22, 2017 10:53 2112 9b519824cb3263083aedb70a0bc33bea 3 Opinion Donald-Trump,#DonaldTrump,economic-outlook,economic-growth,global-economic-risk,global-challenges,global-economy Free As Donald Trump assumes the United States presidency, a group of 35 prominent international business leaders, led by Unilever CEO Paul Polman and me, is stepping forward to defend open markets, endorse the fight against climate change and demand a massive push against global inequality. These are the core elements of what we believe is the only viable economic strategy for the US and the world. Recent electoral outcomes, including Trumps election, highlight the intensifying economic grievances of many households across the developed world. In the 20 years before the 2008 financial crisis, unprecedented globalization raised incomes for just about everyone. The incomes of the poorest third of humanity rose by 40 to 70 percent and those of the middle third increased by 80 percent. The top 1 percent did even better so much better, in fact, that the business elite is now facing a powerful backlash. And yet the incomes of a crucial group lower middle-income households barely rose at all. And, since 2008, this same group has borne the brunt of austerity. Unsurprisingly, its members feel left behind by globalization and are now demanding change. Trumps administration might be tempted to address this groups problems in isolation, with inward-looking policies targeting specific industries, or by attempting to limit trade competition. But the problems facing these households are not isolated. Rather, they stem from the social and environmental limits now reached by the prevailing model of economic growth. Ignoring this reality and implementing narrow and nationalistic solutions would only make matters worse. Socially, the relative hardship in the US Rust Belt, where support for Trump was integral to his victory, is an unintended consequence of a rapidly expanding global labor market that leaves workers almost everywhere vulnerable. Countries and regions competing to attract corporate investment make weak negotiators and weak defenders of high labor standards. On the environmental front, the evidence is dire. Human activity has already pushed the planet beyond four of its nine physical safety boundaries, including those for climate change and loss of biosphere integrity. The rapidly rising costs of environmental damage are restricting economic growth, making the relaxation of environmental protections a false economy. In emerging markets, especially in Asia, rapid economic expansion has brought life-threatening smog and constant gridlock to cities unable to expand their infrastructure fast enough. Tackling the worlds environmental and ecological problems, and improving the lot of those who have been left behind, will require public action, such as that which I oversaw in my roles at the World Bank, the United Nations, and the British government. But it will also demand the participation of business. In my own career, I have seen firsthand that the growth fueled by business competition in a globalizing world can do far more to combat poverty, hunger and disease than government-funded programs alone. But when that competition is not conducted responsibly, the opposite can happen and, in many cases, it has. In seizing the opportunities of globalization, businesses have often neglected the developedworld workers they leave behind, while subjecting developingcountry workers to extraordinary deprivation. Moreover, individual businesses have often lobbied against and evaded environmental protections that are indisputably in our collective interest. We expect our strategy to ensure continued globalization in a revised form that is more sustainable and inclusive to attract more such leaders to the cause. The framework of our strategy is already in place, in the form of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that were agreed by UN member states in 2015. Achieving these goals will mean decent pay, working conditions and safety nets for all participants in the global labor market, as well as safeguarding the environment. The SDGs also promise to provide a level playing field for growth-boosting competition. Across the four major sectors we considered in detail, we saw highreturn business opportunities arising from the strategy, fueling an increase in annual global gross domestic product (GDP) of at least US$12 trillion. Other changes we advocate will ensure that future economic growth protects both workers and the planet. To succeed, all parties must view themselves as collaborators in a win-win deal, rather than adversaries in a zero-sum game. All the evidence indicates that only a more sustainable, open and inclusive world economy can support an environmentally secure, economically prosperous, and socially just future for humanity. As for the US, this strategy aligns with Trumps own declared priorities. Not only does it offer the most promising solution to the economic grievances of his core supporters; it also entails a surge in infrastructure spending, much like the one Trump has already promised. Instead of using fiscal stimulus in a vain effort to revive failed smokestack industries and old energy sources, Trumps administration and the world should place its bets on a low-carbon future. Plenty of businesses surely would get on board. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Jessicha Valentina (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, January 22, 2017 13:35 2112 9b519824cb3263083aedb70a0bc35c13 1 Food Chinese-New-Year,Reunion-dinner,Li-Feng,House-of-Yuen,Table8,Tien-Chao,Jia-restaurant,Pearl-Chinese-restaurant,#ChineseNewYear,imlek,#Imlek,#hotel,Hotel,restaurant,#restaurant,food,#food Free Chinese New Year is one of the most-celebrated events for the ethnic-Chinese community in Indonesia. To welcome the occasion, Jakarta's modern Chinese restaurants have geared up with several promotions. Here's our list of recommended places offering special packages for Chinese New Year celebrations in the capital. Table8 Tucked inside Hotel Mulia Senayan in Central Jakarta, Table8 is a specialist in Cantonese and Szechuan dishes. For the upcoming Chinese New Year, the eatery is offering the must-eat prosperity dish yee sang available from Jan. 5 to Feb. 10 and set menus on Jan. 27 and 28. Those looking for nian gao (Chinese New Year's staple dessert), may get the sweet treat in the restaurant until Feb. 7. Contact: 021 574 7777 Tien Chao Situated on the second floor of Gran Melia Hotel Jakarta, South Jakarta, Tien Chao is offering set menus curated by the restaurant's chef Eric Lau with prices starting from Rp 7,888,000 (US$589.4) per table of 10. The set menus include classic Chinese delicacies like salmon yu shang, braised ten heads abalone, braised sea cucumber and more. Fish-shaped nian gao is also available at the restaurant from Jan. 18 to 31. Contact: 021 526 8080 (Read also: 5,000 red lanterns to enliven Solo's Chinese New Year celebration) Fish-shaped 'nian gao' available at Tienchao, Gran Melia hotel, South Jakarta.(Gran Melia/File) Jia The newly opened Jia is a contemporary Chinese restaurant located at Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta. In regards to Chinese New Year, the restaurant is offering three traditional set menus, namely Xin Nian Kuai Le, Gong Xi Fa Cai and Whan Shi Ru Yi, from Jan. 27 to Feb. 11 with prices ranging from Rp 888,000++ to Rp 1,688,000++ per person. The traditional set menus include Chinese New Year's staples, such as salmon yu sheng, deep fried prawn toast with goose liver and mayonnaise, barbecue suckling pig and jelly fish, as well as oven-baked nian gao with shredded coconut. Starting from Jan. 15, nian gao is also available separately at Rp 338,000++ per box. Contact: 021 2939 9562 Li Feng Welcoming the year of the fire rooster, Li Feng restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental hotel is serving 10-course and 12-course set menus. Priced at Rp 1,288,000++ and Rp 1,588,000++ per person, guests can enjoy various dishes, including yu shang, deep fried chicken with sesame, braised baby abalone with sea cucumber and fat choy, and seared xi sha island crayfish with garlic sauce. Contact: 021 2993 8825 (Read also: 178-meter dragon to ring in Chinese New Year in Singkawang) Pearl Chinese Located at JW Marriott, Pearl Chinese restaurant is having three festive set menus. The prices range from Rp 788,000++ to 1,488,000++ per person. Guests who dine in on Chinese New Year's Eve may join a giant yee shang tossing ceremony. During the day of Chinese New Year, guests can enjoy a special yum cha, which includes abalone soup, various dim sum, barbecue suckling pig and more, by forking out Rp 488,000++ per person. Contact: 021 5798 8888 House of Yuen by Sun Tung Lok Those looking for fine dining experience may drop by to House of Yuen by Sun Tung Lok. Located in Fairmont Jakarta Hotel, the restaurant is having special Chinese New Year packages with prices starting from Rp 12,888,000++ to Rp 39,888,000 for 10 people. The set menus consist of the finest Chinese delicacies, including yu sheng with abalone, goose liver, Hokkaido scallops, surf clam and salmon, whole roast suckling pig, Hong Kong-style steamed napoleon fish, and double-boiled bird's nest with almond cream served alongside young coconut. (kes) Contact: 021 2903 9172 Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ganug Nugroho Adi (The Jakarta Post) Surakarta, Central Java Sun, January 22, 2017 10:44 2112 9b519824cb3263083aedb70a0bc3087d 1 Art & Culture surakarta,solo,Central-Java,parade,gunungan,Chinese-New-Year,#ChineseNewYear,imlek,#Imlek,celebration Free Hundreds of Sudiroprajan subdistrict residents in Jebres district, Surakarta, joined the ritual procession of Umbul Mantram on Thursday night, which marked the beginning of Chinese New Year festivities and brought together Chinese-Javanese people of five different religions. The procession began with the parade of a fruit and vegetable gunungan, along a 2-kilometer route through the hamlets of Sudiroprajan on foot. Among the items being paraded were 17 heritage spears and keris (traditional daggers), including the spear of Kyai Ageng Sudiroprajan. "Umbul Mantram is our expression of gratitude to God and our way of sending prayers to the ancestors. The peak of the imlek celebration in Surakarta will be Grebeg Sudiro," said parade leader Empu Basuki Teguh Yuwono. As the parade arrived at the office of Sudiroprajan subdistrict office, it was welcomed by dance and Javanese poetry reading performances. The spear of Kyai Ageng Sudiroprajan was later given by Empu Basuki to community figures and subdistrict heads. (Read also: Chinese-Javanese cultural harmony in Surakarta) Jebres district head Tamso said the Umbul Mantram ritual was a symbol of unity and mutual cooperation between all the communities, ethnicities and religions of the city. "For those who want to see the real spirit of unity in diversity, Umbul Mantram is a good example as it brings together different ethnicities and religions." The peak of the ritual was the release of dozens of chickens and ducks by prominent community figures and prayer readings by representatives of Islam, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and Konghucu. The locals enthusiastically participated in the ritual by walking on foot and flocking to the gunungan, which is believed to bring blessings upon devotees. "I have joined the parade and gunungan several times. These rituals always bring blessings [upon me]," said Agung Sudarmaji, 43, who resides in Jagalan, Surakarta. (kes) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin David Jay Green (The Jakarta Post) San Francisco Sat, January 21 2017 Conflict in the South China Sea has a long history. For decades, with varying degrees of intensity, some of the countries bordering the Sea have squabbled over ownership of the small islands and reefs, over control of passage or for the fishery and energy resources. These disputes have intensified over the past decade and the risks to the region are rising. While the new administration in Manila has made cooperative overtures to the Chinese authorities, the new administration in Washington appears to be threatening a more interventionist approach. Continued tension, fueled either in the region or from without poses real dangers to all. East Asian economies are highly interdependent and vulnerable to shocks that could come from an interruption to trade. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Andi Hajramurni and Haeril Halim (The Jakarta Post) Makassar/Jakarta Sat, January 21 2017 Bissu, a transgender priest in the pre-Islamic, ancient Bugis religion in South Sulawesi, used to occupy a respected position in society, serving as an intermediary between humans and gods in local animist beliefs. Bissu would also serve as the kings advisor. They once lived on full allowances from the king and took part in almost all important rituals. Even though the role of bissu in society has subsided in the now majority-Muslim South Sulawesi, most local people still respect their presence as part of preserving local wisdom. It is normal for people in South Sulawesi to see a parade of transgender people and bissu march around the city wearing their unique dress every year without any disruption. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Abrori Charliene (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, January 21 2017 ASEAN citizens residing in Indonesia have differing views on the policies of new United States President Donald Trump. For Bruneian Hadi Mahmud, Trumps campaign was stupefying, particularly policies such as setting up a Muslim registry in the US and building a wall along the US-Mexico border. He also noted an issue related to Brunei Darussalam as a founding member and signatory of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, January 21 2017 When Syarifuddin and his wife opened their grilled chicken restaurant on Jl. Fatmawati in South Jakarta in 2015, he had high hopes the busy area would bring him a fortune. He said he was very certain his spicy grilled chicken and meat soups would find their way into the hearts of customers. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, January 21 2017 The cases of alleged graft implicating Sylviana Murni, a candidate to be deputy governor of Jakarta and the running mate of Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, might hurt the pairs electability, which lately has been outstripping that of the other two candidate pairs. Hanta Yuda, the director of Jakarta-based pollster Poltracking Indonesia, said that the graft cases, which concerned the construction of a mosque and a social aid program, were under investigation by the National Polices Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) and might harm the pairs chances in the election. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Cikarang, West Java Sat, January 21 2017 Jumping on the bandwagon of local cell phone production, newly-founded cooperative Koperasi Digital Indonesia Mandiri (KDIM) on Friday started the production of a locally built smartphone under the brand of Digicoop. The smartphone is set to bolster the domestic cell phone market currently dominated by big players, especially foreign manufacturers. The initial model comes with a 4.7 inch-screen, a 1.5 Ghz quad-core processor, 1 GB of RAM, two cameras, two SIM card slots and 4G LTE compatibility. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login According to the list issued by All India Congress Committee, Chief Minister Harish Rawat will contest from two seats: Hardwar Rural and Kichha. By Indo-Asian News Service: The Congress on Sunday released its first list of 63 candidates for the Uttarakhand assembly polls, triggering anger among some activists who vandalised the party office in Dehradun. According to the list issued by All India Congress Committee, Chief Minister Harish Rawat will contest from two seats: Hardwar Rural and Kichha. WHO MADE THE CUT Most outgoing MLAs have been repeated by the Congress and a few defectors from other parties have also been given ticket. advertisement Suryakant Dhasmana, who was acquitted by the CBI court in 2012 in connection with killing one person and injuring two persons during the Uttarakhand movement, has been fielded from Dehradun Cantt. State Congress chief Kishore Upadhyay will contest from Sahaspur. A section of Congress workers, unhappy over the ticket distribution, vandalised the party office in Dehradun. The workers threw chairs, broke furniture, tore off posters and raised slogans against Upadhyaya and Chief Minister Rawat. Rawat tried to play down the controversy, saying some hopefuls were unhappy they had not been fielded but "everyone who keeps working for the party" will get a chance in future. A 70-member Uttarakhand assembly will be elected on February 15. Also Read Samajwadi Party, Congress make it official, to contest Uttar Pradesh polls together --- ENDS --- Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, January 21 2017 The police have said they will make a decision over the status of Islam Defenders Front (FPI) leader Rizieq Shihab in relation to a case pertaining to his alleged insult toward State ideology Pancasila after conducting a second case screening. We will conduct the screening next week, Yusri, an investigator with the West Java Polices general crimes directorate, was quoted as saying by kompas.com on Thursday. From the second case screening, we will be able to decide Rizieqs status sometime next week. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Laurence Delina (The Jakarta Post) Bangkok Sat, January 21 2017 Harvesting Southeast Asias renewable energy potential needs disruptions in ways energy is generated, distributed and sold. This means allowing and incorporating more independent, household-based, or community-owned renewable energy systems in the energy landscape. In Southeast Asia, this entails the fracturing of the traditional means of energy generation strongly held by large, utility-scale energy corporations. Such processes of disruptions could economically benefit many, especially ordinary families, who could invest individually or collectively in these new businesses. At the same time, these disruptions could facilitate the rapid transition to renewable energy systems, which benefit the global climate. Disruptions through widespread support of small-scale enterprises made other countrys transition to sustainable energy possible and quick. Germanys Energiewende (energy transformation) is an oft-cited case and its experience can teach Southeast Asian countries some valuable lessons. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, January 22, 2017 Vice President Jusuf Kalla has viewed the latest grumblings of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) via the latters twitter account as his own personal opinion. Twitter is a personal matter. So, let [him express his opinion]. We dont have to agree or disagree with him, Kalla said in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Sunday as reported by kompas.com. SBY, whose son Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono is a candidate for the Jakarta gubernatorial election in February, recently tweeted his view on the current state of the nation. His tweet was ended with *SBY*, meaning that he himself wrote it. Allah, The one and only God. How has the country become like this? Disseminators of slander and hoaxes are in power and prevailing. When will people and the weak win? *SBY*, he wrote on his account. (Read also: SBY throws salvo at Jokowi) Kalla further said that anyone could express his or her personal opinion as far as they do not violate the law, adding that he was not disturbed by SBYs opinion. Its OK, we take it as input, Kalla said. In the wake of mass demonstrations that took place in Jakarta late last year, President Joko Jokowi Widodo invited and met with various political party chairpersons and national leaders at the presidential palace, however, SBY was notably not one of them. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, January 23, 2017 Authorities detained 17 citizens on Saturday upon their arrival from Turkey, a country that can be a gateway to war-torn Syria, on suspicions that they had joined the Islamic State (IS) militant group. The 17 Indonesians, including eight women, arrived at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Banten on Turkish Airlines flight TK 056. Airport immigration authorities, in coordination with the polices counterterrorism squad Densus 88, secured the citizens over allegations that they had helped IS in Syria. Theyre still undergoing investigation at [the polices Mobile Brigade detention center] in Kelapa Dua by Densus 88, police spokesman Sr. Comr. Awi Setiyono told The Jakarta Post on Sunday. The Law and Human Rights Ministrys Directorate General of Immigration claimed that the investigation was a regular check and a preventive measure for returnees from Middle Eastern conflict zones, saying that investigators would check the travelers flight routes to find out whether they had traveled from Syria before boarding in Turkey, and whether they knew each other. Its a standard procedure, because they returned from a conflict area. Their route was indicated to be unnatural, except they have formal evidence for official business, the ministrys Immigration Director General Agung Sampurno told the Post, adding that they would be released if they were proven to have no links to IS. The immigration authorities, however, did not conduct similar procedures for other Indonesian passengers on the same flight. The police and immigration have heightened surveillance at ports and borders amid attacks and foiled plots from IS supporters in the country. Earlier this month, Densus 88 questioned eight Indonesian citizens who had been apprehended by Malaysian authorities because one of them had three IS-related pictures on a cell phone. After an intensive examination, however, Malaysian authorities reached a preliminary conclusion that the eight people subscribed to mainstream teachings of Islam, which reject IS ideology. Densus 88 questioned them nevertheless. Terrorism analyst Ridwan Habib of the University of Indonesia said it was unfair to accuse the 17 returnees of being IS supporters because people could have many reasons to go to Turkey, but added that the authorities should also be careful and not underestimate them. Returnees from conflict areas can be very dangerous because they can have data and long-term strategies that IS doesnt publish through the internet, Ridwan said. Its possible for the IS group to smuggle agents here to establish a base. Even without such a smuggling mechanism, they can operate here through homegrown terrorist groups, he added. He said, however, that the government lacked a strong mechanism to detect which returnees had terrorism links and which did not because, as long as they had valid visas, they could claim to have been on holiday. [The authorities] have no clear verification of their specific locations. Meanwhile, they determine whether people are terrorists or not through their appearance. Wearing long garments or having a long beard can no longer be indications of a terrorist, Ridwan said. Moreover, Ridwan said, the countrys current social condition, where sectarian issues are creating heightened tension and hoaxes provoke people easily, could benefit terrorist groups and pave the way for terrorist acts. When the government is unstable, they can play a big role in society and play down public opinion over discourse of questioning whether its still good to maintain Pancasila as the countrys ideology, he added. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ina Parlina (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, January 23, 2017 The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has hinted that more officials at state-owned flag carrier Garuda Indonesia could be involved in a transnational bribery case that has implicated former president director Emirsyah Satar. Emirsyahs alleged corrupt practices are believed to have involved other actors, KPK spokesperson Febri Diansyah said on Saturday. The antigraft body has charged Emirsyah with corruption for his alleged role in a number of procurements by Garuda during his term as president director between 2005 and 2014, including procurements involving British engineering giant Rolls-Royce. Febri said the antigraft body would start summoning a number of witnesses for questioning at the end of January, as its investigators were still studying evidence they had recently seized at five locations. The KPK has also slapped a sixmonth travel ban on the two suspects in the case, Emirsyah and businessman Soetikno Soedarja, as well as three witnesses former president director at Garuda Maintenance Facilities (GMF) Hadinoto Soedigno, former Garuda vice president for asset management Agus Wahyudo and businesswoman Sallyawati Rahardja. Soetikno is the owner of a Singapore-based company, which was allegedly used as a broker to orchestrate the bribe from the British engineering giant, which produces Trent 700 engines for Airbus A330 aircraft. The investigation into the high-profile case, which involved cooperation between the KPK, the United Kingdoms (UK) Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and Singapores Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), has also sent signals that the commission is flexing its muscles over multinational white-collar corruption. This is a warning for those who think that it is safe to engage in bribery outside our jurisdiction, like in Singapore, Febri said. The Garuda case is the third transnational graft case in the KPKs history. The first centered around a bribery case at state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina to secure a 2004-2005 fuel additive contract worth $4 million for UK-based fuel additives manufacturer Innospec Limited. In the case, Jakarta sent former Pertamina executive Suroso Atmo Martoyo and two brokers to prison, while a British court sentenced four Innospec executives. The joint investigation also involved authorities from Singapore in relation to a bank used by Suroso. The KPK also uncovered the bribery case of Izedrik Emir Moeis, a politician from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), now the ruling party, who received money from France-based infrastructure giant Alstom SA to pave the way for the firm to obtain a $268 million coal-fired power plant in Tarahan, Lampung, in 2004. International law expert Hikmahanto Juwana urged the KPK to closely monitor every overseas corruption case so that nothing slips off the radar. The next challenge for the KPK is how to bring evidence gathered by foreign investigators abroad and foreign witnesses to Indonesia to support the KPKs investigation and the prosecution, he said. Emirsyah was appointed president director of Garuda in 2005 and resigned from the top post at the national flag carrier in December 2014, three months before he was due to end his term. Before naming Emirsyah a suspect, the KPK questioned him and his wife late last month. Emirsyah, whose assets have doubled in three years from Rp 19.9 billion in 2010 to Rp 48.7 billion in 2013, has denied the allegations made by the KPK. The KPK investigation comes only days after Rolls-Royce agreed to pay 497 million to the UKs SFO after the UK High Court approved the out-of-court settlement that will prevent the firm from being prosecuted by investigators in the UK. Individual executives, however, can still be charged. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Winny Tang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, January 23 2017 The Financial Services Authority (OJK) has called for banks to create digital branches to cater to rising digital transactions and consolidate if meeting the high capital requirement to execute such a proposal is out of reach. The countrys banking industry has seen a shift in consumer behavior toward digitalization as evidenced by the significant jump in e-banking customers, as well as digital transactions. OJK deputy commissioner for banking supervision Agus E. Siregar said the presence of digital branches were necessary to help banks thrive in the industry for the future. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login By Press Trust of India: Dubai, Jan 22 (PTI) A global summit on governance is being organised here next month during which countries and international organisations, including the World Bank and the UN, will discuss the worlds pressing challenges and share their experiences to combat these problems. World Government Summit from February 12 to 14 will hold three forums to explore global researches in happiness, climate change and Arab youth. advertisement The UAE Government is organising the event under the patronage of Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, a statement said. The event will bring together hundreds of governments and international organisations on the leading global platform to share knowledge and experiences in the efforts to improve government work and offer better services to help serve seven billion people around the world, Al Gergawi said. Seven world and international organisations the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations, UNESCO, the World Bank, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and World Economic Forum will participate in the event. "This the first time all these organisations are gathering in the UAE to shape the future of the world and discuss the services, challenges and answer the questions of tomorrow today," he said. More than 150 countries will be taking part, he added. The summit will host speakers from leading government and private entities and international organisations who will share their experiences. "Different organisations will discuss the future of governments and digital transactions, innovation in governments and how to achieve the sustainable development goals," he said. The agenda and topics will look at the future of health care, education, cities, humanitarian work, innovation and science, energy, transportation and other key sectors. Uhoud Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of State for Happiness and vice-chairman of the Organising Committee of the World Government Summit, said the Global Dialogue for Happiness, to be held a day before the summit, will gather experts and scientists to discuss how happiness can be achieved in societies. PTI NSA --- ENDS --- It might look like the stuff of science fiction and conspiracy theorists that aliens have descended on our planet, but this Canadian photographers stunning images of bright-coloured beams in the sky are very much an earthly phenomenon. channel Timothy Joseph Elzinga, from Ontario, who goes by the name Timmy Joe on his YouTube, was surprised to wake up in the middle of the night to see bright-coloured lights shooting up into the sky. video I was trolled by nature last night, Elzinga said in his latest After being woken up by his son at 1:30 in the morning, Elzinga said he went to the bathroom and looked out of the window. said I see these crazy light beams, he, adding that he thought at first he was looking at Northern Lights. It was a super clear night and you can see every star in the sky. And these light beams were emanating from the ground blasting hundreds of feet in the air. Elzinga then went out to investigate and took some photos. After some research, he realised they were light pillars. Nasa According to, this phenomenon occurs when temperatures are cold and moisture freezes to form tiny ice crystals that are suspended in the air and reflect light. During freezing temperatures flat fluttering ice crystals may form near the ground in a form of light snow, sometimes known as a crystal fog, Nasa said. The crystals normally reflect ground lights from nearby cars, houses and street lamps, creating spectacular vertical columns of light. They were all different colours, Elzinga added. They danced around in the sky which was pretty neat. You have to be in the right place at the right time to see these light pillars. And I was in the perfect spot to see them. Unfortunately, The Content Is Not Here You have arrived at this page because the page or post you were looking for no longer exists. 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The model splits the population into three categories - those susceptible to the infection, those that are infected and those that have either died or recovered. The SIR model then considers the rates at which infections spread and die off as individuals in the population come into contact with each other. As part of the formula, the students looked at S (the susceptible population), Z (the zombie population) and D (the dead population), suggesting that the average life-cycle of a zombie would be S to Z to D. They also examined the time frame over which individuals in the population encounter one another. The initial study did not factor in natural birth and death rates, since the hypothetical epidemic took place over 100 days, resulting in natural births and deaths being negligible compared to the impact of the zombie virus over a short time frame. Without the ability for humankind to fight back against the undead hordes, the students calculations suggest that if global populations were equally distributed in less than a year the human race might be wiped out. However, in a more hopeful follow-up study, the students investigated the SIR model applied to a zombie epidemic and introduced new parameters, such as the rate in which zombies might be killed and people having children within the nightmare scenario. This made human survival more feasible. The team factored in how over time survivors may also be less likely to become infected after having experience of avoiding or fending off zombies. They found that it would be possible for the worlds human population to survive the zombie epidemic under these conditions ? and that eventually the zombie population would be wiped out and the human population would recover. advertisement "Every year we ask students to write short papers for the Journal of Physics Special Topics. It lets the students show off their creative side and apply some of physics they know to the weird, the wonderful, or the everyday," said Mervyn Roy, a lecturer at Leicesters Department of Physics and Astronomy, said. PTI SAR MHN --- ENDS --- Refugees seek qualification that could spell an escape from stateless limbo RWANDA: Inside a red-brick building with a tin roof in western Rwanda, a group of young people are hard at work studying for a US-accredited university degree. immigration By AFP Sunday 22 January 2017, 03:00PM Refugee students attend a class at the Kiziba camp in western Rwanda. Photo: Stephani Aglietti/AFP But these are no ordinary students: they are Congolese refugees for whom such a qualification could spell an escape from stateless limbo. Over the past year, a Rwandan charity called Kepler has been offering refugees in Kiziba camp the chance to take online degree courses from the Southern New Hampshire University in the United States. Since the mid-1990s, Kiziba has housed thousands of refugees who have fled the conflict in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. It is currently home to 17,000 people, some of whom were born and raised in the camp. Until recently a university degree was an impossible dream with local fees at a Rwandan university costing up to $1,200 (B42,432) a year, well beyond the reach of young refugees. And even if they did get the money, the countrys main universities are all in the capital Kigali, which is a three-hour drive from this isolated hilltop camp. But this year, a group of 25 refugees all in their 20s began studying communications and management. Before finishing high school, I had no hope of going to university but now I see its possible!" enthuses Eugenie Manirafasha, who was just six months old when her family fled to Rwanda in 1996. Now she is one step closer to realising her ambition of becoming a hospital director. The refugees follow an online version of the US course but at a less demanding pace, allowing them up to five years to complete the degree, with much of the first year devoted to getting their spoken and written English up to scratch. Access to higher education is very important for refugees all over the world, says Nina Weaver, who runs Keplers educational programmes. Even more so in Rwanda where refugees have the right to work and to move around freely which is not the case in many other countries, she says. Having a degree gives them an opportunity to integrate better into Rwandan society, as well as a way to give back to the country that has taken them in, Weaver explains. A university education also offers them an escape route from dependence on charity handouts, says Mark Roeder of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. Tertiary education is one way to make refugees independent, he said. It gives a boost to (the) refugee mentality and gives them hope they are not being forgotten by the international community. There are currently 74,000 Congolese refugees living in five camps in Rwanda. Most are Tutsis who have suffered during successive rounds of conflict over ethnicity, land ownership and regional influence in eastern Congo. With some of them in Rwanda for more than two decades, few are eager to return to neighbouring Congo. And their studies offer them the chance of a better life in Rwanda, or elsewhere, Roeder says. But bringing the programme to life in a refugee camp is not without challenges. The camp is not connected to the electricity grid meaning all the computers and the internet routers are powered by solar energy, which is not always reliable. And students often have to balance their studies with the demands of supporting their families as well as dealing with other issues such as food insecurity. For Manirafasha, this means holding down a job teaching the local Kinyarwanda language in the camps high school, which brings in around $30 (B1,060) a month. Difficult life conditions sometimes affect my studies, like on days when I havent had anything to eat or if I dont have clothes to wear, says this 20-year-old who lives with her parents and five brothers and sisters. It takes an effort not to give up. Women's marches draw millions in resistance to Trump More than two million people flooded the streets of Washington and other US cities and demonstrators around the world joined in as women opposed to Donald Trump led a peaceful, stunning rebuke against the new US president. By AFP Sunday 22 January 2017, 10:03AM Demonstrators protest on the National Mall in Washington, DC, for the Women's March on January 21, 2017 As a sea of protesters brought downtown Washington to a standstill, streaming past the White House in pink "pussyhats," Trump launched a withering attack on the media, accusing it of downplaying or even lying about the attendance at his swearing-in a day earlier. The new president was certainly aware of the hundreds of thousands of people who poured into Washington and brought the downtown area near the White House and the National Mall to a standstill for hours. Although the US capital does not release crowd counts, organizers of the Women's March on Washington told AFP they estimated turnout at one million -- quadrupling initial expectations -- with huge crowds joining sister marches around the country. More than half a million people also swarmed the streets of Los Angeles, according to police there, and a similar number gathered in New York. Other marches took place in Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, St. Louis, Denver and elsewhere. Roused by fiery speeches, the protesters sent out a resounding message of rebuke and resistance the day after the Republican hardliner took office with a vow to roll back the legacy of his predecessor. "It feels amazing" to join women pushing back against Trump's divisive, discriminating and threatening rhetoric, said 16-year-old Maria Iman, who traveled to Washington with fellow high school students from Illinois. "I'm part of history and one day will tell my children about this." A sea of women and men -- teens, pensioners, parents with toddlers on their shoulders -- swarmed the streets in a determined show of unity. Educator Tanya Gaxiola, 39, who flew in from Tucson, Arizona, expressed concern that Trump will seek to restrict abortion laws and otherwise clamp down on women's rights. "He's a narcissist and seeks approval, and this is a big display of disapproval," Gaxiola said. "Hopefully, it catches his attention." "Women won't back down," "Women's rights are human rights" and "Thank you Trump -- you turned me into an activist," read some of the thousands of handmade signs held aloft in the capital. - 'Fight back!' - In Boston, where up to 175,000 people demonstrated, fiery Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren took aim at Trump's campaign of "attacks" on women and minorities. "We can whimper. We can whine. Or we can fight back!" Warren said to a loud roar. Saturday's rallying cry was heard far beyond America's shores, with organizers saying over 2.5 million people signed up for one of more than 600 marches worldwide. One of the largest was in London, where tens of thousands of women, men and children marched chanting "Dump Trump." The human tide flooding Washington appeared to dwarf the throngs of Trump supporters in red "Make America Great Again!" caps who had cheered his swearing-in. Many wore knitted "pink pussyhats" in an allusion to Trump's videotaped boasts of being able to grab women's genitals with impunity because he is famous. Trump's defeated rival Hillary Clinton tweeted her support to the protesters, while former secretary of state John Kerry was spotted in the crowd -- a day after leaving office -- with his dog on a pink leash. Pop diva Madonna, wearing her own black pussyhat, made an impromptu appearance on the Washington protest stage to deliver an expletive-laden indictment of the president. "Welcome to the revolution of love," the 58-year-old intoned. "To the rebellion. To our refusal as women to accept this new age of tyranny." - '1,000 percent' - On his first full day in the world's most powerful office, Trump visited the headquarters of the CIA, an agency he feuded with bitterly before taking office. "I am with you 1,000 percent," Trump said in a short address to CIA staff -- during which he also accused US media playing down the inauguration turnout. But he bizarrely turned his speech toward an assault on the media for their reporting on inauguration crowd size. His press secretary, at his first briefing in the White House, also launched into reporters, falsely claiming that "this was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period!" Trump's inaugural speech on Friday set the tone for his presidency: proudly populist, fiercely nationalist and determined to break with Obama's legacy. His first act in office -- signing an executive order aimed at freezing Obama's signature health care law -- was a potent gesture in that direction, with more such actions expected to follow. But if Friday was Trump's day -- marred by sporadic outbreaks of vandalism and more than 200 arrests -- Saturday belonged to demonstrators with fresh memories of his fat-shaming a former beauty queen, sex assault allegations and a controversial stance on abortion. The Women's March began with a simple Facebook post from Hawaii grandmother and retired lawyer Teresa Shook to about 40 friends -- but word travelled quickly and the event took on a life of its own. How many people have already voted absentee in South Dakota ahead of Election Day? elections Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh on Sunday warned dissidents that they will be expelled from the party if they did not withdraw their nominations for the polls by Tuesday evening. Asking the rebels to opt out of the February 4 polls race in favour of the official Congress nominees and put up a united front to defeat the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Amarinder said the interests of Punjab and its people were supreme and could not be allowed to be compromised for personal gains. He gave the rebels 48 hours to withdraw from the contest if they did not want to face permanent expulsion from the party. He warned that Congress high command had decided not to take them back once they were expelled for defiance. Hitting out at the rebels who refused to heed the party leadership's request for withdrawal of nomination, despite the promise that they would be accommodated once the Congress forms government in the state, Amarinder said it amounted to violation of the party's disciplinary ethics, which could not be permitted at any cost. Amarinder, however, made clear that the presence of rebel candidates in the fray would not have a serious impact on the poll prospects of the Congress. The Congress is pitted against the ruling Akalis Dal-BJP alliance and the AAP in the assembly elections for 117 seats. The Congress is facing rebels, who had caused the party's loss in the 2012 assembly elections also, on nearly 25 seats. The United Naga Council (UNC), which has imposed an indefinite blockade along Manipur's highways, has called a boycott of the upcoming Republic Day celebrations. A UNC statement said the "communal government led by Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh" created seven new districts without consulting the people concerned. "Any Naga participating in the functions shall be doing it at his own risk," the statement warned. Most of the outlawed organisations in the north east have also called for a boycott. Police have launched combing operations at several places to ensure an incident-free Republic Day in Manipur. Meanwhile, four activists of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) were arrested on Saturday in Noney district along with some explosives. Police said their plan was to attack with the explosives trucks which are bringing essential commodities along NH 37. The Manipur government is waiting for a response from the UNC to hold talks on the blockade. The letter sent by state Chief Secretary O. Nabakishore on January 17 said the tripartite meeting will be held at the secretariat in Imphal. However, the UNC has been saying that the meeting should be held either in Delhi or the Senapati district headquarters in Manipur. While ordering a 15-day judicial detention of Gaidon Kamei and Stephen Lamkang, President and Information Secretary of the UNC on Saturday, a local court said that both of them can attend the proposed meeting. Umme Kusum, seven years old, stays with her mother, Aliara Bibi, in a small village in Murshidabad district of West Bengal. While other children are in school, however, Umme Kusum is learning the art of rolling beedis, hand-rolled cigarettes of tobacco flake wrapped in tendu leaves. Aliara has two other teenage daughters, Zainab and Beauti. She makes sure that her three daughters practice the art of rolling beedis at least three hours every day without giving a miss. Zainab and Beauti go to school only when there are not too many orders for the beedis. Umme is yet to start her schooling. Aliara who is in her early 40s, says, that she understands the importance of education for her children, but ultimately it is their skill in beedi rolling that would decide a groom for them, Who doesnt want their children to get educated?, she raises a strong pitch only to soften down within a few seconds, But for a poor woman like me, education is not the priority for my daughters. They assist in running the family by tying the beedis. Most important, they have a better chance of getting a good match if they become expert in the work, she says, while scolding Zainab for being slow in the work. Aliara, however, is not alone who wants her daughters to gain mastery over the art, but thousands of women in Murshidabad teach their daughters the art of beedi rolling from a very tender age. After all, their future too much extent depends upon the speed in rolling the leaves. Murshidabad with a population of over seven million (Census 2011) is a hub of beedi making industry in the country with over 75 percent of the population connected with the trade. Women are seen rolling beedis in almost every household in the district with Jangipur sub-division housing majority of beedi workers and factories. Rokiya Khatun, 25, who stays at Jagtai village of Suti-II block of the district, says that she is concerned about her eight-year-old daughter, Fahmida Farheen, who spends more time playing with the kids of her age than to learn the method of rolling beedi, She has to learn from a tender age. The work of rolling the leaf is not easy. It takes years to gain expertise over it. She would become an earning member of the family as soon as she starts tying the beedi perfectly, says, Rokiya, whose husband works as a labourer in Kerala. Most of the men folk in the district work as labourers in other parts of the country, while the women have the responsibility of running the households. The grooms family while tying the knot prefers a girl who is expert in beedi rolling because men do not contribute much to the familys income as they move to other states for jobs and come occasionally during festivals. They squander their earnings in alcohol and gambling while women are the bread winners of the family who double up the responsibility of raising their children, says Anita Das, a social worker adding the child marriages are common among them. She, however, points out a very interesting feature prevalent in their society: Unlike in most parts of the country, women are not cursed for giving birth to a girl child, but the female child is welcomed here. The woman is not treated indifferently by her in-laws for having a girl child. People prefer daughters because they consider them as an additional source of income for the family. The girls start contributing to the familys income within a year or two. A man with more daughters considers himself lucky as it translates to more earning members of the family. There are also demands of dowry among them but the grooms family agrees to settle for less, if the girl is an expert beedi maker, says Anita who has stayed with the workers for more than a decade. This could then be one of the reasons for the district having higher girl child ratio than other parts of the state. According to census 2011, West Bengal had 956 girls (O-6 years) on every 1000 boys, while in Mursidabad the child sex ratio was 968 girls on the same number of boys. Rohima Bibi, a forty-year-old widow says that her daughter got a good match only because she was trained her well for the job, She could easily tie a thousand beedis in one day which is considered a good speed by the prospective bride. The grooms family first rejected my daughter because we were poor, but soon agreed to marry after coming to know that she has an expertise in rolling beedis, she recollects with a sense of pride visible on her face. Though the industry is flourishing in the district, the payment to the beedi workers remains quite meager. On an average, a worker is paid between Rs.124-126 on every thousand beedis rolled. They are also exploited by the middlemen who take advantage of their illiteracy. Health is a major concern of the workers as most of them develop various ailments during the course of time, We suffer from back pain and spondylitis because of sitting at a stretch for several hours. We suffer from headache, neck ache, swelling of the lower limbs and asthma because of the constant exposure to tobacco. rued Jahana Khatun, a beedi worker for the last twenty years. Worse, children start smoking beedis from a very young age and become vulnerable to various diseases. Of late, the workers have been severely hit by demonetization. The currency crisis after the announcement made by the Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi on November 8, last year had halted production in several beedi factories in in Murshidabad, affecting the livelihood of over 1 lakh people. Beedi factory owners said production had stopped because of two reasons. First, beedi dealers were not being able to collect stocks because of lack currency notes. Second, beedi manufacturers were not in a position to pay weekly wages to the labourers. Such payments are made every Friday. The minister of state for labour, Zakir Hossain, who owns Shiv Bidi Manufacturing Pvt Ltd in Aurangabad, had warned of an increase in anti-social activities if the workers lose their livelihood. Murshidabad is known for its beedi industry. The demonetisation drive has created serious problems for the industry. I have kept my factory running but I dont know what I will do in the next few days. He estimated that around 15 lakh people were involved in the beedi industry in the district. Bomb-making and manufacturing of pipe guns are common in the district. Though the work has resumed in the New Year, it would take time for the situation to turn normal. As wispy clouds float across the crimson sky, a thought crosses the mind that the livelihood of several thousands of people hinges on a small beedi which the rich dismiss as a poor mans cigarette. I got to know the author when I was doing a post-graduate course in political science in Calcutta University. He was also studying with me but I could see his heart was not in it. Apparently, he had been keen to go to Oxford to do a tripos in modern history and to try to become a barrister all in pursuit of a youthful ideal which was to join public life. The aim was to return to India as a barrister and teach in a college while trying to build up an advocates practice, both professions permitting this participation. To me all this seemed like a pipedream which many young men and women, carried away by the impassioned zeal of the leaders of our freedom struggle, go through at this stage in life. Before long, it often fizzles out. Unfortunately, for Prafull, his father had added a dampener in retrospect, a blessing in disguise. He had told him that the family finances could not be stretched to cover a foreign education. Deeply disappointed, Prafull left college thereafter, to look for a job without taking a post-graduate degree. In the late 50s his prospects were not very bright. An ordinary graduate only could hope to aspire for Rs.250 a month. But, as I later heard, a chance introduction had catapulted him to a fancy job in a prestigious British company, one of the oldest and largest tea-broking firms in the world where the pay and perks were probably the highest in India. I felt happy for him and believed that from now on he would be lost in the rarefied world of Calcuttas sahib logs. But, Fly Me to the Moon has proved me wrong. I am not complaining though. It is a story of a continuous and a dogged pursuit of a youthful dream. The first move was leaving the British firm after 13 glorious years to join an Indian family-owned agency in quest of financial independence. He believed such a company was more likely to award a business opportunity to an able employee for exceptional service unlike a British agency which had its fixed rules and hierarchies. It was remarkable foresight for a young man of his age. Those well-wishers who had seen him grow up in the company had looked askance at this unprovoked move from the blue-blooded British company in 1971 to a family dominated concern, however large and influential believing him to be jeopardising his future. Such was the unspoken snobbery of the times! But opportunity came when his new employers were faced with the problem of reviving a sick cigarette company in the backdrop of Naxal violence. When the turnaround was achieved, the new employers lived up to their promise of the insurance that he had asked for when taking up his assignment, namely, that they enable him to establish his own tea-broking company. Thus, Contemporary was established, with top-class professionals, and he felt it was time he could leave it to proxy management and comfortably relocate to Delhi and later Gujarat where the political opportunities lay. The authors preoccupation with financial security probably stemmed from the family stories of the problems suffered by his paternal grandfather, I understand, he was a nationalist to the core, at an open session of the Congress Party in Ahmedabad in 1915, who along with Sardar Patel had been a joint Secretary. But it seems, because of family responsibilities, he had been compelled to take up the post of a Divan to the Maharaja of Morbi which vicariously meant serving British rules, something that was anathema to him. Securing financial independence was one thing, but sustaining it was a different proposition. Management by proxy, he was discovering, does not always turn out the way it is intended to. My troubles with my new company seemed to be never ending, he lamented. But when, finally a conspiracy in the Cochin branch erupts, with all senior executives simultaneously submitting their resignations with an idea of derailing the company, he shows that he can act fast and ruthlessly. I understand that Narendra Modi had once said of Goradia that while he was very valuable for his thinking outputs, he may not be particularly effective in politics. Possibly Modi meant that he felt Goradia lacked the instinctive cut and thrust of dealing with enemies in politics. But in Contemporary Tea when the battle lines were drawn, Goradia demonstrated that he was able to make short shrift of his detractors. The shift to Delhi, at age 45, was a leap in the dark, at least so I thought. there was no political base and no godfather either in Delhi or his home state Gujarat to steer him through. The political world had looked askance at this outsider. The only politicians he knew were those he had met when they visited Calcutta and his only experience in the line was social service in drought relief camps in Gujarat. It must have been a traumatic experience for his family: His daughters in mid-school, as also his writer wife, were quite shaken by the move. Sixteen years later he was in Parliament. The tale in this book travels from princely India of Morbi Maharaja in Gujarat to post World War II Calcutta where American GIs roamed the streets and the author as a seven-year-old gaped in wonder at these great big hulking soldiers, never having seen so many black and white men together before, moving on to 10 August 1947 and Independence which along with the macabre spectre of Partition, raising questions about What was there to celebrate when my country was being partitioned? The book goes on to chronicle the sybaritic world of the sahib logs of Calcutta basking in the warm glow of an imperial hangover. Life was very pleasurable for the young executive with an office in Clive Street and a swish company flat in Ballygunge. Weekends were spent in clubs which flourished in lofty rooms with high ceilings and echoing corridors with soft-footed servants flourishing wooden trays. At the bar a stiff Abadar poured out Chota Pegs as an occasional koi hai rent the air! Life could be a lot of fun for the tea company bachelors in the Calcutta of those days. But with the perks came the obligations and admonition if you drew an officers salary, you could not live like a babu! The tale moves to the political bedlam of Delhi and Gujarat of the 80s and beyond. The assassination of Mrs Indira Gandhi and the Silk riots of Delhi dwell on the change in political firmament of Gujarat. Narendra Modis star was in ascendance and the author had many opportunities for close interaction. In post-Godhra Gujarat, he rose to become Modis chief defender in the electronic media. What also makes the book exceptionally interesting is the new question the author is raising as to who actually demolished the Babari Masjid. He was present in Ayodhya on that 6 December 1992 and was witness to the fall of the domes and the almost instant dismissal of the BJP government of UP. But sixty hours later, all traces of the Babari edifice had been cleared. In place was a makeshift temple to Ram Lalla. The question must remain: What happened to the massive walls of the masjid and the debris? A question nobody seems to ask! The book is a poignant story of a struggle to climb what British Prime Minister Disraeli called the greasy pole of public life. Written with wit and elan, the fascinating story is so told that many others thus inclined may know better how to negotiate the choppy waters of public life. The reviewer is former professor of political science, jawaharlal nehru university The theme of "who invented what" is explored in discussion from Benzmuller to Godel to Leibniz to Turing.Back in October 2013, ABC News ran a story titled Computer Scientists 'Prove' God Exists , which included the textThe story got a bit of a push on 22 January 2017 [ http://www.corrieresalentino.it/2017/01/un-calcolo-matematico-dimostra-lesistenza-di-dio/ ]The earlier proof by Godel was related to even earlier assertions by Leibniz. As we know in the IP game, the Newton/Leibniz "concurrent invention" of calculus arises [Prioritatsstreit ].For example, Samson Vermont, Independent Invention As A Defense To Patent Infringement, 90 JPTOS 268 (2008)One can argue whether Edison (who taught high resistance filaments) arrived at the "same idea" as Swann.Mark Lemley cites to Vermont in SHOULD PATENT INFRINGEMENT REQUIRE PROOF OF COPYING?, 105 Mich. L. Rev. 1525 :See also IPBiz on Lemley's myth of the sole inventor , which included Lemley saying -- And we should be denying patents on the vast majority of the most important inventions, since most seem to involve near-simultaneous invention. --**Also on Leibniz by Charles M. Yablon, FAILED LAWYERS AND THE SOURCES OF SATIRE, 15 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 775Voltaire was no fan of Leibniz. At the time of the initial dispute over the invention of calculus, Newton had more proponents. The work of Leibniz was more directed to differential calculus and Newton more concerned with integration.Other work of Leibniz pre-saged much work of Alan Turing, which is curiously cited in Ten Law Professors Brief in Trading Technologies v. CQG, submitted by Adam Mossoff, which includes:Perhaps the foundational work was that of Leibniz.** Bell's invention also arises in the brief:The conclusion of the brief: Actress Priyanka Chopra extended her support for the Women's March that was organised in Washington DC, a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States of America. The 34-year-old actress could not be a part of the peaceful protest due to her busy shooting schedule. However, Priyanka took to Twitter to say, "So proud of all my sisters and the men that are at the #WomensMarch I'm so upset I couldn't go. #girllove #womensrightsarehumanrights." Priyanka is currently in Los Angeles to resume shoot of her Hollywood debut "Baywatch", which stars Dwayne Johnson, Zack Efron and Alexandra Daddario. She posted a photograph on Instagram after she landed and captioned it as "And we're back! LA LA Again let's go! Always rushed for time Everywhere to go and nowhere to.. #Baywatch #nightshoots #funfun." PTI RDS Jallikattu began in parts of Tamil Nadu on Sunday, including Tiruchirappalli district, with traditional fervour even as protests continued at Alanganallur in Madurai, where people refused to hold the famous sport seeking a "permanent solution". Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who had said on Saturday that he would inaugurate the event at Alanganallur, is now expected to do so in neighbouring Dindigul district. The bull taming sport began at Manapparai in Tiruchirappali district with thousands witnessing the event as bulls roared out into the sporting arena. Youths tried to hold on to the hump for a brief distance as the animals sped fast towards the exit. Hundreds of bulls and youths participated in the show. Owners of winning animals and youngsters were awarded with prize money. 'Manjuvirattu', another form of jallikattu, was reported from villages in Dharmpauri district. Sections of protesters continued to stay put at several locations in the state, including the Marina here. At Alanganallur several sections of agitators declined to hold the sport. They blocked the ways to the entry and exit points of the sprawling sporting area. A group of organisers removed the bulls from the arena as well. They demanded a permanent solution, declining to accept the ordinance promulgated to hold the sport. According to the officials, Panneerselvam is now expected to inaugurate Jallikattu at Kovilpatti near Natham in Dindigul district. Jallikattu remained banned following a Supreme Court order in May 2014. Meanwhile, officials were also making arrangements for holding Jallikattu in Alanganallur. Officials are trying to pacify and convince Jallikattu organisers that the ordinance is the permanent solution. Agitators were told that the ordinance will be replaced by a law. A Bill in this regard will be adopted in the assembly and it will become a permanent law and solution as well, they said. As the parleys between the Congress and the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh appeared to collapse over seat-sharing, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday intervened and spoke to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on the phone. Congress leaders meanwhile were quite hopeful on the talks, as was reflected in their comments to the media. With the SP refusing to budge from its offer of around 100 seats and the Congress not agreeing to anything below 120, leaders in both camps had thrown up their hands that the prospects of the electoral tie-up were almost over. Congress sources said Sonia's intervention will surely boost the alliance prospects. "Everything will be clear by tomorrow (Sunday) morning. The Congress might agree on 100-103 seats. Both the parties know they need each other in Uttar Pradesh polls." Earlier, talking about the alliance, senior SP leader Naresh Agrawal said: "The alliance is almost over. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister (Akhilesh Yadav) was offering Congress 100 seats but they were not agreeing to anything less than 120 seats." "We told them we can't fight in less than 300 seats but the Congress was adamant as if they are a very influential party in the state," he added. Meanwhile, Congress General Secretary in charge of UP Ghulam Nabi Azad said: "You'll get to know everything by tomorow (Sunday) morning." Congress state President Raj Babbar said during the day: "The talks will go on." Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra too are reported to be working on "some possibilities". The Gandhi family scion is said to be furious at the "slight and disrespect" shown to the Congress by the SP leadership. Earlier, the sources said that the Congress Central Election Committee (CEC) had decided to go it alone in the first and second phases of the seven-phase assembly elections in the politically crucial Uttar Pradesh. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi but found fault with him and the BJP for being rooted in hostility even while hailing Mahatma Gandhi. Speaking at the Jaipur Literature Festival, writer Tharoor also expressed a desire to introduce the Mahabharata and Ramayana in curricula. The discussion on 'Remembering the Raj' did not necessarily relate to the Modi government. But in the context of Gandhi, Tharoor accused the Bharatiya Janata Party government and its ideological parent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of paying mere lip service to the Father of the Nation. Tharoor was asked by publisher Michael Dwyer to share his perspective on Gandhi's "tricks and tactics". "Gandhiji used tricks and tactics against the British empire that worked because they were obliged to allow Gandhiji to lead the campaign as he wished. It was because there was a moral deficiency in the British and even they knew they were wrong," the Congress leader said. "And what tactics?" Tharoor asked. "The tactics of Mahatma Gandhi were ahimsa and satyagraha. What he did was inflicting pain and suffering upon himself as a response to imperialism. There was not much the British could do anyway." Shifting the narrative to the contemporary times, Tharoor accused "Modi and his party" of being deeply rooted in hostility. "Modi and his party have been paying tributes to Gandhiji while the history and ideology of the BJP is deeply rooted in hostility. "Everyone wishes to pay lip service to Gandhiji though they are against his principles in reality," Tharoor said as the packed house cheered in approval. He said BJP members were trying to glorify Nathuram Godse, who murdered Gandhi. Tharoor reminded the audience that Mahatma Gandhi and his principles have become "less in substance" today than it should have. Nonetheless, Tharoor praised the Prime Minister for his diplomatic endeavours with Britain since taking power. "I have said earlier too and I will repeat again. The arguments that I put forth in my book ("An Era of Darkness") have nothing to do with the current relations India and Britain share. This should not be the anxiety of the present because we have a booming diplomatic relation," he said. Quoting Modi's speech during his visit to Britain last year, Tharoor said: "The Prime Minister then said 'others have spoken about the historical wrongs and rights. I will concentrate on the future'. That is what he should be doing and I think that is what he has done very well." According to Tharoor, it was important for Indians to "forgive the British" but not "forget" their wrongdoing. "We should look at the history but also leave it where it belongs, in the past." Tharoor also batted for changes in the education system to include the "Indian civilisational aspects". "The British wanted to colonise the Indian mind. Whatever education was brought to India was to further strengthen the British Raj and to colonise our behaviour. "It is sad that even after 70 years, though we study Shakespeare, we have not been teaching Kalidasa to our children. "I am very much in favour of having Ramayana and Mahabharata taught in our schools. This should be seen as enriching our educational system with our cultural heritage," he said. Tharoor, however, expressed his disapproval on "injecting a particular political ideology" into our education system and contented that "only the civilisational aspect should be introduced in our text books". A regular at the Jaipur Literature Festival, Tharoor is among the biggest crowd pullers. His latest book, "An Era of Darkness", serves to correct many misconceptions about the British Raj and has been a major point of discussion at the 10th edition of JLF. The latter-day Concert of Europe has cautioned Israel and America not to abandon the hope of a two-state solution to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. The caveat at the recent Paris conference was advanced at a critical juncture ~ barely a week before Donald Trumps inaugural. A change or status quo in the Middle East will hinge on the new administration at the Oval Office. No less significant is the appeal to all stakeholders to disassociate themselves from perceptions that reject such a diplomatic solution to the almost relentless conflict in the Middle East. The signal from Paris has been emitted both in the direction of the Big Power and to its ally, the key player in West Asia. So very unlike the early 19th century edition of the Concert of Europe, A century later, Britain has refused to sign the rather unusual communique. Furthermore, it was represented only at the observer level, unlike the other EU countries. We do not know if the abstention was intended to reaffirm Whitehalls closeness to Trump; yet the response comes through as a snub to the French summit on the Middle East. There is little doubt that it has been accorded a minor rating in the overall diplomatic construct. Of course, Britain does have a point when it contends that it has reservations about an international conference intended to advance peace between the parties that does not involve them. The subtext of Whitehall's statement must be that it doesnt want to alienate Trump before it is scheduled to leave the European Union in another two years. Yet it would be presumptuous to aver that the conference risks becoming an attempt to circumscribe US policy on Israel before the Trump team has decided on the issue. In the immediate perspective, a two-state solution becomes ever more uncertain and the roadmap in the context of the Paris round may turn out to be a non-starter. Britains absence has at once undermined the meeting and the formula per se. A two-state solution remains pivotal to the peace process and the conference has advanced the broad parameters though it has stopped short of suggesting that the Israel-Palestine talks be resumed. Theres one railway journey that I frequently undertook, that is, from Delhi to Dehradun. Mainly to meet the writers hailing from that region. Sometimes I did it twice. There were times when the Delhi-Kalka Mail would reach Delhi a couple of hours behind schedule and I had to make a dash for the Mussoorie Express usually scheduled to leave Old Delhi station a little after 10 pm. At other times I would arrive at New Delhi station in the morning, take an auto always at double the existing rate and hire a retiring room at Old Delhi station for 12 hours. After a couple of rides in this train I realised one had to occupy ones reserved berth as soon as the train pulled into the platform, for theres the risk of having to compromise your berth in exchange for the one located in an unkempt coupe or the middle berth which could not accommodate my 6-foot frame. During one such journey I boarded the train before most others. In a sleeper-class compartment I had a reserved lower berth. I kept my valuables (tape recorder and camera) in a bag that doubled up as a pillow and my suitcase under the berth. People started pouring in and occupied their berths. Then a good-looking lady with a crutch limped her way to the cubicle I was in. There was a gentleman on the other lower berth. She first approached me: I got a middle berth in the next bay. I cant climb there. You take mine and let me have yours. Had it been the upper one Id have gladly accepted it. But there was no question of acceding to the request. I said I had problems with my knees and so my movements were restricted. The other gentleman however ceded the lower berth to her, reluctantly though. The lady then lowered herself with some effort, put the crutch beside her and went to sleep, her head towards the window as was mine. The compartment grew quiet as the train left the station and gathered speed. Although the lights within the carriage were switched off, the darkness was occasionally pierced by bars of light streaking in through the windows. Watching the intermittent play of light and shadow I fell asleep. I had no idea how long I slept. I woke with a start and felt as if all hell had broken loose. The train was standing still. The woman on the other lower berth was crying herself hoarse. She was hollering in Hindi and I gathered that some thief had through the open window snatched away a gold chain worn around her neck. Hearing her shrieks, some passengers from the neighbouring cubicles came to see if the lady was under any threat. But as soon as they crowded us, shouts from elsewhere rent the air. The sound chor, chor could be heard. Each one of them rushed back. I could sense people running helter-skelter, shouting, in hot pursuit of the thief. There was utter chaos. Then the hooter of the engine was heard. The train moved with a jerk. The passengers who had chased the snatchers out of the carriage scrambled back into it. I sat still throughout, somewhat dazed. Strangely the lady was no longer screaming. It was as if she had made peace with her loss. Minutes ago she was so agitated but now looked as if it were all a dream. The lights went out once again. We lay back in our berths. I felt my purse in my pocket. I would be hard put if it went missing. I slept fitfully but was fully awake when the train entered the tunnels near Haridwar. In proximity with the sacred Ganges, the fear suddenly lifted. I found the compartment had mostly emptied. But the lady was there, doing up her hair. Between Rishikesh and Dehradun I always sat upright to view the forest and the hill. As always I got carried away by the misty mountain-scapes and would have remained glued to the window-side if the train had not come to an abrupt halt just before Dehradun station. I found, my mouth agape with disbelief, the lady dismantling her crutch and putting it in her bag. She then stood up, nary a care in the world, and walked out without any limp or hobble and stepped on to the track into the unknown. From then on, I always travelled by first class on the Mussoorie Express, for we could lock the door from inside during the journey by night! Gridlocked roads, unending traffic snarls and ever increasing pollution: its an all too familiar sight in fast growing cities across South Asia. Dhaka is no exception. In fact, by some reckonings, its the traffic capital of the world. The nonstop jams are attracting the wrong kind of international attention to the country and dragging on economic growth. According to one study, the cost of traffic congestion on only one city routefrom the airport to Postogolais estimated to be over Taka 272 billion. Dhaka stands alongside other cities at the intersection of a global trend towards urbanisation. From only 13 per cent in 1900, the percentage of the worlds population that lives in the cities is expected to rise to 70 per cent by 2050. Getting them moving again wont be easy, and will need investment in public transit systems. But a big part of solving the problem can be found in the technology and the cars that already exist on the street. That may sound strange, but its not. Ride-hailing services make it easy for people to share their underutilised vehicles, ultimately getting more people into fewer cars at the same time. The great thing is, enabling carpooling wont cost the government any extra money and can make an immediate impact. The potential rewards in the form of less traffic and more liveable cities can be very significant. Of course, carpooling is not a new idea. People in Bangladesh and elsewhere have been doing it for decades. The difference now is that ridesharing services can instantly match passengers headed in the same direction at the same time. Powered by technology, its a model that works and can create impact at scale. If you look around the world today, outdated rules hold carpooling back in many countries by distinguishing between commercial drivers (good) and private drivers (bad). These rules make it difficult if not impossible for ordinary people to share rides and help facilitate carpooling on a wide scale. By making sharing hard, governments end up forcing citizens to own personal vehicles at a huge public cost. The good news is that theres increasing momentum for reform, with more and more cities introducing progressive regulations. In just over three years, nearly 70 states and cities in the US have made the leap, and several states in Mexico and Australia have followed suit. At the heart of these new rules is the belief that one citizen should be free to give another citizen a ride across town so long as there are regulations to ensure that important safety and consumer protection standards are met. We now have the technology to make our cities more liveable and less congested. But reducing our dependence on cars needs a cultural shift as much as a technological one. For decades, cars have been seen as a status symbol. But attitudes are starting to change as people around the world realise its easier to press a button on their phones to get a ride rather than go through the hassle and expense of owning a private car. As Bangladesh considers ways to cut congestion, it should investigate laws that would encourage ride-sharing. We dont have to wait five or 10 years to create the cities of the future. With progressive regulations and the technology already in our pockets, we can build mobility alternatives for smart cities of today. The amazing and almost incredible has now attained fruition. Donald Trump is the President of the United States of America, after all. As the quirk of history translates into reality, Friday's inaugural address on Capitol Hill was of course spectacular as far as optics go ~ the stars and stripes banners, the dignitaries and the prescribed rituals of the swearing-in. Beyond the traditional grandstanding, however, it compares poorly with the presentations of the greats among the US Presidents, pre-eminently Abraham Lincoln, Roosevelt, and John F Kennedy. True it was bereft of the emotive rhetoric that greeted America and the world eight years ago, but the 45th President has signalled his intent, one that is embedded in his subjective reflections ~ as often as not intemperate ~ on a welter of issues. He has stopped short of spelling out even the contours of a roadmap, but it is fairly obvious that the worlds largest democracy is poised for change in accord with the lights of President Trump and no other. At stake are Americas values of unity and continuity. The Presidents speech was marked by resentment towards and contempt for the conventional, even the system of checks and balances, indeed the hallmark of Americas governance. Unmistakable was the anxiety to play to the gallery ~ We will bring back our jobs, we will bring back our borders, we will bring back our wealth, and will bring back our dreams. The fine print is much too obvious; it was a statement against expatriates, against immigration, and border control such as it exists. Weve defended other nations borders while refusing to defend our own, was an oblique reference to the proposed "Mexico Wall". Though there was no reference to race per se ~ a blot on the Obama dispensation ~ his America First variant of nationalism must appear to be nebulous, if not decidedly chauvinistic. The comity of nations is likely to be bamboozled with the novel spin on nationalism in the fountainhead of libertarian culture. That culture is showcased in the capital city of Washington DC, which explains his rather scornful reference to the seat of power. The popular response has been immediate, with spirited protests in Washington in parallel with his inaugural. There was much by way of negativism and debunking of democratic values, far too little by way of detail, let alone clarity about how he intends to achieve his objectives, unacceptable in most parts. Close to three months after his election, Mr Trump has not reflected on, let alone scale down, his perceptions. The substance of his inaugural address mirrors his campaign speeches. Presidents have often come into office promising to take the nation on a new path. But if Mr Trump can be believed, his election and his speech signal the biggest shake-up in Washington in living memory. Despite wide media coverage of the peoples hardship following Narendra Modis drastic measures and despite the strong anti-Modi stand of the media in general, peoples support for the Prime Minister remains unaffected. Notably, there has been no mass protest against the demonetisation decision. This essay seeks to explore the precise mechanism behind this phenomenon and to assess whether this support will continue even if Modis policy fails to produce tangible benefits. Or will he fail to keep his promise? At the risk of simplification, let me present here the following six elements which arguably could yield a measure of spirited mass-support in the aftermath of a novel decision as political as it is momentous. The first is the element of despotism. Modis style of imposing stringent measures without prior discussion has been vehemently criticised by some as undemocratic and despotic. But interestingly and ironically enough, this very clement of despotism might be the most crucial factor in attracting mass support. People tend to prefer strong leaders, who can take the risk and responsibility, can take bold decisions and can stick to these. Good or bad, a despotic leadership is sometimes the only option before a nation. This is borne out by the recent rise of the far-right parties and neo-fascists in many European countries and the unexpected victory of Donald Trump and his unconventional perception of immigration and terrorism. The second is the element of charisma: Even his critics would agree that Modi is a highly charismatic leader, who can sway the people with unconventional thoughts, unpredictable initiatives, and the inherent skill in the use of emotive expressions to entertain grand visions. The third factor is national interest: Even in this self-centered age, people love to make sacrifices for a greater cause. So when Modi urged his countrymen to bear with the temporary hardship for serving a greater cause ~ to fight against corruption and black money ~ the people did respond. The Prime Minister has been able to arouse national sentiment, and it is this realisation that justifies their hardship. The fourth is the element of anger and a common enemy: Modi has been able to exploit the dormant anger of common citizens against corruption and black money. A common enemy has turned out to be the unifying factor. The Prime Minister has won the support of the people by fuelling their anger. The element of shock and novelty is the fifth factor. We are usually attracted to a novel idea. And an extraordinarily novel idea can indeed be overwhelming. We get stupefied and tend to accept it without much reflection as we cannot find anything similar to compare with it. Modi's announcement of demonetisation of high-denomination notes on 8 November has had a high-voltage shock value. The sixth factor is political inaction and ideological hypocrisy: People are not fools. They are not simply carried away by a leader. They choose their action and their leader by considering other options. For far too long have they heard the political class talking about corruption, but doing little or nothing to combat the menace. Now that the countrys Prime Minister has eventually unveiled a concrete step, the people by and large were united against him. The intellectuals also joined them in one-sided criticism from a strict leftist perspective. This has already been reflected in the social media where the people, especially the younger generation, are baring their angst against this ideological hypocrisy. The factors mentioned must work in tandem to ensure such sustained support. Indira Gandhi also shocked the people by promulgating the Emergency. She too was an extremely charismatic leader, but her decision did not appear to serve a greater cause or national interest but merely her narrow political interest. The crucial question is whether this support will endure even if Modi fails to deliver and thus fails to fulfill the expectation he has generated. He took a calculated risk by putting millions to great hardship and anxiety. Is it possible that people will change their opinion and withdraw their support in utter frustration? My answer is No. It would be pertinent to mention the famous social-psychological study led by Leo Festinger and his team, narrated in the book, When Prophecy Fails. They joined an apocalyptic secret cult, whose leader was a widow, Dorothy Martin. She prophesied that the earth would be destroyed by an alien force from an outer planet. In response, the followers gave up their jobs, their properties, their spouses to demonstrate their faith and in preparation for this impending doomsday. Dorothy even mentioned the exact date and time of that event. When the time came and went, nothing happened, Dorothy claimed that the earth had been spared because of the sacrifice made by the members, their ardent prayer and goodwill. Rather than discard their discredited belief, the members adhered to them even more strongly and started proseletyzing with greater fervour. Festinger concluded that more stronger the sacrifice and commitment made for a cause or belief, the more difficult it would become for one to change his belief or position. The same might happen now. After considerable sacrifice and demonstrating a strong commitment, it would be harder for the people to change their opinion about Modi or to abandon their faith in him, even if their expectations are not met. Rather it would be far easier for them to try to re-convince themselves and others in myriad ways. After all, man never comes short in rationalisation. Whether or not Narendra Modi keeps his promise, the Prime Minister has hit the jackpot! The writer is an Assistant Teacher of Sociology The Sahara largest hot desert in the world was a green and lush area covered in vegetation 5,000 to 11,000 years ago, with rainfall up to ten times more than it is today, according to a new study. The Sahara Desert was home to hunter-gatherers who made their living off the animals and plants in the region's savannahs and wooded grasslands, researchers said. The study pinpointed the rainfall patterns in the Sahara during the 6,000-year "Green Sahara" period by analysing marine sediments. "It was 10 times as wet as today," said lead author Jessica Tierney of the University of Arizona (UA). Annual rainfall in the Sahara now ranges from about four inches to less than one inch. Although other research had already identified the existence of the Green Sahara period, Tierney and her colleagues are the first to compile a continuous record of the region's rainfall going 25,000 years into the past. Archaeological evidence shows humans occupied much of the Sahara during the wet period, but left for about a thousand years around 8,000 years ago the middle of the Green Sahara period. Other researchers have suggested the Sahara became drier at the time people left, but the evidence was not conclusive, said Tierney, a UA associate professor of geosciences. Her team's continuous rainfall record shows a thousand-year period about 8,000 years ago when the Sahara became drier. That drier period coincides with when people left, she said. "It looks like this thousand-year dry period caused people to leave," Tierney said. "What's interesting is the people who came back after the dry period were different most raised cattle. That dry period separates two different cultures. Our record provides a climate context for this change in occupation and lifestyle in the western Sahara," he said. Researchers used their rainfall record to suggest ways current climate models can better replicate the Sahara's ancient climate and therefore improve climate projections. They had long known the Sahara was much greener in the past, but how much of the Sahara was wetter and how much wetter was not well understood, Tierney said. Although scientists can learn about past climate by examining ancient lake sediments, in the Sahara the lakes dried up long ago and their sediments have blown away. Instead of lake sediments, researchers used cores of marine sediments taken off the coast of West Africa at four different sites. As the cores were taken over a north-south distance of about 1,300 km from offshore Cape Ghir, Morocco, to the northwest of Mauritania the cores revealed both the ancient rainfall patterns and the areal extent of the Green Sahara. The research was published in the journal Science Advances. The Iran Human Rights report also hinted at the secrecy that the regime often imposes upon these cases, noting that none of these latest four executions were formally announced as having been implemented. This in turn highlights the uncertainty surrounding any specific determinations of the number of executions carried out by the Iranian judiciary in a given year. Most human rights groups, including the United Nations commission on human rights, agree that in 2015 at least 966 individuals were put to death in Iran, although the real number may be higher than that. Tallies are still being conducted for the year 2016, but reliable estimates already exceed 500 executions. The secrecy that surrounds Irans executions is also frequently extended to other areas of human rights concern. The leadership of the Islamic Republic, along with its own so-called human rights monitor, typically dismiss international concerns about its human rights abuses. But these denials are often difficult to uphold, as some of the victims of those abuses, including many of the countrys political prisoners, actively cooperate with international monitors to draw attention to their plight. This phenomenon has been especially pronounced in recent months, as the country has reportedly seen a surge in hunger strikes, some aimed at gaining specific concessions for individual political prisoners or their relatives, and some aiming to expose the overall conditions of Iranian prisons, particularly political wards. The situation has become so threatening to the Iranian regime that judiciary chief Mohammad Javad Amoli Larijani recently advised lower judiciary officials over it. On Thursday, the National Council of Resistance of Iran quoted Larijani as saying, we should not give any chances to those who think they can enact their intentions by applying media pressure. He added that hunger strikes and other protests have no legal status and will not affect the judicial process. But this latter claim seems to conflict with reports from earlier in the month suggesting that the hunger strike by political prisoner Arash Sadeghi had been successful in securing conditional release and retrial for his wife, Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, who had been arrested and ordered to serve a six year sentence based on the contents of an unpublished short story found in a notebook in her home. Iraees release and the end of Sadeghis hunger strike came about after hundreds of Iranian protested out their behalf outside of Evin Prison, while hundreds of thousands of others advocated for them on social media. The judiciarys action on Iraees case gives the clear impression that the Iranian regime has some concern with public relations, as is to be expected of any government that might face pressure from diplomatic and trading partners, as well as from its own people. This concern is underscored by the action that the regime has also apparently taken in response to other protests and hunger strikes. But Larijanis commentary also underscores an aversion to such responses, which in turn results in some political prisoners being punished for their protests. One recent example of this is the Lebanese-born American permanent resident Nizar Zakka, who began a hunger strike in early December and was subsequently transferred to a prison ward housing violent criminals, and barred from having contact with his family or other visitors, in an apparent effort to force him to end his protest. A different kind of example comes from the case of Atena Daemi, who was arrested in her home and taken to serve a seven-year prison sentence for her peaceful activism in November. Subsequent to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps raid on her home, Daemi filed a formal complaint against the hardline paramilitary and domestic security force, alleging excessive use of force and unlawful behavior in conducting the raid without presenting a warrant. The IRGC responded by levying five new charges against Daemi, including resisting arrest, assaulting an officer, and insulting the supreme leader. But on Thursday, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported that three of the five charges against Daemi had been dropped after police officers who were not affiliated with the IRGC corroborated her story. This development could be described as a modest human rights victory, and it arguably demonstrates the regimes reluctance to pursue a sensitive political case that is highly and internationally visible. However, the assault and resisting arrest charges remain implausibly in effect, and the fact remains that Daemi is facing additional punishment for simply calling attention to the circumstances surrounding her arrest. On balance, the case highlights the possibility of measured success in prisoners rights activism, but also points to the probability of Iran evading of downplaying its concessions to that activism. Another report by the International Campaign may point to the same phenomenon. It notes that Saeed Shirzad had ended his hunger strike after 39 days because authorities had promised to address his concerns. Shirzads case is distinct from those of Sadeghi, Daemi, and others because his efforts were explicitly aimed at improving the overall conditions for inmates in the political ward of Rajai Shahr Prison. As part of his protest, he sewed his own lips shut and vowed to continue his hunger strike to the point of death, if need be. The prisons supervising judge and a prosecutors representative responded to these threats after Shirzad had been hospitalized for the health effects of his protest, and they provided assurances that beatings and insults of political prisoners would cease and that the overall conditions would be re-evaluated. It remains to be seen whether and how authorities will actually follow up on these assurances, but Shirzad has promised to renew his hunger strike if the authorities renege. Still, there is little reason for confidence in changes to prison conditions, especially throughout the countrys entire system. Political prisoners continue to be subject to arbitrary additional pressures, including physical and psychological abuse, and the denial of access to medical treatment. This latter fate is presently being suffered by, among others, the Kurdish filmmaker Keyvan Karimi. His undiagnosed medical condition has grown so severe that he has begun vomiting blood, and yet authorities persist in refusing to grant him furlough. He is serving a six year sentence for making a film on the topic of graffiti in Tehran, and the International Campaign speculates that he is also being targeted by prison authorities because of his ethnic identity. Barring highly significant changes or drastic actions by the judiciary, it stands to reason that reports of hunger strikes and other protests will continue to accumulate in the midst of this ongoing surge. Indeed, the International Campaign reported that as recently as the end of last week, the imprisoned journalist Issa Saharkhiz initiated a hunger strike and laid out plans for the future escalation of his protest over the imposition of an additional, punitive six month sentence for slandering the supreme leader. Saharkhiz was among several journalists caught up in mass arrests of journalists beginning in November 2015. His new protest can now be seen as making him part of another mass action this one opposing the escalation repression of the Iranian regime. That interpretation is underscored by the fact that while Judiciary chief Larijanis is calling for steadfastness among judges, some political prisoners are issuing public statements praising the solidarity of their fellow inmates. The National Council of Resistance of Iran provided an example of this on Friday when it published a letter written by Arzhang Davoudi, who compared the current population of political prisoners to those incarcerated alongside Masoud Rajavi, the founder of the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran, in 1979. Davoudi described how Rajavi had refused to leave prison until all other political prisoners were permitted to leave with him, suggesting that a similar outcome might lay ahead in present-day circumstances. Universal Hindu and Sikh prayers were offered at the interfaith service in the Washington National Cathedral on Saturday to invoke divine blessings for new President Donald Trump and the nation. Hindu priest Narayanachar Digalakote prayed in Sanskrit for the government leaders in the first part of the service when prayers were said for those who govern. Jesse Singh, the founder of American Sikhs for Trump, recited in Punjabi a prayer said by Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh master, in the segment of prayers for the people. Singh who was dressed in a suit and wore a dark turban, translated the invocation that was for unity, binding the common bonds of all and equality. Expanding on it, he added prayers for the most vulnerable in society and for those who perform the dangerous and dirty jobs for the well being of all. "Bless all whose lives closely linked with ours," he prayed. Wearing a saffron shawl and religious markings on his forehead, Digalakote recited a 'shloka' or hymn to invoke divine blessings for those who govern, in the first part of the ceremony of prayers for leaders. Unlike Singh, the Jewish rabbis and the Muslim imam, who provided translations of their prayers and religious texts, the priest of the Shiva Vishnu Temple in Lanham, a Washington suburb, walked away after his rote recitation, leaving the congregants without an idea of what the prayer was about. Nicknamed the "White House Priest", Digalakote has participated in Deepavali celebrations at the White House under Barack Obama. While most of the Christian prayers at the service were focused on Christianity, the Hindu and Sikh prayers were ecumenical, addressed to a common deity. For the first time for either the Democratic or Republican parties, a Sikh prayer was said at the opening of the second day's session at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland last year. Harmeet Dhillon, the Vice Chairperson of the California State Republican Party, opened the second night of the Republican National Convention by reciting the 'ardaas' or prayer. Trump has reached out to the American Hindu community, addressing a rally held by them last October, where he said he would be their friend in the White House. After his election, Trump called out to the Hindus in the audience at a "Thank-You" rally in Florida. Trump's son Eric visited a Hindu temple in Orlando, Florida, in the final days before the November election and his wife, Lara, visited a temple in Chantilly, Virginia, to celebrate Deepavali. Relatives of passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 on Sunday said they will urge authorities to resume search operations that were called off on January 17. The petition will be presented to the transport ministers of the tripartite nations Malaysia, China and Australia who were involved in the search, and who are holding meetings in Perth on Monday and Tuesday, Efe news reported. The request comes after an unsuccessful official search operation, which combed 120,000 sq.km. of the ocean bed, was suspended earlier this week. "The MH370 next-of-kin implore the government of Malaysia to use this opportunity to urgently consult and reconsider the decision to suspend the search," the family support group Voice370 said in a statement. Personal letters from a large number of family members appealing for the continuation of the search will also be handed to Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai, the group added. The decision to call off the operation was taken despite the December 20 recommendation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which led the search, that operations be extended to a 25,000 sq.km area north of the region scoured so far. "Extending the search to the new area defined by the experts is an inescapable duty owed to the flying public in the interest of aviation safety. Planes cannot just be allowed to disappear without a trace," Voice370 previously said. The victims' families had expressed great dismay over the silence of authorities and the aviation industry over the suspension, and called on international civil aviation organisations to urge for it to be reconsidered. The search for the missing plane, the largest and most difficult in history, has cost more than $151 million, about $45 million of which was contributed by Australia. The group said this amount is much lower than the $300 million cost of a Boeing 777 the same as the missing craft and announced an online campaign to demand the resumption of the operation. Following the suspension, Australia said it could only resume the operation if credible new leads emerged, while Malaysia proposed to reward private groups if they located the plane fuselage. The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 disappeared on March 8, 2014, around 40 minutes after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing, when someone turned off the communication systems and turned the plane around. On board were 153 Chinese, 50 Malaysians (including 12 crew members), seven Indonesians, six Australians, five Indians, four French, three Americans, two New Zealanders, two Ukrainians, two Canadians, two Iranians, a Russian, a Dutchman and a Taiwanese. Some plane parts swept in by currents from the Indian Ocean were recovered from beaches of Reunion, Mozambique, Mauritius, South Africa and the French island of Rodrigues. The Taliban has asked US President Donald Trump to review America's policy in Afghanistan and withdraw all foreign forces from the insurgency-plagued country, a media report said on Sunday. In a statement released on Saturday following Trump's inauguration on Friday, the group said violence in Afghanistan will continue if the new administration continued to follow the approaches of the previous governments led by former Presidents Barack Obama and George.W. Bush, Khaama Press said in the report. The Taliban also claimed that the US-led invasion supported by the coalition forces resulted in destruction, loss of lives, and billions of financial loss in the past 16 years. It also resulted in to increasing hatred towards Afghanistan. Afghanistan's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah has welcomed Trump's commitment to the US forces in Afghanistan and the fight against terrorism. The war in Afghanistan began with the invasion of the US-led coalition forces against the Taliban regime, accused of harbouring the then Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of September 11, 2001, attacks in America. British Prime Minister Theresa May called on Saturday for an early meeting with the new President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani to discuss Britain's exit from the European Union. Xinhua news agency quoted an official Downing Street spokesperson for May as saying that the Prime Minister spoke by telephone to Tajani to congratulate him on his election to the presidency of the European Parliament. During the conversation May said she was keen to arrange a meeting in London as soon as practicable to discuss various issues, including Britain's exit from the European Union. "She referenced her speech this week in which she set out the UK's priorities in the forthcoming Brexit negotiations, and reiterated that we would continue to play a full part in and meet our obligations to the EU while we remain a member," May's spokeswoman said. "They agreed to work together to ensure continued good relations between the UK and EU, while the Brexit process is ongoing and thereafter." Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. This news follows previous reports indicating that Tehran had declared its interest in facilitating visa-free travel with certain regional partners. Both initiatives ostensibly relate to Irans planned economic development in the wake of a nuclear agreement with six world powers, but both may also contribute to growing anxieties about the ascendance of a destructive Iranian influence in the Middle East and the world. That is to say, the reduction in barriers to travel between Iran and other regional countries could further facilitate the exchange of militants, particularly to combat zones such as Syria and Yemen. On one hand, the new arrangement in Oman can be seen as reflecting Irans interest in expanding its tourism industry. The effort to promote this expansion was also the subject of an article, which noted that in addition to reducing barriers to initial travel, the Iranian government has lengthened the amount of time by which people can extend their visas upon arrival inside the country. This certainly has potential to affect the activities and spending of tourists and business travelers, but it also raises the specter of long-term, Iran-based training for Shiite militants. And there are clear reasons to believe that the latter phenomenon is currently ongoing. Al Arabiya News reported last Sunday that a commander in Yemens Houthi rebel group had been confessed to heavy involvement in the conflict by Iran and Hezbollah after he was captured by forces loyal to Yemeni President Abed Rabu Mansour Hadi. The prisoner, Abu Mohammad, had been overseeing rocket attacks before his capture. In October, it was reported that the Houthi had fired missiles at American warships in the Red Sea, as well as launch strikes deep in Saudi Arabian territory. These advances in the Shiite militias range were widely linked to reported Iranian efforts to deliver weapons and weapon components to the Houthi. But Mohammads statements deal not only with the supply of weapons, but also with the provision of training to him and his fellow militants. In their case, the training reportedly took place at secret centers set up inside Yemen by Iran and Hezbollah. But to whatever extent the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is directly participating in the Yemeni Civil War, it is also training its own fighters domestically for foreign relations. And the phenomenon is much more pronounced in the Syrian Civil War, with regard to which Iranian media has boasted that devout Shiites have sought to join the IRGC in order to defend holy sites in Syria. International reporting has also provided extensive details regarding IRGC recruitment from Afghan refugee communities in Iran, and from Shiite communities in Afghanistan and Iran. All of this recruitment requires a functional pathway for smuggling of fighters and arms. Some of smuggling has historically been accomplished by re-purposing Irans commercial aircraft. And this re-purposing stands to be made easier and relatively seamless if the barriers to travel throughout the region are reduced in line with Tehrans ambitions. It remains to be seen how the international community might attempt to restrict illicit travel, especially as the pace of that travel increases. But in the meantime, Irans regional adversaries are certainly engaged in efforts to reduce the influence of Iran-backed and Iran-trained militants, by way of either overt of covert conflict. Among overt actions are those taken by Saudi Arabia, which formed a coalition of Arab countries soon after the outbreak of civil war in Yemen, with the express purpose of fighting back against the Houthi rebels and their foreign supporters. On the more covert side of this issue are unconfirmed strikes by Israel, which is worried that the expansion of Iranian traffic and influence in Syria is giving a permanent foothold there to anti-Israeli terrorist group Hezbollah. A report by The Tower recently concluded that a strike last week on a military airport near Damascus was likely carried out by Israeli in order to prevent Iranian-made missiles from reaching Hezbollah fighters contributing to the IRGC-led defense of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. The report points out that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in June, We are open about the fact that Hezbollahs budget, its income, its expenses, everything it eats and drinks, its weapons and rockets, are from the Islamic Republic of Iran. Such admissions are certainly concerning for Israel and Saudi Arabia at a time when their main regional adversary is gaining access to new financial and diplomatic resources in the wake of the 2015 nuclear agreement. But they are also concerning for many policymakers in the West who see Irans regional ascendancy as having potentially global implications. This fact was highlighted by another Tower report on Thursday, this one describing the case that is pending against a Hezbollah operative in Peru by the name of Mohammad Hamdar. The report quotes Joseph Humire, the founder of the Center for a Secure Free Society, as one foreign policy expert warning of Iranian efforts to grow its proxies in Latin America. Humire points in particular to the situation in Venezuela, where Vice President Tareck El Aissami has helped to increase partnerships with anti-Western functionaries, as by developing a sophisticated, multi-layered financial network that functions as a criminal-terrorist pipeline bringing militant Islamists into Venezuela and surrounding countries, and send[s] illicit funds and drugs from Latin America to the Middle East. Other areas of concern in the Western hemisphere include Argentina, although in that case a change of government last year seems to have brought renewed scrutiny to Iranian activities there, as well as ending established relationships that exchanged willful ignorance for favorable trade deals. In 2015, the Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman was found dead in his home just before he was scheduled to give evidence that the government of then-President Cristina Kirchner had covered up Irans involvement in the 1994 bombing of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association building in Buenos Aires. But the current government has opened criminal cases against Kirchner and has continued the investigation into Nismans death. Peru stands to be another instance of progress in countering Iranian influence in the region. And in fact, The Towers report suggests that if a conviction is achieve in the Hamdar case, it could lead to broader efforts to root out Hezbollah from Peru, as well as creating a model for doing the same in other countries of the region. But until such a model takes hold, it appears that Iranian proxies will remain very much a global threat. And even once it does take hold, it is possible that Irans footholds in the Middle East will have deepened. The European Iraqi Freedom Association warned of this in a press release on Thursday which pointed out that Iran has taken to spreading a terrorist element through the region not only via clandestine human smuggling but also through public diplomatic appointments and other such relations with regional partners. The press release identifies Iraq Masjadi, the new Iranian appointee to the Iraqi ambassadorship, as a supporter of terrorism and a close affiliate of Qassem Suleimani, the commander of the IRGC Quds Force who is under UN sanctions and is banned from international travel as a result of his foreign terrorist activities. The EIFA also quotes Masjadi directly, to highlight the plainly imperialist nature of Irans foreign policy. The involvement of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in the battle of Fallujah was in order to preserve Irans status as the Shiite center of the world. We are defending Iran and its borders, he said in one public communication. In another he boasted of saving Bashar al-Assad from the brink of defeat at the hands of Syrian rebels who were predominant in the fight prior to the rise of ISIS. The press release concluded by urging the new presidential administration of Donald Trump to direct US policy toward the obstruction of Iranian influence in the region, something that has arguably been enabled by the previous administrations commitment to preserving the nuclear agreement and boosting Irans economic outcomes following that deals implementation. While campaigning for the US presidency, Trump described that deal as one of the worst in American history and promised to cancel or renegotiate it. Jallikattu began in parts of Tamil Nadu on Sunday, including Tiruchirappalli district, with traditional fervour even as protests continued at Alanganallur in Madurai, where people refused to hold the famous sport seeking a "permanent solution". Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, who had on Saturday said he would inaugurate the event at Alanganallur, is now expected to do so in neighbouring Dindigul district. The bull-taming sport began at Manapparai in Tiruchirappali district with thousands witnessing the event as bulls roared out into the sporting arena. Youths tried to hold on to the hump for a brief distance as the animals sped fast towards the exit. Hundreds of bulls and youths participated in the show. Owners of winning animals and youngsters were awarded with prize money. 'manjuvirattu', another form of jallikattu, was reported from villages in Dharmpauri district. Sections of protesters continued to stay put at several locations in the state, including the Marina beach in Chennai. At Alanganallur several sections of agitators declined to hold the sport. They blocked the ways to the entry and exit points of the sprawling sporting area. A group of organisers removed the bulls from the arena as well. They demanded a permanent solution, declining to accept the ordinance promulgated to hold the sport. According to the officials, Panneerselvam is now expected to inaugurate jallikattu at Kovilpatti near Natham in Dindigul district. Jallikattu remained banned following a Supreme Court order in May 2014. Meanwhile, officials were also making arrangements for holding jallikattu in Alanganallur. Officials are trying to pacify and convince jallikattu organisers that the ordinance is the permanent solution. Agitators were told that the ordinance will be replaced by a law. A Bill in this regard will be adopted in the Assembly and it will become a permanent law and solution as well, they said. [COMMUNICATED CONTENT] Aharon and Esther W. are not sure what the future holds for their special daughter. Tzipora must always be on a soft surface or wear a helmet because at any moment she can fall down and hit her head when trying to walk, or she may experience an unexpected but powerful seizure. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ When Tziporas mother Esther was expecting her newest child, doctors noticed something unusual in prenatal testing but they couldnt determine exactly what the issue was. Nevertheless she and her husband Aharon were overjoyed at the birth of their daughter Tzipora about four and a half years ago. They couldnt wait to get to know their baby and raise her in their Jerusalem home with their beautiful family. Tzipora grew each day as expected until something unexpected happened when she was three months old. She experienced an episode of unusual muscle spasms. Esther and Aharon took Tzipora to the doctor and didnt want to believe what they heard: Tzipora was having a seizure, and after further testing she was diagnosed with Aicardi syndrome, a rare disorder (there are only about 1,000 documented cases in the U.S. and several thousand worldwide) where missing nerve fibers in the brain prevent the left and right sides from communicating. CLICK HERE to help Tzipporah Aicardi syndrome is characterized by seizure activity. Many children with the condition have difficulties walking or speaking and experience developmental delays (because the brain isnt sending complete messages to the body). Sadly in Tziporas case, as she got older it became clear that she was affected in all of these ways. Tziporas parents did everything possible to get all the help they could, for their daughter. She underwent various therapies for an extended time but they noticed that she wasnt making significant progress in any of the areas she was lacking. They were discouraged and didnt know what to do. Finally they learned some new information after getting in contact with other parents whose children had the same condition: There was a physiotherapist in Canada who specialized in developing treatment plans for Aicardi children. Esther and Aharon scrambled for funds to take the trip abroad and see him. The investment was a costly one. Aharon and Esther went into substantial debt to cover the three week trip-something the hard working couple never would have expected to be forced to do. It also threw family life into upheaval, as the parents tried to figure out how to make arrangements for the other children left at home. But the well-being of their daughter was paramount and thankfully the investment paid off. The therapist developed a course of unique treatments that could be implemented by his students in Israel, which the family began immediately upon their return. Not long into the therapies Aharon and Esther began to see improvements in Tziporas abilities: When approaching a step while using her walker and leg braces, she now knows it is a sign for her to lift her leg. She is better at bringing a piece of bread closer to her mouth than she used to be. She is working on learning to drink from a cup. These seemingly simple types of activities are big milestones for this smiley, happy four and a half year old. CLICK HERE to help Tzipporah The results have brought some encouragement into the lives of Aharon and Esther, although they face a frightening hurdle. There is a window of ideal time to work with Tzipora , with a main goal of getting her to walk using this specific method, but it is only open for one more year. Still in significant debt from their previous trip abroad, they know Tzipora has a long road ahead of her and they cant imagine how they will be able to fund additional consultations and treatments. We can help Tzipora-we need to. But the clock is ticking and we cant help her without you. Our goal is to raise $18,000. With these funds we will be able to make a lifetime investment ourselves, in the future of a little girl. Money will go toward another appointment with the specialist and cover the resulting costs of flights, the vital therapies themselves and loss of income due to the trip. We hope these therapies will improve Tziporas quality of life. Please help us get Tzipora the vital help she needs and say a Tefilla for Tzipora Feiga bat Esther. CLICK HERE to help Tzipporah Milkas Fund, founded and managed by Yad Eliezer is a safe and secure way of donating money to help individuals with compassion and enable them to live a life with their problems solved. Councilman David G. Greenfield announced this week that the Department of Transportation will be installing enhanced crosswalks at three dangerous intersections in Bensonhurst. The decision comes after meetings between Greenfield, other community leaders, and DOT officials. Keeping our citizens safe is the most important job we have as elected officials, Greenfield said. Thats why I fought to get these safety improvements. Im proud that we were able to get it done. The enhanced crosswalks will feature clear new signage directing drivers to yield to pedestrians, and are slated for installation on 21st Avenue at 57th Street and 58th Street, as well as 17th Avenue at 57th Street. Speed humps will also be installed on 21st Avenue from 53rd Street to 60th Street. 2016 was the safest year on record, and Brooklyn led all boroughs in cutting down on traffic fatalities, but we can and must do better, Greenfield said. Id like to thank Commissioner Trottenberg for her hard work on this important matter. I would also like to thank Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams for his partnership in making these improvements possible. Greenfield has been working hard to improve the streets of our communities, and these are just the latest of many improvements he has successfully fought for. With respect to 21st Avenue specifically, Greenfield has added safety measures such as hazard lights to warn about sharp curves and removed outdated signage. He has also opened up new parking spaces and upgraded streets lights for improved visibility. Greenfield is also in the process of making major safety improvements in the area of the intersections of New Utrecht Avenue/12th Avenue/50th Street, which will include enhanced crosswalks and new measures to improve driving safety in th, among other measures. I am very excited about the steps being taken to improve safety at the intersection of New Utrecht Avenue, 12th Avenue and 50th Street, said Barry Spitzer, district manager for Community Board 12. The Department of Design and Construction is already working on the design for this project with construction pending its completion. For years this location has been extremely dangerous and an object of confusion for motorists and pedestrians. I am pleased that Councilman Greenfield and I have been able to work with the Department of Transportation to make these necessary improvements. I will never stop fighting to keep our communities safe, Greenfield said. That includes keeping our streets safe for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians alike. (YWN Desk NYC) Mike Pence has returned to Washington. So has his closest political ally, Bill Smith. Smith spent a dozen years as Pences chief of staff while the current vice president was a congressman and later Indiana governor. Hes expanding his lobbying practice into the nations capital now that Donald Trump and Pence hold the White House. In a photo on his firms website, Smith and Pence are seen huddling in close consultation on an airplane. Its a new world, the site declares. The new world of Trumps Washington was supposed to be one with fewer Bill Smiths. But the lobbyists, consultants and ex-government officials who make their living selling their influence arent dissuaded by that piece of Trumps agenda. Former campaign aides and other associates, like many before them, are setting up shop in Washington, eager to trade on their connections. This migration happens anytime a new president comes to town. Still, it demonstrates the uncomfortable reality Trump faces if he is serious about his promises to drain the swamp of those who use their ties to public officials to make a fortune. It also belies a reality of such perennial promises to clean up Washington: No one, even those knee-deep in it, considers himself or herself to be part of the swamp. Smith said his experience with Pence will prove valuable to clients and that it makes sense for those already with relationships to help shape the new Washington. Smith works with technology, defense, energy and insurance companies, among others. Does that mean hes part of what Trump described as the swamp? Its really up to him to determine whats in the swamp and whats not, Smith said. He said he senses among government relations types a desire to be sensitive to the desires of the new administration when it comes to how they want to interact. The Trump campaign was far smaller and newer to politics than most, meaning those who have not gone into the administration are in hot demand by companies and industry groups hoping to make inroads with the new president. Scott Mason, who was Trumps chief liaison to the House through the campaign and transition, joined the government affairs firm Holland & Knight as a senior policy adviser this month. Theres that Trump campaign bond thatll be beneficial to me, to Holland & Knight and ultimately to our clients, Mason said. Hes not worried about how his old boss will feel about his new job. Theres the red-meat rhetoric, and theres the reality, and President Trump has an extraordinarily good grasp of both, he said. I think he will come to realize that the government affairs professionals add value and add perspective an important perspective. Indeed, neither Trump nor top advisers have condemned any of the former Trump team members spin through the revolving door of Washington. Trumps communications aides did not respond to requests for comment. Lobbyists and trade groups were banned from contributing to the inauguration. But judging by the swarms of influencers who made appearances at official events this week, the new White House isnt eager to wage an immediate war. Trumps first campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, and campaign adviser Barry Bennett hung out their lobby-shops shingle just down the road from the White House. Their budding firm Avenue Strategies says it has already has signed clients, including the incoming governor of Puerto Rico. Lewandowski eagerly promotes his ties to Trump. I had the privilege of sitting on the Presidents Platform to witness the swearing in of @realDonaldTrump as POTUS. What an amazing day! Lewandowski wrote on Twitter. Trump also gave prime access to Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, who contributed more than $20 million to the presidential race in its closing weeks. The Adelsons were front and center during the swearing-in, and then they dined with the new president and lawmakers at a congressional lunch that is usually reserved for family, lawmakers and their spouses, and other dignitaries. When the business of the Trump presidency begins on Monday, the Trump-tinged lobby world will be ready. One-time Trump national political director Jim Murphy recently joined the firm BakerHostetler as a senior adviser for federal policy. Trumps former campaign national field director, Stuart Jolly, signed on as president of Sonoran Policy Group and has already helped connect the firms clients, including the New Zealand embassy, with new administration. Jolly, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, said confidence in his own character which he described as not swamp-like at all leaves him with no qualms about his work in the influence industry. Im still me, Jolly said. Some inside Trumps White House also have close ties to the government relations world that Trump derided during the campaign. Communications aide Hope Hickss father, Paul Hicks, is a managing director in the New York office of the Glover Park Group, a strategic communications firm with a large Washington presence. White House press secretary Sean Spicers wife, Rebecca Spicer, has spent a decade with the influential trade group National Beer Wholesalers Association, serving as its chief communications officer. Two of Trumps most senior campaign and transition advisers, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, have their own tightly entwined histories of government service and high-paying jobs leveraging that experience. Gingrich immediately followed up his two decades in the House by helping to connect paying clients to his former colleagues. Hes not taking a job in the Trump administration but says he will provide Trump strategic advice. Giuliani also will work as an unpaid adviser to trump, leading his efforts on cybersecurity for the private sector. The role appears to mirror his paid gigs, as chairman of global cybersecurity practice at Greenberg Traurig and chairman and chief executive officer of security consulting firm Giuliani Partners. Hes keeping those day jobs. (AP) As President Trumps limousine drove the Washington, D.C. parade route on Friday, the Senate was busy at work stocking Trumps Cabinet though not fully. Gen. James Mattis was confirmed as Secretary of Defense and Gen. John Kelly was confirmed as Secretary of Homeland Security in a pair of Friday evening votes. Mattis was approved by a vote of 98-1. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., was the lone vote against. Kelly was approved 88-11. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., did not vote on either Kelly or Mattis. Sessions has been nominated to be Attorney General. Trump signed the commissions for Mattis and Kelly later Friday. Vice President Mike Pence swore in both Generals. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., also tried to begin debate on Rep. Mike Pompeos nomination as CIA Director following the Mattis and Kelly votes, but Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., objected. Instead, the Senate was set to begin the Pompeo debate on Monday. I am pleased by the confirmation votes of Generals Mattis and Kelly, Trump said in a statement. These uniquely qualified leaders will immediately begin the important work of rebuilding our military, defending our nation and securing our borders. I am proud to have these two American heroes join my administration. I call on members of the Senate to fulfill their constitutional obligation and swiftly confirm the remainder of my highly qualified cabinet nominees, so that we can get to work on behalf of the American people without further delay. Noting the Senate approved seven of former President Obamas Cabinet nominees on the first day of his administration in 2009, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chastised Democrats for refusing to consider confirmation of more of Trumps nominees. McCain said the only difference between 2009 and 2017 is that now weve got a world on fire, citing Syrian refugees and Russias aggressive actions. We need a new Director of the CIA more than ever, McCain said. Wyden, however, countered that the Senate would not be Trumps rubber stamp. Trump earlier Friday signed into law a waiver allowing Mattis to serve as Defense Secretary. The bill passed by Congress last week granted Mattis a one-time exception from federal law barring former U.S. service members who have been out of uniform for less than seven years from holding the top Pentagon job. The restriction is meant to preserve civilian control of the military. Mattis, 66, retired from the Marine Corps in 2013 after a 41-year career in uniform. During that same signing ceremony, Trump joked with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer about Pompeos confirmation. Mike Pompeo. Great. They tell me hes going to be approved momentarily, but you never know with this place, Trump said. Schumer retorted: Depends how you define momentarily soon. There was little debate about the confirmation of Kelly, who is widely respected by Democrats and Republicans alike. As the former head of the militarys Southern Command, based in South Florida, he routinely worked with the Department of Homeland Security to combat human trafficking and drug smuggling. Kelly joined the Marine Corps in 1970 and served three tours in Iraq. He was also the highest-ranking officer to lose a child in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan. His son, Marine 1st Lt. Robert Kelly, was killed in November 2010 in Afghanistan. (AP) A 9-year-old Beis Rivka student in Melbourne was among four people killed and over thirty others injured when a vehicle driven by a man plowed into pedestrians on Friday, 22 Teves at 2:00PM local time. According to local police the incident occurred in Melbournes CBD, a business district, adding a man and a woman in their thirties are also among the dead. The mother and a sister of the Beis Rivka student are among the wounded. Their condition was listed as serious before Shabbos. The 9-year-old has been identified as Thalia Hakin AH. Hakin, a student of Beth Rivkah, was with her family when the car deliberately rammed into pedestrians, killing four and injuring dozens more. On Shabbos, her mother Nathalie remained in intensive care in hospital. Her sister Maggie, aged 9, also remains in hospital. The driver has been identified as Jimmy Gargasouslas (26), who is accused of stabbing his brother in his mothers home earlier in the day, a man with a history of family violence and drug abuse. Police yesterday shot the 26-year-old occupant of the vehicle and he was taken into custody. Authorities say the incident was not terror related. Names for tehillim: Rachel bat Mazal Mazal bat Chola Community Announcement We are all deeply saddened and shocked at the horrific tragedy that occurred on Friday in the Melbourne CBD. We mourn the loss of our dear student and community member, Thalia Hakin, as well as the others who lost their lives. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Hakin family, we pray that Rachel bas Mazal and Mazal bas Chulah should have a Refuah Shleima, a complete and speedy recovery together with all those who were injured. There will be a community memorial and prayer service tonight (Sunday night 23 January) at the Werdiger Family Hall from 7:30pm to 8:15pm . The service will incorporate Torah, Tefillah and Tzedakah. May we share Besuros Tovos. The Yeshivah-Beth Rivkah Colleges & Rabbinical Council of Victoria (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) President Reuven Rivlin on motzei Shabbos, sent a letter of congratulations to 45th President of the United States of America, Donald Trump. In the letter, President Rivlin wrote: On behalf of the people and State of Israel, I am honored to extend to you congratulations on your inauguration as the 45th President of the United States of America. Mr. President, as a longstanding friend of the State of Israel, you now stand as leader of the free world, and of Israels most important and closest ally. The alliance between our states and our nations is not solely based on friendship. It is rooted in our shared values and longstanding commitment to freedom, liberty, and democracy the foundation stones of our societies. As you take this esteemed office, I wish to express my gratitude for the support and friendship of the American people, along with my hope that our special relationship and cooperation will continue to flourish and grow stronger. On behalf of our people, I wish you and your administration much success, and take this opportunity to extend to you an invitation to visit the State of Israel and be our guest in Jerusalem. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) [January 22, 2017] Arecont Vision Releases MicroDome Duo Compact Twin-Sensor Megapixel Camera Series Arecont Vision, the industry leader in IP-based megapixel camera technology, announces the expansion of the compact MicroDome ultra-low profile true day/night camera family with the release of its dual-sensor MicroDome Duo series. Arecont Vision will be demonstrating MicroDome Duo at Intersec 2017, in the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, January 22-24, 2017, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170121005014/en/ Arecont Vision MicroDome Duo views 2 directions at once in a tiny dual-dome megapixel camera. (Photo: Business Wire) With revolutionary innovation and in-house designs, Arecont Vision has pioneered the multi-sensor megapixel surveillance camera market since 2006. MicroDome Duo is the latest addition to that continuing heritage, with an extremely compact and advanced twin sensor omnidirectional camera. Both sensors feature independent remote focus modules, mounted on 3-axis gimbals for outstanding viewing coverage. "Customers across the Middle East and around the world will benefit from the small size, advanced cybersecurity protection, futue-proof design, and unique capabilities of the new MicroDome Duo," said Sanjit Bardhan, Vice President of Sales, Middle East, Africa, and India (MEAI) for Arecont Vision. "MicroDome Duo reduces the number of cameras required for a wide range of applications by providing high definition video of two areas at once, and its many, installer-friendly features cut down on installation time and expense." A single compact MicroDome Duo camera can be mounted on a wall or ceiling to cover two different views simultaneously. This results in enhanced coverage and improved situational awareness over a multitude of scenes, particularly those in need of low-profile, high resolution indoor/outdoor surveillance. Such areas include hallways, walkways, ATMs, and POS terminals. MicroDome Duo offers fast frame rates and a choice of 4, 6, or 10-megapixel resolution models. Each camera is available with lens options ranging from 2.1 to 16mm, providing the widest possible application requirements. SNAPstream (Smart Noise Adaptation and Processing) technology reduces camera bandwidth consumption in all MicroDome Duo models without impacting image quality. At the core of MicroDome Duo is an Arecont Vision FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) integrated circuit. Arecont Vision cameras are designed and built in the USA to run an in-house developed, Massively Parallel Image Processing Architecture (MPIPA) on the FPGA. All core features and technologies are developed by Arecont Vision, allowing installed cameras to be upgraded with new capabilities, thereby extending the useful life of the device. By employing the unique MPIPA architecture on the FPGA, Arecont Vision cameras do not require the use of common operating systems. This approach eliminates the risk of a cyber hacker repurposing an Arecont Vision camera for use in Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) robotic actions or other increasingly common cyberattacks. The MicroDome Duo series is designed for applications with challenging lighting conditions, featuring integrated, dual, day/night mechanical IR cut filters. For applications with strong backlighting, reflections from wet flooring, streets or puddles, or contrast due to fog, mist, or glare, optional Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) equipped 4- and 6-megapixel models are also available. Built-in CorridorView technology provides better coverage of hallways, corridors, and other narrow spaces without wasting pixels on unchanging areas. Each MicroDome Duo camera offers independent remote focus capability to simplify set-up and significantly reduce installation time. Installers can simply select "Short Range Focus" or "Full Range Focus" for rapid setup, or they can adjust the view remotely as required by the application. The MicroDome Duo is a compact (71.9mm/2.83" height by 103mm/4.06" width by 163mm/6.42" length), light weight (0.88kg/1.95lbs) surveillance camera series. It is built on Arecont Vision's new installer-friendly enclosure design to further simplify positioning and installation. A single PoE IP connection is required, reducing wiring time and expense. The rugged, tamper-resistant, die-cast aluminum housing features two polycarbonate dome bubbles that are both IK-10 impact-resistant and IP66 weatherproof rated. The MicroDome Duo is ONVIF (Open Network Video Interface Forum) Series S compliant. Visit the Arecont Vision MEAI team this week at Intersec Dubai to see the new MicroDome Duo and other award-winning Arecont Vision megapixel cameras in action at Harco (I12-S1), Anixter (A11-SA), AxxonSoft (D26-S1), Genetec (News - Alert) (J38-S1), ISS (C12-SA), ITSEC (A36-S2), Milestone Systems (H26-S1), Norbain (C32-2), and Tyco Security Products (D12-S1). ABOUT ARECONT VISION Arecont Vision is the leading manufacturer of high-performance megapixel IP cameras. Arecont Vision products are made in the USA. MegaVideo and SurroundVideo Massively Parallel Image Processing Architectures are now in their 5th generation and represent a drastic departure from traditional analog and network camera designs. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170121005014/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu shortly before Shabbos released a tweet congratulating US President Donald Trump shortly before the inauguration ceremony, as the latter was to be held after Shabbos began in Israel. He tweeted Congrats to my friend President Trump. Look fwd to working closely with you to make the alliance between Israel&USA stronger than ever. Israeli Ambassador to Washington Ron Dermer tweeted Congratulations President Trump! Israel looks forward to working with you to make the US-Israel alliance greater than ever. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) Incoming US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman has announced he does not plan to live in the home used by his predecessors, in Herzliya Pituach, but plans to live in Jerusalem, in line with President Donald Trumps promise to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem. Friedman is yet to receive Senate confirmation and at present, he is scheduled to arrive in Israel by the end of February. PA (Palestinian Authority) officials have already sent their message, that moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem would ignite a regional fire. While the United States voted to move the embassy in 1995, each president has placed the move on hold, not wishing to be the one who sparks the dispute with the international Islamic community. The so-called Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 was passed by the 104th Congress on October 23, 1995. It has never been implemented because of opposition from Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama. President Trump announced during his campaign that unlike his predecessors, he plans to make the move. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) MK Moshe Gafne has turned to Maale Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel on behalf of the talmid torah and chareidi school in the city numbering 150 talmidim explaining they are bursting at the seams and require additional space. According to Gafne, school officials have turned to Maale Adumim school officials a number of times, speaking with David Sharret, who holds the citys education portfolio. They quote him as saying Let them get out of Maale Adumim. This is the order from above, not to give the chareidim a foothold but to let them go to a Jerusalem neighborhood. In his letter Gafne points out that chareidim are part of the population, and the city must address the schools space issues and while the mayor has promised to assist, in fact, he has done nothing. Gafne was straight forward, explaining as Kashriel works to have Maale Adumim annexed as part of Israel, he must be aware that this will take chareidi support and this will not occur for as long as he treats chareidim in Maale Adumim as he does. Maale Adumim spokesman Chezi Zissman told the media the statements attributed to Mr. David Sharret vis-a-vis the chareidim are lies and untruths. He adds that in fact, the talmid torah is in an old building and when the city was informed of problems, NIS 60,0000 was spent to replace the pipes. This was one of four buildings that was refurbished by the city. Zissman adds that the school is recognized but not a part of the public school system and therefore, the city does not receive Education Ministry funds for it but the city nevertheless did the necessary work. He concluded This is the way it has been and will continue in the future. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) The White House will on Monday announce that the US embassy in Israel is to move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, according to an unconfirmed report by an Israeli news outlet. Channel 2 cited an anonymous source as saying a member of the Trump administration would announce the highly controversial move on the Presidents first full working day in office. The news channel said it had received no confirmation of the claim and there has been no public statement on the move since Fridays inauguration of the new US President. Relocating the US embassy to Jerusalem would represent a major break with US policy. Donald Trump has said repeatedly that he intends to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem, despite warnings the move would violate international law and destroy the peace process. Earlier in January, US officials and Israeli Foreign Ministry sources said the incoming US ambassador to Israel could be based in Jerusalem, while the official embassy building remains in Tel Aviv. Mr Trump has also appointed a new US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, who is considered a supporter of settlements. Meanwhile, Israel has approved building permits for hundreds of homes in three East Jerusalem settlements. Israel expects Mr Trump to end the US governments criticism of building projects. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to speak with Mr Trump by telephone on Sunday. We strongly condemn the Israeli decision to approve the construction, Nabil Abu Rdainah, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told Reuters. (Source: Independent) [COMMUNICATED CONTENT] Dr. Schussheim, president of EFRAT sends a public message. We are following in the footsteps of the Jewish midwives in Egypt who saved babies in the face of Pharaohs decree. We are doing our best to substantially increase EFRATs activities by saving as many children as possible over the next few hours. Therefore I am turning to each of you to become partners in our precious work. 40,000 pregnancies are terminated in each year in Israel. EFRAT works tirelessly to support women, empowering them to continue their pregnancies despite their difficulties, by providing them with critical emotional support and practical help. With EFRATs active assistance 4,000 women are enabled to keep their pregnancies and have their babies each year. EFRATs close support involves the offer of 2 years of practical support including: a crib, stroller, baby bath, baby kit of clothing and supplies as well as monthly packages of diapers, formula and food for the entire family. Every shekel will be tripled. Save Jewish children! For details press here. Hundreds of trained volunteers work for EFRAT providing daily assistance to expectant mothers. They are available to offer emotional support as well as help in accessing rights and benefits so that women can build a life for themselves and their children. Continue in the path of the Jewish midwives The Rabbinical Council together with Rabbis from all streams and communities speak out this week to highlight the midwives lifesaving work. They urge the global Jewish world to support EFRAT in perpetuating the midwives work in our times. With the generosity of donors, EFRAT has initiated a matching campaign for Parshat Shemot. You have until Monday 10pm EST to donate to EFRAT. During this time each shekel donated will be tripled. In effect, over the next hours saving one baby equals saving three babies! Join EFRAT in saving Jewish children. Press here. This Account has been suspended. Ministers may backtrack on plans to sell the Green Investment Bank to the so-called Aussie vampire kangaroo. Plans to offload the bank to investment firm Macquarie may be scrapped in favour of floating it on the stock exchange. Ministers had been widely criticised over plans to sell the Green Investment Bank. Concerns: City Editor Alex Brummer has warned about the Macquarie deal It was founded by the Coalition Government in 2012 and uses public funds to encourage the development of green buildings and energy infrastructure. Macquarie had been lined up in October to take over the organisation but concerns mounted when the investment bank was accused of planning to strip assets from the business. The Australian outfit was revealed to be lining up buyers for its assets such as wind farms and biomass projects before the deal was even finalised. Estimates suggested that Macquarie could make an instant profit of 2.7bn on its purchase by selling off the assets piece by piece. Now, in a major U-turn, business secretary Greg Clark is believed to be about to tear up the deal and instead push for a stock market listing which would value the bank at 3.8bn. The Edinburgh-based Green Bank was set up in 2012 by then-business secretary Sir Vince Cable to encourage growth in the renewable energy industry. It employs 125 people and has invested more than 2.7bn in 80 wind farms, power plants and street-lighting systems across the UK. Investments have included a 5m boiler replacement project for sheltered housing, a renewable power facility at Tilbury in Essex and a 33m waste treatment plant in North Yorkshire. As part of its bid Macquarie had to commit to investing a further 2bn over the next three years. The bank is the latest asset which the Government is looking to privatise, after selling almost all of its stake in Lloyds. If the bank was valued at 3.8bn upon listing then the privatisation would be even bigger than the 3.3bn flotation of Royal Mail in 2013. Plans to privatise the bank were first announced in 2015, shortly after the Government revealed it would scrap all new subsidies for onshore wind farms a year earlier than planned. The Government said it would sell its stake by the end of its current five-year term in 2020. MANZINI Over 1 000 former workers of Tex Ray Swaziland in Matsapha yesterday turned a meeting convened to discuss their social welfare into a political rally. They burst into song to belittle the defunct Imbokodvo National Movement and government. Winnie Magagula, Minister of Labour and Social Security, was not spared the vitriol. They said they were sick and tired of working for peanuts just to serve the interests of the Imbokodvo National Movement. This, they said while singing and dancing around the fully packed Prince Mfanyana Hall in Manzini where the meeting convened by the Amalgamated Trade Unions of Swaziland (ATUSWA) was held. The song was titled: Sesidziniwe kusebenzela Imbokodvo (we are sick and tired of working for Imbokodvo). Imbokodvo National Movement was a political party that existed in the country from 1964 to 1973 when political parties were banned in terms of the Kings Proclamation of April 12. The party was formed by the Swazi National Council, which was the advisory body to King Sobhuza, with the King being instrumental in its formation. It won the first democratic election in Swaziland held in 1967 and also won the second parliamentary election in 1972. However, Prince Mfanasibili mentioned at some point that the central government was still using policies of the Imbokodvo National Movement. The prince was a former member of the party. Meanwhile, the ex-workers of Tex Ray, a textile company whose main branch was closed in 2015 due to loss of the American market known as AGOA, chanted political slogans at their meetings. About 99 per cent of them were women. They composed a song about Magagula, Minister of Labour and Social Security, whose name featured prominently at the meeting. The song about the minister was titled: Ye Winnie, ufuna sikwenzele ntoni na? (Winnie, what do you want us to do for you?) While they were singing about the minister, they uttered unpalatable words, which will not be repeated here. MPAKA Canham Mining International has been granted a licence to set up a multibillion Emalangeni coal-fired thermal power station. The Austialian company obtained the licence ahead of JSW Energy and its partners, the government of Swaziland, as well as the Swaziland Electricity Company (SEC). SEC is a parastatal (company owned by government). Canham Mining received the licence towards the end of last year, to generate energy in the country. The company wants to generate 2 500 megawatts of energy per day, which is 41 times more than the power produced by SECs four hydropower stations Maguga, Ezulwini, Dwaleni and Maguduza. It is common knowledge that the four power stations have a combined installed generation capacity of 60.4 megawatts, and contribute 15 to 17 per cent of the total energy consumed in the country, with the rest imported largely from ESKOM in South Africa, and some from Electricidade de Mozambique. A megawatt is a unit of power equal to one million watts, especially as a measure of the output of a power station. In case Canham finally produces 2 500 megawatts per day, it effectively means there would be no need for the kingdom to import electricity from ESKOM in South Africa. Canham is an Australian company that was represented by Prince Magudvulela, a chief and MP, during negotiations for acquisition of the licence. The prince is also a former employee of the then Swaziland Electricity Board (SEB), now SEC, where he worked for 27 years as a technician and later a training officer. JSW, an Indian company, had roped in heavyweight partners in government and SEC in its bid to establish the power station. It was to use coal in Lubhuku, east of Swaziland, to generate, transmit and distribute power to the nation. This company intended to invest E7 billion while Canham Mining proposed to invest E100 billion and create jobs for over 30 000 workers. It can be the largest employer in the private sector if it creates jobs for 30 000 people. The Times SUNDAY can mention that it appeared as if it was going to be easier for JSW to get the licence ahead of Canham Mining International because of its partnership with SEC and the Government of Swaziland. The partnership was further legitimised in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). MBABANE Government is expected to spend E80 000 on the State funeral of the late former Prime Minister Obed Dlamini, who died on Tuesday in South Africa. Obed became the fifth former prime minister to pass on after Princes Makhosini, Maphevu, Bhekimphi and Mbilini. Government is also expected to pay a monthly allowance of E5 000 to Obeds widow, Miriam, until she dies. The widow will be entitled to free medical treatment at the government health institutions. Government will also identify social welfare workers who shall make regular visits to monitor her welfare needs. This will be done on a regular basis at least once per month. When she dies, government is expected to spend E30 000 on her funeral. These are the benefits for former prime ministers and beneficiaries contained in Finance Circular No.1 of 2010 and validated by Finance Circular No.2 of 2013. Reads the section that validates the benefits for the former prime ministers which were contained in the previous Circular: All former prime ministers and deputy prime ministers employed under preceding Circulars are subject to the terms and conditions of that respective Circular. Most of the former prime ministers were subject to the terms and conditions of Finance Circular No.1 of 2010 because the previous Circulars under which they were employed did not contain the post-service benefits. There was only one notable post-service benefit for the former prime minister which was contained in Finance Circular No.3 of 2005 and Finance Circular No.2 of 2009. In those Circulars, a former prime minister was only given a personal assistant at governments expense. This lone benefit was enjoyed by current Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini and Absalom Themba Dlamini, popularly known as AT. Themba had succeeded Sibusiso Dlamini in 2003 and the latter was reappointed by the King to the same position in 2008. Bheki Bhembe, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, said he was not the appropriate authority over the matter as it was very sensitive since Cabinet had already appointed a team to work on logistics of the former prime ministers funeral. Percy Simelane, Government Press Secretary, had not responded to a questionnaire sent to him on Friday. MBABANE The head teacher of one of the primary schools in the country has been banned for life from ever administering the Swaziland Primary Certificate (SPC) examinations. He has been banned by the Examinations Council of Swaziland (Exams Council) for malpractice. After intense investigations, the administrator was found guilty of having assisted pupils who sat for one of the examination papers in the 2016 SPC exam. The head teacher has not only been banned but is also yet to face the music from the Ministry of Education and Training. This will happen once the Exams Council reports him to the ministry, where he will be expected to answer for his conduct. Edmund Mazibuko, Registrar of the Exams Council, confirmed this yesterday. He said the head teachers ban was a measure meant to send a stern warning to teachers and invigilators to desist from any malpractice during the course of the examination. The registrar said the head teacher was not the only one banned, as this measure was also applied to all teachers and invigilators who were found guilty of misconduct during the 2016 SPC and Junior Certificate (JC) examinations. In total, five schools three primary and two secondary had their results withheld for suspected malpractice. Mazibuko said the anomalies were on seven subjects, in total. Only one secondary school was cleared of malpractice and the rest were found guilty. This one school was cleared of examination malpractice but it was found guilty of exam maladministration, he said. Malpractice is when pupils are made to copy while maladministration is failing to follow procedure before the actual tests are written. The school that was guilty of a lesser crime was warned to follow all procedure in future. Pupils involved in malpractice were punished by losing the marks for the subjects they copied. J/Boats News is a digest of worldwide events, regattas, and news for sailing enthusiasts and members of our J Community. Contributions regarding your racing, cruising or human interest stories on-board J's are welcome- please send to "editor@jboats.com". Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Gina Martinez The mysterious death of a Ridgewood grandmother has been ruled a homicide, according to police. Erika Kraus-Breslins corpse was found by police in her 65th Street home Oct. 5 after officers responded to a request from a family member to do a wellness check on the 85-year old. When officers arrived, Kraus-Breslins grandson, 30-year-old Christopher Fuhrer, immediately told officers his grandmother had died and directed police to a bedroom where her dead body was discovered in multiple layers of plastic bags, police said. Fuhrer told officers Kraus-Breslin died May 21. He said that she suffered from discomfort from bed sores, so he turned her on her side and left the room. When he returned, he found her face down and unresponsive. Fuhrer covered the smell of the decaying body with air fresheners, police said. On Oct. 6 police arrested the 30-year-old and charged him with not reporting death, removing a body without a permit, improper burial and concealing a corpse. Fuhrer was arraigned Oct. 7 and charged with felony concealment of a corpse, the Queens district attorney said. Bail was set to $350,000. The medical examiners office determined this week that Kraus-Breslin succumbed in May 2016 to homicidal asphyxiation from neck compression. Furher has not been charged with the homicide. Police said investigations were ongoing. Kraus-Breslin emigrated from Germany and had two children and four grandkids. She was married until her husband died 15 years ago. Kraus-Breslin worked part time at Rudys Bakery in Ridgewood. The owner, Toni Binati, described Kraus-Breslin as someone who never acted her age, was active and healthy and loved the outdoors. According to Binati, Fuhrer moved in with his grandmother after trouble with his mother and became Kraus-Breslins main caregiver. 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. TROY A house on Fourth Street was seriously damaged after a fire started on the second-floor Sunday. Fifteen people were left homeless after the two-alarm fire at 631 Fourth St. [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: 165 Events in Kansas to Raise Awareness About School Choice National School Choice Week begins today in Kansas and across the country. There are 165 events planned in the Sunflower State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Kansas, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large rally for school choice January 25 at noon at the State House. The counties of Chautauqua, Cloud, Johnson, and Ellis and cities of Baxter Springs, Chanute, Chetopa, and Nickerson have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Kansas with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effctive education options. With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR KANSAS FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Kansas can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Sunflower State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. The state also has a program allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005061/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: 236 Events in Arkansas to Raise Awareness About School Choice National School Choice Week begins today in Arkansas and across the country. There are 236 events planned in the Natural State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Arkansas, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large rally January 25 at 10 a.m. at the state capitol steps. The counties of Barnstable, Crawford, Arkansas, and Logan; cities of Brookland, Harrison, Jonesboro, Ashdown, Bono, Cedar Ridge, Elkins, Flippin, Helena-West Helena, Lowell, Pine Bluff, Sheridan, Tontitown, and Waldron; and Governor Hutchinson have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Arkansas with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "Our event during National School Choice Week will bring all forms of school choice into the spotlight, including traditional public scools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online learning, private schools, and homeschooling," said Katie Clifford of The Reform Alliance. "There's no better time of year to show off all the great ways families in our state exercise school choice." "The past several years have seen an increase in education options available to Arkansas families, and that is something for people to celebrate," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "We are grateful that Arkansans will use National School Choice Week to raise such unprecedented awareness of opportunity in education." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR ARKANSAS FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Arkansas can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Natural State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. The state also has a program allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005041/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: 299 Events in Massachusetts to Raise Awareness About School Choice National School Choice Week begins today in Massachusetts and across the country. There are 299 events planned in the Bay State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Massachusetts, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large community fun day January 31 at Christopher Donovan Day School in Onset. The cities of Canton, Dracut, Fall River, Mattapoisett, Warren, West Springfield, and Weymouth have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." "National School Choice Week provides families in Maine with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "he Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR MASSACHUSETTS FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Massachusetts can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Bay State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005071/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: 367 Events in Tennessee to Raise Awareness About School Choice National School Choice Week begins today in Tennessee and across the country. There are 367 events planned in the Volunteer State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Tennessee, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large community school choice celebration January 26 at 11 a.m. at Word of Faith Academy in Memphis. The counties of Union, Lawrence, and Lake and cities of Farragut, Greenfield, Halls, Jackson, Kingston, and Lenoir City; and Governor Haslam have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Tennessee with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "School choice is within reach for so many members of the community who may not know just how many options are available to them," said Carra Powell of the Tennssee Federation for Children. "We look forward to connecting parents and families with the information and social connections they need to make the most of school choice." "Over the last 10 years, educational opportunities for children and families in Tennessee have grown significantly," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "This is something to celebrate, and National School Choice Week will provide an unprecedented opportunity to celebrate the hard work and cooperation that made these choices a reality." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR TENNESSEE FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Tennessee can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Volunteer State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. The state also has a program allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005125/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: 40 Events in Vermont to Raise Awareness About School Choice National School Choice Week begins today in Vermont and across the country. There are 40 events planned in the Green Mountain State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Vermont, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large rally for school choice January 25 at noon at the Vermont State House. The cities of Dover and Waterford have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Vermont with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "With much of the nation and Vermont's attention turned to school choice in recent days, there's no better time to show just how much Vermonters support protecting the school choice we have and expanding it," said Brad Ferland, a local activist. "We lok forward to gathering with families from across Vermont in a unified celebration of opportunity in education." "We are grateful that so many Vermont families are working alongside teachers, community leaders, and elected officials to celebrate opportunity in education during National School Choice Week 2017," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "This week represents the largest series of education-related events in Vermont history." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR VERMONT FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Vermont can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Green Mountain State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. The state also has a program allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005131/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] CHARLESTON -- Specific sex offender treatment will be part of the counseling that was ordered for a woman convicted of having sex with a teenage boy. The treatment was one of the terms of the three-year probation sentence Lea M. Jordan received for sex acts with the teen sometime during 2015, when he was 14 or 15 years old. Jordan, 31, for whom court records list an address in Lakeland Mobile Estates on Paradise Road near Mattoon, pleaded guilty in September to a charge of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. There was no agreement that time on the sentence she would receive. The conviction could have resulted in a prison sentence of three to seven years or up to four years of probation. When Jordan pleaded guilty, the prosecution did agree to dismiss an obstructing justice charge. That accused Jordan of lying to police about having contact with the teen, in violation of her bond requirements, while the case was still pending. In addition to the sex offender treatment, probation terms for Jordan included no future contact with the boy. Also, 3 1/2 months of jail time was ordered but it was stayed, meaning Jordan won't have to serve it now but some or all of it could be required later in case of violations. Coles County Circuit Judge Mitchell Shick sentenced Jordan based on recommendations from Assistant State's Attorney Tom Bucher and Public Defender Anthony Ortega. The dismissed charge was in connection with Jordan's arrest on June 27, records show, when police responded to a report that the same boy was at her residence. That was a bond violation because there was a no-contact requirement in Jordan's bond conditions. Records in the case indicate that she told police the boy wasn't there but he was later located at the residence. [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: 49 Events in Wyoming to Raise Awareness About School Choice National School Choice Week begins today in Wyoming and across the country. There are 49 events planned in the Equality State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Wyoming, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large school choice celebration January 26 at 2 p.m. at St. Mary's Catholic School in Cheyenne. The counties of Laramie and Crook have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Wyoming with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "School choice, at the end of the day, is about students," said Patrick Lane of St. Mary's Catholic School. "What better way to spotlight the importance and impact of this issue han by demonstrating just how many families have something to celebrate during National School Choice Week." "We are grateful that so many Wyoming families are working alongside teachers, community leaders, and elected officials to celebrate opportunity in education during National School Choice Week 2017," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "This week represents the largest series of education-related events in Wyoming history." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR WYOMING FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Wyoming can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Equality State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005139/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: 76 Events in Montana to Raise Awareness About School Choice National School Choice Week begins today in Montana and across the country. There are 76 events planned in the Treasure State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Montana, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large rally January 25 at noon at the Montana State Capitol. National School Choice Week provides families in Montana with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "Montana has unique opportunities when it comes to school choice because of our culture and rural communities" said Chris Polaske of the Central Montana Organization for the Advancement of Homeschoolers (CMOAH). "The growth of online and homeschooling groups is a great example of the fundamental principle of school choice: each student's education options should accommodate his or her unique circmstances and talents. The one-size-fits-all model is antiquated and doesn't fit Montana students." "We are grateful that so many Montana families are working alongside teachers, community leaders, and elected officials to celebrate opportunity in education during National School Choice Week 2017," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "This week represents the largest series of education-related events in Montana history." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR MONTANA FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Montana can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Treasure State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. The state also has a program allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005087/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: Connecticut Educators, Parents Plan 224 Events to Raise Awareness of Opportunity in Education National School Choice Week begins today in Connecticut and across the country. There are 224 events planned in the Constitution State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Connecticut, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large parent and state legislator workshop January 23 at 10 a.m. at the Mark Twain House. The cities of Bridgeport, Lisbon, Plainfield, Stafford Springs, and Thompson have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Connecticut with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effectve education options. "Educational opportunity is an issue that is important to students, parents, teachers, and community leaders across Connecticut," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "We are grateful that so many schools, organizations, homeschool groups, and individual families are participating in National School Choice Week 2017." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR CONNECTICUT FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Connecticut can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Constitution State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005043/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: Families Celebrate Educational Options in Rhode Island at 83 Events National School Choice Week begins today in Rhode Island and across the country. There are 83 events planned in the Ocean State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Rhode Island, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large school choice rally January 26 at 12:30 p.m. at the Rhode Island State House. The cities of Exeter, Hopkinton, and Little Compton have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Rhode Island with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "In the last year, Rhode Island Families for School Choice has grown to include almost every type of school available to Rhode Island students," said Rachel McGuire executive director of Rhode Island Families for School Choice. "We want o take this opportunity to celebrate all forms of school choice and speak for increased access to choice for every student." "The message of National School Choice Week in Rhode Island and across the country is clear: children, families, and communities benefit from increased opportunity in education," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "We are grateful that so many people will join together in the Ocean State to raise awareness of school choice." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR RHODE ISLAND FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Rhode Island can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Ocean State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. The state also has a program allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005115/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: Georgia Focuses on School Choice At Record-Breaking 621 School Choice Week Events National School Choice Week begins today in Georgia and across the country. There are 621 events planned in the Peach State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Georgia, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large school choice fair January 26 at 10 a.m. at Bright Futures Academy in Atlanta. The counties of Talbot, Randolph, and Rockdale; cities of Austell, Blakely, Brunswick, Centerville, Chickamauga, Hampton, Hazlehurst, Loganville, Lovejoy, Madison, and Maysville; and Governor Deal have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Georgia with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "There's no better platform than National School Choice Week to bring together all the different leaders on school choice who investin our children's futures," said Eric Cochling, executive vice president for the Georgia Center for Opportunity. "We're looking forward to spotlighting great schools and great school leaders from around the city and state." "The past decade has seen a dramatic transformation of education in Georgia," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "Parents in Georgia now have more options than ever before for their children's education, and during National School Choice Week 2017, those opportunities will be celebrated." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR GEORGIA FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Georgia can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Peach State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. The state also has a program allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005053/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: Hawaii Celebrates School Choice Week at 79 Events Statewide National School Choice Week begins today in Hawaii and across the country. There are 79 events planned in the Aloha State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Hawaii, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large celebration of school choice January 24 at the Hawai'i State Capitol. The city of Maui has issued an official proclamation recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Hawaii with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "National School Choice Week is an opportunity to celebrate the education optins available to Hawaii families, while shining a bright spotlight on the importance of providing even greater options for children," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR HAWAII FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Hawaii can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Aloha State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005051/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: Illinois Families Champion School Choice at 874 Events National School Choice Week begins today in Illinois and across the country. There are 874 events planned in the Prairie State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Illinois, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large open house, bake sale, and concert January 29 at Our Lady of the Snows Catholic School. The counties of Jefferson and Will and cities of Arlington Heights, Braidwood, Burbank, Cambridge, Carmi, Crete Township, Fox Lake, Granville, Harvard, La Salle, Madison, Metropolis, Moline, Mount Carroll, Mt. Pulaski, Olympia Fields, Palatine Township, Palos Park, Pana, Peoria, Polo, Red Bud, Round Lake Heights, Schaumburg, Sparta, Spring Grove, Spring Valley, Vienna, and Wayne Township have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice eek provides families in Illinois with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR ILLINOIS FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Illinois can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Prairie State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. The state also has a program allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive tax credits to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005057/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: It's School Choice Week in New Hampshire; 116 Events Planned National School Choice Week begins today in New Hampshire and across the country. There are 116 events planned in the Granite State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in New Hampshire, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large school choice celebration January 24 at 4 p.m. at the Currier Museum of Art. The cities of Brentwood and Hollis have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in New Hampshire with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "Our mission is to open the doors of opportunity for every child, regardless of zip code, to attend a life-changing, excellent school" said Kate Baker of Children's Scholarship Fund New Hampshire. "With this event we hope to reach more parents with iformation about the Children's Scholarship Fund and help them make the most of National School Choice Week." "Over the last 10 years, educational opportunities for children and families in New Hampshire have grown significantly," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "This is something to celebrate, and National School Choice Week will provide an unprecedented opportunity to celebrate the hard work and cooperation that made these choices a reality." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in New Hampshire can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Granite State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. The state also has a program allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005093/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: Louisiana Raises Awareness of Opportunity in Education at 355 School Choice Week Events National School Choice Week begins today in Louisiana and across the country. There are 355 events planned in the Pelican State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Louisiana, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large community breakfast and school tour January 26 at 8 a.m. at the Lakefront Airport in New Orleans. The counties of Franklin and LaSalle and cities of Arnaudville, Clinton, Cottonport, Delcambre, Delhi, Golden Meadow, Homer, Kinder, Lecompte, Leesville, Pearl River, Shreveport, St. Francisville, Thibodaux, Town of Krotz, and Westwood have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Louisiana with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "I always look forward to joining with our families to celebrate National School Choice Week. School choice has helped level the playing field for Louisiana families who otherwise would have no other option but to send their children to underperforming public schools," said Ann Duplessis, president of Louisiana Federation for Children. "School choice is giving hope to thousands of low-income and minority families, making it possible for all parents to choose the education that best fits their children's individual needs - a choice more affluent parents take for granted." "Educational opportunity is an issue that crosses party lines and impacts every single family in Louisiana," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "We are grateful that National School Choice Week With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR LOUISIANA FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Louisiana can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Pelican State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. The state also has programs allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships or tax credits to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005067/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: Maine Plays Host to 74 "School Choice Week" Events National School Choice Week begins today in Maine and across the country. There are 74 events planned in the Pine Tree State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Maine, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large school choice celebration January 23 at 11 a.m. at the Maine State House. Governor LePage has issued an official proclamation recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." "National School Choice Week provides families in Maine with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective educatio options." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR MAINE FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Maine can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Pine Tree State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. The state also has a program allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005069/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: Michigan Students, Parents Celebrate School Choice at 730 Events Statewide National School Choice Week begins today in Michigan and across the country. There are 730 events planned in the Great Lakes State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Michigan, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large school choice celebration January 27 at 1:30 p.m. at Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History Rotunda . The cities of Centreville, Chikaming, Columbus, Erie, Fife Lake, Ira Township, Ishpeming Township, Kalkaska, La Salle Township, Lapeer, Niles, Parma Township, Roscommon Township, Vienna, West Branch, and Whiteford and Governor Snyder have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Michigan with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education optios. "It doesn't matter whether a student attends a public, private, or online school," said Ben DeGrow of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. "Detroit families need even more access to quality educational options like those represented at our event." "Michigan families will use National School Choice Week as an opportunity to celebrate the education options available to children, while speaking out in favor of even greater opportunity in education," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR MICHIGAN FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Michigan can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Great Lakes State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005075/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: Mississippi Families Rally for School Choice at 133 Events National School Choice Week begins today in Mississippi and across the country. There are 133 events planned in the Magnolia State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Mississippi, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large rally January 24 at 9:30 a.m. at the state capitol rotunda. The county of Quitman; cities of Gautier, Long Beach, Pass Christian, and Purvis; and Governor Bryant have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Mississippi with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "Every child in Mississippi deserves access to a high quality education," Grant Callen, president of Empower Mississippi said. "Unfortunately, many Mississippi parents know their children are not in the best educational setting, but because they can't afford to move or topay for private school tuition they feel trapped. During National School Choice Week, we will celebrate the school choice options available in Mississippi and draw attention to the critical need for even more opportunities for Mississippi families." "Over the last 10 years, educational opportunities for children and families in Mississippi have grown significantly," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "This is something to celebrate, and National School Choice Week will provide an unprecedented opportunity to celebrate the hard work and cooperation that made these choices a reality." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR MISSISSIPPI FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Mississippi can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Magnolia State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. The state also has a program allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005081/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: Nearly 1,000 Events Across Ohio to Recognize National School Choice Week National School Choice Week begins today in Ohio and across the country. There are 973 events planned in the Buckeye State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Ohio, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large family fun night January 26 at 6 p.m. at North Dayton School of Discovery. The counties of Williams, Stark, Guernsey, and Cuyahoga; cities of Amherst, Beachwood, Belpre, Brown Township, Caldwell, Cheviot, Cleveland, Eaton (News - Alert), Grafton, Groveport, Hamilton Township, Jefferson Township, Kattering, Kenton, Lancaster, Liberty, Louisville, Macedonia, Madison, Mansfield, Piqua, Reynoldburg, Springboro, Struthers, Tiffin, Tipp City, and Willoughby Hills; and Governor John Kasich have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Ohio with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 schoolyear. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "Students, parents, teachers, and community leaders in Ohio have a lot to celebrate during National School Choice Week," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "Ohio has long been a pioneer in providing a diversity of K-12 education options for children and families." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR OHIO FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Ohio can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Buckeye State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. The state also has a program allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005109/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: Nebraska Celebrates School Choice Week with 134 Events National School Choice Week begins today in Nebraska and across the country. There are 134 events planned in the Cornhusker State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Nebraska, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large rally for school choice January 26 at 11 a.m. at the Nebraska State Capitol. The county of Morrill and cities of Valley and Gering have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Nebraska with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "The huge numbers planning to attend this event reflect the widespread opinion that it's time for school choice in Nebraska," said Tom Venzor of the Nebraska Catholic Conference. "Our Catholic schoo families and thousands more families who seek to have their children in the best school possible believe that National School Choice Week is a great opportunity to amplify our message." "By working together, parents, students, teachers, and community leaders will raise important awareness about educational opportunity in Nebraska during National School Choice Week," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "The goal of this Week is to celebrate school choice where it exists, and provide a platform for people to demand even greater opportunities in education." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR NEBRASKA FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Nebraska can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Cornhusker State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. The state also allows parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005089/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: Nevada Rallies for Educational Choice at 164 Events National School Choice Week begins today in Nevada and across the country. There are 164 events planned in the Silver State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Nevada, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large rally January 25 at 11 a.m. at the Nevada Capitol Arc Amphitheater. The cities of Henderson, North Las Vegas, and Reno and Governor Sandoval have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Nevada with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "National School Choice Week is a great platform to connect people across the state who are passionate about school choice," said Michael Schaus of the Neada Policy Research Institute. "Through this celebration, we hope to raise awareness about school choice and demonstrate how important it is to Nevada families." "Over the last 10 years, educational opportunities for children and families in Nevada have grown significantly," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "This is something to celebrate, and National School Choice Week will provide an unprecedented opportunity to celebrate the hard work and cooperation that made these choices a reality." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR NEVADA FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Nevada can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Silver State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. The state also has a program allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005091/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: New Mexico Celebrates School Choice at 190 Events National School Choice Week begins today in New Mexico and across the country. There are 190 events planned in the Land of Enchantment to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in New Mexico, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large school choice celebration January 23 at noon at the New Mexico State House. The county of Eddy, city of Loving, and Governor Martinez have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in New Mexico with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "We look forward to gathering together with a diverse coalition from across the state to highlight the difference that a great education can make in a student's life," said Greta Roskom of the New Meico Coalition for Charter Schools. "We look forward to the National School Choice Week annually as a platform to share our success stories." "By working together, parents, students, teachers, and community leaders will raise important awareness about educational opportunity in New Mexico during National School Choice Week," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "The goal of this Week is to celebrate school choice where it exists, and provide a platform for people to demand even greater opportunities in education." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR NEW MEXICO FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in New Mexico can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Land of Enchantment can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005099/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: North Carolina Hosts 586 National School Choice Week Events National School Choice Week begins today in North Carolina and across the country. There are 586 events planned in the Tar Heel State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in North Carolina, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large school choice celebration January 24 at the Foundation for the Carolinas. The counties of Union and Pasquotank and cities of Bethel, Charlotte, Clemmons, Enfield, Garysburg, Goldsboro, Harrisburg, Hope Mills, Lake Lure, Mint Hill, Morehead City, Mount Olive, Raeford, Wesley Chapel, and West Jefferson have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in North Carolina with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "Children's Scholarship Fund-Charlotte is excited about being involved in School Choic Week this year. Hosting this event will give our participating independent schools and homeschools an opportunity to showcase their programs to parents who seek education options for their children (grades K-8) in the 2017-2018 academic year," said Ann Barnes, executive director of the Children's Scholarship Fund-Charlotte. "Over the last 10 years, educational opportunities for children and families in North Carolina have grown significantly," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "This is something to celebrate, and National School Choice Week will provide an unprecedented opportunity to celebrate the hard work and cooperation that made these choices a reality." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR NORTH CAROLINA FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in North Carolina can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Tar Heel State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. The state also has a program allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005095/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: Pennsylvania Will Raise Awareness About School Choice at 796 Events National School Choice Week begins today in Pennsylvania and across the country. There are 796 events planned in the Keystone State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Pennsylvania, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large celebration of school choice January 27 at Tidioute Community Charter School. The counties of Somerset, Warren, Venango, Cumberland, Beaver, and Blair and cities of Adams Township, Alsace Township, Archbald, Avalon, Bethel Park, Bethel Township, Blooming Grove, Borough of Coudersport, Borough of Danville, Borough of Gallitzin, Borough of Mckees Rocks, Borough of Newtown, Borough of Ridgway, Borough of Slatington, Borough of West Conshohocken, Borough of West Hazleton, Bratton, Carlisle, Conemaugh, Connellsville, Gettysburg, Grove City, Hamilton Township, Hazle, Oxford Township, Reading, Richland, Union Township, Upper Mount Bethel, and Williamsport have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Pennsylvania withthe opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "Students, parents, teachers, and community leaders in Pennsylvania have a lot to celebrate during National School Choice Week," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "Pennsylvania has long been a pioneer in providing a diversity of K-12 education options for children and families." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR PENNSYLVANIA FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Pennsylvania can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Keystone State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. The state also has a program allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005113/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: School Choice Spotlighted at 368 Events across Missouri National School Choice Week begins today in Missouri and across the country. There are 368 events planned in the Show-Me State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Missouri, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large school choice celebration February 2 at 11 a.m. at the Missouri State Capitol rotunda. The counties of Warren, Scott, Schuyler, Wright, Clark, and McDonald have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Missouri with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "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 an students who have 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." "Research shows that school choice increases student achievement, boosts graduation rates, and provides children with the tools and knowledge they need to pursue their dreams," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "During National School Choice Week, Missouri families will raise awareness of the benefits of school choice, while speaking out about the importance of expanding opportunity to even more families." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR MISSOURI FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Missouri can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Show-Me State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005085/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: South Carolina Shines Spotlight on School Choice at 306 Events National School Choice Week begins today in South Carolina and across the country. There are 306 events planned in the Palmetto State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in South Carolina, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large school choice celebration January 25 at noon at The Township Auditorium. The counties of Beaufort and Greenville and cities of Barnwell, Blythewood, Darlington, Dillon, Easley, Greenville, Hanahan, Hardeeville, Inman, Lancaster, Liberty, McCormick, Mount Pleasant, and Pine Ridge have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in South Carolina with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "We look forward to National School Choice Week every year as a time not only to celebrate educational opportunity, but the teachers, administrators, and parents who make it possible," said Ellen Weaver of Palmetto Promise Institute. "School choice makes every day better for the students whose lives it changes, and we want to show our whole state the difference it can make." "Over the last 10 years, educational opportunities for children and families in South Carolina have grown significantly," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "This is something to celebrate, and National School Choice Week will provide an unprecedented opportunity to celebrate the hard work and cooperation that made these choices a reality." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR SOUTH CAROLINA FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in South Carolina can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Palmetto State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. The state also has a program allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005119/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: South Dakota School Choice Week Features 59 Events National School Choice Week begins today in South Dakota and across the country. There are 59 events planned in the Mount Rushmore State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in South Dakota, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large celebration January 23 at Enemy Swim Day School in Waubay. The cities of Freeman, Sioux Falls, and Watertown have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in South Dakota with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "Research shows that school choice increases student achievement, boosts graduation rates, and provides children with the tools and knwledge they need to pursue their dreams," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "During National School Choice Week, South Dakota families will raise awareness of the benefits of school choice, while speaking out about the importance of expanding opportunity to even more families." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR SOUTH DAKOTA FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in South Dakota can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Mount Rushmore State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. The state also allows parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. The state also has a program allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005121/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: Texas Shines Big Spotlight on School Choice at More than 1,500 Events National School Choice Week begins today in Texas and across the country. There are 1593 events planned in the Lone Star State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Texas, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large rally for school choice January 24 at 10 a.m. at the state capitol building, south steps. The counties of Terrell, Lynn, Collin, Shackelford, and Medina; cities of Anthony, Balch Springs, Brazoria, Burnet, Caldwell, Cleveland, Colorado City, Combes, Combine, Ferris, Friendswood, Hackberry, Hamlin, Hillsboro, Honey Grove, Irving, Italy, Lyford, Manor, Marion, Mexia, Midland, Nacogdoches, New Boston, Nocona, Sachse, San Benito, Shenandoah, Tahoka, Tomball, Trinity, and Woodville; and Governor Abbott have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Texas with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importanceof providing every child with effective education options. "We are grateful that so many Texas families are working alongside teachers, community leaders, and elected officials to celebrate opportunity in education during National School Choice Week 2017," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "This week represents the largest series of education-related events in Texas history." "This annual event is a reminder to our legislators that parents in Texas want more education freedom," said event organizer Randan Steinhauser. "The demand for more school choice is widespread and it's time for Texas to join the growing number of states that allow parents the opportunity to choose their child's education." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR TEXAS FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Texas can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Lone Star State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. The state also allows parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005123/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: 166 Events in Utah to Raise Awareness About School Choice National School Choice Week begins today in Utah and across the country. There are 166 events planned in the Beehive State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Utah, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large school choice celebration January 26 at 11 a.m. at the Utah State Capitol. The cities of Enterprise, Helper City, Naples, and Pleasant Grove and Governor Herbert have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Utah with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "Students, parents, teachers, and community leaders in Utah have a lo to celebrate during National School Choice Week," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "Utah has long been a pioneer in providing a diversity of K-12 education options for children and families." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR UTAH FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Utah can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Beehive State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. The state also allows parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. The state also has a program allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005127/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: School Choice Week Begins in Oregon with 228 Events Across State National School Choice Week begins today in Oregon and across the country. There are 228 events planned in the Beaver State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Oregon, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large block party January 25 at 10 a.m. at Magnolia Park, Beaverton. The county of Baker and cities of Carlton, Columbia, Hines, Newberg, and West Linn have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Oregon with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "Research shows that school choice increases student achievement, boosts graduation rates, an provides children with the tools and knowledge they need to pursue their dreams," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "During National School Choice Week, Oregon families will raise awareness of the benefits of school choice, while speaking out about the importance of expanding opportunity to even more families." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR OREGON FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Oregon can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Beaver State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005129/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: 426 Events Planned in Virginia to Raise Awareness About Education Options National School Choice Week begins today in Virginia and across the country. There are 426 events planned in the Old Dominion State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Virginia, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large education fair January 24 at Chilhowie Christian Church. The county of Northampton and cities of Dublin, Portsmouth, Purcellville, and Tazewell have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Virginia with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "Research shows that school choice increases student achievement, boosts graduation rates, and provides children with the tools and knwledge they need to pursue their dreams," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "During National School Choice Week, Virginia families will raise awareness of the benefits of school choice, while speaking out about the importance of expanding opportunity to even more families." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR VIRGINIA FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Virginia can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Old Dominion State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. The state also has a program allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005133/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: Washington State Celebrates School Choice Week at 259 Events National School Choice Week begins today in Washington and across the country. There are 259 events planned in the Evergreen State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Washington, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. Highlighted events include a large school choice rally January 25 at noon at Yellow Wood Academy in Mercer Island. The county of Asotin; cities of Deer Park, East Wenatchee, Esperance, Newport, Sammamish, Tacoma, West Richland, and Westport; and Governor Inslee have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Washington with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR WASHINGTON FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Washington can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Evergreen State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. The state also allows parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005135/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: Spotlight on School Choice in Wisconsin at 415 Events National School Choice Week begins today in Wisconsin and across the country. There are 415 events planned in the Badger State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in Wisconsin, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. The county of Racine; cities of Adams, Balsam Lake, Brooklyn, Burlington, Cedarburg, Clintonville, Cuba City, Lake Geneva, Medford, Menomonie, Monroe, North Prairie, Norway, Peshtigo, Phillips, Rhinelander, Sparta, Superior, Viroqua, Wausau, and Williams Bay; and Governor Walker have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in Wisconsin with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "Students, parents, teahers, and community leaders in Wisconsin have a lot to celebrate during National School Choice Week," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "Wisconsin has long been a pioneer in providing a diversity of K-12 education options for children and families." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR WISCONSIN FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in Wisconsin can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Badger State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. The state also has programs allowing qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships or tax credits to attend private schools. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005141/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] THIS WEEK: 92 Events in West Virginia to Raise Awareness About School Choice National School Choice Week begins today in West Virginia and across the country. There are 92 events planned in the Mountain State to raise awareness about K-12 school choice, and 21,392 events nationwide. The events in West Virginia, which are independently planned and independently funded, include everything from information sessions and open houses at schools to rallies, policy discussions, and movie screenings organized by community groups. The county of Raleigh and cities of Belle, Glenville, Milton, Nitro, and Weirton have issued official proclamations recognizing January 22-28, 2017 as "School Choice Week." National School Choice Week provides families in West Virginia with the opportunity to research and evaluate the K-12 school choices available for their children in advance of the 2017-2018 school year. The Week also raises awareness of the importance of providing every child with effective education options. "Research shows that school choice increases student achievement, boosts graduation rates, and provides children with the tools and knowledge tey need to pursue their dreams," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "During National School Choice Week, West Virginia families will raise awareness of the benefits of school choice, while speaking out about the importance of expanding opportunity to even more families." With a goal of raising public awareness of effective education options for children, National School Choice Week will be the largest celebration of education options in US history. SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR WEST VIRGINIA FAMILIES According to National School Choice Week's organizers, families in West Virginia can use the Week to look for K-12 schools for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents in the Mountain State can choose from the following education options for their children: traditional public schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools, and homeschooling. In some parts of the state, open enrollment policies allow parents to select the best traditional public school, regardless of where the school is located. ABOUT NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort spotlighting effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The Week runs from January 22-28, 2017. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005143/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 22, 2017] SubscriberWise Founder and U.S. Credit Czar Howe asks Fellow Child Advocate Ivanka Trump for Help SubscriberWise, the leading provider of analytics-driven subscriber decision management technology and the nation's largest issuing consumer reporting agency for the communications industry, announced that the company founder and U.S. Credit Czar has contacted Ivanka Trump with a request for a face-to-face meeting to discuss the urgent national epidemic of child identity theft. The Credit Czar is placing tremendous faith in the Trump Administration -- specifically reaching out to fellow child-advocate and mother Ivanka Trump -- to deliver on the legislative, technology, and educational initiatives first outlined by SubscriberWise in 2014 ( http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/09/prweb12163889.htm ). "My fervor to protect children is unabated yet reinvigorated in 2017," said David E. Howe, SubscriberWise founder and U.S. Credit Czar. "The time to work together wit the new Administration has officially begun. It's time to come together despite our differences and with the power of our strength and diversity. Therefore, just days after the peaceful transition of power, I have reignited this effort by contacting Mrs. Ivanka Trump to congratulate her on the Trump Administration's successful Presidential Inauguration and to wish for much success. "I also used this opportunity to ask Mrs. Trump for a meeting so that I can educate and expose her to the serious and rampant issue of child identity theft," Howe acknowledged. "Although the majority of adults in this country are aware that children can and do become victims of identity theft, few have no idea about the staggering numbers of children who are actually victimized every day in this nation. "In fact, SubscriberWise can now empirically demonstrate that at least 206 children are victimized each and every day in this nation," Howe emphasized. "And worse, according to a 2011 study by the Office of the Inspector General, the number is estimated at a staggering 140,000 child victims annually. See SubscriberWise Findings of Fact: http://docdro.id/usKDWmf. "Yes, I have complete confidence that an agenda to end this tragic child exploitation and suffering will be among the highest priorities for Ivanka. And yes, I am optimistic that she and I will work together, along with the Trump Administration and Congress, to finally deliver a solution that's desperately indicated and long overdue," Howe concluded. About SubscriberWise SubscriberWise launched as the first issuing consumer reporting agency exclusively for the cable industry one decade ago. The company filed extensive documentation and end-user agreements to access TransUnion's consumer database. TransUnion approved the request as part of a pilot project in 2007. In 2009, SubscriberWise and TransUnion announced a joint marketing agreement for the benefit of America's cable operators. Today SubscriberWise is a risk management preferred-solutions provider for the National Cable Television Cooperative. SubscriberWise contributions to telecom are quantified in the billions of dollars annually. SubscriberWise is a U.S.A. federally registered trademark of the SubscriberWise Limited Liability Co. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170122005151/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A look back on all of our reporting of the Delphi murders since 2017 crime The C in The CW is beginning to look like it stands for comic -- as in comic book. With a slate that already includes Arrow, The Flash, Supergirland Legends of Tomorrow, the network will premiere Riverdale, a new series based on the characters from the Archie Comics. It debuts at 8 p.m. Thursday on Spectrum channels 15 and 1212. The other common denominator is Greg Berlanti, who is an executive producer for all five series. This is dark version of the comic, with the main storyline involving the disappearance and death of a Riverdale High School student. The drama also is filled with a bunch of teen angst, not surprising since the cast includes Luke Perry as Archies father. Perry suffered his fair share of drama as Dylan McKay in the 1990s hit series, Beverly Hills 90210. The angst is familiar. Archie (KJ Apa) wants to pursue a music career, but doesnt want to disappoint his blue collar dad. Jughead (Cole Sprouse) is the sharp-tongued outcast. Betty (Lili Reinhart) has self-esteem and parent issues. Veronicas (Camila Mendes) rich dad is a crook. And so it goes. Even Josie (Ashleigh Murray), of Josie and the Pussycats, is here. Shes kind of a self-involved b-word, but she and the Pussycats perform a nice cover of Sugar in episode two. Once the novelty of Riverdale -- seeing who is portraying each character and how each is written -- wears off, Berlanti and crew hopes the mystery will keep you coming back. The trouble is the kids are so off-putting, you wont care who committed the crime. Grade: C+ News and notes * Other new offerings this week include: Hunted, CBS, 9 p.m. Sunday. The competition series sees ordinary folks on the run as fugitives with an elite team of investigators hot on their trail. The series will air regularly at 7 p.m. Wednesdays, beginning this week. Z: The Beginning of Everything," Amazon Prime, 3 a.m. Friday. Christina Ricci stars in this fictionalized bio series about Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, a Southern belle who becomes the original flapper and icon of the flamboyant Jazz Age in the 1920s. Gavin Stenhouse is F. Scott Fitzgerald. All 10 episodes will be available. * Shows returning with new seasons include: Mercy Street, PBS, 7 p.m. Sunday; Face Off, Syfy, 8 p.m. Tuesday; Outsiders, WGN America, 8 p.m. Tuesday; The Path, Hulu, 2 a.m. Wednesday; and The Magicians, Syfy, 8 p.m. Wednesday;. * NBC is reviving Will & Grace for the 2017-18 season. The network has ordered 10 episodes, with four principals -- Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally -- returning. * NBC has renewed its hit This is Us for not one but two 18-episode seasons. The new drama is averaging 13.7 million viewers, making it the fourth most-watched drama behind CBS procedurals NCIS, Bull and Blue Bloods. * TNT picked up Major Crimes for a sixth season. The network will air the remaining eight season-five episodes, beginning Feb. 22. * EW.com reports CBS All Access does not have a premiere date for Star Trek: Discovery. It originally was to begin in February and then May. The plan was to air the pilot on CBS and make the rest of the episodes available only on the streaming service. The series also lost Bryan Fuller (Hannibal) as its showrunner in October. Kansas City MSM news along with family and friends of a missing young woman are busy looking at gas stations while Kansas City's top anti-crime activist continues to focus on the far more relevant aspects of the search and places where it's more likely for somebody to be snatched up.More to the point . . .beyond local news coverage that still inaccurately describes the missing lady as a college student.Developing . . . NY Post: Strip club waitress vanishes after getting pulled over Australia News: Strip club waitress missing in the US after being pulled over by police Elite Daily: Apparently, Andersons ATM card was used at QuikTrip and then her GPS stopped working shortly after. Authorities are still trying to determine whether someone tampered with the device. Across the world, Toni Anderson's work at a strip club defines her story . . . In Kansas City reporters are still calling her a college student even though she wasn't attending college at the time of her disappearance.Also, timeline trouble with the story persists, dash cam and surveillance footage will not be releasedthere are still. . .Add this toabout the story as newsies have been burned by this one quite a few times already and now a lot of them are ready to move one.Still, we want to raise awareness about her case and here's the latest update of relevant news links from bigger agencies usingof the proper description to help further the search . . .Developing . . . COMING SOON: THE KCATA CONFRONTS ANOTHER ETHICAL CRISIS THIS TIME FOCUSED ON TOP LEADERSHIP!!! For the past few yearshas endured a bit of harsh times thanks to streetcar looting and a structural reorganization.Remember that our blog community broke news thatAnd now . . .There are a few more deets to share on this but for now . . . Let's simply lament some questionable decisions in the recent past and hope that local transit leaders have learned a bit more about the guidelines which should govern their decisions.Developing . . . It seemed like a fairly straightforward piece of legislation. Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon introduced a bill that would allow active or retired law enforcement officers to carry concealed handguns anywhere in the state, which a few exceptions. But as often happens, the details of what the bill was trying to accomplish got dicey. These aren't just any officers, the bill explained, but those "carrying the identification required by subsection (2) of this section. ... A photographic identification issued by the agency from which the individual separated in good standing from service as a law enforcement officer that identifies the individual as having been employed as a law enforcement officer and indicates that the individual has, not less recently than one year before the date the individual is carrying the concealed handgun, been tested or otherwise found by the agency to meet the active duty standards for qualification in handgun training as established by the agency to carry a handgun of the same type as the concealed handgun." I took a breath, then went to Siri to ask, "What is a photographic identification issue by the agency ... ," reading her all nine lines of the explanation. She sent me to the United States Government Publishing Office, and regulations about animals and animal products. So, not even close, Siri. But the iPhone assistant at least recognized what we were dealing with here. Government doublespeak. Legalese. Jargon. Something like the much quoted: The party of the first part hereinafter known as Jack, and the party of the second part hereinafter known as Jill, ascended or caused to be ascended an elevation of undetermined height and degree of slope, hereinafter referred to as the hill. Jack and Jill went up the hill. Senators on Thursday completed 10 days of submitting more than 670 bills and resolutions for constitutional amendments. Reading those bills in an effort to pass on the information to you, our readers, left me wishing for an intelligent assistant of my own, who could translate. There's been efforts for years to have government types write documents, rules and regulations in plain language. Former President Barack Obama signed the Plain Writing Act in 2010 that requires federal agencies to use clear communication the public can understand and use. Someday, maybe, it will filter down. "I think that the public should always expect the Legislature to clearly explain what they're doing and how they're doing it ," said Sen. Adam Morfeld, a lawyer who is also a plain language proponent, and the founder of Nebraskans for Civic Reform. Clearly written bills allow the public to feel more connected to what the Legislature's doing, he said, and to understand the rationale behind the laws it passes. He wants to have the plain language conversation with the people at the Capitol who draft the bills and those who revise them, making sure they are written so they're legally accurate and will accomplish their purpose. The woman who heads the Legislature' Revisor of Statutes office, Joanne Pepperl, explains that 85 percent of the work they do is changing existing laws, some of it 100 years old, and written long,long before there was any push for plain writing. "We always try and write as clear and concise as we can," she said. That includes using the active voice and words people understand. But the law can be complex, and sometimes it's difficult to articulate what needs to be accomplished. And the old language just can't be changed, Pepperl said. When Congress drafted its plain language legislation, even those revisors took a step back after naming it the "Plain Language in Government Communications Writing Act." They changed it to the "Plain Writing Act of 2010." So there's hope. Siri, herself, needs a lot of work. But someday, even she may be able to whittle down the 93-word explanation of the required photo ID in Brewer's bill to 10. OK, 20. 30? "Cyprus must evolve into a bizonal, bicommunal federation with full sovereignty as a member of the EU and the UN. The geopolitical interests of a third country cannot be a criterion for a solution to the Cyprus issue," Greece's Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said in an interview published in the newspaper "Real News" on Sunday. "Anyone who has a different opinion -- and of course they have a right to that -- has to tell us how they define 'the Cyprus problem," Kotzias added, "...do they perhaps want a solution of 'a little sovereignty and a little occupation'? In any case, it will be more useful for them to state their opinion outright, rather than committing hubris, as they have been doing so far." "Turkey has to realise that, in the modern world, a third country cannot control an EU member state," the foreign minister said. "The EU cannot accept rights of intervention or, therefore, guarantees on its territory. There are already expert legal opinions on this. But what's more, no one in the modern world can accept something like this for a member state of the UN. Let those who are railing against our policy explain to us, at long last, why they have another opinion and what they base it on," he noted. Kotzias described Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as "an intelligent, experienced, important leader" of Turkey, who knows that problems are resolved through compromises. "Creative compromises, not shoddy ones. It is up to him to make his choices regarding the Cyprus issue, and he will be judged just as we are all judged. How we are judged, of course, has to concern facts and not metaphysical questions," the minister said. Fundamental national interests He also noted, in response to questions, that there were forces who believed it would be easy to convince Greece to back down. These forces now appeared to be "very irritated," he added, and they had passed their irritation on "to a number of mouthpieces who specialize in slander." "You see, they discovered that our fundamental national interests, Cyprus, the European acquis and international law cannot be a field of policy without principles. We are compromising and will compromise for there to be a solution, and we need to do that. But we will not back down on the solution of the core of the problem," he said. If there was no solution, this would not be Greece's fault, Kotzias said, adding that the Greek side "will not become the agents of shoddy 'solutions'." Asked about the Greece-Turkey-Cyprus Friendship Agreement, Kotzias said Greece has proposed this instead of the treaties of guarantees "based on the global historical experience that we studied carefully." Through this agreement, he explained, "the three countries will cooperate against common current threats, including ecological threats, terrorism and organized crime. There will be a joint mechanism for cooperation and promotion of a positive agenda. What will be ruled out is the right of a country to intervene against or internally in another country. "Some international players want to take the idea of this Agreement and "utilize" it against its spirit, as a new treaty of guarantees. We will not let this happen," he warned. Temporary Stationing Agreement In this context, he referred to the "Temporary Stationing Agreement" of the Foreign armed forces on the island proposed by Greece, explaining that this was something similar to (though not exactly the same as) what was agreed between Germany under unification and the Soviet Union. "This agreement determined the legal status of the withdrawal of the Soviet military forces and the manner in which the flow of their withdrawal was to be monitored. For the same period of time, the same will hold for the Greek army as well," he said, while noting that the Hellenic Force in Cyprus (ELDYK) was legal on the island, while the many-times-larger occupation army was illegal. Questioned about the prospects of a 'Taiwan-ization' or even annexation of occupied Cyprus, Kotzias pointed out that Greece and Turkey have agreed that the Cyprus issue is not linked to their bilateral relations, either during the negotiation or due to any result of the negotiation. "Regarding the scaremongering, I note that it is being used in an attempt to subdue the will of the Cypriot people," he added. "The other side's problem is that the hydrocarbons aren't located on the north side of Cyprus, but on the south. That international law supports the positions of the Republic of Cyprus," he pointed out. Kotzias said he was hoping and working for precisely this, for a solution to the Cyprus issue so that, as a result, such problems and threats do not arise. Relations between Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades were "comradely and patriotic," the minister said. He predicted that the new U.S. administration under Donald Trump will make two major shifts: first, it will strengthen the geoeconomic aspect of U.S. foreign policy and, by extension, strengthen it against "pure" geopolitics; second, it will attempt a reversal of the policy of Nixon, 45 years ago. At that time, the U.S. endeavoured to drive a wedge between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union, and to collaborate with the former against the latter. Now they will attempt a change to the triangle, Kotzias said. The "opposing peak" would be China, and probably Russia with the U.S. he added. Kotzias also noted that many in Washington see the EU "as being on a course of weakness and identity crisis" and wonder where the EU is going and exactly what it wants. "I believe that it would be a mistake for the EU not to identify and analyse the real problems. Questions to which Trump tried to provide his own answers," Kotzias said, noting that Europe was having "a crisis of crisis management" and lacked "a vision for the 21st century." 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 US Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt sent a positive message for the future of Greek-American relations following the swearing in ceremony of the new American President Donald Trump. There is a dynamic and strong commitment by both parties - Republican and Democratic - to the alliance with Greece as well as to the strong relationship between the two peoples, said Pyatt when asked about the future of the Greek-American relations, at an event organized by the Republicans of Greece in a hotel, in Athens, late on Friday. The US ambassador also referred to the NATO alliance, which, as he noted, for decades kept the US on the side of Greece, as well as to Washington's expectation "to see Greece as a strong, economically sound and prosperous EU and NATO member state." It is certainly early to say what will be the policy of the President Trump and his administration, he said, but he expressed confidence that a combination of the two policies will give Greece great potential. Moreover, the ambassador said it will be an exciting time for all the Americans as well as a good period for the Greek-US relations. Giving the message of the first day of Trump presidency for the United States, he said that the American democracy is strong and pointed out that this day of the swearing in ceremony is a celebration of democracy, a commitment of all the Americans for a healthy democratic process, for an orderly transition of power, and a new beginning. 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 Bulgarian Interior Minister Rumyana Bachvarova expressed her concern for a possible road blockade at the borders by Greek farmers Bulgarian Interior Minister Rumyana Bachvarova expressed her concern for a possible road blockade at the borders by Greek farmers in a letter to Alternate Minister for Civil Protection Nikos Toskas, media in Sofia reported on Wednesday. In her letter, Bachvarova cites among others, an agreement reached at a meeting of the Supreme Greece-Bulgaria Cooperation Council, according to which the governments of the two countries would take precautionary measures to avoid creating tension at the borders. At the same time, representatives of transport associations in Sofia stated that if Greek farmers block border crossings they will retaliate by blocking every road that leads to Greece. A similar action had been taken by Bulgarian transporters last year when Greek farmers closed border crossings. Source: ANA-MPA 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 This week it was announced that Senator Arthur Sinodinos will be taking over the role of industry, innovation and science minister, replacing Greg Hunt, following a cabinet reshuffle. The announcement was made on Wednesday following the reshuffle by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The prime minister praised Sinodinos for his qualifications and abilities to be successful at his new job saying Senator Sinodinos extensive public policy experience gives him a strong understanding of the key drivers of new sources of economic growth, adding As Cabinet Secretary, Arthur restored traditional cabinet processes. That being done, he can now turn his talents to a front line portfolio and the Cabinet Secretary function can return to the Prime Ministers Office as has been the practice of Coalition Governments. There will be a ceremony to swear in the new ministers resulting from the reshuffle next Tuesday in Canberra by the Governor General, Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC. 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 Tourexpi, turizm haberleri, Reiseburos, tourism news, noticias de turismo, Tourismus Nachrichten, , travel tourism news, international tourism news, Urlaub, urlaub in der turkei, , holidays in Turkey, , global tourism news, dunya turizm, dunya turizm haberleri, Seyahat Acentas, This site is best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0+, at a minimum screen resolution of 1024 x 768. Barclays announced today the appointment of three new senior bankers in its Wealth and Investment Management division for Middle East and North Africa (Mena). Antoine Roger Chemali and David Stephan both join Barclays Wealth and Investment Management division as directors, while Owen Dayson joins as a vice president. All three bankers will cover Mena with the specific objective of extending Barclays Wealth and Investment Management presence across the region, said a statement. The appointments underscore Barclays strong growth ambitions in the Mena region and reinforce its position as a priority market for the group in 2017. Barclays is seeking to further expand its team in the Wealth and Investment Management division in the Mena region throughout the year. Commenting on the banks growth strategy in the region, Cedric Lizin, head of Middle East and Africa, Barclays Wealth and Investment Management, said: Our ambition throughout 2017 is to further strengthen Barclays award-winning Wealth and Investment Management division in Mena, thus offering clients world class service and advice while providing them with the opportunity to access the entire breadth of Barclays global capabilities. With these hires, Barclays continues to expand its team across the Mena region while adopting a more focused approach to providing clients with bespoke financial solutions. He added: We are delighted that Antoine, David and Owen, in conjunction with our existing teams, will be able to use their experience to accelerate Barclays efforts towards achieving its ambitions in MENA through offering global expertise at a local level, therefore blending global investment insights with local client needs. They will also highlight our Integrated Banking Model adopted in the region to enable our client base to access and leverage Barclays global capabilities and reach in corporate and investment banking. Chemali started his career in Paris at Deutsche Bank and CIC Private Bank Group as a portfolio manager and international private banker, before moving to BNP-Paribas and then Gatehouse Bank in London as an investment banker covering the Middle East. He joined HSBC Private Bank in 2011 to focus on the Saudi Arabian market servicing high and ultra-high net worth individuals out of London in complex wealth solutions and portfolio management. Stephan started his banking career at American Express Bank in New York before moving to London in 2000. He joined HSBC in 2004 and progressed to Director of Private Wealth Solutions, focusing on ultra-high net worth Middle Eastern families. Dayson started his career in the early 2000s as a financial advisor working in both the UK and Hong Kong. Most recently, he has specialised in managing substantial high and ultra-high net worth client portfolios in Saudi Arabia and other countries across the region. TradeArabia News Service Eugene (Gene) David Sisco, 72, was born May 20, 1944, at Saint Mary's Hospital in Nebraska City and passed away Friday January 20, 2017 at Bryan Memorial Hospital in Lincoln after a brave and extended battle with heart and lung complications. Gene attended the Union School District 66 for 8 1 years, graduated from Syracuse High School in 1962 and attended the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He later graduated from the Western College of Auctioneering in Billings, Mont., in 1964, and received his real estate license in 1971. Gene married Bonnie Koester on July 25, 1965, at the North Branch Lutheran Church in rural Avoca. Gene was raised and lived on the family farm north of Syracuse. He farmed, founded, owned and operated Sisco Auctioneering for 52 years. Gene's first auction was November 30, 1964, for J. Earle Crownover in rural Unadilla Beginning in 1968, he worked closely with Col. Ellis Lacy until 1972. He also worked at the Syracuse Sale Barn from 1965 to 1971. In 1972 a longtime partnership with auctioneer Don Vrana was established and was prominent in Southeast Nebraska. During this time, Gene worked with brokers Glen Davidson and Ron Svoboda. He also continued to work with area auctioneers until late 2016. Gene was honored with the 1995 NAA Auctioneer of the year and also served as president of the Nebraska Auctioneers Association in '86-87. He volunteered his services throughout the years for numerous church auctions, benefits, and fund raisers, highlighted by working at the Henry Doorly Zoo Galas. Gene was closely involved with his sons Greg and Jason as Sisco Brothers Cattle Company, running a registered Angus and SimAngus cow/calf operation and farming, beginning in the late sixties. Gene thoroughly enjoyed many local, district, state, and national shows and expositions, meeting new people and keeping up with old friends, while proudly watching his sons and now grandchildren exhibiting and competing at the same shows. He hardly forgot a name and never forgot a face. Gene was lifetime member of the United Methodist Church of Syracuse, serving on the board of trustees, administrative board, and youth sponsor. He also served on the Otoe County Ag Society, and assisted with many 4-H FFA and youth activities. He was preceded in death by parents Marion and Thelma Sisco; maternal parents, Clarence and Viola Koester; brother, Robert Sisco and sister-in-law, Peg; and brother-in-law, Dale Stolle. Left to treasure his life is his wife Bonnie; sons, Greg (Gina) Sisco and Jason (fiance Cam); grandchildren, Carsyn, Kadyn, Carlee, and Tristan Sisco. He is also survived by sisters-in-law, Judy (Bruce) Smith of Grand Island, Nancy Stolle of Grand Island, Vicky Gartner of Lincoln, Deb (Harlan) Koester-Jacobson of Newman Grove and many cousins, nieces, and nephews. His eternal place of peace will be at the North Branch Cemetery Avoca. Memorials are suggested to the family's choice. A celebration of life will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 24 at the First Lutheran Church (North Branch) in rural Avoca. Visitation will be from 9 a.m.- 3 p.m. Monday, January 23, at the funeral home, then 5-9 p.m. at the church, with family greeting friends from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Arrangements By: Fusselman Allen Harvey Funeral Home, Syracuse. Condolences to www.fusselmanallenharvey.com. Nogaholding, the investment and business development arm of Bahrains National Oil and Gas Authority (Noga), has marked the financial close of its LNG Terminal Project with Bahrain LNG, the developer and owner of the first LNG receiving and regasification terminal to be developed on a PPP basis in the Middle East. Held under the patronage of Shaikh Mohamed bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, the Minister of Oil, the dinner was hosted at the Four Seasons Hotel, Bahrain Bay. More than 150 guests attended including representatives from the management of the consortium, participating banks, members of the board of Bahrain LNG WLL, as well as senior management of nogaholding, and members of the press. Jointly owned by the Oil and Gas Holding Company (nogaholding 30 per cent) and a consortium consisting of Teekay LNG Partners LP (30pc), Gulf Investment Corporation (24.5pc) and Samsung C&T (16.5pc), the Bahrain LNG Terminal is a key component of the further expansion of the energy and related sectors of the kingdom. Shaikh Mohamed said in his speech: The security and reliability of our gas supply is very important to us. The importance of Noga providing reliable and economic supplies of gas gave us a strong incentive to develop the LNG import terminal as a means of accessing the booming and increasingly competitive international LNG markets. Dr Dafer Al Jalahma, CEO of nogaholding, said: We are incredibly proud of this significant milestone achievement. I would like to thank the partners of the consortium, Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-SURE) and the lending banks for making this financing a great success. Against the backdrop of current economic market conditions, we are pleased to have successfully sourced finance for the project of this size and complexity. Led by K-SURE, this well-structured LNG regasification terminal transaction attracted high quality project finance lending of $741 million for a tenor of 20 years. This reflects their confidence in investing in Bahrain and further fueling growth of the energy development projects in the country. The LNG Terminal will comprise a Floating Storage Unit (FSU), an offshore LNG receiving jetty and breakwater, an adjacent regasification platform, a subsea gas pipeline from the platform to shore, an onshore gas pipeline and gas receiving facility, and an onshore nitrogen production facility. The project will supplement local gas production to meet peak seasonal gas demand, industrial growth and procure internationally-traded LNG on a competitive basis. It is due for completion in early 2019 and will have a capacity of 800 million standard cubic feet per day. It will be owned and operated under a 20-year agreement by Bahrain LNG. GS Engineering and Construction was awarded the EPC contract. Teekay LNG will supply the Floating Storage Unit (FSU) which will be modified specifically for this project, through a 20-year time-charter agreement. For this project, K-SURE will provide commercial and political risk cover for approximately 80 per cent of the financing. Standard Chartered Bank, Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp), and the Korea Development Bank acted as lead arrangers. A syndicate of nine international and regional banks is participating to fund this project. The banks include: Apicorp, Standard Chartered Bank DIFC, Korea Development Bank, Ahli United Bank, Banco Santander, Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, ING Bank, Natixis, and Societe Generale. TradeArabia News Service K5 Middle East, a firefighting products, solutions and technologies company, said it has begun construction on its first manufacturing facility in the Middle East at Ajman, UAE. The announcement was made on the sidelines of Intersec 2017, the worlds leading trade fair for security, safety and fire protection which kicked off on January 22 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC). The work on the facility, being built at an estimated cost of $100 million, is progressing well, said the company at the three-day event. The move complements a recent report by Frost & Sullivan that the GCCs fire safety market is expected to grow at an average of 15 per cent to touch $3.15 billion by 2020. The UAE accounts for 34 per cent or $476 million of the GCCs $1.4 billion fire safety market, driven mainly by the local construction boom. Demand for fire safety systems and equipment is expected to get a major boost as World Expo 2020 draws near and as work on major construction projects progresses up to 2021. Sales of detection systems and equipment including smoke and heat detectors and fire extinguishers dominate the UAEs fire safety systems and equipment market. Alex Perfiliev, the chief executive of K5 Distribution, said: "We are highly excited with the construction of our first-ever manufacturing facility in the Middle East which will address the growing demand for fire safety solution in the region." "We foresee a high demand for innovative fire safety solutions in the UAE in line with Dubai Civil Defences Strategic Plan 2017-2021 to reduce fire incidents by 10 per cent and the ratio of death caused by fire per 10,000 people by 15 per cent. While the UAE remains our key market, we will explore other potential market in the region, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman to bring our annual sales from this region to $100 million per annum," he added. Evgeny Gabov, the director at K5 Middle East, said the company had very high expectations from the robust fire and safety market of the Middle East and particularly from the booming UAE market. Alongside K5 Safety Patch and K5 Patchpaint, the state-of-the-art manufacturing facility will produce paints, foams, coatings and construction materials equipped with fire extension capacity, said Gabov. "Our clients in the region include manufacturers of electrical equipment, developers, facilities management firms, and social care institutions. In the long term, we have plans to enter India and China, which are large markets along with Europe," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Iran will kick off the operation of a pipeline supplying natural gas to Iraq on Tuesday (January 24), said a senior Iranian official. The operation will begin as per the memo signed by both the countries in 2009, Iran's oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, was quoted as saying in an Iran Daily News report, citing Tasnim News Agency. The deal involves the supply of around 20-25 million cubic meters of Iranian gas to Iraq, it said. It was to have gone into operation in 2013 but was delayed because of security issues in Iraq. The projects operation this week follows two months of intensive negotiations, added the report. Iran and Oman are continuing their talks to set up an auto manufacturing plant in Oman's Duqm, according to a top official. Tehran plans to build the plant in Duqm economic zone, Irans Charge dAffairs in Oman Mohammad Totonchi, was quoted as saying in an Oman Tribune report. The official added that both the countries will take steps to boost trade relations and Tehran will hold a large exhibition in Muscat from January 23 to 27. Trade between Iran and Oman saw a 35 per cent increase in volume in 2016 and the trade exchange value between the countries has reached $1.35 billion last year. More than 90 Iranian companies active in various fields, including food and auto industries, will present their products in Irans exhibition in the sultanate, added the report. The Moral Machine from Dubai's Museum of the Future has thrown up some surprising results in a survey of over 1,000 presidents, CEOs and other leaders at the the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The Moral Machine is an exhibit at the WEF, developed and designed by Dubai's Museum of the Future and the Dubai Future Foundation. It explores the role of super intelligent machines in global decision-making. The Moral Machine is set in 2050, where everything that can be is automated. Should we support potentially dangerous research or prioritise safety over possible medical breakthroughs? Should we build a secure but inaccessible Internet of Things or support an open system that encourages innovation but may be more vulnerable? As much as 77 per cent of leaders preferred supporting human capital than investing in automation; and 67 per cent of leaders preferred supporting farming and organic agriculture than investment in space and space travel. Also, 57 per cent of leaders preferred to prioritise bio-safety instead of support breakthrough biotechnology research. Confidence in leader's abilities to advise machines on the difference between right and wrong was also surprisingly low. Less than 14 per cent of leaders felt that they were the right ones to be teaching machines the difference between right and wrong. Over 86 per cent felt "citizens" or "experts" should make these kinds of decisions, not senior leadership. These results are surprising given the future-focused outlook of many sessions in Davos, and may reflect the overall mood inherent in this year's theme of "responsive and responsible leadership". Participants were asked to train a super-advanced machine learning algorithm to decide between various social and moral dilemmas. These dilemmas reflect the hard decisions that society will have to make in the 21st century, in a way that a computer can understand. The World Economic Forum attracts some of the most influential leaders in the world, including leading experts in "Fourth Industrial Revolution" technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics. Who will teach the ethical machines? Ethical values are already being programed into our computers. For example, if a self-driving car crashes, who should it save? The driver or a pedestrian? A young person or the old? Algorithms will play an ever larger role in our lives as the technology continues to develop. The input from global leaders to the Moral Machine at Davos suggests surprising results. Today, over 75 per cent of US stock markets trades are conducted by machines. Many more important financial, logistical and social functions are guided, or entirely made, by computers. Abdullah bin Touq, acting CEO of the Dubai Future Foundation, said: "The Dubai Future Foundation is dedicated to supporting positive efforts to shape the future. The Moral Machine is part of our efforts to understand how advanced technologies like artificial intelligence will interact with society and government. The responses of the Moral Machine will help shape future projects by the Foundation on the ethics of artificial intelligence." Share your opinion The Foundation plans to continue to teach the Moral Machine with input from experts and citizens around the world. People from around the world can now share their ideas about how these questions should be dealt with in the 21st century by going to the project's website. An online version of The Moral Machine can be found at http://www.themoralmachine.ae/ The Dubai Future Foundation was launched to help explore emerging technologies and translate them into policies, prototypes and strategies for the city of Dubai. Its activities include programs such as the Dubai Future Accelerators, the 3D Printed Office of the Future, the Museum of the Future, the Global Blockchain Council, the Dubai Future Academy and more. - TradeArabia News Service The three major regional airlines Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways are poised to expand their fleet by almost 650 new planes, according to an expert in aviation inspection, safety and maintenance systems. If you include Turkish and Iran Air, the order book comes to a massive 1,058 passenger aircraft, said Maurice Faber, regional managing director of Olympus Middle East and Africa. Mid-December 2015, Iran announced a fresh $16.6 billion deal to buy 80 new passenger planes from Boeing. With such massive fleet expansions, airlines face pressure to ensure that the airplanes are properly maintained and have regular maintenance and safety checks, he added. The fleet expansions will have a direct impact on the growth of the ancillary industries all of which will provide a fillip to the regional economies. High Demand Obviously, airlines cannot keep the new planes idle. They have studied the market and see a surge in passenger demand and are getting ready to face that demand with huge investments in new passenger aircraft and enhanced service and maintenance facilities, said Faber. His organisation Olympus, is specialist in the inspection and verification of the integrity of an aircrafts hull and its engines. The company will open its regional headquarters for the Middle East and Africa (MEA) in the UAE in January 2017. The move is to be in the market and to be of the market and for the market in the long term. The Middle East and Africa is the next area of growth in the world and we are here to play a more positive role in the growth and development of the infrastructure and economies of the region, he said. Aircraft safety check and maintenance is a critical element as it is directly related to passengers safety. That is why there are stringent requirements for periodic checks. Olympus has high technology products that are a leader in in this field. With the market growing, our local presence here will help our customers with stronger support on a variety of fronts including faster response times for service and product backup, said Faber. - TradeArabia News Service Best Western Hotels & Resorts has announced the opening of the world's first Vib hotel in the city of Antalya, Turkey, marking the entry of its new lifestyle boutique brand Vib re-imagines the Best Western hotel experience for today's traveller who is seeking innovation, technology integration and style with an authentic, local flavor. Vib Antalya's stylish, inclusive and youthful spirit is reflected in the combination of contemporary design and affordable style, where communal engagement is at the center of the experience. The essence of Vib is brought to life by the technology incorporated throughout and the stylish design elements that define Vib, including signature seating, local artwork and murals. Vib Antalya allows guests to keep moving at high speed. It facilitates its guests' connectivity in public and private. wi-fi, USB access, and power ports are widespread throughout, while LED mood lighting creates different ambiences and spaces. Contemporary guest rooms, ranging from standard to suite are outfitted with a pod style coffee maker, RFID technology Bluetooth electronic locks, art TV with LinkSinc and eConcierge technology, a signature LED lit rain showerhead and a handheld showerhead. Smart TVs in guest rooms allow for streaming on-demand content, while a customized media wall electrifies local attractions. Every bedroom makes a statement with a tribute to customization. Vib Antalya hotel amenities include a Bistro Stop area serving premium food and coffee, a state of the art fitness center, and gaming cabanas offering guests reasons to stay in. There are also plenty of options for going out. Vib Antalya delivers the ultimate urban experience. It puts a vibrant social scene right at the feet of each of its guests. Vib Antalya blends urban sensibilities with thoughtful design to encourage interaction between people and places. "We are very proud to open the first Vib Hotel in the world as Vib's unique array of amenities meets today's traveler expectations. We are confident that this exceptional hotel will become a firm favorite among travelers to Antalya," said Mustafa Cengiz, vice president of Guncem Turizm A.S. "We are thrilled to announce this first Vib hotel, which we hope will be the first of many in Turkey and around the world," said senior vice president of International Operations Suzi Yoder. - TradeArabia News Service Nearly 600 participants attended the official launch of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017, which took place on January 18 at the International Tourism Fair of Spain, FITUR. The launch will be followed by 12 months of global actions aimed at advancing sustainable tourism contribution to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Co-presented by Max Forster, CNN, and Raquel Martinez, RTVE, the event underlined the immense socio-economic opportunities brought by the sector to all societies as well as its power to advocate for mutual understanding, peace and sustainable development worldwide. Every day, more than three million tourists cross international borders. Every year, almost 1.2 billion people travel abroad. Tourism has become a pillar of economies, a passport to prosperity, and a transformative force for improving millions of lives. The world can and must harness the power of tourism as we strive to carry out the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development said United Nations secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, in his message on the occasion of the International Year. 2017 is a unique opportunity for us to promote the contribution of tourism to achieving the future we want and also to determine, together, the exact role we will have tourism play in the sustainable development agenda, to and beyond 2030. A unique opportunity to ensure that tourism is a pillar in achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), said UNWTO secretary general, Taleb Rifai, opening of the event. With the launch of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development we once again emphasise that our nations all face common global challenges, which can only be resolved through advancing relations and furthering partnerships. By introducing this initiative, we have highlighted that Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the focal point for future development, and will guide us to create long-term assets, and prevent relevant liabilities, said the Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Kvirikashvili. The International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017 is an incentive to a foster social and political dialogue which can promote initiatives, investments and government actions leading to development and the fight against poverty said the vice-president of Honduras, Ricardo Alvarez Arias. The 2030 Agenda considers sustainable tourism as a vector of development, job creation and the promotion of local culture and products. Tourism is part of the Sustainable Development Goals and contributes decisively to almost all 17 Goals through its impacts on fighting poverty, promoting decent jobs, improving gender equality and the livelihoods of young people or the fight against climate change said the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain, Alfonso Maria Dastis. Addressing the ceremony were also Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations; Francesco Bandarin, Assistant Director-General for Culture at UNESCO and Elzbieta Bienkowska, European Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs. On the occasion, UNWTO announced the nomination of the Ambassadors of the International Year: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia; HM King Simeon II; Huayong Ge, President, UnionPay; Dr Talal Abu Ghazaleh, Chairman, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization and Dr Michael Frenzel, President, Federal Association of the German Tourism Industry. The event also marked the launch of the International Year campaign Travel.Enjoy.Respect, aimed at promoting sustainable tourism among travelers in partnership with CNN and RTVE. - TradeArabia News Service A recent report suggested the most affordable holiday destination for 2017. Here is a rundown of the best places and their corresponding travel cost. The latest annual Post Office Holiday Money Report matched average costs of tourist expenses over 44 worldwide locations, to reveal the cheapest travel destinations for holidaymakers for the next 12 months. The report named Portugal as the most affordable holiday destination of the year for 2017. Ranked second is Sunny Beach in Bulgaria who trailed behind the Algarve with $42 travel cost. Costa del Sol in Spain ranked third place at $45 estimated travel expenses. Marmaris in Turkey will set travelers to spend $56, shadowed by Prague at $57. Budapest $60 and Corfu $70 have maintained their top 10 places. Paphos ($70) however has ascended to sixth place, its top most position ever as the most affordable travel destination in 2017. The Japanese capital of Tokyo, where the items cost $65, on the average, is the only destination outside of Europe to be included in the top 10. Tokyo is the cheapest among the Far Eastern cities with tourist staples costing 18% less than in Phuket ($78), 28% less than in Penang ($88) and 43% less than in Beijing ($110). Post Office Travel Money also conducted a study on the travel expenses in the Caribbean Region. Between the six Caribbean islands surveyed, resort prices in Tobago ($97) and the Dominican Republic ($98) are much cheaper than in Barbados ($142), Jamaica ($151), St Lucia ($152) and Antigua ($171), which are among the survey's seven most expensive destinations. Andrew Brown of Post Office Travel Money was quoted by Mail saying that holidaymakers can do little about sterling's value but they can do their homework and plan trips to resorts or cities where prices for meals, drinks, and other tourist staples are unbelievably low. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 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 In December 2015, Ruthie Evans took her Trumpmobile to a Donald Trump rally in Council Bluffs. She wore her Trump sweatshirt and her fur-trimmed coat and her red, white and blue accessories and took a seat right up front -- thanks to her walker and the kindness of security staff. And after the speech, the senior citizen from Lincoln met the main attraction. Evans remembered that day on Thursday, less than 24 hours before candidate Trump became President Trump. He said, You going to vote for me? the 73-year-old says from her kitchen. And I said, You bet I am. She knew Trump was the one from the time he announced his candidacy in the spring of 2015, says Evans, who voted for Barack Obama twice but says she couldnt support Hillary Clinton. Six weeks later, I put together that car. That car is in the driveway, patriotic signs turning the 2000 GMC Jimmy into a motorized billboard for Trumps America. A magnet for the Trump movement and its followers, she says. Oh, honey, people love it. Evans is as unconventional as her candidate. Before she grew weary of dying her hair white, shed dress up like Mrs. Claus and adorn that SUV with Christmas lights, basking in the honks and waves on her way to Walgreens. She visited her elderly mother in the nursing home dressed as bunny for Easter or a leprechaun on St. Patricks, just to make her smile. And she was riding the Trump Train long before the field of Republican presidential-wannabes narrowed and the real estate tycoon and reality TV star became the last candidate standing. You know one thing I love about him? Hes not connected to the political establishment; to me, thats a plus. She supported his views on immigration and his commitment to American jobs and a conservative appointment to the Supreme Court, but the attraction went beyond that. Ill tell you what I like about him, his sense of humor. Hes energized and he genuinely cares about this country. He doesnt smoke, he doesnt drink, he doesnt do drugs. Hes an idea man and hell find the right people to get things done. Evans wasnt the only woman to help turn the Electoral College tide. Polling data shows that millions of women, including 53 percent of white women, cast ballots for Trump. In a recent New York Times story, white women from across America explained their gender-bending preference in their own words, citing the economy, immigration, health care costs, abortion, the Second Amendment and a female candidate they didnt trust or respect. Their reasons may be as varied as their ZIP codes, but their hat tip to Trump didnt make Alice Kang blink. Its surprisingly in line with previous elections, said the University of Nebraska-Lincoln political science professor. A lot of people were surprised that women were voting Trump; I wasnt surprised at all. Kang's fellow political science professor Dona-Gene Barton thought there would might be shifts given Trump's campaign rhetoric. "In this election I think people underestimated the pull of partisan ties among women voters." Republican women continued to vote Republican and Democrat women went with Clinton, following trends from the last two presidential elections in almost exactly the same percentages, Barton said. Ruthie Evans may have both bucked and followed the trend, becoming a registered Republican so she could vote for Trump in the primary. A decision she doesnt regret. She knows her candidate wasnt perfect, she says. I wish people knew how many prayers and rosaries I prayed for that man Trump. Evans laughs. Have faith, she says, like she does. I leave Evans in her kitchen with her two small dogs and her Siamese cat and her radio for company. The Trump voter has help preparing her meals and cleaning, and health care workers who assist her with her physical needs. She has children and grandchildren nearby. She doesnt drive anymore. But on the eve of the inauguration -- after she called the newspaper -- she called her mechanic. The Trumpmobile hadnt been out of the garage for more than a month, and the battery was dead. Now that hes president, Im really thinking of selling that car. Swapnil Shinde Ceo of the personal travel concierge app, Mezi shares his insights on the next travel trends. Here is a rundown of the Top 5 2017 Travel Trends. Local Traveling will be a travel trend in 2017. It is predicted that the demographics of Millennials have the inclination to value experiences more than things. This young cluster, however, has limited means to book luxurious vacations or go on world-class destinations. This year, these travelers will be a big part of local traveling where they go to destinations that meet their budget. Several in this category will also most probably take advantage of the strong dollar and fly abroad. Regardless of whether international or local, this group will enrich their experiences and collect memories. Bleisure will be a travel trend in 2017. It is a way of blending business and pleasure. Nowadays, more employees have the free will to prolong stays for personal trips. There are also instances where employees bring along family members for business trips to engage themselves in the local culture with a loved one when not on the job. Solo traveling will also be a travel trend in 2017. Recently, there is an increase in women-only or men-only retreats and travel activities. This is a fast emerging trend that is expected to flourish in 2017, according to Forbes. Do-It-Yourself Travel will be a travel trend in 2017. The breakthrough in technology especially with travel apps, arranging for one's trip is easy. In fact, nowadays, traditional travel agents are fading quickly, with the exception for highly trained niche experts. There are lots of free tools like apps that runs on advanced technology like AI. There is also machine learning that can search across numerous travel booking sites, serving up curated, modified options based on the penchants shared, all within a simple text message-style interface. Finally, Ecotourism will be a travel trend in 2017. Aside from enjoying the destinations, people, and cultures, travelers are becoming more environmentally sensitive than ever. Most travelers especially those traveling in remote areas are conscious about their carbon footprints. In 2017, travelers will exercise low-impact, ecological travel options in an attempt to provide a more positive experience for both visitors and hosts. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 As Valentine's Day comes near, romantic getaways are indeed getting more in demand these coming days. Hence, here are the fantastic places where celebrity couples like Ryan Reynolds-Blake Lively and Kanye West-Kim Kardashian often go to have the best affectionate moments. Prepare to spend the holidays like Hollywood A-Listers! See here what these places have and their best to do things. Escape to the beauty of Travel + Leisure's highly suggested celebrity couple's favorite most romantic getaways. Initially, they are labeled to be celebrity wedding destinations though each can also provide short whimsical trips for this Valentine's Day. When Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively said "I Do," they did it in Boone Hall Plantation, South Carolina. In spite of taking only day tours, it can be a great short break from the glitter of the city. For the next location, Forte di Belvedere is Kanye West and Kim Kardashian's romantic hideaway. Considered as Italy's renowned rambling fort, this picturesque museum can bring any couple's dating plans to a higher level. After taking a short trip on the site and seeing the spectacular view of Florence and Tuscany, hotels near it can offer a nice sweet stay for couples. In addition, Glamour adds another celebrity couple favorite romantic getaway. When Prince William-Kate Middleton and George Clooney-Amal finished their weddings, Seychelles' most stunning beaches cradled the honeymoon stages of the two. Absolutely, any lovers who want to get the most private time together can do the same as they. Get into their most sought-after hotel and spa resorts and enjoy the best of its exotic islands. Lastly, Norway's Northern Lights also becomes another celebrity couple favorite romantic destination. This time it's another monarchy, Prince Harry with his love Meghan Markle who made this place come on this list. In seeing the play of heavenly lights, hotels, lodges and resorts around it offer great lodging with extraordinary adventures on the side. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 Leaders from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will embark on an 11-community tour across Nebraska this week to discuss the future of the state's largest public university campus. Chancellor Ronnie Green, Executive Vice Chancellor Donde Plowman and Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources Vice Chancellor Mike Boehm will participate in the tour, the university said. "Talking with and learning from Nebraskans in their communities is always a priority for us," Green said in a statement. "This year it's extra important to gain input from across the state as our senior leadership team begins to chart a course to take the people's university to the next level." Each of the tour stops is free and open to the public. Monday, Jan. 23 * 12 p.m., community lunch, J's Steakhouse, 406 N. Main Street., Fremont. * 2 p.m., community gathering, Nielsen Community Center, 200 Anna Stalp Ave., West Point. *6 p.m., community dinner, The Marina Inn, Monterrey Room, Fourth and B streets, South Sioux City. Tuesday, Jan. 24 *8:30 a.m., community breakfast, First Choice, 1109 S. Ninth St., Norfolk. * 12 p.m., community lunch, Albion Country Club, 2491 Highway 91, Albion (Boehm and Plowman). * 12 p.m., community lunch, Holt County Extension Office, 128 N. Sixth St., Suite 100, O'Neill (Green). * 2:30 p.m., community gathering, Columbus Chamber of Commerce, 753 33rd Ave., Columbus (Boehm and Plowman). * 5:30 p.m., community dinner, West Central Research and Extension Center, 402 West State Farm Road, North Platte (Green). Wednesday, Jan. 25 * 8:15 a.m. community meet and greet, Keystone Building, third-floor training room, 402 Norris Ave., McCook (Green). * Noon, community lunch, Taste of Texas, 302 East Ave., Holdrege (Green). * 3 p.m., community gathering, Hamilton County Fairgrounds Ag Building, 310 A St., Aurora (Green). When Wendy Hines logged into Facebook two weeks ago and created an event, the Women's March on Lincoln, she could not have imagined the amount of support it would receive. Hines, who lives in Lincoln, said around 3,000-4,000 marchers met outside the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Student Union on Saturday afternoon armed with signs, stickers and loud voices. Across the country, over 670 affiliate marches popped up in collaboration with the Women's March on Washington. It is estimated that over 4.5 million people attended the marches, according to the Women's March on Washington's official website. The event was created to promote unity and equal rights for all regardless of gender, race or religion in the wake of President Donald Trump's election. Three marches happened in the state, taking place in Omaha, Lincoln and Loup City. For Leigh Hessel, the march was just what she needed. Hessel moved to Kearney from the San Francisco Bay area, where she was an activist who supported same-sex marriage and LGBTQ rights. When she heard about the march, it wasn't even a question of whether she would attend. Hessel spent two hours creating a sign Friday night and drove another two hours on Saturday morning to attend. "As a female and as a lesbian who is married to my partner, I want to keep my marriage," she said. "And I want to keep my autonomy as a female." The march made her feel at home and gave her an escape from the isolation she said she sometimes feels in Kearney. Other marchers, like Doris Pleskac, held signs related to health care. Three generations of women represented her family, as her daughter and granddaughters stood beside her. Pleskac said that her granddaughters rely on Medicare and she worries they will be in jeopardy of losing it under Trump's presidency. Pleskac hopes to see more marches in the near future and plans to continue advocating "as long as we have breath in us." Many families with children showed up. Lincoln City Council candidate Louis Braatz III chanted into a megaphone with his three daughters and said he hopes to teach them to take action. "My job is to empower my daughters," he said. "They know what this is about. The younger generation, it's on you guys." Alice Reed of Lincoln carried a sign that read "we will stand up for our rights," as she joined other marchers headed back down Centennial Mall after the march. "Everyone feels like we have a cause to fight for," Reed said. "We're in a red state but we're not alone." Many marchers held signs protesting Trump, but some members of the UNL fraternity Phi Gamma Delta -- also known as FIJI -- showed support for the president and waved Trump flags from their balcony as a counter protest. UNL sophomore Brett Renner said nearly 40 fraternity members participated. The group was not protesting women's rights, but wished to show their support for Trump and felt the march was unnecessary and parts were disrespectful. The counter-protest was not planned in advance, Renner said, but the men decided to express their opinions after seeing signs displayed at the march. UNL student John Elgin of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, who watched the protesters gather at the Capitol from the north end of Centennial Mall, said the march came at the wrong time." "It accomplishes nothing," Elgin said. "The election is over." The walk from campus to the Capitol blocked off Centennial Mall as participants filled the sidewalks and streets. Once at the Capitol, participants crowded the stairs, sidewalks and spilled onto K Street, shutting down the street for nearly 30 minutes. The line of participants stretched nearly half a block away from the Capitol on Centennial Mall. Large crowds showed support from the tops of nearby parking garages, as well. Three speakers addressed the crowd, starting and ending with Rev. Karla Cooper, who is ordained in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Cooper closed the ceremony with song and together thousands of participants joined arms and sang "This Little Light of Mine." Danielle Conrad, Executive Director of ACLU Nebraska and a former state senator, spoke next and urged participants to "make equal rights a reality." "This is what democracy looks like," she chanted and the crowd echoed. "We've got some work to do, but we are up to the challenge!" Meg Mikolajczyk, Public Affairs Manager at Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, called the crowd "a force to be reckoned with." She informed participants about several pieces of legislation and encouraged them to get involved. She spoke about her disgust with LB46, which would authorize "Choose Life" personalized license plates with funds going toward child abuse prevention. Mikolajczyk said the organization supports the prevention of child abuse, but feels it is unfair to tie the two causes together and harmful to women's right to choose. She also urged participants to support LB120, which would expand access to family services, including care like IUDs. Many members, like Nancy Forst Williamson, said they felt united and strong standing among the crowd. Decades ago, Forst Williamson stood in the same spot as a UNL student and held a sign protesting the Vietnam War. She was excited to see such a diverse crowd and was especially proud to see so many younger people passionate about the issues. "For me, it wasn't even a choice," she said. "I felt like it was necessary to be here. I'm standing for a world I want to live in, a United States that I want to live in." And it wasn't just big cities that got in on the national day of demonstration. On maps showing planned marches across the U.S., a little dot in the middle of Nebraska represented an event in Loup City, which attracted an estimated 150 people, according to organizer Tamra Jonak. For a small town, we did really well, she said of the event titled Peoples March for Equality. Jonak said she and her sister wanted to go to Washington D.C. for Saturdays event, but instead made plans to march through the downtown of Loup City, population: 1,020. Some friends heard about our plans and asked if they could join in, and then some others heard about it and wanted to walk too, Jonak said. We made a Facebook page to keep people reminded and it just kept blossoming and blossoming from there. Zach Hammack and Chris Dunker contributed to this report. Neha Saini Tribune news service Amritsar, January 21 The Amritsar East constituency, which elected firebrand woman leader Navjot Kaur Sidhu in 2012, this time will see three low-profile women candidates contesting against heavyweights. Since traditional parties refrained from fielding any women candidates, two Independent women candidates and one from the Democratic Party of India (A) will contest against Navjot Singh Sidhu (Congress), Rakesh Honey (BJP) and Sarabjot Singh (AAP). Amita (58), a housewife and a resident of the Hussainpura area, near the local bus stand, is the Democratic Party of India (Ambedkar) candidate for Amritsar East. Her educational qualification is limited to primary level and her only asset is Rs 20,000 in cash. However, she is confident of standing out among the high- profile competitors. I and my husband, who has retired now, used to talk about social issues, everyday problems that people used to face during the dinner time. We were always open to political happenings in the constituency. Hence, this time, with encouragement from my husband and family, I decided to file for the Assembly poll. We cannot just sit and talk about everything wrong with the world, we have to do something, she said. Her husband Gokal Chand too feels that people need a change this time, a break from traditional politicians. Nobody ever thought that Indira Gandhi would be defeated by Raj Narain, but it happened. So, politics is unpredictable and one has to be positive always about what we do. Amitas entire family, including three sons, is campaigning for her. Since we dont have money, we are sticking to personal interactions and door-to-door campaigning, Gokal said. Other two women candidates from Amritsar East are fighting the poll battle as Independent. Gurjit Kaur (40) has passed Class XII and is also cashing in on door-to-door campaigning since she too is a housewife. Parminder Kaur (42) with an annual income of 3,20,000, as declared in her nomination affidavit, is a bit more financially sound than her two counterparts. The candidates do agree on the fact that Amritsar East is the most neglected constituency and witness least development. Vaibhav Sankla We always think of saving taxes only when we see a lot of tax outgo from our salaries/earnings or while filing taxes. However, if one thinks proactively of investing in tax-saving instruments then the tax outgo will automatically reduce from the beginning. This also makes more sense since it helps in keeping aside funds for investing well in advance instead of at the year-end. Knowing what tax bracket you fall under will help you invest better for tax planning. While one looks at best tax-saving options, one must also invest in something that will give good returns on maturity. There are various tax-planning options such as provident fund, equity funds and insurance etc. But, there are certain things one should keep in mind. The investor should know details such as lock-in period, ROI, whether the income invested meets the personal financial goals and the like. Hence, a person can diversify his investments in a way that is most profitable to him. While an investor can himself research and invest, it is always better to seek help from an adviser. Most of us do a fine job of filing tax returns i.e. getting the right numbers in the right boxes on the right forms. But thats not nearly enough. The real secret to managing taxes is planning proactively. Save now for future requirements When times are good, people embrace their success and are tempted to spend. Good times need not necessarily justify going on a spending spree. Lacking financial planning skills can hurt you badly by giving birth to a cash flow crunch in future. So, why not consider creating a specific fund for each of your foreseeable expenditures like buying a house, children education, your own retirement, etc.? This can be done in a much better way if you mix a tax-saving angle to your investment decision. There are many investments which can help you achieve your financial goals while simultaneously saving considerable amount of taxes. For example, Employees Provident Fund, Public Provident Fund and NPS can be seen as a retirement planning instrument. EPF and PPF provide you with tax-free interest between 8% and 8.60% p.a. Further, if you consider tax deduction on amount invested then the ROI goes to 11.50% -12.50% which is a lot better than most of the market-linked retirement plans. Moreover, your investment is risk-free. However, NPS provides even greater return on investment of 10-12% which goes up to 17% post-tax deduction. Despite offering better returns, it may not suit risk averters as it is a medium-risk investment option. It is also not as flexible as EPF and PPF where amount can be withdrawn after five and seven years, respectively. If you have a girl child less than 10 years of age, you can consider investing in Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, which is one of the best investment options for planning her higher education. If you have any short-term financial goal, you have a plenty of investment options in the market. Bank deposits with five-year lock-in period, 7-8% ROI and risk-free nature, is a safe and popular choice. However, considering other investment plans, ROI offered is low. Although maturity amount is exempt from tax, the interest income generated is taxable. Therefore, even after tax deduction, the ROI is as low as 8%. In terms of returns, debt funds are a better option than bank deposits. They carry little risk but give out an ROI of 9-10%. However, since they do not provide any tax benefits, the effective ROI falls between 8.8 and 9.8%. If you are willing to take risk, there are even better investment opportunities available. ELSS, ULIPS and diversified equity funds are some high-risk investment plans which are ideal if you are looking for an investment of 3-5 years. They offer ROI in the range of 10-12% or higher. Dividend received from ELSS and diversified equity funds is tax free. Withdrawals are also exempt from tax if made after 3 years in case of ELSS and 5 years in case of ULIPS. Capital gains made post one year of holding of diversified equity funds is tax free. Post-tax deduction, ROI given by these plans falls between 11.5% and 17%. Among the three, ELSS generates best returns. Another investment option is life insurance scheme. Although the primary purpose of such scheme is to provide financial cover to your family in your absence, it can also give you a decent return between 4 and 6%. Therefore, you can choose to invest in it keeping the dual benefits in mind. So as we can see, each of the tax-saving investment tools can serve to fulfil some of your financial goals. But before you invest in any of these avenues, carefully evaluate the factors like ROI, lock-in period, minimum investment horizon, tax deduction available and net of tax return. Pay taxes strategically The tax brackets are calculated based on taxable income. Though paying taxes generally indicates that you had a successful year (i.e., the higher the tax bracket, the better the year). However, when it is about your hard-earned money being taxed away from you, then your target should be to minimise the tax liability to the lowest possible limit. Generally, for a salaried individual, the employer deducts taxes in the form of monthly payroll deduction based on the investment declaration provided by them at the start of the year. However, after giving the investment declaration, very few employees actually bother to plan the investment on a systematic basis. Most of them wake up at the time when their employers ask them for submission of proof of investment typically in the month of December or January which follows the festive season of October-December when maximum unplanned expenses occur. If you dont plan your investment early and back it by actual investment over the period, you will feel the pinch at the year end. Hence, it is important to analyse and estimate your taxable yearly income which will help you to plan your investment and reduce the taxes. Further, if you submit a declaration based on a solid investment plan, you will not face any cash crunch at the end of the year. You will be able to rationalise the tax outgo over a period of 12 months which will save you from any surprise in the form of sudden heavy tax deduction at the year end. Coordinate tax planning with financial planning Only smart taxpayers recognise that tax planning cannot happen in isolation but its an important piece of their overall financial planning. When you are planning to optimise your taxes, dont forget the financial angle of it. Always compare the post-tax return of different investments. Similarly, when you are investing anywhere, dont forget to consider the tax angle of it. All said and done, it is important that you plan your investment and taxes proactively and follow it in spirit. Any plan, if not backed up with proper implementation, will lead you to failure. So this festive season, let us all resolve to plan the taxes proactively for our prosperous future. The writer is Managing Director, H&R Block India. The views expressed in this article are his own Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 21 Members of the Panjab University Syndicate today differed on a hike in the fee of traditional and self-finance courses. After a three-hour discussion, they failed to come to a consensus. So the recommendation of the committee on tuition fee will now be placed before the Senate at a meeting on March 26 for its final nod. There has been a hike of five to six times in traditional courses and 12 to 13 times in self-finance courses. The Syndicate meeting was chaired by Panjab University Vice-Chancellor Prof Arun Kumar Grover. During the meeting, the members pointed out that the committee had proposed that the fee concession would be given to students of government schools. But there were rural areas where there was no government school. So instead of giving it to the students of government schools, it should be given only to students from the economically weaker sections. They suggested that the committee should reconsider this term. The members said the Central and the state governments were not bearing the financial burden of the university due to which the authorities were forced to propose the hefty hike. Since the syndicate was not unanimous on fee hike, it was decided to refer the issue to the Senate for the final nod. In fact, the 15-point agenda which the Panjab University Campus Students Council had mooted was also discussed by the members during the meeting. But the members found that these proposals would not generate much revenue for the university. As per the proposal of the fee hike, the slab will be imposed only on students who are freshers. For the old students, the previous slabs of minimum Rs 500 to a maximum of Rs 1,200 annual hike will be imposed for the next academic session. Sandeep Rana Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 21 In a relief to three girls, including a minor, whose parents died in a bus accident, the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) here has ordered New India Assurance Company Ltd to pay a compensation of over Rs 80 lakh to them. The deceased Prem Raj Kapoor (49), a native of Mandi, used to work as a technician at SJVNL Hydro Project, Jhakhari, Shimla, and was earning Rs 45,249 per month. According to the case filed by the Mauli Jagran-based claimants, the accident took place on July 10, 2015, at 7.20 pm in Rampur. The deceased along with his wife was travelling in the ill-fated bus (HP-06B-1591) to Shimla. The bus was occupied by a number of passengers and was already running late. Therefore, the driver was driving rashly and negligently. He was warned by the passengers to drive slowly but he did not pay heed. After reaching a bridge in Rampur, the driver could not control the bus on a bend and the vehicle fell into a deep gorge. Kapoor had suffered grievous head injuries due to which he died on the spot. The police had registered a case under Sections 279/337 and 304A of the IPC against the driver Nittu, who was not impleaded as he died in the same accident. Counsel Sunil K Dixit contended in the plea that the claimants spent Rs 50,000 on the last rites of the deceased. The claimants were totally dependent on the earnings of the deceased and had lost both parents in the accident. In his reply, Alka Mishra, owner of the offending bus service, said the bus was not running late and was being driven at a normal speed. The insurance firm replied that the petition was not maintainable as the claimants had not impleaded the legal heir of the driver of the bus and because the alleged accident had not taken place due to rash and negligent driving by the bus driver. Sartaj Chaudhary Trump in, Obama out! Did Russia really propel the Trump campaign? Perhaps we will never know. But it wouldnt come as a surprise if the KGB actually did. The CIA has been protecting American interests for decades. So much so, it actually trained Latin American officers on how to conduct coups, interrogation, torture and murder in a special school called the School of the Americas. A CIA operation Mockingbird, tried controlling the media and shaping peoples perceptions. Operation MK Ultra tried controlling human brains by drugging unsuspecting citizens. Huge public outrage (after the expose of 1970 when the US Army was caught spying on the civilian population) compelled Congress to hold hearings on CIA crimes. Senator Frank Church headed the investigation. The Church Committee brought about a number of reforms and increased the CIAs culpability to Congress. The reforms proved completely futile as the Iran-Contra scandal later revealed. The CIA was powerful enough to completely sidestep Congress. Lets look at post-WW-II presidencies and examine the CIAs role in protecting American interests around the world. The Eisenhower administration orchestrated the overthrow of the conservative government in Iran, resulting in years of brutal dictatorship. Eisenhower overthrew the first democratically elected government in Guatemala which led to years of massive atrocities. The US conducted a major clandestine operation in Indonesia, leaving nearly 2 million dead. The US State Department acknowledged the wrongdoings in 1994 and furnished a detailed account of major CIA covert operations. President Kennedys years saw the invasion of Vietnam, where the US used chemical weapons to destroy food crops. Millions of people had to live in concentration camps. The Cuban missile crisis was a clear case of international terrorism. It nearly led to the obliteration of the whole world! Johnsons presidency expanded the war in Vietnam, leaving millions dead. Under his leadership, the US supported the Israeli occupation. President Nixon brought the Vietnam War to an end a war America was clearly losing. Nixon is also credited with bringing back American prisoners of war. He initiated a detente with China and signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union. Ford was President for a short time, but long enough to endorse the Indonesian invasion of East Timor. It was as close to genocide as anything in contemporary times. The Ford administration pretended to oppose it, but secretly (in fact, not so secretly!) supported the incursion. Immediately after the invasion, the US joined the rest of the world in condemning the invasion at the Security Council. Under Carter, the flow of weapons into Indonesia increased. Congress imposed a human rights restriction of advanced weaponry into Indonesia. Carter arranged through Vice-President Mondale to get Israel to send US Skyhawks to Indonesia to enable them to complete what again turned out to be genocide slaying a quarter of the population. Carter raised military aid to Israel to more than 50 per cent of the total aid worldwide. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, the Carter administration pumped billions of dollars into Pakistan. The ISI was set the task of nurturing the Haqqani network (intertwined with Al-Qaeda) to counter the Soviet militaries. The US supported the Mujahideen armed them, funded them. The implications? Still conspicuously evident! Reagan became the first president to be condemned by the International Court of Justice for the unlawful use of force against Nicaragua. The Security Council endorsed it in two resolutions both of which were vetoed by the US. Bush Seniors presidency saw the invasion of Panama. It was done to kidnap a disobedient thug who had been supported by the US right through his worst atrocities. The Panamanian dictator Noriega was brought to Florida and tried for crimes that he had committed on the CIA payroll! There were opportunities for a diplomatic settlement before declaring war on Iraq. There was no intelligence failure (worth mentioning here Bush was a former director of the CIA). It was a well-calculated strategy. It reaffirmed Americas supremacy as the superpower. Clintons presidency strengthened Saddam in the war against Iran without realising the imminent ramifications. Clinton simply declared the past UN resolutions obsolete and anachronistic. The cruise missile attack on Sudanese pharmaceutical factory Al-Shifa left tens of thousands dead as a consequence of medicine shortage. Bush Juniors presidency administered torture, extraordinary rendition and the anarchy in the Middle-East. The attack on Iraq and Afghanistan was a complete disregard for international law. Iraq was attacked in a manner that is criminal under the laws of war. The US attacked infrastructure. The nature of the attack amounted to biological warfare. It was simply right of the might. Most of the rebuilding was done by American companies funded by the oil wells of Iraq. Joe Allbaugh Bushs former head of Federal Emergency Management Agency, started the New Bridge Strategies. It promised to use its top-level political connections to help US multinationals land a piece of action in Iraq. This whole idea of protecting US interests goes back to James Madison and the framing of the constitution. The interests of the state-corporate sector are of priority. The US government makes every endeavour to help the US trade flourish around the world. Obama will be remembered as the cool president who went out to buy burgers for his staff. The president who got off his copter to shake hands with the marine whose salute he had forgotten to return. Trumps victory, despite Obamas unconditional support for Hillary, has definitely taken away from his legacy. The targeted killing of Osama Bin Laden after flying into a sovereign Pakistan is one of his greatest achievements. President Obama has commuted Chelsea Mannings (the soldier who leaked thousands of confidential documents to Wikileaks in 2010) 35-year prison sentence. She is set to walk free in May. With just under 1,400 commutations, President Obama has commuted sentences of more people than the previous 12 presidents combined. The weak are never in a position to forgive. Forgiveness is a virtue of the great. Rok lo gar galat chale koi/ Baksh do gar khataa kare koi. As for the incoming president, Jab tawaqqu hi uth gaye Ghalib/ Kyon kisi ka gila kare koi. The writer is an expert in international law. Gopalkrishna Gandhi THREE days from today, India will celebrate yet another Republic Day. The anniversary of the day when India became a Republic is, above all else, the Presidents day. He unfurls the national flag, takes the salute at a parade where the armed forces of India march past him, places medals on the chests of gallant soldiers, awards eminent civilians with Padma awards. And on the eve of all the festivities, speaks to the nation. In brief, the President occupies centre-stage on Republic Day. He is, indeed, the very symbol of the Republic of India. Figurehead he may be, but the figurehead glows that day. More interestingly though, less explicitly, Republic Day is also the day when the PM of the day takes a backseat. Literally and metaphorically. A look at the first Republic Day is revealing. President Prasads swearing-in on our first Republic Day in 1950, was a moment of great magnetism and great meaning. For one thing, he commanded huge respect. For another, he was inaugurating the office. He was the first first citizen, his was the inaugural inauguration. As the new Constitution came into force, we had two forceful personalities at Indias helm a sagacious head of state, Prasad, and a charismatic head of government, Nehru. But beneath these great causes of jubilation lay an interesting and highly meaningful political circumstance: Prasad was not Nehrus first preference for the post. But the Congress was clear: It had to be him. Sardar Patel, in particular, was for Prasad. And so the first President came upon his office on a power engine of his own. One which, at that point, outdid the power engine of the PM and PM Nehru at that. Did that lead to two power centres? No, it did not. The innate civility of both the President and the PM would not allow that, nor their understanding of their respective roles. The Presidents was a symbolic office, the PMs the substantive one. And yet there were occasions when the two power engines rumbled differently. President Prasad raised the question of presidential prerogatives, presidential discretion. Article 74 of the Constitution spoke of the President acting on the advice of the council of ministers headed by the PM. How binding, Prasad wondered aloud, was the advice of the Cabinet? Attorney-General MC Setalvads view was sought and came ringingly clear: The President is like the British monarch, a constitutional, not an executive head, and has to be guided by Cabinet advice. The point of presidential prerogatives was not pressed by the President. But it was enough that it had been made. Setalvads position was reiterated forcibly and conclusively in 1975 when, in a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court confirmed this position. Setalvad and Shamsher Singh and Another vs the State of Punjab have settled the point. No President has flouted Setalvads opinion, but no President has forgotten Prasads doubt. We have had, counting from President Prasad, 13 Presidents in 14 presidencies, Prasad having had two consecutive terms. Eleven of them men, and one, woman. Ask any regular Indian to name any one: From the historically inclined, certainly, you will hear Rajendra Prasad. In scholarly circles, Radhakrishnan. But by and large, in the towns and even villages, only one name of a President will be recalled like that: APJ Abdul Kalam. Power is one thing, impact another. Kalam imprinted himself on the minds of the people by being different. His cut of hair, his open collar, crinkled pants only sharpened his original, easy nature. There have been far greater Presidents than he, but Kalam brought his office out of the cage of protocol. More than anything else, he offered a counter helm. Not a combative counter, not a competitive counter, but a counter. Counter to who or what? Not to the PM or to the Cabinet but to the political narrative. A PM has to be, and is, about politics. A President has to be, and is, about nationhood. A PM has to be, and is, about our democracy. A President has to be, and is, about our Republic. Irrespective of where they have come from, what their religion is, or language, their politics or their sociology, our Presidents have gone by the Setalvad opinion. Some of them have been so very, very constitutional as to have become dust in the books innermost lining. No one misses anything by forgetting them. But some have provided the counter helm, not as dramatically as Kalam, but nonetheless, effectively. Exercising what Walter Bagehot described as the right to be consulted, to warn and to encourage, they have obliged the PM of the day to come to them, explain proposals, defend and justify them and then return to either change the proposal or to reiterate it with modifications. Our second President, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, saw India through three Prime Ministers Nehru, Shastri and Indira Gandhi. The PM was the mind of the nation as a state, the President was the soul of the state as a nation. The PM led, the President guided. The PM took decisions, the President influenced thought. The PM advised the President, the President shaped that advice by virtue of his personality. The PM commanded the majority in the Lok Sabha, the President commanded the respect of the Lokasangraha. And he warned. Not just as a right, but as a duty. In his last Republic Day address, in 1967, he warned the country and the government that: We cannot forgive widespread incompetence and the gross mismanagement of our resources. Indira Gandhi was not pleased. But the nation was sobered. President KR Narayanan crafted his addresses with great deliberation, speaking directly and with tremendous impact. In his address on the eve of the Republic Day, 2000, he said to his government: Beware of the fury of the patient and long-suffering people. Speeches are speeches are speeches, one might say. What do they change? We may be surprised. They grind, like justice, subtly, but they grind exceeding small. A Presidents speech, if it comes not from some calculating intelligence, some crafty agenda, but from a clean soul, can grind political egos down and lift the nations spirits. Politically, the President is weightless; inspirationally, he can weigh a ton. The PM is the ink on a Cabinet note which expires; the President is the carving on our nationhood which inspires. The President gives to what is strong, stature; to what is powerful, sanctity. On Republic Day, this year, the last of his five, may we receive from President Pranab Mukherjee, no cliche, nothing that is trite, but that of which President Rajendra Prasad, President Radhakrishnan and President Narayanan will be proud. The writer is a former Governor of West Bengal Vishal Joshi Tribune News Service Kurukshetra, January 22 BJP MP Raj Kumar Saini batted for controlling population through a Central legislation. Speaking to The Tribune, the Kurukshetra MP said a law with punitive provisions should be introduced on birth control but it should not be viewed as targeting any particular section or group of society. He said the Chinese model to check growth of population should be studied for adoption. Population growth is the root cause of most of the problems our country faces today. Even as there is enough scope for employment generation opportunities, immense population pressure is a hindrance in meeting demand for natural resources and other aspects of life, said Saini, an industrialist-turned politician. He demanded a national debate on birth control with a broader perspective and its long-term, direct, socio-economic benefits. The MP also demanded revision of eligibility rules and that the age limit should be fixed at 50 for contesting the Assembly or Parliamentary election. Saini said only one member of a family should be allowed to contest an election and an elected representative should be allowed to contest polls only twice. Further, it should be mandatory for a candidate to work in the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) to get practical training in public administration, he said. Owing to their political family backgrounds, individuals conveniently become lawmakers. Unable to understand ground realities and challenges faced by masses, most young leaders remain dependent on others, he said. Saini also reiterated his stand for abolition of the Rajya Sabha as he said the Opposition parties were taking it as a tool to halt reformative initiatives in the country. Asks govt to act against anti-social elements Kaithal: Kurukshetra MP Raj Kumar Saini has sought action against those who want to vitiate peaceful atmosphere in the state. In a statement issued here on Saturday, the MP said, Those behind such acts have been exposed and tough action should be taken against them. Saini said he was not against any community but opposed those who wanted to throttle democracy by use of force. He said former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Abhay Chautala were hand in glove on the Jat quota and SYL issues. Saini said Hooda could not be absolved of his alleged role during the last years Jat agitation, adding that his charges against the BJP government were baseless. He alleged that the INLD never made serious efforts to get the state its share of water. OC Geetanjali Gayatri Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 22 The state governments plan to lay foundation stones of 22 colleges for girls to mark the two years of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao programme today did not materialise. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, at a public meeting in Badli last month, had announced that the foundation stones of the colleges would be laid on January 22 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Panipat on this day in 2015. Sources said the initial plan was to send ministers and MLAs of the ruling BJP to various districts for the stone-laying ceremony. However, the government is learnt to have had second thoughts about celebrating the programmes two years, discussed in the informal Cabinet meeting, as also about sending its leaders, especially due to the non-availability of some, was an issue. Later, the entire plan was altered in a way that the government decided against individual functions for the stone-laying ceremony and favoured centralised and synchronised foundation stone laying ceremony through video-conferencing by the Chief Minister using I-T as a tool to showcase e-governance in higher education. Consequently, no programme was held to mark the programmes second anniversary as announced by Khattar last month. The Union Government is holding a programme on January 24 to mark the anniversary of the programme. We will be participating in it. It is commendable that we have succeeded in improving the sex ratio, Haryanas Women and Child development Minister Kavita Jain said. Meanwhile, sources in the Higher Education Department said the plan for today had to be shelved in view of technical glitches. It was not possible to organise the show on a short notice. There were connectivity issues which have to be dealt with before the foundation stones are laid by the Chief Minister with the touch of a button, an officer in the department said. On increasing the number of new government colleges to be set up from 22 to 24, a spokesperson of the government said the state government had decided to set these up across the state for girls and the underprivileged. Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma said the colleges would be so located as to considerably reduce the distance and travel time. While colleges for girls will be opened at Punhana, Gulha-Cheeka, Sonipat, Jundla, Shahzadpur, Kurukshetra, Kanina and Loharu, other institutions will be set up at Manesar (Gurugram), ,Uklana(Hisar), Alewa (Jind), Ugalan (Hisar), Chhilro (Mahendergarh), Kalanwali (Sirsa), Rania (Sirsa), Mohna (Faridabad), Bilaspur (Yamunanagar), Radaur (Yamunanagar), Badoli (Palwal), Raipur Rani (Panchkula), Mandkola, Nacholi (Faridabad),Taraori, (Karnal) and Bhuna (Fatehabad). The work on buildings of six government colleges at Gulha-Cheeka, Alewa, Ugalan, Shahzadpur, Sonipat and Uklana has begun. The Chief Minister will lay stones of the buildings of 16 new government colleges through video-conferencing at Manesar, Jundla, Kurukshetra, Kanina, Chhilro, Kalanwali, Mohna, Bilaspur, Radaur, Badoli, Raipurrani, Nacholi, Mandkola, Tarori, Loharu and Punhana shortly. The foundation stone of the building of Government College at Assandh, started in 2014, along with additional buildings and classrooms in government colleges at Jatauli Haily Mandi (Gurugram), Kanwali (Rewari) and Chhchrauli (Yamuna Nagar) will also be laid. The construction cost of these colleges will range from Rs 12 crore to Rs 19 crore each. A trial run will be conducted tomorrow (January 23) though the laying of the foundation stones has been scheduled for February, according to sources. Tribune News Service Dharamsala, January 21 Former minister and senior BJP leader Kishan Kapoor today alleged that the Congress government was not serious about establishing Dharamsala a winter capital. The announcement was made to make up for the damage the government had done by neglecting the area for four years. If the present government is serious about establishing a second capital, it should immediately issue a notification and make all ministers, officers, including the Chief Secretary, Secretaries and department heads sit here this winter, Kapoor said. He also demanded that the budget session should also be held in Dharamsala. Kapoor said most projects had failed to see the light of day. Initially, Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma, who represents the area had announced monorail for Dharamsala. Then foundation stones of an IT park and ropeways from Dharamsala to McLeodganj and Chamunda to Himani Chamunda were laid by the Chief Minister. However, no work had been done on these projects to date, he said. The projects that were started by the previous government and would have benefitted the people of the area, including the construction of a road connecting Dharnu to Bhagsusag and Darnu to Triund, had not been touched by the present government, Kapoor alleged. He said the state government had failed to provide land for Central University Himachal Pradesh (CUHP) in Dharamsala. During the last Assembly elections, bringing the circuit bench of the Himachal High Court to Dharamsala was on the manifesto of the Congress government. But the Chief Minister refused to set it up here. WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama did not go out quietly. His unquiet final acts were, in part, overshadowed by a successor who refused to come in quietly and, in part, by Obama's own endless, sentimental farewell tour. But there was nothing nostalgic or sentimental about Obama's last acts. Two of them were simply shocking. Perhaps we should have known. At the 2015 White House correspondents dinner, he joked about whether he had a bucket list: "Well, I have something that rhymes with bucket list." Turns out, he wasn't kidding. Commuting the sentence of Chelsea Manning, one of the great traitors of our time, is finger-in-the-eye willfulness. Obama took 28 years off the sentence of a soldier who stole and then released through WikiLeaks almost half a million military reports plus another quarter-million State Department documents. The cables were embarrassing; the military secrets were almost certainly deadly. They jeopardized the lives not just of American soldiers on two active fronts -- Iraq and Afghanistan -- but of locals who were, at great peril, secretly aiding and abetting us. After Manning's documents release, the Taliban "went on a killing spree" (according to intelligence sources quoted by Fox News) of those who fit the description of individuals working with the United States. Moreover, we will be involved in many shadowy conflicts throughout the world. Locals will have to choose between us or our enemies. Would you choose a side that is so forgiving of a leaker who betrays her country -- and you? Even the word "leaker" is misleading. Leak makes it sound like a piece of information a whistleblower gives Woodward and Bernstein to expose misdeeds in high office. This was nothing of the sort. It was the indiscriminate dumping of a mountain of national security secrets certain to bring harm to American troops, allies and interests. Obama considered Manning's 35-year sentence excessive. On the contrary. It was lenient. Manning could have been -- and in previous ages, might well have been -- hanged for such treason. Now she walks after seven years. What makes this commutation so spectacularly in-your-face is its hypocrisy. Here is a president who spent weeks banging the drums over the harm inflicted by WikiLeaks with its release of stolen materials and emails during the election campaign. He demanded a report immediately. He imposed sanctions on Russia. He preened about the sanctity of the American political process. Over what? What exactly was released? A campaign chairman's private emails and Democratic National Committee chatter, i.e. campaign gossip, backbiting, indiscretions and cynicism. The usual stuff, embarrassing but not dangerous. No national security secrets, no classified material, no exposure of anyone to harm, just to ridicule and opprobrium. The other last-minute Obama bombshell occurred four weeks earlier when, for the first time in nearly a half-century, the United States abandoned Israel on a crucial Security Council resolution, allowing the passage of a condemnation that will plague both Israel and its citizens for years to come. After eight years of reassurance, Obama seized the chance -- free of political accountability for himself and his potential Democratic successor -- to do permanent damage to Israel. (The U.S. has no power to reverse the Security Council resolution.) Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. who went on to be a great Democratic senator, once argued passionately that in the anti-American, anti-democratic swamp of the U.N., America should act unwaveringly in opposition and never give in to the jackals. Obama joined the jackals. Why? To curry favor with the international left? After all, Obama leaves office as a relatively young man of 55. His next chapter could very well be as a leader on the international stage, perhaps at the U.N. (secretary-general?) or some transnational (ostensibly) human rights organization. What better demonstration of bona fides than a gratuitous attack on Israel? Or the about-face on Manning and WikiLeaks? Or the freeing of a still unrepentant Puerto Rican terrorist, Oscar Lopez Rivera, also pulled off with three days remaining in his presidency. A more likely explanation, however, is that these are acts not of calculation but of authenticity. This is Obama being Obama. He leaves office as he came in: a man of the left, but possessing the intelligence and discipline to suppress his more radical instincts. As of Nov. 9, 2016, suppression was no longer necessary. We've just gotten a glimpse of his real self. From now on, we shall see much more of it. Kuldeep Chauhan Tribune News Service Shimla, January 22 Even as Health and Family Welfare Minister Kaul Singh Thakur today assured doctors that the government would redress their grievances, doctors rejected his assurance and declared that they would go on a mass casual leave in protest tomorrow, while emergency services would continue so that patients did not suffer. Apart from the HP Medical Officers Association (HPMOA), Resident Doctors Associations of Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital and Dr Rajinder Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda, too decided to go on a mass casual leave tomorrow. They did not get any assurance from the Health Minister, said officer-bearers of doctor bodies. The HPMOA pointed out that they had called off the strike last year after Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had assured them that their demands would be considered. They had met him again in Dharamsala and highlighted the demands, but the Health Department ignored these despite the Chief Minister reassurances, said HPMOA state president Dr JN Chauhan and general secretary DR Pushpinder Verma. There were two attacks on doctors in Bilaspur and Una, but the HP Medicare Services Persons and Medicare Service Institutions (prevention of violence and damage to property), Act, 2010, making attacks on doctors on duty as a non-bailable offence was not passed, the HPMOA charged. President, RDA, IGMC, Dr Ajay Jaryal said the residents were giving 36-hour duty but their demand to cut it to 24 hours and a minimum pay packet of Rs 55,000 for junior residents had not been accepted. The Chief Minister had assured the doctors a grant of four-tier pay scales, including those on contract, Rogi Kalyan Samitis and ad hoc services, but nothing had come out, they said. The minimum pay for the doctor on contract should be increased to Rs 55,000 from the paltry Rs 25,250. The government had not withdrawn notification regarding medical officers working as Food Safety Officers. Regarding the demand of the association for 90 per cent seats for regular HPHS-I, the government created nine posts of senior medical superintendent, but there was no clerical staff for them, they rued. The government continued to appoint Ayush doctors in allopathic institutions. The Chief Minister had accepted the demand of telephone allowance for contract medical officers, but the doctors had not got it so far, they rued. On the other hand, Kaul Singh Thakur said the government was concerned for the safety and security of doctors at their work places. Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service Shimla, January 21 Government officials who could have been in trouble for their failure to check unauthorised constructions can heave a sigh of relief as the state government in its reply sent to Governor Acharya Devvrat has said no individual can be held responsible for such violations. It stated that frequent amendments, retention policies and lack of awareness about construction norms led to the surge in such structures. Devvrat had on December 31, 2016, written to the state government seeking clarification with regard to the pending Himachal Pradesh Town and Country Planning (Amendment Bill), 2016, with him. It is in response to those queries that the government yesterday sent its the reply to the Raj Bhawan. Considering the issues raised by the Governor, especially with regard to action that the government was contemplating against the officials who failed to check the violation in the construction norms, the Department of Town and Country Planning had been in a quandary to find a way out so that the Governor was satisfied. We have sent the clarification sought by Devvrat and elaborated that the unauthorised constructions are a result of a number of reasons which include frequent amendments, a number of retention policies, changes in planning areas and lack of awareness about the building norms, said Sudhir Sharma, Urban Development and Town and Country Planning Minister. Aimed at regularising over 25,000 illegal structures in the state, it was on August 27, 2016, that the Vidhan Sabha had passed the Himachal Pradesh Town and Country Planning (Amendment Bill), 2016, and sent it to the Governor for his assent. The Bill will amend the Town and Country Planning Act, 1977, to facilitate the regularisation of unauthorised structures in the state. Interestingly, the government has also taken defence in the plea that acute staff shortage ails the Town and Country Planning Department, which also affected the functioning. A number of steps taken by the government like sanctioning posts of various categories have been enlisted in the reply sent to the Governor. Considering all these aspects, no individual at any level can be held responsible for the encroachments, said a senior functionary. With regard to regularisation of structures which have come up on government or private land, the department has made it clear that such buildings do not qualify for regularisation even after the amendments. As far as the issue of structural stability of the unauthorised structures raised by the Governor is concerned, the government has assured that the safety of structures which will be regularised will be ensured at every cost. Lalit Mohan Tribune News Service Dharamsala, January 22 The 12-day first phase of winter sojourn of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in Kangra district was marked by impromptu decisions and all out efforts of veteran Congress leaders to woo the voters of the politically most significant district of the state Kangra having 15 Assembly segments. Initially, the first phase of the winter sojourn was planned for seven days from January 11 to January 17. It started on normal note with the Chief Minister inaugurating and laying foundation stones of various development projects in Dharamsala. The controversy of not being allowed on the stage during Rahul Gandhi rally at Dharamsala on December 24 continued during the sojourn as Minister for Transport, Food and Civil Supplies and Technical Education GS Bali maintained distance from the sojourn despite being present in Kangra district. At some places the Chief Minister reacted angrily when asked about absence of Bali from his programs by saying that he was not his ADC to accompany me everywhere. Jibe at Sukhu On the second day on the sojourn at Nurpur the Chief Minister took a jibe at the HPCC president Sukhwinder Sukhu with whom he was having estranged relations for some time. The Chief Minister said that Sukhu should first win his own elections. Sukhu also reacted that he could win election from anywhere in case prefix of CM was attacked to his name. The Chief Minister again retorted that elections are not won by CM prefix but by character. At Nurpur the Chief Minister indicated at a tougher law against illegal mining in which the vehicles confiscated would be released only through courts. Left high & dry On the third day at Indora the independent MLA, Manohar Dhiman stole the show organized in Indora to welcome the Chief Minister while the traditional Congress leaders were left high and dry. The Chief Minister announced an SDM office at Indora and also announced a welfare board for Dhiman community. On the fourth day the Chief Minister inaugurated the SDM office in Fatehpur, the Assembly constituency represented by Minister for Agriculture Sujjan Singh Pathania and announced various development schemes. The Chief Minister spent a day in Bhatiyat Assembly constituency of Chamba district with the chairman of the pollution board, Kuldeep Pathania. The Chief Minister also visited the Baijnath and Palampur Assembly segments but not much was announced there but for inauguration and laying the foundation stones of the development project. By this time the winter sojourn of Chief Minister was extended by one day till January 18. Later it was extended to January 22 and then cut short by one day. On trip to Sulah Assembly constituency represented by Congress MLA Jagjivan Pal, the Chief Minister announced another SDM office there taking the total numbers of SDM offices in Kangra district to 14 from eight during the stint of the previous BJP government. Crucial Cabinet meeting From January 18 the Chief Minister started chairing the meeting of welfare boards of different communities. He also chaired a Cabinet meeting on January 18. Just after coming out of Cabinet meeting while responding to queries of newsmen Chief Minister said that Dharamsala would be second capital of the state. A minister, while talking to The Tribune on the condition of anonymity, said that the Chief Ministers statement came as a surprise to him as well. His statement indicated that Dharamsala would be the second capital of Himachal where the entire government would shift for two winter months every year. The statement created a political storm that stunned the BJP as they failed to react to it. The next day while the BJP leaders termed the Chief Ministers statement as a mere political rhetoric during a rally of the block level workers of Kangra parliamentary constituency which attended by senior BJP leadership from state and Union Minister for Finance Arun Jaitley, Virbhadra made an official announcement to declare Dharamsala as second capital of the state. During the meeting of welfare boards the CM also declared land on lease of Rs 1 for construction of Parshuram Bhavans at all district headquarters of the state to appease the Brahmin community. The Chief Minister announcements in Kangra during the first phase of winter sojourn had stunned the opposition BJP as the elections are due in state this year. Now it remains to be seen what the second phase of Chief Ministers sojourn that is likely to start in February brings for Kangra. Srinagar, January 22 The Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education on Sunday declared the results of class 12, the examinations of which were delayed last year due to unrest in the Valley, with 75 per cent of over 53,000 students qualifying the exam. Of the 53,159 students, 40,119 qualified the examinations with the total pass percentage of 75.46 per cent, an official of the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE) said. Of the 28,800 boys, 21,586 passed the examinations, securing a pass percentage of 74.95 per cent, while of the total 24,359 girls, 18,533 qualified for the next level with a pass percentage of 76.08 per cent, the official said. He said 13,155 students 6,849 boys and 6,306 girls - secured distinction i.e. above 75 per cent marks. The annual examinations to Classes 10 and 12 were held in November last year after being postponed due to the unrest following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces along with two of his associates, on July 7. The unrest, which claimed the lives of 86 persons and left thousands injured, had forced closure of all educational institutes for months. The government had to announce mass promotion of students from classes one to nine and class 11. The authorities had also announced 50 per cent relaxation in the question papers for students appearing in 10th and 12th classes examinations in the month of November, but such an option would not be available for those who opted to write their exams in March. PTI Vikas Sharma Tribune News Service Jammu, January 22 Students of J&K who have been selected for the Prime Ministers Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) for pursuing various undergraduate courses in different streams across the country are yet to receive the scholarship amount to pay the college fees. Pertinently, for the year 2016-17, a total of 5,000 scholarships were awarded to students, including 4,500 for general degree and 250 each for engineering and medical/Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS). Sources claimed that during the academic year 2015-16, of the 3,742 students who were allotted various undergraduate colleges across the country under the PMSSS, a little more than 1,200 had taken up the offer. Sources added that the main reason was that despite the counselling of the students, they were not offered the courses of their choice. A majority of the youngsters were turned away from colleges of their choice, which had no information about the scheme. J&K students are really in a big trouble as there is no response from the authorities to know the status about the installment of our scholarship so that we can continue our study, said Abhijot Magotra, a student pursuing Bachelor in Mass Media (BMM) from Wilson College, Mumbai. Some of the students have been asked by the college management to leave the studies and the hostel facilities, too, if the fee was not paid. I took admission in 2015-16 and there was no problem in receiving the scholarship amount for the first two semesters, but since then no information has been received about the pending amount, Abhijot claimed. The BMM student further said even the officers/officials in the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which is the apex body for implementing the scholarship scheme, did not attend calls to give any information despite making repeated attempts. I was selected for the scheme to pursue mechanical engineering from Sardar Vallab Bhai Patel Institute, Aurangabad, in 2014-15, but since then I have not received even a single penny under the scheme. The college authorities are enquiring now and then. However, we have no answer, said Safraz hailing from Bandipora in Kashmir Division. Majid Jahangir Tribune News Service Srinagar, January 22 With inputs about militant movement and last years fidayeen attack in Srinagar on Independence Day in mind, security agencies have been put on high alert across Kashmir to ensure a peaceful Republic Day. While the J&K Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have stepped up round-the-clock patrolling in Srinagar and other parts, the Army too is chipping in the hinterland to ensure area domination. There are more inputs about movement of militants and we are extra alert, CRPF spokesman Rajesh Yadav said. The inputs are pouring in from Srinagar as well as north and south Kashmir. We are keeping an eye on the situation continuously. The main Republic Day function will be held at Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar and forces have already started sanitising the area near the venue. A three-tier security cover will be in place to secure the venue, a police officer said. There are adequate arrangements in place to ensure smooth conduct of the function, he said. The police and CRPF have set up many checkpoints in the city and other parts of the Valley and are carrying out surprise searches on vehicles. The security around the vital installations has also been beefed up. Kashmir separatists have called for a shutdown on January 26. Last year on Independence Day, a CRPF Commandant and a J&K Police Constable were killed and many security personnel were injured when militants attacked forces at Nowhatta in the old city. Last years attack in Nowhatta on Independence Day is in our mind and we are maintaining high alert, the CRPF spokesman said. Sources said the Army, too, had stepped up security around its installations across the Valley as militants may try to carry out attacks. Mohit Khanna Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 21 Battling for space on newspapers and local television channels, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is thriving on social media and cashing in on the free calling and internet data being offered by a cellular company. Sources said AAP workers are making the most of the free data available and are sending videos of their leaders running the campaign across the state. Amandeep Singh (29), a graduate in hotel management from London is handling the poll campaign of Sarabjit Kaur, the AAP candidate from Jagraon. He said they were making the most of the free data and calling being offered by the telecom company. It has really turned around for us. We did not have any platform to circulate our poll plans. So, we decided to use the free data and calling service. Nowadays, almost every youngster has a smartphone and is using the free call and internet service. Further, we are also encouraging them to use the 4G platform. Since calling, videos, MMS and messaging is free, it will not be incurred in our poll expenditure. As cable mafia has completely whipped us from television space, the free internet has come as viable alternative, Amandeep said. Lally, a relative of Jivan Singh Sangowal, AAP candidate from Gill constituency, said: It is very difficult to connect with youngsters and the best tool is social media. Earlier, the parties had to incur huge expenditure on social media. However, free calling and internet facility proved to be a game changer. Our team constantly provides updates of party activities and stay connected with volunteers. We put the news clippings, debates and other party activities on the internet. Gurpreet Singh, a resident of Dekha, said AAP volunteers were encouraging youngsters to procure the SIM offering free internet. Everyone is using smartphone these days and has availed the free internet and call facility. So, political parties are eager to cash on the facilities in the poll season. Raj Kadyan Angels in human form appear most unexpectedly. In 1985, I was flying on duty from Nasik to Mumbai and thence to Indore. I was wait-listed on the second leg. The flight from Nasik took off late, leaving just 15 minutes for the changeover at Mumbai. I sensed a problem. I asked the air hostess, a chubby girl with long hair, if I could meet the pilot. She declined citing security reasons, but took my request and returned with the answers. The flight to Indore was on schedule. However, the pilot had no contact with commercial side and could not confirm my booking. Have you ever got stuck in a big city without money? I lamented. You have no money? Not enough, I said. We will see. It raised a faint hope. While disembarking in Mumbai, I stayed at the tail. Follow me, she said. She took me to the highest airlines authority as only he could help. Luckily, we found the boss, one Mr Lobo, just outside the building. Tall and towering, he wore a friendly face. She told him that I had to go to Indore by the 1 pm flight. He looked at his watch; it was 12.54. He called his walkie-talkie wielding assistant, Put the Colonel on the Indore flight. I started to say that I wasnt a confirmed passenger, but the air hostess side-glanced disapprovingly. You may have to go standing if there is no seat, Mr Lobo said. I had an urge to salute him. The assistant commandeered a bus and we headed for the Indore flight. But I have baggage on the Nasik flight, I said. The air hostess gently touched my arm and asked me to relax. The pilot was in cockpit readiness. Our man halted the bus in front of the plane and told him not to take off. We then drove to the Nasik flight to retrieve my baggage. I thanked the air hostess. It is normal, she said nonchalantly. I knew it wasnt. If you had missed the flight, she said, I was planning to take you home. I stay with my sister and her husband. I was overwhelmed. I had been one of the many who thought Indian Airlines service was trashy. I wrote and thanked her. That started our correspondence. Her letters were irregular, indicating her busy schedule. She wrote how she had helped someone. I was posted in Delhi. One day she phoned me: Come with your wife for tea. I protested, but she cut me short. I want to see if she is as good as your letters say!The wife made polite talk, including showing appreciation for her airlines regulation sari. Two days later, I received a call from another air hostess, saying Alka had sent a sari and to please collect it from the hotel. Years passed and our communication dried up. In 2002, we were flying to Mumbai. A short-haired, trim air hostess looked at me warmly. Do you remember me? I furtively tried to see her nameplate. Covering it, she coaxed me to try to recall where we met! Making light, I shielded my mouth and said, If we met, let us not admit in front of her. She gave a hearty laugh and uncovered the nameplate. It was Alka. Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 21 Pakistan today released an Indian soldier, Chandu Babulal Chavan, who had inadvertently crossed the border in September last year after surgical strikes on terror bases across the Line of Control. Chavan (22) returned through the land transit route of Attari-Wagah border. The BSF handed him over to the Army, which took him to an undisclosed location. A statement released by the Pakistan foreign office today said the decision to return the Indian soldier was based on humanitarian grounds and the commitment to ensure peace and tranquility at the LoC and the working boundary. Posted with 37 Rashtriya Rifles, Chavan had deserted his post at the LoC due to his alleged grievances of maltreatment against his commanders, the Pakistan statement said. Hailing from Borvihir village in Dhule district of Maharashtra, he had mistakenly crossed the border hours after India conducted the surgical strikes following a terror attack on an Army camp in Uri. India had been following up on the case with Pakistan and on January 12, Union Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre said Pakistan had assured of releasing Chavan post-inquiry. His grandmother suffered a cardiac arrest and died after the family was informed that he had been captured by the Pakistan army. Chavans brother Bhushan Chavan, also a soldier, said he was thankful to the Army for its effort. I am thankful to DGMO and Army for the efforts. I am never going to forget this. I am also a soldier and will continue to do my duty with full honesty, he said. He said since his brother had been freed, their grandmothers ashes would be immersed. Chennai/ Madurai, January 22 Two people were killed and 28 suffered minor injuries during jallikattu in Pudukottai district on Sunday, while a man died due to dehydration in Madurai during protests demanding a 'permanent solution' for holding the sport, police said. The people injured during the incident in Pudukottai district, where scores of people and several bulls took part, were discharged after providing first-aid, they said. With an ordinance being promulgated for holding jallikattu, the sport was organised in several parts of the state, including Rapoosal in Pudukottai district. Police said two persons were killed when they were gored by a bull during jallikattu at Rapoosal in which several bulls were used and many sportsmen took part. Meanwhile, 48-year-old Chandramohan, from Jaihindpuram, died due to dehydration in Madurai city when he was taking part in the protests along with students and youths demanding a permanent solution for holding jallikattu, police said. At Tirunelveli, some students, including girls, fainted at a protest venue following which they were given medical treatment, police said. Protests The rural bull-taming sport began in parts of Tamil Nadu despite continuing protests for a permanent solution to the problem. Protests at Madurais Alanganallur which holds the biggest event of the rural sport in the state has stalled an event that was to be conducted on Sunday, forcing Chief Minister O Paneerselvam, who was to flag off the event, to return, reports said. Jallikattu will be held at Alanganallur on a date decided by local people, the chief minister said in a statement later in the day, after protests refused to allow the event to be held. Groups of protesters continued demonstrations at several locations in the state, including the Marina Beach at Chennai, the epicentre of the protests that entered its sixth day on Sunday. Panneerselvam said: "The state's jallikattu ordinance route is permanent, robust and sustainable, will be made into a law in the coming Assembly session." The chief minister has said his government will table a law to replace the ordinance in the assembly session that begins on Monday. Protests were also held in Natham Kovilpatti in Dindigul, where Panneerselvam was to inaugurate the sport, forcing him to abandon his plan. The development comes a day after Governor Vidyasagar Rao promulgated an ordinance that will allow the sport to be conducted. The ordinance is a state-specific amendment to the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals Act. Protests however have refused to stand down, as they demand an amendment to the central law. TN file caveat in SC The Tamil Nadu government has submitted a caveat in the Supreme Court asking for an opportunity to be heard if its ordinance over Jallikattuis contested. "We have filed the caveat in the Supreme Court yesterday asking for the state government to be heard in case anyone challenges the ordinance allowing Jallikattu," the government's standing counsel, Yogesh Khanna, said on Saturday. Agencies Theres nothing hidden about the Journal Star editorial boards agenda. At the start of every year we put it out there for everyone to see. Our agenda focuses on issues we think are important to our community and state. Those are the topics we plan to give priority to as the year progresses. Every year, there are changes. For example, for a number of years our agenda included a push for repeal of the death penalty. For a time it appeared that the goal had been achieved. But after a petition drive and campaign financed heavily by the Ricketts family, six out of 10 Nebraskans elected to put the death penalty back on the books. (In Lancaster County, it should be noted, the vote went the other way.) Nonetheless, the issue wont go away, and the death penalty appears in revised form on our agenda again this year. Read more below. Gone from last years agenda is Medicaid expansion. The forces of disruption took over Washington this year. Health care in America is in a state of flux. The Legislature has 17 new members, with some voicing fierce opposition to expansion. This year well give priority to other items. Without further ado, here is our agenda. 1. Nonpartisanship has been a valuable tradition in Nebraska for decades. Its one of the reasons communities have been able to work together for the common good. Sadly, the polarization that first infected the nations capital has leeched into Nebraska. According to the Nebraska Constitution, the Legislature is nonpartisan. According to the Lincoln Municipal Charter, local city government is nonpartisan. Those traditions should be protected and preserved. No political party in Nebraska can claim a majority of voters, only a plurality. The fastest-growing political affiliation in the state is nonpartisan. 2. The death penalty system is broken. Now that its back on the books Nebraskas elected officials are trying to implement it in the worst way by keeping important parts of the execution process secret. As we noted in an editorial last month, use of the death penalty around the country is declining rapidly. It was imposed in 30 cases last year, the lowest number since capital punishment was reinstated nationwide in 1976. The struggle to fix the system will use energy and money that could be put to better use to improve public safety. 3. Property tax relief remains an editorial board priority. This year the Farm Bureau and other advocates are pushing for a large-scale, revenue-neutral rebalancing of the state tax structure to make real property tax relief possible. Theyre on the right path. Misguided advocates are trying to rechannel the effort toward income tax cuts, sweetening the deal by deferring the cuts for an indefinite period, like a television cable company offering an introductory rate. Bad idea. 4. Last year was the hottest year on record, scientists said last week. Temperatures recorded around the globe broke the record set in 2015, which in turn broke the record set in 2014. The United States didnt get the worst of it. Last year was only the second hottest on record, scientists said. The warmth manifested itself locally in temperatures that averaged higher temperatures every month except December. So its no time for the editorial board to take climate change off its agenda. Well keep pushing for a plan to help the state adapt. 5. The executive branch of state government is making progress on prison reform. The governor has spared the Department of Correctional Services from cuts in his proposed biennial budget. But years of neglect cant be quickly reversed. The department needs more upgrades in its facilities, and it needs to do a better job of retaining correctional officers and other staffers. And $8.6 million in cuts proposed by the governor in the budget for state courts threatens programs aimed at reducing overcrowding in prison. The cuts threaten prison reform. Public safety is at stake. The improvement must continue. Public safety is at stake. Tribune News Service Lucknow/Delhi, January 21 The SP-Congress alliance may not happen. Samajwadi Party sources say talks have reached a dead end with no agreement on seat-sharing. The SP is believed to have offered 99 seats to the Congress. But the latter wants 115. The Congress in 2012 won 28 seats. Indicating that things were not working out, the SP had yesterday released its list of 209 candidates. With the RLD also announcing its list of 35 seats and the Congress clearing the names of 140 candidates, a grand alliance in UP seems unlikely. The Congress today put forth three conditions, even as the partys central election committee (CEC) held its first meeting to finalise candidates for UP a clear signal to the SP that it was ready to go it alone. Party strategists, at a meeting in Delhi late last evening, decided that the SP be told to withdraw all nine candidates on seats represented by the Congress in the Assembly, not to field candidates in the Rae Bareli and Amethi segments and to allot at least 100 seats to the Congress. The CEC is expected to finalise party candidates for the first phase of the UP elections. The last date for filing of nominations for the first phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh is January 24. New Delhi, January 22 Probe agencies such as CBI and NIA have found themselves in a piquant situation following demonetisation of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes and have been taking varying stands in different courts on whether to keep the seized crime money with them to safeguard evidence or deposit the currency to save them from becoming worthless. The dilemma is simultaneously bothering the accused as well, as they have to accord consent in courts that the seized crime money may be deposited by probe agencies. Such consent would bar them from raising defence at a later stage in trial with regard to the authenticity of the seizure or whether the same currency notes were seized during the alleged raids. In one case, a special court allowed the CBIs plea to deposit Rs three lakh as fixed deposit receipts after accused Ashutosh Kumar Singh, who was working as a Deputy General Manager of the Handicrafts and Handloom Export Corporation of India Ltd (Ministry of Textiles), consented that he was not disputing the identity of the amount/money seized. CBI, in its plea in the graft case, said due to demonetisation scheme of Government of India, now the seized currency (old currency) is needed to be deposited in the bank account maintained by the CBI. In order to save the seized currency from turning invalid, necessary orders are solicited from the court. However, in another graft case involving former Medical Council of India President Ketan Desai, the same agency opposed the plea of the accused that Rs two crore, which was allegedly seized in cash by CBI over six years ago, be deposited in a bank. CBI claimed that the notes were bribe money which were important evidence. If deposited, it would damage the prosecution case as these were yet to be exhibited before the lower court, it said. The trial has been stayed by the apex court in the case. In a terror case, National Investigating Agency (NIA) supported the plea of suspected ISIS operative, Syed Mujahid, that the seized crime money to the tune of Rs 2.83 lakh can be deposited in bank, after keeping on judicial record, the photocopy/scanned copies of old currency notes. The money can be deposited in NIAs treasury account, Mujahid told the court. NIA also urged the court to direct the accused not to raise any objection regarding admissibility of the seizure memo which was prepared after recovery of the search operation at later stage during the trial. District Judge Amar Nath allowed the plea after the accused gave his consent to it. PTI New Delhi, January 21 The Election Commission (EC) today censured Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal for his bribe remarks in Goa, indicating strict action, including suspension or withdrawal of the partys registration, may be taken if such a comment was repeated. Kejriwal had, at an election rally in Goa, reportedly appealed to voters to accept bribe from rival parties, and demand Rs 10,000 in new currency if they were offered Rs 5,000, but vote only for AAP. Kejriwal maintained he had neither offered any bribe, nor enticed the voters to accept any pecuniary benefit. He claimed there was nothing in his statement that could be construed to mean abetment to offence of bribery or violating the poll code. TNS New Delhi, January 22 The Human Resource Development Ministry has rejected an RTI appeal for making public a panel's report on the death of research scholar Rohith Vemula in University of Hyderabad. Replying to an RTI query, the ministry had said that the file concerned was "under submission" and a copy of the report cannot be provided. Aggrieved at the response, an appeal was filed with the First Appellate Authority of the ministry. "As such I do not find any infirmity with the reply of the Central Public Information Officer (given earlier) and your appeal stands disposed of as far as the answering Appellate Authority is concerned," the HRD Ministry said in reply to the appeal filed by said. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The HRD Ministry had in February last year appointed a Commission of Inquiry under Justice (retired) Ashok Kumar Roopanwal to look into the events at University of Hyderabad, culminating in the suicide by Vemula. It was also tasked with reviewing the existing grievance redressal mechanism for students at the university and to suggest improvements. The Commission was asked to submit its report within three months of its formation. After the panel submitted its report to the Ministry, media reports had claimed that the Commission had raised questions on Vemula's Dalit status and attributed his suicide to personal reasons. The university authorities too have been absolved of any blame for Vemula's death as the Commission held that they were not working under political pressure, the reports said. Vemula's suicide in January 2016 had triggered a huge political furore with then HRD Minister Smriti Irani coming under attack, along with Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya who had written a letter to the former related to the matter. "If you are not satisfied with this reply, you may like to prefer second appeal before Central Information Commission," the Appellate Authority said. PTI Guwahati, January 22 Two soldiers of Assam Rifles were killed and two others injured on Sunday when militants ambushed a convoy near Jairampur on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border, police said. The attackers belonged to anti-talk faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) led by Khaplang. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Assam Director General of Police Mukesh Sahay said security forces had launched a counter-insurgency operation against the militants. Tinsukia Superintendent of Police Mugdhajyoti Mahanta said 15 or 20 militants laid the ambush. Unofficial sources said the militants fled with some arms and ammunition of the Assam Rifles personnel after the attack. The Ulfa and NSCN-K ambushed an army convoy in Tinsukia district in November last year and killed three soldiers. IANS Chennai, January 21 After around three-year-long ban, the traditional bull-taming sport Jallikattu is set for a grand return in Tamil Nadu tomorrow with Governor Vidyasagar Rao today promulgating an ordinance in the face of massive protests that have paralysed the state for the past five days. Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who announced the approval given by the Governor for the ordinance, will launch Jallikattu at Alanganallur in Madurai which is famous for conducting the rural sport, at 10 am tomorrow. Moving swiftly, the Centre last night cleared the ordinance paving the way for Tamil Nadu Government to promulgate it in an effort to end protests. Rao, who is the Governor of Maharashtra and holds additional charge of Tamil Nadu, reached Chennai in the evening to accord approval to the ordinance. The protesters, who gathered at the Marina Beach, the epicentre of the state-wide stir in which tens of thousands of people took part, appeared to be in no mood to relent. They demanded a permanent solution. Panneerselvam said in other areas, ministers from the respective regions would inaugurate the sport at 11 am. Jallikattu remained banned following a Supreme Court order in May 2014. "I urge the youths, students and the general public to make Jallikattu events across Tamil Nadu a grand success by participating in large numbers," he said. Panneerselvam said the assent of President Pranab Mukherjee to amend the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 by Tamil Nadu was received last night. Panneerselvam thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his support. "On behalf of the government and people of Tamil Nadu, I thank you for all your support and assistance in enabling Jallikattu to be held in Tamil Nadu once again during the Pongal season upholding the culture and tradition of the people of Tamil Nadu," he told Modi in a letter. Earlier in the day, Modi said all efforts were being made to fulfil cultural aspirations of the people of Tamil Nadu. "We are very proud of the rich culture of Tamil Nadu. All efforts are being made to fulfil cultural aspirations of Tamil people," he tweeted. Modi said the Centre Government was fully committed to the progress of Tamil Nadu and would always work to ensure the state scaled new avenues of progress. Several people across the state welcomed the decision, saying Jallikattu was part of Tamil culture and steps should be taken immediately to make it a permanent feature. PTI Mukesh Ranjan Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 22 The BJP on Sunday released its second list of 155 candidates for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, fielding Home Minister Rajnath Singhs son Pankaj Singh from Noida. The second list has several sons and daughters of senior party leaders and also turncoats. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Senior BJP leader Arun Singh, while announcing the names in a joint press conference here with UP party chief Keshav Prasad Maurya, refused to buy the argument claiming, Only viable candidates are given ticket as those who join party and work for it are the BJP family members. Besides Pankaj Singh, senior BJP leader Lalji Tondons son Ashutosh Tondon (Lucknow East), and party MP Hukum Singhs daughter Mriganka Singh (Kairana) have been fielded. In the first list of 149 candidates too BJP had named Sandeep Singh, son of former Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, from Atrauli. Prominent turncoats on the list are Reeta Bahuguna Joshi, who has been fielded from Lucknow (Cannt), and former BSP MP Brajesh Pathak, who will contest from Lucknow (Central). So far the party has announced the names of 304 candidates for the 403-member Assembly for which polling will take place in seven phases on February 11, 15, 19, 23, 27 and March 4 and 8. Lucknow, January 22 Capping days of feverish parleys, Congress and Samajwadi Party on Sunday forged an alliance to contest the UP Assembly polls together. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) At a joint press conference here, leaders the two parties said SP will contest 298 of the 403 seats and Congress the remaining 105. SP and Congress have forged an alliance and will contest UP assembly polls together," SP state president Naresh Uttam told the hurriedly convened media briefing. UP PCC chief Raj Babbar hoped the SP-Congress alliance will reap a bumper electoral harvest in the state and fulfil aspirations of all sections of the society. He said a Common Minimum Programme will be drafted within a week. Talks between top Congress and SP leaders had been going on for the last several days for but an announcement got delayed as the two parties refused to scale down their demand for the number of seats each would contest. Sources said the alliance materialised after Congress president Sonia Gandhi intervened. They said top leaders of both the parties finalised the seat sharing arrangement around wee hours today. Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel had earlier tweeted: "Discussion was at highest level- CM (UP), GS I/C & Priyanka Gandhi." Prospects of forming of an alliance between Samajwadi Party and Congress for the Uttar Pradesh polls had run into rough weather, with both parties hardening their stance over the number of seats. At one stage senior SP leader Naresh Agarwal had said the possibility of an alliance was "almost over" and blamed the "stubborn" attitude of Congress for the deadlock. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had initially offered 100 seats to Congress but they demanded 120. Samajwadi Party then argued that it had 234 sitting legislators and there were some others who would also contest. Thus, the ruling party needed at least 300 of the 403 seats. But, Congress leaders had informed the SP that in such a scenario, there cannot be an alliance. On the other hand, Congress' Central Election Committee met in Delhi and went ahead with finalising candidates for 140 seats which will go to polls in the first two phases. The party, however, did not declare its candidates for these seats, leaving a window for a possible alliance for which talks were held till wee hours today. "We had a meeting of CEC for the first and second phase," Congress general secretary incharge of Uttar Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad had told reporters in Delhi yesterday, adding the party's candidates for 140 seats were finalised. The Congress was also learnt to have been demanding that its candidates should be fielded in Amethi and Rae Bareli segments of the Lok Sabha constituencies represented by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. It was not immediately known to what extent the SP had accommodated Congress' demand. The Congress was also keen to include Ajit Singh-led RLD in the alliance, which the Samajwadi Party did not want. The SP had maintained it will have no truck with RLD and, if Congress wanted, it could give its share of seats to Ajit Singhs party. SP vice-president Kironmoy Nanda said after the alliance with Congress, We will get an absolute majority in the state and Akhilesh will become chief minister again." In the 2012 Assembly polls, SP had won 224 seats with a vote share of 29.3 per cent, while Congress had bagged 28 seats with an 11.7 per cent vote share. A party or alliance which garners 40 per cent of the votes will sweep the polls. Earlier, RJD president Lalu Prasad today tweeted that he was in talks with the Congress and Samajwadi Party for forging an alliance between the two parties in Uttar Pradesh. "I have been consistently in talks with Samajwadi Party and Congress' top leadership for stitching an alliance between the two parties in Uttar Pradesh," he said in a tweet. "Hoping and doing my best to stitch the Bihar-like alliance," Prasad tweeted. Prasad, who has family ties with Mulayam, had tried in vain to intervene in the battle for party's leadership between the SP patriarch and his Chief Minister son Akhilesh Yadav in the power game in the ruling party. Once Akhilesh finally wrested the SP chief's post from his father and got its 'bicycle' symbol from the Election Commission, the Prasad family pitched its support to him and promised to campaign for the faction led by the chief minister. PTI New Delhi, January 22 Uttar Pradesh's ruling Samajwadi Party on Sunday decided to contest 298 of the 403 assembly seats and leave 105 to its ally the Congress, party sources said. The two are likely to announce their alliance later this evening. This followed a telephone conversation in the morning between Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, daughter of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, the sources said. News reports quoted Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav as confirming the development. Earlier, the Samajwadi Party had agreed to let the Congress contest only in 90 seats. The alliance remained uncertain until Saturday, with the Samajwadi Party accusing the Congress of being arrogant and obstinate. The party said then that it was unwilling to give Congress more than 100 seats to the latter's demand of 150. The development comes less than a month before the state casts its ballot. Elections will be held in seven phases in Uttar Pradesh, beginning on February 11. Agencies Tribune News Service Lucknow, January 21 BSP national president Mayawati today claimed that a victory for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh would embolden the Modi government to end quota and asked the Dalits, tribals and Other Backward Classes to teach the BJP a lesson as was done by the voters in Bihar. RSS leader Manmohan Vaidya, at a function in Jaipur on Friday, had said that caste-based quota was not meant to be permanent. Mayawati said it was imperative that the BJP was checked in UP which otherwise may consider bringing in a legislation to tinker with the reservation policy. She advised the beleaguered Congress to contest on its own rather than depend on the Samajwadi Party which, shr claomed, was hand in glove with the BJP. She claimed the recent Yadav family feud had been scripted by party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav to cut brother Shivpal Yadav to size, counter the anti-incumbency mood against son Akhilesh and hand over the party organisation to him. Claiming that the BSP alone could contain the BJP, Mayawati once again asked the people, especially the Muslims, not to waste their vote by siding with the SP which was responsible for more than 500 communal incidents. We know that Republicans want to end Affordable Care Act. Now like any large government program, such as Social Security, Medicare or public works, we know the initial try isn't perfect and we adjust along the way. Too much spending? Not enough spending? We fix it. The zealots, the ideologues, the elected officials who have mingled their energy with attacks on Obama, say they need to end it without a good replacement and I pray and hope they aren't able to do it. Why? Because Nebraskans are not a wealthy population. I read recently that Gov. Pete Ricketts wants to give a tax break to all Nebraskans in the highest tax bracket ("Ricketts seeks tax cuts, reduced valuations in State of the State," Jan. 13). Do you know the income that makes you in the top tax bracket in your state? About $29,830. Only a small section of Nebraskans are rich. If government sucks out our health care, the ramifications, on a human and financial level, will be excruciating. People will wait to see doctors and be sicker when they are finally forced to go. Emergency rooms will be swamped. Families will suffer financially and physically and emotionally. If getting re-elected matters to our representatives, they shouldn't ignore the groundswell of angry populism that gave us both Sen. Bernie Sanders and President Donald Trump this year. It's real. Not everyone works for the university or large corporation. Most everyone in small business has employees involved with Affordable Care Act in some manner. It needs to remain and be improved. Mary Borakove, Lincoln Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 21 With no consensus emerging over who would shift from congested Terminal-1D to Terminal-2, Delhi International Airport Limited has now asked three budget carriers to move operations for flights linking Delhi to Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata to the newly constructed terminal. Earlier, only SpiceJet and GoAir were told to shift operations to T2, which opposed the preferential treatment being meted out to IndiGo. In a letter to the heads of the three airlines, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) chief executive officer, I Prabhakar Rao, said that since no consensus could be reached, all the three would have to shift operations to T2 so that T1D could be decongested for expansion work. After careful consideration, it has been decided that the flights operating to Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata of all the three airlines will be shifted to T2 from February 15 and accordingly, all resources will be allocated to T2, Rao wrote. The letter has been addressed to IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh, SpiceJet chairman and managing director Ajay Singh and GoAir CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer. It has also been marked to the Civil Aviation Minister as well as the Secretary, regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Airports Authority of India Chairman and the Director General, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security. The airlines were also given an option to reduce flights in peak hours by 20 per cent and spread it to non-peak hours, which they did not agree to. DIAL held two rounds of negotiations on January 4 and 9 with the three airlines, but failed to reach any consensus. At present, low-cost domestic carriers IndiGo, Spicejet and GoAir operate from T1D whereas Vistara, AirAsia India, Jet Airways and Air India operate from Terminal-3. Sources in SpiceJet said this was what the arrangement they were wanting as now all the three airlines were being treated on par. However, reports said that IndiGo was unhappy with this arrangement as the airline felt it would lead to severe difficulties in operation and create confusion for passengers. New Delhi, January 22 New US President Donald Trump's 'Buy American-hire American' rallying cry has put the $ 50- billion Indian IT industry on edge, which is in wait-and-watch mode to see how the new administration evolves policies around outsourcing and movement of skilled workers. India hopes to have a meaningful engagement with the US, Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said. Given that US market accounts for 60 per cent of India's IT exports, the industry and the government here will spare no efforts in their outreach programme over the next few weeks to showcase the role of Indian technology sector in making the US economy more competitive and highlight its contribution in terms of billions of dollars paid in taxes and creation of local jobs. "Indian IT companies are in 200 cities across 80 countries. They have added big value to the US, and given jobs to lakhs of people including American people there. I am given to understand that they have paid billions of dollars in tax... So they have added value to America in terms of money, by way of tax and also employment," Prasad said in an interview just hours before Trump was sworn in as the 45th US President. Stating that India wishes to have a meaningful engagement with the Trump government, Prasad said: "We will await unfolding of his views about Indian IT companies' outreach. We have already conveyed our views to them and we will continue (to do so)." Nasscom President R Chandrashekhar said Trump has been pro-India and understands business realities being a businessman himself. The adverse impact on job creation within the US on account of any restriction put has to be weighed very carefully (by the new administration), he cautioned. Communication and outreach will, therefore, be more critical, he said, adding that Nasscom is planning a visit to Washington in February to meet senior representatives of the US administration and the Congress. Trump's 'America First' pledge, which formed the essence of his inaugural speech last Friday, has reinforced worries of protectionist posturing and unnerved the Indian IT industry which, as it is, has been battling headwinds of a slowing growth. Trump has vowed to rebuild the country using "American hands" and his inaugural was punctuated with lines like Buy American and Hire American. "We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength," Trump said. PTI GS Paul Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 21 Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said here today that Amritsar had remained unrepresented in Parliament due to its absentee MPs, alluding to BJP-turned-Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu and PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh. Jaitley, who was here to campaign for Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina, BJP candidate for the Lok Sabha bypoll, said, For the past more than 12 years, local MPs have stayed away not only from this constituency but also from Parliament. When asked about Sidhus scathing attack on the SAD-BJP alliance, he said, I dont think its necessary for me to respond. On the AAP challenge in Punjab, Jaitley said, There was a time when the party appeared to be emerging as a strong contender, but it failed drastically in Delhi, people got to know it better. SAD boycotts rally Dinanagar: The Gurdaspur unit of SAD boycotted Jaitley's rally here, a development that may impact the prospects of BD Dhuppar, the BJP candidate. Gurdaspur district president Ashok Vaid said it was exclusively a BJP function. BJP manifesto today Jalandhar: Special incentives to the industry along the Punjab border are likely to feature in the manifesto of the BJP for the Assembly elections. It will be released on Sunday by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at a function in the city. the BJP may announce a slew of reforms, including a single window system for levying of sales tax. TNS Row over chopper use Pathankot: Jaitley was put under the scanner by the ECI after it sought an explanation over the mode of transport -- a chopper -- he has used to reach Pathankot from New Delhi. Senior leaders feigned ignorance over the move, but administration officers confirmed that Jaitley had been asked to give an explanation. TNS Archit Watts Tribune News Service Lambi, January 21 At 18, this student of BSc (first year) is taking the centre stage during various political programmes of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in this constituency, thanks to her oratorical skills. Navjot Kaur Lambi, daughter of a marginal farmer of Kheowali village (near Badal village), delivers a fiery speech for about eight minutes. Each time, she gets a good response from the public. Her speaking skills have made her a star campaigner for AAP nominee Jarnail Singh. She already has about 15,000 followers on her Facebook page. Due to her rising popularity, especially among the youth, she even gets special time to address the public, and that too in the presence of Jarnail Singh and AAPnational convener Arvind Kejriwal. Yesterday, she was given a slot to address the gathering at Lambi village during Kejriwals rally. In an interaction with The Tribune, Navjot said: I belong to a non-political family. Nobody drafts my speech. It is Gods gift that I can easily speak on issues related to Punjab for 10 minutes. My regular participation in declamation competitions during school days has stood me in good stead. About her turning an AAP supporter, she said: I was inspired by the Jan Lokpal movement and started following the party about one-and-a-half-years ago. Her speech, in chaste Punjabi, mainly focuses on bashing the Badals and PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh. She starts her speech highlighting the problems being faced by the youth, the countrys freedom movement, and then targets the state leaders over patronage to the mining mafia. She also refers to stories narrated by her grandparents to keep the audience engrossed. She is also at home while speaking on sensitive issues such as the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, incidents of desecration of Guru Granth Sahib and farmer suicides. Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 22 Over two months after the incident, the city police today booked the son of a hotel owner for allegedly molesting a foreigner who had stayed in the hotel. The victim, who belonged to Bangkok (Thailand), had lodged a complaint after returning to her native country. Though the incident occurred on November 6, 2016, and the complaint was lodged by the victim immediately after returning home, it took over two months for the police to register the case. The victim alleged that she got a room in hotel City Kansel during her visit to Amritsar, where a Sikh youth entered in her room and sexually harassed her. Following the complaint, the police launched an investigation and the accused was later identified as Prabhjot Singh, a resident of New Jaspal Nagar, who turned out to be son of the hotel owner. Though the police identified and even questioned him during probe, he is yet to be arrested. A case under Section 354 of the IPC has been registered. Rachna Khaira Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 22 A gangster was shot by a rival in broad daylight in Jalandhar, sources said on Sunday, amid heightened security in the city for Finance Minister Arun Jaitleys visit. Witnesses said the victim, Pancham, was sitting in his car when two men from a rival gang Gursharan 'Bhalu' and one other person stopped by on a motorcycle and knocked on the door. They shot him thrice as soon as he stepped out,wounding him critically, the witnesses said. Sources claim that the victim was believed to have been associated with a Congress candidate in the Assembly elections and was helping him, while Bhalu was associated with a rival BJP candidate. The victims family has accused the BJP leader of having a hand in the shooting. The incident comes at a time when both police and paramilitary forces are stationed in the city for Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitleys visit. Jaitley was in the city to release BJPs manifesto. The police have registered a case under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act. Rachna Khaira Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 22 Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley released the BJP manifesto for the Punjab Assembly elections here on Sunday. Jaitley said with the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) by July this year there would be an increase in the revenue of state governments. Our poll manifesto is based on the infrastructure and social upliftment of the people of Punjab, Jaitley said. Under the Ek parivar, ek rozgaar yojana, the party has promised a house for every poor, besides 2kg ghee and 5 kg sugar for blue card holders. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The manifesto also promised free education for girls of poor families till PhD. Also, it announced the implementation of the 7th pay commission and raising the retirement age of government employees to 60 years. It also promised opening of five new Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGI) in the state. BJP poll committee chairman Kamal Sharma said Rs 5 lakh relief money would be given to every family who got affected by terrorism in the state. He also said that to improve the economic condition of farmers, a Farms Income Commission will be constituted in the state that would help farmers to increase their revenue sources. Also, a group housing scheme for journalists was announced in the manifesto. Under the Ek parivar, ek rozgaar yojana, the party has promised a house for every poor, besides 2kg ghee and 5 kg sugar for blue card holders Free education for girls of poor families till PhD Implementation of the 7th pay commission Raising the retirement age of government employees to 60 years Opening of five new Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGI) A Farms Income Commission will be constituted in the state that would help farmers to increase their sources Rs 5 lakh relief money would be given to every family who got affected by terrorism in the state A group housing scheme for journalists Jalandhar, January 22 Citing law and order problem, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh on Sunday asked the Election Commission to send back AAP volunteers from outside the state. He said he had written to EC to take cognisance of the fact that the AAP had inducted more than 27,000 Punjabi-origin people settled elsewhere, including foreign nationals, and 40,000 volunteers from other states to campaign for their candidates during February 4 Assembly polls. Apprehending serious trouble, including a Punjab versus Outsiders divide, Singh alleged they were going door-to-door with all kinds of falsehood and misleading propaganda and holding rallies against the Election Commissions norms. As per the ECI guidelines, outsiders cannot stay in Punjab for elections on the appointed dates and are supposed to leave the state 48 hours before the polling, he said in his letter. Singh further claimed that there was resentment among the local youths who were likely to confront these outsiders, which may lead to violent clashes before and during the polls. He alleged these people were active in Majha, Doaba and Malwa regions of the state under three AAP leaders Durgesh Pathak, Sanjay Singh, and Jarnail Singh respectively. Some of these foreign nationals were assuring the youth to take them abroad for jobs, he claimed. In ensuring peaceful elections, Singh urged the EC that these outsiders be identified and moved out immediately, or it will create a law and order situation. Attacking Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, Singh said he had shown that he had neither time nor interest in looking after the people of Punjab and their welfare. Claiming that AAP had absolutely no-connect with this state he said the party was only trying to exploit the poll opportunity to promote its vested interests. Meanwhile, attacking the Badal family for the corrupt and anti-people policies, he alleged they had looted the people through multitude of mafias, including liquor, transport, sand, cable etc. Sand, for instance, was a Rs 6000-crore business while the state was earning a meagre revenue of Rs 35 crore, it clearly indicates a nexus between the sand mafia and the ruling Akalis, he alleged. He also slammed Badals for allegedly failing to protect the water rights of Punjab, bringing the state, particularly the southern region of Malwa, to the brink of aridity. Singh also hit out at SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal for allegedly copying Congress promise of farm debt waiver, saying what he had been doing for the past 10 years and why the Akali government had not taken care of farmers interest? PTI Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 21 Navjot Singh Sidhu today appealed to all Congress dissidents to come on one platform to defeat the SAD-BJP alliance. Sidhu emphasised that no other party could beat the Congress in Punjab, if its workers were united. No one can beat the Congress unless the Congress defeats itself. I appeal to all workers to bury their differences in the interest of Punjab and contribute unitedly in this dharam yudh. If we all join hands, no one can beat us, he said. Accusing the Badals of looting Punjab during their decade-long regime, he said the state had suffered due to their unending greed. He said: You have seen their sewa (service) which is 10 per cent service and 90 per cent mewa (self-centered). In his aggressive style, he equated Badals with a handpump which is dug deep and repeatedly called Sukhbir as Sukha. Sidhus call had a little impact. Out of three Congress rebels, only one chose to take a step back. Rivals appeal dismissed Amritsar: Returning Officer (RO) Iqbaljit Singh on Saturday dismissed a plea filed against Navjot Singh Sidhu by his opponent from Amritsar East Rajesh Honey (BJP). Honey had asked the RO to cancel Sidhus candidature, alleging that the former MP had given a false declaration about his educational qualification and the details of the road rage case pending against him. The RO said, Any objection was to be submitted by noon on January 19. But the objection was filed on Saturday, so it was not maintainable. tns Sandeep Rawat Tribune News Service Haridwar, January 22 Ranipur-BHEL came into existence in 2012 after the delimitation of Assembly segments in the state. It is majorly an industrial segment, with half of its name being derived from public sector undertaking Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), which was set up in early 60s in Haridwar district. The Integrated Industrial Estate, SIDCUL, also falls in Ranipur, where more than 125 industrial firms are located. Besides farmers, the labour class also holds a major say in this segment. Political parties are approaching trade union leaders to get a major chunk of employees and labour votes. Ranipur-BHEL comprises BHEL township, Ranipur, Shivalik Nagar, SIDCUL, Roshanabad, Ahmadpur, Kadach, some portion of suburban Jwalapur, Bahadrabad, Salempur Mehdood, Anneki Khetampur, Aurangabad, Gurukul Kangri University, Jwalapur Mahavidyalya and Ward no 29 of Municipal Corporation. BJP leader Aadesh Chauhan is the sitting MLA here. Ranipur-BHEL has 1,25,413 voters, including 59,195 women. In the last elections, Aadesh Chauhan secured 26,402 votes and defeated heavyweight Independent candidate and former MLA Ambrish Kumar, BSP candidate Vikas Chauhan and Congress candidate Balwant Singh Chauhan. Ambrish contested as an Independent candidate after the Congress denied him the ticket. He was the Haridwar legislator in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly but bagged 19,791 votes only. Congress candidate Balwant Singh Chauhan bagged 10,281 votes and stood fourth. BSP candidate Vishal Singh polled 14,195 votes in the 2012 elections, Communist Party of India candidate Munirka Yadav, despite having the support of labour unions, could get just 531 votes. This time too, the BJP has reposed faith in the ability of Aadesh Chauhan who has remained quite active in his constituency during the past five years. Chauhan, while campaigning at Shivalik Nagar today, said he was one of the few legislators who had spent his MLALAD fund fully. Optimum utilisation of MLA funds was my major priority as soon as I got elected in 2012. From this fund, various development and civic works were carried out with both urban and rural segments being given a fair share, Chauhan said. The main contender from the Congress this time is Ambrish Kumar. He had started preparing for the elections since he lost to Chauhan last time. Political pundits say Chauhan will have a tough elections as the Congress has fielded Ambrish Kumar this time. Political commentator Dr Sunil Kumar Batra says Ambrish Kumar has been associated with Congress since the 1970s and for a brief period, he switched to the Samajwadi Party. Yet his association with several former Uttar Pradesh Chief Ministers such as Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, Chandrabhan Gupta and now Harish Rawat added weightage to his candidature. Notably, 15 Congress leaders from Ranipur-BHEL were opposing Ambrish Kumars candidature but no other party leader is in a position to give a good fight to Chauhan. There is no factionalism. Only that we dont want a candidate who remained in another party (Samajwadi Party) but switched to Congress when the party lost its base in the area. Whoever the party high command allocates ticket will get support of all party workers. The BJP has failed to provide good governance at the Centre and has also shamed democracy by plotting dissidence in the Congress and then offering Congress dissidents money and ticket, says Balwant Chauhan, who was the Congress contender for the 2012 elections. Zila Panchayat vice-chairperson Rao Affaq Ali alleged the BJP legislator had been biased against Muslim-dominated areas in the constituency. Another major contender for the Congress ticket was PCC general secretary Poonam Bhagat. She said Chauhan had only remained confined to his close aides, contractors and property dealers while maintaining a distance from local people, particularly the poor, minorities and Dalits. The BSP has replaced Vishal Chauhan with Prashant Rai, who had started preparing for the elections in the past few months. I have been reading the principles and steps that Martin Luther King Jr. communicated through letters and speeches about practicing nonviolence, and I am struck by how different he thought and acted than the new president. King said, "You must investigate and gather all vital information from all sides of the argument or issue..." Donald Trump shoots, or, rather tweets, from the hip with only his own take on the issue. King said, "Do not seek to humiliate the opponent but to call forth the good in the opponent." Trump's knee-jerk response so frequently is to ridicule and to humiliate -- the war hero, disabled person, woman, Hispanic, Muslim and immigrant. King said, "Nonviolence is directed against evil systems, forces, oppressive policies, unjust acts, but not against persons." Trump has made vicious, non-issue related remarks about Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Ted Cruz, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sen. John McCain and former President Barack Obama, to name a few. Through the courage and soul of Martin Luther King Jr., we have become a better country in how we treat one another. We must resist the possibility of losing that progress in the face of behaviors and attitudes that are apt to emanate from the White House these next few years. Hess Dyas, Lincoln Tribune News Service Dehradun, January 22 Governor KK Paul today called upon the universities in the state to actively participate in all programmes and missions that have been launched for nation building. He was speaking in his address at the first convocation of IMS Unison University here today. The Govenor said if IMS university was not yet linked to the national knowledge network, it should do so without delay.The universities must focus on job creation and skill development. The annual convocation began with a colourful convocation procession where the Governor, guest of honour Dr Gurdip Singh, Vice-Chancellor of RMNLU, Lucknow, Chairman, Board of Governors Amit Agarwal, Chancellor Dr MP Jain, Vice-Chancellor Dr RK Pandey, members of the board of governors, deans, and members of the academic council walked through the aisle towards the convocation venue The Governor said as the country was moving towards becoming a knowledge society, the universities need to constantly raise their quality benchmarks, generate knowledge capital through research projects and inculcate in their students not just skills but also the right mindset to ensure larger success. We must also realise that so much of information is available on the internet that teachers have to seriously think in terms of a change in the classroom contents, he said. The methods of teaching need to change. Massive open online courses (MOOC) needsto be put to use in areas where adequate content is not available, he added. India needs to equip its youth and workforce with employable skills and knowledge so that they can contribute substantively to the economic growth of the country. Universities could look at the possibility of imparting specific skills to the people of Uttarakhand for equipping them with tools necessary for gainful employment, said the Governor. He called upon the students to not just look for jobs but also become entrepre-neurs and creators of products, services and employment opportunities for the people of the country. He said they should try to give back to society a part of what all they have gained from it. Each generation should make the world a better place to live. Each generation should give more than it receives. He asked the students not to forget that knowledge originates and resides in the minds of people. People with knowledge and skills are therefore the most potent resource of a nation. Human resource is also a truly renewable resource. The young and educated knowledge workers of today, that is you, are the true asset of the nation. Irrespective of what you do, adopt a positive approach and never stop learning. In this context , universities are encouraged to adopt villages as part of their social work programmes. The Governor honoured meritorious students with gold medals. He congratulated the university, faculty members, staff, students and their parents on the occasion. Peshawar, January 21 A powerful explosion today ripped through a crowded vegetable market in minority Shias dominated Parachinar in northwest Pakistans restive Kurram tribal agency, killing at least 25 persons and injuring 50 others. The blast, claimed by Tehrik-i-Taliban, occurred at the market inside Eidgah Bazaar in Parachinar, the administrative headquarters of the agency near the Afghan border. Citing the political administration in Kurram agency, Geo TV said that at least 25 people were killed in the blast. However, in a brief statement the military said that 20 people have been killed in the attack. Initial report suggests that explosives kept in a vegetable crate exploded during auction of the vegetables, officials said. The injured were shifted to Parachinar headquarters hospital where there is a shortage of doctors and medical facilities. At least 10 patients were said to be in critical condition. Muttahida Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen, a Shia political organisation, announced three days of mourning. Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Umer Khurasani has claimed responsibility for the blast. He said the blast was to avenge the killing of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi chief Asif Chotu. PTI London, January 22 Oxford University has been directed to face trial after an Indian-origin student sued the varsity for hopelessly bad and boring teaching which allegedly resulted in him getting a second class degree and in turn led to loss of earnings in his career as a lawyer. The world-famous university had applied to the High Court in London to dismiss the claim by Faiz Siddiqui but in an 18-page judgement by Justice Kerr last week the court ruled that Oxford does have a case to answer, The Sunday Times reported. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Siddiqui, who studied modern history at Brasenose College at the university, accuses its staff of negligent teaching of his specialist subject course on Indian Imperial History, which led to him getting a 2:1 back in 2000. The 38-year-olds barrister Roger Mallalieu had told the court that the problem came down to four of the seven staff teaching Asian history being on sabbatical leave at the same time during the 1999-2000 academic year. Siddiqui believes he could have had a high-flying career as an international commercial lawyer if he had not got lower grades and decided to take the legal route, which came to light last month. His legal team had singled out the boring standard of tuition that Siddiqui had received from David Washbrook, an expert on the history of southern India between the 18th and 20th centuries. Mallalieu claimed that the eminent historians teaching had suffered from the intolerable pressure of the staff shortages on the course. There is no personal criticism of Dr Washbrook. Our target is on the universitys back for allowing this to happen, Mallalieu told the court. Siddiqui, who trained as a solicitor after college, suffers from depression and insomnia, which he links to his disappointing examination results. Oxford University had argued that the claim was baseless and should be struck out because of the over 16 years that had passed since Siddiqui graduated. Professor Alan Smithers, an education expert at Buckingham University, told the newspaper: This is a test case and in future universities will have to ensure that what they do stands up to critical inspection in the courts. In the past, universities have been quite cavalier about the quality of their teaching. If Mr Siddiqui wins, this will open the door to a flood of other students who do not think they got the degree they deserved because of issues about the teaching they received. Oxford University has declined to comment on the latest judgement so far. PTI ASTANA, January 22 A Syrian rebel group called on Russia to withstand pressure from Iran and the Syrian government to help ensure that a ceasefire agreed last month holds, the head of a delegation at peace talks told Reuters on Sunday. Mohammad Alloush said a failure by Moscow to end what the opposition says are widespread violations of a Turkish-Russian brokered ceasefire would be a blow to its influence in Syria. Its a real test of the power of Russia and its influence over the regime and Iran as a guarantor of the deal, so if it fails in this role there will follow bigger failures, Alloush said in the Kazakh capital, where talks are due to begin on Monday. The Syrian opposition says the government and Iranian-backed militias are continuing military offensives in several areas in Syria regardless of the ceasefire. The opposition has been disappointed so far by what it says is Moscows inability to fulfil its role as guarantor of the deal and put pressure on the Iranian-backed militias led by Lebanons Hezbollah group saying this threatened to wreck the ceasefire deal brokered in December. Russia wants to move from a direct party in the fighting to a guarantor and neutral one and this point is being obstructed by the Syrian regime that wants it to fail and Iran that is fighting this with its sectarian militias in Syria, Alloush said. Russia and Turkey are the main organisers of a new round of Syrian peace talks due to take place in Kazakhstan on Jan. 23 and have set aside their differences over the political fate of President Bashar al-Assad to try to forge a wider Syria deal. Moscow backs Assad, while Ankara has diluted its demands for the Syrian leader to urgently step down as part of what some sources say is a backroom deal aimed at dividing Syria into informal zones of regional power influence. Reuters Army, allies take village from Islamic State BEIRUT: The Syrian army and its allies on Sunday drove Islamic State from the village of Soran, east of Aleppo, state media and a military media unit run by Hezbollah reported, bringing them closer to territory held by Turkey-backed rebels. Several overlapping conflicts are being fought in Syria, dragging in regional and global powers as well as the government and local groups, complicating the battlefield in the north of the country and raising the risk of an escalation in the war. Washington, January 21 Within hours of taking the oath, new US President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at minimising the economic burden of Obamacare pending repeal, to make good on one of his most impassioned campaign promises of dismantling his predecessors healthcare law. The one-page executive order was Trumps first since becoming the 45th president of the US. The order says It is the policy of my administration to seek the prompt repeal of the law. Moving into the Oval Office soon after his inaugural parade concluded, Trump signed the order on Affordable Care Act directing the departments and agencies to ease the burden of Obamacare as we transition to repeal and replace, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters here. The order was titled Minimising the economic burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act pending repeal. The White House did not provide details about which aspects of the law Trump wanted to target through this order. The order asks federal departments and agencies to take actions consistent with law to minimise the unwarranted economic and regulatory burdens of the Act, and prepare to afford the states more flexibility and control to create a more free and open healthcare market. Trumps move came a few hours after he drive to the White House from Capitol in a motorcade. With his signature on Day One, Trump has sent a powerful message that his priority would be dismantling the healthcare law that covers some 20 million Americans and was the signature healthcare program of his predecessor Barack Obama. During his extremely gruelling election campaign, he had promised to take steps on his first day in office to repeal Obamacare, as the law is popularly known. The Republican controlled Congress has already take steps to repeal the Affordable Care Act. They last week signed bills to complete the first step to repeal the law. Meanwhile, Trump has given a makeover to the Oval Office withing hours of moving in to the White House as he reinstalled a bust of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and introduced some other changes. The bust was removed to outside the Treaty Room in the private residence of the White House from the Oval Office in 2009 under Trumps predecessor Barack Obama. The move had sparked conservative ire early in Obamas administration. PTI London, January 22 The British government was accused on Sunday of covering up a failed test of its nuclear weapons deterrent last year, just weeks before lawmakers voted to renew the system. Prime Minister Theresa May refused to say whether she knew about the reported malfunction of an unarmed missile when she urged MPs to support updating the Trident nuclear system. The Sunday Times newspaper, citing a senior naval source, claimed that the Trident II D5 missile failed after being launched from a British submarine off the coast of Florida in June. The cause of the failure is top secret but the source suggested the missile may have veered off in the wrong direction towards the United States. There was a major panic at the highest level of government and the military after the first test of our nuclear deterrent in four years ended in disastrous failure, the source told the paper. Ultimately Downing Street decided to cover up the failed test. If the information was made public, they knew how damaging it would be to the credibility of our nuclear deterrent. The malfunction came just weeks before the House of Commons was asked on July 18 to approve the replacement of the ageing submarines that carry Britains nuclear arsenal. May was not prime minister at the time of the test, but she took office shortly before the vote and successfully appealed to lawmakers to approve the 41 billion (47 billion euro, USD 50.7 billion) project. In a BBC interview on Sunday, she sidestepped questions about whether she knew about the malfunction when she made her statement to MPs. What we were talking about is whether or not we should renew Trident, she said. I have absolute faith in our Trident missiles, she continued, adding that tests take place regularly. Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, a longstanding opponent of nuclear weapons, said it was a pretty catastrophic error for a missile to go in the wrong direction. A government spokesman confirmed the Royal Navy conducted a routine test launch of an unarmed missile last June from HMS Vengeance, one of Britains four nuclear-armed submarines. It was part of an operation which is designed to certify the submarine and its crew, he said. Vengeance and her crew were successfully tested and certified, allowing Vengeance to return into service. We have absolute confidence in our independent nuclear deterrent, he said. Britain is one of only three nuclear-armed NATO nations, along with the United States and France. AFP Washington, January 21 Six police officers were injured and more than 200 protesters were arrested as brick-throwing vandals torched a vehicle and damaged half-dozen stores after a series of protests marring Donald Trumps inauguration ceremony gave way to violent street clashes here in the US. At least two police officers and another person in downtown Washington were taken to hospital after run-ins with protesters, Fire spokesman Vito Maggiolo told CNN. Acting DC Police Chief Peter Newsham said the officers injuries were considered minor and not life threatening. About 217 protesters were arrested. A large number of protesters had gathered in the national capital since early morning yesterday to voice their anger and hold demonstrations against what they alleged were the divisive policies of the new Trump administration. A group of protesters clad as antifascist smashed storefronts and bus stops, and broke windows of a limousine just blocks away from the inaugural parade route. Some also threw rocks at police manning the streets near the US Capitol. Police had to use crowd-dispersing sprays and flash-bang devices to push back the protesters and large crowds. Pepper spray and other control devices were used to control the criminal actors and protect persons and property, they said. Anti-Trump protests also broke out in cities across the US, including New York, Seattle, Dallas, Chicago and Portland, Oregon. PTI Thousands of women took to the streets of European capitals to join sister marches in Asia against newly installed US President Trump. Worldwide some 670 marches were planned and more than two million marchers are expected to protest against Trump. Waving banners with slogans like Special relationship, just say no and Nasty women unite, the demonstrators gathered outside the American embassy in Grosvenor Square before heading to a rally in central Trafalgar Square. I always read Cal Thomas as his musings are so funny, although I don't think he intends them to be funny. He, of course, is a very right-wing writer and a Donald Trump supporter. In one of his comments in "Stars...and political agendas" (Jan. 14), he asks. "How can the Hollywood elite identify with the Americans who live paycheck to paycheck?" My question is how can Donald Trump, a billionaire with billionaire appointees as Cabinet members, identify with those same people? For some background on how these billionaires treat the paycheck-to-paycheck citizens, one should read the recent book, "Dark Money," by Jane Mayer. Thomas also denigrates rich Hollywood personalities who have been married multiple times. Trump seems to share that philosophy also. He has been married three times and has boasted about other sexual conquests. Evidently Thomas believes the incoming resident of the White House can do that, but not Hollywood residents. This is odd. Thomas is also critical of stars who "fly on private jets." Trump seems to enjoy his private jet also. I have seen him in TV footage dozens if not hundreds of times getting off his private jet during the past nine months. I believe it is a Boeing 757, not a small corporate jet. It is difficult to take Cal Thomas seriously, if that was his intent. This column reminds me of an old saying, "like the pot calling the kettle black." Ronald R. Wall, Lincoln Don Walton Political reporter/columnist Don Walton covers politics and the Legislature along with writing a weekly column. Follow Don Walton 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 Hanging in the air. The Legislature resumes its rules debate on Monday with the possibility of a proposed change in filibuster provisions still floating out there. No proposed change came out of the Rules Committee, but that doesn't guarantee it's over. Any proposed adjustment in filibuster rules would be aimed at tipping the balance more against the legislative minority, making it more difficult for those senators to sustain a filibuster and prevent some legislation from moving ahead or being enacted. If the legislative majority decides to go there, that would be viewed by the legislative minority as piling on after an opening day in which they were steamrollered on a series of leadership votes. It now requires 33 votes from the 49-member Legislature to invoke cloture and end a filibuster. A proposal rejected by the Rules Committee would have changed the rule to require at least 17 senators to vote no to sustain a filibuster. In practice, that could tip the balance on some key filibuster votes. * * * So here we go. A new president with a new way of doing things. New style, new personality, new priorities. We've been in fact-free territory for some time, thanks to the proliferation of online misinformation sites, media outlets with a built-in bias, talk radio and 30-second political ads. The result is millions of Americans believe things that are not true and act accordingly. Now, with the new president at war with much of the mainstream media and each side accusing the other of lies and misinformation, the danger is acceptance of a truth-free environment. * * * Showdown in the distance. State budget and state taxes; the present and the future. Nebraska's developing tax cut battle is a long way from the floor of the Legislature, but it's being waged behind the scenes now after a brief public skirmish that demonstrated this will be a scrap among the intended beneficiaries as well as a shootout over policy. Income tax reduction versus property tax reduction is part of the battle. Both are recommended by Gov. Pete Ricketts, with the latter centering on a new system of reduced ag land valuation. Hey, rural and ag interests say, there's not enough in this for us; some business and high-income interests say, no, wait a minute, income taxes should be the priority here. Reminds me of the first word that I'll bet I said as a kid: Mine. Early reaction to the governor's tax plans, once they were revealed in his State of the State address to the Legislature, consisted of largely negative comments centering on that argument over tax reduction priority. Later reaction was more balanced with Ricketts gaining some praise and support for his proposals. Meanwhile, the policy battle is building: Should Nebraska embark on tax cuts in the midst of declining state revenue even if those reductions are programmed not to kick in until the flow of state revenue begins to recover? In the meantime, budgets would be slashed -- most dramatically for the University of Nebraska -- and then built-in tax reductions would make it difficult, perhaps even impossible, for the university to restore or rebuild its state funding support because a healthy chunk of increasing revenue already would be predestined for tax cuts. Part of the policy debate is that within the current political climate the fact is that current tax rates, once reduced, will not be restored no matter how much revenue might be needed to maintain, much less improve, public services, including the university. No tax increase is a mantra, a political reality in Nebraska, a sacred utterance. The counterargument by proponents is that all of this would lead to growth and economic health, and presumably increase revenue down the road. The legislative timing will be interesting. The Appropriations Committee is not likely to submit its 2017-2019 state budget recommendations to the floor of the Legislature until mid-to-late spring. But tax cut legislation conceivably could run ahead of that. Separate issues? Or entwined? * * * Finishing up: * Trigger is the magic word in the tax cut proposal, but it might also be a word that helps describe the 2017 legislative session with its scattering of guns-unlimited bills. * Another senator privately argues that the results of this month's legislative leadership elections demonstrate not that this non-partisan legislature has become more of a Republican legislature this year, but that it's a more conservative legislature. * Good move by Omaha to prepare to replace that big surface parking lot adjacent to its CenturyLink arena with mixed-use development that will generate economic activity and light up the night. Hey, it works. * Wrong! I erred in describing how Galen Hadley used his prerogative as Speaker of the Legislature to reduce the number of hours of debate guaranteed before the Legislature could attempt to employ cloture to end a filibuster. The Hadley move reduced the number of hours of guaranteed debate from 8 to 6 at the first stage of floor consideration. * Part of being a Husker fan is always peering ahead, it seems. There are any number of good reasons to despair for the American republic, given the events of the past year, but perhaps the most alarming of these is the inability for well-meaning people of all political stripes and passions to simply understand one another. At times over the course of the fall election period, it seemed as though half the country existed of mean-spirited racist and misogynistic troglodytes, who lacked either the ability or the inclination to use their reason; whereas the other half was composed of entitled elitists who drank craft beer, traveled to places like Paris or Ulan Bator for their summer vacations, and looked with utter contempt on the God-fearing folk who fixed their plugged-up toilets and bagged their groceries. It wasnt always like this. Twenty years ago, Americans could disagree about Bob Dole and Bill Clinton and not deride their fellow citizens as morally corrupt simply for supporting the other side. The path by which we arrived at this mutual disdain for each other is a long and complicated one, but if we want to begin to understand how we ended up where we are now, I suggest we begin with the concept of the network. In the last 15 years or so, a number of social scientists have proposed that modern society is becoming a network society. Of course, human beings have always arranged themselves into networks of one sort or another, but the idea behind the network society is that our current networks are somehow different from what came before. Some of this difference is due to the way that we use media. For most of the 20th century the media tended to mean a set of large, centralized institutions that created most of what we saw or heard or read. Popular culture was dominated by industries that cranked out products. There was the music industry, the movie industry, the book industry, the news industry. Social scientists feared that this set of affairs was producing a mass society, a group of uninterested citizens who differed as little from one another as did the beans in a coffee roaster. Mass society worried theorists of democracy because it seemed to them that a population of like-minded, passive folk would be easy to manipulate. For the rest of us, mass society was just a drag. It never seemed like there was a lot to choose from, whether the choice was between what was on the radio or who was to be President. Bruce Springsteen memorably captured the feeling when he sang about 57 channels, and nothin on. The network society, and network media, were supposed to be different, and better. Instead of accepting whatever thin gruel the culture industries deigned to throw our way, we could go onto the internet and find other people who shared our interests in say, 19th century Hungarian folk songs, or Japanese anime cinema, or Hummel figurines. In the network society there would no longer be a mainstream that dominated our common life. Instead, there would myriad, unique networks with no center, or rather, a center that constantly changed depending on the individual who composed it. A new world of freedom, with active information seekers users instead of a passive audience, was on the horizon. Some of this has actually happened, but along the way to this cultural utopia it became increasingly apparent that, unless we were careful, information networks could cater to some of our worst instincts. For example, because they only provide us what we want, information networks such as social media provide a vision of the world that flatters our opinions rather than challenging them. We do not hear arguments from opposing sides that might work to change our minds, or at least modify our opinions into something less radical. There was a lot of bad cultural product that we had to endure in the mass media age: sugary pop ballads song by cutsie boy bands; Steven Seagal movies; those idiotic paintings of dogs playing poker. But some of the things we didnt like, and didnt want to pay attention to, were good for us to hear anyhow. It was good for pro-lifers and pro-choicers to be forced to listen to spokespeople for the other side every night on the evening news. Networked media mean that we can now bypass challenging but important views. To the extent that we simply allow this to happen, our personal lives grow smaller, less imaginative. There is a civic price to be paid for these ideological cocoons as well. A nation whose members cannot trust one another is not a healthy nation. We owe it to ourselves, and to each other, to make a more conscious effort to listen to different voices, to forcibly and consciously move ourselves out of our networks. We risk losing a great deal if we do not. Mark Brewin is associate professor of communication and chairperson of the Department of Communication at the University of Tulsa. Well over 1,000 people gathered in downtown Tulsa on Saturday to spread a message resonating worldwide in the wake of Donald Trumps presidential inauguration: Human rights for all. The diverse crowd featuring many genders, ages and backgrounds gathered for the Womens March on Tulsa, one of hundreds of sister marches held in solidarity of the Womens March on Washington, which drew hundreds of thousands of participants, including Oklahomans. A similar event in Oklahoma City on Saturday drew an estimated 7,000 people who rallied around the state Capitol. Barbara Oliver, one of the organizers of the Tulsa event, said she never expected so many people to turn out for the march, which began with a small group of friends and eventually caught the attention of nearly 2,000 people on the events Facebook page. This kind of happened as an accident, Oliver said. And its the most wonderful accident that Ive ever been a part of. Around 10 a.m., people began arriving in the John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park, 321 N. Detroit Ave. The numbers quickly grew with people coming and going over the next few hours, all with a central message for the nations new administration: Equality for all. Before the majority of crowd members took to downtown Tulsas sidewalks carrying handmade signs, several speakers shared their messages and reasons for participating in the event. Growing up as an indigenous woman, Ive seen first hand from my tribal elders and other strong women that Ive grown up with through experiences that the world needs feminism, said Megan Alexander, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma. And not just feminism Im talking about feminism thats intersectional, that covers every race, class, sexual orientation, everything. Crowd members booed in disapproval of the statistics that Alexander provided to drive home her point. The statistics are reflective of the idea that, Alexander said, Its OK to tell little girls that theyre beautiful, cute and pretty before its OK to tell them that theyre brave, strong and smart, she said. Tiffany Phillips pleaded for crowd members to register to vote or to update their voter registration status, and to be politically involved locally and nationally. It begins locally, at home, Phillips said. And those are the most basic things you can do. John Waldron, a social studies teacher at Booker T. Washington High School, said men must be involved in the fight for womens rights, too. This is not just a womens issue, Waldron said. This is an American issue. Its a human rights issue. Its a democracy issue. Waldron urged crowd members to think of future generations. We want a better future, dont we? he asked the crowd members, most of whom responded with cheers and applause. Its time to lace up your shoes. Its time to get out into the communities. Its time to organize. As marchers made their way across a small section of downtown Tulsa, which did not include any roads blocked off by police due to the absence of a permit, marchers shouted Womens rights are human rights, United we stand, divided we fall, and dozens of other chants aimed at promoting justice for all people. Tulsans in Washington Ashley Crawford, 37, traveled from Tulsa to Washington, D.C., with about 15 other women as part of the Indigenous Women Rising group to speak up for indigenous rights at the national womens march. Crawford, a Tulsa-based Realtor, said she had never seen anything like the crowds of thousands that descended on the nations capital Saturday. It was amazing, she said, pausing for a moment as her voice cracked with emotion. Just to see, mostly women, and then men there, too, and it was women from all walks of life. All ages, all colors, all backgrounds, and all there for their own reason. She described the large crowd which the Associate Press estimated to be more than half a million as veritable sea of good energy. The crowds were what stood out most to 34-year-old Tulsan Kristen McCormick, who also traveled to the event with Indigenous Women Rising. She said she had never seen so many people in her life. My god, there were so many people there, she said, attempting to recount the day. Among Crawfords favorite parts of the day was the march, which begun after about an hour of gridlock, and coming across different subgroups within the gathering. Everyone had respect. Everyone had love. There was no hatred, she said. Some people were there supporting LGBT rights, others were supporting a womans right to choose, and others stood up for different racial minority groups. Crawfords cause is indigenous rights, such as tribal sovereignty and water rights, as well as issues targeting indigenous women, including higher rates of sexual assault, domestic violence and kidnappings. At one point during the march, Crawford came across children singing, This is what democracy looks like, and the crowd sang back. Thats what really got me, she said as her voice broke again. McCormick said she thinks its important Oklahomans realize how many of them came out to events Saturday, whether they be in Washington D.C., Oklahoma City or Tulsa. She hopes the turnout inspires those who stayed home but were on the fence about protesting to speak out in the future. We want to bring that same passion and fire back home and hopefully get more people fired up by the fact that they arent alone, McCormick said. McCormick also said the march sent a strong message to national government officials, especially Trump. At the end of the day, we want to be heard, and were letting the new (presidential) administration know that, McCormick said. Crawford said the march energized her so much so she made it through the day solely on adrenaline, without eating, drinking or sitting down and reminded her why it was important to take direct action for the causes shes supports, saying she now felt like she could take on the world now. Oftentimes were silent because were the minority, but this gives me hope that its just a bigger world. So I need to keep standing up. I need to stay motivated. I need to keep talking to my children and anyone who will listen about what Im passionate about, she said. Despite the loss of Marco Pierre White, who will front Hells Kitchen Australia for Seven, MasterChef Australia has managed to sign another big name. Yotam Ottolenghi, who specialises in Middle Eastern cuisine is due to arrive in Australia this week to film an entire week of episodes. The Israeli-born, London-based chef-restaurateur has appeared in food shows on SBS. Yotam said: I am thrilled to be joining MasterChef Australia for their incredible ninth season. I know how important it is to the contestants who give up their lives to join MasterChef and Im really looking forward to working with them to expand their culinary experience. I also have the added bonus of returning to Australia, which I love, and experiencing more of the wonderful food on offer. MasterChef Australia judge Matt Preston said: A charming man, a beautiful cook and the author of truly inspirational cookbooks, Yotam has been at the top of our must have list for many years so Im delighted that we have finally persuaded him to come exclusively to inspire and mentor this years contestants. Hes already got a big and very passionate following here and Gary, George and myself know that the rest of Australia will fall in love with this humble man and his beautiful food. Our contestants are in for a treat! The much-loved and respected chef has put vegetarian cuisine back in the spotlight and has transformed the way people cook, eat and view Mediterranean food. Not only is Yotam a celebrated chef, he has released four best-selling cookbooks that have been published in 19 languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide. He has had three highly acclaimed television series Jerusalem On A Plate, Ottolenghis Mediterranean Feast and Ottolenghis Mediterranean Island Feast that have been watched by millions of food fans around the globe. Three groups representing Nebraska counties and sheriffs have asked for the opportunity to weigh in on the Beatrice 6 case before the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Nebraska Intergovernmental Risk Management Association, Nebraska Association of County Officials and the Nebraska Sheriffs Association asked the court for permission to file a brief of amici curiae, more commonly known as a friend of the court brief. Siding with neither Gage County nor the six people wrongfully convicted of a 1985 Beatrice murder, the organizations said the outcome of the case could have significant effects upon the state's counties, law enforcement and all Nebraska residents. Joseph White, Ada JoAnn Taylor, James Dean, Thomas Winslow, Kathleen Gonzalez and Debra Shelden were convicted after a cold-case investigation into the killing of 68-year-old Helen Wilson in her downtown Beatrice apartment. DNA tests done decades later on evidence from the crime scene showed a seventh person committed the crime, and the six were exonerated. The three still in prison were released in 2008. Five of them and the estate of Joseph White sued Gage County, former Sheriffs Deputy Burdette Searcey and Reserve Deputy Wayne Price in U.S. District Court. Last summer, a federal jury found in their favor, awarding the six a total of $28.1 million. Gage County has appealed the decision and earlier this week filed a written brief with the 8th Circuit Court. If the decision is allowed to stand, the brief, written by Lincoln attorney David Bargen, says, a financially and legally damaging precedent will be set that could threaten other Nebraska counties with such massive liability, which could in turn threaten NIRMA (the Nebraska Intergovernmental Risk Management Association) with having to pay on such claims in the future. Gage County filed claims in 2009 with both the risk-sharing pool and Employers Mutual Casualty, the private insurer the county used in 1989 and 1990 when the six were arrested and convicted. Both denied insurance claims. Several months ago, Gage County supervisors hired two attorneys to dig into its insurance history in an effort to find out what insurance if any might be available to help the county pay out the multi-million dollar judgment. The county authorized attorneys Jeff Nelson and Jeff Bacon of the Keating OGara Law Firm to seek legal remedies against the insurance carriers in November, although no complaints have been filed in Nebraska district courts to date. In the brief filed with the 8th Circuit Court, the risk-sharing pool said its interest in overturning the Beatrice 6 decision was in line with the organizations interest in stability and predictability in state law. The Nebraska Association of County Officials, of which all 93 Nebraska counties are members, said the Beatrice 6 judgment could have a dramatic and detrimental impact on the nature and operation of county government not contemplated by Nebraska law. Gage County hired an attorney from the Lincoln-based Woods & Aitken law firm in November to prepare itself for the possibility of petitioning the U.S. District Court for Chapter 9 bankruptcy reserved for municipalities. In a document filed with the court in November, Jennifer Tomka, one of Gage Countys team of private-practice attorneys, said the county looked for avenues to satisfy the more than $30 million judgment and attorneys costs should the decision stand. So far, she said, the county has come up empty-handed. No Nebraska county has ever petitioned a court for bankruptcy, which theoretically would not relieve the county of the debt but instead structure payments to the six. The county officials associations brief said if the judgment stands, the fiscal consequences and damage to the overall structure of Nebraska county government ... threatens all Nebraska residents. Finally, the statewide sheriffs association asserted the court wrongfully applied the role of sheriffs and sheriff deputies in its judgment. If left unaltered, the prior panel decision threatens to fundamentally change Nebraska law regarding the nature of the role of sheriffs and their offices in enforcing state law in the counties they serve, the brief states. Is actin capping protein (CP) 3 involved in human spermatogenesis and male infertility? Human CP3 (hCP3) is expressed in testis, changes its localization dynamically during spermatogenesis, and has some association with male infertility. The testis-specific subunit of CP (CP3) was previously identified in human, and mutations in the cp3 gene in mouse were shown to induce malformation of the sperm head and male infertility. However, CP3, which is considered to be a heterodimeric counterpart of CP3, has been neither characterized in human nor reported in association with male infertility. To confirm the existence of CP3 in human testis, fresh semen samples from proven fertile men were analyzed. To investigate protein expression during spermatogenesis, cryopreserved testis obtained from men with obstructive azoospermia were examined by immunofluorescent analysis. To assess the association of CP with male infertility, we compared protein expression of human CP3 (hCP3) and hCP3 using immunofluorescent analysis of cryopreserved sperm between men with normozoospermia (volunteers: Normo group, n = 20) and infertile men with oligozoospermia and/or asthenozoospermia (O + A group, n = 21). The tissue-specific expression of hCP3 was investigated by RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. To investigate whether hCP3 and hCP3 form a heterodimer, a tandem expression vector containing hcp3 tagged with monomeric red fluorescent protein 1 and hcp3 tagged with enhanced green fluorescent protein in a single plasmid was constructed and analyzed by co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) assay. The protein expression profiles of hCP3 and hCP3 during spermatogenesis were examined by immunohistochemical analysis using human spermatogenic cells. The protein expressions of hCP3 and hCP3 in sperm were compared between the Normo and O + A groups by immunohistochemical analysis. RT-PCR showed that mRNA of hcp3 was expressed exclusively in testis. Western blot analysis detected hCP3 with anti-bovine CP3 antibody. Co-IP assay with recombinant protein showed that hCP3 and hCP3 form a protein complex. At each step during spermatogenesis, the cellular localization of hCP3 changed dynamically. In spermatogonia, hCP3 showed a slight signal in cytoplasm. hCP3 expression was conspicuous mainly from spermatocytes, and hCP3 localization dynamically migrated from cytoplasm to the acrosomal cap and acrosome. In mature spermatozoa, hCP3 accumulated in the postacrosomal region and less so at the midpiece of the tail. Double-staining analysis revealed that hCP3 localization was identical to hCP3 at every step in the spermatogenic cells. Most spermatozoa from the Normo group were stained homogenously by both hCP3 and hCP3. In contrast, significantly more spermatozoa in the O + A versus Normo group showed heterogeneous or lack of staining for either hCP3 or hCP3 (abnormal staining) (P < 0.001). The percentage of abnormal staining was higher in the O + A group (52.4 3.0%) than in the Normo group (31.2 2.5%). Even by confining the observations to morphologically normal spermatozoa selected in accordance with David's criteria, the percentage of abnormal staining was still higher in the O + A group (39.9 2.9%) versus the Normo group (22.5 2.1%) (P < 0.001). hCP3 in conjunction with hCP3 seemed to play an important role in spermatogenesis and may be associated with male infertility. Not applicable. Owing to the difficulty of collecting fresh samples of human testis, we used cryopreserved samples from testicular sperm extraction. To examine the interaction of spermatogenic cells or localization in seminiferous tubules, fresh testis sample of healthy males are ideal. The altered expression of hCP3 and hCP3 may not only be a cause of male infertility but also a prognostic factor for the results of ART. They may be useful biomarkers to determine the fertilization ability of human sperm in ART. This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JP16K20133). The authors declare no competing interests. Human reproduction (Oxford, England). 2017 Jan 18 [Epub ahead of print] T Soda, Y Miyagawa, N Ueda, K Takezawa, H Okuda, S Fukuhara, K Fujita, H Kiuchi, M Uemura, Y Okamoto, A Tsujimura, H Tanaka, N Nonomura Department of Urology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan., Department of Urology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan ., Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia., Okamoto Clinic, Osaka 558-0004, Japan., Department of Urology, Juntendo University Urayasu Hospital, Urayasu 279-0021, Japan., Molecular Biology laboratory, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagasaki International University, Sasebo, Nagasaki 859-3298, Japan. PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28104696 Compiled by Sharon Knox The Journal Times welcomes news about promotions, appointments, professional organization elections, certifications, and professional honors. There is no charge for this service. Because of space constraints, we reserve the right to edit for length or clarity. The deadline for Names and Faces items is 3 p.m. Thursday of each week. Photos may accompany notices of new hires and promotions. Send your items to Sharon Knox at: sknox@journaltimes.com or by mail: Names and Faces, The Journal Times, 212 Fourth St., Racine, WI 53403. Business anniversaries Is your business celebrating an anniversary? The Journal Times publishes short news items of 10th, 25th, 50th and greater multiples of 25 years of Racine County-based companies. We ask you to provide us with the basic information: when the business started; the founder; its location then and now; the original name if different than todays; and what the business did in the beginning and now. We will include these in the Names and Faces column or use them as stand-alone news items in our Sunday Money section. Send your items to Michael Burke at: mburke@journaltimes.com, or to Sharon Knox at: sknox@journaltimes.com, or fax them to 262-631-1780. Please provide a contact name and phone number in case we have questions. Disclaimer #1: This website is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation to buy, or a recommendation for any security, nor does it constitute an offer to provide investment advisory or other services by Sorfis Investments, LLC ("Sorfis") or any other entities related to or owned by Sorfis. 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Any views expressed on this website by me were prepared based upon the information available to me at the time such views were written. Changed or additional information could cause such views to change. All information is subject to possible correction. Information may quickly become unreliable for various reasons, including changes in market conditions or economic circumstances. Disclaimer #2: This blog receives commissions from affiliate links on Amazon and also occasionally receives complimentary books from publishers, some of which get mentioned on the blog favorably. illustration photo 1 Duty-free goods are sold to passengers on exit and transit after completing exit and transit procedures, on international flights from Viet Nam or waiting departures. Passengers on exit or transit through international border gates, stations, harbors and passengers on international flights from Viet Nam can purchase duty-free goods. Foreigners, overseas Vietnamese and Vietnamese awaiting departures shall have to show their valid passports and air tickets with registered date of departure when registering to buy goods. The goods shall be delivered to the passengers at the exit checkpoints upon the completion of the exit procedures. 2 - Passengers on international flights to Viet Nam can buy duty-free goods on airplanes launching international flights to Viet Nam. 3 - Persons on entry shall be entitled to buy goods according to the quantity limits prescribed in the regulations on duty-free luggage limits for entry passengers. 4 - Subjects enjoying diplomatic privileges and immunity shall have to provide goods-buying books together with their passports or identity cards issued by Viet Nam's Ministry for Foreign Affairs, if they buy goods for personal use; or the goods-buying books together with diplomatic notes or their agencies' introduction papers if they buy goods for their agencies. 5 Subjects are sailors working on vessels on international routes (including foreign vessels and Vietnamese vessels on international routes) may purchase duty-free goods at harbors type 1 and duty-free shops serving for personal demands while the vessels anchor at Viet Nam's seaports and outside Viet Nams waters after the ships depart. British Prime Minister Theresa May will meet with US President Donald Trump on Jan 27, 2017, according to the White House. (AFP/FABRICE COFFRINI) White House press secretary Sean Spicer made the announcement at a briefing. May is overseeing Britain's departure from the European Union, or Brexit, which was approved in a swell of anti-establishment fervour that has been likened to that which propelled Trump to the US presidency. May congratulated Trump after he was sworn in on Friday. She said she thinks Trump recognises the importance of NATO even though days ago he called the military alliance obsolete. BAGHDAD U.S.-backed Iraqi government troops announced on Wednesday they were in full control of eastern Mosul after routing Islamic State militants from that part of the northern city, three months since the major operation started. The achievement was a big victory, said Iraqi Army Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati, who commands the counter-terrorism forces, describing the success of the Iraqi forces as unprecedented. Shaghatai, who spoke to reporters in the town of Bartella, just east of Mosul, said plans were now being drawn up to retake the western part of the city. He did not elaborate on when that part of the operation would begin. Wednesdays advance came after Iraqi troops over the past days intensified their push into the last IS-held neighborhoods in Mosuls eastern sector, closing in on the Tigris River, which roughly divides the city. Stiff resistance by the militants, thousands of civilians being trapped in their houses by the fighting and bad weather had in the past slowed the advances of the troops. However, skirmishes and clashes continued in some pockets along the Tigris in eastern Mosul, according to Iraqi special forces Maj. Ali Hussein who said his unit was still pushing into the Ghabat area along the river bank. Small arms fire could be heard and at least one civilian was wounded by mortar fire. Also, some commanders on the ground disputed Shaghatis claim of full control of eastern Mosul, with Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Raheed Yar Allah saying the eastern side has not been fully liberated ... and the advance is still continuing. Yar Allah, who commands army operations in Ninevah, where Mosul is the provincial capital, said the special forces have done their duty in eastern Mosul. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi issued a statement, posted on his website, saying that work is underway to liberate Ghabat and the area housing Saddam Husseins former presidential palaces in eastern Mosul. He also vowed to liberate the western side of the city. But the prospect of retaking western Mosul looms heavy on Iraqi forces, despite all the support they have by the U.S.-led coalition, as well as Sunni and Shiite volunteer militias. The western half of the city is home to some of Mosuls oldest neighborhoods, with narrow streets packed with buildings that will further complicate the urban fight. So far in the Mosul offensive, Iraqs counterterrorism forces, which are by far the militarys most battle seasoned unit, have done most of the fighting, advancing from east of the city. Regular Iraqi army troops are pushing from the citys southeast and northern edges, and the federal security forces from farther to the west. Mosul Iraqs second-largest city and the Islamic State groups last urban stronghold in the country fell to IS in the summer of 2014, when the militant group captures large swaths of northern and western Iraq. The operation has also left more than 148,000 people homeless, according to the United Nations. Nearly 12,500 people have been forced to flee their homes just over the past week, the U.N. said. More than 1 million people were estimated to still be living in Mosul in October, when Iraqi forces launched the operation to retake the city. European nationalist leaders met in Germany Saturday in a show of strength at the start of a year of big election tests, celebrating Donald Trumps inauguration as the U.S. president and declaring themselves a realistic alternative to the continents governments. The Koblenz Congress brought together French presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen of the National Front party, the Netherlands Geert Wilders of the Freedom Party (PVV), Matteo Salvini of Italys Northern League, Frauke Petry of the 4-year-old Alternative for Germany (AfG), Harald Vilimsky, the general-secretary of Austrias right-wing Freedom Party, which last year narrowly failed to win the countrys presidency, and other like-minded European leaders. I believe we are witnessing historic times, Dutch anti-Islam leader Wilders told reporters. The world is changing. America is changing. Europe is changing. And the people start getting in charge again. Trump is a winner, we are winners: Frauke Petry, Marine Le Pen, Geert Wilders, all of us here are winners, Vilimsky told an audience of about 1,000 people. Referring also to Trumps victory, Le Pen said 2016 was the year when the Anglo-Saxon world woke up. And 2017, I am sure, will be the year of the awakening of the people of continental Europe, she said Speakers also denounced political Islam and Europes common currency, the euro, which Salvini labeled a failed, criminal experiment. Emboldened by Britons vote last year to leave the European Union, the far-right populist leaders or the so-called top politicians of the new Europe, met under the slogan Freedom for Europe. They aim to strengthen ties between their like-minded parties, as they have done in the past. The Iranian military is promoting a childrens book that hails pro-Iranian fighters in Syria supporting the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The newly-released book, titled Angels of Shrine, is aimed for children as young as 5-years-old and teaches them about Shrine Defenders, a term Tehran uses for its fighters stationed in Syria. Tehran says it is in Syria to protect the Zeinab Shrine in Damascus, a Shi'ite holy site. Since 2011, Iran has been a major backer of the Syrian regime in its war with rebel groups across the country, at first sending advisers, then forces from the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The Persian-language book includes paintings and text describing battles Iranian forces fought in Syria. The book is written in the form of bedtime poetry and its 42 pages depict illustrations of the war in Syria, fighters defending a shrine and glorifies religious figures sacred to Shi'ites. This childrens book came about after a lot of brainstorming by cultural activists in Iran, Ali Pourtaghi, the books publisher, said in a telephone interview with VOA. The goal was "to prepare effective and emotional sustenancefor families and children who have lost fathers or brothers in this war [in Syria], Pourtaghi said from Tehran. Pourtaghi said the book, published in late December, is an independent venture by what he calls the "Shrine Defenders Retainers Group." The scenes in the book are decidedly pro-regime and the book is being promoted on social media by IRGC leader Qasim Soleimani a key military commander. Since the beginning of Syrias civil war in 2011, Iranian government has often glorified its military involvement as a religious duty. IRGC fighters along with pro-Iranian Shiite militias have been vital in retaking many parts of Syria, including Aleppo, from rebel forces, according to the Syrian government. The release of the childrens book comes as the Iranian government in recent months has been much more public about its military losses in Syria, saying that more than 1,000 soldiers deployed by Iran have been killed since 2012. State-run television released a propaganda video last year that encouraged young people to join Iranian forces in Syria. The video showed children taking up arms and singing a song about "martyrs who defend the sacred shrines." In September 2016, the Iranian city of Mashhad hosted a "War Theme Park" that was designed for teaching children war tactics and the use of weapons. Rights groups in Iran have criticized the government, saying the outreach along with the childrens book is an exploitation of childrens emotions. "We cant teach children with whatever we want without measuring their consequences in the future," said Hiwa Ahmadi, a Tehran-based children rights activist. Activists also say that indoctrinating young children with scenes of military activities and war propaganda could produce a new generation of Iranians taken by extremism and violence. "Exposing children to war, and simplifying war causalities, which seems to be the main aim of this book, makes children more inclined to display violence and is very harmful to their future," said Kaveh Taheri, a Turkey-based Iranian human rights activist and journalist. But pro-government experts in Tehran argue that instructing young people about the sacrifice of Iranians fighters is noble. Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty [stories] are needed for children, but they have to gather knowledge about their own culture and society too, said Abbasali Salehi, a sociology professor in Tehran who has read the recently-published book. Salehi said that he doesnt "oppose publishing children books about war and its consequences [since] many Western societies have children books on military history." The Dalai Lama said he hopes that President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will work together for global peace. The exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists said the world needed leaders with compassion. He made the remarks Saturday at a program in New Delhi organized by the women's chapter of an industry group, according to the press statement. He said the world is moving toward peace and non-violence, and he hopes Trump and Putin will come closer and work toward creating global peace. The Dalai Lama had said in Mongolia in November that he had "no worries" about Trump's election as U.S. president and looked forward to meeting him after he took office. Trump was inaugurated Friday. The Dalai Lama has met former U.S. presidents, including four meetings with Barack Obama. Such meetings anger Beijing, which accuses the Tibetan leader of trying to split Tibet from China. The Dalai Lama says he simply wants a higher degree of autonomy under Chinese rule. The Dalai Lama has been based in India's northern hill town of Dharmsala since fleeing Tibet during an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. Europes traditional left-wing parties are battling a headwind of disapproval from their traditional supporters, and with populist nationalists poised to exploit working-class discontent, theyre facing gloomy electoral prospects. With rage mounting over inequality, stagnating wages and rising immigration, left-wing politicians fear they are facing wipeouts in a series of elections scheduled this year. Buoyed by Donald Trumps insurgent election victory in the United States, Europes populist nationalists, such as Frances far-right presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen, boast that 2017 will be the year of the awakening of the people of continental Europe. She joined fellow European nationalists Saturday at a conference in Germany to show off their confidence as they enter a year that will see high-stakes elections in the Netherlands, France and Germany, and possibly Italy where calls for a snap election are mounting. A new Europe Yesterday, a new America. Today a new Europe! Dutch nationalist Geert Wilders said in his speech at the conference in the German city of Koblenz. Wilders harbors no doubts that Europes alt-right parties will be able to poach traditional liberal voters, much as Trump managed to do in November in America to pull off an upset victory. And pollsters agree. Wilders Party of Freedom is likely to win, polls say, the largest percentage of votes in the March 15 Dutch parliamentary elections. Polls also suggest Le Pen is likely to make it to the final runoff in Frances April-May presidential vote. And in September, Frauke Petrys Alternative for Germany party appears on course to win seats in the countrys national election and enter the German parliament for the first time. We are experiencing the end of one world and the birth of another, Le Pen said in her address Saturday to the conference. Struggle for strategy Europes left-wing parties are struggling to come up with strategies that will fend off the challenge and reinvigorate their fading appeal. Critics say the parties dont have practical answers to what worries voters on low and middle incomes as globalization and technological change upend their lives. Opinion polls in France suggest whoever wins the Socialist Party nomination to stand in the presidential race appears destined to fail to qualify for the second round of Frances presidential election May 7. That will likely leave Le Pen to confront conservative Francois Fillon. The crisis of the European left is undeniable, according to Marc Lazar, a French history professor. Were in a phase of Europes history where the economic crisis, the refugee and immigration problem, the European Union challenges, put the traditional parties from the left in a tough spot. Internal party squabbles And there is no consensus within Europes beleaguered left-wing parties about how to get out of the tough spot theyre in, whether they are now in opposition, as in Britain, or still in government, as in France. The prospects of defeat are triggering fratricidal disputes between moderates and radicals. Internal party divisions are especially heated in Britains Labour Party. The country isnt scheduled to have an election until 2020, but it is seeing its support crumble in its heartlands of northern England and the Midlands. According to a think tank affiliated with Labour, the Fabian Society, the partys chances of forming a majority government in 2020 are unthinkable. It argued in a recent report that it is on track to record its worst electoral performance since 1935. Labour is too weak to win, says by Andrew Harrop, Fabian general-secretary. Left-wing Scottish nationalists wiped out Labour in Scotland years ago. The threat now is from the populists of UKIP, the Euroskeptic UK Independence Party of Nigel Farage, the first British politician to secure a meeting with Trump after his November election victory. Labours danger was exposed brutally last year with the Brexit vote. The party saw an unprecedented meltdown in its northern heartlands as working-class supporters in droves voted for Britain to leave the European Union, despite the party leadership and most Labour lawmakers campaigning to remain. Across the country, 149 of 232 constituencies represented by Labour lawmakers voted to leave the European Union, according to an analysis by Chris Hanretty of the University of East Anglia. Party moderates blame the Brexit setback on Jeremy Corbyn, the partys most left-wing leader in years. They argue he pursued a lackluster campaign as his own views towards the EU were filled with ambivalence. But Labours problem, as with left-wing parties on the continent of Europe, appears to go beyond individual leaders and to predate them. After months of vicious internal party squabbling, a challenge to Corbyns leadership failed, locking the party into a cosmopolitan and internationalist socialism thats helping to disconnect the party with traditional working class and middle class supporters, argue party moderates. They warn voters worries about sovereignty, national identity and immigration are going unanswered. Now, some of Labours brightest stars are exiting the party or active politics. Earlier this month, lawmaker Tristam Hunt, a historian once seen as potential party leader, quit. Weeks earlier, another lawmaker, Jamie Reed, resigned his parliamentary midterm warning Labour had developed a tin ear. President Donald Trumps speech Saturday at the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency turned into the latest battle in, as he put it, his running war with the media. He had two central complaints: that the media misrepresented the size of the crowd at his inauguration and that it was incorrectly reported a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. was removed from the Oval Office. A look at those assertions: TRUMP: I made a speech. I looked out. The field was it looked like a million, a million and a half people. The president went on to say that one network said we drew 250,000 people. Now thats not bad. But its a lie. He then claimed that were 250,000 right by the stage and the rest of the, you know, 20-block area, all the way back to the Washington Monument was packed. So we caught them, Trump said. And we caught them in a beauty. And I think theyre going to pay a big price. THE FACTS: Trump is wrong. Photos of the National Mall from his inauguration make clear that the crowd did not extend to the Washington Monument. Large swaths of empty space are visible on the Mall. Thin crowds and partially empty bleachers also dotted the inaugural parade route. Hotels across the District of Columbia reported vacancies, a rarity for an event as large as a presidential inauguration. And ridership on the Washingtons Metro system didnt match that of recent inaugurations. As of 11 a.m. that day, there were 193,000 trips taken, according to the transit services Twitter account. At the same hour eight years ago, there had been 513,000 trips. Four years later, there were 317,000 for Obamas second inauguration. There were 197,000 at 11 a.m. in 2005 for President George W. Bushs second inauguration. WATCH: White House Spokesman Spicer Holds News Conference White House press secretary Sean Spicer later added to the misstatements. Spicer claimed that it was the first time a white tarp was used to protect the grass on the National Mall and that it drew attention to any empty space. But the same tarp was used four years ago. Spicer also said it was the first time that fencing and magnetometers went as far back on the Mall, preventing hundreds of thousands of people from being able to access the Mall as quickly as they had in inaugurations past. The Secret Service says that this was the first time security fencing was installed around the National Mall for an inauguration. To get onto the Mall, people were required to go through one of seven checkpoints where their bags were checked, but there were no magnetometers used at those checkpoints. A law enforcement official not authorized to publicly discuss the inauguration says officials were not aware of any issues with flow rate in and around the National Mall. Spicer then said, This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration period both in person and around the globe. He offered no evidence and there is no immediate way to confirm such a claim. But photo taken during Barack Obamas 2009 inauguration showed substantially more people on the Mall. It is not known how many people watched the ceremony on television around the globe. In the U.S., Nielsen estimates 31 million viewers watched TV coverage, but thats less than Barack Obamas and Ronald Reagans first inaugurations. The exact size of the crowd Friday may never be known. The National Park Service stopped providing estimates in the 1990s. Martin Luther King Jr. bust TRUMP: The president also went after a reporter who incorrectly wrote that the president had removed a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. from the Oval Office. The reporter later acknowledged the error, saying a Secret Service agent and a door had obstructed his view of the bust when reporters were allowed into the room briefly after Trumps swearing in. But this is how dishonest the media is, Trump said. Now, big story, the retraction was like, where? he asked. Was it a line or do they even bother running it? THE FACTS: Trump is right. The reporter for Time magazine made an error. The White House said Trump never removed the King bust from the Oval Office. The error about the bust was first transmitted in a pool report distributed among reporters. The White House often uses a pool system when not all reporters who want to attend an event can be accommodated in a space. At 7:30 p.m., reporter Zeke Miller wrote a pool report saying, The MLK bust was no longer on display. Once Miller realized his error, an update was sent to the pool. The MLK bust remains in the Oval Office, in addition to the Churchill bust, per a WH aide. It was apparently obscured by a door and an agent during the spray. Your pool offers sincerest apologies. Miller also corrected the error on Twitter, and Time magazine corrected its story based on his report. Correction: An earlier version of the story said that a bust of Martin Luther King had been moved. It is still in the Oval Office, it reads. French left-wing voters are casting their ballots in a Socialist Party presidential primary to choose a candidate they hope will be strong enough to effectively confront conservative and nationalist rivals in the April-May general election. Center-leaning former Prime Minister Manuel Valls is a leading contender among seven candidates, but faces formidable challenges from harder-core leftists Arnaud Montebourg and Benoit Hamon, both former government ministers. The top two Socialist primary winners advance to a runoff scheduled for next Sunday. But many analysts say the party winner is likely to be ousted in the first round of the presidential election in April, in a country marked by anti-immigrant populism and economic stagnation. The far-right National Front party of Marine Le Pen is generally expected to dominate the first round, reflecting a wider populist backlash in Europe and the U.S., where President Donald Trump took office Friday. President Francois Hollande declined to seek re-election, fearing his record-low popularity would hurt the Socialists' chances of keeping the presidency. The centerpiece of Intels booth at the recent National Retail Federation show in New York City was undoubtedly the massive Mach 2XS commercial printer by Japanese manufacturer Shima Seiki. At nearly 3 meters wide and 1.37 meters tall, the printer was hard to miss. The small crowd that had gathered around it though, was more interested in what was being printed row by row, the knitted lines of a burgundy sweater were coming together and gradually being printed out. What were able to do is print a garment in 45 minutes thats exactly tailored just to you, the fabrics, the styles and everything you like, said Ryan Parker, general manager of responsive retail at Intel. The printer and technology behind it were one of several offerings made by Intel to retailers. Brick and mortar As more and more consumers shop online and opt for virtual carts over physical ones, retailers are considering flashy technologies like 3D printing and virtual reality to entice them back into brick-and-mortar stores. These investments in consumer technology could very well pay off. A recent study conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value and the National Retail Federation found that 67 percent of those ages 13 to 21 shop in a physical store most of the time despite being the first digitally native generation, having grown up after the advent of cellphones and mobile devices. Driving footfall is a major point of emphasis for [retailers], having those kind of experiences, creating the store as a destination is really what its all about, Parker said. When we engage all of the senses, its a better experience overall. Online allows us to visually engage quite a bit, but we think that a very immersive experience in the store changes it from a transactional-based approach to a true destination. AR comes to retail On the other side of the show floor, representatives from Ads Reality, a London-based augmented-reality company, were making the case for AR technology in retail environments. When its used in the right way, its a very powerful tool to drive mobile engagement and store traffic, said Richard Corps, managing director. The companys latest product is AR Window, which superimposes life-sized augmented-reality characters into store environments via big screen displays in store windows. A recent project for video game retailer, Game, had an approximately 2-meter-tall Master Chief character from the popular Halo game series posing in store windows. It looks like those characters are actually inside the store ... it stops people outside the store because theyre amazed to see these characters ... and then it drives them inside the store because they want to have their photograph taken with these characters, Corps said. Footfall traffic increased by 18 percent, he added, and sales by 12 percent as a result of the campaign. Customer service robots Even customer service robots are part of the future of shopping. Duy Huynh, CEO of New York-based startup Autonomous, displayed two fully autonomous telepresence robots in a mockup store. Customer experience is still a very, very important problem to solve in retail today, Huynh said, citing subpar experiences at major retail hardware chains as examples. I dont have the support that I want or they dont have enough staff to support me. Or they have staff, but who dont have knowledge about the product I want. Huynh believes that the knowledge of successful online retailers like Amazon, with its focus on personalization, can be transferred to in-store environments. Autonomous robots working in a hardware store, for example, could be manned by representatives anywhere who have expertise in specific areas like plumbing or electrical wiring. With our technology, when you walk into a store one of our robots will approach you and behind the robot, [its] going to bring someone who knows your shopping habits, who has been helping you for the past six months, who knows what you need, to talk to you. So to us thats really, really important and thats the very first time you can actually do personalization offline, Huynh said. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Britain should take a leaf out of Switzerland's book on how to handle relations with the European Union, according to Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung (NZZ) on Sunday. Switzerland has access to the European single market through a series of bilateral agreements and has skirted voters' demand in a 2014 referendum for outright quotas on foreign workers by instead giving local people first crack at open jobs. "Britons should take as an example how cleverly Switzerland has linked national sovereignty and close cooperation with the European Union," NZZ quoted Schaeuble as saying in an emailed excerpt of an interview. British Prime Minister Theresa May has said Britain will quit the EU single market when it leaves the EU following a 2016 referendum, threatening withdrawal without any agreement with Brussels if she fails to win a good trade deal. British finance minister Philip Hammond has said it is an "open question" whether migrants from the EU will enjoy easier access to Britain after Brexit than those from other parts of the world. Schaeuble said he had "a lot of respect" for Switzerland, adding: "One has to tell the British government today: We live in the year 2017." British Prime Minister Theresa May said Sunday she would not be afraid to tell U.S. President Donald Trump when she finds something he has said unacceptable. May is to meet Trump in Washington Friday and said she would use the opportunity to discuss the future trading relationship between the United States and Britain, as well as NATO and challenges such as defeating terrorism. Thousands of women took to the streets of European capitals on Saturday to protest against Trump, particularly comments he has made which were seen as demeaning of women. Ive already said that some of the comments that Donald Trump has made in relation to women are unacceptable, some of those he himself has apologized for, May told the BBC. When I sit down (with Trump) I think the biggest statement that will be made about the role of women is the fact that I will be there as a female prime minister. ... Whenever there is something that I find unacceptable I wont be afraid to say that to Donald Trump. The Senate Foreign Relations committee is due to vote Monday on President Donald Trump's pick for secretary of State, oil executive Rex Tillerson, who is expected to be confirmed now that Republican Senator Marco Rubio has indicated he will support the nomination. On Sunday, two influential Republicans, Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham threw their support behind Tillerson after earlier expressing serious concern over his ties with Russia. Though we still have concerns about his past dealings with the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin, we believe that Mr. Tillerson can be an effective advocate for U.S. interests, McCain and Graham said in a joint statement Sunday. This was not an easy call, McCain said on ABCs This Week program. But I also believe that, when there is doubt, the incoming president gets the benefit of the doubt. While the support of McCain and Graham were a boost to Tillersons chances, neither serve on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which will vote on the nomination late Monday. Florida Republican Senator Rubio is on the committee and had been undecided on Tillerson until Monday. Republicans have a one-seat majority on the committee, and Tillerson would have been defeated if Rubio joined Democrats who are expected to vote against the oil executive. During Tillerson's Senate confirmation hearing, Rubio challenged him to label Putin as a war criminal because of Russia's military actions in the Syrian civil war. Tillerson declined to do so, saying "I would not use that term." Also this week, on the Senate floor, Republicans will press to confirm CIA director nominee Mike Pompeo, whose failure to get a vote Friday irked the new Trump White House. Senate Democrats are stalling the nomination of Mike Pompeo and playing politics with national security, said White House spokesman Sean Spicer. That is what you guys should be writing and covering. Minority Democrats cannot block Cabinet nominees on their own, and Trump expressed confidence that his team will be in place. We are going to get them all through, but some are going to take a little bit longer than others, the president said during a visit to CIA headquarters Saturday. Republicans noted that previous presidents entered the White House with more nominees confirmed than Trump has been accorded so far. "I remember very well in January of 2009, the Senate on the first day of the inauguration approved seven Cabinet members. Seven. Not two, McCain said. Why in the hell wont we just go ahead and give the president his national security team when we need it more than at any time in recent history? Democrats argue Trumps nominees have been slow to comply with financial disclosures and ethical reviews. This is about whether the Senate is going to be a rubber stamp and whether the Senate is going to, in effect, abdicate its responsibilities to do oversight, said Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon. If there was ever a group of Cabinet nominees that cry out for rigorous scrutiny, it is this one, said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat. The president-elects Cabinet is a swamp Cabinet, full of billionaires and bankers that have conflicts of interest and ethical lapses as far as the eye can see. Other contentious confirmation votes loom for nominees to lead the Treasury, Energy and Health and Human Services departments, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency. MOUNT PLEASANT With hundreds of thousands of people protesting nationwide Saturday, the day after President Donald Trumps inauguration, in Racine County there was a different type of activism going on. It took place inside a local church. At Zoe Outreach Ministry, 2130 Racine St., about two dozen community members gathered for an African-American Roundtable to discuss the communitys future. They discussed the future for the African-American community as well as the community as a whole. With this past week having been the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Kings message came up multiple times. We have a dream, its what do we do with it, said Latasha Lott, of Mount Pleasant, who was one of the panelists and works in probation and parole. We are not together, said Racine Alderman Mollie Jones. Young people need to participate more, she said, and older residents as well, including those in their 60s and 70s who could be mentoring the youth. While much of the concentration is on the nations capital right now, Jones said local elections matter too, such as the upcoming April 4 spring elections. School concerns Concern about schools was one of the main topics audience members brought up. With many parents choosing to send children to private schools with the help of state-funded vouchers, and others choosing to send students to schools outside area boundaries through open enrollment, to some it seems like a type of segregation is occurring. Another concern was too many students being expelled. Deputy Racine Unified Superintendent Eric Gallien, who is the anticipated successor to Superintendent Lolli Haws, was in the audience at the event and explained a lot of progress has been made pertaining to expulsions. When students are expelled, many are able to continue learning through virtual learning or other means, he explained. We are not at nirvana yet, but we are working on it, Gallien said. Also, Gallien said, the district is actively looking at achievement gaps. The district doesnt have a silver bullet, Gallien said. One thing residents can do is be engaged. We need the support of the community, Gallien said. Quashana Foster, one of the panelists, who serves as a minister at Trinity United Missionary Baptist, 306 Fifth St., asked the audience, Do you check in with the young people you know? Do you ask them how life is? Do you want to know for real, for real? Then when you hear the response, she said, Do you help them navigate the way? ... The problem is a lot of young people are raising themselves. OPEC and non-OPEC countries have made a strong start to lowering their oil output under the first such pact in more than a decade, energy ministers said on Sunday as producers look to reduce oversupply and support prices. "The deal is a success... All the countries are sticking to the deal ...[the] results are above expectations," Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said after the first meeting of a committee set up to monitor the deal. Ministers said 1.5 million of almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) had been taken out of the market already. Countries involved in the deal could reduce their output by 1.7 million bpd by the end of the month, Interfax news agency quoted Novak as saying. Eleven of OPEC's 13 members along with 11 non-OPEC countries have agreed to make cuts for the first half of the year. OPEC members Nigeria and Libya, both suffering setbacks in production, were given exemptions. "The Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia] has taken the initiative and other countries took part in very significant actions," Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told reporters following the meeting. "Despite demand usually being lower in the first quarter in winter, the actions taken by the Kingdom and many other countries has impacted the market in a tangible way and we have seen the impact in spot prices," al-Falih said. Brent oil prices that fell to $27.10 a barrel a year ago have held above $50 per barrel since OPEC producers agreed on Dec. 10 to lower output in the first half of 2017. The cuts are aimed at reducing a global glut in oil that has weighed on oil prices for more than two years. Falih said implementation of agreed cuts had been "fantastic" and he hoped for 100 percent compliance in February. "We will not accept anything less than 100 percent compliance," Kuwaiti oil minister Essam Al-Marzouq, who chairs the five-member ministerial compliance committee, told a news conference. The other members of the committee represent Algeria, Venezuela, Russia and Oman. Venezuela has achieved more than half of its planned 95,000 bpd cut, Oil Minister Nelson Martinez told reporters. Shrinking inventories Full compliance could take global oil inventories back close to their five-year average by mid-2017, lowering oil in storage by around 300 million barrels, Falih said. "[There are] no surprises so far in terms of demand or supply from other sources so there is no reason for us to suddenly come in January and say we need a bigger reduction or a longer period," he said. Saudi Arabia is producing slightly below 10 million bpd and has informed buyers of substantial cuts scheduled for next month, he said. Russia has cut its oil output by around 100,000 bpd, Novak said, double what was originally planned. He said Russian oil production had averaged around 11.15 million bpd this month. He told reporters it was too early to talk about extending the current deal beyond the planned six months but that remained an option. "Everyone sees that the agreements on oil production cuts have already have a positive effect on oil markets. The market has become more stable and predictable," Novak said. Next meeting On Sunday it was agreed that a technical joint committee (JTC) would be created comprising a representative for each of the five members of the monitoring committee and as well as the OPEC presidency, which is currently held by Saudi Arabia. The JTC will cooperate with the OPEC Secretariat in compiling production data which will be presented to the ministerial monitoring committee by the 17th of every month, OPEC said in a news release. The monitoring committee will communicate after the 17th of every month and plans two meetings ahead of the next ordinary OPEC meeting in Vienna on May 25. The next meeting in March is set for Kuwait. Shale impact Ministers were also keen to highlight that any increase in high-cost U.S. shale oil production as a result of rising oil prices would be absorbed by rising demand. "We are not worried that production in the U.S. is increasing as prices go up because I think this will be absorbed by an increase in demand," Al-Marzouq said. Qatari Energy Minister Mohammed Al-Sada said with increasing demand "shale oil will all be catered for." Russia's Novak also said he was not worried about higher oil output in the United States. The 44th anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade was marked Sunday with a new U.S. president in office who has said he wants the decision overturned. The 1973 decision legalized abortion. As a candidate, President Donald Trump promised to appoint an anti-abortion justice to fill a vacancy at the nations highest court. He also said he wants to remove government funding from Planned Parenthood, the nations largest provider of womens health care, including abortions. Supreme Court nominee Trump met earlier this week with one of the judges on his short list for potential Supreme Court nominees and has said he wants fill the seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia within his first two weeks in office. The new president has promised to seek someone with similar views to the late conservative justice and said he is working from a list of 21 people, mainly conservative state and federal judges. Trumps positions against abortion are supported by many Republican lawmakers, which control both houses of Congress. Many of those Republicans ran on a platform of opposing abortion. Divisive issue Abortion continues to be a dividing issue in the United States where it has been legal since the Roe v Wade decision in 1973. Rival demonstrations in Washington often mark the anniversary of the ruling. A new survey published this month by the Pew Research Center said more than two-thirds of Americans believe Roe v Wade should not be completely overturned. Public opinion about the 1973 case has held relatively steady in recent decades, though the share saying the decision should not be overturned is up slightly from four years ago, the group said. It noted that the partisan gap over abortion views is strong with 79 percent of Democrats saying abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and 34 percent of Republicans saying the same. Restrictions increase On Thursday, the Century Foundation, a progressive U.S.-based research group, said restrictions against abortions are increasing across the United States. The group said 50 abortion restrictions were passed last year in 18 of the 50 U.S. states. The anti-abortion group, National Right to Life, maintains an effort to pass restrictive state laws. The place you change America isnt in Washington. Its in the states, said Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, quoted on the organizations website. Fewer abortions Also this week, another research group, the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights, released a survey that found the annual number of abortions in the United States has dropped to less than 1 million, the lowest level since 1974. The report counted 926,200 abortions in 2014, the latest year for which it had complete data, a drop of 12.5 percent from Guttmachers previous survey, which tallied 1.06 million abortions in 2011. Following Roe v Wade in 1973, the number of abortions in the United States rose steadily, reaching a peak of 1.6 million in 1990, before starting to decline. The authors of the new report attributed the latest decline to two main factors: the increased availability of contraceptives, which have led to less unintended pregnancies, and the increase in abortion restrictions in some U.S. states. Abortion restrictions and clinic closures mean that patients may need to travel greater distances to access services, says Rachel Jones, lead author of the study. Next week, the anti-abortion movement March for Life holds its annual rally in Washington. Trumps campaign manager and one of his top advisors, Kellyanne Conway, is scheduled to speak at the march. Severe weather has killed least 18 people in the southern United States, and forecasters warn of more deadly storms to come. The National Weather Service said Sunday that southern Georgia, northern Florida and the corner of southeastern Alabama could face forceful tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail. Long track tornadoes, which plow on for kilometers, also are a real risk. Fourteen people were killed and more than 20 injured as violent storms and tornadoes rolled through parts of Georgia over the weekend. Another four people were killed in Mississippi by a tornado on Saturday. Governor Nathan Deal of Georgia declared a state of emergency in seven counties that suffered deaths, injuries and severe damage from the storms. Deal said that state agencies are "making all resources available'' to affected counties, and that "our thoughts and prayers are with Georgians suffering from the storm's impact.'' President Donald Trump spoke with Governor Deal Sunday to express his condolences about those killed by the powerful tornadoes that ripped through the state. Trump described the tornadoes as vicious and powerful. He made remarks in the East Room of the White House during his second full day in office, adding that he would talk later to Governor Rick Scott of Florida. Officials at peace talks between the Syrian government and rebel groups say there was no major breakthrough at Monday's talks, but negotiations will continue Tuesday. Officials say the talks in Kazakhstan's capital, backed by Russia and Turkey, do not include direct negotiations, but say the two sides are indirectly communicating through mediators. The negotiations in Astana are focusing on cementing a nation-wide cease-fire mediated by Russia, Iran and Turkey in December that has largely held. Prior peace talks, including the last negotiations held a year ago, have made little progress in bringing an end to the conflict that began in March 2011. "It is our most sincere desire that these talks will bring light at the end of the tunnel for the Syrian crisis," said Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov as he opened the talks. "It is now upon each of us to make the real breakthrough that Syrian people rightfully deserve." After the first of several rounds of Monday's meetings, Syria's U.N. Ambassador Bashar Jaafari accused the opposition of "not acting responsibly." He criticized allegations that Syrian military operations in the Wadi Barada area outside of Damascus were in violation of the cease-fire. Syria has said militants from the group formerly known as the Nusra Front are involved in the fighting there, which has affected the water supply in the Syrian capital. Jaafari said because the group is not covered by the cease-fire, any defense of them "means you are on the wrong side." Syria's main rebel groups suspended their participation in the run-up to the talks earlier this month in protest of what they said were frequent violations of the cease-fire. The chief rebel negotiator, Mohammad Alloush, who is participating in the talks, said the rebels "are men of peace," and negotiations on a political resolution to the conflict can only happen when the cease-fire is a "reality on the ground." Rebels partially conquered & divided Russias Interfax news agency reported Syrias government delegation, led by its ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar Jaafari, was ready for direct talks with the Syrian opposition in Astana. But some in the opposition expressed concerns Damascus is looking to negotiate a political solution with only the Turkey-backed opposition in attendance. The main rebel umbrella group in previous negotiations, the High Negotiations Committee, was not invited to Astana, but hopes the meeting will be a step forward to peace talks in Geneva February 8. U.N. Special Envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura is also participating in the talks, which are expected to end Tuesday. Olga Pavlova contributed to this report. President Donald Trump responded on Twitter Sunday to the women's marches held Saturday. Millions of people turned out in cities across the U.S. and around the world to rally for women's rights and other social justice issues. The protests were sparked by Trump's election in November. "Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election!" Trump said in a Twitter message from the White House, his home for the next four years. "Why didn't these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly." Those celebrities included feminist icon Gloria Steinem, pop star Madonna and actress Scarlett Johansson. They were among those who attended Saturday's Women's March on Washington as a rebuke to Trump's inauguration as the country's 45th president on Friday. WATCH: Gloria Steinem addresses Women's March But two hours later, Trump said in another tweet, "Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don't always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views." Inauguration numbers Trump also boasted about the number of people who watched his inaugural on television, saying, "Wow, television ratings just out: 31 million people watched the Inauguration, 11 million more than the very good ratings from 4 years ago!" The Nielsen television rating service said the 30.6 million who watched Trump's ascent to power topped the 20.6 million figure for former President Barack Obama's inauguration to a second term in 2013, but fell 19 percent short of the 37.8 million who watched Obama's first inauguration in 2009. More Americans typically watch inaugurations when a new president takes office, with the biggest number - 41.8 million - recorded in 1981 when Ronald Reagan was inaugurated for the first of his two terms. Trump said on a visit Saturday to the Central Intelligence Agency that the news media lied about the size of the crowd that watched him assume power. Numerous media outlets in the U.S. showed vast swaths of the National Mall vacant as he was sworn into office, compared to pictures of shoulder-to-shoulder crowds at the two Obama inaugurations. U.S. officials do not make official crowd estimates for security reasons. Buy the new president claimed - wrongly - that Friday's crowd stretched down the mall from the Capitol, where he was sworn in, to the Washington Monument, the obelisk paying homage to the country's first president, George Washington. Trump, apparently worried about attempts to deligitimize his presidency, said one television network showed "an empty field" and reported that he drew just 250,000 people to his inauguration. We had a massive field of people, you saw that. Packed, Trump said at the CIA. I get up this morning, I turn on one of the networks and they show ... an empty field. I said, wait a minute, I made a speech! I looked out, the field was ... it looked like a million, a million-and-a-half people. They showed a field where there were practically nobody standing there. And they said, 'Donald Trump did not draw well!'" Trump said, "Its a lie. We caught [the media]. We caught them in a beauty." Later, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said, "This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe," moments after declaring that "no one had numbers" because the government years ago stopped making crowd estimates for large gatherings on the mall. Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway told NBC's Meet the Press Sunday that Spicer was offering journalists "alternative facts" about the size of the inauguration crowd. Trump chief of staff Reince Priebus told another news show, Fox News Sunday, "The point is not the crowd size. The point is the attacks and the attempt to delegitimize this president in one day, and we're not going to sit around and take it. I'm saying there's an obsession by the media to delegitimize this president and we are not going to sit around let it happen. We are going to fight back tooth and nail every day and twice on Sunday." Throughout his unlikely run to the White House, Trump has regularly disparaged media accounts about him. For weeks after his election, he dismissed conclusions reached by the U.S. intelligence community that Russia had meddled in the election in an effort to help him win, only acknowledging shortly before his inauguration that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered hacking into the computer of Hillary Clinton's campaign chief John Podesta. The anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks released thousands of Podesta's emails in the month before the election, many of them revealing embarrassing details of how Democratic operatives helped Clinton win the Democratic presidential nomination over Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened his weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem Sunday by reaching out to Israels most important ally, the United States, and its new leader Donald Trump. The two spoke by telephone, with Trump calling the conversation "very nice." He did not mention the possibility of the United States moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Netanyahu later said Trump invited him to a meeting in Washington next month. Before the phone call, the White House said it is "at the very beginning stages of even discussing" such a move, which Trump has said he favors. We congratulate President Trump on the start of his term, Netanyahu said earlier Sunday. I very much appreciate his deep friendship for Israel, as well as his declared willingness to fight radical Islamic terrorism with full force." Radical Islamic terrorism appeared to be a swipe at Netanyahus old White House rival, former President Barack Obama, who refused to use the term. The Israeli leader sees militant Islam as a mutual threat to both the Jewish state and the West, but Obama sought to separate it from the Palestinian issue, which he saw as a legitimate quest for freedom. It was one of many issues on which the two leaders disagreed. Another was the Iran nuclear deal with the United States and world powers, which Netanyahu sees as a catastrophic mistake that threatens the security of Israel. He said Iran is one of several matters that will top the agenda with the new administration. There are many issues before us including the Israeli-Palestinian issue, the situation in Syria and the Iranian threat, the prime minister said. I would like to make it clear ... that stopping the Iranian threat, and first and foremost the threat reflected in the bad nuclear agreement that was signed with Iran, continues to be a supreme goal of the state of Israel. Settlements Netanyahu also hopes to turn the page on another sore spot with the Obama administration, Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, built on land that the Palestinians claim for a future state. U.S.-Israel relations plunged to a new low when, in the last days of the Obama presidency, the administration allowed a tough resolution condemning the settlements to pass in the U.N. Security Council, by abstaining from the vote instead of using its veto, as it has traditionally done in the past. Netanyahu was furious, accusing Obama of a shameful act in collusion with the Palestinians. But the former president defended the move, saying the settlements are an obstacle to peace that is destroying the prospects of a two-state solution. Israel wasted no time in trying to reverse that legacy, announcing on Sunday that 566 new housing units would be built for Jews in disputed East Jerusalem. On the issue of settlements, none are more concerned about it than the ... government and myself, Netanyahu told his ministers at the Cabinet session. And we will continue to look out for it wisely and responsibly, for the benefit of the settlement enterprise and the state of Israel. Weve been through eight tough years with Obama pressuring to freeze construction, said Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat. I hope that era is over and now we can build and develop Jerusalem for the welfare of its residents, Jews and Arabs alike. There are indications that the Trump administration will be more sympathetic to the settlements than its predecessor. For instance, President Trumps choice for U.S. Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, has challenged the notion that the West Bank is occupied territory, and has financially supported the large Jewish settlement of Beit El. All of this has the Palestinians worried, especially because Trump has publicly vowed to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. By targeting specifically Jerusalem, they [the Israelis] are making use of the statements during the Trump elections campaign about recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and therefore legalizing Israels illegal annexation of Jerusalem in order to expand its settlement activities, Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi told Reuters. [This] would bisect the West Bank and therefore prevent the establishment of a territorially contiguous or even viable Palestinian state. Moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem could be explosive. There are fears that it could spark a new wave of Palestinian violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and that protests could spread across the Arab and Muslim world. VOA White House correspondent Cindy Saine and Kenneth Schwartz contributed to this report President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence began their first full day in charge of the U.S. government by attending an interfaith prayer service at Washington National Cathedral on Saturday, where the clergy spoke of compassion and diversity. The service began with calls to prayer by the cathedral's canon, the Reverend Rosemarie Duncan; a Jewish cantor, Mikhail Manevich; and Muslim Imam Mohamed Magid. The cathedral's dean, the Very Reverend Marshall Hollerith, then read from the Book of Common Prayer: "Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love. Leaders of about two dozen religious faiths took part in the service, a U.S. tradition dating back to the country's first president, George Washington. Trump and Pence were joined by their families, as well. Washington National Cathedral, a spacious Episcopal house of worship, is a landmark in the capital, standing on one of the highest points in the city, and has hosted prayer services at the beginning of new administrations since before World War II. It was a fantastic gathering of all the religions that are part of our lives in America, with beautiful music and beautiful prayers," Alistair Jessiman told VOA as he left the service afterward. Jessiman said he attended the service as a patriotic gesture and to support the new president, whom he said he had never seen in person before. Political campaign Given the harsh exchanges that marked so much of the U.S. political campaign, about "building a wall [on the Mexican border] ... banning Muslims from entering the United States and other controversial issues, Jessiman said he felt everyone could benefit from some spiritual reflection. People getting together [and] spending time thinking about other things than whats personal for them makes a big difference and will help as the country moves on," he said. Starr Karavellas, whose husband is an orthodox priest, said they came to the service to honor the new president, whom she and her husband "love." She added that all Americans should give Trump and his team "a chance" to show what their programs can accomplish. Michael Raphael was proud to be part of the service because his company worked on the extensive and difficult campaign to repair $34 million in damage the cathedral suffered after an earthquake in 2011. The iconic Washington church is the sixth-largest cathedral in the world and the second-largest in the United States. It took 83 years to build, from 1907 to 1990. As a small-business owner, Raphael said hes neutral when it comes to politics but was pleased to see so many religious faiths represented during Saturday's prayers. Trump needs to hear that," he said. WATCH: President Trump, Family Attend National Prayer Service While he wishes the president the best of luck in his new job, Raphael added, Its very unlikely that anything will affect the way that Mr. Trump views the world in terms of religion. Although it would be interesting to see if he does take away anything from today, with a comment of some sort. Hayley Ringenberg, another member of the congregation, told VOA that just being together with leaders of so many different faiths emphasized to her the need to "stop the arguing and fighting. ... Simply love each other." Joel Pollak said many of the congregants in the cathedral had tears in their eyes during the moving service. He said the hymns and scriptural readings were very appropriate, in particular a selection from the Bible (1 Kings 3:5-12) where Solomon asks God not for riches and long life, but for wisdom. "I felt in many ways this was the heart of the inauguration," Pollak said. "It was the nation coming together in humility, praying together and asking God for help. Political divisions Political divisions among Americans are part of life, and perhaps they will be felt more intensely in the coming months, Pollak added, "but hopefully those who were present [at the cathedral] and those who watched throughout the country will remember how joyful it was to be together, because its moments like these that will guide us through the difficult times." Mythili Bachu, chairperson of the Council of Hindu Temples of North America, told VOA "it's very important to us" that Hindus were represented at a national prayer breakfast for the first time. "This was a representation of the United States, and showed that everyone felt they belong to the same country, regardless of their religious beliefs," Bachu said. Neither Trump nor Pence spoke during the ceremony, but images beamed from the cathedral suggest they enjoyed taking part. Ironically, at the same time the cathedral service got underway, hundreds of thousands of Trump's opponents were gathering near the U.S. Capitol for a huge protest demonstration denouncing the new administration's policies. Defeated Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh flew into exile Saturday night, ending 22 years of strong-arm rule and a political stalemate that brought the West African nation to the brink of a regional military intervention. Jammeh made no statement as he departed the airport at Banjul with his family in an unmarked plane, and his final destination was not immediately clear. He was accompanied by Guinean President Alpha Conde, who had sought in recent days to negotiate an exit plan. The departure of Jammeh, who seized power in a 1994 coup, ended weeks of tension that began when he refused to leave office following his surprise defeat in national elections on December 1. It also averted the threat of military action by a force of 7,000 troops from Senegal and Nigeria who entered Gambia on Thursday to confront Jammeh's military loyalists. Both the African Union and the U.N. Security Council supported the planned intervention. The departure opened the way for the transfer of power to Adama Barrow, who won the presidency seven weeks ago. Barrow, who was sworn in Thursday at Gambia's embassy in neighboring Senegal, was now expected to return home. Earlier in the week, Jammeh declared a national state of emergency in a last-ditch effort to hold on to power. He dissolved his Cabinet while the national assembly extended his term of office by three months. But by Friday, as pressure mounted, he was negotiating with the presidents of Guinea and Mauritania before agreeing to step down. Sources said the talks centered on where Jammeh would live and whether he would be granted amnesty for alleged crimes committed during his rule. Barrow, a property developer, celebrated as it became clear on Friday that Jammeh's departure was imminent. "The rule of fear has been banished from Gambia for good," Barrow said in Dakar as he prepared to return to his homeland. A look at more than 50 years of marches in Washington, by the numbers: 1995 Organized and hosted by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, an estimated 850,000 to 1 million* African-American men came together for the Million Man March to rally for unity and revitalization of African-American communities. 2000 More than 750,000 people gathered on the mall for the Million Mom March, which sought tighter gun control. 2013 About 650,000 people participated in the March for Life, a rally protesting abortion. 1997 More than 650,000 people filled the mall for the Promise Keepers march for evangelical Christian men. 2004 An estimated 500,000 to 800,000 people attended the March for Women's Lives, which supported women's rights and reproductive rights. 2004 An estimated 500,000 to 800,000 people marched on the National Mall rallying for women's reproductive rights. 1969 More than 500,000 people marched on Washington to protest U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. 1993 About 300,000 people turned out for the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation. 1981 About 260,000 people gathered for the Solidarity March, which was held in response to then-President Ronald Reagan's firing of 12,000 air traffic controllers who had gone on strike. 1963 Between 200,000 and 300,000 people gathered in Washington to rally in support of civil and economic rights for African-Americans and other disenfranchised groups. On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his now-legendary "I Have a Dream" speech. *Crowd sizes for protests on the National Mall used to be estimated by the National Park Service. But after estimates for the Million Man March proved controversial, the service stopped offering attendance figures. RACINE Four adults and one child were displaced after a Sunday morning fire. An occupant reported the fire at 7:15 a.m. at 834 Sandra Court, according to a news release from the Racine Fire Department. It was reportedly caused by a stove fire. When fire crews arrived, they observed flames showing out of the first-floor window. While confirming all of the occupants were safely outside, they quickly contained the fire to the first floor. Then We Energies secured the gas and electric to the property. Due to the damage sustained, residents requested assistance from the Red Cross. The property was turned over to the management company at the scene. This fire is classified as accidental. According to a release from the Red Cross, the family was provided financial assistance for items such as emergency food, shelter and clothing. Mike Pence: Thank you to the Acting Director Meroe Park. Thank you for 27 years serving the United States of America here at CIA. Its a great privilege for me to be with you today and to have the opportunity to introduce at his first event, on his first full day, the new President of the United States, Donald Trump. (Applause.) As you can imagine, its deeply humbling for my family and I to find ourselves in this role. Im grateful to our new President for the opportunity hes given me and the opportunity the American people have given us to serve. But its especially humbling for me to be before all of you today men and women of character, who have sacrificed greatly and to stand before this hallowed wall, this memorial wall, where we remember 117 who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. I can assure you this new President and our entire team recognizes and appreciates the sacrifices of all of the men and women of the intelligence community of the United States of America. (Applause.) Ive gotten to know our new President. We traveled a lot together. When the cameras are off and the lights are off, Ill tell you two things I know for sure. Number one, Ive never met anyone more dedicated to the safety and security of the people of the United States of America, or anyone who is a greater strategic thinker about how we accomplish that for this nation. In fact, to understand the life of our new President is his whole life was strategy. He built an extraordinary success in the private sector, and I know hes going to make America safe again. (Applause.) And lastly, I can honestly tell you, for all my years serving in the Congress, serving as governor of my home state, traveling cross-country and seeing the connection that hes made to men and women who serve and protect in every capacity in this country, Ive never met anyone with a greater heart for those who every day, in diverse ways, protect the people of this nation through their character and their service and their sacrifice. And so let me say, it is my high honor and distinct privilege to introduce all of you the President of the United States. (Applause.) Donald Trump: Well, I want to thank everybody. Very, very special people. And it is true, this is my first stop, officially. Were not talking about the balls, or were not talking about even the speeches although they did treat me nicely on that speech yesterday. (Laughter.) I always call them the dishonest media, but they treated me nicely. (Laughter.) But I want to say that there is nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community and the CIA than Donald Trump. Theres nobody. (Applause.) The wall behind me is very, very special. Weve been touring for quite a while, and Ill tell you what 29? I cant believe it. Audience member: Twenty-eight. Donald Trump: Oh, 28. We got to reduce it. Thats amazing. And we really appreciate what youve done in terms of showing us something very special. And your whole group, these are really special, amazing people. Very, very few people could do the job you people do. And I want to just let you know, I am so behind you. And I know maybe sometimes you havent gotten the backing that youve wanted, and youre going to get so much backing. Maybe youre going to say, please dont give us so much backing. (Laughter.) Mr. President, please, we dont need that much backing. (Laughter.) But youre going to have that. And I think everybody in this room knows it. You know, the military and the law enforcement, generally speaking, but all of it but the military gave us tremendous percentages of votes. We were unbelievably successful in the election with getting the vote of the military. And probably almost everybody in this room voted for me, but I will not ask you to raise your hands if you did. (Laughter.) But I would guarantee a big portion, because were all on the same wavelength, folks. (Applause.) Were all on the same wavelength, right? He knows. It took Brian about 30 seconds to figure that one out, right, because we know were on the same wavelength. But were going to do great things. Were going to do great things. Weve been fighting these wars for longer than any wars weve ever fought. We have not used the real abilities that we have. Weve been restrained. We have to get rid of ISIS. Have to get rid of ISIS. We have no choice. (Applause.) Radical Islamic terrorism. And I said it yesterday it has to be eradicated just off the face of the Earth. This is evil. This is evil. And you know, I can understand the other side. We can all understand the other side. There can be wars between countries, there can be wars. You can understand what happened. This is something nobody can even understand. This is a level of evil that we havent seen. And youre going to go to it, and youre going to do a phenomenal job. But were going to end it. Its time. Its time right now to end it. You have somebody coming on who is extraordinary. For the different positions of "Secretary of This" and "Secretary of That" and all of these great positions, Id see five, six, seven, eight people. And we had a great transition. We had an amazing team of talent. And, by the way, General Flynn is right over here. Put up your hand. What a good guy. (Applause.) And Reince and my whole group. Reince you know they dont care about Reince. Hes like this political guy that turned out to be a superstar, right? We dont have to talk about Reince. But we did we had such a tremendous, tremendous success. So when Im interviewing all of these candidates that Reince and his whole group is putting in front, it went very, very quickly, and, in this case, went so quickly because I would see six or seven or eight for Secretary of Agriculture, who we just named the other day, Sonny Perdue, former governor of Georgia. Fantastic guy. But Id see six, seven, eight people for a certain position. Everybody wanted it. But I met Mike Pompeo, and it was the only guy I met. I didnt want to meet anybody else. I said, cancel everybody else. Cancel. Now, he was approved, essentially, but theyre doing little political games with me. He was one of the three. Now, last night, as you know, General Mattis, fantastic guy, and General Kelly got approved. (Applause.) And Mike Pompeo was supposed to be in that group. It was going to be the three of them. Can you imagine all of these guys? People respect you know, they respect that military sense. All my political people, theyre not doing so well. The political people arent doing so well but you. Were going to get them all through, but some will take a little bit longer than others. But Mike was literally I had a group of what, we had nine different people? Now, I must say, I didnt mind cancelling eight appointments. That wasnt the worst thing in the world. But I met him and I said, he is so good. Number one in his class at West Point. Now, I know a lot about West Point. Im a person that very strongly believes in academics. In fact, every time I say I had an uncle who was a great professor at MIT for 35 years who did a fantastic job in so many different ways, academically was an academic genius and then they say, is Donald Trump an intellectual? Trust me, Im like a smart persona. (Laughter.) And I recognized immediately. So he was number one at West Point, and he was also essentially number one at Harvard Law School. And then he decided to go into the military. And he ran for Congress. And everything hes done has been a homerun. People like him, but much more importantly to me, everybody respects him. And when I told Paul Ryan that I wanted to do this, I would say he may be the only person that was not totally thrilled right, Mike? Because he said, I dont want to lose this guy. But you will be getting a total star. Youre going to be getting a total gem. Hes a gem. (Applause.) Youll see. Youll see. And many of you know him anyway. But youre going to see. And again, we have some great people going in. But this one is something is going to be very special, because this is one, if I had to name the most important, this would certainly be perhaps you know, in certain ways, you could say my most important. You do the job like everybody in this room is capable of doing. And the generals are wonderful, and the fighting is wonderful. But if you give them the right direction, boy, does the fighting become easier. And, boy, do we lose so fewer lives, and win so quickly. And thats what we have to do. We have to start winning again. You know, when I was young and when I was of course, I feel young. I feel like Im 30, 35, 39. (Laughter.) Somebody said, are you young? I said, I think Im young. You know, I was stopping when we were in the final month of that campaign, four stops, five stops, seven stops. Speeches, speeches, in front of 25,000, 30,000 people, 15,000, 19,000 from stop to stop. I feel young. When I was young and I think were all sort of young. When I was young, we were always winning things in this country. Wed win with trade. Wed win with wars. At a certain age, I remember hearing from one of my instructors, "The United States has never lost a war." And then, after that, its like we havent won anything. We dont win anymore. The old expression, "to the victor belong the spoils" you remember. I always used to say, keep the oil. I wasnt a fan of Iraq. I didnt want to go into Iraq. But I will tell you, when we were in, we got out wrong. And I always said, in addition to that, keep the oil. Now, I said it for economic reasons. But if you think about it, Mike, if we kept the oil you probably wouldnt have ISIS because thats where they made their money in the first place. So we should have kept the oil. But okay. (Laughter.) Maybe youll have another chance. But the fact is, should have kept the oil. I believe that this group is going to be one of the most important groups in this country toward making us safe, toward making us winners again, toward ending all of the problems. We have so many problems that are interrelated that we dont even think of, but interrelated to the kind of havoc and fear that this sick group of people has caused. So I can only say that I am with you 1,000 percent. And the reason youre my first stop is that, as you know, I have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on Earth. (Laughter and applause.) And they sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community. And I just want to let you know, the reason youre the number-one stop is exactly the opposite exactly. And they understand that, too. And I was explaining about the numbers. We did a thing yesterday at the speech. Did everybody like the speech? (Applause.) Ive been given good reviews. But we had a massive field of people. You saw them. Packed. I get up this morning, I turn on one of the networks, and they show an empty field. I say, wait a minute, I made a speech. I looked out, the field was it looked like a million, million and a half people. They showed a field where there were practically nobody standing there. And they said, Donald Trump did not draw well. I said, it was almost raining, the rain should have scared them away, but God looked down and he said, were not going to let it rain on your speech. In fact, when I first started, I said, oh, no. The first line, I got hit by a couple of drops. And I said, oh, this is too bad, but well go right through it. But the truth is that it stopped immediately. It was amazing. And then it became really sunny. And then I walked off and it poured right after I left. It poured. But, you know, we have something thats amazing because we had it looked honestly, it looked like a million and a half people. Whatever it was, it was. But it went all the way back to the Washington Monument. And I turn on and by mistake I get this network, and it showed an empty field. And it said we drew 250,000 people. Now, thats not bad, but its a lie. We had 250,000 people literally around you know, in the little bowl that we constructed. That was 250,000 people. The rest of the 20-block area, all the way back to the Washington Monument, was packed. So we caught them, and we caught them in a beauty. And I think theyre going to pay a big price. We had another one yesterday, which was interesting. In the Oval Office theres a beautiful statue of Dr. Martin Luther King. And I also happen to like Churchill, Winston Churchill. I think most of us like Churchill. He doesnt come from our country, but had a lot to do with it. Helped us; real ally. And, as you know, the Churchill statue was taken out the bust. And as you also probably have read, the Prime Minister is coming over to our country very shortly. And they wanted to know whether or not Id like it back. I say, absolutely, but in the meantime we have a bust of Churchill. So a reporter for Time magazine and I have been on there cover, like, 14 or 15 times. I think we have the all-time record in the history of Time Magazine. Like, if Tom Brady is on the cover, its one time, because he won the Super Bowl or something, right? (Laughter.) Ive been on it for 15 times this year. I dont think thats a record, Mike, that can ever be broken. Do you agree with that? What do you think? But I will say that they said it was very interesting that Donald Trump took down the bust, the statue, of Dr. Martin Luther King. And it was right there. But there was a cameraman that was in front of it. (Laughter.) So Zeke Zeke from Time Magazine writes a story about I took down. I would never do that because I have great respect for Dr. Martin Luther King. But this is how dishonest the media is. Now, the big story the retraction was, like, where? Was it a line? Or do they even bother putting it in? So I only like to say that because I love honesty. I like honest reporting. I will tell you, final time although I will say it, when you let in your thousands of other people that have been trying to come in because I am coming back were going to have to get you a larger room. (Applause.) We may have to get you a larger room. You know? And maybe, maybe, it will be built by somebody that knows how to build, and we wont have columns. (Laughter.) You understand that? (Applause.) We get rid of the columns. No, I just wanted to really say that I love you, I respect you. Theres nobody I respect more. Youre going to do a fantastic job. And were going to start winning again, and youre going to be leading the charge. So thank you all very much. (Applause.) Thank you youre beautiful. Thank you all very much. Have a good time. Ill be back. Ill be back. Thank you. Instagram Photo: Karen Brill Massive Womens March movements took place across the country on Saturday, including the main event in Washington and the march populated by actors and industry people alike at Sundance. And while many celebrities, like Scarlett Johansson, America Ferrera, and Ashley Judd participated as leaders, giving speeches to packed crowds, others like Zendaya, Gina Rodriguez, and Jessica Chastain turned out as marchers, while more still, like Bryce Dallas Howard and Elizabeth Banks, pledged their solidarity on social media. Even Taylor Swift breached her usual political obfuscation to voice her support. See the different ways famous supporters got the message out below. This post has been updated throughout. So much love, pride, and respect for those who marched. I'm proud to be a woman today, and every day. #WomensMarch Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) January 21, 2017 Julianne & I Marching with @hollyedexter in DC. What an inspiring, exciting, gratifying, and https://t.co/qXW221wF9j Debra Messing (@DebraMessing) January 21, 2017 Thank you @OBEYGIANT for the posters. Thank you Piper for the signs. Proud to be one of many today @womensmarchlon. #WeWomen #WomensMarch pic.twitter.com/XsENCSH8PT Gillian Anderson (@GillianA) January 21, 2017 I AM SO PROUD TO HAVE A VAGINA TODAY. #womensmarch so moved by the movement sending GRATITUDE and LOVE to all the marchers Elizabeth Banks (@ElizabethBanks) January 21, 2017 We march to show our struggles are not isolated, but bound together by rainbow thread. I don't rise if you don't rise #WomensMarch Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) January 21, 2017 With the sister wife where I belong @JenniKonner pic.twitter.com/cekd4BEAay Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) January 21, 2017 All those powerful women. All those people who love them. All demanding more. All across America. Prettiest sight these eyes ever did see Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) January 21, 2017 As I celebrate my daughter's 5th bday, I'm thankful to people marching to protect & progress our right to dignity, equality & respect Bryce Dallas Howard (@BryceDHoward) January 21, 2017 Proud to support women's rights with the whole fam in #womensmarchlondon pic.twitter.com/fzTtnIA4LP Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) January 21, 2017 March strong today and be safe!! #WomensMarch Andy Cohen (@Andy) January 21, 2017 I'm in awe of anyone who speaks up, makes sacrifices and takes risks for what they believe in. #WomensMarch L.Stamos Prez Vanguard Found. pic.twitter.com/GGo9z5a82o John Stamos (@JohnStamos) January 21, 2017 Thank you dear women of our lives! Thank you for your wisdom, courage, and strength! #100daysofresistance #WomensMarch Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 21, 2017 To everyone marching today in DC and and around the country- thank you for making your voices heard! #MarchOnWashington Matt Bomer (@MattBomer) January 21, 2017 I'm as jaded as anyone but looking at these pictures from the Women's marches all over the country, all over the world - profoundly moving. billy eichner (@billyeichner) January 21, 2017 The Mount Pleasant Planning Commission voted no 6-1 to the proposed three-story, 180,000 sq. ft. 170 unit building (60 times the average nearby home size) on land currently zoned R-100 (single family residential), opposed by virtually every nearby property owner. The prior village planner is on record, stating the project is simply wrong for the location proposed. The interim village planner says there are more suitable village locations. Every other senior living facility in the village is located in multi-use areas, not among only single family homes. The developer claims to have met with residents and to have adjusted his proposal to meet their concerns. This is false. He held one early meeting where he actually turned away concerned residents. Since then residents reached out on six separate occasions but he has refused to meet to discuss concerns. The developer claims his traffic, environmental and valuation studies have addressed residents concerns. This is false. His traffic study was done on Nov. 4, a non-school day for Racine/Kenosha. There was no environmental study of the effects of the proposed project on drainage, wetlands, lighting, noise, air and water quality, etc. but simply an endangered species study. One developer sponsored valuation study using only tax assessed values (not market values) was dismissed by the village assessor as completely inaccurate. The second valuation study used a much smaller 84-unit senior complex (Primrose) with multiple smaller interconnected two-story buildings, including cottages built in a multi-use area, to compare to a single three story 180,000 sq. ft. 170-unit commercial type building in a solely single family home area. The developer wants to change the zoning for his sole benefit, violating zoning change regulations. Residents bought property, protected by R-100 zoning on the nearby property. With less than a one year supply of single family lots in the village and new home construction setting records in both 2015 and 2016, any claim that the property cannot be developed as single family is simply false. Property owners should be protected by zoning, regardless of where they live in the village. The developer claims a variety of truths versus myths. His truths are mostly false. The originally planned 22 lots will not generate more traffic than a project with 90 to 110 employees and more than 200 residents. An outside certified appraiser has indicated such a project will have a negative impact on nearby residences. A three-story 180,000 sq. ft. monolithic building is not consistent with single family residential zoning. Such a large, tall building will easily be seen through the wooded buffer, which can be less than 150 feet to roughly 400 feet (not the 300-600 ft. claimed). See for yourselves. This project will destroy more than 10 acres of woods. Twenty-two single family homes will not. These are the realities. The developer recently shrunk the area to be rezoned, leaving the rezone property exactly 101 feet or more from neighboring properties to void a protest petition signed by virtually every adjoining property owner. His tactic may be technically legal, but certainly isnt the intent of protest petitions laws, designed to protect nearby property owners. Village trustees should protect village residents investments and not make a zoning change that solely benefits an out-of-state developer. Since the project can easily be built on more suitable property in the village, tax or jobs benefits are essentially irrelevant. Protection of local residents property investments should be the trustees priority. Poppa Rollos Pizza, 703 N. Valley Mills Drive, will host the annual Pack of Hope spaghetti supper fundraiser from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Tickets cost $20 for adults or $10 for children ages 12 and younger, for a meal that includes a salad, spaghetti with marinara sauce, garlic bread, tea and cookies. The nonprofit Pack of Hopes sole mission is to erase child hunger in McLennan County by supplying school districts and eligible students with backpacks of nutritious food to prevent hunger from Friday through Sunday while the students are not in school. For tickets, call 772-0975, email packofhope@gmail.com or visit http://bit.ly/2g7NuKP. Lyceum Series concert Texas Select Trombone Quartet will present a free Lyceum Series concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Jones Concert Hall in Baylor Universitys Glennis McCrary Music Building. For more information, visit www.baylor.edu/music or call 710-3991. Teen Conversations The city of Waco Youth Council will host a Teen Conversations program from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Dewey Community Center, 925 N. Ninth St. The topic of discussion will be Where Will You Live After Graduation? Why Not Waco? Refreshments will be provided. For more information, call Earl Stinnett at 750-8018 or email earls@ci.waco.tx.us. Head Start enrollment The Economic Opportunities Advancement Corporation of Planning Region XI Community Action Agency will begin open enrollment Monday for the Head Start program for the remainder of the 2016-17 school year. The 2016-17 enrollment is open to 4-year-olds. Applications also will be accepted for new enrollment for the 2017-18 school year. Head Start and Early Head Start early childhood education program services are free to qualified families. Documents required to apply include the childs birth certificate or other document to verify the childs date of birth and income verification, which could include a 2016 W2, income tax or a letter from an employer. For more information, call 753-5324. Waco Rotary Club Rotary Club of Waco will meet at noon Monday at the Lions Den, 1716 N. 42nd St. Dr. Hitesh Singh, from the Baylor Scott & White McClinton Cancer Center, will be the guest speaker. Cost is $10 for a catered lunch from Blaneks. For more information, call 776-2115. Confident Dining class Baylor Continuing Education is offering a Modern Manners for Confident Dining class from 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 9 at the Mayborn Museum, 1300 S. University Parks Drive. Cost is $49, which includes a four-course meal. The registration deadline is Thursday. For more information, visit baylor.edu/continuingeducation or call 710-6440. Thousands of abandoned scrap tires lie under trees and vines at Kelleys Used Auto Parts in Bellmead, some 4 years after state regulators ordered a cleanup at the junkyard. For the neighborhood activist whose complaint launched the cleanup, each of those tires represents a mosquito incubator, and he is disappointed by the pace of progress. The response does not meet the magnitude of the problem, said Toby Monrrial, who has family members and property around the junkyard at 2401 Bellmead Drive. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality last fall gave owner Loyd Kelley an extension until March 15 to clean up the 100-acre junkyard. TCEQ officials said about 1,300 tires and almost 137 tons of scrap metal have been removed from the site since Kelleys received a notice of violation for illegal dumping in July 2012. As of the TCEQs most recent investigation early last year, about 15 cubic yards of waste and 2,500 tires remained on-site, agency officials said. The agency has given numerous extensions for the cleanup since 2012, while collecting $5,400 in administrative penalties. TCEQ spokeswoman Andrea Morrow said that in granting the most recent extension, investigators considered documentation that showed progress, as well as site conditions that hindered the cleanup. What were most concerned about is compliance, Morrow said. If people are making their way toward compliance, well generally give them an extension. She said Friday that an investigator is scheduled to make a site visit in the next 10 days. Kelley was out of the office Friday because of health problems and did not respond to a call placed with his family. In a Dec. 15 letter to TCEQ investigators, he said he was confident he could meet the March deadline. Things are looking much better, and we feel confident that we can get the remaining tires and materials removed in a timely manner provided we can get another employee or two and the weather cooperates, he wrote. That is our plan. In the past couple of years, Kelley has moved junked vehicles out of city of Bellmead rights of way that crisscross the junkyards. Monrrial, who has led a one-man crusade since 1989 to get the junkyard cleaned up, agrees that the site looks better. But he said the piles of scrap tires, mostly toward the back of the property, remain a public health hazard, he said. My main concern is the thousands of junk tires that have accumulated for over 50 years, Monrrial said. He said an 88-year-old Bellmead man, Raymond Finn, died of mosquito-borne West Nile virus in 2012 just half a mile away from the junkyard. In the past year, the Zika virus, which is carried by a species of mosquito that thrives in water-filled tires, also has moved into Texas. He said mosquitoes remain a major nuisance at his mothers home next to the junkyard, though its not as bad as a few years ago. Its important for people who live and work in this area to be given fair warning to take extra precautions with the mosquito season coming up, Monrrial said. If another person dies within a mile of this area, I feel personally, with what was put on my shoulders to do, that I failed them. He said hes glad the TCEQ has gotten some results after years of failure by the city of Bellmead to crack down on the junkyard. If it wasnt for them coming, it would still be a hell of a mess, Monrrial said Thursday, hiking through the junkyard along the city right of way. I dont want to knock them, but at the same time, theyre not getting the job done. Monrrial lodged a formal complaint with the TCEQ in 2011, along with an anonymous tip in 2012 that led TCEQ to open an investigation. The TCEQ issued a notice of violation in July 2012 for unauthorized disposal of industrial waste, unauthorized discharge into state waters, failure to label oil containers and other problems. In the past few years, Monrrial, a cabinetry worker without a home computer, has used handwritten public information requests to gather dozens of documents about the cleanup. He has appeared several times before the Bellmead City Council but has found no response from city officials. Bellmead is just as responsible for this as anyone, he said. They would not assume responsibility for the area. . . . Theyve been nothing but a complete failure in ensuring the health and well-being of the community. To date, there has not been one code violation issued by the city to Kelley. City Manager Bo Thomas didnt dispute that assertion but said the city has been active in ensuring Kelley removed junk from the city right of way. Obviously, with a facility like that there is a substantial amount of work to clean it up, Thomas said. Obviously, its a nuisance when it becomes a vector control issue. . . . Its a definite concern from a code enforcement perspective. LAST WEEK: Robert Ross left home at 18 to join the U.S. Army Air Force in 1942. Hoping to become a pilot, he went through extensive training, eventually flying P-51 Mustang fighter planes. By January 1944, U.S. Army Air Force pilot Robert E. Ross had earned his wings. It wasnt long before the New York native, now 92, was in the South Pacific flying armed photographic and combat missions as a member of the 82nd Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. His leaders were Medal of Honor recipient William A. Shomo and Distinguished Service Medal recipient Paul Lipscombe. Ross arrived in mid-January 1945, just days after those two men had earned their honors for a heroic aerial attack on 12 Japanese fighter planes that were escorting a Bouncing Betty bomber. Located in Mindoro, Philippines, Ross had already flown his first combat mission from Clark Field, on the island of Luzon, with instructions to shoot anything that moved. However, he never took a shot. He was so focused on his wingman duties that he forgot to fire. He was, as he described it, a real tenderfoot. But that wouldnt be the case for long. When he first arrived in Luzon, the Army had backed the Japanese to about 30 miles from the airfield. The fighting was still a little too close for comfort. They were firing at us, but you didnt know it unless you got hit, Ross said. Close call in mid-air On one mission over the Lingayen Gulf, the lead pilot had problems with his guns and asked Ross to make a few additional passes. A 37mm shell passed through his fuselage tank, took out the radio and exploded against the back of his seat, which was armored with a steel plate. For a moment, he unable to hear or see. The cockpit was filled with smoke, he said. I was beating a path off that airfield. Where theres one shell, theres another. During his service time in the Pacific, Ross lost only one man, a wingman whose plane failed. The pilot bailed out, and Ross raced back to the airfield, alerting rescue teams of the location. The last Ross knew, the wingman was safely in a life raft, waiting to be picked up at first light. Unfortunately, a typhoon swept through during the night and the man was lost at sea. From the Philippines, the entire outfit transferred to Ie Shima Island in the summer of 1945. Located about five miles west of Okinawa the same place famed journalist Ernie Pyle lost his life Ross was assigned to photograph strategic targets where the Japanese army expected U.S. forces to invade, he said. Three days after the atomic bomb was deployed over Hiroshima, the U.S. dropped another on Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945. The next day Ross was the lead of two planes sent to take low-level photographs of the aftermath. They hadnt gone far before entering what looked like fog. It turned out to be smoke. Having lost sight of the horizon, they had to fly by instruments. It was terrible, he said. The center (of the city) was gone. At that time, there was a high level of radiation. No one said anything, Ross added. All we could think about was that the war was over lets go home. Married after war; on to Alaska Ross was married in June 1946 to Margaret Deakin, who would usually travel with Ross on his many assignments around the world. He left active duty, joined the New York National Guard, and was attending college on the GI Bill when his unit was activated during the Korean War in 1951. He was stationed for a time in Niagara Falls, where he flew a new F-86 Sabre jet fighter. As orders came in by ones and twos for Korea, Ross finally received his and was surprised to find he had been assigned to Fairbanks, Alaska. He enjoyed his posting there, especially one new duty: conducting air shows. Ross spent 28 years in the military, including a deployment in England. His final transfer was to Waco, where he remained until retiring in 1970 after advancing through the ranks to become a lieutenant colonel. During his service, Ross flew 115 missions, and earned three Air Medals and the Distinguished Flying Cross for combat over an airfield on Luzon. After retiring from the Air Force, he worked 23 years in civil service with the Veterans Administration. Over their 70-plus years together, Ross and Margaret had three children, nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She passed away in November. He no longer thinks about his service much, but it was obviously a special time in his life. I loved it, said Ross. I loved military life. And he credits God and Providence and just plain luck for bringing him home unscathed. 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. German pastor and theologian Martin Niemoller was quoted by Ohio Gov. John Kasich in November 2015 back when an unconventional candidate named Donald Trump first launched attacks against all Muslim-Americans. Niemollers oft-repeated, anti-Nazi quotation reads: First they came for the Socialists but I did not speak up because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade-Unionists but I did not speak up because I was not a Trade-Unionist. Then they came for the Jews but I did not speak up because I was not Jewish. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me. Republican Gov. Kasich only quoted Niemoller after a litany of tirades against various groups and categories of outsiders. It started on the first day of Trumps campaign when he attacked many Mexican immigrants in our country as rapists and criminals. For more than a year, he extended his own damning list of deplorables defying his concept of American greatness: the disabled (at least those who called his hand on things), journalists charged with simply reporting his comments and all Muslims. During Senate confirmation hearings for Trump administration picks, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Trumps Indian-American pick for United Nations ambassador, joined others to reassure us there would be no unconstitutional religious test for Muslim citizens or any registry of Muslim Americans. We have now been assured that our new president months ago was only spouting harmless campaign rhetoric when vilifying our American Muslim population. So just what is this American Muslim population so recently under attack? Does it work as a monolithic movement as, say, Christians operate as a monolithic movement? Muslims have been in America since before our formation as a constitutional republic. Today more than 5 million Muslim Americans live among us. They are a small but successful and well-educated minority. Some 20,000 of them serve as doctors, treating citizens of all faiths, both sick and healthy; 6,000 proudly serve in our armed forces and at a time when many so-called American patriots cant be bothered to serve a day in uniform. About a fourth of all American Muslims are African Americans. Its inconceivable anyone would propose fellow Americans be registered on the basis of religious affiliation or ethnicity. How can such a proposal, in a nation built by immigrants (like my mother), be viewed as anything but un-American? And how did this idea even find voice in the Trump movement? There remains understandable anxiety among Muslim Americans about divisive rhetoric consigning all Muslims to some dastardly stereotype. I hear regularly from Muslim international students at Baylor University about their deep fears. And what do outbursts of Islamophobia by our neighbors when politically convenient engender in the hearts of young Muslim-Americans not to mention 1 billion Muslims worldwide who we need as allies in a shared battle against terrorism? Instead of isolating and alienating Muslim Americans, we should be enlisting them in efforts to establish a safer world, one freer from deadly terrorist attacks. Once before, between 1942 and 1945, our government targeted an entire category of people the Japanese in America and interned about 120,000 of them (62 percent of them citizens) in camps. Disturbingly, voices of racism and religious hatred are increasingly public in our society again. While Islamophobic voices gain treble, statistics show more hate-crime attacks are being mounted against Jewish-Americans than Muslims. How can we remain silent in light of such alarming trends? Bullying against Jews, Muslims, Hispanics, LGBTQ citizens, the disabled, journalists, immigrants and others must be defied at every turn. Just as past generations courageously fought for the rights of women and African Americans, our generation must be vigilant and vigorously defend the hard-won gains of previous believers in E Pluribus Unum a nation of one united and indivisible citizenry. Gov. Kasich is right: We are stronger when we stand united. More than ever, patriotic Americans must display courage and defy political correctness and confront attempts to demonize, bully, isolate and alienate any law-abiding fellow citizen. A. Christian van Gorder is an associate professor of religion at Baylor University. His books include No God but God: A Path to Muslim-Christian Discussions about the Nature of God. My wife and I welcomed Mike and Debbie for dinner at our California home Tuesday night. Our longtime friends are not alarmists, and they are not liberal Democrats. They are in fact the sort of genuine moderate middle voter that most consultants would die to have in a focus group: smart, caring, connected in their community, successful parents and employers. Im more conservative than they are. I voted for Donald Trump, they did not. Our conversation was probably similar to one going on around a million tables in America. Mike and Debbie are genuinely worried. Anxious. Even distressed by the inauguration of President Trump. I did my best to allay their fears, to point to people such as retired Gens. James Mattis and John Kelly, headed to the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, respectively, to Rep. Mike Pompeo and former senator Daniel Coats on the national security team, and to my friends Scott Pruitt and Andy Puzder, nominated to lead the Environmental Protection Agency and Labor Department, respectively. Discount the rhetoric, I argued. Pruitts not a climate denier. Puzder is an evangelist of opportunity, a true believer in small business and successful employer-employee relationships. The vice president, Mike Pence, is a wonderful man, I explained, a conscientious person of compassion and action. I even made the case for why they could rely on Jeff Sessions as an experienced Justice Department veteran and senator and, more important, a man of superb character to take care as attorney general that the laws are faithfully executed. The new justice of the Supreme Court whether the able William Pryor or another rock-solid originalist will not change the courts direction. Even if Trump secures a second or even third Supreme Court appointment, the Obergefell decision decreeing same-sex marriage the law of the land will not be overturned. My arguments led to some feigned, hopeful smiles. Still, I know I did not persuade. People of moderate dispositions are unsettled by Trumps approach, and the single word they use is temperament. This is a cultural clash as much as an ideological one. The president is Jacksonian in his thunders, not Lincoln-like in his appeals regarding malice toward none, with charity for all. Trump is loud and proud and big and bold and full of scorn for his opponents. That very nature carried him to his win. It isnt going to change. Those alarmed by Trump should recognize that those personality characteristics do not define the entire man or his agenda for the next four years and that, in fact, there are good reasons to welcome the brashness. The vast, suffocating bureaucratic state has grown so powerful and utterly muffling of genuine ideological diversity that we need to break the ice forming over the national conversation. Trump is Thors hammer in that regard. It could get loud, but we could also end up hashing some hard things out. Finally, there is this: The Constitution is very, very strong. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, not to mention the independent judiciary, represent significant checks on Trump. Governors such as Arizonas Doug Ducey didnt like being pushed about by President Obama and wont like it any more if Trump is doing the pushing. The news media are in a collective mood to go full Sam Donaldson. Terrific. Checks and balances. So if you are among the Mikes and Debbies good people and great Americans please relax and give it a chance. Trump intends to do good things for a great country and to do them via constitutional means. He is open for business on Americas behalf. Hugh Hewitt hosts a nationally syndicated radio show and is author of the forthcoming The Fourth Way: The Conservative Playbook for a Lasting GOP Majority. Im an older white male who had the privilege of living overseas, being that my father was career military. In some ways, I suppose I now fit the demographic profile of the typical Donald Trump voter, though maybe those years abroad gave me a different perspective of America. I have voted Republican most of my life but chose to vote for an American-born Democrat, Barack Obama, after the disaster of the Chaney/Bush presidency left in its wake a near-economic collapse and a badly mishandled war from which Islamic terrorism clearly sprouted. Republicans, I regret to say, quickly forgot their failed economic policies and their lies about weapons of mass destruction. Whats more, they counted on the American publics memory being short. We only learn from history when we keep it close at hand and sharp in mind. Despite Obamas decisively winning two terms, the GOPs unfortunate goal was to delegitimize his presidency. Then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said early on that his goal was to make Obama a one-termer. House Minority Leader John Boehner was not much better. House Speaker Paul Ryan is now and was then no better. President Obamas words resonate even now: I and many others thank you for standing so high when so many politicians and, yes, many of the public went so low. The Republican Party was asked by President Obama to contribute to health care for all Americans, bolster our crumbling infrastructure and embrace common-sense gun control. He never forgot the 20 dead children of Sandy Hook and the way Republicans in particular blocked anything rankling the NRA. Republicans instead banked on the public growing tired of the stalemate they created. The public would, they hoped, just blame Obama. This strategic obstruction worked over time. Shame on you, fellow Republicans, for putting party before country. Shame on you and the American public for allowing toxic, racial overtones to fill the air through fake news. Shame on once-honorable Republicans who turned their heads and let it all fester. Yes, Obama made mistakes both domestic and foreign but think of what could have been if you had done your duty and participated with constructive ideas instead of relentless obstruction. Now I fully understand and can defend President Obamas use of executive action to get anything at all done for this country. Interestingly, his successor has wasted no time doing the very same, even though he has the benefit of a Republican-run Capitol. Where now is the outrage? President Obama leaves office, warts and all, with high approval ratings and his legacy intact, while Congress ranks low and is rewarded with a public that wants the swamp drained. Yet the public sends back the same old professional politicians and puts the government in charge of one party. Thats not only hypocritical but dangerous. So now that were finally past all the skullduggery about Obamas foreign birth and being a Muslim, Mr. President, just what is Russia holding on you? Help yourself and release your tax returns to clear up the discrepancies. Just follow precedent. You presumably won through honesty and Hillarys stupidity but you sure cant claim any overwhelming Election Day mandate. You failed your first test of draining the swamp by turning to Wall Street and billionaires, Mr. President. Youve made some good picks, but some have come from the bottom of the barrel and will prove divisive. They may even hurt your legacy, which will be increasingly valuable to you as time goes by. These folks of yours dont make it a point to help the average Joe too often. But not all hope is lost. You can still push for reform by imposing strict regulations on lobbyists who control our professional politicians. In short, if you want to make a difference: Do away with corporate welfare. Career politicians are poison to our democracy. Term limits are the only answer to a continuously corrupt system. Federal finance of elections will end much corruption. Mega corruption infects our capitalistic system. These villains seek cheap labor and scuttle jobs through technology, hurting many of the very people who have faith in you. These jobs are not coming back, so please emphasize education as a priority to retrain workers and their children. This is absolutely crucial in an ever-changing global economy. Please stop blaming others for our drug problem. The drug cartels are simply responding to demand. We can stop them, but others will replace them. The real weakness involves Americans. There are cracks in our moral foundation and we must blame ourselves, not others. Mr. President, I am also disturbed at how religion is pushing itself into secular government. I am not a big fan of religious hypocrites telling others they cant have abortions. No one is forcing them to have one. Leave this option so that women in possible crisis arent forced into dark alleys. Religion needs to get back to helping the poor help themselves, education and, yes, inspiring hope not forcing beliefs on others while working against charity and compassion. We have so many unwanted foster children. Who is going to take care of all our unwanted children and abused tots? Churches need to work diligently on such matters and stop building tax-exempt empires that have little to do with religion. Mr. President, you know climate change is not a hoax so dont dismiss it and even if Im wrong, its sure better to be safe than sorry, especially if were thinking of the world our kids will inherit. (And if Im wrong about global warming, Ill have a lot of company in Americas very best scientists.) Mr. President, yes, youre right to want better relations with Russia. But lets get real. Mr. Putin is not our pal or your bosom buddy. He is an authoritarian leader of Russia with a different mindset. He answers to no one. You are not an absolute leader and are answerable to everyone. We can work on space, medicine and other projects with the Russians, but they are not our friends. To suggest otherwise not only works against our allies but our self interest. And are you not supposedly for America first? Please, Mr. President, come back to the real world. Twitter is for children and bored (and often boring) people. I know the press can act like jerks at times and seem one-sided, but they also helped you with free coverage during your campaigning that few others received. Bad as they might be at times, they have done more right than wrong. Yes, you have a thus-far faithful legion of Trumpies out there and their cheers on Inauguration Day no doubt bolstered your confidence and even your ego. But, remember, you are not coming into office with a strong national mandate or high approval ratings. Some of those cheering now can be expected to hold your feet to the fire, especially if your claim to help the little guy helps only the rich and the powerful. Not all of your supporters now will roll over and play dead. And no more scapegoating of others. We the People hold the future of this nations survival in our hands. Stanley Oberst is a retired history teacher and devoted Elvis fan who lives in Waco. He is co-author of Elvis In Texas: The Undiscovered King 1954-1958. Health care for all In these uncertain times, working families value the safety and security of health coverage more than ever. Some members of Congress are debating major changes to our core health system in the United States, including repealing the Affordable Care Act without a replacement and making major, damaging changes to Medicaid, Childrens Health Insurance Program and Medicare. Repealing the ACA alone would leave tens of millions of Americans without the security of health coverage and affect millions more who have benefited greatly from the new law through improvements such as free preventative care and people with pre-existing conditions no longer being denied coverage. To keep our families safe and our economy and communities healthy we must have quality, affordable health care! Laura Zambrano, Waco One every minute Theres a fool born every minute is a quote attributed to P.T. Barnum, showman of the late 19th century and co-founder of the American circus. Mr. Barnum is long dead and the famous circus born of his vision soon dies, but not to worry. We have a grander showman who will do whats necessary to entertain us. Notice how hasty explanations of the 2016 election outcome and potential interference address only tampering with the machines. They do not mention months of tampering with the minds of voters with repeated brainwashing by fake-news outlets recently acknowledged as coming from Russia. Whatever controls your mind also controls your actions. So use your brain, think for yourself and dont be fooled. I think P.T. Barnum would be proud. Nancy Marquis, Waco Whos persecuted? Not to contradict Bill Tinsleys recent column, but Christianity is hardly the only or even the most persecuted religion, either now or over the course of history. Jews have been slaughtered by the millions for many centuries and almost entirely by Christians. Muslims have also been slaughtered just for being Muslims mostly by Christians. Anyone who knows history and knows this and yet pretends Christianity is being singled out for persecution is being disingenuous. Most recently, Christianity, in its universal, broad practice, has been subverted by a radical minority who want to dictate law. This has always resulted in less religious freedom, not more. Shelby Muhl, Prairie Hill The right word It took me a while, but I finally remembered the word exactly the right word that my grandmother would have used for our new president. She would not have hesitated to refer to Mr. Trump as a vulgarian. Boor, buffoon, cad, rube, oaf and philistine are all still appropriate, but vulgarian is exactly the right word. William Howard, McGregor Kelly Landry vowed to her closest girlfriends that she would not see in 2017 remaining in an unhappy marriage, despite her now estranged husband, one of Sydney's richest men, businessman Anthony Bell, warning her of the "dire consequences" that would follow. "He warned her exactly how it would play out if she went ahead with it, and everything he said has come true," PS was told on Thursday. Kelly Landry and celebrity accountant Anthony Bell in happier times. Credit:Belinda Rolland As for any jealousy Landry was accused of harbouring over her husband's friendship with Channel Nine personality and Sydney to Hobart crewmate Erin Molan, PS has confirmed that Landry did confront Bell about the friendship, though Bell and Molan have flatly rejected any impropriety and PS is not suggesting otherwise. In fact, it was Landry who encouraged Bell to include Molan on his supermaxi crew when she first competed in the Sydney to Hobart the year before. In December it was Landry who took a make-up kit to Hobart for Molan to prepare herself before she fronted the media following their win. WA prisons could soon be bursting at the seams with the Barnett government planning to jail motorists who flee from police for at least six months under radical new pursuit laws launched on Sunday. The government has put the foot down and promised to introduce the tough new legislation if it wins a third term, after police were involved in 1164 pursuits last year alone. Police Minister Liza Harvey. Credit:Philip Gostelow Ironically, the Liberal party's promise to target dangerous motorist was on the same day a 33-year-old Kojonup man was charged for allegedly leading police on a pursuit through Belmont on Saturday night. Part of the new pursuit package will also see a trial on dash cameras which will be used as evidence against dangerous drivers who evade police. Indonesian authorities have detained 17 nationals returning from Syria, including children, suspected of being involved in radical activity, officials have said. Immigration office spokesman Agung Sampurno said the people, including a two year-old girl and a three year-old boy, were arrested at Soekarno-Hatta airport upon disembarking an Istanbul-Jakarta Turkish Airline flight on Saturday. The Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, in the outskirts of Jakarta. Credit:AP They have been handed over to the police's anti-terrorism unit for questioning, Sampurno said. "They are currently still under an interrogation process. If we find any relation to crime on terrorism, we will continue the investigation. If not, they will be handed over to their families," the chief of Densus 88, the police's anti-terrorism unit, Eddy Hartono said. Court orders release of person mistakenly arrested The District Police Office, Khotang is under instruction to release a person arrested under charges related to possession of contraband. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, and markets biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, neuroscience, and covid-19 diseases. The company's products include Revlimid, an oral immunomodulatory drug for the treatment of multiple myeloma; Eliquis, an oral inhibitor for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in NVAF, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for anti-cancer indications; Pomalyst/Imnovid indicated for patients with multiple myeloma; and Orencia for adult patients with active RA and psoriatic arthritis. It also provides Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia; Yervoy for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma; Abraxane, a protein-bound chemotherapy product; Reblozyl for the treatment of anemia in adult patients with beta thalassemia; and Empliciti for the treatment of multiple myeloma. In addition, the company offers Zeposia to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis; Breyanzi, a CD19-directed genetically modified autologous T cell immunotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma; Inrebic, an oral kinase inhibitor indicated for the treatment of adult patients with myelofibrosis; and Onureg for the treatment of adult patients with AML. It sells products to wholesalers, distributors, pharmacies, retailers, hospitals, clinics, and government agencies. The company was formerly known as Bristol-Myers Company. The company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in New York, New York. MarineMax, Inc. operates as a recreational boat and yacht retailer and superyacht services company in the United States. It operates through two segments, Retail Operations and Product Manufacturing. The company sells new and used recreational boats, including pleasure and fishing boats, mega-yachts, yachts, sport cruisers, motor yachts, pontoon boats, ski boats, jet boats, and other recreational boats. It also offers marine parts and accessories comprising marine electronics; dock and anchoring products that include boat fenders, lines, and anchors; boat covers; trailer parts; water sport accessories, which comprise tubes, lines, wakeboards, and skis; engine parts; oils; lubricants; steering and control systems; corrosion control products and service products; high-performance accessories, including propellers and instruments; and a line of boating accessories, such as life jackets, inflatables, and water sports equipment. In addition, the company provides novelty items, such as shirts, caps, and license plates; marine engines and equipment; maintenance, repair, and slip and storage accommodation services; and boat or yacht brokerage services, as well as charters yachts and power catamarans. Further, it offers new or used boat finance services; arranges insurance coverage, including boat property, disability, undercoating, gel sealant, fabric protection, and casualty insurance coverage; and manufactures and sells sport yachts and yachts. Additionally, the company operates vacations in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. It also markets and sells its products through offsite locations and print catalog. The company has 79 retail locations in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. MarineMax, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is based in Clearwater, Florida. OGE Energy Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy and energy services provider that offers physical delivery and related services for electricity, natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electric energy. It provides retail electric service to approximately 879,000 customers, which covers a service area of approximately 30,000 square miles in Oklahoma and western Arkansas; and owns and operates coal-fired, natural gas-fired, wind-powered, and solar-powered generating assets. As of December 31, 2021, the company owned and operated interconnected electric generation, transmission, and distribution systems, including 16 generating stations with an aggregate capability of 7,207 megawatts; and transmission systems comprising 54 substations and 5,122 structure miles of lines in Oklahoma, and 7 substations and 277 structure miles of lines in Arkansas. Its distribution systems included 350 substations; 29,494 structure miles of overhead lines; 3,365 miles of underground conduit; and 11,125 miles of underground conductors in Oklahoma, as well as 29 substations, 2,795 structure miles of overhead lines, 349 miles of underground conduit, and 662 miles of underground conductors in Arkansas. The company was founded in 1902 and is based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Going far Can anyone dare to maintain their sanctity while floating on a morass of filth? The state of affairs in Nepal creates an environment that nurtures corrupt practices and that has sadly become a way of life here. Robert Half International Inc. provides staffing and risk consulting services in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The company operates through three segments: Temporary and Consultant Staffing, Permanent Placement Staffing, and Risk Consulting and Internal Audit Services. It places temporary services for accounting, finance, and bookkeeping; temporary and full-time office and administrative personnel consisting of executive and administrative assistants, receptionists, and customer service representatives; full-time accounting, financial, tax, and accounting operations personnel; and information technology contract professionals and full-time employees in the areas of platform systems integration to end-user technical and desktop support, including specialists in application development, networking and cloud, systems integration and deployment, database design and administration, and security and business continuity. The company also offers temporary and full-time employees in attorney, paralegal, legal administrative, and legal secretarial positions; and senior-level project professionals in the accounting and finance fields for financial systems conversions, expansion into new markets, business process re-engineering, business systems performance improvement, and post-merger financial consolidation. It is involved in serving professionals in the areas of creative, design, marketing, advertising, and public relations; and placing various positions, such as creative directors, graphics designers, web designers, media buyers, front end developers, copywriters, digital marketing managers, marketing analytics specialists, brand managers, and public relations specialists. The company provides internal audit, technology consulting, risk and compliance consulting, and business performance services. It serves clients and employment candidates. Robert Half International Inc. was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California. All the worry about Donald Trumps potential abuses of power reminded me of Robert Higgs book Delusions of Power and specifically chapter two where he asks, and answers, the question Do Slavery and Government Rest on the Same Rationalizations? He sums up the discussion this way: The parallels between the rationalizations of continued slavery and the rationalizations of continued government (as we know it) deserve serious consideration. Unless I have missed something important, the similarities between arguments against the abolition of slavery and arguments against the abolition of government as we know it should shake the faith of all Americans who still labor under the misconception that ours is a government of the people, by the people, for the people From where I stand, it looks distressingly like an institutional complex that rests on the same shaky intellectual foundations as slavery. Read an earlier article by Dr. Higgs entitled Why We Couldnt Abolish Slavery Then and Cant Abolish Government Now here and dont miss the chart of Arguments Against the Abolition of Slavery and Arguments Against the Abolition of Government (as We Know It)" included at the bottom of the article. The book is worth a read too. Powerball up to $1.6 billion, now largest jackpot on record By West Kentucky Star Staff Jan. 22, 2017 | 10:25 AM | MCCRACKEN COUNTY, KY A traffic stop early Sunday morning led to a Livingston County man's arrest on drug charges. According to the McCracken County Sherff's Office, deputies stopped a pick-up truck in the 100 block of Oaks Road for traffic violations. According to police, the driver, 45-year-old Douglas Walker of Grand Rivers, showed signs of impairment and was asked to exit the vehicle for field sobriety tests. Walker was found to be under the influence of prescription medication while operating the vehicle. During a search of the vehicle, deputies reportedly found several oxycodone and hydrocodone pills that Walker did not have a prescription for. Walker was arrested and transported to the McCracken County Regional Jail. He's charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance, operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs, operating on a suspended driver's license and speeding. Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required. Your Full Name: (optional) Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required. Rita Redmond was a true lady who felt that every pupil had something to gift to the world Govt lawyers boycott hearings in protest of judge appointments Government lawyers boycotted hearings at Supreme Court and other courts across the country on Sunday to protest what they claim the discrimination and biasness in the appointment of 80 judges in High Court recently. Hapless creatures Cruelty towards animals in the name of culture persists despite legal measures to stop it Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 21/01/2017 (2113 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The best police work looks like nothing at all and is always soon forgotten. That line, from Phillip Kerrs 2013 novel A Man Without Breath, carries a lot of truth for Winnipeg police officer Kevin Birkett. He quotes it often. The 54-year-old constable started his career on Main Street in 1985 and returned to the beat in December 2014. The kind of police work he does isnt sexy; no headlines, no high-speed chases. From Monday to Friday he works at community-building. Its a lot of listening, mostly. Its just after nine on an unseasonably warm November morning outside the Bell Hotel. Birkett is reminiscing about a bouncer named Evelyn who used to work there, back before it was home to a quaint lunch bistro. She had hands like an offensive lineman, he says. The Main Street Birkett returned to is not the same Main Street he left. Social agencies have replaced the bars that used to line the strip. BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Const. Kevin Birkett has been walking the beat since 1985. In the case of the New Occidental Hotel the last of the old-time bucket-of-blood bars, as a former bouncer called it thats literally true; the notorious establishment at the corner of Logan Avenue and Main is now Red Road Lodge, a transitional house for vulnerable people. When I started walking the beat in May of 85, Main Street had all the hotels and beverage rooms, so it was a little wilder, Birkett says. Now, it seems to be more of a ground zero for transiency. One thing Ive discovered is all the great people employed at the various agencies, and the volunteers. I never really appreciated them. I always had an idea Im a people person anyway but when youre boots on the ground, youre exposed to it a bit more. You get more of a sense of what goes on. Birkett is a large, friendly man, and people are drawn to him. He exchanges familiar hellos with everyone who passes, supplying anecdotes about the folks he now knows well. He often stops and chats. Remember to take your medication, Jerry, he gently reminds one man. Unfortunately, I cant remember everyones name, and it bothers me that I cant remember all the nice peoples names, he says. I try to. I write them down in the back of my book. Everyone is on a first-name basis with Birkett, though. Hey Kevin, a woman calls out to him as we walk along, Gimme a smoke! On the day we go out, Birkett has a (non-job-related) black eye. Its a hot topic. You should see the other guy, he says, laughing. Birkett is a real dad, not just a teller of dad jokes; his two kids are in their late teens. BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Kevin Birkett with some men on Main Street. I believe in being nice to people, he says. Some people dont give you that chance. But when opportunities present themselves and they usually do I like to be nice. I think thats what I am. Building trust, particularly with a vulnerable population that doesnt always trust authority or law enforcement, takes time. Its gradual exposure to me and seeing what I do and how I do it. You show people that youre there. Some of them, their fear (of police) might be experienced-based. A lot of them have said, I was an asshole to police, but youre different. You listen to me. Or, I dont like police, but I like you that kind of thing. You dont take the mound and pitch your best game every time, he continues. And sometimes that leaves a lasting impression. Sometimes an impression is tempered with time and experiences. We walk down Henry Avenue, where people are gathered outside the Salvation Army. A lot of lost souls, Birkett says, surveying the scene. Me and St. Jude, I think we work in concert with each other. St. Jude is the patron saint of lost causes. BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Birkett: 'I believe in being nice to people.' Lets go to the Cross, Birkett suggests, mid-morning. Hes referring to Our Place/Chez Nous, the drop-in centre on Main Street operated by the St. Charles Catholic Parish, but everyone calls it the Cross. About 30 people are drinking coffee and sitting on couches made homey by the afghans knitted by church ladies. Birkett introduces me to Sister Johanna Jonker Sister Jo who shows me around. Shes a kind-faced woman who gives great hugs. An older couple, two volunteers, are playing Neil Diamonds Sweet Caroline on acoustic guitar. People seem relaxed. People just fit in here, Jonker says. Fragments of conversation float above the music. I havent spoken to my mom in 35 years Eleven years clean, and Im proud of myself. A man asks to pray with Sister Jo; his daughter recently overdosed. There are many ways in which Chez Nous offers warm respite from the streets. Despite the arrival of social agencies on Main Street, Birkett says crime is more violent now. In the 1980s, he says, there was an unspoken code of ethics on the street; one-on-one fighting, an eye for an eye. Theres something different now. You get more five-on-one, and the prevalence of weapons. Youd meet some pretty tough people back then, just one on one. People dont have that toughness anymore you have to have a weapon or five friends. BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Birkett speaks with Caroline who frequents the area on Main Street near Henry Avenue. Birkett says sometimes having a cop walk the beat is like smoke and mirrors. If someone is going to do something, theyll wait until you walk by. But I think it helps reassure people. People tell me it makes a difference. I like to think it does. Chris Tascona, the executive chef at Lunch Bell Bistro, thinks so, too. Its a good thing, he says of having Birkett walking the area. It keeps him in contact with the community. He has direct observation. It provides a linkage between the police and the public. I cant think of any negatives about that. Birkett is among Tasconas regulars. Hes outgoing, hes friendly, hes approachable, Tascona says. Even if youre misbehaving, hes civil and and restrained in his response. Ive seen him making arrests on the street, and hes got an easygoing way about him. BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Police often make arrests and Kevin Birkett will help if he's available. Birkett isnt naive, especially when it comes to public drinking and solvent abuse. People are going to be huffing, theyre going to be drinking, and theyre going to do it somewhere, he says. I think people have an understanding that I know theyre going to do it, so they do it with discretion. They know if they dont, life will catch up to them. Whether Birkett decides to ticket someone is a judgment call he has to make dozens of times a day. I know I dont meet everyones expectations, he says. Thats the trouble with policing. You can only do what you can, when you can, if you can. He points to a high volume of calls about panhandlers at Higgins and Main as an example. Im not going to give someone, passively standing on the side with their hand out, a ticket for $500 when I know theyre not going to pay or be held accountable for. Its the ones who are aggressive who are walking into the street and stopping traffic who I focus on because I can actually do something about it. BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Our Place Chez Nous Drop in Center Inc., also known as The Cross. Many a time Ive thought, Ugh, maybe I should have given that person a ticket. Ive also thought, Maybe I shouldnt have given somebody a ticket. You could have 100 scenarios the same but 100 different police officers, and therell be a twist on each of them. Main Street has changed, and so has Birketts job. It used to be a two-man beat days, evenings, nights, he says. Now its just him, on weekdays. He has no immediate plans to retire I have no marketable skills that Im aware of and he doesnt know whether the Winnipeg Police Service will replace him when he does. People have been (on Main Street) on and off over the years, he says. They keep reinventing the wheel. Policing has to adjust. As much as boots on the ground are still a staple in many cities, like New York that was a big change in how it improved a department has to live within its means. You end up reconfiguring. A lot of guys end up in cruiser cars because you have to go fire to fire to fire to put them out, so to speak. Boots on the ground doesnt address that. But I think (it) always works. Youre just there more. Const. Rejeanne Caron, the Winnipeg police downtown safety co-ordinator, says having a cop walk the beat on Main Street has always been a priority. BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Kevin Birkett. talks to The Cross staff Sister Johanna Jonker. Theres always been a huge benefit to it, she says. Visibility is No. 1. It gives people a sense of safety to have this presence of police. People view that has a crime deterrent. Walking a beat affords an officer a different perspective, allowing them to see and hear more than they would be able to in a cruiser, she says. I call it surround-sound policing, she says. Walking a beat also affords access. A cruiser car cant fit down, say, a narrow walkway. And having a beat cop who develops trust within the community can help with crime-solving, as well. People are more likely to offer community intelligence or information (to their beat cop) that they wouldnt necessarily call 911 or the non-emergency line with, she says. Birkett says he always has a police officers eye when hes working his day-to-day, but when hes off duty, hes off duty. I dont take it home. Sometimes my kids will ask me what I did during the day. I might think about it. Sometimes I wake up at three in the morning and think, I should have done that, or, maybe I should have done this differently. BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Birkett often get calls from officers in the area. So, what makes a good beat cop? You have to be a good listener, he says, responding immediately. Some of my colleagues are too quick to interrupt, and Ive been guilty of that myself. Youve got to sit back and listen, but youve got to be firm. Processing what he hears is also a challenge. When you see people with emotional issues, youve got to be strong, Birkett says. Its all you can do to not break down a bit yourself, but theyre looking for strength. Youre the shoulder. Ive had more blood and tears spilled on me in 32 years than a lot of people. You do what you can. If only you could do more for them, but being somebody to talk to is sometimes all they need. jen.zoratti@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @JenZoratti Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/01/2017 (2112 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Last months release of the federal governments task force report on legalized recreational marijuana is prompting wildly different approaches from players looking to position themselves for the eventuality of legalization. With such a massive potential market that could all of a sudden open up to the mainstream, there are plenty of business opportunities that are getting queued up. A recent comprehensive survey done by Deloitte estimated the Canadian market could be worth about $9 billion in annual marijuana sales and nearly $23 billion per year including ancillary businesses such as security, transportation and other things. PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS A billboard on the Disraeli Freeway advertises Erbachay, a Canada-wide marijuana-delivery business. A Vancouver company called Erbachay has recently put up a number of billboard ads around Winnipeg and in Brandon featuring a marijuana leaf background that only includes the companys name in phonetics its website address, the words must be 19+ and Canada Wide Delivery. Erbachay operates a marijuana dispensary in Vancouver and a national mail-order medical marijuana business. We want to normalize the conversation about marijuana use, said company president Darcy Delainey. Erbachay gets its medical marijuana from many different suppliers, including individuals who are licensed to grow their own and who have excess supply. Asked if that was legal, Delainey said, I guess not. He said Erbachay is positioning itself to be able to take advantage of upcoming legalization. The Trudeau government has said it will have legislation to present to Parliament sometime this spring. While Delainey takes that to mean it will be legal by the spring, others are taking a more conservative approach. John Arbuthnot, president of Delta-9 Biotech, the only licensed medical marijuana producer in the province, believes the legislative process is probably going to mean actual legalization is not going to occur until 2018. His company recently raised an additional $1.35 million in new equity and is busy building out additional production space. The company has recently designed a new production process using hydroponics and stacked metal shipping containers. Arbuthnot said it is the most cost-effective way to increase production and meet all of the Health Canada inspection approvals that must occur before each new container goes into production in the companys 64,000-square-foot leased facility in Transcona. We hope to have 100 operational by mid-2018 and 600 by 2020, Arbuthnot said. Delta-9 can produce about 40 kilograms of high-quality marijuana per year per container that can be stacked up to three-to-four high. One hundred containers in production would generate $30 million in annual revenue, and 600 would boost revenue to $150 million. It would also mean increasing the companys workforce from about 25 today to more than 400. Arbuthnot said Delta-9 is also planning to open its first medical-marijuana clinic in the city in Osborne Village in the spring. Arbuthnot is a strong proponent of the regulatory regime that currently exists for medical marijuana and does not have high regard for the dispensaries that are growing in popularity across the country, and he questions the quality control applied in those facilities. But just as the grey market dispensaries such as Erbachay are getting ready to sell to the recreational market, so is Delta-9. Were excited about the potential to supply the recreational market, said Arbuthnot. But there are lots of question marks. Arbuthnot said Delta-9 intends to leave its options open as to what role it will play in that market as a distributor, integrated retailer or some kind of wholesaler. He believes the medical-marijuana business will get more medical, perhaps with the more production of oils or pills or other forms of more traditional delivery of pharmaceuticals. martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/01/2017 (2112 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Its tempting to see the entirety of Donald Trumps story as unprecedented, but when he was sworn in Friday as the 45th president of the United States, he became the nations fourth consecutive leader to assume the office with a segment of the electorate questioning his legitimacy. On that score, Trump doesnt represent a new crisis for American democracy but rather an escalation of one thats been building one Americans have all played a role in creating and that he has deftly exploited to his advantage. Americans used to argue over whether new presidents had a mandate, which was a more polite way of raising the legitimacy question. After the 1992 election, Senate minority leader Bob Dole said president-elect Bill Clinton did not have a mandate to press ahead with any sweeping changes because hed obtained only 43 per cent of the popular vote in a three-way race. Republicans convinced themselves third-party candidate Ross Perot had cost them the election, taking more votes away from George H.W. Bush than from Clinton. They were quick to accuse Clinton in his first year of liberal overreach for pressing to allow gays in the military, raise energy taxes and take on an ambitious overhaul of the health-care system. Anger among conservatives Clinton would illegitimately (in their view) push such an agenda led to the so-called Gingrich Revolution in 1994, fed any number of conspiracy theories and led Republicans to gleefully pursue Clintons impeachment during his second term. Then, in 2000, came one of the more contentious presidential elections in U.S. history not because of the substance of the campaign between Al Gore and George W. Bush, two amiable and seemingly moderate candidates, but because the result was too close to call for weeks. It took a Supreme Court intervention to put an end to the indecision. Compounding the muddled nature of the outcome, Bush obtained half a million fewer votes in the popular count nationwide. GERALD HERBERT / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Barack Obama walks down Pennsylvania Avenue on his way to the White House during the inaugural parade in January 2013. Some members of the Congressional Black Caucus (including Rep. John Lewis, who forcefully questioned Trumps legitimacy earlier this month) refused to attend the inauguration. I can remember the debates then among fellow journalists and friends about either the necessity, or the peril, of normalizing such an abnormal, unsatisfying result with a normal inauguration and all the other trappings afforded an incoming president. We tend to forget the extent to which #notmypresident could have been a trending hashtag in those early Bush days if hashtags had been around because everything would soon change, on Sept. 11, 2001. After the terrorist attacks, Americans rallied around their president, as they always tend to do in wartime, and the grousing about his legitimacy or mandate stopped. But a few years later, with mounting disillusionment over open-ended military campaigns abroad and a sense the administration had launched the Iraq invasion on false pretenses, millions of Americans once again began to question not only Bushs judgment but also his legitimacy. None other than New York real estate tycoon Donald Trump called for Bushs impeachment. The impulse to disqualify, rather than merely debate, leaders we dont agree with intensified in the late 2000s. There was no disputing the mandate conferred upon Barack Obama by his resounding 2008 win, so the questioning of our first African-American presidents legitimacy swirled around the underhanded, racially motivated and absurd allegations peddled by the current U.S. president, among others Obama wasnt a natural-born citizen. Newt Gingrich spoke for many in 2010 when he accused the president of being beyond the American mainstream, pursuing instead a Kenyan, anti-colonial world view. Given the propensity of Americans to question the legitimacy of leaders they dont agree with, its hardly surprising Lewis and others questioned Trumps legitimacy before he took the oath. The tenor of his public rhetoric and behaviour; his considerable three-million-vote deficit in the popular vote; the FBI directors erratic intervention, now under investigation, in the final days of the campaign; and the Russian governments attempts to influence the outcome in Trumps favour provide fodder for those inclined to dismiss a president they oppose. Trump has taken to calling any news he doesnt like fake news, but for millions of Americans, he is now their fake president. What is it about the past three presidencies that helped bring us to this moment? That question will no doubt inspire many dissertations in the coming decades, but one obvious similarity is the Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama administrations, unlike those that came before them, had to navigate in a political environment shaped by the close of the Cold War, the rise of instantaneous, doomsday-style political fundraising, the emergence of a highly balkanized and ubiquitous 24/7 media and the disruption of traditional politics by the Internet and social media. MARCY NIGHSWANDER / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES President George H.W. Bush (from left), independent Ross Perot and Democratic candidate Bill Clinton in a 1992 debate. Some conservatives saw Clintons failure to win a majority of the vote in the three-way race as a weak mandate. These are somewhat familiar, overlapping themes, though we often make a glaring omission in how we talk about them. With the end of the Cold War and its threat of nuclear annihilation, the stakes seemed lower, as did the need to defer to presidents on foreign policy or anything else (the two years after 9/11 were a reversion to Cold War days in terms of how opponents dealt with Bush). The flood of money into politics money that could be raised easily by groups other than the traditional political parties, at the click of a button encouraged a rhetorical arms race of dystopian depictions of what had become of Washington, D.C. It is much easier to get people to send you US$20 if you accuse the president of being a threat to the American way of life instead of an honourable man with whom you happen to disagree on a certain topic. And were all familiar with how changes in media in this age of 24/7 cable news (Fox News launched in 1996 to challenge the cautious objectivity of CNN) and of infinite online opinions have helped poison, and add a frenzied quality to, political coverage and discourse. The omission in how Americans talk about the hyperbole in politics and civic life is we conveniently take ourselves out of the picture. We talk about all this with detached regret, as victims of distant politicians antics, when we are in fact protagonists in this tale, helping to determine the tenor of our politics. The Internet and social media have engaged millions of Americans in politics more directly than ever before, and the results havent been pretty. If youre passionate about U.S. politics and follow it closely, think about how people in your circles have talked about the past few presidents, in person or online. I can recall conservative friends in the 1990s calling Clinton (the free-trading, bank-deregulating, Serbia-bombing Democrat) a socialist, and then being surrounded by friends calling Bush (the pro-immigration, Medicare-expanding, Muslim-embracing Republican) a fascist. The zealous, irrational epithets only ratcheted up from there. Obama was often called a socialist or a Bolshevik even as he disappointed his most ardent supporters by coming to Wall Streets rescue during the financial crisis. By the time the 2016 presidential campaign was underway, neither Democrats nor Republicans retained enough credibility in sounding the alarm about Trump being outside the mainstream; they had cried wolf too many times. This has left us with President Donald Trump: a leader befitting our own hyperbole. Its convenient to talk about the Trump phenomenon as if it were an errant asteroid hitting Washington, destroying our harmonious politics out of the blue, but its also dishonest. Its desirable, and quintessentially American, to strenuously oppose policies and ideas we disagree with. But the haste of recent years to delegitimize opponents, and to call them un-American, is itself un-American. It leaves us with a bankrupt, even illegitimate, politics, devoid of shared narratives, aspirations, values and, increasingly, facts. RICK MCKAY / COX NEWS SERVICE FILES, PAUL HOSEFROS / NEW YORK TIMES FILES The results of the 2000 election between George W. Bush (left) and Al Gore were undecided for weeks after the vote. Andres Martinez is editorial director of Zocalo Public Square, for which he writes the Trade Winds column. He teaches journalism at Arizona State University. Washington Post BANJUL, Gambia (AP) Gambias defeated leader Yahya Jammeh will step down and leave the country, Mauritanias president said early Saturday, while Gambias new president declared that the rule of fear in the tiny West African nation had ended. Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz spoke with reporters at the airport shortly before boarding his flight home, calling the news a victory for Gambia. He had been part of last-ditch talks to try to persuade Jammeh to cede power to Adama Barrow, who won election last month, while a regional force was poised to move in if negotiations failed. A State House official close to the situation said Jammeh would leave within three days, possibly on Saturday with Guinean President Alpha Conde, who was spending the night in Gambias capital, Banjul. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to speak about the situation to press. Jammeh has refused to accept his loss to Barrow, who was inaugurated Thursday at Gambias embassy in neighboring Senegal because of concerns for his safety. It was not clear when Barrow would return to Gambia. Jammeh, who first seized power in a 1994 coup, has been holed up in his official residence in Banjul, and was becoming increasingly isolated as his security forces abandoned him and he dissolved his Cabinet. Defense forces chief Ousmane Badjie told The Associated Press that Gambias security services now support Barrow and would not oppose the regional force that was ready to move against Jammeh if he refused to step down. You cannot push us to war for an issue we can solve politically, Badjie said. We dont see any reason to fight. The force, including tanks, rolled into Gambia without facing any resistance, said Marcel Alain de Souza, chairman of the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS. At least 20 military vehicles were seen Friday at the border town of Karang. The force included troops from Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo and Mali, and they moved in after Barrows inauguration and a unanimous vote by the U.N. Security Council to support the regional efforts. Jallikattu bullfighting set to resume in Tamil Nadu The Indian federal government has cleared the way for bullfighting events to resume in southern Tamil Nadu state, bypassing a Supreme Court ban. 1967 The Farmers & Merchants Union Bank held their annual meeting at the bank. The cashier, John J. Pratt read the earnings report which showed a 17 percent increase in operating revenue this past year. Directors elected were H.L. Zeidler, William M. Hughes, Dr. Rolf F. Poser, Lelon Lange, George Gunderson, J.S. Pratt and T.B. Thomas. Wenzels Casino continues its Wednesday evening buffet and Friday evening smorgasbord which includes king-crab, lobster tails, and three types of pan-fried fish. 1977 Charles Fuller, of Fullers Super Valu in Columbus, has started a petition to put on the April 5 ballot a referendum to decide if he should be granted a Class A-Fermented Malt Beverage license. The petition would need 204 signatures to be placed on the ballot. Dr. Craig Campbell was appointed assistant clinical professor of surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. Campbell recently moved to Columbus. 1987 Dr. Bob Poser has carried the title of health officer for the city of Columbus for the past 34 years. He has been signing birth and death certificates, reporting cases of communicable diseases, and reports of nuisances in Columbus since 1953. The County Health Department has taken over these duties after a change in state law. 1997 The City Recreation Department may be forced to cut back on its weekend schedules at the schools if the Columbus School Board goes through with a plan to enforce an existing policy of having a janitor on duty anytime a building is open. Only two contests will be on the April ballot. Jim Davis will run against Mayor Joe Marks, and incumbent Alderman Lauris Anthon will be opposed by Robert Plata Jr. Student funding and registration Details on NSFAS, gap funding for the missing middle, historical debt and registration. The registration process is currently underway and while many have registered, the University is aware that others have been unable to register due to a lack of financial resources. The University has been engaging the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and other stakeholders on these issues since last year, as well as in recent days, and the following has been agreed: DHET contribution to fee increase The DHET will cover the fee increase of 8% (gap funding) for 2017 for South African students whose combined family income is below R600 000 per annum. This includes both students on NSFAS (National Students Financial Aid Scheme) and missing middle students. The DHET has established a process for the identification and verification of the missing middle cohort common to all universities. Only South African citizens and permanent residents studying towards a 2017 qualification will be considered. Students are required to apply for this gap funding via the Wits Student Self Service portal. Students on NSFAS or awaiting NSFAS feedback The DHET will pay for all students who have qualified for support from NSFAS, including those with historical debt. Students on NSFAS may also register without making the first fee payment in January 2017. Please note that all students in this category must sign a loan agreement form with NSFAS in order to obtain this funding. Students who are still awaiting the outcome of their application from NSFAS may register and delay the first fee payment to the end of March 2017. Please note that proof of application from NSFAS is required by the Fees Office before students can register. Students in the missing middle with historical debt The vice-chancellors of all universities met this week with the DHET for clarity on the support to students in the missing middle with historic debt. Wits recommended that students in this category be fully supported. The DHET, however, indicated that there were no funds available and that students in the missing middle are responsible for their own respective historical debt. The Department recommended that universities assist as far as possible to register academically successful students with historical debt if such students (a) settle their debt or (b) commit to payment plans. These financial concessions are to be undertaken without breaching the fiduciary responsibilities and without compromising the financial sustainability of universities. Wits is mindful of the current economic climate and the financial pressure experienced by students and their families. The University is trying to assist as many students as possible, while remaining financially sustainable. Recognising the financial hardships faced by some students and after consultation with the Students Representative Council (SRC), the Senior Executive Team has approved the following policy for registration in 2017 for students in the missing middle with historical debt: All students who owe R10 000 or less will have their debt automatically rolled into their 2017 fees and will be allowed to register. Students who have debt higher than R10 000 will be requested to pay half the outstanding balance and enter into a payment plan for the remainder of the funds, before being allowed to register. Interest will not be charged if students abide by the payment plan. This is the extent to which the University can assist students without compromising its financial sustainability. We believe that these financial concessions will enable the majority of students at Wits to register for the 2017 academic year. It must be noted that the University, in granting assistance, must do so in accordance with the legislative framework governing the granting of credit by educational institutions. Fundraising The University and the SRC are continuing to work to attract funding for bursaries, scholarships and financial aid. In 2016, Wits administered about R1 billion in financial aid, scholarships and bursaries that assisted more than 22 000 students. Students who require funding for 2017 can apply via The Donation Discretionary Fund on the Student Self-Service portal. The application will be added to a database which will be used to pair students with suitable donors, when the University receives such funding. A form with supporting documentation needs to be uploaded onto the portal. This application is separate to the Gap Funding application described above and does not guarantee funding. Lasting solutions A new model for the financing of the higher education system is a national priority and we are hopeful that long-term solutions for the financing of the higher education system will be announced during the course of the year. The stability of the higher education system is essential if it is to continue to produce the graduates, professionals and research required to enable the inclusive economic development of our country and the addressing of the triple challenges of inequality, poverty, and unemployment. We appeal to all students and other stakeholders to work with the University to constructively find lasting solutions that are beneficial for all. Thank you SENIOR EXECUTIVE TEAM 22 JANUARY 2017 Madhes parties, Naya Shakti in bid for alliance The Madhes-based parties and the Naya Shakti Nepal, which last week agreed to jointly press the government to pass the constitution amendment bill with revisions, have begun discussion to identity agendas of shared interest to forge a long-term alliance. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc., a telecommunications company, provides communications services in the United States. It operates through two segments: UScellular and TDS Telecom. The company offers wireless solutions to consumers and business and government customers, including a suite of connected Internet of things (IoT) solutions, and software applications for monitor and control, business automation/operations, communication, fleet and asset management, smart water solutions, private cellular networks and custom, and end-to-end IoT solutions; wireless priority services and quality priority and preemption options; smartphones and other handsets, tablets, wearables, mobile hotspots, routers, and IoT devices; and accessories, such as cases, screen protectors, chargers, and memory cards, as well as consumer electronics, including audio, home automation and networking products. It also provides replace and repair services; Trade-In program through which it buys customers' used equipment; internet connections and all-home WI-FI services; TDS TV+, an integrated cloud television platform that offers video content; local and long-distance telephone service, VoIP, and enhanced services; and broadband, IP-based services, and hosted voice and video collaboration services. The company sells its products through retail sales, direct and indirect sales, third-party retailers, and independent agents, as well as through ecommerce and telesales. As of December 31, 2021, it offers its services to customers 5 million wireless connections, and 1.2 million wireline and cable connections. The company was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. PNM Resources, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides electricity and electric services in the United States. It operates through Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) and Texas-New Mexico Power Company (TNMP) segments. The PNM segment engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The segment generates electricity using coal, natural gas and oil, nuclear fuel, solar, wind, and geothermal energy sources. As of December 31, 2021, this segment had owned or leased facilities with a total net generation capacity of 2,168 megawatts; and owned 3,426 miles of electric transmission lines, 5,751 miles of distribution overhead lines, 5,765 miles of underground distribution lines, and 250 substations. The segment also owns and leases communication, office and other equipment, office space, vehicles, and real estate. The TNMP segment provides regulated transmission and distribution services. As of December 31, 2021, the segment owned 983 miles of overhead electric transmission lines, 7,297 miles of overhead distribution lines, 1,408 miles of underground distribution lines, and 113 substations. The segment also owns and leases vehicles, service facilities, and office locations throughout its service territory. The company serves approximately 806,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers and end-users of electricity in New Mexico and Texas. PNM Resources, Inc. was incorporated in 1882 and is headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Major parties agree to hold local polls by mid-May Three major parties have agreed to hold local elections under the new structure by mid-May and ensure other two levels of electionsprovincial and federalby mid-December. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. provides investor communications and technology-driven solutions for the financial services industry. The company's Investor Communication Solutions segment processes and distributes proxy materials to investors in equity securities and mutual funds, as well as facilitates related vote processing services; and distributes regulatory reports, class action, and corporate action/reorganization event information, as well as tax reporting solutions. It also offers ProxyEdge, an electronic proxy delivery and voting solution; data-driven solutions and an end-to-end platform for content management, composition, and omni-channel distribution of regulatory, marketing, and transactional information, as well as mutual fund trade processing services; data and analytics solutions; solutions for public corporations and mutual funds; SEC filing and capital markets transaction services; registrar, stock transfer, and record-keeping services; and omni-channel customer communications solutions, as well as operates Broadridge Communications Cloud platform that creates, delivers, and manages communications and customer engagement activities. The company's Global Technology and Operations segment provides solutions that automate the front-to-back transaction lifecycle of equity, mutual fund, fixed income, foreign exchange and exchange-traded derivatives, order capture and execution, trade confirmation, margin, cash management, clearance and settlement, reference data management, reconciliations, securities financing and collateral management, asset servicing, compliance and regulatory reporting, portfolio accounting, and custody-related services. This segment also offers business process outsourcing services; technology solutions, such portfolio management, compliance, fee billing, and operational support solutions; and capital market and wealth management solutions. The company was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Lake Success, New York. S&P Global Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and workflow solutions in the global capital, commodity, and automotive markets. It operates in six divisions: S&P Global Ratings, S&P Dow Jones Indices, S&P Global Commodity Insights, S&P Global Market Intelligence, S&P Global Mobility, and S&P Global Engineering Solutions. The S&P Global Ratings division operates as an independent provider of credit ratings, research, and analytics, offering investors and other market participants information, ratings, and benchmarks. The S&P Dow Jones Indices division is an index provider that maintains various valuation and index benchmarks for investment advisors, wealth managers, and institutional investors. The S&P Global Commodity Insights division offers data and insights for global energy and commodity markets and enable its customers to make decisions. The S&P Global Market Intelligence division delivers data and technology solutions for customers to provide insights for making decisions. It offers data and services that bring end-to-end workflow solutions, including capital formation, data and distribution, ESG and sustainability, leveraged loans, private markets, sector coverage, supply chain, and issuer solutions, as well as credit, risk, and regulatory solutions. The S&P Global Mobility division provides insights derived from unmatched automotive data, enabling its customers to anticipate change and make decisions. The S&P Global Engineering Solutions division offers engineering expertise and solutions in industries, such as aerospace and defense, energy, architecture, construction, and transportation. Its solutions empower business and technical leaders to transform workflows and make decisions. S&P Global Inc. was founded in 1860 and is headquartered in New York, New York. The following companies are subsidiares of Lloyds Banking Group: A G Finance Ltd, A.C.L. Ltd, ACL Autolease Holdings Ltd, ADF No.1 Pty Ltd, Addison Social Housing Holdings Ltd, Alex Lawrie Factors Ltd, Alex. Lawrie Receivables Financing Ltd, Amberdate Ltd, Anglo Scottish Utilities Partnership 1, Aquilus Ltd, Automobile Association Personal Finance Ltd, BOS (Ireland) Property Services 2 Ltd, BOS (Ireland) Property Services Ltd, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages (Scotland) No. 2) Ltd, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages (Scotland) No. 3) Ltd, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages (Scotland)) Ltd, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 1 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 2 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 3 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 4 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 5 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 6 plc, BOS (USA) Fund Investments Inc., BOS (USA) Inc., BOS Edinburgh No 1 Ltd, BOS Mistral Ltd, BOS Personal Lending Ltd, BOSSAF Rail Ltd, Bank of Scotland (B G S) Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland (Stanlife) London Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Branch Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Central Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Edinburgh Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Equipment Finance Ltd, Bank of Scotland Foundation, Bank of Scotland LNG Leasing (No 1) Ltd, Bank of Scotland London Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Nominees (Unit Trusts) Ltd, Bank of Scotland P.E.P. Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Structured Asset Finance Ltd, Bank of Scotland Transport Finance 1 Ltd, Bank of Scotland plc, Bank of Wales Ltd, Barents Leasing Ltd, Barnwood Mortgages Ltd, Birchcrown Finance Ltd, Birmingham Midshires Financial Services Ltd, Birmingham Midshires Land Development Ltd, Birmingham Midshires Mortgage Services Ltd, Black Horse (TRF) Ltd, Black Horse Executive Mortgages Ltd, Black Horse Finance Holdings Ltd, Black Horse Finance Management Ltd, Black Horse Group Ltd, Black Horse Ltd, Black Horse Offshore Ltd, Black Horse Property Services Ltd, Boltro Nominees Ltd, British Linen Leasing (London) Ltd, British Linen Leasing Ltd, British Linen Shipping Ltd, C.T.S.B. Leasing Ltd, CBRail S.A.R.L., CF Asset Finance Ltd, CF1 Ltd, CM Venture Investments Ltd, Cancara Asset Securitisation Ltd, Capital 1945 Ltd, Capital Bank Leasing 12 Ltd, Capital Bank Leasing 3 Ltd, Capital Bank Leasing 5 Ltd, Capital Bank Leasing 9 Ltd, Capital Bank Property Investments (3) Ltd, Capital Personal Finance Ltd, Cardiff Auto Receivables Securitisation 2018-1 Plc, Cardiff Auto Receivables Securitisation 2019-1 Plc, Cardiff Auto Receivables Securitisation Holdings Ltd, Cardnet Merchant Services Ltd, Cashfriday Ltd, Cashpoint Ltd, Caveminster Ltd, Cedar Holdings Ltd, Celsius European Lux 2 S.A.R.L., Central Mortgage Finance Ltd, Chariot Finance Ltd, Cheltenham & Gloucester plc, Cheltenham II Securities 2020 DAC, Cheltenham Securities 2017 Ltd, Chepstow Blue Holdings Ltd, Chepstow Blue plc, Chester Asset Options No.2 Ltd, Chester Asset Options No.3 Ltd, Chester Asset Receivables Dealings Issuer Ltd, Chester Asset Securitisation Holdings Ltd, Chester Asset Securitisation Holdings No.2 Ltd, Chiswell Stockbrokers Ltd, Clerical Medical Finance plc, Clerical Medical Financial Services Ltd, Clerical Medical International Holdings B.V., Clerical Medical Investment Fund Managers Ltd, Clerical Medical Managed Funds Ltd, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Guadalix Hold Co BV, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Guadalix Spanish Prop Co SL, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Megapark Hold Co BV, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Megapark Prop Co SA, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Property Company S.A.R.L., Cloak Lane Funding S.A.R.L., Cloak Lane Investments S.A.R.L., Conquest Securities Ltd, Corbiere Asset Investments Ltd, Create Services Ltd, Credit Card Securitisation Europe Ltd, Dalkeith Corporation, Deva Financing Holdings Ltd, Deva Financing plc, Deva One Ltd, Deva Three Ltd, Deva Two Ltd, Dunstan Investments (UK) Ltd, Edgbaston RMBS 2010-1 plc, Edgbaston RMBS Holdings Ltd, Elland RMBS 2018 plc, Elland RMBS Holdings Ltd, Eurolead Services Holdings Ltd, First Retail Finance (Chester) Ltd, Fontwell Securities 2016 Ltd, Forthright Finance Ltd, France Industrial Premises Holding Company, General Leasing (No. 12) Ltd, General Reversionary and Investment Company, Gresham Nominee 1 Ltd, Gresham Nominee 2 Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 1) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 10) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 11) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 12) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 13) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 14) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 15) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 16) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 19) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 20) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 21) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 22) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 23) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 24) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 25) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 26) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 27) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 28) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 29) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 3) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 30) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 31) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 32) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 33) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 34) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 35) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 36) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 37) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 38) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 39) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 40) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 41) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 44) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 45) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 46) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 47) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 48) UK Ltd, Guildhall Asset Purchasing Company (No 3) Ltd, Guildhall Asset Purchasing Company (No.11) UK Ltd, HBOS Covered Bonds LLP, HBOS Final Salary Trust Ltd, HBOS Financial Services Ltd, HBOS Insurance & Investment Group Ltd, HBOS International Financial Services Holdings Ltd, HBOS Investment Fund Managers Ltd, HBOS Social Housing Covered Bonds LLP, HBOS UK Ltd, HBOS plc, HSDL Nominees Ltd, HVF Ltd, Halifax Credit Card Ltd, Halifax Financial Brokers Ltd, Halifax Financial Services (Holdings) Ltd, Halifax Financial Services Ltd, Halifax General Insurance Services Ltd, Halifax Group Ltd, Halifax Investment Services Ltd, Halifax Leasing (June) Ltd, Halifax Leasing (March No.2) Ltd, Halifax Leasing (September) Ltd, Halifax Life Ltd, Halifax Loans Ltd, Halifax Ltd, Halifax Mortgage Services Ltd, Halifax Nominees Ltd, Halifax Pension Nominees Ltd, Halifax Premises Ltd, Halifax Share Dealing Ltd, Halifax Vehicle Leasing (1998) Ltd, Heidi Finance Holdings (UK) Ltd, Hill Samuel Bank Ltd, Hill Samuel Finance Ltd, Hill Samuel Leasing Co. Ltd, Home Shopping Personal Finance Ltd, Horizon Capital 2000 Ltd, Housing Association Risk Transfer 2019 DAC, Housing Growth Partnership GP LLP, Housing Growth Partnership LP, Housing Growth Partnership Ltd, Housing Growth Partnership Manager Ltd, Hyundai Car Finance Ltd, IBOS Finance Ltd, ICC Enterprise Partners Ltd, ICC Equity Partners Ltd, ICC Holdings Unlimited Company, Inchcape Financial Services Ltd, Intelligent Finance Financial Services Ltd, Intelligent Finance Software Ltd, International Motors Finance Ltd, Kanaalstraat Funding C.V., Katrine Leasing Ltd, LB Healthcare Trustee Ltd, LB Motorent Ltd, LB Quest Ltd, LB Share Schemes Trustees Ltd, LBCF Ltd, LBG Brasil Administracao LTDA, LBG Capital Holdings Ltd, LBG Equity Investments Ltd, LBI Leasing Ltd, LDC (General Partner) Ltd, LDC (Managers) Ltd, LDC (Nominees) Ltd, LDC GP LLP, LDC I LP, LDC II LP, LDC III LP, LDC IV LP, LDC Parallel (Nominees) Ltd, LDC V LP, LDC VI LP, LDC VII LP, LDC VIII LP, LTGP Limited Partnership Incorporated, Legacy Renewal Company Ltd, Leicester Securities 2014 Ltd, Lex Autolease (CH) Ltd, Lex Autolease (VC) Ltd, Lex Autolease Carselect Ltd, Lex Autolease Ltd, Lex Vehicle Finance 2 Ltd, Lex Vehicle Leasing (Holdings) Ltd, Lex Vehicle Leasing Ltd, Lime Street (Funding) Ltd, Lingfield 2014 I Holdings Ltd, Lingfield 2014 I plc, Lloyds (Gresham) Ltd, Lloyds (Gresham) No. 1 Ltd, Lloyds (Nimrod) Specialist Finance Ltd, Lloyds America Securities Corporation1, Lloyds Asset Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Branches) Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Colonial & Foreign) Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Fountainbridge 1) Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Fountainbridge 2) Ltd, Lloyds Bank (I.D.) Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank (International Services) Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Stock Exchange Branch) Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank Asset Finance Ltd, Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance Ltd, Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance Scotland Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (HP) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (No.1) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (No.2) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (No.3) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (No.4) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH, Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc, Lloyds Bank Covered Bonds (Holdings) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Covered Bonds (LM) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Covered Bonds LLP, Lloyds Bank Equipment Leasing (No. 1) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Equipment Leasing (No. 7) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Equipment Leasing (No. 9) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Financial Services (Holdings) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Foundation for England & Wales, Lloyds Bank Foundation for the Channel Islands, Lloyds Bank General Insurance Holdings Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Insurance Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 11) Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 17) Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 20) Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 3) Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 5) Ltd, Lloyds Bank GmbH, Lloyds Bank Hill Samuel Holding Company Ltd, Lloyds Bank Insurance Services Ltd, Lloyds Bank International Ltd, Lloyds Bank Leasing (No. 6) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Leasing (No. 8) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Bank MTCH Ltd, Lloyds Bank Maritime Leasing (No. 10) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Maritime Leasing (No. 13) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Maritime Leasing (No. 17) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Maritime Leasing (No.16) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank Offshore Pension Trust Ltd, Lloyds Bank Pension ABCS (No. 1) LLP, Lloyds Bank Pension ABCS (No. 2) LLP, Lloyds Bank Pension Trust (No. 1) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Pension Trust (No. 2) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Pensions Property (Guernsey) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Properties Ltd, Lloyds Bank Property Company Ltd, Lloyds Bank S.F. 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Read More Pope Francis warns against rise in populism Pope Francis has warned against a rise in populism and the dangers of allowing political crises to usher in dictators like Hitler. China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page Repair work likely to complete by Feb 10 Repair work on a section of road in Kathmandus Naxal area that had caved in is likely to be completed by Feb 10. Running out of patience Unresolved medical malpractice claims have been piling up due to lack of judges A young man wanted to make a point about racism in the United States, but his plan backfired when he was exposed for a liar by police. 20-year-old Khalil Cavil of Texas was working at the Saltgrass Steak House in Odessa when he claimed he was discriminated against because of his Muslim name. Cavil took Bill and Hillary Clinton at Donald and Melania Trumpas wedding By: Michelle Parker WorldWideWeirdNews.com Hillary Clinton has dedicated her life to her country, the United States. She has given many years of her life to make America a better place for all citizens. She ran for president of the United States, so that she can further help the American public. Hillary Clinton had many hopes and dreams of how she was going to make the world a better place for everyone. The disappointment of the loss of her dreams to become the first female president of the United States, was shared by all of her supporters. After the loss, everyone looked to Hillary Clinton to see how she will move forward. When she attended the inauguration of her opponent, President Donald Trump, she taught us a powerful life lesson on how to accept disappointment and rejection. Hillary Clinton showed humility and how to be a bigger person in order to get back to doing what she loves most, helping the people. People go through rejection everyday. Whether it is not getting a promotion that you worked hard for and you believe that you deserve it or if its a rejection and disappointment in your personal life. Hillary Clinton thought us to fight for what we believe in without giving up. She taught us that it is OK to grieve the loss by coming out after she lost the election and publicly talking about the pain of her loss. By attending the inauguration, Hillary Clinton taught us to put our personal hurt to the side, so that we can move on and get closure. By attending the inauguration, Hillary Clinton reached out the other side and she now has a much greater chance of furthering her agenda with the support of the new administration. On Friday, Hillary Clinton wrote on Twitter: aIam here today to honor our democracy and its enduring values. I will never stop believing in our country and its values.a Her efforts were not lost to the new president. As Bill and Hillary Clinton attended a luncheon in the Capitol, President Trump publicly praised them for attending. The president said he was avery, very honoreda that the former first couple attended the luncheon. He asked them to stand up and the entire crowd erupted in applause. Hillary Clinton was very gracious, she smiled and waved to the new president as she received a standing ovation. A man of the United Kingdom, was jailed after police discovered that he had sex with a woman without asking officers for permission. 45-year-old Geoffrey Ball of Middlesbrough, was busted after having a one night stand with a woman, who he met at a pub. Ball was ordered to stay away from women after many women filed complaints against him. The court heard how Ball used different aliases to keep his identity a secret when he met women online. He then cheated them out of thousands of dollars. As punishment, the judge ordered Ball to stay away from social media so he does not take advantage of more women. He was also ordered to tell women about his criminal history before dating them. His probation included a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, which forced Ball to get permission from police before he engaged in sexual activity with any woman. Ball violated the order when he met his last victim, a 50-year-old woman, at a pub. He began chatting with her and her daughter before going to the womans home and having sex with her. Judge Sean Morris sentenced Ball to 16 months in prison. Poppy Widdison, John Pyke, Michala Rytting By: Tanya Malhotra WorldWideWeirdNews.com (Scroll down for video) A mother admitted that she gave her young daughter sedatives in order to be able to take heroin and have sex with her boyfriend, according to police in the United Kingdom. Now, 40-year-old John Pyke and 37-year-old Michala Rytting from Grimsby, have both been jailed for 13 years following the death of Pykes daughter, 4-year-old Poppy Widdison. CPS Senior District Crown Prosecutor Catherine Ainsworth said: This was an absolutely tragic case. Poppy died while in the care of those whose prime responsibility was to love, nurture and care for her. aInstead, she was physically assaulted and routinely exposed to an environment where powerful illegal drugs were easily available and within reach. As part of our case, we were able to prove to the jurys satisfaction, through recovered text messages between Pyke and Rytting, that Poppy was sedated with illegal drugs. Our experts were also able to demonstrate through laboratory analysis of Poppys hair that she had been exposed to a variety of illegal drugs over a lengthy period. It would appear that this poor little girl got in the way of the main priorities in her caregivers lives, their relationship with each other and a life of recreational drug use and drug dealing. We hope the substantial sentences handed down today are of some comfort to the rest of Poppys family, and our thoughts remain with them. The two have been found guilty of child cruelty and drug trafficking. According to the police interrogation, Poppy went into sudden cardiac arrest after ingesting drugs including diazepam, heroin, methadone and ketamine. She was exposed to these drugs for up to six months before her death. Rytting admitted to giving her daughter sedatives so that she could have sex with her boyfriend and take heroin. Pyke is accused of taking Poppy to a friendas home, where a group of men consumed multiple illegal drugs while the girl was sitting in the living room. Taplejung-Sikkim quake victims never got state announced aid The survivors of 2011 earthquake in Taplejung have said that they were yet to get the aid announced by the government of then, led by Baburam Bhattarai. North Wales Police First To Have All Front Line Officers With Body Worn Cameras This article is old - Published: Sunday, Jan 22nd, 2017 Every front line police officer in North Wales will soon be wearing chest mounted video cameras a first for Wales. North Wales Police have taken just delivery of 301 extra body worn video kits and 50 docking stations and theyre being rolled out across the region. They have been paid for out of the budget of North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones, with a cost of 163,000 for the technology. Body worn video cameras were first introduced in North Wales in 2015, with 120 kits being deployed across the region which meant a third of response officers had access to the cameras. The arrival of the additional devices means the force will be the first in Wales to give the technology to all its police officers and police community support officers while on front line duty, including members of the specialist firearms and rural crime teams. The Police and Crime Commissioner says Its expected that the extra kits will result in a 12 per cent increase in the number of successful prosecutions in domestic abuse cases, a surge in the number of guilty pleas generally and a reduction in the number of complaints against officers. Mr Jones added: I promised in my manifesto that I would supply all front line officers with body worn video and todays the day. Im very, very happy that weve found the money to be able to do this. Its going to help victims of crime, help us arrest more offenders and improve the quality of life of vulnerable people. Its been shown that the introduction of body worn video equipment improves the success rate in domestic violence cases by 12 per cent. Thats massive. I look forward to seeing more and more offenders appearing in court and less survivors having to put up with a poor quality of life. I would expect there to be more guilty pleas and thats a good thing. It avoids survivors of domestic violence having to give evidence in court. It saves money and its obviously better for the perpetrator because the earlier they plead guilty, the more reasonable the sentence will be for them. Chief Superintendent Sacha Hatchett, Head of Local Policing Services, said: Were absolutely delighted the Commissioner has invested in this new kit. The results for body-worn video nationally speak for themselves. When police officers are using body-worn video they are showing whats happening in reality the evidence is incontrovertible. Officers are being really innovative. Theyre used for anti-social behaviour patrols, theyre used on the night-time economy, so you can actually see if there is affray or fighting taking place, what that actually looks like, what that actually means at that time. Theyre being used when officers go to road traffic accidents and theyre using them when they serve warrants. There is a sound evidence-base for us having body-worn video, and its supporting my officers on the front line who do a very difficult job well and they are very professional in what they do, so anything to support them gets my support. Were still analysing the data but we are finding that complaints against officers have gone down, people making vexatious complaints have reduced. PC Matt Jones is a big fan of body worn video, he said; Its made a big difference. When we attend various scenes, for example a road accident, our priorities would be casualties and things like that. We can use our body-worn video on whilst were dealing with casualties. The equipment also makes people less likely to want to be abusive, threatening or violent because they know theyre being recorded on camera, It nips problems in the bud. Trump inauguration: President attacks 'dishonest' media over crowd photos President Donald Trump has accused the media of dishonestly reporting the size of the crowd at his inauguration. You are the owner of this article. The struggle to ensure Lower Valley residents get clean drinking water has been going on for years now. Here's a timeline of just a few of th UML Chair Oli warns of street protest if amendment bill endorsed CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli has warned that his party would boycott voting and take to the streets if the government endorsed the constitution amendment bill registered at the Legislature-Parliament. Legislators from Yakima Valley weigh in on future of death penalty in Washington If you are sending a Letter To the Editor, please be sure to follow these rules: Letters have a firm 200-word limit and will be edited for grammar, clarity and accuracy. The person who signs the letter must be the author. Anonymous letters will not be considered. Letters must address the editor, not a third party. We will not print form letters, libelous letters, business promotions or personal disputes, poetry, open letters, letters espousing religious views without reference to a current issue, or letters considered in poor taste. Letters reflect the opinion of the writer. The Yakima Herald-Republic cannot verify the accuracy of all statements made in letters. Writers are limited to one published letter per calendar month. In his first message to the new American administration , Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated new President Donald Trump, saying, "Congratulations to my friend, President Trump. I look forward to working closely with you so that the alliance between the United States and Israel will be stronger than ever. Shabbat Shalom." Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Israel is now waiting for a meeting between the two men, which has been defined as "critical" following eight years of strained relations between the Israeli government and the administration of former President Barack Obama. That meeting, apparently, may be coming sooner than expected, as Netanyahu has sent overtures to Trump through associates. Trump and Netanyahu (Photo: Kobi Gidon) Netanyahu sees Trump as a true friend of Israel and his presence in the White House as a rare opportunity. Government officials estimated that the meeting may take place in the first week of February. Netanyahu is expected to travel to Australia and Singapore at the end of January and is due to visit Washington at the end of March for the annual AIPAC meeting. However, the prime minister doesn't want to wait until the end of March for a meeting with President Trump and is therefore making an effort to have the meeting as soon as possible. Netanyahu in message to Iranian people X The first meeting between Netanyahu and Trump is expected to touch on big issues such as regional conflict, settlement construction, the Iranian nuclear deal, resumption of sanctions against the Islamic Republic and the issue of relocating the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The meeting will be crucial to the design of American government policy towards Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to Israeli officials, Trump will seek to embrace Israel and demonstrate close friendship, in contradiction to the Obama administration. Netanyahu is also expected to meet with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and coordinate issues on the agenda. Jared Kushner, Trump's Jewish son-in-law, is also expected to take part in the meeting, in addition to Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and special advisor on Israel affairs, Jason Greenblatt. MADRID - Pope Francis on Sunday said he would not make an opinion of Donald Trump until he first had a chance to see specific policies the new US president would implement. On Friday, as Trump was taking office, Francis had urged him to be guided by ethical values, saying he must take care of the poor and the outcast during his time in office. "I think that we must wait and see. I don't like to get ahead of myself nor judge people prematurely," the Pope told Spanish newspaper El Pais in an interview. "We will see how he acts, what he does, and then I will have an opinion. But being afraid or rejoicing beforehand because of something that might happen is, in my view, quite unwise. It would be like prophets predicting calamities," he said. Israel's President Reuven Rivlin has congratulated US President Donald Trump on taking office and invited him to visit Israel. In his message to Trump, Rivlin congratulated him on assuming the presidency, and said the State of Israel and all its citizens deeply appreciated the long standing friendship with America, with which it shared the common values of liberty and democracy. He officially invited President Trump to Jerusalem as his guest. Vegetable imports from India on rise Vegetable imports from India have continued to increase even as the far-western region has seen a rise in commercial vegetable farming. A 65-year-old woman was badly injured and her 30-year-old son was lightly injured when a fire broke out in an apartment in Jerusalem on Sunday. Five fire fighter teams were rushed to the apartment and managed to rescue the two. They were evacuated by MDA to Shaare Zedek Medical Center. The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs presented the cabinet on Sunday with a new system for monitoring anti-Semitism on the internet along with its annual report on anti-Semitism worldwide. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter According to a new report released by the ministry, 2016 saw a record number of anti-Semitic incidents in Germany, due in part to the refugee crisis and the improvement in the quality of reporting. Federal police figures show that between January and September 2016, 461 anti-Semitic incidents were reported. That represents an increase of 200 percent compared to 2015, with the majority of incidents related to the strengthening of far-right extremist movements. Visualization detailing real time internet anti-Semitism In addition, the report shows that anti-Semitic discourse in Britain has reached worrying levels and entered politics. Fifty members of the Labour Party have been suspended in the last few years for anti-Semitic and racist comments. This includes rank-and-file members and senior officials, such as the former Mayor of London and MP Ken Livingstone, who said "Hitler supported Zionism." The report pointed to the rewriting of history in Eastern Europe, where local authorities are not acting to curb anti-Semitism in their countries. Poland's Minister of Education, Anna Zalewska, said in an interview last July that historically documented Polish massacres of Jews during the Holocaust were "biased opinions." Polish Minister of Education Anna Zalewska who referred to Polish massacres of Jews during WWII as "biased opinions" (Photo: AP) However, a positive trend was noted in France, which posted a 65 percent decrease in anti-Semitic incidents and a strengthening of the sense of security in Jewish communities. This is largely due to concerted efforts by the French government to "combat racism and anti-Semitism." However, the report also notes that recent trends of radicalization among both the left and right wing have produced hostile feelings toward Jewish communities. A large portion of the report dealt with anti-Semitic incitement in the Palestinian Authority. According to the report, the PA is systematically using religious anti-Semitic narratives to foster hatred of Jews and Israelis among Palestinians. One of the statements highlighted by the report was from a speech PA President Mahmoud Abbas gave at the EU Parliament in June, in which he said "Israeli rabbis demanded that the government poison Palestinian water supplies to kill Palestinians and force them to emigrate." PA President speaking before EU Parliament and alleging rabbis and Israeli government poison Palestinians (Photo: AFP) The report also touched on anti-Semitism on college campuses in the United States, where there is a hostile attitude toward Israel and Jews. Activities of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) resulted in a 45 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents on campuses in the last year. Students and Jewish faculty members were exposed to anti-Semitic harassment, abuse, discrimination, graffiti, swastikas and verbal as well as physical attacks. The new system The new system for identifying anti-Semitism on the internet in real time was developed by a company managed and staffed with former members of military technology units and veterans of the IDF Military Intelligence's Unit 8200. The system displays anti-Semitic discourse on social media networks on an interactive map. The system is capable of detailing how many anti-Semitic posts and messages are currently being circulated and what countries and areas contain the highest volume of anti-Semitic traffic. So far, the system conducted a successful pilot demonstration and identified over 500 thousand anti-Semitic posts, which reached more than 40 million people. The system is based on artificial intelligence that is capable of analyzing texts and provides significant information on the posts and users who upload them, all according to the definition of anti-Semitism determined by the government. Anti-Semitic tweets during the inauguration Anti-Semitism and incitement on the internet has increased exponentially and reaches tens of millions of people all over the world. With the help of this technology, companies will be able to operate responsibly and identify and remove racist content in real time. The system will also serve as a diplomatic tool for government officials and Israeli envoys all over the world, who can use the data to shed light on the situation and extent of anti-Semitism in different countries. Additionally, research institutes and government ministries will be able to characterize and classify anti-Semitism throughout the world in order to design policy and help combat the phenomenon. Minister of Diaspora Affairs, Naftali Bennett, said, "I see the uncompromising struggle against anti-Semitism as a goal of paramount importance. The State of Israel has a new tool and one of a kind technology that will bring visibility to the data and the treatment of anti-Semitic incitement. We must expose and turn the spotlight on sources of inciting anti-Semitism. This is an integral part of the mutual responsibility between Israel and Diaspora Jewry." Minister of Defense, Avigdor Lieberman, met this morning in Jerusalem with General David Petraeus in Jerusalem. The two discussed Israel-US relations and the mutual determination to strengthen them in the Trump era. The two also discussed security challenges, both regional and global, faced by the two countries. The Foreign Minister noted that what is most needed now in terms of the US role in the region is the establishment of the Anti-Terrorism Coalition to include the moderate Arab states and Israel in fight against radical Islamic terror. Lieberman said that the success of such a coalition will serve as a basis for reaching a comprehensive regional settlement between Israel and the Arab states, to include the solution of the Palestinian issue within the framework of an exchange of territory and populations. Lieberman stressed that there is no possibility of a bilateral agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. He said such an arrangement has been tried and failed several times in the past 24 years and resolving conflict will come only as part of a comprehensive regional settlement. The new American Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman , has decided not to live in the Ambassador's Residence in Herzliya, and rather declared his intention to "work and live in Jerusalem." Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Although his appointment has not yet been approved by the Senate, Friedman is expected to arrive in Israel at the end of February and assume his position as ambassador. In private talks, Friedman expressed his intention to live in Jerusalem regardless of the decision to move the embassy to Jerusalem. Ambassador David Friedman (Photo: EPA) Friedman owns a spacious apartment in the Talbiyeh neighborhood of Jerusalem, which he visits several times per year. The Foreign Ministry claims Trump's intention to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is serious and intended to prove he is serious about fulfilling his campaign promises. However, Jerusalem has decided to not take an active role in the campaign as it is an internal, American decision and Israel cannot be perceived as pressuring the American government to make the controversial move. The tragedy of the Umm al-Hiran evacuation , and the way in which everyonefrom the prime minister and his ministers to the polices top echelonrushed to declare that a terror attack had been carried out there even before the different versions were examined, raises sad thoughts on the silence and dissolvement of other issues that are on the agenda. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Two weeks have passed since the Netanyahu-Mozes affair entered our lives, and it doesnt seem like its going to leave us anytime soon. Almost every evening, we are exposed to spine-tingling conversations between the two enemies who once used to curse each other, and now it turns out that they risked their lives to finalize a deal that would benefit them both. Prime Minister Netanyahu at the Likud faction meeting, last week. More noise than people (Photo: Daniel Elior) I must admit, however, that although its the truth, the Yedioth Ahronoth journalists genre of Noni never spoke to me and no one ever told me what to write has pretty much exhausted itself. So has the new habit that has spread among circles of politicians and former and present media personalities who claim to have been included on the Yedioth Ahronoth blacklist. If that blacklist did include all those who are now boasting that they were part of it, its hard to understand how we even published a paper. But what is particularly frustrating is that, excluding a few journalists who realized that it would be wrong to throw the baby out with the bathwater, our colleagues malicious joy has made people forget the essence, which is that while a publisher and managing editor is under investigation, if the things quoted by Channel 2 are truewe have an elected prime minister who was up to his neck in deals and mediations with tycoons, wealthy people and newspaper owners. If Arnon Mozes involvement should trouble Yedioth Ahronoths editors and journalists, and they have expressed their reservations over the affair in the most dignified manner, including urging Mozes to suspend himself as the managing editor, we would have expected that the prime ministers involvement in the affair would have turned on a red light in Benjamin Netanyahus party and that there would be a few good men who would even voice their protest out loud and call for his suspension from the Communications Ministry. Well, that didnt happen. The Likud is silent. Last Monday, at the start of the faction meeting, the prime minister was met by a handful of party activists, who greeted him with Bibi is the king of Israel songs. There was probably more noise there than people. Inside, he was greeted by his faction members, shivering with excitement, waiting to shake the hand of Benjamin Dreyfus, the victim of a blood libel orchestrated by law enforcement authorities, the left and the media that have all teamed up against him. I asked a senior Likud minister last week why he and his fellow ministers were keeping quiet in light of the revelations of the deals devised by the prime minister behind their backs, and his own confession that he had dissolved his government over the Israel Hayom bill. He replied that the senior ministers silence was actually meaningful. Thats interesting, I said. Since when is there any meaning in the silence of the lambs? Look at what Ministers Tzachi Hanegbi and Yariv Levin and Knesset Members David Bitan and David Amsalem are doing, he said. They are attacking the law enforcement authorities. This is something the other ministers wont do, so they are keeping silent. Is the interior minister expected to attack the police? Even Minister Ofir Akunis hasnt come out in Netanyahus defense, the minister added. Because there is not a single normative person who is willing to attack the law enforcement authorities or to get anywhere near this battle between the law, Bibi and Noni. On the other hand, he said, they have no interest and no reason to attack a prime minister who is in the middle of an investigation. But the good news, in his opinion, is that only a handful are willing to support the line of there will be nothing because there is nothing. The same minister went on to defend the ministers absence from the faction meeting, which was perceived as a sort of cowards protest. First of all, he said, there were ministers there. And besides, the absence is routine. Ministers have been staying away from the faction meetings for the past six months, because its just a photo opportunity. Netanyahu arrives, delivers a statement to the media and leaves. According to that minister, Netanyahu is making a mistake by not saying, as previous prime ministers who were under investigation did, that he trusts the law enforcement authorities and is waiting for the results of their investigation. Instead, the prime minister is delegitimizing the investigation, perhapsaccording to the ministerbecause he already knows its results. The only Likud minister who addressed the affair was Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, who on Thursday declared that he had complete trust in the prime minister and assured him, excitedly, that the people support you. If I were Netanyahu I would be concerned by all these compliments. A traitor and a fool Unlike most Likud ministers, Education Minister Naftali Bennett of all people rushed to defend the prime minister. You dont topple a government over cigars, he said. Cigars, Mr. Bennett? One would think we are talking about a pack of cigarettes that someone bought for Netanyahu at a duty-free shop, rather than luxurious cigars worth hundreds of thousands of shekels. And besides, what about the other affair? Do you find it acceptable that a government was dissolved over the Israel Hayom bill, as the prime minister admitted last week, a bill you supported? Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon is keeping quiet, and apart from commenting that he himself does not accept gifts, he has refused to respond to the latest revelations, seeing it as unnecessary knife-stabbing. Yair Lapid. Walking on eggshells (Photo: Motti Kimchi) Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, who has been marked as the next prime minister, has also been silent in the past two weeks. His friendly relationship with Arnon Milchan is well-known, and Noni Mozes used to be his boss. On Wednesday, I managed to get the following response from him: On the criminal level, every person is innocent until proven guilty, and we must let the law enforcement authorities do their job. Nevertheless, the investigation and the legal proceedings must be quick. The Israeli security, economy and society cannot afford to have a prime minister who spends most of his time being questioned and consulting his lawyers. And on the public level, Lapid said, a newspaper publisher and a prime minister simply cannot hold such conversations. Its moral blindness. Its a case of bargaining freedom of speech and the publics trust. And even after this comment, we are still missing a clear voice that will say the right, moral, ethical thing, without evading the issue and without making us feel like he is walking on eggshells. The public appears to be much worthier than its leaders: A Channel 2 survey published last Monday shows that 54 percent of the public do not believe Netanyahu and that 44 percent think he should resign. Does this mean nothing to the publics representatives in the Knesset? But in the Likud, everyone is keeping quiet. Apart from MK Bitan, who always rushes to defend his master. And Tzachi Hanegbi, who has recently gone through a metamorphosis from a fox to a cat. Is this the man who late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon once referred to as the most suitable person to succeed him? Last week, Hanegbi quoted poet Uri Zvi Greenberg, who once said that every traitor is a fool. Asked whether there was a possibility that the Labor Party would support Kahlon as prime minister, Hanegbi replied that that would be an act of treason and that Kahlon was neither a traitor nor a fool. And there is alsooh, wait, did I already mention Bitan? There is one thing we can be sure of: Despite the silence, whether meaningful or not, most Likud membersand especially the ministersare sitting at the government table and keeping their fingers crossed for an indictment against the prime minister. Prince Yair Last week, after Netanyahus interrogation, his wife Sara and his son Yair were questioned as well. We are still waiting for the police to summon the other son, Avner, and the family dog, Kaya. The satraps rushed to explain that it was simply a case of gifts between friends. MK Amsalem confessed that although he doesnt drink or smoke, he too brings his friends a pack of Marlboro cigarettes or a bottle of VSOP cognac when he returns from a trip abroad. Sometimes, he added, people stay with their friends during their trips. Thats the way it is among friends, Amsalem stated, adding that only people who dont have friends consider gifts a crime. Benjamin and Yair Netanyahu. Is there anyone who believes that the prime minister did not know where and with whom his son was hanging out? (Photo: AFP) Attorney David Shimron , the prime ministers cousin, specializes in gifts since the Amedi affair that followed Netanyahus first term. As he was unable to explain the issue to us, attorney Jacob Weinroth came to the rescue. Weinroth, it seems, doesnt need any Valium. Upon hearing the evidence against Netanyahu in the two investigated affairs, he immediately calmed down. He even lectured us, saying that we shouldnt be jealous of a public figure who receives cigars and champagne worth hundreds of thousands of shekels, and that it is all permitted by law. Although the attention has been diverted in the past few days from the Netanyahu-Milchan affair to the Netanyahu-Mozes affair, a few words should be dedicated to the world view of the Netanyahu family, which has been walking around with a wallet for decades and which has passed on this tradition to the next generation as well. What are the familys PR agents trying to explain to us? Thats the way it is among friends. One friend brings another friend a gift, and the next time that friend pays him back with a gift of his own. They go out to eat together, one friend pays and the next time the other friend pays. The son takes a hiking trip with the money he saved from working as a waiter, and sleeps on the sofa in his friends living room. Thats the way it is in the Netanyahu residence as well: Suddenly theres a knock on the door, Arnon and his wife make a surprise visit, and so as not to arrive emptyhandedthey bring a bottle. The next time, when Sara and Bibi pay them a visit, they will bring a jar of fig jam personally prepared by Sara. Only envious people, leftists who seek to oust a prime minister, evil journalists with no friendsonly they can see something wrong with that. But the truth is slightly different, if the truth even means anything these days. Milchan and Australian billionaire James Packer dont make any visits. When the Netanyahus run out of cigars and champagne, someone telephones someone, places a monthly order, and the driver of the gift giver or receiver conducts the transfer and the delivery, and an invoice is issued accordingly. There may be a positive side in these gifts. Quoting Meni Naftali, the former chief caretaker at the prime ministers residence, I dont know what pink champagne contains, but things were quiet for half a day. Cigars are also supposed to have a calming effect on people who should remain calm. Now lets move on to the heir, Prince Yair Netanyahu, who told the police last week that his father had nothing to do with his friendship with James Packer and that the prime minister was unaware of who was funding him. In other words, he actually met the billionaire at a full moon party in Ko Pha Ngan. When he stayed at Packers luxury apartment at the Royal Beach Hotel in Tel Aviv, he told his father that he was staying at a friends one-room apartment in the Florentine neighborhood. And when he flew to Aspen, Colorado, at the barons expense, his father thought he was staying at a guesthouse in India. Oh, come on. How stupid do they think we are? Is there anyone who believes that Netanyahu did not know where and with whom his son was hanging out, and that Sara did not encourage this relationship between her son and the billionaire? This is all a direct continuation of the reports about the sushi deliveries supplied to the boy during his military service by a driver in a public position. The claims that the gifts were given without any return are ridiculous. Even billionaires dont hand out gifts at such sums. And the absurdity in the claim that Netanyahu did not know about the benefits given to his son. What kind of idiot would shower Yair with all these gifts without his fatherand more importantly, his motherknowing about it? The walletless man Our Yair does not go hiking. He flies in private jets. He sails in yachts, lives in luxury apartments and receives gifts on a regular basis from his older friend, a sort of sugar daddy. And it turns out that not only Packer, but also Milchan, had gifts for Yair. We are now waiting for the reports on how Yair paid his benefactors back. And Sara. How can anyone say that Sara only demands and doesnt give? Fortunately, the White House has to document every gift given to the president or his wife and keep it in a secured area. And indeed, an official documentation published in the United States reveals that somewhere in the White House basements, alongside the diamonds and pieces of art that President Barack Obama received from world leaders, there are also three spiral notebooks with a flowery cover that Sara Netanyahu brought her friend Michelle, alongside other gifts. Yes, three spiral notebooks with a flowery cover. And this is not just about cigars and pink champagne. There are also first-class flights or private jets belonging to interested parties, accommodation in luxury hotel suites and private villas, expensive gifts from French criminals, tycoons who own gambling enterprises, people with financial interests in Israel and abroad. And the list grows longer every day. A suit as a gift from Ronald Lauder. God Almighty, a suit! What else? A packet of four black boxer shorts, size 46? And what about the non-material gifts, the services worth a lot of money? The lawyers who have been working for free for decades, as long as they dont tell Netanyahu under any circumstances, and under specific orders, what they really make a living from. PR services. Even attorney Alan Dershowitz, one of the people who helped OJ Simpson escape a conviction in his murder trial, he too, the man of morals and truth, sent a sympathetic and supportive legal opinion from America, likely without receiving anything in return. What kind of people do the graduates of the Amedi affair have to be in order to keep receiving one-sided gifts worth hundreds of thousands of shekels? And what kind of people do those surrounding them have to be in order to defend them? And what other friends, who provide gifts without expecting anything in return, are hiding in the shadows? People with an interest in the media? In gas? In submarines? In ship maintenance? We are waiting apprehensively for information, which is likely to be leaked sooner or later. I must confess that up until a while ago, I thought that Milchan was associated with our different prime ministers because of his personality. Now it turns out that anyone can be associated with our prime minister, as long as they deliver him the goods. But if you ask Netanyahu, or Sara, or Yairthey really and truly dont understand what the fuss is all about. They lawfully deserve everything. After all, they are doing the State of Israel a huge favor by agreeing to govern it. After all, they are the royal family. The Caesars themselves. And is there any greater proof of this state of mind than the way in which the Polish prime minister was taken last week to lay a wreath on Yoni Netanyahus grave? In other words, Yonis grave has turned into a mausoleum, another place for foreign leaders to visit, just like Yad Vashem. And why Yonis grave of all graves, while the cemeteries are unfortunately filled with heroes? Isnt it insane? Have we all gone blind? Have we moved to a monarchic regime without even realizing it? And all this happened in a week in which a decision was made to build the prime ministers new residence at a cost of NIS 700 million (roughly $185 million), completely ignoring the recent reports about the poverty rate and housing prices. Despite having supported the Regulation Bill in the past, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the proposed legislation on Sunday, calling it an "irresponsible move." Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "It's possible that the UN Security Council resolution (against the settlements) passed because of the advancement of this legislation," Netanyahu said. He clarified that "there is no one who takes care of the settlement enterprise more than me and the Likud government. We'll continue taking care of it wisely." Prime Minister Netanyahu (Photo: Amit Shabi) The Regulation Bill seeks to retroactively legalize thousands of homes in the settlements built on privately-owned Palestinian lands. The Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a draft of the bill in November 2016 that determined the land will continue to be owned by its Palestinian owner, but the state will maintain the right to use the land. The UN Security Council's Resolution 2334 determined that the Israeli settlements built on disputed lands were illegal. The major threat presented by the resolution is that it opens the door for lawsuits against Israel and its officials at the International Criminal Court at The Hague, as well as for sanctions against Israel imposed both by the UN and by other countries. Meanwhile, Education Minister Naftali Bennett has set an ultimatum to the prime minister, calling on him to renounce the Bar-Ilan speech and his support of the two-state solution. "My strategic objective is to get Netanyahu to backtrack on the Bar-Ilan speech," Bennett said in private conversations. On Sunday, Bennett said he was "confident all government ministers and Likud ministers will support applying Israeli sovereignty to prevent an ISIS nation on Highway 6. Sovereignty comes before politics. Security comes before politics." If Netanyahu doesn't comply with Bennett's ultimatum, the education minister has threatened to bring the legislation to annex Ma'ale Adumim to a vote at the Ministerial Committee for Legislation at 6pm Sunday. "I'm hearing different messages from (US President) Trump," Bennett said. "They (the Americans) want us to make a decision. The right thing to do it to decide now, because there's a very short window of opportunity before the State Department comes into the picture and foils any change to policy." When asked about Bennett's ultimatum, the prime minister said he was "waiting for a conversation and a meeting with Trump to coordinate on Judea and Samaria and Iran." Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's office condemned on Sunday the approval of the Jerusalem city council's construction plan to build hundreds of homes outside the Green Line. "This decision challenges the UN Security Council, especially after the approval of Resolution 2334 last month", Abbas's office stated, referring to the resolution that determined Israeli settlements to be illegal. Abbas also demanded that the Security Council acts to limit this Israeli policy. The city of Jerusalem granted final approval Sunday for the construction of hundreds of new homes in east Jerusalem, while Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Bayit Yehudi) pushed the government to annex a major West Bank settlement as emboldened Israeli nationalists welcomed the presidency of Donald Trump. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter After eight years of testy ties with former President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is looking forward to a new era of close relations with the US under Trump. The two were scheduled to talk on the phone later Sunday. Ma'ale Adumim (Photo: AFP) At his weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu thanked Trump for his friendship and his inauguration speech pledge to battle radical Islamic militants. He said that among other issues, they would discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the situation in Syria and the Iranian threat. More hawkish elements in his coalition, however, are already calling for concrete action given Trump's perceived acquiescence to Israeli settlement building. Bennett, for his part, pressed the government to back legislation that would annex West Bank settlement of Ma'ale Adumim. He also urged Netanyahu to abandon his stated position in favor of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Netanyahu has nonetheless been cautious about expanding them in the face of strong opposition from the US and other Western allies. With Trump signaling a much softer line toward the settlements, Israeli hard-liners say there is no longer any reason to show restraint. Senior ministers later voted unanimously to postpone discussion on a bill proposing the annexation of Ma'ale Adumim, home to 40,000 Israelis near Jerusalem. A statement said the proposal would be put on hold until after Netanyahu meets Trump. "For the first time in 50 years, the prime minister can decide: either sovereignty or Palestine," Bennett wrote on Twitter. A Bayit Yehudi official said Netanyahu urged Bennett to put his proposal on hold. According to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Netanyahu said he had been asked by Trump administration officials not to take any major action without proper coordination. The official said Bayit Yehudi members were skeptical of Netanyahu's claims and would continue to push the government to approve the annexation measure. Netanyahu's office declined to comment. Such a move would cause a major clash with the Palestinians and the much of the international community that considers settlements to be illegal, and annexing Ma'ale Adumim would be seen as undermining negotiations. It is also in a strategic location in the middle of the West Bank that could impede the establishment of a future Palestinian state. In the meantime, the Jerusalem municipal housing committee granted building permits for 566 new homes in east Jerusalem. The permits had been put on hold for the final months of the Obama administration. Building is planned in the neighborhoods of Ramot, Pisgat Ze'ev and Ramat Shlomo. Bennett (L) and Netanyahu (Photo: Amit Shabi and Daniel Elior) "We've been through eight tough years with Obama pressuring to freeze construction," said Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat. "I hope that era is over and we we can now build and develop Jerusalem for the welfare of its residents, Jews and Arabs alike." Deputy Mayor Meir Turjeman, who heads the committee, said an additional 11,000 homes were planned in east Jerusalem. He said he hopes to get the plans approved by the end of the year and begin construction in the next two to three years. Israel clashed frequently with Obama over construction in areas it conquered in the Six-Day War. Last December, the Obama administration allowed the UN Security Council to pass a resolution condemning settlements as illegal. Trump has signaled he will take a far kinder approach to them. His appointed ambassador to Israel has close ties to Jewish West Bank settlements as does the foundation run by the family of Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Tax records show Trump also donated money to a Jewish seminary in a settlement. In a sign of the changing times, a delegation of West Bank settler leaders said it was invited by Trump administration officials to attend the inauguration. Netanyahu said Jews have been in these areas for centuries and that their presence does not undermine prospects for peace. He blames failed peace efforts on Arab denials of Jews' historical connections to the land. Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the building plans and called on the UN to act. "It is time to stop dealing with Israel as a state above the law," he said. British Prime Minister Theresa May said Sunday she plans to discuss free trade and the importance of the NATO military alliance when she becomes the first foreign leader to meet with US President Donald Trump in Washington. The White House's invitation for May to meet with Trump on Friday was seen in Britain as affirmation that Trump values the vaunted "special relationship" between the United States and its longtime ally across the Atlantic. She told BBC's Andrew Marr that the Trump team is interested in discussing a new trade arrangement with Britain despite the "America first" theme of Trump's inaugural address and his vow to evaluate every trade deal for its possible benefits to the United States. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has stood by his police chief after calls for him to resign over the alleged killing of a South Korean businessman by police officers at the national police headquarters. Ronald Dela Rosa, a top figure in Duterte's deadly war on drugs, has the president's full support, the president's top aide, Christopher Go, told Reuters on Sunday. A number of lawmakers, including Duterte's ally, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, have called on Dela Rosa to step down after several officers were charged with kidnapping and killing Jee Ick-joo inside the headquarters in October. Rights groups say abuses of police power are rampant and accuse police of killing suspected drug dealers as part of Duterte's narcotics crackdown. When the earth beneath me moved The first time I discovered that my father cared for me immeasurably was when we went hiking together. Jordan's monarch met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday in Amman and discussed the potential relocation of the American embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter King Abdullah II (R) dining with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the capital Amman (Photo: AFP / Yousef Allan / Jordanian Royal Palace) According to the official Palestinian news service Wafa, King Abdullah II and Abbas also "discussed ways to develop bilateral relations between Palestine and Jordan as well as the latest developments in the region." Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Abbas said that the potential embassy relocation, a stated intention of new American President Donald Trump, "is an important matter for the king and an important matter for us . There will be no alternative to coordinating and articulating action points with one another to fight any steps that, if acted upon, would have severe ramifications." The two heads of state emphasized the importance of coordination with the Trump administration and US Congress during their meeting. They held it to be important to explain to them that decisions that damage the status quo in Jerusalem would have ramifications on regional peace and security. Jordan has yet to send its congratulations to Trump on his assuming office King Abdullah II (C-R) dining with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (C-L) in the capital Amman (Photo: AFP / Yousef Allan / Jordanian Royal Palace) Dr. Hayel Dawood, Jordan's Minister of Religious Endowments and Islamic Affairs, gave an interview to Palestinian media after the meeting. He said that Trump's stated intention to relocate the embassy was "a dangerous development that requires an offensive position against it." He added that the relocation "constitutes a death blow to Washington's role as a fair mediator in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and disregard for international resolutions that consider Jerusalem occupied territory." Dawood explained that Arab and Muslim and Islamic countries needed to seriously oppose the proposed move to convince the US that carrying it out would endanger their interests. He also warned that other countries were likely to follow America's example and move their own embassies to Jerusalem. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be investigated again by the Israel Police's Lahav 443 Special Investigations Unit for Fraud. A date has yet to be coordinated, but those in the know expect it to take place within the next few days. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter MK David Amsalem (Likud) responded to allegations during a Sunday interview on Army Radio, which claimed Hollywood billionaire Arnon Milchana co-owner of Channel 10provided Netanyahu with illicit gifts whose worth amounted to hundreds of thousands of shekels. "Who's to say (Milchan) isn't lying? He's a 75-year-old billionaire. What, did Netanyahu put a gun to his head? You can see for yourself that something impure is happening here." The receipts for the jewelry purchases (Photo:Channel 2 News) Ynet further discovered that the police has evidence showing other politicians receiving such gifts, an allegation which is also being looked into. Haaretz newspaper reported Friday that Milchan testified that both Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu demanded he give them illicit gifts, such as cigars and champagne. Furthermore, Channel 2 News commentator Amnon Abramovich claimed in his report on Friday that Milchan had bought Benjamin Netanyahu's wife, Sara, jewelry as per her request. The report detailed a specific event that took place back in 2004, while Netanyahu served as finance minister. According to the report, Milchan had told his Israeli business manager and wife Amanda that Sara Netanyahu had asked them to buy her a necklace and bracelet set from the H. Stern store at the Tel Aviv Hilton, where Milchan was staying. The two went down to the store, and upon seeing that the necklace alone cost $6,265, decided to only buy the necklace and forego the bracelet. The necklace was delivered to Mrs. Netanyahu, but the next day Milchan reportedly told his business manager that "Netanyahu called and told me that he feels really uncomfortable doing this, but Sara says you only sent half a giftthe bracelet is missing." Milchan then asked his manager to return to the store and purchase Sara the bracelet, as well, for the price of $2,305. Netanyahu's office issued a statement in light of the allegations, saying, "It never happened. We refuse to comment on every false accusation." The Zionist Union petitioned the High Court of Justice on the matter, requesting that Netanyahu be suspended from his position as minister of communications. Zionist Union Leader Isaac Herzog stated, "The petition deals with the blatant conflict of interests involving the minister of communications and suspicions that go deep into the heart of democracy." New US President Donald Trump spoke by telephone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at 1:30 p.m. ET/1830 GMT on Sunday, the White House said. According to the White House, Trump and Netanyahu's conversation included the "beginning stages" of moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Trump, who was sworn in on Friday, has criticized former President Barack Obama's policies toward Israel and has promised to improve relations after taking office. Thousands have marched through the Romanian capital and other cities to protest a government proposal to pardon thousands of prisoners which critics say could reverse the anti-corruption fight. More than 10,000 protesters massed in University Square on Sunday evening, and later broke through police lines, before heading toward government headquarters. Protesters cheered after President Klaus Iohannis, a government critic who supports the anti-corruption drive, turned up at the protest. Turkish authorities captured two men believed to be among those responsible for rocket attacks on the Istanbul police headquarters and the offices of the ruling AK Party on Friday evening, police sources said on Sunday. Armed assailants attacked Istanbul's police headquarters and an office of the ruling AK Party with rocket launchers on Friday evening. There were no reports of casualties from the attacks. Police sources said the suspects, identified as a members of the outlawed Revolutionary People's Liberation Army-Front (DHKP-C), were captured in the northwestern province of Tekirdag. One of the assailants was captured by police early on Sunday, while the other was shot dead later in the day after opening fire on police officers ordering him to surrender. One of the attackers, identified as Serif T., is also believed to be behind an assault on police in Istanbul on Saturday, the sources said. They said both attackers were part of the Interior Ministry's "Grey List" for wanted terrorists. This is how Hamas takes over your cellphone, trumpets a video from the Israeli army video in large Hebrew letters, to a background of scary music. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The video then cuts to an interview with an Israeli soldier with his face blacked out, who describes a Facebook message he recently received from someone he believed was a young Israeli woman. Fake women's profiles operated by Hamas in an effort to lure IDF soldiers (Photo:IDF Spokeersn'sUnt) She sent me a message on Facebook. We spoke a lot over a few days. She said she was a prison guard, and I told her I was in the army, he said. Then she asked me to download this chat app so that we could talk more. I downloaded it, but it did not work. I tried to reach her again on Facebook, but she didnt answer. The soldier then described how the app was actually a spy tactic from the Islamist Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, which collects information about soldiers and their locations even when their phones are switched off. The video, along with a new radio campaign telling soldiers to report any Facebook friend requests from someone they dont know comes after the army said that Hamas infiltrated dozens of Facebook accounts of Israeli combat soldiers. The idea is to educate and make soldiers aware as a first line of defense to explain the threat of what Hamas is trying to do and how theyre using the soldiers, IDF Captain Libby Weiss told The Media Line. The idea is not to tell soldiers 'Dont use social media,' but to teach them to be more savvy and aware of how terror organizations use social media to our detriment. Weiss said that the army does not believe the hacking caused significant damage as it was caught before it became widespread. She said one female soldier saw her profile picture being used in a fake account in Facebook, and alerted the army. The fact that phones now have GPS makes them even more dangerous. Israeli media reported soldiers using their phones to order pizza, giving terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon information on their locations. Israeli analysts said that social media has the potential to cause significant intelligence damage, and that terror organizations see social media as a good way to get information, as it is almost impossible to wipe out completely. It is a Sisyphean war, Yossi Kupperwasser, a former senior military intelligence officer told The Media Line. You close a window and they come through the door. We must always be on alert to the next trick they are going to use. Social media has been used in the past, as well. In 2001, Palestinian gunmen killed 16-year-old Israeli Ofir Rahum after a Palestinian woman lured him to the area. A Palestinian woman, Mona Jaud Awana, spent weeks gaining Rahums confidence, by masquerading as a Jewish immigrant from Morocco named Sally. The use of Facebook, WhatsApp and other applications is widespread throughout Israel. As most 18-year-old Jewish Israelis are drafted, it is almost impossible to stop their use entirely within a militarycontext. You are sending information to the enemy, without feeling it and without knowing it, the Israeli soldier in the video warns. At that moment, you are serving the enemy more than your own country. Article written by Linda Gradstein WASHINGTON The White House said on Sunday that it is only in the early stages of talks to fulfill President Donald Trump's pledge to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, an action that would likely spark anger in the Arab world. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "We are at the very beginning stages of even discussing this subject," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said in a statement. Aides said no announcement of an embassy move was imminent. Washington's embassy is in Tel Aviv, as are most foreign diplomatic posts. Israel calls Jerusalem its eternal capital, but Palestinians also lay claim to the city as part of an eventual Palestinian state. Both sides cite biblical, historical and political claims. US Embassy in Tel Aviv (Photo: Reuters) Trump, who vowed during the 2016 presidential campaign to move the embassy, was due to speak by phone on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, their first call since the US businessman-turned-politician took office on Friday. Any decision to break with the status quo is likely to prompt protests from US allies in the Middle East such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt. Washington relies on those countries for help in fighting ISIS, which the new US president has said is a priority. The US Congress passed a law in 1995 describing Jerusalem as capital of Israel and saying it should not be divided, but successive Republican and Democratic presidents have used their foreign policy powers to maintain the US Embassy in Tel Aviv and to back negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on the status of Jerusalem. In early December, then-President Barack Obama renewed the presidential waiver until the beginning of June. It is unclear whether Trump would be able to legally override that waiver and go ahead with relocation of the embassy. US diplomats say that, despite the American legislation, Washington's foreign policy is in practice broadly aligned with that of the United Nations and other major powers, which do not view Jerusalem as Israel's capital and do not recognize Israel's annexation of east Jerusalem after its capture in the 1967 Six-Day War. Israel approved building permits on Sunday for hundreds of homes in three east Jerusalem settlements in expectation that Trump will row back on the previous administration's criticism of such projects. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed a vote Sunday on a controversial proposal to annex Ma'aleh Adumimone of the West Bank's largest settlementsin an apparent effort to align his policy toward the Palestinians with the new administration of President Donald Trump. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The move put on hold legislation that threatens to unleash fresh violence and damage already faded hopes for Palestinian independence. It also may mark Trump's first foray into Middle East diplomacy. Netanyahu (Photo: Reuters) After eight years of frosty relations with President Barack Obama, Netanyahu has welcomed Trump's election as an opportunity to strengthen ties between two allied nations. The two talked on the phone Sunday. In the conversation, which Trump called "very nice," Netanyahu expressed his vision for the two to work together for regional peace and security without gaps between the US and Israel. They discussed Iran, the political process with the Palestinians and other topics. Trump ended by inviting the prime minister to visit him in Washington in February. With Trump signaling a more tolerant approach toward the much-maligned settlement movement, many in Israel's right believe they have an ally in the White House. Education Minister Naftali Bennett, leader of the pro-settlement Bayit Yehudi party, has been pushing Netanyahu to abandon the idea of a Palestinian state and to annex the Ma'aleh Adumim settlement near Jerusalem. But after convening his Security Cabinet on Sunday, though, Netanyahu said his Cabinet ministers, with Bennett included, decided "unanimously" to delay action until he goes to Washington to meet with Trump. Netanyahu's office said the Cabinet would hold further discussions ahead of the meeting, which is expected in early February. Earlier Sunday, Netanyahu thanked Trump for his friendship and his inaugural speech pledge to battle radical Islamic militants. He said that in the phone call they would discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the situation in Syria and the Iranian threat, among other issues. While there was no explanation for Sunday's delay. But earlier, a Bayit Yehudi party official said Netanyahu had been trying to delay the Cabinet vote at the request of the Trump administration, which did not want to be blind-sided by unilateral Israeli steps. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss internal coalition negotiations. Annexing Ma'aleh Adumim, a sprawling settlement of nearly 40,000 people east of Jerusalem, could cause a major clash with the Palestinians and the rest of the international community. To the Palestinians, it would be seen as undermining negotiations. Ma'aleh Adumim is also strategically located in the middle of the West Bank, potentially hindering the establishment of a continuous state. "If they are serious about making it part of Israel and closing it down, then it is actually cutting the West Bank into two," said Hagit Ofran of the anti-settlement group Peace Now. While Trump has not expressed an opinion on the annexation, he has signaled a kinder approach toward the settlement movement than any of his predecessors. Trump also has already said he supports one of Israel's key demandsmoving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The US, like all other countries, maintains its embassy in Tel Aviv, saying the conflicting claims to Jerusalem must be worked out in negotiations. Trump, however, faces heavy pressure from the Palestinians and Arab countries against moving the embassy. The fate of east Jerusalem, home to ome of the city's most sensitive religious sites, is deeply emotional, and disagreements have boiled over into violence in the past. The White House dispelled rumors that Trump had imminent plans to announce the move. It said it was only at the "very beginning" of discussing plans to move the embassy. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has sent a series of messages to Trump urging him not to move the embassy and warning that he would revoke recognition of Israel if the move takes place. Abbas met Sunday with Jordan's King Abdullah II in Amman. Jordan, which serves as the custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, has warned that moving the embassy would cross a "red line." Jordan is a key Israeli and Western ally in the battle against Islamic militants. "We discussed the possibility of moving the embassy, and we say that if this thing happens, then we have measures that we agreed to implement together with Jordan," Abbas said. "And we hope that the American administration will not do that." Palestinian official Nabil Abu Rdeneh and condemned the building plans and called on the UN to act. "It is time to stop dealing with Israel as a state above the law," he said. US President Donald Trump said his phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday was "very nice." Trump, who took office on Friday, spoke with Netanyahu on Sunday afternoon. Trump was asked about the call by reporters after delivering remarks at a ceremony swearing in his top advisors at the White House. The pathologist's report on Yaqoub Abu al-Qiyan from Umm al-Hiran strengthen the claim that his running over and killing an Israel Police officer was not a terrorist attack, contradicting the declarations of the police chief and the minister of public security. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Last week, Abu al-Qiyan was shot dead by police officers in an incident when he ran over their colleague Erez Levi in Umm al-Hiran. Israel Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh and the minister who oversees his force, Gilad Erdan, both publicly declared that this was absolutely a terrorist attack. However, aerial footage showed that police opened fire at Abu al-Qiyan while was car was travelling slowly. Only after shots were fired at him did he suddenly accelerate and run over Levi. The post-mortem performed at the Institute of Forensic Medicine found that a bullet wounded Abu al-Qiyan in the knee that depressed the gas pedal. According to some assessments, this bullet to his leg may have been what caused him to accelerate. This has been referred to in Israeli media as "locking" his knee. Aerial footage of the incident A source who has seen the pathologist's report said that it does not irrefutably state whether the bullet to the leg caused the crash, but the officials' steadfast assertions are not confirmed either. Another detail that the report revealed is that a gunshot to Abu al-Qiyan's chest caused massive bleeding that lasted for 20 to 30 minutes. When Magen David Adom paramedics were permitted to provide medical treatment, they only could declare the man dead. It is possible that Abu al-Qiyan would have remained alive had medical teams been permitted to treat him sooner. Erdan repeated on Saturday night that this was a vehicular terrorist attack: "The police immediately launched an investigation after a police officer was run over at the scene, which indicated that this was a planned vehicular attack of a terrorist." Roni Alsheikh on Sunday morning (Photo: Daniel Elior) Alsheikh, speaking Sunday morning, was somewhat more reserved in his pronouncements. He clarified that he originally termed Abu al-Qiyan "a 'terrorist' because everything that we had seen before our eyes (said) that this was a vehicular attack, and there is not currently evidence that contradicts that." He specifically addressed the bullet to Abu al-Qiyan's knee: "There's no such thing as the knee locking. To press on the gas, you need to apply pressure." He further addressed the delay in providing medical attention, "I don't know what to sayif there was a delay in medical treatment, we'll know when the investigation is completed. Then we'll be able to know if something isn't all rightIt could take a week or two." MK Ahmad Tibi in Umm al-Hiran (Photo: AFP) MK Ahmad Tibi (Joint List) said on Saturday night, "I demand that Minister Erdan, the prime minister and the chief of police apologize to the Abu al-Qiyan family and to the public. The clear finding requires personal drawing of conclusions amongst all those who rushed to claim that this was a terrorist, an attack, and ISIS. Yaqub, who was shot by the police, is a victim of the trigger happy and the immediate cover (provided)." Speaking to Ynet on Sunday morning, Tibi insisted on the establishment of a governmental investigation into the matter. He said that Abu al-Qiyan "was killed twice: once when he was shot and once when somebody decided to allow him to die, to kill him by not providing access to medical care." He clarified his position on what he meant by "drawing conclusions," saying that it meant resignation or firing . Would curtailing credit expansion help the economy? With an uptick in demand for loans in the aftermath of Indian trade embargo and deceleration in the flow of money sent home by Nepalis working abroad, banks have started witnessing a mismatch in deposit collection and credit disbursement. US President Donald Trump is expected to meet with bipartisan congressional leaders at the White House Monday night, according to a person familiar with plans for the meeting. The meeting would be Trump's first formal meeting with Hill leaders as president. He did mingle with lawmakers at an inaugural lunch on Capitol Hill and also met with Republican leaders during the transition. Trump's congressional agenda includes repealing and replacing the nation's health care law and passing tax reform. The president will also be seeking Senate support for his yet-to-be-named nominee to fill the current Supreme Court vacancy. Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. New Delhi: Sabotage cannot be ruled out in the derailment of an Odisha-bound train in Andhra Pradesh as the area is a Maoist stronghold, a railway official said on Sunday. At least 27 persons were killed and over 50 others injured when the Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express derailed on Saturday night near Kuneru station in Vizianagaram district. "Sabotage is not ruled out as the area where the derailment happened was a Maoist area," the official told IANS. The railways have announced Rs 2 lakh compensation for the nearest kin of those who died and Rs 50,000 for those injured, Chief Public Relations officer Anil Saxena said. YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. Prime minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan held a consultation on January 20 in the Government regarding the issues of the groundwater resources usage of the Ararat plain, the Governments Press Service told ARMENPRESS. During the January 15 Cabinet meeting Karapetyan tasked the minister of nature protection to study the present data on business entities operating without water usage permits in Armenia, as well as make proposals in terms of ruling out illegal water usage. Artsvik Minasyan, minister of nature protection, briefed the Prime Minister that monitoring activities revealed 574 business entities operating without water usage permits. The PM was briefed on the situation in terms of actual usage of groundwater in Ararat plain, evaluation of impact, the situation in terms of nature protection, permits and activities of fish farms and industries. Proposals on sustainable management of water resources have been made, which are namely related to introduction of energy saving and water saving technologies in the water usage system, taking legislative, institutional and field actions, excluding the provision of new permits of wells, shutdown of abandoned wells and introduction of a control system. Prime Minister Karapetyan said it is necessary to take serious actions aimed at improving the dangerous situation in terms of nature protection and efficient usage of water resources. The PM tasked the formation of a working group which will include representatives of stakeholder agencies. From now on everyone must strictly fulfill their functions, the PM said in conclusion. LAS VEGASAfter three successful days of VIBE meetings, show floor exhibitions and seminars, the AVN Novelty Expo came to a close. The B2B show, held at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, featured a number of events unique to ANE, including the ANE Media Event and the 8th Annual O Awards. This was one of the best shows weve had, said Sherri L. Shaulis, senior editor of pleasure products for AVN. Weve had great attendance at every event. Attendees are telling us theyve learned more about the industry than ever before in exhibitors, they have networked and made connections with retailers, manufacturers, members of the media, distributors and more. And exhibitors say theyve written more orders at ANE than other recent shows. We are already planning to make next year even bigger and better at every level. With a new exhibit space in Artist Hall at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, ANE welcomed a mix of first-time and returning exhibitors to the show floor, where buyers and more met to find the latest and greatest in the world of pleasure products. The exhibitors were many and varied. Some focused on products for men, such as Whizworx. As the variety and complexity of sex toys for men has continued to increase, one company has decided to keep it simple. Whizworx keeps it simple with its stroker for men that requires no cleanup, no batteries and no embarrassment if the toy is discovered by a partner. After researching the market, I noticed there was no disposable option for a no-mess cleanup, said David Bramo, creator of Whizworxs Fifi stroker. Fifi offers consumers just that. Its single-use, sanitary disposable sleeves take away the need to clean up after use. Unlike most male sex toys on the market, Fifi can easily be mistaken for a cushion or other household item. Were the only male masturbator on the market that offers a recurring revenue model through customers rebuying our sleeves. Many customers buy 50 to 100 sleeves on their first order, says Bramo. Were looking forward to meeting with our established distributors and cultivating new relationships, Bramo said. This is our first time with a booth at the AVN show, and we look forward to it. Since launching with a basic model in several bright colors, Fifi has diversified with a commando model in camouflage and all-black model for BDSM play. Fans of the Fifi can also get the Hot Pocket, which warms up the Fifi prior to use. And the latest news is a upcoming partnership with Xhamster that features a Fifi with the cartoonish Xhamster mascot on the packaging. For more information, email [email protected] Another male-focused product was offered by CB-X Male Chastity, one of several returning exhibitors at the AVN Novelty Expo. Founded in 1999, CB-X has been the world leader of male chastity devices for more than 15 years. CB-X Male Chastity has a line of comfortable, secure kits that are designed to customize your fit at home, explained Nikki Yates, corporate director. Each kit comes with different size rings and spacers so you can wear our CB-X device comfortably long term, or for a fun date night. We also offer devices for men with a Prince Albert piercing. Company reps showed off the Gold CB-6000 and Gold CB-6000S, as well as several other versions, at ANE. We are really looking forward to reconnecting and catching up with current customers and meeting future customers of our products, Yates said. In addition to exhibiting at ANE in January, CB-X officials plan on expanding the line with a new innovation. We are also strengthening our Brand Protection Department, Yates said, referring to the companys dedication to combat counterfeiting of its award-winning range of devices. To that end, the manufacturer has a video on its official YouTube channel to help consumers spot the difference between a counterfeit or bootleg product and an authentic CB-X Male Chastity device. For more, visit CB-X.com. Another returning exhibitor is XR Brands, a company that has grown from the makers of a few extreme niche bondage products to one of the biggest manufacturers and distributors in the pleasure products sector. XR showcased several new products and lines at ANE, including a new line called Tailz, which encompasses eight different butt plugs with faux animal tails. We also are launching a line called Heat which includes self-warming silicone vibrators, said Rebecca Weinberg, director of sales and marketing for XR Brands. We will be debuting our new Saddle sex machine as well. This marks one of the first times XR Brands will exhibit at ANE; the company joins the ranks of thousands of manufacturers, distributors and more who have launched their brands or products at the popular B2B show. We are looking to expand brand awareness, strengthen our existing relationships and show off our latest and greatest products, Weinberg said. We will be focusing on market penetration with a focus on in store trainings and point of purchase offerings. 2017 will be the year for innovation for XR. We have many new and exciting items in the works for launch later this year. Our company is stronger than ever and is coming off the heels of our best year ever, she continued. Our team is now complete and ready to continue making waves in this extremely competitive market. For more, visit XRBrands.com. One of the pioneering companies in the pleasure product industry, Nasstoys returned to ANE this year. I am excited to return to Vegas for the annual January AVN Show and participate in ANE. Nasstoys will be showing our latest top-selling items and collections in a booth designed to offer support to exhibiting distributors sales teams as well as market our products to everyone else, said Elliot Schwartz, president of Nasstoys. Schwartz also is thrilled about his O Award win for Royal Eruption in the Outstanding Enhancement Product category, saying it is exciting and an honor, and a great way to start the new year. Nasstoys showcased the newly unveiled O-Zone Collection and the Surenda Enhanced Oral Vibe, among many other items. For more, visit Nasstoys.com. Located near the door to the ANE show floor was another industry mainstay: Nalpac, an adult distribution company established in 1971. We currently stock close to 20,000 products in our 160,000 square-foot warehouse, said Tracy Tinsley, retail coordinator for the Michigan-based company. Our large warehouse facility allows us to stock the entire product lines of the major adult manufacturers as well as full lines from many smaller manufacturers. Our purchasing department prides themselves in a collaborative selection by choosing manufacturers that stand behind their product. Nalpac had a number of products on display at ANE, representing all categories, including fetish and luxury items. We have a well-trained and knowledgeable sales staff and we offer outstanding customer service, Tinsley said. We offer competitive pricing on shipping worldwide and provide simple solutions for drop-shipping and fulfillment services. Since we are located in metro Detroit, our Midwest location allows for most of our customers a one- to three-day day shipping time. Ninety-five percent of our orders are shipped within 24 hours to ensure that the customer will receive their orders fast. The benefits they get from attending the show? Seeing everyone, meeting new people and strengthening existing relationships as well as looking for new innovative product to pick up, Tinsley said. In 2017, we will continue to bring our customers the most innovative products and strive to deliver the best customer service in the industry. For more, visit Nalpac.com. Still a relative newcomer to the pleasure products industry, Shibari Wands has been garnering attention since its debut in 2014 with the wireless and plug-in versions of its 2 Speed Massager. The company made connections with customers and potential future business partners at the AVN Novelty Expo. Shibari started in 2014 as a wand and lubricant company. Our goal was to provide everyday bedroom essentials that were fun, exciting, and most importantly affordable, said Danielle from Shibari Wands. We specialize in wands that range in size from mini 3 inches to full-size wands with varying speeds, pulses, and patterns. We also offer a variety of small items, wand attachments, lubricants, luxury vibrators, mens rings and delay sprays, Shibari condoms and bondage rope. In addition to meeting with customers and developing new relationships at ANE, Shibari Wands showcased new items: Mega Wand 28 Speed Massager, Hello Sexy Bling Bling Mini Wand, Triton Max Spray 20% for Men, Triton Anal Lubricant for Men, and Shibari Condoms in three-, 12- and 36-count packages. We are looking to continue the aggressive growth of the brand through current partners, but look forward to expanding into new markets, Danielle said. The Hello Sexy line was a huge hit for us, and we will continue to build on that as well as release products true to the company and its culture. To learn more, visit ShibariWands.com. NEW YORK, NY DECEMBER 13: Businessman Bill Gates speaks to reporters at Trump Tower, December 13, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) With a reported US$75 billion to his name, Bill Gates is the wealthiest person in the world. But it may only be a matter of a 25 years before the Microsoft co-founder, or another of his ilk, becomes the inaugural member of trillionaires club. The revelation comes from a new report from Oxfam International on global inequality. The international aid organization said that the chasm between the ultra-rich continues to grow at an alarming rate, with the top 1 per cent gaining more income than the bottom 50 per cent over the last 25 years. Oxfam pointed to Gates as evidence of this trend, noting that despite his commendable efforts to give much of his fortune away it has increased by more than 50 per cent, or $25 billion, since he left Microsoft in 2006. If billionaires continue to secure these returns, we could see the worlds first trillionaire in 25 years, Oxfam predicted. In such an environment, if you are already rich you have to try hard not to keep getting a lot richer. A 2013 report from Credit Suisse suggested that there could be as many as 11 members of the trillionaires club within 60 years. Oxfam dubbed our current economic climate as the age of the super-rich or a second gilded age. The researchers said that part of the problem is that once these super-rich or the 1810 individuals with a net worth of at least $1 billion accumulate their fortune it develops a momentum of its own. They noted that since 2009, the wealth held by the super-rich has increased by an average of 11 per cent per year, a rate much higher than the average saver, and now accounts for $6.5 trillion, or as much as the bottom 70 per cent of humanity. The super-rich have the money to spend on the best investment advice, said Oxfam. Whether via hedge funds or warehouses full of fine art and vintage cars, the highly secretive industry of wealth management has been hugely successful in increasing the prosperity of the super-rich. Oxfam also found that some of the members of the billionaires club gained their fortune through hard work and talent, as much as one-third inherited their wealth and a further 43 per cent can linked to cronyism. Story continues It also found that many of the super-rich use tax havens to keep their hands on their vast wealth, while others use it to influence policy, elections and lobby for lower taxes. And while it may be exciting for one person to open their bank account in 25 years to see a 13-digit number, according to Oxfam, that may be bad news for the rest of us and especially those who may be struggling to get by. The huge fortunes we see at the very top of the wealth and income spectrum are clear evidence of the inequality crisis and are hindering the fight to end extreme poverty, said the report. Things were so desperate at Hi Quality Machine in Nisku last year that only three employees were left standing after several rounds of layoffs. All of them were family members. After 37 years repairing and making parts for use in the oilpatch, orders were drying up. And with oil hovering as low as $30 a barrel, few companies were drilling wells. A year later, owner Cory Priebe is hopeful things might be turning around for Alberta's oilpatch. "Some of my main customers are putting the rigs back to work, so that's our gravy is building things for the rigs," said Priebe. With oil now above $50 a barrel, drilling activity is picking up. That has led to more work for Priebe, who has now hired back a machinist he let go last year. At this time last year, only one-quarter of the 650 rigs in the industry were being put to work in western Canada. Today, about half of those rigs are back in business, bringing a much-needed boost to the Nisku Industrial area, which was hit hard when things slowed down. "When we see that kind of drilling activity pick up in western Canada, that certainly gets those service companies and those drilling companies back to work," said Barbara Engelbart McKenzie, executive director of the Leduc-Nisku Economic Development Association. Last year, the area saw layoff after layoff. Engelbart McKenzie estimates as many as 8,000 people lost their jobs. "I believe the biggest swing of layoffs are definitely over," she said. "Companies are more efficient, more economical." Trump policies still a cause for concern While some companies have started hiring again, and drilling numbers are encouraging, uncertainty remains. Citadel Drilling in Nisku has all six of its rigs operating right now. But CEO Dan Hoffarth is still concerned. "There are some bright spots in the marketplace right now," he said. "But I wouldn't take that as a sign of meaningful recovery." Story continues Hoffarth said an increase in drilling numbers should be expected anyway during what is the peak of the winter season. And there are other factors that have him on edge, in addition to the slowdown that will come with spring break-up. "Especially when we take a look at the uncertainty around our industry with president Trump taking power in the U.S.," Hoffarth said. "And not knowing what his actions are going to do. There's talk of an energy tax." Still, Hoffarth is pleased to have all his rigs fully staffed and working for now, whatever the future might hold. At Hi Quality Machine, Priebe is confident the worst days are behind him. "We can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel. We can feel it." Thousands gathered in Toronto for that citys march. Photo from Ramisha Farooq Canadians joined their American neighbours Saturday as womens marches across the country drew in massive crowds of people. New estimates say the crowd in Washington, D.C., has reached close to 500,000. Around 200,000 people were expected with roughly 200 satellite marches at cities around the world. Canadians came out in full force with tens of thousands marching in Calgary, Vancouver and Halifax. Organizers expected in 11,000 in Toronto alone. Estimates of the turnout were reportedly around 60,000. Check out some of the best tweets, photos and video from across the country: Introductions are underway at #WomensMarch in #Vancouver. Very moving speeches from organizers and First Nation leaders. #wmwcanada pic.twitter.com/fkdj92Zrqs Sarah MacDonald (@CTVSarah) January 21, 2017 Safe to say at least 1,000 people piled in to Portage Place to join in Winnipeg #WomensMarch @globalwinnipeg pic.twitter.com/jXMdhWcyF4 Zahra Premji (@ZahraGlobalNews) January 21, 2017 view from college and university, tail end of the #WomensMarchTO pic.twitter.com/9ZZTCrGbnd Jade Blair (@jadejader) January 21, 2017 "Thank you, Canada!" A common refrain here as we join the flow of the march #wmwcanada #WomensMarch pic.twitter.com/9OeufgGoZs Sarah Boesveld (@sarahboesveld) January 21, 2017 "Why march in Canada? Because there is violence here too" #WomensMarch #WMWcanada Hilary Agro (@hilaryagro) January 21, 2017 Photo from my mom showing part of the crowd at a women's march in downtown Vancouver, Canada. pic.twitter.com/Nb8zSIv1aw Matt Ford (@fordm) January 21, 2017 By Ayesha Rascoe and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit Washington in early February during a phone call in which they discussed the importance of strengthening the U.S.-Israeli relationship, the White House said on Sunday. In his first call with Netanyahu since taking office on Friday, Trump stressed his "unprecedented commitment to Israel's security." "The president and the prime minister agreed to continue to closely consult on a range of regional issues, including addressing the threats posed by Iran," the White House said in a statement. Trump also said peace between Israel and the Palestinians could only be negotiated between the two parties, but that the United States would work with Israel to achieve that goal. Relations between Israel and the Obama administration ended on a contentious note, when the United States declined to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a halt to Israeli settlement-building. The readout from the White House did not include any mention of moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, an action that would likely spark anger in the Arab world. Earlier on Sunday, the White House said it was only in the early stages of talks to fulfill Trump's campaign pledge to relocate the embassy. "We are at the very beginning stages of even discussing this subject," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said in a statement. Aides said no announcement of an embassy move was imminent. Washington's embassy is in Tel Aviv, as are most foreign diplomatic posts. Israel calls Jerusalem its eternal capital, but Palestinians also lay claim to the city as part of an eventual Palestinian state. Both sides cite biblical, historical and political claims. Any decision to break with the status quo is likely to prompt protests from U.S. allies in the Middle East such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt. Washington relies on those countries for help in fighting the Islamic State militant group, which the new U.S. president has said is a priority. The U.S. Congress passed a law in 1995 describing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and saying it should not be divided, but successive Republican and Democratic presidents have used their foreign policy powers to maintain the embassy in Tel Aviv and to back negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on the status of Jerusalem. In early December, then-President Barack Obama renewed the presidential waiver on an embassy move until the beginning of June. It is unclear whether Trump would be able to legally override it and go ahead with relocation of the embassy. U.S. diplomats say that, despite the U.S. legislation, Washington's foreign policy is in practice broadly aligned with that of the United Nations and other major powers, which do not view Jerusalem as Israel's capital and do not recognize Israel's annexation of Arab East Jerusalem after its capture in the 1967 Middle East war. Israel approved building permits on Sunday for hundreds of homes in three East Jerusalem settlements in expectation that Trump will row back on the previous administration's criticism of such projects. (Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe, Warren Strobel and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Howard Goller and Paul Simao) chris wallace Fox News anchor Chris Wallace confronted White House chief of staff Reince Priebus on Sunday over the White House's dubious claims about the size of the crowd at President Donald Trump's inauguration. During an interview on "Fox News Sunday," Wallace called White House press secretary Sean Spicer's Saturday briefing "extraordinary," noting that Spicer did not take any questions and insisted contrary to all available evidence that Trump garnered the "largest audience to ever witness an inauguration." "President Trump said in his inaugural address that every decision he makes will be to benefit American families," Wallace said. "How does arguing about crowd size do that?" Priebus argued that there was a media conspiracy to delegitimize Trump's presidency, claiming that media outlets were incorrect to report on issues including Russia's meddling in the US presidential election. "It really isn't about crowd size," Priebus said. "What it's about is honesty in the media. "The media from day one has been talking about delegitimizing the election. Talking about the Russians, talking about everything you can imagine except the fact that we need to move this country forward." Priebus claimed media outlets made sloppy errors, and he specifically pointed to Time magazine reporter Zeke Miller, who mistakenly sent out a White House pool report on Friday asserting that a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. was removed from the Oval Office. Miller quickly corrected the report and apologized. "This is an explosive accusation which could've had incredible ramifications ... Turns out it was totally false," Priebus said. "What did the media say? 'Oh, our bad.'" But Wallace continued to press Priebus, saying Trump made two separate inaccurate claims about the size of the inaugural crowd during an appearance at the CIA headquarters on Saturday. Wallace also posted side-by-side pictures of Obama's and Trump's inaugurations. Weiterlesen "You talk about honesty," Wallace said. "You say this is about honesty. But there's another issue here though, Reince, and that is the president's honest. Two things he said yesterday were just flat wrong. "Take a look at those pictures," Wallace continued, putting up the pictures of Obama's 2009 inauguration and Trump's on Friday. "Which one is bigger?" "You're also not saying that that picture was taken before he was even speaking," Priebus replied. "I was there, I was there on the mall," Wallace interjected. "I was there too, Chris," Priebus said. Wallace dubbed the conversation "ridiculous," but when Priebus insisted that crowds stretched from the congressional steps to the Washington Monument, Wallace urged his producers to "put up the picture again." "You can keep putting the picture up, wait a second," Priebus replied. "I could take an aerial picture right now, Chris, and I can say, 'Look at the difference. If you're not comparing apples to apples, it doesn't matter." After more back-and-forth, Wallace eventually said the White House team was responsible for arguing about the size of the crowd and could have highlighted other priorities instead. "You're the ones who did it," Wallace said when Priebus dismissed the media for not covering the "substance" of Trump's remarks. "He could've given a news conference yesterday, talked about the agenda, talked about the executive actions he's going to sign," Wallace said. "He talked about crowd sizes." Watch part of the exchange below, via Fox News: NOW WATCH: 'The largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period': Trump press secretary disputes reports of low turnout at inauguration More From Business Insider President Donald Trump is the 45th president of the Unites States and just got inaugurated on Friday, January 20th. Chimamanda Adichie with protesters in America READ ALSO: See lovely new photo of Chimamanda Adichie's beautiful baby girl Popular Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie was seem at a protest in Washington DC with several others who were protesting against President Trumps's anti-women and other offensive policies. See photos below: The Purple Hibiscus author is proudly pro-feminism. READ ALSO: Why controversial feminist Chimamanda hates her latest photos READ ALSO: Watch Chimamanda Adichie INSULT this oyibo man who said Donald Trump isnt racist READ ALSO: 9 Nigerians that will make you proud to be Nigerian (photos) Chimamanda is not one to hide her opinions on social and political matters and her message is clear: She is not impressed with President Trump's policies. Source: Legit.ng As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ Important stuff you won't get from the liberal media! We do the surfing so you can be informed AND have a life! Ford Kuga owners are being told that their vehicles are worthless and have been turned away from dealerships when trying to trade in their cars. According to a report by the Sunday Times, several Kuga owners have attempted to trade their cars in for other Ford models only to be sent away by dealerships. Those who have been accommodated were given trade-in values far below what they believe their vehicles are worth, stated the report. Worth nothing East London Kuga owner Praneet Khandoo told the Sunday Times that he attempted to trade in his car at Eastern Cape Motors, only to be told he would get nothing for it. Khandoos Kuga had its cooling system replaced in October, well before Ford South Africa issued a safety recall for 1.6-litre models due to engine overheating which could lead to fires. The salesman said he was told they could offer me nothing for the car. He doubted there was another dealer who could give me a quote either, said Khandoo. A sales representative at Ford Eagle in Johannesburg said they would take a Ford Kuga on trade-in, but advised owners to wait until the media storm had passed. Its just not worth it. The Kuga has been killed. Every day its price continues to drop through the floor, said the agent. A Ford Silver Lakes salesperson said they were not taking chances on the Kuga, and AutoBid suggested they offer R70,000 for a bottom-end 1.6-litre Kuga. Hatfield VW Braamfontein said auctioneers AutoBid valued a 2014 1.6-litre EcoBoost Kuga Titanium AWD at R129,000 R167,000 less than what an essentially good car is actually worth. An AutoBid pricing agent told the Sunday Times that they had priced all Kugas at 50% of what they were worth. People are terrified of these cars, said the agent. Three other dealerships contacted said they would not give quotes for the Kuga over the phone. Recall Ford South Africa recently issued a safety recall for the 1.6-litre EcoBoost Kuga, due to overheating issues. Overheating can lead to a cracking of the cylinder head, which causes an oil leak, which can lead to an engine fire. 4,556 local models were affected by the recall, with over 50 cases of Ford Kugas catching fire reported in South Africa since December 2015. The full report is in the Sunday Times of 22 January 2016. Now read: Ford South Africa CEO trying to put out fires The militarys most prolific leaker of digital documents has ushered in an age of even more increased surveillance over government workers. The legacy of Chelsea Mannings actions is under discussion in the wake of the announcement that the former Army private will be released from military prison in May. In one of his last official acts, President Obama commuted her sentence for violations of the Espionage Act and copying and disseminating classified information. The commutation reduced her sentence from 35 years to the seven years she has already served, plus four additional months needed to effect her release. In 2010, Manning, then presenting as male and going by the first name Bradley, was an intelligence analyst serving in Iraq. Disillusioned by callous behavior and indiscriminate killing of people in Afghanistan and Iraq by American soldiers, Manning copied and digitally released a massive trove of classified information. The data included 250,000 cables from American diplomats stationed around the world, 470,000 Iraq and Afghanistan battlefield reports and logs of military incident reports, assessment files of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay and war zone videos of airstrikes in Afghanistan and Iraq war in which civilians were killed. Government officials immediately expressed concerns about damage to national security, international relations and military personnel because of the information contained in the material. There appears to have been relatively little lasting damage to American diplomacy. The military revelations were more damaging, with documents discussing prisoner torture and an assassination squad made up of American special forces operators. Those enraged American citizens and the international community alike, and may have hardened the resolve of adversaries. But the most lasting effect will likely be a powerful new fear of so-called insider threats leaks by people like Manning, working for the U.S. and having passed security clearance background checks. In the wake of Mannings actions, the military and intelligence communities have been ramping up digital surveillance of their own personnel to unprecedented levels, in hopes of detecting leakers before they let their information loose on the world. Embarrassing to diplomats The initial official response was that the release of State Department cables internal communications between officials with candid assessments of international situations and even individual leaders personalities would be so debilitating to foreign relations that repair would take decades. In reality, the cables were more embarrassing than destructive. A political uproar met the news that the U.S. and its purported ally Pakistan were working at cross-purposes: American forces were trying to fight against the Taliban and al-Qaida, while Pakistan was trying to offer them protection and even weapons. But overall, it didnt significantly increase the existing tensions in American-Pakistani relations. Other foreign officials may have become more wary about sharing information with Americans, but over time, new people come into key posts, the leak is forgotten and business continues as it has always done. Foreign leaders about whom U.S. officials had made blunt and disparaging comments in the cables did suffer. For example, the cables revealed a secret agreement in which the U.S. conducted drone strikes in Yemen while that countrys President Ali Abdullah Saleh publicly took the blame. Two years later, in 2012, a popular revolution ousted him. A similar fate befell the Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, whose lavish lifestyle and lack of American support was discussed in the cables. Revealing military misdeeds More damaging to the U.S. was what was revealed in the battlefield reports Manning released, and called evidence of American soldiers bloodlust. For instance, Mannings leaks disclosed the activities of an American assassination squad in Afghanistan. Called Task Force 373, the unit comprised specially trained U.S. personnel from elite forces such as the Navy SEALs and the Armys Delta Force. Its goal was to assassinate a range of targets including drug barons, drug makers and al-Qaida and Taliban figures. The documents also showed U.S. military personnel shooting innocent civilians on the ground and from the air among them a Reuters journalist. They showed that American authorities ignored extreme torture inflicted on Iraqi prisoners, including sexual abuse and physical mistreatment, such as hanging detainees upside-down. Allegations of child trafficking by U.S. military contractors also came to light. Surveilling the potential messenger Manning is being hailed as a hero and as a traitor. There are arguments for both. The public has a right to know about official misdeeds carried out by the government and military. But those kinds of revelations can jeopardize our defense strategy and hurt our standing in the world community. Mannings leaks raised alarms across the government because they came from a trusted insider. In 2011, Obama issued Executive Order 13587, directing Executive Branch departments and agencies to be on guard against insider threats. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowdens leaks of NSA documents in 2013 only heightened official fears. As a result, government organizations have increased surveillance and are closely monitoring their employees online activity. With software and techniques also in use in the private sector, government agencies and contractors use computer systems that monitor when employees are accessing, copying, deleting and transferring files. Computers external media ports are also being watched, to detect an employee connecting a USB thumb drive that could be used to smuggle documents out of a secure system. Workers keystrokes and other actions on their computers are being analyzed in real time to detect unauthorized activity, such as accessing restricted files or even connecting to file-sharing or social media sites. Agencies and private companies with government contracts will also have to keep their employees after-work lives under greater surveillance, looking for behavior or situations that might compromise government security. The effectiveness of these efforts is not yet clear. Leniency or mercy? Obama characterized Mannings release as a humanitarian gesture because of her personal circumstances. The day after she was sentenced, Manning revealed that she is transgender and identifies as a woman; nevertheless, she was held in a mens military prison. The military was under increasing public and even international pressure to allow her to make a physical and biological transition a procedure neither the military nor any U.S. prison has ever dealt with or paid for before. (She is likely to lose her military medical coverage upon her release from prison, leaving her medical care in question.) Despite Obamas perspective, Mannings release could be viewed as an act of leniency, a signal that others might escape decades of prison time if they, too, were to violate their oaths of secrecy and reveal confidential public information. But fewer might get the chance to do so, because insiders are trusted less and being watched more. Sanjay Goel, Professor of Information Technology Management, University at Albany, State University of New York This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Now read: Russian hackers take down Afcon website France, Singapore and Switzerland begin joint testing of experimental digital currencies 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 A waterslide isn't cool. You know what's cool? A natural rock waterslide. We all need to reconnect with nature once in a while, and if you're feeling the need, head to Sliding Rock, North Carolina. It's home to a natural waterslide that tosses bathers down a 60-foot slide into an eight-foot pool. The water is chilly, from between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Romantic Asheville. You can give the slide a go anytime, but in the interest of safety there is a lifeguard on duty daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. beginning May 27 through mid-August, and on weekends through Labor Day. There's a $2 fee for anyone looking to slide while there's a lifeguard on duty, but you can take a ride during off-hours (at your own risk) for free. If swimming isn't your thing, there are plenty of spots for you to perch and take in the sight that is a bunch of people not being able to control themselves as they slide down a giant rock. Oil producers said Sunday that their landmark December deal to slash output by almost two million barrels per day was on track, as they met to review progress. "Compliance is great, it's been really fantastic," Khaled al-Falih, energy minister of oil behemoth Saudi Arabia, was quoted by Bloomberg as saying. "Based on everything I know, I think it's been one of the best agreements we've had for a long time," he said in Vienna. He added that he hoped all countries would reach full compliance next month and forecast that brimming global oil stocks would return to normal levels by mid-year. The December 10 accord, valid from January 1 for six months, obliges 24 countries inside and outside the OPEC group to cut production by 1.8 million bpd between them. The aim is to reduce a global glut that has depressed oil prices and blown a huge hole in the public finances of producer nations, despite being good news for consumers. Markets initially welcomed the accord in December, sending oil prices up to an 18-month high of $58. But they have since slipped back on concerns countries may not stick to their commitments -- as has happened under previous deals. Falih he said however that producers have already removed 1.5 million bpd from the market, more than 80 percent of their collective target. And Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Moscow was "ahead of schedule" and "doing our best to maximise participation" in the agreement, Bloomberg reported. Russia has reduced production by an average of 100,000 bpd, a milestone it had not expected to reach until next month, Novak said. Russia has said it would make a daily reduction of 300,000 barrels by April or May. Saudi Arabia has already exceeded its target with an output reduction of more than 500,000 bpd, Falih said, while Algeria and Kuwait have also cut to levels beyond their targets, Bloomberg reported. Other OPEC members such as Iraq and Venezuela have not yet reached their quotas but say they are more than halfway there. OPEC's total production fell by 221,000 bpd to 33.1 million bpd in December, according to secondary sources data in OPEC's monthly report published last week. Under the deal it agreed to reduce output to 32.5 million bpd. However that includes about 740,000 bpd from former member Indonesia, Bloomberg said. - Extension 'unlikely' - The deal is renewable for an additional six months but Falih said earlier this month that an extension was "unlikely". To track compliance, the producers have created a Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) which met Sunday for the first time. A statement published afterwards said that the JMMC "expressed its satisfaction regarding the strong level of commitment to the agreed framework". The gathering focused mostly on how compliance will be assessed, agreeing to produce regular reports and updates and share analyses among producers. "We started to trust each other better, which is just as important as the market re-balancing, Novak said. "One year ago not many believed in the success of this initiative." Personal Loans Singapore Use it wisely Paul HO (iCompareLoan.com) Headwinds in the global economy makes doing business extremely tough in Singapore. Singapores high land cost filters down into high operating costs for all businesses operating in Singapore. Banks are pro-cyclical, meaning that when the times are good and default risks are low, they want to lend you more than you need. And when there is any hint of trouble, they refrain from lending. This leads to an issue of flood and droughts of money. When you see a golden opportunity during troubled times, you cannot take advantage of it as you cannot find funding for it. This is not limited to SME bosses only. Every individual can apply. Minimum requirement is annual income of $120,000 and above. Picture Credits: Pexels.com Business loans Require Directors to be Personal Guarantors Many business owners may look very glamourous, but they are in fact under a lot of financial strain. Their customers are taking longer to pay them, their suppliers are under strain, chasing them for payment. Most banks will only lend to businesses unless the directors become personal guarantor to the loans, the directors are liable to the loan the company has taken. This is little difference than the directors themselves getting a personal loan. Business loans are getting harder to approve Business loans are becoming harder to approve. Although there are Spring Micro loans and Spring working capital loans, the paperwork imposed on the SME is quite onerous. The processing time is typically 1 week to 1 month. And SMEs need to show latest year of profit in many instances. This is a tough year, many SMEs are struggling and of course many are also not profitable. This is no reason to stop lending as this will exacerbate the recession, but this is the way banks work. Another option available to business leaders is Personal loans as it is much easier to approve. These directors only need to draw a salary from their companies or directors fee in order to qualify for the loan. Story continues The loan disbursement is also very fast, it usually takes only a few days for the loan to be approved and disbursed. Business Loans Insufficient Many businesses may not be able to obtain the maximum advertised sum of funding provided by Spring. Most businesses either suffering from reduced profits or no profits during recession. Hence the actual approved amount could end up much lower, or worse, rejected. There would be a huge funding gap. Banks want you to take a Minimum Loan to make it worthwhile for them Some banks need you to take a minimum of $60,000 to $80,000 of loan due to their internal policy. It cost almost the same to administer a $60,000 loan versus a $20,000 loan. Many businesses may qualify for $20,000, but because the bank will only lend a minimum of $60,000, this loan application will be rejected. How to Qualify for Personal Loan Opportunities are plentiful during a recession. If you have the funding, you will be able to catch these opportunities, whether you are a business owner or just an individual. For an annual income of $120,000, you could easily borrow up to 10 times your monthly salary. That is 10 times $10,000 = $100,000. You could borrow up to 18 times your monthly salary, if you have good payment history. That means you could borrow $180,000. Does MAS limit on Unsecured lending Apply? MAS is reducing indebtedness from 24 times of Salary to 18 times in June 2017 and 12 times in June 2019. This is a right move, but this also means that many people will be faced with cash flow problems. However MAS reduction of lending limit on unsecured loans does not apply to: - People with annual incomes over $120,000; People with nets above $2,000,000. Needs-based purposes such as Business, Medical and Education. That means you can borrow in excess of 12 times your monthly salary if you meet the above criteria and capture any potential business opportunity. Summary A blend of business loans as well as personal loans could meet your funding needs to capture that business opportunity. You need to earn $120,000 or more in order to qualify for higher unsecured limit. Remember, you should not use this loan for personal consumption as you will need to find a way to repay this loan. A word of advice, borrow prudently and spend wisely. For those who are already has loans more than 12 times their income and earning less than $120,000 annually, they should immediately seek help from Debt Consolidation Plan to reduce their debt load. Value hunters are spoilt for choice when it comes to house-hunting in the prime residential districts. A total of 42 transactions in the $900,000-to-$1.1 million range were recorded in prime Districts 1, 2, 9, 10 and 11 from October to January to date. These transactions were mainly for units of 420 to 861 sq ft. Demand for these small and affordably priced units is expected to continue, especially from singles and newly married young couples looking to buy their first home, says Adeline Koh, a sales director at Propnex Realty. As they are mainly first-time buyers, they are not affected by the additional buyers stamp duty (ABSD). Some of the buyers are young families who want their children to go to good schools such as Methodist Girls School, Nanyang Primary School, Raffles Girls Primary School and River Valley Primary School. Condominium developments in the Newton Road area in District 11 Valley Park is a 728-unit, 999-year leasehold development by Frasers Centrepoint that was completed 20 years ago Most buyers do not mind older freehold or 999-year leasehold condominiums such as Valley Park, Novena Court or Casa Jervois owing to their larger unit sizes and livable space, notes Koh. For instance, Valley Park is a 728- unit, 999-year leasehold development by Frasers Centrepoint. Completed 20 years ago, the project has a wide range of units such as studio units of 732 sq ft and four-bedroom units of 1,808 sq ft. There are also penthouses that start from 2,562 sq ft. The latest unit to change hands at Valley Park was a 764 sq ft studio unit that was sold for $1.08 million ($1,413 psf), according to a caveat lodged in October. Casa Jervois, on the other hand, is a 31-unit freehold, low-rise condo by Nakano Singapore. Completed in 1990, the project contains a mix of studio units of 743 sq ft and three-bedroom units of 1,227 to 1,722 sq ft. A studio unit was sold for $1.03 million ($1,387 psf) in November. --thisisapagebreak Meanwhile, in prime District 11 is Novena Court, a four-storey walk-up apartment block built in 1970. The freehold project has a mix of two- and three-bedrooms units ranging from 775 to 861 sq ft. The most recent transaction was for an 861 sq ft, three-bedroom unit that fetched $1.1 million ($1,254 psf) in December. Story continues For those who want something new in prime District 9, there is The Boutiq, a freehold condo on Killiney Road. Jointly developed by Heeton Holdings, KSH Holdings and TEE Land, the project was completed in 2014. The 130-unit condo has a mix of one-bedders of 506 sq ft and two-bedders of 732 to 1,086 sq ft. The latest resale was that of a one-bedder that fetched $1 million ($1,977 psf). --thisisapagebreak In District 10, there is a wide range of freehold condos completed in the last five years, particularly in the River Valley neighbourhood. On River Valley Road is RV Residences, a 248- unit, 999-year leasehold development by Allgreen Properties. Completed in 2015, the low-rise condo consists of mainly compact units. One-bedroom units are between 419 and 452 sq ft, two-bedroom units are 678 to 699 sq ft and three-bedroom units are 850 to 1,001 sq ft. The latest transaction at the project was for a 420 sq ft, one-bedroom unit that fetched $917,000 ($2,185 psf). Located off River Valley Road, at the end of Shanghai Road, is the 67-unit The Mercury. The project was developed by privately held Fortune Land, which also developed RV Suites nearby. Completed in 2012, the freehold The Mercury is fully sold. Units are a mix of one-bedroom- plus-study units of 635 sq ft and two-bedroom- plus-study units of 1,044 to 1,259 sq ft. The latest resale transaction was for a 635 sq ft, one-bedroom-plus-study unit that was sold for $980,000 ($1,543 psf), according to a caveat lodged in December. --thisisapagebreak In the Newton area in prime District 10, several new private condo projects obtained Temporary Occupation Permits (TOPs) recently. On Surrey Road, off Newton Road, is Suites @ Newton. The freehold development by TeamBuild Land contains 67 units and was completed in 2016. Typi cal apartments in the project are one- and two-bedders of 484 to 764 sq ft. The most recent transaction was for a one-bedroom unit that fetched $919,600 ($1,899 psf) in October. As at end-December, 58 out of a total of 67 units were sold. Near Suites @ Newton is 26 Newton, a freehold condo by Novelty Group that also obtained TOP last year. The 180-unit project contains a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments of 474 to 1,033 sq ft. The project was launched in April 2012, with units priced at an average of $2,400 psf. The latest transaction in the project was for a 474 sq ft, one-bedroom unit that fetched $987,000 ($2,083 psf) in December. As at end-December, 43 out of the 180 units were sold, according to URA data. --thisisapagebreak In the Novena area is Soleil @ Sinaran, a 417-unit project located within Health City Novena. The 99-year leasehold development by Frasers Centrepoint is in prime District 11 and within walking distance of the Novena MRT station. Completed in 2011, the project has a mix of studio units and one- to four-bedroom units ranging from 495 to 1,722 sq ft. The latest transactions were for a 506 sq ft studio unit that changed hands for $950,000 ($1,878 psf) and a 581 sq ft, one-bedroom unit that fetched $965,000 ($1,660 psf). Located on Robin Road in the neighbourhood of Stevens Road in prime District 10 is Robin Suites. Completed in 2016, the project by Meng Leong Development comprises a 20-storey apartment block with 88 units, and four townhouses. The apartments are a mix of one- and two-bedders ranging from 441 to 990 sq ft. The townhouses are two-bedroom units of 1,722 sq ft. There were several transactions of one-bedroom units of 463 sq ft at Robin Suites in October and November, at prices ranging from $975,000 ($2,107 psf) to $1.065 million ($2,301 psf). --thisisapagebreak In the CBD and Marina Bay area of prime District 1, there is a wide range of choices of one-bedroom units. At the 1,111-unit The Sail @ Marina Bay, a high-floor, one-bedroom unit changed hands late last year for $1.08 million ($1,824 psf). The 99-year leasehold condo was jointly developed by City Developments and AIG Real Estate. Meanwhile, at the corner of McCallum Street and Telok Ayer Street is The Clift, a 312-unit condo tower by Far East Organization that was completed in 2011. The most recent transaction at the development was for a 506 sq ft, one-bedroom unit that was sold for $1.08 million ($2,127 psf) in November. In prime District 2, on the fringe of the CBD is Spottiswoode Park Road, where a number of private condos have sprung up. The biggest of the new private condos there is the 351- unit Spottiswoode Residences. Developed by UOL Group, the freehold project was completed in 2013. It contains a mix of units ranging from one-bedroom apartments of 590 sq ft to three-bedroom apartments of 1,400 sq ft. The development is fully sold. The latest resale of a one-bedroom unit was for a 603 sq ft apartment that fetched $1.1 million ($1,825 psf) last October. This article appeared in The Edge Property Pullout, Issue 763 (Jan 23, 2017) of The Edge Singapore. Related Articles From TheEdgeProperty.com.sg Good deals to be had in the Northeast Landed homes below $2 million Condos with the most resilient rents Condos in the $1 mil-to-$1.5 mil price range 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 ASTANA, Kazakhstan (AP) Delegates from Russia, Turkey and Iran held hours-long talks in Kazakhstan Sunday on the eve of negotiations between Syrian rebels and President Bashar Assad's government, trying to forge common ground that would nudge forward a political settlement for the country's civil war. The talks between the two warring sides are the first in a year, and are meant as a first step to consolidate a cease-fire reached last month. Whether Russia and Turkey will manage to bolster the cease-fire they brokered on Dec. 30 will be a key measure of success for the Astana meetings, Syrian opposition spokesman Yahya al-Aridi told reporters in the Kazakh capital Sunday. The opposition delegation, which arrived in Astana earlier in the day, is made up of about a dozen rebel figures led by Mohammad Alloush, of the powerful Army of Islam rebel group. The Syrian government is sending its U.N. ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, and military delegates. The U.N.'s Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, is participating in the talks, which are to be followed by more political talks in February in Geneva. The new U.S. administration is not directly involved, because of the "immediate demands of the transition," the State Department said Saturday, but Washington will be represented by the U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan, George Krol. The talks are sponsored by Russia, Iran and Turkey, and are the latest attempt to forge a settlement to end a war that has by most estimates killed more than 400,000 people since March 2011 and displaced more than half the country's population. At the top of the agenda for the talks, which will be held at the Rixos President Hotel, is an effort to consolidate last month's cease-fire. The truce excludes extremist groups such as the Islamic State group and the al-Qaida affiliate in Syria. It has reduced overall violence, but fighting and violations continue on multiple fronts. "If this can be achieved, this can help the political process," said al-Aridi. Story continues The scope of the aims reflects the constrained position of the opposition, which last year was pushing for a political transition in Syria that would exclude Assad. Al-Aridi said there was no plan to discuss Assad's position before addressing what he said were ongoing government violations of the cease-fire. "I don't think there's a context for that now. Nobody is ready for this," al-Aridi told reporters in Astana. "We need a commitment to that cease-fire." "If the other side doesn't care about stopping the bloodshed in Syria, and cares most about staying in power at the expense of Syrian blood ... in that case, nothing will work," he said. Reflecting the enormous distrust at play, he described the Iranians as "spoilers" and "occupiers" and claimed they are not serious about the entire process. Iran and Russia have provided key financial and military support to Assad's government, while Turkey has backed the opposition. Ja'afari told reporters on the plane to Astana that in addition to cease-fire talks, a priority was to "unify efforts to combat terrorism." He said the meeting will "test the credibility and seriousness of participants sitting around the table and those who support them." Russian President Vladimir Putin's special adviser on Syria, Alexandre Lavrentiev, said after more than four hours of meetings with the Turkish and Iranian delegations that the three state delegations were "moving toward a united front." It was not clear whether the two sides will hold face-to-face meetings. If they do, it would be the first time in three years, and the first time Syrian government representatives sit down with an opposition delegation made up mainly of rebel factions. The opposition has promised to highlight the government's harsh siege tactics, which have cut off hundreds of thousands of Syrians from food and medical access. In the Damascus suburbs such as Madaya, Zabadani and parts of the central city of Homs and its environs, civilians have been under siege by government forces since at least 2015. Turkey could play a crucial role in the latest attempt to resolve a conflict that has confounded the world's diplomats for years. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is embroiled in troubles at home and has moved closer to Russia recently, prioritizing the fight against Kurds and the Islamic State group over support for the Syrian rebels he has propped up for years. Assad's forces meanwhile recaptured the northern city of Aleppo last month with considerable Russian aid, dealing a devastating blow to the opposition, which had held onto eastern parts of the city for four years. The talks will be closely followed in Syria and by the millions of Syrian refugees scattered across the globe. "If Turkey is now feeling the guilt over what it committed toward the Syrian people, we hope that it will give at this conference something positive, to speed up an end to the crisis," said Anas Farfouti, a resident of Aleppo who supports Assad. At Istanbul's Ataturk airport, journalists and delegates heading to Astana shuffled past Syrians who have fled the country. "If this war ends in five years, it will be a blessing," said Fadwa, a Syrian in transit between a European country, where she was granted asylum, and the region, where her relatives were still seeking onward passage. She declined to give her last name, out of concern for the safety of relatives still living in Damascus. She accused both sides of prioritizing their foreign sponsors over the protection of civilians, and said the war would drag on until foreign powers "partition" Syria. ___ Karam reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Aleppo, Syria, and Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria contributed to this report. HONOLULU (AP) President Donald Trump has disputed climate change, pledged a revival of coal and disparaged wind power, and his nominee to head the Energy Department was once highly skeptical of the agency's value. What this means for states' efforts to promote renewable energy is an open question. States that are pushing for greater reliance on wind and solar power are not quite sure what to expect as Trump takes over. Many of them depend heavily on federal renewable-energy tax credits, grants and research, much of which comes from the Energy Department. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Trump's pick to lead the department, presents a contradictory figure: A Texas oil promoter, he also oversaw a huge expansion of wind-energy production while governor. When he ran for president in 2011, he included Energy on a list of departments he thought should be abolished, though he disavowed the idea Thursday at his Senate confirmation hearing. "We don't know what version of Perry is going to show up," said Michael Webber, deputy director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas, Austin. Renewable energy accounts for about 15 percent of the electricity generated in the United States. And 29 states have set targets for boosting their reliance on such power. Officials, experts and advocates in more than a half-dozen states with some of the most ambitious goals told The Associated Press that they are on course to meet their targets. Most said that while Trump policies could slow the expansion, they won't stop it. The price of harnessing the power of the sun and wind has dropped so much that in many areas of the country, experts say it could be competitive with traditional power sources such as coal and natural gas even without federal subsidies. Further, they do not expect a fast repeal of the key federal tax credits that have propelled the industry for years. Still, policies aimed at bringing more renewable power online quickly are not expected while Trump is in office. Story continues "We need to be moving faster, not slower," said Jeff Forward, president of the trade group Renewable Energy Vermont. "I fear we're tapping on the brakes right now." For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android. Those who promote renewable energy are concerned because Trump has expressed doubts about whether climate change is real, even though scientists agree that it is happening and that the burning of fossil fuels is a major reason for it. Trump also has called for reviving the coal industry, which has struggled in part because of the rise of renewable energy. And he has criticized wind turbines near Palm Springs, California, both for killing birds and for looking like a "junkyard." Perry, at his confirmation hearings, said he believes climate change is happening and that some of it is caused by human activity. He also said he favors an "all of the above" energy policy, the way he did in Texas, and wants the federal government to continue research on renewable energy. He didn't say what he thought of green-energy tax credits and other incentives. The federal wind credit is set to be phased out in 2019, and the solar one, four years after that. Those incentives and other federal spending on renewable energy in fiscal year 2015 totaled about $10 billion, nearly twice as much as similar subsidies for fossil fuels. In Hawaii, federal tax credits reduced the price for developers and homeowners by about $125 million annually from 2011 to 2014, according to an analysis by Blue Planet Foundation. During that time, the portion of the state's electricity coming from renewables nearly doubled from 12 to 21 percent. Randy Iwase, chairman of the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission, said incentives are important to the state's goal of having 100 percent of its power generated from renewable sources by 2045, the nation's most aggressive target. "We are in a toddler stage," he said. "When you lose focus, when attention is distracted, when you make it less of a priority, the toddler kind of wobbles." The Energy Department said in a report last year that the cost of getting power from wind fell more than 40 percent from 2008 to 2015, and solar panel prices dropped more than 60 percent in that period. Market forces have made green power big in Republican-led states, with wind turbines springing up along the Great Plains from Iowa to Texas. In those places many of which have low or no green-energy requirements the arguments for renewable power are more often cost savings and job creation, rather than the environmental benefits. In December, Republican Gov. John Kasich of Ohio vetoed a bill that would have delayed the requirements there. This month, Phil Scott, the new GOP governor in Vermont, affirmed his commitment to Vermont's goal of 90 percent green power by 2050. Meanwhile, some Democratic-leaning states have been pushing their requirements upward. Since 2015, both New York and California have increased their targets to 50 percent by 2030, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has indicated he would like to go further than that. Hawaii Gov. David Ige, a Democrat, said he is committed to meeting the state's target regardless of what policy changes come from Washington. "I know that there can be some changes in federal policy tax credits and those kinds of things," Ige said. "But it's very clear to me that Hawaii's commitment is much broader and deeper than federal policy or tax credits or incentives." ___ Mulvihill reported from Haddonfield, New Jersey. ___ Associated Press reporters Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut; Wilson Ring in Montpelier, Vermont; Andrew Selsky in Salem, Oregon; Michelle R. Smith in Providence, Rhode Island; and Will Weissert in Austin, Texas, contributed to this article. ___ Follow Bussewitz at http://twitter.com/cbussewitz and Mulvihill at http://twitter.com/geoffmulvihill . 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #3 Posted on 22 January 2017 by John Hartz Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... Graphic of the Week... 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... Scientists caution that a four- or eight-year delay in reducing greenhouse gas emissions could lead to dangerously higher global temperatures and long-term adverse impacts. (See article and Q&A with scientist Ben Sanderson) Precisely how the incoming Trump administration will deal with climate change remains uncertain. But Donald Trumps statements during the campaign and since his election and also his Cabinet nominations and his immediately purging the whitehouse.gov website of climate science information signal, at a minimum, that he will not make addressing climate change a priority. And that the administration likely will move to shelve federal government mitigation efforts. Throughout his campaign and during the transition leading up to his January 20th inauguration, Trump frequently had been dismissive of the science and bullish on coal and fossil fuels generally. Proponents for aggressive action and many in the climate science research community have expressed increasing concerns. In recent months, two climate modelers Ben Sanderson, of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, in Boulder, Colorado, and Reto Knutti of ETH Zurich, Switzerland examined how Trump administration inaction and actions might influence future planetary warming. They concluded that a four- or eight-year delay in mitigation could lead to substantially exceeding global temperature limits for dangerous levels of emissions and concentrations, perhaps indefinitely. Two scientists' concerns over years of climate inaction by Daniel Grossman & Bud Ward, Yale Climate Communications, Jan 21, 2017 Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... We have clearly passed 1 degree above preindustrial temperatures, and likely wont go below it without a major volcanic eruption (which tends to cool global temperatures), Gavin Schmidt, director of NASAs Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said. When we might actually reach 1.5C isnt clear, Schmidt said, and depends both on how quickly greenhouse gases are emitted which depends on how quickly countries act to limit their emissions and just how much additional carbon dioxide can be emitted before the 1.5C goal is breached, which is still somewhat uncertain. Were closer than we would like to be, he said. With El Nino gone, and a weak La Nina to start off 2017, this year isnt likely to continue the streak and best 2016, climate scientists say. But even if 2017 is cooler than 2016, it will only be a very slight dip compared to the long-term warming trend in fact, the U.K. Met Office expects that 2017 will still rank among the hottest years on record. Its still going to be a top 5 year in our analysis. Im pretty confident about that, Schmidt said. 2016 Officially Declared Hottest Year on Record by Andrea Thompson, ClimateCentral, Jan 18, 2017 Graphic of the Week... The running average of global temperatures throughout 2016 compared to recent years. 2016 Officially Declared Hottest Year on Record by Andrea Thompson, ClimateCentral, Jan 18, 2017 SkS Spotlights... Alliance for Climate Education (ACE) ACE's mission is to educate young people on the science of climate change and empower them to take action. By empowering youth to take action within a frame of justice and optimism, we are shifting the national discourse on climate in ways that are proven to affect public opinion and policy. ACE does two things best. First, we teach climate science that puts teenagers at the center of the story. Our live, in-school assembly is award-winning and proven to work. Second, we give every student a chance to take action. For some, its a small lifestyle change. For others, its hands-on preparation for a lifetime of leadership. Video of the Week... Jeff Goodell on Miami Flooding by Peter Scinclair, Climate Crock of the Week, Jan 21, 2017 Coming Soon on SkS... We're breaking Earth's temperature record every three years (Dana) (Dana) Joint Statements on Climate Change from National Academies of Science Around the World (Peter Gleick) (Peter Gleick) Guest Post (John Abraham) (John Abraham) From the eMail Bag: Abrupt Climate Change in Greenland's Past: Global or Local? (David Kirtley) (David Kirtley) Fact Check: Trump's Cabinet Nominees on Human-Caused Global Warming (Dana) (Dana) 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #4 (John Hartz) (John Hartz) 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Waming Digest #4 (John Hartz) Poster of the Week... Signs of the Times by Peter Scinclair, Climate Crock of the Week, Jan 22, 2017 Climate Feedback Reviews... Climate Feedback asked its network of scientists to review the article, U.S. scientists officially declare 2016 the hottest year on record. That makes three in a row. by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Jan 18, 2017 Five scientists analyzed the article and estimated its overall scientific credibility to be high. Click here to access the detailed review. SkS Week in Review... 97 Hours of Consensus... Stefan Rahmstorf's bio page Quote provided via email High resolution JPEG (1024 pixels wide) DUBAI, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) has signed an agreement to acquire the remaining stake of its joint venture with Shell Arabia, a unit of Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: 0LN9.L - news) in Saudi Arabia for $820 million, SABIC said on Sunday. The agreement which is expected to be complete before the end of this year is subject to regulatory measures, SABIC said. It said it signed another memorandum of understanding on Sunday with Shell Arabia to boost cooperation in international and local investment opportunities. (Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh; Writing by Reem Shamseddine; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle) CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's public prosecutor agreed on Sunday to allow experts from Italy and a German company that specialises in salvaging CCTV footage to examine cameras in Cairo as part of the investigation into last year's murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni. A statement from the prosecutor said that the experts would examine recordings made by the closed-circuit television camera at the metro station in the Cairo neighbourhood of Dokki, where Regeni lived, to find "the facts of the incident and its perpetrators". Regeni, who was working on postgraduate research into Egyptian trade unions, was last seen by friends on Jan. 25 last year. His body, showing signs of extensive torture, was found in a ditch on the outskirts of Cairo on Feb. 3. Egypt has rejected suggestions from human rights groups that Egyptian security services appeared responsible for the 28-year-old's death. Italy has constantly complained about the slow progress in the investigation and in April withdrew its ambassador in Cairo in protest. In the latest of several meetings, Egyptian Public Prosecutor Nabil Sadek met for two days of talks with Italian prosecutors in December and handed over documents requested by Italy in September. Among documents was the transcript of testimony given by the head of the Cairo street vendors' union, who had raised concerns with police over Regeni. Egypt has said that police carried out checks on Regeni's activities after being contacted by the union official but found nothing of interest. Security and intelligence sources told Reuters in April that Regeni had been arrested outside a Cairo metro station on Jan. 25 and was taken to a Homeland Security compound. (Writing by Lin Noueihed and Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by David Goodman) In this image taken from TV, Gambia's longtime leader Yahya Jammeh appears on state TV to give a brief statement agreeing to step down from office, in Banjul, Gambia, the early hours of Saturday morning Jan. 21, 2017. Jammeh's decision to step down appears to pave the way for the winner of December's general elections, Adama Barrow to take power. (Gambia State TV via AP) DAKAR, Senegal (AP) -- Gambia's new president says defeated leader Yahya Jammeh is expected to leave for Guinea within hours, and he plans to return home to take power once the situation is "clear." A visibly tired Adama Barrow told The Associated Press in an interview Saturday that he will enter Gambia once a security sweep has been completed. He has been in neighboring Senegal for his safety during a political standoff that came to the brink of a regional military intervention. Barrow, who won December's presidential elections, spoke just hours after Jammeh announced he would relinquish power, ending hours of last-minute negotiations with the leaders of Guinea and Mauritania. "It is not yet confirmed information, but reliable sources are saying he's leaving today," Barrow told the AP. "We believe he'll go to Guinea, but we are waiting to confirm 100 percent. He said he has not yet been given the communique which should spell out the terms of Jammeh's departure. "What is fundamental here is he will live in a foreign country as of now," he said. Barrow was inaugurated Thursday at Gambia's embassy in Senegal, with the backing of the international community. As Jammeh prepared to leave the country after more than 22 years in power, human rights activists demanded that he be held accountable for alleged abuses, including torture and detention of opponents. It was those concerns about prosecution that led the famously mercurial Jammeh to challenge the December election results, just days after shocking Gambians by conceding his loss to Barrow. Jammeh once vowed to rule for a billion years. His agreement to step down has brought an end to the political crisis in this tiny West African nation of 1.9 million, which has promoted itself to European tourists as "the Smiling Coast of Africa." "The rule of fear" in Gambia has ended with Jammeh's rule, Barrow told members of Gambia's diaspora late Friday. Critics of Jammeh insisted he should be held accountable. Story continues "Jammeh came as a pauper bearing guns. He should leave as a disrobed despot. The properties he seeks to protect belong to Gambians and Gambia, and he must not be allowed to take them with him. He must leave our country without conditionalities," said Jeggan Bahoum of the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy in Gambia. An online petition urged that Jammeh not be granted asylum and should instead be arrested. "We aren't talking about prosecution here, we are talking about getting a truth and reconciliation commission," Barrow told the AP. "Before you can act, you have to get the truth, to get the facts together." Jammeh, who first seized power in a 1994 coup, has been holed up this week in his official residence in Banjul, increasingly isolated as he was abandoned by his security forces and several Cabinet members. The West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, pledged to remove Jammeh by force if he did not step down. The group assembled a multinational military force including tanks that rolled into Gambia on Thursday. The force moved in after Barrow's inauguration and a unanimous vote by the U.N. Security Council supporting the regional efforts. Jammeh's announcement to relinquish power is a good first step, said Jeffrey Smith, executive director of Vanguard Africa. "For the Gambia to truly move on, President Barrow must reside in State House and begin the task of governing. In an ideal scenario, Jammeh will also face justice for the many crimes he has committed since 1994," Smith wrote by email. Fearing violence as the political crisis dragged on, about 45,000 people have fled Gambia for Senegal, according to the U.N. refugee agency. After days of uncertainty, Banjul was peaceful Saturday. At the ferry terminal, Yassin Jallow helped hand out bread to families returning to the capital. "There are so many people who couldn't go out, and nothing is working, the shops are closed, the bakeries are closed ... and we don't want anyone to starve," Jallow said. Some wary Gambians said they would believe Jammeh's departure when they saw it. "I heard he will step down, but leaving, that is the question," said student Haruna Jallow. ___ Petesch reported from Banjul, Gambia. Associated Press writer Abdoulie John in Karang, Senegal, contributed. JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he would later in the day hold his first conversation with Donald Trump since his inauguration as U.S. president. The White House later said the conversation would take place at 1830 GMT (13:30 ET). "A telephone conversation will be held this evening between President Trump and me. Many matters face us, the Israeli-Palestinian issue, the situation in Syria, the Iranian threat," Netanyahu said in broadcast remarks at the start of an Israeli cabinet meeting. (Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Andrew Roche) FILE -- In this file photo released by the Egyptian Ministry of Interior on Thursday, Mar. 24, 2016, personal belongings of slain Italian graduate student Giulio Regeni, including his passport, are displayed. Egypt has agreed to Italy's request to send experts to try and retrieve footage from security cameras at a Cairo metro station that a murdered Italian student used the day he disappeared nearly a year ago. A statement Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017, by Egypt's chief prosecutor said the Italian experts would be accompanied by others from a "specialized" German company. It says, together, the experts will analyze the material in the hope of finding who is behind the disappearance of Giulio Regeni. (Egyptian Interior Ministry via AP, File) CAIRO (AP) Egypt said on Sunday it has agreed to Italy's request to send experts to try and retrieve footage from security cameras at a Cairo metro station that a murdered Italian student used the day he disappeared nearly a year ago. A statement by Egypt's chief prosecutor said the Italian experts would be accompanied by others from a "specialized" German company. Together, they will analyze the material in the hope of finding who is behind the disappearance of Giulio Regeni. Regeni is known to have gone to the Dokki station on his way to visit a friend in Cairo last Jan. 25, the 5th anniversary of the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Thousands of security forces are routinely deployed in Cairo on the uprising's anniversary, and that week police had been aggressively rounding up activists to head off protests. That has led to speculation, denied by Egypt, that Egyptian security forces were behind his abduction and death. Regeni's brutally tortured body was found by the side of a suburban Cairo road nearly 10 days after he disappeared. Last April, a senior Egyptian prosecutor told a Cairo news conference that Egyptian investigators could not meet an Italian request for video footage from the security cameras at the Dokki metro station, the nearest station to Regeni's Cairo apartment. They argued that the recently installed cameras automatically erased footage. The prosecutor, Mustafa Suleiman, said the U.S. manufacturers of the cameras informed the Egyptian investigators that it was not possible to retrieve the erased footage. A German company approached by the Egyptians said retrieval had a 50/50 chance of success but that the procedure was costly. It was not immediately clear if the German company that would send experts to join the Italian ones is the same one that Suleiman was referring to last year. Egypt's government has suggested several alternative scenarios to Regeni's death. Story continues It initially said he was killed in a road accident. Later, it claimed that security forces had killed members of a kidnapping gang in a raid and circulated photos of Regeni's ID cards it said had been found at the scene. That explanation was widely dismissed, including in the Italian media, which has closely followed the case. Egypt later debunked its own story, saying the gang may not have had any links to Regeni's death, but it never explained why the student's ID cards were found at the scene, again prompting speculation of a police cover-up. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has promised that investigators would work "night and day" to identify and prosecute those responsible for the torture and killing of Regeni and blamed the local media for wrongfully pointing an accusing finger at his security forces, whose human rights record are regularly criticized by rights groups. By Linda Sieg TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is moving to adopt a law allowing its octogenarian Emperor Akihito to abdicate but many touchy topics, such as his title and duties, remain to be settled before the monarch can retire in a step unprecedented for two centuries. Japanese law does not currently allow an emperor to give up the throne, but Akihito, 83, who has had heart surgery and prostate cancer treatment, said in rare public remarks last August he feared age might make it hard to fulfil his duties. A panel of experts is expected on Monday to indicate a preference for a special law to allow Emperor Akihito to retire, most probably by the end of 2018. Officials are looking at ancient precedents, since the last time an emperor abdicated was in 1817. "Japan is in uncharted territory except for historians," said Colin Jones, a professor at Doshisha University Law School. Emperor Akihito may also look to examples of foreign monarchs of his generation, such as Dutch Queen Beatrix and Belgian King Albert II, or even Pope Benedict. All three retired in 2013. Beatrix resumed her former title of princess and remained active, while Albert retained his title, though mostly staying out of public view. Benedict, as "pope emeritus", moved to a monastery inside the Vatican walls. "The emperor himself was friends with Queen Beatrix and King Albert since his days as crown prince," said Naotaka Kimizuka, an expert in European monarchies at Kanto Gakuin University. "I think he will probably consider them as reference points." Besides the emperor's title, duties and residence after he retires, the government also has to fix the name and date for the commencement of the new "imperial era" that will be ushered in by his successor, under Japan's unique calendar. Once considered divine, Japan's emperor, or "tenno", is defined in the post-war constitution as a "symbol of the state and of the unity of the people". He has no political power. Nonetheless, the title he is to be accorded after abdication is a touchy matter. History suggests Akihito should get the title "joko", meaning "retired emperor". But some experts say the term echoes ancient episodes when the former emperor retained power and clashed with his successor. They prefer terms such as "zen tenno" or "moto tenno", meaning former, or previous, emperor respectively. Emperor Akihito's duties include Shinto religious ceremonies and constitutionally-defined tasks, such as the opening of parliament. These will be taken on by his successor, Crown Prince Naruhito. The hallmark of the popular monarch's reign has been travels with Empress Michiko, such as visits to domestic disaster sites to cheer survivors, and overseas, to soothe the wounds of a war fought in the name of his father, Emperor Hirohito. Given Emperor Akihito's belief that his public activities are central to his symbolic role, he may well let Crown Prince Naruhito take centre stage. [http://tmsnrt.rs/2b7dWHn] "There is concern over splitting the message, splitting the symbol," if Emperor Akihito stays too active, Doshisha's Jones said. The emperor's younger son, Prince Akishino, has suggested his parents would enjoy activities such as music and the marine biology research in which Akihito specializes. A pay cut does seem in store for the imperial couple, who do not have a large personal fortune, unlike the British royals. If they retreat to the shadows, they will probably get an annual allowance roughly equivalent to the $400,000 received by Emperor Akihito's younger brother and his wife - or about a fifth what they get now, Kimizuka said. Residence options for the couple include the Togu Palace, now home to the crown prince, and the Fukiage Omiya Palace, where Emperor Hirohito once lived, both within the spacious palace grounds in Tokyo. The ancient imperial capital of Kyoto also cannot be ruled out, some experts said. Once Emperor Akihito steps down, a new "imperial era" will begin, replacing the current "Heisei", meaning "achieving peace", which began on Jan. 8, 1989, the day he took the throne. Although Japan uses the Western-style Gregorian calendar, it has also kept its ancient imperial-era system - "nengo" or "gengo" - in which a new emperor ushers in a new era. The government might break with precedent and announce the name of the new era months before Emperor Akihito retires, to allow time for the switch to be made in official forms, calendars and computer programs, media have said. (Editing by Clarence Fernandez) Melania Trump at her husbands inauguration. (Photo: Evan Vucci Pool/Getty Images) The Whitehouse.gov domain has officially been turned over to the Trump administration, and with it, the biographies of the new president, Donald Trump, and new first lady, Melania Trump, have appeared. Mrs. Trumps biography is heavily focused on the nuances of her modeling career: Melania Knavs began her modeling career at the age of sixteen. She would pursue a degree at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, but pause her studies to advance her modeling career in Milan and Paris before moving to New York in 1996. The bio goes on to mention specific photographers Mrs. Trump has worked with: Melania has appeared in high-profile ad campaigns and worked with some of the top photographers in the fashion industry, including Patrick Demarchelier, Helmut Newton, Arthur Elgort, Ellen Von Unwerth, Peter Arnell, Antoine Verglas and Mario Testino. She has graced the covers of Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, British GQ, Ocean Drive, Avenue, InStyle, and New York Magazine. Melania has appeared in high-profile ad campaigns and worked with some of the top photographers in the fashion industry, including Patrick Demarchelier, Helmut Newton, Arthur Elgort, Ellen Von Unwerth, Peter Arnell, Antoine Verglas and Mario Testino. She has graced the covers of Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, British GQ, Ocean Drive, Avenue, InStyle, and New York Magazine. The official biography also mentions that Mrs. Trump is a successful entrepreneur who launched a jewelry collection in 2010. Melania Trump wears jewelry from her line on the cover of Avenue magazine in March 2010. (Photo: Avenue Magazine) But the version that the new Whitehouse.gov first launched with, immediately after the Inauguration ceremony, took things one step further, specifically calling out that her jewelry line was available for sale at QVC. In April 2010, Melania Trump launched her own jewelry collection, Melania Timepieces & Jewelry, on QVC, Mrs. Trumps official biography read following her husbands swearing in and the official transfer of power. And Twitter noticed. The new https://t.co/HhmJ1WpoA6: No mention of LGBT people. One mention of "Melania Timepieces & Jewelry", on QVC."https://t.co/kqJefq9TSR Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) January 20, 2017 Peddling her QVC jewelry on the White House website. https://t.co/IGjfVIslMn MOMommyRN (@asthehosptuRNs) January 21, 2017 Trump's https://t.co/yDCj5rN0MR removed climate change, civil rights & healthcare; but added Melania's QVC lines. https://t.co/2i69QNuaZ7 Tanya (@tgreene319) January 20, 2017 Trump made sure to mention Melania's QVC jewelry line on WH site. Stripped it of climate change, AIDS policy mentions #priorities https://t.co/DA8QYLLP7Y igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) January 20, 2017 #ConflictsOfInterest questions arise: White House site now notes that @FLOTUS launched her Melania jewelry on QVC. https://t.co/CN9MvL9zQP Marilyn Geewax (@geewaxnpr) January 20, 2017 Are Trump steaks next? Con-man Trump has staff redesign White House website to plug Melania's tacky QVC jewelry line https://t.co/8qjQaB30yc Bill Madden (@activist360) January 20, 2017 First brand to get a shout-out on new White House website: Melania's QVC jewelry line. https://t.co/tLkD0OOcoQ Via https://t.co/Q5dJ9qUeYr pic.twitter.com/dHbGj6veVC David Griner (@griner) January 20, 2017 Well thank goodness Melania's getting free advertising for her QVC line of jewelry on the official White House website. pic.twitter.com/VEaVTc3zck Talia (@2020fight) January 20, 2017 Within a few hours, however, it had been edited to read, simply, In April 2010, Trump launched her own jewelry collection. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. A flag with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) logo is seen before a news conference at OPEC's headquarters in Vienna, Austria, December 10, 2016. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader/Files By Rania El Gamal and Vladimir Soldatkin VIENNA (Reuters) - OPEC and non-OPEC countries have made a strong start to lowering their oil output under the first such pact in more than a decade, energy ministers said on Sunday as producers look to reduce oversupply and support prices. "The deal is a success ...All the countries are sticking to the deal ...(the) results are above expectations," Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said after the first meeting of a committee set up to monitor the deal. Ministers said 1.5 million of almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) had been taken out of the market already. Countries involved in the deal could reduce their output by 1.7 million bpd by the end of the month, Interfax news agency quoted Novak as saying. Eleven of OPEC's 13 members along with 11 non-OPEC countries have agreed to make cuts for the first half of the year. OPEC members Nigeria and Libya, both suffering setbacks in production, were given exemptions. "The Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia] has taken the initiative and other countries took part in very significant actions," Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told reporters following the meeting. "Despite demand usually being lower in the first quarter in winter, the actions taken by the Kingdom and many other countries has impacted the market in a tangible way and we have seen the impact in spot prices," al-Falih said. Brent oil prices that fell to $27.10 a barrel a year ago have held above $50 per barrel since OPEC producers agreed on Dec. 10 to lower output in the first half of 2017. The cuts are aimed at reducing a global glut in oil that has weighed on oil prices for more than two years. Falih said implementation of agreed cuts had been "fantastic" and he hoped for 100 percent compliance in February. "We will not accept anything less than 100 percent compliance," Kuwaiti oil minister Essam Al-Marzouq, who chairs the five-member ministerial compliance committee, told a news conference. Story continues The other members of the committee represent Algeria, Venezuela, Russia and Oman. Venezuela has achieved more than half of its planned 95,000 bpd cut, Oil Minister Nelson Martinez told reporters. SHRINKING INVENTORIES Full compliance could take global oil inventories back close to their five-year average by mid-2017, lowering oil in storage by around 300 million barrels, Falih said. "[There are] no surprises so far in terms of demand or supply from other sources so there is no reason for us to suddenly come in January and say we need a bigger reduction or a longer period," he said. Saudi Arabia is producing slightly below 10 million bpd and has informed buyers of substantial cuts scheduled for next month, he said. Russia has cut its oil output by around 100,000 bpd, Novak said, double what was originally planned. He said Russian oil production had averaged around 11.15 million bpd this month. He told reporters it was too early to talk about extending the current deal beyond the planned six months but that remained an option. "Everyone sees that the agreements on oil production cuts have already have a positive effect on oil markets. The market has become more stable and predictable," Novak said. NEXT MEETING On Sunday it was agreed that a technical joint committee (JTC) would be created comprising a representative for each of the five members of the monitoring committee and as well as the OPEC presidency, which is currently held by Saudi Arabia. The JTC will cooperate with the OPEC Secretariat in compiling production data which will be presented to the ministerial monitoring committee by the 17th of every month, OPEC said in a news release. The monitoring committee will communicate after the 17th of every month and plans two meetings ahead of the next ordinary OPEC meeting in Vienna on May 25. The next meeting in March is set for Kuwait. SHALE IMPACT Ministers were also keen to highlight that any increase in high-cost U.S. shale oil production as a result of rising oil prices would be absorbed by rising demand. "We are not worried that production in the U.S. is increasing as prices go up because I think this will be absorbed by an increase in demand," Al-Marzouq said. Qatari Energy Minister Mohammed Al-Sada said with increasing demand "shale oil will all be catered for". Russia's Novak also said he was not worried about higher oil output in the United States. (Writing by Ahmad Ghaddar in London; editing by Jason Neely) By Suleiman Al-Khalidi ASTANA (Reuters) - A Syrian rebel group called on Russia to withstand pressure from Iran and the Syrian government to help ensure that a ceasefire agreed last month holds, the head of a delegation at peace talks told Reuters on Sunday. Mohammad Alloush said a failure by Moscow to end what the opposition says are widespread violations of a Turkish-Russian brokered ceasefire would be a blow to its influence in Syria. "It's a real test of the power of Russia and its influence over the regime and Iran as a guarantor of the deal, so if it fails in this role there will follow bigger failures," Alloush said in the Kazakh capital, where talks are due to begin on Monday. The Syrian opposition says the government and Iranian-backed militias are continuing military offensives in several areas in Syria, including in Wadi Barada near the capital, regardless of the ceasefire. The opposition has been disappointed so far by what it says is Moscow's inability to fulfil its role as guarantor of the deal and put pressure on the Iranian-backed militias led by Lebanon's Hezbollah group saying this threatened to wreck the ceasefire deal brokered in December. "Russia wants to move from a direct party in the fighting to a guarantor and neutral one and this point is being obstructed by the Syrian regime that wants it to fail and Iran that is fighting this with its sectarian militias in Syria," Alloush said. Russia and Turkey are the main organisers of a new round of Syrian peace talks due to take place in Kazakhstan on Jan. 23 and have set aside their differences over the political fate of President Bashar al-Assad to try to forge a wider Syria deal. Moscow backs Assad, while Ankara has diluted its demands for the Syrian leader to urgently step down as part of what some sources say is a backroom deal aimed at dividing Syria into informal zones of regional power influence. Syria's U.N. ambassador Bashar Ja'afari, head of its delegation to the peace talks, said on Sunday the main points on the agenda included strengthening ceasefire lines and reaching common ground on fighting terrorism, state-owned SANA reported. Ja'afari added in a press conference in Astana that Damascus regarded the peace talks as only being between Syrian parties and that Turkey would not participate in dialogue, according to SANA, Syria's official news agency. (Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Mark Potter/Keith Weir) James Chen Wins Biggest-Ever Aussie Millions $25,000 for AUD$861,840 January 22 2017 Frank Op de Woerd The year couldn't have started any better for James Chen from Taiwan. Coming from a High Roller win in the Macau Poker Cup September last year, he was heading for Australia with a good feeling and some cash in his pocket. He played the $2,500 H.O.R.S.E. event last week and won it for AUD$39,700 ($29,322). He parlayed that win into a ticket for the $25,000 Challenge and turned it into a straight out win worth a massive AUD$861,840. His name will go into the record books as the winner of the biggest ever $25,000 poker tournament on Australian soil. Position Player Country Prize in AUD$ Prize in $ 1 James Chen Taiwan AUD$861,840 $648,098 2 Brandon Adams United States AUD$590,520 $444,067 3 Antoine Saout France AUD$383,040 $288,032 4 John Juanda Indonesia AUD$287,280 $216,024 5 Ryan D'Angelo United States AUD$207,480 $156,017 6 Nick Petrangelo United States AUD$143,640 $108,012 Bubbling The second day of the $25,000 Challenge of the 2017 Aussie Millions saw 25 players out of 133 entries return to the poker room at Crown Casino. With just 14 players finishing in the money, it promised to be an exciting day. The day lived up to the highest of expectations with plenty of action right from the get go when the tournament director announced the shuffle up and deal at 2:30 p.m. Dan Shak, Jason Pritchard and Sam Higgs were just some of the early exits. Another player to head to the rail well before the money stage of the tournament commenced was defending champion Chance Kornuth. He got it in with ace-three against ace-king and did not get any help from the board. help sometimes comes from unexpected sources, and for Hall it was Claas Segebrecht who brought solace. As familiar high rollers like Stephen Chidwick and Martin Kozlov hit the rail, the bubble got closer and closer. Cate Hall found herself getting short and made several short trips to other tables to see if there were others with just as few chips. Every time, she returned to her seat disappointed as no one was in such dire straits as she was. But help sometimes comes from unexpected sources, and for Hall it was Claas Segebrecht who brought solace. The German player jammed for 26 big blinds over Antoine Saout's small blind open. Big stack Saout had been active and him raising didn't necessarily mean much of anything, but the Frenchman had kings this time and wasn't laying them down. Segebrecht had ace-seven and was drawing dead on the turn as Saout hit a king on the flop. The ace on the river only added insult to injury for Segebrecht who was officially the last one to go before the cheques were getting handed out. "stonecold bubbling 25k's isnt fun." tweeted Segebrecht who's twitter handle fittingly is '@livetourneysfml'. In the Money Local favorite Jeff Rossiter was the first to go in the money, busting with ace-king to Nick Petrangelo's pocket kings. Rossiter, who announced his retirement from poker a couple of months ago and might be playing his last tournament series here in Melbourne this week, took home the min-cash worth AUD$63,840. Cate Hall had been patient but ended up on the rail for the same min cash Rossiter had just collected. She got it in with jack-ten against queen-jack and did not make a miraculous escape. Manig Loeser (12th, AUD$79,800), [Removed:17] (11th, AUD$79,800), Rajkumar Ramakrishnan (10th, AUD$95,760), Tomas Jozonis (9th, AUD$95,760) and Pratyush Buddiga (8th, AUD$119,700) followed in quick succession to get the event down to a final table of seven. John Juanda Final Table Ryan D'Angelo pulled a Houdini after getting it in with top pair and top kicker against the set of start of day chip leader James Chen, making runner runner flush. Chen won those chips back when he busted Mustapha Kanit with queens to jack-ten. Kanit, just about the biggest regular on the high roller circuit these days, had to settle for seventh place, worth AUD$119,700. Co-High roller Nick Petrangelo followed him to the rail just eight minutes later as he rivered a flush and moved in with it. Unfortunately for him, Brandon Adams had rivered a full house with queen-five and Petrangelo went to the pay-out for his sixth place money (AUD$143,640). Five-handed play lasted for quite some time. Ryan D'Angelo was chip leader for some time but went out in fifth anyway after some pots that didn't go his way. In the end, it was ace-queen against ace-king that did him in. The player known as 'g0lfa' online collected AUD$207,480 for his fifth place finish. poker veteran John Juanda was short and had to go with it when he got ace-eight suited John Juanda followed not much later. The poker veteran was short for quite some time and had to go with it when he got ace-eight suited. He got most of his opponents to fold but big blind James Chen had nines and called. A nine on the flop resulted in Juanda being drawing dead on the turn and he had to settle for AUD$287,280. Three-handed play lasted for well over 3.5 hours. The only remarkable hand played in that time period was a double up by Brandon Adams who turned a straight and caught James Chen bluffing. Other than that double, it was mostly small pots and a lot of hands that saw no turns or rivers. Antoine Saout would eventually be the next to go as he got short and made a move with ace-nine. James Chen was once again the executioner, this time holding ace-king and turning a king. Saout, third in the WSOP Main Event back in 2009, now third in the $25,000 Challenge for AUD$383,040 - the second biggest score of his poker career. Brandon Adams Heads-Up The heads up between Brandon Adams and James Chen lasted another two hours. Adams, who's last two cashes have been in the WSOP Main Event in 2016 and 2015, and Chen both were in the lead multiple times but could never hold it for long. After some 90 minutes of heads up play, Adams' momentum seemed gone. He started bleeding chips and Chen nibbled on his stack, grinding him down bit by bit. In the last hand of the tournament, Adams made a move with jack-four suited being down 5-to-1 in chips. Chen called with ace-three and despite Adams picking up a ton of outs on the flop and turn, the river blanked and Adams had to settle for second place. Adams's deep run was worth AUD$590,520, by far the biggest score of his career. The Aussie Millions Ring, designed by ANTON Jewellery, and AUD$861,840 went to James Chen. His last three cashes are wins now, let's see if he parlays this win again and signs up for the $100,000 Challenge tomorrow. Besides the $100,000 Challenge tomorrow, it's also time for the $10,000 Main Event. PokerNews.com is on the floor at Crown Casino for live coverage of both events, so be sure to check the live reporting to stay up to date on all the poker action from Down Under. Year Entries Prize Pool Winner Country Prize in AUD$ Prize in $ 2012 20 AUD$500,000 Dominykas Karmazinas Lithuania AUD$200,000 $205,895 2013 30 AUD$723,000 Igor Kurganov Russia AUD$275,000 $290,317 2014 65 AUD$1,560,000 Max Altergott Germany AUD$241,785* $211,522* 2015 104 AUD$2,496,000 Alexander Trevallion Australia AUD$645,150** $521,835** 2016 122 AUD$2,928,000 Chance Kornuth United States AUD$790,560 $547,874 2017 133 AUD$3,192,000 James Chen Taiwan AUD$861,840 $650,481 After my trip in Hamburg, Germany, for the 33rd Chaos Communication Congress, I left Germany for the United States for a short vacation to visit family and friends. Upon my arrival in the United States, I was detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) where my belongings were picked apart and I was asked lots of strange, some offensive questions about my personal life. I refused to answer any questions and instead gave them the contact information for my lawyer. They demanded I decrypt my phone so they could "make sure there isn't any bad stuff on there". When I told them no, they said they would seize all of my electronics and search all of them for "contraband". I persisted and they seized about $2,000 worth of electronics and told me I would "get them back". We'll see about that. In total I was detained over 3 hours by CBP alone, and despite that CBP documentation says that I can notify someone of my detainment if I have been detained for more than 2 hours, I was not allowed to even after that point. This seems to have been a violation of CBP policy. Sorry for spilling shit on it. As you can see, "all electronics" doesn't just mean storage devices. I had always physically removed my SSD from my computer because I hypothesized it might have been this way, but no, they even took my micro USB cable because it can technically plug into my kindle which can plug into my laptop which can plug into my phone so they took it. Bastards. I had brought both pairs of headphones and the microphone I use for voice chat, so until I replace those I don't have a way outside of my phone to talk to people over voice. All of my devices are encrypted. Though I'll be doing some key rotation as a result of this, I'm confident none of the devices will be able to be decrypted. I have an insurance file of sorts given to certain trustees which is to be used in just about this exact case. Without going into too much detail, this file when properly decrypted can be used to regain access to the tools I need to work on cock.li and do my job. I successfully received this file, but wasn't able to decrypt it because I couldn't remember the passphrase. Must have been something super duper secure. Since that didn't work out, I took the next 3 weeks and took a real vacation. I checked on the site's status page to make sure there were no problems, but since everything was more or less fine, I just came back to Romania when I was finished doing all the cool shit I wanted to do. Things were less than ideal, but it felt really refreshing to take some time away from it all, you know? There was only one person who purchased a cockbox in this time, and any cockbox customer who was inconvenienced by my absence will receive a nice fluffy credit to make up for it. On my leaving the U.S., I was also stopped by two CBP officers, who pulled me into a private area (the jetway for my flight that was unused at the time) and questioned me again. These officers refused to identify themselves to me at all, which is interesting considering all of the officers on my inbound flight identified themselves. They went through my carry-on bag -- my checked bag was already checked, and though I know TSA opened up and went through my checked bag, I don't know if it was a customs inspection. My only phone was an unlocked burner I had purchased and had only porn open in my browser, so I let them search it which seemed to quench their thirst and cleared me for my flight (or maybe they just like nude anime girls with MAGA hats -- me too). My future plans include implementing a periodic review of my insurance file, including decrypting, using, and updating it so I can travel over the border without getting harassed in the future. I'd like to extend a special thanks to all of my friends that pulled together to make my trip easier for me. Whether it was checking on my home servers, contacting other people I couldn't reach, answering questions to quell fears I had died / been compromised, or providing me with server resources where I could store photos I took during my trip, you all made this trip a breeze and though the circumstances could have been better, I really did enjoy my vacation. Unfortunately, though it will depend if I get my electronics back and what my lawyer comes back with regarding why I was repeatedly searched, it seems I will not be coming to DEFCON this year. Sorry. SANTA FE With New Mexicos cash reserves depleted, the state House moved briskly Saturday to begin passing a financial-solvency package aimed at providing enough money to pay the states bills over the next five months. The two-bill package adopted just five days into a 60-day session now heads to the Senate, which passed similar, but not identical, legislation a few days earlier on broad, bipartisan votes. The House debate on Saturday fell largely along party lines, though a handful of Republicans joined Democrats in support of parts of the legislation. Democrats urged quick action because the state treasurer could be charged with a felony, they said, if hes put in the position of issuing checks he knows the state cant cover. Its unbelievable that were in this predicament, Rep. Antonio Moe Maestas, D-Albuquerque, said during a four-hour debate on the House floor. Projections indicate the states $6 billion budget is on track for a $69 million deficit this year if no adjustments are made, and that doesnt include millions of dollars more needed to cover the cost of the 60-day legislative session. Republicans tried and failed to amend the solvency package. Rep. Jason Harper, R-Rio Rancho, proposed that the House, Senate and governor forgo their capital outlay funding for a year, generating about $63 million in savings. Taking money from capital outlay derisively described as pork for lawmakers districts could ease the financial burden on schools, fire protection and other basic needs, he said. Were in a fiscal crisis, Harper said, and discretionary spending should be the first to be cut. But Rep. Bill McCamley, D-Mesilla Park, said the state needs some money to address important capital projects, such as security upgrades at prisons and courthouses. I would not consider locks on prisons pork, he said. Saturdays action, in any case, isnt the last word on the potential budget fix. Approval by the Senate and Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, is also necessary. And in order for the bills to take effect immediately a key to curbing spending in time to address this years budget they must pass both chambers by a two-thirds vote, meaning some bipartisan support will be necessary. The two-bill package adopted Saturday passed on votes of 40-26 and 37-29. The bills take unspent money from fire protection, law enforcement, capital repair and various other accounts and sweeps the cash into the general fund to pay for basic government operations through June 30, the end of the fiscal year. It would generate at least $96 million in savings to address this years shortfall and provide a little cushion heading into next year. The House of Representatives didnt act Saturday on two other components of the solvency package a $50 million proposal to force school districts to tap into some unspent balances and a $95 million bill that includes taking $11.6 million out of the state economic development closing fund, which is used to offset the costs of business expansion and relocation. The need to shore up this years budget comes even after the Legislature met in special session last year and approved a series of spending cuts and other budget-balancing measures. Douglas Prestons new book, The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story, may seem like the basis for a new Indiana Jones movie. But fiction it isnt. Prestons book documents a compelling and thrilling 21st century adventure story of an expeditions discovery of a city unexplored and a culture hidden for centuries. The expedition that included Preston, a Santa Fe-based writer, searched for the city known as Ciudad Blanca in the heart of Honduras La Mosquitia region. Preston describes how La Mosquitias rain forests, lagoons, swamps, quicksand, rivers, steep ravines and mountains made the region nearly impenetrable. Heightening the danger for the expedition were lethally poisonous snakes, a drug cartel and myriad disease-bearing insects. In 2012, the team was armed with advanced technology that mapped the Honduran jungle to locate the Mesoamerican city known as Ciudad Blanca. Airborne laser mapping technology called LiDAR was used in the expedition to pinpoint the city for an on-the-ground team. A follow-up expedition in 2015 confirmed the existence of the Lost City. Some archaeologists not on the team have challenged the validity of using LiDAR for a dig. Prestons book also provides a sweeping historical and economic context for the legend of the Lost City beginning with the 16th century conquistador Hernan Cortes. Cortes wrote to the king of Spain that Indians referred to an Old Land of Red Earth in the area that is now Honduras. The conquistador never got around to searching for it. The book details the subsequent adventurers and scientists seeking signs of a lost civilization in the region. Ciudad Blancas civilization may have been different from the Mayas. Since the two related expeditions, Preston said, Honduran archaeologists have worked the site. Sculptures were being taken out to a new museum in the town of Catacama, and to a national museum and the presidential palace, both in Tegucigalpa. Theres a number of decorated stone thrones decorated with heads, big stone offering jars carved with jaguars, vultures and snakes and a couple of free-standing sculptures, all sacred to the ancient Hondurans, Preston said. Hes more concerned about deforestation in the region than the looting of artifacts from the site. The Honduran army is guarding the ruins, rotating soldiers in and out, he said. I trust them, because the president of Honduras, (Juan Orlando) Hernandez, took a personal interest in this. As long as hes president, that ruin is going to be protected, Preston said. Disease struck the 2012 expedition. Preston was one of four expedition members who contracted the potentially lethal tropical disease Leismaniasis, transmitted by parasite-carrying sand flies. Several chapters of the book are devoted to the history of the disease and to the treatments team members received. I carry the parasite. It is returning. Its dismaying to me, but I have the best doctors at NIH (National Institutes of Health), said Preston, a journalist and author of best-sellers. The new books late chapters discuss the contagion that might have caused the sudden and cataclysmic disappearance of the civilization of the Lost City centuries ago. No civilization has survived forever, Preston writes. All move toward dissolution, one after the other, like waves of the sea falling upon the shore. Douglas Preston will discuss and sign copies of The Lost City of the Monkey God in multimedia presentations at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, at Collected Works, 202 Galisteo, Santa Fe, and at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27, at the KiMo Theatre, 423 W. Central. The KiMo event is part of the theaters 90th anniversary celebration. Both events are free. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost wrote this legendary passage a century ago, 1916 to be exact, as part of the The Road Not Taken. For decades, it has resonated with many travelers during their journeys. For Arthur and David Pike, this was the impetus of their latest book, Detour New Mexico: Historic Destinations & Natural Wonders. The book will be released on Monday, Jan. 23. It is more than a travel book across the Land of Enchantment. Its an interesting approach to road-tripping around the state. Instead of taking the quick routes, the brothers wanted to slow the journey. Instead of taking Interstate 25, which runs from Raton south to Las Cruces or Interstate 40, which takes travelers across the state from east to west, or vice versa each route is thoughtfully drawn out. Theres a certain breed of traveler more focused on experience than expediency, David Pike says. Theyd prefer to wander than make time, to dwell on those views, to seek out the complex and varied history of this state and absorb the lessons it has to offer. Theyre into detours. The brothers Pike who are both New Mexico State University alums have outlined the detour list, which consists of 17 locations. The pair have fun with the names and descriptions. The first detour The Badlands Detour: A Land of True Enchantment takes visitors from Grants to Zuni Pueblo, then south to Fence Lake and back up to Grants. The entire route is designed around El Malpais National Monument. The description of the detour length reads, Just a few short of 200 miles. We wanted to have fun with the descriptions, Arthur Pike says. Its just fun. The book took the brothers about 18 months to complete. And the duo wanted to incorporate all spots in New Mexico. Detour New Mexico was a working title, eventually becoming the finalist. The idea of detour incorporated itself in there, David Pike says. Its very different than off the beaten path. The way we looked at it is you can go from Socorro to Truth or Consequences. You can get there in an hour on I-25. Or you can take N.M. 1 and it will take you two hours. The extra time opens up the traveler to a different scenery. Its an opportunity to see something different and learn something new. Some of the other detours are The Chaco Detour, The Atomic Detour, The Rio Grande Detour, The Traditions Detour, The Kicks Detour, The Forgotten Highway Detour, The Gila Detour, The Billy the Kid Detour and The Detour Detour. To help have the most compelling adventures as you travel, weve divided the state into six geographic regions: northwestern, north-central, northeastern, central, southwestern and southeastern, the brothers say in the book. And if youre wondering, yes, the men have taken each detour. Some together, others not. I think taking the tours with my brother has brought back memories from us growing up, Arthur Pike says. Weve revisited old memories, all while making new ones. It was a great experience for the both of us. David Pike enjoyed spending time with his brother, as well as revisiting areas and seeing how they have changed. The state has a lot to see, he says. Its important to preserve it. The detours also give a chance for New Mexicans to venture out and see something new. Before you begin Road conditions can change from day to day and from season to season. Be prepared to take alternate routes on occasion when weather or road construction interferes with your best-laid plans. Schedules can change as well. Its best to call ahead about detour attractions. Keep equipment in good working order. Make sure your vehicle is maintained, keep your tank full and replenish your snack and water supplies often. When visiting the ancient and modern cultural sites, please respect local customs to ensure safety and help ensure that the sites will be around for future generations. Search the term online and nearly 10 million results roll in. Its being touted by this winters shelter magazines, decor retailers and lifestyle mavens. Whats so huge? Its hygge. Often mispronounced higgy, its actually more like hewgah. To understand the terms meaning, just burrow into a big comfy pile of phrases synonymous with well-being. Coziness, ease, conviviality and, above all, a warm glow. According to author Meik Wiking in The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well (Penguin 2016), hygge originated from a Norwegian word. The Danes appropriated the term to some extent, but its common throughout Scandinavia, as well as a good bit of the United Kingdom. In the truest expression of hygge, the warm glow should come from a candle. No recipe for hygge is complete without candles. When Danes are asked what they most associate with hygge, an overwhelming 85 percent mention candles, says Wiking, who also heads Copenhagens Happiness Research Institute, a think tank studying societal satisfaction. And forget scented candles, he says. If you dont have a candle, go with a low-wattage lamp, Wiking suggests. Harsh, bright lighting is anathema to the hygge vibe. There are a few other decor elements that bring hygge home. A warm, neutral color palette is best, says Kayleigh Tanner, a writer in Brighton, England, who hosts a blog called Hello Hygge. Think beige, greige, terracotta, tan, warm white, orange and copper. Textures are important for hygge, too, she says, so I like to go for very tactile fabrics like velvet, chunky knits, silk and faux fur. These can be mixed and matched to help create a cozy nest in the home. For fragrances, I think familiar, homey scents work well. Comforting, food-based aromas like spices, vanilla or cocoa. She suggests gathering simple flower bouquets, and displaying collections of pebbles or shells. Hygges appeal is firmly tied to the natural world. In my mind, hygge is about ambience, intimacy and the right setting, says Kirsten Maclean, a Dane now living in a hygge-rich rural seaside town in western Nova Scotia. She finds that a day spent reading with a cup of tea and a cat is as hygge-inducing as a friendly get-together. Sometimes there are candles, sometimes not. In a conflict-torn world, the idea of a welcoming refuge seems especially appealing. In his book, Wiking recalls the end of a hiking day with friends. We were all tired, half asleep, sitting around the fireplace in the cabin, wearing big (sweaters) and socks. The only sounds were the stew boiling; the sparks from the fireplace. Then one of my friends broke the silence. Could this be any more hygge?' he asked. Yes, said one of the girls after a moment. If there was a storm raging outside. We all nodded. When it comes to historic and iconic churches and cathedrals, some consider New Mexico a mecca for tourists. We have the oldest church in the country, the Lourdes of America and many stunning examples of unique pueblo architecture. In fact, northern New Mexicos best historic churches have been featured by Travel + Leisure magazine, photos of churches grace the covers of at least two New Mexico guidebooks, and San Miguel Mission in Santa Fe tops USA Todays list of Sacred sites: The 31 oldest churches in the USA. For some visitors to the Land of Enchantment, churches and cathedrals are a big draw. And for some, churches are the reason New Mexico is their destination. El Santuario de Chimayo is a good example. Almost 300,000 visitors a year are drawn to the small adobe church, many of them pilgrims hoping the magical healing soil in the small pit known as el pocito can cure their afflictions. Nestled in the village of Chimayo along the High Road to Taos, the shrine is considered the Lourdes of America, after the French shrine where pilgrims are believed to have been cured after bathing in springs, and is one of the most important Catholic pilgrimage centers in the United States and one of the most beautiful examples of Spanish Colonial architecture in New Mexico, according to the National Park Service, which oversees national historic landmarks. The oldest church title goes to San Miguel Mission, which was constructed under the direction of Franciscan friars somewhere between 1610 and 1628. It has been rebuilt and restored several times over the past 400 years. What visitors find now is a modest adobe structure across the street from a local pizza parlor in downtown Santa Fe. However, the walls and interior are rich with history and unassuming beauty, according to the New Mexico Tourism Department. Top attractions Within just blocks, visitors to Santa Fe also can see the Loretto Chapel, famous for its miraculous wooden staircase. An unidentified man who showed up sometime in the late 1800s built the circular miraculous staircase with two 360-degree turns, no visible means of support and wooden pegs instead of metal nails. Heather Briganti, communications director for the New Mexico Tourism Department, describes the small church as intimate and just incredible. The feeling you get when you walk in there is amazing, she says. Also nearby is the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, a stunning structure near the plaza with twin bell towers and carved wooden doors. It is popular with photographers when the light hits it at sunset. It reminds me of some of the cathedrals of Europe, Briganti says. She and John Feins of TOURISM Santa Fe says they regularly see large crowds at the churches. These are some of our top attractions along with Canyon Road and the plaza, Feins says. Although the unique architecture of many New Mexico churches is a big draw, theres more there than a pretty building, Briganti says. Theres part of the history of our state. Part of the story In the 2007 book, Historic New Mexico Churches author Annie Lux describes it this way: In New Mexico, historic churches are as much a part of the cultural landscape as adobe and green chile. to tell the story of these historic churches is to tell the story of New Mexico. Churches number among the states oldest buildings, some built by Native Americans under the supervision of Franciscan missionaries, Lux explains. A new era of church building with a European style arrived with Jean Baptiste Lamy, the states first archbishop in 1851. The Romanesque Cathedral of St. Francis in Santa Fe and the neo-Gothic stone and brick San Juan Church at Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo are examples, according to Lux. Santa Fe may lay claim to the oldest church in the U.S., but Ohkay Owingeh north of the capital is home to the first and oldest parish in the country. Founded in 1598, San Juan Bautista is a thriving Catholic parish today with an average Sunday mass attendance of more than 1,000 people and choirs that sing in Tewa and Spanish, according to the Tourism Department and the National Park Service. Worth a visit From Abiquiu to Zuni, there are plenty of other historic churches across the state worth a visit. Although its not as old as many other churches in the state, Christ in the Desert Monastery outside of Abiquiu is worth a visit even considering the rugged but scenic road that leads there. The monastery, which is perched above the Rio Chama in a beautiful red rock setting, was founded in 1964, and the monks are part of the 1,500-year tradition of Benedictine monasticism. Both day visitors and overnight guests are welcome. At Zuni Pueblo, restoration is ongoing at Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission, one of the earliest examples of a Spanish Colonial era mission. Established in 1630, the original complex included an enclosed adobe convento to house the priest, soldiers and other mission personnel. After a long period of neglect and decline, the Catholic Diocese of Gallup, Zuni Pueblo and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs partnered to rebuild the mission, which houses unique murals of Zuni kachinas. The mission is part of the Tourism Departments New Mexico True Adobe Trail. Its beautiful, Briganti says. It was clearly glorious in its day. In southern New Mexicos Mesilla Valley, one of the oldest missions is the Basilica of San Albino. The current Romanesque building was constructed on the foundation of the original adobe church in 1906, but the bells date to the early 1870s. The mission was established by order of the Mexican government in 1851 in Mexico, but it is now located in the United States as a result of a transfer of territory in the Gadsden Purchase. Other historic churches in the state include San Felipe de Neri in Albuquerque, San Estevan del Rey Mission at Acoma Pueblo, San Francisco De Asis Mission Church and San Geronimo Chapel in the Taos area, and St. Joseph Apache Mission Church on the Mescalero Apache Reservation. Photography of farm life isnt often displayed in museums. Las Cruces resident Jay Hill has found inspiration in the Mesilla Valley, and his latest exhibit is on display at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum. Jay Hill: Our Wholesome Valley will be on display in Las Cruces until April 2. Hills life as a farmer in the Las Cruces area took on an artistic side when he began taking pictures in 2012. Since then, his dramatic photographs have captured the beauty of modern farming in the Las Cruces area. In his brief time of sharing his pictures, he has received much acclaim and has developed an impressive following on social media and throughout the community. Hill says his work as a farmer is more than a job, and his passion is obvious. For so many, the thought of modern agriculture removes the beauty of the profession, Hill says. We have traded the horse and mule for tractors and precision equipment. My journey into agriculture found me wanting to show the world the beauty that exists in modern agriculture. Hill often takes a different approach in using the space hes photographing. The backdrop of farming in shadows of the Organ Mountains makes my voice clear, Hill says. There is a true beauty and purity in working the land. To take a seed and watch it grow into a plant that puts a meal on a familys table is a humbling experience that is also highly rewarding. These photos are a snapshot into my day-to-day life as a farmer in New Mexico. According to the museum, the exhibit features 23 photographs and all are for sale. If you go WHAT: Jay Hill: Our Wholesome Valley WHEN: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday WHERE: New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum, 4100 Dripping Springs Road, Las Cruces HOW MUCH: $5 for adults, $4 for senior citizens (60 and over), $3 for children ages 4 to 17 and $2 for active U.S. military and veterans. Children under 4 and museum members with a card are admitted free of charge. New Mexico painter Molly Geissman is in pursuit of the holy grail of paradigm shift in her Hoarded Spaces FT solo exhibition at the Mariposa Gallery in Nob Hill. Now I do know some people who will walk away from any conversation at the first mention of paradigm shift, but wait theres more. Geissman is concerned about the amount of mental baggage we carry around made up of old and often moldy notions about what is and what isnt a necessity for a fully realized life. In her artists statement, Geissman uses the analogy of her fathers basement that was a catchall for a mountain of mysterious boxes brimming with mostly useless stuff to describe how we cram our minds and cloud our thinking with hidebound truths that may in fact not be true at all. Her description of her dads debris-laden subterranean vault triggered her inner-child imagination that informed her that the hoarded-debris field was much more vast that what her young eyes perceived. In imaginary-fact, the daddy built piles of detritus spread into the great beyond, moving toward the magical realm of storybooks and rainy-night dreams. Those dream-soaked rainy nights led Geissman to an impasse. She had to learn to either think or swim, to paraphrase Buckminster Fuller. So Geissman became an artist who began as a fabric and clothing designer and evolved about 20 years ago, into painting. Her development of painting subjects sped through the human figure, organic floral motifs, geological layering and into a visceral and visual critique of 20th century prison architecture. Obviously, her aesthetic brake pedal was never engaged, because Geissman now has arrived at the front door of the rag and bone shop of the human heart where she startled the cat with fancy feet, to paraphrase Lawrence Ferlinghetti. In Hoarded Spaces #1 which includes collage elements, Geissman builds architectonic space with a few lines that house emotional and intellectual debris within a surrealistic world of imagined values and rigidly held beliefs. Her counter-sensibility resides in a nocturnal state of mind racked with unseen fears, unfilled needs and abhorrence of even hints of change or progress. When viewing her work, one could say Cy Twombly without too much fear of contradiction, but Geissman is far deeper than a quick dismissal. If analogies are needed, Alberto Giacomettis Palace at 4 a.m. of 1932 comes a lot closer. Giacometti was a pioneering surrealist and a metaphysical artist who dwelled in a culture of dreamers. Though all artists create self-portraits, Geissman is transcending her personal baggage and whatever it may include to mirror the retrograde and reactionary times in which we live. In Hoarded Spaces #2, Geissman offers a glimmer of hope with a profusion of fog gray that dispels most of the darkness, falling just a tone or two short of diurnal dawn. While moving down the wall, viewers transit a cycle that indicates an awakening of sorts expressed in deep reds, pale ochers and creams that fill the composition in Hoarding Spaces #6, a richly painted rendering that includes a pyramid atop a cube. One wonders whether Geissman is reaching back toward buried Pharaohs or contemporary falsehoods. How many of us can really think outside the box these days? Geissmans statement about the show concludes, I relate this unforgettable memory (of her fathers crowded cellar) to the holding on of ancient ideologies with no basis in fact that hoard the space in all too many minds. Gee, I dont know, cant we all just get along? Rodney King aside, this is a luscious exhibition by a skilled artist who may never stop to smell the Rosicrucians along the way, but Geissman will surely always be asking, whats next? Im pretty sure her canvas-hauling station wagon came fully equipped with a paradigm shift and no aesthetic brakes, so look out kids; shes on a roll. If you go Arts review WHAT: Hoarded Spaces FT, new paintings by Molly Geissman WHEN: Through Jan. 31. Hours are: 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. Call 268-6828. WHERE: Mariposa Gallery, 3500 Central SE, Nob Hill HOW MUCH: Free As the president would say, it was huge. People standing shoulder to shoulder packed Civic Plaza in Downtown Albuquerque, while thousands of Santa Feans marched and held signs in a rally that surrounded the Roundhouse. All told, thousands upon thousands of New Mexicans turned out Saturday afternoon to take part in demonstrations in support of womens rights and against President Donald Trump, whose inauguration was Friday. The events were held in New Mexico and around the country to coincide with the Womens March on Washington, which drew tens of thousands, amid fears that womens and civil rights may be threatened by the new administration. Mariam Salas, one of the event organizers for the Albuquerque march, estimated that between 3,000 and 6,000 people attended the Duke City event. Similar, or even larger, crowd estimates were made at the Santa Fe spectacle including a police estimate of 11,000. I think a lot of people are feeling lost and are looking for a rallying point, Salas said. Albuquerque got the word out. This city came together. Creative signs were abundant at both the Albuquerque and Santa Fe demonstrations. All sorts of references were made to an offensive slang term for female genitalia that Trump was quoted saying in a video that was leaked during his presidential campaign. In Santa Fe, some of the more creative signs said, We are all Jedi now, Have you learned Russian yet? and Ive seen better cabinets at IKEA. One poster pictured Trump as a chupacabra, a monstrous mythical creature. That crowd, many wearing pink hats and carrying signs protesting Trumps stance on many issues, marched from the Bataan Memorial Building, around the Santa Fe Plaza and down Old Santa Fe Trial for a rally at the Capitol. The timing was perfect, as sun broke through what had been snowy skies shortly after the march got underway at about 11 a.m. There, they heard speeches from Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales, councilwoman Signe Lindell and others. In Albuquerque, several local environmental groups concerned about climate change joined the movement and marched to Civic Plaza from nearby Robinson Park prior to the event. At the plaza, the crowd sang along to music and listened to speeches about womens empowerment, and other social and environment issues. A slight hailstorm midway through the event didnt break the enthusiastic spirit. I think people are just in shock that you can use that kind of rhetoric and say the things he (Trump) said, and end up in the most powerful position in the world, said 46-year-old Renay Moya. Jessica Ruskey, 32, said at the Albuquerque rally that it was uplifting to see the strong turnout, especially because she said it was a sad day to see the presidency be turned over to Trump from Barack Obama. The system won, not the people, she said. Hillary (Clinton) got the popular vote. More people wanted her in office but the system won and it sucks. Elizabeth Herrera was at the gathering with a sign aimed at raising awareness about violence against Native women. Theres a lot of unity here, everyones singing right now and a lot of people are being respectful, the 19-year-old said as the crowd around her hit the ba ba ba in the song Sweet Caroline. This is a place full of a lot of peace and love, and you can feel it. Andy Stiny in Santa Fe contributed to this report. The New Mexico economy depends on a strong oil and natural gas industry. The billions of dollars in annual tax and royalty revenue from oil and natural gas is the single largest source of state funding for our public schools, our colleges and universities, and our health care. All told, the industry accounts for nearly one-third of all state funding. No other industry comes close in terms of funding essential services. As we look to recover from the downturn, now is the time for the New Mexico Legislature to foster an environment that will help us secure ongoing oil and gas production that will bring back jobs and new revenue to the state. Now is not the time to add additional regulations, further exacerbating the problem and discouraging production at a time when we need it most. New Mexicans should be proud to live in one of the most energy-rich states in the country. New Mexico is the sixth-largest net supplier of energy to the nation, primarily because of our oil and natural gas production, and we are the largest petroleum producer among the eight Rocky Mountain states. When it comes to energy production, New Mexico is a national leader. Even during the recent downturn, the Permian Basin in southeast New Mexico has attracted a great deal of investment in the drilling of new wells. Even in the current price environment there are still over 30 drilling rigs operating in our state. Every drilling rig accounts for between 50 and 75 high-paying direct jobs, in addition to supporting a similar number of indirect and induced jobs. Despite the challenges caused by low prices over the last few years, oil production remains close to all-time levels and natural gas production is steady. This means that the industry in New Mexico is well positioned to take advantage of any further price increases. This will mean more money for our schools and other vital services. An example of how important oil and natural gas is to New Mexico is in education funding. In fiscal year 2016, the industry provided $703 million in funding for public schools and $238 million in funding for colleges and universities across New Mexico. These funds cover many expenses, including the salary and benefits for teachers, professors and staff. Throughout the coming weeks, we will be sharing the New Mexico Tax Research Institutes county-by-county estimates of oil and gas revenue that goes to our schools. As an example, the Albuquerque Public School budget in 2016 was $688 million, of which $173 million was funded by the oil and gas industry. That means that nearly one out of three teachers are paid for with tax revenues generated from this industry. New Mexico is competing with other states for investment in the drilling of new oil and gas wells and the jobs and tax revenue that follow. Extreme diligence in the upcoming legislative session is needed to balance the budget and pave the way for economic and job growth. Any proposal that does not improve the business climate for existing and new industry should not become law. New laws and regulations that offer complex and costly rules without clear science-based and cost-effective benefits to water quality, human health and the environment should not move forward. While our state continues to face challenges, I believe we are up to the task of improving our economy and adding jobs and new revenue. What is needed now is calm thinking and sound policies that will get us through these next couple of years and set the stage for ongoing success. The oil and gas industry in New Mexico is proud to be a part of our great state, and will continue to do our part to responsibly produce the energy we use, provide good paying jobs, and in the process, produce the taxes and other revenues that are so important to securing our future. A national search firm hired to aid in the search of the University of New Mexicos next president released a 12-page report recently detailing what will be required of the universitys future leader. Among those traits, the next president of the states largest university must continue to improve student graduation and retention rates, balance the budget as state appropriations shrink and lead and manage a complex organization, according to the report from the firm Isaacson, Miller. The report also addressed the high turnover rate of recent UNM presidents no president in the past two decades has served beyond their initial contract. These concerns can be addressed by a leader who articulates an identity and vision for the university, and communicates clearly and effectively to generate buy-in from all stakeholders, the report stated. The next president will oversee a budget of $2.8 billion and a student population of 34,000 students across five campuses in New Mexico. He or she will also take over a university with falling student enrollment and a shrinking budget, but also one that has seen increased graduation and student retention rates in recent years. UNM will pay the firm $100,000 and additional $11,000 for indirect expenses and actual expenses such as travel costs. Regents President Rob Doughty said he was pleased with the profile, and that it was built on input from the UNM campus community and needs of the university looking forward. We believe that it will serve as an instructive invitation to experienced and passionate leaders who share our vision for UNM, Doughty said in a statement to the Journal. Other tasks for the president include building new relationships across the state and nation that allow for projects similar to Innovate ABQ, a public partnership among the city, the county and private partners to foster economic growth. The new president will also have to work with the Board of Regents to develop positive and productive working relationships with them. Outgoing President Bob Frank stepped down from his post at the end of 2016 following tensions with the board tied to documents critical of Frank leaked to the media. He is currently a finalist for a position as the president of Ohio University. The Board of Regents has said it hopes to find a new president by early spring, but in the interim they appointed Provost Chaouki Abdallah as acting president. Despite a Democratic-controlled Legislature, which historically in New Mexico hasnt taken up a tough-on-crime mantle, a handful of bills have been introduced to toughen punishments including a reintroduction of the death penalty in certain cases. Many of the bills pre-filed before the start of the session Tuesday are repeats from the last two years, when Republicans had control of the House and were able to give the bills some traction before most died in the Democrat-controlled Senate. Gov. Susana Martinez has expressed support for the death penalty for convicted cop and child killers and three-strikes laws, but some lawmakers warn the states funding crisis will make it more difficult to pass them. Even in affluent years, there is always a discussion about money. Increased penalties cost money to house prisoners, but when you go ahead and talk to the community, the community does not feel safe, said Rep. Bill Rehm, R-Albuquerque. There were numerous high-profile crimes in the last two years, including the killing of four New Mexico law enforcement officers, the shooting death of a young Albuquerque girl caught in a road rage incident, and the shooting death of an innocent bystander, a popular Albuquerque teen, at a party. Critics of increased penalties say financial concerns are valid and point to studies that say increased penalties dont show a deterrent effect on crime especially the death penalty. One of the largest studies of the deterrent effect of tougher penalties shows that the strength of the penalty has less effect, if any, than the certainty of receiving a punishment, and deterrent effects are greater on minor crimes and much less for serious crimes. The tendency is to increase penalties as a form of public policy, and it simply doesnt deter crime, and it adds stress to an already stressed system, said Rep. Antonio Mo Maestas, D-Albuquerque. We need evidence-based policies to ultimately lessen the crime. He is particularly opposed to the death penalty, which is a very expensive process, but he said even less expensive policies like the three-strikes laws are also expensive and outdated. Governors agenda In a speech earlier this month to Albuquerque business leaders, the governor called on lawmakers to pass bills increasing penalties for child abuse and driving while intoxicated and reimpose the death penalty which the state abolished in 2009 for individuals convicted of killing children or law enforcement officers. We should give prosecutors and juries the option to impose it, she said. But Martinez did not mention how the stiffer penalties would be funded, as her proposed $6.1 billion budget plan for the coming year would extend budget cuts for the states judicial branch and provide only a small funding increase for the states prison system. Legislators can propose bills until about halfway through the session, Feb. 16 this year. So far, Rehm, a former sheriffs deputy, and House Minority Leader Nate Gentry, R-Albuquerque, together have filed half of all crime-related bills. The two have doubled up on bills that would expand the states three-strikes law, adding to the current list of crimes applicable for the enhancement. The three-strikes law allows prosecutors to seek a mandatory sentence of life in prison, which in New Mexico is 30 years without the chance for parole. Gentrys bill, House Bill 54, is the version passed by the House last year. It would remove the requirement that the convictions be for crimes that caused great bodily harm, meaning prosecutors could try to get a habitual offender enhancement for some of the defendants previous felonies even if no one was seriously injured. The bill also would add to the list of qualifying charges, among others, involuntary manslaughter, shooting at a building, homicide by vehicle, aggravated arson or battery on a police officer, and injury to a pregnant woman by vehicle. Rehms bill, House Bill 13, retains the requirement that any qualifying crimes have resulted in someones great bodily harm, and it would add some but not as many charges as Gentrys for consideration. Mine is more restrictive. Hes casting a wider net, Rehm said. Enhanced penalties Rehm also introduced two bills to enhance penalties for firearms crimes and bills to broaden the definition of drunken driving to include drugged driving, extend the statute of limitations for various felony crimes, and allow crimes in a 25-year period to count toward habitual offender status. Crime bills always have a problem anyway, so there is this lets not do anything attitude, Rehm said. I think that what you do is every year you gain a little bit of progress. Gentry is making another attempt at a bill that would allow local governments to enact curfews. Im hopeful. A lot of the bills that Ive reintroduced passed by pretty overwhelming margins in the House last year and the year before that, Gentry said. And he is more hopeful this year because of the November general election defeat of Michael Sanchez, the former Democratic Senate powerhouse often blamed or credited with squashing tough-on-crime bills. Republicans ran an election campaign against Sanchez using the families of victims of high-profile crimes and portraying him as the longtime block to holding criminals accountable in the state. Sanchez has said money would be better spent on drug and alcohol addiction treatment and rehabilitation rather than incarcerating more New Mexicans. Funding is a crucial element of the session. Gentry said that more important than penalty increases at this point is full funding for law enforcement, courts and prosecutors. Its just very important we keep that funding intact, he said. Maestas agreed funding is key, but pressed those seeking increased penalties to consider the ramifications. Folks who are proposing penalty increases should also support paying for those increases, Maestas said. Funding the Bernalillo County DAs Office is crucial. The Bernalillo County DA is arguably one of the most stressed-out institutions in all of state government. If we really want to impact crime in Albuquerque, we really need to fund that office. Increasing penalties does not make crime go away. Other bills of note Among some of the other crime-related bills introduced: House Bill 49, from Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard, D-Los Alamos, would require a sobriety monitoring program for DWI defendants unable to obtain or install an ignition interlock. House Bill 23, from Rep. Sarah Maestas Barnes, R-Albuquerque, would increase the penalty for homicide by vehicle while recklessly driving from a third- to a second-degree felony. Senate Bill 55, from Sen. Steven Neville, R-Aztec, would increase the range of fines to $100 to $1,000 for reckless or careless driving and driving while texting. House Bill 44, from Reps. Monica Youngblood, R-Albuquerque, and Sharon Clahchischilliage, R-Kirtland, would make it a more serious crime to commit assault and battery on a state social worker. House Bill 43, from the same representatives, would, mostly, broaden some of the definitions of criminal sexual contact of a minor. House Bill 71, from Rep. Kelly Fajardo, R-Belen, would make it a crime to send any sexual electronic image to a child, not just limited to a sexual image of the sender. House Bill 45, from Maestas Barnes, would expand the age range for intentional child abuse resulting in death to include older children as well as younger. Editors note: This is another in a series of stories on issues expected to be debated during the 2017 legislative session. Copyright 2017 Albuquerque Journal Driving up to Sandia Crest over the long Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, cross-country skier Nick Heine saw the winter sights you typically see while cautiously navigating the curves and climb of state Highway 536. Towering pines decked in snow. Occasional rays of sunshine piercing the clouds and glinting across fresh snow. A kid on a sled shooting past a No Sledding sign and onto the snow-packed two-lane highway. The 10k (Trailhead) parking lot had signs that said no sledding and theres parents standing there, with their camera in hand, watching their kids sledding past the no-sledding sign and into the road, Heine said in a phone interview last week. Theres no police, no rangers telling people to stop doing that. So youve got drivers coming around a blind corner on an icy road that cant stop, and theres kids sliding into the road. Exacerbating that problem, he said, are the 100 plus vehicles parked illegally along the 13-mile highway that runs from the village of San Antonito to the top of the 10,678-foot Sandia Peak. Meanwhile, the Capulin Snow Play Area which underwent a million-dollar renovation in 2010 and remains the only place on the mountain specifically designed for sledding was closed because the U.S. Forest Service says there isnt enough snow. Capulin has been the subject of criticism directed at the Forest Service, which in previous years said it was closed because there wasnt enough staffing to supervise. Now, the agency says it has designed Capulin as unstaffed but it still isnt open. Heine said the parking situation was particularly bad at the turnoff to the Capulin, about midway up the mountain. The gate to the popular sledding area was closed and locked, with a notice that the area built in 1968 to discourage sledders and tubers from flying down makeshift runs scattered throughout the area has yet to open this year. If that (Capulin) parking lot had been open, that would have certainly given people a better place to park than on the highway, Heine said. Crystal Powell is district ranger for the Cibola National Forests Sandia Ranger District, which includes nearly all of the Sandia Mountains. She said the Capulin area which has three sledding hills, two parking lots, restrooms and a picnic area was closed because of insufficient snow. We recognize that its a very popular winter destination for sledding and we want to continue to provide that opportunity, Powell said. But it poses a significant challenge to us every winter due to hazardous road conditions and insufficient snow depths for safe operations. Forest Service standards require a minimum snow base of 12 inches at sledding areas. As of Wednesday, she said the Capulin area had only 6 inches of snow. Cibola National Forest supervisor Elaine Kohrman said the 12-inch base requirement has been in effect since 2012. It was adopted to ensure the safety of sledders and Capulins natural resources. Although there are a few areas along Highway 536 suitable for safe sledding, none of them has nearby parking. Given the steepness of the area and the limited access, the opportunities (for sledding and tubing) are limited, she said. We just dont have perfect locations for sledding other than the Capulin Snow Play Area. Illegal sledding Powell said shes well aware of the illegal sledding and parking along Highway 536, and that forest rangers do their best to keep everyone safe. We have a couple of staffers who monitor the mountain, but we dont have enough staff to manage the crowds that show up on snowy weekends, she said. Its challenging. Its hard to manage that many people. The Forest Service maintains only four parking lots during the winter months: part of the parking lot at Sandia Crest, the 10k and Ellis trailhead lots and, when its open, the Capulin Snow Play Area parking lot. The areas largest parking lot is at the privately operated Sandia Peak Ski Area. Although Forest Service officials in the past have cited a lack of available staff to supervise the snow play area as a reason for not opening the Capulin more often, Kohrman said that, as of this year, the Capulin is designated an unstaffed area and no longer requires Forest Service staffing. The change was made in an effort to allow the area to be used more, she said. So far, that hasnt happened this winter. But any spot along the route that has enough open space and a snowy slope tends to become an impromptu and illegal sledding and tubing area. Because of their steepness, proximity to the highway, and natural hazards like fallen logs and hidden boulders, nearly all of those areas are closed to sledding, Powell lsaid. The Forest Service posts No Sledding closure signs at those areas and forest rangers can issue citations to offenders. But they typically just inform sledders that the area is closed, explain the safety issues and ask them to stop sledding there, Powell said. Whos in charge? While the Forest Service is responsible for policing No Sledding areas, it has no jurisdiction to enforce No Parking areas along the state highway, Powell said. That falls to State Police or the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Department. Sgt. Chad Pierce, spokesman for the State Police, said officers routinely patrol Highway 536, but received no calls over the long, snowy MLK holiday weekend that would have promoted a response. Pierce said State Police did not issue any no-parking citations along that route that weekend. The sheriffs department didnt respond to a query about patrolling on Highway 536. But Powell said Thursday that, once a 12-inch base is achieved which could be this weekend the Forest Service will open the area. Once its open, rangers will monitor the snow conditions and will close the area if the slopes become icy or theres not enough snow to protect the vegetation beneath. She warned, however, that Capulin is an unsupervised area, and sledders and tubers need to exercise caution. We have signs posted that inform visitors about rules for safe sledding, the danger associated with sledding and that they are sledding at their own risk, Powell said. Forest Service officials have sought volunteers to oversee the snow play area and assist sledders at the Capulin in the past, but to no avail. The Forest Service partnered with the Talking Talons Youth Leadership organization in 2014, but interest in overseeing Capulin waned and the volunteer base dissolved, she said. In 2012 and 2013, the Forest Service released requests for proposals from businesses or organizations interested in operating the snow play area, but received none. Powell said the Forest Service might try that approach again. She noted that the Capulin parking lots can accommodate about 120 vehicles and that they fill up quickly. That, unfortunately, can again lead to people parking illegally on Highway 536. She said opening the Capulin parking lots when the play area is closed, as Heine suggested, leads to people illegally using the sledding hills. People park on the highway and walk in there even when its closed, Powell said. Ignoring closures can lead to fines and jail time, she said. Be prepared Bernadette Bell, spokeswoman for District 3 of the New Mexico Department of Transportation, said road crews plowed Highway 536 as far as the Capulin Snow Play Area gate over last weekends Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, but didnt plow farther up 536 until later in the week because that section of the road is not high on the districts priority list. The priority list, based on highway usage, has Interstate 40 at the top, followed by state Highways 14, 333, 337 and 217. Highway 536 is at the third level, she said. Bell said signs are posted at the turnoff from state Highway 14 to 536 at San Antonito warning people that hazardous road conditions are likely to exist during the winter months. Tire chains are required on snow-packed roads north of the ski area. She advises people to check www.nmroads.com or call 511, the departments road conditions information line, before driving in areas impacted by snow. Heine who described his cross-country ski trek last weekend as fantastic said he would like to see more wintertime enforcement of the no-parking regulations along the highway. In the summertime, its not five minutes after you get out of your car that a ranger is there reminding you to fill out your paid parking slip, he said. Check for closures Information about closures in the Sandia Ranger District including the Capulin Snow Play Area is available online at www.fs.usda.gov. Click on Sandia Ranger District Closures and Restrictions. You also can call the ranger district at 281-3304. YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. The upcoming Astana talks over Syria can change the regions political face, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Arman Navasardyan told reporters, reports Armenpress. He added that the escalation of relations between Iran and Turkey will lead to the deterioration of the Russian-Iranian relations. I think not only a serious aggravation of Turkish-Iranian relations is going to take place in Astana which can permanently eliminate the alliance, but also, Russias policy against Turkey will be questioned, he said. The Ambassador stated that Russia and Turkey will not come into a final political honeymoon and will not solve issues in the interests of each other. The Astana talks on Syria will launch on January 23. Military officials from Russia, Iran and Turkey will take part in the talks. YEREVAN, JANUARY 21, ARMENPRESS. In marking the inauguration of the 45th president of the United States, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) congratulated President Donald Trump and Vice-President Pence, urging the new President to bring new ideas and energy to U.S. policy on Armenian issues, further strengthening the robust U.S.-Armenia relationship, and reinforcing the enduring bonds of friendship that have long connected our two peoples. As Armenpress was informed from the press service of ANCA, the statement on the Inauguration of President Donald Trump reads as follows, The ANCA extends congratulations to Donald Trump upon his inauguration as President and welcomes the opportunity to work with him and his incoming Administration to advance shared American interests and ideals. On behalf of Americas citizens of Armenian heritage and friends of Armenia from across the United States, the ANCA looks to President Trump at a pivotal moment in the history of our nations global leadership to bring new ideas and energy to U.S. policy on Armenian issues, further strengthening the robust U.S.-Armenia relationship, and reinforcing the enduring bonds of friendship that have long connected our two peoples. Armenia, the worlds first Christian nation, shares Americas devotion to democratic values, human rights and religious liberty, embraces our aspirations for global peace and prosperity, and actively partners with the United States on a broad array of regional and international challenges. It is in this spirit that the ANCA encourages President Trump to start his Administration with strong and decisive American leadership by: Properly commemorating the Armenian Genocide as a clear case of genocide challenging Turkey's obstruction of justice for this still unpunished crime and more broadly rejecting Turkey's efforts to control U.S. policy on Armenian issues and Rejecting Turkeys Armenian Genocide Gag-Rule: Proper U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide as a clear case of genocide would represent a long overdue break with the practice of past Presidents who since the principled stand taken by President Reagan in 1981 have sadly given in to pressure from the Turkish government, resorting to euphemisms and evasive terminology to describe this crime against humanity. No foreign government has the right to impose a gag-rule on America, to exercise veto against our U.S. President, or to demand that America compromise our international moral leadership. The historical record including our own U.S. archives document that the Ottoman Empire, between 1915 and 1923, intentionally and systematically undertook the genocidal destruction of its Christian minorities. Millions of Armenians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Greeks, Pontians, Syriacs, and other Christians were murdered and millions more were forced into exile from their biblical-era homelands. The American people and government played a major role in caring for the survivors of this crime, many of whom eventually found safe haven in America. Sadly, the world today is, once again, witnessing similar atrocities, in this very same region, committed by ISIS and other extremists, against Christians, Yezidis, and other religious minorities. Appropriate and accurate remembrance of the Armenian Genocide would reaffirm past U.S. recognition of this crime, including the Eisenhower Administrations 1951 submission to the International Court of Justice, President Ronald Reagans 1981 Proclamation (No. 4838), and legislation adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives, HJR148 adopted (April 8, 1975) and HJR247 (September 10, 1984). More broadly, an honest reckoning with the Armenian Genocide by the United States and eventually by Turkey itself will contribute to the reduction of regional tensions and create opportunities for the sustainable development of Armenian-Turkish relations. It is in this spirit of peace and justice, and in the hopes that our nation will stand up to foreign pressure on this human rights issue, that the ANCA calls on the Trump Administration to accurately and explicitly condemn and commemorate the Armenian Genocide. Advancing a durable and democratic peace in the Caucasus by recognizing and supporting the independent Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and; Supporting a Peaceful Resolution in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh): The United States can contribute meaningfully to the cause of peace and the global progress of democratic self-determination by extending formal recognition of the independent Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) Republic and taking steps including the provision of defensive arms and increased developmental assistance to ensure Artsakhs security in the face of continued Azerbaijani aggression. The Trump Administration should, as an urgent matter, strengthen the 1994 cease-fire by forcefully challenging Azerbaijans escalation of military aggression, ensuring Artsakhs full participation in all negotiations, and overcoming Azerbaijans efforts to obstruct implementation of the Royce-Engel proposals. These three common sense proposals call for the: 1) Non-deployment of snipers and heavy arms near the line-of-contact; 2) Addition of OSCE observers along the line-of-contact, and; 3) Deployment of gunfire locators along the line-of-contact. U.S. recognition of Artsakh, along with a stable cease-fire, will help foster a conducive environment for a peaceful, negotiated settlement that durably and democratically resolves outstanding security and status issues related to the Artsakh Republic. Growing the U.S.-Armenia economic military and political partnership and supporting a secure prosperous and democratic Armenia. Growing the U.S.-Armenia Economic Relationship: U.S. interests would be served by policies aimed at expanding U.S.-Armenia ties, particularly in terms of our economic relationship and military partnership. More broadly, the Trump Administration should promote policies that support a secure, prosperous, democratic Armenia, increasingly anchored in the democratic world, integrated into the global economy, and actively contributing to the security and progress of the international community. Building upon the 2015 signing of a bilateral U.S.-Armenia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, the Trump Administration should: 1) Negotiate a Tax Treaty eliminating the threat of double taxation of firms operating in both jurisdictions; 2) Extend a new Millennium Challenge Account compact with Armenia that funds STEM education, and; 3) support the launch of direct Los Angeles to Yerevan flights, strengthening the travel and commercial connection between our two nations. In terms of our international assistance programs, the Trump Administration should budget increased direct aid to Artsakh and Armenia, with a special focus on robust funding to help Armenia settle at-risk refugees from the Middle East. Helping Armenia complete its Aid-to-Trade transition will save U.S. tax dollars, creating jobs in both countries, reinforcing Armenian independence in the face of pressure from regional powers, and strengthening Americas constructive engagement and enduring friendship with the Armenian people. YEREVAN, JANUARY 21, ARMENPRESS. Triplets are born in Armenias Gyumri city in the family of the Shukhyans after a long period of anticipation. Mariana, Ariana and Aren were born on January 20 at about 20:00 at Austrian Child and Mother Hospital of Gyumri by caesarean section. Armenpress reports a 3rd level hospital is advisable for giving birth to a triplet, but the parents decided that the babies will be born in Gyumri after familiarizing themselves with the hospitals conditions. The mother had been under the surveillance of the hospital personnel since 3 months of pregnancy. Mariana was the first to be born weighting 2 kg and 160 gram, the other girl, Ariana was the second, weighting 1kg and 690 grams, and the boy, Aren was the last weighting 2kg and 45 grams. The doctors assess the health condition of the mother and babies as good. The 30-year old mother, Ani Balyan, told Armenpress that she first felt happiness, but later fear and shock were present. I cannot introduce my feelings when I first saw the babies: happiness but also fear. I have been waiting for them 6 years, says the psychologist-pedagogue mother, noting that they have already prepared everything for the babies at home, Each of them has its bed, corner and cloths, the mother of the triplet said, noting that his husband works abroad. Chief physician of the hospital Ashot Kurghinyan assessed this triplet birth as very good news for Gyumri. A triplet is born in the region, this really makes all of us happy. Yesterday Ani Balyan gave a very successful birth. 3 healthy babies were born by caesarean section. Not only the parents, but we also had been long waiting for this, since being under our surveillance, we managed the take the serious responsibility and successfully complete it. This shows that our hospital is sufficiently equipped and in case of necessity we can render full-scale medical aid, Ashot Kurghinyan said. Armenuhi Mkhoyan YEREVAN, JANUARY 21, ARMENPRESS. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Armenia and the UK Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of Great Britain Boris Johnson exchanged telegrams. As Armenpress was informed from the press service of MFA Armenia, Edward Nalbandian stressed in his telegraph that the partnership between Armenia and Great Britain has recorded significant development, which is reflected by high level political dialogue, active inter-parliamentary relations, positive trends in economic and trade cooperation, exchange programs in culture and education, as well as productive cooperation on the international level. Boris Johnson mentioned in his letter that the United Kingdom values the quarter-century relations between the two states during which it rendered a practical assistance to Armenia as a reinforcement to its democracy, prosperity and stability. He hailed the Armenias reforms in democracy and governance, and noted that Great Britain supports that process. He stated that Great Britain continues supporting the mediation efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs aimed at the peaceful settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The Foreign Minister of Armenia and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of Great Britain hoped that the cooperation between the two states will continue expanding and deepening by joint efforts. Taking Northern Ireland out of the EU will "destroy" the Good Friday Agreement peace deal, Gerry Adams said. He claimed fundamental human rights enshrined in the 1998 accord to end violence could be undermined. The top legal adviser to Stormont ministers has said not one word in the Agreement would be affected. The Sinn Fein president said Northern Ireland should enjoy special status within the union of 27 states after Brexit and claimed that would not affect the constitutional settlement which secures its status as part of the UK. He said: "Taking the North out of the EU will. "It will destroy the Good Friday Agreement." The Dail TD addressed a conference on achieving a united Ireland in Dublin. Mr Adams added: "The British government's intention to take the North out of the EU, despite the wish of the people there to remain, is a hostile action. "Not just because of the implications of a hard border on this island but also because of its negative impact on the Good Friday Agreement. "The British Prime Minister repeated her intention to bring an end to the jurisdiction of the European Court. "Along with her commitment to remove Britain from the European Convention on Human Rights this stand threatens to undermine the fundamental human rights elements of the Good Friday Agreement." He claimed ending partition between Northern Ireland and the Republic had taken on a new importance. "As the dire economic implications of Brexit take shape there is an opportunity to promote a new agreed Ireland." Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU referendum by a majority of 56% to 44%. Mr Adams added: " The speech by Theresa May will have reinforced this. "The dangers of a hard Brexit are now more obvious than before. "The North needs a special designated status within the EU. "The Irish government needs to adopt this as a strategic objective in its negotiations within the EU 27 as they negotiate with the British Prime Minister." He claimed there was, alarmingly, no strategic plan from Dublin ministers. The Irish Government has already convened an all-Ireland forum on Brexit and agreed with the British Prime Minister that there should be no return to the borders of the past for Northern Ireland. Its priorities remain its economic and trading arrangements, the peace process and border issues as well as the common travel area. Mr Adams added: "The British position also fails to take account of the fact that citizens in the North, under the Agreement, have a right to Irish citizenship and therefore EU citizenship." Gambia's former leader Yahya Jammeh has arrived at Banjul Airport after finally agreeing to accept defeat. Earlier, the Department of Foreign Affairs said it was in close contact with a small number of Irish citizens who had remained in Gambia despite a chaotic exodus of holidaymakers earlier this week, as the country teetered on the brink of a military conflict. The UN Security Council had backed an effort by regional states to remove Yahya Jammeh as president. Adama Barrow told The Associated Press in an interview on Saturday that he will enter Gambia once a security sweep has been completed. He has been in neighbouring Senegal for his safety during a political stand-off that came to the brink of a regional military intervention. Mr Barrow, who won December's presidential elections, spoke just hours after Mr Jammeh announced he would relinquish power, ending hours of last-minute negotiations with the leaders of Guinea and Mauritania. He said he has not yet been given the communique which should spell out the terms of Mr Jammeh's departure. "What is fundamental here is he will live in a foreign country as of now," he said. Mr Barrow was inaugurated on Thursday at Gambia's embassy in Senegal, with the backing of the international community. As Mr Jammeh prepared to leave the country after more than 22 years in power, human-rights activists demanded he be held accountable for alleged abuses, including torture and detention of opponents. It was those concerns about prosecution that led Mr Jammeh to challenge the December election results just days after shocking Gambians by conceding his loss to Mr Barrow. Jeggan Bahoum, of the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy in Gambia, said: "Jammeh came as a pauper bearing guns. He should leave as a disrobed despot. "The properties he seeks to protect belong to Gambians and Gambia, and he must not be allowed to take them with him. He must leave our country without conditionalities." An online petition called for Mr Jammeh to be arrested instead of being granted asylum. Mr Barrow said: "We aren't talking about prosecution here, we are talking about getting a truth and reconciliation commission. "Before you can act, you have to get the truth, to get the facts together." Mr Jammeh, who first seized power in a 1994 coup, has been holed up this week in his official residence in Banjul, increasingly isolated as he was abandoned by his security forces and several Cabinet members. The West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, pledged to remove Mr Jammeh by force if he did not step down. AP US police deployed pepper spray and made several arrests in a chaotic confrontation streets away from Donald Trump's inauguration as protesters registered their rage against the new president. Spirited demonstrations unfolded peacefully at various security checkpoints near the US Capitol in Washington as police helped ticket-holders get through to the inaugural ceremony. Signs read: "Resist Trump Climate Justice Now", ''Let Freedom Ring" and ''Free Palestine." But at one point, police chased a group of about 100 protesters who smashed the windows of city centre businesses including a Starbucks, Bank of America and McDonald's as they denounced capitalism and Mr Trump. Police in riot gear used pepper spray from large canisters and eventually cordoned off the protesters. The group damaged vehicles, destroyed property and set small fires while armed with crowbars and hammers, police said in a statement. Police said "numerous" people were arrested and charged with rioting. The confrontation happened about an hour before Mr Trump was sworn in and began giving his inaugural address at the Capitol. Before Inauguration Day, the DisruptJ20 coalition, named after the date of the inauguration, had promised that people participating in its actions in Washington would attempt to shut down the celebrations, risking arrest when necessary. Earlier in the day, as guests were going in to the ceremony, lines for ticket-holders entering two gates stretched for streets at one point as protesters clogged entrances. Trump supporter Brett Ecker said the protesters were frustrating but were not going to spoil his day. "They're just here to stir up trouble," said the 36-year-old public school teacher. "It upsets me a little bit that people choose to do this, but yet again, it's one of the things I love about this country." At one checkpoint, protesters wore orange jumpsuits with black hoods over their faces to represent prisoners in US detention at Guantanamo Bay. Eleanor Goldfield, who helped organise the Disrupt J20 protest, said protesters wanted to show Mr Trump and his "misguided, misinformed or just plain dangerous" supporters that they will not be silent. Black Lives Matter and feminist groups also made their voices heard. Most Trump supporters walking to the inauguration past Union Station ignored protesters outside the train station, but not Doug Rahm, who engaged in a lengthy and sometimes profane yelling match with them. "Get a job," said Mr Rahm, a Bikers for Trump member from Philadelphia. "Stop crying, snowflakes, Trump won." Outside the International Spy Museum, protesters in Russian hats ridiculed Mr Trump's praise of President Vladimir Putin, marching with signs calling Mr Trump "Putin's Puppet" and "Kremlin employee of the month." More demonstrations were planned for later in the day. The Festival of Resistance march ran about 1.5 miles to McPherson Square, a park about three streets away from the White House, where a rally featuring the film-maker and liberal activist Michael Moore was planned. Along the inaugural parade route, the ANSWER Coalition anti-war group planned demonstrations at two locations. Friday's protests were not the first of the inauguration. On Thursday night, protesters and Trump supporters clashed outside a pro-Trump event in Washington. Police used chemical spray on some protesters in an effort to control the unruly crowd. The demonstrations will not end when Mr Trump takes up residence in the White House. A massive Women's March on Washington is planned for tomorrow. Christopher Geldart, the District of Columbia's homeland security director, has said 1,800 buses have registered to park in the city on Saturday, which could mean nearly 100,000 people coming in just by bus. The Bank of Nova Scotia provides various banking products and services in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, the Caribbean and Central America, and internationally. It operates in four segments: Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Wealth Management, and Global Banking and Markets. The company offers financial advice and solutions, and day-to-day banking products, including debit and credit cards, chequing and saving accounts, investments, mortgages, loans, and insurance to individuals; and business banking solutions comprising lending, deposit, cash management, and trade finance solutions to small, medium, and large businesses, including automotive financing solutions to dealers and their customers. It also provides wealth management advice and solutions, including online brokerage, mobile investment, full-service brokerage, trust, private banking, and private investment counsel services; and retail mutual funds, exchange traded funds, liquid alternative funds, and institutional funds. In addition, the company offers international banking services for retail, corporate, and commercial customers; and lending and transaction, investment banking advisory, and capital markets access services to corporate customers. Further, it provides online, mobile, and telephone banking services. The company operates a network of 954 branches and approximately 3,766 automated banking machines in Canada; and approximately 1,300 branches and a network of contact and support center internationally. The Bank of Nova Scotia was founded in 1832 and is headquartered in Halifax, Canada. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Citizens Bank, National Association that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, corporations, and institutions in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking. The Consumer Banking segment offers deposit products, mortgage and home equity lending products, credit cards, business loans, wealth management, and investment services; and auto, education, and point-of-sale finance loans, as well as digital deposit products. This segment serves its customers through telephone service centers, as well as through its online and mobile platforms. The Commercial Banking segment provides various financial products and solutions, including lending and leasing, deposit and treasury management services, foreign exchange, and interest rate and commodity risk management solutions, as well as syndicated loans, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and debt and equity capital markets services. This segment serves government banking, not-for-profit, healthcare, technology, professionals, oil and gas, asset finance, franchise finance, asset-based lending, commercial real estate, private equity, and sponsor finance industries. It operates approximately 1,200 branches in 14 states and the District of Columbia; 114 retail and commercial non-branch offices in national markets; and approximately 3,300 automated teller machines. The company was formerly known as RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc. and changed its name to Citizens Financial Group, Inc. in April 2014. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1828 and is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. PITTSBURGH, Jan. 22, 2017 - Sepsis accounts for considerably more hospital readmissions and associated costs than any of the four medical conditions tracked by the federal government to measure quality of care and guide pay-for-performance reimbursements, according to an analysis led by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System. The findings, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, highlight the need for coordinated efforts to develop new medical interventions aimed at improving sepsis outcomes and reducing readmissions. Sepsis is the No. 1 killer of hospital patients and was defined last year by an international panel as a condition that arises when the body's response to an infection injures its own tissues and organs, sometimes progressing to septic shock. According to the National Institutes of Health, it may occur in more than 1 million U.S. patients every year, and--despite best practice--an estimated 28 to 50 percent of these people do not survive. "Many people think infections and sepsis are short-term illnesses and that once patients are discharged from the hospital, they are better," said senior author Sachin Yende, M.D., M.S., associate professor in the Pitt School of Medicine's departments of Critical Care Medicine and Clinical and Translational Sciences and vice president of Critical Care at the VA Pittsburgh. "But all research to date shows that sepsis has serious, lingering consequences, and patients continue to have problems well after they are discharged." The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services currently tracks readmissions for four medical conditions: heart attack, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and pneumonia. A key component of the Affordable Care Act, the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program, penalizes hospitals if they have excessive rates of readmissions for these conditions. Yende and his team analyzed data from the 2013 Nationwide Readmissions Database, which comprises 49 percent of U.S. inpatients, for the four conditions and sepsis. They revealed that sepsis accounts for 12.2 percent of readmissions, followed by 6.7 percent for heart failure, 5 percent for pneumonia, 4.6 percent for COPD and 1.3 percent for heart attack. Sepsis also costs more. The estimated average cost per readmission for sepsis was $10,070, compared to $9,533 for pneumonia, $9,424 for heart attack, $9,051 for heart failure and $8,417 for COPD. "This really puts in perspective how important sepsis is," said lead author Florian B. Mayr, M.D., M.P.H., faculty member in Pitt's Department of Critical Care Medicine and the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion at the VA Pittsburgh. "If we, as a nation, place such high emphasis on reducing readmissions for the other four conditions, then we really need to look for opportunities to improve outcomes for sepsis, which has a higher rate of readmission than heart failure. People who survive an initial episode of sepsis often don't do well. They return to the hospital frequently, accrue new health conditions and have significantly elevated death rates." ### Additional authors on this research are Victor B. Talisa, M.S., and Chung-Chou H. Chang, Ph.D., both of Pitt's Graduate School of Public Health; Vikram Balakumar, M.D., of Pitt's Clinical Research, Investigation, and Systems Modeling of Acute Illness Center; and Michael Fine, M.D., M.S., of the VA Pittsburgh. This research was supported by National Institute of General Medical Sciences grants R01GM097471 and R34GM107650. About the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine As one of the nation's leading academic centers for biomedical research, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine integrates advanced technology with basic science across a broad range of disciplines in a continuous quest to harness the power of new knowledge and improve the human condition. Driven mainly by the School of Medicine and its affiliates, Pitt has ranked among the top 10 recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health since 1998. In rankings recently released by the National Science Foundation, Pitt ranked fifth among all American universities in total federal science and engineering research and development support. Likewise, the School of Medicine is equally committed to advancing the quality and strength of its medical and graduate education programs, for which it is recognized as an innovative leader, and to training highly skilled, compassionate clinicians and creative scientists well-equipped to engage in world-class research. The School of Medicine is the academic partner of UPMC, which has collaborated with the University to raise the standard of medical excellence in Pittsburgh and to position health care as a driving force behind the region's economy. For more information about the School of Medicine, see http://www.medschool.pitt.edu. About VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System is one of the largest and most progressive VA medical centers in the country, serving Veterans throughout the tristate area of Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. The health care system's University Drive campus offers acute care and operates 146 beds distributed among medicine, surgery, neurology and critical care, as well as 78 inpatient psychiatric health beds. The system's H.J. Heinz III campus is home to a 225-bed community living center, a 100-bed Veterans Recovery Center and an outpatient-based Ambulatory Care Center. VA Pittsburgh also supports five Community Based Outpatient Clinics located in Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio. In 2016, VA Pittsburgh served more than 70,000 unique patients through more than 718,000 outpatient visits and nearly 13,000 admissions. More than 30 percent of VA Pittsburgh's 3,700 employees are Veterans. For more information, visit http://www.pittsburgh.va.gov. VA Pittsburgh executed more than $30 million in research projects in 2016, benefiting VA and non-VA health care consumers. Studies by VA Pittsburgh researchers have led to recent innovations in mobility, treatment for hepatitis C, and understanding racial disparities in health care delivery. Specialized VA Pittsburgh national research programs include four centers of excellence in health equity, geriatrics, human engineering and mental illness. http://www.upmc.com/media Contact: Allison Hydzik, University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences Office: 412-647-9975 Mobile: 412-559-2431 E-mail: HydzikAM@upmc.edu Contact: Kathleen Pomorski, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System Office: 412-822-3578; 412-360-3065 Mobile: 412-216-8890 E-mail: Kathleen.Pomorski@va.gov OceanaGold Corporation (ASX: OGC) has announced its poured its first gold dore bars, totalling 445 ounces, at its Haile Gold mine in South Carolina.The gold miners says its the first gold production from the site in 25 years, and nearly 190 years since gold was first producer there.OceanaGold says its moving closer to putting the newest gold mine in the US, into commercial production in the second quarter of this year.As a result the miner is advancing its optimisation study of mine, to be completed by mid-2017.OceanaGold posted a net profit $72.63 million at 31 December 2015 A 401(k) and an individual retirement account (IRA) are both tax-advantaged retirement accounts. While 401(k)s are typically only offered by employers (who often match employee contributions), IRAs can be opened by individuals through any retail brokerage firm. 401(k)s generally allow higher contributions but offer fewer investment options, whereas IRAs have lower contribution limits -- and income caps for high earners -- but offer the opportunity to invest in almost any stock, bond, or mutual fund. 401(k) vs. IRA If you're debating between investing in a 401(k) or an IRA, the first thing to know is that you don't have to choose. You can invest in both. Some of the key differences between IRAs and 401(k)s include: Account sponsorship: Most 401(k)s are offered through employers, while an IRA can be opened via any retail brokerage. You don't have to depend on your employer to establish an IRA. Most 401(k)s are offered through employers, while an IRA can be opened via any retail brokerage. You don't have to depend on your employer to establish an IRA. Contribution limits: While limits change annually, the contribution limit for 401(k)s is around three times higher than the contribution limit for IRAs. While limits change annually, the contribution limit for 401(k)s is around three times higher than the contribution limit for IRAs. Eligibility rules: There are no upper income limits for 401(k) contributions, but highly compensated employees earning above certain income thresholds are ineligible to make tax-deductible contributions to traditional IRAs or to invest in Roth IRAs at all. There are no upper income limits for 401(k) contributions, but highly compensated employees earning above certain income thresholds are ineligible to make tax-deductible contributions to traditional IRAs or to invest in Roth IRAs at all. Investment options: IRAs opened with major brokers offer a wide selection of investment vehicles, while most 401(k)s offer just 20 or fewer investment choices (usually in the form of mutual funds). IRAs opened with major brokers offer a wide selection of investment vehicles, while most 401(k)s offer just 20 or fewer investment choices (usually in the form of mutual funds). Withdrawal rules: Early withdrawal penalties generally apply to both 401(k)s and IRAs if you withdraw money before age 59 1/2. However, with each type of account, there are different ways to receive exemptions from these penalties. Also, many workplace plans offer the option to borrow against 401(k) funds, while IRAs include no such provision. Let's take a closer look at some of these rules governing IRAs and 401(k)s. Contribution limits A 401(k) has a significantly higher annual contribution limit than an IRA. For both 2021, the maximum contribution limits for each type of plan are: Type of Contribution Limit IRA 401(k) Standard annual contribution limit $6,000 $19,500 (2021) $20,500 (2022) Additional catch-up contribution limit for those ages 50 and older $1,000 $6,500 Total limit for those ages 50 and older $7,000 $26,000 (2021) $27,000 (2022) Eligibility to make tax-deductible contributions to a traditional IRA phases out for high earners if either the high earner or their spouse has access to a workplace retirement plan. High earners also cannot make Roth IRA contributions at all unless they use a backdoor Roth IRA strategy. It's important to note that the 401(k) annual contribution limits apply only to individual contributions, not those from your employer. For example, if you contribute $14,000 and your employer matches up to $6,000, then that's a total contribution for the year of $20,000 -- but only your $14,000 contribution counts toward the annual contribution limit. You could still contribute $5,500 more. In 2021, the total annual contribution limit for a 401(k) with the inclusion of employer contributions was as high as $58,000 for most workers and up to $64,500 for those older than 50. The total annual contribution limit in 2022 reaches $61,000 for most people and $67,500 for those older than 50. The table below presents the maximum combined total contributions allowed for 2021 and 2022: Age of Employee IRA 401(k) Combined Limit for 2021 401(k) Combined Limit for 2022 Younger than 50 N/A $58,000 $61,000 50 or older N/A $64,500 $67,500 Unfortunately, when you leave your job you are no longer allowed to contribute to the 401(k) sponsored by your former employer. Instead, you must make a choice among keeping your 401(k) account as is with that company, rolling it over to an IRA, or rolling it over to your new employer's 401(k) plan. Withdrawal rules Since both 401(k) and IRA plans are intended to help you save for your later years, there are penalties assessed for withdrawing money early. In general, if you withdraw funds from either a 401(k) or an IRA before the age of 59 1/2, a 10% early withdrawal penalty applies. However, there are some important differences in the rules governing IRA and 401(k) withdrawals. First and foremost, it's possible to withdraw money in the form of a loan from a 401(k) but not from an IRA. Borrowing against your retirement account has significant downsides, but it does enable you to tap these funds without incurring the early withdrawal penalty. On the other hand, with an IRA there are more scenarios in which you may withdraw money early without incurring the 10% penalty. The table below shows when you can withdraw money penalty-free from each type of account. Reason for Withdrawal 401(k) IRA Becoming totally and permanently disabled Yes Yes Incurring qualified higher-education expenses No Yes Purchasing a home for the first time (up to $10,000) No Yes Incurring unreimbursed medical expenses exceeding 10% of income Yes Yes Paying health insurance premiums while unemployed No Yes Called to active duty as military reservist Yes Yes Leaving your job during or after the calendar year you turn 55 Yes No If you think you may leave your job in your mid-50s, then a 401(k) offers more flexibility due to the Rule of 55. But if you want your retirement account to cover education expenses, insurance premiums if you lose your job, or part of a home purchase, only an IRA provides those options penalty-free. Cost As many as 95% of workers pay 401(k) fees, according to a survey conducted by TD Ameritrade and FeeX. The average fee is 0.45%; however, fees can vary substantially by the type of investment account. Because 401(k) plans offer limited investment options, you may be restricted to only buying shares in mutual funds, which often charge higher fees than other types of securities accessible with IRAs. By contrast, investments in IRAs typically come with few or no fees. Most brokers don't charge a fee to open an IRA account and have eliminated commissions on trades. You can compare IRA providers to identify those that don't impose fees. Plus, with a broader choice of investment types, you may also save money in fees by choosing low-fee exchanged-traded funds (ETFs) for your IRA's portfolio. Flexibility Most 401(k) plans offer the choice of investing in just 20 or fewer mutual funds, according to BrightScope. A minority of 401(k) plans can now be established as self-directed accounts -- meaning you can invest in many different types of securities, the same as you could with a typical brokerage account -- but self-directed 401(k)s are not the norm. An IRA is more like a typical retail brokerage account in that your investment options are not restricted. If unrestricted investment choice is important to you, then an IRA is your best alternative. However, some investors appreciate the simplicity of having only a few investment funds from which to choose, in which case a 401(k) may be preferable. Ultimately, as you compare all of the differences between IRAs and 401(k)s, you may decide that you prefer one over the other, or you may opt for both. Either way, the important thing is that you're saving now for your later years and building a diversified portfolio of sound investments that will provide for you in retirement. Brand Foundry Ventures Announces Venture Partner Jordan Eisenberg Brand Foundry Ventures announced Jordan Eisenberg of Denver, Colorado will be joining their team as a venture partner. Mr. Eisenberg will be responsible for assisting portfolio companies in the growth of their business. The partnership was announced in January of 2017. -- New York and Austin based Venture capital firm Brand Foundry Ventures welcomes Jordan Eisenberg to the firm as a Venture Partner. Full profile of Brand Foundry and Jordan Eisenberg can be viewed here: http://brandfoundryvc.com/ In this role, Jordan Eisenberg, based in Denver, will assist BFV portfolio companies with the benefit of leveraging an experienced consumer entrepreneur. Eisenberg and BFV want to help build great companies and enable great entrepreneurs to succeed. According to Eisenberg, "Connecting driven individuals with great ideas to investors who believe in them is what this is all about. The goal is to save entrepreneurs time and headache by leveraging the experience of those who have been there before. All growth businesses have their challenges - we want them to focus on the exciting parts." The collaboration ultimately aims to grow the value of portfolio companies. When asked about the partnership, Jordan Eisenberg said, "I could not be more excited to assist the BFV team and their tremendous portfolio companies. I have always had a passion for building amazing products that consumers love." Andrew Mitchell, founder of Brand Foundry Ventures, stated "Jordan is a great entrepreneur who provides domain expertise and relevant experience for our portfolio companies. We work hard to build the best leadership teams as we understand the importance of helping people with great ideas connect with those who can help make them happen." Learn more about the partnership by visiting the website at http://brandfoundryvc.com/. About Brand Foundry Ventures and Jordan Eisenberg Brand Foundry Ventures, founded in 2014, is a consumer only venture capital firm based in New York and Austin. The firm seeks to invest in e-commerce, mobile commerce, consumer products, and consumer devices. Jordan Eisenberg is an experienced entrepreneur based in Denver, Colorado who has built, sold and advised multiple successful consumer businesses. Contact Info: Name: Jordan Eisenberg Organization: Brand Foundry Ventures Address: 7 World Trade Center 250 Greenwich Street, New York, 10006 United States For more information, please visit http://www.jordaneisenberg.com Source: MarketersMedia Release ID: 163487 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Upset Hindus are urging Eureka (California) based award-winning Lost Coast Brewery to not use Hindu deity Ganeshs image on its Indica IPA beer bottles, calling it highly inappropriate. Label of its hoppy and full-bodied Indica India Pale Ale (ABV 6.50%), which sells in 12 fl oz. bottle and in 6-pack, carries the image of Ganesh sitting on a chair. Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, said that inappropriate usage of Hindu deities or concepts or symbols for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees. Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, indicated that Ganesh was highly revered in Hinduism and he was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to be used in selling beer. Moreover, linking a deity with an alcoholic beverage was very disrespectful, Zed added. Hinduism was the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken frivolously. Symbols of any faith, larger or smaller, should not be mishandled, Rajan Zed noted. In Hinduism, Ganesh is worshipped as god of wisdom and remover of obstacles and is invoked before the beginning of any major undertaking. There are about three million Hindus in USA. According to its website, Lost Coast Brewery, founded in 1989, whose tagline is not just another craft brewery, bottles up to 135,000 beers and fill 1,000 kegs every day; and has distributors in 21 states of USA and Puerto Rico; besides Australia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, France, Italy, Japan and Panama. Barbara Groom is the founder. City of Eureka (state historic landmark), founded in 1856, along Northern California coastline, is bordered on one side by Humboldt Bay and on the other by the mountains. Frank Jager and Greg Sparks are the Mayor and City Manager respectively. Source : From Our Correspondent Tens of thousands of women have amassed in Washington DC and other cities around the globe for marches aimed at showing US president Donald Trump they will not be silent over the next four years. Actress America Ferrera told the crowd in the US capital: "We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war. "Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. "But the president is not America. We are America, and we are here to stay." The women brandished signs with messages such as "Women won't back down" and "Less fear more love" and decried Mr Trump's stand on such issues as abortion, health care, diversity and climate change. There were early signs that the crowds in the capital could top those which gathered for Mr Trump's inauguration on Friday. City officials said organisers of the Women's March on Washington had more than doubled their turnout estimate to 500,000 as crowds began swelling. Hillary Clinton has praised those attending the march. The former Democratic presidential nominee thanked attendees on Twitter for "standing, speaking and marching for our values". She said this is as "important as ever". Thanks for standing, speaking & marching for our values @womensmarch. Important as ever. I truly believe we're always Stronger Together. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) January 21, 2017 Mrs Clinton also revived her campaign slogan and said in the tweet she believes "we're always Stronger Together". The defeated presidential candidate's show of support for the march comes a day after she attended Mr Trump's inauguration at the US Capitol. In Washington, Rena Wilson, of Charlotte, North Carolina, said she hopes the women can send Mr Trump a message that they're "not going anywhere". Joy Rodriguez, of Miami, arrived with her husband, William, and their two daughters, aged 12 and 10. "I want to make sure their rights are not infringed on in these years coming up," she said. March organisers said women are "hurting and scared" as the new American president takes office and want a greater voice for women in political life. "In the spirit of democracy and honouring the champions of human rights, dignity and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore," their mission statement said. Many protesters arrived wearing hand-knitted "pussyhats" - a message of female empowerment aimed squarely at Mr Trump's crude boast about grabbing women's genitals. The march attracted significant support from celebrities. Ferrara led the artists' contingent, with Scarlett Johansson, Ashley Judd, Melissa Harris-Perry and Michael Moore also expected to speak in Washington. The promised performance line-up included Janelle Monae, Maxwell, Samantha Ronson, the Indigo Girls and Mary Chapin Carpenter. Cher, Katy Perry and Julianne Moore are all expected to attend. Women and other groups were demonstrating across the nation and as far abroad as Myanmar and Australia. In Prague, hundreds gathered in Wenceslas Square in freezing weather, waving portraits of Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin and holding banners which read "This is just the beginning," ''Kindness" and "Love". In Copenhagen, march organiser Lesley-Ann Brown said: "Nationalist, racist and misogynistic trends are growing worldwide and threaten the most marginalised groups in our societies, including women, people of colour, immigrants, Muslims, the LGBT community and people with disabilities." In Sydney, thousands of Australians marched in solidarity in Hyde Park. One organiser said hatred, bigotry and racism are not just American problems. The idea for the march took off after a number of women posted on social media in the hours after Mr Trump's election about the need to mobilise. Hundreds of groups quickly joined the cause, pushing a wide range of causes, including abortion rights, gun control, climate change and immigrant rights. While the march organisers' mission statement never mentions Mr Trump and stresses broad themes, including the message that "women's rights are human rights", the unifying factor among those turning out appeared to be a loathing for the new US president and dismay that so much of the country voted for him. The turnout in the capital was so big that crowds packed the entire march route, preventing organisers from leading a formal trek towards the White House. Likewise, in Chicago, organisers cancelled the march portion of their event for safety reasons after the overflow crowd reached an estimated 150,000. Officials said the crowd in Washington could be more than half a million people, more than double the expected total. The event appeared to have attracted more people than Mr Trump's inauguration on Friday, based on figures from transportation officials. In Washington, feminist leader Gloria Steinem described the worldwide mobilisation as "the upside of the downside", adding: "This is an outpouring of energy and democracy like I have never seen in my very long life. "Sometimes we must put our bodies where our beliefs are," she told the crowd, labelling Mr Trump an "impossible president". Cher told the crowd in the US capital that Mr Trump's rise has people "more frightened maybe than they're ever been". In Park City, Utah, Charlize Theron led demonstrators in a chant of "Love, not hate, makes America great". And in New York, actresses Whoopi Goldberg, Helen Mirren and Cynthia Nixon joined a crowd of protesters marching towards Mr Trump's local home. ALLETE, Inc. operates as an energy company. The company operates through Regulated Operations, ALLETE Clean Energy, and Corporate and Other segments. It generates electricity from coal-fired, biomass co-fired / natural gas, hydroelectric, wind, and solar. The company provides regulated utility electric services in northwestern Wisconsin to approximately 15,000 electric customers, 13,000 natural gas customers, and 10,000 water customers, as well as regulated utility electric services in northeastern Minnesota to approximately 145,000 retail customers and 15 non-affiliated municipal customers. It also owns and maintains electric transmission assets in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois. In addition, the company focuses on developing, acquiring, and operating clean and renewable energy projects; and owns and operates approximately 1,000 megawatts of wind energy generation facility. Further, it is involved in the coal mining operations in North Dakota; and real estate investment activities in Florida. The company owns and operates 158 substations with a total capacity of 10,066 megavolt amperes. It serves taconite mining, paper, pulp and secondary wood products, pipeline, and other industries. The company was formerly known as Minnesota Power, Inc. and changed its name to ALLETE, Inc. in May 2001. ALLETE, Inc. was incorporated in 1906 and is headquartered in Duluth, Minnesota. American Homes 4 Rent is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on the US rental industry. The company is a leader in the single-family home rental industry and "American Homes 4 Rent" is fast becoming a nationally recognized brand. The company is known for high-quality rental homes, providing good value and tenant satisfaction while generating profits for investors. The primary investment objective is to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns through dividends and capital appreciation. The company plans to achieve its objective through the disciplined acquisition of new properties, by expanding its own construction and neighborhood building efforts, growing its geographically diverse portfolio, efficient property management, building a strong brand, and maintaining a sound capital structure. The company was founded in 2011 by David Singelyn and his partner. Mr. Singelyn has served as a Trustee and CEO since 2012. The company began by acquiring homes in underserved areas and remodeling them to modern standards. The firm has since expanded its operations to construction and now builds planned communities tailored to different lifestyles as well. The company went public in 2013 and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. American Homes 4 Rent is an internally managed Maryland real estate investment trust focused on acquiring, developing, renovating, leasing, and operating attractive, single-family homes as rental properties. The company operates through a network of offices and the website AH4R.com. The company owns more than 55,000 properties across 22 states featuring move-in-ready and pet-friendly homes for individuals and families of all sizes. All previously used properties have been renovated to a high Certified Property standard that brings them to a like-new condition. Interested parties can view listings by area on the website and even use the site to fill out applications and sign leases. Properties are located in communities that fit a variety of lifestyle needs including fences, marble countertops, and even attached 2 and 3-car garages. The communities are located in hand-picked neighborhoods with features including access to commerce, schools, and amenities like lawn care, pools, trails, and fitness centers. Tenants are afforded many benefits by renting through American Homes 4 Rent. The first and most obvious is the freedom and flexibility of a mortgage-free lifestyle. On top of that, tenants can pay rent or schedule maintenance on their homes through the website, and dedicated service representatives are available 24/7. The following companies are subsidiares of International Flavors & Fragrances: 1456111 Ontario Limited, A. Boake Roberts And Company (Holding) Limited, ASA Ventures Inc., Agtech Products Inc., Alpris Ltd., Amco SP Z.O.O, ApS Syntetic, Aroma S.A., Aromatics Holdings Limited, Aromco Ltd., Aromor, Arvin Company, Asian Investments Inc., Atelier du Parfumeur IFF Grasse SAS, BKF Vision Ltd, BSA India Food Ingr. P. Ltd., Belden Company, Branch office of DuPont Protein Technologies International Sales LLC, Bremil Industria e Comercio de Ingredientes Alimenticos Ltda. , Bremil S/A Industria De Produtos Alimenticos , Bush Boake Allen (New Zealand) Limited, Bush Boake Allen (Pension Trustees) Limited, Bush Boake Allen Australia Pty Ltd, Bush Boake Allen Benelux B.V., Bush Boake Allen Chile S.A., Bush Boake Allen Controladora S.A. de C.V., Bush Boake Allen Enterprises Limited, Bush Boake Allen Holdings (U.K.) Limited, Bush Boake Allen Inc., Bush Boake Allen Inc., Bush Boake Allen Limited, Bush Boake Allen Zimbabwe (Private) Limited, Bush Boake Allen do Brasil Industria e Comercio Ltda., Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC, Chemical Process Materials and Equipment S.A., CitraSource Holdings L.L.C., Columbia PhytoTechnology LLC, Columbia Phytotechnology LLC, Cometra ApS, Crestmont Investment Co., Cultor Oy, DDP Specialty Products Germany GmbH & Co. KG, DDP Specialty Products Poland Sp. z.o.o., DSP Germany N&B Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Daivd Michael Netherlands B.V., Dandy Lions Limited, Danisco (China) Co. Ltd., Danisco (China) Holding Co. Ltd., Danisco (India) Private Limited, Danisco (Zhangjiagang) Textural Ingredients Co. Ltd., Danisco Argentina S.A., Danisco Australia Pty Limited, Danisco Austria GmbH, Danisco B.V., Danisco Biosciences (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Danisco Brasil Ltda., Danisco Canada Inc., Danisco Chile S.A., Danisco Colombia Ltda., Danisco Cultor (Switzerland) AG, Danisco Cultor Sweden AB, Danisco Cultor Trading Ltda., Danisco Czech Republic a.s., Danisco Deutschland GmbH, Danisco Dis Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Danisco Egypt Trading LLC, Danisco Flexible Brasil Ltda, Danisco France SAS, Danisco Guatemala S.A., Danisco Holding USA Inc., Danisco Holdings (UK) Ltd., Danisco Holland B.V., Danisco Ingredients Belgium N.V., Danisco Italia S.p.A., Danisco Japan Limited, Danisco Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Danisco Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Danisco Mexico S.A. de C.V., Danisco New Zealand Limited, Danisco Nutrition & Bioscience Greece Ltd., Danisco Nutrition & Biosciences Korea Ltd., Danisco Nutrition & Biosciences Malaysia SDN. BHD., Danisco Nutrition & Biosciences Taiwan Limited, Danisco Nutrition and Biosciences India Private Ltd, Danisco Peru S.A.C., Danisco Poland Sp. z.o.o, Danisco Singapore Pte. Ltd., Danisco South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Danisco Sweeteners Oy, Danisco Switzerland AG, Danisco UK Ltd., Danisco US Inc., Danisco USA Inc., Danisco Ukraine LLC, Danisco Zaandam BV, David Michael & Company (Canada) 1986 Ltd., David Michael Europe S.A.S., Du Pont de Nemours Nigeria Limited, DuPont (Shanghai) Enterprise Co. Ltd., DuPont Acquisition LLC, DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC, DuPont Denmark Holding ApS, DuPont Electronics Holding LLC, DuPont LA Holding 1 BV, DuPont Lanka (Private) Limited, DuPont Nutrition (Thailand) Ltd, DuPont Nutrition Biosciences ApS, DuPont Nutrition Dis Ticaret Limited Sirketi, DuPont Nutrition Food Ingredients (Beijing) Co. Ltd., DuPont Nutrition Ingredientes BRASIL LTDA, DuPont Nutrition International, DuPont Nutrition Ireland, DuPont Nutrition Italy SRL (f/k/a FMC Chemical Italy SrL), DuPont Nutrition Manufacturing UK Limited, DuPont Nutrition Mexicana S.A de C.V., DuPont Nutrition Mexico S.A de C.V., DuPont Nutrition Norge AS, DuPont Nutrition Philippines Inc., DuPont Nutrition USA Inc, DuPont Nutrition and Biosciences Iberica S.L., DuPont Protein Technologies International Sales LLC, DuPont S&C Holding LLC, DuPont Shineway Luohe Food Company Limited , DuPont Shineway Luohe Protein Company Limited , DuPont US Holding LLC, DuPont de Nemours Kenya Limited, ERELEM, ETOL SK s.r.o., ETOL-RUS Ltd., Eden Essentials Inc., Envoltec Industria de Embalagens Ltda. , Enzymotec Australia PTY LTD, Enzymotec Singapore Pte. Ltd., Enzymotec USA Inc., Etol Aroma Ve Baharat Gida Urunleri San.Ve Tic.a.s., Etol JVE d.o.o., Etol Proizvodnja Arom D.O.O, Etol Skopje DRUSTVO ZA TRGOVIJA ETOL UVOZ-IZVOZ DOOEL, FYMSA Real Estate LLC (23), FYMSA del Caribe S.R.L , Fangchen International Trading Ltd. (6), Finnfeeds Finland Oy, Finnfeeds Oy, Finnsugar Bioproducts Inc., Flavor Systems International Inc., Flavors and Essences UK Limited, FoodBlenders Limited, Foreign Trade Representative of Danisco Singapore Pte. Ltd., Fragrance Resources, Fragrance Resources (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Fragrance Resources Asia Pacific Ltd., Frutarom (Asia Pacific) Limited, Frutarom (Marketing) S.R.L., Frutarom (UK) Holdings Limited, Frutarom (UK) Ltd., Frutarom - Etol (UK) Limited, Frutarom Belgium N.V., Frutarom Chile S.A., Frutarom Czech Republic S.r.o, Frutarom Do Brazil Industria E Comercio Ltda., Frutarom Etol RO SRL, Frutarom Etol Ukraine LLC., Frutarom F&F Trading (Shanghai) Co., Frutarom Finance EUR AG, Frutarom Flavors (Kushan) Co Ltd., Frutarom Flavors Mexico S.A. de C.V., Frutarom Flavours (India) Private Limited (14), Frutarom France S.A.R.L, Frutarom Germany GmbH, Frutarom Gida Urunleri Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Frutarom Global Ltd., Frutarom GmbH, Frutarom Industries Ld, Frutarom Industries Ltd., Frutarom Italy S.r.l, Frutarom Kenya Limited, Frutarom Ltd., Frutarom Netherlands B.V., Frutarom Nigeria Limited, Frutarom Nordic A/S Flachsmann Scandinavia A/S Aksel Holm-Essensfabrik A / S, Frutarom Norway A.S, Frutarom Peru S.A. (Montana Food activity), Frutarom Production GmbH, Frutarom Savory Solutions Austria GmbH, Frutarom Savory Solutions Germany GmbH, Frutarom Savory Solutions Switzerland AG, Frutarom Savory Solutions Ukraine, Frutarom Switzerland Finance CHF AG, Frutarom Switzerland Finance GBP AG, Frutarom Switzerland Finance MXN AG, Frutarom Switzerland Finance USD AG, Frutarom Switzerland Ltd., Frutarom Trade & Marketing (1990) Ltd., Frutarom UK Investments Limited, Frutarom USA Holding Inc., Frutarom USA Inc., Frutarom do Brasil GRU Industria e Comercio Ltda., Genencor (China) Bio-Products Co. Ltd., Genencor International B.V., Genencor International BVBA, Genencor International Holding BV, Genencor International Indiana Inc., Genencor International Oy, Genencor International Wisconsin Inc., Genencor Mauritius Ltd., Genentech Ventures Inc., Grow Company Inc., Hagelin Flv (UK) Ltd., Hexachem Sociedad Anonima, IB EMEA Holding 2 B.V., IFF (BVI) Limited, IFF (Korea) Inc., IFF Aroma Esans Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, IFF Augusta Holdings LLC, IFF Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, IFF Benicarlo S.L., IFF Bio-Technology (Nanjing) Co. Ltd., IFF Capital Services, IFF Chemical Holdings Inc., IFF Delaware Holdings LLC, IFF Essencias e Fragrancias Ltda., IFF Flavors & Fragrances (Hangzhou) Trading Co. Ltd., IFF Fragrance GmbH, IFF Hungary Global Kft, IFF International Inc., IFF Latin American Holdings (Espana) S.L., IFF Mexico Manufactura S.A. de C.V., IFF Murcia Natural Ingredients S.L., IFF Sabores y Fragancias de Chile Ltda., IFF Turkey Aroma Ve Esans Urunleri Satis Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, IFF West Africa Limited, IFF Worldwide LLC, Ingrediants dooel Skopje, Institut Europeen de Biologie Cellulaire, International Aroma Group, International Flavors & Fragrances (Canada) Ltd., International Flavors & Fragrances (Caribe) Inc., International Flavors & Fragrances (China) Ltd., International Flavors & Fragrances (Greater Asia) Pte. Ltd, International Flavors & Fragrances (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., International Flavors & Fragrances (Hong Kong) Limited, International Flavors & Fragrances (Japan) Ltd., International Flavors & Fragrances (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., International Flavors & Fragrances (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., International Flavors & Fragrances (Mexico) S. de R.L. de C.V., International Flavors & Fragrances (Middle East) FZ-LLC, International Flavors & Fragrances (Myanmar) Limited, International Flavors & Fragrances (Nederland) Holding B.V., International Flavors & Fragrances (Philippines) Inc., International Flavors & Fragrances (Poland) Sp. z o.o., International Flavors & Fragrances (Vietnam) Limited Liability Company, International Flavors & Fragrances (ZhangJiagang) Co. Ltd., International Flavors & Fragrances (Zhejiang) Co. Ltd., International Flavors & Fragrances (Zimbabwe) (Private) Ltd., International Flavors & Fragrances Ardenne S.a r.l., International Flavors & Fragrances France Holding I SAS, International Flavors & Fragrances France Holding II SAS, International Flavors & Fragrances France Holding III SAS, International Flavors & Fragrances Holdings LLC, International Flavors & Fragrances I.F.F. (Chile) Limitada, International Flavors & Fragrances I.F.F. (Espana) S.A., International Flavors & Fragrances I.F.F. (Hungary) Kft, International Flavors & Fragrances I.F.F. (Nederland) B.V., International Flavors & Fragrances I.F.F. (Norden) AB, International Flavors & Fragrances I.F.F. (Rus), International Flavors & Fragrances IFF (Deutschland) GmbH, International Flavors & Fragrances IFF (France) SAS, International Flavors & Fragrances Irish Acquisition Company Limited, International Flavors and Fragrances Colombia S.A.S., International Flavors and Fragrances I.F.F. (Israel) Ltd., International Flavors and Fragrances IFF (South Africa), International Flavors and Fragrances Ingredients Ltd, International Flavors e Fragrances IFF (Italia) S.r.l., International Flavours & Fragrances (Australia) Pty Ltd, International Flavours & Fragrances (CIL) Limited, International Flavours & Fragrances (GB) Holdings Limited, International Flavours & Fragrances (Mauritius) Ltd, International Flavours & Fragrances (NZ) Limited, International Flavours & Fragrances (Pension Trustees) Limited, International Flavours & Fragrances (Thailand) Limited, International Flavours & Fragrances I.F.F. (Great Britain) Limited, International Flavours & Fragrances India Private Limited (13), International Frutarom Corporation, Inventive Food Technology (ZQ) Ltd., Inventive Technology Ltd., Irish Flavours and Fragrances Limited, K-Vision Consulting and Investments Ltd, Kelp Industries Pty. Ltd, Leagel GmbH (11), Leagel S.r.l. (19), Les Ingredients Alimentaires BSA Inc., Les Laboratories Bio ForeXtra Inc., Lucas Meyer Cosmetics, Lucas Meyer Cosmetics Australia Pty Ltd, Lucas Meyer Cosmetics Canada Inc., Lucas Meyer Cosmetics S.A.S., M.P. Equity Holdings Ltd, MISR Company for Aromatic products, Manseg S.A., Mark Services Holdings Inc., N&B Chemicals Germany GmbH, N&B EMEA Holding B.V., N&B Germany Verwaltungs-GmbH, N&B International Holding B.V., N&B NL BV - Saudi Branch, N&B Real Estate Verwaltungs-GmbH, N&B Services BV, N&B Switzerland UAE Branch, N&H EMEA Holding 1 BV, N&H EMEA Holding 2 BV, N&H EMEA Holding B.V., N&H International Holding 1 B.V., N&H International Holding 3 BV, N&H Switzerland Holding Sarl, Nardi Armoas Ltda., Neptune Merger Sub I Inc., Neptune Merger Sub II LLC, New Asia Holdco B.V., Nutra-Lease Ltd. (16), Nutrition & Bioscience (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Nutrition & Bioscience (Switzerland) GmbH, Nutrition & Bioscience (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Nutrition & Bioscience Pakistan (Private) Ltd, Nutrition & Biosciences (Finland) Oy, Nutrition & Biosciences (France) SAS, Nutrition & Biosciences (Sweden) AB, Nutrition & Biosciences (UK) Ltd, Nutrition & Biosciences Argentina S.A.U., Nutrition & Biosciences Australia Pty Ltd., Nutrition & Biosciences Brasil Ingredientes Ltda., Nutrition & Biosciences Canada Company, Nutrition & Biosciences Chile SpA, Nutrition & Biosciences Colombia S.A.S, Nutrition & Biosciences Hong Kong Limited, Nutrition & Biosciences Hungary Limited Liability Company, Nutrition & Biosciences Inc., Nutrition & Biosciences Italy S.r.l., Nutrition & Biosciences Japan K.K., Nutrition & Biosciences Korea Ltd., Nutrition & Biosciences Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Nutrition & Biosciences Netherlands B.V., Nutrition & Biosciences New Zealand Limited, Nutrition & Biosciences Singapore Pte. Ltd., Nutrition & Biosciences USA 1 LLC, Nutrition & Biosciences USA 2 LLC, Nutrition & Biosciences USA 3 LLC, Nutrition & Biosciences Vietnam Company Limited, Nutrition Biosciences USA 4 Inc, Nutrition and Biosciences South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Nutrition and Biosciences Spain S.L., OOO WIBERG Rus, P.T. Essence Indonesia, PARMA FA, PIASA USA (24), PM Taiwan Inc., PT Blue Cube Indonesia, PTI Astana LLC, PTI CA LLC, PTI Center LLC, PTI Group of Companies LLC (GK PTI), PTI-BEL TUE, PTI-MOL LLC, PTI-NN LLC, PTI-Ukraine LLC, Platinum Absolut LLC, Pointer Specialty Chemicals LLC, Protein Technologies Do Brasil Ltda., Protein Technologies International Asia Pacific LLC, Protein Technologies International Development LLC, Protein Technologies International Europe LLC, Proveedores de Ingenieria Alimentaria S.A. de C.V. ("PIASA") (17), Prowin International Ltd., Pucheng Yongfang Fragrance Technology Co. Ltd. , Redbrook (UK) Limited, Redbrook Blentech Limited, Redbrook Ingredient Services Limited, Rene Laurent SAS, Representaciones FYMSA S.A. de C.V (FYMSA) (18), Rohm and Haas Wood Treatment LLC, SP EMEA Holding 8 BV, SP Holding IB Inc., SP Nutrition and Health (Singapore) Inc., Sabormax Industria de Alimentos e Representacao Ltda., Savoury Flavours (Holding) Limited, Savoury Flavours Ltd., Solae (UK) Limited, Solae Argentina S.A., Solae Australia Pty Limited, Solae Belgium N.V., Solae Company India Private Limited, Solae Denmark ApS, Solae Deutschland GmbH (f/k/a CSY Agri-Processing (Deutschland) GmbH), Solae Do Brasil Industria E Comercio De Alimentos Ltda., Solae Europe S.A., Solae Holdings LLC, Solae Investimentos LTDA, Solae LLC (SMLLC of Solae Holdings), Solae Overseas B.V., Solae Trading (Shanghai) Company Ltd., Solae de Mexico S.A. de C.V. (formerly PTI Mexico), Solae do Brasil Holdings Ltda., Sonarome Private Limited (15), Southern Cross Botanicals Pty Ltd, Specialty Products Balkans d.o.o., Specialty Products FZE, Specialty Products N&H Inc, Specialty Products US LLC, Speximo AB, TNI Investments NV, Tastepoint Flavors (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Tastepoint Inc., Tastepoint OOO, Tastepoint Polska Sp.z o.o, Tastepoint SA (Pty) Ltd., Tastepoint Tovarna arom in etericnih olj d.o.o., Taura Natural Ingredients (Australia) Pty Limited, Taura Natural Ingredients (North America) Inc., Taura Natural Ingredients Holdings Pty Limited, Taura Natural Ingredients Ltd., Taura Natural Ingredients NV, Tekhnomol Soya Products LLC, The Additive Advantage LLC, The Additive Advantage LLC, The Foote & Jenks Corporation, The Mighty Company Limited (21), Thorungaverksmidjan HF (12), UFC America Inc., Unique Flavors Proprietary Limited, Unique Food Solutions Proprietary Limited, Unique Ingredients Limited, VAYA PHARMA HONKG LTD, VITIVA proizvodnja in storitve d.d., Vantodio Holdings Limited, Vaya Pharma Inc., Vaya Pharma Pte Ltd. (20), Venezuela Protein Technologies Internationla -PTI C.A., W.W. Holdings Inc., WIBERG Italia S.r.l., Wiberg Baharat San.Tic.A.S, Wiberg Canada Inc., Wiberg Corporation of California, Wiberg Corporation., Yderns 1 ApS, ZAO Danisco, extrakt chemie Dr. Bruno Stellmach GmbH, iDrug Delivery Inc.(Delaware) (22), nternational Flavors & Fragrances S.R.L., van Ameringen-Haebler Inc., and world wide WIBERG GmbH. Read More Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. The company's personal banking products and services include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, and financial and investment advice services; and commercial banking products and services comprise business deposit accounts, commercial credit cards, business loans and commercial mortgages, cash management solutions, foreign exchange, specialized banking programs, treasury and payment solutions, and risk management products for small business and commercial banking customers. It also offers investment and wealth advisory services; digital investing services; financial services and solutions; and investment management, and trust and custody services. In addition, the company provides life insurance, accident and sickness insurance, and annuity products; creditor and travel insurance to bank customers; and reinsurance solutions. Further, it offers client's debt and equity capital-raising services, as well as loan origination and syndication, and treasury management; strategic advice on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, and recapitalizations, as well as valuation and fairness opinions; and trade finance, risk mitigation, and other operating services. Additionally, the company provides research and access to markets for institutional, corporate, and retail clients; trading solutions that include debt, foreign exchange, interest rate, credit, equity, securitization and commodities; new product development and origination services, as well as risk management advice and services to hedge against fluctuations; and funding and liquidity management services to its clients. It operates through approximately 900 bank branches and 3,300 automated banking machines in Canada and the United States. Bank of Montreal was founded in 1817 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada. The following companies are subsidiares of Pearson: AEL (S) PTE Limited, ATI Professional Development LLC, Addison Wesley Longman Inc., Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc., Aldwych Finance Limited, Americas Choice Inc., Atkey Finance Limited, Author Solutions, Axis Finance Inc., CAMSAWUSA Inc., CTI Education Group (Pty) Limited, Camsaw Inc., Casapsi Livraria e Editora Ltda, Centro Cultural Americano Franquias e Comercio Ltda., Century Consultants Ltd., Certiport, Certiport China Co Ltd, Certiport China Holding LLC, Certiport Inc., Cogmed Systems AB, Connections Academy of Arkansas LLC, Connections Academy of Florida LLC, Connections Academy of Iowa LLC, Connections Academy of Maine LLC, Connections Academy of Maryland LLC, Connections Academy of Minnesota LLC, Connections Academy of Missouri LLC, Connections Academy of Nevada LLC, Connections Academy of New Jersey LLC, Connections Academy of New Mexico LLC, Connections Academy of New York LLC, Connections Academy of Oregon LLC, Connections Academy of Pennsylvania LLC, Connections Academy of Tennessee LLC, Connections Academy of Texas LLC, Connections Education Inc., Connections Education LLC, Connections Education of Florida LLC, Dominie Press Inc., Dorian Finance Limited, Dorling Kindersley Australasia Pty Limited, EBNT Canada Holdings ULC, EBNT Holdings Limited, EBNT USA Holdings Inc., Edexcel Limited, Edexcel South Africa Pty Ltd, Education Development International plc, Education Resources (Cyprus) Limited, Educational Management Group Inc., Educational Publishers LLP, Embanet ULC, Embanet-Compass Knowledge Group Inc., EmbanetCompass, Embankment Finance Limited, English Language Learning and Instruction System Inc., Escape Studios Limited, FBH Inc., Falstaff Holdco Inc., Falstaff Inc., GED Domains LLC, GED Testing Service LLC, George (Shanghai) Commercial Information Consulting Co. Ltd, Global Education, Global George I Limited, Global George II Limited, GlobalEnglish, Globe Fearon Inc., Guangzhou Crescent Software Co. Ltd, Heinemann Education Botswana (Publishers) (Proprietary) Limited, Heinemann Publishers (Pty) Ltd, INTELLIPRO INC., Icodeon Limited, IndiaCan Education Private Limited, Integral 7 Inc., Integrated Analytics LLC, J M Solucoes Exportacao e Importacao Ltda, K12 Learning Services LLC, Kagiso Education Pty Ltd, Knowledge Analysis Technologies LLC, LCCI International Qualifications (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., LCCIEB Training Consultancy. Ltd, Learning Catalytics, LessonLab Inc., Lignum Oil Company, Linx Brasil Distribuidora Ltda., Longman (Malawi) Limited, Longman Australasia Pty Ltd, Longman Group(Overseas Holdings)Limited, Longman Indochina Acquisition L.L.C., Longman Kenya Limited, Longman Mocambique Ltda, Longman Romania S.R.L., Longman Swaziland (Pty) Limited, Longman Tanzania Limited, Longman Zambia Educational Publishers Pty Ltd, Longman Zambia Limited, Longman Zimbabwe (Private) Ltd, Longmaned Ecuador S.A., Major123 Limited, Maskew Miller Longman (Pty) Limited, MeasureUp LLC, Modern Curriculum Inc., Multi Holding, Multi Treinamento e Editora Ltda, NCS Information Technology Services (Beijing) Co Ltd, NCS Pearson Inc., NCS Pearson Pty Ltd, NCS Pearson Puerto Rico Inc., National Computer Systems Japan Co. Ltd, Ordinate Corporation, PN Holdings Inc., PT Efficient English Services, Pearson (Beijing) Management Consulting Co. Ltd., Pearson (Guizhou) Education Technology Co. Ltd., Pearson Affordable Learning Fund Limited, Pearson America LLC, Pearson Amsterdam B.V., Pearson Australia Finance Unlimited, Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd, Pearson Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, Pearson Australia Pty Ltd, Pearson Benelux B.V., Pearson Books Limited, Pearson Brazil Finance Limited, Pearson Business Services Inc., Pearson Canada Assessment Inc., Pearson Canada Finance Unlimited, Pearson Canada Holdings Inc, Pearson Canada Inc., Pearson Central Europe Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Pearson College Limited, Pearson DBC Holdings Inc., Pearson Desarrollo y Capacitacion Profesional Chile Limitada, Pearson Deutschland GmbH, Pearson Digital Learning Puerto Rico Inc., Pearson Dollar Finance Two Limited, Pearson Dollar Finance plc, Pearson Educacion SA, Pearson Educacion de Chile Limitada, Pearson Educacion de Colombia S A S, Pearson Educacion de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pearson Educacion de Panama SA, Pearson Educacion de Peru S.A., Pearson Education (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Pearson Education Achievement Solutions (RF) (Pty) Limited, Pearson Education Africa (Pty) Ltd, Pearson Education Asia Limited, Pearson Education Botswana (Proprietary) Limited, Pearson Education Hellas SA, Pearson Education Holdings Limited, Pearson Education Inc., Pearson Education Indochina Limited, Pearson Education Investments Limited, Pearson Education Korea Limited, Pearson Education Limited, Pearson Education Namibia (Pty) Limited, Pearson Education Publishing Limited, Pearson Education S.A., Pearson Education SA, Pearson Education South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Pearson Education South Asia Pte. Ltd., Pearson Education Taiwan Ltd, Pearson Education do Brasil S.A, Pearson Educational Measurement Canada Inc., Pearson Educational Publishers LLC, Pearson Egitim Cozumleri Tikaret Limited Sirketi, Pearson Falstaff (Holdings) Inc., Pearson Falstaff Holdco LLC, Pearson France, Pearson Funding Five plc, Pearson Funding Four plc, Pearson Funding Two Limited, Pearson Holdings Inc., Pearson Holdings Southern Africa (Pty) Limited, Pearson IOKI Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Pearson India Education Services Private Limited, Pearson India Support Services Private Limited, Pearson Institute of Higher Education, Pearson International Finance Limited, Pearson Investment Holdings Inc., Pearson Italia S.p.A, Pearson Japan KK, Pearson Lanka (Private) Limited, Pearson Learning China (HK) Limited, Pearson Lesotho (Pty) Ltd, Pearson Loan Finance No. 3 Limited, Pearson Loan Finance No. 4 Limited, Pearson Loan Finance No.2 Unlimited, Pearson Loan Finance Unlimited, Pearson Longman Uganda Limited, Pearson Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Pearson Management Services Limited, Pearson Management Services Philippines Inc., Pearson Maryland Inc., Pearson Netherlands B.V., Pearson Netherlands Holdings B.V., Pearson Nominees Limited, Pearson Online Tutoring LLC, Pearson Overseas Holdings Limited, Pearson PEM P.R. Inc., Pearson PRH Holdings Limited, Pearson Pension Nominees Limited, Pearson Pension Property Fund Limited, Pearson Pension Trustee Limited, Pearson Pension Trustee Services Limited, Pearson Professional Assessments Limited, Pearson Real Estate Holdings Inc., Pearson Real Estate Holdings Limited, Pearson Schweiz AG, Pearson Services Limited, Pearson Shared Services Limited, Pearson South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Pearson Strand Finance Limited, Pearson Sweden AB, Pearson VUE Philippines Inc., Pearson in Practice Holdings Limited, Pearson in Practice Skills Based Learning Limited, Pearson in Practice Technology Limited, Penguin Capital LLC, Phumelela Publishers (Pty) Ltd, ProctorCam Inc., Reading Property Holdings LLC, Rebus Planning Associates Inc., Reston Publishing Company Inc., Rycade Capital Corporation, Shanghai AWL Education Software Ltd, Silver Burdett Ginn Inc., Skylight Training and Publishing Inc., Smarthinking Inc., Sound Holdings Inc., Spear Insurance Company Limited, Stark Verlag GmbH, Sunnykey International Holdings Limited (BVI), TQ Catalis Limited, TQ Clapham Limited, TQ Education and Training Limited, TQ Global Limited, TQ Group Limited, TQ Holdings Limited, The Financial Times (I) Pvt Ltd, The Learning Edge International pty Ltd, The Waite Group Inc, Trio Parent Holdings LLC, US Learning Services LLC, USLS Holdings LLC, Virtual Nerd, Vue Testing Services Israel Ltd, Vue Testing Services Korea Limited, Wall Street Institute Kft., Williams Education GmbH, eCollege.com, and Editions Du Renouveau Pedagogique Inc.. Read More 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. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. provides insurance and financial services to individual and business customers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. Its Commercial Lines segment offers workers' compensation, property, automobile, liability, umbrella, bond, marine, livestock, and reinsurance; and customized insurance products and risk management services, including professional liability, bond, surety, and specialty casualty coverages through regional offices, branches, sales and policyholder service centers, independent retail agents and brokers, wholesale agents, and reinsurance brokers. The company's Personal Lines segment provides automobile, homeowners, and personal umbrella coverages through direct-to-consumer channel and independent agents. Its Property & Casualty Other Operations segment offers coverage for asbestos and environmental exposures. The company's Group Benefits segment provides group life, disability, and other group coverages to members of employer groups, associations, and affinity groups through direct insurance policies; reinsurance to other insurance companies; employer paid and voluntary product coverages; disability underwriting, administration, and claims processing to self-funded employer plans; and a single-company leave management solution. This segment distributes its group insurance products and services through brokers, consultants, third-party administrators, trade associations, and private exchanges. Its Hartford Funds segment offers investment products for retail and retirement accounts; exchange-traded products through broker-dealer organizations, independent financial advisers, defined contribution plans, financial consultants, bank trust groups, and registered investment advisers; and investment management and administrative services, such as product design, implementation, and oversight. The company was founded in 1810 and is headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut. Lagos (AFP) - Police in Nigeria on Sunday said they had arrested 65 people at a demonstration of support for US President Donald Trump organised by pro-independence activists in the country's south. The rally, which took place on Friday in the southern oil hub of Port Harcourt, was organised to coincide with the billionaire businessman's inauguration as the 45th US president. It was organised by a pro-Biafra group advocating an independent state in southeastern Nigeria and was held on the eve of massive demonstrations against Trump across the globe. "Some suspected members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)... staged an unlawful protest in the Port Harcourt metropolis," said Rivers State's deputy police chief Ahmed Magaji. He said the march was not authorised and had disturbed the public order, with police using tear gas to disperse them. "About 65 of them were arrested" on suspicion of belonging to the IPOB, and were found to be carrying the movement's flag, he said. The IPOB is part of a wider secessionist movement that advocates an independent state of Biafra, a region in southeast Nigeria that unsuccessfully fought for independence in a brutal three-year civil war that ended in 1970. Organised by a pro-Biafra group that advocates for an independent state, the rally was held on the day of Donald Trump's inauguration Posting on Twitter, several pro-Biafra activists claimed police had brutally attacked the unarmed demonstrators and even killed several of them but there was no way of independently verifying the reports. Early on in the US presidential race, IPOB threw its support behind Trump in the belief he would recognise their independence movement. Soon after Britain voted in a referendum in June to leave the European Union, the group pushed for its own version of "Brexit" from Nigeria that it dubbed "Biafrexit". Separatist sentiment has grown over the past 15 months since the arrest of the brother of the IPOB's leader, with activists engaging in bloody clashes with the security forces that have been condemned by human rights groups. Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - West African troops approached the Gambian capital on Sunday to secure President Adama Barrow's arrival from neighbouring Senegal, as controversy erupted over the assurances offered to Yahya Jammeh to guarantee his departure. Jammeh flew out of The Gambia on Saturday, ending 22 years at the helm of the tiny west African nation, and headed for Equatorial Guinea where he is expected to settle with his family. However, Equatorial Guinea authorities refused to confirm Jammeh's arrival on Sunday despite an opposition statement condemning the relocation. The Senegalese general leading a joint force of troops from five African nations said soldiers had entered The Gambia to "control strategic points to ensure the safety of the population and facilitate... Barrow's assumption of his role". Soldiers from The Gambia and ECOWAS soldiers patrol in front of the Second Infantry Battalion Camp in Farafenni, Gambia on January 22, 2017 An AFP journalist stationed across the river that divides the Banjul peninsula from the northern part of the country said around 100 heavily armed Senegalese troops travelling with armoured vehicles were waiting to move into the capital. Senegalese forces had briefly crossed into the former British colony on Thursday but pulled out shortly afterwards, with Sunday's troop movement the first by soldiers from the joint force. Marcel Alain de Souza, a top official with the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), which organised the deployment, said the country "could not be left open" for long, and that Barrow must be in place "as soon as possible". A senior Senegalese military source told AFP that his forces had met little resistance on Sunday, as army chief Ousman Badjie has already declared his loyalty to Barrow. Comfortable terms Gambian President Adama Barrow won a December election Following Barrow's win in the December 1 election, Jammeh refused to step down, triggering weeks of uncertainty that almost ended in a full military intervention. The longtime leader, wearing his habitual white flowing robes, waved to supporters before boarding a small, unmarked plane at Banjul airport alongside Guinea's President Alpha Conde after two days of talks over a departure deal. He left behind a small minority of diehard supporters, some of whom wept as his plane departed. The choice of Equatorial Guinea for his exile has helped ease concerns that Jammeh might interfere in his nation's politics if he stayed in Guinea, whose border is not far from The Gambia's eastern region. The strongman personally controlled certain sections of the security forces, and his long tenure was marked by systematic rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and arbitrary detention. But critics have raised concerns over the wording of a statement issued by the UN, ECOWAS and the African Union that seemed to offer Jammeh comfortable guarantees for his future. Gambia's former president Yayha Jammeh (C), the country's leader for 22 years, waves from the plane as he leaves the country in Banjul on January 21, 2017 "No legislative measures" would be taken that would infringe the "dignity, security, safety and rights" of Jammeh or his family, it said, noting that property "lawfully" belonging to him would not be seized. However, experts told AFP the document was not legally binding. Equatorial Guinea is not a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court, meaning Jammeh would not be extradited in the event he was charged with crimes against humanity or other serious offences. His expected arrival in the country was met with ire as the opposition Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS) blasted President Teodoro Obiang Nguema for showing "contempt" towards Equatorial Guinea and "thinking only of his personal gain" by granting Jammeh "political exile". Obiang is a similar strongman to Jammeh who has been in power since ousting his uncle in 1979. 'Democracy is back' People celebrate in the streets of Banjul on January 21, 2017 after hearing of the confirmed departure of former Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh from the country Jammeh took power in a 1994 coup from the country's only other president since independence from Britain, Dawda Jawara, making this The Gambia's first democratic transition of power. "We are going to wait for Barrow at the airport all the way to State House. Before we were scared to come out," said security guard Babacar Jallow, describing Jammeh as "a killer". With Jammeh gone, all eyes will be on the Barrow administration as they make their first steps as a government of reform and development. "The will of the people has come to be -- at last," said Isatou Touray, a key official in the government-in-waiting. "Democracy is back, you can't stop the people." The first priority will be to ensure the safe return of tens of thousands of people who have fled in recent weeks fearing a bloody end to the crisis, Touray said on Saturday. The crisis had also sparked the exodus of thousands of foreign visitors, dealing a potentially devastating blow to a country which earns up to 20 percent of its income from tourism. The United States on Sunday hailed "the commitment to democracy and the restraint shown by the Gambian people over the past weeks," as well as the leadership showed by west African heads of state who mediated the crisis. Former Gambia president Yaya Jammeh, the country's leader for 22 years, looks through the window from the plane as he leaves the country on January 21, 2017 from Banjul airport. By STRINGER (AFP) 22.01.2017 LISTEN Malabo (Equatorial Guinea) (AFP) - Officials in Equatorial Guinea refused to comment on Sunday on whether ousted former Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh had arrived in the country. But in a statement, Equatorial Guinea's opposition denounced the presence of Jammeh, whose 22-year reign was marked by systematic human rights abuses, on their soil. Jammeh slinked off in the dead of night from The Gambia's capital Banjul in the early hours of Sunday on an unmarked plane alongside Guinea-Conakry's President Alpha Conde. The strongman's departure ended six weeks of political turmoil sparked by Jammeh's refusal to accept his election defeat to new Gambian President Adama Barrow. Following a short stopover in Conakry, the Guinean capital, Jammeh was due to head to Equatorial Guinea, a top Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) military official said. But asked by AFP to confirm this news, Equatorial Guinean authorities did not comment. However, Equatorial Guinea's Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS) opposition hit out at the decision to grant Jammeh "political exile". "The CPDS rejects this decision and holds" President Teodoro Obiang Nguema "responsible" for any consequences Jammeh's presence on Equatorial Guinean soil could bring, the opposition said in a statement acquired by AFP. The CPDS said other countries had offered to host Jammeh and stressed that Equatorial Guinea has "never welcomed political exiles". The opposition accused Obiang of showing "contempt" towards the country and "thinking only of his personal gain". Obiang has been president of Equatorial Guinea since ousting his uncle in 1979. He has been accused of human rights abuses, extrajudicial killings, being a dictator and of encouraging a personality cult in the tiny oil-rich nation. Opposition in the country is barely tolerated and the 74-year-old leader was re-elected in April with almost 94 percent of the vote. Sorry, we can't find the content you're looking for at this URL. Cairo (AFP) - Egypt's prosecution said on Sunday it would allow Italy to send experts to try to retrieve video footage related to last January's kidnapping and murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni. "The Egyptian public prosecutor approved the Italian side's request to send Italian experts," to try to retrieve footage from CCTV cameras to help the probe into Regeni's death, a prosecution statement said. The cameras are in a metro station Regeni is believed to have entered before being abducted. Cairo also approved a request to send experts from "the only German company specialised in retrieving data from the camera recording device" at that metro station, the statement said. Egypt said the software needed to recover the deleted footage was expensive, and had asked Italy to help. Regeni, a 28-year-old Cambridge University PhD student, disappeared last January 25 in central Cairo as police came out in force in anticipation of protests. His body, bearing signs of torture, was later found by the side of a road. The prosecution service said in December it had questioned policemen who investigated Regeni days before his abduction. There was no suggestion in the joint Egyptian-Italian statement that the policemen were under suspicion. December's statement said prosecutors have also questioned officers who killed members of a criminal gang in March and claimed to have found Regeni's belongings, including his passport, in the home of the gang leader's wife. That account met with suspicion in Italy, where politicians and the media have suggested that Egyptian police were behind the student's death. The slow pace of the investigation prompted Italy to withdraw its ambassador from Cairo. Regeni had been researching street vendor trade unions, a sensitive political issue in Egypt, where successive governments have feared strikes and unrest. Egypt has forcefully denied that its police were involved in his abduction. Police officials at first suggested Regeni might have died in a road accident. They have issued scant information about their investigation. An Italian autopsy showed that Regeni's body was covered with cuts and his bones were broken, indicating he had been hit with "fists, batons and hammers". A letter "X" was carved on his forehead and hand, according to the report cited by Italian media. Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, who finally left his country Saturday after threats of possible military intervention to force him to step down, seized power and clung to office for 22 years with a blend of severity, mysticism and iron-clad self-belief. "No matter what people say about me, I am not moved... I don't listen to anybody because I know what is important," he said before December 1 elections in which he was seeking a fifth consecutive term at the helm of the small west African nation. Governing, he said, "is between me and God Almighty." Jammeh lost the vote to outsider Adama Barrow, but had refused to recognise the results. He then announced a state of emergency, saying it was necessary because of interference by foreign powers in the election. The Senegalese army said it was ready to intervene in its neighbour failing a solution to the crisis, and Nigeria regional powerhouse sent 200 troops as well as fighter jets to Senegal as part of a regional force to enforce the result of the vote. A deeply devout Muslim, Jammeh was born in the western village of Kanilai in 1965, the year that The Gambia, a long east-west sliver of land bordered by Senegal, gained independence from Britain. This photo taken on September 8, 2000 at the United Nations in New York shows Gambian President Yahya Jammeh addressing the United Nations Millennium Summit His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Doctor Yahya Abdul-Azziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh Naasiru Deen joined the army in 1984. Ten years later, Jammeh mounted a coup with fellow army officers against Dawda Jawara, who had ruled the country since independence, pledging to root out corruption and hold elections. After giving up his rank of colonel to allow him to contest elections as a civilian, Jammeh swept the vote in 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011, following a 2002 constitutional amendment removing presidential term limits. Rights abuses Now 51, Jammeh had attracted worldwide attention for declaring The Gambia an Islamic nation, withdrawing the country from the International Criminal Court, and claiming he had concocted a herbal cure for HIV/AIDS. The longtime ruler has woven a shroud of mysticism around himself using religion and rumours of secret powers. Never seen without his Koran, sceptre and prayer beads, Jammeh's billowing white robes are rumoured to hide a bulletproof vest, the legacy of several coup attempts by his own guards. In the last few years, a crackdown on journalists, opposition figures and anyone deemed disloyal within the ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), had intensified. He promised to bury critics "nine feet deep" and told the former UN secretary-general to "go to hell" after Ban Ki-moon called for an investigation into an activist's death in custody. This photo taken on December 1, 2016 in Banjul shows incumbent Gambian president Yahya Jammeh (C) gesturing before casting his marble in a polling station in a presidential pol But in another moment he urged his supporters to restrain themselves from violence and allow last month's election to go ahead peacefully. Rights groups allege that those who defy him end up in the country's notorious Mile Two prison, where the UN in 2014 said it had obtained evidence of torture and executions by the country's National Intelligence Agency, which reports directly to Jammeh. This was supplemented by "interference with the independence of the judiciary, denial of due process, prolonged pretrial and incommunicado detention," Special Rapporteur Christof Heyns said. "The security forces are his tools, and he uses them to control Gambia by arresting people who don't share his views," a prominent opposition figure told Human Rights Watch. Isolated Gambia's diplomatic relations have also been precarious of late. In December 2014, the EU cut off 13 million euros of funding, and threatened to block another 150 million euros in response to the country's poor human rights record. International criticism followed the introduction of an "aggravated homosexuality" law in October 2014 that imposed life sentences for a series of new offences. And the presidential vote was carried out without the presence of EU or ECOWAS observers. Former president Yaya Jammeh (C), the Gambia's leader for 22 years, walks towards the plane as he leaves the country on 21 January 2017 at Banjul airport Relations with neighbouring Senegal have also reached an all-time low while the state of the economy has pushed many young Gambians to take the "Back Way", or migrant route across the Sahara to Libya, where they board boats bound for Italy. But others remain grateful for investment in education and the health system, which were severely neglected under Jammeh's predecessor. Port Louis (Mauritius) (AFP) - Mauritius is bracing for political turmoil after Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth announced on Saturday he would be stepping down to make way for his son, Parvind. "I will tender my resignation on Monday as president of the republic. I will relinquish my place to a younger and more dynamic leader, Pravind Jugnauth, who has a parliamentary majority," said the 86-year-old political veteran. In 2014 he was elected to his sixth term as prime minister, 22 years after first being voted in. He also served as president from 2003 to 2012. His resignation is no surprise as back in September he had already indicated he would not see out his term, due to end in 2019. Pravind Jugnauth, the current minister of finance, is also leader of the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM), the largest party in the governing coalition. According to the Mauritian constitution, President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim would ask Pravind Jugnauth, 55, to see if he can form a government once his father leaves office. With 41 of 69 seats in parliament, the governing coalition should hold, although four ministers defected to the opposition in December over a constitutional row. Some people believe that Pravind Jugnauth should not be able to succeed his father without elections. Opposition politicians have called it immoral, while admitting it is legal. Mauritius is a multi-ethnic archipelago nation of 1.2 million people off the east coast of Africa. It is the only Hindu-majority country in Africa. It was colonised by the Dutch in the 17th century, then the French and finally Britain before gaining independence in 1968. Tripoli (AFP) - A car exploded Saturday in the Libyan capital near the Italian embassy killing two people who were inside the vehicle, security and medical sources said. It was not immediately clear if the blast was accidental or an attack or whether the Italian embassy, which had reopened less than two weeks ago, was the target. A Red Crescent official in Tripoli said rescue workers pulled two charred and unidentified bodies from the vehicle. The car exploded on a street located behind both the Italian and the Egyptian embassies, outside the Libyan ministry of planning and near a hotel, an AFP correspondent at the scene said. Police cordoned off the area. A security source said it was not clear if the blast was the result of an attack. Libya has fallen into chaos since the 2011 revolution that toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi. Tripoli has been hit by many car bombs and violence since then. On September 8 last year, two car bombs went off in Tripoli, damaging vehicles but causing no casualties. They exploded behind the ministry of foreign affairs and near the entrance to a naval base that was the headquarters of Libya's unity government when it set up operations in the city in March 2016. The UN-backed Government of National Accord has failed to assert its authority over the country and is challenged by a rival administration based in Libya's remote east. The embassy of Italy, a former colonial power in Libya, was one of the last western missions to close in February 2015 after a coalition of militias seized the capital Tripoli. Italy announced the reopening of its embassy in Tripoli on January 9. Serving as the president of a nation is one of the highest jobs anyone can ever get in a lifetime. Not only is it high in power, but also in prestige, respect, networking and if you like spirituality. The president of any nation is at the time of his term the image and persona reflector of that nation. The endurance of the 1992 republican constitution of Ghana has blessed Ghana with three living former presidents: John Mahama, John Kuffour and John Rawlings. The theme for this article is centred on happenings soon after the first non-John named individual was sworn into office as president of the republic under the 1992 constitution. The controversy started with the immediate past president, John Dramani Mahama who had made a request to the transition team that as part of his end of Service Benefit (ESB) he would prefer that he is allowed to stay in the official residence of the Vice President of the Republic instead of the republic building a new house for him as recommended by the Edu- Buandoh Committee on Presidential emoluments. This Committee was formed by himself as all other living past Presidents did under the constitution when they were about to leave office. Obviously, the idea of a Committee is to reduce the influence of the beneficiary in deciding on what to get. But the question of whether this has been achieved will be examined later in this write up. The public has responded differently to this request when it became public. The responses have largely depended on the level of education and which side of the political divide an individual stands. The writer is of the belief that all these views are fair in themselves under the democracy we have embraced. He was just taken aback by some of the insults that characterised the reactions from some Ghanaians. As the Mahama residence saga was dying off, it soon came out that former president Rawlings had also requested and been granted a 4 acre land in Accra to be used to build a home and a library for him. The library would serve as Rawlings foundation to be used to promote some social good in Ghana and Africa. As if it was part of the normal political game, the equalisation between NPP and NDC showed its ugly head and soon Kuffuor was also fingered. He had also been granted a 2.6 acre land to be used to build a home as recommended by the Chinery- Hessey Committee and execution of which was stalled under the 8 year term of the NDC. When you ponder over these events and their unfolding drama, you may be tempted to pity these gentlemen. You may want to pity them not because they have no homes to live in, but because you would feel sorry for the public ridicule we have passed them through. A ridicule which some have said they deserve since they have all presided over the nation and should have known better. Of course if a free society cannot cater for the many who are poor, then the few who are rich cannot also be safe J.F Kennedy emphasis is mine. When many Ghanaians are uneducated, poor, unemployed and have no access to land, then their former presidents cannot enjoy small ex-gratia in the form of houses and have their peace of mind. It is my submission that the issues of whether the state should accommodate former presidents should be discussed thoroughly and a firm decision taken. In the light of this, the following questions will serve as the basis for this discussion. Do Former Presidents deserve a house? Do they need a house? Must they live in Accra? Who must determine what to be given them? At what time should that decision be made and executed? Do former presidents deserve a house? My answer is WHY NOT. Why should Corporate Ghana not be able to provide a House for its former President? Why should we not give them a reason NOT to steal public funds to build their own dream houses? I have seen with my own eyes, how the beautiful black hairs of all three living former presidents turned grey within months after they assumed office. They must have passed through a lot of mental stress. They work day and night because the nation never sleeps. They risk their lives in many ways and take decision that are supposed to be in the best interest of the nation. We may not agree with them in all what they do but hey, we are not privy to all the facts they knew at the time they did what we did not agree with them. None of them refused to step down when their term was over and this has been a major booster to peace and stability which has allowed businesses to continue to grow in our shattered economy. I think they deserve a House. A house for a former president cannot be more to ask. The second question is, do they need a house? Our constitution says you cannot qualify to contest for presidency when you are not 40 or above? I believe the objective of this law does not only cater for the mental preparedness of the individual but also serves to limit inexperienced persons from coming near that important office. Apart from the constitutional demand for the age 40, there are other unwritten but practiced requirements. Being able to pave your way up to the party to catch the eyes of your party delegates. You may not need to dish out cash, but you surely will need to resource your campaign. To me, a man who is able to raise all these needed resources at the age of 40 to become a candidate cannot be a man who cannot raise the needed resource to build his dream home. Therefore, I do not believe our presidents really need the house after leaving office. It is a token they deserve and not need. Like most Ghanaian parents used to do at parties, when they are served a bottle of malt because they are adults, they give it to their kids who would have been served a Fanta or coke. Having established my view that they deserve a house but do not need it, I will then move to the question of its location. Must those houses be in Accra at all cost? Why must we build a house for Rawlings, Kuffour and Mahama in Accra? Why is there the need for them to live in Accra? What benefit will the state derive from housing them in Accra? It is a fact that land and space is most scarce and expensive in Accra as compared to every other region in this country and the reasons are obvious. Considering the need to promote industry and jobs, why should a country like Ghana provide deserving but not needed houses for its former presidents in Accra? It is the writers believe that the nation would rather benefit if all former presidents are provided with a house and an office in their home town. Can you imagine how Dzelukope, Bole, or Nkawie would have looked if they had a former Presidents Official residence there. They would have the benefit of international dignitaries visiting that home town and its attended gains. It would have compelled the Government to do something about their roads, electricity, and water. Why must we crowd these gentlemen in Accra and leave their people suffering in poverty? Many local Chiefs will be so happy to give free lands to house their sons who have made them proud by becoming presidents of this nation. Who must determine what to be given them? The question of the powers of the president of Ghana has come up over and again. It is not surprising that we have had problems with almost all the committee of emoluments set up by all the three living presidents. My sincere view is that Article 71 is one of the parts of our constitution that needs to be reviewed. It does not make sense to me that when a president is about to leave office, he sets up a committee and ask the committee to decide on what should be his/her ESB. My humble view is that this must be the responsibility of the parliamentary service commission. This commission shall continuously review ESB for both President and parliament. The commission must begin building the presidents retirement home on the very day the president is sworn into office. Of course he can make suggestions into his modifications. This is in answer to the question of when that decision should be made and executed. We need not wait till handing over before we begin to look for a place for the former presidents. If we leave this in their hands, chances are that, they will never build. For they almost always never expect to lose elections. The state must prepare for them whether they have lost or not. My conclusion therefore is that. Yes we need to house our former presidents. But we should change article 71 and cause parliament to establish a permanent emolument body that will be in charge of all ex- gratia matters instead of allowing the president to be the one to set up a committee to determine what he wants as ex-gratia. Richard Nii Amarh Executive Director - PPP 22.01.2017 LISTEN Ghanas Vice-President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, is the lead official in President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos government with the responsibility to rebuild Ghanas economy. Prior to the New Patriotic Partys (NPP) presidential election win, Dr. Bawumia drew a 10-point plan for solving Ghanas youth unemployment problem at a public lecture organized by the Economics Students Association of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on 29th March, 2016 in Kumasi. He spoke on the topic, High Graduate Unemployment and the Employment Embargo, What is the Solution, and provided solutions to addressing youth unemployment, which received rave reviews from civic groups and professionals across Ghana. Indeed, graduate unemployment, which is a part of the larger youth unemployment problem in resource-rich countries like Ghana, and other West African countries, keeps rising. A 2016 paper by Ms. Patricia Ackah-Baidoo, Review article: Youth unemployment in resource-rich Sub-Saharan Africa: A critical review, provided a clear picture of Ghanas graduate youth unemployment. Her article offered a serious review of youth unemployment in Sub-Saharan Africa and specifically singled out Ghana, an upbeat nation destined to fulfill its fullest socio-economic potential, for rising youth unemployment. She offered a case study of past and present unemployment events, and examined interventions by past governments to fix joblessness. In this regard, Dr. Bawumias 10-point plan to address the issue of youth unemployment was welcomed by the youth and, indeed, the public. Having won the election, it is fair to assume that Dr. Bawumia along with President Akufo-Addos administration will implement the 10-point plan. As Chairman of the 11-member Economic Management Team, Dr. Bawumia will likely play a leading role to fix Ghanas economic problems in general and unemployment in particular by delivering realistic and cost-effective strategies to achieve the economic transformation plan of the administration and the goals of the 10-point plan he presented awhile back. Although Dr. Bawumias 10-point plan provided a comprehensive plan to addressing youth unemployment, I submit that the plan could be improved by including employment policies that benefit Ghanaian adult graduates/youth with disabilities and special needs. To that end, including this category of persons who were left out will amend Dr. Bawumias 10-point plan to an 11th-point plan. The 11th-point plan petitions for the inclusion of Ghanaians with any one or combination of the following disabilities; autism, chronic illness, hearing loss and deafness, intellectual disability, learning disability, memory loss, mental health, physical disability, speech and language disorders, and vision loss and blindness. In other words, actions that affect qualified unemployed Ghanaian graduates vision, movement, thinking, remembering, learning, communicating, hearing, mental health, and social relationships should not affect their employment abilities. As it is often said, disability is not inability; persons with disabilities still have abilities with which they can contribute to national development. In 2010, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) listed three provisions for persons with disabilities in Ghana. The provisions contained policy proposals from human rights conferences held in 2005 and 2006. First, the 1992 Constitution offered protection for Ghanaians with disabilities from discrimination, mistreatment, neglect, and abusive treatment (Article 29) and instructed parliament to approve appropriate laws to protect such persons (Article 37). Second, a National Disability Policy in June 2000 served as a valid disability law. It applied to the specific rights of persons with disabilities, thanks to the UN Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for persons with disabilities. This policy established that Ghanaians with disabilities must be offered education, transportation, community acceptance, housing, and employment rights. Third, but not least, the Persons with Disability Act of 2006 as a constitutional law, satisfied Ghanas constitutional desires. The 10-point plan appears as designed for able-bodied Ghanaian youth that are unemployed. Many Ghanaian governments in the past have offered insufficient funding and resources for Ghanaians with disabilities. In fact, records show that the amount of funding and resources offered were primarily for persons with physical disabilities. Below are five policy parameters that I hope the Economic Management Team will consider as they set the stage for effective governance to solve the graduate youth unemployment issue. The proposals were considered, in part, based on the 2010 World Health Organization (WHO) policy on employment of persons with disabilities. Policy 1: The recommendation for the new parliament to vote, and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to sign into law, a requirement of a 3% minimum hiring quota for qualified Ghanaian job applicants with disabilities that apply for ministry jobs. Each ministry shall independently finalize details of the policy. Policy 2: The recommendation for government ministries to cultivate a culture of disability inclusion in all government ministries that effectively promote the following attitudes: set clear communications and expectations; encourage management to retain employees; protect disability rights; make reasonable accommodation for disability needs; accommodate flexible selection and recruitment practices; create career development and learning opportunities; provide employment retention and return to work possibilities; encourage efficient performance evaluations and work practices; offer adaptable working and office environments; grant flexible work arrangements and organization of work; organize meetings, conferences, workshops, and seminars to meet disability needs; circulate information and learning to satisfy persons with disabilities; enforce fair policies and procedures to ensure proper inclusion standards; guard confidentiality of information; and foster inter-and-intra ministry collaboration. Each ministry will independently finalize details of the policy. Policy 3: The recommendation for private sector companies to be granted tax subsidies and other commendable incentives for hiring qualified Ghanaian graduates with disabilities. Each ministry will independently finalize details of the policy. Policy 4: The recommendation that private sector companies that offer financial grants and awards to non-governmental agencies that cater to disability causes be awarded tax and other laudable incentives. Each ministry will independently finalize details of the policy. Policy 5: The recommendation that private sector companies that offer no less than 10% of contractual opportunities (including, but not limited to, board membership, apprentices, small business owners, etc.) to qualified disabled professionals will be awarded tax and other meritorious incentives. Each ministry will independently finalize details of the policy. Conclusion Many Ghanaians are excited about change that provides employment opportunities for young adults. The NPP administration can live up to its intentions and campaign promises when it focuses on real employment needs. Importantly, government should seriously consider the less fortunate graduate youth with disability that are willing and able to work. That way, society transforms to economic confidence, stable homes, enhanced culture, and improved standards of living all around. About The Author Dr. Adoo is an education and management professional with 15-plus years of successful multidisciplinary skill sets in organizational leadership and professional development. His research interests focus on employee work motivation and wellbeing, organizational change, and uncertain employment relations. He was an Assistant Professor of Management at the College of Adult and Professional Programs at Shorter University in Georgia, United States. He was nominated for the 2016 Shorter University Vulcan Materials Teaching Excellence & Campus Leadership Award in recognition for strong campus leadership and pioneering teaching methodology. He has served as a member of the editorial board of The Journal of the Georgia Public Health Association (GPHA), a peer reviewed publication addressing public and community health, health education and promotion issues. Currently, he is the founder and managing partner of Education & Management Consulting, LLC. (EMCLLC), an innovative organizational development consulting and solutions company, providing services to businesses and governments. 22.01.2017 LISTEN The Progressive Peoples party condemns the 2016 post-election violent attacks going on in the country. Ghana has been hailed by the International Community and Civil Society Organizations for organizing a peaceful election, and ensuring a smooth transition from an incumbent President to a newly elected President. As the beacon of hope in Africa, this has consolidated our democratic credentials - an enviable feat Ghanaians must pride ourselves in. Indeed, we must hold ourselves in high esteem and should be celebrating this remarkable achievement. Instead, recent unfortunate post-election violent attacks on innocent Ghanaians and state properties appear to take the shine off this remarkable democratic achievement. It is reported that two NDC loyalists have died from post election violence and that such attacks worsened after the new President had been sworn-in on January 7, 2017. Why would the alleged NPP supporters attack their political opponents and vandalize state properties simply because their party has won political power? Why are they engaging in this act of violence when we have engaged law enforcers to protect and safeguard our interests? Amazingly, the recent comments from leading members of both dominant parties - NPP and NDC have gone to inflame passions. Instead of calling their supporters to order and working together with the security apparatus to find solution to the problem, they are rather engaging in intense politicking, and encouraging their supporters to become unruly. While the Acting National Chairman of the NPP is reported, rather sadly, to have defended and backed the indecent act of his party supporters as protecting state properties, the National Chairman of the NDC in a press conference absolved the NDC counter attacks, and further advanced the argument that NDC lawbreakers should not be blamed for reprisal attacks emanating from the beastly conduct of the Akufo-Addo invincible forces. We find the intemperate language of these two political leaders unacceptable and unbefitting for National cohesion. Their comments are a threat to National Security and National Development. These worrisome trends socially unconstructive behavior if encouraged, can only reflect the perpetrators assessment of their future economic prospects as uncertain and lead to a belief that Ghana is out of control. This attitude can pose a threat to the development of competence and character among todays youth who may find crime as an alternate source of income that promises greater short-term financial gains than employment. We are by this statement sounding a word of caution to the leadership of the two parties especially the NPP because it is in power, to call their supporters to order. Ghana does not belong to NDC or NPP. We should not sit aloof for the two parties to plunge the country into chaos. As a law abiding political party, we condemn the attacks and call on the security apparatus to bring the perpetrators to book. We commiserate with the victims of the attacks, and assure Ghanaians that the Progressive Peoples Party will do everything within its powers to help stop this nastiness, if we are to create a just and disciplined society with a passion for excellence. -Signed- Nii Allotey Brew Hammond National Chairman 22.01.2017 LISTEN The minister designate for Tourism, Arts and Culture has affirmed her outfit's readiness to work assiduously with the tourism and creative arts industry to promote the industry. The Member of Parliament (MP) for Evalue Jomoro-Gwira Constituency in the Western Region hopes to create a conducive environment where people will buy into going out to patronise Ghanaian tourist attractions. "Hopefully, with the mandate given and the nod from parliament, once approved we intend to work a lot with the Creative Arts Industry to bring on board a lot of new ideas, packaged festivals and what we have in our nation to sell to the other side of the world.The Ghanaian hospitality is something that is touted so it needs to be packaged well and be promoted." Hon Doku was nominated over the week by the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo and she is yet to be vetted by the appointment committee of the 7th Parliament of Ghana. 22.01.2017 LISTEN Information reaching Metro 90.5FM News indicates that Former Sunyani Municipal Chief Executive Officer(MCE), who contested the Sunyani East seat on the ticket of the NDC, in the 2016 Elections, Hon. Kwasi Oppong Ababio, has passed away. Reports say, the late MCE was watching Television at his private residence around 9:pm on Saturday complained of stomach problems. He was reported to have fell on the ground was quickly rushed to the Sunyani Regional Hospital but could not make it. The mortal remains is currently at the Sunyani Regional Hospital mortuary. Following the departure of Gambias former leader, Yahya Jammeh, Amnesty Internationals Deputy Director, Steve Cockburn said: "After 22 years of fear, Gambians now have a unique opportunity to become a model for human rights in West Africa, in which no one need to be afraid to stand up or speak out. We hope the international community will support the new government and the Gambian people in this journey." According to a BBC report Gambias former President Yahya Jammeh has left the country in the wake of elections that ousted him after 22 years in power. Mr Jammeh was defeated in Decembers election by Adama Barrow but he went on to challenge the results. But two days after Mr Barrow was sworn in, Mr Jammeh left on a plane reportedly bound for Guinea. Mr Barrow told the BBC that he would be returning to his homeland sooner than later. In an interview with the BBC on Saturday, he said said he wanted to create a truth and reconciliation committee to investigate allegations of human rights abuses during Mr Jammehs time in office. Mr Barrow has been in neighbouring Senegal for days and was inaugurated as president in the Gambian embassy there on Thursday. I know they are schooled on protocol from time to time; what I dont know is whether such schooling entails the provision of any fundamental instruction on the respective roles of the three branches of Government, and how these administrative arms function together. Which is why I was quite a bit amused to read the news story in which the National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament (NDC-MP) for Adaklu presumed to instruct President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on the legitimate exercise of his emergency executive powers in the matter of Mr. Yahya Jammeh and the good people of The Gambia (See MP Challenges Akufo-Addos Gambia Troop Deployment Classfmonline.com / Ghanaweb.com 1/19/17). The MP concerned, Mr. Kwame Governs Agbodza, curiously claims that as the constitutionally elected President and Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, Nana Akufo-Addo had absolutely no right to have dispatched some 205 combat troops to The Gambia to facilitate the implementation of the democratic election of Mr. Adama Barrow as the new leader of that strip-mall country that borders both banks of the Senegambia River. Mr. Agbodza would rather have had Ghanas parliament debate the decision prior to the issuance of President Akufo-Addos executive order. By the way, Mr. Agbodza belongs to the same legislative assembly, for the most part, that sat duck and mum while former President John Dramani Mahama summarily reversed the Supreme Courts verdict in the landmark matter of the so-called Montie Trio, in which a gang of National Democratic Congress media propagandists who had threatened to visit mayhem and carnage on some members of the Wood Supreme Court for flatly refusing to collude with Electoral Commissioner Charlotte Osei to rig the 2016 general election, respectively, in favor of then-President Mahama and the National Democratic Congress, was sprung out of the Nsawam Medium-Security Prison after serving barely half of their joint sentence. But what especially gored my horse, as it were, was Mr. Agbodzas rather brazen assertion that the situation in The Gambia, in which an electorally defeated President Jammeh, who had been ruling that country with an iron-fist for twenty-two years, promptly conceded defeat only to reverse himself exactly one week later, could not be equated with a humanitarian crisis. Contextually speaking, it is quite understandable that Mr. Agbodza would take such an at once imperious and outrageous stance, primarily because he belongs to a party that was founded by Ghanas most extortionate and longest-reigning military dictator, as well as the least democratically inclined of all the countrys Fourth-Republican leaders. At any rate, what does Mr. Agbodza mean when he so insolently asserts that the concerted decision by the several ECOWAS leaders to contribute troops towards their previous consensual resove to oust the Gambian strongman and replace Mr. Jammeh with the democratically elected Mr. Barrow is a pre-planned aggression against another country and I think that parliament must give approval? Is Mr. Agbodza, for instance, saying that the people of The Gambia have absolutely no right to demand and fight for the establishment of a constitutionally democratic system of governance? We must also quickly point out that the Gambian problem was inherited by President Akufo-Addo from former President Mahama, the bona fide leader of the critics own party. To be certain, the decision to contribute troops to help bring about a popularly ratified constitutional democracy to The Gambia was taken by former President Mahama, acting as an envoy for the newly elected President Akufo-Addo, and other major West-African leaders like Nigerias President Mahammadu Buhari. We need to also significantly recall the fact that in the wake of an abortive military putsch aimed at ousting President Jammeh, scarcely a couple of years ago, then-President Mahama, who doubled as ECOWAS chairman, had quickly flown into Banjul, the Gambian capital, to heartily commiserate with his West-African Brother President. In other words, in Mr. Agbodza, we are talking about a self-righteous moral reprobate and a narcissist pretending to be a staunch believer in, and an upholder of, the civilized democratic rule of law. And this is more than simply annoying. To be certain, it is insufferably nauseating. *Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs As we've said more than once, it is important that all critically-minded Ghanaians move beyond coup-plotter narratives and examine actual official records related to the CPP government under Kwame Nkrumah. And, whatever you find during your search, you ought to humbly consider the idea that anything negative is never a reflection on any group of people, but rather, a poor and sad reflection on the individuals at the center of the stories they created, managed, and massaged for their own selfish purposes. By this historic and DEFINITIVE essay, major gaps in the knowledge and political history of Ghana up to 1964 at bottom of the subversion of Kwame Nkrumah's CPP government that eventually resulted in the overthrow of Kwame Nkrumah two (2) years later, heretofore never revealed, are laid to eternal rest. At the center of the essay today are Komla Agbdli Gbedemah and rascal Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia. This incredulous, fact-based essay actually provides records of dates, personalities, locations, purposes, and exact amounts of money stolen, transferred, paid, by whom to whom. Even more significantly, the reader learns the reasons the British and American governments, in the "persons" of their powerful and professional spying agencies, used Komla Agbdli Gbedemah and Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia as assets to subvert the independence of Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana, to bring down Kwame Nkrumah, to achieve goals in their own national interests unbeknownst to Ghanaians, then, and even now, and why. (When the essay ends, Komla Gbedemah and Kofi Abrefa Busia have absconded Ghana). THIS IS FIRST IN THE SERIES ABOUT ONE OF THE MOST ASTOUNDING CAPERS THAT HAS NEVER BEEN TOLD TO GHANAIANS, GHANA SUPPORTERS, AND AFRICANS. THAT IS, UNTIL TODAY! "THE TRUTH ABOUT KOMLA GBEDEMAH BY A NON-GHANAIAN INTELLECTUAL" was published in 1964 and obtained recently through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, among other records, in the United States. The article will be published in its entirety on this and other Africa-interest media, to include www.GhanaHero.Com, where the essay will be posted following its publication in the parts. READ............ WINNEBA, GHANA DECEMBER 1964 "Komla Gbedemah, former Finance Minister, (then) at large (in 1964), embezzled a total of 10,000,000, of public funds during his term of office. As an agent of the American Central Intelligence Agency, Gbedemah planned for the launching of a coup d'etat with Busia's defunct United Party and has been in link with reactionary elements outside Ghana. A pamphlet first published in French and translated into English makes these and many more startling revelations. The name of the writer, a non-Ghanaian intellectual, has been kept secret for security reasons. National revolutions are like ocean storms. They throw up towering waves with snowy crests. These are the true revolutionaries, sincere patriots and historic leaders, such as Nasser, Ben Bella and Nkrumah. But they also bring to the surface dirt and debris which a calm sea conceals. These are the flotsam and jetsam of human society, people without ideals or principles, whose only interest in the revolutions is to satisfy their ambition, thirst for power and greed for wealth. More often than not, they end in complete moral debacle and betrayal of the ideals of their people which are alien to them. Unfortunately, like all flotsam and jetsam, they do not sink at once. These people are very dangerous because they are difficult to expose. A man's head is not a pawpaw fruit. One cannot break it to see the thoughts inside it. And such people hide their thoughts behind the front of lofty words. They, more than others shout about freedom, indepen-dence, the well-being of the people and even the struggle against colonialism. In words they defend socialism while in deeds they are out to consoli-date the positions of reaction, and strengthen their personal well-being. They never act in the open. Once they are exposed, they flee abroad, where they throw off the mask: they send agents to their country, hatch plots, and commit other acts of terrorism. And all that for money and power, for power and money. This pamphlet deals with one of such traitors to the national cause. THE FALSE IMPRESSION: He has simple and charming manners and can win friends amongst whoever he talks to by his ability to listen very attentively without inter-rupting his interlocutor or forcing on the latter his own opinions. When you meet him for the first time you gain an impression that Mr. Gbedemah is a frank person with gentle manners, with almost correct features, and an upright bearing. Only an experienced and attentive eye will see that for a modicum of time his face suddenly changes and cunning and treachery, evil and contempt run through it. But that only for a fraction of a second and then again-the sweet smile, politeness and even kindness emanate from this man who has become the leader of the plot against the Republic of Ghana. POLITICAL BUSINESS: Gbedemah has never been marked for any mental ability. From early childhood he had been imbibing the odour medicines and heard pharma-ceutical talk (his father was an apothecary in Nigeria). However, Komla Agbdli Gbedemah failed at the entrance examination at a medical school where he tried to go after graduating from the Achimota College. So he chose the field less complicated than science. He founded a candy factory with the assistance of his father. He was far more successful in this field. However, the rising profits whetted the appetite of the young capitalist and he felt a longing for big business. After establishing contacts with business circles he went with their help into lumber trade and railway shipments in the Gold Coast. Gbedemah did not lack political feeling. When the nationalist movement at the Gold Coast became stronger Gbedemah understood that this movement could be used for his own purpose. By the time Dr. Nkrumah arrived in Accra in December, 1947, Gbedemah was already an active member of the youth movement and a trusted man amongst the nationalists. It was extremely import-ant for him to become a ""trusted man "" since this is a basis for any shameless career-seeker and grabber. Rather by feeling than by understanding Gbedemah realised that Nkrumah was the most probable premier of the Gold Coast, and he went out of his way to become close to him. He was very helpful in establishing the Accra Evening News paper, arranged meetings of the nationalist youth in his flat and even supported Nkrumah when the latter criticised the indecisive conduct of the leaders of the United Gold Coast Convention, and founded instead the Convention People's Party. In the new Party Gbedemah became a member of the Central Committee and later the Party's Vice-Chairman. The future seemed so bright to Gbedemah that he sold his business and invested quite a tidy sum in one of the Geneva banks. He saw himself as at least holding the post of Vice-Premier in the future government of the Gold Coast and began to look for contacts among British representatives drop-ping very transparent hints to the effect that quite soon they might be dealing with him as a member of the future Cabinet and a man who is a smooth operator in every respect. "" THE PRISON GRADUATE "": The British are good experts at planting their agents' in the governments of other countries.........//....". .........//....". To be continued..... VISIT WWW.GHANAHERO.COM/VISIONS, FOR MO' INFORMATION: FOIB - Freedom of Information Bill (FOIB/FOI/Ghana), Ask for it! ( http://ghanahero.com/FOIB.html ). SUBJ: Greedy Komla Agbdli Gbedemah and his rascal side-kick Kofi Abrefa Busia!, re-post of "THE TRUTH ABOUT KOMLA GBEDEMAH BY A NON-GHANAIAN INTELLECTUAL", and commentary by Prof Lungu. Support Fair-Trade Oil Share Ghana (FTOS-Gh) Campaign/Petition: https://www.change.org/p/ghana-fair-trade-oil-share-psa-campaign-ftos-gh-psa/ . Brought to you courtesy www.GhanaHero.com20 Jan 17. (Powered by: www.GhanaHero.Com). In my last article on the definitiveness of the impending end of the Nigerian State titled The Tragedy of Nigeria and Lord Dennings Analogy, I had posited that the challenges of Nigeria could not be looked at ordinarily. There has to be the need to look at Project Nigeria from several perspectives in the effort to find a lasting solution to its redemption and revitalization, if there were a possibility or feasibility for such anyway. As a country that I used to love and in which I had invested much hope, I have spent approximately 25 of the last 29 to 30 years seeking for ways that reasonable minds could and would accept as the means out for Nigeria to be extricated from self-bondage and the forces that hold it captive. In that article, I had written inter alia: When you reach into History, anthropology, political science, social science (or sociology), religious studies, elements of psychiatry laced with a modicum of psychoanalysis, or as Professor Tam David West once did brilliantly, using the basics of chemistry to explain the Nigerian corrugated existence and its inevitable end, people are surprisingly unable to grasp what is being talked about. In fact and indeed, when you even dive into spirituality to explain that Nigeria will eventually meet its destiny by breaking up, many are still in intellectual limbo and manifest scary lack of discernment. But in this piece, the focus is on the spiritual explorations for solutions to the evil that Nigeria has become. This piece is an explanation of my conclusion that Nigeria is impossibility. Or an explanation of the spiritual evidence that God is opposed to the existence of Nigeria as a single entity. The reason why this perspective has to be explained is that almost all of our peoples are of faith of whatever genre. The issue of faith is more encapsulating than any other and it is the reason why I feel that it deserves to be separately discussed. Nigerians are prayer warriors. They believe in Gods omnipotence and omnipresence. They believe in the impartiality of God regardless of the type of faith they practice. They believe in Him as the supreme judge of all human actions. In brief, for all things to be manifestly successful, it must have the stamp of approval of God. And when God says no, no one can say yes. Everyone of deep faith shares this fundamental concept on the power of God. Since October 1, 1960, Nigerians have been praying for this country. The more they pray, the worse things get. Again, I repeat, the more Nigerians prayed and the more they are praying, the worse things get. The question now is why? Is God not there on His throne? Or is He deaf? Why is God unable to help Nigeria after over 56 years of fervent prayers and devout fasting? Have the prayers of the righteous not avail for the rest of us sinners? What exactly is the problem? Despite being such prayer warriors, why has God ignored the supplications of Nigerians for Nigeria in the last 56 years? Why has Nigeria gone from prosperity to being permeated with penury? Why have things gone from fair to bad and from bad to worse and still progressively degenerating in geometrical rather than arithmetical manner? Why is God seemingly unconcerned no more about Nigeria? Why has He turned His back to all the prayers of 56 years and still on going? Why? What is clear going through the trajectory of Nigeria as a country since 1960 is that at a point, God has decided to turn His back at Nigeria. It is difficult for me to pinpoint exactly when this happened. But those gifted with the spirit know that God does not reside in an environment riddled with sin. This is especially so, when the sinners are contemptuous of God, remorseless and are certified as congenital offenders. With their behaviors, they tell God to His face, repeatedly, time after time and without any second thought, to go to hell! Such a patient God, how much grace would He give to Nigerians? How many numerous chances would God give to a country founded against His will ab initio and its purveyors who unconscionably and incorrigibly revel in sin endlessly? Yes, we all know that God is merciful. He covers us with His grace numerous times. He is a patient God that gives many chances. This is because in the Book of Ezekiel Chapter 18, Verse 23, God makes it clear that he does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked but for him to repent his ways. This is also repeated in Verse 32 of the same book. But the repeated commission of sins by the Nigerian State and its purveyors is tantamount to testing God which the Bible spoke against in the books of Luke Chapter4, Verse 12; Matthew Chapter 4, Verse 7 as well as Deutoronomy Chapter 6, verse 16. With the repetitive commission of sins, God has no choice but to turn His back to Nigeria. We all have to remember the message in Psalm 127, verses 1 and 2 where it is written as follows: 1 Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. 2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil... This message is very clear and unambiguous. It is not cloudy nor is it confusing. It is not convoluted or complicated. It is simple and straight forward for any man of average intelligence to comprehend. Since God has turned His back at Nigeria things have never been at ease. God has been rejecting the worship of Nigerians, their offerings and supplications on behalf of Nigeria and everyone knows that when God is removed from any situation, that is the end of such a venture. All those who have been laboring to build Nigeria are doing so in vain and would continue to do so in vain because God is no longer interested in having Nigeria remain as one country. The Nations held captive within Nigeria shall be set free. That is the promise of God. It is the destiny of Nigeria. And The Bible is very crystal clear about the ability it shall come to pass. It is beyond argument that it is not difficult for God to rescue when He desires to do so after such a person or a community or a Nation or a country has met the conditions set by God, at least minimally, for He is a gracious and merciful God. In the book of Isaiah, Chapter 59: Verses 1-4, God says the following: 1 Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. 4 None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. A dissection of the above four verses underscores the fact that Nigerians chased away God from Nigeria with their evil handiwork. God was willing to help out Nigeria. He was willing to show mercy and grace. But Nigeria rejected what He has got to offer. Our iniquities have separated us from God Almighty and our sins have hid his face from us that He is no longer willing to listen to our prayers. The hands of Nigerias elites in all sections - from politics to business - are defiled with blood and their fingers with iniquity. The lips of the purveyors of the Nigerian State have spoken lies and their tongues hath muttered perverseness. The Nigerian state has outlived its usefulness in the eyes of God and in the hearts of its peoples. The various Nations shackled within the Evil Nigerian State are seeking ways to escape the wicked machinations of its wicked political class and its extensions in business, in judiciary, in journalism, in Armed Forces and the Police among many others. The purveyors and advocates of ONE NIGERIA are sadists who take joy in holding others in bondage. They are slave masters who should be resisted by all and every means. They are wicked, cruel, mean and do not deserve any benefit of the doubt. Readers should look around themselves and judge the extent of the wickedness of the political class and its sentries. All these champions of ONE NIGERIA or UNITY OF NIGERIA are mean-spirited human beings, heartless slave masters, beneficiaries of fraud and corruption, who want to hold the Nations in Nigeria in perpetual chain. The fourth verse of the above quote pinpoints that despite the killing of children, women and thousands of innocent souls across the land, the purveyors of the evil Nigerian State could not stand up for the people. From amongst them None calleth for justice for the Yoruba people burnt alive in Ketu, Lagos; or the Ekiti farmers slaughtered on their land; or the Oyo farmers killed in their homes; or the massacred Agatu people; or the Birom; or the Southern Kaduna people or the IPOB and other Biafran agitators. That fourth verse also insists that neither has any pleadeth for truth among the purveyors of the EVIL NIGERIAN STATE. How many of them have you heard solidarising with Omoyele Sowore, or Dapo Olorunyomi? How many of them have you heard saying anything about the killing of Christians and other innocent souls across the North, the East, the West and the South? It does not matter that among the purveyors of the evil Nigerian State, there are Christians, General Overseers, Bishops, Reverends, Pastors all of whom are beneficiaries of evil and wickedness; beneficiaries from the miseries and the agonies of the people. They all preach peace while their followers are being slaughtered in manners and forms that even goats could not and should not be slaughtered. Their hearts are wicked as they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. It does follow that sins of the evil Nigerian State and its wicked and cruel champions yelling ONE NIGERIA would not allow the blessing of God manifest in the life of the country. As the Book of Romans in Chapter 6 Verses 1 and 2 reiterated in the following words: 1. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? The meaning of the above lines is simple. Nigeria cannot be in sin and continue to expect the blessings of God. It does not work like that. Nigeria and its purveyors either renounce sins (which seems too late at this point), show remorse so that God and His blessing could abide. But there is no doubt that the evil Nigerian State and its beneficiaries championing fake unity would continue its journey towards the path of perdition and its eventual dismantlement into different Nations beloved by God Almighty. Apart from chasing away God from evil Nigeria with the sins of its purveyors, the act of putting all these Nations in one country is against the rule of God. Unknown to many, God is Nature and Nature is God. When you cheat Nature, you cheat God. But we all have come to the realization that you cannot cheat Nature and by extension, God. The laws of Nature are the laws of God and the laws of God are the laws of Nature. God has a reason for creating all animals in their various habitats including human beings. The attempt of man to turn this upside down has resulted in wars, famine, deaths and unspeakable calamities. The Yoruba, Tiv, Kanuri, Birom, Igbo, Edo, Ibiobio, Mumuye, Kataf, Ogoni, Hausa Fulani and several other peoples of several Nations shackled to the misery of Nigeria, other than being human beings and omnivorous creatures have nothing in common. They have different cultures, traditions, philosophical world views, languages and aspirations. They evolved different political systems borne out of their uniquely different experiences. It is why they would never understand each other. It is why Nigeria would never work. It is against the order of Nature and the commands of God. It is why Nigeria will break up. God set different peoples within their borders. There is a reason why God did this. In the Act of Apostles, Chapter 17: verse 26, it iswritten as follows: And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and THE BOUNDS OF THEIR HABITATION. (emphasis mine). Yes, the bounds of their habitation. Every ethnic nation is in the comfort of its homeland. It is important to understand that because the dove, the hen and the hawk all have feathers does not mean they are the same. They are all birds. But they are translucently different from each other. The same applies to all the Nations subjugated to the evil Nigerian state. We all belong to different Nations and do not belong to the same country. And it is very evident that we do not want to belong to the same country in accordance to the rule and wish of God Al mighty. This is because God said through the Psalmist in Chapter 74: Verse17 that He hast set all the borders of the earth.. In the Book of Romans, Chapter 10, Verse 11, God commanded prophesies before peoples of many Nations and not Countries. He spoke of people of different tongues and kings. In Nigeria, it is estimated that there are more than 350 ethnic nationalities with distinct languages and cultures. Why must they all be lumped together except in slavery and subjugation. If they have to be together, then it has to be their decision. Let there be plebiscites locally organized in each Nation to see if they want to surrender their independence to an evil State like Nigeria or not. In Romans Chapter 15, verse 4, this position of the Lord, God Almighty was confirmed when it is posited that ..all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest. The Bible did not speak of countries but Nations such as the Edo Nation, the Kanuri Nation, the Ogoni Nation, the Agatu Nation, the Igbo Nation, the Mumuye Nation, the Oodua Nation, the Kataf Nation, the Birom Nation and several other nations tied to the aprons of misery and woes as represented by Nigeria and daily advocated by its sadistic purveyors. In Revelation Chapter 7, verse 9, it is also written as follows: After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands We should all henceforth seek to contradict the commands of God. We should immediately seeking to rob and cheat Nature. Nigeria would not remain a single unit. It does not matter how much the thieves, the slave masters, the pen robbers, the beneficiaries of corruption and unjust system represented by Nigeria shouts ONE NIGERIA and sing the mantra of UNITY, Nigeria will meet its God appointed destiny of Balkanisation, My people will be free. Oodua shall be free. Biafra shall be free. The Niger Delta shall be free. The Tiv shall be free. The much maligned Kataf of Southern Kaduna shall be free. The oppressed Agatu shall be free. All those who desire freedom from the miasma and injustice of Nigeria shall be free. It is Gods promise. And no single word of God shall go unfulfilled as stated in Matthew 24 verse 35; Luke 21 verse 23 and Isaiah 55, verse11. In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility I welcome it. - John F. Kennedy, in his Inaugural Address January 20, 1961 Please follow me on Twitter: @OyeyemiRemi 22.01.2017 LISTEN Ghana, unlike some African countries (Gambia, Cote d'Ivory, Kenya, etc), post election violence are not associated with the results declared by the Electoral Commission rather, sympathizers of the winning party taking over offices and state owned property. In some instances, tangible reasons are given to justify the takeover while in other instances, intangible reasons are given. The slow pace of the Transition process and the delay by government appointees to handover both the formal and non-formal governmental institutions are the major factors that push party sympathizers to go gaga by snatching and ceasing State property as well as taking over or locking some offices. The Transition period is the most deadly period in Ghana's democratic dispensation. It is this period that the outgoing administration and its members use to amass state property and position the State specifically to sabotage the incoming administration. For instance, between December 8, 2016 to January 6, 2017, it is said that the outgoing Mahama's government employed over 11,000 people (junior and senior staff) without due procedures. It is good for a government to employ but it is rational to ask why the government didn't employ before the election if the capacity was there? Within this same Transition period, the Mahama's government decided to increase workers salary and the National service allowance as well as signing the scary 18 million waste management contract. There were reports (alleged) of burning of documents in some offices alongside looting display by some government appointees especially those at NADMO, GHPA just to mention few. It was within the transition period that President Mahama unpatriotically requested to be given the official residence of the Vice President as his "take home package". Similarly, the erstwhile Kuffour's administration is said to have signed last hour contracts and the Single Spine Salary policy which to the then incoming Mills administration, it was a blow in a suit. The diabolic attitude of the outgoing administration(s) is what triggers consciousness therefore gingering the sympathizers of the incoming administration to go on rampage to cease and prevent some people (especially appointees of the outgoing government) from entering some offices. Some people (sympathizers of the incoming administration) believe that by taking over some offices and among others, they are protecting State property. It is a constitutional duty of every citizen to protect State property hence must be commended. However, there are others who engage in the act having in mind "our party is in power". That reason is intangible and must be condemned. It is a good idea to advise politicians and partisan appointees to desist from their usual last-minute attitude of squandering and diverting State property to their private ownerships. However, no matter how descent a group is, there will still be some recalcitrants among. For this reason, no matter how the State educates the citizens, no matter the political education given to party sympathizers, no matter how strict the security agencies may be and no matter the "order and calm calling" by party leaders, the effort to eliminate post elections takeover will be in vain. The ramification of this inner bleakness looks monotonous and dejected. Ghana considers itself as the most matured democratic nation in the African continent. However, the post election takeover comes with much discomfiture. The proliferation of post election takeover has become albatross on the State. Smoking the peace pipe on this canker goes with much alacrity rather than vaunting. To actualize the quest of obliterating post election takeover out of our democratic system, the ruling party (government) must conjoin with the opposition parties to agree on idyllic transition process preferable to the usual one month grace period given by the constitution. The constitution is said to be subjected to vicissitudes. Nana Ofori Kissi Ratina Anti-Corruption Crusader 22.01.2017 LISTEN The founder of Vision 16, Hajia Moda Moshi, has called on Ghanaians to extend their spirit of patriotism by joining hands in a united front to help the administration of New Patriotic Party (NPP). She made this appeal during a get-together thanksgiving party at Mamobi in Accra to mark the victory of the NPP during the recent election. The time of political campaigns is over but what we can all do as good Ghanaian is to come together as one nation to support government to achieve the good programmes the administration has for the country we all love she said. Hajia Moda stressed that, with hard work and self-discipline by every citizen of Ghana, she has no doubt that Ghana would be a better place under the leadership of Nana Akufo Addo. The event was marked by the recitation of the Holy Quran to thank Allah for the partys electoral success. The Minister designate for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta has disclosed that he is not sure the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has in its manifesto promise to settle aggrieved DKM customers in the first hundred days. Taking his turn before the Vetting Committee of Parliament, the Finance Minister designate also said the Akufo Addo led NPP government through the Bank of Ghana will put stringent measures in place to check illegal Microfinance companies operating in the country. According to him, he is not privy to that promise, and Im not sure the NPP has in its manifesto to settle all DKM customers. Mr. Ken Ofori Atta made the comments when he appeared before the vetting committee of parliament Friday. The investment banker in his submission told the Appointment Committee that, there are 365 Zongos (slums inhabited by mainly people of northern extraction and Muslims in the inner cities and the NPP government has targeted seeding the Zongo Development Fund with $50million, to improve conditions at the various Zongos The Akufo-Addo government intends ensuring that inhabitants of Zongos get their economic circumstances improved since they deserve a minimum threshold of livability. He also held a strong view that, his government was focused on raising living standards so all Ghanaians can attest to the partys keen interest in education and national health for all citizens. According to him, education plays a crucial part of the governments agenda for economic growth and development and, therefore, the teacher who improves the human resource capacity of the country will not be shortchanged under his authority as Finance Minister. The economist also pointed out that the issue of paying taxes is something we all need to do as citizens and it is important that we all understand the importance of citizen growth. Mr Ken Ofori-Atta refuted suggestions that widening the tax base of the country will make the poor poorer while the rich get richer, adding that focusing on a broader tax net to raise more revenue at a lower tax rate is preferred to higher taxes focused on a narrow group of entities. 22.01.2017 LISTEN The Nigerian Humanist Movement (NHM) was founded in 1996 and the main goal was to provide an alternative to religion and a sense of community to non-religious and non-theistic persons. This was a period when the country was under military dictatorship and human rights abuses were rampant. Fear and uncertainty reigned during General Abachas military regime and provided subsoil for the spread of religion and superstition. This situation called for the urgency of an outlook that emphasized individual liberty and tolerance, reason and critical thinking, and other skeptical and secular values. NHM came into being to serve this purpose and fulfill this need. The movement started by reaching out to people of like minds through its newsletter, the Humanist Concern, later the Humanist Inquirer and then the Nigerian Humanist. The initial contacts were mainly lecturers and students in Imo, Lagos, Edo and Oyo states. The pioneer members were mainly philosophy teachers and students or youths who were curious and wanted to know more about humanism. From 1998, NHM started organizing meetings and talks at the University of Ibadan. Some of those who made presentations at these talks included late Prof Olusegun Oladipo and Prof Niyi Osundare. Through its newsletters, the movement highlighted issues such as ritual killing, landmines, child labor and exploitation, witchcraft accusations, and religious extremism. There was a lot of debate on whether atheism or humanism was the appropriate label for non-religious and non-theistic persons. Due to the stigma that was associated with atheism, many attendees then did not feel comfortable with the label of atheism. To build the organization and improve its operational capacity, I affiliated NHM with various international groups. I represented NHM at the World Humanist Congress in India in 1999 and shortly after the event; the movement joined the world humanist body, the International Humanist and Ethical Union, (IHEU) in London. NHM remains a member of this body till date. In 2001, NHM, with the support of the Council for Secular Humanism, organized the first international humanist conference in sub-Saharan Africa. The conference was held in Ibadan in South west Nigeria. Shortly after the event, the Center for inquiry-Nigeria was established. NHM worked closely with African American for Humanism, which was a CFI branch, and other affiliates of the organization. In 2002, NHM joined the Atheist Alliance International. With very limited financial membership, these affiliations provided resources for the growth and administration of the movement. Occasional funding from these umbrella organizations helped defray the costs of conventions, lectures and meetings in Ibadan, Calabar, Ikenne, Lagos, Benin, Port Harcourt, Owerri, Uyo, Abuja and the formation of campus groups and state humanist chapters. Humanist delegates from across the nation attended these events including freethinkers and atheists from northern states such as Kano, Benue, Bauchi, and Plateau. For so many years, the movement used the postal system, which was slow and unreliable to coordinate its membership and activities. However, the advent of the Internet revolutionized the way humanism was organized because the virtual space became a vital resource for humanists to connect, meet and interact with each other. Humanists and other non-theists from different states in the country and beyond are now part of the group on face book . Though there is a growing online presence of other free thought initiatives, the groups in Lagos, Abuja, and Jos in Plateau state have been very active and have organized separate events. In fact, one of the NHM affiliates, the Humanist Assembly of Lagos will be hosting the African Youth Humanist Day event this year. Some of the NHM affiliates network on what apps, twitter or facebook. The digital age looks promising for humanism in Nigeria. In addition, NHM has been a trailblazer in administering ceremonies. The movement organized a humanist funeral for its late Chair, Eze Ebisike who died in 2013. Equally, I conducted in 2014 the humanist wedding for Becca and Charles, who were active members of the Abuja group when they were living in Nigeria. NHM members and affiliates campaigned for the release of Bala Mubarak, an ex-Muslim who was consigned to a mental hospital in Kano after he renounced the Islamic faith. The movement has in the past two decades worked to provide support to victims of ritual killing in Owerri, to alleged witches in Uyo and Calabar, as well as victims of caste discrimination in southeastern Nigeria. NHM lobbied against the anti-gay marriage bill that former president, Goodluck Jonathan later signed into law. In the past 20 years, NHM has recorded significant achievements. Thanks to the movements campaigns and activities, increasing number of non-religious and non-theistic Nigerians have been going open and public with their humanist identity. Real and virtual active members have been increasing in number. Nonetheless, these achievements could possibly not come without any challenges. In Muslim majority states, openly identifying as an atheist remains a dangerous undertaking. Blasphemy and apostasy are crimes punishable by death. Free thought views and commentaries are easily construed as forms of blasphemy, or as insulting Muhammed, Islam or Allah. For those who live under sharia law, freedom from religion is still a human right that dares not mention its name. In addition, limited funding made it difficult to sustain many of our campaigns and programs. NHM was unable to extend support to many victims of religion or superstition based abuses. The refusal by Nigerian authorities to register NHM and the attack by Helen Ukpabio and her Liberty Gospel church members, including the court litigation which they brought against me highlighted the risks and difficulties in organizing humanism in a country where some persons have vested interests in religion and superstition. Despite the challenges that NHM faced in the last 20 years, the future is bright and promising. Notwithstanding the pervasiveness of religiosity in the country, the threat of Boko Haram and violent extremism, there are prospects for humanism and free thought in Nigeria. And NHM is poised to take humanism to the next level in the coming years. In the next two decades, NHM and its affiliates plan to step up its work and campaigns in all the 36 states including Abuja to ensure that all Nigerians who seek an alternative to religious dogma and superstition find it. The movement will strengthen the mechanism to support ex-muslims and other non-theistic persons who live in muslim majority states. Promotion of freedom of religion or belief will be high on the agenda with emphasis on freedom from religion. NHM will revive its campus free thought movement and support the establishment of freethinking or critical thinking clubs on all campuses across the country. Nigeria needs secular student groups to promote secular values and ideas on campuses. The provision of a sense of community to all non-theistic Nigerians will be a priority and the movement will ensure that humanist ceremonies are conducted for all non-theists who desire such celebrations. NHM will strive to extend humanist solidarity to all who suffer due to dogma and irrationalism. Equal treatment of all Nigerians, including those who profess a religion or none, will be vigorously pursued. The movement will continue to support the rights of religious and philosophical minorities in the country such as the Shiites and other Muslim minorities in northern or southern Nigeria. NHM will continue to campaign for the abolition of blasphemy and apostasy laws and ensure that those who renounce their faith or those who make critical comments about any religion or any prophet are not treated as criminals. The movement will not relent on its campaign against blasphemy killings and its efforts to ensure justice for victims in Niger, Kano and Zamfara, including muslims who were jailed or sentenced to death in Kano. The humanist movement maintains that blasphemy and apostasy are human rights and laws against such practices should be abolished. In the same vein, NHM will advocate for the repeal of the anti-gay marriage law so that gays in the country are no longer treated as criminals and nobody is punished for whom they love. Challenging religious privilege will receive attention in the coming years with an emphasis on Christianity and Islam. Privileging Islam is the norm in Muslim-majority states. The Quran is regarded as superior to the constitution, and sharia over rules secular state laws. Such violations will be opposed. The use of Islam to justify discrimination against non-Muslims, women and children, the perpetration of gender inequity and injustice, and the criminalization of homosexuality will be excoriated. NHM will continue to highlight the unconstitutionality of state sponsorship of pilgrimages and the use of state funds to construct mosques, and reward those who convert to Islam. The movement will fight for the recognition of the reproductive rights of women and the abolition of child marriages. The movement will commit its resources to promoting intellectual awakening, renaissance and enlightenment and to campaigning for the realization of a free, secular and tolerant Nigeria, as we look forward to another 20 years of exuberant humanism in one of the most religious nations in the world! Leo Igwe is the founder of the Nigerian Humanist Movement 22.01.2017 LISTEN While the new cold war is taking its momentum, the world community is gradually forgetting other pressing issues; such as human rights, right to labor, human dignity and respect. Of course, the national and international corporations hereby play a major role when comes to respect and observance of social and labour rights. Even at the Geneva-based world standard-setting organization, that of ILO (International Labor Organization), corporation have a strong say. What is the degree of due diligence deployed by corporations today? Does the corporate world comply with the law and standards of business conduct, transparency of business operations? And importantly does the private sector respect standards of international humanitarian law, especially in situations of armed conflicts and the so-called forgotten conflicts? Places where open hostilities have ceased, but yet peace has never really come. Notably, does the corporate world comply with the set of important international standards such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights or the OECD Guidelines for multinational corporations, to name just a few? Could we go as far as to claim that in some cases the private corporate entities play a decisive role in funding, enabling and facilitating permanent changes in economic, demographic and cultural character of the occupied territories? And if so, does it serve, to say, dual purpose: a corporate gain and a prolongation of the occupation on the given territory? To understand the gravity of that problem, let take as an example conditions in Caucasus a typical case of the forgotten conflict region where war stopped, still peace has never arrived. Armenian companies, as well as foreign (mostly diaspora controlled, such as the Lebanon-based Artsakh Roots Investment; the US-based Tufenkian Foundation; Armenian General Benevolent Union /AGBU/; Cherchian Family Foundation, etc.) businesses play a decisive role in funding, enabling and facilitating permanent changes in economic (including fiscal and monetary), demographic and cultural character of the occupied territories both for private gain and for supporting the prolongation of the occupation of these territories. Over the past years, the well-orchestrated transfer of Armenian settlers from Armenia and elsewhere into the contested territories (via e.g. Hayastan All-Armenian Fund), including the areas adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh, in particular the districts of Lachyn, Kalbajar, Gubadly, Zangilan and Jabrayil, has continued with accelerated pace. To worsen the things, fishing of the human souls exploits an epic human tragedy of Syria and its people: The shadowy Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) is deceiving Syrian Armenians with an instant-better life promise if they relocate from e.g. Qamishli and Aleppo cities in Syria to Caucasus and its occupied territories (e.g. Zangilan, Gubadly and Lachyn districts). Nearly a mass-manipulation replica of the famous call to Bosnian Croatians from Zagreb to settle the former Serb inhabited and ethnically cleansed territories of Croatia. This is of course, a direct criminal meddling into the domestic matters of two sovereign states. Armenia, directly or via its corporate proxies, continues permanent energy, agriculture, social, residential and transport infrastructure changes in the occupied territories. This is increased and prioritized as to change the demographic character once for good: That of course includes the construction of irrigation networks, water-canalization, roads, power-grids and other vital economic and social facilities. (Several international reports, conducted independently by different FORAs, repeatedly confirmed that property of IDPs has been appropriated. E.g. that empty houses of Azerbaijani internally displaced persons were often dismantled for use as construction materials or that new houses are being built on their lands and properties.) Armenia exercises pervasive control over the entire economic and commercial system in the contested territories, including inbound and outbound trade flows and economic resources. Tacit presence of the international companies is rather interesting: there are hundreds of various types of US-manufactured Caterpillar machines, farm tractors and equipment of US-based John Deere and Germanys Deutz-Fahr companies, South Korean Hyundai trucks, Belarus MT3-82,3 model farm tractors, as well as other heavy machinery for illegal mining, agriculture, expansion of settlements and construction of the supporting infrastructure. The true ownership for most of those companies remains unclear, as oftentimes registered offshore in Cyprus, Liechtenstein and the like. Often their funding is channeled through the branches of Armenian banks operating in the occupied territories and conducting international financial transactions via intermediary banks in Russia, EU and elsewhere. Further on, a numerous foreign retailers, from Ukraine, the US and the EU states (particularly from France, Bulgaria, Hungary, Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands), as well as from Australia and UAE, have concluded their supply contracts with Armenian companies. That, of course, makes them complicit with Armenias occupation of the territories, drain of resources, expansion of illegal settlements as well as with a violation of fundamental rights of IDPs. Little wonder, since Armenias high-ranking officials, including President Sargsyan, PM Abrahamyan and other ministers, routinely visit the occupied territories and inspect production facilities there. To camouflage the illegal nature of production there, Armenian agricultural and liquors export companies (e.g. Stepanakert Brandy Factory and Artsakh Fruit CJSC) routinely mislabel the products wholly or partially produced or packed in the occupied territories as originating from Armenia, thus misleading governments, international retailers and consumers. The agricultural lands in the contested territories along the Araz River (Zangilan and Jabrayil districts, too) have been illegally appropriated and extensively exploited by Armenia. This poses a stress on natural water flows (for consummation, irrigation or opportunity for an illegal electricity generation) and soil (overuse of arable lands and monoculture cropping) which, in return, alters micro climate and jeopardizes the biota and human existence (e.g. Armenias Arm Water Project Company Ltd. in the Araz Valley). Dismantling of infrastructure (metals, pipes, bricks and other construction materials) from the ruins of demolished Azerbaijani households and public buildings was previously conducted more sporadic. However, the currently examined cases show that it becomes more organized system of pillage with a clear foreign involvement. Mining of the precious minerals and metals is one of the main enterprises in the occupied territories. E.g. Gyzylbulag underground copper-gold mine (wholly owned subsidiary of Armenias Vallex Group CJSC, registered in Liechtenstein), led to its almost complete depletion. Similar faith is of Demirli open-pit copper and molybdenum mine. In 2014, Gold Star CJSC reportedly started exploitation of gold near Vejnali village (occupied Zangilan district of Azerbaijan). Since 2007, GPM Gold, a subsidiary of Russia-based GeoProMining Ltd., has been extracting ore in Soyudlu gold mine in the occupied Kalbajar district. There is an illegal traffic in natural resources across the occupied section of the international border between Azerbaijan and Armenia that is controlled by the armed forces of Armenia via Armenia constructed Vardenis-Aghdara highway. The Government of Armenia, via its Energy Ministry, is directly operating: The ore concentrate from Gyzylbulag is transported to Armenia, where it is further processed into gold containing copper and exported to international markets, mainly to Europe. Armenia is also extracting coal from the mine near Chardagly village in the occupied part of the Tartar district to supply the power plant in Yerevan, Armenia. There is a clear correlation between the business and the political status quo. Hence, it is safe to conclude that the prolong occupation directly translates into more mineral, agricultural, water resources and other wealth for the neighboring government and gloomy international business. Demographic engineering is a key here, and is of course done by conflicting the fundamental human rights and norms of humanitarian law, including those of IDPs. In its epilogue, a clandestine population-reshuffle coupled with illegal economic activities on the contested territories produces the notorious blood diamonds: socio-political status-quo, demographic inversion, and extension of the armed conflict. Is there anything larger than a problem of such a huge gravity for the resident population? Of course, there is. Our silence about it ! About the author : Aleksandra Krstic, studied in Belgrade (Political Science) and in Moscow (Plekhanovs IBS). Currently, a post-doctoral researcher at the Kent University in Brussels (Intl. Relations). Specialist for the MENA-Balkans frozen and controlled conflicts. Contact: alex-alex(at)gmail.com The Attorney General and Minister of Justice nominee, Gloria Akuffo, has said that although she cannot be categorical on timelines for the recovery of monies lost through the payment of judgement debts, all such cases would be reviewed. Speaking during her vetting at Parliament House on Saturday, Gloria Akuffo however noted that, she will expedite work on recovering such monies. Mr. Chairman, as I understand it, judgement has been entered for the refund of the money. Efforts to recover the money have been inundated with many applications. My understanding is that, the execution process has been stalled with all these processes. I will go to office and look at it. That is why I said that I cannot make categorical undertakings that if you give me approval tomorrow I can retrieve the money because this is a matter which is subject to litigation. I can only say that when I get there, I will study the file and see how quickly we can recover the money. She further stated that, she will review all cases including the one involving businessman, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, when she is approved, saying I will review everything that is on my table. Mr. Woyome, who has been asked by the court to refund an amount of Ghc51 million unlawfully paid him, is yet to repay in full. Speaking on the controversial case, Miss Akuffo said : I will put my best foot forward and when I get to the office I will look at what's best for the office. I'll deal with judgment debt cases Gloria Akuffo Gloria Akufo made a similar promise to deal with judgement debt cases hours after she was nominated by President Nana Addo for the position. Speaking to Citi News earlier after her nomination, Gloria Akuffo promised to deal expeditiously with judgment debt cases when she is finally approved by Parliament. Government owns debt all over the countryWhere we know that there is debt which we cannot contestwe will immediately try to engage and find the money even if we have to reach terms. Sometimes these are left on the books, they are contested in court, sometimes they are not contested, judgment is entered [and] interest is running. I would want to have the complete list. Sometimes we are flying the big cases such as Woyome, but it may turn out, I don't know for certain, that there may be others that are also on the book, I would want to have the list of those, see which ones are contestable and which ones are not to the view of immediately resolving those ones that we cannot contest, and make recommendations for payments, and for those that we have a defense that we need to contest successfully to do so. But it's important that we get to know the full list of what is on the books by way of judgment debt, she added. About Gloria Akuffo Gloria Afua Akuffo is 62 years old. She attended the University of Ghana and obtained a joint degree in Law and Political Science in 1979. She qualified as a lawyer from the Ghana School of Law in 1982 and she has been on the roll of lawyers of the Ghana Bar for 34 years. She started her private practice from Ameyi Chambers, a firm of lawyers, in Accra and was a founding partner of Owusu-Yeboa, Akuffo & Associates. Presently she practices from Blay & Associates. She is an Arbitrator at the Ghana Arbitration Centre and is also on the list of arbitrators of the National Labour Commission. From 2001 to 2004, she served as the first female Deputy Attorney-General of Ghana, the first 2 years of which were under the Attorney General of the time, Nana Akufo-Addo. She was appointed the first female Deputy Greater-Accra Regional Minister in 2005. In 2006, she set up a Ministry of Aviation, having been appointed the first Minister for the sector. She is a Private Legal Practitioner and an Arbitrator. She has two children. By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @EfeAnsah The Progressive People's Party (PPP), has accused the leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), of inflaming tensions following reported incidents of post election disturbances. The PPP, in a statement, said these incidents had taken the shine off the peaceful transition of power following the 2016 elections. It also said the rhetoric coming from the two leading political parties were not good for national cohesion, and a threat to National Security and National Development. In the party's view, recent comments from leading members of both dominant parties NPP and NDC have gone to inflame passions. Instead of calling their supporters to order and working together with the security apparatus to find a solution to the problem, they are rather engaging in intense politicking, and encouraging their supporters to become unruly. We are by this statement sounding a word of caution to the leadership of the two parties especially the NPP because it is in power, to call their supporters to order. Ghana does not belong to NDC or NPP. We should not sit aloof for the two parties to plunge the country into chaos. Find below the full statement Leadership of NPP NDC must act in the interest of the Nation The Progressive People's Party condemns the 2016 post-election violent attacks going on in the country. Ghana has been hailed by the International Community and Civil Society Organizations for organizing a peaceful election, and ensuring a smooth transition from an incumbent President to a newly elected President. As the beacon of hope in Africa, this has consolidated our democratic credentials an enviable feat Ghanaians must pride ourselves in. Indeed, we must hold ourselves in high esteem and should be celebrating this remarkable achievement. Instead, recent unfortunate post-election violent attacks on innocent Ghanaians and state properties appear to take the shine off this remarkable democratic achievement. It is reported that two NDC loyalists have died from post election violence and that such attacks worsened after the new President had been sworn-in on January 7, 2017. Why would the alleged NPP supporters attack their political opponents and vandalize state properties simply because their party has won political power? Why are they engaging in this act of violence when we have engaged law enforcers to protect and safeguard our interests? Amazingly, the recent comments from leading members of both dominant parties NPP and NDC have gone to inflame passions. Instead of calling their supporters to order and working together with the security apparatus to find solution to the problem, they are rather engaging in intense politicking, and encouraging their supporters to become unruly. While the Acting National Chairman of the NPP is reported, rather sadly, to have defended and backed the indecent act of his party supporters as protecting state properties, the National Chairman of the NDC in a press conference absolved the NDC counter attacks, and further advanced the argument that NDC lawbreakers should not be blamed for reprisal attacks emanating from the beastly conduct of the Akufo-Addo invincible forces. We find the intemperate language of these two political leaders unacceptable and unbefitting for National cohesion. Their comments are a threat to National Security and National Development. These worrisome trends socially unconstructive behavior if encouraged, can only reflect the perpetrators assessment of their future economic prospects as uncertain and lead to a belief that Ghana is out of control. This attitude can pose a threat to the development of competence and character among today's youth who may find crime as an alternate source of income that promises greater short-term financial gains than employment. We are by this statement sounding a word of caution to the leadership of the two parties especially the NPP because it is in power, to call their supporters to order. Ghana does not belong to NDC or NPP. We should not sit aloof for the two parties to plunge the country into chaos. As a law abiding political party, we condemn the attacks and call on the security apparatus to bring the perpetrators to book. We commiserate with the victims of the attacks, and assure Ghanaians that the Progressive People's Party will do everything within its powers to help stop this nastiness, if we are to create a just and disciplined society with a passion for excellence. -Signed- Nii Allotey Brew Hammond National Chairman By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana Attorney General and Minister of Justice-designate, Gloria Akuffo, has assured she will work towards the passage of the Intestate Succession Bill if she assumes office. The Intestate Succession Bill lapsed on the floor of the previous Parliament, hence the Intestate Succession PNDC Law 111 of 1985 is still in place. The Intestate Succession Bill was laid before Parliament on November 3, 2009, with the aim of ensuring a more responsive approach to the needs of nuclear families whose parents or spouses die intestate. The Bill is also intended to provide uniform intestate succession that will be applied throughout the country irrespective of the inheritance system of the intestate, and the type of marriage contracted. Speaking at her vetting, Ms. Akuffo acknowledged that this Bill was pertinent to her given that she was unmarried, but with two children. She thus said she would look into the passing of the Bill, with requisite technical backing to ensure its intend backing is not compromised. I will look at it again with technical people there. As I understand, there are many amendments. When there are many amendments it requires that you look at it carefully, otherwise in trying to improve on it, you may miss certain details that may not make it as good as intended. Should I be given approval, it is one of the things that I will look at when I assume office, Ms. Akuffo stated. By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifonline.com/Ghana By Kodjo Adams, GNA Accra, Jan. 20, GNA - The Africa Centre for Economic Policy has called on government to set in motion accelerated programmes to settle the debt of the utilities companies whilst, setting up healthy institutions to manage the delivery of power. The Centre urged government to develop and implement an energy sector financial restructuring and recovery plan with liquidity management mechanisms for the utility companies to resolve the challenges in the energy sector. Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Benjamin Boakye, ACEP Deputy Executive Director said government should let the public know how much has accrued from the energy sector levy which was instituted by the past government and its utilization so far. 'Government should, in that process, let the public know for how long they have to pay the levy so that the relief from payment of the levy can be anticipated and tracked,' he added. Mr Boakye urged government to fulfil its manifesto promise to conduct a technical audit of power sector infrastructure develop and implement a ten year master plan, saying the audit was relevant to ascertain the efficiency and robustness of the power sector infrastructure to serve the need for a stable power supply. The Centre reminded government to fulfil its promise to reduce taxes on electricity tariffs to provide immediate relief to households and industry, stressing that the 17.5 per cent VAT on industrial consumers should as a matter of urgency be removed to improve the cash flow of businesses and their productivity. Mr Boakye advised government to renegotiate expensive power agreement, cancel non-performing ones and adopt competitive procurement processes especially with the terms of the AMERI, Karpower and AKSA contracts. He was of the view that the Centre was convinced that value for money was not achieved in those contracts and appealed to government to fulfil its promise to institute competitive bidding processes for future generation addition to ensure value for money and abolish the current practice of single sourcing all power contracts. Mr Boakye said government, in fulfillment of its promise to increase the proportion of renewable energy in the national energy mix, should clarify the incentives, simplify processes and encourage investment in these technologies to reduce reliance on importation of fuel for power generation. He said the country's energy sector required efficient leadership that could carefully align the energy sector decisions with the rest of the economy. Dr Ishmeal Ackah, Policy Adviser, ACEP said the power sector challenges were far from over regardless of the relative stability in supply to consumers, adding that the additional generation capacity to the grid, has helped to provide power to replace unavailable power from T3 thermal plant, Akosombo and Kpong Hydro Plants, Asogli and others. He however said the other challenges such as financial distress of the utility companies, fuel supply security, high tariff, and suppressed demand, did not only threaten the stability of power supply, but explosion of the economy as a whole. Dr Ackah noted that beyond the fuel supply constraints linked to financial distress of the sector, indigenous supply of gas would also suffer when the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah goes out for maintenance which would affect supply of gas to power plants in the Aboadzi enclave. He said if the country was unable to secure gas supply, power outages would return and that there was the need to ensure availability of Light Crude Oil for the dual fuel plants in the hope that gas from TEN project would be on schedule to keep AMERI running. He noted that electricity tariff in the country was among the highest in the world and the highest in the sub-region, which affected the competitiveness of Ghanaian businesses and consumers in general. 'This was occasioned by the imposition of taxes and levies, and the procurement of expensive generation plants. The effect has been the stagnation of demand and resultant poor industrial growth, which calls for critical examination of the factors affecting tariffs; taxes and expensive generation options, so that some relief can be passed on to consumers,' he noted. GNA Accra, Jan. 20, GNA - The Special Mothers Project, an association of mothers with children who have cerebral palsy on Friday donated GH500 to the Madina Demonstration Unit School. The donation is a symbolic gesture to kick start a fund raising campaign to upgrade the school and to encourage mothers with children with cerebral palsy to patronise the services of the School. Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that affects the movement and sometimes speech of children and is the number one cause of disability in children. Mrs Hannah Awadzi, Initiator of the Special Mothers Project, who presented the money to the Headmistress, said many parents with children who have cerebral palsy struggle to take care of the children in homes as many of the early childhood development centres or crAches rejected them. 'These children face rejection or discrimination in our society; many parents are forced to hide these children. Meanwhile government has launched the inclusive education policy, which among others say that there should be zero rejection for children with special needs. 'Children with cerebral palsy are not useless; we have our own Farida Bedwei, as an example of a Ghanaian lady with cerebral palsy who has achieved a lot,' she added. The Unit school is part of government efforts to help integrate children with special need who are capable into mainstream schools. The Special Mothers project has adopted the School to help upgrade it to a standard where parents will feel comfortable sending their children with cerebral palsy, Mrs Awadzi said. Ms Christine Quartey, Headmistress, said the money would be put to good use. Expressing gratitude to the Special Mothers Project, she called on other organisations to support the unit to serve as an encouragement to parents to special needs children. GNA Accra, Jan. 18, GNA - The Conference of Heads (Proprietors) of Private Second Cycle Schools (CHOPSS) have issued a congratulatory message to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on his resounding victory in the Presidential Election in 2016. In a statement signed by Naphtali Kyei Baffour, the Public Relations Officer of CHOPSS in Accra on Friday, the Conference said the victory was a perfect example of what could be achieved through hard work, determination and commitment to a clear vision. The statement said the Conference was inspired by President Akufo-Addo's " never say die" attitude and his burning desire to rise up to the highest office of the land and to bring his ideas and visions to bear. It said while many would have easily given up, the obstacles he faced only strengthened his passion and commitment to work towards his envisioned Ghana. It said as Ghanaians celebrate these achievements of President Akufo- Addo, Conference also pledges its commitment to productively work hard with the new administration in its bid to create a great atmosphere for private enterprises. "We however wish to use this medium to bring to your attention the fact that most private senior high schools in Ghana are on the verge of collapsing if not completely collapsed," it said. The Conference claimed that certain unfriendly policies of the past years vis-a-vis, the liberalized BECE system that basically eliminates the BECE cut-off point system, thereby pitching Private High Schools in direct but unfair competition with Public High Schools, have been devastating to its members. It said these policies have not only contributed to the fallen standards of education in the country, but have also led to the closure of many Private High Schools leading to loss of jobs and invested capital. It said the Conference look forward to meeting with the Minister of Education to discuss some of these issues and to work towards a common goal of impacting the lives of the next generation of Ghanaians. "As you work to re-shape the educational sector in the country, we pledge our unflinching support to you". "You can count on our ideas and guidance when it comes to the private educational sector of our dear nation," it said. It also said the Association look forward to a true partnership that allows it to play a complementary role in the government's efforts to improve education in Ghana. GNA From Desmond Davies - London London, Jan. 20, GNA - The African Union (AU) has welcomed the move by the outgoing administration of President Barack Obama to remove sanctions against Sudan. The White House said that this would take effect in six months if the regime of President Omar al-Bashir improved human rights in the country and reduced conflict in Darfur. The Chairperson of the AU Commission, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, said the US move 'will allow Sudan to re-engage in international trade and end the suffering of its people'. The AU had been pushing recently for America's 20-year sanctions regime to be lifted, and in January last year heads of state issued a declaration calling for such an action. Mrs Dlamini-Zuma expressed the hope that the incoming administration of Donald Trump 'will consider permanent revocation of the sanctionsand further work towards granting debt relief to the Republic of Sudan, so that the country can begin a new chapter of economic reconstruction and prosperity'. She called on the Sudanese government and armed movements to 'urgently return to the negotiation table with a more conciliatory approach towards resolving their political differences in the interest of the people of Sudan'. Mrs Dlamini-Zuma urged 'all parties to cooperate fully with the efforts of the AU High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) to reach a Cessation of Hostilities Agreement and a Permanent Ceasefire and participate in an inclusive political process, which will guarantee the Sudanese people the long awaited peace'. The Sudanese government has also welcomed America's action, with the Foreign Ministry in Khartoum saying it represented 'a positivedevelopment' in the relationship between both countries. In 1993, the US government designated Sudan as a State Sponsor of Terrorism (SST) and suspended its diplomatic operations in Khartoum in 1996. In October 1997, the US imposed comprehensive economic, trade, and financial sanctions against Sudan. A year ago, the Sudanese government and its supporters went on the offensive to get the US to drop sanctions against the country. In January 2016 a petition was posted on the White House website calling on the Obama administration to end the sanctions, which petitioners said were 'oppressing the poor and innocent'. The anti-US sanctions campaigners noted on the site: 'The poor and helpless in Sudan are bearing the brunt of the economic sanctions imposed on the country by the United States 23 years ago. 'The intended goal of the sanctions might have been to weaken the oppressive government of Sudan, but they are producing exactly the opposite result. 'They are weakening and impoverishing the people of Sudan and strengthening the grip of the regime on the country. 'We plead with President Obama to do the right and humane thing by ordering an immediate end to the Sudan sanctions.' The site had a threshold of 100,000 signatures for the president to act. However, a month later, after the deadline ended, there were 117,150 signatures - thus meeting the threshold. But a statement on the White House website said: 'This petition has been archived because it did not meet the signature requirements.' For the Sudanese government, this was just the start of a concerted campaign because Khartoum said then that it 'has a moral obligation to never give up actively trying to get US economic sanctions removed'. According to the Sudanese Foreign Ministry, both countries continued to undertake 'joint efforts and a long and candid dialogue in which a number of institutions took part'. The outcome has been 'close cooperation between the two countries over international and regional issues of mutual concern'. The Foreign Ministry said that Sudan would continue the cooperation and dialogue with the US until her name is removed from the SST list. GNA By Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA Accra, Jan. 20, GNA -The Ghana Railways Workers Union (GRWU) has lauded the Government for creating the Ministry of Railways Development to fast-track the development and operations of the sector. Mr. Godwill Ntamah, the General Secretary of the GRWU, told the Ghana News Agency, in an interview, said although President Kufuor's Administration instituted the Ministry of Ports, Harbours and Railways, because there were a number of agencies under that Ministry, the railway sector did not receive much attention. He, therefore, expressed optimism that this Ministry created solely for the railway sector would receive more attention and achieve its set objectives. The General Secretary lauded the previous Government for reconstructing the Kojokrom/Sekondi/Takoradi rail tracks, saying it would enhance the carriage of passengers within the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis. He, therefore, appealed to the new administration to urgently tackle the Kojokrom-Awaso-Nsuta rail lines to enhance the haulage of bauxite, cocoa, manganese and other heavy goods to the Takoradi Port, in order to improve its revenue base. 'I am hopeful that new Government would tackle the Western rail lines first before looking at other corridors such as the Eastern and the proposed rail lines to the North because the western corridor is very crucial to sustaining the railway sector,' he stated. He said the current workforce of 1,500 could work to pay themselves should the dysfunctional tracks be urgently repaired. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has nominated Joe Nana Ghartey, the Member of Parliament for Essikadu-Ketan, in the Western Region, as the Minister to head the sector upon parliamentary approval. The Ministry would work under auspices of the Office of the President. Background of railway transport in Ghana The Ghana Railway Company Limited, a public-sector body, operates the railways of Ghana. It has the responsibility for the efficient management of the national rail system to enhance the smooth movement of goods and passengers Rail transport operations began in 1898 under the Gold Coast Civil Service with its headquarters in Sekondi. The headquarters was transferred to Takoradi after the building of the Takoradi Harbour, and railways and ports were jointly administered as the Ghana Railway and Ports Authority. In 1976, Supreme Military Council Decree 95 separated the railway from ports, making it the Ghana Railway Corporation. The company enjoyed the status of a public corporation until 19th March, 2001, when it became a limited liability company. The original 304-kilometre Eastern Railway was built in 1923 by the British for the purpose of hauling minerals and cocoa. According to information gathered from the website of the Ministry of Transport, in 2010, a contract was signed to construct a railway from Paga (on the border with Burkina Faso) to Kumasi; plus a branch from Tamale to Yendi. 'The railway network in Ghana resembles a large capital 'A' with three components - a 'Western Division' (the left leg of the 'A') from Sekondi/Takoradi to Kumasi (280 km), an "Eastern Division" (the right leg of the 'A') from Accra to Kumasi, and a Central Division' (the horizontal bar of the 'A') from Huni Valley to Kotoku.' Very little of the railway network remains in operation. For instance, from Accra to Tema; Accra to Kotoku; Awaso to Dunkwa; and from Dunkwa to the Southern part of Takoradi are the only parts in operation. GNA Gomoa-Ankamu (C/R), Jan. 20, GNA - Mr John Ekwow Aidoo, Central Regional Manager of the Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS), has appealed to well meaning organisation to assist the Red Cross put up a health post at Apam Junction. He said Gomoa-Ankamu or Apam Junction in the Central region has been classified as one of the most accident prone area in the country where many precious lives have been lost over the years through motor accidents on the Cape Coast-Accra Highway. 'The establishment of the planned health post at Gomoa Ankamu was essentially necessary due to the rampant motor accident in the area,' Mr Aidoo said. He made the appeal at the end of a two-day intensive orientation course for 12 Red Cross volunteers at Gomoa-Ankamu. Participants were drawn from, Apam, Amanful, Fawoanye, Assin, Dwama, Ankamu, Mannfam, Nsuekyir, Nnaama, and Gomoa-Akyemfo, all in the Gomoa West District of the Central Region. Mr Aidoo said the project planned by the GRCS some years back had not been implemented due to lack of funds. He appealed to organized groups, companies, financial institutions and non-governmental organizations across the country for funding to enable the Red Cross Society construct the special Red Cross Health Post/ Volunteers Training Centre at Gomoa-Ankamu. The Regional Manager expressed the Society's profound appreciation to the chiefs and custodians of the Gomoa- Ankamu lands for releasing a large track of land for the project. Mr. Aidoo expressed optimism that when the project becomes operational it would go a long way to provide a permanent ground for effective training of more red cross volunteers in the Gomoa West to help save lives during emergency cases on the highways. Touching on the purpose for which the Red Cross Society was set up, Mr Aidoo said the Society was not out only to respond swiftly to emergency situations, but more importantly, to educate the citizenry on all aspects of preventive measures to ensure the full protection of the health of the people at all times. He said that when the people were healthy they would be able to initiate and implement vital agricultural, economic, and other ventures capable of promoting effective and sustainable community and national development. Mr. Aidoo assured Ghanaians, particularly people in the Central Region that Red Cross volunteers in the Region would continue to offer the needed education on environmental and domestic hygiene to safeguard their health and other interests. Earlier, Mr. Alex Ghunney, Disease Control Officer for Gomoa West District, took the volunteers through topics such as, cholera prevention, risk communication methods, and social mobilization strategies. Mr. Ghunney called on the volunteers in the District to intensity their village-to-village and domestic educational activities, especially on proper effective cooking of meals, proper hand washing practices before eating and after visiting toilet, as well as effective maintenance of their environments. Mr. Justice Peter Ansah, Gomoa West District Organizer of the Ghana Red Cross Society announced plans to team up with traditional chiefs, assembly members and other opinion leaders in the various towns and villages within the District to find ways and means of setting up special community sanitary inspectorate teams to instill the spirit of domestic and environmental cleanliness in the people. GNA By Elsie Appiah-Osei, GNA Accra, Jan. 20, GNA - The African Cancer Organisation (ACO) has urged the Government to urgently establish Population-Based Cancer Registries across the county. Mr Paul Opoku Agyemang, the Executive Director of ACO, who made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, (GNA) in Accra, on Friday, explained that though two hospital-based registries were being established in Accra and Kumasi, every area should have one to generate the needed data to support cancer research and also address the national burden of cancer. He said the Former President John Dramani Mahama had indicated his support for that cause and was hopeful that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo would continue from where he left off because the data would help give the general picture of the disease's burden and measure progress. It would also help to assess whether the intervention systems were working as well as help doctors and nurses to evaluate treatment regimen and their effectiveness on their patients, help government make cancer policies, allocate and prioritise resources, he said. 'The Cancer registry is the brain and central nervous system of cancer control programme everywhereTherefore, we need politicians to make laws that will make cancers a reportable disease and also accord them the needed attention,' he said. He also called on the Ministry of Health to focus on the prevention of the disease as well as to ensure that the treatment of the disease was covered under the National Health Insurance Scheme. The common cancers in Ghana are cervical, liver, breast, lymphoma and prostate. Speaking on a major anti cancer campaign the organisation intended to launch, Mr Opoku Agyemang said it was the goal of the organisation to turn existing cancer knowledge into action. Dubbed: 'StandUp2AfricanCancer,' the campaign would be launched on February 4, 'It is also the goal of the campaign to bring the knowledge of the disease closer to citizenry by bringing together the best minds that will create awareness on it,' he added. Throwing more light on the campaign, the Executive Director of ACO, said more than 14 million people were diagnosed from the disease annually. He said Africa was the most overburdened because of the absence of resources in prevention, early detection, state-of-the-art treatment and means of measuring the disease. 'We are seeking to change the approach, because at the end of day, cancer patients reporting at late stages do not only make treatment expensive but also ineffective, so we are seeking to tackle cancer from the angles of primary and secondary prevention,' he said. 'And this will take the form of sensitising the public on the disease, it causes, who is at risk, screening interventions and healthy lifestyles of preventing it.' Mr Opoku Agyemang said globally 32.6 million people were living with the disease, which annually caused the death of 8.2 million people. However, he explained that one third of all cancers could be prevented, while another one third of disease could be cured if detected early. Persons who fall from 35 years to 64 years, which is the most productive age group, were at a higher risk of the disease. 'What makes cancer so fatal is the fact that it takes so many years to develop cancer microscopically before the disease start showing signs and symptoms, and the longer one lives, the more one accumulates toxins and the higher the chance of developing it,' he said. He mentioned Lymphoma cancer as one of the common ones affecting children under 14 years, whiles liver cancer was predominant among the 15 years to 34 years. Those in the bracket of 35 years to 64 years, he said usually had a higher risk of catching cervical, breast and prostate cancers, and elderly persons from 65 years upwards mostly getting cervix and prostate cancers. For women, he said, cervical, breast, ovarian, lymph, liver, kidney, bladder and rectum were some of the common cancer cases that affected them. In terms of gender, Mr Opoku Agyemang noted that more women were diagnosed of cancer compared to men. This is as a result of cervical and breast cancers, being the leading cancers in Ghana. He mentioned poor data quality, inadequate cancer research, weak health infrastructure, extensive patronage of traditional assistance, low public awareness, ignorance among patients, lack of organised and effective cancer screening, inadequate health professionals, and public attitude as a whole, as some of the obstacles confronting cancer control in Africa. Mr Opoku Agyemang, therefore, called for specialised departments towards addressing the complex issues surrounding cancer. He also advised the public to promptly report symptoms of cancer to the various hospitals on timely basis, especially when less than 10 per cent, according to statistics reported cases, at the first stage. He explained that the fight against cancer required a broad scope team-work, saying and that every person, every business and other fraternal organisations with similar mandates should all put resources together to promote the 'standup2africancancer' campaign. The campaign hopes to avert the currently prevailing high incidence of cancers by preventing people from exposure to avoidable risk factors and also down staging cancers at early stages where cure is often possible. GNA By Priscilla S. Djentuh, GNA Accra, Jan.20, GNA - Society over the years has the perception that persons who offer specialised optical services on the street are fake, unqualified and therefore offer inferior services. 'I think these people are not certified to operate,' said Mr Owu who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra. 'I do not see any certification displayed under their canopies, so I would not be persuaded to entertain their services'', added Mercy Agyei, National Service Person said. ''These people expose the lenses on the sun and dust, which may taint it thereby making it harmful to eyesight so I do not patronise nor recommend their services, ''Margaret Sowah, a teacher said.. Others are of the opinion that the optical technicians on the street are only there because of commercial purposes. However, Mr Aryee Adjovon of Sunrise Optical services, under a canopy in Accra, speaking to the GNA objected to the wrong perception about their services. 'I am a trained technician with more than 22 years of experience offering accessible optical services to the community. It is all about servicing and creativity to be my own boss,' he said. He explained that he did not have the funds to put up a big facility to operate 'but people need my services and I am a family man'. 'We cooperate with bigger opticians in big facilities and refer clients we cannot deal with to them,' he said. Mr Adjovon said he placed an order for lenses from the Canada and Bright Optical and 'do not just buy any kind of glasses from the market and sell to people.' He said: 'We offer eye testing to clients and give the required lenses, be it reading or eye sight lenses. We also repair and sell lenses to people who come with their broken lenses,' he said. He expressed dissatisfaction about the disrespect people show him because he offered his service under a canopy, arguing that Africa and Ghana for that matter did not value creativity and financial independence. Mr Adjovon said he offered services in eye testing, frame fixing, photochromic glasses and reading glasses. An Optical technician of Mawuli Optical Services who declined to give his full name said he was a trained certified technician from the School of Optics in Kumasi and offered optical services in eye testing and examination, dispensing of spectacles and frame repairs. He said he offered his services under the canopy because of the demand and busy schedule of clients who cannot always visit and queue to see an optician in the hospital. GNA Amrahia (GAR), Jan. 20, GNA - Apostle John C. Attiogbe, General Overseer of Regal Gospel Ministries has called on Ghanaians to rally behind the government to ensure national development. He said now that the elections were over there was the need for all political parties to throw their weight behind the elected government to ensure the rapid development of the country. Apostle Attiogbe made the call at the launch of 'Dominion 2017' conference at Amrahia, near Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region on Friday. The five-day conference, which is on the theme, 'For No Word from God will Ever Fail' begins on February 1 to February 5. It is aimed at building the capacity of the participants to overcome the challenges ahead and also help to uplift their spirit. Apostle Attiogbe congratulated the New Patriotic Party for winning the 2016 election and expressed the hope that the government under the leadership of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo would create more jobs and bring more development to the country. He urged the youth to desist from the 'get-rich-quick' attitude and study the word of God which he said was the only way to survival. Apostle Attiogbe said the Church which was established some seven years ago had opened branches at Oyibi, Otinibi, Teiman and Dodowa all in the Greater Accra Region and Asutsuare in the Eastern Region. He said the Church intends to put up a hospital and a school which would cater for the health and the educational needs of the poor and the needy in the society. The General Overseer appealed to religious leaders to desist from acts which may tarnish the image of the clergy. GNA ECOWAS, the AU and the United Nations (UN), have committed to ensuring the former President of The Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, is able to return to his country following the political crisis that saw him leave on Saturday. The international bodies indicated they will be working with the government of The Gambia to ensure that it respects the rights of former President Jammeh, as provided for and guaranteed by the 1997 Gambian Constitution and other Laws of The Gambia. Mr. Jammeh left the country in the wake of elections that ousted him after 22 years in power. He was defeated in Decembers election by now-President of the state, Adama Barrow, but went on to challenge the results. But two days after President Barrow was sworn in, Mr Jammeh left on a plane reportedly bound for Guinea. This among other things is expected to calm tensions to enable the new President return to the country from Senegal to take charge. In a series of declarations, ECOWAS, the AU, and the UN, said they will work with the Government of The Gambia to ensure that former President Jammeh is at liberty to return to The Gambia at any time of his choosing in accordance with international human rights law and his rights as a citizen of The Gambia and a former head of state. The three bodies also urged the government of The Gambia to take all the necessary measures to assure and ensure that there is no witch-hunt of former regime members and supporters former President Jammeh. ECOWAS, the AU and the UN commit to working with the Government of The Gambia to prevent the seizure of assets and properties lawfully belonging to former President Jammeh or his family, and those of his Cabinet members, government officials and Party supporters, as guaranteed under the Constitution and other Laws of The Gambia, the declarations also added. Yahya Jammeh (L), Adam Barrow (R) They also made mentions of countries that could potentially offer hospitality to Mr. Jammeh noting that, they will work to ensure that host countries that offer African hospitality to former President Jammeh and his family do not become undue targets of harassment, intimidation and all other pressures and sanctions. In this light, ECOWAS will also halt any military operations in The Gambia whilst continuing to pursue peaceful and political resolution of the crisis. Find below the declarations, numbering 14, made by ECOWAS, the AU and the UN JOINT DECLARATION BY THE ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES, THE AFRICAN UNION AND THE UNITED NATIONS ON THE POLITICAL SITUATION OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA ON JANUARY 21, 2017 Following the Decision of the Summit of the ECOWAS Authority taken on 17th December 2016 in Abuja, Nigeria, Mediation efforts, including visits to Banjul, were undertaken by the Chair of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, HE President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Mediator, HE President Muhammadu Buhari and Co-Mediator on The Gambia, HE former President John Dramani Mahama, along with HE President Ernest Bai Koroma to mediate on the political impasse with Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya A. J. J. Jammeh, Following further mediation efforts by HE President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and HE President Alpha Conde of the Republic of Guinea Conakry with HE Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya A. J. J. Jammeh, the former President of the Republic of The Gambia, and in consultation with the Chairperson of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, the Chairperson of the AU Authority of Heads of State and Government and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, this declaration is made with the purpose of reaching a peaceful resolution to the political situation in The Gambia. ECOWAS, the AU and the UN commend the goodwill and statesmanship of His Excellency former President Jammeh, who with the greater interest of the Gambian people in mind, and in order to preserve the peace, stability and security of The Gambia and maintain its sovereignty, territorial integrity and the dignity of the Gambian people, has decided to facilitate an immediate peaceful and orderly transition process and transfer of power to President Adama Barrow in accordance with the Gambian constitution. In furtherance of this, ECOWAS, the AU and the UN commit to work with the Government of The Gambia to ensure that it assures and ensures the dignity, respect, security and rights of HE former President Jammeh, as a citizen, a party leader and a former Head of State as provided for and guaranteed by the 1997 Gambian Constitution and other Laws of The Gambia. Further, ECOWAS, the AU and the UN commit to work with the Government of The Gambia to ensure that it fully guarantees, assures and ensures the dignity, security, safety and rights of former President Jammeh's immediate family, cabinet members, government officials, Security Officials and party supporters and loyalists. ECOWAS, the AU and the UN commit to work with the Government of The Gambia to ensure that no legislative measures are taken by it that would be inconsistent with the previous two paragraphs. ECOWAS, the AU and the UN urge the Government of The Gambia to take all necessary measures to assure and ensure that there is no intimidation, harassment and/or witch-hunting of former regime members and supporters, in conformity with the Constitution and other laws of The Gambia. ECOWAS, the AU and the UN commit to work with the Government of The Gambia to prevent the seizure of assets and properties lawfully belonging to former President Jammeh or his family and those of his Cabinet members, government officials and Party supporters, as guaranteed under the Constitution and other Laws of The Gambia. In order to avoid any recriminations, ECOWAS, the AU and the UN commit to work with the Government of The Gambia on national reconciliation to cement social, cultural and national cohesion. ECOWAS, the AU and the UN underscore strongly the important role of the Gambian Defence and Security Forces in the maintenance of peace and stability of The Gambia and commit to work with the Government of The Gambia to ensure that it takes all appropriate measures to support the maintenance of the integrity of the [Defence and] Security Forces and guard against all measures that can create division and a breakdown of order. ECOWAS, the AU and the UN will work to ensure that host countries that offer African hospitality to former President Jammeh and his family do not become undue targets of harassment, intimidation and all other pressures and sanctions. In order to assist a peaceful and orderly transition and transfer of power and the establishment of a new government, HE former President Jammeh will temporarily leave The Gambia on 21 January 2017, without any prejudice to his rights as a citizen, a former President and a Political Party Leader. ECOWAS, the AU and the UN will work with the Government of The Gambia to ensure that former President Jammeh is at liberty to return to The Gambia at any time of his choosing in accordance with international human rights law and his rights as a citizen of the Gambia and a former head of state. Pursuant to this declaration, ECOWAS will halt any military operations in The Gambia and will continue to pursue peaceful and political resolution of the crisis. Done this 21st day of January, 2017 in Banjul, The Gambia. By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana 22.01.2017 LISTEN LOUIS XIV TOLD HIS GRANDSON BE A GOOD SPANIARD: THAT IS YOUR FIRST DUTY; BUT REMEMBER THAT YOU WERE BORN FRENCH IN ORDER TO PRESERVE UNITY BETWEEN BOTH NATIONS, THIS IS THE WAY TO MAKE THEM BOTH HAPPY AND TO PRESERVE THE PEACE OF EUROPE. POLITICIANS HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE LOYAL TO THEIR PARTY MEMBERS; BUT MUST REMEMBER THAT THEY WERE BORN AS GHANAIANS. I have been struggling to catch the drift of the burgeoning concept; loyalty in our social and political discourse. I believe loyalty is a necessary evil. The loyalty concept is lenient to autocracy, dictatorship and totalitarianism (a system of government whereby every aspect of citizens life is controlled by the state). On the other hand, it is inimical to democracy and diverse opinions. Loyalty is not needed in all situations. We are told of a story in which King David of Israel greedily killed Uriah after having a carnal knowledge of his wife, Bathsheda (2 Samuel 11). Uriah lost his life because of his unadulterated and silly loyalty to King David. I was told an anecdote of a Ghanaian who died in one of the Arab countries in Africa. This guy had sexual intimacy with an Arab woman without knowing that she was married. This woman appeared to recognize a heightened level of sexual pleasure, feelings and fantasy about this Ghanaian guy for his meticulous and outstanding sexual stamina to the extent that she inadvertently told the husband during sexual intercourse to do it as Ghanaians do it. This man took a gun and murdered the Ghanaian he had previously seen talking with the wife. So you see! Loyalty to sexual fantasies claimed the life of somebodys innocent son. History bears unfavorable testimony to loyalty. Loyalty is a bogus concept in politics. For example, United States of America is now a super power in the world partly because they pervasively became disloyal to Great Britain who heretofore colonized them. Those who believe in loyalty are themselves not predictable. Loyalty could be switched in the moments of uncertainties. Peter denied Jesus three times (Luke 22:54-57). In The Gambia for example, the soldiers of Yahya Jammeh became disloyal to him upon sensing danger from ECOWAS. The War of Spanish Succession is another prime example of uncertain loyalty. The Spanish Succession War was fought between1701-1714. The War was caused by the death of Charles II of Spain in 1700. He died without a direct successor from Spain. In his will, he bequeathed the throne to Prince Philip of Anjou who was a French. Philips grandfather, Louis XIV proclaimed Philip as a king of Spain and announced that France and Spain would unite. France was a fearful dominant political power in Europe and the union between the above two kingdoms was destined to threaten other giants. England, Prussia, Holland and Austria formed a formidable grand alliance to prevent Phillip from becoming a king of Spain. The favorite of the grand alliance was archduke Charles of Austria. In theatres of war that ensued, France was defeated on many occasions. The hope of France resurrected in 1711 with the demise of Emperor Joseph I of Austria. His death meant that archduke Charles, penciled to rule Spain might also be the Emperor of Austria. The union between Spain and Austria appeared to be more dangerous than that of France and Spain. Thus, the loyalty to archdulke Charles was jettisoned. In a treaty of Utrecht in 1713, the warring parties agreed for Prince Phillip of France to rule Spain without the union of the two kingdoms. Louis XIV upon whose diplomacy Phillip became Spanish Monarch cautioned him be a good Spaniard: That is your first duty; but remember that you were born French in order to preserve the unity between both nations, this is the way to make them both happy and to preserve the peace of Europe. Readers can check the following link for more details on the above War. http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/civil_n2/histscript6_n2/span_succ.html The politicians in Ghana are expected to love those who were loyal to them while in opposition but must remember, they were not only born as Ghanaians but are equally elected to serve the interest of Ghana not their party apparatchiks. I personally wrote an article to remind ex-president John Dramani Mahama (JDM) on the dangers of appointing a lot of northerners in his government. I received a severe backlash from that publication. Professor Stephen Addai also advised JDM on that same issue. Professor Addai was vilified and bastardized. Individuals he could not only teach but give birth to, described him as irresponsible. JDM and his National Democratic Congress (NDC) lost the 2016 presidential and general elections partly because his government alienated the Akan majority, The Ga-Adangbes and the Ewes. President Akufu-Addo had appointed many people from Eastern Region (ER). For example, Nana Asante Bediatuo, Madam Gloria Akufu, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful (an impeccable attorney, MP) and Messrs Dan Botwe (MP), Yaw Osafo-Marfo, Samuel Atta Akyea (A good Lawyer, MP), Kwasi Amoako-Attah (MP for Atiwa), Boakye Kyeremanteng Agyarko (MP and partly from Kroboland) and Ken Ofori-Attah all from the Eastern Region. Madam, Otiko Afisa Djaba is also partly from Eastern Region. This writer is from Brong Ahafo and Ashanti Regions by virtue of paternity and maternity respectively. Eastern Region is my third region because throughout my job history in Ghana, I worked in the region. Eastern people are wonderful. I have more friends in ER than any part of Ghana. Nevertheless, having more ministers from Eastern Region is not healthy for national integration. It is also not healthy for NPP as a political party. President Akufu-Addo like his predecessor, JDM probably appointed people he could trust. Some people have argued that a leader needs people he could trust. For example, when I published my article captioned, Political Appointments on Ethnic and Tribal line: A Subliminal Meta-dehumanization published on the prestigious Ethiopian webpage with the following link http://www.eppf.net/9652/appointments-on-ethnic-and-tribal-line-a-subliminal-meta-dehumanization-case-of-failed-state-ethiopia/ , my friend who is leadership expert and Masters level faculty member (Lecturer) of Grand Canyon University, Arizona, Kennedy Amofa (PhD) called me and underscored the imperative need for loyalty in leadership. Loyalty is very important in leadership. We must distinguish patriotism from loyalty to individuals. What type of loyalty are we looking here? Is it personal or national loyalty? Arm Robbers and other criminals have people who are loyal to them. Is it possible that individuals were loyal to President Akufu-Addo out of altruism? Knowing Nana Addo as a potential president could compromise peoples attitudes toward him. Trusting people too much breeds ineffective supervision. Are these people loyal to Ghana or president Akufu-Addo? Loyalty of appointees alone cannot suffice as an antidote for bad governance. The framers of the 1992 constitution of Ghana envisaged the importance of regional balance and national development. Available data from 2010 population census in Ghana indicated that population density for the country had increased from 79 per cent in 2000 to 103 per cent in 2010 and that whiles the Ashanti Region had the highest population of 4,780,380 representing 19.4 per cent followed by Greater Accra Region with 4,010,054 representing 16.3 per cent, the Upper West Region had the lowest population of 702,110 with a growth rate of 1.9 per cent. The breakdown of the current population figures are, Eastern Region, 2,633,154 representing 10.7 per cent; Northern Region, 2,479,461 representing 10.1 per cent; Western Region, 2,376,021 representing 9.6 per cent; Brong Ahafo Region, 2,310,983 representing 9.4 per cent; Central Region, 2, 201,863 representing 8.9; Volta Region, 2,118, 252 representing 8.6 per cent; and Upper East Region, 1,046,545 representing 4.2 per cent (Source: Ghananaweb.com, June 1, 2012). This means that political appointments must be based on population and not only geographical considerations. Appointments must be proportional to the population. It will be unfair to have two ministers from Upper West Region and two from Northern Region. Another way of ensuring proper regional balance is the idea of nation. A nation is a group of people with a common language, cultural heritage and ancestry. A nation is not necessarily defined by geographical boundaries. For example, Asanti nation or Akyem nation. These include Asantes or Akyems in dispersion. For example, notwithstanding the fact that Mrs. Ursula Owusu Ekuful is a member of parliament for Ablekuma West Constituency in the Greater Accra region, she is a native of Akyem. Ghana is a unitary state with socially preposterous system of centralization. The son of Mr. Kofi Akote of Akwapem Guan and Madam Naa Atwee of Ga lineage, Kwadwo Adi, living in the Bumprugu Yoyoo area must definitely know some big men in Accra, before his passport or birth certificate could be fast-tracked. Not until the impractical system of centralization in Ghana is abandoned, every region needs a big man in Accra. Certain sectors like security require individuals who are loyal to the president. Apart from that regional balance and competence must be prioritized in national appointments. Patriotism and competence must be raised above loyalty to the president. Loyalty promotes sycophancy, mediocrity and incompetence in governance. It is a tool dictators use to safeguard and sustain their inordinate and uncompromising political ambitions. Assuming The Gambian army had been loyal to Yahya Jammeh, it would have had a calamitous implication on innocent Gambians. I think President Akufu-Addos government has not totally taken off yet. It will be a sort of bigotry to start criticizing him. However, as Plato observed For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories. I think there are many people from ER. ER is made up of The Akyem, The Akwamu, Akuapem, The Kwahu, The Asante and The Krobo. What is particularly lamentable is that the Akyems appeared to be dominating within ER. Loyalty is a necessary evil. God Bless Our Homeland Ghana And Make Us Cherish Fearless Honesty. Feedbacks must be directed to Nana Yaw Osei (Padigo), USA Email: [email protected]. Prophecies, as normal, have been released by different people on the Nigerian state and President Muhammad Buhari. These are speculations and intellectual foresights. Psychologically, some guesswork can actually manifest. But these days, the prophecies by many people claiming supernatural powers, lofty spirituality and divine connections have proved counterproductive and counterfeit. We can still recall the prophecy made by a man of God during the Clinton-Trump presidential tussle in the United States of America. If it turned out the way he predicted, the church would have celebrated it. I have insisted that all predictions by whosoever, even from amongst acclaimed men-of-God are not necessarily from the Almighty God. But it is undisputable that there exist several gods worshipped by people in search of supernatural powers. Many people sleep and wait up and claim that God spoke to them. Others see events in their dreams and turn them upside down to favour their aspirations. We must not forget that dreams are interpreted according to circumstances, locations and mindsets. As the 2017 comes in, many citizens including this writer are predicting good for Nigeria and the President. Some have predicted doom for Nigeria. I strongly believe that predictions are mere human imaginations. Those who wish President Buhars death are wishful thinkers because their wishes have nothing to do with that of God Almighty. Mr. President, faithful compatriots pray always, will live to complete the good works which God has assigned him to accomplish for Nigeria and the citizens. We can recall that last year some disgruntled people engaged in signatory collections seeking for his resignation but they toiled in vain. This year, these prophets have started with their hallucinations. Can the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) do anything in this regard? Is it possible for the Christian body to control these people making imaginary proclamations in the name of prophecy by employing mere psychological ambiances? A look at some of these prophecies will do. Catholic priest and the spiritual director of the Adoration Ministries, Emene, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, who prophesied the emergence of President Buhari in 2015 and praised his style of leadership has warned the President not to allow God regret putting him in office. He wants fast and impressive actions to save Nigerians from further hardship. He said that many Nigerians are suffering. Nigerians are hungry; they want to see more changes. There is the need to assist businessmen and women in their businesses. Buhari should appoint experts who would help him revive the economy and consult Church leaders and eminent men of God to advise him on the true state of the economy. If he doesnt change his style he may not complete his office. Nigerians are losing hope, they are losing their trust. If our leaders continue to mess up, the solution will come from above. Pastor and founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Prophet T. B. Joshua said: My president, President Buhari has good intentions. A kings intention cannot be carried out properly without the support of his subjects. He needs support to lead us out of the valley. It is not our president that puts us in the valley but generationsThe future of this country is crying for help. Senior pastor of the Mountain of Liberation and Miracles Ministries, a.k.a Liberation City, Dr. Chris Okafor released his prophecies for 2017. His seventh out of 23 prophecies is that President Buhari is not the messiah but he came to prepare the way for the messiah. A Ghanaian prophet, Isaac Owusu Bempah, founder and leader of the Glorious Word Ministry International claimed on December 31 during the crossover service that President Muhammadu Buhari will die. He also predicted the deaths of a former president, a former first lady as well as a great king in Ghana. He predicted a terrorist attack in the country, a coup detat as well as more clashes between Christians and Muslims in the country. Bishop of Divine Seed of God Chapel Ministries in Ibadan, Prophet Wale Olagunju, released a 52-point prophecy for the Year 2017 predicting the possibility of the country splitting into five. He claimed to have foreseen the map of Nigeria torn into five. Though he is said to have accurately predicted the Presidents victory in the 2015 election, he revealed that President Buhari will be dethroned in 2019 election by former vice president, Atiku Abubakar. Olagunju proclaimed: As revealed by the Almighty God who will never share his glory with mortal man, the present generation of Nigerian leaders in the likes of Obasanjo, Babangida, Gowon, Danjuma, Abdusallam and Buhari will pass away before the emergence of the Messiah that will lead Nigeria to the promise land. The problem in our Nation will be so much that what we are witnessing now will be a child play to what we will see and hear and there will be chaos and distrust all over the nation as a result of which the messiah will emerge. This messiah, an unknown person, will proffer solutions to the problems; conduct referendum and will break Nigeria peacefully. As revealed to me further by the creator of the universe, the reign of this messiah will be brief. God of Abraham has concluded in heaven to raise for Himself the young man who will give divine solution and execute Gods programme for Nigeria. In his own prophecies, Spiritual head of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Prophet Elijah Babatunde Ayodele, stated that Nigeria can only experience peace in 2017 on the condition that President Muhammadu Buhari adheres strictly to instructions by the spirit of God. Nigeria will come out of recession quickly if the president comes up with a reform in CBN and if he can negotiate with the Niger Delta Avengers...Buhari can only rule well in the coming year if he locates the bad people within his government and also release all political detainees under his administration. General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle John Suleman, in his 2017 prophecies claimed a tough year for both President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. At a church event titled Fresh Fire revival, he admonished Africans to sit up as God was going move mightily in the continent come 2017, especially in Nigeria and Ghana. I see presidents being removed in Africa, I see presidents being installed. Two times, Nigerias vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, will face removal from office. They will alienate him and they will make attempts to remove him. But God will humble Buhari in 2017. And the New Year is when the Nigerian government will fight the Church like never before. It must be noted that God punishes for false prophecies. Today most Christians believe in this. Prophecies that they will have worldly fortunes; that they will become millionaires and all sorts. With the hard chase for worldly things and fight for supremacy among the human races, how do people know in the contemporary times the real men of God. It is clear that many prophets, pastors and priests no longer preach anything than prosperity messages. Jeremiah 28: 1-3 has something divine to tell. And further, Jeremiah cautioned by saying this in verse 7-9 of the same chapter. Nevertheless hear thou now this word that I speak in thine ears, and the ears of all the people; the prophets that have been before me and before thee of the old prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence. The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord hath truly sent him The President is laying the foundation for the expected changes in Nigeria. Assuredly, the 2017 budget and beyond will revolutionize the fortunes of Nigeria especially with the rice in price of crude oil at the international market. One is really put to wonder why the fight against corruption is being countered by even the people who claim to love the Presidents administrative style. The men of God who should feel the optimism and sincerity of purpose of the President are not helping matters. If these prophecies were from the Almighty God, I do not think the human efforts of the President to make Nigeria great and fix all the ruins of political wickedness its citizens have made commonplace would be undermined. Muhammad Ajah, a socio-political analyst, is an advocate of humanity and good governance. E-mail: [email protected] Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - West African troops entered The Gambia Sunday to secure President Adama Barrow's arrival from neighbouring Senegal, as controversy erupted over the assurances offered to Yahya Jammeh to guarantee his exit. Jammeh flew out of The Gambia on Saturday, ending 22 years at the helm of the tiny west African nation, and landed in Equatorial Guinea a few hours later where he is expected to settle with his family. The Senegalese general leading a joint force of troops from five African nations said soldiers had nonetheless entered The Gambia to "control strategic points to ensure the safety of the population and facilitate... Barrow's assumption of his role." An AFP journalist in the Gambian border town of Farafenni saw a convoy crossing the frontier on Sunday morning, which would leave them several hours to reach Banjul. Senegalese forces had briefly crossed into the former British colony on Thursday but pulled out shortly afterwards, with Sunday's troop movement the first by soldiers from the joint force. Marcel Alain de Souza, a top official with the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), which organised the deployment, said pro-Jammeh elements and mercenaries remained on the ground and had open fired as troops crossed the border. "They were neutralised," he said in a statement seen by AFP, without elaborating. De Souza said the country "could not be left open" for long, however, and that Barrow must be in place "as soon as possible". "A country must have a government, but the security conditions required the troops we have sent to secure Banjul and other towns," he said. Comfortable terms Gambian President Adama Barrow won a December election Following Barrow's win in the December 1 election, Jammeh refused to step down, triggering weeks of uncertainty that almost ended in a full military intervention. The longtime leader, wearing his habitual white flowing robes, waved to supporters before boarding a small, unmarked plane at Banjul airport alongside Guinea's President Alpha Conde after two days of talks over a departure deal. He left behind a small minority of diehard supporters, some of whom wept as his plane departed. The choice of Equatorial Guinea for his exile had helped ease concerns that Jammeh might interfere in his nation's politics if he stayed in Guinea, whose border is not far from The Gambia's eastern region. The strongman personally controlled certain sections of the security forces, and his long tenure was marked by systematic rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and arbitrary detention. But critics have raised concerns over the wording of a statement issued by the UN, ECOWAS and the African Union that seemed to offer Jammeh comfortable guarantees for his future. "No legislative measures" would be taken that would infringe the "dignity, security, safety and rights" of Jammeh or his family, it said, noting that he could return when he pleased and that property "lawfully" belonging to him would not be seized. Equatorial Guinea is not a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court, meaning Jammeh would not be extradited in the event he was charged with crimes against humanity or other serious offences. One Banjul-based diplomat described the provision for Jammeh to return to The Gambia without hindrance as ill-advised. Experts told AFP the document was not legally binding and would be left to the interpretation of the new government. 'Democracy is back' Jammeh took power in a 1994 coup from the country's only other president since independence from Britain, Dawda Jawara, making this The Gambia's first democratic transition of power. The Gambian political crisis "We are going to wait for Barrow at the airport all the way to State House. Before we were scared to come out," said security guard Babacar Jallow, describing Jammeh as "a killer." With Jammeh gone, all eyes will be on the Barrow administration as they make their first steps as a government of reform and development. "The will of the people has come to be -- at last," said Isatou Touray, a key official in the government-in-waiting. "Democracy is back, you can't stop the people." The first priority will be to ensure the safe return of tens of thousands of people who have fled in recent weeks fearing a bloody end to the crisis, Touray said on Saturday. The crisis had also sparked the exodus of thousands of foreign visitors, dealing a potentially devastating blow to a country which earns up to 20 percent of its income from tourism. Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - West African troops approached the Gambian capital Sunday to secure President Adama Barrow's arrival from neighbouring Senegal, as controversy erupted over the assurances offered to Yahya Jammeh to guarantee his departure. Jammeh flew out of The Gambia on Saturday, ending 22 years at the helm of the tiny west African nation, and landed in Equatorial Guinea where he is expected to settle with his family. The Senegalese general leading a joint force of troops from five African nations said soldiers had nonetheless entered The Gambia to "control strategic points to ensure the safety of the population and facilitate... Barrow's assumption of his role." An AFP journalist stationed across the river that divides the Banjul peninsula from the northern part of the country said around 100 heavily armed Senegalese troops travelling with armoured vehicles were waiting to move into the capital. Soldiers from The Gambia and ECOWAS soldiers patrol in front of the Second Infantry Battalion Camp in Farafenni, Gambia on January 22, 2017 Senegalese forces had briefly crossed into the former British colony on Thursday but pulled out shortly afterwards, with Sunday's troop movement the first by soldiers from the joint force. Marcel Alain de Souza, a top official with the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), which organised the deployment, said the country "could not be left open" for long, and that Barrow must be in place "as soon as possible". A senior Senegalese military source told AFP that his forces had met little resistance on Sunday, as army chief Ousman Badjie has already declared his loyalty to Barrow. Comfortable terms Following Barrow's win in the December 1 election, Jammeh refused to step down, triggering weeks of uncertainty that almost ended in a full military intervention. The longtime leader, wearing his habitual white flowing robes, waved to supporters before boarding a small, unmarked plane at Banjul airport alongside Guinea's President Alpha Conde after two days of talks over a departure deal. Gambian President Adama Barrow won a December election He left behind a small minority of diehard supporters, some of whom wept as his plane departed. The choice of Equatorial Guinea for his exile has helped ease concerns that Jammeh might interfere in his nation's politics if he stayed in Guinea, whose border is not far from The Gambia's eastern region. The strongman personally controlled certain sections of the security forces, and his long tenure was marked by systematic rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and arbitrary detention. But critics have raised concerns over the wording of a statement issued by the UN, ECOWAS and the African Union that seemed to offer Jammeh comfortable guarantees for his future. "No legislative measures" would be taken that would infringe the "dignity, security, safety and rights" of Jammeh or his family, it said, noting that he could return when he pleased and that property "lawfully" belonging to him would not be seized. Equatorial Guinea is not a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court, meaning Jammeh would not be extradited in the event he was charged with crimes against humanity or other serious offences. Gambia's former president Yayha Jammeh (C), the country's leader for 22 years, waves from the plane as he leaves the country in Banjul on January 21, 2017 One Banjul-based diplomat described the provision for Jammeh to return to The Gambia without hindrance as ill-advised. Experts told AFP the document was not legally binding and would be left to the interpretation of the new government. 'Democracy is back' Jammeh took power in a 1994 coup from the country's only other president since independence from Britain, Dawda Jawara, making this The Gambia's first democratic transition of power. "We are going to wait for Barrow at the airport all the way to State House. Before we were scared to come out," said security guard Babacar Jallow, describing Jammeh as "a killer". With Jammeh gone, all eyes will be on the Barrow administration as they make their first steps as a government of reform and development. People celebrate in the streets of Banjul on January 21, 2017 after hearing of the confirmed departure of former Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh from the country "The will of the people has come to be -- at last," said Isatou Touray, a key official in the government-in-waiting. "Democracy is back, you can't stop the people." The first priority will be to ensure the safe return of tens of thousands of people who have fled in recent weeks fearing a bloody end to the crisis, Touray said on Saturday. The crisis had also sparked the exodus of thousands of foreign visitors, dealing a potentially devastating blow to a country which earns up to 20 percent of its income from tourism. The United States on Sunday hailed "the commitment to democracy and the restraint shown by the Gambian people over the past weeks," as well as the leadership showed by west African heads of state who mediated the crisis. Istanbul (AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan flew to Tanzania Sunday to start a three-nation east Africa tour seeking action against the network of an exiled cleric he blames for last year's failed coup. At issue is an international network of charities and schools affiliated with a movement run by US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, Erdogan's nemesis, which has been routinely accused by Ankara of coordinating "terrorist activities". "We will raise the issue of FETO's activities in African countries like Tanzania, Mozambique and others," Erdogan told reporters, referring to Gulen's network which he dubs the Fethullah Terror Organisation (FETO). "We will raise with our counterparts what our expectations are in regards to the fight against FETO," he said before leaving on a five-day tour which will also take him to Mozambique and Madagascar. Following July's failed coup, Turkey launched a major crackdown. It detained more than 43,000 people over alleged links to Gulen, with Erdogan vowing to eradicate any social, charitable or commercial activity with ties to the preacher's Hizmet movement. Gulen, a former Erdogan ally, vehemently denies he was behind the attempted putsch. A reclusive figure, he has lived in self-imposed exile in the state of Pennsylvania since 1999. Hizmet describes itself as promoting Islam through charity efforts and educational work in countries stretching from Turkey to Africa and Central Asia to the United States. But Turkish officials accuse Gulen of using his vast private education network to build influence, and of running a "parallel state" inside Turkey. Ankara's calls for Washington to extradite Gulen to face trial back home have until now fallen on deaf ears, and it was not immediately clear whether the new administration of President Donald Trump would continue that policy. By A.B. Kafui Kanyi, GNA Ho, Jan. 22, GNA - Reverend Dr Cyril Fayose, the President of the Evangelical Presbyterian University College (EPUC), has reiterated the call for the amendment of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) law to support infrastructure development in private tertiary institutions. He appealed to the Government to extend research fund and grants to lecturers at private tertiary institutions and increase students' loan to enhance quality tertiary education. Dr Fayose, who made the call at the Eighth Graduation and 10th Matriculation of EPUC in Ho, commended government for giving buses to private tertiary institutions through GETFund but said more needed to be done. He said all students in Ghana were paying tax and must not be discriminated against because of their choice of academic institution. Dr Fayose said a second look also ought to be given to affiliation roles given to academic institutions adding that situations where mentor-institutions established campuses close to mentee-institutions were unfair. He said campuses of mentee-institutions must be campuses for the mentor-institutions and called for redefinition of the roles. Dr Fayose welcomed the 204 fresh students and congratulated the 336 gradaunds for having 'fulfilled all righteous tests.' He said the university had approval from the National Accreditation Board to introduce two new programmes - B.Sc. ICT, and B.Sc. Animal Science and Fisheries and that it was also working on starting MBA programmes with campuses at Accra, Hohoe and Bimbila. Reverend Dr Setri Nyomi, the EPUC Council Chairman, asked the graduands to be agents of change and worthy ambassadors of the university. He urged them to be creative entrepreneurs and use the knowledge acquired to make the world comfortable for people around them. Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante, the Immediate Past Chairperson of Akuapem Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, urged the government to invest in Science and Mathematics education in tertiary institutions. He said the country had only a few professors in Mathematics and Science and called for the institution of a scholarship scheme to attract students. Rev. Prof. Mante commended EPUC for successes chalked over the years and urged it not to lower the standards and be above reproach. Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, the Vice Chancellor of University of Cape Coast (UCC), in a statement made on his behalf, said UCC was happy and proud to be mentoring EPUC and pledged UCC's continued support to EPUC. GNA By Beatrice Asamani-Savage/Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA Accra, Jan. 20, GNA - The Administrator-General's Office, would seek financial clearance next year in order to recruit more personnel and acquire logistics that would enable the Office to undertake its mandate effectively and efficiently. Mr Yakubu Atchulo, the Director in-charge of Administration at the Office, who disclosed this said should his outfit receive sufficient financial and logistical resources, it would enhance assets management and improve smooth future transfer of political power in the country. 'If we get additional resources we can move into other areas and even get a software, which we can easily interface with all other government institutions in order to take inventory of State assets since every now and then new assets are being acquired,' he pointed out. Mr Atchulo told the Ghana News Agency in an interview, on Thursday, that the Office intended to prepare an Asset Register for all government institutions to facilitate quick authentication of State assets. He said it would also create a website that would enable the public to access information from the Office and contribute ideas and suggestions that would improve State assets and property management. Until January this year, the Office lacked vehicles and the few workers there had to rely on commercial motor bikes (Okada) to do administrative errands. For his part, Mr David Yaro, the Administrator-General, said the human resource, financial and logistical constraints of his office did not enable him to cross-check every information provided in the handing-over notes, but was relying on the integrity of the stakeholders as a measure of accuracy. He therefore entreated the would-be Ministers of State to critically scrutinise their predecessors' handing-over notes so as to protect State assets and to perform their duties effectively. He said should they find any State asset unaccountable for or missing, their predecessors should be held accountable. That was why, he explained, the respective ministers were made to individually sign their handing-over notes, while their chief directors, who were the reporting officers, served as witnesses. He said it had incorporated the activities the new Ministers would undertake in the first 30 days, 60 and 90 days on assumption of office, adding that although they could introduce their own novelties and approaches the guide would help them to settle down more quickly. He said the notes covered assets and liabilities, including human resource, bungalows and other buildings, vehicles, technological and logistical assets, contractual agreements, projects, programmes and the bills being drafted to become laws. He, therefore, advised individuals and media organisations that may have information about the whereabouts of any missing State vehicle or any other property to immediately inform the authorities concerned for prompt action. The Presidential (Transition) Act, 845, promulgated in 2012, mandates the Administrator General to take inventory of State assets and liabilities and hand them over to the Office of the President. It also establishes arrangements for political transfer of administration from an outgoing democratically-elected president and provides for other related matters. GNA By Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA Accra, Jan. 21, GNA - Dr Vladimir Antwi-Danso, the Director of Academic Affairs at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College, says the decision by the embattled Gambian President, Yahya Jammeh, to step down is good for himself and the country. He said this would pave the way for peaceful and smooth transfer of political power. Dr Antwi-Danso, also the Acting Executive Director of the Centre for Local Governance and Advocacy, advised Yahya Jammeh to stay away from the political administration of The Gambia and avoid any attempt to interfere through a coup d'Atat since he would pay dearly if he attempted to do so. He tasked the new Gambian leader, Adama Barrow, to avoid perpetuating any political vengeance or act of vindictiveness against his political opponents because that could be a very dangerous trajectory to pursue, adding 'he should make sure his actions and inactions are geared towards reconciling the nation'. Dr Antwi-Danso told the Ghana News Agency in an interview on Saturday that President Adama Barrow could seek assistance from ECOWAS so that the troops that went to the country to pressurize Jammeh to step down would stay there for some time until a successful swearing-in and smooth transfer of power had been realised. He also admonished President Barrow to ensure an inclusive-government by appointing members of other political parties into his government as a show of solidarity and a path towards national unity as he attempts to build a strong democratic culture underpinned by the sovereignty of the people and the rule of law. He urged him to build strong and autonomous state institutions with the necessary human resource and logistics in order to solidify the democratic credentials of the country that could stand the test of time. According to a BBC report, the embattled Yahya Jammeh declared on Friday, January 20, that he had decided to step down in a televised address because he did not want any single drop of blood to be shed. Mr Jammeh had ruled The Gambia for 22 years after taking political power in a bloodless coup in 1994, but he was defeated in the December 1, 2016 elections by the leader of the Opposition Coalition, Adama Barrow. Although he initially conceded defeat, he changed his mind a week later claiming there were election irregularities and filed a motion at the country's Supreme Court in an attempt to annul the election results. He also tabled a resolution before Parliament which was approved to extend his stay in power for the next 90 days and declared a state of emergency. However, Heads of State from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional political body, intervened and sent a mediation team to settle the impasse and urged him to step down but all those efforts proved fruitless. ECOWAS, therefore, sent troops from Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal to that country to pressurise him to step down. GNA By Mildred Siabi-Mensah, GNA Sekondi, Jan. 22, GNA - Mr Matthew Boateng, the Western Regional Manager of the Ghana Red Cross Society, has called on the public to support the Society to enable it to meet its core mandate of helping society. He said the society depended largely on benevolence of the corporate world to fulfil its mission of saving lives, caring for the under-privilege and undertaking rescue missions. He, therefore, encouraged corporate bodies in Ghana to relook at sponsoring the Society to help it to work effectively to meet its target. Mr Boateng said this at the Regional Committee Meeting in Sekondi which brought together stakeholders from the National Commission on Road Safety, the National Fire Service, National Disaster Management Organisation, Ghana Health Service and the Ghana News Agency to brainstorm on activities earmarked for the year 2017. Dr Edward Donkoh, the Regional Chairman of the Society, encouraged members to be more committed to the activities of the Society and bring on board new ideas to help make it more relevant. GNA An Accra Circuit Court has remanded into custody three drivers for allegedly snatching at a gun point a taxi from its owner at Tantra Hill. The three Kweku Asamoah, Richard Asare aka Paa Kofi and Emmanuel Agyapong are being held on the charges of conspiracy to commit crime and robbery. They denied the charges but have been remanded in custody to reappear on January 31. Prosecuting Chief Superintendent of Police Mr Duuti Tuaruka said Yaw Frimpong, the complainant is a taxi driver residing at Taifa, Accra. Chief Superintendent Mr Tuaruka said Asamoah reside at Adjin Kotoku while Asare and Agyapong live at Asofan. On January 13, this year, the complainant was driving his taxi cab with registration number GW 9026 Z and on reaching the Ofankor Overheard, Asare signaled him to stop, which he did. According to the prosecution Asare thereafter asked the complainant (the Taxi Driver) to take him and the other accused persons to Tantra Hill so the three boarded the taxi and directed the driver to their destination. The prosecution said on reaching a spot known as Ola Street at Tantra Hill, Asamoah asked the driver (complainant) to stop for them to alight, the driver then demanded his fare, but in the process of collecting the fare from the accused persons; Asamoah pointed a gun at the complainant. Chief Supt. Tuaruka said Asamoah ordered the complainant (taxi driver) to get out of the taxi cab else he would be shot. The complainant obliged and Asare took charge of the taxi cab and they speeded off. The complainant, the prosecution said, rushed to the Mile 7 Police station and reported the incident to the Police who in turn informed their patrol team to look out for the missing vehicle. Not quite long, the prosecution said the Police Patrol team intercepted the vehicle and arrested Asamoah and Agyapong who were on board. When the vehicle was searched they found that one live BB cartridges and the gun used in the robbery had been concealed in the engine compartment. Asamoah and Agyapong who mentioned their accomplice as Asare led the Police to arrest him (Asare) at Asofan. The Police, prosecution said also retrieved BB cartridges hiding under the carpet in the room of Agyapong. The accused persons later admitted the offence in their cautioned statements. A male student has died, with six others injured, after a tree fell at the Ghana Senior High School, Koforidua, in the Eastern Region. Confirming the incident to Citi News, the Effiduase District Police Commander, ASP Dan Yaaro, said Yes, I can confirm the accident at Koforidua Ghana Senior High School, which occurred last[Saturday] night. We are currently in the school conducting investigations into the incident, and we will address the media at the appropriate time. Citi News Eastern Regional correspondent, Neil Nii Amatey Kanarku, reported that a first year general arts student of Frempong Mposu house in the school, was hit to the ground by the fallen tree and didnt survive. He further stated that, the six other injured students were sent to the St. Josephs Roman Hospital for treatment. A student, who witnessed how the incident occurred said : The tree just fell and about six people got injured. There were a lot of people there, but most of them managed to run away so they were not affected. By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @EfeAnsah Editor's note: Israel Abiodun, Legit.ng guest contributor, has advised Boko Haram's number one man Abubakar Shekau to surrender to the Nigerian military. Abiodun Shekau to give on on his gimmicks saying that it is clear that terrorism is over in Nigeria. Boko Haram commander Abubakar Shekau I have come to identify history, as a phenomenon which replicates itself in other parts of the world. Sambisa Forest in Nigerias Northeast and its Camp Zero, Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) most fortified enclave in Borno state, strikes some semblance with the famed Berlin Bunker (Fuhrerbunker) of the defeated leader, Adolf Hitler who ignited the senseless World War II. Hitler retreated into it for protection against air-raids when it became obvious his military might could not withstand the venom of Allied Forces against him. I saw a replication of history, when the current incarnation of BHTs factional leader, Abubakar Shekau, retreated into Sambisa Forest and took refuge in its innermost sanctuary, Camp Zero in the face of ceaseless firepower from Nigerian troops. It also reminded me of the jitters that gripped Hitler in January of 1945 when his regimes failing military campaigns lost steam and unable to withstand the Allied Forces that moved ferociously against his empire. History tells us Hitler relocated into the underground cave of the bunker with most of his henchmen. The Berlin Bunker, a thick-walled massive structure, about 50 feet underground, beneath the chancellery and designed as a protective shield from the air-raids of Allied Forces, was a luxurious island unto itself with everything a man needed inside it. Yet, it was demystified by Allied Forces and the famed Hitler killed himself rather being captured alive, when he knew the criminality against humanity could not be sustained. These images compellingly strike one as being replicas of Abubakar Shekaus Camp Zero in Sambisa Forest. I can still imagine embattled terrorists murmuring in hushed, suppressed tones, phrases like, the enemies are here! Phew! these bloody infidels. READ ALSO: REVEALED! See the Nigerian man that can never die (Pictured) They have entered Sambisa oooh!. Lets head to Camp Zero! Camp Zero!! Camp Zero is the only option. I was told that was the scenario, when Nigerian troops, like Allied Forces, barricaded the dreaded Sambisa forest and militarily invaded its dark copses in search of terrorists and their leaders. I guess, Shekau and his outlaws erroneously thought it is the same tea cup party from a previous era, so his comrades-in-evil attempted to fight back, by opening fire on the army troops. But the feeble counter-attacks soon fizzled out and faded, as soldiers mercilessly descended on terrorists. Dozens were killed in the exchange of gunfire, some captured, others escaped with gunshots wounds and have melted into various cities, communities and villages in Nigeria and neighbouring countries in the frenzy to escape. The successful military expedition in Sambisa forest marked the end of terrorism and the defeat of Abubakar Shekau, his demonic gang of Islamic jihadists and Boko Haram insurgents. Like himself, residues of his adherents have no more shelter or a fortress that served as bulwark against soldiers and a place that afforded terrorists the luxury of retreating to hide and plotting fresh attacks on innocent Nigerians. For me, no blow to a rebellion can be as painful and fatal as this. I restrain myself from mocking Abubakar Shekau for the pitiable mess he has found himself in after these serial misfortunes. But thats the difference between me and him. He can only hunger and thirst for my passion of love for humanity and sanctity of human life; while in contrast, Shekau is a soulless breed of a devil incarnate and blood spiller, whose end was foretold since July 2015. Since President Muhammedu Buhari (PMB) ascended the throne as Nigerias President and re-structured/re-organized the Nigerian military, BHTs knew no peace. Precisely, the appointment of a dogged fighter, Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusufu Buratai, as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) with a strict charge to end terrorism in Nigeria, heralded and foreclosed the era of Shekau and the end of terrorism in the country. And from that point, we have only watched on TV and listened to terrorists in Nigeria recount tales of woes. READ ALSO: Eyewitnesses reveal more details about UNIMAID bombing (video) If other Nigerians are on the same plane of thought with me, I think Abubakar Shekau has become the serial symbol of the misfortunes and the crumbled Boko Haram sect. In the depth of my heart, he should surrender himself to the Nigerian Army and renounce his devilish acts. And I am convinced on several counts to offer him this sincere, free advice. To begin, most Nigerians, like me, think, apart from the fall of Sambisa forest, his most trusted haven of bulwark against security forces, which excited him so much with the sobriquet dreaded, nothing in the senseless Jihadists war Shekau and followers unleashed on Nigerians is anywhere palpable to encourage them to forge on. Factional leader Shekau, assumed leadership of the satanic jihadists group, after the demise of its founder and pioneer leader Muhammad Yusuf. But since August 2016, he has come under severe leadership tussle and revolt within. We are aware that the sect became more radical in killings and raids, under him when it was a one united bloc. I noticed that Shekaus atrocities festered uninterrupted under a complacent and docile government of the pre-May 29, 2015 era. So, he brazenly engaged in massive gruesome acts of bloodbath and arson through detonated bombs. He aggressively recruited young boys and girls in the Northeast, most of whom were brainwashed through charms to accept conscription as agents of death. He openly, through his videos, professed affinity and sponsorship from Irans Islamic State (IS) terror linchpins and swore allegiance to it in March 2015. To me, he declared himself, an enemy of Nigeria and passed a death sentence on himself. But a shocked Shekau woke up to the unpleasant news in August of the same year that his former Public Relations Officer (PRO) Abu Musab al-Barnawi and son of the founder of Boko Haram sect, has been announced as his replacement to head the West African Province of Boko Haram. The news posted on IS Al-Naba online weekly magazine confirmed it. Al Barnawi immediately took control and asserted the powers of his leadership. Among other things, he pulled off a large chunk of BHTs adherents from the Shekaus faction. I know Al Barnawi was divinely touched to realize his former boss Shekau mindlessly and repeatedly violated core Islamic principles and creeds in persecuting the Jihad war. Almighty God intervening on our behalf, one would say. Soon, Shekau emerged on the scene to re-claim his leadership of the Boko Haram sect, declaring himself as still the authentic leader. He branded Al Barnawi as a coup plotter against him, whose group prevented him from communicating with IS leader, Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Oh! This house has fallen. "I was asked to send my ideology in writing to the caliph but it was manipulated by some people in order to achieve their own selfish interests, Shekau licked his wounds in lamentation. I appreciate the Nigeria Army today because I know Shekau and the vestiges of his criminal gangs have no prospects of continuing with their heinous crimes against humanity anymore. Most Boko Haram terrorists or subordinate commanders to Shekau have either been sniffed out of life through battle fields combats or have surrendered and denounced the war. I understand it as an empty house for Shekau. READ ALSO: UNIMAID students dismiss Shekaus threats in audio message after bomb attack The few remnants of Boko Haram foot soldiers have gone into hiding and the vigilance and alertness of Nigerian soldiers and the public is rewarding netting most of them into detention. Shekau himself narrowly escaped capture in Sambisa Forest, as recently revealed by the COAS, Gen. Buratai. The searchlight of Nigerian troops and security surveillance teams is consistently beaming on them in the hideouts. Joyfully for Nigerians, the end has finally come for Shekau and his followers and terrorists. With no secured fortress to take protective shield; the nightmare of scattered remnants of followers daily arrested; Shekau himself on security surveillance and discarded by IS, the only option left for him, in my estimation, is to bargain for a peaceful surrender. I have no doubt that Nigerians of all religions and ethno-political mix have come to perceive the ideologies espoused by Shekaus Boko Haram as inimical to their religious beliefs and a threat to the existence of humanity not just in Nigeria, but the whole world. So, it may interest Shekau to know that he is being haunted by both known and unknown foes and faces world-wide. No matter how long he hides from forests to caves and countries to countries, its rather a prolongation of doomsday because he will eventually be caught. But giving up the fight and surrendering to the Nigerian army now might invoke some sympathetic considerations for him. It is one of the most formidable options at his disposal. But it is my candid advice that, like Adolf Hitler, if this option does not appease Shekau, he can also kill himself like Hitler, because no wise rebel leader continues with an apparently failed mission. Your own opinion articles are welcome at info@naij.com drop an email telling us what you want to write about and why. More details in Legit.ngs step-by-step guide for guest contributors. Were ready to trade your news for our money: submit news and photo reports from your area using our Citizen Journalism App. Contact us if you have any feedback, suggestions, complaints or compliments. We are also available on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to Legit.ng Opinion page! Source: Legit.ng - The EFCC is set to prosecute Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke either in the UK or Nigeria - She has been out of the country since President Buhari took over power - Documents indicting her have been sent to the UK Damaging evidence allegedly indicting Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, the former minister of petroleum has been submitted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to the United Kingdom. The former minister who has left Nigeria since President Muhammadu Buhari took over power has been accused of misappropriating funds from the account of the Nigeria National petroleum Corporation and also benefitted from the Malabu oil scandal. READ ALSO: Deziani Alison-Madueke allegedly breaks EFCC's lies concerning her The Nation reports that an inventory of Dezianis assets was submitted to the UK to facilitate her prosecution. The assets include: A block of 6 unit service apartments on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi,Lagos; six units of terrace flats in Yaba, Lagos; twin four-bedroom duplexes in Lekki Phase I ,Lagos; two duplexes in Banana Island, Lagos; a duplex in Asokoro District, Abuja; a mini-estate in Mabushi, Abuja; a set of 12 terrace duplexes at Omaremi Street, Port Harcourt; a large expanse of land at Oniru, Victoria Island in Lagos; a multi-billion Naira estate in Yenagoa, Lagos; two apartments in Dubai marked as J5 Emirates Hills (30million Dirham); E146 Emirates Hills valued at 44million Dirham; a hotel in Port Harcourt under investigation. Video clips of the properties were also attached to the inventory sent to the UK. An EFCC source confirmed that Ibrahim Magu, the acting chairman of the anti-graft agency was accompanied by some detectives to the UK to submit to UK investigators. The source said: The evidence includes an inventory of more than 15 choice properties at home and abroad, her account status, documents and vital video clips. The evidence was taken to London in preparation for her trial. In fact, one or two persons indicted in the fuel subsidy scandal are already in detention in the UK ahead of her trial. We are also sending some EFCC detectives to the UK to interrogate Diezani on some issues. We need to obtain her statement too on certain allegations against her in Nigeria. We learnt that she has substantially recovered and we want our team to interview her in London. When the trial begins, Nigerians will have a full insight into our findings against the ex-minister. We have placed some of these properties under temporary asset forfeiture. We are still investigating some properties allegedly bought by the ex-minister through some proxies. But we have submitted a documentary on all these assets to investigators in the UK. We also discovered a box which was full of jewellery and expensive wrist watches in one of the properties with price tags. READ ALSO: EFCC challenges Deziani, asks her to come to court Some detectives who visited Nigeria from the UK inspected this box which we may transfer to the UK. On the $115million poll bribery scandal, we have video clips of how electoral officials and politicians were hauling cash from banking halls. "EFCC does not engage in personal vendetta. Nigerians will know the truth at the end of the trial either in Nigeria or in the UK. Source: Legit.ng - The Buhari support Organisation criticised John Nwodo for lashing at Buhari - The group said this can backfire for the Igbos - It said the president is genuinely concerned about development in Igboland The Buhari support Organisation (BSO) has warned that statements made by the new president of the Ohaneze Ndigbo, Nnia Nwodo may affect Igbos chances of clinching the presidency in 2023. Nwodo had accused President Muhammadu Buhari of side-lining the Igbos in his administration citing that No arm of government namely, the Executive, Judiciary or Legislature is headed by an Igbo. READ ALSO: Injustice! Ohaneze says Buhari is cheating Igbos He also threw his weight behind the pro-Biafra groups saying it was because the youths were tired of the things happening in the Buhari administration. Daily Post reports that the BSO said Nwodos statement was not a reflection of the Ohaneze Ndigbo and that it can incite Igbos against the presidency. In a statement by Chibueze Eze who is the publicity secretary of the group on Sunday, January 22, he wondered by Nwodo would make such statements considering President Buhari congratulated him when he won the election. He said: It is with rapt attention that Buhari Support Organisation (BSO) Enugu State Chapter, listened to the press conference of the new Ohaneze Ndigbo President General, our dear elder brother, orator and show man, Chief John Nnia Nwodo last Thursday, 19 January, 2017. We wanted to gloss it over, until we saw the lavish advert publication of his personal statement being decorated as that of Ohaneze Ndigbo, when in actual fact Ohaneze Ndigbo is a non-partisan socio-cultural Organisation. And most importantly, the statement is neither the resolution of Ohaneze Ndigbo National Executive Committee nor that of Imeobi, as provided in Ohaneze Ndigbos Constitution. BSO is aware that for Ndigbo to take such far reaching decisions, as proclaimed, Imeobi the inner caucus of Ohaneze Ndigbo had to be summoned; this was not the case. If Imeobi is to be summoned tomorrow, we are sure majority of Ndigbo will differ with Chief Nwodo, on the position of IPOB, as was demonstrated in the 1996 and 2014 Constitutional Conferences, where some states like Enugu and Ebonyi States voted against region. BSO is in league with majority of Ndigbo and Nigerians in general who despite the existing fault lines, have high hopes of Nigerias resurgimento to prosperity and greatness, where justice, equality and fairness will triumph. We also foresee the emergence of president of Igbo extraction in Nigeria after President Muhammadu Buharis eight year tenure and hence caution for tact and less inflammatory statements, especially from non-partisan Ohaneze Ndigbo READ ALSO: Igbo leader lashes IPOB as quarrel with MASSOB deepens We cannot forget that Chief Nwodo is an elder statesman who enjoyed the ministerial perquisites of Hausa leadership under the second republic President, Alhaji Shehu Shagari and the emergency rule of General Abdusalam Abubakar, where a state or local governments can be created on the dining table? Or where was Chief Nwodo when we had our brother His Excellency Anyim Pius Anyim, as Secretary to Government of the Federation, our dear sister, Dr Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as Minister of Finance and Coordinator of our Economy, our two dear Professors Barth Nnaji and Chinedu Nebo as Ministers of Power and yet our roads decayed and Enugu Coal remain abandoned? Enugu Coal, which Buhari has concluded plans to revamp and utilise to generate electricity, suffered the same fate with our roads in the hands of regimes, which we so loved and which so loved Ndigbo, where at a stretch of five years, two of our illustrious sons, professors for that matter, were ministers of power, yet Enugu Coal remains idle. Source: Legit.ng Recently pictures of the US president Donald Trump and Nnamdi Kanu of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) wearing an identical prayer shawl surfaced online, these pictures have led to speculations. Nnamdi Kanu and Donald Trump The prayer shawl they are both wearing is called a Tallit. A Tallit is a fringed garment traditionally worn by religious Jews. The Tallit has special twined and knotted fringes known as 'tzitzit' attached to its four corners. The cloth part is known as the "beged" and is usually made from wool or cotton, although silk is sometimes used for a tallit gadol. Tallit has many meanings. It can refer either to the "tallit katan", an item that can be worn over or under clothing and commonly referred to as "tzitzit", or the "tallit gadol", a Jewish prayer shawl worn over the outer clothes during the morning prayers (Shacharit) and worn during all prayers on Yom Kippur. READ ALSO: IPOB claims police killed 200 of its members In September 2016, Donald Trump while still a presidential candidate was draped in a Jewish prayer shawl by a pastor during a visit to a black church in Detroit. Bishop Wayne Jackson of the Great Faith Ministries placed the tallit on Trumps shoulders and said: I want to just put this on you." This is how the above picture came about. Nnamdi Kanu wore the prayer shawl to his court appearance on January 12, 2017. And many have linked it to the claims that the Igbo people are Jews by origin. There have been claims that new president of the United States is a supported of the struggle for Biafra and this led to the recent IPOB protest in Port Harcourt, Rivers state. The protest led to one confirmed death by the police, but according to the IPOB, more than 200 were killed or abducted by the police. The Rivers state police command says it has arrested 53 Biafra secessionists that were part of the around 1000 that staged a protest march for new American president Donald Trump as he was inaugurated on Friday, January 20. Below is a video of Nnamdi Kanu in court: Source: Legit.ng UNITED NATIONS The Palestinians on Monday became an observer for the first time at the annual meeting of states that have joined the International Criminal Court, upgrading their status within the organization but not, crucially, coming under the courts jurisdiction. The change is symbolic but significant nonetheless, considering how elusive statehood has proved for the Palestinians in their prolonged conflict with Israel. The General Assembly of the United Nations voted to recognize Palestine as a non-member observer state in a landmark resolution in November 2012. That recognition gave the Palestinians the right, if they wished, to ratify the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the International Criminal Court. DAKAR, Senegal Armed groups in the north of Mali have, over the last week, attacked each other as well as United Nations peacekeepers and Malian soldiers underscoring the countrys fragility as it tries to emerge from several years of political instability and jihadist revolt. Hopes that a recent tenuous peace deal and cease-fire would pacify Malis restive, separatist-minded north have diminished as rival ethnic factions clashed in the town of Menaka on Monday; other fighters of the Tuareg ethnic group attacked government forces in the town of Lere on Wednesday; separatists attacked the town of Goundam; and United Nations vehicles were fired on in Timbuktu. The attacks resulted in the deaths of at least nine soldiers and several civilians. Months of laborious negotiations in Algiers between the government and northern rebels produced a peace deal on March 1, but that is now in danger, diplomats say. Mongi Hamdi, the top representative of the United Nations in Mali the agency maintains a peacekeeping operation of more than 10,000 soldiers in the country called the episodes extremely worrying because they are putting the peace process in jeopardy. Malis largely desert north is home to less than 10 percent of its population of 15 million but most of its problems. Separatist movements and lawlessness have characterized the region neglected by the weak central government in the distant capital, Bamako since the countrys independence from France. It was from the north that a Tuareg-jihadist rebellion emerged in early 2012, inflicting defeat upon defeat on the corruption-ridden army. The rebels eventually overran the entire region, imposing a harsh Qaeda-linked version of Islamic law that included amputations and execution by stoning. Sometimes I want to kill myself, she said. I am frustrated, I am out of control, I am fighting with this world. This isnt my life. My soul splits in two when my kids beg for something for an ice cream, for a cookie and I cant give it to them. The most difficult thing is getting food. Victor Guilarte, 45, a mechanic from a Caracas suburb, said his work had vanished because his neighbors had become so poor they could not afford car repairs. Two weeks ago, he said, he visited his family in another state and found the situation even worse. I came back feeling destroyed they had no food, he said. I am tired of Maduro and his government, tired of crime, of hunger, of them telling us we have plenty to eat. I want a referendum, and if there is no referendum, I want him to resign. Mr. Maduro called on his supporters to take to the streets to stage a counterprotest, which drew crowds dressed in red, the color of former President Hugo Chavezs leftist movement. Now the hurricane has presented yet another hurdle to a nation still grappling with the devastation of the 2010 earthquake and a cholera epidemic inadvertently introduced to the country by United Nations peacekeepers. Etienne Navuson, 27, waited out the hurricane this week in his concrete home as the wind lashed his village on the southwestern peninsula. When he awoke, almost everything had vanished: cattle, crops, fields and homes. Had the rain fallen more than it did had it gone for just one more hour we would have lost even more, Mr. Navuson said. At least 90 percent of the village was destroyed, he said. Residents are searching for food and water buried in the rubble. Those who find something are fortunate, he said. Seven more family members have taken refuge in Mr. Navusons home after losing their own to the storm. The tiny home is now packed with people sleeping on plastic sheets for bedding. There will be food shortages in the days to come, Mr. Navuson said. Msgr. Pierre-Andre Pierre, the head of the Catholic University of Notre Dame of Haiti, encountered chaos when he reached the coastal town of Jeremie. Trees were gone, leaving an empty field. Someone had discarded a body in front of a Catholic bishops house, not knowing where else to dispose of it. South Africa has become the second African country to announce that it plans to leave the International Criminal Court, a decision that campaigners for international justice say could lead to a devastating exodus from the embattled institution. The move on Friday came three days after Burundis president signed a decree making his country the first to withdraw from the court, which had planned to investigate political violence that followed the presidents decision last year to pursue a third term. There is a real chance that there will now be large-scale African withdrawals, said David L. Bosco, an associate professor of international studies at Indiana University who has written a book on the court. The Burundi decision was easy to dismiss as a government seeking to avoid direct scrutiny; South Africas is much more significant. The African Union has been a forum for anti-I.C.C. sentiment, and countries like Kenya and Uganda may now seek to capitalize on the momentum. Henry Oryem Okello, a Ugandan minister, told The Associated Press on Friday that his country was undecided about whether to remain in the court, and that the hot issue of African participation might be taken up at an African Union summit meeting in January. In the age of Facebook, it has become far easier for campaigners or marketers to combine our online personas with our offline selves, a process that was once controversial but is now so commonplace that theres a term for it, onboarding. Cambridge Analytica says it has as many as 3,000 to 5,000 data points on each of us, be it voting histories or full-spectrum demographics age, income, debt, hobbies, criminal histories, purchase histories, religious leanings, health concerns, gun ownership, car ownership, homeownership from consumer-data giants. No data point is very informative on its own, but profiling voters, says Cambridge Analytica, is like baking a cake. Its the sum of the ingredients, its chief executive officer, Alexander Nix, told NBC News. Because the United States lacks European-style restrictions on second- or thirdhand use of our data, and because our freedom-of-information laws give data brokers broad access to the intimate records kept by local and state governments, our lives are open books even without social media or personality quizzes. Ever since the advertising executive Lester Wunderman coined the term direct marketing in 1961, the ability to target specific consumers with ads rather than blanketing the airwaves with mass appeals and hoping the right people will hear them has been the marketers holy grail. Whats new is the efficiency with which individually tailored digital ads can be tested and matched to our personalities. Facebook is the microtargeters ultimate weapon. The explosive growth of Facebooks ad business has been overshadowed by its increasing role in how we get our news, real or fake. In July, the social network posted record earnings: quarterly sales were up 59 percent from the previous year, and profits almost tripled to $2.06 billion. While active users of Facebook now 1.71 billion monthly active users were up 15 percent, the real story was how much each individual user was worth. The company makes $3.82 a year from each global user, up from $2.76 a year ago, and an average of $14.34 per user in the United States, up from $9.30 a year ago. Much of this growth comes from the fact that advertisers not only have an enormous audience in Facebook but an audience they can slice into the tranches they hope to reach. One recent advertising product on Facebook is the so-called dark post: A newsfeed message seen by no one aside from the users being targeted. With the help of Cambridge Analytica, Mr. Trumps digital team used dark posts to serve different ads to different potential voters, aiming to push the exact right buttons for the exact right people at the exact right times. ISTANBUL The Turkish government on Tuesday expanded its crackdown on political opponents, dismissing an additional 15,000 civil servants from their jobs and shutting down 375 organizations, including nine more news outlets. More than 100,000 public workers, including police officers, teachers, soldiers and others, had already been fired for what the authorities said were connections to a failed coup on July 15 or to terrorists. The new wave of dismissals came on a morning when the European Parliament was scheduled to debate freezing accession talks for Turkey to join the European Union. It was one of several recent indicators that the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was abandoning hope of success in that process, which has dragged on for 11 years. Mr. Erdogan has been defiant, saying it was time that the European Union made up its mind on Turkeys membership, and threatening to hold a nationwide referendum on whether to continue the talks. Maggie Roche, the songwriter whose serene alto anchored the close harmonies of the Roches, her trio with her sisters, Terre and Suzzy, died on Saturday. She was 65. Suzzy Roche said in a statement that the cause was breast cancer. She did not say where her sister died. She was a private person, too sensitive and shy for this world, but brimming with life, love, and talent, Suzzy Roche wrote on the Roches Facebook page. She was smart, wickedly funny, and authentic not a false bone in her body a brilliant songwriter, with a distinct unique perspective, all heart and soul. Ms. Roche developed a pop-folk songwriting style that could be droll or diaristic, full of unexpected melodic turns and often inseparable from the way the sisters voices harmonized and diverged. New Yorkers flooded the streets of Manhattan on Saturday aiming to send a message to President Trump that his hometown would be a center of resistance during his administration. The mayors office estimated that 400,000 people took part in the march, which was in concert with other Womens March rallies across the country. With huge crowds along Fifth Avenue near Trump Tower, a large slice of Manhattan came to a standstill for much of the day. Participants booed Mr. Trump and hoisted signs mocking both his hair and his relationship with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. It was a moment of both catharsis and camaraderie in a city that was, for the most part, shocked and disappointed by Mr. Trumps ascendance to the presidency. Joia Nuri, 63, saw the march as an opportunity for women to talk to one another about more than what are traditionally considered women's issues. She was glad the organizers made an effort to include women of color in the march. "This is a time for the conversation to start in a way that didn't happen in the 60s," she said. Her message to Mr. Trump: "I don't want life to go back to 1950. I'm going to fight hard, maybe harder than my grandparents. He should beware." Womens rights have come a long way, she said, recalling the days when she worked in the newspaper business selling advertising and was paid far less than her male colleagues. They earned commission, and I didnt, she said. And I was always called Mrs. John VandenHeede. I didnt even have a name. She was the best salesman in the bunch, too, said her husband, Mr. VandenHeede. Other women sharply questioned the notion of protesting a president whose administration had begun only the day before. Its kind of offensive, said Linda Hine, 56, an accounting manager who voted for Mr. Trump. People are just criticizing because they didnt get their way. All it did was force another reason for people to be divided. Ms. Hine interpreted Mr. Trumps inaugural speech on Friday as a generous, uplifting call to bring people together, contradicting the belief of others that it had painted an overly dark and gloomy picture of the country. It was about unity, she said. Her friend Kim Redman, 48, said that as opponents of abortion, they would not have felt welcome at the march anyway, echoing a frequent complaint that only women who favor abortion rights were encouraged to attend. If women would just give Mr. Trump a chance, he might not be as bad as they expect, she said. Hes our president no matter what, she said. Why do women need a march at all, some people asked, when they have made so many gains in the past few decades? Women have equal opportunities in the workplace now. Weve got minorities in jobs. The glass ceilings have opened up all across the nation, said Tammy Chesney, 53, a carpenter, adding that she had never experienced discrimination on the job. She shrugged off Mr. Trumps comments that he had grabbed womens genitals without asking permission. It wasnt nice, she said. But he apologized, and it was in the past. It was blown all out of proportion. Is it O.K. to punch a Nazi? That is not a brainteaser or a hypothetical question posed by a magazine on Twitter. It is an actual question bouncing around the internet after an attack on a well-known far-right activist, Richard B. Spencer, in Washington after the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as president on Friday. Mr. Spencer, who is credited with coining the term alt-right and describes himself as an identitarian, was punched in the head on Inauguration Day by a person clad in black as he was being interviewed by a journalist. At the time of the attack, Mr. Spencer was explaining the meaning of Pepe the Frog, a cartoon figure adopted as a mascot by the alt-right, a racist, far-right fringe movement that is anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic and anti-feminist. Video of the attack shows Mr. Spencer reeling to one side under the force of the blow and his attacker darting through a crowd after landing the punch. SOUNDBITE (English) Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary: This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe. Even the New York Times printed a photograph showing that a misrepresentation of the crowd in the original tweet in their paper which showed the full extent of the support, depth, and crowd and intensity that existed. These attempts to lessen the enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong. The president was also at the, as you know, the president was at the Central Intelligence Agency today and greeted by a raucous, overflow crowd of some 400 plus CIA employees. There were over a thousand requests to attend, prompting the president to note that hell have to come back to greet the rest. The employees were ecstatic that hes the new commander in chief and he delivered them a powerful and important message. He told them he has their back and they were grateful for that. They gave him a five minute standing ovation at the end in a display of their patriotism and their enthusiasm for his presidency. Id also note that its a shame that the CIA didnt have a CIA director to be with him today when he visited, because the Democrats have chosen, the Senate Democrats are stalling the nomination of Mike Pompeo and playing politics with national security. Thats what you guys should be writing and covering, that this, instead of sewing division about tweets and false narratives. The president is committed to unifying our country and that was the focus of his inaugural address. This kind of dishonesty in the media, the challenging that bringing about our nation together is making it more difficult. Theres been a lot of talk in the media about the responsibility to hold Donald Trump accountable. And Im here to tell you that it goes two ways. Were going to hold the press accountable as well. The American people deserve better, and as long as he serves as the messenger of this incredible movement, he will take his message directly to the American people where his focus will always be. WASHINGTON The day after what many had assumed would be the inauguration of the first female president, hundreds of thousands of women flooded the streets of Washington, and many more marched in cities across the country, in defiant, jubilant rallies against the man who defeated her. Protesters jammed the streets near the Capitol for the main demonstration, packed so tightly at times that they could barely move. In Chicago, the size of a rally so quickly outgrew early estimates that the official march that was scheduled to follow was canceled for safety, though many paraded through downtown, anyway. In Manhattan, Fifth Avenue became a tide of signs and symbolic pink hats, while in downtown Los Angeles, shouts of love trumps hate echoed along a one-mile route leading to City Hall, with many demonstrators spilling over into adjacent streets in a huge, festival-like atmosphere. SWAKOPMUND, Namibia The statue, depicting a German marine holding a rifle in his hands and standing guard over a dying comrade, has stood undisturbed for decades in the most prominent spot in Swakopmund, a city on Namibias coast. It has survived the end of colonial rule in this corner of southern Africa, the subsequent occupation by apartheid South Africa, independence in 1990 and the present government by the black majority. But a few months ago protesters spilled red paint over the monument, which stands in front of a colonial building that is now known as the State House and serves as the summer residence of Namibias president. The statue, known as the Marine Denkmal, was erected in 1908 to commemorate soldiers who helped crush a rebellion against German colonial rule by the Herero and Nama ethnic groups, a war that led to what Germanys current government is close to recognizing as a genocide. In its first new episode under the presidency of Donald J. Trump, Saturday Night Live opened with its vision of the most powerful man in the world President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, smirking and chiding Mr. Trump for early missteps followed by a monologue from the shows host, Aziz Ansari, who commented on issues of race in post-Obama America and implored Mr. Trump to directly address them himself. Airing one day after Mr. Trumps inauguration, S.N.L., which the president hosted as a candidate and has regularly attacked on Twitter, did not feature an appearance from its resident Trump impersonator, Alec Baldwin. Instead the show opened with the cast member Beck Bennett playing a bare-chested Mr. Putin and boasting of helping to get Mr. Trump elected. Today many of you are scared and marching in the streets, the Putin character said. You are worried that your country is in the hands of this unpredictable man. But dont worry. Its not. Relax. I got this. Puteys going to make everything O.K. Police in Nwoya district is holding 3 men in custody for killing an elephant in Murchison National park The three men in their mid-30s identified as Ayella Bob, Okello Eric and Otema Justin residents of Anaka village were found in posession of 27 kilograms worth of ivory. The Trio was arrested after Officials from the Natural Resource Conservation Network (NRCN) were tipped off by police about the sale for ivory in Anaka village in Nwoya district. The three confessed to NRCN, that they found a dead elephant in the Murchison Falls national park and swiftly removed its tusks given their valuable ivory. One of the suspects, Otema, said they were going to sell the tusks at Ug Shs. 300,000 for each kilogram of the 27 kilograms. According to Nwoya police, the suspects will be kept in police custody as investigations go on to find the weapon used as well as the killer before they are arraigned before courts of law as stipulated in the Uganda Wildlife Act. Last January, the first BroadwayCon brought thousands of theater fans to New York despite a massive snowstorm. But one week before the conventions expanded second iteration, organizers have hit a snag: a labor dispute with the Actors Equity Association, who has asked its members not to perform, or even rehearse, for the event until an agreement is reached. In a note sent to Actors Equity members on Friday, Flora Stamatiades, the unions national director of organizing and special projects, wrote that last years contract had been reached on an understanding that the payment terms for future conventions would be changed. Now the producers are refusing to make the changes to which they agreed, she wrote. This is unacceptable. She then put BroadwayCon on Equitys do not work list. Like other fan-oriented events, BroadwayCon features performances, panel discussions and autograph sessions (as well as singalongs, tailored to its particular audience). Last year over 5,000 people attended. This year organizers, expecting the event to be larger, booked the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Part of the dispute centers on roughly two hours of performance time in two events on the conventions main stage, involving 10 Actors Equity performers. But many other members of the union, including Kelli OHara, Laura Osnes and Tony Yazbeck, are scheduled to appear throughout the Jan. 27-29 weekend. WASHINGTON On the first full day in which Barack Obama officially became the former president, visitors to the National Museum of African American History and Culture paused at the end of a sprawling exhibition titled A Journey to Freedom. After navigating multiple ramps, rooms and interactive displays detailing the struggle of African-Americans dating back to the 15th century, they reached a display honoring Mr. Obama. Its not enough, said Tony Prokop, 57, a teacher from Delaware. Theres certainly more to do for Obama. But just to have one showcase here for the impact that hes made? Im looking at some of the other people here and the doors that theyve opened along the way. This guy kicked the door down. Though he is a lifelong Republican who voted for Donald J. Trump in November, Mr. Prokop said that he would have voted for Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont if the senator had won the Democratic nomination. As for Mr. Obama, he cited missed opportunities, especially in the areas of race, as part of his rationale for supporting Mr. Trump. While he expressed optimism about the new administration, he expressed disappointment in the inauguration speech. While the inauguration of a new president after a bitterly contentious election dominated the news all day Friday, the conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim, in an eloquent speech at Carnegie Hall, defended the importance of culture and community at a time of division. His words came at the end of a concert by the Staatskapelle Berlin orchestra, the second of nine programs devoted to the nine Bruckner symphonies, the first complete cycle of these works performed in America. The series opened on Thursday with Bruckners First, preceded by Mozarts Piano Concerto No. 27 with Mr. Barenboim playing the solo part and conducting from the keyboard. Fridays concert offered Mozarts Concerto No. 20 and the Bruckner Second. The performances on both nights were magnificent. Friday was a special occasion for Mr. Barenboim, as Clive Gillinson, the executive and artistic director of Carnegie Hall, told the audience at the conclusion of the concert. It was the 60th anniversary, to the day, of Mr. Barenboims Carnegie debut, when, at 14, he was the soloist in Prokofievs First Piano Concerto, a performance with the Symphony of the Air conducted by Leopold Stokowski. Since then Mr. Barenboim has appeared more than 140 times at Carnegie Hall as a pianist and conductor. Mr. Barenboim, an artist who has long put his social ideals into artistic action, began his remarks by saying that Carnegie Hall has achieved a stature beyond the sounds of concerts presented on its stage, that its very walls tell stories. He then spoke of his concerns that concert life and culture are in danger of deterioration from politicians who shape public attitudes by what they choose to emphasize. You cannot put culture at the end of the list, he said. Rita Moreno sits among rare company. In addition to her memorable roles West Side Story, The King and I, The Electric Company theres the EGOT. Ms. Moreno, 85, has won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony (hence the acronym). Only about a dozen people have done so. Yet even the most decorated stars have those they look forward to collaborating with. Thats the magic name, Ms. Moreno said in a recent interview. Norman Lear. I always wanted to work with him. And we just kept getting older. The two have paired up in One Day at a Time, a reboot of a sitcom developed by Mr. Lear it was created by Whitney Blake and Allan Manings that originally ran from 1975 to 1984. The new version, which had its premiere on Netflix on Jan. 6, follows several generations of a Cuban-American family living in Los Angeles a military veteran and single mother (Justina Machado), her two offspring (Isabella Gomez and Marcel Ruiz) and the dramatic family matriarch, Lydia (Ms. Moreno). Ms. Moreno discussed accents, filming a particularly emotional scene and why she would like her character to get involved in politics. These are edited excerpts from that conversation. The Tilt Kids Festival, a collaboration between the French Institute Alliance Francaise and Cultural Services of the French Embassy that had its debut last year, will return in March with a lineup that features eight premieres, including new work from the circus collective involved in the 2013 Broadway revival of Pippin. A more family-friendly complement to the French Institutes avant-garde Crossing the Line festival, Tilt runs from March 4 through April 16 and is spread among New York cultural institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Brooklyn Public Library; and the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, at New York University. Among the festivals commissions is the first New York exhibition of works by the French Illustrator Herve Tullet, known for his best-selling childrens books Press Here and Mix It Up!. The show will be open for the duration of the festival at the Invisible Dog Art Center in Brooklyn. Les 7 Doigts de la Main (7 Fingers), the Montreal-based circus troupe that helped create the acrobatics in Pippin, will combine daring and culinary skills for Cuisine & Confessions at the Skirball Center April 11-15. AMSTERDAM Reviewers have compared it favorably to J .D. Salingers The Catcher in the Rye, Albert Camuss The Stranger and Karl Ove Knausgaards My Struggle. In The Irish Times, Eileen Battersby called it one of the finest studies of youthful malaise ever written, and in The Guardian, Tim Parks described it as not only a masterpiece but a cornerstone manque of modern European literature. The novel being praised, Gerard Reves The Evenings, was originally published in 1947. But English-language readers are only now getting a chance to judge this Dutch classic for themselves. Pushkin Press released the first English translation of the book, by Sam Garrett, in Britain in November, and will publish it in the United States on Jan. 31. Fresh admiration for The Evenings comes as no surprise to readers in the Netherlands. The Society of Dutch Literature ranked it as the countrys best 20th-century novel and its third-best of all time. Long taught in Dutch high schools as a turning point in the countrys literary canon, it has never gone out of print here. The Evenings (De Avonden) takes place over the last 10 nights of 1946. Its narrated by Frits van Egters, a 23-year-old clerk in Amsterdam who still lives with his parents in a cramped apartment near the Amstel River. Frits is occupied during working hours, but in his free time he struggles with a sense of anxious aimlessness and isolation. Inwardly, he dissects the absurd banality of his life while he observes, with an acute sense of cynicism and occasional brutality, the slow decline of his doting middle-age parents. Mr. Trump attacked the news media, claiming enormous turnout numbers for the inauguration in the face of photographs proving the contrary. A Trump adviser drew derision by portraying the claims as alternative facts. Liberal groups in the United States are hitting the Trump administration with a barrage of legal actions, including a suit to be filed today alleging that the president is violating the Constitution by allowing his businesses to accept payments from foreign governments. China, for instance, rents space in Trump Tower in New York. As for the business of government, the Senate holds a confirmation vote today for Representative Mike Pompeo of Kansas to lead the Central Intelligence Agency. And Rex W. Tillerson is likely to move a step closer to confirmation as secretary of state. _____ 2. Hundreds of thousands of women gathered to protest Mr. Trump in Washington on Saturday, above, and many more demonstrated in cities around the nation and the world. Here is a photographic roundup. On Friday, protests in the capital turned violent at times. Mr. Trump begins his term with less popular support than any new president in modern times. _____ Jeh C. Johnson, who has stepped down as secretary of Homeland Security, is rejoining the New York law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, where he formerly worked. He will be a partner in the firms litigation department. Mr. Johnson, 59, has worked intermittently at Paul, Weiss, returning four times after stints in public service, including three presidential appointments that required Senate confirmation. He led the Department of Homeland Security for three years, overseeing counterterrorism, cybersecurity, border security and immigration law administration and enforcement. The New York Times reported in 2015 that he gave legal approval for American forces to enter Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden. Mr. Johnson served from 2009 to 2012 as general counsel of the Defense Department, where he was a primary legal architect of the militarys counterterrorism efforts under the Obama administration. In 2010, he was an author of a Defense Department report that paved the way for the repeal of the dont ask, dont tell policy by Congress. As the fourth director of Homeland Security the umbrella department set up in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks Mr. Johnson was embroiled in some of the nations major controversies, including border security efforts and policies concerning undocumented immigrants, among them the detention of families at residential centers and deferred action on immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. TAIPEI, Taiwan Foxconn, the worlds largest contract electronics maker, is considering setting up a display-making plant in the United States in an investment that would exceed $7 billion, the companys chairman and chief executive, Terry Gou, said Sunday. The plans come after President Trump pledged to put America first in his inauguration speech on Friday, prompting Mr. Gou to warn about the rise of protectionism and a trend for politics to underpin economic development. Mr. Gou said that Foxconn, based in Taiwan, had been considering such a move for years. But the issue came up when a Foxconn business partner, Masayoshi Son, talked to Mr. Gou before a December meeting that Mr. Son had with Mr. Trump. Mr. Son is the head of SoftBank Group, based in Japan. As a result of the meeting, Mr. Son pledged $50 billion of investment in the United States and inadvertently disclosed information showing Foxconns logo and an unspecified additional $7 billion investment. At the time, Foxconn issued a brief statement saying it was in preliminary discussions to expand its American operations, without elaborating. Police in Kampala overnight has arrested Over 30 shisha smokers for contravening the anti-tobacco act 2015 that banned smocking shisha and other toxic substances in public. In the operation led by Kira road division police commander Filbert Waibi several smoker were picked from places of happening like Cayenne, Cassablanca, Dinners and Panamera bars. Waibi said that these are to be charged under the Tobacco control act 2015 and if found guilty, one may be liable to imprisonment for a period of six months or a fine of sh480, 000 or both. This is not the first time for police to arrest shisha smoker, similar operation was carried out in mukono last year. The high-risk programs offered a separate insurance pool for people with potentially expensive medical conditions. The idea is that by separating sick people from the majority of people who are healthy, insurers could offer cheaper rates to the healthy people. Insurers could charge higher prices to those with existing medical conditions, but they would also rely on other sources of funding, including from the government, to cover their costs. The system worked for Dan Nassimbene and his wife, who had breast cancer but is in remission. They enrolled in Colorados high-risk pool for three years. She paid about $375 a month for a plan that covered most of her treatments. In 2014, though, the high-risk pool was closed, and Mr. Nassimbene bought a plan that met the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. The cheapest plan he could buy for himself and his wife cost around $900 a month and came with a family deductible of around $12,000, much higher than it was before. His income was too high for him to receive any government subsidies, which help about 80 percent of people buying such plans. I had coverage but no access, said Mr. Nassimbene, 55. He has since switched to a Christian health care sharing ministry, in which members cover one anothers medical bills. It does not qualify as coverage under the law. In many cases, the high-risk pools were overburdened financially, leaving many people without insurance or with tight restrictions on coverage. Insurers refused to cover the individuals who were likely to have the highest expenses, like those who had H.I.V. or serious kidney disease, and the pools lost money. Many states had to turn applicants away in some states, only a small percentage of those who applied received coverage and the insurance was sharply limited to control spending. Sam Sifton emails readers of Cooking five days a week to talk about food and suggest recipes. That email also appears here. To receive it in your inbox, register here. Good morning. Welcome to the new era. However you spent Friday and Saturday, I think today would be a good one to break down your kitchen completely to reorganize cabinets, throw out old spices and recycle all of those mismatched plastics youve been hoarding since Thanksgiving, to edit the refrigerator and freezer, to restock the pantry, maybe to order some new drinking glasses to fill out the collection laid low by holiday breakage these last few months, and absolutely to give your stove a deep, deep clean from burners down to the inside of the oven. Really. Im guessing you havent done any of this since mid-November at least. Its time. Clean your station. The labor will pay off with immense personal satisfaction. Soundtrack: Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense. Then you can cook, I hope with boundless ambition, in advance of a week of great eating. Cynthia Ann Watson and Bernard David Cole were married Jan. 20 at the home of their friends Janet Norton and Capt. Douglas M. Norton, in Annapolis, Md. The brides brother, J. Scott Watson, who is licensed by the State of Maryland to perform weddings, officiated. The couple met at the National War College in Washington, where the bride is a professor of strategy, and the groom, a retired Navy captain, is emeritus professor of maritime strategy. Dr. Watson, 59, is keeping her name. She graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and received a masters degree in economic history from the London School of Economics. She also received a Ph.D. in government and international studies from Notre Dame. She is the author of 11 books on national security affairs, including Combatant Commands. She is the daughter of the late Mary K. Watson and the late James F. Watson, who lived in Kansas City, Mo. Dr. Cole, 73, retired from a 30-year career as a surface warfare officer. He commanded a frigate and a destroyer squadron, and served as a member of the Third Marine Division in Vietnam. He is the author of eight books on Asian security affairs, including Chinas Quest for Great Power. Katherine Elizabeth Girardi, a daughter of Joan D. Girardi and Gerald J. Girardi of Scarsdale, N.Y., was married Jan. 21 to George Athan Kentros, a son of Dr. Mary K. Kentros and Arthur G. Kentros, also of Scarsdale. Mark R. Giller, a Sanctuary of the Beloved minister, officiated at the JW Marriott Essex House in New York. On Jan. 29, the Rev. Nicholas Anctil, a Greek Orthodox priest, is to lead a religious ceremony at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in New Rochelle, N.Y. Mrs. Kentros, 27, a clinical practice supervisor at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, is also pursuing a Master of Public Administration at New York University. She graduated cum laude from Vanderbilt. The brides father is a managing director in the credit capital markets group at Apollo Global Management, an investment firm in New York. Her mother is the librarian at the Westchester Lower School, a branch in White Plains of the Windward School, a private school for students with language-based learning disabilities. It was as though time had stood still at Latisha Hopewells apartment in Lower Manhattan. A colorfully decorated Christmas tree again stood near the entrance of her mostly unadorned apartment. Freshly opened presents for her daughters, Shaun and Shani Bates, were stacked beneath the tree, as the girls sat next to their mother on a large, green sofa in their living room. Two years ago, the setting was the same. Ms. Hopewell had gone back to college a year and a half earlier to set an example for her daughters and to finally secure not another job, she said, but a career. Though she was stretched exhaustingly thin among classes, a part-time job and parenting, she talked about a renewed dedication to completing a path she had begun nearly 20 years earlier, and how a degree would allow her to provide for her daughters in a way she had always wanted. Now Ms. Hopewell, 37, is ebullient, and full of smiles, hugs and laughs. After spending the last three and a half years studying forensic psychology at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Midtown, it was official: She was a college graduate, the first in her family. It feels great, she said, adding that it will feel better once I walk down that aisle. She finished her degree in December but is saving the big celebration for after the graduation ceremony later this year. She has already rewarded herself in other ways, though: After her last class, she took a few days off work to spend time with her daughters during their winter break from school and to catch up on much-needed sleep. In Macomb County, Mich. the well-chronicled home of the Reagan Democrats and a county Mr. Trump decisively won about 6,000 Democrats braved frigid temperatures on Jan. 15 to hear Mr. Sanders and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, among others, defend the Affordable Care Act. It was one of dozens of similar rallies across the country. The day before, so many constituents of Representative Mike Coffman, Republican of Colorado, packed an Aurora library to confront him over his support for repealing the health care law that he had to leave through a back door. Yet it was telling that women galvanized the largest protests. Hillary Clintons defeat prompted soul-searching about why appeals to feminism did not carry the day. Now a wide range of groups that advocate for women are trying to capitalize on the momentum to turn an event into a sustained movement. Todd Gitlin, a former president of Students for a Democratic Society and a scholar of political movements, noted that the civil rights and antiwar movements succeeded because of the organized networks that preceded and followed any single mass protest. The march on Washington in 1963 was the culmination of years of local activism, including civil disobedience, registering voters, protecting civil rights workers and voter education movements, he said. Organizations need to be ready to receive the protesters when theyre ready to take the next step. You need to be a full-service movement. That effort, the organizers say, is already underway. At the panel Saturday night, representatives from the partner groups made 90-second pitches to the marchers, urging them to sign up for any of the organizations that appealed to them. The key, Ms. Poo said, was to build a continuous relationship with voters and volunteers so that they are not only approached before elections. Tresa Undem, a partner in the polling firm PerryUndem, said that several years of convening focus groups had convinced her that womens issues can translate into political momentum. When she showed focus groups a list of specific restrictions on abortion and health care that had been passed on the local level, she said, they immediately began talking about how men were making those decisions. A poll she conducted that was released this month found that outrage at Mr. Trumps remarks was the primary predictor of whether women would take specific political actions. Still, the womens movement faces several potential obstacles. Leaders believe the only way to mobilize is to sweep in many disparate groups, which risks diluting their message. And the wounds inflicted by the election still run deep. Minority women in particular say they are concerned that the new attention to the white working class might mean de-emphasizing issues of race for fear of alienating white voters. WASHINGTON Senate Republicans will move this week to speed the confirmation of President Trumps cabinet, an effort that has been stymied by the combination of lax preparation by Mr. Trumps transition team, his many unorthodox nominees and Democrats spoiling for a fight, albeit with few cards in their deck. On Monday, the Senate will vote on the confirmation of Representative Mike Pompeo of Kansas to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, after Democrats used one of the few procedural maneuvers left to them to force a debate on his inevitable approval. Republicans had hoped to push through Mr. Pompeo and others last Friday, but were able to confirm only two: James N. Mattis for defense secretary and John F. Kelly to lead homeland security. President Obama had seven nominees approved on his first day in office. Also on Monday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will vote on Mr. Trumps pick for secretary of state, Rex W. Tillerson, whose road to confirmation has been bumpy. Mr. Tillerson received a lift on Sunday when two Republicans, Senator John McCain of Arizona and Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said they would support him, after weeks of public hedging. ATLANTA At least 18 people were killed and 43 more injured in Georgia and Mississippi after thunderstorms and tornadoes roared through the South this weekend, leaving some things standing and some things fallen, some lives whole and others blown to bits. Charles McDowell, pastor of Barney United Methodist Church in Barney, Ga., was safe at home in nearby Valdosta on Sunday. So was the modest church where he preaches to his flock of a few dozen. DAKAR, Senegal Four days into his term, tucked into a sofa 150 miles outside the country he was elected to rule, President Adama Barrow of Gambia pledged on Sunday to improve his countrys economy, free its political prisoners and create a commission to look into the brutal legacy of his predecessor. But first he has to get home. Mr. Barrow, 51, has been stuck in neighboring Senegal for a week, waiting for the incumbent he defeated, Yahya Jammeh, to step down and leave the country. After initially accepting his loss in the December presidential election, Mr. Jammeh reversed himself, called for a new vote and refused to give up power when his term ended on Thursday. Afraid for his safety, Mr. Barrow fled to Senegal and was sworn in during an inauguration at the Gambian Embassy in Dakar. A coalition of other African countries sent troops into Gambia to evict Mr. Jammeh by force if necessary, and on Saturday night, Mr. Jammeh finally let go. He boarded a plane headed for exile, accompanied by the president of Guinea, who had gone to Gambia to persuade him to leave. The expectations for you from your many, many supporters are huge. What is your chief priority, once you get to the statehouse? The economy is our chief priority. We will get our cabinet in place. We want to get the experts in every area, so that they will design a blueprint for how to move forward. But the economy is No. 1. Your welcome-home speech to Gambians in exile must have been really heartening for them to hear. How can you also lure home the thousands of Gambian migrants who have gone to Europe? How will you dissuade other Gambians from joining them? I think these 22 years have been very, very difficult for everybody, basically, whether you live in Gambia or you live outside. This crusade was like everybody was part of it the Gambian diaspora, Gambians locally, residents in the Gambia everybody was involved in this. So you want everybody on board. Everybody has the liberty to come back home and offer your services in any area you feel you can contribute. Are there political prisoners to free? Are there human rights violations to mop up? There are a lot of them to be freed. There are a lot of people who are detained without trial. People who have disappeared and they have not been traced we dont know if they are in the prisons. We will free all of them. Political prisoners will be freed immediately when I get home all political prisoners. Jose Martin Carmona Flores, who runs a state agency in Mexico that offers humanitarian assistance to migrants, said that about 200 Cubans were currently in Nuevo Laredo, and that an additional 1,100 were waiting in other cities until they decided what to do. According to the International Office of Migration, about 250 Cubans were being processed at the southern Mexico border when the announcement was made. Scores who arrived since then are being sent back to Cuba. More than 11,000 Cubans arrived in Mexico in just the last three months of 2016, meaning that thousands more along the migrant route across the Americas could still flood Mexico in the weeks to come. On Friday morning, the Mexican government deported 91 of them who had entered along the southern border. I am very worried for them, Mr. Carmona said. They have no plan. They have no backup plan if their original plan fails. They are truly vulnerable to illness, an epidemic, extortion. In many ways they are much more vulnerable than the Central American migrants we are accustomed to dealing with. Mr. Carmonas agency was created after 78 migrants were massacred in his state by a drug cartel in 2010. Central Americans are regularly kidnapped and extorted, a fate Cubans have largely escaped in the past because they did not linger long. I think they are going to have to reach some kind of amnesty or truce and be returned to their country; Mexico will have to do it, because they are here, Mr. Carmona said. Who is going to be the executioner? Who is going to return these people to a place where they are likely to be sanctioned to put a friendly word to it? MADRID The European police have arrested 75 people and recovered about 3,500 stolen archaeological artifacts and other artworks as part of the dismantling of an international network of art traffickers. The arrests, announced on Sunday in a statement by Spains Interior Ministry, followed a Pan-European police operation begun in October and led by investigators in Spain and Cyprus. The criminal network handled artworks looted from war-stricken countries, as well as works stolen from museums and other sites, the statement said. In the southern Spanish city of Murcia, the police recovered about 500 archaeological pieces, including 19 stolen from the citys archaeological museum in 2014. In Greece, the authorities recovered part of an Ottoman tombstone, Byzantine objects and an image of St. George dating to the 18th century. Across Europe, the old Socialist blocs have fractured into smaller parties, partly because their voting bases have changed but also because rampant inequality and the decline of the middle class have created fertile ground for more extreme parties. On the left they are trying to stand up for their old core group, industrial workers, said Steve Coulter, who teaches political economy at the London School of Economics. But then theres another group on the left, who are pro-free trade, L.G.B.T., flat-white drinking, bearded hipsters and thats the middle-class part of their support. The result in France is that the National Front, led by Marine Le Pen, has moved into the old traditionalist, protectionist precincts of the authoritarian left, Mr. Coulter said. In Limousin, a relatively poor area of central France best known for the succulent beef from its cattle industry, its yellow apples and its elegant Limoges porcelain, these broader economic forces are evident. Mr. Ducourtioux said that he had voted for Mr. Hollande in the last election, but that this time he was looking toward the National Front, although he stopped short of naming it. You have Trump who do you think I am going to vote for? Mr. Ducourtioux said. For years, the regional economy was built on agriculture, manufacturing and small businesses that were subcontractors to larger enterprises like the automakers Renault and Peugeot. And for most of the last 100 years it was a left-leaning stronghold. The Socialist mayor of Limoges, Alain Rodet, served multiple terms until he was toppled in 2014 by a well-known psychiatrist, Emile-Roger Lombertie. He had no government experience and ran as an outsider (although on the eve of the election he became a member of the mainstream conservative party, now known as the Republicans). In those same local elections, National Front candidates won an unprecedented 17 percent of the votes in the first round, a high figure given the leftist traditions of the area, which was the birthplace in 1895 of Frances leading trade union. LONDON Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain refused to comment on Sunday about the reported failure of an unarmed British Trident missile that was test-fired from a submarine off the coast of Florida in June. Mrs. May said in a television interview with the BBC that she had absolute faith in our Trident missiles. But she would not say whether she had known about the failure or whether, as The Sunday Times of London reported, it had been covered up by Downing Street under her predecessor, David Cameron, shortly before the referendum on Britains exit from the European Union. Mrs. May did not mention any missile failure in her first major speech to Parliament on July 18, when she persuaded Parliament to spend up to 40 billion pounds, or about $53 billion then, on four new submarines to keep Britains nuclear deterrent up to date. There are tests that take place all the time, regularly, for our nuclear deterrence, she said on Sunday. What we were talking about in that debate that took place was about the future. SANA, Yemen Renewed fighting in the Yemen conflict killed about 75 people on Saturday and Sunday, some of them in the first drone strikes launched during the new administration of President Trump, according to Yemeni news reports. Two drone strikes in the central Yemeni province of Bayda on Saturday killed 10 militants with Al Qaeda, three of them hit while riding on a motorcycle and the other seven killed in a vehicle in a separate drone attack in the same area, the reports said. The United States did not take responsibility for the strikes, as is its standard policy. No other forces are known to be conducting drone strikes in the area. While Mr. Trump has pledged to toughen American policy toward terrorist factions, his administration has not yet announced any concrete antiterrorism initiatives. Independence Avenue at peak crowd density. Composite image by Joe Ward based on video from Urdu Voice of America The womens march in Washington was roughly three times the size of the audience at President Trumps inauguration, crowd counting experts said Saturday. Marcel Altenburg and Keith Still, crowd scientists at Manchester Metropolitan University in Britain, analyzed photographs and video taken of the National Mall and vicinity and estimated that there were about 160,000 people in those areas in the hour leading up to Mr. Trumps speech Friday. They estimated that at least 470,000 people were at the womens march in Washington in the areas on and near the mall at about 2 p.m. Saturday. The two images below show the crowds when they were at their peak density at the two events. 2017 Trump inauguration 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee 2017 Womens march ABC News Footage The estimates are not comprehensive counts and were necessarily limited by the availability of photographs and video that covered the areas of interest. But their estimate was in line with one given by a city official who said that march participation likely surpassed half a million, according to The Associated Press. A Metro official said that more than a million rail trips were taken Saturday, the second-highest day in its history after Barack Obama's first inauguration in 2009. More than 570,000 rail trips were taken on Friday. The scientists had better images for the analysis of Mr. Trumps inauguration crowd, which was concentrated on the mall. But the womens march was more sprawling and fluid, so the actual number of people at the womens march could be larger. It is likely that the timing and location of the march on a weekend, in a Democratic city in a Democratic region helped drive the significant turnout. In addition to wide-angle images, the scientists made use of news images that provided closer views of the crowds, which allowed them to calculate the density of specific areas more precisely. For the womens march, they chose a period in time when the crowd was moving the least, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. Using aerial footage and photographs from various angles, the analysts isolated areas with an average density of 2.5 people per square meter, the same method used at Mr. Trumps inauguration the day before. The maps below show the areas that they determined to be high crowd density at each event. 2009 Obama Highest density areas Capitol Washington Monument Highest density areas 2009 Obama Capitol 2017 Trump 2017 Trump Womens march 1/4 Mile Womens march 1/4 Mile But Mr. Trump was clearly upset with what he felt were undercounts of his own event the day before. In a visit to the Central Intelligence Agency on Saturday, Mr. Trump falsely accused the media of lying about the size of the crowds at his inauguration, saying that when he looked out from his podium, it looked like a million, a million and a half people, and that the area all the way back to the Washington Monument was packed. Later in the day, Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, claimed that Fridays event was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, even though no one had numbers to confirm it because the Park Service does not issue crowd estimates. The Park Service said in 2009 that it firmly believed that Mr. Obama had drawn the largest crowd ever to the National Mall. The location could have also been a contributing factor for the crowds that year; about half of Washingtons population is black, and more than 92 percent of the city voted Democratic. Mr. Spicer said that the area between the platform where Mr. Trump was sworn in and the Washington Monument could hold 720,000 people, and claimed that all of this space was full when the president took the oath of office. The images below, captured 45 minutes before the respective oaths of office, show areas that were crowded with people at Mr. Obamas inauguration that were clearly empty during Mr. Trumps. 2009 Obama inauguration Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images 2017 Trump inauguration 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee There is a scientific explanation why the crowd size must have appeared to Trump in 2017 similar or even larger than to Obama in 2009, said Mr. Altenburg, one of the crowd scientists. The scientists said Mr. Trump would only have seen the tightly packed front third of the crowd, but not the back two-thirds, from his position at the podium. To make their estimates, they monitored seven live feeds all day, including those from perspectives that someone at the podium would not have been able to perceive. Contact James Rodrigues ***@arcraftplasma.com James Rodrigues End -- MPT ( Sweden ) AB has appointed Arcraft Plasma Equipments ( I ) Pvt Ltd as its exclusive authorized agent for the sale of its products in India. 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MPT ( Sweden ) AB maintains sufficient stocks to ensure timely delivery to the satisfaction of its customers.The Indian hard facing Industry will benefit from the high-quality powder and the presence of local company APE ( I ) Pvt Ltd will ensure smooth and trouble free commercial dealings.For more details please contactMr. James RodriguesorMr. Prasad MarudkarEmail: arcraftplasma@gmail.comWebsite: http://www.arcraftplasma.com SevenPoint2 recently announced plans to relocate its corporate headquarters to Tempe, Arizona. Seven Point 2 Headquarters Contact Michael Holley ***@socialcmo.com Photo: https://www.prlog.org/ 12614881/1 Michael Holley End -- For SevenPoint2, a premier network marketing company featuring nutritional products with alkalizing effects, the move will unite their Home Office Team to provide greater efficiency in how they serve their Associates, allowing for an expanded Customer Service Department to handle the Company's rapid growth, as told by the Company's CEO, Jason Boreyko Additionally, the increased space enables the Company to bring their warehousing and shipping in-house now, for faster, more cost-effective delivery of their products."We were fortunate to find such a great space. This is a great location for our team. We feel confident that this move will enhance the efficiency of our operation, enabling us to continue to grow and evolve while allowing us to offer extraordinary products and superior service along the way," said Jason Boreyko , CEO and Co-Founder of SevenPoint2.In addition to the Tempe Headquarters, SevenPoint2 has an international presence with additional offices in Korea, the Philippines, and Australia.For more information about SevenPoint2, please visit www.sevenpoint2.com Countries & Areas Search for country or area A Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan B Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burundi C Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cote dIvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia D Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic E Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia F Fiji Finland France G Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana H Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary I Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy J Jamaica Japan Jordan K Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan L Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg M Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique N Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway O Oman P Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Q Qatar R Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda S Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria T Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu U Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan V Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Y Yemen Z Zambia Zimbabwe Why do some Moslem majority countries have fewer problems with Islamic terrorism than others. In all cases it comes down to the quality of national leadership. These nations dont make the news much, because they have managed to keep Islamic terrorists out. But for some countries the threat is right next door. Such is the case in Jordan, which borders Syria and Iraq. Despite that, and considerable and persistent efforts by Islamic terror groups to establish themselves in Jordan have failed. An incident in late December 2016 shows why. ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) launched an attack on the Jordanian town of Karnak and tried to seize its 12th century castle (built by Christian crusaders). The ISIL attackers were killed or driven away after a week of fighting and one striking aspect of it all (seen on the many cell-phone videos) was that the majority of the Jordanians fighting the ISIL force were local civilians, armed with their own (legal) weapons and often urging on the Jordanian police and soldiers to keep up with the locals. Police were seen trying to restrain unarmed civilians from joining the attack to drive the few ISIL gunmen who got into the castle. Jordan has long been a prime target for Islamic terror groups. Yet compared to other nations in the region the kingdom has, next to Israel, had the fewest Islamic terrorist incidents within its borders. This is no accident and is the result of having one of the best trained and reliable security forces in the region and being the beneficiary of a lot of help with equipment and specialist training from the United States and Israel. This because the senior leadership of the country (a monarchy) have a centuries long track record of being effective and generally beneficial rulers. Since the 1990s Jordan has been particularly good at keeping Islamic terrorists and professional smugglers from getting across its long borders with nations suffering from Islamic terrorism. The border with Iraq is 179 kilometers long and Syria is 379 kilometers. Less troublesome, but still requiring tight controls is the 731 kilometers long border with Saudi Arabia and 148 kilometer border with the West Bank. This last one has Israelis controlling the other side and the Israelis and Jordanians cooperate to keep illegal traffic from going in either direction. As the pressure on the borders increase the Jordanians sought technology that would held and the new border barriers use UAVs, vidcams on the ground (especially in towers) and many small sensors. There are also radars than can see through sand storms. Finally the Jordanian border guards are well trained and led and under orders to shoot first and shoot to kill whenever anyone gets too close to the border or crosses without permission. The kill zones along the border are clearly marked and several times a month someone tries to cross anyway and gets killed or wounded. The word gets around and that is a major deterrent. Jordan also carefully screens refugees from Syria and Iraq. There are currently over 600,000 refugees in Jordan, most from Syria. Syrian refugees are carefully screened at the border, a process made easier by reducing the number of official Syrian border crossings from 45 to five. Some admitted refugees are noted as potentially a problem and are screened again once they are inside Jordan. The UN has complained the Jordan is too quick to expel suspicious refugees but the Jordanians point out that they have caught many Islamic terrorists who pretended to be refugees but that were late found to be in Jordan to kill. Jordan also insists that it keeps the terrorists out by erring on the side of caution when it comes to screening refugees, either at the border or later inside Jordan. All this security has required more trained people. So since early 2014 the Jordanian Army has increased its recruiting efforts. At first the government insisted this was routine but most Jordanians believe the increased recruiting is all about the threats from Syria and Iraq, especially Islamic terrorists from ISIL. Despite over 3,000 Jordanians joining ISIL, Jordan is considered the most hostile nation (next to Israel) in the Middle East for ISIL to operate in. Other Jordanian Islamic radicals, including members of al Qaeda, oppose ISIL as well but complain that ISIL is so hated by most Jordanians that Islamic radicalism in general has become less popular. Although ISIL recognizes Jordan as a formidable enemy they also make no secret of their desire to kill the Jordanian royal family. Another issue for ISIL is Jordanian support for Syrian rebels fighting ISIL But against this ISIL, and other Islamic radical groups have to face the fact that most Jordanians support their king and will disown sons who go off to join ISIL. To deal with all this Jordan is trying to increase the size of its army from 88,000 to whatever it can afford (probably with some financial help from the U.S. and Saudi Arabia) in order to better cope. Even if the increase is only a few thousand troops, it takes time and money to get the new recruits into shape. All Jordanian army recruits get 14 weeks of basic training and then a month or more of specialized training. It then takes a few years of active service before the new soldiers are considered really useful. For Jordanians who make the army a career there are many opportunities for advancement. One of the most challenging, and rewarding opportunities is to gain admittance to Jordanian special operations troops (commandoes and rangers). These elite combat troops are particularly good and greatly feared by Islamic terrorists. Jordanian troops have also shown an exceptional ability to train Moslem troops for special operations. In 2007 Jordan provided training, in Jordan, for 2,400 members of the Afghan special operations (commando) forces. Members of Iraqi commando units were also trained. In both cases the Jordanian trained personnel went on to be particularly effective. In 2009 Jordan opened a $200 million Special Operations Training Center. This facility trains Jordanians, as well as foreign troops, mainly those from Moslem nations. Jordan has long been recognized as having the best troops in the Arab world. This comes about because there is no conscription and most Jordanian troops are recruited from the Bedouin population. During several decades of British rule early in the 20th century the local Bedouins eagerly embraced British military techniques and traditions. Bedouins have long honored skilled warriors and professional soldiers are seen as just that. These western training techniques and military practices became part of the Jordanian Bedouin culture. In the 1967 war with Israel, the Jordanians caused the Israelis more trouble than any other Arab army. Since then, the Israelis and Jordanians have maintained good relations, partly because of the realization that war between the two nations would be particularly bloody. Jordan also became a good ally of the United States, and American Special Forces have worked with their Jordanian counterparts for decades. Another thing that keeps the Jordanian troops on their toes is the fact that most Jordanians are non-Bedouin Palestinians, a population that has produced a lot of terrorists and disloyal Jordanians. The royal family of Jordan, from an ancient Bedouin family, takes very good care of the largely Bedouin armed forces, which provides security for the royal family. Loyal Palestinian families can expect royal support as well, but disloyalty is not tolerated. The Jordanian armed forces contains 105,000 troops plus 65,000 trained reservists. It is a small force, but more effective, man-for-man, than any other in the region. Only about 40 percent of the eight million people in Jordan are Bedouins while about half are Palestinians (many who fled the West Bank in 1967 when Jordan lost control of the area to Israeli troops). Many Jordanian Bedouins (and even more Palestinians) support Islamic radicalism but are also loyal to their own government, if only because the government provides safety in a sea of violence. By Yoon Ja-young KB Kookmin Bank will sell its stake in a Kazakh bank that it acquired in 2008 after the Kazakh enterprise suffered huge losses. The bank confirmed Sunday that it will discuss the sale of Bank CenterCredit (BCC) in Kazakhstan at a board of directors meeting this week. The country's top bank bought a 41.9 percent stake in BCC for 939.2 billion won in 2008 as part of a globalization strategy, on a positive outlook for the Central Asian country with ample resources and growth potential. International Finance Corporation (IFC) under the World Bank Group participated in the deal as a joint investor. It holds a 10 percent stake in the BCC, for which KB provided a put option. KB promised to buy back its stake, but the put option expires next month. However, BCC, which is among the top five players in the country's banking sector, has incurred huge losses. The global financial crisis hit the bank, which has been heavily engaged in the mortgage business. The value of KB's stake in BCC fell even further when Kazakhstan devalued the tenge, the country's currency, in 2014. KB had to adjust the value of BCC several times, to 185.8 billion won in 2012 and finally to 1,000 won last year. It means KB virtually lost the 939.2 billion won it invested. The huge loss led to resignation of KB Kookmin Bank CEO Kang Chung-won in 2010. Local media reported that KB is likely to suffer further losses because the Kazakh financial regulator was demanding a capital increase under new regulations. The put option for IFC will incur further losses for KB, the media reported. A KB spokesperson denied the report. "It is true that we are proceeding with the sale of BCC, but the report about further loss is not true," the spokesperson said. " Put option will disappear when we sell the stake, and we have already reflected the loss from BCC in the books." After selecting a preferred bidder, the bank plans to sell its total stake within next month. VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (Sep. 30, 2016) Unmanned rigid-hull inflatable boats operating autonomously close in on a contact of interest during an Office of Naval Research (ONR)-sponsored demonstration of swarmboat technology held at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story. During the demonstration four boats, using an ONR-sponsored system called CARACaS (Control Architecture for Robotic Agent Command Sensing), operated autonomously during various scenarios designed to identify, trail or track a target of interest. (U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams) X 0 20 Help Keep Us Soaring We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling. We need your help in reversing that trend. We would like to add 20 new subscribers this month. Each month we count on your subscriptions or contributions. You can support us in the following ways: Googles AI software learns to make more AI software Googles AI research lab, Google Brain is reportedly developing AI (artificial intelligence) software that can build more machine learning software. The ultimate aim to design such software is to reduce the costs of hiring experts for making machine learning software and make it more accessible and efficient in the future by spreading the benefits of the technology far and wide. If using AIs techniques become more practical, they could increase the speed at which new AIs can be made and implemented across the economy. Currently, companies are paying a premium to hire machine-learning experts, who are in short in supply. In recent months, several other groups have also reported progress on getting learning software to make learning software. They include researchers at the non-profit research institute OpenAI (which was cofounded by Elon Musk), MIT, the University of California, Berkeley, and Googles other artificial intelligence research group, DeepMind. However, on the downside, AI building more AIs sure seems like its inviting a runaway cascade and, eventually, Skynet. In order to prevent a Skynet type catastrophe, Google plans to gently discourage AIs from disabling their own killswitches as they are being trained. Currently, Google says its AI maker is not advanced enough yet to compete with human engineers. However, this may be no longer true in the coming years given the speed at which AI is developing rapidly. The following companies are subsidiares of Procter & Gamble: "Petersburg Products International" LLC, "Procter & Gamble Services" LLC, "Procter & Gamble" LLC, 1837 LLC, Agile Pursuits Franchising Inc., Agile Pursuits Inc., Ambi Pur, Arbora & Ausonia, Arbora & Ausonia S.L.U., Avon - Giorgio Beverly Hills, Billie, Braun GmbH, Braun Shanghai Co. Ltd., Celtic Insurance Company Inc., Charlie Banana USA LLC, Corporativo Procter & Gamble S. de R.L. de C.V., DDFSkincare, Detergent Products B.V., Detergent Products SARL, Detergenti S.A., FPG Oleochemicals Sdn. Bhd., Fameccanica Data S.p.A., Fameccanica Industria e Comercio Do Brasil LTDA., Fameccanica Machinery Shanghai Co. Ltd., Fameccanica North America Inc., Farmacy Beauty, Fater Central Europe SRL, Fater Eastern Europe LLC, Fater Portugal Unipessoal Lda, Fater S.p.A., Fater Temizlik Urunleri Ltd STI, First Aid Beauty, First Aid Beauty Limited, Folgers Coffee, Fountain Square Music Publishing Co. Inc., Gillette Australia Pty. Ltd., Gillette China Limited, Gillette Commercial Operations North America, Gillette Diversified Operations Pvt. Ltd., Gillette Egypt S.A.E., Gillette Group UK Ltd, Gillette Holding Company LLC, Gillette Holding GmbH, Gillette India Limited, Gillette Industries Ltd., Gillette International B.V., Gillette Latin America Holding B.V., Gillette Management LLC, Gillette Pakistan Limited, Gillette Poland International Sp. z.o.o., Gillette Shanghai Ltd., Gillette U.K. Limited, Gillette del Uruguay S.A., Hyginett KFT, Industries Marocaines Modernes SA, Inversiones Plaza LLC, LLC "Procter & Gamble - Novomoskovsk", LLC "Procter & Gamble Distributorskaya Compania", LLC Procter & and Gamble Ukraine, Laboratoire Mediflor S.A.S., Laboratorios Vicks S.L.U., Lamberts Healthcare Ltd., Liberty Street Music Publishing Company Inc., Limited Liability Company 'Procter & Gamble Trading Ukraine', MDVIP, MERCK KGAA NPV, Marcvenca Inversiones C.A., Merck Consumer Healthcare, Modern Industries Company - Dammam, Modern Products Company - Jeddah, Native, Nature's Best Health Products Ltd., New Chapter Canada Inc., New Chapter Inc., Nioxin Research Laboratories, Noxell Corporation, OUAI, Olay LLC, Oral-B Laboratories, P&G Consumer Health Germany GmbH, P&G Distribution East Africa Limited, P&G Distribution Morocco SAS, P&G Hair Care Holding Inc., P&G Health Austria GmbH & Co. OG, P&G Health France S.A.S., P&G Health Germany GmbH, P&G Healthcare Zhejiang Limited, P&G Industrial Peru S.R.L., P&G Innovation Godo Kaisha, P&G Investment Management Ltd., P&G Israel M.D.O. Ltd., P&G Japan G.K., P&G K.K., P&G Northeast Asia Pte. Ltd., P&G Prestige Godo Kaisha, P&G South African Trading Pty. Ltd., P&G-Clairol, PG13 Launchpad Alpha Inc., PG13 Launchpad Beta Inc., PG13 Launchpad Gamma Inc., PGT Healthcare LLP, PT Procter & Gamble Home Products Indonesia, PT Procter & Gamble Operations Indonesia, Phase II Holdings Corporation, Pressbox, Procter & Gamble Algeria EURL, Procter & Gamble Amazon Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Amiens S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Argentina SRL, Procter & Gamble Asia Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Australia Proprietary Limited, Procter & Gamble Azerbaijan Services LLC, Procter & Gamble Bangladesh Private Ltd., Procter & Gamble Blois S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Brazil Holdings B.V., Procter & Gamble Bulgaria EOOD, Procter & Gamble Business Services Canada Company, Procter & Gamble Canada Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Chengdu Ltd., Procter & Gamble Chile Limitada, Procter & Gamble China Ltd., Procter & Gamble China Sales Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Colombia Ltda., Procter & Gamble Commercial LLC, Procter & Gamble Czech Republic s.r.o., Procter & Gamble DS Polska Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Danmark ApS, Procter & Gamble Detergent Beijing Ltd., Procter & Gamble Deutschland GmbH, Procter & Gamble Distributing New Zealand Limited, Procter & Gamble Distributing Philippines Inc., Procter & Gamble Distribution Company Europe BV, Procter & Gamble Distribution S.R.L., Procter & Gamble Eastern Europe LLC, Procter & Gamble Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Procter & Gamble Egypt, Procter & Gamble Egypt Distribution, Procter & Gamble Egypt Holding, Procter & Gamble Egypt Manufacturing Company, Procter & Gamble Egypt Supplies, Procter & Gamble Energy Company LLC, Procter & Gamble Espana S.A.U., Procter & Gamble Far East Inc., Procter & Gamble Finance Holding Ltd., Procter & Gamble Finance Management S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Finance U.K. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Financial Investments LLP, Procter & Gamble Financial Services Ltd., Procter & Gamble Financial Services S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Finland OY, Procter & Gamble France S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Germany GmbH, Procter & Gamble Germany GmbH & Co. Operations oHG, Procter & Gamble Ghana Trading Limited, Procter & Gamble GmbH, Procter & Gamble Grundstucks-und Vermogensverwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG, Procter & Gamble Guangzhou Consumer Products Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Guangzhou Enterprise Management Service Company Limited, Procter & Gamble Guangzhou Ltd., Procter & Gamble Guangzhou Technology Innovation Co. LTD., Procter & Gamble Gulf FZE, Procter & Gamble Hair Care LLC, Procter & Gamble Health & Beauty Care Limited, Procter & Gamble Health Belgium BV, Procter & Gamble Health Limited, Procter & Gamble Health Ltd., Procter & Gamble Health Poland Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Hellas Single Member Ltd., Procter & Gamble Holding France S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Holding GmbH, Procter & Gamble Holding S.r.l., Procter & Gamble Holding Thailand Limited, Procter & Gamble Holdings UK Ltd., Procter & Gamble Home Products Private Limited, Procter & Gamble Honduras S de RL, Procter & Gamble Hong Kong Limited, Procter & Gamble Hungary Wholesale Trading Partnership KKT, Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care Limited, Procter & Gamble Inc., Procter & Gamble India Holdings Inc., Procter & Gamble Indochina Company Limited, Procter & Gamble Industrial - 2012 C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial S.C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial e Comercial Ltda., Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Costa Rica Limitada, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de El Salvador Limitada de Capital Variable, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Guatemala Limitada, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Panama S. de R.L., Procter & Gamble International Operations SA, Procter & Gamble International Operations SA-ROHQ, Procter & Gamble International Sarl, Procter & Gamble Investment Company UK Ltd., Procter & Gamble Investment Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Italia S.p.A., Procter & Gamble Jiangsu Ltd., Procter & Gamble Kazakhstan Distribution LLP, Procter & Gamble Korea Inc., Procter & Gamble Korea S&D Co., Procter & Gamble L&CP Limited, Procter & Gamble Leasing LLC, Procter & Gamble Levant S.A.L., Procter & Gamble Limited, Procter & Gamble Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Belgium N.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Berlin GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Ireland Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing SA Pty Ltd, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Thailand Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Tianjin Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Marketing Romania SRL, Procter & Gamble Mataro S.L.U., Procter & Gamble Mexico Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Mexico Inc., Procter & Gamble Middle East FZE, Procter & Gamble Nederland B.V., Procter & Gamble Netherlands Services B.V., Procter & Gamble Nigeria Limited, Procter & Gamble Norge AS, Procter & Gamble Operations Polska Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Overseas India B.V., Procter & Gamble Overseas Ltd., Procter & Gamble Pakistan Private Limited, Procter & Gamble Peru S.R.L., Procter & Gamble Philippines Business Services Inc., Procter & Gamble Philippines Inc., Procter & Gamble Polska Sp. z o.o, Procter & Gamble Portugal - Produtos De Consumo Higiene e Saude S.A., Procter & Gamble Product Supply U.K. Limited, Procter & Gamble Productions Inc., Procter & Gamble RHD Inc., Procter & Gamble RSC Regional Service Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble Retail Services Sarl, Procter & Gamble S.r.l., Procter & Gamble Service GmbH, Procter & Gamble Services Company N.V., Procter & Gamble Services Switzerland SA, Procter & Gamble Singapore Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Spol. s.r.o. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Sverige AB, Procter & Gamble Switzerland SARL, Procter & Gamble Taiwan Limited, Procter & Gamble Taiwan Sales Company Limited, Procter & Gamble Technical Centres Limited, Procter & Gamble Technology Beijing Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Trading Thailand Limited, Procter & Gamble Tuketim Mallari Sanayii A.S., Procter & Gamble UK, Procter & Gamble UK Group Holdings Ltd, Procter & Gamble UK Parent Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble Universal Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Vietnam Company Limited, Procter & Gamble d.o.o. za trgovinu, Procter & Gamble de Venezuela S.C.A., Procter & Gamble de Venezuela S.R.L., Procter & Gamble do Brasil Ltda., Procter & Gamble do Brazil LLC, Procter & Gamble do Nordeste S/A, Procter & Gamble doo Beograd, Procter & Gamble-Rakona s.r.o., Procter and Gamble Lanka Private Limited, Procter and Gamble SA Pty Ltd., Progam Realty & Development Corporation, Recovery Engineering, Redmond Products Inc., Richardson-Vicks, Richardson-Vicks Real Estate Inc., Riverfront Music Publishing Co. Inc., Rosemount LLC, SPD Development Company Limited, SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH, Series Acquisition B.V., Seven Seas Limited, Shulton Inc., Snowberry, Snowberry New Zealand Limited, Sunflower Distributing LLC, TAOS - FL LLC, TAOS Retail LLC, THIS IS L, TULA, Tambrands, Tambrands Inc., Temple Trees Impex & Investment Private Limited, The Art of Shaving, The Art of Shaving - FL LLC, The Dover Wipes Company, The Gillette Company, The Gillette Company LLC, The Gillette co., The Iams Company Inc., The Procter & Gamble Distributing LLC, The Procter & Gamble Global Finance Company LLC, The Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Company, The Procter & Gamble Paper Products Company, The Procter & Gamble U.S. Business Services Company, This is L., This is L. Inc., Thomas Hedley Co, US CD LLC, Vidal Sassoon Shanghai Academy, VitaminHaus Pty Ltd, Walker & Co. Brands Inc., Walker & Company Brands, Wella AG, Zenlen Inc., Zirh, and iMFLUX Inc.. Read More CNO Financial Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, develops, markets, and administers health insurance, annuity, individual life insurance, and other insurance products for senior and middle-income markets in the United States. It offers Medicare supplement, supplemental health, and long-term care insurance policies; life insurance; and annuities, as well as Medicare advantage plans to individuals through phone, online, mail, and face-to-face. The company also focuses on worksite and group sales for businesses, associations, and other membership groups by interacting with customers at their place of employment. In addition, it provides fixed index annuities; fixed interest annuities, including fixed rate single and flexible premium deferred annuities; single premium immediate annuities; supplemental health products, such as specified disease, accident, and hospital indemnity products; and long-term care plans primarily to retirees and older self-employed individuals in the middle-income market. Further, the company offers universal life and other interest-sensitive life products; and traditional life policies that include whole life, graded benefit life, term life, and single premium whole life products, as well as graded benefit life insurance products. CNO Financial Group, Inc. markets its products under the Bankers Life, Washington National, and Colonial Penn brand names. The company sells its products through agents, independent producers, and direct marketing. CNO Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Carmel, Indiana. The following companies are subsidiares of PPG Industries: AIPCF V Texstars Blocker Inc., AkzoNobel, Alpha Coating Technologies LLC, Alpha Coatings Inc., Broad Range Development Limited, CG Holdings Manufacturing Co., Centro de Investigacion en Polimeros S.A. de C.V., Chemfil Canada Limited, Chorlton Trade Paints Limited, Comercial Mexicana de Pinturas S.A. de C.V., Comex, Comex Industrial Coatings S.A. de C.V., Consorcio Comex S.A. de C.V., Cristacol S.A., Cuming Microwave Corporation, Deutek SA, Dexmet Corporation, Dexmet Holding Corporation, Distribuidora Kroma S.A. de C.V., EPIC Insurance Co. Ltd., Eberle Design Inc., Empresa Aga S.A. de C.V., Ennis Canadian Holding Company, Ennis Paint Canada ULC, Ennis Paint Netherlands Holdings LLC, Ennis Paint U.K. Holding Company Limited, Ennis Traffic Safety Solutions Pty Ltd, Ennis-Flint, Ennis-Flint Inc., Foshan Bairun Chemicals Co. Ltd., Fpu Industrial S.A. de C.V., Grupo Comex S.A. de C.V., Hemmelrath Automotive Coatings (Jilin) Co. Ltd., Hemmelrath International Trade (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Hodij Coatings B.V., Homax Products, Industria Chimica Reggiana I.C.R. SPA, Johnstones Paints Limited, Kalon Investment Company Limited, Kalon South Africa Proprietary Limited, Karl Woerwag Lack-und Farbenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG, Masterwork Paint, MetoKote Corporation, MetoKote Mexico Holdings Inc., MetoKote UK Limited, MetoKote de Mexico S. de RL de CV, Milamar Coatings LLC, OOO Tikkurila, PPG A P Resinas S.A. de C.V., PPG AC - France SA, PPG ALESCO Automotive Finishes Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., PPG Aerospace Materials (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., PPG Architectural Coatings (Puerto Rico) Inc., PPG Architectural Coatings Canada Inc./PPG Revetements Architecturaux Canada Inc., PPG Architectural Coatings Ireland Limited, PPG Architectural Coatings Italy S.r.l, PPG Architectural Coatings UK Limited, PPG Architectural Finishes Inc., PPG Asian Paints Private Ltd., PPG Business Services S.A. de C.V., PPG COATINGS SINGAPORE PTE. LTD., PPG Canada Inc., PPG Cetelon Lackfabrik GmbH, PPG Cieszyn S.A., PPG Coatings (Hong Kong) Co. Limited, PPG Coatings (Kunshan) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., PPG Coatings (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings (Thailand) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings (Wuhu) Company Ltd., PPG Coatings (Zhangjiagang) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings B.V., PPG Coatings Belgium BV, PPG Coatings Danmark A/S, PPG Coatings Deutschland GmbH, PPG Coatings Europe B.V., PPG Coatings Nederland BV, PPG Coatings S.A., PPG Coatings South Africa (Pty) Ltd., PPG DYRUP S.A., PPG Deco Czech a.s., PPG Deco Polska sp. z.o.o., PPG Deco Slovakia s.r.o., PPG Deutschland Business Support GmbH, PPG Deutschland Sales & Services GmbH, PPG Distribution S.A.S., PPG Europe B.V., PPG Finance B.V., PPG Finland Oy, PPG France Business Support S.A.S., PPG France Manufacturing S.A.S., PPG Guadeloupe SAS, PPG Hemmelrath Lackfabrik GmbH, PPG Holdco SAS, PPG Holdings (U.K.) Limited, PPG Holdings Argentina USA LLC, PPG Holdings Latin America USA LLC, PPG Iberica S.A., PPG Iberica Sales & Services S.L., PPG Industrial Coatings B.V., PPG Industrial do Brasil - Tintas E. Vernizes - Ltda., PPG Industries (Korea) Ltd., PPG Industries (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., PPG Industries (UK) Ltd, PPG Industries Argentina S.R.L., PPG Industries Australia PTY Limited A.C.N. 055 500 939, PPG Industries Colombia Ltda., PPG Industries Delfzijl B.V., PPG Industries Europe Sarl, PPG Industries France S.A.S., PPG Industries International Inc., PPG Industries Italia S.r.l., PPG Industries Kimya a Sanayi VE Ticaret AS, PPG Industries LLC, PPG Industries Lackfabrik GmbH, PPG Industries Lipetsk LLC, PPG Industries Middle East FZE, PPG Industries Netherlands B.V., PPG Industries New Zealand Limited, PPG Industries Ohio Inc., PPG Industries Poland Sp. Z.o.o., PPG Industries Securities LLC, PPG Industries de Mexico S.A. de C.V., PPG Investment (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., PPG Italia Business Support S.r.l., PPG Italia Sales & Services S.r.l., PPG Japan Ltd., PPG Kansai Automotive Finishes Canada LP, PPG Kansai Automotive Finishes U.K. LLP, PPG Kansai Automotive Finishes U.S. LLC, PPG Luxembourg Finance S.aR.L., PPG Luxembourg Holdings S.aR.L., PPG Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PPG Packaging Coatings (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., PPG Paints Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PPG Performance Coatings (Hong Kong) Limited, PPG Powder Coatings (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PPG Refinish Distribution Limited, PPG Romania S.A., PPG Reunion SAS, PPG SSC Co. Ltd., PPG Switzerland GmbH, PPG Trilak Korlatolt FelelosseguTarasasag (PPG Trilak Kft.), PPG Vietnam Co. Ltd., PRC-DeSoto Australia Pty Ltd., PRC-DeSoto International Inc., PT. PPG Coatings Indonesia, Painter's Supply, Paintzen, Peintures de Paris SAS, Plasticos Envolventes S.A. de C.V., Polymeric Systems Inc., ProCoatings B.V., ProCoatings BV, Protec Pty Ltd, Reno A&E LLC, Revocoat France SAS, Revocoat Holding SAS, Revocoat Iberica SLU, Revocoat S.A.S, Road Infrastructure Investment Holdings Inc., SEM Products Inc., Sealants Europe SAS, Sierracin Corporation, Sierracin/Sylmar Corporation, Sigma Marine & Protective Coatings Holding B.V., SigmaKalon (BC) UK Limited, SigmaKalon Group, Sikar (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Spraylat International Ltd, Texstars LLC, The Crown Group Co., The Crown Group Inc, The Homax Group, Tikkurila Group, Tikkurila Oyj, Tikkurila Sverige AB, Traffic Safety Intermediate LLC, Traffic Safety Parent LLC, VF Specialty Products LLC, Vanex Inc., Vernisol S.p.A., VersaFlex Acquisition Corp., VersaFlex Inc., VersaFlex Intermediate Holdings LLC, Versaflex, Viasa S.A. de C.V., Whitford, Whitford B.V., Whitford Corporation, Whitford Jiangmen Ltd., Whitford Ltd. (HK), Whitford Ltd. (UK), Whitford Pte. Ltd., Whitford S.r.l., Whitford Worldwide Company LLC, and Worwag Coatings. Read More Novelist Sebastian Barrys masterful tales about the sad sweep of Irish history have twice been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and his seventh tale, Days Without End looks like another Booker contender. The McNulty name, familiar from previous Barry books, appears with our enchanting narrator Thomas McNulty, recounting his life in the plains and farmlands of the 1850s American west, teeming with Irish immigrants. Orphaned by famine, young Thomas slips aboard a fever ship bound for Quebec, embarking on a new life in the brutal and beautiful USA. At maybe fifteen, Thomas meets the ragged and handsome New Englander John Cole, a boy with river-black eyes inherited from his Native grandma. Together they find shelter from a downpour under a hedge in goddamn Missouri and cement their romantic relationship. The book provides Barry a way to parallel life for the underdogs Native Americans in the U.S. and Irish in Ireland shared in common a perceived worthlessness from the ruling class, a pattern that will be repeated in the civil war. The two boys are desperate for shelter and food so when they see an ad reading Clean boys wanted they find employment as dancers in female drag, partners for romance-starved miners with money to spend. Next they join the army, soldiering first in the Indian Wars and later fighting with Union troops in the Civil War. Such are Barrys lyrical skills that Thomass first killing of a cow buffalo sings with youthful ecstasy: the lovely orange flame shoots the bullet forth and the burning black steel is absorbed into her shoulder ... and it is very glorious and crazy the feeling. Glorious and crazy feelings accompany killing for food, but Barrys battle scenes approach Biblical horror, as recalled by Thomas in cadences that ring with the poetry of death. Slaughtering unarmed Yurok Indians cheered on by vengeful townsfolk leaves the boys feeling like ghosts. Even their Major in command wonders at the need for such viciousness. Burying bodies in that hateful and haunted place, Thomas relives his years burying Irish bodies in pits. Its a dark thing when the world sets no value on you or your kin, and then Death comes stalking in, in his bloody boots. Later, as a prisoner during the Civil War, Thomas wonders, What crazy war is this? What world we making? We dont know. Questions that resound just as loudly when we consider Americas recent wars. And yet, the USA remains the dreamed-of destination for immigrants seeking new lives, who, like Thomas and his fellow Irishmen, wont talk about the horrors theyve seen, the bodies floating in the holds of ships, the places where things were so much worse. When Thomas and John are captured by Rebel troops, they waste away to skeletons on cornbread rations, whereas black soldiers get nothing at all and surgeons wont touch wounded former slaves. Scenes like these carry strange echoes of todays headlines. It may be true, as John Cole says, that Everything bad gets shot at in America . . . and everything good too. Much lamented Mr. Lincoln the goddamn proof. That sounds awfully contemporary. Yet its not all battles and suffering. Barry gives us interludes of pure joy, from the boys dancing days to their establishment of a household with Winona, their adopted and adored Sioux daughter. Launching a new act inspired by the Sioux warriors they saw dressed as women, Thomas dons a pretty yellow dress; John plays his onstage beau; Winona sings. They rock the house. Thus we inaugurate the best time in the little kingdom we have pitched up against the darkness, living like a family in Grand Rapids among poor Irish, free blacks, Indians of mixed heritage, Chinese and Spanish families, they fit like a glove. As Thomas explains, No one can best imagine the motley crowd that go to make an American town. After their civil war travails, the men boys no longer return to Grand Rapids. Nursed back to health by their theatre friends, John and Thomasina, wearing the drag hes come to prefer, get married by a half-blind preacher. Its a bit of a lark, maybe wishful thinking. In the euphoria of wars end we reckon a craziness is desired. As do we. Bloody though this narrative frequently is, and brutal, it is loving, too, filled with the magic of the unexpected in sentences that ring with truth things weve never read before but in Barrys hands resound with wisdom. Of course, we think, it surely was like that. It must have been. Perhaps still is. Nancy Wigston is a freelance writer and critic in Toronto SHARE: Toronto Public Health says the mysterious illness that made 215 students sick with stomach pain at Humber College may have been caused by a common winter bug called norovirus. Students who reported the illness and their recovery and the fact that everybody has become ill in such a short amount of time suggests this illness is caused by norovirus, said Dr. Michael Finkelstein, a spokesperson for TPH. Were still waiting for lab testing which could support that or not but certainly the signs and symptoms of the students who reported illness supports that. According to Finkelstein, norovirus is a bug that circulates each year in the winter months and causes what some people call the stomach flu. The symptoms can include short bouts of gastroenteritis that causes vomiting, diarrhea, chills, nausea and dizziness. But one of the other characteristics of norovirus is that it passes pretty quickly. Youll be sick for 12 to 21 hours and then youll get better. So, the important parts of response to norovirus is try keep yourself hydrated, said Finkelstein. TPH responded to a call to investigate the sudden outbreak of the illness Thursday night when approximately 200 people, mostly Humber students on the colleges north campus residence near Hwy. 27 and Finch Ave. W., reported feeling sick. According to Finkelstein, that number has since risen to 215 people with more students slowly coming forward. About 40 students who were sent to the emergency room on Thursday have since been discharged. We continue to investigate with great co-operation from Humber College, said Finkelstein. TPH investigators are still determining how the virus was brought to the residence building. Were looking into the possibility that it might be in the food, Finkelstein said, adding there is also the possibility its just being transferred from one person to another. When people are vomiting, it can contaminate surfaces like door handles, the faucet in the bathroom. People can touch those surfaces and then touch their mouth and they can get the norovirus. So, you dont necessarily have to eat something thats contaminated. Meanwhile, the college told the Star on Saturday it has redoubled cleaning efforts and closed on-campus self-serve food facilities, such as salad bars. Humber has increased cleaning frequency in the residences and is assisting affected students by delivering water to encourage hydration, said a statement from the college released late Friday. TPH inspected the cafeteria food in the residence building on Friday and took samples. Were also continuing to speak to the ill students and getting samples from the environment for lab testing, said Finkelstein. Humber College says nurses will be available to students in residence for health education and support for those with active signs and symptoms. With files from Emma McIntosh and Sophie Van Bastelaer SHARE: Built around AD 1,000, the magnificent El Castillo pyramid at the Chichen Itza ruins in Mexico is a New World wonder. Even wonder whats beneath it? Scientists have used advanced scanning technology to reveal the shape of two pyramids from previous eras, sitting like Russian Matryoshka dolls within the Mayan temple on the Yucatan Peninsula. The discovery Its long been known that the mammoth structure also known as the Temple of Kukulkan encased a second, 20-metre-tall pyramid within. Archeologists have tunnelled into El Castillos exterior shell to examine the inner structure. And back in the 1940s, those tunnels, which were once open to the public, went deep enough to actually reveal the third pyramid, says anthropologist Geoffrey Braswell of University of California, San Diego. But those deeper tunnels were later backfilled for fear of structural collapse. In research released late last year, Mexican scientists used a scanning technique known as tri-dimensional electrical resistivity tomography, or ERT-3D, that mapped that third pyramids structural dimensions. The scan ERT-3D has been used to examine underground geological formations like caverns and channels and by archeologists to locate tombs and other ancient works. It employs an array of electrodes placed around the site in question, which send out electrical currents into the target. Computer measurements of changes in resistance to these currents can be used to map the shape of any concealed formation or ruin. The inner pyramid, thought to have been built between AD 600 and 800, is about 10 metres high with a flat roof and rectangular base. Braswell says Mayan pyramids were rarely symmetrical, almost always forming a rectangular footprint. The inner pyramid Braswell, who was not involved in the scanning project, found platform constructions that support the third pyramid during a 2009 dig near the outer temples base. He says few buildings on the Chichen Itza site would predate the inner pyramid. Most of the city was destroyed in the 800s and rebuilt into the one exposed today. Thus the inner temple could shed light on an earlier Mayan period. For example, he says, it would likely have had a far different religious focus than the ones that overlay it. The outer pyramid was dedicated to the feathered serpent god Kukulkan, which only became important to the Mayans after 900 and was imported from the Aztecs. The other pyramids inside probably are dedicated to other deities or other natural forces, Braswell says. He says little is known about the earlier time period at Chichen Itza. Braswell says it would be relatively easy to tunnel in and examine the third pyramid. The difficulty would be the politics (particularly who would do the digging) and the money, he says. Why build above? Unlike Egyptian pyramids, built for burials, Mayan pyramids were temples often viewed as entrances to the underworld. Thus the Egyptian versions were constructed for a single king or pharaoh. But the Mayan pyramids had more in common with ever-expanding medieval cathedrals, Braswell says. And just like youd rebuild a church periodically, they too would renovate and enlarge these buildings, he says. It was also a heck of a lot less work to use existing pyramids as a structural base for new ones. Sinked up Braswell says the inner pyramid sits atop a water-filled sinkhole, or cenote, that might hold the key to its placement at Chichen Itza. One of the main features on the grounds is a sacred cenote located at the end of a broad causeway running north from the Kukulkan temple. Braswell says the cenote beneath the pyramid, discovered in a separate scan two years ago, may have also held religious significance. But its not known if the sinkhole predates the pyramid, or came after, he says. Braswell says there may well be even earlier pyramids lying like nesting dolls beneath the newly mapped one. Who knows? he says. Read more about: SHARE: Kendallville, IN (46755) Today Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low near 60F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low near 60F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. MOSCOWWhatever the expectations for President Donald Trumps new relationship with Russia, anyone looking for a dramatic shift from the Kremlin is going to have to wait past day one. While some Russian companies and political activists have taken advantage of Trumpomania here, holding inauguration parties and putting the new presidents face on sugar cubes and commemorative coins, the Moscow establishment is repeating a simple mantra designed to limit expectations: Donald Trump is not our man. Russian President Vladimir Putins personal spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, repeated those words during a television interview slated to air Saturday evening. He emphasized that the Kremlin would play a wait-and-see approach with the new president on key issues such as the crisis in Ukraine, Syria and bilateral relations. According to an advance transcript of his remarks, he also trashed a proposal by President Trump in an interview last week with European newspapers to reduce nuclear arms substantially. Nuclear disarmament is a conceptual umbrella term, but it is made up of an enormous number of nuances, Peskov said on the Saturday evening current affairs program on state television. It cant be disproportionate. The composition of the nuclear (arsenal) in the United States and in our country are different. And thats why any symmetric reductions are absolutely unacceptable and inappropriate. Trump told the Sunday Times this week that the European Union has sanctions on Russia lets see if we can make some good deals with Russia. For one thing, I think nuclear weapons should be way down and reduced very substantially, thats part of it. The Kremlin has taken pains in public not to look desperate to have the sanctions repealed. Peskov said Saturday that tying together the question of sanctions and of nuclear reductions will not likely be possible from the expert point of view. Our president has repeatedly said that the question of sanctions is not part of our agenda. Russia was not the initiator of this question. And it wont be, in the words of Putin, the initiator of their repeal. Putin will call Trump in the next few days to congratulate him on his inauguration, Peskov said. So far, no meeting between the two leaders has been arranged. Despite being lukewarm on Trumps proposal on nuclear weapons, the Kremlin has made clear that it preferred him to a Hillary Clinton administration and was happy to see the Obama administration come to an end. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev published a scathing Facebook post this week, where he wrote that the Obama administration has destroyed relations between the United States and Russia, which are at their lowest point in decades. On Ukraine, where Moscow has helped to prop up two breakaway territories in the countrys southeast, Peskov called the Obama administrations support of Kyiv unconstructive, but compared Trumps election victory and U.S. support for Ukraine to the fairy tale Cinderella. The carriage is about to turn into a pumpkin, he said. The clock is about to strike midnight. Regarding the new administrations position on Ukraine, he said he did not know. You and we will see quite soon, he said. Putins spokesperson did allow some optimism about U.S. involvement in the Syria peace talks opening Monday in Astana, Kazakhstan, but the U.S. State Department said Saturday that the Trump administration will not send a delegation because of immediate demands of the transition. Peskov said that Iran had opposed U.S. involvement at the talks, which he said were unlikely to yield any serious deals. But in a slight concession from the Kremlins usual line, he said, Its clear that it will be impossible to constructively regulate the Syrian issue without the participation of the United States. Read more about: SHARE: Wayne Barrett, an investigative journalist who pursued the deeds and misdeeds of New York City politicians and players during four decades with the Village Voice, skewering mayors and future president Donald Trump with stories collected through the time-honoured traditions of muckraking, died Jan. 19 at a hospital in Manhattan. He was 71. He had interstitial lung disease, but the immediate cause was complications from pneumonia, said his wife, Fran Barrett. Barrett was a journalistic institution in New York, where he was dreaded, if not loathed, by the same public officials who, in occasional unguarded moments, conceded a certain respect for his intellect and doggedness on the trail. RELATED: White House press corps should adopt a talk to all of us or none of us policy: James Short and unsweet, Trumps inauguration speech puts America first: Analysis The sheer poetry of the Trump inauguration: Salutin He dredged from the past such reports as the imprisonment at Sing Sing of Harold Giuliani, the father of former New York mayor and federal prosecutor Rudolph Giuliani, for the armed robbery of a milkman in 1934. In recent months, as Trump rose from tabloid staple, businessman and reality-television star to president, Barrett was recognized as perhaps the first reporter to have probed Trumps life, his business dealings and his potential importance on the national stage. He wrote for the Voice, a counterculture weekly with a reach that outpaces its modest circulation, from 1973 until, what he described in a New York Post column as, his sudden and involuntary end amid budget woes in 2010. The New York Times called him the junkyard dog of city political reporters who has drawn blood from generations of elected officials. Our credo must be the exposure of the plunderers, the steerers, the wire-pullers, the bosses, the brokers, the campaign givers and takers, Barrett once said, accepting an award at Columbia Journalism School. So I say: Stew, percolate, pester, track, burrow, besiege, confront, damage, level, care. Barrett began writing the Voices Runnin Scared column in 1978, the day that Edward Koch (D) became mayor of New York. (He became mayor and I became his weekly tormentor, Barrett later quipped.) His reporting for the Voice fuelled the publication of four books one about contracting malfeasance during the Koch administration, one about Trump and two about Giuliani, whom Barrett derided as a hero prosecutor transformed into a used 9/11 memorabilia salesman that established Barretts reputation far beyond the citys five boroughs. He profiled Trump in a Village Voice series in 1979 and wrote the book Trump: The Deals and the Downfall (1992). Nobody took him seriously when the book came out, so nobody was interested in reading it, Barrett said ruefully in May 2016, days before Trump secured the number of delegates necessary to win the Republican presidential nomination. It had a very short life. The book was re-released in 2016 under the title Trump: The Greatest Show on Earth. He took Trump seriously as a public figure and approached him with an earnestness in his reporting, Timothy OBrien, a former research assistant to Barrett and the author of TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald, said in an interview. OBrien described Barrett as the godfather of everyone elses coverage, crediting him with drawing the first map of Trumps family, his business operations and their intersections with politics and New York life. Barretts book provided a thorough look at Trumps life, even from his early days in business when his father, Fred Trump, dispatched a lawyer to buy $3 million in gambling chips at a Trump casino that was about to go under. Barrett unflatteringly documented Donald Trumps sway in New York power circles and his mentorship by Roy Cohn, the defence lawyer and former aide to Joseph McCarthy, R-Wis., during the disgraced senators communist witch hunts. I have not read it, its a piece of fiction, its a very boring book, Trump told Newsday in 1992. Wayne is a very bad writer. After Trump began pursuing the White House in 2015, dozens of reporters covering his campaign called upon Barrett and the documentary archives that he housed in his basement in Brooklyn. As Trump was poised to take the Republican nomination, Barrett told CNN that he did not expect Trump to win. When Trump ultimately triumphed, Barrett told the New Yorker from his sickbed, Donald just has no interest in information. He has no genuine interest in policy. He operates by impulse. And I dont see any of that changing . . . Why would you change it? You got to be President of the United States. Wayne Richard Barrett was born in New Britain, Connecticut., on July 11, 1945, and grew up in Lynchburg, Virginia. His father was a nuclear physicist. In his youth, Barrett espoused conservative politics, starting the Teenage Republicans of Lynchburg. He briefly attended a seminary before enrolling in St. Josephs University in Philadelphia, where he graduated in 1967, and where he wrote for the school newspaper. He said he was barred from a Jesuit honour society over editorials that were critical of the universitys administration. The dispute interested me, this whole notion that I should eat my words, he told Newsday. It also made me much more interested in journalism. I saw the power of it, I saw the effect of it, I saw that you could write something and it could shake up this community that I lived in. Barrett graduated in 1968 from Columbia Journalism School, where he was said to have moved leftward in his politics. He was a public school teacher and community organizer before beginning his career at the Voice. Barrett became a fellow at the Nation Institute after leaving the Village Voice. In 1969, he married Frances McGettigan. Besides his wife, survivors include their son, Mac Barrett, both of Brooklyn; and several brothers and sisters. Speaking to the New Yorker the day after Trumps presidential win, he said he could scarcely accept the admonition by Hillary Clinton, the defeated Democratic nominee, that the country owed Trump an open mind and a chance to lead. I dont know how you can look at the guy with an open mind and ignore everything hes said and done up until now, Barrett said. You dont look at him with an open mind; you look at him with all the information you can assemble, and you try to get him to not do the terrible things he promised. Read more about: SHARE: PARISManuel Valls, a centre-leaning former prime minister who rallied France together after extremist attacks, will confront stalwart Socialist Benoit Hamon in the countrys left-wing presidential primary runoff next week. Hamon, a former government minister, was leading Sunday with 36.12 per cent followed by Valls with 31.24 per cent, based on about half of the vote count, according to the results published on the Socialist primary website. Read more: Marine Le Pen, nationalist leaders call for European awakening following Trump inauguration Marine Le Pens new, less racist, vision for France has her ahead in the polls Whoever wins the Jan. 29 primary runoff will face the April-May presidential election battling more popular candidates from the far right to the far left riding frustration with immigration and economic stagnation. Tough-talking, centre-leaning Valls jumped in the presidential race in December few days after President Francois Hollande declined to seek re-election acknowledging his personal unpopularity would lead his Socialist party to defeat in the presidential battle. Sombre but combative, Valls called for left-wing voters to rally behind him as a bulwark against the French far right and the America of Donald Trump, the Russia of Vladimir Putin. Valls, 54, a Spanish immigrant who calls himself deeply European, has rallied against populism even as polls show rising support for anti-immigration, anti-EU sentiment. Valls urged voters to choose him as a representative of the credible left instead of what he described as an idealist candidate who makes promises that cannot be fulfilled. He criticized Hamons pledges to pay a universal income as a massive budget burden that diminishes the value of work, and promised to continue reforms to adapt leftist ideas to the 21st-century economy. Valls has faced fierce attacks from harder-left rivals who associate him with Hollandes unpopular moves to relax labour protections to encourage hiring. He argues that he has the experience that Frances next leader will need as the country is facing the threat of extremist attacks, and to revitalize a lagging economy. He is promising to decrease taxes for modest and middle-class households and to boost police and defence. Hamon, 49, is a lower-profile politician yet he gained popularity in recent years by leading a group of rebel Socialist lawmakers who opposed Valls. A former junior minister and education minister, he left the government in 2014 after he expressed disagreement with Valls pro-business policies. He is pledging to push for the introduction of a 750-euro ($800) universal income living allowance for all adults in the country. Hamon is also promising to tax robots, legalize cannabis and repeal labour measures passed by Valls. Hamon said Sunday that he hopes to make the French believe again in the left and insisted his priorities are social and ecologic issues. Arnaud Montebourg, another former minister who criticized Valls economic policies, secured third place in Sundays voting. He called for his voters to support Hamon in the runoff to ensure a candidate that can resist the brutal candidacies of pro-free market conservative Francois Fillon and National Front leader Marine Le Pen. Next Sunday, I will vote for Benoit Hamon and I invite you to do the same, Montebourg told supporters Sunday night. By depriving Valls of the first place that might have been expected of a prime minister, Montebourg said, the primarys voters massively and seriously condemned the current presidential term. The competition promises to be tough for the Socialist nominee in the race for the two-round presidential election on April 23 and May 7. Polls show more support for Fillon and Le Pen. The left also faces a growing challenge from centrist Emmanuel Macron, 39, a former investment banker who led Hollandes reforms as economy minister, but refused to take part in the Socialist primary. Far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon is drawing voters away from the establishment Socialists, too. Overshadowing the Socialist voting is the nationalist sentiment that helped fuel Donald Trumps successful campaign for the U.S. presidency and in several countries around Europe. Le Pen and other European far-right leaders came together Saturday in Germany in a show of strength before multiple European elections this year. Read more about: SHARE: TEL AVIV, ISRAELThe city of Jerusalem, emboldened by anticipated support from the Trump administration, on Sunday authorized the construction of some 560 new homes in areas of the city claimed by the Palestinians as a capital of their future state. The announcement came as members of Israels right-wing government clamoured for Israeli expansion in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held what was described as a very warm phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump. A new era has begun, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, the leader of the pro-settlement Jewish Home party, told Israeli reporters as he called on government ministers to support a decision to extend Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank. Such moves would likely prompt Palestinian and international accusations about Israel torpedoing prospects to create a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, and pose a test of the fledgling Trump administrations policy on the peace process. For the last eight years, the Obama administration has consistently called out Israel on settlement activity and pressured Israel into a building freeze. Settlements were a source of bitterness in relations between the governments. Trump has consistently promised warmer relations with Israel, and his nominee as ambassador, David Friedman, is a patron of one of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, suggesting a reversal of longstanding U.S. policy. Moreover, Trump has promised to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, marking a break with decades of U.S. policy that the status of Jerusalem should be determined in peace talks. Members of Netanyahus coalition are pushing for a parliamentary bill to annex Maale Adumim, a sprawling settlement east of Jerusalem with a population of tens of thousands. Annexing it would nearly sever the West Bank between north and south. Netanyahus office released a statement after the phone call with Trump calling it very warm, and saying that Netanyahu expressed his desire to work closely with President Trump to forge a common vision to advance peace and security in the region, with no daylight between the United States and Israel. The statement added that the two leaders discussed the nuclear deal with Iran, the peace process with the Palestinians and other issues. Trump invited Netanyahu to meet in Washington in February. The Jerusalem planning board decision dealt with building approvals for houses in the neighbourhoods of Ramat Shlomo, Ramot and Pisgat Zeev, all of which are located in northern areas of the city captured by Israel during the 1967 War. Most of the international community considers the neighborhoods to be settlements that violate international law. In December, the UN Security Council condemned building activity there as illegal and an impediment to a peace deal. The Palestinian Authority condemned the building announcement and called on the Security Council for urgent action. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesperson for President Mahmoud Abbas, said that it reflects the extremist policy of the Israeli government which is destroying the two-state solution. __ Read more about: SHARE: MOSCOWRussian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev says the wests sanctions on Russia are likely to remain in place for a long time despite expectations Donald Trumps inauguration as U.S. president will lead to warmer relations between Washington and Moscow. Medvedev told members of the ruling United Russia party on Sunday that Russian leaders cant place our hope on foreign elections and Its time to dispense with the illusion that sanctions against our country will be lifted. Trumps pledge to bring a fresh eye to Russia has produced some excitement in Russia. But senior Russian officials are warning that differences between Moscow and Washington will not disappear overnight. The U.S. and European Union imposed sanctions on Russia in 2014 over Moscows annexation of Crimea and support for rebels in eastern Ukraine. Read more about: SHARE: LANGLEY, VA.On his first full day in office, President Donald Trump on Saturday berated the media over its coverage of his inauguration, and turned a bridge-building first visit to CIA headquarters into an airing of grievances about dishonest journalists. But it was Trump who spread inaccuracies about the size of the crowds at his swearing in. Standing in front of a memorial for fallen CIA agents, Trump assured intelligence officials, I am so behind you. He made no mention of his repeated criticism of the intelligence agencies following the election, including his public challenges of their high-confidence assessment that Russia meddled in the White House race to help him win. There is nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community and CIA than Donald Trump, he said, blaming any suggestion of a feud on the media. Read more: Russia intervened to help elect Trump, CIA says in secret assessment Trumps decision to travel to CIA headquarters so quickly after taking office was seen as an attempt at a fresh start with the intelligence agencies he will now rely on for guidance as he makes weighty national security decisions. Following his private meeting with top CIA leaders, Trump said the U.S. had been restrained in its efforts to combat terrorism, calling the threat a level of evil we havent seen. But in unscripted, stream-of-consciousness remarks, Trump appeared more focused on settling scores with the media. He defensively touted the crowd size for his swearing-in ceremony, wrongly claiming that the throngs on the National Mall stretched all the way back to the Washington Monument. Photos and video clearly showed the crowd stopping well short of the landmark. Trumps visit took place as throngs of women, many of them wearing bright pink, pointy-eared hats, descended on the nations capital and other cities around the world for marches organized to push back against the new president. Hundreds of protesters lined the motorcade route as Trump sped back to the White House, many screaming and chanting at the president. The Washington rally alone attracted more than 500,000 people by the unofficial estimate of city officials. It appeared to be more people than attended Trumps inauguration on Friday, but there were no comparable numbers. The city did not release an estimate for the inauguration. The National Park Service does not provide crowd counts. During his remarks at the CIA, the president claimed the inaugural crowds topped one million people, offering no evidence. Suggestions that weak enthusiasm accompanied his inauguration clearly irked the new president. Shortly after his remarks, he dispatched his press secretary, Sean Spicer, to the White House briefing room to aggressively reinforce the message. Theres been a lot of talk in the media about holding Donald Trump accountable. And Im here to tell you that it goes two ways. Were going to hold the press accountable as well, Spicer said in his first on-camera appearance at the White House. Trump, and later Spicer, also slammed a Time magazine reporter for incorrectly reporting Friday that Trump had moved a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. out of the Oval Office. But Trump followed with a misstatement of his own, saying the reporter had not corrected the mistake. In fact, the item was quickly retracted. High-level CIA brass stood largely silent during Trumps remarks, though some of the roughly 400 other officers in attendance cheered on the president during his remarks. California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, slammed Trump for using his CIA visit to squabble over media coverage. He will need to do more than use the agency memorial as a backdrop if he wants to earn the respect of the men and women who provide the best intelligence in the world, Schiff said. Former CIA Director John Brennan went further. His former aide Nick Shapiro released a statement saying Brennan is deeply saddened and angered at Donald Trumps despicable display of self-aggrandizement in front of CIAs Memorial Wall of Agency heroes. Brennan says that Trump should be ashamed of himself. The inaugural celebrations have been shadowed by reports that the CIA and other federal agencies are investigating Russian interference in the presidential election on behalf of Trump. McClatchy reported that the investigation included whether money from the Kremlin covertly aided Trump. The New York Times said agencies were examining intercepted communications and financial transactions between Russian officials and Trumps associates. FBI Director James Comey has declined to confirm or describe the nature of the governments investigation, both during a congressional hearing and in closed-door meetings with members of Congress. Saturday marked the end of three days of inaugural celebrations, with Trump and his family attending a national prayer service traditionally held for the new president. The president and his wife, Melania, and Vice-President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, sat in a front pew at Washington National Cathedral for the morning service. The interfaith service is a tradition for new presidents and is hosted by the Episcopal parish. But the decision to hold a prayer session for Trump sparked debate among Episcopalians opposed to his policies. Bishop Mariann Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington wrote in a blog post that while she shared a sense of outrage at some of the president-elects words and actions, she felt an obligation to welcome all people without qualification, especially those who disagree and need to find a way to work together. Trump arrived at the cathedral mid-morning. The service included readings and prayers from Protestant, Jewish, Sikh, Mormon, Buddhist, Roman Catholic, Bahai, Episcopal, Hindu and native American leaders. But the program was remarkable for the large number of evangelicals participating, including two former presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention, the countrys largest evangelical denomination. Several speakers had served as Trump advisers and supporters who spoke at the Republican National Convention. Read more about: SHARE: OTTAWAU.S. President Donald Trump announced Sunday that he will be meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto as he moves quickly on his campaign pledge to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. Yet faced with negotiations that could rewrite the rules with its biggest trading partner, Trudeaus office was staying silent Sunday, declining to comment on Trumps first official statements on NAFTA since taking office. But Canadas relations with the new administration are expected to top the agenda when Trudeau meets with his cabinet ministers during a retreat in Calgary Monday and Tuesday. Trump who made clear his American first agenda during his inauguration speech used brief remarks Sunday during a White House ceremony to reaffirm his intent to reopen the trade pact between Canada, the United States and Mexico. That will start with upcoming meetings with Trudeau and Pena Nieto, he said. Were going to start some negotiations having to do with NAFTA. . . . I ran a campaign somewhat based on NAFTA, Trump told an audience of administration staff. Were going to start renegotiating on NAFTA, on immigration and on security at the border, Trump said. No date was announced for the meeting with Trudeau. The prime ministers office said Sunday it did not have any additional details beyond a telephone call between the two leaders Saturday when they said they looked forward to meeting soon. Canadas relations with the new administration in Washington are expected to top the agenda when Trudeau meets with his cabinet ministers during a two-day retreat in Calgary Monday and Tuesday, which will include discussions with an adviser to Trump. Discussions will also include Stephen Schwarzman, the CEO of the Blackstone Group investment firm appointed in December to lead the Presidents Strategic and Policy Forum, the Prime Ministers Office confirmed Sunday. Dominic Barton, the head of the Trudeau governments Council of Economic Advisers, is also set to attend. During their call, both Trump and Trudeau underscored the importance of the Canada-U.S. relationship, according to a statement from the prime ministers office. The prime minister noted the depth of the Canada-U.S. economic relationship, with 35 states having Canada as their top export destination, the statement sad. White House spokesperson Sean Spicer said the two leaders had a constructive conversation about strengthening the relationship between our two nations. They also discussed setting up additional meetings in the days to come, which we will follow up on, Spicer said Saturday. Trumps brief comments on Sunday were largely focussed on Mexico. I think were going to have a very good result for Mexico, for the United States, for everybody involved. Its very important, Trump said. Still, Trudeaus government is gearing up to deal with a new administration in Washington as it braces to see how Trumps tough talk on trade now become policy that could impact the cross-border economy. In the days following Trumps election last November, Canadian officials sought to appear open to the incoming president initiatives. That included voicing a willingness to discuss NAFTA. I think any agreement can be improved on, Canadas ambassador to the United States, David MacNaughton said. In his inauguration address Friday, Trump made clear his intent to move on what had been a core plank in his campaign. We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength, Trump said. As Trump was sworn in, the White House website was quickly changed to reflect the priorities of the incoming administration. That includes Trumps commitment to renegotiate, even withdraw from NAFTA. If our partners refuse a renegotiation that gives American workers a fair deal, then the President will give notice of the United States intent to withdraw from NAFTA, the website states. John Baird, a former Canadian foreign minister now a senior adviser with Bennett Jones LLP, warned the new trade reality will almost certainly hurt the country. Theres no realistic way were going to renegotiate a NAFTA deal thats better for Canada. The push for change is driven by rising protectionist sentiment across the U.S., not just in the White House, Baird said. People have to understand this isnt just the American president. The American public has moved substantially to this stance. With files from Bloomberg SHARE: Finally. A court has called out the discipline committee of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario for handing out a litany of clearly unfit penalties for dirty doctors. The case before the court which the judges sent back to the discipline committee for another go-round involved Toronto physician Dr. Javad Peirovy. He was finally suspended by the discipline committee last April (but only for six months) for groping the breasts of four female patients back in 2009 and 2010. He is, unbelievably, now back practising at Ultimate Diagnostics in North York. The panel of three Divisional Court judges called his punishment clearly unfit to protect the public and vindicate the integrity of the profession. No kidding. Even the College of Physicians itself thought the penalty was inappropriate. It launched the court case against its own disciplinary panel to force another hearing. The bottom line is that disciplinary panels have been permitting physicians to get away for far too long with sexual assaults that would have landed them in jail if they had done them on the street rather than behind their office walls. In 2014, for example, a Mississauga physician, Sastri Maharajh, admitted he had assaulted as many as 13 female patients by placing his mouth or resting his cheek on their breasts. Regardless, the college allowed him to continue practising after suspending his licence for only eight months, as long as he only treats male patients. That ruling was made despite the proven difficulty of enforcing sex-based restrictions on a doctors practice. Consider another male doctor, Sharif Tadros, found guilty of sexually assaulting female patients. He was allowed to continue to practise if he treated only male patients, but was later found to be treating women. All of this hasnt gone unnoticed by Health Minister Eric Hoskins. But so far his efforts to ensure zero tolerance in the profession for sexual abuse have not gone far enough, fast enough. After a 2014 Star investigation into doctors still practising despite sexual abuse findings, Hoskins took a promising first step and established a task force to review the 1991 Regulated Health Professionals Act, naming the respected human rights lawyer Marilou McPhedran to head it up. But then he ignored two of the task forces key recommendations. One was to require the revocation of a physicians licence for any form of sexual abuse. Thats something the college has also asked for. But the legislation Hoskins introduced in December to overhaul the act would simply expand the current list of banned sexual acts. That, as one critic put it, leaves the impression that some sexual assaults are still OK. And it continues to give too much leeway to the colleges disciplinary panels. The second ignored recommendation was to create an independent Ontario Safety and Patient Protection Authority that would take sexual assault allegations completely out of the hands of the colleges discredited disciplinary panels. Importantly, the authority would not only have handled sexual assault allegations for the College of Physicians, but for all regulated health professionals. With half-measures in the new legislation, Hoskins appears to be bowing to the powerful physicians lobby. He should put patient safety first and implement all of the task forces recommendations. SHARE: Re: And justice for all? Editorial Jan. 17 And justice for all? Editorial Jan. 17 One of the greatest fallacies we have in legal reform is that increasing legal aid is a panacea to all of our problems in the legal industry. Even with increased funding, the majority of Canadians are ineligible, and still cannot afford a lawyer. Legal aid expansions only really benefit us in the legal profession, by providing a steady and predictable source of government-funded clients. Whats needed is more comprehensive overhauls of our legal system, including greater reliance on technology, more free and accessible legal information, and greater consequences for inappropriate conduct by lawyers or self-represented parties. Many of us within the law are pushing for these changes, as is the attorney general. Legal aid certainly has its place, but lets not delude ourselves into thinking that leaving the majority of Canadians vulnerable to bankruptcy when exposed to the legal system is an acceptable alternative. If even a fraction of legal aid funding is spent in improving processes in the broader system, its something that will benefit all of us in the long-term. Omar Ha-Redeye, Fleet Street Law, Toronto SHARE: State Street Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides a range of financial products and services to institutional investors worldwide. The company offers investment servicing products and services, including custody; product accounting; daily pricing and administration; master trust and master custody; depotbank services; record-keeping; cash management; foreign exchange, brokerage and other trading services; securities finance and enhanced custody products; deposit and short-term investment facilities; loans and lease financing; investment manager and alternative investment manager operations outsourcing; performance, risk, and compliance analytics; and financial data management to support institutional investors. It also engages in the provision of portfolio management and risk analytics, as well as trading and post-trade settlement services with integrated compliance and managed data. In addition, the company offers investment management strategies and products, such as core and enhanced indexing, multi-asset strategies, active quantitative and fundamental active capabilities, and alternative investment strategies. Further, it provides services and solutions, including environmental, social, and governance investing; defined benefit and defined contribution; and global fiduciary solutions, as well as exchange-traded fund under the SPDR ETF brand. The company provides its products and services to mutual funds, collective investment funds and other investment pools, corporate and public retirement plans, insurance companies, foundations, endowments, and investment managers. State Street Corporation was founded in 1792 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Enbridge Inc. operates as an energy infrastructure company. The company operates through five segments: Liquids Pipelines, Gas Transmission and Midstream, Gas Distribution and Storage, Renewable Power Generation, and Energy Services. The Liquids Pipelines segment operates pipelines and related terminals to transport various grades of crude oil and other liquid hydrocarbons in Canada and the United States. The Gas Transmission and Midstream segment invests in natural gas pipelines, and gathering and processing facilities in Canada and the United States. The Gas Distribution and Storage segment is involved in natural gas utility operations serving residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Ontario, as well as natural gas distribution and energy transportation activities in Quebec. The Renewable Power Generation segment operates power generating assets, such as wind, solar, geothermal, and waste heat recovery facilities; and transmission assets in North America and Europe. The Energy Services segment provides energy marketing services to refiners, producers, and other customers; and physical commodity marketing and logistical services in Canada and the United States. The company was formerly known as IPL Energy Inc. and changed its name to Enbridge Inc. in October 1998. Enbridge Inc. was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. CHICAGO Abigail Alvarado has spent most of her 5 years in the U.S. on assembly lines preparing the frozen pizzas and packaged sandwiches shoppers find in their grocery stores. Until recently, the 26-year-old hadnt feared being sent back to her native Veracruz, Mexico. But the incoming Trump administration has her worried a crackdown is coming against people like her, working in this country without legal authorization. She worries she or her husband, an unauthorized immigrant who works in construction and landscaping when weather permits and in factories during winter, could be detained in a workplace raid and never come home. She worries about her 2-year-old son, Antonio, a U.S. citizen, and is considering getting him dual citizenship with Mexico, in case the family is deported. She worries about work drying up if employers get spooked by tougher enforcement though frankly, with most of her assembly line colleagues also unauthorized immigrants, she cant imagine what the factories would do without their labor. Van a quebrar, she said in Spanish. They will break. Among the many unknowns about President-elect Donald Trumps immigration agenda is what will happen to the estimated 7 or 8 million unauthorized workers who fill a variety of jobs in the U.S., and to the employers that have come to rely on their labor to keep costs down or supply skills they say they cant find elsewhere. Though they represent only about 5 percent of the U.S. workforce, unauthorized workers are core to some industries that could feel significant economic impact if Trump sticks to his most severe pledges about curbing illegal immigration. Research released last year by two economics professors at the City University of New York calculated that U.S. gross domestic product would decline by $434 billion a year, or 2.6 percent, under an extreme if unlikely scenario in which all 11 million unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. were deported, though certain industries and states would suffer much heavier blows. Construction, wholesale and retail trade and, more surprisingly, financial activities also would see big GDP drops. Though unauthorized immigrants are often associated with low-wage work, the impact on financial activities, which includes jobs in banking and insurance, indicates some are in well-paid positions that make a significant economic contribution, said study co-author Ryan Edwards. These are industries in which there is a high value added, said Edwards, now a visiting associate professor at Mills College in Oakland, Calif. He added: Its not obvious that theres an equivalent authorized worker who could replace that person. Though it remains to be seen how immigration policies will take shape after Trumps inauguration, a centerpiece of his campaign was to call out both legal and illegal immigration for depressing wages and keeping unemployment high among some Americans competing for low-wage jobs. His proposals included tightening work visa and refugee entry requirements as well as measures to block illegal immigration, including hiring more Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and building the Mexican border wall. During his campaign Trump suggested rounding up and ejecting all unauthorized immigrants and having them apply to re-enter the country legally, but in an interview after his election he said he planned to deport criminals here illegally as his first order of business before making a determination on what to do with those that dont have criminal convictions. Alvarado, for her part, would like to stay. As a Mexican soap opera played quietly on TV in her basement apartment in Chicagos Little Village neighborhood, home to the citys largest population of unauthorized immigrants, Alvarado sat on a flowered couch with her squirmy toddler, surrounded by neat rows of stuffed animals and religious posters tacked to the walls. She is grateful for the factory work, which allows her to send money to her parents in Veracruz, Mexico, where they are ill and squeezed by high health care bills. She misses them dearly, but doesnt want to return to the familys small farm, where wages were so meager that she walked for a month across the desert to enter the U.S. in hopes of finding better pay. There you suffer more, she said. Ten-hour days on the family farm paid less than $5 a day. Eating meat was a once-a-month luxury. Not that working in the U.S. has been easy. The pizza factory, where she worked for three years earning $8.25 an hour, was so cold that she layered on four pairs of pants and four sweaters for her shift. At the sandwich factory, where a temp agency sent her for two years at $9.50 an hour, she slipped on a puddle of grease and hurt her back so badly she required months of physical therapy. Making ends meet is difficult; she and her husband each send $400 a month to their families in Mexico, monthly rent for their two-bedroom apartment costs $500, plus another $150 for utilities and $90 a week for child care when she works. Alvarado, who took a few doctor-mandated months off to let her back heal, has been trying to compensate for her lost income by knitting hats and hand-making jewelry to sell. A small artificial Christmas tree stood in the corner during the holidays but the family couldnt afford Christmas presents. To Dan Zeman, fourth-generation owner and president of Zeman Manufacturing, the crux of the issue is that only people desperate for work will endure the poor wages and conditions some employers offer. You need to raise the (wage) floor so that this exploitative job market doesnt exist, an exploitative job market that only attracts undocumented immigrants, said Zeman, whose suburban Chicago company employs 25 people and pays an average wage of $19 an hour. But low-wage workers represent only part of the unauthorized workforce in manufacturing. The industry also relies on many immigrants, legal and not, highly skilled in manual trades that are difficult to find in the native-born population, said Zeman, whose company makes metal tubes for products like surgical devices and seat frames. Though Zemans central concern about Trumps immigration rhetoric is what he sees as dangerous scapegoating of immigrants, he also believes finding substitutes for skilled workers in the event of an immigration crackdown could be bad for business. If I were to go to the unemployment rolls right now (for hiring), I think there would be a huge drop-off in the quality of work, frankly, he said. Many immigrants, legal and not, are highly skilled in manual trades that are difficult to find in the native-born population. NextEra Energy, Inc. is the largest electric utility holding company in the US. It operates a network of power generation and distribution facilities that include fossil-fuel-generated and green energy. As of mid-2022, the company was capable of generating 58 GW of electricity with nearly 60% of the load produced by green sources including wind and solar. In their view, going green isnt an option, its the solution. NextEra Energy has been recognized multiple times as a leader in clean energy and ESG practices and was ranked the #1 electric and gas utility on the Forbes list of Most Admired Companies. The company is the result of several mergers that begin with FPL Group. FPL Group is now a subsidiary of NextEra Energy and the third-largest provider of electricity in the US servicing nearly half of Florida. FPL and its affiliates are the single largest provider of renewable energy generated from wind and sun. The group changed its name in 2010 following a decision to shift focus onto renewable energy sources. Today, NextEra Energy, Inc through its subsidiary FPL serves about 12 million people in eastern and southwestern Florida. The company employs nearly 14,900 people who service 5.8 million accounts. The company is in business to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity to retail and wholesale clients. Electricity is generated through wind, solar, nuclear, natural gas, and coal-fired facilities. The company is also engaged in the construction and operation of new facilities, specifically renewable power generation, storage, and delivery facilities, and can offer custom solutions tailored to any need. Offerings include tailored services to assist businesses with their transition to clean energy. NextEra Energy also owns and operates 7 nuclear power stations in Florida, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin generating power for the wholesale market. Unlike other companies that are targeting net-zero emissions, NextEra Energy has a plan to reach real zero and is investing heavily to reach that goal by 2045. The company had invested nearly $50 billion in green energy infrastructure and initiatives by mid-2022. The plan is to first work on reducing its own emissions and then take its knowledge and expertise to the world. Navigant Consulting, Inc. provides professional services worldwide. It operates through three segments: Healthcare, Energy, and Financial Services Advisory and Compliance. The Healthcare segment offers consulting and business process management services to healthcare providers, payers, and life sciences companies. This segment helps clients respond to market legislative changes, such as the shift to an outcome and value-based reimbursements model, ongoing industry consolidation and reorganization, Medicaid expansion, the implementation of a electronic health records system, and product planning and commercialization expertise. The Energy segment provides life-cycle solutions that help clients businesses in changing energy environment, manage complexity, accelerate operational performance, and meet compliance requirements, as well as transform its organizations and systems; and various benchmarking, and data and market research services. This segment serves utility and energy companies, government and nongovernmental organizations, large corporations, product manufacturers, and investors. The Financial Services Advisory and Compliance segment provides strategic, operational, valuation, risk management, investigative, and compliance advisory services to financial services industry, including financial and insurance institutions. This segment also offers anti-corruption solutions and anti-money laundering consulting, litigation support, and tax compliance services. Navigant Consulting, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. He was only sworn in a few days ago, but new US President Donald Trump is already rumoured to be visiting Cairns en route to a world leader's conference in Papua New Guinea. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit is being held in Port Moresby in November next year, just an 85 minute flight across the water from Cairns. With America among the 21 member countries of APEC, speculation is already heating up that Air Force One could be based in Cairns during the summit. A News Corp report on the speculation reads: "Queensland may be the first Australian state to host new US President Donald Trump next year, with Cairns a potential base for Air Force One during nearby APEC meetings. "Twenty-one world leaders will convene in the Papua New Guinea capital of Port Moresby in November next year for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. "But with cruise ships likely required to host leaders and their delegations due to a shortage of hotel rooms, its understood Cairns may be called on to house Air Force One as the closest international airport that can cater for the impressive aircraft." The last visit by a US President to the Tropical North was Bill Clinton back in 1996, when he famously spent some time relaxing in Port Douglas with First Lady Hillary by his side. - Alleged Istanbul nightclub killer was sent 3 women as a prize by Isis - The man and the three women were arrested in Esenyurt district of the city - A handwritten note was found on the apartment - Pistols, mobile phones and more than 100,000 eures were seized Islamic State sent Istanbul mass murder jihadi three women as reward for butchery Alleged killer Abdulkadir Mashaipov, was sent three women by ISIS as a prize for gunning down 39 people inside the Reina nightclub in Istanbul during New Years Eve celebrations. It comes as Mashaipov and four other accomplices were arrested in a rundown flat, which was just 25 miles from the scene of the deadly assault. The three women from Somalia, Senegal and Egypt were also arrested that day. READ ALSO: Man shaves girlfriends hair and eyebrows off for cheating on him Abdulkadir Mashaipov Authorities said that the man from Uzbekistan had been trained in Afghanistan to carry out the attack from ISIS. Pictures have emerged from inside the apartment and show a shopping bag full of cash and a copy of the Koran lying among other possessions inside his lair. A handwritten note on paper with red hearts, also apparently left at the scene, read: Do whatever u want... I will not care anymore and I can't help anyone of course I can't help myself. But if you want this it's okay but I will be in other place away from her. READ ALSO: Doctor who killed woman with towel while draining her fat won't be punished Two pistols, mobile phone SIM cards, and more than 100,000 euros in cash were seized when the Uzbekistan national was caught in his friend's house in Esenyurt district of the city. In some sections of Islam it is understood that those who die in the name of God are gifted 72 virgins upon reaching heaven. While Mashaipov was clearly the recipient of a reward without having to give his life in the name of his religion, it is not clear if the women sent to him were virgins. Masharipov reportedly arrived into Turkey in January last year through Iran after receiving orders to join the war in Syria. He initially settled in the central Turkish city of Konya. In preparation, Masharipov travelled to Istanbul on December 16, staying first at an ISIS house in the neighborhood of Basaksehir. READ ALSO: Women That Got Pregnant From Rape Reveal Powerful Confessions Uzbekistan had been trained in Afghanistan But on New Year's Eve, he was quoted as saying it didn't seem possible to carry out the attack in Taksim due to intense security measures. Masharipov then contacted his handler, who told him to find a new target. He spotted the Reina night club at 10 p.m. while traveling by taxi on the banks of the Bosporus. He suggested the new target to his handler, who approved. The alleged shooter then went to collect his weapon from the neighborhood of Zeytinburnu, where he went two days before the attack. The city's governor described the mass shooting as a terror attack The gunman took out a security guard outside of the nightclub and another civilian before entering Reina and letting loose a salvo of bullets on people who were celebrating New Year's Eve. Turkish officials say the attacker, who switched clothes at the nightclub, melted into the crowd of survivors and escaped the premises. Source: TUKO.co.ke West Salem High School senior Abby Johnson turned her love for the arts into an opportunity to empower the community and raise money to fight hunger. Johnson organized an Empty Bowls fundraiser Jan. 7 at West Salem Elementary School to raise money for the local food pantry. The daughter of West Salem Elementary School teacher Angie Hemker, art has always been a part of Johnsons life. When it came time for her to complete her senior exit project, it was no surprise when Johnson chose to pursue an art-related project. West Salem is one of the few school districts in the state to require its students complete a senior project that demonstrates community service or personal growth. These projects often require hundreds of hours of work to complete. Reminded of involvement in the Empty Bowls fundraiser when she was in elementary school, Johnson set to work to bring the fundraiser back to West Salem. It would be the first time in almost eight years since the community last hosted the fundraiser. I started thinking about it over the summer, she said. Ive done empty bowls before, but Ive never been in charge. Johnson said she wanted to find a way to help community members by getting the community involved in the effort. Empty Bowls is a non-profit that raises money for local food shelves by selling handcrafted bowls. I had a lot of support figuring out the dates, Johnson said. It was kind of difficult. I wanted to do it when it was going to be cold out. During Christmas break, Johnson taught community members to make and glaze clay bowls using clay donated by the elementary art department. It was really busy at first I helped them get started, she said. Its been very rewarding. The fundraiser works much like a bake sale. Bowls are handcrafted and donated by community members and then sold at a banquet. The same community members could buy their bowls during a soup dinner in the elementary school cafeteria Jan. 7. The proceeds, over $1,500, were donated to the local food pantry. Her goal was to have 300 bowls available for sale during the fundraiser. The ultimate goal (was) to send as much profit to the food shelf as possible, she said. Johnson admitted clay isnt a favorite medium and she struggled with it, despite working with it for years. I wasnt very good at it, she said. Its peaceful, but stressful at the same time. Sometimes it doesnt come out. Finding peace in art is an idea that has clung to Johnson, who hopes to pursue a degree in art therapy at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Art can be more beneficial than other verbal therapies, she said. Talking can be too hard for some people. I started thinking about it over the summer. Ive done empty bowls before, but Ive never been in charge. Abby Johnson, West Salem senior Vulcanian-type (sudden, but very strong) explosions continue to occur at the volcano. Following the powerful eruption early on Thu 19 Jan, another, an even stronger explosion - one of the most energetic in recent years - occurred in the evening of the same day at 22:16.It started with a violent cannon-shot like explosion that propelled incandescent bombs to heights well over 2000 meters and covered the whole cone and its lower flanks with impacts, igniting bush fires. Pyroclastic flows from collapsing material also descended the flanks and an ash plume rose to several kilometers height:A similarly impressive explosion had already occurred in the early morning the same day (around 04:30 am):Following this event, the volcano has been calmer, still having explosions, but only of small to modest size. Whether the two powerful eruptions on 19 Jan have (temporarily) drained the energy (and emptied the magma column) will remain to be seen. Background: Colima volcano is one of the most active in North America and one of the potentially most dangerous ones. It has had more than 30 periods of eruptions since 1585, including several significant eruptions in the late 1990s. Scientific monitoring of the volcano began 20 years ago.The Colima volcanic complex is the most prominent volcanic center of the western Mexican Volcanic Belt. It consists of two southward-younging volcanoes, Nevado de Colima (the 4320 m high point of the complex) on the north and the 3850-m-high historically active Volcan de Colima at the south.A group of cinder cones of probable late-Pleistocene age is located on the floor of the Colima graben west and east of the Colima complex. Volcan de Colima (also known as Volcan Fuego) is a youthful stratovolcano constructed within a 5-km-wide caldera, breached to the south, that has been the source of large debris avalanches. Major slope failures have occurred repeatedly from both the Nevado and Colima cones, and have produced a thick apron of debris-avalanche deposits on three sides of the complex. Frequent historical eruptions date back to the 16th century. Occasional major explosive eruptions (most recently in 1913) have destroyed the summit and left a deep, steep-sided crater that was slowly refilled and then overtopped by lava dome growth.--- The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, a water utility that serves Montgomery and Prince Georges counties, is embarking on a new partnership aimed at boosting lending to small businesses. Under the arrangement, WSSC will deposit $10 million in federally insured Washington-area banks in exchange for a commitment to offer at least $20 million in new loans to small businesses in suburban Maryland. We feel like we have a stake in the local economy, said Joe Beach, WSSC chief financial officer. The programs sponsors see it as a rare public stimulus program that creates jobs locally without spending taxpayer dollars: Having the extra dollars on the books gives local banks more capital to lend against, and WSSC eventually gets its money back with interest. The partnership is patterned after programs operated by county governments around Maryland since 2012, in which taxpayer dollars are held by local banks in exchange for meeting certain small-business lending targets. There are no fines if a bank falls short, but the local governments could choose to cash out if they are not satisfied with the banks record. The most prolific participant has been Montgomery County, which has deposited $50 million in various local banks under the stewardship of County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) and WSSCs Beach, who until recently served as an administrator in Leggetts administration. This is a tremendous benefit for all of us, Leggett said. Its pretty creative. Prince Georges County has deposited $10 million in local banks as part of the program, and WSSC is now the third depositor. Among local banks participating so far, Bethesda-based EagleBank has received the largest share of county money. In 2015, the most recent year for which figures have been reported publicly, the community bank made just over $90 million in small-business loans from $43.5 million in county deposits made that year. Leggett says he launched the program after hearing from local businesses that they were having trouble getting loans. Previously all of the countys funds were held by PNC Bank, a national bank headquartered in Pittsburgh. We had questions from local banks saying, Why are we not supporting local businesses? Leggett said. It is difficult to measure the programs effect on the local economy. The program makes no stipulations that the loans have to be made over and above what the bank would otherwise have done, so it can be tough to tell what the bank would have done in the absence of the extra deposits. EagleBank says its annual lending activity is up from where it was in 2012 and hasnt fallen. But the bank has acquired other banks during that period it merged with Virginia Heritage Bank in 2014 boosting its business. Also, the regions business climate has improved markedly in recent years, so its hard to tell whether the banks increase in lending was caused by having the extra deposits or by broader economic changes. EagleBank declined to disclose which local businesses have received the loans, citing privacy laws. Last week, as part of its annual earnings report, the bank said the number of loans grew 14 percent in 2016 and averaged 16 percent larger. Mike Flynn, the director of government relations for EagleBanks parent, Eagle Bancorp, said the bank already makes enough local small-business loans to meet the requirements set by Montgomery County and WSSC, so its unclear whether the banks lending behavior will actually change as a result of the program. Still, the programs founders say any commitment to making loans to small businesses is a net gain for the local economy. Although we have very large businesses in the county, the Lockheed Martins, most of the jobs in the county come from small businesses. Many of them are cash-strapped and cant get the resources they need, Leggett said. So this is a tremendous benefit for all of us. Ron Gula co-founded of Tenable Network Solutions with his wife, Cyndi. Now, they run an investment fund together. (Oliver Contreras for The Washington Post) When Ron Gula joined the National Security Agency in the mid-1990s, the world was still storing information on floppy disks. The agency hired him as a penetration tester, a white-hat hacker who looks for holes in computer networks so that they can be patched before the enemy finds them. He spent years breaking into government servers and putting together reports detailing potential weak spots, part of a skill set that would prove critical throughout his career. I tested the good guys; I did not break into the bad guys, Gula said of his time at the NSA. It wasnt until after he met his wife, Cyndi, that he stepped into the business world. The two married in 1997 and co-founded two companies together, Ron Gula as a technologist and chief executive, Cyndi Gula handling company operations. One of those companies, Tenable Network Security, became a prominent player among a new crop of Washington-area companies selling cybersecurity to private corporations, attracting $300 million in investments and eventually becoming a springboard for the Gulas to try something new. The couples third act is an investment fund that they hope will enable younger technologists to follow in their footsteps. In doing so, the Gulas are part of a new generation of experienced technology executives filtering back into the Washington areas business community after making a fortune growing and selling companies on their own. Gula Tech Adventures has made small investments in at least 13 companies, most of which operate in the Mid-Atlantic region. The fund has officially been in operation only for a few weeks, though Gula started aggressively investing his own money throughout 2016. When Ron started Tenable, nobody quite understood the issues in cyber and how they were going to balloon, so he was really ahead of his time. Nobody questions the need for cyber-fixes today, said Jim Hunt, a cybersecurity investor who teaches an investment course at Georgetown University. If anybody can profess to be the regions cyber-czar, Rons got the resume. Other cyber-executives are working to turn past successes into new ones. Dave Merkel, the former chief technology officer of Mandiant, which was sold for $1 billion to West Coast cybersecurity giant FireEye, last year started a company in Herndon, Va., and immediately attracted $7.5 million from venture capitalists. Numerous executives from Sourcefire, which grew up in Columbia, Md., before being acquired by Cisco for $2.7 billion, have started new companies in the past five years. Former Sourcefire chief executive Wayne Jackson now heads Sonatype, and former vice president John Czupak now heads detection firm ThreatQuotient, both Washington-area businesses. Others, including Blu Venture, a consortium of former technology executives, are getting in on the angel investing game and focusing on area companies. This is how Silicon Valley really got its start, and why its so far ahead of every other region in the country. Out there, when entrepreneurs sell out, they go [start a new company], or they go become angel investors, said Jonathan Aberman, a Virginia-based security investor. The fact that people like the Gulas are investing locally means that were starting to develop a more robust cybersecurity software product ecosystem, Aberman said. The Gulas fund has mainly made small investments so far, but the pair have lofty goals. Their plan is to show strong enough returns on the funds early investments to attract well-heeled co-investors, filling what he sees as a gap in the Washington-area technology community. Ron Gula says he wants to broaden the fund beyond his family office by 2018, and eventually make bigger investments alongside the countrys large venture funds. As I get more experience and more success, I want to do larger investments and help the companies that Im working with grow, he said. I want to see 20 Tenables. If Gula pulls it off, hell be filling a void that has dogged the local business community in past decades. Cybersecurity researchers around the nations capital have come up with industry-shifting innovations in the security space, but an unfavorable investment climate has prevented the region from really capitalizing on all that talent. The fastest-growing companies have tended to head west in search of operating capital. Entrepreneurs often say they have an easier time finding funding in Silicon Valley, picking up larger deals and getting more favorable investment terms compared with the Mid-Atlantic region. And the giant tech companies that buy up growing firms the Googles, Microsofts and Oracles of the world are mostly located on the West Coast, effectively poaching some of the regions fastest-growing firms. Cybersecurity is one of the only technology sectors where the funding gap appears to be getting smaller. Area cybersecurity companies are attracting funding at a time when other start-ups are having a hard time closing deals. The annual number of cybersecurity venture deals doubled in the four years from 2011 to 2015, and the industry here already counts at least 1,000 companies in its ranks. Many of the larger deals have come from out-of-state venture funds or private equity firms acting in absence of a strong local investment ecosystem. Some in the start-up community are hoping that Ron Gulas former company could play the role of acquirer, buying up local firms and keeping them here. The Gulas no longer work for Tenable Network Security, having been partially bought out as part of a big funding round. But the company recently hired Amit Yoran, the former chief executive of Dell RSA, to take Ron Gulas place as chief executive, and Tenable bought San Francisco security company Flawcheck for a sum that wasnt disclosed. Ron Gula has not said exactly how much money he walked away with when he left Tenable, only saying that the fund he now runs with his wife is larger than a $5 million minimum set by regulators. He says he wont make investments in start-ups that compete with Tenable because he still owns a portion of the company he founded. He says he wants to keep the fund in the Washington area and help local entrepreneurs build businesses here. Nobody ever tapped me on the shoulder and said, If you worked in Silicon Valley or New York or Tel Aviv youd be more successful, he said. Its never occurred to me leave. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post) Katie Giarratanos tears caught her by surprise. She thought she might cry when President Trump was sworn in. Or when Gloria Steinem spoke. But the moment her cheeks grew wet was when she pushed her way through a crowd of strangers on Independence Avenue a crowd so thick that it was nearly impossible to move, so full of pink hats that it looked like a morning horizon. The speakers and celebrities were what garnered headlines, but the Womens March on Washington will be remembered most for the numbers. Numbers that exceeded expectations and preparations and the previous days inauguration. So Giarratanos tears, which came before the program even started, were tears of relief to see, in one place, everywhere she looked, people who felt the same way she did. Angry, scared, sad, eager to be counted. Its almost overwhelming, said the 21-year-old graduate student from Troy, N.Y. Less than 24 hours after Trump assumed the presidency, the city of Washington was engulfed by protesters like Giarratano. Mostly women, many in pink pussyhats meant to be a symbol of solidarity, they overloaded Metro stops, chartered party planes and rode through the night in buses to participate. They passed out granola bars, safety pins and Planned Parenthood signs. They hugged strangers, took selfies and shouted to their new president Welcome to your first day! We will not go away! [How mainstream media missed the march that social media made a phenomenon] The nations capital had been a vortex of cognitive dissonance all weekend. As Trump was sworn in, supporters of legalized marijuana had passed out thousands of joints in Dupont Circle. LGBT activists had danced to Rihannas Work near Vice President Pences Chevy Chase house, and Trump supporters had flocked to balls in tuxedos and gowns. Black-clad anarchists had shown up to smash a few windows and ignite a few trash cans and a limousine as the inaugural parade took place blocks away. The countrys polarized politics had converged in Washington, ushering in a weekend when two American realities clashed and coexisted and even on very rare occasions conversed. 1 of 44 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Photos from the scene of the Womens March on Washington View Photos The protest march, a rejoinder to the inauguration of President Trump, was the largest D.C. rally in years. Caption The protest march, a rejoinder to the inauguration of President Trump, was the largest D.C. rally in years. Jan. 21, 2017 With U.S. Capitol in the background, a crowd fills the streets on Washington during the Womens March. Oliver Contreras/for The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue. The march organizers had promised to provide a megaphone for every pet cause, and in the end it drew them all. You only had to read the signs. There were climate change believers. Equal pay for equal work, read the poster of a man who had come with his wife. Impeach fascism. My body, my choice. Youre so vain, you probably think this march is about you. I literally have not been able to sleep for two months, said that last signs creator, Nathalie Palmer, 49, of Chantilly, Va., who was hoping that the march would prove therapeutic. And for a lot of participants, thats what the day was. A primal scream to echo off the walls of Washington. A collective call to one another and to Trump for the things they wanted: inclusivity, equal rights and their new presidents tax returns. Protester Katie Giarratano. (Ellen McCarthy/The Washington Post) Giarratano, who was born to a white mother and a black father, hoped that her presence would send a message to loved ones who feel somehow less safe under a Trump administration. To other women, yes, but also to her darker-skinned friends, transitioning friends, her immigrant friends. I want others to feel that were supporting them, she said. But the group gathered in Washington, which organizers said topped 500,000, wasnt an unfettered love fest. As the program of speakers stretched into the third hour, many in the crowd, like penned race horses itching to run, began to chant: Let us march! And resentment brewed as some marchers took off while speakers of color were still standing at the microphone. This whole thing is supposed to be about intersectional feminism, and theyre just walking out on speeches, said Telfer Carpenter, 22, an equity studies major at the University of Toronto who had come in on an overnight bus. I think the first people to leave were old white women. They left when a Muslim woman was speaking and when a Korean woman was speaking. A mark has been missed. From the beginning, organizers had worked to overcome initial concerns that the march would not showcase the diversity of modern feminism. And it occasionally took on the feel of a festival as fans screamed for surprise guests Alicia Keys and Madonna, who mentioned that she had thought about blowing up the White House before settling on love instead. And even as the crowds occasionally tuned out speakers, they kept a keen eye out for celebrity sightings. Katy Perry and Cher were among the celebrities at the march, but they largely went incognito in the sea of women and men who packed the original 1.5-mile route. (The Washington Post) The events leaders wanted the march to be more than a group-therapy session or a fun day out. Today is not a concert, implored organizer Tamika Mallory. It is not a parade. And it is not a party. Today is an act of resistance. For Kendra Beaver, a 60-year-old from Barrington, R.I., it was a beacon. After the election, this was the only thing to keep my spirits up, she said. This was something to look forward to. But now, she added, the reality sets in. Actually, the reality had taken hold the previous day. America is crying, Giarratano said Friday as Trump began his inaugural address and rain started to fall. [More than one million protesters vow to resist President Trump] But the sadness she felt on Friday gave way to ebullience on Saturday. And determination. Like the other protesters, Giarratano had come to march, but what she mostly did was stand. They stood and stood and at the behest of their speakers pledged to continue to stand. To organize. To call their representatives. To run for office. To not let what started there end there. The actual march almost didnt happen at all. Like a game of telephone, word traveled through the crowd that there were too many of them to go forward. As they dispersed, the Womens March flowed into tributaries, streams of women and men pouring across not one of the capitals streets but seemingly all of them. Pennsylvania Avenue NW, the same street Trumps inaugural parade had traversed the day before, became a river of pink hats and rainbow-colored signs. No hate! No fear! the protesters shouted. Immigrants are welcome here! Protester Suzanne Damas, of Brooklyn, wears a simple sticker on her forehead to let people know what she thinks of President Trump. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) Groups gather for the Womens March on Washington. (Amanda Voisard/For The Washington Post) As the marchers surged past Trumps new hotel, a quartet of young white men stood silently looking on. Did you expect more or less? one asked. Way less, answered another, eyes wide. Later, many marchers circled back to leave their signs in front of the Trump International Hotel, transforming it into a makeshift museum. Women stood amid the signs, which extended about five feet from the metal barricades, and with the hotel as their backdrop, took pictures while giving it the finger. All around them were messages of resistance: My girlfriend is a nasty woman. Girls just want to have FUNdamental rights. We will defeat hate. Shortly before 8 p.m., 12 hours after many of them had arrived, a small band of marchers remained in the streets, escorted by a police car and still espousing their convictions to anyone who would listen. By then, Giarratano and her friends had already tucked into a Chinatown bar where they ordered drinks, watched coverage of the march on a large-screen TV and reveled in the feeling of solidarity they had experienced. They talked about the old women who posed for a picture, asking their photographer to make us look like heroes. And the little girl who sat on her fathers shoulders chanting, My body, my choice! But like many of the marchers, Giarratano would leave the next day. And Trump will remain. So the question had to be asked: Will any of this make a difference? Or will the voices of the women who marched on Washington fade to static? Giarratano, for one, believes that they wont. Because if its true that theres power in numbers, she says, then it cant. Im ready to go now, she said. I wasnt ready before. But Im ready now. The two beers on the left are produced by Walmart, the two on the right by Trader Joes. (Fritz Hahn/The Washington Post) Many beer geeks spent the end of 2016 debating their list of the years best releases Voodoos ManBearPig imperial stout? Tree Houses King JJJuliusss double IPA? Ocelots Talking Backwards triple IPA? and looking back at the rising tides of sour beers and fruit-flavored IPAs. But one of the biggest beer developments of the past 12 months is this: Walmart now sells its own craft beer. Go ahead and laugh. Im assuming most beer lovers dont spend much time thinking about the craft ales and lagers in the cooler at Walmart, especially if the selection is as mediocre as the one at my local D.C. store, where the few sixers and sampler 12-packs of Flying Dog, New Belgium and Dogfish Head are dwarfed by 30-packs of Natural Light and Tecate. But market research firm Placed Insights ranks Walmart as the most popular store in the country, with more than half of all American shoppers visiting one of the companys 4,600 stores in a given month. Thats a lot of eyes falling on those products. Teresa Budd, a senior buyer for Walmarts adult beverage team, says the company began to notice its craft beer sales growing a few years ago, especially compared with sales of mainstream domestic beers. The company put out an offer to suppliers around the country, seeking to produce an IPA, a pale ale, an amber ale and a Belgian-style ale, Budd says, because those were the top four best-selling craft styles at the time. After samplings and tastings, making sure its exactly what we want, Walmart began producing beer in collaboration with a company called Trouble Brewing in Rochester, N.Y. The beers launched in six-packs and a 12-can variety pack in early 2016, and theyre found in 3,000 stores across 45 states. Budd says the response from consumers has been enthusiastic, and the line may expand with new or seasonal beers in the future. Unlike the house-brand beers of some of the companys competitors, including Costco and Trader Joes, Trouble Brewing offers no clue on the label to tell you that Walmart was behind its creation. A shopper heading down the aisle to look for Samuel Adams or Miller High Life might see the ersatz-hipster labels of Cats Away IPA and After Party Pale Ale, or the distressed fonts and torn-look packaging of the Pack of Trouble variety 12-pack, and assume they were made by some new craft brewery that just hit the market. Its also hard to ignore the price: $7.96 for a six-pack and $13.86 for the variety pack. Thats $3 to $5 cheaper than other craft beers on the same shelf. Lower cost and perceived value are a competitive advantage for established store house brands: Most of Trader Joes exclusive brews, such as Mission St. IPA and JosephsBrau Bohemian Lager, cost $6.49 to $6.99 per six-pack, or $1.09 to $1.17 each for shoppers who mix and match. A 22-ounce bottle of Green Flash Fearless Fifty, an exclusive saison created by the San Diego brewery for Trader Joes 50th anniversary, is $5.99. At Costco, a whopping 48-pack of its Signature Light Beer costs $22. (Of course, you have to buy in bulk.) Another thing these store brands have in common is a tendency to deliberately obscure or flat-out conceal where the beer is coming from. In the case of Walmart, no American brewery with the name Trouble Brewing actually exists. The applicant listed on filings for the four beers with the Treasury Departments Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) is Winery Exchange, Inc., now known as WX Brands, which develops exclusive brands of wine, beer and spirits for retailers around the world, according to its website. The brewery address given on the TTB documents is Genesee Brewings business office. Genesee is not a craft brewery, which the national Brewers Association defines as small, independent and traditional; its owned by Costa Rica-based Florida Ice and Farm, which brews that countrys Imperial Lager and other industrial brands. Its flagship American beers, Genesee and Genesee Cream Ale, are cheap college-party staples, and its tough to convince people that your brand is hip and craft when those are the other products coming out of the tanks. Walmarts Budd says theres no intention to deceive consumers, pointing out that Walmart doesnt put the company name on its private label brands, whether camping gear or cat food. We were intentional about designing a package that conveyed a look and feel youd expect of craft beer, she said. Likewise, previous variety packs of Costcos Kirkland Signature Handcrafted Beer, which will return to stores this spring, claimed that the IPAs and brown ales came from either New Yorker Brewer in Utica, N.Y., or Hopfen und Malz in San Jose, depending on where the beer was purchased. The TTB reveals theyre brewed at F.X. Matt (the home of Saranac) and Gordon Biersch, respectively. Trader Joes sources its beers from several brewers. Most German-style beers purport to be from JosephsBrau Brewing while actually being contract-brewed by Gordon Biersch; the Mission Street IPA and Session Pale Ale beers are brewed by Salt Lake Citys Four + Brewing, a pseudonym for Uinta, after years of being produced under contract at the well-respected Firestone Walker. Fat Weasels label says its brewed by River Trent Brewing Company, Ukiah, CA, which is actually Mendocino Brewing. And so on. Affordable beers made by breweries that most people have heard of? The only question left is How does it taste? I convened a team of Washington Post staffers for a blind tasting of beers purchased at Walmart and Trader Joes and asked them to write down their thoughts. The results were not that positive: Trouble Brewings Red Flag Amber Ale was described as flabby, knock-you-over-the-head syrupy sweet and good for flip cup. The JosephsBrau Bohemian Lager elicited watery, tastes like college and channels a Heineken thats been open for a little too long. Trouble Brewings After Party Ale was bland nothingness and lacking an identifiable taste. The standouts, according to the testers, included JosephBraus Hefeweizen, which had the bright mouth feel and bubble gum and banana notes youd expect from a German wheat beer, even as one reviewer called it drinkable, if not particularly memorable. The Mission St. Session Pale Ale got mixed reviews though still better than the IPAs for its bitterness and citrusy hops, although it was also called thin and nothing to get excited about. Trouble Brewings most popular brew was Round Midnight Belgian White, which didnt strike anyone as an outstanding witbier but received complements on its spice and fruitiness, as well as easy drinkability. None of those beers is going to light up online beer forums or find its way onto Best Beer of the Year lists, but thats not the point. These are affordable brews that could be gateway beers for domestic beer drinkers looking to dip a toe into the world of craft beer. If they like Trouble Brewings version of a Belgian witbier, maybe theyll be open to trying one from Allagash or Bells, or theyll grab a six-pack of Flying Dog instead of Bud Light. Either way, Walmart just put craft-style beers in front of millions of new potential craft beer customers, which should be a positive for brewers of all sizes. From its inception, it was a social-media phenomenon, not a mainstream-media one. The organizers of the many womens marches that filled the streets of cities across the world on Saturday got the word out about their projects primarily via Facebook. From there, news spread from one feed to another, and from one mouth to another, feeding a vast river of humanity. By contrast, mainstream news outlets focused primarily on the inauguration of a president, against whom many of the marchers were protesting gave the run-up to the event relatively scant coverage. Taken collectively, the Womens March on Washington and its many affiliated sister marches were perhaps the largest single demonstration of the power of social media to create a mobilization. The march has precedent in the annals of online activism: The Arab Spring demonstrations of 2011 and the tea party, Occupy and Black Lives Matter movements, for example, were all driven by social media. But perhaps no such effort has turned out so many in a single day. The crush of bodies was so heavy that organizers and public safety officials in several cities, including Chicago, suspended plans for actually marching anywhere. That turned some of the gatherings into rallies. As with those other grass-roots causes, traditional news media outlets were late in catching up to the story. NBC Nightly News did its first story about the march on Thursday, two days before hundreds of thousands took to the streets, according to a search of the Nexis database. ABCs World News Tonight aired an 18-word sound bite from one of the marchs co-organizers on Wednesday. And although the New York Times mentioned the event numerous times in the weeks preceding the march, the newspaper featured it just once on its front page through Tuesday. (Its story concerned racial divisions among organizers and marchers.) The Washington Post devoted numerous stories to the planning and logistics of the march, including one only a week after its inception in November. But it published only one story on its front page. The Jan. 3 storys headline said it could be the biggest inauguration demonstration. The womens marches were pretty much under the radar in most mainstream-media coverage over the last few weeks, says Marcus Messner, an associate professor of journalism at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he studies social media. The number of demonstrators and events, he says, caught the media and public off guard, even as the social-media buzz began growing into a huge groundswell. According to Messner, the event demonstrated that organizers dont need media coverage anymore to reach large audiences and turn out large crowds for protests when people are passionate about issues and connect via social media. TV reporters spent much of Saturday afternoon marveling at the massive crowds gathered in Washington, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, London and other cities. The Metro system is completely overwhelmed. The cellphone system is overwhelmed. The satellite trucks are overwhelmed, MSNBC correspondent Cal Perry reported from the Mall in Washington, adding, Were looking at a city thats overwhelmed. A few minutes later on CNN, reporter Jessica Schneider also invoked the o-word: The turnout here in New York City, frankly, is overwhelming, she said, as thousands could be seen behind her, shuffling down a city street. Cable news coverage toggled between the march and Donald Trumps activities during his first full day as president, including attendance at a morning prayer service and a visit to CIA headquarters in the afternoon. Fox seemed to go heavier on the latter: Hosts Bill Hemmer and Shannon Bream took a few minutes in the afternoon to speculate about Trumps potential choice of White House pet and to show Donald Trump Jr.s video of his family bowling in the executive mansion. By Sunday afternoon, just 24 hours after the march, Foxnews.coms homepage had all but forgotten the event had happened. The page displayed only one small story referencing the march. The headline read, Trump on throngs of protesters: Why didnt these people vote? The march itself began as a single Facebook post the day after Trump was elected Nov. 8. Disappointed by Trumps victory, Teresa Shook, a retired attorney who lives in Hawaii, dashed off a post asking if women were interested in rallying in Washington around Inauguration Day. She asked her online friends for help creating an event page and posted one for her proposed march. When Shook went to bed that night, 40 people had signed on to the idea. When she woke up the next morning, the number of responses had jumped to 10,000. New York fashion designer Bob Bland had a similar idea about the same time. She proposed a Million P---y March, naming her creation after the vulgar language Trump used in describing his treatment of women during an unguarded 2005 conversation with Access Hollywood host Billy Bush. By early January, more than 150,000 people had responded to what professional organizers had renamed the Womens March on Washington. Dozens of groups, including Planned Parenthood, soon became partners, spreading the news on Facebook and other social-media platforms. Social media has entirely changed the organizing landscape, says Karen North, director of the social-media program at the University of Southern Californias Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. It is a way to ask people to join with friends and with like-minded people and promote a sense of belonging. Social media allows us to organize people in a manner that feels like a personal invitation and also in a manner that suggests a groundswell of support and passion about a cause. Even if they dont spark movements, Messner says traditional-media outlets can still act as an amplifier of them, spreading attention and in some ways validating them. Its not unlikely that women who stayed home today will show up next time, as they saw that they will be part of a bigger movement. Mainstream-media coverage, he says, can now lead to an even bigger turnout down the road, if the movement continues. If it does, the news media will have learned a lesson from Saturdays event, he suggests. Before the next big march, according to Messner, mainstream-media coverage will be guaranteed. When I lived in Westchester County, N.Y., 20 years ago, I knew Dobbs Ferry High as a little school in a small town about six miles from my home. It had little to distinguish it. Now I learn the three-story brick school on the Hudson River has undergone a startling transformation worthy of study across the country. In 1998, a year after I left Westchester, Dobbs Ferry High started an International Baccalaureate program, with its strong emphasis on writing and its challenging five-hour final exams with almost no multiple-choice questions. But like most schools, Dobbs Ferry involved just a small number of students in IB. As veteran Dobbs Ferry teacher Marion Halberg put it, the program didnt address the needs of the school at large. [Americas most challenging high schools] Then the school made an extraordinary move. Assistant Principal Sandra Intrieri selected Halberg as the new IB coordinator, even though Halberg had never taught an IB class. Intrieri saw this as a way to get every student into IB. Halberg identified herself as one of the teachers who would turn and stop paying attention when the program was discussed at faculty meetings. She taught English for speakers of other languages. In 2005, I wrote a book about IB in the United States and have continued to report on the program. I have never heard of a school appointing a non-IB teacher to coordinate an established IB program. Administrators rarely put neophytes in charge of complex existing initiatives. [Thats the idea: Some schools serving low-income students believe in a challenge] Halberg and the districts other IB reformers brought every student into the program, including those in special education. I can find only three other public neighborhood IB high schools that have done this in the United States. George C. Marshall High in Fairfax County plans to join that group next year. Halberg described the results in two long posts on the IB Community Blog: Today, every student in the 11th and 12th grades takes DP [Diploma Program] English and DP mathematics because thats all we offer. In addition, most students take at least one other IB course but usually more, and approximately 25 percent of the graduating students each year are full diploma candidates. To earn an IB diploma, which comes in addition to the usual school diploma, a student must receive good grades on multiple assessments in six subjects and on a 4,000-word research paper. They must pass other IB courses, such as the celebrated Theory of Knowledge class, and do community service. When Halberg took the training required of all IB teachers, she concluded that the programs emphasis on writing and critical thinking would work for everyone. All students deserve and should have equal access to what everyone else has, she said. The school sent all staff to IB training, including the counselors and special education teachers. Halberg said teachers in ninth and 10th grades began to see what they were preparing their students for. . . . We have taken advantage of IBs own evolution in terms of granting accommodations to those with special needs. It took time and effort to explain to parents why IB was in some ways better than Advanced Placement. Even if many students did not score high enough to earn IB diplomas, the improvement in their thinking and writing helped them in college and in life, as many Washington-area students have told me. Lisa Brady, the district superintendent, said she spent many months meeting with groups of parents in their homes and telling them, We simply cannot continue to sort kids based on our preconceived notions about their capabilities. Principal John Falino said, This has been a major focal point for us. Dobbs Ferry has just 440 students. Just 15 percent are low income. That might make it easier to enact such great changes, but most schools of that size havent even considered their hidden potential. This would be a good time to start. MARYLAND Hagerstown prison reducing operations Marylands prison agency said it is reducing operations at the 75-year-old Maryland Correctional Institution near Hagerstown. Gary McLhinney of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services told the Herald-Mail on Thursday that 300 inmates and 45 correctional officers have been moved to other prisons. It is not clear how many inmates are left. McLhinney said 57 more officers will be transferred in June. Del. Brett R. Wilson (R-Washington County) said the state is gradually closing most of the medium-security prison to improve safety and living conditions. McLhinney says some programs will remain there. The 1,800-bed facility opened in 1942. Former inmates of the gray stone complex include Arthur Bremer, who shot Alabama Gov. George Wallace in 1972, and actor Charles S. Dutton, star of the 1990s television sitcom Roc. Associated Press VIRGINIA Man killed by deputy was armed, police say Virginia State Police said a Caroline County sheriffs deputy fatally shot a man who threatened to harm himself and deputies and refused to drop a handgun during a domestic call. Police said in a statement Friday that deputies responded to a call in the Woodford area Thursday night and found 49-year-old William Fisher in an outbuilding. Police said Fisher had a handgun and continuously threatened to harm himself and deputies. Fisher refused to drop the weapon, police said, and was shot by a deputy. He died at the scene. Police said no deputies were injured. State police are investigating. Police spokesman Sgt. Steve Vick said Fisher was white. Officials did not give the deputys race or name. Sheriff A.A. Lippa Jr. said the deputy has been placed on paid administrative leave. Associated Press Obituaries of residents from the District, Maryland and Northern Virginia. Anna Watkins, IMF officer Anna Watkins, 97, an International Monetary Fund officer who retired in 1980 as chief of the operations division in the treasurers department, died Dec. 25 at a senior care center in Kensington, Md. The cause was heart ailments and Alzheimers disease, said a daughter, Katharine Webb. Mrs. Watkins was born Anna Tandlerova in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia, and settled in the Washington area in 1948. She worked for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization before joining the IMF in 1951. An amateur historian, she wrote an article about the Jesuits and slavery published in 2012 by the journal of the Catholic Historical Society of Washington. She also edited a volume of the papers of Edmund A. Walsh, a Jesuit priest who founded Georgetown Universitys foreign service school. Harriett Jenkins, NASA official Harriett Jenkins, 90, who worked at NASA from 1974 to 1992 as assistant administrator for equal opportunity programs, where she helped recruit some of the space agencys first African American astronauts, died Dec. 21 at a hospital in Bethesda, Md. The cause was complications from a fall, said a friend, Zhalisa Clarke. Dr. Jenkins, a Bethesda resident, was born Harriett Green in Fort Worth. She spent much of her early career in Berkeley, Calif., where she became assistant superintendent of schools, and she settled in the Washington area in the early 1970s. After leaving NASA, where she received honors for distinguished service, she spent four years as director at the U.S. Senates new office of fair employment practices. In 2000, NASA established a pre-doctoral fellowship program in her name to further the education of minority students. Evelyn Cox, Navy wife, club member Evelyn Cox, 91, the wife of a retired Navy rear admiral who became a member of the Northern Virginia Womens Club, died Dec. 25 at her home in Fairfax County. The cause was congestive heart failure, said a son, Thomas Cox. Mrs. Cox was born Evelyn Brewer in Norfolk. She accompanied her husband, Donald Cox, on assignments, was involved in the admirals wives clubs and came to the Washington area in 1974. Frank Angevine, Air Force officer Frank Angevine, 95, who retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel in the late 1960s and then spent 17 years as a civilian with the Air Force Department, died Dec. 30 at his home in Temple Hills, Md. The cause was Alzheimers disease, said a grandson, Byron Warnken. Col. Angevine, a native of Brooklyn, served as an Army Air Forces in Europe pilot during World War II. He spent 19 months at a German prisoner of war camp after his plane was shot down over Czechoslovakia. He joined the Air Force when it became a separate service branch in 1947 and later worked in intelligence on active duty and as a civilian. From staff reports Sunday, Jan. 22 Dale City farmers market 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Dale City Commuter Lot (behind Center Plaza Shopping Center), Dale Boulevard, Dale City. 703-670-7112 ext. 227. pwcparks.org. Bingo Proceeds support local veterans. On Sundays, doors open at noon, games begin at 2 p.m. On Mondays, doors open at 5:15 p.m., games begin at 7:15 p.m. Woodbridge American Legion, 3640 Friendly Post Lane, Woodbridge. 703-494-4304. $15 minimum. Not for Glory: Manassas Veterans and the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan This exhibit, produced in partnership with the Freedom Museum, uses first-person narratives to tell the stories of local veterans who served in the countrys most recent conflicts. Through Feb. 19. Manassas Museum, 9101 Prince William St., Manassas. 703-368-1873. manassasmuseum.org. Free. Turning Over A New Leaf An exhibit of colored pencil drawings by David Cochran of Alexandria and jewelry by Tyler Kulenguski of Annandale. Through Feb. 6. Artists Undertaking, 309 Mill St., Occoquan. 703-494-0584. theartistsundertaking.com. Free. Monday, Jan. 23 Job-search network group Discussion of various topics related to the search process. 1-3 p.m. House of Mercy, 8170 Flannery Ct., Manassas. 703-659-1636. Free. Bingo Proceeds support Dale City Knights of Columbus activities and charities. Doors open at 6 p.m., games begin at 7:30 p.m. VFW Post 1503, 14631 Minnieville Rd., Dale City. 703-491-2378. $9 minimum. Cabin Branch Quilters meeting 7 p.m. Lake Ridge Baptist Church, 12450 Clipper Dr., Lake Ridge. 571-285-5405. cabinbranchquilters.org. Free. Out of the Classroom, Into the Hall An exhibit of paintings from Creative Brush Studio students. Through Friday. Manassas City Hall, 9027 Center St., Manassas. 703-257-8200. Free. Tuesday, Jan. 24 Salute to the Armed Forces lunch Sponsored by the Prince William Chamber of Commerce, the annual lunch features keynote speaker John Harvey, Virginias secretary of veterans and defense affairs. 11:30 a.m. The Clubs at Quantico and Crossroads Event Center, 3017 Russell Rd., Quantico. 703-368-6600. quantico.usmc-mccs.org. pwchamber.org. $60; members $45. Wednesday, Jan. 25 Lake Ridge Toastmasters Club Members 18 and older develop their public speaking and leadership skills. 7:30-9:15 p.m. Tall Oaks Community Center, 12298 Cotton Mill Dr., Lake Ridge. 703-491-3020. contact-8913@toastmastersclubs.org. lakeridge.toastmastersclubs.org. $34-$64 membership fee. Colors of Life The Exposure Group members sixth traveling juried photography exhibit features landscapes, cityscapes and portraits that depict life in our region. Opening reception is 6-8 p.m. Feb. 4. Through March 3, Center for the Arts, 9419 Battle St., Manassas. 703-330-2787. center-for-the-arts.org. Free. Thursday, Jan. 26 Spay and neuter mobile unit Saint Setons Orphaned Animals Neuter Scooter mobile unit will pick up cats and dogs from the shelter parking lot and transport them to Loving Touch Animal Hospital in Fredericksburg for spaying or neutering. Dogs must have proof of current vaccines and a heartworm test. Cats must have proof of a current rabies vaccine. The mobile unit will return at 6:30 p.m. for owner pickup. 7 a.m. Prince William County Animal Shelter, 14807 Bristow Rd., Manassas. 540-371-7729. saintseton.com. Dogs $125-$190; cats $65-$95. Author Arwen Bicknell A discussion of her book, Justice and Vengeance: Scandal, Honor and Murder in 1872 Virginia. 7 p.m. Old Manassas Courthouse, 9248 Lee Ave., Manassas. 703-792-4754. Free. Open-mic night 7:30-10 p.m. Jirani Coffeehouse, 9425 West St., Manassas. 571-535-2442. jiranicoffeehouse.com. Free. Friday, Jan. 27 Library used book sale Sponsored by the Friends of Chinn Park Regional Library. Friday and Saturday 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Chinn Park Regional Library, 13065 Chinn Park Dr., Woodbridge. 703-792-4800. Free. American Legion dinner The public is invited to dinner with a different special every week. Proceeds support local veterans and the community. 5:30-7:30 p.m. Woodbridge American Legion, 3640 Friendly Post Lane, Woodbridge. 703-494-4304. vapost364.org. $5-$15. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike The Castaways Repertory Theatre performs the comedy about three single siblings relationship. The play deals with mature themes and contains adult language. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. through Feb. 12, Dr. A.J. Ferlazzo Building, 15941 Donald Curtis Dr., Woodbridge. 703-232-1710. castawaystheatre.org. $6-$15. Saturday, Jan. 28 Rappahannock Model Railroaders display O-gauge model railroads will be set up in the Leatherneck Gallery. Club members will be on hand to answer questions. 9 a.m.-3 p.m. National Museum of the Marine Corps, 18900 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Triangle. 877-635-1775. usmcmuseum.com. Free. Home-seller seminar Presented by local real estate broker Bob Hummer. 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Strayer University, 13385 Minnieville Rd., Woodbridge. 703-878-4866. military-realestate.com. Free. Souper Bowl bingo Proceeds benefit the Haymarket Food Pantry. 3-5 p.m. Quality Business Engineering, 14604 Washington St., Haymarket. 703-963-5918. haymarketfoodpantry.org. Each card is $1 or one can of soup. MONDAY, JAN. 16 Potomac victim named, death ruled homicide Christian Alexander Sosa Rivas, 21, of Fairfax was found dead Jan. 12 along the Potomac River in the 1500 block of Cherry Hill Road in Dumfries. Police said he had suffered trauma that indicated he had been killed. He is the first homicide victim reported in Prince William County this year, following a year in which 22 people many more than in any year since at least 1975 were killed in the county. WEDNESDAY, JAN. 18 Stewart airs rst ad of Va. governors race Republican Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, is running for Virginia governor in the style of President Trump. He launched the first TV ads of the gubernatorial race with a 30-second spot on Fox News on Inauguration Day. The ad, which was scheduled to air in the pricey, populous but blue-leaning Washington media market, cost about $15,500, according to his campaign. Stewart will face three GOP rivals in a June 13 primary. Interim D.C. police chief Peter Newsham on Sunday lauded his officers handling of the weekends crowds and demonstrations. Despite skirmishes with protesters Friday, Newsham described his departments handling of crowds during President Trumps inauguration and the Womens March on Washington as very successful and said, I couldnt be more proud of the way this department responded. Meanwhile, D.C. police arrested a 30-year-old Florida man Saturday in connection with Fridays anti-inauguration demonstrations in which several officers were injured, authorities said Sunday. Police said Dane Powell, of Largo, Fla., was charged with assault on a police officer while armed. Powell allegedly threw a rock at officers, knocking one unconscious, then fled. The incident occurred about 2 p.m. Friday at 12th and K streets NW as a throng of demonstrators gathered near Franklin Square and police blocked off multiple streets, authorities said. There was mayhem for hours as protesters broke windows, set fires and hurled rocks, bricks and other objects at riot-clad police officers. Protesters burn Trump merchandise in a trash can during a protest after President Trumps inauguration. (John Taggart/EPA) According to an incident report, Powell was seen throwing what is believed to be a stone at officers. Police said an officer was knocked unconscious when a rock hit his helmet. It dented the helmet and he was knocked out, Newsham said Sunday on WTOP radio (103.5 FM). [Protesters vowed to shut down the city. Police vowed to protect the inauguration. They clashed.] After the rock thrower fled, police reviewed video footage and continued to search for him Saturday, police said. They said they eventually identified him as Powell. Officers found him in front of the 5th District police headquarters and arrested him, police said. Friday night, after the inauguration, Newsham told reporters that 217 demonstrators had been arrested during the confrontations near 13th and K streets NW. Prosecutors revised that number to 230 on Saturday. Newsham said six officers suffered minor injuries in Fridays chaos, adding that some of our officers suffered some pretty serious impact from those rocks. [Protesters who destroyed property on Inauguration Day were part of well-organized group] In praising the departments crowd-control efforts, especially during the melee, Newsham said officers maintained their calm. They only used force when it was necessary to control aggressive crowds. They allowed for peaceful demonstrations throughout the city. I was very, very pleased. Witnesses, including Washington Post journalists, saw police officers throw flash or concussion grenades during their attempt to bring the crowd under control during Fridays violence, which occurred on the street outside The Posts newsroom. Just as Newsham on Friday did not acknowledge that his officers had used grenades, he indicated Sunday that the issue was still under investigation as part of his departments after-action inquiry. [Inauguration protesters vandalize, set fires, try to disrupt Trumps oath, as police arrest more than 200] I dont know exactly right now where we could have been better, Newsham said. But we do a very thorough review to make sure next time we have an event, we can be that much better. Minnesota is taking yet another stab at solving the taxation issues for those traveling to Wisconsin to work. Its a plan that doesnt involve Wisconsin, after years of failed negotiations between the two states over tax reciprocity. Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston, has put out a reimbursement plan to pay Minnesotans back the taxes they have removed by a higher tax rate in Wisconsin. This is Davids second time introducing this legislation, which was included in the 2016 session tax bill that received bipartisan approval in the Legislature but was vetoed by the governor. Davids said the proposal would simply reimburse Minnesotans to offset higher Wisconsin income taxes. The predicted cost of the bill would be about $8.6 million in its first year, come from the states general fund, and be distributed by the Department of Revenue much like a tax return. While the process would still require workers to file two tax returns, it would not add new forms to the process, Davids said. The process has been a long and frustrating one since former Gov. Tim Pawlenty ended reciprocity with Wisconsin in 2009, following years of haggling over payments and timing. Wisconsin had been late with payments for taxes totaling over $100 million, and since that time they have been unable to come to an agreement to reinstate the arrangement. We would negotiate we could never get it done with Wisconsin, Davids said. Of the around 80,000 workers traveling between the states, around 56,000 are Wisconsin residents who work in Minnesota and 24,000 Minnesotans who work in Wisconsin. Wisconsin would actually come out ahead, Davids said. Youd think theyd want it, too.Davids noted that the matter of tax reciprocity was even more pressing in areas like southeast Minnesota, where one of the main business hubs was across the river in La Crosse. If they can pass the measure this year, it would put to rest several years of failed discussions. Wisconsin eased the tension in 2011 when it paid Minnesota $59.7 million. In 2015, the last year they tried to negotiate a new deal, a Minnesota demand for a $6 million payment to recoup what it projected would be lost tax dollars in a new deal was a deal-breaker. Wisconsin had made concessions, agreeing to pay Minnesota quarterly estimates instead of after tax season, and cooperating in studies released in 2013 about the numbers of residents crossing state lines for work and potential amounts due. Davids, who nearly succeeded in passing a measure in 2011 and proposed dropping $1 million from the demands in 2014, include a provision to remove the entire $6 million stipulation in the tax bill in 2015. At that time, he said there was bipartisan support for finding a new deal with Wisconsin. This will kind of flush Wisconsin out to see if theyre serious, Davids said in 2015, which they havent been to this point, in my opinion. His opinion, he said, has not changed since. Harry Middleton, Lady Bird Johnson and former President Lyndon B. Johnson at the site of the LBJ Library in 1971. ( Frank Wolfe/LBJ Presidential Library) Harry Middleton, a journalist and speechwriter who became the longtime director of the LBJ Presidential Library and whose decision to release recordings of Oval Office telephone conversations deepened the historical understanding of the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson, died Jan. 20 at a retirement facility in Austin. He was 95. The death was confirmed by Anne Wheeler, the LBJ Librarys communications director. She said there was no specific cause. After working in the White House and helping Johnson write two books, Mr. Middleton became director of the LBJ Library in 1970, while it was still in development. He stood alongside the president when the library opened in 1971 on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. During more than 30 years as director, Mr. Middleton made the library a lively center of historical study, with frequent symposiums, speakers and exhibits. He moved to declassify presidential papers and was often called the dean of presidential librarians. Harry Middletons leadership in shaping the Johnson Library, David S. Ferriero, archivist of the United States, said in a statement released by the library, established a standard emulated to this day a standard based on archival excellence, public engagement, and celebration of service to ones country. Harry Middleton and President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House in 1968. (Yoichi Okamoto/LBJ Presidential Library) Soon after Johnson died on Jan. 22, 1973, Mr. Middleton learned that there were hundreds of hours of uncataloged Oval Office conversations in storage. Johnson had instructed that the tapes be left untouched until 50 years after his death. Mr. Middleton recognized that the tapes were deteriorating and needed to be preserved. But the Dictabelt technology on which the conversations were secretly recorded was already obsolete in the 1970s. The LBJ Library built special equipment to transfer the recordings to standard reel-to-reel tapes. I didnt know what was in them, Mr. Middleton later said, but I was certain that there was going to be important historical material. Mr. Middleton also realized that written transcripts of the White House conversations were sometimes comically wrong. When Johnson spoke about a Pakistan ambassador waiting on me, according to a 2000 article in Texas Monthly, his comments were recorded as a pack of bastards waiting on me. Some of the tapes were unsealed in 1982 as part of a high-profile libel suit brought against CBS by William Westmoreland, the top commander of U.S. forces in the Vietnam War. Mr. Middleton later consulted lawyers and archivists to determine if it was possible to overcome Johnsons wish to keep the tapes under wraps for 50 years. Finally, he approached Lady Bird Johnson, the former first lady, and received her approval. I really wanted her acquiescence if I was going to go ahead and do this, Mr. Middleton said in 2001. I thought that possibly the LBJ loyalists might give me some problems about violating his instructions. In 1990, Mr. Middleton decided to make the Oval Office recordings public. In them, Johnson reveals his many moods, cajoling some listeners, threatening others and musing on civil rights and wartime decisions. He expressed doubts about the Vietnam War as early as 1964. It looks to me like were getting into another Korea, he told national security adviser McGeorge Bundy. I dont think its worth fighting for, and I dont think that we can get out. In another tape, he spoke reassuringly to the recently widowed first lady, Jacqueline Kennedy: I just want you to know that you are loved and by so many and so much and Im one of them. Historians found the newly released tapes to be a trove of unknown, often intimate material about Johnson. They helped humanize him, biographer Robert Dallek told the San Antonio Express-News in 2008. It didnt change the image of him as a manipulator, but created the impression of him as a masterful politician. Presidential historian Michael Beschloss praised Mr. Middletons decision in his book Taking Charge, The Johnson White House Tapes, 1963-1964. A different kind of library director, he wrote, might have attempted to hide behind LBJs spoken instructions to keep the tapes under seal until at least 2023 and used lawyers to thwart whatever legal challenges historians might have raised to their closure. Harry Joseph Middleton was born Oct. 24, 1921, in Centerville, Iowa, and grew up in Topeka, Kan. He attended Washburn University in Topeka before serving in the Army during World War II. He received a bachelors degree in journalism from Louisiana State University in 1947 and became a reporter for the Associated Press in New York. He re-entered the Army during the Korean War, then worked for Architectural Forum magazine, the March of Time newsreel service and as a freelance writer. He was the co-author of a 1958 novel, Pax, about the deceptions of the pharmaceutical industry, and in 1961 published a history of the Korean War. He met Johnson in 1966 while writing a report for a presidential commission. Johnson hired him as a special assistant and speechwriter. In 1969, Mr. Middleton moved to Texas and helped Johnson write two books about his presidency. He wrote two other books on his own, LBJ: The White House Years (1990) and Lady Bird Johnson: A Life Well-Lived (1992). Mr. Middleton occasionally weighed on public discussions of Johnsons reputation, including the 1991 Oliver Stone film JFK. As propaganda, it is highly effective, he said. As history, it is destructive and malicious nonsense. He also had a frosty relationship with Johnsons best-known biographer, Robert Caro. When the first part of Caros multivolume biography appeared in 1982, Mr. Middleton thought it was unduly harsh and wrote that Caro demonstrated a hatred for his subject, a loathing so deep it coats a steamy sheen over his prose. Caro was allowed to conduct research at the LBJ Library, but he was not invited to speak there until after Mr. Middletons retirement in 2001. Mr. Middletons wife of 54 years, the former Miriam Miller, died in 2004. Survivors include four children, Susan Hoyle of Washington, Deborah Sansom and James Middleton, both of Austin, and Jennifer ODell of Buda, Tex.; and four grandchildren. In later years, Mr. Middleton led the LBJ Foundation and, from 2004 to 2013, taught a popular course on the Johnson presidency for University of Texas students. When he released Johnsons taped White House conversations, Mr. Middleton was certain that the former president would have embraced the idea of full disclosure. In 2000, he recalled for Texas Monthly a discussion he had with Johnson in the early 1970s. Harry, good men have been trying to protect my reputation for 40 years, Johnson said, and not a damned one has succeeded. What makes you think you can? A little anxiety can be a good thing motivating you to act quickly in the face of danger, for example, or inspiring caution with your finances. But when you cant control your worries, they can harm your health, particularly if youre 50 or older. Anxiety disorders, marked by oppressive and unrelenting worry, were once thought to be uncommon among older people. But new research shows that about 15 to 20 percent of seniors suffer from them, says Rajesh Tampi, a professor of psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland. Thats almost double previous estimates. Sometimes people who were anxious when young see it recur later in life triggered by, say, the loss of a family member or an unexpected medical diagnosis. Or it can emerge late in life, caused by health problems such as thyroid or heart conditions, or by drugs, including asthma medication, decongestants and steroids. Heres how to recognize anxiety and how to treat it. Understand the types Generalized anxiety disorder, the most common type in older adults, causes overwhelming worry with swirling, repetitive thoughts of dread. Sufferers say theyre miserable, anxious and aroused they cant relax and have trouble focusing, says Richard A. Friedman, director of the psychopharmacology clinic at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. They may also experience fatigue, irritability, muscle tension and insomnia. Anxiety also can emerge as a panic disorder, a sudden onset of terror that produces heart-pounding panic attacks without warning. Try relaxation techniques If you experience anxiety regularly but it doesnt substantially limit your ability to function normally, consider such measures as meditation, tai chi, yoga, slow and deep breathing, and prayer. They can help people manage stress and anxiety, research suggests. Aerobic exercise may help, too. It can spark the production of anxiety-reducing chemicals in the brain. Anything that gives you more sense of control over your own body and your thinking would be beneficial, Tampi says. Get the right help If excessive worry interferes with your daily life on most days for six months or longer, talk with a doctor. He or she can rule out physical causes such as medication and can ask questions to diagnose the condition and recommend appropriate counseling or therapy, which can sometimes ease or cure anxiety without the need for medication. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), the most common type used for anxiety disorders, involves learning to observe anxious feelings and what triggers them, and developing coping skills. Know the medical options If CBT or other therapy doesnt provide enough relief, you may need medication, usually in addition to therapy. Some studies show that about 60 percent of people taking antidepressants such as citalopram (Celexa and generic) and sertraline (Zoloft and generic) improve, compared with about 40 percent of those taking a placebo. But those drugs can take several weeks to work, and they can cause such side effects as sexual dysfunction, nausea, diarrhea and insomnia. So work with your doctor to find one that helps you but has the mildest side effects. Be wary if your doctor recommends benzodiazepines, such as alprazolam (Xanax), diazepam (Valium) and lorazepam (Ativan). They can work fast but have strong effects that can increase the risk of falls and fractures, worsen memory, cause confusion and sedation, and lead to drug interactions, addiction and overdoses, especially in older adults. Those drugs should be used only short term for severe anxiety, and only until psychotherapy and antidepressants kick in. Even more worrisome are antipsychotic medications such as quetiapine (Seroquel and generic), which are sometimes used to reduce anxiety in residents of nursing homes. They pose many risks and should be used only as a last resort. Copyright 2016. Consumers Union of United States Inc. On May 23, 2015, my motorcycle was struck by a careless driver in a large van. My left foot was crushed, the great toe and first metatarsal shattered, while pieces of the first, second and third metatarsals exploded out through the top and bottom of my foot. My first hospital stay lasted eight days. There, the orthopedic trauma surgeon saved my foot from the immediate threat of amputation and sent me home with a vacuum-assisted closure device for the wound while the plastic surgeons figured out how to close the large hole on the bottom of my foot. After a week, I was admitted to a second hospital for a skin graft, but the surgery was aborted because of the size of the wound. Finally, I was admitted to the limb-salvage center at yet another hospital, where a team of surgeons transplanted skin, fat, muscle, vein and nerve from my thigh to my foot. By the time I went home 10 days later, I had been in and out of hospitals for more than four weeks, heavily medicated for pain with varying degrees of success with both immediate-release and extended-release oxycodone as well as intravenous morphine, fentanyl and Dilaudid (hydromorphone). [Opioid drugs make pain tolerable, most long-term users say] Having been opiate-naive before the accident, I found this to be a confusing, dreamy and sometimes scary time. Even when I was home between surgeries, I wasnt really present for my family either for my year-old daughter or for my wife, who was somehow holding our family and home together in the aftermath of the accident. Pain and drugs To keep my pain under control, my doctors regularly needed to up the doses of the drugs as I become tolerant which they were always happy to do. I know that some of what happened next was my fault: Im well educated, and I should have been thinking more long-term. But if Im perfectly honest, I was just scared. The memory of those early days in the hospital was constantly present, and my life revolved around keeping my pain manageable; whenever I began to feel as if I was losing control, I upped the dosage and informed my doctors, who wrote a new prescription. It never even occurred to me that I should be aggressively looking for the first possible moment to begin decreasing my medication, and no one told me to do so. It was nearly August before my original orthopedic surgeon, at an X-ray follow-up, asked about my pain and noted that I ought to think about getting off the meds. He seemed surprised that I was still taking such high doses, and his recommendation to back off had an air of admonishment about it. He did not, however, have any suggestions, nor did he mention that I might have difficulty quitting. He simply told me to call the plastic surgeon to get advice on weaning. [Surprising new findings about pain relievers taken by everyone on the planet] The plastic surgeon advised what I now know to be a very aggressive taper, which involved dropping one-quarter of my daily dose of extended-release oxycodone and gabapentin, a neuropathic pain medication, each week for the following month and using the immediate-release oxycodone only when I absolutely needed it. My wife, a research scientist, was skeptical of the approach, but we assumed that my physician knew best. That night, I reduced my first dose. Withdrawal Soon I became nauseated, lost my appetite and began to have difficulty sleeping. I spent most of my days that first week lying on the couch, waiting for time to pass. When the symptoms began to improve around Day 6, however, I assumed that my body was becoming accustomed to this process. But then it was time to drop the next dose. During that second week, I ate even less and began spontaneously crying. The crying was disconcerting by itself, but after a few days it would launch me into depressive episodes. Each day felt a little worse, and I began to believe that I would never recover. My body, my brain, my hormones they all felt so profoundly broken. Travis Rieder needed opioids after a massive foot injury, but then he became dependent. (Photo from Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics/ ) We called my doctor, who focused on the intestinal problems, advising stool softeners and lots of fluids. When I meekly pushed him about my overall discomfort, he told me that if it was that bad, I could just go back on the meds for a while. But I felt too invested in the plan, nearly two weeks into this misery, and I committed to sticking it out. [A doctor with a bad knee runs into one-size-fits-all medicine] At the beginning of the third week, things started to go off the rails. The discomfort that had been keeping me awake at night turned into what I would come to call the withdrawal feeling. It felt like being on fire inside, with muscles that restlessly twitched. I stopped trying to sleep in my bed. Instead, I never left the couch, napping for 90 minutes at a time. I alternated between sweating and being covered with goose bumps, and I had several crying spells a day. The depression was crushing. My wife called the doctor again. He told her it might be time to go back on the meds now. When she asked if there was anything the doctor could prescribe to ease my symptoms, he said that he wouldnt advise me on the matter any longer, as he was clearly out of his depth I needed to find someone comfortable dealing with opioid dependence. But the thought that the nearly three weeks of suffering Id endured might have been for nothing and that I might have to go through it again in the foreseeable future was unbearable. I decided to stick to the plan. After I took my final dose of opioids at the start of Week 4, I thought withdrawal might kill me. The nausea left me curled up on the floor of the bathroom in the middle of the night because I couldnt get to the toilet quickly enough on my walker. I went three days without real sleep and for the first time in my life had suicidal thoughts. [Im a doctor who wants to treat addiction, but the rules wont let me] My wife began calling every doctor who had treated me, and none would help. Several said only that I should go back on the meds (with no advice for after that); others told me to find pain specialists; and one told me to go to the emergency department, where doctors would probably put me back on medication until I stabilized. The pain management team that had treated me in the hospital refused to see me, saying that they were an inpatient team that could prescribe narcotics but did not treat withdrawal. We called every doctor in the area, with similar results. I found an independent pain management clinic, which said the same thing the hospital team had: They could prescribe medication but couldnt treat my withdrawal symptoms. They advised my wife to take me to a methadone clinic. We finally found a clinic willing to help to manage my withdrawal, but the next available appointment was five days away. Its an emergency, I told the woman on the phone. She told me I should go to the emergency department then; all she could do was put me down for the end of the week. I thought to myself and I think I believed it that I would be dead by then, and I hung up. Day 3 without sleep: I had not left the couch. By this time, my wife was scared. She asked me to refill the lowest-dose prescription I had. It had been nearly four weeks of absolute misery, and I had been without any prescription pain medication for six days. I desperately wanted to make it out the other side, but I had started to doubt that there was one. I refilled the prescription. That night, I went to bed instead of staying on the couch and put the meds on my nightstand. I told myself that if I was still awake in four hours, I would take a dose. An hour later, I was asleep, and I didnt wake up until morning. I had come out the other side. [An opioid epidemic is what happens when pain is treated only with pills] Do no harm No one will be surprised to hear that I was angry. Angry at myself, angry at my doctors, angry at the medical community. I had been hit by a van and undergone surgeries, yet the worst part of the experience was my month in withdrawal hell. How could it be that my doctors best tapering advice led to that experience? And how could it be that not one of more than 10 other doctors could help? I have since learned about some strategies that help patients get free from narcotics. For instance, I now know about appropriate weaning schedules, such as tapering off each medication separately, and at a rate of as little as 10 percent per week. Ive learned about Suboxone (buprenorphine and naloxone) as an alternative to methadone and about a variety of medications for managing the symptoms of withdrawal, such as trazodone for insomnia and clonidine for restlessness. So why arent these strategies common knowledge among physicians? Doctors are the gatekeepers of medication for a reason: They are supposed to protect their patients from the harm that could come from unregulated use of those medications. Physicians, public health officials and even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tell us that we are in the midst of an opioid epidemic because of the incredible addictive power of these drugs. Yet when people become addicted to painkillers after suffering a trauma, the best advice they might get from physicians when coping with withdrawal is to go back on the drugs. Can we really do no better than that? [Pain kept this young woman from eating for 5 years, and doctors didnt know why] Whos responsible? As an ethicist by profession, I believe physicians have a duty to prescribe only those medications that they can responsibly manage for the length of a patients need, including the treatment of foreseeable side effects. If a doctor prescribes a highly addictive medication for pain management, with serious and predictable withdrawal effects, then the physician has a duty to see that patient through the weaning process as safely and comfortably as possible or to refer the patient to someone who will be able to offer assistance through that process. To responsibly prescribe opioids, physicians must have the relevant information concerning dosing, dependence, weaning schedules and symptom management. There is mounting evidence, however, that medical schools are not making this a priority. in A Nation in Pain, Judy Foreman surveys the literature on medical education, only to find that there is little to no formal training in pain and pain medicine in U.S. medical schools. For context, she notes that Canadian-trained veterinarians receive, on average, far more education on pain than do U.S. medical students. Of course, pain specialists do receive such training. Yet the two pain management teams from whom I sought help delineated their jobs as prescribing pain medication, not helping patients withdraw. Methadone clinics, meanwhile, deal largely with maintenance and detox programs for people with long-term addiction, not necessarily someone in my situation. In my case, the nonspecialists, the pain specialists and the addiction specialists all failed to see routine withdrawal care as falling within their purview. That needs to change. [Do acupuncture, massage and chiropractic work for neck or back pain?] An apology The plastic surgeon who had been managing my prescriptions eventually apologized and admitted that he simply had not known how to deal with opioid dependence. I hope that he committed to learning more after this experience. But we need a broader conversation about physician responsibility for opioid-related harms as well as the systemic forces that make it easier or harder for physicians to recognize and discharge their responsibilities. Opioid withdrawal isnt minor. Its not just temporary or the price to be paid for pain relief. Its not morally innocuous. The moments that I was in withdrawal all of the thousands of moments of genuine suffering were the worst of my life. That kind of suffering matters, and its seriousness needs to be reflected in the way we deal with prescription opioids. Having experienced the kind of pain that I did from the initial trauma, Im certainly not anti-opioid Im immensely grateful that I live in a time and place where my pain was able to be medically managed. But I also view the drugs with much greater disconcert than I did before, and I am constantly shocked by how flippantly some Americans both patients and doctors seem to view them. Rieder (trieder@jhu.edu) is the assistant director for education initiatives and a research scholar at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. This article was excerpted from the January issue of Health Affairs and can be read in its entirety at healthaffairs.org. I knew I was safe. I was mere blocks from where Id started my walk with Otis, the beagle I was dog-sitting. That knowledge didnt matter, though; fear and adrenaline pulsed through my veins and I began to sweat profusely, which only added to the confusion in my brain. I had no idea where I was, and my surroundings looked completely unfamiliar. It was as though Id been dropped into the middle of a foreign land. Walking in any direction would be just a guess: Am I getting closer to or farther away from where I need to be? I hadnt written down the address of the home I was staying at and thus had no way to ask directions, and cellphones and GPS navigation were yet to be invented. Fortunately, a woman who approached to greet Otis knew his owners and their house. She was kind enough to walk me back. We were only four blocks away. I was 13 when this happened, and although I knew from a much earlier age that I had more trouble than most finding my way, it was easy just to tag along and follow others. However, this experience made me realize there was something wrong with me. My life was forever changed. [Someday you may implant your child with a GPS microchip] What if that woman hadnt happened by? Would I have had to knock on someones door and ask to use their phone to call the police? What would I tell them?How could I expect them to return me to a place if I had no address or description to provide? I have developmental topographical disorientation, or DTD. This means I cant form a mental map or image of my surroundings. Unlike most people, I have no internal compass. At 61, I still get lost, and its every bit as confounding and frightening as it was all those years ago. When you move around, you do so by monitoring a lot of information, you look at landmarks and you try not to bump into walls, says Giuseppe Iaria, an associate professor of cognitive neuroscience at the University of Calgary. There is all this processing of dynamic information. You use this to form and constantly update a cognitive map of where everything is around you. Brain lesions sometimes affect the orientation process, producing a condition called acquired topographical disorientation. Those of us with DTD, however, show no evidence of brain damage. [Nobel Prize in medicine awarded for discovery of brains GPS] In other words, there was no brain injury no car accident, no brain tumor or stroke, says Iaria, who developed the DTD diagnosis and first wrote about it in 2009. They just didnt develop certain skills. We have found that these people who have this condition, in which basically they get lost every day in the most familiar surroundings, have been this way all their lives. The brains of people with DTD function much differently from those of other people, Iaria says. Brain scans of resting DTD patients have shown decreased communication between the hippocampus and prefrontal cortices, both locations vital to spatial orientation. The two dont work in sync with one another, which impairs navigational abilities. Iaria says this condition may affect up to 2 percent of the population. The condition does not allow people to form a mental map of their surroundings. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post) DTD was brought to light by filmmaker Michelle Coomber in the 2010 documentary Lost Every Day, about Sharon Roseman of Denver, who was unable to find her way around her own apartment. [Women runners turn to technology to feel safe] Roseman had kept her condition a secret for years after receiving several wrong diagnoses including multiple personality disorder. She eventually confided in her brother, who was instrumental in her contacting Iaria. She and hundreds of others have since participated in many studies, all of which concluded there had been no stroke or other kind of damage to their brains, memory or intelligence. I vividly remember having to adapt to my condition once I started driving. I would either follow a friend who was in a car ahead of me or I would ride as a passenger to parties and other functions. I was terrified if there was no one to accompany me when driving, even if only to the store a mile and a half away. Often, I wouldnt return for hours. I dont know whether Ive spent more time hopelessly lost within miles of my home or trying to explain to people why I cannot follow a simple set of directions. They cannot understand how its possible to be completely and utterly lost. How can you not know where you are? Dont you recognize landmarks? Dont you pay attention while youre driving? Cant you read a map? While everyone experiences being lost at times, that is significantly different from being completely disoriented in what should be very familiar surroundings. I have spent countless hours on backcountry roads not having any idea where I was; in one case, I didnt even know which state I was in. [MIT scientists find evidence that Alzheimers lost memories may one day be recoverable] In a hurry to contend with an emergency in Virginia, I left my home in Frederick, Md., at 10 p.m., heading for Alexandria, about 60 miles away. After seven long hours and with barely a drop of gas left, I began panicking, fearing I might find myself stranded on the side of the road at the mercy of whoever might stop. I found a gas station at dawn. I pulled in and had to ask what state I was in. I was in Elkins, W.Va., nearly 200 miles west of my home and far from Alexandria. I nodded politely as I grasped the dirty receipt on which the attendant had scribbled directions to presumably get me back on track. They meant nothing. I cant follow a map or written directions. In the light of day, I managed to find my way back to the interstate, and my son met me at a rest stop near my destination to ensure I arrived safely. I factor in lost time when calculating the minutes or hours needed to reach my destination, and even now with GPS devices, Im not secure that Ill find my way. I lose my satellite signal often and with it my feeling of security. Now, before I leave home, I always write down the address of my destination in case something happens to my phone and/or my GPS tool, and I always let someone know where I am going. Friends and acquaintances often laugh politely when I hesitate to meet somewhere because I may get lost. Its right down the road! You cant miss it: That big red house is right on the corner! Actually, with DTD, adding landmarks to an already confusing route makes matters only further confounding. I now offer an analogy when pressed to explain my problem: Its comparable to asking a blind person to see the color yellow. Its right in front of you, you cant miss it: Its bright golden yellow! Society readily accept blindness and understands its principles: A person cannot see no matter how bright the color. But because so little is known about DTD and because most of the population can easily navigate with their inner cognitive map, theres an idiot stigma attached to it. Those of us struggling with this disorder are often left with feelings of anxiety, depression, isolation and self-doubt, so we keep our condition to ourselves. [Vertigo: A common problem that left one man teetering for months and months] My children are grown young men now, and theyre very patient and understanding. They fully comprehend the serious nature and complexities of my disorder and the dangers associated with it. They dont take it lightly, and they have me check in frequently when I am traveling. There is no cure for DTD, but research is ongoing. I share my story in hopes of reaching others with DTD, especially those who have it but are unaware theres a diagnosis. I find comfort that there is a medical term and diagnosis for my condition and that its the focus of much-needed research. With awareness, we can break free from feelings of isolation, anxiety, self-doubt and depression. For now, I will continue to navigate the roads much the same way I navigate life: Keep it simple and straightforward, and always have a backup plan. President Trumps executive order instructing federal agencies to grant relief to constituencies affected by the Affordable Care Act has begun to reverberate throughout the nations health-care system, injecting further uncertainty into an already unsettled insurance landscape. The political signal of the order, which Trump signed just hours after being sworn into office, was clear: Even before the Republican-led Congress acts to repeal the 2010 law, the new administration will move swiftly to unwind as many elements as it can on its own elements that have changed how 20 million Americans get health coverage and what benefits insurers must offer some of their customers. But the practical implications of Trumps action on Friday are harder to decipher. Its language instructs all federal agencies to waive, defer, grant exemptions from or delay any part of the law that imposes a financial or regulatory burden on those affected by it. That would cover consumers, doctors, hospitals and other providers, as well as insurers and drug companies. The prospect of what could flow from pulling back or eliminating administrative rules including no longer enforcing the individual mandate, which requires Americans to get coverage or pay an annual penalty, and ending health plans essential benefits could affect how many people sign up on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces before open enrollment ends Jan. 31 for 2017 coverage, as well as how many companies decide to participate next year. Robert Laszewski, president of the consulting firm Health Policy and Strategy Associates, called the executive order a bomb lobbed into the laws already shaky insurance market. Given the time it will take Republicans to fashion a replacement, he expects that federal and state insurance exchanges will continue to operate at least through 2018. (Alice Li/The Washington Post) Instead of sending a signal that theres going to be an orderly transition, theyve sent a signal that its going to be a disorderly transition, said Laszewski, a longtime critic of the law, which is also known as Obamacare. How does the Trump administration think this is not going to make the situation worse? [Trump signs executive order that could effectively gut Affordable Care Acts individual mandate] Teresa Miller, Pennsylvanias insurance commissioner, said Saturday that several insurers on her states exchange seriously considered leaving the market last year and that Trumps action could propel them to indeed abandon it in 2018. In fact, she added, some have raised the possibility of withdrawing from the ACAs exchanges during 2017, which would mean consumers could keep their plans but no longer receive federal subsidies to help them afford the coverage. That would create a nightmare scenario, Miller said. As of this year, nearly a third of all counties nationwide have just one insurer in the federal marketplace, and almost two-thirds have two or fewer insurers. The White House did not return requests for comment over the weekend. On Capitol Hill, Republican leaders offered cautious praise for the presidents executive order. Yet more broadly, the GOP remains in a state of uncertainty on health care, with unresolved questions about the path forward. 1 of 83 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad See what President Trump has been doing since his inauguration View Photos The new president met with business leaders the day after swearing in senior members of his White House staff. Caption The beginning of the presidents term has featured controversial executive orders and frequent conflicts with the media. March 17, 2017 President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and their son, Barron, walk to Marine One at the White House en route to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, was briefed on the details of Trumps order only Thursday, according to a GOP aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private talks. Alexander said in a statement late Friday that Trump was right to make the urgent work of rescuing Americans trapped in a collapsing Obamacare system a top priority on his first day in office. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), speaking on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, focused primarily on what Trump could do through executive action. President Obama implemented a lot of Obamacare himself, so President Trump will be able to undo a lot of it himself, McConnell said. Asked whether he knew what the new presidents replacement plan is, he said Senate Republicans are working with the administration to have an orderly process. The GOP-led House and Senate have passed a budget measure that was designed to serve as a vehicle for repealing key parts of the law. But they have yet to rally around a consensus idea for when and what to do to replace it. They were placed under further pressure to act quickly after Trump vowed insurance for everybody in a recent interview with The Washington Post. A key Trump ally said Sunday that the presidents decision to sign the order on his first day in office, coupled with his recent comments about moving swiftly on repealing and replacing the law, has applied pressure on GOP lawmakers to act faster than they might have initially planned. I think Trump has consistently moved that needle with the mindset of our conference, Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) said. [Pressure mounts on GOP for an Obamacare replacement] Democratic leaders, however, are casting the executive order as evidence that Republicans are in a state of disarray on health care. They dont know what to do. They can repeal, but they dont have a plan for replace, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.) said in an interview that aired Sunday morning on CNNs State of the Union. The presidents executive order just mirrored that. At least publicly, the insurance industrys reaction has been muted. Americas Health Insurance Plans spokeswoman Kristine Grow, whose group represents nearly 1,300 insurers, said in an email Saturday that it is too soon to tell what the executive order will mean for the industry. There is no question the individual health-care market has been challenged from the start, Grow said. The president said he would take swift action to move our country to improve it, and he has. A key question following Trumps order is what actions Republican-led states might take to withdraw from key provisions of the law. Florida Gov. Rick Scotts (R) office said Saturday that he was reviewing his options. Jackie Schutz, a Scott spokeswoman, said the governor appreciates that the new administration is swiftly taking action. But as to how and when Scott would seek to take advantage of it, were still looking into it to see what it specifically means to Florida, Schutz said. Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), who met with Senate Finance Committee Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) and nearly a dozen other GOP governors on Thursday to discuss the future of Medicaid, said afterward that there are some fundamental things that we can do that can settle people down so they are not worried they are going to lose their coverage but that at the same time bring significant changes to the Obamacare package. Kasich, who expanded Medicaid in his state under the Affordable Care Act, said that one option he favors is paring Medicaid coverage to people with incomes up to 100 percent of the poverty level, rather than the current 138 percent, and then letting those above 100 percent go on the marketplace to get coverage. Asked whether he could guarantee that none of his constituents would lose health-care coverage, Kasich responded, I cant guarantee anything. And more radical changes could be coming to Medicaid, the program that provides care for 70 million low-income Americans. In keeping with much-contemplated GOP proposals, senior Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway said on Sunday TV talk shows that the president intends to turn the entitlement program into block grants to states. Even if the new administration is eager to grant waivers to states, it does not have the political appointees in place at the Health and Human Services and Treasury departments to do so. But timing is important. While the exact deadline varies depending on the state, insurers generally must decide by the spring whether to participate in Affordable Care Act marketplaces for the next year and, if so, propose the rates they would like to charge. Their decisions could be complicated if the presidents order results in rule changes that affect the benefits those health plans must include or alters rules in other ways that, in turn, prompt fewer healthy customers to seek coverage through the marketplaces. Chris Jennings, who served as a senior White House adviser on health care in the Clinton and Obama administrations, said that in the health-care arena, more than any other domestic policy, details matter. Plans, they live off a comma, or an incentive, or a disincentive, or a penalty, or an enforcement mechanism. Ceci Connolly, president and CEO of the Alliance of Community Health Plans, said her members are in a particularly difficult position because they are unlike large national companies that can pick and choose which markets they operate in under the federal exchange. Local nonprofit plans are in their communities, so they cant look around for certain markets and pull out of ones that they dont like, said Connolly, who added that her groups biggest concern is that some consumers might stop paying their premiums if they believe they will not be penalized for lacking coverage. That could lead to hospital and doctor visits that would not be reimbursed, which then would impose costs on providers and insurers more broadly. With fewer than 10 days to go in the current enrollment period, Mila Kofman, executive director of the D.C. Health Benefit Exchange Authority, said that all of this discussion of whether or not people will have access to affordable quality health insurance is very unsettling. Some residents have asked Kofman whether she can assure them they will get the same health benefits if Congress and the administration overhaul the system in the coming months. I tell them, Sign up. We will certainly do everything we can to ensure that youll have access to quality health insurance. Yet Mona Mangat, a solo practitioner in allergy and immunology in St. Petersburg, Fla., is not sure what to say when patients ask her whether they will be able to afford the kind of prescriptions and services they have taken advantage of under the Affordable Care Act. Unfortunately, I dont have an answer for them, Mangat said. I say, Oh my God, I dont know whats going to happen. John Wagner and Amy Goldstein contributed to this report. David Brocks message was simple: Democrats, including those on Hillary Clintons campaign, had let her down. Media Matters for America, his watchdog group, was never going to overcome the powerful commercial interests that helped President Trump dominate the campaign. American Bridge, his super PAC, had gathered reams of evidence of Trump screwing over Americans that went unused. Mitt Romney was also well-branded as a successful businessman until he wasnt, Brock said. Did Hillarys own campaign rob her of the only anti-Trump argument that would have opened up the all-important economic issue to her advantage? Thats the inescapable conclusion. Brocks speech was a centerpiece of Democracy Matters, a conference hed organized over Trumps inauguration weekend. About 150 donors and activists made the trip to south Floridas Turnberry resort, wandering its stucco collonades and sunlit pool for what had been billed as a conversation on how to kick Donald Trumps a--. It began with a fire-and-brimstone (his words) speech by Keith Olbermann and ended with community building over bocce ball. The role of major progressive donors, and of Brock himself, was scrambled by Clintons surprise defeat. Trumps victory upended more than a decade of infrastructure-building on the left, funded in part by the Democracy Alliance, another group of donors. As the Florida gathering unfolded, the Womens March on Washington was drawing historic crowds there and in other cities; a point of pride among organizers was how little big money had to do with it. On Saturday, Brock asked donors for $40 million to fund his network American Bridge, Media Matters, and the viral news site Shareblue. Brock is no longer on the board of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, acquired by the network in 2014, but its leaders were at the conference. In a roundtable with reporters, Brock suggested that some Republicans who bolted their party over the Trump nomination could be brought into his wing of the resistance. Were working on bringing some Republican donors into our network, said Brock. I think CREW is perfect for a Republican like that. Its straight-up ethics in government. In Brocks telling, CREW could be an answer to Judicial Watch, the conservative watchdog group that spent the Obama years successfully suing for records about the president and Hillary Clinton. Each of the network hubs had an analogue on the right; in 2016, despite everything, the rights various watchdog groups had become much better funded. The Democracy Matters conference itself was framed as an answer to the biennial meetings of the Koch network, in which wealthy donors have opened their wallets for candidates and pressure groups. We have assumed a lot of things as Democrats, like demography is destiny, said former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm on Friday. That assumption has not helped us. After the well-funded Clinton campaign, however, the focus of donors on Florida was less on how much to raise than on how to avoid money being wasted. Some of the groups pitching donors in Florida, such as the State Innovation Exchange and Eric Holders National Democratic Redistricting Committee, had overlapping pitches donate to help Democrats win low-profile state races, undo gerrymandering and build a bench for future races. How is it that we dont have anyone else to run for Senate in some of these places? the State Innovation Exchanges Nick Rathod asked in his prepared remarks. We have to dust off a bunch of old white guys who held office years ago. Brocks self-criticism led seamlessly to his own donor pitch. Their money had built strong institutions, but the scrappier, riskier new innovations on the right had gone around them. We had a strategy that was just out of date, Brock told reporters. Breitbart and the others just kicked our butts. The recovery plan sounded a lot like what the Democratss progressive wing had called for in 2016 economic populism with an added focus on challenging Trumps legitimacy. A weekend panel titled The Road to Fascism? brought together Russian journalist Masha Gessen and Democracy Alliance president Gara LaMarche to discuss how the presidents rise mirrored that of strongmen in other countries. Olbermann told donors that patriotic anti-Trump Americans would have to fight every day to make sure that a foreign-backed usurper is never legitimized. James Alefantis, the owner of Comet Ping Pong, gave a presentation about the human impact of fake news stories. The ideological factionalism of the past should be over, said Brock. If there was a new division on the left, it was between those who would oppose everything and those who wanted to accommodate on some things. Shareblue, which was acquired by Brock in 2015, was promising donors that their money would be used for opposition. In 2016, Brock said explicitly that the site was designed to get Clinton elected by breaking through the social-media fog. This month, he announced a surprise hire the progressive journalist David Sirota, who had spent much of the campaign reporting critically on Clintons donations and financial ties. We both agree that there needs to be more hard-hitting, accountability, investigative journalism, said Sirota after one of the weekends meetings. I think people will judge us on our work. That attitude pervaded one of the few panels open to the media, a brief forum with the leading candidates to run the Democratic National Committee. It was their third public debate in seven days, and repeatedly, their focus shifted to the ways other Democrats had relied too much on large donors and pricey campaigns. I get a check from every single union in the state, said Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), describing how hed change the partys donor structure. When Verizons on the picket line, Im on the picket line with them. Relationship beats rhetoric. Ray Buckley, the chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, detailed how the Republicans were held back in his state. Some donors shook their heads when he reported that the states 2016 Senate race had cost $70 million. Almost all of that went to corporate media or somebody getting a kickback, said Buckley. Im sorry, folks you give a lot of money and its being wasted. The room, full of high-dollar Democratic donors, filled with applause. Thousands of marchers, men and women, participate Jan. 21 in the Women's March on Washington. (Astrid Riecken/ For The Washington Post) The chanting and cheering could be heard Saturday from the White House lawn. And, if one craned their neck over a shrub or two, the protest signs, in pink and yellow and white, could be seen barely a block away from the West Wing driveway bobbing along with a slow-moving mass of human bodies, encircling 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as close as they could get. But inside the bubble, as reporters refer to secure perimeter around the president of the United States, the massive womens march on Washington might as well have been in another Zip code. Neither President Trump nor his staff gave any indication they had seen anything. Instead, the president and his aides went about their first full day by getting to know their new workplace and the responsibilities that come with it. Staff members began slowly staking claims to offices. Technicians helped activate phones and computers. Press secretary Sean Spicer huddled with staff behind closed doors that less than two days before had belonged to his predecessor, Josh Earnest. Trumps aides did not appear to venture out for a look at the marchers beyond the gates. The president, meanwhile, busied himself with a mix of tradition a post-inaugural morning prayer service at Washington National Cathedral and with business. Trump traveled by motorcade to Langley, Va., to meet with CIA leaders and deliver remarks to 400 employees, hoping to ease tensions over Trumps dismissal of the agencys intelligence reports on Russian hacking. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post) Trump also spoke by phone with the leaders of Canada and Mexico, Spicer later told reporters, and agreed to meet. Aides put the finishing touches on Trumps first bilateral summit with British Prime Minister Theresa May at the White House on Friday. He also plans to meet with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Jan. 31, Spicer told reporters. But Trump and his press team offered no public reaction to the dramatic outpouring of emotion, most of it in protest of the new administration, from the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in Washingtons streets and many more across the country. A fantastic day and evening in Washington D.C., Trump wrote on Twitter on Saturday morning, referring to his inauguration and the balls that followed on the previous day. Thank you to @FoxNews and so many other news outlets for the GREAT reviews of the speech! The first days of any administration are a mix of trying to get up to speed and to hit the ground running in what must be a surreal new environment thrust into the epicenter of political power but confined at an artificial remove from the public that you represent. Rarely, however, has an opening day produced this kind of jarring juxtaposition. Family bowling session at The White House, Donald Trump Jr., who does not have an official role in the administration, tweeted in the morning. He added a video of his wife, Vanessa, knocking down eight out of 10 pins in the White House bowling alley. (Thomas Johnson/The Washington Post) The video footage appeared to have been shot Friday. But the lighthearted tweet of the Trump family getting comfortable in their new digs was posted as tens of thousands of women in pink pussyhats streamed past the White House toward the Mall for the largest demonstration in Washington in years. Inside the White House grounds, the driveway outside the West Wing was quiet. There was no sign of the Marine sentry who stands at the entrance when the president is working in the Oval Office. Unlike the previous day, when Trump aides Stephen K. Bannon and Kellyanne Conway toured the press corps workroom, there were no surprise visits from senior officials. A junior aide sat behind a desk just off the press briefing room, giving out White House email domain addresses for communications staff to reporters. Yet beyond the gates, the protest was in full swing, demonstrators moving slowly north on 17th Street NW, then turning east on H Street, before doubling back down 15th encircling the complex. They could get no closer; Lafayette Square park, across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, remained closed to the public as workers dismantled the massive viewing stand for the inaugural parade. A handful of workers, on their lunch break, watched the protesters stream by as Secret Service members made sure the crowds did not attempt to breach the barriers. The protesters held signs reading, Keep your small hands off! and You messed with the wrong pussy, aimed at Trumps lewd comments about women that were revealed during the campaign. The new president left the White House complex twice in his motorcade, passing directly by the protesters, some of whom held up their middle fingers toward the caravan. As the day wore on, and reports of the larger-than-expected crowds dominated the news, expectations grew in the White House press briefing room over how the media-obsessed Trump team would react. The White House issued a bulletin announcing that Spicer would make a statement at 4:30 p.m. Reporters gathered though many of the 49 seats remained empty on a Saturday afternoon. The appointed time came and went. An hour later, reporters were still waiting. Finally, Spicer emerged. But if reporters expected a reaction to the news of the day, they didnt get it. Instead, the White House spokesman opened by attacking the media for deliberately false reporting over a mistaken report the day before that Trump had removed a bust of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. from the Oval Office. He moved it to a different part of the room. Spicer also upbraided reporters for their coverage of Trumps inauguration, claiming, as Trump did during his CIA visit, that the media deliberately underestimated the size of the crowd. He accused the media of pursuing false narratives about the new president. When he was done, Spicer gave a summary of Trumps day, then turned and left. He did not respond to shouted questions about the marchers still massed on the streets of the nations capital. A collision awaits President Trump. Exactly when it will take place isnt clear, but it is almost certain to occur. The extravagance of the presidents rhetoric is soon to meet the reality of governing. The presidents inaugural address was perhaps the baldest example of the rhetorical bravado that marked his time as a New York developer, a reality TV star and, yes, as a candidate. Restraint is not in his vocabulary. Trumps inaugural address has drawn considerable criticism for its overall tone, for the dark portrait he drew of the state of the country, for its inward and insular vision, and for the general absence of typical inaugural themes of unity and American exceptionalism. Those are all valid critiques of this most unusual of American inaugural addresses. But set them aside for the moment and take the address as a genuine expression of Trumps vision and ambitions as president. He will soon be measured against the promises hes made, and he opened his presidency by setting an incredibly high bar for himself. Making good wont be easy. The opposition will come from many directions. The millions of people who took to the streets in cities around the country and around the world Saturday speak to the resistance he will face as president. He will be opposed both for what he stands for and for who he is. Beyond that, he will have to prove he can translate the skills of a businessman to the messier process of legislating and presidential decision-making. The slow process of populating his new government should raise cautions. The Trumps greet attendees of the Salute to Our Armed Services Ball on Friday. (Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post) His inaugural speech was a call to arms, a renewed effort to summon the anger that exists in parts of the population against the economic and cultural elites. Rather than an address to bring the country together, it was an expression of the divisions he successfully exploited as a candidate. As in the campaign, it was a pitch-perfect rendering of the frustrations that have fueled his rise with a message of nationalism, populism and dismissal of his critics. That alone wont suffice now that he is president. He will be expected to deliver on the promise of a fundamental shift in governing priorities. What would he do as president? Here are just a few actions, based on his Friday speech. He would build more roads and highways and bridges and tunnels and airports than any president in recent memory. He would bring back the millions of jobs that have moved overseas and/or prevent the continuation of that flow. He would reverse globalism in some form or fashion. He would seek to ensure that products sold in America are made in America. He would set up new barriers to protect the country, whether a physical wall to impede illegal immigration or financial impediments in the form of tariffs or border fees. And he would do all that now. As he put it, The American carnage stops right here and stops right now. [Trump takes the oath with a populist rallying cry] Trump can rail against the political establishment all he wants. It worked for him as a candidate, and he appears to believe it will work for him as president. Some of the first words out of his mouth as the 45th president were used to denigrate the sea of political humanity sitting behind him on the Capitols West Front. He was in no mood to offer olive branches or promises of cooperation, whether to his presidential predecessors or the leaders of Congress from both parties. It wasnt just one poke in the eye but a series of broadsides against the established order as he charged those in attendance with being guilty of lining their own pockets at the expense of the people. That all changes, starting right here and right now, he said, because this moment is your moment. It belongs to you. Crowds exceeding the turnout for Trumps inauguration marched through Washington on Saturday to demonstrate for the rights of women and minorities. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) There are, however, enough contradictions within Trumps presidency and administration to call into question what he had to say in that speech. Strong and forceful rhetoric on the part of leaders can be valuable in rallying a nation in the face of adversity; Trump apparently believes this is one of those moments. But overpromising and not delivering would leave him vulnerable to the charge that he is what he criticized: all talk and no action. By all indications, the inaugural address represented a fusion of the ideas and visions of Trump, chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon and senior policy adviser Stephen Miller. But theres little to indicate that such a view of the world is shared widely in the new administration or whether it represents fully all of Trumps views. [Trump brings multiple personas to the presidency] White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus has never been known for holding views like that. How much will he and other allies who are part of Trumps White House team seek to temper the antiglobalist vision? However clearly Trump spoke on Friday, turning those words into governing principles and then into presidential actions or legislative recommendations is likely to be a cumbersome and at times combative process. Outside the White House, the new president faces potential pushback from members of his own Cabinet. Just one example is Defense Secretary James Mattis, who has a more positive view of NATO than does the president, as well as a much more skeptical view of Russia. Its also important to remember that Trump is the first president in history with neither experience in government nor service in the military. Hes been a developer and a dealmaker and has a high opinion of his negotiating skills, perhaps for good reason. But hes never dealt with the legislative process, never gone through the sausage-making involved in turning a proposal into a law. He is getting an early lesson in how the machinery of government is designed to frustrate a president. Democrats in Congress ultimately cannot block his Cabinet nominees; they dont have the votes. But they can slow things down, as they have done with several nominees already. Imagine what will happen with controversial legislation. Trump could face resistance from Republicans as well as Democrats. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have been nothing but cooperative and positive toward Trump since the election. But Ryans conservative vision is not fully compatible with Trumps outlook, and the two are likely to clash sometime in the future. Trump has sent mixed signals about issues, another complicating factor. Hes for repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, but he told The Posts Robert Costa that he wants everyone to be insured under a replacement. Some Republicans would like to repeal and eventually replace. Trump has backed them off by saying the replacement will coincide with the repeal. Thats just one example. Rolling back globalization presents another huge challenge, if he is truly serious about that. Trump can point to some victories during the transition companies that announced they would not send some jobs to other countries as they were planning to do. Every job saved helps an American family, but the numbers are still tiny. Can Trump bring about a fundamental shift in the way American companies operate in a global economy, or will he succeed only in changes at the margins? From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land, Trump said in his inaugural address. It is a vision unlike that of any recent president or administration and representative of neither major political party. The new president has put down markers by which he should be judged. If he walks away or proves incapable of doing what he promised to do, he will be called to account. As he said, The time for empty talk is over. The question is, can he actually deliver? Heads up to viewers of American Pickers at 8 p.m. Monday on the History Channel: John Satory isnt spelling challenged. Rather, he christened his downtown La Crosse store Satori Arts Gallery for reasons of ancestry, archives and art. When my great-grandfather came to the United States in 1852, he changed the i to y. The name (with the i) is Zen Buddhist, meaning the highest level, enlightenment. And art is enlightenment, Satory explained during an interview about his TV appearance. Asked how the Pickers picked his 201 Pearl Street gallery of fine art and historical artifacts when they often seem more inclined to roll the cameras on mishmash collections that look like hoarding, Satory laughed and acknowledged that the TV crew spent most of the time at his studio in another building, where he confessed to harboring a bit of disorder. Satory, a history buff and collector since childhood, also has a connection with the show by virtue of his friendship with Frank Fritz, Pickers co-star with Mike Wolfe. Frank comes to Oktoberfest every year, and he stops in, Satory said, adding with a laugh that Fritz didnt realize until the crew arrived for the shooting in August that it would spotlight Satory for Episode 16 of Season 16. The episodes title, The Beer Factor, has less to do with the content than the location. Like Satorys studio, Satori Gallery abounds with historical artifacts from La Crosses history, including two concrete cones that once were atop the City Hall torn down in 1970 after its replacement had been built, brackets from tops of buildings long since removed to make way for new structures and one of two large Italian-imported, stained-glass windows salvaged from the old Stoddard Hotel, which closed in 1980 and was razed in 1982. I bought it for $250, and was offered $5,000 the next day. The guy who had the other one had it on eBay for $40,000, said Satory, who said he didnt know whether the seller pocketed that much. The Stoddard, at the southeast corner of Fourth and State streets, was named after La Crosses first mayor, Thomas B. Stoddard, and was considered the premier place to stay when visiting La Crosse, as well as the venue for all sorts of events, ranging from concerts to political gatherings and wedding receptions, according to the La Crosse Public Library Archives. The Stoddard, billed as the only fireproof hotel in Wisconsin, hosted guests such as Presidents John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, Elvis Presley, Frank Lloyd Wright, Sinclair Lewis, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong and Tallulah Bankhead, among others. Many items in the collections at the gallery are courtesy of people who have an artifact of their own or a relatives or friends that they no longer have use for but dont want to toss out, said Satorys wife of 22 years, Beth, who runs the business side of the gallery. They know hell take care of it, she said. I call him Mr. La Crosse. Sometimes, Satory buys artifacts that have been repurposed in novel ways, such as those two concrete cones from the old City Hall. I bought them from a guy who (turned them upside-down and) used them as planters, said the 65-year-old Satory, a former longtime city council member who served as president of the La Crosse County Historical Society and the citys Historic Preservation Commission. People look at La Crosse as a historic old town, he said, lamenting the fact that so many buildings have fallen victim to wrecking balls and expressing particular chagrin at the loss of the county courthouse and city hall. Noting the countys recent sale of its administrative headquarters for redevelopment, he said, Thats one of the buildings I wish wasnt there. The historical artifacts are only half of the story of Satory, an award-winning silversmith, artist and photographer whose works are for sale, along with items of world-renowned artists such as Salvador Dali, Peter Max and John Lennon. Satory picked up his acumen for working with silver and other metals in a rather odd classroom: during his 20 years in the Army Medical Corps. In the Army, I did dental work, with dentures and fillings and gold crowns, he said. The equipment I used then is the same I use now. One particularly striking photo is Satorys interpretation of da Vincis Mona Lisa, in which her image is blurred. When you take a picture of somebody elses work, you need to make it your own, he explained. I took the picture at the Louvre, and I purposely blurred it. People look at it and get dizzy, said Beth, who met her future husband when she was getting by on a teachers salary and bought a ring on a time payment plan. The regular visits for payments must have kindled a spark that led to another sort of ring. I still owe the last payment, Beth said jokingly. She taunts John about his continuing habit of stockpiling artifacts. If he keeps buying things, I tell him Ill bury them with him, Beth says with a smile. When I see him looking at something, I tell him, Dont buy that it wont fit in your grave. President Trump used his first full day in office to wage war on the media, accusing news organizations of lying about the size of his inauguration crowd as Saturdays huge protests served notice that a vocal and resolute opposition would be a hallmark of his presidency. With Americans taking to the streets in red and blue states alike to emphatically decry a president they consider reprehensible and, even, illegitimate, Trump visited the Central Intelligence Agency for a stream-of-consciousness airing of grievances including against journalists, whom he called the most dishonest human beings on Earth. Shortly thereafter, press secretary Sean Spicer addressed the media for the first time from the White House, where he yelled at the assembled press corps and charged it with sowing division with deliberately false reporting of Trumps inauguration crowd. Trump claimed that the crowd for his swearing-in stretched down the Mall to the Washington Monument. It did not. Trump accused television networks of showing an empty field and reporting that he drew just 250,000 people to witness Fridays ceremony. It looked like a million, a million and a half people, Trump said. Its a lie. We caught [the media]. We caught them in a beauty. (Thomas Johnson/The Washington Post) During his 2009 inaugural address, President Obamas crowd extended that far, and a side-by-side comparison of aerial photos from both inaugurations clearly shows that Obamas crowd was much larger than Trumps. [Trump, in CIA visit, attacks media for coverage of his inaugural crowds] Spicer echoed his bosss assertion about the inauguration, insisting from behind the podium at the White House press briefing room that more than 700,000 people stretched down the Mall to the Washington Monument. This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period both in person and around the globe, Spicer said, less than a minute after declaring that no one had numbers because the National Park Service, which controls the Mall, does not release crowd estimates. One verifiable number that Spicer offered was that ridership on Washingtons subway system on Friday was higher than for Obamas inauguration four years ago. Spicer said that 420,000 people rode Metro on Friday, while only 317,000 did so for Obama in 2013. Both of these numbers are inaccurate. Nearly 571,000 people rode on Friday, and 782,000 rode on Inauguration Day four years ago, according to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Spicer warned journalists that they are in for more sparring with the new administration. Theres been a lot of talk in the media about the responsibility to hold Donald Trump accountable, and Im here to tell you that it goes two ways, he said. Were going to hold the press accountable as well. In a highly unusual move, Spicer left the briefing room without answering questions from reporters, including one shouted at him about Saturdays Womens March on Washington. President Trump leaves the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Va., after a visit on Saturday afternoon. (Olivier Douliery / Pool/EPA) Trump and Spicer also lambasted a member of the White House press pool who reported Friday that Trump had removed a bust of civil rights icon the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. from the Oval Office. The bust remains in the Oval Office, but pool reporter Zeke Miller of Time magazine did not see it during a brief visit to witness Trump signing an executive order on health care. Miller corrected his pool report and tweet Friday evening and publicly apologized for the mistake. In response, Spicer tweeted, Apology accepted. Nonetheless, Trump called the episode an example of how dishonest the media is. Trump visited the CIAs headquarters in Langley, Va., to express his gratitude for the intelligence community, which he had repeatedly railed against during the transition period and recently likened to Nazis. What the newly inaugurated president delivered before some 400 career intelligence officers in one of the governments most hallowed settings the wall of carved stars memorializing officers who died in the line of duty was a disjointed, campaign-style monologue. He complained about the Senate delaying confirmation of his nominees; critics questioning whether he is smart and vigorous; and journalists reporting on the size of his inauguration crowd. I have a running war with the media, Trump declared. They are among the most dishonest human beings on Earth, right? Many in the crowd which was composed of agency employees who had signed up to see him speak as well as some of Trumps White House aides applauded. At one point, Trump claimed that most of the people in the room had voted for him. John Brennan, who resigned Friday as CIA director at the conclusion of Obamas presidency, said through a spokesman that he was angry about Trumps speech. Former CIA Director Brennan is deeply saddened and angered at Donald Trumps despicable display of self-aggrandizement in front of CIAs Memorial Wall of Agency heroes, Nick Shapiro, a former deputy chief of staff to Brennan, said in a statement. Brennan says that Trump should be ashamed of himself. The presidents performance was jarring to some current intelligence officials as well. That was one of the more disconcerting speeches Ive seen, said one senior U.S. intelligence official who was not present for the speech but watched it on video. He could have kept it very simple and said, Im here to build some bridges. But he spent 10 seconds on that, and the rest was on the crowd size. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke only on the condition of anonymity, said Trumps use of the CIA memorial wall as a backdrop was offensive. In his visit the first of what aides said would be many to federal departments and agencies Trump tried to express solidarity with the CIA and blamed the media for creating distrust. They sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community, he said. I just want to let you know, the reason youre the number one stop is it is exactly the opposite. He added, I know maybe sometimes you havent gotten the backing that youve wanted, and youre going to get so much backing. Maybe youre going to say, Please, dont give us so much backing. Mr. President, please, we dont need so much backing. In fact, Trump repeatedly vilified the intelligence community throughout much of his transition in an attempt to push back against what he saw as politically charged conclusions by the CIA and other agencies about Russias hacking of Democratic Party emails to interfere with the 2016 election. At a Jan. 11 news conference, Trump accused U.S. intelligence officials of being behind a Nazi-like smear campaign against him. He has put quotation marks around the word intelligence in referring to such officials. And last weekend, he attacked Brennan in a pair of tweets, suggesting he was the leaker of Fake News. [The director of the CIA just went off on Donald Trump. It was a long time coming.] In his remarks at Langley, Trump vowed to lead the fight against the Islamic State: We have not used the real abilities that we have. He added, Radical Islamic terrorism and I said it yesterday has to be eradicated, just off the face of the Earth. This is evil. Trump also delved into the Iraq War, repeating his oft-stated belief that the United States bungled its exit from the country by not taking Iraqs oil, which he said was how the Islamic State made its money. The old expression, to the victor belong the spoils, he said, adding: We shouldve kept the oil. But, okay, maybe well have another chance. At the White House, where the chants of a huge crowd on the Mall for the Womens March on Washington could be heard for much of the day, Trumps advisers grappled with this difficult reality: There will be no honeymoon for the 45th president. The 44th president, Barack Obama, had urged Americans to give his successor a chance. But the activists who stirred the masses on Saturday vowed to obstruct Trumps agenda on such issues as health care, climate change, criminal justice, gay rights and access to abortion and birth control. As the images from coast to coast were being broadcast on cable news, Trump spent the morning at an interfaith prayer service choreographed to promote national unity. The service at Washington National Cathedral featured a diverse array of religious readings and patriotic hymns, including a Muslim call to prayer from Imam Mohamed Magid of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center in Sterling, Va. [Womens marches: Millions of protesters vow to resist President Trump] But the prayer service appeared to do little to quiet the resistance. This is likely to be a feature of the entire presidency, said Steve Schmidt, a veteran Republican strategist who criticized Trumps candidacy. If you look back to the rise of the tea party over 2009 and 2010 the revolt that took place at the town hall meetings, the protests thats starting with this president at an earlier hour and in numbers that are by orders of magnitude greater. David Axelrod, one of Obamas closest advisers and an architect of his campaign strategies, said it is incumbent upon Trumps opponents to do more than march. This is an impressive display today. But if it isnt channeled into organizing in a focused way, then it is cathartic but not in the long run meaningful, he said. Thats the challenge for the progressive community. The Mosque En-Nour is hidden on the outskirts of town, tucked away in an anonymous office park behind the airport and off a highway. No feature betrays its identity; no sign marks its entrance. Yet many people know exactly where to find it, and some are convinced that it has to go. On two occasions since it opened in June, nearby residents, to humiliate worshipers, have left the bloodied heads of pigs outside the mosques door. Shortly thereafter, regional authorities resumed their push to shut it down, after nearly 15 years of trying and failing to prevent it from opening. This modest, nondescript house of worship, the largest yet to open in the region, has become a symbol of the precarious position occupied by French Muslims, the countrys largest minority, in a society reeling from terrorist violence and hurtling toward a watershed presidential election. If the mosque is forced to close, it would violate the age-old promise of a proudly secular republic never to discriminate among citizens on the basis of race or religion. But a forced closure is a real possibility. Christian Estrosi, the president of the administrative region that includes the city of Nice, announced this month that he would launch yet another legal challenge against the mosque, which Estrosi, who raced motorcycles professionally in a previous career, would prefer to convert into a day-care center. For locals Muslims and non-Muslims alike the eruption of this issue in the sunny South of France is hardly a surprise. Despite its reputation as a destination for Hollywood celebrities and Russian oligarchs, the scenic Cote dAzur is among the most sensitive frontiers in Frances ongoing culture wars. It was here that so many former French colonists and their descendants known as pieds-noirs eventually resettled after the bloody Algerian war of independence in the early 1960s. A staggering percentage of them now support the National Front, Frances far-right populist party: roughly 40 percent, according to data from the most recent regional elections. It was also here that many North African Muslims chose to settle when they arrived in France in the decades that followed, mostly seeking economic opportunities. Resentment of them runs deep, and the establishment of the areas largest mosque even more than 50 years after these respective communities arrived was never going to be smooth sailing. [Nice attacker plotted for months and had accomplices, French prosecutor says] Especially not after the terrorist attack in Nice in July, when one local Tunisian man, later claimed as a soldier by the Islamic State, plowed a rented truck through crowds of revelers gathered to celebrate Frances national holiday, killing 86 and injuring hundreds more. Mosque En-Nour had only opened the month before the attack, but a growing number here began to view the notion of a large mosque especially one housed in a building originally purchased by the Saudi minister of Islamic affairs as further evidence of a fundamental incompatibility between the French Republic and its second-largest religion. In the words of Estrosi, shortly thereafter: We cant go around proclaiming secularism everywhere and at the same time say that Islam and democracy are perfectly compatible. But in Nice after the attack, this narrative quickly broke apart: The first victim of the Bastille Day attack was Fatima Charrihi, 62, a devout Muslim and a member of Mosque En-Nour. She had made the commitment to come all the way down to the Promenade des Anglais to celebrate her adopted homeland with her husband, her eldest son and some of her grandchildren. My mother had said to my nephews, Well go and get some ice cream, recalled her daughter, Hanane Charrihi, 27. And, well, she never got that ice cream. [People in Nice are throwing trash on the spot where the attacker died] In one of her last conversations with her mother before the night Fatima Charrihi died, Hanane, who lives in the Paris suburbs with her husband and two sons, recalled being regaled with details of Nices new mosque confined as it is to a corporate office park far from the city center. Having lived in the Mediterranean city since 1983, Fatima had no choice but to worship for decades with her children in a series of small, impromptu prayer rooms, her daughter said. Before Mosque El-Nour, there was no centralized place for Nices Muslim community to gather for major holidays and community events. She told me, Oh, this is wonderful, beautiful, and with such good light, so much light, Hanane said. She has since co-authored a book about her mother, Ma Mere Patrie My Motherland in English which came out last week. The notion of pride in having a place, said Mahmoud Benzamia, the imam of Mosque En-Nour, is why he has spent the past 15 years fighting for the mosques right to open. Its for our dignity, he said. The young ask, why do others have their churches and their synagogues? We, we have no place. This, he said, gesturing at the beginnings of a mosque still virtually empty, is supposed to be a place that gives satisfaction and makes Muslims proud and grateful. And yet despite this mission, Mosque En-Nour is a modest enterprise. Strolling past, there is no way of knowing it exists, and its aesthetic is one of namelessness: concrete slabs, tinted glass. This could be a doctors office, a travel agency. But the aesthetic has its advantages, Benzamia said: There is the inescapable reality of the world outside. Our French co-citizens wouldnt accept so easily a religious site in the city center, quite simply, he said. So, we prefer to be on the outside of town. This, Hanane Charrihi could confirm. When she and her family went to leave flowers for their mother along the Promenade des Anglais, she said, a man continued heckling them even after they told him they had lost their mother in the attack. Thats good, she recalled the man saying. Its one fewer. Walking through the mosque, which still has many trappings of an office glaring fluorescent lights, linoleum floors Benzamia directly addressed the implicit charge from local authorities that his mosque was linked to Wahhabism or any other radical strain of Islam often associated with funding from Saudi Arabia. The reason the Saudi Islamic affairs minister, Sheikh Saleh bin Abdulaziz, had purchased the space, he explained, was that the community on its own could never have afforded anything more than a series of converted apartments. The rest, he said, gesturing at a haphazard selection of desks, books and spartan prayer rooms, was financed by worshipers. [Exhausted police in France stretched thin by constant security threats] In response to Estrosis assertion that his office continues to have questions about the funding of this place of worship whose owner is still the Saudi Arabian minister of Islamic affairs, Benzamia said that on no occasion had he been instructed to teach anything in particular by Abdulaziz or anyone else. Services are conducted in both Arabic and French, he said. We live in France, he said, and we respect the laws of the Republic. Estrosi did not respond to repeated requests for comment. In any case, Adolphe Colrat, the local prefect, already declared over the summer that Mosque En-Nour does not depend on any foreign influence, granting it clearance to open in a country that has recently started cracking down on foreign-funded mosques as a means of combating terrorism. When it came time to facilitate her mothers funeral, Hanane Charrihi insisted that it take place at Mosque En-Nour. It was there, in a makeshift atrium in the middle of an office park, that she and her family said the prayer for the dead. It was important, because she loved this place, she said. And it was the last thing we could do for her. Read more Europe may face a grim future with terrorism as a fact of life After Berlin attack, Europe ponders new security protections for holiday markets In secular France, Catholic conservatism makes a comeback Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news A protester in Prague stands under effigies of Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Trump as she attends Love Trumps Hate rally on Sunday. (Martin Divisek/European Pressphoto Agency) The target of high-stakes Kremlin power plays during the Cold War, the Czech Republic is again on the front lines of a contest with Russia and its sympathizers this time in the Information Wars. Inside a mustard-yellow stucco building in northwest Prague, Benedikt Vangeli is a commander in that fight leading a new SWAT team for truth. Armed with computers and smartphones, the freshly formed government unit is charged with scouring the Internet and social media, fact-checking, then flagging false reports to the public. Truth is important to a democratic state, Vangeli said. Following the fake news barrage during the U.S. presidential race, the worried Czechs are not the only ones suddenly breaking into the fact-checking business. Nations including Finland and Germany are either setting up or weighing similar operations as fears mount over disinformation campaigns in key elections that could redefine Europes political map this year. The stakes are high: If pro-Kremlin politicians win in an anchor nation like France, it could potentially spell the end of the European Union. Here in the Czech Republic a nation that was once a Cold War hub for the KGB intelligence officials are charging Moscow with rebuilding its spy operations and engaging in covert infiltration of Czech media ahead of elections later this year. And the new government truth squad will pay special attention to a proliferation of opaque, pro-Russian websites in the Czech language that officials say are seeking to gaslight the public by fostering paranoia and undermining faith in democracy and the West. Using methods reminiscent of Soviet-era propaganda, such sites offer a vision of a world where no Russian soldier set foot in Ukraine, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is a Muslim-hugging menace and the United States is behind Europes refugee crisis. Some are running the same disproved stories that tainted the U.S. election including false allegations that Hillary Clintons campaign dabbled in child trafficking and the occult. But they are also curated for local audiences. Pro-Russian Czech politicians, for instance, are exalted, while Moscows critics are torn down. The E.U., such stories suggest, is power grabbing and inept. There is some evidence the assaults may be having their desired effect with opinion polls showing the number of Czechs who trust the E.U. slipping to just 26 percent. We have no ability or political will to close all these websites, said Ivana Smolenova, a fellow at the Prague Security Studies Institute. The only thing we can do is work on our self-defense. Yet the new units creation has brought countercharges of state-sponsored spin from the sites and their supporters, who argue that the government is picking sides in a nation still divided between pro-Russian and pro-Western sympathies. Nobody has the monopoly on truth, said Czech President Milos Zeman, a pro-Russian politician who fills a largely ceremonial role and is at odds with the Czech government over Russian sanctions he wants lifted. He maintains a special adviser with financial links to Russias energy giant Lukoil, and Zemans interviews frequently appear on pro-Russian websites. If you have some views, for instance, Russians have some views, and you want to formulate it publicly in the media, it is not misinformation, it is not propaganda, Zeman said. In the Czech Republic, the tug of war for influence between Moscow and the West has lurked just below the surface since the fall of the Iron Curtain. But it reemerged, officials say, following the 2014 Russian incursion into Ukraine denied by the Kremlin that led the West to impose sanctions on Moscow. A Czech intelligence report issued last year asserted that Moscows embassy in Prague with staffing far higher than those of other nations has become a beefed-up den of spies. It also warns that Russian covert use of Czech-language media and its state-sponsored propaganda are exerting influence on the perceptions and thoughts on the Czech audience and promoting a relativity of truth. It cites no smoking gun linking the Kremlin to the 40 or so pro-Russian websites published in Czech. But the Russian government, for instance, backs the Sputnik News Agencys Czech-language service. Smolenova said she has also identified at least one other site as being funded and directed by Russian citizens. But most of the pro-Kremlin websites here have opaque operations and complex ownership structures. At least some appear to have adopted a favorable stance on Russia after years of publishing conspiracy theories and bizarre news. The extent to which they are actively doing Moscows bidding, or simply trafficking in echo chamber economics, remains unclear. Jan Koral, the publisher of one pro-Russian site www.nwoo.org said half of his revenue comes from digital ads and the other half from reader donations. Some of those donations, he noted, are made anonymously. Many of the stories he publishes such as a recent piece alleging that the pro-Western government in Kiev is leaving war veterans to die in the snow are simply translations from Russian-language news sources. He said he does not try to verify the stories he runs. Koral, a 39-year old former Web designer, also said he has attended events at the Russian Cultural Center an extension of the Russian embassy in Prague. But he insisted that he is not on Moscows payroll. I would be happy if Russia finally paid us, he said. Yet there is also a darker side to the pro-Russian sites. Ondrej Kundra, a local journalist who is investigating Russian influence in the media, said Koral stopped him last month as he was exiting a speaking engagement. Youll come to a bad end, Kundra said Koral warned him. In an interview, Koral did not deny the incident, saying mainstream journalists had it coming. The nature of our nation is not violent, so they will not hang in the streets, he said. They should. They are liars. They are criminals. The new fake news unit is still in the midst of hiring its full contingency of 15 agents and has only begun preliminary operations. Among the false claims flagged in test trials so far: a Facebook post asserting that the perpetrator in last months attack on a Berlin Christmas market was based in the Czech Republic, and one from a Russian news outlet claiming Moscows agents had already managed to penetrate the Czech Republics elections system. The unit responded using some of the same social media techniques deployed by fraudsters. We just tweet them to the public as false reports, Vangeli said. Thats how we fight back. We dont take them down. We dont censor. Yet critics including free speech activists call it a fine line. More often than not, offending stories are simply spun and twisted rather than entirely fabricated. And it is potentially dangerous, some argue, to have a government even a democratic one deciding on recommended reading for its public. This would put the government in the position to act as a media outlet, which should be the task of classical journalism, said Markus Beckedahl, a prominent German Internet activist and blogger. Vangeli said his unit will pursue fake news regardless of its source, operating out of offices he described as looking like a poorly funded newsroom. Some politicians here say the new unit needs to act fast given that national elections will be held later this year. Ivan Gabal, a senior lawmaker politician, for instance, has been routinely attacked in the pro-Russian media for his tough line on Moscow. Last year, his emails to the prime minister on Europes refugee crisis were hacked. They were then published on a white supremacist website, and portrayed as evidence of his pro-migrant bent in a country resoundingly against taking in Muslim asylum seekers. There is no hard evidence, he concedes, that the Russians were behind it. The Russians have learned that its better to sway elections than to spy on our tanks, he said. Katerina Santurova in Prague and Stephanie Kirchner in Berlin contributed to this report. Read more Meet the pro-Russian, anti-Muslim European leader who was just invited to Trumps White House Allahu akbar-chanting mob sets alight Germanys oldest church? Shocking story, if it were true. German politicians demand new deportation centers, more police powers and re-vetting of migrants Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news British Prime Minister Theresa May will become the first foreign leader to hold White House talks with President Trump when she travels to Washington on Friday, Downing Street confirmed Sunday. The visit was aggressively sought by British officials as a symbol that the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom endures, after Britain voted to leave the European Union and America elected a president who is reviled across much of Western Europe. British politicians May included were sharply critical of Trump during his campaign. But since his election, Britain has gone out of its way to emphasize solidarity with the new administration, even as other European governments have been more cautious. In an appearance on the BBC on Sunday, May said she will be talking to Donald Trump about the issues we share and how we can build on the special relationship. A government statement said the agenda would include a number of the most pressing global issues, notably tackling terrorism, Syria, relations with Russia and cooperation in NATO. But perhaps of highest priority for May will be to sound Trump out over prospects for a U.S.-U.K. trade deal. With Britain leaving the European Union, May is under pressure to show that countries are eager to cut new deals with the United Kingdom. Britain already does more than $180 billion worth of trade with the United States annually, and America is the biggest source of inward investment to the United Kingdom. Trump has been highly critical of many trade deals but has signaled a willingness to reach an agreement with Britain. Analysts have cautioned that any negotiations are likely to stretch on for years. Asked about Trumps vow in his inaugural address to pursue protectionist policies under the slogan America first, May said Sunday that she was unconcerned. If you think about it, any leader, any government, as we do here in the United Kingdom when we look at any issue, we ensure that were putting the U.K.s interests and the interests of British people first, she said. But opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said May was fooling herself if she thought Britain would get a good deal from Trump. There were no signs of any special relationship in Donald Trumps inauguration speech, Corbyn told Sky News on Sunday. It was quite the opposite. It was America first, America only, America inward-looking. The Labour Party leader urged May to tell Trump that his misogyny during the election campaign was simply not acceptable. May demurred when pressed on whether she would raise Trumps comments about women during her meeting with the president. A day after womens rights rallies drew huge crowds in cities worldwide, she said that being a female leader meeting Trump on equal footing was the biggest statement she could make about the issue. Read more Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news At a time of widespread global anxiety about President Trumps foreign policy goals, the Middle East stands almost alone in its optimism about his presidency. The United States traditional Arab allies are hoping he reengages in the region after years of what they perceive as neglect by Barack Obamas administration. U.S. rivals are hoping he becomes an ally and aligns with their interests. But after eight years of steady disengagement by his predecessor, Trump may find his room for maneuver constrained by the expanded influence of Russia and Iran, analysts say. Even if Trump wants to have a more assertive policy, he will not be able to bring America back as the strongest regional player, predicted Ibrahim Hamidi, the chief diplomatic correspondent of the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat. The Americans cant go back to being the only superpower anymore. That Trump does intend to pursue a more assertive Middle East policy has been evident from some of the more consistent of his often contradictory statements, including his inauguration pledge to eradicate what he called radical Islamic terrorism . . . from the face of the earth. Although the president and some of his foreign policy nominees appear to have opposing views on some issues such as the importance of NATO and whether Russia can be trusted they seem to agree on the need to do more to fight the Islamic State and to push back against Irans widening influence, making the Middle East one of the few areas on which there appears to be some level of foreign policy consensus. [As Obama leaves the world stage: Criticism, nostalgia and concern over his successor] It is also one of the areas where the Obama administrations policies have most noticeably eroded the once unchallenged U.S. role. Russia now holds sway in Syria, has forged a close relationship with Turkey that could threaten Ankaras ties with NATO and has been courting traditional U.S. allies such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Most recently, Russia has been exploring relationships in Libya, dispatching its aircraft carrier to the waters off Libya and inviting the erstwhile U.S. ally Khalifa Hifter on board for a video conference with the Russian defense minister this month. Trumps repeated promises to forge closer ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin could facilitate the kind of alliance in the Middle East against terrorists that the Obama administration sought but failed to achieve, said Vladimir Frolov, a columnist with the Moscow Times. But Russia would not want such an alliance to come at the expense of the role it has already carved out for itself in the region. The U.S. has been exiting the Middle East under Obama for a while, and with Trump talking about an America First agenda, that creates even more opportunities for Russia to fill the vacuum. We may see a situation where the U.S. actually empowers Russia to do the dirty work in the Middle East, he said. The constraints are most immediately apparent in Syria, where Russia has taken the lead in promoting a peace initiative that includes Turkey and Iran as co-sponsors but offers no role for the United States. Russia and Turkey have coordinated the agenda and preparatory negotiations for the talks that will begin Monday in Kazakhstans capital, Astana, Western diplomats say. Turkish, Russian and Iranian officials, U.N. and European diplomats, Syrian rebels and representatives of the Syrian government arrived in Astana for the talks on Sunday. The Trump administration will not be sending a delegation, and instead the United States will be represented by its ambassador in Kazakhstan. Russia will welcome offers of help from Trump to bomb terrorists and perhaps provide funding for reconstruction, but it doesnt want the United States becoming involved in crafting the terms of a settlement, Frolov said. The Syrian regime is also unlikely to want the United States playing any significant role in the country, which has a long history of fraught relations with Washington, said Salem Zahran, a Beirut-based media entrepreneur who runs media outlets in Syria and has close ties to the Syrian regime. Trumps statements in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have come as a relief to the Syrian government, signaling an end to the Obama administrations mantra that Assad should eventually step aside, Zahran said. But the Syrian regime is hoping mostly that the United States stays away, by halting support for the rebels, lifting sanctions and ceasing the calls for Assad to be removed. Trump is a businessman and if Syria were a company, he would see it as a losing company. Why would anyone invest in a losing company? Zahran asked. Syria just wants Trump to be neutral, he added. Now that they have Russia, they dont need America. [Iran nuclear deal may not survive the Trump administration] Iran has more reason to fear the tough anti-Iranian rhetoric that has emanated both from Trump and his foreign policy nominees. But any attempt to push back against Iran would contradict the goals of allying more closely with Russia and Syria which are, at least nominally, allied with Iran and also run the risk of confrontation. Why would Iran respond to anything other than military pressure? asked Tobias Schneider, a German analyst based in Washington. Iran has won right now. Its represented everywhere; its aligned with the winners everywhere. Iran has been instrumental in helping Assad survive, sending money and militias to fight on the front lines and securing in the process vast influence over the country. Last week, Tehran signed a series of contracts with Syrian government officials that included giving Iran control over Syrias largest phosphate mine and a license to operate a mobile telecommunications network. Since the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq in 2011, Iran has also secured its place as the most influential power in Iraq, said Ryan Crocker, a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq who is now with Texas A&M University. Reviving the U.S. role there would not be impossible, he said, but it would be very, very difficult. The United States does have staunch allies. Israel is counting on Trump to fulfill his promise to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, which has made Palestinians one of the only groups vociferously opposed to his presidency. The Kurdish regions of Iraq and Syria are hoping his pledges to fight the Islamic State will translate into more military assistance for them. [After a slow and bloody fight against ISIS, Iraqi forces pick up the pace in Mosul] The United States also still holds important levers in the Middle East, notably its big military presence in the Persian Gulf and its economic might, neither of which Russia can match, said Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Arab allies such as Saudi Arabia that blame Obama for the rising power of Iran are looking forward to an administration that might more closely mirror their priorities, he said. The Gulf states need the United States as a counterbalance to Iran. You need to reestablish confidence that you are really going to back your allies, he said. This is not something that needs radical change, but it does need a steady, patient, consistent effort. But whether Trump is a leader who will provide patience and consistency is a concern for some in the region, Hamidi said. The scary thing is that to pave a way for an American role in the upcoming years needs vision and imagination, he said. If you dont have this vision, you might find yourself in confrontation. Or, completely giving up and handing it all to Russia. Trump vows to eradicate radical Islamic terrorism In video praising Trump, Jerusalem mayor says Obama surrendered to radical Islam Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news In calls and statements on his first two full days in office, President Trump moved to flesh out what he has described as his America first foreign policy, with at least symbolic steps toward goals he expressed during his campaign. Trump invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit him at the White House in early February, during a brief telephone call Sunday that Trump described as very nice. A White House statement said the two agreed to consult closely on regional issues, including the threats posed by Iran. It said Trump emphasized the close relationship between the two countries, promised to work toward Israeli-Palestinian peace, and stressed that countering the Islamic State and other radical Islamic terrorist groups will be an administration priority. Netanyahu, in a statement released by his office, called the conversation very warm. He said he had expressed his desire to work closely with the administration, with no daylight between the two countries. Trump has not yet made contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin, of whom he has spoken admiringly, and who U.S. intelligence said covertly tried to tilt the presidential election in Trumps direction. A Kremlin spokesman said Saturday that Putin was ready, but that a meeting between them would probably happen in months, not weeks. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the BBC that it would be a big mistake to think that U.S.-Russian relations under Trump would be free from controversy. Speaking at the White House ceremony to swear in his senior staff, Trump said that he would meet soon with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, both of whom he spoke with by telephone on Saturday. A Mexico meeting may come as early as the end of this month, White House officials said. Were going to start renegotiating about NAFTA and immigration and security on the border, Trump said. Mexico has been terrific . . . I think were going to have a very good result. NAFTA is the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump has said is unfair to the United States; both Trudeau and Pena Nieto have said they are willing to discuss its terms. Trumps first face-to-face meeting with a foreign leader, however, will come Friday, when he receives British Prime Minister Theresa May at the White House. In a statement Sunday, Mays government said the meeting would primarily be an opportunity to get to know one another and to establish the basis for a productive working relationship. The statement said May would also address a weekend meeting of Republican lawmakers that Trump is scheduled to attend. May, who is struggling to implement her countrys vote to leave the European Union, is seeking a strong bilateral trade relationship with the United States as she prepares for E.U. negotiations. Earlier on Sunday, Netanyahu tweeted that Stopping the Iranian threat, and the threat reflected in the bad nuclear agreement with Iran, continues to be a supreme goal of Israel. Netanyahu also met with his security cabinet on Sunday, telling members that he would allow continued construction of Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem, according to Israeli media accounts. Those settlements are considered illegal by most of the world. The Obama administration called them illegitimate and obstacles to peace. Israel disputed this. On Sunday, Jerusalems construction committee approved 566 housing units in East Jerusalem settlements. Meanwhile, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said that Trump was a true friend to Israel, referring to a reported statement by Trump press secretary Sean Spicer that the administration was at the very beginning stages of discussing a move of the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. We will offer them all the assistance necessary, Barkat said in a statement. The U.S. has sent a message to the world that it recognizes Jerusalem as the united capital of Israel. No country in the world has its Israel embassy in Jerusalem, which is also claimed by the Palestinians as their capital. While Congress long ago passed a resolution ordering the move, both Republican and Democratic presidents have repeatedly waived the order on national security grounds. Trump pledged during his campaign to move the embassy, and his designated ambassador to Israel, New York bankruptcy lawyer David Friedman, has called the move a big priority for the new administration. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met with Jordanian King Abdullah II on Sunday to discuss what to do if Trump follows through. Jordan plays an important role in Jerusalem as a caretaker of the holy Muslim sites on the eastern side of the city. Abbas said in a statement after his meeting with the king that the Palestinians want the Trump administration to stop talks about moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and to get involved in conducting serious political negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel. In his confirmation hearing, secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson called Israel our most important ally in the region, and said that former president Barack Obama had undermined Israeli security, but did not directly address the embassy question. Tillersons confirmation was all but assured on Sunday, when a pair of Republican senators who had expressed concerns about him announced that they will vote to confirm him. Sens. John McCain (Ariz.) and Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), two traditional GOP hawks who have voiced skepticism about Tillersons ties to Russia, released a joint statement saying that after much thought, they have decided to back him. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee plans to vote Monday afternoon on Tillerson. Regardless of the outcome, his nomination will move to the full Senate floor for a vote, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said last week. Although much of the drama about Tillersons fate has faded, there is still the question of how Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) will vote in the committee. Rubio grilled Tillerson about Russia during the confirmation hearing and seemed dissatisfied with some of his responses. In appearances on Sunday talk shows, both McCain and Graham made clear that they remain uncertain about Trumps foreign policy intentions, and that they hope to work with those they approve of in the Cabinet, some of whose ideas have contrasted with those expressed by Trump. I dont know what America first means, Graham said, adding that Trump should not be weak on Russia. McCain, speaking on ABCs This Week, echoed concerns about Russia, and Trumps call for warmer relations, adding that Putin was a war criminal. He said that Defense Secretary James N. Mattis, Trump national security adviser Michael T. Flynn, newly confirmed Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly, and Daniel Coats, named as director of national intelligence, shared his view that Russia is our major challenge. I couldnt have picked a better team, McCain said. And so Im confident that [Trump] will listen to them and be guided by them. Asked whether he had similar confidence in Trump, McCain said, I do not know, because he has made so many comments that are contradictory. Sean Sullivan, David Nakamura and Carol Morello, and William Booth in Jerusalem, contributed to this report. Nicolas Jimenez inside an apartment at one of the buildings he developed in Tunja, Colombia, on Dec. 20, 2016. (Juan Cristobal Cobo for The Washington Post) Of all the would-be business partners of President Trump who have been hoping to capitalize on his win, there is surely no one who stands to gain quite as much relatively speaking as young Colombian builder Nicolas Jimenez. Jimenez, you see, doesnt have much to begin with. His company, Fortun, is the local partner of U.S. investors who have drawn up a $350 million plan to build the Trump International Hotel and Tower Bogota, featuring two 72-story skyscrapers that would be among the tallest in Latin America. New York-based Yun Capital, a longtime Trump backer, is putting up the money; Jimenez has been looking for a site and said he hopes to finalize a deal this month. That would be great for Jimenez, 27, because he has never built a skyscraper, let alone a hotel or office building, or anything taller than three stories, for that matter. His company does not have a website. He still lives with his parents. Big things sometimes start small, said Jimenez, which sounded like something his idol would say. What Jimenez lacks in credentials he makes up for in Trumpian chutzpah. His story is a reminder that not all of the would-be foreign business partners of the Trump Organization are big players and well-connected investors. Some are fervent devotees with boundless faith in the Trump brand, like Jimenez. Others are relatively small-time investors who see the Trump name as a golden ticket to obtain financing or customers. Alan Garten, general counsel for the Trump Organization, said in an interview last month that the majority of deals presented to the company are not consummated, and we do not move forward with them. I would say 5 percent maybe are approved. And Trump and his employees have said several times most recently in a Jan. 11 news conference that the company will make no new foreign deals while he is president. Asked about Jimenezs tower, Garten reiterated this month that the firm has no projects in Colombia. Jimenez said that he and his partners are undeterred. The Bogota towers would take years to build, he said, so he and his associates can wait to get the rights to the Trump name, perhaps when the president is out of office. Or they will be Yun Towers, named for Yun Capital founder Jung Yun. Ms. Yun is looking to develop her own brand, Jimenez said. [Trumps unorthodox overseas business partners] It would be hard to find an aspiring Trump partner with a construction resume as humble as Jimenezs. The business address of Fortun, his company, is that of his parents house in Tunja, the provincial city where he grew up, a two-hour drive north of Bogota. Fortuns portfolio consists of two small apartment buildings in Tunja and some bungalows in another part of rural Colombia. In recent months, Jimenezs search for a site for a high-end tower has rocketed him into the boardrooms of Bogota bankers and property owners who have never heard of him or his company. Jimenez readies for meetings with powerful, silver-haired executives by psyching himself up on the dictums of Trumps best-selling books, which he began reading at age 11, such as Think Big and Kick Ass and Time to Get Tough. He takes special inspiration from The Art of the Deal. Sure, sometimes Im nervous, but I tell myself to go in those meetings like I own the world, he said in an interview at a friends insurance office. Julie Kim, a spokeswoman for Yun Capital, which claims to specialize in projects ranging from $50M to Billions, confirmed that Jimenez is the companys business partner in Colombia. But Kim said the firm would not comment about the status of the project in Bogota, or about the nature of the Trump familys potential involvement. The Trump Organizations deals often involve management and licensing contracts rather than cash investments. The proposed Bogota towers exist only on paper, but some would-be partners of the Trump Organization have not lost hope that such projects can move forward. The Trump family itself may have fanned such ideas. Eric Trump, the new presidents son, who has assumed leadership of the Trump Organization together with his brother Donald Trump Jr., said during a trip to Uruguay this month that the company was still looking to Latin America. There are opportunities in Panama, Colombia, he told an Argentine reporter. There is a lot to do. It is a tremendous market. Talk of a Trump-themed development in Colombia goes back nearly a decade. The family initially considered building a hotel on a lot near the Caribbean tourist hub of Cartagena, on land owned by former president Cesar Gaviria, said Camilo Benedetti, who accompanied Trump Jr. on a visit to Colombia six years ago. In an interview, Benedetti said that Yun introduced him to the Trump family, and that he brought Trump Jr. to a meeting with President Juan Manuel Santos in 2011. Benedettis brother, a powerful Colombian senator aligned with Santos, was also present, he said. Those talks didnt lead to anything firm, Benedetti said, because the Trump family didnt like the land available. Benedettis reputation took a hit when he was called to testify in an oil-related corruption scandal and multiple Colombian reports identified him as a target of the investigation, though Benedetti was never charged and said he did nothing wrong. While the Cartagena deal never took off, an article about the Trump familys interest in Colombia caught the attention of Jimenez, then a university student majoring in business administration. The article mentioned Yun Capital, so Jimenez sent an email to the company. To his surprise, Yun wrote back. She was interested in building something in Bogota, and Jimenez offered to help, even though he didnt live anywhere near the city. As Trump says, if youre going to think, why not think big? he said. [Trump won, and for his Argentine partners, that may be good for business] Jimenez said Yun was looking for a partner in Colombia who, unlike the well-connected Benedetti, wasnt involved in anything political. Jimenez was a good fit, at least in that regard. Yun did not offer Jimenez a formal contact, but she provided him with a letter of interest on company stationery. Whenever someone doesnt quite believe Jimenez is working on the Trump project, he whips out Yuns letter, dated Nov. 12, 2012. Dear Mr. Jimenez: it is our pleasure to write to you on behalf of Yun Capital to express our interest to invest $500M USD on a five (5) star mixed use TRUMP development in Bogota, the letter begins. Jimenez was 23 years old then. About two years ago, the time came for us to meet in person, so I went to New York, he said. They had lunch at Becco, in Hells Kitchen, with architect Rugel Chiriboga, whose firm, EQV Consortium, has produced the sketches of the 2.3 million square foot Trump complex in Bogota, a mix of office, luxury residences and hotel space. Yun has made two trips to Colombia since then to look at potential sites for the Trump towers, Jimenez said. The lots that Jimenez has been scouting for Yun are in Bogotas upscale northern district. Jimenez said Yun had told him hell receive a small share in the project, but he has not received any compensation to date. Luis Diaz, general manager of the large Colombian developer Oikos, said he thought Yuns proposed construction budget of $350 million to $500 million was a realistic figure, and he predicted there would be strong demand for the Trump-branded luxury properties. But Diaz said it was unusual for a foreign firm such as Yun Capital to partner with someone as young as Jimenez, whom he had never heard of. Its important to work with established companies who know the laws, know the banks, so that they can benefit from someone with experience, Diaz said. On Twitter, Jimenez has said Trumps electoral win represented a Jesus Christ blessing. This is not an especially popular view in Latin America, where Trumps comments about Mexican immigrants have fueled a perception that the new U.S. president is anti-Hispanic. Among his friends and relatives, Jimenez is often Trumps lone defender. He is confident Trump will prove them all wrong just as the young Colombian will triumph over the doubters who say the Bogota towers will never be built. Im sure Ill get to meet him someday, Jimenez said. Thats my dream. Kevin Sullivan in Washington contributed to this report. Read more Fearing Trumps wall, Central Americans rush to cross the U.S. border A scramble to assess the dangers of Trumps global business empire Rex Tillerson got burned in Venezuela. Then he got revenge. Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Millions of people participated in demonstrations throughout the United States and the world Saturday in a powerful and unprecedented show of opposition to the administration of US President Donald Trump. The massive protests were far larger than organizers expected and came as a surprise to the corporate media. They were the biggest globally coordinated demonstrations since the 2003 protests against the invasion of Iraq. Demonstrations took place in over 600 locations on every continent, including at a US research station in Antarctica. A post-inauguration rally in Washington DC attracted more than 500,000 people, twice the reported size of Trumps inauguration crowd the day before, and an equal number marched in Los Angeles. An estimated 250,000 gathered at the rally in downtown Chicago, where a planned march was canceled due to overcrowding, and the demonstrators simply rallied in place. Up to 150,000 people joined the march in Boston, in what was described as the biggest protest on the Boston Common since the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations nearly half a century ago. Another 100,000 people marched past Trump Tower in New York City. Demonstrations in other US cities included 60,000 in St. Paul, Minnesota, and more than 75,000 in Madison, Wisconsin. Internationally, demonstrations took place in Mexico City, Paris, Berlin, Prague and Sydney. Up to 100,000 people marched in London, as well as in the British cities of Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Bristol, and in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Media reporting of the demonstrations presented the protests as centered around the demand for reproductive rights, as well as various identity politics issues. Commentators were forced to admit, however, that a large portion of participants in the demonstrations were motivated by much broader issues, including opposition to Trumps program of aggressive militarism, domestic repression, and pro-business policies. The massive demonstration in Washington DC flooded the citys transit system, and the citys transit authority noted its subway system had reached crush capacity, more than twice the volume on inauguration day, when ridership was lower than on an average workday. The organizers of the Washington DC demonstration, which they called a womens march, portrayed the danger of a Trump presidency solely on the basis of race and gender. Speakers on the platform included several Democratic congresswomen, as well as feminist Gloria Steinem and a number of female actors. Steinem praised our great leaders, Michelle and Barack Obama. In contrast to the politics of the rallys organizers, demonstrators displayed a profound and genuine hatred of the fascistic and war-bound administration of Trump and for the entire political system that paved the way for his rise to power. Madeleine, a Canadian-American, and Zekeh, a Congolese-American, grew passionate while speaking to the World Socialist Web Site about Trumps election. Its because you only have two parties. Both of them are to blame, and I hope this is a big turning point. This nationalism is terrible, Madeleine said. We have to be inclusive because we are all in this world. Zekeh added, We are living in a global village, connected like a big spider web. Patriotism and nationalism should not turn us against one another. A large portion of the demonstrators in Washington were young people, including many high school and college students. Ryan, from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, told WSWS reporters, I am horrified about the Trump presidency and I think that socialism is the only feasible economic system. He was hostile to the Democrats for pledging their willingness to work with Trump while opposing him only on the basis of his alleged ties to Russia: Its ridiculous. Now there is all of this xenophobia coming from the Democrats. Trump has given us so much to oppose and the Democrats make it about this? Many young people at the demonstration expressed hostility to the Democratic Party for its role in overseeing a massive growth in social inequality. Several young students from American University spoke about their hatred of war and their hope that opposition would lead to broader protests. The Democrats are for the rich, said Quincy. Rachel added, The worst mistake was putting Clinton on the ticket. They say there is no money for public education, but the government spends ridiculous amounts of money on the military! Such sentiments were in stark contrast to the behavior of the Democratic Party leaders in Congress, who have expressed sympathy for Trumps embrace of economic nationalism to promote the interests of American corporations, while demanding he take a more aggressive stance against Russia. Democratic Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer praised Trumps inauguration, Today, we celebrate one of democracys core attributes, the peaceful transfer of power. President Obama described the November election as an intramural scrimmage and declared that the Democrats and Republicans are all on the same team. The massive demonstrations worldwide are just a preliminary indication of the broad popular opposition that exists to the Trump presidency. This administration, determined to pursue militarism abroad and repression at home, will be met with a mass movement in opposition to war, social inequality, and the capitalist system that produces it. Bill Clinton Didnt Look Too Happy During President Donald Trumps Inauguration Speech Bill Clinton didnt look too thrilled during President Donald Trumps inauguration speech in Washington, D.C., on Friday, January 20 watch his sad expressions here His face says it all. Former POTUS Bill Clinton didnt look too thrilled during President Donald Trumps inauguration speech in Washington, D.C., on Friday, January 20. Watch his sad expressions in the video above! PHOTOS: Bill and Hillary Clinton Through the Years The 42nd president who attended the inaugural festivities with his wife and Trumps Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton did not crack a smile during the exCelebrity Apprentice hosts first oration as commander in chief. PHOTOS: Presidential First Children Through the Years, From Alice Roosevelt to Sasha Obama When Trump, 70, was introduced as the 45th president of the United States, Bill, who was standing in the crowd next to Hillary and former First Lady Michelle Obama, looked visibly tense and bit his lip. The former secretary of state, 69, and Obama, 52, also failed to smile, but did not look quite as solemn as Bill. PHOTOS: Hillary Clintons A-List Supporters The Clintons arrived at the Capitol for the real estate tycoons swearing-in ceremony at around 10:21 a.m. ET on Friday morning. Hillary who beat Trump by nearly 3 million popular votes, with 65,844,954 to his 62,979,879 donned an all-white pantsuit for the historic ceremony. Jimmy Carter and former first couple George W. Bush and Laura Bush were also in attendance. However, George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara Bush, were unable to make it last-minute because of health issues. Hillary took to Twitter on Friday, opening up about why she decided to partake in the celebration of Trumps presidency. "I'm here today to honor our democracy & its enduring values," the former New York senator wrote. "I will never stop believing in our country & its future. #Inauguration" Related Content: By Rollo Ross PARK CITY, Utah (Reuters) - The filmmakers of "Whose Streets?," chronicling the uprising in Ferguson, Missouri after the 2014 police killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, said the documentary attempts to show the humanity behind a community in crisis. "Whose Streets?" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this week and follows the Ferguson community as they protested Brown's death, which led to weeks of tense unrest that drew worldwide interest. The film, co-directed by Sabaah Folayan and Missouri resident Damon Davis, combines social media and amateur footage with original footage depicting the actions of key people in the community. "When mainstream media isn't committed to solving these problems but is more committed to ratings, when politicians are so partisan that they're confusing us, it becomes up to artists to show people the way," Folayan said. At this year's festival, four films in the documentary competition delve into the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement that rose out of killings of Brown and other black men by police in various U.S. cities in the past years. (Writing by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Mary Milliken) GAUHATI, India (AP) Rebels ambushed a patrol vehicle in India's northeast Sunday, killing two paramilitary soldiers, and the ongoing government counterattack has killed several rebels, police said. A firefight between troops and the rebels was ongoing, said Ashok Sahai, the top police official of Assam state. It took place in Jairampur, in Tinsukhia district on the state border with Arunachal Pradesh. Rebels participating in the attack included the United Liberation Front of Assam and groups from neighboring Manipur state, Sahai said. No one has claimed responsibility. The rebels used a crude bomb and rocket-propelled grenades and hand grenades to attack the paramilitary vehicle. Dozens of rebels groups are fighting in seven northeastern states for independence or greater autonomy. They accuse India's government of exploiting the region's rich natural resources while neglecting local development. We read literature to be entertained. We read literature to escape our realities. We read literature to learn about the past. We read literature to discover others realities. We read literature to improve our writing, creative and critical-thinking skills. We read literature to learn about humanity. We read literature to become more ethical people. If you ask college students why we read literature, they might provide the sorts of answers above. Reading literature is an educational pastime that teaches us about humanity, provides us with certain kinds of critical skills and changes who we are as people. Literature has also been a powerful medium for political, social and economic change: literary texts have fueled revolutions. But students dont usually consider the fact that we also read literature to build and grow communities, both within the classroom and beyond. This community-building aspect of literature is powerful, and forms the basis of this springs La Crosse Reads program. La Crosse Reads is a grassroots community reading program supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, bringing the community together to read and discuss one book. This years selection is Ernest Gaines A Lesson Before Dying, a novel that explores issues related to education, literacy, institutional racism and human dignity. It follows the intersecting stories of Grant Wiggins, a schoolteacher in a small Cajun community in 1940s Louisiana, and Jefferson, a young man who stands convicted of murder and sentenced to die by electric chair. As the men struggle together to understand the forces of oppression, the power of resistance and the possibilities of education, conversations with Jefferson transform Grants understanding of his world, his vocation and his responsibilities as a leader of his community. We and our partners the La Crosse Public Library, Western Technical College, the city of La Crosse Human Rights Commission, University of Wisconsin-La Crosses Murphy Library, the Peoples Food Co-Op, Downtown Mainstreet Inc., the La Crosse County Jail, Hear Here, the Pump House Regional Arts Center, and many more invite everyone in the La Crosse community to join us in reading and discussing this work; by doing so, we can initiate change together, and strengthen our sense of community as we seek to learn from one another. Even if you are not able to read Gaines novel before the events, you are welcome to join any of the conversations happening, all of which are free and open to the public. La Crosse Reads hopes to be an annual event that will bring our community together each spring to spark change and conversation. Calendar of La Crosse Reads events: Saturday, Jan. 28, 10 a.m. to noon: Books 'n' Brunch at the Myrick Park Center, 789 Myrick Park Dr. This event is now full. Registration is closed. We hope you'll attend our other upcoming events. Thursday, Feb. 2, 6:30 to 9 p.m.: Film Screening of Dead Man Walking at the La Crosse Public Library, 800 Main St. Join La Crosse Reads at the public library for a film screening and conversation about the ethics and human cost of capital punishment. Wednesday, Feb. 8, 5:30 p.m.: Community Conversation at the Ho-Chunk Nation Three Rivers House, 724 Main St. This event is sponsored by the Wisconsin Humanities Council and co-facilitated by the city of La Crosse Human Rights Commission. Our conversation will connect A Lesson Before Dying with ongoing activism in our community. Wednesday, Feb. 15, 7 p.m.: Poet, memoirist and Yale Law graduate Reginald Dwayne Betts will give a keynote at UW-Ls New Student Union. Betts memoir, A Question of Freedom, recounts his nine years spent in a Maryland prison and was awarded the 2010 NAACP Image Award for nonfiction. Betts also is the author of two award-winning books of poetry. Reception and book signing will be 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, 7 p.m.: Reginald Dwayne Betts will give a poetry reading at Western Technical Colleges Lunda Center. Thursday, Feb. 23, 7 p.m.: Deborah Appleman, the Hollis L. Caswell professor of educational studies at Carleton College, will give a keynote address at UW-Ls New Student Union on teaching college-level literature courses at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater. Reception and book signing at 6 p.m. Friday, March 3, 6 p.m. at the La Crosse Public Library: Matthew Hefti, veteran (Iraq and Afghanistan) and author of A Hard and Heavy Thing, is a defense attorney working with the Wisconsin Innocence Project. Age isnt stopping this granny. Edna Sheppard, of Australia, will be turning 95 at the end of January, but she still works out five times a week at the local gym shes attended for 35 years, Broadmeadows Leisure Centre. Read: Fearless Granny Celebrates 95th Birthday by Skydiving From 13,000 Feet in the Air I love coming here to do the workouts and meet the lovely people, Sheppard said. Sheppard said shes been active since the age of 3, beginning with dancing and then calisthenics, and going on to play many different sports. At the gym, she participates in Zumba, yoga, aqua aerobics, and weightlifting classes among other things. The city council of Hume is now honoring Sheppard for her dedication to health and fitness. She is an absolute inspiration to people of all ages in the Hume community and beyond, and Council is recognizing this, Hume Mayor Drew Jessop said in a statement. "Many use excuses to avoid exercise and a healthy lifestyle; Edna proves that age is no barrier." Read: After Suffering a Stroke at Age 102, the Country's Oldest Working Teacher Needs a Little Help And shes become a family member to those in her fitness community. Not only has Edna been getting fit, she has also developed lifetime friendships with staff and members over her 35 years, attending Broadmeadows Leisure centre, Jessop added. Edna is a much adored and loved part of the leisure centres community so much so that many of the staff and members refer to her as mum. Watch: Grandma Pulls Out Pistol When Intruder Invades Her Home Related Articles: WASHINGTON, D.C. A local family spent Saturday afternoon delivering yesterdays news to some of the participants attending the Womens March on Washington. Newsstand owner Stephen Bota and his two teenage daughters stood near the march route, handing out free copies of newspapers from the 2009 inauguration of Trumps predecessor, Barack Obama. Botas shop, News World, is about four blocks away from the White House, and he told Yahoo News he wanted to give away the papers from Obamas swearing-in as a gift to the marchers. We are doing this as a thank-you to those who came out of their houses to do a peaceful demonstration. Most of them are Obama supporters in a sense, so just so they can feel like it was worth their time, Bota explained. Bota and his daughters had piles of slightly yellowed copies of the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Times from January 21, 2009. He described the response to his giveaway as very, very, very positive beyond my initial thought. He decided not to charge for the memorabilia, even though there is a robust market for papers from Obamas inauguration online. In addition to his desire to give a gift to the marchers, Bota said handing out the papers would help clear space in his store. As a newsstand we have to make room for the new product. So were not going to be sitting here trying to make money off the old administration. Its gone. Its not coming back. But theyre here, and were giving them something to cheer them up, Bota said of the marchers. Stephanie and Alice Bota handing out newspapers from the inauguration of President Obama in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Gloria Rejas Romero/Yahoo News) Bota, who like Obamas father is Kenyan, said he wanted his daughters, Alice, 15, and Stephanie, 13, to join in the effort. I have two daughters, and there they are, Bota said, pointing at the girls. I said, Listen, you dont have to go to march, but you can show support for their cause. The way you do that is to give them some strength. Bota said papers from Trumps inauguration were selling, but that it was nothing compared to those from Obamas inauguration. He attributed this to the fact that Obama was far more popular in Washington than Trump, who won just 4.1 percent of the capital citys vote in the 2016 election. Story continues Alice told Yahoo News she enjoyed handing out the papers. Some people, they dont like Obama, but most of them, theyre supporting it, she said. It feels good to just give away what we liked. Alice said Obama, as the first African-American president, was particularly meaningful to her because of her heritage. To me, since Im half-black and then half-Hispanic, it was like our people are slowly getting up into [politics], said Alice. Alice had a much different reaction to Trump. Honestly, I dont want to hate any more, because we cant do anything about it, she said. So Im just trying to hope that he does something good while hes here and just try and ignore it. ____ Related slideshows: Slideshow: Womens March on Washington, D.C. >>> Slideshow: Signs of the Womens March around the world >>> Slideshow: Womens March around the world >>> Slideshow: How newspapers covered Presidents Trump inauguration >>> Slideshow: Anti-Trump inauguration protests break out in U.S. >>> Slideshow: Protests worldwide against the inauguration of Donald Trump >>> Slideshow: Obamas Washington >>> Slideshow: Donald Trumps Inauguration Day >>> Slideshow: 66 hands on 66 Bibles >>> Saturday Night Live host Aziz Ansari urged President Donald Trump, whom he dubbed the Chris Brown of politics, to take on the lower-case K.K.K. movement that has spread in America during his monologue. Citing the rise of hate crimes in the U.S. since Trump was elected president, Ansari pointed out that casual racism has become normal in the country, and called for Trump to condemn it. I think Trump should make a speech. A real speech denouncing the lower-case K.K.K. Dont tweet about me being lame or the show, he said. Write a speech. A real speech. Because these people are out there, and its pissing a lot of people off. Despite the casual white supremacy on display, minorities arent going anywhere, Ansari said. My parents moved from India to South Carolina in the early 80s, he said. They didnt move until nine years ago. You know where they moved? North Carolina. They love it here. Theyre not leaving. Ansari ended his joke-packed monologue on a serious note, saying those who are worried about Trump and his administration will be fine, especially in light of the protests during the inauguration and the Womens March on Saturday. If you look at our countrys history, change doesnt come from presidents, he said. Change comes from large groups of angry people. And if Day 1 is any indication, you are part of the largest group of angry people I have ever seen. NATAL, Brazil (AP) Brazilian police say they have interrogated five inmates they believe were responsible for 26 killings during a prison riot this month. The civil police say in a statement issued Sunday that the men were gang leaders and have been removed from the Alcacuz prison, where violence broke out just over a week ago. Military police were only able to restore some semblance of control at Alcacuz on Saturday, and they are now separating rival gangs within the prison by building a wall of shipping containers. At least 126 people have been killed in a spate of prison violence since the beginning of the year in Brazil. The fighting is typically between rival gangs. NAPERVILLE, Ill. (AP) Brenda Barnes, whose decision to leave the top job at Pepsi-Cola set off a national debate about mothers in the workforce, has died at age 63. Erin Barnes says her mother died in Naperville, Illinois, on Tuesday from complications of a stroke. In 1997, the elder Barnes left her job as CEO of Pepsi-Cola North America to spend full time raising her children. She was both heralded and criticized for rejecting the role of the superwoman who could effortlessly balance family and work. As her children grew up and readied for college, Barnes returned to the corporate world, taking an executive position at Sara Lee Corp., the Downers Grove, Illinois-based food maker, in 2004. She became Sara Lee CEO in 2005. She stepped down after suffering a stroke in 2010. (Adds context, changes media identification slug from MYANMAR-ROHINGYA/BRITAIN) LONDON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who will visit Myanmar on Friday, said the former British colony's transition to democracy was not yet complete but that Britain would offer its full support as a friend. Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has faced criticism abroad for her government's handling of a crisis in the Muslim-majority Rakhine region, where soldiers have blocked access for aid workers and are accused of raping and killing civilians. "Burma's transition to democracy is not yet complete but it is worth reflecting on just how far Burma has come since Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party took office just nine months ago," Johnson said in a statement. "The UK, as a longstanding and long term friend to Burma, will continue to offer its fullest support," he said. "I look forward to seeing Burma continue to develop into a country where there is peace and prosperity for all its people." On the visit, the first to Myanmar by a British foreign minister in five years, Johnson will meet leader Suu Kyi, members of the Rakhine Commission and leaders of different ethnic groups to discuss the peace process. Britain's Foreign Office has previously expressed concern about the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State. Suu Kyi's government has denied any abuses have taken place. (Reporting by William James; editing by Guy Faulconbridge) DUBAI (Reuters) - An Iranian appeals court has confirmed a five-year jail sentence for British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe on security charges, Iran's judiciary spokesman said on Sunday. Zaghari-Ratcliffe's family said in September that a Revolutionary Court had handed down the sentence on undisclosed charges. Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said the term had been upheld. "The five-year prison verdict against the security defendant Nazanin Zaghari has been finalised," the judiciary's website Mizan quoted Ejei as telling a weekly news conference. Ejei also said Farhad Abd-Saleh was handed a five-year sentence on appeal on security charges, without elaborating. Iranian authorities have given few details about Abd-Saleh, who was named in October along with five others, some of them Iranian dual nationals, who had been sentenced to 10 years in jail for "espionage and collaborating with the American government". Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained in early April as she tried to leave Iran after a visit with her two-year-old daughter. She works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, a London-based charity that is independent of Thomson Reuters and operates independently of Reuters News. Iran's Revolutionary Guards had accused her of trying to overthrow the clerical establishment, but the official charges against her were not made public. Several Iranian dual nationals from the United States, Britain, Canada and France have been detained in the past year and are being kept behind bars on charges including espionage and collaborating with hostile governments. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom; editing by David Stamp) Even though I do not consider myself a birder, I thoroughly enjoy birds. Throughout the year, I listen for the delightful sounds of songbirds. I watch geese and ducks in the La Crosse River Marsh care for their young each spring. Looking aloft, I marvel at a hawk or eagle circling majestically overhead. The haunting call of a loon on a northern lake makes me stop and listen for more. And the V formations and honking of Canada geese as they make their way south in the fall foretell the winter ahead. Birds make up a large part of the nature I love. But two things Ive come across recently have me very concerned about the future of the birds I care about. Not long ago, I learned of a 2014 Audubon Society study raising serious concerns that climate change will have a dramatic effect on bird populations in the United States and Canada. Of the 588 species of North American birds studied, 314 are at risk from global warming, if it continues at its current pace. According to the Audubon website (climate.audubon.org), Audubon scientists used three decades of citizen-scientist observations from the Audubon Christmas Bird Count and the North American Breeding Bird Survey to define the climatic suitability for each bird species the range of temperatures, precipitation and seasonal changes each species needs to survive. Then, using internationally recognized greenhouse gas emissions scenarios, they mapped where each birds ideal climatic range may be found in the future as the climate changes. The website has a map where users can click on their state and find birds that are climate-threatened or endangered. For Wisconsin, the list includes the bald eagle, wood duck, ruffed grouse, scarlet tanager, wild turkey, American kestrel and many more. Click on the bird species and see an animated map that predicts how that species summer and winter ranges will shift in 2020, 2050 and 2080. It is difficult for me to imagine that many of the bird species I have enjoyed may well become rare or missing from the Coulee Region in 30 to 60 years due to climate change. My second wake-up call came when I recently attended a screening of the documentary film The Messenger at the Myrick Hixon EcoPark. The film highlights challenges that songbirds face on a number of fronts in various parts of the world. It begins by telling us that songbirds have long been our ecosystems canaries in the coal mine. They are the sensitive animals that weaken or perish first before most other species, including man in the face of worsening conditions unfit for life. When birds are in trouble, we should take notice. Songbirds are now under pressure from a number of different threats that continue to escalate. Agriculture, forestry, development and fossil fuel exploration and production also affect songbird habitat. Neonicotinoid pesticides, implicated in the dramatic decline of bee populations, are frequently linked to the reduction in bird populations as well. These pesticides are water soluble and often run off farm fields during rains and into wetlands. There they kill beneficial insects, reducing the food supply of songbirds. In 1962, Rachel Carson published her now famous book, Silent Spring, about the dramatic decline in bird populations exposed to toxic, carcinogenic pesticides, primarily DDT. The book became a rallying call for action to ban these pesticides and eliminate their use. It was also a catalyst for the powerful environmental movement of the 1960s and 70s. In the first pages of Silent Spring, I came across a powerful quote from E. B. White: I am pessimistic about the human race because it is too ingenious for its own good. Our approach to nature is to beat it into submission. We would stand a better chance of survival if we accommodated ourselves to this planet and viewed it appreciatively instead of skeptically and dictatorially. When will we learn that humans need a healthy, sustainable, biodiverse planet in order to survive? The Messenger ends by telling us that during the last 40 to 50 years, songbird populations have continued to decline. They are currently half the size they were in the 1960s. Birds are the canaries in the coal mine for our planet. All signs point to them sounding an urgent alarm. We must heed their warning and act quickly to address climate change by moving to carbon-free, non-fossil fuel, renewable energies. Only by minimizing climate change, preventing habitat destruction and reducing our use of toxic chemicals will we avoid another Silent Spring. (LONDON) British Prime Minister Theresa May said Sunday she plans to discuss free trade and the importance of the NATO military alliance when she becomes the first foreign leader to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington. The White Houses invitation for May to meet with Trump on Friday was seen in Britain as affirmation that Trump values the vaunted special relationship between the United States and its longtime ally across the Atlantic. She told BBCs Andrew Marr that the Trump team is interested in discussing a new trade arrangement with Britain despite the America first theme of Trumps inaugural address and his vow to evaluate every trade deal for its possible benefits to the United States. Any national leader would do the same when deciding whether to sign a trade pact, May said. Britain sees a future trade agreement with the United States as vital as the country prepares to leave the European Union. However, Britains desire for increased trade could clash with Trumps protectionist stance. May said she would also raise the value of the NATO military alliance during the meeting. She called it the bulwark of Europes defense system. Trump has rattled European allies by suggesting NATO is obsolete and that the United States might not come to the aid of countries that dont meet targets for their own defense spending. May maintained that Trump understands NATOs vital role. European leaders worry about a watering down of the NATO role given the increasingly aggressive actions by Russia in recent years. The prime minister didnt directly answer questions about whether she will use Fridays meeting to challenge Trump over derogatory comments he has made about women. May criticized crude remarks of his that surfaced during the presidential campaign. But she said she would speak out if she finds his future behavior or comments unacceptable. May said she has a long track record promoting equal rights for women, adding that she is proud to be Britains second female prime minister. When I sit down, I think the biggest statement that will be made about the role of women is the fact that I will be there as a female prime minister, prime minister of the United Kingdom, directly taking to him about the interests that we share, she said. British officials say May will also speak to Republican senators and representatives at a retreat in Philadelphia. Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f357458%2f2281ecba-b95a-4145-83a5-b42f293f0c78 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band may be a long way from home, but The Boss took some time out of his set in Australia on Sunday to talk about the Women's Marches which occurred across the United States on Saturday. Were a long way from home, and our hearts and spirits are with the hundreds of thousands of men and women that marched yesterday in every city in America and in Melbourne! Springsteen said with his guitar in hand. Springsteen went on spit out a laundry list of causes with a beatnik-type of bounce in his voice. [They] rallied against hate and division and in support of tolerance, inclusion, reproductive rights, civil rights, racial justice, LGBTQ rights, the environment, wage equality, gender equality, healthcare, and immigrant rights, said Springsteen. We stand with you. We are the new American resistance. While there is no official number for the amount of people who marched the day following the inauguration of President Donald Trump, a glimpse at the photos and videos shows the crowds were massive. Springsteen has been pretty outspoken for his distain for Trump during the election. "Well, you know, the republic is under siege by a moron, basically," he told Rolling Stone in September. "The whole thing is tragic. Without overstating it, it's a tragedy for our democracy." Pumanque (Chile) (AFP) - Authorities declared a state of catastrophe in central Chile as crews Saturday fought vast forest fires described as the worst in decades. More than 450 square kilometers (175 square miles) were ablaze in the O'Higgins region -- an area roughly the size of Vienna or Tel Aviv. As fire and emergency crews were brought in, officials evacuated 200 people from the mostly rural area south of the capital Santiago. Some 30 homes were affected in Cardenal Caro and Colchagua provinces, the National Emergency Office (ONEMI) said. A local ONEMI official, Josefina Lopez, told AFP that no one was hurt but there was economic damage. Agriculture Minister Carlos Furche told national radio the disaster was "a sort of earthquake" for the region. President Michelle Bachelet took time out of hosting a visit by French counterpart Francois Hollande to monitor the situation and declare the state of catastrophe, which allows soldiers to be used to help battle the fire. A farming emergency was also decreed. Bachelet said France was offering help and she was also reaching out to other countries. Chile's National Forestry Corporation said on Friday that outside assistance was needed. Interior Minister Mario Fernandez said helicopters and planes in particular were required. Toxic smog has found itself in the dock in China, as the authorities are taken to court over a problem that has choked entire regions, put public health at risk and forced the closure of schools and roads. At the helm is a group of human rights lawyers, who despite increasing government hostility to their work on some of China's most sensitive cases, say popular feeling is behind them when it comes to pollution that is literally off the charts. "Chinese people arent too concerned about societal problems and things that aren't happening to them personally, but this issue is different: everyone is a victim and is personally influenced by breathing polluted air," lawyer Yu Wensheng told AFP. He is among a group of six lawyers who began filing their suits in December after a choking cloud of haze descended on China's northeast, affecting some 460 million people. The campaign comes amid growing public anger over China's bad air, which has fuelled protests and spurred emigration among the wealthy. Yu, who has defended prominent civil rights lawyers targeted by the government and people detained for supporting Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement, said the importance and impact of the pollution suit "far exceeds" his previous human rights cases. Even acquaintances opposed to Yus politics and police at a client's detention centre had expressed support, he said, noting it was "very unusual". - 'Mostly symbolic' - However, there are concerns authorities might be trying to muzzle online discussion on the issue and quell discontent by suppressing information on air quality. In December, a week of thick haze forced cities across the northeast to go on "red alert" for nearly a week, closing schools, factories and construction sites and taking around half of vehicles off the roads. As visibility dropped and airports cancelled hundreds of flights, people took to social media to vent their rage against a government that had long promised to solve the problem. Story continues But comments about the heavy smog quickly began disappearing from the web. On Wednesday, the Meteorological Administration also ordered local weather bureaus to stop issuing smog alerts, which authorities said was intended to improve coordination. A document submitted by Yu's associate to the Beijing Second Intermediate People's Court accused the government of "severe dereliction of duty" in pollution management and sacrificing human health in pursuit of "toxic GDP growth" by turning a blind eye to the excessive emissions of local companies. The lawyers have little hope of winning or even successfully filing their cases and are viewing the suits as "mostly symbolic", Yu said. The document asked for authorities to publish an apology online and in the local state-run newspaper for a week, and hand over compensation of 65 yuan ($9.50) for the price of his smog mask and 9,999 yuan for emotional damages. He hopes the suits will help keep the issue in the public eye, adding he wants to inspire others to file complaints. "Our main goal is to raise peoples awareness of pollution and wake them up to how the government should bear responsibility for its inaction and ineffectual response," he said. Notably, China can clear the skies for important occasions such as the 2014 APEC summit or the 2008 Olympics, but does so selectively due to the high economic cost. "They can do it, but they do not," Yu said. - 'Smog victims ourselves' - Another lawyer Ma Wei, who is suing the city of Tianjin, said he has received no official response even weeks after the court was legally required to issue one. Instead, the public security bureau and other authorities have tried to pressure him to retract his suit. "I refused and told them, 'I'm doing this so that you can breathe clean air, too,'" he said. The lawyers are used to harassment. Since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, the country has cracked down on civil rights defenders. Though the government initially targeted political activists and human rights campaigners, it has increasingly turned its attention to the legal professionals who represent them. In 2014, authorities imprisoned and tortured Yu for 99 days for allegedly "disturbing public order". Still, he is not afraid. "We are lawyers," he said, "but also first and foremost citizens and smog victims ourselves." "If we do things according to the law and still get detained," he added, "it will be just the thing to show people the true nature of our so-called 'rule of law'." WASHINGTON -- They waved signs that read "Black Lives Matter: Rent a Riot" and "AIDs: Judgment or Cure?" The group of older men and women, donning all black uniforms with Psalms embroidered on their shirts, stood in the middle of the street Saturday during the historic Women's March in Washington, D.C., offering a counter message to the crowd of at least half a million people gathered to defend civil rights for all. Haley Arata and her friends had come prepared. The four women drove from William Mary University in Virginia with a large painted sign they were planning to use against any hate groups intending to rain on their parade. The students joined the rally, pinpointing the exact location the religious group set up so they could hold their own message upon a pink and white canvas right in front of them: "Queer Power." "We definitely saw this coming," Arata told International Business Times, her back turned to the anti-Womens March protestors who were hurling profanities toward her. "We think the best action to take is not to engage, but instead to be the pro-choice, pro-LGBTQ, pro-women, pro-human rights voices in the crowd, no matter whats happening." "Are you even a woman?" One religious protestor shouted at Arata as she held her sign in front of him. "She's probably a trannie, you can't even tell anymore," another responded. Organizers announced the Women's March in Washington In November just days after Republican Donald Trump was declared the winner of the presidential election. Sister rallies were organized in cities across the world. The global event was billed as an opportunity to stand up to the policies of conservative lawmakers who challenge abortion access, gay marriage and other liberal values. By the time the event kicked off Saturday, the national mall in Washington had become a sea of pink hats, rainbow flags and messages calling on the next White House administration to protect women's rights and equality over the next four years. Story continues For Arata and her friends, it was largely a friendly crowd. The college students and their message was met with massive support from passersby, all of whom rebuked the religious group for attempting to disrupt the event heralding women's rights. March participants chanted, "love trumps hate" and "God loves all." It wasnt the first time counter protestors have attempted to obstruct anti-Trump demonstrations since the Republican candidates successful 2016 presidential election. Arata and her friends designed the massive display immediately after former Secretary of State Hillary Clintons defeat to bring to post-election rallies for months to come to stand up to anyone with an opposing message. "The [religious protestors] show up to every one of these events weve been to since the election," Arata told IBT. "Its hard, since they have loudspeakers and never stop, but were trying our best to lift peoples spirits. We think its good for people to see our resistance against hate." Related Articles NEW DELHI (AP) The Dalai Lama said he hopes that President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will work together for global peace. The exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists said the world needed leaders with compassion. He made the remarks Saturday at a program in New Delhi organized by the women's chapter of an industry group, according to the press statement. He said the world is moving toward peace and non-violence, and he hopes Trump and Putin will come closer and work toward creating global peace. The Dalai Lama had said in Mongolia in November that he had "no worries" about Trump's election as U.S. president and looked forward to meeting him after he took office. Trump was inaugurated Friday. The Dalai Lama has met former U.S. presidents, including four meetings with Barack Obama. Such meetings anger Beijing, which accuses the Tibetan leader of trying to split Tibet from China. The Dalai Lama says he simply wants a higher degree of autonomy under Chinese rule. The Dalai Lama has been based in India's northern hill town of Dharmsala since fleeing Tibet during an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. An Australian scuba diver survived after a bull shark mauled him near the Great Barrier Reef in northern Queensland on Saturday. According to emergency services, the 55-year-old had to wait more than eight hours to receive treatment for his wounds. According to local reports, the man suffered injuries to his hand, chest and stomach after being aggressively attacked by the shark that resulted in significant blood loss. David Cameron, a flight paramedic with Queensland Ambulance Service, said that the victim was free diving with a friend east of Murray Island in the Torres Strait when the bull shark attacked from behind. "The bull shark has come up from behind and has unfortunately bitten the patient on the arm several times and bitten him on the stomach," Cameron said, according to the Guardian, adding that he was able to swim up to safety and back onto the boat with no further damage. Officials reportedly said that bad weather prevented the man from being rescued by helicopter, and he was taken by boat 54 nautical miles to the nearest medical facility on Murray Island where he received treatment. Cameron told the Guardian that the victim will undergo surgery Sunday in Cairns, where the man hails from. When you start to talk about four-meter sharks up here in the Torres Strait, youre very lucky to walk away. It sounds like the shark was on a bit of a mission, he added. Over the last few years, there have been several incidents of shark attacks in Australia, especially off the western coast. In 2014, the Western Australia government introduced a controversial shark cull after a number of attacks off the state's coast. Related Articles President Donald Trump held a call Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as his Administration signaled that his promise to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem wont be fulfilled imminently. The call comes after Trumps promise to strengthen ties between the U.S. and Israel after an icy relationship between Netanyahu and his predecessor. It also followed an Israeli government approval of hundreds of new settlements in East Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim as the capital of their potential state. Similar construction was a flash point between Netanyahu and former President Barack Obama, who warned it lessened the potential for a future peace accord between Israelis and Palestinians. At the suggestion of senior Israeli officials last month, Trump fiercely condemned the Obama Administrations decision against vetoing a U.N. Security Council resolution critical of Israeli settlement activity. The Israeli Prime Ministers office described the call as warm, adding that the leaders discussed the nuclear deal with Iran, the peace process with the Palestinians and other issues. The statement added that Trump invited Netanyahu to meet him in Washington in February. Before the call, White House press secretary Sean Spicer released a statement responding to reports that the U.S. embassy move was imminent. We are at the very beginning stages of even discussing this subject, he said. Trump faces a June 1 deadline on deciding whether to move the embassy or to continue to waive the Jerusalem Embassy Act, as his three predecessors have done, which requires the movement of the embassy unless the President objects on national-security grounds. Even the suggestion of an impending move has drawn repeated criticism from Palestinian officials. Trumps nominee to be the U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, has been an outspoken advocate of both settlement construction and moving the U.S. embassy. Friedman owns an apartment in Jerusalem, and Israeli news reports suggest he is considering living there, rather than the ambassadors official residence outside Tel Aviv, even if the embassy is not moved. Trump told reporters after he attended a swearing-in event for his top aides in the East Room that the call with Netanyahu was very nice. He did not respond to a question about moving the embassy. The Sunday afternoon call was made from the Situation Room, the White House said. President Donald Trump will hold his first with a foreign leader as president on Friday when he hosts British Prime Minister Theresa May. Trump also placed his first calls to the leaders of Canada and Mexico Saturday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Saturday evening. He spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. Trump had said earlier Saturday while visiting the Central Intelligence Agency that the meeting with May would happen very shortly. Spicer also announced that Pena Nieto would visit the White House on Jan. 31. The symbolic moves hew to tradition, reinforcing the special relationship between the U.S. and Britain, as well as the strength of the North American alliances. The May meeting comes at a critical time for Britain, as it seeks to navigate its way out of the European Union after last years Brexit vote, which was cheered on by the then-presidential candidate Trump. Trump previously met with Pena Nieto in August on a whirlwind trip to Mexico City, where the Mexican leader stated after that he had informed Trump that Mexico would not compensate the U.S. for the construction of Trumps promised border wall. In recent weeks Trump has pledged to move forward with construction of the wall with taxpayer dollars, while he negotiates an agreement to tax or bill Mexico for its construction. Donald Trump has accused the media of lying about the turnout at his inauguration ceremony - and warned reporters are going to pay a "big price" for their alleged dishonesty. The President insisted that crowds at the event stretched back all the way to the Washington Monument, even though photographs and footage from the scene showed large, empty spaces around the landmark. Press Secretary Sean Spicer went one further during a heated White House briefing on Saturday night, describing it as "the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period". :: TV man Donald Trump will be aware of power of protest imagery He also claimed that white "floor coverings" used to protect the grass during the ceremony had unfairly drawn attention to empty spaces on the National Mall. With pictures from Mr Trump's inauguration on TV screens beside him, Mr Spicer added: "Attempts to lessen the enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong." Although the National Park Service no longer provides estimates of crowds at inaugurations, photographic evidence shows substantially more people turned out for Barack Obama's ceremony in 2009. Mr Spicer also criticised a reporter who wrongly stated that President Trump has removed a bust of Martin Luther King Jr from the Oval Office. "There's been a lot of talk in the media about the responsibility to hold Donald Trump accountable, and I'm here to tell you it goes two ways. We're going to hold the press accountable as well," the White House official warned. During the briefing, the Press Secretary did not take questions from the press. The latest spat between the new administration and the media came as Mr Trump attempted to repair relations with the US intelligence community during a visit to CIA headquarters. The new President has spent weeks criticising America's security agencies over their claims that Russia attempted to skew the results of the election. Story continues He went as far as claiming that outgoing CIA director John Brennan was a "leaker of fake news". But, on his first full day in office, Mr Trump visited the CIA's base at Langley in Virginia and told employees the media had invented a "feud". He said he was behind them 1,000%, adding: "There is nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community and the CIA than Donald Trump. "I'm so behind you. You're going to get so much backing that you're going to start saying, 'Don't give us so much backing.' "I love you, I respect you, there is no one I love more, we are going to start winning again and you will be leading the charge." He also vowed: "We have to get rid of ISIS. Radical Islamic terrorism needs to get eradicated off the face of the earth." The President riffed on his election success, how young he feels, how popular he remains with the men and women of the US military, and hinted at a third Iraq war. Mr Trump had risked alienating the intelligence community that now reports to him with his reaction to their investigation into hacking of Democrats during the presidential election campaign. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a congressional committee that such "disparagement" risked undermining the relationship. Earlier on Saturday, Mr Trump attended an inaugural interfaith prayer service at Washington's National Cathedral. He was joined by First Lady Melania and much of the extended First Family. On his ride back to the White House, the presidential motorcade crossed paths with a number of protesters making their way to the huge march on Washington. Hundreds of thousands of people descended on cities across the US to protest against Mr Trump's presidency. Since taking office, the 45th President has begun putting some of his campaign promises into action, including a move to begin dismantling Obamacare. His new defence secretary, retired Marine General James Mattis, paid a visit to the Pentagon hours after he was confirmed and sworn in. Mr Trump also confirmed Theresa May would visit the White House next week - either on Thursday or Friday. It appears likely the Prime Minister will be the first foreign leader to meet the new President since his inauguration. :: Read more :: Trump reaches out to intelligence services :: Theresa May to meet Donald Trump next week :: 'Dump Trump': Women of the world protest :: Trump has new to communicate - just like JFK :: New president aware of power of protest imagery Watch continuing coverage of President Trump's first days in office on Sky News. Cairo (AFP) - Egypt's prosecution said on Sunday it would allow Italy to send experts to try to retrieve video footage related to last January's kidnapping and murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni. "The Egyptian public prosecutor approved the Italian side's request to send Italian experts," to try to retrieve footage from CCTV cameras to help the probe into Regeni's death, a prosecution statement said. The cameras are in a metro station Regeni is believed to have entered before being abducted. Cairo also approved a request to send experts from "the only German company specialised in retrieving data from the camera recording device" at that metro station, the statement said. Egypt said the software needed to recover the deleted footage was expensive, and had asked Italy to help. Regeni, a 28-year-old Cambridge University PhD student, disappeared last January 25 in central Cairo as police came out in force in anticipation of protests. His body, bearing signs of torture, was later found by the side of a road. The prosecution service said in December it had questioned policemen who investigated Regeni days before his abduction. There was no suggestion in the joint Egyptian-Italian statement that the policemen were under suspicion. December's statement said prosecutors have also questioned officers who killed members of a criminal gang in March and claimed to have found Regeni's belongings, including his passport, in the home of the gang leader's wife. That account met with suspicion in Italy, where politicians and the media have suggested that Egyptian police were behind the student's death. The slow pace of the investigation prompted Italy to withdraw its ambassador from Cairo. Regeni had been researching street vendor trade unions, a sensitive political issue in Egypt, where successive governments have feared strikes and unrest. Egypt has forcefully denied that its police were involved in his abduction. Story continues Police officials at first suggested Regeni might have died in a road accident. They have issued scant information about their investigation. An Italian autopsy showed that Regeni's body was covered with cuts and his bones were broken, indicating he had been hit with "fists, batons and hammers". A letter "X" was carved on his forehead and hand, according to the report cited by Italian media. El Chapo Guzman Mexico prison Sinaloa cartel chief Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was bustled into the hands of US authorities in Ciudad Juarez early on Thursday evening, and before the end of the night he was on the ground in Long Island, being hustled to a detention center in New York City. "As he deplaned, the most notorious criminal of modern times, as you looked into his eyes you could see the surprise, you could see the shock, and to a certain extent you could see the fear," said Homeland Security Special Agent In Charge Angel Melendez. Guzman appeared in a US federal court in Brooklyn on Friday, where the litany of charges filed against him by US prosecutors were made known to him apparently for the first time. After US Magistrate Judge James Orenstein asked if he understood the accusations against him, Guzman responded through a Spanish interpreter, "Well, I didn't know until now." El Chapo Guzman US federal court Later, when asked again, Guzman said he understood. The Mexican cartel chief ultimately pleaded not guilty, and an additional hearing is slated for February 3. The Eastern District of New York, based in Brooklyn, has filed a 17-count indictment against Guzman, carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison. "Who is Chapo Guzman? In short, he's a man known for no other life but a life of crime, violence, death and destruction, and now he'll have to answer to that," US Attorney for the Eastern District Robert Capers said. "Guzmans story is not one of a do-gooder, or a Robin Hood, or an escape artist," Capers added. Rather, "Guzmans rise was akin to that of a small cancerous tumor that metastasized into a full-blown scourge." Story continues Guzman's lawyers have promised a zealous defense and said they would look into whether Guzman was extradited appropriately. "I haven't seen any evidence that indicates to me that Mr. Guzman's done anything wrong. Most of you probably haven't seen any evidence like that either," federal public defender Michael Schneider said outside the courthouse. Prior to the heading, US prosecutors filed a 56-page memo arguing that Guzman should be denied release while his trial is pending. The document also outlines some of the evidence US authorities will bring to bear during the case. Here's the case the US government says it has against "El Chapo" Guzman. El Chapo Joaquin Guzman According to the filing, Guzman emerged on the scene in the 1980s and 1990s, when Colombian traffickers still controlled production in their country and most of the distribution in the US. Guzman quickly set himself apart from other Mexican transporters with his efficiency in transporting the drugs into the United States, including to California, Arizona and Texas, and returning the drug proceeds to the Colombians in record time," the memo states. As documented elsewhere, "This effectiveness earned him the nickname 'El Rapido.'" Guzman and his partners in the Sinaloa cartel gained power during the late 1980s and 1990s, though he was eventually detained in Guatemala in 1993 after a series of high-profile clashes with rivals in Mexico. He was jailed at Puente Grande prison in southwest Mexico, though he maintained connections with his business partners during this time. el chapo prison In 2001, with the help of bribed Mexican officials, he escaped from prison, returning to his home turf. "To thwart law enforcement efforts to recapture him, he created an army of hundreds of heavily-armed body guards and fortified his hideaways with military-grade weapons," the memo says. "Guzman also established a complex communications network to allow him to speak covertly with his growing empire without law enforcement detection," it adds. "This included the use of encrypted networks, multiple insulating layers of go-betweens and ever-changing methods of communicating with his workers." Sinaloa cartel in Mexico During this period, Guzman and the Sinaloa cartel were able to expand their operations in Mexico and abroad, typically through bloodshed. This expansion included ports on Mexico's Atlantic and Pacific coasts, as well as cities on the US-Mexico and Mexico-Guatemala borders. "Guzman and members of the Sinaloa Cartel infiltrated other Central American countries, including Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama," the filing states. Sinaloa cartel personnel in these areas moved drug shipments through ground methods like tractor-trailers, but also through air transport via clandestine landing strips and, eventually, in rudimentary semi-submersible vessels that could carry up to six tons of cocaine. The Sinaloa cartel's reach didn't stop in Central America, however. According to US prosecutors: "This expansion continued further south; whereas previously the Colombian Cartels were the only power brokers with the sources of supply, Guzman soon embedded Sinaloa Cartel members in South American source countries, including not only Colombia, but also Ecuador and Venezuela, to negotiate directly with traffickers in the supply chain." Mexico Sinaloa state meth drug lab In the 2000s, the growth of methamphetamines led Guzman to establish "sources of supply for the precursor chemicals for the production of methamphetamine in Africa and Asia, including in China and India." Guzman's home turf in Sinaloa state has reportedly become a hotbed for synthetic-drug production. According to US prosecutors, Guzman bolstered and protected this supply and distribution network through violence and graft. A cornerstone of his strategy was the corruption of officials at every level of local, municipal, state, national and foreign government, who were paid cash bribes These payments also ensured that Sinaloa Cartel members were protected from arrest and that territorial disputes were resolved in favor of the Cartel. For example, as much as one million dollars in cash bribes were paid to law enforcement to ensure the safe passage of a single drug shipment through Mexico." Guzman also employed 'sicarios,' or 'assassins,' who carried out thousands of acts of violence, including murders, assaults, kidnappings, torture and assassination at his direction, to promote and enhance his prestige, reputation and position within the Sinaloa Cartel and to protect the Cartel against challenges from rivals. Sicarios were deployed to silence potential witnesses and retaliate against anyone who provided assistance to law enforcement authorities against Sinaloas interests." Guzman also sent these sicarios against rival cartels, particularly the Gulf and Los Zetas cartels, as well as the Juarez cartel in Ciudad Juarez, which is not only a major drug-transshipment point but also served as Guzman's home for the months prior to his extradition. Ciudad Juarez Mexico killing violence drug war cartels "These sicarios kidnapped and tortured their victims often prior to brutally murdering them and subsequently boasted of their exploits through gruesome videos that they posted on the internet," US prosecutors state in their pretrial filing. According to the US federal government, a number of cooperating witnesses, including Colombian cartel leaders, will testify "to prove Guzmans power, corruption and violence within the Sinaloa Cartel," as well as to the "astonishing illegal profits" reaped by Guzman from his involvement in the drug trade. Some of the US government's purported physical evidence against Guzman includes "recovered drug ledgers from Colombian cartel bosses and suppliers, which detail the financial agreements between Guzman and the suppliers for various drug shipments." DEA Map cartel territory in Mexico Guzman has been linked to high-profile Colombian traffickers some with ties to Pablo Escobar and former President Alvaro Uribe in the past. Other witnesses will testify to the Sinaloa cartel's various drug-transportation methods, from tanker trucks to planes to tunnels, and to methods used to smuggle cash from drug sales back into Mexico. "One former member of local law enforcement in Juarez, Mexico, is expected to testify to being paid hundreds of dollars per month to release from custody Sinaloa Cartel members who were arrested, remove road blocks from routes over which trucks containing drug shipments were traveling and provide armed escorts for the drug-laden trucks that were passing through their area," the memo states. Other witnesses "will detail specific murders carried out under Guzmans orders, including that of Sinaloa Cartel members, members of rival cartels and also government and law enforcement officials." Joaquin El Chapo Guzman Ciudad Juarez prison treatment extradition Several witnesses is to testify to the specific wars fought by the Sinaloa cartel against the Arellano Felix Organization, Gulf cartel, Los Zetas cartel, the Juarez cartel, and the Beltran Leyva Organization. One witnesses is expected to describe a house specifically outfitted for killing victims used during the fight with the Juarez cartel. "The house had plastic sheets over the walls to catch spouting blood and a drain in the floor to facilitate the draining of blood," the memo says. The US government also intends to produce evidence related to weapons seizures, including "evidence of a seizure in El Paso, Texas, of a gun shipment tied to Guzman, which contained numerous AK-47s and .50mm long rifles." "Guzman has known no other life than a life of crime and violence," the pretrial memo concludes. "Driven by insatiable power and greed, Guzmans personal history and characteristics demand detention to prevent him from being a danger to the community." Robert Capers New York District court El Chapo Guzman US prosecutors say they have more than 40 witnesses ready to testify against Guzman in a trial likely to last "many" weeks. Until that trial is concluded, Guzman will remain locked up in a federal jail in New York City. US officials have declined for security reasons to state where exactly he's being held, and they appear confident there will be no repeat of the escapes for which Guzman has become known. "I assure you, no tunnel will be built leading to his bathroom," Special Agent In Charge Melendez said after the hearing. "What occurred in other countries will not occur here," added Capers. NOW WATCH: Here's footage of 'El Chapo' arriving to the US More From Business Insider Malabo (Equatorial Guinea) (AFP) - Officials in Equatorial Guinea refused to comment on Sunday on whether ousted former Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh had arrived in the country. But in a statement, Equatorial Guinea's opposition denounced the presence of Jammeh, whose 22-year reign was marked by systematic human rights abuses, on their soil. Jammeh slinked off in the dead of night from The Gambia's capital Banjul in the early hours of Sunday on an unmarked plane alongside Guinea-Conakry's President Alpha Conde. The strongman's departure ended six weeks of political turmoil sparked by Jammeh's refusal to accept his election defeat to new Gambian President Adama Barrow. Following a short stopover in Conakry, the Guinean capital, Jammeh was due to head to Equatorial Guinea, a top Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) military official said. But asked by AFP to confirm this news, Equatorial Guinean authorities did not comment. However, Equatorial Guinea's Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS) opposition hit out at the decision to grant Jammeh "political exile". "The CPDS rejects this decision and holds" President Teodoro Obiang Nguema "responsible" for any consequences Jammeh's presence on Equatorial Guinean soil could bring, the opposition said in a statement acquired by AFP. The CPDS said other countries had offered to host Jammeh and stressed that Equatorial Guinea has "never welcomed political exiles". The opposition accused Obiang of showing "contempt" towards the country and "thinking only of his personal gain". Obiang has been president of Equatorial Guinea since ousting his uncle in 1979. He has been accused of human rights abuses, extrajudicial killings, being a dictator and of encouraging a personality cult in the tiny oil-rich nation. Opposition in the country is barely tolerated and the 74-year-old leader was re-elected in April with almost 94 percent of the vote. Melbourne (AFP) - World number ones Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber both crashed out of the Australian Open on a day of major upsets Sunday, as Roger Federer fought his way closer to an 18th Grand Slam title. Murray was stunned by 50th-ranked serve-and-volley specialist Mischa Zverev in four sets before Kerber, the women's title-holder, tamely succumbed 6-2, 6-3 to Coco Vandeweghe. The unpredictable results, following six-time champion Novak Djokovic's stunning loss in the second round, opened the door to a host of challengers -- with Federer leading the charge. The 35-year-old Swiss won the last of his record 17 Slam titles in 2012, but he took full advantage of Murray's demise with a 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 win over Kei Nishikori. Federer, who looks back to full fitness after a six-month injury lay-off, said the hard-fought, fourth-round win could be significant as he now eyes a quarter-final with Zverev. "This is a huge moment for me in my career," Federer said. "I was telling myself, 'Stay calm'. I feel fit, I've trained as hard as I possibly can in the off-season. That's what you tell yourself and you hope it pays off," he added. Murray had been the hot favourite after Djokovic's shock exit, but the Briton lost 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 to Germany's Zverev to extend his wait for a first Melbourne title. The Briton was never expected to be troubled by the 29-year-old, who has never won an ATP title, but he suffered his earliest Melbourne departure in eight years. It isn't since the 2004 French Open that the top two men's seeds have gone out before the quarter-finals, and for Murray, a five-time losing finalist, it meant yet more Melbourne misery. "I've had tough losses in my career in the past. I've come back from them. This is a tough one," Murray said. "I'm sure I'll come back okay from it. But right now I'm obviously very down because I wanted to go further in this event, and it wasn't to be." Story continues - 'Little coma' - Zverev, a former junior rival of Murray's, stretched to a series of elastic volleys to frustrate the Scot, coming to the net 118 times as he reached his first major quarter-final. "I was like in a little coma, just serving and volleying my way through it. There were a few points where I didn't know how I pulled it off but somehow I made it," he said. Meanwhile Stan Wawrinka, who won the first of his three Grand Slam titles in Melbourne in 2014, came through 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/4) against Italy's Andreas Seppi. The formidable Swiss, now into his fourth Australian Open quarter-final, will play France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who came from a set down to beat British surprise package Dan Evans. Kerber's maiden Grand Slam title defence, and first major tournament as world number one, ended poorly as she came off distinctly second-best to the aggressive Vandeweghe. The unseeded American broke Kerber's serve four times and was on top at the net and from the baseline as she grabbed her first win over a world number one. In the quarter-finals, Vandeweghe, who halted Eugenie Bouchard in the previous round, faces French Open champion Garbine Muguruza, who swamped Romania's Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-3. Earlier Venus Williams, the oldest player in the women's draw at 36, also became one of the first into the last eight when she beat German qualifier Mona Barthel 6-3, 7-5. The seven-time Grand Slam winner allowed herself to dream of a possible final with her sister Serena, who is steaming through the other side of the draw in search of her 23rd major title. "That could hopefully happen. We both still have to work very hard to get there," Venus Williams said. Her quarter-final opponent is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who beat fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-3 to reach her first Australian Open quarter-final in nine attempts. Dear reader, we're asking for your help to keep local reporting available for all today during our fall fundraiser. Your financial support keeps stories like this one free to read, instead of hidden behind paywalls. We believe when reliable local reporting is widely available, the entire community benefits. Thank you for investing in your neighborhood. Before you read this story... Start your day with LAist Sign up for How To LA, delivered weekday mornings. Subscribe An estimated 1.2 million people gathered in Washington, D.C. on January 21 for the Women's March to protest the presidency of Donald Trumpthe crowd was so large that organizers had to modify the route. The D.C. Metro noted the uptick in Saturday's riders: 275,000 by 11 a.m., 82,000 more rides than the Trump inauguration by that time in the day. Around the country and the world, over 600 "sister" marches were organized, reports the Associated Press. In Los Angeles, march organizers believe 750,000 attended the rally that flooded downtown streets. Chicago crowds were so huge that organizers had to officially cancel the march itself. More than 250,000 demonstrators arrived for speakers, according to organizers. Many of them still took the streets in protest. In Boston, Senator Elizabeth Warren told the crowd We can whimper, we can whine or we can fight back. ... Me, Im here to fight back, according to the New York Times. Police estimated 125,000 protesters took to the Boston Commons, notes the Washington Post. In Park City, Utah, actresses Chelsea Handler and Charlize Theron led a Women's March during the Sundance Film Festival. According to King 5, Womxn's March estimated 130,000 people gathered in Seattle's Judkin Park and walked through downtown. The Womens March in San Francisco began at 3 p.m. As the marches got under way, Hillary Clinton, the former Democratic presidential candidate and Donald Trump's 2016 competitor tweeted: Thanks for standing, speaking & marching for our values @womensmarch. Important as ever. I truly believe we're always Stronger Together. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) January 21, 2017 Of the millions out in protest on Saturday, plenty of funny, artful, and poignant signs were also on display. Paris (AFP) - With Paris men's fashion week coming to an end Sunday night, we pick out five of the big trends in the autumn-winter collections: - The young ones - Youth may be wasted on the young, as Oscar Wilde once quipped, but style isn't, insisted the Paris shows, which went all-out to capture the hearts of millennials. Rarely have the catwalks been so focused on teens and twenty-somethings. The hoodie conquered all and skate kid chic was everywhere, with Japanese brand Facetasm going so far as to send its models out with what appeared to be fake acne. The slogans that ran through The Etudes, Lanvin and Chinese brand Sankuanz shows were pure teen spirit, "Never mind", "Nothing" and "Destroy". Dior's Kris Van Assche, whose show was a rallying call for a "new tailoring" aimed at the young, summed up the adolescent fascination. "I have always been drawn to the moment when boys become men and they are still clinging onto to dreams, desires and freedoms and haven't yet slipped into the straitjacket," he told AFP. - Logos - Not since the 1980s heydey of bling branding has fashion had such a fascination with logos. Dior, Loewe, Balenciaga, Andrea Crews, Louis Vuitton, Icosae and even tastemaker in chief Dries Van Noten went logo a go-go. Like much else these days you can blame/credit Georgian trendsetter Demna Gvasalia and his Vetements collective, who name-checked no less than 54 big brands in its last show. Gvasalia was up to his old logo banditry tricks in his show for Balenciaga, appropriating Bernie Sander's campaign logo, much to the US Democratic Party senator's amusement. There was less to smile about at Vuitton, where its collaboration with the super hip US street label Supreme had decidedly mixed reviews, with the New York Times calling it "the fashion version of a murder-suicide". - Women everywhere - This was supposed to be men's fashion week, but with so many women also on the catwalk you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. Story continues Mixed and gender-fluid shows have been a thing for a while, but now it has almost become the rule to have a few women models in men's shows, much to the chagrin of some like Dior's Van Assche who claims men's clothes are losing definition. Once he builds that wall, maybe President Donald Trump could come over and help restore some male pride. He does after all have his own Trump men's clothing line. - Vive the Establishment! - The establishment may be a dirty word politically right now yet fashion can't get enough of its stuffy symbolism. The "in" colours of burnt gold, rust brown and red are nothing if not upper class, and aristocratic Prince of Wales overcheck tartan turned up in all sorts of unlikely places. You would think you were at a grouse shoot looking at some of the fabric Paul Smith, Agnes b, Officine Generale, Alexandre Mattiussi, Kolor, Loewe, Berluti and Haider Ackermann put out. Upper crust dandies abounded, most memorably at Ann Demeulemeester, with pinstripes also figuring strongly even among such cutting edge labels as Christian Dada and Henrik Vibskov. - Trainers with everything - Overall, however, informality was king -- Paris being far too cool to be casual about anything. There was almost no formal wear at all apart from a handful of red-carpet two pieces at Agnes b and the odd outfit that might do at a stretch at Berluti, Ann Demeulemeester and Wooyoungmi. Dress suits and evening wear appear to be over, trodden into the ground by the onward march of trainers, which were matched with everything from the couture heights of Dior to Balenciaga's Frankenstein office suits to Vuitton, no longer a synonym for well-heeled where footwear is concerned anyway. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush is recovering well from pneumonia but will remain in the intensive care unit at the Texas hospital where he has spent the last week, a spokesman said in a statement. Barbara Bush, his wife, was also taken to the Houston Methodist Hospital this week with bronchitis but may be well enough to be discharged on Sunday, the statement said. "Following another good night's rest, President and Mrs. Bush have both continued to improve over the past 24 hours," Jim McGrath, the spokesman, said in his statement. "President Bush is breathing well without any mechanical assistance, his spirits are high, and he is looking forward to getting back to a regular schedule." Bush, who at 92 is the nation's oldest living ex-president, was invited to attend Friday's inauguration of his fellow Republican Donald Trump as president. He ended up watching the proceedings from his hospital room and sent Trump, whom he did not endorse as a candidate, a letter of support, McGrath said. He was the only living former president who did not attend the inauguration in Washington. His son George W. Bush, another former president, attended the ceremony. Another one of his sons, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, ran unsuccessfully against Trump last year for the Republican Party's presidential nomination. The elder Bushes marked their 72nd wedding anniversary on January 6. (Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) Paris (AFP) - Supporters of France's fractured Socialists voted Sunday to choose a presidential candidate with the party in danger of being reduced to also-rans as Europe shifts to the right. The two-round primary is viewed as a crucial test of the Socialists' ability to re-invent themselves, with their outgoing flagbearer President Francois Hollande deeply unpopular after five years in office. The presidential election in April and May is shaping up as a three-way battle between conservative ex-premier Francois Fillon, far-right leader Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron, the 39-year-old former economy minister who is stealing the headlines from his former Socialist government colleagues. Most opinion polls currently show a Fillon-Le Pen runoff as the most likely scenario, with Macron possibly finishing ahead of the Socialist candidate in the first round but both being eliminated. A poll published on Thursday gave Macron between 17 and 21 percent of the first-round vote. Hollande's former prime minister Manuel Valls, who quit the cabinet in December, was the favourite to win the Socialist nomination when the seven candidates began campaigning. But many observers believe he has run a lacklustre campaign and two contenders from the party's left flank -- protectionist maverick Arnaud Montebourg and former education minister Benoit Hamon -- will push him hard to reach next Sunday's runoff. - Eclipsed by Macron - Hamon has performed strongly in the three TV debates of a short campaign, attracting attention with his proposal to pay the poor and 18 to 25-year-olds a "universal income" rising from 600 euros to 750 euros ($640 to $800) a month -- an idea dismissed as ruinously expensive by Montebourg. "I voted for Benoit Hamon because to me he is the one best placed to revive the Socialist party," said Jean Claude, who cast his ballot in Millau, southwestern France. Dominique, a man in his 40s who voted in eastern Paris, said he was backing Valls. Story continues "My main concern is that the left reaches the second round (of the presidential election). Valls is the most credible option against Macron," he said. Macron, a relative newcomer to politics who resigned from the government in August to set up his own centrist movement, has drawn large crowds to his campaign events in recent weeks. Turnout in the Socialist primary was around half of that in the centre-right Republicans primary in November. Between 1.7 million and 1.9 million voted, according to an estimate by the Elabe polling group as polling stations closed, compared to four million who took part in the first round of the rightwing primary. The first indication of the results is expected by 2000 GMT. - Tactical voting? - Some Socialist heavyweights have hinted they could support Macron over their party's nominee if he looks to have a better chance of reaching the second round of the presidential election against Le Pen. Le Pen, who leads the anti-immigration National Front (FN), told a meeting of rightwing populist parties in Germany on Saturday that Europe was about to "wake up" following the victory of Donald Trump in the US election and the British vote to leave the European Union. Geert Wilders' far-right party is forecast to perform strongly in March's Dutch general election. Macron himself has ruled out a pact with the Socialists, announcing Thursday that his En Marche movement would field hundreds of candidates in parliamentary elections in June. Communist-backed firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon, who like Macron is polling in double digits in his campaign as an independent, also risks splitting the leftwing vote. Valls, who was slapped this week by a protester, set out to modernise the party but has struggled to unite his camp, with his rivals accusing him of betraying leftist ideals by forcing through labour market reforms. The four other candidates running in the primary are former education minister Vincent Peillon, ecologist Francois de Rugy, ex-MEP Jean-Luc Bennahmias and radical left candidate Sylvia Pinel. Washington (AFP) - Women poured into Washington to express concern, anger and outrage over Donald Trump's taking over as the 45th US president, in the "Women's March on Washington." That demonstration inspired many more nationwide, with more than two million people flooding the streets of US cities for a peaceful day of protest. Here are the views of some who spoke to AFP. - 'Furious' - Jennifer Behr, a fashion accessory designer from Brooklyn, arrived from Baltimore on a train packed with passengers wearing pink "pussy" hats, one of the symbols of the protest. "It's important we assert our majority and we have a large physically presence" to show President Donald Trump and the Republican majority in Congress "that they cannot railroad our country," said Behr, 42. "I am furious at Trump's treatment of women and how he talks about women," she said. She was especially incensed about the "decades of Republican attacks" on Democrat Hillary Clinton "and trying to undermine her as a strong women throughout her career." - 'Part of history' - A group of highschoolers from Chicago who had chartered an overnight bus to the rally chanted and waved a banner that read "Illinois youths grab 'em by da" above a picture of a cat. "I'm part of history and one day will tell my children about this," said 16-year-old Maria Iman, whose parents are from Mexico. "They didn't have a voice -- I wanted to be here showing them that their voice does matter." - 'He's a narcissist' - Christina Coughlin flew in from San Francisco, joining up with five friends who also journeyed to the US capital for the demonstration. "I live in San Francisco -- I learned that I cannot be complacent in that place of safety where it is very liberal and socially conscious," the 39-year-old said. "I can't just relax into that; I have to stand up for things." Story continues Her friend Tanya Gaxiola, 39, flew in from Tucson, Arizona with her husband. "He's a narcissist and seeks approval, and this is a big display of disapproval," she said of the new president. "Hopefully it will affect him. Hopefully it catches his attention." - 'Protect our rights' - Trisha Norman, 72, traveled from North Carolina for the protest and clutched a sign that read "Beware of the Gaslighter in Chief" -- a reference to a form of manipulation featuring denial, misdirection and outright falsehoods to sow doubt and confusion. "I want protect our rights," she said, and to "bring attention that when people are standing together, they will be strong." - Muslims not 'terrorists' - Norman was accompanied by her sister Barbara Hilton, 62, who wore a pink "pussyhat," the knitted caps marchers have adopted in a sly allusion to Trump's crude sexual references to women. "The family of my husband are immigrants," said Hilton. "They are Muslim. Not one is a terrorist." - 'So against' Trump - Kim Lee-Wilkins came from Maryland specifically to protest against Trump's efforts to repeal Obama's signature accomplishment, the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. But a lot more than that was at stake, she said. The 60-year-old African American said she fears a return to the ugly days of racial segregation. "Now we are going back to where we were in the 50s, and I am not going to stand for it," she said. Trump "doesn't stand for me, he doesn't stand for the majority of the people around here, so I am here to make a stand and my voice will be heard," she said. "Most of America is very open to human rights, religious rights, everything, and that's what these people are standing for right now." - Protesters on a plane - Kathy Small flew in from Flagstaff, Arizona for the march. "The plane was filled with people who were coming from little towns to come here," said the 67 year-old professor. She found it "remarkable" that the crowds were thin for Trump's inauguration on Friday. "It doesn't look anything like Obama's inauguration where I think the country was genuinely happy as a whole," she said. - 'Can't rob us' - Mara Naaman brought her two kids to the New York march, where organizers claimed a crowd count of half a million. "I don't want the world to feel that he represents all of us," the 42-year-old said. "When you see all of the women out today you feel like he can't rob us." - 'A beautiful sea of humanity' - Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Andrew Neiman said the gathering was the largest he had seen in the city in his three decades on the job in the city where organizers estimated a turnout of 750,000. "I have actually really enjoyed my day today," he said. "It is a beautiful sea of humanity. It was wonderful." Cassy Clarke, an elementary school teacher, said she "was never someone who goes into the streets, but since Trump go elected I protested twice and intend to go as often as needed." "Today made me proud to be an American again." By Tim Cocks and Lamin Jahateh BANJUL (Reuters) - Gambia's former leader Yahya Jammeh on Saturday flew into exile in Equatorial Guinea after stepping down under pressure from West African nations to accept that he lost a December election to President Adama Barrow, mediators said. His exit ends rising tension as thousands of troops from Senegal and Nigeria who entered the tiny country on Thursday were poised to swoop on the capital Banjul. It also paves the way for the return home of Barrow, who was sworn in as leader at the Gambian embassy in Senegal on Thursday. Jammeh took power in a coup in 1994, and his government is accused of torturing and killing perceived opponents. There were few celebrations in Banjul as news of his departure spread, but some people said they felt relief after years of fear. "The rule of fear has been banished from Gambia for good," Barrow told a crowd at a Dakar hotel on Friday, once it became clear a deal had been struck for Jammeh to relinquish power. "To all of you forced by political circumstances to flee our country, you now have the liberty to return home," said Barrow, 51, who worked as a property developer and led an opposition coalition few thought would win the Dec. 1 vote. The initiative to force Jammeh out will likely be viewed as a triumph for African diplomacy and could set a precedent in a region where democracy advocates have spent decades pressing for fair elections and an end to authoritarian regimes. Jammeh's security forces offered no resistance to soldiers from West African bloc ECOWAS. Around 4,000 troops are still there and some will remain to ensure security, said Marcel de Souza, head of the ECOWAS commission. The crisis was a test for the bloc, not least because Jammeh had held office longer than any other current president in the grouping of 15 states. "If something like that (not accepting poll results) happens in the same way in another ECOWAS country, it will be the same treatment," de Souza told a news conference in the Senegalese capital Dakar. NO DEAL ON AMNESTY Jammeh demanded amnesty, the right to go to and from Gambia and recognition for his political party as a price for leaving. But no deal on amnesty was finalized and de Souza said he would be surprised if one was struck. Jammeh was accompanied onto the plane by Guinean President Alpha Conde, who mediated the terms of his exit with Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and others. A separate plane would take out his family and aides, diplomats said. Some Gambians said they had feared Jammeh might change his mind at the last moment. He conceded defeat to Barrow but backtracked a week later. Others said they were angry he was able to negotiate at all. "He's a stubborn man. It should be surrender, handcuffs or death," said Patience Williams, 50, a dental nurse. In a last bid to cling to power, Jammeh declared a state of emergency this week and dissolved the cabinet while the National Assembly extended his term for three months. More than half the government resigned, and 45,000 people fled to Senegal. Gambia's Atlantic Ocean beaches make it a holiday destination for Europeans. Tourism, peanut production and overseas remittances are crucial to the economy of the country of 1.8 million. The country's economy is expected to grow 4.5 percent in 2017 after a projected contraction of 4.0 percent last year, World Bank figures showed. (Additional reporting by Pap Saine in Banjul, Emma Farge and Diadie Ba in Dakar; Writing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg; Editing by David Clarke and Cynthia Osterman) Reuters (Reuters) -U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Friday again declined to block President Joe Biden's plan to cancel billions of dollars in student debt, this time in a challenge brought by two Indiana borrowers, even as a lower court considers whether to lift a freeze it imposed on the program in a different case. Barrett denied an emergency request by the Indiana borrowers, represented by a conservative legal group, to bar the U.S. Department of Education from implementing the Democratic president's plan to forgive debt held by qualified people who had taken loans to pay for college. Barrett on Oct. 20 denied a similar request by a Wisconsin taxpayers organization represented by another conservative legal group. Berlin (AFP) - Germany's foreign minister on Sunday predicted turbulent times ahead for the world following Donald Trump's accession to power in the United States. "With the election of Donald Trump, the world of the 20th century has definitely been overtaken," Frank-Walter Steinmeier wrote in a commentary published in the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. Steinmeier, 60, has emerged in recent months as the German government's most strident detractor of Trump. He had warned a day after Trump's shock election in November that relations would become "more difficult". In his article on Sunday, Steinmeier warned that the world was headed "for turbulent times." "In these times of fresh global disorder this will go further...there is a lot at stake." But Steinmeier said he would seek dialogue with the Trump administration and outline "our position, our values and our interests." He said he was "certain to find interlocutors in Washington who know that big countries also needs partners." Berlin (AFP) - German police said Sunday they have arrested a man accused of having ties to a suspected Islamic extremist captured in Austria and thought to have been plotting an attack. A spokesman for state police in North Rhine-Westphalia said the man, 21, was taken into custody on Saturday in the western city of Neuss on a warrant for "planning a serious crime targeting the state". A spokesman for the Austrian interior ministry, Karl-Heinz Grundboeck, confirmed that the arrest "is linked" to that of a 17-year-old man -- not 18 as previously indicated -- in Vienna on Friday evening. "Investigations are continuing," Grundboeck told AFP. Both German and Austrian authorities declined to comment further but media reports in both countries said that the two had experimented with making explosives in the flat in Neuss. German news magazine Focus had reported earlier, citing judicial sources, that the elite SEK command force had stormed the man's flat on suspicion he was planning a bombing targeting police and soldiers. German police confiscated computers and mobile phones from the home, and the suspect's wife was temporarily detained for questioning, according to the reports. They added that the Austrian suspect has told investigators that he had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group and revealed the link to the alleged accomplice in Germany. Austrian authorities said that the suspect, who turns 18 in the coming days, was transferred to the Justizanstalt Josefstadt prison in Vienna on Sunday afternoon. Press reports named him as Lorenz K., born in Austria to parents of Albanian origin and who grew up in the small town of Neunkirchen south of Vienna. The reports said that he possibly became radicalised while serving a year in prison from 2014-15 for assault. Germany has been on high alert since a Tunisian failed asylum seeker, Anis Amri, ploughed a lorry through a crowded Berlin Christmas market in December in an attack that killed 12 people. IS claimed the deadly assault. Austria has been spared in the string of attacks by Islamist extremists in recent years suffered by other European countries, but has beefed up security measures. VIENNA (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Britain should take a leaf out of Switzerland's book on how to handle relations with the European Union, according to Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung (NZZ) on Sunday. Switzerland has access to the European single market through a series of bilateral agreements and has skirted voters' demand in a 2014 referendum for outright quotas on foreign workers by instead giving local people first crack at open jobs. "Britons should take as an example how cleverly Switzerland has linked national sovereignty and close cooperation with the European Union," NZZ quoted Schaeuble as saying in an emailed excerpt of an interview. British Prime Minister Theresa May has said Britain will quit the EU single market when it leaves the EU following a 2016 referendum, threatening withdrawal without any agreement with Brussels if she fails to win a good trade deal. British finance minister Philip Hammond has said it is an "open question" whether migrants from the EU will enjoy easier access to Britain after Brexit than those from other parts of the world. Schaeuble said he had "a lot of respect" for Switzerland, adding: "One has to tell the British government today: We live in the year 2017." (Reporting by Shadia Nasralla; Editing by Mark Potter) London (AFP) - Gina Miller has endured months of death threats and racist taunts for her decision to challenge the legal basis of Brexit, and while hopeful of victory on Tuesday, she is not looking forward to it. "I think next week will be terrible," she told AFP a few days before the Supreme Court rules on whether the government or parliament holds the power to start pulling Britain out of the European Union. For many, the 51-year-old businesswoman has become a national hero for insisting MPs have the final say. For others, she is the "black widow spider" seeking to frustrate the result of last June's referendum. When she first brought the case, just days after the vote that split the country down the middle, Miller braced herself for criticism from Brexit supporters. "I didn't expect I would have to change my private life," said the mother-of three. The tabloid newspapers have dug into her past, she now has bodyguards, no longer takes public transport and keeps her family home at weekends. Much of the hate mail has been racial, with some questioning whether Miller, born in what was then British Guiana and later became Guyana, was even British. "Things that were considered unacceptable are now acceptable," she said, admitting she is bracing for more abuse next week. "I've even been told I'm a primate. I didn't know we lived in that place. I think if I would have been a white man it would have been easier." - Forcing government's hand - Speaking in her private members' club in central London, which has become a refuge when she is away from home, Miller insists she has no regrets. She makes no secret of her opposition to Brexit -- as an investment fund manager, she fears its economic impact -- but says: "We lost the vote. We can't undo that." The issue is about limits of executive power. Prime Minister Theresa May believes she has the right to trigger Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty, starting the formal departure process, without explicit approval from parliament. Story continues In a ruling in November, the High Court disagreed, and the Supreme Court is widely expected to uphold this in its judgment on Tuesday. "If we lose we will go back 400 years and I simply don't believe the judges will do that," Miller said. "If a government is behaving this way it creates a precedent. Can you imagine? Any prime minister in the future could just decide with four or five ministers in a locked room." Without her legal bid, she believes Article 50 "would have been triggered last October with no plan, and illegally. That's why I had to carry on." Six months after taking office, May finally set out her key objectives for the negotiations last week, promising to control immigration and pull Britain out of the EU's single market. "I think my case forced them to show their hand," Miller said, but argued that parliament must now decide. - 'Go Gina' - Miller grew up in a politically-active household -- her father, Doodnaught Singh, was attorney general in Guyana -- and previously launched a campaign to bring more transparency to financial investments. She feels it is her duty to speak out when so many others are shouted down. "Everything to do with Brexit is so emotional that everyone is afraid to stand up, and that's a very bad place for us to be in," she said. Messages of support have also stiffened her resolve. "I had a 10-year-old boy who drew me my own superhero emblem saying 'Go Gina'. I have it on my desk," she said. "That gives me strength. Because I'm not invincible." For a while, the cast of Glee were icons of equality with their musical shows emphasis on the plight of the LGBTQ community. Two years since their show wrapped up, actors Lea Michele, Naya Rivera, Chris Colfer and other cast members proved to their fans that they remain to be that voice of equality. This week, they joined the millions of Americans who expressed their desire for equality through the simultaneous Womens March processions in the country. Michele was so moved by the gatherings that she took to Twitter to express how happy she was over the turnout. She also stated in her tweet that people of quality do not fear equality. Coincidentally, just hours before posting about the Womens March, Michele paid tribute to the very first time her character, Rachel Berry, got slushied. For Gleeks, getting slushied is the mark of being an outcast. Rivera, who gave life to lesbian cheerleader Santana Lopez, echoed her sentiments in the wake of the march. She tweeted that shes quite proud to be a woman and assured everyone who participated in the event that she stands with them in fighting for equality. Heather Morris, who played Riveras onscreen partner Brittany Pierce, did not make it to Womens March, but she stated on Instagram how much she wanted to be part of the procession. Wish so badly I was with the ladies at the #womansmarchla, she wrote before echoing the same message of empowering women and fighting for their rights. As for Kurt Hummel actor Colfer, he proudly posted photos of his attendance at Womens March in Washington on Twitter. One of his posts showed him tying his shoelaces before the parade. In another snap, he can be seen posing for the camera while his fellow attendees are flashing their placards in public. Colfer noted in his latest tweet the huge impact incredible women have on his life. Story continues Criss, who portrayed Kurts lover Blaine Anderson, also attended the march. Unfortunately, he was unable to reunite with Colfer since he joined the march that took place in Los Angeles. Following the event, Criss posted on social media that he was overwhelmed by the resilience of the human spirit. Jenna Ushkowitz, who played Tina Cohen-Chang in the series, also did not miss the chance to be physically present at the march. On Instagram, she shared a pic of her and her fellow members of Broadway Strong who attended the Womens March in New York City. According to the groups Facebook page, they are passionate about equal rights for all Americans. Artie Abrams actor Kevin McHale was also in the crowd that day. He attended the march in Los Angeles, and it wasnt clear if he stumbled upon Criss during the parade. On his Instagram account, he showed off photos of him joining the ladies who are flashing placards throughout the event. Lea Michele Photo: Reuters/Danny Moloshok Related Articles Paris (AFP) - Benoit Hamon, who was a surprise winner of the first round of the French Socialists' presidential primary on Sunday, was the furthest to the left of the top three contenders. Hamon, 49, whose signature proposal is the introduction of a universal basic income, shot up in voter surveys during a rushed campaign that saw three debates in little over a week in January. His key proposal, which would see unemployed and low-income workers receive a monthly payment of between 600 and 750 euros ($795) a month, would entail a costly and radical reform of state spending -- some 300 billion euros a year, by Hamon's own estimates. He sees basic income as a response to the erosion of jobs caused by the digital revolution, proposing a tax on the wealth created by the use of robots to help underwrite the cost. "We need a tax system that is based not on the number of workers in our companies but on the wealth created by the company," Hamon has argued. Former prime minister Manuel Valls, who had been the frontrunner in the Socialist nominating contest but was beaten into second place on Sunday, has dismissed Hamon's proposal as unrealistic. "I want nothing of these mirages that evaporate in an instant and that sow disillusionment (and) bitterness," Valls told a rally. But many voters appear to have warmed to Hamon. "Unlike the others he seemed sincere, natural and clear" during the debates, said Francois Moren, a 57-year-old travel agent, after voting for him on Sunday. Hamon, an admirer of US Senator Bernie Sanders, had what he called an "inspiring and stimulating meeting" with the losing Democratic presidential candidate last September. Hamon, who resigned as education minister in protest at what he saw as the Socialist government's rightward drift, had kept a low profile for two years before throwing his hat in the ring. He attacked Valls' government, saying he could not support policies that neither reduced unemployment nor stimulated growth. Story continues The government had ejected Hamon in 2014 along with then economy minister Arnaud Montebourg. He scored third in Sunday's first-round primary vote and immediately threw his weight behind Hamon. - Student leader - Hamon, who began his political life as a student activist in the 1980s, has pledged to tackle rampant inequality in the French school system and wants to legalise cannabis. Hailing from western Brittany, the blue-eyed, fast-talking Hamon is the son of a secretary mother and a dockworker father who moved the family to Senegal for several years while Hamon was a child. Hamon and Montebourg, who were among the founders of the dissident New Socialist Party in 2003, have both portrayed themselves as an antidote to Valls' right-leaning image. The father of two with his partner Gabrielle Guallar, Hamon has a degree in history. In 1986, aged 18, he joined massive student protests against proposed reforms that would have raised tuition fees, allowed universities to admit students selectively and abolished state diplomas, which give graduates equal qualifications regardless of where they study. Then rightwing president Jacques Chirac had to withdraw the proposal in the face of the protests in which one person was killed and some 200 injured. Hamon's role in the student movement led to his becoming president of the Movement of Young Socialists from 1993 to 1995. He went on to work in the cabinet of Martine Aubry, the left-leaning social affairs minister from 1997 to 2000, becoming her spokesman when she was named first secretary of the Socialist Party in 2008. JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian authorities have detained 17 nationals returning from Syria, including children, suspected of being involved in radical activity, officials told Reuters on Sunday. Immigration office spokesman Agung Sampurno said the people, including a two year-old girl and a three year-old boy, were arrested at Soekarno-Hatta airport upon disembarking an Istanbul-Jakarta Turkish Airline flight on Saturday. They have been handed over to the police's anti-terrorism unit for questioning, Sampurno said. "They are currently still under an interrogation process. If we find any relation to crime on terrorism, we will continue the investigation. If not, they will be handed over to their families," the chief of Densus 88, police's anti-terrorism unit, Eddy Hartono told Reuters. Police have been monitoring dozens of returning citizens over concerns they could be linking up with networks to equip a new generation of radicals with the skills and equipment required to launch a major attack at home. Police killed 33 people and arrested 170 in 2016 for foiled attempts to launch attacks, a significant increase compared to 2015, according to their statistics. A gun and bomb assault in the heart of Jakarta in January 2016 killed four people and was the first attack in Southeast Asia claimed by Islamic State. (Reporting by Agustinus Beo Da Costa; Writing by Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle) TEHRAN, Iran (AP) Iran has sentenced an Iranian-British woman accused of trying to overthrow the cleric-run government to five years in prison, a news website affiliated with the judiciary reported Sunday. Mizan Online quoted a prosecutor as saying the sentence against Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been finalized. The prosecutor, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, did not elaborate. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the news agency's charitable arm, was detained in April 2016 while trying to leave the country with her toddler daughter, who remains in Iran with family after authorities seized her passport. Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, confirmed that an appeals court upheld her sentence, for the charge of "acting against national security." The family has denied she violated any laws. Iranian authorities have arrested a number of dual citizens on security-related charges since the Islamic Republic reached a nuclear accord with world powers in 2015, in a crackdown led by hard-liners in the security services and the judiciary. Richard Ratcliffe said among the accusations against his wife is that she was head of recruitment for BBC Farsi at the time of its founding and in 2009. Monique Villa, the CEO of Thomson Reuters Foundation denied this in a statement, "Nazanin has never worked for BBC Farsi. She served in a junior capacity as a Training Assistant for BBC Media Action, the charitable arm of the BBC, from 2009 to 2010." Iran does not recognize dual nationalities, meaning those detained cannot receive consular assistance. In most cases, dual nationals have faced secret charges in closed-door hearings before Iran's Revolutionary Court, which handles cases involving alleged attempts to overthrow the government. British Prime Minister Theresa May raised concerns about Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case during a phone call with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani last August. ___ Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates contributed to this report. BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State blew up a landmark hotel in western Mosul on Friday in an apparent attempt to prevent advancing Iraqi forces from using it as a base in their offensive to capture the city, witnesses said on Sunday. The Mosul Hotel, shaped as a stepped pyramid, appeared to be leaning to one side after the explosions, two witnesses said by phone. They requested anonymity, saying the militants killed those they caught communicating with the outside world. The Mosul Hotel stands close to the Tigris river which divides the city. Iraqi forces appear about to take full control of the east and to be preparing to attack the western bank. A U.S.-led coalition is providing air and ground support to the Iraqi forces in their campaign to take back Mosul from the hardline Sunni group, which captured the city in 2014 and declared a "caliphate" that also spanned parts of Syria. The Iraqi army announced on Sunday that all districts of Mosul east of the Tigris had been cleared of Islamic State militants except one, al-Rashidiya in the north. State TV said the army had set up several bridges across the Tigris, south of Mosul, to facilitate the movement of troops in preparation for the offensive on the western side of the city. Mosul's five bridges across the Tigris had already been partially damaged by U.S.-led air strikes to slow the militants' movement, before Islamic State blew up two of them. An army colonel died in Sunday's fighting on the eastern bank, the highest-ranking officer killed since the offensive on Mosul started in October. Sabhan Hasan al-Jubouri commanded the 71st army brigade, a military statement said. (Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Andrew Roche and Jane Merriman) Jerusalem (AFP) - US President Donald Trump discussed Iran with Benjamin Netanyahu and invited the Israeli prime minister to visit the White House early next month. The two leaders spoke by telephone and "agreed to continue to closely consult on a range of regional issues, including addressing the threats posed by Iran," the White House said in a statement, signalling the new administration's tougher line on Tehran. The statement also said that Trump invited Netanyahu "to an early February meeting at the White House." Israel approved hundreds of new settler homes in east Jerusalem Sunday hours before the telephone call, which an Israeli statement described as "very warm". But a potentially explosive plan to annex a large West Bank Jewish settlement unilaterally was shelved until after Netanyahu and Trump meet. "The prime minister expressed his desire to work closely with President Trump," Netanyahu's office said in a statement. Trump has pledged strong support for Israel and vowed during his campaign to recognise Jerusalem as the country's capital despite the city's contested status. But the White House statement concerning the call did not mention Trump's suggestion to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem -- a transfer that would break with the consensus of the vast majority of the international community, which does not recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The White House on Sunday appeared to play down suggestions that a decision was imminent. "We are at the very beginning stages of even discussing this subject," White House press secretary Sean Spicer told AFP. Like other major powers, the US maintains its embassy in Tel Aviv pending a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Jerusalem's status. Israel captured Arab east Jerusalem during the 1967 war and later annexed it -- in a move not recognised by the international community -- declaring all of the city its unified capital. Story continues The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. During the phone call on Sunday, Trump also stressed the need for direct talks between Palestinians and Israelis. "The president emphasised that peace between Israel and the Palestinians can only be negotiated directly between the two parties, and that the United States will work closely with Israel to make progress towards that goal," the White House said. The US is Israel's most important ally, providing more than $3 billion a year in defence aid, but former president Barack Obama grew frustrated with Israeli settlement building. He declined to veto a December 23 UN Security Council resolution condemning settlements. Trump had called for the resolution to be vetoed. - 'We can finally build' - In an initial move following Trump's inauguration, Israeli officials on Sunday approved building permits for 566 settler homes in annexed east Jerusalem. "The rules of the game have changed with Donald Trump's arrival as president," Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Meir Turjeman told AFP. "We no longer have our hands tied as in the time of Barack Obama. Now we can finally build." The Palestinian presidency condemned the move, calling it a violation of the UN resolution. A draft bill to annex the Maale Adumim settlement in the occupied West Bank had been on the agenda for approval by a ministerial committee legislation on Sunday. Such a move could badly damage prospects for a two-state solution. But the inner circle of senior ministers known as the security cabinet blocked it for the time being, a member said. "What was decided was to wait for the meeting which will certainly take place within a few weeks," Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz told Israeli public radio. Annexing Maale Adumim unilaterally would set off alarm bells globally, with many warning that it would be another step towards dividing the occupied West Bank between north and south, making a contiguous Palestinian state difficult to achieve. - 'Critical location' - For some Israeli ministers who oppose a Palestinian state, that is precisely the point. "We have to tell the American administration what we want and not wait for orders from the administration," Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked told Israel's army radio. Maale Adumim, in a strategic location east of Jerusalem, has some 37,000 residents. Some peace proposals have envisioned it becoming part of Israel in land swaps agreed with the Palestinians, but not unilaterally. Israel occupied the West Bank, like east Jerusalem, in 1967. Settlements in both the West Bank and east Jerusalem are viewed as illegal under international law. Some 400,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, with another 200,000 in east Jerusalem. In comparison, around 2.9 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Jerusalem (AFP) - The Israeli government on Sunday reported a global increase in anti-Semitic incidents in 2016, citing sharp rises in Germany, Britain and the United States compared with the previous year. "We have seen an increase in the number of anti-semitic incidents in the world, ranging from anti-semitic insults, especially on social networks, to physical assaults," said a 54-page report published by the diaspora affairs ministry ahead of Friday's international Holocaust remembrance day. It said that the number of incidents reported in Germany was up 50 percent, while Britain showed a 62 percent rise and on US university campuses there were 42 percent more complaints. It linked the rise in Europe to the growing popularity of extreme right-wing parties there. It said the US uptick was fuelled by radical supporters of Donald Trump during heated electioneering. There was, it said, a "rise in anti-Semitism in the presidential campaign" during which "the new right has grown". In the 10 days after Trump's victory, 867 hate crime incidents were recorded in the United States, including 100 involving anti-Semitism, a report by a US-based organisation found. Sunday's report, however, noted a decrease in overt anti-Semitism in France where 65 percent fewer incidents were reported, it said. It credited the fall to Prime Minister Manuel Valls's 100-million-euro anti-racism and anti-Semitism action plan. But it said that French Jews nevertheless remained uneasy. "Despite the decline in anti-semitic acts, Jews in France are not comfortable with the public expression of their Jewish identity," it wrote. Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he would speak with US President Donald Trump by telephone later in the day, their first talks since the billionaire businessman took office. Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting that he planned to discuss with Trump the conflict with the Palestinians, Syria and "the Iranian threat." Trump has pledged strong support for Israel and vowed during his campaign to recognise Jerusalem as the country's capital despite the city's contested status. Israeli right-wing politicians have welcomed Trump's election, with hardliners who oppose a Palestinian state hoping it will allow them to move forward with their goal of annexing most of the occupied West Bank. In an initial move, Israeli officials on Sunday approved building permits for 566 settler homes in annexed east Jerusalem. Hardline Israeli ministers are also pushing to annex a large Jewish settlement near Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, a move many say would badly damage prospects for a two-state solution. Netanyahu also strongly opposed the nuclear deal between Israel's arch-foe Iran and global powers, including the United States. Trump criticised the nuclear deal during his campaign. The United States is Israel's most important ally, providing it with more than $3 billion per year in defence aid. JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he would later in the day hold his first conversation with Donald Trump since his inauguration as U.S. president. The White House later said the conversation would take place at 13:30 ET. "A telephone conversation will be held this evening between President Trump and me. Many matters face us, the Israeli-Palestinian issue, the situation in Syria, the Iranian threat," Netanyahu said in broadcast remarks at the start of an Israeli cabinet meeting. (Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Andrew Roche) Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lauded the people who participated in the Womens March across Canada on Saturday. Congratulations to the women and men across Canada who came out yesterday to support womens rights. You keep your government inspired, Trudeau wrote on Twitter. Women throughout the world joined in sister marches in solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of women who marched in Washington D.C. in opposition to Donald Trumps presidency. Thousands of women marched in Toronto on Saturday, along with other cities across the country Congratulations to the women and men across Canada who came out yesterday to support women's rights. You keep your government inspired. Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 22, 2017 Trump on Sunday morning called into question whether the participants had voted actually in the electionthough theres no indication that they didnt. In a later tweet, he called peaceful protests a hallmark of our democracy. Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn't these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2017 Kellyanne Conway prepares to appear on Meet the Press on Sunday. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) President Trumps counselor Kellyanne Conway clashed with Meet the Press host Chuck Todd on NBC Sunday over the administrations false assertion that Trumps inauguration had the largest crowd in history. Youre saying its a falsehood, Conway told Todd. Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts. On Saturday, Spicer used his first official statement to castigate the media for what he called deliberately false reporting on the size of the crowd at Trumps inauguration. "Alternative facts are not facts. They are falsehoods," Chuck Todd tells Pres. Trump's counselor Kellyanne Conway this morning. WATCH: pic.twitter.com/Ao005dQ13r Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) January 22, 2017 This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe, Spicer told reporters in the White House Briefing Room. These attempts to lessen the enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong. Spicer was particularly incensed about photos shared on social media by members of the press comparing the crowd at Trumps ceremony with President Barack Obamas eight years before. Photographs of the inaugural proceedings were intentionally framed in a way, in one particular tweet, to minimize the enormous support that had gathered on the National Mall, Spicer said. Despite the clear visual difference between the two inauguration crowds, Spicer declared that Trump had the largest crowd in history. You did not answer the question of why the president asked the White House press secretary to come out in front of the podium for the first time and utter a falsehood, Todd said to Conway on Sunday. Why did he do that? It undermines the credibility of the entire White House press office on day one. No, it doesnt, Conway replied. Dont be so overly dramatic about it, Chuck. Story continues Todd laughed at Conways assertion that Spicers claims were alternative facts. Wait a minute, alternative facts? Todd said. Alternative facts are not facts, theyre falsehoods. Conway tried to pivot to bigger issues that concern Americans by rattling off partisan talking points. Chuck, do you think its a fact or not that millions of people have lost their plans or health insurance or their doctors under President Obama? Conway said. Do you think its a fact that everything we heard from these women yesterday happened on the watch of Barack Obama? He was president for eight years, Donald Trumps been here for about eight hours. Kellyanne Conway gets ready to appear on Meet the Press. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) These are the facts I want the press corps to cover, she said. That was not what yesterday was about, Todd said. You sent the press secretary out there to utter a falsehood on the smallest, pettiest thing. Conway then continued the crowd-size crusade. I dont think you can prove those numbers one way or the other, she said. Theres no way to quantify crowds, we all know that. Her response drew more laughter from the Meet the Press host. You can laugh at me all you want, Conway said. I think the way you just laughed at me is very symbolic of the way were treated by the press. Im not laughing, Todd said. Im just befuddled. Todd isnt the only one. On Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace grilled White House chief of staff Reince Priebus over the Trumps administrations obsession with the size of the crowd at his inauguration. President Trump said in his inaugural address that every decision he makes will be to benefit American families, Wallace said. How does arguing about crowd size do that? It really isnt about crowd size. What its about is honesty in the media, Priebus replied. The media from day one has been talking about delegitimizing the election. Talking about the Russians, talking about everything you can imagine except the fact that we need to move this country forward. Wallace was unmoved. You say this is about honesty, the Fox host said. But theres another issue here though, Reince, and that is the presidents honesty. Two things he said yesterday were just flat wrong. One, Wallace said, was the false claim that the crowd at the inauguration stretched all the way back to the Washington Monument. Take a look at those pictures, Wallace said, ordering his producers to display aerial images of Obamas 2009 inauguration and Trumps on Friday. Which one is bigger? With Yahoo News Colin Campbell contributing reporting ____ Related slideshows: Slideshow: Womens March on Washington D.C. >>> Slideshow: Signs of the Womens March around the world >>> Slideshow: Womens March around the world >>> Slideshow: How newspapers covered Presidents Trump inauguration >>> Slideshow: Anti-Trump inauguration protests break out in U.S. >>> Slideshow: Protests worldwide against the inauguration of Donald Trump >>> Slideshow: Obamas Washington >>> Slideshow: Donald Trumps Inauguration Day >>> Slideshow: 66 hands on 66 Bibles >>> Read more from Yahoo News: BEIRUT (AP) Lebanon's National News Agency says local security forces have foiled a suicide bombing attempt in the capital's bustling commercial district and arrested the would-be attacker. The national news agency says the attacker was wearing an explosive belt. The agency says he was stopped shortly before midnight Saturday before he walked into a coffee shop in the popular Hamra district. The agency says the young man was injured. There were conflicted reports about the identity of the attacker. Lebanon has largely been spared the spillover from the civil war in neighboring Syria, where fighting has raged for nearly six years. During the holiday seasons, Lebanese security forces have been on high alert. CINCINNATI (AP) There's been little public word about what has happened to an American college student detained in North Korea, as a new administration takes over one year later amid deep U.S. concerns about the hostile country's nuclear and missile development. North Korea announced last Jan. 22 it had detained Otto Warmbier, a 21-year-old University of Virginia student from suburban Cincinnati, earlier that month for alleged anti-state crime. Warmbier, who had visited North Korea with a tour group, was sentenced in March to 15 years in prison at hard labor after a televised tearful public confession to trying to steal a propaganda banner. Such North Korean detentions of U.S. citizens for offenses that might seem minor to outsiders Warmbier said he wanted to take the banner home for a woman in Ohio who wanted to hang it in her church are seen in Washington as having political motives, and Warmbier's has come during a time of worsening tensions. The State Department calls the sentence "unduly harsh," and spokesman John Kirby said in a statement last week in response to an Associated Press query that the department continues to work for Warmbier's "earliest possible release." Noting that he has gone through North Korea's criminal process and been detained more than year, he said: "We continue to urge the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of North Korea) to pardon him and grant him special amnesty and immediate release on humanitarian grounds." Another U.S. tourist from Ohio, Jeffrey Fowle, was arrested in 2014 for leaving a Bible in a nightclub and was freed after six months. Already at odds over its nuclear tests and missile launches, North Korea in July called new U.S. sanctions aimed directly at Kim Jong Un and other top leaders for human rights abuses the equivalent of declaring war, and diplomats inquiring about Warmbier and a Korean-American also being held have been told they were being treated under "wartime law." It's not clear what that means, although it could imply tougher treatment. The United States doesn't have diplomatic relations with North Korea. Story continues North Korea has refused repeated Associated Press requests in Pyongyang to speak with Warmbier. The Warmbier family and people in contact with them have been cautious about commenting on the sensitive situation. A spokeswoman for Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich said he continues to be "very concerned" about Warmbier and discussed him during a White House visit in late 2016. The spokeswoman, Emmalee Kalmbach, said Kasich has encouraged U.S. authorities to keep the Warmbier family informed. Warmbier's parents said after his public confession last February that they hadn't been able to communicate with him, and his father, Fred, expressed hope his son's "sincere apology" would persuade North Korea to allow him to come home. The statement was released through the University of Virginia. Although there has been scant news on Warmbier since his sentencing, his situation could re-emerge as Donald Trump's administration begins dealing with North Korea. He has said he will push China to exert its influence on North Korea to bring it into line, but Trump also said during his presidential campaign that he would be willing to meet with Kim Jong Un. There's little doubt North Korea would like to use Warmbier to get a U.S. president to travel to "kowtow and ask for him back," said Boston University Professor Emeritus Walter Clemens, whose extensive writings on North Korea include two books. But there's always the hope that such a meeting could open a way to improving current tensions, he said. "It's obviously very terrible for the family and for Mr. Warmbier," said Clemens, a Cincinnati native. "But he could conceivably be the bridge for establishing a rapprochement between the United States and North Korea." University spokesman Anthony P. de Bruyn said he wasn't aware of any recent family statements, adding that he's not a spokesman for them. "The university continues to closely follow the unfortunate situation involving Otto Warmbier and remains in regular contact with the Warmbier family," he said by email. U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, of the Cincinnati area, said: "I continue to stay in close touch with the family as well as the administration, and hope that Otto will be released soon." ___ Associated Press writers Matthew Pennington in Washington and Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul contributed to this report. Follow Dan Sewell at http://www.twitter.com/dansewell. For some of his other stories: http://bigstory.ap.org/content/dan-sewell A Washington couple who owns a photography business is raising eyebrows with a mock T-Rex engagement photo shoot to prove love isnt extinct. Photographers Greg Basel and Maria Adams came up with the idea after they realized much of what they see in the media is bad news. Read: 8-Year-Old Carried Life-Sized Cardboard Cutout of Michael Jordan to Supermarket, School The main reason we did this where we live in Washington state, theres news about killings every day, so we wanted to do something fun that would put smiles on peoples faces, Basel told InsideEdition.com. The couple got two of their friends to dress up in the dinosaur costumes and shot the pictures in an hour. It was really fun. We went down by a river spot and we had a blast, Basel said. Read: Pranksters Scare Workers With Realistic Dinosaur in 'Jurassic Carpark' The photos feature the dinosaurs holding hands, kissing, and gazing into each others eyes. "With everything going on in the world right now we wanted to let everyone know that someone does love you no matter who are," Basel said. Watch: High School Senior Wins Homecoming Queen Dressed as Tyrannosaurus Rex Related Articles: Caracas (AFP) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday named a lawmaker as the country's new central bank chief, after reportedly pushing out the former head as the country struggles through a deep economic crisis. Speaking on his weekly television program, Maduro announced he was nominating Ricardo Sanguino to take over from Nelson Merentes, who had handed in his resignation. "I would like to thank Nelson Merentes for all the effort he has made at various battlefronts, but I want us to initiate a new stage in the development of the Central Bank of Venezuela," the left-wing leader declared. Merentes had been under intense pressure after the central bank bungled the recent release of bigger denomination banknotes. According to local press, Maduro himself had asked Merentes to resign. He said he has great confidence in Sanguino, 73, a longtime political player who has headed the budget committee in Venezuela's National Assembly among other key posts. Maduro did not directly mention the currency crisis, but speculation has been rife in recent days that the botched notes release could be the final straw, costing Merentes his job. Venezuela is considered to have the highest inflation rate in the world, making its smaller banknotes virtually worthless. The 100-bolivar note had been the highest denomination until recently, but was worth only a few US cents. Caracas released new, bigger denomination banknotes last week to aid citizens struggling with unwieldy wads of cash to pay for everyday purchases. The notes were meant to be released in December but got delayed, causing chaos as Venezuelans queued up anxiously to change their bills. - 'Catastrophic' - Automatic cash machines, in another snafu, were not yet dispensing the new money because they had not been programmed to handle the bigger notes. Inflation in Venezuela is projected to soar to a mind-boggling 1,660 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. Story continues The socialist president has admitted that the situation is "catastrophic," and ruled all of 2016 under an emergency economic decree -- renewed last week -- that grants him discretion to manage state resources. It also removed the legislature's power to approve the appointment of central bank directors as well as the national budget. At the same time, it gave the central bank authority to grant or finance loans to the state and to public or private entities when the president considers that an emergency situation exists. Maduro said signing the decree was necessary after a Venezuelan investigation found that billions of bolivars, in bills of 100, were stashed away by international mafias, mainly in Colombian cities but also in Brazil. Asked to explain his views on the role of the central bank, Sanguino said Sunday that they "were the creation of the global capitalist system, which were created with a concept of autonomy that is even above the role of the head of state." Like Maduro, Sanguino has blamed Venezuela's crisis on an economic war waged by right-wing businessmen, and stressed that the central bank must be at the service of the people. Television views for the swearing-in ceremony of Donald Trump turned out to be 30.6 million viewers across 12 networks, marketing firm Nielsen estimated, a number that is less than former President Barack Obama's first inauguration in 2009. The ratings come as the 45th president of the United States hit back at media reports that claimed the crowd at the inauguration Friday was less than that at Obama's. According to Nielsen, inauguration ratings were the second-highest in three decades but fell short of Obamas record-setting 37.8 million viewers at his 2009 inauguration and also Ronald Reagan's 41.8 million viewers in 1981. However, Trump's inauguration might have been seen by more viewers than either Obama or Reagan as Nielsen ratings do not account for online viewing. On Saturday, Trump slammed what he called the "dishonest" media for sharing "false" photos of the size of the crowd at his inauguration. The 70-year-old said that TV footage and photos of his inauguration had given a wrong picture. "It looked like a million and a half people" there on Friday, he said, blaming the media for releasing reports that there were as few as 250,000 people. He also claimed that the crowd extended all the way back to the Washington Monument. However, this claim was contradicted by aerial shots from the day. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer also issued a statement about the size of the crowd. "This was the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period. Both in person and around the globe," he said. "These attempts to lessen the enthusiasm about the inauguration are shameful and wrong." On Saturday, Trump's new administration came under fire with millions in the U.S. and around the world carrying out rallies against the new president. The largest U.S. rally was in the capital Washington, D.C., with more than 500,000 people, a number that reportedly surpassed the crowd at Friday's inauguration. Related Articles These superheroes are getting involved in the action off screen political action, that is. Many familiar faces from both the Marvel and DC universes attended the Womens March on Washington and the sister marches in various cities Saturday. They were protesting President Donald Trumps positions on various social issues. Melissa Benoist caught the most attention with her strongly worded sign. The Supergirl star referenced both her Girl of Steel character and Donald Trumps comments about inappropriately grabbing women. Supergirl producer Sarah Schechter noted that this was the first time Benoist asked for time off. She flew from the Vancouver set to Washington, D.C. Scarlett Johansson, who is set to start filming Avengers: Infinity War soon, also drew attention when she spoke out at the Washington march. Her speech supported Planned Parenthood, a cause she has often spoken up for, and she addressed Trump directly. I ask you to support all women and our fight for equality in all things, including the fight to be recognized as individuals who know better for ourselves what is right for our bodies, better than any elected official, popular or otherwise, the Black Widow actress told the crowd. Some casts attended marches together. Marvels Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. stars Chloe Bennet and Natalia Cordova-Buckley, who play Quake and Yo-Yo, headed to Washington together as well. Similarly, DCs Legends of Tomorrow and The Flash stars attended together. Caity Lotz (White Canary), Arthur Darvill (Rip Hunter), Danielle Panabaker (Killer Frost), Carlos Valdes (Vibe) and Keiynan Lonsdale (Kid Flash) showed their solidarity at the Vancouver sister march. One of the Defenders was in Los Angeles. Krysten Ritter, who will plays the titular character in Jessica Jones and will reprise her role in this summers The Defenders, is vocal about her love for knitting, so its not surprising that she showed up wearing a pussyhat. Story continues Brie Larson, who will likely make her debut as Captain Marvel in Avengers: Infinitely War, was spotted wearing similar pink knitwear in Washington. X-Men actors joined marches too. Anna Paquin, who played Rogue, marched with her True Blood co-star Dennis OHare. Many men from the Marvel and DC universes showed solidarity on social media. A few of them attended as well. Mark Ruffalo, who will reprise his role as the Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok, walked in the New York Womens March. Ian McKellen, who played Magneto in the X-Men films, attended a sister march in London. He held up a sign of his good friend Sir Patrick Stewart during the event. Gabriel Luna, who joined Marvels Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as Ghost Rider earlier this season, also posted a photo from the march he attended. Scarlett Johansson Women's March Photo: Getty Images Related Articles London (AFP) - British Prime Minister Theresa May faces a landmark court ruling on Tuesday that could put a dent in her Brexit plans by handing control of the process to restive lawmakers. The Supreme Court will decide whether she can use her executive power to begin formal talks on leaving the EU, or whether she must seek prior approval from parliament. The 11 judges are widely expected to back an earlier High Court ruling that the magnitude of Brexit means the process to instigate it can only be introduced through formal legislation. May has promised to trigger Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon treaty, beginning two years of divorce talks, by the end of March. In the event they lose the case, ministers are preparing to rush emergency legislation through the Houses of Commons and Lords. Opponents would almost certainly table amendments to try to tie the government's hand in negotiations, for example on the rights of EU citizens already in Britain. But the vote on Article 50 should pass, because although May has only a slim majority, the main opposition Labour party has agreed not to block it. The Supreme Court ruling may yet create further complications, including whether the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland must approve May's plans. And this week May promised parliament a vote on the final Brexit deal -- raising the prospect, however remote, that MPs could reject it. - 'A proper process' - The original High Court decision in November drew outrage from Brexit supporters, who accused the claimants of trying to undo the result of last June's EU referendum. One tabloid newspaper condemned the judges as "Enemies of the People" -- and tensions are still running high. But Jo Murkens, associate law professor at the London School of Economics, said the case was about the limits of the government's "royal prerogative" powers. "It would be much easier if the prime minister could just do as she pleased using prerogative power. The problem is that the courts have not allowed that since the 17th century," he told AFP. Story continues He said a ruling against the government would be unlikely to bind its hands, but would clarify "there is a proper process and it's (through) parliament". "If you've got a majority then you're in the clear -- but if you don't have a majority you've got a political problem," he told AFP. The majority of MPs campaigned against Brexit, but most now accept it will happen -- and that the process will begin within weeks. May's announcement this week that she would pull Britain out of Europe's single market has galvanised some of her critics, however. Dozens of Labour MPs may defy their leader Jeremy Corbyn and vote against the government. The Scottish National Party (SNP), which has 54 MPs in the 650-seat House of Commons, is also firmly against Brexit. But Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, said opposition among May's own MPs had all but disappeared in recent weeks. "It's quite difficult to see her running into too much trouble now," he told AFP. "Her biggest problem is not the people behind her or in front of her in the Commons. Her biggest problem is the 27 heads of government who she has to negotiate with." - 'No man's land' - The SNP could cause more trouble if the court rules that the devolved nations must agree to start Brexit talks, as the party controls the government in Edinburgh. The situation may also change if the economic outlook worsens, and public opinion turns against the government by the time MPs vote on a final deal. Losing such a vote would likely force a general election, but if the EU refuses to agree to more negotiations, it could also see Britain leaving with no deal at all. Some have argued that in such an eventuality, Britain could revoke its Article 50 notification, thereby cancelling Brexit. "If parliament votes it down, then we're in no man's land," said Murkens. Ministers refused to speculate on the future vote but Brexit minister David Davis said that Britain would be leaving the EU regardless. "The vote will not change that," he said. By Kylie MacLellan LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May promised on Sunday to challenge any "unacceptable" talk when she meets President Donald Trump later this week, as she tries to secure Britain's "special relationship" with the new U.S. administration. May, Britain's second female premier, made the comments after thousands of women marched in London on Saturday to protest about Trump's attitude to women, joining demonstrations held in major cities across the globe. She told the BBC she would use Friday's meeting in Washington to discuss issues including future U.S.-UK trading relations, following Trump's promise to put "America first" in his inauguration speech on Friday. Since Britons voted last year to leave the European Union, May's government has been keen to deepen ties with the United States and other nations outside Europe to show that Brexit will not diminish its standing in the world. May indicated she would not shy away from any difficult issues, when asked about the controversy over Trump's comments on women. This erupted last year during the presidential election campaign over a 2005 video in which he boasted about grabbing women's genitals. "I've already said that some of the comments that Donald Trump has made in relation to women are unacceptable, some of those he himself has apologised for," May said. "When I sit down (with Trump) I think the biggest statement that will be made about the role of women is the fact that I will be there as a female prime minister," she said. "Whenever there is something that I find unacceptable I won't be afraid to say that to Donald Trump." Trump's election has raised questions over the future of the so-called "special relationship" that has underpinned close British-American ties for decades, but the new U.S. leader has said he believes Brexit will be "a great thing". May, who initially struggled to build relations with Trump's team, said she would also use the meeting to discuss the NATO defence alliance and challenges such as defeating terrorism and the conflict in Syria. COUP FOR MAY Becoming one of the first world leaders to meet with Trump following his inauguration will be viewed as a coup for May, who was perceived to have been snubbed by the billionaire following his election when he spoke first to nine other world leaders. She will be trying to improve relations with Trump after he irritated the British government by meeting Nigel Farage, an outspoken anti-EU campaigner and critic of May, and saying he would be a good choice for Britain's ambassador to Washington. Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn cast doubt on whether Trump, who has promised to protect American jobs and industry from foreign imports, would offer Britain much. "There were no signs of any special relationship in Donald Trump's inauguration speech. Quite the opposite, it was 'America first, America only'," he told Sky News. "The idea that Donald Trump is suddenly going to roll over and offer some trade deal with Britain which doesnt have strings attached ... I think she needs to be extremely careful." British newspapers were divided on the visit, with the Sunday Telegraph reporting Trump calls May "My Maggie", referring to her predecessor Margaret Thatcher, who enjoyed a close relationship with her U.S. counterpart Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. The front page of the Mail on Sunday however, ran the headline: "Cut out your sexist insults, Mr President". Brexit supporters have cheered comments by Trump that he wants to arrange a swift bilateral trade deal with Britain, but others have cautioned his protectionist policies make an agreement which is good for Britain unlikely. The Telegraph also reported plans were underway for a state visit to Britain later this year by Trump, who has played up his ancestral ties to Britain, saying in an interview this month that his Scottish mother was "so proud" of Queen Elizabeth. (Additional reporting by William James; Editing by Mark Potter and David Stamp) By Michael O'Boyle IXMIQUILPAN, MEXICO (Reuters) - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U.S. President Donald Trump will meet at the end of this month to discuss trade, immigration and security issues, as the Latin American leader faces increased populist pressure at home. Trump's spokesman Sean Spicer told a news conference on Saturday that the two leaders will meet on Jan. 31, the week after senior officials of both administrations hold bilateral talks in Washington. Trump is committed to renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and would move to withdraw if no "fair deal" is forthcoming, according to the White House website. Pena Nieto, whose popularity has plummeted due to corruption scandals and rising inflation, has been criticized for lacking a clear strategy to counter Trump's threats to crimp trade and deport illegal immigrants. Seeking to capitalize on that discontent, Mexican 2018 presidential forerunner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Saturday said he would tour major U.S. cities starting in February. "Enough of being passive," Lopez Obrador of the leftist Moreno party said in a statement. "We should put a national emergency plan in place to face the damage and reverse the protectionist policies of Donald Trump." Lopez Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor mounting his third presidential bid, said at a rally in the border city of Ciudad Acuna that he would "stop the hate promoted by propaganda against migrants." Many in Mexico are worried about another Trump promise, that he will make Mexico pay for a border wall, possibly by blocking wire transfers out of the United States from Mexican nationals. "We shouldn't pay for the wall," said Christina Validez, waiting to pick up a wire transfer from her husband in the United States at a bank in Ixmiquilpan. "It's the other way around, all United States presidents should be grateful that all the migrants have helped the economy." The area around Ixmiquilpan, in the central state of Hidalgo and home to some 94,000 people, received about $100 million in foreign remittances in 2015, according to data from Mexico's central bank, more than 10 times the municipal government's annual budget. Validez said she depends on the money sent back to make ends meet and she complained about "everything" becoming more expensive after the government hiked regular gasoline prices by 14 percent at the start of the year. Looting and violent protests followed the gasoline hike around the country. Two people died in Ixmiquilpan in clashes with state and federal police after protesters blockaded a highway and burnt vehicles. On Saturday, Mexicans, many with relatives in the United States, queued for hours outside a bank located in an appliance store in Ixmiquilpan's town center. The store had cut back hours, opening only briefly, to process wire transfers and payments after protesters angry about the gasoline hike forced the closure of stores owned by big corporations, demanding support of local businesses. Stores in the town owned by Wal-Mart and convenience store operator Femsa were forced to close and were still shuttered two weeks later. On Friday, people gathered outside a Ford Motor Co showroom in the capital to protest the company's cancellation of a $1.6 billion investment in an auto plant in Mexico after months of pressure from Trump. During his U.S. tour, Lopez Obrador, who finished second to Pena Nieto in the 2012 presidential vote, plans to meet people of Mexican origin living in major cities, starting Feb. 12 in Los Angeles, then to Chicago, Phoenix and others. Pena Nieto said earlier on Saturday that he highlighted the importance of the U.S.-Mexico relationship on a call with Trump. "We don't know if the government is defending us, if it's with us or not," said Margarita Escamilla, a legal resident in the United States from Ixmiquilpan visiting family. Lopez Obrador "is like all of them, saying he's going to defend migrants but who knows ... they promise and promise and it stays the same," she said. (Writing by Christine Murray and Michael O'Boyle, editing by Cynthia Osterman and Simon Cameron-Moore) * 9 pulled from rubble, 11 known to have survived * Rescuers dig in rubble and snow for 23 missing (adds estimate of missing, hospital director, quake background, rescue worker) By Antonio Denti PENNE, Italy, Jan 21 (Reuters) - A total of nine people have been pulled alive from the rubble of a hotel demolished on Wednesday by an avalanche in central Italy, although officials said five have died and an estimated 23 more are still missing. Fireman dug the survivors, including four children, from beneath tons of snow and debris at the Hotel Rigopiano on Friday and Saturday, moving cautiously for fear that air pockets left when it was razed by a tsunami of snow might collapse. Police said they found one of the survivors and three of the victims in the dark by tracing their mobile phone signals. One man's body was recovered on Saturday morning in the ruins of the four-storey hotel in a remote valley in the Abruzzo region, after those of two women were found overnight. All nine survivors are in good condition in hospital in nearby Pescara, and only one required surgery, hospital director Rossano Di Luzio said. Alberto Maiolo, a fireman working at the scene, said rescuers could hear noises from under the rubble and were trying to work out what was causing them. He said the number of people believed to be missing could change. "We can hear noises and we hope they are due to people trying to alert us to where they are, but they are also caused by the snow melting, movement in the collapsed structure," Maiolo told SkyTG24 television. WEATHER BAD Snow kept falling in sub-zero temperatures during the rescue operation in the Gran Sasso park, where the avalanche spread debris for hundreds of metres. "The weather is really bad, it's been snowing since about 4 a.m," said Alpine emergency service worker Walter Milan. Two people who were outside the hotel when the wall of snow struck were rescued on Thursday. The avalanche came hours after a series of strong tremors struck the area, which was devastated by deadly quakes last year, and had been grappling with heavy snowfall. Story continues Smaller tremors continued in the region on Saturday. Five registered at or above magnitude 3.0 but none reached 4.0, according to Italy's National Institute for Geophysics and Vulcanology (INGV). Central Italy has trembled with more than 48,200 seismic events since a quake razed the town of Amatrice last August, killing 300 people, INGV said. A further five people have been found dead elsewhere in the Abruzzo since the double blow of snow and quakes, the national civil protection agency said. Rescue teams would continue to work night and day until everyone was accounted for, national fire service spokesman Luca Cari said. (Additional reporting by Crispian Balmer; Writing by Isla Binnie; Editing by Toby Chopra and Alexander Smith) A professor of political science in Connecticut has aggregated the data from public reports of crowd sizes at the womens marches across America on Saturday and reached an astonishing conclusion: More than 1 in every 100 people in the U.S. turned out to march against Donald Trump and for womens rights on the second day of his presidency. Drawing on reports of 526 different marches in towns as disparate as Wichita Falls, Texas reported turnout: 150 people and Washington, D.C. reported turnout: more than 500,000 University of Connecticut professor Jeremy Pressman, working with international relations professor Erica Chenoweth from the University of Denver, estimated that 3,341,823 to 4,611,782 people turned out to march across the nation. The Census Bureau estimated that the U.S. population as of mid-2016 was 323,127,513. The overall number is bigger than I expected, Pressman told Yahoo News about his findings on the protest crowds. With a low estimate its a little bit above 1 percent, and with a higher estimate, its probably closer to 1 1/2 percent. The Associated Press had reported late Saturday that more than 1 million people rallied at womens marches in the nations capital and cities around the world. On Sunday it became clear the global number had to be higher than that, as the low-end estimates from just four major American cities pushed the total marcher count to nearly 1 million. In Washington, organizers released a crowd estimate of more than 500,000 early on Saturday morning that was confirmed by city officials on Sunday, and the local Metro authority told the New York Times Sunday that it had logged more than 1 million individual entries into the underground rail system over the course of the day the second-highest number ever, after Barack Obamas 2009 inauguration day, which saw 1.12 million entries. Independent crowd scientists studied pictures from the scene for the Times and concluded turnout was at least 470,000 at 2 p.m. Saturday, or three times as many as had attended Trumps inauguration the day before. Story continues Protesters crowd the National Mall in Washington during the Womens March on Saturday. (Photo: Zach Gibson/AFP/Getty Images) In California, the Los Angeles Times reported that city police estimated well past 100,000 people turned out to protest in the states most populous city, while protest organizers put the number at 750,000. (Pressman and Chenowith are putting the lower bound at 200,000.) Another 250,000 people rallied in Chicago, according to local march organizers, and the New York City mayors office estimated that 400,000 turned out to chant against the president in Trumps hometown. Pressman and Chenoweth have been publicly sharing a Google spreadsheet theyve been using to collect reports on the turnout for hundreds of other womens marches in America and around the world. Pressman starting to collect figures Saturday morning after posting a query on Twitter asking, Is there an excel spreadsheet totaling all the marchers in different cities today? There wasnt, so he started one. People started tweeting at him with links to news reports on their smaller local marches, as well as emailing pictures and firsthand reports. Chenoweth added many estimates being shared from smaller marches on Facebook, where in some cases the crowds were so small they could be counted one by one. Weve listed several hundred protests and marches across the country. Ive been really struck by that. Some of them are small, said Pressman about the extent what of organizers called sister marches. The main march was in D.C. Womens March organizers logged reports of 678 sister marches around the world, with an estimated total of 4,814,000 marchers worldwide. The professors also have gathered reports of marches where the only source for the number of marchers was a direct report from the marchers themselves, with no public-record documentation to back that up. They have listed those cities but not listed or counted them when adding up their numbers, leaving those cities with a blank cell in their spreadsheet. Were being more conservative with the numbers than with the locations, explained Pressman. The document, for now, is a work in progress, with the final tally likely to fluctuate as more cities receive formal crowd size estimates, which can sometimes take a few days to be ascertained. Read more from Yahoo News: _____ Related slideshows: Slideshow: Womens March on Washington D.C. >>> Slideshow: Womens March around the world >>> Slideshow: How newspapers covered Presidents Trump inauguration >>> Slideshow: Anti-Trump inauguration protests break out in U.S. >>> Slideshow: Protests worldwide against the inauguration of Donald Trump >>> Slideshow: Obamas Washington >>> Slideshow: Donald Trumps Inauguration Day >>> Slideshow: 66 hands on 66 Bibles >>> _____ Mosul (Iraq) (AFP) - Iraqi forces used to facing deserted, explosives-rigged streets and booby-trapped buildings have not encountered as many bombs planted by jihadists in Mosul as they did in earlier battles against them. The Islamic State group has no qualms about killing civilians, but the presence of a large number of residents in Iraq's second city discouraged the jihadists from extensively sowing it with explosives, officers say. While previous urban battlefields in Iraq's war against IS were largely depopulated by the time the country's forces moved in, Mosul still sheltered a million-plus people when the offensive to retake it was launched three months ago. If explosives had been widely planted by the jihadists ahead of the battle, they would have been at risk of being triggered before Iraqi forces arrived. So while the systematic mining of roads and rigging of buildings with bombs has arguably been IS's signature defence system against Iraqi forces, in Mosul, the jihadists had to change tack. Iraqi forces have seen less booby-trapping in Mosul than in Anbar and Salaheddin provinces, where earlier key battles against IS took place, said Staff Lieutenant General Abdulghani al-Assadi, a top commander in the elite Counter-Terrorism Service. "The reason is the families remained in their neighbourhoods, in their houses," Assadi said. Some residents of the city have ventured out of their homes just moments after the fighting died down, and in recaptured areas of eastern Mosul, stores are reopening, goods are displayed in front of shops, civilian cars and pedestrians move along some streets and children play outside. - 'No comparison' - Staff Lieutenant General Sami al-Aridhi, another senior CTS commander, said there was "no comparison" between the number of bombs planted in Mosul and those in Anbar province, where Iraqi forces retook the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah from IS. There are fewer because "here in Mosul, the residents didn't leave," Aridhi said. Story continues "Now, when we advance into any neighbourhood, we don't think that the street is booby-trapped; our vehicles move normally." IS needed civilians in Mosul to maintain at least the veneer of a functioning "state," and extensively planting bombs that could be triggered by residents would have both reduced their defensive utility and risked stoking popular anger against the jihadists. This does not mean that IS has completely forgone the use of bombs in Mosul. It is a "change of strategy" for IS, said Captain Qaisar Fawzi, an officer in an Iraqi army engineering battalion. "They did not rely on roadside bombs, they relied on explosives-rigged vehicles," he added. Vehicles rigged with bombs "are indeed the enemy's weapon of choice in the battle of Mosul," said Colonel John Dorrian, spokesman for the US-led anti-IS coalition. But, according to Assadi, in "important areas, the residents were displaced... and (IS) started to booby-trap them." Lise Grande, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, said that bombs planted by IS have still posed a threat to civilians. "People who are trying to flee Mosul... have stepped on booby-traps and IEDs (improvised explosive devices)," killing some and wounding others, Grande said. - Civilians obstacle to both sides - And "based on experiences from other occupied areas, we're worried that IEDs have been planted by (IS) in schools, hospitals and other public buildings," she said. The large numbers of civilians in Mosul have also hampered Iraqi offensive operations. Aridhi said that while security forces could previously strike IS from a distance, "here, we are not able to use any fire, because citizens are present." "We are delayed because people are present," he said. Assadi agreed, saying that there is "little booby-trapping, few bombs, but (many) citizens whom we must protect." Iraqi forces do however still use heavy weapons in Mosul: helicopters and warplanes have frequently carried out strikes inside the city, and artillery as well as large unguided rockets are fired inside it. The combination of civilians staying in the city and the lower number of bombs planted inside it means life has returned to some recaptured areas in Mosul far quicker than in other cities retaken from IS. Parts of Ramadi and Fallujah are still uninhabitable, but while some houses and buildings in Mosul have been wrecked and streets are cratered by bombs and strewn with rubble, other places have escaped largely unharmed. "The booby-trapping began after the start of the Mosul operation," said resident Raed Mohammed, speaking to AFP at a roundabout in the city's east where street vendors were out selling goods, but which was still overlooked by an IS billboard and marred by damaged buildings. People were going about their daily lives before that and, had the jihadists extensively planted bombs, "it's likely that they themselves would have been exposed to explosions." By Yimou Lee and Antoni Slodkowski PANGSAN, Myanmar (Reuters) - In a remote casino in northeastern Myanmar, China's pervasive campaign against graft has taken its toll. Hundreds of local traders and farmers place petty bets as low as 10 cents, outnumbering a few Chinese who were once the VIPs of a gambling hall decorated with chandeliers and Renaissance-style paintings. "The business has been really bad since Chinese tourists stopped coming," said casino waitress Ling Ling who was considering leaving Pangsan, capital of the self-proclaimed Wa State that borders China, to look for better paying jobs. The three-story gambling parlor, with some 1,000 workers, offers games from jackpot slot machines to high-stakes VIP rooms featuring bets of up to $16,000. It is deep in the Wa hills in one of Asia's poorest regions, where its majority ethnic Wa farmers earn an annual income of $115. In the statelet the size of Belgium controlled by the United Wa State Army (UWSA), Myanmar's strongest ethnic armed group, the once bustling gambling industry is not the only casualty from the falling number of high-roller mainland punters. From shopkeepers to moto-taxi drivers, local people said Beijing's tightening of visas for Chinese gamblers traveling to the Wa in recent years - part of the anti-corruption campaign launched by President Xi Jinping - has cast a shadow on livelihoods in the reclusive territory. The Wa State is now trying to diversify its economy, which relies heavily on China as a market for its exports of rubber and metals such as tin. [nL4N1DU1ND] Reuters visited the rugged territory in October - a rare trip by a major international news organization that offered a glimpse into the Chinese-speaking statelet of 600,000 people that is beyond the control of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi's government. POPPY ERADICATION The Wa State took shape in 1989, after the Communist Party of Burma disintegrated following a purge by Wa leaders. The 30,000-strong UWSA signed a ceasefire with the Myanmar army shortly afterwards and the two sides have not fought in years. Wa leaders say the region, which used to grow opium on a vast scale, underwent an eradication campaign against the plant used for production of heroin more than a decade ago. Poppy fields were replaced by plantations, mostly rubber, as well as coffee and tea, they say. [nL3N1CC1L5] Many plantations are backed by investors from China, alongside businessmen connected to the Wa State leadership. Their "state-supported private companies", as described by several Wa leaders, control key businesses in the territory from gasoline to mining. "I hope there is more foreign investment so that I can diversify my business," said C Yang, son of a UWSA commander who owns a rubber plantation of 132 acres. The stocky 25-year-old is typical of the wealthy, if narrow, Wa elite. The rubber plantation affords him a comfortable life in a mansion overlooking Pangsan, and fancy gadgets such as the newest model of iPhone and a fine-tuned Toyota Hilux truck. All these goods are unattainable for regular citizens in Wa, where life expectancy, at 60, is 5 years below Myanmar and 16 years behind neighboring China. Some Wa farmers rely on a World Food Programme (WFP) operation to supplement what they can produce. The agency, active throughout the area which has also experienced outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases such as tuberculosis, had planned to deliver 152 metric tons of food last year through its community asset creation program. "We don't have enough doctors and we are in need for medicines. We need help from the international community," said Tun Kyi, who oversees the Wa Healthcare Bureau. NO OPPORTUNITIES The Wa education program is in an equally poor state. The illiteracy rate stands at 90 percent, with 83 percent of adults having less than a year of schooling or none at all, according to a 2008 report by Health Poverty Action. That is in sharp contrast to Myanmar's illiteracy rate of less than 5 percent, based on data from the United Nations. Business owners and the Wa political elite send their children to China for schooling. "Their parents want them to learn Chinese and to work in China, because children educated in Wa schools can't join the Chinese education system and have no opportunities," said Wa Wa Myint, a teacher at an elementary school of 700. Back in downtown Pangsan, bright, neon signs dangling from low-rise hotels, massage parlors and bars light up the main street a few minutes walk from a border crossing with China. A rowdy birthday party is under way in a two-story karaoke lounge that resembles a Roman temple, with life-size sculptures by its gate. In a VIP room with a giant screen playing Chinese pop songs, a Wa woman, wearing jade-dotted earrings and a ruby ring, offers her guests China-imported beer, red wine and locally-made liquor. The hostess challenges her guests to drink as much as they can. "You can't go home without getting drunk," she says. "This is how we party in Wa." (Additional reporting by Shwe Yee Saw Myint; Editing by Alex Richardson) JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Sunday that U.S. President Donald Trump had invited him to a meeting in Washington in February. The two leaders had a phone conversation which the statement described as "very warm". In Washington, Trump, who took office on Friday, said his phone call with Netanyahu had been "very nice." He was asked about the call by reporters after delivering remarks at a ceremony swearing in his top advisers at the White House. The statement from Netanyahu's office said "the Prime Minister expressed his desire to work closely with President Trump to forge a common vision to advance peace and security in the region, with no gaps between the United States and Israel." It said the two discussed the nuclear deal with Iran, the peace process with the Palestinians and other issues. It added that a date for their meeting would be set in the coming days. (Writing by Ori Lewis; editing by Andrew Roche) Vienna (AFP) - Oil producers said Sunday that their landmark December deal to slash output by almost two million barrels per day was on track, as they met to review progress. "Compliance is great, it's been really fantastic," Khaled al-Falih, energy minister of oil behemoth Saudi Arabia, was quoted by Bloomberg as saying. "Based on everything I know, I think it's been one of the best agreements we've had for a long time," he said in Vienna. He added that he hoped all countries would reach full compliance next month and forecast that brimming global oil stocks would return to normal levels by mid-year. The December 10 accord, valid from January 1 for six months, obliges 24 countries inside and outside the OPEC group to cut production by 1.8 million bpd between them. The aim is to reduce a global glut that has depressed oil prices and blown a huge hole in the public finances of producer nations, despite being good news for consumers. Markets initially welcomed the accord in December, sending oil prices up to an 18-month high of $58. But they have since slipped back on concerns countries may not stick to their commitments -- as has happened under previous deals. Falih he said however that producers have already removed 1.5 million bpd from the market, more than 80 percent of their collective target. And Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Moscow was "ahead of schedule" and "doing our best to maximise participation" in the agreement, Bloomberg reported. Russia has reduced production by an average of 100,000 bpd, a milestone it had not expected to reach until next month, Novak said. Russia has said it would make a daily reduction of 300,000 barrels by April or May. Saudi Arabia has already exceeded its target with an output reduction of more than 500,000 bpd, Falih said, while Algeria and Kuwait have also cut to levels beyond their targets, Bloomberg reported. Other OPEC members such as Iraq and Venezuela have not yet reached their quotas but say they are more than halfway there. Story continues OPEC's total production fell by 221,000 bpd to 33.1 million bpd in December, according to secondary sources data in OPEC's monthly report published last week. Under the deal it agreed to reduce output to 32.5 million bpd. However that includes about 740,000 bpd from former member Indonesia, Bloomberg said. - Extension 'unlikely' - The deal is renewable for an additional six months but Falih said earlier this month that an extension was "unlikely". To track compliance, the producers have created a Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) which met Sunday for the first time. A statement published afterwards said that the JMMC "expressed its satisfaction regarding the strong level of commitment to the agreed framework". The gathering focused mostly on how compliance will be assessed, agreeing to produce regular reports and updates and share analyses among producers. "We started to trust each other better, which is just as important as the market re-balancing, Novak said. "One year ago not many believed in the success of this initiative." By Rania El Gamal and Vladimir Soldatkin VIENNA (Reuters) - OPEC and non-OPEC countries have made a strong start to lowering their oil output under the first such pact in more than a decade, energy ministers said on Sunday as producers look to reduce oversupply and support prices. "The deal is a success ...All the countries are sticking to the deal ...(the) results are above expectations," Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said after the first meeting of a committee set up to monitor the deal. Ministers said 1.5 million of almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) had been taken out of the market already. Countries involved in the deal could reduce their output by 1.7 million bpd by the end of the month, Interfax news agency quoted Novak as saying. Eleven of OPEC's 13 members along with 11 non-OPEC countries have agreed to make cuts for the first half of the year. OPEC members Nigeria and Libya, both suffering setbacks in production, were given exemptions. "The Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia] has taken the initiative and other countries took part in very significant actions," Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told reporters following the meeting. "Despite demand usually being lower in the first quarter in winter, the actions taken by the Kingdom and many other countries has impacted the market in a tangible way and we have seen the impact in spot prices," al-Falih said. Brent oil prices that fell to $27.10 a barrel a year ago have held above $50 per barrel since OPEC producers agreed on Dec. 10 to lower output in the first half of 2017. The cuts are aimed at reducing a global glut in oil that has weighed on oil prices for more than two years. Falih said implementation of agreed cuts had been "fantastic" and he hoped for 100 percent compliance in February. "We will not accept anything less than 100 percent compliance," Kuwaiti oil minister Essam Al-Marzouq, who chairs the five-member ministerial compliance committee, told a news conference. Story continues The other members of the committee represent Algeria, Venezuela, Russia and Oman. Venezuela has achieved more than half of its planned 95,000 bpd cut, Oil Minister Nelson Martinez told reporters. SHRINKING INVENTORIES Full compliance could take global oil inventories back close to their five-year average by mid-2017, lowering oil in storage by around 300 million barrels, Falih said. "[There are] no surprises so far in terms of demand or supply from other sources so there is no reason for us to suddenly come in January and say we need a bigger reduction or a longer period," he said. Saudi Arabia is producing slightly below 10 million bpd and has informed buyers of substantial cuts scheduled for next month, he said. Russia has cut its oil output by around 100,000 bpd, Novak said, double what was originally planned. He said Russian oil production had averaged around 11.15 million bpd this month. He told reporters it was too early to talk about extending the current deal beyond the planned six months but that remained an option. "Everyone sees that the agreements on oil production cuts have already have a positive effect on oil markets. The market has become more stable and predictable," Novak said. NEXT MEETING On Sunday it was agreed that a technical joint committee (JTC) would be created comprising a representative for each of the five members of the monitoring committee and as well as the OPEC presidency, which is currently held by Saudi Arabia. The JTC will cooperate with the OPEC Secretariat in compiling production data which will be presented to the ministerial monitoring committee by the 17th of every month, OPEC said in a news release. The monitoring committee will communicate after the 17th of every month and plans two meetings ahead of the next ordinary OPEC meeting in Vienna on May 25. The next meeting in March is set for Kuwait. SHALE IMPACT Ministers were also keen to highlight that any increase in high-cost U.S. shale oil production as a result of rising oil prices would be absorbed by rising demand. "We are not worried that production in the U.S. is increasing as prices go up because I think this will be absorbed by an increase in demand," Al-Marzouq said. Qatari Energy Minister Mohammed Al-Sada said with increasing demand "shale oil will all be catered for". Russia's Novak also said he was not worried about higher oil output in the United States. (Writing by Ahmad Ghaddar in London; editing by Jason Neely) Bucharest (AFP) - More than 15,000 Romanians, including President Klaus Iohannis, protested across Romania Sunday against controversial decrees that will pardon corrupt politicians and decriminalise other offences. The social-democratic government of Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu published two emergency decrees on Wednesday that will set free inmates serving sentences of up to five years for non-violent crimes. If the decrees are adopted, about 2,500 people, including several elected officials and magistrates who are behind bars after being convicted of corruption, will be released. Grindeanu wants to implement the measures through emergency ordinances that would bypass parliament and would not require Iohannis' signature. "Several political officials who have judicial issues want to change the legislation and weaken the rule of law," Iohannis said, as he stood among protesters in Bucharest. "It is unacceptable to modify the law so that the cases of dozens, even hundreds, of politicians, are wiped out," he added. Justice Minister Florin Iordache defended the proposals, saying they would help unburden overcrowded jails. Iohannis was elected in November 2014 under an anti-graft platform and urged politicians to stamp out entrenched corruption in one of Europe's poorest countries. After his election, he said he wanted a graft-free country when his term ends in 2019. On Wednesday, Iohannis attended a government meeting in the hope of stopping the decrees from being adopted. Protesters gathered near University Square in downtown Bucharest before marching to the government building, chanting "Resign" and "Democracy, not amnesty". "Why do they want to pass these laws now if not to save political officials under investigation or already sentenced?" protester Liana Dumitrescu, 74, told AFP. "They have to be stopped." In the western city of Cluj, more than 5,000 people protested against the government's willingness to "pardon corrupt political officials". Story continues About 3,000 protesters also flooded the streets of Romanian cities Brasov, Timisoara, and Iasi. Dumitrescu referred to the case of Liviu Dragnea, the social-democratic leader, who was given a two-year suspended sentence for vote-rigging. He is currently on trial for abuse of power. The measures have been heavily criticised by numerous organisations and several Romanian officials and institutions, including the attorney general Augustin Lazar, anti-corruption chief prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi, and High Court president Cristina Tarcea. In its 2015 annual report, the European Commission, which is closely monitoring justice reforms in Romania, had warned against any proposals that sought to "pardon individuals convicted on corruption charges". Melbourne (AFP) - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova shattered fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova's distant dream of a third Grand Slam title Sunday by sweeping past the veteran and into the Australian Open quarter-finals. The 6-3, 6-3 win on Rod Laver Arena put the 25-year-old into the last eight at Melbourne Park for the first time in nine attempts. A 2006 Australian Open girls champion, Pavlyuchenkova will now play either American great Venus Williams or German qualifier Mona Barthel for a place in the semi-finals. "I'm kind of in shock at the moment, but at the same time very happy" said Pavlyuchenkova. "It was really, really tough. I think both of us were nervous before and during the match." Defeat was bitter for Kuznetsova, 31, who was targeting her first Grand Slam quarter-final since the French Open in 2014 and her first major title since Roland Garros in 2009. The pair had met seven times before, with the Russian elder, seeded eight in Melbourne, winning five of them, including in the lead-up Sydney International this month. But Pavlyuchenkova was always in charge as she matched her exploits at Wimbledon last year and reached her fourth Grand Slam quarter-final. Seeded 24, she jumped out of the blocks and dominated early from the baseline, winning 12 of 14 points to race into a 3-0 lead with just eight minutes on the clock. Kuznetsova was lethargic, struggling in the blazing sun after needing more than three-and-a-half hours to get past Jelena Jankovic in the previous round. She finally got on the scoreboard as she began to find her first serve range, but Pavlyuchenkova kept pounding her with big-hitting ground strokes to break again for 5-1, courtesy of a driving forehand down the line. The more experienced Russian stayed in the hunt, clawing back a break, but Pavlyuchenkova was getting 75 percent of her first serves in and was too physical, closing out the set in just 33 minutes. She grabbed another early break in the second set, which became a dogfight as they traded breaks with Pavlyuchenkova calmly dealing with everything Kuznetsova threw at her. There was no way back for the 31-year-old, who departed her 17th Australian Open in just 68 minutes with a limp forehand into the net. MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is sending a cabinet-level delegation to Beijing this week to meet with China's Vice Premier Wang Yang and other top Chinese officials to discuss investment deals and his country's chairmanship of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year. The Jan. 23-24 trip by Philippine officials includes Duterte's finance, budget, economic, public works and transport secretaries, according to a statement from the Department of Finance on Sunday. The visit occurs three months after Duterte visited Beijing to pave the way for what he called a new commercial alliance. He has increased his overtures to China since assuming office last year while berating traditional ally the United States, a sharp change in Philippine foreign policy. The Beijing mission to court China and tap loans and business follows Duterte's pro-Filipino policy aimed at reducing the reliance on a U.S. that he says he has lost faith in. Duterte will make a second China visit in May for a bilateral summit, China's Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said after meeting with him in Manila last week. That meeting was just days after Duterte's meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Meetings during the visit will also discuss the Philippines' chairmanship of the 10-member ASEAN this year, the Department of Finance said in a statement, without elaborating. Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay said on Jan. 11 that he was confident a code of conduct in the South China Sea between ASEAN and China could be finished by mid-2017. Still, the Philippines did file a diplomatic protest with China over its installation last year of anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems on its manmade islands in the disputed waters. At this week's meeting, Philippine and Chinese officials will flesh out some $15 billion worth of investment pledges that China committed to Manila during Duterte's visit in October, the Department of Finance said. Philippine Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi is also in China to "enhance energy cooperation" between the two countries and attract investments in local energy projects, his office said in a separate statement. Japans Abe, who wants to deepen ties with Duterte amid a changing geopolitical landscape, has pledged $9 billion worth of investment and development aid for the Philippines. (Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by Christian Schmollinger) MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has stood by his police chief after calls for him to resign over the alleged killing of a South Korean businessman by police officers at the national police headquarters. Ronald Dela Rosa, a top figure in Duterte's deadly war on drugs, has the president's full support, the president's top aide, Christopher Go, told Reuters on Sunday. A number of lawmakers, including Duterte's ally, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, have called on Dela Rosa to step down after several officers were charged with kidnapping and killing Jee Ick-joo inside the headquarters in October. Dela Rosa said on Thursday he was "very angry" and "very offended" about the case. Rights groups say abuses of police power are rampant and accuse police of killing suspected drug dealers as part of Duterte's narcotics crackdown. "A genuine recognition of the root of the problem should go beyond blaming Dela Rosa, and instead condemn the drug war policy that has produced human rights violators and criminals out of the men and women of the PNP (Philippine National Police)," Senator Leila De Lima said in statement over the weekend. Police figures show more than 7,000 people have been killed during Duterte's campaign. Police deny deliberately carrying out extrajudicial killings and say deaths caused in the course of the anti-drugs campaign have been in self-defense. (Reporting by Karen Lema; editing by Andrew Roche) U.S. Customs and Border Protection said agents in Texas discovered 3,000 pounds of marijuana disguised as watermelons. The agency said it searched a shipment of fresh watermelons on January 17 and discovered the 390 "watermelons" were actually suspected marijuana packages shaped like the fruit and wrapped in green material. Read: Man Cleared of Drug Charge After Cops Mistake Kitty Litter for Meth The marijuana had an estimated worth of $600,092, according to authorities. "Smugglers continue to be creative as they attempt to introduce illegal narcotics into our country," said Port Director Efrain Solis Jr., Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry. "Our frontline CBP officers' experience, vigilance and attention to detail [prevent] the introduction of these dangerous drugs into our country." Read: Brother and Sister Arrested After $24 Million in Drug Money Is Found Stashed in Their Walls: Cops The case was handed over to Homeland Security Investigations for further scrutiny, according to police. Watch: Car Salesman Dies After Test Driver High on Drugs Crashes Into Tree: Cops Related Articles: BELFAST (Reuters) - A policeman was wounded in a shooting at a petrol station in north Belfast on Sunday evening, the police service of Northern Ireland said in a Twitter post. The BBC, citing an unidentified police source, reported that the officer was hit in the arm after a number of shots were fired. A police spokesman did not immediately return a call requesting details. Shootings of police officers in Northern Ireland have been relatively rare since a 1998 peace deal ended three decades of violence between Catholic Irish nationalists, opposed to British rule, and Protestant pro-British unionists. A prison officer died after a car bombing in Northern Ireland in March last year that was claimed by a group of militant nationalists opposed to the peace process. Northern Ireland is to hold regional elections on March 2 following the collapse of a coalition between Irish nationalists Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party. (Reporting by Amanda Ferguson; Writing by Conor Humphries; Editing by Andrew Roche) The signs were so clever. We shall overcomb. Viva la vulva. I MAKE THE BEST SIGNS I REALLY DO EVERYONE SAYS SO THEYRE TERRIFIC. Someone even made a papier-mache vagina dentata. The people were so cheerful and happy to be with one another, forgetting the cold and enjoying what often seemed less like a protest and more like a block party. There were families there, with grandmas in wheelchairs and babies in strollers. They were ecstatic and in disbelief at the number of people. The Washington Post reported that the organizers put the attendance at up to half a million. They had hoped for less than half that. It was surreal how similar this all felt, and my Russian friends on social media confirmed it: Totally Bolotnaya, one of them wrote. Bolotnaya is the square in the center of Moscow, right across the river from the Kremlin, where on December 10, 2011 around 50,000 people came out to protest fraudulent parliamentary elections. They had expected 3,000 and were stunned by their success. It was cold and gray that day, too, and the feeling of being in that joyous crowd was unforgettable, which is why I remembered it so vividly today. It is the giddiness of watching people vent their political frustrations with a sense of humor and good cheer, and the euphoria of observing people discover that they are not alone, that there are thousands and thousands of people just like them. Women marching today wore pink pussy hats and carried signs that said This pussy grabs back, echoing the 2005 Access Hollywood tape in which now-President Trump said of women that he could grab them by the pussy because when youre a star, they let you do it. The Russian protesters would also reappropriate their leaders insults. When Putin finally commented on the protesters and the white ribbons they wore on their lapels, he said he thought they had been condoms. So at the next march, protesters blew up condoms and floated them like balloons over the crowd. When I saw a man marching down Pennsylvania Avenue on Saturday with a sign that said There are more of us, I remembered the bright-yellow cover of an opposition magazine that Muscovites used as posters for their rally of dissent: There are more of us than it seems. Story continues Recommended: Photos of the Women's Marches Around the World There were, sure, and there seemed to be a lot more people marching against Trump than came out for his inauguration the day before, but it seemed like the equivalent of winning the popular vote by about 3 million and losing the Electoral College. Sure, there were a lot of them and one of him, but hes the one in the White House, signing executive orders while they were outside under a dour sky. If riots are the voice of the unheard, then protests are, too. Its a notion thats both romantic and accurate: People on the street have a voice, and it is often unheard even then. And sometimes its heard in exactly the wrong way. Those protests in Moscow grew in size as the winter changed into spring and spring became summer. Putin was able to lie about the crowd sizes reported in the media, like Trump, and was still able to easily win a third term in the Kremlin. The opposition, the unheard with their witty posters in the streets, began to fracture and bicker, like the organizers of todays event, and there was no clear leader or agenda. After a May protest was violently dispersed by police, who plucked them from metros and cafes, the opposition was despondent: They felt they had come out ralliedonce, twice, five timesand had achieved nothing. Talking to the protesters in Washington, it was hard not to hear the echoes of the Moscow protests five years ago. That wasnt really true. They had changed Putin, just not in the way they had hoped to. He went from being a non-ideological, pragmatic kleptocrat to a revanchist, nationalist neo-tsar. He passed laws making it harder to protest, to express dissent online, to inhabit ones sexuality. And after similar protests sprung up in Kiev and helped overthrow the Ukrainian government two years later, he invaded the country, in part to show his citizens that they should stay unheard. And when his agents, masked as rioters, protested in the countrys east, they didnt bring witty posters and sandwiches; they seized government buildings and the television towers, much like Bolshevik revolutionaries had made a beeline for the telegraph posts in 1917. Protests are a tricky thing, and America isnt Russia. Protests can bring change, like Black Lives Matter did, and they can topple governments, as they did in Egypt. But in the case of the former, the protests became a movement that reached off the streets and into the presidential race, in part because there was a White House and Justice Department willing to take their concerns seriously. In the case of the latter, there was a political movementthe Muslim Brotherhoodthat had been preparing for the moment for decades. Even those cases have proved fleeting: The Muslim Brotherhood took its own authoritarian turn after gaining power in democratic elections, and along with the Tahrir Square movement has since been crushed by the revanche of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Black Lives Matter, vilified by the Republican Party and the Trump campaign, will now potentially face a Justice Department headed by an Alabaman who has been accused of going after black civil rights activists. Both may end up back where they started: on the streets and unheard. Recommended: Photos of the Inauguration of President Donald J. Trump Talking to the protesters in Washington today, it was hard not to hear the echoes of the weakness of the Moscow protests five years ago: a vague, unstructured cause; too much diversity of purpose; no real political path forward; and the real potential for the meaning of the day to melt into self-congratulatory complacency. A Los Angeles woman showing me photos of the march afterward wondered, Where was everyone before? We didnt do enough. Rallying and making funny signs is easy; winning real power in American politics is not. Im here because I support equal rights for everyone, said June, a middle-aged African-American woman from D.C. Were here to support womens rights, said a woman from Pennsylvania, and her friendsfrom Virginia and Californiaadded to the list: the environment, education, social justice, criminal-justice reform. The list went on, each new addition diluting all the causes that came before. And like in Moscow, people on the Mall reluctantly acknowledged that they were late. We didnt see the real danger, another woman from California told me. It didnt seem like reality until now, and now were pinching ourselves. But unlike in Moscow, I spoke to people here who knew that this rally by itself would change nothing; that only politics could. I dont think its going to make a difference, said an older woman from Pennsylvania. It might, but only in two years. Its more for the people here to feel like theyre part of something. Her sights were set on the congressional elections of 2018, on more concrete political action. Unlike the Moscow protesters, these women had access to a strong and vibrant civil society, a century-old womens rights movement, and legislative elections that arent rigged by the executive. Women riding back from the rally on the Metro chattered about the midterms and the presidential election of 2020. Recommended: 'Alternative Facts': The Needless Lies of the Trump Administration And these women had one other thing the Moscow protesters didnt: allies. It was hard to count, but at least a third of the crowd I saw seemed to be men. Some tried to start chants and held signs that said Smash the Patriarchy. Others simply marched with the women in their lives. The same way that LGBT activists couldnt have achieved political victory without straight allies, its hard to see how women achieve their political ends without bringing men on board. I believe real progress is made when people who are not part of the group also fight for their rights, said a young man named Gbenga. He had a sign that said Even men are better when women make choices. It was a nice sign, but its no substitute for seizing the telegraph post. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) Gov. Eric Greitens is pushing to toughen Missouri's already stiff penalties for attacking a police officer, reflecting similar efforts underway in other states and pleasing many in Missouri's law enforcement community, which has been on the defensive since the police killing of an unarmed black 18-year-old in Ferguson more than two years ago. Whether such changes are needed is debatable among those who think they aren't is a fellow Republican lawmaker and legal expert who helped craft revisions of the state's criminal code that just took effect. "We can feel like we're doing a great thing and we're really solving the problem," said state Sen. Bob Dixon, a leader on criminal law and chair of the chamber's committee on criminal laws. "This does not solve that problem." Greitens, a former Rhodes Scholar and Navy SEAL officer who ran multiple campaign ads featuring him firing large guns, pledged during his first major policy speech to help pass "the toughest laws in the country for anyone who assaults a peace officer," even though Missouri already has harsher penalties for people who hurt cops or first responders. He also spoke about a "Ferguson effect," which allegedly has made officers more hesitant about performing their duties since the 2014 killing of Michael Brown due to a fear of being questioned later on. Brown's killing by a white Ferguson officer sparked months of protests and led to a Department of Justice investigation of the department. The officer wasn't charged. Lawmakers in more than a dozen other states and Congress have proposed making it a hate crime to assault an officer. Louisiana became the first state to enact such legislation in May, allowing prosecutors to seek stronger penalties when police, firefighters and emergency medical crews are intentionally targeted because of their professions. Almost every state, including Missouri, already has tougher penalties for assaults or other offenses against police, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Story continues A Missouri conviction for second-degree assault, in which someone is seriously injured or a lethal weapon is used, currently carries a sentence of one day to seven years in prison or a fine. When the victim is a police officer, the penalty is five to 15 years. Legislation proposed by GOP state Sen. Doug Libla would double it to 10 to 30 years or life behind bars. Police deaths on the job have generally declined over the past four decades, from a recent high of 280 in 1974 to a low of 109 in 2013, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, which tracks officer deaths dating to the 18th century. But officer deaths have steadily risen since then, up to 136 in 2016. Those figures include attacks on police as well as accidental deaths such as car crashes. Those pushing for stiffer penalties say they could serve as a deterrent. They point to an attack in Dallas last July in which a military veteran killed five officers at a protest, in what was the deadliest day for American law enforcement since Sept. 11, 2001. Ten days later, a former Marine killed three Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police officers. Dixon, the Republican state senator, is skeptical about this argument. He said criminals who repeatedly break the law might take note of stricter punishments and be deterred by them, but that it probably wouldn't apply to cases of shootings of police. "The person who shoots a cop probably didn't look up the statutes to see what the penalty was," Dixon said. "It's a one-time deal." Thomas B. Harvey, co-founder and executive director of the St. Louis civil rights law firm ArchCity Defenders, said people who attack police already face tough prosecution and punishment in Missouri. He said the push by some politicians for even stiffer punishments amounts to "pandering to police officers and to a certain constituency," and that it's politically difficult to oppose such positions. "Those folks run huge risk of being characterized as anti-police and having anti-police bias," Harvey said. "It's a no-risk, high-reward type of legislation for people. ... I don't think it meaningfully increases protections for police officers, either." Dan Isom, a former St. Louis police chief and endowed professor of policing and community at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said such policies are about more than deterrence. "It's important for the morale of police officers too for the public to say we value what you do, we are supportive of what you do, we place value on protecting you and doing what we can from a policy standpoint to make sure that you are protected in the work that you do," Isom said. He later added: "Just because some people violate it doesn't mean we shouldn't make it stringent, make it a priority and hold people accountable for what they do." ___ This story has been corrected by deleting a reference to the five Dallas officers who were killed in an attack last year being white. One of them, Officer Patrick Zamarripa, was Hispanic. ___ Follow Summer Ballentine on Twitter at https://twitter.com/esballentine PARIS (Reuters) - Benoit Hamon, a former Socialist education minister on the left of the party, led in the first round of a primary to pick a Socialist presidential candidate on Sunday, with more moderate ex-prime minister Manuel Valls in second place, partial results showed. Hamon, 48, who was sacked under the government of President Francois Hollande for criticizing his economic policies, had won 35.2 percent of the vote and Valls about 31 percent with just over a third of the total votes counted. If the final count confirms this result, the two men will go face-to-face in a Jan. 29 runoff to decide who will be the Socialist candidate in the April-May presidential election. (Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Richard Balmforth) Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fstory%2fthumbnail%2f34372%2f8b32bff3-d94e-4bd3-aa80-7edafc39adf6 Where was Rihanna Saturday night? Dabbing out front of Trump Tower in New York City, why do you ask? The pop star has been posting supportive messages about the Women's March on Instagram, but it wasn't clear whether she would be joining herself. Now we know, with images and video on social media showing Rihanna in a pink cap, protesting against President Donald Trump outside his New York residence. SEE ALSO: All the best protest signs from Women's Marches across America Rihanna also posted pictures of herself at the protest, including a closer look at her pink "this p***** grabs back" hoodie. "So proud to be a woman!!" she wrote. "So proud of the women around the world who came together today for pro-choice." So proud to be a woman!! So proud of the women around the world who came together today for pro-choice! A photo posted by badgalriri (@badgalriri) on Jan 21, 2017 at 7:14pm PST Rihanna was one of thousands of people who took part in protests against the new president in 160 cities across 60 countries. In Washington D.C. alone, it's estimated that around 500,000 people took to the streets. New Yorker and Cinderly cofounder Laura von Holt spotted Rihanna when she joined protestors on Fifth Avenue near Trump Tower. "She danced along to the crowd's chants and chanted along to 'My body, my choice' and 'Black Lives Matter,'" she told Mashable in an email. "She was laughing and chatting with the other protesters, commenting on signs and T-shirt slogans. She seemed very happy to be a part of it. "As she left, she waved to all of us and many of us thanked her for coming." The time I got off a plane from Australia, headed to Trump Tower & ended up protesting next to @rihanna. #WMNYC #WomensMarch #Rihanna pic.twitter.com/rqeJmU590X Laura von Holt (@vonHottie) January 22, 2017 Despite having just arrived in the city after a long flight from Australia, von Holt said the atmosphere was "joyful." Story continues "I was also happy to see many different people of all ages and backgrounds, joyfully taking part in their democracy. I was proud that the NYPD was respectfully and efficiently facilitating the protests." A video posted by TurquoiseThief (@shilpaananth) on Jan 21, 2017 at 5:04pm PST Alongside protesters chanting "Welcome to your first day, we will not go away" and "Donald Trump has got to go," Rihanna even took a moment to dab impeccably. Thanks all this has been your #RihResistanceReport. she's the realest of the real, and she knows how we feel! @rihanna pic.twitter.com/totpVfqA19 ffs kid (@thvtkidcourt) January 22, 2017 UPDATE: Jan. 22, 2017, 3:27 p.m. AEDT Added Laura von Holt quotes. BONUS: All over the world nasty women and men hit the streets one day after Trump's inauguration Love a nasty woman flight attendant Starting our wknd of amazing women because we can't give up! @SpiritAirlines#WomensMarchOnWashingtonpic.twitter.com/bWj89inKtJ Flor Blake (@FlorBlake) January 20, 2017 //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js On Friday, tens of thousands of women made their way to the Womens March on Washington, D.C. to protest the election of president Donald Trump. Their journeys to the event and some of the sister marches planned in all 50 states and six continents across the world took over social media, with their large crowds becoming a symbol of sisterhood and solidarity. One video of a Spirit Airlines flight attendant speaking to a plane full of attendees quickly became a viral hit. In it, she addresses the passengers upon arrival in nearby Baltimore and provides them with an inspiring message of solidarity. I just want to know how many of you are going to the march on Washington? she asks them, to the cheers of nearly the whole flight. Big round of applause for all the nasty women on board. Stay safe, stay hydrated, have a good time, watch out for your fellow sisters. Just remember we dont take no ish from no man. Here are some of the other inspiring images that flooded social media. //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Story continues //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js 20 blocks from the rally, the crowds are getting BIG! #WomensMarch pic.twitter.com/ZymPoOTp0s Daniel Altschuler (@altochulo) January 21, 2017 //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Oh my god the DC streetcar is packed pic.twitter.com/BaEFcKVRaR the new ag secretary (@timothypmurphy) January 21, 2017 //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Just asked who onboard this @AmericanAir flight was headed to the #WomensMarchOnWashington. Almost all the passengers. pic.twitter.com/wLWg67FVmk Pamela R Lightsey (@OneNabi) January 20, 2017 //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Our Southwest flight out of Atlanta is full of marchers heading to #WomensMarchOnWashington Passengers cheer each other as they board. pic.twitter.com/ZSbW53dbBd Annalise Kaylor (@annalisekaylor) January 20, 2017 //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Massive line for train from Baltimore to #WomensMarch. 2 lines encircle the station Will we make it @zansari8 @Jasgripper @allisonrbrown pic.twitter.com/Eh1QKEKPYO Billy Easton (@BEastonNY) January 21, 2017 //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js I think my plane is full of marchers. #womensmarch pic.twitter.com/rPxdsNwLUF Amanda Jackson (@AmandaJ_TX) January 20, 2017 //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js The line outside the train station in Baltimore. #WomensMarchOnWashington pic.twitter.com/2fffEJV1CW Paula Weston (@PaulaBonaFide) January 21, 2017 //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Joined by plane full of women heading to D.C. #WomensMarchOnWashington. Seattle is showing up in force! pic.twitter.com/RdBdCxvn8P Julia White (@julwhite) January 20, 2017 //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Just asked who onboard this @AmericanAir flight was headed to the #WomensMarchOnWashington. Almost all the passengers. pic.twitter.com/wLWg67FVmk Pamela R Lightsey (@OneNabi) January 20, 2017 //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js The Womens March on Washington began at 10 a.m. on Saturday a day after Trumps inauguration. Participants are expected to march down the intersection of Independence Avenue and 3rd Street. Among the crowd of attendees were a slew of celebrity faces like Katy Perry, Jessica Chastain, Zendaya, Orange is the New Blacks Uzo Aduba, Scarlett Johansson and more all lending their voices to take a stand on social justice. RELATED VIDEO: Watch: Natasha Stoynoff Breaks Silence, Accuses Donald Trump of Sexual Attack I am marching on Washington to let our next president know that we, men and women alike, will not stand down or be silenced and will fight to protect our bodies and our choices, Johansson said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE from march organizers. The Womens March on Washington aims to send a message to all levels of government and the incoming Presidential administration, that we stand together in solidarity and expect elected leaders to act to protect the rights of women, their families and their communities, officials added in a statement. Organizations including Amnesty International, EMILYs List, GLAAD, Girls Who Code, Muslim Womens Alliance, Planned Parenthood, United We Dream and more partnered with the marchs national coordinating committee for the event. Scarlett Johansson got personal during the womens march in Washington D.C. on Saturday as she spoke out about womens health issues. The 32-year-old actress began her candid speech with a story. Have you been to the gynecologist yet? That was the question my mom asked me at 15 when I informed her about a change that I noticed in my body, she said. Im not the type to divulge facts about my personal life, but I feel that in the face of this current political climate, it is vital that we all make it our mission to get really, really personal. So, yes, at 15, I had been to a gynecologist. I was living in New York City and had visited a Planned Parenthood there, she continued. It was actually my clinician at Planned Parenthood who suggested I speak with my pediatrician if I was seeking a referral. She was compassionate and professional and told me she was happy to treat me for regular checkups, and when the time came, for STD and cancer screenings. No judgment. No questions asked. Planned Parenthood provided a safe place where I could be treated with gentle guidance. RELATED PHOTOS: Powerful Pictures from Womens Marches Around the World Johannson then made a public plea to Donald Trump. President Trump, I did not vote for you, she said as the crowd cheered. That said, I respect that you are our president-elect and I want to be able to support you. But first I ask that you support me, support my sister, support my mother. Support my daughter who may actually, as a result of the appointments you have made, grow up in a country that is moving backwards, not forwards, and who may potentially not have the right to make choices for her body and her future that your daughter Ivanka has been privileged to have. RELATED VIDEO: Former PEOPLE Writer Natasha Stoynoff Speaks After Trump Controversy The Womens March on Washington has included several celebrity appearances, including Ashley Judd, Alicia Keys, and America Ferrera. More than 600 sister marches are also planned, according to organizers, with hundreds of thousands of people around the world taking to the streets in protest of Trump. NEW YORK (AP) U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer is concerned about airlines charging passengers for the ability to use space in the overhead bin. The New York Democrat says passengers who purchase new "basic" fares offered by United Airlines and American Airlines won't be able to store carry-on baggage in the overhead bins. He says he worries other airlines will follow suit and that one day all passengers might have to pay extra if they want to stow a suitcase overhead. Schumer said Sunday that all passengers should be allowed to use the overhead bins without extra charges. The airlines argue that the new "basic" fares are simply a way to give passengers a cheaper alternative to standard fares, which come with overhead bin privileges. Walter (Elyes Gabel) and Paige (Katharine McPhee) shippers have a reason to rejoice in the upcoming episode of Scorpion. In Scorpion Season 3, episode 15, the two characters will be left with no other choice but to talk to each other when their boat explodes, and they are left in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Since they are in a very dangerous state, Walter and Paige would have to rely on each other to survive. The latter has been avoiding him ever since her boyfriend, Tim (Scott Porter), left for Jordan. Paige knows for a fact that Walter had something to do with Tims decision to leave Team Scorpion. But even though shes still upset with Walter for meddling in her relationship with Tim, Paige also knows that Walter has feelings for her. She used to have feelings for him as well, but she decided to set them aside when Walter couldnt reciprocate them. When he was finally ready to do so, Paige had moved on with Tim. While speaking with TV Line, McPhee said that she knows for sure Paige and Walter would soon talk about the latters I love you in one of the previous episodes. At the time, Walter followed Paige and Tim on the couples road trip. When he finally told Paige that he loves her, she didnt hear him. Instead, Tim heard what Walter said. Since then, their relationship has become even more awkward. Talking about this scene, McPhee said that shes pleased with how the writers have written Tim into Paige and Walters love triangle to make it more impactful. We still have quite a few more episodes to shoot. And thus far, there have been little things he has remembered, but they sort of stopped revisiting that. I know they will go back to it I liked it, because the writers are really clever about bringing in new characters and utilizing them for a specific amount of time and getting what we need out of them, she said. Scorpion Season 3 airs Mondays at 10 p.m. EST on CBS. Scorpion Photo: CBS Related Articles WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two senior Republican lawmakers said on Sunday they would vote to approve President Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, despite their concerns over the former ExxonMobil chief's relationship with Russia's president. "After careful consideration, and much discussion with Mr. Tillerson, we have decided to support his nomination to be secretary of state," Senators John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said in a statement. "Though we still have concerns about his past dealings with the Russian government and (Russian) President Vladimir Putin, we believe that Mr. Tillerson can be an effective advocate for U.S. interests," said the two senators, veteran foreign policy experts. The Republican-controlled Senate has so far confirmed two of Trump's nominees for cabinet posts but Tillerson, former chief executive officer at Exxon Mobil Corp, has faced criticism from several prominent Republicans because of his close relationships with Russian officials, including Putin. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was confident that all of Trump's cabinet nominees will be confirmed. Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," McConnell also said the Senate would confirm a Supreme Court justice nominee eventually picked by Trump. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is expected to vote on Tillerson's nomination on Monday, with a full Senate vote coming shortly after. (Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Paul Simao and Jeffrey Benkoe) Guadalajara (Mexico) (AFP) - A dozen bodies -- including seven that were headless and mutilated -- were discovered over the weekend in western Mexico's seaside resort of Manzanillo, apparent victims of the country's epidemic of drug violence, local officials said. It was a shocking turn of events for an area popular with American and other foreign tourists, which until now had largely been spared from the bloody drug wars wracking other parts of Mexico. Seven bodies were found early Saturday in an abandoned taxi on the road from Manzanillo to the town of Cihuatlan. The bodies were "mutilated, apparently decapitated, and one of the victims was a woman," the port city's police chief Carlos Heredia told AFP. On the vehicle was a message signed by the increasingly powerful Jalisco New Generation drug cartel, he said. That cartel is blamed for a surge in murders in the tiny Pacific state of Colima, where Manzanillo is located. On Sunday, five half-naked bodies were found dumped in a forested area, a municipal police commander told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters. The bodies showed signs of torture and were left with two green cards signed by the Jalisco New Generation cartel, he said. The Colima state attorney's office said in a statement it was "seeking those responsible for depriving five people of their lives, whose bodies were found Sunday afternoon" on the highway between Manzanillo and Minatitlan. Authorities have not said if the two sets of victims were related. None have yet been identified. The past six months have seen an increase in killings linked to disputes within the Jalisco cartel, police records showed. On January 16 and 17, six people were shot to death in three separate incidents in Manzanillo. Authorities believe all were linked to organized crime. With drug baron Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's recent extradition to the United States, his powerful Sinaloa cartel is expected to face a rising challenge from the Jalisco gang, a onetime ally now estimated to be worth $50 billion. Story continues The Jalisco group's incursions into Sinaloa territory have turned Colima state into the Mexican region with the highest homicide rate, with 72 killings per 100,000 inhabitants last year. The gang, also known by its Spanish initials CJNG, has also launched bold attacks on the police and military. In March and April 2015, the cartel killed 20 police officers in two separate ambushes in western Jalisco state. In May of that year, the gang used a rocket-propelled grenade to down a military helicopter, killing seven soldiers and a policewoman. The latest killings in Manzanillo came less than a week after a mass shooting in another normally peaceful Mexican resort, this one on the Caribbean coast. Gunfire erupted early Monday at a music festival in Playa del Carmen, south of Cancun, leaving at least five people dead and 15 injured, the mayor said. Three of the dead were foreigners. Authorities attributed the attack to a turf war between drug cartels. Related: For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android. By Sandor Peto and Matteo Berlenga VERONA, Italy/BUDAPEST (Reuters) - At least 16 people were killed and dozens injured, after a bus carrying Hungarian students crashed and burst into flames in northern Italy, authorities said on Saturday. The bus went off the road near a highway exit close to Verona around midnight on Friday. The local highway police chief said it was carrying mostly teenage students, teachers and parents. The number of victims could rise to 18, "but certainly no more than that", the Hungarian consul in Italy, Judit Timaffy, told reporters in Verona. At least two of those hurt are in serious condition. "Many children among the victims of the accident in Verona, a bus catches fire on impact with a pillar," national police said on Twitter. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told a news conference that the teenagers were from a Budapest secondary school, returning from their annual ski camp in France. A spokesman for the minister told Reuters the school was the Szinyei Gimnazium. The Hungarian government declared Monday a day of national mourning. The official passenger list included 54 people, Gabor Toth, director of the school, told national news agency MTI. Thirty-six students, some former students, three teachers and the family of one of the teachers were on board, he said. Earlier, Szijjarto had said the exact number of passengers on board was unknown, but it was higher than the director of the school had known about. A physical education teacher, who suffered severe burns, returned to the bus several times to save other passengers and all of the survivors were "well taken care of", Timaffy said. Six adults are seriously injured and are being treated in two different hospitals in Verona, Hungarian national TV M1 reported. Of them, two men are in life-threatening condition, a spokesperson for the Hungarian national ambulance service said, speaking to M1. Survivors were staying in a hotel south of the city, the minister said. Local highway police chief Girolamo Lacquaniti told TV channel SKY TG24 that identifying the victims was still at an early stage and was advancing "with extreme difficulties." Magistrates and authorities from the highway police were meeting in Verona, with an afternoon press conference canceled and not rescheduled. In Budapest, hundreds gathered outside the secondary school in city center, with police having to close part of the street. UNCLEAR DYNAMICS Lacquaniti said the cause of the crash would be investigated: "We are not aware of other vehicles being involved, it seems to have gone off the road of its own accord." The bus had left France around 1630 to 1700 CET on Friday and the two drivers had a shift change approximately an hour before the accident, shortly before midnight, said Timaffy. She added that one of the survivors had told her that he had seen the driver "swerve from time to time". Both drivers were Hungarian, state news agency MTI wrote, quoting an unnamed employee of the bus provider, denying earlier press reports that one was French. The company employee added that the bus was from the German company Setra, had a capacity to seat up to 59 people, was in good condition and that the drivers were experienced. "There was a lot of black smoke coming out of the back of the bus," a Slovenian truck driver who was driving behind the bus before it went off the road told SKY TG24. "With my prayers, I am with the families and friends shocked by the tragedy," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a statement sent to MTI. Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni called Orban to express his condolences, the Hungarian government said on its website. (Reporting by Matteo Berlenga in Verona, Sandor Peto in Budapest, Giulia Segreti in Milan Additional reporting by Stefano Rellandini and Philip Pullella; writing by Isla Binnie and Giulia Segreti; editing by Larry King) Melbourne (AFP) - World number one Andy Murray suffered a huge fourth round upset to 50th-ranked Mischa Zverev to follow Novak Djokovic to the exit as the shocks kept rolling at the Australian Open on Sunday. Murray was never expected to be troubled by the 29-year-old German, who has never won an ATP title, but he lost 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in his earliest Melbourne departure in eight years. Zverev's serve-volley triumph blows the draw even wider open with the top two seeds out before the quarter-finals for the first time in a Grand Slam since the 2004 French Open. Among the beneficiaries could be Roger Federer, who plays Kei Nishikori later, and Rafael Nadal, who downed Zverev's younger brother Alexander in a titanic five-setter on Saturday. Alexander, 19, was watching courtside as Zverev stretched to a series of elastic volleys to halt the nonplussed Murray. Nearly half of Zverev's points were from serve and volleys. "I was like in a little coma, just serving and volleying my way through it. There were a few points where I didn't know how I pulled it off but somehow I made it," Zverev said. With the defeat, Murray extends his curse at the Australian Open, where he has been runner-up five times -- losing four finals to Djokovic -- without lifting the trophy. He also makes the earliest exit for an Australian Open top seed in 14 years, since Lleyton Hewitt fell at the same stage in 2003. "I've had tough losses in my career in the past. I've come back from them. This is a tough one," Murray said. "I'm sure I'll come back okay from it. But right now I'm obviously very down because I wanted to go further in this event, and it wasn't to be." - 'Big surprise' - Zverev, a late bloomer after a career riddled with injuries, reaches his first Grand Slam quarter-final where he will play his idol Federer or Japanese fifth seed Nishikori. Meanwhile Stan Wawrinka, who won the first of his three Grand Slam titles in Melbourne in 2014, came through 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/4) against Italy's Andreas Seppi. Story continues The formidable Swiss, now into his fourth Australian Open quarter-final, will play France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who came from a set down to beat British surprise package Dan Evans, for a place in the semis. He said Murray's defeat showed that even the top players can't take victory for granted. "It's a big surprise for sure. It shows that it's not so easy as we can think, or when we see the draw, to just win, keep winning all the time," Wawrinka said. Earlier Venus Williams, the oldest player in the women's draw at 36, also became one of the first into the quarter-finals when she beat German qualifier Mona Barthel 6-3, 7-5. The seven-time Grand Slam winner allowed herself to dream of a possible final with her sister Serena, who is steaming through the other side of the draw in search of her 23rd major title. "That could hopefully happen. We both still have to work very hard to get there," Venus Williams said. Her quarter-final opponent is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who beat fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-3 to reach her first Australian Open quarter-final in nine attempts. (Reuters) - A man suspected of leaving a burning propane tank next to a Boston squad car last week was taken into custody after an investigation into the incident, police said on Sunday. Asim Kieta, 42, was arrested late on Saturday in the city's Charlestown section and charged with possession of an explosive device, arson and assault with intent to murder, among other counts. Kieta, a Boston native, is homeless and has an extensive police record, Police Commissioner William Evans told a briefing on Sunday. He characterized the act as "deliberate" but said investigators were still uncertain of a motive. Police were on high alert nationwide on Friday as Donald Trump was sworn in as U.S. president. Hundreds of protesters were arrested in Washington as sporadic violence broke out in the capital during the inauguration festivities. "I think it goes to some of the hatred out there, whether it is because of what has happened across the country, or whether this was personal with him, because he has had some encounters with police," Evans said. "I don't know whether it was payback or not." Members of the Boston police bomb squad responded on Friday to a report that a parked police cruiser in South Boston had been damaged by an incendiary device, described by a spokeswoman as a propane tank. When they arrived, officers found the damaged car with evidence of an explosive device underneath it, the Boston Police Department said in a statement on Sunday. The vehicle had been unoccupied. The squad car sustained minor damage and two police officers were treated for minor injuries in the incident, it said. The suspect will appear in South Boston District Court, the statement said, without specifying a date. (Reporting by Frank McGurty in New York; Editing by Paul Simao and Peter Cooney) Indian troops killed two suspected rebels late Sunday, hours after the death of two soldiers in an ambush in the country's restive northeast, the defence ministry said. In the morning ambush the militants lobbed grenades at the vehicles used by the soldiers before detonating a small bomb in the Tinsukia district of Assam state. After a search the army "has been successful in neutralising two terrorists from the group which had attacked our troops in the morning..." the statement said. The ministry said the soldiers from the paramilitary Assam Rifles were escorting tourists returning from a festival in the neighbouring state of Arunachal Pradesh when their vehicles came under attack. Northeast India, linked to the rest of the country by a narrow land corridor, has seen decades of unrest among ethnic and separatist groups. The region is home to dozens of tribal groups and small guerrilla armies that resist rule from New Delhi. Many are fighting for independent homelands for their tribes and often compete against each other. More than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have lost their lives to insurgency in Assam during the past two decades. In November heavily armed militants ambushed an army convoy in Assam, killing three soldiers and injuring four. Astana (Kazakhstan) (AFP) - Members of the Syrian opposition delegation arrived Sunday in the Kazakh capital Astana for face-to-face peace talks with the war-torn nation's government. The talks, set to begin on Monday, will be the first time a delegation composed exclusively of rebel groups will negotiate with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Chief opposition negotiator Mohammad Alloush flew into Astana on Sunday morning, according to an AFP correspondent who saw the delegation arrive. He was accompanied by around a dozen rebel figures, including Fares Buyush of the Idlib Army, Hassan Ibrahim of the Southern Front and Mamoun Hajj Moussa of Suqur al-Sham. A source close to the opposition's team told AFP that the delegation had been broadened from eight rebel figures to a total of 14, in addition to 21 legal and political advisers. The 10-member government delegation, headed by its UN ambassador Bashar al-Jaafari, left Damascus on Sunday, according to Syrian state news agency SANA. Rebels have insisted the talks will focus solely on reinforcing a frail nationwide truce brokered by opposition supporter Turkey and regime ally Russia last month. Although the two countries have backed opposing sides of Syria's nearly six-year conflict, they have worked hand-in-hand in recent weeks to secure an end to the brutal war that has killed more than 300,000. The Astana talks, which Assad ally Iran is also helping organise, will be the first test of this new partnership. They will be held in the city's luxury Rixos President Hotel, where staff members were setting up a single large table in a conference room under blue banners bearing the hashtag #AstanaProcess. Rebels and regime figures are expected to sit in the same room, along with UN envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura. De Mistura on Sunday hailed the talks as a "good initiative" in comments carried by Russian news agencies. In addition to the hundreds of thousands killed, more than half of the country's population has been displaced since Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011 with protests against Assad's rule. The Taliban has warned President Donald Trump to reverse US policy on Afghanistan or face a "historically shameful defeat", a US-based monitoring group reported Sunday. An article, which the SITE Intelligence Group said appeared on the Taliban's website and social media, described the freshly inaugurated leader of the free world as "an enigma both to the Americans and the billions of people around the world". The article said that Afghans hoped Trump and his cabinet would not follow in the footsteps of previous White House administrations. Afghanistan, which the US invaded on October 7, 2001 in a bid to topple Al-Qaeda hosts the Taliban, has become Washington's longest military intervention since Vietnam. It has also been the most costly, with more than $100 billion (93 billion euros) spent. But the country remains wracked by insecurity as the resurgent Taliban dealt Afghan forces serious blows in 2015, the first year they led security operations in Afghanistan, taking over from NATO. "Even though America has never waged a war so long and passionately intense in its entire history but if she insists on continuing her failed arrogant policies, one can foresee that she will ruin herself beyond repair due to a historically shameful defeat," the article said. Trump has yet to make an official pronouncement about US policy in Afghanistan, but the Taliban threat forced his predecessor Barack Obama to slow plans for a drawdown in US troop numbers. Some 8,400 will remain in the war-torn country this year, compared with 5,500 initially planned. BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Thousands of Romanians rallied in Bucharest and cities across the country on Sunday to protest against government plans to decriminalize some offences and pardon some convicted prisoners through emergency decrees that critics say threaten to undermine a crackdown on high-level graft. The new cabinet of Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu last week unveiled the draft decrees that have been criticized by the president, the prosecutor general, the supreme court, the chief anti-corruption prosecutor and the chief of the directorate fighting organized crime, as well as civil rights groups and diplomats. All have expressed concern about the drafts, as well as a lack of transparency and the intention to legislate through decrees instead of going through parliament, despite having a strong majority there. According to drafts, the government intends among other changes to decriminalize abuse of power actions causing financial damage of less than 200,000 lei ($47,500), an offence the leader of the ruling Social Democrat party is accused of inciting a third party to commit. According to the drafts, the government also intends to pardon convicts sentenced to less than five years for committing certain crimes, and cut sentences by half for all prisoners aged over 60, those having a terminal illness or children to support, regardless of their crime. The president, Klaus Iohannis, urged the government on Friday to scrap the decrees, which he said would undermine the rule of law and anti-corruption. The government has not commented. On Sunday more than 15,000 people in Bucharest gathered in freezing weather at University Square, the site of all major protests since Romania overthrew the communism in 1989. "I was here during the revolution 27 years ago and I am noticing that almost nothing has changed since then, thievery ... still exists," pensioner Ioan Ilincuta said. "I am protesting in the hopes that my children and grandchildren can see better times." Protesters of all ages carried banners that read "We are awake", "We want justice, not corruption", chanted "Thieves" and marched towards government headquarters. Iohannis joined them briefly. Thousands also rallied in the cities of Cluj, Timisoara, Iasi, Sibiu and several other cities across the country. Smaller gatherings also took place outside embassies in London, Paris and Copenhagen, according to photographs posted on Facebook by Romanians living abroad. Despite Romania joining the European Union in 2007 its legal system continues to be the subject of special monitoring by the European Commission, which has praised magistrates' efforts to fight widespread graft but noted that Romanian politicians have a history of trying to pass legislation which could weaken investigative powers. (Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Greg Mahlich) Paris (AFP) - Toulouse captain Thierry Dusautoir will be on a personal as well as professional revenge mission when the French giants face Munster for a place in the European Champions Cup semi-finals. The four-time winners squeezed into the last eight on Sunday with a 19-10 victory against Connacht, shattering the Irish team's dreams of making the quarter-finals for the first time. But the win was only enough to guarantee qualification as a best runner-up, sending Toulouse to Thomond Park in Limerick to face Munster, the 2006 and 2008 champions. It will be a painful visit for the 35-year-old Dusautoir, who played for Biarritz in the 2006 final and then Toulouse when the Irish got the better of him again in the championship match two years later. "Munster is the heart of Irish rugby with its fervour," said Dusautoir. "I grew up playing against Munster, I lost two European Cup finals against them with (Anthony) Foley, (Ronan) O'Gara. "It's a long road in the tournament before we can think about rejoicing but the European Cup has shown that we can compete against the finest teams." Toulouse ended Pool 2 action on 18 points, the same as Connacht, to make the last eight for the first time in three years. But it was a close call with the French club going through courtesy of a better head-to-head record against their Irish opponents. Wasps, the 2004 and 2007 champions, claimed top spot in the group after a six-try 41-27 win at whipping boys Zebre. The other quarter-finals on the first weekend of April will see top seeds Clermont host French rivals and three-time champions Toulon. Leinster, also winners on three occasions, play Wasps while defending champions Saracens face first-time quarter-finalists Glasgow. - Fast start - Toulouse, champions in 1996, 2003, 2005 and 2010, had started the day in third spot in Pool 2, four points behind Connacht and three off Wasps in second place. But they stormed out of the blocks at their Stade Ernest Wallon home with Gael Fickou grabbing a fifth-minute try converted by Jean-Marc Doussain. Story continues By the 20th minute they were 14-0 to the good with winger Arthur Bonneval adding a second converted try after a fine breakaway by full-back Yoann Huget. Struggling Connacht finally got on the board courtesy of a Craig Ronaldson penalty just before the interval. Veteran Australian forward Joe Tekori grabbed Toulouse's third try early in the second period as the French edged closer to a crucial offensive bonus point which would come with a fourth try. This time Doussain failed with the extras as his kick came back off the left upright. No 8 John Muldoon then breathed life back into Connacht hopes, piling in from close range on 55 minutes after a turnover with Ronaldson adding the extras to cut the deficit to 19-10 and leave them two points short of a losing bonus point and a spot in the last eight. Connacht laid siege to the Toulouse line as the minutes ticked down but Sebastien Bezy relieved the pressure with an interception inside the 22m line and kicked clear to break Irish hearts. Wasps sent Zebre to a sixth defeat in six matches but they did not have it all their own way in Italy. Zebre led 13-3 at one stage but their challenge fizzled out when hooker Oliviero Fabiani was yellow-carded for a dangerous tackle on the half-hour mark. With a one-man advantage, Wasps ran in three tries through Ashley Johnson, Danny Cipriani and Elliot Daly before the break for a 22-13 lead. Johnson, Christian Wade and Nathan Hughes added further tries in the second period as Wasps claimed a bonus point win, leaving Zebre licking the wounds of an 18th defeat in the tournament. "When you get through to this stage of Europe there are no easy games and we understand the challenge ahead at Leinster," said Wasps' England international lock Joe Launchbury. Edinburgh (AFP) - It was the shocking, surreal, drug-fuelled movie that defined a generation. Two decades later, the ageing Scottish lowlifes of "Trainspotting" are back with a new sequel which premiered Sunday in Edinburgh. "T2: Trainspotting" reunites Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller and Ewen Bremner with now Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle. Renton, the character that launched the career of "Star Wars" actor McGregor, returns to Edinburgh after years away -- and his friends Begbie, Sick Boy and Spud are waiting, as dysfunctional as ever. While the first movie was shot mostly in Glasgow, despite being set in the once heroin-blighted Edinburgh suburb of Leith, "T2" sees the Scottish capital take on a central role. "It was lovely to shoot here in Edinburgh, and you feel that Edinburgh is much more of a character in this film than it was in the first one, and its absolutely right that we are here for the premiere," McGregor told AFP on the red carpet. Two decades on, Sick Boy (Miller) is a pimp exploiting the wave of gentrification that has swept the city, psycho Begbie (Carlyle) is an escaped convict and burglar, and Spud (Bremer) is still "on the skag". Heroin has been relegated to a bit-part behind cocaine and Viagra, Begbie is even more foul-mouthed and menacing than ever, and there are plenty more gut-wrenching gross out scenes to match Spud's breakfast table surprise in the first movie. But despite the tough scenes, Bremer said the film has "a lot of humour in it". "It's based on the real struggle of what it is to get by, you know, why people fill their lives with something... whether it is heroin or whatever they find to fill the void and heal the pain," he told AFP. - Betrayal and reconciliation - There are references throughout to the first movie, including to its hugely successful soundtrack with a remix of Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life". Story continues Irvine Welsh, author of the "Trainspotting" novel, said the inclusion of Edinburgh group Young Fathers gave the new film a "distinctive Edinburgh feel". "Theyre fantastic artists, and Danny very much saw them as being the voice of Trainspotting 2," he told AFP at the premiere. While new voices appear on the soundtrack, Boyle said bringing the earlier cast back for "T2" saw them add their two decades of experience. "They stepped back into the roles... they factored in their own 20 years of experience into their characters and they were off and on their way," he told the Associated Press. Expectations are high after the first film, which was made for just $3 million in 1996, won critical acclaim and grossed over $70 million worldwide. Reviews so far have been largely positive -- The Guardian said it was not as good as the first, but "has the same punchy energy, the same defiant pessimism, and there's nothing around like it". "T2" is about betrayal and reconciliation, both in front and behind the camera. In "Trainspotting", Renton ditched his friends and ran off to Amsterdam with the takings of a big drug deal. Boyle and McGregor, who worked together on "Shallow Grave" and "A Life Less Ordinary", also fell out after the director cast Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Beach". Ottawa (AFP) - President Donald Trump spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Saturday in a call focused on the importance of bilateral trade. The discussion came the day after the Trump team swiftly updated the White House website to reflect commitment to "renegotiating NAFTA," the free trade agreement that has linked Canada, the United States and Mexico since 1994. According to a statement from Trudeau, the leaders "reiterated the importance of the Canada-United States bilateral relationship, and discussed various areas of mutual interest." But the White House had wasted no time a day prior in updating its trade deals policy page after the 45th US president's inauguration: "President Trump is committed to renegotiating NAFTA." "If our partners refuse a renegotiation that gives American workers a fair deal, then the President will give notice of the United States' intent to withdraw from NAFTA." On the campaign trail, Trump called NAFTA the worst trade deal the United States has ever signed and vowed to renegotiate or rip it up. Canada has said it expects to keep its 1989 bilateral free trade agreement with the US if Trump withdraws from NAFTA. Since Trump's shock November 8 electoral victory, both Canada and Mexico have announced that they are willing to sit down with the new administration to reexamine the free trade agreement. UPDATE: 2 p.m. EST Kellyanne Conway's remarks about alternative facts brought a swift response from Backstreet Boy Lance Bass: Original story Harking back to the Nixon administration, a defensive senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway hit the Sunday talk show circuit, complaining the press has not given President Donald Trump and his team a fair shake and suggesting reporters stop pointing out when administration statements clash with facts. Conway, standing on the White House lawn, berated a pool reporter for mistakenly reporting Friday the bust of Martin Luther King Jr. had been removed from the Oval Office when in reality it had just been moved to a different position. The mistaken report was later corrected but Conway said that wasnt good enough. We have been treated unfairly, Conway complained, deflecting questions about why White House spokesman Sean Spicer used his first appearance as press secretary to claim a record number of people had witnessed Trumps inauguration when pictures of the mall clearly showed a bigger crowd at former President Barack Obamas first inauguration in 2009. Nielsen reported nearly 30.6 million people around the world witnessed the inauguration across 12 networks between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. EST, compared to 37.7 million for Obama and 41.8 million for former President Ronald Reagan in 1981, Variety reported. This was the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period both in person and around the globe, Spicer said in his first formal appearance as White House spokesman before reporters Saturday, calling it "deliberately false reporting." He then refused to take any questions. Youre saying its a falsehood. And theyre giving, Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts to that, Conway said on NBCs Meet the Press. Story continues Former President Richard Nixon also vilified the press, with then-Vice President Spiro Agnew calling reporters nattering nabobs of negativism for their criticism of the administration. Trump, in his first news conference as president-elect, accused the press of being purveyors of fake news. Conway also slammed demonstrations Saturday that drew hundreds of thousands of women fearful the new administration will try to erode hard-won rights. In contrast, Trump tweeted early Sunday he recognized peoples right to protest. But at the same time, Trump earlier reminded protesters he had defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton. Conway complained the Senate has confirmed just two of Trumps 21 Cabinet nominees, but Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also making the Sunday talk show circuit, noted many of the nominees had yet to be fully vetted and said it is the Senates duty to make sure there are no conflicts of interest. Schumer borrowed some of Trumps rhetoric, describing the nominees as a swamp of bankers and billionaires. During the campaign, Trump pledged to drain the swamp in Washington and his inaugural address promised to return power to the people. Schumer also said he fears Trumps populist rhetoric is a cover for a far-right turn given the leanings of his Cabinet nominees. He also said Democrats will fight any U.S. Supreme Court nomination out of the "mainstream." Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told ABCs This Week he plans to vote in favor of the nomination of Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, saying he has had numerous conversations with the ExxonMobil CEO and is confident his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin will not endanger the United States. At the same time, McCain called again for a select committee to investigate Russian interference in the election. He said the interference went far beyond anything we had anticipated. Related Articles On his first full day in office, President Donald Trump spoke at the Central Intelligence Agencys headquarters, standing in front of the Agencys memorial to its fallen officers, and sought to mend his tumultuous relationship with Langley. Yet he never said the word sorry, to federal intelligence agencies for the many times hes berated them. Trump has castigated both the CIA, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, over everything from their investigation into Hillary Clintons role in Benghazi and her private email server, to their inquiries into hacks on the Democratic National Committees (DNC) emails. But in his speech, he sought to blame his rift with the intelligence community on the press, implying the conflict was simply the invention of a hostile media. The speech started a little before 3:20 p.m., lasted about 20 minutes, and veered from topic to topic. Trump opened by saying he thought the intelligence community were special, amazing people, then lamented how the U.S. never won wars anymore (When I was young we were always winning things in this country); he brought up ISIS (It has to be eradicatedoff the face of the earth!); he mentioned the numerous occasions on which hes appeared on the cover of Time magazine (I have been on that cover 14 or 15 times). He seemed to spiral around why he had come, making political jabs at the media to mixed success. Recommended: Trump's Press Secretary Falsely Claims: 'Largest Audience Ever to Witness an Inauguration, Period' CNN reported that the crowd of intelligence officials were broken into two sections, with the main area full of agency staff, and a separate section in front of the lectern full of senior agency leadership, including agents. There was some applause at times from the all-agency section, CNN reported, but the leadership stood, looking stoic, and did not applaud. Story continues "I am so behind you, Trump said at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. "There is nobody that feels stronger about the Intelligence Community and the CIA than Donald Trump," he said. They would get so much backing from his administration that they might beg him to stop backing them so much. They might even say, he suggested, Please, dont give us so much backing. Since winning the election Trump has chosen only to receive intelligence briefings once a week instead of each day, calling them repetitive, and leading some to question whether he held the agencies in much regard. At times, he has praised the intelligence community when they do something he approves oflike reopening their investigation into Clintons emailsand scolded them in statements or via Twitter when they do something that might harm his image. For example, after reports that the intelligence community had concluded that Russia was behind the DNC hacks, which were intended to influence the election in Trumps favor, Trump denied it. He seemed to take the news personally, as if it meant hed not won the presidency on his own. In a statement, his transition team said, These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Recommended: When Protest Fails What Trumped seemed to be implying was what hes said many times before, which is that the agencies responsible for collecting intelligence across the world and keeping the country safe from threat are inept. Earlier this month, after numerous reports that intelligence agencies had linked Russia to hacking the DNC, Trump implied that Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, had better intel than they did. Julian Assange said "a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta" - why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017 As early as last week, in fact, Trump seemed to be picking a Twitter fight with the intelligence community. Upset over the leak and publication of a private dossier compiled by a former British intelligence official filled with unsubstantiated claims about his connections to Russia, Trump scolded the intelligence community, comparing them to Nazi Germany: "I think it was disgraceful, disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake out. I think it's a disgrace, and I say that ... that's something that Nazi Germany would have done and did do." It was at that same conference in New York when he acknowledged for the first time that Russia might, possibly, have been behind the DNC hacks. A few days later and Trump was criticizing the outgoing CIA director John Brennan, who resigned Friday, for comments he made that questioned Trumps comprehension of Russias capabilities and intentions. .@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 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? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2017 All of this had led some to believe there might be a four-year war brewing between Trump and the intelligence community, something that could lead to an unprecedented amount of leaks, departmental fighting, mass flight from intelligence jobs, or weakened intelligence gathering on threats to the country. Recommended: The Narcissist Indeed, earlier this month The Wall Street Journal reported that Trumps transition team planned to hack the CIAs budget, rearrange its personnel, and leave it a shell of itself. It seems the press conference Saturdaythough at times ramblingwas meant to salve the the wounds Trump has himself created with intelligence agencies. He spoke casually at CIA headquarters, in his typical fashion, winking and joking. Besides, he said, hes never had anything against the CIA. The entire thing was made up by the press. They sort of made it like I had a feud with the intelligence community, he said, shrugging, as if it were ridiculous to think hed ever done anything to disparage such special, amazing people. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. This should have been a celebratory weekend for the new Trump administration a jubilant time for newly inaugurated President Donald Trump and his top aides who assumed the reins of power on Friday with a populist vow to push aside the political establishment and Make America Great Again. Instead, Trumps first full day as president on Saturday was one bitter fighting with the news media and the former head of the CIA. At the same time, millions of Americans marched in Washington and scores of cities across the country to protest Trumps election and policies that threaten womens rights, illegal immigrants, health care coverage for more than 20 million people, and long-standing international alliances. Related: Trump Era Begins with Moves Against Regulations, Obamacare The days events were both breathtaking and alarming, as Trump and his new White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, appeared unhinged at times as they clashed with reporters and bitterly complained that the media had vastly understated the size of the crowd on hand for Trumps swearing in ceremony. The White House also complained about what proved to be an inaccurate tweet by a Time Magazine reporter that Trump had removed a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. from the Oval Office. Trump appears to be digging in for what is likely to be a long and contentious relationship with the news media that could mean less access for reporters or even eviction from the current White House press room. White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus did little on Sunday to try to calm the roiled waters, declaring on Fox News Sunday that Trump wont allow his critics in the media and elsewhere to delegitimize his presidency. Im saying theres an obsession by the media to delegitimize this president and we are not going to sit around and let it happen Priebus said. Were going to fight back, tooth and nail, every day. Without conceding that the president and Spicer had grossly exaggerated the size of the inaugural day crowd, claiming that as many as 1.5 million people had turned out when it was closer to 250,000, Priebus said the controversy is really not about crowd size, what its about is honesty in the media. Story continues Related: Trumps Brand of Nationalism Reinforces a Divisive Us v. Them Playbook Trumps senior adviser, Kellyanne Conway, also complained about the unfair treatment of Trump during an appearance on NBCs Meet the Press. She added, I dont think ultimately presidents are judged by crowd sizes at their inauguration, I think they are judged by their accomplishments. Conway and Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd then engaged in an extraordinary, protracted argument over why Trump sent Spicer into the White House press room to deliver an obvious lie about the size of the inaugural crowd on Friday. Why was it necessary to send out the press secretary on his first day in office to utter a provable falsehood that now calls into question everything the press secretary will say from here on out for many Americans? Todd asked. What was the motive to have this ridiculous litigation of crowd size? Your job is not to call something ridiculous that is said by our press secretary and our president, thats not your job, Conway fired back. Youre a news person, youre not an opinion columnist. Think about what you just said to your viewers. Thats why we feel compelled to go out and clear the air. Related: America First: Full Text of President Trumps Inaugural Address Conway never answered Todds question, saying instead that the news media should devote more energy to highlighting the provable, quantifiable facts that Trump outlined in his acceptance speech, including the devastation and destruction in our schools, with our health care system, the economy and national security efforts against terrorists. For his part, Trump spent the morning downplaying the importance of Saturdays protest in Washington by an estimated half million people, tweeting that Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didnt these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly. Later, however, he leavened his critique, tweeting that Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I dont always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views. On Saturday, Trump used a visit to the CIA intended as a peacemaking gesture after weeks of clashing with the intelligence community over its assessments of Russian hacking and interference in the U.S. electionto tee off against journalists, who he called the most dishonest human beings on Earth, according to an account by The Washington Post. Related: 8 Steps Trump Could Take on Day One to Remake the Country Trump called out Zeke Miller, the Time magazine reporter who mistakenly tweeted a report that the Martin Luther King Jr. bust had been removed from the Oval Office and subsequently apologized and corrected the report. But other reporters had already reported the missing bust as fact. They said that Donald Trump took down the bust the statue of Dr. Martin Luther King. But it was right there, Trump told the CIA gathering. There was a cameraman that was in front of it. Trump sought to express his gratitude to the intelligence community, despite repeatedly railing against it during the transition and likening alleged leaks of unflattering and unsubstantiated intelligence about Trump to a Nazi-style smear. Standing before the CIAs hallowed wall of stars honoring the agencys fallen, Trump launched into a rambling, campaign-style monolog blaming the media for stoking dissension between him and intelligence agencies. I have a running war with the media, Trump declared. They are among the most dishonest human beings on Earth, right? Trumps statement drew laughter and applause from dozens of CIA employees who showed up for the meeting on their day off and other Trump loyalists. But John Brennan, who resigned Friday as CIA Director at the conclusion of the Obama administration, said through a spokesperson that he was saddened and angry at Trumps despicable display of self-aggrandizement in front of CIAs Memorial Wall of Agency heroes. Brennan added that Trump should be ashamed of himself. Spicer later summoned reporters to the White House briefing room for a tongue-lashing, falsely insisting that more than 700,000 people stretched from the West Front of the Capitol down the Mall to the Washington Monument to observe Trumps inauguration. He falsely insisted that the turnout was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period both in person and around the globe. Figures from Nielsen confirm that 31 million people watched the Trump inauguration worldwidebut that was still 9 million less than Obamas inauguration in 2009. Related: Trumps Blunders on NATO and Russia Make Our European Allies Cringe Many reporters were shocked that Spicer would use his maiden appearance at the White House podium to advance the preposterous notion that the turnout for Trumps inauguration was larger than that of President Barack Obamas 2009 inauguration, or that Trumps crowd reached all the way to the Washington Monument. Side by side aerial photographs of the Mall taken shortly before noon during those two events showed that Trump had grossly exaggerated the size of his crowd. Spicer refused to take questions from the reporters but set an ominous tone before stalking out of the press room: Theres been a lot of talk in the media about the responsibility to hold Donald Trump accountable, and Im here to tell you that it goes two ways, he said. Were going to hold the press accountable as well. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is set to meet next week with Prime Minister Theresa May and has talked about meeting Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Jan. 31, White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters on Saturday. The date of May's visit was not immediately clear in the brief statement from Spicer. "The president will welcome his first foreign leader this Thursday when the United Kingdom's Theresa May will come to Washington on Friday," Spicer said. Spicer was not immediately available to clarify whether the meeting would be on Thursday or Friday. (Reporting by Jeff Mason, Roberta Rampton and Lisa Lambert; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday discussed threats from Iran and agreed peace between Israel and the Palestinians must be "negotiated directly," the White House said. The two leaders spoke by telephone and "agreed to continue to closely consult on a range of regional issues, including addressing the threats posed by Iran," the White House said in a statement, signaling the new administration's tougher line on Tehran. There was no mention of Trump's suggestion to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Such a transfer would break with the consensus of the vast majority of the international community, which does not recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. That move -- long promised by presidential candidates of all stripes -- could provoke a backlash in the region. The White House on Sunday appeared to play down suggestions that a decision was imminent. "We are at the very beginning stages of even discussing this subject," White House press secretary Sean Spicer told AFP. Like other major powers, the US currently has its embassy in Tel Aviv. Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas has warned that moving the embassy would deal a huge blow to hopes for Middle East peace, and the UN and EU have voiced deep concern over the proposal. During the phone call on Sunday, Trump also stressed the need for direct talks between Palestinians and Israelis. "The President emphasized that peace between Israel and the Palestinians can only be negotiated directly between the two parties, and that the United States will work closely with Israel to make progress towards that goal," the White House said. By Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is arranging to meet soon with British Prime Minister Theresa May and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, two long-standing U.S. allies concerned about how his presidency will affect their relationships with Washington. Trump will meet on Friday with May in Washington, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Saturday. The meeting will be an opportunity for May, who initially struggled to build relations with Trump's transition team, to discuss what has long been termed the "special relationship" between the two nations, a central pillar of Britain's foreign policy. Trump, who endorsed the British vote to leave the European Union and is friends with May critic Nigel Farage, has said he wants to arrange a swift bilateral trade deal with the United Kingdom. May's office declined comment. Trade will also be part of the agenda for Trump's meeting with Pena Nieto along with immigration and security, Spicer told reporters. The leaders spoke by phone on Saturday and discussed meeting on Jan. 31, he said. Trump has said he wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, signed in 1994 with Canada and Mexico, in order to improve terms for U.S. workers. Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also spoke by phone on Saturday and discussed setting up "additional meetings in the days to come," Spicer said. (Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert in Washington and Stephen Addison in London; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Leslie Adler) Vice President Mike Pence, left, watches as President Donald Trump prepares to sign his first executive order, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. CREDIT: AP Photo/Evan Vucci Before being inaugurated president on Friday, Donald Trump promised many things ( 663 , to be exact). Many of those promises are things he said would be done on his first day in office. According to a ThinkProgress analysis of Trumps public statements, 36 of them, he said, would be done or start on his first day. Now, 24 hours after Trump took the Oath of Office, he can safely say he kept two of those promises, and broke or ignored 34. First Hour Promises Then-candidate Trump made several pledges about the first paper he would sign, as well as what would he would do his first minute and first hour as president. He kept none of them. These international gangs of thugs and drug cartels will be, I promise you from the first day in office, the first thing Im going to do, the first piece of paper Im going to sign is we are going to get rid of these people day one, Trump said on the campaign trail in August 2016. In October 2015, Trump said about Obamas immigration deferred action executive action initiatives, the first minute in office I will countersign and revoke those executive orders. He vowed to move 2 million criminal aliens out of the country my first hour in office, in August 2016. The following month, Trump said he would give a mandate to everybody, including the local police, to get the bad ones out of the country, also in the first hour. The people who elected Trump expect him to come through. Trump made a lot of promises about what he will do as president. Weve documented 663 of them. Trumps first bills and executive orders , signed in the Capitol minutes after being inaugurated, focused on none of these things. He officially nominated members of his cabinet, proclaimed a National Day of Patriotism, and waived a legal requirement that retired Gen. James Mattis be out of the military for seven years before taking over civilian leadership at the Pentagon. Trumps administration also quickly revoked a cut in fee rates for federally-backed mortgages, something that was both unexpected and not anything he promised or spoke about before taking office. Taking Promises Seriously Vice President-elect Mike Pence said that the Trump administration would not be shirking from promises made in the heat of the campaign. During remarks made after a meeting with the House Republican Conference on January 4, Pence said, were going to be in the promise-keeping business. The president-elect campaigned all across this country. He gave voice to the frustrations and the aspirations of the American people. He laid out an agenda to make America great again, and my message on his behalf today before this conference and before members of the Senate is that we intend to keep those promises. Trump had attempted to push his day one for planned executive action back to day four (from Friday, January 20 when he was inaugurated to Monday, January 23). [D]ay one??which I will consider to be Monday as opposed to Friday or Saturday. Right? I mean my day one is going to be Monday because I dont want to be signing and get it mixed up with lots of celebration, Trump said in an interview with the Times of London. Yet Pence said that executive action will literally begin on day one; before the end of the day we do anticipate that the president-elect will be in the Oval Office taking action to both repeal executive orders and also set into motion through executive action policies to implement, promises that were made on the campaign trail. Below is the full scorecard for Trumps day 0ne promises. 34 Day One Promises Broken Trump promised to instruct the Treasury Secretary to label China a currency manipulator on day one. Therefore, on the first day of my term of office, my administration will immediately pursue the following six measures to clean up the corruption and special interests collusion in Washington. On the same day I will begin taking, and really taking strongly seven actions to protect American workers. Third, I will direct my Secretary of the Treasury to label China a currency manipulator. China is a currency manipulator. [Gettysburg, PA, 10/22/16] Trumps nominee to run the Treasury Department, Steven Mnuchin, said in his confirmation hearing on Thursday that he was willing to label China a currency manipulator. Trump had not publicly asked Mnuchin to do so, as Mnuchin had not been confirmed by the Senate. Trump cannot keep the promise because he does not yet have a Treasury Secretary. Trump promised to announce plans to renegotiate NAFTA on day one. If I win, day one, we are going to announce our plans to renegotiate NAFTA. [Greensboro, NC, 10/14/16] Trump has yet to announce any plans to do so. The new Trump White House website states his position on NAFTA: President Trump is committed to renegotiating NAFTA. If our partners refuse a renegotiation that gives American workers a fair deal, then the President will give notice of the United States intent to withdraw from NAFTA. It is now official White House policy, and while automakers have noticed it as such , there is no promised plan. Trump promised to create a requirement that for every new regulation, two existing regulations must be eliminated on day one. Therefore, on the first day of my term of office, my administration will immediately pursue the following six measures to clean up the corruption and special interests collusion in Washington. Third, a requirement that for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations must be eliminated. [Gettysburg, PA, 10/22/16] Trumps administration had not announced any such requirement in the first 24 hours of his presidency. Trump promised to announce withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership on day one. Therefore, on the first day of my term of office, my administration will immediately pursue the following six measures to clean up the corruption and special interests collusion in Washington. On the same day I will begin taking, and really taking strongly seven actions to protect American workers. Second, I will announce our withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a potential disaster for our country. [Gettysburg, PA, 10/22/16] Trump has yet to announce any such withdrawal. The new Trump White House website states his position : This strategy starts by withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and making certain that any new trade deals are in the interests of American workers. Yet the new president had not announced a withdrawal from the TPP in his first day. Trump promised to direct the Commerce Secretary and United States Trade Representative to identify foreign trading abuses that affect the American worker and begin ending those abuses immediately, on day one. Therefore, on the first day of my term of office, my administration will immediately pursue the following six measures to clean up the corruption and special interests collusion in Washington. On the same day I will begin taking, and really taking strongly seven actions to protect American workers. Fourth, I will direct the Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative to identify all foreign trading abuses that unfairly impact American workers, and direct them to use every tool under American and international law to end those abuses immediately. [Gettysburg, PA, 10/22/16] Trump had no confirmed commerce secretary or trade representative and therefore cannot direct them to do anything in an official capacity. No such direction to their respective agencies had been announced by the White House in the first day. Trump promised to begin canceling billions in climate change spending for the United Nations on day one. Therefore, on the first day of my term of office Were going to cancel billions in payments to the United Nations climate change programs, and use the money to fix Americas water and environmental infrastructure. [Gettysburg, PA, 10/22/16] Trumps new administration had not announced any such cancellation on the first day. In the last days of the Obama administration, the State Department transferred $500 million in commitments to the United Nations Green Climate Fund. Trump promised to lift restrictions on the production of fossil fuels on day one. Therefore, on the first day of my term of office, my administration will immediately pursue the following six measures On the same day I will begin taking, and really taking strongly seven actions to protect American workers. Fifth, very importantly, I will lift the restrictions on the production of $50 trillion worth of job-producing American energy reserves, including shale, oil, natural gas and clean coal. And we will put our miners back to work. [Gettysburg, PA, 10/22/16] Trump had not announced any lifting of restrictions on the first day. Trump promised to lift environmental roadblocks to energy infrastructure projects on day one. Therefore, on the first day of my term of office, my administration will immediately pursue the following six measures to clean up the corruption and special interests collusion in Washington. On the same day I will begin taking, and really taking strongly seven actions to protect American workers. Sixth, I will lift the Obama-Clinton road blocks that allow for this vital energy infrastructure projects to go forward. We have road blocks like youve never, ever seen. Environmental blocks, structural blocks. [Gettysburg, PA, 10/22/16] Whatever roadblocks Trump had in mind when he made this promise are still in place as of the first day of his presidency. Trump promised to prevent the EPA from killing your companies and causing job losses on day one. The EPA is killing and killing your companies and you are losing your jobs. Let me tell you thats going to be turned around on day one if I win. On day one. Your jobs are coming back to Pennsylvania and they are coming back to this area and that means and we are going to take care of our steelworkers and our miners. [Ambridge, PA, 10/10/16] Whatever job loss and company killing Trump warned Pennsylvania about last October had not received any official White House attention 24 hours after being sworn in. Trump promised to stop jobs from leaving Florida and nationwide on day one. Look, no country has ever lost jobs like us. Theyre sucked out of our country, the companies leave, they fire everybody, they go to Mexico and many other countries. Never happened before like this and we are going to stop it day one. Its so easy. So easy to stop. A Trump administration will stop the jobs from leaving America and we will stop the jobs from leaving Florida. Promise. [Sarasota, FL, 11/7/16] There has been no reported nationwide stoppage of jobs leaving the United States as of Saturday, January 21. Trump promised to propose a constitutional amendment for term limits on day one. Under my contract with the American voter we are proposing a series of ethics reforms on day one to end government corruption. They include a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of congress. [Sanford, FL, 10/25/16] The White House had not announced such a proposed amendment as of day one. Propose ethics reforms on day one to end government corruption. Under my contract with the American voter were proposing a series of ethics reforms on day one to end government??right? To end government corruption. [Tallahassee, FL, 10/25/16] No ethics reforms were proposed by the Trump White House on day one. Trump promised to pursue a complete ban on foreign lobbyists raising campaign dollars on day one. Therefore, on the first day of my term of office, my administration will immediately pursue the following six measures to clean up the corruption and special interests collusion in Washington. Sixth, a complete ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections. [Gettysburg, PA, 10/22/16] If the Trump White House is pursuing such a ban, it was not disclosed to the public on day one. Trump promised to pursue a five-year ban on White House and congressional officials becoming lobbyists on day one. Therefore, on the first day of my term of office, my administration will immediately pursue the following six measures to clean up the corruption and special interests collusion in Washington. Fourth, a five-year ban on white house and congressional officials becoming lobbyists after they leave government service. [Gettysburg, PA, 10/22/16] If the Trump White House is pursuing such a ban, it was not disclosed to the public on day one. Trump promised to pursue a lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government on day one. Therefore, on the first day of my term of office, my administration will immediately pursue the following six measures to clean up the corruption and special interests collusion in Washington. Fifth, a lifetime ban on white house officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government. [Gettysburg, PA, 10/22/16] If the Trump White House is pursuing such a ban, it was not disclosed to the public on day one. Trump promised to ask Congress for a bill repealing Obamacare and replacing it with reforms that expand choice, freedom, affordability. My first day in office, I am going to ask Congress to put a bill on my desk getting rid of this disastrous law and replacing it with reforms that expand choice, freedom, affordability. [Sanford, FL, 10/25/16] Trumps first executive order did address Obamacare , but it had nothing to do with repealing or replacing the legislation. It allows federal agencies to ignore or put off parts of the law that impose a fiscal burden on any State or a cost, fee, tax, penalty, or regulatory burden on individuals, families, healthcare providers, health insurers, patients, recipients of healthcare services, purchasers of health insurance, or makers of medical devices, products, or medications. If Trump asked Congress to put a bill on his desk on day one, he did not do so publicly. Trump promised to get all of the criminal immigrants out on day one. Day one of my administration were getting all of the criminals out. We have many, many criminals. Gang members, heads of cartels, drug members and they lead all sorts of drug gangs, all of those??and the police know who they are. Theyre all getting out. [Manchester, NH, 8/25/16] Trump had not publicly directed any such expulsion or deportation on day one. Trump promised to get rid of international gangs of thugs and drug cartels before anything else, with the first piece of paper he signs. These international gangs of thugs and drug cartels will be I promise you from the first day in office, the first thing Im going to do, the first piece of paper Im going to sign is we are going to get rid of these people day one, before the wall, before anything and our great law enforcement they know who they are. They have been living with them for years and they dont want to put up with it anymore. So we are going to get rid of them day one. We start day one. [Joni Ernst Roast and Ride, IA, 8/27/16] This was not the first piece of paper Trump signed that day, and there have been no reports of law enforcement getting rid of more gangs or drug cartels. Trump promised to begin moving two million criminal aliens out of the country on day one. According to federal data, there are at least 2 million??2 million, think of it??criminal aliens now inside of our country. 2 million people, criminal aliens. We will begin moving them out day one as soon as I take office, day one. In joint operation with local, state and federal law enforcement. Now just so you understand, the police who we all respect, say hello to the police. Boy, they dont get the credit they deserve, I can tell you. Theyre great people. But police and law enforcement, they know who these people are. They live with these people. They get mocked by these people. They cant do anything about these people and they want to. They know who these people are. Day one, my first hour in office, those people are gone! [Phoenix, AZ, 8/31/16] There have been no reports of any such joint operation moving undocumented immigrants with criminal records on day one. Trump promised to issue a mandate to get the bad undocumented immigrants out of the country in the first hour. Once we have a secure border and we stop the drugs and stop the bad ones and get the bad ones out, those are going to be gone immediately. Day one, first hour, Im going to give a mandate to everybody, including the local police because they know. You know the local police know every one of the bad ones, its not like, Oh gee, lets figure out who it is. They know every bad gang member, drug kingpin, they know all of them. As soon as I will be in office for one hour and that order will go out. Were getting them the hell out of the country. [Interview with David Muir, 9/5/16] Trump had not issued any such mandate in the first day, let alone the first hour. Trump promised to submit very strong language on first day in office mandating that, when undocumented immigrants get caught returning to the United States, they get jail time. And were putting very, very strong language in, it will be submitted, first day Im in office. When they come in once, we deport them. When they come in twice, they go to jail for five years. When they come in another one, it will be 10 years. And you know what is going to happen? Sort of pretty simple. They are here, get caught again, they go to jail for five years. Guess whats going to happen? Theyre never coming back, folks. [Jacksonville, FL, 11/3/16] Trump may have submitted strong language to the world in the form of his inaugural address, but he did not address sentencing for undocumented immigrants. Trump promised that all undocumented immigrants will be out day one. And by the way, do you know that the gangs that you see, all of these terrible gangs that you see, many of those gangs are made up of illegal immigrants, and theyre tough dudes. And by the way, theyre going??day one theyre going to be out of here. Were going to get rid of them day one. [CNN, 9/24/15] Trump had not demonstrated that he has deported any undocumented immigrants, let alone all of them, on day one. Trump promised to repeal Obamas immigration executive orders on day one. You know Obama signed an executive order than said everybody come in. the first minute in office I will counter sign and revoke those executive orders. [Sioux City, IA, 10/27/15] None of the Obama executive orders on immigration were revoked on day one. Trump promised to ask Congress to pass Kates Law on day one. On my first day in office, I am also going to ask Congress to pass Kates Law??named for Kate Steinle??to ensure that criminal aliens convicted of illegal reentry face receive strong mandatory minimum sentences. [Phoenix, AZ, 8/31/16] Though Trump may have asked House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) to pass the law at the lunch after his inauguration, there is not report of such a conversation, and the more traditional route is for the White House to publicly urge that such a bill be passed. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced a version in the Senate, and Rep. Steve King (R-IA) introduced one in the House two weeks ago. Trump promised to cancel all federal funding of sanctuary cities on day one. Additionally, on the first day, I will take the following five actions to restore security and constitutional rule of law. Third, we will cancel all federal funding of sanctuary cities. [Gettysburg, PA, 10/22/16] No such action had been reported or announced during Trumps first day. Trump promised to ask DoS, DHS, and DoJ to comprehensively review terror immigration cases for extreme vetting as soon as he entered office. According to data provided by the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interests, between 9/11 and the end of 2014, at least 380 foreign-born individuals were convicted in terror cases inside inside the United States. And even right now the largest number of people are under investigation for exactly this than weve ever had in the history of our country. Our country is a mess. We dont even know what to look for anymore, folks. Our country has to straighten out and we have to straighten out fast. The number is likely higher but the administration refuses to provide this information, even to Congress. As soon as I enter office, I am going to ask the Department of State, which has been brutalized by Hillary Clinton, brutalized??Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to begin a comprehensive review of these cases in order to develop a list of regions and countries from which immigration must be suspended until proven and effective vetting mechanisms can be put in place. I call it extreme vetting, right? Extreme vetting. I want extreme. It going to be so tough. And if somebody comes in, thats fine but theyre going to be good. Its extreme. [Phoenix, AZ, 8/31/16] Trump did not publicly ask any of these departments for such a review in the first 24 hours of his presidency. Trump promised to suspend immigration from terror-prone regions on day one. Additionally, on the first day, I will take the following five actions to restore security and constitutional rule of law. Were going to suspend immigration from terror-prone regions, where vetting cannot safely occur. [Gettysburg, PA, 10/22/16] Trump had not, as of noon Saturday, suspended immigration from any country. Trump promised to immediately suspend admission of Syrian refugees. Thats why my first day in office, I will immediately suspend the admission of Syrian refugees. [Toledo, OH, 9/21/16] Trump did not announce the suspension of the Syrian refugee program on his first day. Trump promised to begin working on an impenetrable physical wall with latest technology on day one. We will build a great wall along the southern border. And Mexico will pay for the wall. Believe me. Hundred percent. They dont know it yet, but theyre going to pay for the wall. And theyre great people and great leaders, but theyre going to pay for the wall. On day one we will begin working on an impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful southern border wall. We will use the best technology, including above and below ground sensors, thats the tunnels. Remember that above and below. [ makes hand gesture ] Above and below ground sensors. Towers, aerial surveillance and manpower to supplement the wall, find and dislocate tunnels and keep out criminal cartels and Mexico, you know that, will work with us. I really believe it. Mexico will work with us. [Phoenix, AZ, 8/31/16] While Trump did talk about protecting U.S. borders in his inaugural address, he did not announce any the start of any work on his wall within the first day of his presidency. Trump promised to get rid of gun-free zones in schools on day one. I will get rid of gun-free zones in schools and you have to, and on military bases. My first day it gets signed. My first day it gets signed. My first day. Theres no more gun-free zones. Think of it. [Burlington, VT, 1/7/16] Trump did not publicly sign any order or legislation eliminating gun-free zones anywhere. Trump promised to end gun free zones on military bases on day one. I will end gun-free zones on military bases so fast your head will spin. Itll be the first day. The first day. [Waterloo, IA, 2/1/16] Trump did not publicly sign any order or legislation eliminating gun-free zones anywhere. Trump promised to order a review of every regulation issued over the last 10 years, cancelling needless ones on day one. My first day in office, Im also going to order a review of every single regulation issued over the last 10 years. All needless job regulations will be canceled. [Clive, IA, 9/13/16] There was no public announcement of any such review on Trumps first day in office. Trump promised to cancel every unconstitutional Obama administration executive action, memo, and order on day one. Additionally, on the first day, I will take the following five actions to restore security and constitutional rule of law. We have to do that. Cancel every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum, and order issued by President Obama. [Gettysburg, PA, 10/22/16] Unless Trump concluded that no Obama executive action, memeorandum, or order was unconstitutional, this promise was broken 24 hours after he was sworn into office. Trump promised to unsign executive orders in his first hour. And we will unsign lots of different things including some of those terrible executive orders, believe me, theyre gonna be unsigned so fast, theyll be unsigned the first hour Im in office, the first hour Im in office. In the first hour that Im in office. [Louisville, KY, 5/20/16] Nothing was unsigned in the first hour of Trumps term. Two Day One Promises Kept Pursue a hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce workforce size. Therefore, on the first day of my term of office, my administration will immediately pursue the following six measures to clean up the corruption and special interests collusion in Washington. Second, a hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce federal workforce through attrition. Exempting military public safety and public health. [Gettysburg, PA, 10/22/16] White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus sent a memo to federal agencies ordering such a hiring freeze for federal workers. Issue a temporary moratorium on new agency regulations. Upon taking office, I will issue a temporary moratorium on new agency regulations. [Detroit, MI, 8/8/16] President Trumps press secretary Sean Spicer, making his first statement in the White House briefing room, slammed the news media on Saturday for trying to lessen the enthusiasm of Trumps inauguration through reporting on crowd size and a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. in the Oval Office. In a combative tone, Spicer insisted that Trumps swearing in was the largest audience to witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the world. But overhead photos clearly show that the crowds did not match Barack Obamas 2009 swearing in, when an estimated 1.8 million people attended. Ratings also were lower for Trumps swearing in than they were in 2009. And Metro ridership in Washington also was lower. Trumps team scheduled the press statement late on Saturday afternoon, after news networks spent much of the day covering the Womens March on Washington and in other cities around the world. Organizers reported that the turnout was much larger than expected, with a flood of people packing the mall and streets around it, as well as in Manhattan on Fifth Avenue, Chicago in Grant Park, and Los Angeles in Pershing Square and at City Hall. Spicer challenged press accounts that compared the size of the crowd on the National Mall for Trumps inaugural to the numbers who showed up for Barack Obamas swearing-in in 2009. Spicer claimed some of the media was engaged in deliberately false reporting. Trump himself claimed that the crowds stretched to the Washington Monument, complaining in a speech at the CIA on Saturday that the media was showing photos of empty spaces on the mall and that it looked like a million, a million and a half people. He said that he has a running war with the media. Still, photos from the two inaugurations show that, with some gaps, crowds stretched to the Washington Monument in 2009, while that was not the case this year. The photos were each taken from the same vantage point atop the monument itself. Spicer had claimed that in some media accounts, photos were framed in a way to minimize the crowd size. Story continues Spicer contended that security officials were more aggressive in their use of metal detectors, keeping more spectators from witnessing the ceremony. There is no official estimate of crowd size from the National Park Service, which has jurisdiction over the National Mall. Some media outlets reported on an unofficial estimate that put the size at 250,000, and a number of media outlets reported that the size of the crowd for Saturdays Womens March on Washington at 500,000. Spicer said that in fact no one had numbers of crowd size, but he suggested that should be taken into account when reporting on the Womens March. Spicer claimed that we are going to hold the press accountable as well. His first official briefing is scheduled for Monday. Spicer also took issue with a report on Friday that Trump had a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. removed from the Oval Office. Several reporters tweeted it out, based on a pool report. But the pool reporter, Zeke Miller, initially didnt see the bust as he was in the Oval Office on Friday, and later sent out a correction. Earlier in the day, Trump, in his visit to the CIA, told an audience that the media sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community. And just want to let you know that the reason youre the No. 1 stop is exactly the opposite. He made the comment while standing at the CIA Memorial Wall to honor fallen personnel. In fact, Trump was upset over the leak of intelligence information about Russias role in U.S. election, and tweeted on Jan. 11, Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to leak into the public. One last shot at me.Are we living in Nazi Germany? The reaction to Spicers press conference and Trumps media attacks, coming on the first day of the new administration, drew words of astonishment from White House correspondents and TV anchors. Chuck Todd of NBC News tweeted, Ive run out of adjectives. CNNs Jim Sciutto tweeted, In the hierarchy of inaccuracies today inauguration crowd size is distant 2nd to Presidents claim media created his feud w/Intel agencies. Forget crowd estimates. What happens when the numbers actually matter? US troops killed, terror cells IDd, North Korean missiles fired? Ari Fleischer, press secretary under President George W. Bush, said via Twitter, This is called a statement youre told to make by the President. And you know the President is watching. Related stories Chelsea Handler Nixes Two-Party Politics: 'I'm Not a Democrat Anymore' (Watch) CNN Declines to Air White House Press Conference Live Donald Trump Inauguration Draws 30.6 Million Viewers, Fewer Than Obama in 2009 Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump will welcome British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday in his first meeting with a foreign leader, the White House said Saturday. White House press secretary Sean Spicer made the announcement at a briefing. May is overseeing Britain's departure from the European Union, or Brexit, which was approved in a swell of anti-establishment fervor that has been likened to that which propelled Trump to the US presidency. May congratulated Trump after he was sworn in on Friday. She said she thinks Trump recognizes the importance of NATO even though days ago he called the military alliance obsolete. BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) President Donald Trump's secretary of state nominee said he would review Colombia's recent peace agreement to determine how much the U.S. should continue to support a historic deal that had been enthusiastically backed by the Obama administration. Rex Tillerson's comments came in a written response to questions that members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee sent to him as part of the confirmation process. As the staunchest U.S. ally in Latin America, Colombia has received billions of dollars in U.S. aid over the past two decades to combat drug trafficking and leftist rebels who fund their insurgency from it. The Obama administration was a key backer of President Juan Manuel Santos' efforts to end the half-century conflict by appointing a special envoy to the talks and promising $450 million more in U.S. aid to make sure the peace agreement signed last year holds. Tillerson, while recognizing Colombia's importance as an ally and the success of past U.S.-Colombia cooperation, was ambiguous about the road ahead. While the remarks have not yet been made public, Tillerson's answers were first published by Latin America Goes Global, a website tracking U.S. policy toward the region. They were confirmed by a Senate aide who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to share them with journalists. Tillerson said he would "make every effort" at continuing the partnership. But he said he plans to hold Colombia to its commitment to rein in drug production amid a surge in cocaine flowing from the country that many critics attribute to Santos' decision in 2015 to suspend U.S.-backed aerial fumigation of illegal coca crops. "I would also seek to review the details of Colombia's recent peace agreement, and determine the extent to which the United States should continue to support it," he added. Chris Sabatini, editor of Latin America Goes Global, said Tillerson's seeming doubts about the peace deal reflect a growing skepticism within Republican circles that have been stoked by conservative former President Alvaro Uribe. Uribe led the campaign that defeated the original peace deal in a referendum only to see Santos go ahead and ratify a revised accord a few weeks later. Story continues "Across-the-aisle consensus on Plan Colombia helped Colombia dramatically reduce crime and violence, assisted the state in recovering its territorial integrity, led to the disarming of paramilitaries and beat back the guerrillas to the negotiating table," Sabatini said. "Now, ironically, that foundation the bipartisan consensus is at risk of fracturing, just as the country is at the cusp of what everyone wanted for originally: peace." On the region's other hot spots Tillerson's views seems much more aligned with current policy. On Venezuela, where the ruling socialists and opposition are locked in a struggle for power amid a severe economic crisis, he repeated the Obama administration's call for dialogue and for President Nicolas Maduro to release all political prisoners. "We must continue to denounce the Maduro government's undemocratic practices, call for the release of political prisoners, and enforce sanctions against Venezuelan human rights violators and narcotics traffickers," he said On Cuba, he appeared to leave some wiggle room to keep in place Obama's opening to the communist island, which Trump on the campaign trail vowed to reverse, saying that he'll carry consider placing "conditions" on current travel and trade regulations to motivate the release of political prisoners. But he later says he'll carry out a "comprehensive review" of current regulations and when asked point blank he says he stands by Vice President Mike Pence's commitment to reverse the Obama administration's Cuba regulations. ___ Joshua Goodman is on Twitter at https://twitter.com/APjoshgoodman Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump made an emotional mention Sunday of a "beautiful letter" that he said Barack Obama had left for him in the White House. "I just went to the Oval Office and found this beautiful letter from President Obama," he said at a swearing-in ceremony for several top administration appointees. "It was really very nice of him to do that and we will cherish that," he said, holding up a white envelope before tucking it back in his jacket pocket. "We will keep that. And we won't even tell the press what's in that letter." It has long been part of American tradition for an outgoing president to leave a letter for his successor on the desk of the Oval Office. The letter left in 1993 by Republican president George H.W. Bush for Democrat Bill Clinton -- the man who deprived him of a second term -- was considered particularly elegant. "Your success now is our country's success," it read. "I am rooting hard for you. Good luck." Bush warned Clinton that "there will be very tough times, made even more difficult by criticism you may not think is fair." But the elder Bush added that even entering the Oval Office on his last day as president, "I felt the same sense of wonder and respect that I felt four years ago." Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump pledged Sunday to begin renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement in upcoming talks with the leaders of Mexico and Canada. "We're meeting with the prime minister of Canada and we will be meeting with the president of Mexico, who I know, and we're going to start some negotiations having to do with NAFTA," Trump said while addressing White House staff on his second full day in office. Trump will receive his Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto on January 31. No date has been given for a meeting with Canada's Justin Trudeau, but it is expected "soon," according to a readout from a call between the two leaders on Saturday. Trump praised the Mexican leader, saying: "The president has been really very amazing and I think we are going to have a very good result for Mexico, for the United States, for everybody involved. It's very important." As a candidate Trump made a surprise visit to Mexico in a bid to portray himself as a capable statesman on the international stage. The meeting turned controversial after Pena Nieto and Trump contradicted each other's accounts of the encounter. Trump told reporters that the pair did not discuss who would pay for the hotly contested border wall he has promised to construct, while Pena Nieto said he "made it clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall." The real estate magnate vowed throughout his campaign to construct a massive wall along the US-Mexican border to stem illegal immigration, promising that Mexico would foot the bill. Concerning NAFTA, the White House website was updated immediately after Trump's swearing-in to reflect his campaign commitment to renegotiate the free trade agreement that has linked Canada, the United States and Mexico since 1994. On the campaign trail, Trump called NAFTA the worst trade deal the United States has ever signed and vowed to renegotiate or rip it up. Story continues The rules governing the free trade agreement allow any country to withdraw simply by notifying other parties. This would start a 180-day clock to allow for new negotiations. If no new deal is reached by then, the accord would be dissolved. Since Trump's November victory, both Canada and Mexico have announced that they are willing to sit down with the new US administration to reexamine the free trade agreement. Canada has said it expects to keep its 1989 bilateral free trade agreement with the US even if Trump withdraws from NAFTA. London (AFP) - The British government was accused on Sunday of covering up a failed test of its nuclear weapons deterrent last year, just weeks before lawmakers voted to renew the system. Prime Minister Theresa May refused to say whether she knew about the reported malfunction of an unarmed missile when she urged MPs to support updating the Trident nuclear system. The Sunday Times newspaper, citing a senior naval source, claimed that the Trident II D5 missile failed after being launched from a British submarine off the coast of Florida in June. The cause of the failure is top secret but the source suggested the missile may have veered off in the wrong direction towards the United States. "There was a major panic at the highest level of government and the military after the first test of our nuclear deterrent in four years ended in disastrous failure," the source told the paper. "Ultimately Downing Street decided to cover up the failed test. If the information was made public, they knew how damaging it would be to the credibility of our nuclear deterrent." The malfunction came just weeks before the House of Commons was asked on July 18 to approve the replacement of the ageing submarines that carry Britain's nuclear arsenal. May was not prime minister at the time of the test, but she took office shortly before the vote and successfully appealed to lawmakers to approve the 41 billion (47 billion euro, $50.7 billion) project. In a BBC interview on Sunday, she sidestepped questions about whether she knew about the malfunction when she made her statement to MPs. "What we were talking about is whether or not we should renew Trident," she said. "I have absolute faith in our Trident missiles," she continued, adding that tests take place "regularly". Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, a longstanding opponent of nuclear weapons, said it was a "pretty catastrophic error" for a missile to go in the wrong direction. Story continues A government spokesman confirmed the Royal Navy conducted a routine test launch of an unarmed missile last June from HMS Vengeance, one of Britain's four nuclear-armed submarines. It was "part of an operation which is designed to certify the submarine and its crew", he said. "Vengeance and her crew were successfully tested and certified, allowing Vengeance to return into service. We have absolute confidence in our independent nuclear deterrent," he said. Britain is one of only three nuclear-armed NATO nations, along with the United States and France. LONDON (AP) British Prime Minister Theresa May said Sunday she plans to discuss free trade and the importance of the NATO military alliance when she becomes the first foreign leader to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington. The White House's invitation for May to meet with Trump on Friday was seen in Britain as affirmation that Trump values the vaunted "special relationship" between the United States and its longtime ally across the Atlantic. She told BBC's Andrew Marr that the Trump team is interested in discussing a new trade arrangement with Britain despite the "America first" theme of Trump's inaugural address and his vow to evaluate every trade deal for its possible benefits to the United States. Any national leader would do the same when deciding whether to sign a trade pact, May said. Britain sees a future trade agreement with the United States as vital as the country prepares to leave the European Union. However, Britain's desire for increased trade could clash with Trump's protectionist stance. May said she would also raise the value of the NATO military alliance during the meeting. She called it the "bulwark" of Europe's defense system. Trump has rattled European allies by suggesting NATO is "obsolete" and that the United States might not come to the aid of countries that don't meet targets for their own defense spending. May maintained that Trump understands NATO's vital role. European leaders worry about a watering down of the NATO role given the increasingly aggressive actions by Russia in recent years. The prime minister didn't directly answer questions about whether she will use Friday's meeting to challenge Trump over derogatory comments he has made about women. May criticized crude remarks of his that surfaced during the presidential campaign. But she said she would speak out if she finds his future behavior or comments "unacceptable." May said she has a long track record promoting equal rights for women, adding that she is proud to be Britain's second female prime minister. "When I sit down, I think the biggest statement that will be made about the role of women is the fact that I will be there as a female prime minister, prime minister of the United Kingdom, directly taking to him about the interests that we share," she said. British officials say May will also speak to Republican senators and representatives at a retreat in Philadelphia. The solution to reducing deadly seizures could be a puff of a marijuana cigarette, but for many lawmakers around the world, legal medical pot is still considered taboo. The debate can be seen in Mexico, where about 8-percent of the population suffers from some type of neurological disorder, like epilepsy. Mexican law strictly prohibits the use of marijuana for any reason, however, the country recently started allowing doctors to treat patients with imported medicine containing cannabidiol, an active chemical ingredient in marijuana, on a case-by-case basis. Mexico could also soon legalize cannabinoid-based products and even medicine with pots psychoactive ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol, after its senate passed a bill approving medical marijuana in December. Mexicos lower house is expected to vote on the measure after it 2017 session resumes on Feb. 1. In the U.S., medical marijuana is used as a form of treatment for people suffering from epilepsy in 28 states, as well as Washington, D.C. While a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report highlighted some of the benefits of using medical marijuana, the plant is still considered a Schedule I drug by the Drug Enforcement Agency and, in some cases, can lead to higher risks of substance abuse, according to the report. Enter Medical Marijuana, Inc., a California company that is one of the first U.S. firms to gain import approval in Mexico thanks to its cannabidiol-based product, Real Scientific Hemp Oil-X, which does not make people high. International Business Times recently spoke with Dr. Stuart Titus, CEO and one of the medicines developers, to discuss how patients, particularly children suffering from epilepsy, have used the hemp oil product known as RSHO-X and how Medical Marijuana, Inc., is helping fuel less restrictive medical cannabis programs in Mexico and other countries. How did you get started with Medical Marijuana, Inc. and come to create RSHO-X? "Ive been a Ph.D. physiotherapist and Ive been treating a lot of athletes for pain and injury rehabilitation. I found that plenty of them were using cannabis and this was helping them with pain and inflammation, but also there were many people using it to help them with their workout routine and just to feel better mentally. I was so intrigued that I started attending some of these medical cannabis symposiums, and I found there was a huge amount of literature and medical research on these extracts from the cannabis plant called cannabinoids. We were very interested in developing the non-psychoactive cannabinoid, or cannabidiol because we thought this was far less controversial and something that a public company given the federal restrictions and regulations for a public company could still enter." Story continues THC is the psychoactive component of marijuana. How is Cannabidiol, or CBD, different? "CBD is, in fact, non-psychoactive. Its derived from the industrial hemp plant, which many countries around the world grow and use for textile purposes or biocomposite purposes. Cannabis grows the traditional hemp seed and the same tremendous nutritional values of the hemp seed, but it also can contain a high concentration of the non-psychoactive cannabinoids and its particularly shown great effects for these children with unfortunate developmental disorders." What are some of the benefits CBD-based products like RSHO-X has shown in patients so far? "We think there are tremendous future benefits for these childhood developmental disorders like epilepsy that seem to, unfortunately, be plaguing many people in the world. Of course, parents are looking for any type of solution... But on the botanical side, our product had almost twice the efficacy in terms of reducing seizures. CBD has a 67-percent average reduction in seizure disorders, and thats almost twice what the pharmaceutical groups have been able to come up within the U.S. And most importantly, we havent had any adverse effects. The only 'side effects' weve heard are the reports of better coordination, children interacting with parents and the family much better and having more of an appetite while other developmental challenges seem to be melting away." Why do you think its been so difficult to get more CBD-based products on the market in Mexico and the U.S. if theyve been proven to help people? "Unfortunately, change in the medical society is very slow, especially here in the U.S. There are places around the globe where its a little bit more progressive, but here [in the U.S.] basically doctors and the medical community are very much wanting to see the hard clinical evidence. And so far weve only been able to do early stage preclinical work funded by government and national institutes through health grants, but these preclinical efforts are all in Petri dishes or through animal testing. Trying to get human testing has really been a challenge to get through the regulatory parties. Human studies with cannabis-based products need FDA approval. You need DEA approval, so theres a lot of hoops to jump through. And the research community is just starting, but still, theres a lot of research barriers unfortunately in regard to using cannabis and cannabinoid-based products." There are lawmakers in Mexico who are looking for full medical marijuana approval in the country. Do you feel like your product having the green light in Mexico will help improve their marijuana laws? "Were certainly excited about the fact that regulatory parties there seem to be much more progressive. They understand now that non-psychoactive CBD has a tremendous potential place in terms of these very difficult to treat conditions, especially with neurological disorders. This is something thats helping move the overall cannabis space and legislation and helping to improve the dialogue that certainly is existing. We are very excited the senate in Mexico has come forward with certain approvals, and we like to believe this is going to hopefully carry forward and get the president to sign an overall very comprehensive medical cannabis bill." What do you expect to see happen in the industry in 2017 with cannabis medicines throughout the world? "One of the things that is already happening that is very exciting to see is the World Health Organization (WHO) is now starting to debate this whole Schedule I cannabis-based products [restriction on] the U.N.s single convention treaty on narcotics. The WHO is just starting to petition to actually remove this. So cannabis will potentially be removed from the United Nations single convention treaty and thats going to open up tremendous opportunities throughout many countries around the world and certainly potentially here in the U.S." Related Articles In striking comments, White House press secretary Sean Spicer used his first official statement on Saturday to castigate the media for what he claimed was deliberately false reporting, including reporting on the attendance at President Trumps inauguration. Spicer was particularly incensed about photos shared on social media by members of the press comparing the crowd at Trumps ceremony with those at inaugurations past. A number of reporters posted side-by-side photographs of the crowds amassed for the inauguration of Trump on Friday and for Barack Obama eight years before. Trump is famously focused on the size of his crowds, and he commented regularly on the attendance at his rallies during his campaign. Photographs of the inaugural proceedings were intentionally framed in a way, in one particular tweet, to minimize the enormous support that had gathered on the National Mall, Spicer said. It wasnt clear which tweet he was referring to, but this was one of the most widely shared crowd comparison shots on Friday: Compare the crowds: 2009 inauguration at left, 2017 inauguration at right.#Inauguration pic.twitter.com/y7RhIR2nfC Binyamin Appelbaum (@BCAppelbaum) January 20, 2017 Despite the clear visual difference between the two inauguration crowds, Spicer declared that Trump had the largest crowd size in history. This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe, he said. Even the New York Times printed a photograph in their paper, which showed the full extent of the support, depth, and crowd and intensity that existed. These attempts to lessen the enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong. Though official numbers dont exist, the Washington, D.C., Metro service reported that fewer train trips were taken by 11 a.m. for the 2017 inauguration than for either Obamas in 2009 or George W. Bushs in 2005. The inaugural address is at noon. Story continues Metro Ridership: As of 11am, 193k trips taken so far today. (11am 1/20/13 = 317k, 11am 1/20/09 = 513k, 11am 1/20/05 = 197k) #wmata Metro (@wmata) January 20, 2017 According to estimates compiled by PolitiFact, Obamas 2013 inauguration drew 1 million people and his 2009 inauguration drew 1.8 million. The fact-checking service also pegged Bushs 2005 inauguration at 400,000 people and his 2001 event at 300,000. PolitiFact agreed that photos of Trumps ceremony seem to show it was fewer people than for Barack Obamas two inaugurations. Spicer also pointed to multiple factors that either made Trumps crowd size appear less impressive or prevented people from filling in as quickly as they had during previous inaugurations. This was the first time in our nations history that floor coverings had been used to protect the grass on the mall. That had the effect of highlighting any areas where people were not standing, while in years past, the grass eliminated this visual, he said. This was also the first time that fencing and magnetometer went as far back on the [mall], preventing hundreds of thousands of people from being able to access the mall as quickly as they had in inaugurations past. Spicer also pointed out that the National Park Service does not provide official inauguration attendance numbers. Inaccurate numbers involving crowd size were also tweeted. No one had numbers because the National Park Service, which controls the National Mall, does not put any out, he said. Earlier in the day, Trump held an event at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., at which he also ripped the media for downplaying his inaugural crowd size. Though an official crowd size estimate does not exist, Trump boldly suggested that a million or a million and half people had gathered for his inauguration. Both Trump and Spicer also criticized the media for reporting Friday that Trump had removed Martin Luther King Jr.s bust from the Oval Office and replaced it with one of Winston Churchill. The White House pool reporter at the time apologized for initially saying the civil rights icons bust, placed there by Obama, had been replaced. Both busts are apparently in Trumps Oval Office. Read more from Yahoo News: _____ Related slideshows: Slideshow: Womens March on Washington D.C. >>> Slideshow: Womens March around the world >>> Slideshow: How newspapers covered Presidents Trump inauguration >>> Slideshow: Anti-Trump inauguration protests break out in U.S. >>> Slideshow: Protests worldwide against the inauguration of Donald Trump >>> Slideshow: Obamas Washington >>> Slideshow: Donald Trumps Inauguration Day >>> Slideshow: 66 hands on 66 Bibles >>> _____ In the late 1990s, Google was just a start-up company operating out of a garage in Palo Alto, California. Co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin started the company while studying at Stanford University. Googles founders and its employees, then, understand some of the challenges that entrepreneurs around the world may face. An entrepreneur is a person who starts a business. They must be willing to risk financial loss in order to make money. Mary Grove is the director of a program called Google for Entrepreneurs. She said, Its never been easier, in some ways, to start a company and your audience has never had the potential to be more global. Grove said Google wants to help new start-up businesses grow and be successful. Google for Entrepreneurs has opened campuses around the world, in cities like London, Madrid, Sao Paulo, Warsaw, Tel Aviv and Seoul. Entrepreneurs in each city can use Googles buildings without paying. Google provides them with workspaces and meeting spaces. Entrepreneurs can work with each other and learn from people who are more experienced in business. Yeram Kwon is the head of a company in South Korea. Her business is called I.M. Lab. It makes a product that helps people learn to perform the lifesaving technique called CPR. She said she has learned how to solve some of her businesss problems by attending Google events in Seoul. Hilla Brenner is an experienced entrepreneur in Tel Aviv, Israel. She started two companies. She also invests in other companies and mentors people trying to start businesses. She was nine months pregnant when one of her businesses received a $5 million investment. When her baby was born, she took time off from work, but still wanted to be involved in business. Brenner told Google there should be a program for new mothers who want to learn about business while on maternity leave. So Google created Campus for Moms, a nine-week program for new mothers who are interested in starting their own businesses. Campus for Moms started in Tel Aviv. It is now available at other locations around the world. New parents can bring their children with them to the meetings. Outside of its own buildings in these cities, Google provides financial support and resources for partner organizations around the world. Building partnerships is a way for Google to spread the idea of entrepreneurialism around the world. Google can use its network to help find people who want to invest in start-up businesses. Those people need to be ready to take risks. That is something Kwon said makes some Koreans uncomfortable. Most Korean people think that it is much safer to work for big companies like Samsung and LG, she said. But, Kwon said the Korean government and technology companies are now supporting people willing to take business risks. Google for Entrepreneurs says it has connected with over 300,000 entrepreneurs in 140 countries. Together, they have raised $1.8 billion and helped create more than 20,000 jobs. I'm Jill Robbins. And Phil Dierking. Elizabeth Lee wrote this story for VOANews.com. Dan Friedell adapted it for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. Do you feel comfortable taking risks in business? We want to know. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story start-up n. a new business entrepreneur n. a person who starts a business and is willing to risk loss in order to make money potential n. capable of becoming real campus n. the area and buildings around a university, college, school, etc. technique n. a way of doing something by using special knowledge or skill mentor n. someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person maternity leave n. time away from for a new mother network n. a group of people or organizations that are closely connected and that work with each other Paul Horner, the man known for his sham articles that spread across the internet, has published his latest story: Twitter Deletes Donald Trumps Twitter Account: We Will Not Tolerate Racism and Hate. The site cnn.com.de also features articles about President Barack Obama banning the national anthem and declaring September National Muslim Appreciation Month. These reports, like all of the stories written and published by Horner, a 38-year-old writer of satire and fake news, are bogus. Twitter is not deleting President Donald Trumps account. Obama has not banned the national anthem. There isn't a federally mandated month dedicated to Muslims. And the website that hosts these stories, cnn.com.de, is not affiliated with CNN. Amid a national conversation about fake news and how such stories influence public opinion, Horner became famous online after Election Day for claiming his fabricated reports helped turn voters against Democrat Hillary Clinton. With the former business mogul now in power, Horner wants to use fake news -- or "shenanigans," the term he prefers -- to take down the president. He's convinced that his writing has a purpose: to use false information to give people the truth. Interest in fake news rose dramatically around the time of the U.S. presidential election, when the campaign between Trump and his equally unpopular rival, Hillary Clinton, saw fabricated stories mushroom on social media. Google searches spiked from the last week of October to the second week of November. Since then, the term fake news has been regurgitated and debated by lawmakers, academics, journalists and other Americans. Horner told the Washington Post in November he was afraid his stories helped put Trump into the White House, and his notoriety was exacerbated when he said Trump supporters were naive. paul horner cnn Photo: CNN.com Horner began receiving hate messages calling him scum after the interview. He stepped back from publishing his fake news stories, keeping a low-key profile on his hoax news sites for the next month. In January, he began writing once more, this time with a new approach. Story continues His story about Twitter deleting Trumps account is filled with fabricated quotes. The journalist who supposedly wrote the story -- Jimmy Rustling, who has Pulitzers, a mail-order bride and an adopted Syrian daughter, according to his online biography -- does not exist. It's the pseudonym Horner uses for his fake CNN site. Horner's story leans heavily on hyperpartisan anti-Trump rhetoric. Trump, according to the story, appointed a climate change denier as head of the Environmental Protection Agency (perhaps skeptic is a more accurate term, as Scott Pruitt has admitted that the climate is changing, although he said the extent to which human activity causes that change is debatable) and a person who doesnt believe in public education in charge of the Education Department (Betsy DeVos has criticized the way public education operates, but she hasnt said she wants to do away with the system entirely). Yet throughout the piece, Horner also references and links to several stories from reputable media outlets such as The New York Times, Time Magazine and Vanity Fair. This tactic is markedly different from many of his previous political hoax news pieces, which were mainly crafted from his imagination. The goal is to lure people in with a false, clickbait title -- Twitter Deletes Trumps Twitter Account has gotten over a million views, Horner said -- and then offer them persuasive facts in the story. It gets that person thats a follower of TMZ -- people that dont follow anything political or know anything really thats going on, they just know Donald Trump is our next president it gets the person who will read that story (to) pretty much (be) forced to learn about everything thats negative about Trump, Horner said. If the comments on the story are any indication, however, not everyone is getting the message. "Cnn and the rest of the liberal media are just scared Trump can communicate directly with the American peole and does not need the media or that they cant control the narrative. They are trying to silence his 1st amendment the most un-american thing they can do," one visitor to the site wrote. Horner, who lives in Phoenix, is used to juggling multiple tasks at once. He spoke with IBT over the phone while heading to a Safeway grocery store in an Uber. After the driver seemed to become confused with directions and took a few wrong turns, Horner canceled the ride and left the car. Oh my god, what was wrong with that f*cking guy? he said. And then: Sorry about that Im walking back to my apartment right now. Lets do this again. Writing hoax stories may be lucrative -- $10,000 a month through Googles AdSense program, he said -- but its not all he does. He also deals in online day trading. He tries his hand at stand-up comedy. He writes for his online journal. And he runs the charity Sock It Forward, which he plugs in many of his fake news stories. Horner takes pride in his work, differentiating himself from crap fake news sites, he said. I could write a story right now about Paul McCartney from The Beatles dying, and it would go viral, and it would make $10,000 in ad revenue, Horner said. But theres no purpose, its morally wrong. Thats why I dont do it. It's that same moral code that guided Horner when he published a story called The Amish In America Commit Their Vote To Donald Trump; Mathematically Guaranteeing Him A Presidential Victory in October. The purpose of the story was to try to get Trump supporters not to go out and vote, thinking that they didnt have to vote now because the Amish had locked up the vote, Horner said. After the election, he started thinking maybe that story helped him get elected. But some of his articles seem to have no purpose at all. Another one of his recent stories carried this headline: Police Officer On LSD Attempts To Save Anti-Masturbation Dolphin Mascot From Imaginary Fire. The fact is, fake news has been around for at least hundreds of years. In the 15th century, a priest in Italy spread rumors that Jews murdered a Christian toddler, drained his blood and drank it to celebrate Passover. And then theres the Spanish-American War. Just over 100 years ago, the U.S. found itself in a military conflict thanks to two news empires driven by sensationalism. Media critics today debate about what falls under the umbrella of fake news. Is it total fabrication to get clicks and money? Conspiracy theories on message boards? What about reports with questionable information (see BuzzFeeds Golden Showers scoop), or selecting certain facts in news stories while intentionally ignoring others? Some critics now cry fake news! over facts they simply disagree with. All of that is further complicated by the online infrastructure that directs how falsities are spread, which is often through Facebook and Twitter. Since the fake news news exploded in November, Facebook and Google both announced measures to try and curb stories that peddle false information. Google, for instance, has pledged to ban fake news sites from AdSense, its advertising service. The most critical way to counter fake news now is (for the press) to be extremely skeptical when confronting Trump, said Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters, a non-profit, progressive watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Louis Jacobson, senior correspondent for fack-checking site PolitiFact, went even further, arguing that no real progress will come unless other systems are changed. We and other fact checkers are working with Facebook to check and label questionable, widely shared posts, Jacobson said. I hope this proves valuable, but we're just starting, so it's too soon to know. The other solutions to this problem, such as better education of students about critical thinking, are only going to occur over the longer term. Horner, for his part, said he supports efforts to curb false information. I can tell you that Im a big fan of Facebook and Googles attempt at getting rid of the actual fake news thats out there, he said. His stories havent been targeted by Facebook or Google, he said, and he isnt worried about being shut down himself. Is Horner concerned that his new stories will backfire and build support for the Trump? "Theres no chance of getting him elected twice," he said. Related Articles In the latest edition of Yahoo Diaries , we enlisted three correspondents who participated in the Womens March on Washington and gave Yahoo News the inside scoop on the massive demonstration following President Trumps inauguration. Through the point of view of three everyday Americans who decided to head to Washington, D.C., see firsthand how this event unfolded . Using journal entries and video, these women give an up close and personal look of Saturdays historic event the next best thing to actually being there. _____ Jan. 21, 2017 7:30 a.m. Hi! My name is Meera Oliva. Im from Newton, Mass. Im headed to the Womens March on Washington with my two sisters, two nephews and a friend. I traveled to New Jersey last night, and we just boarded a bus from New Brunswick to Washington, D.C. Ive never participated in a protest before, but from the day I first heard about this march, I just knew I needed to be a part of it. I am a woman of color, a child of immigrants, a wife of a Latino man and a mother to multi-ethnic children. And I take the election of a man who built his campaign on anti-immigration rhetoric while shamelessly embracing racism and misogyny very personally. Like many Americans the morning after the election, I felt that I had woken up in a country I didnt recognize. I was devastated. But then as the popular vote tally rolled in, I realized that this actually is the country that I know and love. A place where inclusion and diversity are valued and revered. A place where the immigrant story is the American story. A place where we fight for the rights and needs of people less fortunate than us. A place where love trumps hate. Meera Oliva, left, and friends at the Womens March in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Courtesy of Meera Oliva for Yahoo News) I am marching to remind Donald Trump that while he may have been sworn in as president, almost 3 million more Americans voted for someone else. He has no mandate. And we will be watching, fighting and resisting him every step of the way. _____ Jan. 21, 2017 10:45 a.m. We just got off the bus and are walking to the rally. It was amazing to see all the people on the streets as the bus rolled into Washington, D.C. My favorite moment was when we drove by a street corner where a bunch of guys had gathered to cheer the buses. And the guys had signs that said Grab Back! Story continues The energy and sense of community here is amazing. Its crowded, and its a little unclear where people are gathering and what we should be doing. But everyone is smiling, warm and friendly. Whats so amazing to me is seeing all the reasons why people are walking. The signs feature messages about womens rights, the environment, religious freedom and having a free press. Today is about so many things. _____ Jan. 21, 2017 12:30 p.m. It is VERY crowded and a little disorganized. It is difficult to get to the rally, and thousands of people have spilled onto the National Mall. We are shoulder to shoulder, and its difficult to move. Most people are just waiting for the march to begin so we can start moving again. Theres a lot of spontaneous chanting and singing breaking out. Signs left outside a Metro station after the Womens March in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Meera Oliva for Yahoo News) Im struck by how friendly everyone is and how safe it feels despite the packed crowd. Im also very encouraged by how many men are here, standing up for women. One of the most difficult parts of this election was watching a woman who is so qualified, smart and capable being defeated by a man who is so ignorant and unfit for office. It was a slap in the face to women everywhere. Im happy to see our brothers, husbands, fathers and friends supporting us today. And Im super grateful for my own husband, who is taking care of our three kids so I can march for them today. _____ Jan. 21, 2017 2 p.m. Weve been marching for a little while now if you can call it that. There are so many people here that its hard to tell where we are going or in what direction we are moving. People are starting to move barriers just to allow the crowds to keep moving. Weve just learned the news that there may be too many people here to actually hold the march. It sounds like the route is just packed with people and theres nowhere for them to move. I guess that means we came out in big numbers today! It certainly feels that way in the middle of the crowd, but its hard to comprehend the enormity of the event when you are in the middle of it sometimes. We are a little disappointed because we were looking forward to marching, but well keep going for now and see what happens! _____ Jan. 21, 2017 2:44 p.m. Weve made it to Pennsylvania Ave.! Huge crowds are marching and heading to the White House! The stands still out from the inauguration are full, and the people are so energized! We marched right by Trumps local hotel. There were loud boos from the crowds as we passed. After being penned in all day between barricades, it feels so awesome to be walking through the streets! _____ Jan. 21, 2017 3:15 p.m. Weve managed to spill out into the streets, and now the crowds are moving more easily and freely. There may not be an official march, but people are still marching! I think my favorite moment of the day has been walking by a circle of women joyously singing and dancing to Survivor. The energy is amazing and contagious! _____ Jan. 21, 2017 4:45 p.m. Well, we are boarding the bus to go back to New Jersey. It was an amazing experience both for what it was and for what it wasnt. It wasnt violent, angry or unsafe. It was welcoming, positive and empowering. I cant say enough how friendly and kind everyone was all day despite being packed together and unable to move. Everyone feels a sense of pride in what we accomplished today. For me, today represents a real turning point in how I feel postelection. Ive struggled these past few weeks with how to move forward when it feels like the country is moving backward. Ive felt sad that the country that I know the one I view through the eyes of a woman and of a first-generation American may not be the country that Ive always thought it to be. Ive been anxious and angry, and I have felt really helpless. But today, that changed. I saw today that we, the majority in this country, will fight to protect the America that we know, and that we are a force to be reckoned with. Our journey starts today. Meera Oliva for Yahoo News _____ Jan. 20, 2017 4:30 p.m. Im Judy Moticka from St. Louis (by way of Wisconsin). Im a mom, new grandma, former English teacher, lifelong Democrat and Green Bay Packers fan. Eight years ago, I was in Washington, D.C., for Barack Obamas inauguration, and I was filled with hope. This morning, I woke up full of despair. But then I came and climbed on this bus with 54 other badass women (and a few badass men), and Im feeling empowered. We climbed aboard in groups of one or two or three, but now were all buddies. One woman had tears in her eyes its her first time leaving her 13-month-old daughter. But shes meeting up with her sister and told me she has to do this for her daughter. Behind me are two young nurses who work in one of the city hospitals. Theyre doing this for themselves and for their patients, many of whom are terrified of losing their health insurance. Im marching for all the times I was told to wait or be quiet or not get too emotional. Im marching for all the friends who have reached out to me to tell me theyre with me in spirit. Im carrying the hopes, dreams and fears of so many. _____ Jan. 21, 2017 10:30 a.m. After a long bus ride, we began the walk from Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium to the rally site, as the D.C. Metro system was too packed. As we walked, more people joined, and folks came out to their porches to cheer us on. Everyone fed off everyone elses energy. People are laughing, chanting and making connections. I love all the little girls marching. The signs are brilliant. We arent going anywhere literally or figuratively. Were still blocks from the stage and are at a complete standstill. But no one is complaining. Judy Moticka, right, and friend Sue Mitch before boarding the bus in St. Louis en route to the Womens March in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Courtesy Judy Moticka for Yahoo News) _____ Jan. 21, 2017 2:15 p.m. After finally edging our way to the back of the rally stage, we were pretty pumped to have Alicia Keys show up. But the crowd was getting really restless to March. Eventually, we realized that the march couldnt start because the entire parade route was wall-to-wall people. We ended up going to a street off the route, and it was also very crowded. But we marched anyway. There were people lining the overpasses, cheering for us and people along the parade route. It was so completely empowering and energizing. As jam-packed as it was and as tired as everyone was, no one was grumpy or mean. It was just such an amazing celebration. It felt a little bit like Mardi Gras, with musicians and dancing. As much as my feet are killing me, I wouldnt have missed this for the world. _____ Jan. 21, 2017 5:15 p.m. Im still processing the day, and I surely will be for some time. From the early morning stop for coffee at 5:30 a.m, to seeing bus after bus after bus pull in knowing they were filled with people, all gathering to march for love, justice and human rights (which ARE womens rights, damnit!). The walk to the Womens March. The march itself. The people filled with passion, joy and determination. This matters. Our voices will be heard. And now, with the days events ending, this restaurant is filled with marchers all sharing their stories and experiences. And all this energy in the whole world right now is a powerful thing. Judy Moticka for Yahoo News _____ Jan. 20, 2017 8:45 p.m. Hello, everyone, my name is Lacey Karge. I am traveling from Clarksville, Tenn., with my mom, Stacey Karge, and my best friend, Ashleigh Benge. I am a junior at Austin Peay State University, majoring in social work with a minor in psychology. As of right now, my post-college plans consist of a career in a childrens hospital, hopefully St. Judes of Nashville. We are currently boarding the charter buses at the west town mall in Knoxville, Tenn. There is so much excitement in the atmosphere. It is great to see so many people coming together to speak their minds. I am not quite sure what to expect in the coming events of the march, but I am hoping to spark some insight and change into the future leaders of America. I am here to advocate for those women and minoritys who could not be with us today. I want to speak out against the injustices and adversities that both groups face on a daily basis. As an individual claiming both characteristics, I believe this march proves a great opportunity not only to speak my voice but to actually make America great again. _____ Jan. 21, 2017 10:15 a.m. The passion and energy here in Washington is just awesome. We just got off the Metro bus and are walking toward the main stage. Due to the heavy crowds, we diverted to 7th and Jefferson, or about a block from main stage. But we can still hear most of it from here. We are waiting to meet up with a few friends, and then we will head to the marchs starting point. The crowds diversity is great, people have come from all walks of life to be here today and everyone is really feeling the energy. That energy is nice, since its a little cold for a Southern girl!! _____ Jan. 21, 2017 11:00 a.m. I dont think Ive ever seen a congregation of this magnitude. I love the fact that even though we are all out here marching for different reasons, we can still unite to work and fight for all of our rights. I am definitely looking forward to the proceeding march to the White House. This is my first time visiting Washington, D.C., and I am in awe of the buildings and architecture. I cannot express the joy I feel from this incredible multitude of people. I can tell you already that today is going to be a day to remember! Lacey Karge, second from right, and friends at the Womens March in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Courtesy Lacey Karge for Yahoo News) _____ Jan. 21, 2017 3:45 p.m. The crowds are immeasurable!! Anticipation builds as we hear the escort officers fire up their sirens and then we leave the Capitol behind for the march down Pennsylvania Ave., the same route that President Trump took yesterday. The rain ponchos, suits and ties from the inauguration are replaced by a sea of humanity. We were marching for different personal reasons, but the common theme was: We will not be silenced! You will hear us! The chants turn jovial as we begin to gather at the front of the Trump International Hotel. It is here that rounds of boos fill the air. But the crowd remains respectfully defiant in its cries. Its no longer about politics its about being a human being, fighting for the rights of us all. The march turns to the right as we make the turn toward 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Police and the Secret Service begin to show their presence. We are among the lucky few: the ones who can see our nations home, the White House. But later we learn that many could not make it there. The crowds were just too heavy. Whether or not President Trump hears our cries or denies the truth of the numbers of citizens who have banded together here no longer matters. Because we all realize this is not the end of the Womens March on Washington. This is the beginning of a new passion toward reclaiming our rights, from the government that is for the people, by the people. We are stronger together. _____ Jan. 21, 2017 6:30 p.m. Today has been so inspiring. We didnt get to see a lot of the speakers because there was such a heavy flow of people. But overall I think that we have truly sparked change in some of the leaders of America. I think we really did a great thing here today. Lacey Karge for Yahoo News Cover thumbnail photo: Mary F. Calvert for Yahoo News ____ Related slideshows: Slideshow: Womens March on Washington D.C. >>> Slideshow: Signs of the Womens March around the world >>> Slideshow: Womens March around the world >>> Slideshow: How newspapers covered Presidents Trump inauguration >>> Slideshow: Anti-Trump inauguration protests break out in U.S. >>> Slideshow: Protests worldwide against the inauguration of Donald Trump >>> Slideshow: Obamas Washington >>> Slideshow: Donald Trumps Inauguration Day >>> Slideshow: 66 hands on 66 Bibles >>> Read more from Yahoo News: Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, who finally left his country Saturday after threats of possible military intervention to force him to step down, seized power and clung to office for 22 years with a blend of severity, mysticism and iron-clad self-belief. "No matter what people say about me, I am not moved... I don't listen to anybody because I know what is important," he said before December 1 elections in which he was seeking a fifth consecutive term at the helm of the small west African nation. Governing, he said, "is between me and God Almighty." Jammeh lost the vote to outsider Adama Barrow, but had refused to recognise the results. He then announced a state of emergency, saying it was necessary because of interference by foreign powers in the election. The Senegalese army said it was ready to intervene in its neighbour failing a solution to the crisis, and Nigeria regional powerhouse sent 200 troops as well as fighter jets to Senegal as part of a regional force to enforce the result of the vote. A deeply devout Muslim, Jammeh was born in the western village of Kanilai in 1965, the year that The Gambia, a long east-west sliver of land bordered by Senegal, gained independence from Britain. His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Doctor Yahya Abdul-Azziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh Naasiru Deen joined the army in 1984. Ten years later, Jammeh mounted a coup with fellow army officers against Dawda Jawara, who had ruled the country since independence, pledging to root out corruption and hold elections. After giving up his rank of colonel to allow him to contest elections as a civilian, Jammeh swept the vote in 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011, following a 2002 constitutional amendment removing presidential term limits. - Rights abuses - Now 51, Jammeh had attracted worldwide attention for declaring The Gambia an Islamic nation, withdrawing the country from the International Criminal Court, and claiming he had concocted a herbal cure for HIV/AIDS. Story continues The longtime ruler has woven a shroud of mysticism around himself using religion and rumours of secret powers. Never seen without his Koran, sceptre and prayer beads, Jammeh's billowing white robes are rumoured to hide a bulletproof vest, the legacy of several coup attempts by his own guards. In the last few years, a crackdown on journalists, opposition figures and anyone deemed disloyal within the ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), had intensified. He promised to bury critics "nine feet deep" and told the former UN secretary-general to "go to hell" after Ban Ki-moon called for an investigation into an activist's death in custody. But in another moment he urged his supporters to restrain themselves from violence and allow last month's election to go ahead peacefully. Rights groups allege that those who defy him end up in the country's notorious Mile Two prison, where the UN in 2014 said it had obtained evidence of torture and executions by the country's National Intelligence Agency, which reports directly to Jammeh. This was supplemented by "interference with the independence of the judiciary, denial of due process, prolonged pretrial and incommunicado detention," Special Rapporteur Christof Heyns said. "The security forces are his tools, and he uses them to control Gambia by arresting people who don't share his views," a prominent opposition figure told Human Rights Watch. - Isolated - Gambia's diplomatic relations have also been precarious of late. In December 2014, the EU cut off 13 million euros of funding, and threatened to block another 150 million euros in response to the country's poor human rights record. International criticism followed the introduction of an "aggravated homosexuality" law in October 2014 that imposed life sentences for a series of new offences. And the presidential vote was carried out without the presence of EU or ECOWAS observers. Relations with neighbouring Senegal have also reached an all-time low while the state of the economy has pushed many young Gambians to take the "Back Way", or migrant route across the Sahara to Libya, where they board boats bound for Italy. But others remain grateful for investment in education and the health system, which were severely neglected under Jammeh's predecessor. 9 amazing acts of kindness we witnessed during the Womens March in D.C. One of the most striking things we witnessed at the Womens March in Washington, D.C. yesterday was the outpouring of kindness all around. Anyone who goes to a large outdoor gathering knows things can get stressful really quickly. Add to that an emotionally charged day, lots of crowds and cold weather, and even the most zen person can start to feel a little cranky. So thats why its so amazing when we saw the complete opposite happening at the Womens March in D.C. People truly looking out for each other in the most sweet, and unexpected ways. Here are some of our favorite stories of kindness we witnessed at the Womens March, Washington, D.C.: 1. Were all friends here. When we went up to interview two women about their reasons for marching they were laughing and joking like there was no one else in the world. We assumed that they were old friends who had gone to the march together from their hometown. Upon talking to them more we learned that they were actually strangers who had just struck up a conversation a couple minutes before we walked over. The truth is we saw this all over, and it became a big theme of the day strangers becoming friends. 2. Doing the dirty work. As you can imagine a march with hundreds of thousands of people would mean the longest bathroom lines in the world. It felt like there were hundreds of people in the line. At the front of the line there was a woman directing people to open bathrooms and directing them away from unsavory ones, just to be nice! She wasnt volunteering or working with the march at all. 3. Thats effing TEAMWORK! In a really densely crowded protest it can be easy for people to get separated. At the Womens March in D.C., if a person realized theyd lost someone, everyone around them would join in calling out the persons name to widen the scope and reunite them. That kind of seamless teamwork among strangers definitely helped me scary situations way less scary. Story continues 4. Sharing really is caring. There were so many people in the crowd who had printed multiples of their signs and pins and were giving them away to protestors in case they didnt have one. It was really kind because a lot of protestors had made last-minute decisions to come to D.C., and werent as prepared. 5. Pretty in pink. Everywhere you looked was a sea of pink, and a lot of that had to do with several protestors who knit multiple pussy hats for the march, and then gave them away to strangers at the march. We talked with one protestor who said that at her local yarn shop there was a woman who kept knitting the hats and leaving them at the shop for strangers to take if they were planning to head to the march. 6. A helping hand. There were several areas of the march where it became really dangerous to walk since the crowd was so thick. At one particular section there was a big three-foot ledge that was almost impossible to see if you were in the crowd until you were about to step over it. Several protestors were waiting at the bottom and helping people down safely, and making sure no one hurt themselves in the crowd crossing it. 7. Officially kind. Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images) The D.C. police officers and military were some of the kindest individuals during the protest. All over we saw them helping lost protestors find their way around the city, or directions on the metro. Everywhere we looked there was police officers waiting and ready to help citizens, or in the process of helping citizens. 8. Critical care. At one point during the rally someone had a medical emergency and not only was the crowd able to get a medic over almost immediately, the very thick crowd that was almost impossible to get through parted ways to let the person get the care they needed. Despite all the chaos of the day, there was an underlying sense of kindness and team work that marked everything about the rally and march. 9. Strength in numbers. People were literally lifting each other up, as in helping each other get to higher ground to get better pictures, or get to a safer spot. In this picture a man helped one of our writers get on top of a cement post to take a better pictures of the crowd. The sense of kindness and solidarity that flowed through the Womens March was awe-inspiring. Despite the fact that emotions were fraught for most of the people participating, everyone was looking out for one another. That was the most inspiring part of the march. Despite all the challenges we may face as a people, were still a people who cares about one another and has each others backs. Cruises give you a chance to sail the worldand also a chance to explore a unique interest. From the world's biggest heavy metal cruise to a cruise catered to cat lovers, there is a floating vacation that takes the most wacky and whimsical themes to the sea. Weve pulled together some of the most unusual themed cruises you can embark on, with destinations from the Caribbean to Europe to China. Related: Great All-Inclusive Cruises Cat cruise The Meow Meow Cruise is for cat lovers who often find themselves chatting about their cuddly companions. Though cats aren't actually allowed on this cat cruise, the cruise brings cat fans together through events like its Meow Meow mixer, a Meow Meow trivia contest, and a Meow Meow scavenger hunt. The ship travels to Miami, Key West, and Cozumel in Mexico. Rock the boat on a heavy metal cruise Love heavy metal? You won't want to miss the 70,000 Tons of Metal Cruise, dubbed the world's biggest heavy metal cruise, with about 60 bands rocking the boat over five days. In true metal fashion, you can enjoy rocking out to your favorite artists without VIP entrances or lines, and enjoy drinks late into the night as the bars never close on this cruise. There are meet and greet opportunities, as well as karaoke sessions, so vacationers can join in on the fun as they sail from Fort Lauderdale to Haiti. Cruise with the undead The Walking Dead comes to life on the Walker Stalker Cruise, where travelers can see celebrities like Norman Reedus, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chandler Riggs, and Tom Payne. There's also a Night of the Living costume contest, a Thriller dance class, and bingo served with Bloody Marys. Additional activities on the cruise, which sails from Miami to the Bahamas, include a flip cup tournament, whiskey tastings, and pub crawls. A very adults-only cruise After the success of their first clothing optional cruise last year, Original Group is back with the Desire Cruise, which will depart from Barcelona to Rome in April of 2018, and stop in ports including Marseilles, Monte Carlo, and Portofino. Story continues Steamy activities await on the ship, and even dining options range from casually playful to erotically elegant. Hunt ghosts on the high seas Halloween comes early on the Ghost Hunter's Cruise, where Barry Fitzgerald and Karl Pfeiffer of the show will take you through haunted ports around the globe. Spooky stops with haunting legends the cruise has stopped at include Rose Hall in Jamaica, the Lizzy Bordon house in Newport, and the Red Onion Saloon in Skagway, Alaska. Continue the theme onboard with lectures on subjects that range from legends and doorways to other worlds to the hard science of the paranormal. Quilt till you quit For the last 25 years, Quilt Seminars at Sea has combined a love of travel with a passion for quilting. The cruises, which range from seven to 14 days, cover ports in destinations ranging from the U.S. and Asia to the Caribbean. Sewing machines are offered onboard for your use as you learn the ropes from world-renowned quilting instructors, while trip itineraries will often include activities like meeting with quilt guides in Turkey or perusing through quilt shops in Spain. Knit on the open water Another cruise for craft lovers, Knitting Cruises offer passengers like-minded knitting travelers as well as knitting instructors on board. Stops range from yarn shops and knitting schools in Japan, to cashmere mills in China and textile museums in Amsterdam. Cruise to the past Take a step back in time as you head into the 1950s and '60s with the Malt Shop Memories Cruise, sailing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Saint Maarten and Antigua and Barbuda. Relax to the sounds of entertainers from The Beach Boys to Brenda Lee, then enjoy a Twist contest and a sock hop. Onboard dance instructors are available to teach you any classic moves you haven't yet mastered. Motorcycle cruise Dubbed the world's only motorcycle rally on a cruise ship, the High Seas Rally takes motorcycle lovers to destinations like the Grand Cayman, while also offering a trade show with bike vendors, a biker attire dress code, and parties on the ship and the shore. Solve a mystery on board Murder Mystery Cruises, hosted by mystery writer Jack Pachuta, take travelers through an ongoing mystery event incorporating clues fro the various ports, while also offering writing lessons should travelers also want to write a murder mystery themselves. Go for the goth Gothic Cruise, the original gothic cruise founded in 1989, continues to take fans on night escapes to destinations that include the Mexican Riviera and Alaska. Onboard, passengers are decked out in gothic gear. A Victorian ball is part of the activities included on the itinerary, in addition to performances and themed parties. The H-1B visa program is used widely by the tech sector and dominated by computer professionals from India (AFP Photo/ SAJJAD HUSSAIN) New Delhi (AFP) - In the darkened offices of a tech start-up, a handful of computer engineers sifts through a mountain of intelligence data that would normally be the work of a small army of Indian security agents. "We use artificial intelligence (AI) to look for patterns in the past to predict future behaviour," says Tarun Wig as he explains why he hopes his company Innefu can do more business with India's government. "Cyber warfare isn't a movie, it's happening right now.... We lost out on the industrial revolution, we lost out on the defence revolution -- let's not lose out in the cyber revolution." While other countries have long relied on AI to gather intelligence, India -- sometimes seemingly addicted to paperwork -- has continued to use agents to eyeball reams of data gathered over the years. It's a process that sucks up time and can often miss crucial information. India has been in three wars with its neighbours since independence and the target of numerous cross-border attacks, including in 2008 when Pakistan-based extremists killed more than 160 people in Mumbai. Now the threat from cyber attacks is growing and its vulnerability has been exposed. Some 22,000 pages of data related to submarines that a French government-owned company was building for the Indian navy were leaked to the media last year. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi's Twitter account was hacked in November while the elite National Security Guard's website was reportedly defaced with profanity-laden messages for Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month. "Our idea starting out was that if the next war is fought on cyber, we need our own weapons," said Wig as he talks through software developed for India's needs. - Octopus tentacles - Innefu got a foot in the lucrative business of government contracts after resolving a thorny test case for a law enforcement agency that wanted to determine the background to an incident along one of India's borders. Story continues The agency handed over two CDs with about 1,500 intelligence documents, including social media snippets, such as posts on planned protests. Innefu had to train the machine to read the agency's language, including abbreviations, and then began extracting information on what happened, who were the main players and how they interacted with each other. Its newest offering Prophecy is modelled on products made by Palantir Technologies, a private security firm whose founders include Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel and whose clientele includes the CIA and the FBI. "Prophecy is like an octopus with multiple tentacles that pulls data from multiple places," said Wig's co-founder Abhishek Sharma. While the use of AI is commonplace elsewhere in Asia, it is still in its infancy in India. About 75 percent of respondents to a recent survey by consulting firm EY India said cybersecurity deployed in their organisations does not meet their needs, pointing to big opportunities for companies such as Innefu. Although Innefu is the only Indian company known to specialise in national security, other Indian companies such as Arya.ai and Haptik are also tapping what should be a lucrative market. Banks have started to use AI to target products to customers and doctors are using it in a couple of experiments to map a patient's medical history in order to devise new lines of treatment. Work is also underway to create a system that can act as a backbone for all electronic warfare programmes for the Indian army. But most of this is still at the laboratory stage, experts say. - AI laggards - "It's expensive and our society is not used to automated decision-making," Jiten Jain, chief of Indian Infosec Consortium, an industry body, told AFP. "We're still used to manual and human decision-making." Subimal Bhattacharjee, a cyber security expert, said India had been caught off guard by the need to upscale its use of AI. "We are definitely laggards in comparison to China and South Korea and the US," he said. Innefu operates from the eighth floor of a nondescript Delhi commercial complex that houses chartered accountants and eateries. Its windows are darkened with thick black paper, while clusters of wires sprout from walls adorned with photos of goddess Lakshmi, the purveyor of wealth. But despite its humble surroundings, it is confident an ongoing trial of Prophecy will lead to more business with India's security services -- whom Wig expects to be naturally inclined to go local. "You can't really trust such sensitive data with foreign companies," said Wig. "Fake news" stories have been a major issue in recent months. Some Americans say fake news influenced the 2016 presidential election in the United States. Supporters of candidate Hillary Clinton claim the spread of such stories on social media cost her the election. And, a November 2016 study from Stanford University suggested young people have great difficulty identifying false claims from real ones. But social media and the internet are not the only providers of questionable information. College professors and students spend years researching subjects, hoping to share their information with others and push knowledge forward. Once they complete their research, they publish this information. Researchers usually seek out academic journals to publish their findings, or present them at conferences. A company called OMICS International is an online publisher of academic journals. Its website says OMICS International operates more than 700 journals, with help from over 50,000 experts. It says that OMICS organizes thousands of conferences around the world each year. Yet it is not clear on the site that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is taking legal action against OMICS. In August 2016, the FTC accused the publishing company of unlawful business activities. First, an FTC statement claimed the company lied to researchers about publishing costs. The government claimed OMICS let researchers submit their papers for free, then later demanded money. The FTC also claims the company has refused to remove papers from the website unless researchers paid. This prevented the researchers from publishing their findings in other journals. Additionally, the FTC claims OMICS falsely listed the names of guest speakers at its conferences. This, the FTC says, was in hope of getting other people to willingly pay the fee of $1,000 or more to attend. Srinubabu Gedela says he created OMICS in 2007 with the hope of freely sharing scientific knowledge with the world. OMICS International says it follows the open access model of publishing. This means anyone can read its publications free of charge. Gedela says FTC officials cannot charge him with anything unlawful because they mistakenly have him on record as a permanent U.S. resident. Gedela says he is a resident of India. He also argues the government is taking action in an attempt to stop the success of open access publishing. All the [FTC accusations have] done [is a] matter of making [accusations] without any valid documentary evidence, just to kill the open access publishing, he says. Further, I understand that [the] FTC [is] working towards favoring some subscription-based journal publishers who are earning billions of dollars from scientists literature. The traditional model of publishing academic journals is known as the subscription model. In this model, publishers cover costs and can also make a profit by charging a monthly or yearly fee. That way, researchers can offer their work free of charge. Also, a university library paying the fee then has use of the information in the journals. Jeffrey Beall says he has heard the argument of subscription-based publishers trying to kill open-access publishers before. Yet he does not believe it. Beall is an academic librarian at the University of Colorado in Denver. He has 26 years of experience in his field. Beall says there are many problems with journals like those OMICS publishes. He thinks the subscription model is better at identifying questionable journals and dealing with them in the best way possible. "If a journal performed poorly -- publishing low-quality articles -- or if it had other types of problems libraries would cancel their subscriptions because they didnt want to pay for a low-quality journal. So, eventually enough libraries would cancel their subscriptions and the journal would go out of business." But what exactly makes a journal low-quality? For one thing, Beall says, low-quality journals abuse the needs of professors to publish. The more a researcher publishes, the more likely he or she will find a job with a college or university. Low-quality journals promise to publish if researchers are willing to pay, Beall says. And that is part of an even bigger problem. Beall notes the most important part of publishing research is the peer-review process. This is when experts in the same field, often having never met the researcher, examine the research for mistakes. This ensures the research is not only understandable, but also completely real, he says. But Beall argues low-quality journals are only interested in money from submission fees. To keep researchers submitting papers, these publishers often avoid the peer-review process. Or they choose experts without the necessary knowledge, he says. And they also lie about how many other academics read their journals. It is not always easy to tell which journals are legitimate -- following accepted rules -- and which are not. So in 2011, Beall began creating an online list of journals and other academic groups he calls predatory. The list was discontinued in early 2017. He admits his decisions to list a journal are based on his subjective opinion. But Beall says he uses many different ways to rate these journals. Often they offer a quick peer-review process, which he says is impossible. Another sign is a large number of spelling or grammar mistakes on a journals website. This can make it harder for researchers whose first language is not English to identify predatory journals, Beall says. Professor Peter Dreier notes that even legitimate journals and conferences have their problems. Dreier teaches politics at Occidental College in Los Angeles, California. He says academic writing has become so complex that sometimes even fellow experts cannot understand it. This sometimes leads to peer-reviewers approving submissions they otherwise would not, simply because the writing appears scientific. To prove this, Dreier submitted a paper to a conference of the Society for Social Studies of Science held in 2010. Dreier says the submission he wrote was complete nonsense, and the conference accepted it. Dreier warns of two major dangers. He says it is the duty of researchers to increase knowledge in the world. But if they write in a way only other researchers understand, that knowledge will only help the highly-educated. Also, if journals knowingly publish bad research because they seek profit, the value of knowledge decreases. Dreier uses fake news as an example. He says in the past people trusted the established news media. But as more fake news is published, people stop believing things they see or hear in the news. And people must understand that some things are real and some are not, he says. "The very idea of expertise is in question if people dont trust that there are people that are willing to tell the truth about whats happening in the world -- not just politicians but scientists. If they dont trust them because their ideas have been undermined by the pursuit of profit, then its very difficult for society to move forward and make progress." Im Pete Musto. Pete Musto reported this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. What kinds of academic publishers and organizations are in your country? How do researchers know if these publishers and organizations are legitimate or not? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story fake adj. not true or real academic adj. of or relating to schools and education journal(s) n. a magazine that reports on things of special interest to a particular group of people submit v. to give a document, proposal or piece of writing to someone so that it can be considered or approved subscription n. an agreement that you make with a company to get a publication or service regularly and that you usually pay for in advance library n. a place where books, magazines, and other materials, such as videos and musical recordings, are available for people to use or borrow peer-review n. a process by which a academic work, such as a paper or a research proposal, is checked by a group of experts in the same field to make sure it meets the necessary standards before it is published or accepted ensure(s) v. to make something sure, certain or safe predatory adj. wrongly harming or using others for pleasure or profit subjective adj. based on feelings or opinions undermine(d) v. to make someone or something weaker or less effective usually in a secret or gradual way By Makiko Yamazaki and Kentaro Hamada TOKYO (Reuters) - With mounting writedowns from its nuclear business, Japan's Toshiba Corp is looking to sell part of its core semiconductors business, a world No.2 in the flash memory chips used in smartphones. But its rush to plug a hole in its U.S. nuclear business that Japanese media now estimate at as much as $6 billion may complicate any asset sale. Toshiba, which warned last month of multi-billion dollar charges for U.S. nuclear project cost overruns, wants to boost its capital base by the end of the financial year in March. Failure to offset the nuclear hit could wipe out already thin shareholder equity and push the company into negative net worth - jeopardizing its role in public infrastructure projects and its place on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's 'first section', for larger companies. Following a 2015 accounting scandal, the conglomerate is barred from raising fresh funding on equity markets. Selling assets, though, could help it win broader financial support from its main banks. Toshiba could sell 20-30 percent of its chip business, according to media reports. The business, worth more than $10 billion, is the world's second largest after Samsung Electronics in flash memory chips - and it's Toshiba's most profitable. Operating profit is forecast at 130 billion yen ($1.13 billion) for the year to end-March, accounting for the bulk of overall group profit, forecast at 180 billion yen. Those forecasts were made before its December warning of the U.S. nuclear charges. People with knowledge of the matter said Toshiba has begun preparations to sell a minority stake in its chip business. One person said non-disclosure agreement forms have been sent to some private equity funds. Other people familiar with the matter have said potential buyers of a stake include Western Digital Corp, both a rival and a business partner, with a pledge to invest $5 billion to jointly produce memory chips. Western Digital, a California-based data storage company which operates a Japanese NAND flash memory plant with Toshiba, has declined to comment. Any deal with Western Digital, however, could trigger a time-consuming antitrust review. "The short timeframe (for raising funds) could be a hurdle as (such) a capital infusion could raise antitrust concerns," a Toshiba executive said, noting such a review could take more than a year to complete. The person declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue. "Investors with no antitrust concerns will be preferable, but they tend to seek quick returns, so there are difficulties here as well." Selling part of the chips business, formally called Storage & Electronic Devices Solutions, may also fuel concerns of earnings dilution. "For some investors, the semiconductor business may be a central part of Toshiba's appeal," Goldman Sachs analysts wrote last week. "If Toshiba were to divest a stake in this business, we see a risk that the parent company's profile could become less attractive to these investors." SMALLER, MORE POWERFUL CHIPS Buoyed by its chip business, Toshiba shares had risen 85 percent last year before its warning on its nuclear business. The stock ended 2016 up just 13 percent. With clients including Apple Inc and Chinese smartphone makers, Toshiba's memory chips are the division's biggest earners. The company has around 20 percent market share globally in NAND flash memory chips, trailing Samsung's 35 percent, according to research firm IHS. Toshiba scored a success last year in the race to make chips smaller and more powerful, beating Samsung in producing sample shipments of so-called 64-layer 3D flash memory chips. "It used to be said we were two years behind Samsung (in 3D chips)," Yasuo Naruke, head of Toshiba's chip business, told Reuters last month. "But we were faster in (64-layer chip) sample shipments, so we believe we've caught up with Samsung technology-wise." Naruke noted, though, that Toshiba still has less experience in mass producing the new chip. A stake sale could help with that, as Toshiba plans to increase its investment in chips to around 1 trillion yen ($8.7 billion) for the three years from April 2019, up from 860 billion yen for the previous three years. As Toshiba has ruled out ceding control of the chips business, it may also seek state help, as other troubled Japanese technology companies have done in previous restructurings, the sources said. "We need to have various options on the table as the scale of the (nuclear) impairment charge has not yet been finalized. But we'll never give away a majority," the Toshiba executive said. Another person familiar with the matter said the state-run Development Bank of Japan is among several funds Toshiba may approach for possible investment in its chip business, though the bank could be put off by the size of investment needed. (Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki and Kentaro Hamada; Writing by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Ian Geoghegan) By William James LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will on Monday outline a new, interventionist approach to balancing its heavily services-based economy for the post-Brexit era, seeking to reinvigorate industrial production and stimulate investment in technology and R&D. Unveiling her long-awaited 'Modern Industrial Strategy', Prime Minister Theresa May will demand closer collaboration within key industries in exchange for government support on regulation, trade and research. May will ask businesses to work together to tackle industry-specific challenges, citing examples of successful collaboration that have helped attract overseas investment from the likes of carmaker Nissan <7201.T>, and enabled aerospace firms such as BAE Systems to develop a competitive edge. In return she will pledge to reciprocate with 'Sector Deals' that address regulatory barriers, look at how trade and investment deals can be used to increase exports, and support the creation of new institutions to provide leadership, drive innovation or boost skills. "The modern industrial strategy will back Britain for the long term: creating the conditions where successful businesses can emerge and grow, and backing them to invest in the long-term future of our country," May said in an emailed statement prior to the announcement. "It will be underpinned by a new approach to government, not just stepping back but stepping up to a new, active role that backs business and ensures more people in all corners of the country share in the benefits of its success." BACK IN FASHION Since coming to office weeks after Britain's shock vote to leave the EU last year, May has pushed the once-unfashionable concept of industrial strategy to the top of her agenda, creating a new government department to lead the project, and chairing a top-level cabinet committee on the subject. Under the banner of building an economy that distributes wealth more evenly, following decades of industrial decay in parts of Britain, the plan seeks to address a mood disenfranchisement that drove many voters to back Brexit and protect the economy from the risk that leaving the EU will limit access to its market for services like banking. The outline of the strategy - expected to range across economic, regional, education transport and digital policy - will be set out in a consultation document on Monday, seeking input from industry. The government said early work had been done on sector deals for a number of industries: life sciences, ultra-low emission vehicles, nuclear and creative industries. But it said it would work with any sector that could "organize behind strong leadership to address shared challenges and opportunities." May will present the full proposals, including plans to boost the teaching of technical skills and mathematics, and a 556 million pound boost for infrastructure projects, at a specially-convened cabinet meeting in Northwest England. The government also listed 10 strategic pillars behind its strategy, which can be viewed here: [L5N1FC0U7] (Editing by Clelia Oziel) Bob Levey/Telemundo via Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Former President George H.W. Bush will remain in the intensive care unit of a Texas hospital for the next few days while his wife, former first lady Barbara Bush, could be discharged Sunday, family spokesman Jim McGrath said in a statement. George H.W. Bush has been hospitalized at Houston Methodist Hospital since Jan. 14. He was transferred to the intensive care unit Wednesday for "an acute respiratory problem stemming from pneumonia," McGrath said in a statement at the time. The 92-year-old former president underwent a procedure to protect and clear his airway that required sedation, the statement said. Although he's in stable condition, George H.W. Bush will remain in the ICU "for observation for a few more days," according to McGrath. "President Bush is breathing well without any mechanical assistance, his spirits are high, and he is looking forward to getting back to a regular schedule," McGrath said. "In fact, he called his office last night at 6:30 p.m. to check in on his staff." Barbara Bush, 91, entered the same medical center last Wednesday as a precaution after suffering fatigue and coughing. She was being treated for bronchitis, according to McGrath. The former first lady had not been feeling well for a couple of weeks but is resting comfortably, the family's spokesman said. "Following another good nights rest, President and Mrs. Bush have both continued to improve over the past 24 hours," McGrath said. "Mrs. Bush could possibly be discharged from Houston Methodist Hospital tomorrow." Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Six carefully selected scientists have entered a man-made dome on a remote Hawaii volcano as part of a human-behavior study that could help NASA as it draws up plans for sending astronauts on long missions to Mars. The four men and two women moved into their new simulated space home Friday [Macau time] on Mauna Loa, settling into the vinyl-covered shelter of 1,200 square feet, or about the size of a small, two-bedroom home, for an eight-month stay. They will have no physical contact with people in the outside world and will work with a 20-minute delay in communications with their support crew, or the time it would take for an email to reach Earth from Mars. The NASA-funded project will study the psychological difficulties associated with living in isolated and confined conditions for an extended period. How can you get under the skin of an Asian country? Diplomatic body searches, bomber flights, shrine statues and even doormats have set governments on edge. Heres a nation-by-nation look at Asias figurative, and in one case literal, sacred cows: SOUTH KOREA South Korea takes offense first, and most regularly, with Japan, largely over disputes stemming from Tokyos 35-year colonization of the Korean Peninsula in the early 20th century. But President Donald Trump has proven surprisingly good at pushing buttons in Seoul in recent months. During his campaign, Trump suggested that the United States would let South Korea defend itself from North Korean aggression if Seoul didnt pay more for the stationing of 28,500 American troops in the country. He also described a 2012 bilateral free trade agreement that was portrayed as a major landmark as killing American jobs. Fewer or no U.S. boots on the ground and calls for re-negotiating the trade accord would raise serious questions for many in South Korea about the decades long military alliance between the countries that was forged in the bloodshed of the Korean War. And then theres Seouls northern rival. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un staged two nuclear tests and a string of ballistic missile test-firings last year. Theres always the fear a direct attack like the deadly 2010 shelling of a South Korean island. Another attack will likely trigger retaliatory strikes by the South, which has grown tired of Pyongyangs repeated provocations. Japan regularly infuriates Seoul when senior politicians visit a shrine that honors war dead including convicted criminals; when Tokyo renews claims to disputed islets; and when officials approve history textbooks that Seoul believes whitewash Japans wartime aggression. INDIA Indians have long been known as a touchy bunch, so much so the makers of last years blockbuster sequel Independence Day 2 reportedly excluded all Indian landmarks from the scenes of mayhem and devastation wrought by the movies invading aliens. In some cases, Indians have been so easily offended that its taken everyone else by surprise, such as when a superbug discovered in New Delhi was named after the Indian capital, or when an Indian diplomat was subjected to a routine body search when arrested in 2013 for allegedly mistreating her Indian maid in New York City. When the world was celebrating the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson particle, some Indians griped that all the credit was going to British physicist Peter Higgs while the world was ignoring Indian scientist Satyendranath Bose whose work in the 1920s helped define the subatomic boson particle named after him. In recent years, many in Hindu-dominated India have been perceived to be intolerant of criticism against Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as their religion. Self-appointed cow vigilantes have attacked villagers suspected of killing cows, considered sacred in Hinduism and yet a vital source of income for many Muslims. When former President Barack Obama in 2015 urged greater tolerance and harmony in Indias multicultural society, he was widely derided for taking a shot at Indias dignity. Last week, Amazon.com Inc. pulled doormats depicting the Indian flag from its Canadian retail website after the Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj threatened to deny Indian visas to Amazon employees if the company did not apologize and withdraw the product. Protests erupted a year ago after doormats depicting Hindu gods were sold online. There were also reports that Indias independence leader Mohandas K. Gandhi was featured on flip-flops in what many Indians view as disrespectful. British rock band Coldplay triggered anger with a music video on India that showed stereotypical images of the country with Hindu holy men, peacocks and colorful festivals. Critics argued that it ignored the vast changes in the country following the economic boom that has transformed the face of Indian cities and towns. In 2008, Danny Boyles multiple-Oscar winning film, Slumdog Millionaire also faced similar criticism for its portrayal of poverty and corruption in India. CHINA No issue is perhaps more sensitive and important to China than the status of Taiwan and Trump thrust the issue into the spotlight weeks before his inauguration by taking a congratulatory phone call from the islands president. That led Beijing to reiterate the one-China principle that has underpinned China-U.S. relations since they were normalized in 1979. While China is keeping its powder dry for now, further moves to bestow legitimacy on the islands government or offer it big arms packages and other forms of support would like draw a furious response. China has also been irked over recent U.S. comments on the South China Sea, particularly its building of man-made islands equipped with airstrips and military defenses. Despite the construction, Beijing intensely dislikes accusations of militarizing the sensitive region, which it claims virtually in its entirely. However, the issue appears significantly less volatile now than last summer, when China was incensed by an international arbitration ruling invalidating its maritime claims. Economic concerns remain foremost for the leadership and officials have responded to complaints from Trump and others over alleged unfair trade practices by again arguing against restrictions on the export of sensitive U.S. technologies, along with growing negative sentiment against Chinese investment in economies overseas that keep companies such as communications giant Huawei out of the U.S. market. And as always, China is prone to lash out against all criticism of its policies toward political dissidents and ethnic minorities in Tibet and Xinjiang. NORTH KOREA Although just about anything that the United States does can be counted on to push North Koreas buttons and be used by the regime to whip up popular anti-U.S. sentiment one thing the U.S has started doing with more regularity lately hit an especially sore nerve. Because of the massive, wide-scale destruction caused by bombing during the Korean War, which essentially flattened the very vulnerable Pyongyang, flights by U.S. long-range bombers like the B-52 not only get the regimes attention but do seem to cause genuine anger and anxiety. Such flights have become a more common response following North Korean nuclear tests or other military activities seen by Washington as particularly provocative. They have the added benefit of reassuring American allies Japan and South Korea, but at the same time underscore the vast gap in perceptions between the United States, where the 1950-53 fighting on the Korean Peninsula is known as the forgotten war, and in North Korea, where it was a defining an extremely brutal chapter in the nations history. AUSTRALIA Australias hard-line stance on asylum seekers has frayed ties with its neighbor and close ally Indonesia, and drawn global condemnation from human rights groups. Under Australias policies, asylum seekers from Asia, the Middle East and Africa who arrive by boat, usually from Indonesian ports, are sent to grim detention camps in remote Pacific island nations and are refused settlement in Australia. Any boats intercepted at sea are turned back or sunk, with their passengers and crews sent to Indonesia in life boats. The turn-back policy has caused friction with Indonesia, which was especially rankled after reports emerged that the Australian navy paid people smugglers to return a boat of migrants to Indonesian waters. JAPAN A comfort women statue is currently the hottest button between Japan and South Korea. The statue of an anonymous Asian-faced girl is supposed to represent all the women across Asia and from The Netherlands who were the victims of sexual abuses by Japanese wartime military. It is part of Seouls campaign to gain global sympathy for its suffering under the Japanese colonial rule, just as Japan has increasingly pushed back from its earlier recognition of responsibility. Also reflecting Seouls deep-rooted colonial-era enmity is a statue of South Korean patriot Ahn Jung- Geun, who assassinated Japans former top official in Korea, Hirobumi Ito, in 1909. Then there are islands. Japans Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida described as unacceptable the use of the South Korean name for disputed islands in the official website for the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. The website introduces the islets as Dokdo, while Japan refers to them as Takeshima. The website also refers to the waters that Japan calls Sea of Japan under the South Korean name, East Sea. In China, a memorial hall of Nanjing that highlights the 1937 massacre by Japanese troops is a thorny issue that still divides the view between the two sides. AP The US president, Richard Nixon, has appeared on national television to announce peace with honor in Vietnam. Statements issued simultaneously in Washington and Hanoi confirmed the peace deal was signed in Paris at 1230 local time, bringing to an end Americas longest war. The ceasefire will begin at midnight Hanoi time on Saturday, 27 January, monitored by an international force made up of troops from Canada, Poland, Hungary and Indonesia. President Nixons speech from the Oval office at the White House was broadcast on national radio and television. He said: Throughout the years of negotiations, we have insisted on peace with honor, I set forth the goals that we considered essential for peace with honor. In the settlement that has now been agreed to, all the conditions that I laid down then have been met. The conditions include the release of prisoners of war within 60 days and all American forces to be withdrawn within the same time period. An international conference will be held within 30 days, probably in Vienna, to guarantee the peace. American forces have been involved in the conflict in Vietnam for more than a decade. In 1967, there were 500,000 American troops deployed in Vietnam. For the people of South Vietnam, the president had this message: By your courage, by your sacrifice, you have won the precious right to determine your own future and you have developed the strength to defend that right. We look forward to working with you in future, friends in peace as we have been allies in war. To the leaders of North Vietnam, the president said: As we have ended the war through negotiations, let us now build a peace of reconciliation. For our part, we are prepared to make a major effort to help achieve that goal, but just as reciprocity was needed to end the war, so, too, will it be needed to build and strengthen the peace. Courtesy BBC News In context The last American troops left Vietnam on 29 March 1973. The following year there were frequent violations of the peace treaty. In 1975, full-scale warfare resumed between North and South Vietnam without American intervention. In 1976 the first elections were held to a National Assembly, finally reuniting North and South. As for Nixon, he had been re-elected with a landslide majority and sworn in for a second time three days before announcing the 1973 peace deal. But his honeymoon period did not last. Before Nixons re-election, it was known there had been a break-in at the Democratic offices in the Watergate building. By the end of January, it was being linked to his re-election campaign and an inquiry was ordered. The scandal grew and on 9 August 1974, facing impeachment, he resigned. ARCO The Idaho Farm Bureau is the lone opponent of a proposal to give national park status to Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, but the organization has offered scant evidence of how the change could hurt agriculture. Farm Bureau officials worry changing the designation would restrict trucks hauling hay or other agricultural products on U.S. 20/26/93 through Craters. Yet organizers and legislative backers of the name change say they have no interest in pushing legislation that includes such restrictions. And advocates point out the state, not the National Park Service, controls the land where the highway cuts through the northwestern edge of the park. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a proclamation transferring the strip of highway to Idaho for improvements and realignment, according to a park history timeline. Advocates say making Craters Idahos first national park would raise its profile, bringing thousands more tourists per year to struggling towns such as Arco, Carey and Mackay. They argue the only change would be signs and park literature. The Farm Bureau has pushed back, vowing to lobby against legislation and saying it worries about undue federal restrictions under a national park name. They dont trust the federal government, is the bottom line, said Farm Bureau spokesman John Thompson, speaking of his organizations membership. He cited Yellowstone National Parks hay hauling restrictions, which include placing a tarp over the cargo. When asked for other examples of agricultural impacts that might arise under a national park designation, Thompson said he didnt know. The Farm Bureaus concern, he said, is that name-change legislation could be amended any number of ways in Congress. In a 2015 column to ask the hard questions about the proposal, the Farm Bureaus then-president Frank Priestley did not focus on agricultural concerns. He argued Craters didnt rise to the level of a national park, saying some would even call it a rock pile. Idahos congressional delegation says it wants state and local support before taking up the proposal. A Butte County advisory ballot measure in November showed 57 percent of voters supported changing the status to national park. It remains to be seen whether the Idaho Legislature will take the next step and pass a resolution supporting the name change. State Sen. Jeff Siddoway, a Republican sheep farmer from Terreton, said he will support the name change resolution this session, and that it has a fairly good chance of passing. The resolution would pass the Senate pretty easy, he predicted, though it could face hurdles in the House. I see it as an economic deal with really no downside, Siddoway said. There are good-quality answers to those (Farm Bureau) concerns. Whether that will change anyones minds or not, I dont know. Siddoway said any concerns that remain for the Farm Bureau would almost certainly be addressed in final legislation changing the name. He said nothing would change about Craters of the Moon management or regulations only the name would be different. Idahos congressional delegation is not going to allow any restrictions on transportation of our (agricultural products) around the state, Siddoway said. Theyre not going to carry legislation nor would I as a state legislator that considers anything like that. Rep. Van Burtenshaw, a Republican farmer and rancher from Terreton, said he tentatively supports the name-change proposal, as long as he has assurance of no changes to Craters other than the name. The proposals backers are looking to him as a possible resolution sponsor in the House. I think if we can put to rest those issues like for example, trucks being diverted because theyre hauling hay then I think it could probably happen, he said of the resolution. Butte County and Idaho Transportation Department officials have discussed the Farm Bureaus highway concern. Both agencies do not believe that federal or state agencies will restrict truck shipments of agricultural and petroleum products along the route, should Congress change the preserve from a national monument to a national park, said Bruce King, an ITD spokesman. But what if the Park Service did push to restrict truck traffic? Without seeing a specific proposal, ITD Deputy Attorney General Richard Hart said its hard to know what would happen. Before its presented, theres no way to sink our teeth into what what ITDs reaction would be, he said. Craters Superintendent Wade Vagias is not allowed to take a position on the proposal, but he confirmed the 1941 proclamation excludes the highway from the monument. Its outside the boundary of todays monument, he said, and those backing the name change have not proposed adding those lands back in. Helen Merrill, an Arco chiropractor and one of the name-change organizers, said it doesnt make sense that the Park Service would suddenly desire to place hay shipping or other restrictions on the highway. Why have they not had that requirement in the last 50 years? she said. (The Farm Bureau) has no answer. They just say, Well, it could happen. Really? This is going to be the one thing you keep harping on, to stop you from having a neutral or positive stance on this? If thats the only thing youve got, thats pretty damn weak. Gordon and Rhea Smith of Twin Falls and Malad, Idaho, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on January 20th, 2017. The couple was married in the Logan, Utah Temple in 1967. They are the proud parents of four daughters, Shawna (Terry) Howe, Wendy (Todd) Andersen, Heather (Gary) Tucker, Shannon (Jason) Killian and have been blessed with eleven wonderful grandchildren ages 10 to 25. Gordon retired from the Twin Falls School District in 2000 where he enjoyed working for 33 years as an Educator and Guidance Counselor. Rhea cherishes her family and is still considered the best dessert maker ever! They continue to farm in Malad, operate the Chem-Dry Carpet Cleaning Franchise in Twin Falls and enjoy spending time with their posterity. Their children and grandchildren celebrated this happy occasion with them. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! We love you! TWIN FALLS Idahoans shelled out more money for gas last year than other U.S. states, but still benefited from the lowest prices in more than a decade. In AAA Idahos analysis of 2016, Idaho had an average price of $2.29 per gallon of regular gas with a low of $1.92 in February and a high of $2.46 in July. The average price over the year was a 22-cent drop from 2015 and the lowest average price since 2004. The typical U.S. motorist, meanwhile, paid just $2.12 a gallon, down 28 cents from 2015. Record demand was met with abundant global supplies, creating the decrease. AAA projects gas prices to increase this year. While foreign powers try to decrease the global supply, demand should hold steady. Were definitely seeing better days than we have in recent years, AAA Idaho spokesman Matthew Conde told the Times-News. On Friday afternoon, Twin Falls average price for a gallon of regular gas was $2.33 up 33 cents from that time last year. AAA Idaho projects bad weather will reduce demand, possibly creating a dip in prices over the next four to six weeks, Conde said. In the longer term, Idaho average gas prices are expected to bump up between $2.50 and $2.70 a gallon this year. It was really nice with the gas prices being low (in 2016), D & S Checker and Yellow Cab owner Darrell Hannaman said. Independent drivers profited more, and his company offered discounted ride programs. Hannaman typically sees a 30-cent increase in prices over the spring, but said it is better when gas costs less than $3 a gallon. Neither D & S Checker and Yellow Cab nor Magic Valley Cab & Courier do much driving when they arent on a call. That tends to burn up gas, Hannaman said. Were a small company, Magic Valley Cab & Courier owner William Peters said. We only drive three cabs. If were not busy, we park. About 25 to 30 percent of fares in Peters business are determined by gas, but he said he wouldnt look at raising fares unless gas gets to $2.60-2.70 per gallon. Global playing field The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries tried to curb U.S. oil production in 2016, with limited success, by producing record quantities of oil, Conde said. An OPEC agreement to reduce production by 1.8 million barrels per day now through June could raise prices if it goes according to plan. It was more of a gesture to stay relevant, Conde said. Were already seeing some signs of weakness in the OPEC arrangement. War-torn and impoverished nations such as Syria, Nigeria and Iran are showing little interest in cooperating with the OPEC agreement, dissolving its solidarity, he said. U.S. refineries, meanwhile may follow a year of high production with necessary maintenance. An estimated 20-30 percent more refinery and distribution equipment will be offline in 2017. Most refiners postponed non-essential maintenance in 2016 to keep up with peak demand, but they will likely need to play catch-up this spring, putting more pressure on pump prices, Conde said. Prices tend to increase more rapidly than they decrease, he said, due to a combination of paranoia and opportunism by speculators and retailers watching OPEC. When theres fears that the market is going to go up, everyones hedging their bets, Conde said. One out of every 10 barrels of U.S. gasoline is exported to regions like Central and South America, and the U.S. exports a large quantity of refined diesel fuel to Europe, AAA reported. KETCHUM Ann Christensen watched as one of her daughters flew to Washington, D.C., to take part in the Womens March on Washington. Her other daughter planned to take part in a march on the west coast. Now, she cant wait to tell her daughters about the march that took place Saturday morning in their hometown, population 2,689. This was the biggest best thing thats ever happened, she said. A thousand marchers! And theyre ready to go to work! Dozens of Wood River Valley women had already headed to the Womens March on Washington, D.C., and others had made plans to march in Boise before the Ketchum walk was ever organized. So organizers werent quite sure what to expect. Lisa Stelk, who organized the walk just days earlier, planned to thank all 250 of you for being here, according to the notes she sketched out before hand. But counters counted more than a thousand people, who declined a fabulous powder day on Baldy to march through the streets of Ketchum to stand up for rights they fear may be lost under the Trump administration. In fact, marchers were still leaving the Ketchum Town Square as those in front had walked two blocks to Main Street, another two blocks to the nexStage Theatre and four more blocks on the other side of Main Street before crossing the street and making their way back to the Town Square. The mass of people coursed out on the streets led by Wood River High School cheerleaders chanting Hey, hey, ho, ho, bigotry has got to go. Some marchers banged out a rhythm on telephone poles as they passed them. Others drummed on cowbells. Some of the motorists waiting for the parade to go by leaned on their horns in a show of support. The procession included infants, as well as those in their 90s, people in wheelchairs, people using canes and moms and dads pushing baby carriages. It also included a good 300 dogs, most of whom seemed to understand the historic nature of what they were engaging in since so few seemed compelled to sniff every yellow spot in a snow bank. This is all of Ketchum, said one marcher in amazement. Signs were everywhere: Heres to Strong Women. May we know them, raise them, be them. The change begins in me and I reflect it back to you. I march with the memory of my grandmothers who fought for womens rights.were still trying. Meaningless Tweets Cant Scare Me. Restricted Access to Affordable Health Care Now Thats Scary. The Hunger Coalitions Naomi Spence challenged the crowd to make sure they are supplying livable wages to their workers. If youre at a party and you hear a racist or sexist joke, say something, she added. This is the beginning, she said. We need to look inside ourselves and decide: What am I going to do to make a difference in our community? Pedro Manuel Miramontes, the son of Mexican parents, said it was clear watching President Obamas inauguration that every human person deserves dignity. Miramontes added that he didnt realize before the election how many Americans, including suffragists, had fought for rights we take for granted today. The election was a good thing because it made me realize I have something to fight for, he said. Obama said, When all Americans are treated equally, we are free. We need to get involvedso many things can be lost. Hailey acupuncturist Rosemary Cody of Hailey joined her college roommate of 49 years ago and to march in D.C., even though, she said, shes fearful of flying out of Haileys small mountain airport in winter and even though shes uncomfortable not knowing where the nearest bathroom is. The prospects of being among so many people is a little scary, she admitted, But I just think its time for us to do it. I think its time for us to stand up. Swiss-born Renata Beguin, who used to work for the worldwide Hunger Project, described how one of the women she encountered traveling to D.C. gave her a pink pussycat hat to wear a reference to President Trumps bragging about grabbing women and kissing them without permission. For me this is a historic event, she said. Aimee Christensen, one of Ann Christensens daughters, planned to speak for the planet at a conference on climate change immediately following the march in Washington. Ar this time, we cant sit back and assume our rights will be protected. We need to speak up for whats right, whether its rights for women, rights for immigrants, rights for minorities, rights for refugees or rights for the environment, she said. Democracy is not just an opportunity but a duty. Q: If law enforcement was called to a loud music complaint at somebodys house and found several cars with music playing loudly. Whod get the ticket, the owner of the property, or the people playing it in their vehicles? Donna A: That would depend on whether citations were signed as state violations or city ordinances. It would also depend on what the music was because we all know that rock and roll music is only loud for old people (Just kidding about that, any music can be played too loud). State code allows for anybody disturbing the peace of another to be cited. That would mean the owners of the vehicles would be eligible to be cited under the state code (18-6409). It reads: Every person who maliciously and willfully disturbs the peace or quiet of any neighborhood, family or person, by loud or unusual noise, or by tumultuous or offensive conduct, or by threatening, traducing, quarreling, challenging to fight or fighting, or fires any gun or pistol, or uses any vulgar, profane or indecent language within the presence or hearing of children, in a loud and boisterous manner, is guilty of a misdemeanor. I would add that if you read the code it also states that anybody using profane language within the presence or hearing of children, in a loud and boisterous manner is also eligible to be cited for disturbing the peace. What you might find if youre cited for it though was that the U.S. Supreme Court has held that this is freedom of speech and judges usually dismiss the charge for that reason. (Most kids seem to know more profane words than many adults anymore, too). Also remember that this is just my understanding and not an excuse to test the system because if Im wrong about this, its a misdemeanor for violators if the judge says I got it wrong. There are city ordinances that leave the property owner as the citable person when it comes to loud music. This makes the owner of the property responsible to make sure that the music playing in all the cars on their property is at an acceptable level. Most cities use the music heard at so many feet to decide if a violation occurred (Heyburn for example is 100 feet from house and 50 feet from a vehicle). Officer down: Please put these officers, killed in the line of duty, and their families in your prayers. They fought the good fight, now may they rest in peace. God bless these heroes. Lieutenant Debra Clayton, Orlando Police, Florida Deputy First Class Norman Lewis, Orange County Sheriff, Florida Detective Steven McDonald, New York City Police, New York Chief of Police Randy Gibson, Kalama Police, Washington Have a question for Policeman Dan? 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 Author Garth Wright to speak to Idaho Writers League Today TWIN FALLS Today, Buhl author G.S. Garth Wright will speak to the Twin Falls Chapter of the Idaho Writers League following the IWL business meeting. The public, especially Wrights many fans, are invited to hear this gifted writer of fantasy/horror and steampunk adventures. Please join us at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in the KMVT Community Room (entry on north side of building). American Legion Post 77 The American Legion Post 77 would like to thank the men and women who have served our country with courage and commitment. We would like to invite veterans to coffee and doughnuts at no charge. Join us, from 8 to 11 am, today, at the Wilbur C. Hall American Legion Post 77, located at 132 Wayne St. in Paul, for our Monthly Veterans Coffee. We hope to have a good turnout and great information to share. For those planning on attending, please help us get the word out and bring a new veteran with you. You dont have to be a member of any post or veterans organization. We look forward to seeing and meeting you. For more information contact, Post 77 Commander Damian D. Rodriguez at 679-2550 or Vice-Commander Wyatt Saunders at 679-1215. Twin Falls Public Library TWIN FALLS Twin Falls Public Library, in partnership with the Magic Valley Humane Society, will be holding a pet adoption event today from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the library. Buhl health fair BUHL A health fair will be held from 7 to 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, at Holy Trinity Episcopal Parish Hall, 909 Maple St. in Buhl. Fasting for 12 hours is recommended. A basic cholesterol/triglyceride test is $9; a comprehensive metabolic profile of the blood, $8; and PSA and TSH tests are $10 each. Interpath Laboratory of Twin Falls will provide technicians to draw blood and will mail analysis results within one or two weeks. Information: 208-543-4995. Jerome Senior Center plans card tournament JEROME The Jerome Senior Center will hold a card tournament on Saturday, Jan. 28, at 520 N. Lincoln Ave. The event begins with lunch at noon followed by hand-and-foot pinochle. The cost is $8 and includes both lunch and cards. Participants must pre-register at the senior center, or call 208-324-5642, or Marilyn at 208-324-2174. Child Find at Minidoka County School District RUPERT Minidoka County School District will be holding Child Find on Friday, Jan. 27, at the Minidoka Preschool Center located at 310 10th Street in the District Service Center. Preschool Child Find is a free screening for children from ages 35 years old. The screening includes speech and language, physical health, gross and fine motor skills, self-help abilities, social skills and pre-academic skills, vision and hearing. It is very important to identify children with delays early so they will have time to build skills they will need to be successful in kindergarten. Appointments may be made by calling the Minidoka Preschool Center at 436-4727. Reiki level one at CSI The CSI Community Education Center will be offering Reiki Level One: Training & Attunement from 9 a.m. 4 p.m. on Saturday, February 4. The class will meet in Shields 107 on the CSI campus. Cost of the class is $199. Reiki is a simple, natural and safe method of spiritual healing and self-improvement that everyone can use. In this class students will learn the skills necessary to be able to work on themselves, their family, friends, and pets. They will also learn the basics of energy, the history of Reiki, what Reiki is and is not and have lots of hands on practice. They will receive your Level I Reiki certificate upon completion of this class. Instructor Sandy March is a Reiki Master, has been working in the Alternative Health field for over 17 years, and is well versed in all things Reiki. She is forever learning about the healing arts of the ancient and modern worlds. Her goal is to help others help themselves through self-evaluation and learning about the world of energy medicine that everyone can tap into. She is trained and certified in Bach Flower Therapy, Egyptian BioGeometry, Akashic Record Clearing and is a Oneness Blessing Giver. Students can register or learn more about this and other classes at csi.edu/communityed, by going to the CSI Community Education Center, or by calling (208) 732-6442. Class size is limited so early registration is suggested. Oakley senior scholarship opportunity Oakley Oakley Valley Arts Council invites 2017 graduating seniors (who have been involved in the arts and OVAC) to apply for the Johnson Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship is in memory of Aaron and Gloria Johnson who were killed in an automobile accident. The Johnsons enjoyed the arts and were actively involved with Oakley Valley Arts Council. Two $250.00 scholarships will be presented to two deserving area seniors. The form is available from your school counselor and must be postmarked no later than March 25th. Please contact us with any questions at 677-ARTS/2787. New year, new hours, new computers, new books at Filer FILER Beginning January 3rd, the Filer City Library will open at 2:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and close at 6:30. The library has two brand new computers. Best sellers include: The Whistler by John Grisham, Two By Two by Nicholas Sparks, No Mans Land by David Baldacci, Cross the Line by James Patterson, A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, Tricky Twenty-Two by Janet Evanovich, Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult, Night School by Lee Child Nonfiction: Settle for More by Megyn Kelly, Kill the Rising Sun by Bill O Reilly, Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen On going 25 cent book sale. DeMary Memorial Library Book Notes Fiction: Below the Belt by Stuart Woods Stone Barrington lands in hot water. Fiction: Conspiracy of Silence by Ronie Kendig This is the way the world ends. Fiction: In the Shadow of Denali by Tracie Peterson Their future depends on unlocking the secrets the mountain holds from the past. Fiction: The Mistress by Danielle Steel Fiction: The Things We Knew by Catherine West Fiction: The Mark of the King by Jocelyn Green Fiction: The Pattern Artist by Nancy Moser Fiction: The Honorable Heir by Laurie Alice Eakes Fiction: The Thirteenth Chance by Amy Matayo LP-Fiction: The Life She Wants by Robyn Carr TWIN FALLS COUNTY FELONY SENTENCINGS Nicole Ann Kettler, 32, Twin Falls; possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture or deliver, $285.50 costs, $500 public defender, 20 years penitentiary, six determinate, 14 years indeterminate, 195 days credited. Second charge possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture or deliver, $285.50 costs, 15 years penitentiary, one year determinate, 14 years indeterminate, 195 days credited, sentences to run concurrently with other charge in addition to her 2015 case. Kathleen Louise Hohn, 56, Twin Falls; possession of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, $1,000 fine, $500 public defender, $100 DNA, $60 workmans comp. program fee, five years penitentiary, two determinate, three indeterminate, 63 days credited, sentence suspended, 100 hours community service, three years supervised probation. Ricardo Guadalupe Garcia-Ruiz, 24, Twin Falls; injury to jail, $245.50 costs, two years penitentiary, one determinate, one indeterminate, 80 days credited, sentence to consecutive to 2016 case. Michael James Charron, 21, Twin Falls; lewd conduct with a child under 16 years old, $545.50 costs, $500 public defender, $100 DNA, $1,450 fund reimbursement, 10 years penitentiary, three determinate, seven indeterminate, seven days credited, 365 days retained jurisdiction. Isaiah Adam Johnson, AKA Isiah Johnson, 28, Twin Falls; theft by receiving, possessing or disposing of stolen property, $245.50 costs, $100 DNA, 12 years penitentiary, seven determinate, five indeterminate, 103 days credited, 365 days retained jurisdiction. Burglary, $245.50 costs, 10 years penitentiary, seven determinate, three indeterminate, 365 days retained jurisdiction. Second burglary charge, $245.50 costs, 10 years penitentiary, seven determinate, three indeterminate, 365 days retained jurisdiction. Third burglary charge, $245.50 costs, 10 years penitentiary, seven determinate, three indeterminate, 365 days retained jurisdiction. Grand theft, $245.50 costs, $100 DNA, 12 years penitentiary, seven determinate, five indeterminate, 103 days credited, 365 days retained jurisdiction. Robert Sherman Climber, 58, Twin Falls; $285.50 costs, $100 DNA, seven years penitentiary, five determinate, two indeterminate, 365 days retained jurisdiction. Pablo Martinez-Sanchez, 33, Twin Falls; possession of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, $100 DNA, seven years penitentiary, three determinate, four indeterminate, 62 days credited, 365 days retained jurisdiction. Christopher David Slagel, 25, Twin Falls; possession of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, four years penitentiary, two determinate, two indeterminate, two days credited, sentence suspended, two years supervised probation. TGrae James La Verne Dotson, 26, Homeless; possession of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, six years penitentiary, three determinate, three indeterminate, 36 days credited, sentence to run concurrent with 2011 case. Michael William Lewis, 36, Homeless, possession of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, $300 public defender, six years penitentiary, two determinate, four indeterminate, sentence to run concurrent with 2015 case. DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE SENTENCINGS Steven Lee Harris, 44, Twin Falls; DUI excessive, $500 fine, $500 suspended, $202.50 costs, $75 public defender, 365 days jail, 37 days credited, 365 days drivers license suspension. Driving without privileges, $200 fine, $200 suspended, 180 days jail, 37 days credited. Dakota James Pelton, 23, Rupert; DUI, $400 fine, $100 suspended, $202.50 costs, $100 restitution, 180 days jail, 178 suspended, one day credited, guilty withheld judgment, eight hours work detail, 180 days restricted drivers license, 12 months supervised probation. Eleazar Hernandez-Ramirez, Jerome; DUI, $400 fine, $202.50 costs, 180 days jail, 177 suspended, one day jail, 16 hours work detail, 180 days restricted drivers license, 12 months supervised probation. Daniel Medrano Arteaga, 25, Twin Falls; DUI, $400 fine, $202.50 costs, $75 public defender, 180 days jail, 175 suspended, one day jail, guilty withheld judgment, 32 hours work detail, 180 days restricted drivers license, 12 months supervised probation. Christopher Lee Rush, 25, Twin Falls; DUI, $400 fine, $202.50 costs, 180 days jail, 178 suspended, two days credited, guilty withheld judgment, 180 days restricted drivers license, 12 months supervised probation. Michael Lee Garrean, 28, Twin Falls; DUI second offense within 10 years, 180 days jail, 53 days credited for time served, 365 days drivers license suspension. DIVORCE CIVIL PROCEEDINGS Morgan Diaz v. Shayna Diaz Wayne Anderson v. Colleen Anderson Randy Price v. Cindy Price Mamie Vitek v. Michael Vitek Jeni Kieseg v. David Kieseg Derrick ODell v. Teresa ODell Maricela Martinez Cervantes v. Raymundo Cervantes MONDAY got interesting quickly, as five Republican House members four freshman who beat GOP incumbents in their primaries plus Ron Nate, R-Rexburg, a close political ally of Heather Scotts stood up during the House session and asked to be removed from their committee assignments until Scott, a Republican from Blanchard, is restored to hers. Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, removed Scott from her committees last week as punishment for saying in December that women only rise up in the leadership through sexual favors. Scott has refused to back down, and while supporters of hers around the state have rallied to her side the leadership hasnt backed down either. Bedke said he would not remove the five from their committees, and they have continued to attend their meetings. TUESDAY the Idaho Senate confirmed that Democrat and former House member Mark Nye is now the new senator from Pocatello, rejecting a challenge from his GOP opponent Tom Katsilometes, who lost by about 500 votes. Also on Tuesday the Joint Change in Employee Compensation, after three hours of debate and several failed motions, held its last meeting and decided to go with Gov. C.L. Butch Otters recommendation for 3 percent merit raises for state employees next year and continuing to pick up their increasing health insurance costs by the same 90-10 split as now. WEDNESDAY the House Democrats unveiled their first bill of the session, a proposal to help draw teachers to struggling rural districts by paying $3,000 a year for up to four years of their student loans. Rep. Sally Toone, D-Gooding, the only new lawmaker from the Magic or Wood River valleys this year, presented the bill to the press along with Rep. Paulette Jordan, D-Plummer. The two are among just a handful of Democrats left who arent from the Boise area. Scott released a statement saying she wanted to reconcile and end the controversy surrounding her. From Speaker Bedke and the rest of Leadership, I request application of your best leadership skills to bring about the reconciliation that is needed, she said. Please encourage every Representative to work to bring the House back into order so we can tend to our real business. After a two-hour-long Republican caucus, Bedke said he had not changed his mind as of this time about restoring her to her committees. While he hadnt yet seen her statement when I talked to him, he said an apology, in his mind, includes an admission of wrongdoing, asking what you need to do to make things right and working with the offended party to do so. I hope that Rep. Scott has apologized to everyone, Bedke said. Its high time that she did. Her careless words have impugned the morality and integrity of a lot of good people. Words mean something. I an hoping that the House of Representatives can get past this. I was elected by my peers to be the leader, to be the judge, at times the jury, and at times the executioner although I dont like that name. Also, late Wednesday news came out that President Donald Trump was going to name former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue Secretary of Agriculture, ending speculation that Otter might get the job. THURSDAY Scott attacked Bedke on social media for not accepting her apology. It is obvious to me that my apology will never be good enough for the SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE, Scott wrote on Facebook. His statements to the media define exactly how HE defines an apology. Is this a personal issue against me? Does he want to keep the headlines going? When the House was in session, she demanded a full reading of the only bill up for a vote that day the first introduced this session, a two-pager to clarify the wording of the HJR5 constitutional amendment voters passed in November. Bills are almost always read, with the unanimous consent of the entire body, just by their name before the full body takes them up, rather than having the clerk read the entire bill aloud before a vote. Members, generally the Democrats, occasionally force a full reading as a form of protest, but its not common this is my third session and I cant remember it happening in my time here. Thursday was a pretty slow day as far as legislation and committees, but there was one oddity a metal fire suppression door closed in a Capitol hallway, briefly sealing off the hallway where House committee rooms are. It was apparently triggered by a fire panel contractor working on another issue, according to the Spokane Spokesman-Reviews Eye on Boise blog. FRIDAY was another slow day, with just a couple of morning committee meetings and not much before either the House or Senate. Donald Trump was sworn in as president at 10 a.m. Mountain Time, with Gov. Otter in the audience standing out in his clear plastic poncho. U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo released a statement saying people voted for conservative change and that he looks forward to working with Trump to achieve that. In this election, voters chose a candidate who put forth a vision to create an opportunity society for Americans, he said. This vision builds on conservative principles of a limited government, finally reining in irresponsible federal spending, a strong national defense, and an emphasis on free market principles. These policies will enable all Americans to build and achieve their own American dream, while strengthening our economy and allowing businesses to grow and thrive. Now, with a unified government, the legislative and executive branches have an opportunity to work together and address the issues most concerning to Americans, said U.S. Sen. Jim Risch. This includes reforming our broken regulatory system and tax code, reducing our nations out of control spending, and addressing the costs associated with health care. U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador was a bit pithier: Im excited. Lets get to work. NEXT WEEK the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee will continue its work, starting on Monday with the colleges and universities budgets, including, of course, the College of Southern Idaho. A bill for state management of the Yellowstone grizzly bear if it is delisted is up in Senate Resources Monday. Will the House GOPs public infighting continue? Will we see the tax cut legislation the House Republicans have been talking about? What bills are going to get introduced? What will Trump do next week and how might that affect Idaho? Stay tuned. Grayson Kelley's legal memo defended legislators spending money with no oversight, a practice his boss Roy Cooper called 'problematic' N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein's selection for chief deputy attorney general wrote a legal memo supporting "contingency funds" that were outside legislative oversight in an opinion that seemed to be at odds with his boss at the time, Roy Cooper, who now is North Carolina's governor.More than a decade ago, Grayson Kelley wrote an advisory opinion concluding a special discretionary budget fund controlled by legislative leaders rather than agency officials did not violate the N.C. Constitution's separation of powers doctrine.Over a couple of decades, lawmakers used these discretionary funds to spend tens of millions of tax dollars for pet projects.Kelley noted the General Assembly had never passed a law allowing legislative leaders direct control of the discretionary funds and that executive branch officials wereKelley was responding to a letter from then-State Auditor Les Merritt, who had reviewed a practice established in the 1990s to allow the state's transportation secretary, Senate president pro-tem and House speaker to control equal shares of the DOT "contingency fund."Merritt was concerned that the practice of allowing individual legislators to spend money allocated to executive branch agencies with no oversight violated separation of powers doctrine. He asked then-Attorney General Roy Cooper, now North Carolina's 75th governor, for a review.Cooper called the programBut Kelley, in his advisory opinion , concluded,Distribution of grants from the contingency fund was bipartisan, and Democratic and Republican legislative leaders authorized grants from the fund. Carolina Journal first reported on these so-called slush funds , which Kelley's advisory opinion defended, in 1997.Kelley was one of a number of senior staff positions announced on Wednesday by Stein.A 38-year veteran at the Department of Justice, Kelley has been chief deputy since 2003. Before that, he was senior deputy attorney general over the Special Litigation/Education Division, Transportation Section head, and was an assistant attorney general and special deputy attorney general.In January 2010, on behalf of then-Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue, Kelley offered to settle an open records lawsuit related to former Democratic Gov. Mike Easley's use of private email to conduct public business for $20,000. The court rejected that proposed settlement.Kelley is a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill and Georgetown University Law School.Stein tapped David Elliott to be his deputy chief of staff and special deputy attorney general.Elliott has been at the N.C. Department of Justice since 1997. Since 2007, he has been director of the Victims and Citizens Services sector, where he fought domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. He also spent 10 years as a litigator in the Consumer Protection Division and is a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University Law School.Stein on Wednesday also selected Seth Dearmin, who ran his successful campaign for attorney general, to be his chief of staff.Dearmin previously worked for Cooper on the attorney general's staff. He managed Stein's campaign for attorney general. Before that, he worked for Nexus Strategies, a public affairs consulting firm. Dearmin is a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill, where he was student body president.New faces include Matt Sawchak, who will be the state's solicitor general, Swain Wood, who will be Stein's general counsel, Laura Brewer, who'll be Stein's communications director, and Candy Finley, Stein's executive assistant.Sawchak was a partner at Ellis & Winters before coming to the attorney general's office. He was twice profiled by Business North Carolina as the state's top antitrust lawyer. Before entering private practice, Sawchak clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He is a graduate of Harvard University and Duke University School of Law.Wood was most recently a partner in the Morningstar Law Group. Before that he practiced law in Atlanta and Raleigh. From 1999-2000, he was assistant attorney general in Georgia. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and Harvard Law School.Brewer has worked for the past six years at Capstrat, a communications agency. Before that, she was press secretary for U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and worked in the press office of former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C. She is a graduate of Mary Washington College and Johns Hopkins University.Finley was Stein's legislative assistant during his four terms as a state senator. She also worked as AT&T's liaison to the N.C. Utilities Commission. She is a graduate of Harbarger College of Business. Dorrene Yost RUPERT Dorrene Yost of Rupert, memorial services at 12 p.m. Sunday January 22, 2017 at The Springs Calvary Chapel, Heyburn, Idaho. Burial will take place in St. Paul, Nebraska at a later date. Arrangements are under the direction of Hansen Mortuary. Charles Lee, Jr. FILER Charles Lee, Jr. of Filer, memorial service at 2 p.m. Monday, January 23, at Parkes Magic Valley Funeral Home & Crematory, 2531 Kimberly Road, Twin Falls. Arnold Clifford TWIN FALLS Arnold Clifford of Twin Falls, funeral service at 11 a.m. Tuesday, January 24, 2017 at the 19th Ward L.D.S. Church (723 Hankins Rd.) in Twin Falls. Visitation is from 5-7 p.m. Monday, January 23rd at Farmer Funeral Chapel (130 9th Ave. N.) in Buhl and from 1010:50 a.m. at the church before the services. Ruth Bruning TWIN FALLS Ruth Bruning of Twin Falls, funeral Services at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, January 25, 2017 at Parkes Magic Valley Funeral Home in Twin Falls. Visitation is on Tuesday, January 24, 2017 from 57 p.m. at the funeral home. Katrina Kat Budden TWIN FALLS Katrina Kat Budden of Twin Falls, Celebration of Life Memorial Service at 6 p.m. Saturday, January 28, 2017 at Parkes Magic Valley Funeral Home, 2551 Kimberly Rd. in Twin Falls. Janice E. Triebwasser KIMBERLY Janice E. Triebwasser of Kimberly, celebration of life at 5 p.m. Sunday, January 29, 2017 at the Filer Nazarene Church in Filer. Burial will take place at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery. Services are under the direction of White Mortuary, Chapel by the Park, Twin Falls. BOISE LaDonna Readmond has felt moved to be part of a public demonstration only a few times in her life the first was after civil-rights leader Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968. The 75-year-old retired teacher, along with her daughter and granddaughter, was on the march again Saturday in Downtown Boise. They were among 5,000 participants in the Womens March on Idaho, which drew a crowd that was about 40 percent men and included many children, dogs and at least one pet ferret. It was one of more than 670 womens marches around the world, including seven in Idaho (Driggs, Idaho Falls, Ketchum, Moscow, Pocatello and Sandpoint). Heavy snow began to fall in Boise as marchers gathered at 10 a.m on the Idaho State Capitol steps, and that later turned to rain. Participants held signs with a wide range of political messages, including Climate change is real, Babies against bigots and Fight sexism. Some wore hats with ears, which have been dubbed Pussyhats. Most of more than a dozen marchers who the Statesman spoke with had grave concerns about where the country is headed under President Donald Trump. Several said they planned to continue to speak out and resist what they worry would be rollbacks in civil and reproductive rights, as well as rising health care costs. Its about equal rights and maintaining our American freedoms freedom of religion, Readmond said. Readmonds worried about the civil rights of her gay relatives and access to womens health care, including affordable birth control, under President Donald Trump. Her daughter, Jessica, 37, doesnt want to see the Affordable Care Act repealed. Literally, it saved my family, she said, explaining that she had a difficult pregnancy and would have incurred massive debt without access to insurance. Boisean Elaine Keogh, a 65-year-old retired special education director, rode her bike to the march. She stood in a line of about 35 people to get a cup of coffee at Dawson Taylor before it started. Im here because I want to support the womens movement in solidarity against anything that might put it in jeopardy, she said. [Trump] is our leader now, and thats the reason I think its important we have a voice. Boisean Emily Dixon, 29, said she is disturbed about comments Trump made in a private conversation that was recorded about grabbing womens private parts. She was surprised people still voted for him. Hes bragging about sexually assaulting women. Were supposed to look up to someone like that? she said. Her husband, Brent Thorsen, 30, held a sign that read, You cant comb over misogyny. [Trump] hasnt really ever done anything good for women that Ive ever seen, Dixon said. Except beauty pageants, Thorsen added. Kathy Clark, 68, braved difficult road conditions in a three-hour drive from Bellevue to be at the Boise march. She brought her Sussex spaniel, Jack, who had his own Pussyhat. Clark is a staunch supporter of abortion rights and doesnt want to see new restrictions. I had to have an illegal abortion in 1967, and I almost died, she said. She doesnt want to see any woman go through what she did. There were a handful of pro-life activists at the march. Scott Herndon, who traveled to Boise from Coeur dAlene, spoke to passersby with a megaphone. He told one man who stopped to chat that he didnt vote for Trump because he doesnt like the way Trump treats women. Herndon was promoting an initiative that would outlaw abortion in Idaho and make it a crime (first-degree murder). Wed like to see protection for women from conception to death, he told the Statesman. One of his five daughters joined him at the march Saturday. Boisean Cady McGovern, 35, was at the march with her husband, father-in-law and brother. She carried a sign that read, Please keep your tiny government out of my vagina. McGovern is concerned about protecting womens reproductive choices in the Trump era. She fears higher birth control costs if the Affordable Care Act is repealed and funding cuts for womens health services. She said she used to keep her opinions to herself to keep the peace. Not anymore. She feels that Trump is disrespectful to women. I am disgusted, to put it mildly, she said. I find him repulsive in every way. In Washington, D.C., the turnout estimate for the Womens March on the National Mall was put at more than 500,000 people. Thats more than double the initial predictions. Estimates showed Saturdays crowds could top those that gathered on Friday to watch President Donald Trumps inauguration. Hundreds of thousands of women massed in the nations capital and cities around the globe Saturday to send Trump an emphatic message that they wont let his agenda go unchallenged over the next four years. More than 600 sister marches were planned across the country and around the world. Organizers estimated 3 million would march worldwide. The plethora of womens marches across the country were a mystery to women who attended the inauguration of Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., Friday. I think its great, do your thing, but I just dont know what theyre doing it for. Theyre talking about rights, womens rights, but what rights are being taken away from any women? asked Susan Clarke, a 50-year-old from Charlotte, North Carolina. More than a dozen women interviewed at the inauguration by McClatchy felt the womens marches are divisive distraction at a time when the country should be unifying under a new leader. Organizers of the national Womens March clarified in a mission statement posted online some of the motivations behind the movement. The rhetoric of the past election cycle has insulted, demonized, and threatened many of us immigrants of all statuses, Muslims and those of diverse religious faiths, people who identify as LGBTQIA, Native people, Black and Brown people, people with disabilities, survivors of sexual assault and our communities are hurting and scared. The Womens March on Idaho was organized by high school students Colette Raptosh, a Capital High School junior, and Nora Harren, a senior at Borah High School. Both were two young to vote in this election but they were pulling for Hillary Clinton. The girls, who founded a group called People for Unity, had success in organizing a rally at the Idaho State Capitol following the election, so they decided to rally local women and men to participate in Saturdays Womens March. On Saturday, Hillary Clinton sent a tweet citing the Boise march. I stand w/ Nora Harren, a 17-year from Boise, ID, & every person marching for our values today. Onward! #WomensMarch. From the march in Washington, D.C., via Carolyn Cakir, Medill News Service: Idahoans Karen Meyer, a Boise philanthropist, and Karen Day, a documentary filmmaker, are in Washington, D.C., for the march. Day said that she is marching to demonstrate that we, as women and Americans, will not go backwards in our fight for equality. Meyer said that she hopes the sheer scale of the demonstration will be enough to get the attention of elected officials. Im unfortunately feeling very unrepresented, she said. I almost feel like our elected officials feel like it doesnt matter anymore what the voters think, because they win anyway. Boise attorney Terri Pickens, 44, is also in Washington, D.C., with her daughter Maya for the march. I want my daughter to know, at 12 years old, that this is the behavior that gets us somewhere, she said. Staying back and hoping someone else will take care of it for you doesnt work anymore. From the Idaho Statesman: There is much to be optimistic about now that Gov. Butch Otter has commissioned the State Board of Education to lead a new task force on the topic of higher education. Otters Task Force for Improving Education, formed four years ago to tackle K-12 issues, was populated with a focused, no-nonsense collection of educators, administrators, citizens and lawmakers who produced 20 recommendations that were on point, doable, and largely successfully implemented and funded by the Idaho Legislature, which bought into the task forces five-year blueprint. The eclectic and independent nature of that task force has been a stellar example of collaboration in state government because it engaged the public and lawmakers in a joint venture. Though not every Otter task force has met with such positive outcomes, this one now forming is off to a great start with two experienced co-chairs, both veterans of the K-12 team: Bob Lokken, CEO of WhiteCloud Analytics Inc., who chairs the Idaho Business for Education board of directors; and Linda Clark, vice president of the State Board of Education and the former superintendent of the West Ada School District, Idahos largest. The goals for the task force are to study the state of higher education in Idaho, measure the effectiveness of new and ongoing initiatives, examine the rate of those who Go On to higher education and consider the states role in funding and how that might be linked to outcome metrics such as graduation rates and other factors. None of the above is any cakewalk. The State Board knows it has challenges in getting Idaho students to pursue postsecondary education. Since 2010 the goal has been to get 60 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds to have a postsecondary degree or certificate by 2020. So far, that rate has languished in the mid-40 percentile range, occasionally dipping lower. In our discussions with community college and university administrators, we know that our more robust economy where kids can leave high school and take a better-paying job than just a few years ago has led to stiffer competition for persuading them to pursue postsecondary options. Plus, the passion and buy-in present when dealing with parents and adults in the K-12 discussion are different when the topic is young adults. But a team led by Lokken and Clark will drill down to identify solutions to affordability issues and ideas to begin training students in the skills employers demand, and to try to produce improved Go On rates and graduation rates. When they finish, well be advocating that they take on the third leg of Idahos challenges: early childhood education. When kids grow up loving to read and learn, the goals of K-12 and postsecondary education will be much easier to achieve. And just like that, in the course of 35 words, a momentous transfer of power occurs from one man to another. Toss out partisan loyalties and the multifaceted dramas between Nov. 8 and Jan. 20, and the process itself is remarkable to any observer. The resources expended to ensure its integrity and honor its gravity are breathtaking. Hundreds of thousands physically attend. Millions more watch on television and online. I vaguely remember a spirited discussion years ago in a college poli-sci class about what gives legitimacy to any government with its laws, asserted powers, and office holders. What, exactly, contrasts a state trooper from a mall cop? (All due respect to the Paul Blarts out there.) Its that philosophical struggle for many trying to determine the exact nature of a faded document protected under heavy security in a dimly lit cavernous room at the National Archives in the nations capital. Does the parchment have sparkly magic? Is it protected by The Force? Is there some mystical nature to the Constitution that makes it and, this week, the inauguration of Donald Trump the locus of political power? Of course this is a discussion that could span months, but the best conclusion in that college classroom was that any government whose authority is recognized and can be maintained, is legitimateregardless of its creation or compliance to founding documents. That guiding definition applies to Hitler, Mao, Washington, Reagan, Stalin, Obama and many others who have held the reigns of enormous power. Anyone on social media has probably seen the Trump-bashing hashtag: #NotMyPresident. Those eager to correct them may have forgotten about the faded 1998 remains of a Charlton Heston is My President bumper sticker on their car protesting the legitimacy of then President Bill Clinton. Dissent challenging the legitimacy of leadership is nothing new. But when, exactly, does it cross over from being one facet of healthy debate to a destructive force threatening the seams of our republic? Congressman John Lewis and Im obligated to note that hes a legendary civil rights icon, even though his boycott of the 45th presidents inauguration had nothing to do with him being a legendary civil rights icon led dozens of other Congress members to skip Fridays remarkable and peaceful transfer of Constitutional power. Lewis concern was that Donald Trump cannot legitimately become the president of the United States because the Russians hacked into DNC servers and leaked accurate information the Democrats wrote to and about themselves. Before Lewis boycotting crusade, chorist Jan Chamberlin quit the Mormon Tabernacle Choir over her concerns about Trumps temperament. Meryl Streep delivered a courageous speech to an adoring audience filled with people who agreed with her at the Golden Globes. No less than three celebrity videos have been created prior to important electoral events in an effort to undercut Trump. One guy even lit himself on fire in D.C. this past week in a show of disapproval. While there are shades of difference in all of these examples of dissent, there is no phrase, syllable, or single letter in the Constitution that indicates that presidential legitimacy rests on the inaugural attendance of John Lewis, or the approval of celebrities and entertainers. The moment Donald Trump rested his hand on the Bible and repeated the short oath to Chief Justice John Roberts, America turned the page to welcome another chapter in our history. By all indications, nobody intercepted the power transferred in that moment. If Donald Trump is not your president, then the Constitution is not your constitution, and America is not your country. A movement has been started in the state of Idaho that is finally coming to light concerning the management and funding of the wildlife in the state of Idaho. This movement was brought to the light of day by the Idaho Wildlife Federation in Boise through the use of the Freedom of Information Act. The Idaho Wildlife Federation was able to get copies of emails between legislators and a wealthy sportsman about the auction tag bill and the firing of two Idaho Fish and Game commissioners whose first terms were about to expire. The commissioners were invited to reapply for a second term but told that their applications would not be approved by the Senate Resources and Environmental Committee because of pressure from the wealthy sportsman and certain members of the Senate Resources and Environmental Committee (Senate Chairman Steve Bair) so that new commissioners could be appointed who would support the wealthy sportsman and Steve Bairs position on auction tags. Right now the number of tags is limited to two big horn sheep tags, but the wealthy sportsman and legislators wants an increase to 12 tags that cover all the big game species in Idaho. This will set a precedent which will allow the Senate to require additional tags whenever the politically motivated legislators want to increase or change the policy of how big game is managed in Idaho. At all Idaho Department of Fish and Game public meetings around the state of Idaho the public opinion of increasing auction tags has met with intense opposition by the majority of attendees. The word floating around the Statehouse is that our core group of esteemed senators would very much like to end up with a system of auctioning tags like that used in Utah. The Utah system has disenfranchised the average citizen of Utah from their ability to hunt big game in the state of Utah. They have been priced out of the market by a system that gives tags to organizations like the Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, who then turn around and auction off hundreds of coveted tags at public events, such as the Salt Lake City Sportsmens Expo each year. Sixty percent of the funds raised are retained by the organization and 40 percent is turned over to the Utah Game and Fish for the management of the wildlife. All hunting in Utah is now controlled-hunt only. A person starting to hunt in Utah for elk at the age of 12 could only draw four elk tags in that state in his lifetime, if he is able to draw an elk tag at all, unless he has the money to buy one of the auction tags! Is this what we want for us and our children and all future generations? There is a lot of wildlife of trophy quality in Utah. In spite of this fact, many Utah hunters are turning to Idaho because there are no opportunities left that they can afford in Utah. If we establish this kind of system in Idaho, we will quickly end up like Utah. The problem is we will not have anywhere to turn when this happens here. Do not doubt for a minute that this will happen. The plans have already been set in motion by the Idaho Senate Resources and Environmental Committee chaired by Steve Bair! The wealthy sportsman has been spending a lot of money on political donations at the state level in order to get increased auction tags in Idaho as well as influence the appointment of Idaho Fish and Game Commissioners sympathetic to his views. When the 1938 initiative passed, it was specifically for the purpose of removing the management of the wildlife of Idaho from the political arena. Since that time the Legislature has been trying to regain control of the resource. It is time for every hunter and angler to notify the Legislature that we will not accept their interference with the operation of the Idaho Fish and Game Commission. There have been no problems in the past with the management by this commission, which has been following the mandate given in 1938. That is 78 years of operation. This is not the time to politicize our wildlife management. The only thing that we can do to stop hijacking of our states resource for the enrichment of the few and to the detriment of all of the citizens of this state is to let these self-serving legislators hear from you individually. Tell them of your opposition of giving any tag to anyone for private sale be they landowners or wealthy sportsmen. You should also target the ringleaders of this atrocity and let them know that when they are next up for election, we will not support them and intend to support their opposition at the next election. This is ultimately the only language that these multi-term self-righteous legislators understand. Please do not sit by and allow this to happen. Act now! I was president of the Safari Club Idaho Chapter during the Bear Initiative of 1996 and very active in the defeat of that attempt to end bear hunting in Idaho. I did not defeat the initiative by myself. I had the support of the hunters, trappers and all sportsmen of this state when this happened. Together we blew the animal rights activists out of the state of Idaho. We beat them so badly that they have not come back to Idaho since their 1996 defeat! Sportsmen of Idaho beat the state animal rights organization, The Humane Society of the United States, by a whopping 67 percent to 33 percent of the popular vote! We can do it again working together. I am asking each of you to investigate immediately what I am saying. Go on the internet to the Idaho Wildlife Federation website and see for yourself what is happening. While you are at it please access the letter to Sen. Brent Hill, president pro tempore, which was signed by 15 past Idaho Fish and Game commissioners asking for the removal of Sen. Steve Bair as chairman of the Senate Resources and Environmental Committee to find out the truth of what has been going on for the past two years. If Idaho hunters and fishers do not step up now, there can be no doubt of the outcome for future generations of Idaho sportsmen. I may not have too many seasons left in me, but I do have children and grandchildren who I want to have the same opportunities that I did. I realize that most of you have never heard of me. That you may not believe what I am saying or think that I have my own gain at heart. I have devoted many years of my charitable time to organizations such as the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (15 years), Idaho Wildlife Council (seven years), Safari Club Idaho Chapter (20 years), Southeastern Idaho Mule Deer Foundation (15 years), and the National Wild Turkey Foundation (12 years). I am a 70-year native of Idaho and during that time I have hunted the length and breadth of this state. Earlier this month, Gov. Otter expressed his focus for education and workforce development in the State of the State Address. Too often as we discuss quality education and its role in the future workforce, we just look to what is offered in the classroom. Yet, by the age of 18, youth will spend 80 percent of their waking hours outside the classroom. It is imperative that policymakers and stakeholders consider partnerships with out-of-school programs to achieve statewide education goals, especially with STEM, workforce and literacy skills. Research shows that access to high quality out-of-school programs improve academic performance, increase high school graduation rates, encourage healthy activity and advance social and emotional adjustment. Additionally, studies show marked decrease in substance use, teen pregnancy and juvenile crimes. According to the national survey America After 3, 67 percent of Idahos afterschool programs offer workforce skill trainings like time management, teambuilding, and communication. Of Idahos afterschool programs, 80 percent offer activities in science, technology, engineering and math. STEM and workforce skills are being developed in activities at your local 4-H club, Girl Scout troop, library or FIRST Robotics team. For some youth, accessing these skills outside of formal learning is critical to finding their passion. Out-of-school programs offering learning without the pressure of grades and with more time for hands-on activities. Out-of-school programs dont just increase access for youth to STEM or sharpen workforce skills; they are allies in the statewide education goal for grade-level reading, especially in helping prevent the summer slide or the months of the learning loss that can occur when students dont have access to activities that include reading or writing. Students that repeatedly face this annual setback will continually struggle to sustain school-year gains. As discussions breakout this legislative session on the additional literacy funding to districts, lets be aware that IRI scores from many schools reflect this set back over the summer. Regardless of how well-trained our teachers are or what newest curriculum schools invest in, if literacy plans dont account for the summer slide, additional funding may not yield the best outcomes. Schools with summer setbacks should consider using additional funding to also build partnerships with summer programs and libraries to ensure access to literacy resources and activities during summer. For example, recently Boys and Girls Club partnered with a local school to measure the summer slide and the impact of their summer programming. For the students in the Clubs summer program, 62 percent returned to school in the fall reading at grade level, with no summer slide. In contrast, only 42 percent of the other students returned to school that fall reading at grade level. Simply, Idaho invests millions into education, millions into the 20 percent of the time spent in the classroom. The other 80 percent of the time deserves strong consideration in state policies and budget. As the state strives to hit key educational benchmarks and goals, out-of-school time must not be overlooked. Were two weeks into Idahos legislative session, and the biggest headlines so far have had nothing to do with bills. Instead, all the attention has been grabbed by a single lawmaker, Rep. Heather Scott, a Republican from Blanchard. As many know by now, Scott was stripped of her committee duties by House Speaker Scott Bedke of Oakley after Scott quipped that female lawmakers in the Statehouse advance politically only if they spread their legs. How uncouth. The allegation is simply not true, of course, and showed a remarkable lack of tact by the controversial Scott. But almost no one should have been surprised that Scott made such an outrageous claim. In fact, speaking without thinking first is sort of a habit for Scott, who has a long history of thrusting herself into controversial situations waiving Confederate battle flags, descending on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge during the height of its occupation, and visiting the Magic Valley to knock her fellow lawmakers and spread xenophobic misinformation about refugees. Scott is a member of the Republican Party, but her views are more in line with the GOPs radical black helicopter elements, not the moderate mainstream in control at the Statehouse. In fact, Scotts tinfoil hat is so thick, she allegedly damaged the Capitol building just after taking office when she pulled out a knife and cut a cord in the buildings fire-suppression system because she thought it was a hidden listening device. In Scotts mind, her enemies are everywhere, including in her own party. Theres nothing GOP leadership can do formally to corral Scott for championing paranoid causes, nor should they. This is still a democracy, after all, and Scott should rise and fall on the merits of her ideas. But stripping her of her committee assignments was absolutely the right move. In a political climate now more divided than ever, from national politics to local, Bedkes decision to strip Scott of her committees was a warning shot that civility still matters in the Idaho Legislature. This has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with decorum. Some pundits have completely misread Bedkes move as an attack on Scotts politics or have misinterpreted the whole mess as the establishment trying to silence Scott, who they believe is speaking truth to power. In reality, Scott is unhinged, and her comment about female lawmakers was so outrageous Bedke was forced to act. Almost as shocking, though, was the request by five of Scotts radical colleagues who asked to be stripped of their committees in solidarity with Scott. One of them, Rep. Ron Nate of Rexburg, a close Scott ally, may also still be facing discipline of his own for secretly recording a conversation he had with Senate Pro Tem Brent Hill in May. After first going on the offensive and doubling down on her criticism of party leaders, Scott finally apologized on Wednesday. It may be too little, too late. Regardless of whether Bedke restores Scott to her committees, shell likely remain a popular figure with the more radical elements in Idaho. But shes now firmly a political pariah in the minds of most lawmakers. And in a Statehouse where relationships and trust are still the foundations of effective lawmaking, Scott is diminished, damaged and a much weaker political figure now than when the session started. What a shame, especially for her constituents, who have all but lost their voice in Boise. But make no mistake: It was not Bedke who silenced those voices. It was Scott, and now shes paying the price. Finally, after eight miserable years, the boy who would be king, BHO, is gone. After thoughtful and careful analysis, I have concluded that his only positive accomplishments were he was the best gun salesman on the planet ever and he, along with his sycophantic minions, destroyed the Democrat Party. His was an administration racked by scandal after scandal. I cant recall any instance where he uttered the truth in any sentence. He did learn to parse words in law school. His tenure was an exercise showing why affirmative action does not work. The children have left the building. Democratic congressional reps refuse to show up for inauguration. The Hollywood meltdown continues. People are continuing to have public breakdowns. Soros-financed groups are terrorizing inauguration festivities. Collegiate snowflakes are looking for safe spaces. Some teachers are banning the televised inauguration proceedings in the classroom. Good grief. Get a life. As Michael Savage states, liberalism is a mental disorder. You might consider going to the Sundance film festival in Park City. All your lefty icons will be there spouting nonsense. As a way of giving conservatives, law enforcement and the armed forces the middle finger, BHO pardons treasonists, murderers, terrorists and other hardcore criminals on the way out. To all the Trump deniers out there, let me point out that according to the electoral map, Trump won 6 to 1. Hang on for the ride. Its shaping up to the best one the republic has ever seen. BTW, Ill be toasting with my favorite beer tonight. Prosit! Mike Tylka Jerome BCN Contributor Austin Gross With the Democrats losing the presidency, after winning the popular vote by over 2 million votes more than the victor, Donald J. Trump: Should the constitutional provision of the Electoral College be scrapped? Yes, the votes for president should be concentrated in the population centers. No, the Electoral College provides for better representation from the less populated states. I rarely vote because I have little knowledge of the issues. 103 total vote(s) What's your Opinion? Since the beginning of America, and time for that matter, a controversial but necessary tactic used widely throughout not just the nation's House of Representatives and Senate, but throughout state houses across the land, "obstruction" has been a tactic both lauded and booed on both sides of the aisle. Obstruction, which can be and is broadly defined, has been a common rallying cry and insult by the right to the left as many senators in DC look to quickly approve Donald Trump's cabinet picks, as it was a common rallying cry and insult by the left when they attempted to jam through various Obama cabinet picks on various different occasions, or refuse a vote on the empty Scalia Supreme Court seat, etc.To call obstruction a bad thing wholesale is a knee jerk and mostly wrong reaction. Of course, if a senator were to lay in the aisle of either House and uphold a vote by way physical and literal obstruction, then yes, there is no room or purpose for that. When Nancy Pelosi cut the lights out on House Republicans back during her time as Speaker of the House, that was negative obstruction. When Democrats from both the House and the Senate sat on the floor and shouted down Paul Ryan as a way of attempting to get a vote to be held on stricter gun legislation, that too, was negative obstruction.However, there is plenty of good, if not great obstruction. Just this week, Rex Tillerson, Donald Trump's nominee to the position of Secretary of State, faced some extremely tough questions not just from Democrats, but in particular from former presidential candidate Marco Rubio of Florida, a Conservative Republican. Even as many Republicans looked on and scowled at the potential threat of a close colleague not voting for a nominee of their party's President-Elect, Senator Rubio stood strong in the face of potential backlash and criticism. Although to many, what Senator Rubio did could be viewed as obstruction, and more than all likelihood is indeed obstruction, there is no question that there are serious moral and ethical questions surrounding potentially putting Mr. Tillerson in the position of Secretary of State, due to his close ties to Russia. In obstructing a vote on Tillerson, Rubio was able to hold the Republican Party up to a morally objective standard that is so often lost in party politics, as people across America, and the political spectrum at large, were able to see that there was at least one senator who would not fall victim to partisan groupthink, that is so often the reason and rhyme for a politician's action(s.)The filibuster, a tactic which can be both positive and negative, and viewed as obstruction, but nevertheless completely constitutional, had been almost completely eroded away from existence during the Democrats majority rule of the Senate. Harry Reid, former Democratic Minority Leader and now retired Senator, proudly proclaimed the filibuster "dead" as he headed towards the door in his last days. What Senator Reid, along with other Democrats who chose to chip away at the filibuster, don't realize is there will likely come a time where THEY will want to filibuster. Maybe not a cabinet pick, maybe not in the first month, but it is not far fetched to believe that Democrats will seek to challenge a Republican President and a Republican majority in both houses by way of a filibuster, that they have attempted to erode completely over the course of the past eight years or so. How can they? How do Republicans respond? Do they strike back in a manner of revenge, or do they accept a filibuster and go through the procedural and for so long correct practice of voting it away, should it arise?James Madison, the father of many of the institutions of Government with which we are all so familiar with today, embraced this obstruction and gridlock. In Federalist Paper #51, Madison expresses his belief that this gridlock would lead the various entities of the government, the three branches in particular, to hold each other accountable. It was through this slow moving process of lawmaking and regulation, that the ambition that man was and is so prone to, would be counteracted.A common complaint and misconception of people all across the nation is that the government "isn't doing anything." In many cases, this inaction is probably a credit to various different types of obstruction, whether that be refusing to vote on a Supreme Court pick, a filibuster, or a prolonged hearing on a cabinet pick. As informed American citizens, it is our job to understand that politics is not always perfect and pretty, for good reason. Sometimes, these attempts to block, challenge, and/or obstruct something, whether along party lines or not, is not the demise of democracy or the Republic, but often rather the premise in which it was founded upon; dissent. Twice during 2016, the Glasgow Police Department was recognized for its work with victims and its focus on community-based policing. The department wants to increase services for victims, offenders and prevention programs. But some of the funding the department receives may be in jeopardy under the new presidential administration. In 2016, the Glasgow Police Department was recognized by the International Association of Chiefs of Police for excellence in victim services. And, the state Attorney Generals office recognized Glasgow Police Department Victim and Witness Specialist Renee Jones as one of three outstanding crime victim advocates of the year. Jones is on call around the clock to respond to scenes. She is rare in the state, because few police departments have a victim advocate embedded into their staff. The department has received just over $1 million dollars since 2009 in grant funds to support Jones' position and others. Chief of Police Bruce Barstad gives credit to his executive assistant who completes the grant applications the department depends on for funding. Also, an evidence technician doubles as a case manager. These are in addition to the eight officers he commands. While counties across the state scramble to implement requirements of the new Marsys Law, in some cases creating information pamphlets for victims, Glasgow officers are already handing out flash drives containing the information to victims. Jones business card also has a QR code to access the same information. Barstad is concerned for the increase in Jones caseload with the implementation of Marsys Law and wants to receive funding for a second victim specialist. The department is working to complete several grant applications to help expand services. The grants are funded through the Montana Board of Crime Control by the Office of Justice Programs, an agency within the Department of Justice. It is one of the programs President Donald Trump has targeted for potential rollbacks as his administration works to reduce federal spending. The Blueprint for Balance, created by the Heritage Foundation, is being used by Trump's administration as a guide of where these rollbacks should be focused. The blueprint called for the elimination of the Office of Justice Programs because it takes away the funding responsibility from local agencies. Elimination of the program would save $1.5 billion in 2017. Meeting the requirements of federal grant programs is more difficult than working with state grants, Barstad said. State grants better address the problems in Montana, rather than the rest of the country. But, without grants, the department would not be able to support the programs they have in place, Barstad said. Jones' job is supported by Tyler Edwards, the department's misdemeanor probation officer, another grant-funded position. Edwards maintains contact with offenders after sentencing. His work has led to more accountability, reduction in recidivism and more safety for victims. In 2014, Edwards was monitoring more than 30 offenders. Jones and Edwards have a door connecting their offices. While Edwards tracks the compliance of misdemeanor offenders, Jones supports the victims and witnesses involved. Jones has seen an increase in victim reporting and follow through. Jones works with anywhere between 100 to 150 victims a year, in addition to traveling around the state for child forensic interviews. Both Barstad and Jones work as child forensic interviewers for Valley, Phillips and Sheridan counties. The whole department works to have positive interaction with the kids they work with. The police hope to prevent those kids from becoming involved in the criminal justice system in the future, Jones said. Those are the long-term investments of this type of work, she said. We have a special team of people here, Barstad said. We want to keep that going. The Philippine wheat flour milling industry faces a challenging year with higher raw material prices and new competitors. Philippine Association of Flour Millers Inc. said the wheat commodity futures market had consistently moved up in recent days due to the strong demand from foreign markets. The local flour market expanded 4.6 percent in 2016, fueled by a strong economy and higher purchasing power from the consumer sector. The Philippines imported 2.6 million metric tons of wheat last year, up 4 percent from 2.5 million MT in 2015. Flour consumption, including imports, reached 84.6 million bags of 25 kilos each, 4.6 percent higher than the previous years. ADVERTISEMENT The Philippines imported 95.2 percent of its wheat requirements from the United States last year. The US is the only reliable supplier of hard and soft wheat varieties that local millers prefer due to their consistent quality. High protein hard flour from US spring wheat is used to produce loaf bread and pandesal, while soft flour serves as the main ingredient the production of cookies, pastries and cakes. With strong competition from new flour mills, the Philippines industry expects to import more wheat this year to assurea stable supply of flour for a growing and more sophisticated bakery industry. The imposition of dumping duty on Turkish flour reduced Turkish flour imports from over 6 million tons annually to just 4.6 million tons in 2016. The government imposed the dumping duty after it found out that Turkish flour exports to the Philippines were sold at prices lower than in local Turkish market. The first eight local flour mills were established in the 1960s. These were RFM Corp., General Milling Corp., Wellington Flour Mills, Pacific Flour Mills, Pilmico Foods Corp., Philippine Flour Mills, Liberty Flour Mills and Universal Robina Corp.. San Miguel Corp., Philippine Foremost Milling Corp., Morning Star Flour Mills and Delta Milling Corp. established their own mills in the 1990s. Newer mills have joined the industry and made competition stronger. These are Monde Nissin Corp., Atlantic Grains Corp., Asian Grains Corp., Agri-Pacific Rebisco Flour Mills, Great Earth Industrial Corp., New Hope Flour Mills, North Star Flour Mills and Big C Agriflour Corp. Late this year, a multinational joint venture between the Salim family of Indonesia and Australian CBH group is expected to open their latest flour milling venture in Asia, the Mabuhay Interflour Mills in Subic Bay. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Asian Terminal Inc. is building a state-of-the-art multi-level completely built imported car unit storage facility in Batangas Port to increase its capacity. ATI said the new MCSF would allow South Luzons international gateway port to handle over 7,000 imported vehicles at a single time, increasing its current capacity by nearly 50 percent. The MCSF will be fully operational by early 2018. ATI handled over 200,000 completely built imported car units in 2016 for its highest car throughput in a single year. This represents a year-on-year volume growth of over 40 percent, driven by the countrys booming consumer demand. Batangas Port welcomed its 200,000th CBUa Nissan GT-R sport coupe on Dec. 28, shipped aboard Positive Passion, a car carrier vessel operated by Eastern Car Liner through local agent Wallem Philippines Shipping Inc. ADVERTISEMENT ATIs Batangas Port accounts for majority of the countrys annual car imports, due to proximity to major car manufacturers, importers and distributors based in Calabarzon. Batangas Ports historic performance followed another ATI milestone in mid-December where Manila South Harbor breached the one-million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) throughput mark for the first time in a single year at record production pace. The port operator owned by Eusebio Tanco earlier reported a net income of P1.43 billion in the first nine months of 2016, up 9.1 percent from P1.31 billion in the same period last year. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Enjoy a perfect meal with mouth-watering dishes and magnificent view as Hill Station, one of the countrys distinguished restaurants, opened its newest jointCafe Adrianaat the view deck of the first DMCI Homes residential Outlook Ridge Residences in Baguio City. Cafe Adriana, opened in Nov. 18 last year, is the third venture of the renowned food maven in Baguio City, Mitos Benitez-Yniguez, who, at first sight, has found Outlook Ridge Residences perfect for her new business. With Outlook Ridge Residences excellent location, seamless architectural symmetry and sterling engineering, offering a one-of-a-kind living experience in Baguio City, Yniguez knows that her newest cafe would flourish in this remarkable location. I like the location, the view, the mountain. Actually I was quite inspired by the place. Its so beautiful. I didnt expect it. You know when I walked in to the Outlook Ridge Residences, all I could say was wow! Yniguez beams in an interview adding she couldnt contain her excitement and immediately consulted her Feng Shui master who, after checking the place, informed her that the site is a perfect location for her new cafe. The breathtaking view of Baguio from DMCI Homes Outlook Ridge Residences Completed in 2013, Outlook Ridge Residences is a boutique leisure condominium that offers a rare residential experience in the summer capital city. Nestled amid the lush flora of Baguios verdant pines, this property provides a show of the breathtaking Baguio scenerythe foggy north mountains adorned by the abundant forest of pines. With Cafe Adriana at the view deck of Outlook Ridge Residences, both locals and travelers would surely enjoy the restaurants signature Spanish dishes with a certain Pinoy zest. ADVERTISEMENT Its menus specific chart-buster is Paella in five different varieties, all freshly made and prepared by skillful chefs. Cafe Adriana also plans of introducing five more additional Paella flavors for Baguio foodies to watch out for. For one, in my menu, Im only starting with five kinds of Paella like theres vegetarian, theres all seafood, theres black paella, theres chorizo. And then mostly slow cooked stews, shares Yniguez. The owner of Cafe Adriana further reveals, And then when its raining, you want something hearty and slow. So thats our specialty. All breads, all desserts are made by us. All hams, sausages, bacon, are made by us; chorizo, we make it all. So, we try from every beginning and for every outlet, Its all from scratch. Baguio Citys renowned food maven Mitos Benitez-Yniguez A piece of the Igorot tradition was introduced at Cafe Adrianas soft opening ceremonies, with a Canao ritual to bless the place and the business. Canao or kanyaw is a local tradition of tribal dances and/or ritual sacrifices performed at feasts and celebrations in the highlands of the Cordilleras. The owner herself believes in the power of the offerings to bless the good spirits in the area. An adult pig and a rooster were chosen as offerings. Raised in Baguio City, with a certain air from a Spanish descent, Yniguez is a product of a culture-rich ancestry. With Cafe Adriana, she plans of fusing these two cultures of her own, and blend them together in her passion for cooking. Prior her newest cafe, Yniguez has been managing Bistro and Hill Station, which was included in the prestigious Miele guide of Asias best restaurants and recognized as one of the best restaurants in the Philippines by Asia Tatler in 2012. With the rising number of Baguio tourists and the influx of residential developments in the area, Outlook Ridge Residences stands a cut above the rest. Sitting atop 4,005.7 square meters of prime land, offering only 150 residential units in its two-building abodes, residents, lessors, and transients would find the property a haven in the city. An added convenience to the residents was also brought by Cafe Adriana, that apart from Spanish dishes, the cafe will also serve all-day breakfasts intended for vacationers and travelers who prefer waking up on different times of the day. Likewise, non-stayers can simply visit Cafe Adriana, and enjoy the scenery that Outlook Ridge Residences offers. Paella de Legumbres is one of Cafe Adrianas main dishes Outlook Ridge Residences is one among DMCI Homes roster of exemplary projects, located at V. Delos Reyes Street, Outlook Drive in Baguio City. Another project to set eyes on is Bristle Ridge, a midrise development along Pacdal Road. For more details about the developer and its projects, visit www.dmcihomes.com. For updates on Cafe Adriana, kindly visit Cafe Adriana by Hill Station on Facebook. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. The brazen kidnapping and killing of a Korean businessman by policemen brings into serious question the integrity of our law enforcers. Jee Ick Joo, an executive of the Korean ship-building company Hanjin, was killed right inside the headquarters of the Philippine National Police in Camp Crame. This is a shocking, shameless mockery of the countrys justice system. The very people we expect to protect us are the ones committing heinous crimes. Joo who thought he had found a second home in the Philippines, was abducted in Angeles, Pampanga. He was brought to the PNP headquarters and strangled while in custody. His body was brought to a Quezon City mortuary where it was immediately cremated and his ashes flushed down the toilet. To cover up their dastardly deed, the perpetrators reportedly erased the film footage of the CCTV camera that recorded Joo being brought into Camp Crame. Who will police the police? Buhay Party-List Rep. Lito Atienza is appalled at the breakdown of law and order when the ordinary citizen cannot trust the very authorities he expects to protect him from criminals. To reform law enforcement, the justice and the penal systems, Atienza is filing a House bill addressing these problems. He said the root of the problem started when the PNP and the Philippine Constabulary were integrated with the control and management of law enforcement left entirely to the PNP chief. Under the old set-up, town and city mayors also had supervision over the police and its head. Atienzas House measure also seeks a deeper and stringent selection process in the recruitment of policemen. He said crooked cops can be traced to the lax requirement of police recruits. Policemen on the beat should be assigned to the community where they belong so they are more familiar with the people in the area, suggested Atienza. But isnt that giving the mayors too much power subject to their abuse? Such a set-up, said those opposed to the idea, would be a return to local officials acting like warlords in their areas. ADVERTISEMENT But this very fear of such abuse is happening now, said Atienza a three-term mayor of Manila. He cited the gruesome fate of the Korean businessman at the hands of three policemen and their cohorts. He aired his concern that Operation Tokhang, the governments no-holds barred campaign against drug traffickers, is being used by the police to commit kidnapping for ransom and other forms of criminal activity like extortion and indiscriminate killing under the guise of self-defense. The police act with impunity because they get the green light from the top to kill those involved in illegal drugs, lamented Atienza. Atienza is staunchly against the return of the death penalty which some congressmen are planning to include in the proposed amendments to the 1987 Constitution. That would only be giving the police more power to abuse their authority, he said, adding the ominous prospect of the death penalty would intimidate criminals to submit to the caprice and whim of policemen serving arrest warrants. There is no need for the death penalty, said Atienza as he pointed out that being confined to the abysmal living condition in our state prison is worse than death. He cited congestion of detainees in their prison cells. He condemned the two-tier system in the treatment of detainees and questioned why affluent prisoners are given the VIP treatment while the poor ordinary detainees are subjected to sub-human conditions. The state of the countrys penal system was the subject of a recent front-page story in the New York Times headlined They are treating us like animals. The Times ran the story together with a large photo of prisoners packed like sardines and sleeping on the cold cement floor. The photo was like a mural which painted the state of the countrys penal system. The shocking case of the Korean business executive has drawn the ire of House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez who demanded the resignation of PNP chief Ronald Bato dela Rosa for not being able to control his men. Coming from an ally of President Rodrigo Duterte, the call of Alvarez for Dela Rosas resignation speaks volumes of how Jees case has outraged legislators from both sides of the political aisle. South Koreas foreign ministry also issued a statement released through its embassy in Manila denouncing the implication of PNP members and expressed concern for the safety of its nationals in the Philippines. We cannot blame South Korea, a major source of foreign investments, for being concerned. Koreans have also been flocking here to boost our tourism figures. But now Jee Ick Joo and the grim fate he suffered will probably be the poster child of why foreigners should not visit and invest in the Philippines. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Since it seems that our national leadership is minded on revising the Constitution and not just amending it, there are some other provisions that should be revisitedto forestall the need of tinkering with the fundamental law very often. But I find it necessary to ask clarification from some of the very vocal proponents of constitutional revision in favor of federalism that, I pointed out in an earlier column certainly has many merits to commend it. What is all this talk about the French model? I teach Comparative Constitutions at the Graduate School of Law of San Beda College and Comparative Governments at the Graduate School of the Cagayan State University and I have never associated France with a federal configuration, even granting the ambivalence of the ascription federal. The saga of the French Constitution has to do rather with the powers of the President vis-a-vis the Prime Minister and Parliament. It appears to be the consensus among notable commentators of the French Constitution that, textually, the Constitution can allow for a strong President as it also allows Parliament and the Prime Minister to wield considerable power. It therefore depends a lot on how much weight the President of the French Republic is able to throw around, and Charles de Gaulle was one president who did not want his ponderousness taken for granted! So I wish we were more circumspectand more diligentabout comparisons, and models and proposals, because re-writing our Constitution is (or, at least, should be!) very serious business worth prodigious scholarly time and labor. Academic freedom needs strengthening and while our Supreme Court has frequently intoned Justice Frankfurters seminal formulation of the components of the freedomwhat to teach, who should teach, who to teach, how it should be taught the sad fact is that academic freedom in higher education in the Philippines is stymied by overactive regulatory agencies. When the Commission on Higher Education promulgates what it calls Policies and Standards, one expects only broad strokes by which higher education institutions are to guide themselves in determining the minutiae of their operations. Obviously, CHED has a different understanding of policies and principles and is not content with direction-settingbecause it provides for such impertinences as the degrees and licenses that an institution must exact from professors and lecturers, limitations on methods of delivery, contact hours required, what courses may or may not require a thesis, etc. So it is that even highly experienced ambassadors and members of the diplomatic corps who would be most qualified to teach international relations may find themselves disqualified by CHEDs policies and standards because they do not possess the degrees the agency requires, nor are their academic qualifications vertically alignedanother rather stupid formula that confines an academic to one and only one discipline! And while state universities are supposed to be autonomous in that their charters are in effect statutory enactments passed by Congress that vest governance in a governing board, CHED has seized every opportunity to take them within its sphere of power and influence. Revising the Constitution would contribute immensely to the maturation of higher education in the Philippines by enunciating more clearly the entailments of academic freedom and concomitantly limiting the scope of regulation. Political dynasties are what stand in the way of full support by many Filipinos of proposals to go federal. The reason is not too involved: Unless dynasties are dismantled, regions (or states) may very well become enclaves of dynasties and fiefdoms of well-entrenched families. Whoever said walang forever has obviously never conversed with a member of a dynastic family for whom political clout and power are and must be forever. The trouble with the 1987 Constitution is that its lofty aspiration to eliminate dynasties notwithstanding, it neutered its own proposal by leaving it to Congress to define what dynasties are and to pass the necessary legislation. It should not be too difficult to rewrite a self-operating provision of the Constitution on dynasties. The part of the Constitution that many would be loathe to re-write is the Bill of Rights. But I take the position that it should be reviewed and, if found necessary, re-written. In many ways, the protections afforded the accusedand the breadth of the exclusionary rulesare exaggerated. One clear case: To waive the right of counsel, you need counsel! And the poison of the poisonous tree has spread so far, that plenty of evidence that would otherwise nail the accused and clinch allegations of culpability are fruit of the poisonous tree. The doctrines crafted by jurisprudence on double jeopardy also invite review, for precipitous acquittal by judges eager to dispose of many cases or, regrettably, by hoodlums in robes, forever bars prosecution even of the clearly guilty. And while I am all for trimming down the exaggerated certiorari powers presently attributed to our Supreme Court, I am all for expanding the grounds of certiorari against acquittals, keeping however to the general requirement of the writ: a clear and convincing showing of grave (that qualifier needs to be emphasized) abuse of discretion. Then there is the matter of prosecution. Our prosecutors take the constitutional provisions to mean that as long as they have probable causeeven if it is abundantly clear that they do not have the evidence sufficient to win a convictionthey can go on with prosecuting the offender. The result is hasty indictments, the detention of those charged with unbailable offenses, andafter the unjust and unjustified curtailments of freedom visited on an accusedhis acquittal because of insufficiency of evidence. It should not be too difficult to include the following provision: The prosecutor files the Information only upon a finding of probable cause, but shall desist from doing so unless he has evidence sufficient for the court to convict the accused. There is no contradiction here, except to the dense. The first question the prosecutor asks is: Do I have probable cause? If he has none, he dismisses. If he has, then he takes a second look at the evidence and asks: If I file this Information, do I have a chance at securing the conviction of the accused or none at all? If it is clear to him that there is no way the evidence presently before him obtains the conviction of the accused, it would be immoral and unjust for the prosecutoras well as a waste of public resourcesto file the Information and visit all its attendant miseries on the accused! Some have misgivings about re-writing portions of the Constitution other than those that deal with the Legislature (Article VI) and the Executive (Article VII). But when you want to go federal, then perforce, you must ask whether the Supreme Court shall continue to enjoy the same jurisdiction it now has, what cases go before it, and how much it must yield to state courtsand whether or not there should be state or regional supreme courts. Then you must also review provisions on accountability as well as patrimony, for crucial decisions will have to be made about how to hold state or regional officials accountable (shall state governors be impeccable officials, knowing that impeachment is a next-to-impossible process), what resources constitute patrimony of the region and patrimony of the Republicin other words, the classic battle between state and union! And since the changes will be wide-ranging anyway, why not address other, equally vexatious though probably less sensational provisions of the fundamental law? ADVERTISEMENT rannie_aquino@csu.edu.ph rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.ph rannie_aquino@outlook.com Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Montana is paying big bucks for bad roads. The tab is around $794 million a year, according to a study commissioned by the Montana Infrastructure Coalition. The infrastructure coalition is composed of Montana government, business and economic development groups. TRIP, a national transportation research group, used data from the Montana Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration to estimate costs of additional wear and tear on vehicles, crashes resulting from unsafe roads and fuel wasted in congested traffic areas. The totals are eye-popping: $328 million annually in costs related to crashes on unsafe roads. $296 million in vehicle operating costs caused by poor roads. $170 million for fuel and time wasted due to traffic congestion. In Billings, TRIP estimated that 30 percent of arterials are in poor condition and only 33 percent are in good condition. Great Falls is even worse off with 52 percent poor roads and 18 percent good. Statewide, only 26 percent of major roads are rated in good condition, and 34 percent are poor. Statewide, 8 percent of bridges are structurally deficient, which means there is significant deterioration of the bridge deck, supports or other components. The cost of road safety hazards is reflected in Montanas abysmal highway fatality statistics. Montanas traffic fatality rate is nearly 50 percent worse than the national average on the basis of miles traveled. Only two other states have a higher fatality rate. Most fatal crashes occur along Montanas rural highways. The number of vehicle miles traveled in our state has increased by 32 percent since the turn of the century. That increased road use demands attention. MDOT has estimated that it will be $874 million short annually of whats needed to make headway on highway improvements through 2021. Fortunately, Montana doesnt have to pay that cost all by itself. The federal government funds about 87 percent of the states road construction budget. Montana must come up with 13 percent. For decades, that state match has come from the state fuel tax of 27 cents per gallon of gas and diesel, with exemptions for agricultural use. The cost of maintaining safe roads has outpaced tax revenue. The 2017 Legislature and Gov. Steve Bullock must come up with a plan that meets the ongoing need for road improvement. A one-year or two-year fix isnt sufficient. Highway safety projects are planned months or years in advance and may take multiple construction seasons to complete. Montana must have a reliable, ongoing, dedicated source of funding its road safety responsibility. Its time to raise the state fuel tax to meet this public safety need. For more than a year, weve heard Republicans and Democrats expound on their support for state infrastructure improvement, but no one has publicly presented a plan for ongoing support of safer transportation infrastructure. Finally, a leader has stepped up. Rep. Frank Garner, R-Kalispell, has requested a bill that he calls The Bridge and Road Safety Accountability Act. LC1504 was being drafted last week. The mission has got to be to improve road and bridge safety, said Garner, a former law enforcement officer. Its going to be comprehensive, Garner told The Gazette last week by phone from Helena. Right now its kind of in the fact-finding stage; were getting ideas. The legislation will have three key aims: 1. Identification of ways to make the MDOT more efficient. 2. Revenues for state and local road needs. 3. Accountability to taxpayers. We want to make sure we do with this money exactly what we said we would do with it road and bridge safety, Garner said. A bipartisan group of lawmakers has been discussing this legislation. Garner said he wants input from the House and Senate, along with MDOT. Rep. Kelly McCarthy, D-Billings, is among the legislators working with Garner. The TRIP report identified serious infrastructure needs, McCarthy said. As McCarthy said, there is political risk for lawmakers who support any revenue bill. Everybody who votes for it is going to get a (campaign) mailer next year saying they voted to raise taxes. The risk of doing nothing is far greater. We commend McCarthy, Garner and the other lawmakers who recognize that they were elected to solve public problems that individuals cant solve on their own. Safe roads are essential to every part of Montana life. Building and maintaining safe transportation infrastructure also creates good jobs, keeping taxpayers investment in our state. The owners of the famous Dixon Melons plan on opening a coffee shop and medical marijuana dispensary in Missoula in the next few months, calling it part of their mission to help treat people with sleep disorders, cancer, glaucoma, post-traumatic stress disorder and other ailments. Green Bean Coffee Shop has been granted a permit by the city to open at 401 N. Russell St., just south of the bridge. Harley Hettick and his wife Joey, who are 75 and 66, respectively, say they are probably the oldest licensed medical cannabis providers in the state. Mild-mannered organic farmers from a tiny town in Montana, they are an unlikely duo of pot providers. Harley and I, if you had asked 10 years ago if I thought I would ever be in this business, I would have said absolutely not, Joey explained. You know, I have kids. But then we had several good friends who had cancer and we started working with it at that time, and I just couldnt believe some of the people that its helped. The Hetticks and their two sons have gained fame over the years for their melons grown in Dixon, which they sell at regional farmers markets. Joey grew up in Big Sandy, and she is on a first-name basis with Big Sandy natives U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and Pearl Jam bassist (and part-time Missoula resident) Jeff Ament, who she says is a huge Dixon Melon customer. Harley grew up in North Dakota, and worked in the photo department of the Missoulian newspaper. They owned a Green Bean Coffee Shop on Brooks Street for six years, but had to close after the state Legislature reigned in the industry in 2011. Until recently, medical cannabis providers were only allowed to have three patients. However, voters approved ballot initiative I-182 last November, which repealed the three-patient limit and established licensing procedures for dispensaries. Already, Missoula is seeing more pot providers cropping up. For example, just down the road from the new Green Bean, a medical cannabis shop called Starbuds on West Broadway has announced it is accepting patient applications. The Hetticks say the most customers they ever had is 100, and they are excited to stop deliveries and finally get their own permanent location. Theres so many people addicted to narcotics and many, many prescription drugs they tried with no help and are tired of the side effects of a lot of those drugs, Joey said. When they wean themselves off, its amazing how much medical marijuana helps them and how well they can perform their duties and work and everything. She said marijuana helps people on chemotherapy afflicted with nausea, vomiting and sleeplessness. I think it helps as a sleep aid as much as anything, she said. You gotta figure out your body and how it affects you. We really promote edibles and tinctures. We dont promote smoking so much, but some people are old-time smokers. We have one 94-year-old man with real bad glaucoma, and he said after using marijuana the pressure in his eyes are normal. He said he cant tell his doctor, but I told him hes 94 and he can tell his doctor anything he wants. The Montana law bans medical marijuana providers from advertising products containing the drug, which is still illegal under federal law. We think thats a very unfair law, Harley said. Every damn two-bit drug company in the world, including Johnson & Johnson and Merck, is allowed to advertise. Just turn on the TV, they advertise the pills for two minutes, then they go into disclaimers about all the side effects and how it destroys your brain and destroys your liver. Joey said they have many patients who are war veterans with PTSD, including some who served in the Vietnam War. Our veterans, they are so thankful that the law got accepted this time, she said. Marijuana works well for them having bad dreams and nightmares. Her goal is to be drug-free for the rest of her life, and she considers marijuana a natural remedy for all kinds of ailments. These narcotics and pain-killers have horrendous side effects, she said. I like to get my customers weaned off as much as possible. To become a provider, the couple had to pay the state a $50 fee and get a background check. They use two greenhouses to grow their cannabis. We grow our own in the good Montana ground, Harley said. We definitely stay organic. We dont use fungicides or pesticides. Joeys hope is that cannabis providers in Montana dont get overtaken by big corporations. We want to see the industry stay in the hands of small farmers and small dispensaries, family-owned businesses like us, she said. If we make it a Montana-owned business, it will benefit everyone. I would hate to see the big people come in and see it go to big business. I would like to see it stay small, by people who do a good job at what theyre doing. They couple is hoping to open within a month. It wasnt easy to find a place to rent, because they said most property owners dont want a medical marijuana business as a rental tenant. However, theyre hoping to prove that access to medical pot is something that the community should embrace. We would like to end up being somebody they can relate to as doing things the right way, Harley said. New associates Real estate sales professionals Lynda Allen, Tom Dauenhauer, Robert Grant, Michele Hall and Kathy Kinney have joined Keller Williams Western Montana Realty. Allen has a background in both buying and selling real estate and has been in the real estate industry since 2005 and won Rookie of the Year her first year in the business. Dauenhauer has been a realtor assisting clients in the greater Missoula area for the past 11 years. He has an array of experience including residential, ranch, commercial, recreational and industrial sales. Grant has a background in investment commercial real estate and has been in the industry since 2007. He comes from Marcus and Millichap national multi-housing division and has sold real estate in Arizona, Washington and now Montana. Hall has a background in residential and investment real estate properties in Missoula and Billings and has been in the industry for eight years. Kinney has been in sales and service for over 20 years. Promotions Scott Murphy has been named president/CEO of Morrison-Maierle, a Helena-based multi-disciplinary engineering firm. Murphy has been with Morrison-Maierle since 1998 and has held various leadership positions since 2000 when he became the Helena Office Municipal Group Supervisor. With B.S. and M.S. degrees in civil engineering from Montana State University, he most recently was a company vice president who oversaw the management of the companys eight market groups and client services throughout its 12 offices in Montana, Wyoming, Washington, and Arizona. As an engineer, Murphy specializes in water treatment and water reclamation projects. His most recent notable project was managing the $30 million Butte-Silver Bow Water/Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade, a project that uses state-of-the-art technologies new to Montana. Founded in 1945, Morrison-Maierles corporate office is based in Helena, Montana and has six offices in Montana, four in Wyoming and one each in Arizona and Washington. Alison Schultz was promoted from gift planning coordinator to associate director of gift planning at the University of Montana Foundation. In her new role, she will work with donors in fulfilling their philanthropic goals using planned gifts. Schultz came to the Foundation in 2014 after working for several years as a legal assistant for a small law firm in Durango, Colorado. Prior to working in the legal field she gained experience in development while working at the Tucson Museum of Art. She holds a bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Arizona. Drew Cable was promoted from campaign coordinator and executive assistant to director of development for the Missoula College and university initiatives. In her new position, she will be raising funds to support the colleges students and programs, as well as its new facility on East Broadway in Missoula. Cable is an alumna of UM, with a B.A. in English and a minor in Native American studies. Stacy Jackson was promoted from foundation services coordinator to executive assistant to the president and CEO and vice president of Development at the University of Montana Foundation. Jackson started at the Foundation last fall, bringing over 20 years combined experience in office administration, human resource management and accounting. She is a UM alumna with an associates degree in business management. A&E Architects, P.C. announced the promotions of architect Bill DuBeau, AIA, (Billings office) and designer James Kordonowy, ASID, (Billings office) to the status of Principals. DuBeau is a 1994 graduate of Montana State University and joined A&E Architects in 2005. Kordonowy joined the firm in 2011 with experience in creating commercial interiors and custom residential design. A&E Architects is also announced the promotions of architect Brad Doll, AIA, (Bozeman office), architect Justin Alexander, AIA, (Bozeman office) and preservation architect Paul Filicetti, AIA, (Missoula office) to the status of Associates. Filicetti joined A&E Architects in 2000, Alexander in 2009 and Doll in 2014. Recognition Patrick McCormick was the top producer at Properties 2000 for the month of December. McCormick is one of the broker/owner of Properties 2000. He specializes in residential real estate. The West Glacier KOA Holiday was named the 2017 KOA Campground of the Year out of over 480 campgrounds in the KOA system. The owners Greg and Theresa McClure has overhauled the campground added a large section of 61 new RV sites, landscaping, patios, roadways and upgraded electrical services. Derrick Schoeben, a fourth year student at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy at the University of Montana has won the Generation Rx Champions Award as announced by Montana Pharmacy Association (MPA) board of directors. Schoeben attended the APhA Institute on Alcoholism and Drug Dependencies in Utah as a second year pharmacy student and served as a counselor on subsequent years. Goldsmith's Bed and Breakfast was awarded a 2016 Guest Review Award by Booking.com with a average review score of 9.3. To receive this award, the property must maintain a score of 8 or higher. Goldsmith's Bed and Breakfast is managed by Jordan Goldsmith. We do not accept unsolicited submissions. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright 2015 by Robert Tremmel, All the Questions, from "The Fourth River" (Spring, 2015). Poem reprinted by permission of Robert Tremmel and the publisher. Introduction copyright 2016 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. HELENA Back in 2015, being a Montana Republican meant despising Obamacare and your loathing of it better have been a pre-existing condition. House Speaker Austin Knudsen qualified. He voted against the states decision to expand Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act in 2015. When he ran for re-election last year, he pilloried Obamacare, saying he didnt want Congress to delay the removal of this ill-conceived disaster of a law. That is now a distinct possibility, with Congress having begun the process of repeal. But this has become a conundrum for Republican state lawmakers in GOP-dominated legislatures that expressed bitter opposition to the health care reform law but nonetheless took its federal Medicaid expansion money. Though President Donald Trump has said the law wont be scuttled without a replacement very quickly, many state legislatures find themselves having to plan budgets without knowing whether theyll be stuck paying to keep their poorest citizens insured. Medicaid was expanded under the law in 31 states, but only seven of them were states with Democratic majorities who embraced federal health care reform. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican whose state added 700,000 to the health insurance rolls, told reporters recently: I just want to know whats going to happen to all those people who find themselves out in the cold. GOP lawmakers in North Dakota and Nevada have expressed similar worries. Montana is in a particularly precarious position. The state is constitutionally required to balance its budget based on projected revenues, but its Legislature meets only every other year. That means lawmakers who began their session this month have to peer two years into the future at the unpredictable landscape of federal health care law. Obamacare provided health insurance to thousands of Montanans who formerly didnt have it; now, even Republicans worry that Congress may scuttle the law without funding an alternative. I still dont think its realistic to say, Well, were going to cover an additional 60,000 to 70,000 people but if the federal government takes the money away, were simply going to jerk the rug from underneath those people, Knudsen said. Sitting in his office on a cold, snowy afternoon recently, he leaned forward confidentially. We cant afford it. *** Minority Democrats in Montana tried twice to expand Medicaid coverage during implementation of the federal health care law. A slim Republican majority beat it back in 2013, but advocates narrowly succeeded two years later with a plan to offer Medicaid coverage to all adults with incomes near the poverty level. Rep. Rob Cook, a burly man who played running back in high school, carried the bill as the Republican sponsor and was intent on getting it to the goal line. Cook said after he cast his vote in favor of the expansion and it passed 54-42, he looked around at the majority of his fellow Republicans on the House floor. It was 42 faces of hate, he said. Yet the program proved popular in the sparsely populated state, with twice the number of people expected signing up by July 2016. There are 61,233 on the program now. Republicans in Montana, as in most frontier states, often share with their constituents a high degree of mistrust and distaste for the federal government an attitude that carries into fights over public lands, gun rights and, in recent years, Obamacare. Washington, D.C., is seen as far away, distant, removed and not in touch with what life is like here in Montana, said Robert Saldin, associate professor of political science at the University of Montana. The popular image of the bureaucrat in some cubicle making critical decisions that affect life here in Montana without any knowledge, or having been here, or how policies affect people on the ground here, is the kind of image at work within the Republican Party here. But with droves of outsiders moving into university towns like Missoula and Bozeman, the state isnt entirely intolerant of Democrats. Although Republicans control the Legislature, Gov. Steve Bullock is the second consecutive Democrat to lead the state. Senate President Scott Sales, a Republican who voted against Medicaid expansion, said hes sympathetic to those who are now getting health care for the first time and has heard health success stories because of the law. But Sales said the state cant afford to keep the program going on its own. Montana paid just about $5 million for its share of the program, while the federal government kicked in $153.6 million for six months in fiscal year 2016, according to the Legislative Fiscal Division. The state projects its cost over the next two fiscal years to rise to about $70 million, with $847 million in federal funding. *** Montana doesnt have a lot of options. Lower-than-expected oil and corporate tax revenues left the state $142 million short of expectations in the 2016 fiscal year, based on a two-year budget of $12.8 billion. Sales said most of those getting health insurance under the Medicaid expansion are capable of working and getting private insurance. The best thing we could possibly do for people the best health care system is a good job, Sales said. They need to take ownership for themselves There is no constitutional guarantee to health care. If there is one, Id love to have someone show it to me. To appease Montana Republicans when the expansion law was passed, a sunset clause put it up for renewal in 2019. But Bullock said stripping recipients of health care without a plan would be irresponsible. Governing the fractious state, Bullock, with his frequent vetoes, has come to be known as the goalie governor. But he said lawmakers of all stripes have heard the stories about people getting health care for the first time. One man wrote the governor an email about how the new insurance had allowed him to see a doctor and get treatment for a potentially fatal adrenal crisis. You saved my life on Feb. 10, he wrote. While the debate over Obamacare is taking place in Washington, Bullock said, it is states that are on the front lines, and state lawmakers who will have to figure out what to do until Congress finds a solution. Doubtless if the ground substantially shifts, well hear from people a lot more than the folks in Washington, D.C., will hear from them, Bullock said. Because we also see them in our churches, in our communities, on our streets. Cook agreed, saying congressional Republicans didnt have any real stakes in the process while former President Barack Obama was in power. The easiest vote in any legislature is a no vote (for something) you know is going to pass, he said. I think Republicans have been negligent at the federal level in not trying to make the program work. Its been extraordinarily bad behavior and its not what you get elected to do. Creating stronger ties and improving recruitment were the key topics at the Bitterroot College Advisory Council meeting with the University of Montana last week. UM Provost Beverly Edmond, Vice President Tom Crady, Associate Provost Nathan Lindsay, and Violet Hawkins, an enrollment and recruiting specialist from Montana College, visited the Bitterroot College campus for the first time Wednesday. We are trying to make this a better relationship, Edmond said. I appreciate all you do here. You are an important part of the University of Montana family. The meeting was led by council chair Dixie Stark. She introduced Associate Provost Nathan Lindsay as a new member who will work to provide better continuity of communication with the university. Crady has been working to improve recruitment and practices for retention of students at UM. When I came in June we were two months behind in processing applications, he said. Ive never encountered that before. We did a really good job of driving students away, theres no other way to describe it. Crady said that applicants are hoping for feedback within a week. We lost a lot of applications simply because we didnt respond, he said. It is so competitive these days that you have to be able to turn on a dime and be really agile and respond to market pressures and we were not doing that well. Crady said UM now has the right computer system and more staff to evaluate applications quickly. They have sent out invitations to apply, started recruiting high school juniors and sophomores and contracted with Raise Me. It is a program that gives micro-scholarships for good grades, Crady said. Beginning in ninth grade students can sign up. Grades and attendance are rewarded financially. That money accumulates through high school and can be used at the University of Montana, Montana College and Bitterroot College. We started in November and have over 8,000 students who are actually signed up for the University of Montana, Crady said. That program costs us $9,000 a year and is worth its weight in gold. The goals of the program are to keep students in high school and allow them to generate money for college. Crady said the Raise Me program would be a big help to Bitterroot College. The University of Montana has applications from every state but Crady said he doesnt have the recruitment staff to meet with applicants beyond Montana. He toured towns in Montana and met with high school counselors. We dont have a very good narrative and people dont see us very positively, Crady said. Factors affecting that image include the number of out-of-state students, the safety perceptions, bad news, challenging registration policies and no focus on customer satisfaction. Crady said the numbers of students has dropped; the university graduated 3,000 and there are 1,500 freshmen scheduled to begin in the fall. Victoria Clark, president of Bitterroot College, asked if retention was part of the equation to increase enrollment. Crady responded that making registration easier and giving students in Dual Enrollment a satisfying experience with the University of Montana will be a big improvement. Lindsay said, Improved customer service has been a big focus on [the UM] campus since our conference in October. We are working toward a student-centered culture, he said. Edmond said that when she arrived there was a total misunderstanding of the scope of enrollment management. There was not a synchronized, coordinated engine in place, she said. We need to look at each student, find out why they are here, what are the barriers and then we need to put into place the strategies to address those barriers. Edmond said synergy, retention, persistence and completion are key components to success. Weve got to get these massive problems fixed or were never going to make progress, Crady said. We are making good progress, every day we are changing things. Students that pass up the University of Montana, the Bitterroot College and Missoula College are passing up a great education. Stark said she is proud of the Bitterroot College and looks forward to working closer with the University of Montana. We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear. Martin Luther King Missoula will celebrate progress toward overturning the Citizens United Supreme Court decision by marking the annual Peoples Amendment Day tomorrow at 7 p.m. during the City Council meeting at 140 West Pine. Missoula Moves to Amend asks the public to attend to learn about the many resolutions nationwide that are calling for the amendment that says Corporations are not people and money is not speech. During the Legislature, there is also important work to do to protect our Disclose Act and our commissioner of political practices. You can join the Legislative Alerts email list by calling 543-3254, and then share the alerts with people you know across the state. You can learn more about legislative challenges, by coming to our meetings at 7 p.m. on Feb. 15 and March 22 at the Missoula Public Library, 301 East Main. Missoula and Montana led the nation in calling for the U.S. Congress to pass the amendment out to the states because the Citizens United decision decimated our Corrupt Practices Act, which had protected Montana elections for 100 years. Money and corporations in our elections are being examined in all arenas. For example, people of faith are struggling with how money in politics can be reconciled with teachings that for generations have struggled with the role of wealth. Losing Faith in Our Democracy, by theologians from Catholic, Mainline Protestant, Evangelical Protestant, and Jewish perspectives, asks how we can honor our values of attending to the needs of the poor or of creating a just society when we dont fulfill the need to hear all voices. Our Montana legislature worked together in 2015 to pass the Disclose Act and to support the commissioner of political practices who enforces our remaining election laws. However, challenges continue. Both the act and the commissioner have been targeted by the Indiana lawyer James Bopp, who won the Citizens United case and has a satellite office in Bozeman. In addition, government policy seldom responds to our values and needs. Important research in 2014 documented that government policy virtually never reflects the needs of the bottom 90 percent of the people when those needs differ from the top 10 percent: Ordinary citizens... have little or no independent influence on policy at all. What does it mean to be left out of the policies that guide our own democracy? How do we know when our needs differ from the needs of the top 10 percent? We need to develop our awareness of our shared priorities by listening to each other. Its our responsibility, as citizens, to manage our democracy and to develop our vision for our country. But fear plays a big part in dividing us. That fear is fueled by the deregulation of the media, that has allowed six corporations to take nationwide control, and by the fake news outlets. When fear takes over, research shows that it is difficult to act in our own best interests. Arousing anxiety results in people rejecting decisions that would, in fact, benefit them. But research also shows that when people are taught ahead of time to expect their fears to be aroused, they can learn how to over-ride them and to make better decisions for their own welfare. To teach our people how to work together, the message has to reach them, and we cannot expect the media to help. It is up to us. We are urging Missoulians to reach out to their contacts of all backgrounds across the state. In 2012, 75 percent of Montanans and every county passed the initiative that called for the U.S. constitutional amendment that says that corporations are not people and money is not speech. Montanans are out there and waiting to act together. Join our Legislative Alert list and forward alerts to your friends and organizations. Celebrate the progress we have made at City Council tomorrow at 7 p.m. Help us show that Montana acts with one voice to protect our remaining fair election laws and to get our Corrupt Practices Act back by calling for The Peoples Amendment. Fred Whiteside is one of Montanas authentic unsung heroes. Thus observed Great Falls Tribune reporter and columnist Frank Adams in 1980, a year after a plaque was installed in an obscure capitol hallway, the only monument in recognition of Whiteside, who was perhaps Montanas most courageous statesman. Barely 20, Fred Whiteside left home in Illinois in 1878 to make the dangerous trek to Montana Territory. Using profits from buffalo hunting, Whiteside became a building contractor, constructing several early structures in Miles City. Whiteside soon became one of Montanas most notable builders, constructing a major silver smelting facility in Great Falls, the Hennessy Block in Butte, and the magnificent Broadwater Natatorium in Helena. In 1891, at 34, Whiteside settled down in semi-retirement in Kalispell to raise apples. A scientific orchard man, Whiteside prided himself in his early use of pesticides and promised to pay $500 for any worm found in his apples. He never had to pay, but watching fruit grow wasnt a fit challenge for the likes of young Fred Whiteside. He was soon back into building, and the fine old original Montana Veterans Home he constructed in Columbia Falls still stands. He also acquired the Kalispell Bee newspaper to express his political opinions. In 1896 he was elected to the legislature. Then began the memorable yet forgotten saga of Fred Whiteside. A Capitol Commission had been authorized to plan and construct our state capitol. Freshman Representative Whiteside examined the plan and cost estimate and was astounded. From his contracting experience, Whiteside quickly saw that a better plan could be completed for a fraction of the proposed cost When Whiteside voiced his objection about the fraudulent building scheme, legislative friends of the crooked commissioners maneuvered to discredit and stop him. In the end, an informant to Whiteside who had direct knowledge of the fraudulent plan died under mysterious circumstances, but the scheme was thwarted. Because of Fred Whiteside, what is now the magnificent central part on the Capitol building was constructed for about 10 percent of the original proposed cost. In 1898 Whiteside was elected to the state Senate. Then, state legislators elected U.S. senators. Copper King William Andrews Clark was determined to become a U.S. senator if he had to bribe every member of the legislature to do it. Whiteside dramatically exposed the bribery in front of many of the legislators who had sold their votes to Clark. Incredibly, the corrupt lawmakers brazenly expelled Whiteside as a state senator and went on to elect Clark U.S. senator. Fundamentally a fighter, Whiteside followed Clark to Washington where he presented compelling and incriminating testimony. The result was that this time Clark was the one who was expelled. Clark attempted a ruse to get back into the Senate, which failed. Incredibly, however, with Whiteside gone, the Montana legislature again sent Clark to the Senate two years later. The outrageous Clark example was prominently used nationwide to bring about the constitutional amendment for the people to directly elect U.S. Senators. If not for Whiteside, Clark would never have been exposed. Courage and integrity matter. Therefore, so does history. No other Montanan has had as great an impact on the function of U.S. government as Fred Whiteside. The next time youre in the state Capitol building, see if you can find his plaque. Then cross the street to the Montana Historical Society. There you will find an extensive file on Fred Whiteside and a trove of other printed history, wonderful Russell paintings, countless priceless artifacts, and kind and helpful staffers to guide you in your explorations of Montanas colorful and fascinating past. With so much on its plate this session, the new Congress could do itself and future Congresses a favor by breaking its longstanding habit of kicking simple but important measures down the road with only partial funding and temporary authorization. Clearing its schedule of these items would allow it to devote more energy to resolving the more complex matters facing the nation. And of all the potential places to start, the Land and Water Conservation Fund may be the easiest. Wildly popular both in Congress and with voters, it uses no taxpayer dollars yet it has funded billions of dollars worth of outdoor projects, from building new neighborhood parks and fishing access sites to conserving wildlife refuges to enabling public access to public lands. Montana in particular has made great use of the LWCF. Consider that, according to the Montana Wildlife Federations calculation, nearly 70 percent of the fishing access sites and more than 800 recreational sites in the state were secured thanks to the LWCF. The fund has also helped Montana buy key public access in checkerboarded areas where public lands are surrounded by private property. In Missoula County alone, the LWCF program has played a fundamental role in dozens of significant acquisition and development projects. McCormick Park, Playfair Park, Kelly Island, Kiwanis Park, Caras Park, Frenchtown Pond, Seeley Lake Community Park think of a local park and chances are, it became what it is today thanks to the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The LWCF is funded through the diversion of a miniscule portion of money collected by the U.S. government from offshore oil and gas leases. In 2013, for example, these revenues topped $9 billion. That same year, Congress dedicated a mere sliver, just $305 million, to the LWCF. The fund was created in the first place out of recognition that the public should receive some direct outdoor conservation or recreational benefit from the lease of its public lands. LWCF projects are refreshingly community-driven; cities, counties, school districts, state agencies and tribal governments determine their own project priorities and then submit applications for LWCF grants. And since its creation in 1964, the LWCF has returned some $16 billion to our communities to help pay for these priorities, with more than $400 million of that going to projects in Montana. Given the lasting, tangible benefits made possible by the LWCF, its no surprise that nearly every senator and representative in Congress including Montanas entire congressional delegation has expressed support for it at one time or another. Unfortunately, as is all too common in the nations capital, that vocal support has not translated into meaningful action. Instead, Congress has been content to gradually bleed the program of funding, needlessly complicate it with proposed improvements, fail to agree on a funding levels or fixes, and then approve it only on a temporary basis, ensuring it must return to Congress yet again for reauthorization. A bipartisan bill introduced this month would finally put a stop to the LWCFs slow cycle down the drain by fully funding it and permanently reauthorizing it at last. Future Congresses could still propose changes on an as-needed basis, but no longer would they be forced to wrangle over the funds fate simply because a previous Congress had left the job unfinished. The bill was introduced in the House by Pennsylvania Republican Patrick Meehan and Arizona Democrat Raul Grijalva, and while it seems like a no-brainer, its helpful to remember that a similar proposal was offered as recently as two years ago, and Congress didnt move it. Instead, it once again passed the LWCF on a severely limited, temporary basis and only by attaching it to a larger spending bill at the last possible minute. Before taking this emergency action, Congress briefly allowed the fund to lapse, which resulted in a torrent of letters from worried voters. And in the end, the reauthorization was only for $450 million and three years. Disappointingly, Montanas delegation did not stay above the fray of unnecessary maneuvering. Although the funding level was set at $900 million way back when the fund was established in 1964, the Senate Appropriations Committee lowered it to just $292 million. Republican Sen. Steve Daines then co-sponsored an amendment to restore it to the previous years level of $306 million. He also forwarded an amendment to give the fund priority status without requiring reauthorization. Democratic Sen. Jon Tester voted against the latter measure and co-sponsored legislation to permanently reauthorize the LWCF, which Daines voted against. Daines vote, in fact, was the deciding one in killing Testers legislation. Montanas senators both claim to support the LWCF. This year, they should resolve to get together and agree to a plan of action in the Senate. In the House, where a bipartisan solution already awaits action, it is particularly important that whoever wins election to replace Congressman Ryan Zinke, who appears headed for confirmation as President Trumps pick for secretary of the Interior, shares Zinkes unequivocal support for the LWCF. And that this person demonstrate that support by actually voting to fully fund and permanently authorize it. UP Scholars saved. Thanks to Reach Higher Montana, 301 students will get the STEM scholarships promised, despite a funding shortfall in the program created by the Montana Legislature. The state lottery didnt bring in as much revenue as projected last year, so the scholarship program was $232,000 short for spring semester awards. UP Wyoming grads. Nearly 80 percent of Wyoming highs school students graduated on time last year, the highest level since 2010, according to the Wyoming Department of Education. UP After-hours telepsychiatry. A new telehealth program designed to lessen wait times for psychiatric evaluations, admission, and treatment decisions is now available every night at Billings Clinic. Nurses and emergency department physicians can now connect patients with a remote telepsychiatry provider in as little as an hour. UP Rabbis visit. A group of Orthodox rabbis from Montana and as far away as Montreal visited Helena and Whitefish to thank Montanans for defending their Jewish neighbors against anti-semetic threats and intimidation. DOWN County exemption. The Senate Judiciary Committee passed SB2, that would create an exemption in Montana open meeting law for county commissioners. Experience has shown that every loophole in open government law is exploited to keep the public out. Thanks to Sen. Margie MacDonald of Billings who was one of three senators voting against SB2 in committee. Unfortunately, Sen. Roger Webb of Billings joined the majority of six. We call on the full Senate to reject this narrowing of state open meeting law. DOWN Insurance penalty. Despite support from Republican State Auditor Matt Rosendale, a proposal to protect insurance customers from having zero-dollar claims counted against them failed in Senate Business, Labor and Economics Committee. Sen. Mary McNally of Billings sponsored SB58 because thousands of Billings homeowners had policies cancelled after a major hailstorm, including some whose insurance carrier paid nothing on the claim used to justify cancellation. The bill failed on a 4-6 vote and then was tabled. HELENA The U.S. Attorneys Office of Montana has hired a prosecutor to focus solely on civil rights cases, both civil and criminal. The new person tasked with that job is Brendan McCarthy, whose grandfather, George McCarthy, was the son of Irish immigrants, grew up in Depression-era Butte and studied engineering at the Montana School of Mines . The hire, one of several similar appointments around the country, was part of a last-ditch effort by outgoing Attorney General Loretta Lynch to protect the Justice Department's ability to prosecute civil rights cases in the Trump Administration. Decentralizing the civil-rights effort is seen by some as a way to keep boots on the ground even if the Washington office of the Civil Rights Division is greatly reduced. Weve always done them, but weve not had a dedicated position, so weve had to partner with (the) main Justice and the Civil Rights Division in Washington D.C., said U.S. Attorney Mike Cotter. With this particular position, well have a greater capacity to handle these cases. The Montana announcement is in stark contrast to initial media reports that President Donald Trump may be planning to scale back the Civil Rights Division. Critics have cast Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions as a potential barrier to civil rights prosecutions, which he has denied. American civil rights laws are far-reaching and broad, covering hate crimes; discrimination including for jobs, housing, or loans; and violations of rights such as voting or for members of the military. In some cases, federal law includes more protected groups than the state. For instance, Montana law does not cover discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana, Montana Human Rights Network, tribal leaders, and others applauded the sharpened focus the new position will bring to civil rights issues in Montana. Montana might not be the most diverse state, but we have all of the same issues others face in threats to civil rights. Its good for people to know they have another place they can go to with complaints, ACLU of Montana Executive Director Caitlin Borgmann said. Some Republicans have for years questioned the mission and political leanings of the Civil Rights Division, which contributed to the departure of almost half of the staff from that division during George Bushs presidency. The federal offices profile grew under President Barack Obama and the departments first two black leaders, Eric Holder and Lynch. In recent years, Lynch and Principal Deputy Attorney General Vanita Gupta aggressively investigated and prosecuted cases of racial discrimination, excessive force, and racial profiling by police; housing discrimination; banks overcharging interest on loans held by military members during deployment; and the mishandling of sexual assaults on some college campuses as well as other civil rights matters. In 2012, the Civil Rights Division launched a first-of-its-kind investigation into three justice agencies in a single community Missoulas police department, the University of Montana police, and the Missoula County Attorneys Office following allegations theyd mishandled sexual assaults. Montana Human Rights Director Rachel Carroll Rivas said she remains hopeful for continued civil rights work under President Trump. It is very difficult to change institutions. Its a slow process, she said. But this position in Montana allows us to do important work here. Cotter declined to speculate how the new administration might affect the work of federal prosecutors. He did say the new civil rights position in his office was among the final moves made by top brass at the department. This was a decision made by the Attorney General Loretta Lynch in consultation with Vanita Gupta to enhance the ability of the U.S. attorney offices to do civil rights cases, he said, noting some other regions have had civil rights teams for years. In Montana, the new person tasked with that job is Brendan McCarthy. He has worked as an assistant U.S. attorney out of the Billings office for the last four years. McCarthy notes he is the fourth generation of his family to live in Montana, although I wasnt born here. One important figure in my life certainly was my grandfather, McCarthy said. The son of Irish immigrants, George McCarthy grew up in Depression-era Butte and studied engineering at the Montana School of Mines but became a confidant to leading Montana politicians and ultimately worked for three U.S. presidents. He served as assistant director of the Poverty Program, and his skills as a legislative strategist are credited by historians as critical to the passage of President Lyndon Johnsons landmark anti-poverty program. He worked in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations around the time the Civil Rights Act was passed, McCarthy said. I grew up learning about that time period. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame Law School, McCarthy worked in criminal prosecution and at Wilson Elser, a Top 50 private law firm, before joining the U.S. Attorney Office of Montana. He said civil rights cases will be a new challenge for him. To be able to represent Montanans in any position, especially a position where youre looking to make sure all Montanans are treated fairly, I just thought this would be a unique opportunity in my career to give back to the state that has done so much for me and my family, he said. McCarthy said he will kick-start the office by meeting with leaders from the states existing network of government organizations, law enforcement agencies, tribes, and nonprofits working on civil rights issues. Cotter noted there has been an uptick in hate crimes and hate rhetoric over the last couple of years that his staff, including McCarthy, have been monitoring with the assistance of federal agents and local law enforcement. FBI statistics show 30 Montana hate crimes in 2014 and 45 in 2015. The majority of those cases involved racial hate, but the largest growth was in crimes targeting someone because of their religion. Other crimes were committed against people because of their sexual orientation, disability, or gender identity. And just recently, Cotter said, events have occurred in Billings. A swastika was put on one of the rims across from the MSU-B campus." He also cited the recent circulation of anti-Semitic literature in Missoula, where hate speech was also reported in the schools, and "what is occurring up in Whitefish." Rivas said one advantage of Montanas federal prosecutor is that cases and investigations can more easily cross state lines. She noted that some of the recent hate messages sent to Jewish families in Whitefish likely originated out of state and were spurred by a post to a national white supremacist website. Cotter said: If there is a meritorious case presented to the office, it will be prosecuted. McCarthy said he will join Cotter and members of the offices Indian Country outreach team to meet with tribal leaders and learn more about the specific forms of discrimination Native Americans face in the state. In August, a hearing by the U.S. Civil Rights Commission in Billings focused on border town discrimination against Native Americans. For several hours, area tribal members shared stories about enduring hate speech at work, being denied housing or steered to certain neighborhoods by realtors, being victims of violent crimes at higher rates, being incarcerated at disproportionately higher rates, and trailed by clerks while shopping, among other stories. Those stories are all too familiar to John Robinson, a trial judge for the Northern Cheyenne Court, who has, at times, lived in Billings. It happens all the time, he said. Somebody mentioned it really quite succinctly that every town in Montana is a border town. Its reality. Robinson suggested McCarthy reach out to tribal leaders and organizations to identify recurring issues so they can be acted on in a systemic way rather than single, isolated cases. People are really tired of coming up and reiterating the same issues then seeing nothing done, he said, warning that the announcement of the new office could spark a flood of complaints that, if not addressed promptly, could only deepen the sense of distrust. Robinson said not all of the work would have to reach a courtroom to be effective. As an example, he said McCarthy could help organize fair housing training for landlords who might not realize how their policies are a racist instrument. Or, he said, McCarthy could build trust with law enforcement as a gateway to conversations about racial profiling or discrimination in policing. McCarthy said he sees his job being as much about legal solutions as it will be about seeking indictments. He hopes to establish a civil rights hotline for Montanans to call with complaints or questions. For now, he said the public should contact one of the existing nonprofit partners or the nearest U.S. Attorneys Office. Using personal email and texting for government business is a bad idea, but Montana politicians went into a long rhetoric account in the Standard 01-08-2017 trying to justify the use of a private email accounts for government business. I was not convinced. Avoidance of federal and state records laws, accountability, transparency, weakening of the public trust, requirement to produce records and documents needed for Freedom of Information Act requests and complying with state archives laws were not mentioned. Who is paying the private email server for the email and texting appears to be the Montana taxpayer. This is clever but not very ethical. Other concerns not addressed include risk in the release of personal information about residents and opening Montana up to lawsuits, litigation discovery, audits, and public requests for documents not available. When government and legislators cannot produce the records there is always the suspicion the government is hiding something trust us? No I dont think so. Perhaps the private email account called government is used for elections and re-elections and being paid for by opponent taxpayer voters in Montana? Now that is interesting. Do family members see the account they call government business and send it to friends? Where is the protection and security? Hillarys name came up in the article. Is the governor saying if Hillary did it and got away with it, so we can do it here in Montana too -- but maybe she isnt off the hook yet? Time will tell. The only one that came up with any logic that is clear was Corey Stapleton: Open government advocates and historians argue electronic communications are public records and their preservation is increasingly important same as the Federal Records Act. Deleting and erasing official email called government is just plain illegal, but been going on in Montana for years. Didnt we just find that out at the federal level? Should it continue in Montana even though its illegal? No, it should not! Period! Paper documents that are public record cannot be destroyed as well. Were they and who did it? There should be consequences for these illegal actions. We are a nation of laws and Montana is no exception. -- Jack D. Jones, Butte, worked as a wildlife biologist in Montana for 36 years with the Bureau of Land Management. The promise to make America great again starts with improving education. Betsy DeVos, the nominee to be the next Education Secretary, has spent nearly 30 years fighting against special interests. Sen. Jon Tester must vote to confirm her so she can bring that experience to Washington to fight for all of the children in our country. As head of the American Federation for Children, DeVos embodies the organizations motto that an investment in their work is an investment in our childrens future. She has championed parental choice, charter schools and vouchers. In fact, she and her husband founded a charter school in Michigan that consistently performs among the top schools in that state. DeVos is absolutely qualified to be Education Secretary, and you need look no further to the hysterical fits special interest groups are pitching to know that she will be a force for reform in education. I strongly encourage Sen. Tester to vote in favor of her confirmation. -- Lori Hamm, East Helena MISSOULA In sometimes sharp and powerful words spoken before they left for the nations capital, a few of the women from western Montana who joined with thousands of others in Saturdays Womens March on Washington rally in Washington D.C. tell why they felt compelled to go: "Im marching to process my own trauma, confront my own trauma, my fears. When America elected a sexual predator to the highest office, it gave tacit permission to do what they pleased with womens bodies. Its important to me to march against this idea, in the company of thousands, to tell the world that my body is my own. I march for our safety and our health." Jenny Lynn Fawcett, who organized a "pop-up" shop to raise money to send four low-income women to the march "It is no coincidence that on the 61st anniversary of Rosa Parkss refusal to sit at the back of the bus, I decided to march on Washington. It is with her spirit that I decided I must stand up and make my voice heard to a president who I do not believe represents me or my values. I will not sit idly by while he and his white supremacist friends destroy this wonderful country I love. I am showing up, not shutting up, rolling up my sleeves, and continuing to fight for my rights, the rights of my 3-year-old daughter, and the rights of all my fellow humans." Charity O'Connor "Im so upset. We have to do something. We need to hold on to each other in this terrifying time. My heart is racing because Im so scared." Rebecca Bauder, who is attending the march with three daughters and two granddaughters "Why am I going? In hope of finding the answer to the questions I can't even put into words yet. In utter dismay and fear for the well-being of this planet, I'm going to march in solidarity with a diverse cross section of people, knowing that the whole world is watching. This is not an 'us vs. them.' This is a U.S. vs. him!" Lee Bridges, who is driving and camping in her van to get to Washington D.C. "Its important we stand up for equal rights racial, gender identity, and religious that we not allow any backsliding. This man has brought out all sorts of stuff we thought we had overcome. He has brought it back into the mainstream. We need to show the people that voted for him or didnt vote at all what the real mainstream is." Bridget Johnson "Gun violence disproportionately affects women in America, so I will continue to create a safer future for my family. I will not sit on the sidelines but will fight for their safety. I want to raise engaged children, children who have the desire and ability to stand up for others. Its important they understand no matter how small their voice is, it has a right to be heard. We will join hundreds of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America volunteers, gun violence survivors, and family members to march in D.C. for the rights of women and all Americans who have the right to live free of gun violence." Pamela Owen, who is marching with her children, Mattias, 9, and Zuzana Remes, 12 "Personally, I am marching as a way to reposition and reframe my grief related to the election results. Politically, Im going to stand on the shoulders of Sojourner Truth, Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony, Judy Smith, Sally Mullen, and countless others who worked for my rights as a woman. The march is a healthy place for me to energize the social justice values my parents gave me." Nancy McCourt, who is marching with her adult daughter, Yetta Stein "Im marching because it feels important and a priority. Social justice, human rights, economic equality I practically took a lot of those things for granted. Its a priority because we didnt win, and now Im in the minority in my beliefs. Marching has historically proved effective, and I feel this administration is ignoring and disregarding history in a dangerous way. I want to use my voice as a historian to continue to create the best world possible." Yetta Stein "My responsibility as a citizen is to speak truth to power, and marching, for me, is a visual representation, in the streets, to the President showing we will speak truth to power and hold him accountable. Its the first step." Maria McGill Zupan MISSOULA Her new desk might be in Helena, but Martha Williams sees her new job as director of Montanas Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks more as a road trip. The strength of this agency is it covers the whole state, Williams said as she prepared to leave her office at the University of Montanas law school in Missoula. Its employees are committed and on the ground as parts of their communities. Ive got a lot of listening to do, with employees, the public, landowners, partners, anglers and hunters. Many Montanans visualize Montanas geography by its FWP regions. Talk about the 400s and youre referring to the Rocky Mountain Front and Missouri Breaks country. The 700s mean the grasslands around the eastern half of the Yellowstone River. They gauge distance not from town to town but fishing access site to fishing access site. Visiting all seven regional headquarters can easily put 3,000 miles on the odometer. And they see a world where the natural environment plays a huge role in everyday decisions. Whether a creek bank is public or private property, how to manage grizzly bears in a farm field, and the biological science underpinning aquatic invasive species, or brucellosis transfer between elk and cattle all count as matters of Montana coffee shop conversation. Williams breaks a few preconceptions in accepting Gov. Steve Bullocks appointment to head the agency. FWP directors have typically come from the natural resources or wildlife management branches of its staff, or from outside advocacy positions. She was the departments legal council from 1998 to 2011. She takes over an agency with 686 full-time equivalent employees deployed across seven regional headquarters. Volunteers add in 100,000 hours a year providing essentially another 50 FTE. They in turn manage 55 state parks, numerous wildlife management areas, historic sites and cultural landmarks; fish hatcheries, scientific laboratories, and the Montana Wild interpretative center and museum in Helena. They produce dozens of broadcast video segments, print articles and publications on outdoor activity and regulations. The www.fwp.mt.gov website gets 4 million visitors and 20 million page views, making it the most-used in state government. We have a fun mission, although it gets controversial at times, FWP spokesman Ron Aasheim said. She gets that for sure. What we do is a big part of the Montana lifestyle. Fish, Wildlife and Parks matters always make lively topics when the Legislature convenes. This session has already teed up at least 120 bills affecting FWP, ranging from regulations on exploding targets to studies of chronic wasting disease in deer populations to new boat fees for using fishing access sites. Martha has skills both as an advocate and someone whos versed in the law and policy that surround resource management, said Tom France of the National Wildlife Federation in Missoula. Her training and experience as a lawyer for the department and for the Department of Interior have served her well. She will be one of the few female fish and wildlife directors in the country, and Montana can be proud of that. She will also face complex issues that extend beyond the walls of her department. For example, France said managing sage grouse used to mean counting the bird populations and setting appropriate harvest limits and dates. Now that the bird teeters on the verge of a federal Endangered Species Act listing, an effort to preserve it without federal intervention has grown into a huge endeavor. Now it involves multi-agency coordination, intersections with oil and gas policy and federal land management policy, and conservation easements, France said. That one issue alone illustrates the complexity that confronts our modern fish and wildlife agency. The legal experience put Williams at the center of some of FWPs most momentous changes. She was deep in the legal challenges of wolf reintroduction when a federal Justice Department attorney asked if shed like to take her skills to the national level. She spent the next two years as a solicitor for the Department of Interior, guiding policy for the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management. For the past four school years, shes been an assistant professor at UMs Alexander Blewett III School of Law. Im coming from within the agency, Williams said. Ive worked with all the divisions, from law enforcement to parks management to wildlife and conservation and public education. I dont feel beholden to one division over another I believe in the agency as a whole. Im not a biologist, but Ive spent my career translating science to decision makers and courts. My favorite part of teaching is to get students to understand the interface of science and law and policy. Williams hunts, although she acknowledged her freezer full of elk meat this year comes courtesy of a more successful hunting friend. She likes to fish, choosing between artificial flies and bait depending on what catches the most fish at the moment. She also sees a strong role for the P in Fish, Wildlife and Parks. While many states have separate wildlife and state parks management, Williams said combining them in Montana provides a stronger connection for people to connect to the outdoors. Hunters and anglers overlap with hikers and bird-watchers, and they all expect their resources to be well cared-for, she said. Montanans care a lot about public lands, and theyre aware of the forces that may be trying to change them, Williams said. So many recognize how special this place is and theyre committed to preserving its heritage. Were incredibly lucky here, but that doesnt mean we can be complacent. The spirit was jubilant, as thousands of marchers gathered in the streets near the Capitol Saturday as part of the Womens March on Montana: Human Rights for All in Helena. 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 [] FORT YATES, N.D. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council is supporting the district of Cannon Ball's wish that all Dakota Access pipeline protesters leave the area. The resolution was passed by the full council Friday. It applies to all three protest camps in North Dakota. Cody Two Bears is the Cannon Ball district representative to the tribal council. He says the district is requesting help from federal law enforcement to remove protesters from the district and prevent those who do not live or work in the district from entering. Tribal officials say the resolution stems from frustrations over the closure of Backwater Bridge on state Highway 1806, which is the primary route to work and hospital services. The reservation straddles the North Dakota and South Dakota border. LANGLEY, Va. President Donald Trump moved to mend his tumultuous relationship with Americas spy agencies Saturday, traveling to CIA headquarters on his first full day in office and assuring officials, I am so behind you. But the president quickly shifted from praise for the CIA to criticism of media coverage of Inauguration Day, in an unscripted address that overstated the size of the crowd that gathered on the National Mall as he took the oath of office. Trump said throngs went all the way back to the Washington monument, despite photos and live video showing the crowd stopping well short of the landmark. The presidents media criticism came as he stood in front of a memorial honoring CIA officers killed while serving the United States. Trumps decision to visit CIA headquarters just outside of Washington was aimed at making a public gesture to the intelligence officials he disparaged during the transition. He had repeatedly challenged the agencies assessment that Russia meddled in the presidential race to help him win and suggested intelligence officials were behind the leak of an unverified dossier that claimed Russia had collected compromising financial or personal information about him. During remarks to about 400 CIA officials, Trump denied that he had a feud with the intelligence community, saying it was exactly the opposite. He again blamed the media for creating that impression, despite the fact that he made numerous public statements critical of intelligence officials. There is nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community and CIA than Donald Trump, he said. Theres nobody. The 45th presidents inauguration has been shadowed by news reports that the CIA and other federal agencies are investigating Russian interference in the presidential election on behalf of Trump. The New York Times, citing anonymous officials, said agencies were examining intercepted communications and financial transactions between Russian officials and Trumps associates. FBI Director James Comey has declined to confirm or describe the nature of the governments investigation, both during a congressional hearing and in closed-door meetings with members of Congress. WASHINGTON President Donald Trump opened his first full day as president Saturday at a national prayer service, the final piece of transition business for the nations new chief executive before a promised full-on shift into governing. Trump and his wife, Melania, and Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, sat in a front pew at Washington National Cathedral for the morning service after a day of pomp, pageantry and protests that accompanied his Friday inauguration. The interfaith service is a tradition for new presidents and is hosted by the Episcopal parish, but the decision to hold a prayer session for Trump sparked debate among Episcopalians opposed to his policies. The service took place as throngs of women, many of them wearing bright pink, pointy-eared hats, descended on the nations capital and other cities around the world Saturday for marches organized to push back against the new president. Trump had no speaking role at the service. Bishop Harry Jackson of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Maryland, asked God to grant the president, vice president and Cabinet members wisdom and grace in the exercise of their duties. Jackson also asked that Trump and Pence serve all people of this nation and promote the dignity and freedom of every person. After church, Trump planned to visit the CIA for a meeting with members of the nations intelligence community that could be fraught with tension. Trump has sharply criticized top U.S. intelligence officials over their conclusions that Russia interfered in the 2016 election on his behalf, as well as over leaks about classified briefings he received in the weeks before his he was sworn into office on Friday. Trump has signaled an intention to make a quick and clean break from the Obama administration. Before dancing with the new first lady at three inaugural balls Friday night, Trump signed an executive order aimed at former President Barack Obamas health care law. The order notes that Trump plans to seek the laws prompt repeal. It allows the Health and Human Services Department and other federal agencies to delay implementing parts of the law that might impose a fiscal burden on states, health care providers, families or individuals. Trump also cleared the way for members of his national security team to take their places. He signed legislation granting James Mattis, his pick for defense secretary, a one-time exception from federal law barring former U.S. service members who have been out of uniform for less than seven years from holding the top Pentagon job. The restriction is meant to preserve civilian control of the military. Mattis, 66, retired from the Marine Corps in 2013. Hours later, the Senate confirmed Mattis, and retired Gen. John Kelly to lead the Homeland Security Department. Both were sworn into office late Friday by Vice President Mike Pence. Separately, White House chief of staff Reince Priebus issued a memo aimed at freezing some new regulations and halting ones the Obama administration had started. Trump, his wife, children and grandchildren spent Friday night at the White House. His daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, were seen snapping photos Saturday on the Truman balcony with a young girl who appeared to be their daughter. The Justice Department released a memo concluding the presidents special hiring authority allows the New York real estate mogul to appoint Kushner to the administration and the move does not contravene federal anti-nepotism laws. Trump, a Presbyterian, is not a regular churchgoer. He does not attend weekly services in New York, but worships every Christmas at a church near his estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump courted evangelical voters during the presidential campaign and infused his inaugural address with references to God and quoted from the Bibles book of Psalms during a call for national unity. Trump shook hands with guests who attended the invitation-only church service as he departed. The service included readings and prayers from Protestant, Jewish, Sikh, Mormon, Buddhist, Roman Catholic, Bahai, Episcopal, Hindu and Native American leaders. But the program was remarkable for the large number of evangelicals participating, including two former presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention, the countrys largest evangelical denomination. Several speakers had served as Trump advisers and supporters who spoke at the Republican National Convention. The dustup over the service marked another example of the backlash against Trump by religious leaders, artists, celebrities and others. But Bishop Mariann Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington wrote in a blog post that while she shared a sense of outrage at some of the president-elects words and actions she felt an obligation to welcome all people without qualification, especially those who disagree and need to find a way to work together. Talks are underway that might result in piping city of Napa water to Carneros Resort and Spa formerly The Carneros Inn instead of trucking city water there to keep the resort in business. Carneros Resort and Spa was envisioned by the county as using solely well water, but it has trucked in additional water from the city for several years. Potential permanent solutions include piping in city water through the Congress Valley Water District. No one wants to shut The Carneros Inn down, county Supervisor Brad Wagenknecht said recently. But he and others involved in the discussion on the Napa County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) have yet to endorse an ultimate water solution. One consideration is city water might spur unexpected growth in rural areas. Whatever we do, we dont want to do that, Wagenknecht said. On Dec. 5, LAFCO considered at staffs request whether Congress Valley Water District should be expanded to serve Carneros Resort and Spa near Old Sonoma Road, as well as three parcels near Buhman Avenue. It is to resume the discussion on Feb. 6. Right now, I dont think anybody knows what the ultimate solution is going to be, but all parties are aware a solution is needed, LAFCO Executive Officer Brendon Freeman said. Carneros Resort and Spa is located on 27 acres at 4048 Sonoma Highway. The resort includes such features as 86 units ranging from cottages to suites, 24 homes and the Boon Fly Cafe. Barry Murphy lives in one of the homes in Carneros Resort and Spa. He told LAFCO on Dec. 5 that groundwater quality is so bad because of boron that dropped ice cubes leave white stains on wooden floors. Most residents drink bottled water. Meanwhile, trucks carrying purchased water from the city of Napa pull into Carneros Resort and Spa all week long. Thats environmentally unsustainable, Murphy said. It seems to me that kind of way of supplying 24 homes that are so close to a water district it just seems a bit crazy, Murphy said. Owners of Carneros Resort and Spa could not be reached for a comment last week. LAFCO members had little to say on the topic on Dec 5. They wanted to make certain first that the Congress Valley Water District will continue to exist. The Congress Valley Water District was formed in 1949. It serves the Congress Valley area that people pass through when they exit southwest Napa over a steep hill on Old Sonoma Road and head west past vineyards, rural homes and farmland. The district serves about 240 residents and covers 2.5 square miles, a LAFCO report said. It is governed by a five-member board of directors. In 1987, Napa struck a 30-year deal with the district the city would continue supplying water for a new distribution system and the district would voluntarily dissolve and give the city its assets in July 2017. But that doesnt necessarily mean the Congress Valley Water District is about to come to an end. Napa Deputy Public Works Director Phil Brun said recently that the district and city are negotiating a short-term extension of their agreement, perhaps for five years. A proposal should go to the Napa City Council in late April or early May. Congress Valley Water District Board President Tim Josten said Friday he cant yet comment on the negotiations or the Carneros Resort and Spa issue. Even if the Congress Valley Water District dissolved and turned its service responsibilities over to the city, Carneros Resort and Spa could potentially still receive city water through pipes. The city itself might seek to provide water to the resort. But City Councilman Scott Sedgley told LAFCO on Dec. 5 that the idea of direct city water service to Carneros Resort and Spa as opposed to using Congress Valley Water District carries with it implications that need to be explored. It would be viewed as growth-inducive, Sedgley said. In addition, it could raise questions such as why the city isnt serving other rural areas with groundwater problems, Sedgley said. He mentioned the Coombsville area east of Napa. Meanwhile, Carneros Resort and Spa has an application before Napa County to make several changes. It wants to do such things as relocate the Boon Fly Cafe, downsize and relocate The Market specialty store, install drought-resistant landscaping and relocate the entry sign. The application also mentions taking steps to stop trucking in water. They included installing a water storage tank, drilling a new well, conserving more water and trying to connect to a city or water district water system. LAFCO is to discuss the Congress Valley Water District issues when it meets at 2 p.m. Feb. 6 at the Yountville Town Hall Council Chambers, 6550 Yount St. The rain hadnt even begun yet, but First Street in front of the Oxbow Public Market was flooded on Saturday morning. An estimated 3,000 people hit the streets of downtown Napa beginning at the Oxbow Public Market to participate in Womens March Napa Valley. The march was one of 673 marches held around the world in solidarity with the Womens March Washington a movement seeking to send a message to the new White House administration that womens rights are human rights. In Napa, handwritten signs highlighted a range of issues including the environment, healthcare, womens rights, immigrant rights, religious freedom, and education as well as the occasional blast of President Donald Trump. People of all ages were singing and dancing first on the sidewalks and then on the streets until they arrived at Veterans Memorial Park at about 11 a.m. for the start of some planned festivities. Some wore pink Pussyhats while others waved both the American Flag and the rainbow Pride Flag. The park was packed and Rep. Mike Thompson, who had recently returned from Fridays presidential inauguration in Washington D.C., began his speech as hundreds of more marchers lined the bridges on First and Third streets. After sitting on that dais yesterday, Im convinced that its even more important that we stand up we stand up tall, Thompson said, and we make sure that this new president and this new administration understands that were standing up and that were gonna continue to stand up for the things that are right. This is going to be a tough couple of years, but I want you to remember that the road to progress has never been a straight one, he said. He was followed by a performance of America the Beautiful sung by Angela Kennedy who replaced the term brotherhood with motherhood, drawing cheers from the appreciative crowd. In addition to speakers Stephanie Der, Rev. Bonnie Dlott, and Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, local men, women and children approached the microphone to share why they attended the march and what their vision for the future is. My hope for the future is that we in this community can build a safe place for all people to be, said Steve Carlson, a Vietnam veteran. What I want is for all of our children to feel valued, respected, honored, encouraged, supported and, most of all, loved, said educator Gabriela Rubio. Please dont go back, pleaded one fifth grade girl. Lets keep moving forward. Afterward, organizer Irit Weir said the event was a success despite the fact that hundreds of people started to leave as the weather got worse. Weir said she would have been happy with 500 attendees just to keep the energy up, but never in her wildest dreams did she expect a crowd of thousands. She didnt even look back to see the masses that were lined up on the bridges that morning, she said. I was afraid that I would break down into tears. Weir said the march might have been one of the largest rallies held in Napa. It was spectacular, said attendee James Bronk. It was amazing from the number of people who came out and showed solidarity for this cause of womens rights and human rights. Bronk said that he has lived in Napa for nearly 30 years and has never seen a crowd of that size gather here before. The marchers basically took over all of First Street even though they were asked not to because there were so many and they couldnt fit on the sidewalk, he said. The march remained peaceful, he said, even when a pickup truck displaying Trump flags drove by. What I really liked about this was it was a very positive message and its a very inclusive message, said Bronks wife Suzanne Becker Bronk, who also helped organize the event. I think thats the place we need to start. Were not there to have our message be angry, she said. We may personally be angry, but our message should not be angry. Becker Bronk said Womens March Napa Valley was just the first step in starting a positive dialogue about the future. Its about coming forward in positivity and overcoming this negativity, said Tina Carpenter of Napa. I came out here to support all rights. The march, she said, gave her hope. Ear muffs might seem like an odd thing to offer a guest at a restaurant, but for people with sensory sensitivity, those ear coverings might be the perfect recipe for a successful meal out. Sensory sensitivity a sign of autism can affect every aspect of a persons life, including the ability to eat at a restaurant. For families with a child with autism or sensory sensitivity, the smells and noises in a restaurant can overwhelm sensory receptors, leading to stress and anxiety for all involved. A new initiative hosted by Marys Pizza Shack now offers families an inclusive, welcoming place where they can enjoy a meal knowing they have access to tools to help soften sensory stimuli. Santa Rosa-based nonprofit Anova and the regional pizza restaurant chain recently launched a pilot program offering Sensory Friendly Kits. We are thrilled to be able to partner with Anova on this initiative, said Stefanie Bagala, director of marketing at Marys Pizza Shack, which has a restaurant at 3085 Jefferson St. in Napa among its 20 locations. Its important to us that our guests with autism and sensory sensitivities know they have a place where they can feel comfortable, she said. As a nonprofit service provider of education and therapy to hundreds of children with autism, We witness so many families choosing not to dine out or enjoy many activities because of the overwhelming challenges involved, said Andrew Bailey, co-founder of Anova. We want to turn that around by equipping restaurants such as Marys Pizza Shack with tools that will help create a stress-free dining environment for those families in need. The Sensory Friendly Kits, available upon request to use for free while dining, include noise reduction ear muffs, a three-pound weighted lap pad and several toys to help promote a more calming environment. Items are cleanable and stored in a box. Many people who struggle with sensory issues have an unregulated sensory system, the company explained. The body doesnt know how to process the information its taking in, such as too much noise, smells, light, and the feel of certain things. Items like the ones included in the Sensory Friendly Kit keep the part of their brain that is being bombarded with sensory stimuli busy and calm, and help to regulate their sensory system, reduce anxiety, and have better focus and concentration, the company said. Noise reduction ear muffs have a 26 decibel noise reduction rating. They can help with concentration by blocking out loud background noise, while still allowing wearers to hear someone speaking to them. Weighted lap pads helps to release tension while promoting calmness when feeling overwhelmed or experiencing restlessness. Squeeze toys and a liquid motion timer can relieve stress and help with focus, anger and anxiety management. A printed zone scale chart helps a child who is non-verbal or has difficulty communicating feelings. Green is happy and calm, and yellow, orange, and red are escalating states of feeling overwhelmed. It costs Anova about $30 to assemble each box, said Jackie Hadley, a spokeswoman for Anova, Inc. Two kits are provided at no cost to each restaurant. According to 2014 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, autism currently affects 1 in 68 children and 1 in 42 boys. Anova has also provided sensory training to the Marys staff at all locations. Founded in 2000, Anova is a provider of education and behavioral therapy services for children and teens diagnosed with autism, learning differences, and other neuro-developmental impairments. Anovas three nonprofit K-12 schools located in Santa Rosa, San Rafael, and Concord provide specialized services. The nonprofit also provides paraprofessional support in public schools, and in-home services within 15 counties across California, the company said. No one is certain what causes the enigmatic "fairy circles" of the Namib Desert. The rings of burnt orange dirt, each impeccably round and enclosed in a fringe of tall, tufted grass, emerge suddenly from the spare landscape. Over the course of decades they expand - some become big enough to fit a school bus - then fade, as if they are creatures that live and die. So uniform is their distribution across hundreds of miles of desert that they seem to have been drawn by an alien hand. The Himba tribespeople of northern Namibia, who have lived among the circles for centuries, say they are actually footprints laid down by gods who walked across the stark landscape at the beginning of time. Others - usually fanciful tour guides trying to pull one over on their customers - call them "dead spots" formed by the poisonous breath of a dragon that dwells beneath the earth. Not even scientists can agree on an explanation. Some studies suggest that tiny insects shape the circles by munching at the grass above their nests. Other research indicates that they're a product of feedback systems among the clumps of grass - an example of plant self-organization. "This is a classic thing in ecology where debates will emerge and go on for decades," said Rob Pringle, an ecologist at Princeton University. "And the resolution after all that time is usually, 'Well, it's a little bit of both.' " That's the conclusion of a new paper Pringle and his colleagues published Wednesday in the journal Nature. Using computer models, the scientists demonstrated that the circles can emerge from complex interactions within and between termite colonies and the grass that grows around them. Their research explained not only the vast arrangement of the circles themselves - which mimics the hexagonal pattern of spots on a Chinese checkers board - but revealed the less noticeable centimeter-scale pattern of the grassy spaces between the circles. The result doesn't definitively resolve the question of the fairy circles' origins - only experiments in the field can do that. But it does illustrate how order can emerge from chaos, and it offers hints at the strange geometry of the universe. It is a lesson in ecology, math and physics, written in sand by bugs and blades of grass. Pringle didn't set out to solve the mystery of fairy circles. He works mostly in Kenya, studying the spatial patterning of termite mounds in the savanna. But he was intrigued by a 2013 survey of fairy circles in the journal Science reporting that sand termites live in almost all of them. That study's author, Norbert Juergens, suggested that the insects - which drink by pressing their mouths against moist grains of sand - might keep the round patches free of vegetation to ensure that rainwater sinks into the earth around their nests. Not all researchers were convinced by Juergen's theory; many were skeptical that insects could be responsible for a pattern that propagates across hundreds of miles. Meanwhile, it emerged that the fairy circles in Namibia weren't the only ones in the world - almost the exact same phenomenon was reported in the Australian Outback in 2016. The study of the Australian circles found no evidence of termites. But the phenomenon did match computer models for self-organization - a process by which random, small-scale interactions between individual entities produce an overarching order without any kind of central coordination. The theory, which has its roots with pioneering computer scientist Alan Turing, has been used to explain everything from the pattern of zebra stripes to the formation of crystals. Proponents of the plant-organization hypothesis argue that vegetation can affect how scant rainfall sinks into the soil and then stays there. The growth of one clump of grass can encourage others, because the plant helps hold water and provides a small amount of protection from the blistering sun. Over time, the circles may emerge as the optimal way to distribute vegetation across a resource-poor landscape. "That kind of gives this periodic pattern" said Corina Tarnita, a fellow Princeton ecologist and the lead author of the Nature paper. "This kind of theory can produce a suite of patterns depending on the availability of rainfall." Pringle and Tarnita, who has a mathematics background, thought there might be a way to reconcile the two theories. So they came up with a dynamic computer model that simulated both, taking into account factors such as rainfall and root growth. The system produced by their model looked just like the real fairy circles of the Australian and Namibian deserts. What's more, the model revealed aspects of the circles that initially had been overlooked. It predicted that the grassy areas between the bare circles would also be organized into round clumps, distributed according to the same hexagonal pattern that characterizes the larger fairy circle arrangement. Tarnita and Pringle were thrilled to see the photographs sent back by a colleague, Jen Guyton, who had traveled to Namibia to examine the circles up close. The images showed a flipped version of the overall pattern: circles of grass surrounded by dry, dusty earth. "It's an amazing thing that you can get such clean, beautiful geometric patterns," Tarnita said. "Such tiny creatures doing their thing very locally every day end up producing these unbelievable large-scale patterns. ... To me, it's mind-boggling that nature can do that." But the new model revealed other surprises, too. Recently, Tarnita and Pringle sat down with Princeton chemistry professor Salvatore Torquato, who specializes in identifying the physics behind strange patterns in nature. "The thing that immediately caught my eye about what they had was it seemed to fall into an exotic type of patterning I call hyperuniformity," he said. This phenomenon, which Torquato identified more than a decade ago, describes a type of arrangement that lies halfway between the extreme order of a crystal structure, where every atom is aligned predictably and perfectly with its neighbors, and the disorder of a liquid. If a crystal is like a Lego structure, solidly built according to set rules, and a liquid is like a bucket of Legos tossed out onto the floor, then hyperuniformity is what would happen if the Legos were strewn in such a way that order emerged from the overall mess. This happens at the atomic level, particularly in special kinds of matter called quasicrystals that have been produced in laboratories and discovered in meteorites. But it also has been found in the eyes of chickens, in soft-matter systems such as emulsions and in the large-scale structure of the universe. And now, perhaps, in an ecosystem. "You realize that you can find these patterns at many different scales," Tarnita said. "Anywhere from tiny microbial colonies to animal coats to the scale of ecosystems. You find compelling patterns and, many times, the same kinds of patterns, the same motifs. ... It shows you how many ways nature has managed to come to the same conclusion." JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- The Trump administration's interior design changes to the Oval Office came into view for the first time Friday when the newly inaugurated president invited the press in as he signed his first executive order. Gone are the deep red curtains that hung in the office during the Obama presidency, replaced by bright gold curtains reminiscent of Trumps apartment inside Trump Tower. Also gone is a rug from the Obama era that featured quotes from leaders including Martin Luther King Jr. and four former presidents. The rug seen in the Oval Office on Friday appears to match the rug designed by Laura Bush during her husbands administration. George W. Bush was said to have requested a design that expressed his spirit of optimism, and the rug features a sunburst with gold and yellow tones. The design changes that came on Trump's first day as president will likely be followed by further alterations and upgrades to the Oval Office as Trump settles in. One of Trumps most significant change to the Oval Office so far could be his decision to bring a bust of Winston Churchill back into the office. Obama drew scrutiny from Great Britains nationalist UKIP Party when he replaced the bust of Churchill with a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. during his administration. The controversy over Obamas decision reached its peak last April when Obama visited the U.K. and penned an op-ed urging Britain to reject Brexit, a referendum that the country's voters ultimately approved, signaling their wish to exit the European Union. Obamas op-ed drew a response from Boris Johnson, now U.K. Foreign Minister, in which he suggested Obama removed the bust because it "is a symbol of the part-Kenyan president's ancestral dislike of the British Empire." Obama responded in a press conference that he believed featuring the Martin Luther King Jr. bust in the Oval Office was important as the first African American president and that he had moved the Churchill bust to a room nearby where he saw it daily. Trump met with Nigel Farage, the former leader of UKIP, just days after winning the presidency last November. Farage tweeted after their meeting at Trump Tower that the two had discussed the bust of Churchill. Especially pleased at @realDonaldTrump's very positive reaction to idea that Sir Winston Churchill's bust should be put back in Oval Office. Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) November 12, 2016 The bust of Martin Luther King Jr. has stayed so far in Trumps Oval Office. Trump spokesman Sean Spicer tweeted on Friday a photo of the bust taken by White House chief of staff Reince Priebus. Thanks to White House Chief of Staff for this wonderful picture of the MLK bust in the oval pic.twitter.com/Lzgj6RljvI Sean Spicer (@PressSec) January 21, 2017 Trump also kept in the Oval Office the Resolute Desk that has been used by presidents for decades, including Obamas entire administration. Trump sat behind the desk Friday -- with his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, Vice President Mike Pence and others by his side -- as he signed an executive order targeting "Obamacare" and signed commissions for the newly confirmed Defense Secretary James Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly. The changes to the Oval Office are one part of the transition of the White House from one first family to the next. The incoming president and first lady also have free reign to redecorate their private residence on the second and third floors of the White House. Any changes to historic rooms like the Lincoln Bedroom and Queen's Bedroom must be approved by the Committee for the Preservation of the White House. "One of the most wonderful things about the White House is that it's a living museum, steeped in history but it's constantly evolving," Anita McBride said, former chief of staff to First Lady Laura Bush, told "Good Morning America." Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. LARAMIE, Wyo. University of Wyoming President Laurie Nichols says a strategic planning initiative that began about four months ago is moving along as scheduled. One of Nichols' first orders of business when she arrived on campus in 2016 was developing a strategic plan to guide the university through the next five years. The Laramie Boomerang reports that Nichols addressed the UW Board of Trustees this past week about the plan's progress. She says the fall semester was a time for holding listening sessions across the campus and state, drawing hundreds of people looking to tell UW's leaders where they think the strategic plan should go. Nichols says UW's disappointing enrollment numbers in recent years was of high concern to many who attended listening sessions. North Dakota farmers and ranchers, struggling against rock bottom crop prices, have their eyes on a new Farm Bill to maintain the federal programs that help keep their operations going in tough times. Theres a strong sense of need for a 2018 Farm Bill, said Dale Ihry, executive director of the North Dakota Corn Growers Association. Theres more emphasis now on needing a Farm Bill when prices are low. But passage of major legislation, such as the Farm Bill, has proven difficult in recent history. Prior to the 2014 Farm Bill, the last Farm Bill passed was in 2008. To prepare, the corn growers held four meetings in the eastern half of the state last week in an effort to gauge what growers would like to see in U.S. farm policy going into the next presidential administration. These issues will be shared with the corn growers national organization to form the groups policy and lobbying agenda. Theres just going to be a push in Congress to take a look at another Farm Bill, Dan Wogsland, executive director of the North Dakota Grain Growers Association, said about his conversations with North Dakotas congressional delegation, echoing Ihrys sentiments. At the top of producers priority list are tweaks and maintenance of crop insurance, mainly because were such a heavily insured state, Ihry said. What were hearing from farmers is we have to keep that program to the degree we can." And, hopefully, make it better. One suggestion for improvement is a change in how payments are calculated for the more popular Agriculture Risk Coverage insurance program. The ARC-CO payment structure is based on a particular crops average yield in a county. That average yield is combined with the average price for a crop over the previous five marketing years to come up with a revenue guarantee. Payments are triggered if revenue in the county falls below that guarantee. Currently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture ARC uses USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service surveys to determine yields. But commodity organizations say issues with the surveys sampling methods and criteria result in inaccurate or inconsistent results. A lot of farmers would like Risk Management Agency yields used, Ihry said. Because more than 90 percent of farmers are insured under RMA, which requires annual production and yield reporting, results would be more accurate. The 2014 Farm Bill has had a lot of successes, Ihry said, pointing to the ARC program which paid out $200 million to North Dakota farmers for the 2014 crop year and $400 million in 2015. Ihry said the concern is whether the program will provide enough protection in the next three years as prices flatline. Should a 2018 Farm Bill get passed, Ihry and Wogsland said theyre operating on the assumption it would involve tweaks to the 2014 legislation, not a major overhaul as seen in the previous bill. Other programs discussed by farmers include the Conservation Reserve Program, wetland management and trade and research programs. Ihry said corn growers discussed whether the current number of acres allowed in CRP 24 million acres was too much of a reduction compared to the previous 30 million acres allowed, as acres available for enrollment were in high demand. A lot tried to get in last time during the sign up, Ihry said. Not as many got enrolled as wanted in. Wogsland said, as half of the wheat grown in North Dakota goes overseas, maintaining dollars for trade programs particularly the Foreign Market Development Program and the Market Access Program are priorities. The corn growers is holding its annual convention in Fargo on Feb. 8 and preparing for a national meeting in March. Those growers who cant attend meetings to weigh in on Farm Bill priorities can fill out an online survey at www.ndcorn.org. Actor Sourabh Raaj Jain says if not for actor Akkineni Nagarjuna and filmmaker K. Raghavendra Rao, he wouldn't have accepted the offer to play Lord Balaji in the Telugu devotional drama "Om Namo Venkatesaya". "Playing a mythological character was not new to me. I have played Krishna on Hindi television and I had decided to take a break from essaying such characters. So when the offer to play Lord Balaji came my way, I turned it down," Sourabh told IANS. However, director Rao and Nagarjuna insisted that he should be part of the project. "When the offer came to me the second time, I learnt that Nagarjuna Sir is also part of the film. When I met them they helped me understand the story better and made me see my character in a different light," he said. On working with Nagarjuna, who was the prime reason for Sourabh to accept the project, he said: "No matter how much I say about him, it will still be less. "He's very humble, kind-hearted and he guided me right from the beginning. It was slightly intimidating to watch him perform but the compassion he has in his eyes for his character made me play my role with conviction. "He also helped me with my lines and whenever I had difficulty understanding the language, he'd explain it in Hindi or English," he said. Talking about the experience of working with septuagenarian director Raghavendra Rao, Sourabh said his passion for cinema inspired him. "The passion with which he makes films at his age is so inspiring. We had shot on mountains and it required a lot of physical activity. He didn't have any problem climbing and walking long distances," he said. The film, which is slated for release in February, also stars Vimala Raman, Pragya Jaiswal and Jagapathi Babu. --IANS hp/dc/mr ( 320 Words) 2017-01-22-13:42:07 (IANS) Fascinated with the colourful Indian weddings, foreign couples are saying their marriage vows in a small village of Punjab's Hoshiarpur district. At the Citrus County, a resort in the midst of Kinnow farms in Chaunni Kalan, couples from Australia have had the experience of going through the rituals of the Indian wedding. Be it the 'Mehendi' (Henna application) or 'Sangeet' (musical night) ceremonies or being part of a lively baraat (groom's procession), the couples get hands-on experience of a Punjabi wedding. Interestingly, these couples are already married and in their middle-age. Some of them are even grandparents. The are accompanied by their friends, relatives, children and even their grandchildren. "We have had a few couples in the last three years who wanted to experience the Indian-style marriage. This year, we had two couples who exchanged vows with full fanfare. We have had guests from Melbourne, Sydney and other places in Australia," Citrus County owner Harkirat Ahluwalia told IANS. Ahluwalia, also a new-age agriculturist-entrepreneur, points out that the marriages performed at his resort may not be the typical "big-fat-Punjabi-wedding", but provides a simple yet colourful experience to the guests. Among other things, the marriage ceremony even includes a 'Jaago', a traditional rural Punjab ceremony in which village women carry a decorated earthen pot with candles on the heads and sing songs. They also dance to lively 'Bhangraa' and 'Gidda'. Pipe-band by ex-servicemen also features in the wedding. A colourful chariot adds to the charm of the 'baraat' with the grooms and children seated atop. "There is a turban-tying ceremony for the men and Mehendi and bangles ceremony for the ladies which our guests enjoy a lot," Ahluwalia said. The guests from abroad are briefed beforehand on buying traditional Indian outfits like Kurta-payjama' (for men) with Indian jackets and 'Salwar-Kameez' and 'lehengas' for women. "The colourful ceremonies here get the women really interested. They love to wear glass bangles and Indian dresses," said Professor Manjeet Paintal who attended a few of the weddings. Guests and children accompanying the couples find the range of ceremonies very lively and amusing. "It is a spectacle. We really enjoyed the Indian wedding ceremony at the resort. The hosts really take care of the guests and give them a lifetime experience," Sasha Lewis, who is from Melbourne, told IANS. She attended one of the wedding ceremonies with her friends here. Village residents too are amused by the foreigners getting married in the Indian style. "It is quite enjoyable for us to see that our guests from abroad are enjoying," Anil, a resident of this village, said. --IANS js/gsh/dg ( 449 Words) 2017-01-22-15:50:08 (IANS) Opposing the Union government's move of abolishing Planning Commission, senior Minister of Tripura government Badal Chowdhury said that this has been widening the gap between the state and the Centre. While addressing at the 46th statehood day yesterday, Mr Chowdhury said, "Before the decision - abolishing of Planning Commission, the state had received Rs 3200 crore as plan outlay which appeared as major boost for the state to speed up development activities." "With the new decision, the special category tag for 12 states, including Tripura, was abolished which is a big blow for these states. Now, nobody knows what NITI Aayog is doing", he alleged. Flaying over the Modi led government on demonetization, he said the state government welcomes such move but the way it was pushed on the state exposes the lack of preparation of the Central government. "Countries like USA had tried to cashless economy but they could not do it properly. How such system will be successful in a country like India where 30 crore people are still illiterate," he asked. Participating in discussion, Governor Tathagata Roy praised the Modi led government for his approach to address the holistic development of the country. He said Tripura has to go long way especially in the field of employment generation amidst success in different sectors. Indeed there has been improvement in different fields but we can not move much ahead riding on the dole pumped by the Central government. Mr Roy said, "MGNERGA was implemented to provide jobs to millions of poor people but there should be sustained efforts to bring a real change in the life of common people by making themselves skilled". UNI BB AD1055 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0108-1117784.Xml ''Let alone China, India cannot even win a war against Pakistan,'' says a book. If one summarises India's military capability in this self defeatist one liner assessment, it is bound to evoke a sharp debate and that is what precisely "Dragon on our doorstep" did, when the book was launched. The book talks of a hypothetical situation, where India may find itself involved in a two front war and the repercussion of it. 'Dragon on our Doorstep: Managing China Through Military Power' insists that should India find itself involved in a border war with China, it will lose. ''And this has nothing do with the possession of nuclear weaponsthe roles of nuclear and conventional weapons are separate in the war planning of India, China and Pakistan,'' the book says, adding that the reason India would be at a disadvantage in a war with Pakistan is because while Pakistan has built military power, India focused on building military force. In the book, Pravin Sawheny and Ghazala Wahab, well-known names in the Defence fraternity, analyse the geopolitics of the region and strategies of the three Asian countries to elaborate why India in the precarious position and how it can transform itself through deft strategy into a leading power. Despite disagreeing with the conclusion of the book, it was well received in the military domain, where thinkers and former top officers agreed that it provides extensive research, first hand reporting and deep analysis. ''This is a clear-eyed and welcome analysis of how India can marshal all elements of its national powerespecially military capabilitiesto protect its interests and preserve the peace in the face of growing Chinese assertiveness. ''All those concerned about Indian national security should read this book carefully,'' said Senior Associate with US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Ashley J Tellis, who is tipped to become the next US Ambassador to India. More UNI MK RJ ADG 1134 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0090-1117257.Xml In series of tweets, the Prime Minister wished speedy recovery of those injured in the train accident which took place late last night claiming the life of 27 people. ''The Railway Ministry is monitoring the situation very closely and is working to ensure quick rescue and relief operations,'' Mr Modi said.UNI NAZ SHS ADG 1108 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1117767.Xml The city of palaces, one of the top touristspots in the country with its airport been functioning onand off from its inception now have a ray of hope with Union Government'snew Regional Air Connectivity Scheme (UDAN-Ude Desh Ki Am Magarik)for flight operations again. Commercial flight operations from Mysuru Airport is set to resumeonce again. Sources in the Airport said that the flight will take off very shortlyand the route pitched is Mysuru-Bengaluru-Tirupati sector. Later,other sectors could be considered. This is a result of the new regional air connectivity policy of the Government of India under viability gap funding, with incentives or subsidies to flight operators. Flights are definitely on the cards and proposals have beensubmitted by flight operators to the government under UDAN scheme,and is awaiting clearance. There could be other routes too and thedetails are awaited, sources added. Mysuru Airport figures in the priority list of 52 cities identified for promoting regional air connectivity in view of its tourism potential, besides projected economic growth and population to sustain air travel. The city attracts nearly 3.5 million tourists a year and itspromotion under regional air connectivity may give a push to thesector which has been stagnating of late. However, earlier attempts to have regular commercial flights toMysuru were not sustainable. Poor patronisation and odd timings werealleged to be the reasons. Kingfisher, Spice Jet and Alliance Airoperated at different periods, but folded operations citing poorload factor. Suresh Kumar Jain, Secretary, Mysore Industries Association, told UNI that weekly flights to major commercial centres rather thanflights to Bengaluru is their requirement. Connectivity to citiessuch as Kochi, Coimbatore, Hosapete (Hampi), Goa, Chennai, andMumbai would be viable. He said, apart from tourism, investments in industry is slowlyincreasing, with Asian Paints developing the world's largest paintmanufacturing facility. Development of film city and an impendingpolicy on film tourism promotion in Mysuru are set to augment airtraffic from the region, he added. Besides, Infosys has the world's largest corporate training centre on the Mysuru campus, and there are nearly 60 major and medium manufacturing units in the region, which could generate regular air passenger traffic, Mr Jain said.UNI BSP RS CS 1148 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0284-1117827.Xml Police said the encounter took place under Lekhapani police station area of Tinsukia district of Assam. Two Assam Rifles jawans were injured and they were rushed to hospital. Additional forces have been deployed. UNI SG AD1346 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0108-1117962.Xml In a message, the Chief Minister condoled the death of passengers and wished speedy recovery of the injured. Nearly 100 people were injured during the mishap. A team of senior officials from Jagdalpur have rushed to the accident site. A helicopter has been kept ready in Jagdalpur for relief and rescue operations after a telephonic conversation between the Chief Minister and District Collector of Rayagada in Odisha. The government has also set up helpline numbers 9425253580, 08959547333, 07782-222304, 227506, 226693 and 7898532347 in Jagdalpur.UNI SS PS SHS ADG 1355 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0044-1117927.Xml The bodies were extricated by cutting through mangled remains of the car. The deceased were identified as Amit, Vineet, Deepak, Sumit and Ravish, police said. The bodies were sent for post-mortem. The dumper driver and conductor absconded, police added.UNI XC-PS ADG 1342 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0044-1117945.Xml Three members of a family were killed and two people injured today when their car overturned on the Indore-Bhopal Highway in Madhya Pradesh's Sehore district, police said. The Raikwar family, which hailed from Bhopal, was heading to Indore when the incident occurred. Deceased identified as Usha Raikwar, her daughter Pooja and nephew Shreya (5) died on the spot. Sandeep Raikwar and car driver Vijay Singh were injured and rushed to the District Hospital from where they were referred to Bhopal. Sandeep said that they were on their way to bring his younger sister Nisha, who was recently married in Indore. UNI XC-PS SHS ADG -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0044-1117954.Xml MIAMI In a hotel room in suburban Miami, Luis Alberto Rodriguez wept when he heard that a government policy granting residency to Cubans who arrive on U.S. soil was ending. That means it could take two years or more before his wife and children still in Cuba can legally join him here. Rodriguez arrived in Laredo, Texas, on New Year's Eve, a journey that took him through 10 countries. He had hoped his family would be able to follow shortly afterward, maybe flying to Mexico before walking across the border under the "wet foot, dry foot" policy that sent back Cubans intercepted at sea, but gave those who reached land an automatic path to legal residency. "It was exhilarating finally making it onto U.S. soil, and then a whirlwind of emotions days later," when news came that the policy would end, Rodriguez said. "It was such a shock. ... I don't know when I will see them. " On Thursday, a little more than two years after Cuba and the U.S. began re-establishing diplomatic relations, President Barack Obama decided to end the "wet foot, dry foot" policy, moving yet another step closer to normalizing ties that had been frozen for nearly a half-century. The change forces Cubans to follow the same rules as immigrants from other countries, formally applying for legal immigration status and waiting their turn behind a long list of people who applied before them. Cuban leaders were not the only ones irritated by the "wet foot, dry foot" policy. It also rankled an increasing number of U.S. elected officials, who accused some Cuban immigrants of abusing their privileges by claiming benefits under federal aid programs even if they returned to Cuba to live. Millions of dollars were defrauded from Medicare that way, they said. Cubans' special status also angered immigrants from other countries, including those who felt they faced the same kinds of political challenges at home that Cubans had faced under the late Fidel Castro and his brother Raul Castro. Moreover, they said, many Cubans, particularly in recent years, went to the U.S. primarily for economic opportunities, not because of persecution. "For the longest time, Cubans have had all the privileges here," said Honduran immigrant Mario Hernandez as he walked outside a busy bookstore in Miami with his wife, daughter and grandchildren. Some Cubans have become millionaires, he said. "No one enjoys as many advantages," Hernandez said. "But hopefully there will be no more of that." Haitian community leaders unsuccessfully lobbied the U.S. government for years to extend a similar policy to Haitian migrants fleeing poverty and political persecution. While both groups made perilous journeys to Florida in rafts and rickety boats, risking possible death or capture by the U.S. Coast Guard, the Cubans who made it to land were assured of a warm welcome. Haitians, on the other hand, had to go straight into hiding if they weren't caught and detained. "Now the boat we're in is getting tighter, because now our Cuban brothers and sisters are getting into the same boat," said Haitian-American community organizer Sandy Dorsainvil. Cuban immigrant Rodriguez said he's resigned to wait for his family to navigate the backlog of U.S. immigration applications rather than have them risk deportation or even death if they try to follow him into the country illegally. "I don't want them to risk their lives in any way," he said. Immigration advocates, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and officials with the Service Employees International Union said the Obama administration's decision to end "wet foot, dry foot" was disappointing and would only serve to make all immigrants more vulnerable. "Now they're going to add to the rolls of the undocumented, and that's not good for them and not good for our community," said Randy McGrorty, executive director of Catholic Charities Legal Services. In the Florida Keys, law enforcement officials said they expect to encounter fewer Cuban migrants now that there's no immediate benefit to reaching land. And Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay said Cubans who do attempt landing in the island chain may start treating his deputies differently. "Once they made it to land, it was open arms and smiles and taking pictures," Ramsay said. "They were different from migrants from other foreign countries who, when they hit the shore, the first thing they want to do is vanish into society. They'd see a patrol vehicle and they'd try to run, flee and hide." A surge in Cuban migrants fearing the end of the U.S. policy began in December 2014, when Washington and Havana began re-establishing diplomatic relations. The exodus created problems in Central America, and the Coast Guard increased its patrols in the Florida Straits, Atlantic and Caribbean because of the spiking number of Cubans taking to the sea. Nearly 200 Cubans have come ashore just in the Keys since Fidel Castro's death on Nov. 25. As of Jan. 16, a total of 1,893 have attempted to reach U.S. soil by sea since the fiscal year began Oct. 1, according to Coast Guard figures. More than 7,400 Cubans were intercepted at sea in the one-year period that ended Sept. 30 a 60 percent increase from the 4,473 tallied the previous year. The number who made it ashore without alerting authorities or who died at sea is unknown. Rodriguez is worried about Cubans who started out when the "wet foot, dry foot" policy was still in effect and are now stranded at sea, in Central America or still waiting to leave Cuba after selling their belongings to pay for their journeys. "All our brothers who are still traveling through land and waters, hoping to make their lives better, I feel saddened that they will not make it," he said. A UNC statement said the "communal government led by Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh" created seven new districts without consulting the people concerned. "Any Naga participating in the functions shall be doing it at his own risk," the statement warned. Most of the outlawed organisations in the north east have also called for a boycott. Police have launched combing operations at several places to ensure an incident-free Republic Day in Manipur. Meanwhile, four activists of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) were arrested on Saturday in Noney district along with some explosives. Police said their plan was to attack with the explosives trucks which are bringing essential commodities along NH 37. The Manipur government is waiting for a response from the UNC to hold talks on the blockade. The letter sent by state Chief Secretary O. Nabakishore on January 17 said the tripartite meeting will be held at the secretariat in Imphal. However, the UNC has been saying that the meeting should be held either in Delhi or the Senapati district headquarters in Manipur. While ordering a 15-day judicial detention of Gaidon Kamei and Stephen Lamkang, President and Information Secretary of the UNC on Saturday, a local court said that both of them can attend the proposed meeting. --IANS il/ksk/dg ( 247 Words) 2017-01-22-15:44:07 (IANS) Three others were seriously injured in the accident. The bus was coming from Tarapith, a temple town in the district. Police have arrested the conductor of the bus while the driver escaped. --IANS mgr/bdc/sm/mr ( 68 Words) 2017-01-22-15:50:09 (IANS) Noted jurist Prashant Bhushan today demandedthe Union government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come 'faceto face' to clarify on the achievement, achieved by the decisionof demonetising the higher currency and how much 'black money' hadbeen unearthed. ''I demand the centre to come out with figures of how much blackmoney has been unearthed after scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1000notes,'' he said. Speaking at an event organised by Karnataka Janashakti, DalithaSangharsha Samithi and other organisation, he alleged that thedemonetisation process had 'thrown to streets' the lives of commonpeople and caused huge stress on employment generation in thecountry. The Prime Minister had said the process was to unearth blackmoney, stop corruption and shut out money supply of terroroperatives. But none of these goals have been met, he alleged. ''When 86 per cent of the National Currency in higherdenomenation is withdrawn, it should have shown some results. But itwas not. Mr Modi should have taken the views of financialexperts, but did not do it. The RBI Council was informed aboutscrapping of the currency just one hour before the major decision. ''Black money and corruption is the biggest bane the countryfacing. But was the decision based on prompt action to root outthese social menace,'' he asked. Mr Bhushan said he had written a letter to Centre soon after MrModi became the Prime minister, that the laws of the land did notrestrict creating black money within the country, there will be'benami' investment through promissory notes and it will be difficultto know the original owner of such money. Companies were being launched in India and funded from abroadfrom accounts from the banks in the countries known as 'tax evadersparadise'. But the government had not acted in a decisive manner tounearth such black money stashed in foreign banks even afterbilateral agreements with some countries, he alleged. Mr Bhushan also criticised the BJP government for putting in theback burner the Lok Pal bill after it came to power. There was noteven a preliminary debate on the issue, let alone implement a law. The Union Government was trying to 'kill' all anti-corruptioninstitutions, he alleged.UNI RS cs 1528 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0284-1118070.Xml In a stern warning to the rebel candidates, who have failed to withdraw their nominations in time, Punjab Congress President Captain Amarinder Singh today gave them an ultimatum to retire from the race by 1700 hrs on Tuesday, or face permanent expulsion from the party. Urging the rebels to opt out in favour of the Congress nominees and put up a united front to defeat the anti-people SAD and AAP, Captain Singh said the interests of Punjab and its people were supreme and could not be allowed to be compromised for personal gains. He gave the rebels 48 hours to withdraw from the contest, if they did not want to face expulsion from the party, saying the AICC had also agreed not to take the rebels back into the party fold if expelled for defiance. Hitting out at the rebels, who refused to heed the party leadership's request for withdrawal of nomination, despite the promise that they would be accommodated, once the Congress forms the Government in the state, Captain Singh said it amounted to violation of the party's disciplinary ethics, which could not be permitted at any cost. Adamant on his tough stance against the rebel candidates, the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president said he had asked the AICC President Sonia Gandhi and Vice-president Rahul Gandhi to show no laxity in dealing with the dissidents. He had urged the party high command to expels such rebels for life and close all doors for their re-entry into the Congress, said Captain Amarinder Singh, giving the rebels a last chance to toe the party line by announcing their retirement by Tuesday evening. Captain Amarinder thanked those who had heeded the party leadership's request to withdraw their papers before the last day of filing nominations, saying it was now the party's responsibility to take care of their interests. He would personally ensure that they are not let down on this count and are accommodated in key positions to take the Congress agenda of governance and development forward after the formation of its government in the state, the PPCC president promised. Captain Singh, however, made it clear that the presence of rebel candidates in the fray would not have a serious impact on the poll prospects of the Punjab Congress. The party, he asserted, had selected winnable candidates to contest the Assembly elections and they would help the Congress sweep the polls with two-thirds majority to ensure restoration of Punjab's lost glory.Punjab will go to polls in single phase on February 4.UNI VJ RJ SNU 1530 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0292-1118011.Xml Chandrama Prashad, 33, of Azamgarh was also involved in dacoity and theft and carried a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head. Police received a tip on Friday night that Chandrama would be meeting his accomplices to plan a robbery in Delhi. "When he reached Jahangirpuri, police apprehended him," Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav said. He was earlier arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police. --IANS sp/tsb/mr ( 102 Words) 2017-01-22-19:58:07 (IANS) Two Assam Rifles jawans and as many militants were killed in an ambush on security forces by a joint group of militants and retaliatory firing by the personnel in Jagun in Tinsukia district of Assam today.A joint group of ULFA(I) and Corcom, a united platform of several banned outfits of Manipur, had ambushed the Assam Rifles convoy aroused at 0730 hours, killing two personnel on the spot and injuring three others.The slain security personnel have been identified as Rifleman Ben Naitha and Rifleman K Wangshu. The militants also snatched away at least three weapons, including an AK-47 rifle, from the jawans. Two militants died and one rifle recovered from them, police said. The incident site is about 35 kms from the Myanmar border, beyond which the ULFA (I), NSCN(K), NDFB(S) and several Manipuri rebel groups operating under the banner of Corcom, have their bases. The Director General of Assam Police, Mukesh Sahay, has rushed to Tinsukia to take stock of the situation and hold a security review meeting with the Army there.Meanwhile, ULFA (I), in a statement e-mailed to the media here, claimed that the attack was carried out by the constituents of United Liberation Front of Western South East Asia (UNLFW) and CorCom under the directives of ULFA 'vice-chairman' Paresh Barua and CorCom 'chairman' MM Ngouba. The statement was signed by self-styled Captain Arunudoy Asom, assistant publicity secretary of ULFA (I), also claimed that they had killed three Army jawans. UNI SG RN 1948 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0311-1118550.Xml This year Republic Day Parade on Rajpath will witness tableaux from 17 States and Six Ministries of the Central Government. These tableaux will showcase varied themes starting from country's rich cultural heritage and socio-economic development to nation's progress in key areas like IT, Women, Empowerment and Environment Protection. Among the States, the tableau of Odisha depicts 'Dola Jatra', a popular festival celebrated in the state. This festival signifies the journey of Goddess Radha & Lord Krishna for ultimate union in the tradition of Bhakti cult.'Dola Jatra' coincides with the Holi festival that takes place on Falguna Dashami before full moon day in the midst of February-March. Arunachal Pradesh will showcase the tableau depicting the Yak Dance, one of the most famous pantomimes of the Mahayana sect of Buddhist Tribes of Arunachal Pradesh. The masked dancer represents the members of a family who are said to have discovered the Yak with the help of a magical bird hundreds of years ago. This year Maharashtra will showcase Lokmanya Balgangadhar Tilak in its tableau as this year is being commemorated as the 160th birth anniversary of the honoured freedom fighter, Lokmanya Balgangadhar Tilak. Known popularly as Lokmanaya, meaning revered by the people, Tilak was one of the first leaders of the Indian Independence movement. A freedom activist and a social reformer, he was also a mathematician, news reporter, editor, writer and orator. More UNI ADP SHK 2001 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0429-1118566.Xml After delaying it for three days since the party's central election committee met and cleared the names, the BJP today released its second list of 155 candidates for the crucial Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, fielding among others Home Minister Rajnath Singh's son Pankaj Singh from Noida.The second list was announced today close on the heels, the Congress and Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party clinched the deal for a tie up for the battle - which now has turned triangular with the BSP and BJP also in the fray.The candidates names were finalised by the Central Election Committee of BJP at a meeting presided over by President Amit Shah on January 19. Among other members of the committee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party leader Ram Lal and senior ministers had attended the meeting.The BJP has till now declared 304 of the 403 candidates. In a major decision, brushing aside objections from a section of party workers, the party leadership decided to field former senior Congress leader and a turn-coat Rita Bahuguna from Lucknow Cantonment seat.BJP's co-in charge for West Bengal Siddharth Nath Singh, who once worked in BJP's media cell, has been fielded from Allahabad West.UNI DEVN SHK 2000 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0445-1118565.Xml Courtesy an anticyclone built over the central part of Madhya Pradesh, a respite from cold temperatures is continuing but weather woes are predicted to return in the next 3-4 days."The impact of light moisture coming from the Arabian Sea could be seen near Neemuch, Mandsaur and other areas. However, it is not expected to lead to precipitation," India Meteorological Department's city centre scientist SK Dey told UNI. Rewa was the state's coldest at 7 degrees Celsius. The state capital recorded a low of 14.6 C, four notches above normal.UNI BAG-PS RSA SNU 1918 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0044-1118346.Xml Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting M Venkaiah Naidu today claimed that the Congress was so weakened as a political party that ''it is sitting pillion on Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav'scycle in Uttar Pradesh.'' Speaking at a election related meeting at Porvorim near the city, he said, ''The country is moving towards BJP and Congress is getting weaker. So weak that you must have seen they were even willing to sit behind the cycle of Akhilesh, Mulayam Singh's son. In some states it (Congress) is not (even) there. They are disappearingfrom one state after another. ''Former Uttarakhand Chief Mnister quit Congress and joined BJP. Former Arunachal Chief Minister quit Congress and joined BJP. UP Congress Chief quit Congress and joined BJP. This is happening because the Congress is a sinking ship, that is why people are quitting.'' Mr Naidu said Left parties were no longer a threat in the country.He said the BJP would come to power in Karnataka in the next elections and Kerala would be next target of the party. ''Now Left can never be right, try to understand what I am saying. Left is left out. In Karnataka, our neighbouring state -- This time Opposition, next time, in Karnataka BJP is going to come to power. And soon, the BJP will come to power in Kerala,'' the Union Minister said. Assembly elections in Goa are scheduled to be held on February 4. UNI AKM RSA SNU 1930 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-1118296.Xml Members of the Bismarck Women's March spilled up the street from the state Capitol Library steps Saturday afternoon, a crowd too large to be contained between the tall pine trees. The march was intended to coincide with the Washington movement and hundreds of others that also occurred, all planned for the day after President Donald Trump's inauguration. Saturday's weather, while cold and damp, didn't pose a problem. "It was raining earlier, and quite foggy, but that's stopped now," said Caitlin McDonald, an organizer for the march and program assistant at the North Dakota Women's Network. The marchers would have held the rally no matter the weather, she says, since it has been planned for about a month. "We were hoping for a couple hundred," said McDonald, who said about 500 participated. "It was definitely a group effort." The marchers at Washington drafted a document of what they intended to march for, and McDonald says that Bismarck's march had similar goals. "We stand for rights and equality for all. But it's not what we're standing against, it's what we're standing for that's important," she said. "We just want to show people that we're a positive force in the state, amplifying our voices and standing up for each other." Ruth Buffalo, a Mandaree native who ran for insurance commissioner in November, said while some actions may fail, there is always learning to be done from those failures, and that everyone has the chance to make a difference. "We're here to help other women who want to run (for office), so if it's ever been a thought in your mind, come reach out to us, contact us," Buffalo said. "We want to get you going and help you." Buffalo also stresses the importance of being a resource for others and working in a collaborative, non-hateful manner. "We can't be afraid to reach across the table and continue building upon the partnerships that (we) have already started," Buffalo said. Marlo Hunte-Beaubrun, who ran for Public Service Commissioner, encourages the public to be informed on the current bills and laws that are being passed. "I come from a long line of strong women and so do these women up here," Hunte-Beaubrun said. "We were not taught to sit and take it. I will stand up and we have been standing up ... If you're not paying attention, please pay attention." Century High School freshmen Leah Bandy and Lauren Peterson share similar sentiments. "It's important to be open-minded," Peterson said. "Be super optimistic, and don't think one way, my way, is the right way. You need to be open to everyone and just, I can't say it enough, educate yourself and don't make one statement without knowing fully what you're talking about." Bandy and Peterson attended the event with their respective mothers and have become friends over shared ideas. "I was kind of upset about the things that have been going on lately and I wanted to show my support because I stand up for all people," Bandy said. "And I wanted to help other people feel empowered. Bandy says she's received opposition for her beliefs and for trying to stand up for others, but she emphasizes that she's not planning to give up anytime soon. "I'm in the Gay-Straight Alliance at Century High School, and we're trying to plan an event that's going to be in February," she said. "We face a lot of challenges, like, we can't be too pushy about advertising because people will get offended, even though we just want people to come to our event and have a good time and get more educated. " Peterson says she intends to help others improve their lives in any capacity she can. Though only in high school, she says that she's learned humans are all just humans, regardless of the differences. Her wishes are that the community recognizes the same. "Our state, a couple years ago, wasn't very diverse. We were full of the same people, all believing about the same," Peterson said. "There was one way and the other which didn't really exist, but now North Dakota is becoming a more diverse place and I don't think people have accepted that, accepted the change" Peterson says she hopes her environment will become less negative and her peers, less nervous about speaking how they feel. In the future, she adds that she intends to continue having important discussions about a variety of controversial topics, rather than shying away from them. "Some people don't understand that difference is powerful," Peterson said. "They think it's worse, but in reality, being different makes the world better." Five people, including two brothers, were killed, when their car collided with a dumper head-on near a college on the AB Road in Madhya Pradesh's commercial capital early today, police said. "The car was heading from Mhow to Indore when the incident occurred at around 0400 hrs. The bodies were extricated by cutting through mangled remains of the car. The driver's neck was entwined with the car steering," Deputy Superintendent of Police Vijay Singh Pawar told UNI over telephone. The deceased were identified as Amit, his brother Akhsya, Dhirenda, Sumit Rathor and Ravish Jain. The bodies were sent for post-mortem. The dumper driver and conductor absconded after the mishap.UNI RL-PS SDR RSA 2046 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0044-1118564.Xml After days of negotiation and playing hard ball, the Samajwadi Party and Congress forged an alliance for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. A formal announcement of the alliance was made here tonight by both the parties.Both the parties will release their separate poll manifesto but a joint agenda or minimum-common programme would be released within a week which will give details of the working pattern of the alliance. SP president and Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav will be the leader of the coalition. Out of them total 403 assembly seats in UP, SP will contest 298 seats while the rest 105 will go to the Congress. The state presidents of the SP and the Congress announced the pre poll alliance in a joint press conference here. State president of the Samajwadi Party Naresh Uttam said that the aim and objective of the alliance is to place Uttar Pradesh as frontline developed state and make Mr Akhilesh Yadav, the chief minister of the state for the second consecutive term. " The coming together of the SP and the Congress is not merely an electoral alliance but we seek to usher in a new era of development and social justice in UP by dislodging the caste and communal forces led by the Bahujan Samaj Party and Bharatiya Janata Party'', said Naresh Uttam. Issuing an appeal to the people of the state, Mr Uttam said the SP seeks the blessings of the people for the alliance so that UP can be freed from the vicious grip of the caste and communal forces. State Congress president Raj Babbar said, ''Considering the prevailing atmosphere in UP and in deference of the wishes of the people, intellectuals and the people ideologically close to the Congress and for the development of UP, Congress has taken a historic decision of entering into an alliance with the Samajwadi party.'' "SP and Congress have forged pre-poll alliance and with the combined strength of both the parties, we will stop the forces pursuing the divisive agenda by creating polarisation of the voters on communal lines'', said Raj Babbar, adding that ''both the parties will strengthen the secular forces in UP.'' ''The alliance rests on the solid foundation of the positive works done by the Akhilesh Yadav government during the last five years. This alliance under the young leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav will seek the mandate of the people irrespective of caste and religion'', said Mr Babbar. Assuring the youth that SP-Congress alliance will work for their empowerment, Raj Babbar said, ''If the alliance is voted to power then we will present an agenda of governance in UP which will seek to provide a government with transparency and accountability.'' Raj Babbar parried questions over the ''27 saal se UP Behaal'' yatra taken out by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in September last year. The yatra had specifically targeted the misrule of Akhilesh Yadav government and had accused the SP of ignoring the interests of the farmers. Lashing out at the demonetisation of the high value currency notes, Raj Babbar said, ''Ban on high values currency notes only benefitted the rich and the industrialist while ruined the poor and the farmers''. He said the SP-Congress alliance will ensure justice to the farmers and the working class. The announcement of the pre poll alliance was preceded by utter chaos as the dispute arose on the place of the joint press conference for announcing the alliance. Earlier, it was announced that the joint press conference will be held at the state office of the Samajwadi Party. Mr Babbar refused to visit the SP office for the press conference scheduled to be held at 1730 hrs. Later, the state SP president announced that the venue of the press conference has been shifted to a hotel. The deal was finally struck after hectic negotiations that reportedly went on till about 0430 hrs today in New Delhi. The Samajwadi Party at last agreed to allot 105 of UP's 403 seats to the Congress to contest as its junior partner, up from the 99 offered yesterday. However, the first information about deal was disclosed by Congress leader Ahmed Patel through his tweeter post this morning. "Wrong to suggest lightweights were dealing on behalf of Congress party. Discussion was at highest level- b/w CM (UP),GS I/C & Priyanka Gandhi," tweeted Patel. Ms Priyanka Vadra was closely involved, reportedly holding detailed discussions with both Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple. But when talks broke down yesterday, with both sides refusing to yield any more ground, Ms Sonia Gandhi had to reportedly step in to salvage the alliance. Ms Gandhi's intervention is however stoutly being denied by Congress leaders so that Ms Vadra's role is not undermined. Late last night, Ahmed Patel, who is a close aide of the Congress chief, is said to have worked on phones on her behalf, tweeted that he had not called any Samajwadi Party leader. The Congress has considerably scaled down its demand from the 138 seats that it had asked to contest as negotiations began. It was not known yet whether the Samajwadi Party has thrown in seats for the Congress in Rae Bareli and Amethi, the parliamentary constituencies of Sonia Gandhi and her son and deputy Rahul Gandhi, as part of the new deal, a major prestige point for the Congress. There are 10 assembly seats in Rae Bareli and Amethi, seven of which were won by the Samajwadi Party in the last assembly election and two by the Congress. Till yesterday, the Samajwadi Party was clear it would not allot the seats it had won to the Congress just because of the allianceBoth the Congress and the SP arrived at a consensus following numerous rounds of discussion in the past few weeks. While the Congress was looking to take smaller allies like the Rashtriya Lok Dal on board, the Samajwadi Party only wanted an alliance with the Congress. Talks between the two parties appeared to hit a wall yesterday over seat-sharing, which led Congress president Sonia Gandhi to intervene and reach out to Akhilesh Yadav. While the Samajwadi Party had offered 99 seats, the Congress continued to bargain for more seats. Akhilesh Yadav was reluctant to part with more since seats as his party wanted to contest 300 seats on its own. Meanwhile, SP just after announcing the alliance, announced the third list of 77 candidates for the remaining phases of the elections. Now the party has announced names of 284 candidates for the UP polls out of their total allotted 298.UNI MB RSA 2010 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-1118480.Xml Responding to a question during a press conference at the partystate headquarters in the city, he said, ''India is the first andforemost country, where there is total freedom of expression. Total.You can call Prime Minister by name in this country. You call himHitler, you call him Mussolini, you call him by name. You can writearticles.'' When asked to respond to criticism by a Church in Goa, Mr Naidusaid people who were talking about freedom of expression, shouldremember emergency when lakhs of people were put in jail by a party. ''When all media was censored, by which party? Fundamental rightswere broken, by which party. All this happened during the Congressregime," he said, adding that,'' I would like to remind the youngergeneration what happened in 1975.'' Mr Naidu said those who complained of freedom of expressionshould remember the emergency era wherein fundamental rights werewiped out. UNI AKM SM SDR RSA 2121 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-1118640.Xml Union minister for Information and BroadcastingM Venkaiah Naidu today said recent ordinance, which cleared decksfor organising Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu, was out of concern forcultural sentiments of the state. Responding to a question at a press conference organised at theparty state headquarters in the city, he said,''We have shown concernto the cultural sentiments of the people of the state and we haveco-operated with the state government's wish. The ordinance is alsoissued by the state. If such a situation comes in any state, at thattime, based on the realities based on the wishes of the people consideringthe situation, the government will act appropriately.'' Mr Naidu was in Goa to campaign for the party in the state whereassembly elections are to held on February 4. UNI AKM SM SDR RSA 2135 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-1118643.Xml Napoleon's life and career disapproves the Leftist challenge to the "Great Man" theory of history, for he not only influenced the course of European history but also of faraway India, where it was his talk of alliance with Tipu Sultan, that ensured a virtual death sentence for the Mysore ruler from the British colonial rulers, says a leading British historian. 'It was his letters to Tipu Sultan proposing an alliance that got Tipu into trouble.. were a veritable death sentence for him," Andrew Roberts said at a session titled "Napoleon the Great" at the.penultimate day of the Jaipur Literature Festival 2017 on Sunday "This was despite no way that Napoleon, who was then in Egypt, could have marched on to India. He didn't have the requisite military strength, there were two major deserts on the way, and the British were too powerful. Nevertheless, it meant the end of Tipu and he was finally eliminated after the Battle of Seringapatnam in 1798," said Roberts, who has written an exhaustive biography of the French Emperor. Noting it is a rare historical figure whose legacy prevails despite his defeat and banishment from his homeland and his subsequent vilification by the victors, he said the influence on Napoleon still survives not only in France but the countries he conquered. "In France itself, the laws (Code Napoleon), the central bank, the education system, Paris itself, the Legion of Honour, the concept of meritocracy are among his enduring legacies," said Roberts, terming Napoleon "a liberal imperialist" and an "Enlightener on Horseback" for how most of his achievements came by force of arms following his military successes. In the biography, Roberts said he also sought to debunk many myths about Napoleon, including that he was a war-monger, the sobriquet "Little Corporal" that has stuck to him, and consequently the theory of "Napoleon complex" implying overly-aggressive behaviour among short-statured people as a sort of a compensation for the drawbacks of their physical aspect. "Napoleon only initiated two wars - the Peninsular War (in Spain and Portugal) 1808-14 and the attack on Russia (1812), though both proved disastrous for him," he said, adding all the rest of the wars he fought were in response to attacks by other European powers who detested him for his revolutionary and liberal ideas and want to oust him. "It is fascinating that after winning his wars, it was Napoleon who sought to make peace with his enemies," he observed. And about Napoleon's height, he said the French Emperor was not short, which is a perception encouraged by British caricaturists of the time, but was stood five foot, six inches - the average height for a Frenchman of that period. "I know this because once filming a documentary on St Helena (a lonely island in the South Atlantic where Napoleon was exiled after his defeat at Waterloo and spent his last six years), I, after the cameras had stopped rolling, lay down on his deathbed. I am five-six and it was a perfect fit." (Vikas Datta can be contacted at vikas.d@Ians.in) --IANS vd/nir ( 521 Words) 2017-01-22-22:50:07 (IANS) The U.S. envoy called on the Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Saturday and discussed matters of bilateral interest particularly trade and economic relations with him. Expressing his best wishes on the swearing in of the new President of the United States, Dar said that Pakistan was looking forward to work with Trump administration for further strengthening bilateral, strategic and economic cooperation. The Finance Minister stated that there was considerable untapped potential to increase bilateral trade and investment between the two sides. He said that after having achieved macroeconomic stability, the government is now focused on achieving higher, sustainable and inclusive economic growth and would welcome foreign investments for this purpose. Dar urged the U.S. Ambassador to encourage American investors to capitalize on the investment opportunities in Pakistan. Senior officials of the Finance Ministry attended the meeting. (ANI) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today he would later in the day hold his first conversation with Donald Trump since his inauguration as US president."A telephone conversation will be held this evening between President Trump and me. Many matters face us, the Israeli-Palestinian issue, the situation in Syria, the Iranian threat," Netanyahu said in broadcast remarks at the start of the Israeli cabinet meeting. REUTERS AKC AN1607 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-1118136.Xml A new party founded by Zimbabwe's former vice president Joice Mujuru suffered a crushing defeat in its first ever election contest again President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF, showing the task she faces in her bid to challenge her ally-turned-adversary.ZANU-PF retained the rural Bikita West parliamentary constituency in yesterday's by-election after its candidate polled 13,156 votes against 2,453 votes for Mujuru's Zimbabwe People First, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said today.Mujuru, Mugabe's deputy for 10 years, was seen as the most likely successor to the 92-year-old leader until she was purged from the ruling party in 2014 after charges she was plotting against Africa's oldest leader. Mujuru denies the charges.Mugabe has ruled the former British colony since independence in 1980. He turns 93 on Febuary 21 and has been confirmed as the ZANU-PF presidential candidate for the vote which is due in 2018.Last year Mujuru formed her own political party to challenge Mugabe, raising hopes that a politician who had liberation war credentials and enjoyed the support of some military generals could successfully challenge Mugabe.The poor showing in Bikita West, which was marked by high voter turnout, comes at a time Mujuru is negotiation with the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on a coalition pact to take on Mugabe in next year's election.The MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai did not contest yesterday's vote in keeping with its decision to boycott all elections because it argues the election environment favours the ruling party.ZANU-PF is the dominant party in parliament where it has 221 out of 270 seats in the lower house.Mujuru could not be reached for comment today. Her spokesman Jealousy Mawarire said he could not immediately comment. REUTERS AKC AN1735 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-1118271.Xml The Israeli authorities on Sunday approved the construction of 560 new housing units in settlement neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem, drawing condemnation from Pelestinian presidency. The approval comes two days after coming into office as 45th President of the US of Donald Trump, who has promised to shift the US embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, recognising the ancient city as Israel's capital. The permits by the Jerusalem Local Planning and Building Committee were given to residential projects in Ramot and Ramat Shlomo, Xinhua news agency reported. Chairman of the Committee, Meir Turgeman, said the approval was "out on hold" until the end of former President Barack Obama administration, which disapproved Israel's expansion of the settlements. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has condemned the move, calling for the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution on settlements. President Spokesperson Nabil Abu Rideinha said Israel's decision comes in defiance of the UNSC, especially after resolution 2334 that has affirmed the illegality of settlements. The spokesperson called on the Security Council to "to put an end to the extremist Israeli government policy that is seeking to destroy the two state solution". He said the leadership was going to start communication with Arab and friendly countries to move in the Security Council to stop Israel from acting as a country above the law. According to Israeli authorities, about 11,000 new units pending approval in different areas in the city. Member of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee Ahmad Majdalani said "the decision comes to test the seriousness of the new US administration with regards to settlements and the extent to which it would pull a diplomatic and political cover for the Israeli government's settlement construction policy". The UNSC on December 23 voted in favour of a resolution that condemns Israeli settlements and calls on the country to halts its settlement activity in the Palestinian territories. The issue of Jewish settlements in the West Bank was deemed illegal by many world powers, including the US, China and the European Union and has contributed to the stalling of the peace process. Israel seized East Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast War, along with the rest of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It later annexed East Jerusalem and declared it as part of its "eternal" capital, in a move that has never been recognised by the international community. --IANS py/dg ( 404 Words) 2017-01-22-19:50:07 (IANS) German police have arrested a man on suspicion of planning to carry out an attack, a police spokesman said today, adding that the authorities believe he could be linked to a suspect arrested in Austria two days ago over jihadi contacts.Special police units arrested the man and a woman during a raid on an apartment in the western city of Neuss yesterday, a spokesman for the Criminal Investigation Office (LKA) said. The woman has been released.The man has been charged with planning to carry out a "serious act of violent subversion," said Frank Scheulen, spokesman for the LKA in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.A failed asylum seeker from Tunisia rammed a truck into a Christmas market last month in Berlin, killing 12 people.The LKA spokesman declined to provide more details about the man arrested yesterday.Focus magazine said that the raid in Neuss was carried out following a tip-off from Austrian authorities who on Jan. 20 arrested an 18-year-old with a migrant background in a Vienna apartment on suspicion he had planned an attack. REUTERS SDR BL2330 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-1118735.Xml Eran May (Dague) Severn fought a brave fight, but ultimately succumbed to brain cancer on Dec. 10, 2016. She was born in Washington, Pa., on Oct. 1, 1942, to Frances Shriver Dague and Russell Conwell Dague. She spent her childhood in Pennsylvania, before moving to Ohio to attend Muskingum University to pursue her undergraduate degree. She then moved to Ann Arbor, where she received her masters degree in English from the University of Michigan. It was in Michigan that she met her husband, Charles Severn. They settled in Omaha, Neb., and lived there for over a decade, before moving to Bismarck, where they resided for over 20 years. Ultimately, they retired to the mountains of Big Sky, Mont., where she spent the remainder of her life. Eran spent many happy years in Bismarck actively involved in various groups as a dedicated P.E.O. member, a supporter of the Dakota Zoo, where she served as a docent as well as a board member, and was the first female president of the board. She continued her involvement in PEO when she moved to Big Sky in the local Bozeman chapter. She was also involved in the Gallatin Canyon Womens Club. She especially loved animals, birds, hiking, reading, being with friends, traveling and her family. Eran was widely known for her contagious, distinctive laughter and for the ever present smile on her face. She was always up for an adventure, and was game for any suggestion whether it be a hike, shopping expedition or a road trip. She truly had a zest for life. She was kind, outgoing, generous and thoughtful. She had a wonderful sense of humor, and was an amazing friend, mother and wife. She was truly one of the very best. She will be terribly missed. Eran was preceded in death by her father and mother. She is survived by her husband of 50 years, Charles Severn; her sister, Patricia; her daughters, Elizabeth (Johan), Katie (Scott) and Meg (Chris); her grandchildren, Annika, Rylie, Luke, Sydney and Olivia; her dogs, Chloe and Charlie; and her cat, Clancy. A private celebration of life will be held this summer in Big Sky. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Erans name to the Dakota Zoo in Bismarck; the Heart of the Valley Animal Shelter in Bozeman, Mont.; or to brain tumor research at www.defeatgbm.org. Hisahm Mustafa, chairman of the National Center for Water Researches (NCWR), receives an interview with Xinhua in Qalyubia Governorate, Egypt, Jan. 17, 2017. Egyptian scientists recently claimed they have successfully applied a new method to bring an extra wheat harvest in winter, raising new hope to end the country's wheat shortage and achieve food self-sufficiency. (Xinhua/Meng Tao) by Marwa Yahya, Xinhua writer Zheng Kailun CAIRO, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian scientists recently claimed they have successfully applied a new method to bring an extra wheat harvest in winter, raising new hope to end the country's wheat shortage and achieve food self-sufficiency. "Planting wheat twice a year will double the production, save water, and open the door to achieve food self-sufficiency in Egypt," Hisahm Mustafa, chairman of the National Center for Water Researches (NCWR), told Xinhua in a recent interview. AN EXTRA HARVEST Egyptian farmers originally grow wheat once a year in November and harvest it in May. The whole process takes around six months depending on the nature of the soil, water availability and temperature. The technique to achieve two wheat harvests a year is "vernalization," which means freezing the seeds during germination to accelerate the flowering process, Mustafa said. "The new experiment is based on cooling dry wheat seeds to certain degrees to change their physiological compositions so they can start the growing process earlier," said NCWR researcher Aly Farag, who invented the idea and has worked on this experiment for three years. By applying vernalized seeds on 200 feddans (840,000 square meters) of experiment fields scattered on four governorates in September and October, farmers will harvest their wheat as early as late January, cutting the whole process to three to four months. "The seeds should be stored at one degree Celsius in a special refrigerator to prevent any damage or spoil," Farag explained. He said that the idea came to his mind by accident when he saw farmers in Russia were spreading the seeds at the beginning of snow season. "The snow enfolds the seeds all the winter, and when it melts, the plants start to grow faster with more production." The best part of the experiment, according to Mustafa, is that farmers will be able to sow new seeds for the second time in February after the winter harvest, enabling two consecutive harvests of wheat each year. "Egypt will be the first country in the world to plant wheat twice a year," the NCWR head claimed. Farag said another benefit of the new method is "shortening the period of watering from six to three months, which saved 40 percent of the irrigation consumption." WHEAT SHORTAGE Egypt, a country has once been called "gift of the Nile" by the Greek historian Herodotus for its fertile soil owing to the annual flood of Nile, is currently struggling between a stagnated wheat production and the grain's ever-growing consumption. Around a quarter of Egypt's population lives under the poverty line, meaning that subsidized bread is the primary source of daily calories and a staple feeding tens of millions of poor Egyptians. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Egyptians get 33 percent total daily calories from wheat, much higher than the world average of 20 percent. However, at the other tip of the scale, with the arable area accounting for under 4 percent of the country's entire land, Egypt could only secure 50 percent of its wheat demand domestically, said Mohamed Lotfy, professor of agricultural economy at Cairo University. Domestically producing around 8 million tons of wheat, Egypt imports over 11 million tons of wheat annually, making it the biggest wheat importer in the world, according to a study by FAO. The wheat shortage has also been complicated by the country's dollar crunch, due to the sharp decline in sources of foreign currency in recent years. Egypt pays billions of U.S. dollars annually for bread subsidy program and imported wheat, while the country's foreign reserves registered 24.2 billion dollars in December. Lotfy told Xinhua that only increasing the productivity and efficiency will help Egypt achieve food self-sufficiency shortly. "It was impossible to increase the production of wheat without increasing cultivated lands, so working with new techniques is the only concrete hope," the professor said. TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE? However, some people argued that the experiment looks too good to be true. "I do not expect both harvests to have the same level of efficiency," Mohamed Fathy Salem, a former consultant to FAO said in a recent interview with online newspaper Mada Masr. Salem said he was not able to examine NCWR's detailed research paper to verify its claims, but he called for a collaborative seminar to discuss the research. "Not all types of wheat respond to this process of vernalization like in Europe," he claimed. However, Mohamed Lotfy said that farmers using the new method will harvest 10.7 tons wheat per hectare a year, achieving a 78 percent increase without any additional cost. The real challenge is of scope, not quality, officials from NCWR said. Mustafa admitted that researchers from agriculture and irrigation ministries worked on applying the new methods over the past three years and did occasionally fail due to inadequate storage conditions: some farmers faced challenges in dealing with the refrigerators and could not accurately apply the new technique. Another challenge is the lack of qualified researchers and experts to instruct farmers in the know-hows to use the technique, like adjusting the temperature. The new method is still an experiment that might take a long time until being applied to a vast scope, Mustafa said, adding that the center will carefully examine the crops to be harvested at the end of this month to see whether modifications are needed. "I'm optimistic about the experiment because it doesn't require complicated technology and farmers could use the common fertilizer with only half amount of water. It is very easy to be generalized across the country," said Lotfy who asserted new researches are underway to ensure the high quality of the harvested crops. "Egypt can meet 75 percent of domestic demand by using the new method," Lotfy asserted. KABUL, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- The chairman of Afghan High Peace Council passed away on Saturday at the age of 85, an official said. "Pir Sayed Ahmad Gilani died due to an illness at a hospital in Kabul late on Saturday," Farhadullah Farhad, deputy to HPC Secretariat, told Xinhua. Gailani was also the leader of Mahaz-i-Milli Islami Party, a mujahidin faction, which fought against the troops of former Soviet Union in 1980s. The Afghan government set up the 70-member High Peace Council and launched the peace and reconciliation process in 2010 to encourage Taliban to disarm and give up militancy against the government. Since mid-2010, more than 10,000 Taliban militants have laid down arms and joined the government-backed peace process, according to HPC officials, but the claim has been rejected by the armed outfit as "baseless." LISBON, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of women in Lisbon protested outside the U.S. embassy as part of a "sister" march held across Europe to protest against new U.S. President Donald Trump. The protest coincided with the largest protest taking place in Washington, where half a million people took to the streets. Other four Portuguese cities also saw protests, including Porto, Coimbra, Braga in the north and Faro in the south. Women in Lisbon held signs reading "Don't be Trump", and "Women's rights are not up for grabs," referring to Trump's rhetoric on women. Protesters were of both Portuguese and U.S. nationality, and included children too. There were a few men in the crowd, and a young boy on a pram carried a banner reading "Girls are strong. So are boys who support them." Protests took place in many cities, including London, Berlin, Paris, Tokyo and Stockholm, on Saturday, a day after Trump took office. People take part in the Women's March in New York City to protest against U.S. President Donald Trump in Manhattan, New York, the United States on Jan. 21, 2017. At least 200,000 crowd gathered near Trump Tower in Manhattan for the Women's March on New York City. (Xinhua/Wang Ying) NEW YORK, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Over one million people Saturday took to the streets and staged rallies across the United States to protest against President Donald Trump's first full day as the 45th U.S. President. In New York City, at least 200,000 crowd gathered near Trump Tower in Manhattan for the Women's March on New York City. Carrying signs that said "Dear Trump Don't be the person we think" and "I wish your inauguration was fake news!." More and more people lined the streets on the 42nd Street and 58 Street, waiting for taking part in the Women's March on NYC. Police have already blacked the roads. At the New York march, Bridget Mills, 41, told Xinhua "I hope it sends a message (to Trump) that we're listening, we are paying attention to if he cares morally about people's civil rights and America's standing in the world." Gengil, in her 20s, lives in Halem, black, marching with five of her sisters, said "our diverse America is inclusive, resilient, brave, and it is for white, black, latino, Asian etc., this is the message we want to send to President Trump." Cynthia Stern, middle aged woman, said "I'm not accepting the things I cannot change, I'm changing the things I cannot accept. Protest has changed many many things (in U.S. history), including women's rights to vote by the civil rights movement in the 60s." Demonstrators had planned to take their rally cries to the doors of Trump Tower, but police stopped them south of the building on East 55th Street. Organizers said the Women's March on NYC was for anyone unable to participate in the Women's March on Washington. In Washington, D.C., about half a million people showed up for Women's March in the country's capital to challenge the new U.S. president. "We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war," actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd. "Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack, and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. Marchers took to the streets near the National Mall in Washington, D.C., calling for women's rights and voicing their opposition to the newly-inaugurated President Donald Trump. Brandishing signs that read "women's rights are human rights" and "Hear our voice", protesters from across the country marched slowly along major avenues in downtown Washington as they chanted "this is what democracy looks like" and "women and girls can change the world," in a powerful display of rejection of Trump's agenda and what they said his insulting attitudes towards women. "I am very, very concerned about the next four years. I think we have a lot of rights that are going to be trampled on under the Trump administration," said Elisabeth Moore, a protester from New Haven, Connecticut. "His bigotry and his views towards women are extremely troubling to me." Moore also spoke unfavorably about Trump's inaugural address on Friday, calling it "disgusting" and saying that it was part of the reason for the huge turnout on Saturday. The organizers had initially sought a permit for a gathering of 200,000, but they estimated that as many as a half million people participated the event in the nation's capital. The marchers packed the metro stations in downtown Washington on Saturday afternoon, with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority recording more than 597,000 trips as of 4 p.m.. In Los Angeles, more than 500,000 of protesters Saturday rallied and marched peacefully through downtown Los Angeles chanting "Love Trumps hate", one day after Donald Trump was sworn into the Oval Office. LA's gathering was a part of Women's March, a national wide protests triggered by the new President of United States, who continued his angry railing against liberals supporting mostly Hillary Clinton in elections last November. Protesters showed their different appeals with colourful placards saying "Trust the progress", "Love not hate makes America great", "Get your tiny hands off my rights" and even "No more oil." "We want to let him know that he has been divisive, but yet we are still promoting women's rights, promoting gay rights, promoting pro choice, promoting the United States, not discriminating on the base of race, sex, or religion," Cheryl Lacour, an female attorney told Xinhua. Chertl said she and her friends accepted the result of the election, so they joined the protests across the country to fight for the future instead of the past. "We want to make this new president accountable," she said, "Today is to let him know what he has to face on the first day in his office." In front of the City Hall, Jesse Turk told Xinhua, as a gay man he was terrified since Trump was elected, saying "this is a march to show our visibility and show the fact that we don't agree with what's going on, what he's doing, how he's doing and who he has chosen to do it." The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) estimated that 500,000 took part in Saturday's march however organizers insisted the number was higher. In Chicago, around 250,000 people joined Women's March on Chicago, organizers said. Hudreds of thousands of people flocked to downtown Chicago to join the march. The event was said to be the largest women's march outside of the March on Washington, organizers said. 16 arrested in anti-Trump protests in Chicago Loop, Chicago police said. They face charges ranging from disorderly and reckless conduct to aggravated battery. The protest drew participants from all walks of life: young and old, academics and laborers, even parents with children on their shoulders. Protesters are still arriving at the rally, many with signs critical of President Donald Trump. An estimated 22,000 staged protests in Houston against Donald Trump. By afternoon, the protest rallies had been peaceful. In New York City, at least 200,000 crowd gather near Trump Tower in Manhattan for the Women's March on New York City against President Trump on Jan. 21. (Xinhua Photo) NEW YORK, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Over one million people Saturday took to the streets and staged rallies across the United States to protest against President Donald Trump's first full day as the 45th U.S. President. In New York City, at least 200,000 crowd gathered near Trump Tower in Manhattan for the Women's March on New York City. Carrying signs that said "Dear Trump Don't be the person we think" and "I wish your inauguration was fake news!." More and more people lined the streets on the 42nd Street and 58 Street, waiting for taking part in the Women's March on NYC. Police have already blacked the roads. At the New York march, Bridget Mills, 41, told Xinhua "I hope it sends a message (to Trump) that we're listening, we are paying attention to if he cares morally about people's civil rights and America's standing in the world." Gengil, in her 20s, lives in Halem, black, marching with five of her sisters, said "our diverse America is inclusive, resilient, brave, and it is for white, black, latino, Asian etc., this is the message we want to send to President Trump." Cynthia Stern, middle aged woman, said "I'm not accepting the things I cannot change, I'm changing the things I cannot accept. Protest has changed many many things (in U.S. history), including women's rights to vote by the civil rights movement in the 60s." Demonstrators had planned to take their rally cries to the doors of Trump Tower, but police stopped them south of the building on East 55th Street. Organizers said the Women's March on NYC was for anyone unable to participate in the Women's March on Washington. In Washington, D.C, about half a million people show up for Women's March to challenge U.S. President Trump on Jan. 21. (Xinhua Photo) In Washington, D.C., about half a million people showed up for Women's March in the country's capital to challenge the new U.S. president. "We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war," actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd. "Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack, and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. Marchers took to the streets near the National Mall in Washington, D.C., calling for women's rights and voicing their opposition to the newly-inaugurated President Donald Trump. Brandishing signs that read "women's rights are human rights" and "Hear our voice", protesters from across the country marched slowly along major avenues in downtown Washington as they chanted "this is what democracy looks like" and "women and girls can change the world," in a powerful display of rejection of Trump's agenda and what they said his insulting attitudes towards women. "I am very, very concerned about the next four years. I think we have a lot of rights that are going to be trampled on under the Trump administration," said Elisabeth Moore, a protester from New Haven, Connecticut. "His bigotry and his views towards women are extremely troubling to me." Moore also spoke unfavorably about Trump's inaugural address on Friday, calling it "disgusting" and saying that it was part of the reason for the huge turnout on Saturday. The organizers had initially sought a permit for a gathering of 200,000, but they estimated that as many as a half million people participated the event in the nation's capital. The marchers packed the metro stations in downtown Washington on Saturday afternoon, with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority recording more than 597,000 trips as of 4 p.m.. In Los Angeles, more than 500,000 protesters rally and march percefully through downtown to protest against President Trump on Jan. 21. (Xinhua Photo) In Los Angeles, more than 500,000 of protesters Saturday rallied and marched peacefully through downtown Los Angeles chanting "Love Trumps hate", one day after Donald Trump was sworn into the Oval Office. LA's gathering was a part of Women's March, a national wide protests triggered by the new President of United States, who continued his angry railing against liberals supporting mostly Hillary Clinton in elections last November. Protesters showed their different appeals with colourful placards saying "Trust the progress", "Love not hate makes America great", "Get your tiny hands off my rights" and even "No more oil." "We want to let him know that he has been divisive, but yet we are still promoting women's rights, promoting gay rights, promoting pro choice, promoting the United States, not discriminating on the base of race, sex, or religion," Cheryl Lacour, an female attorney told Xinhua. Chertl said she and her friends accepted the result of the election, so they joined the protests across the country to fight for the future instead of the past. "We want to make this new president accountable," she said, "Today is to let him know what he has to face on the first day in his office." In front of the City Hall, Jesse Turk told Xinhua, as a gay man he was terrified since Trump was elected, saying "this is a march to show our visibility and show the fact that we don't agree with what's going on, what he's doing, how he's doing and who he has chosen to do it." The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) estimated that 500,000 took part in Saturday's march however organizers insisted the number was higher. About 250,000 people join Women's March on Chicago to protest against President Trump on Jan. 21. (Xinhua Photo) In Chicago, around 250,000 people joined Women's March on Chicago, organizers said. Hudreds of thousands of people flocked to downtown Chicago to join the march. The event was said to be the largest women's march outside of the March on Washington, organizers said. 16 arrested in anti-Trump protests in Chicago Loop, Chicago police said. They face charges ranging from disorderly and reckless conduct to aggravated battery. The protest drew participants from all walks of life: young and old, academics and laborers, even parents with children on their shoulders. Protesters are still arriving at the rally, many with signs critical of President Donald Trump. An estimated 22,000 staged protests in Houston against Donald Trump. By afternoon, the protest rallies had been peaceful. LA PAZ, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Bolivian President Evo Morales on Saturday announced the creation of a Ministry of Energy to promote both conventional and alternative fuels. "It will be a new ministry of hope ... to guarantee a good future for future generations. The gas can run out, but electricity plants will never end," Morales said in announcing the measure at a public event in La Paz to inaugurate a new water distribution pipeline. Morales said on his Twitter "we will create a Ministry of Energy ... to consolidate Bolivia as the heart of energy in South America." The ministry, which will begin operating immediately, will have two deputy ministries, one to focus on conventional and alternative fuels, and another to center on nuclear energy and lithium. Bolivia currently exports gas to neighboring Argentina and Brazil, but it is aware its gas fields may run out. Morales is set to address the nation on Sunday, to mark his 11th year as president of Bolivia. On Monday, he will announce his new cabinet. DAKAR, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh left Saturday night Banjul, for an exile in Guinea, local medias reported Saturday night. According to the Senegalese radio station's correspondent in Banjul, Jammeh traveled with Guinean President Alpha Conde in the private jet of the latter. Another plane registered Mauritanian also took off with Jammeh's family and entourage. The former Gambian president was preceded to the airport by several vehicles with luggages under heavy security. Jammeh announced Saturday that he would step down from power after last-chance talks with leaders from West African countries. "I have decided today in good conscience to relinquish the mantle of leadership of this great nation, with infinite gratitude to all Gambians," said the longtime leader on state TV early Saturday morning. Jammeh said he had promised that all the issues "will be resolved peacefully" and "it is not necessary that a single drop of blood be shed." His announcement came after hours of a last-chance mediation with Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and Guinean President Alpha Conde in Banjul. Jammeh, who took power in July 1994 after a coup d'etat, was defeated in the presidential election on December 1 last year by opposition candidate Adama Barrow. Barrow sworn in as Gambia's president on Thursday in the Embassy of the Gambia in the Senegalese capital, Dakar. MEXICO CITY, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's new cabinet lacks experience in governing, as well as diversity, Mexican academic and U.S. expert Jose Luis Valdes Ugalde said on Friday. Valdes, from the Center for Research on North America at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), believes Trump's criteria in picking aides has more to do with political affinity than with finding seasoned politicians who reflect America's diversity. Most of his nominees are millionaires like himself, with little experience in elected office, but disposed to taking a "tough" stance on domestic and global security matters, said Valdes. The team has "very conservative Trump-like characteristics, which is not goods news for the world, but neither is it good news for Americans defending civil rights," said Valdes. Typical cabinet picks include John Kelly, as secretary of Homeland Security, and retired general James Mattis, better known as "Mad Dog Mattis," as secretary of Defense, said the academic. However, the nomination that raises the most concern, especially since his designation does not require Senate approval, is Michael Flynn as Trump's National Security Advisor, said Valdes. Flynn "is the man who will have the new president of the United States' ear on issues such as Syria, ISIS, Iraq and the Middle East," said Valdes. Other potentially troublesome cabinet selections include Wilbur Ross, as Trade secretary, "a very tough guy who is known for buying bankrupt companies, turning them around and getting rich." Jeff Sessions, tapped to be the new U.S. Attorney General, has been "accused of racism "by many Latin American groups and non-governmental organizations in the United States," said the academic. LIMA, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Peruvian prosecutors have arrested the country's first suspect in a multinational corruption case involving bribes and kickbacks from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. Edwin Luyo Barrientos, a former government official, was arrested late Friday in the capital Lima on charges of accepting some 1.4 million U.S. dollars in bribes in connection to the construction of the first stretch of the city's Line 1 electric rail in 2009. That year, according to the public prosecutor's office, Luyo was president of the bidding committee for Lima's rail line. Officials failed to arrest a second suspect, former deputy minister at the Ministry of Transportation and Communication (MTC), Jorge Cuba Hidalgo, after searching his home, and believed he left the country at the end of last year. Information supplied by Odebrecht reveals the man granted the Brazilian builder the contract in exchange for kickbacks. A second payment of 6.7 million U.S. dollars was solicited for the second stretch of the line. In all, investigations show Odebrecht paid more than 29 million U.S. dollars in bribes to Peruvian officials in exchange for lucrative public works contracts during the administrations of former presidents Alejandro Toledo, Alan Garcia and Ollanta Humala from 2001 to 2016. The scandal exposed at the end of December, following Brazilian media reports Odebrecht had admitted to paying more than one billion U.S. dollars in bribes across much of Latin America and parts of Africa. People take part in the Women's March to protest against U.S. President Donald Trump in Chicago, the United States on Jan. 21, 2017. Around 250,000 people joined Women's March on Chicago on Saturday, according to the organizers. (Xinhua/Wang Ping) CHICAGO, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- An estimated 250,000 people gathered in downtown Chicago Saturday to protest Trump's inauguration as U.S. president. The event was meant to be part of the Women's Marches across the world denouncing Trump's humiliation of women, but it turned out to be protests drawing people, women and men alike from all walks of life, and of all ages, from toddlers in strollers or on Dads' shoulders to the aged using walking sticks. Banners in more than half of the protestors' hands read varieties, clearly showing their different petitions: "Justice", "Never my president", "No hate, no fear", "This is how the liberty dies", "Climate change is real", "Make America 'Kind' again", "Women's rights are human rights", "This country was built by immigrants", "Read a book", "(Trump being U.S. president) making America an international joke." An aged woman held a cardboard saying "Fight for a better future for my daughter"; a young man quoted Martin Luther King on his banner, "Our lives begin to end the day when we become silent about things that matter". A girl held a banner with both sides full of letters: "Can't believe I'm still marching for women's rights" on one side and "My grandma is crying" on the other side. As the streets are crowded and most people cannot make to the center of the protests where speeches have been delivered, several makeshift speakers have been erected along the streets. A women was heard from the speaker chanting, "It is our duty to fight, it is our duty to win, we must love each other and support each other, we have nothing to lose but a change". John McDonald, a protestor, told Xinhua that he disagrees with many of the things that Donald Trump stands for. "We don't like him appropriating the power of the government to do things that are contrary to the fundamental values of the American people," he said. "It is important to push back against a misogynist like Trump, let him know that women will not stay quietly while he erodes our rights," Georgett from Chicago said. The organizer is expecting 150,000 people participating the Women' s Marches movement in Chicago Saturday, but according to Chicago Tribune' s estimation some 250,000 people turned out. Protests against Trump becoming U.S. 45th president in Chicago began as early as on the inauguration day. When the inauguration ceremony and the celebrations were going on in Washington Friday, Chicago protestors have gathered in downtown and in front of the Trump Tower. Chicago and Illinois are traditionally Democratic, and voted for Hillary Clinton in last year's presidential election. North Dakota fiscal affairs are in disarray, primarily because of our clinging to an unworkable 80-day biennial legislative process. While almost all other states have gone to annual sessions, North Dakota has resisted changing a schedule that has been used since 1889. We have relied on hasty Band-Aids, triggers, interim budget committees and other quick fixes to salvage the outdated biennial session. Biennial sessions require biennial budgets. The budget being processed in Bismarck wont take effect until July 1, 2017, and will continue until July 2019. This requires estimating revenue 2 years into the future. It is fairly obvious that oil and farm markets have become too volatile for two-year projections. And because so much of the state budget is being based on the unknown, Gov. Doug Burgum and the Legislature are proposing draconian cuts in depression-era budgets. With biennial revenue estimates a roll of the dice, the Legislature no longer wants to accept the educated guesses of the experts. They now want to do their own estimating, disregarding the fact that they are amateurs in the world economy. With the Legislature estimating revenue on the starvation side, the prospects of innovation and reinvention are dimmed because innovation and reinvention will require investment today for benefits down the road. We cant invest when we are more worried about the next quarter than the next generation. To further confuse the appropriation process, the legislative leadership has moved to take more control of the budget process by proposing its own budget in competition with the executive budget. At a time when the Legislature declares it wants to cut payrolls it is expanding its own by duplicating the executive budget. Budgeting is a task better left to the executive branch because the executive branch has access to all of the agency input in a timely fashion and can manage the timeline required to put a budget together. As a former state budget director, I can attest to the fact that budget-building is a year-around function that includes monitoring expenditures, tracking trends and predicting needs. It isnt a hit-and-run system that can be crammed into an 80-day session that meets every two years. More importantly, an executive budget balances all needs of the state because the governor is elected by all of the people and has a statewide perspective. On the other hand, the Legislature consists of locals elected by districts who are likely to have a fragmented outlook. Even though we are a rich state, we are tightening belts because of specious estimates. We are talking about robbing the Bank of North Dakota, draining the anti-cancer tobacco fund, raising taxes on college students and levying 5 percent fees on nursing homes. At the same time, no consideration is being given to asking citizens to give back a share of the big tax breaks we got from the oil revenue. My residential property taxes went down around 25 percent and my low income tax is an embarrassment. We ought to give back some of these oil benefits instead of taxing students and nursing homes. Apparently, low estimates justify slashing the things that make up the common good. This in a state where the common good is already marginal. When it comes to reinvention, North Dakota needs to start thinking about its legislative system. Managing fiscal affairs by guess and by golly every two years is no way to run a state in the 21st century. WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Newly-inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with visiting British Prime Minister Theresa May next week, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Saturday. May will be the first foreign leader to meet with Trump after he was sworn in as the new U.S. President on Friday. It is expected that the two leaders will discuss plans for a trade deal between the allies after Britain's planned withdrawal from the European Union. In a recent interview, Trump said Britain's exit from the European Union will turn out to be "a great thing." Trump pledged to offer Britain a quick and fair trade deal with the U.S. within weeks of taking office, saying that "we're gonna work very hard to get it done quickly and done properly. Good for both sides." On Saturday, Spicer said Trump has also scheduled a meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Jan. 31. Trump has said he wanted to build a wall along the border between the U.S. and Mexico, to keep out illegal migrants. He also threatened to levy heavy taxes on companies that operate plants in Mexico but export to north of the border. BERLIN, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Raul Bobadilla and Augsburg have agreed on contract extension ahead of schedule, the Bundesliga club confirmed in an official statement on Saturday. The 29-year-old striker, whose running contract was stipulated until June 2018, penned a two-year contract extension, which keeps him with the "Fuggerstaedter" until June 2020. "Raul is a player who can make the difference and who increases the quality within our squad," Augsburg's sport director Stefan Reuter told the club's official homepage. Bobadilla joined Augsburg from Swiss outfit FC Basel in the summer 2013 to provide 18 goals and nine assists in 82 competitive appearances. "I am happy about the confidence that I feel at Augsburg," the Paraguayan international said. "I feel incredibly comfortable and I would like to see many more victories and successes with this team," Bobadilla added. Augsburg sit currently on the 13th place of the standings. They will encounter Wolfsburg at the 18th round of Bundesliga on Saturday. Wang Xintong is looking through the window on Train K4186 on Jan.15, 2017. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan) FUZHOU/CHONGQING -- Eight-year-old Wang Xintong is the daughter of migrant workers Wang Xiangquan, 36, and Yu Gaifen, who have been working in Fuqing, east China's Fujian Province, 2,000 kilometers away from their ancestral home in Yunlong Town, eastern Chongqing, southwest China. On Jan.13, about half a month away from the Chinese New Year, which falls on Jan.28 this year, little Xintong got up at 5 a.m.. She was too excited to fall asleep because she was about to go home later in the day. Xintong and her parents are waiting to board a bus to the train station Jan. 13, 2016. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan) Xintong and her parents arrive at the Fuzhou train station on Jan. 13, 2017. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong) It was Xintong's first train travel after her parents took her to Fujian five years ago. Her curiosity about the travel soon faded away as the train was very crowded and not very comfortable. However, she seemed to have plenty of patience. Xintong is playing with other kids onboard Train K4186 on Jan. 14, 2017. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan) Xintong had instant noodles for meals in the train. To prepare the noodles, Wang Xiangquan, her dad, had to wade through the crowd to fetch hot water. Xintong is doing her homework in Train K4186 on Jan. 14, 2017. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan) When asked why she was so excited to go back home, Xintong, now the second grader with Jingyang Primary School of Fuqing City, said she had many friends back home, but not in Fujian. "I feel so lonely because there's no one to play with me, " she said. The Wang family had moved several times in Fuqing City, leaving Xiaotong no time to get familiar with other children. Both parents have little time to accompany her, explained Yu Gaifen, Xintong's mother. Photo taken on Jan. 15, 2017 shows Xintong walking in front of her village home in Yunlong Township, Chongqing. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan) On finishing the 26-hour train journey, the second day or Saturday afternoon, the Wang family changed to another train in Dazhou, Sichuan Province, Saturday night, which brought them to the ancestral home in Yunlong Township, Chongqing Municipality. They finally reached home Sunday morning after 40 hours' ride. Xintong is putting food into the bowl of her grandma, Jan. 15, 2017. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan) There are many "left-behind" children across China when their parents move to work in cities. Xintong mother Yu Gaifen has chosen not to leave Xintong with her grandparents. "I can't leave her behind. As long as we three stay together, I would feel content, even though we don't have much money," Yu said. Photo taken on Jan. 15, 2017 shows Xintong, her parents and grandparents posing for a family portrait. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan) The school little Xintong attends is a public elementary school in Fuqing City, where more than 1/4 of students are from migrant workers' families. Xintong's parents and grandparents are all hoping she can study well and settle down in cities. SUVA, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Bilateral relations between China and Vanuatu have served as a prototype for Pacific island countries, a senior Chinese legislator said. At the invitation of Vanuatu's parliament, a delegation led by Arken Imirbaki, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) concluded its three-day goodwill visit to the Pacific island country on Sunday. During the visit, Arken met with Vanuatu's President Baldwin Lonsdale, Prime Minister Charlot Salwai and Parliament Speaker Esmon Saimon separately. Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Vanuatu leaders in November 2014, when the two sides agreed to establish a strategic partnership featuring mutual respect and common development, the senior Chinese legislator said. Guided by the consensus, relations between China and Vanuatu have seen significant fresh progress, and the ties have become a prototype for Pacific island countries, he added. The year 2017 marks the 35th year of diplomatic relations between China and Vanuatu, and China is willing to take this opportunity to further dialogues, exchanges and cooperation in all fields, as well as boost parliamentary exchanges, in a bid to push forward bilateral ties, said Arken. Vanuatu appreciates China's long-term support to its nation building, the Vanuatu leaders told the senior Chinese legislator, adding that Vanuatu will continue its adherence to the one-China policy, deepen pragmatic cooperation with China, and strive to be China's good friend and partner in the Pacific island region. BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Huang Xingguo, former acting Party chief and mayor of Tianjin Municipality, is under investigation on suspicion of accepting bribes, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) announced on Sunday. The SPP said Huang has been placed under "coercive measures," which may include summons by force, bail, residential surveillance, detention and arrest. Investigation into his case is currently under way, according to the SPP. CANBERRA, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is an agreement of unprecedented scope and ambition, which the Australian government will continue to advocate strongly, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Steven Ciobo said on Sunday. "TPP promises new export opportunities for our farmers, services suppliers and goods exporters. It promises to support the growth of trade in our region, contributing to economic growth and new jobs," Ciobo said. "(U.S.) President (Donald) Trump's decision not to ratify the TPP at this time is disappointing, although not unexpected," he said, referring to the White House's statement soon after Trump's inauguration that its trade strategy to protect American jobs will start with withdrawal from the 12-nation trade pact. "The TPP is too important as a driver of the creation of more Australian jobs not to do all we can to see the agreement enter into force," Ciobo said. "The Turnbull government does not shy away from standing up for what is in our national interest - continuing our strong advocacy on the benefits of the TPP is no different." Ciobo said he had taken time to talk with his TPP counterparts on ways to lock in the benefits from the TPP, without the United States if need be. "This week at the World Economic Forum I met with Japan, Canada, Mexico, Singapore, New Zealand and Malaysia to discuss alternatives." "The shape this takes will be the subject of discussion over coming months. A number of options are available to us and there is a strong desire to ensure the benefits of the TPP are not lost." He also indicated that the Australian government would like the parliament to ratify TPP, sending the strongest message on the importance of the TPP and called on the opposition to support. "It would be a clear statement from the Australian Parliament that we reject protectionism and that open markets are the path to long-term sustainable job creation." YANGON, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's Mon state government has vowed to sign a memorandum of understanding with the European Union (EU) on the legal trading of forest products, the Myanmar News Agency reported Sunday. The southern state government will comply with Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT), under which Myanmar and EU members are to be engaged only in legal trading of forest products, chief minister of Mon state U Min Min Oo was quoted as saying. U Min Min Oo urged respective government departments, private businessmen and civil society organizations to cooperate on the move. Meanwhile, the British government pledged over 4 million pounds to implement the FLEGT in Myanmar. The project is aimed at reducing negative impact from illegal logging and timber production in European countries, said the Forestry Department, adding that the project encourages not only legal timber production and trading, but also development of the ability of forestry governance. Noting that deforestation occurs in Myanmar due to weak forestry governance, the facilitator of FLEGT called for Myanmar's participation in the agreement to eliminate illegal timber trade. According to statistics, Myanmar's forestry coverage shrank to 47 percent in 2010 from 61 percent in 1975. Myanmar's deforestation rate between 1990 and 2010 was 0.95 percent. U.S. President Donald Trump gestures after delivering his inaugural address during the presidential inauguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., the United States, on Jan. 20, 2017. Donald Trump was sworn in on Friday as the 45th president of the United States. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- In his first official visit to the top U.S. spy agency, U.S. President Donald Trump vowed Saturday that "radical Islamic terrorism" has to be eradicated "right now". Trump told hundreds of staff of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) headquarters in Langley, Virginia, that the U.S. has to get rid of the Islamic State (IS), the terror group based in the Middle East that has launched terror attacks against Western countries in the past years. "We have to get rid of IS, we have no choice," he told the audience. Trump described "radical Islamic terrorism" as "evil" unseen before, adding that it should be "eradicated just off the face of the earth." "But we gonna end it. It's time. It's time right now to end it," said Trump. He did not offer details of his plan to fight terrorism, though he said the CIA would do a "phenomenal job" on this. Trump, who was sworn in as the 45th U.S. President on Friday, strongly denied previous media reports that he was in feud with the intelligence community, which concluded that Russia helped him win the presidential race with hacking activities. "There's nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community" than he does, Trump stressed. He scolded the U.S. media as "the most dishonest people" by reporting his feud with the intelligence community, although he previously criticized the intelligence agencies for leaking the reports that Russia may have "compromising materials" about him. Trump also promised stronger support to the U.S. intelligence community than any other president did. "I'm so behind you," Trump said, adding that maybe some time in the future the intelligence community will get more support than wanted. But Trump's first day after becoming president was marred by widespread massive anti-Trump protests held across the U.S. and other parts of the world. Over one million people Saturday took to the streets and staged rallies across the United States to protest against President Donald Trump's first full day as the 45th U.S. President. RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian authorities are investigating 24 execution-style killings in the past 24 hours, following the death of a police officer in the city of Belem, capital of northern Para state. In a press release, the regional government said it created a special permanent unit, involving all security agencies, to look into the suspicious killings. The wave of killings began after a member of a tactical police patrol squad, known as Rotam, died in an exchange of gunfire with armed men suspected of having carried out an assault. At least 24 people have been killed in the city since the incident, all showing signs of having been executed, according to Orlando Salgado, the head of the local forensic bureau, the Legal Medical Institute. The government acknowledged the possibility that the killings may be linked to the officer's death. by Ran An PHOENIX, the United States, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- People of different ages, most of whom are women, joined a protest on Saturday in front of the Arizona State Capitol Building in Phoenix, one day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the president of the United States. Aiming to show solidarity with a mass Women's March in Washington D.C. and other big cities such as New York, Boston and Los Angeles, Phoenix' rally was attended by about 20,000 people. Various opinions were expressed in the swing state in last year's presidential election. According to Phoenix local TV station 3TV News, "The group of Phoenix said their slant wasn't on bashing Trump but more about creating unity and solidarity." However, most people attended the event believed that it was an anti-Trump rally. "We want a president who represents 99 percent, not 1 percent, Trump's appointment is a SWAMP!" This was the sentence on a badge carried by Mrs. Jordan, who came from Washington D.C. to join the rally in Phoenix with her friends. "I came here to show that if we have Trump, we as women will not have any right," she said. Mrs. Linda, who is in her 70s, came together with more than 50 friends of her community, Superstition Mountain Resort, which was a nursing resort for the elders in the east of Phoenix area. All the group members were above 70 years old. Linda told Xinhua, "I think this event is very good, we come here as a group to show our support to the women equality." Most of the banners brandished in Saturday's rally carried signs with slogans about women's rights, while banners with other appeals were also scattered around. The protesting march was led by a long banner showing "Love for All" hold by six Muslim women. They were escorted by a group of policeman and armored trucks. And the rainbow flag of LGBT community can be seen everywhere on the square in front of the State Capitol Building. Banners of anti-racist and anti-fascist organizations also can be seen in the processions. "Generally speaking, this is a rally of anti-Trump," said Mrs. Megan, who came to attend the gathering with her boyfriend, carrying a placard which is about anti rape and sexual assault, nothing about Trump. "I do not know who organize this event, but I just decide to come here to show my opinion," said Mrs. Megan. Another marcher who did not want to share her name said, "I came here to show my concern about the racial, social, economic and environmental justice to our new administration." Trump's supporters also came to the event. Ocar, a sophomore at Arizona State University (ASU), with a group of his classmates, told Xinhua, "We all voted for Donald Trump, and we came here to show our support to him." "We are looking for some big crowd of people and show them our opinion," he said, all of these ASU students had fliers in their hand bearing "TRUMP, Making America Great Again!" The whole event, decorated by food trucks and music bands on the site, was pretty peaceful and no violence can be seen. Over one million people Saturday took to the streets and staged rallies across the United States to protest against Trump's first full day as the 45th U.S. President. An effort to recall Bismarck Mayor Mike Seminary seems based on old complaints and targets a mayor with less than 18 months to go in office. If recall supporters are so unhappy with his performance why did they wait so long to launch their effort? Why try to replace a mayor with so little time left in his term? Whoever wins will have to face voters again in June 2018. For those reasons alone the Tribune believes the recall isnt necessary. Seminary was in his second term as a city commissioner when he ran unchallenged for mayor. He also ran uncontested for his second city commission term. By the time he ran for mayor his positions on the issues were well known. If residents werent satisfied with his performance its unfortunate they couldnt find a candidate to challenge him. The Tribune doesnt question the right to mount a recall, but it would seem a process best used when a grievous act is committed. The criticism of Seminary isnt new and doesnt go beyond the ordinary conflicts of serving in office. "They have issues with misplaced public leadership priorities, ignoring public infrastructure needs to the point of creating a public finance crisis and allowing city property to be sold at a loss and below market value," Paul Maloney, a spokesman for the recall group, told the Tribune. He cited the below-value sale of the Bismarck Burleigh medical building and the renovation of the then Bismarck Civic Center after the public voted against it as other factors in the recall effort. Others complained about Seminary welcoming the Dakota Access Pipeline protesters to Bismarck during the powwow week in early September. The mayor later told protesters it was time to go home. The recall petition has been approved by the secretary of state. Organizers will need to collect about 1,898 signatures to get on the ballot. Thats 25 percent of the number of people who voted in the last mayoral race. They also need at least one challenger on the ballot. The Tribune urges Seminarys opponents to rethink the recall. Use the next months preparing a mayoral campaign for 2018. When issues arise where you disagree with the mayor, make yourselves heard at commission meetings. You can make a difference without trying to remove the mayor from office. Why spend money on a special election this year when another election is around the corner? The Tribune hasnt always agreed with the mayor and we dont expect to agree with him all the time in the remaining months of his term. However, we dont believe his actions merit a recall. MEXICO CITY, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Women in Mexico joined the global Women's March on Saturday by staging their own protests against U.S. President Donald Trump. In the capital Mexico City, some 400 protesters gathered outside the U.S. embassy to demand the new president to show more respect for the rights of women and minorities. Several protesters carried signs that read: "Respect my existence or expect my resistance." Women of all ages took part in the demonstration, which included U.S. citizens and other foreigners living in or visiting Mexico. Protesters marched from the embassy to the nearby Angel of Independence monument, chanting also against Trump's plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to keep out illegal migrants. In Oaxaca, the capital of Mexico's southern state of the same name, some 3,000 women and men, including Mexicans, Americans and Canadians, marched to the city's central plaza to protest what they saw as Trump's discriminatory policies. Organizers said Trump presented a threat to women's and immigrants' rights. Kathie McCleskey, one of the organizers, told local media that illegal immigrants "should be treated in a fair fashion, with dignity, and according to the law. Mexicans are not enemies." An unprecedented event, the Women's March on Washington was repeated in some 670 cities around the world, such as Paris, London, Rome, Sydney and Tokyo. During Trump's presidential campaign, many were enraged by the leaked recordings of the real estate tycoon boasting about using his status and wealth to assault and abuse women. MEXICO CITY, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Mexico City on Saturday ushered in the Chinese Year of the Rooster with a day-long celebration featuring a parade of traditional lions and dragons, as well as music and dance. Hundreds of onlookers gathered outside the National Museum of Cultures, which organized the event, to enjoy the celebration marking the arrival of the Chinese Lunar New Year. The Moneda Street in the local historic downtown was filled "with all the color and festivity of artists who have traveled the globe, spreading the millenary art and traditions of that Eastern nation," state news agency Notimex said. As part of celebrations marking the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Mexico and China, the festivities continue on Sunday as the museum also welcomes the Year of Chinese Culture in Mexico. In conjunction with the Confucius Institute at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the museum offers workshops in Chinese cuisine, ink drawing, calligraphy, paper cutting and tie-dye. YANGON, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in Myanmar held a grand reception Saturday evening in Yangon to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year which falls on Feb. 28. Myanmar's government officials, including union ministers at the State Counselor's office, the Religion and Culture Ministry, and chief minister and parliamentary officials of Yangon region, participated in the party. Chinese Ambassador Hong Liang expressed his belief that the Year of the Rooster will bring good fortune for China-Myanmar relationship, and bilateral cooperation can benefit peoples of both countries. Greeting Myanmar people, he encouraged them to find ways for the country's development, promising China's continued support for Myanmar's stability and prosperity. Union Minister for State Counselor office U Kyaw Tint Swe stressed enhancement of Paukphaw fraternal relations and diplomatic ties between China and Myanmar. Chinese and Myanmar artists performed cultural and martial arts at the reception. KUNMING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- A forest fire that has lasted for almost two days has been brought under control in southwest China's Yunnan Province, government authorities said Sunday. More than 2,000 people fought the blaze, which broke out around 2:40 p.m. Friday in a remote village in Yulong County. The fire was largely under control, with helicopters used to extinguish the remaining fire points in the forest as of 7:30 a.m. Sunday. One house in the village was burned down, and no casualties have been so far. Local forest police investigating the cause of the fire have offered a cash reward of 50,000 yuan (7,300 U.S. dollars) for information. OUAGADOUGOU, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Burkina Faso has achieved 95.84 percent of its targeted tax incomes recovery over 2016, tax authority disclosed here on Friday. "In 2016, we recovered 617.39 billion CFA Francs (1.006 billion U.S. dollars) out of an overall objective of 644.20 billion CFA Francs (1.05 billion dollars) representing 95.84 percent of the achievement rate," Adama Badolo, tax authority general director, said in an opening speech of a meeting that marks the beginning of a new fiscal year in the West African country. Adama said several coordinated actions including the mobilization and commitment of agents, services organization and flat fees for properties mutation have enabled the outstanding achievement. For the year 2017, the tax authority has planned a 720.69 billion CFA Francs (1.174 billion U.S. dollars) recovery for an overall 1,438.27 billion CFA Francs (2.34 billion U.S. dollars) targeted. BRUSSELS, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Richard Fournaux, Belgium's mayor of Dinant, a city 90 km to the south of the capital Brussels, spoke highly of China's opening-up policy and congratulated China on its efforts made in dealing with environmental challenges. "It's so exceptional to see how such a large country with a large population has been managed with so many success, by not only keeping your own political characteristics but also by turning your country toward modernity and the opening to the world," Fournaux told Xinhua in an interview on Friday. "I hope this openness to the world will develop further and more and more Chinese people will come to discover Europe and its cities like ours," he added. Among climate change's victims, China, the world's largest developing country, took a bold step to pledge 3 billion U.S. dollars in 2015 to help other developing countries. A year later, it played a decisive role in the eventual delivery of a global climate change accord in Paris. Fournaux noted that Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out in Davos of Switzerland that it was not a matter of signing a document but that it had to be implemented. "I think your country (China) could be an extraordinary example thanks to the new technologies and the extraordinary efforts you are making," the 53-year-old mayor told Xinhua. China "may set an example for the old European countries that everything can be done to preserve the environment while at the same time to achieve economic development." The Belgian mayor is keen on establishing communications between Chinese community and his own city. Dinant, a small French-speaking city with only 13,000 inhabitants, is currently in a mood of preparing for the celebrations of the Chinese lunar New Year with a series of functions. On Jan. 29, 2017, the second day of the Chinese New Year, a Festival Parade will arrive for the first time in the downtown of the southern city.About 250 artists including musicians, dancers and dragons-show teams will be performing at the rendezvous. As the hometown of Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone, groups of saxophonists will join the Chinese performers, to play in the parade, making the public discover the florets of the traditional arts of Belgium as well as that of China. One of the objectives of this operation is to connect Dinant companies with Chinese representatives in Belgium. "On this occasion of the Chinese New Year in Dinant, there is also a small collaboration with the Walloon Region," Fournaux announced. The mayor also invited President Xi to come to Dinant and have a try of its culinary specialty, including beer and cheese. "I have a proposal to Chinese President Xi Jinping: I have seen in television that in Davos he was discovering the Swiss cheese with great interests and I must remind the president that Belgium is also the country of beer, Leffe," said Fournaux. "And one of the culinary traditions of the city of Dinant is to taste a warm cheese when you drink with a good glass of Leffe. And so I find that Mr. President should come to Dinant to taste the culinary specialty," he said. KABUL, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Taliban outfit has asked the new U.S. administration to review its policy in Afghanistan and withdraw all the foreign forces from the insurgency-plagued country, a local news agency reported on Sunday. "The Taliban militants group in Afghanistan has asked President Donald Trump to review the Afghanistan policy and not to follow the previous approaches," Kaama Press said in a report. Taliban group in a statement received by the news agency warned that, "Violence in Afghanistan will continue if the Trump administration continued to follow the approaches of the previous U.S. administrations led by Obama and George Bush." The war in Afghanistan begun with the invasion of the U.S.-led coalition forces against Taliban regime, accused of harboring the then al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of 9/11 attacks in late 2001. Taliban militants fighting the Afghan government and the U.S.-led coalition forces stationed in Afghanistan believe that the conflict in their country will not end unless and until all the foreign forces leave the country. U.S. President Donald Trump, after taking oath on Friday, has spoke by video link with American forces stationed in Afghanistan and hailed their mission in fighting terrorism in the country. BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Major reform of China's anti-corruption system will close the gaps in supervision and streamline investigation processes. China announced late last year that it was setting up a state supervisory commission to merge agencies and departments involved in anti-corruption work. Beijing, and the provinces of Shanxi and Zhejiang are piloting the reform. Provincial commissions will be set up by March and grassroots branches by June. Commission directors have already been elected by local people's congresses. The new commission integrates the supervision department and corruption prevention bureau, along with divisions handling bribery, dereliction of duty and prevention of duty crime. Wang Yukai with the Chinese Academy of Governance said the commission chiefs were already the heads of local commissions for discipline inspection. Other top posts will be occupied by senior members of local commissions for discipline inspection and relevant procuratorates' leading officials. The two commissions will share office space and consolidate party and state work in fighting corruption and strengthening the rule of law. Lyu Xiaodong, a local anti-graft commission member in Zhejiang Province expects the new body to deal with non-party members who are not under the jurisdiction of the CPC watchdog. Beijing's supervision department director Li Zhenqi said the new commission will expand oversight to cover anyone who exercises public power, even without a governmental post, including villagers' committees, local people's congresses, public hospitals and schools. "The reform closes the gaps in graft supervision," said Lyu. "All people holding public posts will be subject to the commission's authority." China stepped up anti-corruption work after the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012. More than four years on, the top leadership announced that the battle against corruption had gained "crushing momentum." In 2016, a total of 48 former provincial-level officials were prosecuted. The Chinese Academy of Governance's Wang said the commission will both investigate and impose penalties, with powers of surveillance, and the rights to summon suspects and witnesses for interrogation, restrict movement and freeze assets. Vice president of the China University of Political Science and Law Ma Huaide said the fact that the commissions will absorb some procuratorate functions will help in their investigations. A database of all public employees will soon be established, the scope for passing information on to authorities increased, and inspection teams sent out routinely to give the new institute more teeth. Member of Beijing municipal people's congress Liu Weilin said that based on the experiences of the pilot, changes will be required to several national laws. State supervision legislation is currently under consideration by the National People's Congress. A system of checks and balances will ensure members of the commission stay clean themselves, answering to the people's congresses. KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- A total of six insurgents have been killed and 12 others sustained injuries as aircrafts of Afghan government forces raided Taliban positions in the northern Kunduz province on Sunday, army spokesman in the province Ghulam Hazrat Karimi said. People take part in the Women's March in New York City to protest against U.S. President Donald Trump in Manhattan, New York, the United States on Jan. 21, 2017. At least 200,000 crowd gathered near Trump Tower in Manhattan for the Women's March on New York City. (Xinhua/Wang Ying) WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- It seems surreal but in fact real: U.S. President Donald Trump spends his first full day in office on Saturday denying his feud with the CIA, ignoring the massive protests against him, and blasting the media over lessening his inaugural crowd. The fights greatly overshadowed the new president's three diplomatic moves announced in the day: to eradicate "radical Islamic terrorism," to host British Prime Minister Theresa May as first visiting foreign leader on Thursday, and to meet with his Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto on Jan. 31. At the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, Trump described radical Islamic terrorism as "evil" unseen before and should be "eradicated just off the face of the Earth." "We gonna end it. It's time. It's time right now to end it," Trump told hundreds of CIA staff, offering no details of his plan. However, public attention was diverted when he quickly turned to attack the U.S. media over their reports about his inaugural crowd size and his feud with the intelligence community. At the CIA headquarters, he scolded the U.S. media as "the most dishonest people" by reporting his feud with the intelligence agencies, although he previously slapped them in public for leaking reports that Russia may have "compromising materials" about him. He further accused the media of lying about the number of people attending his inauguration on Friday. Earlier estimates put the crowd gathered for Trump's inauguration at about one-third the size of Obama's in 2009. "I get up this morning and I turn on one of the networks and they show an empty field. I said wait a minute, I made a speech, I looked out, the field was, it looked like a million, a million and a half people. They showed a field where there were practically nobody standing there," he told the CIA staff. "So, we caught" the media, Trump said, "and we caught them in beauty. And I think they're going to pay a big price." Hours later, White House spokesman Sean Spicer used his first official appearance in the press briefing room to criticize the U.S. media for the coverage of Trump's inauguration crowd, blasting their reports on the crowd size as "shameful and wrong." "This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, both in person and around the globe," Spicer said, despite photos and video showing much fewer people assemble on the National Mall for Trump's inauguration than for Obama's in 2009. Photos comparing the two inaugurations side-by-side on social media were "intentionally framed in a way to minimize support" for the new president, said Spicer. He did not take questions from reporters. Both Trump and his spokesman have so far remained silent to the widespread anti-Trump protests held across the United States and parts of the world on Saturday. Large turnouts were reported in Washington, Boston, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles in a powerful display of rejection of Trump's agenda, and of what the organizers said his insulting attitudes toward women. Similar marches were held in Paris, London, Sydney and some other major cities in the West. More than 2.5 million Americans joined the protests across the country, reported TheHill news daily, which cited a review of official and unofficial estimates from U.S. largest cities. In New York, Bridget Mills, a 41-year-old protester, told Xinhua: "I hope it sends a message (to Trump) that we're listening, we are paying attention to if he cares morally about people's civil rights and America's standing in the world." Elizabeth Moore, a protester from New Haven, Connecticut, said: "I am very, very concerned about the next four years. I think we have a lot of rights that are going to be trampled on under the Trump administration." "His bigotry and his views toward women are extremely troubling to me," she added. KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- A total of six insurgents have been killed and 12 others sustained injuries as aircrafts of Afghan government forces raided Taliban positions in the northern Kunduz province on Sunday, army spokesman in the province Ghulam Hazrat Karimi said. "The aircrafts of government forces stormed the enemies hideouts in Hazrat Sultan locality in the outskirt of provincial capital the Kunduz city early today killing six Taliban rebels on the spot and injuring 12 others," Karimi told reporters here. He said the strikes against militants would continue in the area. Taliban militants are yet to make comment on the situation. KABUL, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- At least 41 militants were killed and 25 others injured after Afghan army, police and intelligence agency personnel launched wide-scale operations against insurgents' hideouts within the past 24 hours, said a statement of Afghanistan's Defense Ministry Sunday. "During the past 24 hours, Afghan National Defense and Security Forces conducted joint offensive operations in order to protect lives and properties of people, also defeating the insurgents in different parts of the country that as a result, 41 insurgents killed and 25 others wounded," the ministry said in a statement. The joint forces also discovered and confiscated rounds of light and heavy ammunition during the raids launched in Kapisa, Uruzgan, Kandahar, Kunduz and Helmand provinces, the statement added. In addition, four militants were killed after the suicide vest they were building exploded accidentally in a village in Dasht-e-Archi District, northern Kunduz province late on Saturday, Mahfozullah Akbari, police spokesman in northern zone, told Xinhua earlier on Sunday. The Taliban militant group has yet to make comments. DHAKA, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The grand prayer at the three-day Muslim congregation called Biswa Ijtema was held in Bangladesh Sunday morning, seeking divine blessings and welfare of all mankind. The 34-minute long grand prayer took place on the bank of the Turag river at Tongi, some 25 km north of Bangladesh capital Dhaka. The event led by renowned Indian Islamic scholar Mawlana Saad, which sought divine blessings, stability and welfare of all mankind, marked the end of the largest annual congregation of Muslims after holy Hajj in Saudi Arabia. The first phase of the congregation, a spiritual gathering where religious sermons and prayers are preached by Islamic scholars, ended on Jan. 15. The second phase began Friday at the same venue as the first one. The congregation has been held in two phases since 2011 to avoid rush of pilgrims. The Ijtema venue and its adjoining areas reverberated with the word "Amin," repeatedly uttered by devotees raising their hands together in the Akheri Munajat, or the concluding prayer, that started at about 11:10 a.m. local time. The organizers have put up loud speakers several kilometers away from the venue so that devotees could join the grand prayer. To ensure safety of the devotees, thousands of members of law-enforcing agencies have been deployed in the five-layered security net in and around 60-hectare Ijtema ground, the main venue of the congregation. Hundreds of local and foreign clerics spoke during the three-day congregation. The main sermons were given in Bangla, Hindi and Urdu but later explained in other languages. To attend the grand prayer, hundreds of thousands of local devotees from far and wide of the country streamed down into the Ijtema ground on Sunday morning, as buses, trains and all other modes of transport carried thousands of people wearing white punjabi (Muslim's traditional suit for male) and white caps to Tongi. Organizers do not maintain any list of devotees, but they guess the number of devotees would not be less than several millions this year. Ijtema forbids political speeches and encourages prayers for harmony and world peace. During the three-day congregation, devotees pray, discuss the holy Quran and receive instruction from religious scholars. Enditem by Deng Qian, Zhang Miao, Jeremy Allan Hawkins DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- "I have full trust and full confidence in China and its leadership, the Five-Year Plan exactly addresses the right things," Joe Kaeser, German conglomerate company Siemens President and CEO, has said in a recent interview with Xinhua. "The global economic growth is going to be 2.6 percent to 2.7 percent, and then China grows maybe between 6.5 and 7 percent. I mean this is actually good," Kaeser commented during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Swiss ski resort of Davos. China's economy grew 6.7 percent year on year in 2016, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data showed Friday. The NBS said the figure indicated "a good start" for the country's goal of achieving at least 6.5-percent annual growth during the 13th Five-year Plan period (2016-2020). Kaeser, however, pointed out the challenges that China will face are the Chinese reforms that now bring China from a more developing economy to a leading, first-class digital economy in the manufacturing powerhouse of the world. "It means that you need to make reforms on the tail-end of technology, like mining, steel, ship building and cement which have passed the life cycle and which need structural reforms," he noted. "This is necessary so that you can add innovation on the front-end of technology." The CEO said it is quite challenging because there are so many people who are in those jobs, and they need to be retrained for the next generation of new technology. He recalled that Germany also went through such a cycle in the 1950s and 1960s, when some smaller provinces, which depended 100 percent on coal and steel, had to go through this transition. "We retrained people. We did a lot of things. So if you want to come on over, we'd be happy to share the experience on how this transition has been made smoothly," Kaeser said. He noted that the difference between the two countries lies in national condition. "The only one challenge you have is that China is 100 times bigger than our small province. But I think I have the full confidence in China that the 13th Five-year Plan is just exactly right on and now it's about execution." Siemens has long history to supply various services, including industrial automation, building technologies, drive technology, energy, health care and mobility. "We are very eager to bring modern manufacturing software to Chinese manufacturing so they are more efficient, high quality and high scale," Kaeser said. Photo taken on Oct. 16, 2016 shows South Sudan's government troops patrolling in Malakal town, South Sudan. Fresh clashes between government and opposition forces near the northern town of Malakal have killed at least 56 over the weekend, a military spokesman said late Sunday. (Xinhua/Gale Julius) JUBA, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- As political and logistical constraints continue to delay the much-awaited deployment of the regional protection force (RPF), experts say that the force would help war-torn South Sudan regain lost confidence and credibility. South Sudanese President Salva Kiir's officials in the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) formed last April, have been sending mixed reactions on the RPF, since the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) issued resolution 2,304 in August last year, allowing deployment of more than 4,000 troops to beef up the existing 13,000 UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) force. Minister of Information Michael Makuei told Xinhua that the December 15, 2016 deadline for the deployment of the African peacekeepers in the capital Juba had expired. "We have proved beyond reasonable doubt that Juba and its surrounding environment is safe," Makuei said, adding that a new UN Security Council resolution is needed for the deployment to happen. Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) wait to be airlifted to the South Sudanese Northern State of Eastern Nile, in Juba, capital of South Sudan, Jan. 7, 2017. (Xinhua/Gale Julius) South Sudan in November accepted the deployment of the RPF after vehemently rejecting several requests by the UNSC. However, Majak D'Agoot, former Deputy Defense Minister said the deployment of the RPF was still eminent given the fragile environment in the country and warning by UN of looming genocide. "We were the first to call for the RPF. The political context of the deployment of the RPF was to prevent the escalation of the conflict and possible collapse of the (peace) agreement," he told Xinhua. "Unfortunately, there was inaction and delay in deploying the force. This has changed the political context of deploying the RPF. Unless there is a clear political strategy that accompanies the deployment of this force, it might as well end up as a tool for consolidating Pax Salvatica," he noted. Pax Salvatica is an acronym coined by critics to mean the political alliance between President Kiir and exiled rebel leader Riek Machar's former chief negotiator Taban Deng Gai who replaced the latter as first vice president, in the aftermath of violent renewed July clash in Juba last year. "As initially envisaged, the RPF should generate multipliers for peace and stability in the country rather than being hijacked and used to undermine the restoration of peace in the country," Agoot added. Meanwhile, Head of Political Science department at Juba University Jacob Dut Chol told Xinhua that the impediment to the arrival of the RPF was in the ongoing smooth working relations between Kiir and his deputy Deng. Photo taken on Dec. 23, 2016 shows the United Nations Security Council voting on a draft resolution on South Sudan sanctions at the UN headquarters in New York. UN Security Council failed to adopt resolution on South Sudan sanctions on Friday. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) "Now the government and SPLA-in opposition (SPLA-IO) led by Deng are working in harmony, and if this continues then there may be no need for it (RPF)," he said. "There is understanding among the two leaders. It is unlikely there will be another fight like what happened to Machar," Chol said. He, however, added that there are some dissenting voices among South Sudanese, especially the political exiles, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees in neighboring countries whose confidence and hope of returning to the country lay in the deployment of the RPF. "However, there is need to have a certain number of RPF because there are people who think they will be secure with it in the country like the FDs, IDPs who would hope to return home," Chol observed. Juba-based Ebony Center for Strategic Studies Analyst James Alic Garang, said that outright rejection of RPF may be seen as sign of bad faith on the side of TGoNU, and that the government ought to accept and cooperate with RPF to fulfill its envisioned objective. He, however, conceded that the prevailing events in Juba might overshadow RPF deployment. "So much has changed that as each day goes by, urgency of having RPF diminishes. If rebel activities were to subside, then TGoNU is justified to argue against (RPF) deployment because the role of RPF would be obsolete," he revealed. The first batch of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers who had served in the United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan arrive at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, Nov. 9, 2016. The move comes after Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said Kenya's decision to withdraw from the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan was a protest against the violation of the dignity of Kenya's soldiers. About 900 more soldiers are expected back to the country. (Xinhua/Nyalwash) "In the end, a balance has to be struck. TGoNU should not actively campaign against RPF, but the international community should also weigh its option if the situation on the ground has changed considerably," Garang told Xinhua. Agoot added that the anxiety displayed by political class in Juba about RPF, was because they set the country on a dangerous course of ethnic warfare. "They abhor monitoring and accountability. Because of the inaction of the international community, they are getting emboldened to call the bluff of the world which is a dangerous development," he said. "Reasons for the (RPF) delay are reluctance of the Juba regime, geopolitics, logistics, etc. Yet, if the deployment was instant, South Sudan would achieve a certain level of stability by now," Garang added. BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- China is to host a United Nations meeting on fighting desertification in September, an official said Sunday. About 1,400 delegates from 195 parties to a UN special convention on desertification will gather in Ordos, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, from early to mid-September, said Zhang Yongli, deputy head of the State Forestry Administration, at a press conference. They will discuss national goals and action plans to realize zero net land degradation, whereby land degradation is either avoided or offset by land restoration, by 2030, Zhang told reporters. China's desertified area was reduced by 12,120 square kilometers from 2009 to the end of 2014, while its area of sandified land dropped 9,902 square kilometers during the period, official monitoring showed. According to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, 12 million hectares of land are lost to desertification every year across the globe and the figure could rise due to population growth, climatic pressure and unsustainable farming practices. BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- China's central bank injected 1.19 trillion yuan (around 170 billion U.S. dollars) this week to maintain market liquidity before the Lunar New Year holiday when demand for funds surges. The weekly injection through regular open market operations of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) was the largest in record. On Sunday alone, the central bank pumped 60 billion yuan into the money market via 14-day reverse repos and 28-day reverse repos, a process by which central banks purchase securities from banks with an agreement to sell them back in the future. The 14-day reverse repos were priced to yield 2.4 percent, while the 28-day reverse repos have a bid rate of 2.55 percent, according to a PBOC statement. The capital injection comes at a time of tight liquidity. Chinese companies typically pay salaries and bonuses before the holiday, which falls on Jan. 28 this year. People also traditionally exchange cash and gifts during the period. It is standard practice for the PBOC to inject large amounts of liquidity into the banking system ahead of the Lunar New Year. Otherwise, the increased demand for cash causes liquidity conditions to tighten significantly and interbank rates to surge during the holiday. On Sunday's interbank market, the benchmark overnight Shanghai Interbank Offered Rate (Shibor) fell to 2.189 percent, after rising for seven consecutive days. The seven-day Shibor rose to 2.607 percent, up 1.4 basis points, while the three-month Shibor climbed to 3.8301 percent, up 0.88 basis point. BANJUL, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Former Gambian President Yaya Jammeh left the capital city of Banjul Saturday night, giving way for Adama Barrow to return from Senegal's Dakar and assume power as the West African country's third president since independence in 1965. The longtime ruler of the tiny West Africa country left with dozens of his ex-government members, security officials and family members, including his Moroccan wife and son. Guinean President Alfa Conde, Mauritanian President Abdul Aziz and U.N. chief for West Africa Mohammad Ibn Chambas on Friday persuaded Jammeh to give up power and leave the country after more than 11 hours of talks at the State House. Jammeh, wearing his habitual white flowing robes, waved to supporters before boarding a small airplane heading to Guinea first, and then to Equatorial Guinea, where he would remain in exile. A few hundred of relatives and supporters who came to see Jammeh to set off broke into tears at the Banjul airport. "We will never forget this man," said Abdou Njie. "He's our hero. Some people don't like him but I know what he's done for us". "I am quite emotional today," said another supporter, Ousman Badjan. "What he's done is what is best for the country. He did it for us". However, Famara Jatta has a different feeling. "This is a victory for freedom," he said. "We've been living under dictatorship for 20 years. That's a long time. Our brothers and sisters are in exile and cannot come back because of Yaya Jammeh. They are Gambians." Jammeh plunged his country, known as the Smiling Coast of West Africa, into a political crisis, after rejecting the presidential election result in December which declared Adama Barrow as president. Two ECOWAS mediation efforts had failed. Senegal-led ECOWAS troops were then deployed at the border with Gambia, waiting for an order to remove Jammeh by force had Friday's talks fail. Before leaving the country, Jammeh appeared on TV on Friday to announce that he was relinquishing power "in the supreme national interest of Gambia." After his departure, life soon returns to the capital of Banjul, which has been a ghost city for the past 72 hours. Shops and businesses are open again and people have returned to the streets. The military no longer patrols the streets of the capital. by Peter Mertz DENVER, United States, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Cars and people kept coming in, filling downtown Denver's streets beyond what event organizers had imagined. "Republicans, Democrats, gays, straights, blacks, whites, Latinos, Asians -- and a 3-million majority of Americans -- are here to say, "Go to hell, Donald Trump," Olivia Grace, 25, a local kindergarten teacher, told Xinhua. Grace was one of thousands of protesters who appeared in downtown Denver on Saturday, not just marching to support the Women's March, but to denounce the newly inaugurated 45th president of the United States. "Besides our loathing of Trump, we're here to bring attention to reproductive rights, the proposed rollback of (former President Barack) Obama's health care law, and for equal pay for men and women," Delores Keen, 57, an accountant, told Xinhua. More than 2 million Americans nationwide participated in Saturday's Women's March, but the focus of the event shifted quickly onto the new president, who was inaugurated just a day earlier. "History shows a lunatic tries to become president every century or so," said Rhonda Styles, 23, a history major at the University of Colorado, as the massive crowd behind her chanted, "Chump Change." "James Blain tried in the 1880s, but he was defeated two times," Styles said. "Trump succeeded because he rigged the election, and the media is so lame it let him get away with it. Kiss our democracy goodbye," she said. Streets in downtown Denver were overwhelmed in hours -- clogged with a crowd that mushroomed to almost 200,000 people, one of the largest protests in Denver history. Local media estimated the crowd was larger than the 2016 Denver Bronco's Super Bowl victory celebration, considered the largest in the city's history. Crowds started pouring into Denver's Civic Center Park shortly after sunrise on Saturday, quickly filling the area with signs, placards, and chants demonizing the inauguration of Trump. "Love Trumps Hate," was a sign seen by many who attended the march. Organizers said, their targets were to "support social justice, human rights and equality, and to demonstrate that we will be vigilant in protecting these rights moving forward." Denver police reported three arrests during the massive rally, and said none were related to the march. Eleanora Brown travelled to Denver from Fort Collins, about 65 miles (110 km) away, to attend the march with her three granddaughters, who were dressed in red, white and blue, and waving American flags. "I want my little granddaughters to know that we can march against an obnoxious, belligerent tyrant, even if he is the president of our great nation," Brown said. JALALABAD, Afghanistan, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Six militants loyal to the Islamic State (IS) group were killed after unmanned plane targeted their hideouts in Achin district of Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province Saturday night, spokesman for provincial government Attaullah Khogiani said Sunday. According to the official, four of those killed in the raid were foreign nationals. The official, however, did not reveal the nationalities of the killed foreign insurgents. U.S. drones usually target militants' hideouts in Afghanistan. Nangarhar province with Jalalabad as its capital 120 km east of Kabul has been the scene of IS activities over the past nearly two years. A new concealed firearm bill proposed early in North Dakotas 2017 legislative session could have significant impact on law enforcement. Republican lawmakers have proposed a bill to allow gun owners over age 21 to conceal and carry without a permit in North Dakota. Rep. Rick Becker, R-Bismarck, introduced legislation earlier this month to allow people who are at least 21 years old to carry "any firearm or dangerous weapon concealed unless otherwise prohibited by law." Lt. B.J. Maxson with the Grand Forks County Sheriffs Office said he is neutral on the bill, but noted his biggest concern would be for the well-being of officers and the public. You always have to think of officer safety, he said. Current concealed weapons laws are on the books for a reason, Maxson said. North Dakota offers Class 1 and Class 2 licenses for carrying a concealed weapon. Class 1 licenses are recognized by 39 states and are for people who are at least 21. Class 2 licenses, recognized by 25 states, can be obtained by people who are at least 18, according to the North Dakota attorney general's website. There are 48,700 active concealed weapons licenses in North Dakota, according to the attorney generals office. Of those, 10,439 are Class 1 and 38,261 are Class 2. Officers are trained to ask people who are stopped if they have any weapons, Maxson said. Theyre also trained to anticipate if there may be weapons on a person or in a vehicle. He said concealed weapon licenses in North Dakota come up when officers run a drivers license. The most important thing for officers is having as much information as possible. The bills sponsor said it would not affect officers. "This doesn't increase the risk or danger for police officers at all," Becker told Forum News Service. The legislation, House Bill 1169, has not yet been voted upon. Soldiers of pro-government militia are pictured in Aleppo, Syria, on Dec. 11, 2016. (Xinhua/Yang Zhen) DAMASCUS, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Syria's Prime Minister Imad Khamis said Sunday that his government is serious about the imminent Syrian talks in Astana, noting that Damascus welcomes any initiative to restore peace, according to pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV. Khamis's remarks came as the Syrian delegation to the inter-Syrian Astana meeting flew on Sunday to the Kazakh capital to take part in the Monday meeting, which will put the government delegation with the rebels face to face for the first time in the country's nearly six-year-old conflict. The prime minister said the priority of the meeting is to kick the foreign terrorists out of Syria. He noted that the talks will be completely Syrian-Syrian without mediators. Khamis said his government welcomes any initiative that could be conducive in restoring peace and security to Syria. The talks in Astana are the result of a Russian-Turkish understanding, which started with a ceasefire in the country, which excluded terror-designated groups such as the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and the Islamic State (IS) group. A day earlier, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that establishing a ceasefire in Syria is the priority of the imminent Syrian negotiations in Astana. Assad said everything will be discussed in the talks slated for Jan. 23 in the Kazakh capital, and it must rely on the Syrian constitution. Assad said it was not clear yet whether the conference will tackle any political dialogue, noting that it wasn't clear which parties will participate. He said the conference will be in the shape of negotiations between the government and the rebel groups to reach a ceasefire and allow the rebels to join the reconciliation deals with the government. MOGADISHU, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- A police boss and his bodyguard died on Saturday evening after a grenade attack blamed on Al-Shabaab militants in Jowhar town located in Somalia's Hirshabelle State. Abdi Hussein, the Deputy speaker of parliament representing Hirshabelle state in Jowhar town, confirmed to Xinhua on Sunday the death of the regional police boss named Khalif Abdulle Arfaye and his bodyguard. "Both the regional police boss and his bodyguard died after a grenade attack in his home by Al-Shabaab fighters. Three security officers sustained injuries and are recuperating in hospital," said Hussein. He added that Somali forces were in hot pursuit of Al-Shabaab militants who killed the regional police boss. Al-Shabaab spokesman confirmed fighters from the Al-Qaida linked terrorist group were behind the murder of the police boss and his bodyguard. Jowhar town is the administrative capital of Hirshabelle State in Somalia and it is located 90 kilometers north of the capital Mogadishu. The region has not been experiencing attacks from Al-Shabaab in the recent past. BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Trips made via China's expressways are expected to increase 8 to 10 percent during the week-long Spring Festival holiday, which starts on Jan. 27, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) said on Sunday. From Jan. 27 to Feb. 2, small passenger cars will be exempt from toll fees on expressways nationwide, putting traffic pressure on expressways during holidays, said the MOT. Expressways in certain areas, including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei Province, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta, will see traffic congestion during the period, according to the MOT. Spring Festival, or the Chinese lunar new year, is the most important occasion for family reunions, placing a tremendous strain on trains, planes and automobiles, and leaving train tickets in scarce supply. About 2.98 billion trips are expected to be made during "chunyun," the Spring Festival travel rush that lasts from Jan. 13 to Feb. 21, up slightly from a year ago, the National Development and Reform Commission said last week. The phrase "chunyun," which means "spring transport," was first coined by the media in 1954 to describe heavy traffic around Spring Festival, according to China Railway Corp. archives. by Will Koulouris SYDNEY, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States on Friday, raising questions about what impact his presidency will have around the globe, including here in Australia. The rise of Trump has led to uncertainty, with his rhetoric suggesting the possibility of a trade war and other protectionist measures. Tom Switzer, senior fellow of the United States Study Center in Sydney, told Xinhua that Australia should and will continue following the United States on policy, but should ensure the relationship does not affect Australian interests. Not all view the Australia-U.S. relationship in the same way, however, with James Laurenceson, deputy director of the Australia-China Relations Institute, told Xinhua he does not follow the view that Australia always follows the United States. "Look at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. We were under pressure from the United States not to join that, we joined it. When it comes to trade deals, we are heavily in favor of RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) and a free trade area championed by China. We want that too," Laurencenson said. "The truth is that we follow our own national interests. So in each case we are going to weigh up those interests." Australian Senator Nick Xenophon told Xinhua that, although he feels hesitant on Trump and said he'd "get my mate Bruno the Bobcat operator to dig a big hole in my backyard to use as a bunker during his presidency," the rise of Australian senator Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party, which likens itself to Trump and the Brexit movement, is worrisome. Hanson, an outspoken far-right senator, caused a stir with her ultra-conservative views on immigration and multiculturalism. She proved to be a highly controversial figure during her first stint in the House of Representatives from 1996-1998, often claiming that Australia was at risk of being "swamped by Asians." "Unlike One Nation, I believe immigration has been a tremendous net benefit to this country," Xenophon said, adding that Hanson's remarks 20 years ago were "wrong and offensive on so many levels." Former Federal Labor Party leader, Mark Latham, is concerned not only about the direction that One Nation is taking in the Australian electorate, but also a general trend of "identity politics" sweeping the nation. He told Xinhua that Australia has "always suffered when we blindly follow United States military adventurism," and are refusing to see what is before them. "All they can see is identity, and it renders them useless on global policy," Latham said. Latham is closely watching what exactly the stance of the Trump administration would be and how it would react to the ongoing issues in the Asia-Pacific region. The Australian federal government is allaying any concern however, with a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Julie Bishop telling Xinhua that Australia will work with the incoming Trump administration, whilst still engaging in its trade commitments. "Australia has an alliance with the United States based on common interests and values and will work closely and constructively with the Donald Trump Administration across all areas. This includes offering our perspectives on strategic and economic opportunities and challenges that affect our interests in the Indo-Pacific," the spokesperson said. "We are strongly supportive of an open trading system and remain committed to the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership). We will continue to champion the benefits of free trade for all economies." BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, will head a new central commission for integrated military and civilian development, according to a decision by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on Sunday. The decision was made at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, which was chaired by Xi. The commission will be the central agency tasked with decision-making, deliberation and coordination of major issues regarding integrated military and civilian development. The commission will report to the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. Attendees at the meeting also heard a report on the work of leading Party groups of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), the State Council, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee. In a statement released after the meeting, the political bureau called for efforts to uphold the authority of the CPC Central Committee with comrade Xi Jinping as the core, adhere to its centralized and unified leadership, and fully implement major policies of the committee. The year ahead is an important year to implement the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) and supply-side structural reform. The top leadership called on the leading Party groups of the NPC Standing Committee, the State Council, the CPPCC National Committee, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate to follow new development concepts, fulfil their responsibility for strict governance of the Party, promote stable and healthy development of the economy and social stability and harmony. Attendees urged the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee to make policies to serve the overall situation, improve its working system and capability to solve practical problems so as to complete tasks given by the CPC Central Committee. ISTANBUL, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday there will be a change of system in the country rather than a change of regime, one day after Turkish parliament approved a bill that would change the current parliamentary system to a presidential one. "Even though some considers it as a change of regime, it has no relevance," the president was quoted by Turkish press as saying to reporters at Istanbul Ataturk Airport before departing for Tanzania. "This is a change of the system," Erdogan highlighted. The president also noted that the final decision will be given by the nation at the referendum, which is expected to be held in early April. "Even if the nation will approve the decision at the referendum, an immediate election is not an issue right after the approval," he also added there will be an electoral process. "We will go to an election again in 2019." Erdogan said the latest survey demonstrates that Turkish people lean on new system at a large extent. Turkey's shifting to a presidential system requires a simple majority, or 51 percent in the referendum. Turkish lawmakers approved the bill on 18-article constitutional changes in a final vote early Saturday as a total of 339 legislators voted for and 142 against. RAMALLAH, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian presidency condemned Sunday the approval of Israeli authorities to build more settlement housing units in east Jerusalem and called for the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution on settlements. Palestinian President Spokesperson Nabil Abu Rideinha said in a press statement published by the official Palestinian news Agency (WAFA) that the Israeli decision comes in defiance of the Security Council, especially after resolution 2334 that has affirmed the illegality of settlements. Abu Rudeinah called on the Security Council to move promptly, abiding by resolution 2334 "to put an end to the extremist Israeli government policy that is seeking to destroy the two state solution." The presidential spokesperson said that the leadership is going to start communication with Arab and friendly countries to move in the Security Council to stop Israel from acting as a country above the law. The Israeli public radio reported Sunday that the district committee of settlement at the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem has approved the contraction of 566 housing units for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem. The radio reported that there are nearly 11,000 new units pending approval in different areas in Jerusalem. This Israeli move came only two days after U.S. President Donald Trump was officially sworn into office. Member of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee Ahmad Majdalani said "this Israeli decision comes to test the seriousness of the new American administration with regards to settlements and the extent to which it would pull a diplomatic and political cover for the Israeli government's settlement construction policy." Majdalani stressed the importance of respecting UN resolutions legitimacy and the implementation of the recent anti -settlement decision 2334. On Dec. 23, the UNSC voted in favor of a resolution that condemns Israeli settlements and calls on Israel to halts its settlement activity in the Palestinian territories. The issue of Jewish settlements in the West Bank was deemed illegal by many world powers, including the United States, China and the European Union and has contributed to the stalling of the peace process. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel in 1967, as the capital of their future state, while Israel says all of Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the state of Israel. NAIROBI, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's foreign envoys on Sunday called for free, fair and credible general elections as the East African nation's gears for a tightly contested polls in August. In a joint statement issued in Nairobi, the envoys from 25 foreign nations said political parties have a responsibility to hold their members accountable to pursuing peaceful, issue-based, and corruption-free campaigns. The envoys from the United States, the European Union, Germany, France, Canada, Britain and Denmark among others, said free, fair, peaceful, and credible elections will help secure the extraordinary promise of the 2010 Constitution, strengthen democracy, and advance prosperity for all Kenyans. "We urge the national and county governments, political parties, security services, and all Kenyans to embrace inclusive political discourse while rejecting violence and those individuals who call for it," they said. The Western nations cautioned that mishandling the electoral process is likely to reignite the sort of violence witnessed in 2007-2008 when a dispute between former presidential candidate Mwai Kibaki and ex-prime minister Raila Odinga almost drove the country into civil conflict. The envoys said the upcoming elections will be an important milestone for Kenya, adding that development partners have committed 85 million U.S. dollars to support the election process, all of it in the form of non-partisan assistance and at the request of the Kenyan government. "To be clear, this help is not programmed to influence the election for any side, political party, or candidate. Rather, our assistance supports the Kenyan people to exercise their right to vote and have their voice heard. Kenyans alone will decide who is elected," they said. "This means having safeguards that help us prevent political violence despite robust competition and sometimes heated debate. It means building strong institutions and a deep commitment to our Constitutions, whether written or unwritten," they said. The envoys said security services, have a vital role in protecting the rights of all Kenyans, remaining politically neutral and respecting human rights, including during political demonstrations. "Fair competition will strengthen Kenya's reputation as a beacon of democracy in Africa. However, if these elections do not reflect the democratic choices of Kenyans, they could bring the country's progress to a halt or plunge it back into ethnic conflict," the envoys said. The envoys lauded the approval of the new commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and called on all Kenyans to support them to ensure they preside over a credible election. They also urged the commission to be transparent in its operations as a way of fostering public trust. "Both the IEBC Commissioners and Secretariat need support from across the political spectrum to move forward quickly with election preparations, including voter registration and education, an audit of the voters' registry, and procurement of technology. Each step of the way, we encourage the IEBC to engage widely and communicate publicly what it is doing," they said.. The electoral agency which currently is conducting mass voter registration exercise has assured Kenyans the ongoing voter registration exercise will be conducted in a prudent manner. Kenya's major political parties are mobilizing their supporters to participate in the final voter registration exercise ahead of August polls. Both President Uhuru Kenyatta and his rivals in the opposition hare currently been crossing the country as they lead nationwide campaigns to encourage their supporters to acquire a voter's card. TEHRAN, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Iran said it will "act appropriately" if the U.S. President Donald Trump chooses to "tear up" the Iranian nuclear deal signed in 2015 between Iran and six world powers, Press TV reported on Sunday. "We can very easily snap back and go back ... not only to where we were, but a much higher position, technologically speaking," head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Ali Akbar Salehi, was quoted as saying. The Iranians do not want the day when nuclear deal is broken apart, "but we are prepared" for that day, Salehi said. Trump has repeatedly criticized the Iran nuclear deal during his campaign last year, calling it "the worst deal ever negotiated." He also suggested that he would force Iran to return to the negotiating table or risk the accord being dismantled. Iran and six world major countries, namely the United States, Britain, China, Russia, France and Germany, reached an agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue in July 2015 that puts Tehran on the path of sanctions relief but more strict limits on its nuclear program. ISTANBUL, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police on Sunday caught a man who is believed to be responsible for the three attacks within 24 hours in Istanbul, local media reported. The suspect, who attacked Istanbul Police headquarters and a building of ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) with flame throwers on Friday evening, was detained in northwestern city of Tekirdag, Hurriyet reported. He is also believed behind the armed attack at Istanbul police on Saturday, according to the press reports. There were no causalities reported at the attacks. The gunman was identified as a member of the outlawed Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) and he is a Turkish citizen named Serif Turunc, Hurriyet daily noted. The DHKP-C is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United State and the European Union. RONEN ZVULUN/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington next month, the prime minister's office said Sunday, making the Israeli one of the first foreign leaders with whom Trump will have met after taking office. During a phone call on Sunday, one of Trump's first with a foreign leader since assuming the presidency Friday, Trump and Netanyahu discussed "the nuclear deal with Iran, the peace process with the Palestinians and other issues," Netanyahu's office said in a statement. Trump also invited the Israeli prime minister to visit Washington in February, with a final date to be determined in the coming days, the statement said. The call was the third Trump has held with a foreign leader since Friday, according to the White House. He previously spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Saturday. British Prime Minister Theresa May is scheduled to meet with Trump in the Oval Office on Friday -- which would be Trump's first meeting with a foreign leader -- and Pena Nieto is set to meet with Trump at the end of the month. Netanyahu and former President Barack Obama long had a frosty relationship, but Netanyahu has signaled he looked forward to working with Obama's successor. His office characterized their conversation as "warm." "There are many issues between us including the Israeli-Palestinian issue, the situation in Syria and the Iranian threat," Netanyahu tweeted Sunday, before the call. "Stopping the Iranian threat, and the threat reflected in the bad nuclear agreement with Iran, continues to be a supreme goal of Israel." Trump has said he would move the United States' embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which Israel considers its capital, a move Palestinians and Israel's other Arab neighbors have warned could prove destructive to the peace process. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Buffalo from the David Meyer ranches in North Dakota and South Dakota remain under quarantine following the illegal use of a poison used to kill prairie dogs. The quarantine includes about 900 buffalo that grazed in one small pasture of Meyers former Cannonball Ranch near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation as well as on the former Wilder Ranch to the south. The adult buffalo are under quarantine until September, though yearlings were released from the no-sale hold on Jan. 1. The situation dates to April, when six dead bald eagles and dead bison were discovered at the former Wilder Ranch. An Environmental Protection Agency-led investigation found that 40,000 pounds of Rozol poison had been illegally distributed across more than 5,400 acres on both ranches, according to EPA documents. Gregg Ryken, an auctioneer who sold 400 bison for top dollar Jan. 7 at a sale in nearby Selfridge, said he believes none of the animals belonged to Meyer, though one potential buyer said he held back from bidding because he couldnt be sure. The sale was listed by Ernie and Beverly Fischer, of Selfridge, who, in the past, have leased Meyers Cannonball Ranch for buffalo grazing and held a sale there a year ago. As recently as November, the Fischers told authorities 14 bison were missing or dead at the Cannonball Ranch, near where an anti-Dakota Access pipeline protest has been active since August. The deaths of those bison continue to be investigated by North Dakota Stockmens Association field man Steve Bay, a former Grant County sheriff. Bay said he believes all 14 were most likely butchered and their remains were found in the Cannonball Ranch pastures adjacent to the protest area west of N.D. Highway 1806. He said the dead bison belonged to both the Fischers and Meyer. Meyer did not return two calls for comment on this story. David Kam, whos working with the indigenous Free Nations group to start a buffalo sanctuary with the neighboring Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, said he had donations to buy up to 17 animals at the Fischer sale, but he was worried about possible Rozol contamination. Beverly Fischer said all the bison sold at the recent auction belonged to them, or to their cosigners, not to Meyer. Dave Meyer had no animals at Selfridge. Fischers have no animals at Cannonball Ranch. David Meyer owns all buffalo at the ranch. We have no interest there anymore. I can attest to the fact that our buffalo are healthy, Beverly Fischer said in a text message, adding that the Rozol-related quarantine was not her business. Ryken, the auctioneer, said he wrote only two checks after the bison auction one to the Fischers and one to a cosigner from Colorado. Im about 100 percent sure none of those animals were Meyers, he said. Meyer sold the Cannonball Ranch to Dakota Access Pipeline for a reported $18 million five months after the Rozol incident. The company bought the ranch to facilitate construction of the pipeline. Hundreds and at times thousands of protesters have demonstrated against the pipeline and have occupied nearby encampments. The EPA said responsibility for Rozol monitoring transfers with ownership. Documents show that only one 80-acre pasture was illegally laced with the Rozol on the Cannonball Ranch out of a bigger spread of about 7,000 acres. Nearly all was spread around various pastures at the former Wilder Ranch, where the dead eagles were documented. Instead of being applied into the prairie dog burrows, the bright blue poison pellets were broadcast on the ground, according to EPA findings. Dead prairie dogs were left where they died instead of being regularly removed to protect other wildlife. Dead bison were also found as recently as August, documents said. The poison causes animals to bleed to death. The EPA documents include an administrative order detailing the discovery of the poison, a clean-up plan and quarantine order, as well as notes from a follow-up interagency meeting in the fall. Meyer is identified as the responsible party and the agencys point of contact in the documents. The documents also note that Meyer did not have proper pesticide certification to apply the Rozol. Meanwhile, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service awaits lab results of whether the eagles definitively died of Rozol ingestion and federal charges could be brought in the matter, says agency investigator Rich Grosz. Bald eagles are protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, with a possible $100,000 fine and a years imprisonment for their death. The EPA ordered Meyer to till the Rozol into the soil and to monitor the area for dead animals. Because of concerns of human consumption of Rozol-infected meat, the order prevents Meyer from selling the adult bison until Sept. 1 and then only after consulting a veterinarian and the EPA. DUBAI, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The death sentence for a man who kidnapped, raped and murdered eight-year-old Jordanian expat in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been upheld by Dubai Court of Appeal on Sunday, Emirati daily The National reported. The boy's mother appeared in court on Sunday in order to learn about the outcome of the murder's appeal. When it was announced, she let out a sigh of relief as female friends and family hugged her. Nidal Ali, 48, from Jordan, kidnapped Obaida, a Jordanian, on May 20 last year while the boy was playing outside his father's garage in an industrial area in the emirate of Sharjah, north-east of Dubai. The boy's body was found two days later in Al-Warqa, Dubai. Ali admitted to drinking excessive amounts of alcohol that day and strangling the boy. But the culprit Ali denied sexual assault and kidnapping, claiming the boy went "willingly" into his car. Dubai's Attorney-General, Essam Eisa Al-Humaidan, called for the death penalty for Nidal Ali on June 15, 2016 and public prosecution granted the request there after. A psychological evaluation ruled out any mental illness of the prime suspect. In the UAE, capital punishment is usually executed by a firing squad. A general view shows the Israeli settlement of Ramot in an area of the occupied West Bank that Israel annexed to Jerusalem January 22, 2017. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) RAMALLAH, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian presidency condemned Sunday the approval of Israeli authorities to build more settlement housing units in east Jerusalem and called for the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution on settlements. Palestinian President Spokesperson Nabil Abu Rideinha said in a press statement published by the official Palestinian news Agency (WAFA) that the Israeli decision comes in defiance of the Security Council, especially after resolution 2334 that has affirmed the illegality of settlements. Abu Rudeinah called on the Security Council to move promptly, abiding by resolution 2334 "to put an end to the extremist Israeli government policy that is seeking to destroy the two state solution." The presidential spokesperson said that the leadership is going to start communication with Arab and friendly countries to move in the Security Council to stop Israel from acting as a country above the law. The Israeli public radio reported Sunday that the district committee of settlement at the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem has approved the contraction of 566 housing units for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem. The radio reported that there are nearly 11,000 new units pending approval in different areas in Jerusalem. This Israeli move came only two days after U.S. President Donald Trump was officially sworn into office. Member of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee Ahmad Majdalani said "this Israeli decision comes to test the seriousness of the new American administration with regards to settlements and the extent to which it would pull a diplomatic and political cover for the Israeli government's settlement construction policy." Majdalani stressed the importance of respecting UN resolutions legitimacy and the implementation of the recent anti -settlement decision 2334. On Dec. 23, the UNSC voted in favor of a resolution that condemns Israeli settlements and calls on Israel to halts its settlement activity in the Palestinian territories. The issue of Jewish settlements in the West Bank was deemed illegal by many world powers, including the United States, China and the European Union and has contributed to the stalling of the peace process. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel in 1967, as the capital of their future state, while Israel says all of Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the state of Israel. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks at a news conference near the United Nations General Assembly in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S., September 22, 2016. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) TEHRAN, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Iran said it will "act appropriately" if the U.S. President Donald Trump chooses to "tear up" the Iranian nuclear deal signed in 2015 between Iran and six world powers, Press TV reported on Sunday. "We can very easily snap back and go back ... not only to where we were, but a much higher position, technologically speaking," head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Ali Akbar Salehi, was quoted as saying. The Iranians do not want the day when nuclear deal is broken apart, "but we are prepared" for that day, Salehi said. Trump has repeatedly criticized the Iran nuclear deal during his campaign last year, calling it "the worst deal ever negotiated." He also suggested that he would force Iran to return to the negotiating table or risk the accord being dismantled. Iran and six world major countries, namely the United States, Britain, China, Russia, France and Germany, reached an agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue in July 2015 that puts Tehran on the path of sanctions relief but more strict limits on its nuclear program. BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- China on Sunday launched a 100 billion yuan (about 14.6 billion U.S. dollars) Internet investment fund. The Cyberspace Administration of China and Ministry of Finance fund will support Internet companies and the Internet Plus action plan via equity investment, according to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), one of the largest investors in the fund. The fund has already raised 30 billion yuan from state-owned banks and enterprises, including the ICBC, which invested 10 billion yuan. The ICBC, together with the China Development Bank and the Agricultural Bank of China, will provide financial services and 150 billion yuan of credit to enterprises that have attracted investment from the fund. The China Internet Network Information Center claims that China's Internet population has hit 731 million last year, with 695 million of them using mobile devices. NAIROBI, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan government said it will spend 10 million U.S. dollars on drugs to deworm over 6 million school-age children between six and 14 years old. The ministries of health and education will carry out the exercise to distribute drugs to treat children whether in school or out against intestinal worms and bilharzias, said a statement from the health ministry received on Sunday. Head of the Neglected Tropical Diseases Unit Dr. Sultani Matendechero said the team is already on the ground conducting advocacy and sensitization campaigns. Matendechero noted that teachers will be trained in the exercise which is open to pre-school children. "Pre-school children who are able to come for the drugs will not be sent back. There will be provision for them but their guardians will have to bring them over to schools where we will be conducting the exercise," he said. The campaign will be carried out in two phases. The first phase will commence on February 28 in 19 counties. Matendechero explained that the campaign aims at improving the performance of school going children and school attendance and reduce general worm load in the community since school-age children form approximately 25 percent of the population. "The campaign will therefore go a long way in helping Kenya progress toward meeting the global targets for elimination of worms," Matendechero said. Over 8 million tablets for intestinal worms and three million tablets for bilharzia which were donated by GlaxoSmithKline and the Merck Group (Merck KGaA) will be distributed in the affected areas. The Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), the END Fund and Evidence action will also support the drug distribution exercise. COTONOU, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- An art troupe from China's northwestern Gansu province elevated celebratory activities for the Rooster New Year in Benin's economic capital Cotonou. Chinese artists highlighted their performance with Chinese music, choreography and acrobatics as the west African country is organizing celebrations for the eighth time for the Chinese New Year. Hundreds of spectators, including the Chinese community, Beninese citizens and foreign diplomats, watched the show in the Palais des Congres of Cotonou. Wei Jun, cultural counselor to the China Embassy, said the performance of the Chinese art troupe is part of efforts to revitalize the cultural cooperation between China and Benin. He said it is an excellent example of cultural values being shared for mutual understanding and traditional friendship between the peoples of the two countries. According to Ange N'koue, Benin's Minister of Culture and Tourism, the friendship and cooperation between the two countries has reinforced a win-win partnership. "In that momentum, Benin always learns from the very important artistic and cultural heritage of the great China that has a quite impressive experience in cultural heritage management," he said. Paul Dossa, Beninese cultural operator, said he appreciated the whole cultural evening with the Chinese art troupe. "We greatly appreciated this cultural show that enabled, during at least two hours, the immersion of Cotonou people in the Chinese culture," Dossa told Xinhua. "This cultural evening gave us an opportunity to discover part of the Chinese culture and to get closer to Chinese people," he added. ARUSHA, Tanzania, Jan.22 (Xinhua) -- Police have seized one ton of marijuana in a crackdown operation carried out in northwestern Tanzania's district of Tarime, authorities said Sunday. Andrew Satta, Regional Police Commander (RPC) of the Tarime/Rorya Regional Special Police Zone, said that four people have been arrested for allegedly possessing one ton of marijuana in the area close to Tanzania-Kenya border. He said that the arrest is a result of crackdown operation aimed at nabbing marijuana farmers, traders, and users, which started on January 15. "In the operation, police seized more than 1,000 kilograms of cannabis, which was stored in bags and some in a godown which used to store foodstuffs as the perpetrators were working on how to take to the market," the regional police chief said. Satta said that during the operation, police cleared five hectares of marijuana farms in the district, which is one of the notorious for growing the illegal crop in Mara Region located in the eastern part of Lake Victoria. The RPC named the suspects will soon be taken to court so that legal action takes its course. He also appealed to join in the war against marijuana farming, transporting, selling and using the drugs. Mara is one of the Tanzania's key marijuana producing regions. Other regions in which the most cannabis is cultivated are Arusha, Morogoro, Iringa, Tabora, Rukwa, Ruvuma, and Tanga. ABUJA, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian leader Muhammadu Buhari has extended his "warmest greetings" to China, the Chinese community in Nigeria and the world over on the annual Spring Festival or Chinese lunar new year. Buhari, who noted the Spring Festival is the most important traditional festival for the Chinese, said the celebration emphasizes the concept of family and the opportunity of reunion, one he considered a shared value between his country and China. "It is an occasion of family reunion. Families will be coming together, often traveling many miles to revive great family values, reflect on the blessings of the past year and look forward with hope to the New Year," Buhari wrote in a statement released by his office on Sunday, adding he hoped the celebrations will be "undoubtedly fantastic." The "Year of Rooster", the theme of 2017 Chinese lunar year, will commence on Jan. 28. Going down the memory lane, China has made noteworthy achievements in the social and economic circles, the Nigerian leader said, pointing out that the East Asian nation has made simultaneous progress also in political, cultural and bioenvironmental areas, and has achieved average yearly economic growth far above the world's average, as well as taking the second place in the world's GDP ranking. Buhari expressed optimism in the strategic partnership between Nigeria and China, noting the two countries had reached a consensus to give full play to corresponding development strategies, strong economic complementarity, and enormous cooperative potential. China and Nigeria established diplomatic relations 46 years ago. BUJUMBURA, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Burundian parliament has rejected violations of human rights accusations by the European parliament, a statement from the Burundian parliament said Saturday evening. "The Burundian parliament regrets that the European parliament does not have an updated situation on the security and political situation in Burundi," Spokesman of the Burundian National Assembly Alexis Badian Ndayihimbaze said in the statement. He stressed that the situation of human rights "rather improved" countrywide. Ndayihimbaze indicated that the European parliament should send a delegation to Burundi and go to the field to eyewitness the "real situation" on human rights. "This would save the European parliament from reacting on lies propagated by enemies of peace in Burundi," Ndayihimbaze said. With regards to worries by the European parliament on the adoption, in Dec. 2016, by the Burundian parliament of the bill on non-profit organizations and the bill on foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), Ndayihimbaze indicated that the parliament is mandated to work on such bills because its assignments include controlling the government action and voting bills. The new bill on foreign NGOs provides for instance that each foreign NGO will pay 500 U.S. dollars in order to be authorized to work on the Burundian territory. The bill also provides that foreign NGOs will have to open a foreign currency account at the Burundi Central Bank, but will have to pay its staff in local currency in order to protect the Burundi franc (local currency). The recruitment of the staff of the foreign NGOs will have to take into account ethnic backgrounds, gender and competences of candidates in accordance with the Burundian constitution. CHENGDU, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- An official who shot the Party chief and mayor of Panzhihua city in southwest China's Sichuan Province earlier this month committed the shootings out of revenge, provincial police said Sunday. The shooting occurred on Jan. 4 when the suspect, Chen Zhongshu, who was the city's land and resources chief, shot at chief leaders of the city during during a meeting. Both victims, Party Chief Zhang Yan and Mayor Li Jianqin, sustained injuries but were discharged from hospital and resumed work, according to the statement. "Investigators gained sufficient evidence to conclude that Chen became hateful of an investigation against him and panicked. He committed the shooting for revenge," the statement said. In October 2016, a district procuratorate in Panzhihua found that Chen was implicated in a bribery case. He was suspected of receiving expensive gifts, the statement said. Further investigation by city prosecutors show Chen was suspected of other severe violations of law and Party discipline. His dossier had been handed to the city's discipline inspection commission before the shooting took place. On Jan. 4, Chen stormed into a meeting at a local conference and exhibition center, fired several shots at the chief leaders, before killing himself while in the center. NEW TOWN Extensive records from the Indian Claims Commission era from the late Minot attorney Jonathan C. Eaton Jr. is a highlight of three special collections of historical value at the Three Tribes Museum near New Town. Eaton, best known as Jock to family and friends, died Oct. 25, 2016. Marilyn Hudson, longtime administrator of the Three Tribes Museum, said Eaton and his wife, Betty, were good friends of the museum, visiting the facility and making a number of donations, including the Eaton collection, a large blue vase made by the Three Tribes Stoneware program in the 1960s, and a western painting. "Mr. Eaton liked everything connected with the American West," Hudson said. The Eaton collection and two others at the museum -- the Cross and Wilson collections -- are directly related to North Dakota history in general and to the Three Affiliated Tribes in particular, said Hudson. The Eaton collection comprises an extensive record of the aboriginal and treaty lands of all Indian tribes in North Dakota. It includes a sizable collection of maps needed to substantiate various tribal land claims for the Indian Claims Commission. In 1946, Congress created the Indian Claims Commission to hear and determine claims against the United States on behalf of any Indian tribe. The commission existed until April 10, 1957. During this time, tribes filed 852 claims with the commission. The Three Affiliated Tribes filed a number of land and accounting claims, which became known as Docket 350. Hudson said Eaton worked with the Washington-based law firm of Wilkinson, Cragun, Barker, Walker during their litigation of the claims filed by the Three Affiliated Tribes against the U.S. government for loss of lands, loss of buffalo, and more. A number of claims were settled in the 1980s. Betty Eaton said Hans Walker Jr., an attorney with that law firm, asked her husband to join in the work, and they all became friends. Walker, who was born on the Fort Berthold Reservation, died in 2015. The Cross collection focuses on tribal government in the 1940s and 1950s with emphasis on the Garrison Dam period, Hudson said. Hudson's father, Martin Cross, was chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes in the 1940s and 1950s. The Cross collection also includes the Indian Claims Commission, tribal attorney issues, the Eisenhower termination policy period and other federal-tribal relations. A record of the North Dakota Inter-Agency Council, the Governor's Interstate Council and National Congress of American Indians are part of this collection. She said the Wilson collection chronicles the modern history of the Three Affiliated Tribes and is primarily post-Garrison Dam era. "It has significant value for us here in North Dakota in that it has the continuity of (Dr. Herbert Wilson's) 45-year history with the people of Fort Berthold," she said. Included are studies of health matters as well as planning and maintaining a health care delivery system. After his long career as a physician on the Fort Berthold Reservation, Wilson and his wife, Lilian, moved to Bismarck, where they still reside. Several years ago the museum, through a State Historical Society of North Dakota Cultural Heritage Grant program, inventoried and did other work to document the three collections. Hudson said there is an interrelationship among the three collections, particularly between the Indian Claims era and the Garrison Dam era. "The original claims were filed during the 1940s at the same time negotiations were taking place for the Garrison Dam. However, these claims were not settled until the 1970s and early 1980s," Hudson said. She said Wilson's records provide an ongoing historical perspective of the Fort Berthold people after their relocation from the Missouri River valley. "These collections contain North Dakota history often overlooked by researchers and historians," Hudson said. She said also of special significance is the material on the construction of railroads and its impact on reservation lands. Hudson retired as administrator of the museum in 2015. The MHA Elders organization on the Fort Berthold now manages it. The museum is closed for the winter months, but will reopen in the spring. An Ethiopian dressed up as the Chinese God of Wealth (R front) hands out gifts for Chinese passengers during the special event held at the Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, Jan. 20, 2017. The Ethiopian Airlines has held a special event for Chinese nationals returning home for the Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival. This year's event, the third of its kind held late Friday at Bole International Airport in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, marked many activities to make the airport's Chinese travelers feel at home. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde) ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian Airlines has held a special event for Chinese nationals returning home for the Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival. This year's event, the third of its kind held late Friday at Bole International Airport in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, marked many activities to make the airport's Chinese travelers feel at home. A Chinese passenger gives the thumb-up for the special event held at the Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, Jan. 20, 2017. The Ethiopian Airlines has held a special event for Chinese nationals returning home for the Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival. This year's event, the third of its kind held late Friday at Bole International Airport in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, marked many activities to make the airport's Chinese travelers feel at home. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde) Chinese traveling back home for the Spring Festival from Ethiopia and other African countries enjoyed traditional Chinese food such as dumplings. According to the organizers, this is to showcase Addis Ababa's being the most Chinese-friendly transit hub as well as to showcase Ethiopian airlines being the most Chinese friendly airline in Africa. "They are very happy to see this. They will feel as if they are living in their home country while transiting for home," a public relations expert at the Ethiopian Airlines said. Photo taken on Jan. 20, 2017 shows the dumplings served during the special event held at the Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Airlines has held a special event for Chinese nationals returning home for the Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival. This year's event, the third of its kind held late Friday at Bole International Airport in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, marked many activities to make the airport's Chinese travelers feel at home. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde) Hao Yi, a passenger from Kinshasa on transit to China in Addis Ababa, also expressed her contentment about the event. "Very nice, it's very good for Chinese people. I felt at home with the celebrations here at the airport," said Hao. Jing Chaodou, another Chinese passenger from Dubai to Cairo said it was a surprise for him to experience such warm celebrations at the airport. "It's a surprise for me. I didn't expect this. I feel very blessed to be a Chinese here, to express my culture to people around the world and people in Africa," said Jing. Photo taken on Jan. 20, 2017 shows the dumplings served during the special event held at the Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Airlines has held a special event for Chinese nationals returning home for the Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival. This year's event, the third of its kind held late Friday at Bole International Airport in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, marked many activities to make the airport's Chinese travelers feel at home. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde) The Ethiopian Airlines serves the Chinese passengers with Chinese cabin crew, Chinese food, and Chinese help-desk, among others. BELGRADE, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Serbian government on Sunday announced that it plans to spend hundreds of millions of euros this year to improve the country's healthcare system. Announcing at a press conference, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said the money will be used in projects including new and reconstructed medical centers, purchase of latest equipment and investment in treatment of certain diseases. He gave some details such as 122 million euros investment in the new building of the medical center in Belgrade, 51.2 million euros for medical center in Novi Sad and 44 million euros in Kragujevac. The prime minister described the investment to healthcare as a comprehensive one which has not been seen in Serbia over the past 70 years "since the end of the Second World War." He also unveiled plans of equipment purchases for this year, including some most advanced equipment for tumor treatment and ambulances. According to Vucic, the government has been working to improve the country's healthcare system, which ranked low in Europe. "Two years ago our healthcare system was the worst ranked in Europe. Last year we advanced by four positions while this year the progress will be even more significant," Vucic said. The prime minister explained that the new investments are the result of the surplus in the state budget that will continue to grow in 2017. U.S. President Donald Trump(L) takes the oath of office during the presidential inauguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., the United States, on Jan. 20, 2017. Donald Trump was sworn in on Friday as the 45th President of the United States. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Shortly after new U.S. President Donald Trump was inaugurated, the White House website published the America First Energy Plan, which has aggravated the anxiety and criticism concerning where Trump will lead the country to. The shift in energy policies, as seen in the website change of deleting these issues about climate change and claiming to embrace the shale oil and gas revolution, didn't come from nowhere. During his presidential campaign, Trump had blamed climate change as a "hoax," and threatened to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change. Observers worldwide are watching with uneasiness whether the biggest developed country in the world will backslide on climate change or not. If so, "all countries stand to lose," "most of all the U.S.," cautioned Rob Bailey, a research director on energy, environment and resources with the London-based think tank Chatham House. He elaborated that while the United States is expected to take a more protectionist approach to trade, it is possible that other countries might impose tariffs on American imports to adjust for the lower emissions costs of U.S. exporters. Moreover, American prosperity will not be served by its economy remaining shackled to fossil fuels while the rest of the world has already transited away from them, Bailey noted. Nicholas Stern, Chairman of the British Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, was quoted by the Guardian newspaper as advising Trump: "If you want to make America great again, building modern, clean and smart infrastructure makes tremendous commercial and national sense." "There is no long-term, high-carbon growth story, because destruction of the environment would reverse growth," he added. Dame Julia King, an official adviser to the British government at the Committee on Climate Change, echoed. In King's opinion, if Trump wants to deliver greater job security for Americans, he should focus on clean and sustainable industries where the United States has a competitive advantage and are set to prosper. "He needs to build an economy for 2050, not one for 1950," said the official adviser. According to Richard Black, director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, a non-governmental organization, the changing economics of energy systems can't be reversed, just as public appetite for clean air and cool things like electric cars can't be wished away. In a responsive statement, America's Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune referred to Trump's energy policies as "a polluter wishlist that will make our air and water dirtier, our climate and international relations more unstable, and our kids sicker," adding that this is "a shameful and dark start to Trump's Presidency, and a slap in the face to any American who thought Trump might pursue the national interest." Barbara Finamore, Asia director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a U.S.-based environmental advocacy group, wrote in a recent blog: "Trump has given every sign that he would rather move backward, into our unsustainable past, than move forward-alongside China and other signatories to the Paris climate agreement-into the sustainable future." Deborah Seligsohn, an expert on China's climate and energy policies at the University of California San Diego, told Xinhua, "Obviously the U.S. partners in the world need to be prepared to speak up for what they believe is necessary and to press the U.S. to meet its commitments," highlighting the fact that both the energy secretary and the EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) administrator nominated by Trump stand in opposition to constructive climate action. Related: Commentary: Shortsighted energy policy to benefit none BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Science has proved that climate change is largely caused by human activities. Any energy policy that goes against the science is shortsighted and disastrous to the whole world. ISLAMABAD, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Sunday visited a tribal town one day after a Taliban bomb killed 22 Shiite Muslims and injured nearly 50 others there, the military said. The army chief traveled to Parachinar, capital of Kurram Agency, and met the injured of the blast in hospital. He also met with tribal elders to express solidarity with the bereaved families. "Expressing his grief on the incident, General Qamar Javed Bajwa lauded the support of tribal brethren in combating terrorism and acknowledged their sacrifices for peace," an army statement said. He said that with their support, the army, the paramilitary Frontier Corps and other law enforcement agencies have done a great job in stabilizing the area. In the wake of the blast, main local tribes - Turi and Bangash tribes - have announced a three-day mourning period. Special gatherings were organized to offer prayers for those died in the terrorist attack. Shiite and Sunni groups in the region condemned the attack, saying they would maintain sectarian harmony in the area. Authorities are investigating the blast and seven suspects have been arrested. The local administrator, Shahid Ali Khan, said that body parts of an unidentified man have been sent for DNA test to determine whether it was a suicide attack. The outlawed Taliban group claimed responsibility for the attack. Authorities said it was an IED (improvised explosive device) blast and the explosives were packed in a fruit crate. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, attends the opening of the 33rd session of the Permanent Representative Committee (PRC) which kicked off under the theme "Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investments in the Youth" at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Jan. 22, 2017. Ambassadors of the 54 member states of the PRC of the AU met on Sunday at the AU headquarters in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde) ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Ambassadors of the 54 member states of the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) of the African Union (AU) met on Sunday at the AU headquarters in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. The 33rd session of the PRC is in the framework of the 28th AU summit, scheduled between Jan. 30 and 31 under the theme "Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investments in the Youth." The three-day meeting will prepare the agenda of the AU summit with recommendations for consideration by the AU Executive Council, which comprises foreign ministers of AU member states. In her opening remarks, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the AU Commission, noted that the 28th AU summit would again deal with matters concerning Africans and the future of the continent. She said Africa, under the framework of Agenda 2063, has recorded progress in modernizing agriculture and agro-processing, tackling backlogs in energy, transport, water and sanitation and in making sure that Africa is not bypassed in the information highways and knowledge economy via investing in ICT. Dlamini-Zuma also noted that the pan-African bloc has a major task of adopting the African continental free trade area (CFTA) this year. The chairperson said a lot still needs to be done despite achievements on the continent. "We must espouse and uphold the values of pan-Africanism, which include putting Africa first, the commitment to the African people, their dignity and aspirations, and our passion for democracy, peace, integration and development," she said. In addition to electing new officials of the AU Commission, the summit will consider important issues related to the financing and institutional reforms of the AU, according to Cherif Mahamat Zene, Chad Ambassador to AU and chair of the 33rd session of the PRC. TAIYUAN, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Emergency efforts to contain a benzene leak from a tanker were completed Sunday, local authorities said. The tanker, carrying 28.66 tonnes of the highly hazardous crude material, plunged into the Fenhe River, a tributary of the Yellow River, in Xinjiang County, Yuncheng city, Wednesday. Four dozen belts of activated carbon were placed in three counties downstream to absorb the pollutants, the local government said. Benzene is a colorless compound used to manufacture plastics. It is known to damage blood production in humans. The accident occurred about 100 kilometers from the mouth into the Yellow River. The local government said that water quality tests had showed the area was free of benzene. Two people in the truck were killed in the accident. SHANGHAI, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai police have detained 83 people, who illegally earned 6 million yuan (873,000 U.S. dollars), in connection with the fake auctioning and unlicensed authentication of antiques. A gang led by a man surnamed Xiao charged antique holders high commissions by faking auctions, with the clients later told their collections were unsold, a police officer with Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau said Sunday. Collaborating with two other companies, the gang was also found to illegally authenticate antiques, issuing fake reports and charging high authentication fees of 15,000-30,000 yuan per piece. Police started investigating the case in July 2016 when three fake auctions were reported in Putuo District. Around 100 people had been caught as of mid-December, with 83 to face criminal charges, the police officer said. DAMASCUS, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Warplanes struck areas under the control of an extremist group in the northwestern province of Idlib on Sunday, opposition activists reported. The warplanes are believed to be with the U.S. anti-terrorism coalition. The opposing Qasioun news outlet said the U.S.-led warplanes struck a post belonging to the Jund al-Aqsa group in the Nayrab area in Idlib's countryside, causing unknown losses. Jund al-Aqsa pledged allegiance with the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, a terrorist group recognized by the United Nations (UN). The al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front recently changed its name to the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham in a bid to divert attention away from its ties with al-Qaida. The warplanes also struck other areas in Nayrab, targeting a poultry farm as well as areas where displaced people were residing, causing causalities including women and children buried under the rubble, according to the report. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the report, yet stopped short of identifying who was responsible for it. However, it said that a warplane killed a rebel commander after targeting his car in the Akrabat area in the northern countryside of Idlib. It added that the commander was an Arab national, without further details. The observatory relies on a network of on ground activists. It stated that 134 rebels and commanders have been killed since the beginning of January by warplanes in northern Syria. TAIPEI, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Tens of thousands of residents in Taiwan took to the streets Sunday to protest against proposed pension reforms. Protesters began to gather in front of the office building of Taiwan leader Sunday morning, carrying slogans such as "Administrators are incapable" and "Taiwanese people are suffering." The pension reforms were formally discussed by Taiwan authorities since Sunday morning. The plans delay the age at which a full pension can be drawn until 65 from 60, and gradually increase the insurance premium by about 6 percent. The ending of pension benefits for military personnel, public servants and teachers is also under consideration, activating strong opposition from the three groups which formed the majority of protesters. Under current policy, retired military staff, public servants and teachers enjoy 18 percent interest on pension deposits. The extra benefits were first introduced in 1950s to subsidize their poor incomes. "I have paid pension insurance premiums for so many years. Currently I receive a monthly pension of about 51,000 New Taiwan dollars (1,600 U.S. dollars), but it will be reduced by almost a half after the reforms," said a protester surnamed Chao, who used to be a teacher in Taipei. The reform is regarded as a key measure taken by the authorities, who said it was a must for retaining benefits for the next generation and avoiding bankruptcy of the pension financing system. Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen said that it would end an unreasonable system left over from history. But many protesters said it was just an excuse for the government to cut debt. "The reforms are very unfair as they only target certain groups of public staff, while those in the higher legislative and judicial authorities are not included," said a protester surnamed Chang. Some observers pointed out the reforms ignored issues such as basic subsistence for the elderly and a fixed baseline of pension, and that over-cutting pensions could throw more old people into poverty. Lai Yueh-Tchienn, associate professor with Shin Chien University, said the strong reactions of residents reflected that the current government had not really listened to the people's opinions when promoting major new policies. Security forces guard Sanaa International Airport as they wait for the arrival of the UN Special Envoy to Yemen on January 22, 2017. (AFP PHOTO) ADEN, Yemen, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi-backed Yemeni forces advanced against the Shiite Houthi rebels during the past 24 hours and seized areas across the country's western coast and around the Mocha seaport, according to military sources on Sunday. "The pro-government forces approached from the strategic port of Mocha and liberated some areas located around the area after fierce fighting surprised by the UAE troops," an official of the Fourth Regional Military Command told Xinhua. "Our forces will keep on progressing towards Mocha seaport. Fierce battles are still raging now around the port," the source said on condition of anonymity. Medical sources said that more than 50 Shiite Houthi gunmen and about 19 soldiers loyal to the internationally-backed government were killed during the past 24 hours in the country's western part. Warplanes of the Saudi-led Arab coalition played an important role in the all-out military campaign to recapture and secure Yemen's western coast and the strategic Bab Al Mandab strait. According to Saba, the news service run by the dominant Houthi movement since it seized control of Sanaa in 2015, two citizens were killed in air strikes by the U.S.-Saudi warplanes in the past 24 hours. "A woman was killed and others were wounded in two air raids that targeted their home in Mocha district and a citizen was killed in an air strike which targeted another area of Taiz province," it said. In the Houthi-controlled capital of Sanaa, three residents, including a woman, were injured in a Saudi airstrike on Nehm district, Saba reported. The pro-Houthi forces threatened to launch armed attacks against any movement of vessels in the Yemeni waters and in the strategic strait of Bab al-Mandab in the upcoming hours, sources close to the pro-Houthi forces confirmed to Xinhua. An army commander, however, said that most of the Saudi-led air strikes targeted only military sites in areas such as the Houthi-controlled port city of Hodyada. Yemen has been suffering from a civil war and a Saudi-led military intervention for about two years. The civil war began after the Houthi militants with support from forces loyal to the former president ousted the UN-backed transitional government. The legitimate government now controls the south and some eastern parts, while the Houthi-Saleh alliance controls the other parts including the capital Sanaa. The UN has brokered rounds of peace talks between the warring factions, but they failed to reach any common ground. DICKINSON -- North Dakotas chairman of the Republican party was among a select group that got an early start before President Donald Trumps inauguration. Kelly Armstrong, a state senator from Dickinson, headed to the National Mall in Washington at about 5:30 a.m. with other members of the Republican National Committee on Friday. The 168-member body went through security and then waited on a rainy morning for hours to witness the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States. Armstrong said this was his first presidential inauguration. He sat in front of the podium among thousands of others for the event. At the end of the day, Barack Obama and Donald Trump dont agree on just about anything, except that this is how our government is supposed to work -- and thats a really uniquely American thing, and its really, really humbling to be a part of, he said. Armstrong said he appreciated the Americanism in Trumps message and his theme of putting the American peoples interests ahead of Washingtons. People get concerned when Washington, D.C., has the highest median income of any city in the country, he said. Everybody who is (in Washington) works for government, period. So when everybody who works for government is better off than everybody else in the country, things need to change, and thats why Donald Trump won. If he can deliver on half of that promise, he will be a successful president. Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., who was active in Trumps political campaign, also attended the event, sitting up on the stage among his fellow members of Congress. He hoped that the presidents speech would be aspirational and felt it delivered the proper message. In many respects I thought it was even more empathetic-sounding than he oftentimes is, and by that I mean talking about all Americans and that this is their day, and really making it about the people of the country more than about himself, Cramer said. In fact, in many respects it wasnt about himself at all. Despite the significance of the event and the physical division of the federal lawmakers from the rest of the attendees, some members of Congress embraced the festive atmosphere, taking selfies and enjoying it, almost like children, Cramer said. Its amazing to be up there and then look out and see all those people in the mall, said Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D. It really gives you a feeling that this is America, and we are a country that is ruled by the people. U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., also attended the event, though dozens of Democratic lawmakers opted not to. She felt Trumps message was clear, placing his usual emphasis on job creation for Americans. She noted that time will tell how his theme of American interests before all others will be received by the international community. With these kinds of inaugurations, where there is a change in political party and a change in president, even if the political party doesnt change, theres a lot of anticipation of, what are they going to say, are they going to advance an agenda? Heitkamp said. I think one of the things that struck me is how consistent his message has been. People say they cant predict what hes going to do. He tells us every day what hes going to do. Despite protests in the nations capital this weekend, both peaceful and violent, all three federal lawmakers and Armstrong said they did not think the opposition dampened the weekends atmosphere. Armstrong said that, though he did not agree with many of the protesters' messages, he was glad they held their organized, peaceful protests -- a clear example of how to exercise their First Amendment rights in opposition to the change in powers. He said while most of the protesters he encountered were peaceful and respectful, those who burned cars and broke windows on Trumps Inauguration Day were disrespectful -- something he has little tolerance for, he said. Overall, Trumps presidency bodes well for North Dakotans, Armstrong said. If youre a commodity-based economy, like North Dakota is, youve got to be excited about the Trump administration, he said. Cramer agreed, noting the opportunity of job creation if Trump fulfills his promises of rolling back regulations on industries including manufacturing, agriculture and energy -- industries that are important to North Dakotans. Weve elected a businessman from Manhattan who somehow has been able to relate to middle America better than most, so we will see how it all plays out -- but at least hes off to a good start, Cramer said. A girl is seen wounded in a car bomb blast near the crossroad of Beit Jin village close to Sa'sa' town in the countryside of Damascus, capital of Syria, on Jan. 8, 2017. At least five people were killed and 15 others wounded Sunday when a car bomb rocked here, state news agency SANA reported. (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalany) by Hummam Sheikh Ali DAMASCUS, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- A face time between the rebels and the Syrian government will take place for the first time in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Monday to lay the foundation stone of the solution to the long-standing conflict in Syria. The unprecedented vis-a-vis is the result of a fresh Turkish-Russian understanding, as Turkey negotiated on behalf of the rebels it's backing, while Russia for the Syrian government. The deal between both powers was positively received by the conflicting parties, due to the confidence they have in their backers. REBELS ONBOARD AS MAIN STEPS The first step for bringing the crisis to an end is to achieve and consolidate a ceasefire, which will be the cornerstone to any later solution, and categorizing the rebel groups, meaning that the terrorists must be detached from the moderate ones who seek a solution, is also as important. With Turkey and Russia in play, it's highly likely that such a ceasefire will be more serious and real than previous failed attempts, as both powers have the means to make sure their allies on ground abide by the plan. The main goal of the Astana talks which will start on Monday is to reinforce the ceasefire, which has been in place since Dec.30. Bashar Jaafari, the permanent representative of Syria in the UN, and the current head of the government delegation to Astana, said the agenda of the meeting revolves fixating the cessation of hostilities in Syria, and categorizing the rebel groups, by separating rebels who agree to the talks from the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and the Islamic State (IS) group, both designated as terrorist organizations that should be eradicated. Also, Syria's Prime Minister Imad Khamis said Sunday that his government is serious about the imminent Syrian talks in Astana, noting that Damascus welcomes any initiative to restore peace. The prime minister said the priority of the meeting is to kick the foreign terrorists out of Syria. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that establishing a ceasefire in Syria is the priority of the negotiations in Astana. He said the conference will be in the shape of negotiations between the government and the rebel groups to reach a ceasefire and allow the rebels to join the reconciliation deals with the government. Analysts believe that the Russian-Turkish agreement will have more viable results, contrary to the previous Russian-American one, which failed as the United States failed to separate the rebels from the terrorist groups. "I think now that Russia and Turkey are on the same page, a message that has been sent to the concerned rebel groups on ground that either you are involved in the solution, or accept a doomed fate," Maher Ihsan, a Syrian journalist and political analyst, told Xinhua. It's now or never, as the conflict has been dragging on for nearly six years, and no winner has emerged, owing to the fact that only a political solution is the answer, he added. TERROR GROUPS ISOLATED The rebels who have alliances with the Nusra or the IS group will have to detach themselves from such links, to have a role in the future solution to the country, and that's what is happening now. The Turkey-backed Ahrar al-Sham has already engaged in battles against Nusra and the allied Jund al-Aqsa group in the northwestern province of Idlib, a key bastion for Nusra. In Idlib, there are plenty of declared, or undeclared allegiances with Nusra, which means that a wide-scale confrontation between this terror-designated group and other rebel groups is inevitable. Opposition activists said Jund al-Aqsa group has also deserted from Nusra in the city of Kafr Zaita in the northern countryside of the central province of Hama and surrendered to Ahrar al-Sham. Also, activists said a new rebel alliance has been formed to capture areas under the Jund al-Aqsa control in the Jabal al-Zawiyeh region in Idlib countryside. The alliance includes Ahrar al-Sham, Suqor al-Sham, Jaish al-Islam, Jaish al-Mujahideen, the Free Syrian Army, and Istaqem Kama Umert group. Aside from the rebel coalition against Nusra and Jund al-Aqsa, warplanes believed to be with the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition has intensively targeted commanders of the Nusra Front and Jund al-Aqsa since the beginning of this month. The Syrian Observatory for Human Right on Sunday placed the death toll of the slain commanders at 134, in another sign that the terror-designated group is losing and becoming more isolated. In its first response to the Astana talks, Nusra issued a statement on Saturday, saying that the fact that "Russia being the political and diplomatic supervisor of the negotiations in Astana, is a flagrant humiliation to the sacrifices of the mujahideen and that going to Astana means one way or another the acceptance of (president Bashar) al-Assad being on top of his rule." It urged other rebel groups to "not slide into the intrigues and conspiracies." As for the Islamic State, the group is also being attack on several fronts, either by Russia or the U.S.-led coalition. The Russian warplanes have been heavily backing the Syrian ground forces in the battles against IS, either in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, or the eastern countryside of Homs, near the ancient city of Palmyra. The Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army is also closing in on the IS strongholds in the northern countryside of the northern province of Aleppo, namely in the city of al-Bab, the last IS stronghold near the Turkish borders. "Now the rebels who are part of the Astana talks will find themselves, willingly, or unwillingly, in the same trench with the Syrian army in the face of IS and Nusra as there is no other way around, as those who will not comply, will be counted with either one of the terrorist groups," Ahmad al-Ashqar, a political analyst, told Xinhua. TURKEY, RUSSIA MAINTAIN INTERESTS IN SYRIA Resolving the conflict in Syria has been the priority of Russia since it intervened to help the government forces of President Bashar al-Assad in 2015. "Their aim wasn't to sink in the quagmire of the Syria war, but to get things done quickly and find a solution," Ashqar said. He added that the Russians have reserved their interest in Syria, citing the fact that Russia will have a permanent base in the coastal cities of Tartus and Latakia for the next 49 years. On Friday, Russia signed a long-term agreement to greatly enlarge its military presence in Syria. The agreement will see Russia doubling space of warships in the Tartus naval base, and also in the Hmaimim airbase in the coastal city of Latakia. The agreement ensures Russia's ability to deploy forces in Syria for the next half-century. As for Turkey, Ankara has felt the pinch when the Kurds in Syria started growing influence and explicitly voicing their goal to achieve an autonomy in northern Syria near the Turkish borders. Moreover, several bombing rocked Turkey, which Ankara blamed either on the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), which it deems terrorist, or on IS. Now that the fire reached Turkey, Ankara had to join force with Russia to protect itself, while maintaining its interest in the Syrian cake. The rebels it's backing have already made notable gains against the Kurdish-backed groups in northern Syria and the IS, and securing the borders from any Kurdish expansion. Moreover, the Astana talks have excluded the Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). In a statement on Saturday, the SDF said it will not abide by the decisions that would come out from Astana. It said the exclusion is a "flagrant violation to the rights of the forces in the SDF and violation to their rights and sacrifices." Analysts in Syria said that the Kurdish paper was among the agreements between Russia and Turkey. "Since the Kurdish influence was growing, we knew that they will be the ones to pay the price in any negotiations, as their exclusion and limitation will be Ankara's demand to be part in ending the conflict in Syria," Kinda Maryia, a Syrian journalist, told Xinhua. WHAT'S THE U.S. TO DO? The administration of the former President Barack Obama was dealing with indecisiveness regarding the threats of the terror groups, amid reports that weapons and training was offered for several rebel groups, whose alliances were not taken into consideration. Separating the terrorist groups from other rebel factions has been a failure, as the Obama administration stopped short of achieving such goal through a previous agreement with Russia. And due to the fact that the United States was busy with its presidential elections over the past few months, Turkey and Russia, as well as Iran, have taken the initiative, analysts said. The prospects of a U.S. cooperation under the administration of President Donald Trump is high, as he expressed willingness to cooperate with Russia in the war on terror on several occasions. "We will...unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism which we will eradicate completely from the face of the earth," Trump said during his inauguration speech. Speaking to members of the CIA community at its headquarters in Langley on Sunday, Trump described IS as evil that needs to be rooted out. "This is a level of evil that we haven't seen. You're going to go to it, and you're going to do a phenomenal job," he said. Analysts believe that Trump will cast his blessing on all efforts made by Russia against the terror groups in Syria, particularly during the upcoming talks in Geneva, where more superpowers will be involved for a broader political talks that will be based on the outcome of the Astana meeting. Photo taken on Jan. 22, 2017 shows construction underway in the settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim near Jerusalem. Earlier on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked his security cabinet to postpone a vote on bill to annex Ma'aleh Adumim, a major West Bank settlement, citing a request by the administration "not to make surprise moves but to draft a joint policy." (Xinhua/Gil Cohen Magen) JERUSALEM, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said he decided to lift restrictions on new construction for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem, local media reported. Officials with the Prime Minister's Office told Israel's Haaretz newspaper that Netanyahu promised members of his security cabinet to cancel all restrictions on Israeli construction in settlement neighborhoods of Jerusalem, which were imposed due to pressure by the Barack Obama administration. Netanyahu also said he supports an "Israeli sovereignty over Ma'aleh Adumim," the largest Jewish settlement in the West Bank. However, he asked the ministers to postpone the vote on a bill to annex the settlement, put forward by the pro-settler Jewish Home party, citing a request by the Donald Trump admiration "not to make surprise moves but to draft a joint policy." The announcement came after the Jerusalem Local Planning and Building Committee approved 671 new housing units in East Jerusalem on Sunday morning, according to a statement by the municipality spokesperson. The permits were given to projects in 10 different locations in East Jerusalem, including 324 units in Ramot, 174 units Ramat Shlomo, 68 units Pisgat Ze'ev -- all are Jewish settlement neighborhoods. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said more permits are expected to be issued after "eight difficult years with Obama, who pressured to freeze the construction." Israel seized East Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast War, along with the rest of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It later annexed East Jerusalem and declared it as part of its "eternal" capital, in a move that has never been recognized by the international community. MOGADISHU, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Somalia took a step closer to electing a new president Sunday after completing the election of the Senate Speaker and two deputies. Abdi Hashi Abdullahi, an outspoken veteran politician from the break-away region of Somaliland, emerged as winner of the Senate Speaker election, which took place about a week after the Lower House picked its speakers. Abdullahi beat his rival Mustaf Mohamed Qodah with 43 to 8 votes. Qodah conceded the defeat and congratulated the winner. The two are both from Somaliland in line with the clan power sharing arrangements in the country's political order. Abdullahi, who also served as minister for health, arts and culture during the transitional government between 2005 and 2008, will join hands with the Lower House Speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari to draft a timetable for the presidential election. Under Somalia's 2016 electoral model, the Parliament will elect a new president who will require a two-thirds majority of the votes to win. Over 15 candidates are contesting for presidency including the incumbent Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Abdirashid Omar Sharmarke. First and Second Deputy Speakers Abshir Mohamed Ahmed Bukhari and Mowlid Hussein Guhad were also elected Sunday in a tightly contested race. Two senators are yet to be elected to add up to the 54 as sanctioned by the country's Provisional Constitution. Security remained tight in and around the Senate building in Mogadishu with intelligence agency teams manning major roads in the city. Enditem Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) attend a meeting with permanent members of the Security Council of the Russian Federation at the Belbek airport near the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, Crimea, on August 19, 2016. (Xinhua/AFP Photo) MOSCOW, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday was re-elected as the chairman of the country's ruling United Russia party for a next five-year term. Boris Grizlov, chairman of the party's supreme council, announced the result of the re-election, the RIA Novosti news agency reported. Russian President Vladimir Putin served as the party's chairman prior to Medvedev. Established in 2001, United Russia now controls 343 of the 450 seats in the State Duma, or the lower house of parliament, after a sweeping victory in an election last September. "People chose stability and trust in the government by voting for the United Russia party in the face of risks and difficulties," Putin said after the parliamentary election. United Russia's State Duma victory was deemed as a weathervane for the 2018 presidential election. Scottish Minister Nicola Sturgeon (Red Coat) marches with thousands of anti-Trident demonstrators through London, Britain on Feb. 27, 2016. The StopTrident Event was organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament here on Saturday. (Xinhua/Richard Washbrooke) LONDON, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The government "covered up" a malfunctioned unarmed test of Britain's Trident missile system, The Sunday Times reported. The Trident II D5 ballistic missiles are carried by Britain's four Vanguard-class submarines, and they are able to deliver thermonuclear warheads from multiple independently-targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs). In a front page article, the newspaper says that the failed test took place shortly before Theresa May became prime minister, "but she omitted any mention of the failed test when she persuaded parliament to spend 40 billion pounds on new Trident submarines in her first big Commons speech on July 18." During the test, the unarmed missile "may have veered off in the wrong direction towards America" after being launched from a British submarine off the coast of Florida in June last year, according to the article. However, Sky News quoted its Defence Correspondent Alistair Bunkall as saying that he had been told that the earlier report about the missile veering towards the United States is not true. The revelation of the missile test failure has put pressure on May's government. But the prime minister did not directly respond to the issue when she was questioned by BBC. She told BBC that she had "absolute faith" in Britain's nuclear weapons system despite reports about the failed missile test. VIENNA, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Representatives from five OPEC and non-OPEC countries on Sunday held their inaugural joint meeting in Vienna and agreed measures to monitor output cuts. The attendees at the Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) discussed the implementation of the Declaration of Cooperation signed by the 13 OPEC and 11 non-OPEC member countries in December, that subsequently came into effect on Jan. 1, OPEC said in a statement. Among the issues on the agenda were the discussion of voluntary production adjustments, which targets a combined oil production of 1.8 million barrels a day, it said. The JMMC further agreed on a number of stipulations, such as a production data report to be presented at the OPEC secretariat in Vienna each month, as well as the issuance of a monthly press release on the progress of the implementation of the production adjustment, OPEC said. The JMMC is comprised of three OPEC member countries of Algeria, Kuwait, and Venezuela, as well as the two non-OPEC countries of Russia and Oman. The Declaration of Cooperation is to run for six months, with the option of a further six-month extension also possible. TEHRAN, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Iran welcomed peaceful power transition in Gambia as the former President Yahya Jammeh left the country following 22 years in power, Press TV reported on Sunday. The Islamic republic has always paid particular attention to the developments in the Gambia as an important Muslim country in West Africa, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said on Sunday. This political shift will lead to the promotion of democracy in the region and the establishment of peace and calm in the Gambia, Qasemi said. Jammeh lost the presidential election in December last year to Adama Barrow but said he would not relinquish power, claiming that there had been irregularities in the vote and pushing the country to the edge of war. He left Gambia on Sunday after finally conceding defeat in an election under increasing international pressure. TIRANA, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Albania and the World Bank are concluding an agreement on a 150-million-U.S.-dollar project aimed at improving maintenance of roads in Albania, local media reported on Sunday. Citing sources from the Albanian Ministry of Infrastructure, the report said the Albanian government and World Bank will likely hire four companies to maintain 1,300 kilometers of national roads in northern, northeastern, central-southeastern and southern Albania. The Albanian Road Authority has already finalized the tenders for three of the companies and it is about to sign the contracts, according to the reports. The World Bank will fund half of the cost of this project, which is expected to reduce Albania's road accidents by 15 percent. LONDON, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The British government rejected Sunday a claim by Gerry Adams, president of the Sinn Fein political party, that taking Northern Ireland out of the EU will destroy the agreement that restored peace to the island. Adams made his remarks during a speech on Saturday in Dublin. The statement was issued in London following Adams' comments, suggesting Britain leaving the European Union will destroy the Belfast Agreement. An official spokesman for the British government said Adams' comments are totally without any basis in fact. "None of the institutions and provisions set out in the Belfast Agreement ... are in any way undermined by the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the EU," said the spokesman. Britain is "fully behind the implementation of the Belfast Agreement and its successors," he said. The Belfast Agreement, a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process of the 1990s, ended three decades of bloodshed in Northern Ireland. In his speech earlier, Adams said Northern Ireland should enjoy special status after Brexit, claiming it would not affect the constitutional settlement which secures its status as part of Britain. He told his audience at a conference on achieving a united Ireland: "The British government's intention to take the north out of the EU, despite the wish of the people there to remain, is a hostile action. Adams is regarded as one of the most important people to be part of the peace process in Northern Ireland. Britain's departure from the 28-nation trading bloc will mean the Northern Ireland border with the Irish republic being the only EU border within Britain. In a treaty going back to the 1920s people from both sides of the border have had free passage between each other. Ireland joined the EU at the same time as Britain, meaning there was no change in the border arrangements. Earlier this week, the Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny reiterated his wish for "a preservation of the seamless border that is there now". JERUSALEM, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit him at the White House in February, as the two leaders held their first phone talk on Sunday. A statement released by Israel's Prime Minister's Office characterized the talk as "very warm." "The two leaders discussed the deal with Iran, the peace process with the Palestinians and other issues," the statement read. Netanyahu told Trump he wishes "to work to advance peace and security in the region" in a full collaboration with the new administration. Ahead of the talk, White House Spokesman Sean Spicer said that Trump's team has started deliberations over moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move expected to spark anger by the Palestinian National Authority. "We are at the very beginning stages of even discussing this subject," Spicer said in a statement. Earlier on Sunday, Netanyahu asked his security cabinet to postpone a vote on bill to annex Ma'aleh Adumim, a major West Bank settlement, citing a request by the administration "not to make surprise moves but to draft a joint policy." The head of the states defense attorney group and a policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union say a spate of bills aimed at the Dakota Access Pipeline protest will unfairly impact citizens when the protest is long over, and some could be unconstitutional. Legislative leaders say the bills will go through the process, lawmakers will learn if there are unintended consequences and common sense will prevail. At latest count, seven bills nearly all of them with criminal consequences are in the hopper in response to the protest against the $3.8 billion pipeline. The project is legally stalled at the Missouri River/Lake Oahe near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation due to federal court action brought by the tribe. House Majority Leader Al Carlson, R-Fargo, said hes not sure how many of the bills will pass, but says they are intended to give law enforcement more tools and answer citizen worries. I think weve been fortunate in our little state not to have had anything like this in the past. This could escalate with the new administration; this is about public safety, not retaliation, Carlson said. Protest impact The tribes opposition to the pipeline for fear of water contamination and disruption of sacred sites has become an unprecedented national and indigenous cause. Its resulted in the encampment of thousands of protesters since August, more than 600 arrests, a jammed court docket, mounting law enforcement and judicial costs and the manned blockade of N.D. Highway 1806 between the reservation and Bismarck-Mandan. One bill asking Congress to give North Dakota land and minerals at Lake Oahe to help repay the states costs has been withdrawn. Two bills have caught the publics attention. One removes liability for a driver who unintentionally strikes or kills someone, including a protester, obstructing a public roadway. It was heard in committee Friday, with plenty of impassioned testimony but no committee action. Another one introduced by Carlson makes it illegal to wear an identity-concealing mask on public property, in response to protesters who covered their faces with bandannas or hoods. Assistant minority leader Sen. Joan Heckaman, D-New Rockford, said shed be surprised if either bill makes it through House, where theyve been introduced. She said she isnt familiar with all the bills sparked by the protest since most are on the House side, but the one that makes wearing a mask illegal is an example of overstepping and overreacting to a situation that causes constituents to be concerned. Carlson said he hopes the mask bill will pass. He said hell support it with photos when its in committee to make a case that Dakota Access protesters some repeat arrestees were hiding their identity for a reason. Heckaman said she has reservations about the no-liability bill as well. I would be hesitant about a bill where you can hit a person and not be charged. I dont think anybody in North Dakota would be excited about that bill, she said. However, everyone has an interest in the protest ending peacefully and the possibility that President Donald Trump will bring pro-energy policy to bear on the standoff, she said. Under the radar While public attention has been focused on those bills, Jennifer Cook, state ACLU policy director, and Jackson Lofgren, president of the North Dakota Association of Defense Lawyers, are watching bills that are under the public radar, but that they say would bring serious and unintended consequences in non-protest situations. There are so many emotions with this protest, but we dont make it better by passing laws that hurt more than they help in the long run, Lofgren said. He cited a bill that would make disorderly conduct a felony rather than the misdemeanor crime it is now in North Dakota and every other state, if the conduct causes $1,000 in economic harm to a business. This would apply in a situation where a union wants to picket or boycott a business, and its an example of legislating to an event, Lofgren said. A new definition of loitering would make it a crime to tarry somewhere without a lawful purpose. Thats so broad and vague, it could just be used to oust someone who is just sitting there, Lofgren said. Yet another is a new fine attached to a criminal trespass conviction that says the individual has to pay an additional $1,000 fine to the county sheriff, even if the sheriffs department didnt make the arrest. You can tell all these bills are designed to address the protest, but they will apply to all and will be on the books well after the protest. I thought there would be some bills related to the protest, but the things that I see being proposed dont make sense, Lofgren said. Now a person hunting on posted land (possible criminal trespass) would be treated the same as someone in the protest? Thats the plan. Litigation possibility Cook said the bills ramp up penalties for charges commonly used to handle protesters and could interfere with constitutional freedoms. Theres a failure to recognize that #NODAPL is not just a protest against a pipeline. Its also an indigenous-led civil rights movement by people who have been long oppressed. These backlash laws will capture indigenous people in their grip. It doesnt bode well for race relations, she said. Some of these do invite litigation. She points out that, while the Legislature may not agree with the pipeline protest, they are looking at laws that could affect an anti-abortion protest, something many of them would support. Senate Majority Leader Sen. Rich Wardner, R-Dickinson, says the Legislature has seen other topical matters, such as abortion and gun rights, set off a flurry of bills in past sessions. Well go through the process and look for different points of view and unintended consequences. If the bill has merit, itll stand; if it doesnt, it wont, Wardner said. I believe North Dakota has one of the most democratic processes in the country. This is the peoples chamber. Carlson said the bills have been carefully drafted with an eye toward court rulings in other states. Some will pass, some probably wont. Its an important issue to talk about, he said. Carlson said hes looking forward to the day when the protest is over, life at the Capitol returns to normal and a new security check-in there can be dismantled. He said the few protesters who have shown up have moved off as directed by law enforcement and hes proud of the work by the North Dakota Highway Patrol in the current heightened atmosphere. These bills were proposed in response to the pipeline protest: HB1203: Removes liability from a driver who unintentionally injures or kills a pedestrian obstructing highway. This was heard by House Transportation Committee Friday with no endorsement. HB1304: Prohibits wearing masks to conceal identity while on public property, or without permission on private property. Exceptions include those younger than 17 years old, a Halloween costume, for sports, or occupational safety, during a parade, theater production or masquerade ball, for civil defense, for religious reasons or weather protection. Violation is a Class A misdemeanor. House Judiciary is holding a hearing at 10:45 a.m. Tuesday. HB1332: Anyone convicted of criminal trespass, a Class A misdemeanor, pays a new additional $1,000 fine to support the county sheriff. House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing at 9:35 a.m. Monday. HB1383: New loitering bill makes it illegal and a Class B misdemeanor for an individual to be in a place, in an unusual manner, that warrants alarm, or to tarry in a public place without a lawful reason. Before arrest, police must give individual a chance to identify and explain himself. This has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee with no hearing set. HB1193: Disorderly conduct, normally Class B misdemeanor, becomes Class C felony if the conduct causes direct or indirect financial harm in excess of $1,000. If person charged claims harm is due to free speech activity, court can decide. This was heard by the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. HB1426: Increases riot penalties a common charge for anti-Dakota Access protesters from Class C to Class B felony if a riot involves more than 100 people and from Class A misdemeanor to Class C felony otherwise. This is an emergency measure and is referred to the House Judiciary Committee with no hearing date yet set. HB1281: (Withdrawn) Encourages Congress to return lands and mineral rights under Lake Oahe as compensation for protest costs. SB2174: Allows the adjutant general to borrow up to $8 million from the Bank of North Dakota to pay law enforcement costs for Dakota Access Pipeline protests. This emergency measure was passed in the Senate and moved to the House calendar. SB2246: Makes it illegal to remain on property once ordered to leave, in face of a flood or natural disaster. This emergency measure would be effective March 1. Individuals cited would be subject to a $5,000 penalty. No committee hearing yet scheduled. BUDAPEST, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Hungary has declared Monday a national day of mourning for the victims of a bus mishap in Italy late Friday, which killed 16 members of a Hungarian school group. In the capital of Budapest, residents have created a memorial outside the school, placing flowers and burning candles by the wall. The bus, carrying Hungarian students home from a ski camp in France, crashed into a bridge pylon and caught fire in northern Italy just before Friday midnight. The teenagers all came from a secondary school in Budapest. In the 54-member school group, 43 were teenagers and 11 were adults. Apart form the 16 deaths, 26 others suffered injuries. Six of the injured were seriously hurt. Two of the seriously-wounded victims arrived in Budapest by air ambulance on Sunday afternoon, Hungarian television channel M1 reported. Hungarian and Italian authorities are both investigating the deadly crash. On Sunday afternoon, Hungarian police raided the offices of Pizolitbusz Ltd., the company from which the bus was leased, seeking information on the condition of the bus as well as on the health status of the two drivers. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that it would take days to identify the dead since the bodies were severely burned. DNA evidence will be required. The two persons with life-threatening injuries have not been identified either. Gabor Csato, director on Hungary's National Ambulance and Emergency Service, who traveled to Verona, Italy, where the accident took place, said that 11 of the 16 dead were students and 5 were grown-ups. Gabor Toth, principal of the Szinyei Merse secondary school, said that 17 psychologists had been recruited to help the students who had been in the crash as well as their classmates in Budapest. WASHINGTON, Jan. 22(Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke Sunday by phone to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral relationship between the allies, and security and stability in the Middle East. Trump emphasized the importance the United States places on the close military, intelligence, and security cooperation with Israel, which "reflects the deep and abiding partnership between our countries," the White House said in a statement. The leaders agreed to continue to closely consult on a range of regional issues, including addressing the threats posed by Iran. Trump affirmed his unprecedented commitment to Israel's security and stressed that countering the Islamic State group and other radical Islamic terrorist groups will be a priority for his Administration, according to the statement. In addition, Trump emphasized that peace between Israel and the Palestinians can only be negotiated directly between the two parties, and that the United States will work closely with Israel to make progress towards that goal. During the telephone conversation, Trump also invited Netanyahu to an early February meeting at the White House. The White House said earlier Sunday that it is at the "very beginning" of discussing plans to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The remark came after reports in Israeli media that Trump had imminent plans to announce the move the embassy. CARACAS, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela on Sunday hopes that U.S. President Donald Trump takes a different approach to bilateral ties than his predecessor Barack Obama. "We hope he doesn't go down the road of obsession and irrationality, and understands that the executive order, which he has the power to repeal, is in effect repealed," Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Delcy Rodriguez said in a televised interview. Obama issued an executive order declaring the South American country to be an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to the national security of the United States, sparking an outcry from the international community. Trump could simply choose not to renew the order when it comes up for annual revision, the minister said. Venezuela will continue to pursue dialogue with the U.S. government as a means of resolving differences, she said. The controversial executive order was issued in March 2015, to justify a series of sanctions against Venezuela and several of its government officials. Casey Howard ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a better Birmingham. David Sher is Co-Founder of AmSher Compassionate Collections and past Chairman of Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce, ONB, and CAP. Let's turn Birmingham around. Click here to sign up for our newsletter. There's power in numbers. (Opt out at any time) Today's guest blog was written by Casey Howard. If you'd like to be a guest blogger, please click here. Ok, so I have to come out and admit this up front - when my husband, Robert, mentioned that there was an opportunity at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, my first thought was, "Why on earth would we move to Birmingham, Alabama?" I had never stepped foot in Alabama, and I immediately imagined pictures of cotton fields, crazed "Roll Tide" fans, and lots of BBQ joints....yeah, I know, we have a lot of the last two, but I quickly found that this is part of what makes Birmingham so incredible. During the recruitment process, it became clear that UAB was a great fit for his career, but what about my career and our kids? So bear with me, I'm a bit of a nerd, but I tend to look at a city from the perspective of its demographics, growth patterns and government structures - I've been in commercial real estate for almost 14 years, and I have a fairly analytical nature. Research showed Birmingham in a negative light So, naturally, before I started visiting Birmingham, I did some research online about the City and was not impressed at first - I kept seeing the high crime rates (keep in mind, I kept 'googling' City of Birmingham, not knowing that the City only represented about 200,000 people in the metro area). Little did I know at the time that there are 37 different entities that make up our city, which makes it difficult to research when you're an outsider and don't know all of these different entities and how they are interconnected (or not, in many cases). Again, I was a tad ignorant. A place my family could love Several months after Robert started with UAB, it gradually became clear that this was a place that each member of our family could be successful. Even during this transition, we started realizing that Birmingham had so much more to offer than we ever expected. We spent several weekends taking the kids to The Birmingham Zoo, hiking Red Mountain, visiting McWane Science Center, visiting churches, walking neighborhoods, looking around downtown to check out the latest new project, etc. With every trip I'd make to visit Robert in Birmingham with the kids, I'd see more and more evidence that this really was a city filled with people that value education, are passionate about community involvement and want to see our city grow to be the best version of itself that it can be. We love the people Birmingham is also a unique community because of the philanthropic nature of our people. I think this common trait promotes a healthy, strong and vibrant community and makes Birmingham an amazing place to live, work and play in. We also have a pretty diverse mix of transplants from out-of-state (primarily due to UAB and the incredible medical community in our City) as well as local folks that have grown up here their entire lives', so there's a great balance of "new" and "old" blood that creates a sense of diverse perspectives with new ideas that also have a lot of loyalty and invest back in to our City. Then I met Miss Birmingham One of the biggest advocates for the City of Birmingham that I've had the pleasure to meet is Barbara Burton. I call her "Miss Birmingham." Barbara formed The Chalker Group, a company that helps families 'get plugged into the area when someone like UAB has recruited them - and this kind of help was huge for us. Barbara and The Chalker Group are connectors. They understand and harness the power of connection. The Chalker Group was critical in helping us make connections not only on a professional level, but also on a personal level in showing us what an incredible place Birmingham is to live and raise a family. Barbara and people like her are the best 'salespeople' for Birmingham - they've helped outsiders like us that are trying to decide whether to move here, figure out what the City is all about.....and there's a BIG, FANTASTIC story to tell! A revitalized Birmingham As a transplant from Savannah, Georgia and being in commercial real estate, I was fortunate enough to be a part of a recent revitalization of the Historic Downtown Savannah area. I got to see first-hand what an amazing difference it made for those working, living and playing there. And now, as I look out of my office window over the downtown Birmingham area and see cranes peppering the skyline, heavy equipment and scattered construction trailers, I see our incredible city going through that same kind of revitalization. I see young professionals moving downtown so they can bike to work. I see multi-family, retail and office projects being built on almost every corner and old, dilapidated buildings being gutted and transformed in to amazing lofts, stores, restaurants, and more. Just look at The Pizitz project, Venue at The Ballpark, The Powell Steam Plant Redevelopment, Thomas Jefferson Tower, and revitalization of The Lyric Theatre. Naturally, when you see a city go through a major redevelopment, there are key projects like our Railroad Park, Regions Ballpark, and Rotary Trail, that act as anchors and let the investment groups and other capital players see that the City is putting its money where its mouth is - that they want to better our city and are willing to do what it takes. Birmingham's opportunity So what is Birmingham's next step to further this momentum we have as a City? These 37 municipalities that make up the City of Birmingham and surrounding areas, have to commit to work together so that we can compete with cities that have more unified governments with common goals - cities like Nashville and Indianapolis. Both of these cities have successfully consolidated county/city, but allowed the smaller communities to still maintain their autonomy. The reasoning this unification is so important is because we need to be able to create more jobs, streamline transportation plans, and build infrastructure that can meet the needs of not just a few suburbs, but of our entire area. If we don't have this set of common goals, this becomes nearly impossible to accomplish. I've lived everywhere from the Midwest to the Northeast to the Southeast throughout my life, and I still strongly believe that the quality of life here in Birmingham is the best I've experienced. Birmingham is exhibiting progress on so many levels. Here is our opportunity to build the Birmingham that will not only produce even more jobs, but allow our community to reach its greatest potential. We are delighted to be here and can't wait to contribute to the success of our community and see what great things are in store for Birmingham! Casey Howard, Vice President/Associate Broker with Harbert Realty Services, Inc., has over 14 years of experience providing commercial real estate advisory, brokerage and asset management services with concentrations in NNN lease, multi-family, office and retail real estate. Dont make mistake again The calls were made yesterday during debate on the Tobago House of Assembly Election (Validation) Bill which became necessary as the date of January 23 was one day short of the requisite 21 days after nominations. Independent Senator Taurel Shrikissoon expressed concern that all correspondence from the stakeholders, the Elections and Boundaries Commission, the THA Chief Secretary, the President and the Prime Minister, was on December 14, all one day. He said that he was not there to ascribe blame but there was a fundamental flaw for the choice of dates and the writs as well. It was rushed and last minute, he added. He said the consultative process was not given enough time and the error could have been avoided with proper care and due diligence. He pointed out that the writs were issued by December 13 then the date proposed would have been correct. The last minute approach to governance cannot work. It cannot be standard operating procedure, he stressed. Shrikissoon said the powersthat- be should not be waiting for deadlines approaching to get into high gear and mentioned the FATCA legislation. He stressed that as a citizen, he wants this style and approach to governance to be addressed. He pointed out that according to law, the political directorate chose the minimum timeframe for the elections to be held. Independent Senator Dr Dhanayshar Mahabir said a genuine error was made and he does not believe it was malevolent. He pointed out the time period was mid-December and this was a time that every State agency and citizen is more involved in winding down operations than looking at new materials. He agreed with Opposition Senator Wade Mark that the people of Tobago had lost a day of campaigning though he could not say whether it would influence the outcome of the elections. He pointed out that with the extraordinary sitting parliamentarians would have to come out and parliamentary staff would have to work overtime representing a cost to the State to correct the error. Mahabir stressed a need to put in measures mechanisms to ensure it did not happen again. He noted the THA, the Office of the Prime Minister, the EBC and the Office of the President were involved and none picked up on the problem. He said he would have expected the Chief Election Officer would have replied to the secretary of the Cabinet that the date was not correct. He said the problem was caused by the agencies in silos and cracks that exist and there is a need to plaster the cracks. He advised the Chief Election Officer should ensure all obvious legal requirements are complied with and when there are elections in the future one officer should be held responsible for all administrative requirements. Independent Senator Melissa Ramkissoon said not enough checks and balances were in place and pointed out that this was not the first validation by this Parliament. She suggested one way to avoid errors was to look at fixed election dates. 37 murders in 21 days Angus Christopher James, 46, also known as Ghost of Bay Shore, Marabella, was shot and left for dead in his car at about 8 pm. According to a police report, James left his Marabella home to ply his vehicle for hire along the Marabella-Gasparillo route. The report stated that at about 7.15 am yesterday, James blue B-15 vehicle was discovered abandoned along Parforce Road in Gasparillo. His body was discovered slumped across the steering wheel and police said James was bleeding from a single bullet wound to the back of the head . The District Medical Officer visited the scene and pronounced James dead and ordered the body removed to the Forensic Science Centre, St James where and autopsy will be performed tomorrow . Yesterday, when Sunday Newsday visited the familys home at Bay Shore, James mother, Marjorie James-Gomez, 64, said she last saw her eldest son minutes before he left home on Friday evening . She said early yesterday morning there were police officers in front of her doorsteps who delivered the tragic news . When I saw the police I knew something was wrong and I was prepared for the worst. I knew it had something to do with Angus because he did not come home last night (Friday), James-Gomez said. The mother wept, saying, It hurts to know what happened to my son; it really does. I dont believe I will get any justice . If I say that my son had enemies, I would be lying and, if I say he did not have any enemies, I will also be lying because I dont know. He never told me about any threats on his life. James-Gomez said she would not seek revenge for her sons killing and instead, would leave it in the hands of God. These people or whoever did this to my son, I know they have families, so how could you sleep at night knowing you took a son from his mother, the woman sobbed. Recalling the last conversation with her son, James-Gomez said, He had already walked out the house and he forgot his cellphone and I called out to him and he rushed in. He took the phone and left . I did not know that would have been the last time I would see him alive. James-Gomez also said on many occasions she warned her son to be careful due to the nature of his job as a PH-driver . In Bon Air West, Stephon Tyrell, 32, was shot dead while liming next to Peoples Bar at about 8 pm on Friday . A police report stated a gunman approached him and fired several shots . Tyrell, the report stated, ran a short distance and collapsed in some bushes where he succumbed to the gunshot injuries . Sgt Robert and PCs Lalsingh and Paul from the Arouca Police Station visited the scene and are conducting investigations. Oil spill on La Brea beaches...again The beaches shoreline were smeared with oil and up to late yesterday, State-owned Petrotrin was cleaning the area. The beaches became unsafe for beach lovers and as for the residents, among them children, they spent the day yesterday cleaning thick sticky oil from their clothing and footwear. In confirming what appeared to be an oil-spill, Petrotrin issued a release in which it stated the the matter was still under investigation. The affected beaches included Carat Shed Beach, Coffee Beach, Station Beach and Point Sable. Speaking to Sunday Newsday yesterday, La Brea Fisherfolk Association president, Alvin La Borde, said oil washed ashore at about 6 am yesterday at the beach front. He began receiving telephone calls from residents that there were patches of oil on the water and on the sand. I am not sure of the origin of the oil, but I know the waters now may not be safe to go in, and I think Petrotrin should make considerably effort to put warning signs so residents would know they cannot enter the beaches until it is safe to do so, La Borde said. Mother of two, Tinesha Modeste, who is also seven months pregnant, said yesterdays incident was a flashback to the 2013 massive oil spill which forced many residents out of their homes and they were unable to cook. A pregnant mother was hospitalised for nausea. Modeste said, Yesterday when we woke up and there was oil on the shore again. I dont know if this is a repeat of three years ago, but I know that they dont care about the residents who live here. Modeste said she was one of the affected residents back then and still suffers from a skin condition caused by the 2013 oil spill. This is the end result of what happened to me. I can no longer go into the sun without my skin breaking out and this started the last time I came in contact with the oil and nothing never came out of it, Modeste said adding she is not keeping any hope out for compensation for yesterdays spill. Another resident Charmaine Marcano said Petrotrin has neglected the people of La Brea. For years we have been neglected, so I only expect them to make excuses and more cover- ups. None of the residents have gotten any compensation for what they have lost and suffered due to that oil spill, Marcano said. Marcano said whatever is in the atmosphere has left many residents with a mystery skin condition. In 2013 La Brea, especially in the Coffee Beach area, was one of the five communities affected following a massive oil spill on December 19. Petrotrin in a media release yesterday stated the company was aware of reports of what it described as oil pellets on the beaches along the south-western peninsula coastline. A team of company personnel, the release stated, visited the beaches and confirmed the presence of the oil pellets. Petrotrin also said the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries and the Environmental Management Authority were notified while investigations continue to identify the source of the oil. release said a clean-up exercise will be conducted in a manner that minimises impact on the communities and the environment. Small patches of an oily sheen were seen even on rocks along the coastline. Residents said high tides had carried the oil out to sea, but they expressed fears that the low tide would leave oil residue on the beaches. Radio host walks for Rachael Yesterday, Wack 90.1 FM radio personality Terrance Guevara, armed with the national flag resumed the long trek but this time he had family, friends and supporters accompanying as they took off from Chase Village, Chaguanas. Motorists honked their horns as they passed the small group who started the trek at 6.30 am, some even stopping to buy water and offer words of encouragement as they neared the capital city. Speaking to Sunday Newsday upon reaching the Brian Lara Promenade, Port-of-Spain yesterday, Guevara, 33, who began the walk after being challenged by a caller to do more than just talk about the crime rate in Trinidad and Tobago, said the real journey has now started. Basically, the goals have been achieved. This is about reaching to Portof- Spain, yes, but also sending a message to the community and the country that one man could make a difference. One person could make a difference, one issue, one idea could make a difference, he stressed. He continued: It was successful in the sense that persons are more aware of what is taking place in the country. Other youth organisations in the country, radio stations, media houses need to take a bigger step in trying to curb the violence and crime in the country. Guevara, who started solo on Monday, was grateful to get the extra support on his second attempt to Port-of-Spain. Weve had young persons and old persons and persons I never met in my life came out and gave that support and that is so very important because even though we live in separate communities, it is the same things that affect us crime, violence and especially violence against women. Will we see Guevara getting involved in more social awareness activities in the future? The next step is to really try and get some of the (government) ministries more mobilised. This crime thing goes way beyond just aye people doing crime. They probably dont know better because theyve been bred into that. The next step is to try get more organisations involved and see where we go from there, he explained. Saturday Senate passes THA Bill Yesterdays Tobago House of Assembly (Election Validation) Bill 2017 was passed by 28 votes for and one vote against, with zero abstentions. With all Government and all Opposition Senators who were present backing the Bill, plus eight Independent Senators, the sole objector was Independent Senator Melissa Ramkissoon. The Saturday setting of debate brought out some light moments in the Senate with Opposition Senator Wayne Sturge saying he hoped his was the last contribution (barring the AG) so everyone could resume their usual Saturday schedule, only to be told that his colleague, Rodger Samuel, a pastor, also wished to speak, to which Sturge remarked, Praise the Lord! Another light moment came in the wind-up by Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi whose constant refuting of the earlier speech by Opposition Senator Gerald Ramdeen, brought a quip from a seated Opposition Senate Leader, Wade Mark, I think you have a crush on Senator Ramdeen. Al-Rawi replied, All crushes aside, some people are not my type. I am a very happily married man. Ramdeen stood up but did not cite any point of order to interject into the proceedings, even as Al-Rawi still stood. Senate President Christine Kangaloo rose to restore decorum, chiding the fact of Al-Rawi, Ramdeen and Samuel having all been on their legs together. In the debate, Sturge hit persons for blaming President Anthony Carmona for the mix up as he declared, The President cant set the date. Thats misleading the public. He said few instances exist where the President can act on his own. Saying this mix-up must never happen again regardless of whose fault it is, Sturge said no-one must use Christmas nor Carnival as any excuse for the error. Lets not use Carnival as an excuse: Yes, Im 70-years-old, but I have a 17-year-old to wine on down in Harris Promenade. Independent Senator Sophie Chote lamented an innuendo that President Carmona had messed up, saying such a claim is absolutely unfair, untrue and disappointing. She regretted the Bill was not being passed by any special majority (to protect it from a constitutional challenge) and she said it is now likely to be challenged in the law-courts. Samuel was chided for tedious repetition to which he replied that his school-days had taught him that repetition is a good thing, a remark that earned him a second chiding from Kangaloo which led him to apologise. The AG backed the Bill by saying it does not wreck anybodys current legitimate expectations, as all THA candidates are now on an equal footing. He said the Bill does not pertain to any legal proceedings and does not target anyone, even as the election results are not yet known for tomorrows polls. Mark: Govt plot to remove Carmona Mark made the comments yesterday during debate on the Tobago House of Assembly Election (Validation) Bill. He said the sitting was called because of the ineptitude, lack of rigour, carelessness, incompetence, and even to some extent recklessness by the present administration. He criticised attempts by Al-Rawi to place the blame for the incorrect date of the elections on the President. I do not support this attempt to place the entire burden on the shoulders of the office holder of the Presidency as well as on the EBC (Elections and Boundaries Commission) and seek to absolve almost completely the Government from any responsibility, accountability or blame for this egregious error, he stressed. He stressed that the letter sent by the EBC showed that the Prime Minister is involved and the AG, as legal advisor to the Prime Minister, cannot escape responsibility. Stand up, take responsibility and apologise for the error committed. If you cannot do that tender your resignation immediately to the Prime Minister, he advised. He said the President was not responsible but you (the AG) are using his name. He reported that he would bring a motion about the administrations machinations to destabilise, discredit and remove this President before his term is up. A conspiracy against the President of this country, he declared. Senate President Christine Kangaloo advised that Mark speak about that issue when he brings his motion. Also in his contribution Mark called on the Attorney General to make the legal advice available which made him initially come to the conclusion that the election was legal as stated in a newspaper interview. I want to warn this Government and I want to give advice to the Prime Minister. I want to advise the Prime Minister that the sooner he can get rid of the Attorney General from his Cabinet...is the better for this Government. We have been given too much substandard advice, opinion from this Attorney General...and it continues and I believe the Government of Trinidad and Tobago will be in severe difficulty if they continue, he said. Mark pointed out that leader of The Platform for Truth Hochoy Charles raised the issue at a public meeting on January 13. He pointed out that the Government has the Strategic Services Agency and where was the intelligence to tell the Attorney General what was happening. Government Senator Paula Gopee- Scoon raised a point of order of relevance and Kangaloo upheld it. When Mark seemed to continue in that direction Kangaloo asked Mark if he was questioning her ruling. He responded: I never would do that. I sat where you sat in the past...I acted as vice president as you know in another incarnation and I had the opportunity to act as President of the Senate. So I understand the responsibility. I never query and I would never question because nobody could have queried me. I understand your power because I had your power. Mark stressed that the President cannot fix the THA election date on his own and that the Chief Secretary would never come up with a date without consulting the Prime Minister. Tell us the President is the one who fix election and call elections and you have nothing to do with that. Who are you fooling? The Prime Minister is responsible, he added. He said the people of Tobago were being robbed of a full day and that one day could cause the PNM to lose elections. He added that he was not there to blame the EBC but did not call for a tightening of the agency. Londons emotional farewell Giving his last public address, to the PNM party faithful in Roxborough, Tobago East one of the partys leading rally venues on the islandLondon, known for his upright, stoic bearing, was visibly moveda state he had no problem acknowledging. During my time in public life, I have not been noted for public displays of emotion, but this, to me, is a different time, because this is the last time. It is the last time that I will have the opportunity to speak to you, the people of Roxborough, the people of Tobago East, the people of Tobago and, by extension, the national community, he said, to cheers from the sizeable crowd. Therefore, you will excuse me if there is a touch of nostalgia and even a little bit of reflection. The 71-year-old London had already relinquished the leadership of the Peoples National Movements Tobago Council, last July. That was when Kelvin Charleswho had served as the THAs presiding officer for the better part of Londons term, but is a novice in the political arenawon the leadership race after a run-off election with outgoing Secretary for Tourism and Transportation Tracey Davidson- Celestine. London was born in Parlatuvier, but is the outgoing representative for Scarborough/ Calder Hall. He led the party through an unprecedented four terms as Chief Secretary over a 16-year-period, but said months before this election that he intended to quit active politics now. London said he was humbled by the gains the party had made in Tobago over the years, and told the gathering that as he journeyed to the Cyd Gray Stadium for the rally, he could not help but reminisce. I reflected on the 16 years, not of London delivery, but16 years of PNM delivery and service to Tobago, he said, giving a breakdown of the partys achievements in different communities leading to Roxborough. I passed through John Dial and I saw the road being paved and the amount of construction work and quality work that was going on there. I went up to Hope and I remembered what the Hope Anglican School used to look likeit was a shackand [saw] what it is now. And I am able to tell you that what it is now will not be comparable to what it is in April. London also said the old community centre in Mt St George was recently refurbished and that six others were completed last month and delivered to the people. Goodwood, he said, had made remarkable progress. When I looked across I get dizzy, because on one hand I the secondary school. I looked across, I see the community centre that was just refurbished. I looked across, I see the recreation ground. I looked across, I see the hard court. I say, Let we leave Goodwood, he joked. Then he came to Roxborough, a community, he said, was constantly evolving. I remember the first time I came to Roxborough and I made the point that Roxborough reminded me of a beautiful lady that had fallen on hard times, and we (the THA) made a commitment not only to restore Roxborough to her former glory, but to enhance and improve that. The job has started and that job will continue. He said by the end of the next THA term, Roxborough would have the kind of glory and have the kind of face of which the people of Roxborough and Tobago will be proud. London also spoke of the controversial Sandals resort proposal, saying it would benefit not just Tobago West but all the people of Tobago. So when you hear us talking on the platform about Sandals, dont believe that that is a Lowside thing, he said. Sandals is, in fact, an investment that is going to bring improvement in the quality of life of any Tobagonian who wants to take advantage of the opportunity, including the people. Because you need tour guides, artistes are going to have the opportunity, entrepreneurs are going to have the opportunity and the point I am making to you is that the development in Tobago West, even if it is located in Tobago West, will also benefit Tobago East. London said the PNMs achievements on the island extended beyond the physical environment. Between 2001 and 2005, he said, many women had come to him to complain that they had to depend on the generosity of some males, and sometimes not the best-behaving males, for their existence and the survival of their children. I am proud to say that because of the PNM and its policies, thousands of Tobago women can stand strong and independent and dont care what no man say or do, they could take care of themselves. That is what the PNM has done, he said. Once-idle boys, he claimed, have also been able to turn around their lives. All those boys who used to be on the block with nothing to do, those who want to work, can in fact, find employment. That is the kind of environment that you now have, and that is the kind of environment that you want to maintain and enhance. But he warned, That is the kind of environment that could be endangered if you make the wrong decision, alluding to tomorrows election in which the PNM is seeking to retain all of its 12 seats in the assembly. There are differing views among Tobagonians about his performance as Chief Secretary. His seemingly spotless stewardship has been overshadowed at times, by allegations of corruption, nepotism and poor accountability and transparency, evidenced by huge cost overruns on several major infrastructural projects among them the Scarborough Hospital and the Shaw Park Cultural Complex. However, he has avoided scandal. London, the father of five, was principal of the Signal Hill Secondary School when he was approached to enter politics to reverse the flagging fortunes of the PNM on the island in the mid-1990s. He revealed during the Roxborough meeting that Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, then a high-ranking member of the PNM, was enlisted to bring him into the partys fold. He is the man that have me in this thing, London joked. I remember him coming to Tobago, into my office .... and them days people didnt like me. And then I got into politics and I understood what it is not to be liked, he saidbut he publicly thanked Rowley and late prime minister Patrick Manning for the opportunity to serve. Starting his political career as a senator in the national Parliament in 1995, London went on to serve as an assemblyman from 2001, when he also became Chief Secretary. He has been widely acknowledged for his role in building the PNMs base in Tobago. As he prepares to pass the baton to Charles, whom he regards as the Chief Secretary-in-waiting, London urged supporters to make the right choice on election day. Remember, this is handover time, and any one of you who has to move on will recognise that you can either move on with trepidation or you move on with confidence. I want to move on with confidence, he said. When I move on, I dont want to have to look back. I want to move on with the confidence that the people that I leave are individuals who not only going to carry on the job but will do the job even better. I want to tell the people of Tobago I know what the job entails. I know the kind of qualities necessary for an individual to function in the capacity of Chief Secretary, I know what the qualities are for persons to function as secretaries, assistant secretaries and representatives in the THA. It is in that context that as far as I am concerned, this is a no-contest, because the only person among those vying for that position with the qualities, temperament, capacity, commitment and loyalty to treat with Tobago as Chief Secretary the only person to carry on the Orville London traditionis Kelvin Charles. Referring to the economic challenges confronting the country, London said he regarded tomorrows election as a test for Tobagonians. In challenging years, one of the most important ingredients is the quality of leadership, he said. We are aware that where Trinidad and Tobago is concerned, the country has the quality of leadership which will give us the assurance that regardless of how challenging the times are, we are going to be guided out of them. Do not gamble with your future by putting in power individuals who have neither the capacity, the intent, the commitment, the loyalty to treat with Tobago people...Let us not suffer from voters remorse on January 24.